Hometown Oneonta - The Otesgo-Delaware Dispatch

Railroad Relic

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Local Historians Grieve Loss
As Blow To Oneonta Heritage

Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
The dentil pattern on the end of D&H Shop #7 looms above railroad buff Dave Petri of Hartwick, who remembers the final days of the bustling Oneonta railyard from his 1960s boyhood.

By JIM KEVLIN

The decision would assure the fortune of a single Susquehanna River valley town.
Maybe Sidney. Maybe Harpersfield. Maybe Oneonta.
The men who were making these decisions were no pushovers.
The year before, when “robber baron” Jay Gould’s toughs – in cahoots with the Broome County Sheriff Brown and a corrupt New York City judge – began seizing Albany & Susquehanna trains, tracks and depots from Binghamton north, the A&S directors sent R.C. Blackball to fix matters.
Heading down the line from Albany, he recruited rail crews – mostly Irish immigrants at that point – and confronted the sheriff and several hundred of his men at Bainbridge in what became known as The Battle of Belden Hill. By morning, Brown was in jail and his forces were in disarray.
The events of Aug. 9, 1869, determined that when R.C. Blackball spoke, people listened.
So it was with delight a year later, on Sept. 10, 1870, when one of Oneonta’s four most prominent businessmen, Harvey Baker, received a “secret letter” – as former city historian Eugene Milener relates in “Oneonta: The Development of a Railroad Town” – from Blackball, saying he’d concluded the then-village was the optimum spot for the A&S to locate its roundhouse and “shops” – repair and construction facilities.
Blackball told Baker to be prepared to receive Thomas Dickson, president of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Co., which the A&S had brought in as an ally after Jay Gould’s incursion.
By the time Dickson left the following Wednesday, he had agreed that – if the business community could provide him with 20 acres west and south of Chestnut Street, and raise money to start construction – Oneonta would be the place.
That Day of Decision, of course, determined Oneonta’s prime focus – and source of wide renown – for the next century, as one of the largest engine-repair and maintenance facilities in the nation. The yard housed the largest roundhouse in the world. At its height, the works stretched two miles.

Today there is woefully little left to recall those glory days.
The smokestack from the old roundhouse stands like a lone sentinel, visible to travelers on I-88 and for miles around. The huge coal chute to the west looms mysteriously. That end of the property is owned by A. Treffeisen & Son, the plumbing and HVAC concern, which is located there and has partially developed the section as a business park.
The east end of the property, owned by CP Rail, contains the final recognizable remnants of what once was – now in the process of being demolished, with few regrets from the home office.
The regional spokesman for CP Rail, Michel Spenard, said Canadian Pacific would only be interested in participating in a restoration – or any undertaking – if there is “a business case for it.”
“We’re not in the museum business,” he said. “We carry freight.”
However, he said the company would consider any proposal from community groups, and he suggested interested parties e-mail community_connect@cpr.ca, the CP Rail’s Community Connect Line to see what might be done to sidetrack the razings until a plan can be developed.
Foremost among the relics is D&H Shop #7, which local railroad historians believe is one of the two original buildings that resulted from Thomas Dickson’s visit. Within days, Harvey Baker had convened a meeting of local businesspeople who bought shares to raise money for the new enterprise.
“Ground was broken on Oct. 4,” Milener wrote, “and eight days later the foundation of the roundhouse was nearly completed. The structure was finished by the middle of January 1871. Furthermore, as promised in Blackball’s letter, a small machine shop was attached to the roundhouse. By September 1871, about 100 men were employed at the new roundhouse and the attached repair facility” – Shop #7, presumably.
“The trusses are pretty amazing,” local history buff David Petri of Hartwick observed the other day as he examined the east end of the long brick building. You can tell it’s the original part because of the arched windows along the side; in a later addition, the windows are squared off, easier to build. “The dentil work” – the tooth-like brick pattern along the cornices – “is pretty amazing, too.”
As a boy growing up locally in the 1960s, Petri remembers the vast rail yards – stretching two miles to the west – and mourns that so little is left.
“That was the beginning of Oneonta,” he said of the D&H’s 1870 decision, noting that the city’s origins were in a community called “Milfordville,” an afterthought. “It represents Oneonta. It was Oneonta.”
Jim Loudon, author of “Oneonta Roundhouse” and “Leatherstocking Rails,” agreed.
“The railroad built Oneonta; that’s our heritage,” he said. The ongoing demolition is “a very sad commentary on Oneonta and its heritage.”
Efforts to save the roundhouse failed, as did efforts in the 1960s to bring Steamtown here from Bellows Falls, Vt. It eventually settled in Scranton, where it is a National Historic Site.
With regret, Bob Brzozowski, Greater Oneonta Historical Society president, said, “It’s looking more and more like there’s going to almost nothing left of the old railyards,” although he said there is interest in trying to save what remains of the smokestack.
For now, he said, the GOHS directors – a volunteer board – are fully occupied seeking to complete the restoration of society headquarters at 183 Main St. The GOHS is also selling bricks from the old roundhouse as a fundraiser for a scale model, about 6-foot wide, it plans to install on 183 Main’s third floor, an effort to memorialize the structure.
However, Brzozowski said he would welcome – and believes the GOHS directors would support – any effort by City Hall to establish a historical commission to protect local landmarks. (Please see related story, Page 1.)
As to what remains, the GOHS president said he would like to see the smokestack preserved, and Wayne Treffeisen, president of the company that owns the property, said he doesn’t oppose that idea, although stabilization is needed quickly: “It would have to be capped so ice doesn’t get between the bricks.”

Labels: 12-05-08, D and H Railroad, The City of the Hills

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Jazz For The Holidays

EVAN JAGELS

NIGHT LIFE

I had a chance to sit down with jazz pianist David Leonhardt’s new holiday album, “I’ll Be Home For Christmas.”
Promoted as a holiday jazz concert, these will likely be the tunes called when he and his band, with vocalist Nancy Reed, perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at The Otesaga, sponsored by the Cooperstown Concert Series.
Let me first say, as a lifelong jazz fan and musician, I am wary of the Christmas theme in jazz. Not that it can’t be done well, but there is a large gap between what one might hear in a storefront in mid-December and Coltrane playing “Greensleeves” with McCoy Tyner, Elvin Jones, and Jimmy Garrison.
This said, I was pleasantly surprised. Leonhardt’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” is more on the mainstream end of jazz, but features skilled improvisers who know how to bend a familiar and favorite melody just far enough without breaking it; keeping its original warmth yet
bringing something new and exciting.
For me, this is the sign of something that’s made the cut – it is simply good jazz, not Christmas storefront music.
David Leonhardt plays piano with intelligence and warmth. Nancy Reed has superb vocal phrasing and a classic tone. Matthew Parrish and Taro Okamoto on bass and drums provide an excellent foundation, creating tasteful rhythmic ostinatos and a swinging groove.
Okamoto’s drumming is slightly minimalistic, yet hard hitting – certainly of the Jimmy Cobb school and Parrish has great pitch on the bass and a nice full tone which is heard over the entire instrument.
Larry McKenna is an accomplished improviser on the saxophone, and knows just how to support a vocalist with a melodic instrument.
In Leonhardt’s own words:
“I have wanted to do a Christmas CD for a long time. This group has played together for years and is my favorite band to play with.”
Regarding “deans” of instruments, the last promoted concert I attended at The Otesaga was Hank Jones, the dean of jazz piano.
Jones needs no introduction, but for those who may be a bit shady on jazz history, he is known for his tenures with Miles Davis (in his early years), Ella Fitzgerald, Charley Parker, and Coleman Hawkins.
I would certainly recommend this concert to all. The CD suggests that it will be the perfect blend of familiar holiday favorites and creative improvisation that should satisfy most palates.

Evan Jagels, whose column appears weekly, may be reached at evanjagels@yahoo.com

Labels: 12-05-08, City of the Hills, Evan Jagels, Night Life

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Meeting Twain

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

Foothills Performing Arts Center received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts this past year for the Big Read, an initiative intended to stimulate reading for pleasure and enlightenment among young adults.
Surprisingly enough, people between the ages of 18 and 35 do less reading of this kind than any other sector of the population. Although the project is intended for all members of the community, this one grouping is in most need of attention.
The Big Read provides events and activities focused on a specific book for a period of one month. In May 2008 the community centered its attention on Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” the high point of which were the three performances of the trial scene from the stage adaptation in the courthouses of Chenango, Delaware, and Otsego counties.
The NEA has awarded another grant for 2009, this time for Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” Preliminary research on the book and how to engender interest has provided some wondrous discoveries.
Although Mark Twain resided primarily in Hartford, Conn., he did spend a good deal of time at a summer place in Elmira. His wife’s family made available to him Quarry Farm, overlooking the Chemung River with a stupendous view into the northern mountains of Pennsylvania.
It was at Quarry Farm that Mark Twain wrote “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “The Prince and the Pauper,” “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court,” and numerous other stories and essays.
He penned these classics in an octagonal house built nearby the main house, an offering from his sister-in-law who recognized the man’s talent as well as need for a proper environment in which to concentrate.
Quarry Farm is now the Center for Mark Twain Studies administered by Elmira College.
The octagonal study has been relocated and sits modestly on the campus of Elmira College, open to the public. Also on the campus is a permanent exhibition of Twain memorabilia, interestingly and intelligently assembled by Barbara Snedecor, director of the center.
I came away from my visit feeling for all the world as though I had spent time engaged in personal conversation with the author himself. The Big Read will provide opportunity for others to have the same experience.

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

Labels: 12-05-08, Art Beat, City of the Hills, Sam Goodyear

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Jackets Ready To Sting

CHRIS McSWIGGIN

SPORTS BEAT

Despite high expectations coming into this season, the OHS basketball team fell to Maine-Endwell in the first game of the Drago Tournament 65-56.
After winning the STAC league and posting a dominating record last season, they certainly didn’t expect this. OHS fell to the consolation game in the tournament against the Metropolitan School of the Bronx, however they did not play that game because of the death of the Bronx Met player Kalief William. The Jackets currently sit at 0-1 and were due in Norwich Thursday, Dec. 4, to take on the arch-rival.
Oneonta has a lot of tough games on their schedule including Norwich and Seton Catholic. They will have to get it turned around in order to have a chance of running the tables again. When you win, you always have a target on your back and Maine-Endwell capitalized on the challenge.
However, this game could be a wake up call for the Yellow Jackets ball club as it was humbled by a team it was expected to beat.

