... To the organizers of the second annual Susquehanna Balloon Festival held earlier this month in Neahwa Park.
About 1,000 people came to the park in Oneonta on Friday, Sept. 4, to watch the colorful balloons. The event continued Saturday, with takeoffs at 6:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., and the evening balloon glow at 8 p.m. On Sunday, the launch was at 6:30 a.m.
The festival was sponsored by Otsego County Tourism and several local businesses. It included nine balloons, said Michael Ranieri of Catskill Mountain Balloon, who coordinated the various pilots.
Performances by the "Ultimate Idol" winners, an appearance by SpongeBob Squarepants and several food vendors were featured Friday night. No daytime events were scheduled for Saturday, but organizers encouraged people to picnic at the park or visit the food vendors before the glow.
We're glad to see the event, which began as part of Oneonta's centennial, continue.
o ... To all who contributed to this year's local MDA Telethon.
The Labor Day weekend fundraiser brought in nearly $85,000 to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association.
The 34th edition of the local event was telecast for the first time from television channel WISF's station at 3200 Chestnut Street. The move from the Elks Club allowed for a stronger transmission for the show, which was broadcast on cable channels 23 and 27, as well as UHF channel 15, organizers said.
Beyond the money raised, the community came together by donating time, talent, food and more.
Area restaurants provided food for the volunteers, spokeswoman Carla Balnis said. The West Oneonta Fire Department donated folding chairs. The city of Oneonta Fire Department held a "fill-the-boot" fundraiser on Main Street on Aug. 27, raising more than $5,000.
We applaud everyone who took part and gave to this worthy cause.
o ... To former Daily Star Managing Editor Cary Brunswick, who retired Thursday.
We have cheered or jeered hundreds of people in this space through the years, and we hope our readers will forgive us this one-time indulgence of cheering one of our own.
Brunswick, 59, has been the backbone of The Daily Star's newsroom for more than a quarter-century, working tirelessly and relentlessly to provide our readers with the very best news coverage of our local communities.
While we are sad to see Cary's departure from our newsroom, we are extremely happy that his columns will continue to appear every three weeks in our Commentary section.
We congratulate our colleague for his accomplishments, his integrity and for always putting our readers first.
