In Memoriam by Ellen Pope

A Force for Good: The Enduring Legacy of Polly Renckens

Aforce of nature,” “a force for good,” and “a force to reckon with”—when I forwarded the news of Polly Renckens’ passing to the Otsego 2000 Board of Directors and her former colleagues, those were the first responses returned. Polly was indeed those things, in spades, and the Otsego and Canadarago lake communities are all the better for it.

Polly Renckens was the first executive director of Otsego 2000, an organization that was founded as Friends of P.R.O.T.E.C.T. to challenge the proposed location of the Marcy South powerline along the eastern ridge of Otsego Lake. After that success, the organization—renamed Otsego 2000—sought to take a proactive and thoughtful approach to protecting Otsego Lake by guiding development and growth along intelligent pathways that prioritize the health of our environment, natural and built, over other considerations.

The indefatigable Polly organized conferences and workshops, working groups, and coalitions on topics ranging from Main Street revitalization to protecting Otsego Lake’s ecology from too many power boats. She worked with board members to plan and launch the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market in the heart of Main Street to both bring shoppers back downtown and to help farmers succeed in business, thereby preserving farmland, and was the heart and soul of the market for its first 20 years.

And recognizing that development threats to Otsego Lake and its surrounding communities—whether energy infrastructure or overdevelopment on its steep slopes—were not going away, Polly joined with Henry Cooper (board chair), attorney Bob Poulson, historian Jessie Ravage, Martha Frey (as Otsego 2000’s successor executive director), local municipal officials, New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Commissioner Bernadette Castro and New York State National Register Coordinator Kath LaFrank, and many others to pursue the nomination of Otsego Lake and its surrounding hillsides and historic buildings to the State and National Registers of Historic Places as the Glimmerglass National Historic District.

Listed on the registers in 1999, the Glimmerglass National Historic District was one of the first historic districts in which the natural setting holds historic significance in its own right—affording an extra level of protection to Otsego Lake, the Susquehanna headwaters, from state and federal undertakings, including transportation and energy infrastructure projects and environmentally adverse development on its shores.

When Polly stepped down as Otsego 2000’s executive director in 1998 to take on leadership of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, her devotion to Otsego 2000 and the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market continued, serving on the Otsego 2000 Board of Directors, for a time as treasurer. She was unfailingly at the market each week, cheering on vendors, occasionally dressing herself and her always game husband Jim (and whoever else she could wrangle) in vegetable costumes to parade Main Street on market days to encourage shoppers to try out the market. As a board member, Polly spearheaded the establishment of the Otsego and Schoharie Counties Historic Preservation Awards. She knew that those who worked hard to preserve our history should receive praise and recognition for a job well done.

An infectious smile and a “we can do anything if we try hard enough” mindset made Polly Renckens Cooperstown’s greatest asset. A force of nature, for good, indeed. Her memory lives on in so many ways. Her legacy—a remarkable example of civic and community engagement—should inspire current and future generations to roll up their sleeves and get to work.

Written by Ellen Pope, executive director, Otsego 2000, with much-appreciated assistance from Martha Frey, former executive director, Otsego 2000.