Bovina (NY) History: Bovina Memories Program

I'm sharing with everyone the images that we used at the May 11, 2024 program held at the community hall. Several long-time residents of Bovina shared their memories of growing up in Bovina, spurred on by these images. Participants were Marian Jardine, Patricia Thomas Parsons Miele, Marie Reinertsen Burns, Jack Burns, Jim Hilson, Chuck McIntosh and Lauren Monroe.

For the zoom presentation, the images should have been included but for some reason they do not appear. So I've created this blog entry so people who watched via zoom or want to watch the recording posted on You Tube [https://youtu.be/xJfxmsua72A] can see the images being discussed.

The images are here in order by their presentation in the program. We started with images of each of the participants from their childhood.

Jack Burns, photo by Bob Wyer

Jim Hilson, photo by Bob Wyer

Marian Jardine, with her brother Richard and sister Martha, photo by Bob Wyer

Chuck McIntosh, with his sister Carol, photo by Bob Wyer

Pat Thomas Parsons Miele (right) with her sister Marge Thomas Rockefeller, photo by Bob Wyer

Lauren Monroe (on the right) with his sisters and parents, photo by Bob Wyer

Marie Reinertsen Burns (left) with her father, mother and sister June Burns, photo by Bob Wyer.

The group recalled their memories of the August 1953 flood in Bovina Center, triggered by these images, all taken by Bob Wyer.

That's Chuck McIntosh inside this tipped over playhouse, talking to Bill Aitkens.

These two images show the damage to Clayton Thomas's garage after the flood.

And this image shows the Scott Bridge at the lower end of the Bovina Center hamlet.

The program participants noted that they never referred to it as the Scott Bridge but as the Crooked Bridge. More about this bridge is at Bovina (NY) History: Bridging Bovina (bovinanyhistory.blogspot.com)

Image of the bridge from the 1940s taken by Bob Wyer.

These next two images both feature Pat Miele.

This was some performance done by the Bovina Happy Hearts 4H Club. That's Pat in the front left. Going clockwise, the next girl has not been id'ed. The girl with the pigtails is Lois Miller, daughter of the Bovina minister. Then we see Norma Burns, Edna Reinertsen and the blond girl in the front right is Patty Boggs.

This image was taken by Jim Hilson, showing Pat, Tommy Schall, Bobby Boggs and Marge Thomas (Pat's sister). In the background standing next to the house on the left is Bobby's sister Barbara.

This next image is also from the 4H. The club did a play recreating an incident in the early days of the Bovina church. The story was that when the church was one day holding services in a barn, a chicken wouldn't stop clucking until a gentleman sat on it, solving the problem. They recreated it for a 4-H festival in Walton in May 1949.

Front row: George Hall, Marie Reinertsen Burns, Marian Jardine, Sandra McPherson Cole, Jack Burns, Bobbie Boggs, Bill Aitkens, XXX Lyons, Marg Hilson Olsner, Marcelle Vogel. Back row: Ron Russell, Wayne Spear, George LaFever, Bob Burns, Wendell Spear, Dick Roberts. The chicken is Jim Hoy. Photo by Bob Wyer.

These two images come from the same event held in May 1957.

Easter Parade: Marie Renner, Carolyn Keefer, Helen Thomson, Emily Archibald, Jen Thomson, Ina Thomson, Ruth Monroe, Eva McIntosh, xxx Olsener, Betty Hall

Tom Thumb Wedding: left to right - Linda Graham, Mary Ann LaFever, Ruth Ann McPherson, Jack Robson, John LaFever, June Burns, Richard Damgaard, Richard McIntosh, Jamie McKeefer, John Hilson, Tom Hilson, Marg Hilson, Roger McIntosh, Christine Hilson, Marianne Hilson, Joan Damgaard, Nancy Hilson, Tanya Lay, Judy Hammond, Janice Vandenbord, Shirley Hammond, Marie Burns, Tom Hoy, Norma Reinertsen.

This image was a party given for Vera Storie by her Beacon Lights Sunday school class in honor of her 25 years of teaching the class. [I would love to find a better version of this image!]

I then shared a few images of people known by and/or related to our program participants.