the freeman's journal 3-22-13
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The Freeman's JournalTRANSCRIPT
Volume 205, No. 12 Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, March 21, 2013 Newsstand Price $1
VISIT WWW.ALLOTSEGO.COM
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD
Cooperstown’s Newspaper
• FOUNDED
IN 18
08 B
Y JUDGE WILLIAM
CO
OP
ER
For 205 Years
COOPERSTOWNAND AROUND
COOPERSTOWN
Tired of getting your fillings shaken driv-ing over the railroad
tracks at Walnut and Chest-nut? Help is on the way.Monday, March 25, a six-month project begins be-tween Walnut and Delaware that will replace water and sewer lines, then rebuild and repave the street. During construction, traffic between Chestnut and Linden will be open to local traffic only, as well as school buses and school staff. Driv-ers are being asked to seek alternate routes.
GIRLS HOST GUYS: The Girls on the Run of Cen-tral New York is hosting a Guys Night Out 6-9:30 p.m. Friday, April 5, at Brewery Ommegang, to raise aware-ness about GOTR. Only 70 tickets, $100 apiece. Tickets via PayPal at www.girlson-theruncny.org, or call Sherrie Kingsley at 264-3377.
LEARNING LAW: The county Planning Department is planning a training session for local officials on the FoI and Open Meetings Law 5:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3, in SUNY Oneonta’s Hunt Union Ballroom. Reg-ister by April 1 at 547-4225.
The Freeman’s JournalChef Joe Carentz of the Knights of Co-lumbus slices corned beef at the annual St. Patty’s Day feast Sun-day, March 17, at St. Mary’s Parish Hall, Cooperstown. Tom Gallagher advises from the background/OTHER PHOTO, A2
3 Newcomers Join Village BoardNo Contest, Low Turnout
Village HonorsPro Baseball’sBlack Pioneer‘Bud Fowler Day’ To IncludeStreet Renaming, Symposium
Bud Fowler grew up here long be-fore it was Base-ball Town U.S.A.
CRAYON FEST FUN!
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s JournalJoseph Longhi, 7, goes airborne on the inflatable basketball court at the Crayon Carnival Saturday, March 16, a highpoint of the CCS spring. In the background, volunteers Kari Gagnon and Jacob Lan-sing keep watch.
Angelica Palmer instructs Ariah Maz-iemder, 3, (with mom Jubaida) on all things Pol-ish at the Stroll of Nation’s adjunct to the carni-val.
Brave mom Jenn Howarth brought all four of the kids: Ally, 6; Charlie, 4; Han-nah, 2, and Sam, 6 months.
Appeals against the towns of Middlefield and Dryden’s fracking bans are sched-
uled to be argued before a panel of judges at the Appellate Division, Third Department, at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, March 21, in Albany.
See www.allotsego.com later that day
Fracking Bans DueIn Appelate Court
Chief Found $400,000+ In Uncollected Parking Fines
RR Crossing,Street RepairDue To Start
Chief Covert examines an image of the hand-held ticket-taking computer.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
AT OUR EASTER BRUNCH BUFFET!BRING YOUR FAMILY TOGETHER
THE OTESAGA RESORT HOTEL, 60 LAKE STREET, COOPERSTOWN • WWW.OTESAGA.COM
11:30AM - 4:00PM • Main Dining Room • $42.95 per person
Visit with the Easter Bunny, Coco the Clown & decorate eggs too!Special Kids’ Buffet: Only $21.50 (8 & under) per person
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O v e r 1 0 0 Y e a r s o f G r a c i o u s H o s p i t a l i t y ®
from the ASHESAFTER FIRE, RETIRED PROFS BACK IN FRANKLIN MOUNTAIN LOG HOME/B1
By JIM KEVLIN
COOPERSTOWN
In a year where no living Major Leaguer will enter
the Hall of Plaques, African-American pro-baseball pioneer Bud Fowler may offer a boost his hometown’s recession-battered Main Street really needs.
Already, two na-tional networks have expressed interest in covering a two-day celebration the Village of Cooperstown is planning the weekend of April 20-21, and attention may grow from there, Mayor Jeff Katz hopes.
“It’s just a great story,” said Katz, in detail-ing two days of celebratory activities. “It’s a great human story about a black man in 19th century America, in Cooperstown, who fought the good fight to protect his right to do what he wanted.”
At 4 p.m. Saturday, April 20, the mayor and trustees will unveiled a street sign, Fowler Way, that leads from Chestnut Street to Doubleday Field. VIPs, including U.S. Rep. Chris Gibson, R-19, and the MLB’s official historian, John “Total Baseball: The Official Encyclopedia of Mayor League Baseball” Thorn, will then proceed to Doubleday, where a plaque will be unveiled in Fowler’s honor on
Please See FOWLER, A7
By JIM KEVLIN
COOPERSTOWN
(Reader Advisory: Read on, there’s a happy ending to this story.)
After his appointment last June, Village Police Chief Mike
Covert began getting familiar with his department from A to Z. At P, for parking tickets, the seasoned officer received a bit of a shock.
“There were a lot of people ignoring the tickets that were issued,” the chief said in an interview.
Please See TICKETS, A3
By JIM KEVLIN
COOPERSTOWN
In 2010, it was a historic outpouring in the village elections, with Republi-
can mayoral candidate Joe
Booan besting his Demo-cratic rival, Jeff Katz, 431-329. In all, 760 ballots were cast that year in a village of 900 homes.
The next year, some 600 votes were cast, as Ellen Til-lapaugh led the ticket with 434 votes and Democrats trounced a full GOP slate.
Last year, with no con-tested seats on the Village Board, fewer than 200 people voted. The unop-posed Democrats swept the
field, with mayoral hope-ful Katz netting 176, and trustee hopefuls Jim Dean and Cindy Falk at 171 and 177 respectively.
This year, the trend continued: 100 ballots were cast.
Please See VOTE, A3
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013A-2 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL
LOCALS
COOPERSTOWN
Leor Roubein has joined Bassett Healthcare as chief of gastroenter-ology in the Division of Digestive
Diseases at Bassett Medical Center. He has practiced as a gastroenterologist
for nearly 30 years. From 1985 to 1995 worked at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. Since 2004, Dr. Roubein has been in private practice in Tulsa, Okla. He also was associate professor at the Uni-versity of Kentucky.
Dr. Roubein has lectured nationally and internationally, has authored numerous papers and book chapters and has been published in scientific journals including
The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Gastroen-terology, Endoscopy Jour-nal, International Journal of Radiation Oncology and Annals of Surgery.
Dr. Roubein earned his undergraduate degree, with high honors, at Rutgers University, and his medi-
cal degree at Louisiana State University School of Medicine. He completed an internal medicine residency at University of Texas Affiliated Hospitals and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Baylor College of Medicine.
Gastroenterology Chief Joins Bassett Team
Douglas H. Zamelis
Attorney & Counselor at LawRepresenting Individual, Corporate & Municipal
clients in Environmental, Land Use & Real Property Matters for over 20 Years
8363 Vassar Drive•Manlius, NY 13104 This is an advertisement for legal services
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s JournalONC BOCES Visual Arts and Media Technology seniors Tori Couse, Oneonta, Sara Eichhorn, Laurens, Katie Monser, Cooperstown, Meghan Stoner, Morris, Dezaray Bigas, Oneonta and Ann Kiehan stopped by the Freeman’s Journal/Hometown Oneonta offices on Monday, March 4 to learn about newspaper production. Here, re-porter Libby Cudmore demonstrates how to lay out a newspaper page. The class has also started a successful photography business, Forever Photos.
Dr. Roubein
BOCES CLASS COMES IN FOR A TOUR
IT’S EASY BEING GREEN ON ST. PATRICK’S DAY!
Paul Donnelly/The Freeman’s JournalPaul and Pat Donnelly, visiting their son, Patrick, new spokesman for The National Women’s Soccer League, in Chicago over the weekend, sent back this picture of the Chicago River dyed green for St. Patrick’s Day, Sunday, March 17.
Cider Mill OpensMarch 23, Plans
5K Run This Year
FLY CREEK
After a long winter, the Fly Creek Cider Mill will kick off it’s
157th season on Saturday, March 23.
New this year will be the Cider Run 5K Fun Run/3K Walk fundraiser to benefit the United Way of Delaware and Otsego Counties on April 27. Participants who register before April 1 will receive a commemorative tee-shirt and pint glass filled with hard or sweet cider upon completion of the race. To pre-regis-ter for the race visit www.unitedwaydo.org or call the United Way at (607) 432-8006.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s JournalFred Lemister, member of the Knights of Columbus of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha serves Annie Stewart a heaping helping of cabbage as part of their annual St. Patrick’s Day dinner. Down the line, Chris and Tom Hurley with their dad, Jim, will serve up the carrots and corned beef.
LET’S HAVE AGreat Summer!
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A SUMMER 2013 PUBLICATION OF
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Cheryl Clough for THE GOOD LIFE 2013
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TICKETS/From A1Between 2008 and 2011,
he discovered, 4,139 park-ing tickets were unpaid, which at $35 a ticket trans-lated into $144,865 in lost revenues.
After 60 days, the fine rises to $70 and, after 90 days, to $140. Upper end, he calculated, the village had lost $579,460 in potential revenue, many times his salary and almost twice his 14-member department’s annual budget.
“Even if 50 percent were answered as $35, that’s huge,” said the chief, who joined the village force after a career with the county Sheriff’s Department.
You might think that most of the unpaid tickets were from Texas or Oregon, hard to enforce, but not so: Of the total, 1,349 were from out of state, but 2,790 had been issued to New Yorkers.
In making the rounds with his new officers, Covert dis-covered “they weren’t writ-
ing as many tickets as they could.” Why bother, they figured, since the tickets weren’t being adjudicated anyone?
“I looked at this and thought: There’s got to be a better way,” the chief said.
Even today, there’s a parking-ticket backlog in the Village Justices’ office go-ing back to October. There are 989 tickets unpaid from last year alone.
A few weeks later, Covert was visiting the Oneonta Police Department when the parking-enforcement officer returned from his rounds with a hand-held computer.
The hand-held, it turned out, was a produced of Complus Data Innovations. Last fall, Covert proposed to the trustees that the village make the transition.
Complus didn’t take a set fee, but a portion of revenues collected. Af-ter negotiations, Complus lowered its usual 25 percent commission to 18 percent, and a deal was made.
The hand-helds are due to arrive in May, in time for the summer season. Com-plus will provide two hand-helds during the summer, and one in the off-season.
These devices will al-
low parking-enforcement officers to simply scan the bar code on the registration sticker on a car’s wind-shield, and to take one or two photos to document if the car is in a handicapped or non-parking zone.
No input is required. The data goes immediately into Complus’ database, and the citation is soon in the hands of the errant driver, who can then – if he or she chooses – go to a website and pay on a credit card. Reminders are automatically issued at 90 and 120 days.
The Village Board has in-cluded $50,000 in estimated revenues from the Complus system in the 2013-14 bud-get it is due to approve in early April, but Mayor Jeff Katz says the numbers could go into the six figures.
“It was definitely trou-bling,” said Katz, who has been a trustee since 2006 and became mayor a year ago. “I knew there was a backlog, but it was never given to us as a number.”
On discovering the back-log, the mayor began refer-ring to the backlog as “a locked safe full of money; we just had to unlock it,” which he believes the vil-lage has now done.
Enforcing Tickets May Bring In 6-Figure Revenues
VOTE/From A1The polls in the Chestnut
Street firehall closed at 9 p.m. Tuesday, March 19. By 9:06, the ballots had been counted and the results were known:
• Bruce Maxson, a public defender and president of the Cooperstown Fire Department, led the ballot-ing for three trustee vacan-cies with 77 votes. Cross-endorsed, he received 57 Democratic votes and 20 Republican ones.
• Joan Nicols, wife of Hank Nicols, the former Democratic county chair, came in second with 76. She received 61 Democratic votes and 15 on the Many Voices line.
• Lou Allstadt, the retired Mobil executive vice presi-dent and a relative newcom-er to living fulltime in the village, tallied 74, 55 on the
Democratic line and 19 on the Many Voices line.
In all, 86 people cast
ballots in person, accord-ing to election official Teri Barown. Another 14 sub-
mitted absentee ballots.While the turnout was
low, spirits were high on Westridge Road, where Richie Abbate, the village (and county) Democratic chair, toasted the winners. While – except for the Maxson cross-endorsement – the Republicans had failed to field a slate, Abbate said that had not diminished the quality of the Democratic offerings.
