Ho 07 11 14 full

Star-Spangled Celebration!

PHOTOS OF ONEONTA’S HOMETOWN FOURTH OF JULY PARTY/B1-7

HOMETOWN ONEONTA E!

E FR Volume 6, No. 42

City of The Hills

& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch Complimentary

Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, July 11, 2014

Hanft Takes IDA Helm County Or Not, Ec-Dev Will Advance, He Says

Hartwick To Wall Street, Back To Otsego County

By JIM KEVLIN

By JIM KEVLIN

L Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

OPD Sgt. Chris Witzenburg directs traffic on the corner of Main and Ford in downtown Oneonta on Monday, July 7, after a brief but powerful storm blew, through the city, knocking out power from Tino’s Pizzeria to City Hall and down South Main to Market.

ack of participation by Otsego County’s government won’t slow the “single point of contact” effort to bring business and jobs here.

That’s the message that Bob Hanft, Pierstown, elected chairman of the Otsego County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) Wednesday, June 25, delivered during an Independence Day interview.

“It’s not going to affect us,” Hanft, former Please See HANFT, A7

W

hen Bob Hanft was a Hartwick College senior in 1968-69, he met a fetching freshman, his future wife

Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN OEONTA

Bob Hanft, new IDA chair, right, with the IDA executive team, President Sandy Mathes, center, and COO Elizabeth Horvath.

ROCKIN’ DOCS

Otsego Called Disaster Area After Flooding

F

ederal disaster aid will be available to Otsego, Delaware and nine other counties as a result of severe storms that hit Upstate May 13-22.

The Department of Homeland Security announced the determination Monday, July 7. The decision will make money available on a costsharing basis to local governments and non-profits.

INVASIVES HUNT: An OCCA EcoTeam three-mile canoe paddle is Saturday, July 26, for youngsters age 10-16 to hunt for invasives species in the Susquehanna.

Call 547-4488.

LIVESTOCK SHOW: Young farmers from Otsego and nine other counties competed in the Junior Livestock show in Cooperstown this week. See results at: WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM

75-Mile Bike Ride In Works For 75th Induction Birthday Rowinski Plans City Tribute To HoF

By LIBBY CUDMORE

T

LAST LINK: Harry F. Sinstack, 91, one of the last surviving local veterans of the D-Day landings, died on the Fourth of July in Johnson City/DETAILS, B6 GET TOGETHER: A young professionals mixer is planned at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 16, at the Oneonta Outlaws game, sponsored by Citizen Voices, the Outlaws and GO-EDC.

Patricia.

A memorable courtship followed, much of it in Cooperstown: Friday excursions to “The Pit,” the Tunnicliff Inn’s basement hot-spot, sunny weekend trips to Glimmerglass State Park, the spring formal of Tau Kappa Epsilon, Bob’s Please See CAREER, A7

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Gradient plays Guns N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child of Mine” Saturday, July 5, at the Hometown Fourth of July’s Battle of the Bands in Oneonta. In top photo, band members are Kevin Harrington, Jessica Carlson, Toby Wilcox, Jay Szwejbka and Matt Brown, all Bassett medical personnel.

This Band KNOWS: Music Best Medicine

O

By LIBBY CUDMORE

ne day a week, Dr. Jessica Carlson gets to trade in her surgical scrubs for rhinestone-studded leggings and spike heels.

No, she’s not going to a fancy party or the hottest nightclub – she’s going to rock.

Carlson, a fourth-year resident in sur-

gery, is the lead singer of Gradient, a rock ’n’ roll cover band made up of rockin’ docs from Bassett Hospital. “Music is the best medicine,” said Robbie Graham, bassist and addiction and recovery specialist.

The band formed in 2013 when respiratory therapist and guitarist Kevin Harrington heard Bassett was trying to put together a “one-off” band for a company Please See BAND, A3

here are plenty of ways to celebrate the Baseball Hall of Fame’s 75th anniversary Induction – concerts, games and new exhibits and old memories.

But for county Rep. Linda Rowinski, D-Oneonta, a bike trip is the perfect way to celebrate.

“The Hall of Fame wanted a year-long celebration of community involvement,” she said. “Downtown Oneonta has started to become a popular destination for mountain biking, and the ball just went off – a 75-mile bike ride for the 75th anniversary!”

The first Bike Otsego 2014 event will be Saturday, Sept. 20, starting and endPlease See BIKES, A6

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

County Rep. Linda Rowinski, D-Oneonta, is training for a 75-mile bike ride in September to mark the Hall’s 75th anniversary.

This Summer, 75 Sandwiches Made Daily For Hungry Kids

By LIBBY CUDMORE

I

t doesn’t matter if you’re from Oneonta or elsewhere, if your family is rich or poor, if you’re seven or 17 – if a kid is hungry, Catholic Charities and the First United Presbyterian

TO VOLUNTEER: Call Nadine Stenson, 432-6680, to sign up for training.

Church will have lunch ready.

“We realized there was no summer feeding program in Please See HUNGRY, A3

HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

A-2 HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Kuhn Succeeds CANO Leader Raina Damico

HOMETOWN People

1st Swart-Wilcox ‘Summer Sunday’ Commemorates Lois Herrick

‘I

f Lois was here, Postcards, some from she’d be able to Carney’s collection and tell us,” retired some from Mrs. Herrick’s, aina Damico, GilSUNY Oneonta professor that elicited the most combertsville, announced and emphemera enthusimentary included: her resignation as ast John Carney remarked • Broad Street, eliminated CANO board president on several times this during the Urban ReWednesday, July 2 at the arts afternoon during his newal of the 1960s, organization’s discussion of local which connected the annual meetpostcards during D&H station (now ing.

