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Let's Go Back for Aug. 29, 2014

by jmaloni

•Taken from the Aug. 29 Island Dispatch

Fri, Sep 5th 2014 04:15 pm

40 Years Ago, Aug. 21, 1974

A winner!

Grand Island Figure Skating Club's float took top honors in the general category Saturday at the Erie County Fair's Fun Parade. The float had previously won first place at Grand Island's Fourth of July parade. The float was designed by Mrs. Walter Keller, with Mr. and Mrs. Don Valone serving as chairmen.

30 Years Ago, Aug. 17, 1984

Earliest bridge work to set detours

Efforts toward reconstruction of the first of the four Grand Island bridges will have little effect on drivers entering and leaving the Island this fall.

The older north bridge, 50 next year and first on the schedule to be rehabilitated, probably won't have much done to it in the work period expected to start in September and end around Thanksgiving, according to Thruway Authority Deputy Chief Engineer Robert C. Donnaruma.

Mr. Donnaruma explained details of work plans Tuesday in the Holiday Inn at a meeting of the Grand Island Bridges Reconstruction Advisory committee with Thruway Authority Chairman Henry A. Bersani of Syracuse. The meeting was arranged by Assemblyman William B. Hoyt and his staff.

Most of the fall period will be spent preparing for spring 1985 construction: i.e., setting up detours and signs on Buffalo Avenue and the exits from the Robert Moses Parkway in Niagara Falls and installing traffic lights on I-190, both at the point traffic merges to cross the river going south and at a point just south of Burnt Ship Creek to control traffic going north.

20 Years Ago, Aug. 19, 1994

Reality Café gets boost from community

At long last organizers of the '50s Dance held earlier in the summer presented the proceeds to members of Reality Café, the teen meeting place at the Nike Base. The delay for the fund transfer was caused by the establishment of a separate account for the group at M&T Bank. This account will enable Reality Café members to plan specific activities. Donations of food items, donuts, coffee, chips and candy are always welcome from organizations or individuals.

Another fundraiser in the works, in which members will assist, is a Family Halloween Dance set for Oct. 29 at the Knights of Columbus Hall on Whitehaven Road. Costumes are encouraged and special activities will be planned for all ages.

Reality Café is open Friday and Saturday evenings for high school age people. There is a pool table, hockey table and all sorts of board games available. The music is always on and the snacks are available at a reasonable break-even price.

10 Years Ago, Aug. 20, 2004

Islander crowned Erie County Fair Princess

Carissa Bailey of Grand Island won the honor of Erie County Fair Princess for 2004 at the Erie County Fairgrounds on Aug. 11.

A 15-year-old student at Grand Island High School where she will be a junior this fall, Bailey admitted that she was crying when she learned of her selection as the Erie County Fair Princess.

"I just wanted to go and hug my mom," she said. "It was an amazing moment to be crowned."

Bailey said she has always wanted to be a role model to other girls and that this experience allows her to do so.

Bailey plans on pursuing a music degree in college with ambitions of becoming a teacher.

First runner up at America's Fair was another Islander, Charlotte Booth, age 15.

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