Maxson and Nicols, elected to two-year terms, and Allstadt, elected for one year, will replace retiring trustees Walter Franck, Lynne Mebust and Frank Capozza in April.
Interviewed earlier in the day, Mayor Katz said he had already asked the new trust-ees to provide him a priority list of committees on which they would prefer to serve.
“If I can juggle where
people are, depending where they want to be, they will be happier,” said the mayor, who is completing the first year of his term.
Allstadt, he noted, has spearheaded Friends of 22 Main, which is seeking to renovate the historic Village Hall, and would make him a natural for the Streets & Buildings Committee, as would his business experi-ence for Finance.
Maxson’s ties to the fire department might work in his favor or, if he was seen as too pro the department, might not. Nicols could fill a variety of roles, he said.
Regardless, serving in a number of capacities can be helpful in getting a full understanding of how the village operates.
“When I first came on the board, I was always moved around,” Katz recalled. “I kind of liked that. Each committee is important in its own way.
Approval of the 2013-14 budget will be one of the first orders of business.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s JournalRichard Abbate, right, village Democratic chair, congratulates newly elected Village Trustees Joan Nicols and Lou Allstadt in a victory celebra-tion his Westridge Road home. Due to a family situation, Bruce Maxson was unable to attend.
Maxson, Nicols, Allstadt Elected To Village Board
THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2013
PerspectivesA-4 THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL
EDITORIAL
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LETTERs
The Heart Says ‘Yes’ To Saving Otsego Manor, But The Head...
By HILDA WILCOX
One thing I have learned from life is that, in some ways, we are all alike. Whether we are
rich or poor, handsome or plain, smart or not so smart, the one thing we all want – deep down, never to lose – is our sense of our own identity. We want to be known as the unique per-sons we are and nobody else is.
What we see when we see residents of The Manor are people whose sense of identity has remained intact. They are still pretty much the same people who went there to live, and the staff
sees them as who they are and treats them that way.
There are other nursing homes I’ve visited that aren’t that way – where even if you are called by your first name, you aren’t really you. You’re just that resident who gives them trouble or doesn’t give them trouble, who is sedated or is not sedated. And when you die – well, you die, and the right forms must be filled out and the right relatives notified.
What I’m talking about is the dignity of the human being and how an institu-tion can help us to keep intact that dignity – or lose it. None of us wants to go into that next world as a thing.
I see The Manor, thanks to the qual-ity of the people who work there, as the kind of people we want around us when we can’t do as much for our-selves as we could do before.
When we have a good thing like that, we can’t afford to lose it. We’ve got to use all the ingenuity we can put together from all our citizens – not just the county board alone – to save it. We’ve got to believe we can pool our insights to make the changes we will need to make – to save Otsego Manor.
Hilda Wilcox, an educator long active in community causes, lives in
Cooperstown.
ISSUE & DEBATE
By JOHN B. WEBB
As I write, I am looking at an ar-ticle from the April 18, 1958, issue of the Oneonta Star bear-
ing the headline, “$480,000 County Home Bonds Sold,” clipped by my grandmother and placed prominently in her scrapbook of family memora-bilia.
The picture accompanying the article shows then-county attorney Sterling Harrington; county treasurer Bernice Jones, and my father, Badgley Webb of Roseboom, who was then chairman of the county’s Board of Su-pervisors, at the signing of the bonds that would finance the construction of The Meadows, The Manor’s predeces-sor.
I was a young man at that time, but I vividly remember the significance of this event from the phone calls, the get-togethers of county and town officials at our home, and my father’s dinnertime reports of the deliberations surrounding the decision to move forward with this major project.
I even remember the preparations for the trip that Bernice, Sterling and my dad took to New York City for the official signing of the bonds.
I was present with my parents for
the grand opening of The Meadows with speeches extolling the quality of care that residents would receive in the home and infirmary, the guided tour, the excitement and pride that prevailed, and the jokes with Guy Maddelone, then Board chair, about whether any of the Board members
who had supported The Meadows’ construction would end up there one day. (My father died – at The Manor – in 2007.)
There was a recognition shared among all involved that this was a costly undertaking and that it repre-
Please See WEBB, A6
John B. Webb retrieved this April 18, 1958, newspaper clipping from his grandmother’s scrapbook, showing his father, Badgley Webb (standing), then chairman of the county Board of supervi-sors, and other signing the bond issue for The Meadows, The Manor’s predecessor.
Manor Preserves Uniqueness Of Each Resident
Never Forget: We Are Our Brothers’ Keepers
County Rep. Pauline Koren, R-Milford, put it this way: “In
my heart, I don’t want to sell it. But in my brain, I know we’re doing the right thing.”
It was telling that five of six county reps – three Republicans, three Demo-crats – at the first of three informational meetings on the future of Otsego Manor Saturday, March 16, at the Worcester American Legion agreed with her.
And they said their con-stituents agreed with them, (particularly those who call, saying any tax increase will force them from their homes.)
The sixth rep, John Kosmer, D-Fly Creek, said he believes a majority of his constituents want to see Otsego Manor saved, which is why he developed the Kosmer Plan, which seeks a combination of union con-cessions and revenue from a .25 percentile increase in sales tax to reduce The Manor’s growing deficit. (It will soon claim 50 percent of the county’s $10 million tax levy.)
But even Kosmer, dis-couraged that only a dozen members of the public showed up in Worcester, said, “I’ve done my job.” For the Kosmer Plan to happen, there has to be an outpouring of public support that wasn’t evident there.
•
Before we go any further, let’s stipulate that the vast majority of people in Otsego County agree with Koren: In our hearts, we want to preserve Otsego Manor as it is; in our heads, it becoming harder and harder see our way clear.
Further, let’s agree that the continuing efforts of Maureen and Fred Culbert of East Springfield to rally support for keeping The Manor in public hands are praiseworthy in the extreme. The Culberts have nothing to gain. Maureen was sim-ply inspired by the quality of care her mother received at The Manor during her last months to embark on her worthy crusade.
The humanity of The Manor – Hilda Wilcox and John Webb fully cap-ture it in their reflections elsewhere on this page – is something everyone in Otsego County should honor. It makes all of us proud.
Still, in listening to the Worcester presentation by county Rep. Kay Stuligross,
D-Oneonta, who chairs The Manor Committee, by Manor director Ed Marchi and by Kosmer, it seems clear The Manor will simply become more and more of a burden on county finances as time goes on.
