Bound Volumes, Hometown History
January 30, 2025
70 YEARS AGO
There is a unique, friendly quality to Oneonta that makes it the shopping, recreational and cultural center for folks from a four-county area. Why? Because it’s not too big; and it’s not too small. Folks who shop here say that Oneonta department stores have everything you’ll find in the big cities. But, it is much easier to go to Oneonta. Oneonta, too, is the center for farm machinery, for home and business needs, for banks and loan agencies – Oneonta is a distribution point for people who reside in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Chenango counties. Oneonta is a second home for folks who make their living from farming and dairying because here are the amusements, colleges and the agencies which make living in this part of New York State a little nicer than anywhere else.
January 1955
50 YEARS AGO
January 1975
40 YEARS AGO
“One Dumb Move,” a message to teens to avoid cigarettes, drugs and alcohol will be aired 2,783 times this year on television stations across the state. It will also be aired on radio stations and has been added to 50,000 records for free distribution. Students at Oneonta high school who have seen the commercial say they generally like it, but do not think it will change their attitudes all that much. Pete Xanthaky, a junior, hummed the tune complete with appropriate gestures and said, “It’s pretty cool. It might work.” Dawn Johnson, a high school freshman, said that “nobody listens to the government. If we want to do it, we’re going to do it, no matter what they say.” However, Johnson said that if rock star David Lee Roth endorsed a product, or idea, she would listen.
January 1985
30 YEARS AGO
This coming Sunday, Helene Kelly will celebrate her 100th birthday. Born in 1895 and raised in France, Helene came to New York in 1915 to work in a Staten Island hotel. In 1920, Helene married Tommy Kelly, who worked variously as a taxi driver, factory worker, and race course bet collector. Helene worked in a knitting mill. Tommy was noted as a self-taught barroom piano virtuoso. “He was the best piano player,” Helene recalls. “When we used to go to parties, he’d play all day.” In 1957, the couple retired to Goodyear Lake. After Tommy’s death in 1972, Helene moved to Nader Towers. In 1985, Helene moved to the Oneonta Nursing Home.
January 1995
20 YEARS AGO
Dancers will be swinging at the Elks Club in Oneonta on Saturday to raise money for Hartwick College’s Pine Lake Environmental Campus. A nine-piece band will perform swing music of George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and others, said Dr. Stanley Fox, an Oneonta physician and musician who is coordinating the effort. The evening will begin with a swing-dance workshop led by local instructor Linda Leverock. The band takes the stage at 9 p.m. Proceeds will go to Pine Lake programs.
January 2005
