H
ONOR OUR
H
ERITAGE BUSINESSES
44 BUSINESSES TRACE ROOTS BACK TO 1797/SEE PAGES A6, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA !
E RE
F Volume 6, No. 50
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, September 5, 2014
For Century, Joe Libutti Has Made People Smile
City of The Hills
J
oe Libutti al100th birthday with ways planned a circus-themed to live to birthday party. 100. “Before every “Well, what do you meal, he’d toast know?” he said. “I and say, ‘Salude, made it!” cennto anni!’,” said “One gentleman his daughter, Nancy came by to congratNovellano. ulate him and said, On Friday, Aug. ‘The first 100 years 29, Joe, his grandare the hardest’,” daughter Abby NoJoe Libutti said Nancy. vellano and Nancy, Libutti was born as well as the staff in 1914 in Brooklyn, and residents of the Hampthe fourth oldest in a family Helen Rees photo shire House toasted his Please See 100, B7 Don Embling, St. Mary’s Church organist, was one of a number of musicians who gathered Sunday, Aug. 31, at the Swart-Wilcox House, to play the newly donated Packard Parlor Pump organ, the last Summer Sunday event of the season.
Council Plans Closed Session On Applicants
C
I
ELKS 100TH: State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, will be honored when Oneonta Elks Lodge #1312 celebrates its 100th anniversary with a banquet at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at the lodge. $25 per person. RSVP at 432-1312. SEASON OPENER: The OHS Yellowjackets varsity football team opens its season at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 6, at Horseheads.
LUMINOUS CITY
2 Hopefuls Vying For Town Post
ommon Council planned to meet in By JIM KEVLIN executive session at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 3, to discuss candidates for WEST ONEONTA city manager. Originally, the hiring was t isn’t happenstance that supposed to be announced at David P. Rowley lives on the regular Common Council Rowley Lane. meeting the day before. His father, Douglas, an For details, check at the Oneonta executive session at pediatrician WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM who delivered 2,000 ALUMNI HONORED: babies over Bassett doctors Michael his career, Levenstein and Reginald and his uncle, Knight, NBT Regional Presi- former city dent Jeff Levy and Brooks judge RonBBQ co-owner Beth Ann ald Rowley David P. Brooks will receive SUNY – “I grew up Rowley Oneonta Alumni of Distinc- in a family tion honors Monday, Sept. 8, that believed in giving back at 125th anniversary celebra- to the community,” Rowtion/FULL SCHEDULE, A3 ley said – bought two dairy farms there. SCHOOL OPENS: Please See ROWLEY, B5 Classes begin Thursday, Sept. 4, opening the Oneonta School District’s 2014-15 academic year.
Complimentary
By LIBBY CUDMORE
EMMONS
L
ike father, like daughter. “My father, Robert V. Riddell, was on the Milford planning board,” said Patricia Riddell-Kent. “He taught me to step up and do things to leave this place a little better for the Patricia Riddell-Kent future.” It was this advice that inspired Kent’s campaign for a seat on the Oneonta Town Board, where she has served as an Please See KENT, B5
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
As in a dream, a sole luminous balloon drew the curious to its flame Saturday, Aug. 30, at the seventh annual Susquehanna Balloon Festival in Neahwa Park. Balloonist Dave Markowitz, Town of Maryland, explained that winds above the city were gusting up to 32 mph, making it too dangerous for flight. Still, hundreds of people of all ages were drawn to the park over three days for rides, bands and carnival food. Land-bound balloonists shot flames into the air from their propane tanks, adding to the festive mood.
New City Bank Captures RR Past Cooperstown Bank Branch Is Due To Open On Sept. 8 By JIM KEVLIN
R
.J. Millworks of Oneonta did the teller cage, including a stainedglass depiction of the Bank of Cooperstown’s sheaf-of-wheat logo. Isaac Willard, from Steve McClintock Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Bank President Scott White shows off Electrical Contracting, East Meredith, was completing wiring under the conference-the sheaf-of-wheat logo in the teller Please See BANK, B4 cage, fabricated by R.J. Millworks.
At 30, Orpheus Brings Past Hits Back To Life By LIBBY CUDMORE
M
ichelle Gardner didn’t believe it at first. “For two months, actor-director Chandra Kaly had been telling us that he knew Chita Rivera and that she was coming to the show,” said Gardner. The show was Orpheus’
first production of “West Side Story” in 1991, the company’s sixth season. “I peeped out the curtain, and there she was, front and center!” Rivera originated the Broadway role of Anita, who Gardner was playing that night. After the show, the Broadway star came Please See 30TH, B5
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD