Miller Uneasy About Creating City Office
By JIM KEVLIN
Mayor Miller has shown himself to be a decisive guy.
But at mid-week he was still pondering what to do next after 86 members of Oneonta’s creative community engaged in lively debate Saturday morning, Jan. 22, at an Arts Summit the mayor hosted in the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center’s atrium.
As the morning began, Miller reported the city’s budget contains $2-3 million of unencumbered surplus, some of which might be available for one of his signature initiatives: Using the arts as a magnet to bring tourists – and outside money – into the community.
“A quarter-million dollars is not a lot of money to spend on what I call community improvement,” he said, (adding at another point, “I’m not in it for the arts; I’m in it for the economy.”
The mayor reported reviewing two strategic plans developed in the 1990s that concluded Oneonta’s arts community – music, theater, dance, painting, artisanship – would be a fine foundation for economic development.
“It just never went anywhere,” Miller said.
Primed, attendees at 10 tables of eight conferred on how things might move forward and, reporting back after 45 minutes, proposed such innovations as an “arts czar” or a City Hall Office of Arts & Culture.
“What have we been lacking?” asked Kathy Tobiassen, Orpheus Theatre president. “A point person in city government. What is the city going to do for us?”
“My first reaction is ‘no,’” said Miller, who has assumed the role of interim chairman of the board of financially troubled Foothills,. “But that’s just by first reaction.”
Still, “the consensus seems to be the city needs to lead this activity.”
The gathering included a broad spectrum of the Oneonta arts community, from the UCCCA to the Franklin Stage to the colleges.
SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski attended, as did Bob Brzozowski from the Greater Oneonta Historical Society, Jon Weiss from Oneonta Theatre, and four of the seven aldermen.
The following Tuesday, Miller, in an interview, said he was still not inclined to create a city position, since that would require an unwieldy hiring process.
“I’m being very careful about the next step,” he said, “because it could derail it or advance it.”
Some 10-12 Arts Summit participants had already volunteered to join a task force to move the initiative forward, but Miller was considering whether to staff the initiative through an existing entity – Main Street Oneonta, for instance – create a new organization, or identify an individual with the heft and leadership skills to move matters forward.
He also pointed out that any decision is not his alone, since Common Council would have to approve any expenditure, and he would need to present clear goals and measurements of success.
“I think I can make the case and the council will go along with it,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a lot of opposition.”
But, he added, “I still have to define ‘it.’”
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Landmark Bresee Sign Preserved
With Ruff House End, Demolition Near Over
By JIM KEVLIN
The huge landmark sign, “Bresee’s Oneonta Department Store” that adorned the Wall Street side of the establishment for a half-century was removed Tuesday, Jan. 21.
By the time you read this, the former Ruff House, a former saloon on the other side of Wall Street, should have been razed as well.
The last building to go – the brick structure, across the alley from NBT Bank, which used to house Bresee’s kitchen department – should likewise be gone in a day or two.
That leaves some additional reinforcing of the back wall of the remaining building – the original 1895 Bresee’s Department Store, which fronts on Main Street – and that should be it, Rick Eastman of Eastman Associates, which handled the project, reported in recent days.
But by next Wednesday or Thursday, the job that began before Thanksgiving should be complete.
“There were no surprises,” said Eastman, who had honed his crews’ demolition skills by razing the former two-story SEFCU headquarters in Sidney, after the credit union opened a new building last fall.
Nonetheless, he allowed, “we had some obstacles to get around.” For instance, the C&D landfill in Western New York that had been taking the debris used up its 2010 quota in December and couldn’t take anymore.
Eastman’s crew covered the material on site until, after Dec. 31, a new quota-year began and it could be shipped out again.
The fate of the hanging sign – 30-40 feet tall – had been a matter of concern for the Greater Oneonta Historical Society and local preservationists, but it appears those concerns have been allayed.
With former department store owner Mark Bresee acting as intermediary, an unnamed individual had come forward and offered to store the sign until an eventual use can be decided upon, according to Bob Brzozowski, GOHS executive director.
There is some hope, he said, that the sign, refurbished, might again hang on the side of Bresee’s when the remaining building is renovated into shops, offices and housing over the next year, but nothing has been decided yet.
The Otsego County Economic Development Office, which is overseeing the project, expects to be sending out bid packages to prospective developers in the next few days, according to Carolyn Lewis, that office’s director.
By JIM KEVLIN
The huge landmark sign, “Bresee’s Oneonta Department Store” that adorned the Wall Street side of the establishment for a half-century was removed Tuesday, Jan. 21.
By the time you read this, the former Ruff House, a former saloon on the other side of Wall Street, should have been razed as well.
The last building to go – the brick structure, across the alley from NBT Bank, which used to house Bresee’s kitchen department – should likewise be gone in a day or two.
That leaves some additional reinforcing of the back wall of the remaining building – the original 1895 Bresee’s Department Store, which fronts on Main Street – and that should be it, Rick Eastman of Eastman Associates, which handled the project, reported in recent days.
But by next Wednesday or Thursday, the job that began before Thanksgiving should be complete.
“There were no surprises,” said Eastman, who had honed his crews’ demolition skills by razing the former two-story SEFCU headquarters in Sidney, after the credit union opened a new building last fall.
Nonetheless, he allowed, “we had some obstacles to get around.” For instance, the C&D landfill in Western New York that had been taking the debris used up its 2010 quota in December and couldn’t take anymore.
Eastman’s crew covered the material on site until, after Dec. 31, a new quota-year began and it could be shipped out again.
The fate of the hanging sign – 30-40 feet tall – had been a matter of concern for the Greater Oneonta Historical Society and local preservationists, but it appears those concerns have been allayed.
With former department store owner Mark Bresee acting as intermediary, an unnamed individual had come forward and offered to store the sign until an eventual use can be decided upon, according to Bob Brzozowski, GOHS executive director.
There is some hope, he said, that the sign, refurbished, might again hang on the side of Bresee’s when the remaining building is renovated into shops, offices and housing over the next year, but nothing has been decided yet.
The Otsego County Economic Development Office, which is overseeing the project, expects to be sending out bid packages to prospective developers in the next few days, according to Carolyn Lewis, that office’s director.
Lightfoot, Foothills Angel?
One idea being circulated at Mayor Miller’s Arts Summit: A Gordon Lightfoot benefit concert to help close Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center’s budget gap. Promoters are collaborating to make it happen. Stay tuned.
CITY OF THE HILLS:
INPUT SOUGHT: The city’s Zoning Task Force will present its proposed revisions to the city code to the public at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan 31, at Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
GAMBLING FOES: LEAF Inc. is sponsoring a Fine Arts Contest with prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250 for striking images dramatizing the growth of problem gambling in Otsego County. For details, check Facebook under “LEAF Art Contest.” (See B7)
OPERA VISIT: Francesca Zambello, Glimmerglass Opera’s new general & artistic director, planned to conduct a master class at SUNY Oneonta Wednesday, Jan. 26, followed by a panel discussion. (For details on the season, see B1)
ELEVEN RULES: This year we will experience four unusual dates – 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11 and 11/11/11. Now, figure this out: Take the last two digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and see what you get. Spooky!
GAMBLING FOES: LEAF Inc. is sponsoring a Fine Arts Contest with prizes of $1,000, $500 and $250 for striking images dramatizing the growth of problem gambling in Otsego County. For details, check Facebook under “LEAF Art Contest.” (See B7)
OPERA VISIT: Francesca Zambello, Glimmerglass Opera’s new general & artistic director, planned to conduct a master class at SUNY Oneonta Wednesday, Jan. 26, followed by a panel discussion. (For details on the season, see B1)
ELEVEN RULES: This year we will experience four unusual dates – 1/1/11, 1/11/11, 11/1/11 and 11/11/11. Now, figure this out: Take the last two digits of the year you were born plus the age you will be this year and see what you get. Spooky!
 |
| E. Lawrence Budro/ HOMETOWN ONEONTA Art Cotter, director of the Main Street Baptist Church choir, accepts the prize coffee pot after winning the second annual Choir Challenge at The Otesaga. The event raised $1,400 for local food banks. |
Meyers Shift: Springbrook To Pathfinder
EDMESTON
Kelly A. Meyers, formerly with Springbrook and The Arc Otsego, has joined Pathfinder Village as director of admissions.
In her new post, Meyers will reach out to new families and to others in the Down Syndrome/Developmental Disabilities community, spreading the word on Pathfinder’s “village” model of care, according to Paul Landers, Pathfinder CEO.
At Springbrook, Meyers managed day-to-day operations of early childhood special education services, including budgeting, staff development, and referrals for children up through age 5.
Kelly A. Meyers, formerly with Springbrook and The Arc Otsego, has joined Pathfinder Village as director of admissions.
In her new post, Meyers will reach out to new families and to others in the Down Syndrome/Developmental Disabilities community, spreading the word on Pathfinder’s “village” model of care, according to Paul Landers, Pathfinder CEO.
At Springbrook, Meyers managed day-to-day operations of early childhood special education services, including budgeting, staff development, and referrals for children up through age 5.
EXHIBIT OPENS:
EXHIBIT OPENS: Hartwick College Art Professor Katherine Kreisher’s exhibit, “Meeting My Selves” opened Jan. 20 at Lycoming College, Williamsport, Pa.
Bassett’s Oncology-Radiation Chief To Offer Services At FoxCare Center
Bassett Healthcare’s chief of radiation oncology, Dr. Timothy Campbell, has begun seeing cancer patients needing radiation therapy at the FoxCare Center.
Dr. Campbell and Bassett assumed the responsibility with the Dec. 31 retirement of Dr. Henry Keys.
Renovations are underway that will allow the Bassett Cancer Institute to move its Oneonta cancer services from 7 Associate Drive to the FoxCare no later than March.
Dr. Yoshiro Matsuo, Bassett hematologist and oncologist, will then see cancer patients at the new location.
In addition, Dr. James Leonardo and Patty Jacob, family nurse practitioner, will work alongside Dr. Matsuo and continue to see cancer patients in Oneonta.
Dr. Campbell and Bassett assumed the responsibility with the Dec. 31 retirement of Dr. Henry Keys.
Renovations are underway that will allow the Bassett Cancer Institute to move its Oneonta cancer services from 7 Associate Drive to the FoxCare no later than March.
Dr. Yoshiro Matsuo, Bassett hematologist and oncologist, will then see cancer patients at the new location.
In addition, Dr. James Leonardo and Patty Jacob, family nurse practitioner, will work alongside Dr. Matsuo and continue to see cancer patients in Oneonta.
City Council Fills Commission Vacancies
Common Council appointed or reappointed the following to city boards and commissions at its Tuesday, Jan. 18, meeting:
• Board of Public Service (through Jan. 14, 2012) – David Ashe, Margery Merzig, Louis Tisenchek, Peter Friedman, David Hayes
• Planning Commission (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Dennis Finn, Eugene Betterley, Michelle Eastman (new)
• Environmental Board (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Richard Denicore
• Parks & Recreation Board (through Jan. 14, 1012) – Jane Grastorf, Cynthia McCarthy, Geoffrey Davis, Stephen Pindar, Tim Catella (new)
• Human Rights Commission (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Sita Fey, Teressa Sivers, Jeffrey Pegram
• Zoning/Housing Board of Appeals (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Edmond Overbey, John Rafter, Stanley “Chip” Holmes
• Americans with Disabilities Committee (through Jan. 14, 2012) – Christine Zachmayer, Seth Haight
• Examining Board of Electricians (through Dec. 31, 2013) – Art Rorick (new), Edward Dower, Arthur Masucci
• Library Board of Trustees (through Jan. 14, 2016) – Susan Kurkowski
• Board of Public Service (through Jan. 14, 2012) – David Ashe, Margery Merzig, Louis Tisenchek, Peter Friedman, David Hayes
• Planning Commission (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Dennis Finn, Eugene Betterley, Michelle Eastman (new)
• Environmental Board (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Richard Denicore
• Parks & Recreation Board (through Jan. 14, 1012) – Jane Grastorf, Cynthia McCarthy, Geoffrey Davis, Stephen Pindar, Tim Catella (new)
• Human Rights Commission (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Sita Fey, Teressa Sivers, Jeffrey Pegram
• Zoning/Housing Board of Appeals (through Jan. 14, 2014) – Edmond Overbey, John Rafter, Stanley “Chip” Holmes
• Americans with Disabilities Committee (through Jan. 14, 2012) – Christine Zachmayer, Seth Haight
• Examining Board of Electricians (through Dec. 31, 2013) – Art Rorick (new), Edward Dower, Arthur Masucci
• Library Board of Trustees (through Jan. 14, 2016) – Susan Kurkowski
Chorus Elects Jo Melmer Sweet Adeline Of 2010
The entire City of the Hills Chorus has chosen Jo Melmer as 2010 Sweet Adeline of the Year for her contribution to the singing group.
Jo, a baritone, joined the local group in 1981, four years before it was chartered with Sweet Adelines International.
In 2010, Jo began in January to plan the 25th Anniversary Concert in September, chairing the Planning Committee, selling ads for the program and handling the publicity.
