The Freemans Journal - Cooperstowns Newspaper Since 1808

Saturday, February 21, 2009

By LAURA COX

COOPERSTOWN

‘Bump. Set. Pass. Kill.“
You may have seen these words on pink signs posted on trees when driving to Cooperstown Central High School or up Glen Avenue in recent days, reflecting students’ excitement about their volleyball team’s success.
The Redskins beat LaFayette for the Section III Class C title in a game played at Jamesville-Dewitt on Tuesday, Feb. 24; the final score was 3-1 with individual game scores of 19-25, 25-11, 25-18 and 26-24.
Next step: The girls will play Sidney at 9 a.m. Saturday at Beekmantown High School, outside Plattsburgh, for the regional title.
But when they won the title, they made school history.
“We’ve had a very successful volleyball team, but this is the first time they have gone over the hump and won the section title,” said CCS Athletic Director Michael Cring, who explained the Redskins play in a very competitive league with many bigger schools who dominate in volleyball.
“I never doubted this team,” said Coach Rich Jantzi. “I think as a team they doubted, but we made a turning point around Jan. 26 when we had some players sick and played a different line-up. And we have stuck with that line-up since and it has worked for us.”
This year’s success is based on mutual trust and leadership, said Jantzi, adding, “They truly like each other.”
Jantzi, who has been coaching varsity for seven years, said he has known many of the girls since they were in elementary school.
The senior-heavy team has played a fair season, winning 15 of their 20 games, with senior Kim Armstrong, sophomore Sarah Dewey and senior Katie Horrigan playing a large part in leading the team.
Junior Sawyer Graham also played a large role in Tuesday’s win serving four aces to win the game.
“Those girls may be the stand outs,” said Jantzi, “but they don’t make the team, we really need all 15 girls to win.”
A pep rally is planned Friday, Feb. 27, to give the team a sendoff.
“The band will play our alma mater, the cheerleaders will be there and we are having a serving competition for each grade level. Then we will introduce the players and the coach and send them on. There’s a lot of energy around,” said Cring.

Labels: 02-27-09, Front Page, Sports

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Community Awaits Return From Iraq Of Fallen Soldier

Michael Maynes, Burlington Flats, Killed By Small-Arms Fire North Of Baghdad

By JIM KEVLIN and LAURA COX

BURLINGTON FLATS

Edmeston Central School was “devastated” in recent days by the news that Army Spec. Michael Mayne, ‘06, two fellow soldiers and an interpreter were killed by small-arms fire north of Baghdad.
“We all are devastated, that’s the truth,” Principal Martha Winsor said after receiving word of the Monday, Feb. 23, fatal foray. “He was a really responsible, honest, caring, fun-loving, you name it good-thing young man.”
The first fatality of the Iraq war from Otsego County, Mike – Eagle scout and football player – leaves behind a family in Burlington Flats: father Lee, mother Cathy and sister Sherry.
“He was a hard, hard worker and his positive character always was respected and people enjoyed having him around,” said Winsor.
His father works at the school, so “the family is very near and dear to us. We love them.”
Arrangements were pending with the Houk-Johnston-Terry Funeral Home.
Few details of what happened were available, but Sgt. First Class David Fallon, Army spokesman, said Tuesday it will take about 72 hours -- three days -- to “comprise” the situation, a reference to the standard investigation of any death under fire.
Fallon said he only knew that small-arms fire had been exchanged between Mayne’s platoon and unknown assailants.
The three soldiers who escaped alive will provide sworn statements to military authorities before a statement of what transpired is released, the sergeant said.
While the Iraqi insurgency is coming under control in Baghdad and other major cities, al Queda has treated to provinces like Nineveh and Diyala, a province that stretches from northeast of Baghdad to the Iranian border.
The day Mike Mayne was killed, his commanding officer, Col. Burt Thomson of the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, was quoted as saying he’s seeing progress.
“We have not destroyed Al Qaeda in Diyala,” he told the Christian Science Monitor. “We have forced Al Qaeda to reconsider [its] course of action.”
Until recently, US forces lacked adequate troop levels to hold the ground they captured, but additional forces have been deployed from urban areas in recent weeks.
Now, after U.S. forces clear an area, the Iraqi Army, police, or neighborhood watch groups known as Sons of Iraq set up checkpoints along the road to ensure that insurgents don’t return, the Monitor reported.
Mike Mayne is one of at least 4,250 U.S. soldiers who have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, the AP reports.
In high school, Mike attended the Milford BOCES, where a scholarship was established in his memory within hours of the news arriving.

Labels: 02-27-09, Front Page, Michael Mayne

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Cooperstown School Board Braces For 15% Reduction In State Funds

COOPERSTOWN

The Cooperstown Central school board may eliminate a “building level administrator” and leave teacher vacancies open to cope with a 15 percent reduction in state aid proposed by Governor Paterson.
The school board has also asked its teaching and non-teaching unions to reopen talks on contracts that are not due to expire before the end of 2010.
In a statement, the school board has invited the public with concerns about possible cuts to attend regular board meetings scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesdays March 4 and 18, or a budget session at 5:30 p.m. March 11.
Other steps under consideration include:
• Reductions to all building and department budgets.
• Reassignment of professional staff within certification areas to realize cost savings,
• Reductions in interscholastic athletics,
• Whether to continue to offer summer driver’s education, and
• Elimination of one bus route.
The 2009-2010 budget will be adopted at the board’s regular meeting Wednesday, April 1, and go to district voters on Tuesday, May 19.

Labels: 02-27-09, Front Page

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Meet The Candidates

The four candidates for Cooperstown village trustee have provided answers to a questionnaire prepared by The Freeman’s Journal, detailing their qualifications and plans if elected.
The transcripts appear below.
Don’t forget to vote: Because of St. Patrick’s Day, village elections were delayed a day, until Wednesday, March 18. The polls will be open from noon to 9 p.m. at the Cooperstown Fire Department, Chestnut Street.

CANDIDATES NIGHT, 7 P.M., THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 22 MAIN • VILLAGE ELECTIONS, NOON-9 P.M., WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18, AT FIRE HALL

Richard D. Abbate
Democratic Party

PLACE OF BIRTH: Staten Island
FAMILY: Married to Rosemarie Abbate, administrative assistant, Bassett Hospital; two sons, Dominick and Richard at Cooperstown Elementary.
EDUCATION: Majored in political science, Staten Island Community College
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Willowbrook Developmental Center officer, 1978; retired in 2002 after 22 years as supervisor, investigative unit, Environmental Protection Agency, in charge of Manhattan and Bronx. Supervisor, recovery, World Trade Center; six months on the scene. 1998 to 2002/ Manager, Staten Island University Hospital Safety and Transportation Department, 1998-2002, managing all hiring and budgetary at three facilities. Former business owner.
WHY WERE YOU MOTIVATED TO RUN FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE?
While driving through our village, I see our roads and infrastructure deteriorating, stores closing, and funded projects are still on the table. We must take action to stem any additional deterioration in our quality of life. I want to provide my ideas and areas of expertise to that end. Most of all my biggest motivation is my children. We love this village and should never take it for granted and must always give back to our communities. This election is about our children and the future of our village. I believe the trustee position is one of neighbor looking out for neighbor.
PLEASE GIVE YOUR VIEWS ON THE VILLAGE’S FINANCIAL SITUATION, AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS
I believe we need to find innovative ways to bring revenue into our village. As an example, I believe we need to modify our loading zone on Main Street. Let’s open it up by 11:30 a.m., so residents can park and businesses can thrive. Instead of a ticket agent, let’s have a hospitality agent welcoming tourists to our community, showing them where to park, giving out change, giving them directions to the Hall of Fame, where to eat and shop etc. Being a former business owner, I knew if a customer left unhappy not only would they not return but would also let family and friends know what an unpleasant experience they had. Business and tourism must be evaluated for our economy to grow. It is essential we incorporate long-term planning into our solutions so our children do not find themselves with the infrastructure problems we face today.
WHICH VILLAGE BOARD COMMITTEES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SERVE ON AND WHY?
Finance Committee, to help find revenue to repair our roads, water and sewer lines and also prepare for long-term planning. Environmental Committees – water, sewer, lake, concerns about zebra mussels, maintain the quality of our lake not only as our water source, but also as one of the natural wonders that bring visitors to our community. I believe my years in the EPA would make me perfect for these committees.
PLEASE DETAIL ANY PARTICULAR ISSUES/CHALLENGES YOU FEEL ARE IMPORTANT BUT ARE NOT REFLECTED ABOVE
South End project requires immediate attention; we need to find funding. Linden Avenue project is funded and we need to begin this project immediately. Businesses are closing on Main Street and, while we are in difficult economic times right now, we must prepare for our future recovery. Working with and getting ideas from business owners, residents, landlords and even tourists to try to come up with solutions so that Main Street can thrive again. A thriving business community is essential to the village’s viability.

