Twenty years ago — 1999 A number of businesses on Vineyard Drive near Route 60 have rolled out the welcome mat for the Buffalo Bills while training camp continues at Fredonia State University College. The businesses include Mighty Taco, Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s and Fleet Bank. Many ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The King Neptune Restoration Committee has already reached the halfway mark in their fund-raising efforts to raise $20,000 by Oct. 1 for the restoration and repair of the 116-year-old statue. The statue was once a centerpiece of a fountain in Washington Park in ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The Fredonia Fire Department recently dedicated its new pavilion and memorial wall, both located behind the fire hall, during the Emergency Response Team Installation picnic. The pavilion was erected under the direction of past Fire Chief Charles Frazita with many ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 Nine people in Randolph are being treated for post-exposure to rabies after they took a baby raccoon into their home. The Randolph case is part of a statewide warning after 47 people underwent treatment because of three mass exposures to rabid baby raccoons. In each ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 Plans for a Taco Bell restaurant on Route 60 in the town of Dunkirk were recently approved by the town planning board. The 4,185 square-foot restaurant would be bordered on the north by Bob Evans, on the east by Route 60, the west by Kmart and on the south by the ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 A consortium of four schools — Brocton, Westfield, Ripley and Panama Central schools — has been awarded a $113,000 Goals 2000 Technology grant by the federal government. The grant money is being used to provide modular technology units that will circulate among ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The Dunkirk Board of Education, by a 5-3 vote, elected Adelino Gonzalez Jr. to fill the top position. It will be his second term as board president. Mr. Gonzales defeated Roosevelt Haynes who served as president during the 1998-99 year. During the board’s ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 Former Dunkirk residents John and Darrell (Burgstrom) Parker currently are finding themselves in the unenviable position of displaced homeowners. Their Vermont home is now teetering over the edge of a cliff 160 feet above the Bruster River — after being wiped out ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The Fredonia Baptist Church has officially kicked off a fund drive to restore the church steeple which houses the village clock by signing a grant agreement with the village. The village board is supporting the church’s efforts by providing the services of its ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 Norfolk Southern Corp. is again making a pitch to close railroad crossings in the 4th Ward of Dunkirk, but Mayor Robert Kesicki said the city still opposes the idea. Railroad officials would like to close three or four crossings out of the eight crossings that ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The intersection at Leming Street and Lake Shore Drive East in Dunkirk has both a modern and historic background. Leming Street, which should be spelled “Lemming,” was named by Governor DeWitt Clinton — one of the early settlers who named streets in the first ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The Dunkirk Police Department is gearing up for its biggest community policing event of the year and Sgt. David Ortolano is pleased with what he sees. Almost 30 people turned out at the city pier for an organizational meeting for National Night Out, which takes place ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 A new venture at this year’s Chautauqua County Fair in Dunkirk, the Buffalo Zoo’s Zoomobile, is sure to make a hit with the children as it will be appearing daily with different programs and animals. All programs will include live animal demonstrations. Every ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 An exhibition by Dunkirk native artist Nancy Hutchinson at the Adams Art Gallery opened with a public reception today. More than 15 portraits comprise the exhibition on display through July 31. Ms. Hutchinson paints people that she knows, often using a photograph as ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 Convenience store owners seeking to force New York to collect taxes on reservation sales of cigarettes and gasoline to non-Indians lost a round in state court recently. Acting state Supreme Court Justice Conrad Lang ruled that the Pataki administration’s no-tax ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 A story in today’s OBSERVER is a 50-year remembrance of the day in 1949 when a young local woman, 18-year-old Betty Latimer of Fredonia, became National Cherry Pie Champion at a bakeoff in Chicago. As far as is known at this point, Betty Latimer Schwertfager’s ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 When man first landed on the moon 30 years ago, President Nixon had a speech all ready in case man could not get off again. A contingency statement was prepared for Nixon, an eerie, poignant tribute that he would deliver while the astronauts were still alive but when ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 In the biggest personal injury award in U.S. history, a jury ordered General Motors Corp. to pay $4.9 billion to six people severely burned when the gas tank of their 1979 Malibu exploded in flames in a rear-end collision. The verdict came after a 10-week state court ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 The Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce has announced staff appointments for the newly-formed countywide chamber of commerce. Pamela Lydic has been appointed as executive vice president. Amy Vercant was appointed as director of public relations. The CCCC is the ...
Twenty years ago — 1999 In an OBSERVER photo, Lindsey Palmer and Sally Dunst are shown looking over the book they produced together. The two sixth-grade students from Fredonia Middle School were notified that they created the winning book in the James Prendergast Library-sponsored Write and ...