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Volume 15, No. 28
AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE COMPLIMENTARY
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, May 4, 2023
Habitat for Humanity Taking Applications
Artist Examines Edge of Nature
Open House Set for This Saturday
‘Swarm’ is Intense, Colorful
By WRILEY NELSON
By WRILEY NELSON
OTSEGO COUNTY abitat for Humanity Otsego County is accepting applications for local families or individuals who are interested in partnering with Habitat to become homeowners. HFHOC will discuss the process with anyone who submits an interest form, and is holding an open house at their site on McFarland Road in Oneonta on May 6 at 1 p.m. “We’re showing one of the houses that hasn’t been sold yet and invite anyone who’s interested to come see, and to learn about the process. They can pick up an intro sheet,” said HFHOC President Jerry Blechman. The Otsego County chapter has nine homes on their current project site in the Town of Oneonta and has completed four. It admitted three new partner families during last year’s application cycle. Habitat for Humanity works with local communities and unhoused and underhoused families to build affordable, adequate homes. Selected families will receive assistance in obtaining an affordable loan and purchasing a Habitat home built by local volunteers. Before they move in, partner families receive assistance with paperwork and extensive education on owning and maintaining a home. They are asked to actively participate in the process and to help with current construction sites. Habitat calls this “sweat equity,” and considers it a key factor in successful outcomes. “It builds the community and neighborhood,” Blechman said. “By the time the houses are ready, the partners are very invested in the home and invested in the area. We can fill neighborhoods with people who really want to be there.” “We don’t just give away houses,” Blechman continued. “The partner families work with us on homes, including the ones they will buy. It’s great to work on a building site alongside the people who will be living there; you can ask them all along if a towel rack is in the right place, or anything like that.” “The homeownership classes are a huge part of it. I wish I had had a resource like that when I bought my house. We teach them how to take care of the property,” he concluded. Partners must meet income and credit guidelines, live in Continued on page 9
COOPERSTOWN nternationally famed artist and Cooperstown resident Ashley Norwood Cooper visited the Fenimore Art Museum on April 26 to walk visitors through her exhibition, “Swarm.” The visit was part of the museum’s “Food for Thought” series of events, each of which features lunch and a lecture or tour by artists and museum employees. “Swarm” is a product of the pandemic, a culmination of Cooper’s interest in swarming shapes like bees, butterflies and even ghost rabbits. She is known for her eye-popping colors and strong, exuberant brushstrokes depicting quiet, often tongue-in-cheek domestic scenes. Cooper finds the physical characteristics of her chosen medium compelling; the home page of her website, https://www.ashleynorwoodcooper. com/, reads, “Nothing will ever replace painting because nothing makes a mess like paint. It oozes and stains, drips and streaks, fades, chips and permeates…I paint because I am drawn to messiness.” At the event, Cooper repeatedly discussed the chemical attributes, advantages and drawbacks of several varieties of paint. She is especially grateful for the local presence of Golden Artist Colors, a New Berlin-based employeeowned manufacturer on the cutting edge of artists’ paint and materials innovation. Her deep fascination with paint is evident throughout the exhibit. Many of the displayed pieces are thick enough to seem three-dimensional. The centerpiece, “Throne of the Dead Queen,” is a sculpture installation featuring dozens of canvas bees made with dripping globs of paint. “The bees are flying and falling at the same time,” Cooper said. Continued on page 9
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INSIDE ► Award-winning quartet to perform in county, page 2
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Photo provided
Lucy at Last ONEONTA—Bill Maynard writes, “Lu is very depressed about not being chosen. My wife Linda is an elementary school principal and I’m a retired teacher. We adopted Lucy as a pup from East Coast Adoptions six years ago. She loves to chase frisbees, go for long walks in Fortin Park, and snooze in the sun on our back deck. She’s proud of her skills at ridding the yard of the never-ending squirrel menace, and will be your best friend forever in return for a cup of vanilla ice cream.” Well, beagle-bull Lucy can rest easy now. She’s a star! Every week, we’ll select at least one photograph to be highlighted in our newspapers, on Facebook and online. Send your photos to darlay@allotsego.com.
Survey Allows Public To Weigh In on Library Project Phase 2
was selected because they went the extra mile and showed us ► phoenix Mills talk, park some ideas for Huntington Park. ONEONTA picnic, other news, page 3 Their previous work demonstrated untington Memorial Lib► o ld friends discover beautiful designs, so we knew they rary has released a survey oneonta, page 4 have the talent required to have a inviting public input on ► what is cap and invest all positive impact on our park.” Phase 2 of its Huntington Park about? page 4 Winstead is the project lead and Project. As a result of two prior there is a Board Park Committee ► bond act should fund surveys, the areas that will be electric buses, purchase who participates in progress deciimproved in “the new Huntington of camp lands, page 4 sions. The full Library Board Park” are the library entry and plays an active role in approving ► hill city Gambit, page 5 gardens, the Crossroads Art Plaza, changes, she explained. and the Children’s Discovery ► green berets and roasted According to the previous Zone. roaches, page 6 surveys, the public was most Library officials have also ► d ance performance set for interested in seeing developannounced that Urban Landscape hartwick college, page 7 ment of the children’s area, Studio has been selected to lead terrace overlook, sledding hill Follow Breaking News On the development of the next phase Graphic courtesy of Huntington Memorial Library and a literary garden. The terrace of improvements to the park. A The conceptual rendering above shows possibilities for the new Children’s Discovery Zone. overlook and sledding hill were OTSEGO.com small landscape architecture firm completed last year, along with based in Saratoga Springs, ULS “About nine different firms submitted proposals hillside plantings and park lighting. was founded and is led by registered landscape for the Phase 2 Project. It was honestly a very diffiThe library has received a $500,000.00 architect Erin Maciel, who has more than 13 years’ cult decision, and the ones we interviewed could grant from the New York State Office of Parks, experience in public infrastructure, transportation, all have done a fantastic job,” said Huntington Continued on page 9 parkland and residential projects. Memorial Library Director Tina Winstead. “ULS By DARLA M. YOUNGS
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THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD