MERRY CHRISTMAS! HOMETOWN E!
E FR Volume 12, No. 12
ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, December 19, 2019
Will Impeachment Vote City of The Hills Sink Delgado’s Future? GOP: Freshman Voted Against Constituents; Democrats: He Was Following Conscience Delgado, D-19, endangering his chances of reelection? COOPERSTOWN Yes, said Otsego County Republican mpeachment is Chairman Vince part of the issue. Casale: “He’s going The other part against the majority is: By voting for Delgado of the will of his conPresident Trump’s stituents, against how impeachment, is freshman they voted in 2016.” Congressman Anthony Please See DELGADO, A3
Visit www.
AllOTSEGO.com
GOVERNOR CUOMO ‘FORCED’ IT ON HER, SHE SAYS
‘Green Law’ Will Open The Door For Voting Mischief, Clerk States By JIM KEVLIN
By JIM KEVLIN
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COOPERSTOWN
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he state’s “Green Light” Law that went into effect over the weekend is all about registering potential Democratic voters, Otsego County Clerk Kathy Sinnott Gardner said in an interview. Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA “They are making a mockery of our votCounty Clerk Kathy Sinnott Gardner ing system,” said Sinnott Gardner Tuesday, reviews new “Green Light” regs. Please See LICENSES, A3
THERE WAS A BLESS’D MESSIAH BORN
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Tom Pondolfino braved the cold alongside 50 of his fellow supporters at the “Impeachment Eve” rally on Tuesday, Dec. 17 in Muller Plaza. The nationwide rallies were to support the House of Representatives ahead of their vote to impeach President Donald J. Trump on Wednesday, Dec. 18.
Departing Four Fail To Show Up At Final Meeting ONEONTA
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ll but two of the retiring Common Council members were absent at the final meeting of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 17, meaning there was no quorum to vote on agenda items. A special meeting was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 18. Retiring Council members Russ Southard, Sixth Ward and Joe Ficano, Eighth Ward, were present, and were honored with plaques by Mayor Gary Herzig.
ON
AllOTSEGO.com
►JIM BARBER, a Democrat, fifth-generation farmer and son of a former state Ag & Markets commissioner, kicked off his challenge to state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, at his Middleburgh farm Saturday, Dec. 14. ►TOM LAGAN, the Cooperstown-based investor, was sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison for embezzling $12 million from the estate of two Capital District philanthropists. ►A 3 YEAR OLD AMISH CHILD fell out of a minibus Sunday on I-81 southbound near Kirkwood. The boy suffered cuts, bumps and bruises, but was alert and crying at the scene.
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Crowds escaping the rains at The Farmers’ Museum annual Candlelight Evening in Cooperstown Saturday, Dec. 14, were delighted by Oneonta’s Women of the Chamber Singers in the Cornwallville Church, singing Medieval to modern carols, from “The Wexford Carol” to John Rutter’s “Blow, Blow, the Winter Winds.” The evening featured multiple choirs, from the Community Bible Chapel, Toddsville, to Herkimer 4Hers. From left are Emma Kirsch, Katy Bridgers, Sarah Patterson, Jean Fleck, Leah Bridgers, Tracy Verma, Peg Twasutyn, Anne Dewell and Suzy Beddoe.
NEW FACES AT 197 MAIN ST.
Outdoormans Rick Brockway Brings Sportman’s Sensibility By JAMES CUMMINGS LAURENS
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n avowed conservative and lover of the outdoors, Rick Brockway hopes to bring that outlook to the Otsego County Board of Representatives. For instance, as a long-time gun owner, the new District 3 (Laurens-Otego) rep sees a possibility of making the county an example of good practice when it HOMETOWN ONEONTA Rick Brockway will comes to firearms. Please see BROCKWAY, A7 represent District 3.
ANDELA PRODUCTS EXPANSION LEADS COUNTY WISH LIST
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$420,000 grant so Andela Products Inc. can expand into the Richfield Springs Industrial Park leads off the list of grants Otsego Now is hoping to receive Thursday, Dec. 19, in this year’s round of state economic development funding. Other projects include: ►$1 million to renovate upper floors of Oneonta’s Ford Block. ►$50,000 for a county energy study. Complete results Thursday on
AllOTSEGO.com
www.
Time Of Transition At Salvation Army Key Retirement, And 2 New Commanders By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
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here comes a time when even Christmas Elves have to retire. “I’ve handled the Angel Tree toys for over 50 years,” said Salvation Army Maj. (ret.) Mary Smith. “I was an officer for 44 years, then a major, then after I retired, I kept volunteering.” This is Smith’s last Christ-
mas handling the hundreds of toys donated to the Salvation Army as part of the annual Angel Tree program, which invites community members to either adopt and buy gifts for a family, or take an individual tag off any of the 20 “Angel Trees” at businesses throughout Otsego County. “We have 1,500 tags out there,” she said. “Some of those Angel Trees have 25 tags, others have 200.” Please See ARMY, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
A-2 HOMETOWN ONEONTA
HOMETOWN People CHRISTMAS PARTY CHEER AT ONEONTA VET’S CLUB
Debby Clough, Preservationist, Wins DAR Prize
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ebby Clough was honored with the Historic Preservation Recognition Award by the Oneonta Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution for 30 years of work at the Swart-Wilcox House at the DAR’s December meeting. This house was considered for demolition when Ms. Clough, among others, asked the city if they could take it on as a project, turning it into a museum and education site. 13 others received Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA anniversary certificates for Elisie Wayman, Oneonta, gives Santa Claus a big hug after receiving a gift from him during the their years of membership. 4th annual kids Christmas Party at the Oneonta • Anne Leimkuhler, Veteran’s Club on Saturday, Dec 14. 50 years • Irene Wiltsie, 40 years • Priscilla Welch, 40 years rofessional ounseling • Sarah Schmitt, 30 years • Ellen Sturgess, 25 years • Beverly Daley, 25 years Specializing in: • Kimberly Coryat, • Anxiety 20 years • Depression • Geraldine Haynes, • Life Transitions 20 years • Mood Disorders • Jodie Gerowe, 10 years • Peer Relationships • Susan Gates, 10 years • School Issues • Norine Flack, 10 years Lindsey Nicklas • Trauma/PTSD • Kimberly Altman, LMHC, NCC 10 years Lindsey Nicklas is a licensed Mental Health Counselor and nationally certified. Born and raised in Cooperstown, her independent, private practice is the place to make new beginnings. Call for an appointment today!
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In a religion that was born in a barn, an open door goes without saying.
Our church invites you to join us in the worship and fellowship of Jesus Christ. The door is always open.
Our Schedule for Christmas is:
Christmas Eve December 24, 2019
Family Eucharist - 5 pm Service of Carols - 10:30 pm Festival Choral Eucharist - 11 pm
Christmas Day December 25, 2019
Holy Eucharist - 10 am
Join us here at St. James’ Church as we celebrate the Coming of the Christ Child
St. James Episcopal Church 305 Main Street, Oneonta • 607-432-1458 www.stjamesoneonta.org • Like us on facebook
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2019
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-3
Will Impeachment Vote Sink Delgado?
First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown At Elm & Pioneer Streets
Cooperstown 607-547-8401
“For unto us a child is born...”
Elm Park United Methodist Church 401 Chestnut St., Oneonta elmparkumconeonta.org (607) 432-6552
Join us for
Christmas Eve Candlelight & Communion Services at 4:30 pm, 7:30 pm & 11 pm
The “Red Door” Church (First United Presbyterian) Welcomes You Join us for Christmas Eve Candlelight Service 7 pm - Tuesday, December 24 Main Street and Walling Avenue, Oneonta Church Office: 607-432-7520 • Like us on facebook The Rev. Dr. Cynthia L. Walton-Leavitt
4th Sunday of Advent Sunday, December 22
10 am - Worship “God in Flesh Appearing” The Rev. Elsie A. Rhodes, preaching
Christmas Eve
Tuesday, December 24
3:45 pm - Carol Sing 4 pm - Worship and Annual Christmas Pageant Joined by members of First Baptist Church of Cooperstown
10 pm - Candlelight Worship with Celebration of Communion “Lo...and Behold” The Rev. Elsie A. Rhodes, preaching
All are Welcome!
DELGADO/From A1 Regardless, Delgado had to do what he believes, said Otsego County Democratic Chairman Aimee Swan: “Regarding impeachment, we think that Congressman Delgado is doing a great job communicating his reasoning to the voters and we believe that he will continue to have the kind of broad support that got him elected.” The U.S. House of Representatives was scheduled to vote Wednesday, Dec. 18 – this edition went to press the night before – on two articles of impeachment against Trump, and Delgado announced Sunday the 15th that he would vote for both articles. His colleague to the north, U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi of Utica, D-22, reached the same conclusion, but it was a tougher one: In 2018, he had very narrowly beaten the incumbent, Republican Claudia Tenney, 50.9 percent to 49.1 percent, and she’s challenging him in 2020. Delgado has a little more breathing space: He beat incumbent Republican John Faso by a lesser margin, 50.4 percent, but Faso’s margin was winnowed to 46.2 percent by Green and Independent candidates also running in the 19th. So far, Delgado is facing a Republican challenge from Maj. Gen. (ret.) Tony German of Oneonta, former commander of the state National Guard. And perhaps a more formidable one: Dutchess County
First United Methodist Church 66 Chestnut Street, Oneonta
607-432-4102 • firstumc-oneonta.org
Join us Christmas Eve
6 pm Family Service w/Pageant followed by Christmas Tea (Bring mittens, socks & hats to donate! 10 pm Candlelight Service with Choir and Communion A Reconciling Congregation · Wheelchair Accessible · All are welcome
Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell, Pastor
Christmas EVE Worship sErViCEs 4 pm Family service with Christmas pageant 8 pm Candlelight service
God’s Family...Faith in Action MILFORD UNITED METHODIST CHURCH 113 main street | milford
St. Mary’s
“Our Lady of the Lake” Roman Catholic Church Cooperstown We invite you to join us for Christmas Eve Mass at 4:30 or 7:30 pm and Christmas Day Mass at 8 or 10 am 31 ELM StREEt, COOpERStOWn
A Blessed Christmas to All!
Merry Christmas!
Executive Marc Molinaro, who ran for governor last year. Casale said to expect news about formidable entries “after the first of the year.” Hartwick College Poly-Sci Professor Laurel Elder agreed with Casale and Swan’s formulations, summing it up as follows: “We know it’s a very divided district; there’s no way he can please everybody.” Harkening back to 2018, however, she recalled that several Democrats in the Congressional primary were significantly to the left of Delgado. If he hadn’t stepped forward on impeachment, he might have provoked a primary next June. “There’s energy in the wings of the party,” she observed. Regardless, Delgado (and Brindisi) fall into a category that is generating a lot of interest: Democratic congressmen elected in 2018 to districts – some, like the 19th, are being called “purple districts” – that supported Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016. Trump won the 19th by 6.8 percentile points, to Delgado’s 4.2. (In Otsego County, Trump’s margin was greater, 51.85 percent to Clinton’s 40.72 percent, or 11.13 percentile points. In 2018, Delgado won 48.97 percent of Otsego’s votes; Faso, 48.47 percent, or 0.5 percentile points.) Since, statistically, members of Congress are most vulnerable when running for reelection
after one term, a counter-sweep next November could put Congress back in Republicans hands just in time for the 2021 reapportionment that will follow the 2020 Census. An indication of that significance: Both national newspapers, The New York Times and Wall Street Journal, had reporters shadowing Delgado the week leading up to his announcment that he’ll support impeachment. The Journal’s Natalie Andrews reported Delgado being greeted by “vote no on impeachment cries” and a single “yes on impeachment” cry on arriving at a Town Hall meeting in Highland, Ulster County. She spoke to voters similarly split on the congressman, although they all seemed to like him. Echoing what Aimee Swan said, The Times’ Emily Cochrane said voting for impeachment “had made it all the more important for Mr. Delgado and Democrats like him to find ways to show voters they are getting things done in Congress, which is why he is crisscrossing his district through flurries, working on local issues and connecting with constituents.” And why Speaker Nancy Pelosi scheduled Wednesday’s impeachment vote between votes on muscular legislation, one to fund the government, the other on the new NAFTA. Delgado’s job could depend on it; and Pelosi’s.
‘Green Light’ Law Arrives LICENSES/From A1 Dec. 17, as she was organizing her staff to administer a law she disagrees with. As of press time, only one undocumented resident had shown up locally – Monday, at the Oneonta office – and was told the office was not yet prepared to issue licenses under the new law. Before the “Green Light” was turned on, a U.S. citizen applying for a driver’s license would present documentation that would be scanned and sent to state Department of Motor Vehicles headquarters in Albany, where it would be part of that driver’s file. The processing clerk would also make a notation on the application. Under the new law, Sinnott Gardner’s clerks must accept a valid foreign passport or driver’s license on faith. “If we can’t read their birth certificate, they can translate it themselves and tell us what it is,” said DMV Clerk Lynn Blessin. The document may not be scanned as has been standard practice to date, nor is any notation on the application permitted. When an applicant then approaches the pay window, a question on a screen asks, “Are you a citizen of the U.S.?” According to guidelines from the state DMV, “If a customer answers ‘yes,’ our computer system is required by law to transmit the application to the applicable board of elections for processing.” It continues, “Under the Green Light Law, DMV staff are expressly precluded from asking a standard license applicant about their citizenship or lawful presence … Importantly, staff … may not use their perceptions of the customer, or anything else, as the basis to interfere with the customer’s voter application.”
Vince Foti
Sinnott Gardner, who has been among a core of 26 county clerks opposing the new legislation, has developed a system that will allow her eight-person DMV staff to process the undocumented residents, also called illegal immigrants. Following the Niagara County clerk and others, three of the eight will be trained to process “Green Light” applications, which will be scheduled 9:30-11:30 a.m. only Wednesdays and Thursdays, and only in the main local DMV office in Cooperstown. The applications will be accepted, beginning Thursday, Jan. 2. “We are being forced to do this by Governor Cuomo,” said Sinnott Gardner. “We have to follow the law.” In recent months, several county clerks went to court to object to the law, which was passed last summer by the newly Democratic-dominated state Legislature. But the final one pending, by Rensselaer County Clerk Frank Merola, was dismissed Friday, Dec. 13. Another, filed by Erie County Clerk Mickey Kearns, also lost in U.S. District Court, but he is appealing, Sinnott Gardner said. “The Green Light law is legal and enforceable,” Attorney General Letitia James, whose office defended the measure, said after the Merola decision, “federal courts have now already dismissed the meritless claims of two county clerks. “Beginning Monday, the law will help make our roads safer, our economy stronger, and will allow immigrants to come out of the shadows to sign up as legal drivers in our state,” she said. “We expect all public officials to comply with the law, and, as the state’s attorney and chief law enforcement officer, I will defend it.”
607-432-2022
22-26 Watkins Avenue, Oneonta Monday through Friday 8 am - 4:30 pm
Christ ChurCh, EpisCopal
A time of Miracles A time of Joy!
46 River Street, Cooperstown 607-547-9555 · www.christchurchcooperstown.org The Rev’d Dane E. Boston, Rector
Christmas Eve – tuesday, December 24
4 pm - Christmas Pageant and Festal Holy Communion 9:30 pm - Choral Prelude and Carol Sing 10 pm - Festal Holy Communion
Christmas Day – Wednesday, December 25 The Feast of the Nativity 10 am - Festal Holy Communion
Welcoming You for Christmas Eve Mass at 6 pm with Gospel enactment
Christmas Day Mass at 10 am
St. thomaS the apoStle · 1 ChurCh Street, Cherry Valley
Happy Chanukah!
from all of us at Temple Beth El 83 Chestnut Street | Oneonta To learn about services, programs, school and membership visit www.templebetheloneonta.org
A-4 HOMETOWN ONEONTA
HOMETOWN Views
EDITORIAL
Nostalgia? Why Not Live By Enduring Values Today?
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s Christmas nears, it was comforting news: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – for years, youngsters from around Otsego County rode the mechanical Christmas legend at Bresee’s Department Store in Oneonta – is in good hands. The venerable four-story emporium at 155 Main St. – now Klugo’s Parkview Apartments – closed in 1994. And when the building changed hands almost a decade later, the Lettis Auction House auctioned off the remaining contents on Dec. 11, 2003. The Freeman’s Journal That included all of the Christ- Bresee’s Rudolph at mas objects and decorations, and Cooperstown Price Rudolph passed into the hands of Chopper in 2016.
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nd she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. “Madonna & Child” And the angel Giovanni Salvi, 1609-1685 said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. Gospel of Luke, Chapter 2 King James Version
HOMETOWN
ONEONTA
Greg Noonan, Cherry Valley, who would make it available at Christmas for current-day youngsters to ride at various venues around the county – one year, Danny’s Main Street Market in Cooperstown; another, at the Cherry Branch Gallery in Cherry Valley. Greg held a big auction earlier this year at his farm outside Cherry Valley, and he reports how, providentially, a local individual, so far unnamed, who is a big Rudolph fan, acquired Bresee’s mechanized reindeer. This person, as Greg tells it, is both a collector of books and ephemera about the most famous Please See EDITORIAL, A5
S
THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
ANTA CLAUS BORN HERE?
Under contract with International Art Publishing Co. in New York City, Richfield Springs’ Ellen Clapsaddle (1865-1934) created postcards that were among the most widely distributed in the nation, helping popularize what today is the popular image of Santa Claus.
Yes, Virginia... There IS A Santa Claus, Editor Wrote 8-Year-Old Editor’s Note: The New York Sun’s Francis Pharcellus Church penned this famous response to 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon in 1897.
W
e take pleasure in answering thus prominently the communication below, expressing at the same time our great gratification that its faithful author is numbered among the friends of The Sun: Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? Virginia O’Hanlon 115 West Ninety Fifth Street Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours, man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to
there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world. You tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there The Freeman’s Journal is a veil covering She was a little shy at first, but Jordyn Trask, 5, the unseen world eventually did warm up and share her Christmas which not the wishes with Santa Claus in his cottage in strongest man, Cooperstown’s Pioneer Park during a Friday, nor even the unitDec. 13, visit. Her brother Harrison, 1, sat ed strength of all on Santa’s lap for the first time. They are the the strongest men children of Issac and Samantha Trask, Oneonta. that ever lived could tear apart. make tolerable this existence. Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The external push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory light with which childhood fills the beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in world would be extinguished. all this world there is nothing else real Not believe in Santa Claus! You and abiding. might as well not believe in fairies. No Santa Claus! Thank God! He You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if times 10,000 years from now, he will you did not see Santa Claus coming continue to make glad the heart of down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that childhood.
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
MANAGING EDITOR MARKS 10TH ANNIVERSARY
James C. Kevlin Editor & Publisher
Libby Found Love, Work, Heartache, Home
Tara Barnwell
Advertising Director & General Manager
Editor’s Note: What a decade! Her friends and colleagues celebrated Manager Editor Libby Cudmore’s 10th anniversary among us on production day, Tuesday, Dec. 10, and she agreed to write this memoir.
