HOMETOWN HISTORY

October 8, 2020

150 Years Ago

The Oneonta Post Office is open for business from
7 o’clock a.m. to 8 o’clock p.m. On Sunday, from 9 to 9:30 a.m. and half an hour at Noon. Mails close as follows: First Railroad Mail East: 10 a.m.; Second Railroad Mail East: 4:10 p.m.; First Railroad Mail West: 11:15 a.m.; Mails for Morris Route: 11:30 a.m.; Mails for Laurens Route: 11:30 a.m.; Mail for Delhi via North Franklin, Tri-Weekly: 11:30 a.m. The 4:10 p.m. mail carries no matter for points this side of Albany. Mails for Delhi are sent via West Davenport Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. And via North Franklin and Meredith Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Boxes 40 cents per year; 10 cents per quarter. Stamped letter and circular envelopes and stamped newspaper wrappers constantly on hand of the different sizes, qualities and sizes.

October 1870

125 Years Ago

The Doctor: There is something more than beauty and attractiveness to be considered in caring for the fingernails. Beneath them is a space which forms a nidus or resting place for bacteria. Bacteriologists have found a score or more of different kinds of organisms under the nails, many of them harmless, it is true, but some of them exceedingly dangerous to health and life. He who bites the fingernails takes the risk of getting into his mouth and swallowing the germs of some infectious disease. Bacteria may be anywhere and the nails have a peculiar aptitude for scraping up particles of dust and dirt which may be swarming with germs. There is no better method of cleansing the nails than with a good brush and plenty of soap and water.

October 1895

80 Years Ago

Courses on “Understanding the Christian Way of Life,” and lectures on “Understanding the Bible” have been arranged for the Seventh Annual Epworth League Institute of Oneonta which opened Monday night at Elm Park Church, Oneonta. The theme song will be “O Young and Fearless Prophet.” Lecture courses include “What Can Youth Expect from the Church?” by the Rev. Wheaton P. Webb, Worcester;
“Meaning and Power of Friendship,” by the Rev. Wilfred I. Lyon, Hartwick; “Family Relationships and the Home,” Miss Evelyn Hodgon, Oneonta State Normal; “The Sacrament of Union by Dr. David Kydd, Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital, Cooperstown; and “Preparation for Marriage,” with different leaders.The annual luncheon of the Otsego County Children’s Society will take place at The Oneonta Country Club Saturday, October 12 at 12:30 o’clock. The principal speaker will be James Bruno of New York City, Director of the Public Welfare Committee of the State Charities Aid Association. He will explain the plans of the Society for the coming year.
His address is of special interest because the Society decided in June to place the children’s ill health work under the juris-diction of the Otsego County Department of Public Welfare.

October 1940

60 Years Ago

Frank Getman of Oneonta will succeed Scott E. Greene of Cooperstown as Otsego County’s Assistant District Attorney. Mr. Getman, who practices law in Oneonta with the firm of Farone and Steidle is a graduate of Oneonta High School and of Colgate University with the class of 1952. He served for three years in the U.S. Marine Corps and saw action in Korea during the Korean War. He received his law degree from Albany Law School in 1958 and was admitted to the bar that same year. He is the Secretary/Treasurer of the Oneonta City Bar Association, and a member of the American, New York State and Otsego County Bar Associations. Mr. Getman is the son of Damon L. Getman of Cooperstown and Mrs. Julia Getman of Oneonta. He is married to the former Miss Margaret Lynch of Oneonta. They have two children.

October 1960

40 Years Ago

Music by Shostakovich, Saint-Saens, Dukas and Beethoven will highlight the Catskill Symphony Orchestra’s first concert of the season Saturday, October 11. Music Director Charles Schneider will conduct and Janet Brady, concertmaster, will be the violin soloist. The performance will be held at 8 p.m. in the Hunt Union Ballroom at the State University College at Oneonta. Saturday’s concert will open with the Festive Overture by Dmitri Shostakovich. “Though brief, it is a rousing exuberant piece of perpetual motion, and it shows the depth and skill achieved by our brass and percussion sections over the years,” Mr. Schneider observed. Regarding the Rondo Capriccioso for Violin and Orchestra by Camille Saint-Saens, Mr. Schneider commented: “We are fortunate to have Janet Brady, our concertmaster and our soloist, a violinist who lives right in the upstate area, and we know she will do justice to the brilliance and virtuosity of the work.”

October 1980

20 Years Ago

The Oneonta Job Corps, established in 1980, is struggling with some success to become a constructive part of the Otsego County community, an educational and civic asset rather than an alien, federally funded institution isolated from its surroundings. In recent months, following the mandate of its own Business and Industry Council, an advisory group of business leaders, the Oneonta Job Corp Center has been sending its 370 students out into the surrounding community to volunteer their time and energy for blood drives, non-profit building projects, and community events. The volunteer initiative is more than a public relations ploy. It is part of the effort to train young students how to meet strangers and make them friends.

October 2000

10 Years Ago

Amanda LoPiccolo will tell you, “I do a lot of races. You kind of get in a routine.”Still, there was nothing routine for Amanda, 27, in the 17th Ricky “Pit” Parisian 10K Run that she ran – and won, the first Oneontan to do so in the event’s history – Sunday, Oct. 3, virtually alone on the final stretch in Neahwa Park.“It’s really cool to come into the race as a local person and win,” said the Unatego grad – maiden name, Laytham.

Oct. 8, 2010