Cairo Historical Society

Minutes for 2016

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes January 21, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  Tracy Lamanec, John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Bob Cummings, Mark Grupe, Sylvia Hasenkopf, Ron Hasenkopf, Mary Heisinger, Joy Nadeau, Jill Lamanec, Michael Lamanec, Elton Rouse, Sherry True

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:14 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Today’s meeting is being held at the Shinglekill Falls in Purling at the invite of the Lamanec family. Tracy Lamanec provided a history of the Shinglekill Falls B&B and the Shinglekill Falls area. He stressed that the stories he will tell are stories that have been handed down generation to generation by families who have lived in the B&B. 

Some highlights:

• The first white settlers in the area came to work in the hemlock industry. The bark from the hemlock tree was used for the tanning industry.
• Settlers also made charcoal from the many tree trunks that were left over after the bark was stripped from the trees. Large pits were dug and the trunks were all rolled into it.

Name of Shinglekill

• The source of the name of the Shinglekill – After iron making came to a close, settlers began making wood shingles along the banks of the stream which now bears the name Shinglekill.
• Tracy read that the name Shinglekill came from an outbreak of shingles amongst the settlers.
• Another possible source for the name – the stream bed is shingled in appearance.

Iron Ore

• Iron ore “blub” (a rock with iron ore deposits all melted together) was also found at the falls
• Iron Forge was powered by the falls. Tracy thinks it may predate the Revolutionary War.
• Iron was used for horse shoes, nails for building. The quality of the iron at the Shinglekill was relatively poor, but was good enough for wagon tires.
• Tracy advised that when he had to replace the floor boards in his home in the B&B he went to the Tremont Nail Co and bought nails like they made in the “olden days”
• Bob Cummings indicated that there was iron ore deposits in Ancram across the Hudson River in Columbia Co. This was high quality iron ore and Parrott rifles were made with the iron ore from Ancram. (The Parrott rifle was a type of muzzle-loading rifled artillery weapon used extensively in the American Civil War. – Wikipedia)

Mills along the Shinglekill

• Around 1840 Decker built the mill and the house on site where a previous mill stood. The mill burned in 1850 and burned again in 1892.
• Between 1892 – 1894 the mill was rebuilt again. It was nearly identical to the one that was destroyed by the fire. The mill stones from that mill are still there. Another mill stone can be found by Mountain Ave and the driveway to the B&B.
• Downstream a log dam diverted water to the mill.
• The mill was 7 and a half stories tall
• During the Civil War the mill was used to manufacture wooden farming implements such as grain cradles, wooden rakes and hay forks
• An out of work Irish laborer, named Finnians, was hired to guard the mill from burning for three years.

Alpheus Wright

• Alpheus Wright owned the mill at the B&B ca. 1880. Alpheus was a logger and with a team brought logs to the sawmill. He purchased the sawmill from his uncle Elijah Wright who was moving to Tioga Co. Alpheus built a furniture factory along the creek.
• Alpheus had 4 children – 2 sons (Anson and Sylvster) and 2 daughters (Mary known as Mae and Etta.)
• Mae moved to NYC and owned a parrot who was over 100 years old
• Etta married Charlie Foster and they owned Rocco’s (the building along Mountain Ave with the huge Greek columns). Etta would come to Purling in the summers. Charlie Foster was a member of the NYS stock exchange. After he died Mae had to sell his seat on the Stock Exchange. The seat was easily worth $3 million but because Mae was a woman and allowed to hold the seat she had to sell it and could only get $1 million for it. Etta married secondly Adam Cross who retired as a NYC Police Commissioner. Adam used to bring his police horse, Sergeant, to Purling for the summer.
• Abt. 1880 the grist mill and furniture mills began to fail as industry was changing. The new industries in the area were the apple orchards for cider making and the boarding house industry.
• Sylvester was known as a drunkard and it is thought that he was actually responsible for the 2^nd fire at the mill. At least this is the story that was told at the Anderson Hotel in Purling.
• Anson purchased the mill at the Shinglekill B&B. Anson turned the mill into a woodworking mill. He would make rustic wooden souvenirs. Tracy showed a few examples of Anson’s souvenirs (eg. Barrel bank). Wildlife and Indian motifs were very popular. Anson was Tracy’s great grandfather.
• Tracy also remembers helping the family hand paint local postcards as a family.
• During the summer photographers would come up from the City and set up at the mill and take pictures of the tourists. The pictures were also used on postcards which sold for 2 cents (black and white) and 5 cents (color)
• Ca. 1900 Wright’s Bazaar was located across the street from the B&B and was located in Tom Plank’s garage. There was also a 9 pin bowling alley there. It was covered, but not enclosed.

