http://www.thedailystar.com en-us Copyright CNHI All Rights Reserved. 5 Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:00:59 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_311040119.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_311040119.html Tuesday's mayoral election in Oneonta was certainly well-represented by our two colleges in the city. Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:12:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_306040008.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_306040008.html When it comes to politics, no matter how popular you may be, sometimes you just can't win them all. Back in 1954, if you'd asked then U.S. Senator Irving M. Ives about this, he would've told you such a statement was true. It was that year when Ives, who called The Heartland of New York his home, lost in a tight race for governor of New York to W. Averell Harriman. Sat, 31 Oct 2009 12:24:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_304040005.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_304040005.html If a person was extremely tall or exceptionally tiny in stature, chances of their getting into show business back in the 1870s were there for the taking. A Greene native, Francis Flynn, became a showman of demand by age 4. Francis was 23" tall, weighed 12 pounds and toured by the name of General Mite. Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:24:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_299040136.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_299040136.html It was a busy year of events on the campus of Hartwick College in 1954. The community's leaders and citizens became more involved in the college's role in Oneonta's life. A brand new women's dormitory opened that autumn, named after a prominent Oneonta couple. Another building, the very first one built in 1928, got a name change. Sat, 24 Oct 2009 08:22:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_297040306.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_297040306.html College students across the nation in the 1950s had their share of pranks, such as finding out how many could fit into telephone booths. I'm sure some students at the Oneonta State Teachers College were up to that challenge in this city. Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:25:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_306124450.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_306124450.html Recession was a word in the daily vocabulary. College students rallied to vote in their “gown towns.” Houses and Oneonta’s “Chinese Wall” needed and got help, and music at the nightclubs and on the radio was changing. It was October 1979 here in The Heartland of New York. Sat, 17 Oct 2009 08:23:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_290040009.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_290040009.html One thing you cannot call the numerous merchants and organizations working to make downtown Oneonta successful these days is lazy. Downtown has plenty of competition with stores outside the city limits, so making the extra efforts to attract people to the old business district is essential. Mon, 12 Oct 2009 10:27:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_285040053.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_285040053.html Some are calling our government's Cash for Clunkers program a success. The program allowed you to turn in an old, gas-guzzling vehicle for a deal on a new, more fuel-efficient model. What the long-term results will be from this promotion remain to be seen. Sat, 10 Oct 2009 10:26:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_283040126.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_283040126.html Call this one "when the need for health care reform met Halloween." Once again we return to Hartwick in the 1830s and '40s. Sat, 03 Oct 2009 10:25:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_276034530.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_276034530.html Some may recall the clever ad campaign many years back when two people accidentally bumped into each other, as one was eating chocolate, and the other, peanut butter. One remarked, "You got peanut butter in my chocolate." The other replied, "You got chocolate in my peanut butter." Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:06:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_272034515.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_272034515.html It was exactly 25 years ago this week when Mary Anne Ross of Oneonta and Riccardo Calleo, lead tenor of the New York City Opera, took the stage of the Oneonta Theatre. If you were in the audience Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, 1984, you witnessed the beginning of a new company, Orpheus Theatre. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:22:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_271034504.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_271034504.html It was exactly 25 years ago this week when Mary Anne Ross of Oneonta and Riccardo Calleo, lead tenor of the New York City Opera, took the stage of the Oneonta Theatre. If you were in the audience Sunday afternoon, Sept. 30, 1984, you witnessed the beginning of a new company, Orpheus Theatre. Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:07:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_271140334.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_271140334.html Winds can be wicked at times, and our region has seen its share of the damage winds can do from either hurricanes, tornadoes and cyclones. Mon, 21 Sep 2009 07:48:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_264040012.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_264040012.html I would guess I'm not alone in hoping that the can-do spirit of Oneonta that brought us a Soccer Hall of Fame nearly 30 years ago can be repeated in re-opening and keeping the Hall in Oneonta. It was in September 1979 that Oneonta made its bid to become the Hall's home. Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:24:00 +0000 http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_262034530.html http://www.thedailystar.com/simonsoncolumn/local_story_262034530.html A health care reform movement is well under way in America these days. Back in the early 1920s, whether it was Oneonta or across the U.S. and Canada, there was another movement going on "" to own your own home. It was called the Better Homes in America Movement. Unlike today's health care movement, this was one much less noisy and stressful, unless you were a landlord.