E N ! O EE KE FR TA T’S I
S P R I N G 2017
spring into Home Improvement
With Clapper Construction
Davenport gears up for 200th anniversary
Room to grow Local children get the dirt on where food comes from
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• Dancing through the ages • Thrifty Finds • Cooking with Collins • & More!
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VOLUME 11
Spring into home improvement With Clapper Construction
Cherry Valley
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ISSUE 2
Upstate Life Magazine, Winner, New York State Associated Press Association First-Place Award for Specialty Publications, is published by: The Daily Star, P.O. Box 250, 102 Chestnut Street Oneonta, New York 13820 Š 2017 - All rights reserved. Publisher Fred Scheller
Dedicated to remembering the past
Editor Joanne Arbogast
Room to grow
Graphic Designer Tracy Bender
Local children get the dirt on where food comes from
Dancing through the ages
Advertising Manager Michele Clapperton
From there to here
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Thrifty Finds
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How to find a bargain outfit for under 20 bucks
Davenport gears up for 200th anniversary So many springtimes ago Geology Day Trip
Cooking with Collins Pluck poke-ups...and serve
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Spring 2017
About the cover The photo on the cover is a paid advertisement by CLAPPER CONSTRUCTION OTEGO, NY We thank them for their support of Upstate Life Magazine Photo by Blue Water Studio Jessica Guenther From left to right: Daisy, Catrina, David, David, Layla and Brynn Clapper.
Our Farms to Your Glass. The variety and vibrancy of locally brewed, fermented and distilled beverages await you on the Schoharie County Beverage Trail. This New York State designated Culinary Trail winds through the picturesque Schoharie Valley and uplands, offering bucolic scenes and farm-fresh flavors. Along this trail you will have the opportunity to sample beverages that incorporate local produce and artisanal skill at our distilleries, wineries and breweries. All trail members are committed to supporting community involvement and local commerce.
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Cover Story
The Clapper family: David, Layla, Brynn, David, Catrina and dog, Daisy.
spring into Home Improvement By Joanne Arbogast
ackling a home improvement project is a rite of spring. All winter long, the list of various dwelling imperfections can grow until finally, when the weather can no longer be an excuse, it’s time to get outside and get started. That time has arrived. Some of those projects may be DIY, but most that aren’t don’t have to drop to the bottom of - or off - the list. If a new roof, window/door replacements, siding, insulation, gutters, or even a deck are needed, David Clapper is just a phone call away. Based in Otego and doing business all throughout the area, Clapper Construction, LLC specializes in roofing, exterior building projects, and then some. “I don’t think any job is impossible. We’ll do just about everything,”owner Clapper says.
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Whether your project is minor or massively extensive he welcomes your call and will come out and take a look. One of the largest construction projects his company has done is the Delhi Community Center, completed
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I don’t think any job is impossible. We’ll do just about everything, owner Clapper says.
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last season. The multiple-building complex work included installing over 30,000 square feet of roofing. A smaller job was replacing a deck
which had fallen away from a home in Oneonta. When Clapper’s crew started pulling boards down and clutter away, they discovered another problem that had gone unseen for years. “There were snakes - lots of snakes - everywhere around the house,” he recalls. His business partner and wife, Catrina, smiles, remembering the job. All the same, “the snakes didn’t come out until we disturbed them,” her husband says. “They were in the walls, under the floors, and in the insulation. You know drop ceilings? They were in there too.”
Communication Is Key Call and schedule an appointment and Clapper Construction will come to you and give you an estimate for your project. Their estimates are free for homeowners. They will assess your project on-site, listen to what you want,
What You Should Know
Photo by Clapper
Old newspapers from 1959 found under the floorboards of a house Clapper was working on.
and keep you informed every step of the way so there are no surprises upon completion. Working with David is a competent and dependable crew, some of whom have been with him since before he started his business in 2014, who understand how he runs his business. “I stay in control of when and how things will get done and doing it the way the customer and I have discussed,” David says. Keeping his clients apprised of what’s going on from start to finish is key. Homeowners appreciate the extra attention - testimonials from satisfied customers can be found on the company’s website; www.clapperconstructionNY.com “You made the impossible, possible,” praises Pat P. from Mt. Vision. That kind of feedback underscores David’s deep commitment to keep clients coming back. When full satisfaction isn’t there, David wants to know. After each job, clients receive a survey to turn in. After all, “we have put our name on the business,” Catrina says. “With us it’s more than just business - it’s personal and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”
One of the biggest mistakes a homeowner can make is hiring an uninsured contractor. “We are fully insured,” assures David Clapper, owner of Clapper Construction, LLC. “We have both liability and workers’ compensation insurance and I do understand the benefit of being fully insured.” Liability insurance covers any damage that may occur to the homeowner’s property during a home improvement project. For instance, if scaffolding falls and takes out a hedge or a loose hammer crashes through a window, the damage is covered. Workers’ compensation covers the workers in the event they are injured - or worse - on the job. “For instance, if a worker were to fall and break his/her arm, his/her injury would be covered under workers’ compensation insurance whereas working with a contractor that is not insured leaves the homeowner and contractor liable for the worker’s injury,” Clapper explains. Without requiring liability and workers’ compensation when hiring a contractor, homeowners run the very real risk of potentially losing their home in the event of catastrophic injuries/damage which can then turn into milliondollar lawsuits.
“Quality you can trust.”
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When full satisfaction isn’t there, David wants to know. After each job, clients receive a survey to turn in. After all, “we have put our name on the business,” Catrina says. “With us it’s more than just business - it’s personal and we wouldn’t have it any other way.” “It’s my business, it’s my name that’s out there,” David says, adding that if necessary, he will return to the job site and put the customer at ease. They understand that the customer takes a lot of pride in their home and want to make sure they receive the attention they deserve. Clapper Construction backs up this understanding with great workers, quality materials and dependable installation.
First Came Love... David, 37, and Catrina, 36, have lived their entire lives in the Otego area and were high school sweethearts. One’s life course changed the other’s. They both attended SUNY Delhi after high school. David says, “I wasn’t going to go; I was just going to start working.” The only college course he was interested in was construction. Upon graduating from college he went right to work. In 2000 he joined another well-known construction company in the area where he stayed for 14 years. He had always dreamed of owning his own business and, when the opportunity arose, he took it. “I always wanted my own business,” David says. “I knew he could do it,” Catrina adds. Clapper Construction opened for business in March 2014. While David is out on estimates or at the job sites, Catrina manages the office, with help from her mother, from their home in Otego where they live with their three children (ages 13, 10, and 3) and a mellow Lab named Daisy.
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With us it’s more than just business it’s personal and we wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Starting their business has been met with its challenges and learning experiences. It has also led them to meeting many amazing people, both supportive community members and new customers, and for that the Clappers are very grateful. They are a young business but are looking for more ways to be involved in the community. Last year, for example, Clapper Construction installed a roof for a Habitat for Humanity home in Oneonta. “We look forward to continuing our community involvement in the future,” Catrina says. Military and senior citizen discounts are also available for all services. For more information, visit clapperconstructionNY. com, emailclapperconstruction2014@gmail.com, or call (607)434-1512. +
Photos by Blue Water Studio - Jessica Guenther
The Clapper children: David, 10; Brynn, 3 and Layla, 13. UPSTATE LIFE magazine
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Feature
HERRY VALLE
Dedicated to
remembering the past By Allison Collins
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William Campbell Waldron, III, a direct descendent of one of the first families to settle in Cherry Valley, alongside the famed Campbell Clock with wife Maybette at the Oct. 8 open house to celebrate the Cherry Valley Historical Association’s 75th anniversary. Waldron is a member of the CVHA.
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estled in the heart of the history-rich Otsego County village of Cherry Valley, the Cherry Valley Historical Association celebrated its 75th anniversary October 2015. On Oct. 8, open house festivities came at the close of the museum’s season; typically it is open from Memorial Day weekend to about Oct. 15. “It rained, but it was very nice day,” says Kathie Lane, lifetime CVHA member, board member, present treasurer and frequent museum hostess. “We actually took in about $400 that day — some from donations, some from sales of books and some from membership [sales.] Senator Jim Seward was here. He toured around [and] made a speech. It was a good thing.” While the historical association, housed in the Cherry Valley Museum, 49 Main St., first began in 1941, the village and town so earnestly memorialized by its members was first established 200 years earlier as Lindesay’s Bush. Lane explains, “John Lindesay [a Scotsman] came here and settled, but because we had all the cherries and cherry trees and it was so beautiful, they had to rename. Though now we have very few. We’ve tried replanting, but they haven’t really taken.” The change was initiated by the Rev. Samuel Dunlop, a friend to Lindesay, native of Ulster County, Ireland and graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Dunlop’s personal history would prove significant, as he called upon seven ScotchIrish families from New Hampshire to join him in establishing the would-be community, something the CVHA’s website, www.cherryvalleymuseum.com, calls “one of the strongest settlements of the frontier.”
Bloody history The present day name, conjuring up images of pink-tinged blossoms carried on soft eddies in springtime,
The Cole Bible, intact but showing the puncture mark from an arrow shot during the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778.
A blossom in the Cherry Valley Historical Association’s heirloom rose garden, located behind the museum.
Imagine what was
The Swan Melodeon, housed within the Cherry Valley Museum. In 1849 Amos Swan opened a melodeon factory in the village. The melodeons were shipped to Fort Plain, N.Y., and sent out by railroad. Ogden Eldrige purchased the factory from Swan during the Civil War and, shortly thereafter, erected a second factory, also in the village. While the melodeon pictured does work, it is for display only. The CVHA’s much-loved Santa, Gary Lozier, delighting children in early December.
Behind the museum, in an heirloom rose garden made possible by a donation from Clare and Eugene Thaw, springtime will usher in a season of dedicated gardening and maintenance. According to the CVHA website, “The garden is a labor of love and a constant work in progress.” Upon the picturesque grounds, invoking just as much history outside of the museum as in, visitors are encouraged to picnic at one of the several tables, read from a park bench, or “just sit and imagine Cherry Valley as it once was.” The rose garden is also available to rent for small to medium functions.
? We had this celebration with the Campbell Clock; this clock that survived the massacre.” As an aside, Lane offers, “We had a lot of Campbells in Cherry Valley during the Revolutionary War. UPSTATE LIFE magazine
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Members of the Cherry Valley Historical Association Board on Oct. 8 with Senator Jim Seward. First row, from left: Kathie Lane, Senator Seward, Barbara Bell, Leonard “Bud” Perry; second row: Rachael Osterhout, Jackie Hull, Ellen LaSalle, Barbara Hall; third row: Terry Cox, Mark Simonson, Sue Miller, JoAnn Guido and James Johnson.
belies Cherry Valley’s war-torn past: its notorious Revolutionary War raids and British-Native American attacks, soldier slaughters and struggle to form, then form again, as a viable colonial settlement. It is that very past, as red with spilled blood as the trees once were with sun-ripe cherries, that the Cherry Valley Historical Association strives to preserve. Whole portions of its sprawling 15-room museum are given over to commemorating Cherry Valley’s role in the Revolutionary War and, particularly, the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778 when 47 village residents were killed, predominantly by tomahawk, at the hands of joint Tory-Mohawk forces.
A clock survives Recalling a distinctive timepiece from the period, returned to Cherry Valley just in time for the Oct. 8 CVHA diamond jubilee, Lane says, “We had this celebration with the Campbell Clock; this clock that survived the massacre.” As an aside, Lane offers, “We had a lot of Campbells in Cherry Valley during the Revolutionary War.” The clock, made in 1725 in Scotland, traveled from Ireland to Londonderry, N.H., before coming to rest in Cherry Valley in 1741. At the time of ’78 massacre, because it was quite a good 12
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old grandfather clock, the Campbells removed the clockworks and buried them in the hollow of tree. “There were some people who escaped and some buildings not burnt, and the Campbell family came back and unburied their clock,” says Lane. According to Terry Cox, a trustee and vice president of the CVHA, only when it was safe to return did the Campbells come back to retrieve their clock; that was around 1783. At that time an Albany-based woodworker was commissioned to build a new cover around the recovered works. “It has been in the Campbell family ever since,” says Cox. Lane shares that the present-day owner, William Campbell Waldron, III, a resident of Connecticut, belongs remotely to the CVHA. “He is a member of the museum and a descendant of the Campbells and has been very nice to bring [the clock] up to Cherry Valley twice in the last two years. We set it up in the museum in the Massacre Room.” Incidentally, Waldron’s grandmother was one of the historical association’s first board members and her name is on the 1940 charter documents.
Bible stabbed in raid Artifacts like the Campbell Clock define the Cherry Valley Museum and
the people who run it: each of its many, many items has been carefully curated, catalogued and, more importantly, remembered. “It is full!” exclaims Lane of the museum, a one-time home sold to the association for $1 on the condition that it be re-fashioned as a haven for historical preservation. “There’s the War Room; the Massacre Room; a music room; a kitchen; a parlor; two fire pumper rooms because the fire department has three old pieces of equipment, some drawn by horse or hand-pulled that they keep stored there and sometimes take out for parades; exhibits on industry in the hallway; school things; guns; turnpike information and history on Cherry Valley businesses; a board room with documents where people come to do research on ancestors sometimes; three bedrooms and lots of clothing; a weaving and spinning room; a farm room; a children’s room, and every hallway is full. There’s lots!” Breathless just from rattling off the size and scope of the association’s collection, Lane adds with a laugh, “If you really want to see it, you take two to three hours.” There’s even an aged Bible still with the puncture marks from where it was pierced during the massacre.
From heyday to today While the museum honors and illustrates what was arguably Cherry Valley’s heyday — from its inception in the mid-1700s to well into the 1800s — it also pays homage to the region’s loss of industry, loss of population and resiliency as a result. “Part of that was due to Route 20,” says Lane. The CVHA website states, “The construction of the Cherry Valley Turnpike (now Route 20) from Albany began in 1799, which brought prosperity to the small village.” Lane, too, says, “settlers came up and would stay overnight with their animals — horses and droves of cattle — and there were lots of boarding houses.” By midway through the 19th century the little village boasted a prominent finishing school for girls, an iron foundry, a melodeon factory, a bank and an overall thriving industry. However, when Route 20 became a bypass outside of Cherry Valley, Lane
Students getting involved Despite the association’s overarching focus on the past, the future of the CVHA is being ensured thanks to the efforts of a Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School teacher and his students. Brian DeBoyne and his students have undertaken a massive digitization project. Terry Cox, a trustee and vice president of the CVHA, says of the group, “They’re coming down digitizing everything they can in the museum — all records, pictures, data.” Epitomizing the pride that permeates the village — its lore, legends, places and people and the tender, even dogged, preservation measures therein — Cox adds, “We are trying to save everything we can.”
Contributed Photos
A group of Cherry Valley-Springfield Central School students, aided by teacher Brian DeBoyne, have made digitizing the CVHA archives their mission. The effort to date has focused on photo-cataloging artifacts, scanning documents and compiling data. From left: Osker Webster, Gabe Oakley, Arcanna Brelee, Marijla Kroon, Kaitlyn Jicha and Brian DeBoyne.
says, “we lost … and when they put in the Erie Canal, we lost.” Epitomizing of the village and the delight its residents take in their shared history, Lane adds, “Though we fought very hard to be on the scenic byway to get some of that back, we’re on the scenic byway now and with lots of signage.” According to the NYS Department of Transportation, “A scenic byway is a road, but not just a road: It’s a road with a story to tell.” Relatedly, Cherry Valley is part of the Revolutionary War Heritage Trail and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
“I’m not sure if I’m going to do [the tours] next year,” muses Lane. “I’m due to do them. I would like to do another year and we need to put back some of money we spent.” Springtime for the CVHA will mean prepping and planning for future fundraisers and a bit of housework — of both the actual and administrative variety. “If we could get the bylaws straightened out, that’d be wonderful,” jokes Lane. For more information, visit www.cherryvalleymuseum.com or call (607) 264-3303. The museum is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Memorial Day through Oct. 15. Admission is $6; seniors $5.50; children free with adult. +
Looking ahead Given the tenacity the village and its 75-years-strong historical association have shown, one wonders what’s next for Cherry Valley. Unsurprisingly, Lane says it will all have to do with tradition and continued preservation of the past. As part of a vigorous fundraising campaign to complete museum repairs and exterior maintenance in the lead up to the CVHA anniversary, Lane says she offered historic house tours every other year. “One full day [of tours] would bring in at least a $1,000. It was a good money maker. But after a while,” she says with a good-natured chuckle, “you run out of houses.” But they are handsome homes, with the Samuel Morse House (as in Morse code), the Clyde House, Willow Hill and the Campbell Mansion (those clock-loving Campbells again!) numbering among some of the village’s finest.
THE C H E R RY B R A N C H G A L L E RY 25 MAIN ST. CHERRY VALLEY, N.Y. 13320
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Kid Friendly
Room to
grow By Allison Collins
Local children get the dirt on where food comes from n an age when children seem to struggle to lift their gazes from the intoxicating glow of screens, several upstate schools are leading the way in getting kids back outside and teaching them to grow — and not just vegetables. Elementary schools in Sidney, Worcester, Otego and Cooperstown have undertaken gardening, farm-to-cafeteria, sustainability-focused and STEMminded initiatives in an effort to return kids to the soil and boost their awareness, behavior and confidence at the same time. Josh Gray, with Sidney Central School District, has been championing the elementary school’s gardening efforts for the past four years. A co-chair of the Sidney Wellness Committee, which operates under the auspices of the Sidney Farm to Table program, aided by funding from NYS Department of Health’s Creating Healthy Schools and Communities, Gray says the program first gained roots when he collaborated with Sidney’s food service coordinator Kim Corcoran and Amy VanAlstyne, a nutrition educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension.
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“We wanted to do a taste testing and when the three of us met, it became kind of a larger thing,” Gray says. Today, Sidney Farm to Table encompasses a student-run farmer’s market, school-wide composting,
There are therapeutic benefits; they’re sinking their hands in soil and you see tension dissipate. integrated cooking and nutrition classes, revamped school menu options, a greens-growing aquaponics system, monthly taste testings and, of course, a gardening program known as the Green Thumb Growers Guild. “Farm to Table’s overall purpose is to change food culture not just at the school, but in the Sidney community,” explains Gray. Gray, who works with kids in grades three through six, notes that the gardening initiative flourished because it is “literally hands-on.”
“You’re truly getting your hands dirty and kids are learning where food comes from and how it’s grown,” Gray says. Benefits cultivated don’t stop there, though. The very act of gardening, the dirtying up of tiny palms and the grass-staining of knees, has yielded results bigger and better than even the actual crops. Gray affirms, “There are therapeutic benefits; they’re sinking their hands in soil and you see tension dissipate.” Gray says he’s witnessed marked results from kids struggling academically or behaviorally, adding, “This gives them a space where they can see success.” That, and grubby fingernails equal scientific exploration. “As far as developing an understanding of scientific method, [the garden] is certainly a place where kids can experiment and see results of that experimentation.”
Start young The volunteer efforts of Charles “Chuck” Joseph, a retired professor of astrophysics, have yielded similar results. A transplant now residing in Worcester, like Gray, Joseph’s work has been with elementary students
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Photo by Kristen Griger
Tiny hands tend tiny lettuce plants as part of Cooperstown’s Kid Garden program.
Photo by Kristen Griger
Cooperstown elementary students dig in while tending a raised bed in their Kid Garden.
Photo by Sandra Knapp
Students get handy as they help prep equipment for Worcester Elementary’s STEM-inspired gardening initiative begun in 2016.
The process begins in their STEM classroom, where they’re learning about plant growth through raising starts from seed. The young plants eventually make their way into the greenhouse and onto student’s plates at lunchtime.
Contributed Photo
Otego Elementary second-graders in 2016, from left, Johnny Mazepa, Dereck Jordan, Avery James and Bryce Seymour, lend a hand lifting sod in preparation of the Otego Community Garden.
Photo by Josh Gray
Participants in Sidney Farm to Table harvest tomatoes in all shapes and sizes in late summer 2016. UPSTATE LIFE magazine
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Tips: • Start small and stay interested. Josh Gray, an integral part of Sidney Elementary’s Farm to Table program, says keeping initial operations small in terms of the number of plants, the size of the plot and the number of kids, is important. Additionally, interest is key. “You get a small core of interested kids and then grow from there,” Gray offers. For gardeners hampered by space or experience, he adds, “Container gardening is a great way to start.” • Look locally. Gray encourages leaning on the resources available in New York’s upstate region. “We live in an agricultural region,” points out Gray, mentioning Heller’s Farm of Bainbridge, Down Home Acres in Unadilla and Cornell Cooperative Extension’s pervasive network as fertile grounds for collaboration. “Make those local connections,” Gray urges. “Continue and increase those partnerships.” • Let it rot! Gray says, “As a complement to gardening, composting is something kids get into. It’s easy at home or school and you just need a container for food waste then it pretty much runs itself.” Composting drives home the cyclic nature of gardening, too. “If you do it this year and then next year it improves your soil, you increase kids’ awareness of the cycle of growing food,” Gray says.
specifically. And, according to him, getting kids in the garden when they’re young is critical. “In terms of science and technology, most people who get turned off do so by third grade; the real action of getting people into science and technology happens early,” Joseph says. “The students really get into growing things and participating, but they also use [gardening] as a means to gain all different kinds of science and math learning.” Led by Worcester STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics) teacher Sandra Knapp, children started their journey toward healthier eating and growing, fittingly, from the ground up. Students helped build the greenhouse in which they now grow produce used in their cafeteria. An article by Rural Schools
Collaborative, the grant program partially behind Worcester’s efforts, explains, “The process begins in their STEM classroom, where they’re learning about plant growth through raising starts from seed. The young plants eventually make their way into the greenhouse and onto student’s plates at lunchtime.” Bringing things full circle, Worcester kids also designed and constructed composters. For his part, Joseph says his involvement with Worcester Central School District, which began last spring, was originally about “helping out with STEM things.” As the school’s gardening program unfurled, it dovetailed nicely with Joseph’s own, selfproclaimed “novice” outdoor efforts and he dug in. Now, Joseph says he’s been “called back into principal’s office” to
• Give the garden – and kids – room to grow. “The greatest successes in the garden with children come when they feel a sense of ownership from the space they’re working in,” says Kristen Griger, coordinator of Kid Garden for Cooperstown schools. “Let them be creative and have the freedom to have that ownership; that enriches their experience.” • Keep it in reach. Griger suggests stocking your garden with plants that grow where kids can get to them. Suggesting lettuces, kale, spinach, carrots, cherry tomatoes and string beans, Griger says, “Plant things that they can easily pick and eat while standing in the garden. That’s the most magical time.”
Worcester Central School students ready the ground for their greenhouse and garden last year. Photo by Sandra Knapp
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What to plant According to area experts, the following are some user-friendly, no-brainer and kid-friendly crops with fast yields and early planting times: “Radishes are great,” says Josh Gray, with Sidney Central School District Gray. “You can plant and harvest them in 35 days. You’re going to see results fast.” And, because of that fast turn-around time, space used now can be freed up for other crops come summertime. Unharvested radishes also help break up and aerate heavy soil. Photo by Josh Gray
Sidney Elementary students (from left) Abdieliz LaBoy, Cassandra Cole, Helen Howard, Makayla Ruiz, Justice Lane, Aylsa DeMoya Ramos serve up salsa made from their own homegrown tomatoes, garlic and green onions. The salsa starters are an example of the school’s monthly taste testings, where kids slice, dice, serve and sample what they’ve grown in healthy ways and then incorporate the most popular dishes into the school’s cafeteria menu.
play a bigger part in this year’s gardening plans.
Eat what is grown Like Sidney, Otego Elementary’s gardening program, started in spring of 2016, received grant funding from Creating Healthy Schools and Communities. Working with CHSCH, Otego’s physical education instructor Jenni Barnes, got the program under way and, even as the building faces closure after this school year, intends to keep on growing. Barnes says the catalyst was simple: “Kids need to eat more veggies and even if they can’t afford them, this way they can still get them.”
Working with kindergartners through second graders, Barnes explains, “The kids learned that it’s work, but it’s worth it for the fresh food, in addition to learning the process of growing.” As an added bonus, Barnes says Otego kids got to see their hard work pay off in the form of philanthropy, as all of the harvested veggies were donated to the village’s food pantry.
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Kale has gained a lot of popularity in chip and smoothie form of late but Gray points out that, beyond versatility, kale’s longevity makes it a worthy crop, too. “It lasts all season, right up until December,” he says. “You’ll usually grow more than you can use and it’s great for maintaining itself.” Chives, Gray says, are a surprisingly big hit with kids. “They just pick it right off and eat it. It’s kind of fun; chives are almost like a straw. And you plant them once and they come back every year.” Kristen Griger of Cooperstown agrees, saying, “Have things that smell really great. Kids love to pick and chew chives.” For Charles Joseph of Worcester, tomatoes are king. He’s been brainstorming for seed-saving programs and seed swaps, which he says are generating “a lot of excitement.” To get the seedy programs started, Joseph hosted a seed giveaway, for which he collected and ordered seeds numbering in the several thousands. He gave them away at Worcester School twice and one time at the Worcester Inn. Joseph demonstrated at those events how to save tomato seeds in particular. “What I want to get to is people saving seeds and using them for their own re-growing and tomatoes are one of the easiest.” Joseph has actually transformed the southerly end of his home into what he calls a “pseudo greenhouse.” “It’s nice to have fresh tomatoes in January!” he says.
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Barnes notes that, once closed, Otego Elementary’s garden program will move to the district’s middle/high school grounds and continue there.
Kid Garden takes off Kid Garden, Cooperstown’s well-established gardening initiative begun in 2008, was the product of grant funding, though Kid Garden coordinator, Kristen Griger, notes that the district took over three years ago. “Originally it was grant-funded and communityrun,” Griger says. “It wasn’t actually a school program, but that changed in 2014 when the school board voted to have Kid Garden become a budgeted school program.” As is happening in the other school districts, Griger concentrates on budding gardeners. “We work with elementary students because the garden is right next to [their] playground,” Griger says, adding that despite its proximity to elementary
Photo by Kristen Griger
The fruits of Kid Garden, the gardening initiative first undertaken by the Cooperstown Central School District in 2008, are seen here in this overhead shot of the large and tidy garden located between the district’s elementary building and playground.
students, Cooperstown’s program is open to all grade levels. And, because it’s been in place for several years, Griger says, “We’ve had participation with all grades.” Most of the harvested produce is used in the elementary school cafeteria, with excess utilized by upperclassmen. Eyeing the future, Griger says, “It’s possible that we
will have a greenhouse on the high school campus and hydroponics in the classroom, but that’s just a dream.” For now Griger, like her fellow educators, emphasizes that simply being with the seeds and the soil is what matters. “Kids should experience all aspects of gardening – from planting the seeds and maintaining the garden to harvesting and ultimately eating the food. It’s important
to realize where food comes from and when they’re a part of that process, they have a better appreciation of that.” The words of the indefatigable Miss Frizzle, known to fans of “Magic School Bus” (and likely those kneeling in between the vegetable rows with kids are just that) prove especially fertile here: Take chances, make mistakes and get messy! +
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The Arts
Dancing through the ages From There to Here
By Allison Collins
residing over a sea of children clad all in pink tights and black leotards, hair slicked into buns — just as it should be — Donna Decker stands, petite yet imposing: the consummate ballet mistress. She calls out commands — “plié!” “straight knees!” “straighten your backs!” — sprinkled with life truths, like, “If you don’t work for it, nothing’s going to happen and, yes, it’s going to hurt.” With more than 40 years of studio ownership under her belt and a professional career to boot, Decker’s success is no accident; hers is a storied history, populated with ballet greats, family legend, tutus and tenacity. The daughter of a ballerina, granddaughter of the famed Alexandra Fedorova (see sidebar) and grand-niece to Michael Fokine, called “the celebrated father of contemporary ballet,” Decker’s role at the fore of a high-ceilinged, many-barred ballet studio walled in mirrors was practically pre-destined. That she would find such a place at 140 Main St., Oneonta, N.Y., however, is the result of a moment in American history and happenstance. A student at George Washington University in the late 1960s, Decker says it was the Kent State student shootings of May 1970 that ultimately brought her to upstate New York. “They closed down every campus in the country [and] they canceled finals, so I decided to take a road trip.” That trip would prove a turning point. “I ended up in Hamilton, where Colgate is … we drove all night and [got] in at 5 in the morning. It was just so picturesque, with the red sky and little church steeples, the rolling hills. And ‘The Long and Winding Road’ was playing on the radio … I fell in love with Hamilton; I fell in love with this area.” Enamored with upstate, Decker then attended summer school at Colgate. There she completed a degree in international affairs, though she says she had one-time aspirations of becoming an architect. Characteristically deadpan, she remarks, “It was almost my major in college, but then I
P
I needed something to do, so I thought, I’ll work in a ballet school for a year or two and then move on. And here we are. 20
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found out you had to take plumbing.” Degree completed, Decker began to ponder her future. “My degree was in international affairs; what do you do with that?” asks Decker rhetorically. Though she mentions briefly considering law school, Decker says, “I needed something to do, so I thought, I’ll work in a ballet school for a year or two and then move on. And here we are.” Struck by polio Given her fabled lineage, Decker admits her entry into the world of ballet was “partially assumed,” though she shares, “It was mostly because I had polio when I was three. I was never supposed to walk.” Recalling doctors wielding crutches and a leg brace that willpower alone would ultimately render superfluous, Decker says, “The day I came home from the hospital, Mom asked them for my stuff, and they said, ‘She doesn’t need it. She’s going to walk.’ They said they’d never had a three-year-old work PT before.” Almost breezily, belying the inherent grit of the statement, she adds, “So I saved myself.” From there, Decker explains, “As soon as I was upright, [my mother] put me in class, just for the physical therapy.” Under the tutelage of her mother, Irine Fokine, founder of the Fokine Ballet Company and the Irine Fokine School of Ballet in Ridgewood, N.J., goddaughter to Anna Pavlova and all-around ballet rock star, what was once a means of muscular maintenance grew swiftly into prowess. First donning pointe shoes at age 7, by the time she was 14, Decker was dancing with a touring contingent of the Bolshoi Ballet. “The Bolshoi came to the Met and they needed supers,” says Decker. “They needed big, voluptuous woman and I was a scrawny 14-year-old. The director told my grandmother, ‘We can’t use her,’ and she said, ‘Stuff her.’” Laughing, she adds, “It was really fun. We’d come out the stage door and they’d assume we were Russian. There were all these fans asking for autographs.”
Donna Decker’s grandmother, Alexandra Fedorova, whom she says “started it all.”
Donna Decker, en pointe, at age 7. Of the photo, Decker says, “In those days everyone went on pointe after three years of training, ready or not.”
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Alexandra Fedorova Donna Decker’s grandmother, Alexandra Fedorova, a former Russian ballerina, choreographer and teacher, died in 1972 at the age of 83 in Ridgewood, N.J. She was the widow of Alexander Fokine, the brother of the late Michel Fokine, the choreographer. Fedorova graduated from the St. Petersburg Imperial School in 1902 and entered the ballet company of the Maryinski Theater. In 1906 she became first soloist of the company, dancing important roles. She also appeared as prima ballerina of the Troitzky Theater, which was owned by her late husband. She left Petrograd in 1922 and moved to Riga, Latvia, where she became ballet mistress of the Latvian State Theater of Opera and Ballet and contributed importantly to its development. In 1937 Fedorova came to New York and later she became an American citizen. She was a choreographer and teacher with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo here and on tour in 1940. The company presented her revival of Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” ballet. Subsequently she conducted her own ballet school in the midtown area until her retirement in 1965. – Source: The New York Times, 1972
Contributed Photos
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Dancing A return to Russia
Decker’s roles over the years would be many and varied. Asked to name a favorite, Decker says, “Swanilda [from] ‘Coppélia.’ I like the comedic stuff.” Of her mother, Decker says, “She had a children’s theater and we used to tour the East Coast. I really loved playing Peter in ‘Peter and the Wolf.’” Though never having danced internationally, Decker and her sister (she is the third of four) made a pilgrimage to St. Petersburg in the ’90s and, says Decker, she hopes to someday return. Reminiscently Decker shares, “My grandfather owned a theater in St. Petersburg, the Maly Theatre, that he bought for my grandmother. Mom always talked about his office — it had a green tile stove. So my sister and I go to the Maly Theatre and the director … he gave us a tour. We go to the second floor and I see that green stove and start running and he’s saying ‘Stop! Stop!’ but I couldn’t.” As she grew, so did Decker’s roles. “I was mostly a soloist,” says Decker. “I did principal parts from time to time; I did Aurora in ‘Sleeping Beauty.’” Decker, who this past December presented the Fokine Ballet Company’s 29th annual holiday production of “The
Nutcracker” in Oneonta, adds, “I never did Sugar Plum but I did [the] Snow Queen. I much prefer Snow.” Asked why, Decker, ever her mother’s daughter, intones matter-of-factly, “I like the regal stuff.” (In a discussion of similarities between mother and daughter, Decker offers wryly, “A friend of mine said, ‘You’re just like your mom, except you’re humane.’”)
Making a mark
It was in 1972 that Decker founded her upstate studio, bringing with her the preceding decades of performance experience and whole lifetimes of ballet knowledge. And, until its closure in 2003, Decker maintained a second studio in Norwich. Today, in an age of dance dominated by competitions, television contests and sub-genres, Decker works to preserve something classical, something pure. Asked to name a favorite piece of her own choreography, from a canon numbering in the dozens, Decker’s response is unsurprisingly underscored with comedy. Its name: “Shades of Chenango.” “Chenango County was turning 200,” Decker explains. “They asked me to create a ballet for them and I based it on the book ‘Chad Hannah,’” a story Decker says is set in the mid-1800s and features a circus performer traveling along the newly-
establish Erie Canal route, specifically through many Chenango County towns. “We had cows,” Decker says, poker-faced. “Girls. In cow costumes.” Of the 1998 performance, which featured hand-painted unitards, tails and horns, Decker chortles and adds, “That was a really fun ballet.” Be they cows, poodles, or mice (all of which have graced her stages), Decker says it is witnessing her pupils’ successes, in the studio and in life, that gives her special pleasure. Asked what she’s proudest of, Decker thinks a moment then says, “All the students that I raised. So many of them come back and thank me and say I’ve made their lives easier because they know how to work hard … I keep telling kids, it’s all right to fall down, but you have to take a chance. In order to learn, you have to make mistakes.” On May 5-6, Decker will stage the Decker School of Ballet’s annual end-of-term recital. Discussing the broader future of the studio, Decker says, “What I’d like to do is get more teachers and cut back a little bit.” Epitomizing a lifetime dedicated to an art form, she is, however, quick to add, “I still want to come to the studio every day.” More can be learned at www. deckerschoolofballet.org or call (607) 432-6290. + From left: Donna Decker, Slawek Wozniak and Irine Fokine after Decker’s second “Nutcracker,” in 1989.
Donna Decker on stage for the final bows of her 20th annual “Nutcracker” production. December 2016 marked Decker’s 29th staging of the holiday classic.
Contributed Photos
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g Dancers-turned-cattle from one of Donna Decker’s favorite pieces of her own choreography, “Shades of Chenango,” staged in 1998 as part of Chenango County’s bicentennial celebrations.
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Donna Decker demonstrates to a class of intermediate students, taken in mid-December 2016.
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Lifestyles
Bargain outfit for
under 20 bucks I’ll admit I was never much of a fashionista. I never cared about brand names and I surely was never bothered by the usage of hand-medowns. When it came to my wardrobe I truly only worried about two things: owning unique clothing and finding great deals. Thrift shops have always supported both interests and for that reason I am a super fan. So when my twin sister invited me as her plus one to her recent holiday office party, I used this as an opportunity to release my inner Macklemore (is it really a thrift shopping piece without a reference to the king himself?) and By Sierra challenge myself to find a new-used outfit for Sangetti-Daniels under $20. To start my journey I did what every girl does before she goes searching for a dress – I called up one of my girlfriends. Being a resident of Oneonta, I knew The Salvation Army runs “half-off Wednesdays” so Kelsey and I strategically picked a Wednesday to go thrift shopping in town. As I walked into the overcrowded Salvation Army with a $20 bill stuffed into my pocket, I smiled as my familiarity of the place allowed me to feel right at home. I did my normal rounds of the most important sections: shoes, sweaters and men’s Trying on all three flannels. I was there for a dress, but since it was dress options in The half-off Wednesday I had to look around. Salvation Army I made my way to the opposite end of the in Oneonta. store where the dresses were racked. The dress section was limited, but considering my large range of style Salvation Army: 105 Main St., Oneonta, N.Y. I found options. By Call (607) 432-0952 the end of the rack I had three selections: Shakedown Street: 167 Main St., Oneonta, a simple, light-green, N.Y. Call (607) 436-9776 short-sleeved dress Oneonta Southside Mall: Route 23, Oneonta, for $6.99, a maroon N.Y. Visit www.shopsouthsidemall.com or call skater-shaped dress (607) 432-4401 with black leather sleeves for $5.99, and
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lastly, a knee-length black dress with silk-like material for $5.99. I tried on each and modeled them in front of Kelsey and a couple curious customers. After consulting with my stylist (AKA my BFF) it seemed both the green and black options were a little too humble for my desired look. According to me, Kelsey, and one very supportive bystander, the maroon dress was the best pick for a holiday party. I checked out with almost a full $17 in hand and made my way to Shakedown Street. For those who haven’t been, Shakedown Street is a consignment shop on Main Street in Oneonta that carries a thrift shopper’s every desire. Whether creatively hung denim, locally-crafted jewelry, or the thrilling $1 clothing room, nothing disappoints. Knowing exactly what I was looking for (a statement piece as a staple to my outfit), I headed straight to the jewelry section where something holiday party worthy caught my eye. I picked up a pair of marble-like black and white earrings. I spent just $5 on the rad set of retrothemed earrings. With just under $12 I had enough to find a pair of shoes! Catching good deals on shoes at thrift shops can be hit or miss. On this day, it was a miss so I headed to Oneonta Southside Mall. With only $12 in pocket, I found a suitable wedge at Shoe Dept. Encore at just over $10. I grabbed a Twix bar with the remaining change. With my $3 dress, $5 statement earrings, and $10 new shoes I had successfully found an outfit for under $20. I don’t know if this outfit deserves to be in Vogue (there’s a chance, right?) but I do know that I strutted into my first holiday office party feeling worth a whole lot more than my $20 outfit. If I can do it, so can you! + Complete look at the holiday party. $10 shoes, $5 earrings, and a $3 dress for a first holiday party. Photos by Sierra Sangetti-Daniels
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Milestones
Contributed Photo
Dancers in the original Grange Hall get down in this late-1930s photo taken from “Davenport, Fact and Fancy: The Story of One Small Town in Delaware County, NY.” The photo bears the caption: “Audience participation number: Hands, Knees and Boops-A-Daisy.”
Davenport gears up for
200th anniversary By Allison Collins
W
ith temperatures and spirits expected to be high, summertime in Davenport will be cause for celebration: 200 years’ worth, in fact. Over the course of the last weekend in July, residents of the small Delaware County town will come together to enjoy everything from pancakes to a parade; fire department barbecues to fireworks. Elvina Teter, longtime Davenport historian, said that she, along with members of the Davenport Town Board and the Davenport Historical Society (DHS), first set plans for a bicentennial celebration in motion last April. After forming a steering committee, Teter said a letter was sent out in late April 2016 to all organizations in the town, including the Boy and Girl Scouts, fire department and Davenport’s churches. “We asked them to send a representative from each organization, then we had our first meeting on July 27,” she said. Also on that committee was treasurer to the DHS, Ginny Sanford. Sanford, who has been a member of the DHS since 1996, joked, “I got roped into it and I’m still there.” According to Teter that initial meeting yielded scores of ideas and suggestions, many of which, one year later, will come to life on July 29-30. Bicentennial festivities will primarily take place on the Charlotte Valley Central School grounds, which Teter said were moved to higher ground across Route 23 years ago because the original one-room schoolhouse, established in 1817, was built atop swampland. 28
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Focus on history Bicentennial Weekend highlights will include a town-wide scavenger hunt, an over-40 softball game, myriad children’s activities, a Chinese auction to benefit the Davenport Food Pantry and the Backpack Program, an alumni soccer game, barbecue by the Davenport Fire Department, parade, antique car show, free Saturday night fireworks and live dance bands, a pancake breakfast hosted by the Pindar’s Corners Fire Department and special church services, to name but a few. Sanford said, “I think people will enjoy the parade and barbecue and the kids’ games.” Asked what she will be focused on during the event, Sanford said genially, “I’ll just be helping out wherever I can.” Discussing the scavenger hunt in particular, Teter remarked, “This is kind of different, because it’s going to be historical.” In cooperation with members of various youth groups in the town, the DHS will be choosing five or six locations for inclusion in the hunt, which the children will in turn research. Then, during Bicentennial Weekend, said children will be stationed at the different locations and will present background information and historical context to hunt participants along the way. Underscoring the hunt’s intention, Teter said, “Really the more historical stuff is what we want to do.” As noted in Mark Simonson’s Dec. 31, 2016, “Backtracking: The Early Years” column in The Daily Star, the town of Davenport, though inhabited by its namesake John Davenport in 1810, was first recognized officially by state legislature in March 1817. Recalling the inspiration behind Bicentennial
Top left: The present-day Davenport Town Hall, once the Grange Hall. Located at 11790 State Highway 23, Davenport Center, the second story of the building is still the home of the Davenport Historical Society and the organization’s museum. Bottom left: This photo, taken from the Sept. 19, 1986 edition of The Daily Star, depicts the Davenport Grange building being prepped for transfer. Originally built and occupied in 1937 by Grangers, the building was purchased by the Town of Davenport 49 years later with the intention of using it for town offices and the Davenport Historical Society as well as a post office, to be constructed beneath the raised building. The 1986 move was necessitated by a crumbling foundation at the Grange Hall’s original site.
Bottom right: The Davenport Farm, named for the town’s founder John Davenport, in an undated historical photo. According to “Davenport, Fact and Fancy: The Story of One Small Town in Delaware County, NY,” when owned by Davenport in the early-mid 1880s, the farm occupied much of the southern portion of Lot 24, from the Charlotte River on the north to the Charlotte-Kortright patent line on the south. In 1990, the property came under the ownership of George J. Adams. Center: A banner displaying icons of the industry, agriculture and recreation for which Davenport is best known labels the small town the “heart of the Charlotte Valley.”
Top right: The majority of bicentennial celebrations will take place on the grounds of the Charlotte Valley Central School, located at 15611 NY-23.
Weekend, Teter volunteered, “We thought we should start it because it is the 200th birthday of Davenport.” Asked what she is most looking forward to in terms of the event, Teter said, “I just really hope that people going to this will somehow be interested in preserving the history of Davenport.” And, to those who know it best, Davenport is worth preserving. Admitting, “I’ve been in Davenport forever,” Sanford elaborated, “I’ve always lived here and it’s where I expect
I’ll end up. I’ve been other places and it’s always nice to come back. It’s home to me.” The Davenport Historical Society Museum, located at 11790 State Highway 23, Davenport Center, is open the second and fourth Wednesday of each month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a bring-your-own-lunch policy. The building, once the Davenport Grange Hall, was repurposed into the Davenport Town Hall and the historical society, through grants, was able to refurbish the second-story
Contributed Photos
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rooms into their museum. There’s even a temperature-controlled vault for preserving the most delicate of Davenport’s artifacts. +
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Davenport’s 200th anniversary JULY 29-30, 2017
Planned-on activities for Bicentennial Weekend sound appropriately old-timey, conjuring up thoughts of warm sunshine and cold lemonade, the scent of grilling hot dogs and peals of children’s laughter carried on lazy breezes. In tandem with the various ball games, kids’ activities, downtown parade, historical scavenger hunt and classic car show, several Davenport organizations will have vendor booths scattered around the school grounds. Representatives from the Davenport Food Bank, the Backpack Program, the Davenport Historical Society and the Davenport Senior Citizens will be on site offering information, materials and, in the case of the senior citizens, baked goods and handicrafts. With so much planned by so many for Davenport’s bicentennial, historian Elvina Teter said informational pamphlets, complete with a full schedule of activities and times, are right now in the works. “We’re in the process of having brochures made and the idea is to have local businesses hand them out when customers go to cash out,” said Teter. And, while the two-day family-friendly celebration is planned for July 29-30, Teter said about a month in advance the DHS intends to have brochures sent home with all children of the Charlotte Valley School District. Along with the brochures, Teter said the town will be hanging banners and flags announcing the event. That, and the planning committee, made up of members of the historical society and town board, will be hanging posters around town roughly four weeks beforehand. As the start of summer nears, look to the streets and stores of Davenport for more information on the town’s 200th birthday celebrations.
Additionally, there is already a public Facebook group titled “Davenport’s Bicentennial” where information is both sought and distributed as organizers “plan an unforgettable birthday for the small little town [called] the heart of the Cherry Valley.” +
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Geology Day Trip
So many springtimes ago nce again the days become longer and warmer. The birds return to Oneonta and it is spring. The two of us have enjoyed so many of them, and we never tire of this time of the year. But, as geologists, we have a different perspective on this wonderful season. We have a true appreciation of just how many springtimes have passed before. And like many geologists, we recall that, a long time ago, there was a single spring season greater than any of us has ever witnessed. To appreciate that grandest of springtimes we have to see Oneonta as our friend Dr. Jay Fleisher first saw it years ago. Jay is a retired professor of geology. He taught at Oneonta State and studied the ice age history of our town. Many of Jay’s studies took him back about 14,000 years ago to the
O
time when the Ice Age was finally giving up its grip upon the Susquehanna River Valley. That epoch was truly the greatest “springtime” in Oneonta’s history. Oneonta was so different back then. The glaciers had clogged the valley with thick masses of earth down at Welles Bridge. That created an enormous dam that filled the valley with waters all the way back to our town. Much of this water came from the melting of great glaciers. The lake is sometimes called Glacial Lake Otego. When the Welles Bridge dam broke, long ago, those waters drained, but you can still visit the old lake – right here in Oneonta! Take Clinton Street to Spruce and drive east. You are now crossing the waters of the old lake. To the south, Lake Otego spread out across the entire Susquehanna River Valley. Its waters lapped up against a shoreline near today’s Southside
By Robert and Johanna Titus
Ice age Oneonta Creek carved the steep, deep canyon where it cut. Photo by Titus
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Mall. The lake was about 2 miles wide here. Now you have learned something you probably never knew. Oneonta occupies space that was once an enormous lake. If you would like to see a similar lake today, you can. Drive to Cooperstown; modern Lake Otsego is a twin of our “fossil” lake. Two sizable creeks flowed into our lake. Go back to the intersection of Clinton and Spruce and look uphill. Rising above you is Silver Creek. It is not a great flow of water – now – but it was at the end of the Ice Age. It was, back then, a powerful whitewater torrent. After all, the glaciers were melting. Cross town again, on Spruce, and turn left when you reach Wilber Park. At the end of Albert Morris Drive you will find another creek, this one is Oneonta Creek. Both creeks share a similar morphology. Each is narrow with steep slopes rising above, left and right. They speak to us of the distant past. Stand at the bottom of Oneonta Creek and look upstream. Now imagine a day at the end of the Ice Age, when massive amounts of meltwater formed a raging, pounding, foaming, whitewater surge here. It’s almost scary; you may, involuntarily, take a few quick steps backward. It’s exactly the same at the bottom of Silver Creek, but there is something more. Each stream, when it was flowing at its peak, was brown with sediments it had washed out of the hills above. And those sediments were pouring into Lake Otego. They were creating a pair of deltas in the lake. Now we have learned something else we probably had not known. What we call Center City, Oneonta is an enormous delta complex. We would like you to bear this in mind when you are driving around in Center City. Notice how flat this part of town is. It is the top of an enormous delta, and delta tops are always flat. At the outer edge of a large delta there is typically a steep slope. You can go and see this too. Drive to Cliff Street and
pull over. The “cliff” of Cliff Street is what is called a foreset, the front, or the outer edge of the delta. Look down the steep slope of Cliff Street and then notice the marshy land below. That’s the bottom of Lake Otego; the lake was that deep. The lake is gone but it is still very wet! We are the mind’s eye, the human imagination. It is 14,000 years ago and we are drifting through the sky, 1,000 feet up, and a little east of Otego. It is a perfectly clear sunny day in the early spring, just a short time after the local glaciers have melted. Below us is Lake Otego and it is a beautiful clear blue lake, glistening in the sunlight. The previous winter had been extraordinarily warm and, as we drift along, we see numerous swollen creeks pouring into the lake. We approach what will someday be Oneonta and we are drawn toward the bottom of Oneonta Creek where it enters the lake. There had to have been a day when the melting of the glaciers had reached a peak. We arrive on that day. More water is now flowing down this channel than has ever flowed before or will ever flow again. We are the human imagination and we settle down just above the surge of this Oneonta Creek. There are few words that suffice to describe the power of what we see – and what we hear – and what we feel. This is a singular day in a singular spring. +
Contact the authors at randjtitus@prodigy.net. Visit their facebook page “The Catskill Geologist” or their blog at thecatskillgeologist.com.
