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 In the News This Week -- Oct. 20, 2006 |
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 Polly Renckens To Retire From Chamber By JIM KEVLIN COOPERSTOWN Asked about the major turning point in her varied career, Polly Renckens recalled, with some emotion, the decision she and her husband Jim made 20 years ago to sell the Hickory Grove Inn on Otsego Lake, when “Little Bits” - Elizabeth - their youngest daughter, reached school age. “We loved it so much,” she said, but their three children would be off summers, the inn’s busiest time, when the parents would have to work evenings. In winters, the parents’ time off, the kids would be at school. That Polly Renckens, 63, would list the decision to give up an all-consuming innkeeper role as among the most wrenching of her life says something about the nine-year executive director of the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce, who announced Saturday, Oct. 14, at the chamber’s annual dinner at the Otesaga Hotel Resort, that she will be retiring, effective March 1. “She’s 100 percent, all the time,” said Rick Gibbons, Riverwood proprietor and chamber president. “We wouldn’t be where we are today without her dedication, persistence and diligence.” Cast your mind back: When Polly assumed the helm of the chamber in 1997, there was one organized downtown event, a sidewalk sale. Today, there’s the pumpkin festival, Halloween activities, Christmas celebrations, the state snow-sculpting contest in February, a concert series that this year included Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, you name it. During The Renckens Years, membership rose from 200 to 618 members. The budget sent from $179,000 to $435,000. This year, the chamber is administering $2 million in insurance policies. Polly was born in Syracuse, one of four children, and remembers a happy childhood growing up there. The first of her half-dozen careers was with New York Telephone Co., where she rose to chief telephone operator for the “ELdorado-6” exchange in Manhattan, responsible for 100 operators over three shifts, an early 24-7 set of responsibilities. She went on to teach seventh and eighth grade in Westchester County, when she and hubby Jim began visiting the Hickory Grove. Once, they were giving the then-innkeeper advice on upgrading the place, and he replied: If you have so many ideas, why don’t you buy it? They did, and tumultuous but fondly remembered years followed – “we were a community center,” Polly remembers. Next, Jim went back to teaching, at Milford Central School, and the couple bought Country Memories in Springfield Center. As the century wound to an end, Renckens was executive director of Otsego 2000 and had been working with a splinter group of downtown merchants who were dissatisfied with how the chamber was handling Main Street issues. When Polly took over as chamber executive director, she brought the merchants back in. Now, the work will begin on finding a replacement. A search committee has been formed, chaired by Jane Duel, Susquehanna SPCA. It includes Gibbons, past president Ed Landers, White House Inn, and D. Stephen Elliott, NYSHA president & CEO. Gibbons said the committee plans to advertise in Albany, Syracuse and Utica, but would prefer a qualified local person if one emerges. “Local knowledge is just incredibly helpful,” said Renckens. Skills being sought include management and the ability to “inspire volunteers,” Rick said. And Polly added, “Relationship building.” When fundraising fell short for the fledgling New York State Snowsculpting Championships, for instance, Renckens approached the county Board of Representatives, which covered the shortfall, something that would have been unheard of in years past. Renckens has presided over the rise of baseball stores. When she took over, Wood’s, Baseball Nostalgia, National Pastime and Mickey’s were it. Today, baseball-theme establishments dominate. Looking ahead, Renckens said, she sees at least some of those stores shifting south to Hartwick Seminary to be closer to Dreams Park, but that’s OK. The downtown would benefit from more diversity, she said. “In another couple of years,” she said, referring to youngsters who have been coming to Dreams Park for the past 10 years, “these children and their parents will be at a different time. I see them as our future.” When their fond memories bring them back, it will be for more than Dreams Park, but for the Hall of Fame, the museums and Otsego Lake’s other attractions. “They are all over the country, so they are ambassadors for us.” If she has had any disappointment, it is that Cooperstown has yet to become a four-season tourist destination, but Rick was quick to add, “we’re working on ‘the shoulders.’” For now, she has four more months of giving it her all. Then, a couple of years of golfing, gardening and traveling are in the offing. She and her hubby sold their place in Pierstown and have downsized to a home above Canadarago Lake. “Little Bits,” now 25, is with the Peace Corps in Togo, and the Renckens are looking forward to her safe return. Son Patrick, 28, is a programmer in Maine; his parents plan to visit this weekend. And Shannon, 35, is in human resources in Kingston. “I’ve had a happy life; a fabulous life,” Polly summed up, and she anticipates more of the same.   Planner Goes Toe-To-Toe With Crowd In Fly Creek
FLY CREEK Nan Stolzenburg stood her ground. Facing a boisterous crowd of 300 in Otsego town hall, she calmly and clearly outlined proposed – and now locally controversial – Conservation Subdivision Regulations for an hour Monday, Oct. 16, then fielded sometimes hostile questions for another two hours. “You can have your cake and eat it, too,” said Stolzenburg, founder of Community Planning & Environmental Associates, a firm in the Albany area. Only once did she get testy: When she and local lawyer Les Sittler went toe-to-toe on a detail of zoning law. It was a standoff. She said Conservation Subdivision Regulations are “density neutral” – if you can put 12 houses on a 36-acre property under the 1969 regulations now in force, you will be able to do the same if the proposed regulations go in. But by allowing flexible lot sizes, you can put the 12 houses on 12 acres, protect wetlands, views, historical features and the like, and still surround yourself with 24 acres of open space. Carefully placed, the homes would require only one curb cut onto a state or town road, easing the prospect of congestion, she said. It was a hard sell. If the proposed regulations are so enticing, said concerned landowner Jim Ainslie, who is organizing fellow Town of Otsego property owners against the changes, why not go with a “non-regulatory option.” When the planning board meets with a developer, he said, it should suggest: “When you subdivide the land, would you try doing this?” Ainslie said later he still stands by every statement contained in the “WARNING/ALERT” flier he and property owner John Phillips mailed out last month, which brought some 250 people to an organizational meeting at the Fly Creek fire house Oct. 4. The flier called the proposals “tyranny” and said they will “take away our constitutional right to freedom and the rights of private land ownership.” “What property rights are being lost?” Stolzenburg asked in one exchange with Ainslie at town hall. “Freedom,” he replied. In a later interview, he said “that slope issue” – a prohibition of construction on any slope steeper than 15 percent – “is probably the biggest problem.” Even with that slope increased to 20 percent or 25 percent, he said, “whether it’s saleable or not, that’s the question.” He said town officials, even a member of the planning committee that drew up the proposed regulations, are starting to jump ship. At that fire hall, attendees were told that this second gathering would be an informational meeting where their questions would be answered. At the outset, however, Supervisor Tom Breiten told the crowd that, to keep emotions from getting out of hand, he would circulate yellow pads and people could write down any questions they might have, and Stolzenburg would try to answer as many as she could. After the planner’s presentation, that proved unworkable, as audience members began to call out questions, and the evening took on a more ad hoc feel. While most of the questioning was antagonistic, it was evident from the mutterings of people who didn’t speak out that there was some support for the proposal in the audience. Audience member Glen Miller observed, however: “For a vision to succeed, you need buy-in. I don’t see any buy-in here.” Stolzenburg had begun the evening with her two examples – three-acre lots vs. flexible lot sizes – and outlined the steps to get to the flexible outcome: One, identify limiting factors on a tract: wetlands, streams, slopes. Second, look at secondary areas of concern: woods, knolls, views, streambanks. Three, look at potential development areas, the placement of houses to shelter them, make them proximate to roads, and so on. Only then, she said, when the optimum placement is determined, would lot lines be drawn. Under rigid three-acre zoning, the lots would be drawn first, she said, regardless of the features of an individual tract. “You people need to make a choice between the two examples I showed,” she said. “No, no, no,” came a shout from the crowd. Bill Michaels, a former town board member, told Breiten the cart is before the horse: The Comprehensive Planning Committee – Breiten, town board member Anne Geddes-Atwell, planning board chairman Jonathan Bass, plus Alvin Merck and Anita Weber – should complete its revisions to the Comprehensive Master Plan before it starts working on the subdivision ordinance. Regardless, said Stolzenburg, the proposed regulations “are still consistent with the master plan we have now.” The events that preceded the town hall meeting began a year ago, when a proposed