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Hometown People

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Jeremiah Ward Oneonta’s Newest Eagle Scout

When William Jeremiah Ward IV joined Cub Scouts in first grade, he knew he wanted to stick through it to the end. He wanted the honor of the Eagle Scout Award.
And so for 12 years Jeremiah, the son of Kay Van Dusen and Bill Ward and brother to Kayleigh Ward, worked to achieve all the needed badges to become an Eagle Scout.
“It’s pretty relieving to be done. I guess the honor hasn’t hit me yet,” said Ward a couple days after the Saturday, June 13, ceremony at the American Legion, where he received his award.
Ward’s Eagle Scout service project included building an arbor frame, six benches and six planter boxes for the courtyard at his church, Main Street Baptist Church. He had the help of volunteers from his Boy Scout troop over the past year, completing the initial paperwork last summer and filing the final paperwork and photographic evidence with the national headquarters in February of this year.
After graduation Ward plans to continue using the skills he has learned in Boy Scouts to attend North Country Community College in Saranac Lake, where he will focus on a program called Wilderness Recreation Leadership. His courses will include canoeing, backpacking, rock climbing and obtaining leadership skills he has partially obtained in scouting.
“I always loved going on camping trips and completing creative wilderness merit badges; the first one I took was wilderness survival.”
The program is for a two-year associates degree. After completion, he hopes to work for Outward Bound as an instructor leading trips.

Barron’s Again Puts McReynolds On Top 100 List

For the second year in a row, Barron’s magazine has chosen Erna Morgan McReynolds, a financial adviser with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, Oneonta, for its prestigious list of “Top 100 Women Financial Advisers.”
The ranking shows the top 100 women financial advisers at brokerages, big banks and some other firms, as compiled by industry consultant R.J. Shook of The Winner’s Circle Organization, based in Boca Raton, Fla.
The top 100, as a group, are managing $104 billion, up nearly 25 percent from the level Shook estimated two years ago, about the same growth as posted by the top men advisers.
McReynolds, who was raised in Gilbertsville and attended SUNY Oneonta, returned to Otsego County in the 1990s after a career in international journalism.
She and her husband, Tom Morgan, the business columnist, reside in Franklin.

Smalleys, Hesses Win Fox Tourney; $50,000 Raised

The 10th Annual A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital Golf Classic, sponsored by Wilber National Bank, raised more than $50,000 for projects at the hospital.
The event was Monday, June 1, at the Oneonta Country Club, and more than 174 golfers and approximately 100 donors participated.
The overall winners with an overall low net score of 51 were the foursome of Nancy Smalley, Ryan Smalley, Gail Hess and Kyle Hess.
Morning winners were:
• Flight A: from Fiberdyne: Matt Paoni, Aaron Deragon, Nick Saunders and Sean Wainwright
• Flight B: from LifeGas: Darrell Hazen, Stan Shencavitz, Dave Sterrett and Derrick West.
Winners for the afternoon were:
• Flight A: Frank Liberati, Joe Sastic, Martin Couch and Rich Couch
• Flight B: Gail Hess, Nancy Smalley, Kyle Hess and Ryan Smalley
• Flight C: Gerard Wilson, Jeremy Preston, Jim Tallman, Joe Monington
• Flight D, from Crothall Services: Neil Turcott, Rick LaChance, Gene Bettencourt and Charlie Strain
• Flight E, from Bates Troy: Dave Bird, Eileen Bird, Julie Bird and Matt Dobler.

Craig Bielert, Oneonta, To Wed Rachael Morrissey of Massachussetts

James and Gwen Morrissey of Granby, Mass., announce the engagement of their daughter Rachael Elizabeth Day Morrissey, to Troy Anderson Bielert, both of East Greenbush. The future bridegroom is the son of Dr. Craig Bielert and Dr. Connie M. Anderson, of Oneonta.
The bride-to-be graduated from Holyoke Catholic High School. She received a bachelor’s degree from Hartwick College in Oneonta and a master’s from the College of St. Rose. She is a corporate trainer for Computer Science Corp.
The future bridegroom graduated from Oneonta High School. His bachelor’s is from Hartwick College, and master’s from the University of Albany. He is a teacher in the East Greenbush School District.

