100 Years Ago, 1925: The local authorities, at the direction of Mayor S.E. Turner and W.M. Powel, director of public safety, yesterday, and upon the recommendation of Dr. H.C. Donahoo, city physician, placed a ban on the penny “snowballs,” a concoction of shaved ice flavored with fruit syrups. The contention of the authorities is, that in many instances, the syrup used are not pure, in accordance with the provision of the pure food law, and that the ice and syrups are exposed to the dust and dirt from the streets, thereby providing the foundation for an epidemic of contagious disease among the children, the buyers of flavored balls of ice.
75 Years Ago, 1950: A new junior high school in midcity started on the road to reality Monday night when the Chester School Board voted to float a $460,000 bond issue to finance its construction. The proposed school will be built wing by wing, with the first section ready for occupancy by September 1951, according to Norman W. McKeever, board president. Site of the new school was not disclosed but McKeever was emphatic in saying it would be near the center of town.
50 Years Ago, 1975: Sections of Delaware County were blasted by lightning and lashed by rain Thursday night and early this morning, while other areas had no storm at all. The Marple police station was hit by lightning at 11:30 p.m. and lost all power. Police worked with flashlights and radio communications. At 9 a.m. today only half the lights were on at the station.
25 Years Ago, 2000: Clouds of white dust plumed as brick after brick came crashing down yesterday, closing a long and arduous chapter in the lives of 41 Chestnut Street families in Darby Borough. The demolition of homes on the 1200 and 1400 blocks of Chestnut began yesterday, attracting several neighbors and some of the less fortunate residents who lived in the row of houses when Darby Creek overflowed its banks and flooded the neighborhood last year. Few can forget Sept. 16, the day Hurricane Floyd ravaged Delaware County.
10 Years Ago, 2015: Chester Township Council Chairman Bob May presented a resolution and plaque to David Lancit, Exelon Corporation Mid-Atlantic peaking division operations manager, for his selfless acts and assistance with the youth of the community. Lancit, who is the business relations director for the Chester Township Cougars Youth Association (CTCYA), assists in raising funds that helps the nonprofit organization offset its financial burdens. He was instrumental in obtaining a $10,000 contribution for the CTCYA from the Exelon Corp.
