Spurbeck’s Grocery proprietor Mike Swatling, center right, assisted by his aunt, Kristi Swatling, and Ashley Young of Cherry Valley, foreground, takes sandwich orders over the noon hour. The venerable landmark at Railroad and Leatherstocking opened today after months of extensive interior renovations. Lining up to be served are Jeremiah Parr, Lucas Busse and Matt Kehoe, who work for BTS, installing fiberoptic cable for Middleburgh Telephone’s new downtown Internet “hotspots.” Inset, son Royce Swatling, 2, showed up to give dad an attaboy, accompanied by Mike’s wife Carrie. The new Spurbeck’s has tables and chairs if you want to lunch in, but a similar menu, as well as Palatine Cheese and other products regulars are used to. A beer cave is being added in the basement. It’s open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 8 to 3 Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. (Jim Kevlin /AllOTSEGO.com)
Brandon VanBuren, Oneonta, spins his mother Raven Rock as the two enjoy a dance at the annual Shamrock Swing, held Saturday evening at Foothills in Oneonta. The annual mother-son dance features dinner, games, BJ the Clown, and, of course, plenty of dancing. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
The littlest dancer, Ava Salzman, 7, of South Hartwick, performing with the Iona Troupe, charmed the crowd at the St. Patrick’s Day luncheon that followed Sunday mass at Christ Episcopal Church in Cooperstown at noon today. The full range of St. Patty’s cuisine was available, including two types of corned beef, one steeped in Fly Creek Cider Mill cider, according to chef Bill Waller. Inset, Ava receives congratulations from her brother Henry, 7 months, who is in mom Amanda’s arms. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
As emcee Chris Kjolhede put it, tonight’s annual Fly Creek Philharmonic performance, “Water, Water Everywhere,” was “the hottest ticket in town – except for the Cooperstown boys’ basketball team,” and – as always happens – it packed the Fly Creek United Methodist Church. In top photo, the chorus performs “Under the Sea”; front, from left, are Julie Huntsman, Scottie Baker, Celeste Johns, Judy Grin, Joelle LaChance, Sharon Rankins-Burd, Ellen Tillapaugh and Vicki Gates. Inset left, “Singing in the Bathtub” featured, from left, Gary Kuch, Bill Hughes and Tom Huntsman. The two-hour performance began with the traditional “Down in the River to Pray,” and ended with “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” and a standing ovation. “Kids” in the troupe included Evelyn Baldo, Kayleigh Butler, Avery Croft, Paul Crowell, Lucy Hayes, Clara Pokorny and Creighton Williams. Music by Ron Johnson, Tim Peters and Lorna Wilhelm. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Hartwick’s O’Donnell-Kelly School of Dance brought the sounds and steps of Ireland to The Knights of Columbus Tekawitha Council 10968 annual St. Patrick’s Day Dinner this evening at St. Mary’s “Our Lady of the Lake” Parish Hall in Cooperstown. High-stepping out front is Tess DiLorenzo. Behind her, from left, are McKenna Selleck, Morgan Kelley and Maya Stevens. Inset at right is Fred Lemister, the evening’s official Leprechaun. At left is Chef Joe Carentz, who’s been contributing his expertise in the kitchen for years. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Deb Bruce was among spinners who demonstrated their skills this morning at the Richfield Springs Food Coop, to the rhythm of piped-in Irish music. Watching are Dan Sullivan, a food coop board member, and Ronda Morrison. Deb, who retired locally from Dartmouth, Mass., has been knitting with yarn she spins herself for a dozen years now. Ten years ago, she began raising her own sheep to provide the raw material. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Escaping mom Amanda, Ava Wilber, 2, of Oneonta, makes a bee-line for where the action was – painting, painting and more painting – this morning at the annual OWL Paintfest at the Foxcare Center in Oneonta. This year’s theme was The Five Senses, which resulted in a lot of hands-on activity. Inset, Darcie Cooperman’s boys – from left, Emmett, 3, Gabriel, 6, Henry, 8, and Avery, 5 – eyes pop as they pick from a display of chocolate bars. The New Jersey family stopped by Paintfest while visiting grandmom Donna Cooperman, Hobart. The event was organized by Oneonta World of Learning (OWL), with support from Fox Hospital. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Andrew Zeh, manager of the Oneonta’s Stewart’s Shops, presents Carol Mandigo, First Night Oneonta chair, with a $1,000 check in support of annual Hometown Fourth of July celebration and New Year’s Eve events. “They have been one of our signature supporters for these events.” said Mandigo, “God bless them.” Zeh, who has been manager for the last three years, said they have been giving ever since he took the position. “As a company, we give as much as we get.” said Zeh, “It keeps us local and keeps our areas running. We have to take care of our communities, kids and adults.” (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA – Though Al Rubin, owner, A&D Transport Services, ultimately took the baton to conduct “Stars & Stripes Forever,” he was helped by Cindy Donaldson, OMS choral music director, left, and Libby Cudmore, managing editor, Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman’s Journal and AllOtsego.com, in raising a record-setting $46,321 for the Catskill Symphony Orchestra during the annual Cabaret Concert on Saturday, March 9, at SUNY Oneonta.
PALS LIVE IT UP AT SNOMMEGANG
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA – Maddie Hurley, Cherry Valley, and Chloe Bellcourt, Cooperstown, were on Main Street, Oneonta, Saturday, March 9, to sample a few of the dozens of craft beers available at Brewery Ommegang’s Snommegang.
Ian Austin/HOMETOWN ONEONTA – Though Al Rubin, owner, A&D Transport Services, ultimately took the baton to conduct “Stars & Stripes Forever,” he was helped by Cindy Donaldson, OMS choral music director, left, and Libby Cudmore, managing editor, Hometown Oneonta, The Freeman’s Journal and AllOtsego.com, in raising a record-setting $46,321 for the Catskill Symphony Orchestra during the annual Cabaret Concert on Saturday, March 9, at SUNY Oneonta.
“Voice of Oneonta” Joe Campbell shared many of the caricatures done of him over the years during an interview in 2011. (Jim Kevlin/Hometown Oneonta file photo)
Editor’s Note: This article recounting “Voice of Oneonta” Joe Campbell’s career in radio appeared on Jan. 14, 2011, in Hometown Oneonta. A legend in his adopted hometown, he passed away early Wednesday morning, March 6, 2019. An obituary and memory book are available from the Lester R. Grummons Funeral Home, which is handling arrangements. Meanwhile, take a walk down Memory Lane.
By JIM KEVLIN
from HOMETOWN ONEONTA, (Jan 13, 2011)
Don Sherwood of Otego, nationally syndicated cartoonist of “Dan Flagg,” a strip about a Marine, captured the WDOS staff, including Joe in the lower left. (click to see full size)
ONEONTA – Spending a few hours with Joe Campbell is a “Sentimental Journey” indeed.
He’s immediately in character, and there are lots of them.
There he goes: “Jack Armstrong, all American boy,” he intones. “Wave the flag for Hudson High, boys.”
Then a commercial break for Armstrong’s sponsor, Wheaties: “Won’t you try Wheaties, the best breakfast found in the land?”
Then on to “Little Orphan Annie: She’s a little chatterbox, that gal with auburn locks.” At the key point, Sandy chimes in: “Arf, arf.”
At almost 84, Joe Campbell, “The Voice of Oneonta,” whose “Sentimental Journey” – spoofs of those old radio shows, plus Big Band favorites, aired for decades over WDOS-AM 730, Oneonta – still captivates.
OHS Robotics Team Captain and senior Abigail Dent checks on diners at the team’s spaghetti dinner fundraiser Saturday night at The Soda Jerk on Chestnut Street, Oneonta. The funds will support the team’s participation in the FIRST Regional competition at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Utica next Saturday. The team’s robot is named Destination: Deep Space and the competition will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. 1969 landing on the moon. (Jennifer Hill/AllOTSEGO.com)
Grace Gaudino of Moose Lodge 465, West Broadway, Oneonta, serves Lynn and Joan Gillingham a hearty meal of corned beef, mashed potatoes and carrots with a dinner roll for the Lodge’s annual dinner fundraiser on Saturday. The funds raised will support children from New York State who live at Mooseheart, which the Moose fraternal organization founded in 1913 to provide for children whose parents cannot care for them for a variety of reasons. (Jennifer Hill/AllOTSEGO.com)
With the Winter Warning lifted at 10 a.m. and the ice melting from roadways, pancake fans were flowing into The Farmers’ Museum’s Syruping Sundays, a March tradition for decades now. They included, top, Steve Hofelich of Cooperstown, cutting up pancakes for son Fox Murphy, 2, accompanied by Cait Murphy and other son Rowan, 5. Inset, volunteer Jessica Zinger, Leonardsville, serves a group hungry breakfasters who had just arrived from Oneonta, including Diane Williams, Catskill Symphony Orchestra board chair, just off last night’s record-breaking CSO Cabaret Concert. Pancakes, scrambled eggs and sausage are served until 1 p.m., with the blacksmith shop, old-fashioned syruping over an open fire and other activities continuing until 2. The activities continue Sundays, March 17 and 31.(Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Police Chief Mike Covert holds up medical devices and prescription drugs he needs daily to stay alive.
On this week’s “Morning Headlines” on WAMC/Northeast Public Radio, Jim Kevlin, editor/ publisher of www.AllOTSEGO.com (and Hometown Oneonta & the Freeman’s Journal), reports on how Cooperstown Village Police Chief Mike Covert was down to $17 after the County of Otsego cancelled his medical insurance and the Village Board declined to put him on the village plan. Only a GoFundMe drive organized by a former colleague of Mike’s in the sheriff’s department, Mike Ten Eyck, help keep the chief from destitution.
Spurbeck’s Grocery proprietor Mike Swatling, center right, assisted by his aunt, Kristi Swatling, and Ashley Young of Cherry Valley, foreground, takes sandwich orders over the noon hour. The venerable landmark at Railroad and Leatherstocking opened today after months of extensive interior renovations. Lining up to be served are Jeremiah Parr, Lucas Busse and Matt Kehoe, who work for BTS, installing fiberoptic cable for Middleburgh Telephone’s new downtown Internet “hotspots.” Inset, son Royce Swatling, 2, showed up to give dad an attaboy, accompanied by Mike’s wife Carrie. The new Spurbeck’s has tables and chairs if you want to lunch in, but a similar menu, as well as Palatine Cheese and other products regulars are used to. A beer cave is being added in the basement. It’s open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, 8 to 3 Saturdays, and closed on Sundays. (Jim Kevlin /AllOTSEGO.com)