•First, state and federal re-
imbursements will continue to decline. It costs $366.98 a day to care for a Manor resident; the Medicaid reim-bursement – it applies to 75 percent of the residents – is $190 a day.
If anything, the reim-bursement will continue dropping due to “regional pricing,” which reimburses counties based on the average regional cost. The Manor’s pay scales are way above the region’s, and the county must pick up the gap. To give just one instance from Stuligross’ presentation: At Otsego Manor, the range of CNA (certified nursing assistant) wages is $14.39-$16.88 per hour; regionally, it is $10.85-$13.06. Locally, CNA benefits are an ad-ditional $7.63 per hour; regionally, $3.41.
That’s more than $7 per hour, per 70 CNAs, 24 hours a week, 52 weeks a year. And that’s just one category. Good wages and benefits are not a nega-tive, but the county is in a situation where it is being punished for being above average.
In an interview a few weeks ago, Marchi pro-posed that unionized Manor employees accept the upper end of the regional scale to help bring county costs down. Even if that were to happen, that would simply drive down the regional average, further eroding the county’s reimbursement. Continued public ownership is a downward spiral.
•In Worcester, Marchi
raised another issue: Obam-acare, which will begin tak-ing hold in 2014, will shift eldercare to a managed-care model. Money will move from supporting institutions like Otsego Manor into homecare, enabling people to stay in their houses.
The Meadows, the county’s former nurs-ing home, was based on a “medical model,” said Mar-
chi. Otsego Manor, with is five “neighborhoods” and pleasant living conditions, is a “social model.” Under the new regimen, nurs-ing homes will revert to the “medical model,” one Marchi likened to an ICU. People will live at home until they are seriously ill, moving to The Manor only in their very final days.
All the trends are moving away from The Manor that we revere, and the money to support this model is moving with it. Even a per-person fee, like MOSA, of $100 or $200 per per-son, would not ensure The Manor’s survival, even if that were affordable, and to many, it isn’t.
•The good news – and
this was repeated again and again at Worcester – is that the county board isn’t run-
ning for the doors, the way it appeared to be a year ago. The RFP seeking private bids emphasizes “quality,” and that must be paramount.
The county has contract-ed with the Rochester-based Center for Governmental Research, a non-profit founded by George Eastman that has 100 years of provid-ing “fact-based, objective research and analysis.” And with Harris Beach, a law firm with offices through Upstate New York with specific expertise.
Save Our Manor adher-ents might be wise to shift the focus from keeping The Manor as it is to ensuring it passes into the best hands.
This conclusion is reached with regret. Otsego Manor is an admirable institution, one that we can be proud of, but one that does not appear sustainable given forces well beyond Otsego County’s boundaries or control.
But, please, don’t take our word for it. The county board is planning two more sessions, at 1:30 p.m. Satur-day, March 22, at the county courthouse in Cooperstown, and 1:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Oneonta High School.
Certainly, people of good will can disagree. And we would welcome being proved wrong. But the privatization of Otsego Manor, regrettably, seems inevitable.
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s JournalOtsego Manor director Ed Marchi and county Reps. Kay stuligross and John Kosmer, detail The Manor future saturday, March 16, in Worcester.
IF YOU GO: The county board is planing two more informational sessions on The Manor: Saturday, March 23, at the county courthouse, Cooperstown, and Satur-day, April 6, at Oneonta High School. Both are at 1:30 p.m.
To the Editor:Mary Anne Whelan’s
letter to the editor of March 15 suggesting repeal of the Second Amendment is inherently, anti-American, anti-Bill of Rights, and not at all patriotic.
Meddling with the Bill of Rights degrades the intent of the original authors. It seems to me that this kind of thinking shows the failure to understand the intent of our Founders when they drafted the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
Statistics show that ap-proximately 98,000 (accord-ing to JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association) to as many as 195,000 (as per Heath-Grades studies) people are killed every year due to medical errors in the United States, resulting in an estimated cost of $324 mil-lion. This information is derived from HealthGrades
studies of 37 million patient records.
Additionally a study by Zhan & Miller published in JAMA revealed that medical errors caused approximately 98,000 deaths annually.
Based on these statistics medical malpractice causes over three times the 31,000 deaths by firearms quoted by Ms. Whelan. Should the medical profession be abolished because of this? Should background checks be required for all aspiring and current doctors before they are allowed to practice their profession?
An affirmative answer to these two question is as preposterous as is repealing the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment is as relevant today as when it was written, perhaps even more so in today’s world of uncertainties.
F.J. HESSEOtego
Why Not Abolish Medical Profession?
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL A-5THURSDAY, MARCH 21 2013
BOUND VOLUMESCompiled by Tom HeiTz from Freeman’s Journal archives, courtesy of the New York State Historical Association Library
CHECK www..AllOTSEGO.com DAILY FOR BREAKING NEWS FROM AROUND OTSEGO COUNTY
150 YEARS AGO
March 20, 1863
200 YEARS AGOA Fair Set-Off – Poor unadvised Pace has
paced into a newspaper of this village, and says, with his usual thoughtlessness that I have eloped from his bed and board; he might have had a board, but never had a bed of his own. I have bedded and boarded him fifteen years, in the same place which I now occupy and elsewhere – I regret saying that, I am wearied with it; the numerous debts which I have paid for him, he is welcome to, if, as he has now eloped from my bed and board, he will keep away for the future. To close, Henry, I am friendly enough to advise you to become steady and industri-ous, and drink less whiskey and buy a bed, which you may enjoy unmolested by Bethia Eaton, Otsego, March, 1813.
March 20, 1813
175 YEARS AGOLocal News – The weather here for the
last two weeks has been most of the time extremely mild for the season. The sleigh-ing has disappeared. Mr. Cooper has a new novel in press called “Homeward Bound.” It will be published by Carey, Lea & Blanchard. We are informed that the house of Mr. Voltaire Merrell was destroyed by fire on the night of the 10th inst. The house was occupied by Mr. Phillip Gardner, and the fire is supposed to have originated from ashes deposited in a box in the wood shed. Robert H. Shankland, formerly of this village, has, we are gratified to observe, received the appointment of Surrogate for the County of Cattaraugus.
