News Briefs: July 17, 2025

Early Bird Swim Is July 31st

COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown Friends of the Parks will hold their annual Early Bird Swim at Fairy Spring Park at 7 a.m. on Thursday, July 31. After the refreshing morning swim, there will be a dog paddle race, a light breakfast and drinks donated by Stagecoach Coffee.

Three Breweries To Partner

COOPERSTOWN—Brewery Ommegang has announced a collaboration with two other world-class breweries, Belgium’s Liefmans and Italy’s Birrificio del Ducato, to produce the Passport Royale Mixed Culture IPA. The 7.5 percent ABV sour IPA includes 45 percent Ducato’s Machete Double IPA, 50 percent Liefman’s Pale Sour and five percent Liefman’s Blueberry Beer. The brewers recommend pairing Passport Royale with aromatic cheeses, grilled salmon or summer berry desserts. Sold in 16-ounce four-packs, it will be available at limited locations through the end of July. For more information or to find a vendor, visit https://www.ommegang.com/beer-finder/.

Baseball Exhibit Now Open

COOPERSTOWN—The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum opened the new “Yakyu | Baseball: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game” exhibition on its third floor, exploring the 150-year history of baseball in the United States and Japan. Coinciding with Ichiro Suzuki’s long-awaited induction, the exhibit covers the extensive circulation of baseball concepts, players’ play styles, fan experiences, equipment and culture across the Pacific from the Meiji period to the present. Named for the Japanese term for the game, it covers more than 1,800 square feet of museum space. Special attention is given to transpacific team tours, including the 1905 Waseda University team tour of the U.S. and the massively popular 1934 tour of Japan featuring Babe Ruth. The exhibit also extensively covers the widespread exchange of MLB and NPB players over the decades, including major stars like Larry Doby, Warren Cromartie, Masanori Murakami and Hideo Nomo. It was announced last year at press conferences in Tokyo, New York and Los Angeles. For more information, visit baseballhall.org.

OLA Seeking Contest Entries

COOPERSTOWN—The Otsego Lake Association seeks photos of or about Otsego Lake for its ongoing contest. First-place entries in the youth, over-19 amateur and professional categories will receive $100.00 prizes. The association particularly wants more youth and professional submissions. Details and entry guidelines may be found at photos.otsegolakeassociation.org.

OCCA Annual Dinner Slated

HARTWICK—The Otsego County Conservation Association will bring together community members, local leaders and environmental advocates for its Annual Dinner at 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 24. Held at Creekside Station in Hartwick, the dinner will include a farm-to-table meal by Bee Blossom Catering, the presentation of OCCA’s Conservationist of the Year Award and a keynote address by renowned environmental attorney Anne Marie Garti. Tickets may be purchased online or by mailing a check to OCCA at PO Box 931, Cooperstown, NY 13326. Community members unable to attend are urged to consider a silent auction donation or event sponsorship. Suggested auction contributions include art, wine, handmade goods, local experiences, gift certificates and themed baskets. For more information on tickets or donations, contact Shelby MacLeish at coordinator@occainfo.org or (607) 547-4488.

Festival Expands Funding Goal

SPRINGFIELD—Donors from around the region and country have given more than $6.7 million to The Glimmerglass Festival’s 50th anniversary fundraising drive, surpassing the original goal of $5 million more than three months earlier than expected. A new goal of $7.5 million has been announced, and the drive will now extend to December 31. An anonymous donor offered an additional $1 million in matching donations as a challenge, and Board Treasurer Mark Luis Villamar and his wife Esther Milsted made another $1 million gift. The festival’s 50th season opened on Friday, July 11 with Puccini’s “Tosca” and also includes productions of “Sunday in the Park with George,” “The Rake’s Progress,” and “Odyssey.” For more information, to purchase tickets or make a donation, visit glimmerglass.org/campaign.

Library Announces Events

SPRINGFIELD CENTER—The Springfield Library will host the Ron Cain Magic Show at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 23, followed by a New York State Police K9 demonstration at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, July 30. Pop artist Michael Albert will give a presentation at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 13. The library offers story time for children each Wednesday at 10 a.m. The library is located at 129 County Road 29A in Springfield Center.