She also handled publicity generally, during a year when the Sweet Adelines performed more concerts in local towns than ever before.
She helped developed the chorus’ Web site, www.harmonize.com/chc, and put the group on Facebook.
Over 28 years, Jo has chaired the Costume Committee and the Choreography Committee, and has served as treasurer.
An avid quartet member, she and three other women would meet an extra evening of the week to perfect their musical craft. She has participated in three quartets: Crystal Chords, Fancy That! and Caprice.
For the past several years, she has taken a lead role in the Singing Valentines program, lining up the singers and promoting the activity.
A retired Laurens Central School teacher, Jo lives in Oneonta with husband Bob. In retirement she plays bridge, line dances at Elm Park Methodist, and has traveled to Europe and to visit her son Arizona.
Jo, a baritone, joined the local group in 1981, four years before it was chartered with Sweet Adelines International.
In 2010, Jo began in January to plan the 25th Anniversary Concert in September, chairing the Planning Committee, selling ads for the program and handling the publicity.
She also handled publicity generally, during a year when the Sweet Adelines performed more concerts in local towns than ever before.
She helped developed the chorus’ Web site, www.harmonize.com/chc, and put the group on Facebook.
Over 28 years, Jo has chaired the Costume Committee and the Choreography Committee, and has served as treasurer.
An avid quartet member, she and three other women would meet an extra evening of the week to perfect their musical craft. She has participated in three quartets: Crystal Chords, Fancy That! and Caprice.
For the past several years, she has taken a lead role in the Singing Valentines program, lining up the singers and promoting the activity.
A retired Laurens Central School teacher, Jo lives in Oneonta with husband Bob. In retirement she plays bridge, line dances at Elm Park Methodist, and has traveled to Europe and to visit her son Arizona.
JAMES HERMANS: Might County Become Dish, Texas, Of North?
I had the pleasure of spending time with Mayor Calvin Tillman of Dish, Texas, when I drove him to speak with local officials Tuesday, Feb. 16, 2010, during the day and in the evening to a public event at Oneonta’s Unitarian Universalist Church.
Dish receives emissions from 11 natural-gas compressor stations and many pipelines. The results are seen in serious health issues for quite a few residents of this little town. High levels of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds have been recorded which are above safe levels.
My most poignant personal experience with Mayor Tillman occurred driving up Route 205 to Cooperstown.
Calvin looking out at a cornfield says: “In Texas you could not drive straight through at 55-60 mph on a road like this.”
I ask why not?
“Because there would be so much heavy-duty tanker-truck traffic from the gas wells. These corn fields would make perfect well sites.”
The Marcellus Shale (one of several target strata for the gas companies) in New York State alone is over 3.5 times the size of its relative, the Texas Barnett shale.
It suddenly hit me how much my life will change if natural gas drilling proceeds. Like many people in Otsego County, I travel Routes 205 and 28 many times in a month. A lot of gas leases border both 205 and 28.
Just imagine Route 28 with the 350,000+/- tourists a summer traveling to Cooperstown and waiting on the massive tankers carrying water, toxic chemicals and heavy-duty equipment.
There can be little doubt that traffic congestion, road deterioration, accidents and pollution will result. What will this mean to tourism in Cooperstown?
What happens when a tanker carrying toxic waste water from the wells has a spill on the road? Is Otsego County or New York State ready to pay for the clean up? Spills are the most common accident in natural gas production. Colorado recorded 1,549 spills between 2003 to 2008, about one a day. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission)
Mayor Tillman later stated that, to handle the heavy equipment and tanker traffic, roads must have a gravel base with 8 inches of asphalt on top. Presently state highways like 205 and 28 have about 2 inches of asphalt. (Delta Engineering will be performing a road assessment in several towns in 2011-12)
That would be a very expensive highway, especially if tourists just get disgusted with the industrial level traffic and decide to go elsewhere.
Jim Herman, who lives in Hartwick, is OCCA Conservationist of the Year.
Dish receives emissions from 11 natural-gas compressor stations and many pipelines. The results are seen in serious health issues for quite a few residents of this little town. High levels of carcinogenic and neurotoxin compounds have been recorded which are above safe levels.
My most poignant personal experience with Mayor Tillman occurred driving up Route 205 to Cooperstown.
Calvin looking out at a cornfield says: “In Texas you could not drive straight through at 55-60 mph on a road like this.”
I ask why not?
“Because there would be so much heavy-duty tanker-truck traffic from the gas wells. These corn fields would make perfect well sites.”
The Marcellus Shale (one of several target strata for the gas companies) in New York State alone is over 3.5 times the size of its relative, the Texas Barnett shale.
It suddenly hit me how much my life will change if natural gas drilling proceeds. Like many people in Otsego County, I travel Routes 205 and 28 many times in a month. A lot of gas leases border both 205 and 28.
Just imagine Route 28 with the 350,000+/- tourists a summer traveling to Cooperstown and waiting on the massive tankers carrying water, toxic chemicals and heavy-duty equipment.
There can be little doubt that traffic congestion, road deterioration, accidents and pollution will result. What will this mean to tourism in Cooperstown?
What happens when a tanker carrying toxic waste water from the wells has a spill on the road? Is Otsego County or New York State ready to pay for the clean up? Spills are the most common accident in natural gas production. Colorado recorded 1,549 spills between 2003 to 2008, about one a day. (Source: Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission)
Mayor Tillman later stated that, to handle the heavy equipment and tanker traffic, roads must have a gravel base with 8 inches of asphalt on top. Presently state highways like 205 and 28 have about 2 inches of asphalt. (Delta Engineering will be performing a road assessment in several towns in 2011-12)
That would be a very expensive highway, especially if tourists just get disgusted with the industrial level traffic and decide to go elsewhere.
Jim Herman, who lives in Hartwick, is OCCA Conservationist of the Year.
Last Call For Comedy At Foothills
There’s limited seating and tickets are going fast for “The Not Too Far From Home Comedy Tour,” which plays at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, at Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
Features are Aaron David Ward, of TV’s “The Glenn Slingerland Situation?” and Boston Comedy Festival, and Deric Harrington, of Chicago and Tampa Improv comedy clubs, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes” and “The Comedy Thesaurus.”
Tickets are $15. Call 431-2080. Cash bar and refreshments available.
Features are Aaron David Ward, of TV’s “The Glenn Slingerland Situation?” and Boston Comedy Festival, and Deric Harrington, of Chicago and Tampa Improv comedy clubs, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Jokes” and “The Comedy Thesaurus.”
Tickets are $15. Call 431-2080. Cash bar and refreshments available.
HARTWICK COMMENCEMENT SPEAKER
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| Dr. Gilbert Howlett Smith, a 1959 Hartwick College graduate and chief senior investigator of mammary stem cell biology at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Md., will be commencement speaker at graduation ceremonies this year at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, May 28, on Elmore Field. He is seen here with Hartwick President Margaret L. Drugovich. |
It’s Chili Bowl Time Again At Wilber Mansion
It’s that Super Bowl time of year and, in Oneonta, that means Chili Bowl, too.
Organized by the UCCCA, all the chili you can eat in a hand-made bowl will be offered again this year, noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Wilber Mansion, 11 Ford Ave. Price just $10.
If you’re interested in making chili and competing in the contest, call 432.2070. The judging will be done by Oneonta firefighters.
Music will be by Jammin in the Mansion. Beer will be by Ommegang Brewery. And a quilt exhibition will be under way in the galleries.
Organized by the UCCCA, all the chili you can eat in a hand-made bowl will be offered again this year, noon-4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 6, at the Wilber Mansion, 11 Ford Ave. Price just $10.
If you’re interested in making chili and competing in the contest, call 432.2070. The judging will be done by Oneonta firefighters.
Music will be by Jammin in the Mansion. Beer will be by Ommegang Brewery. And a quilt exhibition will be under way in the galleries.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Ioxus . . . READY TO ROMP AS IT MOVES INTO SOCCER HALL OF FAME HQ
By JIM KEVLIN
Yes, there is order in the universe.
When Ioxus President/CEO Mark McGough (pronounced ma-gew) graduated from high school outside Pittsburgh, he had to make a choice: semi-pro soccer or Notre Dame.
“I always wanted to be in the Hall of Fame,” he said, although he chose South Bend, then went on for an advanced engineering degree at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
But lo and behold, there he was the other day, key in hand, doing a walkthrough of the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s former headquarters, which soon will house the innovative ultracapacitor-manufacturing company.
If the soccer link makes the building a natural for McGough, the futuristic architecture is a perfect fit for a company in the process of reinventing the nation and world’s energy future.
Ioxus is making ultracapacitors – devices that can deliver a charge without degrading the power source. Think electric cars. Think national grid.
The Generation One and Two products being produced at the company’s current Winney Hill Road plant is outfitting long-lasting flashlights and other small appliances. Gen Three and Four, top secret for now, were so exciting to McGough he walked away from two attractive CEO offers to come here.
A couple of days before McGough, an intense 40-something executive with sandy hair and an open smile, sat down for this interview, a contingent from General Electric’s Schenectady plant had visited, examining the local product for electric buses.
Ioxus was founded in 2008, a spin-off from Custom Electronics, Inc., and has been expanding steadily in the former Agway across Winney Hill Road from Family Dollar.
To move to the next step, the company is hosting a Job Fair, 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, in the Hall of Fame lobby, looking for a controller, a facility manager and various types of engineers. One the Hall is renovated for manufacturing, Ioxus will be hiring 150-200 production workers.
Talking to McGough, he soon emerges as an ideal candidate for the job he assumed in September.
Since 1995, after a dozen years with a public utility and a clean-energy consulting firm, he was asked by a client, PacifiCorp., Portland, Ore., to assess Maxwell Industries as a prospect for investment.
When he reported back positively, PacifiCorp made the investment and installed McGough as president of Maxwell Advanced Engineering Products, one of the company’s five subsidiaries. It manufactured ultracapacitors, and sales soon reached $11 million.
After three years, he shifted to president/CEO of Envinta Corp., energy-efficiency consultants, and after selling that to Tersus Energy in 2006, he joined Pentadyne, an energy-efficient flywheel manufacturer.
As that company was being sold off in mid-2010, McGough received two CEO offers from energy-related companies. About to accept one of them, he received a call from Braemar Energy, the venture capital firm that helped launch Ioxus: Don’t make a decision until you go to Oneonta.
Michael Pentaris, Ioxus founder and acting president/CEO, was visiting family in Cyprus, and Braemar offered to fly McGough to that Mediterranean island to meet him. McGough demurred, but when he met Pentaris, he was quickly sold by the company’s technical vision.
When McGough came aboard, Pentaris, who remains on the Ioxus Board of Directors, returned fulltime to Custom Electronics, where he is president/CEO.
Braemar, along with state and federal grants, came up with the original “series one” financing, $5 million, McGough said. Negotiations are nearing completion now on “series two” financing, $20 million, with Braemar participating again.
“That’s a lot of money for a company like this,” he said. “It would last us for years.”
Meanwhile, Ioxus continues to get queries from all over the nation and world about its product, most recently from Bosch, the German-based multi-product appliance and tool maker. Right now, said McGough, Ioxus lacks the logistical band “bandwidth” – people and production – to serve the field, but the new financing will allow things to ramp up quickly.
Ioxus’ start-up status should help attract top recruits, McGough expects, since there’s the potential for an equity piece. He also foresees a San Jose atmosphere on the Susquehanna: bright people, lively debate, relaxed workplace.
IBM started in Oneonta, but soon moved down the line to Binghamton. What would keep Ioxus here? The availability of talent, foremost: McGough said he would be delighted to sit down with SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski to discuss what each organization can do for the other.
I-88 is an asset, for sure. But an airport would be even moreso. Oneonta Municipal Airport? Or better, Oneonta International.
 |
| Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Ioxus President/CEO Mark McGough takes a call from a prospective investor following a walkthrough at the company’s new headquarters, the former National Soccer Hall of Fame. |
Yes, there is order in the universe.
When Ioxus President/CEO Mark McGough (pronounced ma-gew) graduated from high school outside Pittsburgh, he had to make a choice: semi-pro soccer or Notre Dame.
“I always wanted to be in the Hall of Fame,” he said, although he chose South Bend, then went on for an advanced engineering degree at New Jersey Institute of Technology.
But lo and behold, there he was the other day, key in hand, doing a walkthrough of the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s former headquarters, which soon will house the innovative ultracapacitor-manufacturing company.
If the soccer link makes the building a natural for McGough, the futuristic architecture is a perfect fit for a company in the process of reinventing the nation and world’s energy future.
Ioxus is making ultracapacitors – devices that can deliver a charge without degrading the power source. Think electric cars. Think national grid.
The Generation One and Two products being produced at the company’s current Winney Hill Road plant is outfitting long-lasting flashlights and other small appliances. Gen Three and Four, top secret for now, were so exciting to McGough he walked away from two attractive CEO offers to come here.
A couple of days before McGough, an intense 40-something executive with sandy hair and an open smile, sat down for this interview, a contingent from General Electric’s Schenectady plant had visited, examining the local product for electric buses.
