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 In the News This Week -- Mar. 9, 2007 |
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  Otesaga Maitresse D’s Attention to Detail, Dignity Won Respect of All By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN Madonna. Cher. Hillary. Hear those names, you know who’s being talked about. In Cooperstown, there’s Jane. And Josie. For the past dozen years, Josie Bliss presided as maitresse d’ at the Otesaga Resort Hotel, deploying her sizeable wait staff – 25 fulltime year ’round; 350 at the height of the season – with military-like precision. “Everything is detail,” Josie said in an interview two days after she was feted by more than 100 well-wishers at a retirement party in the Otesaga’s main dining room Thursday, March 1. She had stepped down in early January after the traditional New Year’s Eve gala. Looking around her Town of Hartwick kitchen, the qualities that made her exceptional in her profession are evident. The floor, the counter, the French doors leading to the living room and the porch; all are immaculate. The coffee was precisely right – B-K, the same brand served at the hotel, was neither too weak nor too strong – and just at the precisely right moment, she refilled the cup. The peanut-butter cookies were crisp and precisely round. Her 9-year-old poodles, Bennie and Ossie, are identically clipped and well behaved, immediately responsive to Josie’s directives. But discipline isn’t the only word that comes to mind during a conversation with Josie, who is trim and full of vitality. Loyalty, friendship, collegiality, confidence, responsibility do as well, all qualities that suggest a commendable life well lived. Scores of well-wishers gathered a week ago Thursday in Josie’s longtime realm, the Otesaga’s main diningroom, to celebrate her career and accomplishment. While General Manager John Irvin emceed, Jane Forbes Clark parceled out the gifts, which included a trip to Las Vegas, a bathrobe from the swank Bellagio Hotel & Casino, numerous bottles of wine and a stuffed rooster. Jane Patrick, a member of the Dinner Belles, a weekly dining club, called her the “heart and soul” of the100-year-old resort hotel. In addition to staff, friends and family, longtime customers showed up as well, including Dennis Sugumele, Dominion Transmission’s manager of interstate marketing. One of her sons, Terry, Otsego County’s planning director, said, “Thank you for giving us our mother back.” A self-described farm girl from Middlefield Center, Josie Gorney got into her line of work when she was only 15 and still in high school, parttime at Joe Clancy’s Doubleday Restaurant on Main Street in that building to the left of that former Smalley’s Theater. She remembers the “coffee club” that regularly convened there: John Logan, Wade Stevens, The Freeman’s Journal then-editor Harold “Scoop” Hollis (and his little wire-haired terrier), “Mr. Clark” (Steven) and then-Sheriff Jack Neville among them. Mr. Clancy soon died and the restaurant was sold to Bill Grady, father of Kevin Grady, who is now co-owner of the Doubleday Café up the street, and when Mr. Grady bought Hickory Grove up the lake, she went with him. By then, she was married to Clyde Bliss, who had grown up down the road from her in Middlefield. He was a plumber and electrician by trade. The couple raised two sons, Terry and Dan, a salesman in Oneonta, and a daughter, Susan Bliss-Beal, who operates Breezy Acres, the high-end kennel. In those days, Duke’s Oak, a summer stock theater, was being operated where the Glimmerglass Opera is now, and, among the actors and directors, Josie enjoyed a fun crowd of regulars – many of whom she knew from the Doubleday and are friends and friendly acquaintances to this day. The Duke Oak’s directors were Joann Miller and Dorothy “The Park Avenue Hillbilly” She, who had quite an acting career herself, appearing in several Abbott & Costello movies. The restaurant closed on Labor Day, and Josie would “work where there was work” over the winter, including at the nearby Red Sleigh, which was open later into fall. “I worked a couple of winters at the ski tow” in Pierstown. When Bill Grady’s wife contracted cancer, he left the business to tend to her, and Josie shifted to the Lakefront Restaurant at the bottom of Fair Street, where she spent the next 22 years. The business, while not ideal for a working mother, had its benefits. She was on the job most holidays – the only Mother’s Day she didn’t work was when she broke an ankle two days before – but she could always there when the kids got home from school. When he was only 39, Clyde had his first heart attack, and was in increasingly poor health until his death from cancer 10 years ago, so her contribution to the household income – the Blisses bought their Route 28 home, a rambling farmhouse, 