Bound Volumes, Hometown History
March 26, 2026
70 YEARS AGO
Nearly 700 boys are expected to participate in the first Otschodela Council Boy Scout Exposition to be held indoors since 1950. Scheduled for April 7 at the New York State Armory in Oneonta, the Exposition will feature exhibits by more than forty Boy Scout, Explorer, and Cub Scout units from the three-county Council. A highlight of the day’s activity will be the presentation of Eagle Scout Badges, Scouting’s highest award, to three area boys who have completed the rigorous requirements. Since 1951, the expositions have been held in outdoor locations. The last to be held in Oneonta was in 1951 on Webb Island. The Exposition will be open to public inspection from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday. At 7:30 p.m., all participating units will march onto the Armory floor behind the Yale Lyon District band with massed colors.
March 1956
50 YEARS AGO
Reactions of the 35 people in the audience to hear the Rev. Betty Bone Schiess at the Zion Episcopal Church, Morris, last night, were varied on the subject of women in the priesthood. Several felt that women should be allowed to enter the priesthood. But, at least one woman thought the whole concept was the work of the devil. Several others did not want to offer opinions. “I can’t believe how hypocritical the church can be,” said Debra Wilson of Oneonta, noting that there were no church laws against women becoming priests, “but it is still not allowed to happen.” “It’s fantastic. Why not?” exclaimed Judy Bartoo, an Episcopalian from Morris. But Dee Poole, who attends Christ Episcopal Church in Gilbertsville, said women’s ordination “is not of the spirit of Christ. Satan found a loophole in our canon law and is using it for his advantage,” Mrs. Poole said. Mrs. Poole said Mrs. Schiess’ “meekness” was a mask covering what will come about because of her ordination to the priesthood. “I feel it has brought dissension and not the love of Christ,” she said.
March 1976
40 YEARS AGO
Anthony Cuozzo of Oneonta is a plank-owner – a member of the first crew of one of the Navy’s most modern warships. His ship, the guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes, has a hull of steel, not wood. But, the time-honored term “plank-owner” is still used to connote a crewman hand-picked to be on a ship’s commissioning crew. It’s that crew’s challenging task to take an inert mass of newly manufactured steel and whip it into shape as a living, breathing ship of the line. Cuozzo is a gas turbine systems technician working with electrical control systems.
March 1986
30 YEARS AGO
March 1996
20 YEARS AGO
Three tenants at a Southside development near BJ’s Wholesale Club should be open within the next 45 days, James Reeks, Jr., an Albany-based developer said. A sign, already installed on the structure, indicates that one of the tenants will be a Quisnos Sub shop. The Quisnos chain has been running advertisements looking for job applicants. Southside was going to grow,” Reeks said. “It has grown.” Although downtown Oneonta is still viable, Reeks said, “some agencies in the city are difficult to work with and ineffective.”
March 2006