Curtis Clocks

• The Curtis clock factory straddled the Shinglekill according to family stories and was washed out twice. It was always rebuilt.
• There are stories there was a second clock factory
• Tracy showed the attendees his Curtis clock. All the gears are made of wood. The linen cords run over the spools.
• It is estimated that Curtis made about 1100-1200 complete clocks in his life. Tracy was told that Curtis sent his clocks back to Connecticut to be sold by his family.
• The numbers are stenciled on the face of the clocks.
• Curtis hired local housewives to paint the decorations on the face of the clocks.
• The Curtis clocks could be hung directly on the wall or placed in tall boy cases.
• Sylvia advised that peddlers would pick up an inventory of clocks which would be part of their inventory as they visited homesteads in western New York and Pennsylvania and traded or sold them outright to homesteads.
• Isaac Curtis had 3 US Patents. One was for a drill press that made 7 holes in the face of the clock at the same time. One cannot look at the patents as the original submissions were lost in the great patent office fire of 1836.
• After clock making ceased, the mill property was used for other purposes.

Boarding House Industry

• New York City folks would come to Purling in the summers. They would pay farmers to stay at their homes and often would work alongside the farmer.

Cairo

• There are four places in America called Cairo
  • Cairo, NY
  • Cairo, NE
  • Cairo, IL
  • Cairo, GA (home of Jackie Robinson)

After Tracy’s talk, attendees had an opportunity to look at pictures and items of local interest that Tracy had displayed on a table.  

Many thanks to the Lamanecs for their hospitality and the beverages, cheese platter and snacks. It was a great evening. 

John moved to close the meeting at 8:46. All agreed.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes March 17, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  Sherry B. True, Bob Larsen, Mark A. Grupe, Robert Uzzilia, Sylvia Hasenkopf, Ron Hasenkopf, Elton Rouse, Linda C. Larsen, Gail Kargoe, Carol Spohler, John Kargoe, Michael Lamanec 

Guests: William Davenport, Natasha Frey 

President, John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Business Meeting:

1. President Kargoe indicated that the Cairo Rotary has invited the Board members and membership of the Cairo Historical Society to its next Rotary dinner at the Bavarian Manor on March 31^st at 7:00pm. There is a charge of $15 for the meal. In addition there will be a brown bag raffle. Proceeds of the raffle will go to the Make it Wish. The CHS will donate a couple of items for the raffle. This dinner is an opportunity for the CHS to share with the Rotary membership our programs and projects for 2016. It is also an opportunity see if there are opportunities to coordinate efforts between our two organizations and do some brainstorming.

Gail motioned to close the business meeting of the Cairo Historical Society. Elton Rouse seconded the motion and the business meeting came to a close.  

This evening’s meeting is about bottles of Greene County. Members and guests were invited to bring in their collections. 

