BY TOM HEITZ
Compiled by Tom Heitz with resources courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library
5-6-11
125 Years Ago
The wretches who flaunted the red flag and hurled dynamite with fatal effect in Chicago Tuesday evening are not to be confounded with the honest workingmen there, or anywhere else, who seek to better their condition by agitation within the law. They were anarchists – cranks whose proper place is the lunatic asylum. Your anarchist is against all order, all existing institutions – the law, the schools, religion and the Ten Commandments. If this does not qualify him for the insane asylum then his proper place is the state prison. The country has tried ridicule long enough. It is time the anarchist was summarily wiped out. It will not be a difficult matter. Anarchism is a foreign plant with very little hold in American soil. Were it not for dynamite it might be left to die of itself. But unfortunately, that invention makes even one anarchist formidable.
May 1886
100 Years Ago
4-8-11
4-1-11
3-25-11
125 Years Ago
M. & L. Westcott, who are about to begin the construction of a four-story brick block to contain four stores on Main Street near the fire building, have arranged to open a new street between the proposed block and the residence of Dr. Hamilton, to be called Hamilton Avenue. The street will run from Main to Front Street and will be paved. As an easy grade can be obtained from the freight depot, it will doubtless prove a popular thoroughfare for teamsters and others. (Ed. Note: The area once occupied by Hamilton Street is today a parking lot)
March 1886
100 Years Ago
Local News – Oneonta, according to a table compiled by the state excise commissioner, has fewer drinking places in proportion to population, than any other city in the state. Its ratio is one licensed place to each 558 of population. Cortland’s ratio is 1 to 426 and Binghamton 1 to 397.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
What police alleged was a “wild disorderly dance” conducted by Mrs. Sarah McMullen, 50 years old, of 14 Baker Street, ended in Oneonta City Court Saturday morning before Judge Frank C. Huntington who collected nearly $100 in fines for the city coffers. The raid was the largest ever staged in this city. Acting on a complaint registered by a neighbor, members of the city police night force, led by acting sergeant Revera Still, swooped down upon the dance home shortly after 2:15 o’clock Saturday morning. Taken in the police net, beside Mrs. McMullen, were about 30 men of various ages and 10 young girls. Police said 14 trips were required to transport the prisoners to headquarters. After questioning at police headquarters by Chief of Police Frank Horton, the dancers were handed summons to appear in court on charges of violating city ordinance three. Mrs. McMullen was held on charges of violating Section 1146 of the penal law. At a court session lasting five hours, Mrs. McMullen was fined $10 and paroled for a period of two years. Twenty-five men were fined $3 each. Samuel Bennett, 39 years old, of Baker Street, who was found prone at the McMullen home in an intoxicated condition, was fined $10 and given a suspended sentence of six months. The 10 young girls were placed on probation for a year. Victor Moore, 30 years old, who sold liquor at the dance, was arrested on charges of violating the Oneonta liquor ordinance.
March 1931
50 Years Ago
40 Years Ago
A glass bottle recycling drive is being planned for April or early May in Oneonta according to Earl Fesler, manager of the local Coca-Cola beverage operation. The drive will be carried out by Coca-Cola independently, with or without support from the community. Fesler said the recycling drive is not a one-time effort. “We are making plans to make this a permanent thing,” he said. The Oneonta drive will be based on model drives carried out by Coca-Cola in Rochester and New York City.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Otsego County Industrial Development Agency reported Tuesday that it will advertise bids to construct the proposed $1.2 million Pony Farm Road Industrial Park in Oneonta. Two months ago, the IDA acquired the 81.4 acre site, including land donated by the city, for $230,000. Construction is slated to begin in April. The park will include space for 11 industries such as firms that provide paper products, food processing services, or electronics manufacture. IDA officials estimate that the industrial park will employ 500 to 750 area residents when it is in full operation.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Chaitanya Samudrala, Miss Tri-County Teen-Ager 1990, announces that the 1991 Miss Tri-County Teen-Ager Pageant will be staged at the Holiday Inn on Saturday, March 30 at 8 p.m. Contestants should arrive at 12 noon for orientation, interview, photo sessions and rehearsal. Contestants from the counties of Delaware, Greene and Otsego are eligible. The competition includes interviews with a panel of judges, and a swim suit and evening gown competition. Prizes include a four-day trip to Norwich, New York for the winner who will be eligible to compete in the statewide contest. Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality trophies will also be awarded. There is no talent competition.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
State Senator James L. Seward has been awarded the highest ranking of any state legislator for keeping health care costs affordable in a report distributed by The Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care. The Alliance includes 50 chambers of commerce statewide and 140 businesses within Seward’s district.
March 2001
3-11-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – A meeting for the purpose of taking steps toward organizing a village law and order league was held at the M.E. Church on Tuesday evening, at which there was a good attendance. Prof. N.N. Bull was chosen chairman and A.L. Kellogg secretary. Short addresses were made by the chairman and by Rev. Mssrs. Allen, Lee, Gleason, Richardson and others, the sentiment of the meeting being that the law governing the sale of intoxicants must hereafter be respected. The license laws were read for the information of those present. The following resolutions were unanimously passed – Resolved: that the pastors of the village churches prepare and distribute 2,000 copies of a circular containing the points of law regulating the sale of intoxicating drink; and Resolved: that the pastors and five committeemen named by them be authorized to organize a law and order league. The committee consists of Geo. Reynolds, N.H. Briggs, George Kirkland, A.A. Whitcomb, and T.W. Stevens.
March 1886
100 Years Ago
The last game of basketball at the Oneonta High School for the season 1910-1911 was played Monday evening. The visiting team was the strong five from the Colgate academy, who have been winners all the season, and the game in Oneonta was an exciting contest. The visitors started the game with a rush, scoring first and closing the first half with a record of 18 points to 13 for Oneonta. The second half saw the home lads creeping up to and finally passing their opponents, the game ending 27 to 25 in favor of Oneonta amid such cheering as would bring down the walls of a building less substantial than is the Oneonta High School. During the season now closed Oneonta played 14 games and won nine of them. In the 14 games Oneonta scored 371 points to 289 for their opponents. Stratton was the leading scorer with 49 goals from the field and 39 goals from the foul line.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
Compiled by Tom Heitz with resources courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library
5-20-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – A few days since a hard looking character came to Oneonta, claiming to be a bricklayer. He told an acquaintance confidentially that he had fled from Chicago during the recent trouble after hitting a policeman on the head with a club. His description tallied with that of one of the escaped anarchists, and as he professed to be a socialist, Officer Seeger telegraphed the fact of his presence here to the Chicago chief of police. Reply came that a photograph of the man wanted had been forwarded. A search for him revealed that he had suddenly left town. No one knows where to.
May 1886
100 Years Ago
The new Methodist Church at Emmons, which for several months has been under construction, was completed early in May. On Sunday last, the formal dedication services were held. The Rev. O.L. Severson, D.D., district superintendent, delivered the sermon at the Sunday morning service. Prior to the morning sermon, Mrs. Estella D. Cole read an interesting sketch of the church history. Services had, for several years, been held in the Emmons schoolhouse, and on May 20, 1910, the decision to form a permanent church organization was made. Om June 12, it was decided to erect a church building and A.J. Sickler, B.L. Platt and A.W. Winnie were appointed to a building committee. D.C. Haynes and Mrs. Varrilla Osterthout were appointed a committee to solicit funds. On July 25, a meeting was held and the society incorporated under the name of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Emmons. Ground was broken for the edifice on October 14, 1910. Treasurer Platt reported that the entire cost of the building was $2,300, including labor and material donated. The sum of $580 which was left owing was raised in a short time, leaving the new church free of debt.
May 1911
80 Years Ago
Nine state tramps were sentenced to the Onondaga County penitentiary at Jamesville Monday morning for terms of 20-days each by Judge Frank C. Huntington at a session of Oneonta City Court in the municipal building. Those sentenced were John Conrad, 24 years old, of Crescent, Pa.; Cyril Bradley, 25, York, Pa.; Charles Moore, 40, Johnstown, Pa.; Floyd Mayl, 21, West Chazy; Arthur Rodak, 19, Dickson City, Pa.; John Frank, 18, Long Island; Joe Algernon, 21, New York City, Fred Merrill, 29, Providence, R.I.; and Frank Buza, 24, Kingston, Pa. Thomas Friehl, 34, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. was given a suspended sentence after stating that he was on his way to a veterans’ hospital for medical treatment.
May 1931
40 Years Ago
Nine older teens from three 4-H clubs recently completed a unit on Italian cookery by serving an Italian meal prepared for five guests. The girls studied Italian cookery to learn about Italian eating habits and customs. The unit was taught by Mrs. Virginia Shaw, 4-H agent. The first lesson covered Italian cheeses, homemade noodles, sauces and salads. At the second lesson the students prepared bread sticks cornmeal and sausage, sweet and sour carrots and cream puffs. At the third meeting the girls served an authentic meal to a party that included Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Vera Groves, Mr. and Mrs. Eli Baird, and Mrs. Florence Delameter. Girls participating were Joan Lynch and Sandy Smith of the Junior Beavers; Carrie Woodcock, Penny Groves, Mary Laboda, Pattie Colburn, Jane Baird and Shirley Haher of the Tabletoppers and Linda Delameter of the Chestnut Chipmunks.
May 1971
30 Years Ago
Oneonta Police Chief Joseph DeSalvatore says that the city has been unusually quiet this spring and he credits the peacefulness in part to the city noise ordinance. Last fall, after a series of complaints about noise at raucous parties were brought to City Hall by irate citizens, the Common Council strengthened the ordinance to make both party organizers as well as property owners responsible for excess noise. Last year 13 people were charged with noise violations and in 1979, nine people were charged under the old law which made the tenant solely responsible for noise. DeSalvatore did recall one noisy party this spring up on State Street. Other than that, “It’s been very, very good.”
May 1981
20 Years Ago
Third Ward alderman John Carney plans to seek a second term on the Oneonta City Council. Carney, 58, of 44 Elm Street, said Sunday that he has decided to seek the Democratic nomination to serve four more years. Carney believes that managing Oneonta’s finances will be the biggest challenge in coming years. “With the decline in federal and state aid, the city’s finances will be a problem,” Carney said. Carney says this problem can be mitigated if the city can get more properties on the tax roll. Certain parcels, both private and city-owned might be developed if the city helps owners get over the various hurdles, Carney said. Carney sees Hartwick College and SUCO are “tremendous assets” to the city. Carney wants the city and the colleges to address problems relating to zoning, parking and noise in residential areas.
May 1991
10 Years Ago
A half-mile-long section of the Oneonta Susquehanna Greenway has been completed in time for Memorial Day and the General Clinton Canoe Regatta. The trail, on city-owned land, was created by volunteers working in the evenings and on weekends to clear an eight-foot wide path through brush, undergrowth and woods adjoining the river. The path was then covered with mulch. The trail begins at the Oneonta City bus garage on Silas Lane.
May 2001
Home & Vicinity – A few days since a hard looking character came to Oneonta, claiming to be a bricklayer. He told an acquaintance confidentially that he had fled from Chicago during the recent trouble after hitting a policeman on the head with a club. His description tallied with that of one of the escaped anarchists, and as he professed to be a socialist, Officer Seeger telegraphed the fact of his presence here to the Chicago chief of police. Reply came that a photograph of the man wanted had been forwarded. A search for him revealed that he had suddenly left town. No one knows where to.
May 1886
100 Years Ago
The new Methodist Church at Emmons, which for several months has been under construction, was completed early in May. On Sunday last, the formal dedication services were held. The Rev. O.L. Severson, D.D., district superintendent, delivered the sermon at the Sunday morning service. Prior to the morning sermon, Mrs. Estella D. Cole read an interesting sketch of the church history. Services had, for several years, been held in the Emmons schoolhouse, and on May 20, 1910, the decision to form a permanent church organization was made. Om June 12, it was decided to erect a church building and A.J. Sickler, B.L. Platt and A.W. Winnie were appointed to a building committee. D.C. Haynes and Mrs. Varrilla Osterthout were appointed a committee to solicit funds. On July 25, a meeting was held and the society incorporated under the name of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Emmons. Ground was broken for the edifice on October 14, 1910. Treasurer Platt reported that the entire cost of the building was $2,300, including labor and material donated. The sum of $580 which was left owing was raised in a short time, leaving the new church free of debt.
May 1911
80 Years Ago
Nine state tramps were sentenced to the Onondaga County penitentiary at Jamesville Monday morning for terms of 20-days each by Judge Frank C. Huntington at a session of Oneonta City Court in the municipal building. Those sentenced were John Conrad, 24 years old, of Crescent, Pa.; Cyril Bradley, 25, York, Pa.; Charles Moore, 40, Johnstown, Pa.; Floyd Mayl, 21, West Chazy; Arthur Rodak, 19, Dickson City, Pa.; John Frank, 18, Long Island; Joe Algernon, 21, New York City, Fred Merrill, 29, Providence, R.I.; and Frank Buza, 24, Kingston, Pa. Thomas Friehl, 34, of Wilkes-Barre, Pa. was given a suspended sentence after stating that he was on his way to a veterans’ hospital for medical treatment.
May 1931
40 Years Ago
Nine older teens from three 4-H clubs recently completed a unit on Italian cookery by serving an Italian meal prepared for five guests. The girls studied Italian cookery to learn about Italian eating habits and customs. The unit was taught by Mrs. Virginia Shaw, 4-H agent. The first lesson covered Italian cheeses, homemade noodles, sauces and salads. At the second lesson the students prepared bread sticks cornmeal and sausage, sweet and sour carrots and cream puffs. At the third meeting the girls served an authentic meal to a party that included Mrs. Shaw, Mrs. Vera Groves, Mr. and Mrs. Eli Baird, and Mrs. Florence Delameter. Girls participating were Joan Lynch and Sandy Smith of the Junior Beavers; Carrie Woodcock, Penny Groves, Mary Laboda, Pattie Colburn, Jane Baird and Shirley Haher of the Tabletoppers and Linda Delameter of the Chestnut Chipmunks.
May 1971
30 Years Ago
Oneonta Police Chief Joseph DeSalvatore says that the city has been unusually quiet this spring and he credits the peacefulness in part to the city noise ordinance. Last fall, after a series of complaints about noise at raucous parties were brought to City Hall by irate citizens, the Common Council strengthened the ordinance to make both party organizers as well as property owners responsible for excess noise. Last year 13 people were charged with noise violations and in 1979, nine people were charged under the old law which made the tenant solely responsible for noise. DeSalvatore did recall one noisy party this spring up on State Street. Other than that, “It’s been very, very good.”
May 1981
20 Years Ago
Third Ward alderman John Carney plans to seek a second term on the Oneonta City Council. Carney, 58, of 44 Elm Street, said Sunday that he has decided to seek the Democratic nomination to serve four more years. Carney believes that managing Oneonta’s finances will be the biggest challenge in coming years. “With the decline in federal and state aid, the city’s finances will be a problem,” Carney said. Carney says this problem can be mitigated if the city can get more properties on the tax roll. Certain parcels, both private and city-owned might be developed if the city helps owners get over the various hurdles, Carney said. Carney sees Hartwick College and SUCO are “tremendous assets” to the city. Carney wants the city and the colleges to address problems relating to zoning, parking and noise in residential areas.
May 1991
10 Years Ago
A half-mile-long section of the Oneonta Susquehanna Greenway has been completed in time for Memorial Day and the General Clinton Canoe Regatta. The trail, on city-owned land, was created by volunteers working in the evenings and on weekends to clear an eight-foot wide path through brush, undergrowth and woods adjoining the river. The path was then covered with mulch. The trail begins at the Oneonta City bus garage on Silas Lane.
May 2001
5-6-11
125 Years Ago
The wretches who flaunted the red flag and hurled dynamite with fatal effect in Chicago Tuesday evening are not to be confounded with the honest workingmen there, or anywhere else, who seek to better their condition by agitation within the law. They were anarchists – cranks whose proper place is the lunatic asylum. Your anarchist is against all order, all existing institutions – the law, the schools, religion and the Ten Commandments. If this does not qualify him for the insane asylum then his proper place is the state prison. The country has tried ridicule long enough. It is time the anarchist was summarily wiped out. It will not be a difficult matter. Anarchism is a foreign plant with very little hold in American soil. Were it not for dynamite it might be left to die of itself. But unfortunately, that invention makes even one anarchist formidable.
May 1886
100 Years Ago
 |
| May 1911 |
80 Years Ago
Frank A. Peck, 78 years young, one of the oldest watchmakers in this section of the state, has abdicated after a reign of 36 years in his store located at the rear of Grant’s store on Main Street. He will now rule over a new location at 5 South Main Street. The end of his 36-year reign came Friday when workmen started to raze the old building for the new parking space of the Empire State Oil Company. “It was February 5, 1895 when I first moved into that building. The structure used to be where Woolworth’s store is now located on Main Street. It was moved back to its present location when that block was built and had been there quite a number of years before I moved into it. That building was a fine old structure. But, did you know, there was never any running water or electric fixtures in it? Yes, sir, she was a great building in spite of that. A great many changes have taken place around it. In fact, that building and the one occupied by Herbert A. Lewis now are the only two buildings that were standing on Main Street when I started in business.
May 1931
60 Years Ago
The first Mother’s Day on a nationwide basis was instituted by resolution of Congress in 1914, five years after the first official state Mother’s Day in South Dakota. In 1914 mother couldn’t vote unless she lived in one of the 11 states that had equal suffrage, all of which were west of the Mississippi River. If she lived in Illinois she could vote in national and municipal elections, but not in state elections. Today, mother is even subject to jury duty in 20 states and has the option of accepting it in many more. The chances were almost 50-50 in 1914 that mother lived on a farm; today, the chances are about four to one that she doesn’t. It is much safer for the 1951 mother to have children than it was for the mother of 27 years ago. In 1915, maternal mortality occurred in one of every 165 live births; in 1948, in only one of every 850 live births (approximately). And, only one-third as many infants die today as in 1914 during their first year of life.
May 1951
40 Years Ago
Although anti-war activities were planned for yesterday in colleges across the country, little activity was reported at either SUCO or Hartwick. College students had been expected to participate in large numbers in planned demonstrations, protest marches and anti-war rallies throughout the country. However, in Oneonta, all was quiet. At SUCO, students observed the anniversary of the Kent State incident and the invasion of Cambodia peacefully with class discussions and workshops where topics ranged from “Education and Dissent” to “Women and the War.” There were reports that some of the more involved SUCO students who had traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in anti-war demonstrations there may have been arrested. At Hartwick College, students were invited to sign a symbolic peace treaty referred to as “The People’s Treaty,” a nine-point plan to end the war. The treaty was not endorsed by the college.
May 1971
30 Years Ago
A state law signed by the governor last year encourages localities to establish councils to represent the interests and concerns of disabled citizens in their communities. Speaking at a gathering disabled citizens and their friends and supporters held recently in St. Mary’s church, Rosemary Lamb, regional director for the New York State Commission on the International Year of Disabled Persons, said that a local council can focus on the specific needs of that area. She urged attendees to consider forming such a council. Among those attending the meeting were The Rev. Don Phillie, and Ken Quarty. A questionnaire was distributed asking those present to identify their needs and the impediments they have experienced.
May 1981
20 Years Ago
The State University College at Oneonta is expected to meet its fall 1991 enrollment goal of about 1,050 freshmen students despite declining high school enrollments throughout the region. In an address to the college faculty, SUCO President Alan B. Donovan announced that Walter vom Saal, SUCO vice president for academic affairs will take on the additional role of provost effective July 1. Donovan said he was encouraged by what seems to be a change in the attitude both of our entering and continuing students. “They seem to be somewhat better motivated and behaved,” he said. Donovan encouraged the faculty to work in and out of the classroom to help reinforce that trend.
May 1991
10 Years Ago
More than 25 boys and girls were honored at the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club’s annual awards ceremony on April 28. Recipients of the Carl J. Delberta Award were Madeline Harlem and Daniel Baker. This award is presented to the boy and girl between the ages of 7 and 10 who exemplify the American traditions of fair play, good sportsmanship and clean competition. The Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards were presented to Kyle Thomas and Jarrin Hayden for demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities and potential in all sports.
May 2001
4-29-11
125 Years Ago
100 Years Ago
Since spring is here interest revives in the national game, and at Gildersleeve’s and other centers of baseball interest there is talk in plenty of what’s doing and speculation as to what later will be done. A worthwhile team in Oneonta in 1911 is assured. At Elm Park considerable improvements to the grounds have already been made. Though the diamond itself has always been pretty good, the outfield has been rough and uneven – a condition which it is now proposed to remedy. The field has accordingly been ploughed, and later will be leveled and rolled, making a park surpassed by few in the state for ball purposes. There is need too of a new and larger grandstand, but it is not likely to be built this year. “Bobby” Vaughn, whom everybody in Oneonta recalls as a Stamford boy and the manager of its club two years ago, is doing good stick work this season with Montreal. Vaughn is under contract to the New York Americans, but is farmed out to Montreal. His many friends expect to see him “breaking in” with the big leagues.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Amidst the blaring of a band, overhead lights and a large crowd, the Merry-makers’ Circus gave its first performance Friday in the gymnasium of Hartwick College. There were clowns, funny men, rubes, tumblers, acrobats, and a score of other performers, who thrilled the crowd with their feats and won hardy plaudits. That night the administration building of the college was turned into a House of Wonders. As one entered the doors leading into the foyer, all traces of the classical learning had disappeared and in its stead were various side shows. There were dancing midgets, a two-headed calf, marionettes, hot dogs, popcorn and lemonade stands. Even fortune tellers were to be found. Barkers stood in the corridors selling the attractions to the crowd. After a tour of the midway, the crowd filed into the Big Top where the performance began. The closing act featured sixteen Hartwick co-eds dressed in green berets and clown suits.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Speaking at a meeting of the Oneonta Community Peace Council at Oneonta’s First Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Merwyn Fenner of Afton called for a worldwide constitutional convention of delegates elected by the peoples of the various nations instead of designates chosen by current governmental regimes. Mrs. Fenner pointed out that we are gradually losing control of our domestic affairs and said that we are faced with these alternatives – dictation by the executive over domestic policies, or action by the people under their reserved powers in the Constitution to take charge of foreign affairs which so vitally affect domestic matters. The fundamental flaw in the United Nations, she said, is that it is based on the sovereignty of its member nations and so becomes “just another area of power politics.” Mrs. Fenner advocates no particular type of constitution, or provision, but believes that a constitution hammered out by elected delegates of the world’s peoples, who were chosen after running in their various nations on platforms which enabled the peoples to choose the principles to be incorporated, would be satisfactory. Such a constitution, she said, would become effective by ratification by the vote of the peoples, and when ratified by an agreed upon majority. Groups seeking legislation for the calling of such a convention are at work in six states in the U.S. and in 42 other countries.
April 1951
40 Years Ago
According to a survey of residents in Otsego and Herkimer counties there is unanimity in believing that healthy welfare recipients ought to work and that “dope pushers” ought to receive mandatory stiff jail terms when convicted. A majority of those surveyed also want to stop recipients of New York State scholarship funds from using the money to attend out-of-state schools. A large majority also favored establishing narcotics addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs, especially for young people. Survey participants were nearly evenly divided on the question of whether a woman seeking an abortion should be required to obtain consent from her husband before proceeding. Twice as many surveyed favored capital punishment as those who opposed it, but about 16 percent of those surveyed were undecided.
April 1971
30 Years Ago
A study prepared by Triad Associates of Albany concludes that Oneonta cannot support a large shopping mall on the downtown urban renewal parcel. “We don’t feel there is enough business to support a 200,000-square-foot mall,” Glenn C. Seale of Triad Associates said. “But, if you improved what you have downtown, you could do better,” he added. Triad Associates based their findings on a survey of 500 Christmas shoppers last year. “We asked people where they live, where they shop, and what they buy,” Seale said. The survey found that downtown businesses lose $27.8 million annually to local and regional shopping malls. According to Seale, Pyramid Mall alone costs the city of Oneonta $9 million a year. “The retail space that would have filled that hole downtown is sitting in the Pyramid Mall,” Seale said.
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Our county is committed to social justice Otsego County legislator Kevin Hodne told a gathering of Young Democrats at SUCO on Monday night. Hodne, along with city alderman Kathryn King and William Schebaum, chairman of the Otsego County Democratic Committee spoke at the meeting. Hodne, citing 1980 statistics, said that slightly more than 9,000 county residents were living under the poverty line and speculated that the number “had grown significantly over the last decade.” Hodne attributes the poverty problem to Otsego County’s lack of an industrial base and to a down turn in the dairy industry.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Cellist Minako Yoshiwa and pianist Mai Kimura, SUCO students, will perform at a recital in the William Cole Recital Hall at the college on Sunday evening. Ms. Yoshiwa will perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3, Opus 69, and Ms. Kimura will perform Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes.
“It’s the kind of work you would expect to hear in Carnegie Hall,” said Janet Nepkie, a professor of music at SUCO.
April 2001
4-22-11
125 Years Ago
Richard Rice, a character generally known throughout the counties of central New York as “Dicky” Rice, died at Mt. Vision on Sunday, at the residence of Mr. Harrison, after about a week’s illness. For a period of about 30 or 40 years Mr. Rice has been a familiar figure throughout this section of the state as astride his trusted charger, he has wandered aimlessly about, volunteering adjuration and scriptural advice to all with whom he came in contact. Mr. Rice was known to be a harmless, inoffensive old man with a shattered intellect, and he usually found a resting place in any house where night overtook him. He had a great penchant for Bible study and could quote from the Bible by the hour from a singularly retentive memory. Mr. Rice was born in the northern part of the county in 1802. He studied medicine with Martin Gardner at Portlandville in 1838, practiced for awhile, was taken sick and became mentally unsound, and has since been a wanderer. His horse, his companion for the past 18 years, has been taken in charge by the poor officer of Laurens.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
Local News: C.H. Borst, who for many years has successfully conducted a grocery store in Oneonta, is rapidly closing out his stock and will discontinue business on Saturday of this week. The Woolworth Company will thereafter take immediate possession and in a few days the store will be refitted and opened as one of their five and ten cent stores, of which practically every city in the east has one or more.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Punch board racketeering in this city is taboo from now on according to orders issued last night by Police Chief Frank N. Horton. The operators of such boards face both a fine and jail sentence in violation of the law, the chief stated. “Numerous complaints have been received about the operations of the chance boards in this city,” Chief Horton said, “and from now on it’s either put up or face arrest for the operators. Every member of the force has received instructions that there is to be no more violation of this law in Oneonta. It has also been learned that several lotteries have made their appearance in this city recently. April 1931
60 Years Ago
Two lines of action are being shaped to stimulate the recording of local history in the towns and villages of Otsego County. Supervisors are being urged to appoint town historians where none are in office. Also, the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society is planning to shift its meeting from Oneonta to small communities to emphasize local history. Dr. Edward J. Parish, president of the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society explains that “much valuable local history is being neglected because no move has been made to preserve it.” Dr. Parish points out that while town historians do receive expense allowances, the money inducement is negligible. Many persons, he says, have a zest for this work and will gladly pursue it as a stimulating hobby, if encouraged. As matters now stand 14 towns have historians and 10 have not.
April 1951
30 Years Ago
A Committee on Uniting the Local Disabled (COULD) is organizing to help disabled people realize they are not alone, that together they could have a clout to help remove some of the obstacles. “Disability” is defined as any condition that keeps an individual from doing something useful, anything that gets in the way of functioning, equal enjoyment or social interaction. “We want to get the disabled out from behind closed doors and into society,” said Chairperson Winnie Williams. Eight of the committee’s 15 members have disabilities including cystic fibrosis, blindness, limb impairment, and nervous disorders. The group’s formation in February was inspired by the fact 1981 is the International Year of the Disabled. One of COULD’s main goals is to educate the disabled about the laws that could help them and to educate the general public.
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Professor Charles Burnsworth of SUCO’s Department of Music a multi-media, anti-drug documentary at the college’s Instructional Resource Center in lecture hall number 3 at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The presentation is titled “Drugs, Death and Rock ‘n Roll.” His presentation includes a long list of rock musicians and other entertainment stars that have died as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. The show is titled “The Age of Rock.” “I’m trying to talk to kids and every kid in the country listens to rock music. It’s relevant to their lives,” Burnsworth said. The presentation addresses youth of all ages.
April 1991
Frank A. Peck, 78 years young, one of the oldest watchmakers in this section of the state, has abdicated after a reign of 36 years in his store located at the rear of Grant’s store on Main Street. He will now rule over a new location at 5 South Main Street. The end of his 36-year reign came Friday when workmen started to raze the old building for the new parking space of the Empire State Oil Company. “It was February 5, 1895 when I first moved into that building. The structure used to be where Woolworth’s store is now located on Main Street. It was moved back to its present location when that block was built and had been there quite a number of years before I moved into it. That building was a fine old structure. But, did you know, there was never any running water or electric fixtures in it? Yes, sir, she was a great building in spite of that. A great many changes have taken place around it. In fact, that building and the one occupied by Herbert A. Lewis now are the only two buildings that were standing on Main Street when I started in business.
May 1931
60 Years Ago
The first Mother’s Day on a nationwide basis was instituted by resolution of Congress in 1914, five years after the first official state Mother’s Day in South Dakota. In 1914 mother couldn’t vote unless she lived in one of the 11 states that had equal suffrage, all of which were west of the Mississippi River. If she lived in Illinois she could vote in national and municipal elections, but not in state elections. Today, mother is even subject to jury duty in 20 states and has the option of accepting it in many more. The chances were almost 50-50 in 1914 that mother lived on a farm; today, the chances are about four to one that she doesn’t. It is much safer for the 1951 mother to have children than it was for the mother of 27 years ago. In 1915, maternal mortality occurred in one of every 165 live births; in 1948, in only one of every 850 live births (approximately). And, only one-third as many infants die today as in 1914 during their first year of life.
May 1951
40 Years Ago
Although anti-war activities were planned for yesterday in colleges across the country, little activity was reported at either SUCO or Hartwick. College students had been expected to participate in large numbers in planned demonstrations, protest marches and anti-war rallies throughout the country. However, in Oneonta, all was quiet. At SUCO, students observed the anniversary of the Kent State incident and the invasion of Cambodia peacefully with class discussions and workshops where topics ranged from “Education and Dissent” to “Women and the War.” There were reports that some of the more involved SUCO students who had traveled to Washington, D.C. to participate in anti-war demonstrations there may have been arrested. At Hartwick College, students were invited to sign a symbolic peace treaty referred to as “The People’s Treaty,” a nine-point plan to end the war. The treaty was not endorsed by the college.
May 1971
30 Years Ago
A state law signed by the governor last year encourages localities to establish councils to represent the interests and concerns of disabled citizens in their communities. Speaking at a gathering disabled citizens and their friends and supporters held recently in St. Mary’s church, Rosemary Lamb, regional director for the New York State Commission on the International Year of Disabled Persons, said that a local council can focus on the specific needs of that area. She urged attendees to consider forming such a council. Among those attending the meeting were The Rev. Don Phillie, and Ken Quarty. A questionnaire was distributed asking those present to identify their needs and the impediments they have experienced.
May 1981
20 Years Ago
The State University College at Oneonta is expected to meet its fall 1991 enrollment goal of about 1,050 freshmen students despite declining high school enrollments throughout the region. In an address to the college faculty, SUCO President Alan B. Donovan announced that Walter vom Saal, SUCO vice president for academic affairs will take on the additional role of provost effective July 1. Donovan said he was encouraged by what seems to be a change in the attitude both of our entering and continuing students. “They seem to be somewhat better motivated and behaved,” he said. Donovan encouraged the faculty to work in and out of the classroom to help reinforce that trend.
May 1991
10 Years Ago
More than 25 boys and girls were honored at the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club’s annual awards ceremony on April 28. Recipients of the Carl J. Delberta Award were Madeline Harlem and Daniel Baker. This award is presented to the boy and girl between the ages of 7 and 10 who exemplify the American traditions of fair play, good sportsmanship and clean competition. The Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year awards were presented to Kyle Thomas and Jarrin Hayden for demonstrating outstanding leadership qualities and potential in all sports.
May 2001
4-29-11
125 Years Ago
100 Years Ago
Since spring is here interest revives in the national game, and at Gildersleeve’s and other centers of baseball interest there is talk in plenty of what’s doing and speculation as to what later will be done. A worthwhile team in Oneonta in 1911 is assured. At Elm Park considerable improvements to the grounds have already been made. Though the diamond itself has always been pretty good, the outfield has been rough and uneven – a condition which it is now proposed to remedy. The field has accordingly been ploughed, and later will be leveled and rolled, making a park surpassed by few in the state for ball purposes. There is need too of a new and larger grandstand, but it is not likely to be built this year. “Bobby” Vaughn, whom everybody in Oneonta recalls as a Stamford boy and the manager of its club two years ago, is doing good stick work this season with Montreal. Vaughn is under contract to the New York Americans, but is farmed out to Montreal. His many friends expect to see him “breaking in” with the big leagues.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Amidst the blaring of a band, overhead lights and a large crowd, the Merry-makers’ Circus gave its first performance Friday in the gymnasium of Hartwick College. There were clowns, funny men, rubes, tumblers, acrobats, and a score of other performers, who thrilled the crowd with their feats and won hardy plaudits. That night the administration building of the college was turned into a House of Wonders. As one entered the doors leading into the foyer, all traces of the classical learning had disappeared and in its stead were various side shows. There were dancing midgets, a two-headed calf, marionettes, hot dogs, popcorn and lemonade stands. Even fortune tellers were to be found. Barkers stood in the corridors selling the attractions to the crowd. After a tour of the midway, the crowd filed into the Big Top where the performance began. The closing act featured sixteen Hartwick co-eds dressed in green berets and clown suits.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Speaking at a meeting of the Oneonta Community Peace Council at Oneonta’s First Presbyterian Church, Mrs. Merwyn Fenner of Afton called for a worldwide constitutional convention of delegates elected by the peoples of the various nations instead of designates chosen by current governmental regimes. Mrs. Fenner pointed out that we are gradually losing control of our domestic affairs and said that we are faced with these alternatives – dictation by the executive over domestic policies, or action by the people under their reserved powers in the Constitution to take charge of foreign affairs which so vitally affect domestic matters. The fundamental flaw in the United Nations, she said, is that it is based on the sovereignty of its member nations and so becomes “just another area of power politics.” Mrs. Fenner advocates no particular type of constitution, or provision, but believes that a constitution hammered out by elected delegates of the world’s peoples, who were chosen after running in their various nations on platforms which enabled the peoples to choose the principles to be incorporated, would be satisfactory. Such a constitution, she said, would become effective by ratification by the vote of the peoples, and when ratified by an agreed upon majority. Groups seeking legislation for the calling of such a convention are at work in six states in the U.S. and in 42 other countries.
April 1951
40 Years Ago
According to a survey of residents in Otsego and Herkimer counties there is unanimity in believing that healthy welfare recipients ought to work and that “dope pushers” ought to receive mandatory stiff jail terms when convicted. A majority of those surveyed also want to stop recipients of New York State scholarship funds from using the money to attend out-of-state schools. A large majority also favored establishing narcotics addiction treatment and rehabilitation programs, especially for young people. Survey participants were nearly evenly divided on the question of whether a woman seeking an abortion should be required to obtain consent from her husband before proceeding. Twice as many surveyed favored capital punishment as those who opposed it, but about 16 percent of those surveyed were undecided.
April 1971
30 Years Ago
A study prepared by Triad Associates of Albany concludes that Oneonta cannot support a large shopping mall on the downtown urban renewal parcel. “We don’t feel there is enough business to support a 200,000-square-foot mall,” Glenn C. Seale of Triad Associates said. “But, if you improved what you have downtown, you could do better,” he added. Triad Associates based their findings on a survey of 500 Christmas shoppers last year. “We asked people where they live, where they shop, and what they buy,” Seale said. The survey found that downtown businesses lose $27.8 million annually to local and regional shopping malls. According to Seale, Pyramid Mall alone costs the city of Oneonta $9 million a year. “The retail space that would have filled that hole downtown is sitting in the Pyramid Mall,” Seale said.
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Our county is committed to social justice Otsego County legislator Kevin Hodne told a gathering of Young Democrats at SUCO on Monday night. Hodne, along with city alderman Kathryn King and William Schebaum, chairman of the Otsego County Democratic Committee spoke at the meeting. Hodne, citing 1980 statistics, said that slightly more than 9,000 county residents were living under the poverty line and speculated that the number “had grown significantly over the last decade.” Hodne attributes the poverty problem to Otsego County’s lack of an industrial base and to a down turn in the dairy industry.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Cellist Minako Yoshiwa and pianist Mai Kimura, SUCO students, will perform at a recital in the William Cole Recital Hall at the college on Sunday evening. Ms. Yoshiwa will perform Beethoven’s Sonata No. 3, Opus 69, and Ms. Kimura will perform Schumann’s Symphonic Etudes.
“It’s the kind of work you would expect to hear in Carnegie Hall,” said Janet Nepkie, a professor of music at SUCO.
April 2001
4-22-11
125 Years Ago
Richard Rice, a character generally known throughout the counties of central New York as “Dicky” Rice, died at Mt. Vision on Sunday, at the residence of Mr. Harrison, after about a week’s illness. For a period of about 30 or 40 years Mr. Rice has been a familiar figure throughout this section of the state as astride his trusted charger, he has wandered aimlessly about, volunteering adjuration and scriptural advice to all with whom he came in contact. Mr. Rice was known to be a harmless, inoffensive old man with a shattered intellect, and he usually found a resting place in any house where night overtook him. He had a great penchant for Bible study and could quote from the Bible by the hour from a singularly retentive memory. Mr. Rice was born in the northern part of the county in 1802. He studied medicine with Martin Gardner at Portlandville in 1838, practiced for awhile, was taken sick and became mentally unsound, and has since been a wanderer. His horse, his companion for the past 18 years, has been taken in charge by the poor officer of Laurens.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
Local News: C.H. Borst, who for many years has successfully conducted a grocery store in Oneonta, is rapidly closing out his stock and will discontinue business on Saturday of this week. The Woolworth Company will thereafter take immediate possession and in a few days the store will be refitted and opened as one of their five and ten cent stores, of which practically every city in the east has one or more.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Punch board racketeering in this city is taboo from now on according to orders issued last night by Police Chief Frank N. Horton. The operators of such boards face both a fine and jail sentence in violation of the law, the chief stated. “Numerous complaints have been received about the operations of the chance boards in this city,” Chief Horton said, “and from now on it’s either put up or face arrest for the operators. Every member of the force has received instructions that there is to be no more violation of this law in Oneonta. It has also been learned that several lotteries have made their appearance in this city recently. April 1931
60 Years Ago
Two lines of action are being shaped to stimulate the recording of local history in the towns and villages of Otsego County. Supervisors are being urged to appoint town historians where none are in office. Also, the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society is planning to shift its meeting from Oneonta to small communities to emphasize local history. Dr. Edward J. Parish, president of the Upper Susquehanna Historical Society explains that “much valuable local history is being neglected because no move has been made to preserve it.” Dr. Parish points out that while town historians do receive expense allowances, the money inducement is negligible. Many persons, he says, have a zest for this work and will gladly pursue it as a stimulating hobby, if encouraged. As matters now stand 14 towns have historians and 10 have not.
April 1951
30 Years Ago
A Committee on Uniting the Local Disabled (COULD) is organizing to help disabled people realize they are not alone, that together they could have a clout to help remove some of the obstacles. “Disability” is defined as any condition that keeps an individual from doing something useful, anything that gets in the way of functioning, equal enjoyment or social interaction. “We want to get the disabled out from behind closed doors and into society,” said Chairperson Winnie Williams. Eight of the committee’s 15 members have disabilities including cystic fibrosis, blindness, limb impairment, and nervous disorders. The group’s formation in February was inspired by the fact 1981 is the International Year of the Disabled. One of COULD’s main goals is to educate the disabled about the laws that could help them and to educate the general public.
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Professor Charles Burnsworth of SUCO’s Department of Music a multi-media, anti-drug documentary at the college’s Instructional Resource Center in lecture hall number 3 at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The presentation is titled “Drugs, Death and Rock ‘n Roll.” His presentation includes a long list of rock musicians and other entertainment stars that have died as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. The show is titled “The Age of Rock.” “I’m trying to talk to kids and every kid in the country listens to rock music. It’s relevant to their lives,” Burnsworth said. The presentation addresses youth of all ages.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
4-8-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – On Tuesday evening, George Ingalls of this village displayed a collection of gold coins, consisting of twenty-six one-dollar pieces, four five-dollar pieces, and one twenty-dollar piece, all bright and new.
What was particularly interesting was that the money was paid Mr. Ingalls for his services during the first year of the rebellion and which he has retained ever since.
