The Freemans Journal - Cooperstowns Newspaper Since 1808

Sunday, October 26, 2008

SAM GOODYEAR

ART BEAT

Unlike Jack Benny, the Cooperstown Concert Series is proud to reach the age of 39 and fully intends to go on to 40 and beyond. The pride is justified, for such organizational longevity represents a triumph of art over financial shifting sands, competition from other cultural institutions, changing tastes and attitudes, indifference, and the general wear and tear of time.
The story goes that Louis Jones, former director of NYSHA, issued a challenge to the Woman’s Club of Cooperstown and the likes of Rexene Ashford, Sue Stephenson, Hannah Lee Stokes, Hilda Wilcox, Jean Davis and Jane Johngren (Cooperstown certainly has a lot of dynamic citizens, does it not?) responded with the formation of a cultural asset that has provided the community with the artistry of Ursula Oppens, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, Marian McPartland, Hakan Hagegard, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and the Vienna Boys Choir, to cite an infinitesimal smattering of more than 150 performers and groups.
Isn’t it nice to hear success stories like this? Not that it has been plain sailing. Art rarely is. Whereas in the early days of the Cooperstown Concert Series there was a heavy emphasis on “classical” offerings, current programs represent folk, jazz, gospel, and country traditions.
Attendance for the more conventional concerts began to fall off, and, wisely, the organization listened to its constituency and decided to provide it with what it was asking for more and more.
And why not? When you have the likes of Glimmerglass Opera, the Cooperstown Chamber Music Festival, and the Oneonta Concert Association weighing in heavily (and handsomely) on the classical repertoire, new facets are a welcome contrast.
The 2008-09 season started off with a pair of concerts in late September by Roger McGuinn on the 27th and “The Lost Boys” on the 28th. Both events were enthusiastically supported and received.
This Saturday, Nov. 1, Eilen Jewell will perform in the Grandstand Theater at the Baseball Hall of Fame at 7:30 p.m. Ms. Jewell, with her jazzy folk style, is a “rising star” on her way to the big time. The Cooperstown Concert Series favors bringing emerging talents like her.
Just remember that you heard her here first and, by the way, her first name is pronounced YU-LEN. Remember that you heard that here, too. There are concerts every month through March featuring sounds of all sorts from gospel to jazz to gamelan. Details can be had at www.cooperstownconcertseries.org.
Let’s give this enterprising and hardy institution a BIG round of 39th birthday applause!

Sam’s column on the arts in Delaware and Otsego counties appears weekly.

Labels: 10-31-08, Art Beat, Columns, Glimmerglass, Sam Goodyear

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Bound Volumes

175 YEARS AGO

A new method of making pickles – Take of common sour cider, such as cider drinkers usually denominate hard, a quantity sufficient to cover the cucumbers intended to pickle, and put it into a vessel proper for the purpose. Gather your cucumbers when of the right size, without scratching or bruising them – rub or wash them clean and put them in the cider. Stir them occasionally, and if a scum arises, let it be taken off, and they will gradually become pickles of the first quality, green, hard, and of fine appearance. Peppers and other condiments may be added as required.
November 4, 1833

150 YEARS AGO

Perry G. Tanner agt. Anson C. Parshall – action to recover the price of the Tanner horse, a large and valuable one, which plaintiff claims he sold defendant in September 1856 for $500, to be paid for in 30 or 60 days. Defendant claimed that defendant sent the horse by him to Cherry Valley, thence by Barnes Baird to the city of New York, to be sold by Baird on commission. The case was thoroughly litigated and elicited much interest during the progress of the trial. The Court was engaged two days in hearing the evidence, which was somewhat conflicting. Mr. Dewey summed up for the defendant and Mr. Bowne for the plaintiff. The jury rendered a verdict of $568 damages for the plaintiff.
October 29, 1858

125 YEARS AGO

Briefs – A telephone conversation was carried on last Thursday by Manager Brady, who was in Delhi, and a gentleman in Utica. The distance covered is about 110 miles. Every citizen entitled to vote should discharge the duty he owes the State by voting on Tuesday next. (Editor’s note: Women were not “entitled to vote” in New York until 1918) A suit has been begun in Brooklyn by the father of James Cassin, a small boy, to recover $3,000 damages from Miss Mary Ames, who spanked the boy last summer because he called her names. Is Miss Ames at liberty to accept a situation in a large public school in the interior?
November 3, 1883

100 YEARS AGO

Personal – Mr. and Mrs. Marcus T. Hun of Albany announce the engagement of their daughter, Miss Susan Vanderpool Hun to Stephen Carlton Clark, youngest son of the late Alfred Corning Clark, Esquire, of New York and Cooperstown, and stepson of the late Bishop Potter. During this season of long continued drought, rainbows have indeed been a rarity, but one appeared in the sky late Monday afternoon, which has seldom, if ever, been excelled in beauty and gorgeousness of color. It was admired by many people in Cooperstown.
October 29, 1908

75 YEARS AGO

Recent sales of 21 bales of 1933 hops by E.A. Brandis and 18 bales by M.F. Ruth to Allen P. Marsh at Waterville at 58 cents a pound will undoubtedly encourage local growers to consider increased acreage next spring. These hops were purchased by Mr. Marsh for the account of Martin Moakler, hop merchant of Cooperstown. Mr. Marsh also purchased the Howard Patrick lot for Mr. Moakler earlier in the season at 60 cents a pound. Mr. Moakler, a champion of New York State hops, says: “No legitimate brewer in the United States but knows and has always felt that he could not brew a real substantial glass of beer without New York State hops. I cannot help but advise our state growers to get interested again in growing hops, as the majority of our best brewers prefer state hops even to the imported varieties.
November 1, 1933

50 YEARS AGO

A Cooperstown landmark occupied for more than 50 years continuously by automobile agencies will be vacated on Saturday, November 1, when the Charles A. Wick Agency vacates the building at 171 Main Street, now owned by John R. Rudd of Schenectady. Acquiescing to the demands of the public and a desire for more modernity in its showrooms, the agency is moving to the McDonough Building at 115 Chestnut where adequate space for display of its 1959 Cadillacs, Buicks, Pontiacs and Vauxhalls is available. Mr. Wicks has been at the Main St. location for 26 years.
October 29, 1958

25 YEARS AGO

Kevin Coulman was a young man for a family and a community to be proud of, his friends and mentors said last weekend when word of his death came from Beirut, Lebanon. After nearly a week of waiting, his family heard Saturday from the U.S. Marines in Beirut that Coulman, 27, had been among the more than 200 young men killed on October 23 in the terrorist bombing of their headquarters building. “He was the kind of kid you would want to take home and have a long discussion with over the kitchen table,” said Ted Kantorowski, who coached Coulman as a varsity football player at Cooperstown high school before his graduation in 1974.
November 2, 1983

10 YEARS AGO

Bassett Healthcare’s New York Center for Agricultural Medicine and Health (NYCAMH) will host a 10th anniversary brunch at the Holiday Inn in Oneonta on November 7 from 11 to 2 p.m. The event will mark NYCAMH’s first decade as New York’s first state-enacted center for agricultural health and safety. NYCAMH provides specialized medical care, research, health and safety education, and prevention programs to New York’s farmers and farm families. The celebration will also thank members of the area’s farming community for their support and contributions to NYCAMH’s efforts. Dr. John May is the center’s director.
October 30, 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: 10-31-08, Bound Volumes, Columns

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Endorsements: PRESIDENT

Obama Presidency Could Reconnect Nation With Its Ideals, True Promise

EDITORIAL

John F. Kennedy wasn’t elected president in 1960 because he was an Irish Catholic.
In fact, he wasn’t an “Irish Catholic” except for the happenstance of birth.
He attended elite prep schools and Harvard. He was a son of wealth earned the American way, for better or for worse. He was a World War II hero. A Pulitzer-winning author. A congressman; then a U.S. senator.
He was fully in the mainstream of American life.
Likewise with Barack Obama.
If he’s elected president of the United States Tuesday, Nov. 4, it isn’t because he is or isn’t black.
He attended the elite University of Chicago, and later taught there. He went on to Harvard Law School, where he was the first African-American to head the law review.
He was elected to the Illinois state Senate, where he was quickly recognized as a young man with a future. He electrified the nation in his speech nominating John Kerry in 2004.
He is fully in the mainstream of American life. He is black and post-black, in the way John F. Kennedy was Irish-Catholic and post-Irish-Catholic.
•
That is as it should be.
The president of the United States can’t represent just a faction. He or she must achieve an intellectual and moral outlook sufficiently broad to represent all citizens of our polyglot nation.
John F. Kennedy became a transitional president not because he was Irish-Catholic, but because he was so much more.
He captured the nation’s idealism, yearning for expression: “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
He identified humanity’s common striving for freedom from repression: “Ich bin ein Berliner.”
And: “Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans – born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace...”
Likewise, the huge, ebullient crowds that have gathered to cheer the prospective president Obama sense a similar transition from what, punctuated by the collapse of the stock market, has been eight years of failure, where every opportunity has been squandered and every one of our nation’s assets and ideals diluted.
You can hear the echo in Obama’s words: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
And: “People of Berlin – people of the world – this is our moment. This is our time.”
And: “There is not a liberal America and a conservative America – there is the United States of America. There is not a black America and a white America and Latino America and Asian America – there’s the United States of America.”
•
We have lived through eight years where ideology has trumped common-sense problem solving.
And where only the desire to win and the willingness to say and do anything to win has trumped ideology.
This resulted in mistakes that we feel even here in our generally delightful corner of the country.
Gasoline and fuel prices sapped our family budgets. We worried along with too many of our neighbors with loved ones in harm’s way in Iraq. The housing bust is evident in the for-sale signs that increasingly dot our streets; the lost equity is less evident but just as real.
If we once looked up to leaders who said they’d rather be right than president, we’ve lived through eight years of a leader – certainly the clique around him – who would rather be president than anything.
Regrettably, John McCain has succumbed to the same temptation. He’s shown he’ll do anything to win. His jingoist slogan, “Our Country First,” is bitter irony.
He will look back at his recent choices, of sizzle over substance in the choice of Sarah Palin, of fear-mongering, of – incredibly; The Wall came down in ‘89 – red baiting in his characterization of his opponent’s promised fiscal adjustments and the long-recognized need for wider access to health care.
He has shamed himself. He has tarnished his iconic American life. In the years ahead he will look back and regret it.
Barack Obama is no radical. There’s nothing to fear in his election and much to look forward to with optimism.
•
The need to fight World War II finally brought Americans whose families had lived here for decades into the nation’s mainstream, as Dr. Joseph Fiorvanti, historian of Oneonta’s Italian-American community, attested in a recent Columbus Day interview.
The GI Bill then gave them the tools to compete, and that fueled the ’50s, the greatest decade of economic growth in our history.
It took blacks who fought in World War II 20 years to begin getting the same kind of benefit, and the self-defeating riots of the ’60s and ill-considered “Black Power” radicalism turned those hopes to ashes for many.
Regardless, today we have the largest black middle class in the world. But we also have a large black underclass – permanent, it’s called, but it’s only permanent if we let it be.
Our disproportionately poor black population is costly for the nation as a whole to serve, but the lost productivity, the ruined lives and early deaths are a drag not just on our economy, but on our ideals, individual consciences and world repute.
If Barack Obama, as black as he’s white, can be the catalyst that finally brings black Americans fully into the mainstream – that word again – of American opportunity and achievement, that single accomplishment would place him among the greatest American presidents.
Even better, we can hope for much more and we do, here in Otsego County as everywhere else in the United States.
Let’s vote those hopes Tuesday, Nov. 4. Let’s vote for Barack Obama.

Labels: 10-31-08, Barack Obama, Editorial, Opinion, Perspectives, President

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Springfield Music Festival Wins Backing of Chamber

Bonnaroo Fest Well Accepted, Kingsley Says

By JIM KEVLIN

COOPERSTOWN

After weeks of study and debate by its Government Relations Committee, the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce issued a statement in support of the proposed Springfield Music & Art Festival, calling is “a great opportunity.”
“The chamber supports MSGE’s” – Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s – “proposal and the ongoing efforts by the Town of Springfield’s Planning Board to see this event to fruition,” said the statement released Wednesday, Aug. 29, by Marc Kingsley, chamber president.
The support comes at a time when the project appears to have overcome a possible hurdle: An option on the purchase of the 1,000-acre prospective site expired Wednesday, Oct. 22, but the developer and the owner, Paul Stitzel of Hamburg, Pa., agreed on an extension.
In addition to Kingsley, the Government Relations Committee included Rob Robinson, Otsego County Chamber executive director; Scott White, Bank of Cooperstown president; B&B operator Bob Consigli, and restaurateurs Yvette DiMaggio and Deborah Cantor.
“It came down to doing the homework,” said Kingsley. “We did the research. The answers came back. It was pretty easy to come up with a statement,” which he characterized as “not too extreme.”
The chamber committee, with Kingsley taking the lead, sought to determine what impact the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, which has been most often likened to what’s proposed in Springfield, is having on the host community of Manchester, Tenn.
Several hours of interviews with Manchester’s mayor, the sheriff, the chamber of commerce executive, and staff at the local newspapers, The Manchester Times and the Saturday Independent, “we found overwhelming community support.”
Three or four days of “inconvenience” result in “a much needed economic boost to the county” and civic and school groups that use it as a fund-raising opportunity.
Kingsley said Manchester, Tenn., Mayor Betty Superstein invited a delegation to visit their town, and he suggested that should happen.
Meanwhile, the public comment period on the “scoping document” – the first step in the state Environmental Quality Review Act – expired in recent days, and Otsego 2000, in expressing objections, said MSGE may inadvertently have derailed the process and have to start over again.
MSGE Vice President Andy Linn had advised town Planning Board Chairman Mary Clarke on Tuesday, Oct. 22, that it would not move forward on the project.
The next afternoon, after apparently coming to terms with Stitzel, Linn advised Clarke the project was back on.
Otsego 2000 Executive Director Nicole Dillingham, in her organization’s comments said state law doesn’t allow “a project sponsor to unilaterally cancel and then reinstate a project at its whim.”

Labels: 10-31-08, Front Page, MSGE

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Jordanville Wind Farm Lives Again

Smaller Project Avoids PSC Review, Approval

By JIM KEVLIN

JORDANVILLE

It’s smaller, but a revived proposal for a 40-turbine Jordanville Wind Farm would still be visible from Otsego Lake and 400-foot-tall towers would still surround the Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Monastery.
Fresh from state approval of its purchase of Energy East, owner of the former New York State Electric & Gas Co., Iberdrola, the Madrid-based multi-national, is proposing a scaled-down 80-megawatt project in place of a 69-turbine one for the ridge between Jordanville and Van Hornesville.
An 80-megawatt project is below the threshold that requires approval by the state Public Service Commission, which issued a strongly worded opinion in August 2009 in favor of protecting viewsheds in the Glimmerglass National Historic District.
This means that the sole reviewing body is the Town of Warren, where Jordanville is located. It is again the “lead agency” in administering the state Environmental Quality Review, according to the town’s special counsel in this matter, Bernard Meleski. The news has prompted the Holy Trinity monks to schedule another “Moleben,” a service of supplication to St. Elijah to help block the project. It will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 5, at the upper church.
Since the project first lapsed, the New York State Preservation League has placed the monastery it’s “Seven to Save” list, meaning it is one of the seven most-endangered historic properties in the state.
In acquiring Energy East, Iberdrola also acquired Community Energy, the Philadelphia-based wind developer that originally proposed the Jordanville Wind Farm, but was foiled by the PSC and an Article 78 proceeding brought by Otsego 2000, the Cooperstown-based environmental group.
Meleski said the developer is preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, and the town has released the document for public comment until Dec. 1.
Meanwhile, it has scheduled a public hearing for 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, at the town hall in Jordanville.
Since the original application, a well-water survey, a raptor survey, and an examination of how the turbines might effect TV transmission have been completed, Meleski said, and are part of the application.
Since the PSC is no longer in the picture, an Article 78 suit would be the only appeal available to either the applicant or opponents if they disagree with the outcome.
Meanwhile, in a development that may further energize opponents of industrial wind projects in rural areas, Noble Environmental Power – due the collapse of Lehman Brothers – has stopped work at its Bellmont and Chateaugay projects in the state’s North Country, leaving turbines half-built.

Labels: 10-31-08, Front Page, Jordanville, Wind Farm, Wind Power

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Obituaries

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Theodore J. Smith, 99; Town Justice 33 Years

MIDDLEFIELD – Theodore J. Smith, a justice of the peace in Roseboom, Middlefield and Cooperstown, died early Wednesday morning, Oct. 29, 2008, at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. A resident of Otsego Manor for the past four years, he was 99.
One of 13 children, Ted was born on Sept. 12, 1909, in Brooklyn, a son of the late Frank and Dora (Seifert) Smith.
For many years he was employed as an auto mechanic, and was later employed as a machinist for Sperry Univac.
For 33 years, while town justice in Roseboom, he was acting justice in Middlefield and the Village of Cooperstown.
Ted was a life member of Cherry Valley Lodge No. 334, Free and Accepted Masons, Oneonta Elks Lodge No. 1312, B.P.O.E., and the state Magistrates Association.
Ted is survived by one son, Erich R. Smith and his wife, Carol, of Latham; one daughter, Electra R. Elliott and her husband, Jim, of Chandler, Ariz.; granddaughter Lisa Northrop; great grandsons Zachary and Chase Northrop; five step grandchildren and 10 step great grandchildren; several nieces and nephews, including a special niece, Catherine Lee; and his former spouse, Ruth Jewell, of South Valley.
He was predeceased by his wife, Mary, who died Jan. 7, 1996, and his 11 sisters and one brother.
A funeral will be at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown, with the Rev. Paul R. Messner of the Otsego County Lutheran Parish officiating. Burial will be in the Middlefield Cemetery.
Friends may call at the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth 5-8 PM on Wednesday, Nov. 5, when Ted’s family will be in attendance.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial gifts may be made to the Susquehanna SPCA, 4841 State Highway 28, Cooperstown, NY 13326, or to a charity of one’s choice.

Donald Lambert, 65; Father of 7; Granddad of 19

SCHENEVUS – Donald James Lambert, 65, passed away Friday, Oct. 24, 2008, at Bassett Hospital.
He was born Dec.10, 1942, in Cobleskill, the son of the late Lionel and Anna Lambert. On July 5, 1975 he married Mary Staff.
He attended Sharon Springs Central School. He worked as a truck driver for more than 20 years. When he retired from truck driving, he delivered newspapers for the Amsterdam Recorder and The Oneonta Daily Star.
Don enjoyed hunting, fishing, and camping. He was an avid ham radio and CV operator.
Survivors include his loving wife of 33 years, Mary; his children Donald, Autumn, Timothy, Rebecca, Tammy, James and Beth; 19 grandchildren; his brothers Ronald and Leroy, and sister Linda.
He was predeceased by his parents, brother Lionel, and sister Pauline.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31, at the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley, with Rev. Ron Fralick officiating. Burial will be in Schenevus cemetery at a later date.
Calling hours will be 7-9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, at the funeral home.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mr. Lambert’s memory may be made to the Diabetes or Kidney Foundation.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home.

Ben Eckman, 65; ‘Blue Baby’ Survived Many Challenges

MILFORD – Ben Eckman , 65, a father of five, passed away Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008 at Otsego Manor in Cooperstown.
He was born Oct. 14, 1943, in Point Pleasant Hospital in New Jersey, a son of Benjamin Taylor Eckman, Jr. and Jean Mapes Eckman of Belmar. The oldest of five, he loved his brothers and sister, Steve, Johnny, Billy and Jeanie Eckman.
Ben, afflicted with heart complications at birth, spent his life in and out of hospitals. Born a “Blue Baby”, he endured many high-risk heart surgeries, the first at age 9.
Always beating the odds, he grew into a man of unshakable fortitude with a deep compassion for those less fortunate than he. He was humble, yet very strong. Many knew Ben as a man who stood up for what he believed.
He never walked away from a just fight. He never gave up. Sadly, his health was no match for his will. After undergoing an amputation of his right leg in July, due to an infection, Benny continued to decline.
Ben worked harder in life than most healthy men. He was a horse trainer, a farmer, a trucker, a dog catcher and so much more. Most of all, he was a loving husband and a wonderful father to his five children. He was funny and kind.
Ben was a man of faith who loved his Bible, his family, his farm, people of all walks of life, a good joke, nature, and so on. He fought for many of the days that God gave him, but God has now called him home to be with his sons in Heaven. He will be dearly missed.
Ben is survived by his loving wife of 43 years, Theresa; his daughter, Lisa and her husband Kevin and their two children, Taylor and Connor; his daughter Denise and her husband Dave and their son Drew Benjamin; and his youngest son Joshua and his girlfriend Jessica and their two daughters, Brooke Elizabeth Nicole, and Miranda. He is also survived by his four wonderful siblings and those remaining of his wife Theresa’s family, whom he loved and respected so dearly.
He was preceded in death by his two sons. His first son died three weeks after birth of heart complications and his second son, Benny, passed away at age 23 of sleep apnea. They, too, are dearly missed!
Rest peacefully, Ben, in God’s arms until we see you again!
A ceremony and burial will take place in New Jersey.
There will be no calling hours.
Condolences may be sent to Theresa Eckman, 209 County Highway 44, Oneonta, NY 13820 or at goatsoap2003@yahoo.com.
In lieu of flowers, expressions of sympathy in the form of memorial gifts may be sent to the American Heart Association, PO Box 3049, Syracuse, NY 13220-3049 or American Diabetes Association, 1508 Genesee Street, Utica, NY 13502.
Arrangements are with the Connell, Dow & Deysenroth Funeral Home in Cooperstown.

Arthur Collison, 79; Ex-Fire Chief

MIDDLEFIELD – Arthur G. Collison, 79, passed away Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008 at home.
He was born Oct. 25, 1929, in Mount Upton, the son of Frank and Florence Collison. He married Marian Gage on Oct. 22,1950, in Hartwick Seminary..
He served and received an honorable discharge from the Army. He worked for the Middlefield Highway Department, retiring after 28 years. He was the past chief of Middlefield Fire Department.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Marian; his children Paul and Shirley Collison, Terry and Brenda Collison, Joanne and Neil Bowen, Bonnie and Steve Eldred; grandchildren Chris and Ak, Matt and Stacy, Travis, Missy and Joe, Tessa, Mike and Angie, Branden and Jess, Nathan and Nikki, Angie and Chris, Chad; and six great grandchildren.
There will be no public services. Burial will take place in Hartwick Seminary Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in Mr. Collison’s memory may be made to the Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care, 1 Birchwood Drive, Oneonta, NY 13820.
Arrangements were entrusted to the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.

Labels: 10-31-08, Arthur Collison, Ben Eckman, Donald Lambert, Obituaries, Theodore J. Smith

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An Apple Parer a Day...

By JIM KEVLIN

FLY CREEK

There was a time when apples weren’t genetically altered, when they weren’t picked in Japan, kept artificially cool and sent all the way to Otsego County, N.Y., where, having achieved the consistency of mush, they became available for public consumption.

No, Gerry Laverty – the Rochester man is an occasional visitor-slash-demonstrator at the Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard – will tell you that apples, in their glory days, were grown in places like Schuyler Lake and Middlefield, and consumed right off the tree by barefoot boys or within a few days by families in the vicinity.

Apples were also a major source of Vitamin C year-’round in farming communities of the Northeast, so they had to be canned and preserved. “Paring bees” developed. As the ladies sat around chatting and paring, knuckles and joints would get sore, and a finger or two nicked.
There has to be an easier way, asked tinkerers who observed such scenes across this great land of ours. And they were inspired to do something about it.
At first, rude wooden instruments were developed, but with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution, they were transformed into metal and became increasingly complicated and ornate.
The result, according to Laverty, who is treasurer of the International Society of Apple Parer Enthusiasts – yes, the APES – is that more than 300 patents for apple-paring or apple-processing apparati are on file in the U.S. Patent Office.
But we’re getting ahead of our story.
All of this was far from the minds of Charlie and Barbara Michaels the first time they stopped in to visit Linn Kane. There was a pile of beans on Kane’s stove, and a cow and a pig out back.
The old cider mill down by the creek was a far sight from what the ultra-modern and highly merchandized – mysteriously, it is deeply nostalgic nonetheless – Fly Creek Cider Mill
& Orchard is today.

Linn Kane had owned the 1857 cider-pressing concern since the turn of the 20th century and William McKinley’s presidency, but this was the early 1960s of pillbox hats and JFK, and Linn had been buffeted by the winds of time.
Prohibition ended his hard cider business, and after repeal beer quickly overtook cider as the alcoholic beverage of choice.
In 1962, Charlie and Barbara – he was a carpenter, she an art teacher – bought the home (but not the beans, cow or pig) and Charlie and Linn were soon boon companions, sitting around the wood stove on a winter’s evening, drinking Utica Club and playing pitch.
The former owner’s tales of the golden days of cider pressing – when apple-filled buckboards lined Goose Street and the press would run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. – soon took hold of the new owners’ imaginations.
But custom pressing had pretty much gone the way of the Hutchinson – hand-cranked – Cider Mill or Carter’s Apple Parer.
“I decided I better buy apples to sell cider,” Charlie Michaels said the other week, taking a pause from the Fly Creek Cider Mill Annual Apple Festival; he had recently assumed a second term as president the International Society of Apple Parer Enthusiasts.
He found a dependable quality supplier – Beak & Skiff, an Onondaga County concern that had been growing apples since 1911 – and what since has been almost a half-century of innovation began.
In 1964, the Michaelses opened the mill on weekends only, but even that was enough to see the possibilities.
“I could see more money in apple cider than I could in pounding nails,” said Charlie, who, returning from the military in the early ‘50s, had declined his father’s offer to become the third-generation operator of Michaels Market on Cooperstown’s Main Street. (Charlie’s grandson, Henry, was the eighth generation of Michealses to be born at Bassett.)
Today, since the opening of Cooperstown Dreams Park, the mill runs from May until the week before Christmas; Brenda and Bill Michaels, the son and daughter-in-law who have assumed ownership of the mill, freeze cider so it’s available during the summer months.
Even though, “it’s a season thing,” Charlie said. “Everybody looks to the fall – and apples.”
It was in mid-’80s when his interest in apples and his interest in things mechanical had an opportunity to merge.

Charlie and Barbara have been driving back and forth to Utah each winter for a couple of decades now and, stopping by an antique shop, they happened upon a vintage apple parer.
“We thought it would be pretty neat to show in the mill.”
As they continued to criss-cross the country annually, they continued to collect parers. They happened on Walnut, Iowa, “the antique capital of Iowa,” and discovered a treasure trove. Today, dozens of varied devices fill shelves on the walls of their den in Linn Kane’s old place.
During the apple festival Oct. 11, Michaels and Laverty attracted a steady line of the curious past a row of machines that, effortlessly, were skimming the peels off the red fruit. The kids in particular – Shelby Crofoot, 11, of Boonville, or Chris Broe, 5, of Mendon, Mass. – raised in a digital age, were mesmerized by the clanking and whirring.
At the end, a special treat: Laverty was running peeled, cored apples through a slicer, and the slices were tumbling out into a bowl of sugar and cinnamon. Delicious.
Two years ago, Charlie Michaels first assumed the APES presidency, with the main responsibility of organizing the society’s semi-annual conference.
His idea was to locate it – what better place? – in Fort Wayne, Ind., the burial site of Johnny Appleseed, that semi-mythical pioneer who planted apple orchards throughout Ohio and Indiana.
As it happened, the spike in gasoline prices last summer caused too many of the 89 members – they come from all over the country and as far away as Australia – to opt out, and so the gathering was cancelled.
One consequence: No one could be elected to replace Charlie Michaels, so he has agreed to serve another term.
Here’s the tipoff: He doesn’t mind.

Labels: 10-31-08, Apple Cider, Apple Parer, Glimmerglass

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As The Snow Flies, Apple Cider Offers A Last Taste of Fall

Sure, snow fell this week, but there’s still fresh cider to be had. Read on.

Annutto’s Farm Stand & Cider Mill

Located at 5396 Route 7, Oneonta
Phone: 432-7905
Open 9 -6 p.m., Monday through Sunday, through Dec. 22,
Annutto’s presses 850 gallons of fresh cider each week, sells 16 varieties of apples, cider donuts made fresh daily, New York cheese, fresh fruit and vegetables , bulk spices, nuts, candy, jelly, and baked goods.

Dyn’s Cider Mill

Located two miles south of Richfield Springs on Route 28, or seven miles north of Cooperstown.
Phone: (315) 858-2078
Open seven days a week, 9 a.m.-6 p.m., through March 1.
Dyn’s sells 16 varieties of apples, fresh cider, New York Cheese, New York Maple Syrup, gift packs, baked goods, and Christmas trees.
Seventy-nine years old, Dyn’s does custom pressing for any patron who brings at least six bushels. Make an appointment ahead of time.
Dyn’s serves breakfast on Sundays, 7 a.m.-noon, and spaghetti and lasagna Wednesdays, noon-8 p.m.
Check www.dynscidermill.com

Fly Creek Cider Mill & Orchard

Located at 288 Goose St, north of Fly Creek’s center four corners, just off County Route 26
Open every day, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. until the week before Christmas.
The Fly Creek Cider Mill has fresh apples, cider, donuts, apple wine, hard cider, salsa, dressings, hot sauces, preserves, aged cheddar cheese, and Mill made fudge.
The Snack Barn Restaurant & Bakery is open daily 9 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. and serves soup, sandwiches, fresh pies, and other apple delicacies.

Willy’s Farm & Cider Mill

Located at 349 Badeau Hill Road in Schenevus; take I-88’s Exit 18 and follow the red and white signs.
Phone: 638-9449
Open Friday, 12-5 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-5 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m. This Sunday, Nov. 2, is the last of day of the season, so hurry.
Willy’s also offers hayrides, a corn maze, pumpkins, apples, donuts, baked goods, crafts and plenty of room for kids to run around.

Labels: 10-31-08, Apple Cider, Glimmerglass

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:46 PM 0 comments

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Letters to the Editor

Mayor: Senator 20-Year Friend To Cooperstown

To the Editor:
I am writing this letter in support of Jim Seward for state Senate. 
I have known Jim more than 20 years and he has been a friend of Cooperstown’s for as long as I have known him.  I urge everyone to vote for Jim because he has helped the people of Cooperstown, he has helped me as mayor and he has helped just the plain ordinary me.
Jim has helped find grant funding for our restoration of our Village Office building.  He has helped with funds for our volunteer fire department and emergency squad. 
He has helped with funds for our sewage treatment plant.  He has helped with our infrastructure, recognizing how important this was to the region and to the State.  All this help has directly aided the people and residents of Cooperstown. 
He has helped me as mayor of this village by being a staunch supporter and resource as I have tried to fulfill my public service responsibility. 
He has always been there for me with technical assistance, state government help and aid whenever he could.  I count on his help and he has always been there for us.
Jim is such an integral part of Cooperstown that I think of him as a native son.  I urge you to support Jim as much as he has supported us.

CAROL BATEMAN WALLER
Mayor
Village of Cooperstown

Newcomer Needed To Achieve Change In Albany

To the Editor:
Anyone who still doesn’t see the distinction between Don Barber, local state Senate candidate, and incumbent James Seward hasn’t been looking.
Don Barber – a farmer and successful businessman – is well-experienced in private enterprise and hard work. His opponent’s entire working life has been spent feeding at the public trough as a career politician.
Don Barber is committed to improving local economies and revitalizing upstate, while Seward has been part and parcel of the tax and spend legislature, voting for ever-higher budgets each year.
Don Barber’s problem-solving abilities and successful record as a town supervisor are invaluable assets in breaking the decades-long gridlock that has paralyzed Albany. Seward, as an entrenched member of the Senate’s ruling elite, has been a major player in blocking reforms that would improve the most dysfunctional legislature in America.
Don Barber has a vision for a clean, healthy environment in our region, protecting our lands, water and air for future generations. His opponent is always ranked at or near the bottom by environmental groups reviewing legislators’ records.
Don Barber has fought an uphill, grass-roots campaign using small donations from constituents, while Seward has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from insurance companies and related interests, the same companies he is supposed to regulate as Insurance Committee chairman.
Meanwhile, New Yorkers suffer insurance rates among the highest in the country.
Don Barber has a well-designed plan for universal health care, to relieve small businesses of this burden, and to provide coverage for the many uninsured upstaters.
The choice is clear – Don Barber will bring a fresh approach to the state legislature, and make New York State a place to stay, work and raise families.
ANDREW MASON
Jefferson

Incident Involves Schools, Not Courts

To the Editor:
I would like to correct several factual errors in your recent account entitled, “Drug Suspect Chased, Caught Outside CCS.”
It is true that the suspected drug dealer ran down Walnut Street with sheriff’s deputies following on foot and in vehicles. The suspect, however, ran into a driveway and re-emerged several minutes later alone and undetected.
A local citizen, who had been watching the events, saw the suspect running toward the elementary school and realized the police had lost him.
The citizen, fearing for the children, began to chase the suspect and found him standing among children behind the school.
This citizen chased the suspect across the field toward the high school.
A sheriff’s vehicle, at this time, entered the high school; and the deputy exited his vehicle, pulled his weapon, and initiated a felony arrest.
Only after the weapon was pointed in the direction of children did a school administrator, at some risk to herself, run toward the children calling for a lockdown.
The accounts given of this incident by school officials grossly underestimate the danger posed to elementary school children. All parents should be better informed of the potential danger of having an unsecured play area.
Finally, a recent letter to the editor entitled, “Lambert Will Help Keep Otsego Safe,” tries to connect these unfortunate events with the election of John Lambert.
I am unsure of the connection between the foot chase and the need to elect Lambert.
The potential danger to local children speaks more to the quality of school officials than to the legal qualifications of Mr. Lambert. In this instance, it was courageous local citizens that helped keep our community and children safe.
KATHY PACHERILLE
Cooperstown

Prosecutors Prosecute, Not Judges

To the Editor:
In his Oct. 24 letter, Frank Miosek puts forth untenable proposition that a judge should be elected based on his or her record of criminal prosecution.
Criminal prosecution is for prosecutors, not judges.
Keeping in mind that a basic tenant of our legal system is that defendants are innocent until proven guilty, we must certainly allow that it is not the role of a judge to convict all those who are charged with a crime.
It is the role of the judge to assess each case based on what the prosecutor and the defense counsel bring to court. The judge must make sure that the constitutional rights of the accused have not been infringed upon.
Furthermore, the number of criminal cases in Otsego County Court is far less than the number of family court cases, which comprise 75 to 80 percent of cases heard in County Court.
In her 17 years as a practicing attorney, Judge Ghaleb also served as a law guardian – an attorney qualified to represent children. Her opponent, John Lambert, does not possess this qualification.
When the well-being of Otsego County children, mothers, and fathers hang in the balance, I would much rather Judge Ghaleb be making these decisions, based not on partisan politics but on documented experience and qualifications.
Just to get the appointment to the bench, Judge Ghaleb had to undergo a rigorous selection conducted by the New York State Judicial Screening Committee.
This committee rated Judge Ghaleb “highly qualified,” a necessary rating for a candidate’s name to be forwarded to the governor for nomination.
After being nominated by Gov. David Paterson, Judge Ghaleb was unanimously approved by a bipartisan vote in the state Senate.
Our county election should be bi-partisan as well. We should vote for the most experience and qualified candidate – Judge Ghaleb.
TERESA WINCHESTER
Town of Butternuts

Seward Elected Official Who Can Get Results

To the Editor:
In light of recent events on Wall Street, it is more important than ever to ensure we have proper leadership in government. In Albany that means state Sen. James Seward.
Senator Seward has been hard at work for more than two decades representing our interests, and it’s a job he is more than capable of continuing. While Upstate New York has felt the economic pinch, it could be much worse if Jim Seward wasn’t looking out for our interests.
Any time you hear of a boost to the local economy, chances are Senator Seward is involved. He has helped businesses with grants that have allowed for job growth, and he makes sure state money is funneled to local governments to make road and bridge repairs and to keep taxes down.
Senator Seward has also assisted local non-profit groups that provide much-needed services to those in need. He looks out for area residents, not special interest groups. His mainstream approach has been successful over the years for a reason.
Senator Seward has received numerous endorsements as well, including one from Responsible New York, a reform-minded group spearheaded by Thomas Golisano. This goes to show Senator Seward is working for change.
We need to return Senator Seward to Albany on Tuesday, Nov. 4. He is a solid, respected leader, and the type of elected official who can get results.
CHARLOTTE P. KONIUTO
Milford

Incumbent Too Close To Insurance Interests

To the Editor:
Since moving to Cooperstown in 1995, I have become increasingly dissatisfied with Senator Jim Seward’s representation of the 51st District in Albany.
As chairman of the Insurance Committee, Jim Seward has, since the year 2000, accepted well over $300,000 in contributions from the insurance industry in this state, and his voting record on insurance issues clearly reflects that fact.
He has doggedly fought against government oversight and regulation of the insurance industry, and I believe he should be held accountable for contributing to the mess we are currently in: insurance premiums going through the roof, “stripped-down” health-care plans, and seniors worried sick about limited health coverage.
Jim Seward seems to me to be a likable man, and, yes, he has managed to bring home some slices of bacon – and thereby charm the electorate into keeping him in office for over two decades now. He has shown himself to be very adept at making political hay.
Don Barber, too, knows about making hay – the real kind: he grew up on a dairy farm, and remains a farmer today, operating 65 acres in Tompkins County. But he also runs a thriving construction firm, Sunny Brook Builders, and so he knows firsthand the various problems faced by the small business owner as well.
Barber is keenly aware of how vital family farms and small businesses are to this entire upstate region, and I know he will work very hard to revitalize all parts of the local economy.
Barber has had a long and distinguished record of public service going back to the early 1980s, and he has received endorsement from many individuals and organizations, including Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles Schumer, Congressman Michael Arcuri, the New York Working Families Party, the New York League of Conservation Voters, and the Atlantic Chapter of the Sierra Club.
(And so what if Barber isn’t from around Cooperstown? Surely all of us care about more than Cooperstown alone!)
Barber has shown himself to be a man of dedication and vision. I hope that voters will demonstrate that they have vision too, and will vote for Don Barber on Nov. 4.
MARY M. WEINBERGER
Cooperstown

Judge Ghaleb Has Been Fully Vetted

To the Editor:
My letter of support for Judge Jill Ghaleb comes easily, but I find it a great challenge to convey all of the strengths and qualities that she “brings to the bench” in less than 300 words.
But, as many have said, sometimes less is more. I will present a “slice” of her many attributes that combine to form a strong and qualified package making her the best candidate for Otsego County Judge.
I find it laudable that Judge Ghaleb took the initiative to complete the three-inch thick application for appointment to the County Judge position.
Appointment is really a misnomer. A person is not “magically” chosen to fill a judicial vacancy. Judge Ghaleb was rigorously evaluated by the State Judicial Screening Committee.
This is a bipartisan group that fully investigated her experience and character. They sought input from a number of sources including opposing counsel (attorneys) and judges involved with her cases as an attorney.
The Screening Committee is made up of attorneys from around the state, Republican and Democratic leaders of the legislature, eminent jurists and the state bar association.
Of the “several” applicants screened for the position, there was only ONE person found to be “highly qualified.” That individual was Judge Ghaleb. Her credentials were presented to the state Senate and Senator Jim Seward seconded the motion to appoint Judge Ghaleb as Otsego county judge.
Judge Ghaleb has been competently and professionally executing the role of county judge since June. Let us acknowledge her drive and initiative and allow her to remain in the office she so conscientiously attained.
JANINE SABELLA, M.D.
Cooperstown