• Sherry True brought in a collection of blue Alka Seltzer bottles in various sizes.
• Linda and Bob Larsen brought in a number of bottles including a dairy milk crate from Moon’s Dairy in Catskill. A discussion ensued regarding the process early dairy farmers used when collecting milk for the milk truck that took it to the central milk processing center. Mark Grupe told everyone about the Indian Rope Trick. You’d take a finger and spin it in the milk really fast and when you pulled it out and the milk came with it then the milk was bad. John recalled when sour milk was cooked and made into cottage cheese. Linda also brought in 4 different kinds Cliquot bottles, including the Eskimo bottle. She also had 2 beer bottles from the early 1900’s, one brown and one green. She indicated that there is a beer bottle dump behind her old house on Matthew Simons Rd. There are around 200-300 bottles there all broken.
• Mark Grupe brought in a collection of bottles that were discovered while Gemini Construction worked on various construction projects. Other bottles were found at the Clearbrook Farm which was owned by the Grupe family until 1964. An Amos Post bottle was in the collection. Most people recall Amos Post was in the car business, however he also produced soda. He and Jacobs from Cairo agreed to divide Greene County in terms of distribution of their products. Post had eastern Greene Co and Jacobs western Greene County. A bottle from the Locust Shade in Durham, NY was also in this collection. George M. White had provided licensing to the Locust Shade which allowed them to produce their own product.
• Robert Uzzilia brought in a very large collection of unique and rare bottles. He talked about the Jacob’s Bottling Works in Cairo, indicating that there were 19 different Jacob’s bottles produced. He also indicated that before the Civil War glass bottles were made by blowing glass into a mold. After the war molten glass was poured into a mold. A tip for cleaning the inside of glass bottles – make a slurry of filing shavings, pour into the bottle and simply shake, shake and shake. Other bottles – Spirits of Camphor (Wey and DuBois Druggists, Catskill, NY), Dr. E. Haines, A. Gordon (Tannersville), Charles W. Lyon (Athens), G. W. Osborn (Oak Hill), M. Dolan (Coxsackie), John E. Kelly (Leeds), Wing and Sisson (Coxsackie), Bove & Coglianese (Catskill), Myers and Abeel (Catskill).
• Sylvia Hasenkopf brought in her collection of Greene County bottles and milk bottles. Many Jacob’s bottles (Cairo), Goltermann (Catskill), J.W. Mulberry (Durham), Geo. M. White quart bottle (Cairo), Amos Post (Catskill), Whistle (Cairo), Dolan (Coxsackie), Otto Gordon (Hunter). Milk bottles – Duncan’s (Catskill), Herbert Moon’s (Catskill), Orchard Dairies Egbert Van Valkenburgh (Catskill), Orson Traver (Catskill), Park’s (Coxsackie), Catskill Mountain Milk & Cream (Halcott), Early Dairy (Athens)
• Natasha Frye brought in 3 Jacob’s bottles. All three of the bottles have a “J” on the bottom which indicates that they were produced about 1890.
• Gail Kargoe brought in her collection of bottles – a brown George White bottle, a Duncan dairy bottle, a Thomas, Catskill, NY bottle (mineral water or water bottle), Jacob’s bottle, White’s bottle, Catskill Bottling Co., Catskill, NY bottle and a Herbert Moon’s bottle
   

Cairo Historical Society
Annual Meeting
Minutes April 21, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present: John Kargoe, Sylvia Hasenkopf, Gail Kargoe, Ann Clapper, Cathy Jeune, Sherry B. True, Ron Hasenkopf, Mark A. Grupe, Elton Rouse, Robert Uzzilia 

Guests: Vincent Szabo 

President, John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance.

Business Meeting:

1)    Minutes from the January 21, 2016 and March 17, 2016 meetings were reviewed and approved. Ann Clapper made a motion to accept the minutes as written and Elton Rouse seconded the motion. All agreed and the motion was passed.

2)    President John Kargoe indicated that all financial obligations for the Cairo Historical Society have been paid as of the today’s date.

3)    President John Kargoe introduced Vice President and Secretary Sylvia Hasenkopf who presented an overview of the achievements of the Cairo Historical Society in 2015 in a PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint presentation will be printed and placed in the binder of the Annual Meeting presentations.

4)    Ann Clapper, Chair of the Nominating Committee indicated that two members of the Board of Trustees have terms which are expiring in April 2016 - President John Kargoe and Trustee Gail Kargoe. Both individuals have expressed an interest in continuing in their positions.
Members present were asked whether there were any nominations from the floor. None were presented.

The Secretary, Sylvia Hasenkopf placed a vote for President John Kargoe and for Trustee Gail Kargoe and their terms were extended for another three year term.

Sherry True moved to close the meeting at 7:56, Mark Grupe seconded the motion. All agreed and the meeting was closed.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes May 19, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary

Members Present:  John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Sherry B. True, Mark A. Grupe, Robert Uzzilia,  Sylvia Hasenkopf, Ron Hasenkopf, Mary Lou Nahas, Elton Rouse, Gina Klein, Richard Grupe

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The theme of today’s meeting will be a discussion about the motels and motor courts in the Town of Cairo. 

Sylvia brought a number of postcards from the Town of Cairo’s motels and motor courts from the past. A discussion ensued and as many details as the collective group was aware of for each of the motels was recorded. 

1. Grand View Resort Motel, (no postcard) located across from the old Bernio’s on Rte 23 on the way up to Windham. Robert Uzzilia brought along an advertisement about the Grand View when it was operating as a swinger’s club. Sylvia read it aloud to the amusement of all present.
2. Venetia (no postcard), located on Rte 23 just past Bernio’s and Frank’s Pizzeria.
3. Holiday House Motor Court (later called Angel on my Shoulder), located on Rte 145 near Roosevelt Ave.
4. Horseshoe Motel (no postcard); Rte 145 west of Cairo, NY; owned by Carl and Freda Biela; Phone MA 2-3232, area code 518; New motel ideally located in the beautiful Catskill Mountains; rooms, efficiencies with free TV, swimming pool, restaurants nearly; only 1¼ miles to Cairo; churches, shopping center, theater; 5 miles to Catskill Game Farm; became Joanna’s Horseshoe Motel in the 1980’s
5. Lake Elissa (no postcard), owned by Ernie J. Enax, located on Rte 41
6. Sandman, on Rte 32 heading towards Saugerties
7. Rolin Motel (no postcard)
8. Pine Motel, on Rte 145, owned by Walter Engelman and Peggy Snyder
9. Old Season’s Motel (no postcard), owned by Lenny and Emily Desalvo, located in South Cairo
10. Valley Haven, (no postcard) Erne Broadhead, Proprietor (was the Valley Stream Farm at one time) (no postcard)
11. Stack’s Motel (no postcard), on Rte 145 is still in operation
12. Casa De Sala (no postcard), owned by Pat and Maria Sala
13. Bella Roma (no postcard), owned by Mrs. DiOrio
14. White Elk Motel (no postcard)
15. Banta's Motor Court, located on Rte 145, Cairo, NY corner of Roosevelt Ave, owned by T. and W. Banta; tel 518 MAdison 2-3091; modern “approved” cabins and motels each with private bath; filtered concrete pool 42x62; lake fishing and swimming; recreation hall; TV, bocci, shuffleboard; community kitchen, family units, playground area, pollen free, rest assured; day, week or month. A real family resort. Later Banta Lake Motor Court under different ownership.
16. Hempstead's Cabins
17. Hill Top Motel, (no postcard) located Rte 23 in South Cairo; owned by Ted and Mildred Johnson; Te; MAdison 2-3776; open May 1 to October 31; Motels, cabins; two bedroom and housekeeping units; fully equipped; swimming pool, kiddie pool and TV; spacious lawns, picnic tables and outdoor BBQ; churches and restaurants nearby.
18. Jack's Bungalows (no postcard)
19. Lange's Grove Side
20. Lantern Motel, located at Rte 23 and 145 in South Cairo, NY, owned by Anne Kieselmann and Ann & Skip Van Norstrand; Open January 3 to December 20. Tel. 518 MAdison 2-3769; Accommodates 64, daily, weekly and daily rates; modern deluxe motel; double and family rooms, cribs, TV, heated; 3 housekeeping units; play areas; restaurant and churches, nearby; Hunters & skiers welcome; 4 mile west of thruway exit 21.
21. Noto Motel (no postcard), located on Rte 23 in South Cairo, NY, owned by Pat and Catherine Noto. Open May to December 15^th. Tel. 518 MAdison 2-9831 “Accommodated 36; Modern deluxe motels and housekeeping units; filtered concrete pool and kiddie pool; free TV; private tile showers; brook on property for fishing and swimming; nearby churches, shopping center, restaurant and Amusements.
22. Raedder’s Sunside Inn and Restaurant, Cairo, NY, (no postcard) owned by Charles and Gertrude Raedder, Tel 518 MA 2-9918; known for good German-American cooking; Accommodates 30; daily and weekly rates; ideal family resort; no rising bell; swimming pool, cocktails and lawn sports; places of worship, golk course, horseback riding nearby; Hunters and skiers welcome.
23. Sunny Acres (no postcard), located corner of Sunside Rd, Cairo, NY, owned by Guenther and Eleonore Hornung; Tel 622-3850; 3 all new modern efficiency bungalows; heated, TV, full bath and new Pool; located on spacious acreage; will rent by week or season; motel units also; BBQ, fishing and lawn sports on premises; churches, golf course and horseback riding nearby; Rates by Request. Call or write for colored brochure.
24. Sunset Motor Court
25. Venetian Motel (no postcard)
26. Valley Haven (no postcard)
27. Joe’s Inn, Cairo, NY; owned by Joseph and Pierina Biagioni; Tel 518-622-3239; Italian-America cuisine; filtered pool, outdoor sports, bar and recreation hall; water in every room, also motel rooms with private baths; make reservations early, Open May 30 to September 15.

Individual files have been created for each of these establishments. 

John moved to close the meeting at 8:35. All agreed.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes June 16, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Sherry B. True, Mark A. Grupe, Richard Grupe, Robert Uzzilia,  Sylvia Hasenkopf, Ron Hasenkopf, Elton Rouse, Michael Lamanec, Tracy Lamanec, Richie Obach 

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

The theme of today’s meeting will be a discussion about the Cairo shopping Center. Sylvia Hasenkopf will do a PowerPoint presentation on the topic, using images in the Cairo Historical Society archives. 

Attached to the minutes of this meeting is an article Sylvia wrote about the Cairo Shopping Center for the Greenville Pioneer which was the source of much of the information used to explain the images in the PowerPoint Presentation. A copy of the article has been placed in the Cairo Historical Society Archives in the Cairo Shopping Center folder. 

Mike Lamanec moved to close the meeting at 8:22. Richard Grupe seconded the motion and all agreed.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes July 21, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Sherry B. True, Mark Grupe, Robert Uzzilia,  Sylvia Hasenkopf, Elton Rouse, Helen Chadderdon, Linda C. Larsen 

Guests: Howard Parmalee, Beth Rennig 

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

Following the business meeting Robert Uzzilia, who is a Trustee of the Cairo Episcopal Church will take the group on a tour of the church and provide a brief history of the church. 

1)    Sylvia provided an overview of the Barker Family Reunion and the James Barker Historical Marker installation which occurred on July, 16, 2016. There were over 20 Barker descendants who attended the event from as far away as Colorado and Pennsylvania. The day was glorious – not only the weather, but also the event. After the unveiling of the marker, the attendees walked over to the Barker family cemetery and a number of Barker descendants, including a number of children, cleaned the five remaining family cemetery stones. Lunch was provided courtesy of Hannaford and the Coxsackie National Bank and cooked up by Ron Hasenkopf and Sherry B. True.

2)    John indicated that four railroad lamp posts were recently donated to the Cairo Historical Society and thanks to Mark and Richard Grupe they have been picked up and are being stored at their facility until they are refurbished and installed at the Cairo Depot site. We do need to locate eight globes for the lamp posts. Sherry requested the size of the globes and John indicated that he would get the diameter of the globes for her.

3)    Sherry, John and Gail have indicated they will man the Cairo Historical Society table at the Youth Fair on July 30^th.

4)    Sylvia indicated that she will be on vacation when the next Cairo Historical Society meeting occurs in August. Sherry has volunteered to be the acting Secretary for the meeting.

5)    Sylvia indicated that the September 15^th monthly meeting will be held at the Inn at Hill Crest Manor.

6)    Sherry indicated that Jay Ciccone is returning to do a lecture on the Daily Lives of the Native Americans in Greene County on October 20^th.

7)    Sylvia indicated that the foundation is now laid at the Cairo Historical Society HQ’s site. Only the porch footings are left to pour, which should be done soon.

8)    Sylvia indicated that we have run out of Cairo Throws. The Town of Cairo owns the rights to the throws and Tara Rumph, Cairo Town Clerk, has indicated that the Town is willing to transfer the rights of the throw to the Cairo Historical Society. Once we have received the letter of transfer, the CHS will be able to order more throws.

9)    The Cairo Historical Society has been invited to take a table at the upcoming Country and Hot Air Balloon Festival in the Town Park the weekend of August 19^th and 20^th. Sherry has indicated she is willing to man the booth on Saturday if help can be found. She is willing to be in the booth for the first two hours, from 1:30 to 3:30. Sylvia will ask for additional help on the Cairo Historical Society FB page.

10) Many thanks to Helen Chadderdon who took 50 raffle tickets to sell for the Panorama and to Mark Grupe who took 100 tickets. 

Sylvia showed a great cartoon that Robert Rose donated to the Cairo Historical Society which was found in the old Hotel Walters.  

Sherry B. True moved to close the meeting at 7:35. Robert Uzzilia seconded the motion and all agreed. 

History of the Cairo Episcopal Church (Beers’ History of Greene County, pub. 1884)

On the 13^th of August 1832, in pursuance of notice duly given, the male members of the Episcopal congregation of Cairo met at their place of worship for the purpose of incorporating themselves, at which meeting the name or title of “The Rector, Church Wardens and Vestrymen of Calvary church, in the village of Cairo,” was adopted as that by which the church or society should be known, and Monday in Easter week was selected as the time for the annual election of church wardens and vestrymen.  

