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ISSION In Tokyo Bay •F

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Cooperstown’s Newspaper

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WITNESS TO WWII JAPANESE SURRENDER/B1

For 211 Years

VISIT www.AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Volume 211, No. 21

COOPERSTOWN AND AROUND

Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, May 23, 2019

Newsstand Price $1

FATAL CRASH; DEPUTY LIVES BY JENNIFER HILL SPRINGFIELD CENTER

atthew McIvor saw the whole thing. At around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 21, at the State Police barracks in Richfield Springs, across the street from his

Mateunas

house, “I saw the woman get into her car, a black Jeep, and the man kept shouting at her,” McIvor said when interviewed at the subsequent accident scene at Kelly’s Corners, at Route 20 and 80. “He banged his fist on her Jeep and put a dent on the driver’s side. I called 911 when I saw that.” Please See FATALITY, A7

Eyewitness Matthew McIvor surveys the fatal scene. Jennifer Hill/The Freeman’s Journal

Clinton Didn’t Destroy Indian Village

Famed Regatta Namesake Cleared Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal

Archaeologist Buzz Hesse of Otego discusses artifacts found over the years with Janice Springsteen, 91, who lives in the vicinity of Onaquaga, the Indian village dispersed a year before the ClintonSullivan Expedition.

Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich rings the ceremonial bell to signal the graduation of the Class of 2019/ MORE PHOTOS, A3

Trail of Tears

No Surprise As Voters Approve $19.8M Budget

Clinton’s Dam • (Cooperstown)

he $19.8 million Cooperstown Central School 2019-20 passed Tuesday, May 21, by a vote of 305-46. Two school board candidates were unopposed, but incumbent Marielle Ainsworth led the polling with 295 votes, and newcomer Wendy Kiuber with 287. The budget contains a tax increase of 2.99 percent, which is the limit allowed by the state. The budget contains no new programs, but is aimed at bolstering kindergarten offerings and the social and psychological welfare of students generally.

AllOTSEGO.com

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• Oneonta

• Old Unadilla (Sidney)

Gunny Gonter • (Afton) Onaquaga • (Windsor)

Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal

Natives Fled Iroquois HQ Year Before Dam Blew Up By JIM KEVLIN

Expert Believes He’s Found Destroyed Onaquaga’s Site The flat land along the shore of the Susquehanna would be ideal for Iroquois longhouses. “That’s WINDSOR exactly what the map shows – a little rectangle of houses,” said here’s an island, a mountain, Buzz Hesse, who before opening a curve in the river, flatlands Hesse Auctions in Otego was with and, up the road, a site that’s the Office of the State Archaeololong been reported as a mission/ gist under his mentor, Dr. Robert Buzz Hesse Funk. trading post set up by Sir William Johnson, Great Britain’s last governor Mystery solved: After decades of general of the Province of New York. Please See DISCOVERY, B6 By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

he more than 3,000 paddlers in this weekend’s 59th annual General Clinton Regatta can compete with a clear conscience. Its namesake Gen. James Clinton, who blew up the dam at Cooperstown in 1779 so the waters could carry his 200-bateaux Please See CLINTON, B6

►FIRE CHARRED a trailer at Goodyear Lake Monday, May 20, but the residents were away and no one was injured. ► RELAY FOR LIFE, hosted again this year in MIlford’s Wilber Park, grew a large crowd, including the American Legion Riders from Oneonta. 2 ► ...AND A ROMANCE ended the Relay: DJ Justino Haynes proposed to his girlfriend Deanie Lord from the main stage,and she accepted. ► IT’S NOT YOUR FATHER’s By JENNIFER HILL marijuana; it’s much stronger, a pot expert from Colorado, Ben Cort, advised a LEAF sumPITTSFIELD mit in Oneonta

T General Clinton

Dad Richard Miller pauses with children Brandon, 14, Hunter, 10, and Izabella, 8.

TRAGEDIES, 2 MONTHS APART

All Lost, But Millers Together

he carbon monoxide detector went off first, waking Richard

►TO HELP family, Google

“The Millers” and “gofundme.com.”

Miller up last Tuesday, May 14, at about 1:30 a.m. Then, four smoke detectors on the first floor below

him sounded, one after the other, as Richard bolted out of bed. He hurried into the hallway and as he rounded the corner, he saw the wall was glowing red. “The top of the wall was Please See MILLERS, A7

Jennifer Hill/The Freeman’s Journal

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

THURSDAY, may 23, 2019

A-2 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL

LOCALS Relay For Life Shares Hope Under Sunny Skies

Hundreds Throng Clark lawn At Cooperstown Spring Fling

HANEY ON LIST: Carson Haney, Hartwick, was named to the Nazareth College Dean’s List for the Spring 2019 semester. ELDRED GETS BS: Kenneth Eldred, Cooperstown, graduated from SUNY Potsdam with a BS degree in Business administration. NOTO GRADUATES: Christina Noto, Cooperstown, graduated from Gettysburg College on May 19, 2019, with a BA degree.

HENEGHAN TOPS: Sarah Heneghan, Cooperstown, received a bachelor of science degree with distinction in engineerJim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal ing and management, project Heather Henderson, left, Schenevus holds up the banner and gave a rousing management minor from Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal call to fight the cancer scourge that has taken so many loved ones from Clarkson University in May. With 48 gift baskets to chose from, Don and Rosie among us as the Relay For Life got underway on a sunny Saturday, May 18 in Milford’s Wilber Park. With her, leading off survivors on the first circuit of the track are Tracy Baker, Cherry Valley; Art Boden, Cooperstown, and Laura Emmett, Oneonta. The annual event included dance performances, music and a speech from Assemblyman John Salka, R-Brookfield, about his daughter, Emmy, who developed brain cancer and passed away in 2015 at age 22.

DUNN NAMED: Lindsay Dunn, Fly Creek, was named to Adelphi University’s fall 2018 Dean’s List.

Hoag had difficult choices to make at the annual Silent Auction, part of the annual Cooperstown Rotary Club Spring Fling Saturday, May 18 on the lawn of the Clark Sports Center. Sunny skies brought out large crowds, and in all, the club raised $14,000.

On this Memorial Day

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memorial Day ParaDe

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& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

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ONEONTA

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I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country. Nathan Hale

We honor those

who gave their lives in service to our great country

CONNELL, DOW & DEYSENROTH, INC.

MeMorial Day May 27

FuNERaL HOmE

Celebrating our

29 year! 1990-2018 th

Bieritz agency 209 main st, cooperstown 607-547-2951 or in Morris at 607-263-5170

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Visit the NYS Veterans’ Home website at www.nysvets.org. For detailed information about admission, call or e-mail us at ldenz@nysvets.org

The entire staff of The Bieritz Agency salutes those who have proudly served and are serving our Country!

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& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

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After parade refreshments served at the Veterans Club • 60 Main Street • Cooperstown

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We honor those who gave their lives to let freedom ring!

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82 Chestnut Street, Cooperstown 607-547-8231

for our annual day of ceremonies. The parade will step off at 11am and proceed to the Soldiers and Sailors Monument

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Join Us

For 211 Years

Closed Monday’s exCept for MeMorial day and labor day (Closed these tuesday’s)

I-88 Exit 16, Rt. 7 Oneonta • 607-432-1782 or 800-498-2445 www.brooksbbq.com

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THURSDAY-FRIDAY, may 23 - 24, 2019

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-3

HARTWICK COLLEGE CLASS OF 2019 GRADUATES

OYARON DREAMS Richard Conklin, Morris, poses for a photo with Dr. Drugovich after receiving a Bachelor of Science.

Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA & The Freeman’s Journal

The revered William Davis, ‘49, retired president of Country Club Automotive and community leader, waves to fans after he received his honorary Doctor of Laws degree Saturday, May 18, during the Class of 2019 Commencement on Oyaron Hill. With him are Hartwick College President Margaret L. Drugovich, left, and Professor Carli Ficano.

Dr. Andrew Pease, director and assistant professor of music, directs the Hartwick Wind Ensemble.

Skylar Thompson, West Oneonta, prepares to ring bells distributed to all Hartwick grads, a longtime traditional end to the ceremony.

Madison Miller, Oneonta, receives her mantle from Dr. Cherilyn Lacy, as she graduates with her bachelor’s degree in mathematics.

Gavin Smith, Oneonta, smiles reflectively as he heads out into the world.

Dr. Sarah Griffiths Herbert ‘88, receives her honorary mantle as Doctor of Letters from Dr. Drugovich and Jason Antrosio, professor of anthropology.

On this Memorial Day

For 211 Years

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Church & Scott, Inc. 5396 St. Rt. 28, Cooperstown 607-547-1228

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219 River Street, Oneonta 607-432-8326 www.thepowellcompany.com Email: Info@thepowellcompany.com

Perspectives

THURSDAY, may 23, 2019

A-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL EDITORIAL

Congressman Delgado Elevates Mother’s Love In Colgate Speech

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here are no second acts in American lives” has been attributed – some say misattributed – to F. Scott Fitzgerald. Our congressman, Antonio Delgado – as he recounts in his splendid commencement address last weekend at his alma mater, Colgate University – is a contradiction in point. His experience as hip-hop artist AD, The Voice, which he addresses in his speech for the first time we’ve seen, very well could have ruled him out as a prospective Congressional

candidate, particularly – as he puts it – in the 19th Congressional District, which is 90 percent white. Still, his first-rate credentials – they include a mother’s love, which he touchingly revisited in his speech – plus, Colgate, Oxford and Harvard degrees. And his experience – as a litigator, not a lobbyist, he’ll tell you – with a top-flight law firm, certainly qualified him as a successor to the consensus-building Chris Gibson of Kinderhook and – projecting ahead – to the canny and effective Sherwood Boehlert of Greater Utica. That Delgado is black was, in

The future congressman, mom Thelma and brother Kito.

itself, never disqualifying in the 19th District – certainly, not in Otsego County, which – split a third, a third and a third Republican, Democrat and independent – voted twice for Barack Obama, with folks generally, if not unanimously, thrilled to do so. • Antonio Delgado is not the traditional Horatio Alger story. He had a stable family life – no orphan here – and access to a quality education. But, at least in that most nakedly meritocratic of endeavors, running for elective office – in the end, citizens vote by secret ballot, and you

either win or lose – Delgado was architect of his own success. That brilliant “I Promise” TV spot – a mother with cancer saying John Faso broke his promise by voting against the ACA – backed by financing that allowed it to run again and again in the days before the primary – swept him to the Democratic nomination. In his Colgate speech, he talks about “an onslaught of hate-based attacks” – the TV spots focusing on AD, The Voice. “Many wanted me to lash out in anger and to zero in on the ugliness of the attacks.” Please See EDITORIAL, A5

FOR THE RECORD

‘Love Conquers All’ At Colgate Graduation, Delgado Says He Resisted Fighting Fire With Fire Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt of U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado’s commencement address Sunday, May 19, at Colgate University, his alma mater.

Now, she did not disagree because she somehow forgot about that fateful Easter Sunday when, at the tender age of 9, she was rushed to the hospital with a severe case of the rheumatic www. OTSEGO.com fever – so severe that she was read her last rites. want to start with a story Nor did she disagree because about my mother, who she failed to remember how, even though she has often told me that she loves me survived the illness, her heart took such a with every fiber of her being, and there is beating in the process and was so weakened absolutely nothing that I can do about it. that she grew up unable to take PE classes She had me when she was 21 years old; for the remainder of her childhood. and did so against the wishes of her doctors. No, she disagreed (as she likes to tell me) They advised that her heart was not strong for one very simple reason – she loved me enough to survive the pregnancy. Mom Please See DELGADO, A6 disagreed. ►FOR VIDEO, full text of Congressman Delgado’s Colgate University commencement address, see

All

I Photo courtesy Colgate University

“Now, more than ever, we need to love each other,” Otsego County’s freshman Congressman Antonio Delgado, R-19, tells graduates Sunday, May 19, at his alma mater, Colgate University, where he was commencement speaker.

