Dancing must end at midnight on New Years Eve: This week in Mohawk Valley history

1971, 52 years ago

Top job

Richard C. Gerstenberg, who was born and grew up in Herkimer County, is elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer of General Motors, manufacturer of motor vehicles, refrigerators, air conditioners, electric ranges and much more.

He was born in Little Falls in 1909 and graduated in 1927 from a high school in the nearby village of Mohawk. He entered the University of Michigan and earned a degree there in 1931. He joined General Motors in 1932 as a timekeeper with the Frigidaire division in Dayton, Ohio. He was paid $125 a month.

(Gerstenberg died in his home in Paradise Valley, Arizona, in 2002 at age 92. He was buried in Troy, Michigan. Interestingly, in 1975, John C. Riccardo, a graduate of Little Falls High School, was elected chairman of the board and chief executive officer of the Chrysler Corporation.)

1927, 96 years ago

Dance ban

Uticans planning to celebrate New Year's Eve in area night spots will have to stop dancing promptly at midnight. New Year's Day 1928 falls on a Sunday and a local ordinance prohibits dancing on Sundays. Public Safety Commissioner W.A. Douglas says, "No permits will be issued for New Year's Eve dances to extend past midnight. I do not look upon the New Year's morning as differing from any other Sunday morning. in this matter of public dance."

1948, 75 years ago

'Drums' title

How did the novel "Drums Along the Mohawk" get its title? Walter D. Edmonds, the author from Hawkinsville in the town of Boonville, had finished his novel about the struggling colonists in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolutionary War, and had titled it, "A Starving Wilderness." Edmonds' publisher, Alfred McIntyre -- of Little, Brown & Company -- did not like the title.

He met with Edmonds and asked him: "How did news of the Revolution first reach people in the Mohawk Valley?" Edmonds replied, "When they first heard the drums of the approaching American Continental Army." So it was decided to call the novel, "Drums on the Mohawk." Later, the two men agreed that more movement was needed so they renamed the novel, "Drums Along the Mohawk."

1973, 50 years ago

Record crowd

Rock star Alice Cooper attracts a record crowd of 6,000 to the Utica Memorial Auditorium. Utica police say the crowd is very orderly on the whole, but 19 people are arrested on various drug charges.

1998, 25 years ago

Impeachment

President Bill Clinton is impeached by a 228 to 206 vote in the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice. Rep. Sherwood Boehlert, R-New Hartford, and Rep. John McHugh, R-Watertown, vote "yes" to impeach on two of four articles. Boehlert, however, asks Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott to consider censuring Clinton to avoid a long trial in the Senate. Boehlert says, "My vote to impeach should not be interpreted as to mean I believe that the removal of President Clinton from office is the only acceptable way to resolve this case." (The Senate acquitted Clinton in February 1999.)

Sixth graders Chris Lawrence and Kelly Sperling at John F. Hughes School in Utica join the school's Tonettes and Melotones -- fifth- and sixth-grade choirs --in singing Christmas carols in the cafeteria at the St. Elizabeth Medical Center. The choirs have been performing throughout the area.

In high school hockey, Joe D'Apice's hat trick leads New Hartford to an 8-2 win over Hamilton. Meanwhile, Proctor defeats Christian Brothers Academy, 6-2. Brian Reese has a hat trick and is assisted on all three goals by Joe Cracchiolo. Goalie Keith Bates had 26 saves for the winners.

Members of Brownie Girl Scout Troop 279 in Whitesboro raise $150 selling cookies and decide to donate it to the Utica Chapter of the American Red Cross. They include Marissa Langett, Christina and Katharyn Wendt, Alicia and Ashley Spina, Allie Morosco, Sara Seiselmyer, Hilary Althoff, Elizabeth Cox, Carrie Bednarz, Jenna Konyak, Brittany Wrobel and Nicole Foley.

2013, 10 years ago

Library director

Elina Shneyder is named director of the New Hartford Public Library by its board of trustees. The board's new slate of officers include Jay Winn, president; Ed Flemma, vice president; John Klein, secretary, and Heather Mowat, treasurer.

The Utica & Mohawk Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society installs a new history marker on French Road near Chenango Avenue. The old one -- installed in 1998 -- was damaged in a car accident. The sign reads: "Former Utica Branch of the Old & Weary ... the New York, Ontario and Western Railroad ... Completed in 1871 as the Utica, Clinton & Binghamton Railroad ... Abandoned March 29, 1957." Installing the sign are Doug Preston, chapter president; Harry Lenz, vice president; Al Gorney, secretary, and member Gerald Coyne. (The chapter continues to meet monthly in Zion Lutheran Church in New Hartford and welcomes all railroad buffs and friends.)

In high school girls basketball, Oriskany defeats West Canada Valley, 36-25. Hannah Hoehn has 16 points and seven steals for the winners. Morgan Wolanin has nine rebounds, Jordan Sahl has seven rebounds and Madison Zizzi has seven points and six steals. West Canada is led by Carissa Tasovac's eight points.

Trivia quiz

When this U.S. president was sworn into office, he used his nickname instead of the name given to him at birth. Name him. (Answer will appear here next week.)

Answer to last week's question: Martin Van Buren, eighth president of the United States from 1837 to 1841, was the first president born a citizen of the United States. He was born in 1782 after the Revolutionary War and was never a British subject. The seven presidents before him were born British subjects before the war -- Washington, John Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams and Jackson.

This Week in History is researched and written by Frank Tomaino. E-mail him at ftomaino221@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: This week in history in Mohawk Valley