42 years ago – became increasingly important. By the mid-‘80s, Josie was in her late 40s and “I was getting to old to lift those heavy trays.” An acquaintance suggested she shift to the Otesaga and, in 1986, “Mr. Van” – F. Vander Auwera, a Belgian, who was then maitre d’ – hired her as one of seven “captains” in the main dining room, responsible for a half-dozen waitresses and 50 seats. Despite 30 years in the business, the Otesaga took Josie’s skills to the next level. When you brought out a gravy boat, it had to be on an underliner. You learned to save steps: When you brought out a teapot, you were sure to take the lemons and the cream: “Don’t make a trip twice.” After only four years, Mr. Van fell ill, and General Manager Bob Holliday – “I worked for three wonderful general managers” – offered her the job. (Mr. Holliday’s successors were Frank Maloney and, today, John Irvin.) “I worked very hard for them,” she explained. “I cared about it. That’s something you can’t find that much any more: Someone who really cares.” Before joining the Otesaga staff, Josie had never even been in the building. In those days, she said, local people simply didn’t think to go there. That began to change with the opening 11 years ago of the Hawkeye Grill with its more casual setting and 12-month availability. Local groups, including “one of my favorite groups,” Rotary, began meeting there. A dinner club was established. The wedding business was cultivated. Josie credited “Miss Jane,” who took over after her father’s passing in the early ‘90s, with striving to make the local community more comfortable at the Otesaga and, soon, more and more of the maitre d’s regulars from Hickory Grove days were regulars again in the new venue. Over Jane Forbes Clark’s tenure, the menu has become “more sophisticated,” but the old staples people were familiar with stayed on the menu. “Roast turkey would outsell the latest fancy French dish any night,” Josie said. Being a magnet for celebrity as the Otesaga is, with its old-fashioned elegance and wide veranda overlooking Otsego Lake’s south shore, she met many, from George W. Bush to Jane Fonda, Bud Selig, Rudy Giuliani, Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward, and, two seasons ago, Brad Pitt. Her favorite celebrity was Warren Spahn, who on arriving at the hotel for Hall of Fame induction weekend would say, “Josie, I want a Budweiser and an ashtray, in that order.” After a no-smoking rule was put in place, John Rivas, who has worked in the hotel for 21 years (another veteran is Willy Quenonez, 15 years), hurried up to Josie and said, “Mr. Spahn is smoking up there.” “Give him an ashtray,” she replied, “before he uses the china.” As anyone who knows Josie can imagine, guests who visited from year to year used to look forward to seeing her. The year she was still laid up with a broken ankle, her home phone rang. It was Brooks Robinson, in town for induction weekend when he heard about her mishap. He chatted with her, wished her well, then said, “Connie” – his wife – “wants to talk to you.” Son Terry was visiting, and said, “Ma, do you realize who you just got a call from?” “When you’re in a position like mine,” Josie said, “you’re meeting all these people. But the guy across the street is just as important. Celebrities will be there once. The guy across the street will be back every week.” On arriving home after a long-day, Josie would unwind by watching baseball. Often, it was Atlanta, and she became a Braves fan, so she was particularly excited the year her heroes played in the Hall of Fame game. Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey “always went out of his way to introduce them to me,” and that weekend was a bonanza. There was John Sherholz, Braves’ owner. And Chipper Jones. “And who walks up but Bobby Cox,” one of her favorites. “I’m Bobby Cox,” he said, and stuck out his hand. “He must think I’m someone important,” Josie said to herself. Which, of course, she was, and she’ll be missed by many. While retired – Chris Stecher was brought in from Omni’s famed Melrose Hotel in Dallas, she doesn’t want to cut herself off from the hotel and people she’s enjoyed and admired. So why did she? “I’m 68,” she replied simply. Clyde died in his early 60s. A longtime friend, Richard Carr, recently died of cancer. She is healthy and thought she should enjoy a less-stressful existence while she can. Every Sunday now, her kids come over with some of their kids. Terry has two, Scott, 23, (a recent Virginia Tech grad living outside D.C.), and Ashley, 12. Dan’s are Colin, 18, and Emily, 15; Susan’s son is a Leap Year baby, Gabe, 7. They play cards and chat, simple pleasures, but unknown to the family in their mother’s half-century hospitality career. A couple of days after the interview, she was off to Aruba with daughter Susan and friends. On