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District celebrates new athletic complex
Kate Hill
On Oct. 5, the Cazenovia Central School District celebrated the official opening of its new Emory Avenue Athletic Complex. By kate Hill Staff Writer On Saturday, Oct. 5, Cazenovia Central School District (CCSD) celebrated the official opening of its new Emory Avenue Athletic Complex, which now includes two multi-use, multi-sport synthetic turf fields. The Cazenovia High School Stadium has also been outfitted for track and field events. The modifications to the stadium/Buckley-Volo Field and “Upper Field” were completed as part of a $10,713,319 project approved through a Capital Project Referendum Vote in March 2022 and aimed at addressing equity, infrastructure, and program needs outside the district’s school buildings. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on the new stadium field immediately following
the Lakers Varsity Football Team’s 40-20 victory over the Southern Hills Storm. “With this project, we are providing more student-relevant, sustainable, and equitable opportunities,” said Superintendent Christopher DiFulvio, who was joined on the field by studentathletes, staff, coaches, and community members. “With its stateof-the-art facilities, this complex has transformed our present and opened the doors to a future filled with endless possibilities. We are busing fewer student-athletes to other campus locations, cutting transportation costs. With the transition to turf, which offers superior drainage, we can utilize our outdoor spaces earlier in the spring and later into the fall. With an intelligent design, we provide equal opportunity for all sports Complex l Page 3
Professor emeritus to release new political biography Board plans shift to ‘village administrator’ By kate Hill Staff Writer
This fall, the University of Missouri Press will release the latest book by John Robert Greene, Ph.D., the Paul J. Schupf Professor of History and Humanities at the former Cazenovia College. The book, titled “Little Helpers: Harry Vaughan, His Cronies, and Corruption in the Truman Administration,” is a biography of General Harry H. Vaughan, President Harry S. Truman’s military aide in the White House. “In ‘Little Helpers,’ [Greene] encourages us to rethink the scandals of Harry Truman’s presidency by providing the first political biography of the man who precipitated them — Gen. Harry H. Vaughan,” the publisher’s website states. “As the former president’s close friend and military aide, Vaughan brought a number of disreputable figures into the White House, in addition to committing plenty of misconduct on his own. Although aware of Vaughan’s misdeeds, Truman remained unwilling to rid his administration of him and his hangerson. Vaughan’s scandals have largely gone overlooked by historians — a tendency that ‘Little Helpers’ corrects.” The book begins with the story of Truman and Vaughan’s first meeting during World War I; it then explores Vaughan’s support for Truman for the Senate and later as president. According to the publisher, most of the book centers on the various cronies surrounding Vaughan, the significance of his relationship with Truman, and the president’s “inability to rein him in.” “I was stunned to find out that Harry Truman not only knew about Vaughan’s transgressions but acted as his enabler by keeping him on his staff, even after
those transgressions had been made public,” said Greene, who drew from primary and archival sources — many never previously published — and correspondence between Vaughan and Truman. According to the University of Missouri Press, the author’s dramatic narrative account of the inner workings of the Truman administration helps make the book accessible to both the general reader and the specialist. “Little Helpers” is set to be published on Nov. 18, 2024. Greene specializes in American political history, specifically the American presidency. “My interest comes from my reading as a child,” Greene said. “I read every biography of the presidents available at Betts Branch Library, near my home in the Valley section of Syracuse. Then my interest in political history was piqued by the scandals of the 1970s, particularly in Vietnam and Watergate — it drove my studies in college and beyond.” Greene is the author or editor of 20 books, including works on Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush. He has also published or presented over 150 book chapters, scholarly articles, conference lectures, and reviews, and he is frequently invited by print and broadcast media to provide his perspective on regional and national political matters. According to Greene, the message he hopes readers gain from his latest book is that presidential mismanagement and scandal are nothing new. “Neither is having members of a White House staff that are corrupt,” he added. Greene, who resides in Chittenango, taught at Cazenovia College for over 42 years before retiring in January 2023.
By kate Hill Staff Writer
Gene Gissin Photography
“Little Helpers: Harry Vaughan, His Cronies, and Corruption in the Truman Administration,” the latest book by John Robert Greene, Ph.D., the Paul J. Schupf Professor of History and Humanities at the former Cazenovia College, will be published in November. He started at the institution in Sept. 1979 as a part-time instructor while serving as a manager of the campus radio station, WITC-FM. Greene became a full-time faculty member in 1984 and was tenured in 1987. He was named Distinguished Faculty Member in 1993, awarded the college’s first endowed chair — the Paul J. Schupf Chair in History and Humanities — in 2000, and received the college’s Distinguished Service Award in 2020. Greene founded Cazenovia College’s social science and history majors; cofounded the dual major in history and social science with Jody Hicks, D.A., assistant professor of social sciences; and Author l Page 5
On Oct. 7, the Village of Cazenovia Board of Trustees discussed plans to rename its public works administrator position for 2025. The board plans to take this action in preparation for the departure of Public Works Administrator Bill Carr. “The first step in what will be a long and important process of hiring a successor for Bill is [shifting] the title of our current public works administrator position to ‘village administrator,’” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler. “[This title will] better reflect the full scope and variety of duties that that office conducts.” The board was presented with a draft overview of the village administrator position based loosely on a job description used by the Village of Hamilton. “Keep in mind that this is basically an all-encompassing version of the village administrator who oversees all departments and all employees on a day-to-day basis, subject to review and direction by the board and the mayor — any duties that are statutorily reserved for the mayor or the board are still with the mayor and the board,” said Village Attorney Jim Stokes. “As I said, this is an all-encompassing definition of the role; if you want to confine it to a lesser role, we can modify that.” According to Wheeler, the village’s first step, which will “take a while to process,” will be to submit a description of duties statement to Madison County Civil Service to create the position. The village will then produce a more concise description for the job advertisement. The board may also decide to add a description of the position to the list of jobs and duties in the village code. “We have more time to do that because we really won’t be shifting from one to the other until 2025,” said Wheeler. Stokes advised the board to be very clear when defining the authority of the individual in the position. “Just as an example, if the administrator is dealing with an employee issue, and that employee says, ‘Tell me where you have the right to tell me what to do,’” Stokes said. “The board has to delegate that authority. You need to be clear on the extent of the authority if you want the position to operate effectively. If you want to eliminate duties because they are covered somewhere
Volume 214, Number 41 The Cazenovia Republican is published weekly by Eagle News. Office of Publication: 35 Albany St., Second Floor, Cazenovia, NY 13035. Periodical Postage Paid at Cazenovia, NY 13035, USPS 095-260. POSTMASTER: Send change of address to Cazenovia Republican, 2501 James St., Suite 100, Syracuse, NY 13206.
non-profits: AURORA of CNY, airport authority present Blind Immersion Experience.
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sports: Caz girls tennis looks for sectional team title.
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Village l Page 14
Editorial ��������������������� 6
Obituaries ���������������� 13
history ������������������������ 6
PennySaver ���������������� 8
letters ������������������������ 7
Sports ��������������� 5,11-12