Rebecca Palmer, Paul A. Scribani Wed In Oneonta

Rebecca Mae Palmer and Paul Anthony Scribani were married on April 18, 2009, at St. Mary’s Church in Oneonta, with Father Joseph A. Benintende officiating.
The bride is the daughter of Doug and Karen Palmer of Richfield Springs.
The groom is the son of Anthony and Kathy Scribani of Delhi.
The bride wore a white Alfred Angelo strapless lace-up corset-backed gown with a semi-cathedral train that had cobalt blue trim accents. The satin gown was embellished with re-embroidered lace, crystal beading and sequins.
She carried a bouquet of assorted white silk flowers created by her aunt, Violet Moshier.
Her maids were her sister Jennifer Palmer, as well as Melissa Brower, Janae Dutcher, Jacelyn Sadlon and Nicole Lynch. They wore matching cobalt blue floor-length dresses and carried bouquets of white and blue silk flowers, also created by Ms. Moshier.
The bride was escorted down the aisle by her father.
Groomsmen were the groom’s brother, Michael Scribani, as well as Bryan Decker, Cliff Payne, Edward Neroni and Matt Wayman. Ushers were Allan Moore and Jon Summers.
A reception followed at Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta.
The couple honeymooned on an eight-day cruise to San Juan, Puerto Rico, St. Thomas Virgin Islands and Grand Turk.
The couple resides in Delhi.

ON DEAN’S LIST: Three Oneontans have been named to SUNY New Paltz Dean’s List for the spring semester: Rebecca Marcus, a sophomore majoring in psychology; Michelle Ranieri, a freshman majoring in anthropology; Linda Staiber, a sophomore majoring in adolescence education.

Labels: 06-19-09, Hometown People

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:39 AM 0 comments

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Big ‘Little Eva’

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

National focus on our region is not unusual.
Mention Cooperstown and the next word out of the mouth of just about every citizen of the United States will be “baseball.”
There are those who will also evoke the Father of American Literature, James Fenimore Cooper.
A growing number of opera lovers will think “Glimmerglass!”
But these associations are benign, friendly.
When did you last rub your hands and follow the tabloids about anything remotely prurient to do with our idyllic little corner of the world?
Time was – some 75 years ago – when booze, prostitution and murder right here riveted the attention of upstanding people like you and me.
One Eva Coo, run out of railroad boomtown Oneonta for bootlegging and brothelkeeping (she moved as far as Colliersville) in 1934, masterminded the murder of a hapless, drunken and handicapped hired hand for insurance money.
She was caught, arrested and tried in Cooperstown with all of America hanging on every gruesome detail.
The story continues to fascinate and you can witness the entire saga from start to finish by seeing “Little Eva,” a brand new play by New York City (by way of Milford) playwright and director Isaac Rathbone, now in a powerful world-premiere run at the Upper Susquehanna Cultural Center in Milford (this weekend) and the County Courthouse in Cooperstown (next weekend).
Rathbone and his wife Jennifer have co-directed a taut and commanding production marked by especially strong performances by the entire ensemble.
Fast-paced, crisp, gripping and unsettling, the play cuts back and forth from the trial to the sequence of events leading up to it.
The Rathbones have made excellent use of a basically rudimentary performing space.
Particularly striking are the costumes and props, all rich and earthy variants of black, white, gray and brown, blending harmoniously with the solid gleaming interior of what was once Milford’s Presbyterian church.
The setting in the courthouse will no doubt echo this period feel even more. How, one wonders, authentic can one get?
It would be nice to give deserved individual praise to each actor, but space does not allow for it.
Special mention must be made, however, of Sarah Lynn Hazard’s phenomenal tour de force in the title role. She is bold, brassy, sexy and very, very bad. Scary and heartbreaking at the same time.
 But go see for yourself. And when you run into the representatives of the Oracle Theatre, Inc. (Brooklyn) and the Greater Milford Historical Society, who produced this excellent play, thank them warmly for bringing such an important event to town.

Sam Goodyear’s column on the arts in Otsego and Delaware counties appears weekly

Labels: 06-19-09, Art Beat, Columns, Eva Coo, Front Page, Sam Goodyear

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:34 AM 0 comments

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3 Catcher Standouts For Tigers

By LAURA COX

The players have arrived, the locker rooms and batting cages are full of activity, and Tuesday night, June 16, marked the 2009 Oneonta Tigers’ first practice as a whole team.
With new faces on the roster – only three players, Nick Cassavechia, Wade Lamont and Noah Krol, return this year and half the team is new to minor league professional ball all together – and new faces in ownership, management and coaching, this year promises to be a whole new ball game for Oneonta.
At Tigers Media Day, that same Tuesday, newly arrived Team Manager Howard Bushong was looking forward to working with the whole team of guys in the days leading up to the season opener, 7:05 p.m. Friday, June 19, at Damaschke Field against the Tri-City Valley Cats of Troy.
Former owners Sam Nader and Sid Levine will be honored that evening. The new owner E. Miles Prentice, a New York City lawyer, and several of his partners intend to attend.
“Tickets sales are very good; most reserve seats are gone. There’s still general admission available,” said General Manager Andy Weber.
Until now, Bushong had only worked with 13 of the players during spring training. The other 17 arrived in the City of the Hills just this week.
Other than those 13, Bushong acknowledged he knew a little about one of the new players, Michael Rockett, who was drafted from University of Texas San Antonio, because he had coached against him in college ball for three years. Bushong was formerly a coach for Texas State University.
“The rest, I know just about as much as you do about them,” said Bushong, “But there’s always a hope looking at the draft, every year a hope about this guy or that.”
Bushong does have some high hopes for third round pick Wade Gaynor, a third baseman from Western Kentucky University and the team’s three catchers, Keith Hernandez, John Murrian and Eric Roof.
“I am looking to put all three up there to play and prove and improve on their catching,” said Bushong, a former catcher himself.
On the pitching front, Bushong reported there are some really good pitchers who are doing a great job and some who he will just have to wait and see how they handle the pressure of this level of ball.
“Pro baseball is a whole different world,” said Bushong, “Albert Pujols was just another guy in college, a 13th round pick, some guys make it, some guys don’t. It’s always interesting and always fun to watch.
Reserved seats are $10. Adult general admission is $6. For kids and seniors, it’s $5. Fireworks will immediately follow the game.

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page, Hometown Sports, oneonta tigers

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Letters to the Editor

No One Condones Killing

To the Editor:
Jim O’Leary quotes William F. Roberts about “would-be theocrats and other totalitarians.”
Google William F. Roberts ... you get nothing! Google the phrase and you get Jim O’Leary’s letter.
Paul Krugman wrote a column along the lines of Mr. O’Leary’s thought; he received a chorus of “Amens!” from the faithful.
...To say those who are vocally against abortion are responsible for the murder of Dr. Tiller is to say those who beat the drum against the Iraq war are responsible for inspiring the killing of a military recruiter.
In the WSJ, James Kirchick writes “...If ‘Christianists’ were anything like actual religious fascists, they would applaud Tiller’s murder as a ‘heroic martyrdom operation’ and suborn further mayhem. (In contrast), radical Islamists revel in death.” 
As to his assertion that it is the result of  people who can’t win battles legislatively or  judicially, I must say these institutions have failed the American people, since about 80 percent oppose late-term abortion.
Tell me: Do you really think Congress or your Albany politicians are in tune with the people?
Also, the closing statement is so clever, Mr. O’Leary might one day share the stage with Rosie O’Donnell.
ADRIAN D. VanESSENDELFT
Oneonta

Labels: 06-19-09, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:28 AM 0 comments

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Editorial

Power’s Action Agenda Will Edge Him Toward Professional Managers

Some folks who have been in county government circles for a while may have run across Jim Merritt in the ’80s and ’90s.
Merritt was budget officer for Jefferson County. Yes, budget officer, not county manager or county executive.
In truth, however, he held more sway than many of those managers and executives in other counties across New York State.
That was because he was efficient and effective. As the most visible and accessible county staffer, responsibilities evolved his way.
Since, without complaint, he shouldered added duties with efficiency and diplomacy, he grew into a de-facto county manager over the years.
The drawback was fuzzy lines of authority. The department heads, according to the organizational chart, didn’t report to him, but to the relevant committees of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors.
In reality, the department heads, over time, learned not to mess with Jim.
•
Jim Merritt’s success was brought to mind by remarks delivered by Jim Powers, chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, at the Otsego County Chamber’s first “State of the County” breakfast the other day at Holiday Inn Southside, attended by 60 people from as far away as Richfield Springs, (Alex Shields and his wife, Barbara.)
Powers, as has been his consistent stand, said flatly about creating a county-manager position locally: “It’s not going to happen while I’m here.”
However, he said, he has come to the conclusion – through painful experience – that the county board needs a budget officer.
The treasurer’s office, he said, should pay the bills and process receipts. But the budget officer would help the representatives strategically, to avoid budgetting pitfalls and seek revenue opportunities.
In effect, this is a low-risk way to begin garnering the benefits that some sort of county executive might accrue – a county manager on training wheels, if you will.
If the individual who fills the role is a Jim Merritt, good things will start to happen, whether the title is Grand Poo-Bah of the Budget or director of bubble-gum removal from sidewalks.
•
That is particularly the case, since so many of the things Powers spoke about – shifting from MOSA to a county-run solid-waste system, completing negotiations with the CSEA, implementing TQM (total quality management) – would be helped by a high-powered executive nudging things ahead.
Echoing President Obama, Powers set the stage for his remarks – spare but content-packed, as you might expect if you know him – by saying “change” best characterizes what’s happening in the county right now.
And effective county department heads are part of that.
For instance, Brian Pokorny, director of the county’s IT department, has bird-dogged an initiative that will create a county-owned fiber-optic loop between The Meadows, Otsego Manor, the county’s facilities in downtown Cooperstown and past Bassett Healthcare.
Ron Tiderencel’s county Highway Department is laying the cable, a savings. And Powers anticipates $60,000 can be saved annually on telephone bills. If entities like Bassett can or the National Baseball Hall of Fame can be enticed to plug into the loop, it will only be moreso.
These are the kinds of things Powers can’t do himself. He needs effective staff – the county’s economic developer, Carolyn Lewis, he said, proposed the fibre-optic concept – to move things forward with day-to-day consistency.
•
Powers, philosophically, is a small-government guy, and the mandate he received two years ago, when Republicans swept out the Democrats after the budget fiasco, earned him the right to act on his beliefs.
(Remember? An anticipated 2.5 percent tax increase turned out to be 25 percent. Oops. In fairness, Republican county Treasurer Myrna Thayne was as responsible as the Democratic ways and means chair, Ron Feldstein.)
That sweep, said Powers, combats a tendency for people to say, “I can’t effect my state. I can’t effect my county.” Adding a county manager would simply feed the tendency by adding a layer between county government and voters.
“You need to have it that people can effect their own lives,” said the chairman.
That said, at heart Powers is an activist – he cited a children’s center in the courthouse, where children can play and be tended while waiting for family proceedings, as a proud accomplishment. He wants to get things done. He sees getting control of the budget one way to do this.
As Powers moves forward, he will see the logic of more professional administration and will move in that direction, though perhaps not – probably not – ever seeking a county-manager position.
He wants the government the people need, and that will move him, incrementally but inexorably, case by case, half-step by half-step, in the direction of efficiency, effectiveness and professionalism.

