IN THE PAINT: Mayor John Nader will participate in OWL Paint Fest, Saturday, Nov. 15, at the ARC Otsego Day Services Site on lower River Street. His role: A canvas.
SANTA’S COMIING; Main Street Oneonta’s Christmas Parade will be at 11 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 22, downtown.
COULMAN’S DEGREE: The photo of Marine Kevin Coulman’s fraternity brothers laying flowers on his grave 25 years after he was killed in the terrorist bombing of the Beirut headquarters in 1983 brought back memories for Vince Foti Sr. Then a SUNY Oneonta administrator, Foti successfully lobbied to have Kevin awarded a degree posthumously.
IN TOP 100: For the third year in a row, Kiplinger’s magazine has named SUNYOneonta to its 2009 “Kiplinger 100 Best Values in Public Colleges” in its just-released December 2008 issue. SUNY Oneonta is ranked 54th, up from 75th last year and 98th the year before.
PROUD OF GRANDAD: Ericson Brennan, 14, of Milford Central School, has been assigned to write a paper on an American he admires. He picked his granddad: former Oneonta mayor David Brennan.
ON THE BORDER: The U.S. Customs service will be recruiting officers 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, at the Albany Marriott on Wolf Road, as it seeks to raise the Border Patrol’s to President Bush’s goal of 6,000 agents by year’s end. For information, call (877) 277-9527
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: These days, the lighted sign outside Christ Church Uniting, Richfield Springs, reads, “Get Rich Quick. Count Your Blessings.”
No one will ever know which candidate got Sarah Galley’s history-making vote on this past election day. The 24-year-old Garrattsville woman cast her ballot on Nov. 4 in the Town of New Lisbon, and for the first time since she started voting at the age of 18, she was able to vote without assistance, enjoying the privacy most Americans have come to expect when they enter the ballot box. Galley uses a wheelchair and has limited use of her hands. In the past, she relied heavily on her parents, Cathy and David Galley, to help at the polls. She lifted herself to standing with the help of a power wheelchair, but required assistance to push the levers. This year, she made Otsego County history by becoming one of the first disabled voter to cast a ballot on her own, thanks to a new kind of handicap-accessible voting system in place at each of the county’s 30 polling stations. The Sequoia-Dominion ImageCast ballot marking device was designed for voters with a number of special needs. A tactile interface allows voters with physical challenges to cast their votes. A “sip and puff” interface helps voters with little or no use of their hands to vote and head phones allow voters with visual impairments or literacy challenges to listen to the choices or adjust an image of their ballot on a screen for size and contrast. In the future, a paddle will enable voters to mark their choices with their feet. The device was designed specifically for the New York so the state could comply with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002. The act, passed by the United States Congress in 2002, requires states to improve voting systems and voter access. To Sarah, the device was a chance to act on her own. The election inspector helped her get started with the machine – she was the first in the town to use it. She put on the headphones and navigated the screen by scrolling left and right. In the past, Sarah said, she has always voted with her mother or father standing behind her in the voting booth. This time, she didn’t need much help. Sitting around their kitchen table this week at Silver Spoon Farm, the mother-daughter pair still looked delighted by Sarah’s chance for independence. A unique young woman, obviously loved and support by her family, she attended school in Morris and was active in 4-H. Growing up on a dairy farm, she loved showing cows, walking them daily, washing and grooming them until they were ready for show. She won many awards as a child, and has continued this hobby as an adult. Every improvement for individuals with disabilities is clearly a great one. Things have improved over the years, according to Sarah’s mother, but what many individuals take for granted isn’t always easy for Sarah. Navigating through stores is often a challenge – the aisles are too narrow or too cluttered to allow a wheelchair to pass. Restaurant menus are difficult for her to read. So while a change in voting systems may seem insignificant, it is a powerful move in the right direction. The number of Otsego County voters who used the machines in this election is still being tallied, according to Sheila Ross, deputy election commissioner. They arrived in June, at a cost of $11,500 each, and were first used at each polling place during the presidential primary in September without any reported problems. The same seems to be true for this election. The machines could be a benefit to many residents, including the elderly, according to New Lisbon Town Clerk Charlene Wells. People in wheelchairs cannot see their choices, read the propositions or reach the levers to vote in the booths currently used. The new system is currently a more time consuming way to vote. The ballot-marking device used during this election is geared mainly for disabled voters, but the ballot scanning component of the Sequoia ImageCast will be used by all voters beginning next year if New York fully certifies the Sequoia ImageCast. The certification process is expected to unfold in early 2009, according to Matthew Maguire, spokesperson for Sequoia Voting Systems, the Jamestown-based company that designed the machine. Statewide, reactions to the new system have been positive. It seems Sarah Galley is not the only one savoring her first independent voting experience.
Think emergency response to missing children, gunmen, flood or robbery. From now on in The City of the Hills, think SUNY Oneonta. In a press conference Tuesday, Nov. 11, college President Nancy Kleniewski announced SUNY Oneonta is providing city officials with an access code to allow them to instantaneously alert the community to emergencies over the airwaves of WUOW-FM 104.7. “In the event of an emergency, there is no lack of places to be,” said Mayor John S. Nader, standing at Kleniewski’s side, “so the ability to call via cell phone to alert the whole area on a quick update, without having to drive somewhere, is hugely advantageous. “ Alerts will simultaneously go out on WUOW’s Webstream web site and Cable TV Channel 23. “We hope we never have to use it, but it is in place in case of a need,” said Carol Blazina, SUNY Oneonta vice president for communications. During the press conference, Nader performed a test of the system, dialing into the system and reading a test announcement, which was then heard live on the radio when he completed the call. “This will provide the community to immediate access, even in the middle of the night, a feature not available to other media” said Gary Wickham, WUOW Community Radio program director. During the first night of the flood of 2006, Nader recalled, city officials and alderman were literally knocking on the doors of people to let them know about the evacuation. With this new system, the alert can be broadcast immediately to reach a larger number of people in a much shorter span of time, given they have access to a radio, computer or television. Bassett Healthcare’s emergency preparedness coordinator, Bonnie Kaido, stressed the need for people to have an emergency plan and kit in place with a battery or crank powered radio so they can be reached with these alerts in a time of power outage. As part of the college radio station’s service, it will also have a generator-powered broadcast station on the Job Corp campus, which will keep WUOW broadcasting in the event of a power outage. “The FCC requires we have an emergency alert system anyway, and it made sense to buy this one because of this feature, we are trying to be responsible citizens in whatever way we can,” explained Wickham. WUOW-FM 104.7 can be heard on FM radios throughout the city or Oneonta and most of the town of Oneonta, and may eventually reach all of Otsego County.
Editor’s Note: Here is the invocation delivered at the Oneonta Rotary Club at the beginning of the meeting following Veterans Day, Nov. 11.
Heavenly Father, even on gray fall days as rain falls down and winds whip up, we have much for which to be thankful. We are a nation that takes for granted the transfer of power in government which is peacefully underway. Much of the world would long for such a political process. We the free have just observed with thanksgiving, a day of remembrance of those Veterans who paid the price and those who continue to pay it for our lives, our liberty and our pursuit of happiness. May our indebtedness result in earnestness as we continue to support our troops and their families both home and abroad, and may we as Rotarians conform our thinking and conduct our actions in ways that will be beneficial to all concerned.
So the smoke has cleared and the dust has settled over Lloyd F. Baker field, concluding another season of Yellow Jacket Football. For many it wasn’t the season they had expected as the Jackets finished a dismal 3-6. However, there were a lot of great moments on what a referee during the OHS vs. Windsor game quoted as “the nicest field in the STAC league,” as the boys in blue really racked up some memorable moments. The final home game of the season, vs. arch rival Norwich, resulted in a 32-12 Jacket victory. Their crossover game was hard fought as well, as they lost valiantly at Vestal 21-14. Now, with football out of the way, the fans can move from the chilly confines of Lloyd F. Baker’s bleachers and move into the warmth of Drago gymnasium for another exciting basketball season. The players on the basketball squads can only hope that the fans make as much noise for them as they did for the football team. The community and student body alike rallied around that team, and the “12th man” is extremely important to the success of high school athletics. Last year, boys' and girls' basketball were among the best athletic programs at OHS, and this year looks to be much of the same. The boys' varsity basketball team opens the season on Nov. 25 at home as part of the Drago tournament. The boys' basketball program has won the STAC central division for two straight years, and the defending champs have the talent and potential on this team to do it again. The girls' varsity program opens at home as well in the Drago tournament. This team also won the STAC central last season, as the Jackets and Lady Jackets swept the category. Oneonta basketball is all about winning traditions and a historic background. If we thought the football team gave us something to cheer about this season, the basketball programs will have us leaping out of our seats as if to slam dunk. Oneonta is picking up the pieces and building up to become a powerhouse athletics school, and within a few years every team at OHS is looking to leave the rest in the dust. But until then Oneonta is simply…in transition. Chris McSwiggin, a Hartwick College student, covers Oneonta High School sports for HOMETOWN ONEONTA. Contact him at chrism@hometownoneonta.biz
‘Farm Catskills’ Shows Homesteaders To Farm Like Forebears Might Have
By LAURA COX
‘Hatching new farmers.” That’s how Amy Kenyon, East Merideth, president of Farm Catskills, sees her organization’s mission. And a $5,500 grant from the Community Foundation for South Central New York is going to help it help new farmers get prime farmland, equipment, and greenhouse and cooler space for new farmers who couldn’t otherwise afford it. Farm Catskills, an organization of 150 farmers, landowners, families and residents in Delaware County working to build a sustainable community, is starting Phase I of its Growing New Farmers initiative, an “incubator” – hence the hatching reference. The piece of land for the “incubator” is next to Richard Giles’ organic Lucky Dog Farm in Hamden. “Richard has had many individuals come to work on his farm to learn how to work the land and run an organic farm,” said Kenyon. “But when they go off to start their own, they either have to move far away to find affordable land, or they just fail because of a lack of resources.” Farm Catskills is modeled on the Intervale Center, a farming community in Burlington, Vt., which rents land and shares equipment to help farmers get started. It’s grown to 14 family farms on 120 acres, former swamp along the Winooski River, and supplies 17 percent of Burlington’s fresh produce. It wouldn’t have happened for many of those farmers without Intervale Center’s support. Up until now, Farm Catskills has been linking farmers with bigger organizations to protect their farms and land – the Open Space Institute in New York City, for instance, which puts land under agricultural easements. Within the “incubator,” Farm Catskills will make land and greenhouse space available, and convenient access to a distributor who stops at Lucky Dog Farm three days a week. “None of this would be possible without Richard’s cooperation and willingness to provide greenhouse space at below market rates,” said Kenyon. The money from the Community Foundation grant will go specifically towards developing policies and procedures, so three farmers can get started in 2009. Longterm, Farm Catskills hopes to expand up to 100 acres. The idea is to use the foundation’s grant as seed money to put the processes and paperwork in place. “What is really driving us is the big picture goal of what it can look like,” said Kenyon. “We have terrific soils and we are looking for smart and energized farmers who otherwise would not have an opportunity to farm.” “We will not be impacting just the environment, but the people too,” said Kenyon. The grant will be presented at the Catskill Ag Inc. annual meeting on Nov. 22 at the West Kortright Center, where Food Roots, a community food organization, will discuss developing local food sources. Kenyon said, “We hope to be a model for other parts of the community and area as we get going.”
Middlefield Historical Society Learns To Label Artifacts, Shows Others How
By JIM KEVLINMIDDLEFIELD
In a half century, a historical society can accumulate a lot of stuff. And the Middlefield Historical Society did, and it has, and it continues to do so, avows Merrilyn O’Connell, who has done pretty much everything and held every position in that active society over the past few decades. The other afternoon, she was puzzling over a couple of antique bee hives that had recently turned up at the old school house in the hamlet of Middlefield that serves as the society’s home. Maybe they could be the centerpiece of a beekeeping exhibit, she mused. A little further down the table was a grain measurer, looking a bit like a large and sturdy hat box. Perhaps the makings of a harvesting exhibit there. On the bottom of the measurer was a tiny white strip, painted on the wood, with little black lettering atop it – the accession number, it’s called. That, in turn, said O’Connell, is apoxied, to ensure the marking does not rub off. If you were to donate an item – perhaps a peg borer or a pair of antique pantaloons – to the society, the item would be assigned its accession number, and it would be entered on an 8 1/2 by 11 accession sheet, along with your name, the date of your donation, its source and any germane information that may be of use to researchers of the future. This is pretty dry stuff, you might think, but it’s important enough that the Middlefield Historical Society in 2008 became the first entity in Otsego County to receive a grant – $10,000 – from The Community Foundation of South Central New York, a Binghamton-based entity. With its endowment having grown from $1 million to $18 million in 11 years, it is looking to add Otsego County to its sphere of beneficence. Donna Hill, the foundation’s development officer, was in town at mid-month, announcing the latest grant winners: • $5,500 to Farm Catskills, East Meredith, which is seeking to create the conditions – cheap land, expertise, access to markets – that would allow would-be farmers to bring fallow farmland back into production. • $10,000 to Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care, Oneonta, to train LPNs and home health aides to “provide palliative touch” to reduce terminal patients’ pain. • $10,000 to Planned Parenthood of South Central New York to upgrade its Sidney clinic and expand hour of operation. • $6,000 to Richfield Springs for the cost of flooring its new Zone community center. None of these appear to have much sex appeal, and that’s the point, says Donna Hill. What interested the community foundation board in the historical society project, for instance, is that the money would be used to train the society staff, but the training would be shared with other historical societies, thereby leveraging the benefits of a relatively small amount of money to the maximum. (O’Connell said the accession-training seminar is planned for the spring.) As you can see in the other grants, the idea is to get organizations over small hurdles so they can achieve larger accomplishments down the road. At the Lime Hollow Center on the Environment & Culture in Afton, for instance, money was granted so the non-profit could experiment with solar panels; their findings, in turn, will be shared with similar non-profits. Community foundations have been around for decades, Hill said, but began to gain substaintially in popularity in the 1990s. For an individual to start a foundation can cost $3 million; but working through an established community foundation, an individual can designate beneficiaries and take advantage of tax benefits with as little as $25,000. Back in Middlefield, O’Connell was explaining that the accession sheets are placed in a file and organized by year. When the society wants to do an exhibit, she said, it can pull out all the files associated with the top at hand. Presto. Yes, she acknowledged, the data base would be more flexible on a computer, but she said society members are more comfortable, for now, with a paper record.
A handful of tickets remain on sale for the Nov. 19 Bob Dylan concert at SUNY Oneonta’s Alumni Field House, both on Ticketmaster and at the Hunt Union Box Office on campus. General admission tickets for the 8 p.m. show are $45. As many of you remember, the last time the legendary Bob Dylan visited Otsego County was August 2006 at Doubleday Field in Cooperstown. Two years earlier, he kicked off his national tour of minor-league baseball fields there, sharing the venue Willie Nelson. The Dylan-Nelson concert, in particular, received mixed reviews. Many were expecting the folk artist to sing their favorite contemplative, politically aware, and poetic songs with a six string acoustic, or even a Fender, and a harmonica. However, true irony came not only from his lyrics, but from the fact that Dylan had apparently once again, and quite dramatically this time, modified his act (I am always hesitant to use the term “re-invent”). In place of the guitar was an electric keyboard, and his new band made the infamous electric band from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, for which he was booed from the stage, seem as though they had never even “plugged in”. But isn’t this initial “re-invention” what he later became most praised for? That “selling out” might really just be sticking to what has already worked in the past while true art really pushes the boundaries. An apt comparison might be when Miles Davis “went electric” at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival, alienating his traditional jazz fans while creating a whole generation of new ones. When asked the title of his piece, Miles said, “Call it anything.” While the electric groove was something completely foreign to many, Miles was working from the same formula – sketches of sounds and ideas brought to life through collective improvisation – that created “Kind of Blue,” arguably the best jazz album ever. In fact, “Call it anything” is not too far away from “So What?” Such is the case with Dylan. The lyrics of “Lay Lady Lay” were not changed at Doubleday Field, they were just presented in a whole new way which was to some was alienating. Mind you, many of these critics – my own peers – were only born 20 years after Dylan “went electric.” In this regard, the 1965 Newport Folk Festival was a mere historical fact, nothing like the shocking event they witnessed in 2004. I suppose it’s easier to accept change in retrospect. However, I greatly anticipate this 2008 performance at SUNY Oneonta. Perhaps Dylan will shock again. Hopefully it will not be at the expense of substance, because substance is what makes art great – the mode of presentation is just the creative part.