The committee appointed to arrange a law and order league hope at an early day to make public their plan of operation. Since the movement was inaugurated drunkenness has entirely disappeared from our streets on Sundays, and the dealers evince a disposition to observe the letter of the law – the bars being all closed on the Sabbath. It will be much better for all concerned if no further step is necessary.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
Thursday afternoon of last week, Mr. and Mrs. Rasselas R. Irish died at the home of their granddaughter, Mrs. Frank H. Bresee, at 8 Maple Street. Their deaths, occurring within a little more than an hour of each other, terminated a married life of 67 years. Death was caused in each instance by pneumonia. Each had been heard to express the hope not to survive the other, and this wish was almost literally fulfilled. Mr. Irish was a native of Middlefield and was nearly 92 years of age. His wife, who was Martha Lewis, was a native of Vermont and had reached the age of 85 years. They were married at Fly Creek in the Town of Otsego, which until 1908 was their home, before they came to Oneonta. Though advanced in years Mr. and Mrs. Irish retained a surprising degree of physical strength and mental alertness. They were both great readers, keeping in touch with the progress of the age. They entered into the sports and mirth of younger people with genuine zest. Five of their seven children survive them. Brief funeral services were held at the Bresee residence on Saturday morning.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Discovery of gas in two large fields during the past year has started one of the greatest booms southern New York and northern Pennsylvania have ever known. Today more than a score of wells are producing a vast supply of gas and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in the development of the two fields. Thousands of acres of farmland, much of which could have been bought for taxes a year ago have been placed under lease. On dozens of locations drills are being hammered into the earth and small towns near the wells are growing. Hotels are jammed and money is being spent in the gas areas with lavish hands. Schuyler County had the first gasser in the boom. Rigs shot up on a dozen locations and the months that followed have witnessed strikes on a score of sites. Approximately 100,000,000 cubic feet of gas can be produced every 24 hours from the Schuyler field.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Salaries paid Methodist ministers are “embarrassingly low,” according to Dr. H. Claude Hardy, Oneonta District lay leader, speaking at the session of the Wyoming Conference Layman’s Association at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Dr. Hardy is a retired educator and now the director of public relations at Hartwick College. He expressed the hope that Methodist ministers will get adequate compensation and salaries as generous as those paid by other denominations. “It is a challenge to Christian people to see that the preachers are well paid,” Hardy said. “As long as I am a lay leader I’m going to talk about it and do something about it.”
April 1951
40 Years Ago
The canoe season opened with a big splash for the Knu Knuts, an area canoeing club. Monte Smith of Richfield Springs and Dr. Leon Wiggins of Oneonta were at Westfield River, Massachusetts last Sunday for the annual open boat 12-mile White Water Race. They placed first in the event. Will Siegfried, also of Oneonta, competing in his first down river wild water race placed second in the novice Kayak race. Siegfried and his father have been on several cruising trips with Dr. Wiggins and Monte Smith.
April 1971
30 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – On Tuesday evening, George Ingalls of this village displayed a collection of gold coins, consisting of twenty-six one-dollar pieces, four five-dollar pieces, and one twenty-dollar piece, all bright and new.
What was particularly interesting was that the money was paid Mr. Ingalls for his services during the first year of the rebellion and which he has retained ever since.
The committee appointed to arrange a law and order league hope at an early day to make public their plan of operation. Since the movement was inaugurated drunkenness has entirely disappeared from our streets on Sundays, and the dealers evince a disposition to observe the letter of the law – the bars being all closed on the Sabbath. It will be much better for all concerned if no further step is necessary.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
Thursday afternoon of last week, Mr. and Mrs. Rasselas R. Irish died at the home of their granddaughter, Mrs. Frank H. Bresee, at 8 Maple Street. Their deaths, occurring within a little more than an hour of each other, terminated a married life of 67 years. Death was caused in each instance by pneumonia. Each had been heard to express the hope not to survive the other, and this wish was almost literally fulfilled. Mr. Irish was a native of Middlefield and was nearly 92 years of age. His wife, who was Martha Lewis, was a native of Vermont and had reached the age of 85 years. They were married at Fly Creek in the Town of Otsego, which until 1908 was their home, before they came to Oneonta. Though advanced in years Mr. and Mrs. Irish retained a surprising degree of physical strength and mental alertness. They were both great readers, keeping in touch with the progress of the age. They entered into the sports and mirth of younger people with genuine zest. Five of their seven children survive them. Brief funeral services were held at the Bresee residence on Saturday morning.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Discovery of gas in two large fields during the past year has started one of the greatest booms southern New York and northern Pennsylvania have ever known. Today more than a score of wells are producing a vast supply of gas and hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent in the development of the two fields. Thousands of acres of farmland, much of which could have been bought for taxes a year ago have been placed under lease. On dozens of locations drills are being hammered into the earth and small towns near the wells are growing. Hotels are jammed and money is being spent in the gas areas with lavish hands. Schuyler County had the first gasser in the boom. Rigs shot up on a dozen locations and the months that followed have witnessed strikes on a score of sites. Approximately 100,000,000 cubic feet of gas can be produced every 24 hours from the Schuyler field.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Salaries paid Methodist ministers are “embarrassingly low,” according to Dr. H. Claude Hardy, Oneonta District lay leader, speaking at the session of the Wyoming Conference Layman’s Association at Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Dr. Hardy is a retired educator and now the director of public relations at Hartwick College. He expressed the hope that Methodist ministers will get adequate compensation and salaries as generous as those paid by other denominations. “It is a challenge to Christian people to see that the preachers are well paid,” Hardy said. “As long as I am a lay leader I’m going to talk about it and do something about it.”
April 1951
40 Years Ago
The canoe season opened with a big splash for the Knu Knuts, an area canoeing club. Monte Smith of Richfield Springs and Dr. Leon Wiggins of Oneonta were at Westfield River, Massachusetts last Sunday for the annual open boat 12-mile White Water Race. They placed first in the event. Will Siegfried, also of Oneonta, competing in his first down river wild water race placed second in the novice Kayak race. Siegfried and his father have been on several cruising trips with Dr. Wiggins and Monte Smith.
April 1971
30 Years Ago
 |
| April 1981 |
20 Years Ago
Mediation Services, Inc., of Oneonta, has received a grant of $10,000. The funds come from interest earned by lawyers’ accounts in New York State. Mediation Services, Inc. mediates civil disputes in Otsego County and is an independent, not-for-profit organization. The mediation services provided are neutral and confidential and offer parties a convenient problem-solving alternative to remedies within the justice system. Other services include conflict management and mediator training. The present officers are Fred Ermlich, president; Richard McVinney, vice-president; Nettie Jeam Scarzafava, secretary; and David Ashe, treasurer. Newly appointed board members are Dr. Art Dauria, Lucy H. Pantaleoni, and Detective Sergeant Carl Shedlock. Mediation Services, Inc. receives partial funding from the United Court System of New York State and must raise a substantial amount through local contributions.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Oneonta’s downtown developer Jeff House is working to fill unused building spaces and clean-up alleyways and side streets in the business sector. In December, House reported a “large increase” within the last year and a half of office spaces being used on second and third floors in downtown buildings. House said he has been working with City Clerk James R. Koury to post vacancies on the city’s website. House has also developed a brochure that lists available business-support services in Oneonta. The city’s recent initiative to clean up Water Street is moving forward with the creation of a garbage collection area under the ramp of the parking garage. House said that Water Street is now clear of the assorted dumpsters that once crowded the area. House said he is also encouraging property owners on the north side of Main Street to clean up the alleyways and in the backs of their buildings. “Having the Dietz Street parking lot there gives them a second storefront, so to speak,” he said, “which can provide the initiative to clean up.”
April 2001
Mediation Services, Inc., of Oneonta, has received a grant of $10,000. The funds come from interest earned by lawyers’ accounts in New York State. Mediation Services, Inc. mediates civil disputes in Otsego County and is an independent, not-for-profit organization. The mediation services provided are neutral and confidential and offer parties a convenient problem-solving alternative to remedies within the justice system. Other services include conflict management and mediator training. The present officers are Fred Ermlich, president; Richard McVinney, vice-president; Nettie Jeam Scarzafava, secretary; and David Ashe, treasurer. Newly appointed board members are Dr. Art Dauria, Lucy H. Pantaleoni, and Detective Sergeant Carl Shedlock. Mediation Services, Inc. receives partial funding from the United Court System of New York State and must raise a substantial amount through local contributions.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Oneonta’s downtown developer Jeff House is working to fill unused building spaces and clean-up alleyways and side streets in the business sector. In December, House reported a “large increase” within the last year and a half of office spaces being used on second and third floors in downtown buildings. House said he has been working with City Clerk James R. Koury to post vacancies on the city’s website. House has also developed a brochure that lists available business-support services in Oneonta. The city’s recent initiative to clean up Water Street is moving forward with the creation of a garbage collection area under the ramp of the parking garage. House said that Water Street is now clear of the assorted dumpsters that once crowded the area. House said he is also encouraging property owners on the north side of Main Street to clean up the alleyways and in the backs of their buildings. “Having the Dietz Street parking lot there gives them a second storefront, so to speak,” he said, “which can provide the initiative to clean up.”
April 2001
4-1-11
125 Years Ago
The report of the Wilber National Bank of Oneonta gives some idea of the immense business interests which it represents. The surplus of $92,500 gives evidence of its financial prosperity and soundness, and its nearly $280,000 of deposit certificates (at three percent we suppose) shows a large amount of capital in the country which finds no desirable investment in business at this period of democratic prosperity, marked by financial depression and laborers’ strikes.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
It was 60 years ago on April 2, 1851 that the Albany & Susquehanna railroad company was incorporated. The road was completed to Oneonta in September, 1865, and Binghamton in January, 1869.
J.G. Hoyt has commenced the erection of an attractive vamp house on the Cliffside property on Goodyear Lake, about one and one-half miles below Portlandville. He expects to have same ready for occupancy as soon as the camping season arrives. There is a large demand for camps on this property and the D. & H. announces that it will make Cliffside a regular flag station on the Cooperstown branch during the summer season.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Grey-clad New York State troopers protect life and property in the whole rural territory of the Empire State. Strapping and stalwart, hard-riding and highly trained, these officers of the law in roll-collar uniforms, broad-brimmed campaign hats, leather puttees and Sam Browne belts serve day and night along the highways and byways where infractions of the law are likely to occur. Every New York motorist knows how troopers can handle traffic at difficult crossroads. But, that’s not half the job. Summer homes in remote recesses, otherwise unguarded, engage their vigilance. Mail must be watched when mail planes flutter to earth in out-of-the-way spots. Motorists marooned on snow-clogged or flooded highways must be aided. Small roadside fires may become forest conflagrations, unless the trooper shuts off his motor and goes to work. Chicken thefts and arson cases cannot pass without official attention. And still, by day or night, the trooper must be within reach, that his small, speedy car or darting motorcycle may carry him quickly to the scenes of prison riots, Communist disturbances (such as the state Capitol recently saw), motor accidents, robberies or murders.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Command of Company G, 108th Infantry, New York National Guard, was turned over to 1st Lt. Bruce C. Shearer by Captain Francis A. Niles last night during formal ceremonies at the State Armory. Captain Niles, who has served as Commandant of the unit for the past 16 months retired from the National Guard at his own request. Lieutenant Shearer is an Oneonta native, the son of D. Clark Shearer, 106 Spruce Street. He is currently employed as a commercial teacher at Oriskany Falls High School.
April 1951
40 Years Ago
The report of the Wilber National Bank of Oneonta gives some idea of the immense business interests which it represents. The surplus of $92,500 gives evidence of its financial prosperity and soundness, and its nearly $280,000 of deposit certificates (at three percent we suppose) shows a large amount of capital in the country which finds no desirable investment in business at this period of democratic prosperity, marked by financial depression and laborers’ strikes.
April 1886
100 Years Ago
It was 60 years ago on April 2, 1851 that the Albany & Susquehanna railroad company was incorporated. The road was completed to Oneonta in September, 1865, and Binghamton in January, 1869.
J.G. Hoyt has commenced the erection of an attractive vamp house on the Cliffside property on Goodyear Lake, about one and one-half miles below Portlandville. He expects to have same ready for occupancy as soon as the camping season arrives. There is a large demand for camps on this property and the D. & H. announces that it will make Cliffside a regular flag station on the Cooperstown branch during the summer season.
April 1911
80 Years Ago
Grey-clad New York State troopers protect life and property in the whole rural territory of the Empire State. Strapping and stalwart, hard-riding and highly trained, these officers of the law in roll-collar uniforms, broad-brimmed campaign hats, leather puttees and Sam Browne belts serve day and night along the highways and byways where infractions of the law are likely to occur. Every New York motorist knows how troopers can handle traffic at difficult crossroads. But, that’s not half the job. Summer homes in remote recesses, otherwise unguarded, engage their vigilance. Mail must be watched when mail planes flutter to earth in out-of-the-way spots. Motorists marooned on snow-clogged or flooded highways must be aided. Small roadside fires may become forest conflagrations, unless the trooper shuts off his motor and goes to work. Chicken thefts and arson cases cannot pass without official attention. And still, by day or night, the trooper must be within reach, that his small, speedy car or darting motorcycle may carry him quickly to the scenes of prison riots, Communist disturbances (such as the state Capitol recently saw), motor accidents, robberies or murders.
April 1931
60 Years Ago
Command of Company G, 108th Infantry, New York National Guard, was turned over to 1st Lt. Bruce C. Shearer by Captain Francis A. Niles last night during formal ceremonies at the State Armory. Captain Niles, who has served as Commandant of the unit for the past 16 months retired from the National Guard at his own request. Lieutenant Shearer is an Oneonta native, the son of D. Clark Shearer, 106 Spruce Street. He is currently employed as a commercial teacher at Oriskany Falls High School.
April 1951
40 Years Ago
 |
| april 1971 |
30 Years Ago
David Stockman, President Reagan’s director of the Office of Budget and Management has been attacked and described by critics as a “hatchet man.” Recently, Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a liberal Democrat and member of the Senate Budget Committee characterized Stockman as cruel, inhumane, unfair and of having “caused a perversion of justice for poor, middle-class Americans” for proposing cuts in social welfare programs, but failing to recommend elimination of tax loopholes for the wealthy. Stockman responded: “The cruelest injustice you can impose on the poor is an economy that is contracting and not creating any jobs.”
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Kyna Mallery, daughter of Christopher S. and Patricia Mallery, has been named Oneonta High School’s Student of the Month for March. Mallery’s academic average is 95. “I never did study that much,” Mallery admits. “It comes naturally. The only subject I’ve ever had to work at is Mathematics.” Mallery moved to Oneonta from New Jersey in 1989 and is the eldest of four children. She says that she is not athletic. However, she is a member of the high school’s varsity fencing team. “You do have to work and push yourself,” she said, referring to fencing practice. “I think it’s instinctual not to want to get hit. The pressure’s on you, one on one.” Mallery has played the flute since fourth grade and likes all kinds of music.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Nicole LaPoitin Michaud, daughter of Tina and Fred Morris, and Armand LaPotin, all of Oneonta, will be competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16. Michaud is running the 105th Boston Marathon with the Team with a Vision on behalf of Vision Community Services, a Division of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind. Team with a Vision is a unique team of blind, visually impaired and sighted athletes who participate in the Boston Marathon and raise awareness and funds for VISION Community Services. Michaud is a 1987 graduate of Oneonta High School. She is currently employed at the Boston Museum of Science.
April 2001
David Stockman, President Reagan’s director of the Office of Budget and Management has been attacked and described by critics as a “hatchet man.” Recently, Senator Howard Metzenbaum, a liberal Democrat and member of the Senate Budget Committee characterized Stockman as cruel, inhumane, unfair and of having “caused a perversion of justice for poor, middle-class Americans” for proposing cuts in social welfare programs, but failing to recommend elimination of tax loopholes for the wealthy. Stockman responded: “The cruelest injustice you can impose on the poor is an economy that is contracting and not creating any jobs.”
April 1981
20 Years Ago
Kyna Mallery, daughter of Christopher S. and Patricia Mallery, has been named Oneonta High School’s Student of the Month for March. Mallery’s academic average is 95. “I never did study that much,” Mallery admits. “It comes naturally. The only subject I’ve ever had to work at is Mathematics.” Mallery moved to Oneonta from New Jersey in 1989 and is the eldest of four children. She says that she is not athletic. However, she is a member of the high school’s varsity fencing team. “You do have to work and push yourself,” she said, referring to fencing practice. “I think it’s instinctual not to want to get hit. The pressure’s on you, one on one.” Mallery has played the flute since fourth grade and likes all kinds of music.
April 1991
10 Years Ago
Nicole LaPoitin Michaud, daughter of Tina and Fred Morris, and Armand LaPotin, all of Oneonta, will be competing in the Boston Marathon on Monday, April 16. Michaud is running the 105th Boston Marathon with the Team with a Vision on behalf of Vision Community Services, a Division of the Massachusetts Association for the Blind. Team with a Vision is a unique team of blind, visually impaired and sighted athletes who participate in the Boston Marathon and raise awareness and funds for VISION Community Services. Michaud is a 1987 graduate of Oneonta High School. She is currently employed at the Boston Museum of Science.
April 2001
3-25-11
125 Years Ago
M. & L. Westcott, who are about to begin the construction of a four-story brick block to contain four stores on Main Street near the fire building, have arranged to open a new street between the proposed block and the residence of Dr. Hamilton, to be called Hamilton Avenue. The street will run from Main to Front Street and will be paved. As an easy grade can be obtained from the freight depot, it will doubtless prove a popular thoroughfare for teamsters and others. (Ed. Note: The area once occupied by Hamilton Street is today a parking lot)
March 1886
100 Years Ago
Local News – Oneonta, according to a table compiled by the state excise commissioner, has fewer drinking places in proportion to population, than any other city in the state. Its ratio is one licensed place to each 558 of population. Cortland’s ratio is 1 to 426 and Binghamton 1 to 397.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
What police alleged was a “wild disorderly dance” conducted by Mrs. Sarah McMullen, 50 years old, of 14 Baker Street, ended in Oneonta City Court Saturday morning before Judge Frank C. Huntington who collected nearly $100 in fines for the city coffers. The raid was the largest ever staged in this city. Acting on a complaint registered by a neighbor, members of the city police night force, led by acting sergeant Revera Still, swooped down upon the dance home shortly after 2:15 o’clock Saturday morning. Taken in the police net, beside Mrs. McMullen, were about 30 men of various ages and 10 young girls. Police said 14 trips were required to transport the prisoners to headquarters. After questioning at police headquarters by Chief of Police Frank Horton, the dancers were handed summons to appear in court on charges of violating city ordinance three. Mrs. McMullen was held on charges of violating Section 1146 of the penal law. At a court session lasting five hours, Mrs. McMullen was fined $10 and paroled for a period of two years. Twenty-five men were fined $3 each. Samuel Bennett, 39 years old, of Baker Street, who was found prone at the McMullen home in an intoxicated condition, was fined $10 and given a suspended sentence of six months. The 10 young girls were placed on probation for a year. Victor Moore, 30 years old, who sold liquor at the dance, was arrested on charges of violating the Oneonta liquor ordinance.
March 1931
50 Years Ago
 |
| March 1961 |
40 Years Ago
A glass bottle recycling drive is being planned for April or early May in Oneonta according to Earl Fesler, manager of the local Coca-Cola beverage operation. The drive will be carried out by Coca-Cola independently, with or without support from the community. Fesler said the recycling drive is not a one-time effort. “We are making plans to make this a permanent thing,” he said. The Oneonta drive will be based on model drives carried out by Coca-Cola in Rochester and New York City.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Otsego County Industrial Development Agency reported Tuesday that it will advertise bids to construct the proposed $1.2 million Pony Farm Road Industrial Park in Oneonta. Two months ago, the IDA acquired the 81.4 acre site, including land donated by the city, for $230,000. Construction is slated to begin in April. The park will include space for 11 industries such as firms that provide paper products, food processing services, or electronics manufacture. IDA officials estimate that the industrial park will employ 500 to 750 area residents when it is in full operation.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Chaitanya Samudrala, Miss Tri-County Teen-Ager 1990, announces that the 1991 Miss Tri-County Teen-Ager Pageant will be staged at the Holiday Inn on Saturday, March 30 at 8 p.m. Contestants should arrive at 12 noon for orientation, interview, photo sessions and rehearsal. Contestants from the counties of Delaware, Greene and Otsego are eligible. The competition includes interviews with a panel of judges, and a swim suit and evening gown competition. Prizes include a four-day trip to Norwich, New York for the winner who will be eligible to compete in the statewide contest. Miss Photogenic and Miss Congeniality trophies will also be awarded. There is no talent competition.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
State Senator James L. Seward has been awarded the highest ranking of any state legislator for keeping health care costs affordable in a report distributed by The Employer Alliance for Affordable Health Care. The Alliance includes 50 chambers of commerce statewide and 140 businesses within Seward’s district.
March 2001
3-11-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – A meeting for the purpose of taking steps toward organizing a village law and order league was held at the M.E. Church on Tuesday evening, at which there was a good attendance. Prof. N.N. Bull was chosen chairman and A.L. Kellogg secretary. Short addresses were made by the chairman and by Rev. Mssrs. Allen, Lee, Gleason, Richardson and others, the sentiment of the meeting being that the law governing the sale of intoxicants must hereafter be respected. The license laws were read for the information of those present. The following resolutions were unanimously passed – Resolved: that the pastors of the village churches prepare and distribute 2,000 copies of a circular containing the points of law regulating the sale of intoxicating drink; and Resolved: that the pastors and five committeemen named by them be authorized to organize a law and order league. The committee consists of Geo. Reynolds, N.H. Briggs, George Kirkland, A.A. Whitcomb, and T.W. Stevens.
