Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch

SUCO Gets $2 Million Record Gift

Saturday, September 20, 2008

40 English Majors Get $2,500 A Year

By JIM KEVLIN

Forty English majors at SUNY Oneonta are in line for $2,500 each a year, thanks to a record $2 million bequest from ... a former English major.
Dorothy Anderson Wemple, Class of 1936, who died earlier this year in Johnstown, “was extremely devoted to SUNY Oneonta,” said Paul Adamo, vice president for college advancement and College Foundation executive director.
“She cherished her years here as a student and attended many alumni gatherings here and in Albany,” he said.
Revenues from the $2 million gift – it’s the biggest gift from an individual, and only slightly less than the $2.1 million Lectra USA Inc. donation of its fashion-related computer programs – began arriving in recent days.
The campus’ new president, Nancy Kleniewski, announced the gift during her induction speech Friday, Sept. 12, at the Alumni Field House, saying Mrs. Wemple appreciated “the impact good teachers can have on young people.”
Mrs. Wemple had a long career teaching English at Knox Junior High School in Johnstown, and was English Department chair when she retired in 1974, when she was recognized by the Outstanding Educators of America.
Her bequest will allow 40 of the college’s English and English Adolescent Education majors (289 in all this year) to receive the $2,500 grants annually.
That means almost 15 percent of the program’s students will have almost 60 percent of their $4,350 tuition paid.
The Wemple Gift – Adamo had been in discussion with the benefactor for a decade – was made through the college’s Netzger Planned Giving Society.
So far, 162 alumni have joined, expressing an interest in eventually passing on a bequest to their alma mater.
Dr. Thomas Hughson, College Foundation president, didn’t know Mrs. Wemple, but said her gift exemplified the “wonderful alumni relationships we have.”
Seventy-six percent of SUNY Oneonta students get financial aid, Hughson said, and their gratitude has caused the College Foundation’s endowment to grow from $2.7 million, when he first became involved in it 18 years ago, to $32 million today.
“The college has had an amazing impact on their lives,” he said of alumni donors. “They feel a sense of gratitude for the education they’ve been able to obtain and the benefits that have accrued to them as a result of their education.
“They just want to do something to help others get a similar education.”
Some 5,000 alumni live in Otsego, Delaware and Chenango counties, he continued, and “their economic impact, of course, is enormous. But they enrich our lives, too.”

Labels: 09-19-08, Front Page, News Update, Oneonta, Scholarships. Dorothy Anderson Wemple, SUNY Oneonta

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Savings On Energy Hit $¼ Million

Consultant Recognizes City Schools’ Success

By LAURA COX

Even the boss isn’t exempt.
Michael Shea, Oneonta’s superintendent of schools, arrived at his office one morning to find a Post-it note on his printer: “Don’t forget to turn off your printer.”
“I didn’t even know you could turn off a printer,” he said the other day. “I’d never turned off a printer in my life.”
Shea is Janice Pidgeon’s boss, but even he gets Post-it notes from his district’s “energy educator/manager.”
And her personal energy has paid off over the past 13 months, reducing the Oneonta City School District’s energy use by 29 percent, saving the school district $243,416.
Recognizing this, William S. Spears, CEO and founder of Energy Education, the Dallas-based consultant who has been advising Pidgeon and the district, came to town to present the Energy Pacesetters award to the local effort earlier this month.
Pidgeon describes the program as “people based,” saying, “It requires individuals to change behaviors.”
Some of the behaviors that are being implemented include teachers and staff closing classroom curtains and turning off computer monitors and office printers while not in use.
The district also adjusted the thermostat by a couple of degrees in all of their buildings, making an extra effort during breaks to save on wasted energy.
One change alone – covering the high school pool every night – has saved $14,000 so far, according to Pidgeon.
“It’s a tough job to cover the pool, but it has added up to large savings,” she said.
As the energy educator/manager, Pidgeon tracks monthly energy consumption using energy tracking computer software. She enters the energy use and cost into the software using the monthly bills for electricity, water, sewer, natural gas, and fuel oil. The software then compares the data to a base year to track the energy cost savings.
She does building audits throughout the year, checking to see that changes have been put into effect in all six of the schools, as well as the district office. If she finds areas for improvement, she leaves little reminder notes like the one Shea received.
As the program continues, Pidegon hopes they will have the opportunity to educate more students on how to help save energy and get them more involved in the changes being made.
The school district has a five-year plan with Energy Education, after which the company will continue to support the district at no cost.
According to the company’s website, Energy Education focuses on opportunities for energy savings in school districts, colleges and churches.
The Oneonta City School District came on board with the program after Gary Czerkies, superintendent of buildings and grounds, spoke to his counterpart in Cobleskill, learned about the program, and brought it to the attention of the school district.

Labels: 09-19-08, Energy Education, Front Page, Janice Pidgeon, Michael Shea, News Update, Oneonta, Oneonta City School District

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Big Numbers Tell Brooks Bar-B-Q Story

Friday, September 19, 2008

Sound Business Principles
Live In 3rd Generation

By JIM KEVLIN

In 2007, Brooks Bar-B-Q grilled 900,000 pounds of chicken halves.
Peak week this year, 22,500 halves were consumed.
The new bottling line fills 1,400 jars an hour with Brooks Original Bar-B-Q Sauce.
Vinegar for the sauce is delivered in 5,000-gallon tanker trucks.
The huge numbers say a lot about Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q, which has been sating appetites within a 100-mile radius of Oneonta (and beyond) for 57 years now.
But the numbers are a result of the success, not the secret of the success.
Customer service. Quality. Consistency.
Those words pop up again and again in conversations with Ryan Brooks, the third generation – with wife Beth – to operate the sprawling restaurant and catering concern on Route 7 east of the City of the Hills. (The aroma tells you it’s nearby, even before it comes into view.)
“We love the county. We love the people. We want to help out as best we can,” said the bright-eyed, energy-filled restaurateur, who has been operating the local institution since the couple acquired it from his parents, John and Joan, in 2005.
Customers have been coming back wfor decades, Ryan said, some every day, and – passing by the front counter – he sees two of them, Len Marsh and Dick Mattice from Medical Coaches, in for their daily sandwich.