“Postcards from a Stella Luna) with She will be Friend: A Tribute Main Street, and succeeded by to Lois Herrick,” catered to the proLeeAnn Kuhn. this afternoon at clivities of railroad Damico the Swart-Wilcox workers in town for Damico assumed the House. the night. Because presidency of Lois Herrick of the “diversions” Close to 50 the then-UCCCA (the Upper wellwishers packed there, Kevin HerCatskill Community Counthe downstairs of Oneonta’s rick reported, when he was cil for the Arts) in January oldest surviving home, caus- growing up his mother cau2012, succeeding Linda ing her son, Kevin Herrick, tioned him to stay away.

MacKenzie-Ranc. the auctioneer, to remark, • The men’s ward at Fox Under her leadership, the “It’s a great tribute to my Hospital. “It’s an unusual organization headquartered mother.” Mrs. Herrick, a postcard,” said Carney, as in the Wilber Mansion on Philadelphia native who it showed the building’s Ford Avenue when through moved to Oneonta in 1960 interior and nurses in their a process that led to a name and taught at Morris for 32 highly starched uniforms. change to CANO, the Com- years, passed away April 22. “If it’s unusual, it probably munity Arts Network of Helen Rees, a leader of was from Lois,” he said.

Oneonta. the Friends of the Swart• “The Well,” the open “Now its time to pursue Wilcox House, recalled Mrs. central staircase at the formore of what I really love as Herrick’s affection for her mer Oneonta High School an artist,” she told the board adopted community: Her li- on Academy Street. Rees in her resignation letter. cense plate – “ONEONTA” recalled that when she first – said it all. taught there, another first-

R

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Lois Herrick’s son, Kevin, thanks attendees at a tribute to his mother Sunday, July 6, at the Swart-Wilcox House. Seated at left is John Carney, who presented a slide show that included some of Mrs. Herrick’s postcard collection. year teacher, when an OHS senior, had thrown a firecracker down the well and been expelled with only a few weeks to go. Still, he was brought back, probably because he knew in advance what mischief current students might get into.

for your special day

Weddings

Julian Wilcox, Walton, plays the 1870s Pack-

ard Parlor Pump organ that Doris and Bill Martin, Otego, recently donated to the Swart-Wilcox House. In the background are Frank Mowers, left, of Worcester, and Randall Irving Mowers, Stamford, who are related to a Mrs. Mowers of Stamford, the organ’s original owner.

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Milford’s Liza G. Hendricks Receives Veterinary Degree

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r. Liza Gladstone Hendricks received her doctor of veterinarian medicine degree Saturday, May 17, from Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Ames.

The daughter of Carole Hendricks of Oneonta and granddaughter of Gloria Hendricks of Milford, she concentrated on large animals, bovine and equine, and specialized in surgery MOXLEY ACHIEVES: Ben Moxley, a member of the Herkimer College Basketball team, was recognized by the National Junior College Athletic Association for Exemplary Academic Achievement.

and overall animal welfare and wellbeing.

Liza graduated from Milford Central School and Hendricks Bassett Hospital’s New Visions program.

She majored in biology and chemistry at SUNY Oneonta. While at Iowa State, she was granted an internship in Szost, Germany, doing in-vitro transplants on cows.

She has accepted a clinical position in Germany, treating large and small animals.

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HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-3

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

This Band KNOWS: Music Best Medicine This Summer, Many Kids Won’t Be Hungry BAND/From A1 event.

“And we’ve been rocking out ever since,” said Graham.

Harrington started by recruited Jay Szwejbka, an X-ray technician and fellow guitarist. “I’ve known Kevin since we were nine,” said Szwejbka. “We’re not allowed to do anything without the other!”

And Carlson brought a little bit of glam to the lineup. A former beauty queen, she was Miss Oregon in 1995 and competed in Miss USA while completing her M.D. at Oregon Health & Science University. “I’ve sung the National Anthem for the Baltimore Orioles, sung with friends’ bands, but I’ve always wanted to be in a rock band of my own,” she said.

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Matt Brown, a nurse in the critical care unit, plays drums, and Emily DeSantis, a physiatrist, also sings with the band. “She even sings while she works!” said Harrington.

Toby Wilcox, a cardiothoracic surgeon, plays keyboards – and gave the band its name. “We wanted a band name with a medical connotation, and a gradient is a measurement, but it means something different in every one of our fields,” he said. “In my field, it’s used to describe the narrowing of a valve, but it has multiple meanings.”

Gradient – minus DeSantis – played four songs for the Hometown Fourth of July Battle of the Bands on Saturday, July 5, in Oneonta’s Neahwa Park: “Separate Ways” by Journey, “Decode” by Paramore, “Paris”

by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, and – their personal favorite (and a crowdpleaser) – Guns N’ Roses,

“Sweet Child O’Mine.”

“It turns out a lot of people in the medical field are very musical,” said Harrington. “It’s very math and science oriented; the same people who are drawn to playing music are also drawn to studying medicine.”

“We all have stressful jobs,” added Carlson. “I work 80 hours a week, so to be able to go and rock out, that’s my creative outlet.”

But unlike other rock bands, Gradient won’t be torn apart by drug abuse and heavy partying. “These guys are good, upstanding citizens,” says Graham.

“They’re the cleanest band around!”

And although they didn’t place in the Battle of the Bands, they plan to keep rocking wherever they can.

“We want to play at your party, your bar, your openheart surgery!” joked Harrington.

