No television. No place to pay the phone bill. No more Spaulding's baked goods. Possibly no more Center Street School. While these were some of the noes in the news of our area in April 1982, there were some yeses as well, including a new structure at Corning Inc. of Oneonta and help to save bald eagles.
For the opening week of April, Ms. Pam Wheaton's fourth-grade class at Worcester Central School took on a challenge of what might be an equivalent to living today without text messaging -- a week without television.
"The whole idea is to make kids realize there is so much more to life than watching television, an activity that has become the dominating force in many modern families," Wheaton told The Daily Star.
"By the end of the week they found out they could do other things," Wheaton said. Some students practiced more on their musical instruments, read a book, or helped a family member cook supper, among other activities.
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If you were looking to pay your New York Telephone bill in person at their office at 17 Elm St. in Oneonta, you were out of luck. That office had been recently closed, to the surprise of some.
Spokesman Carmine Angellotti said, "Our society is changing. The face to face contact we used to have is being lost. It's just more efficient for us to take care of our billing this way." Meanwhile, phone rates were set to rise 9.4 percent, "to keep pace with inflation."
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Spaulding Bakeries announced it was going out of business Wednesday, April 14. At that time the main bakery was located in Conklin, and one of several distribution centers was in Oneonta on Market Street, where today's Spaulding Apartments are. The Oneonta site was a bakery between 1929 and 1955 for Spaulding, makers of bread, doughnuts and other products.
Spaulding had been before a federal bankruptcy court since the previous fall, after having to close its West Hazelton, Pa., bakery. The 1982 closure meant a loss of 15 jobs at the Oneonta distribution center.
A Web search today finds that many still miss the taste of a Spaulding kruller.
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Possible closure of a part of Center Street School was in the news Saturday, April 24. State school aid cuts were looming, and one plan to make up the deficit was to close the third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade classes at the school, keeping grades kindergarten through second grade.
Funding was restored, and Center Street lived on.
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While threats of closure and actual closures were happening, a visible expansion took place Tuesday, April 13, when what was then called the Corning Glass Works on lower River Street pumped up an inflatable 10,000-square-foot storage building, to add to the permanent structure, originally built in the early 1950s for the Enterprise Aluminum Co.
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If you've spent a bit of time around Goodyear Lake in the last few years, it has been fairly easy to spot a bald eagle or more in flight or in the trees. A small effort made by an Oneonta woman 30 years ago may have played a small part in taking the eagle off the endangered species list in more recent years.
It was reported April 27 that Anita Este was rallying area residents to save the imperiled bird on the 200th anniversary of when it was adopted as our national emblem. A retired Rutgers University professor and a member of the Delaware-Otsego Audubon Society, Este and other members were raising money for the Eagle Valley Environmental Association, an organization having 1,000 members in 37 states. The local fundraiser was a raffle for a canoe.
Este acknowledged it may be difficult to persuade many Oneontans to help relieve the eagle's plight.
"I don't think the general public is involved in this sort of thing," she said. "How many people have got into birding? I think it's fascinating once you get there. But I think they are interested in a canoe and I hope they are interested in our national symbol."
If only the bald eagles of Goodyear Lake could talk …This weekend: George W. Fairchild builds a new business block.
City Historian Mark Simonson's column appears twice weekly. On Saturdays, his column focuses on the area during the Depression and before. His Monday columns address local history after the Depression. If you have feedback or ideas about the column, write to him at The Daily Star, or email him at simmark@stny.rr.com. His website is www.oneontahistorian.com. His columns can be found at www.thedailystar.com/marksimonson.
Columns
From no TV to saving eagles, it was life in April 1982
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
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Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
I asked Cam Morris, head of Eastern Travel/Oneonta Bus Lines, how many years her company has been handling the Safety Patrol trip to Washington, D.C.
Continued ... - My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
- Selections from the virtual mailbag
- Recalling days of 'Doughnut King'
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Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- Cary Brunswick
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We've become our own worst enemies
The past month has been marked by a seeming unprecedented number of man-made tragedies, as distinct from those caused by violent outbursts of the natural world, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and tsunamis.
Continued ... - Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
- Reflecting on a Florida trip
- Those magnificent spies in their flying machines
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We've become our own worst enemies
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
Continued ... - The evangelical view of same-sex marriage
- Manor's fate will be Otsego board's legacy
- A closer look at our economy - Part II
- Use fracking to fill budget gaps
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Records seizure is an insult to free press
- Lisa Miller
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A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
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- Mark Simonson
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General Clinton Canoe Regatta got a new home in 1972
Ever since 1963, when Charles Hinkley and a group of Tri-Town businessmen came up with the idea for what we know today as the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, people lined the shores of the Susquehanna to watch the canoeists as they made their 70-mile trek from Cooperstown to Bainbridge.
Continued ... - Sunday movies in Oneonta finally shown in 1934
- Politics, fitness and landmarks dominated local news in May 1968
- Local people sought income in many ways in 1933
- Local windstorm in 1983 caused tense moments
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- Rick Brockway
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Kids have sparkle in their eyes
When I was in my teens, old Bill Naatz told me about a stream north of Lake George where a man had panned out enough gold to make his wife a wedding band. It was all rumors, but to his grandson and myself, it sounded like the makings of a great adventure.
- People make the outdoors even better
- Turkey season has ups and downs
- Spring air isn't always the freshest
- Adriondacks keep growing and growing
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Kids have sparkle in their eyes
- Sam Pollak
- William Masters
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
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Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
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Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
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Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
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Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
