Upstate Life Winter 2023

READY FOR YOUR ARRIVAL

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I’ve said it before: I hate winter. It has its moments, sure, and, upstate, it can be startlingly picturesque. But I hate it. My joints, my mood, my mind, my skin – they all long for heat and greenspace and sunlight.

Recently, though, I came across a quote that made me rethink winter. It’s from Katherine May’s “Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times”: “Plants and animals don’t fight the winter; they don’t pretend it’s not happening and attempt to carry on living the same lives that they lived in the summer. They prepare. They adapt. They perform extraordinary acts of metamorphosis to get them through. Winter is a time of withdrawing from the world, maximizing scant resources, carrying out acts of brutal efficiency and vanishing from sight; but that’s not where the transformation occurs. Winter is not the death of the life cycle, but its crucible.”

I love this take.

And it doesn’t have to be only in winter, though I do think the season’s conditions engender feelings of renewal and adaptation. We are all always experiencing small moments of growth and rebirth, if we want to be. It’s just past Jan. 1 as I write this. I did the interview for “Going to Great Panes” on New Year’s Eve. The subject asked if I had big plans to go out that night, drinking and dancing. I did not. I barely made it to midnight, reading on the glider in my toddler’s nursery. And I’m not one for resolutions. I don’t much see the point in rustling up over-eager goals because of a date on the calendar. Most New Year’s resolutions don’t get met or fulfilled, leaving only a feeling of fizzled-out failure or disappointment. Which is not to say I don’t endorse resolve. I’d just rather have the goals, all the time, and keep chipping away at them, little by little. Kind of like getting through winter. Tuck in, and transform.

Chelsea Frisbee Johnson and nephew Wyatt Frisbee, of Delhi, pause for a picture while cross-country skiing.

Tap into the Catskills

BY EMILY HELK

After traveling the world, the sweet beauty of Delaware County called two West Point grads to put down roots.

Jack and Miki Balstad spent eight years in the military, with deployments in Afghanistan, Korea and across the US. Post-military, the Balstads were looking forward to building their family – and living in the same place at the same time. Today, they’ve settled on a farm in Walton. Their approach to farming is one of partnership, with each other and the land. According to Miki: “We take an approach that is full of regard for the life we consume, the woods we use.”

“We’ve always wanted a low-key, closer-to-the-earth life,” she said.

hatching a plan

The couple began farming together while in the army, with a flock of laying chickens in their one-acre backyard in Georgia, where they, once again, found themselves the new kids in town. It was there that Yankee Acre (singular) was born.

“Once you realize the difference that a little egg can have,” Miki said, “it’s difficult to not think about all of the other products that make it into our lives.”

Years before those first chickens, Jack and Miki fell in love with the Catskills. During college at West

Point, they began visiting friends in Downsville. Miki remembers how the mountains became a kind of magnetic pole, a rallying point for when the couple’s military deployments required them to spend months apart.

“Sitting outside on a cool summer night listening to the melodic frogs, or the wind whipping through the mountains, became a critical breathing space between one duty and the next,” she said. Jack and Miki knew that when their military careers ended, they wanted to settle in upstate New York.

After a stint in the Albany area, Yankee Acres expanded when the couple purchased a sprawling property with a stand of maple trees in Delaware County. The farm produces maple syrup, as well as chickens for meat and eggs, honey and cut flowers. The Balstads also specialize in “cide-free” products, meaning they are produced without herbicides, pesticides, fungicides or growth additives, and aligned with organic farming requirements.

Jack and Miki grew up in farming families, and Miki has a Master of Science in environmental policy and management, with a focus on energy and sustainability. Their on-the-ground and academic experiences have informed the couple’s philosophy.

Miki and Jack Balstad stand with their son at their farm, Yankee Acres, in this undated photo.

onCe you realize the DifferenCe that a little egg Can have, it’s DiffiCult to not think about all of the other proDuCts that make it into our lives.”

“It became increasingly apparent to me that we are in the early stages of food crises, both in terms of supply and quality,” Miki said. “I look at our humble farm as us doing our part to produce safe food, responsibly, and use surplus to benefit others.”

the sweet life

Pairing their maple syrup production with their goals of creating cide-free products was straightforward, but sugaring hasn’t been easy. The Balstads spent a significant portion of their first winter in Walton outside in the frigid sugarbush, building out more than 400 taps and accompanying infrastructure. As a team of two, they’re grateful for the community support that has emerged.

“We’ve had people answer a call for help to carry sugaring equipment out to the shack on days that could have been a call for slalom skiing,” Miki said. And, during an equipment breakdown, other local sugarers arrived to collect sap that the Balstads couldn’t process. “People and businesses have shown their support in ways that continue to inspire us to do more going forward.”

Finding good support, Miki noted, is vital, and her best piece of advice for anyone interested in sugaring.