subdivision on Christian Hill prompted the town board to adopt a one-year development moratorium, which runs out in December. Meanwhile, the idea was to revise the 37-year-old master plan. Stolzenburg was hired for that purpose, and the proposed regulations grew out of those conversations. “What we need to do is to take the public input and go back and look at the rough draft and try to refine it,” said Breiten, “and come up with something that may be a better fit.” Eventually, if a draft is agreed upon, the Comprehensive Planning Committee will hold a public hearing. Then, the town board will review the regulations; then the county Planning Board will do so. Then, the town board will hold a public hearing. They the regulations would be adopted and implemented; or they would be adjusted and another public hearing would be required. Breiten said there will be plenty more time for additional public input before anything happens.  He Donned Many Hats Over Years CHERRY VALLEY By the time he was 12, Fabian Bresset III had been taking car motors apart for two years and putting them back together for his dad, Fabian Jr., a life-long auto mechanic. Dad and son shared the interest, so when Fabian III returned to Cherry Valley from Morrisville Ag & Tech, the two worked together for several years, driving up and back daily from M.W. Roosevelt & Son Chevrolet in Canajoharie. One day, after Fabian III and wife, the former Carol Hull, had married, the father said, “Son, no matter what garage you go to, they all look different, but they’re all the same.” With a family to look after, he ought to start looking for a job with benefits and, eventually, retirement. That sent the son, now 68 and retired for 14 years, in a different direction. With the guidance of one of his wife’s uncles, he took a job with General Electric in Utica, first as a security guard, later as a manager in the security department, and stayed there for 25 years. That was just one example of Bresset’s ability to stick with it. He and his wife have been married for 45 years. They’ve lived in the same house at 18 Church St. since 1963, only a block from where they grew up, one on Maple Avenue, the other on Kilfoyle Street. And he had been on the Cherry Valley town board since 1972, when a long-time village justice, Joe Vogelien, approached him and said, “’You’re a good young gentleman’ – I guess I was young then – ‘and I think you should give it a chance.’” He replaced another longtime board member, Maynard Wyckoff, and joined his boyhood chum, longtime Town Supervisor Bob Loucks. The two served together until Loucks’ retirement in 2005. Bresset stayed on until last Thursday, Oct. 12, when, to the surprise of the crowd in attendance – until the last four years or so, before plans for windmills at Cape Wyckoff surface, often no one attended town board meetings at all – he read his letter of resignation. The letter contrasted with the often-rancorous tone of recent meetings; it was polite, gentlemanly. He and Carol, who have been spending a month in Myrtle Beach, S.C., in recent winters, bought a condo and want to spend more time there. Given the amount that’s been going on, it wouldn’t be fair to townspeople to be absent so often, he said. “It’s been stressful,” Bresset said of recent years on the town board – after a July 31 public hearing, he and town board member Jim Johnson blocked a 12-month development moratorium that would have stalled windmill development after an evening of pro-moratorium testimony. “What’s going on is a big issue and it’s hard to know what is right. But I look at it this way: You have to do the best you can for all the townspeople.” Interviewed the weekend of his resignation, Bresset looked markedly more relaxed, 15 years younger. We sometimes think of people uni-dimensionally, which is never the case. Bresset’s role on the town board is just a piece of a varied life of son, father, husband, colleague and friend. Among his most enjoyable activities these days is meeting each morning with the regular gang at Larry’s Barbershop, to share wisdom and solve the problems of the world. Fabian Bressett III – the first Fabian, his grandfather, moved here from the Montreal area to farm, along with two other French-Canadian families – was born into a different Cherry Valley at the end of the Depression. Route 20 ran down Main Street, and farmers from the surrounding countryside frequented town to drop of their raw milk at the Borden’s creamery. While there, they partook of 4-5 groceries, two barber shops, 2-3 beauty shops, a movie theater, a big hotel, two dry-goods stores, a feed store and the many other establishments. He has pleasant memories of a boyhood in “a very pleasant and active town,” in particular sports and going to the beach at Three Mile Point. He had a rsister, Marlene, who now lives in the Adirondacks. “The biggest percentage of kids when I went to school were from farm families,” he said, “and some very successful.” The decline