Conquest Community Day is really sparking interest! Saturday, Aug. 5, Conquest will be buzzing! We will be kicking off the day with a noon-time kiddie parade. We have secured a bounce house, vendors are already amassing crafts for sale, Conquest bakers are working on their best recipes, you may want to start growing out your beard for the softest/longest face hair, and we have five food trucks coming, including Poppy’s Ice Cream! We expect to have music all day and (drum roll, please) Total Recall will be the live music leading up to our fireworks finale.
One of the best ideas in years: an antique emergency apparatus show! Many of our neighboring departments proudly boast of their old-time fire or rescue vehicles. We will be hosting the opportunity to show them off on our Conquest Community Day — trophies and cash prizes will be offered. We still are looking for folks to help run our sports tournaments: cornhole, basketball and kickball. We have had lots of interest but need some organizers. Please give me a call or come to our next meeting at 7 p.m. June 5 at the town hall. We have had some interest in pickleball — anyone up for a demonstration or tournament?
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This next weekend will be the Port Byron alumni celebration. Beginning with the Friday night alumni band concert and ice cream social at 7, we will be celebrating all weekend long! Lock 52 and Montezuma historical societies have planned a special opportunity to speak with our resident canal muralist Dawn Jordan at the historical house on Pine Street; if you are hosting out-of-towners, what an amazing afternoon that will be. In my very prejudiced mind, her mural on the Shopping Guide building on the four corners in Port Byron is the best mural ever, but she also is responsible for some other awesome ones.
Saturday’s alumni banquet will feature Mooney’s BBQ and we will be honoring the 25th class, the 50th class and the 65th class! Also recognized will be class of 2023 scholarship winners from the very generous scholarship fund, and the hall of fame is installing Jack Miller and Fredrick Tanner.
John (Jack) Miller graduated in 1951 — an Eagle Scout, he attended the World Jamboree in Austria in 1951. He’s a graduate of Syracuse University, president of Sigma Psi Epsilon upon graduation and commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Navy, where he served 27 years. He has a master’s degree in international relations from the University of Southern California; attended Stetson College of Law; his Navy service included 11 years as a line officer aboard the USS Yosemite, USS Greenwood, USS Saline County, USS Fred Berry and USS Perkins; during the Vietnam War he served shore duty in Saigon; he was a logistics officer of U.S. naval forces in Europe and worked within the NATO operations; and he was an operations officer in the Middle East aboard the USS LaSaile in Bahrain. (Combat “V,” Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, Armed Service Medal, RVN Campaign Medal, Combat Action Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Combat Action Ribbon and the Navy Unit Commendation.) After his retirement from the Navy, he returned to Hawaii. He loved playing bridge and became a duplicate bridge silver life master and was a district board member for the American Contract Bridge League.
Frederick Eugene Tanner graduated in 1956 — a local business owner who began with a pickup truck and tool box and built his business from the ground up. He owned a fleet of semi trucks and a construction company. He dedicated himself to his family — his children and grandchildren. It is always a wonderful time to share memories.
Joni Lincoln
If you have driven north on Route 38 recently, you may have noticed a new sign directing you to Sunset Echoes — a county variety store with fabric, books and housewares. I stopped by to talk with owner Regina Hoover. She is rightly proud of her establishment. She opened her store on Marvin Road in 2020. The variety is astounding and she is always ready for new ideas from her family or customers. She is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. We proudly celebrate entrepreneurial spirit in Conquest!
Our Memorial Day service is not the biggest nor the grandest. We gather at one of our three town cemeteries to honor our veterans. In each graveyard there are many who died in action or of wounds received — we also recognize those who gave of themselves by serving. Thank you to the Cato Legionnaires who convoy to our celebrations. This year it was one of their own, Dick Lees, who not only served in two wars but dedicated his time and energy to veterans by his support of LaBuff-Cole American Legion.
Joni Lincoln is the historian of the town of Conquest.