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Volume 214, No. 22
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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, June 2, 2022
Cooperstown’s Lakefront is “Bobby’s Park” after solemn Memorial Day ceremony The Village of Cooperstown marked Memorial Day as did villages, towns, and cities across the country — a parade up Main Street, a tribute to the fallen men and women who gave their lives in battle to protect freedom for all Americans. Some 200 village residents, area veterans, family, and friends gathered Monday afternoon, though, in a special, somber, and emotional ceremony dedicating a plaque in Cooperstown’s Lakefront Park to the memory of PFC Robert W. Atwell, a 1966 graduate of Cooperstown High School who was killed in action in Vietnam on March 21, 1968. 54 years after his death, the memories were still sharp as his sister Neal Atwell Franklin addressed the crowd. “The knock on the door came on March 21, 1968 and time stopped for our family,” Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh, left, and Neal she said, recounting the events Atwell Franklin, sister of PFC Robert W. Atwell, with surrounding her brother’s death the plaque newly dedicated to PFC Atwell at Lakefront and the return of PFC Atwell’s Park in Cooperstown after Memorial Day ceremonies. body to Cooperstown for a rare
Sunday funeral on March 31. She thanked village residents, the Village Board of Trustees, and Cooperstown resident Wayne Moakler for the honor — a plaque placed permanently in front of the flagpole in the beautiful lakeside park. Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh delivered an emotional remembrance of PFC Atwell and the impact his death had and continues to have on the village. The Atwell family, she said, had deep roots in Cooperstown — Atwell Road, home to Bassett Hospital, is named after PFC Atwell’s paternal grandfather, Dr. Floyd Atwell. PFC Atwell’s father, Robert, was a World War II veteran and long-time Otsego County Clerk; his mother, Mabel, was a teacher at Cooperstown Central High School. “PFC Robert W. Atwell was only 20 years old when he was killed on March 21, 1968,” she said. “20 is so incredibly young. But residents who were half that Continued on page 6
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Chestnut Crossing nearing completion; ‘passive housing’ leads with standards for energy savings Josh Edmonds stood outside Chestnut Crossing — the 13unit apartment building nearing completion at 10 Chestnut Street in Cooperstown — and described the construction process that will render the building a Certified Passive House, a concept manifesting renewable energy and environmentally friendly designs that set standards for ‘green’ buildings everywhere. Mr. Edmonds’s company, Simple Integrity, is building the project. “I don’t know why every new construction isn’t done this way,” he said. “For now, it has to be a lack of education for contractors and home-buyers.” “When buyers sit down with a contractor, they’re thinking more about how they want a free-standing tub or a wood-burning stove more than they’re thinking about the way we’re going to blanket the building in insulation or install heat pumps,” Mr. Edmonds said. “We start our presentations with that design-and-build standard.” Building to the certified passive house standard, he said, adds an estimated three- to four-percent premium over the cost of a house built to current code. The buyer recoups that initial outlay within the first four years of ownership. Francesca Zambello is his partner in ZAED Properties, LLC, which owns the Chestnut Crossing project. Both Continued on page 6
INSIDE ►’MEET THE CANDIDATES: Republican gubernatorial candidate Harry Wilson talks crime, Democrat congressional candidate Matt Castelli visits Cooperstown, page 2.
Clinton Canoe Regatta springs back to life
►ULTIMUTT GOES TO THE DOGS: Because ‘goes to the dogs’ is an old headline joke that every newspaper trots out when there’s a great dog show on tap, page 3 ►TIME FOR ‘SUMMER DREAMS’: This week, we bring back our oncea-week guide to summer fun insert with a walk around Betty and Wilbur Davis Park, a visit to Van Gogh, and local restaurant reviews you can use! (Insert). ►ONEONTA MURDER: Oneonta Police investigating May 30 Dietz St. incident as a homicide, page 10. ►A FEW THOUGHTS ON IMPORTANT THINGS: Our columnists this week wonder how to have the tough discussion on today’s issues, look at breakthrough COVID in the gym, ask if hopes and dreams can outweigh thoughts and prayers, and spread some kudos as the county’s summer season begins, pages 4 and 5. Follow Breaking News On
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Intrepid rowers of all skill levels tested their racing, endurance, and navigational skills in this year’s General Clinton Canoe Regatta, which kicked off from Otsego Lake’s Brookwood Point early in the morning of May 29 on its way 70 miles south along the Susquehanna River to Bainbridge. “It’s the only marathon I know where you start with a two-mile dead heat,” one solo kayaker quipped as he passed from the lake to the river’s mouth at the site of Clinton’s Dam and Council Rock. It was the race’s first real-time run since before the 2020 COVID epidemic, and racers from throughout the northeast were delighted to put the oars in the water.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD