News Briefs: September 26, 2023

Smithy Announces Raku Workshop

COOPERSTOWN—The Smithy will host a course on Raku pottery in three sessions on Thursdays from 1-4 p.m., September 28 through October 12. Raku is a type of Japanese pottery traditionally used in tea ceremonies. Students will learn coil construction and burnishing techniques. The class is recommended for intermediate-level or more experienced potters. The $70.00 charge includes clay and processing. For more information, or to register, visit smithyarts.org or call (607) 547-8671.

Garden Club To Give Away Daffodils

ONEONTA— The Oneonta Garden Club will give away bags of daffodil bulbs to area residents on a first-come, first-served basis at the Oneonta Farmers’ Market from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, September 30. It is part of a community beautification process.

Lions Club Event To Feature Feral Cat Charity

ONEONTA—The Oneonta Lions Club’s Oktoberfest Hops for Sight event this year will feature a display by Friends of the Feral TNR—Otsego. FOF is a non-profit organization that traps, spays/neuters, and releases feral cats to provide a safe and healthy living environment for all cats and to control population growth. During the event, FOF members will answer guests’ questions on TNR operations. There will be exhibits, a short video and, if not adopted before then, a guest appearance by Moonbeam, a 10-week-old fostered feral cat who appears to be a Siamese mix. The Oktoberfest event will be held from 2-5 p.m. on Saturday, September 30 at The Deer Haven Campground, 180 Deer Haven Lane.

Blacksmithing Weekend Returns at Farmers’ Museum

COOPERSTOWN—“Blacksmithing Weekend” will be held at The Farmers’ Museum from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1. Visitors can watch demonstrations of traditional tool- and hardware-making and related hands-on activities throughout the museum on both days. Blacksmiths will work on a number of forges. Entry to the event is included with museum admission.

Laurens Emergency Squad To Hold Pancake Breakfast

LAURENS—The Laurens Fire District Emergency Squad will host a donation-based pancake breakfast from 8 a.m. to noon on Sunday, October 1. There will be pancakes, home fries, eggs, sausage, bacon, sausage gravy and biscuits, coffee, tea, juice, and milk. Meat will be sourced from Toombs’ Meat Market and syrup will come from Steven’s Maple Syrup. The breakfast will be held at the fire department, 34 Main Street in Laurens.

‘Welcome Home Cooperstown’ To Return in October

COOPERSTOWN—Welcome Home Cooperstown will host its next community meet and greet at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, October 3 at the Village Hall. The monthly gatherings are intended to bring together new area residents and longtime community members. They are designed to welcome area newcomers and assist them in building connections to established residents and institutions, and to encourage them to make the area their permanent home. Information about community events and resources will be available. Refreshments will be served. All members of the community are welcome. In general, the events are held on the first Tuesday of each month. Members of the WHC committee include interested citizens, Village representatives, Bassett Healthcare Network, Cooperstown Central School and the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce.

Author To Present on Forgotten Stone-Quarry Economy

COOPERSTOWN—Dana Cudmore, the Cobleskill author of “Underground Empires: Two Centuries of Exploration, Adventure and Enterprise in New York’s Cave Country,” will present a lecture titled “Farming with Dynamite: The Forgotten Stone Boom, 1890-1905” at the Clark Sports Center. The talk, which will be held in the Community Room at 1 p.m. on Thursday, October 5, will document the impact of a cut-stone boom in Schoharie County and neighboring areas in the decades before the rise of commercial concrete.

Springfield To Host Harvest Celebration

SPRINGFIELD—The Town of Springfield announced that the public is welcome to celebrate the harvest season and recent improvements to the Springfield Community Center with a Community Harvest Celebration from 2-6 p.m. on Saturday, October 7. The free event will take place at the Community Center, 129 County Road 29A in Springfield Center, and will offer live music, food, and activities for all ages. Improvements to the Community Center include a new multi-use park pavilion and tables, new playground equipment, repaved walking path, community garden, expanded parking, new basketball hoop, kitchen improvements, and more. The work was made possible with the help of community volunteers and funds from the American Rescue Plan Act. The use of ARPA funds directed by Springfield’s Town board has been focused on projects that encourage healthy community gatherings and recreation, assisted in large part by community volunteer efforts. Additional ARPA expenditures by the Town of Springfield include three AEDs (defibrillators), materials for an ice-skating rink, a snow blower, outdoor lighting and fire pit, paint for dugouts and sheds, a park bench, outdoor bulletin board, storage shed roof replacement, and two new kitchen ranges at the Springfield Community Center, while the Springfield Landing Park received new aluminum swimming docks and lifeguard chair, and window replacements. 

FAM to Present Discussion, Demonstration of Southwest Pottery Techniques

COOPERSTOWN—Fenimore Art Museum will host San Ildefonso Pueblo potter Russell Sanchez for a demonstration and discussion of southwest pottery techniques at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 7. Sanchez will talk about his work, the pottery traditions of his culture and his new piece that the museum recently acquired for its collections. He will also offer a hands-on demonstration using clay and other materials from his desert southwest home for participants to handle. Tickets are available at https://fenimoreartmuseum.org/. Sanchez is one of the leading living Pueblo potters and has received many awards and recognitions throughout his career.

Pomegranate Tree Seeks Return to Mississippi

OTEGO—Jean Seroka, of Otego, has asked the public to notify her via AllOtsego of any upcoming drives to Mississippi. She received a pomegranate tree as a token of gratitude from some Hurricane Katrina survivors she helped in 2005. Although the tree has done well in her greenhouse and outdoors during the summer months, she wishes to return it to Mississippi and plant it in the ground, where it belongs.

Otsego Lake Quality Results Released

OTSEGO—SUNY Oneonta’s Biological Field Station completed another round of water quality testing on Otsego Lake on Monday, September 18. Samples were taken from four open water sites and from the surface down to 52 feet at the primary mid-lake site. Colonies of the cyanobacteria Microcystis were present at all sites at moderate abundance; toxins were detectable at low concentrations down to 26 feet of depth. The BFS is not an ELAP-certified laboratory.