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Friday, October 13, 2006October 13 2006Homecoming Hijinks  Hartwick Hotels Fear Future, While B&Bs, Rentals Jammed By JIM KEVLIN HARTWICK With the Best Western Inn & Suites, the Holiday Inn Express and Howard Johnson Inn & Suites, is the hotel market in burgeoning Hartwick Seminary overbuilt? Or, with the overflow from Dreams Park packing B&Bs, soaking up rentals and causing Cooperstown area homeowners to rent their places out for the summer, is this just the beginning? That was the debate that emerged Tuesday, Oct. 10, before a standing-room-only audience of 60 people in the town hall courtroom, when project manager Fred Riordan of the Riordan Group, Oneonta, speaking on behalf of his client, Holiday Inn franchisee Erfan Khan, outlined plans for a 74-room, three-story Hampton Inn & Suites right next door to Khan's existing hotel. When Riordan finished, Best Western and Howard Johnson's local executives stood as one. "One additional hotel could be the tipping point," said Steven E. Okarski, Howard Johnson's owner/general manager. "The market is oversaturated," added Robert A. Holt, Best Western's general manager. And they provided data to back up the assertions. Holt said the Hartwick Seminary Best Western, built in 199x, experienced 100 percent occupancy during the summers until 2004, when July occupancy dipped to 89 percent and August to 91 percent. In January 2002, occupancy was 24 percent, but it had slipped to 12 percent by January 2005 and 2006m, he said. The company also owns the Red Carpet Inn, which it kept open from April to November. With business dropping, Holt said, that season's been cut back to from May to October. Next year, it may close after Columbus Day, he added. This was the Howard Johnson's first year, but occupancy between December and March was 9-20 percent, Okarski said, balancing out to about 12 percent overall. But Holiday Inn general manager Michael Roy responded with statistics of his own. He said Holiday Inn's reservation system keeps track of "denial reports" -- people who call after the inn is booked up: 2,186 callers were turned away in July, and another 2,171 in August. Once there is no room at the inn, Roy's desk clerks try to find accommodations for people who show up looking for a room, and "sometimes we have to send people 60 to 80 miles away to other properties." Standing in the doorway to the hall -- all the seats were filled -- was Otesgo County Chamber President & CEO Rob Robertson, who said, "I came here to see both sides," adding, "the fact are how you interpret them." Countywide, he said, there's a housing shortage. Because landlords can make as much renting apartments for three months to Dreams Park families as renting year-round to local people, the rental market is tightening up and prices are rising, he said. More people are buying second homes and that's further tightening up the market. "The longterm solution is developing a year-round tourism market," he said. "The shoulder season, spring and fall, has expanded somewhat, but not to the point where the hotels have a comfort level that they can rent enough rooms year-around." That's not unusual in a tourism market, he continued, but it is unusual for a tourism market to be tied so heavily to a single entity: the baseball parks. With 96 teams a week at Dreams Park, and another 60-70 and Cooperstown All Star Village and Cooperstown Baseball World in the Oneonta area, that means 8,500 people a week -- 15 players per team, plus 3.5 additional family members -- flood area facilities, 100,000 a week, more than a million overall, then disappear. Before the baseball parks, families would stay 3-4 days. "Families staying for a week materially changes the entire hotel-motel market," he said. Paula Wycoff, owner of the Lakefront Motel at the end of Fair Street, said she's heard of people renting out homes to as many as eight families. As to the larger question, she said "chains, chains, chains are putting out the small businesspeople." The Wycoffs were approached by a national chain this summer interested in their lodging and restaurant complex on the shores of Otsego Lake. "I could have walked away with a lot of money," she said. But, "I want to pass along to the fourth generation. That's what's important to me." Wi-Fi Era Under Way At Library  COOPERSTOWN At precisely 11 a.m., Friday, Oct. 6, Rebecca Weil, co-president of the Friends of The Village Library, pushed the "send" button on her Gateway laptop and a new era began. Her message to the other Friends: "The WIRELESS is working!!! I am typing this e-mail message to you while sitting in the library with my laptop! Hoorah! Step 1 complete. " "Step 1" involved a $300 black box that gives "Wi Fi" Internet access at the library at 22 Main St. to anyone with a laptop so outfitted. Wi-Fi is a trademark held by the Wi-Fi Alliance, a trade group promoting the technology. Weil was sitting in a leather armchair in the library's northeast corner. Across the room was an island where the library's three computers had been ganged, better to be monitored by librarians and better for library users' convenience. Those steps -- 1 and 2 -- were completed almost a month ahead of schedule, and will be followed by six more designed to make the library -- "I hate that word -- 'user-friendly,' " said Weil, made possible with a $10,000 allocation from the village trustees, plus $7,500 from the Friends. "Welcoming and warm," she continued, amending the offending term. The