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INSIDE: SPECIALIST DIRECTORY/B5
OTSEGO.life
THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MARCH 13-14, 2014
PAGE B-1 Bill Buelow, below, proprietor of the Victorian-style Worcester White House Inn, believes if every resident committed to spending just $5 a month more downtown, the business district would stabilize.
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Charles and Marilyn Dufresne – she is town historian – depart their Queen Anne cottage on Main Street. Worcester’s well-maintained housing stock is much remarked upon.
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HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO
BEST BETS
When he was high school principal, Worcester Superintendent of Schools Bill Diamond devised the “Building Bridges” program to help bring the community back together.
HITHER
ORCESTER? Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brett Ridge will emcee the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s annual cabaret show.
ONCERNED CITIZENS OF THIS TOWN OF 2,200, AS MANY AS 30 AND 40 AT TIME, HAVE BEEN DEBATING THEIR COMMUNITY’S FUTURE SINCE BILL VADJA CLOSED THE DOWNTOWN WORCESTER MARKET LAST MONTH. BUT WHILE THEY FACE SIMILAR CHALLENGES TO THOSE IN MANY OTSEGO COUNTY TOWNS, THEY ARE FINDING THEIR BELOVED WORCESTER ALSO HAS UNIQUE ASSETS. By JIM KEVLIN
WORCESTER
Beekman Boys Emcee Fabulous CSO Cabaret
A
mazing Race” winners and Beekman Boys Josh KilmerPurcell and Brett Ridge emcee the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s annual cabaret concert, featuring klezmer group Big Galut(e). At intermission, cast a vote for Barbara Ann Heegan, Bob Wood or Gary Laing to guest-conduct “Stars and Stripes Forever” at the end of the show. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15, Alumni Field House, SUNY Oneonta. Info, tickets, www.catskillsymphony.net.
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t was the small-town equivalent of a natural ecosystem. Mornings in the 1950s, the farmers would start arriving in their pickup trucks to unload fresh raw milk at the Worcester Creamery on Railroad Avenue. Supervisor Marilyn Dufresne, now the town historian, would Addesso watch them arrive from her perch at the imposing brick-andstone Bank of Worcester, now a Citizens Bank branch, which opened at 8 a.m. Soon, young Marilyn would be cashing their milk checks. Usually, the farmers would then go next door for provisions at “the Grange store,” as the recently closed Worcester Market was known for decades. They might stop by the hardware store, or drug store, or any one of the stores that supplied all the needs of rural life, before heading back to their milkers. And the daily cycle would begin again. It wasn’t to last. In that postCustomer Bob Meiser departs war era, “people fell in love with the Citizens Bank branch, where farmers would cash their cars,” Marilyn’s husband, their milk check daily when Charles, ruminated the other day Marilyn Dufresne worked as the couple reflected on their there, then shop next door at beloved town’s history. And the “the Grange store.” Please See TOWN, B2
TALENT TONIGHT: See your friends and neighbors show off their stuff at the “Coop’s Got Talent” showcases. 6:30-9 p.m. Friday, March 14, CCS Auditorium, 39 Linden Ave., Cooperstown. Info, Jan Kerr, (607) 547-9365. LADY SINGS THE BLUES: Dana La Croix kicks off her spring tour. 9 p.m. Friday, March 14, B-Side Ballroom, 1 Clinton Plaza, Oneonta. Info, www. bsideballroom.com ST. PADDY’S SUPPER: Irish dancers and corned beef & cabbage at the Annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner of the Knights of Columbus of Blessed Kateri Tekawitha Council #10968. Corned beef & cabbage dinner. All welcome, no charge, free will donations accepted. 47 p.m. Saturday, March 15, St. Mary’s Parish Center, 31 Elm St., Cooperstown.
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Jim Kevlin/
Rob Norton, who operates Norton Hardware with dad Kevin and brothers Kevin Jr. and Ike, likes the small-town feel: He knows his customers and they know him.
MUSIC FOR ALL: March Musical Madness! OWL and Hartwick College Department of Music team up for a morning of hands-on music fun and a concert presented by Hartwick College performing ensembles. 10 a.m. Saturday, March 15, The Owl’s Nest, 277 Main St., Oneonta. Info, oneontaworldoflearning.org.
SUNY Student Finds Cleaner Way To Melt Winter’s Ice By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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hile his fellow SUNY students were all sleeping in on Saturday morning, March 1, sophomore En-
vironmental Studies major Elliot Diaz may have been changing how Oneonta cleans up after a snowstorm. “Professor Paul Lord” of Pierstown “wanted his class to attend the Sustainability Summit,” said Diaz. “I was in the water management group, and he asked me to speak up about a project I did.”
The project, an outcome of his Environmental Studies class, challenged students to discuss a local environmental issue. “My group decided to present on salt’s effect on ecosystem runoff,” said Diaz. During his research, he found that SUNY Oneonta was using Fire Rocks, a treated, Please See SALT, B4
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MEMORIAL MARCH: 3K walk in memory of Daniel Banks, who was killed in a tragic farm accident. $20 adults, $10 kids. 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 15, Westford Fire Dept., 1812 Cty. Hwy. 34, Westford. Info, registration, westford.march@gmail.com.
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