DOWN IN THE
BUNKER
ROCKIE’S REFUGE MAY BE HOME OF FUTURE EMPLOYER/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA E!
E FR Volume 6, No. 40
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, June 27, 2014
Complimentary
Attention: OHS Pool Needs Help!
Members of the YMCA Orcas swim team, Jack Gustafson and Kieran Jennings, write down fundraising ideas during a rally Tuesday, June 24, to help raise $400,000 to renovate the OHS pool.
Alumni, Family Y Hope To Raise $400,000 For Community Facility
S
By LIBBY CUDMORE
end donations to repair OHS swimming pool to: City School District, 31 Center St., Oneonta, NY 13820. Write “CFSCNY” in the memo line.
D
A-duh … DA-duh … DA-duh-DAduh-DA-du-DA-duh. Beneath the placid surface of the OHS swimming pool lies something sinister. “All the mechanical
systems are in tough shape,” said David Rowley, former interim school superinten-
dent. “The vents, the filter, the pumps, the main drain line, the piping system and the timer for swim meets.” The pool, which was built for the 1979-80 school year, used to be part of the physed curriculum and site of lifeguard training programs. Please See POOL, A7
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
NORTHERN EAGLE COMPLETES CIRCLE
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Conductor Rene Prins directs the Oneonta Community Concert Band in “Die Dorfmusikanten (The Village Musicians)” by Rudolph Bodingbauer at the Good Ol’ Summertime Concert Sunday, June 22, in Wilber Park.
Charter Study Group Seeks Public Input
T
he commission reviewing the city charter in the wake of pioneering City Manager Mike Long’s resignation will seek public input at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 2, at a meeting in Common Council Chambers at City Hall. Chaired by Laurie Zimniewicz and consisting of members of the commission that developed the charter and took it to voters in 2011, welcomes any concerns or suggestions citizens may have. Plans are to hire Long’s replacement by fall. GLORIOUS DAY: OHS’
Class of 2014 will graduate at 11 a.m. Saturday, June 28, in Belden Auditorium. NEW PLAYGROUND: The ribbon cutting/dedication of the Chief Russo Playground will be at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 2, on Scramling Avenue, part of the Family Y Junior Firefighter Program’s graduation. ‘HAIR’ HERE: Orpheus Theatre’s auditions for “Hair,” the ‘60s rock musical, are at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, July 1 and 2, at St. Mary’s Parish Center, Walnut and Elm.
Harvesters Turn County Into Hops Farming Hub By JIM KEVLIN
Munson Clan Going Strong For 50 Years
MILFORD
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3 Generations Flouted Fire, Recession, More By LIBBY CUDMORE
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unson’s Building Supplies has come a long way since the days of three employees, one truck and no customers. On Friday, June 20, the family-owned store celebrated 50 years as one of Oneonta’s premier building supplies store, with loyal customers including Unique Builders and Orpheus Theater. Six-hundred people stopped by for food, music by Party of Two, door prizes and a chance to congratulate the family on a half-century of success. So loyal are their customPlease See MUNSONS, A6
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Three generations of Munsons gathered for the store’s 50th anniversary on Friday, June 20. From left, Michael Munson, Allison Munson, Steve Munson, patriarch Fred Munson – who holds a portrait of himself and wife Audrey – and Shirley and Bob Goble.
At Plains, 2 Librarians Turn Chaos Into Order
Gelbsman May Succeed Schwerd On IDA Board By JIM KEVLIN
By LIBBY CUDMORE
Y
ou can take the librarian out of the library, but you can’t take the library out of the librarian. When Ely Roll arrived at the Plains at Parish Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Homestead from Long Island in 2010, she found Janice Vartuli, left, and Ely Roll in the library in disarray. “There were books piled Plains at Parish Homestead Please See LIBRARY, A3 the library they refurbished.
wo flatbeds from Harbor Freight Transport, Port Newark, N.J., arrived at the Cooperstown Brewing Co. here shortly before noon Monday, June 23, with the final pieces of the foundation needed to revive the crop that created Otsego County’s greatest period of prosperity. Hops, that is. The final pieces are two refurbished Wolf Harvesters, purchased in April and imported from Poland for Hager’s Hops, owned by Anheuser-Busch heir Lou Hager Jr. of Cooperstown and affiliated with his Oneonta distributorship, Northern Eagle Beverage. “This is exactly what farmers here have to have,” Please See HOPS, A7
G
iven a colleague’s legal troubles, county Rep. Craig Gelbsman, ROneonta, is in line for appointment as liaison to the county IDA, the Industrial Development Agency spearheading redeGelbsman velopment of Pony Farm Industrial Park. He would replace county Rep. Betty Anne Schwerd, Please See GELBSMAN, A6
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD