It was a sellout crowd last Friday, February 20, as the Otsego County Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual “State of the State” networking breakfast. The conference, which took place in the Otsego Grille of SUNY Oneonta’s Morris Hall, was introduced by Sean Lewis, president and chief executive officer of the chamber, as a vehicle to “allow the panelists a chance to express their view of where we are and their vision of where we are heading.”
The panel of eight public figures included New York State Senator Peter Oberacker and Assemblymen Brian Miller, Chris Tague and Brian Maher, whose constituents reside in various portions of Otsego County.
The county itself was represented by County Administrator Steve Wilson and Treasurer Allen Ruffles. Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek and Village of Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh rounded out the panel.
THEATER—7:30 p.m. The Starstruck Players youth troop of the Orpheus Theatre presents “Into the Woods,” which brings together the classic fairytales from Rapunzel to Little Red Riding Hood for an adventure with a Big Bad Wolf, a princess festival, and a quest. Tickets, $15/adult. Held at the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center, Oneonta. (607) 432-1800 or visit facebook.com/OrpheusTheatre/
BLOOD DRIVE—1-6 p.m. Save up to three lives with the American Red Cross. Otego Community, 5 River Street, Otego. Register at redcrossblood.org
135 Years Ago The Local News: Evaporated apples have superseded the old-time dried apple. A dealer of this town has long had on hand some 18 barrels of dried apples, for which there appeared to be no sale. He challenged another dealer the other day to make him an offer for them, and accepted fifty cents a barrel. On examining the apples they were found as lively with worms as the average Italian is with fleas. But the purchaser didn’t weaken. “I want them for a mincemeat packing firm,” said he, “and it will be economy to use those apples.” They were shipped. No patent mincemeat for us.
210 YEARS AGO Boston – Yesterday, the specie, amounting to about 168,000 dollars, captured by Commodore Rodgers’ squadron on board the British Swallow Packet, bound from Jamaica to England, was landed at the Navy Yard in Charlestown under the direction and order of the Marshal of the district, who caused it to be placed in six wagons, which, with colors flying and drums beating, attended by the boat’s crews of the squadron, and protected by a guard of marines, proceeded through Charlestown and this town (Boston) to the State Bank, where it was deposited, amidst the huzzahs of a large collection of spectators. Of the prize money &c. captured by national vessels, belongs one-half to the captors. Of the specie captured by the squadron one half amounts to 84,000 dollars, a twentieth of which is 4,200 dollars. We trust that a resolve will pass the Congress relinquishing the half which accrues to the public to our gallant tars.
The Clark Dairy Farm and Creamery, located near Delhi, dates to 1907. It is operated by fifth-generation dairyman Kyle Clark, in partnership with his father, Thomas. In an earlier era, the farm also ran a creamery, long closed, where their milk was packaged for local retail sale.
After graduation from SUNY Morrisville in 2018, where he was introduced to modern creamery operation (and automated milking), Kyle began refurbishing the old creamery as a niche experiment. Opened in 2020, demand took off, partly because of the pandemic-related shortage of milk in local groceries. Soon he needed to install a refrigerated self-serve stand, where more than 200 gallons now sell out daily.
Clark Creamery also self-distributes to more than 60 grocers and restaurants across several counties. It sells whole milk, 2% milk, chocolate milk, whole cream, half and half, and butter. The creamery currently packages over 600 gallons of milk daily and will do more with upgrades of milking and creamery equipment.
ONEONTA—Margaret Tillapaugh was ushered into Jesus’ presence on January 19, 2023 at the age of 74 after suffering a hemorrhagic stroke. She was born on December 20, 1948 to George and Marcia Knight in Hartford, Connecticut. She lived in the Oneonta area ever since arriving in 1967 to attend Hartwick College.
In reality, very few people called her Margaret throughout her years. She was known as Peggy by her sisters, Karen and Judy Sara, and brother Steve. She was called Mom by her four daughters, Evelyn (Nate) Ransil, Laura (Mike) Downie, Sara Tillapaugh and Amy (Tim) Meyers. Gar was the nickname of her favorite grandmother, so she chose that for her own grandmother’s name and has been called Gar approximately 231,962 times over the last 25 years by her 11 grandchildren. Their names, which Gar remembered almost all the time, are Caleb, TJ, Beverly, Lillian, Rebecca, Connor, Muriel, Eleanor, Luci, Annabelle, and Zeke, and one great-grandchild, Olivia.
