The Freemans Journal - Cooperstowns Newspaper Since 1808

Friday, August 8, 2008

Missing Utica Event, Bassett’s Carraba Organizes 316-Runner Race In Baghdad

COOPERSTOWN

It may have been boiling hot, but no matter.
Some 316 soldiers ran the first-ever Baghdad Boilermaker in Iraq on July 13, organized by Jim Carraba, who in real life – he was deployed May 4 to Iraq and is expected to return Oct. 13 – is safety & education coordinator at Bassett Healtcare’s NYCAMH, the New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health.
One of the many things he missed was the Utica Boilermaker – the Bassett team took first place this year in the July 13 event stateside – so Carraba organized a boilermaker of his own.
“We thought it would be really fun to have an event like this right on Sather [Air Base], Carrabba said via e-mail after the race. “It was a lot of work, much more than I expected. We threw all of this together in just two weeks while also fulfilling our regular duties.”
“It was incredible to have so many runners,” he said. “We had quite a few people tell us how much they enjoyed the race. That was very rewarding. I saw smiles on a lot of people’s faces this morning and that definitely made it all worthwhile.”
Finishing the Baghdad course in 67 minutes, Carraba beat his fastest Utica time.
“It has definitely been the highlight of my deployment here,” he concluded. “I will always remember this event. It was such a great experience to run in it and to work with everybody that volunteered to help out.”

Friends of Football Organize for ’08 Season

COOPERSTOWN

CCS Friends of Football kick-off meeting for the 2008 season will be at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 19th, at the high school circle.
If the weather does not allow an outdoor meeting, an alternative location will be posted on the main-entrance doors.
All parents of 2008 modified, JV and varsity football players and cheerleaders are encouraged to attend.
The Friends of Football is made up of parents, school staff, students and fans who work together to make the total CCS football season a fun and rewarding experience.
Questions? Call Bill Senif at 547-7190.

ADDING PEPPER: The LGWA played Mr. Pepper Tuesday, Aug. 12, eliminating holes #2, #4, and #10 from each player’s gross score.
Full handicaps were then subtracted from total scores, with the following winners resulting:
Flight A: 1. Deb Cembriski; 2. Andrea Johnson and Carol Robinson (tied)
Flight B: 1. Linda Kehoe; 2. Anne O’Connell
Flight C: 1. Martha Harausz; 2. Jane Feisthamel

Labels: 08-15-08, Sports

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Magical Mansion

Stone Gem, Discovered Overgrown, Lives Again

By JIM KEVLIN

SHARON SPRINGS

except for the dead bats in the sink.
…except for the 50 ratty mattresses thrown throughout the house. (What had been going on there?)
…except for the wallpaper. (Remember that pattern with the Eiffel Tower and a lady and her poodle sitting in a sidewalk café?)
…except that every tourist thought the place was open to the public. (Michelle Curran got Bouviers, and that was that.)
…except for the time in the dead of winter when, hurrying to the front door to encourage the UPS guy to come around the side, one of the dogs nudged the door closed, the deadbolt snapped and she was stuck, in her bathrobe, in the icy space between the two doors for four hours. (In the end, though, she did escape, kicking out a ¾-inch plate-glass window.)
Well, marry in haste, repent at leisure.

“The view is what sold me,” said Michelle, who has owned the Stone House since 1993, when she wandered into “this weird little town in upstate New York … I was only outside of it before we bought it.
“It was one of those really crazy things you do once in your life, then you live with it.”
But how could she have resisted the Stone House, abandoned though it had been for more than a decade, overgrown with trees as it was.
Italianate is a charming style, and this was a romantic version, with pillars, a long flight of steps, floor-to-ceiling windows on the front, arched windows on the second story, an ox eye in the front gable.
Michelle came to this “weird little town” in a roundabout way. (She now says, “I love Sharon Springs. It’s like finding your family away from your family.”)
She was born on the Pittsburgh end of Ohio, raised in Clearwater Beach, Fla., went back to Ohio State and the University of Ohio, ending up with political science and journalism degrees, then just wandered hither and thither.
The early ’90s found her back in Clearwater Beach, “unemployed as usual,” looking for a summer house. Maybe in the Shenandoah Valley, where she had a time share.
This gets a little complicated.
Michelle’s cousin’s boyfriend, Sal Belloise, was a musician and had gotten a gig in Lake Placid.
He invited Michelle along for the ride up the East Coast, with the plan of stopping along the way in a place called Sharon Springs to visit his sister, Dawn, then associated with Dennis Giacomo, owner of the Roseboro.
“Dawn and Dennis walked us up to this house,” said Michelle; they thought it was for sale.
The 230 acres included an overgrown nine-hole golf course – her then-partner, Michael Lauder, had always wanted to run a golf course – and an old T-bar ski lift powered by a Model A Ford engine.
Compared to Florida real estate, the price was nothing. Michelle called Michael. They offered half the asking price. The deal was closed.
“Then we started to pour money into the money pit,” she said.
That fall – 1993 – the couple could do no more than board up the windows and install an alarm system.
The next year, “I came up around Mother’s Day and it was snowing. I thought maybe I’d made a mistake. Sharon was a ghost town then. Nobody wanted to come anywhere near Sharon Springs.”
(The “Sharon Springs Renaissance” began a few years later.)
The house lacked functioning heat. With a 50-amp system, if you plugged something in here, something blew over there.
Still, by the end of the first summer, the plumbing and electrical were redone, the bathrooms were functioning. “We had basically ripped out all of the carpets and ripped off all of the wallpaper.”
Summer Two, “what we really needed to do was get some heat.” They were stuck with hot air: The interior walls are brick; the exterior limestone. So they installed a system designed for a warehouse. “It heats beautifully; it just costs a fortune.”
Little by little, the home got better and better, and it got harder and harder to go back to Clearwater.
“Around Year Six, I decided I wanted to stay for Christmas. I wanted to decorate the house. I put up seven Christmas trees, a woodland scene in the front entryway.”
The news hook for this story was the Sharon Historical Society’s House Tour 2008, Saturday, Aug. 9, which brought throngs to this former spa resort on Route 20, and the Stone House was one of the 10 properties open to the public.
“We had 260 people go through,” said Mary Ann Larkin, realtor and president of the Sharon Springs Chamber of Commerce. “It was better than past years.”
Pavillion Street is buckled and, in places, completely worn out. About halfway up, a “House Tour” sign pointed past the “No Trespassing” one, up a dirt driveway through overgrown gardens.

