Other Times
100 Years Ago – 1917: Chester High School students are pointing the way for the youths of the city and county. Yesterday a surge of patriotic ardor enveloped the institution which had for concrete results the formation of a Red Cross First Aid Class among the girls and a full military company among the boys, with other country high school expected to follow. Several score of boys planned the military company’s formation with the consent of Principal J.G.E. Smedley. Prof. George R. Pedlow of the faculty, a Spanish-American war veteran, accepted an invitation to act as drill master for the students.
75 Years Ago – 1942: A freak spring snowfall hit Chester and its suburbs yesterday. The storm played havoc with the usual trek to the seashore. Atlantic City, the scene of the annual Palm Sunday boardwalk fashion preview, was virtually deserted with the exception of a few hardy souls who appeared self-conscious in Easter finery not in keeping with the cold, blustery winds.
50 Years Ago – 1967: An estimated 12,000 persons attended Wednesday’s opening of the Chester Centennial Exposition. More than 3,000 crowded into the huge Sun Center auditorium during the first hours. Chester Mayor
James H. Gorbey and Exposition Chairman Sam Balestrieri cut the ribbon. The attraction was more than 100 industrial exhibits ranging from orthopedic lounge chairs to a 6-foot high sausage, the weight of which spectators are asked to guess.
25 Years Ago – 1992:
Several unilateral decision by Chester Mayor Barbara Bohannan-Sheppard have made her a lonely faction of one on the five-person City Council after just 85 days in office. The mayor is one of three Democrats on council, all of whom staged huge upsets to break the GOP’s control of council held since the start of the century. Democratic colleagues
Chuck McLaughlin and Annette Burton said the division started in January with what he said was Bohannan-Sheppard’s political naiveté. Perhaps the most notorious example of their concerns is the mayor’s appointment of a convicted rapist and murderer as her administrative assistant.
10 Years Ago – 2007: The Chichester School Board reviewed current and future construction projects at its recent committee meeting. The district is building a new Hilltop Elementary School on Cherry Tree Road adjacent to the existing school.