– When there is an emergency in a small town it’s important to have good neighbors — and maybe a shotgun in the house. At least that is what Robert Johnson and his family found out on the evening of July 8, 1935 when, following an extended period of heavy rain, they saw their small Bearsville home suddenly surrounded by the Sawkill Creek. When the foundation began to buckle and a bedroom started to sag, Mr. Johnson realized it was time to escape the flooding. Unfortunately, he had waited too long — and that’s where the shotgun came in. Firing successive shots into the air in the hopes that someone would hear it, Johnson’s wish came true when, out of the darkness of the night, the Schrader brothers (Gus, Victor and Hanno) appeared on the other side of the swollen creek. Recognizing there was little time to waste, the brothers, according to the Kingston Freeman, quickly returned with a 60 ft. rope and, after numerous attempts at throwing the line across the stream, Johnson was finally able to retrieve it and secure it on the other side. With their other end of the rope tied to Hanno Schrader’s car, the brothers, using the rope as a lifeline, preceded to wade into the chest high water and pass the three Johnson children — ages six months, two years, and four years old — across the stream to safety. Next, they managed to get Mrs. Johnson across. Then the family dog. And, finally, Mr. Johnson himself greeted and thanked the Schrader brothers on the other side.
– In 1937, Woodstock celebrated its 150th anniversary. A portion of the promotional material assembled in honor of the sesquicentennial included the following description of the town’s general make-up and its inhabitants, “It [Woodstock] includes men with beards, ballet dancers, farmers, flute players, business men, actors, poets, restaurateurs, potters, writers, weavers, painters, press agents, politicians, lawyers, historians, illustrators, cartoonists, philosophers, sculptors, remittance men, educators, theatrical producers, wine merchants. Its weekly Market Fair is more a social event than an occasion for making purchases. It supports a summer theatre and a winter sports association. It is as cosmopolitan in its thinking as it is in its social make up. It nurses Republicans and Democrats, Communists, Fascists, Socialists, Anarchists and Technocrats. It worships at seven separate and distinct churches.”
– In September 1949, Woodstockers went to the polls and approved the building of a new elementary school by a vote of 369-54, ending, once and for all, the era of one-room schoolhouses in Woodstock. The new school would include six classrooms, a teacher’s room, a library and a combination gymnasium/auditorium. The cost of the new facility was not to exceed $235,000.
– So it was, in that same combination gymnasium/cafeteria that the Woodstock boys varsity basketball team defeated a team from Esopus, 72-67 on a January night in 1952. At the time of their victory, the team, with such hardwood mavens as Bill Harder, Carl Van Wagenen, Herb Waterous and Joe Holdridge was having a pretty good year. Following their defeat of Esopus, Woodstock’s record stood at 15 and 3. (Now that’s a basketball team Charlie Rosen should write about.)
– The arrival of the 1960s seems to have caught my attention for, among the files I found saved, were references to three separate events that took place during the first month of the decade that would change so much. In the organizational meeting held by the Woodstock Town Board that January, the following salaries were announced: Town Supervisor — $3,800, Town Councilmen — $480 each, Town Justices — $1,200 each, Town Clerk — $3,800 and Highway Superintendent — $4,200.
– Also in January 1960, approximately 1000 people jammed into the Woodstock School for the dedication of the new post office on Tinker Street. The dedication featured a performance by a fifty-piece band from the United States Military Academy. The newly constructed brick building was hailed by a representative of the Postal Service as, “the most beautiful of all the post offices built in the state in the last twelve months.” (I think that was a compliment.)
– Just two days after John Kennedy was inaugurated as President, the Woodstock Democratic Club hosted a talk by Gore Vidal at Deanie’s Restaurant. Described as a “new, brilliant young playwright” by the Kingston Freeman, Vidal proclaimed that the nation had entered the political age of “pious platitudes and creation of fake ‘public images’ through high priced Madison Avenue techniques.”
– A September 1964 story in the New York Times attempting to examine Woodstock’s cultural scene at the time, concluded with the following: «One more thing: The visitor who comes here to see the artsy craftsy-looking crowd will not be too disappointed. There are a few kooky characters left and they can be viewed most any time on the outdoor terrace of the Cafe Espresso, Perhaps they are legitimate artists, but they may also be I.B.M. people on their day off.”
And on it goes…
Here’s hoping you have a happy and safe Memorial Day weekend and that you take a moment to remember and honor Woodstock’s many veterans. Their stories and the stories behind the names that appear on the memorial in the Woodstock Cemetery of those who gave their lives are during this nation’s wars are anything but “everyday history.”
Richard Heppner is Woodstock Town Historian.