“My greatest maple mentor told me that, even those who have been sugaring for 20 years have only done it 20 times,” she said. “It’s a great reminder that the knowledge gap between experience and inexperience in sugaring is small enough that success is attainable.

“Get to know your woods well: Sugaring basically requires you to walk every inch of your sugarbush several times each season,” Mikie continued. “Don’t over-tap trees, follow a sugaring standard, use safe materials, have your products tested for quality. Oh, and find a good mentor: there’s no one quite as friendly as a good sugarer.”

Yankee Acres maple trees are seen on the Balstads’ Walton farm property in this undated photo.

spreading the Word

A commitment to safe food goes beyond the farm’s products. Galvanized by losses of loved ones due, in part, to environmental carcinogens, Miki also deploys her expertise via the farm’s Instagram account, @yankeeacres, to educate on safe food, integrated environmental systems and living chemical-free at home.

“My hope is that when people begin to understand some of the implications of taking our food safety for granted, that they will feel empowered to control the process and require diligence of those who impact the quality of our food resources,” she said. Building community locally and online, she noted, helps to amplify the message.

The Balstads’ farming philosophy isn’t just about protecting the human food supply – it’s also about being in relationship with the land that shelters, supports and inspires them.

“Our experience with our land is hallowed,” Miki said. “Respect, appreciation and gratitude are the foundation of our interactions.”

Yankee Acres maple syrup is available locally at Hamden General (Hamden), YOLO Mercantile (Walton) and Galway Rock Winery (Ballston Lake) and online at yankee-acres.com. In the coming seasons, the Balstads plan to expand their maple line into other maple products, including sugars and acerum, a maple liqueur. +

Yankee Acres products, pictured, are available at local upstate retailers and online.

the balstads bought their Walton property, pictured, after years spent traveling in the military.

our experienCe With our lanD is halloWeD. respeCt, appreCiation anD gratituDe are the founDation of our interaCtions.”

Going to Great

by allison Collins

For nearly 50 years, Gene Mallard’s professional purpose has been crystal clear.

As the owner of Glass Arts Studio, Mallard, an Oneonta resident, specializes in painted and etched stained-glass design using mouthblown German glass. Mallard, 75, began working with glass at 26.

“I was traveling across the country with a friend of mine from Switzerland and we took a course out in Boulder, Colorado,” he said. “It was just a beginner’s thing, mostly working with domestic opalescent glass. I had seen my brother trying to do something in stained glass and thought it looked like a fun thing. I’d always liked puzzles and stuff.”

That course, Mallard said, led to an unofficial but pivotal apprenticeship in Switzerland with stained-glass master Hans Joachim Albert.

“The Swiss guy, my buddy, when he went back to Switzerland, he set up a studio and met a man who was a third-generation master,” he said, of Albert. “This guy could do anything from modern to medieval stained glass and he did it like nothing I’ve ever seen before. He was just a master in every sense, and he was in his late 50s when we first met him. He was a real character.

“I went back to Switzerland … and we started buying supplies from this man, who kindly consented to sell us stuff,” Mallard continued. “He had a four-story (building) … where he would make his own lead … and we became like pseudo apprentices to this man, both of us, and we would work for him and help him make lead and help him with glass etching and we even did some work on projects that he would get from artists and we would execute them, because they were simple enough for us to handle. By the time I decided to come back to the States, he gave me the honor of saying, ‘What you’ve done with me over the last three years has been the equivalent of a formal apprenticeship.’”

etching his Way

Mallard’s return concretized his place in the stained-glass industry.

“I came stateside and set up a studio,” he said. “I was networking and visiting galleries and meeting other stained-glass artists and hooking up with a place in Manhattan called Glass Masters that sold supplies. They had a gallery and their gallery brought me a lot of attention.

top

to bottom: Mallard’s rainbow-patterned butterfly window is installed in the First Presbyterian Church of Unadilla. This pastoral scene was commissioned for the First Presbyterian Church of Unadilla, where it hangs. A detail of a dove, part of a window in Sidney’s Sacred Heart Church. | CONTRIBUTED

“I did craft shows, (including) the Lincoln Center Craft Show, and what was once the most important craft show, the Rhinebeck,” Mallard continued. “So, I was doing stuff like that and picking up pretty good commissions … but it was my desire to live in a rural place. We’d lived up in this area of Delaware County and I started commuting to New York and, as time went on, I bought my house here in Oneonta around ’86. Oneonta put me a considerably further distance from New York, but I had a friend I’d met through Glass Masters and … he had a big loft in Lower Manhattan, so I’d spend a lot of time in New York, about two weekends a month.”

According to Mallard’s website, premiumstainedglass.com, it was around this time that he “won a top prize in an international stained-glass competition … as well as top prizes in the New York City Glass Masters Guild stained-glass competitions.” Mallard, the site notes, also has “a number of blue ribbons from regional craft shows” and has been a featured speaker or panelist at several national stained-glass conferences. His work has been featured, too, in Stained Glass Quarterly and Professional Stained Glass Magazine.

In the latter part of his career, Mallard said, he has focused on restoration projects and private commissions. Among his favorites, Mallard noted, are a set of stained-glass cityscapes and hand-etched replica Mark Twain illustrations done for a private library in New Jersey. “Those were kind of a piece de resistance,” he said. Mallard said a commission, shared with colleague Victor Rothman, for windows designed by Leon Golub and installed in Chicago’s Temple Sholom was also “one of them most important jobs I ever got.”

While Mallard said much of his work resides in the East Coast, he has pieces in Egypt, Switzerland, Germany, Florida, Virginia, Alabama, Maine and more. Locally, Mallard has crafted or restored pieces for the Cooperstown All-Star Village, the First Presbyterian Church of Unadilla, Oneonta’s Unitarian Universalist Society, Fly Creek’s First United Methodist Church, Sacred Heart of Sidney and the Hanford Mills Museum. Additionally, Mallard was chosen to participate in the World Restoration Fund’s restoration initiative at the Church of the Holy Apostles in New York City, where he was commissioned to recreate stained-glass windows destroyed during a fire. Mallard has also subcontracted with J.R. Lamb Studios, described on his website as “the oldest continuously operating stained-glass studio in the U.S.,” since 1990.

‘always something in the oven’

Prioritizing restoration jobs, Mallard said, was born of necessity and industry-wide shifts.

“The challenging part (of this industry) is really getting through the slump,” he said. “I could’ve gotten a job, but I like the idea of being home a lot. I’ve had a pretty cool life. But why am I not just creating new pieces, and being inspired to work in stained glass? I think the answer to that is, primarily, I don’t really have a gallery in New York or anywhere else selling stained glass. It is at an all-time low. Some of the major studios in cities like New York have just disappeared. There are very few places anymore, like in Brooklyn or Manhattan, that are major studios. Some of the big names have passed away, and other studios have moved to New Jersey or Viriginia, but I still get commissions.

the Challenging part (of this inDustry) is really getting through the slump. i CoulD’ve gotten a job, but i like the iDea of being home a lot. i’ve haD a pretty Cool life. but Why am i not just Creating neW pieCes, anD being inspireD to Work in staineD glass? i think the ansWer to that is, primarily, i Don’t really have a gallery in neW york or anyWhere else selling staineD glass. it is at an all-time loW.”

top to bottom: A stained-glass family crest hangs in Mallard’s Oneonta home. Mallard gestures to the features of an angel, the face of which he hand-painted for a larger piece. | ALLISON COLLINS

Mallard inventories sheets of glass in his Oneonta studio.

Mallard examines the kiln in his Oneonta studio.

Mallard buffs a shard of glass at a polishing machine in his studio space.

Mallard prefers working with German mouthblown glass, pictured.

Many-hued samples of glass, for re-ordering purposes, are seen in Mallard’s studio.

PHOTOS BY ALLISON COLLINS

“There aren’t that many people who have stained glass, or even leaded glass, at the top of their agenda,” Mallard continued. “And of course, most new churches, especially rural churches, can’t even consider spending that kind of money. What leaded glass that is popular is in the doors and windows that you buy at Home Depot, and it’s all made in China. If you look online, on Etsy, you can find stained glass from China, and I look at the prices of this stuff and say, ‘I would charge $3,000 for that window;’ they’re impossibly intricate.”

Despite such changes amid what he called “the stained-glass famine,” Mallard said he remains committed to crafting in “the old way,” even passing his skills on to assistant, Tyler Palmatier.

“If you’re working almost exclusively with mouthblown glass from Germany, that makes a big difference in price,” he said. Mouthblown German glass, his website notes, is “glass that is blown by mouth on the end of a tube, after gathering a glob of molten glass from a large vat, (with) most (coming) from Germany or France. The resulting globe is cut open and flattened in a kiln.”

“It’s quality preference and doing it the old way,” Mallard said. “And there are certain things you can only get in mouthblown German glass, and that is flashed glass.” Flashed glass, his website states, is glass that is mouthblown “in such a way as to have only a paper-thin layer of intense color on a body of glass. (This) is achieved by dipping a glob of clear glass into a vat of molten colored glass before the glob is blown into a globe.”

The future of glass, Mallard said, has him reflective.

“I don’t know if stained glass is going to have that kind of future (similar to other crafts seeing a resurgence),” he said, “but all things come back. As long as we have the competition from China, it makes it difficult for people working with the highest quality materials. There are a lot of people working in large-scale stained glass that are very successful; I used to be part of the American Glass Guild, and I suppose that I still am, and some of those people are doing really well, but they don’t live in Oneonta. But there’s always something in the oven.”

For more information, visit premiumstainedglass.com, email genemallard@msn.com or call the studio at 607-433-1965. +

This stained-glass tabby cat, by Mallard, was used as the poster image for a Lincoln Center Craft Show. | CONTRUBUTED

Diy

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. While often an opportunity to indulge in chocolate and romantic comedies, this holiday can also be an invitation to get crafty and creative in the middle of winter. With just a few simple supplies, you can create an economical and thoughtful Valentine’s gift for your loved ones to enjoy all year long. Grab the hot glue gun and get ready to craft.

Step 1: Gather supplies

• Simple, braided rope

• Felt sheets

• Scissors

• Hot glue gun

• Pen or marker

• Card stock

Step 2: Fold card stock in half and freehand a half heart shape. Cut it out. Trace heart template onto felt and cut out.

Coasters

BY CHELSEA FRISBEE JOHNSON

Step 2: Heat up the hot glue gun. Cut one end of the rope.

Step 3: Hot glue the rope onto the bottom of the felt heart. Continue gluing a small section at a time. When you start on the second row of rope, make sure to squeeze the rope snugly to the section before it so you don’t get any gaps in your coaster.

Step 4: Keep wrapping until felt is covered. Use the tip of the scissors to press the ends of the rope into the felt to secure.

Step 5: Trim any excess felt and rope fuzzies. Let dry.

Make a whole stack, tie them together with a red ribbon and give them to your valentine to celebrate the day. +

Adapted from diybeautify.com’s “Farmhouse Valentines Heart Shaped Coasters.”

A Hidden in Upstate New York

For decades, one upstate company has been coloring the world. Making tools for artists to bring their vision into reality is the mission of Golden Artist Colors, Inc.; passion for creating positive change in the world and helping artists do the same is what makes the company unique.

Headquartered in Columbus, New York, GOLDEN is a local success story with global reach, shipping products to customers in more than 60 countries. Golden Artist Colors has grown from five employees 42 years ago to 250 employees today. But the company was not an overnight success.

Sam Golden, who moved to this area from New York City to retire, began making paints in 1936, amid the Great Depression, at Bocour Artist Colors, a company he co-owned with his uncle, Leonard Bocour. It was during the Depression that New York became an epicenter for the arts, as American-born artists influenced by the growing population of displaced European immigrants began fashioning a new American expressive art movement.

by moniCa Calzolari

Bocour Artist Colors offered artists a warm place to hang out, paint and enjoy the leftover paint that wouldn’t fill a tube of their hand-ground paints. Mark Rothko, Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock were notable customers.

After a nearly 40-year career as a paintmaker and inventor, and just seven years into retirement, Sam Golden returned to what he loved to do: making paint for artists. Golden convinced his wife Adele, his son Mark, Mark’s wife Barbara and their first employee, Chuck Kelly, to form Golden Artist Colors in 1980.

golden growth

Over the last four decades, the company has grown from a five-person operation in a 900-square-foot renovated cow barn on the property to a 100,000-square-foot facility in rural New York, along with a 45,000-square-foot commercial warehouse in Norwich. Scaling the business from handmade paints to industrial quantities and retaining quality has taken much research, capital and manpower.

the golDen artist aCryliCs branD is knoWn for being the most innovative anD extensive aCryliC system available.”

PHOTOS COURTESY OF GOLDEN

an aerial view of new berlin is seen in this undated photo. new berlin has a population of 2,500 and no grocery store, coffee shops or public transportation, making it a unique site for such a large-scale manufacturing business.

Named after the Golden family, the company manufactures more than 3,000 different products for the fine art market.

“The Golden Artist Acrylics brand is known for being the most innovative and extensive acrylic system available,” CEO and co-founder Mark Golden said. The company also manufactures Williamsburg Artist Oil Colors, QoR® Artist Watercolors and PanPastel® and Sofft® Tools.

One of the secrets to Golden Artist Colors’ success is listening to the needs of its customers. Golden said the company “fields 10,000 to 15,000 questions from artists every year.” GOLDEN, he said, is “unique in the world, in that it continues to formulate individual custom products for artists, conservators and other professionals and organizations requiring materials to fit their needs and purposes.”

When Sam Golden passed away in 1997, Mark Golden and his wife, Barbara, carried on the family business.

“I burned through a lot of my father’s money,” he said, before growing the company beyond his wildest expectations. Mark noted that he wanted to be a pursue “a creative career in research, and gratefully found that perfecting paint formulations, and building a company can be an incredibly creative endeavor.”

painting a bright future

In 1997, members of the Golden Family created “The Sam and Adele Golden Foundation for the Arts, Inc.,” commemorating their parents’ legacy and the innovative traditions of Golden Artist Colors, Inc. In 2012, the foundation added an artist-in-residency program, providing professional artists an opportunity to work with a wide range of materials while living onsite for four weeks with “unlimited access” to paint, at no cost. The program has seen rising popularity, with 650 artists from around the world having applied for the 18 residency spots.

