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Big Rig Topples Flagpole  At 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, an east-bound 18-wheeler trying to make a U-turn at Main and Pioneer to get to the new loading zone in front of Danny's Market rubbed against the flagpole, cracking the base that has been there since 1917. As the pole teetered, it soon became clear it might topple against the electrical lines that surround the intersection, so the village crew summoned a New York State Electric & Gas team to the scene, removing a pole that has been a fixture in the village's center since soon after World War I broke out. This, with bunting rising on light poles all along Main Street and the Village of Cooperstown's Bicentennial celebration just 10 days away. Shortly after 7 a.m., the crews, using a NYSEG cherry picker commanded by Brent Scott of Oneonta, gently lowered the venerable silver pole, with the faded golden globe atop it, to the pavement. "It's blankety-blank heavy," said Pete Nowicki Jr. of the village crew, who was en route to work at 5 a.m. when he was diverted to the scene. Then, Art Calhoun of Calhoun & Son welding, torch in hand, detached the cracked footing – solid lead, it turned out – from the concrete pad hemmed in by a circle of granite, and the extent of the damaged was evident. The footing, which had stuck up 5-6 feet, was sunk into the ground another 5-6 feet, Calhoun determined. Now, it's snapped off at ground level. Mayor Carol B. Waller, who was called to the scene at 6 a.m. to oversee the operation, later consulted with Hans Dewalt, the Richfield Springs architect, who concluded "it can be repaired." At mid-week, Waller was waiting for specifics, but said Dewalt advised her the flagpole can be painted and put back up in time for the Bicentennial, only – because the shoe that held the pole has been removed – it will be about 5 feet shorter. After the celebration, the pole can be restored to full height, the mayor said. But, she added, she's already getting pressure to put it somewhere else, Lake Front Park, for instance. She's resisting, she said, in part because of the tradition of the Main and Pioneer location. It is Village Historian Hugh MacDougall who traced the date, as best as he can determine, to Oct. 27, 1917 – 90 years ago in a couple of months – from a citation in Harold Hollis' "History of Cooperstown." In earlier photos, from 1907 and 1911, MacDougall said, there is no flagpole on the site. The flagpole was donated by W.C. Stokes, W.C. Flanders, F. Ambrose Clark, James Fenimore Cooper (future first president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame), W.T. Hyde, Stephen S. Clark and Alexander S. Phinney. The first flag was presented by a Miss Florence Will. The U.S. had entered World War I that April, and there was much patriotic ferment in town: Troops were heading off to battle, Victory loans were being raised, there was "one patriotic things after another."  Above All, Jo-Ann Fisher 'Joyful'  A few days ago, a Great American shopper asked how Jo-Ann E. Fisher-Coons was doing. Jo-Ann, who had been fighting cancer almost since the birth of her youngest son, Jonathan, almost eight years ago, had worked as the cash register at the Cooperstown supermarket or behind the meat counter almost that whole time. The staff had to break the news as gently as they could: The disease had finally overcome Jo-Ann, who passed away Thursday, Aug. 23, at Bassett Healthcare. "The customer burst into tears," said Pauline Anderson, Oneonta, who had been working for Great American for a couple of years at the East End store in Oneonta when Jo-Ann joined the company 20 years ago. Most everyone who lives in Cooperstown goes to the Great American a couple of times a week, if not more, so the ladies at the checkout are among the most widely known people in the community, and Jo-Ann as much as any. And, for her part, Jo-Ann took an active interest in her customers, Pauline said. If she knew someone had been in the hospital, she'd alway ask, "How do you feel today?" "She was loving, caring," said Pauline. "She was just so joyful." Greg Strong of Milford added, "She was that way with everyone." When she first learned of her disease, she was determined to beat it. "She wanted to watch her kids grow up," said Pauline. She underwent chemo and lost her hair. The breast cancer went into remission, her friends said, but then came back in different forms. "It was a long battle," said Pauline. "She never gave up," said Greg. "No, she never gave up," said Pauline. During her struggle, Jo-Ann became active in anti-cancer causes, and was a frequent participant in Relays for Life. She was always available to watch other people's children. To say thanks, her friends and co-workers once took up a collection so she could take her own children to DisneyWorld. Paying the medical bills became a problem, and three ladies in particular – Greg's wife Cheryl, Edie Jennings of Cooperstown and Jean Schneider of Laurens – began raising funds for their friend. Most recently, there was a chicken-and-biscuit dinner at a Milford church and a bake sale in New Berlin. After years of chemo and radiation treatments, Jo-Ann decided to let them lapse late last year so she could enjoy a Christmas, perhaps her last, "without the sickness," said Maureen Lacomb-Saghafi of Norwich, another co-worker. It was a good Christmas, Maureen said, but it gave the tumors a chance to gain on her. When Jo-Ann returned to work in the New Year, her ankles were swollen to the point that, seven months ago, she went on disability. Even to the end, she thought of others. When her oldest son, Nicholas Fisher, was aiming to enter his senior year at Milford Central School, where he is now, she insisted he get involved in all the activities he might want to; you only have your senior year once. "She really thought she was going to beat it," said Maureen. But it wasn't to be. Jo-Ann was born Oct. 25, 1965, in Oneonta, daughter of John F. and Ella (Companie) Ross. She married Charles J. Coons in 1999. When Great American's East End store closed, she moved to the South Side store, said Jack Blanchard, a Great American manager, who was working there at the time. When that store closed, Blanchard and Joann were among the workers who shifted to Cooperstown. In addition to her husband and father, and her older and younger sons, she is survived by a middle son, Justin; three brothers, Tony Ross and his wife Sandra, of Unadilla, John Ross and his wife Kari, of Vancouver, Wash., and Reginald Ross and his wife Dawna, of Oneonta; a sister, Patricia Bordinger and her husband Jeffrey, of Mount Vision; two best friends, Jennifer Perry and her husband Nate, and Cindy Kinsella, as well as several nieces, nephews and cousins. Calling hours and the funeral were held at Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, Oneonta, with burial in Mount Calvary Cemetery, Emmons. Memorial donations may be made to the American Cancer Society, 31 Adams Ave., Endicott NY 13760.  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