1. You will finally have an occasion to wear the floral print shirt you got for Christmas years ago.
2. When is the next time you will be able to ride a wave in the dead of winter?
3. Be served breakfast at the Cooperstown Lions Island Pancake Breakfast Saturday and Sunday.
4. Support local businesses who have donated generously to make winter a little more fun.
5. Make some memories with your kids as you help them make a snow-surfer on the Village Library lawn.
6. Practice your hula
dancing during the Rip Tide Carnival Cooler.
7. Start your weekend off right by enjoying the
Carnival Fireworks Display over Otsego Lake.
8. Even your dog can get out and socialize with his puppy friends at the SPCA Dog Show.
9. Tire your kids out by letting them jump around in the Inflatable Bouncy House on Saturday.
10. That way you can stay out later at the Hang Ten Hangout and enjoy great bands at the local area bars.
11. Have you ever been to a Pig Roast in the middle of February?
12. Don’t feel guilty about indulging in all the samples during the Dessert Festival – we need judges for the fan favorite prize!
13. Run off the extra
calories on Sunday at the Bob Smullens 5k and 10k Run.
14. Channel Chevy Chase in Christmas Vacation during The Sled Stampede races.
15. Show everyone that you are the best hula hooper in town at the Hula Hoop Contest.
16. The chance to check out the bamboo ice sculptures in Pioneer Park.
17. You heard correctly, the lip-sync contest is BACK!
18. Make sure you get enough fruits and veggies in your diet at the Waikiki Watermelon-eating contest.
19. Test your bartending skills at the DUVEL
Pouring Contest at the Pit.
20. Sample a number of different wines and find your favorite at the Paper Umbrella Wine Tasting on Saturday.
21. You could be one of the lucky people to win a raffle prize announced at the Last Stand Chili Contest and Carnival Closer.
22. Join your neighbors on Main St. for the Tropical Paradise Parade or enter to win cash prizes!
23. See if your kids
inherited your moves at the Children’s Disco held at the Cooperstown Fire Hall.
24. Trade your flip-flops for bowling shoes at the
Bowling Tournament held at the Clark Sports Center.
25. If you get cold, warm up at Doubleday Field and enjoy hot food and
beverages at the Beachfront Warming Tent, served by the CCS Softball Team.
26. Check out “Muppet Treasure Island” at Movie Float Night at the Clark Sports Center pool.
27. Enter your chili in the Aloha Means Goodbye Chili Contest and Carnival Closer and see if you can
bring the title of “best chili” home!
28. Get free entry to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum all weekend by wearing a 2011 Winter Carnival button.
29. Try luau-themed drinks made by competing bars and good music at the Rip Tide Carnival Cooler and Drink Contest.
30. Win the Cross Country Ski Race on Saturday
afternoon beginning at the Clark Sports Center.
31. See which Cooperstown high schoolers are named to the Carnival Court during Saturday’s Pancake
Breakfast.
32. Listen to some
talented youngsters take part in Kid’s Karaoke at the Masonic Lodge Building on Sunday.
33. Win a prize for your art by entering the Surf, Sun and Sand Snow Sculpting Contest on Saturday
morning.
34. Show everyone what that you’ve got what it takes at the Cooperstown’s Got Talent show.
35. Stop by the Winter
Carnival Farmer’s
Market in Pioneer Alley on Saturday morning and the TREP$ Marketplace in the Cooperstown Middle/High School Gymnasium on
Saturday afternoon.
36. Wear grass skirts and say things like ALOHA and not get funny looks from your neighbors.
37. Catch “Lilo & Stitch” during the Cabin Fever Film Series on Friday
evening at the Hall of Fame.
38. Learn about the hauntings of Cooperstown by taking a Candlelight Ghost Tour during the weekend.
39. Warm up with the
Soup ‘r Chili Luncheon at the First Baptist Church.
40. Back, back, back, GONE. Participate in the Homerun Hitting Showdown in Lakefront Park.
41. Test your shot in the HOOPLA Free Throw and Three Point Contest at the Clark Sports Center.
42. Dig in during the
Volcanic Blast Chicken Wing Contest.
43. Enjoy a Spaghetti
Dinner to benefit the Susquehanna SPCA On Saturday evening from 5-8 at Templeton Hall.
44. Try some great
Cheesecake at the 12th annual Cheesecake Tasting at the Cooperstown United Methodist Church.
45. Be apart of a 45-year tradition of the best
community in America.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Foothills To Host Gordon Lightfoot
By JIM KEVLIN
It may be surprising to Baby Boomers to learn that Gordon Lightfoot isn’t a name familiar to everyone.
But play “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway” or “Sundown,” and in a few bars everyone knows those iconic songs of a generation.
Go to YouTube. You will too. (Plus, “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”)
This news will certainly thrill the Boomers: Gordon Lightfoot will be performing a benefit at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
The proceeds will be use to buy the stage curtains necessary so Oneonta’s recently completed 634-seat theater – Foothills’ centerpiece – will be able to host national acts routinely.
“He’s a wonderful singer and a songwriter,” said jazz singer Dana Marcine of Cooperstown, who has performed at the Autumn Cafe and other local venues.
While the wavy-haired, dreamy-eyed folk singer of yesteryear is now 72, recent reviews conclude that, backed up by “a terrific band,” he still delivers.