Halfway up – are we there yet? – what looks like a rooming house appears on the left. (It turned out to be all that remains of the once-mighty Pavillion Hotel, which hosted Orson Welles and other Hollywood luminaries of the day. The village has received a sizeable grant to convert the building into six townhomes.)
The shrubs close in and suddenly open up, and there’s the house. Everything is spectacular, but most of all the Sharon Springs version of the view you see driving along Route 20 near The Tepee; you can indeed see all the way to the Adirondacks, 100 miles north.
Michelle was acting as a tour guide. So was Dorcas Comrie, curator at the Sharon Historical Museum, with Marjorie Parsons and Ann Adams rounding out the cadre.
The home was built between 1850 and 1854 by Dr. John Gardiner, first promoter of the healthful qualities of the sulphur-spring baths.
Gardiners lived in the house until the 1940s, when Homer and Roz Spofford bought the White Sulfur Company and moved into the mansion.
On their deaths in 1980, the White Sulfur Company was sold. But the investors, who had intended to start a water-bottling company locally, soon had a chance to buy Vermont Pure, which was fully equipped and ready to go.
“This all became an asset they didn’t need,” said Michelle.
Four years ago, Michelle decided to stay year ’round. That’s when Michael decided enough was enough. The golf-course idea never materialized, “and it’s not going to happen now on my watch.”
Despite the years of neglect, “this house can withstand Armageddon,” says its proud owner. “You could never build this house again … I have pocket doors that, after 150 years, you can still move in and out with one hand.”
Recent years have been fun ones. A couple of weddings have happened in the mansion. Michelle had one REALLY big party, 700 people and a big band one year.
But, Michelle said, she’s coming to the realization that maybe this is enough of one person living in a huge house.
Next year, maybe, she’ll redo the smaller club house (2,100 square feet) out back and move in there, selling the mansion (7,100 square feet).
Money pit, anyone? But a delightful one.

Labels: 08-15-08, Glimmerglass, Sharon Springs

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WEEKEND’S BEST BETS

Duo-pianists twin sisters Arielle and Danielle perform at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, at Tea and Music, a presentation of the Cooperstown Theatre Festival. A complimentary tea, dessert and sandwich buffet accompanies the show. Admission $12, limited seating. Reservations, information 547-2335.

Dogs? Music, Dancing, Too

But the twins (see above) are just the beginning; there’s no shortage of anything to do this weekend.
•
The 13th annual Leatherstocking Sheep Dog Trials are planned 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday-Sunday, Aug. 15-17, on Beaver Meadow Road. $5 admission is good for all three days.
Saturday brings another Old Airplane Fly-In and Breakfast. 7:30-11 a.m. at the Cooperstown/Westville Airport, Route 166. All you can eat, $6.50; children under 12, $4.
At 11 a.m., a Family Music Fest: Go For Baroque, is planned at Templeton Hall, built around Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #5, sponsored by the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival. The full Brandenburg’s will be performed at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug., 17, at The Farmer’s Museum.
Antique Power Days return to Roseboom, 9 a.m-5 p.m., featuring antique and classic tractors, trucks, cars and engines. There’s a pancake breakfast, 8-noon. The event continues Sunday with a church service at 10 a.m. and a tractor parade at 1.
That evening, “Turn Up The Heat,” Hyde Hall’s third annual fundraising gala, is planned from 7 p.m. to midnight, a Cuban-style celebration.
•
Sunday, in addition to the sheep dog trials and tractor days, Bach, and the twins at the Cooperstown Theatre Festival, the Middlefield Fiddlers and Friends String-Along Concert is planned at the old Middlefield schoolhouse. Any fiddler is welcome to rosin up the bow.

Labels: 08-15-08, Cooperstown Area Events, Weekend's Best Bets

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Art Ascending

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

In the shifting sands of the arts, when organizations sometimes falter and even suddenly disappear altogether, it is always good to learn of the rekindling of the creative flame somewhere else in our midst.
When one considers that there are some 50 performing arts groups of one kind or another in our immediate tri-county area (Chenango, Delaware, Otsego), the emergence of a new enterprise is not all that surprising.
Is it the clean air we breathe, the seductive landscape, the magic vapors of the lakes?
Whatever it is, citizens in this Garden of Eden of ours seem driven to put their creative juices to use for the good of others.
The most recent impresario to appear on the horizon is Oneonta actor/lawyer Andy Puritz, a man of singular congeniality who radiates what are known among the hip as “positive vibes.”
You may have seen him in productions of Orpheus Theatre and Leatherstocking Theatre Company. You will have the chance to see him in the role of Atticus in the Foothills Performing Arts center production of “To Kill a Mockingbird” this coming October.
He is now taking his love of performing and art one step further with the creation of White Knuckle Productions.
White Knuckle Productions will present plays, readings, dance, debates, musical performances, variety acts, performance art and more. The organization’s promotional materials state the goals as follows:
“Reliable output, every six to eight weeks something good in live entertainment.
“Low prices, to expand the audience of people who enjoy live performance.
“Pay for the performers, who shouldn’t have to give of their time, talent and energy, and be expected as well to support the arts out of their own pocket.
“Can Puritz do this? Well.. that’s the White Knuckle part.”
The first test is coming up at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24, in the Belden Auditorium of Oneonta High School. Norman Fox and the New York City-based Rob Roys will charge the air with original soulful ballads, sweet harmony doo-wop and R&B.
In the mood for “Tell Me Why, Pizza Pie,” “Dream Girl,” “Blue Moon”? Show up at OHS. Tickets ($12) will be available at the door.
Looking ahead, WKP (let’s go ahead and acronymize it; why not?) will mount a debate before the elections, featuring real people with informed opinions, given the time to make their case. This will be novel.
“Thirty-second sound bites needn’t apply, “ says Puritz. Also on the drawing board, a production of “Twelve Angry Men,” a superb play about jurors locked into a room as they deliberate the fate of a young man convicted of murder.
So, what do you say? Support a brave new venture? Nurture the artistic spirit? I vote YES.

