Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch

Ground-Breaking Bat Company Relocates In Historic Depot

Thursday, May 7, 2009

By JEANNINE BOHLER

National Baseball Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby once said, “People ask me what I do in the winter when there’s no baseball. I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.”
Connie and Tim Haney, owners of Cooperstown Bat Company, love baseball too, but they have little time to spend staring out the window in the off season: There are baseball bats to be made – thousands of them – before the season opens.
The past winter was an especially busy one for them. The Cooperstown Bat Company recently moved from Fly Creek to the historic Hartwick depot.
Built around 1900 as the Oneonta-Hartwick headquarters for the trolley line, the building was expanded later in that era and used as a feedstore for decades. It stood empty and threatened to become just another vacant site until the Haneys decided to give it new life.
Tim is something of a visionary, according to Connie. He sees an old place and envisions it restored. And he knows how to make it happen. With a degree in transparent architecture, he believes in fixing up old places. The former trolley stop/feedstore is just his kind of place.
“The building is in good structural shape. It is functional for what we need to do,” he said.
The Haneys did much of the work on the building themselves. Walls were removed to open up the space. The grain silo stayed in place. The floors were sanded. Painting will start soon.
And already the bats are being made on site. The exact number varies, but between 15,000 and 20,000 ash billets are transformed into custom bats each year – each a handcrafted work of art.
The possibilities for the bats are endless.
Little Leaguers become the proud owners of bats engraved with their team rosters and their own signatures. Grooms order bats for the buddies that stand up with them on the big day. High school coaches order bats as parting gifts to seniors. Corporations order bats to commemorate events. New parents order bats for their babies.
The official bat of the Ripkin Experience is made right here. And even if baseball is America’s national pastime, orders come from as far away as Japan and England.
“We custom do every bat and try to make it as special as possible,” Tim said. “The kids are completely thrilled. They see samples, but when they see their own, they are so thrilled. They are thrilled to be in
Cooperstown to begin with and the bat gives them something to remember it by years down the road.”
The process from wooden dole to custom bat is long, but it is one that is embraced by the company’s seven fulltime employees, most of whom have been with the company for almost two decades.
Tim and Connie believe their first-rate customer service is what first appeals to customer and what keeps them coming back year after year. With the skilled craftsmanship of the bat makers and the graphic skills of the artists, almost any type of bat can be created – from an 18-inch baby bat to a custom bat designed to fit a specific player’s dimensions.
Most customers will never see the operation in Hartwick – although they are welcome to stop by 1-4 p.m. any Tuesday or Thursday to see the bats being turned – but they will see the retail store on Main Street in Cooperstown.
There, custom bats line the dark walls giving the space more the feel of an art gallery then a baseball shop. And in many ways, that is what it is. Each bat is one-of-a-kind.
The building that houses the store is owned by the Haneys and is another of their restoration projects. Built in the 1800’s as a photographer’s studio, the upper floor of the building boasts a north facing skylight where the photographer once worked. It has all the charms of an old structure – the tin ceilings, the wooden floors, giant windows overlooking the street. And it has Tim and Connie to bring it back to life.
The Haneys bought
Cooperstown Bat Company last year from its founding owners, Don and Sharon Oberriter. The Oberriters owned a restaurant on Pioneer Street. Tourists often asked them where they could buy a custom bat, and the seed for Cooperstown Bat Company was planted – and it grew, and grew.
When the Oberriters decided to retire, Tim and Connie – both worked for the company for years – decided to make it their own. “We love baseball,” Connie said. “We enjoy playing. We love watching. We love coaching.”
In fact, the two also coach Cooperstown Youth Baseball softball team where their daughter, Carson, 10, plays. Their son, Sawyer, 13, plays on the modified baseball team. And they are also Boy Scout leaders.
The Haneys are a unique team. Tim credits Connie with the business genius. She applauds him for artistic ability and creativity. And while their successful business keeps them busy, while there is always pressure to bring in new customers and keep the old ones returning, it is clear they have a lot of fun.
“I haven’t worked a day in 16 years,” Tim said. “I love this. I make baseball bats for a living. What could be bad about that?”

Labels: 05-08-09, The City of the Hills

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Hyde Hall Celebrates Link To Girl Scout’s Founder

By LAURA COX

HYDE BAY

Girl Scouts who bring their moms to “Mother’s Day Tours & Tea” at the Hyde Hall mansion can leave with a unique memento.
“Daisy Was Here” badges, recognizing Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low’s friendship with Mary Gale Carter Clarke, have been devised just for the Scouts who attend this event 1-4 p.m. Sunday, May 10, according to Hyde Hall Executive Director Diane Elliot. (Hyde Hall opens for the season Saturday, May 9.)
When Diane, who recently took the helm of the National Historic Landmark on Otsego Lake’s Hyde Bay, discovered the connection, she called Karen Cuccinello, Indian Hills Council Girl Scouts’ director, to see how the relationship could be memorialized.
The conversation led to the development of a special badge, bearing a silhouette of “Daisy” Low, (available for the standard $2 price for such badges.)
“Juliette Low used to spend summers here to escape the Georgia heat,” said Elliot, pointing out an exhibit being installed in time for the tea. “While here, she and the other girls her age would work on needlework, painting, horseback riding; all activities that were part of her inspiration for the Girl Scouts.”
Hyde Hall Director of Operations, Linda Van Cleef, added that the hall’s archives contain more than 160 crates of documents from the family that occupied Hyde Hall from its founding in 1817 until the home was given to the state in the 1960s, including letters from Juliette to Mary Gale Carter.
According the Hyde Hall’s website, the two girls met at St. Timothy’s School outside Baltimore. Mary Gale was raised in Cooperstown, but married George Hyde Clarke in 1887, after which her friend would visit her at the mansion on Mount Wellington, overlooking the lake.
Another prominent woman from Hyde Hall who had a large influence in the Girl Scouts was Juliette’s god-daughter, Anne Hyde Clarke Choate, the daughter of Mary Gale and George.
Juliette coaxed Anne into starting a Girl Scout troop of her own in Pleasantville, Westchester County, and after giving some resistance, Anne gave in and after Juliette’s death succeeded her as president of the Girl Scouts.

Labels: 05-08-09, The City of the Hills

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CELEBRATING MOTHER’S DAY

Holiday Says Mothers Play Unique Role

In the United States, Mother’s Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community. She called it “Mother’s Work Day.”
In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to create a special day to honor mothers. In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill creating the national holiday.

FLOWERS FOR MOM: The first 200 mothers to attend the opening day of the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, Saturday, May 9, will receive carnations.

100TH BRUNCH: The Otesaga is hosting a 100th Anniversary Mother’s Day Brunch, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday, May 10. Prix fixe, $39.95.

PRAISING MOM: Praise for moms will echo from pulpits throughout Otsego County this Sunday. Rev. Douglas Deer of First Baptist Church, Cooperstown, is planning a special presentation to all mothers during the children’s sermong at the 10 a.m. worship service.

DANCE FOR MOM: 7:30-10 p.m. Saturday, May 8, The Doubleday Dancers Western Square Dance Club is planning a Mother’s Day Dance at Cooperstown Elementary. Christopher Pickham will call. $10 per couple at the door. Details, 264-8128 or 547-8665.

HIGH TEA: Take a drive up along Otsego Lake Sunday for the Hyde Hall Mother’s Day Tours & Tea, 1-4 p.m. $10 per adult, children free. Mothers free with a Girl Scout.

Labels: 05-08-09, The City of the Hills

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Touch of The Non-Poet

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

‘I don’t consider myself a poet,” says Irwin Gooen, “and I can’t figure out why people call me one.”
Maybe it’s his cap, perched at a jaunty angle above a wise and ruddy face illuminated by eyes filled with humor and experience. Maybe it’s the succinctness and the unvarnished truth of his speech. Maybe it’s his love of imagery, visual and verbal.
When asked to state his profession on official forms, he puts “photographer” and he has spent most of his adult life in that art. He refers to some of his work as “light paintings,” and if that isn’t a “poetic” way of putting it, what is?
In any case, whether he considers himself a poet or not, he sure fits the spiritual definition of one.
Irwin Gooen grew up in Manhattan. From the start he was clearly a loner, going his own way, sidestepping conventional education and employment, but at the same time acquiring a richness of intellectual discipline and professional experience parents often only dream of for their children. After high school, he signed up for courses at NYU in writing, art and Spanish.
He was in the Army during the Korean conflict and, following that, he pursued the serious study of photography at a school in Manhattan, and subsequently ran the gamut of jobs from coast to coast, uncomfortable with the traditional “harness” society seems to deem indispensable.
He was for a long while connected with Outward Bound. You may have heard his frequent contributions to Weekend Radio on NPR.
Photography has been central to his life – photojournalism, portraiture, nature – and in 2006 he published “Every Smile has a Tear in Its Corner,” a book which he sees as a collection of gestures and images.
His photographs alternate with written observations from a life that, at 81, shows no signs of letting up.
Irwin will read from his book at 7 p.m., Thursday, May 21, at the Green Toad Book Store.
He emphasizes that the readings will be short, and that laughter is assured. (His reading is spellbinding.) A book signing will follow.

Labels: 05-08-09, Art Beat, Columns, Sam Goodyear, The City of the Hills

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70 Voices Stir CSO Audience

EVAN JAGELS

NIGHT LIFE

The Catskill Symphony Orchestra concluded its 2008-09 season last in grand fashion – a performance of four sacred songs by Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).
That followed a concert that opened with Verdi’s “Luisa Miller” – the 70-voice SUNY Oneonta Choir took it to the heights of volume – and “Violin Concerto, Op. 28” by Karl Goldmark (1830-1915) featuring soloist Michael Emery and the overture to
The Saturday, May 2, concert was rich in diverse orchestral textures, and although it contained only one piece from opera (a genre in which both composers are renowned), the pieces were not without dramatic element.
The effect of “Te Deum” and the other sacred songs, “Ave Maria,” “Stabat Mater” and “Laudi Alla Vergine Maria,” both in terms power and space, is even further contrasted by historical irony.
George Martin, in his book, “Aspects of Verdi,” accounts how at age 66, while dictating the story of his life, Verdi said, “To have faith is good, but not to rely on faith is better.”
An atheist? Sasha Matson, SUNY Oneonta music professor, noted in the program note to Saturday’s concert that, at least earlier in his life, Verdi was a nonbeliever and often told a story of cursing a priest – “May God strike you with lightning!”
Some years later, the same priest, along with two members of the choir, were struck by lightning and killed, after which event Verdi composed a set of sacred choral works.
Between Verdi’s works was virtuosic violinist and featured soloist Michael Emery.
In addition to the Catskill Symphony Orchestra, Emery is concertmaster and a frequent soloist with several other orchestras in Upstate New York, including the ones in Utica, Schenectady, and Glens Falls, as well as the Santa Monica Symphony in California. He is Skidmore College artist-in-residence. Karl Goldmark’s “Violin Concerto” in three movements exists largely in the stratosphere of the instrument, allowing Emery to display his masterful technique.
Following praise of the conclusion of a wonderful season for the orchestra, of which I missed only one performance, I must air my single withstanding criticism of the Catskill Symphony Orchestra.
It has nothing to do with the programs or playing – from the wonderfully talented Parnas Duo (the young sisters Cicely, cello, and Madalyn, violin) to the impressive orchestral inclusion of Indian tonalities and instrumentation courtesy of Frank and Geetha Bennett, to the latest concert, I have found great delight this season in the orchestra’s diversity of concert programs and highest standard of playing. However, it is the physical space in which the orchestra routinely performs which I must admit is less than comfortable.
I realize that there is limited venue in which a symphony orchestra and full audience can fit and that SUNY Oneonta is both a generous host and donor to the orchestra, but I find that the intimacy between performer and audience member – the very intimacy which draws people to live performance – is greatly disturbed by the house lighting of the Hunt Union Ballroom and single level of seating.
Notwithstanding this logistical criticism, I again congratulate the Catskill Symphony Orchestra on a wonderful season and greatly anticipate many more.

Labels: 05-08-09, Columns, Evan Jagels, Night Life, The City of the Hills

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Expect Very Dry Weather

MARK HANOK

WEATHER WATCH

The very dry weather pattern is likely to continue during the upcoming week, in terms of actual amount of precipitation, as any rainfall will mainly be in the form of light showers.
On Friday, May 8, a trough will slide across the eastern Great Lakes and bring a southwesterly flow of milder air; with variable cloudiness and a few showers, highs will be from 65 to 70 degrees. The familiar pattern will continue on Saturday, as low pressure tracks eastward along a stationary front well to the south. This storm system may bring showers and heavy thunderstorms from the Gulf States to the Carolinas, while there’s very little rain well to the north.
In our area, skies will be mostly cloudy with a few showers along with breaks of sunshine and highs from 63 to 68 degrees. As low pressure moves to the Canadian Maritimes on Sunday, a northwest flow of cool, dry air will take over, with a return to partly sunny skies and highs from 55 to 60 degrees. Partly sunny skies will continue on Monday, and the chance of showers on Monday night, ahead of low pressure moving eastward to the Ohio Valley.
When north is a synonym for sunshine and it’s rainy and much cooler to the South, there’s very little rainfall in Otsego County.
Since the record-breaking April heat wave on April 27, when the mercury soared to an incredible 93 degrees at our weather station in Otego, it has been consistently warmer in northern New York and northern New England than across the mid-Atlantic states.
A good example came Wednesday, April 29, when light to moderate rain continued all afternoon in Virginia with temperatures in the low 50s, while here in Otsego County skies were sunny all day with highs in the mid-60s and 20 percent relative humidity. From Saturday through Monday, May 2-4, a stationary front became well-established from northeast Texas to south of Long Island.
Severe thunderstorms developed along and just south of this front, from southeast Texas to Mississippi and Alabama. A cool rain fell just north of the front in the Washington D.C. area north to southern and central Pennsylvania on Sunday and Monday, with highs in the lower 50s. Once again, the further north, the higher the temperature and the more sunshine; the further south, the more clouds and rain with cooler air.

