The parade lines up at 9 am in front of Foothills at 24 Market Street in Oneonta and steps off at 10 am sharp. Police Chief Douglas Brenner (retired) will announce the parade from Muller Plaza on Main Street. Parade will process down Main Street and continue to Neahwa Park, where a commemorative ceremony will take place at 11 am. City Council member Len Carson will introduce the speakers in Neahwa Park and the Reverend Randy Palada will offer a benediction.
The American Legion has invited John and Joan Brooks to serve as Grand Marshals for the 2022 Memorial Day Parade in recognition of their service to this country and notably to this community.
“We are so incredibly honored to be chosen as Grand Marshals,” John Brooks said. “We were taken aback when David Hayes notified us! We love this community and love giving back.”
The committee welcomes additional parade entries; any community group, charitable organization or place of business is welcome to march. Please phone David Hayes at 607 353-9000 or simply be present at Foothills on Monday, May 30, at 9 in the morning.
Festive music, Santa, and horse drawn carriages were all present at the tree lighting ceremony in Oneonta on Thursday evening that drew hundreds to Muller Plaza on Main Street. (Kevin Limiti/AllOtsego.com)
TREE LIGHTING – 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Join the Oneonta community for fun evening of holiday activities, carriage rides, and the lighting of the 2021 Community Christmas Tree at 6 p.m. Muller Plaza, Main St., Oneonta. 607-432-2941 visit www.facebook.com/DestinationOneonta/
Rebecca Bonker holds up a ‘Trust Women’ sign at the women’s reproductive rights rally at Muller Plaza in Oneonta on Saturday, Oct. 2. (Kevin Limiti/AllOtsego.com).
ONEONTA — About 100 people gathered in Muller Plaza at a rally for women’s reproductive rights Saturday, Oct. 2.
The rally coincided with the Women’s March happening across the country as thousands marched in support of Roe v. Wade.
The event featured music and speakers as well as pizza and lemonade.
The looming issue throughout the rally was the harsh Texas anti-abortion laws barring abortions at six weeks and offering bounties to anyone who turns in a person who had an abortion or assisted with one.
Marti Swords-Horrell, a minister at the First United Methodist Church, said she has been a minister for 39 years and came out in support of reproductive health.
“We believe in social principles on every topic you could think of,” Swords-Horrell said on the stance of their church, stating that birth control and abortions “should be available to everyone no matter if you’re rich or poor.”
“It shouldn’t be dependent on anyone else,” Swords-Horrell said.
At what its organizers called “The Patriots Rally” this afternoon in Oneonta’s Muller Plaza to combat “white supremacists and racism,” co-organizer Diandra Sangetti-Daniels, above, calls for the continued defense against racism in all forms. Sixty-five people stopped to listen to several speakers, including co-organizer Johnny Brown, inset photo, as well as Anthony Baron, Zach King and Anthony Eardley, who recited Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, “America’s Chief Moral Dilemma.” Sangetti-Daniels is also organizing a Community Speak-Out, where people can come and tell their experiences to community leaders. While the date has yet to be set, she is excited for the meeting; “Many people come to these rallies and tell their stories, but feel the people who need to hear them are elsewhere. At this meeting, the people who implement chance will be there.” (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
PATRIOT RALLY – Noon – 2 p.m. Come show support for the USA and all who live here. Come defend it against white supremacists & racism. All welcome. Muller Plaza, Oneonta. Visit www.facebook.com/events/672946079998383 for info.
VIRTUAL PRIDEFEST – 2 – 8 p.m. Celebrate Pride 2020. Online event will include opening ceremony, speeches, musical performances, more. This years theme is ‘Colors of Pride.’ Visit www.facebook.com/otsegopride/ for info.
Perhaps as many as 500 people rallied peacefully in Oneonta’s Muller Plaza this afternoon to hear Rev. LaDana Clark, a former police officer, above, say, “Most of our police are trying to do the right thing, but it’s the bad apples have to be checked and removed! There can be no peace as long as an officer can place his knee on the neck of a black man and take his life in front of our eyes!” As is happening nationwide, SUNY Oneonta student Sadie Starr Lincoln, Oneonta, inset left, organized this afternoon’s protest calling for justice and an end to racism following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Other speakers included SUNY students Johnson Brown and Kimberly Miller; Rev. Craig Schwalenberg, pastor, Unitarian Universalist Society and Shannon McHugh, a member of the city’s Community Relations & Human Rights Commission. Attendees were urged to vote, to speak out when they see incidents of racism and to join the NAACP, Oneonta chapter; Rev. Cynthia Walton-Leavitt of the Red Door Church was on site with NAACP membership applications. The crowd filled Muller Plaza and spread across the street. Since social distancing was difficult, organizers urged attendees to be tested for COVID-19 following the gathering. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS – 10 a.m. Join photographer JW Johnston for 3 part class ‘Notion of Motion’ hosted on Zoom from the Huntington Memorial Library. Registration required. Visit www.facebook.com/hmloneonta/ for Info.
In celebration of the first night of Hanukkah, Jeff Rebinowitz, Temple Beth El, lights the first candle on the Menorah during the third annual Hanukkah celebration in Muller Plaza this evening. Before the lighting, Rabbi Meir Rubashkin, seen in lower left, shared his thoughts with the crowd, urging them, “Ask ourselves how we can add kindness and positivity to the world in ways that is outside the norm? You gotta be a little nuts in how you spread your light in the world. We can overcome darkness, and it will be a catalyst to something greater.” Following the lighting, guests enjoyed hot cider, apple sauce, latkes, gilt and more. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
HOLIDAY CONCERT – 4 p.m. Wonderful works by Mozart including Missa brevis, more with The Voices of Cooperstown. Christ Episcopal Church, 46 River St., Cooperstown. 607-547-9555 or visit www.wearecooperstown.com/events/voices-of-cooperstown-concert/
CHRISTMAS CAROL – 7 – 9 p.m. Theatrical performance of classic Charles Dickens Christmas story returns for 7th year running. Tickets, $15/adult. The Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1453 or visit www.farmersmuseum.org/stec_event/carol/0
Fifty protesters gathered in Oneonta’s Muller Plaza this evening in support of the impeachment of President Donald Trump, which may be voted on by the House of Representatives tomorrow. Above, Alice Lichtenstein, Becca Brooks, Elayne Moser-Campoli and others flash their signs as passing cars while organizer Amy Pondolfino, right, read selections from Congress’ Articles of Impeachment, which charge the President with Obstruction of Justice and Abuse of Power stemming from charges that he withheld military aid as a means of pressuring Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to perform favors for him. The crowd followed by singing seasonally inspired songs like “‘Tis The Season For Impeachment.” (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
HOLIDAY WORKSHOP – 1 – 3 p.m. Children are invited to decorate their own Christmas bulb, sing along to Christmas carols on player piano. Oneonta History Center, 183 Main St., Oneonta. 607-432-0960 or visit www.oneontahistory.org/index.htm
HOLIDAY RUN – 10 a.m. Race through Cooperstown in your ugliest holiday sweater. Runners receive free coffee/hot chocolate upon completion. Registration 8:30 – 9:30. Cost, $25/individual. Start at Santa’s house, Pioneer Park, Main St., Cooperstown. 607-547-2800 or visit www.clarksportscenter.com/events/2019-rockin-around-cooperstown-ugly-sweater-runwalk/