Nate Johnson, Nate Tessitore and Dylan Babcock are among the subjects of Heminway’s WOFD photojournal. (Photo by August Heminway)
By TED MEBUST ONEONTA
August Heminway, a SUNY Oneonta senior currently pursuing a degree in political science and criminal justice, recently introduced an individual photojournalism project documenting the West Oneonta Fire Department. In addition to his extracurricular activities as president of the college’s Taekwondo Club, Heminway serves as president of the Photo Society. The scope of his project, Heminway noted, combined his academic and personal interests to display an aspect of local life he found to be underrepresented.
By CASPAR EWIG FLY CREEK The newly-constituted Board of Fire Commissioners of the Fly Creek Fire District held its annual organizational meeting and first monthly meeting on Thursday, January 12. The agenda moved forward in an organized manner and was free from the discord that had marked the recent election.
“We’re going to start with a clean slate,” said Sam Hoskins, who was elected chairman of the board on December 13. At the outset, Hoskins emphasized that he is committed to instilling transparency into the actions of the Board of Fire Commissioners. He bemoaned the fact there were gaps in the board’s records, and that areas of the website were outdated.
By TED MEBUST ONEONTA SUNY Oneonta political science major and Maryland, New York native Andrew Hamill announced his candidacy for Oneonta Common Council in December, running as a member of his own party, “Unity for Oneonta.” Hamill hopes to bring accountability and pragmatism to the council, vowing to lead with a spirit of compromise.
“We need Common Council members who are willing, and dedicated to reason and building a consensus with their constituents,” said Hamill. “As a candidate for the Council, I intend to work with my constituents by listening to their concerns about whatever they have to say and try to work on a consensus that can bring the people together.”
Hamill, who previously ran for town council in his hometown, detailed a vast array of issues on which he plans to campaign.
SENIOR TECH SUPPORT—1:30-2:30 p.m. Seniors are invited to bring their phone or tablet to learn to get connected, use common apps, and build confidence with devices with Heather Amendolare at the Clark Sports Center, Cooperstown. connectionsatcsc@gmail.com
Why did I say yes? How could I have let myself be persuaded to compete to be the guest conductor of the Catskill Symphony Orchestra? Especially for the Cabaret concert, which is the symphony’s biggest fundraiser. Thinking back to my experience in the late 1990s, I can’t help but reflect and recall that without the extra money from this annual event, the symphony would have folded and our region would have lost a most valuable asset.
Classical music for families in rural upstate New York? The Cabaret concert is one of our region’s most prized annual events. Entire families dressed up and sometimes trudged through snow for this mid-winter concert, carrying beautiful picnic baskets with table cloths, special drinks, wine, and beautifully prepared hors d’oeuvres—and even desserts—with thermoses of hot drinks. Some concertgoers left their kids home and used this as a date night, or an excuse for a night out with friends.
FORK SHOP—Frances H. Thayer passed away peacefully in her sleep at the age of 101 Monday, January 23, 2023, at her home in Fork Shop.
She was born March 31, 1921 at the family home on Jones Road in Oaksville, the daughter of Christina Pushlar. In 1938, her mother married William A. Semrov, and he became her stepfather.
In her youth, Frances attended schools in Oaksville and Schuyler Lake. For many years she worked in the housekeeping department at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital.
Last November OpenAI, a not-so-big (albeit associated, through a $1 billion investment, with Microsoft and co-founded, in 2015, by Elon Musk), artificial intelligence lab in San Francisco, introduced a newly developed chatbot—ChatGPT—that has made impressive inroads into our understanding of the challenges of artificial intelligence. The company first coded a chatbot in 2020, GPT-3, which is one of the first AI tools that responds to prompts in viable human-like text, for the most part both grammatically and, it is hoped but not confirmed, factually, correct.
It is not unusual for dogs, like Duncan, to be stubborn in their demands for attention.
Dear Tom
When you look at the picture, it’s hard to believe that this dog can be so frustrating for me. He is good when we are here alone, but when guests come, he becomes so hard to manage. He wants to be the center of attention and won’t leave people alone. I filled a hollow bone with meat today when a friend stopped by and that occupied him for about a half hour. For the next 1-1/2 hours he was stubborn, wouldn’t listen or stay off, and downright obnoxious! It adds so much stress to my life right now. I’m not sure what to do. Looking forward to our next session.
Every spring up on the hill a process of re-remembering inevitably takes place. Bird calls and songs lain dormant all winter need to work their way back to conscious memory. And as the world greens up and comes to life, memory needs to do a few tricks as well. Can’t remember how many times I have been on a walk, noticed a spring flower and then spent a good part of the walk wracking my brain for its name, knowing all along that I really do know it. Few mental conundrums are as exasperating as knowing something and not being able to dig it out. Sort of like forgetting one’s name. Perhaps it is a function of age, but that is no matter. The process of recall is as welcome as it is frustrating.