Welcome

Neahwa park and get a sandwich on HUNGRY/From A1 whole wheat bread, a piece of fruit, Oneonta,” said Nadine Stenson, a vegetable and milk. one of the program’s coordinaIn the Riverside School district, tors at the “Red Door” church. where the program is located, 50 “There’s been a huge need for percent of students qualify for free food for kids.” or reduced-price lunch. “If we can It’s a program that Catholic help these families by eliminating Charities has been trying to get the need to buy one meal a day, it in place for several years, said can help them stretch their budgets Christy Houck, program direca little further,” said Houck. tor. “Child hunger goes up in The city gave them free use of the summer – the schools proHOMETOWN ONEONTA the pavilion, and they coordinated vide one, sometimes two meals Jacquie Kendall times with the YMCA’s park proand a snack during the school gram, which ends at noon, so that year, but in the summer, that’s fills bags with carrots. children could come down and eat more food the families have to after spending the morning playing buy. And unfortunately, some in the park. Flyers announcing were distribkids just go without.” uted at the schools, the YMCA and the Boys The Summer Food Service Program & Girls Club. is sponsored through a USDA grant and “We don’t take names,” said Stenson. administered by the state Education De“You can come from any county, any state. partment, reimbursing sponsors for meals Any child can just come by.” served. Catholic Charities had the grant On the program’s first day, Monday, July application but no way to cost-effectively staff the program; the church had volunteers 7, Red Door Church volunteers made 75 chicken salad sandwiches, with baby carrots in search of new community missions, but and an apple. And despite the rain, 24 kids, no plans in place. “Everyone wants to feed including several teens on break from sumkids,” said Houck. mer jobs, stopped by the pavilion for lunch.

The two collaborated, and from now through the end of August, Monday through “We’re hoping for more,” said Houck. “We know the need is out there.”

Friday, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., kids up to age 18 can go to the large pavilion in

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COOPERSTOWN First Baptist Church 19 Elm Street Monday: 5:00 PM

UNADILLA Methodist Church 172 Main Street Wednesday: 5:30 PM

RICHFIELD SPRINGS Church of Christ Uniting 22 Church Street Wednesday: 5:30 PM

WEST EDMESTON First Baptist Church 134 W. Edmeston Rd Wednesday: 4:45 PM

First 1/2 hour of each meeting is for registration & weigh-in. Discussion follows. ©2014 Weight Watchers International, Inc., owner of the WEIGHT WATCHERS. registered trademark. All rights reserved.

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HOMETOWN Views

A-4 HOMETOWN ONEONTA

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

EDITORIAL

Ensure Oneonta’s Professional Management Is Model For County

A

sticky situation has developed around Oneonta’s search for a new city manager.

One, the City Charter, approved by a 1,177-370 vote in November 2011, calls for the city manager to have a master’s in public administration (MPA) and three years’ experience in a “responsible executive position,” or the equivalent.

But the ad placed to find a replacement for City Manager Mike Long, who retired at the end of May, calls for “a bachelor’s degree with similar experience.”

Two, the search is being closely held by Mayor Dick Miller and Common Council, with no representation from the community at large on a broad-based search committee, a best practice these days.

Odd, perhaps, but it turns out this is being done for a reason. There’s a hoped-for pre-determined outcome.

Mayor Miller, Charter Revision Committee members believe even the mayor himself acknowledges, is partial to having City Treasurer (and interim city manager) Meg Hungerford succeed Long, even before the first application has been reviewed.

• As you can imagine, this has the Charter Revision Committee in an uproar.

(From the outset, let’s stipulate Meg Hungerford is

the mayor wanted the afternoon of the HR Committee meeting.

No matter. This isn’t parsing what the Founding Fathers may have thought two centuries ago; the original Charter Commission members still live and breathe among us, and their deliberations are fresh in their minds.

The intent of seeking an MPA and “combination of Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal experience and training in Longtime City Charter advocate Steve Londner asks the Oneonta Common Council’s HR Commit- municipal government,” tee to include community members on the search Zimniewicz, Londner and others will tell you, was to committee for a new city manager. circumvent the “good ol’ an estimable public servant, League of Women Voters boy” network; to ensure but that’s beside the point in study, read a statement to an Oneonta’s city manager is a this context.) unreceptive council Huseasoned professional, with The committee, consistman Resources Committee a broad understanding of the ing of most of the former Monday, July 7, asking that challenges, who will bring members of the original the search committee be best practices and fresh Charter Commission – only expanded. ideas to Main and South two couldn’t participate He cautioned against Main.

– was formed by Miller “groupthink,” which The idea was also to under pressure after Long’s “results in decisions being replace government by peruntimely resignation. (It made without rigorous critisonality with government by plans to issue a full report cal evaluation of alternative due process and consistent in the next couple of weeks reasonable viewpoints or policy. In other words, is on full implementation of options for action, and/or Oneonta that forward-lookcharter’s provisions.) also without full considering 21st century city, or “Here are the two quesation of the implications of a banana republic on the tions,” said Laurie Zimniethe decision being made.”

Susquehanna, governed by wicz, a business consultant (See full statement, below.) personal whim? chairing the committee.

Londner is being too • “Why are we not looking kind, given the decision This is uncomfortable to for someone with an MPA? may already have been write, given our otherwise And, why isn’t the search made. universal support of Mayor committee broader? All I’m • Miller’s initiatives. He is an asking is for fair play here.”

Seeing trouble on the exceptional leader, an able Steve Londner, a commit- horizon, Miller asked City successor to Mayors John tee member whose interest Attorney David Merzig for Nader, Kim Mueller and in professional city manan opinion on the master’sDavid Brenner, his immediagement dates back to his bachelor question, and the ate predecessors. participation in the original lawyer delivered the opinion

Likewise, Meg Hungerford is an able city treasurer.

If Miller has been the architect of five city budgets now that have put off the day when the downward revenue and upward expense lines cross on the budget graph, Hungerford has been the construction company.

(And, with an MPA in hand, she might be an ideal candidate for city manager – the next time around.)

But a city manager isn’t being hired for Mayor Miller, whose second term is over in two years. A city manager is being sought who will ensure professional administration, even if the next mayor lacks Miller’s vision, broad experience and determination.