Labels: 05-08-09, Columns, MARK HANOK, WEATHER WATCH

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Hometown History

125 Years Ago
Articles of Incorporation for the “Oneonta Gold & Silver Mining Company” were filed yesterday with the Secretary of State. The capital stock of the company is $1,000,000. It will be issued in non-assessable shares of $10 each.
The trustees are William and Albert Morris, Ransom Mitchell, A.C. Lewis and Frank Gould. An organization will be effected, officers elected and the stock placed upon the market upon the return of the proper certificate of incorporation. The owners of the mine are John B. Roberts, O.M. Hughson and Son, and Mr. Smith of The Press.
May 1884

100 Years Ago
Bronzed by the southern sun, hale and hearty, and wearing “a smile that won’t come off,” George I. Wilber returned to Oneonta last Thursday night after a ten weeks’ absence, in the course of which he had traveled 10,000 miles in the United States and 3,000 in Mexico.
With the exception of a slight cold during two or three days he was in perfect health; and he enjoyed every minute of this, the longest vacation he had ever taken from his duties as president of that “solid as Gibraltar” institution – the Wilber National Bank.
Mr. Wilber left home February 15th and departed on February 20th from Cleveland, Ohio, as a member of a party of 186 tourists, who with all the conveniences of parlor, dining and sleeping cars, with accompanying physicians, and under the direction of Charles H. Gates of Toledo, made, with 40 attendants, a winter trip to old Mexico.
May 1909

80 Years Ago
The May number of the “Youth’s Companion” has for a leading feature an interesting article titled “Fairchild – Air-Mapper,” which will have more than usual interest to residents of Oneonta and vicinity, since it has to do with the life and work of Sherman Mills Fairchild, native of Oneonta who still keeps his home in this city.
Sherman Fairchild is the son of the late George W. Fairchild. The article from the pen of Earl Reeves, says that “though now little over thirty years old, Sherman Fairchild is one of the most extraordinary geniuses that aviation has produced. Almost solely responsible for the great development of aerial photography, he is also the largest builder of cabin planes in the world, and a leader in the building of other types of aircraft.”
May 1929

60 Years Ago
Figures from the National Safety Council show that the number of motor vehicle deaths in New York State has risen sharply. During the first two months of this year there were 268 deaths, 16 percent of which were related to mechanical failure or malfunction, a 50 percent increase over the same period last year, when there were 179 deaths.
This means that in just two months there were 43 unnecessary motor vehicle deaths in New York State, deaths that could have been avoided if the brakes, steering wheels and lights on all cars were in good condition. A driver is no better than the vehicle he drives. Even the best driver cannot avoid an accident if his headlights are too dim to spot a child who runs into the street, or his brakes are too loose to stop in the required amount of space.
May 1949

40 Years Ago
Adolph G. Anderson, Dean of New College of Hofstra University has been named the sixth president of Hartwick College in Oneonta. Born in South Dakota and educated in public schools in Washington, Minnesota, Iowa and Pennsylvania, Dr. Anderson received his Ph.D in physical chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh following a Bachelor of Science from that institution.
An accomplished singer, actor and narrator with such groups as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, the Julliard String Quartet, and the Chatauqua Opera Theatre, he earned a voice Fellowship at the Julliard Graduate School of Music for a two-year period in 1944.
Dr. Anderson holds the academic rank of Professor Chemistry at Hofstra where he joined the faculty in 1960 following previous teaching appointments at City College of New York, Geneva College, the University of Pittsburgh and Yeshida University.
May 1969

20 Years Ago
Jerry Kabat’s radio show for children will be on summer vacation beginning Saturday, May 20, but Kabat hopes his young audience will tune in again when he returns in September to the airwaves on Hartwick College’s WHRO radio station.
Kabat’s show, which has aired from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, features a variety of programs for the younger set including music, storytelling, riddles, brain teasers and prizes for callers with the correct answers.
Kabat started the program more than a year ago to provide children with an alternative to the Saturday morning television cartoon menu. For the May 13 show, Joyce Mallery of Oneonta will tell traditional American and Irish stories.
May 1989

10 Years Ago
Hartwick College News – The Hartwick College softball team completed its 1999 season with a sweep, posting 5-1 and 7-3 victories over Elmira College on Monday. Junior center fielder Amanda Klump had four hits in the two games and sophomore right-hander Tania Meck recorded a win and a save.
The Hawks end the season with a record of 22-14, winning 15 of their last 16 games. Hartwick has earned the fourth seed for the New York State Women’s Collegiate Athletic Association Softball Championships at Elmira College. The Hawks will face fifth-seed Rensselaer in the quarterfinal round.
The Hartwick College Jazz Ensemble will play jazz favorites – from Glenn Miller to John Coltrane – and more on Friday, May 7th in the Anderson Centre Theatre for the Arts.
May 1999

Resources for Hometown History have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.