The Jackets need better play out of their wingmen and they need to tighten up their D, but the ball is in their court, literally. They are easily the most talented team in the region, however they are young.
They have only a few returning starters, but they have mostly players who have had to wait until now for their chance.
This year is an experimental year, a year to get established and to develop their young talent. Oneonta will rebound and will become the team that everyone is expecting them to be, however their slow start may delay them a little more than desired.
After their game against Norwich, OHS returns to Drago Gymnasium to face off against Owego, another game that they are expected to take.
However, with Maine-Endwell playing as well as they are and Norwich being a contender every year, OHS may have their title challenged. Their backs are against the wall. Will the Jackets sting or get stung?

Chris may be reached at chrism@hometownoneonta.com

Labels: 12-05-08, Basketball, Hometown Sports, Oneonta High School

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Hometown History

125 Years Ago

The mining interest in Oneonta has by no means died out, several more claims having been filed within the past week. A number of assays have been made with varying results – from three to thirty dollars and upward per ton, it is said. The matter is being quietly but thoroughly investigated by responsible parties who seem determined to find out if there is enough gold or silver in the hills to make mining profitable.
December 1883

100 Years Ago

R.J. Carson, a D&H trainman was instantly killed Saturday morning near the Main Street viaduct. Mr. Carson was at work with the freight house switching crew, which was placing cars on the siding just south of the viaduct. A car had just been switched into the siding, and while he was opening a knuckle coupling, the slack in the remainder of the train permitted him to be caught between two cars. His right hand was nearly severed and his left side badly crushed. Life was extinct when the rest of the crew reached him. Mr. Carson was 28 years old and is survived by his wife, one daughter, his parents and a brother and sister, all residing at Rensselaer.
December 1908

80 Years Ago

Mrs. Eva Nearing, wife of Hobart Nearing, has filed a claim against the city of Oneonta with city clerk R.O. Marshall in the sum of $5,000 alleged personal damages sustained in front of the General Cash store at 56 Church Street on the evening of October 13, at about 8 o’clock by reason of a defect in the sidewalk at that place. Mrs. Nearing’s attorney, James J. Byard, Jr., states that Mrs. Nearing has since been confined to her home as a result of the injuries sustained and is still under the care of physicians who have advised her that her injuries are of a permanent character. The claim will be presented at the next meeting of the Common Council. The city has in the past generally rejected claims of this sort.
December 1928

60 Years Ago

Judge Mort Cooper of Oxford inspired the members of the Older Rural Youth Group (ORYG) to develop hobbies as a release from the strain and stress of today’s world. As guest speaker at the group’s regular November meeting held last Tuesday at the Oneonta State Teachers College Judge Cooper explained how he had developed his own hobby of breeding and exhibiting fancy species of birds. The Judge had with him two beautiful specimens – one a buff Cochin chicken and the other a priest pigeon, a very rare species. He feels if everyone would cultivate some worthwhile hobby more people would enjoy life. During the business portion of the meeting ORYG president Paul Conley selected someone to study the purpose and background of the group and present a report at the next meeting.
December 1948

40 Years Ago

The official canvass in the recent election shows that former Alabama Governor George C. Wallace drew a surprising 1,091 votes for president in Otsego County, five percent of the votes cast for that office. President-elect Richard M. Nixon, the Republican Party candidate, received 13,543 votes, compared to 7,981 for Hubert H. Humphrey the Democratic Party candidate. In Otsego County there are two Republicans registered for every registered Democrat. Also receiving votes as candidates for president were comedian Dick Gregory who received 44 votes as candidate for the Freedom and Peace Party; Fred Halstead of the Socialist Worker Party received 28 votes; and nine votes went to Henning A. Bolmen of the Socialist Labor Party. Democrat U.S. Congressman Samuel S. Stratton was re-elected to represent the 35th district, posting a total of 15,428 votes to his Republican opponent’s 6,405.
December 1968

20 Years Ago

Oneonta Mayor David W. Brenner has proclaimed the week of August 18 to 24, 1989 as Vietnam Awareness Week in the City of Oneonta. The Mayor also appointed a commission on Vietnam Awareness Week. The purpose of the Commission is to augment and assist the efforts of Vietnam veterans of America Chapter 85 which has arranged to bring THE MOVING WALL to Oneonta. The MOVING WALL is a scale model of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. The model, a 250-foot replica, will be displayed in Neahwa Park during the week.