March 26, 1838
125 YEARS AGOLocal – The Doctors Bassett have not
lacked for professional practice – where the sense of doing good for 17 years has been their reward – during the past fortnight, they have had 36 cases of measles on their hands at the Orphanage, and no adequate accom-modations for such a state of affairs. The practice of catching on sleighs for short rides, which is carried on to a great extent by village youngsters, is one which is
attended with more or less danger to life and limb, and should be discontinued. To keep up with the spirit of the times the enterprising firm of B.F. Murdock & Sons, J.F. Reustle, the Boston Clothing House and D.M. Hunter are now among the additional merchants lighting their stores with electric-ity. Some of our citizens could now do a good act, which would be appreciated by many, by clearing their sidewalks of snow and ice.
March 23, 1888
100 YEARS AGOIn Our Town – It is reported that Asa
E. Acker intends to open soon a moving picture show in the location now occupied by his Main Street saloon. While opinions may differ as to the necessity for another moving picture show, there is no doubt that the village can get along with one less drinking place. Mr. Acker promises that the new show house will be up-to-date in every respect. The old Board of Village Trustees, on the eve of the village elections, passed a resolu-tion authorizing a salary of $300 per year for the incoming President. The office of Village President requires so much atten-tion that there has been a growing sentiment for some time that there should be a salary attached to it. President Barnum, who had held the office for two terms without salary, favored the measure.
March 19, 1913
75 YEARS AGOUnder a state contract opening now for
bids, the Otsego Lake highway, constructed in 1908 from Cooperstown to Three-Mile Point and in 1919 from Three-Mile Point to Warren, will soon be widened and paved with a surface of bitulithic macadam. The specifications also call for curves to be eliminated. The approximate length of the highway is 10.11 miles, and when complet-ed it is to be about 20 feet in width. With the exception of the lands of Mr. and Mrs. John B. McManus at Five-Mile Point, where a sharp curve is to be eliminated, all rights of way were secured last fall. Condemna-tion proceedings were authorized by the Board of Supervisors in connection with the remaining right of way and a Commission appointed. Immediately upon the appoint-ment of the Commission the land reverted to the state.
March 23, 1938 50 YEARS AGO
A tragic accident took the life of a Cooperstown village employee Monday afternoon when a dump truck he was driv-
ing was struck by a Delaware and Hudson freight train on a little-used crossing just south of the village limits. A. William Page, aged 44, of 59 Beaver Street, was burned to death despite valiant efforts of members of the train’s crew to pull him free of the flam-ing wreckage which ignited after the crash apparently ruptured the vehicle’s 20-gallon fuel tank just behind the cab. The accident occurred at 1:44 p.m. as Mr. Page was returning to Cooperstown from the sewage disposal plant.
March 20, 1963
25 YEARS AGOVolunteers from the Otsego County Unit
of the American Cancer Society will sell “flowers of hope” from March 23 to March 25 as part of a countywide campaign. This year’s goal is $14,000. The society raised $12,000 last year. Area merchants, schools and granges will participate in the effort. Flowers will also be sold by such organiza-tions as Bassett Hospital, the Women’s Club of Cooperstown, and the Richfield Springs Lionesses.
March 23, 1988
10 YEARS AGOCoach Dave Bertram’s 26-0 Cooperstown
Redskins eliminated the Potsdam Sandston-ers, 55-51, in the semi-final round of the Class C, New York State Boys’ Basketball tournament at Glens Falls on Friday night but they had to come from behind in the fourth period.
A three-pointer from shooting guard Jer-emy Holmes pulled the Redskins to within a point late in the period and they overtook the stubborn Sandstoners in the closing minutes.
Holmes performance against Potsdam pushed his CCS career points total past the 1,000 mark. However, in the championship final the Redskins fell to the Buffalo City Honors Centaurs, 66-59. It was only the third time a team had scored more than 60 points against the CCS defense.
March 21, 2003
Cooperstown’s Newspaper
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WEBB/From A4sented a seriously challenging com-mitment of county resources and taxpayers’ hard-earned dollars. This was a group of fiscal conservatives who would make even today’s advo-cates of budgetary caution stand at attention, so they did not take any of this lightly.
What left a lasting impression on me was that, in spite of all the concerns over the magnitude of the investment, not one of them ques-tioned, not for one moment, the im-portance of the county’s having and overseeing a first-rate facility where its citizens would have a guarantee of growing old and infirm with dignity, personal, psychological and financial.
They believed that it was not only a politically desirable action, but it was the humane thing to do. The presence of such a facility, run by the people and not by some outside corporation, made Otsego County a safer and more humane place in which to live. THAT was the spirit behind what was happening in the picture in the Star that day.
Everywhere we turn these days, we find ourselves facing increased disassociation from the ideal that we are our brothers’ keepers. The excuse is, more often than not, a lack of money, and our current County legislators offer that as the excuse for selling The Manor.
They should realize that back in 1958, the burden on the county’s budget for the construction and then the future maintenance of The Mead-ows was very heavy, but that did not overshadow their sense of commit-ment to and responsibility for the well-being of their constituents.
Over the years, countless people,
many of whom we have known per-sonally, and our own family members have relied on these county-owned and county-run facilities in the most critical times of life, among them illness, disability, old age and death. And indeed, it has made Otsego County a safer and more humane place in which to live.
The county representatives insist that they will not let The Manor go without appropriate safeguards and oversight, but we all know that to believe their rhetoric is naivete in its most acute form. Turning it over to private operators condemns the in-stitution, its residents and the people who care for them to the bottom-line of corporate profit margins without any substantial local control over the quality of care given or received.
I keep hoping, optimistically, that the legislators will have a change of heart and realize, just as their predecessors did back in 1958, that keeping The Manor is the right and humane thing to do, that it is our God-given responsibility to be our brothers’ keepers, that the people who go to the manor are worthy of the collective cost to the community, and that the county will continue to fund it.
The darker pessimistic side of me fears that The Manor’s sale is a done deal. Sadly, if it is, today’s county representatives will be turning their backs on an admirable and respect-able legacy left to them by those who were motivated to govern humanely (and conservatively), and Otsego County will be seriously diminished by their thoughtless actions.
John B. Webb resides in the Town of Otsego.
To the Editor:“What’s in a name? That
which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.”
This is a commonly quoted part of a dialogue in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Ju-
liet,” in which Juliet argues that the name of things do not mat-ter, only what things are.