Ioxus was founded in 2008, a spin-off from Custom Electronics, Inc., and has been expanding steadily in the former Agway across Winney Hill Road from Family Dollar.
To move to the next step, the company is hosting a Job Fair, 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 25, in the Hall of Fame lobby, looking for a controller, a facility manager and various types of engineers. One the Hall is renovated for manufacturing, Ioxus will be hiring 150-200 production workers.
Talking to McGough, he soon emerges as an ideal candidate for the job he assumed in September.
Since 1995, after a dozen years with a public utility and a clean-energy consulting firm, he was asked by a client, PacifiCorp., Portland, Ore., to assess Maxwell Industries as a prospect for investment.
When he reported back positively, PacifiCorp made the investment and installed McGough as president of Maxwell Advanced Engineering Products, one of the company’s five subsidiaries. It manufactured ultracapacitors, and sales soon reached $11 million.
After three years, he shifted to president/CEO of Envinta Corp., energy-efficiency consultants, and after selling that to Tersus Energy in 2006, he joined Pentadyne, an energy-efficient flywheel manufacturer.
As that company was being sold off in mid-2010, McGough received two CEO offers from energy-related companies. About to accept one of them, he received a call from Braemar Energy, the venture capital firm that helped launch Ioxus: Don’t make a decision until you go to Oneonta.
Michael Pentaris, Ioxus founder and acting president/CEO, was visiting family in Cyprus, and Braemar offered to fly McGough to that Mediterranean island to meet him. McGough demurred, but when he met Pentaris, he was quickly sold by the company’s technical vision.
When McGough came aboard, Pentaris, who remains on the Ioxus Board of Directors, returned fulltime to Custom Electronics, where he is president/CEO.
Braemar, along with state and federal grants, came up with the original “series one” financing, $5 million, McGough said. Negotiations are nearing completion now on “series two” financing, $20 million, with Braemar participating again.
“That’s a lot of money for a company like this,” he said. “It would last us for years.”
Meanwhile, Ioxus continues to get queries from all over the nation and world about its product, most recently from Bosch, the German-based multi-product appliance and tool maker. Right now, said McGough, Ioxus lacks the logistical band “bandwidth” – people and production – to serve the field, but the new financing will allow things to ramp up quickly.
Ioxus’ start-up status should help attract top recruits, McGough expects, since there’s the potential for an equity piece. He also foresees a San Jose atmosphere on the Susquehanna: bright people, lively debate, relaxed workplace.
IBM started in Oneonta, but soon moved down the line to Binghamton. What would keep Ioxus here? The availability of talent, foremost: McGough said he would be delighted to sit down with SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski to discuss what each organization can do for the other.
I-88 is an asset, for sure. But an airport would be even moreso. Oneonta Municipal Airport? Or better, Oneonta International.
Whatever Happened To Butch Kattanick?
By JIM KEVLIN
Whatever happened to Butch Kattanick?
Mary Ann Helmer has been hearing that question a lot lately, since her dad’s name was included in the mayoral proclamation honoring Diz Lamonica on his 100th birthday.
“Is he still alive?” she reported people asking her.
And how, is her reply, and it’s quite a story.
Christened Vincent Kattanick, the red-headed Oneonta middleweight fought 10 bouts in 1948 at Bingham-ton’s Kalurah Temple, winning five by knockouts. He was knocked out three times, and lost two decisions.
After an adventure that included tilting with Hurricane Katrina, he’s endedup in Tullahoma, Tenn., where – now 90, but still a big, strong, now-white-haired man with a bushy beard – he has reprised his role as Santa Claus and been embraced by his adopted hometown.
In Mayor Miller’s proclamation designating Jan. 9 Frank “Diz” Lamonica Day in Oneonta, Kattanick was teamed with such names as Kid Cuyle, Brad Blasetti and Dom Mastro. Lamonica and the legendary Dutch Damaschke promoted amateur boxing for the Oneonta Recreation Commission.
In an interview with Mary Ann and her girlhood pal, Diane Alcott, in Davenport Center, Mary Ann Helmer displayed family photos going back to the late ‘40s, one with her dad, mom Inez, brother Joseph and sister Eileen (now deceased) in front of Royal Amusement Co., the phonograph store on Broad Street.
“I remember him coming home with black eyes,” the daughter said. After boxing, Kattanick applied his broad shoulders and big hands to a career in construction.
When Mary Ann, now 69, was a teenager, her mother died. He stayed in the area for a while, giving away his daughter when she married on Jan. 6, 1967, at Annunciata Roman Catholic Church, Ilion.
But her dad “always liked the women,” and didn’t want to be alone. And they liked him too. Soon, he married Madeline, from New York City, and moved down there, where he worked on high-steel. When she passed away, he met Wilma, and moved to New Orleans, her hometown.
When Wilma died, he took up with Miss Ruby, and the two were living on Canal Street in the French Quarter on that fateful day, Aug. 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck “The Big Easy.”
Miss Ruby, who got around with the help of a walker, had fallen, and Kattanick had taken her to a hospital. By the time he got back to Canal Street, the levees had broken and their home was underwater.
“When it hit, if they’d been there, they both would have drowned,” said Mary Ann, a 30-year employee of Burt Rigid Box, Oneonta, now retired. The mother of two – Michael Helmer, Fly Creek, and Robert Helmer, Oneonta; plus six grandkids – she and her father hadn’t seen each other for three decades.
So sitting at home in Davenport, Mary Ann worried about her father, and stayed glued to the TV: “It was the worst night of my life. I knew if he was out there and there was a camera, he’d say, ‘Hi Mary Ann, I’m OK’.”
For three weeks, nothing. Then, checking Internet sites, a friend of Mary Ann’s found Vincent Kattanick on a list of Katrina survivors.
Butch spent some weeks in shelters for hurricane victims, then was airlifted to Tullahoma, Tenn., where he found a home in Autumn Manor, a senior citizen complex.
He had played Santa Claus in New Orleans, and soon was doing so in his new adopted hometown. He rides in Tullahoma’s annual Christmas parade. He’s been written up in the local paper, The Tullahoma News & Guardian, and his Santa photo hangs prominently in the local Waffle House, which he frequents.
He’s taken up with a new lady, Jean, a fellow resident of Autumn Manor, and she plays Mrs. Claus to his Santa.
While her dad was settling in to his new locale, Mary Ann was plotting that long-awaited reunion. She started making phone calls to Tullahoma – few people knew Vincent Kattanick, but everybody knew Santa.
When her pal, Diane, drove down to the Carolinas last spring to visit her grandson, Mary Ann rode along.
The two then took the additional seven-hour drive to Rock Island, Tenn., where a friend from work, Pam Hubbard of Sidney, had moved the year before. The next day, Pam drove Mary Ann to Tullahoma, 40 minutes away. Diane brought along her new video camera, and obtained a poignant record of that day’s events.
There’s Mary Ann standing outside a door. It’s May, but the door is still decorated for Christmas. She knocks. No answer. She knocks again. She waits. The door slowly opens and man emerges, white hair, bushy beard, still big and strong.
“Dad,” the daughter cries, and the two embrace.
She went back and forth every day while staying in Rock Island.
There’s one video sequence, Mary Ann sitting on her dad’s lap. Joshing him about his Santa role, she told him, “You never let me sit on your lap and ask for things.”
As it happens, he had a surprise for her: A teddy bear with boxing gloves and a red heart sewn on his chest. And a bigger teddy bear, bigger, in fact, then the daughter.
Secret revealed: He’d been telling her he had a present to send her in Oneonta, as soon as he found a box big enough.
After all these years, he asked about Diz, and about Johnny Power, a fellow boxer, also 90, who is one of Mary Ann’s neighbors outside Davenport Center.
“He has a big heart,” Mary Ann said, tearing up. “He’s been a good dad.”
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| Butch Kattanick and his oldest daughter, Mary Ann (Helmer), in 1971 in Oneonta, top, and last May in Tullahoma, Tenn., after 30 years apart. |
Whatever happened to Butch Kattanick?
Mary Ann Helmer has been hearing that question a lot lately, since her dad’s name was included in the mayoral proclamation honoring Diz Lamonica on his 100th birthday.
“Is he still alive?” she reported people asking her.
And how, is her reply, and it’s quite a story.
Christened Vincent Kattanick, the red-headed Oneonta middleweight fought 10 bouts in 1948 at Bingham-ton’s Kalurah Temple, winning five by knockouts. He was knocked out three times, and lost two decisions.
After an adventure that included tilting with Hurricane Katrina, he’s endedup in Tullahoma, Tenn., where – now 90, but still a big, strong, now-white-haired man with a bushy beard – he has reprised his role as Santa Claus and been embraced by his adopted hometown.
In Mayor Miller’s proclamation designating Jan. 9 Frank “Diz” Lamonica Day in Oneonta, Kattanick was teamed with such names as Kid Cuyle, Brad Blasetti and Dom Mastro. Lamonica and the legendary Dutch Damaschke promoted amateur boxing for the Oneonta Recreation Commission.
In an interview with Mary Ann and her girlhood pal, Diane Alcott, in Davenport Center, Mary Ann Helmer displayed family photos going back to the late ‘40s, one with her dad, mom Inez, brother Joseph and sister Eileen (now deceased) in front of Royal Amusement Co., the phonograph store on Broad Street.
“I remember him coming home with black eyes,” the daughter said. After boxing, Kattanick applied his broad shoulders and big hands to a career in construction.
When Mary Ann, now 69, was a teenager, her mother died. He stayed in the area for a while, giving away his daughter when she married on Jan. 6, 1967, at Annunciata Roman Catholic Church, Ilion.
But her dad “always liked the women,” and didn’t want to be alone. And they liked him too. Soon, he married Madeline, from New York City, and moved down there, where he worked on high-steel. When she passed away, he met Wilma, and moved to New Orleans, her hometown.
When Wilma died, he took up with Miss Ruby, and the two were living on Canal Street in the French Quarter on that fateful day, Aug. 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina struck “The Big Easy.”
Miss Ruby, who got around with the help of a walker, had fallen, and Kattanick had taken her to a hospital. By the time he got back to Canal Street, the levees had broken and their home was underwater.
“When it hit, if they’d been there, they both would have drowned,” said Mary Ann, a 30-year employee of Burt Rigid Box, Oneonta, now retired. The mother of two – Michael Helmer, Fly Creek, and Robert Helmer, Oneonta; plus six grandkids – she and her father hadn’t seen each other for three decades.
So sitting at home in Davenport, Mary Ann worried about her father, and stayed glued to the TV: “It was the worst night of my life. I knew if he was out there and there was a camera, he’d say, ‘Hi Mary Ann, I’m OK’.”
For three weeks, nothing. Then, checking Internet sites, a friend of Mary Ann’s found Vincent Kattanick on a list of Katrina survivors.
Butch spent some weeks in shelters for hurricane victims, then was airlifted to Tullahoma, Tenn., where he found a home in Autumn Manor, a senior citizen complex.
He had played Santa Claus in New Orleans, and soon was doing so in his new adopted hometown. He rides in Tullahoma’s annual Christmas parade. He’s been written up in the local paper, The Tullahoma News & Guardian, and his Santa photo hangs prominently in the local Waffle House, which he frequents.
He’s taken up with a new lady, Jean, a fellow resident of Autumn Manor, and she plays Mrs. Claus to his Santa.
While her dad was settling in to his new locale, Mary Ann was plotting that long-awaited reunion. She started making phone calls to Tullahoma – few people knew Vincent Kattanick, but everybody knew Santa.
When her pal, Diane, drove down to the Carolinas last spring to visit her grandson, Mary Ann rode along.
The two then took the additional seven-hour drive to Rock Island, Tenn., where a friend from work, Pam Hubbard of Sidney, had moved the year before. The next day, Pam drove Mary Ann to Tullahoma, 40 minutes away. Diane brought along her new video camera, and obtained a poignant record of that day’s events.
There’s Mary Ann standing outside a door. It’s May, but the door is still decorated for Christmas. She knocks. No answer. She knocks again. She waits. The door slowly opens and man emerges, white hair, bushy beard, still big and strong.
“Dad,” the daughter cries, and the two embrace.
She went back and forth every day while staying in Rock Island.
There’s one video sequence, Mary Ann sitting on her dad’s lap. Joshing him about his Santa role, she told him, “You never let me sit on your lap and ask for things.”
As it happens, he had a surprise for her: A teddy bear with boxing gloves and a red heart sewn on his chest. And a bigger teddy bear, bigger, in fact, then the daughter.
Secret revealed: He’d been telling her he had a present to send her in Oneonta, as soon as he found a box big enough.
After all these years, he asked about Diz, and about Johnny Power, a fellow boxer, also 90, who is one of Mary Ann’s neighbors outside Davenport Center.
“He has a big heart,” Mary Ann said, tearing up. “He’s been a good dad.”
STATE OF THE CITY: 2010 Was A Very Good Year, But Challenges Remain, Miller Says
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| Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Mayor Dick Miller delivers his first State of the City speech Tuesday, Jan. 18, in Common Council chambers, flanked by City Clerk Jim Koury, left, and City Attorney David Merzig. |
Editor’s Note: This is the text of Mayor Richard P. Miller, Jr.’s first State of the City speech, delivered Tuesday, Jan. 18, in Common Council chambers.
By almost any measure, 2010 was a very good year for the city.
Through a concerted, cooperative effort, we eliminated a budgeted deficit of almost $1.1 million (subject to final audit) and as a result, the city’s reserves grew nominally and thus remain available for future needs.
Common Council members and department heads worked together to produce many positive results.
In most categories, revenues exceeded forecasts and the deficit elimination came despite the city’s taking one-time charges related to early retirements.
The city’s Code Enforcement, Police and Fire departments were all strengthened during 2010. Oneonta Public Transportation, Water, Wastewater, Public Works and Highway, and City administrative offices continued to perform ably as in the past.
While services were maintained, the loss of key personnel in the Engineering and Community Development areas continues to present special challenges, with improvements anticipated in 2011.
The 2011 budget approved in December presents a general fund deficit of $458,000, one-third the amount anticipated when its preparation began in July 2010 as part of the multi-year financial planning process.
This much-improved result was due in large part to very successful negotiations to reduce health-care costs, and to early retirements and cost-management actions in non-personnel areas – all in conjunction with stable revenue.
The 2011 budget includes competitive compensation increases and benefit programs for unionized and administrative employees. It includes a property tax increase of 2 percent while water and sewer fees – both of which are well below state averages – were increased at somewhat higher rates to cover costs related to the improvement of both facilities.
While the financial results of 2010 and the lower projected deficit for 2011 are relatively comforting, 2012 and the years beyond continue to require serious attention and aggressive management.
Salary and benefit costs, including pension expenses, are certain to grow at rates substantially in excess of revenues. Much of the city’s revenues are dependent on state, national and world economic conditions out of our control, particularly given the challenges of New York State government.
Remarkably, city expenditures budgeted for 2011 are actually less in real dollars than in 2008. This comes without service reduction and real property tax increases averaging only 2.5 percent over the period, while state and sales tax revenues declined.
The city has proven its ability to manage its financial affairs, an important capability given the challenges ahead.
These challenges will require the mayor, Common Council, department heads, unionized and administrative employees to work together as we have in the past year.
I think – I hope – that most of us now recognize that we will have to make difficult choices among services, staffing levels, salaries and benefit programs.
While we are blessed with reserves that are well above those of most other cities in New York State, we will have to be creative in delivering the services the community has come to expect. This challenge is magnified by the need to accelerate our investment in roads, water and wastewater plants, and in-the-ground infrastructure of the city.
I am confident we have the people and processes to confront these issues, and am comforted by the fact that we have reserves to cushion the impact of these competing demands on resources. But I am sobered by what lies ahead. Without interventions such as we made in the past 12 months, it appears that our financial reserves could drop below acceptable levels in 2014 and be totally exhausted in 2015.
Managing the budget and providing services are necessary requirements of government, but we must go further. As management guru Peter Drucker has said, “Results are obtained by exploiting opportunities, not by solving problems. All one can hope to get by solving a problem is to restore normality.”
We have the opportunity to reposition this City, its surrounding communities and Otsego County relative to other regions with which we compete.
The City and Town of Oneonta constitute the hub of a region that includes parts of Delaware, Chenango and Otsego counties. The city is the employment center bearing all the costs of hosting our two wonderful colleges, while sharing the benefit of their presence across the region.
Almost 75 percent of retail sales in Otsego County are generated in the City and Town of Oneonta. We are increasingly the regional center of arts, culture and entertainment. Unless we challenge ourselves to think differently about our existing and potential assets, the past will define us in a changing world.
This year, special citizens groups, along with existing boards and commissions, have been working to help define our future:
• An environmental group issued an initial report on “Oneonta 2030,” a plan to enhance the sustainable nature of our community decades into the future.
• The Zoning Task Force is finishing what will be an 18-month effort to totally rewrite our code to protect existing neighborhoods, increase residential housing options, and make it easier to start and grow businesses here.
• The Charter Revision Commission will be proposing changes to the voters to streamline and modernize our government.
• Main Street Oneonta strengthened its staff, reorganized its board and refocused its programs.
• An arts, culture, and entertainment group is beginning this month to work on how to promote our community’s offerings more broadly within and beyond our region.
We will need to establish additional groups to work on such issues as neighborhood improvement and redistricting, but we have proven our ability to focus special citizen groups on these types of specific needs.
To my mind, there are two keys to making the Oneonta community even more vibrant in the future. Both require us to think regionally. Both rest on the assumption that one entity – whether it be a government, academic institution, or private entity – cannot be successful at the expense of another if we are to be successful collectively.
The first key is to bring more revenue – and visitors for special events – to the region in order to enhance services for our residents and our attractiveness to the outside world.
If we are to reduce our dependence on property taxes in a world where increased state support is very unlikely – and where more manufacturing jobs are unlikely as well – we must generate more revenue from visitors living beyond the immediate area.
Our region has the colleges, the Baseball Hall of Fame, summer baseball camps, Glimmerglass, and a vigorous arts and entertainment community. We have to organize and market our attractions collectively to take advantage of this opportunity.
The second key is to develop the ability to deliver the same or better government services with much greater efficiency and much less redundancy. Each entity of government works vigorously to deliver its own set of services as efficiently as possible, but among the entities there is disturbing overlap.
Over the last year, I have spoken with county, town and school district leaders, people of good will and all facing similar challenges. SUNY Oneonta’s Center for Economic and Community Development study this year, funded by the three local banks, confirmed previous studies of economic savings from consolidation of the city and town.
If conversations result from this study, the county should be encouraged to become a full partner. Savings could be accomplished over time without layoffs. In fact, our city, town and county could become the shining example to other communities around the state – and, certainly, to state government itself – of ways to serve our citizens without duplication and waste.
Government consolidation is a priority of Governor Cuomo, and local, grass root discussions are supported by Senator Seward. Funds are available to study and enable consolidation if the Town and County will join with us in the project.
I will continue to pursue their engagement in studying this together.
The forecast economic impact of a combined city and town (and to the other towns and the county) from sales-tax preemption would have to be carefully managed. But more economic activity in the region, generated by a stronger, more outward-looking Oneonta, would be a benefit for all even if enabled by some redistribution of sales tax dollars.
A recent opinion requested from the state Attorney General confirms that with special legislation, current town and city residents could remain in different property tax districts following consolidation, thus ensuring the continuation of low town property taxes into the future.
If property taxes across the county can be reduced, without compromising services, we will gain a real economic advantage over the rest of New York State A new government structure can be designed to ensure that all residents are properly represented. We need to consider these things and I will write and talk more about them in the future.
All things are possible if we work on them together. Much of our initial financial success in 2010 and 2011 proves that to be the case.
I love Oneonta the way it is, but I know that we can – and should – make things even better in our own lifetime and for those who come after us. Simply hoping that we can survive without things getting worse is a breach of our responsibility to the future.
In the Dec. 26, 2010 New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman, author of “The World is Flat,” quoted Atlanta’s Mayor Kasim Reed as follows: “It is time to begin having the types of mature and honest conversations necessary to deal effectively with the new economic realities we are facing as a nation. We simply can not keep kicking the can down the road.”
Here in Upstate New York, the “new economic realities” demand our attention – and creativity. If we do not attend to them, we will compromise our ability to continue to provide essential services in anything approaching a state of “normality.”
I am confident that over the balance of my term Oneonta will be “just fine.” That’s not good enough. We have a chance to make it better and the obligation to do so.
It will be much more rewarding than “kicking the can down the road.” I look forward to continue working with all who have a stake in our community.
CITY OF THE HILLS
Mayor’s Art
Summit Near
At Foothills
More than 40 people plan to attend the Mayor’s Summit on Arts and Entertainment 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
The public is welcome and no advance registration is required. (Details, A11)
REVISIONS READY: The city’s Zoning Task Force reviewed its proposed revisions to the city code Tuesday, Jan. 18, for a final time. The proposal will be presented to the public at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan 31, at Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
SAY I ♥ YOU: To order a singing Valentine for your sweetie, call the City of the Hills Sweet Adelines, 432-8854. Before Jan. 31, $25; $30 after that. Also, $1 each or $8 a dozen for heart-shaped cookies.
LOTS OF LAUGHS: Comedian Aaron Ward will perform Saturday, Jan 29, at Foothills. Tickets, $15; tables of eight available. Call 431-2080.
Summit Near
At Foothills
More than 40 people plan to attend the Mayor’s Summit on Arts and Entertainment 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
The public is welcome and no advance registration is required. (Details, A11)
REVISIONS READY: The city’s Zoning Task Force reviewed its proposed revisions to the city code Tuesday, Jan. 18, for a final time. The proposal will be presented to the public at 7 p.m. Monday, Jan 31, at Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
SAY I ♥ YOU: To order a singing Valentine for your sweetie, call the City of the Hills Sweet Adelines, 432-8854. Before Jan. 31, $25; $30 after that. Also, $1 each or $8 a dozen for heart-shaped cookies.
LOTS OF LAUGHS: Comedian Aaron Ward will perform Saturday, Jan 29, at Foothills. Tickets, $15; tables of eight available. Call 431-2080.
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| HOMETOWN ONEONTA Soprano Diana Boyd sings “Battle Hymn of the Republican” during MLK Day commemorations Sunday, Jan. 16, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, Ford Avenue. (More photos, A2) |
Calvin Goble’s Video Nominated For Top Prize
Oneonta’s Calvin Goble has created a video game that has just been nominated for a Technical Excellence Award at the Independent Game Festival in California, the largest one in the world. His game was chosen out of almost 400 international entries.
TRUESDELL CITED:
Catrina Truesdell, Oneonta, was named Rotarian of the Month for January by the Rotary International, District 7170. Truesdell, a past president of the Oneonta Rotary, has been active at the district level.
Pindar’s Roberto’s Kids, IBACA Celebrated At Embassy Reception In Nicaragua
Stephen Pindar, Oneonta, founder of Roberto’s Kids, and Roberto Clemente, Jr., returned Sunday, Jan. 16, from Nicaragua, where they distributed baseball equipment to disadvantaged youth.
While there, they attended a reception hosted by U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan to celebrate advances in the International Baseball Academy of Central America. Roberto’s Kids is partnering with the IBACA.
In 2010, Roberto’s Kids, an international non-profit, distributed 40 tons of baseball equipment in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the U.S. and Nicaragua.
While there, they attended a reception hosted by U.S. Ambassador Robert Callahan to celebrate advances in the International Baseball Academy of Central America. Roberto’s Kids is partnering with the IBACA.
In 2010, Roberto’s Kids, an international non-profit, distributed 40 tons of baseball equipment in the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the U.S. and Nicaragua.
Spine Association Names Dr. Etzl Diplomate
Dr. George Etzl, the Oneonta chiropractor and credentialed spine physician, has received Diplomate status with American Academy of Spine Physicians.
To obtain Diplomate status, a physician must complete continuing education requirements and testing.
As a Diplomate, Dr. Etzl, who operates Otsego Physician Medicine, is eligible to pursue Fellow status. He also can use the initials DAASP after his name.
To obtain Diplomate status, a physician must complete continuing education requirements and testing.
As a Diplomate, Dr. Etzl, who operates Otsego Physician Medicine, is eligible to pursue Fellow status. He also can use the initials DAASP after his name.
Sculptor Helps Hartwick Class To Create Ceramic Instruments
Thomas Kerrigan of Tucson, Ariz., is artist in residence this January at Hartwick College, where he is working with student to create a series of percussion instruments based on ceramic forms.
Kerrigan is working with students in Assistant Professor of Art Stephanie Rozene’s January Term class, “Claystallation.”
Assistant Professor of Music Jason Curley’s percussion ensemble will compose and perform the recital on Thursday, April 7, in Foreman Gallery, when Kerrigan will lecture.
After earning an MFA at Ohio University, Kerrigan pursued his art while teaching for six years at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and 25 years at the University of Michigan, Duluth.
From his base in Tucson, he has conducted workshops in the U.S., Canada and Europe and lectured in China and Germany.
He has been a guest artist in Latvia and Uzbekistan, and artist-in-residence at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada and the National University in Canberra.
Kerrigan is working with students in Assistant Professor of Art Stephanie Rozene’s January Term class, “Claystallation.”
Assistant Professor of Music Jason Curley’s percussion ensemble will compose and perform the recital on Thursday, April 7, in Foreman Gallery, when Kerrigan will lecture.
After earning an MFA at Ohio University, Kerrigan pursued his art while teaching for six years at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, and 25 years at the University of Michigan, Duluth.
From his base in Tucson, he has conducted workshops in the U.S., Canada and Europe and lectured in China and Germany.
He has been a guest artist in Latvia and Uzbekistan, and artist-in-residence at the Banff Center for the Arts in Canada and the National University in Canberra.
Nominations Sought For Students Inside Albany Conference
The League of Women Voters is soliciting nominations of Oneonta-area high school students interested in attending the 11th annual Students Inside Albany conference April 10-13.
The League’s Oneonta chapter will select and sponsor one student to join others sponsored by more than 50 local Leagues throughout the state. All expenses are covered, including travel and three nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Albany.
Contact Carol A. Blazina at 432-5303 or blazinca@oneonta.edu by Feb. 14.
The League’s Oneonta chapter will select and sponsor one student to join others sponsored by more than 50 local Leagues throughout the state. All expenses are covered, including travel and three nights at the Hampton Inn & Suites in downtown Albany.
Contact Carol A. Blazina at 432-5303 or blazinca@oneonta.edu by Feb. 14.
Mayor Invites Community To Arts Summit At Foothills Saturday, Jan. 22
Building a half-dozen “Life Enjoyed Weekends” around existing “hubs” – for instance, The O-Fest or Ricky “Pit” Parisian Run – are among the ideas to be discussed 9 a.m.-noon Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Mayor’s Arts Summit at the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
Mayor Dick Miller, saying he was “delighted” with the 40 people who have already indicated they will attend, encouraged interested members of the community at large to participate. No pre-registration is necessary.
“I hope the group will have wide-ranging and frank discussions about how the Oneonta community can support ... a robust, visual, performing arts, music and entertainment community,” Miller said.
In addition to the O-Fest in April and Pit Run in October, the General Clinton Regatta (May), City of the Hills Arts Fest (August) and Grand & Glorious Garage Sale (September) may lend themselves to “L-E Weekend” status.
The idea would be to devise visitors’ packages that would cross-promote concerts at Foothills and the Oneonta Theater, restaurant specials, art displays and perhaps a community cleanup, in addition to the centerpiece activities.
Other agenda items include whether to create a special organization, the Greater Oneonta Community Arts & Entertainment Consortium (GOCAEC, pronounced GOKAKE), to promote and fund-raise.
The morning will also include break-out sessions for free-ranging discussions based on audience interest.
Mayor Dick Miller, saying he was “delighted” with the 40 people who have already indicated they will attend, encouraged interested members of the community at large to participate. No pre-registration is necessary.
“I hope the group will have wide-ranging and frank discussions about how the Oneonta community can support ... a robust, visual, performing arts, music and entertainment community,” Miller said.
In addition to the O-Fest in April and Pit Run in October, the General Clinton Regatta (May), City of the Hills Arts Fest (August) and Grand & Glorious Garage Sale (September) may lend themselves to “L-E Weekend” status.
The idea would be to devise visitors’ packages that would cross-promote concerts at Foothills and the Oneonta Theater, restaurant specials, art displays and perhaps a community cleanup, in addition to the centerpiece activities.
Other agenda items include whether to create a special organization, the Greater Oneonta Community Arts & Entertainment Consortium (GOCAEC, pronounced GOKAKE), to promote and fund-raise.
The morning will also include break-out sessions for free-ranging discussions based on audience interest.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Help Find Missing Palomino
To the Editor:
I am hoping to get some assistance for finding our missing horse. We are desperate at this point. Someone has either taken her in after finding her and has not reporting it, or she is in need of serious help.
We had a palomino mare (tan with blonde tail and mane) go missing on New Year’s Eve.
We live on Hathaway Road in Otego. She could have travelled as far as West Oneonta, West Laurens or Morris, because we are way up and within five miles of each town more or less! We’ve hung signs and called the radio stations and don’t know what else to do.
If you can be of any assistance, thank you. She was given to our oldest as a Christmas present. She was spooked by a pony we have and ran off too fast to track her very far.
I look forward to hearing from you.
SHILOH CHICKERELL
Otego
I am hoping to get some assistance for finding our missing horse. We are desperate at this point. Someone has either taken her in after finding her and has not reporting it, or she is in need of serious help.
We had a palomino mare (tan with blonde tail and mane) go missing on New Year’s Eve.
We live on Hathaway Road in Otego. She could have travelled as far as West Oneonta, West Laurens or Morris, because we are way up and within five miles of each town more or less! We’ve hung signs and called the radio stations and don’t know what else to do.
If you can be of any assistance, thank you. She was given to our oldest as a Christmas present. She was spooked by a pony we have and ran off too fast to track her very far.
I look forward to hearing from you.
SHILOH CHICKERELL
Otego
Oneonta, Lake Enjoyed. And It Was Electric
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| A boater rows across Electric Lake, Oneonta’s long-forgotten playground. |
Wouldn’t it be great to have a lake right in the city?
A short walk away, we could fish, canoe, boat, swim, hike along the shore.
Stop the presses: Oneonta used to have one, Electric Lake, at the end of Rose Avenue on the east side.
“I’ve never heard of Electric Lake, and I’ve lived in Oneonta all my life,” Susan Plantz, a Greater Oneonta Historical Society trustee, remarked at a briefing Saturday, Jan. 8, on an upcoming History Center show.
The exhibit, put together by local railroad historian Jim Loudon, “Electric Lake: Oneonta’s Forgotten Gem,” will be launched at a reception Saturday, April 16, and run for two months.
During that period, probably in May when things dry up a bit, Bouton will lead a mile-long walking tour into the bowels of what was once the lake, and now is the I-88 right-of-way between the Emmons and Lettis Highway exits.
“It’s always bothered me that there’s a segment of local history that’s going to get lost,” explained Loudon, who as a boy used to fish there with his dad, for sunfish, perch and bullheads.
The lake was built in 1898 by the Oneonta Light & Power Co. when it was discovered the new trolley company had pushed the then-village’s electric supply beyond capacity.
The dam and powerhouse were built at the end of Conant Avenue (aka Water Street), south of the railroad tracks and behind where Oneonta Iron & Metal is today.
Complete, the powerhouse’s three 500-horsepower turbines turned by undershot wheels created enough electricity to power the city for decades.
The D&H embankment became the northern shore of the lake, which ranged from 6- to 12-feet deep. The lake extended a mile east.
In 1918, Ithaca Gas & Electric Co. acquired the Oneonta company, and IG&E was eventually acquired by New York State Electric & Gas, which closed the plant in 1954 and breached the dam, signalling Electric Lake’s demise.
When I-88 came through in the 1970s, it was the ideal open space to accommodate the new four-lane.
Gone Electric Lake may be, but it’s not completely forgotten.
Gina Tarbox from Chenango Bridge, whose family settled in Oneonta in the 1830s, had driven up for Loudon’s briefing, and brought along a letter handwritten to her grandfather, Charles Tarbox, by his father, Duncan, describing a drowning recounted to him by Gil Lane, then OL&P superintendent.
With the boy’s mother near-hysterical, eyewitnesses stripped off their clothes and dove repeatedly into the water by the powerhouse where the lad disappeared, but to no avail.
“His little clothes lay on the beach where he took them off for the last time,” Duncan reported.
Frank Montgomery attended the briefing with wife, Joyce. He was raised on Chester Street in the 1940s, and they ran into Julie Spaziani, who was raised in the same house in the 1950s.
Julie remembered dashing down Chester and Rose, crossing the railroad tracks to the western end of the lake, where there was swimming and good fellowship. There was also a dock there, and boats tied up along the shore.
Wayne Wright, NYSHA associate librarian, was a boy on Sand Street in 1954 when the lake was drained, and remembered a large snapping turtle showing up in his backyard.
“You can’t get too close to those things: They can take your fingers off,” said Wright, recalling that his grandfather put the reptile in a wash tub and hauled it away.
Dead fish were strewn along the whole length of the former waterway, he said.
SUNY Oneonta Plans 200-Student Housing
Townhomes By 2014 At Top Of Clinton Street
For the first time since Higgins Hall opened in 2003, SUNY Oneonta is planning new housing for its students: townhomes and apartments for 200 at the top of Clinton Street.
“We’ve been working on this for some time,” said Tom Rathbone, vice president/facilities, adding that student surveys indicated desire for “another option.”
Rathbone’s department has been interfacing with City Engineer Jim Hawver, who said the goal is to ensure the municipal storm water system is sufficient to handle the additional runoff.
The university also looked at the top of Ford Avenue, but determined Clinton Street, which veers off to the right as East Street curves past Hartwick College, is a better site, he said.
The land is owned by the college, which like all state agencies is exempt from local zoning.
For her part, Alderman Liz Shannon, whose Ward 7 includes the site, agreed the additional housing would take pressure off the city’s neighborhood.
City Hall’s proposed zoning revisions, which arrived in City Clerk Jim Koury’s hands Monday, Jan. 10, and will be disclosed Tuesday, Jan. 18, at the Planning Commission’s monthly meeting, aims in part to protect houses in intact neighborhoods from being broken up for student housing.
“I would encourage the colleges to build more dorms,” Shannon said.
The plan is to accommodate current students, not to expand enrollment, and would probably be limited to upper classmen, Rathbone said.
“These will be more for independent living with more privacy (than regular dorms), if you will, and a few more amenities,” he said.
As usual, the construction will be funded through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, and paid off over time by students’ rents.
DASNY is working with the local school on identifying an architect to design the project, Rathbone said.
For the first time since Higgins Hall opened in 2003, SUNY Oneonta is planning new housing for its students: townhomes and apartments for 200 at the top of Clinton Street.
“We’ve been working on this for some time,” said Tom Rathbone, vice president/facilities, adding that student surveys indicated desire for “another option.”
Rathbone’s department has been interfacing with City Engineer Jim Hawver, who said the goal is to ensure the municipal storm water system is sufficient to handle the additional runoff.
The university also looked at the top of Ford Avenue, but determined Clinton Street, which veers off to the right as East Street curves past Hartwick College, is a better site, he said.
The land is owned by the college, which like all state agencies is exempt from local zoning.
For her part, Alderman Liz Shannon, whose Ward 7 includes the site, agreed the additional housing would take pressure off the city’s neighborhood.
City Hall’s proposed zoning revisions, which arrived in City Clerk Jim Koury’s hands Monday, Jan. 10, and will be disclosed Tuesday, Jan. 18, at the Planning Commission’s monthly meeting, aims in part to protect houses in intact neighborhoods from being broken up for student housing.
“I would encourage the colleges to build more dorms,” Shannon said.
The plan is to accommodate current students, not to expand enrollment, and would probably be limited to upper classmen, Rathbone said.
“These will be more for independent living with more privacy (than regular dorms), if you will, and a few more amenities,” he said.
As usual, the construction will be funded through the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, and paid off over time by students’ rents.
DASNY is working with the local school on identifying an architect to design the project, Rathbone said.
‘Professional Should Lead At City Hall’
Manager/Administrator Would Oversee $20 Million Operation
Oneonta needs a “senior executive officer” – a city administrator or city manager – the Charter Revision Commission is concluding.
A periodic progress report from David Rissberger, commission chair, points out that City Hall is a $20 million operation in need of better “upward reporting and supervisory lines.”
“We are convinced that the city would reap many financial and performance benefits from the addition of a qualified professional,” Rissberger states.
Reporting to “elected officials,” this individual would administer “day-to-day city business,” freeing up the mayor and aldermen to address policy and planning.
Now, “aldermen spend many hours dealing with urgent but minor administrative or budget-management issues,” he continues. “City government functions are hampered by confusing roles and responsibilities for policy formulation and city operations.”
Rissberger issued the later progress report as Mayor Dick Miller convened his second annual Common Council retreat Saturday, Jan. 8, in City Hall, where he expressed confidence in the commission’s deliberations.
“Whatever they come up with,” he said, “I’m going to try to sell.”
The commission, appointed by former Mayor John Nader, is charged with updating a document that was only changed once – 40 years ago – in the city’s 102-year history, and still includes such aldermanic duties as fence watching to ensure domestic – cows, pigs and chickens – don’t wander.
According to Rissberger, the 49-page “densely written” charter needs, at the very least, to become more “user friendly.”
The commission’s deliberations should result in a proposed charter by this spring. After public meetings and discussions over the summer, it will be on the election ballot in November.
Oneonta needs a “senior executive officer” – a city administrator or city manager – the Charter Revision Commission is concluding.
A periodic progress report from David Rissberger, commission chair, points out that City Hall is a $20 million operation in need of better “upward reporting and supervisory lines.”
“We are convinced that the city would reap many financial and performance benefits from the addition of a qualified professional,” Rissberger states.
Reporting to “elected officials,” this individual would administer “day-to-day city business,” freeing up the mayor and aldermen to address policy and planning.
Now, “aldermen spend many hours dealing with urgent but minor administrative or budget-management issues,” he continues. “City government functions are hampered by confusing roles and responsibilities for policy formulation and city operations.”
Rissberger issued the later progress report as Mayor Dick Miller convened his second annual Common Council retreat Saturday, Jan. 8, in City Hall, where he expressed confidence in the commission’s deliberations.
“Whatever they come up with,” he said, “I’m going to try to sell.”
The commission, appointed by former Mayor John Nader, is charged with updating a document that was only changed once – 40 years ago – in the city’s 102-year history, and still includes such aldermanic duties as fence watching to ensure domestic – cows, pigs and chickens – don’t wander.
According to Rissberger, the 49-page “densely written” charter needs, at the very least, to become more “user friendly.”
The commission’s deliberations should result in a proposed charter by this spring. After public meetings and discussions over the summer, it will be on the election ballot in November.
City of The Hills
Oneonta Dems Kingmakers On County Board
Oneonta’s five Otsego County representatives, all Democrats, made common cause with a GOP bloc to reelect Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, as chairman of the 13-member county board.