March 1886
100 Years Ago
The last game of basketball at the Oneonta High School for the season 1910-1911 was played Monday evening. The visiting team was the strong five from the Colgate academy, who have been winners all the season, and the game in Oneonta was an exciting contest. The visitors started the game with a rush, scoring first and closing the first half with a record of 18 points to 13 for Oneonta. The second half saw the home lads creeping up to and finally passing their opponents, the game ending 27 to 25 in favor of Oneonta amid such cheering as would bring down the walls of a building less substantial than is the Oneonta High School. During the season now closed Oneonta played 14 games and won nine of them. In the 14 games Oneonta scored 371 points to 289 for their opponents. Stratton was the leading scorer with 49 goals from the field and 39 goals from the foul line.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
 |
| March 1931 |
60 Years Ago
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Holcomb of Delancey were notified Thursday that their son Marine Corporal Frederick Holcomb, might be a prisoner of war in Korea after his name was mentioned in an enemy propaganda broadcast. That fact was confirmed yesterday when they received a letter from him delivered from a North Korean prison camp. Holcomb was first reported missing in action November 28. The letter, dated February 6, states: “Well, here I am writing to you to tell you not to worry because I’m still alright. Today is the Chinese New Year. They gave us tobacco and peanuts and we are having four dishes for chow this afternoon. I don’t have much to write, but sure wish I could hear from you to hear you are OK and what the news is back home. I don’t know if you got the other letter I sent you, but at least you will know I am alive and OK. Well, I guess that is all for now, and don’t worry. Love from Fred.” The letter’s return address is: “Prisoner of War Camp, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Care of Committee for Chinese Congress of Defenders of World Peace, Peiping, China, who will endeavor to forward one letter a month from next of kin.”
March 1951
40 Years Ago
The Internal Revenue Service has ordered the Rex Restaurant at the corner of Prospect and South Main Street closed for non-payment of taxes. Opened originally by the Farone family, The Rex as it is called has been a well-known establishment dating back to 1902, operating continuously since that time except for a period during the Prohibition era when it was closed. The Farone family still owns the structure. However, the Rex’s current operators and the targets of the I.R.S. order are Cameron and Anthony Siringo. As the closest restaurant to Neawha Park, the Rex was for decades a favorite tavern hangout of the city’s sportsmen, especially baseball fans who were accustomed to meeting and mingling with the professional baseball players who came to Oneonta to play for teams in the Canadian-American League and later the New York-Pennsylvania League. The building is slated for acquisition by the city’s Urban Renewal Agency for demolition in connection with the planned redevelopment of the area.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Oneonta Common Council has adopted a tax incentive program that is calculated to bring new businesses and industries to Oneonta. Designed by the New York State Department of Commerce, the plan offers a 10-year, 100 percent tax break to start-up business enterprises that provide at least five new jobs and a certified training program.
Oneonta hopes the plan will bring new industries to the Pony Farm Industrial Park in the West End. Seventh Ward Alderman Charles Burnsworth wanted the tax break restricted to the Pony Farm area but Fifth Ward Alderman Samuel Zummo argued that it should apply throughout the city. “We may have that D&H property vacant soon and we’ll need incentives to get industry in there.” Burnsworth’s proposal was rejected and the tax incentive will apply city-wide.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Lobbyists in New York State were paid a record $29.3 million to influence New York State government last year, an increase of 12 percent over 1989 according to the state’s Lobbying Commission. The state’s fiscal troubles are said to be responsible in large part for the increase. The state currently faces a projected $6 billion deficit for the fiscal year starting April 1. “I believe that the austerity has increased the intensity of the lobbying,” commission member Morris Klein said.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Otsego County’s population has increased by 1.9 percent over the decade of the 1990s, from 60,517 to 61,676. However, the population of the City of Oneonta has dropped from 13,954 to 13,292, or 4.7 percent. The reported figures are the results of last year’s decennial census. According to Diane Carlton, Otsego County’s Director of Planning, “the numbers show that trends we’ve seen for at least a decade are continuing. People are spreading out and moving into the countryside.”
March 2001
3-11-11
3-5-11
125 Years Ago
100 Years Ago
Oneonta & Vicinity – General Manager C.S. Sims of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, said today that the purpose of removal of the headquarters of the Susquehanna Division, now located at the Delaware & Hudson building at Steuben and Pearl streets in Albany, to Oneonta, is to bring the superintendent of the division and his men in closer touch with the work. It will necessitate the relocation of about 15 men, including the superintendent, J.C. Rosenstalk, who recently succeeded F.H. Wait, along with several clerks, train dispatchers and time keepers. The Susquehanna Division is devoted mostly to the freight business. Between 35 and 40 trains pass over the road each way every day, including the freight trains from the coal fields and those carrying merchandise, which connect with the Boston & Maine railroad at Mechanicville for New England. Most of the freight trains are made up at the freight yards in Oneonta.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
Local Mention – Three hundred persons were served at the pancake supper held in the Masonic Temple Monday and it was estimated that nearly $90 was cleared. Two deer made their appearance on the hill opposite the Chinese wall on Chestnut Street Thursday noon. Both animals were seen by several persons, but departed in haste when their presence became known. J.T. Smith, superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory, will be the speaker at the Kiwanis at the Elks’ Club on Wednesday. His topic will be “Crimes and Criminals – What, Who and Why?” Guy Fay of 46 Maple Street, who recently purchased the building at 3-5 Dietz Street, from Dan Franklin of 43 Walnut Street, will open the Pioneer Restaurant on the premises in the near future. About 15 members of the Otsego County Medical Society attended a lecture at the Elks’ Club restaurant on Tuesday evening. Dr. R.R. Moloten of New York City spoke on “The Classification of Goiter.”
March 1931
60 Years Ago
Fifteen air raid wardens have been assigned to the West End and West Oneonta, Frank McCook, civil defense director for the Town of Oneonta said last night. They will meet at 8 p.m. tonight at the Oneonta Plains School to get acquainted with their air raid duties. The duties of an air raid warden include getting acquainted with the neighborhood, learning the names of all people in his block and getting to know their working habits. The last is important because it will be up to the wardens to take care of a family whose breadwinner is working in the daytime, or at night, in case of attack. The newly appointed wardens are Gerald Hazlett, Carl Disbrow, Clarence Bull, Willard E. Martin, Charles A. Nichols, Fred Truesdale, Richard K. Rose, Ray Peaster, Marion Bougard, Ralph Wheeler, Richard Cohen, Otto Schrull, E.V. Henry, Ralph Allen, and Harry Ford.
March 1951
40 Years Ago
More than 3,000 nurses from across New York State thronged the New York State Capitol complex in Albany on Tuesday to demand legislative recognition for their profession. Attending the gathering were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing students, all intent on lobbying for a bill that would define nursing as “diagnosing and treating human responses to actual or potential health problems through such services as case finding, health teaching, health counseling, and provision of care supportive to or restorative of life and well-being. With shouts of “We want Rocky” and “Pass our bill,” the nurses rallied at the front of the Capitol to listen to speeches. With waving banners, they rushed into the building and up a flight of stairs to the doors where they believed Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller’s office was located. Finding those doors locked, they filtered into other entrances, buttonholing every available legislator to promote the legislation that would add nursing to the ranks of professional vocations in the state’s labor force.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The evening Oneonta LaLeche League will hold a series of meetings in coming months at 35 Fair Street, Oneonta. The gatherings will start at 7:30 p.m. and discussions are based on “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.” Participants share personal experiences and receive the latest medical information. The LaLeche League is international in scope, and counts more than 4,500 groups in the U.S., Canada and 45 other countries. All women and nursing babies are welcome. The March 11 topic will be the advantages of breastfeeding to mother and baby. The April 8 topic will be the art of breastfeeding and overcoming difficulties. The May 13 topic will be “Baby arrives, childbirth and the family.” The June 10 topic will be nutrition and weaning.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Students at Hartwick College will face an 8.9 percent increase next fall to attend the college and live on campus. The total 1991-1992 school year bill pegged at $17,800 includes $13,350 for tuition, $2,050 for a room, $2,300 for board, and a $100 activity fee. Tuition alone will rise 9.4 percent from $12,200 to $13,350. The 8.9 percent increase overall is above the national average. College official say that is because recent past increases have been below average. The college’s current enrollment is 1,480. However, Hartwick’s tuition rate remains about $2,000 less than comparable colleges in Hartwick’s peer group.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Democrat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to Oneonta this coming Saturday to promote plans to boost the upstate economy and meet with Republican Congressman Sherwood Boehlert and Oneonta Mayor Kim Muller has angered members of freerepublic.com, a grassroots conservative website. The website claims to have 50,000 members with tens of thousands of daily visitors. Website members are referred to as “freepers” and they are calling for demonstrations against Senator Clinton as the “evil one.” A doctored photo of Senator Clinton in a Nazi uniform appears on the site with the name “Hitlery.” Postings on the site also attack Representative Boehlert for his plans to appear with Clinton at the Telecenter Building on Main Street at 11:45 a.m. Clinton’s plan would provide tax breaks for small businesses up to $3,000 per employee in upstate communities that are losing population, have low job-growth rates with high poverty levels.
March 2001
2-25-11
125 Years Ago
Found Dead In Her House – Mrs. Julina Merrills, 72 years of age, living in the neat little residence on Ford Avenue just south of the Universalist Church, was found dead in her home on Monday forenoon. The Tuesday evening previous she partook of supper at the residence of Dr. Morris, a neighbor living a short distance away, when she appeared in unusually good health and spirits. On leaving there, she proceeded to the residence of lawyer M. Keyes on Centre Street where she remained until about nine o’clock, when she departed for home. She was never afterward seen alive. Her body was discovered by Dr. Morris, A.R. Allen and Sylvester Diefendorf who went to investigate after friends and neighbors missed seeing her. They went to the back door, when the piteous mewing of a cat from the inside convinced them that something was wrong. Entry to the residence was gained by Mr. Allen through a side window and Mrs. Merrills’ body was discovered stretched at full length on the floor of her sitting room.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
In Oneonta, during 1910, there were 181 deaths, of which 27 were under 1 year of age; 4 between 1 and 5; 7 between 5 and 19; 35 between 20 and 39; 28 between 40 and 59; and 77 who were over 60 years. Epidemic diseases caused only three deaths – 2 of typhoid fever and 1 of measles while 7 died of tuberculosis; 13 died of cancer; 6 of diabetes; 9 of other general diseases; 17 of nervous diseases; 21 of diseases of circulation; 17 of pneumonia; 5 of other respiratory diseases; 11 of diarrhea and enteritis; 10 of other diseases of the digestive system; 20 of Bright’s disease and those of the genitor-urinary system; 7 of the puerperal state; 3 of congenital debility; 27 from accidents; 3 from suicide and 12 from all other causes.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Outplaying their opponents in every department of the game, the Oneonta high school basketball team hung their second consecutive victory over Cooperstown Monday when they scored an easy 26-14 decision at the county seat’s high school. At no stage of the game were the Oneontans in danger from the Leatherstocking club. Oneonta led 22-9 at the end of three quarters and during the last period were content to pass the sphere around to hold their winning majority. Shaw led the Oneonta varsity in scoring for the night, counting seven points on three field baskets and one foul shot. In a fast preliminary, staged before the main game, the Javees of Oneonta took a 24-16 fall over the Cooperstown second team.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
Oneonta must take out liability insurance to cover civil defense volunteers against injuries in pre-disaster periods, according to an agreement between the state and its municipalities. But, if a disaster hits Oneonta, the state will assume insurance liability for civilian defense workers during and after the disaster period. Alderman Perry Morehouse, who is acting mayor while Mayor A.F. Carson is absent, said the city will have to cover the defense volunteers. “We wouldn’t dare take a chance without coverage,” he said. “We might get hit with a damage suit for $15,000 or something like that. Civil defense costs for the entire state were estimated at $13,500,000 million, excluding construction costs for temporary shelters. Localities must also pay for equipment such as air raid sirens, arm bands, insignia and other items.
February 1951
40 Years Ago
Rock festivals would be banned in New York State unless their promoters register with the State Attorney General’s office, according to legislation introduced by Assemblyman Benjamin A. Gilman of Middletown, R-95, and Assemblyman H. Clark Bell of Kingston, R-99, whose home districts were affected by the massive Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969. Assemblyman Edwyn E. Mason of Hobart, R-113, whose Sullivan County home district was inundated by an estimated 500,000 rock festival fans, was not a sponsor of the bill, but said he would heartily support it “because these rock festivals are a menace to public safety.” The law empowers the Attorney General to license ticket sales and promotions of “mass gatherings,” defined as events likely to attract 5,000 paying spectators or more and last 12 hours or more. The Woodstock Festival caused massive traffic tie-ups and overloaded health and sanitation facilities and law enforcement capabilities in the rural Town of Bethel.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
The Reagan administration has a three-phase plan that could lead to abolishing the federal Department of Energy (DOE). Under the plan’s first phase, President Reagan wants Congress to trim $2.2 billion from DOE spending in 1982. If approved by Congress, the cuts would eliminate 2,500 to 3,000 DOE government jobs according to DOE Secretary James Edwards. Also cut would be DOE’s program to encourage synthetic fuel production. A weatherization program for low income homes would be transferred to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The proposals under consideration are similar to the recommendations emanating from the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank.
February 1981
20 Years Ago
Parking scofflaws in Oneonta are due to receive a wake-up call from David Martindale, Oneonta City Chamberlain who said that 2,500 notices have been issued to people with outstanding parking tickets dating back to 1986. Fundamental Business Services, a contractor to the city, matches license plate numbers with owner registrations on file with the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, to determine the owners of vehicles and their current addresses. Fines for parking tickets before 1990 ranged from $1 to $5. Now the fines range from $5 to $25. The Oneonta Police Department reports receiving an increased number of calls from residents regarding the notices, with some motorists protesting that they cannot remember ever receiving the original tickets. There is currently no additional fine for a late payment and Martindale wonders whether the program would be cost-effective even if a late fee were to be added. After receiving their overdue notices, if payment is not made in 30, motorists will receive a second notice.
February 1991
Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Holcomb of Delancey were notified Thursday that their son Marine Corporal Frederick Holcomb, might be a prisoner of war in Korea after his name was mentioned in an enemy propaganda broadcast. That fact was confirmed yesterday when they received a letter from him delivered from a North Korean prison camp. Holcomb was first reported missing in action November 28. The letter, dated February 6, states: “Well, here I am writing to you to tell you not to worry because I’m still alright. Today is the Chinese New Year. They gave us tobacco and peanuts and we are having four dishes for chow this afternoon. I don’t have much to write, but sure wish I could hear from you to hear you are OK and what the news is back home. I don’t know if you got the other letter I sent you, but at least you will know I am alive and OK. Well, I guess that is all for now, and don’t worry. Love from Fred.” The letter’s return address is: “Prisoner of War Camp, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Care of Committee for Chinese Congress of Defenders of World Peace, Peiping, China, who will endeavor to forward one letter a month from next of kin.”
March 1951
40 Years Ago
The Internal Revenue Service has ordered the Rex Restaurant at the corner of Prospect and South Main Street closed for non-payment of taxes. Opened originally by the Farone family, The Rex as it is called has been a well-known establishment dating back to 1902, operating continuously since that time except for a period during the Prohibition era when it was closed. The Farone family still owns the structure. However, the Rex’s current operators and the targets of the I.R.S. order are Cameron and Anthony Siringo. As the closest restaurant to Neawha Park, the Rex was for decades a favorite tavern hangout of the city’s sportsmen, especially baseball fans who were accustomed to meeting and mingling with the professional baseball players who came to Oneonta to play for teams in the Canadian-American League and later the New York-Pennsylvania League. The building is slated for acquisition by the city’s Urban Renewal Agency for demolition in connection with the planned redevelopment of the area.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Oneonta Common Council has adopted a tax incentive program that is calculated to bring new businesses and industries to Oneonta. Designed by the New York State Department of Commerce, the plan offers a 10-year, 100 percent tax break to start-up business enterprises that provide at least five new jobs and a certified training program.
Oneonta hopes the plan will bring new industries to the Pony Farm Industrial Park in the West End. Seventh Ward Alderman Charles Burnsworth wanted the tax break restricted to the Pony Farm area but Fifth Ward Alderman Samuel Zummo argued that it should apply throughout the city. “We may have that D&H property vacant soon and we’ll need incentives to get industry in there.” Burnsworth’s proposal was rejected and the tax incentive will apply city-wide.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Lobbyists in New York State were paid a record $29.3 million to influence New York State government last year, an increase of 12 percent over 1989 according to the state’s Lobbying Commission. The state’s fiscal troubles are said to be responsible in large part for the increase. The state currently faces a projected $6 billion deficit for the fiscal year starting April 1. “I believe that the austerity has increased the intensity of the lobbying,” commission member Morris Klein said.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Otsego County’s population has increased by 1.9 percent over the decade of the 1990s, from 60,517 to 61,676. However, the population of the City of Oneonta has dropped from 13,954 to 13,292, or 4.7 percent. The reported figures are the results of last year’s decennial census. According to Diane Carlton, Otsego County’s Director of Planning, “the numbers show that trends we’ve seen for at least a decade are continuing. People are spreading out and moving into the countryside.”
March 2001
3-11-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – Joe Lee, a very mild-mannered Chinaman, with his pig tail neatly coiled under his hat, was in town Tuesday with the intention of starting a laundry here. Upon looking the field over he was induced to visit Cooperstown, where they have no laundry. Joe Lee was chaperoned about town by Mr. G.W. Ingalls, who took a great fancy to the almond-eyed wanderer and bestowed upon him innumerable courtesies. Joe was a great curiosity to the small boys, who thronged about him and vainly endeavored to excite his ire by shouting “rats!” but Joe only broadened his smile at this and appeared to take it as a very good joke. He is, we believe, the first Chinaman ever in town.
March 1886
Home & Vicinity – Joe Lee, a very mild-mannered Chinaman, with his pig tail neatly coiled under his hat, was in town Tuesday with the intention of starting a laundry here. Upon looking the field over he was induced to visit Cooperstown, where they have no laundry. Joe Lee was chaperoned about town by Mr. G.W. Ingalls, who took a great fancy to the almond-eyed wanderer and bestowed upon him innumerable courtesies. Joe was a great curiosity to the small boys, who thronged about him and vainly endeavored to excite his ire by shouting “rats!” but Joe only broadened his smile at this and appeared to take it as a very good joke. He is, we believe, the first Chinaman ever in town.
March 1886
100 Years Ago
 |
| March 1911 |
80 Years Ago
“I’m disgusted with those pessimists who tell us the world is going on the rocks and who start calamity howling as soon as young people are mentioned,” said Jim Ellingwood last week in an address at the annual farmers’ night meeting of the Oneonta Rotary Club held at the Elks’ restaurant. “Long after the material advancements of this mechanical age are forgotten the world will be deriving measures of benefit from ideas and ideals which are being developed in the present age far beyond the anticipation of but a few of those now living. The people of the world are nearer together now than they ever have been; we have just recently learned to evaluate a man for the service he is able to render his fellow men; we are more free from hampering traditions today than any people has ever been, and we are anxious to learn the truth and adopt any methods that are proven better; and we live in a day when religion has passed out the ‘one-day-a-week’ stage into every minute of our lives.”
March 1931
60 Years Ago
Oneonta Police Chief Robert J. Simmons said yesterday that area law enforcement agencies, including his own, are working to crack what they believe is a car-theft ring operating in and around Oneonta for more than year. Chief Simmons cites incidents occurring every three months in which late model Ford automobiles with low mileage are taken. The last such theft victimized Lynn A. Boast, a partner in Dayton’s Garage at Delhi. Boast’s 1950 Ford was taken from Fairview Street in Oneonta. In every such case the stolen cars have been locked with the keys out of the ignition. Chief Simmons speculates that the thief or thieves may have a master key, or keys, or is trained in “crossing wires.”
March 1951
40 Years Ago
For the first time in its history, St. Mary’s School will be charging tuition fees. Tuition at the parochial school will be $230 beginning this fall according to the Rev. John Whalen, pastor of St. Mary’s Church. The tuition charge is deemed necessary because of the rising cost of education per pupil. Also, the school intends on opening a Kindergarten class for the first time this fall and will purchase additional equipment for that purpose. St Mary’s School, like many other parochial schools in the state, is anticipating passage of a bill in the state legislature which would give assistance to parents of students in non-public schools, provided those schools do not discriminate based on race and are otherwise qualified to receive aid. State aid will be given to parents by taking into account the tuition charged by the school and the income of the parents. In order to qualify, parents must enroll their students in schools which charge tuition.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Clinton Plaza has changed its name to University Mall. Concept Management of Ithaca, the mall’s management contractor, announced the change and issued a brochure which cites Oneonta’s college student population and outlines reasons for the switch. The brochure states: “Retailers in student-oriented communities are little affected by recessions. The college market is the only segment of our country’s shopping population where spendable income has kept pace with and out-stripped inflation. More than half of all students carry at least one credit card. Students are more likely to buy quality, non-essential items such as stereos, outdoor athletic equipment, books and clothing than any other shopping segment.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Drivers traveling north on the Lettis Highway may not notice that the yield sign on the Main Street ramp at the post office has been replaced by a stop sign. According to Oneonta Police Chief John J. Donadio, police officers will give motorists two weeks to get used to the change. During the first two weeks, violators will receive warning tickets from city police unless they are found to be repeat offenders. State police, however, said they won’t honor the city’s two-week moratorium on tickets although they admit that enforcement of the new sign is largely the responsibility of city police. “We treat all signs the same,” Lt. Stephen Farago of the state police said. “The courts are not going to take into account that it was just put up.”
