The Freeman's Journal 12-30-21

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

Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, December 30, 2021

Newsstand Price $1

Teachers: Our 2021 citizen(s) of the year Perhaps we can look at The Pandemic as some hideous, great equalizer: it spares no person, no profession, no walk of life. COVID demands that everyone, regardless of age or status, adapt to new or modified practices that are at best unpleasant and annoying, at worst, life-changing.

Our health care professionals, caregivers, and first responders to whom we owe so much and, yes, our representatives at all levels of government (and their staff) whose lives have been upended for the past two years deserve our appreciation. So, too, do the restaurateurs and merchants and their hard-working employees who work each day to deliver a good dose of ‘the old normal’ as we push into this present and future we’ve grown tired of calling ‘the new normal.’

But when we look at this Pantheon of heroic behavior and community service, this year, The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta salutes the teachers of Otsego County for standing so tall among them and names them all, collectively, as our Citizen of the Year.

These dedicated professionals — and with them, school administrators, staff, coaches, cafeteria workers, maintenance teams, school bus drivers, volunteers, parents, and school boards — have pivoted with every dramatic change to the terms and conditions under which they must work.

They’ve become experts in arranging Zoom classrooms, virtual lessons, and, to the chagrin of just about everyone involved, remote learning on days that we used to call “snow days.” They’ve endured countless and highly public debates over whether their students should be remote or in person and have mastered the navigation of the on-days, off-days schedules that seem to come and go as COVID rates rise and fall.

From the start, every public official pontificated on the need to get kids back in the classroom — it’s just that no one really knew how it could happen.

INSIDE ►THEY’RE THE TOPS: County Chamber fetes local businesses, leaders for their contributions to the community in 2021, page 2.

New York opens COVID-19 testing facility in Milford after Otsego County officials cite need for access

New York Governor Kathy Hochul ►jail closes some Doors: responded this week to a request from County Sheriff hopes upcoming contract attracts more officers, page 2. Otsego County officials and will locate a ►STUDENT DEBT: SUNY, students talk about the pros and cons of college loan debt as Washington debate meanders, page 3. ►GREETINGS, FRIENDS: An endof-the-year bit of poetry to thank the many who make this a swell place to live, page 4. ►A FEW THOUGHTS ON IMPORTANT THINGS: Our columnists this week make some COVID predictions, consider a chicken up a tree, reflect on the passing of a beloved pet, and ponder the future of our rural economy, pages 5, 6, and 8.

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AllOTSEGO.com

Original illustration for The Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta

by Lianna Witherspoon

COVID’s unrelenting hold may have disrupted the systems by which schools deliver education, but it can’t disrupt the devotion our teachers bring to their work every day.

A few weeks ago, we reported on Cooperstown Central School’s production of its student musical, “The Wind in the Willows.” CCS music teacher and show director Tim Iversen told us he staged a performance of “Little Shop of Horrors” at the end of the 2020-21 school year in June with fewer than six weeks of rehearsal, making Cooperstown one of the only schools in the northeast to render a live production on a school stage during COVID lockdowns.

“COVID had robbed these kids of so much that I felt it our responsibility to them, to the school, and to the community to try to bring a little joy into the last weeks of the school year,” he said then.

That’s citizenship.

Mr. Iversen’s comment was in no way self-congratulatory, it was a matter-of-fact, this-is-why-I’m-here statement that reflects and, unintentionally but accurately, speaks for teachers in every classroom across Otsego County. Art, sports, math, science, history, English, technology, foreign languages, vocational studies — each one of these disciplines and its subsets loom large in students’ lives, every day.

Our teachers know this, they honor it, and they jump through hoops every day to keep COVID in the background so the students can continue to learn, grow, and thrive. Sometimes they’re technological hoops. Sometimes bureaucratic. But teachers — and, again, their administrative and support-staff colleagues — leanred how to keep those hoops invisible to the students.

Well done to each of you individually and all of you collectively, with the appreciation of The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta and AllOtsego.com.

Daily N.Y. positive Cases (past 180 days)

health officials say COVID testing remains available in “virtually every pharmacy.”

80 County Department of Health reprenew, state-run COVID-19 testing site in sentative Angela Roberts said Bassett 70 Milford.

Healthcare facilities, primary care The new site — one of only 13 clinics, and pharmacies continue to 60 throughout the state — opens Wednesday, provide COVID testing services. Bassett 50 December 29 at the American Legion Post Healthcare and A.O. Fox require appointat 86 West Main Street; its hours of operaments for testing; patients experiencing 40 tion are as follows: Monday, Wednesday, COVID symptoms can be tested without 30 and Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.; an appointment at those facilities.

Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon.

The most recent available specific 20 Milford will offer RT-PCR testing upon data for Otsego County available at press 10 its launch, with plans to add rapid antigen time showed 217 active COVID-19 cases and rapid PCR tests within a few days of reported on December 27, with 17 new 0 Wednesday’s opening. cases, 17 hospitalizations, and two new July 5, 2021 through December 28, 2021 To make an appointment, visit: deaths. The County reported a seven-day https://appointments.bioreference. average positive result of 8.8 percent. com/nystatecovidtesting Across New York, nearly 20 percent of COVID tests reported December The Milford testing site also will be open to walk-ins.

27 came back positive, with 6,173 patients hospitalized with COVID Otsego County Board Chair David Bliss and Public Health Director throughout the state. Nearly 1,000 of those patients are in intensive care Heidi Bond announced the site after hearing from county residents units, with more than 500 intubated. about the difficulties many had in obtaining an appointment for a Governor Hochul and other government and health officials at the state COVID-19 test. and local levels continue to urge vaccinations and boosters as the primary The new Milford site is the county’s only state-run testing location, but vehicles to combat the disease.

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, December 30, 2021

A-2 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

County Chamber celebrates businesses, leaders with 2021 prizes The Otsego County Chamber of Commerce this week named Five-Star Subaru’s Ben Guenther as its Eugene A. Bettiol, Jr., Distinguished Person of the Year as part of its year-end award ceremony.

Chamber officials stopped by Five-Star and other award winners on December 21 and 22 in surprise visits to present framed certificates to this year’s honorees.

The Chamber’s Board of Directors and local citizens met December 1 to wade through multiple nominations in each category, with the Board choosing winners on December 15.

Along with Mr. Guenther, the Chamber presented these awards: n Distinguished Business of the Year: Hartwick College, Oneonta n Small Business of the Year: The Village Printer, Oneonta n Breakthrough Business of the Year: OEConnect/Otsego County Cooperative, Inc., Hartwick The Chamber’s interim President, Al Rubin, said award winners “improve and

The

enrich the lives of the residents” of Otsego County.

“One of the functions of the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce is to recognize excellence in the business community, highlighting the amazing organizations that work tirelessly in our region,” he said.

Of the winners, he added, “We are so pleased to be able to highlight their successes and contributions to the region.”

The letter nominating The Village Printer for ‘Small Business of the Year’ reflected Mr. Rubin’s point about the important role these businesses play, writing, “They donated banners to many of the Oneonta High School sports teams so they can show their team and school pride year after year …

The Village Printer helps keep our community strong through their efforts.”

Mr. Rubin said COVID-19 precautions prevent an in-person event at this time.

“As soon as we are able, a proper celebratory event will take place where we can appropriately honor all of the awardees together,” he said.

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Contributed by Otsego County Chamber of Commerce

Otsego County Chamber of Commerce Interim President Al Rubin (right) and Director of Events Kathryn Dailey (left) flank the surprised winners of this year’s Chamber awards.

Above: Edward May, Kim Whitehead, Linda Osborne of The Village Printer; at left, they’re with Five-Star Subaru’s Ben Guenther.

Sheriff says correction salaries still an issue as contract looms

After closing of two housing units in the Otsego County jail on December 21 due to staffing issues, Sheriff Richard Devlin hopes the County Board of Representatives will offer a new contract to the Otsego County Deputy Sheriffs’ Benevolent Association with higher pay so the county can better retain staff at the jail.

Sheriff Devlin said the union’s contract with Otsego County expires in January 2022 – something he hopes will jumpstart discussions about “appropriate pay” for corrections officers.

Despite the upcoming contract deadline, the sheriff said he has heard “not a Jim Kevlin word” from the Otsego County Board of Representatives.

Sheriff Richard Devlin stands in the Otsego “I hope the county will see that the salary County Jail’s lobby in a 2019 photo. is an issue,” Sheriff Devlin said. “You would think that you tell people you had staffing “People are getting burned out,” he said. issues that you would have a conversation “It is becoming unsafe.” but we’ve had no conversation.”

He compared working as a corrections The sheriff decided to close the two jail officer in Otsego County to ‘a revolving units after a conversation with the New door.’

York State Commission of Corrections, a “We train them, they go somewhere move requiring 12 inmates to be housed else,” Sherriff Devlin said. in jails in neighboring counties at a cost to He said neighboring counties offer higher Otsego County of $90 a day per inmate. pay for corrections officers, and many leave The closing reduced by two the number because of the amount of overtime. of staff required in the Otsego County Corrections officers often work two to lockup. three double shifts of overtime per week, With 14 available openings for correc- which Sherriff Devlin said is untenable. tional officers in the county, Sheriff Devlin The county hiring additional corrections said he has heard that some already on the officer would dramatically reduce the staff plan on leaving their jobs. amount of overtime needed, he said.

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THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-3

President extends college loan moratorium as SUNY, students weigh options

By Kevin Limiti

Student loan borrowers received some welcome news over the holiday season when the United States Department of Education extended the student loan payment moratorium from January 31, 2022 to May 1, 2022.

The Biden Administration paused student loan payments in March 2020 to allow breathing room for borrowers, mitigating some of the financial effects of COVID-19.

Student loan debt in the United States stands at $1.7 trillion, a figure surpassing auto and credit card debt, with a third of debtors in default or behind in their payments. The average monthly payment is $400, CNBC reports.

According to a survey conducted by the Student Debt Crisis Center, 89 percent of borrowers are unable to resume payments at the end of January with 21 percent saying they will never be financially secure enough to resume payments.

The State University of New York at Oneonta, one of the two major colleges in Otsego County, is no stranger to student debt issues. Director of Financial Aid Melissa Allen said she tells families that the debt students take on is an investment in their future.

“When you take all the bad press about student loan debt, many of them don’t persist to graduation or go to for-profit colleges,” Ms. Allen said in a conversation with The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta. “I try to remind families that student loan debt versus regular consumer debt is an investment in the future. Student loan debt is good debt in the grand scheme of things.”

Ms. Allen said SUNY Oneonta students generally graduate with $3,000 less debt than other schools.

“That is in large part due to the quality of our education,” Ms. Allen said. “SUNY does a great job in making jobs attainable.”

Gianna Boveri, 24, studied psychology at SUNY Oneonta

and graduated in 2020 during the height of the pandemic.

She said delaying the student loan payments doesn’t necessarily make her feel better about her predicament.

“It’s really difficult to imagine starting to pay loans when I barely make enough money for rent and food,” Ms. Boveri said. “With the continual delays from Biden, there is always more of a feeling of impending doom rather than relief. The idea of having my own house with a car and having to have multiple insurances to pay for while paying my loan seems

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like a complete pipe dream, and I’m sure many people in my generation can resonate with that.”

Polling by Morning Consult shows a vast generational divide between those who believe student debt should be forgiven either partly or fully and those who don’t.

Millennials are most likely to support student loan debt forgiveness while almost half of baby boomers oppose it.

Overall, 34 percent of voters believe all or some student loan debt should be forgiven while 28 percent believe no

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student loan debt should be forgiven. Some 28 percent believe some or all loan debt should be forgiven, but only to low-income borrowers.

Voters also are split on party lines, with Democrat more likely to support student loan forgiveness and Republicans generally opposed.

Earlier in December, it appeared President Joe Biden would let the moratorium on student loan debt expire, with press secretary Jen Psaki communicating that the administration would help borrowers prepare for payment in February 2022. But President Biden relented as the Omicron variant surged throughout the nation.

“We know that millions of student loan borrowers are still coping with the impact of the pandemic and need some more time before resuming payment,” President Biden said in a statement.

President Biden’s move was praised by the likes of Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) in a Tweet celebrating the announcement. However, the Biden Administration has not yet gone as far as to forgive student debt, a priority for many congressional progressives.

Vice President Kamala Harris has said in a recent interview with CBS that the Biden Administration is looking at ways to “creatively” address student loan debt.

During the 2020 campaign, Mr. Biden pledged to cancel $10,000 worth of an individual’s student debt. To date, he has focused instead on extending existing programs for student loan debt, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives debt for those who work as police officers, firefighters, or in other public service jobs. He relaxed some of the rules associated with the program, resulting in the discharge of $2 billion worth of debt, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

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A-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL

THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

Greetings, Friends (with apologies to The New Yorker) Greetings, Friends! The time is nigh To bid this Covid Year good-bye.

We’ve had enough, we’ve played our parts Stayed home alone filling Amazon carts.

And cleaning our closets and working online Making do with our WiFi that’s not always fine.

We’ve said goodbye to some friends, to some relatives too Our families we’ve not seen, travel’s been so taboo.

Goodbye ’21, au revoir, off you go Adios and kwaheri, arrivederci, adjo.

Go away ’21! But wait! Not before TFJ has its way with some thank-yous galore.

Here’s to Ellen, our mayor, and our Village so green To Dep. Cindy Falk and to Hanna Bergene Joe Membrino, Richard Sternberg, Jeanne Dewey,

Mac Benton You invite us to meetings and hear things we vent on.

But we do thank you all for the great work you do ‘Cause we know you’ll continue right through ’22.

Mayor Herzing we thank for his selfless devotion That kept Oneonta in full-forward motion.

His successor, Mayor Drnek, has a tough act to follow, But brings with him to work ideas far from shallow.

Common Council-ers have an agenda on tap For more City growth and a spot on the map.

Our policemen and firemen, EMS saints worked so hard In this year of disasters, these months of en garde.

We owe all of you plenty, you’ve fought such a good fight Not to mention our crews, out day and night In rain, snow and sleet they keep our streets clear And always that siren yells loud in our ear.

Hats off to Dave Bliss, long he’s kept us in tow From Middlefield to Otsego, a mighty far mow Margaret Kennedy’s behind him, and more Reps as well They’re strong and they’re watchful, and clear as a bell.

To all County workers, whatever your ranks, On behalf of us all, we send you our thanks.

Here’s to L J and Wayne and their sassy boutique To the Mingo’s new Market, rental boats that don’t leak.

Hurray! Joe and his restaurants, NY Pizza, Bocca, Upstate Just waiting to welcome Dreams Park’s aggregate.

For Alex’s World Bistro, long we’ll hold our thoughts dear To Mel’s and the Hawkeye, the Diner’s one-hundredth year.

Toscana and Stagecoach, may you continue to please And Doubleday and Sal’s, you’re just the bees knees.

Here comes Natty Bumppo, of Mexican lean, To supply our good town with some nachos and beans.

Autumn and B-Side, a cheery hello, And every great restaurant there in ‘Big O’!

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Tara Barnwell Publisher Ted Potrikus Editor

Larissa Ryan Business Manager

Kathleen Peters Graphics & Production

Kevin Limiti Staff Writer

Ivan Potocnik Web Architect

Thumbs up Country Club Auto Group and

Five Star Subaru They’ll sell us good cars when they find one that’s new.

Our banks are still here, B of C, NBT, Key Bother not with the crypto, they have cash for a fee.

Our realtors, too, showing people around When they want to relocate in city or town.

Fenimore, Farmers’ — your shows are a pleasure The Hall’s virtual Induction a success beyond measure.

‘Cesca’s Glimmerglass Festival had a rip-roaring season With productions outside, rain or shine, for good reason.

Film fests and music and artists galore, Our region keeps calling you back for more!

Here’s to Bassett, its hospitals, clinics and posts May you treat us well with the procedures you boast Whether it’s care that’s called health, convenient and prime Or a center or network — will we find you in time?

We salute you, Drs. Ibrahim and LeCates For seeing the light through some messy old grates.

The Smithy holds forth with its shows and clay pots And Bruce Hall, now a century,

has pine boards, some with knots.

Church & Scott’s over 100, they say It got sold by the Adsits, and the jelly beans stay.

Nearby is Ace Hardware, an emporium for good cause They’ll feed dogs, birds and rabbits, fix electrics,

blowers and saws.

Don’t forget our old clubs, on Main Street and beyond The Vets and Mohican, where all the boys bond.

And then there’s the Rotary, spreading good deeds

and cheer Otsego Sailing Club had for its commodore, Butch Weir.

At Leatherstocking’s range you and your clubs can work Then it’s out for 18, maybe joined by Tim Quirk.

Let’s not ever forget who’s behind Cooperstown’s fare Thank you, Jane Forbes Clark, for your work

and your care.

To each merchant and restaurant and diner and store Bringing the life to this place we adore, To all those who add to our regional bounty We’re grateful that you’re in Otsego County.

And so, here we go, this New Year should be new Not quite empty of Covid, but full of hope too.

Let’s gather our wits, send pandemics away Bury those bad thoughts, try hard every day.

And get back to some normal, some semblance of real It shouldn’t, and couldn’t, be a very big deal.

LETTERS

IN

Cooperstown’s offiCial newspaper

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Spurbeck’s and Schneider’s have been here a long time The Farmers’ Market too, with its fresh food sublime.

Cooperstown Natural Foods is a place to behold Its produce organic, on Dave and Ellen we’re sold.

And just so we don’t mess up with the here and the now We welcome a new one, that friendly Green Cow.

Tom Heitz/Sharon Stuart Historian

Editorial Board Elinor Vincent, Michael Moffat, Tara Barnwell, Ted Potrikus OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER FOR Otsego County • Village of Cooperstown • Village of Milford Cooperstown Central School District MEMBER: National Newspaper Association, NY Press Association Subscription Rates: Otsego County, $69 a year. All other areas, $89 a year.

First Class Subscription, $155 a year.

Published Thursdays by Iron String Press, Inc. 21 Railroad Ave., Cooperstown NY 13326 Telephone: 607-547-6103. Fax: 607-547-6080.

Email: info@allotsego.com • www.allotsego.com Contents © Iron String Press, Inc.

‘Plague’ improvements The Plague has produced some revelations, a few for the better.

Our son works remotely at PIXAR. He lives a mile away from the office, where he used to commute by bike, but hasn’t gone there in over a year. Now that working from home is a viable alternative, a PIXAR artist or programmer could work from anywhere there is sufficient bandwidth — even Cooperstown.

In order for Otsego County communities to take advantage of this opportunity, the very best in Internet service must be available to population centers where it will be most effective. That means fiber optics to towns and villages where remote workers already have access to essential support services — schools, libraries and hospitals — just a bike ride away.

Chip Northrup Cooperstown

Bravo, CCS students To the Editor, Hats off to the young people who spoke to the School Board about the bullying and racism they have experienced and observed at Cooperstown Central School.

These behaviors persist despite institutional policies. It seems that community-wide conversation, episode by episode, might be required to combat this problem.

Antoinette Kuzminski. M.D. Cooperstown

“I own no interest and no party, but my country.”