The nickname “Redskins” has been used with pride by Cooperstown Central School for almost a century. Now we are being told by some people that it is not politically correct to use this name as it is insulting to the American Indian. As Juliet said, the name of things do not mat-ter, only what things are.
So what are “Redskins”?
The school board unanimously passed a resolution honoring the nickname. The resolution asked that the nickname, “Redskins, be seen for its historical con-tent and intent which was to give form and substance to the competitive nature, institutional pride and indomitable spirit that characterizes the student body, past and present.”
Anthony Scalici said it bet-ter: “The only certainty that I have concluded from any of the evidence and all of the evidence is that Cooperstown people, past, present and the future never gave or would project any meaning other than endearment and pride for the use Redskins.”
So what’s the problem? Do those in favor of a change of name object to the fact that over
these nearly 100 years, the thou-sands of CCS students, teachers and administrators held Indians in high regard and wanted to be identified with them, or is it that they object to using the nick-name, “Redskins”?
I personally don’t see the point in making an issue of this and making all of the former students, teachers and adminis-trators feel that they have been guilty of something shameful all these years. That is grossly unfair. It seems that the school board agrees with me, hence the resolution that they passed honoring the nickname. If the name must be changed, my sug-gestion is simply to change it to the Cooperstown “Indians.”
GRACE KULLCooperstown
We’re Brothers’ Keepers‘Redskins’ Would Have Satisfied Juliet
To the Editor:I appreciate the effort of your
newspapers to give more in-depth coverage of local politics, but was uncomfortable with several miscues printed in the March 8 editorial. You loosely described me as a “Sustainable Otsego adherent” rather than as an independent leader who galvanized the Butternuts area to speak out against fracking.
What’s worse, you egre-giously stated that at the county Democratic Committee meet-ing, I “took pains to differenti-ate between fracking and the Constitution pipeline.” Nothing could be further from the truth! In the meeting, I stated very
clearly that I strongly disagreed with Mayor Miller on the issue of pipeline, but that I believed he was “educable.” I sug-gest that the mayor entertain a private meeting with “Stop the Pipeline” for a respectful exchange of views on this issue.
It is puzzling to me how “snake oil salesmen,” such as those who shill for oil and gas interests, are welcomed into communities with opened arms and instantly trusted by decision makers with virtually no scru-tiny, by merely waving dollar signs in the air.
On the other hand, those who live in, contribute to, and care about the community, rather
than exploit it, are dismissed. Since the pipeline develop-ers have explicitly stated, “Leatherstocking intends to connect to existing and new gas production ... to the Constitu-tion Pipeline,” I hardly see how the mayor can deny the obvious.
In another false step, your editorial characterized the com-mittee’s vote to allow Miller to appear on the Democratic line in November as “back-pedaling.” Why this choice of words? There was a simple up and down vote on the matter, and that was that. Where’s the “backpedaling” there?
TERESA WINCHESTERTown of Butternuts
Mayor Miller Educable On Constitution Pipeline
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B-6 AllOTSEGO.life THURSDAY-FRIDAY, MARCH 21-22, 2013
COOPERSTOWN – A good man, David C. Iseman, died March 10.
He was 84. Just before passing, David Iseman looked up and became enraptured as if something profound and virtuous hov-ered overhead. The family hopes so.
After an active life full of joy and challenge, he suf-fered for years with lung and heart problems while helping his wife Margaret through health issues of her own. He deserved a break.
A former resident of Mount Oliver Borough, which is surrounded by Pitts-burgh, Pa., David died about 4 p.m. at Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown. He and his wife recently moved to Otsego Manor in Cooperstown to be near their daughter, Maureen, who lives in Cherry Valley. Prior to this, the couple had lived for a time with their
daughter, Colleen, in Pawl-ing.
David was born July 3, 1928, in Indiana, Pa. After graduating from Indiana High School with the Class of 1946, Da-vid attended Robert Morris College in Pittsburgh, where he earned an associate’s degree. He served in the U.S. Navy.
He married the former Margaret Maxine Smith on Aug. 10, 1949, a bond that lasted until his death, more than 63 years.
An accountant and manager of people, he was employed for more than three decades by Sauer, Inc., in Pittsburgh. He joined the company as an accountant on Dec. 2, 1963 and was
promoted throughout the years to the positions of Secretary/Treasurer and Accounting Department Manager. He retired Feb. 28, 1995.
He will be remembered for his uncanny ability to work with numbers, his compassion and generosity, especially with children, his practicality and hard work, his skill at horseshoes, his scrabble expertise and his sense of humor, notably in times of duress.
Hours before passing, he played charades with some of his children and wife. More seriously, he warned of the danger of smoking tobacco.
David is survived by wife, Margaret, whom he affec-tionately called Peggy; four daughters, Colleen Salcius whose husband is Peter Sal-cius, of Pawling, Carla Ober-lander of Yonkers, Maureen Iseman-Broeking and hus-
band James, of Cherry Val-ley, and Mary Harris of New York City; two sons, David Mark Iseman and wife Lynn, of Springfield, Mo, and Robert Paul Iseman and wife Lisa Lewis, of Pittsburgh, Pa; nine grandchildren, Chance and Link Oberland-er, Darlan Harris Monterisi, Luke David, Mia Colleen, Carla Rae, Scott Thomas and Adam Lawrence Iseman, and Wilem Salcius; two step grandchildren, Derek and Michael Franklin; two great-grandchildren, Maddox and Yukon Monterisi; and one sister, Peggy Mogle, of Indiana, Pa.
A private family visitation and memorial service were held at the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown. The family asks that dona-tions in lieu of flowers go to the church, 25 Church St. Cooperstown NY 13326, care of Pastor Elsie Arm-strong Rhodes.
David C. Iseman, 84; Moved to Cooperstown to Be Near Daughter
MILFORD – Susan Drake-Skillen, 45, a career nurse who worked for At Home Care Inc, died Friday, March 15, 2013 after a courageous battle with lym-phoma.
Born May 23, 1967 in Stamford, the daughter of Stanley and Beverly (Whit-beck) Drake, Susan received her Associates Degree in Nursing from SUNY Mor-risville. Nursing was her passion and she spent many years pursuing her dream of caring for others. Through-out her nursing career, she traveled to many homes with At Home Care, Inc.
She was also a dedicated and long-time employee of Bassett Hospital where her kind, patient and compas-sionate nature touched the lives of countless patients.