LETTERS

Main Street In Trouble, Yet Housing In Demand

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To the Editor In last week’s newspaper, Cooperstown Village Trustee Richard Sternberg penned a column in which he went to great lengths to point out all the various village projects that need to be completed. Included on the list were such things as the roads, not to mention other infrastructure needs, and the wastewater treatment plant as well as the Doubleday Field upgrade. When added to this list of needed undertakings, a new, and very expensive, aerial ladder truck for the fire department and the problematic almost-100year-old water and sewer pipe system, there would seem to be little doubt that the village is facing some rather overwhelming projects ahead. Therefore, it is no doubt a good thing

For 211 Years

E WIL

James C. Kevlin Editor & Publisher

that, as Sternberg seems to indicate, the powers that be at the village are in no way responsible for the overall business climate in the village. Never, it would seem, has the village done anything in any way to make running a business in Cooperstown more difficult. The many rules and regulations by which the businesses must run have never been an issue. The sign ordinance has always been perfect. Treatment of the merchants when it comes to sidewalk sales has always been equitable. And paid parking has never posed a problem. Even though there seems to have been a decline in the village’s business climate, Sternberg is quick to point out: “There are potential solutions to the problem of empty storefronts on Main Street, but this is primarily an issue for the business community...A person or

group could put together a committee to explore options and put together a business plan. This should be spearheaded by a local businessman or woman, preferably someone who’s expressed interest in the problem of declining commerce on Main Street.” Can it be assumed from this that the Village Board does not feel that any of that decline has been their responsibility? And while it may indeed be true that the village should not be directly involved in helping the business community, it also should not be in a position of hindering the business community. And one cannot help but think that by closing with “This project primarily is your job Mr. Small-town Businessman,” Sternberg has chosen to hinder. CATHERINE LAKE ELLSWORTH Mount Vernon, Ohio

DOWNSTATE DEVELOPER ATTRACTED UPSTATE

Cooperstown’s Newspaper

O M C O PE

To the Editor: Your editorial about Main Street is timely. When CVS and the General Store closed, businesses that remained experienced a plunge in traffic and revenue. We are in a tragic situation, with no apparent leadership equipped to deal with it. My advice to Cooperstown Chamber Executive Director Matt Hazzard at the time was to go all out nationally to determine interest in the CVS space. Parking revenue is probably restricted to municipal infrastructure work. All parties should be feeling utmost concern about the health of Main Street. State government is a joke with taxes and regulation that stifle business. We are in serious trouble on Main Street. Yet, demand for affordable housing remains strong. RICK HULSE, Sr. Cooperstown

Trustees Should Help, Not Hinder Downtown Revival

Tara Barnwell

Advertising Director & General Manager

Libby Cudmore

Managing Editor

Amanda E. Willsey Business Manager

Larissa Ryan Office Manager/Circulation

Jennifer Hill Reporter

Ian Austin Photographer

Thom Rhodes Advertising Consultant

Kathleen Peters Graphics & Production

Judith Bartow Billing

Tom Heitz Consultant

IN MEMORIAM: Mary Joan Kevlin, Co-Publisher, 2006-17 OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR Otsego County • Village of Milford • Town of Middlefield Cooperstown Central School District Subscriptions Rates: Otsego County, $48 a year. All other areas, $65 a year. First Class Subscription, $130 a year. Published Thursdays 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 Contents © Iron String Press, Inc.

If Johnson City, Why Not Cooperstown? Editor’s Note: Oneonta’s City Hall is actively helping private developers revive its downtown, but downstate developers are starting to recognize a demand for housing Upstate and seeking to fill the need. Per this report on BBJN.com, might someone consider Cooperstown’s vacant downtown CVS as an opportunity? JOHNSON CITY

New York City developer has plans to build a three-story, multi-family apartment building in Johnson City. Praveen Kamath, founder and managing member of AOM Investments LLC, broke ground Wednesday, May 15, for the LOFTS@JC project at 128 Grand Ave.

A New York City developer has been attracted to Johnson City, near Binghamton, to build an apartment complex on a former Dollar Bazaar site.

The total estimated project cost is more than $6 million, the Agency said in a Thursday news release. Crews will build the new apartment complex at the site of the “abandoned” Dollar Bazaar location, which will be demolished, per the news release.

This site has sat vacant for a number of years and has “contributed to the blight” in Johnson City, the Agency said. The project will bring new tax revenue and “much needed” housing availability to the village of Johnson City. AOM Investments, LLC

will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the project’s development and operations. “This is an exceptional project for Johnson City,” Stacey Duncan, deputy director of the Agency, said in the news release. “This project will be part of the significant transformation going on in the village and we’re thrilled to contribute to Johnson City’s continued growth.” The nearly 32,000square-foot structure will include three floors, along with basement space for recreational activities, the Agency said. It’ll have 24 residential units, including a mix of 12 3-bedroom units; six 2- bedroom units; and six 1-bedroom units.

AllOTSEGO.com • MORE LETTERS, A5-6

E-MAIL LETTERS TO EDITOR TO info@

THURSDAY, may 23, 2019

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL A-5

BOUND VOLUMES Compiled by Tom Heitz and SHARON STUART, with resources courtesy of The Fenimore Art Museum Research Library

200 YEARS AGO

Advertisement – New School. The subscriber gives notice that he has opened a Private School, at his dwelling house in Fair Street, where he will devote his time, and use every exertion in his power to facilitate the improvement of the pupils entrusted to his care – whilst strict attention shall be paid to their manners and morals. His number will be select and limited. The advantages of such a school every person is capable of appreciating. The subscriber hopes, by his exertions, to merit the patronage of the people in this vicinity. He will be pleased by having his employers and friends visit his school, as often as they may find it convenient, that the true merits or demerits thereof may be known. His terms for tuition are $2 per quarter, and no extra charges. Israel Day. The Watch Tower. May 24, 1819

75 YEARS AGO

100 YEARS AGO

Newest Wrinkle to Dislodge Car – A resourceful motorist whose car has been stuck in the mud does not always have to fall back on a pair of mules to get free. For such an emergency the United States Tire Co. offers a suggestion that may prove valuable. This calls for having stored away somewhere in the car a stack of old newspapers. When the car gets stuck and the wheels refuse to take hold, feed in some of the old papers between the tires and the mud. Usually, only a few will have to be worked in before the wheels begin to grip and the car will start forward. May 21, 1919

50 YEARS AGO

More than 20 Rotary International Exchange students who are spending a year in the area encompassed by Rotary International District 717, attended classes at Cooperstown Central School on Friday and were guests of Cooperstown students at over the weekend. The temperature hit 82 degrees here Saturday afternoon, making it the warmest day of the year so far. On Sunday, the mercury touched 81 for only the third time this year temperatures have topped 80 or more. Lieutenant and Mrs. David A Sanford of this village left May 12 from McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, for Augsburg, Germany, where Lt. Sanford will be stationed with the Army’s 34th Field Artillery Battalion. May 21, 1969

175 YEARS AGO

The timid in politics, fair weather Democrats, have been panic stricken, caused by the brag game and hurrahs of the Whigs. But the sky is clearing up, even to their vision; and as the hour approaches for the decision of the Democratic National Convention in regard to a Presidential candidate, the blood warms with devotion to the Cause, and all doubts of success are thrown to the winds. Although great efforts have been made at Washington to detract from Mr. Van Buren’s popularity with the masses and bring the Delegates against him, we have reason to know that they have utterly failed, and are sure that his name will this day be presented to the Democracy of the country as their standard-bearer in the great struggle for political supremacy, and that complete success is certain to await the count of the ballot boxes. May 27, 1844

150 YEARS AGO

Base Ball – On Saturday last a match game of ball, the third and last of a series, was played by the Olympics of Hartwick Seminary, and the Clinton Club of Clintonville, which resulted in favor of the Olympics by a score of 29 to 27. The match consisted of the best two out of three games. The following is the complete score: Tuesday, April 27, 9 innings – Olympics 50, Clinton 18; Monday, May 10, 9 innings – Olympics 40, Clinton 42; Saturday, May 15, 6 innings – Olympics 29, Clinton 27. Totals: Olympics 119, Clinton 87. The late Col. Prentiss. We feel very much indebted to Mrs. John H. Prentiss for a fine photographic likeness of her deceased husband, who established The Freeman’s Journal 61 years ago and remained its distinguished editor for 40 years. At our solicitation it was kindly presented to the office, to remain a permanent fixture, we trust, so long as the Journal shall continue to be published. The Colonel was a remarkably fine-looking gentleman of the old school, and this picture, enlarged by W.G. Smith from an excellent daguerreotype is recognized by all who have seen it as a life-like portrait. May 21, 1869

25 YEARS AGO

The Cooperstown girls took the Center State Conference’s East Division Championships on Tuesday, May 17. The girls’ team finished in first place, while the boys placed second. As she has done all season, Megan Sanford helped lead the girls’ team to the championship with a May 24, 1944 four-event winning performance. She took the 100 (13.0), the 200 (27.2), the 400 (1:01.7) and was a member of the winning 400 relay team (54.5) along with Betsy Roesch, Lisa Alicino, and Annie Winslow. Megan Sanford had The Danger of Sectionalism – The result of the Civil War a tremendous day and has had a tremendous season, Cooperstown Coach Connie Herzig said. in this country was in favor of a race of freemen, involvMay 24, 1994 ing the abolition of slavery, and the maintenance of the Union. It was the strongest possible declaration against Sectionalism, after a contest that cost thousands of lives After a first sighting a few days ago, a “big cat” or and untold wealth. We came out of that memorable contest mountain lion has been reported again. Maureen Wren, a with the old motto on our banners: “United we stand!” It was the common remark – “North and South, East and West DEC spokesperson said it is possible that a former pet may be ranging the west side of Otsego Lake. She also said the – There will never again be an effort made to overthrow or divide this Union.” There are events occurring today which animal could have been a fisher cat or a bob cat. The last verified sighting of a wild cougar or mountain lion in New challenge the correctness of this hopeful declaration – and York State dates to 1894. observing men, who closely observe the signs of the times, May 22, 2009 cannot fail to recognize them. May 24, 1894

125 YEARS AGO

10 YEARS AGO

THE VIEW FROM WEST DAVENPORT

LETTERS

Methodists At Fly Creek Pray Peacefully Together To the Editor: We appreciate this paper’s coverage of local dissent from the global United Methodist Church’s “Traditional Plan” which passed by a slim majority at the church’s conference in February of this year. To those not acquainted with the issue, the Traditional Plan continues the UMC Book of Discipline’s codified discrimination of people identifying as LGBTQ. Those so identifying are not turned away from church, but they are denied full benefits of membership. The implied message to LGBTQ people by this decision is that there is something wrong with them, that they are just not worthy. In our church, the Fly Creek United Methodist Church, there is certainly not unanimity of opinion about this important and difficult issue, but we dissenters worship peacefully alongside those holding a different view. However, many who regularly attend Sunday services in Fly Creek, a healthy majority of the 40 or so worshiping on any given Sunday, were concerned enough to sign a public statement of dissent, which reads as follows: “We, the undersigned, who call the Fly Creek United Methodist Church our church home, wish to declare unequivocally our disappointment and dismay with the decision made by

the 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church at their conference in St. Louis, MO on February 26, 2019. This decision perpetuates, under church law, discrimination of LGBTQ people who seek to marry or to become clergy. It also increases the punishment of clergy who officiate at same sex marriages. “We believe that all people are created equal and we celebrate the diversity created by God. We therefore disagree with the discrimination of LGBTQ people that this General Conference decision represents. We find it incompatible not only with the commandment to love one’s neighbor as one’s self, but with the civil rights and liberties accorded citizens of our nation. “We long for connection and we do our best to follow Christ, to love our neighbor, and to live tolerance and peace. We wish all people to know, and in this instance, particularly those who may identify as LGBTQ, that despite this denominational decision, our doors, minds, and hearts are open.” Thirty-seven people from the Fly Creek UMC congregation signed this statement. This issue continues to be discussed and in our prayers. JULIE HUNTSMAN CHRIS KJOLHEDE Fly Creek

Power Grid Mixes Good, Bad, Ugly Electrons

few weeks ago, an article appeared about installing a geo-thermal system to heat and cool the family home. The subject was very transparent about the fact geo-thermal systems require considerable electricity to run the pumps that circulate the fluid and to provide the energy necessary to make up the differential between the temperature of the water sourced from beneath the ground (normally 55 degrees) and the thermostat setting during cold nights MIKE (usually about 68 degrees). ZAGATA He then explained that he buys his electricity from a co-op that buys it from the New York Power Authority (NYPA) via a purchase contract. The source of the power in that contract with the NYPA is hydro. The author went on to say that because of this arrangement, they are not burning any fossil fuel. Unfortunately, that may not be the case. How can that possibly be? They buy their power from a company that sells hydro-power to their supplier. It’s because the power that is purchased by the co-op from the NYPA must enter the “grid” of transmission lines in order to be delivered to their

home. Once a given electron enters the grid, it is co-mingled with other electrons from other energy sources including coal, gas, oil, solar and wind. The electrons are all the same “color” – in other words, one electron cannot be distinguished from all those other electrons that make up the grid. There are not brown electrons sourced from coal, green electrons sources from solar, blue electrons sourced from hydro and pink electrons sourced from gas. Therefore, it is impossible to claim that the energy you are using to run your geo-thermal pumps, heat your home or charge your electric car was not produced by a fossil fuel. You can, however, claim that you are using less fossil fuel than you would be using without geo-thermal. There is another side to renewables that produce electricity to replace fossil fuels. That new-found electricity will require an adequate supply of transmission lines to handle the increased load. Remember how hard some of you fought against the Marcy South transmission line expansion? Get ready for new battles.

Think your electricity is created by non-fossil-fuel sources like the St. Lawrence Hydropower Projects? You may be disappointed.

Recall how you voiced protests at the hearings for the Constitution Pipeline Project claiming, albeit erroneously, the rights-of-way would be harmful to wildlife? If we’re going to use electricity to replace fossil fuel derived energy, the grid will need to be expanded. Please See ZAGATA, A6

Love One Another: There’s A Campaign Slogan EDITORIAL/From A4 Instead, Delgado decided to lead “with my heart by extending my arms rather than crossing them.” Maybe. Or perhaps as an Upstate New Yorker, certainly as a candidate out there on the hustings, he sensed the Faso allies – Faso steadfastly denied any connection to the ads (hmmm) – were overplaying their hand. Concluding that, the disciplined tactician in Antonio Delgado kept his mouth shut. So there you have it. Brilliant, with credentials to prove it. Disciplined: Beyond sticking to message, that Delgado played on two of only three Colgate basketball teams that made it

into NCAA March Madness proves it – that didn’t happen by drinking beer and cutting practice. And tactical: The latest example is his Medicare-X bill, a combination of public coverage and private enterprise aimed at providing healthcare coverage to more Americans. It is balanced and non-provocative enough to actually go somewhere. No AOC here. • The point is, Antonio Delgado has what it takes to succeed, perhaps mightily, and in the process to benefit the 19th greatly. He may not be here long enough to be an LBJ, bringing rural electrification (broadband?) to his

poverty-stricken West Texas district, but short of that … let’s see. Notably, the thrilling word most used in Antonio’s Colgate speech was: love. Not hate or racism or all the other buzzwords that slip off lips and into print so easily these days. Love. Scott Fitzgerald also had it, if not wrong, wrongheaded in another of his most famous lines, “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” With love, can we row ceaselessly into the future – that’s the real American Story. And, it seems, Antonio Delgado’s story, despite complex motivations, is a contemporary chapter.

THURSDAY-Friday, may 23 - 24, 2019

A-6 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Delgado: Extraordinary America Promising Without Bounds DELGADO/From A4 …Life has taught me that to dream big, you need love. It was my love of hip-hop culture and the pursuit of justice that pushed me to become the rapper AD, the Voice; it didn’t matter that I left family and friends scratching their heads, wondering why a Rhodes Scholar with a Harvard Law degree and mountains of student debt (my parents often reminded me) would move to L-A to become a struggling hip hop artist. For five years, I toiled away, sleeping on air mattresses, dining on Cupo-Noodles almost daily, and taking on odd-end jobs, from being a parking lot attendant to an apartment janitor, in order to pursue my passion and rap about things like the perils of inequality, violence, and hate. Was I successful? Certainly not monetarily speaking, I’ll tell you that. But I found a lot of meaning in the struggle, obtained a better sense of self, and grew stronger in my truth, wherever it would lead. • Years later, I found myself far from the world of music working as a litigator at a corporate law firm and on track likely to make partner. But it was my time struggling as a hip-hop artist and getting to know my truth that gave me the courage to take off the golden handcuffs of law firm life to dedicate myself to a life of public service. Only, this time it was out of love of country. I am deeply in love with America. I love how we were not founded based

Photo courtesy Colgate University

Congressman Delgado ended his commencement address by reciting a song from his hip-hop days as AD, The Voice.

on language or geography, but rather on ideals and principles like freedom, equality, and fairness. I love our diversity and the fact that we are human history’s grand experiment in democracy. And I love how in America, a little black boy from a working-class family in Schenectady – Upstate New York – can one day grow up to be a congressman with a rap album and represent a district that is nearly 90 percent white, and the eighth-most rural in the entire country. Only in America could that same little boy grow up to walk across Edmund Pettis Bridge, in Selma, Alabama, the site of Bloody Sunday, where armed police attacked and brutally beat Civil Rights demonstrators, with the very man who nearly lost his life that fateful Sunday: my hero and now my colleague in the

House of Representatives, the great John Lewis. • America is truly extraordinary in this way – her promise of opportunity is without bounds. And yet, with all the discord and divisiveness dominating our politics and stifling civic engagement, it’s become a lot harder to fulfill America’s promise – more difficult for folks to believe in the American Dream, to believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, anything is possible in this country no matter who you are or where you start in life. My parents lived the American Dream, and it led me to be here with you today. But for far too long, it has been slipping away, further and further out of reach for so many, no matter how hard you work. I decided to run because I couldn’t accept this – not as a proud American deeply indebted to all before me who sacrificed so much both at home and abroad so that I may have a chance to achieve the American Dream. I couldn’t sit on the sidelines and watch the opportunities that I had

ZAGATA: Once On Grid, An Electron Is An Electron ZAGATA/From A5 Could there be even another issue with solar power that will need to be addressed? During winter in Upstate New York, solar power doesn’t generate enough electricity to keep the pipes from freezing. However, people with solar power are able to produce more electricity than they need and thus go off the grid by selling the excess electricity to the local provider – a utility company like NYSEG. The utility must buy that excess electricity even though they may not have a market for it. If that is the case, the purchased electrons merely pass along through the grid until they are used up due to friction – a process called “line drop.” How will the utilities recover that financial loss? You guessed it – our rates will go up. And to make matters even worse, who do you think will pay for the new transmission lines to expand the grid to accommodate the increase in electrical power from renewables and for the cost of maintaining the existing grid as people producing solar power come off the grid? Natural gas molecules in a pipeline are much like electrons being pushed through a transmission line in that the source of one molecule can’t be distinguished from the source of another molecule.

4-FAMILY SALE! Sat. May 25 • Milford Home furnish, hip boots, weights, gun cases, bikes, linens, kid items, framed art, kingfoam mattress, antiques, AC’s, OldTown Canoe , sewing machine, collectibles, BBgun, Outdoor/Garden items,Thule 4 bike rack, Zoom H4n Recorder, 2 much 2 list. 320 Sweet Hill Rd Milford Sat. May 25, 8-4pm. 1 day, all must go!

In other words, gas produced in the Gulf of Mexico mirrors gas produced via fracking in Pennsylvania. If your gas is being delivered before the pipeline reaches Pennsylvania, there is a good chance, not a 100-percent chance, your gas came from a field south of the area producing fracked gas. However, if you live in New York and are opposed to fracking, due to the interconnection of various pipelines and the proximity to the gas being produced in Pennsylvania, there is a very good chance you are using fracked gas to heat your home. Isn’t this energy stuff more complicated than most of us realize? Mike Zagata, a former DEC commissioner in the Pataki Administration and environmental executive in Fortune 500 companies, lives in West Davenport.

Melissa Manikas State Farm 607-547-2886

with every fiber in my being that love conquers all. Hate may very well amass power, but it can never be great. To be great, one must be good, and to be good, one must love. For only love can lead to kindness, compassion, decency, honesty, mutual respect, and understanding. • Now, more than ever, we need to love each other – to restore civility in our public discourse and the dignity of humanity in our shared experiences. As you prepare, graduates, to make your mark in this world, please know that what the world needs more than anything from you, is love – love of self, love of neighbor, love of country, love of home, love of community, love of what you do. It’s not hard at all to dig one’s heels in when there is plenty of fertile ground upon which to be divisive. The hard work, the meaningful work, the work that takes strength of character, often requires that one go against the herd – not to be a contrarian, or to just grab a headline, but instead, to unite – to elevate the conversation in pursuit of a greater good or higher purpose. And none of this work can be done in the absence of love. …We need to ground ourselves in love as a community, through groups like Do Random Acts of Kindness (DoRAK), one of the University’s longeststanding clubs, that seeks to spread a message of positivity through activism, outreach, and kindness. These acts light up the world with love and cast out the darkness of hate and division. As my hero, Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

LETTERS

No One Should Be Forced To Take Psychiatric Drugs To the Editor: As a man diagnosed with a mental illness for the past 20+ years, I have the lived experience to give the public a patient’s view of the dangers of psychiatric drugs. They are not at all what most people, including those who are mentally ill, think they are. If you were to Google “Psychiatric Drugs: Cure or Quackery?” by Lawrence Stevens, J.D., you would get some startling but very accurate information about psychiatric drugs, what they really are and what they really do. The worst thing that often

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access to and benefited from become unattainable for future generations. And in my heart of hearts, I knew the answer to restoring the American Dream does not lie in dehumanizing or demonizing others who might not look like you, pray like you, or dress like you. For there can be no American Dream if, in attempting to restore it, America loses herself in the process – if America forgets who she is and what she has stood for since inception – that we are all created equal; equal in the eyes of our God, our laws, our government. • It is my firm belief that only through love can we stay true to who we are – can we live up to our ideals and fulfill America’s promise. Only through love are we able to remember that so much more unites us than divides us –that we all want to provide for our families, pursue our happiness, and give our children an even-better life than we experienced. And in understanding all of this, I was deeply compelled to fight partisanship with unity, and discord with commonality,

by rooting my campaign for public office in love. Now, my theory on love was certainly tested. I know some of the students here followed my campaign back in 2018, and if you did, you know about the sustained negative and racially charged personal attacks against my character. There was this belief, by the authors of those attacks, that my time as a hip-hop artist could be used to turn me into a thug with antiAmerican views. The line of attack played on ugly stereotypes and degrading notions of black masculinity. Participants in the ads would say things like, my voice could not be their voice, or, I wasn’t like the people of Upstate New York. • …As I traveled and held town halls all across my district, which includes 11 counties, stretches nearly 8,000 square miles, and is bigger than Connecticut and Rhode Island combined – what I felt from the people was something deeper than politics. What I felt was a real human connection, grounded in our shared capacity to love each other – to hope and dream for each other – to believe in each other and home. And in the end, we prevailed. Against all the odds, love was the answer – love of country, love of home, love of community, love of service. Always remember, that when you love, anything is possible, including finding your truth. You just need to make yourself vulnerable, trust in the goodness of others, and lead with your heart. The times we live in make it easy to be cynical and pessimistic about the world around us. There is a lot of hate and hostility bubbling up to the surface – a lot of divisiveness, and anger and fear. But I believe

happens to someone who is involuntarily committed to a psychiatric unit and/or mental hospital (especially in the U.S.) is that their rights are often limited and sometimes violated by a psychiatrist who forces psychiatric “medications” on them – against their will. This has happened to me many times over the years. Psychiatrists call the consequences of taking those drugs “side effects” but that’s just a nice way of saying we might suffer the diseases, disabilities and even deaths, caused by prolonged use of psychiatric drugs. Just read the long list of

May 25 | 11 am to 2 pm at Barnyard Swing and Mini Golf 4604 State Hwy 28, Milford

Bring your documents for secure and confidential destruction Time to clean out the papers you no longer need Support the Cooperstown Food Pantry

(Bring a personal hygiene item to stock the pantry)

Enjoy the activities offered at the Barnyard Swing and Mini Golf

“side effects” that comes with any psychiatric drug from any pharmacy so you can be warned of the dangers. No one, mentally ill or completely sane, should have any kind of drug forced on them. In a free country such as ours, grown men and women should be free to decide for themselves what does and does not go into their own bodies.

