Editorial of January 1, 2026

Greetings, Friends

With apologies to “The New Yorker”

Greetings, Friends, the year is flagging
It’s been hard to keep our tails a-wagging
But let’s have hope and love and cheer,
To welcome in a slick New Year.

This one has passed with a great deal of tension
Mixed with disorder and conflicts, flights and detention.
It’s good that it’s gone and there’s no looking back
Because here comes the next one, let’s give it a whack.

Last winter we got lots of cold and ice
Walking kids and our dogs was far from nice
The lake only froze for not more than a week
No shanties went out, no fish could we seek.

Summer was hot, with rain, thunder and lightning
Golf courses were soggy, our lawns and courts frightening
The baseball teams came in and went out
Then the sun in late summer threatened a drought.

At last, in the fall, everything was put right
We got water, warm days, and full moons in the night.
But we also got tariffs, causing fear and alarm
And splitting the country, our county—much harm.

Well, it is what it is, and there’s no going back
Let’s get to our New Year, let’s get back on track.
We offer salutes to our main streets and retailers
To our realtors and their clients, to our soldiers and sailors.

To amazing Jane Clark and her town-friendly Scriven
Profoundly thankful we are for the gifts they have given.
The flowers all over, the Christmas-lit trees
And Leatherstocking Golf Course, a haven for geese.

Please Santa, bring presents to the kids of Headstart
To the staff of our sports centers, to those in the arts
Bring gifts for our dogs, and our cats and our goats
For our horses and donkeys, bring them some great oats.

Our shopkeepers work hard, they deserve mighty good rests
And time this New Year to restock for our guests
Who invade us inevitably, from season to season
And into the fall, for many a good reason.
To all our nonprofits, whose passion is clear
Many gifts we keep giving, as well as good cheer.
OLA and the Land Trust, the Community Foundation
OCCA, Hyde Hall, the Bio Field Station

Our towns all have libraries, give them old books and some money
Thank the firemen too, on call bad days and sunny.
Our museums and Glimmerglass give us a good name
And we won’t ever forget our esteemed Hall of Fame.

Otsego 2000 has been with us for decades
They work to inform us, good plans they have made
Film Days and the market are some of their chores
Preservation, the environment, Otsego Outdoors.

About all our pets, they’ve great places to go
They can swim in our lakes, they can run to and fro
And we must remember our special SQSPCA
That keeps animals healthy and out of harm’s way.

Thank you doctors and dentists and nurses and vets
Who help us stay healthy, including our pets
Huzzahs to our policemen, our sheriffs and mayors
And our farmers who feed us, cutting fields with their hayers.

To our schools and their teams, may your wins top the tally
There’s Laurens and Milford, Richfield Springs, Cherry Valley
Oneonta, Morris, Brookwood and Cooperstown Central
Otego-Unadilla, nothing here’s incidental.
These schools are all solid, they don’t teach off the cuff
And Hartwick and SUNY will finish them off.

Springbrook is thriving, growing bigger and stronger,
Pathfinder’s exploding, it’s been here much longer.
We try hard to keep up as our tourism grows
But we often fall backwards as everyone knows.

We still can give thanks to our Iron String Press
That constantly informs us of everyone’s mess
Hometown Oneonta, the sage Freeman’s Journal
Will provide you with info, every last little kernel.

It’s the end of the year, we’ve been greatly concerned
It’s been a challenge to carry, lots of bridges were burned
We give thanks that it’s over, all those days that we rued
Happy New Year to everyone, it’s time we renewed.