Todd Leinbach, senior graphic designer at GOLDEN, painted the portrait of artist and GOLDEN formulator, Ulysses Jackson, in Golden Artist Acrylics.

From the gallery: Jules Olitski Art Foundation Inc., 2022. Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

The

Mark and Barbara’s daughter, Emma Golden, has been the program director for the residency for the past 10 years. When Barbara Golden retired in 2021, Emma became executive director of the Golden Foundation.

Tours of the GOLDEN manufacturing facility are available to the public. Make a reservation at goldenpaints.com/ tour_signup.

Golden Artist Colors started as a family affair, but now employs paint makers, technicians, computer experts, supply chain managers, product developers and experts in security, finance, sales and marketing. You need not be an artist to apply, although many staff members are.

Mark Golden said he’s focused consistently on investing in customers and employees.

“I would like to create jobs and have our employees stay at Golden Artist Colors for their entire career,” he said, noting that he and his wife instituted a stock ownership incentive for employees, offering shares of company stock, at no cost,

for their retirement.

There are roughly 6,000 companies in the United States with Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP), out of six to seven million companies with employees, Golden said, making his business part of a rare club. The co-founders began the ESOP in 2002 and, in 2010, employees became majority owners of the company. In 2020, Golden Artist Colors, Inc. became 100% employee owned by its staff.

According to Golden, this ESOP benefit is a form of succession planning, ensuring that the company outlives its co-founders. It is also a way to reward and retain valuable employees who helped the company become the success that it is.

GOLDEN employee-owner and paintmaker, Jerry Conklin, is see milling ‘Fluorescent Pink’ in this undated photo.

Sam & Adele Golden Gallery (The SAGG) features the works of these artist-residents. The gallery is located inside the GOLDEN factory, alongside the facility store. The annual exhibition honoring the foundation residency artists opens this April.

i WoulD like to Create jobs

anD have our employees stay at golDen artist Colors for their entire Career.”

Outdoor winter recreation opportunities such as snowshoeing or skiing are great ways to stay active during winter.

Trail

PHOTOS BY CHELSEA FRISBEE JOHNSON

Winter branches

By Margaret Widdemer

When winter-time grows weary, I lift my eyes on high And see the black trees standing, stripped clear against the sky;

They stand there very silent, with the cold flushed sky behind, The little twigs flare beautiful and restful and kind;

Clear-cut and certain they rise, with summer past, For all that trees can ever learn they know now, at last;

Slim and black and wonderful, with all unrest gone by, The stripped tree-boughs comfort me, drawn clear against the sky.

CORNER

Self-Care with

Chelsea

BY CHELSEA FRISBEE JOHNSON

Pictured: Catskill Scenic

near Bloomville.

The landscape of winter in the Northeast can often involve drab colors, inviting us to instead see differences in texture to find beauty.

mindful practice: a mindful midwinter Walk

As you walk outside, take in the winter landscape. Pretend that you’re an alien who has landed on this planet for the first time. Start walking slowly, focusing on your senses. First, focus on the feeling of the cold air on your skin or maybe coming through your nostrils. Feel the ground beneath your feet. Next, focus on the sounds around you. Maybe it’s very quiet. Maybe there’s ice crackling or snow falling softly. Finally, focus on your sense of sight. Notice textures, shapes and colors of the landscape. As you conclude your mindful walk, notice if you feel any different after just noticing and being mindful for a few minutes outside in nature. +

Top to bottom: Ice, snow and cold create dynamic scenery, large and small. Look for hoarfrost covering faraway mountaintops or grasses along the road. Lighting a candle with dinner can be a beautiful ritual to honor the darkness at this time of year and bring some flickering joy to your dinner table.

top left, clockwise: Look for simple beauty during the winter, like these small footprints in the snowy woods. Chelsea Frisbee is a life coach, writer and spiritual leader who loves helping people find more joy and peace in their life. A bird leaves a wing print in fresh snow, perhaps while catching dinner. Nordic, or cross-country, skiing is often more accessible than downhill skiing. Once you have the equipment, try out your favorite field or trail – for free!

Caramelized Onion and Gruyere Dip

by allison Collins

Onions are an underrated facet of most savory fare. They’re added to soup bases, sauces, salads, sandwiches and stirfries, but not typically featured. Here, alongside rich and nutty Gruyere cheese, named for the town of Gruyeres, Switzerland, onions get to shine. The time needed for these root vegetables to caramelize ensures that the sliced onions release their sugars slowly, taking some of the bite out.

Though onions are a spring-planted, fall-harvested crop, they keep well through the winter months. Sweet onions, like those used in this recipe, have a higher water content than pungent onions, according to the Farmers Almanac, so should be used before pungent varieties.

