For the 25th year, Cooperstown’s Dick Sliter pours broccoli and cheddar chowder at the Soup ‘r’ Chili celebration underway until 2 at Cooperstown Baptist Church, Elm Street. Sliter, a local businessman who has also acted as interim pastor for the local Baptists, first began ladeling at the event in 1993. The chowder, he said, contains 8 pounds of broccoli and 8 pounds of potatoes. The luncheon is the traditional start of the Cooperstown Winter Carnival, which has events planned throughout the weekend. Soup ‘r’ Chili will also be served 11 a.m-2 p.m. Saturday at the Baptist Church. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Mayor Gary Herzig, left, seated with wife Connie, daughter Sasha and her boyfriend Jacob Miner, is introduced at Hartwick College’s Shineman Chapel prior to taking his oath this afternoon for a second term. Former mayor Kim Muller emceed the event, and Greater Oneonta candidates for Common Council, Oneonta Town Board and the Otsego County Board of Representatives were sworn in by City Judge Lucy Bernier. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Above, members of OHS’s Uncle John and the Turtle Ella Pawkett, Ben Airhart and Gabe House belt out classic rock tunes in the Foothills atrium to close out the evening. Right: fireworks light up the night sky as Jessie Morville, spins fire with Cosmic Karma Fire outside of Foothills Preforming Arts Center as Otsego County heads into 2018. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
Above, Sensei Brooke Chilson, Oneonta, center, helps two of her students Oneonta’s Ethan Risley and Noah Harding, prepare for their demonstration this evening as they represent Harmony Martial Arts as part of the entertainment line-up at the 2018 First Night celebration at Foothills. At right, Raelyn Sinstack, Oneonta, dances with The Hill City Ice Queen to the sounds of the Realtime Dixieland Band in the mezzanine. Entertainment is ongoing throughout the building until the stroke of midnight, with a fireworks show at 10:18pm.(Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)