• It’s time for people of good will, on and off Common Council, to step up and reclaim the search process

Avoid ‘Groupthink,’ Expand City-Manager Search Committee

LETTERS

Smartphone Cost, Service Show Flaws Of Capitalism

Editor’s Note: This is the statement Steve Londner, a member of the Charter Revision Committee, read to Oneonta Common Council’s Human Resources Committee Monday, July 7.

T

To the Editor: Our Smartphone service at home is so bad we are thinking of turning our Smartphones back into just a cellphone. The taxes are also so outrageous. I pay for my friend who is in his 90s to have a back-up phone: $10 a month plus over $7 in taxes!

To reduce our phone expenses and cut back, we have to pay $30 for a new service upgrade, even thought we want a downgrade, and our present phone needs to be replaced for $150 plus because they will not make the phone we have just a phone.

In Europe, Smartphones are around $26 a month and the service is far beyond what we have here. Why do we pay so much for worse service?

Oneonta Common Council members David Rissberger, left, and Larry Malone – they both served on the city’s Charter Commission – should ensure fairness in the current city manager search.

In Sweden, or maybe it is he search committee charged Norway, if you don’t have a with leading the effort to idengood connection the govtify and recruit our next city ernment comes out to your manager bears a major responsibility. house and fixes it. It is conIts job is to find and recommend a sidered an important service; single candidate, or small pool of canhere, it is all caught up in didates, to the full Common Council corporate greed. An illusion that exhibit the best appropriate fit that we have freedom. with both current and anticipated city The corporations have government operations/needs, and control of the government, with the broader Oneonta community. so government does not act I understand that, as of now, this in the best interest of it citisearch committee comprises only the zens. The government also four Council members who sit on the sees it as a way to squeeze Council’s Human Resources Commitmore money from the public tee. with more taxes to pad their incomes and retirement funds.

CATHERINE ELLSWORTH • Ending “a”: That is WHERE NATURE SMILES ... AGAIN the way I see it.

Capitalism is only great if you like to take advantage of people and reduce Please See LETTER, A6 Editor’s Note: With this edition, we welcome back our respected colleague, Catherine Ellsworth, longtime contributor of the beloved “Where Nature Smiles” column in The Freeman’s Journal.

Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

I am writing to urge the Common Council to add at least two respected community members to this search committee. This is a well-documented best practice – board search committees for chief executives of public service entities (such as local government, schools, libraries, nonprofits, etc.) often include external community and client representatives.

The term “groupthink” refers to the well-documented phenomenon that commonly affects an existing cohesive small group striving to reach a consensus decision. Such groups naturally seek to avoid internal frictions, and Isolated from outside opinions and influences, groupthink results in decisions being made without rigorous critical evaluation of alternative reasonable viewpoints or options for action, and/or also without full con-

Jim Kevlin

Editor & Publisher

Tara Barnwell

Advertising Director

M.J. Kevlin

Business Manager

Thom Rhodes • Susan Straub Area Advertising Consultants Libby Cudmore Reporter

sideration of the implications of the decisions being taken.

The addition of community members to the search committee should both seek to ensure diversity of viewpoints and enable the Common Council to tap into available local experience and expertise in executive interviewing hiring as well as in change management.

It is difficult to see any way that the benefits to be had by committee expansion – including the public’s perception of the recruitment and hiring process – would not greatly outweigh any possible costs.

I would further note that the involvement of such additional people only in minor ways, late in the search process, will not accomplish the same things.

Those Who Lived History Helped Record It

HOMETOWN ONEONTA & The

– and, by extension, City Hall – from the specter of cronyism. Two Council members, David Rissberger and Larry Malone, served on the original Charter Commission – Rissberger chaired it – and, inspired by the new era its adoption was suppose to herald, ran and won their seats. They know the issues; it’s time for them to lead.

Interviews of the best of 36 candidates are supposed to begin Friday, July 25, so there’s time, although not a lot of it, to adjust. At the Tuesday, July 15, Common Council meeting, Rissberger and Malone should propose a new search committee, and the mayor probably should not be on it. All fairthinking Council members should join them in putting together a search committee that includes Common Council representation – 2-3 members, perhaps, certainly Rissberger and Malone – but also knowledgeable citizens from the city’s professional community.

This is important, not just for the City of Oneonta, but countywide, as a 14-member Otsego County Board of Representatives circles and circles the inevitable: That county government, with part-time leadership with varied qualifications, needs a professional manager as well.

Fair Oneonta, keep lighting the way.

Ian Austin Photographer

Kathleen Peters Stephenie Walker Graphics Production Coordinator

Tom Heitz Consultant

MEMBER OF New York Press Association • The Otsego County Chamber Published weekly by Iron String Press, Inc. 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown NY 13326 Telephone: (607) 547-6103. Fax: (607) 547-6080.

E-mail: info@allotsego.com • www.allotsego.com

W

e, the he-we Jerry and the she-we Cathe, began writing “Where Nature Smiles” over 30 years ago in January of 1984.

“Where Nature Smiles” had been a long running column in The Freeman’s Journal. It faithfully recorded the comings and goings of the village over the years. And we continued in that vein noting who visited whom, who had dinner where and, if we were lucky, who married whom.

However, after a number of columns containing this sort of information, Frank Rollins buttonholed the he-we on Main Street and told him, in no uncertain terms, that people were sick of all that stuff. Instead, we should write about the history of the area. And thus began almost 15 years of columns which devoted, from time to time, a fair amount of space to what can only

Jerry and Cathe Ellsworth collaborated for 15 years on “Where Nature Smiles.”

be thought of as the area’s history as seen through the eyes of its then current residents.

For example, in the beginning of 1986 we found ourselves musing a bit about William Cooper as he wandered about his nascent settlement watching homes and businesses spring up.

What were the proprietor’s thoughts as he viewed the lake from the corner of Fair and Second (Main) Streets?

Indeed fortunate are we to dwell in a place whose history has been so well chronicled and so well studied by so

many avid students.

However, this faithful recording of the village history presented a real problem for us, namely the task of procuring suitable challenging historical trivia questions. But we plowed forward, noting that Nathan Howard and Samuel Griffin were two persons who have some importance in the earliest history of the village. We asked if anyone would care to hazard a guess as to why. Fortunately, we received several responses to our inquiry.

Mac Preston, of Elm Street, and George Tilllapaugh, of Pioneer Street, called to tell us that Nathan Howard and Samuel Griffin were two “firsts” in the village’s early days. Nathan Howard, son of John Howard, was the first baby born in the new settlement and Samuel Griffin, a young child, was the village’s first death.

Upon the little boy’s dying in October 1792, a piece of land on the corner of Water (River) Street and Third (Church) Street was chosen for a graveyard and Samuel was buried there. Thus the Christ Church Yard Please See COLUMN, A6

AllOTSEGO.com • MORE LETTERS, A6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR WELCOME • E-MAIL THEM TO info@

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

HOMETOWN

History

HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-5

Compiled by Tom Heitz with resources courtesy of The New York State Historical Association Library

125 Years Ago

The Free Baptist Society has let the contract for the erection of their new church to Briggs & Miller. Work has commenced and the contract requires it to be completed

by May 1, 1890. The building will be of brick, veneered, and extend 66 feet on Main Street and 84 feet on Maple Street. The main floor will contain five rooms, a library, study, infant classroom, a lecture room 40 x 26 feet, and the auditorium seating 400 persons. The recess containing the pulpit is 11 feet deep. Under the entire building is to be a 3-foot wall raised 4 feet above the grade. The main entrance is to be in the southeast tower which will be 100 feet high.

The seats are to be placed upon an incline and folding doors will admit of throwing the lecture room into the auditorium, thus increasing its seating capacity about 150. The infant classroom will be provided with kitchen cupboards, thus making it do double duty when needed. The ceiling of Norway spruce, at its highest point will be 30 feet from the floor. There will be 31 windows of stained glass – four large and 27 small ones. The total cost when completed will be about $11,000, of which some $6,000 is pledged. The society numbers about 225 persons.

July 1889

60 Years Ago

20 Years Ago

Dr. Frank D. Blodgett, second mayor after Oneonta became a city (1912-1914) died Saturday at the age of 83 in his home at Homer where he had resided since retirement in 1937. Blodgett was also one of the educational stalwarts of Oneonta State Normal School and later served as President of Adelphi College (1915, Garden City, L.I. Blodgett was a graduate of Cortland State Normal School and Amherst College. He taught the history of education, logic, and public speaking at the Oneonta Normal School from 1893 to 1915 when he left Oneonta to serve as President of Adelphi College.

July 1954

40 Years Ago

High-volume gasoline stations in the Oneonta area easily met the July 1 federal deadline to begin selling unleaded gasoline but the newest brand of fuel is hardly selling like wildfire. Unleaded gas will be needed for 1975 cars which will come equipped with catalytic converter pollution control units. But the new models won’t be out until September. One local station owner contends that unleaded gas yields higher mileage performance. But this belief is not really boosting his sales.

July 1974

100 Years Ago

Barnum & Bailey’s Mammoth Circus – Wilcox Flats from Main Street to the open ditch, embracing many acres of ground, were covered with tents at Noon and long before the circus people themselves were within the city. Visitors were attracted here to see “The Greatest Show on Earth.

They came on the early morning train from the west at 6:20 o’clock; yes, in fact, they arrived during the night from the more remote points by auto and carriage. They continued to pour into the city from all directions, all the trains being crowded to standing room in the baggage cars and the last step of the platforms, while motor cars and horse drawn vehicles of all kinds filled the highways. It was a large crowd variously estimated at 10,000 to 14,000 people. It was more. The big tent accommodated 16,000 people. The parade moved shortly after 1:30 o’clock with 163 horses – all big round sleek fellows – dapple gray in color. There was also a great showing also of heavy gilded wagons, horseback riders, elephants, camels and bands. In the opening tableaux, a stupendous spectacle of “The Wizard Prince of Arabia,” some 800 persons took part with a ballet of 300 maidens, handsomely gowned. A clever and original baseball game played by elephants followed.

July 1914

80 Years Ago

Operations at the test well on the farm of Merritt Hazlett, about two miles from Treadwell on the road to Franklin, have been abandoned for the time being. Though a few small pockets of gas were struck, the flow was not sufficient to be of commercial value. The outside casing of the well is being left in place, with a block closing the opening.

30 Years Ago

July 1994 Ralph Sawyer of Bolivar, contractor in charge of drilling, explained that the apparatus in use was incapable of going deeper than the present depth of 4,550 feet, and that a steam-operated rig might be brought later for the purpose of sinking a deeper hole. The present rig is operated by a gasoline engine. Work on the well was started February 7, 1932, by E.S. Warner of Saratoga Springs. Drilling was commenced after extensive geologic surveys had shown certain rock strata underlying New York were the same as those found to bear oil and gas in other sections.

July 1934

Aug. 2, 2014

Alvin Osterhoudt was walking through his Emmons meadow 10 years ago when a derailed propane tank car exploded. He was watching a Delaware & Hudson Railway train pass by his Route 7 home Tuesday night when 17 propane tank cars derailed at the same location. Osterhoudt said the 66-car westbound train was traveling slowly past his home and under the Interstate 88 overpass at 8:20 p.m. when the accident occurred. “The train wasn’t going fast, maybe 35 miles per hour, when there was a tremendous screeching and dust and sparks,” he said. Osterhoudt also recalls a 1944 derailment at the same spot. The 1974 Emmons disaster injured 56 men when a propane tanker car exploded unexpectedly as crews were clearing wreckage.