Labels: 06-19-09, Editorial, Hometown Views, Opinion

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:27 AM 0 comments

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What’s Next: Granola University?

ALEX THOMAS

OTHER VOICES

Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from a piece by SUNY Oneonta assistant professor of sociology Alex Thomas in the latest publication of The Sentinel, the United University Professions newsletter.

Where does the College at Oneonta go? Is the future a continuation of SUNY Oneonta as we know it? Or will we be some other entity waiting to be created by a largely newly hired faculty and a new president?
Such questions deserve whole-hearted debate, and let us consider two principles for conceptualizing our future. Let us call the first, for now, “Regional University,” and the second the “Granola Strategy.”
...Let the big schools try to become another Harvard, and let the little schools wallow in their traditions. What concept can guide a renewed Oneonta? A very wise man put it thus: “Modern institutions of higher education – if they are to survive – must rediscover some very old principles regarding the ‘public’ role of the university.”
I believe Achim Koeddermann has it right: SUNY Oneonta can seek greatness by serving our community and our region.
To our south are the Catskill Mountains, the spine of the Appalachians facing development pressures from one of the great megacities in the world. To the north is the Upper Susquehanna Basin and the industrial landscape of the Mohawk Valley.
There are 10 colleges in this region stretching from the Mohawk to the Delaware, four of which are two-year or formerly two-year colleges; four of which are small, private liberal arts colleges; one of which is a specialized SUNY college and, of course, us.
SUNY Oneonta is twice as large as the next largest college, and although our acceptance rate is higher than Hamilton and Colgate, we don’t carry a price tag higher than many assistant professors’ salaries. In other words, within our region we can take the lead in studying the issues of importance to our region.
Regional issues can guide our quest for new programs. For instance, we are in the northeastern most corner of the Appalachian Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay watershed; might there be partnerships, or even money, available? Our region deals in the south with an encroaching major city and in the north with years of industrial decline. Tourism seems to be the popular answer to both.
There are issues of sprawl and natural resource management. There is a unique literature and, if I may be so gauche, a unique Northern Appalachian Culture worthy of study. There used to be more farms here.
Such issues not only beg for more community involvement, but provide opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students. They also plead for graduate programs in such areas as sustainability, rural studies, and community development.
In other words, such issues as found in our own region demand a regional university willing to adopt them as its own. But this institution needs to be a university, not another institution seeking to promote job training, but one that focuses on the local in order to understand global processes and, in turn, bring knowledge of the world to bear on our local situation.
...What does Oneonta have to offer? What type of student might appreciate Oneonta? For this, we turn to the Granola Strategy.
As the University of the Catskills, Oneonta can sell its location for outdoor activities as well as its status of arts community and college town. This involves the encouragement of outdoor activities, such as hiking and canoeing, that students and faculty would enjoy.

Labels: 06-19-09, Guest Column, Hometown Views, Opinion

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:25 AM 0 comments

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Hometown History

125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – A correspondent asks what has become of the Oneonta silver mine. It still remains at the old location. The work of sinking the shaft is progressing, and the indications it is reported, continue good. Considerable stock is being sold.
The game of ball between the Laurens and Oneonta clubs at Laurens on Friday resulted in a victory for the Oneonta club by a score of 31 to 22. Thus far, Oneonta has proven invincible.
A sneak thief stole a large bluefish from Evans’ Market the other night. He was observed in the act, and after proceeding part way home was overtaken and made to return the fish to the market. Then, he accepted passively a vigorous “booting” and left sorer and wiser.
June 1884

100 Years Ago
The Local News – Much interest was felt Monday and Tuesday in the film exhibited at the Casino wherein the flight of Wilber Wright’s areoplane (sic) was depicted. This is the first areoplane (sic) picture shown in Oneonta and gave an excellent idea of the machine and its operation.
A four-cylinder Elmore touring car, costing $3,000 and carrying seven passengers was delivered early this week to its purchaser, S.W. Utter of Kinderhook by Arthur M. Butts of Oneonta.
At a meeting of the Merchants Association last Friday evening a resolution was unanimously adopted stating that the common council should appropriate funds necessary for the immediate acquisition of the additional apparatus and equipment for the fire department. The opinion of the association is largely that of the citizens of the town who believe that all necessary equipment for fire protection should be provided without delay.
June 1909

80 Years Ago
The undefeated Oneonta High school baseball team added another victory to its long string last week on Wednesday at Neahwa Park by overcoming Milford, 5 to 4. For the first time this season the Yellow and White engineered a triple play.
It happened in the fifth inning when Barnard hit one that looked extra bases and the Milford men on first and second legged it for all they were worth. But Snyder, Oneonta’s speedy centerfielder, dug back fast and gathered it in. He relayed it to Pondolfino, who doubled the out by getting Winne off second and the relay to first base beat Armstrong before he could return.
June 1929

60 Years Ago
Your Handwriting Tells a Story – Does your handwriting reveal that you are a conscientious and responsible person? If it does, you may be very proud because these are two traits which go hand in hand with success. It is true that not everyone has the ability or desire to lead the band, but it is also equally true that the band’s success depends on the players as well as the leader. If you are unwilling to accept your share of the responsibilities of life, you cannot expect to reap the rewards.
It really doesn’t matter whether you’re extremely gifted, or just an “ordinary run of the mill” person. If you are conscientious, consistently do the best you can, and accept your share of the responsibility, you will profit accordingly. One of the cardinal rules of life is expressed in the saying – “You get out of life as much as you put into it.”
June 1949

40 Years Ago
Advertisement – Would you believe the Bible can be read in a minute? You’ve probably guessed it. It’s a computer that does the reading. Maybe so, but I hope the day doesn’t come along when a computer steps into the pulpit and delivers the Sunday sermon. And I figure it’s my job – not the computer’s, to tell you about the “Executive policy of Farmers and Traders Life.”
Designed specifically for buyers of larger amounts of insurance, this policy offers big savings because of its lower premiums. Available for men and women this special “Executive” policy can be written to include many attractive optional extras. It’s such a money-saving, interesting plan that you need to get full details to truly appreciate it. I’d be glad at any time to explain. Richard O. Mistretta, General Agent.
June 1969

20 Years Ago
National anti-tobacco advocates believe New York’s move to restrict smoking in public buildings and the workplace statewide will help them win over the rest of the nation. “Everyone basically looks to New York as a trendsetting state,” said Andrea Mickel of the Tobacco-Free America project, a Washington D.C. – based organization funded by the American Lung Association, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Association. “What happens in New York is definitely going to help the movement across the country.”
Currently, 43 states limit smoking in some way and 32 states restrict smoking in the workplace. The drive to restrict smoking in public places has come amid scientific findings that non-smokers could still contract lung cancer and heart disease from breathing other people’s smoke.
June 1989

10 Years Ago
The doors have been kicked open and the new National Soccer Hall of Fame is now available for the public to enjoy and learn the history of the game of soccer. Thousands turned out for the formal ribbon-cutting and dedication ceremonies that took place at the Wright National Soccer campus on Saturday, June 12.
The day full of festivities began at 8 a.m. with the first games of the boys’ and girls’ under twelve tournaments, followed by the ribbon-cutting at 11 a.m. in the rotunda of the new building with Henry Steinbrecher, secretary-general of the U.S. Soccer Federation and James Hamilton, chair of the U.S. Soccer Foundation.
June 1999

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

Labels: 06-19-09, Columns, Hometown History

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:24 AM 0 comments

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First Oneontan In 27 Years Ordained Catholic Priest

By JIM KEVLIN

Tim Naples was raised in a very religious family.
Mom Jean schooled her five sons at the family home at 75 Gilbert St.
And that experience – seeking textbooks most helpful to a Roman Catholic upbringing – converted her and husband Mike from a casual adherence to their religion to a deep faith.
“Our love of the faith grew as we learned more and more about it,” said Jean.
So when their middle son began to express an interest in the priesthood – a couple Legionaries of Christ visited the Naples’ home and Tim spent a summer at their Immaculate Conception Apostolic School in Center Harbor, N.H., his parents were quietly pleased.
“We always through he might have a calling to the priesthood,” said Mike. “Tim didn’t make it a secret. And we supported him.”
That support culminated this month in, first, Father Tim Naples’ ordination Sunday, June 7, in the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Burlington, Vt., and the next Sunday, his first mass in his home parish, St. Mary’s of Oneonta.
Now 26, he is only the 10th native Oneontan ordained in the Catholic priesthood, and the first in 27 years, since the Rev. William Moorby’s on April 30, 1982. (Father Moorby is currently pastor of Blessed Trinity and St. Patrick’s churches in Owego.)
“He’s a wonderful guy,” said Jane Carlson in the packed reception in St. Mary’s Parish Center after an equally packed mass in the 750-seat church on the other side of Walnut Street. The Carlsons knew young Tim through CCD classes he attended with their children.
In his debut sermon locally, Father Naples used the metaphor of food and drink in the Bible – from the tasting of the apple, to the Last Supper, to the communion Catholics partake of every Sunday – to make his point.
Which was, that participation in the sacraments reaffirms the moral imperatives contained in the Ten Commandments. “All that the Lord has said, we will do,” said the new priest, quoting scripture.
At the mass’s end, in inviting the congregation to the reception, Father Naples added, “God has been much, much better to me then I deserve. With my priesthood, I begin repaying him for that love.”
The gathering erupted in applause.
In an interview at his family’s home the day before the mass – he had driven in that morning from Rutland, Vt., where he has been assigned as an assistant at Christ the King Church – he spoke of the incremental development of his vocation.
On returning from that summer in New Hampshire, the 16-year-old, who had obtained his GED by then, entered SUNY Oneonta, majoring in chemistry.
During his college years, he continued to live at home and, a credentialed lifeguard, worked at the YMCA and with the Boy Scouts, attending mass daily.
By his graduation in 1999, a very attractive secular path was available to him: He had two all-expenses-paid offers to enter Ph.D. programs in chemistry, one from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, the other at Notre Dame.
“The thought of going to grad school and missing my vocation was not a comforting one,” said the priest. “I decided against graduate school.”
Things started happening quickly.
In very short order, he visited the vocation directors in the dioceses of Syracuse, Albany and – at the advice of Sean Dowling, then of Cooperstown – Burlington. (Father Dowling was one of three priests ordained along with Father Naples.)
“The most welcoming was Vermont,” said Father Tim. “I decided to apply.”
Within days, he was asked to spend the summer as a counselor at Camp Holy Cross on Lake Champlain at Colchester. When he arrived and his water-safety skills were discovered, he found himself appointed waterfront director, responsible for overseeing all swimming and boating.
Back in Oneonta at summer’s end, the phone rang.
Coming down stairs, the son told his parents, “I’m in.”
Six days later he was undergoing freshman orientation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, affiliated with a college of the same name in Emmitsburg, Md. Two years of philosophy and four years of theology followed.
During summers, he took on “Apostolic assignments,” which one year involved tending elderly and AIDS patients in Washington, D.C. He visited a nursing home and taught CCD in Harrisburg, Pa., and Gaithersburg, Md. He was also an undergraduate student counselor at St. Mary’s, and deacon of St. Patrick’s parish in Rockville, Md.
When graduation came, he received two master’s degrees, one in divinity and the other in arts and theology, specializing in ecclesiology, which Father Naples defined as: “What the Catholic church is. What it does. What it’s supposed to be – and what my role in the church should be.”
While his academic career has been ambitious, his vocational goals are less so.
“Just to be a good priest,” he responded when asked what he hopes to accomplish, “to be faithful to my responsibilities.”
Asked what a priest has to offer to a secular world – increasingly secular, it sometimes seems – he replied by quoting St. Augustine: “Oh God, our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” He added, “There’s a lot of unrest and restlessness in a secular society.”
“I don’t want to judge people,” he continued. “At the same time, I want to offer them what I have. This is the faith that I know, that I feel happiest with.”

Labels: 06-19-09, Front Page

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 7:12 AM 0 comments

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Old McDonald Had A ... FARMERS’ MARKET

By LAURA COX

An energy buzzes about the market.
Eager customers rummage through bins of fresh produce piled high, looking for just the right thing.
Others come just to munch on fresh baked goods and catch up with friends.
There is life at a farmers’ market, whether it’s in Morris or Oneonta or Delhi.
As you walk into the market in Cooperstown, held in Pioneer Alley behind Key Bank, you are greeted by the sound of music: the other Saturday it was Chris de Ville on his electric mandolin singing everything from classics to “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
The smells of fresh produce, flowers and cheese waft through the crisp morning air.
As quickly as vendors – 26 that day – restock their tables, just as quickly the brisk pace of sales make them look bare again.
Amid the brightly colored fruits and vegetables are vendors of knitted clothing, folk artist Jim Parker’s hand-painted canvases, Fran Forster’s fresh baked pies of a dozen flavors, potted plants from ARK Floral in Mount Vision, alpaca wool, Painted Goat’s goat cheese, farm fresh eggs, Hare & Feather’s rabbit and duck meat and much more.
•
Oneonta’s market, Tuesdays and Saturdays at Kim Mueller Plaza on Main Street, though smaller, has a personality of its own.
Isn’t there a sense of comfort in knowing where your food comes from?
At farmers’ markets, you can ask the man or woman who toiled in the sun and soil about the methods used to grow the vegetables or raise the livestock that you will put on your table.
This, and the freshness of the produce, are among the main reasons people shop at the farmers’ markets.
“A lot of our vendors grow everything naturally,” said Dana LaCroix, the Oneonta market’s manager. “Though they may not be certified organic, you can talk to the farmer and you may find out they are even more organic and sustainable than those certified.”
Shopping for produce only at a farmers’ market does have limits if, say, you are craving tropical fruit – bananas or pineapples, for instance.
But LaCroix said that is more than balanced by the freshness and flavor of fruit and vegetables in season.
Right now the market is filled with greens, lots of different kinds of lettuce, spinach, garlic scapes, asparagus, radishes and rhubarb. The Middlefield Orchard adds all kinds of fresh sprouts to the mix.
That other Saturday, bright red strawberries were the new arrival.
Potatoes, blueberries, raspberries, summer squash, peas and beans will arrive with July. By August, apples and sweet corn will be ready to eat.
•
Every farmers’ market shopper has a different agenda.
Pat Grillo in Cooperstown was “shopping for a feast,” she said. “We bought fresh herbs, dill to go with potatoes and fresh cilantro for guacamole, strawberries too.”
Jack Jepson of Greenwich, Conn., who summers in Worcester, drives up weekly to the Oneonta market for his week’s worth of produce.
“We come to Oneonta to socialize with the people, get flowers and we eat better when we are here, we wouldn’t miss a week when we’re up,” he said.
Others – Jim Wolff, for instance, the Otsego town justice – likes to support local growers, guided by his wife’s shopping list.
That day, it included strawberries, lettuce, garlic and beets.
•
Both markets have special promotional or themed days throughout the season.
Saturday, June 20, is Dairy Day in Oneonta, with free fudge tastings from the Hare & Feather Farm.
You can make your own ice-cream station, pet a kid (goat), get a free balloon and experience the Stone & Thistle Farm’s Udder Challenge.

Otsego County

Cooperstown: 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Saturdays, Pioneer Alley, just off Main Street (next to Key Bank)

Morris: 3-6:30 p.m. Thursdays, Morris Firehouse, West Main Street

Oneonta: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Kim K. Muller Plaza, Main Street at Dietz, in front of the Clarion.

Delaware County

Delhi: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesdays, Court House Square, Main Street.

Franklin: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sundays, at Franklin Stage Company Theater, Institute Street.

Hancock: 1-5 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Great American Store lot, across from 11 East Main St.

Pakatakan’s: 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Round Barn, 46696 Route 30, five miles north of Margaretville

Sidney: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesdays, Sidney Civic Center, 21 Liberty St.

Stamford: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays, Herring Park, 112 Main St.

Walton: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fridays, Robinson Bros. Auction Building, Delaware & West.

Labels: 06-19-09, The City of the Hills

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

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WEEKEND’S BEST BETS

Take Dad Out To Ball Game At Doubleday

On dad’s special day, take him to the first National Baseball Hall of Fame Classic – featuring legends of the National Pastime – at 2 p.m. at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown.
The game, designed as a replacement to the Hall of Fame Game, will include such heroes of the sport at Bob Feller, Brooks Robinson, Paul Molitor and Fergie Jenkins.
In addition to those Hall of Famers, 22 other former MLB players will participate.

GET IN FREE: On Father’s Day, all dads and grandads will receive free admission to the Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown. Exhibits include “America’s Rome: Artists in the Eternal City, 1800-1900,” at The Fenimore, and “Wild Times,” a look at Upstate animals, at The Farmers’. Dad and junior may also enjoy a ride on the Empire State Carousel.

FISH WITH DAD: The state Department of Environmental Conservation will co-sponsor a family fishing day noon-2 p.m. Sunday, June 21 in Oneonta’s Neahwa Park. Everyone’s invited, and no fishing license is required. The Otsego County Sportsmen’s Federation and City of Oneonta are co-sponsoring the event.

PLAY BALL! Spend Father’s Day evening at an Oneonta Tigers home game. It starts at 6 p.m. against the Tri-City Valley Cats in Damaschke Field.

GET ON AUTOGRAPH: Bob Feller, at 90 the oldest living Hall of Famer, will be signing copies of “The Deal Is On Strike Three” 1-2 p.m. Saturday, June 20, at Willis Monie Books, Cooperstown. Feller wrote the introduction.

DAD’S DAY FEAST: The Otesaga’s Father’s Day Family Sunday Brunch will cater to dad this weekend. In addition to breakfast specials, it includes slow-roasted prime rib, salmon, scallops, shrimp. 11:30-2. $39 a person.

DID YOU KNOW? The mother of Father’s Day is Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Wash., whose father, William Smart, a Civil War vet, raised her and five siblings alone after their mother died.

Labels: 06-19-09, The City of the Hills, weekend's best bets

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:44 AM 0 comments

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The ‘Big Three’ Put Foot In Door

CHRIS McSWIGGIN

SPORTS BEAT

Oneonta has a long history of tennis within its athletic heritage, and although it may not be the number one sport in the area anymore, it still raises some interest, especially for three boys in Oneonta, for Riley Lorenz, Emerson Kelby and Josh Moss, tennis is life.
Josh Moss, a junior at OHS, didn’t start playing tennis until he was about 12 or 13 years old. “I used to play in Wilber Park all the time. I was a member of the Oneonta Tennis Club for a while.”
Moss, who plays first position when playing doubles, said he prefers to play solo.
Riley Lorenz is his sixth year of playing and said he began playing tennis because it was “something to do after school.” The sport caught on soon after, and he began to fall in love with it.
Riley is only a sophomore at OHS, and has his best tennis in front of him. He came in second in th STAC conference, losing to Dan Freeman of Elmira-Notre Dame in the final game of his season.
Emerson Kelvy is the young gun in the bunch. He is only a seveth grader and he is competing at the highest level of varsity tennis.
He too picked up the sport because it was “something to do after school.”
Oneonta offers a plethora of sports and activities, but despite all of the interesting things to do, tennis does not often get the nod, these three athletes were pursuing a hobby, and it became a dream.
The Oneonta team finished the regular season undefeated but lost in the STAC finals to Horseheads maiking the season 13-1, but in section 4 doubles competition Kelvy and Moss placed first and Lorenz placed second.
They came home with two trophies and a 13-1 overall record. Not too shabby.
They ran through Elmira-Notre Dame in the semi’s 4-6,6-2,7-5. Before that they beat Elmira Free Academy 6-3,4-6,6-4.
Both teams are very good and well respected within the area. Oneonta, a young team to begin with, overcame fantastic odds to accomplish this and with all of their top dogs returning, they should be in the hunt for some time to come.
Their coach, Phyllis Orlowski, is a Spanish teacher for grades seven through 12 in the Oneonta system. This is her third year coaching on the varsity circuit in Oneonta. She is an energetic, enthusiastic coach who wants and expects the best from her players.
Oneonta tennis has their foot in the door, now it is up to the big three to push it wide open.

Labels: 06-19-09, Hometown Sports

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:41 AM 1 comments

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Americans Can Live ‘Four Freedoms’

MADISON MILLER WINS STATE DAR PRIZE

Editor’s Note: Madison Miller of Great Plains Elementary won first place in the local and the statewide DAR American Flag Essay Contest. She received her award Saturday, June 13, at the local DAR’s Flag Day luncheon at the Oneonta Country Club. This is her essay.

To me the flag of The United States of America is definitely the best and most important symbol of our country. The stripes represent the 13 colonies and the stars represent the 50 states of America.
When America was the 13 colonies, we were ruled by another country. We fought for freedom against England and many people risked their lives and died. But we finally got freedom. Although the flag symbolizes a lot of things, I think of freedom as one of the main ideas.
During World War II, President Roosevelt talked about the four freedoms Americans have. We have the freedom of speech, freedom to worship, the freedom from want and freedom from fear.
These four freedoms occur in my home as well as in my country. In my home, the freedom of speech is used when I am able to give my opinion and express when I don’t like something. My parents and I have different opinions at times, but we always get to talk about everyone’s feelings.
The freedom to worship is used in my family when we go to church together on Sundays to worship what we believe in. Many people throughout the world do not get this opportunity.
The freedom from want means to me that I have the basic needs to survive: Such as living in a home, clothing to wear, and food for my family and me to eat.
Compared to the rest of the world, I am very fortunate. Even the least fortunate in our country have so much more than people in other countries.
The freedom from fear comforts me knowing that I am safe in my home and even in my country from war. I can’t imagine what it would be to have war in my back yard, or to awake each morning being afraid of what my day would hold.
I owe it to the flag, to show respect by saying the Pledge of Allegiance with my classmates and school family each and every day. She is a symbol to be proud of.

Labels: 06-19-09, Hometown Views

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 3:30 AM 0 comments

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