Thomas Slicer hasn’t been a marathon runner all of his life. “I only started training for marathons last year,” he said. “Before that I was training for all of the shorter distance races.”
Mr. Slicer turns 28 in June, and he just finished his first Boston Marathon in April — the average age for male runners in that 26.2-mile run is 42. It’s the world’s oldest annual marathon and ranks as one of the world’s best-known road racing events.
“There are so many inspiring stories that come out of the Boston Marathon,” he said. “The one I remember the most is when Jacob Russell pushed Patrick Dewey on a stroller. It was incredible.”
Mr. Slicer is from Oneonta and went to Oneonta High School, then on to SUNY Delhi. He trained for the Boston race in Oneonta.
We have a gem amongst us in Otsego County: meet Chile native Nelson Modaca, a 20-year Marine vet and rising culinary star.
Spoiler alert: he plans on opening a French-infused restaurant in our area in 2023!
Mr. Modaca is making a name for himself in the Hospitality and Culinary school at SUNY Delhi. He’s taking an honors class every semester in addition to his current academic schedule. He’s pushing himself to be the best; he will have a bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts Management in May 2023.
“My ultimate goal is to open a restaurant when I graduate in May of 2023,” Mr. Modaca said. “We are looking in the Cherry Valley area. I’m looking for something that isn’t huge, that has a good space that I’d like to work in. And it will most likely be a classical French Bistro.”
Oh sweet child, I watch as you tell people I am gone. I know it’s your delicate way of saying I have died but what you don’t realize is that your statement couldn’t be further from the truth. While it seems this way, I promise you I am not gone. Pieces of me drifted to eternity but the most meaningful pieces of who I was and who I am are right inside of you, without the possibility of ever going anywhere.
Kathleen A. Stiefel
GREENWICH – Kathleen A. Stiefel, formerly of Milford, passed away Tuesday, January 11, 2022, following a courageous and hard fought battle against cancer at the home she shared with her daughter in Greenwich. She was 71.
Born Kathleen Anne Powers on born May 16, 1950, in Cooperstown, she was the oldest of nine children of James Frederick Powers and Nina Mary (Jenks) Powers. She was a graduate of Milford High School and attended Hartwick College and SUNY Delhi.
For many years she was employed as a Registered Nurse, and worked at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital and Focus Rehabilitation and Nursing Center in Cooperstown, Countryside Care Center in Delhi, and most recently at Saratoga Center for Rehab and Skilled Nursing Care in Ballston Spa. She spent most of her days caring for others and tending to her animals more than herself; there was no person or creature she didn’t appreciate.
READING – 7 – 8:30 p.m. English professors from SUNY Delhi share their creative writing in literary & speculative genres. Includes Q&A session after reading. Sponsored by Huntington Memorial Library. 607-432-1980 or visit www.facebook.com/hmloneonta/
ONEONTA – Martha Mary Delello, 78, who filled many leadership roles over the years at Oneonta’s St. Mary’s Roman Catholic parish, passed away on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020, at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester.
She was born on Aug. 12, 1941, in Oneonta, the daughter of Patsy and Matilda (Martin) Delello. She was the youngest of 13 children.
A lifelong area resident, Martha was a graduate of St. Mary’s School and Oneonta High School.
She was employed by Wilber Bank and Key Bank in Oneonta and retired after 25 years from SUNY Delhi.
ONEONTA — Carol H. Uhlig, 79, of Oneonta, CSEA president during two decade at SUNY Delhi, passed away on Monday, Nov. 18, 2019, at her home.
She was born on Oct. 19, 1940, in Peekskill, the daughter of the late Grady and Marion Hardwick. Carol graduated from SUNY Oneonta with an associate degree. She married Edward Uhlig on Oct. 15, 1961.
ANGEL TREE PROGRAM – Give the Gift of Christmas this holiday season. Adopt a family in need. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ to learn how.
DECORATION – 2 p.m. Help decorate Santa’s cottage, village lamp poles for the holidays. E-mail to reserve a pole. Decorations provided, bring gloves/ladders if available. Pioneer Park, Cooperstown. cooptownchristmas@gmail.com
ANGEL TREE PROGRAM – Give the Gift of Christmas this holiday season. Adopt a family in need. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ to learn how.
HOLIDAY BAZAAR – 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Elm Park Church is hosting annual holiday bazaar. Christmas decorations, gently used items, and baked goods available. 401 Chestnut St., Oneonta.
BROADWAY CONCERT – 2:30 p.m. Sing A Song of Broadway presents more “Wishes, Lies, and Dreams” featuring music from My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Into the Woods, Seussical, Camelot, and many more! $10. First United “Red Door” Presbyterian Church, Oneonta. Info, (607) 287-8669
The McHarghue siblings of East Worcester – from left, Lucas, 2; Amber 10 , and Aiden, 11 – create gingerbread houses today at Southside Mall, instructed by SUNY Delhi students in Associated Professor Julee Miller’s prize-winning culinary arts program. (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)
DELHI – Brooks’ House of BBQ second-generation owner John Brooks will be presented an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree at SUNY Delhi’s 101st annual graduation at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 19.
SUNY Delhi President Michael Laliberte called Brooks, one of 11 family members with Delhi degrees, “a passionate advocate and friend whose achievements are inspiring and demonstrate to students the benefits of a SUNY Delhi education.”
From boyhood, Brooks helped his father barbecue chicken at local fund-raisers for not-for-profits. At age 15, his parents built an 80-seat restaurant in Oneonta that all family members helped run.
MOUNT VISION – Esa T. Eramo, 54, of Mount Vision, retired SUNY Delhi power plant engineer and a black belt in karate, passed away Sunday, April 10, at Bassett Hospital, after a 13-year battle with pulmonary fibrosis.
Esa was born in Inkeroinen, Finland, the son of Martti and Anja Eramo. Esa was the second of three sons.
He moved to Oneonta with his parents and older brother Kari at a young age where he attended Greater Plains Elementary School. After graduating from Delhi with an associate’s degree in industrial engineering, he worked at various companies before retiring from his alma mater.
SUNY Delhi provost wasn’t looking for a new opportunity when he opened his email in September. “I got an inquiry that piqued my interesting,” said John S. Nader. “I went ahead and applied to it.”
The former Oneonta mayor saw that Herkimer County Community College was seeking a new president, and he immediately applied. “Their program mix is consistent with the skill set I’ve tried to apply to SUNY Delhi,” he said. “They have a wide range of students from across the state and internationally, and they’re a leader in online education.”
And on Monday, Nov. 24, he got the news that he has been selected as one of the four finalists for the position. “I’m flattered that they’ve taken an interest in me,” he said.
The other three are Eunice Bellinger, vice president/academic affairs, Niagara County Community College; Stuart T. Blacklaw, vice president for instruction and student services, Yavapai College, Prescott, Ariz., and Cathleen C. McColgin, provost, Onondaga Community College.
The four will be invited to Herkimer in December for campus forums before a final decision is made. Nader’s will be the last, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 10, in HCCC’s Robert McLaughlin College Center. “They hope to have someone in by June 2015,” Nader said.
The former mayor, part of an Oneonta political dynasty begun by his dad, Sam Nader, mayor during the 1960s, has been at SUNY Delhi since 1982, when, while working on his Ph.D. at the New School’s social research program, he taught economics, history and public policy.
In 2000, he was named the dean of the Liberal Arts & Sciences Department. In 2009, was named as provost.
The additional press of business made him realize he couldn’t continue at City Hall, and he recruited Dick Miller to run that fall on Democratic and independent lines.
Dr. John S. Nader, SUNY Delhi provost and former mayor of Oneonta, is one of four finalists for president of Herkimer County Community College. The college announced today that the four will be invited to Herkimer in December for campus forums before a final decision is made.
The other three are Dr. Eunice Bellinger, vice president/academic affairs, Niagara County Community College; Dr. Stuart T. Blacklaw, vice president for instruction and student services, Yavapai College, Prescott, Ariz., and Dr. Cathleen C. McColgin, provost, Onondaga Community College.
Thomas Slicer hasn’t been a marathon runner all of his life. “I only started training for marathons last year,” he said. “Before that I was training for all of the shorter distance races.”
