Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Catskill Choral Society Music Director Colin Armstrong directs practice for “Bach to Bach,” his final local performance before leaving the area. The program will be at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, and 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9, at First United Methodist Church. He is also Hartwick College’s choir director.
Seward Brings SUNY Impact Money Home
$200,000 is en route to the City of Oneonta to offset policing costs that result from being a SUNY host community, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, announced a few minutes ago. The money was included in the 2016-17 state budget agreed upon by the state Senate, the Assembly and Governor Cuomo by last week’s April 1 deadline.
“This is a big win for Oneonta,” said the senator.
NO WINTER: The 201516 winter was the warmest on record in Otsego County, and yielded the least snow, according to David Mattice, Eye on the Weather columnist/SEE A6
BAN IMPACT: A least
two SUNY Oneonta professors are unable to attend conferences in South Carolina after Governor Cuomo’s ban on state travel there in a dispute over LGBT legislation. Details on WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
LOWER TAXES? GO-
EDC’s next program: “Reducing the City Tax Rate,” 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, at the Hampton Inn.
Job
MasTech Hires All 26 Job Corps Lineman Trainees For Carolina Project
By LIBBY CUDMORE
orking on the line, Oneonta Job Corps graduates have all the skills to get the job done, and big employers are starting to notice. “We had one student, Akeeno Stone, who was
Gary Herzig, Peacemaker
By LIBBY CUDMORE
Mayor Gary Herzig came to Common Council as a peacemaker Thursday, April 5. After almost two years of discord as the city hired, then fired, its first two city managers, Herzig proposed a number conciliatory recommendations that may bring Council members together on a way forward. The new mayor acknowledged a “half-dozen recommendations” from his ad hoc
working a job that required someone to climb the pole,” said Chris Kuhn, Job Corps center director. “None of the other linemen knew how to do it anymore, because they always used bucket trucks. But we taught them to climb here, so up he went, and the others were flabbergasted. They ended up paying him more.” It’s that level of training that has attracted
Charter Review Committee “created some disagreement,” and he backed away from several of them.
The suggestion that had drawn the most fire was to remove the city manager qualifications from the City Charter, and Herzig said he now favors leaving it as is as “a place holder,” pending future discussion.
Originally, he thought, “removing the qualifications made sense. However, it created concern, so I’m recommending we leave it in for now.”
Please See HERZIG, A7
Pittsburgh-based MasTech’s attention. The second largest Hispanic-owned company in America, and a premier company for electric, natural gas and fiber-optic infrastructure, it has offered all 26 members of OJC’s current lineman class jobs when they finished their training. They will work on the FCC’s Connecting Please See HIRED, A7
By LIBBY CUDMORE & JIM KEVLIN SCHENEVUS
Amultivehicle pile-up – a bus, three tractor trailers and 11 cars and SUVs – on I-88’s west bound lanes on Sunday, April 3, was the worst incident First Assistant Chief Paul Neske of the Schenevus Fire Department had seen on the four-lane in his 40 years as a firefighter.
“This is the stuff we hear about on the national news,” he said that evening at the fire district headquarters on Main Street. Neske was in church when the first call
Please See PILE-UP, B8
Oneonta Job Corps photo
Oneonta
Corps linemen hired by MasTech are, front row, from left, C. Betts, S. Haynesworth; middle row, from left, B. Coleman, B. Abbott, L. Shufford, T. Wright, L. Pilgrim, E. Smith, R. Moz-Chavarria, D. Moore, K. Rupp, D. Hall, D. Messing; back row, from left, T. Mosher, J. McNair, D. Davis, M. Jackson, C. Whitmore, M. Beaseley.
Mayor Herzig
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA An I-88 road sign was bent during the Sunday, April 3, pile-up.
IN GERMANY: Gianluca Avanzato of Oneonta will be abroad during Union College’s spring term, studying German language and culture in Berlin and Freiburg. A member of the Class of 2018, she is majoring in poly-sci.
MRAVLJA REUPS: Specialist Christopher Mravlja, Laurens, has reenlisted with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2-108th Infantry, New York National Guard.
INTERN IN LA: Seamus Murphy of Oneonta, a junior at Ithaca College, is interning this semester with Smart Entertainment in Los Angeles, and taking classes at the James B. Pendleton Center. He is the son of James and Susan Murphy.
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
The Oneonta Rotary Club presented a $1,300 check to OHS Athletic Director Joe Hughes to be
in the high school’s wrestling program during its annual meeting on Thursday, March 31. The money is raised annually in the Rotary-sponsored Ross Cordell Wrestling Tournament, held in January for the 27th time; 18 teams participated. From left are club President Dave Rowley, committee members Dick Miller and Chad Smith, Oneonta Superintendent of Schools Joe Yelich, Hughes, and Geoff Smith, who emceed the ceremony.
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Retired SUNY Oneonta President Alan Donovan and his wife, Ann, left, chat with County Judge Brian Burns and his wife Elizabeth Sunday, April 3, at the annual Epicurean Festival at The Otesaga to benefit Catskill Area Hospice. Hospice CEO Lola Rathbone said a record 380 attendees registered for the annual event.
HOMETOWN Views
Mayor
Gary Herzig Rises To Challenge
Gary Herzig may be on the way to becoming a great mayor of Oneonta after all. His statesmanly retreat from the most worrisome recommendations of his ad hoc Charter Review Committee will allow him and Common Council to refocus on the task at hand: Finding the right city manager, and launching a process of education and discussion within City Hall to build support for professional government.
If the original goal of the latest charter review – not all committee members, it seems, were clued in – was to remove the educational and residential requirements from the charter to allow the powers that be to pick a candidate of their choice, now that’s not going to happen.
Mayor Herzig also showed a practical streak: The committee’s proposed charter changes were great enough to require another referendum, which would have created months of turmoil, expense and – if the outcome were nay, as was likely – would have put City Hall right back where it started from. Better to make the best of what is, and strive to make the city charter work. In ensuring that doesn’t happen, Mayor Herzig fulfilled citizens’ greatest hope, to turn attention once again to making our beloved City of the Hills a model for other Upstate cities to follow. Well done!
Cooperstown Owns ’Em – So Plow ’Em
Afew years ago, talk about a possible merger of the village and town of Cherry Valley fizzled. The village plowed sidewalks. Villagers loved that service and didn’t want to give it up. To them, the extra cost was worth the extra service.
On to the Village of Cooperstown’s conundrum (suddenly relevant given the reminder in the past few days that it’s not unusual for winters to go into May around here).
On Sunday, Jan. 17, it snowed, and people – and/or their contractors – shoveled walks and driveways that evening. Overnight Monday-Tuesday, a light snow fell – not enough, some householders and plow owners concluded, to shovel again “to the pavement” within the 24 hours required by village ordinance.
The village DPW thought otherwise, and that Friday DPW crews cleared sidewalks to their satisfaction and fined 26 errant property owners $108 each.
In the uproar that followed, the Village Board at its February meeting forgave all the fines, and bounced the issue to Trustee Cindy Falk’s Streets Committee for review. Mayor Jeff Katz expressed the view that, since all 20-some miles of sidewalks in the village can’t be inspected after every storm, enforcement is, by necessity, “random,” and therefore worrisome.
At the monthly meeting at the end of
Hebert’s Courage Leaves Legacy Of Stability
Dear CCS Community:
C.J Hebert touched many lives as superintendent of schools for the Cooperstown Central School District.
One my proudest accomplishments as a member of the school board was to participate in the hiring of C.J. My decision to leave the board was made much harder by my respect for him and what he has done for the district.
From the very beginning C.J. worked very hard to know each and every person who worked at the school. It was amazing to see how quickly he knew everyone as unique individuals. The last six years have been a very busy time for CCS and C.J. rose to each challenge, always with the perspective of how can we best educate our children, respect the concerns of the community and position CCS as strongly as possible for the future.
C.J. had many great qualities. There are three qualities I admired in him and for which I have profound respect.
He had a moral compass
that provided consistency of purpose, always aligning decisions that would be best for the district, even when some disagreed. He had vision, to assure CCS would be a regional education leader into the future.
He had courage to face challenges head on, ask the questions that needed to be asked, answer the questions that needed to be answered, and always do the right thing.
C.J. Hebert will be greatly missed. He will be difficult to replace. Fortunately, he leaves a great legacy that will provide stability for the district in these difficult times.
DAVID BORGSTROM, MD
Morgantown, W.Va.
Editor’s Note: Until leaving Cooperstown last year, Dr. Borgstrom served on the CCS board through Hebert’s tenure, mostly as chair.
Like this, only smaller, small enough for the Village of Cooperstown to plow its own sidewalks – after all, it owns them.
March, the committee made a three-point proposal: create an “opt-in” e-mail system whereby homeowners could be notified; revive the formerly required 24-hour notice before the village crew steps in, or – third – encourage neighbors to tattle on their neighbors if sidewalks aren’t shoveled sufficiently and promptly.
Objections from other trustees bounced the question back to Falk’s committee, with the mayor observing – wrongly, it’s turned out – that it probably wouldn’t snow for months.
Let’s try to cast this in a larger context.
If unplowed sidewalks are a pressing problem, the Village Board could solve it forever, one way in particular.
A la Cherry Valley, the Village of Cooperstown DPW used to have a little sidewalk plow and cleared and salted sidewalks as a service to residents. (A few years ago, Republican then-mayor Joe Booan proposed reviving that service, but the Democratic majority rejected the idea because it was Booan’s, not because it was bad).
So this is the current Village Board’s dilemma: Trustees believe it’s important that the sidewalks be cleared, but not important enough to spend the money to do so.
Problem, money. Solution, spend it. There’s another argument in favor of reviving sidewalk plowing: The village owns the sidewalks. Yet, for years now, it has been ordering citizens – the ultimate bosses, incidentally – to shovel village property, or else. How high-handed is that?
• While we’re at it, let’s embrace the idea that there are no perfect regulations. And, thus, the clutter of new ones should be avoided to the degree possible. Here’s another idea: The next time new regulations are proposed as a solution to a problem someone just happened to notice, the Village Board should wait six months before initiating any study or action. At the end of that time, the trustees may discover the problem wasn’t so pressing after all.
Town’s Water Districts Good For All; Editorial Extends Dishonest Narrative
To the Editor:
Thank you to the Oneonta Town Board for its 4-0 vote approving the Southside water districts last month. This important investment in our local infrastructure was requested and supported by a majority of residential and commercial properties in that area of town. The past several decades of unchecked “dumb growth” led to a patchwork
of public and private wells and septic systems and eventually to a crisis of contaminated and low-flow water systems. The newly approved municipal system will take Southside into the 21st century and ensure clean and plentiful water for decades to come. It is unfortunate that this newspaper continues to approach this issue (as it does with nearly every Town of
Oneonta issue) with a clear bias and increasingly dishonest narrative. The April 1 editorial is the latest in a long line of anti-town conspiracy theories put forward by this paper and it is based on two blatant misrepresentations.
First, this paper argues that the Southside water district encourages development outside of our county
Please See STAMMEL, A6
Poisonous Glyphosates Ending Up In Food
To the Editor:
Today, I am alarmed, much as I recall feeling in 2008 when I first learned about the harms to human health and our water resources inherent in the process of hydrofracking for shale gas.
Today’s real and present danger lies in the use of glyphosates on our foods and in our environment. More and more countries around the globe are banning glyphosates, but here in the U.S., money and profits appear to rule.
The glyphosates in weedkillers like Roundup, and the increasing practice of spraying crops of wheat, soy and corn just before harvesting (at Monsanto’s recommendation!), have led to the dramatic
increase of gluten intolerance, celiac disease, thyroid and gallbladder diseases, as well as the incidence of microcephaly in newborns – particularly in South and Central American countries where glyphosates are liberally used.
I urge you to look into this for yourself – and Google research such as, “Glyphosates: Pathways to Modern Diseases” (found on the government’s National Institute of Health site). Don’t be fooled by Monsanto’s naysayers who troll social media and other web information sources. Read it for yourself! And then tell your friends!
MAUREEN DILL Garrattsville
People Enjoyed Cope’s Corner Even Before Civil War
Editor’s Note: Leigh Eckmair, Butternuts town historian, provided this account of Copes Corners, where the reopening of a former county park as a town park is being celebrated Saturday, May 7.
GILBERTSVILLE
The place we know as “Cope’s Corners Park” has a long and respected history of being an asset of the Town of Butternuts. It will surprise many to learn the place was a recreation center of the area, popular for fishing, swimming and picnicking, camping, family reunions, etc. since long before the Civil War, more than 150 years ago. The park land is located on the lower end
of an ancient Indian “highway,” and its cross roads going northeast and southwest.
Known as Upton Park, the hamlet was a busy center of commerce and
manufacturing since earliest days of the township. At that place, a Tollhouse keeper charged for travel on the turnpike westward to a bridge near Mount Upton. A busy Inn and livery stable occupied the south west corner of the intersection and the local school was around the corner. The 7 acre “park” property was part of a farm acquired by Rev. Edward Cope and his family years before the Civil War. Generations of the Cope family, neighbors and friends, loved that spot Please See ECKMAIR, A6
Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Butternuts Town Historian Leigh Eckmair at Cope’s Corners Park.
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Mayor Herzig
HOMETOWN ONEONTA
On March 6, 2013, CCS board then-president David Borgstrom casts vote to change the school’s mascot from Redskins to Hawkeyes. At left is C.J. Hebert. At right, board vice president Mary Leonard.
100 Years ago
HOMETOWN History
For the first time in the history of the city a band of gypsies passed through the city of oneonta without halting for a visit to a single business place Tuesday afternoon. The band, numbering fully 25 people, inclusive of men, women and children, and a dozen or more horses had camped near Maryland the previous night. They were followed through the city by Motorcycle officer Brown. When they showed any signs of making a stop, they were vigorously motioned to proceed. They were not over-pleased with the attention accorded them, but only murmured to themselves and went on. officer Brown gave them his personal attention until they were below the Pony Farm crossing. sheriff Brown came to oneonta earlier in the day and, accompanied by Chief Blizard and officer Brown of the local force, paid a visit to the gypsy camp near Maryland and made a thorough search of the vehicles and property of the band. a notice had previously been received that it was surmised that a white child was improperly in possession of some band traveling about the state. a search was made for it without discovery. reports from points east say that such a gang visited Worcester and Warnerville and robbed farm barns and henneries at several places.
April 1916
80 Years ago
The consolidation of Wagner College with Hartwick College is a matter that may come up for discussion at the spring convention of the eastern Conference, United Lutheran synod of New York next week. a request for a new building at Hartwick College is expected to be presented at the synod meeting and no move is anticipated that would curtail the program of that institution. Consolidation will require careful study as Wagner Memorial Lutheran College was established in 1886 and for the past 12 years has been located at grymes Hill, staten Island. Many of its graduates hold positions of honor and distinction in the denomination. Wagner’s current enrollment is 188 and its faculty is composed of 14 teachers. The Hartwick Theological seminary, formerly located in Hartwick seminary, is now located in Brooklyn. Hartwick College was established in oneonta in 1928. It has 336 students and a faculty of 24 men and women.
April 1936
60 Years ago
roy Kent will coach the oneonta High school football team at least for another year. The oneonta Board of education has offered Kent an increase in salary, made possible through a new salary schedule for teachers who also have coaching duties. Kent also teaches driver education and will begin new part-time duties as a guidance counselor. Kent confirmed that he has “definitely” turned down an offer from Norristown, Pennsylvania, a high school football perennial powerhouse. Kent came to oneonta in 1952 after the athletic program, and particularly the football program, was
recommended the establishment of a full-time football program from grade through high school. Kent, ably assisted by other coaches, students, townspeople and the school board, has made oneonta a feared name in the Iroquois League. April 1956
40 Years ago
Dr. adolph g anderson, who as President of Hartwick College guided the institution through innovative changes over the past seven years, died yesterday at Fox Hospital after a long illness. He was 62. The bell at the Yager Museum Building on the Hartwick campus rang in mourning yesterday afternoon shortly after anderson’s death was announced. Classes on the campus were cancelled today. a special memorial tribute to President anderson will be held at 10 a.m. at the Center for the arts. The center was constructed under anderson’s leadership. anderson was named to the presidency in 1969, succeeding Dr. Fred Binder. Many new research, educational, and recreational programs were started during his tenure, including acquisition of the 1,100 acre Pine Lake campus near West Davenport. April, 1976
30 Years ago
Issues in Women’s health will be discussed by a panel of three specialists at the april 8th meeting of the oneonta Professional Women’s Network. Panelists include georgia Couden, a family therapist in private practice in oneonta; Dr. Dinah Farrington, a fourth-year resident at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, and Dr. Lorraine Platka-Bird, an assistant professor of nutrition at the state University College at oneonta. The program is to be held in the Larsen Lounge of Bresee Hall on the Hartwick College Campus. The three women will each focus on their respective areas of expertise while discussing the prevention and treatment of health problems common to women. They will also examine the change in women’s roles and the impact of such changes on health, marriage and the family.
April 1986
20 Years ago
The “March for Jesus 1996” will be held saturday, May 25 with 16 area churches committed to participate. “March for Jesus” is an international event uniting cities across the world to exalt Jesus. It is a procession through city streets with praise, prayer and proclamation of faith. Meetings to prepare for oneonta’s first “March for Jesus” are scheduled for 7 p.m., april 8, at Main street Baptist Church where task leaders will meet with other volunteers. T-shirts and tapes will be sold to help raise funds for the march. on Friday april 12, from 7-9 p.m., at Community gospel Church, 12 grove street, Barbara schrell of rejoice Ministries, schenectady, will conduct a “Banner seminar.” another “Banner Workshop” will be held on saturday, april 13, at Community gospel Church from 1 to 4 p.m.
April 1996
Compiled by Tom HeiTz with resources courtesy of The New York State Historical Association Library
revamped following the Waters report prepared by Len Waters, Williams College football coach. The Waters report
Editor’s Note: David Mattice, National Weather Service observer in the Oneonta area for the past 30 years, provides monthly and annual summaries of local weather as a public service.
THE YEAR WITHOUT A WINTER! It’s one for the record books, that’s for sure. First, let’s take a look at the stats for March. The mean temperature for last month was 6.3 degrees above the norm, not a record, but it was the third warmest March ever recorded. Only 1.46 inches of precipitation fell during the month, the average is 3.01 inches. Normal snowfall for the month is 14.8 inches, we only saw 0.6 of an inch of the white stuff! You lived through the least snowiest March on record in Otsego County’s history. The only thing that came anywhere near being normal for March was the stiff winds that howled about almost every day. Where to start summarizing the winter of 2015-16? I guess that “record setting”,
DAVID MATTICE
“weird” and “crazy” best tell the story. It was the warmest and least snowy winter on record here in the Oneonta/ Cooperstown area. Actually, that held true for most all of the northeastern United States. We smashed a whole bunch of records! Temperatures averaged 6.2 degrees above the norm from December 2015 through March 2016. We have never experienced such wintertime warmth since we started collecting weather data in 1854. Snow took the year off, so to speak. Only 17.7 inches of snowfall dusted our area, it’s still hard to wrap your head around such a low amount. By the way, normal annual snowfall is 78-80 inches. Here’s an amazing fact: not one organized snow storm
system passed through the county all winter! Again, not one single snowstorm, is that weird or what? The most snow in a 24 -hour period was 3.8 inches, hardly enough to shovel. The minimal snow we did see was caused by lake effect from Lake Ontario, or from outer bands of snow storms that scooted south of the area. We are in need of precipitation, so please don’t burn items outside, it’s against the law! 23
April is forecast to be cooler than normal. And we are moving into the time of year when the U.S. experiences it’s most severe weather, April through June. Please pay attention to forecasts, watches and warnings. 5
Until next month, enjoy April and all of the fun things you can do outside, and make sure to set aside some time to observe the reawakening of the earth. And lastly, remember to Keep Your Eye on the Weather.
Town Board Must Give OK for Delaware To Buy Water
STAMMEL/From A4 with investment and taxes sure to exit as well. This is false. The water districts are composed entirely of properties within the Town of Oneonta. Any potential outside user would need to approach future town boards and request that the town sell water to them. This is not a foregone conclusion. i agree that we should not encourage commercial sprawl outside of our county limits and i would urge the town to reject those kinds of requests. The other clear and knowing falsehood is the editor’s statement that the city could “simply and more cheaply” provide the same water to our residents. This is false. As the editor knows, the city proposed a plan to provide water to the business district only and at a much higher cost – about twice as much. Approving that plan doesn’t make sense and would leave homeowners without assistance. it would be a disservice to our property owners if the
Housekeeping
Oneonta Area
Call Betty 607-441-3180 for honest, dependable, and experienced service
town board chose a plan that would cost significantly more with no apparent additional benefit; and it would have zero chance of approval by property owners. But perhaps zero development in the town is exactly what your newspaper wants. The implication of nearly every pertinent editorial here is that any success in the town hurts the city. in the real world, every bit of economic development that occurs in the carefully zoned Southside District (or the rest of the Town) helps lower taxes for town AND city taxpayers. Southside
contributes vast amounts of school taxes to OHS as well as sales tax to the County, helping everyone. it’s time for this paper to retire its dishonest and backward “us vs. them” mentality. Most of us visit businesses on both Southside and Main Street. We succeed when we work together, as Southside and Main Street businesses recognized when they joined together in Destination Oneonta. Supervisor Wood and Mayor Dick Miller supported this approach and hopefully Mayor Herzig will as well.
Both city and town residential and commercial areas and their patrons deserve clean and plentiful water and should not be forced to pay enormous premiums to satisfy the unfounded biases of the opinion class. it’s time for this paper to abandon these dishonest arguments and clear biases and to applaud one of the most significant investments in our public infrastructure and local economy in recent years.
ANDREW STAMMEL County Representative District 4 Town of Oneonta
ECKMAIR/From A4 on the Butternut Creek. The Copes were generous in sharing its use for recreation, part of it being fenced off for use by family heifers. Years later, after the county developed the park, locals were known to complain, “…don’t see why we have to pay to use the park. Your father always let us go there to fish and camp and stuff for free!” The Cope family, to ensure that people could continue to use the place for recreation long after they were gone, offered the property to Otsego County to develop as a public park. The county accepted and received the property, in 1968, for $1.00. it was to include facilities for both day use and overnight camping, picnic pavilions, water system, rest rooms, campsites, roadside picnicking, children’s play area and parking for thirty-five cars.
A beach area on the Butternut Creek was to accommodate about 100 swimmers. New York offered a matching grant for the recreational development and the county matched that amount,
a total of $30,000. The park opened in 1971. Depending upon County interest, Cope’s Corners park has operated more or less successfully in the intervening years. The length of the camping season, commonly May 1st to September 30th, has depended upon the whims of the county. A number of years saw extremely successful late fall operation serving out-of area hunters through the end of November. for 40+ years of operation, use of the park has made a significant contribution to the economy of the township. it is the only business which consistently draws paying tourists to the town. Campsite rentals have provided additional support to those selling and serving food, gas and hardware as well as a seasonal statistical increase of post Office use. The past several years of limited or no camping at the park has taken a toll on those types of businesses in the township.
Cope’s Corners park is a major asset of the township.
AllOTSEGO.homes
“Tiny House” – Tucked into just under an acre in the Pierstown hillside, this circa 1920s, 714 sq ft cottage was renovated from top to bottom by the current owner. Front-to-back BR, LR/DR opens to nicely done kitchen. ¾ bath also houses a stack washer and dryer. Everything you need is well put together for graceful living in this dear cottage. Original wood floors remain. Very nice new windows bring both the outside and the light in. A perfect artist’s retreat or getaway. Covered front porch offers a lovely sitting space with views out over the valley. House to be sold mostly furnished if so desired. Offered Exclusively by Ashley-Connor Realty $149,800
Mayor To Bring In Facilitator To Help Guide Council Discussion On City Manager
HERZIG/From A1
“People in my ward wanted it to be there,” said Council member Dana Levinson, Fifth Ward. “Better to leave it there than to ruffle feathers.”
“This was originally designed to be a basic portion of the description, and it would blossom from that,” said Council Member David Rissberger, Third Ward and a member of the original charter commission.
And although Council Member Melissa Nicosia, Second Ward and a member of the review committee, agreed with the change, she defended her original stance on removing the qualifications from the charter.
“I had originally brought forward a stronger set of qualifications,” she said. “I believe that if you put the qualifica-
tions in, they shouldn’t just be a baseline. They should be a reflection of what we want in
a city manager. If it’s left the way it is, we can’t change it or make it stronger.”
In coming days, Herzig continued, Council would meet with “experienced facilitators” to discuss the city manager search. “We need to figure out what Oneonta needs in the next city manager,” he said. “Only after that will we be able to look at the qualifications and revisit whether or not they need to be in the charter, a job description or a hybrid of both.”
Council members also expressed agreement with Herzig’s recommendation that the mayor not be given a vote in the hiring of the city manager. “A referendum would be required, so it’s wise to delete it,” he said.
“By the time we get through the applicants, it shouldn’t be a close vote,” said Council member Russ Southard, Sixth Ward, and a member of the re-
view committee. “The mayor will have his say during the interview process.”
“We’re trusting that none of the members will be running off without considering the opinions of others,” said Council Member John Rafter, Seventh Ward, also a member of the review committee.
And Council unanimously rejected the recommendation that abstentions would count as “nay” votes.
“We’ve kidded about it, but it’s never even come close,” said Southard. “I don’t think it’s a big deal.”
“There’s no need for a change,” said Council member Joe Ficano, Eighth Ward. “We need to protect Council members’ ability to abstain.”
Herzig also offered a middle way on who commands police and fire during an emergency:
The mayor would be the point of contact with federal and state officials, the media and public. The city manager, meanwhile, would be make emergency decisions regarding public safety, in conjunction with the mayor. “The language of ‘calling out the police’ is very old and doesn’t have a clear meaning,” he said.
“If there’s floods, if there’s an issue with police or fire, they’re not just waiting around for the mayor or the city manager to pick up the phone,” said Rissberger. “They’ll be out there. The important thing is that we establish a chain of command, and this does that.” The recommendations will now go to City Attorney David Merzig for review and compilation, then a public hearing and vote will be announced.
MasTech Plan To Hire All Of OJC’s Lineman
HIRED/From A1
America broadband project in North Carolina.
“We met with them in March, and they said they needed 26 linemen for the Connect America fiber optics project,” said Kuhn. “They were really impressed with the knowledge our kids have. They said it was comparable to a four-year degree from an electrician’s college.”
“Before this, the largest single group we’d sent was four students to work on the Long Island Railroad,” he continued. “This is the first time we’ve ever had a mass placement, but we want to make it a routine thing.”
Job Corps has 16 students ready to graduate from the year-long SmartGrid training program in May, and MasTechh will have jobs for all of them, too.
“They have a lot of Google contracts for the Eastern seaboard,” said Shane Smith, SmartGrid lead instructor of the SmartGrid program. “They have work in Florida, Delaware, all up the coast setting up fiber-optic cables. They need the workers.”
Smith and Kuhn are also studying MasTechh’s specific needs with the intent to train students for the jobs directly to better help future hires. “We want to listen and give the employer what they need,” said Kuhn.
Two of those SmartGrid students, Matt Jackson and Shawn Haynesworth, are the first two of the class to have accepted jobs with a MasTechh in Southern Pines, N.C, starting in May.
“The site is an hour from where I grew up,” said Jackson. “I had completed an electricians program at the Earle C. Clements Job Corps site,
but saw the lineman program here, I said, ‘I think I can do that’.”
“My dad and my uncle both came to Job Corps, but neither of them finished,” said Haynesworth. “I’m the first one to graduate. I’ve always been interested in power, and climbing to those heights is such a rush!”
“It’s a little uncomfortable at first, but you trust the belt,” he said. “It’s a lot of labor, but you get used to it.”
The remaining students in the class are still working on their final placement, and Kuhn has said that MasTech has indicated that they have every intention of hiring them as well. Two other students have been hired by Henkels & McCoy, another electrical company.
“We’re adding a lot of diversity to the workforce,” said Kuhn. “These are good, high-paying jobs, and they need workers.”
In the meantime, Job Corps is working on helping the remaining members of the class finish their placements, find housing and transportation for their work with MasTech.
“We don’t just want to open the door after graduation and say ‘Have a good day’,” said Smith. “We’re putting together a team to make sure they can access services so they can go to work.” Kuhn also hopes to start conversations with other large hiring organizations, such as Fox Hospital and Bassett. “We want them to have an interest in our students, so we need to know what their standards are so we can train to them,” he said. “We need to make sure our students are competitive. But the energy is really contagious.”
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA
Council member Dana Levinson said her Fifth Ward constituents want the city manager’s credentials left in the charter. Listening are City Clerk Nancy Powell, right, and Council member Russ Southard.
EARTH FESTIVAL
2016
9 a.m.-3 p.m.
Saturday, April 9
Milford Central School
SCHEDULE
►9 a.m., Pre-festival bird walk (free), led by Bob Donnelly, Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society.
(Meet in MCS parking lot)
►11 a.m.-3 p.m., Exhibitors’ Fair
►1 p.m., “Sustaining Biodiversity with Heritage Species,” Barbara Melera of D. Landreth Seed Co.
►2 p.m., “Climate and Energy Action in NYS,” Robyn Reynolds, sustainability planner, Climate Action Associates.
HIGHLIGHTS
►EcoArt/Trendy Trash exhibit, with prizes.
►Recycling services: Styrofoam, bubble wrap, Confidata shredder, wood pellet bags. Also, previously non-recyclable items like toothpaste tubes and brushes, cereal bags, pens and pen caps.
►Children’s activities, led by MCS students.
►Food by Originals Cafe and Tickled Pink BBQ
►MCS TREP$ Marketplace, with young entrepreneurs trying out their business ideas.
EXHIBITORS (partial)
►Gilson’s Native American crafts, including jewelry, beadwork
► Living Waters Honduras Mission, which installed ozone treatment systems in three mountain villages
►CNR Energy Solutions, Energy Equity offering ways to make homes more energy efficient.
►Leatherstocking Beekeepers, displaying equipment
►Ruby Lake Glass, making aggregate from recycled glass.
SPECIAL OFFERING
►Spring Garden Day Workshops, on issues like food preservation, tomato diseases, native pollinators. $10. Preregister at 5472536
PEAS TO PINKS
Barbara Melera fell in love with colorful catalogues – and bought company.
By LIBBY CUDMORE
SHARON SPRINGS
Barbara Melera liked the D. Landreth Seed Co. catalogues so much she bought the company.
“I was standing in the Landreth building in Baltimore, with mice running over my shoes, and the man I was talking to just handed me this filthy box of catalogues,” she said.
“When I wiped off the dust, I realized I was holding 150 years worth of documents in my hands. I had to have the catalogues, so I went home and told my husband that
Mark SkyShrewsberry discusses the TechTamer, which organizes all those electronic devices that would otherwise be scattered about the house.
we were buying the company!” Melera will be the featured speaker at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 3, at Earth Festival 2016 at Milford Central School, organized by the OCCA. D. Landreth Seed Co. is the oldest seed company in the United States, founded in 1784 by David Landreth on High Street in Philadelphia. Over the years, the company introduced the rutabaga, the zinnia, the tomato and the white Please See LANDRETH, B3
By LIBBY CUDMORE
COOPERSTOWN
ost woodworkers know their way about a table saw or a band saw. But Mark Sky-Shrewsberry knows his way around one blindfolded.
“At the Carroll School for the Blind in Newton, Mass., they had a basement woodworking shop,” he said. “I took classes there, and the final test is that you have to operate the table saws blindfolded.”
Sky-Shrewsberry has Blue Cone Monochromacy, a hereditary vision impairment marked by difficulties with seeing distance, sensitivity Please See TECHTAMER, B4
It’s “Bach to Bach” at the Catskill Choral Society’s spring concert, featuring two concertos by J.S. Bach, and more. The Hartwick College Choir joins in. 7:30 p.m., Friday April 8 and 3 p.m. Saturday, April 9. Tickets $12-$22 (under 12 free). First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, www. catskillchoralsociety.com.
JUST A PEEP: Everyone’s invited to Hartwick College’s “Peep Show,” the annual contest featuring whimsical art and dioramas made of the marshmallow treats. Friday, April 8. Free; vote for your favorite. Drop off entries 9 a.m.-noon; judging at 2 p.m.; refreshments at 3 p.m.; awards at 4 p.m. Foyer, Anderson Center for the Arts, Hartwick College, Oneonta. Info, Laura Cernik at (518) 779-9033.
ART & POETRY: Opening for new exhibits by artists Frank Vurraro and Kristen Dahms, Friday, April 8. 4:30 p.m. poetry reading by Vurraro; 5-7 p.m. reception. Free. Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, www. cooperstownart.com
‘RED HOT’: Neil Simon’s comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday April 8-9 and 2 p.m. Sunday, April 10 (also 8 p.m. April 15-16 & 2 p.m. April 17). Tickets $10-$15 (some material may not be for under age 13). Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www.foothillspac.org
COMMUNITY SHOWER: Everything you want to know about pregnancy, birth, fatherhood, babies and more. 9 a.m.-noon. Saturday, April 9. Free. Foxcare Center, 1 Foxcare Drive (off Rte. 7), Oneonta. Info, (607) 432-2000.
G-FEST 2016: Enjoy over a dozen musicians – all local bands – to benefit the Gary Johnson Memorial Scholarship for OHS students excelling in music, 6 p.m. Saturday, April 9. $10 donation. B Side Ballroom, 1 Clinton Plaza, Oneonta. Info, www. bsideballroom.com
High-tech magnifier aids inventor.
Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.life
Robyn Reynolds
AllOTSEGO.life
The Catskill Choral Society will bring Bach back to Oneonta this weekend.
Bach
Sven Birkerts
Essayist and Cultural Critic
Friday, April 1, 4-10 pm Saturday, 11 am - 10 pm Tuesday-Sunday - Noon to 9 pm
* We’re back with a Full bar!
*All natural food options!
*We’re more than just barbecue! All our meats are applewood-smoked on site *Handcut steaks *Homemade sauces *Vegetarian options *Fresh seafood On/off-site large parties and catering
AllOTSEGO. dining&entertainment
LANDRETH/From B1 potato to American gardens. Though the family sold out in the 1940s, the company – although it is currently under financial challenge – has operated continuously since it was first founded.
that strand was important for the plant’s survival.”
One of the markers of genetically engineered crops is that they are sterile. But with heirloom crops, she said, they’re open pollinators, so seeds can be saved and planted year after year.
year after year and learn about the varieties you love. That’s what makes a great gardener – one who can produce year after year.”
A former venture capitalist whose investments included funding Dolly the Sheep, Melera bought Landreth in 2003 and moved from Baltimore to Sharon Springs in 2013. “I’ve had a garden since I was 5 years old,” she said. “We always grew tomatoes.”
As the dot-com bubble grew in the ’90s, she began looking for a new field. “The mindset no longer matched mine, so I got out.”
But in looking for a new career, a friend advised her that D. Landreth Seed Co. was looking for new investors. “She asked me ‘Do you like mice’?” and I didn’t know what she meant – but when I visited the warehouse, I had never seen so many running around! But I had to buy the company.”
Her talk, “Maintaining Plant Biodiversity With Heritage And Native Seeds,” will focus on her work with heirloom seeds, one of Landreth’s most popular lines.
“Heirloom plants not only taste better, but they know how to adapt,” she said. “These seeds have lasted decades, centuries, even millennia. If a new bug comes along and starts chomping on a Detroit Dark Red Beet, it adapts. That beet is so good that, even 120 years after it was first grown here, they’re still being sold!”
She also focuses on educating people about the difference between genetically modified organisms – GMOs – and genetically enhanced organisms.
And although a lawsuit with creditors has resulted in the recent closure of Landreth Seed Company – all assets, including the name, will be sold at auction – Melera isn’t done with seeds.
“Gardening is a lifelong pursuit,” she said. “You see hoarders and preppers with their sustainable seed packets in case the world ends, but that’s not how you garden. You have to grow
And she practices what she preaches, keeping several raised-bed gardens on the grounds of her Sharon Springs home. “I would try out every single variety of Landreth seeds,” she said. “That way, if I had problems with it, and other people did too, I knew how to solve that problem.” In addition to her upcoming Earth Festival talk, she also spoke at SUNY Cobleskill. “In my next life, I want to focus on educating people,” she said. “I want them to understand how we protect the earth.”
“Everything is a genetically modified organism,” she said. “It comes from the genetic material of two parents and is modified from that. Genetically engineered organisms are made in a lab, where strands of DNA are put together, resulting in a new organism.”
Soybeans and corn are the two most heavily produced genetically engineered crops. “The problem with genetic engineering is that it always has a fatal flaw,” she said. “Whatever else was on
Cooperstown Innovator To Keynote Illinois Institute’s Gala This Weekend
TECHTAMER/From B1 to light and color blindness. “I see dark reds as blacks, orange as green and pink as light blue,” he said. None of that was sufficient to prevent an innovative streak from showing through, as it has recently with the development of TechTamer, a wooden catch-all with a USB charger in the base, which he’s been marketing through etsy.com – the artisanal website – and social media.
The product caught the attention of the Forsyth Center for Employment & Entrepreneurship at the Hadley Institute For the Blind & Visually Impaired, and he’s been invited to be the guest speaker at the Institute’s annual gala on Saturday, April 9, in Wilmette, Ill.
