The Newsletter of Franklin Local Vol. XII, No. 3 Franklin, New York FALL 2018 ‘INDEPENDENT, FEARLESS AND FREE’ TENTATIVE TOWN TAXES FIGHTING dent received an increase By Brian Brock in the previous year. ELECTION DAY IS BLIGHT With these increases, TUESDAY The tentative 2019 bud- salaries for the town of- NOVEMBER 6TH. By Jessica Farrell get for the Town of Franklin ficials would be: superin- spends $1.76 million. To tendent of highways Laing, Thirteen years ago, a partially finance this, the $47,700; assessor Basile, DONT neighbor and I met with town board plans to raise $27,850; supervisor Tag- a local reporter to talk $1.19 million in property gart, $15,900; clerk/col- FORGET about the pervasive blight taxes from landowners, an lector Ritz, $15,500; CEO on Sidney Center’s Main increase of $ 0.03 million Jacobs, $15,000; finance Street. At that time, several (2.4%) over the 2018 bud- director Warner, $12,750; TO dilapidated buildings in get. This levy is just under justice Arndt, $6,000; dog our tiny “downtown” had Interior on Main Street, Sidney Ctr. the state-imposed soft cap control officer Lockwood, VOTE! been spray-painted with and similar to the increase $1,800; and councilmen racial slurs and swastikas. ing here. Frustrated, I start- in 2018. Bruno, Grant, Sitts, and They remained that way ed making phone calls to Increases in appropria- Smith, $1,200 each. (Tag- for weeks. Years of ab- see what could be done. I At the October meeting tions total $45,755, of which gart’s salary divides as sentee landlords had left connected with the Catskill of the town board, Mr. Arndt increases in salaries (per- $3,800 (24%) from the town these once grand struc- Center for Conservation requested an increase to sonal services, PS) contrib- and $12,100 (76%) from tures as eyesores, danger- and Development. Plans $7,500 citing the respon- ute only $2,100: superinten- the county.) The total of ous havens for stray cats were made for them to fa- sibilities and work load of dent of highways $500 (1% salaries for town officials and straying kids. For me, cilitate a visioning work- being the sole justice in the increase), assessor $350 in budget is $135,200. In the graffiti were the last shop in Sidney Center. My town. Previous raises were (1%), director of finance addition is $61,000 in ben- straw in a string of insults kids and I passed out flyers $500 in 2013 and $750 in $750 (6%), and justice $500 efits for a grand total of that Sidney Center had suf- and invited neighbors. (9%). Only the superinten- $196,200. See TAXES, con’t on Pg. 18 fered during my years liv- See BLIGHT, con’t on Pg. 11

EQUALIZATION RATES Staff Report Equalization rate (ER) is a measure of how close a town’s total assessed value of real property is to its total market value, expressed as a percentage as estimated by New York State Office of INSIDE Real Property Tax Services. THIS ISSUE... By state law, all property REGULAR FEATURES: in a town must be assessed Neighbor’s View Pg. 2 at the same percentage of Mayor’s Corner Pg. 3 market value, but not nec- Kitchen Basics Pg. 4 essarily a hundred percent. Gathered participants in this summer’s Skinny Cow Songwriter Retreat in Franklin Photo by Bill Steely Green Banks Garden Pg. 5 Around the turn of the Pet Talk Pg. 6 tinue our collaboration and century, the ER for Frank- Infrastructure News Pg. 9 co-writing. lin was a hundred percent MAKING MUSIC IN FRANKLIN The Bare Truth Pg.10 More than half of us for years. Starting in 2005, By Bill Steely hosted by Judy Stakee, a Real Estate Sales Pg.20 came out to attend the first- former talent development the rate declined sharply to ever Skinny Cow Songwrit- seventy-seven percent by The last weekend of agent who worked at War- FRANKLIN LOCAL: er Retreat. Writers flew in 2009. Over the last decade, July, a group of sixteen ner/Chappell Music. (She New Library Fence Pg. 2 from as far away as Seattle, our ER has trended upward singer/songwriters from helped launch the careers New FCS principal Pg. 3 Dublin and Sydney, while to ninety-nine percent – around the world gath- of Sheryl Crow and Kate New Town Offices Pg. 3 others drove from Brook- until this year when the ered at our Franklin farm Perry.) After four days of Call for Tree Planters Pg. 4 lyn, upstate New York, east- town’s uniform assessment to hone their craft in a four- writing together at Menla, FCEF Update Pg. 6 ern Atlantic states, and rate fell from ninety-nine to day workshop. a retreat, resort, and spa Sidney Ctr. update Pg. 7 even from California. ninety point five percent. Earlier this May, we met in Phoenicia NY, we de- Living in Treadwell Pg.10 People arrived through- Last year saw a dou- at a songwriting retreat cided we wanted to con- Edible Trail Map Pg.11 out the day on Thursday. bling of the number of real Fire Dept. Birthday Pg.19 After a delicious meal pre- property sales over 2016, pared by local home chef and that higher rate has FOCUS ON ENERGY: Karen Terry, we all went to continued into this year. It’s Millers off the Grid Pg. 8 the Franklin Stage Compa- likely that this increased ny for the opening night of demand has driven prices LOCAL ARTS: A Walk in the Woods. It was up, and assessments have Book Reviews Pg.12 a stunning performance yet to catch up. Poem Pg.12 and the perfect start to our After a presentation by Upstate Arts Pg.13 NFR See MUSIC, con’t on Pg. 14 See RATES, con’t on Page 17 Peace Festival Pg.13 Page 2 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018 Your Neighbor’s View...

A SIGN OF THE TIMES A few years back, Franklin had a problem with people removing or defacing lawn signs. To the Editors: Some were simply taken and other were marred I recently installed a campaign lawn sign with black markers. During the Stagecoach Run at the end of my driveway. A few days later, I Art Festival, some of the numbered designation saw that it had a hole ripped through it. On the signs were stolen in Treadwell. This behavior ground a few feet beyond the sign was an emp- was not limited to lawn signs - someone wrote ty Stella Artois beer bottle. It was pretty clear a lewd comment about a candidate for town that someone had thrown the bottle at the sign board in black permanent marker inside a vot- to damage it. ing booth on Election Day. Damaged Lawn Sign Photo by Carla Nordstrom I’m not sure whether the anger that pro- Nobody puts up a political lawn sign out of Defacing signs is a display of anger that pelled that bottle was because somebody malice. Like me, most people do it because they damages the reputation of a community. In- didn’t like my choice of candidate or whether believe in something positive that will benefit stead of sharing ideas or asking why someone the rage was directed at the audacity of a black our community. No matter the candidate, po- would like to elect new candidates or keep cur- candidate with an ivy league pedigree running litical party, or cause, it is an optimistic gesture. rent representatives, strangers lash out with a for Congress in a mostly white Congressional Somebody decided to destroy marker signs for beer bottle or permanent marker. I’m aware district. Until recently, racial animus as a cause the Stagecoach Run, even though it is the town that there is a lot of anger going around, but the of delinquency wouldn’t have occurred to me, of Franklin’s most popular summer festival. De- part I don’t get is where our manners have gone but we live in racially charged times. facing a New York State owned election booth is or our respect for others’ opinions. undoubtedly a crime. Sure, I see signs along the road for candi- This year, I’ve heard of other signs disap- dates or policies that make my blood boil, but pearing, and mine was damaged. While it I won’t remove or trash them. Everybody has a seems to come with the territory in a political right to their opinions and the freedom to dis- year, I am concerned about what this type of play their ideas however they want. I would vandalism says about our community. It may hope that everybody in our community would not seem like a big deal to the culprit, but it is show the same respect to me. disturbing to a sign owner. The right of free By the way, I would love to get back the Ber- expression is protected, and for many of us, no nie sign that someone removed from my prop- matter our views, we don’t want to fall victim to erty two years ago. If you have it stashed away, an anonymous person attempting to shut us up. that’s fine. Removing lawn signs is not cute or a game. It’s I thought it was a keeper, too. evidence of hooliganism. Most people don’t want to live in a community where this type of Carla Nordstrom Sign on Main Street, Franklin Photo by Jan Mulroy behavior is on display. Franklin, NY OPEN LETTER TO TOWN SUPERVISOR TAGGART BLU E Thank you for restoring crucial funding FARM to the town budget in support of our home- ANTIQUES & LETTERPRESS town library. Sincerely, PRINTING The New Franklin Register 322 MAIN STREET, FRANKLIN, NY SATURDAY & SUNDAY, 12–5:30PM

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Presented as a gift to the community by Tom Tom Collier and Don Hebbard set up a section Morgan and Erna McReynolds, in association with the Catskill Conservatory The Franklin Rotary Club ap- plied for and received a grant of nearly $2,000 from the Rotary International Foundation for a beautiful wrought iron safety rail- ing atop the new retaining wall at the Franklin Free Library. Members of the Rotary also installed the fencing. Seen here are Rotary President Gary Or- ton, Don Hebbard, Tom Collier, Jerry Hebbard, and village may- or Tom Briggs. Tom Briggs, Gary Orton and Jerry Hebbard hard at work. Photos courtesy of Gary Orton SpringFall 2018 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 3 FRANKLIN LOCAL Local News Local Issues Local Events Local Concerns

NEW GIRL A TALE OF TWO BUILDINGS IN TOWN By Brian Brock an experiment with heat from locally-sourced grass By Lynne Kemen Franklin town officials pellets proved unsatisfacto- are a government divided, ry. The shed built to house I met Bonnie Johnson a split between two office the pellet boiler still sits be- week after she began work- buildings. Down at the hind the meeting hall. ing as Principal of Franklin town garages (a.k.a. the A decade ago, the Rich Central School. She was sheds) and off the meeting tenant house was leased there with the boys’ and hall are the offices of the from the Walter Rich Chari- girls’ soccer teams as they assessor, bookkeeper, and table Foundation for fifty helped the Franklin Free highway superintendent. years at $1 per year. (Prior Library haul books from Almost a mile up Route to opening these offices, the our basement to Institute 357 is the Rich’s tenant house officials worked out of their Street for the New Old Bonnie Johnson (center) with son Nathan and daughter Hannah with the town courtroom and homes.) While the build- offices for the court clerk, ing is quite large, the town Franklin Day library book Hannah and son Nathan. When asked about her code enforcement officer, uses only the west side of sale. Bonnie seemed en- She attended Campbell goals, she laughed and and the town clerk. the first floor. By the terms tirely at home and had al- University and graduated said that her first goal was The garage offices were of the lease, the foundation ready established a great with a B.S. in Physical Edu- to learn the names of ev- built in the mid-1980s with is responsible for the main- rapport with her students. cation. She graduated with ery student in the school funds from the Marcy South tenance of the property. You’d never have guessed an M.S. in education from by the end of October. She power line project. The The foundation has she was so new to her job. Walden University, and wants to understand all of building is a single-story spent little to maintain the Previously, she was a her advanced certificate the programs currently in slab-on-grade. Offices and tenant house, instead fo- physical education teacher in School Building Lead- play before deciding what meeting hall are handi- cusing on renovating the at SUNY Delhi, Laurens Cen- ership and Technology is works and what could ben- capped accessible with two farmhouse for a community tral School, and Middle- from the New York Institute efit from a change. One accessible bathrooms in center and for commer- burgh Central School. She of Technology. crucial goal she hopes to the rear. This summer, the cial office spaces, of which then became a staff devel- Like many of us, Bonnie achieve is increased lines lighting was upgraded with three are now rented. oper at ONC BOCES. She has a personal connection of communication with the LED fixtures courtesy of a The town board is un- is the Recreational Soccer to Franklin. Her husband community. grant from the Clean En- satisfied with conditions Director, Board Member, graduated from Franklin We discussed the chal- ergy Community Program there. In the cold winter of and Coach for the Oneonta Central in 1985. He and lenges of rural schools, and sponsored by NYSERDA. 2016/17, the boiler failed Soccer Club. Her passion his family lived in Meridale she noted that transporta- Heating is by an oil boil- and the pipes froze, there- for soccer is shared by her before moving to Oneonta. husband Eric, daughter See JOHNSON, con’t on Pg16 er. In the winter of 2013/14, See TALE, con’t on Page 16

and Congress had made a significant funding you were born and raised in a non-metropolitan increase to early childhood educational initia- area, you probably have more than a clue why THE MAYOR’S tives as a result. this phenomenon took place. While much of our nation possessed a In the past four decades, we have seen wholesome, bucolic image of life in the country, wave after wave of human interest causes that CORNER there was nothing to counter this view in order have caught the public’s eye. Legislation and to stimulate concern. Farmers weren’t burning funding have been brought forward to even the down neighborhoods to shed light on stagnant playing field for the oppressed. New social mo- With Tom Briggs milk prices. There were no massive protest res have been developed to bolster the image parades to draw attention to the plight of small of those who were social pariahs in the past. HAD ENOUGH businesses as the box stores sucked the life- Our very language has been scrutinized and al- blood out of rural communities. There was no tered to assure that no one is offended. Special For a period of about ten years, I served powerful commission formed to study the im- treatment and earmarked funding have been on the board of an organization in Washington, pact of the loss of wealth and jobs and young directed to special interests to compensate for advocating for rural parity in policy and fund- people in rural America. Instead, there was the sins of the past. ing distribution. During this time, I had the indifference. People were satisfied to watch Meanwhile, rural America, the cradle of in- privilege of meeting people who helped forge Hallmark movie depictions of life in the coun- vention, growth and development in this coun- policy around some very impressive legislation try, salted with images of quaint little shops and try has been relegated to junk bond status. Ru- (the Social Security Act, the Older Americans well-maintained village squares and shiny, rust ral America which still comprises a quarter of Act, Medicare, etc.). It was a time when we as free cars and – oh, yes - those happy, contented this nation’s population and is its largest minor- a nation were experiencing the last vestiges of village folk. ity, is perceived (in my opinion) as having little bipartisanship, and the conversation included Fast forward to today, and people from parts relevance to our modern cosmopolitan society. lofty ideas about proper government practice elsewhere are surprised to visit the country and We have been marginalized by our nation’s for the common good. see abandoned storefronts and houses caving transportation system, by changing technology, Because my organization’s objective was in from years of neglect. They’re surprised to the entertainment industry, the economy and to make rural issues part of this conversation, hear of mobile homes converted to meth labs, even by our society’s shifting core values. we met with researchers and demographers to or teen death rates increased by overdoses The latter is especially of deep concern to gain a sense of how best to push our agenda. and suicides. They’re shocked to see the same me. At some primal and probably nostalgic lev- I can still remember my surprise when one of growing despair in rural communities that only el, I think there still exists at the core of many of these researchers confessed that “in the grand existed in urban ghettos in the past. our small communities the remnants of a once scheme of things, there’s nothing sexy about In this recent presidential election, pun- powerful and highly esteemed national con- rural.” Which meant that there was little inter- dits were at a loss when much of rural America science, its legacy waiting to be rediscovered est in what was going on in rural America. As came to the polls and supported our current and re-venerated, once the acrimony burns it- a consequence, there would be very little fund- president. For many, it was hard to understand self out. I also believe that what will lead to this ing for research. We knew that quality research why people would don those red hats and iden- rediscovery has more to do with exercising the served as a strong basis for appropriations. It tify with a self-crowned people’s champion golden rule than the generation and prolifera- was just then that a major study on the effective- who might not really have their best interests tion of wealth and material. ness of the Head Start program had come out, in mind. It defied reason. For most who sup- I see it here in Franklin. ported Hillary, the incredulity still exists. But if Page 4 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018 By kitchen Carla basics Nordstrom

When the weather cools down, the days end early, and autumn set- prevent tles in, there is nothing I like better than roast chicken. For years I’d roast chicken on a rack or directly in a pan. Cleanup was a mess and the roast- ing pan method meant that the bottom of the chicken ended up pale and soggy. Trying to up my game, I discovered a recipe where the chicken was laid on a bed of vegetables. I gave this approach a try and have no plans to go back to the old way of roasting a chicken. For this recipe I used the following vegetables, but feel free to use other fall or root vegetables. Sometimes I add black olives or different Roast Chicken on a Bed of Vegetables. Photo by Andy Bobrow herbs to kick up the flavor. Preheat the oven to 425°. burning. Salt and pepper to taste. Wash the chicken and dry thoroughly with paper towels. Spread 1 4 Tbs. olive oil tablespoon of oil on the entire surface. Place the chicken on top of the 8 fingerling potatoes cut in half along the length vegetables with the breasts facing up. Put in the preheated oven and or ¾ pound of cut potatoes bake for 15 minutes. Remove the chicken and pour the white wine over 1 large carrot cut into spears the top of the chicken and into the vegetables. 1 large leek cut into 3 inch lengths and quartered Bake for 1 ½ hours, or until the temperature is 165° when thermom- or 1 onion cut into chunks eter is inserted into the thigh. If it looks too pale, either turn up the heat 5 oz. of cremini or baby bella mushrooms, quartered to 450° or use the convection setting on your oven to brown it for the last 4 peeled garlic cloves, if large, cut in half lengthwise 10-15 minutes of baking. 2 sprigs of rosemary Let the chicken rest for 10 minutes before carving. Salt and pepper The chicken should be moist and the vegetables tasty. 1 4-5 lb. whole chicken ½ cup of white wine When the meal is done you can bone the chicken and put all of the bones and herbs into a pot with the juices and water to cover and boil for Pour two tablespoons of olive oil into the bottom of a roasting pan or an hour to make a rich soup stock. ceramic baking dish. Add potatoes and carrots and coat with oil. Place If there are leftover vegetables, drain them and fry in olive oil as a leeks, mushrooms and garlic on top of the layer of potatoes and carrots, side dish. also coating them with oil. You will need to add more oil to the top. It This cold weather, one pot meal can be served with a salad and fresh is important to layer the vegetables with the delicate veggies on top to crusty bread.

MAIN STREET, OLD FRANKLIN

THE FRANKLIN VILLAGE TREE BOARD NEEDS YOUR HELP

For tree pruning: Memorial tree planting: The Village of Franklin Tree Board has There is also a great need to replace been evaluating the Village of Franklin’s trees that are diseased or have been lost to trees. old age. Nine old stumps were recently re- A primary concern is the pressing moved. A list of diseased and dying trees need to prune the existing trees during to be removed by the village, DOT and NY- their dormant season this fall and win- SEG is under consideration. ter. Residents walking for exercise have Donations are needed to supplement mentioned dangerously low tree branches the funds available for a planned major along the sidewalks. The board members planting of trees next spring, to fill in the themselves have “aged out” and are no vacant areas of the village’s urban forest. longer able to do the pruning. Volunteers The board is offering the opportunity to ADVERTISE are needed! create a living memorial by donating a IN YOUR Residents and friends of the Village: street tree. There are seventeen memo- HOMETOWN here’s your chance to learn how to prune rial trees in the village from past plant- properly! A New York State forester has ings. Some choice of tree as well as its NEWSPAPER! offered hold a pruning demonstration in placement in the village will be available. the village, to instruct volunteers in prop- A plaque with a name will be attached THE NEW er pruning techniques, and to supervise to the tree. Each tree will cost approxi- FRANKLIN REGISTER them as they start the pruning process. mately $90 to $100. Additional dona- This will make it safer and more pleasant tions of any amount will be appreciated. contact Manette Berlinger for anyone walking around the village. Please contact the tree board members T he current members of the board are to volunteer for pruning the trees and/or Jerry and Jane Hebbard, Gary and Joan Or- donating to the spring planting by call- [email protected] ton, and Diana Hall. If no one volunteers, ing the Hebbards at 919-616-4872, the the village will have to hire someone to do Ortons at 607-230-4059, or Diana Hall at the work. 607-829-5216. Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 5 LOCAL GOVERNMENT GIFTING WEBSITES GARDENERS GREEN BANKS