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Banner motto of The Freeman’s Journal, 1823 to 1827

THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL A-5 richard Sternberg, M.D.

COVID 2022 predictions

Compiled by Tom Heitz/SHARON STUART with resources courtesy of The Fenimore Art Museum Research Library

210 YEARS AGO

We present our kind readers with the compliments of the season. The good Apostle said, “Is any man afflicted, let him pray; is any merry, let him sing psalms.” “A Merry Christmass” is reciprocally given and received, and we sincerely hope that few or none will be otherwise than “merry and wise,” and not “merry and sad,” as we fear is sometimes the case with the inconsiderate. Such seem to have forgotten the intent of rejoicing on the anniversary of the birth of our savior. They deserve our pity but not our approbation.

December 28, 1811

135 YEARS AGO

Rev. Mr. Boardman delivered an earnest temperance discourse in his own pulpit on Sunday evening last, and though all his hearers may not have fully coincided with all the views put forth by him, probably none of them underrated the evils depicted as resulting from habits of dissipation. The hard times experienced by a large class of people, the speaker rightly contended, results from the habit of dram-drinking.

January 1, 1887

160 YEARS AGO

The year 1861 sums up – Thousands of lives lost; an Army of 650,000 men; a Navy of 270 vessels and 22,000 men; a national debt of 500,000,000; the treasury nearly bankrupt; no foreign market for our loans; the initiation of a Government paper currency, and a national bankrupt law; a foreign war threatened; 400,000 rebels in the field.

January 3, 1862

60 YEARS AGO

It seems to me that almost every other columnist, and most periodicals, publish predictions for the coming year. I might as well share mine regarding COVID. What follows is solely my opinion.

While this is based on what I’ve researched and behaviors I’ve seen over the past two years, much of what I’m saying here is pure speculation.

By the end of the coming year, 85 percent of the US population will have experienced an episode of COVID. This is not to say that all or even a majority of these will be symptomatic; the disease has become so infectious, ubiquitous, and people become so casual about it, that almost nobody will be able avoid coming in contact with it. In fact, 85 percent is probably too low. On the other hand, having had COVID-19 or being vaccinated clearly has been shown not to protect against it.

The rolling out, distribution of, and prescribing of the oral medications to treat COVID symptoms is going to be poorly done. We still don’t have our act together on testing urgently and rapidly people who demonstrate early symptoms or were in close contact with someone with active disease.

There remains great denial in the general public on the risks of getting COVID, the seriousness of having the disease, and the proper effective use of treatments. Many who could be treated won’t be until it’s too late to fully alleviate symptoms and mortality.

The current variant of concern, Omicron, while apparently being slightly less virulent than Delta (though this may just be a confluence of the situation at this time and the fact that many of the Omicron cases are breakthrough) has such a high rate of infectiousness and transmissibility that the total number of hospitalizations and rate of death in the general population will remain where it’s been over the past year. The risk of dying of Omicron on an individual basis appears to be less, but this is offset by the risk of contracting it which seems to be much greater. The total number of cases will be high.

Large pharmaceutical companies, which initially truly seemed to be acting out of a sense of altruism in dealing with the very dangerous international crisis, will be found to be increasing their decision-making processes based on financial returns.

My concern is the pronouncements that current vaccines are adequate for Omicron challenge is slowing down the development and production of vaccines to the new variants. These companies are beginning to make large profits, which were very much in question two years ago when the crisis began. Then, it was an allhands-on-deck situation; companies that had been great rivals were cooperating. Companies gambled significantly by overlapping development, testing, and production in order to get vaccines to the public in record time. These companies, understand-

ably, want now to start making profits based on their investments.

Reformulating, testing, and manufacturing vaccines before they pass testing muster is very expensive.

Why would they want to do that now when they’re already selling another product not requiring any further expense other than manufacturing doses.

Disruptions such as we’ve seen over the Christmas vacation of scheduled flights and other transportation issues will continue. It’s a matter of not having adequate manpower at any given time. Similarly, disruptions in professional entertainment/ sports will continue.

Even individuals who have been very careful about contact, travel, and being vaccinated are going to increasingly let down their guard and put themselves at more risk.

There will be no thought-out, unified plans for how we get back to the new normal, at least in the United States. Government clearly has been unable to deal with this, and individuals have behaved without taking social considerations into their decisions.

This will continue. Nevertheless, some form of new normal is going to evolve over the year.

I could probably go on and double the number of predictions. I think the seven I’ve provided is enough for now. We will return to this list at the end of 2022 and find out what was right and, I hope, find out where I was wrong.

BY Merl Reagle

More Pun-ishment…A type of humor I’ve never outgroan

ACROSS

December 1961

110 YEARS AGO

Town Topics – The employees of Iroquois Farm and their families, numbering 130, were entertained at a Christmas dinner at Parshall’s Restaurant Monday evening by Mr. and Mrs. F. Ambrose Clark. Following the dinner the guests repaired to the Village Hall, where a Christmas tree, laden with gifts for all, awaited them.

Later, dancing was enjoyed, with music by Bronner’s orchestra.

The feature at the Star Theatre on New Year’s night will be a series of scenes from the world’s championship baseball games between the Philadelphia Athletics and the New York Giants. The baseball pictures will be shown in addition to the usual good program.

December 27, 1911

Solution: ‘‘The Point of April 15th” (Dec. 23)

1 Scott of Bugsy Malone 5 Pet sounds 9 Luigi’s sea 13 U.S. oil giant 17 Native-born Israeli 18 “Fiddlesticks” 19 Actor Epps 20 Word in a Doris Day song 21 With 29 Across, what the meditating mechanic had?

23 “Jerk me a tall fizzy one,” for example?

25 Fighter plane 26 Parts of glasses 27 A case of pins and needles?

28 Feet for Yeats 29 See 21 Across 33 Dead-end job, e.g.

34 Actor Kilmer 35 Wipe out again 38 Animal at the fair 41 Beatles tune, “___ Love Her” 44 Big name in chips 46 Bit of grease 47 Judge’s adj.

48 With 65 Across, what some 1992 and ’96 voters dreamed of?

52 She wed Stiller 53 Word with fiend or rival 55 It may be right in your own backyard 56 Arrogant 58 Reading room 59 1950s singer Julius 61 Brightest star in Cygnus 63 Reindeer landing site 65 See 48 Across 72 Atahualpa was one 73 Today show host, once 74 Type of hat 75 Fabulous flyer 78 “Old Hickory” 81 Lucille Ball’s last feature film 83 Courtroom attire 84 A Butler’s wife 86 Ralph Lauren scent that makes you smell like the next guy?

89 Sock part 90 Take the bait 91 Legs, to Raymond Chandler 92 See 52 Across 93 Unlocks 95 80 Down product 97 Cinema computer 99 Mr. Whitney 100 A second, but smaller, restaurant owned by one of my relatives?

109 Well-traveled artery 110 He beat Clay 111 Black, to Jacques 112 Capricorn critter 113 Shortest song ever recorded

by Sinatra?

115 Chopin query to Tarzan?

117 Stand 118 Hamadan’s land 119 Actor’s request 120 Get good enough to eat 121 Did well on 122 “Dumb” girl 123 First name from Daniel Boone 124 Last name from Daniel Boone DOWN 1 African language group 2 Red as ___ 3 Hematite 4 Bumbler 5 He’s a real louse 6 Spacious 7 Damn Yankees choreographer 8 That girl 9 The Producers star (1967) 10 Love, in the Louvre 11 Spokes 12 Certain period 13 Skip ___ (typing instruction) 14 Surface again 15 Louie’s lunch?

16 Acorns, later 17 Sit on it 22 Moderate pace 24 Trig functions 27 Air standards org.

30 Mr. Ives 31 Roman teen’s age 32 Prefix meaning “red” 36 Tender 37 Israeli statesman 38 Commandments word 39 Bible’s first five books 40 Fluid for un plume 41 Part of OAU: abbr.

42 “___ say more?”

43 Poindexter type 44 Gehrig in Cooperstown 45 Last mo. of vacation 49 Minnesota county or lake 50 J odie Foster film, The Little Girl Who Lives Down ___ 51 Sister’s outfit 52 Magoo, for one 54 Arizona Indian 57 English candy 60 Skater Henie 62 Camera brand 64 Ness and co.

66 J ump made by the eyes while reading 67 Shakespeare’s ___ of Athens

68 Long 69 Way to go 70 Hunter in the sky 71 Soap family 75 Reiner and Roy 76 Louisville’s river 77 ___ trance 79 Dutch airline 80 Palindromic brand name 82 Butterfly, for one: abbr.

85 Put into different words 87 FDR’s terrier 88 ___ me tangere 91 Festive occasions 94 John Wayne word 96 Stroked 97 Big Sky capital 98 Animal boat 99 Raison d’___ 101 Hubert’s successor 102 As yet 103 Free 104 What things are called 105 Ocean motions 106 Jeweler’s magnifier 107 Eastwood on Rawhide 108 British gun 109 Taj Mahal site 114 Top 115 Little guy 116 Monokini’s missing part

THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

A-6 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA

opinion

The Present State of Rural Economies

Taylor Maddalene

Lilly Myers, a 10-month old Golden Retriever from Athens, Georgia, enjoyed her first snow while visiting relatives in Cooperstown over the holiday.

Glimmerglass Film Days this year featured a documentary entitled “Storm Lake” that chronicled the operating of The Storm Lake Times, a small local newspaper in Iowa farm country much like The Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta.

The community of Storm Lake endured profound changes in the last two decades as the local farm economy declined and was replaced by a very large Tyson pork processing plant that now employs 2,500 mostly migrant workers. The town’s population is about 11,000; its surrounding Buena Vista County about 20,000 in all.