“It’s cheap and it’s clean,” said Marsh with a grin on his face, and he and Ryan trade jabs, all in good fun.
Brooks Bar-B-Q is a family operation, but the “family atmosphere” Ryan strives to achieve for his employees is part of the success as well.
That’s proved by three employees who have been with the Brookses through all three generations: Linda Hall, Yvonne Ross and Phyllis “Aunt Phyl” O’Sullivan, Ryan’s aunt.
“My dad” – Ryan’s grandfather, Brooks Bar-B-Q founder Griffin – “picked me up after school,” remembered Aunt Phyl, a dynamo who scoots around the main restaurant like an Energizer Bunny. “And we came to work.”
She’s been there ever since that Day One.
To back up.
Griffin met his future wife, Frances, at Delhi Ag & Tech. They married in 1941, a year after graduation, and bought her father’s poultry farm in Stamford, where they sold chickens and eggs locally, and opened a retail store.
The cookin’ end of the business dates to 1951, when the couple got a catering job at the local Rod & Gun Club. By the mid-’50s, Brookses were busy catering barbecues from April to the end of September. Things just grew.
In 1958, they opened a concession at the miniature golf and driving range at the Del-Se-Go Drive-In. In 1961 came the first Brooks’ House of Bar-B-Q near the present location, seating about 80. In 1965, the current restaurant opened, with capacity for 300 and the largest indoor barbecue pit – 38 feet long – in the East, (at least.)
John and Joan bought the restaurant from his parents in 1975, after John, a Delhi restaurant-management grad, returned from four years in the Air Force.
The catering business burgeoned during this period – who in Delaware and Otsego counties hasn’t had a Brooks chicken at a church fair, firemen’s field day, or parade? Brooks Bar-B-Q fed the Newport Jazz Festival, and the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, and – its all-time record – 4,500 people at an IBM gathering in Kingston.
Meanwhile, Ryan was growing up in the business. Among his fondest memories is “hanging out in the pit with my dad.”
He graduated from RIT in restaurant management in 1996 and came back to work in the family business.
“It’s a passion,” he explains. “You really have to love it. I wake up, looking forward to work. You can’t call it work. It’s lifestyle.”

He plunged into his chosen vocation, and today can say, “There’s nothing here I don’t know how to do.”
One fateful day, a young student teacher from SUNY Oneonta showed up with her class at Brooks.
She and the young restaurateur were smitten.
“Enthusiasm,” Beth, who was raised in Bridgewater, south of Utica, replies today when asked what attracted her to her future husband.
“Smiling eyes,” adds the woman whose husband said is beside him in the trenches every day. “This is a little personal for the paper!”
Her husband chimes in, “The way I cooked chicken.”
“The way he cooked chicken,” she replies.

Labels: 09-19-08, Brooks BBQ, Front Page, Hometown Profile, News Update, Oneonta

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3 Mothers Launch Drive For Children’s Museum

Petitions Circulate Oneonta

By JIM KEVLIN

The Oneonta Children’s Museum has gone public, and the initial response is buoying its supporters’ enthusiasm.
“Most people said, ‘Yes, sure, we need a lot more programming for children,’” said Andrea Thies, Harvard-trained teacher and two-time Olympian, who is leading the charge along with two other mothers of two.
“There’s great programming around,” said Theis. With partners Amy Pondolfino and Rachel Rissberger, and others, she collected 261 signatures on their first outing, the Grand and Glorious Garage Sale Saturday, Sept. 13, on Main Street.
Their first outing, yes, but the three women have been developing the concept for a year and a half, and are gauging public support in hopes of getting City Hall and Otsego County involved.
Under the moniker of OWL – Oneonta World of Learning – the trio will be setting up a table Sunday, Oct. 5, at the 15th annual 10K Pit Run in Neahwa Park, held annually in remembrance of State Trooper Ricky J. “Pit” Parisian, who died in the line of duty in 1994.
OWL is considering putting a float in the Oneonta Centennial Parade Saturday, Oct. 4, and is planning an as-yet unspecified arts-related event in November.
The Upper Catskills Community Council of the Arts has acted as an umbrella agency as OWL works out its non-profit status, Theis said. Donations may be made to UCCCA, with a notation on behalf of the Children’s Museum of Oneonta.
Also, the petition is available at UCCCA in the Wilber Mansion, 11 Ford Ave., if you wish to sign a copy.
Thies has a master’s in education and human development from Harvard, concentrating on early childhood, (and she competed with the U.S. rowing team in Barcelona and Atlanta.)
She taught middle school in Arlington, Mass., until her first child was born. She and husband John Dudek, Hartwick College chemistry professor, now have daughter Isabelle, 2, in addition to Sasha, 4.
Her interest in her new pursuit was first piqued by the Children’s Museum of Portsmouth, N.H. Slogan: “Taking imagination to new heights.”
It was further fueled when the couple took their girls to the Children’s Museum of Naples, Fla., which has “a very large, wide-open space for kids to run through.”
A highpoint: You can walk into an actual cloud.
“But,” said Andrea, the museums are “very specific to those communities. We can’t copy anybody else’s. It’s got to be specific to our own environment and what is the pulse of our community.”
For instance, flooding. “Maybe we would have some sort of water play area where kids can learn about creating levies or dams, to watch the flow of water, to watch the effect.
“Personally, I think it’s going to have an art theme to it; there are so many artists around here. Something to do with the agriculture base, the history of railyards, ethnicities.
“A global perspective: We have connections to other communities and other cultures.”
For now, she said, “these are the questions we’re in the middle of answering.”
The effort has gotten some help from Kristen Jones, Hartwick College assistant economics professor, in developing the demographic data that show the community can support such a venture.
One of Jones’ students, Dan Parish, has been exploring the Association of Children’s Museum data base on behalf of the effort, identifying communities similar to Oneonta that are supporting children’s museums.
“The point here is not to copy, but just to see what works elsewhere so we don’t have to reinvent the wheels,” Theis said.
She said OWL is keeping an open mind about whether to rent or buy space, or accept space in another public building. It also would be interested in partnering, not just with city or county government, but with any significant entity – perhaps the Foothills Performing Arts Center or Orpheus Theater – that could contribute expertise and keep the effort moving forward.
Kiersten Jennings, Oneonta High School art teacher, developed the logo.
And check out the Web site: http://oneontachildrensmuseum.blogspot.com/

Labels: 09-19-08, Front Page, News Update, Oneonta, Oneonta Childrens Museum

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IN THE CITY OF THE HILLS

ROCKET MAN: Ronald Garan, an ’82 SUNY Oneonta grad and NASA astronaut who walked in space 20 hours during a Space Shuttle Discovery mission in June, will share his experiences at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, at the school’s Morris Conference Center.

TO YOUR HEALTH! Take steps toward a healthier lifestyle at Bassett Healthcare’s second Family Health & Wellness Expo, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at Southside Mall. More than 50 organizations are planning exhibits and screenings.

BUSINESS DATA: Atlantic Communications, Carpet Doctor and Bookhout Funeral Home are among participants at the Otsego County and Cooperstown chambers first Business Expo, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., at Howard Johnson’s north of Milford.

GET READY: Mark your calendars for the Centennial Parade Saturday, Oct. 4. It’s going to be quite a weekend, with the Ricky “Rit” Parisian Run on Sunday and the three-day Oneonta High School Homecoming under way.

TO REOPEN: Renovations are under way at the Italian Kitchen at Church and Center. It was recently sold and will soon be reopening.

AULD SCOTLAND: Don’t you just love the Hobart Fire Department Pipes & Drums at every local parade? Now’s your chance to join them. Learn more about the band at the open house 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 23, at St. James Episcopal Church.

CRACKDOWN? A possible crackdown on student off-campus housing occupied the Common Council when it met Tuesday, Sept. 16.

Labels: 09-19-08, Front Page, In The City of the Hills, News Update, Oneonta

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ALIENS ON MAIN STREET?

Labels: 09-19-08, Front Page, Oneonta

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It’s A Gas!

Inflatable Obstacle Course A Hit At St. Mary’s Fair As Elsewhere

By JIM KEVLIN

There’s was a lot to like at St. Mary’s School Fair the other weekend – the food, the games, the rummage sale tables – but what was that surrounding it all?
It looked like a big inflated inner tube.
A closer look, and you could see youngsters of all ages bouncing down the slides, squeezing through inflated doughnuts and jumping along an inflated basketballl court.
Odd, you think? Because if you’ve never seen anything quite like this before, you’re not alone, particularly in this corner of the world.
But Rex Layton of Oneonta (formerly of Walton), a partner with Doug Van Winkler of Afton in Five Star Sound & Productions, is quite matter-of-fact about it.
He’s been in the entertainment business for years – handling the sound for grand openings and corporate events, organizing concerts, renting P-A systems – but he’d seen inflatable attractions – you’ve seen kids bouncing up and down at fairs for years – and decided to do them one better.
So he designed “The American Goliath,” which was what was set up in the field south of Route 7 during the fair. He found a fabricator in China to build it, and the result may be the largest inflatable obstacle course known to man.
It was certainly drawing in the crowd at St. Mary’s, where this was the festival’s third year, according to organizer Denise Oliver of Milford.
The school is associated with St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church on Walnut Street, where Sister Mary Angeline has been organizing a summer festival for years.
St. Mary’s pastor (who is also the priest assigned to the school), Father Joseph Benintende, thought a fall event at the school would pick up on the summer event’s popularity and act as a successful fundraiser for the school.
It’s turned out that way, said Denise, even though it rained the first two years.
“It didn’t rain yesterday,” she observed on Sunday, Sept. 14, when the temperatures from the last of Hurricane Ike were pushing 90. “It didn’t rain today.”
As for Rex Layton, he’s been setting up Goliath for the first time this season at various venues around Otsego and Delaware counties. You may have seen it at the Schenevus Firemen’s Carnival in July.
“It’s a challenge for kids, college kids ... and 50 to 60 year olds,” he said with a glance at the 50-something reporter.
In the entertainment business, one of Rex’s activities was to bring in “the carnies” to run midways, but he found them on the whole to be a pretty disreputable bunch.
“I’m very into safety,” he said, so this worried him. “I wanted to build a safe environment for kids and parents alike.”
In addition to The American Goliath, Five Star also provides such novelties as an inflatable mechanical bull and an inflatable mechanical surfboard, big hits at after-prom parties.

Labels: 09-19-08, Oneonta, St. Mary's, The City of the Hills

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Hometown Sports

First Home Football Game Offers Much To All

The first home football game of the season is at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 19, on Lloyd F. Baker Field against the Johnson City Wildcats.
Johnson City will bring their high school marching band along with their football team and the band will perform the national anthem as well as a halftime show.
Greater Oneonta Pee-Wee Football players will play a short exhibition game during halftime.
Oneonta Athletic Director Joe Hughes expects a big crowd for this exciting home game.
Hughes has a lot of great things to say about what is happening out on the fields this year.
“We have good quality teams, good quality players and good quality coaching for people to watch and cheer on” said Hughes.
He said there is as lot of talent out on the field this year and many of the teams have players who he believes will go on to compete in collegiate athletics after graduation.
The Southern Tier Athletic Conference (STAC), which the Yellow Jackets play in, is made up of many larger schools from the Binghamton area.. Hughes described the conference as one of the most competitive conferences in the state.

Labels: 09-19-08, Football, Hometown Sports, Oneonta, Oneonta High School

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In Memoriam

Jason M. Vagliardo
Accident Ends Promising Young Man’s Life

Jason M. Vagliardo, 22, of Oneonta, who this year won a Wilbur Bank ICE (Internal Customer Excellence) Award, died unexpectedly Monday, Sept. 8, 2008, as a result of an accident.
Born March 1, 1986, in Oneonta, the son of Louis and Karen (Maier) Vagliardo, he was a 2004 graduate of Oneonta High School and Milford BOCES. He graduated from SUNY Cobleskill in 2006, with an associate’s degree and was on the Dean’s List in 2007 and 2008, earning his bachelor’s degree in End User B.T. in 2008.
He was a member of the Sons of the American Legion Squadron 259 for 10 years.
He worked in Wilber National Bank’s I-T Department in Oneonta since 2007.

Mildred Bonesteel
Worked at Bresee’s, Ran River Street Sports

Mildred Bonesteel, 76, who raised a family in Oneonta, worked at Bresee’s and later ran River Street Sports Shop, died Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008, at Otsego Manor.
The Unadilla native married Alphonse Pizze in 1949. After marrying William Bonesteel in 1975, the couple enjoyed runningn Carousel Concessions as flea markets and carnivals.
In addition to William, who also resides at Otsego Manor, local survivors include a daughter, Carol Everett of Maryland.
Memorial donations in Millie’s name may be made to the Activities Fund c/o Otsego Manor, 128 Phoenix Mills Crossroad, Cooperstown, New York 13326.

Robert Dale Olmstead
Veteran, Avid Outdoorsman, Bowler

Robert Dale “Bob” Olmstead, 66, of Oneonta, a retired 32-year NYSEG employee and an Air Force veteran, passed away peacefully Saturday, Aug. 30, 2008, at his daughter’s home in Avon Lake, Ohio, surrounded by family.
He was born Aug. 20, 1942, in Oneonta, to Mary (Gallagher) and Dale Olmstead, he graduated from Oneonta High School in 1960.
In addition to his son, Robert M. Olmstead, and his wife, Stacey, of Middlesex, N.J.; his daughter, Mallisa Duffy, and her husband, John, of Avon Lake, local survivors include a brother, James.
After retiring in 1996, Bob enjoyed hunting, fishing and bowling, was a former member of the Oneonta Bowman’s Club and Elks Club, and was an avid fan of the New York Yankees.

Theresa Schrag

Theresa M. Schrag, 75, former manager for Import Export at the World Trade Center, passed away Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2008, at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital.
A native of Germany, she also worked for a while as a nurse’s aide at Margaretville Hospital.
Local survivors include her husband, Albert W. Schrag.
Worked at Twin Towers

Labels: 09-19-08, In Memoriam, Oneonta

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Hometown Briefs

‘Phantasm’ Opens At Hartwick Gallery

A three-artist exhibit titled “Phantasm” will be on display at the Foreman Gallery of Hartwick College through Oct. 17, with works by artists Marianne Weil, Jim Walsh, and Ann Walsh. Painter Jim Walsh will give a gallery talk at 5 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 10.
Weil, a sculptor, is represented by the Kouros Gallery in New York and Connecticut. She is currently a Visiting Associate Professor of Sculpture at Haverford College. Painters James and Ann Walsh have a studio in New York City as well as a space in the Catskills. Ann Walsh is known for her “free standing paintings.”

Auction To Benefit Downtown Efforts

The 9th Annual Main Street Oneonta Fundraising Auction will take place at 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, at the Foothills Production Center . George Wells of Central NY Radio as the guest auctioneer.
Items up for bid include advertising packages in local media, restaurant gift certificates, gift certificates for health, beauty and massage, lodging getaways, locally brewed beers, paintings and jewelry.
This is Main Street Oneonta’s only fundraising event and proceeds fund free family oriented community events that bring people to the heart of Oneonta, Downtown.

Residents Surveyed On Maryland Plan

MARYLAND – This month, residents of the Town of Maryland have been receiving surveys from town officials seeking information on future growth, quality of life, community issues, and government services.
The confidential survey is being delivered door-to-door to a random sample of adult residents and will take less than 10 minutes to complete. The results will be reported this fall.
Copies of the survey are available at the Town Clerk’s office in the Town Hall, State Route 7 in the hamlet of Schenevus.

Ask For Free Paint From County Office

Free exterior latex paint –shell white, Spanish white, ecru and pale yellow – is available to Otsego County non-profit agencies and municipalities , thanks to the Saturday, Sept. 6, Household Hazardous-Waste Collection Day.
It’s available first-come, first-serve, by calling Joy Bailey at 547-4335.

Labels: 09-19-08, Hometown Briefs, Local News, Oneonta

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Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:
“…And Justice for All…”
Hon. Judge Jhilmil “Jill” Ghaleb (nee’ Dey) was the keynote speaker at the 9/11 Remembrance event at the Otsego County Courthouse. The other speakers set the tone of this emotional day for the well-attended rite.
Afterwards, I met many unique individuals who were gathered downstairs. One gentleman approached me, introduced himself, and said he would be contesting my daughter in the upcoming election for the county judgeship. We chatted for a couple of minutes, and then he left.
Election time is a good time to express yourself and your choice. It is a time to discuss issues and motivation for teamwork. Also, it is a time that spills over organized hatred, threats, rumors, innuendos and riots.
I witnessed that in 1968 when I was on the academic staff at the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana. I watched carefully over the years how politics and misinformation, in the age of high tech IT, can put wrong people in very powerful positions.
So please vote. Only we do not want a rocket scientist to do brain surgery, and vice versa.
As a politicians’ spokesman said on May 29 about a unanimous Senate appointment, vide The Daily Star, that we have to be above politics for the best of the county (referring to Otsego). And that goes for the country too, I am sure.
BISHU N. DEY, Ph.D., CAS
West Winfield

Labels: 09-19-08, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor, Oneonta

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Mailed To 13820, Watch For It At Quick-Stops, Other Outlets

Hometown Oneonta – you hold the first edition in your hands – is a full-service newspaper mailed to every household in the 13820 zip code.
The undertaking is a collaboration of Bill Reeves, former advertising director of The Daily Star, and Jim Kevlin, editor and publisher of The Freeman’s Journal.
“Our goal is to create a community-based publication that is a friend to the community,” said Reeves. “In looking into Hometown Oneonta, Jim and I discovered we can publish that kind of paper very cost-effectively, and share the savings with our advertisers.”
“The Freeman’s Journal is such a local success story – the penetration in Cooperstown is 110 percent – that we’re very excited about publishing the same kind of newspaper in our county’s commercial center,” Kevlin added. “Bill’s experience and knowledge of the Oneonta market made Hometown Oneonta a natural.”
Laura Cox has joined Hometown Oneonta as its managing editor. A recent magna cum laude graduate of Luther College in Iowa, she recently moved to the county with her husband, Matt, who is student at SUNY’s Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies.
Tara Barnwell, Freeman’s Journal advertising director, will coordinate the deployment of Sales Associates Phil Meeker and Ed Dickson with Reeves.
Dan Ouimet, Oneonta, oversee graphics and ad production. Susan Lettis is office manager for both publications. Michael Popek, Oneonta, the webmaster for www.thefreemansjournal.com, will fill the role for www.hometownoneontaonline.com
The plan is to open an office in Oneonta shortly, but for now the business and production functions are being handled out of The Freeman’s Journal headquarters at 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown, 547-6103.

Labels: 09-19-08, Hometown Briefs, Hometown Oneonta, Oneonta

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Hometown History

125 Years Ago

The new hose carriage recently purchased by Oneonta Trustees of Rumsey & Co. of Little Falls, arrived Saturday night. It is of elegant design and gives great satisfaction, especially to the hose boys. The sewer question is to be the special order for the meeting of the Oneonta village trustees on Saturday evening. The maps have been returned from the State Board of Health with approval. A poor woman in Schenevus lost her life on the 5th of September while attempting an abortion on herself. She had three children and was compelled to support them. A letter states that much indignation is expressed toward the man Smith.
September 1883

100 Years Ago

Ninety-two dog licenses have been granted in the village of Oneonta in accordance with the new village ordinance. These licenses and tags cost $1.50 each and thus far have brought $138 to the village. Another important result is the apparent reduction in the number of vagrant and unfathered curs about town. The first Baptist church of Oneonta has engaged Miss Alice Roosbach of Fort Plain as lady assistant to the pastor. The new assistant has had several years’ special training in the work, with successful experience in large Brooklyn churches. From many sections come reports that tramps are more numerous and more troublesome this year than before. Railroads and farmers are among the chief sufferers from the lawless acts of these vagrants. The nuisance is becoming almost intolerable.
September 1908

80 Years Ago

Advertisement – Victorious in every test and fulfilling every promise the new Maytag observes its first anniversary. For homes without electricity, the Maytag is available with inbuilt gasoline motor. One year ago, I announced the new Maytag as our latest and greatest achievement. Noteworthy refinements and striking improvements, including a new method of soap and water removal, were incorporated in the new washer. It set standards of convenience and washing efficiency that have never been known before. During the year that has passed hundreds of thousands of new Maytags have been introduced into as many homes, each time subject to the famous Maytag trial basis – “If it doesn’t sell itself, don’t keep it.” The Maytag Aluminum Washer. F.L. Maytag, The Maytag Company, Newton, Iowa.
September 1928

60 Years Ago

Miss Irene Briggs, regent of Otsego Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, Mrs. Berton G. Johnson, Mrs. Walter R. Littell, and Mrs. Carl H. Johnson were in Oneonta Saturday where they attended a luncheon meeting of Oneonta Chapter which was held at the Country Club. The guest speaker of the afternoon was Mrs. E.A. Burke of Hobart, state director, whose topic was “A D.A.R. Design for the Future.” Mrs. Burke outlined the work program proposed for the coming year and the future and spoke of the construction of the new building in Washington, D.C. She likened the actual construction program with the building of spiritual and economic structures in the present day trend as main factors in such building programs in the schools and homes and in social life.
September 1948

40 Years Ago

Supreme Court Justice Joseph P. Molinari may be asked to declare a vacancy in the office of supervisor in the Town of Laurens. Supervisor Charles Z. Coutant, 55, who is in his third term, has been missing from his home in nearby Laurens since August 6. Unless he appears within the next few weeks, a proceeding will be brought before Justice Molinari to declare the office vacant. Otsego County attorney Robert A. Harlem of Oneonta, who also is attorney for the Town of Laurens, is planning to initiate the proceedings at the next term of Supreme Court in Cooperstown. The term opens November 6. The vacancy would be filled by the Laurens Town Board, which probably would name councilman Jesse E. Brockway, Jr., 50, of West Oneonta as interim supervisor. Supervisor Coutant is chairman of the county’s building committee which is overseeing construction of a new $2 million Otsego County office building in Cooperstown. (Ed. Note: At that period, town supervisors represented their respective towns as members of the Otsego County Board of Representatives)
September 1968

20 Years Ago

The directors of the Oneonta Boychoir, Dr. Thurston Dox, Mr. Ray Paradis, Ms. Mary-Anne Ross and Mrs. June Sheehan, will hold auditions for the 1988-1989 season on Tuesday, September 13, at 4 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Oneonta. Boys in grades four and above interested in music and who enjoy singing are encouraged to participate. The Boychoir sings both religious and secular music. The Director of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum has asked the Boychoir to sing the national anthem at the annual Hall of Fame game in Cooperstown. This past season the Boychoir performed at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and at the All Saints Cathedral in Albany.
September 1988

10 Years Ago

More than 400 new students were welcomed to Hartwick College at an opening convocation at Frisbee Field. The new students come from as far away as Saudi Arabia and Turkmenistan. In extending her greetings, vice president and dean of academic affairs Susan Gotsch described the college as “a community where we try to have students learn from the faculty, staff and each other, and where we learn from you.” “College president Richard Detweiler compared the students’ academic and life progress as the “bounces of a rubber ball.” With a small degree of resiliency,” he said, “you will grow in patterns which are truly beautiful.”
September 1998

Tom Heitz, a docent at the Oneonta Historical Society, compiles HOMETOWN HISTORY from the files of the Oneonta Herald and The Freeman’s Journal

Labels: 09-19-08, Columns, Hometown History, Oneonta

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Sudanese Refugee Finds Home Here – Then Builds One

Through Habitat For Humanity, Andrea Invests ‘Sweat Equity’

By SUSAN LETTIS

The last thing that most people want to do on a Saturday morning is start a do-it-yourself construction project, but that is exactly what Alfred Andrea, 39, a native Sudanese living in Unadilla – for now – does every weekend.
Alfred has been putting in time with Habitat for Humanity of Otsego County on various houses in the area. Saturday, Sept. 6, however, the job was a treat: He was putting “sweat equity” into a future home of his own, on Main Street, Oneonta.
Northern Susquehanna Habitat for Humanity was founded in 1989 as a multi-county organization, and over the next years helped establish independent chapters in Delaware, Chenengo, and Broome Counties. In 1996, it became Habitat for Humanity of Otsego County.
In the early years, the local Habitat group was very active in house rehabilitation projects, and “paint-a-thons” were common.
As the chapter grew and more funding was available, the chapter began building houses from the ground up, and hasn’t looked back.
The first house was completed in Oneonta in 1991, and since then 23 more houses have been built in the City of the Hills, as well as in Milford, Otsego, Morris, Middlefield, Gilbertsville, Laurens and Hartwick. The Otsego Chapter has sent volunteers to South Carolina, and as far away as Honduras.
The other weekend, Alfred was joined by various volunteers, including a group from the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown. Two houses were worked on, one was in the last cleaning phase, and the second in the spackling/painting/insulation phase. Emery Herman,
dean of volunteers, instructed and answered questions for the newbies, while site supervisor Mike Donahue assigned tasks and demonstrated spackling, polyurethane application, and window-flipping techniques.

After a shared lunch, the group got a chance to hear some of Alfred’s story.
In January 2005, Alfred and his family were successful in obtaining refugee status through the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
Sponsored by the United Methodist Church of Unadilla, the family flew from Damascus, Syria, where they had been living in asylum for six years.
Alfred and his wife, Harriet, originally from the south of Sudan, had fled from the area in order to avoid the violence. While in Syria, Harriet gave birth to two daughters, Manuella, now 8, and Estella, 6. All were able to travel together to New York 3½ years ago. Their third daughter, Christina, 1, was born in Unadilla.
Alfred’s church sponsors secured him and his family temporary housing and a job, and soon after introduced him to Habitat for Humanity of Otsego County.
After filling out applications and being accepted to the program, Alfred and his family have put in nearly the 500 hours of sweat equity that is required to become a homeowner. The Andreas expect to move into their new home within one month. The girls are already attending school in Oneonta.
When asked what he misses the most from home, Alfred quickly said: family. He still has brothers and sisters and other relatives in Sudan, but is able to talk at times with his mother over the phone.
When asked what he thought about America before he came, his one word reply was “safe.”
Now that he has lived here for some time, he is happy with the outcome. He and his wife now understand that New York does not only refer to a city, but a state with many small towns and villages, which makes them more comfortable.
He is also thankful for the opportunities that have been presented to him, and the education system which his daughters will benefit from.
If you are interested in volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, or would like more information, visit their website at http://www.habitatotsego.org/ or call 432-7874.

Labels: 09-19-08, Oneonta, The City of the Hills

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ON THE RECORD: SUNY ONEONTA PRESIDENT NANCY KLENIEWSKI

Quality, Community Partnerships, Global Citizenship, Sustainability

Editor’s Note: Here are excerpts from the speech Dr. Nancy Kleniewski delivered at her induction as SUNY Oneonta’s seventh president Friday, Sept. 12, at Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House.

Leading a college is a little bit like building a house one story at a time. Each of the six previous principals or presidents orchestrated the construction of a new story, building on the base laid by his predecessors.
Their tasks were to build and rebuild the physical plant, establish and update the curriculum, initiate new academic and co-curricular programs, strengthen college finances, hire and renew the faculty and staff, and most importantly to renew and energize the learning experience for our students.
Each leader responded to the challenges of his time and worked with his on- and off-campus partners to position the college for the future.
What will the next story of the house – the story that we will build together – look like?
...Today, I offer four enduring values that I believe will guide us well through the next phase of SUNY Oneonta’s building process. We will adapt them as we go forward to meet new needs and new challenges.
First, quality.
We must continue to expect and demand of ourselves high quality in all of our activities. SUNY Oneonta has become a college of choice because students know that they can get a just as good an education here as anywhere.
Our recently-hired faculty and staff tell us that they want to work here because we have a strong, vibrant institution.
Maintaining our reputation for high quality will demand increased attention to documenting our accomplishments, in everything from student learning and student engagement to the size of the college’s endowment and the cleanliness of our campus. We are good, and the challenge is to be even better.
Second, community partnerships.
By increasing the number and strengthening the nature of campus-community partnerships, we can make the college even more of a resource to the region. Currently, many members of our campus community volunteer or work with businesses, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations in the local area.
With your help, I believe that we can broaden and deepen community participation, whether as volunteer activity, internships, or service-learning projects linked to academic courses and programs. A true partnership is not a one-way service but a reciprocal relationship – we can offer our expertise to the community but we can also learn a great deal from our community partners.
Third, global citizenship.
The college aims to develop all of our members as global citizens, heightening our awareness of social, cultural, and political responsibility.
Today’s students are graduating into a global society, one that demands different sensibilities and cultural competencies than in the past. All members of the campus community need to understand the global society and be able to operate within it.
We need to see how our actions impact others, how interconnected we are with other parts of the world, and how we can contribute to collective progress beyond our individual needs and wants. Only by highlighting these issues will we fulfill our responsibility as an institution of higher learning.
Fourth, sustainability.
We have already begun the “greening” of the campus, and in the next few years we can strive to expand our college’s commitment to sustainability in all of our activities.
Although we often think of sustainability simply as protecting the natural environment, it also encompasses principles of economic prosperity and social equity, the “triple bottom line” of environment, economy, and equity.
We can extend the concept of sustainability throughout the college, touching every employee, student, and visitor. Sustainability should infuse our teaching and learning, our construction, maintenance, and landscaping, the food we eat, and the way we use resources.
These four values, quality, community partnerships, global citizenship, and sustainability, are not new to the campus nor are they radical departures from our existing practices. I want to make them the key architectural elements of the story we will add to the growing house that is SUNY Oneonta.
Our alumni tell us repeatedly how SUNY Oneonta made a difference in their lives. Today I am pleased to highlight a 1936 graduate, Dorothy Anderson Wemple, who, through her experiences at Oneonta, came to appreciate the impact that good teachers can have on young people.
This week, we received the first part of her bequest to the College at Oneonta Foundation, a gift of over $2 million, to support student scholarships. This is the largest gift the college has ever received from one of our graduates.
…Let me close with the insightful words of our first principal, James Milne. He said, “Let the past go; look to the future. This institution is greater than [individuals]. Stand by it. Its foundations are laid in honor and good faith. It will shed light, give cheers, and multiply earnestness … in the years yet to come.”
I cannot wish for a better future for our college and for the next story we will build together.

Labels: 09-19-08, Hometown Views, Nancy Kleniewski, Oneonta, Opinion

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EDITORIAL

Hometown Oneonta Is At YOUR Service From Today Forward

When you talk to Ryan Brooks about his business, the words “quality” and “community” and “consistency” keep coming up.
With that laser-like focus, is it any surprise that Brooks BBQ continues to be a huge success into the third generation?
Think about your favorite store, or restaurant, entertainment venue. Similar qualities will come to mind.
The overarching concept? Service.
Local ownership isn’t a prerequisite for superb service, but, by definition, Cortland or Newburgh or Hornell or Oneonta loom small in the strategic plans of national companies – multi-national, even – that are contemplating grand designs from Bentonville, Ark., or Chicago, or Birmingham, Ala.
To flourish – to even survive – these business behemoths, often saddled with huge debt payments from gobbling up competitors, have to worry about Wall Street first and foremost, rather than Chestnut Street, or Susquehanna Street, or James F. Lettis Highway.
It’s nobody’s fault, it’s simply the way of much of the business world. Localities simply don’t matter. They simply can’t matter.
•
That’s not the model that inspires Hometown Oneonta.
Rather, think of the mainstays that have been serving the Oneonta community well for decades. Not just Brooks, but Drogen’s in appliances, Steven’s Hardware, or such employers as Medical Coaches and Astrocom.
Quality. Community. Consistency.
The daily newspaper business in many, many communities had gone the other way.
Owned by aggregators that are here today, gone tomorrow, they are saddled with requirements to achieve 30 percent profit margins; paying off huge debts from the latest transfer and, now, facing the largest depression in national print advertising in the history of the business.
Quality, community, consistency aren’t even in the top 10 concerns of most of them.
•
Happily, the non-daily newspaper industry – locally owned, community based – is thriving.
The latest National Newspaper Association study, released last spring, shows that penetration – newspapers sold per household – has risen from 81 percent to 83 percent for community newspapers, while daily penetration continues to plummet to 50 percent and below.
The economics are all in favor of newspapers like Hometown Oneonta. The flexibility, the low cost structure, the benefits of new technologies, allow such newspapers to provide profound value to advertisers and readers alike.
Some of you may have noticed that obituary of business writer Michael Hammer the other week that appeared in the national newspapers.
“I’m saddened and offended by the idea that companies exist to enrich their owners,” he was quoted as saying in one. “That is the very least of their roles; they are far more worthy, more honorable, and more important than that. Without the vital creative force of business, our world would be impoverished beyond reckoning.”
While we intend to operate Hometown Oneonta at a profit, it is those “more worthy, more honorable and more important roles” – Ryan Brooks knows what we’re talking about – that we will strive to emulate.