Sam Goodyear’s column on the arts in Otsego County appears weekly.

Labels: 08-15-08, Andy Puritz, Art Beat, Glimmerglass, Sam Goodyear

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Bound Volumes

175 YEARS AGO

Regimental Orders – The officers, non-commissioned officers, and musicians of the 2nd Reg’t. in the 2nd Brig’d. of Infantry, are directed to rendezvous at the Eagle Tavern, on the 30th and 31st days of August at 8 o’clock a.m. of each day, for the purpose of drilling and improving the martial exercise. The above are also directed to rendezvous at the same place, on the 17th of September, next, at 8 o’clock a.m., armed and equipped as the law directs, for inspection and review. By order of Col. Rensselaer Robinson.
August 19, 1833

150 YEARS AGO

The Demonstration in Cooperstown – On the receipt of the news of the success of the Atlantic Telegraph at this place, on Thursday last, our citizens united in a prompt and joyous demonstration, expressive of their sympathy and interest in that great achievement. Fifty guns were fired, all the bells of the village rung, and in the evening there was a torchlight procession. A discourse in reference to the successful laying of the Atlantic Telegraphic cable will be delivered in the Presbyterian Church on Sabbath morning next by the Pastor, Rev. Mr. Bush.
August 13, 1858

125 YEARS AGO

Hearty and sincere have been the words of friendship, appreciation and cheer which have come to us during the past fortnight from many of our brethren of the press to mark the completion of our seventy-fifth year of publication. The Albany Evening Journal writes: “Our contemporary, The Freeman’s Journal, merits the congratulations of the press on turning 75. Since it was established over 8,000,000 copies of the paper have been issued from its office. Our venerable friend is often on the wrong side of most political questions, but so long as there must be Democrats, we prefer those of the intelligence and ability of The Freeman’s Journal.”
August 18, 1883

100 YEARS AGO

Centaword Column Advertisements – Lost – An Egyptian silver and white net scarf, on Saturday evening. Kindly return to Miss Anna Paige at Willow Brook care of Mr. Marcus Hun. Suitable reward. Wanted, a woman to come by the day to help with baby and do some housework. Mrs. Ralph Birdsall. For rent – the Leatherstocking Camp House. Inquire of A.S. Phinney. To Rent – “The Pines” Cottage for two weeks commencing August 15. M.E. Lippitt. For Sale – House and lot, now occupied by James Simon, Fly Creek, N.Y., consisting of about one acre of land and good barn. Possession given April 1, 1909. James J. Byard, Owner. Hand made cherry sideboard for sale at a bargain. Dr. S.S. Reynolds.
August 13, 1908

75 YEARS AGO

This year is the one hundred and twenty-fifth of the existence of the Freeman’s Journal as a Cooperstown and Otsego County institution. The paper was established in 1808 and its life has paralleled almost the entire span of the village. In observance of this milestone in its history, the Journal of August 23 will be a special anniversary number containing a large amount of information of an historical nature and reflecting the growth, development and traditions of this community. The edition will be widely distributed throughout the county to a special list of readers in addition to the regular subscribers.
August 16, 1933

50 YEARS AGO

Advertisement – The folks at Smith Ford are smiling because through their Garage and Sales Dept. pass the happiest motorists in this area! Employees of Smith Ford (with their photos) are: J. Douglas Pomeroy, General Manager; Herbert Warner, Sales Manager; Fred Weigel, Salesman; Harry Green, Salesman; Betsy Snyder, Acountant; Marjorie Holden, Bookkeeper; Matthew Ward, Service Manager, Neeland Deuel, Gas Station Attendant; Merton Palmer, Mechanic; Robert Mack, Lubrication & Service; Walter Bushby, Used Car Reconditioning; James Rowley, Service Attendant; and Richard Conklin, Parts Manager. Motto: “We are first in service, because we put service first.”
August 13, 1958

25 YEARS AGO

Jonathan Bushnell, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bushnell of Cooperstown, has returned to his residence in Minneapolis after completing a 1,000-mile bicycling trip to visit a college classmate in Denver, Colorado. Traveling alone, he made the trip in 10 days. His record was 120 miles in one day through the Nebraska farmland. Bushnell, a 1976 graduate of Cooperstown high school, received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cortland State College in 1981. He teaches mathematics and science at the Minneapolis Education and Recycling Center, an alternative education and employment project for disadvantaged youth.
August 17, 1983

10 YEARS AGO

Editorial: It has now been nearly a full year since the launch of the revamped Freeman’s Journal which we revived because we just couldn’t sit idly by and see a fine 190-year-old lady roughed up and left to die – not after all she had done for all of us for so very many years. In the past 11 months we have been sending each weekly issue out to more than 14,000 homes across central and northern Otsego County in an attempt to provide Otsego County residents with a newspaper that not only reported events and issues important to our upstate life, but also included entertaining and informative columns. Next week will be the last free issue that we send out, but we certainly hope that it will not be the last issue you will read and enjoy.
August 14, 1998

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: 08-15-08, Bound Volumes

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Letters to the Editor

Thanks To 600-Plus Who Celebrated ‘Mary Turi Day’

To the Editor:
The sun shone down on Cooperstown Saturday, Aug. 9, as 600-plus people came out to show their support for “Miss Mary” Turi.
A warm “thank you” goes out to all the kids, parents, grandparents, friends, neighbors, corporate sponsors (over 50!), bakers, volunteers, sign hangers and even several unsuspecting tourists!
Our community pulled together on very short notice. We could be amazed at the way this community responded to Mary, but we’re not amazed at all. The Cooperstown Community can always be counted on to rise to the occasion.

