With this year being the 75th anniversary I thought it might be interesting as well as fun to look back at Greendale’s beginnings from the viewpoint of its own residents and local news stories of the day. Every Thursday through the end of the year, I will be posting humorous, relevant or just interesting stories from Greendale’s original newspapers.
The following selected stories are copied exactly as they were originally written (including some misspellings) unless otherwise noted. Some may be shortened with “…”. They will be in bold and italicized type.
Also, just a reminder - Greendale first opened to residents on May 1, 1938
Find out what's happening in Greendalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
GREENDALE REVIEW – Saturday, July 15, 1939
WARNING!
Find out what's happening in Greendalewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Walter E. Kroening, assistant manager, in a statement a few days ago urged parents to caution their children against throwing sticks and other rubbish into man-hole openings.
“Two serious sewer stoppages were caused last week by sticks dropped into man-hole openings. This sort of thing can develop into a serious situation with the possibility of rendering all sanitary fixtures inoperative,” warns Kroening.
Seems Strong Family Knows What’s Happening
At 9:00 o’clock Saturday morning July 1, Fred Staub, the proprietor of the recently opened Greendale Tavern, secured his liquor license. The license was issued by acting village clerk Mrs. Fabian W. Strong in the absence of village clerk Mrs. Helen Arndt, who was on vacation. Staub went immediately to his place of business to post his newly acquired license and to announce that he was open for business. After placing the license on the back bar he turned around to greet his first customer in the person of Fabian W. Strong, who slapped down five pennies on the counter and ordered the first glass of beer. Now if this was not collusion it was at least very good timing on the part of the Strong family.
Hundreds were served with food and drinks on the opening day and the enthusiasm apparently has not yet waned. Any evening finds the tavern serving a “full house”.
Staub says, “The opening was entirely successful, and the food is going good. I wish to thank all my customers for their patronage, and especially the people of Greendale, who are co-operating 100%.
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Two-hour Parking Limit Asked By Business Men
The Greendale Business Men’s Association has asked the village board to consider restrictive parking of two hours from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m., 7 days a week, on the parking lane west of Broad St. Such a restriction would entail an hourly check of parked cars, and would mean much more work for our police force.
Raymond Burnside, chairman of Public Safety committee, states that comments by the residents will be welcomed. The Review will be glad to print short and to the point letters on the subject. Let’s hear what you have to say, Greendale residents, for now is the time to say it, not after such a restriction has been made effective.
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Second Annual Picnic Well Attended
The second annual Greendale Fourth of July celebration began with the parade at 10 a.m. All the kiddies were there with their beautifully decorated doll buggies, coasters, bicycles and scooters. The floats were a unique feature of the parade, representing various village organizations. The N. Y. A. float, depicting the activities of the boys, caused much favorable comment. The entire parade was animated by the lively drumming of Messrs. Mund and Drill It was a striking display as it wound up Northway to the picnic ground where the children received free tickets for ice cream.
Then began the games and contests for the youngsters, giving them a healthy appetite for the refreshments and picnic lunch which followed.
The afternoon featured activities for men and women. Games, horseshoe, and baseball took their toll of excess energy and weight.
In the women’s basketball throw, Mmes. Bengs, Strauss, and Thomas took respective prizes. A similar contest for the men was stolen by Messrs. Krueger, Rudy and Scheer. The men’s horseshoe tournament was captured by Messrs. Leisten and Henricks. The baseball game featured the N. Y. A. boys vs. the villagers. Who won? We are non-committal.
And so everyone hiked down to the firehouse to vicariously cool off watching the firemen douse each other in water contests. When they were properly dissolved, a bugle sounded the “Call to Colors”, and the flagpole dedication was on.
Everett Trudell president of the Citizen’s Ass’n. acted as chairman and introduced the speakers. After preliminary comments by President Brinkman and Manager Reeder, Alonzo Hauser, who designed and sculptured the flagpole base explained the group of figures as representing the various activities of the adult residents of Greendale. The five figures represent respectively the farmer, laborer, education, recreation and white collar worker. When asked, privately, how he managed to finish his carving at such a propitious time he merely expressed “we planned it that way”.
An excellent closing speech was made by Dr. Newberry, guest speaker, who challenged us not to sit idly by singing the praises of the “founding fathers” of our democracy, but to carry on the fight for more and greater Liberty and Freedom for all groups of people in the United States. This, he said is what the founders would want us to do; their task is by no means completed.
Community singing directed by John Sullivan closed the days festivities as planned and financed by the Citizens’ Association Committee.
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Post Office Redecorated
The post office is sporting a new coat of paint on its walls, new linoleum on its floors and new bulletin board for posting notices, official and otherwise. An American flag flys from a staff on the outside
According to Edward Bengs, postmaster, more than 800 people walk through the post office lobby daily and the wear and tear caused by the continuous traffic is bound to be reflected on the fixtures.
The bulletin board on the north end of the lobby wall will be used to post notices received from the village clerk, the school board and management. On the opposite side will be official notices issued by the postal department. Posted also is a daily weather report received at noon.
The service window in the post office is open from 8:30 to 12 noon and from 1 to 5:30 p.m., but the lobby is open from 6 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. for the convenience of those who have lock boxes.
Box rent was due July 1 and all those not yet paid have been closed and mail placed in general delivery in accordance with postal regulations.
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Next week – Lights along Grange Avenue improve conditions!
Thanks to the Greendale Historical Society, for which I am a member, for providing the original newspapers.
Steve Peters
