Letter from Bill Waller Ceremony Was Spectacular I was fortunate to be invited by a member of the Cooperstown Board of Trustees to the Commissioning Ceremony for the USS Cooperstown. We drove to New York City Friday in order to attend the early-morning breakfast hosted by the New York Council of the Navy League. The breakfast was attended by a wide variety of people: various boatbuilding officials, elected officials, New York Navy League members, family members of crew and numerous…
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Edition of 05/11/2023 - Page 2
Letter from Tracy Roberts Bills Would Help Environment While “Earth Day” has officially passed, let us not forget that every day is Earth Day. The New York State Assembly has an historic opportunity to take meaningful action in dealing with both our growing plastic pollution crisis and the ever-worsening climate crisis. There are two bills before the current legislative session calling for simple, effective solutions: The Bigger Better Bottle Bill (S227/A6353) and the Packaging Reduction and Recycling Infrastructure Act (S4246/A5322).…
Group Receives Its Certificationfor Refugee Settlement By WRILEY NELSONONEONTA The Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition recently announced its certification as a Private Sponsor Group with the Welcome Corps Program. On April 24, the ORRC was informed that it has been matched with a refugee family which will be arriving in one or two months. “This country was built on immigrants,” said Debra Marcus, one of the founders of the coalition. “We felt sure that this community would welcome new families and…
Letter from Chip Northrup HABs: Mitigation, Not Messaging The local NGOs have taken the lead in addressing the harmful algal blooms in Lake Otsego with a “messaging” workshop. Good. Since the messaging thus far has been a bit mixed if not confusing. Some groups are focused on monitoring the situation—also helpful if done within the context of a mitigation plan. What’s missing thus far is a DEC approved mitigation plan to reduce the inflow of nutrients into the lake. We…
Letter from the League of Women Voters of the Cooperstown Area Your Vote: InvestmentThat Will Pay Off An investment in knowledge, noted Benjamin Franklin, pays the best interest. On May 16, you have the chance to make that investment when residents of the Cooperstown Central School District will elect its school board and vote on the annual district budget election. As the CCSD Board notes on its website, “Local control of education through elected school boards has its roots in…
Letter from Mitzi Sackett NYS Cancer Services Program Saves Lives Cancer is the second leading cause of death in New York State. In 2019, there were more than 118,000 new cases of cancer and nearly 34,000 New Yorkers died of the disease. The NYS Department of Health leads efforts to reduce the burden of cancer across the state through initiatives such as the Cancer Services Program. The CSP offers free breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening to New Yorkers who…
Letter from Gerry Welch Mother’s Day a Time to Honor Gift of Life When I was a young child (14), I heard my mother sobbing in the dining room. This I’d never seen or heard before. I immediately went to her and asked why the tears. She looked up at me and said all of my children (seven) are asking me to do things for them. She then added, “What is in it for me?” I thought for a moment…
Bees fly up to five miles foraging for their favorite flowers and could make more than 12 trips a day. The Partial Observer by Steve Davis No Mow May: One Way to Help Pollinators May I ask you a favor? It has been a tough winter. My sisters and I have been clustered in a dark, cold hive keeping our queen blanketed within a nice cozy 95°F. We shiver our wing muscles to warm the cluster. Those of us on…
The Toronto Morris Men perform a traditional English stick dance in Gilbertsville on April 22. (Photo by Teresa Winchester) Morris Dancers Usher in SpringtimeAcross Otsego County By TERESA WINCHESTERGILBERTSVILLE Each April, Gilbertsville’s Major’s Inn fulfills its original purpose of lodging travelers by opening its doors and welcoming the Morris dancers, a group of some 40 men and, more recently, a few women. This year marked their 45th appearance in the village. Hailing from Binghamton, Boston, New York City, and Toronto,…
Otsego 2000 Invites Houses of WorshipTo Join Open House By WRILEY NELSONCOOPERSTOWN Otsego 2000 has invited historic churches and other houses of worship to participate in the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s 13th annual Sacred Sites Open House on May 20 and 21. Sacred Sites, the NYLC’s only major statewide program, celebrates the diversity and history of New York’s houses of worship. The open house has attracted thousands of visitors to religious buildings over the last decade to learn about their…