BIG BRUIN?: Herb Porter calls us with some healthy skepticism
about the size of bear a resident had seen at the end of March.

Our report had indicated the bear’s footprint was 12 inches long
and 8 inches wide. No way, says Herb!

Herb tells us he has a plaster of Paris imprint of a bear’s foot
which measures 7 3/4 inches by 13 1/2 inches – and was taken from
an Alaska brown bear which weighed 1,400 pounds. Let’s hope the
bear in this area don’t get that big!

FAN MAIL: Fred Johnson writes to us, too, about that supposed
numerical oddity which occurred a week ago and added a nice
pick-me-up for a Monday morning: “I am a native of Bradford, living
there from 1940 to 1962. I truly enjoy your web site.”

“Round The Square is a unique section of the paper. As I have
moved around the country I have not seen anything like it or
anything done so well in another newspapers. It is as much fun to
read as it was when I was a kid growing up in Bradford. I would
read it even before the comics. Keep up the good work. It’s
refreshing to read positive news and interesting memories.”

Come on, Fred: Before the comics! Not sure if we can buy
that!

SPEAKING OF … : … our Web site. Our online readers may have
noticed we’ve been making some changes to our Web site –
bradfordera.com. Or, should we say, trying to make some changes. As
is typical with such a process, we’re encountering some
difficulties. We ask your patience until we sort it all out.

’42 FLOOD: Don Burlingame was 6 years old and living on Henley
Street in Olean, N.Y., when a dike broke on South Barry Street and
the city was almost completely surrounded by water.

The only high spot, he recalls, was the corner of North Union
and West State streets. Water was up to the second story of his
great-aunt’s home which was around the corner. “The night that the
dike broke on South Barry Street, some gentleman’s car stopped and
got caught in the flood – not sure what happened to him.”

The next morning, Don tells us, “we heard a big noise outside
and a big truck was pumping water sending it into the drains
downtown.”