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Schenevus site for 250-500 Jobs County Rep. Peter Oberacker, R-Schenevus, walks the fields behind his Shady Avenue home that has been identified as possible home to a 500-job distribution center. The land stretches from Route 7 to the tree line in the distance.
Ian Austin/The Freeman’s Journal
Paul Crowell, Fly Creek, Cooperstown, wowed other kids by fearlessly flying off a snow jump repeatedly as he warmed up for the Cooperstown Winter Carnival Sled Races Saturday, Jan. 29 at Lakefront Park. Details of upcoming second carnival weekend, SEE B1
2 Incumbent Trustees Win Party Backing COOPERSTOWN Jim Kevlin/The Freeman’s Journal
The Target: Distribution Center
SPREADING WORD: Trustee Richard Sternberg read the Village Board’s resolution, “Condemning Violence and Bigotry,” to a gathering Sunday, Jan. 29, at the First Presbyterian Church. He was accompanied by Mayor Jeff Katz and Trustees Cindy Falk and Jim COOPERSTOWN Dean. hen George Seeley does the PASSING SCENE: Ed Jumble, that Smith, 79, longtime presinewspaper word puzzle, dent of Smith Cooperstown, he draws on his intuition. the local Ford dealership, “I don’t try to figure passed away Saturday, Jan. them out. I just look at 21/SEE OBITUARY, B6 them, and the word jumps out,” said Seeley, who has been searching for the Cooperstown Winter
Couple Finds Medallion On ‘Doughboy’ Pedestal
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By JIM KEVLIN
130 ACRES
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e has to be convincing in his line of work, so it’s no surprise Otsego Now CEO Sandy Mathes has a reputation as someone who can talk. But when county Rep. Pe-
Hamlet Hit Hard Times, But That Could Change
NEW JOBS CENTRAL Bro ok Smo key Ave nue
SCHENEVUS
ter Oberacker, R-Schenevus, showed Mathes 130 acres of flat farmland just north of the Interstate 88’s Exit at Schenevus, the voluble economic developer was silent. As he walked what is now the prospective site of a 250-500 job distribution center, you could tell he was thinking, said Oberacker, thinking of big possibilities. Please See JOBS, A3
rrow
By JIM KEVLIN
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s anticipated, incumbent Trustees Ellen Tillapaugh and Lou Allstadt were endorsed for reelection in the March 21 village elections at a party caucus Tuesday, Jan. 31. The Republicans missed the caucus deadline to nominate trustee candidates, but independents have until Feb. 14 to collect the 50 signatures necessary to get their names on the ballot.
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Kathy Peters/The Freeman’s Journal
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chenevus is rooted in tragedy. The great chief’s daughter, discovering her beloved slain in a gorge south of the hamlet, threw
FLORIDA NATIVE ARRIVES
Baptist Pastor Fills Last Vacant Pulpit By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN
The Freeman’s Journal
Deb and Doug Seeley
Carnival Medallion most of the 10 years this newsPlease See $500, A7
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aptized at 6 or 7, Joe Perdue was drawn to the ministry – or, at least a career in social justice, perhaps with the Please See PERDUE,B5
herself in after him. Today it’s Manaho Gorge, in her memory. “It’s a common legend” – there are two or three similar ones in New York State, remarked Bob Parmerter, the Maryland town historian. Things got a lot better, particularly after the Please See HISTORY, A3
CATHE ELLSWORTH RETURNS TO ‘WHERE NATURE SMILES’
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ith this edition, Catherine Lake Ellsworth, a foremost observer of the Cooperstown scene for decades, rejoins The Freeman’s Journal. She is reviving “Where Nature Smiles,” which she and her husband Jerry wrote weekly from 1984 to 2006. “Welcome!” said Editor/Publisher Jim Kevlin. “All of us at The Journal are delighted at your decision to continue sharing your insights, and proud that you will do so in our pages.”/SEE A4
Pastor Perdue
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL & HOMETOWN ONEONTA, OTSEGO COUNTY’S LARGEST PRINT CIRCULATION 2010 WINNERS OF The Otsego County Chamber/KEY BANK SMALL BUSINESS AWARD