“Mark was able to take his craft
LegaL notice
Supplemental Summons and Notice of Object of Action Supreme Court of the State of New York County of Otsego -------------------X
Action to Foreclose a Mortgage
Index #: 2015-30
Mortgaged
Premises:
89 Main Street Schenevus, NY 12155
SBL #: 230.19
- 1 - 36.00
Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.
Plaintiff vs William Dorvillier AKA
Bill Dorvillier if living, and if he/she be dead, any and all persons unknown to plaintiff, claiming, or who may claim to have an interest in, or general or specific lien upon the real property described in this action; such unknown persons being herein generally described and intended to be included in wife, widow, husband, widower, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assignees of such deceased, any and all persons deriving interest in or lien upon, or title to said real property by, through or under them, or either of them, and their respective wives, widows, husbands, widowers, heirs at law, next of kin, descendants, executors, administrators, devisees, legatees, creditors, trustees, committees, lienors, and assigns, all of whom and whose names, except as stated, are unknown to Plaintiff; 89 Main Street Apartments LLC, New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, People of the State of New York, United States of America
and, with the help of the Forsyth Center, develop a business plan,” said Colleen Wunderlich, director of the Forsyth Center. “He has a niche product suited to his strength, and we helped him marry the two. He’s a craftsman first, and a person with a visual impairment second.”
And though he grew up working with his father, who built houses, he was never able to use power tools.
“He used me a lot in plumbing, since I was able to get into crawl spaces easier,” he said. “Ever since I knew what a hammer was, I could go on jobs with him. But my Pawpaw lost a few fingers to a circular saw, so I knew what they could do. I stayed away from them.”
Working with hand tools, he kept up woodworking as a hobby,
Acting Through the IRS, John Doe (being fictitious, the names unknown to Plaintiff intended to be tenants, occupants, persons or corporations having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the property described in the complaint or their heirs at law, distributees, executors, administrators, trustees, guardians, assignees, creditors or successors.)
Defendant(s)
To the above named Defendant:
You are hereby summoned to answer the Complaint in this action, and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the Complaint is not served with this Supplemental Summons, to serve a notice of appearance, on the Plaintiff(s) attorney(s) within twenty days after the service of this Supplemental Summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this Supplemental Summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York). In case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the Complaint.
The Attorney for Plaintiff has an office for business in the County of Erie.
Trial to be held in the County of Otsego.
The basis of the venue designated above is the location of the Mortgaged Premises.
To: William Dorvillier AKA Bill Dorvillier Defendant in this Action.
The foregoing Supplemental Summons is served upon you by publication, pursuant to an order of Hon. Michael V. Coccoma of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, dated the Fourteenth day of March, 2016 and filed with the Complaint in the Office of the Clerk
and helped pay for his education in the woodshop at Berea College in Kentucky. “When I started at the Cooperstown Graduate Program in 1998, I still found ways to do it, whether it was packing artifacts or building frames,” he said.
But in 1999, he was inspired to take his woodworking to the next level and attended the Carroll School. He passed the final, and has since opened his own shop, TechTamer Woodworks.
“I always thought woodworking would be a hobby, because I was kept away from power tools,” he said. “But the beauty of stationary saws is that the blade and the guides stay in place.”
He also uses magnifying glasses while making curved cuts with a
LEGALS
of the County of Otsego, in the City of Cooperstown.
The object of this action is to foreclose a mortgage upon the premises described below, executed by William Dorvillier dated the May 21, 2007, to secure the sum of $121,500.00 and recorded at Book 1523 of Mortgages at Page 773 in the Office of the Otsego County Clerk, on the June 1, 2007.
The property in question is described as follows: 89 MAIN STREET, SCHENEVUS, NY 12155
NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME
If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by serving a copy of the answer on the attorney for the mortgage company who filed this foreclosure proceeding against you and filing the answer with the court, a default judgment may be entered and you can lose your home.
Speak to an attorney or go to the court where your case is pending for further information on how to answer the summons and protect your property.
Sending a payment to your mortgage company will not stop this foreclosure action.
YOU MUST RESPOND BY SERVING A COPY OF THE ANSWER ON THE ATTORNEY FOR THE PLAINTIFF (MORTGAGE COMPANY) AND FILING THE ANSWER WITH THE COURT.
DATED: March 28, 2016 Gross Polowy, LLC
Attorney(s) For Plaintiff(s) 1775 Wehrle Drive, Suite 100 Williamsville, NY 14221
The law firm of Gross Polowy, LLC and the attorneys whom it employs are debt collectors who are attempting to collect a debt. Any information obtained by them will be used for that purpose.
4LegalMay 5
LegaL notice
MDM Dolan, LLC Arts of Org filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 2/5/16. Office in Otsego Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served & shall mail process to C/O David Dolan, 174 Main St, Otego, NY 13825. Purpose: General. 6LegalMay12
LegaL notice
Notice of formation of DOLEZEL HOLDINGS, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secreatry of State on February 5, 2016. The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego Country. 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 him/her to: The LLC, 42 Covar Lane, Otego, NY, 13825. The purpose of the LLC is to engae in any lawful act or activity.
6LegalMay12
LegaL notice
Notice of formation of MELODY PINES FARM, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on February 17, 2016. 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 him/her to: The LLC, 608 County Highway 51, Morris, New York, 13808. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.
6LegalApril7
LegaL notice
Visions of Home, LLC
The name of the limited liability company is “Vi-
bandsaw. “They give me 20/20 vision, but only in a very small section,” he said. “I have to work very slowly.”
Working in the basement woodshop of the Cooperstown home that he and his wife, Mikel, refurbished – he did the cabinet and trim work himself – he developed his TechTamer, a wooden catch-all with a USB charger in the base.
“Everyone has a cell phone, a tablet and a laptop that needs to be stored and charged, but you want to keep it under control,” he said. “The TechTamer makes it look pretty, rather than a tangled mess of cords.”
But before he could sell his product, he needed to figure out a way to market it. He began taking classes online at the Forsyth Center. “What
sions of Home, LLC” The date the Articles of Organization were filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York was February 23, 2016. The County within the State in which the office of the limited liability company is to be located is Otsego County. The Secretary of the State of New York has been designated as agent of the limited liability company upon whom process against it may be served. The post office address within or without the State of New York to which the Secretary of the State shall mail a copy of any process against the limited liability company served upon him is: Visions of Home, LLC, 101 Spruce Street, Oneonta, NY 13820. The purpose of the business of the limited liability company is any lawful business purpose.
Counsel for the Company: The Dalton Law Firm, LLC 112 Spring Street-Suite 307 Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 518-587-9600
6LegalApril7
LegaL notice
NOTICE OF FORMATION OF New Hyde Park Construction, LLC
Arts. Of Org. filed with Sec’y. of State of N.Y. (SSNY) on February 16, 2016. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to : The LLC, PO Box 404, Cooperstown, New York 13326. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
6LegalApril7
LegaL notice
Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company. Name: MP Test Equipment, LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 12 February 2016. 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 2121 County Hwy 22, Richfield Springs, NY 13439. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws.
6LegalApril7
LegaL notice WILLSUE, LLC
ARTICLES OF ORGANIZATION OF WILLSUE, LLC
Under Section 203 of the Limited Liability Company Law
The name of the limited liability company is: WILLSUE, LLC
The county, within this state, in which the office of the limited liability company is to be located in OTSEGO.
The Secretary of State is designated as agent of the limited liability company upon whom process against it may be served. The address within or without this state to which the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the limited liability company served upon him or her is:
THE LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY 50 Main Street Cooperstown, NY 13326
The limited liability company is to be managed by: ONE OR MORE MEMBERS.
I certify that I have read the above statements, I am authorized to sign these Articles of Organization, that the above statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief and that my signature typed below constitutes my signature.
WILLIAM C. GREEN, ESQ., ORGANIZER (signature) WILLIAM C. GREEN, ESQ., ORGANIZER Filed by: GREEN & GREEN 50 MAIN STREET PO BOX 148 Cooperstown, New York 13326 6LegalApril7
they’re trying to address is so important,” he said. “60 percent of blind and vision-impaired people are unemployed, so the Hadley institute is training them to be entrepreneurs.”
He took 12 classes on everything from starting a business to bookkeeping and accounting, and launched the shop in 2013. “My sales have doubled every year,” he said. “And they’re on target to double again this year.”
He’s also started experimenting with new products, including wine ceremony boxes, such as the one he made for his niece’s wedding. “I thought I was going to take a different path than my dad and my grandfather,” he said. “But I couldn’t escape it!”
LegaL notice
TROIX REALTY GROUP, LLC
Notice of formation of Troix Realty Group, LLC, a limited liability company (the “LLC”). Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (the “SSNY”) on 2/26/16. Office location: Otsego County. The SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC, upon whom process against it may be served. The SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to the LLC, 54 Lancaster Street, Cherry Valley, New York 13320. Purposes: are to acquire, own, hold, improve, manage and operate the real property, including the property located at 157 First Street, in Troy, New York (the “Property”); to incur indebtedness, secured and unsecured; to mortgage, finance, refinance, encumber, lease, sell, exchange, convey, transfer or otherwise deal with or dispose of the Property; to enter into and perform contracts and agreements of any kind necessary to, in connection with or incidental to the business of the Limited Liability Company.
6LegalApril14
LegaL notice
NOTICE BY PUBLICATION OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
Bassett PPS, LLC filed articles of organization with the Department of State on February 23, 2016. Its principal office is in Otsego County, New York. The Secretary of State of the State of New York has been designated as agent upon whom service of process against the LLC may be served, and the address to which the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of process in any action or proceeding against the Company is One Atwell Road, Cooperstown, NY 13326. The purpose of the Company is to serve as a lead
entity for the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment Program and any lawful activity for which limited liability companies may be organized under §203 of the Limited Liability Company Act.
6LegalApril14
LegaL notice
LUNDIN
CHRISTMAS TREES LLC, Articles of Org. filed N.Y. Sec. of State (SSNY) 18th day of February, 2016. Office in Otsego Co. at 12 Forster Street, Otego, New York 13825. SSNY desig. agt. upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to 12 Forster Street, Otego, New York 13825. Reg. Agt. upon whom process may be served: Spiegel & Utrera, P.A., P.C. 1 Maiden Lane, NYC 10038 1 800 576-1100 Purpose: Any lawful purpose.
6LegalApril21
LegaL notice
Notice of Formation of ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY MONETARY SERVICES, , LLC. Arts. Of Org. Filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 10/9/15. Office Location: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process: Robert A. Gouldin, Esq., 93 Main Street, Oneonta, New York 13820. Purpose: any lawful activities.
6LegalApril21
LegaL notice
BLUEBIRD HOMES, LLC
Notice of formation of Bluebird Homes, LLC, a limited liability company (the “LLC”). Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of NY (the “SSNY”) on 3/11/16. Office location: Otsego County. The SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC, upon whom process against it may be served. The SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to the LLC, 54 Lancaster Street, Cherry Valley,
New York 13320. Purposes: are to acquire, own, hold, improve, manage and operate real property, including the property located at 59 Elm Street, in the Village of Cooperstown, New York.
6LegalApril28
LegaL notice
SEELEYS ALL SEASON SERVICES LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/03/2016. Office loc: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Mark Seeley, 129 Skyline Drive, Bainbridge, NY 13733. Reg Agent: Mark Seeley, 129 Skyline Drive, Bainbridge, NY 13733. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.
6LegalApril28
LegaL notice
Notice of Formation of Brown Associates Prince George LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/10/16. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Brown Associates LLC, c/o Barbara Utter, 859 County Hwy. 5, Otego, NY 13825. Purpose: any lawful activities.
6LegalMay5
LegaL notice
Notice of formation of Chicory Creek Farm LLC (“LLC”), a limited liability company. On 3/28/16 Articles of Organization were filed with NYS Sec’y of State. Office location: Otsego County. Sec’y of State designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. Sec’y of State shall mail a copy of such process to Chicory Creek Farm LLC, 2722 State Highway 205, Mt. Vision, NY 13810. Purpose: to engage in any lawful act or activity 6LegalMay5
Thursday, april 7
CONCERT -- 6 p.m. Cellist David Gibson performs Bach’s Suite #5 for Unaccompanied Cello, Gabrielli, more. $15 at door; $10 seniors, students. Dunderberg Gallery, 118 Marion Ave. (Hwy. 51), Gilbertsville. Info, tickets, (607) 783-2010, dunderberggallery.tix.com
BUCKLEY LECTURE -- 7:30 p.m. Cooperstown Graduate Program presents 2016 Bruce Buckley Scholar Roddy Moore, in lecture “Thunderbird Jewelry of the Santo Domingo Pueblo.” Free; all welcome. Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 Rte. 80, Cooperstown. Info, www.fenimoreartmuseum.org
Friday, april 8
CONCERT -- 7:30 p.m. (also 3 p.m. April 9) Catskill Choral Society concert “Bach to Bach,” featuring two concertos by J.S. Bach. With Hartwick College Choir. Tickets $12-$22; under 12 free. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, www.catskillchoralsociety.com or (607) 4316060. LEAF CONTEST DEADLINE
-- Last day to submit entries for LEAF Council’s annual “True Colors” Art & Poetry contest. Adult and “under 18” categories; $500 grand prize. For info, guidelines visit fb.com/LEAFartcontest or contact Carol Mandigo at leafartandpoetry@gmail.com or (607) 432-0090, x106. ART RECEPTION -- 4:30 p.m. poetry reading; 5-7 p.m. opening reception. For new exhibits “The Celestial and the Terrestrial” by Frank Vurraro and “The Expression of Nature” by Kristen Dahms. Free. Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstownart.com
CHURCH DINNER -- 4:30-7
p.m. Roast pork dinner with fixings, cake or pie, beverage. Adults $9; kids $5. Eat in or take out. Church is handicapped accessible. Cooperstown United
POP-UP FILM — 7 p.m. “The Armor of Light,” about two people of faith exploring the contradictions of gun violence. Free; concessions available. Part of “Pop-Up” film series, featuring documentaries seen on PBS series “Independent Lens.” Auditorium, Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 Rte. 80, Cooperstown. Info, res., (607) 547-1453. SQUARE DANCE -- 7:3010 p.m., Doubleday Dancers Western Square Dance Club hosts. $5 per person at door. Ray Taylor calls; Elma Taylor cues. Cooperstown Elementary, Walnut St., Cooperstown. Info, (607) 547-8665 or (607) 264-8128. THEATER -- 7 p.m. (Also 7 p.m. April 9.) 10th anniversary show, “The Vagina Monologues,” $10 at door. Benefits Otsego Co. Child Advocacy Center. Gallery C, Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstownart.com
THEATER -- 8 p.m. (also 8 p.m. April 9, 15, 16 & 2 p.m. April 10, 17). Neil Simon comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be appropriate for under 13.) Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www. foothillspac.org
Saturday, april 9
COMMUNITY BABY SHOWER -- 9 a.m.-noon. Everything you want to know about pregnancy, birth, fatherhood, babies & more. CPR classes, car seat safety, door prizes, family games. Free. Hosted by OFO & Bassett/Fox. Foxcare Center, 1 Foxcare Drive (off Rte. 7), Oneonta. Info, (607) 432-2000.
DAR MEET -- 10 a.m. Otsego Chapter of Daughters of American Revolution meeting. Nanette Root presents “Volunteer Nursing in Vietnam.” Refreshments served. Clara Welch Thanksgiving Home, 48 Grove
St., Cooperstown. Info, sclarsen229@gmail.com
LIBRARY PROGRAM -- 10:30
a.m. Encore of popular free Family LEGO program. Come use the library’s LEGO collection to build and solve challenges. Cookies & crackers while they last. Free. Board room below Village Library, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, (607) 5478344.
HELMET HELP -- Noon-3 p.m. Otsego Public Health Dept. offers free bicycle helmet fittings for adults and kids. Helmets just $5 for those who qualify. Nurse to answer questions and provide free info. Southside Mall, 5006 Rte. 23, Oneonta. Info, (607) 547-4230.
CONCERT -- 3 p.m. Catskill Choral Society concert, “Bach to Bach,” featuring two concertos by J.S. Bach. With Hartwick College Choir. Tickets $12-$22; under age 12 free. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, www. catskillchoralsociety.com or (607) 431-6060.
CHURCH DINNER -- 4-6:30 p.m. Brooks BBQ dinner. Choice of chicken ($9) or rib ($11). Church of Christ Uniting, 22 Church St., Richfield Springs. Info, (315) 858-0126.
SCHOLARSHIP FUNDRAISER - 6 p.m. “G-Fest” fundraiser for Gary Johnson Memorial Scholarship, awarded yearly to an Oneonta High senior excelling in music. Local musicians entertain; raffles. $10 donation. B Side Ballroom, 1 Clinton Plaza, Oneonta. Info, www.bsideballroom.com
SPRINGBROOK GALA -- 6:30 p.m. 11th annual gala to benefit Springbrook. The Otesaga, 60 Lake St., Cooperstown. Sponsor info at (607) 286-7171 x271 or giving@springbrookny.org
THEATER -- 7 p.m. 10th anniversary show, “The Vagina
Leatherstocking
We
Smoking. $750.00 plus utilities. Dave LaDuke: (607)435-2405 APARTMENTS FOR RENT
Cooperstown apartments. Edge of village. 2 bedroom upstairs. Recently redone. $950 includes heat and elec. Parking. No dogs. No Smoking. Call Dave LaDuke: (607) 435-2405
OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT
Cooperstown multi-use commercial /w Main St. & Doubleday lot access. Optional 1st floor double retail space, outdoor courtyardf. 2nd floor: 4 private rooms/ offices. Restrooms/central air/alarm/phone. Call to dis-
cuss ideas/options. Kathy Fistrowicz 607-267-2683
Oneonta Retail Space For Lease! Over 8,000 square feet of space featuring loading dock with overhead door and warehouse area, plus a light and bright retail space second to none in the downtown lower hub of the city. $2950 per month. Call Benson Agency Real Estate, LLC for details at 607-432-4391.
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
Oneonta Business For Sale! Turn key, established Bar/Restaurant business in busy center city location. Contact Benson Agency Real Estate, LLC at 607-4324391 for more details.
LAND FOR SALE
34 Acres - Excellent opportunity to build on property adjoining a golf course. Property lends itself well to hunting. Added bonus: Located within a short distance to two of the areas largest employers. Call now to see this exceptional opportunity while still available. (Sell Broker) Rodney Campbell (315) 868-0148. WOMEN’S GOLF LEAGUE
Attention Women Golfers! Meadow Links Golf Course is forming a women’s golf league. For more information contact Richard Daley @ 607-423-8913. 3ClassApril8
Monologues,” $10 at door. Ben-
efits Otsego Co. Child Advocacy Center. Gallery C, Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstownart.com
THEATER -- 8 p.m. (also 8 p.m. April 15, 16 & 2 p.m. April 10, 17). Neil Simon comedy “Last of
the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be appropriate for under 13.)
Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www. foothillspac.org
Summer Student Workers
Carol Ann Brannigan, 64; Attended St. Mary’s Here
MILFORD – Carol Ann Brannigan, 64, a longtime employee in Bassett Hospital’s accounts receivable office, passed away Sunday morning, April 3, 2016, at Bassett. She was 64.
A native of Long Island, she was born Nov. 9, 1951, in Huntington , a daughter of the late Mike and Rosalyn (Smidt) Spunt.
On May 5, 1973, Carol Ann married Harry George Brannigan in Huntington. For the past 27 years they have made their home in the Town of Milford.
Throughout her life Carol Ann enjoyed animals of all kinds, especially her own pets. She also loved gardening and taking trips. Of the Roman Catholic faith, she attended St. Mary’s in Oneonta.
Carol Ann will be greatly
missed by her loving husband of 43 years, Harry G. Brannigan of Milford; their son, Harry Michael Brannigan and his companion, Julie Smith, of Mount Vision; one granddaughter, Shannon Brannigan, of Mount Vision; a brother, Mike Spunt of Queensbury; and several nieces and nephews. She was predeceased by her other siblings.
Calling hours are 4-6 p.m. Thursday, April 7, Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home, Cooperstown. Following the calling hours, there will be a service with Father David Wm. Mickiewicz, pastor of St. Mary’s Church in Oneonta, officiating.
Arrangements are entrusted to Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home.
James Arbas, 89; Former Dairyman, Laurens Justice Dies In Connecticut
OTEGO – James Arbas, 89, a Laurens dairy farmer and town assessor there, passed away at his home on March 28, 2016.
Born May 13, 1926, in Bridgeport, Conn., he is the son of the late Matias and Virginia Arbas. Jim spent his childhood on the family farm in Fairfield, Conn., with his sisters Josephine, Anna and his brother Herman.
In 1970, Jim and Herman moved to Laurens, operating a dairy farm together, until Jim’s retirement in 1993. Jim was a Laurens town assessor for 32 years and has been a member of the West Laurens Fire Department since 1970.
Jim is survived by his brother, Herman Arbas, nine nieces and seven nephews. His sisters Josephine Colagrossi and Anna Hiller predeceased him. An Otsego County Fireman’s Memorial Service was held Saturday, April 2 at the Bookhout Funeral Home, with the Rev. Stephen Fournier officiating. Memorial donations may be made to the West Laurens Fire Department, 2766 State Highway 23, Laurens, New York 13796 in loving memory of James Arbas. Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the Bookhout Funeral Home, Oneonta.
leW i S, HurleY & pietrobono
Funeral Home
51 Dietz Street oneonta, nY 607-432-1511 www.lhpfuneralhome.com
iN MEMOriAM
Henry Gardner, 96; WWII Vet, Pioneer
MARYLAND – Henry F. Gardner, a World War II veteran and pioneer in the development of prosthetic devices, passed away at Bassett Hospital on March 28, 2016, with his family by his side.
Hank was born April 9, 1919, in Stephenson , Mich., to Michael and Alice Naden Gardner.
Following High School graduation at Kingsford, Mich., he joined the Army Transport Service Marine Division. A graduate of the Marine Officer Academy in 1942, he served as an engineering officer on board the H-11 in the Pacific and the E.B. Alexander in the North Atlantic.
After World War II, he joined the Veterans Administration as a prosthetics technician and attended
New York University where he received a degree, majoring biomechanics.
As a technical assistant to the director of the state Veterans Administration, he coordinated research and development program with the National Academy of Science, NYU, UCLA and the Northwestern University. Here he developed and patented numerous prosthetic devices, advanced prosthetic design to new technical and scientific levels which changed the prosthetics concept from exoskeleton to endoskeleton design.
In Field Of Prosthetics
Lecturing and teaching the use of these new techniques in workshop seminars, he traveled worldwide, often on loan to the State Department, World Health Organization and the United Nations.
A founder and fourth president to the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists he held the Number “1” certification internationally.
Upon retirement he moved to Upstate New York. The outdoors was his passion and he loved walking in the woods, bird watching, hunting and above all fly fishing. He became an expert and avid fly fisherman and handcrafted his own rods and flies to take fishing along the Delaware and East Branch rivers.
He is survived by his wife, Jean Gardner of 35 years. A son, Henry Jr., daughter-in-law Carol and grandson Darrin. A brother, Gene Gardner and sister Donna Freidman. Stepchildren Pamela Sparaco and husband John, Frank Kruh and wife Kathy, Jack Kruh and wife Patty and Steve Kruh,, as well as five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren; He is predeceased by his father and mother, sisters Alice and Joan and brothers; Wilfred, Carl, Joseph, Bernard, William and Charles. Respecting Hank’s wishes, there will be no formal ceremony or funeral. He will be cremated and rest in the Maryland cemetery. Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.
Nelson Shaw, 72; C&W Stars At Fair Pampered Him
MORRIS – Nelson Shaw Jr., 72, an Otsego County Fair groundskeeper who was a favorite of Minnie Pearl, Loretta Lynn and other country stars who played here over the decades, died April 1, 2016, at the Chestnut Park Nursing Home in Oneonta.
The son of Ruth (Sickler) and Nelson Shaw, Sr., Nelson was born Dec. 19, 1943, in Oneonta. He attended Morris Central School and was a longtime member of the Butternut Valley Grange.
In his early years, he worked as a cemetery worker in Morris and New Berlin. In Morris, he worked for the village as a CETA employee. He worked at Bendix in Sidney, and as a custodian at Laurens School and retired as a custodian for ARC.
Nelson loved playing jokes and pranks on people and hanging out with the Awesome Foursome: Luther Card, Peter Pickens and Frank Rock, who is now the only living member of the good ole boys. Nelson was a roadie for the “Unknowns” band and in later years for Miss Tracie and the Lazy T band.
At the fair, he always volunteered for grounds work and mowing grass, and being the stage manager.
In addition to Minnie Pearl and Loretta Lynn, such headliners as the Country Belles, Cooter, Jeannie C. Riley and Willie Nelson’s sister would pamper him and take him out to eat when they were in town.
During his tenure at the fair he could be found with his old buddies Cliff Drake, Dennis Canham, Harry Wild,
Heller & Skinner
Funeral Home
155 Main Street Worcester, nY 607-397-9711 www.hellerskinnerfh.com
Proud to be family-owned
John & Kathleen (Heller) Pietrobono
Dale All and Lukey Miller, working or hanging out at the campers with them.
He is survived by his sisters Mary Lamphere of Norwich, and Deb (Tom) Brayton of Frankfort; nephews Nathaniel Bowers, Edward Lamphere and Rodney Lamphere; several nieces and nephews, and good friends Royce and Marguerite Webster. He was predeceased by his parents, brother John Shaw, and nephew Adelbert Lamphere. Special thanks to his caregivers Carrie and Smiley Phillips, Carol Nealis, and
Ronnie Korth for their care of Nelson during his last years. A funeral service was held Wednesday, April 8 at the Johnston Funeral Home, Morris. Burial was in Hillington Cemetery, Morris. Arrangements are entrusted to Johnston Funeral Home.
Henry Gardner
2 p.m. (also 8 p.m. April 15, 16 & 2 p.m. April 17). Neil Simon comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be appropriate for under 13.)
Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www. foothillspac.org
FILM -- 2 p.m. Sunday Matinee
“Tarzan of the Apes.” Included with museum admission. The Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 Rte. 80, Cooperstown. Info, www. fenimoreartmuseum.org
Monday, April 11
LECTURE -- 12:20 p.m. Robert Dandrew, Director, New World Foundation’s Local Economies Project, on “Building and Sustaining Local Food Systems.” Free, all welcome. Chesboro Room, Dewar Hall, Hartwick College, Oneonta. Res. suggested to Carli Ficano at ficanoc@hartwick.edu
Tuesday, April 12
WOMEN’S CLUB -- 1 p.m.
Women’s Club of Cooperstown meeting. Dessert buffet followed by game play, with prizes. Christ Church Parish House, 69 Fair St., Cooperstown. Info, (607) 547-6181.
HAppenin’ OTSEGO COUNTY
UKRANIAN EGG WORKSHOP -- 5 p.m (Tues. & Thurs. until April 21). Learn Ukranian “Pysanky” egg decoration. $10 supply donation. Orthodox Mission Chapel, basement of St. James Church, 305 Main St., Oneonta. To attend, email Fr. Vasil Dubee at fr.vasildubee85@gmail.com
Wednesday, April 13
MARROW DONOR DRIVE -- 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Hosted by Bassett Hospital. If you are 18-44 years old, you may be a match for someone diagnosed with leukemia. Bassett Hospital Clinic lobby, Cooperstown. Info, (607) 547-3914.
LUNCH & LECTURE -- 12:302:30 p.m. “Food for Thought” lunchtime lecture on new exhibit ”Ansel Adams: Early Works.” $22 NYSHA members, $25 others. Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 Rte. 80, Cooperstown. Pre-register at (607) 547-1461; info, www. fenimoreartmuseum.org
AUTHOR VISIT -- 7 p.m. Essayist and cultural critic Sven Birkerts speaks on “Finding Our Way in the Landscape of Signals,” drawn from his latest book, “Changing the Subject: Art and Attention in the Internet Age.” Part of Visiting Writers Series at Hartwick College. Free. Refreshments served; book signing after. Celebration Room, Shineman Chapel House, Hartwick College, Oneonta. Info, (607) 431-4902 or bensenr@hartwick.edu
UKRANIAN EGG WORKSHOP
Thursday, April 14
-- 5 p.m (Every Tues. & Thurs. until April 21). Learn Ukranian “Pysanky” egg decoration. $10 supply donation. Orthodox Mission Chapel, basement of St. James Church, 305 Main St., Oneonta. To attend, email Fr. Vasil Dubee at fr.vasildubee85@ gmail.com
AUTHOR VISIT -- 6:30 p.m.
Historian Al Bullard discusses his book “The Hop Farmer’s Year,” at Otsego Co. Historical Association meeting. Free; all welcome. Book signing, light refreshments after talk. Kinney Memorial Library, Cty. Hwy. 11, Hartwick. Info, otsegohistory@hotmail.com
QUILTING MEET -- 6:30 p.m. Susquehanna Valley Quilt Guild meeting. Truck show from Sue Pritt, a local quilter/designer who teaches about landscape quilting. Free. Elm Park Methodist Church, 401 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, Denise at dlawagner4@gmail.com
Friday, April 15
ART WORKSHOP -- 3:15-5
p.m. “Early Mother’s Day Bouquet” art workshop for kids. $25 members; $30 nonmembers. Materials included. Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, www.cooperstownart.com
FABULOUS FRIDAY -- 5:30-8 p.m. Part of Oneonta’s Friday series along Main St. Art Walk starts at 97 Main. (Unveiling of 3rd mural at Oneonta History
Cen-
ter postponed till May 20, but center open, seeking 150 donations of $150 for 150th anniversary, through Aug. 31. Info, www. oneontahistory.org/donate.htm.)
PORK DINNER -- 6 p.m. (one seating only) Roast pork dinner. By donation; takeouts at 5:45 p.m.; res. required at (607) 547-9093 or (607) 264-8042. Middlefield Baptist Church, Rezen Rd., Middlefield.
THEATER -- 6 p.m. Cooperstown PTA and CFEE present PTA fundraiser “Seussical the Musical,” put on by Theatreworks USA. Tickets $5. Cooperstown Jr./Sr. High, 39 Linden St., Cooperstown.
CONCERT – 7:30 p.m. Oneonta Concert Association presents The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Six strings play works by Romantic composers. Tickets $25 ($6 students) at Green Toad Bookstore and Eighth Note in Oneonta, or at door. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Oneonta. Info, www.oneontaconcertassociation.org.
THEATER -- 8 p.m. (also 8 p.m. April 16 & 2 p.m. April 17). Neil Simon comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be appropriate for under 13.) Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www. foothillspac.org
Saturday, April 16
HOLISTIC FAIR -- 10 a.m.-5
p.m. (also April 17). SHIFT NY Holistic & Spiritual Arts Fair. Over 22 free workshops, also vendors. $6 advance/$8 door for 1 day; $10 advance; $12 door both days. Holiday Inn, 5206 Hwy. 23, Oneonta. Info, (607) 433-2089 or www.SHIFTNewYork.com
THEATER -- 8 p.m. (also 2 p.m. April 17). Neil Simon comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be appropriate for under 13.) Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www.foothillspac. org
Sunday,
April 17
HOLISTIC FAIR -- 10 a.m.5 p.m. SHIFT NY Holistic & Spiritual Arts Fair. Over 22 free workshops, also vendors. $6 advance/$8 door for 1 day; $10 advance; $12 door for both days. Holiday Inn, 5206 Hwy. 23, Oneonta. Info, (607) 433-2089 or www.SHIFTNewYork.com
BOWL-A-THON -- 1-4 p.m.
Annual fundraiser to benefit Arc Otsego’s Helping Hands Fund. Door prizes, moonlight glow bowl, 50/50 raffle. Register as individual or team. Holiday Lanes, Rte. 23, Oneonta. Info, sponsor forms at www.arcotsego.org
HISTORY TALK -- 2 p.m.
Tony Opalka of the NYS Historic Preservation Office presents “The First Karaoke Machine? The History of the Player Piano and Popular Music of the 20th Century.” Free; all welcome. Oneonta History Center, 183 Main St., Oneonta. Info, www.oneontahistory.org
THEATER -- 2 p.m. Neil Simon comedy “Last of the Red Hot Lovers.” $15 adults; $12 students/seniors; $10 under age 12 (some material may not be for kids under 13.) Tickets at Green Toad Bookstore, Oneonta, or call (607) 432-5407. Foothills Production Center, 24 Market St., Oneonta. Info, www.foothillspac. org LIBRARY PROGRAM – 3 p.m.
Free talk “Reducing Our Carbon Footprint One Bag of Garbage at a Time,” with Bob Sutherland, manager of Mohican Farm. Part of Sunday Program Series. Village Library, downstairs meeting
room, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, (607) 434-3418 or www.villagelibraryofcooperstown.org
CANDIDATE MEET -- 6-8 p.m. Meet NY Dist. 19 Democratic candidate for Congress Will Yandik, 4th-generation farmer, journalist and teacher aiming to “deliver for Upstate.” Free; cash bar & hors d’oeuvres. $50 suggested contribution. Brewery Ommegang, 656 Cty. Hwy. 33, Cooperstown. RSVP to melindaghardin@gmail.com. Info, www.will4congress.com Monday, April 18
NYS HISTORY DAY -- all day. Students from across the state battle (academically) for chance to compete at National History Day. Professional historians and educators judge student projects. Fenimore Art Museum, 5798 Rte. 80, Cooperstown. Info, www.fenimoreartmuseum.org SCOUT DINNER -- 5-7 p.m. Cooperstown Troop 1254 Boy Scout Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser. Homemade sauce, sausage and meatballs, sides, beverage, dessert. Takeouts available. $10 adults; $8 ages 12 and under. Cooperstown Vets Club, Main St., Cooperstown.
Tuesday,
Surprise Pile-Up Finds Rescuers Ready
PILE-UP/From A1
came in at 11:51
a.m. – a single car had gone off I-88’s westbound lane. He dispatched a fire engine and ambulance, and the team was soon reporting from the scene: A whiteout, “heavy traffic” and “weather conditions deteriorating.”
Meanwhile, the Worcester Emergency Squad had been called to two two-car crashes along the same stretch, according to squad’s chief, Sid Chase, who found “blizzard conditions,” high winds and “no visibility.”
But the worst was yet to come.
At 12:42, Neske’s team reported a “multiple vehicle incident” from the scene. Soon, he learned, an Adirondack Trailways bus, three semis, and several cars had crashed. “We put our mass casualty incident plan into effect,” he said.
State Police from Troop C, Oneonta, and its Collision Reconstruction and Commercial Vehicle Enforcement unit, plus teams from the state DOT and Office of Emergency Management, plus fire departments and rescue units responded.
The investigation determined the accident started when, in a whiteout accompanied by very strong winds, an SUV struck a tractor-trailer due to those weather conditions. Both vehicles ended up straddling the driving lane and north shoulder, according to the official police report.
An Adirondack Trailways bus carrying 20 passengers then collided with the tractor-
trailer in the driving lane, and a second tractor-trailer carrying lumber and a tanker truck then struck the bus, police said. Several additional cars and SUVs piled into a growing mound of debris. “A crash of this size is unusual for this stretch of I88,” said State Police Sgt. Tim Pigeon, Oneonta, who was at the scene.
Neske quickly dispatched seven fire departments and eight ambulances to the scene, where the department’s second assistant chief, Shannon Jones, took control, assisted by First Assistant Chief Dave Chase of the Worcester department.
At the scene at 5 p.m., State Police Lt. Dan Larkin, who had taken over leadership of the rescue effort, cut to the chase: “There were no fatalities,” he said, as the shadow of a smile crossed his face.
By then, the scene at mile marker 72 had been secured and the cars and SUVs removed. Six tow trucks were seeking to unstuck the tractor-trailers from the bus. The westbound lane had been closed off, with traffic detoured off I-88 at Exit 19, along Route 7, then back onto the highway at Exit 18.
Smoke-like emanations came from the tanker truck, but Larkin said it was from the powder-like material it was carrying; there was no risk of fire. The highway reopened at 10:30 p.m.
The majority of the injuries were relatively minor, including cuts and bruises and broken
legs. One man’s jaw was broken, and eight people in all were transported to both Fox and Bassett hospitals. Neske had alerted the Bassett trauma team that trouble was on the way, so they were prepared.
Neske also summoned two Schenevus Central school buses, who tranported 22-25 people from the scene to the school, where six EMTs examined and released them.
Trailways sent a bus to retrieve stranded passengers, but it did not arrive for several hours. Meanwhile, the bus station in Oneonta was packed with students waiting to catch a bus back to their colleges after spring break ended.
While the scope of the crash was unprecedented on that I-88 stretch, continuous training has occurred, intended to prepare fire departments and emergency squads for just this kind of occurrence, said Neske. By happy coincidence, the Schenevus, Worcester, East Worcester and Westford departments had just completed training for this kind of happening.
“You just deal with it,” Neske added back in command center, where he was focused on a less onerous task: Making sure the remaining firefighters at the scene were well supplied with hot coffee and pizza.
In addition to Worcester, East Worcester, Westford and Schenevus, Milford and Oneonta departments responded, and Otego sent an ambulance. Cooperstown Medical Transport also helped carry the injured from the scene.