If you’re looking for a practical gift for yourself or a caregiver friend, consider something to read. “The 36-hour day by Nancy Mace and Peter Rabins (Warner Books) was one of the first published on Alzheimer’s disease targeted for families and is still referred to as “the caregiver’s Bible.” It clearly describes various problems such as wandering, repetitious behavior, and sleep disturbances, and gives practical tips on management. It also includes a useful section on medical and home nursing care. It makes a great stocking-stuffer for nurses and nurses’ aides who are caring for people with Alzheimer’s in home and nursing homes.
December 1988

10 Years Ago

Figures released by the Otsego County Board of Elections indicate that winning Democratic candidate Jeanie Scarzafava outspent Republican Brian D. Burns by 70 percent in the hotly contested race for county judge. According to disclosure statements by both candidates, Scarzafava spent $69,348 and Burns spent $40,795. In the final days of the campaign, Scarzafava lent her own campaign $30,600. The result was so close that the result was not declared until all the absentee ballots were counted. The final result was 9,188 to 8,831. Annual salary for the ten-year office is currently $99,000.
December 1998

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

Labels: 12-05-08, Columns, Hometown History

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Explore Opportunity, Beware of Pitfalls

Editor’s Note: This is the testimony state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, delivered Tuesday, Dec. 7, at the state Department of Environmental Conservation’s public hearing at SUNY Oneonta on its proposed General Environmental Impact Statement that will regulate natural-gas drilling in New York State.

The Marcellus Shale is one of the largest natural gas fields in North America and could provide a multi-billion dollar economic boost for the areas in and surrounding the Marcellus Shale formation. An economic boost we definitely need in our upstate region.
Skyrocketing fuel prices earlier this year have clearly demonstrated our need to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Reducing consumption, increasing our use of renewable energy and alternative fuels, and increasing exploration will all help to further this goal. Utilizing the tremendous energy resources in the Marcellus Shale formation could play a significant role in helping us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, it’s a domestic source, keeping energy dollars here at home.
That being said, I also believe that it is important that environmental protections are in place to ensure that our beautiful area does not suffer environmental harm as a result of natural gas exploration.
I commend DEC for instituting this process to develop a Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS) to address new issues and potential environmental impacts which may arise as a result of natural gas exploration and drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.
I have reviewed the draft scoping document and have generally found it to be quite comprehensive.
Some issues which I find to be particularly important and which I believe must be addressed in the Supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement include the following:
• It is imperative the composition of fracturing fluids be known and that any additives to such fluids are reviewed and determined to be safe;
• Independent on site testing and verification of fracturing fluid contents must be conducted;
• Fluid handling both at the site and during transport to and from the site must be accomplished in such a manner so as to ensure that there is no environmental harm;
• Safe fracturing fluid disposal options and methods must be identified and approved;
• If recycled or reused for any purpose, must be environmentally sound;
• Water withdrawals must be addressed and regulated to ensure that such withdrawals do not negatively impact other current or future uses of a water supply;
• Adequate protections must be in place to protect ground water and wells;
• On-site well inspections are needed to ensure compliance;
• Local government notification and opportunity for comment should be provided for at the earliest stages – local governments should be given notice of the filing of drilling permit applications within their jurisdictions when such applications are filed not after they are granted, local impacts are best judged by local offcials;
• DEC must initiate coordination with PSC to regulate all gas gathering lines leading to transmission lines to ensure sound environmental practices.
These are the major issues which my constituents have identified and shared with me relating to natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation.
In summary, the financial benefits associated with natural gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale could be enormous. In addition, the benefits from an energy supply perspective are also important. We must ensure, however, that the utmost consideration is given to protecting our environment as we move forward in capturing the benefits of this resource.
The draft scoping document, with additions I’ve mentionded, provide a good foundation for the consideration of the many issues relating to drilling in the Marcellus Shale and will help to ensure that our environment is protected while we move forward toward enjoying the benefits associated with this valuable natural resource.
Finally, I urge the DEC to carefully consider additional issues that others bring forward at this session.

Labels: 12-05-08, Hometown Views, Jim Seward

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Letters to the Editor

Sombrero? No! And That’s Just The Beginning

To the Editor:
“The world of research has gong berserk; too much paperwork.”
I read the “Dylan ‘Was Rocking’” story with interest and amusement. I truly appreciate someone taking the time to write about the show, but I think someone should have done a little fact-checking before putting it in print.
Let’s start with the caption under the photo. It was not a sombrero Mr. Dylan is wearing. Looks to me like a white wide-brimmed hat.
I will list the inaccuracies in the order in which they were written:
• The encores were “All Along The Watchtower” and “Blowin’ In The Wind.”
• Mr. Dylan’s band is not “new.” I guess it depends on what you consider “new.” Relatively speaking, this band IS newer than the group of musicians known The Band, his 1970s backing group.
Current band members:
1. Tony Garnier – Bass player, member of Bob Dylan’s backing band since June 10, 1989
2. Stu Kimball – Guitarist in Bob Dylan’s backing band from June 4, 2004
3. George Receli – Drummer in Bob Dylan’s band since December 2001
4. Denny Freeman – Guitarist in Bob Dylan’s backing band from March 7, 2005
5. Donny Herron – Member of Bob Dylan’s backing band from March 7, 2005
• Larry Campbell has not been with the Bob Dylan’s band since November 2004. What archive did this paragraph about Larry Campbell and “Love and Theft” come from?
• There was a two-song encore, not three.
Now, on another note, I had to shake my head at the “sounded more like himself” line. How can you not sound like yourself?
The beauty of Mr. Dylan’s music is that it is constantly alive with with a metamorphosis of growth and change. “He not busy being born is busy dying.”
DAWN SCHMIDT
Oneonta