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Another snow storm hit the area adding five to eight more inches to more than a foot accumulated from an intense storm that socked the Oneonta area just two days ago. A wave of school closings were reported including cancellation of classes in the Oneonta school district. The weather also resulted in cancellation of Oneonta High School’s production of “Singing in the Rain” on Friday night as the storm continued into the evening hours. School officials said the missed performance would be made up by adding a 3 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday afternoon.
March 2001
“I’m disgusted with those pessimists who tell us the world is going on the rocks and who start calamity howling as soon as young people are mentioned,” said Jim Ellingwood last week in an address at the annual farmers’ night meeting of the Oneonta Rotary Club held at the Elks’ restaurant. “Long after the material advancements of this mechanical age are forgotten the world will be deriving measures of benefit from ideas and ideals which are being developed in the present age far beyond the anticipation of but a few of those now living. The people of the world are nearer together now than they ever have been; we have just recently learned to evaluate a man for the service he is able to render his fellow men; we are more free from hampering traditions today than any people has ever been, and we are anxious to learn the truth and adopt any methods that are proven better; and we live in a day when religion has passed out the ‘one-day-a-week’ stage into every minute of our lives.”
March 1931
60 Years Ago
Oneonta Police Chief Robert J. Simmons said yesterday that area law enforcement agencies, including his own, are working to crack what they believe is a car-theft ring operating in and around Oneonta for more than year. Chief Simmons cites incidents occurring every three months in which late model Ford automobiles with low mileage are taken. The last such theft victimized Lynn A. Boast, a partner in Dayton’s Garage at Delhi. Boast’s 1950 Ford was taken from Fairview Street in Oneonta. In every such case the stolen cars have been locked with the keys out of the ignition. Chief Simmons speculates that the thief or thieves may have a master key, or keys, or is trained in “crossing wires.”
March 1951
40 Years Ago
For the first time in its history, St. Mary’s School will be charging tuition fees. Tuition at the parochial school will be $230 beginning this fall according to the Rev. John Whalen, pastor of St. Mary’s Church. The tuition charge is deemed necessary because of the rising cost of education per pupil. Also, the school intends on opening a Kindergarten class for the first time this fall and will purchase additional equipment for that purpose. St Mary’s School, like many other parochial schools in the state, is anticipating passage of a bill in the state legislature which would give assistance to parents of students in non-public schools, provided those schools do not discriminate based on race and are otherwise qualified to receive aid. State aid will be given to parents by taking into account the tuition charged by the school and the income of the parents. In order to qualify, parents must enroll their students in schools which charge tuition.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The Clinton Plaza has changed its name to University Mall. Concept Management of Ithaca, the mall’s management contractor, announced the change and issued a brochure which cites Oneonta’s college student population and outlines reasons for the switch. The brochure states: “Retailers in student-oriented communities are little affected by recessions. The college market is the only segment of our country’s shopping population where spendable income has kept pace with and out-stripped inflation. More than half of all students carry at least one credit card. Students are more likely to buy quality, non-essential items such as stereos, outdoor athletic equipment, books and clothing than any other shopping segment.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Drivers traveling north on the Lettis Highway may not notice that the yield sign on the Main Street ramp at the post office has been replaced by a stop sign. According to Oneonta Police Chief John J. Donadio, police officers will give motorists two weeks to get used to the change. During the first two weeks, violators will receive warning tickets from city police unless they are found to be repeat offenders. State police, however, said they won’t honor the city’s two-week moratorium on tickets although they admit that enforcement of the new sign is largely the responsibility of city police. “We treat all signs the same,” Lt. Stephen Farago of the state police said. “The courts are not going to take into account that it was just put up.”
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Another snow storm hit the area adding five to eight more inches to more than a foot accumulated from an intense storm that socked the Oneonta area just two days ago. A wave of school closings were reported including cancellation of classes in the Oneonta school district. The weather also resulted in cancellation of Oneonta High School’s production of “Singing in the Rain” on Friday night as the storm continued into the evening hours. School officials said the missed performance would be made up by adding a 3 p.m. matinee performance on Sunday afternoon.
March 2001
3-5-11
125 Years Ago
 |
| March 1886 |
100 Years Ago
Oneonta & Vicinity – General Manager C.S. Sims of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad, said today that the purpose of removal of the headquarters of the Susquehanna Division, now located at the Delaware & Hudson building at Steuben and Pearl streets in Albany, to Oneonta, is to bring the superintendent of the division and his men in closer touch with the work. It will necessitate the relocation of about 15 men, including the superintendent, J.C. Rosenstalk, who recently succeeded F.H. Wait, along with several clerks, train dispatchers and time keepers. The Susquehanna Division is devoted mostly to the freight business. Between 35 and 40 trains pass over the road each way every day, including the freight trains from the coal fields and those carrying merchandise, which connect with the Boston & Maine railroad at Mechanicville for New England. Most of the freight trains are made up at the freight yards in Oneonta.
March 1911
80 Years Ago
Local Mention – Three hundred persons were served at the pancake supper held in the Masonic Temple Monday and it was estimated that nearly $90 was cleared. Two deer made their appearance on the hill opposite the Chinese wall on Chestnut Street Thursday noon. Both animals were seen by several persons, but departed in haste when their presence became known. J.T. Smith, superintendent of the Elmira Reformatory, will be the speaker at the Kiwanis at the Elks’ Club on Wednesday. His topic will be “Crimes and Criminals – What, Who and Why?” Guy Fay of 46 Maple Street, who recently purchased the building at 3-5 Dietz Street, from Dan Franklin of 43 Walnut Street, will open the Pioneer Restaurant on the premises in the near future. About 15 members of the Otsego County Medical Society attended a lecture at the Elks’ Club restaurant on Tuesday evening. Dr. R.R. Moloten of New York City spoke on “The Classification of Goiter.”
March 1931
60 Years Ago
Fifteen air raid wardens have been assigned to the West End and West Oneonta, Frank McCook, civil defense director for the Town of Oneonta said last night. They will meet at 8 p.m. tonight at the Oneonta Plains School to get acquainted with their air raid duties. The duties of an air raid warden include getting acquainted with the neighborhood, learning the names of all people in his block and getting to know their working habits. The last is important because it will be up to the wardens to take care of a family whose breadwinner is working in the daytime, or at night, in case of attack. The newly appointed wardens are Gerald Hazlett, Carl Disbrow, Clarence Bull, Willard E. Martin, Charles A. Nichols, Fred Truesdale, Richard K. Rose, Ray Peaster, Marion Bougard, Ralph Wheeler, Richard Cohen, Otto Schrull, E.V. Henry, Ralph Allen, and Harry Ford.
March 1951
40 Years Ago
More than 3,000 nurses from across New York State thronged the New York State Capitol complex in Albany on Tuesday to demand legislative recognition for their profession. Attending the gathering were registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nursing students, all intent on lobbying for a bill that would define nursing as “diagnosing and treating human responses to actual or potential health problems through such services as case finding, health teaching, health counseling, and provision of care supportive to or restorative of life and well-being. With shouts of “We want Rocky” and “Pass our bill,” the nurses rallied at the front of the Capitol to listen to speeches. With waving banners, they rushed into the building and up a flight of stairs to the doors where they believed Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller’s office was located. Finding those doors locked, they filtered into other entrances, buttonholing every available legislator to promote the legislation that would add nursing to the ranks of professional vocations in the state’s labor force.
March 1971
30 Years Ago
The evening Oneonta LaLeche League will hold a series of meetings in coming months at 35 Fair Street, Oneonta. The gatherings will start at 7:30 p.m. and discussions are based on “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.” Participants share personal experiences and receive the latest medical information. The LaLeche League is international in scope, and counts more than 4,500 groups in the U.S., Canada and 45 other countries. All women and nursing babies are welcome. The March 11 topic will be the advantages of breastfeeding to mother and baby. The April 8 topic will be the art of breastfeeding and overcoming difficulties. The May 13 topic will be “Baby arrives, childbirth and the family.” The June 10 topic will be nutrition and weaning.
March 1981
20 Years Ago
Students at Hartwick College will face an 8.9 percent increase next fall to attend the college and live on campus. The total 1991-1992 school year bill pegged at $17,800 includes $13,350 for tuition, $2,050 for a room, $2,300 for board, and a $100 activity fee. Tuition alone will rise 9.4 percent from $12,200 to $13,350. The 8.9 percent increase overall is above the national average. College official say that is because recent past increases have been below average. The college’s current enrollment is 1,480. However, Hartwick’s tuition rate remains about $2,000 less than comparable colleges in Hartwick’s peer group.
March 1991
10 Years Ago
Democrat Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s visit to Oneonta this coming Saturday to promote plans to boost the upstate economy and meet with Republican Congressman Sherwood Boehlert and Oneonta Mayor Kim Muller has angered members of freerepublic.com, a grassroots conservative website. The website claims to have 50,000 members with tens of thousands of daily visitors. Website members are referred to as “freepers” and they are calling for demonstrations against Senator Clinton as the “evil one.” A doctored photo of Senator Clinton in a Nazi uniform appears on the site with the name “Hitlery.” Postings on the site also attack Representative Boehlert for his plans to appear with Clinton at the Telecenter Building on Main Street at 11:45 a.m. Clinton’s plan would provide tax breaks for small businesses up to $3,000 per employee in upstate communities that are losing population, have low job-growth rates with high poverty levels.
March 2001
2-25-11
125 Years Ago
Found Dead In Her House – Mrs. Julina Merrills, 72 years of age, living in the neat little residence on Ford Avenue just south of the Universalist Church, was found dead in her home on Monday forenoon. The Tuesday evening previous she partook of supper at the residence of Dr. Morris, a neighbor living a short distance away, when she appeared in unusually good health and spirits. On leaving there, she proceeded to the residence of lawyer M. Keyes on Centre Street where she remained until about nine o’clock, when she departed for home. She was never afterward seen alive. Her body was discovered by Dr. Morris, A.R. Allen and Sylvester Diefendorf who went to investigate after friends and neighbors missed seeing her. They went to the back door, when the piteous mewing of a cat from the inside convinced them that something was wrong. Entry to the residence was gained by Mr. Allen through a side window and Mrs. Merrills’ body was discovered stretched at full length on the floor of her sitting room.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
In Oneonta, during 1910, there were 181 deaths, of which 27 were under 1 year of age; 4 between 1 and 5; 7 between 5 and 19; 35 between 20 and 39; 28 between 40 and 59; and 77 who were over 60 years. Epidemic diseases caused only three deaths – 2 of typhoid fever and 1 of measles while 7 died of tuberculosis; 13 died of cancer; 6 of diabetes; 9 of other general diseases; 17 of nervous diseases; 21 of diseases of circulation; 17 of pneumonia; 5 of other respiratory diseases; 11 of diarrhea and enteritis; 10 of other diseases of the digestive system; 20 of Bright’s disease and those of the genitor-urinary system; 7 of the puerperal state; 3 of congenital debility; 27 from accidents; 3 from suicide and 12 from all other causes.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Outplaying their opponents in every department of the game, the Oneonta high school basketball team hung their second consecutive victory over Cooperstown Monday when they scored an easy 26-14 decision at the county seat’s high school. At no stage of the game were the Oneontans in danger from the Leatherstocking club. Oneonta led 22-9 at the end of three quarters and during the last period were content to pass the sphere around to hold their winning majority. Shaw led the Oneonta varsity in scoring for the night, counting seven points on three field baskets and one foul shot. In a fast preliminary, staged before the main game, the Javees of Oneonta took a 24-16 fall over the Cooperstown second team.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
Oneonta must take out liability insurance to cover civil defense volunteers against injuries in pre-disaster periods, according to an agreement between the state and its municipalities. But, if a disaster hits Oneonta, the state will assume insurance liability for civilian defense workers during and after the disaster period. Alderman Perry Morehouse, who is acting mayor while Mayor A.F. Carson is absent, said the city will have to cover the defense volunteers. “We wouldn’t dare take a chance without coverage,” he said. “We might get hit with a damage suit for $15,000 or something like that. Civil defense costs for the entire state were estimated at $13,500,000 million, excluding construction costs for temporary shelters. Localities must also pay for equipment such as air raid sirens, arm bands, insignia and other items.
February 1951
40 Years Ago
Rock festivals would be banned in New York State unless their promoters register with the State Attorney General’s office, according to legislation introduced by Assemblyman Benjamin A. Gilman of Middletown, R-95, and Assemblyman H. Clark Bell of Kingston, R-99, whose home districts were affected by the massive Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969. Assemblyman Edwyn E. Mason of Hobart, R-113, whose Sullivan County home district was inundated by an estimated 500,000 rock festival fans, was not a sponsor of the bill, but said he would heartily support it “because these rock festivals are a menace to public safety.” The law empowers the Attorney General to license ticket sales and promotions of “mass gatherings,” defined as events likely to attract 5,000 paying spectators or more and last 12 hours or more. The Woodstock Festival caused massive traffic tie-ups and overloaded health and sanitation facilities and law enforcement capabilities in the rural Town of Bethel.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
The Reagan administration has a three-phase plan that could lead to abolishing the federal Department of Energy (DOE). Under the plan’s first phase, President Reagan wants Congress to trim $2.2 billion from DOE spending in 1982. If approved by Congress, the cuts would eliminate 2,500 to 3,000 DOE government jobs according to DOE Secretary James Edwards. Also cut would be DOE’s program to encourage synthetic fuel production. A weatherization program for low income homes would be transferred to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The proposals under consideration are similar to the recommendations emanating from the Heritage Foundation, an influential conservative think tank.
February 1981
20 Years Ago
Parking scofflaws in Oneonta are due to receive a wake-up call from David Martindale, Oneonta City Chamberlain who said that 2,500 notices have been issued to people with outstanding parking tickets dating back to 1986. Fundamental Business Services, a contractor to the city, matches license plate numbers with owner registrations on file with the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles, to determine the owners of vehicles and their current addresses. Fines for parking tickets before 1990 ranged from $1 to $5. Now the fines range from $5 to $25. The Oneonta Police Department reports receiving an increased number of calls from residents regarding the notices, with some motorists protesting that they cannot remember ever receiving the original tickets. There is currently no additional fine for a late payment and Martindale wonders whether the program would be cost-effective even if a late fee were to be added. After receiving their overdue notices, if payment is not made in 30, motorists will receive a second notice.
February 1991
10 Years Ago
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| February 2001 |
2-18-11
20 Years Ago
2-11-11
125 Years Ago
Judge Scramling moved to his new offices in the Rockwell building last Saturday. The offices are admirably arranged, and as neat and convenient, probably, as can be found in central New York. The offices consist of three rooms, that facing Main Street being used by W.J. Palmer and student Ted Richardson, while the other rooms fronting on Grove Street are used, one as a room for the judge’s extensive law library, and the other for his private office. The rooms are handsomely finished and neatly furnished and as pleasant as could be wished for.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
A proposed change whereby the responsibilities of the state highway commission would be transferred to the state engineer’s office has met widespread opposition among Democrats and Republicans, and among farmers, automobilists and teamsters. These views were well expressed at a meeting of the Oneonta Automobile Club held Saturday evening at the municipal building. The club, which has about 150 members, unanimously adopted resolutions favoring improved highways and expressing their satisfaction with the system which has been in operation for the past two years.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Modern telephone operators are alert, efficient, well-trained young women who are selected because of their special fitness for a job requiring speed, accuracy and close concentration. This is what a group of 20 Y.M.C.A. boys who made up a tour of the local telephone headquarters Saturday morning, were told. The group was met by J.J. Gessner, plant superintendent, and conducted on their tour by W.E. Stare, maintenance superintendent. Miss L.B. Arnold, traffic supervisor, and Miss Laura T. Stapleton, chief operator, assisted in explaining the working of the exchange. The boys learned that on average each girl has 160 lines to look after, but things are so arranged that there are 20 positions where it is possible for one girl to take care of all the telephones in use, if that should be necessary. The visitors were told that there are 3,500 telephones in the city of Oneonta, and that 1,744 lines run out from the local exchange, not more than four parties being on any one line.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
A group of 35 New York State high school principals, including Charles Belden, Oneonta, has turned thumbs down on a proposal for year-round schooling to enable students to go to college before being drafted for military service. The educators met Friday at Syracuse University to discuss draft problems of high school students eligible for college and to advise a draft policy. A Syracuse official asked the group how they felt towards a “accelerated” school program, which would enable the student to attend several semesters at college before being drafted, by going to high school all year round and graduating earlier than usual. The group rejected the idea, citing three reasons. The accelerated high school program would send students to college too early to appreciate college life. Exceptionally qualified students are already eligible for accelerated studies and proceed at their own volition and there is no reason to change this policy. A student may “stand a better chance” in the military service with several semesters of college “behind his belt” but he should not be “rushed into it.”
February 1951
40 Years Ago
Women’s fashions from yesteryear were on view at the Fox Hospital Nursing Home Unit last Thursday. The program’s models from the Fox Guild featured fashions that women wore in their homes and to parties in earlier times. Many of the outfits modeled were loaned by Mrs. Crawford Douglas, who appeared in an outfit considered very smart for street wear in the 1920s – a black, midi-length dress, a handsome, broad-brimmed black hat, black gloves, bag, stockings and shoes with buttons. Mrs. Jane Conklin, activities director at the home, wore a garnet necklace with a low-cut dress of the Charleston era. Mrs. Harold Hunt wore a dress given to her mother and her mother’s black shawl. She carried a fan from the gay 1890s and wore a necklace which had been a gift to a six-year-old child in 1881. A model could not be found for the wedding dress once worn by Mrs. Katherine Dunn’s mother in 1901 because of the tiny waistline.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
20 Years Ago
The newly consolidated TLC Day Care Center on River Street brings together three separate day care facilities on Main Street, Keith Street and the Salvation Army basement. The TLC day care operation, founded by director Jean Stam 14 years ago, has grown to meet demand for day care services in the area. Now serving more than 100 children from infants to 14-year-olds, with 27 teachers and support staff, the new center recently re-opened at a large facility on Morse Street where there is also additional room for expansion. Furnishings, toys, and office records were moved in a week ago by volunteers from the community and the Oneonta Job Corps Center. Parking at the new site is now a neighborhood issue as unseasonably warmer weather has turned parking areas along the unpaved Morse Street into rutted mud holes and led to heavy traffic on Gilbert Street.
February 1991
10 Years Ago
A SUNY Oneonta student is in critical condition and a suspect in the beating is hospitalized under police guard with arm fractures following a fight between two groups of students early Saturday. Joseph Olivo, 20, of Shoreham was reported sustained severe head injuries from blows to the head, possibly from a tire iron or golf club. The fight began at the Alley Tavern before spilling onto Water Street and then into the parking garage. Elvis Rodriguez, 20, of Manhattan, also a SUCO student, was charged with first-degree assault in the beating. Police said the argument was triggered when Rodriguez and his friends began making rude comments to several women dancing on a pool table in the bar. Olivo and his companions then came to the defense of the women. As many as five or six students were involved on both sides of the brawl. Olivo was found unconscious and bleeding from the head in the lower level of the parking garage.
