Years Ago
This column, contributed by Skaneateles Honors English students from the class of 2022, is written to connect the past to the present by revisiting articles from years ago. The students would like to thank the Skaneateles Historical Society for providing the archives and Eagle Newspapers for publishing their words.
20 Years Ago
…Skaneateles High School celebrated its annual homecoming game with a parade, as well as honoring the football players and their families. Seniors decorated cars with their school spirit and would throw candy to the spectators as they paraded across town. The parade was held at night and students were seen in the backs of pickup trucks and within other cars enjoying a night to remember. Throughout the years, new activities have come and gone to the homecoming celebration; however, students hope to bring back some of these older traditions. This year’s homecoming included a dance as well as a spirit week where students would dress up according to different themes. Students feel that the celebration has lost some of the more exciting features, and they would like to create new ones to add to their week of fun. Contributors to this column suggested bringing back the bonfire and the parade, as well as adding the new tradition of nominating homecoming king and queen. Do you remember your high school homecoming?
40 Years Ago
The Scholastic Assessment Test in today’s society has become such an important score for students to get into the college they want. 40 years ago the Skaneateles Press informed readers that the most recent math and verbal scores were the second lowest results in the recordkeeping history Skaneateles Schools. Even though the scores were low for Skaneateles, they were above the national average. Shortly after this was published the Skaneateles student’s scores started to increase until around the early 2000s when it started to decline again. The constant changing of the SAT may have caused the inconsistent scores. However, around this same time period the number of students taking the SATs per year doubled, which suggests that the change in scores may have been demographic. In 1979 Skaneateles High School was above the national average by 43 and 31 points on the math and verbal sections. Today, Skaneateles is 200 points above the national average. The format of the SAT is constantly changing and continues to be extremely important for students eager to attend college.
60 Years Ago
… There was a registration form published in the Skaneateles Press for adult education classes offered at Skaneateles Central School. Such classes included Art Ceramics, Braided Rugs, Hooked Rugs, Woodworking, Beginning Sewing, Advanced Sewing, and Physical Education. The registration fee for these classes was two dollars, equivalent to about eighteen dollars today. The classes were held on Tuesday or Wednesday nights. Nowadays, adult education classes are offered at local centers of education such as BOCES and the Schweinfurth Art Museum. BOCES offers a variety of classes and programs like the ones in business, career training, and literacy, while those at the Schweinfurth include art classes such as drawing, painting, ceramics, and photography. If interested, you can reach BOCES and the Schweinfurth online at their respective websites.
80 Years Ago
…an article was published in the Skaneateles Press about the pre-season preparation of the Syracuse Stars hockey team. The article mentioned the team’s travel to their training camp in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1939, the Stars were a minor professional team in its third season (revolvy.com). In 1940, the Stars relocated to Buffalo and became the Buffalo Bisons, later renamed to the Buffalo Sabres known today (ahl.fandom.com). Look out for their upcoming games against the New York Rangers on the 24th and the Detroit Red Wings on the 25th. Nowadays, there is a travel hockey team for youth ages fifteen to eighteen called the Syracuse Stars. This program is one of the best junior hockey programs in the United States, and it has sent five players to the NHL during its twenty year run. For more information about Syracuse Stars games and programs, visit http://syracusestars.pointstreaksites.com/view/syracuse stars/
100 Years Ago
… in a column published by The Democrat, there are several paragraphs explaining what the townspeople have been up to. Things like where they went to dinner and who went to whose house. 100 years ago today, Mrs. Dell Hart went to the Cortland Hospital for an operation and Mr. and Mrs. William Bron were guests to their daughter and her family, Mr. and Mrs. Will Badman. Flash forward to today, rather than the paper, news and gossip gets around through school. This week in Skaneateles High School, Ms. Amelia Musso was collecting pledges to raise money for the varsity swim team. Mr. Drew Goethe enjoyed a delicious pizza from Gilda’s with his family. Ms. Elizabeth Wamp had an allergic reaction to lavender in her sixth period health class. Even 100 years later, people are still interested in what’s going on in the lives of people around them.
