Richfield Springs Mercury in the West Winfield Star by Tammy Graves

WEST WINFIELD STAR

PAGE EIGHT

Curiosities of Columbia

by Donna Rubin, Town Historian High on a hillside overlooking Little Lake Unadilla lie the remains of the sheep farm of John Henry House (18571924), once a successful and respected member of the Millers Mills community. Descendant of the earliest area settlers, John Henry had many other titles: Sunday school superintendent, charter Grange member, chairman of the Board of Assessors, district school clerk, and MURDERER. For nearly a century locals have been fascinated by the rumors of what happened on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Highview Sheep Farm.â&#x20AC;? Five wives and several housekeepers each had a story to tell, of divorce, death in childbirth, and a suspicious suicide, but it would be the tale of the fifth wife that would lead to John Henryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s undoing. When he hung himself in the Herkimer County jail in 1924 he was survived by a son and three daughters, and many of their descendants live in this area today. Next October a full account of John Henryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life will be presented at the Richfield Historical Association Museum, just in time for Halloween! If your curiosityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been awakened, watch for a date to be announced.

Note from Gene: John-Henry House is my great-grandfather. Mark your calendar, you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to miss this presentation.

Christ Uniting Provides Health Kits Worldwide

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017

Scouts Attend Camporee at West Point By Aida Betancourt

Carrying their gear, nine Boy Scouts from Richfield Springs participated in one of the nationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest camporees in West Point Richfield Springs Boy Scouts Troop 14 earned a spot to participate in the 55th Annual West Point Invitational Scout Camporee, one of the largest in the nation with over 6,500 scouts. Troop 14â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s weekend of April 28-30 was packed with graded events such as first aid, knot tying, drills, fire building, wilderness survival, ranger challenge, one-rope bridge, fitness challenge, weapons knowledge, search and rescue, amongst others...all for which our Troop 14 prepared extensively throughout the five months prior to

Camporee. Each of our scouts prepared themselves with everything they needed for surviving a weekend-food, personal cooking materials, clothing, sleeping bag, flashlights, etc...and were ready for this weekend of adventure that started with a 3-mile hike from the parking lot to the campsite. Undoubtedly, an experience theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll all remember and one that they will continue to talk about. Our Scouts were happy and very excited to have been selected and participated of this great opportunity!

Vets Club Flowers and Garden Club Springing into Action After what seemed an endless winter, the Garden Club Hosts Cornhole Shrubs Need of Richfield Springs hit the ground running. As soon as the Tournament: a New Home snow melted, and the weather allowed, our community Tell your gardener friends flower boxes and planting areas were cleared and prepped May 20 that all plants growing for planting by Barb Crandall.

Members of the Church of Christ Unitingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Christian Fellowship and Service Guild in Richfield Springs recently completed their health kit project for Church World Services. Church members donated items for the kits consist ing of basic hygiene needs such as tooth brushes, bars of soap, wash cloths, combs and bandages. Church World Services is a faith-based organization transforming communities around the globe through just and sustainable responses to hunger, poverty, displacement and disaster. Church World Services is just one of the many nonprofits the Guild supports either through its fundraising initiatives or in conjunction with the support of the church. For more information about the Church of Christ Uniting in Richfield Springs visit www.rschurchofchristuniting .com

It is time to tune your tossing technique for the BAGGO (CORNHOLE) Tournament with cash prizes on May 20. Boy Scout Troop 14 of Richfield Springs brings you this 1st Annual event. Come on out and play, eat + drink. Adult and youth teams are welcome as are spectators. Early registration is encouraged by calling Scott Kessler 315.794.1516. Registration from 900 - 1100 AM on Saturday, May 20 and tourney begins at 1100 AM. The Vets Club is located at 13 Lake Street in Richfield Springs. Cost to play is $20 per player (includes meal) or $10 for play only. Spectators may enjoy the meal of pig roast potatoes and salad for $15. Water/soda for $1.

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along creek wall at Overlook Park in Gilbertsville need a new home. The Village Improvement Society of Gilbertsville plans to maintain the area as grass with ornamental trees. Everything that is there now has to go. Daffodils, daylilies, irises, hostas and lots of peonies, amongst more assorted plants.

