News Briefs: May 7, 2026
New Farmers Market To Open
COBLESKILL—The new Schoharie County Farmers Market will open for its inaugural season on Sunday, May 24. It will feature a wide range of local farmers, producers, artisans and food trucks each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October 11. For more information, visit schohariecountyfarmersmarket.com or its Facebook or Instagram pages.
‘Talking Opera’ Events Slated
COOPERSTOWN—The Guild of Glimmerglass Festival will hold five of its popular “Talking Opera” pre-season programs on its mainstage productions this year. All will be held in the ADA-accessible Fenimore Art Museum Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays and are free and open to the public. Festival Music Director and Conductor Joseph Colaneri will discuss “Madam Butterfly” on May 27, followed by Conductor James Lowe’s presentation on “Oklahoma!” on June 3. “Fellow Travelers” Conductor Kelly Kuo will discuss the production on June 10. Colaneri returns to speak on “Cosi” on June 17, and Conductor Kimberly-Ann Baratczak will close the pre-season with “Robin Hood” on July 1. All programs will be recorded and posted on the guild website, glimmerglassguild.org, but the public is urged to attend in person and meet the artists.
CAA To Open Three Exhibits
COOPERSTOWN—The Cooperstown Art Association will hold a highly anticipated opening reception for three of its biggest shows of the year from 5-7 p.m. on Friday, May 15. “Essential Art: The 35th Annual Regional Juried Art Show” showcases outstanding work by artists from across New York and will be on view in Gallery A through June 25. “Everything is Part of Everything Else” is a solo exhibition of oil and watercolor work by Emily Falco and is also open through June 25. The 60th year of “Otsego Dreams: The Annual Leatherstocking Brush and Palette Club Fine Arts Exhibition,” will be in Gallery C through June 17. CAA is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, visit cooperstownart.com.
Chamber Announces Events
UNADILLA—The Unadilla Chamber of Commerce announced that this year’s Flag Day parade will line up at 2 p.m. and step off at 3 p.m. on Sunday, June 14. Businesses who want their promotional materials in the 500 tote bags to be handed out should drop them off by June 7. Contact unadillachamber@yahoo.com to arrange drop-off. Following the 10 a.m. July 4 parade, colonial demonstrations and games will be held on the library lawn, 193 Main Street, and a 1976 time capsule will be opened at noon. Gillette Carnival will return to Community Field on Sperry Street from Thursday, July 9 through Sunday, July 12. The Chamber’s Carnival of Sales will be held on Main Street from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, and the Cullman Derby Soap Box Races will run on Clifton Street at noon on Sunday, July 12.
‘First Thursdays’ To Begin
ONEONTA—Oneonta will host First Thursday community evenings on the first Thursday of every month. Businesses and organizations will remain open until 7 or 8 p.m. and many will have special discounts or menu items. Community Arts Network of Oneonta will hold free art activities in the Wilber Mansion from 4-7 p.m. Other participating organizations include Sugar Beats, Stoneonta, Sunnyside Up Beauty Bar, Leatherstocking Scuba, Lythik Noir, Otsego Bicycles, Muscles and Mascara Fitness, and DOSHA. For more information, visit the First Thursdays Downtown Oneonta, NY Facebook page.
Dems To Discuss Health Act
ONEONTA—The Oneonta Democratic Club will hold its next meeting in the third floor Community Room at Huntington Memorial Library at 10 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. Elevators are available. Lillian DeMauro, point person for the Delaware/Otsego Campaign for the New York Health Act Hub, will explain the major proposed legislation and discuss the history of healthcare policy in the state. For more information on the bill, visit nyhcampaign.org. To RSVP for the meeting, contact garymaffei@gmail.com.
UUVA Perennial Sale Returns
WEST WINFIELD—The Upper Unadilla Valley Association will host its annual plant sale in the Town of Winfield Park from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday, May 16. In addition to hundreds of locally grown, reasonably priced perennials, the sale will feature hanging baskets and jams from West End Farms, a pie sale by the West Winfield Library, and used gardening books. A 50/50 Duck Derby will be held at 11:30 a.m. UUVA also seeks new members to fill vacancies on its Board of Directors; contact (315) 855-4368 for more information.