Jon Hansen

And if a psychiatrist feels the need to give us an ultimatum or promises to discharge us from the hospital unless we comply with their “medications,” I think that we all should consider these well-known words of wisdom by Napoleon Hill: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” JASON HEWLETT Oneonta

607-432-2022

22-26 Watkins Avenue, Oneonta Monday through Friday 8 am - 4:30 pm

Office Closing

For the past seven years, you, my patients, have seen the real estate sign outside my office at 521 Main St., Oneonta. Well, the office building is now in the process of being sold. I anticipate that we will close after our last office day of June 12, 2019. Thereafter, if you need an appointment, please call my Stamford office on 15 Railroad Ave., at 607-652-7583. Thank you, Dr. Richard. J. Ucci, MD

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, may 23 - 24, 2019

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-7

Pittsfield’s Miller Family Survives Second Tragedy Together MILLERS/From A1 burned through. I knew I couldn’t put the fire out in time,” he said. The smoke alarms had awakened his three children, Brandon, 14, Hunter, 10 and Izabella, 8. They met their dad in the hallway, and together the family ran out of the house, unharmed. “But then I did what you’re never supposed to do – run back in a burning house to get something,” Richard said. “I had to get my wife’s ashes, the urn they’re in.” Richard’s wife, Sharron,

died only two months ago, on Feb. 13, after battling cancer for two years. The fire destroyed the Millers’ house and the family lost almost everything in the fire. It had been Sharron’s childhood home, and then hers and Richard’s when they bought it eight years ago. But the insurance had lapsed, and Richard, who formerly worked for the Town of Pittsfield, was unemployed, unable to find daycare for the kids. “Sharron and I were only thinking about making her

better and we forgot to pay for it,” said Richard. “I could not in good conscience leave them alone while I worked at night.” But the community soon rallied. One of Richard’s friends brought over his old generator an hour after the firemen left last Tuesday so the Millers would have electricity in their camper, where they slept in the days after the fire. Hours after the fire was extinguished, Richard’s niece Tracy Knapp, who lives in Pittsfield, coordinated a

clothing drive and by that night, the Millers had all the clothes and bedding they needed. “This community is amazing,” Tracy said. “It always pulls together as one to help each other out.” Also over the weekend was Izabella’s eighth birthday, on May 18. Kelly Banks Cakes of New Berlin made and donated Minnie Mouse cupcakes, and family and friends brought presents and food, “enough to feed an army,” Tracy said. But the highlight of

Driver Dead, Officer Breaks Legs In Route 20 Crash FATALITY/From A1 Less than half an hour later, that man would be dead, the victim of a headon collision following a high-speed chase that ended when his red Buick Lacrosse ran into an Otsego County Sheriff’s cruiser, injuring Deputy James Mateunas. According to Trooper Aga Dembinska, Troop C spokesman,

a man in a car had been accused of harassing, then threatening a woman with a knife. When troopers approached, he fled and officers pursued him east on Route 20. As the fleeing car approached Route 20’s intersection with 80, Mateunas’ cruiser was parked, facing west with its lights flashing. The fleeing man’s car crossed the highway and ran head-on

Jennifer Hill/The Freeman’s Journal & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Whoever saw the crumpled red Buick Lacrosse had the same reaction: That was a fatal crash. And it was.

into the cruiser, Dembinska said. Coroner Michael Fox pronounced the suspect dead at the scene. McIvor was inadvertently drawn in to the drama. An EMS with the Richfield Springs Fire Department, he was paged at 2:44 p.m. to go to the crash in Springfield Center. “I knew that page had to do with what I saw at the barracks,” he said. At the crash site, McIvor learned the escaping car had gone up to 115 mph. Also at the scene, Sheriff Richard J. Devlin Jr. said that Mateunas suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was taken by ambulance to Bassett Hospital and admitted for surgery. He “suffered multiple fractures to his lower extremities,” said Devlin. The suspect’s name has not yet been released. The woman has been identified as Robin Church. McIvor did not know whether or not Church and the man knew each other. “He was not her husband,” McIvor said, “because her husband called 911 seven minutes after I did.” McIvor said he is a reporter for Automotive Press and reports on crash impacts, among other car topics. He said he is planning to attend the 2019 Virginia Highway Safety Summit in Roanoke tomorrow, at which he will learn about crash investigations.

AllOTSEGO.opportunities Job opportunity

Full-time assistant wanted for retail florist. Must apply in person to Mohican Flowers at 207 Main Street, Cooperstown. Must be available on Saturdays.

Mohican Flowers

Cooperstown Central School is seeking committed student-centered professionals to work in a supportive-learning community in the following positions: Building and grounds Maintainer Cleaner KeyBoard speCialist sChool psyChologist Join our team of dedicated educators. Position details at www.cooperstowncs.org

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Hartwick College seeks a full-time, Gift Processing Coordinator serving as the primary liaison between the departments of College Advancement and Finance, and responsible for receiving, recording and legally receipting charitable gifts and pledges to the College. For details, go to: www.hartwick.edu/jobs EOE.

The Watershed Agricultural Council, a non profit organization working to protect the NYC Watershed while supporting farm and forest land uses, is seeking an individual for the following position: • Engineering Specialist - The Watershed Agricultural Council is seeking an Engineering Specialist for its Agricultural Program. The Engineering Specialist will serve as a conservation technician to work cooperatively in the design and implementation of Agricultural Best Management Practices (BMPs) in the Watershed Agricultural Program (WAP) in the West of Hudson Watershed. Qualifications and requirements detailed in position description available online. Salary: low $50,000s. To apply: Send cover letter and resume to Amy Faulkner, Watershed Agricultural Council, 33195 State Highway 10, Walton, NY 13856; or e-mail afaulkner@nycwatershed.org. Review of applications will begin June 3, 2019. EOE.

Izabella’s birthday was when Richard gave the doll she’d had since she was two, named Gracie, back to her. Days after the fire, Gracie was found, blackened but not burned. Her family secretly had Gracie cleaned and refreshed. “Gracie was saved!” Shannon Delong, Richard’s sister-in-law, cheered on a Facebook post, with a picture of Izabella hugging her doll. In sifting through the rubble, Brandon found a cross made in memory of his mother, with her portrait and dates of birth and death on it and then Izabella found a photograph of Hunter and his school football team from two years ago. Both items were unscathed. As the cleanup continued, another friend brought an excavator and worked all weekend taking down the burned house. Richard’s neighbor and Tracy’s fatherin-law, Gene Knapp, paid $800 for the use and dumping

Join Our Team of Dedicated and Caring Professionals Home-Based Family Partner Classroom Teacher Assistant Teacher Center-Based Family Partner Early Head Start Caregiver I OFO is a family-oriented organization offering competetive wages, excellent benefits & opportunities for professional growth. For an application, submission instructions, benefit package summary & descriptions of all employment openings, visit

www.ofoinc.org/jobs

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The leader in developing innovative solutions to promote healthy lives, thriving families, and caring communities since 1966.

The Farmers’ Museum and Fenimore Art Museum seek applicants for the following positions:

Custodian/Maintenance Worker

Full-time, year-round position with benefits Applicants with basic construction and carpentry knowledge for small to moderate repair jobs are sought. Some of your responsibilities would include routine cleaning/ maintenance of public and office spaces, light carpentry/painting, and special event setup. If you are a steady, reliable worker; have a valid driver’s license; are capable of operating power equipment and enjoy working both inside and outdoors year-round, please apply today!

Painter/Building Maintenance Worker

Full-time, year-round position with benefits Applicants with interior and exterior painting experience, including exhibits, special projects and outside architectural elements, and working knowledge and experience in all phases of construction wanted. Successful candidates will be detail-oriented and understand conservation procedures. May involve weekend or holiday work.

Mail Room Associate

Part-Time, Year-Round position Previous experience working in a mailroom is desirable but will train the right candidate. This position requires sorting and delivering mail to offices across the campuses of Fenimore Art Museum and The Farmers’ Museum. A clean driver license is required. The position involves walking, climbing stairs and lifting up to 50 lbs. Must be able to learn U.S. Postal regulations and operate postage equipment and software.

To apply for any position contact Human Resources at 607-547-1462 or email j.zinger@fenimoreart.org.

Let Your Imagination Take Hold!

Home of the Week

of dumpsters to help the Millers clear the property to build a new house. In the meantime, the Millers began living in a house owned by their close friends, the Tullers, until their new one is built. The house was unfurnished, so Tracy went to work again, asking for donations of furniture, kitchen appliances, and household items on social media. She then drove her truck from house to house all weekend, collecting the items. By Sunday night, the house was completely furnished. The Tuller family are holding a fundraiser for the Millers, a barbeque dinner on June 22, in Longview Farm’s banquet hall, from 11 a.m. until they sell out. Meals will be $10/each and there will be a Chinese auction. All proceeds will go to the Miller family for building their new house. For more information, call Tracy Knapp at (607) 847-9278.

Versatile property of 20+ acres has tremendous potential: B&B, baseball rentals, home/business, family home w/rental apt. Traditional-style home features 7 BRs, 4 full baths all move-in condition w/tasteful upgrades. Huge rear addition has vaulted ceiling, exposed beams, in-ground pool! 3 of the BRs including the master, kitchen eating area and family room all have access to the pool. Oversized 3-bay garage has open-concept apartment w/3 BRs, 1 bath, kitchen, dining area, LR. The valley views from the top are spectacular!