Our April dinner meeting took place at PKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pub in Herkimer with 18 club members attending. We enjoyed home baked cakes for desserts courtesy of Diane Jouben and Barb Crandall. The C Clubâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Annual Plant Sale Fundraiser will be June 3 on the lawn he Richfield Springs Public Library from 900 AM to 200 PM. In addition to annuals, perennials and herbs, there will be home baked goods, hand crafted item raffles and a burickobrack boutique table. We look forward to seeing and greeting community members and friends from other garden clubs at the plant sale.

Phone: 315.822.6764

WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017

email: geneandmary@westwinfieldstar.com

Bridgewater, Brookfield, Cassville, Cedar Lake, Cedarville, Clayville, Columbia, East Winfield, Leonardsville, Litchfield, Millers Mills, Plainfield, Richfield Springs, Sauquoit, Unadilla Forks, West Edmeston, West Exeter, West Winfield

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Richfield Springs MERCURY

YOUR COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER FOR 131 YEARS WEST WINFIELD, NY

M A I L I N G

By Mary M. Doremus

Our local representative attending Thursday’s Herkimer County meeting (l to r) Back Row: Town of Columbia - George Weiss, Supervisor; H. Ed Reed, Councilman; Mark Buddle, Highway Superintendent. Front Row: Town of Litchfield - Mark O’Sullivan, Councilman; Jonathan Knauth, Councilman; James Entwistle, Supervisor

By Gene Doremus Governor Cuomo recently signed additional legislation to put New York State on a path toward lower property taxes. As we all know, we pay more than most. His previous tax cap legislation was a first step in that direction. This most recent bill is step two. It encourages (forces) all towns and villages to cut taxes by combining or sharing services with other towns and villages. From buying pens for the office to gasoline for their vehicles to health insurance for their employees; towns and villages can save money if they work together. The premise of this legislation is that duplication and waste is causing our taxes to be so high. This initiative is called Shared Services, but it also includes citizen participation. It has its own website: www.ny.gov/sharedservices. Every county in New York is required to develop a plan detailing exactly what they are going to do to share services within their county and thereby reduce taxes for their citizens. The central figures to make this happen are the “Chief Executive Officers (CEO)” of each County. They were given a ten-page guidance document describing their responsibilities and deadlines for each milestone. By October 15th of this year we, the taxpayers of New York, will be presented a county plan explaining all the shared services to be accomplished, the amount of money to be saved, and the amount our taxes will decrease. For Herkimer county, the CEO is called the County Administrator, and he is James W. Wallace Jr.. Assisting him in accomplishing this order is the Legislative Chairman Bernard Peplinski Sr.. Their first action was to call a meeting of all the Panel members. Panel members are Mayors of every city and village, and Supervisors of every town in the county. The meeting was last Thursday evening at the county office building. The 30plus panel members present each had an opportunity to say what they think of this initiative and what specific services they think can be, or should be, shared. Numerous ideas were discussed. Most agreed that heath care is the biggest expense and ought to be examined for possible savings. Other shared services possibilities included electricity, cell phone plans, classes, mowing, police, courts and purchasing supplies. The next meeting for the Herkimer county panel members is June 1st. At that meeting, they plan to hear from other government agencies like BOCES who have experience in shared services. Mr. Wallace is going to create sub-committees and will task panel members to work within in these committees to make recommendations. By August 1st, “CEO’s” must submit a plan to the county legislators. The plan must include the property tax savings that will result IF the recommendations are implemented. The legislatures are to provide feedback on the plan and the “CEO” makes modifications accordingly. Here’s where we come in. The CEO is required to hold a minimum of three public hearings to ac-

Sherry Anne and Friends performed at the Mt. Markham High School on Saturday evening. The concert was a fund-raiser for the local CERT (Community Emergency Response Team). The audience was shown a sample of the back-packs CERT is purchasing with the money raised. The packs include a hard-hat, safety vests, tools, etc. CERT would like to thank all the donors who helped with the Chinese Auction and the community who showed their support by attending the concert! Of course, the big draw for the almost 50 in the audience was the opportunity to hear Sherry Anne’s magnificent voice. Originally scheduled to appear with Sherry Anne were the Wymans, but due to a family emergency, they could not attend. No problem… Sherry called a few more of her friends, who very nicely filled in for Wymans. Starting off the show was Donna Mucks, singing songs she has written over the years telling stories about many different life experiences she has Sherry Ann & Donna Mucks perhad. “Surrounded by Love” was writ- forming at concert on Sat. night. ten by Donna when her mother was in the hospital dying. Donna explained, her mother school nurse who discovered her bilateral hearing had always surrounded her family with love and, problem, turned into a “child with a problem”. And while in the hospital, the family did exactly what she went on to excel in school and sports and eveher mother had done for the family all those years. rything she did, including becoming a doctor by the Donna told how she gets inspiration for her songs age of 24. She realized shortly after, she was exfrom just about any walk of life. “Faith in the Sky”, celling for all the wrong reasons and turned to Jewas a song she wrote about a seat-mate she met sus. Sherry’s other long-time friends (friends you can on an airline flight. The song I liked the best was “For You & For Me”. Donna wrote that song in the call at the last minute to help you out in a pinch!) parking lot after a funeral for a fallen hero, when joining her on stage were Donna Green and Karen she realized most people attending the services had Burn. Donna accompanied Sherry playing the flute, while Sherry sang “The Rose” and “I Will Rise”. never met the hero. Now it was Sherry Anne’s turn! What a voice! Sherry told the crowd how she met Karen more She started off with “Sky Full of Angels”, then went than 20 years ago. Karen was dancing to a song, into an audience favorite of “Swing Lo, Sweet Char- telling the story of the song with her dance. It was iot”. If you have never heard Sherry Anne sing the first-time Sherry “listened” to a song with her before, you need to listen to her song, “God in the eyes. Sherry sang one of my favorite songs, “Just a Mountain, God in the Valley” (it’s on her web-site). I love that song and was so glad she sang it Satur- Closer Walk with Thee” and threw in a Christmas day night! Sherry explained how she started kin- song as well, “Mary Did You Know?” It was an enjoyable evening, listening (and singdergarten without anyone knowing she couldn’t hear. She began school as a “problem child” with ing along with) a marvelous entertainer and her low grades and other issues, but thanks to the friends!

L A B E L

cept input from the public, civic, business, labor, and community leaders. He then revises the plan as necessary. The final plan is then voted up or down by the panel of Mayors and Supervisors. Each panel member is required to state, in writing, the reason for his or her vote. All of this must be accomplished by September 15th! If the panel approves the plan, it goes to Albany, and is also disseminated to all the county residents “in a concise, clear, and coherent manner using words with common and everyday meanings.” If the panel disapMay 4, 2017 Meeting proves the plan, the # “CEO” is to release the plan Municipality to the public to include the 1 vote of each panel member City of Little Falls and their written explanaTown of German Flatts 1 tion mentioned above. He then starts the process all Town of Webb 1 over again next year. The incentive for coun- Town of Schuyler 2 ties to diligently formulate 3 a cost-saving plan is the Town of Columbia possibility of receiving a 1 one-time matching bonus Town of Warren of the money saved in the Town of Russia 1 first year of execution. Albany is helping the CEO’s Town of Herkimer 1 accomplish this complex tasking with technical assis- Town of Ohio 1 tance, website updates and Town of Little Falls 1 email support.

Editor’s note: I have an MPA in Public Administration. Which is another way of saying I have been schooled in the study of bureaucracy. My prediction is we will not see one dime in reduced property taxes because of this legislation. If we see any reduction at all, it will be due to a change in health care and health insurance. I look forward to watching this unfold over the next six months. I’ll keep you posted .

Town of Fairfield

Town of Salisbury

Sown of Manheim

Town of Danube

Town of Norway

Town of Litchfield

Village of Ilion

Village of Herkimer

Village of Dolgeville

Take Mom to a Musical for Mother’s Day!

The 4 - 6 grade students at Brookfield Central School are presenting the musical “The Return of the Glass Slipper”. The cast of 30 will be performing only one show on Saturday, May 13th at 6 PM. Discover the magic and wonder of wishes come true in this fairytale favorite, with some silly modern twists. The music is infectious and catchy, the dialogue is fast paced and witty. There will be plenty of dance and singing routines. The show is open to the public and is FREE! The musical is directed by LeeAnn Cucci and Sharon Cossette, both teachers at Brookfield Central School.

WEST WINFIELD STAR

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SUN - MOON - ETC. . Week 18-19

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Thu 11 May

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Fri 12 May

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