of agriculture led to the decline of the town. Back from Morrisville, his first job was at Barringer Motors, across from Larry’s, and it was there he noticed a pretty girl walking back and forth to school. Carol noticed that he noticed: “He always had a car to pump gas into when I walked by.” The two married and, a year later, moved into the Church Street house which, they both remember, had a pretty good roof, but the rest was a mess. “I sat on the back step and said, ‘I’m not going to live here’,” Carol remembers. “He said, ‘If you’re going to be married to me you’re going to live here.’” And that settle that. Eventually, they raised three children there: Amy, who works in administration at Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown, Lisa Drake and, yes, Fabian IV. After he retired from GE in 1992, Bresset drove a school bus for 10 years until Carol, a nurse at Bassett for 38 years, also retired. Today, the house has the comfortable feel of having been fixed up just the way its owners want it, although both say there’s still a thing or two to do. There’s a deck out back, and a covered deck – they had a hot tub there for a dozen years – and a sheltered yard and, to the left, an extra large garage that houses Bresset’s pride and joy, a 1950 Chrysler New Yorker. When he bought it, it was in pieces, but he painstakingly reassembled it. Today it shines. He joined The Wanderers, a car club that has an annual show in Milford and donates the proceeds to help students in the BOCES automotive program. He was drawn to the New Yorker, he said, as a tribute to his father, who worked mostly on Chrysler products. Also in the garage is a late model white Chrysler 300 and, on the apron, a PT Cruiser and a Dodge truck. Last winter in Myrtle Beach, he happened upon a 1965 Plymouth Valiant Two-Door Hardtop. “I knew he wanted it,” said Carol. With retirement looming, he figured the other day, why not? On Monday, Oct. 16, he headed down to South Carolina to bring his latest project back.  Beloved Basset Hound Leaves Post COOPERSTOWN Dogs love to love and be loved, but Barclay the Basset Hound was even moreso. “He just loved everybody,” said Karen Leminster, who with her husband Fred has run Rudy’s Liquor Store at 143 Main St. for decades. “He loved to come downtown and socialize. He always wanted to be petted and touched and stroked.” Most everybody who spent any time downtown knew Barclay. No sooner would Karen get him into the store, then he’d want his mattress moved outside, where he’d hold court with whoever came by. Located as Rudy’s is between a bakery and an ice-cream store, everybody’s buddy would never turn down a treat originating from either. “Everybody had to come up and pet him,” said Stacey Michael of Cherry Valley, who had stopped by for a bottle of wine and joined in the reminiscence. In the spring, however, Barclay started to slow down. It got to the point where, everytime he’d fall asleep, Karen and Fred hoped their friend and family member of 14 years would pass on peacefully. Finally, six weeks ago, they had to make the decision themselves. The Leminsters loved Barclay, but they weren’t alone. A couple of dozen condolence cards came in the mail, and a pot of flowers, tied with a ribbon marked with pawprints, was dropped off. Karen set up a special window display of all the gifts, as well as such mementos as Barclay’s water dish, his collar and his tags. There are statues, photos and posters of Barclay and other bassets, all of the items reflecting affection. One plaque, “The Basset House Rules,” begins: “1. The basset hound is not allowed in the house.” By Rule 6, the give is evident: “Alright, the basset hound is allowed in the bed, but ONLY with permission.” By Rule 10, it’s clear who’s in charge: “In all cases of dispute, the basset hound rules.” And another plaque: “Caution – you’re entering a basset hound drool zone.” And another plaque: “In Loving Memory of Barclay, 1992-2006.” A customer came in a couple of weeks ago and, on seeing the display, tears poured down her cheek. Her little grandson was with her; he’d brought a little present for “Bar-Ka-Lee.” It was love at first sight 25 years ago when the Leminsters, the parents and their two children, Kim and Andy, happened on a basset puppy in a pet shop in the Sangertown Mall. They resisted, not wanting to encourage the possibility of puppy mills, but sought out a breeder in Eagle Creek in the Adirondacks and acquired Bessie, a female basset who was the family’s pet until she died suddenly 12 years later. “She was fine in the morning,” said Karen, “and she died in the afternoon.” The family was determined to get another basset and, only six weeks later, was able to locate young Barclay, one of nine survivors of a champion’s litter of 10, at a breeder beyond Lake George, near the Vermont border. And so the Leminsters’ years with Barclay began, as did Main Street, Cooperstown’s. As it happens, Barclay’s role as social arbiter wasn’t unprecedented. Karen remembers Carol Bordley’s Chloe, who held sway years before. While the basset is not a common breed, it is more common locally, perhaps because of everyone’s various tied to Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital. Dr. Weaver on Nelson Avenue had two. And Dr. Herman’s wife bred them for a while on Lake Road, Mrs. Leminster recalled. Chloe, it’s said, particularly liked pizza and would hang out around Sal’s, looking for a handout. For now, Karen said, she and her husband are going to wait a while before deciding on whether to find a successor to Barclay. Relative to Bessie’s passing, which was quick and happened in a busy house with growing children, Barcley’s slow demise and the tough decision at the end made it harder to take. Over the winter, the couple plans to go to Florida, where daughter Kim told them many dogs from New Orleans left homeless by Hurricane Katrina still haven’t been adopted. Who knows, perhaps there’s – not another Barclay – another basset in their future.  Ghoulish Goings On This Week SCARYVILLE It's the spookiest time of the year as ghosts and ghouls from this neighborhood fan across Otsego County, with hauntings expected from Hyde Hall to Oneonta's Wilber Mansion. Here's what they're known to be up to between now and Oct. 31: Fright Fest 5-11 p.m. Fridays; noon to 11 Saturdays; noon to 5 p.m. Sundays at Cooperstown Fun Park, three miles south of the village on Route 28. The fest features a haunted house, a "Spooky Hay Ride," a six-acre corn maze, a pumpkin patch and a children's hay maze. Ghost Tours 8 p.m. Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, departing from Pioneer Park, Main and Pioneer streets. The tours feature the village's rich history of ghostly sightings, including stories of Byberry Cottage, Pomeroy Place, the curse of Ann Cary, and the ghosts of the Church Street cemetery. Price is $10 for adults, $8 for children 12 and under. Children 5 and under are free. Reservations required at www.cooperstownghost.com or by calling 547-8070. Cornfield Maze 4-8 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m to 8 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ten-acre Cooperstown-Oneonta Corn Field Maze, located on Route 205 near Laurens, features corn cannon, hay-bale maze, cow train, pumpkin bowling, hay bale jump, farm animals, pony rides, a children's game area and bonfires. Visit website for more information, or call 432-8989. Ghost Walks 5-7:30 p.m., every half hour, Fridays and Saturdays at The Farmers' Museum. "Things That Go Bump in the Night," a ghost walk. Pre-registration required, call (607)547-1450. Rail Scary 6 p.m. departure, both Saturdays, from the Milford Depot. Halloween Express Trains on the Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley Railroad. Adults $10; seniors $9; children 4-12 $7, under 4 free. For reservations, check www.lrhs.com or call432-2429. Haunted Howe 5:30-8:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 27, Halloween at Howe Caverns. This 24th annual Charity Benefit takes visitors on a journey below the earth's surface into the great “haunted cave” filled with monsters and giggles. Proceeds benefit the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley and Cornell Cooperative Extension. $10 adult, $5 child 12 and under. (Because this is a benefit, no coupons or discounts apply) Scary Stories Noon-6:30 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28, Halloween Adventure Day & Sc’ary Stories at Howe Caverns. Live animals, cookies to decorate, great things to make, a costume contest, scary stories. Regular cavern tours available from 9a.m. to 6 p.m. Also, special character tours available. 888-696-2283. Creepy Community 6-10 p.m., Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 27-28, Gallery of Ghouls at Wilber Mansion. Fun, excitement, creepiness, creativity in old Victorian mansion: Watch 100 artists transform three stories of rooms, hallways, stairs and closets. $5 members; $6 general public. To benefit Upper Catskill Community Council of the Arts, 11 Ford Ave., Oneonta. (607)432-2070. Hyde Halloween 2-4 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 29, Halloween at Hyde Hall. Ages 1–10 only. Pumpkin-rolling races, bonfire and marshmallows, candy tag UNICEF boxes, candle-lit ghost stories in the library. Enter (at your own risk) through Glimmerglass State Park. Park below White Gate and walk up. Call 547-5098 for details or to volunteer. Pumpkin Patch 5-7 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 29, The Pumpkin "Glow" & Chamber of Horrors, front porch and in the ballroom gallery at the Cooperstown Art Association. Drop off your carved pumpkins all day so to light up the night at the Cooperstown library building on Main Street. $1 donation at the door; goodies will be served, 547-9777. Collective Creepshow 6 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 31, Halloween Parade. 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