Gatehouse Sets May Programs
MORRIS—The Gatehouse Coffee Shop and Mercantile announced a full month of programming that celebrates mothers, creativity, community and spring. “Woman Prayer,” a gathering for women of all faith backgrounds that will build a shared altar, will run from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. Gianluca Avanzato will lead a guided meditation and storytelling workshop entitled “Sacred Writing Circle: Dear Mother” from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 9. Herbalist A.C. Hill will lead a spring foraging walk from 4-6 p.m. on Thursday, May 14, using a sliding fee scale from $10.00-20.00. Poets from Bright Hill Press and bassist Evan Jagels will offer a unique live performance of spoken word and music from 4-6 p.m. on Friday, May 22. Tracie Martinetti will lead a denim doodling workshop to customize jeans from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday, May 30. For more information, visit thegatehouseny.com/.
Famous Jazz Trio To Perform
ONEONTA—The Oneonta Concert Association’s last show of the season will be the internationally renowned Julieta Eugenio Jazz Trio at the First United Methodist Church at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, May 15. Laurens Central School sixth-grader Jenna Czarnecki will perform a trumpet piece as the evening’s featured young artist. Tickets are available at oneontaconcertassociation.org.
Hartwick Reviews Resources
HARTWICK—The Town of Hartwick will hold a public discussion of its natural resource assets at Town Hall at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 7. The information gathered will inform the creation of a Natural Resource Inventory for future planning. For more information, contact debcooperstown0@gmail.com.
CCE Auction Now Underway
OTSEGO COUNTY—The “Spring into Giving” online benefit auction for Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties is open for bidding through 8 p.m. on Sunday, May 17. Visit cceschoharieotsegocounties.betterworld.org/auctions/cce-auction for more information. The CCE Master Gardener Plant Sale will be held in the Fenimore Farm’s Louis C. Jones Center from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, May 16. More information is available at cceschoharie-otsego.org.
Mill Opens for 100th Year
EAST MEREDITH—Hanford Mills Museum will open for the 2026 season on Friday, May 15. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, through October 15. There will be an all-day celebration of the 100th anniversary of the mill waterwheel on Saturday, May 23, with admission by donation. Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society will lead a guided bird walk from 8-9:30 a.m. There will be a ribbon-cutting at 1 p.m., live music by Small Town Big Band at 2 p.m. and other activities. For more information, visit hanfordmills.org.
YMCA Elects Board Officers
ONEONTA—The Oneonta Family YMCA held its Annual Meeting on Tuesday, April 28. Johna Peachin of Peachin Associates was elected president, with Becky Thomas of Benson Real Estate as vice president. Lisetta Coffin, president of Meer Huis, is secretary and Michael Walling of Community Bank is treasurer. After a brief hiatus, former president Chris Slonaker of NBT Bank was elected to another three-year term on the Board of Directors. For more information, visit oneontaymca.org.
Church Potluck Is Saturday
FLY CREEK—Fly Creek United Methodist Church, 852 County Highway 26, will hold a spring potluck at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9. All are welcome.
Elaine Weiss To Address LWV
COOPERSTOWN—League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area will present an evening with Elaine Weiss, author of “Spell Freedom: The Underground Schools that Built the Civil Rights Movement,” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 28. Hosted by Cooperstown Graduate Program Director Gretchen Sorin, author of “Driving While Black,” the talk is free and open to the public. It will be held in the third-floor ballroom of the Village Hall, 22 Main Street.
Village Set To Flush Hydrants
COOPERSTOWN—The Village of Cooperstown Water Department will flush hydrants from Monday, May 11 through Friday, May 15. For more information, call (607) 547-2411.
Gas Surges 26 Cents in a Week
UTICA—The average price of gas in New York State shot up 28 cents over the week ending Monday, May 4 to $4.46 per gallon, AAA Northeast announced. Oil prices continued a steady march upward as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entered its 10th week and approached one month of a tenuous partial ceasefire. Crude oil and refined product prices reached four-year highs last week, meeting or exceeding the levels of the supply shock in the early months of the Russia-Ukraine war. Domestically produced West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose $7.54 and Brent Crude was up $2.84 last week as markets digested contradictory signals about the conflict’s future, including the recently declared U.S. blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
In addition to high oil prices, shrinking domestic crude and gasoline inventories pushed costs upward. Gasoline inventories fell by 6.1 million barrels in the 11th straight week of decline to two percent below the five-year average. Crude stockpiles dropped by 6.2 million barrels as the U.S. exported a record 6.43 million barrels a day, more than 800,000 bpd higher than the previous record from February 2023, to parts of the world more directly impacted by the blockade of the Persian Gulf. Despite the surging prices, Americans are consuming more gasoline than last year, averaging about 100,000 bpd over last year’s figures for the last four weeks. New York’s price is 41 cents higher than last month and $1.36 above this week last year. To view the full report, visit gasprices.aaa.com.