“...The lifelong habit of top-loading every phrase with emphasis has paid off in the autumn of his career, when it is truly difficult for him to sustain the volume throughout,” Curtis Scheiber wrote in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. “His attack sounds nearly as natural today as it did 40 years ago.”
And “If You Could Read My Mind” is a vibrant part of the North American musical canon, performed by such other artists at Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash, Don McLean, Olivia Newton-John and Glen Campbell.
The version by The Spotnicks was adopted like an unofficial theme for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
His honors include 16 Juno Awards and four ASCAP awards for songwriting, and he has been nominated for five Grammys. In 1974, Lightfoot’s song “Sundown” was named pop record of the year by the Music Operators of America.
Tickets are $75 and $60 and may be purchased online at www.foothillspac.org and at the following Oneonta locations: The Eighth Note Music Store, Five Star Subaru, The Green Toad Bookstore and Music Square.
It may be surprising to Baby Boomers to learn that Gordon Lightfoot isn’t a name familiar to everyone.
But play “If You Could Read My Mind,” “Carefree Highway” or “Sundown,” and in a few bars everyone knows those iconic songs of a generation.
Go to YouTube. You will too. (Plus, “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.”)
This news will certainly thrill the Boomers: Gordon Lightfoot will be performing a benefit at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 31, at the Foothills Performing Arts & Civic Center.
The proceeds will be use to buy the stage curtains necessary so Oneonta’s recently completed 634-seat theater – Foothills’ centerpiece – will be able to host national acts routinely.
“He’s a wonderful singer and a songwriter,” said jazz singer Dana Marcine of Cooperstown, who has performed at the Autumn Cafe and other local venues.
While the wavy-haired, dreamy-eyed folk singer of yesteryear is now 72, recent reviews conclude that, backed up by “a terrific band,” he still delivers.
“...The lifelong habit of top-loading every phrase with emphasis has paid off in the autumn of his career, when it is truly difficult for him to sustain the volume throughout,” Curtis Scheiber wrote in the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch. “His attack sounds nearly as natural today as it did 40 years ago.”
And “If You Could Read My Mind” is a vibrant part of the North American musical canon, performed by such other artists at Barbra Streisand, Johnny Cash, Don McLean, Olivia Newton-John and Glen Campbell.
The version by The Spotnicks was adopted like an unofficial theme for the 1972 Summer Olympics.
His honors include 16 Juno Awards and four ASCAP awards for songwriting, and he has been nominated for five Grammys. In 1974, Lightfoot’s song “Sundown” was named pop record of the year by the Music Operators of America.
Tickets are $75 and $60 and may be purchased online at www.foothillspac.org and at the following Oneonta locations: The Eighth Note Music Store, Five Star Subaru, The Green Toad Bookstore and Music Square.
 |
| Grodon Lightfoot |
Oneonta’s Other Colleges
USC Leases 2nd ‘Place To Be’ In City
By JIM KEVLIN
At no time in all but a very few working people’s lifetimes has the demand for retraining been greater, it can be argued.
USC is a case in point: For the first time in its 25-year history, the Utica School of Commerce is expanding its Oneonta operations, adding classroom space and offices at 12 South Main St. to supplement its facilities at 17 Elm.
“Given the opportunity to expand more, I’m sure we would,” Scott Williams, campus administrator (and great-grandson of founder Thomas Risinger), said the other day, strolling along a sunny Main Street between the two locations. Steady for years at 75-80 students, in recent months USC Oneonta has seen its enrollment rise to 100 in its two-year program of study.
In a city that hosts SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, Williams emphasizes: “We are NOT liberal arts.” Instead, USC sends forth bookkeepers, administrative assistants and office managers who are “office ready.”
“The majority of students have internships before they graduate,” he said, “and any match that works out will lead to employment.”
As Williams describes it, USC’s goal – and its name – have remained the same since the school’s founding in 1896 at Utica’s Genesee and Bleecker streets “in response to an early demand for specialized training in commerce and finance.”
Founder Thomas Risinger’s son, William, joined his dad in 1904, then ran the school from 1919 to 1966. At that point, the founder’s granddaughter, Eleanor, and husband Roger L. Williams assumed ownership.
In 1976, Scott’s father, Phillip, took ownership into the fourth generation, partnering with John L. Crossley. They are two members of USC’s 11-member Board of Trustees.
In 1985, when the State of New York gave USC degree-granting powers, the school opened campuses in Oneida and Canastota, as well as Oneonta.
“I have a list of them like this,” Scott Williams replied, stretching his hands apart, when asked about success stories he has witnessed.
He talked about one very, very shy “traditional student,” who came to USC out of high school. Williams saw her come out of her shell during her two years, and she then recommended USC to her sister.
The second was a “non-traditional student,” who was “thrown to the wolves” after several years in a manufacturing job. When that happens, “it’s scarey,” he said. After a shakey start – particularly a fear of computers – she got it: “Her GPA went up and up,” and she graduated on the Dean’s List.
“It’s validating,” Scott said. “But it’s why we’re here. If our students don’t go on to higher education or get a job” – 92 percent do – “we aren’t doing our job.”
While he’s been talking, he’s arrived at 12 South Main, which until recently housed Oneonta Taikwon Do, which moved down South Main to #55. The space has been completely redone, painted and carpeted, and is bright and welcoming. The front room is a classroom, where accounting is taught. The back of the space houses offices and a conference room.
“Having two sites gives it more of a campus feel,” said Williams, a graduate of St. John Fisher College who is completing a master’s in higher education from Capella University.
One USC’s points of pride is active organizations, including a Student Association, a Service Club and a chapter of IAAP, the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Students serve meals at The Lord’s Table, across Elm Street, participate in the annual American Heart Association and March of Dimes walks and runs, and raise money for the Ronald McDonald House in Albany.
“What we lack in a sports team or green grass we make up with the hearts of our students,” Williams said.
By JIM KEVLIN
At no time in all but a very few working people’s lifetimes has the demand for retraining been greater, it can be argued.
USC is a case in point: For the first time in its 25-year history, the Utica School of Commerce is expanding its Oneonta operations, adding classroom space and offices at 12 South Main St. to supplement its facilities at 17 Elm.
“Given the opportunity to expand more, I’m sure we would,” Scott Williams, campus administrator (and great-grandson of founder Thomas Risinger), said the other day, strolling along a sunny Main Street between the two locations. Steady for years at 75-80 students, in recent months USC Oneonta has seen its enrollment rise to 100 in its two-year program of study.
In a city that hosts SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick College, Williams emphasizes: “We are NOT liberal arts.” Instead, USC sends forth bookkeepers, administrative assistants and office managers who are “office ready.”
“The majority of students have internships before they graduate,” he said, “and any match that works out will lead to employment.”
As Williams describes it, USC’s goal – and its name – have remained the same since the school’s founding in 1896 at Utica’s Genesee and Bleecker streets “in response to an early demand for specialized training in commerce and finance.”
Founder Thomas Risinger’s son, William, joined his dad in 1904, then ran the school from 1919 to 1966. At that point, the founder’s granddaughter, Eleanor, and husband Roger L. Williams assumed ownership.
In 1976, Scott’s father, Phillip, took ownership into the fourth generation, partnering with John L. Crossley. They are two members of USC’s 11-member Board of Trustees.
In 1985, when the State of New York gave USC degree-granting powers, the school opened campuses in Oneida and Canastota, as well as Oneonta.
“I have a list of them like this,” Scott Williams replied, stretching his hands apart, when asked about success stories he has witnessed.
He talked about one very, very shy “traditional student,” who came to USC out of high school. Williams saw her come out of her shell during her two years, and she then recommended USC to her sister.
The second was a “non-traditional student,” who was “thrown to the wolves” after several years in a manufacturing job. When that happens, “it’s scarey,” he said. After a shakey start – particularly a fear of computers – she got it: “Her GPA went up and up,” and she graduated on the Dean’s List.
“It’s validating,” Scott said. “But it’s why we’re here. If our students don’t go on to higher education or get a job” – 92 percent do – “we aren’t doing our job.”
While he’s been talking, he’s arrived at 12 South Main, which until recently housed Oneonta Taikwon Do, which moved down South Main to #55. The space has been completely redone, painted and carpeted, and is bright and welcoming. The front room is a classroom, where accounting is taught. The back of the space houses offices and a conference room.
“Having two sites gives it more of a campus feel,” said Williams, a graduate of St. John Fisher College who is completing a master’s in higher education from Capella University.
One USC’s points of pride is active organizations, including a Student Association, a Service Club and a chapter of IAAP, the International Association of Administrative Professionals.
Students serve meals at The Lord’s Table, across Elm Street, participate in the annual American Heart Association and March of Dimes walks and runs, and raise money for the Ronald McDonald House in Albany.
“What we lack in a sports team or green grass we make up with the hearts of our students,” Williams said.
 |
| Judy Morris, Oneonta, teaches her Accounting I class at USC’s main Oneonta campus on Elm Street. Her students are Rachel Fournier, Sidney (front row); Al Straubel, Oneonta, and Courtney TenEyck, Otego (second row), and Amy Dubben, Middlefield, Candice Hunter, Schenevus, and Alex Robinson, Constable (third row). |
For Professor, Ariz. Shooting Was Personal
Within minutes, Jason Curley’s phone was buzzing. Friends were texting.
It was Saturday, Jan. 8, in Tucson, Ariz., and a gunman had just shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in the head and killed six people at a “Congress on Your Corner” at a Safeway less than a mile from where the Hartwick College music professor was staying.
Curley was back in southern Arizona – he had spent six years there while earning his master’s at the University of Arizona – recruiting during the college’s January Off-Campus Program for the Hartwick Summer Music Festival.
During those years, Curley had often performed on the French horn in a brass quartet at the Giffords’ fundraisers, first for City Council, then for Congress. A friend of his, Brad Holland, headed the quartet (and was also the Realtor who sold Giffords her house.)
“She’s just wonderful,” Curley said the other day, back in Oneonta for the spring semester, “an absolutely glowing personality.”
The day she was shot, he took his French horn to the lawn of the University Medical Center, where she was being treated, to play her favorites – “Strauss, Reicha. She liked 19th-century Romantics” – as bouquets and other tributes piled up nearby.
In his half-dozen years in Tucson, Curley often read of shootings and multiple shootings in the local press, but only the worst made national headlines – in 2002, for instance, when a failing nursing student shot three of his teachers.
“The gun laws in Arizona are so relaxed,” he said. “There are no significant background checks that delay the purchase of firearms.”
Former governor Janet Napolitano tried to nudge public opinion toward some regulation of assault weapons, but the current governor, Jan Brewer, is “very different, very conservative, very pro-gun.”
Even Giffords was pro-gun, favoring gun ownership for hunting, in particular, but she favored a background check and limited accessibility for semi-automatic weapons, such as the type suspect Jared Loughner used that morning.
The Safeway was at Ida and Oracle, Curley said, one of the city’s major intersections and a “very clean,” upper-middle-class neighborhood.
“I liked the way she addressed people individually,” the music professor said. “That’s why the ‘Congress on Your Corner’ program was becoming so successful, because it was an intimate setting, but you could walk up and meet this wonderful woman.”
It was Saturday, Jan. 8, in Tucson, Ariz., and a gunman had just shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords in the head and killed six people at a “Congress on Your Corner” at a Safeway less than a mile from where the Hartwick College music professor was staying.
Curley was back in southern Arizona – he had spent six years there while earning his master’s at the University of Arizona – recruiting during the college’s January Off-Campus Program for the Hartwick Summer Music Festival.
During those years, Curley had often performed on the French horn in a brass quartet at the Giffords’ fundraisers, first for City Council, then for Congress. A friend of his, Brad Holland, headed the quartet (and was also the Realtor who sold Giffords her house.)
“She’s just wonderful,” Curley said the other day, back in Oneonta for the spring semester, “an absolutely glowing personality.”
The day she was shot, he took his French horn to the lawn of the University Medical Center, where she was being treated, to play her favorites – “Strauss, Reicha. She liked 19th-century Romantics” – as bouquets and other tributes piled up nearby.
In his half-dozen years in Tucson, Curley often read of shootings and multiple shootings in the local press, but only the worst made national headlines – in 2002, for instance, when a failing nursing student shot three of his teachers.
“The gun laws in Arizona are so relaxed,” he said. “There are no significant background checks that delay the purchase of firearms.”
Former governor Janet Napolitano tried to nudge public opinion toward some regulation of assault weapons, but the current governor, Jan Brewer, is “very different, very conservative, very pro-gun.”
Even Giffords was pro-gun, favoring gun ownership for hunting, in particular, but she favored a background check and limited accessibility for semi-automatic weapons, such as the type suspect Jared Loughner used that morning.
The Safeway was at Ida and Oracle, Curley said, one of the city’s major intersections and a “very clean,” upper-middle-class neighborhood.
“I liked the way she addressed people individually,” the music professor said. “That’s why the ‘Congress on Your Corner’ program was becoming so successful, because it was an intimate setting, but you could walk up and meet this wonderful woman.”
Davis College Partners With Christian School
Students Earn Credits In High School
A video was playing on a big screen in a darkened classroom at the Oneonta Community Christian School, where Dr. Paul Hegstrom was giving a detailed lecture on the human brain.
He explained the role of the axon and dendrites, how they help humans form habits, and how to break them.
“It’s just mind-boggling the way we’ve been created,” Hegstrom concluded.
The main event followed: admissions representatives Will Reichel and Rick Cramer were visiting the River Street school from Davis College in Binghamton through a partnership that is now in its second semester.
UCCS students are now able to take college-level courses – sign language, public speaking, ESL (English as a second language) and introductory psychology among them – and can enter Davis as sophomores, saving a year’s college tuition.
“We don’t want you to graduate with a bunch of debt,” Cramer said. “We want you to get out there and DO things.”
Davis, described as “a small, close-knit community, ... a family of Christ’s followers, learning and growing together,” is across the Susquehanna from Binghamton University, and graduates often chose to cross over for masters’.
But Cramer didn’t give a hard sell to the dozen juniors and seniors gathered before him, saying only, “If that’s where God’s calling you, I want to help.”
In an interview that followed, Cramer and Reichel, and UCCS Principal Jane Cook, described the collaboration – now also under way with Christian schools in Schenectady and Loudonville, as well as Ross Corners Christian Academy, Endicott – as “a launching pad.”
Since Davis is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the credits UCCS students earn are accepted at an array of colleges and universities, not just this one.
UCCS is reaching beyond its current students to homeschoolers. “OHS students can participate,” added Cook of the sign language course, “and we’re looking to open it to adult learners.”
The affiliation with Davis is also opening up a wider world to UCCS students, the principal said, noting top public-speaking students got to attend a dinner at the Binghamton campus last fall where Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and prospective presidential candidate, was the featured speaker.
A video was playing on a big screen in a darkened classroom at the Oneonta Community Christian School, where Dr. Paul Hegstrom was giving a detailed lecture on the human brain.
He explained the role of the axon and dendrites, how they help humans form habits, and how to break them.
“It’s just mind-boggling the way we’ve been created,” Hegstrom concluded.
The main event followed: admissions representatives Will Reichel and Rick Cramer were visiting the River Street school from Davis College in Binghamton through a partnership that is now in its second semester.
UCCS students are now able to take college-level courses – sign language, public speaking, ESL (English as a second language) and introductory psychology among them – and can enter Davis as sophomores, saving a year’s college tuition.
“We don’t want you to graduate with a bunch of debt,” Cramer said. “We want you to get out there and DO things.”
Davis, described as “a small, close-knit community, ... a family of Christ’s followers, learning and growing together,” is across the Susquehanna from Binghamton University, and graduates often chose to cross over for masters’.
But Cramer didn’t give a hard sell to the dozen juniors and seniors gathered before him, saying only, “If that’s where God’s calling you, I want to help.”
In an interview that followed, Cramer and Reichel, and UCCS Principal Jane Cook, described the collaboration – now also under way with Christian schools in Schenectady and Loudonville, as well as Ross Corners Christian Academy, Endicott – as “a launching pad.”
Since Davis is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the credits UCCS students earn are accepted at an array of colleges and universities, not just this one.
UCCS is reaching beyond its current students to homeschoolers. “OHS students can participate,” added Cook of the sign language course, “and we’re looking to open it to adult learners.”
The affiliation with Davis is also opening up a wider world to UCCS students, the principal said, noting top public-speaking students got to attend a dinner at the Binghamton campus last fall where Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor and prospective presidential candidate, was the featured speaker.
 |
| During a visit to the River Street campus, Davis College’s Will Reichel, center, chats with students Melinda McCardel and Zachary German. |
CITY OF THE HILLS: Mayor Plans Arts Summit For Next Step
Mayor Miller is planning another Arts Summit at 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 17, at Foothills Performing Arts Center to review the next step in making Oneonta a magnet for arts tourism. Public welcome.
The mayor met Saturday, Feb. 5, with about a dozen participants from the first summit in January who had volunteered to serve on a task force.
ALLEGATIONS: Common Council has hired a retired State Police investigator to explore brutality allegations against Oneonta police. (See A4)
CELEBRATE: The Oneonta Rotary is hosting a Valentine Day Brunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, in the Plains at Parish Homestead’s Traditions Restaurant. All you can eat, $8. Public welcome.
SONGS OF LOVE: There’s still time to surprise your loved one, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, with a singing Valentine. Call the Sweet Adelines, 432-8854.
The mayor met Saturday, Feb. 5, with about a dozen participants from the first summit in January who had volunteered to serve on a task force.
ALLEGATIONS: Common Council has hired a retired State Police investigator to explore brutality allegations against Oneonta police. (See A4)
CELEBRATE: The Oneonta Rotary is hosting a Valentine Day Brunch 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 13, in the Plains at Parish Homestead’s Traditions Restaurant. All you can eat, $8. Public welcome.
SONGS OF LOVE: There’s still time to surprise your loved one, 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday, Feb. 14, with a singing Valentine. Call the Sweet Adelines, 432-8854.
 |
| Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA Yellow Deli’s Joseph Riley ladles out his establishment’s entry, which won both first prizes at the UCCA’s Chili Bowl Sunday, Feb. 6. |
NOVEL READ:
Novelist Alice Lichtenstein will be reading from her books at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, at SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Conference Center.
JOINS FIRM:
Dominic P. Parlato, CPA, has joined Peachin & Associates, LLP, 189 Main St. Peachin is a full-service accounting firm.
Yellow Deli Double Winner At Chili Fest
The Yellow Deli’s chili won double honors Sunday, Feb. 6, at the UCCCA’s Chili Bowl: first place in both the Firemen’s Choice and People’s Choice categories.
In Firemen’s Choice, judged by City of Oneonta firefighters, Holiday Inn’s Rex Smith came in second, and Jim Verrelli third.
In People’s Choice, Hartwick College’s Bob Eklund was second, and ISD’s Clayton Sutherland third.
The turnout was “definitely a record,” said Linda McKenzie Ranc, who chairs the UCCCA board of directors.
Although she was still awaiting final numbers, she said 100 of the $10 bowls were “gone within an hour,” and people were still paying $10 admission to sample the goodies. At day’s end, only one $15 bowl was left.
Two more chili makers than last year participated – 14 instead of 12 – and, even then, the food was depleted, Ranc said.
The most unusual entries were being spooned out by David Hayes: One was buffalo, which is somewhat common, and the other – alligator.
The UCCCA’s next offering is a “Living Art” tattoo show 7-10 p.m. Friday, April 7.
In Firemen’s Choice, judged by City of Oneonta firefighters, Holiday Inn’s Rex Smith came in second, and Jim Verrelli third.
In People’s Choice, Hartwick College’s Bob Eklund was second, and ISD’s Clayton Sutherland third.
The turnout was “definitely a record,” said Linda McKenzie Ranc, who chairs the UCCCA board of directors.
Although she was still awaiting final numbers, she said 100 of the $10 bowls were “gone within an hour,” and people were still paying $10 admission to sample the goodies. At day’s end, only one $15 bowl was left.
Two more chili makers than last year participated – 14 instead of 12 – and, even then, the food was depleted, Ranc said.
The most unusual entries were being spooned out by David Hayes: One was buffalo, which is somewhat common, and the other – alligator.
The UCCCA’s next offering is a “Living Art” tattoo show 7-10 p.m. Friday, April 7.
 |
| Oneonta downtown coordinator David Hayes serves up alligator chili, devised by Damian Price, a chef at SUNY Oneonta. He was also serving Floyd Strobeck’s buffalo chili. |
League Plans Discussion On Redistricting
The Oneonta and Cooperstown chapters of the League of Women Voters will co-host a panel discussion, “Redistricting: The Road to Legislative Power” at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 15, at Elm Park Methodist Church, Oneonta.
Featured at the start of the meeting will be a presentation based on a report jointly prepared by four New York “citizen action” groups: LWV New York State, NYPIRG, Common Cause of New York and Citizens Union of the City of New York. Representatives of the Cooperstown and Oneonta Leagues will then offer brief commentaries.
Audience discussion will follow on redrawing state Senate, Assembly and U.S. congressional districts, which will begin shortly after release of final population data from the 2010 Census.
Under the current system, legislators get to draw the boundaries of their own districts. LWV is calling for replacing the present redistricting system with an independent commissions.
Featured at the start of the meeting will be a presentation based on a report jointly prepared by four New York “citizen action” groups: LWV New York State, NYPIRG, Common Cause of New York and Citizens Union of the City of New York. Representatives of the Cooperstown and Oneonta Leagues will then offer brief commentaries.
Audience discussion will follow on redrawing state Senate, Assembly and U.S. congressional districts, which will begin shortly after release of final population data from the 2010 Census.
Under the current system, legislators get to draw the boundaries of their own districts. LWV is calling for replacing the present redistricting system with an independent commissions.
Astronaut Ron Garan Beams Down
Col. Ron Garan, the astronaut and SUNY Oneonta grad who keynoted his alma mater’s commencement last May, beamed back into the Hunt Union Tuesday, Feb. 8, to communicate with city pupils.
The national teleconference involved only four school districts from around the U.S., but Garan, who will rocket in March to a mission on the International Space Station, made sure Oneonta was one of them.
About 1,000 local students, from Oneonta Middle School and Center Street, Valley View and Greater Plains elementary schools, participated in the hour-long session broadcast from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Garan joined the Air Force after graduating from SUNY Oneonta in 1982, and completed his first space mission in 2008. In March, he will be joining Europeans and Russians on the international mission.
The national teleconference involved only four school districts from around the U.S., but Garan, who will rocket in March to a mission on the International Space Station, made sure Oneonta was one of them.
About 1,000 local students, from Oneonta Middle School and Center Street, Valley View and Greater Plains elementary schools, participated in the hour-long session broadcast from the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Garan joined the Air Force after graduating from SUNY Oneonta in 1982, and completed his first space mission in 2008. In March, he will be joining Europeans and Russians on the international mission.
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| Astronaut Ron Garan during a closed-circuit national conversation Tuesday, Feb. 8, from SUNY Oneonta’s Hunt Union. |
State Police Retiree Examines Brutality Allegations
Editor’s Note: Here are the official updates from City Hall since an Oneonta police officer was accused last week of police brutality in subduing a suspect.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 9:31 a.m.
Mayor Miller has scheduled an emergency meeting of Common Council for today, Thursday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. The council will immediately enter into an executive session to discuss a personnel issue. The meeting will be in the basement conference room, City Hall.
Thursday, Feb. 3, 6:20 p.m.
Allegations have been made that an officer of the Oneonta Police Department may have used what might be termed as excessive force in making an arrest of a city resident on Friday, Jan. 28. The matter is being investigated by city officials following established procedures to ensure that the rights of the individual making the allegations and the police officer are protected.
Because of the nature of the incident, and the processes that it has been reported and investigated, the mayor and the Common Council have decided to appoint a qualified, independent individual to review the matter and report directly to us on his/her findings. We are in the process of seeking this individual and will report on the appointment as soon as it is made.
In accordance with New York State law, no further comment on the details of this incident will be released.
Sunday, Feb. 6, 5:48 p.m.
After consulting with representatives of the Attorney General and individuals in the judicial and law enforcement communities in whom I have confidence, I have, with unanimous concurrence of the Common Council, appointed Joseph F. Loszynski, retired deputy superintendent, Internal Affairs Bureau of the New York State Police, to conduct the review of the Jan. 28 incident, and the Oneonta Police Department, announced on Feb. 3.
The unanimous concurrence of the council came after individual conversations I have had with each member.
Mr. Loszynski’s credentials are impeccable. He has no previous relationship with any of the relevant parties involved in the incident, the Oneonta Police Department, members of the Common Council or myself.
Examples of his work and his resume’ can be found by visiting the Town of Greece (NY) and State of Connecticut web sites. As a retiree, he recently completed an extensive review of the Greece Police Department. While he was in active service, he was assigned by New York State as a courtesy to work with the Attorney General of Connecticut in reviewing their State Police Force.
Mr. Loszynski, who resides in Lake George, will be in Oneonta on Tuesday to finalize the details of his review, begin to assemble documents and have initial meetings with a beginning group of those who will be directly involved with his work.
The length of his assignment cannot be determined at this time. He charges a day rate of $450 plus expenses and I have asked council to approve an initial expenditure of $10,000 for this project at its next meeting. Mr. Loszynski’s review will be broad in nature with the Jan. 28 incident as a starting point.
The review will be conducted in such a way that it does not compromise the Oneonta Police Department’s ongoing investigation, or the rights of the individual making the allegation, or those of the officer against whom they have been made.
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 12:54 p.m.
Mayor Miller has scheduled an emergency meeting of the Common Council for today, Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. The council will be discussing the administrative actions necessary to facilitate the review of the Oneonta Police Department by Joseph Loszynski. The meeting will be held in the Common Council Chambers.
Wednesday, Feb. 2, 9:31 a.m.
Mayor Miller has scheduled an emergency meeting of Common Council for today, Thursday, Feb. 3, at 5 p.m. The council will immediately enter into an executive session to discuss a personnel issue. The meeting will be in the basement conference room, City Hall.
Thursday, Feb. 3, 6:20 p.m.
Allegations have been made that an officer of the Oneonta Police Department may have used what might be termed as excessive force in making an arrest of a city resident on Friday, Jan. 28. The matter is being investigated by city officials following established procedures to ensure that the rights of the individual making the allegations and the police officer are protected.
Because of the nature of the incident, and the processes that it has been reported and investigated, the mayor and the Common Council have decided to appoint a qualified, independent individual to review the matter and report directly to us on his/her findings. We are in the process of seeking this individual and will report on the appointment as soon as it is made.
In accordance with New York State law, no further comment on the details of this incident will be released.
Sunday, Feb. 6, 5:48 p.m.
After consulting with representatives of the Attorney General and individuals in the judicial and law enforcement communities in whom I have confidence, I have, with unanimous concurrence of the Common Council, appointed Joseph F. Loszynski, retired deputy superintendent, Internal Affairs Bureau of the New York State Police, to conduct the review of the Jan. 28 incident, and the Oneonta Police Department, announced on Feb. 3.
The unanimous concurrence of the council came after individual conversations I have had with each member.
Mr. Loszynski’s credentials are impeccable. He has no previous relationship with any of the relevant parties involved in the incident, the Oneonta Police Department, members of the Common Council or myself.
Examples of his work and his resume’ can be found by visiting the Town of Greece (NY) and State of Connecticut web sites. As a retiree, he recently completed an extensive review of the Greece Police Department. While he was in active service, he was assigned by New York State as a courtesy to work with the Attorney General of Connecticut in reviewing their State Police Force.
Mr. Loszynski, who resides in Lake George, will be in Oneonta on Tuesday to finalize the details of his review, begin to assemble documents and have initial meetings with a beginning group of those who will be directly involved with his work.
The length of his assignment cannot be determined at this time. He charges a day rate of $450 plus expenses and I have asked council to approve an initial expenditure of $10,000 for this project at its next meeting. Mr. Loszynski’s review will be broad in nature with the Jan. 28 incident as a starting point.
The review will be conducted in such a way that it does not compromise the Oneonta Police Department’s ongoing investigation, or the rights of the individual making the allegation, or those of the officer against whom they have been made.
Tuesday, Feb. 8, 12:54 p.m.
Mayor Miller has scheduled an emergency meeting of the Common Council for today, Tuesday, Feb. 8, at 5:30 p.m. The council will be discussing the administrative actions necessary to facilitate the review of the Oneonta Police Department by Joseph Loszynski. The meeting will be held in the Common Council Chambers.
This Valentine’s Day, Try A Little 5-Minute Conversation
By LAURIE PUHN
Are you looking for a meaningful Valentine’s Day without spending a dime? Here goes.
♥ Gift of Words #1: Compliment Your Mate Inside and Out
There are two types of compliments: those that address a person’s outer appearance and those that address a person’s inner character.
Surprisingly, our research shows 84 percent of people prefer to receive a character compliment as in, “You are an incredibly kind person,” over a comment like “your hair looks great.” Start sharing character comments with your honey today.
♥ Gift of Words #2: Show You Care
We all experience unique events during our busy days, so when our mate shows interest in our day’s happenings it creates an immediate loving bond with him/her.
Find something in your mate’s schedule on Valentine’s Day (and other days too) such as a special meeting, an important errand, a doctor’s app’t, and call/text/email mid-day to specifically ask how it went.
♥ Gift of Words #3: Talk Forward
If you want to have a special Valentine’s Day, it’s important to persuade your mate that he or she is special to you every day, not just on Valentine’s Day. Do this by “talking forward.”
Take charge and make a thoughtful plan for the future.. On Valentine’s Day, say, “I’d like to make a special plan for us next month. Let’s go to __________.” (Fill in with something your mate enjoys, a museum, the theatre, shopping, a road trip, etc.) “What do you think?”
♥ Gift of Words #4: Make an Offer
If you want to receive instant love and appreciation from your honey, volunteer to do something for your mate before he or she asks you to do it.
For example, offer to pick something up at the store, offer to repair something, prepare dinner or offer to put your kids to bed (if you don’t usually).
A surefire way to boost your love life is to make an offer. It says to your mate, I care about you and when you’re happy, I’m happy.
♥ Gift of Words #5: Be Memorable
Do and say memorable things this Valentine’s Day and year ‘round. Instead of dining out, create a candlelit indoor picnic. Sing karaoke together. Arrange for a massage – together. Post love notes in surprise places. Buy a lasting plant instead of flowers. Phone your mate to give a heartfelt comment during the day like, “I love you because….”.
You will spark love and romance this Valentine’s Day (and the year through) by showering your sweetheart with the priceless gift of words.
Laurie Puhn, is a Harvard-educated lawyer, is the bestselling author of “Fight Less, Love More: 5 Minute Conversations to Change Your Relationship without Blowing Up or Giving In.”
Are you looking for a meaningful Valentine’s Day without spending a dime? Here goes.
♥ Gift of Words #1: Compliment Your Mate Inside and Out
There are two types of compliments: those that address a person’s outer appearance and those that address a person’s inner character.
Surprisingly, our research shows 84 percent of people prefer to receive a character compliment as in, “You are an incredibly kind person,” over a comment like “your hair looks great.” Start sharing character comments with your honey today.
♥ Gift of Words #2: Show You Care
We all experience unique events during our busy days, so when our mate shows interest in our day’s happenings it creates an immediate loving bond with him/her.
Find something in your mate’s schedule on Valentine’s Day (and other days too) such as a special meeting, an important errand, a doctor’s app’t, and call/text/email mid-day to specifically ask how it went.
♥ Gift of Words #3: Talk Forward
If you want to have a special Valentine’s Day, it’s important to persuade your mate that he or she is special to you every day, not just on Valentine’s Day. Do this by “talking forward.”
Take charge and make a thoughtful plan for the future.. On Valentine’s Day, say, “I’d like to make a special plan for us next month. Let’s go to __________.” (Fill in with something your mate enjoys, a museum, the theatre, shopping, a road trip, etc.) “What do you think?”
♥ Gift of Words #4: Make an Offer
If you want to receive instant love and appreciation from your honey, volunteer to do something for your mate before he or she asks you to do it.
For example, offer to pick something up at the store, offer to repair something, prepare dinner or offer to put your kids to bed (if you don’t usually).
A surefire way to boost your love life is to make an offer. It says to your mate, I care about you and when you’re happy, I’m happy.
♥ Gift of Words #5: Be Memorable
Do and say memorable things this Valentine’s Day and year ‘round. Instead of dining out, create a candlelit indoor picnic. Sing karaoke together. Arrange for a massage – together. Post love notes in surprise places. Buy a lasting plant instead of flowers. Phone your mate to give a heartfelt comment during the day like, “I love you because….”.
You will spark love and romance this Valentine’s Day (and the year through) by showering your sweetheart with the priceless gift of words.
Laurie Puhn, is a Harvard-educated lawyer, is the bestselling author of “Fight Less, Love More: 5 Minute Conversations to Change Your Relationship without Blowing Up or Giving In.”
End Gas Conflicts, Otsego 2000 Asks Chairman, Powers
Both Stand To Benefit, Dillingham Says
By JIM KEVLIN : COOPERSTOWN
The chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives and the chairman of its Gas Advisory Committee stand to benefit from natural-gas leases, and that is a conflict of interest, Otsego 2000 has declared.
In a Feb. 7 letter to chairman Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, Otsego 2000 President Nicole Dillingham write, “Many have been aware that you have leased your lands for gas drilling. Repeatedly you promised to address your conflict through a transparent process. This has not yet occurred.”
Further, the letter continues, county Rep. Jim Powers, R-South New Berlin, who Dubben named to chair the Gas Advisory Committee, “told me that he had placed his land in a coalition currently negotiating to lease lands for gas drilling.”
Dillingham said Powers also told her he intends to invite lawyers representing the Unatego Area Landowners Association to brief the county board, and “that he intended to vote pro-drilling on all matters before the committee.”
Contacted Tuesday, Feb. 8, Dubben said he has referred Dillingham’s letter to County Attorney Ellen Coccoma for guidance on how to proceed.
“I have a lease and I disclosed that,” he said, adding, “To my knowledge, Jim Powers does not have a lease ... I’m not sure that being a member of a landowners coalition is a problem.”
In her letter, Dillingham said that since Dubben “personally stood to benefit financially” from gas drilling he should “fully and publicly disclose his conflict and consult the county attorney with respect to the application of the county Rules of Ethics.
“Mr. Powers told me he had no intention of doing so as ‘everyone knows how I stand on this issue.’”
Dillingham asks that the Gas Advisory Committee chair be appointed by someone “whose does not have a conflict of interest on this issue,” an apparent reference to Dubben.
“And we ask that all members of the Board of Representatives disclose once and for all whether they have any financial interest with respect to gas drilling in our county.”
The county board was scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, and Dubben said the matter might be discussed as soon as then.
By JIM KEVLIN : COOPERSTOWN
The chairman of the Otsego County Board of Representatives and the chairman of its Gas Advisory Committee stand to benefit from natural-gas leases, and that is a conflict of interest, Otsego 2000 has declared.
In a Feb. 7 letter to chairman Sam Dubben, R-Middlefield, Otsego 2000 President Nicole Dillingham write, “Many have been aware that you have leased your lands for gas drilling. Repeatedly you promised to address your conflict through a transparent process. This has not yet occurred.”
Further, the letter continues, county Rep. Jim Powers, R-South New Berlin, who Dubben named to chair the Gas Advisory Committee, “told me that he had placed his land in a coalition currently negotiating to lease lands for gas drilling.”
Dillingham said Powers also told her he intends to invite lawyers representing the Unatego Area Landowners Association to brief the county board, and “that he intended to vote pro-drilling on all matters before the committee.”
Contacted Tuesday, Feb. 8, Dubben said he has referred Dillingham’s letter to County Attorney Ellen Coccoma for guidance on how to proceed.
“I have a lease and I disclosed that,” he said, adding, “To my knowledge, Jim Powers does not have a lease ... I’m not sure that being a member of a landowners coalition is a problem.”
In her letter, Dillingham said that since Dubben “personally stood to benefit financially” from gas drilling he should “fully and publicly disclose his conflict and consult the county attorney with respect to the application of the county Rules of Ethics.
“Mr. Powers told me he had no intention of doing so as ‘everyone knows how I stand on this issue.’”
Dillingham asks that the Gas Advisory Committee chair be appointed by someone “whose does not have a conflict of interest on this issue,” an apparent reference to Dubben.
“And we ask that all members of the Board of Representatives disclose once and for all whether they have any financial interest with respect to gas drilling in our county.”
The county board was scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, and Dubben said the matter might be discussed as soon as then.
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