February 2001
2-4-11
125 Years Ago
Faith Cure – For nearly 10 years Miss Alice Benjamin of Morris, the daughter of cabinet-maker George Benjamin, suffered ill health, the greater part of that time being bed-ridden. Her condition was aggravated by spinal trouble brought on by being run over by a wagon. Having been treated by skilled physicians without benefit, she was to all appearances a confirmed invalid, destined to pass the remainder of her days in bed. A few months ago she became interested in cures affected through the medium of prayer, and being a devout member of the Baptist Church, she resolved to appeal to the Great Physician to relieve her from disease and suffering and did so with an earnestness of faith rivaling that of the blind man of Jericho. To the amazement of her friends she soon arose from her bed and walked, as before she had not in years. Since that time she has apparently been as well as ever, and even the most incredulous have been compelled to admit that the case is a most extraordinary one.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
Perils of Aviation – A compilation of deaths during 1910 shows that 53 persons died during the year in their pursuit of aerial glory, fame and wealth. No less than nine of the fatalities occurred on the thirteenth day of a month. A recent census of the air taken in France that on November 15th last there were 501 men and women devoting their lives to the science of aviation alone. Three years ago there were but four – Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, Henry Farman and Alberto Santos-Dumont. All of these pioneers have retired from the business of flying. The Wrights occasionally take a machine out for tests but never fly for exhibition purposes. Of the 53 men who died, 36 were killed in aeroplane accidents and 17 went to their deaths in balloons. Seven of the dead were Americans. Eleven were soldiers experimenting with aeroplanes or balloons for military purposes. In time, man will learn to navigate the air with ease and comparative safety, but the day is not yet when aeroplaning is more than a sport or toy.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
The opening of the second semester in Oneonta City schools saw the organization of a school band of over 30 pieces, the musicians being pupils from the fifth grade to the high school. The organization is under the direction of Robert Gardner, director of high school music and of instrumental music in other city schools from the fifth grade up. Members of the band were selected from a group of approximately 200 pupils who have been receiving training in instrumental music under a new system put into effect in Oneonta last fall. A test in musical measurements was given in September, and of the 600 pupils who took the test some 200 saw the way clear to join a class in the use of some musical instrument. Courses were formed for the violin, trumpet, cornet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, flute and drums. The violin proved the most popular.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
The City of Oneonta had a population increase of 15.3 percent in the ten year period from 1940 to 1950 according to a Bureau of the Census statement. During the 1940s the city’s population rose from 11,731 to 13,531, a gain of 1,800. The neighboring Village of Sidney had one of the largest population increases in New York State during the ten-year period, increasing by 59 percent from 3,012 to 4,788.
Following Friday night Sabbath services, the Oneonta Jewish Community, 177 Main Street, celebrated the time of planting of trees in Palestine. It is called Arbor Day or The New Year of the Trees. Many persons plant trees there in memory of some one of their family, or in honor of a happy occasion. In that way, Israel will solve its problem of reforestation.
February 1951
30 Years Ago
Oneonta school children arrived by grades to view displays in the auditorium of the Riverside Elementary at the school’s hobby fair, a mid-winter activity designed to break through the mid-winter doldrums. Students were invited to create displays showing off their favorite hobbies and treasured collections. Two walls of the auditorium were lined with stuffed animals brought in by younger children. Stamp collections, toy car collections, football cards, Star Wars character figures and tiny glass animals were among the collections exhibited. Sixth-graders Dorothy Heburn and Tracy DiMartin together displayed horse equipage they use in training their own horses and ponies. Riverside School staff members also displayed their collections including pasta makers, dolls, Christmas ornaments, baskets and tea spoons.
February 1981
20 Years Ago
The American Red Cross has recently released new guidelines for blood donors according to Dr. Harold V. Lamberson, principal officer for the Greater Upstate New York Blood Region, which includes 29 counties in central, northern and northeastern New York. Among the changes are new registration forms for donors at the mini-physical and interview area. The new forms will be completed by Red Cross representatives rather than the donors. A new brochure titled “What You Must Know, Before Giving Blood” must be read by all donors. Also, the need to exclude certain donors solely based on their geographical and national origins.
February 1991
10 Years Ago
About two inches of sticky wet snow fell around the rush hour across Delaware, Otsego and Chenango on Friday causing a rash of minor vehicle accidents as drivers tried to hurry home for the weekend. Interstate 88 accidents, all minor, accounted for a number of calls. Oneonta residents are reminded that snow and ice accumulations must be removed from sidewalks before 9 a.m., even after light snowfalls. Walks that are cleared in a timely fashion by property owners will be cleared off by city contractors, resulting in a bill to the property owner for the cost to the city plus a 50 percent surcharge. Also, motor vehicles must not be parked on any city street during or after a snowfall or storm of two and one-half inches or more.
February 2001
1-28-11
40 Years Ago
The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York Wednesday approved tuition fee increases for all levels of study at 32 state-operated campuses in the system. Beginning in September, tuition for New York State undergraduate residents will jump from $400 a year to $550; out-of-state undergraduates will pay $900 instead of $600. In-state graduate student fees will increase from $600 to $800 and out-of-state graduate tuition will rise from $600 to $1,000. The tuition schedule was previously set in 1963. Chancellor Ernest L. Boyer also announced that the board approved a declaration of intent to raise tuitions by the same dollar amounts in each category for the 1973-74 academic year.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
By a 4-3 vote the Oneonta School Board decided Wednesday night to place the question of closing the Center Street School before the district voters for a non-binding referendum. A crowd of more than 100 parents and taxpayers roared their approval. The referendum will be held in 90 days. Board member James Konstanty made the motion to give the voters a voice in the matter. He was joined by Donald McAvoy, Frederick Delello and John Leahy. Samuel Pondolfino, a member of the committee proposing the school be closed, said the referendum would only delay the issue for three months and cause confusion for administrators and parents on the eve of a new school year.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
Approximately 300 area restaurants and taverns will be participating in the 1991 “Hang Your Heart” promotion between now and Valentine’s Day to benefit the American Heart Association. Local sponsors are the Norwich Beverage Corporation and Radio Station WZOZ. According to Jeff Coffin, “patrons of participating business establishments are asked to purchase a heart for a donation of $1, and attach a business card or write a message of their choice on the heart which is then displayed in the restaurant or tavern. Proceeds will benefit the Central New York Division of the American Heart Association.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
Forming action teams to build an effective coalition that will serve the youth of Otsego County was the focus of 35 community leaders who gathered at the FoxCare Center recently. Modeled after America’s Promise, a national initiative for youth founded by General Colin Powell, Leatherstocking’s Promise includes partners from Otsego County government, private businesses, education, media, faith and community organizations that share a stake in services to 11,000 youth across the county. Last fall, Leatherstocking’s Promise gathered survey data from students in every school district in Otsego County. The information collected provides a comprehensive picture of youth risk factors that affect youth development and welfare. A survey of youth resources in the county is currently underway.
January 2001
1-21-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – The remains of Anson Hawkins, a well-known character, particularly to the older residents, were drawn to the village cemetery on Tuesday by undertaker McCrum, followed by a solitary wagon of mourners. No minister said the final service at the old man’s grave, and he may be said to have gone “to the dust from which he sprung, unwept, unhonored, and unsung.” Mr. Hawkins was about 70 years old and was a descendant of the earliest settlers of this locality. His father Heman Hawkins, formerly lived on the John Youngman farm opposite this village, and was drowned while on a rafting expedition down the Susquehanna River many years ago. It was related that he left home saying “he was going down to see the Almighty,” and he never came back alive. Anson died at the residence of his son on the hill south of this village, his disease being dropsy. He was among the last of the “old-timers” of the town.
January 1886
80 Years Ago
Amos Parrish, fashion expert, predicts the return of the hoop skirt, originated and worn by Empress Eugenie, but with modifications, in 1931. Speaking at his semi-annual fashion clinic in New York City, Parrish also sees Queen Victoria’s fitted jackets, to be worn as evening jackets, making a comeback. Parrish’s other ideas for Spring are inspired by the ancient Greek goddesses, whose costumes he explained, consisted of a piece of cloth draped around 1them in a very artistic, but very simple way. “Long, straight, flowing lines,” he said,” peplums or short tunics on skirts, draped necklines, cowls and scarves, draped girdles, and sash ties” are some of the important fashion details that are Greek inspired. On the question of dress length Parrish says “for general street and daytime wear, skirts worn by a majority of women this spring will be middle calf length; for more formal afternoon wear, lower calf length and for evening, ankle length.”
January 1931
60 Years Ago
Dorothy Randolph Byard, painter, teacher and art patron will be the guest of Hartwick College Wednesday. Mrs. Byard will speak to all college art classes, and at night will address members of the Oneonta Community Art Center, 12 Ford Avenue. Mrs. Byard’s brother-in-law is Dr. Dever S. Byard, a member of the Hartwick College board of trustees. She studied at L’Academie Julian, Paris, and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Mrs. Byard was formerly head of the art department at the Lenox School in New York City. She is a member of the National Arts Club, Pen and Brush Club, Poetry Society of America, New England Poetry Society and the Silvermine Connecticut Guild of Artists. Her topic at Hartwick College and at the community center will be “Is Modern Art New?”
January 1951
40 Years Ago
“Hot Pants” – the short shorts answer to the midi-skirt – are catching on with the young, the rich and the brave. American designers are busy turning out shorts for their summer collections. But Parisiennes are wearing short shorts now – with boots, short sweaters, under midi-coats, in satins and crochets. However, some fashion pundits see this Paris-inspired instant fashion as a quick kick for a select crowd. The new style is short enough to make the modest micro-mini skirt look like grandma. “Hot pants are very good for people with hot legs. But, if you don’t have good legs, they look like hot sausages,” says Stan Herman for the Mr. Mort brand. Herman is more interested in “hot dresses,” about the length of skirted bathing suits. But, New York retailers like Macy’s say they have already seen an “exciting reaction” to the short shorts. The shorts can be worn with body stockings and waist-length sweaters. Some retailers say the hot pants will replace the mini-skirt.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
Faced with the prospect that the Center Street Elementary School may be closed, the parents of Center Street students are expected to turn out in force at a January 21st public hearing at the junior high school. They will discuss the social upheaval the closing of a neighborhood school involves. Most of them will resist the plan to bus their children elsewhere. Some parents may decide to send their pupils to the nearby St. Mary’s school which already claims a high proportion of its enrollment from the second and third ward areas, including a number of students from non-Catholic families. While school board officials have estimated the savings from a Center Street School closure at $100,000, the financial impact of a further declining enrollment may undermine the projected savings, if Center Street students transfer to St. Mary’s in greater numbers.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
The United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties reports that it has reached its 1991 fundraising goal of $250,000. The money raised will support the programs of 16 human service agencies operating in the two counties. “More than 300 volunteers have contributed much time and effort over the last four months to this year’s campaign,” said Dr. Alan Donovan, the 1991 campaign chair. Among the 16 agencies to benefit from the campaign are SUCO Children’s Center, the Family Service Association, the Indian Hills Girl Scout Council, the LEAF Council and the Delaware Big Buddy program.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
Wilber National Bank recently earned its 33rd consecutive five-star rating from Bauer Financial Reports, Inc., a Florida-based research firm that analyzes data on U.S. Commercial banks. The award is based on Wilber’s financial data as of June 30, 2000. The report recognizes WNB as “one of the safest and financially sound banks, operating well above regulatory capital requirements. Criteria for the five-star rating include a tangible capital ratio equal to or greater than nine percent, and/or a total risk-based capital greater than 20 percent. The rating takes into account such factors as delinquent loans, repossessed assets, amount of loans as a percentage of deposits. WNB has assets of approximately $558 million. The bank maintains offices in 16 locations in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Ulster counties.
January 2001
1-7-11
125 Years Ago
100 Years Ago
In the final days of his term, Governor White commuted the imprisonment of William “Jack” Scanling of Oneonta from a life sentence to one of 17 years and three months, which term will expire on January 30, 1911. The parole board will direct his release on that date and Scanling will be a free man. Scanling was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of his wife in September 1892 and sentenced to life. Scanling was a native of Oneonta and was well liked. His crime, committed while intoxicated, his friends believe, has been fully atoned for. He has been a most exemplary prisoner, and has long been a “trusty” at Auburn prison. E.R. Ford, Geo B. Baird and other residents of Oneonta have taken a deep interest in Scanling, and Mr. Ford has largely been instrumental in the effort to secure his release. For at least the first year following his release Scanling will be employed in the City of Auburn and will remain there until the Parole Board removes the restrictions.
January 1911
80 Years Ago
The United States it is said, is exhausting its oil resources much faster than any of the other producing countries. Since records have been kept, which is since 1857, there have been 18,600 billions of barrels of oil produced in the world, and of this over 12 billions of barrels came from the United States. While South America and Russia have a present wealth of undeveloped oil fields there is every reason why the vast supply in our own country should be conserved. In view of the great number of motor vehicles now operating in our country, conservation is important and one of the things which Congress might well consider is intelligent preservation of oil through cooperative regulation of production. Grass, grains and other vegetable products can be reproduced, but the supply of mineral oil, once consumed, can never be renewed.
January 1931
60 Years Ago
More than 200 Oneontans have volunteered for duty in 12 different phases of civil defense work, according to Dr. Edward J. Parish, director of civilian defense for the City of Oneonta. Among those volunteering are Nurses’ aides – Ruth Molineux, Mary Microni, Mrs. Helen Knapp, Miss Margaret Woods and Mrs. Edith Simonson; First Aid – Edith Conte, Rose Rizzo, Edith Gaugh and Mrs. Richard Simonson; Messenger Service – Walter R. Renwick; Ambulance or Truck Drivers – Robert M. Bookhout, Claude Safford, David Harrison; Telephone Operators – Betty Collins, Mabel MacEwen, Mrs. Florence St. John; Medical Stenographer – Mrs. Fisk Brooks; Secretarial and Office Work – Mrs. William Ziegler, Miss Joyce Collins; Aircraft Observers – Samuel Bertuzzi, Harold Kloster, Edith L. Simonson, Sullivan Pignatelli, Charles Olds, Nick Rizzo; Block Wardens & Assistants – William Slawson, Miss Edna Farone, Mrs. Gilbert Driggs, Mrs. Edmund L. Shultis; Reserve Firemen – Paul Brienza, Al M. Terpenning, Ralph Townsend; Auxiliary Police – Wingar C. Still, Charles Truscott, Edward P. Sitts.
January 1951
40 Years Ago
State Supreme Court Justice David Lee of Norwich has granted condemnation orders to the Oneonta Urban Renewal Agency in connection with its efforts to acquire property at the foot of Broad Street. The three properties involved are: J.J. Maloney Grocery Co., 54 Broad Street; Koury’s News, 55 Broad Street; and Sam’s Grill, 60 Broad Street. Last October, Justice Lee granted condemnation orders for the Mico property at the corner of Broad and Prospect Streets and the Lawrence Aster property at 18 Division Street. On December 9 last year, Justice Lee refused to grant a condemnation order on the Oneonta Grocery Co. at 50-52 Broad Street on technical grounds. That property is expected to be subject to a condemnation order after the agency files an action in the Otsego County Court. Broad Street properties already acquired by the agency through condemnation include Bern Furniture and the Klipnockie Restaurant building.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
Despite anti-draft protests, there is considerable evidence that young American men are heeding the requirement to register for the military draft in overwhelming numbers. According to the Selective Service, 3.7 million out of 3.9 million eligible 19 and 20-year-old males registered between last July 2, when President Carter announced the draft registration plan, and the end of 1980. This week, men born in 1962 are required to register at local post offices. The current registration push will complete the “catch-up” phase of Carter’s plan. From now on, men will be required to register for the draft as they reach their eighteenth birthdays. What will happen when Ronald Reagan takes office on January 20 remains to be seen. During the campaign last year, Reagan opposed a peacetime draft or a draft registration.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
Women’s health issues will be the topic of a feminist forum presented by the Delaware-Otsego chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The program will be held at the Unitarian-Universalist Society, 12 Ford Avenue, Oneonta from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on January 10. Becoming your own health care advocate on a personal and political level is the focus of the program. Self-education, mutual-help groups, and working in partnership with a physician will be discussed. Body image, dieting, menopause and hormone therapy, and the need for more medical research on women will be topics of interest.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
State Senator James L. Seward of Milford and Otsego County Judge-Elect Brian Burns of Oneonta took their oaths of office in ceremonies held on New Year’s Day at the Holiday Inn on Oneonta’s south side. Former Oneonta Mayor David Brenner conducted the event. Supreme Court Justice Robert Mulvey of Ithaca and Otsego County Judge Michael Coccoma administered the oaths of office.
January 2001
12-31-10
125 Years Ago125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – We learn from the Morris Chronicle that since the recent article relative to the faith cure of Miss Alice Benjamin – which was extensively copied – she is receiving letters from all parts of the United States asking counsel, advice and prayers. Last Thursday, she received 16.
The main spans of the lower river bridge at Oneonta, 117 feet in length, were swept away by out-going ice on Saturday, one span going in the afternoon and the other at night. With great noise the ice commenced breaking up in the forenoon of Saturday, and those attracted to the scene report a sight rarely seen in this region. Huge cakes of ice were piled one over the other against the bridge until it gave way, the great mass of ice and one pier of the bridge going downstream.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
Morris N. Elwell died at his home in Davenport February 5, aged 81 years. For nearly 50 years he ran the Goodyear Grist Mill in Oneonta. His father and grandfather were millers and his son has succeeded the father at Davenport in the same business. His brother Walter was also a well known miller and ran the Gilbertsville mill several years. He also had uncles and cousins named Elwell in the same business. In fact, the name of Elwell has been connected with the milling business for four generations. To be an Elwell was to be a miller. Until we were 10 years old we thought every miller’s name was Elwell and well we remember how astonished we were once to run across a miller and his name was something else. On Elwell’s pond and mill race we used to skate in winter, and in them we used to fish and swim in the summer. In and about the old mill and its crannies we played “hide-and-coop” many an hour. The old mill is gone now and the old picturesque spillway of the race, and over their earthly grave tower the brick buildings of the Oneonta Milling Company.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Each of those happy, healthy, carefree and exuberant youngsters – there were 2,096,337 of then – you saw trotting to and from the public schools last year cost state taxpayers $131.61, or $9.30 more than the previous year according to figures compiled by the department of education. Teachers numbering 73,218 across the state received average annual salary increases of $119.94. Their salary increases constituted 66 percent of the total increase in state education costs. The average annual salary for teachers throughout the state was $2,213.83. A tendency toward centralization of school districts was shown in the total number of 9,418, a decrease of 148 for the year, occasioned by consolidation of central rural schools.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
The City of Oneonta had a population increase of 15.3 percent in the ten years from 1940-1950 according to a statement released yesterday by the Bureau of the Census. During the past decade, Oneonta’s population rose from 11,731 to 13,531, a gain of 1,800. The neighboring Village of Sidney had one of the largest increases in New York State, growing 59 percent from 3,012 to 4,788.
February 1951
40 Years Ago
U.S. Senators Jacob K. Javits, R-N.Y., Charles H. Percy, R-Ill., and Fred R. Harris, D-OK, have selected 16-year-old girls to serve as pages in the Senate chamber, but this break with a heretofore all-male tradition has yet to be approved by the all-powerful Senate Rules Committee. The committee expressed concern about the welfare and safety of the girls and appointed a sub-committee to look into the matter further. Senate Rules Committee Chairman B. Everett Jordan, D-NC, said meanwhile, the members felt that girls, if appointed, should be required to dress in the way prescribed for boy pages – long dark trousers and long-sleeved white shirts.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
Oneonta school district lawyer Joseph Pondolfino recommended that an advisory referendum on the proposed closing of the Center Street School not be held. Pondolfino said that while such referendums are legal, they are frowned upon by the New York State Department of Education. By holding a referendum, you are delegating powers and evading your responsibilities, Pondolfino told the board at a workshop meeting. However, school board member Samuel Pondolfino said the board will probably proceed with the vote which could be held in conjunction with school elections in May. At the May election the board also will seek voter approval to raise the tax ceiling from 1.5 to 1.75 percent of the district’s total assessments. That increase amounts to an estimated $550,000.
February 1981
Home & Vicinity – We learn from the Morris Chronicle that since the recent article relative to the faith cure of Miss Alice Benjamin – which was extensively copied – she is receiving letters from all parts of the United States asking counsel, advice and prayers. Last Thursday, she received 16.
The main spans of the lower river bridge at Oneonta, 117 feet in length, were swept away by out-going ice on Saturday, one span going in the afternoon and the other at night. With great noise the ice commenced breaking up in the forenoon of Saturday, and those attracted to the scene report a sight rarely seen in this region. Huge cakes of ice were piled one over the other against the bridge until it gave way, the great mass of ice and one pier of the bridge going downstream.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
Morris N. Elwell died at his home in Davenport February 5, aged 81 years. For nearly 50 years he ran the Goodyear Grist Mill in Oneonta. His father and grandfather were millers and his son has succeeded the father at Davenport in the same business. His brother Walter was also a well known miller and ran the Gilbertsville mill several years. He also had uncles and cousins named Elwell in the same business. In fact, the name of Elwell has been connected with the milling business for four generations. To be an Elwell was to be a miller. Until we were 10 years old we thought every miller’s name was Elwell and well we remember how astonished we were once to run across a miller and his name was something else. On Elwell’s pond and mill race we used to skate in winter, and in them we used to fish and swim in the summer. In and about the old mill and its crannies we played “hide-and-coop” many an hour. The old mill is gone now and the old picturesque spillway of the race, and over their earthly grave tower the brick buildings of the Oneonta Milling Company.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Each of those happy, healthy, carefree and exuberant youngsters – there were 2,096,337 of then – you saw trotting to and from the public schools last year cost state taxpayers $131.61, or $9.30 more than the previous year according to figures compiled by the department of education. Teachers numbering 73,218 across the state received average annual salary increases of $119.94. Their salary increases constituted 66 percent of the total increase in state education costs. The average annual salary for teachers throughout the state was $2,213.83. A tendency toward centralization of school districts was shown in the total number of 9,418, a decrease of 148 for the year, occasioned by consolidation of central rural schools.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
The City of Oneonta had a population increase of 15.3 percent in the ten years from 1940-1950 according to a statement released yesterday by the Bureau of the Census. During the past decade, Oneonta’s population rose from 11,731 to 13,531, a gain of 1,800. The neighboring Village of Sidney had one of the largest increases in New York State, growing 59 percent from 3,012 to 4,788.