Again, thanks to so many, and please keep Mary in your thoughts as she continues to recover. Mary – see you back in preschool soon!
MARCIE BIRCH
and other organizers of ‘Mary Turi Day’
Toddsville

TOP PHOTO: Mary Turi’s family members from New Jersey and Pennsylvania participating in Mary Turi Day include, from left, Briana Turi, Justin Scott, Sean Turi holding Shawn Scott, and Darla Foley. The event, to benefit the pre-school teacher who is fighting cancer, was held Saturday, Aug. 9, at Barnyard Swing in
Hartwick Seminary.

BOTTOM PHOTO: Some 36 individuals and businesses contributed $100 each to sponsor holes on the miniature golf course. Here, David Baker, 4, of Milford, one of Mary Turi’s students, tests his skill.

353 Love Springfield, Don’t Want It Ruined

To the Editor:
The truth hurts and it’s becoming quite clear by the letters in the papers personally attacking anyone or group who takes the time to do independent research regarding Type I projects, such as the proposed MSG Entertainment festival in Springfield.
When the facts start coming out unfavorably, people pushing for the project who have no real information to defend their claims, distract us with statements that make no sense. It’s almost like they all read and copied from the same propaganda pamphlet.
One point repeatedly mentioned is jobs. Please tell me how dumping human waste and garbage for less than a week, and a few permanent grass-cutting jobs, are going to bring industry or provide long-term growth?
If this concert were to go through, some people would make some money, but money isn’t everything in life that matters. You know what they say, “the love of money is the root of all evil.” Some people hear the word, “money” and their brains shut off. Our quality of life in Springfield is not for sale.
The example for a model of our concert, which MSG used from the beginning, was a concert in Manchester, Tenn., called “Bonnaroo.” Rolling Stone Magazine did an expose on this concert in a recent issue which showed: nudity, drugs, alchohol, crime, traffic jams for days, noise, litter everywhere, trespassing on private property.
This resulted in jails being full, hospitals overloaded and resulting environmental problems and decreased property values. When we called to check with the Sheriff’s office in Manchester, this is what they told us also. Some of our town officials and pro-everything people said these aren’t legitimate concerns.
These same people say our petition was gathered by a handful of NIMBYS (not in my backyard): 353 NIMBYS, that’s some big backyard! Let me tell you, this rock festival isn’t only going to affect a handful of NIMBYS; it will affect our whole town and neighboring towns as well.
They also accused us of using scare tactics and unfounded information, but the Planning Board just confirmed our concerns are very real. They must have us confused with their petition. Our petition was signed by 353 intelligent, knowledgeable, upstanding citizens and taxpayers who make up their own minds and can’t be coerced.
In fact, MSG’s plan being a Type I action and the moratorium calling for a nine-month halt of all Type I actions does reflect that our petition was also in favor of the moratorium. 353 vs. 189, and not all of these 189 were taxpayers.
The larger percent of the town’s wishes are reflected in the results of the questionnaire sent out by the Comprehensive Planning Committee, which these same people and some town officials also choose to ignore.
We are for appropriate development and new business. This festival is too large for this town and bad for the environment. It will likely bring real-estate values down and taxes up. The whole town will suffer as a result.
The motorcycle track project was shot down because the SEQR process proved it would be bad for the environment and inappropriate for this small town.
I’m getting fed up with some town officials and pro-everything people being quoted in the paper bad-mouthing our town, saying things such as “our town is dead,” “farming is dead,” and 45 businesses “failed” and the town has “no future.” Blah, blah, blah. Springfield is none of these things.
Your life is what you make it. Don’t blame the town if you are unhappy with your life. If you don’t like Springfield, move to a town that better suits you. Stop trying to ruin our town for those of us who truly love it and care about its future.
Contrary to an earlier letter, we are not all “part-time residents nor retired or rich.” As for me, I just want to live a peaceful, country life.
ROSEMARIE HARRISON
20-Year Resident
East Springfield

Vacant Doubleday Means Village Is Losing Money

To the Editor:
If I was to close my restaurant for four days in August, most people would think I had gone mad.
But the fact is no games were played in Doubleday Field Aug. 4, 5, 6 and 7, a loss of at least $4,800; a loss to merchants of four times that amount. If every member of the board is OK with this kind of scheduling, something is wrong.
The facts are that around 300 parking tickets are sitting on the judge’s desk waiting to be adjudicated, a value of $10,500.
If the board doesn’t understand the ramifications of these facts and if the residents of Cooperstown don’t realize how much these constant losses of revenue mean to us, then call me I will be glad to go over the losses of revenue that constantly occur in our village.
I would like to see one member of the board stand up and be counted as a bearer of the facts. I would like Grace Kull to explain that the mayor said we are generating $1,000 a day on the parking machines as a fact. I would like the mayor to publish the actual numbers earned from the Pay & Display parking machines.
Grace, if you want to know what I think, stop in at TJ’s. I will be glad to buy you lunch and you will be able to clear up all of the misstatements I have made. Bring any member of the board with you that would like to clear up my thoughts on how to run a successful business.
TED HARGROVE
Cooperstown

Who Are We Going To Believe?

To the Editor :
Which one are we to believe: Ted Hargrove or Mayor Waller?
Both had their monetary pronouncements in the Aug. 1 issue of The Freeman’s Journal. Ted says that we have a financial disaster at Doubleday Field, while the mayor describes the revenue success in the same area, Doubleday Parking lot.
I guess you could say that both are true, but if one offsets the other, who’s to worry? In fact the merchants would benefit more from Carol’s report than Ted’s.
Wait till next year when all of Main Street will have paid parking. What a revenue stream the village will have then.
BOB LETTIS
Cooperstown

‘Most Highly Qualified.’ Can We Do Any Better?

To the Editor:
With the ugly political season ahead of us let us look to one ray of hope on the horizon, Judge Jill Ghaleb.
Judge Jill Ghaleb was appointed by our governor to be our county court judge this year to fill the vacant slot left by Judge Coccoma.
She was also unanimously ratified by the full state Senate. Obviously, all agreed on her qualifications.
It is unfortunate that judges must also be backed by political parties to run for office when none of their decisions should be politically based.
All judges must abide by the same rules and base their decisions on current laws.
They cannot deny people’s rights that are given to them by law. They, in turn, cannot grant things that are not allowed by our laws.
I have known Judge Ghaleb for 10 years. In that time I have learned that her ethics and morals lend her to be a great judge.
She also has the compassion needed to deal with the many issues that arise in our courts today. If you’ve met her you immediately know what I’m talking about, and if you don’t know her I urge you attend one of the many events that she will be attending in the near future.
I urge you to vote for Judge Ghaleb in the upcoming Conservative Primary on Tuesday, Sept. 9, and then again in November, where she will appear on several lines.
Every vote counts. The main points to remember are that Judge Ghaleb has the most experience and she is the only candidate for Otsego County Judge that has been deemed “highly qualified” by the most strict review board in New York State.
You can’t beat that distinction.
MEG KIERNAN
Fly Creek

Labels: 08-15-08, Letters to the Editor, Opinion

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EDITORIAL

Modern Moseses Led Us Toward Promised Lands

After Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt, then administered their 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, God – as the Good Book tells it – forbids him from entering the Promised Land.
It’s one of the most poignant Biblical stories, and comes to mind because of the exceptional turnover among the leadership ranks of so many of our key local organizations in recent months.
•
We know about Dale Petroskey and about John Bullis, the take-charge executive director of the Cooperstown Area Chamber of Commerce, who’s moving to a development job at Mohawk Valley Community College in the next few days.
That’s just the beginning, and the remarkable contributions of all these folks should not pass unremarked upon.
Martha Frey, in more than a decade as executive director of Otsego 2000, was at the center of virtually every effort to protect pristine aspects of the greater Glimmerglass region, from establishing the National Historic District, to raising the alarum on Dreams Park’s predations, to battling the 69 wind-driven giants – no, not Quixote-like; she succeeded – that could have been marching over the ridge from Jordanville by now.
•
Alice Smith Duncan, Hyde Hall’s formidable executive director, has stepped aside due to health concerns. Anyone who has run across Alice knows she’s something of a force of nature; a galleon under full sail comes to mind.
While her tenure resulted in numerous initiatives – and marked by an ongoing sense of fun, evident is this weekend’s “Turn Up The Heat” gala – she and the National Historic Landmark’s chairman, Andy Blum, began steering the organization toward the creation of a strategic plan, an essential underpinning of fundraising, grants-writing and long-term development.
At Brookwood School, Head of School Amy Williams, principal during the Montessori program’s key phase of development, moved on to study for her Ph.D., an essential step in that particular career. Amy’s accomplishment is manifest to anyone who heads up County Route 59 from Toddsville and happens upon that smart campus among pleasant meadows.
Finally, who else but a dynamo like Diane Elliott could have revived and energized Oneonta’s prospective Foothills Performing Arts Center? It was virtually dead in the water when she brought her determination and vision to bear.
This summer, as she moved on to new ventures, the arts center held a ground-breaking for a 618-seat theater it expects to see complete by next July; without Diane, that’s almost inconceivable.
•
No Biblical scholar was immediately to be had at 21 Railroad Ave., but why God barred Moses from Canaan is obscure. (Alternate scenario: Maybe Moses had simply had enough.)
One school of thought has it that, when Moses faced thirsty and rebellious followers, God instructed him to “take the rod ... and before their very eyes order the rock to yield its water.” Instead, Moses took the rod and struck the rock twice; water burst forth.
God, it seems, felt Moses hadn’t followed His instructions specifically enough.
In other words, changes of leadership happen for all sorts of often-serendipitous reasons. Yet, the extent to which they’ve happened in recent months has to leave a void.
While, with everyone’s best wishes, this cadre goes on to new accomplishment, it’s hard not to reflect on our own sorry state.
Petroskey, Bullis, Frey, Duncan, Williams, Elliott: This is a huge talent gap to close.

Labels: 08-15-08, Editorial

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Locals

Megan Elyse Green, Justin Lindberg Wed

COOPERSTOWN

Megan Elyse Green and Justin “Juddy” Lindberg were united in marriage in a double-ring ceremony on June 7, 2008, at the Mount Vision United Methodist Church by the Rev. Richard Stackhouse.
The bride is the daughter of Henry and Deborah Green of Cooperstown. The groom is the son of Kim Lindberg of Middlefield and the late John H. Lindberg.
The bride wore a white Maggie Sottero one-piece, strapless, corset-back gown. It featured a dazzling encrusted bodice highlighting the asymmetrical soft-pleated waist. Embellishments of glass crystals were delicately sprinkled on the front of the skirt and on the chapel length train.
The maid of honor was Natalie Green, sister of the bride. The best man was John H. Lindberg Jr., brother of the groom.
Bridesmaids were Amy McEnroe, Angela Lidell, Emmanuel Marchesseault, Amanda Sikkeme, friends of the bride, and Shalyn Tilley, cousin of the bride. Flower girls were Brittany Mereness, friend of the bride and Alexandria Geissinger, cousin of the groom.
Groomsmen were Scott Johnson, Brian Manley, Ryan Williams, Jesse Coughlan, Hisham Abdallah and James Patenaude, friends of the groom.
A reception the 1819 House, Hartwick Seminary, followed the ceremony.
The bride is a 2001 graduate of Cooperstown Central School and a 2003 graduate of SUNY Cobleskill. She is employed by Edmeston Central School as a licensed teaching assistant and at Essential Elements Day Spa.
The groom is a 2001 graduate of Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School and attended SUNY Plattsburgh. He is employed at Doubleday Café in Cooperstown as a bartender.
The Lindbergs reside in Cooperstown.

