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Keep Power Close To People, Says Powers As Year 1 Ends
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Wednesday, January 7, 2009
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By JIM KEVLIN
Jim Powers took the helm of Otsego County’s government a year ago espousing small government, close to the people, and nothing’s happened in his first year as chairman of the Board of Representatives to change his mind.
“If you want to have some fun,” he suggested in an interview as his first year neared an end, “check the New York State Association of Counties web site; see the counties that are in trouble with their managers and administrators.”
In one recent news clip on www.nysac.org, a county administrator was suggesting $600,000 for new offices, Powers said.
In Iraq, U.S. generals are deploying tens of thousands of troops from desks made of plywood boards on a couple of saw horses, said the veteran representative and dairy farmer from South New Berlin.
“I’ve had absolutely no second thoughts,” he said, a view he expressed most recently when county Rep. Sam Dubben made a surprise motion to put $80,000 in the 2009 budget for a county manager. The move was rejected.
A high point of Powers’ first year – he took the top job back from maverick county Rep. Donald Lindberg at the start of 2008 – was Federal Aviation Administration approval of a 157-foot communications tower near the Oneonta Municipal Airport on Blend Hill.
Work was to get under way any day, and the $6-10 million project is expected to take three years. (The goal is to assure emergency communications; Powers said he is less enthusiastic about expanding it to provide broad-band Internet access countywide, a $25 million undertaking.)
“It took all year to get the say-so to put the shovel in the ground,” he said, “but once you start doing something, the rest will come easy.”
Another high point: He attended the county Fire Advisory Board the other day and was pleased to be told no board chairman had ever done so before.
A low point? The failure to achieve a contract with county workers, who have been working without one since 2005. Powers said, after state-mandated fact-finding, he expects a contract to be imposed by the end of 2009.Labels: 01-09-09, Hometown Briefs |
posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 3:45 PM   |
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Rethinking Wedding Traditions
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PENN PRESS
PUBLISHER’S DESCRIPTION
Editor’s Note: Hartwick College professor Vicki Howard’s “Brides, Inc./American Weddings and the Business of Tradition,” has just been republished in paperback by the University of Pennsylvania Press. The American Library Association chose the book as “Best of the Best from the University Presses” in 2007. Here is Penn Press’ assessment of the book.
Weddings today are a $70-billion business, yet no one has explained how the industry has become such a significant component of the American economy.
In “Brides, Inc.,” Vicki Howard goes behind the scenes of the various firms involved—from jewelers to caterers—to explore the origins of the lavish American wedding, demonstrating the important role commercial interests have played in shaping traditions most of us take for granted.
Howard reveals how many of our customs and wedding rituals were the product of sophisticated advertising campaigns, merchandising promotions, and entrepreneurial innovations.
Tracing the rise of the wedding industry from the 1920s through the 1950s, the author explains that retailers, bridal consultants, etiquette writers, caterers, and many others invented traditions—from the diamond engagement ring and double-ring ceremony to the gift registry to the package-deal catered affair.
These businesses and entrepreneurs, many of them women, transformed wedding culture and set the stage for today’s multibillion-dollar industry.
The wedding industry began to take shape between the 1920s and the 1950s.
Bridal magazine editors and etiquette writers, jewelers, department store window display artists, bridal consultants, fashion designers, and caterers invented new consumer rites and promoted higher standards of wedding consumption.
Claiming ties with “ancient customs” and various historical periods, the wedding industry promoted new goods and services as timeless and unchanging.
It introduced new ring customs and wedding apparel fashions, and “modern” services, such as gift registries that rationalized gift customs, bridal salons that saved time and made wedding planning more efficient, and wedding packages that standardized ceremonies and reception celebrations.
During World War II, the traditional white wedding grew even more prevalent as jewelers and bridal gown manufacturers successfully sought exemptions from wartime restrictions, linking the diamond engagement ring, the double-ring ceremony, and the formal white wedding gown with democracy and American prosperity.
By the 1950s, the wedding industry had made the formal white wedding tradition a part of a new cult of marriage and the modern American Dream.
“Brides, Inc.” reveals the origins and development of this most exemplary American enterprise and brings the story up to the present with a discussion of such new phenomena as David’s Bridal and the gay wedding industry.
Here are excerpts from earlier reviews:
“A fascinating read that has much to offer historians of business, labor, and culture – not to mention anthropologists and specialists in gender and cultural studies. ‘Marrying’ the symbolic concerns of new cultural history with the material concerns of business history is one of the book’s considerable strengths.”
American Historical Review
“Howard provides a thorough study of the growth of the wedding industry, using numerous primary sources on a subject that has previously received too little attention.”
Choice
“This richly illustrated and exhaustively researched study provides systematic and long overdue analysis of the evolution of wedding industry products and marketing.”
