On the Bright Side: SUCO seniors help clean up downtown

By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer

May 14, 2008 04:00 am

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ONEONTA _ About 20 SUCO students with brooms, squeegees and sponges swept through Main Street on Tuesday afternoon.

The cleanup was organized by the State University College at Oneonta class of 2008, with assistance from Dana LaCroix of Main Street Oneonta.

"We had talked about what we wanted to do for senior week," said class President Matt Harrington.

A series of events were organized, including the volunteer effort downtown.

"We also wanted to give back to the town," Harrington said.

The senior class is no stranger to volunteering and raising money for causes.

Some of its members were involved in relief efforts for Hurricane Katrina, raised funds after the tsunami of 2004 and assisted with local flood relief in 2006.

"We have a great history of volunteerism," Harrington said.

Leaving Oneonta after graduation Saturday will be bittersweet, said Paul Miraglia, the class of 2008 vice president.

Miraglia said students don't often think about their impact downtown and in other parts of the community.

"I feel like we've been destroying it for four years," Miraglia said. "It's nice to clean up and give back."

In addition to seniors, some juniors and sophomores also lent a hand.

Mayor John Nader met with the students on the steps of City Hall and offered them words of encouragement and best wishes for their future.

As the students split into smaller groups and progressed up and down both sides of Main Street, they washed windows and swept sidewalks.

Heather Weiss, 24, of Oneonta, was walking to an appointment downtown when she stopped and watched the students clean the windows of the Otsego County offices on Main Street.

"I think it is a great thing," she said.

Weiss said it's something she doesn't often see students doing.

But Nader said students from Hartwick College and SUCO seem to be increasing their profile.

"Student involvement in the community has grown exponentially in the last several years," Nader said.

Harrington said the students he talks with all seem to enjoy living in Oneonta.

"It's very inviting," he said of the downtown.

Although the students won't make a huge difference in just one afternoon of cleaning, Harrington said, the effort was a way to thank the year-round Oneonta residents.

"We appreciate everything they do for us," he said.

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