her return, she plans to drive down to Florida to visit other Otesaga retirees. “I don’t feel like cutting myself off from the hotel right now,” she said. “Some of my best friends are at the hotel.” Irvin marveled at her ability to extract performance and affection at the same time from people who worked for her. “There are two totally different sides to Josie,” he said. “She could be a taskmaster – and she was. She also earned the respect of her people because she always treated them with dignity.” As if to prove that point, as the interview with Josie neared an end, there was a knock on her door. It was one of the Otesaga captains who had flipped his Jeep on that morning’s icy roads, in the process knocking down one of Jane Clark’s black fences, asking for advice on where to have his auto towed. And so the connection continues.  Would-Be Trustees See Much To Be Done By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN The village board will be more pro-active on April 1 than it is right now, Tim Feury predicted as an hour of discussion between him, Lynne Mebust and Eric Hage neared an end the other day. Feury, the Republican candidate for village trustee in the March 20 elections; Mebust, the Democratic candidate, and Hage, an independent who has received both parties’ endorsement, had engaged in lively pre-election conversation with The Freeman’s Journal editorial board that ranged from ads in Doubleday Field to what to do about the Village Gardens to the right balance between residents and visitors. “The village board seems to be becoming more activist,” Hage agreed with Feury, adding, “I would hope we would become a little more entrepreneurial.” “Pro-active, not reactive,” said Feury. Hage, 42, who set up Mohican Financial Management on Railroad Street after years of Wall Street stockbroking, raised challenges of financing village government several times. “How do we find a way to shift the financial burden of tourism from the village to the tourists?” he asked at one point. At another point, he said, “We generate a lot of sales tax and get a very small percentage back. We have no leverage with the county.” Please See VOTE,Page 6 He said the idea of turning the village into a city – quashed during Gov. Mario Cuomo’s administration – might be worth revisiting. “It’s a long shot, but one that ought to be explored, as it gives us more control over the sales tax.” Mebust, 44, a former grant writer and member of the village Park Committee, focused on quality of life concerns, and questioned whether village government is sufficiently responsive to citizens’ concerns.  Weather, Insects Sap Rite of Spring By BREN MIOSEK COOPERSTOWN The calendar says it’s time to start tapping maple trees, but the trees say otherwise. “A lot of producers aren’t going to bother this spring,” said Dwayne Hill, president of New York State Maple Producers Association. “We need warm days and cold nights, and that’s just not happening right now. “The deep snow is making it hard for some to even get to the trees, and others are concerned about defoliation. Some of the trees that were damaged by caterpillars this past summer won’t be tapped at all.” If members of the New York State Maple Producers Association are tasting the bitter reality of dealing with deep snow and defoliation, the folks over at The Farmer’s Museum are savoring the sweet aromas associated with pancake breakfasts and Sugaring Off weekends, which continue March 11, 18 and 25. “Sugaring off weekend at The Farmer’s Museum provide a wonderful way for visitors to learn about the sugar-off process,” said Christine Liggio, Farmer’s Museum spokesman. Back to Hill: Tapping defoliated trees creates unnecessary stress that could cause Please See SAP, Page 6 problems later on, and that the sugar content of a defoliated tree would most likely be less of that found in a healthy tree, he said, adding, “We’re not exactly sure how severe the impact will be, but the defoliation caused by tent caterpillars will have some affect on this year’s harvest.” A typical harvest season usually begins at the end of February and continues through the first two weeks of April. “At this point, we’re looking at a later harvest than usual,” he said. “We may go into the middle of April before the sap starts flowing.” When asked how New York State maple syrup stacks up against Vermont’s, Hill was quick to defend the Empire State’s reputation. “We produce just as much, but we market ours in a more unique way,” stated Hill. “At least 80 percent of Vermont’s maple sugar producers belong to a co-op whereas we retail it out individually.” Back to The Farmer’s Museum. Through hands-on demonstrations, the museum presents the time-honored traditions of the sugaring process. Visitors are able to learn about the origins of maple syrup and sugar production in the region as well as observe Native American and mid-19th century techniques. Throughout the first Sugaring Day, March 4 – to be repeated March 11, 18 and 25 – children’s activities took place Filer’s Corners Schoolhouse along with demonstrations on maple cream and candy making in the Main Barn, provided by the Otsego County Maple Producers. The Blacksmith’s Shop and The Empire State Carousel will also be open. Although the sap’s a bit stagnant right now, once things thaw out and begin to flow, a single maple tree can, potentially, fill three buckets in a single day. “Syrup happens at 7 degrees above boiling,” said Wayne Coursen, a farmer on the museum staff. “Never tap a tree that’s smaller than the diameter of your bucket, and tap a tree with more than three spiles. You look in last year’s hole. If it has started to fill in, leave that tree alone.” According to the Jones Rule of 86 as explained by Coursen, maple sugar producers take the sugar content of the sap and divide that into 86. What you get is 43, and that means it takes 43 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Coursen recommends tapping trees at least 18 inches above or below, or six inches to the left or right the last hole used. “An ideal day, warm days and cold nights, will fill a bucket,” said Coursen. “Any hard wood tree can be tapped for sap – Oak, Birch, Cherry – but Maple trees have a higher sugar content, they bud later, and the sap runs longer.” The Farmers’ Museum, in collaboration with the Otsego County Maple producers, will be offering a complimentary tour of local sugar houses from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Sunday, March 18, following breakfast. The guided tours feature demonstrations on contemporary sugaring techniques and delicious tastings. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Registration will be available at the admissions kiosk during Sugaring Off on the day of the tour.  By NICK COCCOMA COOPERSTOWN It was mini-mart vs. mini-mart at the village Zoning Board meeting the other night. An executive of Stewart’s Shops detailed plans to move its gas pumps at the Chestnut Street store 7 1/2 feet closer to the street, and is seeking a variance to put up a canopy over them 4-feet closer to the street than the setback allows. But the president of Taylor’s Mini Marts, which operates a convenience store and car wash next door, said Stewart’s plan will degrade the neighborhood. In the end, after a lengthy – and at times tense – public hearing on Tuesday, March 6, the board decided to delay making a decision on the request for one month so as to study the effect of the project on street traffic more closely and take it up again at its next meeting – which promises to be equally charged, if not more so. At the public hearing, Brandon Myers, representing Stewart’s, told the village Zoning Board the proposals are part of a comprehensive construction plan for the convenience store, one that it has needed for years. As part of the plan, the technology will be upgraded so credit-card purchases may be made at the pumps, additional drainage will be installed, sidewalks added to help pedestrians get to the shop, and lighting enhanced, he said. Myers said the plan was prompted by drainage problems and concerns about customer safety. Because of the location of the gas pumps, the parking lot is cramped, leading to numerous fender-benders, he said, and Police Chief Diana Nicols confirmed that, saying that police have responded to 17 such incidents there and many are probably unreported. The proposal ran into opposition, however, from Chris Taylor, president of Taylor’s Mini Marts, who said village government has historically opposed such canopies for aesthetic reasons. He said the canopy would change the character of the neighborhood in a negative way and would be an eyesore for visitors entering the Village from the south along Route 28, which feeds into Chestnut. The canopy would create excess light pollution, and would pave the way for similar canopies at other businesses in the neighborhood. Moreover, he said moving the pumps closer to the street would cause cars to back up into Chestnut. Zoning board member Rick Jaegels initially agreed with Taylor on the aesthetics. He wondered aloud if such a structure is necessary, as its only purpose would be to keep rain off of a small number of patrons using the pumps at any given time. Myers responded that the village Planning Board has already approved the design. The neighborhood is already a mixed-commercial area, so its character would not change. The canopy’s lighting would not be unalterable; lower wattage lights could be installed if the initial amount is too much, but he said the lot is terribly under-lit as it is. On safety, he illustrated on survey maps that the newly positioned gas island would be over 16 feet from the curb, providing adequate room to prevent a traffic hazard in the street. Rarely, if ever, does traffic back up into Chestnut now. Finally, Myers went through the Zoning Law point-by-point, demonstrating how the project meets every provision. Board members debated about the various issues involved, but ultimately stated that, seeing as the Planning Board already approved the design, the only item under consideration is the variance for the canopy. Some members raised the possibility of allowing the plans to go forward incrementally, saving the canopy for later, or perhaps eliminating the canopy altogether. In response, Myers said he and his planners have conceived the project as one single endeavor to be undertaken in its entirety at once. And without the variance for the canopy, he asserted, Stewart’s will, in all likelihood, not go through with any part of the plan. Taylor continued to raise the same objections, emphasizing the potential safety hazard. It’s painful to watch a tree come down, like the one crews toppled in front of Stonehouse Antiques on lower Pioneer Street a few weeks ago. Some three dozen trees were felled in the village that day. Woodsman, spare that tree. As much as we subscribe to that romantic notion, trees grow, age and die, like any other living thing. At least we can take some consolation that in our Village of Cooperstown, we’re staying ahead of that natural cycle to the degree we can. In all, 50-some trees were cut down in the village, not counting 15 youngish ones along Estli Avenue that, perhaps due to proximity to the roadway and exhaust, lasted only 10 years. The good news is that 17 new ones will be planted this spring, and another 27 this fall, part of an effort to keep the community leafy and tree-filled that began in 1929, 1930 and 1931, when the village and the Clark Foundation planted 3,000 trees; at the time, the village was largely tree-less. • Today, according to Giles Russell, chairman of the village Tree Committee, there are 5,000 trees planted along our 14 miles of roadway. And you don’t have to listen to Russell for long to conclude the future of trees aplenty around here is assured, as it should be: Cooperstown has been a “Tree City USA” for 23 years, longer that all but five of the 98 Tree Cities in the state. The Tree Committee used to raise $5,000 a year in private contributions to plant trees, but a couple of years ago that was replaced with a $5,000 village allocation; it was discovered the cost of the solicitation, including postage, could better be used to buy two or three more trees. Still, people can have memorial trees planted – plaques in the hall of the Village Library bear the names – and Giles’ committee accepts general donations as well. Some trees live to be 150 or 200 years old, for sure, but 75 is a respectable age, and those remaining from that massive planting of, well, 76 years ago, are reaching a natural end. Replanting is lagging slightly – only 45 or so of the 50-60 trees taken out in the past few months can be immediately replaced – for two reasons: One, you can’t replant a tree in exactly the same place as the one you removed for 4-5 years; even though the roots have been removed, living pieces remain in the ground and compete for water with the struggling young tree. Two, water and sewer lines weren’t in place during the mega-planting, so there’s less room on our roadsides for planting. And there are challenges to getting the right mix. Everybody loves sugar and red maples but, because of shedding, Norway and silver maples are avoided. A disease-resistant elm and shadblow are popular. “We’ve been planting ash,” Russell said, “but now there’s a green ash disease, so we’re staying away from it.” The committee is looking at a new form of flowering Bradford callery pear, and a new form of flowering crab that doesn’t have fruit, so it doesn’t mess up the sidewalks. • If the future of our Tree City USA is assured, all is not well. There was worry that last year’s gypsy moth infestation, which largely avoided the village, would come back with a vengeance, given the mild winter. The deep freeze that began in mid-January, however, eased some of those concerns. Another less-silent threat is at hand: Weed-wackers. All of a sudden, too many trees are dying young, Giles Russell said. He has personally been examining all trees that are toppling before their time, and has concluded weed-wackers are cutting into tender young trunks. The cuts heal, but they remain vulnerable points, and blights of various types slip in two or three years down the road. To protect little trees from neat-niks who can’t bear to see a blade of grass against a trunk, village crews will be putting an apron of woodchips around every new planting. Still, a threat it remains. 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