CCS Tennis Wins CSC Title
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown varsity tennis took first place in the Center State Conference Championships at Utica’s Parkway Center on Thursday, April 30. They finished with 41 points, 12 ahead of second-place Sauquoit Valley, in a field of four teams. Every member of the team made it to the finals in their flights, and Henry Ayers and Alfred Hom won individual titles in first and second singles, respectively.
The Hawkeyes suffered their first loss of the season 4-1 to Manlius-Pebble Hill on Saturday, May 2. Hom rallied to beat Eric Hu in a three-hour match, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Cooperstown was back in action for a 4-1 Senior Night home victory over Sauquoit Valley on Monday, May 4. Ayers and Hom won first and second singles. The doubles teams of Captain Bianca Adam and Micah Raffo and Rigzin Gazan and Emmett Ayers won their flights. The Hawkeyes will lose Gazan and Adam to graduation this year. Cooperstown will play a division match at Little Falls after press time on Tuesday, May 5.
Softball Suffers, Baseball Flies
Cooperstown softball fell 12-3 to Mount Markham in a non-division road game on Wednesday, April 29. Carlotta Falso was stuck with the loss, striking out six but giving up 12 hits and six walks in six innings. She batted in a run, as did Sophia Johnson. Kayleigh Butler led the Hawkeyes on offense, going two-for-two and scoring a run.
Cincinnatus routed Cooperstown 14-3 on Saturday, May 2. Falso struck out six batters, walked 11 and allowed six hits. Scarlett Bong had an RBI single.
Hamilton’s Ellie Freeth threw a perfect game to beat the Hawkeyes 13-0 in a Division II game on Monday, May 4. She faced only 21 batters and struck out 16 of them, adding two triples and six RBI in the offensive column. Falso was stuck with another loss despite striking out 15 batters, allowing nine hits and three walks. Cooperstown fell to 1-9 for the season and 1-5 in their division. They will host West Canada Valley after press time on Wednesday, May 6.
Cooperstown baseball defeated Herkimer 4-0 in a three-hit shutout at home on Friday, May 1. Joey Paterno earned the win on the mound with nine strikeouts over the full seven innings. Ty Burkhart made a two-RBI single in the fifth inning and scored on an error, and Paterno batted in Wyatt Butts for an extra insurance run in the sixth.
Butts hit a grand slam for his first varsity home run and totaled five RBI to lift Cooperstown to a 10-3 victory over Hamilton at home on Monday, May 4. The score was tied until the Hawkeyes got six runs in the fifth inning. Elijah McCaffrey earned the win, striking out 13 in six innings and allowing eight hits and a walk. Braden Rawitch recorded a walk and a strikeout in a single inning of relief, and added two RBI and two runs at the plate. The Hawkeyes rose to 5-2 for the season and 4-1 in their division. They will host West Canada Valley at Doubleday Field after press time on Wednesday, May 6.
Chamber Announces Winners
ONEONTA—The Otsego County Chamber of Commerce announced its 2026 Annual Business Dinner Award Winners, recognizing individuals and organizations who made a lasting impact across the county. This year’s Business of the Year was Unalam, the Sidney-based glulam beam and laminated wood manufacturer. The Eugene A. Bettiol Jr. Distinguished Citizen is Jamie Reynolds, SVP and regional executive at NBT Bank, and Foundation Board chair at A.O. Fox Memorial Hospital. Allen Ruffles, Treasurer and CFO of Otsego County and U.S. Army civil affairs specialist. Casella Waste Systems Territory Sales Manager Adam Stoutenburg earned Volunteer of the Year. They will be honored at the Business Dinner at Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center from 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 14. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit members.otsegocc.com/events/.
Long-Pose Session Slated
COOPERSTOWN—Cooperstown Art Association’s popular “Figure This!” program will offer another long-pose pop-up figure drawing session with live nude models from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 20. RSVP at cooperstownart.com by Friday, May 15; it will only run if at least five participants are confirmed. Each session costs $18.00 and CAA punch cards may be used.
