100 Years Ago:
Living’s High Cost:
On every side we are being hemmed in, and the cost of living is hemming in closer every day. Business nationally is on the toboggan and no end in sight. We are burdened with a “war tax” in a time of peace. It looks very much as tho’ influence and capital were just trying to see how much of a monkey they could make out of the Wilson administration. There is little doubt but what the speculators and some corporations were at the bottom of getting Uncle Sam to ship out all his flour, that he might speculate in wheat and raise ned with the price of flour. Sugar bids fair to come up again higher than ever and stay there. Wilson and his cabinet are as helpless as a handful of kittens, and the American nation in so far as the U.S. is concerned are running wild on an unknown sea, without a rudder.
The poor in the cities are already beginning to suffer from the price of flour, and many have long since ceased to use sugar. We are nearing a point of where we will soon be in as bad a position as the warring nations, with the exception of our men folk being able to stick to the bench or plow. Of course, we will be the first survivors when the great conflict is over, but how easily we could have gone through it all with a safe, sound administration of national affairs, and yet we hesitate to blame Wilson, as we believe he is sincere in what he has done, and not to blame for his shortcomings and failures in a political, economical and business administration.
75 Years Ago:
Sawmill Will Close Down For Rest of Winter
With the last of the logs to arrive in town from Ryan Park this afternoon or tomorrow, it is expected that the local sawmill will close down for the rest of the winter season tomorrow night or Saturday. Deep snow in the park had caused the choppers to cease work, and trucks have been busy for several days now bringing down the last of the logs.
The county road equipment which had been assisting with snow plowing operations was moved out Tuesday, and we were informed today that the R.R. Crow plow will probably be removed from the road after this week, and that activity in the Park will practically cease until spring.
It is expected, however, that the local dry-kiln will be kept in operation throughout the winter.
It is said that most of the men and their families who have been residing in Ryan Park, have moved to town or elsewhere. and that probably no more than five or six families will remain at the camp the rest of the winter.
50 Years Ago:
Firemen to Kick Off Fund Drive for Engine
An all-out drive to raise $22,000 for purchase of a new town fire truck will swing into full force Monday, according to members of the volunteer fire department. All local individuals, merchants, and organizations are being asked to help with this important project.
Fire Chief Don Herold said that in order for the local fire department to meet the ever-growing demands for protection here in town, a larger, modern engine must be secured. It is hoped that a truck capable of pumping 750 gallons of water per minute can be obtained. Fire engine specifications also call for additional booster tanks and pumps as well as a foam generating system, adequate ladders, warning devices and forced entry tools.
One of the prime recommendations made recently by an inspection team from the Mountain States Inspection Bureau was “that engine No. 1 which is reserved for municipal protection be replaced with a modern fire department pumper having capacity of at least 500 gallons per minute. Apparatus to satisfactorily pass 3 hour underwriters acceptance test upon delivery in Saratoga.”
Mr. Herold pointed out that the present truck, purchased in 1945, cannot meet the Underwriters requirements. In addition to being inadequate for present demands, it is also hard to obtain parts for the outdated engine.
Information from five different companies concerning new trucks, plus the cost and condition of two used engines.
Post cards urging donations will be sent to all local persons this weekend. Contributions can be made either to Robert O’neil, department secretary, or the Saratoga State Bank.
25 Years Ago:
Superman star makes super hit with locals during brief stop
When John Neergaard, his children, Garrett and Hayley, and his sister and brother-in-law, Judi and Dave Hennek, walked into Mom’s Kitchen last Monday night, they looked twice at the young man sitting alone in the corner.
Although he was a stranger in town, he seemed familiar- as if they knew him. To them the lone figure sitting in the corner of the local restaurant bore a striking resemblance to Christopher Reeve, the young Hollywood actor who starred in Superman movies.
But, surely if it was Christopher Reeve, wouldn’t the other people in the restaurant be making a bigger fuss, they asked themselves? And what would Christopher Reeve be doing in Saratoga in the middle of winter and on a Monday night, no less?
So, they finished their dinner and returned home without speaking to the gentleman. At the Neergaard household John’s wife, Suzi, was giving a piano lesson to Carrie Morris, the daughter of Anita Morris. They told Suzi they thought they had just seen “Superman,” but couldn’t be sure.
After talking it over, curiosity got the better of them. So they called Mom’s Kitchen and asked the waitress if she would go ask the gentleman sitting in the corner (eating hot roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy) if he was Christopher Reeve.
When the waitress told them “Yes,” It didn’t take long for them to return to Mom’s Kitchen, where they had no qualms whatsoever this time about approaching Reeve so Garrett could ask for his autograph.
“He was very nice they said, and was en route from New York to San Francisco. He needed to refuel his jet, however and said he preferred not to do so in Cheyenne. He “discovered” Saratoga and decided to stop here for his fuel.
So, the Neergaard group returned home where Carrie Morris was just finishing her piano lesson. As Carrie and her mother, Anita were walking out the door, Suzi said to them, “Why don’t you stop at Mom’s for a cup of coffee. Christopher Reeve might still be there.”
As Anita pulled into the 7-11 parking lot, she saw Reeve leave Mom’s kitchen, heading up the hill, on foot, towards the airport. “What the heck,” Anita thought and stopped and asked Reeve if he wanted a ride, which he gratefully accepted.
As she was giving him a ride to the airport, Anita told him she knew who he was because she had been at the Neergaard house. Reeve asked Anita to recommend a place to stay the night and, after Reeve had checked his jet, Anita gave him a ride back down to the Hotel Wolf. At the Wolf, Reeve checked into the newly remodeled penthouse suite.
Meanwhile, back at the Neergaard home, Suzi was fretting because she had missed out on the excitement of the evening. She suggested to John that he might want to take Garrett to the hot pool, and in the off chance that Christopher Reeve just might try out the mineral springs, Suzi gave Garrett a quarter with strict instructions to call her if Reeve was there.
When they arrived at the hot pool, Reeve was just getting out of the pool and heading toward the dressing room.
Unable to contain his excitement, Garrett remarked to the two high school boys soaking in the hot mineral waters, “Guess who just went into the dressing room? Superman!”
Well, of course, the boys didn’t believe him, so John, Garrett, Cal Wallace and Brian Schwarzkopf all went trooping into the men’s dressing room where “Cal and Brian’s eyes just about popped out,” Garrett later told his mom.
After visiting with a few minutes, Reeve left, saying he was unable to wait for Garrett to call Suzi.
The next morning as Anita Morris was driving to work, who does she spy walking up the hill, but - you guessed it - Christopher Reeve. She flipped a U-turn and again offered him a ride to the airport.
When John Neergaard went to work the next morning, he noticed Reeve’s jet still at the airport and called Suzi to tell her. Suzi, still hoping for a chance to meet the star, threw on her coat over her pajamas and she and her sister-in-law Judi Hennek drove nonchalantly past the airport and Reeve walked across the highway right in front of them. Suzi couldn’t stand it and pulled up to him. He walked to the car, saying he needed to refuel his jet and asked Suzi how to get in touch with the airport manager.
Suzi referred him to the Welton Construction offices and asked if he would mind if she took his picture because “That was my little boy you gave an autograph to last night.”
Suzi said, “Between Judi and me you would have thought we were 16 years old. He’s 6 foot four inches tall and so gorgeous, I could hardly talk.” She has given copies of his picture and autograph to practically everyone and even suggested that Mom’s Kitchen rename their hot beef sandwich the “Superman Super Beef” or something similar to that.
All in all, “Superman” seems to have been a super hit during his brief stay in Saratoga.
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