February 1951
40 Years Ago
U.S. Senators Jacob K. Javits, R-N.Y., Charles H. Percy, R-Ill., and Fred R. Harris, D-OK, have selected 16-year-old girls to serve as pages in the Senate chamber, but this break with a heretofore all-male tradition has yet to be approved by the all-powerful Senate Rules Committee. The committee expressed concern about the welfare and safety of the girls and appointed a sub-committee to look into the matter further. Senate Rules Committee Chairman B. Everett Jordan, D-NC, said meanwhile, the members felt that girls, if appointed, should be required to dress in the way prescribed for boy pages – long dark trousers and long-sleeved white shirts.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
Oneonta school district lawyer Joseph Pondolfino recommended that an advisory referendum on the proposed closing of the Center Street School not be held. Pondolfino said that while such referendums are legal, they are frowned upon by the New York State Department of Education. By holding a referendum, you are delegating powers and evading your responsibilities, Pondolfino told the board at a workshop meeting. However, school board member Samuel Pondolfino said the board will probably proceed with the vote which could be held in conjunction with school elections in May. At the May election the board also will seek voter approval to raise the tax ceiling from 1.5 to 1.75 percent of the district’s total assessments. That increase amounts to an estimated $550,000.
February 1981
20 Years Ago
 |
| February 1991 |
10 Years Ago
Oneonta native Clay Bellinger, utility man for the World Series champion New York Yankees is one of 10 area sports figures who will be inducted into the Section Four Hall of Fame on March 3. The ceremony will take place at the Broome County Area at about 4:30 p.m. following the Section Four Class D championship basketball games beginning at 2 p.m. Tim Pidgeon, another Oneonta native, will join Bellinger. Pidgeon, a former National Football League player with the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was Athlete of the Year at Oneonta High School in 1983.
February 2001
Oneonta native Clay Bellinger, utility man for the World Series champion New York Yankees is one of 10 area sports figures who will be inducted into the Section Four Hall of Fame on March 3. The ceremony will take place at the Broome County Area at about 4:30 p.m. following the Section Four Class D championship basketball games beginning at 2 p.m. Tim Pidgeon, another Oneonta native, will join Bellinger. Pidgeon, a former National Football League player with the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was Athlete of the Year at Oneonta High School in 1983.
February 2001
2-11-11
125 Years Ago
Judge Scramling moved to his new offices in the Rockwell building last Saturday. The offices are admirably arranged, and as neat and convenient, probably, as can be found in central New York. The offices consist of three rooms, that facing Main Street being used by W.J. Palmer and student Ted Richardson, while the other rooms fronting on Grove Street are used, one as a room for the judge’s extensive law library, and the other for his private office. The rooms are handsomely finished and neatly furnished and as pleasant as could be wished for.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
A proposed change whereby the responsibilities of the state highway commission would be transferred to the state engineer’s office has met widespread opposition among Democrats and Republicans, and among farmers, automobilists and teamsters. These views were well expressed at a meeting of the Oneonta Automobile Club held Saturday evening at the municipal building. The club, which has about 150 members, unanimously adopted resolutions favoring improved highways and expressing their satisfaction with the system which has been in operation for the past two years.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
Modern telephone operators are alert, efficient, well-trained young women who are selected because of their special fitness for a job requiring speed, accuracy and close concentration. This is what a group of 20 Y.M.C.A. boys who made up a tour of the local telephone headquarters Saturday morning, were told. The group was met by J.J. Gessner, plant superintendent, and conducted on their tour by W.E. Stare, maintenance superintendent. Miss L.B. Arnold, traffic supervisor, and Miss Laura T. Stapleton, chief operator, assisted in explaining the working of the exchange. The boys learned that on average each girl has 160 lines to look after, but things are so arranged that there are 20 positions where it is possible for one girl to take care of all the telephones in use, if that should be necessary. The visitors were told that there are 3,500 telephones in the city of Oneonta, and that 1,744 lines run out from the local exchange, not more than four parties being on any one line.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
A group of 35 New York State high school principals, including Charles Belden, Oneonta, has turned thumbs down on a proposal for year-round schooling to enable students to go to college before being drafted for military service. The educators met Friday at Syracuse University to discuss draft problems of high school students eligible for college and to advise a draft policy. A Syracuse official asked the group how they felt towards a “accelerated” school program, which would enable the student to attend several semesters at college before being drafted, by going to high school all year round and graduating earlier than usual. The group rejected the idea, citing three reasons. The accelerated high school program would send students to college too early to appreciate college life. Exceptionally qualified students are already eligible for accelerated studies and proceed at their own volition and there is no reason to change this policy. A student may “stand a better chance” in the military service with several semesters of college “behind his belt” but he should not be “rushed into it.”
February 1951
40 Years Ago
Women’s fashions from yesteryear were on view at the Fox Hospital Nursing Home Unit last Thursday. The program’s models from the Fox Guild featured fashions that women wore in their homes and to parties in earlier times. Many of the outfits modeled were loaned by Mrs. Crawford Douglas, who appeared in an outfit considered very smart for street wear in the 1920s – a black, midi-length dress, a handsome, broad-brimmed black hat, black gloves, bag, stockings and shoes with buttons. Mrs. Jane Conklin, activities director at the home, wore a garnet necklace with a low-cut dress of the Charleston era. Mrs. Harold Hunt wore a dress given to her mother and her mother’s black shawl. She carried a fan from the gay 1890s and wore a necklace which had been a gift to a six-year-old child in 1881. A model could not be found for the wedding dress once worn by Mrs. Katherine Dunn’s mother in 1901 because of the tiny waistline.
February 1971
30 Years Ago
20 Years Ago
The newly consolidated TLC Day Care Center on River Street brings together three separate day care facilities on Main Street, Keith Street and the Salvation Army basement. The TLC day care operation, founded by director Jean Stam 14 years ago, has grown to meet demand for day care services in the area. Now serving more than 100 children from infants to 14-year-olds, with 27 teachers and support staff, the new center recently re-opened at a large facility on Morse Street where there is also additional room for expansion. Furnishings, toys, and office records were moved in a week ago by volunteers from the community and the Oneonta Job Corps Center. Parking at the new site is now a neighborhood issue as unseasonably warmer weather has turned parking areas along the unpaved Morse Street into rutted mud holes and led to heavy traffic on Gilbert Street.
February 1991
10 Years Ago
A SUNY Oneonta student is in critical condition and a suspect in the beating is hospitalized under police guard with arm fractures following a fight between two groups of students early Saturday. Joseph Olivo, 20, of Shoreham was reported sustained severe head injuries from blows to the head, possibly from a tire iron or golf club. The fight began at the Alley Tavern before spilling onto Water Street and then into the parking garage. Elvis Rodriguez, 20, of Manhattan, also a SUCO student, was charged with first-degree assault in the beating. Police said the argument was triggered when Rodriguez and his friends began making rude comments to several women dancing on a pool table in the bar. Olivo and his companions then came to the defense of the women. As many as five or six students were involved on both sides of the brawl. Olivo was found unconscious and bleeding from the head in the lower level of the parking garage.
February 2001
2-4-11
125 Years Ago
Faith Cure – For nearly 10 years Miss Alice Benjamin of Morris, the daughter of cabinet-maker George Benjamin, suffered ill health, the greater part of that time being bed-ridden. Her condition was aggravated by spinal trouble brought on by being run over by a wagon. Having been treated by skilled physicians without benefit, she was to all appearances a confirmed invalid, destined to pass the remainder of her days in bed. A few months ago she became interested in cures affected through the medium of prayer, and being a devout member of the Baptist Church, she resolved to appeal to the Great Physician to relieve her from disease and suffering and did so with an earnestness of faith rivaling that of the blind man of Jericho. To the amazement of her friends she soon arose from her bed and walked, as before she had not in years. Since that time she has apparently been as well as ever, and even the most incredulous have been compelled to admit that the case is a most extraordinary one.
February 1886
100 Years Ago
Perils of Aviation – A compilation of deaths during 1910 shows that 53 persons died during the year in their pursuit of aerial glory, fame and wealth. No less than nine of the fatalities occurred on the thirteenth day of a month. A recent census of the air taken in France that on November 15th last there were 501 men and women devoting their lives to the science of aviation alone. Three years ago there were but four – Wilbur Wright, Orville Wright, Henry Farman and Alberto Santos-Dumont. All of these pioneers have retired from the business of flying. The Wrights occasionally take a machine out for tests but never fly for exhibition purposes. Of the 53 men who died, 36 were killed in aeroplane accidents and 17 went to their deaths in balloons. Seven of the dead were Americans. Eleven were soldiers experimenting with aeroplanes or balloons for military purposes. In time, man will learn to navigate the air with ease and comparative safety, but the day is not yet when aeroplaning is more than a sport or toy.
February 1911
80 Years Ago
The opening of the second semester in Oneonta City schools saw the organization of a school band of over 30 pieces, the musicians being pupils from the fifth grade to the high school. The organization is under the direction of Robert Gardner, director of high school music and of instrumental music in other city schools from the fifth grade up. Members of the band were selected from a group of approximately 200 pupils who have been receiving training in instrumental music under a new system put into effect in Oneonta last fall. A test in musical measurements was given in September, and of the 600 pupils who took the test some 200 saw the way clear to join a class in the use of some musical instrument. Courses were formed for the violin, trumpet, cornet, trombone, tuba, saxophone, flute and drums. The violin proved the most popular.
February 1931
60 Years Ago
The City of Oneonta had a population increase of 15.3 percent in the ten year period from 1940 to 1950 according to a Bureau of the Census statement. During the 1940s the city’s population rose from 11,731 to 13,531, a gain of 1,800. The neighboring Village of Sidney had one of the largest population increases in New York State during the ten-year period, increasing by 59 percent from 3,012 to 4,788.
Following Friday night Sabbath services, the Oneonta Jewish Community, 177 Main Street, celebrated the time of planting of trees in Palestine. It is called Arbor Day or The New Year of the Trees. Many persons plant trees there in memory of some one of their family, or in honor of a happy occasion. In that way, Israel will solve its problem of reforestation.
February 1951
40 Years Ago
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| February 1971 |
30 Years Ago
Oneonta school children arrived by grades to view displays in the auditorium of the Riverside Elementary at the school’s hobby fair, a mid-winter activity designed to break through the mid-winter doldrums. Students were invited to create displays showing off their favorite hobbies and treasured collections. Two walls of the auditorium were lined with stuffed animals brought in by younger children. Stamp collections, toy car collections, football cards, Star Wars character figures and tiny glass animals were among the collections exhibited. Sixth-graders Dorothy Heburn and Tracy DiMartin together displayed horse equipage they use in training their own horses and ponies. Riverside School staff members also displayed their collections including pasta makers, dolls, Christmas ornaments, baskets and tea spoons.
February 1981
20 Years Ago
The American Red Cross has recently released new guidelines for blood donors according to Dr. Harold V. Lamberson, principal officer for the Greater Upstate New York Blood Region, which includes 29 counties in central, northern and northeastern New York. Among the changes are new registration forms for donors at the mini-physical and interview area. The new forms will be completed by Red Cross representatives rather than the donors. A new brochure titled “What You Must Know, Before Giving Blood” must be read by all donors. Also, the need to exclude certain donors solely based on their geographical and national origins.
February 1991
10 Years Ago
About two inches of sticky wet snow fell around the rush hour across Delaware, Otsego and Chenango on Friday causing a rash of minor vehicle accidents as drivers tried to hurry home for the weekend. Interstate 88 accidents, all minor, accounted for a number of calls. Oneonta residents are reminded that snow and ice accumulations must be removed from sidewalks before 9 a.m., even after light snowfalls. Walks that are cleared in a timely fashion by property owners will be cleared off by city contractors, resulting in a bill to the property owner for the cost to the city plus a 50 percent surcharge. Also, motor vehicles must not be parked on any city street during or after a snowfall or storm of two and one-half inches or more.
February 2001
1-28-11
125 Years Ago
For the third time within five years Oneonta suffers a heavy loss by fire and a goodly portion of the frame row of buildings on the south side of Main Street are, at daybreak this morning, a smoldering heap of ruins. Six buildings were eaten up by the flames. The loss is heavy, but large as is the loss, it is small as compared to what might have been but for the unusually favorable conditions of the night, with its still air and drizzling rain, and it is a cause for thanksgiving that it is no worse. The fire was discovered at exactly 1:30 o’clock. Night policeman J.M. Craft and the Windsor Hotel clerk Lester Eaton were on their way to the depot to meet the night express train, when, at a point near the Marble Shop of Howe Bros., they heard a noise as of breaking glass, and turning their eyes in the direction whence it came, saw flames bursting from the building occupied by Mrs. M.E. Cornell as a millinery and fancy goods store. The men yelled “fire” and Mr. Craft hurried to the fire building and rung the alarm.
January 1886
100 Years Ago
Beginning February 1, a new schedule of passenger rates will become effective on the trolley line. Former ticket prices were based on a rate of two cents per mile for distance traveled and mileage books were also issued at this figure. The new basis rate is two and one-half cents per mile. Altogether the company expects to increase its income 10 percent which will change the financial balance from the wrong to the right side of the ledger. With the increase a one-way ticket from Oneonta to West Oneonta will be 10 cents, a one-cent increase; to Laurens, 20 cents, a four-cent increase; to Mt. Vision, 30 cents, a five-cent increase; to Hartwick, 45 cents, a nine-cent increase; to Index, 60 cents, a 12-cent increase; to Cooperstown, 68 cents, an 18-cent increase, to Fly Creek, 70 cents, a 13-cent increase; to Schuyler Lake, 84 cents, a 17-cent increase; to Richfield Springs, 99 cents, a 19-cent increase; to Mohawk, $1.37, a 27-cent increase; to Herkimer, $1.42, a 27-cent increase. Five-hundred mile books will be issued as 2 and one-quarter cents per mile which will enable travelers to journey at an increase of 12 and one-half percent. Children under five are free; children five to twelve years of age at half fare; over 12 at full fare. Trunks will be carried free up to 150 pounds.
January 1911
80 Years Ago
William S. “Bill” Finigan, Rotarian of Oneonta, addressed the local Kiwanis club yesterday at the Elks dining room on “What I Think of the Grocery Business.” “There really is nothing to it,” says Mr. Finigan, “open the store at 7 a.m., mop up, dust, and arrange your vegetables and make them look attractive, do your shelving, answer all phone calls promptly and cheerfully and get orders to your customers in time for dinner and in the afternoon the same thing over again with a little more of it until you’re through for the day at 6:30 or 7 p.m. This leaves plenty of time for the average grocery man to belong to the country club, golf, fish, and the other things he wants to do.”
January 1931
For the third time within five years Oneonta suffers a heavy loss by fire and a goodly portion of the frame row of buildings on the south side of Main Street are, at daybreak this morning, a smoldering heap of ruins. Six buildings were eaten up by the flames. The loss is heavy, but large as is the loss, it is small as compared to what might have been but for the unusually favorable conditions of the night, with its still air and drizzling rain, and it is a cause for thanksgiving that it is no worse. The fire was discovered at exactly 1:30 o’clock. Night policeman J.M. Craft and the Windsor Hotel clerk Lester Eaton were on their way to the depot to meet the night express train, when, at a point near the Marble Shop of Howe Bros., they heard a noise as of breaking glass, and turning their eyes in the direction whence it came, saw flames bursting from the building occupied by Mrs. M.E. Cornell as a millinery and fancy goods store. The men yelled “fire” and Mr. Craft hurried to the fire building and rung the alarm.
January 1886
100 Years Ago
Beginning February 1, a new schedule of passenger rates will become effective on the trolley line. Former ticket prices were based on a rate of two cents per mile for distance traveled and mileage books were also issued at this figure. The new basis rate is two and one-half cents per mile. Altogether the company expects to increase its income 10 percent which will change the financial balance from the wrong to the right side of the ledger. With the increase a one-way ticket from Oneonta to West Oneonta will be 10 cents, a one-cent increase; to Laurens, 20 cents, a four-cent increase; to Mt. Vision, 30 cents, a five-cent increase; to Hartwick, 45 cents, a nine-cent increase; to Index, 60 cents, a 12-cent increase; to Cooperstown, 68 cents, an 18-cent increase, to Fly Creek, 70 cents, a 13-cent increase; to Schuyler Lake, 84 cents, a 17-cent increase; to Richfield Springs, 99 cents, a 19-cent increase; to Mohawk, $1.37, a 27-cent increase; to Herkimer, $1.42, a 27-cent increase. Five-hundred mile books will be issued as 2 and one-quarter cents per mile which will enable travelers to journey at an increase of 12 and one-half percent. Children under five are free; children five to twelve years of age at half fare; over 12 at full fare. Trunks will be carried free up to 150 pounds.
January 1911
80 Years Ago
William S. “Bill” Finigan, Rotarian of Oneonta, addressed the local Kiwanis club yesterday at the Elks dining room on “What I Think of the Grocery Business.” “There really is nothing to it,” says Mr. Finigan, “open the store at 7 a.m., mop up, dust, and arrange your vegetables and make them look attractive, do your shelving, answer all phone calls promptly and cheerfully and get orders to your customers in time for dinner and in the afternoon the same thing over again with a little more of it until you’re through for the day at 6:30 or 7 p.m. This leaves plenty of time for the average grocery man to belong to the country club, golf, fish, and the other things he wants to do.”
January 1931
60 Years Ago
40 Years Ago
The Board of Trustees of the State University of New York Wednesday approved tuition fee increases for all levels of study at 32 state-operated campuses in the system. Beginning in September, tuition for New York State undergraduate residents will jump from $400 a year to $550; out-of-state undergraduates will pay $900 instead of $600. In-state graduate student fees will increase from $600 to $800 and out-of-state graduate tuition will rise from $600 to $1,000. The tuition schedule was previously set in 1963. Chancellor Ernest L. Boyer also announced that the board approved a declaration of intent to raise tuitions by the same dollar amounts in each category for the 1973-74 academic year.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
By a 4-3 vote the Oneonta School Board decided Wednesday night to place the question of closing the Center Street School before the district voters for a non-binding referendum. A crowd of more than 100 parents and taxpayers roared their approval. The referendum will be held in 90 days. Board member James Konstanty made the motion to give the voters a voice in the matter. He was joined by Donald McAvoy, Frederick Delello and John Leahy. Samuel Pondolfino, a member of the committee proposing the school be closed, said the referendum would only delay the issue for three months and cause confusion for administrators and parents on the eve of a new school year.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
Approximately 300 area restaurants and taverns will be participating in the 1991 “Hang Your Heart” promotion between now and Valentine’s Day to benefit the American Heart Association. Local sponsors are the Norwich Beverage Corporation and Radio Station WZOZ. According to Jeff Coffin, “patrons of participating business establishments are asked to purchase a heart for a donation of $1, and attach a business card or write a message of their choice on the heart which is then displayed in the restaurant or tavern. Proceeds will benefit the Central New York Division of the American Heart Association.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
Forming action teams to build an effective coalition that will serve the youth of Otsego County was the focus of 35 community leaders who gathered at the FoxCare Center recently. Modeled after America’s Promise, a national initiative for youth founded by General Colin Powell, Leatherstocking’s Promise includes partners from Otsego County government, private businesses, education, media, faith and community organizations that share a stake in services to 11,000 youth across the county. Last fall, Leatherstocking’s Promise gathered survey data from students in every school district in Otsego County. The information collected provides a comprehensive picture of youth risk factors that affect youth development and welfare. A survey of youth resources in the county is currently underway.
January 2001
1-21-11
100 Years Ago
Oneonta’s oldest bank in handsome new quarters – It was Sunday, January 16, 1910 that the First National Bank was dispossessed by fire from the comfortable quarters which it occupied in the Central Hotel block. It was on Monday, January 16, 1911, after 12 months in temporary quarters and just a year to the day from the fire that the bank opened for business in new and larger rooms on the same site. All day Monday and during business hours throughout the week, the bank has been thronged with visitors. Bank officers and employees have been busy doing honors and escorting callers through the building who have raised a chorus of exclamations of surprise at the beauty and convenience of the new bank. Though the bank offices are situated in the new Oneonta Hotel block, it was the bank which first was planned, and in fact the hotel is an outgrowth of the bank idea
January 1911
80 Years Ago
60 Years Ago
The New York State Civil Defense Commission yesterday appealed for “hundreds of thousands” of volunteer workers to provide assistance to refugees in case of an atomic attack. The commission said that the volunteers, including at least 250,000 women, might have to serve between 50,000 and 100,000 homeless persons if an upstate city was attacked. No figures were given for New York City. Col. Lawrence Wilkinson, acting director and chairman of the commission said that welfare workers chiefly would assist those who escaped serious injury but were bombed out of homes. They would have to provide emergency feeding, lodging, clothing and financial assistance for these refugees, he said. Such services would help to prevent panic and disorder which might interfere with other civil defense operations. Emergency feeding plans call for the use of restaurants, soup kitchens, mobile canteens and public dining rooms such as school cafeterias.