Joseph D. Booan Jr.
Republican Party • It Takes A Village Party

Place of Birth: Springfield, Mass.
Family: My family has deep roots in this community. My great-grandparents immigrated and settled in this area. I am the third generation to have graduated from Cooperstown Central School. My wife Lisa and I have been married for 16 years and have two beautiful children. My daughter, Katie is an eighth grader and my son Carmen is a fifth grader.
Education: Bachelor of Science, Psychology, Springfield College. Master of Science: Educational Psychology, SUNY Albany; C.A.S, School Psychology, SUNY Albany; state certified school psychologist; master’s in educational leadership, Lynchburg College; school district administrator certificate
Career Highlights: At college, worked as an after-school instructor at ChildCare of Springfield (St. Catherine’s Catholic Church) in inner city. I developed a strong interest in clinical psychology and education and chose to become a school psychologist following my training at SUNY Albany. I worked with families at the Child Research Center in Albany as part of my professional training. After graduate school, I began my career in a non-traditional setting, working for United Cerebral Palsy Association of the Tri Counties in Queensbury. Here, I worked directly with families and children who had mild to severe developmental disabilities. I moved to Clarksville, Va., a rural southside community where I was employed by the Mecklenburg County School system, conducting all pre-school evaluations. I gained experience networking with county and state agencies. While at Mecklenburg, I became a seasonal employee with the Army Corps of Engineers and trained as a federal park ranger. I met my wife, Lisa, in Mecklenburg County and, shortly after we were married, moved to Amherst, Va..
As we began our family, my wife and I chose to return to Cooperstown to raise our children. This community has always been special and unique. I was recruited by ONC BOCES as a special education supervisor; after two years became Otsego Area Occupational Center principal. I am also very active in advisory meetings that shape our BOCES. I co-develop and implement a $4.98 million budget, develop and supervise curriculum for 11 programs, manage a facility and oversee several departments.
WHY WERE YOU MOTIVATED TO RUN FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE?
When I moved back to Cooperstown in 1999, our neighborhood re-vitalized the Irish Hill Residents Association to advocate for the infrastructure on Rock, Hill, Beech, upper Grove, upper Main and Averill streets. We held many meetings to discuss our concerns regarding the quality of the streets, the condition of sidewalks, the absence of sidewalks, water supply, drainage, and the overall safety of what is known as Irish Hill. At the same time, I purchased my grandparent’s home and began renovations to the structure. I spent many hours consulting with the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, zoning officer, Mayor Waller and the village trustees not only about my property, but also the condition of the Irish Hill neighborhood.
During this time, I became very interested in our local government. Cooperstown has gone through tremendous change over the past 30 years. I began to consider what strengths I could bring to the Board of Trustees.
I want to be a trustee because I want to be a part of the process that makes good decisions about our village. I have experience in planning, budgeting, and have served on advisory committees. As a trustee, I want to help develop a vision and strategic plan for Cooperstown. Ultimately, I want to make data-driven, researched-base decisions that involve our community residents and safeguard our unique community.
PLEASE GIVE YOUR VIEWS ON THE VILLAGE’S FINANCIAL SITUATION, AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS
All decisions that face the Trustees are important. It is critical that our village develop a vision and strategic plan to help guide us in making decisions about our community. ALL decisions about generating revenue and appropriating money should be data driven. It is important to carefully examine every potential agreement and/or revenue source that we are considering and match it to our vision and strategic plan. It is important that we plan, analyze data and spend money wisely, particularly in tough economic times. My experience in budgeting, working with state agencies, and providing cost effective services would be an asset to the trustee board.
It is my belief that we should take a moderate to conservative approach in estimating revenue resources. We need to continue to look at ways to develop revenue streams that fit our vision for Cooperstown and balance the needs of residents, business owners, and families.
WHICH VILLAGE BOARD COMMITTEES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SERVE ON AND WHY?
I will gladly serve on any committee and dedicate myself to any and all issues before the committee. I will work cooperatively with my fellow trustees, respect their perspective, gather and listen to input from residents, and be a strong advocate for our village.
I have experience administrating over several secondary educational career and technical fields. For example, I oversee curriculum related to the building trades, agriculture, and heavy equipment. I manage a facility that requires knowledge of maintenance, capital projects, and facility systems. I co-develop a $4.98 million budget specific to personnel, supplies, equipment, and facilities. Because of this, I believe that I have insight into and could make a strong positive contribution to Planning, Finance and Personnel, Streets and Buildings, Water and Police committees.