Historically, onions have been an important part of more than just cooking, appearing in many home remedies. According to thealmanac.com, onion juice was believed, in the Middle Ages, to cure baldness, snakebite and headaches and, as recently as “a generation or two ago,” sick children were often “treated with a poultice of mashed onions applied as a paste to cover a wound.” And a “whole onion eaten at bedtime was prescribed to break a cold by morning, and sliced onions were placed on the soles of the feet to draw out a fever.” Early settlers also made onion juice cough syrup, infused with honey, and believed “a raw onion rubbed on a bee sting or insect bite will relieve the pain and itching.” The site also suggests, to make pungent onions taste milder, soaking slices in milk.

This recipe elevates such a simple, staple ingredient with help from only a few others. It’s a warming, surprisingly hearty dip perfect alongside a sliced baguette and salad for lunch, added on to your Superbowl spread or as part of a light but elegant Valentine’s Day dinner.

serve dip warm with a sliced baguette or good, heavy crackers.

Cookin’ Collins WITH

CARMELIZED ONION AND GRUYERE DIP

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. butter

4 cups sliced sweet onions, about four large onions

1 teaspoon sugar or maple syrup

6 oz. Gruyere cheese, smoked or regular, shredded with some reserved for sprinkling

2 tbsp. chives, chopped

½ c. mayonnaise

½ c. sour cream

½ tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. black pepper

3-4 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled

Recipe modified from that found at garnishwithlemon.com

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat in a large, heavy-bottomed pot, such as a Dutch oven. Because onions need time to caramelize, it’s important to use a pot up to the task. Add sliced onions to melted butter and cook, reducing heat to medium-low, for about 20 minutes. Add sugar or maple syrup and stir. Season with salt and pepper and continue cooking on low for 45 minutes to one hour, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. While oven heats, combine mayonnaise, sour cream, crumbled bacon, 1 tbsp. of chopped chives and a dash more salt and pepper. Fold in roughly four ounces of shredded Gruyere and cooked onions. Spread mixture into a roughly one-quart casserole dish and top with remaining Gruyere.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until golden brown and bubbly.

Serve dip warm, with sliced bread or sturdy crackers. +

1. For best results, use a block of Gruyere and hand-shred. 2. Sweet onions and nutty Gruyere pair to give this dip a rich, full flavor. Halve onions, then cut in half-circle slices. 3. Ready cooked bacon and chives before combining with dip mixture.

4. Cook onions slowly in melted butter. 5. While onions caramelize, prepare the dip mixture. 6. Shred Gruyere while the onions cook. A 6-ounce block of Gruyere generates roughly a cup of shredded cheese.Combine shredded cheese with dip ingredients. 7. Onions will soften and gradually begin to brown. After about an hour over low, continuous heat, onions are caramelized and ready. 8. Add caramelized onions to prepared dip mixture. Finished dip is creamy and savory. 9. Top finished dip with remaining Gruyere.

tips:

n Pancetta would work well here, too, in place of the bacon. Or, to make vegetarian, omit the bacon.

n I recommend buying a block of Gruyere and hand-shredding, as it melts better and is less processed.

n Plain yogurt could be substituted for sour cream.

n Though Gruyere is considered a hard Swiss cheese, it melts smoother and creamier, with more flavor, than a traditional Swiss, so I don’t recommend substituting.

n To prevent tearing up while cutting the onions, toss them in the freezer for about 10 minutes before slicing.

n Save your mesh onion bags for storing flower bulbs that need to be dug up and replanted. Filled onion bags can be tacked to the wall of a dry basement through winter.

PHOTOS BY ALLISON COLLINS

Oneonta Address has Historic ‘Health’ Theme

The Walls Talk

BY MARK SIMONSON

From the time the building was conceptualized to its present-day purpose, 4 Market St., Oneonta has a place for promoting health, whether through nutrition or exercise.

Today, 4 Market St. is home to the Green Earth Health Food Market. Ninety-five years ago, Frank LaMonica had an idea for a new building, reflected in its contemporary usage.

Readers of The Oneonta Herald of May 24, 1928 learned, “Oneonta will have a modern sports and athletic salon if the present plans of Frank La Monica, wholesale fruit dealer, are carried through.

“When asked concerning reports to this effect, Mr. La Monica stated that he had arranged for architect’s drawings to be made, and that these would be available within a day or so.

A recent view of the Green Earth Health Market, 4 Market St., Oneonta. | MARK SIMONSON

“The building in mind, according to plans, would be a three-story steel frame, tile-and-brick structure, and would be located on the site now used by the Hudson-Essex Motor Car company as a car storage, in front of which now stands a large billboard at Main and Market streets.

“The structure could have a 70-foot front, or 85 feet at the rear, and extend 140 feet in depth. Mr. La Monica plans to incorporate in the building a large municipal swimming pool, to be built of white enamel brick, 80 feet long and 30 feet wide, and ranging in depth from two to eight feet. The pool, it is planned, would be located in the basement. The first floor street level will have eight modern bowling alleys, it was said, two for the use of women bowlers, and six for men. Instead of partitions, the alleys, while in use by women, will be separated with rolling curtains from those used by men. Present plans call for the installation of 40 seats upon a raised tier, directly behind the alley speed door. It is planned to install six pool and billiard tables on this floor.

“An assembly hall to be placed at the disposal of the public is included in the specifications. In the event Mr. La Monica follows his present plan in erecting the building, this hall would be considerably larger than others in the city, measuring approximately 10,000 square feet in floor space.”

Construction & Depression

Largely, these plans were kept, and The Herald reported on Oct. 4, 1928 that construction would begin at once. The contract was let to M.D. Bennett of Sidney at a cost of $70,000. LaMonica made some changes to reduce it to this cost, including the elimination of the proposed third floor.

Bennett said the building would be ready by April 1929, but it opened in May instead. It came without the pool, which came later.

News of the Great Depression apparently didn’t deter LaMonica, as The Oneonta Star reported on Monday, Feb. 3, 1930, “The swimming pool at the Oneonta Recreation building … opening of which has been delayed due to leaks in the large concrete pool, 30 by 80 feet, which holds 90,000 gallons of water, was inspected by nearly 5,000 people during the two-day open house Saturday and Sunday. The pool opens for business today, and indications are that many Oneontans will avail themselves of this opportunity.

“The setting of the pool is an attractive one, and splendid facilities have been arranged. Surrounding the pool … is a railing with seats for the accommodation of spectators. Then there are separate dressing and locker rooms for men and women, with a few private dressing rooms for the accommodation of mothers and their children, or others who wish to use them.

“The bath department at the building, which offers medicated and Turkish baths and the facilities of the Battle Creek Systems of Health building, is also being formally opened at this time. B.J. Dibble is manager, with Mrs. Blanche Sawyer as lady assistant.

“Mr. La Monica has secured David J. Chesneau as manager of the pool and his experience promises to be of unusual value to the operation of the pool. Mr. Chesneau is a member of the National Swimming Instructors association and is an examiner approved by the Red Cross. He will supervise the pool from its opening at 10 o’clock in the morning until it closes at 11:30 o’clock in the evening.”

This advertisement was seen in The Oneonta Star’s Jan. 31, 1930 edition for the opening of the pool in the building’s basement. | DAILY STAR FILE PHOTO

a boxer’s beginning

Effects of the Great Depression began kicking in, and use of the Recreation Building apparently changed from the niceties of a pool and baths, to less expensive forms of recreation and public entertainment. While that third floor assembly hall was never built, the building became home to a popular sport of the era — boxing.

The Star of May 13, 1932 reported, “Showing the wares of a polished boxer, Joey Kolba, hard-hitting Utica Pole, pounded out a six-round decision over Billy ‘Kid’ Cuyle, Sidney sharpshooter, in last night’s main event at the Recreation arena under the auspices of the Oneonta Boxing club.”

Found deep in the story was another 16-year-old Oneonta boy getting started in a boxing career.

As The Star’s sportswriter of the time wrote, “Young Delberta,” as he was billed in an advertisement, “popular little action producer, turned in another win when he was awarded a decision over Jimmy Doyle, a scrappy little Irishman from Utica. Delberta forced the fight from the start and seemed entitled to the decision, which was booed by the fans. It was a real battle from start to finish, with both boys standing toe-to-toe and slugging it out.”

It was the same Frank LaMonica, also a promoter of local boxing, who got the Oneonta lad to try out.

“Young” Delberta, known as Carl Delberta, was soon to go on to bigger times, becoming known professionally as Carl Dell. During the Depression, Delberta was among many young men belonging to the Civilian Conservation Corps camp at Gilbert Lake, starting in 1933. It was there that he built up his strength while working, and boxing exhibitions were common at that and other regional CCC camps.

In a 1999 interview with Delberta, he said he grew up reading about boxing legend Jack Dempsey, and wanted to be like him. Although some of his CCC camp cohorts were partiers on weekends and some evenings, Delberta never joined in.

“Good clean living helped me become the boxer I was. I never drank or smoked, but the temptation was always there,” Delberta said.

Delberta later hired a manager, Al Weill, and went on to box successfully at prominent venues such as Madison Square Garden. Delberta was aiming to become the welterweight champion of the world, but unfortunately his service in World War II interrupted the progress.

After returning from the war, Delberta became an Oneonta police officer, but carried on a “healthful” tradition of teaching boxing, and also became the founder of the Oneonta Boys Club, which opened on River Street in 1968. It became the Oneonta Boys and Girls Club in the late 1990s.

effeCts of the great Depression began kiCking in, anD use of the reCreation builDing apparently ChangeD from the niCeties of a pool anD baths, to less expensive forms of reCreation anD publiC entertainment.

Local boxing legend Carl Delberta, also known as ‘Carl Dell,’ started his career at the Oneonta Recreation Building in the early 1930s. Courtesy of the Delberta family.

gooD Clean living helpeD me beCome the boxer i Was. i never Drank or smokeD, but the temptation Was alWays there.”

Changing with the times

Between the Great Depression and World War II, tastes in local recreation changed. Residents still loved their bowling. Eventually the basement pool was discontinued, and more bowling lanes were added. It was a go-to place for bowling leagues and tournaments for decades.

The end of the first chapter in “health” at 4 Market St. came in 1978. As The Daily Star of Aug. 29 reported, “LaMonica’s Recreation Lanes, the first large commercial bowling alley in Oneonta, closed Saturday (Aug. 26) after 50 years in business.

“Proprietor Samuel B. LaMonica, 65, said he will retire. He said he closed the business because of ‘constant upheaval’ on his street, at first because of the Urban Renewal site work on Market Street and now because of the Main Street reconstruction job done by the state.

“The Market Street pavement as well as Main Street’s was removed to a point beyond the bowling alley.

“During two years of urban renewal work, ‘We had to mark time — it hurt tremendously,’ he said. ‘We were just coming around and they hit us again.’ On top of that, plans for a fire station on the former Oneonta Sales lot will eliminate a few more parking spaces, he said.

“Workmen started removing the automatic pinsetters Monday morning.”

In years since, the building on Market Street served other

purposes. Only recently has the theme of “health” returned to 4 Market St., through the Green Earth Health Market.

Many will recall the Green Earth’s founding in 1991 by Gary Schroeder at a small storefront near the corner of Main and Elm streets. In 2008, Emily and Dean Roberts purchased the Green Earth, eventually moving it to the current larger quarters. The duo transformed it into a local meeting place as well as a market with daily activities in two community rooms. A variety of classes are scheduled during the year.

The site’s healthful tradition continues. +

City historian Mark Simonson grew up in Oneonta, but like many, left to explore opportunities elsewhere. He returned in 1997.

Before returning, Simonson worked in public relations, marketing and broadcast journalism. He worked locally in Norwich and the greater Binghamton area, and for a short time in Boston.

Simonson was appointed Oneonta City Historian in 1998. Since then, he has been doing freelance research and writing for a twice-weekly column in The Daily Star. Additionally, Simonson has published books about Oneonta and local history in a five-county region.

Through his years of research, Simonson has come across many interesting stories about old buildings in the upstate region. He will share those stories in this and upcoming editions of Upstate Life.

Bowling equipment is seen being removed from LaMonica’s Recreation Lanes in late August 1978. Construction was underway on Main Street at the time. | DAILY STAR FILE PHOTO

The elephanT in The Room: An Ice Age Mastodon at

the State Museum

a reconstructed mastodon is pictured at the Cohoes town library. | ROBERT TITUS

BY ROBERT AND JOHANNA TITUS

Have you been to the New York State Museum? It’s really quite a good one. We would call it a world-class museum. We have always enjoyed our visits, which have been frequent.

The famed “Cohoes Mastodon” makes a great excuse to go. As you might guess, that fossil elephant was discovered in the town of Cohoes, and it is one of the more important scientific discoveries of our upstate region.

The story dates to 1866, when the animal’s skeleton was found in the vicinity of Cohoes Falls. Excavations were underway for Harmony Mills, an industrial complex along the Mohawk River. Most of the bones of the mastodon were dug out of an Ice Age pothole. That’s a deep pit, weathered – actually drilled – into the bedrock, by powerful swirling flows of water. See our first illustration, courtesy of the New York State Museum.

It was workmen who made the discovery, but the bones fell into the hands of James Hall, a New York State paleontologist. Hall had the skeleton assembled and put on display in the museum. See our second illustration. Hall is the man in the middle.

While living, the five-ton mastodon was a relatively young male, standing nearly nine feet tall and 15 feet long. The skeleton revealed that he led a short, difficult and sometimes violent life. At 11, this mastodon suffered serious wounds of the kind typically sustained during a mating season fight with another male. This seems to have stunted his growth, and the biochemistry of his teeth suggests several periods of malnutrition. Carbon dating indicates he lived about 13,000 years ago, a time when our region was just coming out of the Ice Age, making food supplies scarce and unreliable. It all added up to an early death for the poor animal. His body was likely swept up in the currents of the Mohawk, swollen by strong flows from melting glaciers, and deposited in that pothole, where it remained until being discovered.

The skeleton has been a cherished display in the museum for most of the past 150 years. You can see it, and a diorama with a reconstruction of the mastodon, in the museum. And, if you ever get a chance to visit Cohoes, be sure to visit the platform to observe the falls. Also, visit the town library, where you can see another reconstruction of the mastodon. We will post more photos on our Facebook page. +

The Catskill Geologists

top to bottom: An image of the pothole in which the mastodon skeleton was discovered is seen in this undated photo, courtesy of the New York State Museum. New York State paleontologist James Hall, center, is pictured with the mastodon skeleton. | CONTRIBUTED

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