January 1951
40 Years Ago
Dr. Sanford Gordon, chairman of the Economics Department at SUCO, spoke out at last night’s board of education meeting as the parent of an Oneonta High School student. He questioned the length of class periods and lunch hours particularly. He termed to 20-25-minute lunch hour at the high school “ridiculous,” and said the 50-minute class periods are “excessively long.” He also said that three minutes between classes “is not a lot of time and because of the rushed atmosphere, “students don’t get time to talk to each other.” “The organization of the day,” Gordon added, “turns a lot of kids off. It’s a rat race. We’ve got to give them enough time to socialize in the good sense.”
January 1971
30 Years Ago
An Oneonta School Board proposal to close the Center Street School next year doesn’t sit well at Oneonta City Hall. At Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, aldermen voted 6-1 in favor of keeping classes in the only inner-city school building. Mayor James Lettis joined in the resolution. A vote on the proposal is expected at the January 28 meeting of the school board. Mayor Lettis told the council that he will go to the coming school board meeting to warn of the harmful effects of closing the Center Street building. “I see no benefit in closing the school,” Lettis said. The plan, he said, would undermine city attempts to improve the neighborhood and drive families away. Seventh Ward alderman Charles Burnsworth cast the only vote against the resolution saying, “I don’t think we ought to be involved in it. I think the school board has to make its own decision.” A school board committee projects a five-year savings of $900,000 if the school is closed.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
The duties of operating the county’s tourism program in 1991 have been turned over to the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce following a 9-5 vote last week by the Otsego County Board of Representatives. Otsego County Chamber executive director Gary Cutro will head up the program as project manager. The chamber presented the board with a proposal for a tourism budget of $59,450 that included a payroll of $28,300, advertising of $13,500 and operating costs of $17,650. The initiative is expected to win necessary approval from state tourism authorities.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
“The Battle for Reproductive Rights: Lessons from Across Cultures” is the title of a lecture to be presented at Hartwick College as part of the Social Lectures series by Ann Hibner Koblitz, associate professor of women’s studies at Arizona State University on January 22. On Wednesday, January 24, the program continues with “La Pena” The term “La Pena” is the Latin American phrase that connotes a gathering to discuss art, politics and other important issues. This presentation is titled “The Significance of Segregation for Racial Identity Formation.”
January 2001
1-14-11
100 Years AgoOneonta’s oldest bank in handsome new quarters – It was Sunday, January 16, 1910 that the First National Bank was dispossessed by fire from the comfortable quarters which it occupied in the Central Hotel block. It was on Monday, January 16, 1911, after 12 months in temporary quarters and just a year to the day from the fire that the bank opened for business in new and larger rooms on the same site. All day Monday and during business hours throughout the week, the bank has been thronged with visitors. Bank officers and employees have been busy doing honors and escorting callers through the building who have raised a chorus of exclamations of surprise at the beauty and convenience of the new bank. Though the bank offices are situated in the new Oneonta Hotel block, it was the bank which first was planned, and in fact the hotel is an outgrowth of the bank idea
January 1911
80 Years Ago
 |
| January 1931 |
60 Years Ago
The New York State Civil Defense Commission yesterday appealed for “hundreds of thousands” of volunteer workers to provide assistance to refugees in case of an atomic attack. The commission said that the volunteers, including at least 250,000 women, might have to serve between 50,000 and 100,000 homeless persons if an upstate city was attacked. No figures were given for New York City. Col. Lawrence Wilkinson, acting director and chairman of the commission said that welfare workers chiefly would assist those who escaped serious injury but were bombed out of homes. They would have to provide emergency feeding, lodging, clothing and financial assistance for these refugees, he said. Such services would help to prevent panic and disorder which might interfere with other civil defense operations. Emergency feeding plans call for the use of restaurants, soup kitchens, mobile canteens and public dining rooms such as school cafeterias.
January 1951
40 Years Ago
Dr. Sanford Gordon, chairman of the Economics Department at SUCO, spoke out at last night’s board of education meeting as the parent of an Oneonta High School student. He questioned the length of class periods and lunch hours particularly. He termed to 20-25-minute lunch hour at the high school “ridiculous,” and said the 50-minute class periods are “excessively long.” He also said that three minutes between classes “is not a lot of time and because of the rushed atmosphere, “students don’t get time to talk to each other.” “The organization of the day,” Gordon added, “turns a lot of kids off. It’s a rat race. We’ve got to give them enough time to socialize in the good sense.”
January 1971
30 Years Ago
An Oneonta School Board proposal to close the Center Street School next year doesn’t sit well at Oneonta City Hall. At Tuesday’s Common Council meeting, aldermen voted 6-1 in favor of keeping classes in the only inner-city school building. Mayor James Lettis joined in the resolution. A vote on the proposal is expected at the January 28 meeting of the school board. Mayor Lettis told the council that he will go to the coming school board meeting to warn of the harmful effects of closing the Center Street building. “I see no benefit in closing the school,” Lettis said. The plan, he said, would undermine city attempts to improve the neighborhood and drive families away. Seventh Ward alderman Charles Burnsworth cast the only vote against the resolution saying, “I don’t think we ought to be involved in it. I think the school board has to make its own decision.” A school board committee projects a five-year savings of $900,000 if the school is closed.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
The duties of operating the county’s tourism program in 1991 have been turned over to the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce following a 9-5 vote last week by the Otsego County Board of Representatives. Otsego County Chamber executive director Gary Cutro will head up the program as project manager. The chamber presented the board with a proposal for a tourism budget of $59,450 that included a payroll of $28,300, advertising of $13,500 and operating costs of $17,650. The initiative is expected to win necessary approval from state tourism authorities.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
“The Battle for Reproductive Rights: Lessons from Across Cultures” is the title of a lecture to be presented at Hartwick College as part of the Social Lectures series by Ann Hibner Koblitz, associate professor of women’s studies at Arizona State University on January 22. On Wednesday, January 24, the program continues with “La Pena” The term “La Pena” is the Latin American phrase that connotes a gathering to discuss art, politics and other important issues. This presentation is titled “The Significance of Segregation for Racial Identity Formation.”
January 2001
1-14-11
125 Years Ago
Home & Vicinity – The remains of Anson Hawkins, a well-known character, particularly to the older residents, were drawn to the village cemetery on Tuesday by undertaker McCrum, followed by a solitary wagon of mourners. No minister said the final service at the old man’s grave, and he may be said to have gone “to the dust from which he sprung, unwept, unhonored, and unsung.” Mr. Hawkins was about 70 years old and was a descendant of the earliest settlers of this locality. His father Heman Hawkins, formerly lived on the John Youngman farm opposite this village, and was drowned while on a rafting expedition down the Susquehanna River many years ago. It was related that he left home saying “he was going down to see the Almighty,” and he never came back alive. Anson died at the residence of his son on the hill south of this village, his disease being dropsy. He was among the last of the “old-timers” of the town.
January 1886
80 Years Ago
Amos Parrish, fashion expert, predicts the return of the hoop skirt, originated and worn by Empress Eugenie, but with modifications, in 1931. Speaking at his semi-annual fashion clinic in New York City, Parrish also sees Queen Victoria’s fitted jackets, to be worn as evening jackets, making a comeback. Parrish’s other ideas for Spring are inspired by the ancient Greek goddesses, whose costumes he explained, consisted of a piece of cloth draped around 1them in a very artistic, but very simple way. “Long, straight, flowing lines,” he said,” peplums or short tunics on skirts, draped necklines, cowls and scarves, draped girdles, and sash ties” are some of the important fashion details that are Greek inspired. On the question of dress length Parrish says “for general street and daytime wear, skirts worn by a majority of women this spring will be middle calf length; for more formal afternoon wear, lower calf length and for evening, ankle length.”
January 1931
60 Years Ago
Dorothy Randolph Byard, painter, teacher and art patron will be the guest of Hartwick College Wednesday. Mrs. Byard will speak to all college art classes, and at night will address members of the Oneonta Community Art Center, 12 Ford Avenue. Mrs. Byard’s brother-in-law is Dr. Dever S. Byard, a member of the Hartwick College board of trustees. She studied at L’Academie Julian, Paris, and the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts. Mrs. Byard was formerly head of the art department at the Lenox School in New York City. She is a member of the National Arts Club, Pen and Brush Club, Poetry Society of America, New England Poetry Society and the Silvermine Connecticut Guild of Artists. Her topic at Hartwick College and at the community center will be “Is Modern Art New?”
January 1951
40 Years Ago
“Hot Pants” – the short shorts answer to the midi-skirt – are catching on with the young, the rich and the brave. American designers are busy turning out shorts for their summer collections. But Parisiennes are wearing short shorts now – with boots, short sweaters, under midi-coats, in satins and crochets. However, some fashion pundits see this Paris-inspired instant fashion as a quick kick for a select crowd. The new style is short enough to make the modest micro-mini skirt look like grandma. “Hot pants are very good for people with hot legs. But, if you don’t have good legs, they look like hot sausages,” says Stan Herman for the Mr. Mort brand. Herman is more interested in “hot dresses,” about the length of skirted bathing suits. But, New York retailers like Macy’s say they have already seen an “exciting reaction” to the short shorts. The shorts can be worn with body stockings and waist-length sweaters. Some retailers say the hot pants will replace the mini-skirt.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
Faced with the prospect that the Center Street Elementary School may be closed, the parents of Center Street students are expected to turn out in force at a January 21st public hearing at the junior high school. They will discuss the social upheaval the closing of a neighborhood school involves. Most of them will resist the plan to bus their children elsewhere. Some parents may decide to send their pupils to the nearby St. Mary’s school which already claims a high proportion of its enrollment from the second and third ward areas, including a number of students from non-Catholic families. While school board officials have estimated the savings from a Center Street School closure at $100,000, the financial impact of a further declining enrollment may undermine the projected savings, if Center Street students transfer to St. Mary’s in greater numbers.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
The United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties reports that it has reached its 1991 fundraising goal of $250,000. The money raised will support the programs of 16 human service agencies operating in the two counties. “More than 300 volunteers have contributed much time and effort over the last four months to this year’s campaign,” said Dr. Alan Donovan, the 1991 campaign chair. Among the 16 agencies to benefit from the campaign are SUCO Children’s Center, the Family Service Association, the Indian Hills Girl Scout Council, the LEAF Council and the Delaware Big Buddy program.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
Wilber National Bank recently earned its 33rd consecutive five-star rating from Bauer Financial Reports, Inc., a Florida-based research firm that analyzes data on U.S. Commercial banks. The award is based on Wilber’s financial data as of June 30, 2000. The report recognizes WNB as “one of the safest and financially sound banks, operating well above regulatory capital requirements. Criteria for the five-star rating include a tangible capital ratio equal to or greater than nine percent, and/or a total risk-based capital greater than 20 percent. The rating takes into account such factors as delinquent loans, repossessed assets, amount of loans as a percentage of deposits. WNB has assets of approximately $558 million. The bank maintains offices in 16 locations in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Ulster counties.
January 2001
1-7-11
125 Years Ago
 |
| January 1886 |
100 Years Ago
In the final days of his term, Governor White commuted the imprisonment of William “Jack” Scanling of Oneonta from a life sentence to one of 17 years and three months, which term will expire on January 30, 1911. The parole board will direct his release on that date and Scanling will be a free man. Scanling was found guilty of manslaughter in the killing of his wife in September 1892 and sentenced to life. Scanling was a native of Oneonta and was well liked. His crime, committed while intoxicated, his friends believe, has been fully atoned for. He has been a most exemplary prisoner, and has long been a “trusty” at Auburn prison. E.R. Ford, Geo B. Baird and other residents of Oneonta have taken a deep interest in Scanling, and Mr. Ford has largely been instrumental in the effort to secure his release. For at least the first year following his release Scanling will be employed in the City of Auburn and will remain there until the Parole Board removes the restrictions.
January 1911
80 Years Ago
The United States it is said, is exhausting its oil resources much faster than any of the other producing countries. Since records have been kept, which is since 1857, there have been 18,600 billions of barrels of oil produced in the world, and of this over 12 billions of barrels came from the United States. While South America and Russia have a present wealth of undeveloped oil fields there is every reason why the vast supply in our own country should be conserved. In view of the great number of motor vehicles now operating in our country, conservation is important and one of the things which Congress might well consider is intelligent preservation of oil through cooperative regulation of production. Grass, grains and other vegetable products can be reproduced, but the supply of mineral oil, once consumed, can never be renewed.
January 1931
60 Years Ago
More than 200 Oneontans have volunteered for duty in 12 different phases of civil defense work, according to Dr. Edward J. Parish, director of civilian defense for the City of Oneonta. Among those volunteering are Nurses’ aides – Ruth Molineux, Mary Microni, Mrs. Helen Knapp, Miss Margaret Woods and Mrs. Edith Simonson; First Aid – Edith Conte, Rose Rizzo, Edith Gaugh and Mrs. Richard Simonson; Messenger Service – Walter R. Renwick; Ambulance or Truck Drivers – Robert M. Bookhout, Claude Safford, David Harrison; Telephone Operators – Betty Collins, Mabel MacEwen, Mrs. Florence St. John; Medical Stenographer – Mrs. Fisk Brooks; Secretarial and Office Work – Mrs. William Ziegler, Miss Joyce Collins; Aircraft Observers – Samuel Bertuzzi, Harold Kloster, Edith L. Simonson, Sullivan Pignatelli, Charles Olds, Nick Rizzo; Block Wardens & Assistants – William Slawson, Miss Edna Farone, Mrs. Gilbert Driggs, Mrs. Edmund L. Shultis; Reserve Firemen – Paul Brienza, Al M. Terpenning, Ralph Townsend; Auxiliary Police – Wingar C. Still, Charles Truscott, Edward P. Sitts.
January 1951
40 Years Ago
State Supreme Court Justice David Lee of Norwich has granted condemnation orders to the Oneonta Urban Renewal Agency in connection with its efforts to acquire property at the foot of Broad Street. The three properties involved are: J.J. Maloney Grocery Co., 54 Broad Street; Koury’s News, 55 Broad Street; and Sam’s Grill, 60 Broad Street. Last October, Justice Lee granted condemnation orders for the Mico property at the corner of Broad and Prospect Streets and the Lawrence Aster property at 18 Division Street. On December 9 last year, Justice Lee refused to grant a condemnation order on the Oneonta Grocery Co. at 50-52 Broad Street on technical grounds. That property is expected to be subject to a condemnation order after the agency files an action in the Otsego County Court. Broad Street properties already acquired by the agency through condemnation include Bern Furniture and the Klipnockie Restaurant building.
January 1971
30 Years Ago
Despite anti-draft protests, there is considerable evidence that young American men are heeding the requirement to register for the military draft in overwhelming numbers. According to the Selective Service, 3.7 million out of 3.9 million eligible 19 and 20-year-old males registered between last July 2, when President Carter announced the draft registration plan, and the end of 1980. This week, men born in 1962 are required to register at local post offices. The current registration push will complete the “catch-up” phase of Carter’s plan. From now on, men will be required to register for the draft as they reach their eighteenth birthdays. What will happen when Ronald Reagan takes office on January 20 remains to be seen. During the campaign last year, Reagan opposed a peacetime draft or a draft registration.
January 1981
20 Years Ago
Women’s health issues will be the topic of a feminist forum presented by the Delaware-Otsego chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW). The program will be held at the Unitarian-Universalist Society, 12 Ford Avenue, Oneonta from 7:30 to 9 p.m. on January 10. Becoming your own health care advocate on a personal and political level is the focus of the program. Self-education, mutual-help groups, and working in partnership with a physician will be discussed. Body image, dieting, menopause and hormone therapy, and the need for more medical research on women will be topics of interest.
January 1991
10 Years Ago
State Senator James L. Seward of Milford and Otsego County Judge-Elect Brian Burns of Oneonta took their oaths of office in ceremonies held on New Year’s Day at the Holiday Inn on Oneonta’s south side. Former Oneonta Mayor David Brenner conducted the event. Supreme Court Justice Robert Mulvey of Ithaca and Otsego County Judge Michael Coccoma administered the oaths of office.
January 2001
12-31-10
Home & Vicinity – Pickert, Mayon & Vincent’s Comedy and Specialty company, Thursday and Friday night, was about the worst specimen of a skin show that ever struck Oneonta. But for the kindness of their creditors the troupe would have had to walk out of town. A pane of glass in the front of Leopold Goldsmith’s store, lower Main Street, was broken out Saturday night and goods to the value of $50 removed from the window. Detective Seeger traced the theft to two residents of the village, who paid for the goods and who probably will not be prosecuted. Belva Lockwood wrote in the autograph album of an Oneonta young man, “The road to success is paved with defeats.” As the young man question lost several dollars through Belva’s lecture, he thinks her quotation is very apt.
December 1885
100 Years Ago
Among the achievements of Oneonta for the year 1910 has been the erection of the largest, most costly and most imposing building block which thus far has received habitation and name in this city – that is the handsome structure erected by the Main & Dietz Company upon the site of the Central Hotel, which on the morning of January 16 of the present year was totally consumed by fire. The building occupies the whole of the old Central Hotel site, having a frontage of 150 feet on Main Street and 80 feet on Dietz. Its greatest depth, however, which is on the east side of the building, is over 100 feet. The structure is five stories in height and has a deep basement under all in which are located a barber shop and immense storage spaces.
December 1910
80 Years Ago
Education’s big job is to help each boy or girl “tune in with the world,” Dr. George M. Wiley, assistant state commissioner for secondary education, told graduates of the State College for Teachers at Albany at their annual dinner. “Wipe out the whole curriculum if necessary to find the right “wave-length” to accomplish this “Tuning in,” Dr. Wiley advised the school administrators. “Rules, regulations, subjects, courses and curriculums are means to an end, not ends in themselves. The permanency of democracy depends on the success of such educational agencies as the school, the church and the home. High school principals will soon need a master’s degree or its equivalent to fit themselves properly for their increasingly complex jobs,” he said. “The trend toward requiring principals to have studies farther than the teachers under them is entirely sound.”
December 1930
60 Years Ago
40 Years Ago
A walking inspection of 494 structures in Oneonta’s Sixth Ward shows that the area to be in relatively good shape, at least externally. City of Oneonta building inspector J. Gerald Gunthrup states in part: A check of 255 structures on River Street showed four or five in need of major repair work. A high percentage of the buildings were neat and attractive. A few needed paint jobs and elimination of weeds and junk in back yards. Two of 38 buildings on Gilbert Street were noticed with junk in the rear yards. Another Gilbert street dwelling needs fence repairs. Three of 39 residences on Miller Street need paint; another requires repairs to its front steps and a cracked cellar wall. Another home on Miller Street was cited for junk in the rear yard. One on nine homes on Baker Street requires extensive renovation. Another Baker Street residence needs front repairs and removal of junk. Unsightly conditions, plus any electrical problems, would have to be corrected if the city decides to seek federal aid for the Sixth Ward storm sewer project.
December 1970
30 Years Ago
An Oneonta school board committee decided Monday to recommend closing Center Street School next year as part of a district effort to cope with steadily declining enrollments. If Center Street School is closed, its 160 to 170 students will be bused to the district’s three remaining elementary schools. The fate of Center Street School has been a subject of district controversy for several years. In 1977 and 1978, a parents’ group circulated petitions and won the support of the Mayor’s Committee on Community Improvement in a fight to keep the school open. Joseph Picolla, principal at Riverside School, said the committee’s recommendation reflected a desire to keep students in the same building for the duration of their elementary schooling.
December 1980
20 Years Ago
Oneonta’s Peace Links group will meet on January 2 at 7:30 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church. The discussion will be led by Alice Siegfried with special emphasis on the role played by women in the Nicaraguan revolution that overthrew the dictator Somoza in 1979. She will share slides taken during a trip that she and her husband to Esteli, Nicaragua, during the elections there in February. Siegfried is a potter and a member of the Oneonta Peace Network and Amnesty International as well as the Social Responsibility Committee of the Unitarian Universalist Society.
December 1990
10 Years Ago
If you are tired of excessive waste at Christmas, here are some recycling ideas. To recycle those stacks of Christmas greeting cards, cut out your favorite scenes and shapes and create new Christmas cards on construction paper, while adding your own personalized message. There are many ways to reuse your Christmas tree. To attract animals to your yard, lay your discarded tree on its side, creating a shelter to give animals protection from predators. Hang stringers of dried fruit and popcorn on the branches.
December 2000
