Roses to the Cooperstown High School Quiz Team for winning the Catskill Area School Study Council Upstate Academic Competition at the State University College at Oneonta. Team members are Hope Dohner, Erik Mebust, captain Jacob Miller, Abby Brown and Thomas Franck. Their adviser is Tim Iversen. The CCS team defeated a team from Oneonta in what Iversen called “a real nail-biter.” Two teams from Cooperstown have qualified to compete in the National Academic Championships in Washington D.C. Last year, a team from Cooperstown went three-for-three in the national competition and the students hope to better that record when they return to Washington in May.
“Going three-and-three was very good, especially considering a school our size, but I would like one of my teams to be relevant on Sunday (the final day of the tournament), which means we have to go four and two,” Iversen said.
The team will now have to raise funds to help pay for the trip and we urge members of the community to support the students’ efforts.
Roses to the Cooperstown Cheese Co. for having two of its cheeses selected to be served during President Barack Obama’s inauguration earlier this week. The gourmet cheese was whipped up by local entrepreneurs Sharon Tomaselli and Bob Sweitzer. The two cheeses chosen for the inaugural luncheon were the Jersey Girl Colby and the award-winning Toma Celena that are produced at their cheese-making plant on Route 28, six miles south of Cooperstown. The cheese was served at dessert, which also featured apple pie made with apples from the Hudson Valley, as well as sour cream ice cream and honey. Tomaselli said the fact that Cooperstown Cheese now has items on the menu at such a prestigious event could get the company the national distribution deal she and Sweitzer need to take their business to the next level. We hope she is right.
Roses to Gary Kuch who was appointed recently as the director of the Clark Foundation Scholarship Program. He will assume his new duties on Feb. 4. He will succeed Peter Severud, who is retiring after nine years as director of the program. “His extensive school administrative experience, at the highest of levels, and his knowledge of the region and its students will be of tremendous benefit as he manages the work of one of our most important programs,” Jane Forbes Clark, president of The Clark Foundation said. Since it began in 1961, more than 10,000 students have received more than $80 million in scholarship assistance from The Clark Foundation.