Rev. Ephraim Pundersen presided over the meeting. Eli Brooks and George Wickes were elected church wardens, and Ira T. Day, Horace Austin, John Lennon, Amasa Mattoon, Henry E. Hotchkiss, Hiram Hine, William C. Howell, and Horatio Hine, Vestrymen.  

On the 5^th of September the certificate was signed, sealed and sworn to, and recorded in the clerk’s office September 12^th.  

On the ninth Sunday after Trinity, August 4^th 1833, the church was consecrated by the Right Reverend Dr. Onderdonk, bishop of New York.  

In 1834 $500 was received from Trinity church, New York toward the building fund. The total receipts toward the building fund were $1,950, out of which was expended $1,892.72, several subscriptions still remaining unpaid.  

From 1835 to 1837 there were eight communicants.  

June 10^th 1841, the bell was bought at a cost of $175.  

On June 1^st 1853, Rev. Robert B. Fairbairn, S.T. D., L. L. D., became rector of the parish. The population at this time was small and scattered, and he supported himself by teaching a classical school in Catskill. After eleven years of faithful labors, he passed to his rest June 10^th 1864.

In 1869, $800 was expended in church improvement. A contribution to the parish of $500 was received from Hon. Henry Meiggs. Several seats were added to the church in 1876. The remaining indebtedness of the church amounting to $352.83, was paid by Mr. George Wickes. Stained glass windows were added in 1882 through the liberality of Mrs. Elizabeth H. Wickes. On the 3d of August 1882, Henry E. Hotchkiss who had been associated with the church from its organization, entered into his rest. The number of communicants on January 1^st 1882 was 58.  

The following clergymen have been connected with the parish as rectors or missionaries since its organization: Ephraim Punderson, August 1832 to February 20^th 1834; Moses Burt, 1834 to 1837; Henry H. Prout, February 26^th 1837 to 1838, and October 1^st 1838 to April 1^st 1868; George Sayre, January 22d 1840 to 1844, and April 1851 to 1852; William Walsh, September 1845 to 1847; Norman C. Stoughton, June 1847 to June 1850, and 1852 to 1853; Robert B. Fairbairn, June 1^st 1853 to October 1862; Robert B. Croes, April 3d 1864 to November 1864; Charles H. Gardiner, November 27^th 1864 to October 1866; Edward Pidsley, July 1^st 1868 to July 1^st 1870; Erastus Webster, July 1^st 1870 to April 1^st 1872; E. H. Saunders, May 1^st 1872 to March 4^th 1873; William Charles Grubbe, May 4^th 1874 to October 4^th 1875, and April 1^st 1879 (present rector); Richard Harding October 5^th 1875 to October 5^th 1877; F. B. Cozier, May 12^th 1878 to February 1879. 

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes August 18, 2016
Sherry B. True, Acting Secretary 

John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7pm August 18, 2016 

Present: John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Sherry B. True, Elton Rouse and Lucas Sutton 

Pledge of Allegiance

John opened the meeting with a discussion of the Youth Fair. The Historical Society made around $200 there with the selling of CHS goods. 

John reminded everyone we would have a booth set up on September 3, 2016 at Stoneledge Farm in South Cairo. Set time is 10:30 am until 3 pm.

John gave an update on the Cairo Historical Society’s Building. He noted he had spoken with Mark and Richard in regards to moving the building back over the newly poured foundation. They said the building would be moved back sometime in September.  

It was noted that the next meeting of the Historical Society would be the Hillcrest Manor in Acra.    

Gail said that after the business meeting closed she had Catskill Cats postcards to share with the group.  

A new visitor to the group was Lucas Sutton and he signed up to become a member. 

John called for a motion to end the meeting and Lucas made the motion to close the meeting and Elton seconded it. The meeting was concluded at 7:20pm.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes September 19, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Linda Larsen, Bob Larsen, Deirdre McInerney, Sylvia Hasenkopf, Richard Obach, George Morrison, Barbara Morrison, Mary Lou Nahas, Richard Grupe, Russ Ekstrom, Ron Hasenkopf, Robert Uzzilia, Michael Lamanec, Jill Lamanec, Mark A. Grupe 

