10 years ago
April 14, 2011: About 70 military and civilian personnel took part in a mass-casualty drill, with about 150 helping to put it together Wednesday at Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield on Fort Drum. The drill simulated 200 soldiers flying in from overseas who had been exposed to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus. Since the post doesnât have its own hospital, the local medical community has to react to emergencies that happen on Fort Drum. To date, there have been no major disease-related incidents on post.
25 years ago
April 14, 1996: The third fire in less than a year at Paul Smithâs College is suspected as arson. A Molotov cocktail â a crude grenade â apparently was used early Sunday morning on the roof of Cantwell Hall, a two-story wood frame classroom building. The state policeâs Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Ray Brook is heading up the case. Two fires last year destroyed the collegeâs Longtin Cafeteria and a 40-student d
3:45
Carl Eliason’s hand-built 1924 motor toboggan is on display in Sayner’s Snowmobile Museum, and Eliason’s design was the prototype for the modern snowmobile. While Eliason’s model became the most successful, it was not the first, and Northwoods residents experimented with all sorts of snow machines before settling on Eliason’s toboggan.
One of the earliest attempts at over-snow travel accompanied the bicycle craze of the 1890s. In Wisconsin people experimented with bicycles equipped with runners and gripping fins. Unsurprisingly, this did not last long. A few steam propelled sleighs appeared, and as early as 1895 a couple of inventors in Brule, Wisconsin, submitted a design for a propeller-sled. However, the most successful design that predated Eliason came out of New Hampshire in 1917.
Cecil and Marsha Bell enjoy sweet time together before he became ill with COVID-19. Submitted Photo
LAVALE â Cecil Bell was strong and full of energy. His regular activities ranged from extensive yard work to lifting 50-pound boxes of produce for the local food bank.
He spent much of his time volunteering to help others.
He and his wife, Marsha â a priest associate at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Cumberland â were childhood friends in Sweeny, Texas, and in 2015 reconnected at their 50-year high school reunion.
They married the following year and lived in LaVale.
âHospitality, friendliness, work for the needy,â is part of the way Marsha Bell describes her husband.