At the reorganizational meeting Jan 5, County Rep. Rich Murphy, D-Town of Oneonta, nominated Dubben, who bested two other Republicans, Jim Powers of South New Berlin and Don Lindberg of Worcester to keep the helm.
BUTTS RAZED: Mayor Miller expects the former L.P. Butts building, 56 Market St., to be razed within six weeks. The site will be redeveloped by a private entity.
AIDING WOMEN: Oneonta’s new Dining for Women chapter plans its first meeting, a finger-food potluck at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 12 Ford Ave. All welcome. Proceed benefit Third World women. (Snow date Jan. 30)
Oneonta’s five Otsego County representatives, all Democrats, made common cause with a GOP bloc to reelect Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, as chairman of the 13-member county board.
At the reorganizational meeting Jan 5, County Rep. Rich Murphy, D-Town of Oneonta, nominated Dubben, who bested two other Republicans, Jim Powers of South New Berlin and Don Lindberg of Worcester to keep the helm.
BUTTS RAZED: Mayor Miller expects the former L.P. Butts building, 56 Market St., to be razed within six weeks. The site will be redeveloped by a private entity.
AIDING WOMEN: Oneonta’s new Dining for Women chapter plans its first meeting, a finger-food potluck at 2 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 23, at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 12 Ford Ave. All welcome. Proceed benefit Third World women. (Snow date Jan. 30)
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| Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Oneonta mainstay Frank “Diz” Lamonica wouldn’t let wife Jo-Ann throw a big party for his 100th birthday Sunday, Jan. 9, but she did get a few friends together at Sabatini’s. |
ONEONTA ROTARY CLUB, 2010-11
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| When Barbara Ann Heegan assumed the presidency of the Oneonta Rotary Club last summer, she arranged for Lasting Expressions Photo to take a portrait of the club, which had not been done in several years. The photo was distributed to club members in recent days. |
1. Dick Miller
2. Larry Heldman
3. George Silvernell
4. Bill McLachlan
5. Vern Thomas
6. Eric Wilson
7. Ed Gorman
8. Ken Baldwin
9. Steve Belk
10. Kathy Schofield
11. Gary Herzog
12. Jim Broe
13. Bill Davis
14. Dave Brenner
15. Steve Estes
16. Landin VanBuren
17. Karyl Clemens
18. Geoff Smith
19. Sherm Whitney
20. Les Grummons
21. Dan Mattice
22. Bob Wood
23. Adam Stoutenburg
24. Tanya Shalor
25. Eddie Hofbauer
26. Diane (Dee) Williams
27. Barbara DeGanlilly
28. Howie Gelbsman
29. Charlie Nicosia
30. Cindy Strenckle
31. Chad Smith
32. Sarah Patterson
33. Helene Seldin
34. Helen Bridges
35. Sally Miglianti
36. Dave Mattice
37. Larry Guzy
38. Sarah Manchester
39. Alan Donovan
40. George Brown
41. Jeremy Allen
42. Marie Lusins-McLachlan
43. Gordie Jones
44. Rosalie Higgins
45. Loree Allen
46. Sam Koury
47. Jim Salisbury
48. Paul Adamo
49. Emily Ernsberger
50. Frank Russo
51. Jim Kevlin (visiting)
52. Tony Manzanero
53. Elaine Baird
54. Catrina Truesdell
55. Barbara Ann Heegan, president.
56. Dave Weaver
57. David Wi (exchange student)
58. Zuzie Hola
59. Eric Jervis
Sanford, Barnhart Nuptials Planned
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| Erika Sandford & Orrin Barnhart |
Erika is a graduate of Oneonta High School. She received a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and is now in graduate school there.
Orrin is a graduate of Schenevus Central School and earned a bachelor’s in geography from SUNY Oneonta. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education at Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass.
A June 2012 wedding is planned.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
City of The Hills
MORATORIUM ON: Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended his predecessor’s hydrofracking moratorium through the end of June. (For excerpt of his inaugural, A4)
SWEARING-INS: Otsego County’s new congressmen, Republicans Richard Hanna and Chris Gibson, were to be sworn in Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. (More on swearing-ins, A3)
HELLO, HELLO: Verizon Wireless has expanded its 3G network to improve cell-phone coverage along I-88 from Exit 13 to Exit 15, Route 7 from Route 28 to Mill Creek Road, and Route 205 from Route 7 to Airport Road.
CHICKEN, TOO: Brooks House of B-B-Q meals will be available this summer at Oneonta Outlaw games at Damaschke Field, Outlaws co-owner Keith Rogers announced.
STUDENTS BACK: Classes resume Monday, Jan. 10, at Hartwick College. SUNY Oneonta students return the following Monday.
SWEARING-INS: Otsego County’s new congressmen, Republicans Richard Hanna and Chris Gibson, were to be sworn in Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives. (More on swearing-ins, A3)
HELLO, HELLO: Verizon Wireless has expanded its 3G network to improve cell-phone coverage along I-88 from Exit 13 to Exit 15, Route 7 from Route 28 to Mill Creek Road, and Route 205 from Route 7 to Airport Road.
CHICKEN, TOO: Brooks House of B-B-Q meals will be available this summer at Oneonta Outlaw games at Damaschke Field, Outlaws co-owner Keith Rogers announced.
STUDENTS BACK: Classes resume Monday, Jan. 10, at Hartwick College. SUNY Oneonta students return the following Monday.
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| Cheryl Clough/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Colin Eustis, winner of the Oneonta Family Y’s annual Frostbite 5k run New Year’s Eve, heads for the finish line. Amanda LoPiccolo led the women. |
Warm Weather, 47 Acts Helped Attract Crowds
For Mark Drnek, the highpoint of Imagine Oneonta! First Night was “that Oneonta had one. Not a whole lot of communities did. And we’re just a small city.”
But there were many other highpoints, including the return of the 12-foot-tall puppets, once a staple of Oneonta parades; the thousands who lined Main Street; the 47 performers and 100 performances at stages around the downtown New Year’s Eve evening; and, yes, even temperatures in the high 40s, unheard of around here at this time of year.
“In terms of sheer volume and diversity, it was bigger than 2000,” said Drnek. That was the grandmommy of all First Nights, the night when the new century was welcomed in.
Although the tally was still mounting at mid-week, Drnek estimated between 2,000 and 2,300 buttons had been sold. At $10 apiece, $15 since Christmas, that means the final tally will be in the $20,000 to $35,000 range, plus sponsorships.
“We’ll just about break even this year,” he predicted. While 2000 actually made about $8,000, this year’s take was pretty good, given the three-year hiatus that caused First Night’s 501c3 status to lapse, delaying fundraising.
If Drnek is considered the granddaddy of First Night Oneonta, he had plenty of brothers and sisters. Lynn Westcott, then UCCCA director, Jim Koury, Nancy Burnett and Bobbi Harlem were on the team that worked on the first event in 1998.
At the end of 1997, Drnek had recently finished up as Oneonta’s downtown task force coordinator when he spent New Year’s Eve in Baltimore, which had First Night activities.
Drnek liked what he saw, came home and got started. After the program lapsed in 2008 – “It’s a tough thing to run,” Drnek said – people wouldn’t let him close the door.
“A lot of people look at my face and associate it with a number of different things,” he said, “but one of them is First Night. People kept asking, are you going to do it, are you going to do it, are you going to do it?”
And so, beginning a year ago December, Drnek held a couple of meetings to gauge the interest. He soon had a committed corps.
Pam Strother handled Venues, finding space for acts that ranged from Indonesian traditional dancing to salsa, then made sure there was sufficient power, decorations, food.
Katherine Bashaw, Tom Clemow and Drnek collaborated on Finance, but the 501c3 renewal didn’t come through until late fall. Rich Murphy, the county representative, did Logistics. Alderman Paul Robinson “was our button guy, and that’s not a small thing, either,” particularly given the need to trust someone with cash. “He’d be walking around with pounds of $1 bills.”
Valerie Adams coordinated the volunteers – the more the better. And David Hayes, downtown coordinator, organized the parade.
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| Jim Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Jessie Baker of Greg Lee’s Cosmic Karma Fire wows the crowd along Main Street during the Imagine Oneonta! parade. |
look in PICTURES to see more from Oneonta's First night!
Mayor Focuses On 2011
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| Jm Kevlin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Mayor Miller in his City Hall office on the penultimate day of 2010. The right window looks out on Ford Avenue; the left one on Main Street. |
2nd Council Retreat To Look At Facilities
By JIM KEVLIN
Oneonta has quite a year waiting for it, beginning immediately.
Saturday, Jan. 8, Mayor Dick Miller has scheduled a second annual retreat for Common Council to, among other things, begin discussing a multi-year infrastructure and facility plan that would include such issues as the future of the Oneonta Municipal Airport.
Tuesday, Jan. 18, the long-awaited revisions to the city zoning code will be made public. The changes will focus on strengthening neighborhoods, providing housing opportunities and helping businesses start or expand.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, Miller is hosting a forum for the arts community aimed at coming up with a plan for full use of the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center, including – perhaps – studios and artist housing.
Then, by spring, the Charter Commission will reports its recommendations, which will include a rethinking of the role of mayor and perhaps the need for a city manager. The revised charter will be on the November ballot.
Completion of the Bresee’s renovation, city/town consolidation, negotiating PILOT or similar agreements with the colleges: These also remain on the agenda.
While looking ahead, the mayor, in an interview at the end of his first year, said he’s enjoyed the challenges to date, particularly in the “spirit of collaboration” he’s enjoyed with aldermen, city employees and the public at large.
His first area of focus – developing a computer-based five-year budget plan that allowed Common Council to adjust in advance of crises – has born fruit in this year’s 2 percent tax increase.
City revenues were greater and City Hall spent less than budgeted, meaning “we’re ahead of the game going into 2012,” Miller said, pushing back the day of reckoning a year. (He had expected the budget surplus to be exhausted in 2012.)
A big reason was renegotiating benefit packages for city workers and retirees that kept costs level or below.
His attitude toward the mixed reaction to the “Oneonta, Life Enjoyed” brand might be characterized as acceptance. However, he said it can and will be used to promote Oneonta outside the region.
“We have to run events here that cause people to come here,” he said.
Along those same lines, he will be asking Alderman Mike Lynch, new chair of the Facilities/Technology/Operations committee, to look at upgrading Lettis Highway and South Main entrances into the city.
He said the entrances into Saratoga Springs – manicured landscaping and fancy paving – could apply equally here.
Judge Burns Decries Rise Of Scourge
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| County Judge Brian D. Burns is sworn in by State Supreme Court Judge Michael V. Coccoma. Burns wife, Elizabeth, holds the Bible while their children, from left, Meg, Kevin and Tony, look on. |
Three Otsego County people died of heroin overdoses in 2010.
Heroin arrests have occurred in Oneonta and Richfield Springs high schools.
“There are hundreds of thousands of dollars of heroin here in Otsego County,” County Judge Brian D. Burns of Oneonta told a full house in the Otsego County Courthouse’s main courtroom New Year’s Day shortly after he had been sworn in for a second 10-year term.
“I can’t emphasize enough how much that’s changed,” he continued. “Heroin was simply not a problem. It’s going to be the biggest problem in the next 10 years.”
That the judge chose to highlight such an issue at an event that typically focuses more on ceremony and thanks suggests how severe he views the challenge.
State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, sworn in for a 13th term, and county Sheriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr., sworn in for a second term, kept more to form, thanking their families and supporters and discussing the challenges ahead.
Drue Quakenbush, an Oneonta high school student, sang the National Anthem at the outset, and led the audience in “America The Beautiful” at the end.
In further comments outside the building, Burns said heroin has become “as available as marijuana.” Previously, he said, it was of poor quality, requiring it to be injected; now, it can simply be inhaled.
And no one is spared.
“Stay-at-home moms in their 40s are being arrested for selling it and for using it,” said the judge. In another instance, a graduate student tried heroin at a college party and was hooked.
Shortterm, Burns said, the quickest response is what the district attorney and police are doing: finding sellers and arresting them.
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| County Sheriff Richard J. Devlin, Jr., is sworn in by County Judge John Lambert. The sheriff’s wife, Laurie, hold the Bible. |
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| State Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, greets his aunt, Dora Fowler of Roxbury, after he was sworn in for his 13th term Saturday, Jan. 1, at the Otsego County Courthouse. Ms. Fowler, 91, is the oldest teacher in New York State, as well as the longest serving. At left is one of the senator’s sisters, Leona Hoag. |
Diz’ Lamonica Day To Honor Oneonta Centenarian
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| Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Frank “Diz” Lamonica was in Common Council chambers Tuesday, Jan. 4, where Mayor Dick Miller issued a proclamation honoring his 100th birthday. |
WHEREAS, Frank “Diz” LaMonica was born in Oneonta on January 9, 1911, the son of a family whose members immigrated to America from Palermo and Sicily, and
WHEREAS, Frank and his younger brothers, Samuel and Carl, and sisters, Marian and Sylvia, grew up on Market Street and Watkins Avenue in the City, and
WHEREAS, “Diz” worked in the family bowling alley business, becoming its President, and also of his family’s banana sales company, and during the 1940’s, he promoted amateur boxing for the Oneonta Recreation Commission under Dutch Damaschke, training such local athletes as Butch Katanic, Kid Cuyle, Brad Blasetti, and Dom Mastro, and in 1949, opened the LaMonica Beverage Company, operating his business and serving as its President until his retirement in 1986, on West Broadway, then Fonda Avenue and, ultimately, Railroad Avenue, and
WHEREAS, Frank has a son (deceased), a daughter, two grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, a loving wife, Jo-Ann Bridger who he married in 1989 and with whom he lives in Emmons Heights, and
WHEREAS, over the years, “Diz” has served as a Director for Wilber National Bank, the Oneonta Athletic Corporation, owner of the Yankees and the Tigers, has been a life long member of the St. Mary’s Catholic Church and donated St. Mary’s School Chapel, sponsored a Little League team for over 25 years, been a long time supporter and contributor to Boy Scouts of America, the Oneonta Police Benevolent Association, the Oneonta County Sheriff’s Association, the Otsego County Red Cross, and
WHEREAS, “Diz” was elected “Citizen of the Year” by Hartwick College in 1989 and was inducted into the National Bowling Hall of Fame, and is a member of the Brotherhood of Elks, the Sixth Ward Athletic Club, and the Otsego County Boating Association, of which he was an officer, and
WHEREAS, Frank “Diz” LaMonica is a world renowned Grand Master Card Holder of the Greater Oneonta Gin Rummy Association, and an all around good guy.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, Richard P. Miller, Jr., on the occasion of Frank “Diz” LaMonica’s 100th birthday, hereby proclaim January 9, 2011, as “Diz” LaMonica Day in Oneonta and request that all members of the community honor, speak out and express to “Diz” their admiration and affection in celebration of the life he continues to lead.
New York Can Regain ‘Empire’ Status
Editor’s Note: This is an excerpt from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s inaugural address, delivered at noon Saturday, Jan. 1. He was expected to announce a wage freeze for state employees during his first State of the State address Wednesday, Jan. 5.
During this campaign, Bob (Duffy, former mayor of Rochester and new lieutenant governor) and I had the opportunity to visit all 62 counties once again. And doing it in a relatively compressed period of time, it’s just a beautiful reminder of the assets that we have in this state.
From the falls of Niagara to the powerful waves of Montauk, we have it all and everything in between. We really have every asset that man or God could be expected to give to a place.
That is the State of New York, and I saw that up close and personal. I also saw up close and personal the suffering that our people are facing and the devastating toll that this economy has taken. And it cannot be underestimated.
Young people all across upstate New York who are leaving because they believe there is no economic future left. The taxpayers on Long Island who are imprisoned in their homes because they can’t afford to pay the property taxes anymore, but the value of the home has dropped so low that they can’t afford to sell the house because they can’t pay off the mortgage. The laid-off construction worker in Brooklyn who can’t find a job and is fretting about what he’s going to do to feed his family when the unemployment insurance runs out.
This, my friends, cannot be underestimated. And to make it actually worse, people then feel betrayed by their government. That they have problems, they have needs, they look to the government and they assume the government was going to be there to help them because that’s what government is supposed to be all about. And they look to the government and instead they find a government that’s part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
People all across the state, when you mention state government they are literally shaking their heads. Worse than no confidence, what they’re saying is, is no trust. The words “government in Albany” have become a national punch line. And the joke is on us. Too often government responds to the whispers of the lobbyists before the cries of the people. Our people feel abandoned by government, betrayed and isolated, and they are right.
New York faces a deficit. A deficit that we talk about all day long, the budget deficit, the budget deficit. But it’s actually worse. The state faces a budget deficit and a competence deficit and an integrity deficit and a trust deficit. And those are the obstacles we really face.
And the state is at a crossroads. I believe the decisions that we make, the decisions my colleagues make, this year will define the trajectory of this state for years to come. The decisions we make today will shape the state we leave our children tomorrow.
As governor, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do, because I told you what I’m going to do. I told the people all across this state. This was a different kind of campaign. Bob and I put together a very specific agenda. And we said we wanted to win not with the personal mandate — This was not about electing Andrew Cuomo and Bob Duffy; this was electing a mandate for change that the people of this state endorsed overwhelmingly all across this state.
We have a very specific mandate for change that the people want. And our expectation is that the politicians and the elected officials of people are now going to do what the people voted for and what the people need.
It starts with jobs, jobs, jobs, getting the economy running once again. Getting the economy running all across this great state.
Number 2 is going to be cleaning up Albany and restoring trust because Bob is right, you have nothing without trust. Any relationship is only as good as the level of trust, and we have lost the trust. And we are not going to get it back until we clean up Albany and there’s real transparency and real disclosure and real accountability and real ethics enforcement. That’s what the people have voted for and that’s what the people deserve.
We have to pass a property-tax cap in the State of New York because working families can’t afford to pay the ever-increasing tax burden. Nothing is going up in their lives. Their income isn’t going up, their banking account isn’t going up, their savings aren’t going up. They can’t afford the never-ending tax increases in the State of New York and this state has no future if it is going to be the tax capital of the nation. We have to send that signal this session by passing a property-tax cap.
And my friends, we must rightsize the state government for today. The state government has grown too large, we can’t afford it, the number of local governments has grown too large, and that we’re going to have to reduce and consolidate.
During this campaign, Bob (Duffy, former mayor of Rochester and new lieutenant governor) and I had the opportunity to visit all 62 counties once again. And doing it in a relatively compressed period of time, it’s just a beautiful reminder of the assets that we have in this state.
From the falls of Niagara to the powerful waves of Montauk, we have it all and everything in between. We really have every asset that man or God could be expected to give to a place.
That is the State of New York, and I saw that up close and personal. I also saw up close and personal the suffering that our people are facing and the devastating toll that this economy has taken. And it cannot be underestimated.
Young people all across upstate New York who are leaving because they believe there is no economic future left. The taxpayers on Long Island who are imprisoned in their homes because they can’t afford to pay the property taxes anymore, but the value of the home has dropped so low that they can’t afford to sell the house because they can’t pay off the mortgage. The laid-off construction worker in Brooklyn who can’t find a job and is fretting about what he’s going to do to feed his family when the unemployment insurance runs out.
This, my friends, cannot be underestimated. And to make it actually worse, people then feel betrayed by their government. That they have problems, they have needs, they look to the government and they assume the government was going to be there to help them because that’s what government is supposed to be all about. And they look to the government and instead they find a government that’s part of the problem rather than part of the solution.
People all across the state, when you mention state government they are literally shaking their heads. Worse than no confidence, what they’re saying is, is no trust. The words “government in Albany” have become a national punch line. And the joke is on us. Too often government responds to the whispers of the lobbyists before the cries of the people. Our people feel abandoned by government, betrayed and isolated, and they are right.
New York faces a deficit. A deficit that we talk about all day long, the budget deficit, the budget deficit. But it’s actually worse. The state faces a budget deficit and a competence deficit and an integrity deficit and a trust deficit. And those are the obstacles we really face.
And the state is at a crossroads. I believe the decisions that we make, the decisions my colleagues make, this year will define the trajectory of this state for years to come. The decisions we make today will shape the state we leave our children tomorrow.
As governor, I’m going to tell you what I’m going to do, because I told you what I’m going to do. I told the people all across this state. This was a different kind of campaign. Bob and I put together a very specific agenda. And we said we wanted to win not with the personal mandate — This was not about electing Andrew Cuomo and Bob Duffy; this was electing a mandate for change that the people of this state endorsed overwhelmingly all across this state.
We have a very specific mandate for change that the people want. And our expectation is that the politicians and the elected officials of people are now going to do what the people voted for and what the people need.
It starts with jobs, jobs, jobs, getting the economy running once again. Getting the economy running all across this great state.
Number 2 is going to be cleaning up Albany and restoring trust because Bob is right, you have nothing without trust. Any relationship is only as good as the level of trust, and we have lost the trust. And we are not going to get it back until we clean up Albany and there’s real transparency and real disclosure and real accountability and real ethics enforcement. That’s what the people have voted for and that’s what the people deserve.
We have to pass a property-tax cap in the State of New York because working families can’t afford to pay the ever-increasing tax burden. Nothing is going up in their lives. Their income isn’t going up, their banking account isn’t going up, their savings aren’t going up. They can’t afford the never-ending tax increases in the State of New York and this state has no future if it is going to be the tax capital of the nation. We have to send that signal this session by passing a property-tax cap.
And my friends, we must rightsize the state government for today. The state government has grown too large, we can’t afford it, the number of local governments has grown too large, and that we’re going to have to reduce and consolidate.
In 2011, Let’s Start Working With SUNY On ‘New Economy’
So while every New Yorker should try to be optimistic about Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s prospects, we’ve witnessed how difficult it is going to be to return our state to “Empire” status, wish as we might.
In his New Year’s Day inaugural speech, the new governor certainly captured the pain in describing “the taxpayers on Long Island who are imprisoned in their homes because they can’t afford to pay the property taxes anymore, but the value of the home has dropped so low that they can’t afford to sell the house because they can’t pay off the mortgage.”
Long Islanders, for sure, but homeowners statewide, too.
Cleaning up Albany? Long overdue. Right-sizing government? Sure; economic decline has made the investments of Nelson Rockefeller’s “Golden Age” unsustainable.
•
A property-tax cap. Good. But, careful: You push in here and it comes out there, as Unatego Superintendent of Schools Chuck Molloy and other educators observed Monday, Jan. 3, at the Otsego County Chamber’s annual State of the State Luncheon.With the Internet bubble bursting at the beginning of the last decade, the housing bubble bursting eight years later, and tepid economic growth in between, public pension funds stagnated.
Today, with baby boomers heading for retirement, school districts and localities are being required to make big hikes in local contributions during the worst economy in 80 years. Plus, the federal stimulus that closed budget gaps is expiring.
The state’s Wicks Law, which required $9,000 doors during the recent Cooperstown Central School renovation, has been allowed to lapse in New York City. Why not statewide?
School districts likewise can help themselves. But in the ONC BOCES, the only talk of mergers of our many tiny districts is between Stamford, Jefferson and South Kortright, one of many long overdue.
Certainly, there’s much more.
•
One benefit of downturns is that they can force us to address painful choices easy to ignore when everything’s going fine. If the governor and state Legislature can make those choices, they will be heralded.At the luncheon, state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, pointed out that Texas, Georgia and Florida, the fastest growing states, also have the lowest taxes and highest economic growth. The energy crisis of the 1970s, of course, was also a big contributor to Sun Belt prosperity.
Sure, let’s rationalize government. Let’s cut where we can. But we need a concept that is only now a’borning, evident in the SUNY Albany’s NanoTech Complex and Advanced Micro Devices’ $4.6 billion computer chip under construction in Malta, Saratoga County.
SUNY Oneonta President Nancy Kleniewski told the gathering, “In the next decade, economic revitalization is going to come from higher education.”
She’s exactly right. The question, locally, is how can we jumpstart the process? We don’t need Cuomo or state government to intensify that conversation immediately.
Mayor Miller To Oneonta Arts Community: How Can Foothills Help You?
Editor’s Note: Here is Mayor Miller’s invitation to the local arts community setting the stage for a community forum 9-noon Saturday, Jan. 22, at the Foothills Performing Arts Center.
The broadly defined arts and entertainment community in the Oneonta area is rich and vibrant. It is also fragmented with an opportunity presenting itself to have individuals and organizations work together to capitalize on collective resources. As I understand it, in the late 1990’s, “arts” were to be the theme which Oneonta would promote to bring visitors to our community. That possibility continues to exist and with the addition of the Oneonta Theatre and Foothills Performance venues, the opportunity is greater than ever. Combined with a downtown hotel and improved retail and dining opportunities in the center City, promoting Oneonta as a day or overnight destination for people interested in the arts should be addressed.
As Mayor, I would like to invite all interested individuals and organizations to participate in a community forum on this subject which will be held Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. until noon in the atrium at the Foothills Performing Arts Center. A continental breakfast will be served. Break out groups will discuss and present ideas on a list of topics which would include, but not be limited to:
• creating and promoting a calendar of activities
• collaborating to raise financial support
• barriers to collaboration that need to be addressed and removed
• needs of the arts and entertainment communities of Oneonta
• a cooperative housing and studio art facility
I hope we can leave the above described session with three (3) to five (5) activities upon which we can agree to move the effort forward. Please call or email my office letting me know if you can attend so that we can plan on the appropriate size group.
The broadly defined arts and entertainment community in the Oneonta area is rich and vibrant. It is also fragmented with an opportunity presenting itself to have individuals and organizations work together to capitalize on collective resources. As I understand it, in the late 1990’s, “arts” were to be the theme which Oneonta would promote to bring visitors to our community. That possibility continues to exist and with the addition of the Oneonta Theatre and Foothills Performance venues, the opportunity is greater than ever. Combined with a downtown hotel and improved retail and dining opportunities in the center City, promoting Oneonta as a day or overnight destination for people interested in the arts should be addressed.