Labels: 05-08-09, Columns, Hometown History

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Madolyn O. Palmer: Hartwick College Citizens Board’s 2009 Citizen of The Year

Madolyn O. Palmer.
“She is a wonderful example of the impact that engaged, passionate people can have on the education community and their broader community. People like Madolyn influence the lives of others, one person, one organization at a time.”
Hartwick College President Margaret L. Drugovich used those words in announcing Tuesday, May 5, that the retired Oneonta City School District business manager Palmer had been named “Outstanding Citizen of the Year” by the college’s Citizens Board. She will be honored during the boards fifth annual benefit gala, “A Hartwick World Journey,” on June 19, 2009.
A 1953 Oneonta High School graduate, Madolyn spent a dozen years as a New York Telephone Co. switchboard operator – the first step in a career “bringing the community together,” the college’s official announcement said.
In 1966, she joined the Oneonta City School District as a clerk Over 30 years, she rose through a dozen administrations to managing the school district’s finances by her retirement in 1996.
“Palmer’s dedication to the School District and her community have stretched far beyond work hours, however. When a High School cheerleading adviser was needed in 1978, she stepped forward to take on the “temporary” position for four years, and earned the nickname ‘Pom Mom’,” the announcement said.
Outside school, Madolyn participated in or volunteered for the Kiwanis, Ladies of the Elks, Catskill Symphony Orchestra, Family Services, ESC Consulting, Daughters of the American Revolution, United Way, Future for Oneonta Foundation, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, Odyssey of the Mind, Red Cross, Orpheus Theatre, First United Methodist Church, Girl Scouts of America and The Salvation Army.
In 1999, Palmer was a founder of the Oneonta Alumni Association. She has been a member of the Oneonta Business Women’s Association for more than 50 years, and served as president. She has been on Hartwick’s Citizens Board for more than 20 years, and was president in 1994-95.
She has been married to Carver Palmer for more than 50 years. They have three children and five grandchildren.
Founded in 1954, Hartwick’s Citizens Board consists of businesspeople and community members. It established the Citizen of the Year Award in 1980.
Brian and Josie Wright were the Outstanding Citizens of the Year in 2008, Geoff and Linda Smith in 2007. Jim and Karen Elting in 2006, and Bob Moyer in 2005, as were Chandra and Sarah Kaly (posthumously).

Palmer: Honor Underscores ‘20 Years Well Spent’

Editor’s Note: Here is an excerpt from Madolyn Palmer’s expression of thanks to news she is the Hartwick College Citizen Board’s Citizen of The Year for 2009.

When Garrett Hyer walked into my office at the Oneonta City School in 1989 and asked me to join this group, I told him I really did not know anything about the college.
He was not a man to take “no” for an answer, so I agreed to go to one meeting.
Well, 20 years later, I am still just as enthusiastic about Hartwick, its relationship to Oneonta the community and the many things it makes available to of us, as I was after that first meeting
I have had the honor to work with several presidents over 20 years. Each president has brought a unique talent to the college and left it better for being there.
As a member of the Citizens Board, I had the chance to interact with dedicated community members who also saw the wonderful contributions that Hartwick has given to our community.
I enjoy the interaction with these people. These dedicated individuals that serve on the Citizens Board bring multiple talents to the table.
When people ask me why I have continued to give my support to Hartwick, I usually start by telling them what a top-of-the-line college it is and how fortunate we are to have it here in Oneonta, and I mean every word.
As we travel, I am constantly meeting people who graduated from Hartwick, or they are bragging about their children and the wonderful education they received there.
To be given this honor with those who have received it before me makes me very proud.
The recognition from Hartwick just proves to me that I have contributed to the college and these 20 years were well spent.

Labels: 05-08-09, Madolyn O. Palmer

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Letters to the Editor

9 OHS Athletes Were Best Of Every Contender In State

To The Editor:
Thanks to Tiffany (Hurley) Carr for her Letter to the Editor, “Don’t Forget 2 Great Seasons,” reminding us not to forget OHS’s state champions.
The NYSPHSAA Class-B ‘96/7 and ‘97/8 and the amazing NYSFSSAA Class-B ‘98 girls varsity basketball teams will never be forgotten.
They are featured in Hometown Oneonta Girls Echo 1997, ’98 Champs showing you and the huge display case at OHS (the article omits Class B), multiple road signs at entrances to Oneonta (the Boys Soccer ‘99 sign also omits Class B), the banners on OHS the gymnasium wall, and more.
Those were great championships at the Class B level and I do not mean to discount them. Well done to you and the outstanding ‘97/8 Federation Class-B championship team, which I hope will be the first team to be inducted as a team into the OHS HoF (including head coach Tom Moriarty).
The new series in Hometown Oneonta, which began after your letter, is about the nine OHS student athletes who are not only Class B champions, but who are the all-class champions for the entire NYSPHSAA – they beat everyone in the NYSPHSAA!
This important distinction means that OHS went up against and defeated not only Class B (middle-sized schools), but also defeated the largest schools in the state, which are up to six times larger than OHS.
Can you imagine defeating a school where the entire student body of OHS would take up just over half of one of their grades? The resources, competition, skill development and coaching these large schools bring to bear on their athletic programs are enormous.
For example, OHS had no indoor tennis courts or indoor track & field to train on and our ski team drove hours just to practice.
It is extremely rare and surprising to have modest-sized OHS slay the Goliaths eight times in tennis, golf, skiing and track & field.
These are the only sports, both individual and team, over the entire history of OHS where OHS has won all-class NYSPHSAA state championships.
Please join me in elevating the sports where OHS has achieved its greatest successes and in honoring the nine student athletes who have attained the ultimate level of high-school athletic achievement.
Now that the series is underway, I hope you are enjoying it. Please stay tuned to Hometown Oneonta’s “Blasts from the Past” to read all about OHS’s all-class NYSPHSAA champs and what they have gone on to accomplish in life.
Wow, the OHS tennis team is undefeated so far this season; could we be on the road to another all-class state championship? Go Jackets!
JOE CAMPBELL JR.
OHS ’75