The film cites corporate consolidation of corn and soybean farming and the “vertical integration” of the pork processing business — a fancy term for owning your suppliers — as the primary reasons for an agricultural downturn.

Before the consolidation of the pork business, corn and soybean family farmers in Buena Vista County supplemented their crop business with hogs.

Consolidation lowered the price for commodity corn, soybeans, and hogs to the point where local small farmers either got bigger or sold out. The typical farm had to be more than 1,000 acres to be profitable versus 300 from the previous generation, and raising hogs was no longer economically feasible.

The corporate farm model eliminated local farm suppliers and a large portion of the newspaper’s advertising revenue. Corporate farming also benefits from economies of scale to lower the cost of production to where small farms can’t compete. Perversely, corporate farms have better access to billions of dollars from the USDA to support crop prices. If something goes wrong there is a bailout at the end of the rainbow.

The other effect is a capital drain from the local economy. In the past, the sale of commodities resulted in the full price being reinvested and recirculated locally; now, much of the capital

TERRY BERKSON

ends up somewhere else and the local economy declines.

The Storm Lake economy would have collapsed completely without the Tyson plant bringing new employment, investment and wages. A common feature of rural agricultural communities these days is there better be something else going on or economic decline will decimate the town.

The parallels to Otsego County are clear. Farming was some 25 percent of our economy in the early 1960s. Our farms relied on many small support businesses that, in turn, purchased advertising in our local papers. The capital was mostly retained here and we had a major export business from a county perspective.

Today, agriculture represents less than 5 percent of our county’s economy.

Communities can thrive only when the capital that is exported on things like retail purchases from Amazon, Walmart and Dollar General for products not made here can be matched or exceeded with capital coming into the economy. Major sources of imported capital in Otsego County include tourism, the colleges, our small manufacturing sector, and health care. Health care generates much of its imported capital from the federal government through Medicare and Medicaid.

Banks also create capital by making loans. Lack of a local bank reduces that source, too, as borrowers instead send payments and potential reinvestment capital to financial centers like New York City.

As we citizens of Otsego County look to the future, it is vital that our business and community leaders pay close attention to how their activities and policies will ensure that we do not become a net exporter of capital with a declining economy reliant instead on government transfer payments.

Wayne Mellor Chair Sustainable Otsego

life sketches

And a chicken in a cherry tree!

Late one afternoon several Christmases ago at the height of a driving snowstorm, I left my typewriter and looked out the kitchen window. There was a large bird roosting in our cherry tree. It wasn’t a crow or a pigeon or a morning dove. I knew those Brooklyn birds well. This was something much bigger.

The tree stood at the back of the yard against the fence, which was about fifty feet from the house. With the failing light and blowing snow, it was difficult to make out just what kind of bird it was. I didn’t have binoculars, but someone had once left a pair of pearl-covered opera glasses in my father’s taxi, and with those I could make out that the big bird in the tree looked like a chicken, one with those dark black and gray feathers.

My pregnant wife hadn’t talked to me for two days.

Something I said or did had aroused her temper. It looked like it was going to be a heavy Christmas. I called, “Hey Alice, there’s a chicken in our cherry tree!”

“Yeah, sure,” she said from the next room. “And a partridge in our pear.”

She shuffled in and grabbed the opera glasses. I wondered how a chicken could wind up in our backyard on a winter day. It was about 18 degrees out and the wind was blowing so hard that the bird was clinging to the branch like a flag.

I pictured the poor thing’s bare feet wrapped around the icy limb. Alice was also feeling sorry for the intruder, but what could I do? I assured her that the bird was equipped for this kind of weather. After all, prairie chickens didn’t live in coops.

We remained at the frost-framed window for a long time, sipping hot tea, my peace offering, as Christmas carols rang from the stereo. Alice’s anger seemed to be softening.

But, about an hour later, I found myself wading through a deep snowdrift heading for the tree as my wife, then in her ninth month, goaded me on from the window. I was carrying one of those long bamboo poles that rugs used to be rolled around.

Everyone knows that chickens don’t fly, so, I thought if I scared the bird out of the tree it would land on the ground, where I’d catch it and put it down in the warm cellar. But, when I poked the pole into the tree the chicken clucked a few times and then took off, wings pumping hard, soaring, rising over the icy clotheslines, the telephone pole and then the flat roofs of the houses in back of ours.

“That couldn’t have been a chicken!” I called to my wife.

“Nice going. You let it get away,” she said.

The next day the bird was back, and in the daylight I could see that it was definitely a chicken. How long could

it survive in weather like this? It had stopped snowing, but the wind was still strong and the temperature hadn’t risen above 25. With the snow covering the ground, it would be impossible for the bird to find something to eat. The only way I was going to catch this homeless critter was by winning its confidence.

At Alice’s strong suggestion, I took a long, cold walk to the live-poultry market down at the end of West Sixth Street. When I told the old man in the store about the chicken flying over the houses, he said I had been drinking too much eggnog. He told me to describe the chicken, which he later called a Plymouth Rock; it was probably a female.

“But they can’t do that,” he said. “You’re crazy!”

I told him to just sell me a pound of chicken feed and I’d be on my way.

When I got home I spread some of the feed underneath the cherry tree. Most of it was taken by the wind or sank into the soft snow. The bird didn’t come down to eat any corn that first day or the next, but on the third day the weather grew a lot warmer and the sun burned holes in the blown hollows and drifts so that patches of brown and

green appeared in the backyard. Again I spread the feed and this time after a couple of hours I left my work and looked out the window to see the chicken pecking around in the bare spots.

For the next several mild days, the bird roosted in the tree and fed on the ground. The weatherman had predicted a drop in temperature and more snow towards the end of the week. It was doubtful the chicken would survive another extended cold snap. I didn’t have much time to capture her and put her in a crate to make my wife happy.

The bird was growing less shy. When I’d walk out into the yard to spread the feed, she would only flee to the top of the fence and not to the tree. Sometimes she would doze there or sidle along the fence into the next yard in back of an apartment house. I figured in a couple of days she’d be tame enough to get my fishing net over her.

“You better make your move soon before the weather turns,” my wife warned.

Late that night as Alice slept, I heard a terrible commotion coming from in back of the apartment house next door. There was shouting and clucking and cawing and I could hear wings flapping. Then there was the drum roll of what sounded like a large paper bag being opened and I heard scratching. I ran out the back door to the fence to see what was going on.

“Who’s there?” I called. There was some muffled talk.

“What’s going on?” I shouted. There was more rustling of paper and then crunching footsteps running down the alley.

In the morning when I went out with the bag of feed the chicken wasn’t on the fence or in the tree or on one of the flat-roofed houses. I figured they had captured her the night before while she was sleeping on top of the fence.

“At least you won’t have to worry about that chicken anymore,” I later told Alice as we looked out the window.

She seemed relieved. But for all we knew, the chicken was already in somebody’s pot. We kept wondering where she had come from and who was behind the fence the night before.

“Well, you tried,” my wife said putting her arms around me. It was now Christmas Eve. We would be trimming the tree after all. Snow was beginning to cover the burned-off patches in the backyard. Nat King Cole drifted out of the stereo. I was still puzzled about the chicken soaring over the rooftops when I first tried to catch it.

“I wonder how it was possible,” I said to Alice.

“Chickens aren’t supposed to fly.”

She backed away from the window and playfully chucked me under the chin. “Neither are reindeer!”

THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA A-7

OBITUARIES

MeMories to Cherish every life has a story. everyone deserves a final appreciation.

Peter Lindsay Macarthur, 51 April 10, 1970 – December, 2021

COOPERSTOWN – Peter Lindsay Macarthur, 51, of Dobbs Ferry and Cooperstown, died unexpectedly earlier this month at the family home on Stockingbrook in Cooperstown.

He was born April 10, 1970, in Ridgewood, N.J., a son of Lindsay Macarthur, Jr. and Warrene Shreve “Lennie” Macarthur.

A 1988 graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall in Wallingford, Conn., Peter went on to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine where he graduated in 1992, exactly 40 years after his father, with a dual degree in German and Political Science. He continued his studies at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, where he earned his master’s of Science in International Politics in 1995. He enjoyed being part of a team and, from his early years at Choate, he rowed competitively for his school teams at home and abroad.

Peter pursued a long career in commercial banking, beginning in 1995 with the Bank of Scotland through his current position as a Senior Relationship Manager for HSBC Bank USA in New York City.

Peter’s well-known dedication to community service dates to his early high school years in Ho-Ho-Kus, N.J.,

Legal

Legal nOtice MEETING NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Representatives of the County of Otsego will hold its regular meetings on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m. However, when the date fixed for a regular meeting of the County Board falls on a legal holiday, the meeting shall be held on the day following. The meetings will be held in the Board Chambers on the second floor of the County Office Building in Cooperstown, New York.

THIS NOTICE is given pursuant to Article 7 of the Open Meetings Law. Dated: December 23, 2021 Carol D. McGovern Clerk of the Board of Representatives Otsego County, New York 1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF A 30 DAY PERIOD FOR INCLUSION OF LAND INTO CERTIFIED AGRICULTURAL DISTRICTS NOTICE is hereby given that Otsego County has established an annual 30 day period during which landowners can submit proposals to include viable agricultural land within certified agricultural districts outside of the eight year review period.

NOTICE is further given that said annual 30 day period in Otsego County begins January 1 of each year and closes 30 days thereafter.

NOTICE is further given that during this 30 day review period any landowner may submit proposals of viable agricultural land to be included into a certified agricultural district by filing requests with the Clerk of the Otsego County Board of Representatives, said requests to include the agricultural district into

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which the land is proposed to be included, a description of the land and the tax map identification number(s).

