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OTSEGO.life PAGE B-1
THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MARCH 28-29, 2013
WEEKEND’S
The old cash register, a menagerie of stuffed animals and the old aluminum sign are among items for sale.
Remember
Stevens’ Moosehead?
BEST BETS
Many Boyhood Dreams On Block As Hesse Auctions Store’s History By LIBBY CUDMORE OTEGO
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Ian Austin/
AllOTSEGO.life
At his galleries in Otego, auctioneer Buzz Hesse examines the moose head that fascinated generates of Oneonta boys in the former Stevens Hardware, formerly the downtown’s oldest store.
uzz Hesse will probably want a little more for the birch-bark canoe than John Stevens paid for it in the 1930s. “He bought it from an Algonquin Indian in Quebec for a dollar a foot and a carton of Pall Mall cigarettes,� said Hesse, who will put the canoe – and the rest of a range IF YOU GO of artifacts from Stevens Hardware – up on the (AND WHY WOULDN’T auction block YOU?): 4:30 at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April p.m. Thurs4, at his Hesse day, April 4, Hesse Galler- Galleries, 385 ies, 350 Main Main St., Otego. John Stevens St., Otego. was the third generation to operate Stevens Hardware (and sports equipment) at 153 Main St. – the oldest store in downtown Oneonta – until a few weeks before his death last Nov. 20. Generations of boys remember going there with their dads and marveling at the stuffed moose head and other marvels of taxidermy and outdoor lore. Stevens started working at the store in 1935. During World War II, he joined the Army Air Corps and was shot down during a bomber raid into Germany; he Dueling pistols and other oddiescaped into Switzerland, where ties (top photo), and an original birch-bark canoe (above) must he was interred. Returning to Please See STEVENS, B3 go.
Congratulations, Dad. You Had Quite A Career Editor’s Note: Son Chad drafted this appreciation to surprise his dad, Mike Welch, who was due back from a post-retirement vacation this week after 40 years serving generations of Cooperstown-area car buyers.
salesman and posed the idea of him selling cars at his Ford dealership on Chestnut Street. Mike was skeptical at first. He had invested his time and money getting through barber school, and he didn’t know anything about selling cars. Ed assured him he had all the tools he needed to succeed at the job: He By CHAD WELCH was hard working, polite, and he knew how to talk to customers. This is how it came to be that SmithCOOPERSTOWN Cooperstown hired Michael Welch in February 1973. At that time, there were four newichael Welch spent his first few years car dealers in the Village of Cooperstown, all in Cooperstown as a barber on Main within a mile stretch of Chestnut Street and Street. There he met Edward C. Smith, owner of Smith-Cooperstown, Inc., a OTSEGO.life file photo where it emptied into Route 28. Soon after joining the dealership, a gas customer of the shop. Mike Welch poses with his Smithshortage led to rationing at the fuel stations, Over the years and haircuts that followed, Cooperstown team in January 2012. Son Chad is third from right. Please See DAD, B2 Mr. Smith told Mike he would be a good car
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An Easter hunter hops across the snowy fields to gather goodies at Hyde Hall’s 2012 Easter Egg Hunt.
Easter Eggs To Dot Lawn At Hyde Hall
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yde Hall’s annual Easter Egg hunt returns with basket raffles, goody bags, balloons and fun for all! 10 a.m.-noon Saturday, March 30. Hyde Hall, 267 Glimmerglass State Park, Cooperstown. Info, Jonathan Maney, (607) 547SWING DANCE: First Night and LEAF’s monthly swing dance with Blues Maneuver. $10 admission includes free dance lesson. 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 29. The Oneonta Theatre, 47 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, Carol Mandigo, (607) 432-0090. MORE EASTER: Cooperstown’s Easter Parade is at noon Saturday, in Lakefront Park, followed by a tea party at the Tunnicliff Inn. And Sunday, a Sunrise service is planned at 7 p.m. in Lakefront Park. SEASON OPENS: The season opens Saturday, March 30, for The Fenimore and Farmers’ museums, West Lake Road, Cooperstown. LAST SYRUP: Celebrate Easter with the last of the Farmer’s Museum “Sugaring Off Sundays� pancake breakfasts. $9 adults, $5 under 13, under 6 free. 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, March 31.
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STEP BACK IN TIME Opening for the season April 2nd
See Rusty, one of our new bull calves.
Visit our website for details on all programs and events. You can even download our new Spring Calendar!
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