Delaware County: co.delaware.ny.us It’s November, which Andes: Townofandes.com means Christmas is loom- GARDENING Bovina: bovinany.org ing. I’m sure you are won- With Colchester: townofcolchesterny.com dering what to buy for the Davenport: No Website gardeners in your life or Deborah Banks Delhi: townofdelhiny.com what to put on your own list Deposit: No Website for Santa. In past years, you may have been given an A romantic gift might be a mix of bulbs for Franklin: No Website aluminum bulb planter that bent sideways forcing, pre-chilled and thoughtfully lay- on the first hole you tried to make in our ered in a ceramic pot. A gift membership Hamden: hamdenny.com rocky soil. You probably own two or three to the Berkshire Botanic Garden in Stock- Hancock: hancockny.org gardening journals, those blank books bridge, MA, or Landis Arboretum in Es- Harpersfield: No Website created for all the garden notes that few perance might expand your horizons and Kortright: No Website of us actually make. Your Christmas tree is also supports our regional public gardens. Masonville: masonville-ny.us festooned in miniature watering cans, your A Garden Conservancy membership in- Meredith: townofmeredith.com earring collection includes dangling flow- cludes one free ticket to an Open Days Middletown: middletowndelawarecountyny.org er pots and hummingbirds, and you own at garden plus discounts on other purchases. Roxbury: roxburyny.com least a couple of “I’m in the Garden” signs A rain gauge is something a surpris- Sidney: townofsidneyny.org for your door knob. ing number of gardeners are living with- Stamford: townofstamfordny.us What helpful hints can you offer the out. Our $22 gauge from Original Floating Tompkins: townoftompkins.org non-gardeners who love you? You could Rain Gauge is a deck mounted version. Walton : townofwalton.org start by spending a few happy hours dog- The copper colored base holds a clear earing pages of the Lee Valley catalog. blue plastic tube that floats up as it rains, They offer well-made garden tools and an with the markings on the tube showing the amazing array of gadgetry. You might love amount of rain received. It’s easy to read one of the Radius ergonomic hand tools and good looking. or shovels, a Japanese pruning saw, or Good gloves are nice… if they fit. something from the large array of weed- Womanswork offers many types of gloves, ing tools. Maybe a torch for those thistles including hard-to-find winter work gloves you just can’t get rid of. You might request for women. The Garrett Wade website also my favorite Felco pruners (#7 with the ro- offers gardening gloves made especially tating handle to lessen hand fatigue) and for women’s hands. They include a handy the holster to carry them in, as well as the size chart based on hand circumference. sharpener. How about memory foam knee My favorite lightweight glove is a $9 pair pads in aqua with soft straps advertised available at Lowe’s (Item # 792186). It fits not to bind or pinch? For under $15, you my stubby fingers. It is hard to weed when could have a set of fifty copper plant tags you have an inch or two of glove flapping or a pocket microscope. around past your fingertips. Another source full of treasures is Tim- One gift that should be attempted with ber Press, a premier pub- caution is the garden calendar. Anything lisher of gardening books. from the pop-up stall at the mall is prob- A few of their recent of- ably not going to make it to the wall over ferings include A Tapestry your desk. And yet success is possible. Garden: The Art of Weaving This year, the Royal Botanical Gardens is Plants and Places, by Er- publishing three gift-worthy wall calen- nie and Marietta O’Byrne; dars. The 2019 Cavallini & Co. Botanica The Landscapes of Anne Wall Calendar from Two Hands Paperie is of Green Gables, by Cath- also gorgeous. Other calendars that might erine Reid; and Designing appeal are the Old Farmer’s Almanac Gar- with Succulents, by Debra dening calendar and the Gardening by Lee Baldwin. Succulents the Moon calendar. are in, you know. But the Finally, the thrifty giver might make latest thing is forest bath- the gift. Plant containers can be crafted ing, and of course Tim- from hypertufa, that mix of Portland ce- ber Press has Yoshifumi ment, perlite and peat moss that magically Miyazaki’s book on that. resembles ye olde English stone troughs Watch for the site’s thirty- (sort of). Native bee nest boxes are big; percent-off sales. this could be a nice homemade present. I have two recommen- And if you’re friends with Martha Stew- dations on books from oth- art, you might get a personalized canvas er publishers. In The Resil- apron stitched up by the diva herself (or ient Farm and Homestead, so I understand from the magazine). FOR SALE: Beach Tavern, Circa 1800. Ben Falk writes about Good luck and happy giving! Federal style stagecoach tavern, meticulously permaculture and prepar- restored with a purist mindset. ing for a future past peak oil. He shares details on Five corner fireplaces; 40' upstairs ballroom; all original floors, how he designed his Ver- trim, doors, cupboards and mantels, etc. Many original paint sur- mont farm using a “whole faces and hardware. Hand-hewn quartzite stone sink in kitchen systems” approach. If you addition. don’t have one of Eliott A purist preservationist's dream come true! Coleman’s books and you 775' of private East Sidney Lake access. are raising vegetables, 3 hours from NYC and NJ. Two miles from the National Historic add his Four-Season Har- Register Village of Franklin, NY. 11.4 surveyed acres. Three story vest to your wish list. No barn. Acreage on both sides of the road. one does extended sea- Historical Consultant available. son gardening better than Coleman does in Maine. $360,000 You can’t go wrong with Muck boots, those pricy Sustainable gifting: Build your gardener (or Message: 607-829-8102 Text: 607-435-7433 and wonderful fleece- yourself) a native bee house, and help our Email: [email protected] www.beachtavernfranklinny.com lined rubbery work boots. threatened pollinators to thrive! Page 6 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018 does, it is fatal. The vaccine is 100% effective in preventing Rabies. If PET the dog I mentioned had had a valid rabies vaccine when bitten, TALK it would have needed with Dr. Joan Puritz only a booster and possibly a ten- day quarantine. This poor pup’s life was sacri- Hello Readers, ficed because of lazy pet care. The county rabies clinics are free, pro- This time, I’m going to discuss rabies. vided by our local counties’ Public Health Maybe this doesn’t sound too exciting but Departments. Otsego County has had it may save your life or the life of your pet. thirteen free clinics and Delaware County Let me tell you something that happened has had twelve free clinics this year. For this summer. convenience, they are held in the evening, It was a work day like any other in the after work for most people. You wait in line veterinary hospital: anorectic cats, vacci- FRANKLIN COMMUNITY EDUCATION with your dog, cat or ferret, and get the nations, painful ears, itchy dogs, puppies vaccine and paperwork and that’s it. It’s FOUNDATION UPDATE and kittens all coming in for their appoint- very easy. Besides the fact that it’s the law ments. But the afternoon brought an unex- to vaccinate your pet, it’s also easy and By Patricia Tyrell This year’s bake sale pected visit. free, so why are people not doing it? broke all records, raising A young, healthy-appearing dog was I suppose some people worry that The Foundation wel- $1,300! Thanks to ongoing brought in to be euthanized. This dog their animal may have a reaction to the comes new board mem- participation by dozens of seemed very sweet-natured and the only vaccine. Yes, it may have side effects, but bers Diane Whitbeck and bakers, volunteers, Wayne reason he was being euthanized was be- they are extremely rare. All in all, lives can Sara Leddy. Diane, one Bank, and the Franklin cause he was not current on his rabies vac- be saved by having your pet vaccinated. of the founding members community, this fundraiser cine and had tangled with a rabid raccoon. So please get it done. Don’t wait. There of the Foundation, returns continues to exceed ex- The owners of this dog had been given the were two confirmed cases of rabies in our with great enthusiasm and pectations and be a main option of a 6-month quarantine or eutha- area this summer. It is out there. Don’t let energy. Sara, our newest support of the many pro- nasia. The cost of the quarantine out of the it happen to you. member and mother of a grams the Foundation con- home would be around $3000. The owner Franklin middle-school tributes to. had young children at home and could student, is eager to join Your generosity direct- not quarantine him there. The owner was the Foundation’s mission ly contributes to our ability sad, as were the public health department, of supporting and enhanc- to support school programs my staff, and I. Having to end the life of a ing the educational experi- and student aspirations. To wonderful pet because it lacked an inex- ence of Franklin’s students. list a few: FCEF continues pensive or often free vaccine was deeply A newly arranged bot- to offer funds towards col- upsetting. How could this have happened? tle redemption fundraising lege credit courses for eli- The rabies virus is in the saliva of a program has begun, with gible high school students, rabid animal. When the animal bites, the returnable bottles being as well as for the backpack virus can spread to the blood of the bit- accepted at the Oneonta and weekend backpack ten animal or person, which takes it to the Redemption Center on programs, the Spanish Trip brain, where it grows and infects them. Chestnut Street, Oneonta. and Museum of Modern Art Infection does not always occur, but if it Lining up at a free local rabies clinic Simply let them know you trip. are donating to the Frank- We also continue to lin Community Education award, through the bounti- Foundation, and your re- ful giving of Tom Morgan turn will be entered into and Erna Morgan McReyn- an account that generates olds in memory of Wendy a check every month when Brown, the Scholar of the fifty or more dollars are Month award. Presented raised. with a Certificate of Ex- The NFR in your inbox! Most sincere gratitude cellence upon award, and is extended to the commu- $200 upon graduation, stu- Live out of the area, or just too far from town? nity and beyond for sup- dent scholars are nominat- You can still read the NFR. porting the Foundation’s ed and selected by school most recent fundraisers, faculty and staff. Send us your email address, and we’ll email you an announce- including the Huge End of The Franklin Commu- ment of where to find the latest issue on line, as soon as it comes out.

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A table of goodies at FCEF’s fall bake sale

Summer Raffle and the Fall nity Education Foundation bake sale. Over $1,600 (FCEF) meets the third was raised through the Tuesday each month, at 7 Raffle, but only because p.m. in the Franklin Com- of the ongoing generosity munity Center. Visitors are of $400 prize winner, Tom welcome. The FCEF sup- Morgan, who donated the ports extracurricular and prize back to the Founda- supplemental education tion. Thank you, Tom! Oth- opportunities for the youth er winners included $300 and students of Franklin, prize winner Susan T. and from cradle to career. $200 prize winner Joe D. Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 7