NOTICE is further given that at the termination of the 30 day period all proposals will be submitted to the Otsego County Agricultural Farmland Protection Board for its review, and that thereafter a public hearing will be held on the proposals and recommendations of said board.

Dated: December 30, 2021 Carol D. McGovern Clerk of the Board of Representatives Otsego County, New York 1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE is hereby given that there has been duly introduced before the Board of Representatives of the County of Otsego, New York, a Local Law entitled: A Local Law establishing the salaries of Emergency Services Coordinator, Director Real Property Tax Service II, Personnel Officer, County Clerk, Sheriff, County Superintendent of Highways, Commissioner of Social Services Group I, Director of Public Health, Commissioner of Elections (Rep) for the year 2022.

NOTICE is further given that the Board of Representatives will conduct a public hearing on the proposed Local Law in the Representatives Chambers at the County Office Building in the Village of Cooperstown, New York on Wednesday, January 5, 2022 at 9:55 a.m. at which time all persons interested will be heard. The location of the public hearing is accessible to persons with mobility impairment.

The public hearing will be streamed via Facebook Live on the official Otsego County Facebook page: https://www. facebook.com/ Otsego-County-NY-

where he was a junior member of the Ho-Ho-Kus Volunteer Ambulance Corps. A certified EMT, Peter was a member of both the Cooperstown Emergency Squad and the Dobbs Ferry Volunteer Ambulance Corps. Peter also served on the board of Pathfinder Village, Edmeston, for several years.

Peter always enjoyed his time spent in Cooperstown, especially in the summer months, and was an active member of the Cooperstown Country Club. He made sure all enjoyed the beauty and rich history of the area he loved. We share the memory of many activities with Peter: boating on Otsego Lake, hiking to Star Field, visiting the Cooperstown museums and cider mill, watching him march in the Springfield Fourth of July parade, mountain biking on trails and back roads, or just piling into the gator to visit neighbors and nearby friends. We will miss his warm smile, jovial laugh, and big bear hugs.

He was an encourager to us all.

Peter is survived by his three siblings, Anne M. Booth and husband, Thomas of Ocean Isle Beach, N.C., Jennifer M. Davis and husband, Louis D. “Tripp” Davis III of Abington, Penn., and David P. Nichols and wife, Louise Reid Boyce Nichols of Wilmington,

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102347451408765/ A copy of this Local Law is available on the Otsego County website.

Dated: December 30, 2021 Carol D. McGovern Clerk of the Board of Representatives

Otsego County, New York 1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Historic Preservation and Architectural Review Board for the Village of Cooperstown will hold the following public hearing on Tuesday, January 11th, 2022 at 5:00 P.M. or as soon thereafter as can be heard: Meeting location to be determined.

Meeting to be held either in the Village Office Building, 22 Main Street, Cooperstown, New York or via videoconferencing, due to Executive Order 202.1 issued by the Governor.

21 RAILROAD AVENUE- Applicant seeks permission to demolish existing garage The plans for this project are on file with the Village Clerk’s Office at the Village Office, 22 Main Street, Cooperstown, New York, and may be seen during regular office hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Public comments must be provided by email to the Zoning Officer at zoning@cooperstownny.org or by regular mail to the address below no later than Tuesday, January 11th, 2022 at 3:30 p.m.

Jenna Utter Village Clerk Village of Cooperstown 22 Main Street Cooperstown, NY 13326 Telephone: (607)-547-2411 Email: jutter@cooperstownny.org 1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice of

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Del.; two nephews, Ensign Owen P. Davis, U.S.N. and William Hewitt Ward Nichols; two nieces, Gwenyth A. Davis and Eliza Campbell Nichols; an uncle, Warren Perry Shreve and wife, Diane of Blue Springs, Mo.; and cousins Tracy Stewart, Shelby Stewart Giunti and Ashley Stewart Waltemath.

He was preceded in death by his father, Lindsay Macarthur, Jr. who died July 6, 2017, and his mother, Warrene S. “Lennie” Macarthur, who died September 22, 2020.

A private service is planned for the family, and a public gathering in Peter’s memory will be held in the late spring or early summer.

One way to remember and honor Peter’s life would be to make a memorial donation to the Cooperstown Emergency Squad, PO Box 322, Cooperstown, NY 13326 or the Pathfinder Village Foundation, 3 Chenango Road, Edmeston, NY 13335; https://pathfindervillage.org/ get-involved/donate.

Arrangements are under the care and guidance of the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.

LEGALS

Formation of Dooalot, LLC, a Limited Liability Company (LLC) filed with the Secretary of State of NY (SSNY) on May 5, 2015.

NY Office Location: OTSEGO County.

SSNY is designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process served upon him/her to: C/O Dooalot, LLC, 255 County Highway 27, Richfield Springs, NY 13439.

General Purposes.

6LegalFeb.3 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Brookrose Farm LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 12/15/21.

Office location: Otsego County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Michael Telesco, 283 County Highway 57, Cherry Valley, NY 13320.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

6LegalFeb.3 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Chief Schenevus Farms, LLC Office Location: Otsego County N.Y. Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York (“SSNY”) on December13, 2021.

SSNY is designated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served and SSNY shall mail process to Chief Schenevus Farms, LLC located at 6004 Vista Linda Lane, Boca Raton, FL 3343 Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws.

6LegalFeb.3 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of POLAR BEAR CONCESSIONS, LLC.

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Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 10/26/2021.

The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County.

The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her to: The LLC, 7 Maplecrest Way, Otego, NY 13825.

The purpose ofthe LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.

6LegalFeb.3 Legal nOtice Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the Supreme court, Otsego county, on the 23rd day of November, bearing Index Number 2021-823, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at 193 Main St., Cooperstown, in room number 1, grants me the right to assume the name of Orrin Matthew Clements.

The city and state of my address are Cooperstown, NY; the month and year of my birth are July, 2007; place of my birth is Cooperstown, NY; my present name is Orrin Matthew Sweeney.

1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the Supreme court, Otsego county, on the 23rd day of November, bearing Index Number 2021-822, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at 193 Main St., Cooperstown, in room number 1, grants me the right to assume the name of Nolan Nathan Clements.

The city and state of my address are Cooperstown, NY; the month and year of my birth are March, 2003; place of my birth is Cooperstown, NY; my present name is Nolan Nathan

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Sweeney.

1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice is hereby given

Be sure to remind your funeral director to provide obituary information to our newspapers, along with your favorite photo of your loved one. Submit the information yourself, directly to info@AllotSego.com, or by filling out a special form at www.AllotSego.

Grandma loved her farm, her family, and playing her old guitar.

Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home will take the time to find out what made your loved one special.

Whether it’s finding just the right flowers, or finding a musician to play her favorite tunes on her old guitar, we’ll do what’s necessary to make her service as unique as she was.

Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home 14 Grand Street, Oneonta • 607-432-6821 www.grummonsfuneralhome.com

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September, 2001; place of my birth is Cooperstown, NY; my present name is Korah Rose Sweeney.

1LegalDec.30

253 Southside Dr, Oneonta, NY 13820 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJan.13

NYS laws.

6LegalJan.6

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Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company

that an order entered by the Supreme court, Otsego county, on the 23rd day of November 2021, bearing Index Number 2021-821, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at 193 Main St., Cooperstown, in room number 1, grants me the right to assume the name of Luke Alden Clements. The city and state of my address are Cooperstown, NY; the month and year of my birth are October, 2004; place of my birth is Cooperstown, NY; my present name is Luke Alden Sweeney.

1LegalDec.30

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Notice of Formation of

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF

Rooted Space LLC

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Articles of Organization were filed with the NY Secretary of State on 10/30/2019.

The office of the LLC is to be located in Otsego County.

The Secretary of State has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The Secretary of State shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him to: The LLC, 832 Winney Hill Rd., Oneonta, NY 13820.

The purpose of the LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.

6LegalJan.20

Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the Supreme court, Otsego county, on the 23rd day of November, 2021, bearing Index Number 2021-819, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at 193 Main St., Cooperstown, in room number 1, grants me the right to assume the name of Naomi M Clements. The city and state of my address are Cooperstown, NY; the month and year of my birth are December, 1978; place of my birth is Cobleskill, NY; my present name is Naomi M. Sweeney.

1LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice is hereby given that an order entered by the Supreme court, Otsego county, on the 23rd day of November, 2021, bearing Index Number 2021-820, a copy of which may be examined at the office of the clerk, located at 193 Main St., Cooperstown, in room number 1, grants me the right to assume the name of Korah Rose Clements. The city and state of my address are Cooperstown, NY; the month and year of my birth are

Article of Organization filed 12/03/21 with the Secretary of State Office Location: Otsego County SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 197 Main St Worcester NY 12197 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJan.20

Articles of Organization were filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 26 November, 2021.

Office location: Otsego County.

SSNY has been designated as agent for process and shall mail to: PO Box 132, Laurens, NY 13796.

Purpose: any lawful purpose.

6LegalJan.13

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Notice of Formation of

Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company (LLC)

BLC Keeping, LLC

Twin Mountain Properties, LLC.

Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of 312 Cornish Hill Road LLC Filed 10/15/20 Office: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: PO Box 87, Cooperstown, NY 13326 Purpose: all lawful 6LegalJan.13 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of Oneonta Yoga LLC Filed 10/28/21 Office: Otsego Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to:

Name: DRI 8, LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 30 November 2021.

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 393 Main Street Suite 104, Oneonta, New York, 13820.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

6LegalJan13 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of a NY Limited Liability Company Name: LIFE & LIBERTY FIREARMS LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 24 November 2021.

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 452 Gulf Road, Hartwick, NY 13348.

Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under

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Name: 79 BEAVER STREET LLC. Articles of Organization filing date with Secretary of State (SSNY) was 17 November 2021.

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 15 South Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Purpose is to engage in any and all business activities permitted under NYS laws.

6LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of IVERSON HERITAGE FARMS, LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 06/06/2021.

Office in Otsego Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 1193 County Highway 26, Fly Creek, NY 13337.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

6LegalDec.30 Legal nOtice Notice of Formation of PALMS AND PINES PROPERTIES LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 4/7/21.

Office location: Otsego County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 128 Zephyr Knoll, Richfield Springs, NY 13439.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

6LegalDec.30

THURSDAY, December 30, 2021

A-8 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA richard derosa

The dogs we love and lose Readers of my columns over the years know that I always end with an observation about what my beloved Sheltie Gabby might think about what I have written. In actuality, during the sixteen years of her life we did carry on quite a few conversations. I would say something to her and she would look up at me with those deeply set sable eyes and I would understand.

There are times when wordless chats are more communicative than otherwise.

Prolixity has a time and place and purpose.

Some of the homo erectus variety could learn a lot from dogs. As Bertrand Russell wrote in his autobiography, “there is nothing more tedious than the conversation of wellinformed people.”

I think one of the reasons we get so attached to our dogs is they let us know what is on their minds with a brevity lost to far too many of us. Gabby’s quietly expressed wisdom taught me a lot and I have missed that every day of the nine years that have elapsed since her passing. Her ashes lie beneath a Dolgo crabapple tree I planted as a memorial to her life, one that gave me so much.

Gabby’s passing is on my mind because a good friend lost his companion of nearly sixteen years a few days ago. The pain one feels at the loss of a dog, or any pet with whom one has developed a strong emotional attachment, is wrenching. As is the case with the loss of any loved one, time heals but does not erase the past; it reenacts it.

And it does so at the oddest of moments.

I am not expert on the psychological mechanics of dealing with a loss of this kind. I know that my friend’s walks in his woods will not be the same. There will be the salve of memory, just as when I and others walk or go through our daily routines we feel or remember a presence that made those moments so much more precious.

I think that presence is the key notion.

When I would walk about our place doing chores, or just idle about (one of my preferred activities), Gabby’s presence felt good, right and comforting. When our canine pals are absent something is missing, something is existentially amiss.

The question then is this: do we look about for another companion? In our case it is not feasible since we are away so

much and this year will be in Arizona for the winter. Sandy reminds me every time I suggest getting anther dog that now is not the time. We are away quite a bit.

But perhaps, she suggests, when age has taken its toll and we are not quite so active and out and about as we are now, then we might consider bringing another dog into our lives.

In other words, when we’re older and less mobile than we are now.

Of course, my retort is what fun is it to have a dog one cannot romp and hike and play with. Therein lies a lot of the fun. Not so sure I want to be old grandpa sitting at his writing desk as some sloe-eyed pup sits there staring at me wondering when I might get off my ample duff and take her for a much-deserved jaunt. Gabby was very good at that (most dogs are), as was my former, equally beloved Golden, Sammy. Although Sammy’s tactic was different. She would sidle up, stick her snout on my knee, look deeply into my eyes and whimper ever so softly. Gabby, being much shorter, couldn’t employ that tactic. She would just sit there quietly, almost stoically, and pierce me with

her confounding stare. Got to me every time — and she knew it.

I am not sure if my friend will take on another canine companion at some point. I was unsure, and certainly not ready, when Sammy died. But two years later, when invited to check out a furry little ball at the bottom of a box, it was love at first sight.

The irony of loss is gain of memory.

Memory catalogues and curates experience.

Memory enables me to take as many walks in the woods with Gabby as I might like — and I do. So too can my friend when the pain subsides and the wonders of memory take over.

Gabby, sitting here with me now, agrees.

No kidding!

OBITUARIES John Emory Ferrebee April 19, 1943 – December 19, 2021

John Emory Ferrebee, of Kapaa, Kauai, Hawaii, died peacefully in his sleep at home on Sunday, December 19, 2021. His son, Samuda, was at his side. The cause of death was Parkinson’s Disease, which had long affected him.

A son of Dr. Joseph Wiley and Juanita Sault Ferrebee, known to all as Salty, he was born in Boston, Mass., on April 19, 1943. In 1948 he moved with his parents, brother, sister, horses and dogs to Cooperstown, where his father worked at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, researching and later developing the now universally used bone marrow transplant.

John attended the Cooperstown Central School, and matriculated to the Fay School in Southborough,

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1972. For several years John owned a sailboat and cruised the coasts of California and Mexico. He then moved to Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., to care for his ailing father, who died November 14, 2001, and mother, who died January 22, 2004. He worked at the Santa Anita race track for several years, and at the same time became an avid and very successful day trader. He later moved to Hawaii to wind surf, meditate and continue his trading.

John Ferrebee is survived by his son, Samuda of Mckinleyville, Calif., his sister, Anne Ferrebee Keith of Cooperstown, his brother, Peter Wiley Ferrebee of Old Lyme, Conn., and his nieces, Alexandra Ferrebee Gehring of Spokane, Wash., and Samantha Sault Gehring of Boulder, Colo. His brother, sister and nieces will always be grateful to their brother and uncle for taking such exceptional care of Dr. and Mrs. Ferrebee until the day they died.

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Mass., and then to Millbrook School in Millbrook, N.Y., where he was captain of both the soccer and the tennis teams. He graduated in 1962 and went on to attend the University of Colorado, Boulder, during which time he opened a motorcycle shop and taught skiing at a local ski area.

In the early 1970s he and his partner, Marcia Hileman, moved to South America, where their son, Samuda John Hileman Ferrebee, was born on October 15,

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WEEK 1

AllOTSEGO.life

2021

Jim Kevlin

Senator Oberacker and his wife Shannon smile at the end of his swearing-in New Year’s Day in Schenevus.

EDITION OF January 7

OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK WEEK 2

Ian Austin

State Sen. James L. Seward was surrounded by the people he loved most in January 2019 when he was sworn in for his last term by County Judge Brian Burns. From left are son Ryan with his wife, Kelly; daughter Lauren with younger daughter Vivian; wife Cindy and Vivian’s sister Norah.

EDITION OF January 14

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

Jim Kevlin

Jim Kevlin

Retiring Village of Cooperstown Trustee Jim Dean, with wife Eileen by his side, holds up a newspaper report from when he played the Cardiff Giant in CBS’ “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not” in 1982.

Bob Brzozwoski leans over to examine a portrait of a young Oneontan, Otto McCrumb, donated to the GOHS recently by The Fenimore Art Museum.

EDITION OF January 21

EDITION OF January 28

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021 Souvenir Supplement to HOMETOWN ONEONTA, THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & www.AllOTSEGO.com LARGEST COMBINED NEWSPAPER CIRCULATION and NEWS WEBSITE IN OTSEGO COUNTY

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 5

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 6

Jim Kevlin Michael Forster Rothbart

Margaret Wolff was one of Otsego County’s first to receive the Moderna vaccine on January 30; here, she cuts fabric at Heartworks, her Fly Creek store, for Wendy Alley of Oneonta.

Pastor Paul Messner, Oneonta, who ministers to all four of the county’s Lutheran parishes, has attended the last 13 presidential inaugurations, from Richard Nixon’s (1973), upper left, to Joe Biden’s (2021), lower right.

Edition of February 4

Edition of February 11

WEEK 7

WEEK 8

Jim Kevlin

The 2021 Cooperstown Winter Carnival kicked off February 16 as the O’Brien family of Hartwick — mom Beth and her six children — found the Carnival Medallion behind a bench in the village’s Badger Park. Helping their mom (dad Rob, the county 911 coordinator, was at work), were, front row from left, Bobby, 3; Connor, 7 months; Noah, 6; back row from left, Hannah, 8; Hunter, 6; and Lucas.

Edition of February 18

Michael Forster Rothbart

Brett Miller, Alicia Chase, and friends embrace after a memorial mass at St. Mary’s Church, Oneonta, for Thomas Parrotti of Hamden, who died six days earlier from COVID at Bassett Hospital.

Edition of February 25

Wishing you a bright and joyful new year.

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 9

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WEEK 12

Jim Kevlin

Retiring Oneonta Fire Chief Pat Pidgeon examines mementos of his retirement, including a flag carried aboard Marine One, the President’s helicopter, with a citation in his honor.

Jim Kevlin

Network Chief of Pharmacy Kelly Rudd briefs the first six Bassett employees to get a COVID vaccine. In the Clark Auditorium are, from left, Dr. Lewis Brinton, Keith Velasco, Eddie Cook, Suzanne Evans, Liz Burns and Dr. Travis Hodgdon. In the background is Allen Light, who administered one of the first shots.

EDITION OF March 4

WEEK 10

EDITION OF March 25

WEEK 11

Contributed Contributed

Hugh MacDougall poses in 2007 with Victor Salvatore’s statue, “James Fenimore Cooper,” in Cooper Park. He passed away in March.

In declaring a state of emergency on March 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo was flanked by counsel Beth Garvey, left, and aide Melissa DeRosa. The governor’s hard-charging style first attracted a national television audience but, as 2021 progressed, scandal and controversy led to his August resignation.

