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LOCAL PICTURES WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS, page 6
VISIT www.ALLOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S NEWSPAPER/ONLINE Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, August 15, 2024
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Oneonta Food Makers Among Finalists in Statewide Contest By MONICA CALZOLARI
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“Michelle Catan is amazing. She cares. She’s passionate about helping small businesses.” Sarah Hartmann, founder of Vêsucré, said, “I am truly grateful to be in this competition, and to be alongside Kim Condon is such an honor.” Both entrepreneurs manufacture products for the health-conscious consumer. Condon is a vegetarian who had a sweet tooth as a child and was nicknamed Toonie Moonie. Condon said, “Ninety-five percent of my refrigerator and pantry are full of organic products. When I started the company, there were not many organics in the sweet category.” Photo by Debbie Creedon When Condon had children of her John Membrino rides the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station barge as he surveys nearown, she could not find an organic ly half a ton of debris removed from Otsego Lake on Sunday, August 11. marshmallow product. So, in 2006, she converted her garage into an organic Continued on page 12
ONEONTA oonie Moonie Organics Ltd. and Vêsucré LLC are two womenowned businesses in Oneonta. Both food makers recently applied to compete in an inaugural competition held by The Business Council of New York State Inc. and dubbed “Coolest Thing Made in New York.” Forty-five manufacturers applied for “coolest thing” honors. Toonie Moonie and Vêsucré were among the top 16 businesses receiving the most votes in the first round of the contest. Neither business had advanced to round two as of August 12, but they were up against some stiff competition. General Motors in Buffalo entered its Corvette engine as the “Coolest Thing Made in New York” and The Raymond Corporation in Greene applied to have its robotic “Orderpicker” considered for coolest product honors, among other entrants. The winner will be announced on September 19. The purpose of the “Coolest Thing” initiative is to spotlight the innovation, creativity and manufacturing excellence of businesses across the state. Michelle Catan, advanced certified senior business advisor with the New York State Small Business Development Center, suggested that Toonie Moonie and Vêsucré enter the competition as a platform to showcase Photo provided their food products. Kim Condon, owner of Toonie Moonie Organics, Kim Condon, owner of invented organic marshmallow cream with her Toonie Moonie Organics, said, children’s health in mind. INSIDE ► IRON STRING PRESS WELCOMES NATIVE SON TO STAFF, page 2
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By KRISTIAN CONNOLLY
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COOPERSTOWN t’s a scene common to junk yards and landfills across the globe. Picture a pile containing a small, rusted propane tank; half a six-footlong water tank, cut lengthwise; a single sawhorse; various lengths of corroding pipe; roughly 18 tires of various sizes; planks, boards, and other wood and metal debris of different shapes and sizes; multiple lengths of rope. Nearly a half-ton of detritus. Now picture those objects in Otsego Lake. This was the case until this past Sunday, August 11, when lakeside
property owners and dedicated volunteers from the Otsego Lake Association cleaned up the shoreline and removed all of that waste during the OLA’s annual “Otsego Lake Cleanup Day.” Gathered at the SUNY Oneonta Biological Field Station’s boathouse afterward, researcher and OLA Director for the Town of Otsego Paul Lord observed simply, “Some things that you think wouldn’t end up in the lake do.” Using a barge supplied by the BFS, the OLA transported all the collected materials to the north side of Three Mile Point. From there, the Village of Continued on page 12
Mother, Daughter Swim Lake in Support of Hospice By TERESA WINCHESTER
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ITHACA oann Curtis of Morris is a retired postmaster, having spent her last six years in that position in West ► BIOBANKS NEED PUBLIC Oneonta. Her daughter, Michele Farwell, OVERSIGHT, page 4 who lives in the Town of Butternuts, has fashioned historic reproductions at Adelphi ► FARM VISITS FAMILIARIZE FAMILIES WITH AG, Paper Hangings for the last 24 years. Farwell page 5 has also served on the Town of Butternuts Town Board and the Otsego County Board ► MUSIC AND MORE AT HARVEST FESTIVAL, page 9 of Representatives. On Sunday, August 10, this mother► COOPERSTOWN IN SEARCH daughter duo dove purposefully into the OF A VILLAGE SEAL, waters of Cayuga Lake, swimming 1.2 miles page 10 from the starting point on one side of the Follow Breaking News On lake to the Ithaca Yacht Club on the other side. Curtis and Farwell were among some 300 participants in the 21st annual “Women OTSEGO.com Swimmin’ for Hospicare and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County,” a fundraiser ► OSCAA SEEKS INPUT ON AGE-FRIENDLY COMMUNITIES, page 3
Annual Lake Cleanup Initiates Further Conversation, Concerns
for women ages 18 and over. Both women chose to take on the challenge because they believe strongly in the mission of the Ithaca-based Hospicare in particular and hospice care in general. “I know many people who hospice care has helped through difficult times,” Curtis said. Farwell agreed, and added, “Hospice gives people peace of mind. It eases the last days of living with their loved ones. We’ve both seen the direct benefit that hospice provides.” Why support hospice by swimming across a lake? “We’re both a little crazy,” Curtis laughed. Photo by Norman Farwell “The swim is a worthy carrot out there to Michele Farwell (left) with her mother, Joann get us motivated.” Curtis, after the “Women Swimmin’ for Hospicare Farwell heard about Women Swimmin’ and Palliative Care Services of Tompkins County” from a friend living in Ithaca. event at Cayuga Lake on August 10. Both women swam 1.2 miles across the lake. Continued on page 13
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD