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ONEONTA
& The Otsego-Delaware Dispatch
congratulations, scholarship winners! page 2 VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Oneonta, N.Y., Thursday, June 27, 2024
Volume 16, No. 35
COMPLIMENTARY
MLB at Rickwood, Negro League Tribute Serve as Center Stage for Farewell to MLB’s ‘Say Hey Kid’ HoF Officials On Hand as Baseball Mourns the Passing of Incomparable Willie Mays By CHARLIE VASCELLARO
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BIRMINGHAM, AL he saying goes that baseball is a game without a clock, only innings, but time ran out on Willie Mays, 93, the game’s oldest living Hall of Famer, just as it was catching up with professional baseball’s Negro Leagues history in Mays’ birthplace of Birmingham, Alabama. Fans in attendance (7,866) for the first day of a three-day celebration of Major League Baseball’s “A Tribute to the Negro Leagues” will never forget where they were when they heard the news. Shortly after word began spreading via text messages and notifications during the seventh-inning stretch of the Double-A “Rickwood Classic” minor league contest between Montgomery and Birmingham on Tuesday, June 18, the public address announcer informed the crowd of Mays’ passing. After the announcement, a highlight reel of classic Mays clips aired on the newly installed giant scoreboard behind the wall in right field, accompanied by “Say Hey (The Willie Mays Song),” the R&B baseball classic recorded by the Treniers in 1954. We all sung along: “Say hey, say who? Say Willie, Say hey, say who? Swinging at the plate Say hey, say who? Say Willie That Giants kid is great.” INSIDE ► summer music festival kicks off soon, page 3 ► Malone busts trade deficit myth, page 4 ► birds featured in ‘life of the land,’ page 5 ► When In France, bring your own bag... page 6 ► market checks help sENIORS, page 7 ► demo, artist talk at the art garage, page 8 ► HOF All-star gala set for july 16, page 9 ► Goings on, page 14 Follow Breaking News On
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And the game went right on into the next inning. And Willie was gone. The game continues to move forward while Willie has been relegated to the past. Baseball’s tough that way. None of us get to live forever, not even Willie Mays. Prior to the event, there was tremendous anticipation among the baseball community as to whether Mays would be on hand for the celebration. There was so much speculation that Mays issued a statement excusing his absence in advance on Monday, June 17, the day before three days of festivities culminating in the MLB at Rickwood regular-season game between Mays’ San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, June 20. “I wish I could come out to Rickwood Field this week to be with you all and enjoy that field with my friends. Rickwood’s been part of my life for all of my life. Since I was a kid. It was just ‘around the corner there’ from Fairfield [the town where Mays went to high school], and it felt like it had been there forever. Like a church. The first big thing I ever put my mind to was to play at Rickwood Field. It wasn’t a dream. It was something I was going to do. I was going to work hard to be one of the Birmingham Black Barons and play ball at Rickwood Field. That’s what I did. It was my start. My first job. You never forget that. Rickwood Field Continued on page 10
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Independence Day the Old-fashioned Way COOPERSTOWN he Farmers’ Museum in Cooperstown marks Independence Day on Thursday, July 4 with a traditional 1840s celebration featuring a dramatic reading of the Declaration of Independence, food, and activities focused on family fun. Starting at noon, watch as the Declaration of Independence is read aloud on the Bump Tavern Green. Take part in the 13 celebratory toasts as our Founding Fathers did with lemonade made from an 1840’s recipe. In addition, there will be a reading of Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” and a piece by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Sit for an old-fashioned tintype portrait from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (weather permitting, $35.00 per 4x5 tintype, register and select your timeslot at Todd’s General Store). Nineteenth-century children’s games will be provided for family play on the Bump Tavern Green. Museum artisans will demonstrate traditional blacksmithing, letterpress printing and other trades throughout the day. At the print shop, visitors can pick up a copy of the 1840’s lemonade recipe, printed on the museum’s Liberty Job Press. At the Lippitt Farmstead, learn about life on the farm and delight in the animals in the Children’s Barnyard. In the Main Barn, check out the exhibition, “The Buzz about Pollinators,” and the historic tool collection. Visitors can also take a ride on the Empire State Carousel, explore the Country Village and visit the Cardiff Giant. The Farmers’ Museum, located at 5775 State Route 80, is open every day this summer from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Visit farmersmuseum.org for more information.
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Hartwick, SUNY Partner on Archaeological Field School She said, “We are training students in field techniques, artifact analysis, ONEONTA how to keep good records and how to leven students and one teaching work as a team.” assistant are gaining valuable Dr. Elizabeth Cruzado Carranza, an Archaeological Field School adjunct assistant professor of archeexperience at Hartwick College’s Pine ology at SUNY Oneonta, also assists Lake Environmental Campus for four in the field and lab. weeks, May 29 through June 28. The summer field school is open This is a joint project between to local as well as visiting students. Hartwick College and SUNY Oneonta. In addition to four SUNY Oneonta Faculty from the anthropology departstudents and two Hartwick students, ments from both schools offer a sixstudents from Drew University, credit summer course in archaeological Photo by Monica Calzolari Catholic University, St. Lawrence excavation methods. Dr. Renee Whitman of SUNY Oneonta instructs Natalie Bene- University, and Adelphi University Dr. Renee Whitman, a professor of nati, Kayla Kaufman, and Mia Vinson as they perform excava- are also participating. archaeology at SUNY Oneonta, lives tion work at the Archeological Field School at Pine Lake. NichDr. Sugandhi said, “We like to call on-site at Pine Lake in a cabin for olas Torregrossa looks at his notes while Elwyn Hand screens it archeology boot camp. It tests you excavated dirt for artifacts in the background. four weeks, as do most of the student a bit.” participants. Dr. Namita Sugandhi, a professor of Students work outdoors five days Dr. Whitman said, “We have been doing anthropology at Hartwick College, joined a week from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and work Continued on page 11 this every other summer since 2003.” the field school team in 2019. By MONICA CALZOLARI
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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 RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER EDDM PRESORT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID ONEONTA PERMIT NO. 890