Thirty-eight windows in Osterhoudt’s home were shattered in that explosion.

July 1984

10 Years Ago

Rebecca Toombs is valedictorian for Oneonta High School’s class of 2004. The daughter of Gary and Lynda Toombs of Oneonta plans to attend Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. She is considering courses in English, Spanish and Biblical studies. Toombs was a member of the cross country and track teams throughout high school and was the recipient of several scholar-athlete awards. Toombs has been actively involved in Main Street Baptist Church youth programs and has traveled to Guatemala to help build churches and teach Bible school.

July 2004

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

A-6 HOMETOWN ONEONTA

‘Bike Otsego’ Starts As Tribute, But May Be Permanent Fixture to catch on, but it BIKES/From A1 did. “Everyone I ing in Damtalked to thought aschke Field it was a great in Oneonta’s idea,” she said.

Neahwa Park.

“Everybody’s been Main Street coming up with in Oneonta will different ideas; it’s close down to networking at its allow the cyclists HOMETOWN ONEONTA finest.” to pass through She put together before breaking Rowinski discusses her plan. a committee that is off onto their currently planning individual routes: the four routes through the a 75-mile loop, a 30-mile, county. “I want to make it a 12-mile, family-friendly a tourism event,” she said. route and a mountain bike trail. “Everyone can partici- “Promoting tourism increases the quality of life for pate,” she said. people who live here – they Rowinski is an avid cyclist herself, biking between can participate too.”

She was inspired, by part, 25 and 40 miles on a good by the Pit Run, which she day. She took up biking says has elevated running in in 2011 after her last New Otsego County. “You didn’t York Marathon. “I knew used to see a lot of runners, it was going to be my last but that got popular and marathon, but I wanted to now you see runners everydo something,” she said. where,” she said, pointing to “Someone suggested a triathlon, but I don’t swim – so a couple jogging by on Main Street. “People look at them I bought a bike!”

She didn’t expect the idea and say, ‘I can do that’.”

Local History Was A Big Hit Then, And May Be Now COLUMN/From A4 was the village’s first graveyard and preceded the establishment of the church by almost 17 years.

Of course, not all of the questions posed went that far back in the village’s history. In fact, a more

Cell Phones Show Systematic Flaws LETTER/From A4 everything to the equation of money. If you think I am talking Communism, you are wrong, that doesn’t work either.

It is time for a new and creative … “ism”. One that is interested “in the people and for the people”, not a system that exploits the people to benefit a few.

Capitalism and Democracy do not work well together.

• Ending “b”: This is what they call capitalism, more money for less service.

R. SCOTT DUNCAN Hartwick Forest

current historical question was quickly suggested by Charlie Brynes when he asked what was the Grey Goose and where was it located? Rather surprisingly, Ruth Ritter, of Forestport, (former Cooperstonian Ruth Williams, CCS Class of 1944), called to talk about the Grey Goose. However, the conversation soon turned to the Blue Anchor which, if memory serves, was a tea room located in the last house on the lakeside of Lake Street before the golf course. That house has been demolished long ago and a new one built on the site.

And while our conversation with Ruth was very pleasant, we had to return to Charles Burns, who told us the Grey Goose was a pottery shop located near the lake. We confess that we

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Huff PierstownArea Area HuffRoad Road - Pierstown 13.25 13.25 Acres Upscalewith Homes Open Þelds, AcreAdjoining parcel in Sub-Division Upscale- Homes Open fields, woodlot, two ponds, 2 roads--$139,000.00 $139,000 woodlot, two ponds, 1,800 ft 1800 on 2onroads PRICE D! Road - Fly Creek Area REDU DUCEDay E R Day Road Fly Creek Area CED! E 26.65 PRIC Acres with 2-1/2 Acre Pond - Open Þelds, southern 26.65 Acres with 2-1/2 Acre Pond exposure, organic land, spectacular views -views $419,000.00 Open fields, southern exposure, organic land, spectacular - $389,000 Owner Available Phone/text Ph/text 607-435-0255 OwnerFinancing Financing Available 607-435-0255 CooperstownProperty.com CooperstownProperty.com James@CooperstownProperty.com James@CooperstownProperty.com

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Laura Coleman 607-437-4881 Bim Ashford 607-435-3971 John LaDuke 607-547-8551 Madeline K. Woerner 607-434-3697

8070 State Hwy 23, Oneonta, NY

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covered a wide range of the village’s history. And it was an oral history which we hope to now share in future columns with the current readers of The Freeman’s Journal. The history of the village was a big hit with readers back in the 1980s and ’90s. And we would hope that those living here now would also enjoy the memories shared by a number of long time residents of the area.

We remain, Where Nature Smiles, The Ellsworths

PLEASE NOTE: Comments regarding this column may be made by mail at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326, by telephone at 607-547-8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com

John J. Mitchell, Realtor

AllOTSEGO.classifieds FARM ANIMALS

were ignorant of the exact location. Fortunately, we later learned that the Grey Goose was located near the lake end of Nelson Avenue.

Our sources also reported that in so far as they have knowledge, Grey Goose pottery was not sold locally.

We wondered then if anyone might have a piece of said pottery. And we still wonder that to this day as no one ever claimed owning any Grey Goose pottery.

And interestingly enough, when we googled the Grey Goose, Cooperstown, NY, all we found was our reference to it in an earlier column.

So even though we may not have always managed to answer a particular historical question, as we look back at our columns from 1986 we realize that we

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Otsego Lake Rights—New to the market, this darling 3-BR cottage is being offered as a 3-season property.

