For a small village we are lucky to have three...well kind of four special events.
Beginning the summer with a large Memorial Day Commemoration (5-graveside services), Parade of Bands, Massing of the Bagpipes. With more than 10 bands, floats, fire trucks, veterans, girl and boy scouts and much, much more some say the Jordan parade is one of the largest in Central New York. Chicken-bbq, hot dog/hamburg/sausage sale and three restaurants feed our hungry visitors. The Jordan Historical Society hosts an open house at the Jordan Erie Canal museum and the Bramley Free Library hosts an ice cream social. Spectators from across CNY spend the day in Jordan.
Mid-summer, July 14th this year we have a the Erie Canal Celebration. A new event in Jordan, this year is the third. A village wide yard sale, art & craft vendors, music, open house at the Jordan Erie Canal Museum, Erie Canal Cloggers demonstration and more attract visitors for the day.
In the fall we have the Jordan Fall Festival - this year is the 61st! September 21, 22 & 23. The major fund raiser for the Jordan Community Council the festival has grown to be a northeast attraction. Greased pole climb, antique & classic car, bike n' truck show, Alpine Classic Run, live headliner music entertainers, kid's greased pole cross, home-made donuts, pre-read book sale, amusement rides, live reptiles, amazing food, and so much more. More than 300 volunteers working over the three day event. The Festival committee works year 'round to plan another great festival. One of the oldest and continually running events in New York State we offer free admission, free parking, free shuttle and free live entertainment.
With winter brings the Christmas Tree Lighting..including a visit from Santa. After the tree lighting in the village center we Christmas carol along the canal towpath to the fire department where we all have cookies and cocoa with Santa. This special event is for friends and neighbors to gather together and enjoy the holiday season.
Learn more about each event at http://www.jordanny.com/
6 comments:
Great!! The people are catching the urge to blog and signing in. Thanks JORDANNY!
Being new to blogging, I am not sure how to keep up with responses to previous posts. I have replied to several and see that John Pinckney has responded to many of them. Is there anyway to know if a reply has been left without going back to each individual Post and check for new comments? I will do it, but as I see, I have missed a few.
First, John you are right Mrs. Shaw was the kindergarten teacher. And, if I remember right, Mrs Vought was the 2nd grade teacher. Her husband had a fuel oil business that was on Mechanic Street just beyond the fire hall and library (town hall - now). I remember that we bought kerosene from him that he delivered and we burned for heat in the winter.
As far as the broken arm incident, I think that you are right, it was a boy that broke his arm. I do not remember the name Don Wells though. Was there a girl involved in the incident? He fell off the stage, right?
Cindy: I do not remember you personally, but I did know your sister Linda. She ran around with Joey Case I think. My brother Pete (in the bicycle basket) was born the same year that you were. He was born in Auburn and Dr. Whiteley (Horace W. Whiteley Community Center) delivered him and me for that matter. You lived in the big brick house on the hill taht was the last house on the North side of S.Main Street before it ran back into Hamilton Street. There was a farm across the street and down behind it was a pond that we used to go to. I remember catching a turtle down there once that I brought home.
Your father owned Ketcham's Potty Chair Factory on Elbridge St. The building is now BENNETT BOLT WORKS, I think.
I bet you stopped at the Grand Union or the A&P on the way to school to buy the candy. Paterson's store, where I usually stopped was a block or so off Main St. and would have been a slight detour for you, even though they always had the best selection of penny candy. They had the latest in pea shooters and bags of tapioca to use as ammo. I always though that it worked better than peas.
I am really glad to see that the natives are finding this place! It should really get the old grey matter working again.
Does anyone know how Jordan got its name? I remember my mother telling me that someone thought that the land along Skaneateles Creek reminded them of the River Jordan Valley so they decided to call the village Jordan. Has anyone else heard this, or knows how Jordan got its name.
According to stories Jordan did get it's name like Dave said - someone thought that the land along Skaneateles Creek reminded them of the River Jordan Valley so they decided to call the village Jordan.
I can remember another special event / time in Jordan. It was at Halloween. On the nights of October 29th and 30th it was trick-or-treat nights. With two nights, if you had a real sweet tooth and what kid didn't, you could cover half the village one night and then the other half on the next night. We even got home made cookies, apples, popcorn balls, and pennies. Never a thought as to whether to eat them or not. Now the real fun was on Halloween. The volunteer's from the Fall Festival would take all of the trash and debris and make a giant pile down in the canal near the school. After dark on the 31st everyone would gather around and they would lite the pile on fire. It would be one great bonfire. As the fire burned down the kids would line up in their costumes and march through downtown. There would be parties by age groups at the churches and I think other places for the different age groups so as you paraded past the location for you you dropped out and went to the party. I think that there was a dance for the older kids at either the Masonic Temple or back at the High School. The next morning, November 1st it was rush to the downtown 4 corners to see whose outhouse was there. Hay wagons usually ended up there also.
It was a great way to clean up after the Fall Festival and at the same time was great for Jordan's youngin's. Does this tradition still exist? I think the out houses are a thing of the past for sure as well as the hay wagons, but how about the bonfire and parade? I remember marching in the parade with a snow suit under a costume. Great for outside, but not fun at the party.
I remember the Halloween bonfire extravaganza very well. It was a great village wide party, usually a crowd of hundreds. I can't imagine with today's environmental standards that we could get a way with a fire like that anymore, maybe with a special permit??
It's sad that Jordan doesn't come together as a community as often as we used to in those times. Can you remember the "ice shows" that were put on by local talent down at the community ice rink near where the festival grouds are now and the shows, again featuring local talent, that were put on in the high school gym during the winter??
Jack Ehrlich has a great picture of our Boy Scout troop from around 1954 with a lot of faces Dave will find very familiar. One thing that strikes me about it is the number of us. There were probably 30 - 40 boys in the troop then. I'll see if we can get the picture posted.
Maureen:
This is the post that got lost. If you found it and posted it, then go ahead and delete this copy. It is essentially the same as the original.
Dave
You guys are making me homesick.
I can not believe that over 50 spring snow melts have caused Skaneateles Creek to overflow into the Erie Canal making the low bridge impassable, well impassable to most but not to those brave souls that were in a hurry to get back to school after going home for lunch. There were a few of us that are lucky to be alive after some encounters with the fast moving creek.
John:
I do not remember the "ice shows" but I do remember the skating rink in the canal just past the school in the canal. I think that just about everything utilized the canal one way or another. The village dump was farther down the canal. I started my days there with a pair of double bladed skates that clamped onto my boots. I would spend most of my time shoveling the ice so that I could use the shovel to keep me on the blades and not on my back on the ice. This strategy seemed to work very well and it was not long before I could spend more time upright than laying prone on the ice. I remember one incident involving some of the older kids, me and those skates. I remember one time they decided to play keep away with my skates. As the "game" progressed, my skates eventually ended up in the business end of the out-house, the village provided near the ice, with me as the one to retrieve them. That was about the end of those skates for the next year I had a pair of hockey skates. At the time boys had hockey skates and only the girls had figure skates.
I remember the shows in the school gym or auditorium during the long winters. There was one featuring the Gay 90's that I can remember. The woman that was in charge, whose name is right on the tip of my tongue, but seems to be stuck (maybe one of you can help with it), was involved with some big name shows on Broadway or some similar place I seem to remember. I am sure that my grandfather Ellis Gilbert was in one of these shows. I remember the black top hat that he used.
On one occasion, either Memorial Day or the 4th of July, there was some kind of event in the auditorium and I was chosen to go on stage an recite the words of a famous person, I keep coming up with Abraham Lincoln, but am no longer sure at all. Anyway I remember being scared to death and think I forgot half the lines I had memorized.
Saturdays found the local kids in the auditorium watching movies. I do not remember any of the features, but there always was a serial that featured some hero like Tarzan. After watching him saving Jane or some other person from a tribe of cannibals or heard of stampeding elephants the reel would come to an end just as Tarzan would escape by diving off a cliff into a river swarming with hungry crocodiles. You would worry about him for a whole week until you got back and saw him pull himself out of the river on the opposite bank without a scratch on him. They always sold boxes of candy that had a prise in it that was similar to cracker jack prises.
I can never forget the boy scouts. Mr Ehrlich was the scout master and lived about half way down Lawrence St. hill, Right? Any way one of the requirements to move past tenderfoot was to complete a five mile hike. One weekend we were scheduled to camp out so we met at the Veteran's Memorial by the flag pole, by the way the scouts were in charge of raising the flag every day. At that time the Memorial was on the West side of Main St. and the canal. We hiked from there to the campground that our troop owned. I think that we were the only boy scout troop in the state that had its own campground. I do not remember for sure where it was but it was about five miles from there. I thought that it took forever to get there and could not imagine a hike of 10 miles that was required for one of the merit badges. We also had winter camp outs. All I remember about them was that it was cold. There is no way you can spend a winter night in Central New York outside in a tent and stay warm. We had the bragging rights though. We were tough. At the time I was in scouting in Jordan the happened to be a World Scouting Jamboree at Niagara Falls. Since we were so close our whole troop went. I think that the village supplied the funds for this adventure. We did not actually camp inside the jamboree grounds, but camped on Goat Island and spent the days at the jamboree. What a great time. I will never forget seeing the scouts from all over the world thanks to a great scout master, to a great group of parents, and to JORDAN and its support of its youth.
Our scout troop was so lucky to get a chance to attend the World Jamboree. I can't imagine anyone from troop 57 has gone since. Homer Young, who died just a couple of months ago by the way, was our scout master and spent a lot of time and effort to provide us with an unforgettable experience. I can remember talking to scouts from all over the world and trading hats with a Canadian scout. Do you remember our tour of Fort Niagara? By the way, we stayed on Grand Island, Goat Island is right next to the falls.
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