While browsing around in some folders I rarely use on my main PC's desktop, I located this document that I assembled when I was doing research on my alma mater's founding. A couple of days ago a FB friend created a private group for alumni from every year, kind of ironic. So many people are popping up in the feed. Anyway, I created this from Elwyn's diary.

1949 JANUARY 12 Wednesday  16/7am 32/12pm Mostly cloudy, wind light.  Cold raw weather.  Moderating at evening, with light snow flurries. Did usual chores, sent Ulster Co News copy to Lewis Bell, Cornelia.  This pm mulched Ollie Burgher's strawberry patch with 3 dray loads pine boughs, also brought home load green firewood. Tonight I took Mort & Mary Roe & Ollie to Parish Hall in Phoenicia for Centralized School meeting vote on the purchase of 34 ¾ acres of land owned by Leonard Colange for Onteora Centralized School site at Boiceville - Big crowd present.  The vote was 272 in favor 87 against.


1950 APRIL 14  Friday  26/7am 32/12pm Arrived snowy and ground white (7 1/2" fall reported in Schnectady)  The ground was white with heavier fall up the valley, continued along rather blizzardy toward noon, then broke away & sunny pm.  Raw cold day northerly wind.  I went to Phoenicia this am with Joe Steinlauf, Lester S. Davis & Joe Winkler as bearers at Catholic Church funeral 11 oco for the late Gene Lohrs sister. Interment in Allaben Catholic Cemetery - only 3 members of the family made trip up from city.  There was about 3" snow on cemetery.  This pm I took load wood up for Ollie. This evng I took Mort & Mary Roe, Ollie to the $1,850,000 bond issue vote at Phoenicia Parish Hall, for the Onteora Central School at Boiceville. Proposition heavily carried - 968 to 231.  After voting we saw the picture, a musical comedy, Nancy Goes to Rio


1953 January 5, Monday — 16 degrees at 7 AM   22 at 12 PM. Pretty cold night and a cold raw day with PM snow flurries & southerly wind. Starlight and later moonlight evening & stilled. Did daily chores & odd jobs. The West Shokan Fire Dept had an early PM call to dangerous chimney fire in the nearing factory room addition at Peter Bitterman's residence, the former Abram B Winchell place. An over heated coal fire cracked the flue entrance to chimney and caused rustic log effect siding to take fire.. This evening Ollie and I went to Phoenicia & saw Stars and Stripes Forever, vividly depicting the musical career of the famous band leader John Philip Sousa. The cafeteria at the Onteora Central School opened in charge of Mrs Lester Barringer.

I am cold today (not complaining). So I was curious about the weather in various years:

1920 April 16, Friday — Cloudy –  threatening, squally this AM & evng. Run the mill, sawed 3304 ft.


1934 April 16, Monday — Another dismal drenching rain nearly all day. While I was writing news this AM Daisy was doing the chores and in throwing hay for the horses in Aunt Cornelia’s barn fell in the hay chute & hurt her side badly under right arm. She had a hard day and night. Rec’d card Mariam, also wrote one. Harlow McLean & Will Jordan called. I wrote another Freeman copy tonight. Rebekah box party evng at Mr & Mrs Ayers at Brodhead.


1941 APRIL 16  Wednesday. Partly cloudy- Continued summer weather - Winds westerly to north.  Gave my car a good washing am - Daisy and I strung fence wire pm.  Mother attended Ladies Aid at church - This evng in company with Arthur Trowbridge and his car, Will Gordon, Frank Booth & Harlowe McLean, attended annual session of I.O.O.F. Ulster District Grand Comm. At William H. Raymond Lodge No59, Saugerties. Ernest Shirmer of Catskill Mtn Lodge No48 named District Deputy. I was re-elected Sec y but salary cut from $50 to $25 annually. Second anniversary of M J Every's funeral

1956 APRIL 16 Monday. Rainy night and continued till 10am. Very dark this am but brightened and warmer - followed by intermittent downpours. Sun broke thru briefly early pm & thermometer went up in early 70.  Thunder shower banged around south east. Did chores & finished splitting & piling up the slab wood under shed.  Rec'd letter from Mariam in Brooklyn - she & Bob had been cleaning out the house basement - with its memories.

1975 April 16, Wednesday   43 at 7 AM   50 at 9 PM. Continued chilly with variable cloudiness. Sun shone warm, continued PM. Hazy starlight & growing crescent moon over south mountain evng. Finished a letter to Mariam. Buddy Eckert came PM & cut up the rest of the hams. Then took Ollie and I to Boiceville to hardware store where I bought parsnip seed and ------?  114 paid,. also got case Town Port at Al Higleys pkg. store $15.00 paid. Later Buddy & Marty Warnes came & fired off my old flint lock rifle, also Marty’s 357 magnum colt revolver. Ollie & I had good supper first & then to bed at 9 o’clock. I also roto tilled in the garden till hands got cold.

Lots of variety in the weather! It's easy to get lost in reading the diaries, something like doing a google search! Before you know it hours have gone by. But I just have to include this wonderful piece that I ran across, written by Elwyn in 1934:

Record Cold

This generation has not experienced such cold as we have seen this winter. The memories of our oldest inhabitants and the records of the United States weather bureau agree that 34 degrees below zero is something worth remembering as no such figures are on the records or in memories of our people. Last week Cooperstown’s official weather bureau thermometer hit 34 below. At the Beatty farm in Hurley it was 33 below and from all sections of the Hudson Valley and Catskill Mountain area figures approximating these reach us. In the effort to heat houses many homes were destroyed by fire. Hospitals in all sections had victims of frost bite and some of these were serious, a few requiring amputations of fingers and toes. Water pipes generally were frozen. Coal men were kept jumping and oil companies busy with fuel oil deliveries as the weather exacted a heavy toll from the fuel supply. At White Lake a large home was destroyed by fire. Many fires occurred in the Catskill mountain region and at Palenville one of the most disastrous fires in its history ravaged a large section. In Delaware and Greene and Sullivan counties fires were numerous. Kingston city’s fire department last week was busy with four or five calls a day although none were sizeable.


This is a winter to remember. It comes after a series of mild and temperate ones during which men worked out doors much of the time and the river has been open with ferries running. This winter has seen a tie up of ferries at Poughkeepsie and Catskill and Kingston and the Newburgh ferries have had the battle of their careers as ice almost 20 inches thick had to be cut through. Yes, we have had a real old fashioned winter such as we can talk about a few years hence.

Using the " tool in a post always screws up the formatting in other ways, but here goes...