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HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-7

FRIDAY, JULY 11, 2014

Hanft Says IDA Board Retiring To Otsego County, Banker Comes Full Circle said, ‘You’re going to save institutions in the world. ily in Ridgewood, N.J., ReA1 Determined To Succeed CAREER/From this bank’.” The result One of our biggest problems becca, who recently opened fraternity, at The Otesaga.

HANFT/From A1 chair of the Hartwick College Board of Trustees and a retired Wall Street banker, said of the county Intergovernmental Affairs Committee’s decision not to participate, for the time being anyhow, in the IDA’s new initiative.

“We’ve got so many good things that we’re going to be working on that are going to have such a positive impact,” he said. “To me, it’s a proportionate issue. We’re probably driving 95 percent of the activity. There’s 5 percent left behind, that maybe they (the IGA and Board of Representatives) will be able to figure out.”

Hanft, who has served on the IDA board since 2010, succeeds Sharon Oberriter, Fly Creek, retired co-founder, with husband Don, of Cooperstown Bat Co. Over the past year, she oversaw the IDA’s absorption of the county Economic Development Department’s job-creation duties.

Even before then, “the IDA was a very positive force,” said Hanft. “We did a lot of good things and helped a lot of organizations: Springbrook, Hartwick, the Soccer Hall of Fame” – its conversion to Ioxus – “the Bresee’s redevelopment. But a lot of it was done under the radar, and we were resource-constrained.”

But “a period of reflection,” book-ended by state Sen. Jim Seward’s two “economic development summits” – March 2012 at The Otesaga; last November at Foothills – led to the IDA stepping up as the “single point of contact” for economic development, he said.

That made sense for IDA, he continued, due to its powers to grant tax-abatements, PILOTs (payments in lieu of taxes) and tax-exempt financing; “plus, we had the financial resources that nobody else has.”

While the IDA’s commitment has been characterized as $3 million over three years, Hanft said it only needs to generate $400,000 annually to “keep the doors open,” a much more doable challenge, given that Newman Development Corp.’s fee alone was $250,000 to finance the 320-student housing project near SUNY Oneonta.

“The county has never considered economic development a priority by any stretch of the imagination,” he continued, and the recession, high state taxes and the “public outcry” by such groups as Citizen Voices called for a new approach.

The shift away from the county has been good in several ways, Hanft continued: “We’re only in the first six months of this. We’ve hired people, we’ve moved locations (to the fifth floor of 189 Main, Oneonta’s tallest downtown building.) We’ve accelerated the beginnings of this at a dramatic pace.”

Employees are no longer county employees, subject to Civil Service testing; this

has streamlined hiring, beginning with the recruitment of Sandy Mathes, the former Greene County economic developer, as IDA president.

“He’s done a fantastic job getting us started,” Hanft said. Elizabeth Horvath, Cooperstown, a Harvard-educated business consultant, is the new COO. More CFAs have been submitted – CFAs are the state’s comprehensive funding applications, required to access any and all economic-development grants under the Cuomo Administration – than ever before, Hanft said. They include $11 million for an agri-business hub in Oneonta, and $90,000 for a market analysis of Cooperstown and a visioning process to update the village’s Comprehensive Master Plan.

What grants are funded – decisions are expected in October, before the November elections when Governor Cuomo is up for a second term – will determine many priorities, Hanft said.

However, some initiatives – notably the upgrade of the Pony Farm Industrial Park, Town of Oneonta, as the first “shovel ready” development site – will go forward regardless, he said.

Another is the prospective Susquehanna Regional Center for Jobs & Entrepreneurship. SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College have been invited to participate.

“We loved Upstate New York,” he recalled the other day.

By 2006, when the Hanfts were deciding on retirement, Cooperstown and Otsego County were the natural choice. “I have a foot in Oneonta and a foot in Cooperstown,” said Hanft in an Independence Day interview. “I go back and forth frequently. I have good friends in both.”

In between, there were adventures aplenty.

An economics major and son of a banker, Bob graduated from Hartwick on a Friday and the following Monday he started as a trainee at J.P. Morgan, where he worked for the next 30 years, retiring as managing director/global equity research.

“I did everything” – M&A, lending, private equity. He was one of four senior managing directors who started Morgan’s global equity business in the early 1990s. “It went from zero people to more than 2,000 in 5-6 years.”

One memorable night in 1980, the phone rang. He was directed to go with his bank’s president to Washington, D.C., where they “snuck in the back door” at the Office of the Controller of the Currency, joining a half-dozen of the most powerful bankers in the U.S. First Pennsylvania Bank was in trouble. “And the controller of the currency

was the first major bailout of a national bank. After that, Hanft, still in his 30s, worked on a number of rescue packages. “Highly confidential,” he said. “You’d read about it four weeks later in the paper.”

As Hanft was moving up the ladder, Morgan’s reputation was “top notch. It was one of the leading financial

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was vetting people who wanted to do business with us, to protect our reputation,” the executive said.

He traveled a lot, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Latin America.

“I spent a lot of time in Europe,” he said, recalling one four-month project in London, working seven days a week.

He and Pat raised a fam-

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Call Bill Vagliardo @ 607-287-8568 (cell)

P R NE iC W E!

MLS#95274 $149,900 estate sale! Charming, massive 4+ BR farmhouse w/tons of storage space, huge attic. Pond w/goldfish, huge barn. 3 deeded parcels. Garrattsville area.

Call Lynn Lesperence @ 607-434-1061 (cell)

MLS#94835 $179,900 nature and wildlife abound! 3-4 BR home on 25+ flat acres w/apple orchard, berry bushes, trails, streams on mostly wooded property w/4 large open fields.