MLS#120761 $379,900

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THURSDAY-Friday, may 23 - 24, 2019

AllOTSEGO.homes

MLS#118491 $269,900 On the Water! Year-round cottage w/62' frontage on east side of Canadarago Lake. 2-car garage, AC, walk-up attic, and dry heated basement. Call George (Rod) Sluyter @ 315-520-6512 (cell)

MLS#121147 $120,000 Home on 3 Acres Ranch home has 1,742 sq ft, 3 BRs, 2 baths, fireplace. Open and airy w/natural light. Quiet setting just outside of the town of Warren. Call Pamela Andela @ 315-717-1907 (cell)

lis NE tiN W g! MLS#121229 $169,000 Ideal Hunting Property 2008 double-wide in Laurens has 1,344 sq ft on 32.97 acres. Turn-key property. Detached garage attached to single-wide. Call Carol Olsen @ 607-434-7436 (cell)

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MLS#120707 $225,000 Historic Springfield Center Home Refinished original hemlock floors, newer furnace and windows, landscaped backyard. View of Mt. Wellington, stream. Call Melissa Klein @ 518-705-9849 (cell)

MLS#121000 $210,000 Stunning Views, Privacy Deeded lake rights. Near Wilbur State Park. 3 BRs, log home on 5 acres. 3-car garage, deck, views. Call Carol Olsen @ 607-434-7436 (cell)

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MLS#120877 $169,000 On a Quiet Dead End Road 6-BR home offers 1,812 sq ft on 5 acres w/landscaped gardens and pond in Kortright. Call Ron Guichard at 845-676-3600 (office)

lis NE tiN W g!

www.howardhanna.com

MLS#114624 $59,900 MLS#121150 $249,000 1982 double-wide w/3 BRs, 2 baths and 1½ story, 2-car Cooperstown Area Commercial Opportunity! garage. New heating system, updated electrical, new Massive exposure, 3,000 sq in ft,master built 2013. walls and ceiling inparking. 1 BR. New ceiling bath. Currently a thriving repair & sales business. Call Sharon P. Teatorauto @ 607-267-2681 (cell) Call Katherine Fistrowicz @ 607-267-2683 (cell)

MLS#120763 $199,000 Custom Built Log Home 6 picturesque acres. 960 sq ft home has radiant heat, 2 BRs, 2 baths, sprinkler system, rocking chair porch. Detached garage. Call Melissa Klein @ 518-705-9849 (cell)

MLS#121152 $145,000 Attention to Details Custom woodwork and detail finishes in this 3-BR, 2 bath, 1,640 sq ft home on 7 acres in New Don’t iswait, Spacious 4 BR,Lisbon. 2 bath house closepriced to I-88.well! Large Call Erin Mousa @ 607-435-1285 backyard, workshop/garage, small(cell) shed. Make your appointment today. Priced to go this week! Virtual Tour: www.RealEstateShows.com/708598

MLS#119489 $115,000 Great Location! Just steps to Fox Hospital in Oneonta, 4 BRs, well maintained. Home has good rental history. COC valid until 2022. Great residence. Call David Mattice @ 607-434-1647 (cell)

MLS#121181 $169,900 Million Dollar Views 3-BR, 2-bath ranch on a river on Main Street in Unadilla. Fireplace in lower level. Energy-conscious, recent improvements. Call Tom Tillapaugh @ 607-434-9392 (cell)

MLS#117622 $79,900 Retiring or Downsizing This affordable, efficient 2-BR ranch is situated between Oneonta and Otego. Economical to heat or cool w/REA electric. Call Tom Platt @ 607-433-1020 (office)

lis NE tiN W g!

221 Main Street, Andes 845-676-3600

MLS#121011 $379,900 Circa 1850 Modernized Farmhouse w/workshop, garage, apartment. 3,300 sq ft home has 7 BRs, 4 baths, 2 kitchens, sunroom, pool on 14 acres. Call George (Rod) Sluyter @ 315-520-6512 (cell)

lis NE tiN W g!

4914 State Hwy 28 Cooperstown 607-547-5933

MLS#120565 $184,900 Contemporary Home 2005-built, 3 BRs, 1½ baths, open-concept kitchen/living area, hardwood floors, family room, covered deck overlooking 10 acres. Call Katherine Fistrowicz @ 607-267-2683 (cell)

lis NE tiN W g!

MLS#121013 $179,700 Lake Access Home w/1,500 sq ft. on 38.8 acres. Motorboat to Canadarago Lake on creek access. 36' x 75' pole barn, 36' x 45' storage facility. Call George (Rod) Sluyter @ 315-520-6512 (cell)

75 Market Street Oneonta 607-433-1020

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A-8 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

MLS#121219 $325,000 2 Homes on Nearly 14 Acres Near Cooperstown Both homes rented to Dreams Park. Both have a solid rental background. Call Kristi Ough @ 607-547-5933 (cell)

MLS#121222 $475,000 59-Acre Horse Farm in Oneonta Large Colonial w/1968 addition leased for commercial use. Large barn w/8 horse stalls. Office building w/2-BR apt. Call Stephen Colwell @ 607-435-6542 (cell)

Locally owned and operated Single and multi-family homes Commercial property and land

99 Main Street, Oneonta office 607.441.7312 fax 607.432.7580

45 Acres w/Mountain Views! Large pond, private setting. Home features large open kitchen, fireplace, 2 BRS, 2 baths, finished basement w/family room, bath, second kitchen. Attached garage plus 2-car detached garage. Don’t miss out, set up your private showing today! MLS#121220 $249,900

www.oneontarealty.com

Center City Classic Colonial on Union Street, Oneonta Just a few steps to Wilber Park. Very roomy 4-BR, 2½-bath home has been lovingly maintained. Traditional layout features spacious LR across the width of the home w/fireplace, built-in bookcases. Recent updates: new roof in 2018, newly painted in 2017, new countertops/tile flooring in kitchen in 2017, new water heater in 2014. Large front porch, private deck, detached garage. Great home and location! MLS#120449 $249,000

Lizabeth Rose, Broker/Owner Cricket Keto, Licensed Assoc. Broker Peter D. Clark, Consultant

Prepare for the Summer Season! The 157 Main Street,Cooperstown 607-547-5740

www.hubbellsrealestate.com

nEW PriCE! ProPErty DEtailS —50± acres

29-acre Estate

(8579) Expanded Cape w/5 BRs, 3+ baths, first-floor living. Cherry floors, French doors, wrap-around deck, 7-zone heat, central air. Custom kitchen w/fireplaced sitting area. Master suite, guest suite. Second floor w/game room, office. 3-car garage. Private setting w/29+ acres. Cooperstown Schools.

Hubbell’s Exclusive—$875,000

Fully Remodeled on 2 Acres

3-BR, 2-bath home w/views. Fresh interior paint, bay window, open design, open staircase, spacious LR, laminate flooring, newly decorated. Master BR w/balcony and new bath, new eat-in kitchen, formal DR. Newer roof, porch, deck, windows. Off-street parking, walk-out basement. CV-S Schools.

Hubbell’s Exclusive—$165,000

intErior FEaturES —4,456 sq ft —Post-and-beam construction —8 total BRs —3 full baths, one ½ bath —Built in 1900

Don Olin

REALTY, INC

OUNDED

E WIL

Cooperstown’s Newspaper

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& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch

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SELLING OR BUYING? DO IT ALL HERE! 607-547-6103 For 211 Years

John Mitchell Real Estate

216 Main Street, Cooperstown • 607-547-8551 • 607-547-1029 (fax) www.johnmitchellrealestate.com • info@johnmitchellrealestate.com

Let Us Take You Home

Debbie Watkins-Parker Mike Winslow, Broker Dave LaDuke, Broker 914-489-3523 607-435-0183 607-435-2405 Laura Coleman Madeline K. Woerner Jane McCoy Kristen Bellois 607-437-4881 607-434-3697 607-232-3442 607-282-2251

View our listings • List with us! johnmitchellrealestate.com

Cooperstown Theater Festival—Large country house from 1900 w/1980 addition could be B&B or inn. Two living spaces w/separate utilities, kitchens, BRs, baths. Most land must remain agricultural; some could be developed. Theater building has full stage, dressing rooms, screened DR, service area. Perfect spot for dinner theater, hops farm, vineyard. Possible year-round facility w/trails, winter activities. Endless possibilities.

Exclusively offered at $395,000

—Self-contained addition 1980 —2 fully applianced eat-in kitchens —2 LRs —Formal room —Study —Master BR suite —Utilities updated —Laundry

—First-floor bath —1 fireplace and woodstove —Electric and oil heat ExtErior FEaturES —Wood and aluminum siding —Asphalt shingle roof —Detached 3-car garage —Patio, enclosed glass porch

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Timothy Donahue, Real Estate Associate Broker – 293-8874 Madeline Sansevere, Real Estate Salesperson – 435-4311 Catherine Raddatz, Real Estate Salesperson – 547-8958 Michael Welch, Real Estate Salesperson – 547-8502

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

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OTSEGO.life

PAGE B-1

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, May 23 - 24, 2019

Sgt. Wallace Low, now 94, was assigned to the radio unit responsible for communications to and from the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay, but that wasn’t the only assignment from General McArthur. Low holds up a photo of a Bavarian lad that, to his surprise, he ran across in occupied Japan. Son-in-law Bill Rigby and grandson Will Rigby are also veterans.

ISSION

In Tokyo Bay

in Otsego County

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Regatta, BASE Race, Hall of Fame Classic Weekend Highlights

MacArthur Wanted Surrender – And To Hear Army-Navy Game

t the end of World War II, Sgt. Wallace Low remembers a particular assignment while stationed with his communications unit in Yokohama Bay to handle communications during the Japanese surrender.

what’s fun

The veteran paddling duo of Andy Triebold, bow, and Steve Lajoie paddled to victory in the 2018 General Clinton Canoe Regatta, held again this weekend.

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COOPERSTOWN

OnEOnTa Fa MiLy yMCa 607 43 www.oneo 2 0010 ntaymca.org

BEST BETS

Ian Austin/

By LIBBY CUDMORE

JOin TOday

►LEST WE FORGET: Monday, May 27, Memorial Day commemorations are at 11 a.m. at the Soldiers & Sailors monument, Cooperstown; and a parade at 10 a.m. on Main Street, followed by an 11 a.m. ceremony at the Veterans’ Memorial

“General (Douglas) MacArthur wanted to listen to the Army-Navy football game,” he said. “Our orders were to set up the receivers so that he could get the entire game – in Alaska, San Francisco, Hawaii and Australia.

If one started to fade, we switched over to the other!” MacArthur was able to listen to the whole game, and afterwards, went by to meet the men who made it possible. “He shook all our hands and thanked us personally,” said Low. “And even though he did not drink, he served us all whiskey!” Low, 94, the father of Janet Rigby and a frequent visitor to Cooperstown from his home in Boonville, served in the Pacific Please See TOKYO BAY, B3

Exhibit Dramatizes Once (And Future?) Theater At the new GOHS exhibit, FOTOT President Patrice Macaluso discusses the Oneonta’s history of entertaining Oneonta, and her hopes for its revival.

By LIBBY CUDMORE ONEONTA

f we want to save the Oneonta Theatre, Patrice Macaluso says, we cannot just look to the past. “It has always changed with the times,” she said. “We can’t get wedded to what it was.” The changing face of the Oneonta Theatre is the subject of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society’s newest exhibit, OTSEGO.life “The Oneonta Theatre:

All

Ian Austin/

►IF YOU GO: “Oneonta Theatre: Reflecting Popular Culture Since 1897,” noon-4, MondayFriday; 10-4, Saturday, at Oneonta History Center, 183 Main St.

Reflecting Popular Culture Since 1897,” curated by Macaluso. The exhibit traces the whole history of the venue, from the very first show in 1898 – “The Sporting Dutchess” starring Madame Modjeska, Please See THEATRE, B6

t’s a wet and wild weekend as the annual General Clinton Canoe Regatta brings everyone out to the shores – and waters – of the Susquehanna River. Though races run all weekend, the big one kicks off at LIBBY 6 a.m. Monday, May CUDMORE 26. Follow the racers down the river, then enjoy a barbeque in Bainbridge. Brookwood Point, 6000 State Hwy 80, Cooperstown. Info www.canoeregatta.org. • The 11th annual Hall of Fame Classic has six HOF legends and players from all 30 MLB teams playing a 7-inning game. Tickets $11-12.50. Pregame Home Run Derby at noon. Afterwards, kids can do the Doubleday Dash around the bases. 1:50 p.m. Saturday, May 25, Doubleday Field. Info 607207-9519, www.BaseballHall.org. • Live music and delicious food and wine parings from local restaurants, all to benefit the Catskill Symphony. 7 - 9 p.m. Saturday, May 25, Oneonta Country Club, 9 Country Club Dr, Oneonta. Info catskillsymphony.net. • The best way to show you support healthy lifestyle choices is to run a 5K race! The annual BASE race benefits the Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Be A Superior Example” programs. Registration begins 8:30 a.m. Saturday, May 25. Info 607-547-0329 http://baserace.itsyourrace.com. • Bring paper to shred and help support the Cooperstown Food Pantry, then stay to enjoy Barnyard Swing and Mini Golf activities. 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Saturday, May 25, 4604 State Hwy 28, Milford. Info 607-547-8330.

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL • HOMETOWN ONEONTA

AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE

FOR NEWS UPDATES, VISIT www.

We will be closed May 25th , 26 th and 27th in respect of those who have lost their lives in military service.

B-2

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All OTSEGO. dining&entertainment

_________

THURSDAY-Friday, May 23 - 24, 2019

A complete guide to

what’s fun in OtsegO COunty _________ Send calendar items to info@allotsego.com

►Thursday, May 23

_______

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 call 607-723-8236 CRAFT & CHAT – 3:30 p.m. Bring current knit or crochet project, chat with friends. Ages 10+. Arkell Museum, 2 Erie Blvd., Canajoharie. 518673-2314. PUBLIC SPEAKING – 6:15 p.m. Practice public speaking with the Toastmasters. The Green Earth, 4 Market St., Oneonta. MUSIC FESTIVAL – 8 p.m. Honest Brook Music Festival winter season concludes with Tesla String Quartet. Cost, $30/person at-door. Stamford United Methodist Church, 88 Main St., Stamford. 607-7463770.

►Friday, May 24

BASEBALL CLINIC – 4-7 p.m. Former Major Leaguers give hands-on training to youth ages 7-12 for Cooperstown Classic Clinic. FREE, preregistration required. Doubleday Field, Cooperstown. 607-547-0397. RECEPTION – 5-7 p.m. Opening reception for three art exhibits at the Smithy Galleries, showing 5/24-6/26. Light refreshments. Free. Cooperstown Art Association Galleries, Cooperstown. 607547-9777. REGATTA – 6:15 p.m. General Clinton Canoe Regatta. Brookwood Point, 6000 State Hwy 80, Cooperstown. Info, schedule, CARNIVAL – 6-10 p.m. Rides, flea market, crafts,

what’s fun

more. Free admission, parking. Wristband Specials $25. General Clinton Park, 2507 Hinkley Ln, Bainbridge. WINE TASTING – 6:00 p.m. “Taste of the Regatta” offers sampling of local wines, food, entertainment and ale. General Clinton Park, 2507 Hinkley Ln, Bainbridge.

Brookwood Point, 6000 State Hwy 80, Cooperstown. CARNIVAL – 1 - 5 p.m. $8 car load parking. Corn hole tournament, music festival, talent competition. General Clinton Park, 2507 Hinkley Ln, Bainbridge. WINE & FOOD TASTING – 7 - 9 p.m. 10 local restaurants will serve appetizers paired with 12 wines to taste and live music to benefit the Catskill Symphony. $35/individual; Oneonta Country Club, 9 Country Club Dr, Oneonta. 607-436-2670. COFFEE HOUSE – 7 - 9 p.m. Music in range of genres by amateur local performers; light refreshments; all welcome. Schuyler Lake United Methodist Church. Church Rd., Schuyler Lake. 315-8582575.

in OtsegO COunty

►Saturday, May 25

PLANT SALE – 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Otsego County Master Gardeners’ annual plant sale fundraiser. Cornell Co-op Extension Education Center, 123 Lake St., Cooperstown. 607-547-2536. BASE RACE – “Be A Superior Example” program promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Get racer medal & goodies. Advance Registration, $25/person $55/family; day of race $30/person $ $65. 607-547-0329. GARDEN PARTY – 10 a.m.5 p.m. 9th Annual Sharon Springs Garden Party offers garden presentations & displays, arts, crafts, free horse rides, live music, food, more. Continues on 5/26, 10 a.m.4 p.m. Free shuttle rides. Main St., Sharon Springs. 518-860-5513. SHRED EVENT – 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Bring paper to shred, support Cooperstown Food Pantry. Enjoy Barnyard Swing and Mini Golf activities. 4604 State Hwy 28, Milford. LEGENDS GAME – 1:05 p.m. The 11th annual Hall of Fame Classic game w/6 HOF legends & players from all 30 MLB teams play 7-inning game. Tickets $11-12.50. Pregame Home Run Derby at noon. Doubleday Field, Cooperstown. 607-207-9519. DOUBLEDAY KIDS DASH – Following HOF Legends game, kids can do Doubleday Kids Dash on field’s base paths. FREE. Sign-ups at Doubleday Field, Cooperstown. REGATTA – 1:10 p.m. General Clinton Canoe Regatta.

►Sunday, May 26

GARDEN PARTY – 10 a.m.5 p.m, Sharon Springs. See Saturday listing. GIFT RAFFLE – 2 p.m. Gift Basket Bonanza raffle by the St. Thomas Catholic Community in Cherry Valley will begin at 4 p.m. St. Thomas the Apostle Church, 2 Genessee St. Cherry Valley. 518-5884108. ART OPENING – 5:30 p.m. Gallery reception for Fiber Show, runs until 6/4. With works by Clara van Beek, Bobbi Goldman, Elana Herzog, and Marianne Neuber. Light refreshments by Ommegang. West Kortright Centre, 49 West Kortright Church Rd., East Meredith. 607-2785454. OPERA RECITAL – 7:30 p.m. Internationally proclaimed vocalist Marlena Paradisi & Richard Poole Trio will perform selections from the Great American Songbook. Star Theater, 44 Main St., Cherry Valley. MORE CALENDAR, Pg. 4

InvItes you to a

Community Book Launch Party Pig in Flight

With the author, Fred J. schneider all Book sales to benefit “Friends of Doubleday Field”

May 29 | 7 to 9 pm Landmark Inn, Cooperstown

Reading at 7:30. Book signing immediately following. Light refreshments served. Can’t attend? order your copy at the Green toad Bookstore, oneonta or at www.glimmerglasspublishing.com.

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THURSDAY-FRIDAY, May 23 - 24, 2019

B-3

In South Pacific, Low Taught Fellow GIs: ‘I’ll Be Home For Christmas’ TOKYO BAY/From B1 Theater, from his 1942 enlistment until January 1946. He should feel at home in the Rigby home at Elm and Delaware: his son-in-law, Bill, was a Vietnam-era Cee-Bee 1969-75; Grandson Will, now studying computers at SUNY Cobleskill, served for four years aboard the USS Ronald Reagan. “I enlisted in the Reserve Corps right after my birthday,” said the family’s patriarch. Age 18, “I was a private, but I could go to school.” He attended RPI, and on weekends would be sent to the Army Quartermaster Depot in Scotia. “They wanted continuous operations, so they would send a bus to the school to pick us up at 10:30 at night,” he said. “I was assigned to the Engineering Storage, they paid us $15 a day and at 2 a.m. came around with free coffee and donuts.” Soon, Uncle Sam wanted more. Low was sent to Army Specialist Training and trained to be a radio operator. “They called us ‘Dit Da Artists’,” he said. “I could type 60 words a minute.” Messages would come

Great of selectgioinng han ts! baske ll Weowmi fill CustYour rs plante Urns &

in, he explained, and go through the code machines, coming out in five-letter increments. Radio operators like himself would type Morse code to send out the messages. He was sent first to Finschhafen, New Guinea, in November 1943, which had just been successfully defended by Australian and American forces against the Japanese. “We were there for Christmas,” he said. “It was 95 degrees, and we were all running around in our shorts.” Many of the men were homesick, and he got a choir together as part of a Christmas service. Bing Crosby’s “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” had just come out, “so we learned that,” he Sgt. Wally Low was so surprised to meet a young German boy in the said. “It was the first time Japanese countryside following the end of World War II that he asked the many people had heard it, lad to pose for a photo with him. and I’d say 80 percent of the guys had their hankies out They got one important “The colonel came in and illustrator, Petty was known when we sang it.” message while stationed decoded the message, for his pinup girls – dubbed In April 1945, his unit there: that President then took it to General “Petty Girls” – in Esquire was sent to close down radio Franklin Delano Roosevelt Eichelberger personMagazine. “So his nephew operations at the air strip had died April 12 and Harry ally,” he said. “Japan had put up this big beautiful on Biak, seized by Allies S. Truman had succeeded surrendered.” nude, but when the Colonel following a bloody battle in him. Forty radio operators, saw it, he had to paint on a 1944. “We had been using And that July, he noticed including Low, were bra and panties.” the airfield, but they wanted that a lot of communicasummoned to Yokohama They hired a local man to close down the radio tions were coming in from Bay, setting up their operato help build the base, and operations, and sent us,” he San Francisco. “We knew tions in a former maternity he brought his wife and two said. “We were there five or something was up,” he said. hospital, one of the last little girls, 7 and 4, to live six days operating the system An “eyes only” buildings left standing there during construction. to let everyone know there message for Gen. Robert around the port. “They were Christians, wouldn’t be anyone there.” Eichelberger came “There was a big blank but they had never had through in August, and wall, and George Petty’s Christmas,” he said. “So all the radio operators were nephew Kent was in our of us wrote home and asked asked to leave the room. company,” he said. An them to send gifts.

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OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/online ►SubScribe at

“We gave them a great Christmas party and taught them ‘Silent Night’ in English. They tried to teach us in Japanese, but I don’t think we learned.” Though the war was over, he was declared necessary personnel, and was tasked with finding additional places to put transmitters. With a pass signed by General MacArthur in hand, he toured Japan for five days, looking for places to put towers. One place he visited was Atami, a village that had been taken over by the Nazi forces. “The Japanese wanted German optical, but the Germans didn’t want to give out their secrets, so they moved their people there.” On the road, he was greeted by a blonde haired boy, who pointed them to a Bavarian-style inn. “Money meant nothing,” he said. “We paid for our room with canned meat, veggies, beans and eggs. And they made us dinner!” He was sent home in January 1946 and returned to school at RPI. He met his wife, Eileen, at a dance at Russell Sage shortly after his return, and they had four daughters, Linda, Janet, Chris and Victoria. An engineer, he was involved in construction of several factories, including Revere Copper and Brass, and ran the Christmas Tree Campground in Boonville.

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_________ in OtsegO COunty Send calendar items to info@allotsego.com

B-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

_______

THURSDAY-FRIDAY, 23 - 24, 2019

FROM Pg. 2

Building Better Pools for Over 50 Years!

►Sunday, May 26

CONCERT – 8 p.m. New York City’s first & only all-woman mariachi band perform their edgy take on traditional Mexican music. $32-$36/non-members, 8 & under free, West Kortright Centre, 49 West Kortright Church Rd., East Meredith. 607-278-5454.

Now that’s a lot of HAPPY customers!

what’s fun in OtsegO COunty

►Monday,May 27 Memorial Day

REGATTA – 6 a.m. General Clinton Canoe Regatta’s headliner race starts at Brookwood Point,

All OTSEGO. dining&entertainment Ken Pym & Son EXCAVATING • LANDSCAPING •PAVING & SEALCOATING

234 South Caroline Street, Herkimer 315-866-4030 www.geratypools.com OPEN EVERY DAY Mon-Fri 9 am to 6 pm Sat 9 am to 4 pm ● Sun 9 am to 3 pm

Legal

Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION of SNAPSHOT SECURITY CAMERA SYSTEMS, LLC A Limited Liability Company. Articles of Organization were filed with the New York State Secretary of State on May 16, 2019. The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County. The Secretary of State has been designated as the 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: Snapshot Security Camera Systems, LLC at 5199 US Highway 20 Springfield Center, NY 13468. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity. 6LegalJun.27 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION OF LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY UNDER NEW YORK LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY LAW 1. The name of the limited liability company (“LLC”) is Price Automotive, LLC. 2. The date of filing of the Articles of Organization with the Secretary of State is April 29, 2019. 3. The County within the State of New York in which the principal office of the LLC is located is Otsego. 4. The Secretary of State of the State of New York is hereby designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The post office address to which the Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him or her is: 339 State Highway 7, Sidney, NY 13838.