Guests: Mary Lou Becker, Anne Keary, Christina Holt, Rory Holt, Margaret Defalco

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

1. Minutes from the April 21, 2016 and May 19, 2016 meetings were reviewed and approved.  Elton Rouse made a motion to accept the minutes as written and Mark Grupe seconded the motion. All agreed and the motion was passed
2. Sylvia indicated that we are awaiting the move of the CHS existing Headquarters building by Gemini Construction. Mark Grupe explained that he and Richard expect to move the building shortly. They will keep the building on the rails as they move it back. They will be building a new sill before dropping the building down onto the sill. They will be making a video of the move and taking pictures as well.
3. Sylvia indicated that the manuscript for the Hometown Heroes book is currently with the publisher, Flint Mine Press. Flint Mine Press has suggested that the book be indexed. An approximate cost to hire an indexer is $2500. Bob Larsen stated that he felt it was a critical part of the book. Russ Ekstrom indicated that all books on history have an index and he feels it will be important for future sales. Elton Rouse felt that the index will be needed to balance the book. A general discussion ensued and everyone at the meeting felt that the index is very important to the success of the book. Russ Ekstrom made a motion that the Cairo Historical Society move forward with the hiring of an indexer for the Hometown Heroes Book. George Morrison seconded the motion. All members of the Cairo Historical Society at the meeting agreed and the motion passed.
4. Sylvia indicated that plans are underway to remove the Hometown Heroes Banners after Columbus Day. Volunteers are welcome. John indicated that Dan Benoit is interested in helping. Sylvia will ask for volunteers on the CHS Facedbook page.
5. Sylvia indicated that she and Sherry have begun working on the next issue of the Cairo Herald.
6. Sylvia read the proposed wording for the next historic marker.
   Established as the Town of
   Canton on March 26, 1803
   Renamed the Town of Cairo
   on April 6, 1808. Third
   Largest Town in Greene Co.
   The application for this new historic marker will be sent to the William G. Pomeroy Foundation for consideration for a grant.
7. Correspondence received:
   1. Query from Dipesh Alesi regarding Joe’s Inn received August 27, 2016. Response and pictures sent September 12, 2016.
   2. Query from Margaret Sinclair (Herkimer County Historical Society) received September 9, 2016 regarding the Hometown Heroes Banner. Reply sent September 12, 2016.
8. Sylvia indicated that the Town of Cairo has relinquished ownership of the Cairo throw to the Cairo Historical Society and she has ordered 20 throws.
9. John indicates that the Harvest Festival will run for one day only on October 8, 2016. The CHS will have a table there. Sylvia and Sherry will man the table. Elizabeth Brinkerhoff will be selling her book on organizing and donating the proceeds of the book to the CHS. The book sells for $10.
10. CHS volunteers manned the CHS booth at the Balloon Festival in August. Many thanks to Sherry True, Neil and Sharon Schoenfeld, Pat Ublacker, Richie Obach, Sylvia Hasenkopf and granddaughter Eva Stock for volunteering. We raised $173.00.
    Ron mentioned that we really need to purchase CHS banners for the front of the tables at events. We should get a couple of quotes – RTKS and
11. Sylvia brought in a few photos which Jeff Waldron has kindly shared with the CHS. Very old and very unique pictures.
    1. Woodstock Bridge – can see the old dam in before the power dam, so the picture dates to the early decades of the 20^th century.
    2. Gayhead School Students – 1932-33, students and teacher named
    3. Woodstock School Students – 1904, teacher and students named

Richie Obach moved to close the business meeting at 7:45pm, Mark Grupe seconded the motion. All agreed. 

Russ Ekstom, the co-owner of the Inn at Hill Crest Manor with his husband, Will DeBonis, provided a brief history of the Inn.

Russ and Will purchased the property in 2005 and they have made extensive restorations and renovations to the property over the last ten years.  

The earliest written evidence that Russ has of the Inn's existence is an ad in a newspaper in 1901. At that time Abraham Millett was the proprietor. The earliest picture of the Inn is dated 1905. In the late 1930s, Joseph Scholz and Carl Riedlbauer purchased the Inn and with their wives operated a very successful tourist business. By the late 1960s, Carl Riedlbauer and Mrs. Scholz were the owners of the property. When the Bypass was built, the property north of the Bypass was sold to Julius Bitters who continued to operate the Inn for the remainder of the 1970s. The Inn then became a rooming house and later was used as a private residence. 

Russ and Will have brought the Inn back to life and operate it today as a Country Inn and wedding venue. They have purchased two additional properties and converted one of the buildings into the Henry House, part of the Inn at Hill Crest manor complex.  

Russ invited everyone on personal tour of the Inn. 

The Cairo Historical Society extends their many thanks to Russ for an entertaining and hospitable evening.