Seeing something you know well from the point of view of an outsider can be revealing and edifying, as happened to your arts observer recently when a friend from California came to visit Cooperstown for the first time. The wonder of the riches around us was borne home yet again. Gasps and surprise were the order of the day. “Look at that! Wow!” (Glimmerglass Opera) “Beautiful!” (Fenimore Art Museum) “Ooh! Amazing!” (Farmers’ Museum) “Charming!” (Cooperstown architecture) “Well, there he is!” (Statue of James Fenimore Cooper in Cooper Park) “How grand!” (Hyde Hall) “Unh-uh. No way!” (Holy Trinity monastery in all its icon-and-gold splendor in Jordanville) A visit, a little further away, to the Arkell Museum in Canajoharie elicited more of the same. And rightly so. We visited the museum shortly after its opening about a year ago. It is gratifying to report that it seems to be doing very well. It is a gem. The huge painted floor-map depicting the Mohawk Valley and environs never ceases to delight – and inform. A study of the details pays off. The exhibition rooms continue to astound, especially Arthur Drooker’s “American Ruins,” intriguing photographs of untouched architectural relics all over the United States. The exhibition is complemented by a film series starting Friday, November 14 (“Lacombe Lucien”) and running through Friday, February 27 (“Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?”) For more details go to www.arkellmuseum.org. Another exhibition in Changing Exhibition Gallery I features sleigh bells, green fields and falling leaves: Four Seasons of American Landscape Painting. There’s something for everyone, just enough and not too much. One leaves this institution buoyed up by the excellence – and balance – of its offerings. The friend from California stayed at the White House Inn on Chestnut Street, one of the many fine B&Bs and other hostelries in town. And, not forgetting the baseball side of things, there was some singularity there too: Babe Ruth’s granddaughter was staying at the inn with a family from Connecticut, one of the children of which, severely handicapped, had always wanted to go to the Hall of Fame. The legendary Sultan of Swat’s granddaughter made it possible. Greatness runs in the family, it seems. The friend from California returned to Pasadena head spinning with delight. Not surprising. This IS Cooperstown, after all!
Sam’s column on arts in Delaware and Otsego counties appears weekly.
To the Editor: I wanted to say thank you for helping me out with the kidney walk. When I heard that the walk was taking place on campus, I felt motivated. I wanted to get involved in bringing awareness of the need for organ donation onto campus. As you know, my father had his second kidney transplant this past summer; therefore the intense emotions and passion for me was personal. I told all of my friends about the walk and they were eager to get involved. One major project I did to make money was selling bracelets. I bought thin hemp and green beads (the color that signifies organ donation) and made bracelets. I carried these bracelets around with me for two months. Not everyone bought one, but I did tell people about the walk and it helped raise awareness. My initial fundraising goal was $500, but I quickly surpassed that goal within days. I re-set my goal several times; the last time was $3,000. Personally, I raised $1,490 and as a team we raised $2,483. This would not have been possible if it were not for all of my friends and family, especially two of my close friends, Allie Ball and Christine Baltera. Allie raised $543 and Christine raised $375. I recently became involved in the marketing club and joined the American Marketing Association. One of my professors sparked my interest in deciding to donate the money not only in honor of my dad, but in honor of the club. Two of the local newspapers heard my story and interviewed me. Here are the links to the articles.. http://www.hometownoneonta.biz/labels/Kidney%20Walk.html http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_298040040.html Thank you so much for your contribution to the walk. The money that you donated went to helping local patients with kidney disease, whether it be at the dialysis centers or the hospitals, it will make a difference. Thank you again for helping me succeed and go beyond everything I could have ever imagined was possible. LINDSAY COWEN SUNY Oneonta Student
Jesse Torruella’s Family Thankful
To the Editor: How can we even begin to thank all the organizers, sponsors, volunteers and participants involved in the “One of Our Own” benefit for Jesse Torruella on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 17-18. The outpouring of love and support from the community has made us feel it is a wonderful place to live. We were overwhelmed at the turn out and our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone. Please continue to keep him in your prayers. Gratefully, The Family of Jesse Torruella
John W. Fowler, son of J.H. Jackson, a barber of Oneonta, returned home a few days since from Saginaw, Mich., where he has been filling a position as catcher of the Saginaw base ball club, winning second place for the championship of the Northwestern League. Mr. Fowler says he is the only colored professional base ball player in the country. He has been engaged to pitch for the Milwaukees next season at a salary of $2,200. November 1883
100 Years Ago
Oscar J. Wells paid an election bet to Charles W. Southworth Friday evening by wheeling the latter on a gaily decorated wheelbarrow from Slattery’s Hotel on Broad Street up Market to Main and up Main to Maple and return. Red fire was kept burning along the line of march and Southworth himself carried a liberal quantity of the same illuminant.