EDITION OF March 18

EDITION OF March 11

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The Mingo Market a contemporary take on the classic country store, with a unique and wide-ranging offering of authentic products and provisions from around the world and around the corner. From gourmet foods, take-out lunches and locally-sourced grocery items and produce to kitchen and entertaining essentials, pet and garden supplies, \ZMI\[ NWZ \PM SQL[ ]VQY]M KTW\PQVO TWIL[ WN PIZL \W ÅVL Q\MU[ IVL UWZM

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 13

WEEK 14

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 15

Contributed

New Cooperstown Trustee Hanna Bergene, 39, gets a hug from dad Greg after her swearing-in April 5, in the ballroom at 22 Main Street. Her election, along with Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh Kuch and Trustees Cindy Falk and Jeanne Dewey, gave women a majority on the Village Board for the first time in history.

Inside Oneonta’s Holiday Lanes, the beams survived, but not the alleys after an April 9 fire tore through the building.

EDITION OF April 8

EDITION OF April 15

Contributed

WEEK 16

Jim Kevlin

Professor Rochelle Johnson, who spent the year in Cooperstown researching a definitive biography of pioneer naturalist Susan Fenimore Cooper, pauses in front of Byberry Cottage at 61 Lake Street. It was built for Susan Fenimore Cooper and her sister, in part with the remains of the family’s Otsego Hall, on the site of today’s Cooperstown Park, destroyed by fire after James Fenimore Cooper’s death in 1851.

EDITION OF April 1

Larissa Ryan

New Iron String Press President and Publisher Tara Barnwell poses with the paper’s publisher/editor of 15 years, Jim Kevlin, who retired April 16.

EDITION OF April 22

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THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 17

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WEEK 18

Korey Rowe

Ian Austin

Pastor Kathy Brumbaugh and Kaye Freling, both from the United Methodist Church in Schenevus, take a break for a picnic dinner April 25. The friends were out delivering ham dinners to people in the community who live alone or couldn’t get out. When they finished they said they decided to enjoy theirs next to the pond in Neahwa Park.

From left, Hartwick College President Margaret Drugovich, Mayor Gary Herzig, Senator Peter Oberacker, Deputy Director of Mohawk Valley Regional office Allison Novak, Regional Representative for Governor Andrew Cuomo Samantha Madison, and Upstate East Director of Development Darren Scott, celebrate the official groundbreaking of the Lofts on Dietz in Oneonta on April 30.

EDITION OF April 29

EDITION OF May 6

WEEK 19

WEEK 20

Kevin Limiti Korey Rowe

Yuliah Johnson, a senior at Oneonta High School, drives a kickball during a game with her classmates on the turf May 7.

The Fly Creek Fire Department this year added helpful junior members to its ranks; from left, Lt. Eric Deysenroth, Connor Voulo, Troy Hight and Wayton Cassell.

EDITION OF May 20

EDITION OF May 13

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The health and well-being of our fellow citizens, the families we serve and our associates is paramount in all that we do.

During these unprecedented times, we want to thank everyone for their understanding and flexibility in adapting to the ever-changing scenarios we are dealing with when it comes to having dignified gatherings and services for those whose lives we honor.

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 21 WEEK 22

Greg Klein

Richfield Springs freshman Braydon Misenick, left, and junior Damon Boss spread soil to prepare to plant a vegetable garden in the back of the park.

Edition of May 27

WEEK 23 Contributed

State Senator Peter Oberacker and former state Senator James L. Seward present the 2020 New York State Senate Veterans’ Hall of Fame honor to the parents of Corporal Michael Mayne. From left, Senator Oberacker, Lee Mayne, Cathy Mayne and former Senator Seward.

Edition of June 3

WEEK 24

Greg Klein

Alex Hage kisses home plate in Oneonta’s Damaschke Field on June 12, not long after knocking in the Section III Class C winning run in Cooperstown’s 4-3 baseball win over Port Byron.

Michael Forster Rothbart

Rabbi Meir Rubashkin, co-director of Chabad of Oneonta, runs with his three-year-old son in May in Neahwa Park.

Edition of June 17

Edition of June 10

WEEK 25

Phoebe Smith

Former Olympic rower Andrea Thies demonstrates proper technique during a class on Otsego Lake on a warm June Friday.

EDITION OF June 24

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

THANK YOU

FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF SUNY ONEONTA STUDENTS!

Every year, generous local alumni, volunteers, businesses, non-profit organizations, and foundations enhance the SUNY Oneonta educational experience.

Christine Warnquist ’71, President SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association Board of Directors

Jim Doig ’75, President College at Oneonta Foundation Board of Directors

My Name is Christine Warnquist and I am a 1971 graduate of the College. I have been a Director on the SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association Board of Directors for the past 6 years in addition to holding role of Vice President and President Elect. I am currently in my second year as President of the Alumni Board. Being a part of the Board allows me to continue my close working relationship with the College after spending over 20 years as part of the College Administration. Oneonta, the College Community, is “home” for me and provides that the sense of community that I have always needed.

Now that I am no longer in Oneonta being a member and leader of the Board continues to allow the closeness that I feel for this College.

My name is Jim Doig, class of 1975. I’ve been a director on the State University College at Oneonta Foundation Corporation board for the last 8 years, having served in several capacities during that time. I’m currently privileged to be the president of the board, a term I just started at the beginning of this July 2021 fiscal year, for a period of 2 years.

The Alumni Board has become more instrumental in supporting the mission of the College each year that goes by. I, along with my fellow Board Members, support the College financially and by participating in Leadership which allows our students to grow intellectually, thrive socially, and live purposefully, and by contributing financially. I personally have created a Scholarship in my son Geoffrey’s memory that provides Scholarships to Music Industry Students.

The Campaign – Grow, Thrive, Live, is on track to exceed the goal of $25 million which will increase our endowment. This is only possible because of the support of our Oneonta Alumni and Friends. I thank those of you who have provided support and ask any of you who haven’t to consider doing so. You will provide an opportunity to our students that they might not be able to attain without our support. When I see and hear these students speak of their experiences, I am amazed by what they have overcome and have achieved. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that I have provided support for at least a few students.

The SUNY Oneonta Alumni Association’s Mission is to connect, engage, support, and celebrate the graduates of SUNY Oneonta and cultivate pride in SUNY Oneonta.

The Foundation plays an increasing critical role in supporting students and programs at the college. Through the years, the Foundation has grown into a meaningful source of funding, providing scholarships and internships for students, as well as support for research programs and conferences, along with several other types of financial assistance. We’re very proud of what we do. Without the Foundation, many students may not even be able to attend SUNY Oneonta or would leave school burdened with a much higher level of debt to repay.

We’re in the the fourth year of a five-year campaign to raise at least $25 million to increase the size of our endowment. I’m so pleased to report that we’re on track to exceed that amount. This obviously wouldn’t be possible without the support of many, many donors, many of whom are Oneonta alumni.

If you have already given to the success of this campaign, thank you . . . you’ve helped make a significant difference in the lives of a great number of students. I’ve had a lot of enjoyment attending functions where the student beneficiaries have had a chance to express their appreciation, and I can assure you that all the dollars coming into, and then out of, the Foundation have really expanded and magnified these student’s college experiences. It’s life-changing, with both immediate and long-term returns.

The mission of the State University College at Oneonta Foundation Corporation is to raise and administer gifts and grants to enhance the academic status of the College through endowment, scholarships and institutional programs.

YEAR IN REVIEW

Charitable gifts supporting scholarships and campus programs

Awards through the Student Emergency Fund

122,000

$2.3M

Virtual student and alumni networking events

College Foundation Endowment and Net Assets

Local SUNY Oneonta alumni

4,387,959 46

82.4 M (up from $66.3M in 2020)

Awarded in scholarships

5,000 +

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

Celebrate with Us in 2022!

Hartwick’s 225th Anniversary!

And nearly 100 years in Oneonta.

Founded in 1797, Hartwick is proud to be one of the oldest colleges in the country and the first Lutheran Seminary in the United States. We are equally proud of Oneonta, our college’s hometown.

In 1927, Hartwick Seminary accepted Oneonta’s invitation to relocate its new fouryear college here. Community leaders donated 115 acres of their own land and citizens went door-to door to raise $200,000 for the College in just 16 days. What a wonderful welcome!

Hartwick College’s first building — now named for Clyde Bresee – was built in six months. On December 2, student trumpeters led college and community members through the city streets along a snowy pathway to Hartwick College’s permanent home on Oyaron Hill.

Those original 115 acres now number 425 with a breath-taking view of the city and across the Susquehanna Valley. The student body of 100 has swelled to more than 1,000. New and renovated campus buildings now extend along Founders’ Way and up and down many steps.

The relationship between Hartwick and Oneonta remains strong and active. Students frequently volunteer in the community; faculty and staff serve on non-profit Boards of Directors, City Council, and the School Board; and Hartwick’s President regularly consults her Advisory Committee comprised of Oneonta’s mayor and leaders in business, banking, and healthcare.

Hartwick College is purposeful in supporting the local and regional economy. The most recent third-party economic impact report cited Hartwick College’s total impact as $123 million, with $49 million in direct spending by the College.

Economic initiatives advance student career readiness as they participate in research and outreach. The Hartwick College Craft Food & Beverage serves small brewers across the state and the country, the Griffiths Center for Collaboration & Innovation fosters creative partnerships, and the College’s downtown Grain Innovation Center will provide testing and technical support for growers, millers, and bakers. These and other initiatives leverage the College’s intellectual capacity to benefit our community, this region, and the State of New York.

Thank you, Oneonta, for your ongoing partnership. The Hartwick College community is proud to call Oneonta home!

To learn more about Hartwick College, and our innovative approach to an Education for Tomorrow, please go to www.hartwick.edu/flightpath.

“It is an exceptional distinction and ¡¥§ ¤® ¡ ­ ¦ ¤® ¤ ¤ £ ¤ to secure a college.”

The Oneonta Star newspaper, 1927

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 26

WEEK 29

Janice Costello

From left, Lindsey Trosset, Anna Lambert, and Joey Bertram celebrate June 27, after their graduation from Cooperstown Central School.