Cairo Historical Society
Minutes October 20, 2016
Sylvia Hasenkopf, Secretary 

Members Present:  John Kargoe, Gail Kargoe, Linda Larsen, Ron Hasenkopf, Sylvia Hasenkopf, Elton Rouse, Robert Uzzilia, Sherry B. True 

Guests: Valerie White

President John Kargoe called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. 

1. Minutes from the June 15, 2016, July 21, 2016 and August 18, 2016 meetings were reviewed and approved.  Sherry B. True motioned to accept the minutes as written, Robert Uzzilia seconded the motion. All agreed and the motion was passed.
2. Sylvia indicated that we are still waiting for a date from Gemini Construction to move the CHS Headquarters back onto its foundation.
3. The Hometown Heroes book is still with the publisher, Flint Mine Press. We are cautiously optimistic that the book will be back from the printer before Christmas.
4. Thanks to Gemini Construction, the Hometown Heroes Banners in Acra, Purling and Round Top are down. We are scheduled to go out on Sunday (October 30) to remove the banners in South Cairo. John indicated that Mike Adrian stated that the Town can assist after November 11^th. That is way too late for the banners to come down. So efforts will be made to find an alternate crew to take down the rest of the banners.
5. The William G. Pomeroy Foundation has indicated that they are not liking the last line of the proposed marker. The Foundation generally does not like statements on the markers that could change with time. The last line indicated that the Town of Cairo was the third largest town in Greene County. Sylvia asked if there was some other fact about the Town of Cairo that we could use. Robert suggested something about the Susquehannah Turnpike, or the Greene County Fair or the CMRR. Sylvia indicated that we only have two lines of 26 characters, so it would be quite difficult to include enough info on any of those topics. In fact, it would make sense to have a historic marker dedicated to each of these topics. Sylvia indicated she would be looking into the history books for ideas. Only have until mid November to get the response back to the William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
6. Sylvia indicated that the CHS had an amazing day at the Harvest Festival. Elizabeth Brinkerhoff donated $100.00 on the sale of her book, we sold $87.00 in raffle tickets for the Panorama picture and we sold $573.37 in item sales, for a total of $760.37. Many thanks go out to Sherry B. True, Sylvia Hasenkopf and Howard Parmalee for manning the CHS booth.
7. John indicated that the Railroad Committee met and has been persuing a new fundraising initiative with a railroad theme, a railroad spike with the name CHS name on it. Augie Freeman has indicated that he would be willing to manufacture the spikes when his schedule opens up.
8. The CHS will take a booth at Gallagher’s for the Cairo Christmas Parade. Sherry and Sylvia will man the booth.
9. Robert indicated that he would ask Fran Monahan to speak at the next meeting about the Monday Council Club of Cairo.

 Gail made a motion to close the Business Meeting at 8:00pm. Sherry B. True seconded the motion and all agreed. 

Discussion Topic for October 2016: Snowmobile Clubs of Cairo 

There were five snowmobile clubs in the Town of Cairo in the mid 1970s and 1980’s: the CPR (Cairo, Purling, Round Top), the Cock and Bottle, the Trail Jumpers, the Bogie Wheelers and the Round Top Raiders. 

Sylvia has found no particular information on the CPR Club or Round Top Raiders Club as of yet. The CHS just received two jackets from the Round Top Raiders Club. 

Sylvia showed a scan of the Bogie Wheelers patch. She had borrowed the original from Jimmy Warner.  

Sylvia showed scan of the Trail Jumpers patch and ten pictures of the club and their trips to the Adirondacks courtesy of Bob Cummings. Bob provided a partial list of members to the club: Morty Lynch, Kurt Eiffler and wife Arlene, Bob Cummings and his wife Ann, Fred Kerner and his wife, Phil Kerner and his wife, Al Pforte and his wife and some “City” folks.  

Sylvia showed scans of the Cock and Bottle Club. A great picture with members David and Fran Ricci, Wally Maassmann, Kay Sulger, Don Timmerman, Ed Maassmann, Phyllis Huntley, Johanna Bauer, Trudy Timmerman, Florence Tomkiewicz, Margaret Rivenburg, Martha and George Shilling, Al Tomkiewicz, Don Huntley, Vita Baglio, Ray Suttmeier, and Joe Baglio.  

More efforts are being made to locate more information and photos about the clubs so we can do an article about the clubs in the next Cairo Herald.

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