February 28, 1967 Two Trucks vs One Store

Gas Station Destroyed, so read the headline on the Interlaken Review Thursday, March 2, 1967. The front page has a picture of the two trucks that destroyed the gas station and store on Route 96 in the Hamlet of Covert.

The caption tells the whole story.

Aubrey Smith’s Store and Gas Station at Covert, which has been hit by autos before, was leveled by two tractor trailers about 10:00 a.m. Tuesday. The first driven by Wm. Meyer of Johnson City went out of control and knocked down the gas pumps before the trailer overturned strewing its load of steel across Rt. 96. The second truck, driven by Herman L. Quick of Belvedere, N.J., attempted to turn right onto a side road to avoid the first but skidded, demolishing the store. Both Smith and his son Gerald were in their nearby home when the first truck hit the pumps. Gerald rushed into the store to shut off the pumps and barely escaped the building before it was leveled.

In 2006 when the Interlaken Historical Society was preparing for the Hamlet of Covert Historic Building Tour one picture came in showing the building before the accident.

From the Ulysses Historical Society, 2016 Hamlet of Covert
Historical Building Tour

Looking at the intersection today, fifty-years later, it’s hard to imagine the building which was there.

As a side note: the Interlaken Historical Society welcomes old pictures of events within the community. If not of this event, but of other events, small and large which have happened over the years. They would be happy to scan and print a copy for their files, returning the original to the owner.

Dewitt’s Diary Tuesday, February 28, 1967

Temperature 30, partly cloudy.

Change of wind to Northwest and colder predicted. Worked in the bathroom to be this morning. Drove to Ovid and down to Bements below town to see about bathroom fixtures this afternoon.

Snow flurries and rising wind throughout the day. Temperature 15 tonight.

They brought Biri Lantos home from the hospital today. She has had a long stay of it in Ithaca hospital. [The Lantos family lived across the road from Dewitt.]