The Texas School House State Forest is one of the Myers’ favorite hikes.
ONEONTA Lee Ann and Rick Myers of Oneonta recently completed the Otsego Outdoors Fall Octet Challenge, marking the 5,000th trek made by participants in the Otsego 2000, Otsego Land Trust and Otsego County Conservation Association-led activity. Since the Octet Challenges began in February 2021, Otsego Outdoors’ mission has been to provide a comprehensive and searchable listing of every publicly accessible trail in Otsego County, helping residents and visitors enjoy the natural beauty of the area.
COOPERSTOWN – The Cooperstown Farmers’ Market will hold a special Holiday Market with 26 local farmers, artisans, crafters and food producers on Tuesday, December 20 from noon to 5 p.m. The event will feature free mulled cider from Middlefield Orchard and live music. The Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, which operates year-round on Saturdays, is located in Pioneer Alley at 101 Main Street.
This Election Day, Otsego County voters have the chance to vote for a cleaner environmental future for our children and grandchildren. Proposition 1, the NYS Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act, is on the ballot again for the first time since 1996, and the stakes could not be clearer for the health of Otsego County residents, farmlands, open space, and waterways.
Otsego 2000 Executive Director Ellen Pope shows off this year’s Film Days poster, designed by Doreen DeNicola with photo by Mike Reynolds.
This year, Glimmerglass Film Days is offering five days of independent films, filmmaker talks, art, parties, live music and events. The films will be screened at the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Fenimore Art Museum, The Farmers’ Museum, Templeton Hall and the Cooperstown Village Hall.
“Connection is the theme this year,” Ellen Pope, executive director of Otsego 2000, said. “After two years of the pandemic and social isolation, we thought a lot about what the theme should be. The film festival used to be about not just great films but the social and human connection of watching films together. We didn’t have that for two years, so we wanted to focus on how important connection is—the human connection, connecting the dots between humans and climate and nature.”
“This year we started a submission process on Film Freeway. It’s a database where filmmakers can put their films out there for festivals to review and hopefully choose,” Pope said.
On Sunday, October 16 from 3-4:30 p.m., Cooperstown’s Friends of the Village Library and Otsego 2000 will co-host a 90-minute panel discussion on how New York State’s energy plan will affect the community.
Topics will include the process for siting of renewable energy projects, the possible use of farmland and forest and how multiple use might be encouraged, and the present and future energy demands in our region and state and how those demands might be met.
Cooperstown Composting is now offering a free weekly compost drop-off outside of the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market while the market is underway.
Accepted materials are: fruits and peels; tea bags and coffee grounds; vegetables; egg shells; yard clippings; leaves and flowers; cardboard and paper; meat and dairy; and table scraps. Plastics, animal waste, glass, metals, and waxed or glossy paper are prohibited.
The Cooperstown Farmers’ Market, open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., is located at 101 Main Street, Cooperstown, in Pioneer Alley.
We at Otsego 2000 applaud the progress that has been made at local, state, and federal levels with regard to clean, renewable, and carbon-free energy production and we hope that this is only the beginning for serious, thoughtful, and timely policies to protect our environment.
At the local level, leaders in Cooperstown have contracted with solar power producers in the North Country region to offset 100 percent of the electrical demand for municipal buildings in Cooperstown, with production likely by 2023 and with a price tag favorable to the village. Not only did the village make this commitment to a renewable source of energy, but they performed due diligence by investigating the solar contractor and assuring themselves that prime agricultural land use was respected. Secondly, the Village of Cooperstown has installed EV chargers in the Doubleday parking lot, and heat pumps, LED lighting, and improved insulation in village buildings. We are aware that other municipalities and towns have been considering adoption of similar policies. We strongly encourage our county, town and municipal leaders to move expeditiously in this direction.
PAINT THE POINT – 7 a.m. – Noon. The public is invited to walk the gardens and view artists at work as they paint Brookwood Point. Resulting pieces will be on sale with the Cooperstown Art Association. Brookwood Point, 6000 St. Rte. 80, Cooperstown. 607-547-2366 or visit otsegolandtrust.org/calendar/paint-the-point
OTSEGO COUNTY FAIR – 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Come enjoy music, rides, food, exhibits, and much more at the Otsego County Fair. Otsego County Fair Grounds, 469 Mill St., Morris. 607-263-5289 or visit www.otsegocountyfair.org
COOPERSTOWN – Mary Martha McGowan passed away on July 2, 2022, surviving her beloved husband Victor Salvatore, Jr by 18 months. Universally known as Martha, she was born August 13, 1936 in St. Paul, Minnesota. After attending the College of New Rochelle and graduating with an art degree from the University of Minnesota, she moved first to Chicago and then to New York City in 1966.
