First, it should be said that there’s a troubling lack of interest this year in running for the Otsego County Board of Representatives, whose reach, from road building to social services, touches all 60,094 of us.
In the 14 districts, there are only three contests coming out of the June 25 primary:
In District 2, the one-term Democrat, former Morris Town Board member Michele Farwell, is being challenged by Marcia Hoag, a former Pittsfield Town Board member who is running on the Voice of the People line, but says she is allied with Republicans.
In District 3, where former board chair Kathy Clark, R-Otego/Laurens, is retiring. Republican Rick Brockway, a retired ferrier and outdoor columnist, and Democrat Caitlin Ogden, a Baseball Hall of Fame grantsman, are both newcomers running for the vacant seat.
In District 14, where Democrat Jill Basile and Wilson Wells, a Libertarian, are seeking to succeed Democrat Liz Shannon, who is retiring.
Contrast that with 2017, when 12 of the 14 seats were contested, and there were some humdingers.
LAURENS – Everett L. Brooker, 88, a Remington Arms retiree, passed away Monday, June 3, 2019, at home.
He was born on April 3, 1931, in East Worcester, the son of Elray and Dorothy (Patrick) Brooker.
Before joining Remington Arms in Ilion, Everett was a farmer. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed farming, cutting wood and driving through the countryside.
LAURENS – Richard S. Westcott, 75, a 35-year NYSEG lineman who was active in Laurens community life, passed away on Monday, May 20, 2019 at Chase Memorial Nursing Home in New Berlin.
Richard was born in Little Rock, Ark., to Sylvester M. and Luella A. (Towsley) Westcott.
He worked for Sampson Floors for seven years, and as a SUNY engineer before joining NYSEG.
ONEONTA – A celebration of life for William K. “Billy” Hymers, 68, who passed away on Nov. 24, 2018, at his winter home in Florida, will be Saturday, April 27, at Main Street Baptist Church. Calling hours will begin at 3 p.m., followed by a funeral service at 4 p.m.
LAURENS – Caitlin Ogden, the Grant and Development Specialist at the Baseball Hall of Fame, has announced her candidacy for District Three on the Otsego County Board of Representatives.
Ogden holds a Masters in Arts in Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program. Ogden moved to upstate New York in 2006 with her horse in pursuit of a rural small town life. She has since spent her career working in the nonprofit sector.
Ric Brockway of Laurens, former teacher, ferrier and writer of a popular outdoor column, is running for the Republican nomination in District 3 (Laurens and Otego).
He would face county Rep. Kathy Clark, the former board chairman, unless she retires. She did not return a call this afternoon as to her intentions.
WEST LAURENS – Elizabeth “Betty” A. Schlee of Laurens, 76, who rose to senior vice president during 30 years at Wilber National Bank, passed away Feb. 10, 2019, following a brief illness.
She was born in Oneonta, on Jan. 21, 1943, the daughter of the late Robert and Wilma Schlee. Betty graduated from Laurens Central School. She wpent more than three decades at Wilber before her retirement.
LAURENS – William L. “Lennie” Bourgeois, 82, raised in Laurens before embarking on a 20-plus year career as a Navy flight engineer, died at Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Jan. 12, 2019. Since 1981, he had lived in Valparaiso, Fla.
He was born in Goodyear, Conn., on May 26, 1936, to Oliver J. and Julienne (Girard) Bourgeois. Lennie spent his youth in Upstate New York and graduated from Laurens Central School in 1955.
Just days after graduation, he joined the Navy and spent the next 20+ years serving his country. He often said his favorite tour of duty was with VX6/VXE6 in Antarctica, where he spent six seasons flying the C-130 aircraft as flight engineer, including “his” C-130, #319.
MOUNT VISION – Suzanne M. Gregory, 79, who was active in civic life locally after retiring from a career in the U.S. government, passed away Jan. 6, 2019, at Albany Medical Center.
She was born July 1, 1939 in Cooperstown, the daughter of a Leo Francis and Marjorie Ruth (Pitts) Wikoff. Suzanne married Michael Quinn Gregory on July 21, 1957 in Hartwick.
Editor’s Note: An hour ago, The Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin published an in-depth look at the case of Kevin Perry, now in prison in the deaths of his parents a week before Christmas 2017.
Kevin Perry is led into his arraignment in Oneonta Town Court a few days before Christmas 2017. (AllOTSEGO.com photo)
After a heated argument with his mother and father, an angered Kevin A. Perry stormed into another room.
That’s when the 23-year-old threatened to kill his parents someday, a vow his cousin overheard.
Two days later, on Dec. 12, 2017, Timothy and Solveig Perry were shot to death in their Town of Laurens home.
Their daughter made the horrifying discovery that, along with family members learning her father’s pickup truck was missing, sent police officers in two counties on a search for a killer — the victims’ own son.
A celebration of life memorial service for Michael D. Shaver, whose body was recovered in March 2017 behind his Florida home, will be at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, at the First United Presbyterian Church, Walling Ave., Oneonta NY 13820. He will be placed at rest with his paternal grandfather, Alfred W. Shaver, at Oneonta Plains Cemetery.
Kevin Perry, 23, was arrested and charged with the murder of his parents in December 2017. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
LAURENS – Kevin Perry, 23, arrested for shooting his parents Timothy and Solveig in their home in Laurens a week before Christmas, Friday pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder, according to reports.
Perry was arrested after crashing his father’s stolen truck in Schoharie. His sister Rebecca had discovered their parent’s bodies earlier that evening and notified Otsego County Sheriff’s Deputies that the truck had been stolen.
During his arraignment on Dec. 18, Rebecca told the judge that Perry had been intoxicated and agitated earlier that day. She left that evening to visit a friend, and upon returning, she found her father’s body in the kitchen.
LAURENS – With plans to bring solar energy to 400 households throughout Otsego and the surrounding counties, construction on the new 13-acre community solar farm on Pool Brook Road north of this village is slated to begin next week.
“Eighty percent of the population nationwide cannot install solar panels because of cost, their roof is to old or their roof doesn’t face the right way,” said Solstice spokesperson Andrew Alayza. “Community solar projects, in a centralized location, produce electricity on behalf of the subscribers, sends it to NYSEG, and the customer gets those credits on their electric bill.”