Hanna Would Put Country Above Just Getting Along

To the Editor:
I encourage people to vote for Richard Hanna to be our next Congressman from New York’s 24th Congressional District. This is not an argument against Michael Arcuri, who seems to be a good and decent man. This is an argument strongly supporting Richard Hanna who has potential to be an outstanding representative in Congress.
Richard’s greatest attributes as a Congressman will be his intelligence, his independence and his boundless energy. His record of leadership and success in business are evidence of his intelligence, drive and ability to get things done.
His ongoing service to, and support for, numerous organizations in our community shows that he has always been sincere in his commitment to our community.
My primary reason for voting for Richard is that I am confident that he will make independent, well-reasoned decisions.
Many, probably most, of our problems in Washington are the result of loyal party members “going along to get along” in their party, supporting the party bosses, both Republican and Democrat.
If our members of Congress were more concerned with acting in the long term best interests of the country, rather than acting in the short term best interests of their party leaders, our country could have avoided many of the problems we face today.
I do not agree with Richard on each and every one of his policy positions, but I am convinced that his positions are reasonable and well considered. I will vote for Richard Hanna Nov. 4 because I am confident that he is capable of, and dedicated to, being an outstanding Congressman who will do what is best for his district and best for his country.
STEPHEN MAHLUM
Cooperstown

Independent Tilts To Seward

To the Editor:
For more than twenty years Jim Seward has ably represented Otsego County and the surrounding region in the State legislature. He has listened to the concerns of residents and helped support local businesses and cultural organizations.
Jim has worked hard to give a voice to the rural New Yorkers of the 51st Senate District. Amongst his many accomplishments are programs that supply reduced cost electrical power to area businesses to preserve jobs and making sure that state funding to area schools continues to help build a future for Upstate New York.
I was impressed by the endorsement Jim received from Responsible New York, a bipartisan effort to reform our state government in the best interests of the citizens, rather than special interest groups.
As a lifelong independent voter I believe that real reform can only come by Republicans and Democrats working together to change the way our government does business.
Jim’s years of experience working with legislators from across New York gives him the tools to help forge a more effective state government.
I am voting for Jim on Nov. 4 and I hope you will to.
GARET LIVERMORE
Cooperstown

Your Vote Counts on Nov. 4

To the Editor:
In the upcoming election, I will be voting for John Lambert as the next Otsego County Court Judge.
John is a lifelong resident of Otsego County and, with his wife and three children, is proud to call Otsego County “home.” As chief assistant D.A., and an exceptional criminal prosecutor, John has experience in all three facets of county court. John is the best and only qualified candidate to be our next county court judge.
For the 51st state Senate race, Senator Jim Seward is clearly the best choice and has my vote. Senator Seward has and continues to work hard for the residents of his district, and since Otsego County is his home, he takes extra pride in serving our county’s interests in Albany.
Richard Hanna gets my vote for the 24th Congressional District. Again, as a resident of Otsego County, we can be especially proud to send him to Congress.
Additionally important for our area is the election of Sandy Treadwell for the 20th Congressional District.
This team will continue the fight for economic growth for upstate New York. Please offer them your support on Nov. 4.
SHEILA ROSS
Otsego County Republican Chair

Labels: 10-31-08, Letters to the Editor, Opinion, Perspectives

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Locals

2 Town of Maryland Residents Passed 100th Birthday in 2008

Two Town of Maryland residents have celebrated their 100th birthdays this year: Meta Richter and Ida Lee.
Born March 28, 1908, near Bremerhaven, Germany, Meta came to the U.S. in 1927 and married Carl Richter in 1930. They lived on Long Island until 1943, when they purchased a dairy farm in Schenevus. Met and Carl had one daughter, Margaret (Peter) Crounse, who lives in Penfield.
Meta is a grandmother to two grandsons, David and Jeffery, who live in Vermont and Penfield, as well as four great grandchildren.
Meta’s husband passed away in 1975, and in June 2006, Meta moved to the Ross Adult Home on Route 7 in Maryland.
Ida Lee was born in Franklin, Kansas, on Aug. 19, 1908. The daughter of Eastern European immigrants, her family moved constantly to find work mostly in the Midwestern strip coal mines.

Ida went to many different schools, eventually attending secretarial school. She moved to New York State and worked at Crooning Pines Summer Camp in Warrensburg. There she met and married her boss, Gene Lee, in 1934. They had a daughter, Barbara, who is married to Robert Suggs and lives in the State of Maryland.
Their family eventually moved to Hartwick, where Gene passed away in 1951. Ida and Barbara moved to Cooperstown, where Ida worked for Otsego County Social Services.
Ida moved to the Ross Adult Home in October 2004, where she currently lives and enjoys visits and correspondence with friends.

TOP SCORES: Mary Ann Robinson took first place with a score of 5,410 when six tables Senior Citizens Bridge played on Tuesday,Oct. 28. Marcia Dunn was second with 5,020; Joe Langan third with 4,800. Jane Curtis won the special prize. The Christmas bridge lunch at The Otesaga is Dec. 2, $16 a person.

Labels: 10-31-08, Locals

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:25 PM 0 comments

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Environmental Educator New Chamber Executive

COOPERSTOWN

A plunge in 2003 has led Susan O’Handley five years later to 31 Chestnut St., where she took her desk Monday, Oct. 27, as the third executive director of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce in the past 18 months.
A partner with her husband Jeffrey in The Wildlife Learning Company, Hartwick, O’Handley met with the full chamber board Thursday, Oct. 23, and was appointed at the evening’s end.
After graduating from SUNY Geneseo, Susan went back to her native eastern Long Island, and got into environmental education, first at Caumsett State Historic Park, the former Marshall Fields mansion, then at the Theodore Roosevelt Bird Sanctuary in Oyster Bay, Save the Sound, Queens College’s Center for Environmental Teaching & Research and, finally, a short stint at Boys & Girls Harbor, a camp for disadvantaged children.
Along the way, she met her husband, and the couple began raising a family of two daughters, Meg, now 14 and a CCS freshman, and Kate, now 11 and a sixth grader.
The plunge came when Susan and Jeff concluded they didn’t want to move the girls around anymore from job to job. They decided to move to a place where they wanted to live, and see if they could make a living there.
They had friends who had graduated from the SUNYs Oneonta, Cobleskill and Delhi, as well as Hartwick College, so knew about Otsego County, but the first time Susan saw the neighborhood was when they came up looking for a house.
And so it was early in 2003 that the O’Handleys moved to a home in Hartwick. And that July they launched The Wildlife Learning Company, which since has become something of a fixture around here.
The company’s first contract was that fall, providing environmental education to Amy Parr’s class at Cooperstown Middle School, then at Canajoharie Middle School, and the undertaking was launched.
The last three years, The Wildlife Learning Company has organized the annual Otsego Lake Festival for OCCA, with Jeffrey’s live raptor exhibit becoming a staple. Separately, the O’Handleys volunteered their services to helped annual Earth Festival in Milford continue to flourish.
When the search began to replace John Bullis, who resigned to return to academe a year after replacing Polly Renckens, who had held the position for nine years, Susan decide to take that next career step.
A search committee headed by Jane Duell, the chamber vice president, recommended her to the full board.
In an interview after her first executive committee meeting on Monday, Oct. 27, the new executive director said she sees her new responsibilities as a “blending” of everything she’s done so far.
She brings “the perspective of a small-business owner” and “years of management and administration of non-profits.”
“If you look at the skills – grants writing, communication, management, organization – these skills translate over.”
For his part, chamber President Marc Kingsley said, “I think her people skills are one of her greatest strengths. She has the quiet confidence to listen and make decisions.”
In the past year and a half, Kingsley said, the chamber has sought to develop a committee system, giving members more of an opportunity to carry out chamber activities.
“The board and committee are already moving forward,” he said. Susan, being “a good people person,” will be able “to reach out to membership, use her customer service skills and bring the office up to speed” in meeting membership needs, he said.

Labels: 10-31-08, Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, Front Page, Susan O’Handley

posted by The Freeman's Journal @ 5:19 PM 0 comments

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Hartwick Seminary Marine Among 250

By LAURA COX

Kevin was one of five sons of Lorraine and Robert Coulman.
He and his brothers, Bryan, Dennis, Christopher and Robert, were raised in Hartwick Seminary, little suspecting what was in store for one of them.
Kevin attended Cooperstown High School when his family moved to the county in 1971. He played varsity football and baseball, graduating in 1974.
He went on to SUNY Oneonta, where he was a member, then president, of the Iota Tau Kappa fraternity.
Graduating in 1978, he enlisted in the Marines and made Camp Lejeune, N.C., his home base. He was engaged to Valerie Stancziak, from Kearney, N.J.
His future seemed assured when, on Oct. 23, 1983, Marine Sgt. Kevin Coulman, then only 27, died, along with 250 other U.S. servicemen, when a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives into the U.S. Marine Headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon.
•
And so, 25 years had passed when a small gathering occurred at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at the memorial in Neahwa Park to the men who died in the bombing.
At 4 p.m., Maddy Hayes, a friend of Coulman’s family, had lain flowers at his grave site at the St. Mary’s Cemetery in Index and she was there that evening in Oneonta.
“I asked his parents” – they now live in Florida – “if there was anything I could do for them to honor this day,” said Hayes. “His mother, Lorraine, asked if I could put flowers at his grave or at the memorial, I decided to do both.”
Hayes contacted Terry Bliss, a childhood friend of Coulman’s who lives in Hyde Park, and invited him to meet her at the gravesite. She also called the members of the ITK fraternity at SUNY Oneonta, who met her at the memorial site. None knew Coulman, but he had been a fraternity brother and part of its history.
Bliss and Hayes reminisced and spoke softly in the cemetery; Bliss had many baseball memories about Coulman, starting with trading baseball cards.
“I thought I had a lot, until I met him,” Bliss shared.
“We used to play baseball in the old gladiola and potato fields in Hartwick Seminary, then we played together in high school,” he went on. “One game Kevin hit a homerun and his swing was affected from then on; all he tried to do was hit homeruns.”
•
Hayes is a department secretary at SUNY Oneonta, met Kevin at school, and became friends with his family after Coulman’s death.
“I remember his father kissing the casket, it was such an emotional moment,” said Hayes.
He placed half a dozen roses at the foot of Coulman’s grave, where two other sets of fresh flowers already were, then put four roses at the monument in Neahwa Park.
Members of the Coulman family gathered in North Carolina, along with the families of the other marines who were killed that day, for a 25th reunion and to honor the memories of their children.
Lorraine Coulman was the driving force behind the monument in Neahwa park. She spent three years raising more than $6,000 for the granite monument and to have the names of the 24 soldiers from New York State who died in the bombing engraved in it. The monument reads “Let Peace Take Root,” and “Peace isn’t Cheap.”
Coulman was part of an international peace keeping force when he died.

Anita Briggs/The Freeman's Journal

Maddy Hayes lays red roses next to Kevin Coulman’s name in Neahwa Park on Thursday, Oct. 23, the 25th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of a Marine compound in Beirut that killed more than 200 U.S. servicemen. Coulman, of Hartwick Seminary, was one of those who died that day. Michael Fronckowiak, a member of Iota Tau Kappa, the Marine’s fraternity at SUNY Oneonta, holds white carnations. Lighting candles are other fraternity members, from left, Dave Schnurman, Dan Melchiowe, Bryan Hunt Mike Picarello, Keith Gouier, Robby Campchero, Andy Caremello, Joe Schenona and Tomas Helfrich.

Labels: 10-31-08, Front Page, Kevin Coulman, Lebanon, SUNY Oneonta

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Cooperstown and Around

Friday, October 24, 2008

PANCAKE TIME: The Cooperstown Rotary Club’s traditional election day pancake feast – its 51st – will be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. election day, Tuesday, Nov. 4, at the Vets Club at 60 Mzin St. $6 for adults; children $3.50. Tickets are available from Rotarians or at the door. Don’t miss it.

KID CITY ON HOLD: The safety pad at the new Kid City has failed to pass the “high standard” test and will have to be replaced, delaying opening of the new playground until spring, CCS Supt. of Schools Mary Jo McPhail announced.

NEW STATUE: Roberto Clemente’s family and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling will be on hand at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, in the Hall of Fame lobby, to unveil the “Character & Courage” statue – featuring Clemente, Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson. A “Voices of the Game” interview will follow at 2 p.m.

BOOKS WANTED: Donate books in good condition for next summer’s Friends of the Village Library book sale from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, Nov. 1, at 22 Main. Please, no magazines or encyclopedias.

STONE SOUP: The Stone Soup cauldron will be boiling by 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” church hall. Bring a carrot, onion, potato to contribute, and have a bowl of soup between noon and 3 p.m. Bruce Markusen will entertain.

DIRTY WATER: The Village of Cooperstown will be flushing fire hydrants 5-5:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, Nov. 3-7, so residents may experience low water pressure and discolored water. Questions, call 547-5591.

Labels: 10-31-08, Cooperstown and Around, Front Page

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