The editor of the Herald is under obligations to the First Church of Christ Scientist, Oneonta, for a copy of the life of Mary Baker Eddy, by Sibyl Wilbur. Mrs. Eddy, as is well known, is the founder of the Christian Science religion, and the book is a most interesting account of the development of a religious faith which now is known the world over. November 1908
80 Years Ago
Fortunate indeed were Carlton J. Hinman of the Oneonta airport and Mr. and Mrs. John Willhard of 140 Chestnut Street, Oneonta, on Friday of last week in escaping with only broken bones, their injuries considered not serious, when the Fairchild cabin monoplane which Mr. Hinman was taking from the airport, failed to respond to controls and a forced landing a few hundred feet from the airport on the farm occupied by Elmer Allen was made necessary. The plane landed on a newly plowed field, turning up on its nose and then completely over. The three people were rushed to the Fox Memorial Hospital in the city ambulance. In spite of the condition of the plane all three escaped with broken bones, some lacerations and bruises, although it is feared Mrs. Willhard may have sustained internal injuries. November 1928
60 Years Ago
Lafayette F. Bard, Harry Cook and John Daley, all of Oneonta, found the proverbial “friend in need” when Carl M. Green of Cooperstown came to their rescue on November 7, saving the trio from drowning. Driving near his home on the Lake road, Green noticed a capsized boat near Three-Mile Point and three men struggling in the water nearby. Realizing their plight, Green stopped his car and rushed to the shore where he obtained another boat and rowed to their rescue. After helping them into the boat, he righted the other, bringing the three men and towing the other boat to shore. The men had been attempting to remove some fishing buoys from the lake when the upset occurred. November 1948
40 Years Ago
What the average Otsego County resident should weigh for proper health and what he or she does weigh are two quite different things it appears. Under the standards recommended by medical authorities the local population is tons overweight. Much of the extra poundage has been accumulated during the last decade or two. Estimates place the number of Americans who are overweight at about 40 million, or one out of every five persons. Authorities estimate that the annual outlay for reducing pills, medical treatments, special foods and the like, in the quest for slimness amounts to more than $370 million. The average man in Otsego County tips the scale at about five pounds more than his father did at the same age. For the 16,210 males in the local area over age 21, that adds up to 81,050 additional pounds, or around 41 tons. Women of today average about four pounds more than their mothers at the same age. For the 17,790 women in Otsego County 21 years of age or older, the overall increase comes to 71,160 pounds. November 1968
20 Years Ago
Should international terrorist organizations decide to infiltrate the United States, they would be virtually impossible to spot before they acted according to a secret report compiled by a Defense Department task force last year. According the report there are 12 international terrorist groups that could direct attacks against American facilities and citizens. The report estimates that these 12 groups number about 1,000 members and should they decide to enter the country they could easily merge with the general population. Even known terrorist suspects would be difficult for law enforcement personnel to track. For example – how do you track one terrorist among the 3.6 million daily riders on the New York City subway system? There would be no need for terrorists to bother bringing weapons into the country, thanks to America’s wide-open gun laws. November 1988
10 Years Ago
The New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA) and the Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts (UCCA) in Oneonta will allocate $5,000 for an electronic media and film program and a $16,000 grant for an individual film project. Pam Cooley, UCCA director said that the $5,000 grant will be used for fall and spring festivals. There are plans to show 10 films in the spring of 1999. UCCA is also the umbrella organization for the grant of $16,000 which goes to Richard Kroehling, Andes, N.Y. filmmaker, for his film project titled “The End Time.” Kroehling describes the work as a “highly stylized feature documentary that explores the lives of end-timers, those who believe we are living in Earth’s last days.” November 1998
Resources for Hometown History have been provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library.
City’s Generous Spirit Certainly Bodes Well For Its 2nd Century
If someone doesn’t believe in something, don’t put them in charge of the program, for goodness sake. That’s brought to mind, one, by the waning weeks of a national administration led by people who simply don’t believe that government can work. So, of course, it doesn’t. Did the Katrina aftermath prove government doesn’t work? Or does it prove that, if you don’t believe in government, it doesn’t matter who you put in whatever job. “Brownie,” George W. Bush’s FEMA director, raised and trained thoroughbred horses. He knew nothing about emergency management; his bosses didn’t think it mattered whether he did or not. The disaster in New Orleans, when you think about it, was inevitable. If not there, somewhere else. There are so many other examples at the national level, but let’s get to the second point, the local one. • In listening to the accomplishments reel off the tongues of Oneonta’s five living mayors during that Centennial Committee reception Saturday, Nov. 8, at Hartwick College, you have to be impressed by how much city government has accomplished locally. Why not? It’s been run by people who believe Oneonta’s citizens can, to a large degree, chart their own destiny. Sam Nader, or course, is a living legend. And what vitality! You forget he’s pushing 90, so much more dynamic as he is than most people half his age. He talked about launching Urban Renewal locally. And ensuring I-88 was built near the downtown, and how its proper construction helped relief flood threats. Of the senior-citizen housing tower that bears his name. About expanding parks and adding the pool. Of building an airport that, at its height, had daily flights to New York City and Philadelphia and Boston. (He predicted that will return sometime; let get with it.) About bringing DiMaggio and Reggie Jackson and so many more baseball standouts to town. (If you can get him to tell you the story of the Mickey Mantle misadventure, it’s a beaut.) • While David Brenner is a Republican, it is in the Rockefeller mode. Doers both. Sam Nader mentioned in passing that Brenner, by putting together a sales-tax formula beneficial to Oneonta, assured the city’s financial viability for the past two decades, even until today. Dave Brenner had only recently shifted from county government – he had been chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives – when he came up with a plan that benefitted everyone. Town leaders, who had never gotten anything from the county, were delighted by the few percentage points of sales-tax revenue spread among them. The City of Oneonta ended up with 14 percent – a lion’s share – of the newly generated revenue, thanks to Brenner’s canniness and diplomatic skills. Kim Muller could take pride in the rising of the Clarion Hotel; John Nader, in the Bresee initiative and so much more that is pending. • All of this wasn’t done for self-aggrandizement, but for the good of the city at large. A telling story: When Brenner was mayor, there was pressure to begin charging admission at the city pool, and he turned to Sam Nader for advice. A big family from Edmeston, in particular, was making liberal use of the city facilities. Nader, in response, noted that it was money from a Morris-based family that got many of the city’s recreational initiatives going. Don’t charge, he said: “Let ’em come in. Let ’em come in. Let ’em enjoy it.” Wise? Who knows. Certainly not penny wise, pound foolish. The city’s generous spirit was certainly evident at that reception the other night, and the accomplishment after accomplishment recognized underscored that advice grandma gave us: The more you give, the more you get. The City of Oneonta’s second century brightly awaits.
B. Sharp Gallery Opening, To Exhibit Local Artists
Bobby Sharp of Oneonta will be opening the doors to B. Sharp Gallery on State Hwy 28 south of Oneonta with a Grand Opening 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 22. Sharp, 42, who was born and raised in Oneonta, is very excited to open his own gallery here and to exhibit the works of famous artists, as well as artists he believes should be famous. “I am good at networking, and I hope to bring in people from Manhattan, The Hamptons, and elsewhere to see the gallery, also helping the local economy by providing them with information on where to eat and stay,” said Sharp. Sharp has been successful as an artist with his still life sculptures and rock and roll sculptures. He has developed a way to encapsulate pressed flowers from all across the world in a plastic media with a 24 karat gold border. He has been smart with marketing his work and also captured his sculptures in photographs for further promotion as prints and on clothing. His fern sculptures are exhibited at General Electric in East Greenbush. With his opening just days away, Sharp has been hanging art, arranging lights, and organizing his new studio space, he described his feelings for the opening,“I am nervous for my first showing, and excited because doing this helps me better see myself, which is hard to do as an artist sometimes.” Artists featured in the gallery’s opening include, photographer Richard Walker, painter Jerald Cajko, print maker Michael Gordon, painter Fred J. Feiler, and Sharp’s scultures. The show will run through Dec. 22. At the reception, refreshments will be provided by Brewery Ommegang and Cooperstown Cookie Company. All of the art displayed is for sale. More information about the B. Sharp Gallery and directions to the gallery can be found at www.bsharpstudio.net.
Goodas Receives President’s Award
Barbara Goodas of ERA Cavanagh-Wright Real Estate, Oneonta, was the first Realtor® to receive the President’s Award from the Otsego-Delaware Board of Realtors® at its first quarterly meeting at the Canasawacta Country Club, Norwich. Barbara earned this honor through a nomination process by exemplifying the essence of what a Realtor® is all about – for superior ethics, daily practices, and outstanding service to the buying and selling public. ODBR President Ross Gill congratulated Barbara and told the audience at the meeting that her ability and professionalism speaks for itself, she is a wonderful Realtor® example for all of us to emulate.
Rock-A-Thon Raises $250 For Local Group
From left Lauren Bailey, Ashley Marchall, Victoria Konze, Ariel Barrett, Candice Flathmann, Matthew Hansen, Becca Hill, and Brittany Shultis rocked to raise money on Friday night, Nov. 7th for their Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) at Oneonta High School. Nine members rocked for 50 minutes of every hour for as long as they could go Shultis and Flathmann, both rocked for 16 hours. The money raised will go towards their national membership dues and the FCCLA Feed the Children project, to feed hungry populations around the county.
School Board Brings Aboard Jamie Reynolds
Jamie Reynolds was due to be named to the Oneonta City School District Board of Education when it met Wednesday, Nov. 12. Reynolds, the senior vice president of NBT Bank in Oneonta, has been active in the Oneonta community. He is vice chairman of the Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care and served on the boards of the Otsego County Empire Zone and Friends of Basset, among other organizations. Reynolds live in Oneonta and is married to Carolyn Laden-Reynolds; they have two daughters, Hannah, 9, a student at Riverside Elementary, and Elizabeth, who is 1 month old. “I am happy to serve in this position and I hope my expertise proves beneficial to the district,” said Reynolds. He was to fill a vacancy created by Penny Wightman, who resigned in September. His term is effective Nov. 12, through May 19, 2009, the day of the next school board election.
Reception Features Wit, Wisdom, Tales of Gritty Politics
By JIM KEVLIN
Oneonta’s past and present mayors ought to go on the road. Their wit and wisdom were on full display before 200 people at “The Reception for Oneonta’s Living Mayors.” When incumbent John S. Nader (elected in 2006) announced his intention to run for mayor to his father, former mayor Sam Nader, his dad declared: “There are only five people who know how much work this is – and you’re not one of them.” That brought a laugh – one of many – from the gathering Saturday, Nov. 8, in Stack Lounge at Hartwick College’s Dewar Hall. David W. Brenner (1986-1998) recalled the advice Jim Georgeson gave him during one tiff with the Otsego County Board of Representatives. “Look around the room,” Georgeson told him. “None of those people have voted for you.” Brenner took advantage of the laughter to drive the point home: “Don’t worry about the county board,” Georgeson told his successor. “Voters will remember you as a good mayor.” Kim Muller (1998-2006), John Nader’s immediate predecessor, reflected on the fact that the plaza in front of the Clarion Hotel bears her name: It’s “a constant honor – and kind of creeps me out.” Laughter.
