Categories: News, Schenectady County

GLENVILLE & ROTTERDAM — The towns of Glenville and Rotterdam both officially turn 200 years old on April 14, 2020.

There’s nothing in the 1820 records of the New York State Legislature to show which town was created first. But surely, people on both sides of the Mohawk River have been saying for the past two centuries, one town must be older than the other.

So it came to pass that when the neighbors celebrated their sesquicentennials (150 years) in 1970, the issue was going to be settled, once and for all, in a very public way — by a tug of war with a rope stretched across the river.

The July 5 contest, with a rope stretched across the Hog Island channel near Jumpin’ Jacks, has been a bone of contention ever since. Each side fielded a team of 150 people, tugging on a 1,300-foot rope across 300 feet of water. (That’s a quarter-mile of rope, just FYI.)

At one point, according to Gazette coverage, Rotterdam’s team claimed victory. But that proved premature. In the end, Glenville pulled 30 members of the Rotterdam team into the drink, and thereby won the contest. (Two Rotterdam tuggers were treated for rope burns, and one broke a wrist.)

The Rotterdam side has argued, almost from their first taste of the “murky Mohawk,” that Glenville cheated. At the least, the crowd joined in on the Glenville side; maybe it was worse than that.

“I know people who would swear on a Bible that Rotterdam cheated, but I don’t know. I wasn’t there,” said Rotterdam Town Historian John J. Woodward.

But John Pytovany — former Scotia police chief and current member of the Glenville Town Board, and therefore presumedly loyal to Glenville — acknowledges that, as a young man, he “may have” been present when enterprising citizens came out of the crowd and tied Glenville’s end of the rope to the bumper of a Scotia firetruck.

Glenville, as one might expect, officially proclaims any charges of trickery or cheating “unsubstantiated, slanderous claims against the fine residents of the mighty (and older and more historic) town of Glenville,” according to a proclamation hand-delivered to the Rotterdam Town Hall last Thursday. The charges were made, in Glenville’s telling, because the losing Rotterdam side “had a bee in their collective bonnet over their devastating loss.”

Game on, to use the contemporary expression.

With tongues planted firmly in cheeks on both sides, the towns are planning for a serious rematch on July 4, 2020.

With floridly worded proclamations that echo the days when costumed crowds would gather to witness — or maybe do more that witness — a town’s birth and honor defended, Rotterdam and Glenville have agreed to have at it once again. The 2020 Tug of War Challenge will include a “practice” challenge to be held a year earlier — on July 6, 2019.

The two town supervisors will lead their respective teams, assuming they’re still in office.

“We beat them once, and we will do it again,” declared Glenville Town Supervisor Chris Koetzle.

“The sons and daughters of those who were there in 1970 are happy that now we have the knowedge to know about things immediately,” said Rotterdam Town Supervisor Steven Tommasone. “They won’t be able to tie the rope to the bumper of a truck again, with all the technology like camcorders and cellphone videos.”

Rotterdam would love a practice tug this July, too, but Glenville has declined, saying that notice was too short.

“It seems too late for this year,” Koetzle said.

“Mr. Koetzle apparently needs more than a year to get ready,” responded Tommasone. “Rotterdam is ready to go.”

The new tug of war contest will no doubt be one of the bicentennial highlights, but it won’t be the only one for either community.

Glenville, in fact, has established a bicentennial committee and is asking residents to come to a meeting at Town Hall at 7 p.m. on June 6, to brainstorm ideas, like parades or gala dances. People with stories about the historic Yates Mansion are especially welcome, Koetzle said, as is anyone with memories of what was done to mark the 1970 anniversary.

“People can bring their ideas, thoughts and comments,” Koetzle said.

Rotterdam is also starting serious preparations for a celebration that could include parades and ceremonial dinners.

“It’s a couple of years away, but then a couple of years has a way of going by really quickly,” said Woodward, who is Schenectady County clerk and will be retiring in December. He said he plans to devote more time to bicentennial planning after that.

Anyone with interesting historical memories of Rotterdam, including memories of the 1970 tug of war, can email them to woodward at [email protected] or [email protected]

Reach Daily Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 518-395-3086, [email protected] or @gazettesteve on Twitter.