Student Researchers’ Topics Range From Electrophoresis To Melatonin

COOPERSTOWN

Four students who spent this summer at the Bassett Research Institute presented their findings Friday, Aug. 8, on the following topics:
• Brian Reis, Cooperstown, a sophomore at Harvard this fall: “Mutation Scanning of p53 Gene in Tumor Cells by Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis.”
• Ruby Ward, Milford, a sophomore neuro-science major at Middlebury College: “Stimulating Lipolysis and AMP-activated Protein Kinease in Primary Adipocytes.”
• Robert Tirrell and Erin Dauchy, “Dietary Melatonin and Omega-3 Fatty Acids Inhibit Human Cancer Growth In Vivo via Receptor-Mediated Suppression of Linoleic Acid Uptake and Metabolism. ” Tirrell, Cooperstown, is a Cornell senior majoring in biology. Erin Dauchy, Fly Creek, a Cornell graduate who will be a research assistant at Tulane this fall.

Molly Watson’s Felt Bowl Wins Ribbon at Fair

MORRIS

Molly Waton’s felt bowl won Best of Show in the under-10 division in the Domestic Department at the Otsego County Fair.
Local winners in the adult division included:
• Casey Ives, Milford, crocheted poncho, solid crocheted center piece, crocheted article.
• Dora Cooke, Fly Creek, lap robe made of fabric quilted or appliqued.
• Cornelia Green of Burlington Flats, counted X stitch.
Pre-School Fine Arts and Crafts winners included:
• Claincy Chase of Cooperstown, unidentified item.
Grades 5-8:
• Helen Powers, Hartwick, still life.
• Paige Duncan of Hartwick, mixed medium.
Grades 9-12:
• Helen Glaser, Milford, portrait.

NEW OB-GYN: Renee J.Wellenstein, D.O., has joined Bassett Healthcare’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Cooperstown.
In December, she will begin also seeing patients at Cobleskill Regional Hospital. She comes from the Center for Women’s Care in Norwalk and Wilton, Conn., and previously was with the Alliance for Women’s Health, Norwalk.
She has a bachelor of science from Siena and an advanced degree from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine.
She did her residency at Danbury (Conn.) Hospital. She is married to Komron Ostovar, M.D., who recently joined Bassett as a hospitalist.

SIMPLY SUBLIME: Marc Connor, a Cooperstown native now living in New York City, won the top award at NYSHA “Taste of the Sublime” exhibition Saturday, Aug. 9, on the lawn behind the Fenimore Art Museum. Connor’s wife, Betty Villarreal, whom he met while studying for his BFA at the Chicago Art Institute, accompanied him. Marc graduated from CCS in 1988, and after Chicago studied art in Dublin, then received his MFA at Yale. The couple is currently renovating a home in Mount Upton.

BOOK PUBLISHED: “Fixing the System: A History of Populism, Ancient and Modern,” by Adrian Kuzminski, Fly Creek, has just been published by Continuum Books, New York. It is available via amazon.com. Kuzminski is a research scholar in philosophy at Hartwick College.

JOINS E-R: Mark E. Winther, M.D., has joined Bassett Healthcare’s department of Emergency and Trauma Services after completing an emergency medicine residency at Albany Medical Center.
He will see patients in Cooperstown, at Cobleskill Regional Hospital, and Little Falls Hospital. He graduated magna cum laude at Siena College, and earned his medical degree at the University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.
He is a member of the American Medicine Resident Association, American College of Emergency Medicine and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine. He lives in Richfield Springs.

VOLUNTEER: Brian Panzeri, 16, son of Lisa and Dan Rosen of Springfield Center, has returned from two weeks with the Landmark Volunteers program at The Adaptive Sports Center in Windham. The center, in the Catskills, provides year-round recreational programs for physically and cognitively disabled individuals. A certified lifeguard, Brian’s duties included overseeing water-based sports programs and assisting center staff at events for the Wounded Warrior Program, a special workshop for disabled soldiers returning from Iraq. In June, Brian completed an internship mentoring teenagers with Down Syndrome at Mount Everett Regional High School in Sheffield, Mass., where he was also a three-season athlete, Student Council Treasurer, SADD member, Massachusetts’ Fairview Hospital student intern, town volunteer youth basketball coach, and Berkshire County Special Olympics volunteer. He is currently a lifeguard at the Springfield Town Beach and a member of DeMolay International, a Masonic youth organization. He will be a junior at Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School in September and hopes to pursue a career in human services.

TO THE RESCUE: PERSON’S BEST FRIEND: Bassett Hospital’s new pet-therapy program includes, from left, Susan Miosek and her border collie Romeo; Vivian Beckman and her Australian shepherd Crackerjax; Sue Hughson with her golden retriever Penny, and Dr. Marina Bravin with her golden retriever Zoya. Dr. Bravin, a dermatologist, became impressed by pet-therapy’s possibilities while witnessing her mother’s response to it. The dogs must be trained and licensed to participate in the program.

Labels: 08-15-08, Locals

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SUMMER OF THE SPIRIT

You may have noticed the flurry of activity this week on the front lawn of Cooperstown Methodist Church at Chestnut and Glen. It’s the re-creation of a “Jerusalem Marketplace” from Biblical times, part of the annual ecumenical Vacation Bible School. All six churches in town collaborate. In top photo, Jordan Oliver participates in a javelin contest. Below, the Rev. Samuel B. Abbott, Christ Episcopal Church rector, instructs Henry James Fernandez in the reading of the Torah.

Labels: 062708, 08-15-08, Front Page, Images

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Cooperstown and Around

Dreams Park To Fight Reval

HARTWICK

Cooperstown Dreams Park has advised the Town of Hartwick it will challenge its new assessment in court.
Dreams Park saw its valuation quintuple in the just-completed assessment, from $3,229,546 to $16,917,700.
Seven property-owners’ disputes were resolved in small-claims court. The only one of the other 1,505 landowners to sue was another big one: Cooperstown Commons.

BACH’S BEST: Don’t miss two chances to hear the Brandenburg Concertos live, No. 5 at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 16, at Templeton Hall, and all of them 7:30 p.m. Sunday at The Farmers’ Museum. While you’re at it, join the 200 Club to benefit the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival.

NO TRIATHLON: The Glimmerglass Triathlon, held at Glimmerglass State Park for the past two decades, has been cancelled this year. The park has a new administration with new priorities.

ART SHOW: “Through the Eyes of Others: African Americans and Identity in American Art,” curated by CGP Director Gretchen S. Sorin, uses art from the Clark Collection to explore blacks in 19th century America. It opens Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Fenimore Art Museum.

‘CODE’ CALLED OFF: Bassett Hospital declared a rare “Code Yellow” emergency Monday, Aug. 12 – signaling possible multiple injuries – after a report that a Birnie Bus carrying Pathfinder Village residents had been rear-ended in downtown Edmeston. Extra personnel were called in and 11 people were brought in to be examined, but just as a precaution.

MUSEUM BOUND: The New York Yankees have requested two editions of The Freeman’s Journal on Rich “Goose” Gossage’s induction, July 25 and Aug. 1, to include in the museum associated with the new Yankee Stadium due to open in 2009.

Labels: 08-15-08, Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown and Around, Cooperstown Dreams Park, Front Page

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‘That Big Red Building’ Is Just About Complete

Butch Welch’s 6-year Ordeal Will Be Over Sept. 1

COOPERTOWN

Butch Welch feels he’s been doing his father’s penance. And how.
When Alva Welch – that’s Butch’s real name, too – was operating the Chevy dealership at 21 Railroad Ave., he met a salesman peddling that awful asphalt siding. You know the stuff.
So he approached the folks at Harrison’s Feed Store, where the Agway annex is now at Railroad and Leatherstocking. Yes, they’d be interested in siding their building.
Spurbeck’s owners would, too. Also members of The Improved Order of Redmen; their lodge was at 5 Railroad Ave.
“Dad talked them all into it,” said the son. “He was a good salesman.”
Alva Welch then asked his new salesman friend for an estimate.
What if you did a second building as well?
The salesman cut the price.
How about a third?
Another cut.
A fourth? Sure.
Butch Welch remembers his father coming home (the family lived in the former stone passenger depot, behind Bruce Hall’s) the day the deal was hatched.
“It’s going to be a neat street,” he said.
“A neat street,” the son repeated ruefully.
He’s thought about that episode quite a bit in recent years, after buying 5 Railroad – the big red building north of Spurbeck’s, the former Redmen’s hall – in 2002, with plans to convert the upper two floors into five apartments for the 55+ crowd, and retail or office space on the ground floor.
The first job – daughter Molly recruited friends Jeff Smith and Whitney Martens to help – was to tear off that awful siding.
“You expect to atone for your own sins,” Butch reflected. “But you don’t expect to atone for the sins of your father.”
Many toils followed, some financial, others structural, but the job – who hasn’t been dragging an eye on driving by over the past six years – it just about done.
All the sills had to be replaced. There was a 5 ½-inch bow in the south side.
“That east wall,” said Butch, “didn’t have one – not one – continuing stud between any of the floors. Not one.”
That wall had to be completely rebuilt.
Since plans are to rent the six apartments – four are two bedroom; two are one bedroom – to a crowd far enough along that no one will be blasting rock and roll into the wee hours, an elevator was installed as well.
Twice, worked stopped to allow financing to catch up. The Welches sold 27 Railroad; work started again. Butch turned 62, and was able to access his Roth IRA without penalty.
Welch expects the job to be done by Sept. 1.
The other day, Butch was installing appliances in a second-floor apartment. Son Tyler, who’s helping his dad with the final push, was making sure the windows were working fine on the third floor. Kevin Shulgay of Schenevus was packing tools in his pickup after a long day.
Butch – he and wife Mary live at 25 Railroad – has already rented one of the apartments, pending the COA, and four more are available. (With a two-year waiting list at Cooper Apartments, they should go quickly.)
A land surveyor and an Internet company have sounded him out on the 2,000 square feet on the ground floor.
The hardwood floors were installed by the Redmen in the 1950s, long enough ago so they have that vintage feeling. The windows, though new, follow the outlines of older ones, big enough so the building’s bright throughout.
All new appliances, carpet, paint – you name it. John Edgington – his carpentry skills are legendary in these parts – joined Butch’s effort in December, a suggestion of the quality of the near-complete job.
The building dates back to 1897 and was originally a hop house. Farmers would bring in their crops. The traders would buy the hops, sort the crop, then carry the bales across the street to the freight depot, where the DO Railroad is today.
When Butch was a boy he used to walk past the building daily en route back and forth to school at Glen and Chestnut, where the Cooper Apartments are now.
When he got back from the University of Georgia, he “wanted to use the skills I’d developed in college,” so he joined the Redmen – the lodge and the Mohican Club next to the Cooperstown Diner were the only establishments in town at the time with pool tables.
The Redmen are still extant, but the local lodge expired four decades ago. For 35 years, various auto-parts establishments were located there. When Butch and Mary bought it, there was a lot of shelving and tons of trash that had to be removed before renovations could begin in earnest.
Butch isn’t quite done, but he’s already itchy.
“It’s a strange feeling,” he said. “I was sitting the other day and suddenly thought to myself, ‘Gee, I’m going to be out of a job soon’.”
Next? He’ll be redoing an old home out in Middlefield for his retirement.

Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal

Tyler Welch makes sure the front windows on the third-floor apartment at 5 Railroad Ave. are functioning smoothly.

Labels: 08-15-08, Butch Welch, Front Page

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Threats Loom; Land Trust Acts

Marking 20th Anniversary, It Seeks To Protect 10,000 Acres By 2010

By JIM KEVLIN

BURLINGTON GREEN

It’s a bit of a mystery why it’s called Cranberry Bog, Earle Peterson will tell you.
Perhaps it reminded early settlers of the bogs near Burlington, N.J., their home town, and William Cooper’s.
There are two species of wild cranberries in the 75-acre watery expanse, but too bitter, Earle will tell you, to eat with any enjoyment.
The dike, in Peterson’s view, may actually be no more than a beaver dam that, after centuries of settling, looks like a man-made barrier, but actually just happened.
Whatever, it’s a wild place, a poem by Poe, perhaps. But there a heron, here a bright mushroom, ducks scattering beyond, make it irrestible.
With certifiably beautiful Otsego County – James Fenimore Cooper penned the certification – under siege from windmills, natural-gas wildcatters, Madison Square Garden’s huge music fest, mini-Wrigleys and mini-Fenways, and just garden-variety development, it’s hard not to be occasionally pessimistic about what the future may hold.
Don’t surrender to those feelings: Earle Peterson, who spent several years as president of the Otsego Land Trust, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary at a reception Saturday, Aug. 23, at Thayer Farm, is holding the line.
All of those concerns seem a million miles away at Peterson’s 1,200 acres, just a few minutes from the flagpole at Main and Pioneer. On the Fourth of July, he can see the fireworks at Fairy Spring from a field high on one of his hills.
One Fourth, the grass had grown so tall it was peeking over the hood of his truck when a space alien appeared before him, long neck, huge eyes and ears flapping forward. “I saw E-T,” Peterson said. (It turned out to be a fawn.)
The Otsego Land Trust goes back to a late ‘80s meeting at Fifth Avenue’s historic Villard Mansion, across from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, as George Snell, Herkimer native, New York City lawyer (by way of Yale) and a summerer on Hyde Bay remembers it. (Since 1981, the mansion’s been the elegant entryway to the 55-story Helmsley Palace Hotel.)
The usual suspects in these matters were there: Henry S.F. Cooper, Jr., Kent Barwick, Lin and Gib Vincent.
They were Friends of PROTECT, which was evolving into Otsego 2000, but they recognized the need for something more: A land trust, which would allow land owners, through easements, to control, at some degree, what would happen, or not happen, to beloved properties after they passed away.
There was some immediacy to the meeting, since the Campbell family, owners of 100 acres around Leatherstocking Falls in Pierstown, was looking for a way to preserve that property.
As the lawyer in the room, Snell was prevailed upon to perform the “arduous” task of establishing the trust, and he wended his way through the necessary approvals by banking and education authorities, with the final approval by a judge.
“...and now,” Snell told the group at a subsequent meeting, “I’m turning the baby over to you.” Pause. “They didn’t take him.”
It was about that time – “I’m not very good at dates,” he’ll tell you – that Earle Peterson, who had a 50-employee veterinary practice in Hunterton County, New Jersey, discovered 250 acres at the end of a dirt road near Burlington Green, the kind of place he remembered from his boyhood on a farm near Unadilla.
He bought it – or, rather, convinced the realtor who owned it to sell it to him. The crown jewel of the property was the bog. And in the years that followed, Peterson and his wife, Cynthia, began buying up land as it became available to protect the bog’s watershed.
Looking to protect what is there beyond their lifespans, they approached the Nature Conservancy, but learned that entity was only interested in accepting the gift, selling it, and using the proceeds for what it considered more environmentally critical properties.
Cynthia, who has worked for years in the New York City mayor’s office, discovered the 1,700-organization Land Trust Alliance involved in protecting 37 million acres, and the allliance in turn “made me aware of a small land trust in Cooperstown.”
Soon, the Petersons had established The Greenwoods Trust and begun crafting the easement – it allowed construction of a house or two, and includes a provision for an emergency airstrip at some point – to protect their beloved property.
Along the way, George Snell was finally able to turn over the baby; Peterson took it.
In New Jersey, Peterson at one point had found himself chairing the board of a 1,000-bed hospital system. At another point, he was heading a regional chamber of commerce populated with Fortune 500 companies.
“I knew what had to be done” at the Otsego Land Trust, he said: “I created structure.”
One day, arriving home at 10 Pine Boulevard, he found an unfamiliar woman picking flowers from his backyard for, as she explained, a cocktail party she was planning at her home at the north end of Otsego Lake.
You have plenty of flowers; I didn’t think you’d mind, she told Earle.
Her embarrassed husband showed up 20 minutes later and invited Earle to the party.
There, he ran into Jane Forbes Clark – “an outstanding person,” Peterson says – who had heard of his efforts and questioned him closely. By evening’s end, he had found a dependable financial supporter of the land-trust concept.
Today, the Otsego Land Trust is in the midst of a phase that began two years ago, when Peterson handed over the reins to Harry Levine of Princeton, N.J., and Springfield; Levine also heads the Advocates for Springfield.
Levine, in turn, led the search committee that hired Peter Hujick, a Dartmouth grad and Nature Conservancy administrator in northern California, who came to town to implement the “10,000 acres by 2010” effort.
The extent of the challenge soon became clear. The U.S. Forest Service’s study, “Forests on the Edge,” listed the upper Susquehanna among the nation’s 20 most endangered watersheds. The American Farmland Trust’s “Farming on the Edge” came to the same conclusion about northern Otesgo County agricultural land.
Hujick’s accomplishments to date include obtaining a $50,000 grant from the Land Trust Alliance to help develop a “conservation blueprint” – a vision – for the region. Recently, the Otsego trust expanded its reach into the Butternut Valley, where Carla Hall Friedman and Ben Friedman, who halped assemble Sterling Forest on the New York-New Jersey line, crafted easements for extensive acreage in the Morris area.
If anything, the demand is greater than ever, Hujick said – “people are knocking on our door” – but so are the satisfactions.
“The best part of my job,” he said over a cup of coffee at The Stagecoach, “is working with community-minded people who want to do something good.”

Labels: 08-15-08, Burlington Green, Front Page, Land Trust

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