streets clean but also to keep our ning at 5:30 p.m. We are proud to SIDNEY CENTER waterways and watershed free of offer this event completely free. trash that would otherwise stick Tractor Parade: SEES PROGRESS around (adding to flood danger) or Finally, for eight of the last nine Part 2: Community Events wash downstream. We’ve had the years, SCIG has organized and help of local Boy Scouts and stu- funded the Tractor Parade, build- By Michael Sellitti dent volunteers. We hope their in- ing it up to be what now brings volvement instills a sense of pride hundreds of spectators and par- The Sidney Center Improve- in their community and the respon- ticipants to the hamlet each year. ment Group (SCIG) is an all-volun- sibility to keep it clean. In order to focus our energy on teer, non-profit organization whose Lucky Day Auction & Crock- other projects and events, the mission is to bring people togeth- pot Cook-off: SCIG Board of Directors voted to er to clean up Sidney Center and This two-part event has proven entrust the event to members of improve the quality of life in and to be a successful fundraiser for Holidays in the Hamlet the Friends & Family Church, who around the hamlet. SCIG has three SCIG and is a way for our group This event has become a staple helped organize the event this year. focus areas to further this mission: to support and promote local busi- for SCIG and the hamlet of Sidney We are happy to see it continue! community events, clean water nesses. The silent auction offers Center; one which young and old SCIG is always in search of education/outreach, and beautifi- baskets put together with a com- alike have looked forward to for new, fresh ideas and perspectives. cation/improvement projects. All bination of goods and services do- the last ten years. We are happy Volunteers are essential and ap- of these share the common goal of nated by local businesses, artists, to report that 2017 was our most preciated, so if you’d like to help promoting a healthy lifestyle and crafters and volunteers. While the well-attended, with more activi- make Sidney Center a nicer place helping to change local attitudes auction is going on, folks from the ties geared towards families and to live, please consider attending a about realizing the potential of our community are also competing for children than ever before, includ- meeting, which are always open to area, especially when it is support- the title of top crockpot chef, while ing free digital photos with Santa, a the public. SCIG meets the second ed by meaningful progress. attendees taste and judge the holiday movie tent, themed crafts, Tuesday of every month at 6:30pm 2018 marks the tenth anniver- participants. Last year this event reindeer food, selfie station, hot at the Sidney Center Fire Hall, un- sary of SCIG’s status as a 501(c)3 kicked off our fundraising efforts coco bar, gifts for children, live less our Facebook page states oth- non-profit organization. To cele- for the Sidney Center Park and music and more! This year’s event erwise. To learn more, visit: brate, we are sharing our accom- Playground restoration project. takes place on December 8th at the plishments in a three-part series www.facebook.com/SCIGN Holidays in the Hamlet: Sidney Center Fire House, begin- in the New Franklin Register. In or www.SCIGNY.org. the last issue, we shared our con- tinuing efforts to improve the curb appeal of our hamlet. This part will highlight Community Events The Catskill Dream Team which SCIG hosts throughout the year to bring people together in a fun and engaging way. SCIG’s community member/ volunteers are dedicated to orga- nizing events that are enjoyed and looked forward to by people of all ages. But these events are also a platform for sharing the mission and goals of the group. Events help us connect with the public directly and build trust. As an organization, we have invested a great num- ber of volunteer hours and fund- ing to make the following events possible. Street & Stream Clean Up Day: The idea of cleaning up the Laura Krukowski hamlet was the basis for the Group’s formation. Over the years, Licensed Associate Real Estate Broker this has evolved into an annual event. We gather in the center of Cell: 607-226-1297 the hamlet to hit the streets and streams, canvasing for light trash Email: [email protected] and debris that has accumulated over the previous year. This event 10 Rosa Rd., Margaretville, NY 12455 is an effort not only to keep our

Missing your weekly gab fests with friends and neighbors at the Franklin Farmers’ Market? Rejoin the conversation at LEFTOVERS! (New food, old friends) Sundays at 11 A.M., at the Tulip and the Rose Main Street, Franklin

Franklin Central School’s Class of 2018 lines up for a group photo in the Franklin Village Park before their Senior Prom. Congratulations, all! Photo by Susan Campbell

Page 8 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018 FOCUS ON ENERGY

THE MILLERS SHOW US THE WAY ity. Bob and May dug six hundred feet of ditch imately thirty to forty percent of the electricity from the pond to their power house - Bob on the generated by the power company is wasted By Eugene Marner backhoe and May down in the muddy, four-foot- by the time it gets to your house, through ion deep trench setting the four-inch pipe. exchange in the air, losses to resistance in the As we get older, most of us find it prudent With the water supply in place, the next wires, and so forth. The Millers have eliminated and necessary to downsize: smaller house, eas- step was to harness the energy. The Millers that loss, so their impact on the environment is ier to care for, less stuff. Bob and May Miller are teamed up with Everitt “Sparks” Burrows, a much lower than the average person.” no exception. But the Millers are also obser- master electrician and self-taught hydraulic en- “My goal,” says Bob, “is to be as low-tech as vant, thoughtful and resourceful, and discover possible.” opportunity where many would find only frus- “The cooperation between May, Bob, and tration and inconvenience. myself is what made this project work,” says The property where they’ve built their mod- Sparks. “You know, input from everybody. Are est new house is at the end of a dirt road, just there things we’re going to change? Yeah, a two tenths of a mile beyond the last power pole. little bit, to make it better. We feel the water “The power company wanted $25,000 to run turbine is using too much water. I’m currently the line two tenths of a mile,” said Bob. “Then redesigning a turbine in my shop that operates they wanted me to give them the line after I got differently, to try to reduce the amount of water, it built––deed it right to them––and then they and I may have a third design for which I’m do- wanted to put a surcharge on the electricity I ing the mathematics to see how that’s going to use because of ‘extenuating circumstances.’ work. Bob and May have done an extraordinary “We aren’t going to do that,” he added dryly. job making this work.” Bob said that he’d always hankered to be off “This has all come together in one year,” the grid and now it looked like economic ne- May Miller in her new energy efficient kitchen added Bob, “with some adjustments in the cessity was about to take what had seemed like spring.” a good idea and turn it into a project. Bob is a gineer and, like Bob, a tireless tinkerer and ex- “Not counting the digging,” May reminded dedicated tinkerer and, as he says, “a pack-rat,” perimenter with simple, home-made technolo- him. “We laid the pipe down last year in the gies. Sparks was full of admiration for the care mud––rained every day.” with which Bob had evaluated the potential for The conversation turned to the old days. micro-hydro, made the necessary calculations, May recalled the water supply on the hilltop and educated himself about the technology. In farm where she lived as a child. “We hauled his Unadilla shop, Sparks built the turbine and water from the spring below the house. A quar- helped install it in the Millers’ power house. ter mile away. My mother was tough.” They added a couple of high-quality solar pan- “After high school,” Bob added, “my folks els to supplement the hydropower, just in case put in a pump to bring water to the house. Back- some future summer should be very dry and ward living, but they lived.” the pond not recharge fast enough to keep the Sparks took issue with the word backward. turbine spinning. “You say that, but if something major were to With Sparks’ guidance, everything in the happen in the world, you people would survive.” Bob and Sparks point out the water intake house was designed to be en- Bob laughed. “We had ergy-efficient. Two on-demand a neighborhood picnic here always saving up stuff he might be able to use water heaters were installed, with the people close by and one day. Now he’d make use of some of those one for domestic hot water and they were worried about a big odds and ends. the other to heat the water that storm forecast. It was coming Micro-hydro appealed to him most. The circulates through the radiant up the coast and would wipe Millers had farmed for many years and, af- heating coils that are installed out things and the power was ter retiring from that, Bob spent several years in the concrete floors. going to be off. I just kind of working as an excavator, moving earth around “May selected energy- grinned and said, I’m not going and directing water where it could do the most effective appliances,” says to worry too much about that. good and least harm. He put that knowledge Sparks, “and we put in LED And one of them said, you’ve and experience to work. lights and dropped energy re- got something else to worry A few years before, Bob had built some quirements forty or fifty per- about because, when the pow- ponds uphill of their new house site. The idea cent below the usual house. It’s er goes off, we’re all coming to was to take advantage of the forty-foot drop worked out really quite well. your house.” from the pond to the site: let gravity do the work “This is what people don’t Interior of the Power House by using the flowing water to generate electric- realize,” he continues. “Approx- Photos by the author

Kenneth L. Bennett Funeral Home

425 Main Street Franklin, NY 13776

607-829-2272

Remember this map? IT’S REALLY HAPPENING! Delhi Telephone has strung fiber- optic cable all around town! Faster internet service is in your future! Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 9

INFRASTRUCTURE UP-DATE TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS Compiled by Brian Brock 2018

June 25th Constitution Pipeline Company requests from FERC a two Franklin Town Board meetings are general- year extension to finish the project until December 2, 2020. ly held on the first Tuesday of each month at the July 19th Federal Energy Regulatory Commission denies Constitu- Franklin Town Sheds at the intersection of Routes tion’s request for rehearing of FERC’s determination (1/11/18) that NYSDEC 357 & 21. did not waive the opportunity to act on Constitution’s Section 401 Clean Water Every third month, as indicated below, meetings will be held in Treadwell at either the Fire House or Act application. Kellogg Community Center. July 27th NY Attorney General Barbara D. Underwood files comments with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in response to a Notice of January 2nd Inquiry (4/19/18) concerning the policy on the certification of natural gas February 6th transportation facilities March 6th (Treadwell) July 31st Four senators, John Barrasso (R-Wyoming), Shelley Moore Capito (R- April 3rd West Virginia), Steve Daines (R-Montana) and Jim Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), introduce May 1st bill S.3303, To amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to make changes June 5th (Treadwell) with respect to water quality certification, and for other purposes. Bill was imme- July 10th (due to July 4th holiday, meeting on sec- diately referred to the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. ond Tuesday) August 1st CPC requests extension of permission from USACE for exten- August 7th sion of the administrative record for 15 months, September 4th (Treadwell) August 10th US Army Corps of Engineers grant CPC an extension of the Constitu- October 2nd tion Pipeline project until November 11, 2019. November 7th (due to Election Day, meeting on August President Trump nominates Bernard McNamee, head of the first Wednesday) Department of Energy’s Office of Policy, to fill a vacancy on the Federal December 4th (Treadwell) Energy Regulatory Commission from the resignation of Commissioner Robert Powelson. September 13th CPC files their petition for review in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit today, just days before the deadline of the 17th. They are challenging FERC’s denial of their petition that DEC waived its rights (CP18-5), and the denial of their request for rehearing. October 4th Five senators, John Barrasso and Mike Enzi (R, Wyoming), Shelley Moore Capito (R, West Virginia), Steve Daines (R, Montana), and Jim Inhofe (R, Oklahoma), request that the US Environmental Protection Agency review an Obama- era «handbook» that covers Section 401 of the Clean Water Act and to work with other federal agencies to determine whether new guidance or regulations are needed to clarify the law.