If you go: If you want to explore the ice age history of Oneonta, you will have no trouble finding good street maps of the town, on Google Earth. You can see the Oneonta Creek canyon at the end of Albert Morris Drive in Wilber Park. You might want to travel along Lake Otego, all the way west to Welles Bridge. You can do that on Route 7. It follows the ancient lake shore. Looking to your left (south), you will frequently see the now dry, flat bottom of old Lake Otego.
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Food
COOKING with COLLINS By Allison Collins
Most of my clothes are second-hand from bag sales and thrift shops. I have spray-painted, fabric-covered or in some way doctored most of what’s in my house. I like to take cheap things and fancy them up and food is no exception. Alternatively, I am a big fan of going whole hog on a few choice pieces -- in this case standout ingredients -- and building inexpensively around them. These entrée salads, perfect for crawling out of winter’s gray doldrums and into the culinary verdancy of spring, are perfect examples of just that. I like to think of them as pretty little meal-sized fake-outs: They give the impression of elegance without sacrificing accessibility or doability. And, as an added bonus, they all bring serious nutrition to the table. This time of year, alongside the bobbing daffodils and thin-veined tulips, you’d be surprised just how much salad-ready produce is starting to poke up. According to Amy Van Alstyne, a nutrition program educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension, “Generally you’re going to want varieties that can withstand extremes and that have around 50 days or less to maturity.” Van Alstyne listed arugula, Asian greens, bok choy, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Swiss chard, beet greens, kale and
Pluck poke-ups… and serve dandelion greens as viable early season salad starters. Similarly Dave Dolan of Otego’s Flying Rabbit Farms, best known for “Rabbit Mix,” a blend of leafy greens available at several local food stores and restaurants, said, “We grow arugula, spinach and green and red romaine baby lettuce (rouge d’hiver is a cold hearty romaine variety). There is also mache, baby kale and mustard greens.” Dolan added, “A lot of the softer leaf lettuces, like green and red leaf lettuce, butterheads and lollo rossas, are not as cold tolerant.” For prospective growers, both Dolan and Van Alstyne highly recommend using www.johnnyseeds.com as a resource. Note: The suggested ingredient
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amounts are to make two, entrée-sized salads for each of the three salads detailed below. To make a greater number, simply increase ingredient amounts and plan to buy accordingly. Spinach & Artichoke Dip Salad This salad is a play on the spinach and artichoke dip that can be found in the appetizer menu section of just about any popular eatery. The dressing is the real star, I think, and brings home the flavor of the dip in a lighter, brighter way. Given the inspiration for the salad, using a bed of baby spinach was the obvious choice, though you could do half arugula, half spinach with equally good results and an added peppery undertone from the arugula. Spinach is a nice frost-hearty green that, despite its tenacity, has a tender chew and mild enough taste to give the salad a foundation without jockeying for flavor impact. That, plus it’s a nutritional powerhouse loaded with water- and fatsoluble vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and cancer-fighting, blood pressurereducing agents. This salad is great because it delivers a double-dose of spinach: first in the salad itself and again as part of the dressing.
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SPINACH & ARTICHOKE DIP SALAD
If you don’t have boneless, skinless chicken breasts already sliced in the package, slice before cooking so each piece gets an even sear.
Putting all the dressing ingredients in one bowl and blending with an immersion blender (or in the bucket of a food processor) makes for easy clean-up and means your dressing comes together fast.
Photos by Allison Collins
Salad ingredients: 2 to 3 c. baby spinach, divided 2 to 4 chicken breast strips, seasoned with salt and pepper Handful cherry tomatoes, sliced diagonally ¼ small red onion, diced 1 12 oz. jar of marinated artichokes, divided (keep the juice) Parmesan cheese, divided Handful of feta cheese Dressing: ¼ - ½ c. mayonnaise 1 Tbl. rice vinegar Juice of 1 lemon About half of the oil from the jarred artichokes (see tips) Half of the artichokes Salt & pepper ½ tsp. garlic powder 2 tbsp. fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried Large handful of spinach leaves ¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese Dash red pepper flakes For the dressing: Blend all ingredients either in a food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth. Extra virgin olive oil could certainly be used in place of the artichoke marinade oil, but I think using the jarred oil adds more flavor and just feels more efficient. Adjust mayonnaise for a thicker consistency. Note: there will be extra
dressing (see tips). For the salad: Season chicken breast strips with salt and pepper and cook according to preference. Set fully cooked chicken strips aside. Make a bed of the spinach leaves; remove any especially long, woody stems. Scatter sliced tomatoes and diced onion. Drain the artichokes from their oil, but do not discard (see tips). Roughly chop artichokes to bite-size and scatter across salad. Top with feta crumbles and curls of fresh Parmesan cheese. Arrange chicken strips on top of salad with a few more shaves of Parmesan. Top the whole with lots of nice spinach and artichoke dressing, maybe a wheel of lemon and a sprinkle of fresh parsley.
I like to use curls of aged, salty parmesan cheese to top the salad so the flavor of the cheese can stand out more than when grated. If you don’t have a cheese slicer, just use a vegetable peeler.
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Spinach & Art ichoke Dip Salad Tips:
If you have leftover uncooked ch icken breast st rips (or any fish or steak, for that matter) think about marinat ing the protein ov erni remaining artic ght in the hoke oil. Reserv e excess dress ing to use on cooked meat or even as a sauce over pasta.
Garnish your Spinach & Artichoke Dip Salad with a slice of lemon (or a squeeze of its juice) and a sprinkle of fresh parsley to brighten up the flavor just before serving.
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Bunch the soppressata slices into looselyshaped rosettes for presentation and drizzle on the champagne citrus vinaigrette just before serving.