Willis J. Monie Jr.
Republican Party • Village First Party

PLACE OF BIRTH: Dover, N.H.
FAMILY: Wife, Dina Sams; three children, Tyler Sams (senior at William & Mary); Chelsea Sams (sophomore in five-year Physician’s Assistant program); Anna Sams (sophomore at Cooperstown High School). Parents, Willis and Barbara Monie, local residents for more than 30 years. Sister, Daphne Monie, teacher at Cooperstown Central School.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Cooperstown Central High School in 1986. Bachelor’s of Science in mathematics of operations research from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 1990.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Managed several retail stores, accounting for sales, expenses, payroll and budgets as well as all other aspects of running a business. Now I am part owner of Willis Monie Books located on Main Street.
BACKGROUND IN PUBLIC SERVICE/ELECTIVE OFFICE:
My wife, children and I have been very active locally, volunteering for school organizations like the PTO and Friends of Music and Art (FOMA). I personally have volunteered my time coaching softball for seven seasons at various levels, starting with the first year the Little League offered softball through the Modified, JV and Varsity levels at the school. My daughter is a member of the Leo Club, a local service organization, and she has also helped with other projects such as the Soup Kitchen.
WHY WERE YOU MOTIVATED TO RUN FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE?
I am very proud of our village and the people that live here. I want to be involved and give something back to the community. I think the returning trustees are very talented and hard-working, and feel that we would work well together to bring even more to this wonderful village.
PLEASE GIVE YOUR VIEWS ON THE VILLAGE’S FINANCIAL SITUATION, AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS.
The village is trying to balance being a small village with the fact that we are a large tourist community. This means that we have a great strain on our resources, while trying to continue providing for the people that live here. This has put a strain on the budget as there are now some major projects that need to be done, such as the Irish Hill project and the village’s sewage system. My goal is to find ways to cut expenses and to raise revenue without cutting services to the villagers and without raising property taxes. Lowering cost may include trying to pinpoint services that may replicate each other.
I would like to see the village explore opportunities to raise money without raising the taxes. Of the solutions to raise money that have been proposed, paid parking seems to be one of the main topics. The parking alone doesn’t raise the kind of money that is needed for this village.
I would like to see other options explored, including grants. There are several grants available for villages either from the federal government or the state government, and I feel we need to make sure we are ready to vie for these grants when they become available. We need to have a plan in place to fight for this money that is being offered. Grants sometimes come with stipulations, so they do have to be studied carefully to make sure the long term effects of the grants are good for the village. While grants come in several sizes, this type of financial input into the community will alleviate our burden much greater than the parking did.
WHICH VILLAGE BOARD COMMITTEES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SERVE ON AND WHY?
I like seeing so many committees in the village, since the committees are the people that do a lot of research and present the information. Although all the committees are important, I have four that I have picked I would like to serve on:
• streets and Buildings Committee: This committee explores many of the options of where money needs to go to fix our streets and buildings. I would like to be able to help look into this and do the research as to the best options for the use of the money allocated here.
Finance & Personnel: This is one of the main areas in the village, and I would like to be able to work in this area. I feel our village staff is very capable, and would like to continue to help make this area a strong point in the village. I have always dealt with a staff and expenses and budgets in my work history, and feel I can be a tremendous asset here.
• Parks Board: One thing I have always loved about this village is how beautiful it looks, and the parks have a lot to do with that. I would like to help the parks continue to be a pleasant area for our villagers to enjoy and to look into new ways to enhance the look of the village and the parks.
• Doubleday Field: As one of the only assets the village has, I would like to be on this committee to make sure we are maximizing income while still allowing our local children to be able to use the field. When I went to High School here, it was a thrill to play baseball on the Doubleday field and I feel our children still deserve to have the opportunity to use the field.

Milo V. Stewart Jr.
Democratic Party

PLACE OF BIRTH: Cooperstown
FAMILY: Wife Jennifer, sons Henry, 12, and John, 9
EDUCATION: Cooperstown Central School Class of 1985, Berklee College of Music, Boston, Institute of Audio Research, New York City
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS: Employed at the National Baseball Hall of Fame since 1992 as staff photographer.
BACKGROUND IN PUBLIC SERVICE/ELECTIVE OFFICE:
Member of Zoning Board of Appeals. Two-term Village of Cooperstown Trustee, having served on following committees Streets and Buildings, Trolley, Planning, Tree, Finance and Personnel, Reserve Fund Advisory and Pedestrian Safety. Current chairperson, Water Board and Library Board.
WHY WERE YOU MOTIVATED TO RUN FOR VILLAGE TRUSTEE:
The Village of Cooperstown is our community... an important word... community. It implies some things that I hold near and dear. Namely, that we’re all in this together. Each of us in this village is a stakeholder in a trust. It has been passed down to us by the generations that went before, and we will pass it on in turn to our children. Our leaders should, therefore, be working for the common good. Our leaders should be working to ensure that our past is honored, our present vibrant and our future protected. Our leaders should be working for all of us. That’s what I’ve done in my six years as a trustee, and that’s what I will continue to do if re-elected.
PLEASE GIVE YOUR VIEWS ON THE VILLAGE’S FINANCIAL SITUATION, AND PROPOSE SOLUTIONS:
It’s impossible to ignore the fact that we are in the midst of an economic crisis, globally, nationally, locally and individually. It is important the village to look for ways to tighten its financial belt. We need to scrutinize the budget, and pick through it with a fine-toothed comb. It is my firm belief that we need to be focused on how best to save village dollars right now, not how best to spend them. Each of us is doing this around the kitchen table in our own homes, and village leaders should be doing it around the board table, too. In this way, we’ll be best positioned to not only survive these challenging times, but to give our collective future the best possible chance to prosper.
WHICH VILLAGE BOARD COMMITTEES WOULD YOU LIKE TO SERVE ON AND WHY?
I enjoy every committee on which I presently serve, as well as those I have served on in the past. All committees are crucial to the proper functioning of Village government. Each is a spoke in the wheel, and each has an important role to play in ensuring that we keep the Village vibrant for the good of all our residents and our future citizens.
PLEASE DETAIL ANY PARTICULAR ISSUES/CHALLENGES YOU FEEL ARE IMPORTANT BUT ARE NOT REFLECTED ABOVE:
The Village of Cooperstown’s relationship with Otsego County government has gotten stronger over the past year, but could benefit from more cooperative planning and communication. The same is true of the village’s work with the Cooperstown Central School District, the Town of Otsego, and other neighboring municipalities. We really are all in this together, and if we’re looking out for the common good, we can’t focus solely on our tiny slice of the pie here in the village. We need to work and communicate with our colleagues at all levels and in all locales to ensure that we’re making smart, thoughtful decisions and that we’ve really examined all the ways these things will impact all of us – both now and in the future.

Labels: 02-27-09, Elections, Front Page, Opinion

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Douglas C. Clinton, 81; Preservation Craftsman

SPRINGFIELD – Douglas C. Clinton, a craftsman who worked on Blair House, Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and other historic presidential homes, died unexpectedly Sunday evening, Feb. 22, 2009. He was 81.
Doug was born Feb. 10, 1928, at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown, a son of Kennington L. and Bessie (Curry) Clinton.
A graduate of Cooperstown High School, Class of 1947, Doug was first employed as a tool and die maker with Union Drop Forge, as well as with Scintilla and Pratt & Whitney.
During these years, Doug realized he preferred wood to metal, and entered the field of historic preservation and restoration. Ironically, his least favorite subject during his school years was history.
He worked part-time for an Albany architectural firm for 17 years and New York State for six years. He then started his own business, Douglas Clinton Restoration Contractor.
Over the years, Doug worked on many historic buildings throughout nine states and the District of Columbia.
In addition to Monticello, he completed projects at Ashlawn, the home of James Monroe; Lindenwald, the home of Martin Van Buren in Kinderhook, and the Ulysses S. Grant Cottage in Mount McGregor, north of Saratoga, where Grant died.
He was also deeply involved with the restoration and preservation of Fort Herkimer and Drayton Hall Plantation outside of Charleston, S.C. In 1982-84, he worked on Blair House, the president’s official state guest house across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House. It was here that he met many interesting and noteworthy individuals, and he truly enjoyed being involved with this particular project.
Doug also brought his talents to Hyde Hall, where he and his crew worked for many years from April through November to reverse the decay from years of neglect and abandonment. It is largely due to his initial efforts that this grand 18th century English country home continues to survey Otsego Lake with austere majesty.
For all of his efforts, Doug was the first individual in New York State to receive an award from the Preservation League of New York State.
Survivors include his wife of 29 years, Ann, of Springfield; three sons, Keith Clinton of North Carolina, Wayne Clinton and his wife, Audrey, of Fly Creek, and Dale Clinton and his wife, Mary, of Fly Creek; one daughter, Peggy Wilson and her husband, Douglas, of Toddsville; four grandchildren, Bentley and Ashley Clinton, Sean Clinton, and Taryn Wilson; one brother, Donald L. Clinton of Arizona; two sisters-in-law, Dorothy M. Clinton of Hartwick and Joyce Clinton of Florida; one stepson, Stanley Cade and his wife, Katrina, of Roseboom, and one stepdaughter, Sherry Brennan and her husband, Chip, of Bethesda, Md.
He was predeceased by two brothers, Robert A. Clinton in 1984, and William D. Clinton in 1999; one sister-in-law, Connie Clinton; and one stepson, Michael Cade, in 1987.
Calling hours are 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28, at Connell Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home. Burial will be at a later date in the Fly Creek Valley Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Susquehanna SPCA, 4841 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326.

Labels: 02-27-09, Obituaries

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Cooperstown and Around

Friday, February 20, 2009

Army Spec. Michael Mayne, a 2006 graduate of Edmeston Central School, was killed by small-arms fire Monday, Feb. 23, north of Baghdad. He is the first Otsego County soldier to die in the Iraq war.

INPUT SOUGHT: The village trustees are hosting a “town hall meeting” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 3, in the Otsego County Courthouse to solicit public input on the zebra-mussel challenge and a proposed Minor League franchise for Doubleday Field.

CV CANDIDATES: Debbie Friedman, candidate for Village of Cherry Valley mayor, and trustee candidate Frank Russo have scheduled a Meet the Candidates Night 6-8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, at 21 Lancaster St.

CRAFTSMAN DIES: Douglas Clinton of Springfield, a craftsman who worked on historic-preservation projects at Blair House, Monticello and other sites of national standing, has died at age 81.

VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT: Otsego County’s volunteer fire departments and emergency squads are planning a Countywide Recruitment Day 1-3 p.m. Sunday, March 15, when members will be available in all facilities to brief potential recruits, Butch Jones, county emergency services coordinator, has announced.

ZANINESS NEARS: Rehearsals are under way for this year’s zany performance of the Fly Creek Philharmonic, “It’s About Time,” scheduled for 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday, March 27-28, at the Fly Creek Methodist Church.

PRESCHOOL MOVE: A public hearing on plans to move Cooperstown Preschool from Fair and Lake to 26 Walnut St. is planned at 8 p.m., Monday, March 16, in the village trustees’ meeting room at 22 Main.

FINE FOOD: The 10th annual Epicurean Festival, to benefit Catskill Area Hospital & Palliative Care, is planned 3-7 p.m. Sunday, March 22, at The Otesaga. You can sample offerings of 31 restaurants. For reservations, call Kelly at 432-6773

Labels: 02-27-09, Cooperstown and Around, Front Page

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Record 348 Dive At Goodyear Lake During 14th Jump

By JIM KEVLIN

Who could have imagined?
Eleven friends jumped into Goodyear Lake in February 1996, raising nothing in what would become – they didn’t know it at the time – the first annual Polar Bear Jump.
Saturday, Feb. 21, a record 348 dare-devils took the plunge in the 14th annual such event, raising $55,000 and pushing the tally to date over a quarter of a million dollars.
That’s 25 percent more participants than the 280 from 2008.
Last year’s event raised $60,000 – a record – but co-founder and co-organizer (along with wife Brenda) Jamie Waters, said money continued to come in and he anticipated that record would be matched or surpassed.
And that happened even in the down economy.
“The shows the goodness of this community,” said Waters, noting that Sidney participation continued strong despite layoffs at Amphenol.
Jumpers get friends, family members and businesses to sponsor their plunges and the money is donated to needy causes, focusing in particular on families with ailing children.
The top three money raisers this year – in addition to Waters, who always tops the list – were Ed Gwilt, Cooperstown, Doris Sherman, Gilford, and Danny O’Brien of New York City and Portlandville.
This year’s recipients included Kylie Elizabeth Mattice of Oneonta, who weighed 1.5 pounds when she was born in September; Brandyn Nichols, 9, of Otego, who is suffering from chiari malformation and a tethered spinal cord, and Kristi Incze, 17, of Morris, suffering from hydrocephalus.
Each of them received $9,000 at the after-party that was so big this year it was moved to the Oneonta Elks Club from the Tally-Ho in West Davenport, although the Tally-Ho catered the buffet.
The Portlandville Methodist Church received funds, which it will share with Tracy Cous of Milford, who is suffering from multiple sclerosis. Some of those funds will also help establish a Lyme Disease Awareness Group.
Another $9,000 was donated to the Catskill Area Hospice & Palliative Care, and $1,000 to the Milford Fire Department.
Other innovations this year included Iceography, the ice carving concern from Oneonta, which created sculptures at the scene of the jump. Also, the Roundhouse Rockers and country singer Mike Herman performed into the evening at the after-party.

Labels: 02-27-09, Front Page, Polar Bear Jump

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Presenting Rene Prinz, Origina

By JIM KEVLIN

You might be interested in knowing that the precursor of the modern oboe was developed in the Middle East and brought to Europe by returning Crusaders.
That’s the kind of information you’ll come away with if you spend much time with Rene Prins.
For Prins, a young 62, has spent a life immersed in music – since 1975, in Oneonta’s vigorous music scene.
He’s a SUNY Oneonta instructor and then professor, oboeist in the Catskill and Utica symphony orchestras, president of Local 443, American Federation of Musicians, director of the Oneonta Community Band ... this list could continue a while.
“A young 62” is used advisedly, as Prins comes across as both the youthful whirlwind – his SUNY office and the one at home are a swirl of papers, posters, everything musical – and, paradoxically, the calm eye of the storm.
His eyes twinkle as he talks, and he talks with urgency. But when he picks up the baton, he focuses on the music in front of him with quiet intensity.
The energy shifts to his musicians. Then, the music stops. He turns to the audience, smiling brightly, the whirlwind again.
Music is a mixture of mathematical precision and artistic expression, but Prins tilts unabashedly toward the latter.
“Mistakes don’t make any difference at all as far as I’m concerned,” he said emphatically near the end of a recent 90-minute interview on his life and art.
The occasional “scraped” note is fine, as long as the musician is pushing to the next level.
“Music can’t really come to life unless you enjoy it,” he declared. “If you’re afraid, you aren’t going to go for it; there’s always a safer way to do something.”
Rene Prins has been fearlessly enjoying music for a long time.
His father, John – from Rotterdam, he was a cabin boy for “two and a half trips” on the Holland America line before he jumped ship in New York in the 1920s – had a device to make wax records at home.
He made a recording of young Rene, age 2, singing “Frere Jacques,” which the son still has at his West Davenport home.
John had jumped ship with a clarinet and although he trained as a printer, he played with various ethnic bands, eventually settling into a Swiss one, Edelwieiss Laendler Kapelle. (It used a string base instead of the tuba of its German counterpart.)
“At 5 I was playing kazoo,” said Rene, who as a boy growing up in Dumont, N.J., would accompany his dad on gigs. At 6, “a bartender handed me a quarter. That was the start of my professional career.”
By the time he was in sixth grade, he was first clarinetist in the Grant Elementary School Band, when the phone rang one evening.
His father turned from the receiver; it was Mr. Portner, the band director. “Do you want to play the oboe?” his dad asked.
“My fateful answer was, ‘What’s an oboe?’”
“I had a talent for it,” the son allowed, and he moved on to master the oboe’s double reed.
By his teens, the son was playing along in Edelwieiss Laendler Kapelle with his father. He doesn’t remember making the decision to go onto Julliard – he took a five-year bachelor’s program, then a one-year master’s – it just seemed natural.
During college, he spent a summer in a music program at Delta College in Saginaw, Mich., and made a fateful acquaintance with Janet Nepke.
Teaching at SUNY Albany after graduating in 1970, he renewed the acquaintance with Nepke, who by then was teaching at SUNY Oneonta. Soon he was often in the City of the Hills, teaching students at SUNY and Hartwick College.
“I found this to be a very interesting place, artistically,” he said, and was soon friendly with Carlton Clay, Charles Schneider and others.
Katie Boardman got him up to The Farmers’ Museum and soon he was researching 19th century instruments for what eventually became the museum’s Professor Hillman’s Band.
“It opened up your ears to different possibilities,” he said.
Soon, he was playing oboe in the new Glimmerglass Opera’s orchestra and with the Catskill Choral Society. And with Margaret Cawley, since moved to New Hampshire, who was experimenting with Renaissance instruments, common now but “very unusual in the 1970s.”
Into the 1980s, Prins was on five-month renewable contracts as SUNY went through the post-Rockefeller years of austerity, but then, in 1982, he was granted tenure and “that made a big difference. When that happened, I really felt stability.
“I can really build on things,” he said to himself.
By then, he had stopped going away in the summers. “I wanted to be part of the community,” he remembers. And he continued to be, getting more fully involved in the community band, in a German band that recalled the Kapelle.
Meanwhile, SUNY Oneonta’s music department was growing from a handful of professors to today’s 28, as the curriculum evolved from teaching and performance into a music-industry department.
Along the way, he became friendly with Marilyn Roper, a flautist whose father was Hartwick College bursar and grandfather had been one of the founder’s of the Oneonta campus. The two have been companions for 20 years now.
Talk to anyone who knows Rene Prins, and it doesn’t take long before the antique-instrument collection in his garage is mentioned.
Sure enough, there’s a rotary valve tuba – today’s are piston valve – manufactured, as the ornate engraved letters on the horn have it, “M. Wolf” of Frauenfeld, Switzerland. And a similar alto horn.
Rene’s father died in the mid-’90s, the last remaining member of Edelweiss Laendler Kapelle, and the instruments evolved to his son.
Not just the instruments, but hundreds of scores – 350, Prins estimates – of 19th century music arranged for the Swiss band.
“It’s invaluable,” the owner said. “It doesn’t exist anywhere else.”
Not a bad conclusion about Rene Prins himself.

Labels: 02-27-09, Glimmerglass

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‘Old England’ Inspired First County Name

OLD TIME OTSEGO

HUGH MacDOUGALL

Otsego County was formally created in 1791 from a chunk out of what was then Montgomery County. But the Town of Otsego is much older than the county, and originally covered all the western part of Otsego County from Lake Otsego to the Unadilla River. Only when Otsego County was created in 1791, did the town’s division into what eventually became 16 towns begin.
Before the Revolution, the counties of British New York were divided into “districts.” On April 8, 1775, in its last act before the Revolution closed it down, the Colonial Assembly in New York City created the “Old England District” that later became the town. Its choice of name presumably sought to distinguish it from the largely German-speaking District (today the Town) of German Flatts to its north.
The law provided that the “freeholders and inhabitants” should meet in May 1775, “at Smiths Hall within the said District” to elect a district supervisor and other officials. And it specifically named five district highway commissioners: John Johnson, John Hicks, Increase Thurston, Samuel Gardner and Ralf Falkner Sr.
Smith Hall was built in 1773, in today’s Town of Laurens, by Richard Smith (1735-1803) of Burlington, N.J. Smith, a Quaker and strict teetotaler, led a team of surveyors through the area in 1769, and returned here to build his home and live on what was then called the Otego Patent.
His journal of this trip was first published by Otsego County historian Francis Halsey in 1906 as “A Tour of Four Great Rivers in 1769.” (It has since been reprinted, and placed online by Google Books). It remains one of the most important sources of information for life in Otsego Country before the Revolution.
In a later journal entry, Richard Smith wrote of Smith Hall: “The cellar is about six feet high, of the same dimensions as the house, that is thirty by twenty. Saturday, July 17th [1773] we raised the house before dinner...no rum or other liquor than good water.
“The house is a frame one, two stories high, each of eight feet, besides the garret and cellar.... It is to have two large windows of 24 lights each in the first front story, and three above, and the like in the rear...a front and back door; one chimney and three fire-places in the North east end, and room left for others at the opposite end....
“It is the only house, properly speaking, as yet upon the Otego Patent, the rest being only small log huts.”
During the Revolution, all the district’s inhabitants, including Richard Smith, had to flee as Loyalists and Iroquois Indians raided its tiny settlements. But Smith returned to live at Smith Hall from 1790 to 1799. His home survived him by more than a century, until it burned down in 1921.
In 1788, the “Old England District” was re-named the “Town of Otsego,” still covering everything between Otsego Lake and the Unadilla River.
Otsego owes more to Richard Smith, however, than his diary and Smith Hall. Smith was a friend of another resident of Burlington, N.J. – William Cooper – who would buy up much of the area in 1786 and found Cooperstown. Cooper even brought Richard Smith’s son – Richard, Jr. – to run a store in Cooperstown, and later named him the first sheriff of Otsego County.
Richard Jr., who died in 1811, appears as “Richard Jones” in James Fenimore Cooper’s 1823 novel “The Pioneers,” set in the Cooperstown of the 1790s.

Hugh MacDougall, Cooperstown village historian and a retired diplomat, received an honorary doctorate from SUNY Oneonta in 2008.

Labels: 02-27-09, Columns, Glimmerglass, Hugh MacDougall, Old Time Otsego

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BOB LETTIS’ TALES OF COOPERSTOWN: TRIXIE

...He Took Off Like A Shot Out Of A Gun

By BOB LETTIS

My father was in the automobile business, and one day he came home to tell my brother and I that someone had traded a pony in as down payment on a new Ford car. The good part was that the pony was to be ours.
I later discovered that we were to share the pony with our cousins, Joan and Jean, who at that time were very young (one and two). My brother and I talked about all the things fathers talk to their children about when they are about to receive the responsibility of an exotic pet. Would we be willing to take care of him? Feed and clean him daily? Muck out his stall every week?
You see, my dad’s father had run a livery stable, before he got into the car business, and my dad had been responsible for taking care of the horses for him. He had to get up early, before school, and work at the livery stable. We all decided that one of the garage stalls in our three car garage located behind the house would be converted into a box stall for our pony.
You can imagine how excited my brother and I were to have a real pony of our own. Parenthetically, my brother soon lost interest and the pony by default became mine. When the pony arrived, the stall was not ready.
For a few days he remained tied up in one of the other garage bays while the construction of his new home was under way. Finally, Trixie was led into a brand new box stall that was to be his home for a couple of years.
Trixie was his name. He was not a young pony and he had been named several years before. It sounded like a perfectly good name, so we did not try to change it. We were told that he was named that because he could do tricks. Well, he could do one trick, which was to paw the ground with his front hoof whenever he was asked if he wanted a lump of sugar.
Now, that’s not a lot of tricks yet I must admit, that it didn’t make any difference to me, for he was the best pony a boy could ever want. He was a beautiful black and white, mid-size pony. He was just the right size for a kid to ride, and big enough to pull a cart and small bobsled. He was very gentle around all the kids that came to visit as soon as they heard I had a pony (It’s strange how popular one becomes when a pony comes to stay at their house). If you were to fall off while riding him, his gentle nature showed in that he would not move or try to run away, but stand patiently until you got back on. He did have one fault. He did have a tendency to nip you with his teeth when you were not looking. Gordie Miller, a friend who lived up the street, was climbing out of the box stall one day when Trixie nipped him right on the left calf. I bet you thought I was going to say butt. Well, to be honest, it was the butt.
There was another time when his gentleness left him. It’s an interesting tale, one worth telling. Trixie was pulling his bobsled which went over a very large bump. The bells on the traces jingled very loudly and spooked him such that he took off like a shot out of a gun, running for his dear life. Unfortunately, when this all happened, the bobsled was still behind him, and in the sled was my Aunt Mary.
It’s hard to say why she took him out in the first place because, to my knowledge, she did not have a lot of experience driving a horse. She had never driven Trixie. Nevertheless, it was very convenient for her to do this because at the time we were keeping him in their barn on Walnut Street. After losing our home, this was the best place to house Trixie.
Anyhow, for some unknown reason my Aunt Mary decided to hook Trixie up to our bobsled and take a ride about the village. To describe the way that she went with Trixie , it was something like this: she turned left out of her driveway onto Walnut Street and at the top of the rise and crossing the railroad tracks, turned right onto Chestnut Street. She then drove the pony and bobsled as far as Beaver Street and turned right.
At that point, the bobsled must have gone over a very large piece of ice or a bump in the road, because the bells, which were on the front of the sleigh as well as the traces, jingled very loudly. He took off.
Once this happened, it was impossible to stop him with the reins and there were no breaks on a bobsled, so he was now a runaway horse. Aunt Mary must have been frantic at this point. There was nothing she could do but hold on. Unfortunately, holding on also meant holding on to the reins very tightly. I’m certain she was unsure as to what to do in order to stop the wild beast.
In front of Bill Clark’s house, across the street from where Donnie Reed lived, someone had parked a pickup truck. Now, whether Aunt Mary intentionally headed for the back of that pickup or whether, by chance, Trixie’s trajectory was a little off, the front, right-hand corner of the sleigh hit the rear of that pickup at about ten miles an hour.
The conclusion of this episode was that Trixie, the front bobs (runners) from the sled and Aunt Mary went sailing down Beaver Street to the corner of Delaware. Had she not held onto the reins so tightly, she would have remained with the rest of the sleigh. The picture in my mind is of a woman who usually carried restrained demeanor, flying down a snow covered street on her stomach while trying to stop a frantic beast (and still trying not to get her feathers ruffled).
Other than her dignity, Aunt Mary was not seriously hurt. A few black and blues and some scratches were all that she ended up with. The bobsled was not so lucky, for it needed a bit of attention. Trixie, who finally stopped before he got to Eagle Street, seemed to be okay once calmed.
That is only one of the stories I can relate about my beautiful pony, Trixie. There are more, but they will have to wait for another time.

NEXT: The Tale of the Cast

Labels: 02-27-09, Bob Lettis, Columns

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Bound Volumes

175 YEARS AGO
The Fourth Anniversary meeting of the Otsego County Temperance Society in Cooperstown was attended at the Presbyterian Church by a very respectable number of citizens. The following resolution was adopted: “That this meeting concurs in the sentiment adopted by the National and reiterated by several State Temperance Conventions that the traffic in ardent spirits, as a drink, is an immorality and should be abandoned throughout the world.”
March 3, 1834

150 YEARS AGO
Court Proceedings – The People vs. Robert Carson – Indictment for incest with his daughter, a girl of 14 years of age; defendant arraigned, plead guilty and sentenced to State Prison at Auburn for 8 years and 2 months. The People vs. Jacob Spicer – Indictment for incest with his daughter – ordered over to next session. The People vs. W.T. Keyes – Indictment for selling liquor without a license – defendant withdrew from plea of not guilty, sentenced to pay a fine of $100 and to stand committed until paid.
February 25, 1859

125 YEARS AGO
Personal – Rev. Charles Hudson Smith, who has filled the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church so acceptably the past year, has, at the request of practically a unanimous vote of the congregation, consented to remain as Pastor the coming year. He will occupy the Ernst house on River Street in the spring.
Wm. B. Flanigan has opened a harness shop and furnishing room in the Phinney Block, opposite the post office.
Masonic – The petition of the Sir Knights of Cooperstown and vicinity, for a Commandery at Cooperstown, was rejected by the Little Falls Commandery, within whose jurisdiction they are, at their meeting on the February 22nd. We believe in justice to the Otsego Commandery and all the R.A.M.’s in this section that the petition should have been granted. We learn that the Otsego Commandery would have started with a good membership, there being about fifty that would join a Commandery here that will not go to Little Falls or Norwich, as it takes the greater part of two days to attend a meeting at either of those two places. We hope that our Little Falls friends will reconsider their action and grant to the many R.A.M.’s in Otsego County their petition.
March 1, 1884

100 YEARS AGO
Mr. and Mrs. Johnston have just returned from Ormond Beach, Florida where Mr. Johnston procured the services of Mr. J.D. Price as manager of the O-te-sa-ga Hotel, to open here about July 1. Mr. Price is president of Anderson & Price, owners of Hotel Bretton Hall, New York City, and managers of hotels in New Hampshire and Florida. Mr. Price’s ability and reputation are well known, and under his management the success of the O-te-sa-ga is assured.
February 25, 1909

75 YEARS AGO
Adolphus Busch, 3rd, elder son of August A. Busch, was elected president of Anheuser-Busch, Inc., by its directors on Thursday. He succeeds his father who killed himself February 13th. Mr. Busch will take his place as head of the family and its various business interests. Anheuser-Busch, makers of beer and other products, is the largest corporation in the group. The will of Mr. Busch was filed in Probate Court at St. Louis and leaves virtually the entire estate to the widow, Mrs. Alice Busch.
February 28, 1934

50 YEARS AGO
Clyde B. Olson of Bowerstown has purchased the old Smalley house at the foot of Pioneer Street and will move his Indian Museum to the site from a building near his home sometime this spring. Mr. Olson, a native of this village, has had a life-long interest in Indian lore. Four years ago he founded his Indian Museum near his home in Bowerstown.
The exhibits in the museum have outgrown the space available. The museum traces the history of the American Indian for the past 10,000 years, and also contains educational exhibits such as pottery-making and the making of flints. Two years ago Mr. Olson helped found the Susquehanna Chapter of the New York State Archaeological Association and served as its president.
February 26, 1958

25 YEARS AGO
The Cooperstown Redskins overcame a 14-point halftime deficit against the Rome Catholic Redwings in the Section 3, Class C semifinals to take a 50-49 lead with two minutes and 3 seconds left in the game. The one-point lead swung between the two teams until the Redwings opened up a 56-53 lead on free throws. Rome Catholic then added two more at the line to go up 58-53 but Cooperstown center Mike Nelson sank a lay-up off a spectacular length-of-the-court inbounds pass with four seconds left in the game. But the miracle finish was not to be and the Redskins’ season ended.
February 29, 1984

10 YEARS AGO
Advertisement: 1. Wide Open Spaces – Farmette property on 257 acres – slate-roofed Middlefield 5 bedroom Victorian with county views. Needs work – large rooms, wainscoting, original millwork, hardwood floors, pocket door, spacious bedrooms, formal dining room. Barn, one-and-a-half baths plus built-ins, family room, Cooperstown schools – $249,000. 2. Year-Round Otsego Lakefront – You’ll say “Yes” to this Otsego Lake 3 bedroom/2 bath cottage with gorgeous views – light and airy cathedral ceiling, built-in bookcases, wood stove, deck plus thermal glass and 25 feet of lake frontage, – $179,000. 3. Gracious Colonial Revival – romantic Cooperstown village three-story 6 bedroom of outstanding merit – historic 1894 residence with large rooms, two fireplaces, bay windows, pocket door, wainscoting, new custom kitchen, formal dining room, large front porch, ornate trim, 2 and-a-half baths, center hall on quiet street, three car carriage barn, – $279,000. Hubbell’s Real Estate.
February 26, 1999

Bound Volumes is compiled from resources provided courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library. Tom Heitz is the Town of Otsego historian.

Labels: 02-27-09, Bound Volumes, Columns

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Letters to the Editor

Wait Until After Election

To the Editor:
Voters of Cooperstown, you are about to be one- upped. Our village trustees are about to make another mistake. They are soon going to bring beer-drinking, outdoor advertising and loud-speaker advertising to Doubleday field.
The question is, will they vote this into a contract before the village elections while they still have Grace Kull on the board?
We have precedent for Grace, Jeff and Lynne to vote whatever they want in, with our mayor following as a tie-breaker, disregarding the will of the people.
I want to ask one more question. If we do not like this concept of baseball, beer and advertising, how much will it cost us to buy the promoters out of this contract?
If we try it for one year and do not like it, can we then just cancel or will it cost us $50,000 a year to buy out his contract.
Is this vote going to be rushed through without totally looking at every aspect of the beginning, middle and end?
TED HARGROVE
Proprietor, TJ’s Place
Cooperstown

Retired Or Not, Many Don’t Want Ball Team

To the Editor:
Though I do not dispute the spirit of your editorial of Feb. 20, I do think that it is in some respects misleading.
At the recent Village Board meeting, for example, when I referred to Cooperstown as a retirement community, I did not mean that most of the residents are retired.
I meant that an impressive number of retirees have chosen to move to Cooperstown to spend their retirement years and that a notable number of residents have chosen to remain in Cooperstown in their retirement years.
Nor did I present an image of a somnolent group devoted primarily to rest and relaxation. Quite the contrary is true.
Retirees devote an enormous amount of time and effort to the community. This includes service on village boards and committees, including the Village Board, and indispensable work in behalf of local churches and community groups.
The editorial also compounded sardonic references to a “Retirement Eden,” with misinformation about Harold Hollis’s tax policies, which had nothing to do with “an influx of retirees.”
A sense of economy and use of funds enabled Harold, who was a retiree during his tenure as mayor, to initiate the practices whereby there were no property tax increases in Cooperstown for nine years.
In that period a reserve fund was created. It was used by the village as a source of no-interest loans for itself though its ultimate purpose related to infrastructure.
Thus, in 2001 the village, working with its engineering firm, surveyed village streets and began a project whereby streets would be rebuilt from the foundation up, not simply resurfaced, and whereby sewer and water lines would be repaired or replaced in the process.
Such work, though it saves a lot of money in the long run, is very expensive in the short run. That work continues. And of course taxes eventually had to be increased.
The editorial was correct, however, in suggesting that the Village Board faces a number of major problems, including streets and sidewalks, the gateway project, zebra mussels, parking issues.
This being so, why would it want to add another time-consuming, and unnecessary, activity to its agenda? That was Stu Taugher’s point a few years ago, when he spoke against accepting a minor league team that wanted to move from Newburgh to Cooperstown.
In any case, at the village board meeting I certainly did not say that most residents are retired. Many residents work at Bassett; some residents are museum employees; some are engaged in local businesses; some commute; some have home occupations.
In short, Cooperstown, like most communities, is multi-faceted. The facet that wants the village to bring a professional baseball team to Doubleday Field is a small one. And, interesting enough, the most intense proponents of the venture don’t even live in the village.
WENDELL TRIPP
Cooperstown

High Praise For Colonoscopies

To the Editor:
Recently I had a long-overdue colonosopy performed at Bassett Healthcare under the auspices of the Cancer Services Program of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie Counties (funded by the state Department of Health).
I found out about this program two months ago when reading a newspaper insert describing the availability of “Free Breast, Cervical and Colorectal Screenings.”
As someone who is currently without health insurance coverage (soon to be remedied) I was lucky to become a participant in this program.
Forty-seven million Americans (8.7 million of whom are children under 18) are not covered by health insurance (2006 statistic, surely a greater number in this economy).
I would like to thank Mike and Dawn of the program, neither of whom I ever met, nor do I know their last names. They were extremely helpful, professional, and enthusiastic in their setting-up of my appointment and in follow-up.
Also, thanks to Dr. Thomas Brasitus and the staff of nurses in the GI clinic at Bassett who put me at ease. By the way, I’m fine - clean.
Perhaps, someday, if we elect the right responsible political representatives, we will have a national health care policy, as does every other “civilized” nation in the world.
Perhaps someday, many members of our society, particularly our elders, won’t have to “choose” between food, heat, medicines and health treatment on a daily basis.
In the meantime, I urge everyone to investigate and utilize this terrific program! Thanks.
BILL PARSONS
Cooperstown

Uncle Sam’s Head In Sand

To the Editor:
If I were a cartoonist, I would draw a picture of Uncle Sam sticking his head in the sand of the Middle East where thousands of innocent people are buried.
Do we see what our invasion of Iraq accomplished? According to John Tirman, executive director and principal research scientist at the MIT Center for International Studies, there are now 4.5 million displaced Iraqis, people who have had to abandon their homes in their own country.
Iraqi war dead number approximately one million. There are an estimated 5 million orphans, according to Iraqi officials.
And now what are we hoping to accomplished through sending additional soldiers to Afghanistan? A January issue of The Nation magazine reported that up to 500 Afghan civilians, most of them children and teen-age boys, are dying every month from U.S. cluster bombs. No wonder there has been a surge in the recruitment of Afghan suicide bombers.
HILDA WILCOX
Cooperstown

Abbate Will Protect Environment

To the Editor:
I have owned property in the area (Town of Middlefield) since 1975 and became a full-time resident of the Village of Cooperstown four years ago.
While I have been aware of the concerns of the area for decades, I have become increasingly aware of our community issues both as a property owner and as a full-time resident.
It is with this background that I am delighted to give my full support in the upcoming village election to my friend and neighbor, Richard D. Abbate.
His unique background as the former owner of a small business and later, investigator on environmental issues (water, noise and air quality) will hellp him bring a balanced view to questions of what, as a village, we want, and, in these times of economic hardship, what we can afford.
He will bridge the gap that too often appears between business concerns and residential needs.
Whether we were born here or came here by choice, we came here to enjoy Cooperstown’s idyllic environment.
Rich has pledged to make maintaining that environment one of his major priorities. I invite my neighbors to join me on March 18 to vote for Richard Abbate for village trustee.
SALLY R. ELDRED
Cooperstown

History Day Helper

To the Editor:
As a parent representative from the seventh grade PTO, I would like to thank Mr. Jex from the Cooperstown General Store and the PTO for their support in the purchase of display boards for National History Day.
We appreciate their generosity and cooperation. Kudos to everyone who purchased the boards and shopped locally. Thank you.
NANCY TALLMAN
Cooperstown

Stewart Came To The Rescue

To the Editor:
Last year, natural gas developers seeking water for test wells in Cherry Valley came to the Village of Cooperstown to ask to withdraw water from Otsego Lake.
A seemingly routine request would have established an ominous precedent, given the plans afoot then and now for intensive natural gas drilling in our area.
Once Otsego Lake was opened up to large-scale water extraction, the Village would have lost control over its most precious resource.
It was Milo Stewart Jr. who jumped into the breech and helped lead the charge against the request, which the village board denied.
Voters in next Month’s election ought to remember who made the hard choice in favor of the village’s best interests, and return Milo to office for another term.
ADRIAN KUZMINSKI
Fly Creek

Breakfast A Success

To the Editor:
On behalf of the Lions and Leo Clubs of Cooperstown, we thank the greater community for your support of our Annual Pancake Breakfast in conjunction with the Cooperstown Winter Carnival.
In particular we express appreciation to the Cooperstown Veterans’ Club for use of the facility and the Otsego County Maple Producers for supplying pure Otsego County maple syrup.
It’s your support to community action projects such as this that provide our club with the necessary resources to offer a variety of health and human services to our area youth, adults and families; all proceeds from this event remain in the Cooperstown area.
The Cooperstown Lions club is part of an international network of 1.3 million men and women in 205 countries and geographic areas who work together to answer the needs that challenge communities around the world.
DENNIS HASCUP
President
CLAIRE KEPNER
Chair, Pancake Breakfast

Labels: 02-27-09, Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Perspectives

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 6:42 AM 0 comments

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United We Prosper, Divided We, Well, Limp Along

Something exceptional – something huge, potentially for all of Otsego County – is happening at the end of Oneonta’s Chestnut Street.
If you’ve driven by in recent months, you’ve seen it rising, but – impressive as the high steel has been – the full scope and ambition of the undertaking has yet to sink in widely.
For the $8 million, 600-seat, state-of-the-art concert hall that is quickly moving toward completion – by the end of July, in time for 10 weddings booked in August and September – will inject high-test into the growing local arts’ community’s already accelerating momentum.
There are 902 seats in Glimmerglass’ Alice Busch Theater, but, with the expanded Foothills, the performing arts can flourish ’round here year ’round.
•
The Fly Creek Cider Mill’s Bill Michaels put together a powerful marketing tool a couple of years ago in the 23-mile Cooperstown Beverage Trail.
It links Bear Pond Winery at Milford Center with Cooperstown Brewing and Ommegang in Milford with the cider mill four miles northwest of Cooperstown.
Perfect.
The beverage-trail enthusiast can be captured at any point and forwarded to the others partners. Sharing marketing costs just made the idea that much more palatable.
Foothills’ former executive director Diane Elliott and others saw the possibilities of a similar concept for the arts – a Route 28 Arts Trail, if you will.
In effect, the Grade-A Foothills Performing Arts Center to the south and world-class Glimmerglass Opera to the north can bookend rich arts, cultural and historical offerings in between and around.
The two Halls of Fame offer similar synergy. Little Joey may play baseball, but sister Sara is fanatical about soccer. Working together, the soccer and baseball Halls can double the draw.
•
The potential is obvious to anyone who thinks about it. Shortterm, however, we’re facing a summer of uncertain tourism prospects.
There’s an opportunity right now to put a toe in the water to test the fuller collaboration to come.
Someone – perhaps Deb Taylor from the county Tourism Office or, together or alone, Rob Robinson of the Otsego County Chamber and/or his Cooperstown counterpart – should convene an advertising summit and pool advertising resources to bring people here.
For instance, would saturation advertising in and around Boston bring fans, not just to see Jim Rice installed in the Baseball Hall of Fame at the end of July, but to spend a week in the neighborhood on either side?
How about a Philadelphia Phillies fan weekend, building on the Phils’ World Series win? That would work just as well, or better, in the shoulder seasons.
Could, say, jazz in Stamford, theater in Franklin, the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival and the Smithy Pioneer Gallery be promoted as a piece?
•
All the tourism-related entities have advertising budgets, some aimed in-county, some aimed elsewhere.
If they pooled that second category to prime the pump, who knows what beneficial outcomes might result?

Labels: 02-27-09, Editorial, Opinion, Perspectives

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Locals

READY TO FILL EMPTY BOWLS

Many CCS students came into school over the weekend to decorate bowls which will be donated for the Empty Bowls Lucheon fundraiser for the Cooperstown Food Bank from 12 to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Tunnicliff Inn.

From the left, in front are Andrew Burnham, Victoria Anania and Shyah Miller;
in the back are Sara Bowen, Alicia McArdle, McKenna Hage, Lizzie Kenison, Anna Kramer, Emily Brown, Sarah Everitt, Shanette Couse and Miranda Menhinick.

The CCS Basic Skills class made Irish soda bread and pumpkin bread on Wednesday, Feb. 25 to donate to go along with the soups served at the Empty Bowls Luncheon.

The students are from left, Tom Hogan, Chris Hogan, Leandra Powers, Steven Woodbeck, Katrina Gunter and T.J. Fay.

Shirley Tyler Inducted Into Phi Kappa Phi

COOPERSTOWN

Shirley Tyler, a senior sport management major from Cooperstown, has been named one of six SUNY Cortland Phi Kappa Phi Scholars of the Year.
Founded in 1897 at the University of Maine, Phi Kappa Phi is the nation’s oldest and largest honor society for all academic disciplines.
Shirley has maintained a 3.56 GPA and has made the Dean’s List. She received the renewable Clark Foundation Scholarship in Fall 2005 and earned five awards in 2008, including Sport Management Junior of the Year.
She is a member of Habitat for Humanity, Relay for Life, the Sport Management Club, the Team Handball Club, Club Field Hockey and has served as an academic peer mentor, resident assistant, teacher’s assistant and as a lab assistant.
After Tyler completes an internship with the New York Mets this spring, she hopes to pursue a career as an event manager.

Williammee, Duarte To Wed At Farmers’ Museum In Fall

Mariana Duarte, Marietta, Ga., and Timothy and Janet Williammee, Cooperstown, are pleased to announce the engagement and forthcoming marriage of Natalie Ann Duarte and Jeremy Tilden Williammee.
The bride-to-be was born in Fairfax, Va., and grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. She is a 2000 graduate of the University of North Florida with a B.A. in international relations and a minor in political science. She is currently employed with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Arlington, Va.
Her fiancé was born in Fredericksburg, Va., grew up in the Cooperstown area. He received a bachelor’s in history from SUNY Brockport in 2004 and an M.A. in public and international affairs from Virginia Tech University in 2007. He is employed by the nonprofit organization, International Relief and Development (IRD), and is currently working on a humanitarian development program in Baghdad.
The couple will be married Sept. 19, in the Cornwallville Church at The Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown, with a reception to follow at The Otesaga.

Hartwick Gives 3-Year Option For Bachelor’s

Hartwick College is launching a first-of-its-kind three-year bachelor’s degree program, beginning next fall, designed to save $40,000 on the cost of a degree.
The Liberal Arts in Practice curriculum, which combines traditional classroom work with experiential learning, will save a student $30,000 in tuition and $9,000 in room and board fees.
“Hartwick is looking to the future and we are committed to ensuring that students continue to have access to a high quality liberal arts program,” said college President Margaret L. Drugovich, in making the announcement on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Unlike other three-year bachelor’s programs, Hartwick’s program will not require students to take classes during the summer months or complete coursework online.
The accelerated route will require 120 hours of study, 18 hours each fall semester, 18 hours each spring semester, and four hours during a special January term for three years.
Three-year program students will receive priority course registration and special academic advising.
Summers off allows students who need to work to do so, and also gives them a chance to participate in study abroad.
“Our Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree Program is responsive to their affordability concerns,” said Karl Mosch ‘69, chair of the Hartwick College Board of Trustees, “without affecting the quality of student’s educational experiences.”

FILLING THE FOOD BANK

Ellen St. John, left, and Audrey Murray, co-directors of the Cooperstown Food Bank, listen on as raffle winners were selected at the “Fun-raiser” organized by a group of local residents at the Doubleday Cafe and held on Friday, Feb. 20. The benefit raised over $3000 for the food bank through raffle tickets, a silent auction, and money donated from the Doubleday Cafe equal to the amount of half of the night’s beer and wine sales from the standing room only crowd.

DEAN’S LIST: Amanda Chase, Cooperstown, was named to the Dean’s List at Canisius College. Chase is a senior art history major.

SEMROV SHINES: Betty Semrov won first place with a score of 3,980 when the Senior Citizens Bridge Group met Tuesday, Feb. 24, at the Clark Sports Center. Barbara Curran was second with 3,830, and Marion Maxson and Irma Cizek tied for third, each with 3,710. Louise Allen won the special prize. The group meets at 9:30 Tuesdays.

Labels: 02-27-09, Locals

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