Page 10 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018 One way to look at it...

and that was that. He refused to en- bigger one.” He had caught eleven fish weigh- tertain the idea and discharged me ing between twenty and sixty pounds but he against all doctors’ advice. knew they got bigger, much bigger. His dream Wracked with pain and drugged was to land one. We spent the year doing every to euphoria, I managed to get packed kind of side job to buy our tickets the next year. and on the plane. Once on the ground, We logged trees and did commercial property our plans quickly changed. The truck clean-ups. Dad worked like a twenty-year-old, with camper had no camper because driven by a dream: to catch a fish as large as the previous renter had wrecked it. It himself. was raining without let up and my leg After a hellish thirty-five-hour marathon was thumping. I could barely stand, of plane rides, we arrived. The first fish Dad let alone dive, so I figured the best caught was a shark. Captain Woody suggested medicine for gold fever was fishing. moving, but Dad said to give it a minute or two. THE BARE TRUTH Yes, the trip was planned to make Without saying much, he began to reel in his us all rich. Gold fever is a horrible line. Then we saw why he was being so quiet: By Robert Lamb (Photo by the author) disease, and I was sorely afflicted. he was straining to hold on. Little by little, the At least fishing takes one’s mind off old man reeled in the catch of his life time. At The year my father George turned seventy- their troubles, and I got lucky with one hundred twenty pounds, the halibut was in- nine, we took our second trip to Alaska. Along Deep Creek Charters in Ninilchik, Alaska. They deed as big as he was. with my good friend Chas, we had planned to not only had an opening for three on their boat, Anyone meeting George Lamb after that mine for gold by dredging. Dredging involves the Arctic Explorer, they also had a cabin to was shown a picture of that fish. immersing one’s body in the coldest waters on rent. Awaking at four a.m., we headed to the earth. And then, as fate would have it, all my boat launch, where large log skidders back the permits to cross salmon-bearing streams and charter boats into the surf. Along with a pair of dive in federal parks were rendered moot. newlyweds and their best man, we headed into Two days before boarding the plane, I had the fog covering Cook Inlet. an accident at work. While using a high-pres- As the fog lifted, a large snow covered peak sure steam generator to clean graffiti, I failed loomed in the distance. Dad said it looked like to notice a worn-out connector. I was less than a volcano, and it was. In the distance, Mount two inches away from it when it blew apart. The Redoubt was spewing steam as a Minke whale pressure blew a hole clean through my calf breached between it and our boat. If you have to midway to my knee and left me with second give up mining, I guess it couldn’t get any bet- and third-degree burns. At the hospital emer- ter than this - or so I thought. As soon as Captain gency room, the doctors advised me to cancel Woody baited Dad’s line, he started pulling in my trip to Alaska. I had spent hundreds of hours halibut. The rest of us went barren except for and thousands of dollars to arrange for the state a couple of sharks. Dad caught eleven halibut. and federal permits to mine for gold, and I’ll be He caught everyone’s limit for them, an illegal damned but I was going. practice today. He was very proud of his an- The doctors put a drain tube into the hole in gling ability. We sent over two hundred pounds my leg and said to come back in seven days to of fresh fish home by FedEx overnight. We did have it removed. I again explained I was get- do a little mining and found just enough to pay ting on a plane in two days and nothing was our expenses. going to stop me. The last doctor who tried to While the mining was a minor success, the talk sense to me said if I went to Alaska, I would halibut was Dad’s focus all the next year. I saw no doubt lose my leg to infection. I asked him him every day after work, and every day for a if they could cut it off now because I was going year he would say “Man, I would like to catch a The proof is in the photo!

MOVING TO TREADWELL: tractive, original details, yes, I can and add a sustainable insulation? house and lots of decisions about How to say goodbye to an old house see myself living there. Actually, I To achieve all this, I am left with an the good, the bad, and the ugly! So, I have the feeling every time I walk enormous budget, in the end only took my time. Understanding the im- By Magali Veillon into the house. I can see myself liv- keeping two sides and the cellar portance of waiting, observing, and It has been a few years since ing in it, but in the same way that I’d as is. Everything else would have modifying one’s intentions eased I wrote about that old house in live in a cabin on an Alaskan moun- to be basically replaced. the pressure that might have led to Treadwell. Many curious souls tain or bivouac at the bottom of the A contractor friend from New bad decisions. Thus, I gave myself have wondered: What’s up? Grand Canyon: it is not final. York City came to inspect my house permission to very mindfully tear Two years ago, I had the plan The work of renovation re- with the mission of convincing me down. Material I can safely remove to renovate, having done much re- vealed its challenges. How could to renovate. I value his opinion and will be reused, sold, or donated, sav- search about insulation and feeling I keep the sweetness of the old felt very grateful for his help look- ing me dumping fees. pressure to get something done. and have an efficient house? The ing at the work to be done and es- My mother in Switzerland Luckily for me, life happens, and roof, originally flat, had been very timating costs. In short, financially, raised me to respect the past and it forced me to take more time. So cheaply rebuilt as a gable struc- I could renovate the house and re- our forebearers, to be frugal and I took an intentional break on the ture, probably after a serious fire furbish the few details that are left tread as lightly as possible on the renovation, spending a little time that compromised the front façade. of the original home and spend the planet, and to keep a healthy body here and there with the house, with It meant taking the roof down and rest of my days struggling with heat and soul. She took me by surprise myself, and much time with the putting a new one on, as well as re- bills, repairs, and a loan I would not when she sent a message suggest- man who stole my heart. framing the front wall since I want be able to repay. In the end, build- ing I should read Ecclesiastes 3. Working on the house, I discov- a structure to last me decades. Vi- ing a new structure makes more Most of you have heard The Byrds er mysteries of its past life, yet the nyl siding hides beauty and de- sense. A smaller footprint is of sing it in the song Turn! Turn! Turn!, exhilaration of that puzzle slowly fects. In classes about architecture course more affordable. A smaller written by Pete Seeger: gave way to problems that the and sustainable building, I learned house also means more leeway to “A time to tear down and a time old house threw at me. Of course, that insulation and light are crucial. pick materials and details that are to build up…” if that place in the sweet hamlet The south-facing back side has the sustainable, healthy, and durable. Hence this fall, I write again to of Treadwell wasn’t a life project, smallest openings of all four sides, However, every day I still ques- share the difficult task of saying I could patch it up like previous so the back wall would have to be tion: to renovate, or to tear down? goodbye to an old house. The brain owners have done, making small rebuilt to let in light and solar heat As humans, we like to think of can rationalize, with budgets and improvements that are inherently gain. All the interior of the outside ourselves as standing aside from theories, but emotions still stand. restricted and compromised. But— walls would have to be rebuilt to nature, yet we cannot separate our- As we prepare for cold months hard for many to believe—I have incorporate tight insulation that I selves from the cycle of life and coming, I grieve for the work of the picked that place with retirement wish to be the least polluting pos- death. Things come and go, nature past, but commit to bringing the in mind, not investment. As I work sible. So how do I keep old mold- is ever-changing and we are, too. In best possible new life to a spot that on the house and study the few at- ings around windows and doors practical terms, I am faced with a big is so dear to me. Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 11

THE EDIBLE TRAIL, in Franklin’s Village Park Drawing and photos by Trish Tyrell

(* = For medicinal use only)

BLIGHT, continued from Page 1 Through the years, SCIG members met with the Sidney Town Board unanimously passed a In 2006, residents gathered to discuss the different code enforcers and supervisors about resolution to remove all three structures. I was future of our hamlet. We received a small Main Main Street, to no avail. Life moved on. My overjoyed! At last these unsafe eyesores will be Street grant for community barrels. Flowers kids grew up. I began to believe the buildings replaced with green space. were planted and a cleanup was organized. would outlast me. No one had answers, no one How did we get to this point? The cycle Flags were hung to display pride in our home wanted to take responsibility, not the absentee of neglect was decades in the making. Con- village. People in the hamlet started meeting landlords, not the town, not the county. As an demned properties are sold and resold at tax once a month to organize projects. In June of unincorporated hamlet, our concerns are not a auctions, often sight unseen. There’s no plan in that year, the hamlet was hit hard by a devastat- priority. place for repairs. Codes are not enforced. The ing flood. We organized a bigger clean up. Our Blight greatly impacts the overall mindset of county and town get tax dollars and can wash spirits were not dampened. a community. It affects the children growing up their hands of any responsibility. Our Main and the people who visit. Community minded Street is the final stop in the cycle. This is what neighbors become frustrated and move away. decades of neglect and unaccountability look For years, our Main Street represented hope- like. Ultimately, tax payers pay the price. lessness despite all our efforts. Despite a love of old architecture, I’ll be This spring giant red X’s and police tape happy to see these places go. I imagine the fu- were placed on three Main Street buildings. I ture. Maybe next spring small trees and flowers was told this was to warn firemen not to enter can be planted in our new Main Street green these structures in an emergency. Roofs caved space. Soon our general store will reopen after in and exterior walls buckled. People became being closed for years. It’s time for Main Street fearful one of these looming wooden relics Sidney Center to turn over a new leaf. Some might fall or a curious child might enter and of that rests in our leadership’s hands, some in drop through the floorboards. ours. I believe our community has demonstrat- Then, this summer, one building began to ed that we’re willing to do our part. collapse. Even the structures had finally had enough. Within a few weeks, it looked like a bomb had fallen on Main Street. Thirteen years ago, I didn’t have the internet. This time, I sent a letter with photographs far and wide. The re- porter who had met me on Main Street all those years ago returned. Suddenly people took no- tice. Neighbors spoke with the press. A “Sup- port Main Street” petition calling for the demo- lition of three buildings circulated. It received 150 signatures. On September 11th, Town of Sidney super- Several years later, the group became a visor Gene Pigford met with the community at nonprofit, the Sidney Center Improvement the Sidney Center Fire Station. Approximately Group (SCIG). We continue to hold meetings sixty people came out to voice their concerns. on the second Tuesday of the month to address The supervisor and town board members were issues related to the environment, safety, and empathetic to our plight. They were working to beautification of our hamlet. We organize free contact the building’s owners and bring closure community events for all. It’s a hardworking to what had become a critical safety issue. Mr. group of neighbors that generously give their Pigford assured us that the buildings would be Photos of Sidney Center houses slated for de- time and talent for the betterment of our home. taken down before winter 2018. Two days later, molition courtesy of the author. Page 12 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018

music fine arts literature poetry education ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT holiday fun To Autumn at the By John Keats Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; library Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; BILL ROSSOW To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees, reviews new books And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, THE VIKING WARS: War and Peace in King Alfred’s Britain, 789-935 And still more, later flowers for the bees, By Max Adams Until they think warm days will never cease, For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells. This history recounts almost a hundred and fifty years of raids and invasions of Britain and Ireland by various Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store? Norse groups that were not actually called Vikings but Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find were going “a-Viking”. This period began with many Thee sitting careless on a granary floor, hit-and-run raids by young men looking for plunder, ad- Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind; venture, and status. Gradually, these incidents became Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep, invasions by Norse people who settled in northern Ire- Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook land, northeast England, and southern Scotland, displac- Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers: ing the Picts in the north and the Saxons in the south. The And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep documentation of events and locations of battle sites and Steady thy laden head across a brook; settlements in this period is based mostly on unreliable Or by a cyder-press, with patient look, writings well after the events, but this book details the Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours. up-to-date evidence from archeological investigations, place-names, and language to better tell the story. The Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? tendency of leaders at this time to give their sons their Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,— own names (and their daughters very similar names) While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day, makes the story often confusing. Nevertheless, this book provides a much better idea And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue; of the significant and complex role of King Alfred and his progeny in this dynamic pe- Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn riod of British history when the many peoples and regimes began to resemble a single Among the river sallows, borne aloft kingdom. Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn; THE WARS OF THE ROSES: The Fall of the Plantagenets and the Rise of the Tu- Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft dors, 1420-1525 The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft; By Dan Jones And gathering swallows twitter in the skies. In contrast, THE WARS OF THE ROSES tells a much better documented, but still confusing story of the nearly “Ode to Autumn,” written in 1819 by the English poet hundred years during which several inter-related fami- John Keats (1795-1831), is one of the most eloquent and lies vied, with many battles, for dominance in the Eng- inspirational poems in the English language. lish kingdom. This story is complicated both because the In three stanzas of eleven lines each, the poet leads many claimants to the throne all traced their lineage back us through an autumn day, his sadness at summer’s going to Edward III, as shown in the provided family trees, and and winter’s coming; the loss of spring. It is so rich in im- because the many powerful nobles involved controlled age that we can see, in our mind’s eye, every apple, tree, entangled land holdings, as depicted in a provided map gourd, brook, and “hedge-cricket” (grasshopper). that shows the kingdom was far from unified. The great This simple poem could very well be a picture of au- confusion and contention over the crown succession was tumn in Delaware County; it is as though the great Keats not called the “wars of the roses” until it was over, by later had written it for us. writers. The key disruptions of the succession were: (1) — Bertha Rogers the deposing of Richard II (Lancaster) by cousin Henry II (Lancaster); (2) the weak-character, later insanity, of grandson Henry VI (Lancaster) leading to an usurpation by the York family and the crowning of Edward IV; (3) a coup by cousin Richard III (York and last Plantagenet), and (4) his removal by Henry VII (the first Tudor). The narrative flows easily and allows the reader to feel that it is almost understandable.