The formal portraits of past mayors, taken when they were, in some cases, much younger, lined the back of the rostrum. People always told her she was Oneonta’s best-looking mayors, Muller related, a compliment she accepted. After looking at the portraits, however, she had to conclude: “Jim Georgeson was the best-looking one.” John Nader went on to tell how he and Muller have twice gone to Utica together for political purposes, 20 years apart, and got lost both times. For his part, Democrat Sam Nader praised Republican Brenner: “David and I have become fast friends.” Pause. “There are decent Republicans.” Another laugh. “We could teach some people in Washington how to be friendly in politics,” he said. Seriously, though, Nader said Brenner’s structuring of the sales tax – as mayor, the former county board chair led negotiations that created the first sales tax and gave Oneonta 14 percent of revenues – put the city on a firm financial footing that continues until today. The reception was the latest in a year of well-attended events organized by the Centennial Committee – chairs Tom Clemow and Kevin Herrick emceed the evening – ranging from kickoff fireworks last New Year’s Eve, the centennial ball March 15, the balloon festival Aug. 30 in Neahwa Park, a huge Centennial Parade on Oct. 4, and much more. Early in the process, worried the Centennial Committee wasn’t moving fast enough, Mayor Nader recounted, he took his wife Deb to a meeting, to get her assessment. “Leave them alone,” she told him later. “They know what they’re doing.” The Nov. 8 evening was more than humor. There was wistfulness. And gritty political history. “When we return to Oneonta,” John Nader said of himself and wife, Deb, “we feel that little lift, to know we’re back home.” Sam Nader recounted the challenges of even getting into politics. The party chairman told him Democrats weren’t sure they could get him “over the railroad tracks.” Going door to door during his first campaign, he received a gracious reception from a local dowager. As he was leaving, she asked, “Are you Catholic?” He answered in the affirmative. “I have a sister-in-law who’s Catholic,” she continued, “and we love her just as much as anyone else.” In his closing remarks, John Nader recalled a little more pointed encounter that his dad hadn’t mentioned. Another prospective voter had told Sam Nader, whose family immigrated from Lebanon, “Isn’t it too bad we can’t have an American mayor.”
Wounded Arm Paralyzed, Lieutenant Bertuzzi Outflew Japanese Zeroes 150 Miles To Safety
By JOSEPH A. FIORAVANTI
‘If I land on water, I’ll drown. If I land on the coal, I’ll burn. So I decided to go back.” Lt. Samuel Bertuzzi was a 25-year-old Naval combat pilot from Oneonta. His mission was to team up with a squadron of 18 F6F Grumman Hellcats and escort a fleet of B-24 bombers on airstrike against a heavily fortified enemy in Bougainville, in the northern chain of the Solomon Island. Over the island of Ballalae, Bertuzzi’s squadron was ambushed by 80 Japanese Zeros. Skies were punctuated by smoke and fire, the whine of 18-cylinder high-speed radial engines, and an occasional starburst whenever a direct hit tore an airship apart. After knocking down one Zero, Bertuzzi was encircled by six more closing in for the kill. A 90 mm shell blasted a hole in his fuselage. When it detonated, the impact sent shock waves through the ship. “My compass was gone. So was my radio. I couldn’t see any land.” The instrument panel was a conglomeration of torn wires and twisted metal. The radio, his only contact with his squadron, was a molten glob. Worse yet, a pool of blood collected at his feet. As the plane lurched and wobbled like a dying quail, Bertuzzi discover flying shrapnel had shattered his right arm. He couldn’t bail out because the release crank was on his right, beyond the reach of his left arm. With his dead right hand still frozen to the joy stick, he was forced to cradle the steering rod between both knees, alternately maneuvering the ship with his good hand and then fingering the wires to see which controls stil reacted to his touch. Miraculously, the gears meshed and the ship responded to his frozen fingers. With the plane plummeting headlong, he leaned into the control stick with all his weight, hoping that the 1,200-horse-power radial engine of the powerful ship had the life to brake his descent. The plane bottomed out within 10 feet of the yawning sea. Once he started to climb, he was confronted by another dilemma. The Zeros, anticipating his moves, came down like a swarm of hornets. “Tracer bullets went by me and then they got me with a machine-gun burst in my left shoulder. There was blood all over me and all over the cockpit. But my plane came through.” Lieutenant Bertuzzi is being interviewed on KROW, a West Coast affiliate, in late November 1943. He is reliving his near death, experienced barely two months prior to the radio broadcast. His bandaged arm in a shoulder sling, Bertuzzi was the latest war hero to appear on Scott Weakley’s radio show to drum up blood donors to give the gift of life to wounded service personnel in combat zones. “I never would have lived that night if it hadn’t been for the plasma I got 20 minutes after I landed. They came for me in a rubber boat and gave me morphine on the spot, but they told me they thought I was dead when they took me ashore. I’m grateful for the life that God and luck and plasma gave back to me.” The radio host wondered aloud, What did it feel like to confront the possibility of a sudden and violent death? “I remember thinking, I’m done for. Here I go. And the next thing that came to me was, What will my mother think? I even had a momentary flash of her standing there at home getting the telegram. It made me want to cry,” he said. Once Bertuzzi caught sight of the sun from his stricken ship, he triangulated the position of the sun with his home base on Munda, resolving to fly by dead reckoning. ”As long as the