Libby Cudmore
Managing Editor
Larissa Ryan Business Manager
Thom Rhodes Advertising Consultant
James Cummings Reporter
Ian Austin Photographer
Ivan Potocnik Web Architect
Kathleen Peters Graphics & Production
Tom Heitz Consultant
Amanda Wilsey Consultant
IN MEMORIAM: Mary Joan Kevlin, Co-Publisher, 2006-17 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
T
By LIBBY CUDMORE
here’s a lot for Ian and I to celebrate in December. Our families do Christmas, Yule and Hanukkah, our original anniversary; then New Year’s Eve to cap it all off. But this December, I realized that I had another anniversary to celebrate – 10 years with the Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman’s Journal and, most recently, AllOTSEGO.com. It’s the longest I’ve ever stayed with a job, but in 10 years, I’ve realized that it’s more than than a job – it’s a way to give back to a community that has The Freeman’s Journal welcomed me so graciously. Libby Cudmore with Mascot • Goodie at the 2013 Goodyear When I moved to Oneonta in May Lake Polar Bear Jump.
2007, I wasn’t sure if I would stay. This was my husband’s hometown, after all, but I wasn’t sure that there was a place for me. But that changed when Jim Kevlin hired me as a freelance reporter in April 2009. My first story was about a bridal fashion show at SUNY. My second was an interview with Roger McGuinn of the Byrds, who was playing at the now-defunct Oneonta Theatre, then re-opened and full of promise. I was hired full-time that December, given a desk and the business cards I’ve been passing out ever since. If you look in your drawer, chances are Please See LIBBY, A6
AllOTSEGO.com
LETTERS TO EDITOR WELCOME • EMAIL THEM TO info@
THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
HOMETOWN
History
HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-5
Compiled by Tom Heitz and SHARON STUART, with resources courtesy of The Fenimore Art Museum Research Library
150 Years Ago
Miscellaneous: It is authoritatively stated that the loss of life by kerosene is greater than by railroad and steamboat accidents combined. A German astronomer says that we are soon to have another moon, and that it will be nearer the Earth than our present satellite. Some of the Syracuse papers now call the Cardiff humbug the “Exposed Giant” The Rochester Chronicle thinks the term ought to have been adopted in the first place. Young lady physicians are multiplying throughout the country, and consequently, the young men are more decidedly sickly than they used to be. A Massachusetts paper says “The good old style of things is coming round again in Berkshire. A farmer takes a load of wood to market and it pays for a barrel of flour, which has not been the case in nearly ten years. December 1869
125 Years Ago
News Items: L.M. Warriner of Franklin has killed a pig eight months and 15 days old that weighed 268 pounds. Snow fell to the depth of about 14 inches last Saturday night. Beautiful sleighing for Christmas. The American Hotel in Albany is to be conducted hereafter on the European plan. This cannot fail to please all who have occasion to stop in Albany. For a city of its size, it has the worst accommodations of any city in this state. Charles A. Watkins is the proprietor. The hardware store of Edwards & Liddle in Franklin was entered by burglars on Wednesday evening last and $300 to $400 worth of fine cutlery, plated goods, etc. stolen therefrom. They offer a reward of $50 for the return of the property “and no questions asked.” This is the second time the store has been robbed within two years. The Methodist Church, aided by its own and neighboring pastors has been holding evening services for several weeks, and are doing much good. Help these people, men and brethren, for Oneonta is full of sinners of the toughest kind to whom any kind of Christian religion will be a new and startling God-send. December 1894
100 Years Ago
Anarchists and undesirables from all sections of the United States were being rushed by special trains tonight to Ellis Island to join the large colony of radicals already assembled there awaiting deportation to Soviet Russia. Immigration officials said that the transport which will take the radicals, including Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman on their homeward journey, will probably sail sometime Sunday. The radicals were told tonight to hold themselves in readiness to go aboard. Three special trains
20 Years Ago
Metropolis a large dose of its own “give-and-go” “pin-point shooting” brand of basketball Saturday night as it upset Yeshiva 77-72. The Warriors beat Yeshiva at its own game – shooting proficiency – scoring on 55 percent of their shots from the floor. The Mighty-Mites were second among small college fives during the 1958-1959 campaign, averaging 50.4 percent. Yeshiva might have expected the 24 points scored by Barry Lewis, Hartwick’s ace. But the shocker of all was that Lewis was outscored by a guy who had previously confined his point-making to soccer. Jack McCormack, who in nine games last fall set a Warrior “booting” record of 16 goals, nearly doubled that output on the game’s High School of Fashion and Industry court, canning a personal high of 28 points. McCormack’s output was more than he had scored in three previous games combined. December 1959
40 Years Ago
In the stiffest punishment of Pope John Paul II’s papacy, the Vatican ordered Professor Hans Kung stripped of his teaching post for continued “contempt” of church doctrine. But the liberal priest said he would fight to keep his job. The declaration by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, once known as the Office of the Inquisition, said the Swiss-born Kung can no longer be considered a Roman Catholic theologian. A spokesman said Kung could remain December 1999 a priest. Kung, 51, one of Western Europe’s most liberal theolo– one from Buffalo, another from Pittsburgh, and a third gians said he would seek to keep his posts as professor of from Philadelphia – will arrive in New York City tomorrow dogmatic and ecumenical theology, and also as Director with contingents of radicals for deportation, it was learned of the Institute for Ecumenical Research at the prestigious at Ellis Island. University of Tubingen, West Germany, which he has held December 1919 since 1963. “As a Catholic theologian, I will continue to stand up for Catholics and fight so that this step will be revoked,” Kung said. “I am ashamed of my church,” Kung said, adding that it was a scandal that “inquisitional trials Fred Waring, the nationally-known band leader, will compose a song for Hartwick College and play it on his radio were still conducted in the twentieth century. December 1979 program at 7 p.m. Friday evening, February 9, 1940 according to Frank Hakanson, Hartwick Director of Music. When Mr. Waring announced during his college program that he would compose songs for any interested colleges, Professor After months of playing it coy and flirting with a bid wrote of the traditions of Hartwick College, its athletic teams, for statewide office, former New York City Mayor Rudy the history of the institution and its location and requested Giuliani said Tuesday that he won’t return to the campaign that Hartwick be considered. In reply Waring indicated that trail next year, leaving a wide-open field for New York colleges whose students showed the most interest in the proj- Republicans interested in gubernatorial and Senate races. ect would be considered first among a huge list. Hartwick Giuliani, who is viewed by many Republicans as a savior students then worked on the idea and sent a number of cards for the struggling party, said his “significant commitments” requesting the composition for Hartwick. Mr. Hakanson to his lucrative law and consulting businesses made it received a telegram telling of the forthcoming broadcast. impossible for him to run for office in 2010. Giuliani’s December 1939 most recent foray into politics ended with a loss to John McCain in the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. December 2009 Fast-coming Hartwick College gave the New York
80 Years Ago
10 Years Ago
60 Years Ago
EDITORIAL: Nostalgia? Simple Values It Yearns For Are At Hand
EDITORIAL/From A4 member of the team that bears Santa’s sleigh across the sky, we’re told, each Christmas Eve. He’s sprucing up Rudolph, even creating a new saddle to replace the one that’s had so much use. No Rudolph feature story this year – but maybe next. • Meanwhile, relics of Bresee’s Christmas displays are still part of community life, and stories about them resurface year after year. This year, for instance, John Pontius, Excelsior College vice president (and one of the Albany Business Review’s 10 CFOs of
the Year in 2014), now retired to Oneonta, arranged for Bresee elves and doe-like seamstresses from St. James Manor & Retirement Community to be displayed in the windows of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society at Dietz and Main. (Pontius is the new GOHS president.) You should have seen the rubbernecking. That led to an article about Carla and Wayne Balnis, who have obtained a Bresee’s display of mechanized skaters that Jim and Katherine Catella set up for years on the lawn of their Belmont Circle home in Oneonta. The
Balnises, maybe next year, maybe beyond, plan to revive the display on their Gilbert Street front lawn in the city’s Sixth Ward. To watch passersby’s delight at Dietz and Main as the display went up, or to hear the Balnises’ enthusiasm, you have to ask yourself, what’s going on here? • There was a good piece a couple of years ago in the Atlantic, “Americans’ Quest for the Christmas of Their Childhoods,” that argues: With the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, merchants discovered city dwellers had an “appetite for remembering rural
life, whether or not they’d actually experienced it themselves.” “What is today a $600 billion season industry, rooted in the anxiety about change and a yearning for a simpler world, was born,” Catherine Woodiwiss wrote. She continued: “The nostalgia for Christmas is in part a way to subsume fears of the future” – she ticks off a number of the front-page crises of three years ago; many haven’t changed – “in a yearning for the past.” Yet, isn’t that life – moving from simplicity to complexity? And maybe instead of nostalgia, the Christmas spirit can reconnect
us, not with traditional values, but enduring ones. Here’s one list: kindness, patience, humility, honor, loyalty, wisdom, respect, trustworthiness, generosity, compassion, temperance, bravery, diligence, justice, frugality, fidelity and charity. Let’s add love and friendship. And let’s replace “traditional” with “enduring.” There’s nothing on that list that would do any of us any harm, and none we couldn’t immediately embrace and begin to pursue. Nostalgia? Maybe. But it doesn’t have to be. Merry Christmas.
WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER
MONEY TALK
The Only Constant Is Change
That’s It: ‘He Lied Under Oath’
O
nce we are born, every moment of every day brings change. We are born biologically complete, yet with little else to our beings. We can’t speak, walk, or talk. As a baby, then in our youth, in our teens, maybe even through our twenties, we live through endless and often tumultuous changes. Every day LARRY offers fresh knowl- BENNETT edge and new experiences. • Our parents first teach us. Then other teachers bring more ideas. New ideas and feelings bring hope, fear, desire, doubt. New relationships bring new views of the world. We develop knowledge and self-awareness. We experience gains and losses, ups and downs, and come to accept ongoing change as part of our lives. Yet by our thirties most of us have established a reasonably well-defined life
– a life with work we chose, a partner we chose, friends we chose, a place to live we chose, religious beliefs or non-beliefs we chose. We chose preferred literary, music, and movie genres. We have probably chosen to belong to certain groups: civic organizations, trade organizations, recreational organizations, and others. We have reached a point where we don’t have to keep changing – we have chosen our place in the world. We have likely even chosen political affiliations. Even if we don’t actively join in partisan political activities, if we want to vote we must describe ourselves to the voting registrar as a Democrat, Republican, or as a member of some other party. If we want no formal party attachment, we still have to write down Independent or Unaffiliated, even as we lean one way or the other.
Ongoing polls of American voters since 1974 show consistently and significantly lower voter turnout in younger people and higher turnout in older people. Since elections are extolled as the best means to peaceful change, and since the older we get the less receptive we are to change, it seems we could expect voting to be more appealing to younger voters. But the reverse is true. • Why do more older folks vote than younger folks? Is it a tradition the older generation upholds? Do older folks have more time on their hands? Do young people move so often they are effectively disenfranchised, or don’t stay long enough to establish a voting habit? Or is the fact that they are often renters make them feel less connected to a community and therefore feel less of a need to vote? Or are they simply absorbed in getting their lives off to a good start? What if the idea of votPlease See BENNETT, A6
T
he bloodbath-cum-circus to business to government. in Washington these days? His dinner parties were It awakens memories. often bedlam. That was the Of how a notorious American case with parties during ambassador handled a similar the Clinton impeachment. brouhaha – the Clinton impeachThat is, until he daubed a ment. four-foot sign and draped it He over his television for all the combatants to see. HE LIED deployed UNDER OATH! a simple “HE”, of course was device. With President Clinton. And clearly, it, he brought a certain he lied to a judge in a federal order to the court case. He committed Ambassador G. mayhem of perjury. McMurtrie Godley the thinking Case closed. To Mac this of his friends. – “Mac” – retired to ended all discussion of the In one stroke Gilbertsville. Clinton impeachment. He TOM he turned believed there was nothing MORGAN their murky more to consider. Our president had taken an oath to prethinking to crystal clarity. I am certain he would use the serve, protect and defend our laws. He was device today. the nation’s chief law enforcement officer. G. McMurtrie Godley – “Mac” – retired He had violated one of our most sacred to Gilbertsville from his distinguished career laws. He had lied to a federal judge after in our diplomatic corps. The Clinton imswearing to tell the truth. peachment proceedings had saturated the Mac’s sign hit me like a bucket of ice nation’s air, airwaves and print with debate water. It had the same impact on his other and downright wrangling: He said this. No friends. It sobered us to a reality we all knew. A reality we had overlooked in our he didn’t. He did this. No. It is not important. It is vitally important. He broke the debates. The reality that truth before a judge law! Rubbish! is utterly essential. As essential to the runThe arguments raged in offices, bars, ning of our country as gas is to our car’s coffee shops and millions of homes. They engine. To perjure is to dump sand into the certainly raged in Mac’s home. Where he fuel tank. entertained retired diplomats galore. Along Please See MORGAN, A6 with great and lively minds from academia
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2019
A-6 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA
In 10 Years On The Beat, She Went From Oklahoman, Upstater, To Oneontan LIBBY/From A4 you have one. If it was before 2017, it said “Reporter.â€? Since then, it has said “Managing Editor.â€? • Our new reporter, James Cummings, asked me: What’s the favorite story you’ve ever written? How do you even pick? But a few come to mind: getting to travel to Oneonta, Ala., and see the similarities (and a few differences) between our cities, and declaring actor Cuyle Carvin “Oneonta’s Heartthrob.â€? As an obsessive music fan, I still get giddy knowing that, at any time, I can pick up the phone and call Greg Harris, president of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, for comment. I love being able to support the good deeds at the Susquehanna SPCA, see the rise and revitalization of the Milford Methodist Church, to be a first-hand witness to all of the change in Oneonta as the DRI gets underway. I absolute agree that we’re “Onta Something.â€? • Of course, there has been plenty of heartache too. The sudden death of Mayor Dick Miller was when I felt it the most profoundly. I was tasked with not only covering the tragedy, but also processing my
On their honeymoon in September 2015, Libby and Ian made a point of stopping in Oneonta, Ala., where they were feted by city fathers and given a VIP tour. The City of the Hills’ Alabama namesake also includes the longest covered bridge in existence, included in their report in this newspaper’s AllOTSEGO.life feature section when they got home.
own grief privately. I had seen Dick that Thursday evening at the Future for Oneonta Foundation reception. He gave me one of those sideways handshakes I knew so well, the quick “how ya’ doin’� in passing. We’d had our disagreements over the years – par for the course in both our professions – but I respected and enjoyed him
Heavy Equipment Operators Motor Equipment Operators The City of Oneonta is currently accepting applications for Heavy Equipment Operators and Motor Equimpent Operators to fill four vacancies in the Department of Public Service. The positions include competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package. Candidates must have a NYS Commercial Driver’s License. Applications and a job description are available at www.oneonta.ny.us/personnel or at the personnel office in City Hall, 258 Main Street. EOE
immensely, and still miss him. The murder of 11-year-old Jacelyn O’Connor still haunts me. I’ve written about far too many brutal deaths in our county, but in some ways, I’m honored to do so, because I task myself not with writing about the killer, but letting my readers know who the victim was to their family, their friends,
their community. They’re stories I wish that I didn’t have to write, but I am always honored when I get to speak with survivors like Jennifer Kirkpatrick and Erika Heller, to be trusted with their loved ones’ legacies. • I am always in awe of the support that the people of Otsego County continue to bless me with. From the packed house at the Green Toad for the launch of my debut novel, “The Big Rewind,â€? to the votes that came in for my guest conductor bid at the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s cabaret concert. Many of you were there to cheer when Ian proposed to me in the 2013 Halloween parade, and some of you came to our wedding in 2015. But you have also been with me in the darkest times to. In 2017, we lost MJ Kevlin, my dear friend and mentor. The outpouring of love and support from all of you was overwhelming, and if I didn’t thank you then, consider this a much delayed appreciation for the kindness you showed me, the grief we shared. • Recently someone asked me where I was from. For the first time in my life, I didn’t reply “Oklahoma City,â€? where I was born, or generic “Upstate New
York� to compensate for a hometown I don’t particularly associate myself with. “Oneonta,� I answered without hesitation. I didn’t grow up here. But if home is where you hang your hat (and, as you know, I wear many of them) then it stands to reason that your hometown is the town where your home is located – and thus, your hat hangs. Writing for the Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman’s Journal and AllOTSEGO.com has made me feel more a part of this community here than any career I thought I would have. Every week you welcome me into your home and your lives, you call me with good stories about graduations and curious collections and upcoming meetings, you allow me to lament with you when you send in obituaries and when we stand at the scenes of loss. It’s a position I do not take lightly, and I pledge to continue to my best to tell your stories accurately and honestly. I’ve lived in a lot of places and I’ve traveled internationally and cross-country. But when I come off I-88 and turn onto the Lettis Highway, whether after a few days or a few weeks away, I always get the same feeling as the lights of Main Street greet me. Welcome home.
BENNETT: What Adults Will MAGA Kids Grow Into? BENNETT/From A5 ing no longer signifies a gilded avenue to desired change for young people, but instead offers a burning roadblock to unwanted change for older people? It can be argued this is where we are and where we appear to be heading. The voting cry to “Make America Great Again� is clearly about repealing the changes of the last 50 years – be they women’s equal rights, voting rights,
LBGTQ rights, or many other rights. While those who proclaim MAGA are of all ages, it turns out that those who actually vote MAGA also skew older, just as voters do on the other side of the political chasm. What does this mean for our futures? Will more and better education turn those young MAGA-prone kids into liberal voters as they get older? Will the continuing flight from rural
to urban areas by young people of all backgrounds offer opportunities to liberalize their attitudes? Or will they progress from nonvoting MAGAchanting youths to older MAGA folks who will habitually vote against any kind of progressive change? Or will the eventual disappearance of Trump put out all their fires? Based on the state of our politics, the future of our nation seems unknowable.
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The old ironic curse, “May you live in interesting times,� seems to apply. Still, there are dozens of theories about our destination – pick one and see where it goes. If you find you can deduce and predict the voting patterns of the next decade or two, you can rule our politics. Larry Bennett, recently retired Brewery Ommegang creative director who is active in local causes, lives in East Merideth.
Godley Found Simple Answer: ‘Tell The Truth’ MORGAN/From A5 Mac, by the way, had voted for Clinton. He contributed to his campaign. That did not matter. Once he learned Clinton lied under oath the president became a pariah to the old ambassador. For me, Mac’s sign floats above today’s debate concerning the intel agencies and their spying mess. This was criminal. No, it was an innocent mistake. They did this. Nah, that’s an exaggeration. I read the IG report and it said this. Well, I read it and got exactly the opposite impression. Whenever I see Comey, Clapper or Brennan on my television, the sign flashes: HE LIED UNDER OATH. Each lied. That much is clear. People can argue over a hundred other issues. They cannot argue that these guys did not lie under oath. Not important? It shouldn’t matter? After all, everybody lies. It’s only politics. It was an attempted coup. Rubbish! People said the equivalent during the Clinton impeachment. Hey, it was only sex. It didn’t affect his job performance, did it? Mac devoted his working years to serving this country. To him, oaths were sacred. To violate an oath was unthinkable to him. Anyone who did so instantly sullied his own character. A person who lied under oath no longer deserved to be trusted. Every other of his or her activities would be under a cloud, in Mac’s view. Tom Morgan, the retired Oneonta investment counselor whose “Money Talk� column is nationally syndicated, lives in Franklin.
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Retired Major Departs; 2 New Commanders In Charge At Salvation Army ARMY/From A1 The Salvation Army also identifies families – 32 this year, about as many as 2018 – and invited the public to buy gifts for them or a single child. “Families come and apply,” she said. “And we select them by the stories they tell us.” Many of the families are held up by single mothers. “One woman came in, she’s got cancer, and she’s got two children,” she said. “She had never reached out for help before, so we made sure her family got adopted.” Another was worried she would go into debt buying Christmas presents, and
others just don’t have the resources. “People have hardships,” she said. “We don’t ask too many questions. If you want help, you get help.” And in her workshop – the gymnasium of the River Street headquarters – there are more than 100 dolls, ranging from baby dolls to Barbie and Disney Princesses. There are 200 LEGO sets, and 13 bikes. “Last year, we gave away 40 bikes,” she said. “I think the reason we have so few this year is that those bikes are still in use, they’re handed down to the younger siblings.” And although the Angel
Tree is for children up to 12, Smith doesn’t want the older children to go without. “We get makeup and jewelry for the older girls,” she said. “And one woman asked us for help with some school supplies for her daughter, and we were able to get her everything she needed.” In addition to toys, she makes sure every child gets a new outfit and, when necessary, a new coat. “I enjoy it,” she said. “I’m a mother, a grandmother and a great-grandmother, so I know what toys the kids will like, and I make it my mission to see that they get stuff they asked for.” And it isn’t Christmas
without a feast. “We have 220 food baskets this year, not as many as previous years,” said Smith. “We give them everything for a Christmas dinner; a turkey, stuffing, gravy, real potatoes and sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and butter.” This Christmas is the first for the new commanders, Majs. Cheryl and Roger
Compton, who had previously served in the Bahamas. “Christmas is our most important fundraiser,” said Roger. “It takes us into the new year, when not a lot is happening, but people still need to eat.” With Thanksgiving starting late this year, the kick-off started the week before. And new on the
kettles this year was Apple and Google Pay codes, allowing donors who don’t have cash on hand to still put money in the kettle. The annual kettle drive has a $50,000 goal and continues through Christmas Eve. And Lettis Auctions once again auctioned off a gold coin to benefit the Salvation Army, fetching $500.
Brockway Brings Sportsman’s Sensibility BROCKWAY/From A1 “My dad was an avid hunter,” he said in an interview. “From the moment I could hold a gun he took me along, but we always respected the game. I was raised that way.” With all the local knowledge, is there a way to showcase Otsego County “as a possible sanctuary for the Second Amendment.” “We’re a rural county,” he said. “We’re hunters who’ve been raised with guns and know how to use them safely. It’s something I’m going to address. It’s important to me,” he said. After taking his oath of office Jan. 2, he’ll have his opportunity. “I’m not one to sit back quietly; I’m a man of a lot of words,” he said. The Brockway family first moved to Otsego County in 1802, farming in the vicinity of what is now Oneonta City Hall. “In 1870, my great-greatgrandfather Jesse Brockway acquired 260 acres in Laurens. My family has lived here for 149 years,” he said. The new representative was born in Oneonta, raised in Laurens and graduated
Editor’s Note: This is the second of three profiles of newcomers who will be joining the Otsego County Board of Representatives Jan. 1. Next week: Clark Oliver. from Laurens High School. He went on to SUNY Oneonta, obtaining an English Literature degree, then taught middle school English and Social Studies for 10 years before realizing that it wasn’t for him. “My brother had horses out here, and his farrier, Lloyd Watson, asked me if I wanted a summer job. I’ve been a farrier ever since,” he said. The next 40 years as a farrier connected him with people around the region. “I used to shoe horses seven days a week. Horses are very popular in this area. From Margaretville to Cobleskill to Binghamton, everyone knows me from the horse business,” he said. And his family’s history made getting involved “a natural step.” “The Brockways have been in local politics for over 70 years,” he said. “My dad was either town councilman or supervisor for 50
years. He urged me to run for the councilman position and I ended up being town councilman for eight years.” His wife Pat was a town justice for eight years, and is finishing up two terms as Laurens town supervisor at the end of the year. “A few years ago, I decided I wanted to do something more. I wanted to give back to the community,” he said, and the county board seat seemed like a natural. When county Rep. Kathy Clark, R-Otego, “decided not to run, I said to myself, this is my time.” And with his first county board meeting coming up, Brockway is ready to tackle the issues of rural living. “One thing that is important to me is the rural ambulance service. In late August I was in Jefferson trimming horses. Three kids got one of the horses tangled and it trampled their grandmother. “It took 45 minutes for an ambulance to arrive. I witnessed the whole thing. There’s no excuse for an ambulance to be 45 minutes away. It’s one of the things I’m deeply committed to.
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CAPTURING CHRISTMAS PAGE B-1
THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
2019 EGO
.life
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Scrooge (Mike Henrici) has to contend with three ghosts on Christmas Eve, including The Ghost of Christmas Present (Tom Pullyblank) in The Farmers’ Museum’s 2018 production of “A Christmas Carol.”
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‘Christmas Carol,’ Actual Caroling, And Santa Finale
Ian Austin/
With some of Professor Mullen’s students, making Christmas cards stuck. Here are two, including a “sublime” card, at right, by Oneonta artist Elaine Downing.
SUNY Oneonta Retired Professor Jim Mullen, Former Students, Still Churn Out Good Cheer
T
here’s still time for tradition as The Farmers’ Museum presents Charles Dickens classic, “A Christmas Carol.” 7 p.m. FridaySaturday, Dec. 20-21, 3 p.m. matinee Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 21-22. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. (607) 547-1453. • Have holiday elves & Santa’s helpers from the Catskill Symphony Orchestra wrap your LIBBY presents for the holiCUDMORE days. 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. Saturday – Sunday, Dec. 21-22. Southside Mall, Oneonta. Call Kathy Paranya at (607) 441-3206. • The Voices of Cooperstown present a holiday concert of works by Mozart including “Missa Brevis,” more. 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, Christ Episcopal Church, 46 River St., Cooperstown. (607) 547-9555. • Enjoy a performance of sacred and secular music this Christmas season by Catskill Brass. Includes selections by Beethoven, Handel, more. 6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21, St. Paul’s Episcopal, 307 Main St., Franklin. (607) 434-5762. • There’s still time to see Santa to ask for a few last-minute gifts before he takes off on his Christmas flight. In Oneonta, you can see him 9 a.m. – Noon Dec. 24, Southside Mall, Oneonta. In Cooperstown, 1 - 3 p.m. at Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. • It’s a Christmas dinner and all are invited to the table. Enjoy a hearty dinner with pies,sides, and more! Free, takeout & transportation available. 12:30 – 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 25, First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Cooperstown. (607) 435-7188.
By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA
T Mullen in his studio at Good Shepherd Village, Endicott, where he retired.
here’s something special, James Mullen believes, about a Christmas card. “Because there’s an exchange at the same time of the year, they’re a lot of fun to receive as well as to give,” he said. And Mullen would know – the former dean of SUNY Oneonta’s Fine Arts Department, he has been making cards for 64 years. “I made 200 this year,” he Please See CARDS, B3
The Star Rose, this year’s Mullen card.
SONS CARRY ON TRADITION DAD BEGAN
After 50 Years, Filors Still Cutting Christmas Trees By JIM KEVLIN HARTWICK SEMINARY
I
n 1969, Ned Filor heard about a state Ag & Markets program that encouraged farmers to grow Christmas trees on vacant land as a cash crop. That was 50 years ago this year, and sons Ken and Frank are still at it on the Filor Farm, just south of Dreams Park, intending to sell 400-500 trees before their market inevitably dries up the day before Dec. 25. “He planted Scotch pine, white spruce,” said son Frank, who was born the following year. “3,000,” from the state’s
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Jim Kevlin/
Sons Frank, left, and Ken Filor carry on the Christmas tree enterprise their father launched 50 years ago.
Saratoga Tree Nursery. The father passed away in 1994, and if you stop out there today, Frank and elder brother Ken are running the operation, assisted – as they have been each season for 13 years now – by Jennifer Eckler of Cooperstown. It takes about 10 years for an evergreen to grow into a Christmas tree, and the trees were about 4 years old when the elder Filor bought them. “I was already working when I was 7,” Frank remembers, in what might have been the first year the family took their trees to market. His dad had gotten permisPlease See FILORS, B3
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL • HOMETOWN ONEONTA
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THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
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THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
B-3
Mullens’ Handmade Cards Among Growing Collection At GOHS
CARDS/From B1 said. “It’s the most I’ve ever sent!” His cards are in the Archives of American Art in the Collections at the Smithsonian, including several in their book “Handmade Holiday Cards From 20th Century Artists,” and the subject of a recent show at SUNY’s Martin-Mullen Gallery that ended this week. A Penn State graduate, he made his first card in 1955 as an assignment. “We had to use a Wrico Pen, which you filled with India ink and used it to draw freehand,” he said. “I did a stylized Mother and Child,” he said. The pens were used for plastic lettering stencils, to allow duplicating in the day before Xeroxes. And when he arrived at SUNY Oneonta in 1963, card-making was all the rage in the art department. “Artists are unique to exchange with because they are sending something they consider to be so personal,” he said. “That exchange is always very special
AllOTSEGO.life
Ian Austin
Bob Brzozowski, GOHS executive director, looks through samples of former city judge Ronald Rowley’s homemade cards, using images Rowley painted of country scenes around Oneonta.