Business History ReviewLabels: 01-09-09, Hometown Views |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 12:00 PM |
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City of the Hills
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 STUDENTS BACK: Hartwick College students are back in class after the winter break. SUNY Oneonta classes resume on Jan. 14.
FOOD STOP: The Gyro Stop had its grand opening at 381 Chestnut St. on Monday, Dec. 29. The new eatery offers eat-in and take-out Greek food and free delivery. Open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. six days a week. Call 433-9555.
MORE FOOD: Also new is Taters, now serving meals at the Adirondack-style club house at Tsuga Links Golf Course, just off Route 51 north of Garrattsville, offering steaks, soups, seafood, Italian, overstuffed sandwiches, wraps and homemade desserts. Open 3-9 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays, noon-6 p.m. Sundays.
GET A GRANT: Non-profits seeking to “measurably improve the governance and management” may seek grants from the Clark Foundation’s Mini-Grant Program until March 1. Visit www.ccsnys.org for details.
GRANT GOTTEN: The city’s Riverside Elementary School has received a UCCCA Creative Partnership Grant for “Poetry of Conscience: Raising Third Graders’ Voices for India’s Children,” to make third-graders aware of the social, gender and cultural issues surrounding India’s children.Labels: 01-09-09, Front Page |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:07 PM |
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14 Elderly Families Fed Through Student Project
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By LAURA COX
 When SUNY Professor Sheila Serbay started teaching her upper-level psychology class last fall, the spike in fuel prices and its effect on older people was front of mind.
“Between food, medications and fuel, their choices would be extremely difficult to make and still be safe or healthy,” said Serbay, who teaches “Psychology of Adulthood and Aging” as well as coordinating interns for the department.
There was a common misconception in the 60-plus generation that Social Security would serve as a retirement plan, and so people didn’t plan for the future the way that is emphasized today – whatever the shape of the stock market
And rising food and fuel prices only added further stress to living on a small fixed income.
So Serbay and seven of her students – Dominique Canton, Megan Dorak, Elyise Hallenbeck, Sinead Lynch, Amanda Maiorano, Amanda Richards, and Ashlie Van Duzer – devised a plan to help.
They organized bake sales and set up collection boxes. The psychology honor society sold 50/50 raffles and donated half of their proceeds to the effort. Local businesses were asked to participate.
The goal was to raise enough money and collect enough food to help at least some elderly families better afford heating in their homes by counteracting the cost they normally spend on food.
Serbay approached Mandy Rogers at the Otsego County Office for the Aging’s Oneonta satellite office to help identify first, shut-ins, then people living in their own homes and, finally, people living in apartments – 14 in all.
“We have seen an influx of people applying for services such as HEAP and food stamps,” Rogers said, “and we have been directing people down to the food bank.”
After seven weeks, the students began sorting the food and determining what would need to be bought with donated funds to make everyone’s food basket identical.
“We provided a specific list of non-perishable food items requested for donation. No one wanted to decide who would receive a can of hearty soup while others received broth,” said Serbay.
Everyone received soups, spaghetti, pasta sauce, peanut butter, rice, pancake mix (that only requires water), items that were healthy but do not require a lot of other items to be complete meals.
Serbay and her husband Mike added in a gallon of milk for each, two pounds of butter, a dozen eggs and a loaf of bread, as well as some toothbrushes and toothpaste with donated funds. Leftover moneywas divided into 14 envelopes.
Many commercial size cans of food were donated, but could not be split to deliver to the senior families, and so they will be donated to be used by Saturday’s Bread.
On Monday, Dec. 22, the food packages were delivered to the Office for the Aging and the office staff then delivered the food along with a holiday basket from Opportunities for Otsego to each of the surprised families.
“Everyone was very appreciative and the office received three calls on Friday alone with thank yous,” said Rogers.
It’s estimated the packages will last the seniors three months.
“I had several reasons for pursuing this project,” said Serbay, who plans to repeat the exercise next year. “The obvious was to help senior citizens who should not be forgotten. Other reasons included showing my students that although the problems of the world may seem overwhelming; you can always try to make a difference.”Labels: 01-09-09, Front Page |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:07 PM |
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State Would Seize SUNY Tuition Hike
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By JIM KEVLIN
 Peter N. Livshin, the Otsego County Chamber’s new chairman of the board, called it “unconscionable.”
And that got the discussion going during the chamber’s packed “State of the State” luncheon Monday, Jan. 5, at the Holiday Inn.
Livshin revealed – for the first time, at least to many of the record 104 attendees that filled the banquet hall – that only 20 percent of Gov. David Paterson’s proposed $640 SUNY tuition hike, about $130, will go into the SUNY system. The lion’s share – $510 – will go into the state’s general fund.
“Will you stand up for our SUNYs?” he asked the four legislators on the podium – state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, and Assemblymen Bill Magee, D-Nelson, Marc Butler, R-Newport, and Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie.
In an interview at the session’s end, SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski said the SUNY system, led by Chancellor Carl Hayden himself, is seeking support from around the state to blunt this initiative of the governor’s.
“It’s just not fair to tax our students and not let it go to education,” said Kleniewski.
The chamber’s president, Rob Robinson, called diverting the tuition “idiotic. That’s our position and we’re sticking with it.”
The chamber’s board passed a resolution in December expressing its objections, he said, and will be hosting Hayden locally at a breakfast meeting Feb. 10.
Kleniewski encouraged SUNY Oneonta’s supporters to frequent sunyadvocates.org – there’s a link on the oneonta.edu home page – for queues on how to help the school during the budget deliberations ahead.
The site details three goals:
• The state must fund mandatory and base-level costs for SUNY’s four-year campuses, community colleges and hospitals.
• A rational tuition policy would allow students to properly plan for their educational costs and provide funding to enhance academic quality.
• Overregulation of SUNY is depriving New York of benefits other states realize from their public universities. Flexibility would enable SUNY to reach a higher level of achievement that would, in turn, benefit the state.
In his comments at the luncheon, Seward picked up on the second of those two points, saying – instead of going years without a tuition hike, then instituting a major one – SUNY should nudge tuition up a set amount, $100 or $200 a year, so that students and their parents can plan.
“I’m not sure the governor recognizes the SUNY system is part of the answer in New York State,” the senator said, adding at a later point, “We do not want anyone leaving college just because of the tuition increase.”
Magee called “an educated workforce” essential to Upstate’s revival.
And Butler pointed out that nanotechnology – it seeks benefits in miniaturization – is creating thousands of new jobs in the Capital District and the Hudson Valley, and he said an intiatitive may be surfacing soon in Utica-Rome.
The legislators pointed out that, in the probably Democratic-controlled General Assembly that was due to convene Wednesday, Jan. 11, all the leadership comes from New York City or Long Island, so there needs to be an effort to sensitize the state’s top politicians to Upstate’s needs.Labels: 01-09-09, Front Page, State of the State |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:06 PM |
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Hometown People
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IN THE WAKE OF THE NO-WAKE
Annual Gala Raises $140,000 for Bassett
COOPERSTOWN
 The Friends of Bassett’s annual New Year’s Eve gala raised $140,000 this year.
The Friends executive director, Scott Barrett, said that amounts to the second-largest amount ever raised by the annual event.
This year, the proceeds benefit Bassett’s 12 school-based health centers. In Otsego County, they are in Morris, Edmeston, Laurens and Cooperstown.
This year’s gala was on the theme, “Around the World,” based on the 1957 movie based on the Jules Verne novel.
The co-chairs were Cooperstown Mayor Carol B. Waller and Cindy Seward, wife of state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford.
Last year’s proceeds went to Bassett’s mobile cancer-screening unit, built by Medical Coaches of Oneonta.
HIGH HONORS: Benjamin Edward Lennon, Unadilla, received a bachelor’s in business administration in finance, magna cum laude, in December, from Seton Hall University’s Stillman School of Business at Seton Hall University.
TOP PLAYER: Hartwick College’s Jan Cocozziello Empire 8 Conference Co-Player of the Week.
BEGINS SECOND TERM
 Labels: 01-09-09, Hometown People |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:39 PM |
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Letters to the Editor
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Local Letter Writers Reflect On E-Books, Money Crisis
Editor’s Note: Two missives from Otsego County ended up in the New York Times’ Letters to the Editor column in the past several days.
To the Editor:
Re “Turning Page, E-Books Start to Take Hold”
As the director of a National Endowment for the Arts Big Read project in my community, at a time when less than 50 percent of the adult population in this country reads for pleasure and enlightenment, I can only applaud anything that promotes contact with the written word.
Still, I myself take pleasure in stroking the page of a book when the narrative overwhelms me with joy, inspiration and reverence.
There is nothing like the feel of paper at such a moment. Thumbs up to e-books, certainly, but let’s hope there will always be a choice.
Sam Goodyear
Oneonta
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To the Editor:
Re “How to Get the Money Moving,” by Bruce Bartlett (Op-Ed, Dec. 24), which says the government needs “new policies that increase aggregate spending”:
Bruce Bartlett tells us that “the trick is to find a way to get people and businesses to spend money over and above what they would have spent anyway.” Isn’t this how we got into trouble in the first place?
What’s the point of going into more debt (that’s what “spending” comes down to) just to keep the economy growing? Hasn’t “growth” itself now become the problem?
Adrian Kuzminski
Fly Creek
The Times identified the writer as a resident scholar in philosophy at Hartwick College and author of a book about the history of populism.Labels: 01-09-09, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:27 PM |
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For Now, Albany Should Focus On Limiting Pain, Not Cutting Or Taxing
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 Food, yes.
(By the way, who makes those cookies at Oneonta’s Holiday Inn? Everybody remarked on them at the Otsego County Chamber’s “State of the State” luncheon that attracted a record 104 attendees the other day.)
Better was the food for thought.
Take the exchange between Assemblyman Peter Lopez and Wilber Bank President & CEO Doug Gulotty.
Lopez said he supports SUNY programs, but not blindly. For instance, he questioned whether a $200,000 salary for budget-battered SUNY Albany’s basketball coach is appropriate. Good point.
In wrap-up remarks, however, Gulotty observed that SUNY Albany’s $200,000 is dwarfed by the $3 million Syracuse pays Jim Boeheim. Boeheim’s salary is simply the cost of admission to big-time college basketball and all the associated potential revenues.
Joe Paterno gets $5 million, Gulotty continued, but can raise that much in a few days of fundraising speeches.
When you look at it from that perspective, SUNY Albany may be paying its coach too much for the SUNY system as now configured. If the SUNY system wants to get into the big leagues, however, it isn’t paying enough.
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Much of the chamber session – state Sen. Jim Seward and Assemblymen Bill Magee and Marc Butler, as well as Lopez were the featured speakers – had to do with ways to consolidate agencies and cut the state budget in light of the current recession.
In reflecting on the Gulotty-Lopez exchange, it depends on what we want to achieve.
At a time when consumers are spending less and unemployment is rising in the private sector, does it make sense for Albany to slash and burn right now?
Quite the opposite.
Keep the money coming for now. And DON’T raise taxes – don’t hurt we poor citizens more than we’re already being hurt.
When the economy rebounds, when everybody’s working, when prosperity smiles again on our happy Otsego County, THEN cut the budget, consolidate the agencies, reopen the labor contracts – go to town.
And, THEN, you won’t have to raise the taxes; there will be revenues aplenty.
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A couple of particularly egregious issues came to the fore.
One, CPA Doug Benson mentioned the state Department of Taxation and Finance – or somebody; nobody was sure who – had raised the Franchise Tax on companies generating more than $5 million a year from $100-$500 to $3,000.
Lopez – a brainy guy – pointed out that supermarkets, for instance, are high-revenue but low-margin operations, and are unfairly penalized.
The regressive tax hits them a lot harder than high-revenue, high-margin businesses.
High revenue, high margin? Stockbrokers? Maybe. At least until a few months ago.
Two, it was revealed that only 20 percent – $130 – of the $680 prospective SUNY tuition hike will actually go into SUNY coffers. The 80 percent – or $510 of the total – will go into the general fund.
Looked at another way, SUNY students are being taxed $510 more than the average New Yorker to resolve the budget crunch. How does that make sense?
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Again, it underscores that plans of action should be based on desired outcomes, rather than vague ideas about how the world ought to be.
Just because we private citizens, faced with declining income, cut household expenses and get a second job, doesn’t mean the State of New York should act similarly by cutting expenses and raising taxes.
Quite the opposite.
With Congress considering $300 billion in direct aid to individuals, what’s the point if our state government simply absorbs the share aimed at citizens/consumers?
Otsego County’s delegation should go back to Albany and see what it can do to maintain as many state jobs and revenue streams as it possibly can – for the time being.
When the economy rebounds, then reform. But for the time being, guys, limit the pain.Labels: 01-09-09, Editorial, Hometown Views |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:21 PM |
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Hometown History
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125 Years Ago
Advice for girls and ladies – It is said that girls require more sleep than men, but that they generally get less. Also, that an hour’s sleep before midnight is worth much more than an hour after midnight; which is information, doubtless, the young ladies will at once make use of. Dio Lewis gives the following advice to a cold-footed lady: “Hold the bottoms of your feet in cold water a quarter of an inch deep just before going to bed, two or three minutes, and then rub them with rough towels and your naked hand.” He also advises the wearing of thick woolen stockings.
January 1884
100 Years Ago
The Y.M.C.A. held open house at its building on Broad Street, New Year’s night. An interesting feature of the evening was the address by C.H. Baker upon “Old Times in Oneonta,” in which he gave many interesting reminiscences of his boyhood days. C.J. Beams also gave an inspiring talk upon Oneonta’s future. Music and recitations interspersed the exercises. Following the program coffee and refreshments were served by the ladies auxiliary. About 30 members of the fortnightly club attended a session held Monday evening at the home of Jude Kellogg on Ford Avenue. The general theme was “The Beautification of Oneonta,” a theme on which Prof. Howard Lyon read an excellent paper. The paper and refreshments were followed by cigars and a pleasant hour of social enjoyment.
January 1909
80 Years Ago
John Moore, wanted for passing forged checks in Oneonta has been arrested by police at Port Jervis on a vagrancy charge. Moore is said to have a number of aliases, including John Morris, John Burns, John Brennan, John Carney, John Burke and John Ryan. He is also wanted by the Burns Detective Agency. Moore’s specific operation in the Oneonta vicinity seems to have been his impersonation of the president of the Standard Oil Company, passing company checks. Local residents are warned that the company issues no checks without the full name of the company on the check. Among Moore’s victims in this vicinity were Harry Clune, manager of the River Street Victory Store and the Empire State Oil Co. filling station in the east end.
January 1929
60 Years Ago
A great change has come over the American people in respect to foreign affairs. Only for a few years has the average citizen had any vital interest in what is going on in other parts of the world. Comment on foreign affairs, in fact, until very recently was left by the country’s newspapers to the great metropolitan dailies and only the very erudite ever paid any attention to what these journals published. It is not hard to understand the reason for the change. In two world wars our citizens and their sons have been sent to all parts of the globe and Americans still are stationed practically everywhere “under the sun.” All in all the days of provincialism for the average citizen are gone. He will have his eye on China and Russia along with Main Street.
January 1949
40 Years Ago
Dr. Frederick M. Binder, president of Hartwick College since 1959, will leave Oneonta next month to become associate commissioner of higher education for the New York State Education Department, according to James E. Allen, Jr., commissioner of education for the State of New York. In his new post Dr. Binder will have top responsibility for administering the state’s higher education program. Dr. Binder came to Hartwick in the summer of 1959 from Thiel College of Greenville, Penn. where he had served as professor of history, academic dean, vice-president and acting president during a four-year period. Under president Binder’s leadership at Hartwick, over ten million dollars has been raised to support the college’s academic programs and eleven new buildings have been constructed at a cost of $9,161,704. These include the Hall of Science, the Yager Library Museum, a three-story physical education center, five dormitories, the college commons and a maintenance and storage complex. The Shineman Chapel House will be completed this spring.
January 1969
20 Years Ago
Catskill Airways cut the number of daily flights and laid off six employees last week from the Oneonta Airport. Officials said the airline will offer a new morning non-stop flight from Oneonta to LaGuardia Airport in New York City, but will retain only three of the 14 daily flights. The airline also added flights to and from Boston’s Hanscom Field which will connect in Utica. It has discontinued service on all unprofitable routes with the exception of Oneonta-Cooperstown. Thirteen employees remain on the job for Catskill Airways.
January 1989
10 Years Ago
“Revolutions and Dilemmas of the 20th Century,” the theme for Hartwick College’s January term for 1999, will be the platform for discussions, films and lectures focusing on the key events from 1900 through today. Each week the program will focus on the events of a different 25-year portion of the century and each will feature a keynote speaker. In addition to panels and lectures given by members of the Hartwick faculty, the college will welcome cultural historian Peter Gay, author and cultural critic Bell Hooks, Holocaust survivor Tania Rozmaryn and Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffman. Hartwick faculty members who will present lectures include Edward Ambrose, John Lindell, Fiona Dejardin, Peter Wallace and Sugwon Kang. Two art exhibits – “Modernism and Postmodernism Russian Art of the Ending Millennium” and “Revolutions in Technology: Computer Generated Imagery” – will be on display. And, the January term musical will be “Into the Woods.”
January 1999
Resources for Hometown History have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.Labels: 01-09-09, Columns, Hometown History |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:13 PM |
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YMCA Frostbite 5K Run Results
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Female Finishers
1. Amanda Laytham, Oneonta, 20-29, 19:05.0
2. Nicole Bullock, Oneonta, 20-29, 24:44.7
3. Alyssa Mazzarella, Otego,15- 19, 25:03.5
4. Lily Stalter, Franklin, 15-19, 25:07.7
5. Christine Cumming, Bainbridge, 50-59, 26:07.2
6. Jessica Reed. Oneonta, 20-29, 26:21.6
7. Jennifer Taylor, Unadilla, 20-29, 27:09.8
8. Shyah Miller, Cooperstown, 15-19, 27:53.7
9. Rebekah Stalter, Franklin, 20-29, 28:46.8
10. Suzy Ort, Unadilla, 40-49, 28:47.7
11. Ann Ward, Oneonta, 15-19, 29:08.8.
12. Kelly Spangenberg, Delhi, 30-39, 29:15.1
13. Jan Laytham, Unadilla, 40-49, 29:17.1
14. Barbara Mykytyr, Oneonta, 30-39, 29:22.5
15. Monika Vallette. Laurens, 30-39, 29:42.0
16. Nanci Miller, Bainbridge, 40-49, 30:00.3
17. Kara Cook, Oneonta, 30-39, 30:18.6
18. Sarah Taggart, Bainbridge, 15-19, 30:46.6
19. Lucy Bernier, Oneonta, 50-59, 31:17.0
20. Stacy Mitchell, Unadilla, 30-39, 32:16.1
Male Finishers
1. Josh Edmonds, Cooperstown, 20-29, 16:04.7
2. Colin Eustis, Delhi, 15-19, 16:15.3
3. Aaron Robertson, Rouses Point, 30-39, 16:58.4
4. Caleb Edmonds, Cooperstown, 15-19, 17:27.7
5. Silas Carey, Delhi, 20-29 17:43.6
6. Kevin Bronson, Constableville, 15-19, 18:11.2
7. Tom Benner, Laurens, 15-19 18:51.6
8. Leon Nevins, Walton, 15-19, 18:56.9
9. Matt LoPiccolo, Oneonta, 30-39, 19:05.7
10. Josh Schlafer, Middletown, 20-29, 20:41.4
11. Jody Taylor, Maryland, 40-49, 21:07.7
12. Kyle Breier, Oneonta, 20-29, 21:17.1
13. Joshua Graves, Maryland, 20-29, 21:39.4
14. Ben Howard, Masonville, 15-19, 21:53.2
15. Geoffrey Hassard, Oneonta, 40-49, 22:09.3
16. Joe Wheeler, Plainfield, IL, 30-39, 22:17.7
17. Brad Zeh, 30-39, 22:25.2
18. Dalton Roe, Milford, 15-19, 22:53.6
19. Tom Benoit, Oneonta, 30-39, 23:24.7
20. David Brownell, Franklin, 40-49, 23:53.5
Labels: 01-09-09, Frostbite 5K, Hometown Sports |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 4:41 PM |
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Roll ’Em
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SAM GOODYEAR
ART BEAT
Something there is about a film series that draws crowds from far and wide.
Schedule a chamber music concert on a balmy Sunday afternoon in spring, and you’re lucky if eight people show up.
Show an old movie on a freezing midwinter night and the house is packed.
Last winter, your columnist went to a showing of “To Kill a Mockingbird” at The Fenimore Art Museum and he is still feeling the chills of pleasure.
It was part of the annual Cabin Fever Film Series generously offered gratis to the public by Glimmerglass Opera, The Fenimore and the Baseball Hall of Fame to liven up those cold winter nights.
The series is back in 2009 with an exceptionally varied array of choices spanning the years from 1940 (“The Philadelphia Story” with Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and James Stewart – wow!) to 2006 (“Marie Antoinette,” rated PG-13 for sexual content, partial nudity and innuendo – wow!).
There’s music (“La Traviata” via Franco Zeffirelli, and the addictive ragtime idiom of Scott Joplin in “The Sting”), fun for smaller fry (“Toy Story,” “Shrek” and “The Goonies”), as well as more serious material (“Life Is Beautiful”) and some mordant murder mystery satire (“Gosford Park,” with Maggie Smith pricelessly applying cucumber slices to her eyelids).
All films begin at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30. Venues vary so check listings in the paper you are now holding in your hand. Augur’s of Cooperstown is once again offering a generous raffle opportunity.
•
Inspired by UCCCA and the Cabin Fever Film Series, Foothills Performing Arts Center is launching its Birthday Film Series, beginning with “Nobody’s Fool” in tribute to Paul Newman on Jan. 26, his birthday.
The final Monday of each month throughout the year will celebrate the birthday of a different film star – e.g. Peter Fonda, Dixie Carter, Brigitte Bardot, Maggie Smith (cucumberless) and, in October, Felix the Cat along with Jackie Coogan.
A short film chat will precede each movie. Brenda Reeser will say a few words about “Nobody’s Fool” on the 26th.
She and her husband, Foothills board president Doug Reeser, were intimately involved with its production: their house served as one of the main site locations. Doors open at 7, chat at 7:15, film at 7:30.
For future listings check the pages of the paper you are now holding in your hand.
Happy 2009 to one and all!
Sam Goodyear’s column on the arts in Otsego and Delaware counties appears weekly.Labels: 01-09-09, Art Beat, City of the Hills, Sam Goodyear |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 4:20 PM |
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Backwoods Beat
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EVAN JAGELS
NIGHT LIFE
There is a certain feeling of locality in bluegrass music, even in the more well known recordings of Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs and Lester Flatt. I say this in the sense that no matter how accomplished or impressive the players may sound, it is easy to imagine hearing their music live in a downtown gathering or backwoods party.
This may be in part because the music was born and bred in local America and while Bill Monroe is commonly thought of as the father of bluegrass, it nonetheless developed throughout the country after the Second World War. It is without doubt part of what ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax refers to as the “American patchwork” -- the banjo has its roots in Africa and was prevalent in early country blues, the fiddle style is of Irish and Gaelic culture and the vocals are reminiscent of European yodeling.