Flood damage in Gilbertsville on July 18, shows the extent of the problems left behind by a storm hitting the area one day earlier.

EDITION OF July 1

EDITION OF July 22

Greg Klein

WEEK 27

WEEK 28

Contributed

Greg Klein

Delayed a day by rain, the Otsego Lake Association held its annual Boat Parade on Otsego Lake on Sunday, July 4. With Paul Lord as captain, the OLA lead boat, the ‘Anondontoides,’ owned by SUNY Oneonta’s Biological Field Station, kicks off the event in style.

Gavin Fetterman displays his cow, Harley, who won the Master Showman for the Hereford breed during The Farmers’ Museum Junior Livestock Show on July 12.

EDITION OF July 8

EDITION OF July 15

WEEK 30

Milo Stewart for the Baseball Hall of Fame

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Chair Jane Forbes Clark speaks at the Hall’s Awards Presentation on July 24. The museum recorded the ceremony Saturday and presented it the next day on the MLB Network and across its social media platforms. From left are Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred, Al Michaels, Ken Harrelson, Lyn Montgomery, Ms. Clark, Dick Kaegel, Ben Cafardo, BBWAA President C. Trent Rosecrans, and Interim Hall of Fame President Jeff Idelson.

EDITION OF July 29

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WEEK 31

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 33

Greg Klein

Contributed

Danielle Henrici and Jason Francey take on two of their many roles during a performance of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) on July 30. Glimmerglobe Theatre and the Fenimore Art Museum produced the show, which ran at the Lucy B. Jones Amphitheater on Otsego Lake at the Fenimore House.

Kathy Hochul was the state’s Lieutenant Governor in August 2020 when she spoke at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.

One year later, she took the helm as the first woman Governor of New York State after Andrew Cuomo’s resignation.

EDITION OF August 5

EDITION OF August 19

WEEK 32

WEEK 34

Cheryl Clough

Lights from the swing ride illuminate the night sky August 3 as darkness begins to fall on the first day of the Otsego County Fair.

The fair closed August 8 after nearly a full week of rides, attractions, good weather and a vaccination tent that county officials deemed pleasantly successful.

EDITION OF August 12

Kevin Limiti

The Catskill Symphony Orchestra prepared for its first concert since the beginning of the COVID pandemic with summer rehearsals for an October show at Oneonta’s Foothills Theater.

EDITION OF August 26

Some places have local branches.

We Have Local Roots. sfcuonline.org Oneonta (2 locations) • Sidney • Norwich Bainbridge • Walton • Greene • Amsterdam

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 35

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WEEK 36

Greg Klein Greg Klein

After 32 years, Cooperstown Central School special education teacher Pat Hogan went out in style with a retirement parade around the elementary school August 26 in Cooperstown. Pictured are Hogan and her family, from left, sons Chris and Tom, and husband Jim. EDITION OF September 2

Derek Jeter jokes about the baseball writer who did not vote for his Hall of Fame Induction as teammate Mariano Rivera looks on during the September 8 ceremony at the Clark Sports Center.

EDITION OF September 9

WEEK 38

WEEK 37

Kevin Limiti

Kevin Limiti

Firefighters march past the Milford Fire Department on State Route 28 during a 9/11 anniversary memorial on September 11.

An unidentified protester demonstrates against vaccination mandates at Bassett Healthcare Network in Cooperstown on September 21.

EDITION OF September 16

EDITION OF September 23

Where the Community Comes Together!

Celebrate

The YMCA connects the community in so many ways. Join us for programs all throughout the year!

The YMCA—Where discoveries are turned into memories!

Check Out Our Y Programs

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 39

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 40

Kevin Limiti

Rebecca Bonker holds up a ‘Trust Women’ sign at the women’s reproductive rights rally at Muller Plaza in Oneonta on October 2 EDITION OF October 7 Milo Stewart Jr. for the Baseball Hall of Fame

Cooperstown got a special visit last week from the crew of the USS Cooperstown. The U.S. Navy Freedom class littoral combat ship was announced in 2015 at the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend and christened in early 2020. The crew visited the Hall and met with new President Josh Rawitch, front right.

EDITION OF September 30

WEEK 41

WEEK 42

WEEK 43

Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute

‘Le Cheval de Mer’ (Seahorse) 2010, a creation by Isabelle de Borchgrave is on display in a new exhibit with fashion made from paper at Utica’s Munson-Williams-Proctor Art Institute.

Edition of October 14

Greg Klein

Paul Nevin, director for the Zimmerman Center for Heritage, looks on as the Chief Uncas is loaded onto a flatbed October 13 at Sam Smith’s Boatyard in the town of Otsego. The Uncas moved to Lake Clarke, Pennsylvania, so it can give boat tours on the Susquehanna River for the Susquehanna National Heritage Area.

Cooperstown Girls Varsity swimmers celebrated Section III championships in October. Front row L-R: Jaina Bischof, Emily Kane, Arya Patel, Quinn Lytel, Rylie Austin. Back row L-R: Punya Phaugat, Annie Walker, Margaret Riesenfeld, Tara Phillips, Erica Eggleston, Ariadne Hodgson

Edition of October 21

Edition of October 28

John Hodgson

WEEK 44

WEEK 45

Ted Potrikus

That’s World Series MVP Jorge Soler’s game-used batting helmet in the hands of Hall of Fame VP Shestakofsky as young Albany-area baseball fans admire the Hall’s new collection of 2021 World Series artifacts on their way to Cooperstown for display.

EDITION OF November 11

Ted Potrikus

These are just a few of the jack-o-lanterns that lined Route 20 along the rock walls leading east into Cherry Valley and, of course, west out of Cherry Valley. It’s a tradition!

EDITION OF November 4

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 46

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 47

Polly Renckens

At top of the pyramid of the D’amico family from Cooperstown, you will see Adeline D’amico — just a month old and already has the Christmas spirit! She is assisted by grandparents Marcia and Bob, parents David and Caroline, and sister Aubree, 7.

EDITION OF November 25

WEEK 48

Kevin Limiti

Brig Seaver holds the American flag during Veterans Day ceremony in Cooperstown.

EDITION OF November 18

Tara Barnwell

Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in Cooperstown on November 26.

EDITION OF December 2

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

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We are proud to be such a big part of our community.

We live and work with some of the most incredible people in our region, those that give of themselves to our community unconditionally.

Here’s to a great 2022!

Locally owned and operated Single and multi-family homes Commercial property and land 99 Main Street, Oneonta 607.441.7312 www.oneontarealty.com Cricket Keto, Licensed Assoc. Broker | Lizabeth Rose, Broker/Owner

166 Main Street, Suite 1, Oneonta 607.433.2873 | oneontarealty.com

Beautify Your Floors.

Enhance Your Whole Home.

Stop by our showroom today to find the color, finish and option that are perfect for your home. · Carpet · Vinyl · Hardwood · Ceramic & Luxury Vinyl · Floating Floors by Coretec · Plank & Tile · Countertops · Marble & Quartz · Window Treatments by Graber · Sundries · Remnants

607.353.7433 61 S. Main Street, Oneonta carpetsplusoneonta.com

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

WEEK 49

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

WEEK 51

Caspar Ewig

Some of the Cooperstown Diner’s regulars who stop by each morning, left to right: Dave Bliss, Dennis Hascup, and Earle Peterson

Tara Barnwell

“Mackerel scales and mare’s tails make tall ships carry low sails.” The sun set on I-88 between Cooperstown and Oneonta on a chilly December afternoon; mariners knew that the combination of “mare’s tail” cirrus clouds above “mackerel scales” altocumulus clouds meant deteriorating weather conditions — high winds and precipitation were coming, so the sails should be lowered to keep them protected.

EDITION OF December 9

WEEK 50

EDITION OF December 23

WEEK 52

Ted Potrikus

Taylor Maddalene

Carrie Carney and her fine and festive Christmas hat ready to greet shoppers and visitors to Cooperstown’s Mingo Market.

Lilly Myers, a 10-month old Golden Retriever from Athens, Georgia, enjoyed her first snow while visiting relatives in Cooperstown over the holiday.

EDITION OF December 16

EDITION OF December 30

Peter ArmAo

| tom ArmAo

“We thank our past, present and future customers for their support!

We pride ourselves on being Otsego County’s General Motor and Nissan Dealerships providing the best service, quality and everything in-between.

hank You!

We’d also like to thank our loyal employees

for their commitment and professionalism in helping us maintain the #1 dealerships in our region!”

--Peter & Tom

Thank

Country Club motors and nissan 55 & 70 oneida street, oneonta · www.CountryClubautogroup.Com join us on: facebook and twitter

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

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+ FIRST NIGHT PRESENT

Five Star Subaru

NEW YEAR’S EVE! NEAHWA PARK | 5 pm to 8 pm

Join us on New Year’s Eve with live entertainment by the Hill City Ice Queen and Friends, Cosmic Karma Fire, Drumquest and Mike the Juggler

FREE ADMISSION All First Night events are alcohol-free, admission-free and family-friendly because of our wonderful community sponsors.

IF You sEE tHEM plEAsE tHANK tHEM For us!

BEAutIFul DrIVE tHru lIGHt DIsplAYs IN NEAHWA pArK uNtIl JANuArY 3, 2022

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2021 OTSEGO COUNTY YEARBOOK

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2021

when you share the love, you change lives.

Over the last 14 years, through the Share the Love Event, Subaru of America and FIVE STAR SUBARU have donated more than $200 million to charity, with customers choosing between national and hometown charities. In this, our 14th year, we are on track to prove there’s no limit to the amount of love we can all share! *

*promotion ends 1/3/22