RES News - Rochester History
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A Sampling from the Archives of the Rochester Engineering Society. 1897 - 1975 by Lee M. Loomis Continuing with the historical sampling of the earlier writings on behalf of the Rochester Engineering Society, the years following "The Great War", into and through the “Great Depression”, continued to be a time of reaching out for the maturing Society, both locally and nationally. The meeting minutes describe a series of technical discussions and presentations intended to broaden the technical horizons of the membership (especially the CE's, ME's and EE's). The RES affiliated itself with a number of National technical societies, adopted local Affiliated Societies, frequently held joint meetings with them and continued taking action on a growing list of public matters. Certain issues of standardization, some crucial to public safety, became the responsibility of the RES and its affiliates. In the pervasive economic downturn of the “Great Depression”, the magazine offered classified advertising for unemployed engineers, technicians and draftsmen and took other steps to try to deal with the crisis. Still, it continued its effort to shape the function, focus and infrastructure of the City of Rochester, and beyond. World War, again affected the Society, taking away many of its leaders while providing opportunities for others to step forward to fill these vacancies. In an effort to provide even greater perspective on the happenings and concerns of the day, a synopsis, featuring selected items from The Rochester Engineer has become an integral part of this series. The Second World War, the Korean Conflict, and the Vietnam War are now history. These experiences have changed the face of and will, no doubt, influence the future of the community. The Rochester municipal leadership and the industrial community have become immersed in the cold-war, growth economy.
September 17, 1975 (Board Meeting, Chamber of Commerce) As part of his Treasurer’s report, Howard Jaquith expressed concern for the growing deficit due to The Rochester Engineer. He proposed reducing some of the mailing expenses of the magazine, and he announced that he would present a 10 | The ROCHESTER ENGINEER JUNE 2022
proposal, with alternatives, for managing the Kate Gleason Fund, at the next Board meeting. The Board approved seventeen new applications for Regular Membership, along with one Junior Membership and one Student Membership. RES Director, Ludwig Boehringer, announced that beginning with this meeting he would be bringing a senior officer of an RES Affiliate, as a guest, to each RES Board meeting. Lee Loomis, Chair of the Engineers' Week Committee, announced that he had begun searching for a Principal Speaker for the February 1976 dinner. RES Director, John Robertson, introduced Earl Svendsen as the new Chair of the RES Luncheon Committee, and announced that a return to a two meetings per month format was underway. Luncheon speakers for the next three luncheons included Monroe County Director of Planning, Don Martin, WHEC Meteorologist, John Hambleton, and gliding and soaring expert, Edgar Seymour. The Board approved the expenditure of $213 for advertising the RES “Technical Skills Bank” in Andrew Wolfe’s two newspapers, City East and City West. “The Rochester Engineer” (September 1975) “Genesee Valley People’s Power Coalition vs. Rochester Gas & Electric Corporation” by Edgar S. Farrar, a community activist, was a six-page critique on the current protocol, and reasoning, for NY State utilities (not just RG&E) to seek and justify electric rate increases. Mr. Farrar contended that the organization of which he was a member (GVPPC) had been recently established (in 1974) to address concerns for, “energy res news - history
