Life was anything but easy growing up on Cutler Street during the early 1940s. At the time, the bustling street in Schenectady’s Mont Pleasant neighborhood was crowded with low-income and immigrant families. Poverty was common, and there was seldom time to do anything but work.
Early July means picnics, parks and plans for the long, hot summer. Young people in the Schenectady area have always used the Fourth of July holiday to finally celebrate independence from homework, tests, school buses and early mornings. They have always found things to do -- as these photos from the '60s and '70s show. Posted on June 29, 2009.
A couple of ponies brought smiles to faces of kids in Brookside Park in Glenville in July 1967. Chris Hunt presents the four-legged friends, ridden by Ronald Altheiser, left, and Joe Gutierrez. Waiting for rides in the front row are, from left, Sandy Altheiser, Angela Parente and Sandy Gannon. In the second row, from left, are Nancy Altheiser, Cheryl DesRoches, Tina Parente, Jeffrey Otis and Michael Altheiser. In the back row are Steve Savignano and Don Dennis. (Gazette file photo)
Three members of the Mohawk Pathways Girl Scout Council prepared for adventure in early July 1973. All three were participating in the Scouts’ “Wider Opportunities” program. From left, Margaret Van Buren of Rotterdam, Diane Modic of Scotia and Barbara Wall of Ballston Lake inspect some familiar camp gear. (Gazette file photo by Sid Brown)
Heather McGough has a steady hand for a piece of watermelon and a steady eye for a horseshoe at Central Park on July 4, 1978. McGough and her family held a family reunion in the park that day. (Gazette file photo by Jim Cassin)