sun was behind my left shoulder, I knew I was all right.” Drifting in and out of consciousness, he wasn’t sure if he could make it back alive over a distance of 150 miles. He tried to stave off zonking out while ginning his engine while barely skimming the waves to keep at bay the enemy sharpshooters the minute he elevated his run. For the next 50 miles, he was shadowed by the Zeros until suddenly they retreated out of sight. The Zero had a top speed of 317 mph, compared to the Hellcat’s 328. Like the proverbial ferocious feline it was named after, the Hellcat was maimed but far from broken. Once Bertuzzi was no longer an easy kill, he gained altitude to clear treetops and ridges. “I started passing islands, but I didn’t know what they were. But I could still feel that something in the plane was with me, guiding me on.” Early in the broadcast, Bertuzzi recalled his mental state soon after being hit by a machine gun burst to his left shoulder. “Call it faith if you will or just call it the will to survive. There was blood all over me and all over the cockpit. I kept going, doing a little praying now and then.” He was elated when he spotted another Hellcat winging towards him. “I found out later that he’d seen my plane’s reflection in the water and came to investigate. The pilot mentioned to Bertuzzi to follow him to home base. “The son-of-a-gun took me right over a Jap airfield, not five minutes from Munda. They were as surprised as I was. I was only 50 feet up. I could see them looking at me.” This time, no Zeros to send a calling card. No ack-ack guns to boom goodbye. Bertuzzi was prepared to land his plane when he reached Munda, but a damaged Hellcat swerved into view at the last minute and crash-landed in the runway, making a safe landing impossible. Furthermore, Bertuzzi failed to find the circuit to deploy his landing gear. He’d have to attempt a belly landing. He spotted a lagoon off to one side to land in. As he nosed the plane down, he twisted his body and reached over with his good left arm to crank open the cockpit shield. With a final agonizing effort to keep from slipping into oblivion from extensive blood loss, he pancaked the ship into 8 feet of water. “I dug up one little bit more of strength from somewhere and stood up in the cockpit as the plane skidded to a halt. My head and shoulders stayed above water.” In an instant he fell into a deep coma. No one knows for sure how or why Bertuzzi survived the ordeal and lived to tell the tale. There were at least four ways he could have died: an enemy bullet to the brain or the heart; a headlong crash into the sea; excessive hemorrhaging; blanking out and losing control of the plane until it smashed into a mountainside. And if he hadn’t succeeded in dislodging the cockpit shield before hitting the water, he could have drowned before he could be rescued. In a field hospital on Guadalacanal, surgeons entertained the idea of lopping off his mashed right arm but weren’t certain he’d survive the trauma of his savaged spirit. After his third blood transfusion, Bertuzzi’s condition stabilized. It took more than a year to make minimal use of his paralyzed limb. Blood vessels had to be rerouted and muscle tissue grafted from his thighs. He was lucky to be alive. The heroic saga of the young naval lieutenant, a crippled combat pilot in a crippled ship on a perilous odyssey over a distance of 150 miles in a race against time and the limits of human endurance, was duly noted by mass media. He made the cover of LIFE. A full page ad in the NY TIMES on Feb. 18, 1945, showed a photo of the war hero in full uniform. The ad, sponsored by Revere Copper & Brass, singled out Bertuzzi for his fortitude and resourcefulness. The banner heading over the ad read, “God Flew My Hellcat For 150 Miles.” A grateful nation awarded him the Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart. Clifford Craven, a bombardier flying missions over Germany in the same war, was intrigued enough by Bertuzzi’s luck to tell me, “In the heat of battle, just when everything seems hopeless and lost, a sudden strange calm takes over stronger than fear. You stop being scared. Maybe the will to live is stronger than the fear of death. Maybe, in Sam’s case, what saved him was sheer determination to survive.” Returning to Oneonta after his medical discharge, Sam Bertuzzi married Angie Lambros and raised a family. Over the years he became a retailer, ran as an alderman and served on the city council, had a 32-year tenure as Oneonta’s postmaster, promoted Italian studies at SUNY Oneonta, served as president of the Oneonta Italian American Club and was name Citizen of the Year in October 1995, by the same organization. Sam Bertuzzi went to his eternal rest Oct. 30, 1996, at the age of 77. Why was this man revered by all and sundry who had the privilege of knowing him. A hero is a reflecting mirror in whom are magnified a nation’s ideals and foremost virtues. On Veteran’s Day we honor a war hero not on the body count of enemies slain. Not always for sacrifices made when potential victims are thrust in harm’s way. Rarely for overcoming odds in the hazards of war when combined with happenstance and luck. We honor exceptional people like Sam Bertuzzi because by their actions and example these gallant heroes awaken in each of us an inspirational glimmering of hope. Consumed as we are by life’s fitful fever and compromising choices, we are prey to doubts and fears. The prospect of death and dissolution fills us with terror. Heroes personify Robert Frost’s “Road Not Taken.” By virtue of their unique participation in some of life’s deepest mysteries, they demonstrate the narrow winding path of untapped greatness, the mix of courage, fidelity to duty, perseverance, and resourcefulness that all of us aspire to but few are witness to except when fate intervenes and tests us beyond ordinary endurance.
Joseph Fioravanti, an Oneonta resident, is a retired English professor at SUNY Delhi.