When spring rolled around you could always find her cheering for her girls at their softball games. During the off season, you could even find her playing catch in the backyard. Susan was also an avid reader. She
could always be found with her nose in a good book, even while watching her favorite NASCAR races!
She is survived by her mother Beverly Drake of Hartwick, NY; her husband, Edward Skillen, Jr. of Mil-ford; her daughters, Gabri-ella and Natasha Skillen of Milford; her brother, Doug-las Sargeant (Natalie) of Laurens; her sisters, Melody (Keith) Fritts of West Lau-rens, and Heather Drake of Raleigh, NC; as well as by several nieces and nephews.
Susan was predeceased by her father Stanley “Stub” Drake in 2010.
A graveside memorial service was held Monday, March 25 in the Hartwick Cemetery.
Memorial donations be made to a benefit account in the names of Gabri-ella and Natasha Skillen at the Leatherstocking Federal Credit Union in Cooperstown.
Arrangements are en-trusted to Tillapaugh Funeral Service in Cooperstown.
Susan Drake-Skillen, 45; Nurse Helped Heal Many Otsego Patients
RICHFIELD SPRINGS – Ruth R. Druse, 89, a former teacher at Mount Markham Central School, died Wednesday, March 13, 2013.
She was born July 31, 1923, in Springfield, the daughter of the late Ward and Lena Eckler Rathbun.
She married Albert F. Druse on Dec. 13, 1944. He predeceased her on Aug. 26, 1989.
Ruth was a graduate of Cobleskill College and Oneonta State Teachers College. For 20 years, she taught second grade at Mount Markham Central School in West Winfield.
She was a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Richfield Springs and volunteered at M.I. Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown.
Surviving are two daugh-ters, Sylvia Derrick of
Amelia Island, Fla., and Cynthia (Daniel) Strafel of Alpharetta, Ga.; a son, Thomas (Jeanne) Druse of Rock Hill; seven grand-children, Mitchell (Joelle) Derrick; Stacey (Alec) Huff; Bradley (Laurin) Derrick; Loring (George) Esch; Eric (Shelby) Strafel; Alicia (Ryan) Bonifas; and Kristen Druse; nine great-grandchil-dren, Brynn, Braxton, Tay-lor, Braden, Bryce, Griffin, Elliot, Koen and Grayson; a sister-in-law, Mrs. Frank (Nancy) Druse; and numer-ous nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband, she was preceded by two brothers, Leon and Gordon Rathbun.
A memorial service will be announced at a later date.
Interment will be in Springfield Center Cem-etery.
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Ruth R. Druse, 89; Second-Grade Teacher Leaves By Two Daughters
Louise Bertha Lewis, 90; Services To Be Held in Spring
COOPERSTOWN – Louise Bertha Lewis, 90, who worked for the Otesaga for over two decades, passed away March 8, 2013, at the University Upstate Hospital in Syra-cuse.
She was born May 27, 1922, in Frenchtown, N.J., the daughter of Harvey and Sadie Parks.
Mrs. Lewis lived in Westville and was employed at the Otesaga Resort Hotel in Cooperstown for more than 20 years.
She is survived by her son, William Lewis II and his wife, Donna Lynn of Antwerp; five grandchildren, William Lewis III and his wife, April of Philadelphia, NY, Timothy David Lewis of Otego, Stacey Lee Lewis of Franklin, Cindy Jean Brigham and husband, Jason of Antwerp and Scott William Lewis of Antwerp; five great- grandchildren; two sisters, Beatrice Parks and Orvetta and George Palmer of Newburgh; and a niece.
She was predeceased by her husband, William F. Lewis.Graveside services will be held at 11 a.m., May 13, in the
Maple Grove Cemetery, Worcester.Flowers may be sent to the service. Memorial donations
may be made to the American Cancer Society, Central New York Region, P.O. Box 7, East Syracuse, NY 13057.
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Ad deadline: May 6
COMMERCIAL RENTAL
Main St. Oneonta commer-cial building (490 Main St.). 1,200 sq. ft., plenty of park-ing. Call (607) 432-5458, cell (607) 287-4100.3ClassMar22
APARTMENTS FOR RENT
Cooperstown 2 BR apt. – $600 per month plus utilities. Available May 1st. First floor, living room, kitchen & bathroom. Washer/dryers hoop-up. No smoking. Pets to b e dis-cussed. Off-street parking. Call (845-674-0438 or (845) 265-3086.3ClassApr15
Oneonta furnished effi-ciency apt. Near Neahwa Park, close to downtown. Kitchen, bathroom. Heat, & garbage pickup included. No smoking,. No pets. One year lease plus one month security. Call (607) 432-5458, cell (607) 287-4100.3ClassMar22
Cooperstown Main Street 2 BR apt. Third floor, avail-able now, $650. Includes heat, year’s lease, one month security. No pets. Call Hubbell’s Real Estate, (607) 547-5740. TFN
HOMES FOR RENT
HOUSE FOR RENT VILLAGE OF COOPERSTOWN. Large 4 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath with new kitchen, hardwood floors, nice 2nd level deck and good size back yard.