to me.” He’s made cards with letterpress and etchings on zinc, relief prints and, most recently, in Adobe Illustrator. This year’s card, “StarRose,” was a lithograph carved
in limestone and pressed at the Corridor Press Studio in Otego, then reproduced and printed at his home studio at Good Shepherd Village in Endicott. Martin-Mullen Gallery Director
Tim Sheesley reached out to him in June, and asked him to think about announcement cards. “I was making a lot of birthday cards, and rose is the birthday flower for June, so that motif became this year’s card,” Mullen said. Fifty of the cards included an original lithograph of the Star Rose. “Last year I created a Santa Claus card, but I got so into the process that I created more than one card!” He collects cards as well, including many from former students. One is Elaine Downey, who participates in the Artisans’ Guild and also studied with Art Professor Emerita Nancy Callahan, sent him a card. “When I opened it, it was sublime,” he said. “Another student sent me one that’s a letterpress printing on rice paper. That’s the fun part of it. You never know what you’re going to get.” Mullen’s late wife, Sally, is credited for the revival of what is now the Greater Oneonta
Historical Society, and many of his cards are in the GOHS archives. “A lot of people received Jim’s cards,” said GOHS Executive Director Bob Brzozowski. “And a lot of people, myself included, still do!” GOHS also has more than a decade’s worth of former SUNY Art Department Dean Minnie Martin’s cards. “Minnie was my chair,” said Mullen. “She had experience in almost every kind of art – ceramics, jewelry, printmaking, and she made beautiful cards.” In addition to the Mullen and Martin cards, GOHS has cards that Ronald Rowley, the former city judge, and wife Marjorie sent to friends, made from images of Otsego County winter life that the husband painted over the years. “Christmas cards are true ephemera,” said Brzozowski. “People keep Christmas cards, and we still send them. It’s a very personal way of sending greetings at the holidays.”
Filor Brothers Selling Christmas Trees, 50 Years After Father Launched Enterprise Red Barrel convenience store. The father had gotten permission from Bettiol, father of Southside Oneonta, to give it a try on Route 23. Over the years, the operation expanded. For a while, Frank hauled trees into the Hudson Valley to be sold at a relative’s place in Stony Point. By then, the Filors were offering wreaths and kissing balls as well. While the Filor Farm is on Route 28, the father first planted trees on Sibley Gulf Road, then on additional land on Cooper Road. At one point, Frank contracted for 18 acres in Garrattsville, and planted 10,000 trees there. Ned Filor was born in Tuxedo, Rockland County, and after college worked
For a while – at Ag & Markets’ encouragement – other farmers were supplementing their incomes with Christmas trees, but eventually it slid. “I know of nobody else around here anymore,” Frank said. Out front the other day, there were dozens of trees available – all fresh cut, said the brother, an advantage to having the tree lot so close to the stand. While he was being interviewed, Ania Krasinski, Jim Kevlin OTSEGO.life director of the Daniel The Filors’ Farm team, Ken Filor, Jennifer Eckler J. Palm Teen Center in and Frank Filor, stride through the rows of Christmas trees at their lot just south of Dreams Stamford, showed up Park on Route 28. and bought a larger and a smaller tree for the center. for Ag & Markets as a food He and wife Elaine, who inspector, ending up farming has also passed away, raised “We’ve been coming up for locally – never dairy, always three sons and three daughters three years,” she said. With thousands of trees raising beef and hogs. in addition to Ken and Frank. planted over the years, many
All
wn rsto Coope
This Holiday Season SHop Small and local!
have grown beyond harvesting, said Frank, walking to the far end of the lot, where the offerings looked 12-, 14-feet tall, and taller. Those have been topped off trees grown too tall for household use, although they are in demand by institutions and restaurants. While there are still Scotch pine and white spruce available, other trees have become more popular in recent years. Balsam fir are aromatic, but the needles can be sharp. Soft, full Frazier firs are current favorites. Asked to assess the competition, Frank said, “I just know what we do, what we offer: the freshest trees – if you don’t cut them yourself.”
&
THINK LOCAL FIRST
of Co mm erce
FILORS/From B1 sion to sell trees at an ice cream shop – in a log cabin, the son remembers – near where the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce is today. (That would have been the Cooper Cabin, just north of Stewart’s, which had “great ice dream” during the summers but was closed at Christmastime, said Veronica Gil, a lifelong resident, whose dad owned the gas station on the other side of Stewart’s.) The Filors found themselves competing with a service club selling trees in the vicinity, the family decided not to come back, Frank said. So the next year, the lad was standing in the icy cold outside Gene Bettiol’s first
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Legal nOtice Notice of Qualification of BK COFFEE ASSOCIATES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/09/19. Office location: Otsego County. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 07/31/19. Princ. office of LLC: 178 Old River Rd., Edgewater, NJ 07020. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to William D. Callas at the princ. office of the LLC. Cert. of Form. filed with State Treasurer, State of NJ Div. of Revenue, 33 W. State St., 5th Fl., Trenton, NJ 08608-1214. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 6LegalJan.23 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE is hereby given that there has been duly introduced before the Board of Representatives of the County of Otsego, New York, a Local Law entitled: A Local Law establishing the salaries of Emergency Services Coordinator, Director of Real Property Tax Service II, Personnel Officer, County Superintendent of Highways, Commissioner of Social Services Group I, Director of Public Health, Commissioner of Elections (Rep) for the year 2020. NOTICE is further given that the Board of Representatives will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Local Law in the Representatives Chambers at the County Office Building in the Village of Cooperstown, New
York on Thursday, January 2, 2020 at 9:40 a.m. at which time all persons interested will be heard. The location of the public hearing is accessible to persons with mobility impairment. Copies of the Local Law are available for viewing at the Clerk of the Board’s Office, County Office Building, Cooperstown, New York during regular business hours. Dated: December 19, 2019 Carol D. McGovern Clerk of the Board of Representatives Otsego County, New York 1LegalDec.19 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE is hereby given that there has been duly introduced before the Board of Representatives of the County of Otsego, New York, a Local Law entitled: A Local Law amending Local Law No. 1 of 2014-Establishing a Solid Waste User Fee. NOTICE is further given that the Board of Representatives will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Local Law in the Representatives Chambers at the County Office Building in the Village of Cooperstown, New York on Thursday, January 2, 2020 at 9:45 a.m. at which time all persons interested will be heard. The location of the public hearing is accessible to persons with mobility impairment. Copies of the Local Law are available for viewing at the Clerk of the Board’s Office, County Office Building, Cooperstown, New York during regular business hours. Dated:
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December 19, 2019 Carol D. McGovern Clerk of the Board of Representatives Otsego County, New York 1LegalDec.19 Legal nOtice NOTICE TO BIDDERS Sealed bids will be received as set forth in instructions to bidders until 10:30 A.M. on Thursday, January 16, 2020 at the NYSDOT, Contract Management Bureau, 50 Wolf Rd, 1st Floor, Suite 1CM, Albany, NY 12232 and will be publicly opened and read. Bids may also be submitted via the internet using www.bidx.com. A certified cashier’s check payable to the NYSDOT for the sum specified in the proposal or a bid bond, form CONR 391, representing 5% of the bid total, must accompany each bid. NYSDOT reserves the right to reject any or all bids. Electronic documents and Amendments are posted to www.dot.ny.gov/ doing-business/opportunities/const-notices. The Contractor is responsible for ensuring that all Amendments are incorporated into its bid. To receive notification of Amendments via e-mail you must submit a request to be placed on the Planholders List at www.dot. ny.gov/doing-business/opportunities/ const-planholder. Amendments may have been issued prior to your placement on the Planholders list. NYS Finance Law restricts communication with NYSDOT on procurements and contact can only be made with designated persons. Contact with non-designated persons or other involved Agencies will be considered a serious matter and may result in disqualification. Contact Robert Kitchen
►Thursday, Dec. 19
Christmas Calendar
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THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
B-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Come Join US thiS new year’S eve!
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LEGALS
(518)457-2124. Contracts with 0% Goals are generally single operation contracts, where subcontracting is not expected, and may present direct bidding opportunities for Small Business Firms, including, but not limited to D/W/MBEs. The New York State Department of Transportation, in accordance with the Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 252, 42 U.S.C. 2000d to 2000d-4 and Title 49, Code of Federal Regulations, Department of Transportation, Subtitle A, Office the Secretary, Part 21, Nondiscrimination in Federallyassisted programs of the Department of Transportation and Title 23 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 200, Title IV Program and Related Statutes, as amended, issued pursuant to such Act, hereby notifies all who respond to a written Department solicitation, request for proposal or invitation for bid that it will affirmatively insure that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation and will not be discriminated against on the grounds of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability/handicap and income status in consideration for an award. BIDDERS SHOULD BE ADVISED THAT AWARD OF THESE CONTRACTS MAY BE CONTINGENT UPON THE PASSAGE OF A BUDGET APPROPRIATION BILL BY THE LEGISLATURE AND GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Please call (518)457-2124 if a reasonable accommodation is needed
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nization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 11 December 2019. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of process to 689 Beaver Meadow Rd, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws. 6LegalJan.23
Legal nOtice
Legal nOtice
Notice of Formation of
Notice of Formation of
BEEKMAN WOODS LLC.
M.E.B Records LLC
Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of BUTTERNUT COTTAGE LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/09/2019. Office loc: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, 1577 County Highway 16, Burlington Flats, NY 13315. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. 6LegalJan.23 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company Name: LINCOLN HOPKINS LLC Articles of Orga-
►Friday, December 20 NATIVITY SCENE – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. View amazing nativity scenes. See Thursday Listing. GIFT WRAPPING – 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Santa’s helpers wrap
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to participate in the letting. Region 09: New York State Department of Transportation 44 Hawley Street, Binghamton, NY, 13901 D264037, PIN 980681, FA Proj , Otsego Co., Rehabilitation and Replacement of 7 Large Culverts on NYS Routes 7, 28, 51 and 80 in Various Towns, Bid Deposit: 5% of Bid (~ $200,000.00), Goals: DBE: 8.00% 2LegalDec.23
Art/Org filed 10/7/19. Ofc loc Otsego Cty. SSNY desig. agent for svc/proc & shall mail to 24 Andrea Ln, W Sayville, NY 11796. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 6LegalJan23
CHRISTMAS PARTY – 9 - 11 a.m. Bring kids in Christmas best and also a treat to pass. Santa arrives at 10. Gym floor, Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown. 607547-2800, ext. 109. NATIVITY SCENE – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. View amazing nativity scenes including Bresee’s display, others. Free, open to public. Calvary Hill Retreat Center, 290 Chestnut St., Oneonta. 607-432 4926. GIFT WRAPPING – Noon - 6 p.m. Santa’s helpers wrap your presents. Donations benefit Catskill Symphony Orchestra. Southside Mall, Oneonta. 607-441-3206. SANTA VISIT – 3 - 6 p.m. Bring the kids to visit Santa, tell Christmas wishes. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. 607-547-9983. CLASSIC FIX – 7 p.m. “It Happened On Fifth Avenue,” in which a homeless man and company move into a mansion. Tickets, $6. Walton Theater, 30 Gardiner Pl., Walton. 607-865-6688.
Articles Of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY on 12/03/19 Office in Otsego County Secretary of State of NY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. Secretary of State of NY shall mail copy of process to the LLC at 19 Ford Avenue suite D, Oneonta, NY 13820. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 6LegalJan.16 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of PROJECT ACE & NINE, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 11/27/19. The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon it to: 2453 St Hwy 205, Mt Vision, NY 13810. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act. 6LegalJan.9
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Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Grand Rentals, LLC. Articles Of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY on 11/12/19 Office: Otsego County United States Corporation Agents, Inc., has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served A Copy of Process should be mailed to the LLC at: 25 West End Avenue, Oneonta, NY 13820 Purpose: Any lawful activity. 6LegalJan.9 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company Name: WALLER HILL FARM LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 19 November 2019. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of process to 689 Beaver Meadow Rd, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws. 6LegalJan.2 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company Name: BeArt Farm LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 19 November 2019.
your presents. See Thursday Listing. SANTA VISIT – Bring the kids to visit with Santa. 3 - 6 p.m. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. 607-547-9983. 5 - 7 p.m. Santa’s Cottage, Muller Plaza, Oneonta. 607432-2941. CHRISTMAS CAROL – 7 - 9 p.m. Performance of classic Charles Dickens Christmas tale returns. Tickets, $15/ adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1453.
►Saturday, Dec. 21 GIFT WRAPPING – 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. Santa’s helpers wrap presents. See Thursday Listing. STORIES WITH SANTA – 10:30 a.m. Learn about Christmas in Mexico, holiday classic Poinsettia plant, Santa reads story to kids at 11, . Richfield Springs Public Library, 102 Main St., Richfield Springs. 315-858-0230. SANTA VISIT – Bring the kids to visit Santa. 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Santa’s Cottage, Muller Plaza, Oneonta. 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Southside Mall, Oneonta. 1 - 5 p.m. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. MORE CALENDAR Pg. 5
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Office location: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of process to 312 Valley View Drive, Radcliff, KY 40160. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws. 6LegalJan.2 Legal nOtice Notice of Qual. of Kingfisher Properties, LLC. Auth. filed with SSNY on 7/9/19. Office location: Otsego. LLC formed in NV on 4/16/19. SSNY desg. as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY mail process to: 13 West James St., Richfield Springs, NY, 13439. Arts. of Org. filed with NV SOS. 4730 S. Fort Apache Rd., Las Vegas, NV, 89147. Any lawful purpose. 6LegalJan.2 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Country Wood Cellar, LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) was 08/08/19. Office Location: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and SSNY shall mail copy of process to PO Box 537 Morris, NY 13808. Purpose: All Lawful purposes. 6LegalJan.2 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION OF CARNRIKE ENTERPRISES LLC
Legal
Arts. of Org. filed with the Sec’y. of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on 10/04/19. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 948 Cty Hwy 20, Edmeston, New York 13335. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 6LegalDec.26 Legal nOtice Notice of formation of BUTTERNUT VALLEY PROPERTIES, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 9/30/19. The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County. The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon it to: The LLC, PO Box 651, UnaBilla, NY 13849. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act. 6LegalDec.26 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of 1860 LIGHTED CUPOLA HOUSE LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 10/22/2019. Office in Otsego Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Gregory Wayman, 11848 Cydney Ln., Blaire, NE 68008. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. Principal business location: 153 E. Main St., Morris, NY 13808. 6LegalDec.19
►Need to publish a Notice of Formation, Public Notice, Supplemental Summons, or Notice to Bidders? Contact Larissa at 607-547-6103 or ads@allotsego.com and she can get you started.
AllOTSEGO.life
THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
Christmas Calendar COMPLETE GUIDE TO HOLIDAY FUN!
send calendar items to info@allotsego.com FROM Pg. 4
►Saturday, Dec. 21 NATIVITY SCENE – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. View nativity scenes
from Bresee’s display, others. See Thursday Listing. HOLIDAY TOUR – 2 p.m. Tour exhibit ‘A Little Women Christmas’. Free, open to public. Munson Williams Proctor
Arts Institute, 310 Genesee St., Utica. 315-797-0000. CHRISTMAS CAROL – 3 - 5 & 7 - 9 p.m. Theatrical performance of classic Charles Dickens Christmas story. See Friday Listing. HOLIDAY CONCERT – 4 p.m. Festive works by Mozart including Missa Brevis, more with The Voices of Cooperstown. Christ Episcopal Church, 46 River St., Cooperstown. 607-547-9555. CHRISTMAS CONCERT – 6 p.m. Enjoy sacred & secular music this Christmas by Catskill Brass. Includes selections by Beethoven. St. Paul’s
Episcopal, 307 Main St., Franklin. 607-434-5762.
Listing.
►Tuesday, Dec.24
►Sunday, Dec. 22 SANTA VISIT – Bring the kids to visit Santa 11 a.m. - 3 p.m. Southside Mall, Oneonta. 607-4324401. 1 - 4 p.m. Santa’s Cottage, Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. 607-547-9983. GIFT WRAPPING – Noon - 6 p.m. See Thursday Listing. CHRISTMAS CAROL – 3 - 5 p.m. Theatrical performance of classic Charles Dickens Christmas story. See Friday
DROP OFF – 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. Contribute to Friends of Christmas Dinner. Bring baked pies, fruit breads, other items for Christmas Day dinner. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Cooperstown. 607-432-3084.
►Wednesday, Dec. 25 CHRISTMAS DAY! DINNER – 12:30 - 2:30 p.m. Friends of Christmas, and Saturday’s Bread join
►Saturday, Dec. 28 HOLIDAY TOUR – 2 p.m. Tour holiday exhibit ‘A Little Women Christmas,’ celebrate a Victorian Yuletide. Free, open to public. Munson Williams Proctor Arts Institute, 310 Genesee St., Utica. 315797-0000.
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This Holiday Season SHop Small and local!
present holiday dinner. Enjoy baked pies, fruit breads, dinner rolls much more donated by the community. Free, takeout & transportation available. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Cooperstown. 607-435-7188.
&
THINK LOCAL FIRST
of Co mm erce
Happy, happy
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Keeping you in good spirits this holiday season!
Holiday
Gift SEtS
Egg Nog, Wine and Spirits!
while they last!
2008-2019
Liquor Depot
739 State Hwy 28 (Hannaford Plaza) | Oneonta | liquordepotoneonta.com | 607-431-2589 Christmas Eve 9 am to 6 pm | NY Eve 9 am to 9 pm | Closed Christmas and New Year’s Day
The Voices of Cooperstown and Christ Church, Episcopal present
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Conductor: Dan Foster Soloists: Sabrina Elyse Manna, soprano • Aleks Romano, mezzo-soprano Quinn J. Bernegger, tenor • Nathanial Sullivan, bass
Missa Brevis in B-flat K. 275 Exsultate Jubilate K. 165 • Ave verum corpus K. 618 Vesperae solennes de confessore K. 399
Saturday, December 21 at 4 pm Christ Church, Episcopal 46 River Street, Cooperstown TiCkETS: $25 | STuDEnTS: $15 Available at the door and - Cooperstown Art Association - 22 Main St. Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce - 31 Chestnut St. Riverwood - 88 Main St. • Cooperstown natural Foods - 61 Linden Ave.
ALERT! ALERT! ALERT! UPDATED MAP THE GREAT OTSEGO HOLIDAY LIGHT TRAIL!
Go to Facbook, then go to The Great Otsego Light Trail.
THEN GET IN THE CAR AND HAVE FUN WITH THE FAMILY!!!
