HOMETOWN HISTORY, August 8, 2014
125 Years Ago
Oneonta’s baseball club met the Walsh nine of Albany on the fairgrounds last Friday afternoon and was defeated 13 to 3. The interest shown in the game by the citizens was good and the attendance quite large. It must be conceded that the town players were not quite up to their usual form, much of their weakness being in the outfield. On Tuesday, in a game played with the Cooperstown club, a nine comprising in its numbers several good college players, the Oneonta club redeemed the failure of Friday by putting up an excellent game, winning by a score of 8 to 3.
Wednesday was a busy day for R. Reynolds. In the morning he purchased two lots near Academy Street of Charles Reynolds, and contracted with Lewis & Wilson for the erection of cottages upon them. Before night he sold both houses – one to W.D. Cunningham and the other to Thomas McCully.
August 1889
100 Years Ago
Great Britain declared war on Germany Tuesday. The momentous decision of the British government, for which the whole world has been waiting, came before the expiration of the time limit set by Great Britain in her ultimatum to Germany demanding a satisfactory reply on the subject of Belgian neutrality. Germany’s reply was the summary rejection of the request that Belgian neutrality should be respected. The British ambassador at Berlin received his passports and the British government notified Germany that a state of war existed between the two countries. All Europe is now in arms. On the one hand, Austria-Hungary and Germany are opposed by Russia, France and Great Britain, Servia and Montenegro. Italy has declared her neutrality, but is mobilizing. Belgium, Holland and Switzerland have mobilized. Sweden is preparing to defend her neutrality. Japan is making ready to live up to her alliance with Great Britain. Spain is reported to be preparing a declaration of neutrality. Austria-Hungary has retired from the campaign against Servia for the purpose of holding back Russia, and Servia has mobilized with the intention of invading Bosnia. The President of the United States has proffered services as mediator to the European nations at war.
August 1914
60 Years Ago
War on Sex Morons – Appointment of a temporary parks policeman to rout sex morons from city parks is on the agenda for tonight’s session of the Oneonta City Public Safety Board. The Board will have before it a resolution from the Common Council, authorizing the board to proceed with an appointment, while guaranteeing the necessary funds. This action grew out of a suggestion by Alderman Albert S. Nader, Sixth Ward, that something should be done to curb nightly disorder in the parks and juveniles running at large until early morning hours. Mr. Nader proposed a 10 p.m. curfew on children under 15 years of age. Nader’s proposal brought forth a full discussion by the council with the resulting decision to patrol the parks. Some aldermen believe that adults are more to blame than youngsters, and that the worst offenses have occurred in the daytime.
August 1954
40 Years Ago
College-community cooperation comes to the fore tonight with start of a three-day production of the Lerner & Lowe musical “Gigi.” The production will be staged at the Oneonta State Fine Arts Building. Gigi cast members from the Oneonta community include Janet Will, Molly Swain, William Goertemoeller, John Chamard, and Ruth Berkowitz. Among the costume and staging staff are area residents Liv O’Mara, Ken Fisher, Mark James, Kenneth Grant and the Rev. Robert Heffner. There are 125 costumes in the production and no performer has fewer than four changes. Some have as many as nine changes. Esther K. Elfenbein is in charge of costumes. John C. Worley will conduct the pit orchestra. Gigi is directed by Dr. Muriel Kellerhouse.
August 1974
30 Years Ago
A children’s fashion show will be presented by Bresee’s Department Store at the August 16th luncheon of the Oneonta Christian Women’s Club from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Cathedral Farms Restaurant. “Cute Clothes for Kids” will feature fashions for toddlers through juniors, girls as well as boys. Special music will be provided by a trio of girls from Walton featuring Debbie Russell, Heather Meeker, and Jeanne Hulbert. Mary Makuen of Goshen will be guest speaker. The Christian Women’s Club is inter-church and non-sectarian with no membership fee or dues. There are 2,500 groups worldwide. A free nursery is provided at meetings.
August 1984
20 Years Ago
Construction for the proposed Comfort Suites Hotel in downtown Oneonta will not start this summer, but hopes remain that the project will break ground this year. Plans for a downtown hotel were announced in December 1990. The project has faced delays from the economic recession as well as complications over soil quality, protracted negotiations over agreements and reviews by state agencies including the NYS Historic Preservation office. The proposed seven-story hotel will have 94 rooms, an indoor pool, banquet facilities and meeting rooms. A long-vacant lot behind the Main Street bandstand is the site of the project. Among the changes to meet the requests of the state’s Historic Preservation Office, the architects rotated the location of the conference center so that its windows will face Main Street. The rotation necessitated a loss of 10,000 square feet and a loss of banquet capacity from 400 to 250.
August 1994
10 Years Ago
Norma L. Hutman, who was injured earlier in an aviation accident, says she broke her left arm. “I’m doing well, I suppose,” she reported from a room at Mary Imogene Bassett hospital in Cooperstown. “I expect to be home soon.” Hutman, 69, of Oneonta said she had surgery on it shortly after the accident. Hutman is a former Hartwick College professor and is often seen walking area roads. Hutman related that she had been taking off from the Cooperstown Westville airport in a single-engine plane when it went off the left side of the turf runway. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
August 2004