Boxing Day, a packed Autumn Café hosted the Horseshoe Lounge Playboys and their blend of what they call “blubilly Americana” -- “the mixing of acoustic bluegrass with hillbilly.” Though they have also been described as playing “backwoods Americana,” I would just call it a more modern continuation of the American roots tradition in music.
Notably, their performance was one of the rare occasions when a band mentions to the audience they are “welcome to dance” and the audience actually takes them up on the offer, pulling back tables and chairs to create space. The Autumn is a fitting environment for such an event, with red lights casting on the stage in front of a lake and mountain wall mural with mounted pearl colored white ovular lights.
Based out of the Oneonta, Treadwell and Jefferson area, the Horseshoe Lounge Playboys are Will Lunn on mandolin, Randy Miritello on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dennis Walrath on upright bass, Darin Trass on fiddle and Sam Doyle on drums. Some may remember them from their performance at the Concert for the Oneonta Theatre earlier this fall.
This past Friday night also saw guest musicians Phil Salvaggio, a skillful guitarist and Oneonta native, Ed from the High Street Boys, and opening act Micca and Britt, with acoustic guitars and close harmony reminiscent of Bob Dylan and Gillian Welch.
The Playboys opened their set in the traditional bluegrass key of G major with a light shuffle from the single snare drum. “Going to Arizona, just a rider in the rain,” sang Miritello and although he was recovering from a recently lost voice, his vocals were in solid pitch. Lunn took the first solo of night and proved himself a worthy mandolin player. Although he admits to playing the mandolin “on and off” for the past 30 years, it doesn’t sound as though he has ever gone long without practice.
It is the cumulative sound which ought to be achieved by a good musical group and a solid rhythm section must be so good that one doesn’t even know they are there. Take them away, however and the structure has no foundation. It was in this taste that Walrath and Doyle played. Nothing outstanding, except for the fact that they provided a base that could be rested on all night by the other pickers – a task which is much harder than it sounds.
The Horseshoe Lounge Playboys play mainly originals, a worthy accomplishment in a genre with many standards and are currently finishing an album at Dryhill Studios in Oneonta. They will be performing Feb. 14 at the Pourhouse in Trumansburg, N.Y., before embarking on a tour of the Southeast United States.Labels: 01-09-09, City of the Hills, Evan Jagels, Night Life |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 4:20 PM |
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Award-Winning Otesaga
Chef Takes It In Stride
By JEANNINE BOHLER
Hosting an intimate New Year’s Eve cocktail party for a few close friends is doable. Creating an elegant dinner party for 12, a challenge. But a culinary extravaganza for 650? Impossible.
Unless, of course, you are The Otesaga’s award-winning executive chef, David McLean Lockwood.
Together with his staff of culinarians, Chefs de Cuisine, Sous Chefs and stewards, many called back from seasonal retirement just for New Year’s Eve, Lockwood was hoping to make the last dining experience of 2008 a great one for 360 guests of the Friends of Bassett’s New Year’s Eve Gala and 250 patrons of the Hawkeye Grill.
It would take three days of non-stop activity in The Otesaga’s kitchens to prep for the night.
But if Lockwood was feeling a bit of anxiety in an interview a few days before the event, he didn’t show it. More then 20 years of experience, much of it at resort hotels, have helped him gain the expertise and leadership to run the hotel’s elite dining facility.
His office overlooks the kitchen. Cookbooks, of course, flank the shelves. Award plaques honoring his excellence cover the walls.
The newest honor, The 2008 Hermann Rusch Commemorative Medallion, is given by the Resort Food Executive Committee and was awarded to Lockwood by 40 of America’s top chefs.
Out of 10 eligible chefs, Lockwood was one of four chosen by the committee for this year’s honor. More than just an award for culinary expertise, the award recognizes the special qualities needed by a resort’s executive chef.
 “It is a unique award,” Lockwood said. “Pedigree and professionalism over the years are taken into consideration”
The challenges of meeting the culinary needs of a successful resort hotel are many, but Lockwood says it is the challenge and the multi-tasking duties of the job that keep him going.
The seasonal nature of the resort population presents one challenge. The other comes from the diversity of the fare and customers served. From the simplest food, served beachside or at the golf course, to the most exquisite wedding banquet or New Year’s Eve gala, Lockwood has overseen it all.
He signed on as The Otesaga’s executive chef in 2005 after an extensive career in resorts throughout Florida, including the Ponte Vedra Resorts, Portofino Bay Hotel and The Peabody Orlando. Having grown up in Oriskany, the position allowed Lockwood an unexpected move back to Upstate New York.
“I always told my family I wouldn’t be able to move because there aren’t many luxury hotels up here,” he said. But The Otesaga position turned out to be just the thing.
The switch from corporate-run facilities to this local, independent operation has allowed a freedom and a line of communication with management and patrons that was missing in the larger resorts where Lockwood has worked.
“This is the smallest property I have worked for, but it is the most challenging in the sense that most resorts are not so local. I didn’t hear the feedback. I hear it now with regular calls and e-mail. The Otesaga is unique in its local interaction.”
He describes his cuisine as “modern, regional American prepared with classical cooking techniques,” and his philosophy is shaped by an insistence on the freshest ingredients and quality products available.
Aside from orchestrating The Otesaga’s main dining room and the more casual Hawkeye Grill, Lockwood oversees catering events that include conferences, wedding and more.
Preparations for this year’s Bassett New Year’s Eve Gala, “Around the World,” began early in the summer when Lockwood met with Friends of Bassett committee members to discuss the concept and come up with the menu. A tasting and critique of the menu was done later in the season with all details finalized after Thanksgiving.
The smooth presentation revelers will enjoy at the gala includes a series of buffets, from an American cocktail and hors d’oeuvre reception in the lobby, to dinner stations featuring French, Italian and Indian cuisine, and finishing with a European dessert selection.
Overseeing the gala, like the day-to-day operations, takes a large measure of common sense and people skills and a dash of professional respect, according to Lockwood.
When he began his career, most executive chefs ran their kitchens like dictatorships, and were highly critical and often belittling to their staff. Lockwood works differently. He attempts to empower his staff, looking for the positive, encouraging excellence with respect for his employees.
The strategy is working. Many members of his seasonal team have been returning year after year.
Lockwood knew early in life he wanted to be a chef. When got his start in the culinary program at BOCES, his family discouraged him and asked him to try other trades before settling on his dream.
The American world of professional cooking had a poor reputation and most kitchens were dominated by European chefs. Lockwood admits the reputation was deserved. But today, things have changed.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine American star chefs or a Food Network. The reputation of the American chef has gone up two-fold in the last 10 to 15 years,” he said.
After 20 years, Lockwood still enjoys the challenges of his work.
“I love the type of people who enter this industry,” he said. “I enjoy working with the young apprentices. I enjoy the glimmer I see in their eyes when I teach them something. I am at the stage now in my career when I can focus on giving back.”Labels: 01-09-09, Otesaga, The City of the Hills |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 4:13 PM |
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Oneonta Loves Wrestling
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CHRIS MCSWIGGIN
SPORTS BEAT
 In the midst of a fun but disappointing end to football, a fast paced and unpredictable start to basketball and a boys’ swim team with something to prove, there lies an annual tournament that is worth so much but rarely gets its spot in the limelight.
The 20th Oneonta Rotary Ross Cordell Tournament took place in Oneonta on Saturday, Jan. 3 at Oneonta High School. Wrestling is a sport that has been testing the wills of its athletes for centuries, yet it always seems to flip, twist and pin its way into the gloomy corners of sports coverage.
This tournament featured some of the best natural athletes in the area and for any of those who got out of bed on that frigid day to come and watch, they witnessed a treat. Those who came to the event got to see two- time Cordell Champ Tyler Peet from Unadilla Valley win his third consecutive tournament as he spun Darren Terpstra into a two point reversal with nine seconds left, winning the contest 4-2. Peet had struggled during the third and deciding period, but turned on the burners at the very end to finish in exciting fashion. If that didn’t keep you on the edge of the bleachers, maybe a little hometown magic may have.
OHS football standout Brendan Pidgeon lifted the Jackets to the finals as he took on Burnt Hills’ Zeal McGruw in the championship round of the 215 lbs weight class. Pidgeon, despite valiant effort, lost this matchup as Burnt Hills rolled on to their second consecutive first place finish. The Saratoga area team racked up 215 points and played host to six individual champions.
So, who says wrestling can’t hang in there with the media juggernauts of basketball and football? It takes just as much athleticism, strength, determination and courage. A truly grueling sport, wrestling has often times had a negative connotation attached to it, however those who down it tend to be those who are uninformed. The awards that were given out, such as Most Valuable Wrestler, did not go to anyone in the blue and yellow, but the OHS turnout was diligent and deserving nonetheless.
Another year has gone by and another tournament is in the books. The winter classic has lived up to expectations yet again. Oneonta is host to so much tradition, the Drago Tournament, Lloyd F. Baker Field, The Ross Cordell Tournament and others.
Many people do not realize that a small college town in Central New York could have such great athletics associated with its already rich history, but Oneonta is a haven for all who love the game.Labels: 01-09-09, Hometown Sports, OHS Wrestling |
| posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 4:07 PM |
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