LIBRARIAN’S PICKS FOR FALL 2018

THERE THERE FFL SEARCH FOR OLD YEARBOOKS By Tommy Orange The Franklin Free Library is seeking to fill out their collec- “This is a novel about what it means to inhabit a land both yours and tion of the yearbook Liberanni, from the Delaware Literary stolen from you, to simultaneously contend with the weight of belong- Institute and Franklin Central School. ing and unbelonging. There is an organic power to this book—a revelatory, controlled chaos. Tommy Orange writes the way a storm makes landfall.” If anyone has copies of these yearbooks that they would be willing to donate or allow the library to copy, please contact - Omar El Akkad, author of American War the FFL at 607.829.2941, or by email: fr.ill@4c

The following issues are missing: FEAR: TRUMP IN THE WHITE HOUSE 1925-1933, 1995, 1997, 1999-2006, 2013-2014, 2017-2018 By Bob Woodard

“Fear is a remarkable feat of reporting …There’s nothing Franklin Free Library comparable in American journalism, except maybe Woodward’s P.O. Box 947 The Final Days, co-written with Carl Bernstein, about the downfall 334 Main Street Franklin, NY 13775 of Richard Nixon.” - The New Yorker Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 13

black there is light…It’s as with if all the colors (and par- UpState ticularly the pure ones) are Charlie waiting to undress or be undressed.” Arts Bremer Most artists working in rural studios share a direct understanding of natural light and the elements of This past September, poor negotiated with the the season, as they are right Martha and I, along with company to buy exclusive outside our door. The myr- two of our daughters, Kar- artistic-use rights to the iad forms of nature offer a in and Lara, put together a color, causing an uproar vast visual resource, and as family exhibition at Bright within the arts community, we now move through au- Hill’s Word & Image Gal- who were outraged at the tumn into winter, the chang- lery in Treadwell. It was a notion that someone could es we observe can deeply particular pleasure to share actually own a color. Only influence our art: its color, our connection to the cre- in the 21st century! hue, form and emotion. As ative vision flowing from Kapoor, expressing his environmental caretakers one generation to the next love for the void, used Van- with the privilege of sight, … and back again. In our tablack last summer to cre- we have unique responsi- early years as parents, we ate a work titled “Descent bilities to observe and re- observed the natural at- into Limbo” at a contempo- spond. Inside our studios, traction of children to cre- rary art museum in Portu- digital connections offer a ativity through the senses: gal. The work featured an different resource, with ac- sight, sound, taste, touch, eight foot-deep, round hole cess to questions and an- and smell. This innate im- in the floor of the museum swers bordering on the un- pulse immediately reflects and appeared either bot- limited and instantaneous. SAVE THE DATE! the unique inner world of tomless or non-existent, as Together, these sources the individual. In the larger so little light was reflected. form a rich duality, feed- THE FRANKLIN FREE LIBRARY’S realm, it also suggests that As would happen, in Au- ing creative life in the rural the most valuable square gust, a visitor fell into the WINTER BOOK SALE landscape. inches of human material hole. He was briefly hospi- What does it all add SATURDAY, DECEMBER 8TH on this planet lie within talized but recovered, and up to? That there is more IN THE LIBRARY’S NEWLY RENOVATED works of art. For good rea- the installation was tem- than a kernel of truth in the BASEMENT. 10 A.M. - 4 P.M. son, the word “priceless” porarily closed. Art does humorous adage: “We are has been most often asso- come with risks. As a foot- confronted by insurmount- BOOKS, CDS, DVDS - ALL FOR SALE - ONLY able opportunities.” $1.00 EACH L’ART DECLARE LA PAIX! By Manette Berlinger ing nurtured through mu- sic and dance. Paintings, The winds of peace sculptures, and installa- are blowing in the Loire tions were exhibited in Valley. In this famous re- libraries and cultural cen- gion of France, known for ters, and poetry readings its magnificent chateaux, were held in a cultural cen- peaceful villages, and lush ter and an Asian restaurant. vineyards, artists with a Tapestries, photography passion for peace are af- exhibits, and the paint- firming their ideals. Over ings of a famous calligra- seventy painters, sculp- pher were exhibited, and ciated with art, and our re- note, Vantablack has now tors, writers, musicians, a patchwork quilt 150 me- lationship with these works been out-blacked by Black singers, and dancers are ters long, whose squares places our notions of art- 2.0, made by artist Stuart participating in a festival were crafted a decade ago ists, gods, and origins all in Semple. called “L’Art Declare Le different.” Shepard said, by women from around the the same basket. The writer Color, it seems, is one Paix” -- “The Arts Declare “Our goal was for each world, was displayed in Joseph Conrad described of the most elusive ele- Peace.” artist to express his or her the Town Hall of the city of this best when he said “The ments of descriptive ex- Two years ago, faced vision of peace, not as the Tours. artist appeals to that part perience. The 1930 Dic- with unrelenting reports opposite of war, but as a “My favorite moment,” of our being … which is a tionary of Color describes of conflict in the world, my positive reality.” Shepard said, “was when gift and not an acquisition color as “troubled light”, a sister Sandra Shepard, an Interest grew until a Palestinian poet read a - and, therefore, more per- reference to the physics of American-born art event events were scheduled in poem he’d written about manently enduring.” particle refraction. The art- organizer, conceived the eleven towns and cities peace, an Israeli born Ho wever, acquire ist Frank Stella, in a rather throughout the months of in the same city read it things we do, and the ever- pragmatic moment, said September and October. again in Hebrew, and they growing market sets new “thinking about color ab- Nepalese dancing and embraced. records for sales of art at stractly hasn’t done me any three concerts that raised The performances and the same rising rate that real good.” money for the foundation exhibits drew hundreds of intense hurricanes now roll The artist John Christie Playing for Change pre- visitors, one of whom ob- off Africa. This desire for perhaps got closer when sented French songs, clas- served, “This is how peace power and ownership re- he said, “The beholding of sical music, Indian raga, begins.” Japanese drumming, and cently extended its reach to the light is itself a more ex- Photos by Bernadette Coqueret color. In 2014, a company cellent and fairer thing than American blues. In a 17th called Surry NanoSystems all the uses of it.” idea of a festival to cele- century Catholic church, created the darkest materi- But I most like John brate peace. Together with a chorus of singers of var- al black ever known. They Berger’s take on the sub- her husband Jacques Beau- ied nationalities sang the called it ‘Vantablack,’ de- ject: “No color represents champ, a French photogra- music of four religions. In rived from the Latin word light. Light would vote for pher and blues musician, other towns, a French cho- vanus, meaning ‘empty.’ Its none. Or maybe for black they invited artists from the rus sang English songs, surface absorbs 99.9% of - because black, by op- Loire Valley and beyond and two films were shown visible light. The wealthy position, really makes one to plan a multi-faceted that described how peace artist/sculptor Anish Ka- imagine light…Behind happening. in the Middle East is be- “Everyone’s ideas were Page 14 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018

MUSIC, continued from Page 1 mean shorter commercials, artists themselves, and Janine made several pies, creative adventure. After- Saturday morning, which is why the average Jenn is no exception. It was which quickly disappeared. wards, we reconnected as Larry Beaird of Beaird length of songs has gone delightful to hear her story Sunday we all headed we sang and played music Music Group in Nashville down over the past decade. of becoming a successful to the Franklin Farmers’ for hours after midnight. analyzed the top country A four-minute song has song writer, and to get her Market where we provided For the weekend, af- hits for the patterns they no chance on commercial feedback on some of our the entertainment until the ternoons were devoted to all share. (Nashville is the country radio. songs. market closed. My new collaborative song writ- home of country music in Sunday morning, we We did get out to see friends got to meet some ing sessions in groups of America.) Of last year’s were treated to a presen- some of Franklin. Before of my neighbors, and it was three. Members of the top ten hits, all were love tation and Q&A by Jenn breakfast on Friday, we one of the highlights of the groups were shuffled each songs, sung by male artists, Schott of Nashville. She went on an hour-long hike weekend. day, and each day was a with the song title in the last played the Earlville Opera so people could get used Our retreat would not different assignment. For line of the cho- to the landscape. have been possible with- example, on Saturday, our rus and repeat- Throughout the out the help of Matty Terry, assignment was to write a ed more than weekend, groups who helped prep the space hit country song. I’ll be re- once in the cho- would go to dif- and in so many other ways; cording the song I co-wrote rus. Also, all but ferent corners his mom Karen, who kept that afternoon at Larry’s one had a two- of our 135-acre us full and happy; Pam studio on October 15th. It’s verse structure, property to write. Zuk, who cooked and kept called Country In My Blood a bridge, and They also spent the farmhouse tidy; Brian and will be available on my three choruses time in the milk- Brock, who arranged our website before the end of – the outlier had ing parlor of the performance at the Farm- October. Each night after three verses but barn where the ers’ Market and helped dinner, we performed be- no bridge. The Terrys, ever gra- with logistics; and mostly fore the whole group in the average time to cious, patiently my amazing wife Janine, converted hay loft of our get to the chorus introduced them who coordinated groups, 1888 barn, complete with was thirty-two to dairy farming timing, sleeping arrange- keyboard, amplifiers, a PA seconds (includ- and answered all ments, meals, meeting system, and percussion. ing the intro), their questions. spaces and a hundred These sessions lasted into and the average Saturday be- things I’m forgetting. the wee hours. song length was gan with a trip Morning meetings con- three minutes, to Northstar You can hear some of cerned the business of be- ten seconds. Skinny Cow Workshop members play the Farmers’ Market Blueberry Farm our music on the following ing a singer/songwriter. This infor- above the village sites: www.billsteely.com; On Friday, Ebony Rose, mation won’t necessarily House that Saturday night for an hour of berry pick- www.joannamarieburke. in from Australia, gave a help you write a hit song and came to the farm on ing, followed by a breakfast com; www.reverbnation. presentation on licensing but it can help you avoid her way home. Jenn recent- that included -- what else? com/aworldforyou; https:// music for commercials, TV, writing a song that doesn’t ly wrote Tim McGraw’s title -- blueberry pancakes and soundcloud.com/miz-ste- movies and video games. have a chance of becoming track off his new record Two home-made maple syrup fani; www.nataliemishell. Licensing can provide sig- a hit. Radio stations make Lanes of Freedom. Many top from our farm. The harvest com; www.reverbnation. nificant income for inde- money selling commer- songwriters with Nashville was especially productive. com/laurenkuhne; www. pendent songwriters. cial time, and longer songs publishing deals are great So much so that my wife deannademola.com; Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 15

Local Seisiun THE NEW FRANKLIN REGISTER CELEBRATES OUR FRANKLIN ARTS ORGANIZATIONS!

John O’Connor

Jason Starr

Julian Fleisher Photo by Wijnanda Deroo

Laura Menzie and Patricia Buckley in DOUBT Photo by Karen Sullins

STAGECOACH RUN 2018

Charlie Kevin in DOUBT Photo by Karen Sullins

FRANKLIN FREE LIBRARY

Leslie Noble and Robert Zuckerman in A WALK IN THE WOODS Photo by Tom Spychalski Page 16 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018

TALE, continued from Page 3 by filling the cellar with water. (The town waiting their turn before the justice to is responsible for utilities, and the village make phone calls, talk, smoke, etc. asked that it pay for all the water spilled.) Construction is estimated to cost in Friction also comes from the maintainence the six figures. Much of this would be fi- of the grounds. There have been disputes nanced from funds in one of Franklin’s over winter plowing of the parking lot. saving accounts, now with over $100,000. Because the town does not own the This account was started four years ago by building, the board will pay for only emer- the incoming supervisor, Jeff Taggart. gency repairs. Our town board has con- Monies may be available from New sidered various alternative locations and York state. The Justice Court Assis- wants to move as soon as possible. Their tance Program could provide as much as preference is to build an addition between $30,000. This year, the deadline for apply- the town hall and the cellphone tower, a ing has passed, and therefore any grant space roughly thirty by fifty feet, or 1,500 could not be awarded until late in early square feet. The building’s footprint would 2020. Also, the New York Archives could be several hundred square feet, large provide Local Government Records Im- enough to accommodate all from the ten- provement Funds. Often state legislators

JOHNSON, continued from Page 3 tion can be a significant problem for students who want to stay for after-school activities. “This can take consider- able planning on the part of students and their parents/ caretakers. What’s it like being a Principal? “It’s definitely 24/7. You need to be available at all times.” Johnson credits her ability to achieve that kind of commitment to a strong support system of her immediate and extended family, good friends and the community. “It takes a village,” she notes. TOWN COUNCIL MEETINGS - 2018

Franklin Town Council meetings are generally held on the first Tuesday of each month at the Franklin Town Sheds at the intersection of Routes 357 & 21.

Every third month, as indicated below, meetings will be held in Treadwell at Kellogg Educational and Com- munity Center, 138 Church Street.

• January 2nd • February 6th • March 6th (Treadwell) • April 3rd • May 1st • June 5th (Treadwell) • July 10th (due to July 4th holiday, meeting is on the second Tuesday) • August 7th • September 4th (Treadwell) • October 2nd • November 7th (due to Election Day, meeting is Floor plan of proposed new addition to the town shed on the first Wednesday) ant house and then some. can allocate funds for member’s items to- • December 4th (Treadwell) To free-up the space underneath, the ward construction. Any additional costs overhead electrical to the rear of the build- will require borrowing. ing would be moved. To save money, the Progress is being made. In addition garages will be switched at the same time to discussions at the monthly meetings of to three-phase service from single phase. the town board, two special meetings have The new offices would be larger than been held for planning: one on Tuesday those in the village. Space for record stor- the 28th of August, and one Tuesday the 16th age will be included in each office. The of October. meeting hall is roughly eighteen by thirty- At the recent special meeting, Dela- five feet or 650 square feet. It will double ware Engineering, D.P.C, presented plans as the court room on the second and fourth for a twenty-two foot by forty-seven foot Thursdays of the month and triple as the addition, or roughly 1,030 square feet. Es- polling place biannually. timated costs would be in the neighbor- In addition to the three offices, there hood of $150 per square foot, or roughly would be a small conference room for $150,000 for the unfurnished space. attorneys. Outside of the meeting hall, a porch will be added for those who are Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 17

1) TLC FAMILY THRIFT SHOP 5) MOLTO ESPRESSO CAFE 9) CRAFTIQUES 146 DELAWARE STREET 147 DELAWARE STREET 7 TOWNSEND STREET (607)226-4357 (607)865-7375 (607)865-6224 MON-THURS 10AM-5PM OPEN MON-FRI 7AM-8PM Open daily or by appt. FRI-SAT 10AM-6PM SATURDAY 8AM-5PM OPEN 1ST SUNDAY OF EACH MONTH 2) FULL CIRCLE ANTIQUES 6) LITTLE DIPPER ANTIQUES 10) ELIJAH’S CLOSET 164 DELAWARE STREET 127 DELAWARE STREET 4 MEAD STREET (607)865-5819 (607)761-2670 CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH OPEN EVERDAY 10A.M.-6P.M. [email protected] (607)865-4066 -CHURCH 3) ANNA LEE’S FULL CIRCLE ANTIQUES 7) ALICE’S ATTIC CONSIGNMENT SHOP (607)865-8961 -KAREN 151 DELAWARE STREET 136 DELAWARE STREET FRIDAY & SATURDAY 10 A.M.-3 P.M. (201)390-7551 (607)865-9117 11) TJ’S WAGON WHEEL ANTIQUES OPEN EVERDAY 10A.M.-6P.M. TUESDAY-SATURDAY 9 A.M.-5 P.M. 2695 MARVIN HOLLOW ROAD 4) J&M ANTIQUES 8) AS YOU WISH DESIGNS & GIFTS 2.6 MILES OFF RT 10 136A DELAWARE STREET 38 WEST STREET (607)865-7165 (607)766-5529 (607)865-2993 WEDNESDAY-SUNDAY TUES-THURS 12-6 OR BY APPOINTMENT FRI 12-8 SAT 12-5

COME AND SEE THE TREASURES YOU CAN FIND IN WALTON!

RATES, continued from Page 1 assessor James Basile at the October meeting of the town board, both he and supervisor Taggart agreed that there was need of a town-wide reappraisal in the near future. Whatever the ER, it does not affect the amount of town taxes paid by a landowner. The total amount is set by the BIG BUCK CONTEST town budget, and your proportion is calculated by your assessed value as a fraction of that of the whole town. Currently a third of the towns in Delaware County as- sess at a hundred percent, as recommended by ORPTS, or Deadline to Enter nearly so – see shaded area in table below. November 16th

Town Equalization Rates $1 entry fee* 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Middleton 100% 100% 100% 101% 102% Andes 100 100 100 100 100 Kortright 100 100 100 100 100 Masonville 100 100 100 100 100 Meredith 100 100 100 100 100 Roxbury 32 100 100 100 100 Walton 27 26 26 100 100 Franklin 92 93 96 99 90 Sidney 83 83 82 86 86 Davenport 75 74 77 75 75 Delhi 56 56 60 60 61 Deposit 4 4 10 4 61 Harpers- 28 28 28 28 28 Weigh-In at field Stamford 27 27 27 26 26 Rich’s Auto Body Bovina 25 23 23 24 23 29 Hill Street Hamden 18 18 18 18 18 Hancock 14 12 12 12 12 * Sign-Up: Burgin’s Auto, Rich’s Auto Body, & White’s Farm Supply Tompkins 4 4 6 4 4 Colches- 3 3 4 3 3 Greater Franklin Chamber of Commerce ter Winter Page 18 2009 The New Franklin Register F all P age2018 12

TAXES, continued from Page 1 There are 24 radio stations that may be within are not reported in the budget docu- 2009. For comparison, the smaller town of ment. Total fund balances in the AUDs distant listening range of Franklin, New York. Kortright pays its justice $12,000. typically show over a hundred thou- (42° 20' 26" N, 75° 09' 57" W) Capital expenses (contractual expen- sand dollars more in cash than in the ditures, CE) increase a total $45,050: as- budget. For example, last year the total Call Sign sessor equipment $1,700, engineering unexpended fund balances reported in Frequency Dist./Signal City $2,500, board of assessment review $50, the budget was $229,000, whereas the Format building $7,100, garage $4,100, contin- total reported in the AUD was $552,050 gency $1,700, cemeteries $6,900, machin- -- more than double the amount. Funds WSQN ery $9,000, and repairs $12,000. in town savings accounts are not listed 88.1 FM 19.0 mi. Greene, NY Only two appropriations are cut. For in the budget document. This year, Su- Public Radio the attorney Sacco (Coughlin & Gerhart, pervisor Taggart has revealed that the WCIJ LLP), appropriation is cut from $5,000 account for construction of new offices 88.9 FM 9.0 mi. Unadilla, NY to $2,500 (50%). Appropriation for the has grown to over a hundred thousand Christian Contemporary Franklin Free Library is cut from $2,000 to dollars. WSKG $1,500 (25%). These cuts save 0.085% and 89.3 FM 44.3 mi. Binghamton, NY 0.028% of budget. Public Radio Appropriations and revenue for the W213BL (WMHR) hamlet of Treadwell are unchanged from 90.5 FM 7.0 mi. Oneonta, NY 2018. Expenditures of $26,750 are par- Religious tially offset by revenues of $11,030. The WSQC balance of $15,720 is a subsidy paid by all 91.7 FM 8.5 mi. Oneonta, NY Franklin landowners. Public Radio With only these small changes, the WDLA 2019 budget would be similar to that of 92.1 FM 14.8 mi. Walton, NY 2018, with highway department receiving Country $1.326 million (75.4%), all other town ac- WKXZ counts (general) $0.408 million (23.1%), 93.9 FM 20.4 mi. Norwich, NY and Treadwell light and water $0.027 mil- Hot AC lion (1.5%). Of the highway appropria- WBKT tions, labor (wages and benefits) accounts 95.3 FM 18.9 mi. Norwich, NY for $0.555 million or 31.5% of budget. Country These appropriations are mostly paid WTBD by property taxes, but there are significant 97.5 FM 13.0 mi. Delhi, NY contributions from revenues and appropri- This year was the first since 2008 that Adult Hits ated fund balances. Revenues increased this data was reported. AUDs had not been W250BE (WCIJ) roughly $52,445, mostly from rent of space filed for eight years until this spring, after a 97.9 FM 7.0 mi. Oneonta, NY on the cell tower for additional antennas second audit by the NY Office of the State Christian Contemporary and from increased Consolidated (Local Comptroller again cited this delinquency. WHWK Street and) Highway Improvement Pro- Balance sheets for Franklin 2004 to 2008 98.1 FM 44.3 mi. Binghamton, NY gram (CHIPS) funds. and 2014 to 2017 can be read, download- Country ed, or printed at: WAAL http://wwe2.osc.state.ny.us/transpar- 99.1 FM 44.7 mi. Binghamton, NY ency/LocalGov/LocalGovIntro.cfm Classic Rock The increase in the levy for the Frank- WDHI lin and Treadwell Fire Departments, which 100.3 FM 16.9 mi. Delhi, NY is set by the departments themselves, was Oldies not known at the time of the budget work- WCDO shop. Levy for 2018 was $0.216 million. 100.9 FM 10.8 mi. Sidney, NY This levy is collected through the town tax Adult Contemporary billing but is not part of the town budget. WZOZ This tentative budget was considered 103.1 FM 7.4 mi. Oneonta, NY during the annual budget workshop at the Classic Hits board meeting on October 2nd. Before- WSRK hand, the tentative budget was prepared 103.9 FM 8.5 mi. Oneonta, NY by supervisor Taggart (financial officer) Adult Contemporary in consultation with director of finances WBNW Warner (assistant financial officer). At the 105.7 FM 44.9 mi. Endicott, NY Appropriated balances are funds car- workshop, Mr. Warner read only the chang- Top-40 ried over from the previous years. These es from the 2018 budget. (If you forgot to WHEN funds are allocated to provide operating bring your copy of last year’s budget, then 620 AM 73.4 mi. Syracuse, NY cash and a buffer for unexpected costs. you could not follow his presentation.) Af- Urban Contemporary The total of $194,000 is down $35,000 from ter some remarks by the supervisor and WINR last year and is all in highway accounts. councilman Smith, the board approved his 680 AM 38.5 mi. Binghamton, NY This year the term for this category is tentative budget without change. Thereby, Country changed to appropriated fund balance it became our preliminary budget. WDOS from unexpended balance. That term was Copies are available from the town 730 AM 11.5 mi. Oneonta, NY misleading because this category does clerk. A public hearing on the preliminary News/Talk not include all unspent funds. 2019 budget will be held Wednesday the WGY Recently filed Annual Update Docu- 7th of November at 7:30 p.m. in the Town 810 AM 66.6 mi. Schenectady, NY ments (2014 to 2017) show funds that Hall. Mistakenly, the place and time of this News/Talk public hearing was not set WKAJ during the regular October 1120 AM 51.5 mi. Saint Johnsville, NY meeting but at a special Classic Hits meeting on October 16th. WDLA Immediately after this 1270 AM 14.8 mi. Walton, NY hearing, the board may ap- News/Talk prove the preliminary bud- WCDO get either with or without 1490 AM 11.1 mi. Sidney, NY revisions. While a budget Adult Contemporary does not have to be passed that evening, it must be ap- proved by November 20th. Mileages show the distance between the station and Franklin, New York. Fall 2018 The New Franklin Register Page 19

The Newsletter of Franklin Local Editorial Board Ellen Curtis Carole Satrina Marner Eugene Marner Manette Berlinger Associate Editor: Brian Brock Editor Marjorie Bradley Kellogg

HAVE AN OPINION? WRITE TO US! At: The New Franklin Register P.O. Box 258 Franklin, NY 13775 The newly formed Franklin Volunteer Fire Department in 1890, with sponsor Dr. Erastus Egerton in wheelchair. or by email: [email protected] FRANKLIN FIREFIGHTERS CELEBRATE SUSQUICENTENNIAL What are we about? where struggle to remember that they Franklin Local Ltd, the parent organization for The New must live and work together, the Frank- Franklin Register and of the Franklin Farmers’ Market, is a lin Fire Department remains an essential not-for-profit corporation made up of Franklin residents. source of community pride and shared Our mission statement: to work to preserve the ru- responsibility. As always, the department ral character of Franklin, to build the local economy, to urgently needs and warmly welcomes encourage volunteerism, and to raise awareness of eco- nomic and social challenges that may result from climate new volunteers. Those interested should change and the transition from fossil fuels to sustainable call the Department at 607-829-6822 or energy. stop by the firehouse any Monday evening We generally meet once a month, at 7 P.M.; the date at 7 P.M., when the Department conducts and location are posted on our website. All are welcome, 1926 Model T fire truck training drills. to offer questions and help us answer them, to share thoughts and ideas, to make things happen. By Eugene Marner We have a number of projects that we hope to move 2018 marked the 150th year of service from idea to action: by Franklin’s volunteer firefighters. • Local food production network • Skills and services exchange When the Village of Franklin was incor- • Goods exchange porated in 1836, the only available means • Ride sharing bulletin board and/or website of fighting fires was a bucket brigade of • Farm to School Program for school lunches volunteers. In 1868, after a devastating fire • Community Greenhouses burned down the business block in the • Community Energy Production Village of Franklin, Dr. Erastus Edgerton, • Community Health Network a highly respected and successful homeo- pathic physician, sponsored the creation Together, let us imagine a more energy efficient, of the Franklin Volunteer Fire Department. healthier habit of living, and put it to work here in Frank- He brought together two separate com- The Model T parading in Worcester, NY, to cel- lin, for a brighter, more sustainable future. ebrate the 150th anniversary of the Worcester Fire panies, the Edgerton Hose Company and Department PLEASE JOIN US! the Ouleout Hook and Ladder company to create the company that now celebrates its Photos courtesy of The Franklin Fire Department For meeting times, location and 150th anniversary. directions,as well as lots of oth- er information about our town, check our website:

franklinlocal.org

Printed in Norwich NY by Sun Printing, Inc.

The New Franklin Register is an independent entity funded by our local advertisers and contributions from interested friends. We have no granting orga- nizations to answer to, no rich sponsors pay our tab, and no taxpayer dollars come our way.

Today’s high-tech fire engine The first vehicle used by the Fire De- partment was a hand-drawn truck that would carry equipment to fires in the Vil- lage. Rural residents were essentially on their own. The Department’s first motor- ized fire truck was a Ford Model TT pur- chased in 1926 for $405.50 from the lo- cal Ford dealer Ira Bradley. The body was designed and constructed in the Village to carry hose, firefighting equip- ment, tools, fifty-gallon chemical unit and ladders. Today’s Franklin Fire Department in- cludes a well-equipped and skilled Emer- gency Medical Services squad as well as a modern inventory of top-quality pumpers and ladder trucks. In a time when communities every- Page 20 The New Franklin Register Fall 2018

RECENT REAL PROPERTY SALES IN THE TOWN OF FRANKLIN

DATE LOCATION ACRES TYPE ASESS. SALE SELLER BUYER 5/09/2018 Tupper Hill Rd NRF 14.92 Rural Res 69,000 60,000 Videnieks, Peter Cumur, Nuri 6/05/2018 520 Hodge Rd 0.79 1 Family Res 116,000 159,500 Carey, James R McAteer, Tyler J 6/06/2018 54 Center St 0.13 1 Family Res 58,000 25,000 Cassinelli, Gary Cawley, Earnest Jr 6/07/2018 669 Main St 0.25 1 Family Res 200,000 215,000 Seltzer, David Starn Cable, Umayyah 6/14/2018 95 Hodge Rd 1.13 Res w/Comuse 120,000 180,000 Giardinello, Raymond P Barnett, Susan 6/15/2018 285 John Rd (2) 13.97 Rural Res 177,500 Lorenzo Contadino Revoc. Honan, Michael P 6/19/2018 700 Sanly Road. (2) 77.53 Rural Res 246,000 101,000 Greschak, John P NW MTGLQ Investors LP 6/20/2018 401 Frank Slawson Rd (2) 41.10 Rural Res 200,000 Mortgage Equity Conver. Trt, Strauss, Jacob 6/22/2018 Tara Ln 7.00 Vac w/Imprv 24,000 17,000 Buczynski, Frank Kelly, Patrick 6/22/2018 3370 County Highway 14 8.09 1 Family Res 130,000 55,500 Wells Fargo Bank NA GA Aubry, Andre R Andy I’s Mountainside 6/25/2018 Ed Klug Rd 14.69 Vac w/Imprv 50,000 54,000 Gast, Daryn L Retreat 7/06/2018 29 West St 0.25 1 Family Res 94,000 60,000 Whitney, Ernest E NW Downin, Natalie 7/06/2018 Ridge Rd (2) 38.30 Rural Vac>10 80,000 66,000 Hitczenko, Pawell Carbone, Thomas Joseph 7/25/2018 E Handsome Bk Rd 20.60 Rural Vac>10 43,000 14,000 County of Delaware NW Johns, Robert Thomas IV 7/25/2018 East Brook Rd 5.23 Rural Vac<10 10,000 4,000 County of Delaware NW Visions of Home LLC 7/25/2018 Gay Brook Rd 3.00 Rural Vac<10 12,000 3,000 County of Delaware NW Grant, David 7/26/2018 354 Main St 0.71 1 Family Res 111,000 218,000 Parrow, Linda S VanEssendelft, William M 7/30/2018 11 Wakeman St 0.35 1 Family Res 96,000 90,000 Campbell, John Simonds, Matthew 7/31/2018 686 Campbell Estates Rd 11.00 Rural Res 106,000 130,000 Bellino, Joseph P Pellegrini, Danny 7/31/2018 674 Poet Hill Rd 17.07 Rural Res 50,000 63,000 Loiacono, Kenneth Lewis, David 8/03/2018 Dunk Hill Rd 38.39 Rural Vac>10 64,000 40,000 Armstrong, Daniel V Diangelo, Michael 8/13/2018 7830 E Handsome Bk Rd 29.18 Rural Res & Ag 192,000 265,000 Salvatore Ferone Jr Estate Richardson, Aaron 8/14/2018 2500 Palmer Hill Rd 0.33 1 Family Res 69,000 18,000 Prof-2013-S3 Legal Title Trt Finnegan, Ralph GA

NRF No Road Frontage (2) Two Parcels NW Not Warranty GA Government Agency