Ward Davis: Wooden Toy Maker This month’s artist of the month is Ward Davis, our wooden toy maker. If you haven’t seen his things yet, you are going to want to stop in and take a look. He has trains, planes, and automobiles. An ark with lots of animals. Giraffes and dogs you can pull behind you on a string just like in the good old days. And because they’re sturdily made of child-safe materials, they will last into the next generation and beyond. Not looking for a toy? We have lots of other fun things for the young at heart. Anthony Ferrerese’s whimsical animals will make you laugh. (A chicken on roller skates, anyone?) Pretty jewelry, amusing pictures, even pillows with cats on them. Come by and see!
Downtown Oneonta Over 100 Years Ago A recent visitor to the History Center brought in this postcard of Main Street. Postmarked 1910, the message on the reverse mentions a plane crash, probably during an air show at the Oneonta Fair. The Bissell Block, the oldest brick building on Main Street, is at the right of the card. That’s Walter Brown’s Hardware at the corner in what is now the History Center. Note the wall ad for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West & Rough Riders’ appearance in Oneonta. There’s still a bulkhead for deliveries at the front of the hardware store. The building to the west of the Bissell Block has a blade sign of a pair of eyeglasses. At the corner of Chestnut and Main is a trolley. Across the street from Brown’s is a sign on the sidewalk for Laskaris Delicious Ice Cream & Cream Soda. John Laskaris opened his shop on the south side of Main Street in 1898....Read More >
GET TO KNOW THE Y STAFF By Nick Ellis Lmt I started volunteering at the Y in August, 2005. My sister was taking Gymnastics and was a level 3. I used to come in and watch her classes. Susan Rowland, gymnastics coordinator at that time, asked me if I wanted to help out. I volunteered for about a month or so and was hired on as gymnastics coach. I came from a competitive martial arts background and am pretty good at body awareness, mechanics, rhythm and flow. I feel that it gave me an edge into spotting for more difficult skills. I absolutely love being able to aide children and young adults to perform awesome skills and routines. I love having the platform to impact their lives as a positive and encouraging role model to guide them towards a happy and fulfilling future. Outside of the y, I own three businesses. I am a Licensed Massage Therapist, which is also...Read More >
It’s The Right Thing To Do More than a month ago we presented a petition to the Mayor and Common Council, signed by 168 members of the community, seeking a reconsideration of the current practice for the award of Downtown Investment Funds as contracts. In the interim, nothing appears to have changed as the Herzig administration continues on its previous trajectory. It is our shared opinion that the DRI funds can and should be used to engage local businesses and services in the planned reconstruction of Market Street, the Parking Garage and other Downtown improvements. Our proposal is simple: As with most Requests for Proposals (RFPs) there is a weight given to women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, and the like. We ask that a similar weight is given to the use of a fixed percentage of LOCAL businesses and services in any DRI funded contract. As an example, a weight of 20 percent for 50% of Oneonta-specific sub-contract and employment would guarantee that local excavators, painters, plumbers, landscapers,...Read More >
Shop Your Size What does that mean? To me you shop “your” size. That doesn’t mean you try on a pair of pants and they are a size 6 so every pair of pants you try on must-read size 6. Doesn’t mean you try on a top that reads medium and every medium top will fit. Since owning Transition’s Consignment Boutique, I can’t tell you how many women come to the shoppe with only a certain size in mind. I suggest a top and they become apprehensive because they never wanted to wear “that” size. These days depending on brand, manufacturing, or style, your size may vary. When you walk into my boutique the first thing I will say is “Welcome”. Next, I will let you know the shoppe is arranged by style and color. My hope is to get you to start thinking outside your size! Yes, you must try items on, irrelevant of size. Who is reading the size label? No one is sneaking...Read More >
Today’s #MyYStory goes out to the Truesdell family. They use our NEW more valued FAMILY MEMBERSHIP, TeriAnn speaks about their #OneontaY experience below: “Our kids Briegha, Shayla & Declan have all had individual memberships since before they could even walk! My kids all took swim lessons for as long as they could….when the girls seemed to learn all they could in lessons, they started on the Orcas swim team! Briegha and Shayla just completed their 5th year with the team! I was looking for a gym to join myself. I kept hearing about the new perks of having a family membership at the Y. So after talking to the amazing Jason Card we decided to do a family membership for us all! The perks are awesome! We get a $50 coupon each quarter, which basically covers almost all of Declan’s swim lessons! This has also led us to participate in more of the youth leagues, because they are now FREE...Read More >