28 YEARS AGO — 1997
• For five generations, the land was the Leavitt family’s livelihood. One hundred seven years of back-breaking labor, sweat and love. But as Dr. Ellen Fitzpatrick, an agricultural economist at Plattsburgh State University, will tell you: “The agricultural structure is changing in America. It will never be ‘The Family Farm’ again.” Arthur Leavitt and his family are painfully aware. Monday, under a blazing sun that beat down on their 750-acre farm, the Leavitts watched as their legacy was sold piece by piece. Arthur Leavitt reportedly knew it was coming. Finally, he was forced to cut his losses and move on. “I can’t compete against the Canadian and Mexican farms anymore,” he said. “We got wiped out.” Leavitt, a tall man with a tan, weathered farmer’s face, blames the North American Free Trade Agreement for the closure of his family farm.
• MTV, the bold, brash and sometimes rowdy television network catering to Generation X, is coming to the small quiet village of Lake Placid. “Road Rules,” the production which the network will be filming here, tells the story of five young adults who are traveling across the country and are filmed from the time they get up until the time they go to bed each day. During the show, the cast travels around the country in a Winnebago, stopping in select cities, towns and villages to perform “missions.” A camera crew inside the vehicle tapes the cast. At the end of each mission, cast members receive a clue, hinting where their next stop will be. It is up to the cast to figure out that clue. For Lake Placid, the show means major exposure. Road Rules is seen nationwide, in Canada and in parts of Europe. Single episodes are also run repeatedly.
50 YEARS AGO — 1975
• Planes, exhibits and aerial aerobatics were what greeted over 35,000 people Saturday at the open house held at Plattsburgh Air Force Base. When the open house began at 10 a.m., several hundred cars were already making their way to the south end of the cement runway where an impromptu parking lot was being provided. Crowds of people were already gathering at the stationary aircraft exhibits, dotting the cement field across from the large black hangar. Other exhibits at the base included radio-controlled aircraft, tours of the base’s operations building, K-9 sentry dog demonstrations, singing by the Sweet Adeline singers, flying demonstrations by base helicopters, EB-111 flying demonstrations and exhibits within the black hangar itself. Events held during the open house included a special memorial dedication at which a plaque and monument were dedicated in honor of the 380th Bombardment Wing’s winning of the Fairchild Trophy. At the ceremony, Clyde A. Lewis, chairman of the Plattsburgh Air Force Base Liaison Committee, read the commemoration to the Wing Commander, Col. Earl T. O’Loughlin.
• “The smoke is on and they are rolling,” Capt. Floyd Newton of the Air Force Thunderbirds told the thousands of onlookers when his group of special pilots started to perform their precise flying maneuvers. Wing walk roll, arrowhead formation, double upside roll, changeover cloverleaf and knife-edge pass were some of the terms used by Newton to describe maneuvers displayed by the five Thunderbird pilots during their special show at the base Saturday afternoon. The 45-member crew, which came to Plattsburgh, is presently in its 23rd year as a special elite flying team representing the United States Air Force throughout the world. The leader of the group, Maj. Christopher Patterakis, noted there are actually 75 men associated with the special squadron. Gasps and applause could be heard in the crowd, along with the clicking of cameras and whirring of movie cameras as the Thunderbirds performed tricky maneuvers in which the aircraft seemed to narrowly miss crashing into one another or the ground itself. There were several flying exercises in which the jet aircraft came out of a high dive only to pull out at what seemed like the last second before hitting the base’s runway. It was noted that while flying in tight formation, the aircraft were only several feet away from each other.
75 YEARS AGO — 1950
• The population of four northern New York counties has jumped about seven percent in the last decade, but a fifth has lost slightly. Clinton County, on the Canadian border, dropped from 54,006 in 1940 to 53,583 in the federal census this year. Plattsburgh, the county seat, rose from 16,381 to 17,726, however. Figures announced last night by William J. Kenneally, district census director, showed gains in Saratoga, Warren, Essex and Washington counties. Saratoga increased from 66,608 to 74,964. This includes a rise in Saratoga Springs from 13,705 to 15,434. Warren went from 36,035 to 39,033, including an increase in Glens Falls from 18,856 to 19,448. Essex County has 34,073, compared to 34,178 in 1940. Washington has 47,064, compared to 46,726. There are no cities in Washington or Essex.
• The two-story wood-frame Champlain Steam Laundry building at Champlain was completely leveled by fire yesterday afternoon, causing damage estimated by its owner, Clifford LaPlante, at $75,000. Champlain’s Fire Department responded to the call at 1:30 p.m., but flames rapidly spread through the structure. Employees quickly evacuated the burning building, leaving coats and perfumes behind. A family — Mr. and Mrs. Earl Watts and six children, residing in a six-room apartment over the laundry — also rushed from the building, losing all household goods. The Champlain Fire Department under Chief Stewart Reed fought the blaze until about five o’clock. Reed said last night that the rapid spread of fire probably was caused by time-worn dry lumber in the structure. He said the cause was still under investigation.
100 YEARS AGO — 1925
• “We are coming, Plattsburgh, one hundred strong,” was the slogan of the Defense Day Meeting held at the American Hotel in the village of Ausable Forks last night. Supervisor Thomas A. O’Neill was chosen chairman by acclamation and, when he asked the pleasure of the meeting, the response was prompt. A resolution was immediately offered that the Town of Black Brook, and particularly the Village of Ausable Forks, pledge itself to produce one hundred men instead of its quota of one platoon consisting of any men. As it was aptly stated, “Of course, we are always ready and willing to answer a call of the State or Nation, but in this one we are more than willing because Plattsburgh’s heart is in making this Defense Day test a success and it’s a pleasure for Ausable Forks to lend its aid cheerfully and willingly.”
• R. B. Campbell, a Port Henry carpenter foreman, has been working at odd moments during the last 15 years on a table which he has recently completed. The top of the table is inlaid with all varieties of wood found in the United States, Canada and Mexico and also hundreds of specimens from South America, Australia, Asia, Africa and the European countries. The top of the table is 32 by 86 inches and contains 10,082 pieces of wood of various sizes and colors. No two are alike and all are different varieties of wood. The middle block of the table measures one square inch and contains 400 kinds of wood.
— Compiled by contributing writer Ben Rowe