Labels: 09-19-08, Editorial, Hometown Views, Oneonta, Opnion

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Hometown Sports

Labels: 09-19-08, Football, Hometown Sports, Oneonta, Oneonta High School

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Hometown People

Oneonta High Has 3 National Merit Semi-Finalists

One National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist is honor enough.
This year, three Oneonta High School senior – Hannah Lawson, Jessie Matus and Zane Relethford – have received notice they have qualified for the coveted designation.
Hannah, daughter of Robert Lawson and Gena Ostrowski, plays soccer for the varsity soccer team as well as running track for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. She helps with lighting and sound for the drama team and is the managing editor for the high school newspaper, Echo. Hannah plans to study engineering in college.
Jessie, daughter of Robert Matus and Mary Abarno, is the president of the environmental club at the high school and also participates in drama, debate and envirothon. Jessie is interested in studying biology after graduation.
Zane, son of John Relethford and Holly Jaffe, swims for the high school team as well as writes for the school newspaper and participates in drama and board game club. Zane would like to study math and science after graduation.

Weeks Joins Oneonta Schools As Business Manager

Oneonta resident Lisa Weeks is joining the Oneonta City School District as business manager, after holding a similar position in the Delhi school district.
Effective Oct. 27, she replaces Thomas Austin had secured a position as a superintendent for another district.
“I am excited about being with a bigger school district with more opportunities,” said Weeks, 40. “I am also excited to be here because my youngest daughter goes to school here, and I am looking forward to working with the people I met as a parent.
Weeks is a mother to three daughters, Erin, 20, Meredith, 15, and Kelly, 6. Kelly is a student in the Oneonta City School District, while Meredith is attending Delhi high school. and will continue school there. Her oldest daughter Erin is attending college.
Her husband Heath and daughter Kelly were in attendance at last week’s board of education meeting, showing family support when Weeks was introduced.
Once started, Weeks plans to make sure the district has all of their internal controls functioning properly,
“School districts have a lot of audits happening and a lot of people looking at them right now. I want to make sure everything is in place and working” said Weeks.
Weeks is a graduate of SUNY Oneonta and is working towards her masters in business administration at another SUNY institution.

Bill Davis Retires, Son Scott, Tom Armao Succeed Him At 2 City Auto Dealerships

After six decades in the business, William K. (Bill) Davis has sold his two auto dealerships, Otsego Automotive and Country Club Chevrolet, both in Oneonta.
His successors are long-time associates Thomas Armao of West Oneonta and Bill’s son Scott Davis of Otego.
The two have both been involved in the dealerships more than 30 years and will each hold 50 percent of the businesses.
It started in 1948, when young Bill Davis, an accounting major at Hartwick College just back from three years of service as a radio operator in World War II, joined Kaiser-Frazer Ford in Sidney as a bookkeeper.
He finished school in two years and nine months. By 1960, he was part owner of three dealerships, in Sidney, Walton and Oneonta.
In 1969, Bill Davis started Chevrolet at Otsego Automotive with partner Paul Donowick, and four years later built Country Club Chevrolet, both in West Oneonta.
Since, his businesses have been dealers for Pontiac, Buick, GMC, Cadillac and Chevrolet, as well as Kia and Mitsubishi at other locations.
Involved in the community, Bill Davis was named Hartwick College’s Citizen of the Year in 2000, and received a Time Magazine Quality Dealer Award for New York State in 1994.
“I am happy to pass it on to these two people who have dedicated their lives to the business” he said.
Scott Davis said the business will continue as it always has, based on “honesty, integrity and customer service.”
Tom Armao joked that, over three decades, he has earned an MBA – “minding Bill’s advice” — and he doesn’t expect that to change with his mentor’s retirement.
Bill Davis will remain affiliated with the dealerships on an advisory basis.

3 SUNY Geologists To Speak in Houston

Three SUNY Oneonta Earth Sciences Department faculty members will be presenters at the 2008 joint annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Soil Science Society of America, American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Oct. 5-9 Houston Texas.
James Ebert will co-present “Earth Systems/Digital Systems: On-Line Professional Development for K-12 Teachers.”
Tatiana Vislova and Peter Muller will present “Normal Faulting and Magmatism in the Northeastern Adirondack Highlands.”

NEW SENCER: Dr. Brian Hagenbuch, director of Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Institute, has been appointed a SENCER (Science Education for New Civic Engagement and Responsibilities) Leadership Fellow by the National Center for Science and Civic Engagement.
He was one of 76 educators chosen for the inaugural class of Fellows, a select group picked from more than 1,300 faculty members considered.

ON AIR: Mayor John S. Nader has recorded commercial that will be on the air shortly promoting fall activities in Oneonta.

Labels: 09-19-08, Community, Hometown People, Oneonta

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