Many of us live by "to do" lists. I find myself often developing such lists to follow on busy days.

Had I been around on Friday, May 1, 1942, my list would’ve been somewhat more leisurely than normal. It was an afternoon off for many workers and students in the area, so I might have met friends for lunch at Laskaris’ Restaurant, once found at 183 Main St. I’d have planned to attend a parade. Downtown was busy that day as people rallied to buy a "Bomber for MacArthur."

Today, $50,000 just doesn’t go as far as it did in the 1940s, but at that time it was a goal to be reached through purchases of war bonds and stamps. The funds were intended to buy a bomber for military use, under the leadership of famous World War II Gen. Douglas MacArthur.

People around Oneonta were already purchasing war bonds and stamps, but May 1 was the start of an intensive sale to support our troops. Oneonta had established a war stamp and bond committee, and it planned to make the rally day festive in the community.

The committee came up with the idea for the ``Bomber for MacArthur."

"And we hope this bomber will be used over Tokyo," one committee member told The Oneonta Herald about a week before the event. The member, whose name was not published, added, "We believe ours is the first city to try to send a bomber there."

Activities in downtown Oneonta began at 11 a.m., as three bond-sale booths opened for the business of buying the bomber. One booth was inside the Oneonta Department Store, or the former Bresee’s. A second was at the top of Broad Street, which we know today as the area around the Mayor Kim K. Muller Plaza, and the third was in front of Sears Roebuck Co., located where the Ruffino Mall is today.

Workers in the booths were surprised to find that many bonds were bought by people who were not residents of Oneonta. Girl Scouts helped by selling war stamps, as well as flags and pictures of Gen. MacArthur.

The Red Cross put on a demonstration of how it was ready for emergency services. At a specified time, people on Main Street heard a piercing scream and saw a "victim" drop to the sidewalk, suffering from a simulated war injury. The Red Cross first-aid squad hustled to the scene, administered treatment and carried the "victim" away on a stretcher or placed him in an ambulance.

An estimated 5,000 people crowded the sidewalks along Main Street, from Fairview to Maple, for a patriotic parade. Nearly 1,500 marched in the nearly one-mile-long event.

An interesting aside was provided during the parade when one enthusiastic American objected when several people didn’t remove their hats as the flag passed. This enthusiast, not named, got so annoyed that he removed the hats himself. When they were replaced and left on as another flag passed, he removed the hats again. A fight nearly broke out, but a police officer removed the combatants from the scene.

Farther along the route of the march, some spectators failed to show respect for the flag, so a member of the World War Veterans party called out, "Hats off folks, please." The hats came off.

After the parade, social gatherings were held in the local hotels and restaurants, designed to continue raising funds through the sale of bonds and stamps.

On that single day, MacArthur’s bomber was purchased with more than $49,000 in bond sales and more than $3,000 in stamps. A whole week was devoted to the sales, and the total came to about $80,000.

As the campaign progressed, a "thermometer" in front of the Hotel Oneonta, today’s 189 Main St., had to be repainted to record the higher- than-anticipated total.

In September that same year, what was called a "Minute Man house-to- house canvass" throughout Oneonta took place to secure definite pledges for war bonds and stamps.

All funds raised truly did go toward bombers, among other things. On the front page of The Oneonta Herald of Oct. 7, 1943, there was a picture of "The City of Oneonta, NY," named as the second heavy bomber purchased and named as the result of war bond sales from additional drives.

This weekend: Get your four cents ready -- we’re about to go through a tollbooth on the old Charlotte Turnpike.

City Historian Mark Simonson’s column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or e-mail him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com.