bearing witness to
d-day ALEX BAUER REMEMBERS/B1
HOMETOWN ONEONTA E!
E FR Volume 6, No. 37
City of The Hills
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, June 6, 2014
Complimentary
$11 MILLION IN GRANTS SOUGHT
$11 Million Agri-Hub, Hotel, More In Works learn. dream. live. run.
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Lynne Trona, Burlington Flats, hugs rescue dog Dakota during the Bark For Life anticancer walk Saturday, May 31, at Fortin Park in Emmons/OTHER PHOTO, A6
Summit Goal: Alignment Of Jobs, Studies
A
n Education/Workforce Summit to look at aligning local colleges’ programs with jobs available in the region is planning 9 a.m.noon Wednesday, June 18, at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Hall. The program is planned by CORE,(Career Opportunities in Rural Education), a consortium of 20 businesses, school districts, colleges and state legislators. Those interested in attending should call Elizabeth Rickard at 286-7721, ext. 8421, or e-mail at erickard@ milfordcentral.org by June 13. MUSIC...Catskill Area Hospice announced Lynyrd Skynyrd will perform at its annual Celebrity Party July 11, 2014 at the Wright National Soccer Campus. AND MORE MUSIC... and Three Dog Night will perform Sunday, Aug. 24, at Damaschke Field. HONORING STRECK: The public is invited to three receptions to honor retiring Bassett President/CEO Bill Streck Friday, June 13, 7:30 -9 a.m.; noon-1:30 p.m. and 4-5:30 p.m. on the veranda of the Cooperstown hospital.
o
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
neonta girls were well represented at the 14th annual Girls on the Run 5K race Sunday, June 1, at the Clark Sports Center, including, in top photo, the Ewing girls: Theresa, left, and Tinker Bell in mom Sarah’s arms. All of the city’s elementary schools were represented as 700 girls, plus 300 friends, from six counties participated in the selfesteem-building program/OTHER PHOTO, A6
F
or book lovers, the first Monday of June at the Green Toad Book Store is even better than Black Friday. The line of custom-
C
ity Hall’s plans for this round of state economic-development funding include a multi-phased concept to convert downtown Oneonta into an artisanal food and beverage hub, including a “very upscale” boutique hotel. The city is seeking $11 million grants over the next month to move the plans forward. “There’s an awful lot going on,” said Mayor Dick Miller. “It’s very exciting. Right now, the devil Miller is in the details, and we’re trying to put as much detail into it as we can.” The two central components are: • An $8-9 million redevelopment of the former Oneonta Ford Sales building at Chestnut and Market into a farmers’ market/natural foods processing center, perhaps with housing on a new top floor. Please See $11 MILLION, A7
‘Friendliest Town’ Future Promising, Mike Long Says By JIM KEVLIN
S
Book-Swap Mania Waxing By LIBBY CUDMORE
By JIM KEVLIN
ers anxious to get the best books first, wrapped from the front of 198 Main St. to past the Latte Lounge. And inside, owner Michelle Barry watched the clock, her hand ready to flip the Open/Closed sign. Please See MANIA, A3
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Susan Rochmis, Delhi, and Somer Coyle and her son Ben, Oneonta, browse the book swap.
yracuse did it with Armory Square. Rochester, with Corn Hill. Buffalo and Albany are following suit. All these cities see quality HOMETOWN ONEONTA Mike Long housing in city is pursuing a centers as the new career in key to downsemi-retiretown revivals, ment. Oneonta’s first city manager, Mike Long, said in an interview on his last day in the city. If anything, Oneonta is ahead of Please See LONG, A7
HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST CIRCULATION NEWSPAPER 2010 WINNER OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD Open Daily, 10am-5pm
Winslow Homer:
The Nature and Rhythm of Life FROM THE ARKELL MUSEUM IN CANAJOHARIE
June 6 - August 24
KIDS FREE! 12 and under
5798 Route 80 t Cooperstown t FenimoreArtMuseum.org Winslow Homer, Watching the Breakers - A High Sea, 1896, Oil on canvas, Arkell Museum at Canajoharie, Gift of Bartlett Arkell, 1935