By MICHELLE MILLER
Staff Writer
It is hard to say what stories
trump others because all issues
and topics covered affect each
reader in a different way. Some
subjects and events are covered
on an annual basis while some
hit the press for the first time
this year. Instead of ranking stories
one through 10 as done in
the past, let’s all hop into a time
machine and reminisce by
theme.
Baseball in Cooperstown
Hall of Fame Weekend:
The village would not be
known as the home of baseball
without the National Baseball
Hall of Fame Induction Weekend.
This year, about 21,000 people
came from near and far to see
former Boston Red Sox slugger
Jim Rice and all-time base stealer
and runs scored leader Rickey
Henderson get enshrined.
The Baseball Writers Association
of America voted Rice into
the Hall of Fame in his 15th and
final year of eligibility. Henderson
was elected during his first
appearance on the ballot. Although
Henderson might have
been the more popular vote, he
did not take the spotlight at the
induction ceremony.
Red Sox Nation came out in
force to celebrate Rice’s milestone.
Boston fans outnumbered
and outvoiced the Oakland rooters,
with fans chanting, ``Let’s go,
Red Sox!’’ and ``We love you, Jim,’’
to Rice during the ceremony at
Clark Sports Center.
Henderson, however, had the
Oakland Athletics’ banjo man,
Stacy Samuels entertaining the
crowd with songs such as ``Hey
Rickey,’’ and ``Sweet Caroline.’’
Samuels said he has been playing
at the Oakland home games
for 25 years.
Hall of Fame Classic:
This year Hall of Fame began
what they hope will become a
new baseball tradition, The Father’s
Day Classic.
Many fans were not pleased to
hear an almost 70-year summer
tradition, the Hall of Fame Game,
would be replaced. Major League
Baseball pulled the plug on the
Hall of Fame Game because of
difficulties with scheduling
teams to come to Cooperstown so
Hall of Fame officials partnered
with the Major League Baseball
Players Alumni Association
(MLBPAA) to put on a legends
baseball game featuring retired
players and Hall of Famers on
the village’s historic Doubleday
Field.
The game was about more
than wins and losses. The Classic
was fashioned more like an
old-timers game, which allowed
fans to interact with players and
children to take the field. Hall of
Fame pitcher Bob Feller, 90, was
the starting pitcher.
Baseball franchise is coming
to town:
In May, the board of trustees
approved in principal a proposal
to bring a New York Collegiate
Baseball League (NYCBL) franchise
to Cooperstown. Team
owner Tom Hickey of Fly Creek
asked area residents help name
his minor league team. The name
Hawkeyes was selected after receiving
more than 60 entries —
some coming as far away as Austin,
Texas and Dearborn, Mich.
The Hawkeye’s first season
will begin next summer. Hickey
said the team will have a roster
of 25 players and be made up of
top collegiate prospects who aspire
to play in the majors, but do
not yet have a contract. The team
will be recruited from a nationwide
search for players looking
for a place to play over the summer
before the baseball draft.
The level of play will be similar
to that of single- or double-A minor
leagues.
Parking
Paid parking:
Parking has always been an
issue in the small village. This
year officials said paid parking
in the Doubleday Field Parking
lot went much more smoothly
than the prior year because of
improved signage. Tickets and
complaints were down, according
to officials. In July, Village Treasurer
Mary Ann Henderson said
the village was on its way to surpassing
expectations for the paid
parking season.
By September, paid parking in
the Doubleday Field parking lot
generated almost $114,000 during
its second season ù approaching
twice the $60,000 in revenue
anticipated in the budget. With
most of the glitches worked out
and a successful season under its
belt, the board of trustees will
have to decide whether to expand
paid parking to downtown
streets.
Board gets downtown parking
report:
In November, the board of
trustees briefly discussed a report
from the planning board on the
impact of the zoning law on parking
and redevelopment in the
business and commercial districts.
Earlier in the year, the trustees
asked the planning board to
look at parking requirements in
the business district and whether
they have been an impediment to
the redevelopment of the upper
floors of business district buildings.
To compile the information
needed, 40 buildings on Main and
Pioneer Streets were surveyed.
In order to comply with current
zoning law requirements those
buildings would need 547 spaces
for the retail shops, offices and
apartments. The buildings had a
total of only 68 parking spaces
and 22 of the 40 properties had no
spaces.
Demand for parking by residents
of downtown apartments
and employees of downtown businesses
far exceed the number of
spaces available, the report
states.
The zoning law’s parking requirements
do not have a major
impact on redevelopment or property
renovation in the business
district, the planners concluded.
Landlords can renovate and
convert properties to other uses
without a permit so the village
has no means to enforce parking
requirements. In the case of those
businesses that require a special
use permit, the zoning board of
appeals routinely waives the
parking requirement.
The only time the ZBA will not
waive the requirement is for a
short-term rental which needs
one parking space for each guest
sleeping room.
Village board reverses vote on
parking:
During a meeting held in September,
four trustees, three of
whom confessed they didn’t understand
what they were voting
on a month earlier, reversed the
board’s previous decision to dedicate
parking behind the firehouse
to fire department members
only.
Results of a bad economy
Police coverage:
The state of the economy has
fallen into a hole so deep it may
take years to dig itself out. In August
it was announced that
round-the-clock police coverage
village residents had grown accustomed
to was about to end because
of the $38,000 cut in the
department’s budget this spring.
Police Chief Diana Nicols predicted
there would an increase in
crime. She was right. Police
warned residents about more
burglaries and unlawful home
entries. According to Nicols, a
suspect questioned by the state
police he and an accomplice targeted
Cooperstown becaue they
believed there would be no police
officer on duty at night.
The board of trustees voted in
October to restore funding sufficient
for the police department to
provide 24-hour coverage into
January.
Food demands
Demands for food has been
growing both nutritionally and
locally. Ellen St. John, co-director
of the Cooperstown Food Bank,
says she has seen more people in
need of assistance this November
than any other month she has
been working at the food bank.
According to organizers, the food
bank provided help for 3,417 people
in 2005 and 6,169 people in
2008 and will probably break that
total this year.
A couple of years ago, the food
bank had to cut its services because
it was serving a record
number of families. Because of
the high demand organizers decided
it was more feasible to provide
food to families living in the
Northern Otsego County because
nearly all funding is from the
community and churches of the
Cooperstown area. Although the
food bank has reached peak levels
again, providing to 170 plus
families, St. John said she does
not foresee any more cuts in the
future.
Administrative changes
at local schools
CCS:
Cooperstown Central School
eliminated its high school principal
position. Middle school Principal
Michael Cring is now the
secondary principal and Amy
Kukenberger, who served as an
interim principal in Gary Kuch’s
absence, is now the school business
administrator and building
administrator. Kukenberger was
a science teacher prior to that.
Cring was relieved of his duties
as athletic director.
The district looked into the
feasibility of moving the sixthgrade
to the elementary school
and having elementary school
Principal Theresa Gorman be responsible
for an additional grade.
However, after much debate, discussion
and research, the district
decided to leave the middle school
in tact at the high school.
In June, CCS Superintendent
Mary Jo McPhail will retire. The
district is currently using a private
consultant, Alan Pole, with
the firm of Castallo & Silky to
help find her replacement. Members
of the Board of Education
hope to offer the position to someone
by April 2.
CV-S:
New administrators took over
the rains at Cherry Valley-
Springfield Central School. Robert
Miller took
over as superintendent
and Barry
Gould was
hired as buildings
principal. Nicholas
Savin, who
served as the district’s
superintendent
for the past
six years, was
hired to take over superintendent
duties at ONC BOCES.
Miller was no stranger to the
students at CV-S. He served as
an assistant principal and taught
some math courses at the district
prior to his new roll.
Gould was no beginner when it
came to being a principal and was
no stranger to the
area either. Gould
served as the middle/
high school
principal at Cooperstown
Central
School for 24
years.
Milestones
Presidential
inauguration:
The presidential inauguration
of Barack Obama drew millions
of people and more than 75 CCS
students were able to be a part of
history in the making in Washington
D.C.
This was the second time CCS
students have had the opportunity
to make the trip to see the
Presidential Inauguration. CCS
teacher Jennifer Pindar has
planned both trips.
Otesaga:
The Otesaga Hotel Resort
opened for its first guests on July
12, 1909. a century later, general
manager John Irvin and his staff
hosted a season-long birthday
celebration, which began in
April.