Oneonta Proved What Community Is. Thanks

To the Editor:
Oneonta World of Learning (OWL) extends a heartfelt thank you to Paintfest volunteers and sponsors along with collaborators,
The ARC Otsego and the Upper Catskill Community Council for the Arts. Creating an event of this scope requires a significant commitment on the part of the community as a whole. We are indebted to our dedicated volunteers who donated personal time, energy and resources to this event.
We extend a special thank you to Oneonta Mayor John Nader for being a good sport by allowing us to paint him.
The ARC Otsego Oneonta Day Services in particular deserves a standing ovation. The fact that they allowed this event to take place in their facility is absolutely astounding, and what a true demonstration of community support it is.
In addition, we are grateful to The Turnpike and Oneonta/Cooperstown Pennysavers, Unadilla Laminated Products, The Country Club Automotive Group, Golden Artist Colors, The Daily Star, Hometown Oneonta & the Otsego-Delaware Dispatch, Stock Building Supply, L.P.Butts, Inc., Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, BJ’s Wholesale Club, Southside Mall, Resident Student Organization (RSO) at SUCO, The Red Dragon Bookstore, Hartwick College Chemistry Department, Oneonta Family YMCA Jumpstart Preschool, and The Oneonta Nursery School
ANDREA THIES
OWL cofounder
Oneonta

Labels: 12-05-08, Hometown Views, Letters to the Editor

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Mourn What’s Lost, But Pressing Threats Are Call To Action

The in-progress razing of D&H Shop #7, shabby and deteriorated as it may be – although that brick patterning is exceptional – has become the occasion for an outpouring of sentiment, hurt feelings about past losses, and determination to not let this kind of thing happen in the future.
People under 50 may have a hard time imagining what the over-50s are talking about. After all, the not-completely, but much-deserted, tract between outer Chestnut Street and I-88 doesn’t look like much today.
But within the lifetime of many Oneontans, it was a huge manifestation of the power of American industry – and industriousness – in a day when “things” were actually made here and – before the days of planned obsolescence – these “things” were actually repaired when they broke down.
Huge is not too strong a word. The roundhouse, which turned locomotives around so they could head back into the opposite direction, was the largest in the world. The modern understanding of the word “shop” is misleading: These “shops” were factories, staffed with engineers, mechanics, carpenters – you name it – who could tear down engines and railcars and build them up from scratch.
While the roundhouse is gone, Wayne Treffeisen, whose plumbing and HVAC enterprise, A. Treffeisen & Son, owns the west end of the tract, said an associated huge – that word again – underground wind tunnel still exists, where an equally large fan used to blow in cool air to allow workmen to tend to the steaming iron horses.
Today, gone a glimmer.
•
At worst, history is disillusioning. At best, it is heroic. Local history is inspiring to the degree it puts heroes in the neighborhood. If past generations, why not this one? Why not future ones? Why not indeed?
Dr. Joseph Fioravanti’s recent piece on Lt. Samuel Bertuzzi’s exploits in a Grumman Hellcat over the Pacific in World War II was powerful stuff, but so was an earlier interview where he spoke of the community’s early Italian-American residents, who moved up from Carbondale, Pa., and lived in boxcars, trying to get far enough ahead so their families could join them. That’s heroic, too.
Harvey Baker and the other leading businessmen who brought the railroads here, they were tough and visionary. So were the city fathers who navigated the city through “the golden” 1880s, when the population doubled. So were the educators who developed the Normal School into SUNY Oneonta, and those who lured Hartwick College onto the hill. More recently, the Soccer Hall of Fame – vision lives in these fair hills.
But the academy’s gone, and Old Main, and much else, although enough remains of old Oneonta that you can walk down Walnut or Elm or Wilber and summon up visions of the glory days.
•
Still, the threats are very real.
With 40-some homes converted into rental units in the past two years, there’s a crisis in the offing. Once neighborhoods go, they are near-impossible to get back. (Get off in York, Pa., next time you head down I-81, and take a look around. Rentals units sucked so much oxygen out of the air that civic life collapsed.)
Mayor John S. Nader’s call for a moratorium to allow Common Council to firm up the city’s code in light of the threat is right on the mark. In fact, the mayor would be justified, if anything, to be much more alarmist in his call for action. This is a looming emergency.
Likewise, Bob Brzozowski, Greater Oneonta Historical Society president, is on the mark in calling for the creation of a historic preservation law and attendant commission to protect citizens’ ability to tell their city’s story through its surviving architecture well into the future.
These are forward-thinking ideas that needed to be acted on before it’s too late. It can be too late, be assured, if firm action isn’t taken.

Labels: 12-05-08, Editorial, Hometown Views, Opinion

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Precious Few Chances Remain To See Carleigh Bettiol Dance

By LAURA COX

Carleigh Bettiol never had a doubt.
An incoming SUNY Oneonta freshman, she went to the first meeting of the student-run Terpsichorean Dance Company and has been performing, choreographing and helping run the organization – she is now vice president – ever since.
That would be no surprise to anyone who follows the local cultural scene. Now 22, the 2004 Oneonta High School graduate has been performing since age 8, when she played an orphan in Orpheus Theatre’s “Oliver.” (She began dancing at 4.)
This weekend offers one of the last chances for local fans to enjoy Carleigh’s talents: She is dancing in a number of pieces in “The 2008 Terpsie Awards,” the troupe’s takeoff on awards shows – complete with emcee and video introductions. She also choreographed two of the 18 dances.
The daughter of Patricia Bettiol and the late Eugene Bettiol Jr., Carleigh is in her senior year and final semester at SUNY Oneonta, and has already been apartment hunting in New York City.
She is majoring in business and economics, but said, “I don’t plan to use my business degree right away if I don’t have to. I love performing; I am absolutely dedicated to it and would like to spend the rest of my life doing it.”
Before she leaves town, Carleigh will also be dancing in the upcoming Orpheus Theatre production of “Crazy For You,” the Gershwin musical about a well-to-do 1930s playboy whose dream in life is to dance. (That will be at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 12 and 13, and 2 p.m. Sunday the 14th at SUNY Oneonta’s Goodrich Theatre. Tickets can be purchased through the Orpheus Box Office at 432-1800.)
Carleigh has a passion for dance and acting, from “Oliver” to, most recently, Orpheus’ “A Chorus Line,” playing Diana Morales.
“I have lost count of how many shows I have been in; I keep a list on my computer,” said Carleigh.
Carleigh first started dancing at the Susquehanna School of Ballet and more recently with Oneonta Tap Works, taught by Leslie Davidson. She keeps busy dancing, performing and acting, and she loves to travel.
In addition to moving to New York City, Carleigh plans to start auditioning after she graduates, “I have been focusing on school work right now. It takes a lot of time to go down for auditions so I am not focusing on that until I am done. “
A typical musical theater audition include standing in lines wrapped around the block, then going in front of judges in groups or alone, handing in a picture and resume, singing 16 bars of music, saying thank you and then waiting to hear back.
“It is a lot of waiting to get to that 16 bars of singing,” exclaimed Carleigh.
Carleigh’s dream job is to play any part in “Wicked” – on Broadway.

Labels: 12-05-08, Carleigh Bettiol, Front Page

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D&H Shop #7 Razing Revives Calls For City Landmark Law

Nader Offers Zoning Law Adjustments

By JIM KEVLIN

The destruction of one of the last reminders of Oneonta’s mighty railyard has prompted Bob Brzozowski, Greater Oneonta Historical Society president, to raise the issue anew about the need for a city landmarks ordinance.
“It’s looking more and more like there’s going to be almost nothing left of the old railyards,” Brzozowski said of CP Rail’s ongoing demolition of D&H Shop #7.
Local historians believe Shop #7 is one of the two original buildings erected in the months after the Delaware & Hudson Railroad’s decision in 1870 to make Oneonta the prime location of its repair and maintenance facilities.
Brzozowski planned to express his support for a local landmarks law at the monthly GOHS board meeting, and also approached Mayor John S. Nader to express his concern that City Hall had been insufficiently vigilant in approving demolition of the few remaining relics of the city’s glory days.
“Unfortunately,” he said, “from the city’s perspective, the building has been let go for too long to be saved.”
Nader confirmed Brzozowski had approached him about the matter, and the mayor told him he would support adding protective language in the regular zoning code, which is due for revision during an eight-month moratorium the mayor proposed to Common Council Tuesday, Dec. 2. (See related story, Page 14)
The mayor said the city Planning Commission had taken extra steps to ensure all specifications of a demolition permit were met. But he said the building had deteriorated to the point it had been condemned.
For his part, the GOHS president said historical society members became concerned anew last year when the oldest stone house in town – it had belonged to an early family, the Andrewses, and had been mentioned in city father Harvey Baker’s papers – was demolished before anyone had a chance to raise any concerns.
The River Street building, last used as a bar, had been sided and no one was aware the original structure was underneath.
Earlier, he said, a notable mansion at Elm and Walnut streets had been razed before anyone could do anything about it.
As a result of these concerns, Brzozowski said, he invited a staffer from the state Historic Preservation Office, Julian Adams, to town last May.
Adams detailed the benefits of a community becoming a Certified Local Government, a state and federal program that paves the way for localities to establish their own historic preservation commissions and adopt regulations that could slow or prohibit destruction of historic structures.
The program, Adams said in an interview, “encourages and incentive-ises” communities to adopt historic-preservation ordinances, and almost 70 municipalities in New York State – Cobleskill among them; Sharon Springs and Cooperstown soon – have joined the program since it was introduced in 1980.
As Adams explained it, Common Council would vote to establish a historic preservation commission, populated with qualified people – an architect, a local historian and so on – who would “locate, designate and protect historic resources in a community.”
Anyone wanting to do “more than routine maintenance” on any building that had been designated historic or significant would have to seek a “certificate of appropriateness” from the commission.
Brzozowski said 20-some people, including Aldermen Kevin Hodne and Liz Shannon, attended the session.

Labels: 12-05-08, D and H, Front Page, Greater Oneonta Historical Society

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City of the Hills

DECEMBER GRADS: The SUNY Oneonta December
Candidate Recognition Ceremony is at 11 a.m. Sunday, Dec. 7, in the Dewar Arena of the Alumni Field House to recognize students completing requirements for graduation this semester.

BOOK SIGNING: Hartwick College professor Tom Travisano, whose latest book, “Moments In Air,” has won national acclaim, will read from the book at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 5, at the Green Toad Bookstore at 198 Main. A book signing will follow. Travisano edited the complete correspondence of
poets Robert Lowell and Elizabeth Bishop.