As Mayor, I would like to invite all interested individuals and organizations to participate in a community forum on this subject which will be held Saturday, January 22nd, 2011 from 9:00 a.m. until noon in the atrium at the Foothills Performing Arts Center. A continental breakfast will be served. Break out groups will discuss and present ideas on a list of topics which would include, but not be limited to:
• creating and promoting a calendar of activities
• collaborating to raise financial support
• barriers to collaboration that need to be addressed and removed
• needs of the arts and entertainment communities of Oneonta
• a cooperative housing and studio art facility
I hope we can leave the above described session with three (3) to five (5) activities upon which we can agree to move the effort forward. Please call or email my office letting me know if you can attend so that we can plan on the appropriate size group.
Father Burns Was About People
Just after the wonderful Christmas celebrations, we learned on the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr, that Father John Burns, pastor of Holy Cross Church, Morris, had passed away.
Father Burns was dean of Otsego County, appointed to that post by Bishop Hubbard to represent the diocese in the western area of the Diocese of Albany.
Father Burns was a friend of ours here at St. Mary’s, Cooperstown. Any time he was invited, he joyfully came to parties, social events, business meetings and liturgies. Recently, he was here for the funeral of Dennis Murray. He came through our Open House on Dec. 19.
He heard confessions here on Dec. 22. Father John often came to assist with our confirmation students, to hear confessions or to lead the once-a-month special mass for our confirmation students.
Many have shared their feelings about this quiet man. Some commented how his faith came out when singing, full voiced and unsparingly.
“He was gentle and kind in confession.” “He loved his vocation and the people he served.”
My own thoughts are: John listened. He was quiet. When he spoke, one should listen.
The week he died, John would have traveled to be with the bishop, priests and seminarians for the annual Christmas social. I confess that I am too Christmas-exhausted to even think of the trip.
Not John. He was always there. And “there” was people. John Burns ever sought to bring people together.
One of the greatest comments I heard about his passing comes from the wonderful person who maintains the rectory and watched John convalesce here after this heart surgery. She observed: “Father Burns was always busy doing the Church’s work very quietly and diligently.”
My fondest thought is how he traveled to be with us on Sunday morning, June 6, at 11 a.m., for the celebration of the Year of Priests. Father Andrew W. Cryans of Durham, N.H., said: “ You can always count on John Burns to be there when it is priesthood.”
May the Eternal Priest embrace Him. “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisdeck.”
Father Rosson is pastor of St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Church,
Cooperstown.
Father Burns was dean of Otsego County, appointed to that post by Bishop Hubbard to represent the diocese in the western area of the Diocese of Albany.
Father Burns was a friend of ours here at St. Mary’s, Cooperstown. Any time he was invited, he joyfully came to parties, social events, business meetings and liturgies. Recently, he was here for the funeral of Dennis Murray. He came through our Open House on Dec. 19.
He heard confessions here on Dec. 22. Father John often came to assist with our confirmation students, to hear confessions or to lead the once-a-month special mass for our confirmation students.
Many have shared their feelings about this quiet man. Some commented how his faith came out when singing, full voiced and unsparingly.
“He was gentle and kind in confession.” “He loved his vocation and the people he served.”
My own thoughts are: John listened. He was quiet. When he spoke, one should listen.
The week he died, John would have traveled to be with the bishop, priests and seminarians for the annual Christmas social. I confess that I am too Christmas-exhausted to even think of the trip.
Not John. He was always there. And “there” was people. John Burns ever sought to bring people together.
One of the greatest comments I heard about his passing comes from the wonderful person who maintains the rectory and watched John convalesce here after this heart surgery. She observed: “Father Burns was always busy doing the Church’s work very quietly and diligently.”
My fondest thought is how he traveled to be with us on Sunday morning, June 6, at 11 a.m., for the celebration of the Year of Priests. Father Andrew W. Cryans of Durham, N.H., said: “ You can always count on John Burns to be there when it is priesthood.”
May the Eternal Priest embrace Him. “You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchisdeck.”
Father Rosson is pastor of St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Church,
Cooperstown.
Bishop Officiates At Funeral of Father John Burns, 71, Otsego-Delaware County Dean
MORRIS – The funeral mass for the Very Rev. John R. Burns, dean of the Otsego-Delaware Deanery, was Friday, Dec. 31, at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Oneonta. Bishop Howard Hubbard of the Diocese of Albany officiating.
Father Burns, 71, who was also pastor of Holy Cross Church, Morris, passed away Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010, at his home in Morris.
He was born in Albany in 1939, the son of Robert J. Burns Sr. and Anna (Wohlfahrt) Burns.
He was a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy in Albany in 1957. He attended Mater Christi in Albany and St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada, then was ordained at the Cathedral in Albany by Father William A. Scully.
While assistant pastor at St. Ambrose Church in Latham, he was an instructor at Mercy High School in Albany. He was assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Rensselaer and St. Agnes Church in Cohoes, then chaplain at Memorial Hospital and School of Nursing, then assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa.
In 1981, he became pastor of Precious Blood of Jesus Church in South Kortright, and in 1999 became pastor of his current church Holy Cross Church of Morris. He was chaplain of the Joseph P. Molinari Council 4989 Knights of Columbus.
Survivors include his brother, Robert J. Burns Jr. and his wife, Agatha, of Canada Lake; a nephew, Robert A. Burns and his wife, Kristen, of East Greenbush, and his three great-nieces, Madison, McCayla and Macey Burns.
Burial was Monday, Jan. 3, at Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna.
Memorial donations may be made to Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, P.O. Box 118, Morris, NY 13808.
Arrangements were with the Johnston Funeral Home of Morris.
Father Burns, 71, who was also pastor of Holy Cross Church, Morris, passed away Sunday, Dec. 26, 2010, at his home in Morris.
He was born in Albany in 1939, the son of Robert J. Burns Sr. and Anna (Wohlfahrt) Burns.
He was a graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy in Albany in 1957. He attended Mater Christi in Albany and St. Paul’s University in Ottawa, Canada, then was ordained at the Cathedral in Albany by Father William A. Scully.
While assistant pastor at St. Ambrose Church in Latham, he was an instructor at Mercy High School in Albany. He was assistant pastor at St. Joseph’s Church in Rensselaer and St. Agnes Church in Cohoes, then chaplain at Memorial Hospital and School of Nursing, then assistant pastor at St. Mary’s Church in Ballston Spa.
In 1981, he became pastor of Precious Blood of Jesus Church in South Kortright, and in 1999 became pastor of his current church Holy Cross Church of Morris. He was chaplain of the Joseph P. Molinari Council 4989 Knights of Columbus.
Survivors include his brother, Robert J. Burns Jr. and his wife, Agatha, of Canada Lake; a nephew, Robert A. Burns and his wife, Kristen, of East Greenbush, and his three great-nieces, Madison, McCayla and Macey Burns.
Burial was Monday, Jan. 3, at Holy Redeemer Cemetery in Niskayuna.
Memorial donations may be made to Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church, P.O. Box 118, Morris, NY 13808.
Arrangements were with the Johnston Funeral Home of Morris.
Monday, January 3, 2011
Is Oneonta Theater The Critical Mass We’ve Hoped For?
Tom Cormier isn’t the only entrepreneur in downtown Oneonta.
The Twelve Tribes have rebranded their Common Ground restaurant as the Yellow Deli and are refining plans for the former Ford dealership at Chestnut and Market.
Latte Lounge’s David Zummo will soon be opening a high-end steakhouse in the former Sego Cafe building. Michele Pondolfino has the thriving Green Toad Bookstore. The Scanlons have Sport Tech figured out.
Jim Baldo and the Fiesta. Wolf Wilde and his jewelry. The Karma Spa and Leilani’s next door. The Georgakopouloses enterprises – the Athens, Mama Nina’s, Capresso. We could go on and on.
But Tom Cormier’s Oneonta Theater is the one private undertaking that can actually become an anchor, an institution – like a thriving Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center or a renovated and fully occupied Bresee’s – that can be transformative.
•
Critical mass is the smallest amount of radioactive material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. In Oneonta’s case, you wonder what the final tiny nudge will be that results in critical mass; i.e., sustained development and prosperity of the city’s center.
One morning, we’ll wake up and we’ll be there.
It doesn’t sound like Cormier and his impresario partner, Jon Weiss, need much hand-holding. Booking John Sebastian, Roger McGuinn and John Mayall for the upcoming season may well guarantee packed houses.
The Ricky Revival – where sons Matthew and Gunnar celebrate their dad, ‘50s teen idol Ricky Nelson – is likewise intriguing. So is the Fab Faux, led by Will Lee, bassist for “Late Show with David Letterman,” not a cover band for the Beatles, but one that seeks to recreate the experience of a live Beatles concert.
These are opportunities for the Oneonta Theater, but for everyone else as well.
•
Recently, an article featured Marc Kingsley, proprietor of The Inn at Cooperstown, and the win-win partnerships he is putting together there.
His “Ultimate Baseball Hall of Fame Getaway,” for instance, features insider tours of the Hall of Fame archives, conducted by one of the high priests, and featuring the actually handling – with rubber gloves, of course – of some of the sacred objects in the collection.
It happens on a Friday. Thursday night, the 34 guests stay at The Inn, (and Friday, and maybe through the weekend.) Friday evening, the 34 dine at Nicoletta’s Italian Cafe, hosted by one of the Hall’s experts.
Kingsley wins. The Hall wins. Nicoletta’s wins. The participants win. Local merchants win. Everybody wins.
What a concept for the Oneonta Theater and everybody else in the neighborhood. Why shouldn’t Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center partner with Cormier? Mayall on a Friday, someone at Foothills on a Saturday? Sebastian on a Saturday, someone at Foothills on Friday.
Get the Clarion in the act. Get the many downtown restaurants to participate. Is there a Southside Mall tie-in? Win-win.
•
Thomas R. Cormier, Oneonta’s new friend, was designated Hometown Oneonta’s 2010 Citizen of the Year because of his guts and drive in pursuing a novel idea.
But he also received the recognition because he is doing something that could benefit everyone. As with all visionaries, it isn’t all about him, but about everybody.
Next year’s headline? “Tom Cormier and the Oneonta = Critical Mass.” And why not?
The Twelve Tribes have rebranded their Common Ground restaurant as the Yellow Deli and are refining plans for the former Ford dealership at Chestnut and Market.
Latte Lounge’s David Zummo will soon be opening a high-end steakhouse in the former Sego Cafe building. Michele Pondolfino has the thriving Green Toad Bookstore. The Scanlons have Sport Tech figured out.
Jim Baldo and the Fiesta. Wolf Wilde and his jewelry. The Karma Spa and Leilani’s next door. The Georgakopouloses enterprises – the Athens, Mama Nina’s, Capresso. We could go on and on.
But Tom Cormier’s Oneonta Theater is the one private undertaking that can actually become an anchor, an institution – like a thriving Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center or a renovated and fully occupied Bresee’s – that can be transformative.
•
Critical mass is the smallest amount of radioactive material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. In Oneonta’s case, you wonder what the final tiny nudge will be that results in critical mass; i.e., sustained development and prosperity of the city’s center.
One morning, we’ll wake up and we’ll be there.
It doesn’t sound like Cormier and his impresario partner, Jon Weiss, need much hand-holding. Booking John Sebastian, Roger McGuinn and John Mayall for the upcoming season may well guarantee packed houses.
The Ricky Revival – where sons Matthew and Gunnar celebrate their dad, ‘50s teen idol Ricky Nelson – is likewise intriguing. So is the Fab Faux, led by Will Lee, bassist for “Late Show with David Letterman,” not a cover band for the Beatles, but one that seeks to recreate the experience of a live Beatles concert.
These are opportunities for the Oneonta Theater, but for everyone else as well.
•
Recently, an article featured Marc Kingsley, proprietor of The Inn at Cooperstown, and the win-win partnerships he is putting together there.
His “Ultimate Baseball Hall of Fame Getaway,” for instance, features insider tours of the Hall of Fame archives, conducted by one of the high priests, and featuring the actually handling – with rubber gloves, of course – of some of the sacred objects in the collection.
It happens on a Friday. Thursday night, the 34 guests stay at The Inn, (and Friday, and maybe through the weekend.) Friday evening, the 34 dine at Nicoletta’s Italian Cafe, hosted by one of the Hall’s experts.
Kingsley wins. The Hall wins. Nicoletta’s wins. The participants win. Local merchants win. Everybody wins.
What a concept for the Oneonta Theater and everybody else in the neighborhood. Why shouldn’t Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center partner with Cormier? Mayall on a Friday, someone at Foothills on a Saturday? Sebastian on a Saturday, someone at Foothills on Friday.
Get the Clarion in the act. Get the many downtown restaurants to participate. Is there a Southside Mall tie-in? Win-win.
•
Thomas R. Cormier, Oneonta’s new friend, was designated Hometown Oneonta’s 2010 Citizen of the Year because of his guts and drive in pursuing a novel idea.
But he also received the recognition because he is doing something that could benefit everyone. As with all visionaries, it isn’t all about him, but about everybody.
Next year’s headline? “Tom Cormier and the Oneonta = Critical Mass.” And why not?
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