Huntington hosts anniversary party
By Kevin Limiti • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
ONEONTA — The Huntington Memorial Library in Oneonta celebrated its centennial anniversary Saturday, Aug. 7, with an outdoor celebration at Huntington Memorial Park.
Cupcakes on top of books, free drinks provided by Stewart’s and plants were given out at the celebration.
The library turned 100 last year. However, because of COVID, the celebration got delayed. Mayoral candidates Mark Drnek and Len Carson were also on hand, with Drnek providing the PA system for the event.
Drnek, whose ward covers the Huntington Library, said that the library was a “quality of life thing.” which is a key part of his platform and one that he hopes will attract people to the city. He said he is hoping to use “targeted marketing” to attract people from metro areas.
“There’s nothing more quality of life than what the library does,” Drnek said, who mentioned the library hosting a car show on the same day. “It doesn’t seem like a library kind of thing to do. It’s an outreach kind of thing to do.”
Oneonta historian Mark Simonson gave a lecture about the history of the Huntington Library.
“I imagined what the mayor thought when he got the letter from Henry Huntington,” Simonson said after his lecture. “I took a lot of things that I read in publications and wanted people to visualize what this looked like 100 years ago.”
Huntington Library was founded by Henry Huntington after drafting a letter in 1917 to the then mayor of Oneonta where he donated his family home for the library.
Simonson, who has been the city historian for 22 years, said his lecture included showing how the neighborhood and environment around the library has changed from 100 years ago. He pointed out the development taking place across the street on Dietz Street and how, throughout its history, there had been developments on that same block.
Mary Ann Barnes, who attended the event, said that she was “a frequent flyer of the library” and that she loved everything about the library from the computers to the staff, who she said were always willing to help.
“I’m here somewhat in memory of my husband,” Barnes said. “Mark Simonson was his hero and he had all of his books. He would’ve been here with bells on, because he was all about Mark and what he was about.”
Library Director Tina Winstead thanked everyone for coming and said that the community does a “great job” for sharing its love of books and plants.
“It’s our mission to continue (Huntington Memorial Library’s) legacy and improve this place and make it worthy of Oneonta,” Winstead said.