FIRST RESIDENTS: Plains at Parish Homestead welcomed its first community members this week: retired insurance man and community leader Gordon B. Roberts and his wife Alyce. Roberts worked for more than a decade to see the active-adult living community come to pass.

WEDDING VOWS: Howe Cavern up I-88 in Cobleskill passed a milestone Nov. 29, when Karen Rowland and Dennis Dowen of Corinth became the 600th couple married underground there.

GOATS: Through the holiday season, a $60 contribution to the Oneonta-based Ninash Foundation will provide the gift of a milk-producing goat to one of India’s poorest families in the Village of Dundlod. For details, visit www.ninash.org.

MAIN VIEW: The winter exhibit at Main View Gallery, “On the Light Side,” will open with a public reception 5-7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12 at 73 Main St. It features multiple artists who explore the relationship between light and dark.

Labels: 12-05-08, City of the Hills, Front Page

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Team Studies How To Keep Minority Women In School

Dr. Karen Joest of SUNY Oneonta’s Human Ecology Department is project adviser for a $4,200 American Association of University Women grant to study lowering barriers to low-income and minority women to attend rural four-year colleges.
Dr. Caridad Souza-Watkins of the Africana and Latino Studies Department will serve as project co-adviser.
Ten minority students are participating: Amanda Vasquez, Ronmecka McMaster, Heather Adriano, Guillermo Reyes,
Kasey Scheiner, Sara Gaudioso, Tenika Isaacs-Reynolds, Chelsie Steinbacher, Matt Butler and Dania Valdes.
Faculty members on the team include Dale Capristo, student development associate; Rebecca Harrington, health educator; Robin Nussbaum, coordinator of the Gender and Sexuality
Resource Center, and David Geasey, director of creative media services.

PROMOTING LITERACY:
Distinguished Teaching Professor Ashok K. Malhotra of SUNY Oneonta’s Philosophy Department has been named a recipient of the 2008 Gullands Excellence Award for promoting literacy among the underprivileged children of India. The Association of Non-Resident Indians presented him with the award at its annual meeting in September in London.

Gullands of Maidstone, a law firm in England, created the award to celebrate extraordinary achievements by non-resident Indians in support of their homeland.
Dr. Malhotra established four Indo-International Schools through the Ninash Foundation. The schools now serve more than 750 of India’s poorest children.

TOP PRODUCER: Winners of Mang Insurance Agency’s 2008 employee awards included Bob Carey, who works out of Mang’s Oneonta office. Carey was recognized as a top producer in the benefits division. He has been in the insurance business for more than 10 years specializing in employee benefits.

ELEVATED: State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, is new president of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators. NCOIL is a bipartisan organization of state legislators whose main area of public policy interest is insurance legislation and regulation.

Labels: 12-05-08, Hometown People

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Mayor Proposes Moratorium Until Zoning Code Is Revised

By LAURA COX

Mayor John S. Nader has proposed a moratorium that would block any more buildings in the city from being converted into apartments for at least eight months, to allow the city to get its regulatory house in order.
Discussed at its Tuesday, Dec. 2, meeting, Common Council appeared to favor the initiative, which would allow them to implement recommendations of a comprehensive master plan, completed two years ago, to turn around the deterioration of housing stock.
In particular, Alderman Kevin Hodne expressed a need for a proper balance between single-family homes and rentals to maintain the character and safety of the neighborhoods.
If a final draft is in the hands of aldermen by Tuesday, Dec. 9, a public hearing would be held on Tuesday, Dec. 23. As soon as it is adopted, the moratorium would take effect immediately upon being filed with the New York secretary of state.
Specifically, the moratorium would apply to “certificates of substantial compliance,” issued by the city’s Code Enforcement Office before any rental property can be operated.
The moratorium comes in response to recent increases in the number of Oneonta houses being developed into rental properties – 35 to 40 converted between 2007 and 2008 – as well as the update on the number of rental properties operating without the required certificates.
The purpose of the moratorium is to allow Common Council time to take a closer look at the current zoning codes in a manner in which they can make careful and educated decisions consistent with the 2007 Comprehensive Plan.
“This provides the opportunity to freeze activity,” said City Attorney David Merzig, “to give the legislative body the opportunity to look at everything in a way that allows for feasible consideration instead of a in a haphazard way.”
The Local Law draft reads under Section 1. Purpose, “The proliferation of transient and other rental properties within the City may have dramatic and long-term impacts on the public health and safety, quality of life, environment, natural resources, public infrastructure, and revenue base of the City. In addition, land use regulation regarding rental properties may have other significant consequences including a broad effect on the economic value of adjoining lands.
Mayor Nader indicated he spoke with his counterparts at the state Conference of Mayors, as well as many other officials regarding the process of reviewing and revising a zoning ordinance. All indicated the process was long and time consuming, citing the example of the Village of Geneseo: Its chapter on zoning ran 130 pages.
The Mayor also indicated those he contacted made use of a professional consultant in working through this process in their own municipalities.
The moratorium met criticism from Alderman Michael Lynch Jr., who posed questions about the enforcement of the current code under the moratorium and asked if the moratorium allowed for better enforcement against individuals operating new rentals without a Certificate of Substantial Compliance during the 8 month period.
During the meeting the council also moved to approve the special use permits for 3 sororities and 2 fraternities located on various streets in Oneonta.
The permits were approved with specific conditions including regular safety inspections, keeping a current Certificate of Substantial Compliance, participation in an educational session with the Oneonta Police Department and the Oneonta Fire Department and the issuance of a letter to all neighbors including a list of organizational officers, resident advisor and/or college liaison and their phone numbers.

Labels: 12-05-08, Hometown Briefs

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WEEKEND’S BEST BETS

Tree Festival Will Light Up Soccer’s HoF

The National Soccer Hall of Fame will be adorned with beautiful trees from Friday, Dec. 5, to Sunday, Dec. 14 at the annual Festival of Trees.
The festival kicks off with a gala at 7 p.m., Friday, including a performance by the Fokine Ballet, music, dancing and more. It only costs $10 to attend, so head over and check it out. If you can’t make it, you have the rest of the week to stop by for some of their other special performances and a chance to win a tree.
Bring a non-perishable food item donation on Saturday, Dec. 6.
•
Take a drive to Milford and enjoy a ride on a Christmas Train. Trains leave the Milford Depot at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, and 2 p.m. the following day. Enjoy the decorated train, depot, and light displays.
Santa can be found making his way through some of these trains and will arrive at the Depot in style at 5 p.m. on Sunday and will travel up the street for a small celebration at the Milford Historical Association.
•
Don’t miss Saturday night’s performance by the Catskill Choral Society! Starting at 7:30 p.m. the Choral Society presents “Choral Songs of the Season,” featuring music celebrating the coming of winter, Chanukah, and Christmas. The performance will be at Saint Mary’s Church, 39 Walnut St. in Oneonta. Visit www.catskillchoralsociety.org or call 431- 6060 for more information. Also 2 p.m. Sunday.
•
Take the kids to a movie on Saturday morning. “Space Chimps” is showing at 10 a.m. for free at the Oneonta Theatre, sponsored by Oneonta Dance Company.

Labels: 12-05-08, City of the Hills, weekend's best bets

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CHRISTMAS TREAT FROM CP RAIL

Labels: 12-05-08, Front Page, Holiday Train, Images

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Mac’s Raffle Helping Needy For 15 Years

The annual Christmas Raffle hosted by Mac’s Barbershop – to help a needy family or someone who is terminally ill – is marking its 15th year, and the benefactor behind it remains anonymous.
“People could care less if they win anything at the raffle, they do it for the families,” said the mysterious organizer, who wants to keep it that way yet again. “One year, I got someone who won $1,000 of stuff to trade it all in for a box of cigars so the money could keep coming in for the cause.
“They may not win, but they win,” said this person, who for the past seven years has teamed up with Catskill Hospice & Palliative Care, whose participation sends a family coping with a dying loved one to go to Disney World.
So at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, make your way to the Oneonta Moose Club for what’s become a local tradition.
The items up for raffle come from a large variety of donors and sources. This year will include fishing gear, big screen TV’s, lawn mowers, $1,200 in food, iPods, DVDs, a pool table and more. Tickets can cost anywhere from $1 to $10 depending on the specific raffle category.
“More than anything we want to thank all the people who donate to and participate in the Christmas Raffle. Everyone is such as great help,“ said the organizer.
At its beginning the raffle took place at Milly’s Tavern in West Oneonta, but the venue was too small, even for the first raffle, as people lined up into the street.
Next the raffle moved to the 6th Ward Athletic Club, where it soon out grew its confines. The annual raffle finally found home at the Moose, which can accommodate 300 guests for a barbeque dinner as well as the fun of the raffle.
Donations can be dropped off at Mac’s Barbershop at 9 Oneida St.

Labels: 12-05-08, Front Page, Mac's, Oneonta Moose Club

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Big Read ’09 To Focus On ‘Tom Sawyer’

‘TOM!” No answer.
“What’s gone with that boy, I wonder? You TOM!”
OK, OK, Aunt Polly.
Here’s the story.
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer,” the novel of a wise, lively and mischievous boy and his misadventures in a country town is about to get new attention on Otesgo, Delaware and Chenango counties.
The Foothills Performing Arts Center has announced the National Endowment on the Arts has chosen the Mark Twain classic as the focus of The Big Read 2009.
This year, Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird” was the subject of readings, various contests and dramatic performances in each of the county courthouses last April through June.
“In rereading ‘Tom Sawyer,’ I found I had forgotten just about everything, except the fence whitewashing sequence, and was astounded that I couldn’t put it down,” said Sam Goodyear, who is again coordination The Read for Foothills.
He was remined of the “manysplendid elements: the storytelling, the observations of human nature, the fun, the humor, the philosophy, the portraits, the adventure, the information, the suspense, the language.”
Goodyear was inspired to make a pilgrimage to Quarry Farm in Elmira, where Twain wrote “Tom Sawyer,” “Huckleberry Finn,” “Connecticut Yankee” and other of his most famous works.
Anyone interested in participating should call Sam at Foothills, 431-2080.

Labels: 12-05-08, Big Read, Front Page, Mark Twain

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