Labels: 05-08-09, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

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20-Something Candidates Prove ‘Gameboy Generation’ Truly Connected

What motivates anyone to go into politics?
Certainly there’s ego, a need to be recognized.
Closely wedded to that is the need to accomplish, to make the world a better place.
Since politics is called the art of the do-able, it requires the ability to be flexible, to delay gratification as you painstakingly put pieces into place.
It requires high energy. No slouches succeed here.
It requires risk-taking, the agony of defeat being as likely as the thrill of victory.
At base, the successful politician likes people, drawing energy from shaking hands and connecting with constituents.
It’s common these days to use the term “politician” with contempt.
But politicians are among the most interesting people you meet – complex, resilient, shrewd, tough, idealistic and strategic at the same time.
And their ability to engage in a world of greys – no black and white here – has enabled the greatest Democracy in the history of humankind to survive for 229 years, and sometimes even flourish.
•
If on balance, the job of politician doesn’t sound terrifically inviting to most people, people in generation after generation are drawn to it, including – most lately, in Oneonta – two of what we used to call 20-somethings, Democrat (and/or independent) Jason Corrigan, 21, a SUNY Oneonta junior, and Jordan Shepardson, 26, a young father who works for Catholic Charities.
(This isn’t to endorse either of them for the Oneonta mayoral nomination. The sole motivation for this piece is curiosity.)
Both have gone through radicalizing experiences, it surfaced in recent interview.
When Corrigan was 8 years old, a social worker came to his house in Albany, a month before Christmas, took him away from his single mother and placed him with a foster family.
“Like anyone,” he said, “I wanted to be with my mom. I wanted to be home.”
But he adapted to John and Lorraine Lassano, which he said were loving and attentive foster parents. Within a year, the woman he calls “mom,” Vicky Connors, who had known him since he was a baby, adopted him, although he has kept in touch with his mother’s family.
“Everyone has a choice,” he replied when asked what lesson he drew from the experience. “I’ve always chosen to be the person I want to be.”
•
When you meet Jason Corrigan, the word “intensive” comes to mind. Jordan Shepardson strikes you as motivated, but ... more comfortable in his skin, perhaps.
Raised in rural East Schodack, a member of a family that always debated politics, he remembers being a shy boy. In his case, it was religion – he’s a born-again Catholic – that gave him the confidence you sense in him today.
His generation, he believes, is “largely Libertarian,” as is he: “One of the greatest Libertarians is God. He gives you free will to do what you will.”
At SUNY Albany, he met his future wife, Bridgette Cyzeski of West Oneonta, at a Catholic retreat. After graduation, he studied law for a semester at the University of Kentucky, but discovered he didn’t want to do that all his life.
So the couple moved back to Oneonta, where he’s a mediator in family court in Delaware County. The couple has a daughter, Winnie, 2.
Shepardson is focusing on the recommendation of the state Commission on Local Government Efficiency and Competitiveness, which recommended the merger of the city and town of Oneonta.
The combined entity, he points out, could levy a sales tax up to 4 percent – the town, by itself, can’t – putting the combined municipality in a position to profit mightily from Southside Mall and the rest of that strip.
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Corrigan’s oriented toward action. A freshman at SUNY Plattsburgh, he – on his own – organized a 5K walk and run that raised $1,200 to fight breast cancer.
Transferring to SUNY Oneonta the next year, he joined Chi Phi and, as Inter Greek Council Community Service chairman, chalked up a record 14,000 hours in community service by Greek members in one year.
His goal: Bringing the community together: “Government, too often, focuses on just one aspect of everything.”
Both men worry about young people leaving Upstate New York.
Shepardson refers to the “bloodletting” – how his high-school pals fled elsewhere. Corrigan’s “main concern: Student retention,” so SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick grads can continue to contribute brainpower to the fair City of the Hills.
What’s to conclude? Here are two young guys with futures. As mayor of Oneonta? That remains to be seen.
But an Upstate New York community that can engage these young men in this way has something special.

Labels: 05-08-09, Editorial, Hometown Views, Opinion

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:13 AM 8 comments

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Hometown People

Oneonta Softball Player
Honored Post Season

Oneonta native and SUNY Oneonta senior softball player Jamie Llewellyn saved her best year for last, posting a career best .371 batting average this spring en route to earning SUNYAC All-Conference honors and second team NFCA Div. III Northeast All-Region honors.
She led the Red Dragons with 46 hits this spring including seven doubles, two triples and four home runs. She also finished the season with a team high 28 runs batted in and scored 25 runs.
Llewellyn leaves Oneonta as the programs career leader in triples with 12 and is tied for second in career home runs with eight. A third team All-Region selection a year ago, Llewellyn finishes her four year career with a .306 career batting average, 140 career hits and 27 career doubles.