Call Thomas Platt @ 607-435-2068 (cell)

MLS#94824 $74,900 state Land nearby this chalet w/3 BRs, 1½ story htd garage and workshop. 0.35-acre lot w/views.

Call Suzanne Darling @ 607-563-7012 (cell) Virtual tour: www.realestateshows.com/723055

MLS#90345 $118,000 big Price Reduction! 3-BR, 2-bath country house w/farm charm.Wood-burning fireplace, garage, barn.

Call Adam Karns @ 607-244-9633 (cell) Virtual tour: www Adam Karns.com

MLS#94251 $189,000 a connoisseur’s dream! Well maintained Victorian features hardwood floors, roomy kitchen, large BRs. Call george (ROD) Sluyter @ 315-520-6512 Virtual tour: www.leatherstockinghomes3.com

MLS#94816 $220,000 55+ acres and a great home w/plenty of room.

Awesome views and hunting. This would also be a great horse farm w/barn and stalls all ready .

Call or text Sharon P. Teator @ 607-267-2681 (cell)

MLS#95280 $45,500 fantastic buy! Delaware Cty cottage w/views on 2.57 acres! LR, eat-in kitchen, BR, bath, laundry hook-ups.

Call Suzanne Darling @ 607-563-7012 (cell) Virtual tour: www.realestateshows.com/724110

$319,900 MLS#94982 Come to the Country! 87+ picturesque acres, spacious 2-story home and huge 2-story barn all

Lizabeth Rose, Broker/Owner

located on a quiet country road. House has very large LR, spacious eat-in DR and 1 BR and bath on the first floor. Downstairs BR could be used as a den. 3 BRs, full bath and laundry on the 2nd floor. Enclosed front porch runs the length of the house on the front. Across the road is 2-story barn in very good shape.

Small stream runs behind the barn. Land is a nice mix of open and wooded and would be great for hobby farm,horses, gardening,hunting or recreation. Both house and barn have 100 amp electric service.

Loads of road frontage makes the property very private. Approximately 2300’ on the house side and 1410’ on the barn side. Don’t wait to view this property because at this price it won’t last long.

Cricket Keto, Licensed Assoc. Broker Peter D. Clark, Consultant Paula George, Licensed Real Estate Agent

HUBBELL’S REAL ESTATE

Village Dutch colonial

607-547-5740•607-547-6000 (fax) 157 Main Street Cooperstown, NY 13326

exclusively offered at $549,000

E-Mail: info@hubbellsrealestate.com Web Site: www.hubbellsrealestate.com

CharaCter and prestige

Cooperstown Village Value

(7844) Attractive 3 BR, 2 bath residence features large LR w/fireplace and built-in bookcases, enclosed porch, eat-in kitchen w/cherry cabinets, large yard, updated electric and plumbing.

Completely remodeled village home in a country setting. It is so easy to love!

Hubbell’s Exclusive—$239,000

Mike Otis

Cooperstown Village

(7861) Pristine 3 BR, 3+ bath home in a country setting w/idyllic views on 6+ acres. Spacious LR w/ fireplace, study/library, rec/game room, home theater, finished attic.

Cherry floors, custom kitchen w/new appliances, formal DR, master BR suite w/steam shower. Cooperstown Schools.

Hubbell’s Exclusive—$749,000

Since 1947, our personal service has always been there when you need it most. With comprehensive coverage for all your AUTO • HOME • LIFE insurance needs.

BUSINESS

Hours: M-F 8am-5pm Phone: 607-432-2022 22-26 Watkins Ave, Oneonta, NY 13820

FOR MORE

(7836) Welcoming 4 BR, 2 bath home boasts new hardwood flooring, new carpeting, newer eat-in kitchen, laundry, large LR, formal DR, family room w/woodstove, first-floor master suite.

Deck, front porch, spacious yard, garage.

Hubbell’s Exclusive—$295,000

Thinking of Remodeling?

Think of Refinancing!

LGROUP@STNY.RR.COM www.leatherstockingmortgage.com 607-547-5007 (Office) 800-547-7948 (Toll Free)

New Purchases and refinances • Debt Consolidation Free Pre-Qualification • Fast Approvals • Low Rates Registered Mortgage Broker Matt Schuermann NYS Banking Dept.

Loans arranged by a 3rd party lender.

31 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown (directly next door to Stagecoach Coffee)

AllOTSEGO.home SEE PAGE A6

LISTINGS,

Build family memories in this well maintained Dutch Colonial on a large lot in a friendly neighborhood.

The current family has resided in this 3-BR, 1½-bath home for 54 years! Built in 1910, w/large family room addition in 1996. Kitchen has oak cabinetry, center island and access to family room. LR, DR, den and staircase have beautiful natural woodwork. Finished space in basement. 2 fireplaces: wood-burning in family room, gas in the den. Large backyard, deck w/retractable awning, covered front porch.

Detached 2-car garage has plenty of additional storage space.

Don Olin REALTY

For Appointment Only Call: M. Margaret Savoie, Real Estate Broker/Owner – 547-5334 Marion King, Associate Real Estate Broker – 547-5332 Eric Hill, Associate Real Estate Broker – 547-5557 Don DuBois, Associate Real Estate Broker – 547-5105 Tim Donahue, Associate Real Estate Broker – 293-8874 Madeline Sansevere, Real Estate Salesperson – 435-4311 Cathy Raddatz, Real Estate Salesperson – 547-8958 Jacqueline Savoie, Real Estate Salesperson – 547-4141 Michael Welch, Real Estate Salesperson – 547-8502

37 Chestnut street · Cooperstown 607-547-5622 · 607-547-5653 (fax) Parking is never a Problem!

For listings and information on unique and interesting properties, make yourself at home on our website, www.donolinrealty.com

For reliable, honest answers to any of your real estate questions, call 607.547.5622 or visit our website www.donolinrealty.com