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5. The character or purpose of the business of the LLC is any purpose allowed by law. 6LegalJun.27 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION of E2H2NANO, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 03/26/2019. Office loc: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Miao Yu, 5 Summers Circle, Pittsford, NY 14534. Reg Agent: Miao Yu, 5 Summers Circle, Pittsford, NY 14534 Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose. 6LegalJun.20 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION of Wellfit Yoga, LLC Filed 5/6/19 Office: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 42 Nelson Avenue, Cooperstown, NY 13326 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJun.20 Legal nOtice SUPPLEMENTAL SUMMONS SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF OTSEGO INDEX NO. EF2018-956 Plaintiff designates OTSEGO as the place of trial situs of the real property Mortgaged Premises: 3031 COUNTY HIGHWAY 11 HARTWICK, NY 13348 District: Section: Block: Lot: DITECH FINANCIAL LLC, Plaintiff, vs. NORMA J. STILSON if living,

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and if she/he 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 the following designation, namely: the 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; SHANNEN E. STILSON, SR.; NEW YORK STATE DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION AND FINANCE; BASSETT MEDICAL, P.C. AKA BASSETT MEDICAL CENTER , THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA “JOHN DOE #1” through “JOHN DOE #12,” the last twelve names being fictitious and unknown to plaintiff, the persons or parties intended being the tenants, occupants, persons or corporations, if any, having or claiming an interest in or lien upon the premises, described in the complaint, Defendants. To the abovenamed Defendants YOU ARE HEREBY SUMMONED to answer the complaint in this action and to serve a copy of your answer, or, if the complaint

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NOTICE OF NATURE OF ACTION AND RELIEF SOUGHT THE OBJECT of the above caption action is to foreclose a Mortgage to secure the sum of $79,810.00 and interest, recorded on October 5, 2010, at Instrument number 2010-4597, of the Public Records of OTSEGO County, New York, covering premises known as 3031 COUNTY HIGHWAY 11 HARTWICK, NY 13348. The relief sought in the within action is a final judgment directing the sale of the premises described above to satisfy the debt secured by the Mortgage described above. OTSEGO County is designated as the place of trial because the real property affected by this action is located in said county. NOTICE YOU ARE IN DANGER OF LOSING YOUR HOME

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is not served with this summons, to serve a notice of appearance on the Plaintiff’s Attorney within 20 days after the service of this summons, exclusive of the day of service (or within 30 days after the service is complete if this summons is not personally delivered to you within the State of New York) in the event the United States of America is made a party defendant, the time to answer for the said United States of America shall not expire until (60) days after service of the Summons; and in case of your failure to appear or answer, judgment will be taken against you by default for the relief demanded in the complaint.

If you do not respond to this summons and complaint by

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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 the mortgage company will not stop the 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. BY: JENNIFER NOVEMBRE, ESQ. RAS BORISKIN, LLC Attorney for Plaintiff 900 Merchants Concourse, Suite 310 Westbury, NY 11590 4LegalJun.6 Legal nOtice Notice is Hereby Given that a license, # TBA for Liquor has been applied for by the undersigned to sell Beer, Wine & Liquor on premises at retail under the ABC Law at KEN’S AMERICAN CAFE INC at 748 State Hwy 28 Oneonta, NY 13820 for on premises consumption. 1LegalMay.23 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company Name: MJA3 LLC. Articles of Orga-

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nization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 6 May 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 181 Griggs Rd, Springfield Center, NY 13468. Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws. 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION of ROE RUNNER TRUCKING, LLC A Limited Liability Company. Articles of Organization were filed with the New York State Secretary of State on April 29, 2019. The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County. The Secretary of State has been designated as the 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: Roe Runner Trucking, LLC at 355 Hollenbeck Road, Worcester, NY 12197. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity. 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Blissfully Young Acres, LLC Filed 4/26/19 Office: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 111 Moyer Road, Cherry Valley, NY 13320 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Ekjot

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Properties, LLC Filed 4/30/19 Office: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 3643 State Hway 28, Milford, NY 13807 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Limited Liability company, LLC Name: S & G Industries LLC Articles of Organization filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 4/26/19. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to: P.O. Box 326, Cooperstown, NY 13326 Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF FORMATION OF TEMPLETON HALL, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY on 4/10/19. Office location: Otsego County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served and SSNY shall mail process to Templeton Hall, LLC, 63 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Purpose: Any lawful activity. 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice The Bennett Cemetery Annual Meeting will be held at the Cemetery June 1, 2019, at 10 a.m. Doris Martin, Secretary 3LegalMay.23 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of

finishes at Gen’l Clinton Park in Bainbridge at approx. 5 p.m. Brookwood Point, 6000 State Hwy 80, Cooperstown. REGATTA BARBEQUE –5 p.m. General Clinton Canoe Regatta barbeque, race trophy awards. General Clinton Park, 2507 Hinkley Ln, Bainbridge.

►Tuesday, May 28

PRESENTATION – 2 p.m. Learn about the Chesapeake Watershed and the Otsego County Conservation Association, by OCCA Executive Director Leslie Orzetti, PhD from the “The Gathering Place” series. Woodside Hall, One Main St., Cooperstown. Info, 607-547-0600, ext. 102. LECTURE – 6:30-8 p.m. Learn the basics of converting lawn to a wildflower meadow from OCCA/Mohican Farm Be Informed Lecture Series. Mohican Farm, 7207 State Route 80, Cooperstown. 607282-4087.

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Allen Lake Resort, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 04/30/2019. Office in Otsego Co. SSNY designated Agent of LLC upon whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 1006 County Highway 27, Richfield Springs, NY 13439. Purpose: Any Lawful purpose. 6LegalJun.13 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of NOURISH YOURSELF DIETETICS LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 4/9/2019. Office in Otsego Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 324 Williams Rd., Cooperstown, NY 13326. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 6LegalMay.30 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Farm to Family, LLC, a NY limited liability company (LLC). Arts. of Org. filed with NY Sec. of State (NYSS) on 04/08/19. Office: Otsego County. NYSS designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. NYSS shall mail process to: 1644 Co. Hwy. 39, Worcester, New York 12197. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 6LegalMay.30 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of MEHARI HARTWICK HOLDINGS, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY

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Secretary of State on 04/03/18. 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: LLC, 33 Mews Ln, South Orange, NJ 07079. The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act. 6LegalMay.23 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of HARLEY’S LEGACY LABS, LLC. Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 03/09/19. 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, 1057 Winney Hill Rd, Oneonta, NY 13820. The Purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act. 6LegalMay.23 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Unadilla, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY 3/27/2019. Office: Otsego County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Lester Sittler, Esq., 187 Cemetery Rd, Fly Creek, NY 13337. Purpose: Any lawful purpose. 6LegalMay.23

THURSDAY, May 23, 2019

OBITUARIES

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL B-5

Robert A. Tracy, 71; Vietnam Vet, Award-Winning Springfield Farmer EAST SPRINGFIELD – Robert A. Tracy, 71, the award-winning proprietor of Golden Brook Farm, passed away Tuesday, May 14, 2019 at Albany Medical Center. At the time of death, Robert was surrounded by a room full of family who loved him dearly. Bob Tracy grew up in Oxford, where he graduated from high school. He then

enlisted in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. During his enlistment, he meritoriously achieved E-5 (sergeant) rank in just three years, and was honorably discharged. He then bought his great uncle’s farm in Afton, with a goal of milking 50 cows. He was well on his way to achieving this goal when his barn burned, forcing

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him to restart. With his love of farming at heart and unwavering determination, he purchased a farm in East Springfield, where he spent the rest of his years and exceeded his goals. On his Golden Brook Farm, Bob earned over a dozen awards, including nine Herd Production Achievement Awards and

Consistent High Quality of Milk awards. He was a proud member of Dairylea. In his later years he enjoyed the often company of lifelong friends and watching his cows graze from his porch. He was recognized as a 50-year member of the American Legion. Surviving family includes his sisters, Carol (Earl) and

Judy (Rocky); his partner, Linda; his sons, Martin and Jason; his grandchildren, Matthew (Shelby), Allen, Jared, Jazmin, and Martin Jr.; his great-grandchildren, Levi and Mia, and his companion Bronson. He is further survived by his many close friends whom he held in very high regard. Bob was predeceased by his parents, Roger and

Georgianna Tracy; his sister Pat, and his son Randy. Calling hours will be 5-9 p.m. Friday, May 24, at the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley. A brief funeral service is planned at 11 a.m. Saturday, May 25, at the cemetery in Springfield, followed by a celebration of life at his farm in East Springfield. All are welcome.

Jean Huntington, 86; Wife Of Trolley Line Road Developer COOPERSTOWN – Jean C. Huntington, 86, wife of the late Donald C. Huntington, developer of the Trolley Line Road neighborhood, Hartwick Seminary, died early Sunday morning, May 19, 2019, at Woodside Hall in Cooperstown. She was 86. Born Feb. 25, 1933, in Oneonta, Jean was a daughter of Raymond J. and Cassie (Fowler) Cower. Jean grew up in Oneonta and graduated from OHS in 1951. On Feb. 22, 1953, Jean married Donald C. Huntington in a ceremony at the Main Street Baptist Church in Oneonta. A “city girl,” Jean adapted

to farm life when she and Don settled in the Westford area where they raised their family. In the early ’80s, Don and Jean moved to Wildwood, Fla., where they lived for many years. They moved back to Cooperstown in the middle ’90s, living in different houses in their Trolley Line development. Jean enjoyed many travels with Don around the USA and abroad. She worked daily on her journal, loved to garden and read. She is survived by one daughter, Jill HuntingtonSmith and her husband, Herbert, of Clermont, Fla.; two sons, Donald

C. Huntington, Jr. of Schenevus, and Eric “Rick” L. Huntington of San Diego, Calif.; three grandchildren, Lowell and Jamie Huntington and Eric C. Smith; and many nieces and nephews. In addition to her husband, she was predeceased by their son Christopher Jon Huntington, brothers Richard C. Cower and Erwin J. (Sonny) Cower, and a sister, VerNetta Riccitello. There will be no services for Jean. Jean’s ashes will be laid to rest with her husband’s at a later date in Westford Cemetery. Jean’s family is very

grateful for her wonderful care at Woodside Hall, her devoted church family of St. Timothy’s, Westford and her and Dad’s “gang” of friends in Cooperstown. As an alternative to flowers, Jean’s family suggests that memorial donations be made in her memory to St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, P.O. Box 74, Westford, NY 134880074, or to Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, 297 River Street Service Road, Oneonta, NY 13820. Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.

Frances J. Marriott, 96; Grew Up With 12 Siblings RICHFIELD SPRINGS – Frances J. Marriott, 96, one of 13 brothers and sisters from Edmeston, passed away peacefully on Thursday morning May 16, 2019 in Frances Saint Marriott Elizabeth’s Medical Center, Utica. She was born on March 3, 1923, in Edmeston, daughter of the late Charles and Nora Caulder Marriott. A lifelong area resident, she was educated in West Burlington and West Winfield public schools. Surviving her are two brothers, John Marriott of Leonardsville, and Warren Marriott and his wife Miriam of West Winfield; six sisters, Dorothy Griffiths of Leonardsville, Louise Holmes of Unadilla Forks, Emma O’Connor of Richfield Springs, Eleanor Phillips of Waterville, Iva Lewis and her husband Frank of Waterville, Beverly Sewczyke and her husband Joseph of Paris Hill, many nieces, nephews and cousins. Besides her parents she was preceded in death by four brothers, William, Melvin, Owen, and Frank Marriott, two sisters, Myra Patrick and Lorraine Marriott. A funeral service was held Tuesday, May 21 at the Saint John’s Episcopal Church, Richfield Springs with The Reverend Jill Stellman, Priest in Charge, officiating. Interment was in the Unadilla Forks Cemetery. Arrangements are entrusted to the J. Seaton McGrath Funeral Home.

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THURSDAY-FRIDAY, May 23 - 24, 2019

50 Years Later, Discoverer Of ‘Old Unadilla’ Finds Onaquaga DISCOVERY/From A1 uncertainty, Hesse Sunday, May 19, believed was looking for the first time at was the site of the village whose dispersal signaled the beginning of the end of the famed six-tribe Iroquois Confederacy. Onaquaga is linked to Otsego County through Gen. John Clinton’s famous damming the Susquehanna River at Cooperstown; he blew it up on Aug. 9, 1779, and his 200-bateaux force was carried down the river to Onaquaga, destroyed the year before. Clinton’s one brigade from Albany would reconnoiter with Gen. John Sullivan’s four brigades coming up from Pennsylvania on a campaign that would pacify Central New York, allowing Yankees to pour westwards from New England on

a century-long quest to control the continent. It’s particularly newsworthy this weekend, as Friday-Monday, May 24-27, some 3,000 canoes will be paddled from Cooperstown to Bainbridge in the 56th annual General Clinton Regatta. Until last Sunday, Hesse was uncertain precisely where Onaquaga was. But now he’s sure, after a day spent knocking on doors and talking to neighbors. Later in the day, Hesse located the tract’s owner, Glenn Winsor, Colesville town supervisor and coproprietor with brother Al of the expansive Winsor Farms dairying operations, who gave him permission to begin archaeological explorations. (Hesse asked that the precise location of the site be protected, to discourage marauders.)

If the suspected site is actually the headquarters of the Iroquois Confederacy, Hesse would expect to find tools for making pewter balls used in muskets – the tribes had moved beyond “bows and arrows” by that point, he said. Also in evidence would be “trade materials” from William Johnson’s nearby trading post/mission: blacksmith-made iron axes, copper items, glass points, “knapped,” and the natives had previously done with flint, and silver items made by craftsmen in Montreal. Exploring the Onaquaga site would bring Buzz Hesse full circle: It was he in 1968 who discovered the Iroquois village of Old Unadilla at Sidney. The owner, Egli Machine Co., was about to erect a building on the site, and Hesse assembled an archaeological team that

in two days, plus two rainy days that followed, was able to establish a record on what was there. “To document THIS site’s history for posterity – it would be very exciting,” said Hesse. In addition to Unadilla and Onaquaga, there was a third Iroquois community, Gunny Gonter on an island in the Susquehanna around Afton, but its remains have yet to be located. Names vary, Hesse said. Unadilla was “Tunadilla” in one of Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant’s letters. Gunny Gonter was “Cunahunta” in Frederick Cook’s “General John Sullivan’s Indian Expedition of 1779,” (1887). Onaquaga was variously called “Ogwaga” and “Onaqaga.” (From the Mohawk, “place of wild

Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

Janice Springsteen, 91, lives amid history. Her Town of Windsor home is near Ononquaga. Behind her is an island Buzz Hesse suspects is the one deeded to Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant after the American Revolution. And Gilbertsville Historian Leigh Eckmaier says the ford there is part of the Butternut Trail, an Indian trading route that enters Otsego County near Richfield Springs, skirts around Canadarago Lake and down the Butternut Valley to “Old Unadilla” before heading down to Broome County.

grapes.”) For the last half-century, it seems, archeological exploration was discourage there. The root of that was in the the late 1960s and early ’70s, when historian Marjorie Hinman founded the Old Onaquaga Historical Society, and developed a plan that included an archaeological assessment and re-creation of the longhouses on the original location, said Jerry Smith, recently retired Broome County historian. Mrs. Hinman passed away in 2014. The key farmer, Roland Springsteen, who was growing potatoes then dairying there, was told he could be caretaker of the ensuing development, an idea that so angered him that he prohibited anyone from coming on the property for a half-century, according to his wife, Janice, 91, interviewed the other day. “We’ve chased so many people away here,” she said. The husband passed way in 2011, but by then interest had waned. Jerry Smith isn’t aware of any current plans, either locally or in SUNY Binghamton’s Public Archaeology Facility, for the site. Affirming Hesse’s conclusions and the map in Frederick Cook’s book, Smith said Onaquaga straddled the river, and also that it shifted up and down the shoreline seven miles or so, responding to flooding or farmland depletion. Whatever the precise location of Onaquaga, there are plenty of artifacts in the neighborhood, said Mrs. Springsteen. “My husband could ride out on the tractor and spot an arrowhead,” she said. In one locally celebrated instance in the 1950s, Roland and son Roland Jr. were digging a ditch for a waterline “when the bones of a human, believed to be those of an Indian, were discovered,” according to a newspaper account at the

On Mrs. Springsteen’s back porch, Buzz Hesse examines Indian artifacts Millennium Pipeline crews found when laying a line nearby in 2003.

time that Mrs. Springsteen saved. The Springsteens cooperated with Cornell’s Department of Anthropology, then chaired by Dr. Allen R. Holmberg, an expert in Bolivia’s Siriono Indians who died in 1966. Researchers removed the body to Ithaca for “measurement and study.” Also up the road is a monument to “Wausaunia” (Rebecca Kellogg Ashley) who, seized as a girl in an Indian raid, acted as interpreter at the “Old Fort,” which Hesse said was likely the Johnson trading post/ mission. A nearby island in the river, Hesse said, was deeded to Brant, the Mohawk chief, after the Revolution, but he only farmed there for a couple of years. Before the 1778 raid, Onaquaga “was the base of operations for the entire Iroquois Confederacy,” Jerry Smith said. “Despite a historic marker here or there, and DAR plaques from the 1920s,” there’s little recognition today. Plans are underway nationally for the nation’s semiquincentennial – the 25th anniversary in 2026. “It would be a great time to bring Ononquaga to the forefront,” Smith said.

When Clinton’s Troops Floated Into Onaquaga, It Was Deserted CLINTON/From A1 flotilla swiftly down the Susquehanna to Onaquaga, didn’t destroy the Iroquois village there. He found one building standing, owned by a British sympathizer, a man name Clagford, and Clinton’s troops did destroy that. But “Clinton didn’t really do much on the way down,” said Bill Starna, the Oneonta historian who spoke on the period Sunday, May 19, at the Cooperstown Village Library. The actual destruction of Onaquaga was done the year before – in October 1778 – by a contingent of 250 Colonial troops out of Middle Fort (now

Middleburgh), led by a Lt. Col. William Butler. (Not to be confused with two feared Tory guerrilla commanders, John and Walter Butler.) Even William Butler’s troops, who had come down Oullette Creek and razed the Indian village at Old Unadilla (Sidney), found Onaquaga’s population – learning in advance the Americans were on their way – had abandoned the settlement. The Colonials also destroyed the longhouses and other signs of human habitation, and went back home. The context of this raid and the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition

of the following year were the nasty Border Wars: the American Revolution set neighbor against neighbor throughout the region, as some sided with Great Britain and the other with the Colonists. The Six Nations – the Iroquois Confederacy of six tribes – had to choose, too. The Oneidas allied with the Americans, but the Mohawks, led by famed Chief (and warrior) Joseph Brant and most of the other Iroquois stuck with the British. William Butler’s 1778 raid sparked what followed. In retaliation, Brant and Tory John Butler led what became known as the Cherry Valley Massacre on Nov.

11, 1778, where 30 settlers were killed and 80 taken hostage. That, in turn, prompted George Washington to order the ClintonSullivan Expedition the following year. When it was over, the Iroquois were destroyed, thousands of men, women and children killed, and the remaining 5,000 fled to British Canada. “Clinton gets all the credit,” said archaeologist and local historian Buzz Hesse. “We are in Clinton territory.” In reality, he said, it should be called the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, as Sullivan brought four brigades up from Pennsylvania; Clinton only

brought one down from Albany. The two forces joined at Tioga, modern-day Athens, Pa., and began the destruction of the native tribes in earnest. At the Revolution’s end, the pacification of the Iroquois allowed a flood of Yankees to flow out of overcrowded New England into Central New York and onto Ohio. “It was Washington’s war of annihilation,” said one local historian, who preferred not to be identified. But Hesse said, “Washington could see the future. He knew it” – the bloody conflict between natives and settlers “had to be resolved.”

Vaudeville, Vitaphones, Even Drag Shows – Oneonta Theatre Has Seen It All THEATRE/From B1 the most famous actress of the day – up to the present, where a recent marketing study and feasibility study hold the key to whether the downtown institution can be saved – or not. “The business plan is a reality,” she said. “But whether or not we can sustain the funding has not yet been determined.” The Oneonta Theatre was the brainchild of Willard E. Yager, Oneonta Herald publisher, also an advocate of the Oneonta Normal School founding. He led the fund drive for the theater in 1897 and oversaw its construction. The opera house was strategically located across from the Windsor Hotel (now the site of TownSquare Media and NBT Bank), which housed many of the actors who came in by rail to perform. The theatre boomed during the days of vaudeville, listed in Julius Cahn’s Official Theatrical Guide,”

HOMETOWN ONEONTA & The Freeman’s Journal

Macaluso looks over the exhibit’s collection of Oneonta Theatre playbills, some dating as far back as 1902.

the Bible for booking agents and

traveling performers looking to a place to put on a show. It also listed critics, advertising agencies, and doctors available to treat actors who fell sick on the road. In addition to musicians and theater, the Oneonta Theatre hosted fundraisers, including the popular “Womenless Weddings.” “All the important men in town would dress up in women’s clothes,” said Macaluso. “It was a fundraiser for the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs.” One such event packed the house, but the Oneonta Theatre was frequently packed in those days. “The theater was so popular they had to expand in 1919,” she said. “I always wondered why there was the new ceiling; they took the stage house down and moved the stage back 20 feet.” The first movie screen was installed in the late 1920s, featuring Warner Bros.’ early Vitaphone movies – a phonographic record that synched to the

film – in 1929. “They were usually repurposed silent films that had previously used a live orchestra,” she said. The Schine company bought the Oneonta Theatre in 1933, adding to a chain of what would later be 145 theaters across Upstate New York, a monopoly later broken up by a U.S. Supreme Court case. Escaping demolition in the 1960s Urban Renewal era, the theater was sold to Harold DeGraw, who also built the Showcase Cinema, where Silks & Treasures is now. Later, the theater was sold to Terry Mattison, the longtime manager. In 2008, entrepreneur Tom Cormier of Burlington Flats bought it, and although he initially worked with the Friends of the Oneonta Theatre – Macaluso made the new marquee letters herself – he parted ways with the group shortly after opening. “We had a grant from Senator Seward, but it was rescinded

because Tom wasn’t running it as a non-profit,” said Macaluso. “We were disappointed.” But in 2017, Cormier closed the theater and put it up for sale. Following the study in February, the success of the Oneonta Theatre, Macaluso said, is in determining what the community needs the space to be. Cormier marketed the venue as a music club, a turn that Macaluso believes was a good choice. “I like the no seats on the floor dance space,” she said. “We could always put seats in for movies, but like that, it could be a possible venue for OH-Fest.” She believes she has found people who are interested in fundraising, and hopes to begin a capital campaign in the near future. “If we could just get it back into community hands,” she said. “We could build the roster of events we need to support it.”