Close to all amenities. $1800 per month includ-ing all utilities. Tenant is responsible for phone and internet only. Offered by John Mitchell Real Estate. Contact Michael Swatling (607) 264-3954TFN
House for rent: Newly remodeled 4 bedroom, 2 bath. Country setting, great views, 3 acres. Laundry. No smoking. Pet possible. Cooperstown schools. $1,400 a month. Available immediately. Contact Rob at 607 434-5177, Benson Real Estate.TFN
House for Rent: 4 bedroom, 2 bath, 2000 sq. ft, laundry, walk to everything, hos-pital, grocery stores, main st. Available now through May 31, ‘13, $1,000/mon. plus heat. Contact Rob at 607 434-5177, Benson Real Estate.TFN
Central Cooperstown Village House for Rent:5 bedroom, 2.5 bath, laun-dry, garage, large lawn area, walk toeverything. $1600/month plus util. Contact Rob Lee, 607- 434-5177,Benson Agency Real Estate.TFN
Lovely three bedroom home in immaculate condition with top of the line applianc-es, attached one car garage, fireplace, two bathrooms, excellent closet and storage space, in the Village near the lake with spectacular lake views. For lease at $1900. per month plus utilities, snow removal, garbage removal and lawn care. References required. Please
call Ashley-Connor Realty at 607-547-4045.TFN
RETAIL SPACE FOR RENT
2000 SQ FT COMMER-CIAL SPACE FOR RENT. Located in Cooperstown on Railroad Avenue. Wide open floor plan with phone, high speed internet and power connections spread throughout the space. Electric, Heat and Garbage are included in the asking price of $1800 per month. Offered by John Mitchell Real Estate. Contact Michael Swatling (607) 264-3954TFN
Commercial rental; Near the only stop light in Cooperstown. Plenty of off street parking for clients and employees. Newly renovat-ed. 1/2 bath. 1,400 sq ft. Call Hubbell’s Real Estate for details. 607-547-5740.TFN
FOR RENT: Main Street business loca-tion in the village of Cooperstown........525 square feet of space....$750.00 per month.....includes heat, wa-ter, trash removal. Two year lease required. Call Lamb Realty at 607-547—8145 for additional information. TFN
Turn-key Greek/American restaurant at busy State Routes 7/23 location. Seat-ing for 20 and brisk takeout and delivery in place now. Lease will be $1,200 per month with tenant purchase of equipment. Plenty of stor-age space. Low overhead. Contact Rodger Moran at Benson Agency Real Estate. 607-287-1559.TFN
AllOTSEGO.classifieds
FOWLER/From A1on what is the 100th anni-versary of his death.
At 10 a.m. Sunday, April 21, the village will host a program in the Hall of Fame’s Grandstand Theatre where Fowler’s accomplish-ments – in 1878 he pitched for the Lynn (Mass.) Live Oaks against National League Boston, then went on to a career playing with and organizing pro and semi-pro teams – will be explored and discussed.
Students from the Gradu-ate Program in Museum Studies will detail findings of a research project into Fowler’s career. Other speakers are still being lined up.
And what a coincidence. Years before the Mills
Commission designated Cooperstown the Birthplace of Baseball (erroneously, it turned out), and decades before the National Baseball Hall of Fame opened its doors, and almost a century before Jackie Robinson broke the color line, a black teenager who grew up here was making history of his own.
Bud Fowler – he was John W. Jackson growing up, son of a local barber – learned to play America’s Pastime locally, before launching a career that took him from eastern Massachu-setts to Keokuk, Iowa.
In addition to interest from the national networks, Bud Fowler’s Cooperstown story has already led to an article in the Minneapolis
Star-Tribune, and SABR (the Society for American Baseball Research) has fea-tured the upcoming celebra-tion on its website.
Conceivably, national coverage of the Bud Fowler story will in itself bring fans and baseball-history buffs to Cooperstown in a year when the Hall of Fame Induction is expected to lag.
“The feedback we’ve been getting is really strong,” said Katz. “The village recognizing him. Not the Hall of Fame – the village recognizing the con-tributions of one of its own.”
He continued, “It’s a baseball story, a civil rights story – Cooperstown and baseball making a connec-tion decades before the Hall of Fame.”
Village To Honor Bud Fowler’s Achievement
By JIM KEVLIN
ONEONTA
‘We feel like we’re in Bos-ton or Mon-
treal,” said SUNY Oneonta student Caroline Curtis, a New Paltz native who the other day was just finishing lunch at The Shops at Ford & Main with two friends.
Caroline’s remark was music to the ears of Brian Hutzley, Otsego County Chamber board chairman, and Barbara Ann Heegan, executive director.
A few minutes earlier in an interview in the Chamber office on the second floor of 189 Main, they were detailing one of their priori-ties: To get as many SUNY Oneonta and Hartwick Col-lege interns in local busi-
nesses as possible in hopes they will remain here after graduation.
“They’ve never been asked to stay,” said Heegan, who is two-thirds through her first year on the job and has already recruited 61 new members. “They were never aware of the opportunities.”
The Chamber itself has 10 interns, provided by SUNY’s Megan Ackley and Hartwick’s Melissa Mari-etta.
“It’s incredible how many interns continue work-ing with their employers,” said Hutzley, who lives in Garrattsville and commutes daily to Albany.
The two were interviewed in advance of the Annual Banquet & Appreciation of Business Friday, March 22, at SUNY Oneonta’s Hunt Union Ballroom, which is also the culmination of
Otsego County Chamber Appreciation Week.
To Hutzley and Heegan, The Shops at Ford & Main – 10 businesses in a mini-mall Peter Clark developed last summer in an long-va-cant mattress store across from City Hall – exempli-fies an entrepreneurism that is making Oneonta a more enticing place for young people. (Hutzley also chairs the “SUNY in the Entrepre-neurial Century” initiative.)
As Heegan tells it, and Hutzley concurs, a large part of the Chamber’s purpose is to rally the business commu-nity, to point out the good things about doing business locally, to help people col-laborate.
Some of the initiatives they pointed out include:
• Networking, encourag-ing Chamber members to do business with each other, to
offer discounts to each other. The networking luncheon at St. James Manor last fall attracted 85 businesspeople; one earlier this month in the Foothills Atrium attracted 92.
• Workforce development. The Small Business Devel-opment Center – Michelle Catan is director – has moved from across the hall into the Chamber offices. The Chamber is also work-ing with Broome Commu-nity College to offer college courses to students and advanced training for adults in local high schools.
• Outreach beyond the county line. Heegan has become active in CANY, the Chamber Alliance of New York, and is develop-ing contacts in Schenectady, Saratoga and even New York City that she hopes will bear fruit later.
• Collaborating with the Cooperstown Chamber of
Commerce on the “Local First” campaign that aims to dramatize what products and services are available in downtowns throughout the county, and to encourage shoppers to go there first, before turning to the Inter-net.
“People want to see that we’re working together,” said Heegan of the collabo-
ration with Cooperstown. “They don’t want to see the silo thing.”
“...And is just doesn’t work,” Hutzley added.
Pat Szarpa, Cooperstown Chamber executive, has four interns through the Otsego Chamber’s program who are exploring the question, “How do you market to col-lege students?”
Chamber Leaders Embrace Bully PulpitOtsego’s President Hutzley, Executive Heegan Seek To Create Foundation For Success
Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal The Shops at Ford & Main show entrepreneur-ship is alive and well locally. Chamber President Brian Hutzley and Executive Director Barbara Ann Heegan discuss the venue with SUNY students Kasey Lightfoot, Caroline Curtis and Megan Harrington.