25 Years Ago
by- Beverly A. Brown

It's April 1973.

Tom and Dick Smothers are awarded $776,300 in damages for the cancellation of their CBS comedy show in 1969.

Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, 91, dies of pulmonary edema at his home in the French Riviera.

"The Waltons" receives 12 Emmy nominations.

Pepsi-Cola signs a contract to bring Pepsi to the Soviet Union

Major oil companies announce that gas rationing will begin on May 1 due to nationwide gas shortages.

Irene Ryan, who played Granny on the Beverly Hillbillies, dies at the age of 69.

Kew Gardens in London stages an exhibit of dandelions - the widespread use of selected weed killers has practically eliminated the plant in Britain's gardens.

Vice President Agnew says he considers himself as a major contender for the 1976 Republican nomination for President.

Four top Nixon aides - H. R. Haldeman, John Ehrlichman, John Dean, and Richard Kleindienst - resign.

President Nixon accepts responsibility for the Watergate affair but says that he was not personally involved in the break-in or the cover-up.

Local residents join a nationwide meat boycott to protest high prices.

The Perry Block in Binghamton (former home of McLean's) is sold. It is to become the home of Chase Manhattan Bank.

The Colonial Motor Inn in Vestal is sold to Ara Kradjian and partners. The 150-room inn opened in 1948 as an eight-unit motel.

Binghamton's largest corporate employer is GAF with 3,300 workers in the area. Locally, GAF manufactures film and photographic paper.

A nationwide shortage of gasoline could drive prices up from 36 to 50 a gallon by summer.

The Tioga County Legislative offices move from the courthouse to the old junior high school which is being renovated on a budget of less than $20,000.

The local organizer of the week-long meat boycott urges everyone to boycott meat on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The owner of a Binghamton market considers selling horsemeat - a pound of horse sirloin would sell for 95, compared to $1.79 for a pound of beef sirloin.

Tuition at BCC increases from $525 to $624 per year. Tuition at SUNY-B is $648 for freshmen and sophomores.

IBM Endicott, which currently has 9,000 employees, says it will resume limited hiring in the next two months. This would be the first hiring since 1970.

Owego Free Academy presents "Alice in Wonderland" with Jocelyn Scott in the title role.

The Owego-Apalachin Board of Education unanimously votes to close the Central Elementary School on Main Street due to declining enrollment. The board has no plans to lease or sell the 65-year-old school.

Vandals are blamed for toppling WEBO's 155-foot radio tower in the village of Owego. One of three guide wires were disconnected.

Local meat sales return to normal following the recent boycott.

Sales of high-heeled, thick-soled platform shoes are booming. Doctors warn they are dangerous!

When Hickories Park opens next month, the 50 entrance fee will still be in effect. Last summer, it cost $359 to charge a fee: the expense of operating an entrance gate was $3,087, but only $2,728 in fees was collected.

Top tunes in the Southern Tier include "The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia" by Vicki Lawrence, "Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree" by Dawn, "Sing" by the Carpenters, and "Break Up to Make Up" by the Stylistics.

Friday night TV shows include "Mission:Impossible," "Sanford and Son," "The Brady Bunch," "The Partridge Family," "The Odd Couple," "Room 222," and "The Bobby Darin Show."

Movies playing locally include "Dirty Harry," "The Emigrants," "Jeremiah Johnson," "Sleuth," "Class of '44," "Klute," "Easy Rider," and "Charlotte's Web."


©1998 BEAM