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08 - 2023

ONEONTA

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pm y 19 • 7l:3• $020/ticket a M , y a id r F ote a Resort H ries.org

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t ownconcer t s r e p o o C / https:/ The Otesag

Volume 15, No. 29

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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE COMPLIMENTARY

Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, May 11, 2023

Group Receives Its Certification for Refugee Settlement

Otsego 2000 Invites Houses of Worship to Join Open House

By WRILEY NELSON

ONEONTA he Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition recently announced its certification as a Private Sponsor Group with the Welcome Corps Program. On April 24, the ORRC was informed that it has been matched with a refugee family which will be arriving in one or two months. “This country was built on immigrants,” said Debra Marcus, one of the founders of the coalition. “We felt sure that this community would welcome new families and be a wonderful place for a new generation that sees America as a land of hope.” According to a release, the process took far longer than volunteers expected. The original coalition, founded in 2016, was reluctantly disbanded in 2017 after the federal government drastically reduced the national refugee intake. It was re-founded in 2021 and has since grown to include more than 90 volunteers. The new federal Welcome Corps Program is a collaborative effort between the State Department and the Department of Health and Human Services and allows volunteer councils to take the lead in welcoming refugees. It is modeled on the federal government’s strategy for Ukrainian refugees, with the difference that Welcome Corps migrants are expected to become permanent citizens. “We found that the work the coalition had been doing for the last 18 months was in sync with what was required by Welcome Corps,” Marcus continued. “We have committees on housing, employment, healthcare, culture, education—including English as a second language—transportation and fundraising. Those were all essential to the application process. We heard that Welcome Corps said our application was one of the best in New York State!” In an e-mail to ORRC members, Marcus said that a Continued on page 2

COOPERSTOWN tsego 2000 has invited historic churches and other houses of worship to participate in the New York Landmarks Conservancy’s 13th annual Sacred Sites Open House on May 20 and 21. Sacred Sites, the NYLC’s only major statewide program, celebrates the diversity and history of New York’s houses of worship. The open house has attracted thousands of visitors to religious buildings over the last decade to learn about their art, architecture, history and programming. This year’s theme, “Congregations and Communities: 50 Years of Sacred Sites,” seeks to highlight how sacred sites create community connections through the services they offer, social ties they create, and the spaces they provide for people from all walks of life. Otsego 2000 has been heavily involved in programs publicizing Otsego County’s rich historical and architectural heritage. “We’ve sponsored this event in the past through publicity,” said Otsego 2000 Executive Director Ellen Pope. “[Dr. Cynthia] Falk and I have done several guided walks in the Village of Cooperstown to show off historic buildings, including one focusing on our churches’ stained glass… This is one of the area’s greatest assets: its broad collection of historically and culturally significant buildings.” Pope explained the significant social and economic advantages that local families, congregations, and communities can reap from scenic or heritage sites. Many historic buildings, such as churches, barns, and homes, are eligible for significant grants and tax incentives. Otsego 2000 provides free advice and technical assistance to homeowners and business owners in Otsego County Historic Districts who wish to apply for tax credits. More importantly, these storied buildings and landContinued on page 10

INSIDE ► NEWS IN BRIEF, page 3 ► the origins of mother’s day, page 4

O U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Kevin C. Leitner

Secretary of the Navy, the Honorable Carlos Del Toro, speaks during the Commissioning Ceremony of the Freedom-variant littoral combat ship USS Cooperstown (LCS 23) in New York City.

USS Cooperstown: It’s Official By CASPAR EWIG NEW YORK CITY ith the exhortation “Man Our Ship and Bring Her to Life,” and to the cheers and applause of her crew, Alba Tull commissioned the vessel Cooperstown into the fleet of the United States Navy last Saturday. This introduction by her sponsor means the ship is now official and permitted to carry the title of USS Cooperstown. At 11:01 a.m. on Saturday, May 6, the USS Cooperstown, colloquially christened as “America’s Away Team,” joined the approximately 495 ships that comprise the U.S Navy’s active and reserve fleet. She continues the tradition of vessels such as the USS Constitution, which went through

the ceremony on October 1, 1797 and has retained her commission to this day. Living history is also part of the USS Cooperstown, which features memorabilia from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum honoring its 70 members who served in the military. “I’m not really into decorating the insides of a warship,” honorary sponsor Jane Forbes Clark confessed. “So I was really lucky to have an excellent crew to fulfill that purpose.” And they lived up to the task. In addition to a display case commemorating Bob Feller, the doors to the living and operating part of the USS Cooperstown have been decorated with copies of plaques from the Hall of Heroes. Continued on page 2

Morris Dancers Usher in Springtime Across Otsego County

support for us,” said Alex Naar of the Binghamton Morris Men, who served as a kind of master of ceremonies for the ► m owless may helps energy- GILBERTSVILLE event, announcing dances and dancers depleted bees, page 4 ach April, Gilbertsville’s Major’s from the different groups. ► awards, achievements and Inn fulfills its original purpose Morris dances are accompanied by accolades, page 6 of lodging travelers by opening music and traditionally danced by men, its doors and welcoming the Morris ► CCS ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME, although in recent years, a limited number dancers, a group of some 40 men and, ohs sOCCER STAR COMMITS of women have begun performing with TO PCt, mORE, page 7 more recently, a few women. the visitors to Gilbertsville. This year, This year marked their 45th appearance ► WELCOME HOME COOP SERIES the Toronto dancers and the Bouwerie KICKS OFF, page 7 in the village. Hailing from Binghamton, Boys of New York City each had a Boston, New York City, and Toronto, the ► DOG CHARMER TOM IS BACK, woman dancer joining them. Several itinerant dancers—who, for the most part, page 10 women also played musical instruments. hold “day jobs” of various sorts, perform Among them was Jessica Murrow, with ► D EROSA REFLECTS ON GETTING HOME, GETTING DIRTY, page 10 folk dances from 15th-century England, the Bouwerie Boys of New York City, Photo by Teresa Winchester known as Morris dances. The dancers who played a three-hole pipe simultaneThe Bouwerie Boys of New York City are caught in mid-air as they perform a range in age from 13 to 80. Follow Breaking News On ously with a tabor (a small drum). traditional English dance on Commercial Street in Gilbertsville. Gilbertsville was discovered by the Morris dancing features rhythmic tionship between the inn and the dancers, who Morris dancers in the mid-1970s when stepping, choreographed movement, and OTSEGO.com John Dexter, with the American Travelling Morris lodge, dine, and socialize at the Major’s Inn over the manipulation of sticks, swords, and handkerMen, happened to see the Major’s Inn on a tour the weekend when not performing. chiefs. Fiddles, concertinas, drums and pipes are “We’re incredibly indebted to Cece for her instruments of accompaniment. of Central New York. He then contacted Cece Rowe, current executive director of the Major’s passion to keep this amazing thing we call Morris The Tudor-style architecture of both the Major’s Continued on page 10 Inn Foundation. Thus began a long-standing rela- dancing alive. She is an indispensable and integral By TERESA WINCHESTER

All

THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD

Latin ROOts Dance BanD

Ola Fresca

tickets: all tickets $20. Limited number of tickets available.

Friday, May 19 7:30 pm Otesaga Resort Hotel

tickets available on line at http://www.cooperstownconcertseries.org/ tickets may also be available at the door.