In New York she worked at the Associated Council of the Arts, the South Street Seaport project, and for the Brooklyn Academy of Music, of which she authored a history. When she met and married Victor Salvatore, Jr, she began to spend time at their home Swanswick in Springfield Center, New York.
APPRECIATION CONCERT – 4 p.m. Glimmerglass Festival to hold a season preview concert to appreciate the Springfield Community. Listen to some highlights from the coming opera season. Proceeds benefit the Springfield 4th of July Parade. Tickets, $5/person available from the Convenience Corner Store at US-20 and St. Rt. 80 in Springfield or at the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, Cooperstown. Held at the Alice Busch Opera Theater, 7300 St. Rt. 80, Cooperstown. 607-547-2255 or visit www.facebook.com/SpringfieldParade/
Climate change and land use are inextricably bound together. The collision between the two creates tension. We are experiencing that tension in multiple ways — not least of which is the drive to create more renewable energy through use of solar and wind-power generation on central New York farmland.
There currently are proposals — some approved and some being considered — to develop large solar and wind “farms” throughout upstate New York, including Schoharie, Delaware, and Schenectady counties.
In some cases, these projects will reduce or eliminate crop production from previously fertile farmland and reduce or eliminate grazing capacity for livestock. The result of this will be a reduction in agricultural productivity
in central New York and removal of these lands from agricultural production for at least a generation.
Otsego 2000 was instrumental in the elimination of hydrofracking for natural gas in New York and has advocated for responsible development of solar and wind energy production for local use. Large-scale production of solar and wind energy, however, can be quite a different proposition if it involves taking potentially productive farmland out of service or fragmenting the ecological integrity of natural systems.
Take a fascinating trip to the roots of America’s democracy and Women’s Suffrage on Friday, April 29, with “Haudenosaunee Culture, History and Influences in Upstate New York” at The Lake House in Richfield Springs.
The hour-long discussion features Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, an expert on the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and its centuries-long influence on the United States, as well as Oneida Faithkeeper Diane Shenandoah and her son, musician Adah Shenandoah. Open to the public, the event runs from 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Admission is free, although donations are encouraged.
“We’re on the eastern edge of the Confederacy,” said Town of Richfield Supervisor Dan Sullivan. “The significance isn’t so much where we are in terms of the border, but in terms of how the Confederacy had such a lasting impact on New York and influenced the Seneca Falls convention. It’s an important story.”
The Cooperstown Farmers’ Market and the Cooperstown Lions Club are marking their third year of providing food-insecure individuals and families with easy access to healthy local food.
People shopping with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) at the Farmers’ Market can buy vegetables, fruit, cheese, meats, and other items, such as vegetable plants. The Cooperstown Lions Club funds SNAP Match, which provides up to $15 in matching funds to shoppers using SNAP.
“SNAP is an amazing opportunity to try a variety of nutrient-dense foods,” said Carrie Edsall of Black Willow Pond Farm, a year-round vendor at the Cooperstown Farmers’ Market. “They can explore farms for a variety of
Otsego Outdoors presents a winter challenge to all adventure seekers looking for fun and exercise this winter.
The Winter Octet Challenge, the fourth of its kind, consists of cross-country skiing, snow-shoeing, and hiking to highlight accessible trails for those seeking outdoor activities.
Participants choose 8 of 13 trails to complete at state parks, state forests, town parks, Otsego Land Trust properties, and private properties open to the public. A “Choose Your Own” option opens the door to different activities such as sledding, tubing, ice fishing, and more.
Rising Water(colors), Cel #5 by Enid Ryce is part of the exhibit at The Smithy Gallery in Cooperstown. It is reminiscent of the Sleeping Lion at the end of Otsego Lake as well as the Glimmerglass Film Days logo.
Glimmerglass Film Days returns November 4 and runs through November 11, featuring 26 feature-length films, two shorts, an art exhibition, filmmaker talks, restaurant specials, and guided walks around Cooperstown.
This year’s week-long festival, the ninth annual, reprises the 2020 virtual format but brings back the shared audience experience with the opportunity to view five of the feature-length films in person and view the exhibition “Rising Water(colors).”
“We’re excited about this year’s the films and shorts,” said Ellen Pope, Executive Director of Otsego 2000. “Glimmerglass Film Days 2021 is an environmental film festival. We define our environment to include places we live and the historic fabric around us. The economic life that knits us all together, if you will.”
Take a fascinating trip to the roots of America’s democracy and Women’s Suffrage on Friday, April 29, with “Haudenosaunee Culture, History and Influences in Upstate New York” at The Lake House in Richfield Springs.