New Smithy Show To Open

COOPERSTOWN—The Smithy Gallery will open its final exhibition of the season with an opening reception from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 22. “Music and Movement,” featuring work by more than a dozen Smithy member artists and guest artists, will be on display on the first two floors through August 30. There will also be a free performance and discussion by Duo Extempore, Nicole Brancato and Evan Jagels, at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, July 30. The Smithy’s other ongoing exhibition, “Reflections on Glimmerglass,” features local artistic and photography work inspired by Otsego Lake and is on display through August 30. The gallery will be closed on Saturday, July 26 for Hall of Fame Induction Weekend. For more information, visit smithyarts.org.

Museum Hosting Film Series

ONEONTA—Hartwick College’s Yager Museum of Arts and Culture will present “Beneath Reservoir Waters,” a film series that examines the tension between urban water supply demands and rural communities. It coincides with the current gallery exhibition, “‘With That Shadow Over Them’: Constructing Catskill Reservoirs, Remembering Home,” on display through July 30. “Under Quabbin,” a documentary on the creation of Boston’s Quabbin Reservoir in central Massachusetts in the 1930s and the attending destruction of four towns, will be screened at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 17. “Lake of Betrayal: The Story of Kinzua Dam,” covers the destruction of treaty-protected Seneca Nation lands on the New York-Pennsylvania border for a Pittsburgh flood control project and will be screened at 6 p.m. on Thursday, July 24. Both films are free and open to the public. For more information, visit the Yager Museum Facebook page or https://www.hartwick.edu/campus-life/arts-culture/yager-museum/.

Fly-In Breakfast Returns Saturday

MIDDLEFIELD—The Middlefield Volunteer Fire Department will hold its next fly-in pancake breakfast at the Cooperstown/Westville Airport from 7:30-11:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 19. All-you-can-eat pancakes, eggs, sausage, real maple syrup and beverages will be available for $12.00 for adults and $8.00 for children.

Dairy Project Funding Available

ALBANY—The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets’ Dairy Promotion Order Advisory Board seeks applications for dairy research and promotion projects to receive grants from its $16 million checkoff fund. Proposed projects should market, promote or research New York-produced milk and dairy products with the aim of expanding product variety and consumer demand. Eligible applicants include non-profit entities, research institutions and private businesses that are not affiliated with the DPO Advisory Board. Projects may not promote a specific brand or trade name. Applications must be submitted by August 15. For more information or to apply, visit agriculture.ny.gov/dairy/dairy-promotion-order.

Transplant Technology Advances

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA—New research by the University of Virginia Cancer Center announced major advances in blood stem cell and bone marrow transplants that will make it possible for blood cancer patients to receive “mismatched” transplants. Patients who could not find perfect matches have historically not received transplants due to the risk of graft-versus-host disease. UVA researchers discovered that the drug cyclophosphamide can prevent most of this immune reaction and achieve rates of transplant success similar to those of “perfect match” donations. This advance may allow far more cancer patients to receive this lifesaving treatment. Full findings were published in The Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Fresh Food Program Underway

DELHI—Following last year’s success, O’Connor Hospital announced that it will once again participate in a program that provides boxes of farm-fresh food to seniors across Delaware County. Overseen by the Delaware County Office for the Aging and New York Connects in cooperation with SNAP-Education and Schoharie Valley Farms, the program assembles half-bushel boxes of fresh local produce and distributes them via Delaware Opportunities Dining Centers and home delivery. O’Connor Hospital provided $28,000.00 in funding. Distribution began on June 5 and is expected to continue bi-weekly into the fall. Last year’s pilot program distributed more than 2,300 boxes to about 200 households across the county.

Gas Prices Down a Cent

UTICA—New York State’s average price of gas declined one cent to $3.17 over the week ending Monday, July 14, AAA Northeast announced. Although the price of crude oil increased by three percent due to insurance and market fluctuations following new attacks on Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea by Yemen’s de facto Ansarallah government, U.S. gasoline prices remained relatively stable as a result of unseasonably low demand. Domestic oil production, gasoline refining and stockpiles recorded one of their largest weeks of the year. New York’s gas price is seven cents higher than a month ago and 45 cents lower than this time last year. For more information, visit gasprices.aaa.com.