May 16, 1916 Petition to Pave Village Streets

“A Special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Village of Interlaken was held at the regular meeting place at 7:30 o’clock P.M. on May 16^th, 1916,” so begins the minutes of that meeting.

The purpose of the meeting was to accept and act on a petition signed by twenty-five “duly qualified electors,” requesting a special election to submit a “Proposition to Pave Streets” to the voters.

The petition asked the Board and voters to approve a bond, not to exceed $3,000, to be used to pave Cayuga Street from Main Street to Geneva Street, Geneva Street from Cayuga Street to Rail Road Street, and Rail Road Street from Geneva Street to Main Street.”

The paving was to be Water Bond Macadam and the width of paving 14 feet.

The Mayor, M. K. Medlock, and trustees M. Sniffin and J. H. Flagg accepted the petition and set May 31^st for the special election.

The Interlaken Review on Friday, June 2, 1916 reported, “131 taxpayers voted, and of this number 53 were ladies.” They voted in favor of raising the $3,000 “to macadamize” the selected streets, 97 yes, 32 no, and 2 void.

As one would expect of the newspaper editor, he seemed to enjoy playing with words. In reporting on the vote, he noted, they were “in favor of advancement, and to get out of the old ruts.”

On August 24, 1916, the Geneva Daily Times reported, “The work of improving the streets of the village goes on apace. Geneva Street from Railroad to Cayuga Street is now torn up, preparatory to building the hard road. One stretch of Railroad Street has been rolled and the filler is being applied.”

How refreshing the process was back then. A petition in early May, an election and then the work begun.

Dewitt’s Diary May 16, 1945 to 1948

Wednesday May 16, 1945 Finished buzzing E. Wilson’s wood today. Tried the trout fishing.

Thursday May 16, 1946 Mostly cloudy and rain this morning. Sold some wheat to Isaac Hill for chickens. Wheat is $2.28 per bushel. Drove over to the Burg tonight. Showers tonight.

Friday, May 16, 1947 Digging ditch. Some oats and peas are in but not many. Temperature 43 this morning.

Sunday, May 16,1948 Cloudy and acting like rain. A little rain this morning.

Drove up south of Minor’s with Bunny to see plane which crashed there. A Rochester pilot and prominent surgeon killed. A sad looking sight. [Newspapers report the crash site as an area of the Hector Grazing Lands.]

Interlaken won over Watkins in a fine ball game today.