Chancellor Honors Winchester; First-Of-Kind Award For Oneonta

Betty Winchester, department secretary for the SUNY Oneonta Communication Arts Department, has received the 2009 SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Classified Service. Winchester is the first person from SUNY Oneonta to receive the award.
Betty Winchester has worked at SUNY Oneonta since 1989 and served in many different offices.
Ms. Winchester was previously honored at the college with the SUNY Oneonta “Making a Difference” Employee Recognition Award for Sustained Excellence in Performance.
She is well known on campus for going above and beyond the requirements of her job. She also participates actively in campus and community service.
The award will be presented during SUNY Oneonta’s commencement Saturday, May 15.

‘GREEN’ AWARD: Alden Banks with Prudential Fox Properties has been awarded the National Association of REALTORS Green Designation, the only green real estate professional designation recognized by NAR. He received this prestigious designation after completing 18 hours of course work designed specifically for REALTORS. The courses were created in collaboration with a multidisciplinary team of industry experts from across the country; ensuring designees gain comprehensive knowledge of green homes and buildings and issues of sustainability in relation to real estate.

NEW BANK MANAGER: David Delker of Oneonta has joined NBT Bank as branch manager of the Oneonta Financial Center on Wall Street. In this position, he has responsibility for branch sales, customer service and operations.
Delker has more than 25 years of business experience. Before joining NBT, he was a finance and insurance manager for Otsego Automotive for five years.
Prior to this, he worked in the funeral industry for 20 years as a licensed funeral director and general manager of several funeral homes in central and eastern New York. Delker has an associate’s degree from the SUNY Canton and serves as president of the Oneonta Football Booster Club.

HOLE IN ONE: Josh Snyder of Laurens aced the 120-yard par three 13th hole at Colonial Ridge Golf Course on Saturday, April 25. It was the first hole in one recorded in the 2009 season and was witnessed by Jon Eberling, Jim Crawford and Kevin Wilson.

HONOR FLIGHT: Richard Schlafer of Hampshire House Assisted Living took part in the May 2 Honor Flight Program. Richard, a WWII veteran, was transported with other veterans to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in honor of the nation’s servicemen. Richard started his army training on Christmas Day. One of his many memories was driving Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s wife, Jean, on shopping trips when he was stationed at General Headquarters in Tokyo after the Japanese surrender.

TOP VOLUNTEERS: Josie Gilmour was honored on April 22 at the annual Fox Volunteer Recognition Luncheon for her 45 years of volunteer service to A.O. Fox, the greatest length of service recorded. Other milestone awards were given to Phyllis Becker and Muriel Ross for 30 years of service, and Kay Reilly for 20. The Fox Auxiliary has 120 members.

NEW CERTIFICATION: Dorraine Young, Fox Hospital’s quality management services coordinator earned the CPHQ (Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality) designation from the Healthcare Quality Certification Board.

REENLISTED: First Sgt. George Rooney from Worcester has reenlisted to continue service with the Company B (Maint) 427th Brigade Support Battalion of the New York Army National Guard.

Labels: 05-08-09, Hometown People

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:07 AM 0 comments

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SAVING A SENTINEL

by JIM KEVLIN

Rick Puentes is something of a Sherlock Holmes of church restoration.
A supervisor for The Imhoff Company, Dover, N.J., he saw cracks in the front door’s stone threshold at First United Methodist Church and knew it spelled trouble.
He had been brought to Oneonta in 2005 to repair the main stained-glass window – Christ’s resurrection – which Puentes discovered was 4 1/2 inches out of plumb.
While Willet Stained Glass Studio, the foremost company of its kind, removed and re-leaded the window, Puentes and his crew rebuilt the wall that held it in place and reinforced it with steel.
By 2007, when that job was complete, the church’s trustees understood it was just Phase I.
For the past year now, the Imhoff crew has undertaken a massive reconstruction of the belltower, and that won’t be the end of what’s needed. In all, according to church Business Manager Jeff Gardner, the 600-member congregation is committed to spending $2 million to catch up on delayed maintenance of the 80-year-old Oneonta landmark.
It’s a labor of love, painstakingly replacing the mortar between the cut blocks of Onondaga limestone. Rebuilding cracked walls. Replacing loose stone. The buttresses – pillars of stone that support the tower top to bottom – will be removed in the next few days to be rebuilt with newly quarried limestone from Albany.
Confronted with the huge prospective price tag, the church’s trustees considered razing and building new, but Scott Fielder, a trustee, said they concluded that would be as expensive.
And, she added, “it’s a wonderful church.”

