Thirty years ago this week, the Buffalo Bills were thrilling, and grabbing the attention, of our community as much as they do now.
However, a mid-week edition of the OBSERVER showed that many other things were going on, just like now. The Wednesday, Oct. 7 paper that year managed to make no mention of the Bills — except in an ad.
The front page of the sports section was dominated by Chautauqua County sports. The Bills, meanwhile, were in the midst of their regular season and wound up going to their third straight Super Bowl.
Let’s take a dive into that OBSERVER from 30 years ago. Since we’re talking sports, we’ll look at that section first.
Page B1
Fredonia edged Jamestown, 47-46, for its first girls high school swimming victory over Jamestown in five seasons. In cross country, Beth Reed of Fredonia and Nolan Swanson of Sherman set Jamestown course records, with Sherman winning the team competition.
Dunkirk beat Gowanda, 20-14, in JV football. Brocton won a youth football game over Falconer by the odd score of 2-0. (A Brocton runner fumbled on the Falconer 1-yard line in the fourth quarter and Falconer recovered — but then their quarterback was sacked in the end zone for a safety on the next play.)
A sizable article on the page profiled two local inductees to the Western New York Softball Hall of Fame: Dale Till and Robert “Sookie” Tworek.
The rest of the sports section focused on National Hockey League and Major League Baseball action.
Page B9
This was an entertainment page, with movie ads. The Cine was still going and had strong movies in “A League of Their Own” and “Batman Returns.” However, the outfit that would soon put the Cine out of business, Movieplex 59, had movies on all eight screens. It had deep fare such as “Sneakers” and “Last of the Mohicans,” and ridiculous stuff like “Captain Ron” and “Mr. Baseball.”
Page A1
An article discussed a proposal for upgrades at the Fredonia High School tennis courts.
Page A3
Fredonia experienced a water main break in the Howard Street area. The Department of Public Works Director at the time, Richard Lascola — remembered as “Chico” by veteran Fredonians — said it took from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. to fix the break.
In other news, Tops on Vineyard Drive changed hands. The parent company of the supermarket chain, Niagara Frontier Service Inc. of Buffalo, took over the franchise from owners Jerry Trindel and Jane Egan. The story noted how the Vineyard Drive location opened in June 1984, replacing a store on East Main Street in Fredonia.
The Vineyard Drive store wound up moving across the street a few years later and the Tops chain has changed hands several times since then. The current site of Tops hosted a Hills department store and a Fay’s Drugs in 1992.
Page A4
Dennis Palmer of Silver Creek, complaining about county taxes in a letter to the editor, closed this way: “I hope your readers will join me in November in voting against every incumbent. We, the voters, must send the politicians a strong message that current spending habits, taxation levels and political quackery will no longer be tolerated.”
Page A5
The Dunkirk Local Development Corporation approved a loan to renovate the former YMCA building near the Dunkirk-Fredonia line on Central Avenue into Lifestyles Health and Racquet Club. A tanning salon, juice bar and weight room were set to get added on.
Page A6
Some residents of Chestnut Street in Gowanda complained to the village board about a burned out house at the end of the road. Since the property was in foreclosure, officials said there was little they could do to move along demolition of the property.
Page A7
This page featured a story about the second of four public hearings about a possible merger between the Ripley and Westfield school districts.
There was also an ad for Ehlers furniture store on Central Avenue in Dunkirk. They encouraged readers to “Order Now for Christmas” and offered recliners in a “buy one get one” sale.
Page A10
This was a full-page ad for JC Penney at the D and F Plaza. The ad offered men’s slacks on sale for $21.99 (regular price $25) and women’s turtlenecks for $8.99 (regularly $10.99).
And here was the only mention of the Buffalo Bills in the entire paper. “Penney’s” had 20% off Bills T-shirts, hats and other clothing.