other steps include: * Weeding the books, with a help of a Friends' work crew. * Removing the wall at the back of the children's library, opening up a large west-facing window and creating a reading area for teens and adults. * Rearranging the children's room to create space for parents and young children to read, and building book bins. * Rearranging the space in the entryway and building a new book drop. * Carpeting and painting. * Adding benches and tables on the front porch, once the village had complete repairs to the porch, pillars and roof. "Basically," remarked Librarian David Kent, "we want someone to come in here and say 'wow.'" "A healthy library can really be a community hub," said Weil. The village board hasn't thought that far ahead yet, said Trustee Milo V. Stewart Jr., who also serves on the library board and is taking the lead arranging a lot of the renovations, "but I think this is going to spur that." With programs and other contributions, the Friends anticipate spending $17,000 in privately raised money on the library this fiscal year, Weil said. The biggest fundraiser is the book sale over the Fourth of July weekend, which raises about $9,000. To make the money go farther, the Friends are asking the public to donate or sponsor the purchase of standing lamps, comfortable club chairs in good condition, and even bean bag seats for the kids. 'Wisdom, Kindness' Lives On  By TOM HEITZ COOPERSTOWN In baseball circles, John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil, a descendant of slaves, who died Saturday, Oct. 7, was widely known for more than six decades. He was a first baseman, and eventually the manager of the famed Kansas City Monarchs in the heyday of the segregated Negro Leagues. When his playing years came to a close, Buck became a scout and coach for major league baseball teams. In that capacity, Buck mentored many young ballplayers following the integration of white baseball. When a specially talented but discouraged and homesick young black player quit a minor league team, it was Buck they sent to bring him back. That player is now a member of baseball’s Hall of Fame – but it’s a story only Buck has the right to tell in its entirety. In recent years, Buck was instrumental in establishing the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City, Mo., an institution dedicated to preserving the history and memory of the Negro Leagues. I first met Buck O’Neil while working as an appointed consultant for the National Endowment for the Humanities, a major financial backer of Ken Burns, the proprietor of Florentine Films and producer of blockbuster documentaries for PBS television. In 1989, Burns began work on what was to become an epic serial for PBS, titled simply “Baseball.” Coming on the heels of Burns’ hugely successful documentary on the Civil War, Burns sought to raise his personal artistic bar several notches with the baseball project. The film aired in 1994. In those days, I was librarian at the National Baseball Library & Archive, a department of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. There, where hundreds of thousands of baseball-related photographs are maintained, Burns discovered a veritable candy store of still images and he chose nearly a thousand for his film. As one of the few living men who bridged the eras of segregation, integration and post-integration, Buck O’Neil became both a consultant to Ken Burns and an on-camera “talking head” as they say in the documentary film business. Though Buck was one of several “talking heads” featured in the black baseball segments of Burns’ film, he was easily the most commanding. His expressive face, soft voice, direct gaze and silvered hair communicated more than mere words can convey. Baseball historians and film critics still debate the merits of Burns’ “Baseball,” but everyone familiar with the work agrees that its redeeming, unforgettable star was Buck O’Neil. In one of Burns’ story segments titled “Shadow Ball,” Buck and other “talking heads” helped tell the story of the Negro Leagues, the struggles that black ballplayers faced, and the lives they led, barnstorming from town to town. In one poignant film sequence, Buck tells of taking a day off from baseball with Kansas City Monarchs’ teammate Satchel Paige, a future Hall of Fame pitcher. Together the two men visited the site of slave auctions in a southern state and Buck thought of his own ancestors as they stood on the auction block. As he spoke, a tear visibly formed in one eye. In another film segment, in his own unique way, Buck told America that there was no bitterness in his heart about the Negro Leagues, a time in his life that he treasured, and no envy on his part for the success that black ballplayers of the latter 20th century had enjoyed. This was the film’s pivotal moment of truth, redemption and forgiveness. My time with Buck O’Neil was limited to several occasions when we were assembled with Burns and his production team in Washington D.C. or at Burns’ editing studio in secluded Walpole, New Hampshire where Burns and his closest advisors made the final cuts before “Baseball” aired. However, Buck was a man you could get to know easily. We shared an interest and common knowledge of life in Kansas City where I was born and raised. But, common ground aside, Buck was open, affable, and unreserved. He drew people into his circle effortlessly. And the next time he saw you, he knew your name, and remembered what you had said before about your wife and children. I last saw Buck at Kansas City’s Royals Stadium in 1996, more than a year after I left the National Baseball Library. I was seated in the lower grandstands, well before the game started that evening, when Ken Burns and Buck O’Neil appeared on the field. Buck was there to throw out the first ball and promote the Negro Baseball Museum. Somehow, he and Ken spotted me and waved me down to the railing. We chatted for a few minutes before parting, not about baseball, but about life in general. Some may express disappointment in the fact that Buck O’Neil was not selected for induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame this past summer. Though Buck may yet be selected, I don’t believe he was disappointed. While Buck would have felt honored to be inducted, he took greater pleasure and pride in opening the Hall of Fame door for others than he ever thought of himself. Ultimately, Buck’s humanity transcends baseball as well as Hall of Fame honors. Perhaps baseball was the stage where his light shone brightest, but there was much more to the man than baseball. After John Jordan “Buck” O’Neil died this past week, Jane Forbes Clark, chairman of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum’s board of directors, issued this statement: “Buck O’Neil was one of the greatest ambassadors baseball has ever known. He was a giant of a man whose wisdom, kindness and generosity of spirit will live on forever in all those he touched and who touched him.” I concur. Cherry Valley’s Chibas Safe From Huffing, Puffing, High Fuel Bills  By D.M. SHEAN CHERRY VALLEY Why build a straw house? Ten years ago, the Chibas decided they would, in part because they could. Straw houses aren't permitted everywhere. With the help of 100 friends, family members and neighbors, Kat and Kazuhire constructed a home out of 200 wire-cut bales of straw from western New York, building a strong connection to their community as they went. "A straw bale house provided the rustic feeling of a renovated barn at a more affordable price,” Kat said the other day. Containing 1,000 square feet of usable space, it has been a comfortable home for the couple and their three children, Josie, Koh and Scott. This self-designed house – the timber-framed, post-and-beam structure has a stucco exterior and plastered interior – modeled after a non-residential straw bale building that a neighbor had built previously, but Kat believes theirs was the first straw home in Otsego County. A decade later, this one-and-a-half-story house off County Highway 166 just south of the village still draws attention. A handful of curious people, knowledgeable of straw bale building and not so knowledgeable, are welcomed by the Chibas each year. Kat, an educator, has even given lectures about straw bale houses over the years. Both Kazuhire and Kat said they like the home because it “treads lightly upon the environment.” The Chibas, who met in the Peace Corps, live simply, and their enthusiasm helps demonstrate the merits of an energy-efficient, low-maintenance building style to the community at large. Depending on the winter, the house is heated with between five to 12 face cords of wood. The straw-bale walls provide between R30 and R40 insulation values. (The R-value for fiberglass insulation is just 2.2.) The home has a full basement. The bedrooms are located upstairs. There is plumbing and electricity, but the Chibas do not watch television, by choice. The windows across the back of the house bring in the light and opens on the natural beauty of the 20-acre property. Five sheep out front, and the Amish-hewn plank floors, dry batches of herbs and a wood fire inside, give the place a pastoral feeling. A couple of loving cats cozy up to visitors. Energy-efficient housing and living simply is becoming more widely embraced across the country. Just Google "straw houses." There are various styles of straw bale housing and home owners who can provide lots of recommendations. A section on the Hartwick College web site describes straw-bale buildings as "sacred places," promoting sustainability. That house was constructed by students and faculty from SUNY's Pine Lake Environmental Campus, with work overseen by Clark Sanders of East Meredith, an experienced carpenter, and Professor Sandy Huntington, who led the religious studies component of the June Term Class. Four days after the Chibas' home was finished, there was a tremendous wind, but it did not blow the house down. Straw buildings are more common in the midwest and in the southwest where there are dryer climates. However, since straw is all cellulose, it can dry from the interior of the house when exposed to moisture, so it won’t rot. Many people are concerned about attracting pests, especially rodents, however, that issue is addressed when the straw bale are sealed properly. Due to the lack of space for oxygen, a straw bale sealed with stucco reduces the threat of fire. Overall, using a renewable building material has more pluses than minuses. Straw houses are being constructed as far north as Canada. According to Sarah Scafdi-McGuire, an educational programmer for Community Energy Services Inc., in Canton, St. Lawrence County, “more people are interested in straw bale house construction for a couple of reasons: It’s been tested and people see it’s working, plus lumber and energy costs are rising.” She and her husband are currently building a 1,400-square-foot home, with 420 straw bales, in Canton. Labels: Archives
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