B-5
THURSDAY, December 19, 2019
B-6 HOMETOWN ONEONTA
IN MEMORIAM Gerri Asp Scheele, 86, Oneonta; Teacher, Artist, Loved Gardens ONEONTA — Gerri Mae Asp Scheele, 86, passed away Sunday, Dec. 1, 2019, during convalescence at Fox Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center from a late October fall. She was a resident for the past 10 years at The Plains at Parish Homestead, and had lived for 45 years before on Irving Place. Gerri was born on Sept. 19, 1933, in Holdrege, Neb., to Esther Marilla Jenkins Asp and Everett Eugene Asp, the third of four children. She graduated from high school in Holdrege in 1951. Gerri was an excellent student and earned a scholarship to attend Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln. It was there that she met her future husband, Paul E. Scheele. She earned a teaching certificate from NWU in 1953 and began teaching elementary school in Hastings, Neb., that fall. In August a year later, she married Paul Scheele and worked as a clerk typist for a Lincoln insurance firm while her husband finished his undergraduate degree. In 1955, Gerri, her husband and their baby, Carla, traveled to Augusta, Ga., where he began a twoyear stint in the military. Gerri taught at a nursery school at Camp Gordon during this period and also
Alma M. DeLuise, 80, Oneonta; Bronx Native Raised Family Here
_________
took art and crafts classes 1970 of the Upper Catskill there. Community Council on A gifted artist, maker, the Arts (UCCCA), which educator and organizer, evolved into the current Gerri pursued her passion organization, Community for painting and later Arts Network of Oneonta for ceramic sculpture, (CANO). In 2008, a retrothroughout her life. spective of her work was Gerri moved with her presented in an exhibit at the family galleries at Wilber Mansion. from In later years, she worked Lincoln, to at Yager Museum of Art and Oneonta Culture at Hartwick College in 1964, as a program officer, at where she The Farmers’ Museum and became Fenimore Art Museum, a fully particularly with the Thaw engaged Collection of American and active Indian Art, in Cooperstown, Gerri Asp resident as a museum educator. Scheele for the She is survived by her remainder of her life. She Send daughters, Carla Scheele calendar items worked in advertising at (Harold Augenbraum), Bresee’s Department Store, Christie Scheele (Jack sewed fashion-forward outfits Morelli), and Karin Scheele for herself and her daughters (Bruce Lenkei); five grand(and taught sewing to Girl children, Audrey, Tessa, Scouts and 4-H’ers), played Tony, Alison and Emily; tennis in Wilber Park, hiked sister, Beverly Dierberger locally and in the Catskills of Garland, Nebraska; a and the Adirondacks (as a sister-in-law, Doris Asp of dedicated member of ADK, Holdrege, Nebraska; and Adirondack Mountain nine nieces and nephews. Club), cultivated her awardShe was predeceased winning gardens (she was by her mother, Esther; her a member of the Oneonta father, Everett; a brother, Garden Club), and took Dean Asp and another classes and received a B.A. brother, Wilson Asp. at SUNY Oneonta. A celebration of her life is Her works were exhibited planned with details to follow. in area galleries and in NYC. Arrangements are She taught art to children entrusted to the Lewis, in an Oneonta Recreation Hurley & Pietrobono Department program and Funeral Home. was a founding member in
ONEONTA – Alms M. DeLuise, 80, of Oneonta, a Bronx native who raised her family locally, passed away on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2019 at O’Connor Hospital in Delhi. She was born on July 16, 1939 in the Bronx, the daughter of Valentine and Muriel (Dinnen) Delaunay. She was predeceased by her husband Nicholas DeLuise. Alma enjoyed bartending in several local taverns in the area. She was also employed by Otsego County as a Clerk for many years. She is survived by 4 children, Arlette Ovady of New
A complete Guide to
Hampshire, Corinne Wright of the Bronx, Paul DeLuise of Virginia, and Nicole DeLuise of Milford; Alma 5 grandDeLuise children, Ashleigh LaPorta, Valerie Mayoka, Yvette DeLuise, James Predmore, and Casandra DeLuise; and several great nieces and nephews. Friends are invited
what’s fun in OtsegO COunty _________
Arline Attanasso, 89, Oneonta; Son And Daughter Survive Her
to info@allotsego.com ONEONTA – Arline Attanasso, 89, of Oneonta, who is survived by a son and daughter in Oneonta, passed away on Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019, at Fox Nursing Home. She was born on June 22, 1930, in Brooklyn, the daughter of the late Sidney A. and Victoreen (Maher) Walter. On May 13, 1950, Arline married Joseph Attanasso in Queens. Joseph predeceased her on Oct. 27, 1995. In 1982, following Joseph’s retirement, Arline and Joe moved to the area from Long Island. She enjoyed sewing, knitting, cooking and baking,
especially her famous “mistake” sugar cookies. But what was most important to Arline was her family and making a home for her family, most importantly, followed by her faith and friends. Arline is survived by her three children, Lynne Attanasso and her husband, Ralph Schoonebeek of Oneonta, James Attanasso of Oneonta and Steven Attanasso of New York City; one granddaughter, Beth Ellen Goetz of Oneonta; two great-granddaughters, Rebecca and Kelsey Goetz of Oneonta; one sister, Doris Thomas and her husband,
Ralph of New Jersey; and one brother-in-law, Joseph DeMalo of New Jersey; as well as several nieces and nephews. She was also predeceased by an infant sister, Mary Walter; and her sister-in-law, Bobbi DeMalo. At Arline’s request, there will be no calling hours or services. Memorial contributions in Arline’s name may be made to Community Gospel Church, 12 Grove St., Oneonta, New York 13820 or Heart of the Catskills Humane Society, P.O. Box 88, Delhi, New York 13753.
►SUNDAY, DEC. 29
►Monday, Dec. 30
BENEFIT CLASS –9 - 10 a.m. Enjoy restorative mixed style yoga class to benefit Cooperstown Food Pantry. All $10 suggested donations go to pantry. Registration requested. Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown. 607-547-2800, ext. 129.
ZUMBA PARTY – 6 - 7 p.m. Welcome New Year and party like it’s about to be 1920. Come dressed in best flapper outfit or wear black, white, & gold. Dress-up optional. Cost, $7/non-member. Oneonta YMCA, 20-26 Ford Ave., Oneonta. 607-432-0010.
what’s fun in OtsegO COunty _________ _______ what’s fun in OtsegO COunty
►Thursday, Dec. 19
Grandma loved her farm, her family, and playing her old guitar. Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home will take the time to find out what made your loved one special. Whether it’s finding just the right flowers, or finding a musician to play her favorite tunes on her old guitar, we’ll do what’s necessary to make her service as unique as she was.
Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home 14 Grand Street, Oneonta • 607-432-6821 www.grummonsfuneralhome.com
BOOKMOBILE – Check out the mobile library. 10-10:30 a.m. Schenevus Valley Lodge, 4 Main Street, Schenevus. 10:45-11:30 a.m. Fire Station, 1812 County Highway 34, Westford. 12:30-1 p.m. a.m. First Christian Church, 1160 State Highway 165, South Valley. 1:15-2 p.m. a.m. Town Hall, 3717 County Highway 35, Middlefield. www.4cls.org or 607-723-8236 RADON – 1:15 p.m. Learn to protect yourself from radon gas with Mathew Johnson. Test kits available. Cooperstown Senior Community Center, St. Mary’s Church, 31 Elm St., Cooperstown.
to greet the family on Thursday, Dec.19, 2019 at the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, 14 Grand Street, Oneonta, from 1 to 2 pm, where a prayer service will take place immediately following at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in Alma’s name to Helios Care (Catskill Area Hospice), 297 River Street Service Road, Suite 1, Oneonta, NY 13820. Arrangements are entrusted to the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, Oneonta.
amateur local performers; light refreshments; all welcome. Schuyler Lake United Methodist Church. Church Rd., Schuyler Lake.
►Friday, December 20 BLOOD DRIVE – 1 - 6 p.m. Give blood, save a life with American Red Cross. Southside Wesleyan Church, 5300 St. Hwy. 23, Oneonta. 1-800733-2767. OPENING RECEPTION – 5:30 - 8 p.m. Celebrate opening of holiday pop-up shop & show of new artworks by Mark Tougias. Henry March Gallery, 43 Pioneer St., Cooperstown.
►Saturday, Dec. 21
versar y Our 131st anni
Tillapaugh Funeral Service
POP-UP SHOP – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Enjoy treats by Allison King, owner Kings Kakery pastry shop. Available through 12/15. Oneonta History Center, 183 Main St., Oneonta. 607-432-0960. SOLSTICE CELEBRATION – 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Celebrate shortest day of year with cookies, refreshments, prizes, dance with Happy Hags Dance Troop, more. The Teepee, 7632 St. Rt. 20, Cherry Valley. 607-264-3987. SNACK SWAP – Noon - 2 p.m. Swap cookies, candies, other snacks with neighbors. Harris Memorial Library, 344 Main St, Otego. Call 607-9886661.
Home for the holidays. Let’s celebrate our love for our hometown by shopping local this season. Supporting local businesses helps everyone. Spread the cheer and Think Local First! We’re committed to helping local businesses grow and succeed. It’s part of our What Starts Here, Stays Here philosophy.
Happy Holidays from Bank of Cooperstown
►Monday, Dec. 23 Our historic Family Room
Our Chapel comfortably seats over 200. George M. Tillapaugh (1888-1913) · Revo and Anna Tillapaugh (1913-1958) George G. and Marjorie Tillapaugh (1935-1988) · Martin H. Tillapaugh (1988-Present)
dignity · tradition · continuity 28 Pioneer Street, cooPerStown • 607-547-2571 Proudly serving area families since 1888
BLOOD DRIVE – Give blood, save a life with American Red Cross. Walk-ins welcome. 1-6 p.m. Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown. 2:30 - 6:30 p.m. Community Center, Walnut St., Richfield Springs. 1-800-733-2767.
►Saturday, Dec. 28 COFFEE HOUSE –7 - 9 p.m. Music in range of genres by
73 Chestnut St. | Cooperstown, NY | 607-547-2210 34 Main St. | Oneonta, NY | 607-432-7000 Open 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. (Monday – Friday) bankofcooperstown.com