Tuesday, March 24, 2009

New York Canal Times



will no longer be offered in print. You can view the latest news
on-line at http://www.nycanaltimes.com/








John has left a new comment under Saturday, March 14, 2009
New comment from Dave in Oregon..

Photo: Tug Boat Urger

2 comments:

Central New Yorker said...

The Village has a wonderful Memorial Day schedule.

Can anyone let us know what Jordan was like 40-50 years ago on Memorial Day?

John Pinckney said...

There was a parade back then too, although it was not as big an event as it is now. It had more of a strictly local flavor to it then also. One of the big deals was dozens of village kids with their bicycles decorated with crepe paper in all sorts of red white and blue patterns. There was no official contest for the best bike but the competition was still fierce. It was usually the season debut for the high school marching band too. They usually participated in 6 - 10 parades every summer with the fire department.
There were ceremonies at the pool and cemeteries in the morning as there are today but the main ceremony at the canal veteran's memorial on Main street took place during the parade which began around 10:00 A.M. When the band got to that point in the parade the parade halted and and a short program took place. A designated trumpet player from the band would go down into the park and play Taps at the end of the program. It was quite an honor to be chosen.
There was usually a baseball game at the school in the afternoon, which gave the guys on the team a chance to play for a larger than normal audience.