Vindicator file photo / August 24, 1947 | Exactly 75 years ago, The Vindicator’s Rotogravure section chronicled what it was like to thresh some of Mahoning County’s 300,000-bushel wheat crop in photos taken on the Gray Noel and H.S. Withers farms at Petersburg.  Here two of Gray Noel’s neighbors toss bundles of wheat to a feeder opening, one of the toughest jobs in the process, while two horses pulling the wagon wait patiently. The photo essay predicted that the days were numbered for this kind of manpower- and horsepower-intense harvesting.
 
August 24
 
1997: Of 72 local school superintendents in Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Mercer, and Lawrence counties, only six are women. The latest is Debra Mattee, former human resources director for Youngstown schools, who was named superintendent of Springfield Local Schools. 
 
Cedar Point announces plans to build a new ride, the 400-foot-high Power Tower, that will shoot riders up 240 feet on one side and plunge them down 240 feet on the other. 
 
A lack of volunteers causes the Niles Historical Society to cancel the Heritage Festival that had been held since 1984.
 
1982: Two lieutenants of mobster Joseph "Little Joey" Naples are among 17 men arrested by the FBI in a sting operation that resulted in the recovery of $1 million in stolen property.
 
James Snyder, 43, and his 18-year-old son, James Jr., are electrocuted while trying to erect a flag pole in the front yard of their Everett-Hull Road home in Bazetta Township, Trumbull County. 
 
Hundreds of angry Hubbard residents jam the Reed Middle School cafeteria to protest busing cutbacks that followed the failure of an Aug. 3 special election. Dozens stood outside the windows, some shouting their displeasure.  
 
1972: The Army Corps of Engineers balks at Youngstown's request that the level of Lake Milton is lowered by a foot to reduce pressure on the aging dam. 
 
Coach Woody Hayes won't let his players join other college football players on Playboy magazine's All-American team and go to the Playboy mansion, even though the magazine has rated OSU's Buckeyes as the No. 1 team in the nation. 
 
The New Castle School District's 400 teachers will get raises between $400 and $800 under a new contract. Starting salary for a teacher with a bachelor's degree will be $7,100, rising to $12,200 with 35 years of experience. 
 
1947: Downtown Youngstown is turned into an armed camp as scores of armed guards, some with submachine guns, assure against a robbery while City Bank's cash is transferred to Dollar Bank. 
 
Niles is going through the biggest building boom in history, with more than 150 homes built since the end of the war. 
 
Westinghouse Electric dedicates a 25-acre, $200,000 Park on Sharon-Mercer Road.