This, to me, is a prime case of taking premium (read: somewhat pricey) ingredients and making them stretch and stand out all at the same time. This salad makes a perfect, early season lunch entrée. Soppressata is an Italian dry salami, slightly salty, typically a little spicy and similar in texture to ham. To cut out the heat, prosciutto makes a nice alternative. While a 2-pound log of soppressata can cost upward of $40, getting it sliced at the deli and in a relatively small amount keeps costs down and flavor up. Endive, also known as escarole, is a member of the chicory family and, in the flat-leafed varieties, is frost-tolerant and less prone to moisture retention and resultant leaf disease than its curly-leafed cousin, frisée. Though its leaves are often used whole as little “boats” for holding light food, I sliced mine on a mandolin to make in-tact coins of endive. Peel away any wilted outer leaves before preparing. Cornell Cooperative Extension recommends Florida Deepheart, Full Heart Bavarian and Green Curled for New York growing, specifically. Frisée can be expensive, but, like the soppressata, is used here sparingly. It has a mild bitterness and I think its frilly, dainty leaves lend a touch of elegance to any dish. Despite its seeming fussiness, frisée is cold-hearty. Typically served with hot bacon and a poached egg as part of the French culinary classic, salad lyonnaise, in this case the bitterness of the frisée is balanced by the use of Boston lettuce and other, sweeter elements in the salad such as the clementines and honey goat cheese. 36
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SOPPRESSATA & HONEYED GOAT CHEESE SALAD WITH CHAMPAGNE CITRUS VINAIGRETTE Salad Ingredients: 1 to 2 small endive(s), thinly slivered 1 to 2 bunches frisée, chopped roughly 1 medium head of Boston lettuce, chopped roughly ¼ to ½ pound soppressata ham 1 log honey-and-almond goat cheese (I found this in the specialty cheese section of a chain grocery store, but if honey goat cheese rolled in sliced almonds can’t be found, just honey goat cheese is lovely.) 3 to 5 clementines, peeled and cut crosswise into discs (see tips) 1 to 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil 1 Tbl. honey ¼ to ½ c. shelled, chopped walnuts Soppressata & Honeyed Goat Cheese Salad Tips: Dressing: If you’ ve ne ver 3 Tbl. orange juice into discs as d cut citrus escribed in th 4 tsp. honey e recipe (I can’t read directions ; I have to see t 3 tsp. champagne vinegar (or, if he done), there ar thing being unavailable, rice wine vinegar works) e lots of YouT ube tutorials on d 1 ½ Tbl. extra virgin olive oil oing just this. You can get really fancy and cut 1 tsp. Dijon mustard segments calle d “supremes,” Kosher salt but I like the lo ok of little Fresh-ground black pepper wheels of colo r.
For the dressing: Vigorously whisk all dressing ingredients together except the olive oil until smooth. Stream in oil slowly, continuing to whisk until dressing pales and emulsifies. Set aside. For the salad: Drizzle olive oil in a frying pan and, over medium heat, sauté chopped walnuts until slightly aromatic; be careful not to burn. Add in honey and coat nuts. Set aside. To slice the clementines, first horizontally cut the top and bottom, giving the fruit a solid base upon which to stand. Then, starting from the top, slide the knife blade down the sides, just under the skin. When the fruit is fully peeled, cut crosswise slices, to create little wheels or discs of clementine. Set aside. Toss and arrange a bed of the three lettuces. Scatter crumbles of goat cheese all over. Repeat with the chopped walnuts. Place the clementine wheels around the surface of the salad. Pinch the rounds of soppressata in the bottom center, creating a kind of flower shape. Maintaining the shape (loosely), place bunched soppressata in the center of the salad, nestling the meat down slightly. Drizzle the whole with the citrus champagne vinaigrette.
Carefully cutting the skin and white membrane away from the meat of the fruit then slicing crosswise gives the salad little pops of bright, juicy color. Just remember to slice the bottoms and tops of the clementines so they don’t slip out from under your slice.
Slicing the flat leaf endive (left) on a mandolin makes for subtle slivers and combining the sweet, tender leaves of Boston lettuce with the two varieties of endive (flat leaf and curly frisée) cuts through the bitterness.
BALSAMIC GLAZED CHIMICHURRI SKIRT STEAK & STRAWBERRY SALAD This salad is a family favorite and, because it uses a heavier protein, can stand in as a satisfying dinner. Skirt steak is a flat, slab-shaped cut of beef from the diaphragm of the cow, which means it’s laced with lots of not-always-tender fibers. Cutting it against the grain and cooking it to a nice medium rare, though, will ensure that the strong flavor this cut is known for shines through without the burden of chewiness. I would (and have) feel totally comfortably entertaining with it. Dandelion greens are another early season crop. Taken on their own they can be very bitter; even sautéed with garlic and a little apple cider vinegar, they retain a stout bite. However, by cutting the greens with baby spinach and pairing them with the natural sweetness of the strawberries and balsamic glaze, you get all the significant health benefits without the blech factor. Low in calories and loaded as they are with eyesightboosting lutein and iron, it’s worth it to go green here. And, a single cup of dandelion greens exceeds the dailyrecommended dose of calcium. (See tips for what to do with leftovers.) Dressing: Strawberry-infused balsamic glaze* (I found this pre-made and it is amazing, but the flavor of the fresh strawberries will stand out plenty all on their own if specifically strawberry-infused balsamic glaze can’t be tracked down. On its own, bottled balsamic glaze is usually readily available.) *OR, for homemade balsamic glaze: 16 oz. good quality balsamic vinegar ½ c. fine white sugar Pinch salt For the dressing: If making the glaze, pour all ingredients into a medium saucepot and stir to combine. Over medium heat, bring mixture to a low rolling boil. Stir frequently, though not constantly.
Gather your cleaned greens, berries, nuts and cheese so that when it’s time to assemble, everything is ready to roll.
Allow the skirt steak to rest a bit after taking it off the grill so that the juices can redistribute and don’t ooze out all over the cutting board. Then, when ready, cut against the grain on the diagonal for easy-to-eat slices.
The glaze should bubble continuously until thickened to a syrup-like consistency, about 25 minutes. Allow to cool and set aside. (See tips for what to do with unused glaze.) Chimichurri: Full handful of fresh parsley 2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 to 3 T extra virgin olive oil 1 tsp. lemon zest Pinch kosher salt For the chimichurri: Remove any stems from parsley and finely chop. Add minced garlic, salt and lemon zest. Stir in oil and combine well. This can be made in advance and stored in the fridge. UPSTATE LIFE magazine
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Serve up your finished Balsamic Glazed Chimichurri Skirt Steak & Strawberry Salad while the meat is still warm and enjoy!
Salad Ingredients: 1 bunch dandelion greens 2 c. baby spinach leaves 1- to 2-pound skirt steak 1 to 2 c. fresh strawberries, sliced Handful smoked almonds ¼ of a small red onion, chopped Bleu cheese crumbles
For the salad: Rub meat with chimichurri and let set a few minutes while you prep other elements of the salad. Fire up the grill or turn on an indoor griddle with a grilling surface. When the grill is ready, cook steak to medium rare. Remove and let rest before slicing against the grain into thin strips.
Balsamic Glazed Chimichurri Skirt Steak & Strawberry Salad Tips: I bought a single bunch of dandelion greens and had a lot left over after making this salad. If eating them straight isn’t your thing, blend them into smoothies and their bitterness is virtually overpowered, without losing any of the nutritional benefits. You can also blend the greens ahead of time with a little water and freeze individual cubes in an ice cube tray to toss into smoothies any time. Extra balsamic glaze is great for drizzling over everything from fresh berries and ice cream to meats and other veggies. It will keep well refrigerated in an airtight container for about two weeks.
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Rinse dandelion greens well, removing the lower, tough portion of the stems. Chop roughly. Rinse and de-stem spinach leaves (where needed) then toss with greens. Make a bed of the greens. Scatter sliced strawberries, smoked almonds and chopped red onion over greens. Crumble bleu
cheese over salad. Drizzle balsamic glaze in one direction. After slicing, gently lay steak strips over salad bed and drizzle meat with more glaze, in the other direction. If desired, spoon a little leftover chimichurri over the cooked meat. +
ABOUT THE COOK Allison Collins, of Unadilla, is a self-proclaimed bona fide foodie. During college, she traveled extensively overseas and while home held weekly food feasts for members of SUNY Oneonta’s Slam Poetry Association who assured her she had “culinary prowess.” Before that, she undertook elaborate Sunday night dinners for family, friends and neighbors. An accomplished and enthusiastic home cook, she has a willingness to try new things, a yen for healthfulness and vibrant color and, importantly, hours logged watching the Food Network. “It’s relatively safe to say that I love me some food. And good food at that,” she says. “My mother teases that I am picky to the point of snobbishness, food elitism, but that’s not it: I will try most anything. I just want each eating opportunity to be well-spent; you might even say, savored.” Send comments to her at alliedcollins@frontier.com
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