Despite the mild winter so far in our region these days, beating "cabin fever" can be done by attending such annual events as Ice Harvest at Hanford Mills Museum, the Cooperstown Winter Carnival, or this weekend's Polar Bear Jump on Goodyear Lake, to name a few.
Schenevus once had an annual winter event that brought people together, called the Sucker Haul.
It wasn't just a social gathering, it provided fish in many peoples' diets for quite awhile.
Like every year, the 1912 edition of the Sucker Haul took place at the Schenevus Electric Light and Power Co., once found alongside the Schenevus Creek.
This area was good for fishing, but not for sucker fish, as this species was known to prey upon spawning beds of more desirable fish in the area water.
The Sucker Haul was intended to take the less desirable sucker fish out, so bass, pickerel and other game fish could thrive.
The Oneonta Star of Tuesday, Jan. 23, 1912, said the previous Saturday's Sucker Haul "was an event second only to fair days in that thriving village. Fully a hundred men, including numerous visitors from nearby villages and the city of Oneonta, participated in the day's sport."
"This is one of the days in the year when 'Mel' Baldwin forgets all about such a thing as a law practice and dons his felt boots and fur cap and helps 'drive' the fish; when 'Herb' Bernard, ignores the prize offered by the Mutual Life Insurance company for the agent writing the largest amount of new business and equipped with rubber boots and hunting coat, etc., directs the hauling of the net, and when John Graney abandons the road and his bag of drugs for a day's sport with the boys."
To get these sucker fish out of the Schenevus Creek on this festive day, it was first necessary to get a permit from what was then called the State Conservation Commission.
An inspector had to be on hand to observe activities. According to the Star, an "Inspector McAllister" of Middleburgh was present. The small number of pickerel brought out of the water in this exercise was quickly returned to the water, unharmed.
If you envision this as a bunch of men standing around the ice with fishing poles, think again.
As the Star explained, "First a channel is cut in the ice about eight inches wide, directly across the stream, and into this is dropped the net weighted and with poles the bottom of the net is held upstream, while close to the bank the small channel is filed with limbs of trees so that the fish cannot swim around the net. Those not assigned to draw the net or watch the approach of the fish, either at the net or a few rods above the net, then go some distance up the stream and proceed down stream on the ice, drumming incessantly upon the top of the ice with sticks or axes. There were about 40 men engaged … in this operation of 'driving.'"
The noise caused the fish to move toward the net. When a good number were observed to be caught in the net, "Pull," shouted Bernard, "and out comes the net with anywhere from 50 to 200 of the fish from the ice below."
About 10 hauls of this method were made in five hours, netting a reported 1,245 sucker fish.
"At noon a halt was called and all partook of refreshments, provided by the officers of the company. After the final haul was made, the fish were placed in big bran bags and drawn to the plant of the lighting company and dumped on the floor. It was a sight indeed to see the fish piled together. Visitors were first invited to help themselves to what they wanted and the remainder were taken by the home people, after a liberal supply had been sent to all the needy people of Schenevus. There was an abundance for all and a generous number were sent to the Fox hospital here," the Star concluded.
On Monday: A recently retired New York Yankee said hello to Oneonta in 1991.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Mark Simonson
Fish for all takers at a 1912 winter event in Schenevus
- Mark Simonson
-
-
A Main Street facelift for Oneonta in the 1920s
It has been just a little over 30 years, 1980 in fact, that Main Street in Oneonta went through a major transformation in appearance. Even now I'll hear mixed comments about the changes, which included antique style lamps, trees, planters and brick trim. Some liked the changes while others liked the wider street with the even-sized sidewalks.
-
Perfect attendance by Saturday’s Bread for 20 years in Oneonta
Oneonta became a settlement and has been a place to do one's "trading," whether it was the 18th century, or 2012, because of the five valleys that converge here. Only the places of doing the "trading" have changed a bit over the last 100 years, and Oneonta remains a place that attracts visitors and has always been a decent place to live and work.
100 Years Ago -
Recalling the Hindenburg, John D. Rockefeller in May 1937
A young person of 75 years ago may still recall where they were or what they were doing in the month of May, as two big news events took place. They were the Hindenburg disaster and the passing of billionaire John D. Rockefeller. There were some local connections with both news items.
-
Oneonta residents had diversions aplenty in the spring of 1952
It is always good to keep up with current events. However, it is starting to become an unwritten requirement to seek some diversions from staying up to date on news, as for some it can become overwhelming or depressing.
-
Damaschke essential to ensuring Oneonta baseball in 1927
Oftentimes, in the distant past, the place you worked for became a social nucleus in the village or town. Employees at large companies such as Endicott-Johnson Shoe Co. or IBM in the Binghamton area took part in activities after work such as sports, music and theater, both in and out of town, to represent their company.
- Monday, May 7, 2012
-
Area tunes to WONT in November 1972
As a youngster growing up in the area and having a fascination with radio broadcasting, I used to consider it a part-time hobby to put the earphone into my transistor radio and go exploring what was out there to listen to, up and down the dial. It was indeed a long-distance journey at night when listening to AM radio, as you could hear live and locally staffed stations from Chicago, Windsor/Detroit, Atlanta and New Orleans, to name a few cities. I never spent a lot of time listening to FM radio 40 years ago, simply because there wasn't the same "excitement" of the long-distance journey. Little did I realize, things were changing locally on that "other" band of radio frequencies that included decimal points.
- Saturday, May 5, 2012
-
Congressman Fairchild added downtown growth in 1912
Another case of wandering imagination struck this historian recently, while learning about the building at 244-248 Main St. in Oneonta, storefronts for the Autumn Café and Razzle Dazzle. This structure is known as the Fairchild block, and it turns 100 this year.
- Monday, April 30, 2012
-
From no TV to saving eagles, it was life in April 1982
No television. No place to pay the phone bill. No more Spaulding's baked goods. Possibly no more Center Street School. While these were some of the noes in the news of our area in April 1982, there were some yeses as well, including a new structure at Corning Inc. of Oneonta and help to save bald eagles.
- Saturday, April 28, 2012
-
A daily newspaper for Oneonta was an achievement in 1887
Depending on the electronic device you have these days, accessing news can be made nearly as soon as something happens. Oneontans of 125 years ago got their news on a weekly basis, courtesy of The Oneonta Herald.
- Monday, April 23, 2012
-
Area saw Hollywood stars up close in April 1952
It has been a mighty long time since Greer Garson, Victor Jory, Don Taylor and Audrey Totter drew big numbers of people at the box office of our local movie theaters. Make it 60 years, in fact. Now generations removed from popularity, some are still able to remember the names of these four movie stars who paid a visit to our area in late April 1952.
- Saturday, April 21, 2012
-
Spring tree plantings were numerous in 1927
None of my calendars at home or at my other workplaces show that April 27 of this year is Arbor Day.
- Monday, April 16, 2012
-
Nuclear weapon debates were plentiful in April 1982
Plan for a nuclear war -- or seek a nuclear weapons freeze. That was a frequent debate going on in our region during the month of April 1982.
- Saturday, April 14, 2012
-
A Titanic survivor stopped in Oneonta days after disaster
Edward Bean was one amongst the lucky one-third of the passengers aboard the Titanic who lived to tell about the disaster of the ill-fated ship that sank after hitting an iceberg on April 15, 1912. Only about a week after the disaster, Bean was in Oneonta, on his way home to Cincinnati.
- Monday, April 9, 2012
-
Simonson: April 1952 brought educational developments in Oneonta
There were some interesting new developments in education in Oneonta during the month of April 1952. These took place in the public and private schools, as well as on the Hartwick College campus.
- Saturday, April 7, 2012
-
Oneonta's first automobile exhibition took place in April 1917
An automobile show as large as those in Albany or Utica. That was the heady claim of the organizers of Oneonta's first such show, set for early April 1917.
- Monday, April 2, 2012
-
Thruway bridge collapsed 25 years ago into Schoharie Creek
I had just started my evening music shift at a Binghamton radio station on Sunday evening, April 5, 1987, with a network newscast at the top of the hour.
- Saturday, March 31, 2012
-
Oneonta responded to declaration of World War I
"President Asks For War."
- Monday, March 26, 2012
-
Devastating fire, loss in sports status, education made major area news in March 1982
A fire destroyed a foundry in Morris, Hartwick College basketball dropped a division level, two schools considered a merger, and a local Odyssey of the Mind was born. These news items and more made for a busy month in March 1982.
- Saturday, March 24, 2012
-
Useful advice for farmers came to the area in 1912
It is practically a rite of autumn for high school students, or college students looking to transfer to a different college.
- Monday, March 19, 2012
-
St. Mary's Church of Oneonta dedicated 55 years ago
"With solemn, historic pageantry, the Most Rev. William A. Scully, bishop of Albany, yesterday dedicated the new St. Mary's Church."
-
A Main Street facelift for Oneonta in the 1920s
