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Is Santa Claus Real?/Page 04
VISIT www. Volume 214, No. 51
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Merry, Merry s Christma and a ear! Y w e N y Happ
Cooperstown’s offiCial newspaper
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AllOTSEGO.com, OTSEGO COUNTY’S DAILY NEWSPAPER/ONLINE
Cooperstown, New York, Thursday, December 22, 2022
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Former OHS Hooper Returns to Oneonta By TED MEBUST
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Photo by Jon Shestakofsky/National Baseball Hall of Fame
From left, Hall of Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark, Rick Kelly, Chris Burditt, Milo Stewart Jr., Diane Adams, Claudette Scrafford, Evan Chase, Becky Ashe, Helen Stiles and Hall of Fame President Josh Rawitch.
Hall of Fame Honors Long-Tenured Staff Members COOPERSTOWN—Eight staff members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum were honored on Monday, December 12 for reaching service milestones in an event hosted by Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark and President Josh Rawitch. The eight staff members and their years of service are: Becky Ashe, administrative and events associate, 35 years; Helen Stiles, senior acquisition and cataloging specialist, 35 years; Rick Kelly, security manager, 30 years; Milo Stewart Jr., staff photographer, 30 years; Evan Chase, director of security and facilities, 20 years; Chris Burditt, facilities manager, 20 years; Claudette Scrafford, manuscript archivist, 20 years; and Diane Adams, museum store manager, 15 years.
Killdeer Trio, An Otsego Original, Finding Its Groove By IAN KENYON
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OTSEGO COUNTY or Wyatt Ambrose, Sebastian Green and Evan Jagels, 2022 INSIDE ► season’s greetings from your local businesses, pages A2 and A3 ► letters to the editor: Springbrook’s $33 million dollar grant; HAB challenges; Newspaper platform for letters to the editor works, page A4 ► a christmas hope through nuclear fusion, page A4 ► Be Responsible this holiday season, tips for hosting an event, page A5 ► SQSPCA readies to clear shelter and reach challenge goal, page A6 Follow Breaking News On
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is a year nearly a decade in the making. In May, the trio—now officially the “Killdeer Trio”—sat down for their first rehearsal with the intent to perform as a band. Their debut performance followed in less than a month and since then has propelled Ambrose, Green and Jagels, all Otsego County residents, into back-to-back performances throughout the area. “This group would not have been possible without the long-familiar chemistry and shared perspective between us,” Ambrose explained. While identifying as a jazz trio, Killdeer Trio (coined by Green) concurrently leaves room for interpretation and adaptation. “’Killdeer Trio’ could sound like a jazz trio or a disgruntled punk band and we enjoy this subtle artistic ambiguity,” Ambrose elaborated. The embrace of creative
ONEONTA nytime I get on the court, I’m happy,” said Graham Wooden, a former Section 4 basketball star for Oneonta High School. After recently transferring to SUNY Oneonta from Mansfield University of Pennsylvania this fall, he has hit the ground running. “We’re happy to have him in the program,” said Red Dragons coach Cameron Conover. According to Conover, SUNY Oneonta had been recruiting Wooden during his time at OHS, telling the 5’11” guard he was always welcome to come play despite choosing Mansfield. Wooden missed his first college season in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an experience he described as “tough and unfortunate,” though recognizing the struggles of friends and family during that period provided him some perspective in retrospect. After the canceled season, Wooden picked up his career in the Mansfield Mountaineers’ 2021-22 campaign, where he averaged 9.4 minutes of play and 3.1 points per game. “It was nice being back on the court. I definitely didn’t take it for granted and met some great people,” Wooden said of his time in Pennsylvania before deciding to transfer. “What it came down to was, academically, I wanted to change my major to exercise science,” a 122 credit-hour course of study at SUNY Oneonta which he aimed to pursue after predominantly taking biology coursework at Mansfield. Wooden recently put his academic interests into action, helping create and implement an exercise program, the “Little Red Dragons,” for area children at the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club. The pilot program helped exercise science majors further skills in human growth and motor development. Since making the move to Oneonta, Wooden is averaging 26.7 minutes of play and 11.5 points per game. Described Continued on page 10
Fly Creek Fire District Elects New Commissioners By CASPAR EWIG
Sebastian Green, Wyatt Ambrose and Evan Jagels.
versatility extends far beyond the band’s name and deep into Killdeer’s approach to musical composition, with equal focus on cohesion and improvisation. All compositions created, recorded, and performed are exclusively original, guided through a collaborative approach between all three musicians on arrangement and interpretation. “For me, the inspiration is to create a situation where I
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can blend all of my musical influences into a cohesive sound rather than trying to fit into a specific musical style. We all want to have a group where we can let the music flow naturally and make that music as honest as possible,” Ambrose added. Jagels explained, “In the jazz tradition, a heavy focus is placed on improvisation and jazz is the most Continued on page 9
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FLY CREEK eith Dickinson, Sam Hoskins and Edward Kukenberger emerged as winners in a hotly contested election on Tuesday, December 13 for three seats on the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Fly Creek Fire District. Dickinson defeated Joan Kegelman, the sitting appointed chairman, for a full five-year term. Hoskins, who ran unopposed, will fill a vacant seat for a three-year term, and Kukenberger will rejoin the board for a oneyear term, having defeated challenger Kevin Green.
The three winning candidates will join Christine Voulo and Betty Staffin, who are currently serving five-year terms. In addition, voters rejected five separate propositions. Four of the propositions requested voters to ratify board resolutions which had been passed the week prior to the election. These resolutions sought to establish multiple reserve funds to cover the purchase, maintenance, and repair of various fire department equipment and buildings. The fifth defeated proposition was to ratify a board resolution of November 10 Continued on page 10
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD