Years Ago

This column is a revitalized weekly addition to the paper.  The following moments in history are selected, researched, and edited by Skaneateles High School students enrolled in Kate Hardy’s 10th grade Honors English class. For the next school year they hope to celebrate the past and remember the days from years ago. Thank you to the Skaneateles Library and the Historical Society for providing the Press archives.

20 Years

… The Skaneateles Drama Department preformed “George M!”, an upbeat musical with songs like, “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag”. The musical follows the life of George M. Cohan, a man who was widely regarded as the biggest Broadway star of his day. Mickey Kringer, the director of the musical, is still directing the drama department’s musicals today, and has helped many actors and actresses pursue their musical future. One in particular is Bradley Benjamin, a dancer in the show and a Skaneateles alumni, she took the skills she learned from the Skaneateles drama department and made a successful performance career. According to broadwayworld.com, in 2002, she was cast in the Broadway revival of “Oklahoma!” which was nominated for 7 tony awards. The following year she was traveling across the country in the national tour of “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. While she has many accolades, often her most esteemed was when she took over for the role of Catherine in the national tour of “Pippin”, a musical with songs written by Stephen Schwartz, the same man who wrote the music for “Wicked”. She currently resides locally and is a development officer for the Syracuse City Ballet. Bradley is a prime example of Skaneateles’ small town spirit and how with talent, hard work, and a dedicated teacher success is only natural.

40 Years

… the Skaneateles Press published a review of a production of “The Diary of Anne Frank.” The play had performances on the third and fourth of November in the high school auditorium, and marked the directing debut of Janet Fagal at Skaneateles High School. Since then, the Skaneateles High School Drama department has put on many more plays and musicals. In fact, this past weekend “Peter and the Starcatcher” was performed at the school. Directed by Micheal Kringer, the play gave audiences the backstory of beloved childhood character Peter Pan. If you were unable to make it to the fall play, be sure to catch our production of “Les Miserables” in March!

60 Years

… multiple articles were published in the Skaneateles Press regarding American Education Week. This is an event observed throughout the United States that celebrates public education and honors individuals who make a difference to provide a quality education for students. Sixty years ago, Skaneateles celebrated this event by hosting an open house at both the High school and Elementary school, where parents could visit their children’s classrooms and get a glimpse of the education that their kids were receiving. Although Skaneateles is not hosting an open house to celebrate American Education Week this year, we would still like to honor those who have allowed us to obtain knowledge through our public school system. Thank you to the Skaneateles Board of Education, teachers, and other staff members of the Skaneateles Central School District!

80 Years

… an advertisement announced a specialty sale for products sold at a local pharmacy, some of which included toothpaste, Vicks Vapor rubs and ice cream! Today several of these products are still valued, having gone through a dramatic increase in price.  The ad detailed one quart of ice cream for $.39, whereas today Skaneateles Skoops sells one quart of ice cream for $7.99.  Vicks still sells Vapo Rub, which now ranges from $1-$13 versus their 1938 sale at $.27 to $.59. It may be unfathomable how these changes occurred. Inflation has many causes, usually a result of an unbalanced loop of supply and demand. When there is a surplus of money and a decrease in products, the price of said products will most likely increase, resulting in people demanding higher salaries to purchase these goods, which leads to a surplus of money and an unending cycle. From 1938-2018 was roughly 2.3 percent increase per year. Considering the fact that this was over a period of 80 years, that’s a huge jump in prices! Can you believe that $100 in 1938 is equivalent to $1790.35 now?!

100 Years

… an eight year old boy in Sennett shot and killed his sixteen-month-old sister while his parents were not home. The boy wanted to play with his father’s revolver, so he unlocked the drawer where the gun was stored and took it out with no intention of firing the gun or harming anybody. He accidentally and fatally shot his sister Helen, who was sitting at the kitchen table. Frightened after shooting his little sister, the boy told his neighbors that a strange man had come out of the forest and killed the little girl. It wasn’t until his parents returned that the boy broke down into tears and confessed to the mishap. Today, there is a non for profit organization called ‘End Family Fire’ to help protect children against accidental gun deaths like this. 4.6 million children live in homes where there is an unlocked and loaded gun, which can lead to irreversible accidents much like Helen’s death. ‘End Family Fire’ uses moving commercials to show parents and guardians the dangers of guns in the house hold in hopes of saving kids by keeping firearms locked and out of their reach.