Granville Then & Now – Halloween here a success; elections follow

By Erik Pekar, Town Historian

The fate of Halloween was on the minds of many in Granville and beyond, with great uncertainty of what would happen to the holiday, considering that because of the pandemic, many events were canceled in the past months. While there was concern that New York would ban Halloween outright, no outright ban occurred; guidelines issued in late October allowed for trick-or-treating, but explicitly discouraged people from the normal means of door to door trick-or-treating.

Here in Granville, two residents, Katie Dunbar and Cristen Zekus, did not want to see Halloween join the cancellation list. They organized a plan to “save Halloween” – a drive thru where buckets of candy would be given out. The location decided upon was the Granville Subway shop.

Cars of area residents lined up before the event was scheduled to begin, and the line stayed busy for a few hours afterwards. The unusual traffic pattern stayed long enough that a couple of Washington County Sheriff’s deputies had to direct traffic coming out of the parking lot onto Route 22. The drive thru program of saving Halloween was a success. Not only was Halloween saved in Granville, community spirit showed strong, as several more people volunteered to assist and many more donated candy for the effort. Many children and parents are thankful for the efforts of all who helped.


The 1960 elections were held on Nov. 8, 1960. Many turned out for the election, in Granville and beyond. Among those up for election were the positions of president, house representative, state senator, assemblyman, county district attorney, and county sheriff.

In the presidential election, the Republican candidate was incumbent Vice President Richard M. Nixon and the Democratic candidate was Sen. John F. Kennedy. Running on their respective tickets for vice president were Henry Cabot Lodge and Lyndon B. Johnson. In Granville, Nixon received 1,591 votes, while Kennedy garnered 824 votes. Nixon won most of Washington County, and most of upstate New York as well, but overall Kennedy won the state, and its electoral votes.

The national results of the presidential election were still not fully known Tuesday night, and it was not until around noon the following day when the announcement was made that Kennedy had won in Minnesota, and that this would give Kennedy the majority of votes in the Electoral College. At that point, Kennedy was proclaimed the President-elect, and Nixon conceded the election.

In the congressional elections, neither senator’s seat was up for election, so the only seat in Congress that Granville was voting for was that of its Congressional district. Incumbent Dean Taylor did not run for reelection; Carleton J. King (R) was elected over Louis E. Wolfe (D).

In the state elections, State Sen. Albert Berkowitz (R) of Granville was reelected over candidate Francis W. DeCamilla (D), carrying all of Granville’s voting districts. Assemblyman William J. Reid (R) of Fort Edward won reelection over Democratic candidate George Prehoda; in Granville, Reid won all districts by a sizable majority except for District 2, where Prehoda won with 374 votes to Reid’s 329.

In the Washington County elections, John J. O’Brien (R) of Whitehall was reelected as district attorney over Charles B. Russell (D) of Greenwich. Theodore T. Buckley (R) of Cambridge was reelected as the county sheriff over Lester H. Weller (D) of Hudson Falls.

Over in Vermont, the state voted Republican overall. In the presidential election, Nixon won overall and in most counties, including Rutland County. For Vermont’s at-large congressional seat, Robert T. Stafford (R) won over incumbent Rep.William H. Meyer (D) of Rupert.

At the state level, Gov. Robert T. Stafford did not run for reelection as he sought Vermont’s seat in the House of Representatives. F. Ray Keyser Jr. (R) won the gubernatorial election against Russell Niquette (D). Vermont’s towns voted for their representatives; until 1965, every Vermont town had a representative in the state legislature. In Pawlet, James W. Leach (R) won over Robert D. Roberts (D); in Poultney, William E. Flynn (D) won over Paul D. Humphrey (R); in Wells, Levi B. Pratt (R) won over independent William Quinn. In Rupert, Robert Graf (R) was elected unopposed.


The recent elections were similar in some ways to those of 1960, but there were differences as well.

In the presidential election, the Republican candidate was incumbent president Donald J. Trump, and the Democratic candidate was Joseph R. Biden. Trump won in Granville and locally. Biden won the state overall.

As in 1960, there was no clear winner on election night, and none called until Saturday, when Pennsylvania called for Biden, giving him enough electoral votes to win the election. Trump has contested results in states where there is a narrow margin, but most have been thrown out. Trump plans to contest results further in swing states. Considering this, while a Biden presidency is likely, as the saying goes, “it ain’t over ‘til it’s over” as there is still ongoing litigation on the part of the Trump campaign.

In the House of Representatives election, Elise Stefanik (R) was reelected over Tedra Cobb (D). In the state legislature elections, State Sen. Betty Little (R) retired and so Dan Stec won over Kimberly Davis (D). For the State Assembly election, Matt Simpson (R) won over Claudia Braymer (D).

Vermont state results were markedly different from 1960. In the presidential election, Biden won the state and all counties but Essex. Locally, Biden won in Pawlet, Poultney, and Rupert. Trump won in Wells. In the House of Representatives election, Peter Welch (D) won reelection to Vermont’s at-large congressional seat. Incumbent Gov. Phil Scott (R) was reelected over David Zuckerman (D).