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COMPLIMENTARY
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, May 9, 2024
Volume 16, No. 28
Clark Foundation Provides $6M to Support New Daycare Center
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COOPERSTOWN grant of $6 million to underwrite the creation of a new children’s daycare facility on the campus of Bassett Medical Center in Cooperstown was announced by Jane Forbes Clark, president of The Clark Foundation, on Tuesday, April 30. “The Foundation’s Board of Trustees and I are very pleased to be providing the funding needed to build a state-of-the-art daycare center,” said Clark. “Providing excellent daycare Graphic provided for the children of Bassett employees The original Brookwood Point Conservation Area master plan, approved by the Town of that is literally next door, with flexible hours to match their schedules, will Otsego in 2015, called for a paddling launch at the northern end of the property. help to attract and retain the best caregivers that our communities need and depend upon.” The center will provide care for infants, toddlers, and pre-school children, and the care will be available boardwalk, which requires a Special during clinical work hours. Bassett will By DARLA M. YOUNGS Permit from the town in order to protect transform the historic Harrison House COOPERSTOWN the wetlands in that area.” According to Farmer, the original o change in use, no change in master plan for the 22-acre parcel capacity, no road, no lights, no along Otsego Lake was developed in structures. 2011 and approved in 2015, at which When asked about concerns time OLT received a Special Permit to expressed by Brookwood Point operate Brookwood Point as a recreConservation Area neighbors, Otsego COOPERSTOWN ational facility with no further condiLand Trust Executive Director Gregory he League of Women Voters of Farmer was adamant that relocation tions from the Town of Otsego. The the Cooperstown Area will hold of the existing paddling launch to the northern location was the preferred spot a candidates’ debate for the three northern end of the property does not for the paddling launch, but could not open seats on the Cooperstown Central constitute a change in OLT’s original be completed then because the existing School District Board of Education on pedestrian bridges were in complete master plan. May 13. The event will be held at the disrepair, Farmer explained. “This is exactly what has been Cooperstown Central School Jr./Sr. “As there was no access then to the discussed since we acquired the High School cafeteria at 7 p.m. northern side of the property, we went Brookwood Point property,” Farmer There are six candidates running for with the natural launch at the southern said in a telephone interview on Friday, the school board: Padraic MacLeish, Continued on page 8 Matthew Monahan, Mary Beth May 3. “The only difference is the
Brookwood Launch Relocation Questioned by OLT Neighbors
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located at 1 Beaver Street into the new facility by constructing a 3,000-squarefoot addition that will have classrooms, common and service areas, offices, and an enclosed playground. The building will also have space dedicated to sick care, ensuring that employees’ children have appropriate care when necessary and, as a result, employees will not have to miss work. It is anticipated that the center will serve 70 children and employ 18 staff. It is expected to open in 2025. ‘’This extraordinary support from The Clark Foundation will be a game changer for our employees and their children,” said Staci Thompson, MHA, FACMPE, president and chief executive officer, Bassett Healthcare Network. “Access to an on-site daycare center will enable our employees to achieve a proper work-life balance and take great comfort that their children are safe and being well taken care of.”
LWV Announces School Board Candidates’ Debate on May 13
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Murdock, Keith Parr, Anthony Scalici and William Streck. Monahan and Scalici are incumbent. Maureen Murray, a member of the Cooperstown Area LWV, will moderate the event. The school board elections are non-partisan; candidates do not run as members of a party. On Election Day, May 21, voters will also vote on the 2024-2025 district budget, a school bus lease proposiContinued on page 11
Wooden Volunteers at Adaptive Basketball Clinic
INSIDE ► fly creek cider mill opens friday, page 3 ► Let’s do mother’s day the right way, page 4 ► higgins speaks out on NY HEAT Act, page 4 ► readers weigh in on brookwood, page 4 ► gallery music series Starts May 18, page 6 ► bees take center stage in exhibit, page 6 ► ariel quartet plays on mother’s day, page 6 ► news IN brief, page 7 Follow Breaking News On
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ONEONTA raham Wooden of Oneonta was one of 19 SUNY Oneonta students who volunteered at the annual Adaptive Basketball Clinic on campus. The event, created through a partnership between the college’s Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and EDD Adaptive Sports, was held in the Chase Gym on April 14. It allowed area individuals who have varying intellectual and adaptive disabilities to hone their skills in basketball through different technical and shooting drills. Photo provided Wooden is studying exercise Graham Wooden (center) assists clinic participants seeking to improve science and is part of the SUNY their basketball skills. Oneonta Class of 2024. Sport and Exercise Sciences department has Over the past few years, SUNY Oneonta’s developed a relationship with EDD Adaptive
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Sports, a non-profit organization that offers adaptive sports programs to children and adults with any disability. EDD Adaptive Sports programs allow people of all ages to participate in a variety of free athletic and sport-related activities, including basketball, biking, kayaking, soccer, swimming, pickleball, rowing, and yoga. According to a press release, this was the second year that SUNY Oneonta and EDD Adaptive Sports worked together to make the basketball clinic a successful day for everyone involved. “The enthusiasm of the coaches helped make today a wonderful experience,” said Barbara Mackey, a member of the Board of Continued on page 11
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER EDDM PRESORT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ONEONTA PERMIT NO. 890