SHINGLEHOUSE – A proud community embarked on its third century
Saturday with a celebration that brought out young and old.
While 94-year-old the Rev. Kenneth Dietze entertained as lead
singer and trombonist for Brother Dietze and the Dixie Boys, the
younger set flitted from booth to booth during the annual
Shinglehouse Community Festival, an Independence Day holiday
tradition.
The son of a classical cellist and concert pianist in Boston,
Mass., Dietze has been an Oswayo Valley fixture as a pastor and
counselor, musician and commercial printer. He still produces
occasional print jobs and charms audiences with the Dixie Boys,
singing such favorites as “Four-Leaf Clover” and “Take Me Out to
the Ballgame.”
“The Lord has been good to me,” Dietze said as he prepared to
take the stage on Saturday.
Seven-year-old Justin Smith of Andover, N.Y., wasn’t a big fan
of the Dixie Boys, but he enjoyed the reptiles.
“This guy’s just like the Crocodile Hunter!,” Smith exclaimed as
“Bwana Jim” Moulton displayed a boa constrictor and other snakes
from his wildlife exhibit.
Also on the grounds of Assembly Park was author Bill Robertson,
sharing tales to promote sales of the recently published seventh
title in his book series based on the Pennsylvania Bucktails
Regiment from the Civil War.
Fire apparatus, youth groups and other marching units passed
through downtown Shinglehouse in a parade. Fire departments squared
off in “battle of the barrel” and other water games, with the host
Shinglehouse Volunteer Fire Department taking top honors.
The Community Festival concluded with a well-attended fireworks
display.
Town leaders started the festival several years ago to build
community spirit and help charitable organizations raise money.
This year’s festival served to kick Shinglehouse’s third century.
The town traces its history – and its unique name – to the 1806
arrival of a French settler identified only as “M. Generet.”
Generet’s modest home on the south bank of Oswayo Creek was
constructed of logs, with dozens of wooden shingles adorning its
sides. These produced a loud rattling sound whenever they were
shaken by the wind, earning Generet’s abode the nickname “Shingle
House.”
The cabin was long gone by the time the modern-day community of
Shingle House was incorporated in 1901.
The U.S. Postal Service changed the name from two words to one
in 1906.
Arrival of the Palmer Window Glass Co., and smaller employers
helped to swell the town’s population from 500 to more than 1,600
by 1910. In more recent years, the borough has held steady with a
population of about 1,250.