Labels: 05-08-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:01 AM 0 comments

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City of the Hills

Jenna Bordinger, 7, a second grader at Oneonta Community Christian School adds lemon juice to baking soda as she tries out a science project at the school’s annual science fair, Friday, May 1. Each grade level, pre-k through 12, presented projects.
RECORD HIT: SUNY Oneonta received a record 12,595 applications for the class that arrives this September, up from 12,571 last fall. It only plans to accept 1,050 freshmen.

ZANE SHINES: Zane Relethford, the Oneonta High School senior who plans to attend Brandeis this fall, won the Otsego County Bar Association’s Liberty Bell Award in Law Day Competition Friday, May 1, at the county courthouse, besting 11 other students. He won $500 and a trophy.

GRADUATION: The SUNY Oneonta graduation begins at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 16. Hartwick College’s begins at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 23.

CELTIC MUSIC: The famed Celtic music group, The Barra MacNeils, from Cape Breton, will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, May 15, at SUNY Oneonta’s Hunt Union Ballroom, sponsored by the Oneonta Concert Association.

FOOTBALL, ALREADY: Greater Oneonta Youth Football players ages 8-12 should register for the fall season 9-11 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at Riverside Elementary. Questions, call Jason Neer, 433-0840.

UNIQUE PLACE: The 1890 former cinema on lower Chesnut Street contains 13 dressing rooms and a peanut gallery, the Friends of the Oneonta Theater were told at a meeting Sunday, May 3, at the Greater Oneonta Historical Society.

NEW COLUMN: Mark Hanok’s Weather Watch column begins in this edition. The Otego resident has been a radio meteorologist in Rockland County for years.

Labels: 05-08-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:58 AM 0 comments

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Local Cinderellas All Dressed Up For Prom Nights

By LAURA COX

“We live in an economically deprived area, and many girls’ dresses sit in their closets and never get more than one use; the same with jewelry and accessories.”
The Cinderella Project collects used formal dresses from local high school students, college students and anyone else who is willing to part with gowns from fancy evenings past. The dresses are then provided at no cost to local girls who need them for upcoming proms.
This year’s organizers – Kimberly Andrews, Meghan Mahoney, Amelia Fredenburg, Kelsey Minnich and Rachel Reile – were happy to have this particular project, because it not only provides girls with dresses but it also reminded them of their own proms.
The organizers oohed and aahed over all of the dresses with each of the girls, helping them find just the right size and preferred styles.
The girls came in from all over the area, Oneonta, Laurens, Charlotte Valley and Franklin. They sifted through the racks, went to try on dresses and sifted through the racks some more.
Organizer Andrews said 40 girls turned out on Friday and 23 on Saturday, and 33 gowns in all were distributed.

Labels: 05-08-09, Front Page, Prom

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:55 AM 0 comments

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Beer Issue Overcome, Tigers Say, ‘Play Ball’

New Food Choices, Radio Broadcasts, Among Innovations

By LAURA COX

With a plan in place to handle the first-time sale of beer at Damaschke Field, everyone in the new Oneonta Tigers’ organization is “chomping at the bit,” declares General Manager Andrew Weber.
Opening day is six weeks from Friday, May 8.
“We’re excited,” he said in an interview. “We want to show off the great product we think we have.”
The new manager, Howard Bushong, who played in the National Champion Longhorn team in 1975 while in college, is “beyond excited,” Weber said.
With many changes in store under the new ownership and management – Common Council Tuesday, April 21, approved the sale of beer during games, a Damaschke Field first – fans are sure to enjoy themselves in the stands this season.
Council acted after the Tigers drafted an alcohol-management plan modeled on those implemented by Tigers Owner E. Miles Prentice’s other Minor League teams, in Huntsville, Ala., and Midland, Texas. They also drew on New York Yankees’ policies and those of other New York Penn League teams.
The goal was to develop something that worked for other teams, but was also New York specific.
While still waiting for their official liquor license, Weber explained how things will work:
When entering the park, anyone planning to buy a beer during the game must be carded by the security guards and receive a wrist band.
Once inside the park, braceleted fans will be able to buy beer in one of three types of locations – a draft station, one of two portable stations selling aluminum bottles, or from roaming vendors selling aluminum bottles throughout the stands.
To manage the amount of alcohol one individual can purchase, sales will be limited to two beers per person per transaction at beer stations and one beer per person per transaction from roaming vendors. All beer sales will be cut off in the middle of the seventh inning, giving fans at least two innings beer free.
If at game’s end a fan feels uncomfortable driving home, the Tigers will drive them home or provide taxi service.
To mitigate the chances of underage drinking, the Tigers are requiring that all beer vendors be over 21, although state law only required them to be 18. All servers will also receive training by the Tigers and their beer distributor.
“We have to be responsible in our actions, but fans need to be responsible too. We are promoting responsible drinking and would like to keep the family friendly atmosphere,” said Weber.
Food choices at concession stands will also be widened, to include salads, Polish sausage, wings and made-to-order barbecue.

Labels: 05-08-09, Front Page, oneonta tigers

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:52 AM 0 comments

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