HISTORICAL SOCIETY RETURNS – 7 p.m. The Fly Creek Area Historical Society returns for its first meeting in about a year. They haven’t been idle though. Come see how they’ve updated the exhibits, what they’ve done to their building, and there’s more to talk about. Refreshments available, doors open for circulation. Social distancing observed, masks optional. Free, open to public. The Old Grange Building, Cemetery Rd., Fly Creek.
The Fly Creek Area Historical Society will have its first meeting in nearly 18 months, at 7 p.m., Wednesday, June 23, at 210 Cemetery Road in the hamlet of Fly Creek.
Refreshments will be served.
Masks are optional. The doors will be open for circulation and social distancing will be acknowledged.
Auditions to be held for Halloween show
Bigger Boat Productions and Stuff of Dreams Productions will hold auditions for actors for the production of Shirley Jackson’s “The Haunting of Hill House” in October.
Open auditions will be held for women from age 25 to 55. Auditions will take place at 2 p.m., Sunday June 13, and 7 p.m., Monday June 14, in the production center of Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center.
ART EXHIBITS OPEN – 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. 3 exhibits open. The Annual Regional Juried Art show celebrating talents of NYS artists with Jane Carr & Bruce Goddard as jurors; ‘Wild Things – Wild Places’ by ild Things – Wild Places” by last years Juried Art Show winner David Kiehm who specializes in wildlife art; & The Cooperstown Central School Art Exhibit. Showing at The Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St., Cooperstown. 607-547-9777 or visit www.cooperstownart.com
ART EXHIBIT – 5 – 7 p.m. on In-person exhibit ‘All Together Art Show’ will feature local artists residing in Otsego, Chenango and Delaware counties. Free admission. COVID-19 restrictions in place. Main View Gallery and Gift Shop, 77 Main St., Oneonta. 607-432-1890or visit www.arcotsego.org/main-view-gallerystudio-2
Mary Winne stands by the tree where she believes Arrie Hecox may have sat with Amelia Earheart during her 1921 visit. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
After losing his mother to appendicitis in the spring of 1921 at age 7, Arrie Hecox of Fly Creek found solace in Amelia Earhart three years later.
Walking back and forth to school, Hecox spotted Earhart, then in her 20s, at the inn that neighbored his family’s farm on Route 28.
“As you did in that time, they introduced themselves,” Arrie Hecox’s grandson, Michael Baker said.
In later years, Hecox told his story to newspaper columnist Jim Atwell, who included it in his 2004 book, “From Fly Creek: Celebrating Life in Leatherstocking Country.”
“What are you reading?” Hecox asked the young woman in a khaki shirt, jodhpurs and boot, who was seated under an apple tree.
“A book about airplanes,” she replied with a smile.
Earhart sojourn and what became the Famulare family’s farm in the 1940’s is about to be memorialized.
Earhart
The Fly Creek Historical Society announced its application for a “Legends & Lore” marker has been approved by the Pomeroy Foundation, and will be erected later this year.
That’s the historical society’s sixth Legends & Lore marker. Sherlee Rathbone, society president, said that means the Town of Otsego, where Fly Creek is located, has more than any community in the state.
The others memorialize David Shipman, inspiration for James Fenimore Cooper’s Natty Bumppo, as well as Cattown Road, Honey Joe Road, Bed Bug Hill and Panther Mountain.
Mary Winne, who lives on nearby Johnston Road, is a Famulare and was raised in the white clapboard cape across 28 from Simple Integrity’s headquarters.
When her family moved into the house in the 1940s, the living room had been divided into three bedrooms, she said; her parents concluded it had been a rooming house.
It’s also thought, she continued, that Earhart, the first woman aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean, was friendly with aviators at an a airstrip in Frankfort, down in the Mohawk Valley, which kept her around for a while.
As Atwell related it, Hecox considered Earhart, who would disappear in 1937 trying to fly over the Pacific, the “first love of (his) life.”
“When my grandfather heard (Earhart) went missing, he said he felt it in his heart that she was gone from this world,” said Baker.
BLOOD DRIVE – Noon – 5 p.m. Due to unprecedented number of blood drive cancellations there is a major shortage of blood for hospitals. Healthy individuals are invited to donate life saving blood. Donate by APPOINTMENT ONLY! Foothills Performing Arts Center, Oneonta. www.foothillspac.org
TRYOUTS – 6 p.m. Children aged 9-12 are invited to try out for Oneonta Little League, Major League. Ages 10-12 are required to try out. First come-first serve, pre-registration required. Alumni Field House, SUNY Oneonta. Visit oneontalittleleague.sportngin.com
HARVEST FESTIVAL – 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. 2-day fest featuring live performances, music, family activities to celebrate the seasons bounty. Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1450 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/Harvest-Festival
LUNCHEON – 11:30 a.m. Luncheon At Home meeting by the Fly Creek Area Historical Society. FCAHS Building, 210 Cemetery Rd, Fly Creek. Info, 607-547-2501, www.fcahs.org.
POT LUCK – 6 p.m. Fly Creek Area Historical Society hosts their annual pot luck. Bring a dish to pass and an antique or special item to share with the group. Free, open to the public. Fly Creek Methodist Church, 852 Co Rd 26, Fly Creek. Info, (607) 547-9334.
CONCERT – 3:30 p.m. Sunday Fall for Fall Concert featuring Catskill Valley Wind Ensemble performing Yosemite Autumn, City Rain, more. Free, open to public. Refreshments served. St. James Retirement Community, 9 St. James Pl., Oneonta. 607-436-9974 or visit www.stjamesmanor.com
PANCAKE BREAKFAST – 8 a.m. – 1 p.m. Annual breakfast with Fly Creek Area Historical Society features, sausage, home-fries, eggs, biscuits, sausage, gravy, grits, more. Suggested donation, $8/adult. Old Grange Building, 210 Cemetery Rd., Fly Creek. 607-547-1275.
CELEBRATION – 7 p.m. 200 year celebration of the Erie canal featuring Cosby Gibson and Tom Staudle, Singer/Songwriters performing 8 historic songs from construction of Erie Canal. Refreshments available, donations appreciated. Fly Creek Area Historical Society, Grange Hall, 210 Cemetery Rd., Fly Creek.
EXHIBIT RECEPTION – 4 – 6 p.m. Student exhibit featuring works by recipients of Jean Parish Memorial Scholarship. Project Space Gallery, Fine Arts Center, SUNY Oneonta. 607-436-3456 or visit suny.oneonta.edu/art-department/art-galleries/exhibitions
TOUR – 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Travel the country roads and discover the landscape and how people have enhanced it with their garden schemes. This years tour will be through the Cooperstown area. Pre-registration required for directions to first garden. All must being tour before 1 p.m. Cost, $18. 607-278-5454 or visit westkc.org/event/2018-landscape-garden-tour/
HISTORY MEETING – 7 p.m. “Ethnicity, Family, Alliance and War: Scots-Irish Immigration and Defense of the Colonial New York Frontier, 1740 to 1778” presented by Terry McMaster at the April Meeting of the Fly Creek Area Historical Society. The Old Grange Building, Cemetery Rd., Fly Creek. Call 607-547-9334 or e-mail inthevalley@oecblue.com
THEATER – 7:30 p.m. Enjoy “The Magic Play” featuring magician/actor Brett Schneider incorporating magic into the play. The audience will have the opportunity to participate. Tickets, Pay-What-You-Will. Archbold Theater, Syracuse Stage, 820 E. Genesee St., Syracuse. Call 315-443-2636 or visit www.syracusestage.org
CLIMATE LECTURE – 7:30 p.m. Dr. Michael Young, Geologist, presents “Mid-Century Resilience in the Face of Climate Extremes and Population Growth: How Lessons From the Lone Star State Can Benefit the Nation,” at the Rude Memorial Lecture. Free, open to the public. Anderson Center, Hartwick College, Oneonta. Call 607-431-4021 or visit www.hartwick.edu/news/hartwick-welcomes-michael-young-83-rude-memorial-lecture/
JUSTICE FILM SERIES – 5:30 p.m. Screening of “The Times of Harvey Milk” (1984). Includes vegetarian dinner at 6, screening begins at 7. Unitarian Universalist Society of Oneonta, 12 Ford Ave, Oneonta. Call 607-432-3491 or visit www.uuso.org
FCAHS MEETING – 7 p.m. Tom Heitz presents “The Strong-Minded Women Are Coming,” about Susan B. Anthony’s visit to Cooperstown to meet the women and male supporters interested in forming a Woman’s Rights Committee and the reaction of local citizens. Fly Creek Area Historical Society, 210 Cemetery Rd, Fly Creek. fcahs.org
