Woman walking her pet pot bellied pig at the Oneonta City of the Hills Art Festival

July brings the Annual Oneonta Hometown 4th of July Celebration and fireworks in Neahwa Park.  Check our event calendar for MORE area 4th of July happenings.

July 6 is a special Oneonta Tigers Baseball game vs. Aberdeen, at 7:05 pm. It’s Sam Nader Bobblehead night: Honoring a Legend. First 1,000 fans with paid admission get a Sam Nader Bobblehead. Gates open at 5:45 pm.

OneontaOnTheMap.com would like to celebrate July Independence & Festivities by turning our attention this month to promoting locally owned and operated businesses. What can be more American?

Here’s a personal testimony about how one can live in a small town for 19 years and yet still discover a gem of a business. In June, Rick & I celebrated our 27th anniversary and Rick went to buy flowers at Wyckoff’s to surprise me. The florist noticed Rick’s hat with SUSE Linux embroidered on it, and they began talking about Linux, which led to Rick talking about OneontaOnTheMap. Flowers were paid for and later that evening Wyckoff’s added their business to our website database.

Wyckoff's Florist, the oldest business in Oneonta, NY still in its original location

Here’s what they entered for their info:

Wyckoff’s Florist is the oldest business in Oneonta still in its original location. We have a 128 year tradition of supplying beautiful fresh cut, arranged and wedding flowers to the Oneonta area.

Wyckoff’s Florist is committed to more that just beautiful flowers. First we must state that money is not everything “For what shall a man be profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?” [Matthew 16;26]. Taking a lead from Paul Newman, we have decided to give all of our 2009 profits to charities & schools. Yes, that’s right, 100%, … we hold nothing back. ” Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belt, take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or staff; for the worker is worth his keep.” Mat 10;9

Now, in these days, you can go to a grocery or department store and get flowers at cost. You will pay less, true, but by also sacrificing quality and care that goes into every arrangement. As well, it begs the question as to what we have done to the “mom & pop shop”, “family” or “neighborhood business” in America? For the sake of paying a few cents or a few dollars less, we have sent nearly all of our production & manufacturing overseas and we go to a single “mega store” to get everything. The products are cheap, of poor quality (even dangerous at times) and need to be replaced in a year. Spending in this way sends all the proceeds to a corporation that cares nothing about the community, personal relationships & customer care that the mom & pop shop focuses on. When buying your flowers here at Wyckoff’s, you can rest assured that the few dollars extra you might have paid will go to good causes and people in need, not an executive’s pocket or an overseas dictatorship.

Wyckoff’s Florist is also trying to make a change for our country & economy. We’re working hard to ensure all products sold from Wyckoff’s are made in the USA. We are not there yet, but we’re making choices toward this goal. We’ll update this post when we’re 100% in this area too.

Wow, talk about local and green:) and giving to our community (it is almost too good to be true); Wyckoff’s Florist says it all. I think this is part of a new business model of which we are seeing more and more; I am reminded of Go Wireless Community Appreciation Day, The Daily Star Ice Cream Social and Oneonta World of Learning events.

At OneontaOnTheMap, our coupon feature is nearing completion, and we are looking to highlight locally owned/operated businesses by marking them with a star icon, or flag if the product is made here in Oneonta. We’re getting excited about business here and hope you are too. Holler!

Finally, don’t forget the 2009 Oneonta City Summer Music Series Thursday concerts in Neahwa Park, a great way to unwind from hot humid days. Concerts are free; thank you City of Oneonta.

See you around town,
Rick & Mary Robinson
www.OneontaOnTheMap.com
YOUR HOMETOWN HOMEPAGE / MADE IN ONEONTA

Hope everyone had a happy Mother’s Day weekend.

On Sat., thanks to a Twitter Tweet from Harmony Hill Retreat Center, I was reminded that May 9 was the Annual East Meredith Fire Dept. Frank Briggs Pancake Day. Off we drove to our old neighborhood hamlet (we lived in E. Meredith for ten years), and had the most delicious pancake lunch. E. Meredith Fire Dept. is known for their home made sausage, which did not disappoint us.

As we were driving down Main Street Oneonta, we noticed a car wash sponsored by the Oneonta Stallions, a semi-professional football team. Who are these Oneonta Stallions? I gave them a donation and a card and said I’d like to know more; hope they check in and add their listing and also future events. Talk to me! Here’s a pic.

Although we missed the opening night (May 9) reception for the B. Sharp Gallery art exhibition, we stopped by Sunday to view the artwork and talk with gallery owner Bobby Sharp. This exhibition of local artists will be at the B. Sharp Gallery until the end of this month. Check OneontaOnTheMap event calendar for days and times.  Here’s a few pics.

Bobby Sharp and Joe LaBruzzo talking about the art and future show plans.

Taking in the artwork

Photography: a Catskills sunset took my breath away.

And it wasn’t all food and play this weekend (although we did stop in at the Latte Lounge for a gelato treat) — I finished painting our sign and Rick put it up!

Rick hangs our website sign!

Thanks for listening,
Mary Robinson
www.OneontaOnTheMap.com
The business directory with the personal note

For those of you thinking about entering the General Clinton Canoe Regatta this Memorial Day Weekend, May 22-25, 2009— entry forms will be available soon. As for me, I have enjoyed this annual event from the sidelines, sitting at a picnic table near a grill in Wells Bridge or driving past the Southside Dam. Still, I’ll jump start a little General Clinton Canoe Regatta virtual excitement by seeing what’s up at www.canoeregatta.org .

Perhaps you are new to the Oneonta area, or planning to visit here on Memorial Weekend and would like to know what to expect? I usually notice the canoes on cars arriving in Oneonta a few weeks before the regatta. The 70 mile race on the Susquehanna River is from Cooperstown, NY to Bainbridge NY. Jeff Shultis has provided a detailed “walk through” of the course .

If you are a first timer considering the race, under the tips for canoeists and spectators section, there are some recommendations about where and how to safely “take the plunge.” Don’t skip this important section.

At the General Clinton Canoe Regatta website you will find the history of the regatta; the first race was July 4, 1963 and had 45 entries. A good 5 hours has been shaved off the finishing race time since then, and the first place prize has increased from $200 in 1963 to a first place prize of $3,000! I truly enjoyed some of the vintage black & white photos of the early races and the amusement rides too.

I hope in future years that we at www.OneontaOnTheMap.com may be able to participate in the General Clinton Canoe Regatta, but it will probably be as sponsors rather than paddlers. However, I would like to welcome participants and spectators planning to attend the 2009 General Clinton Canoe Regatta, and encourage you to check our site frequently for information about places, events and developments in Oneonta, NY—which you won’t want to miss.

Happy paddling,
Mary Robinson
www.OneontaOnTheMap.com

However, what caught my eye is the free winter dining series at Brewery Ommegang, called Great Beer Deserves Great Food. They are having the finest local chefs work with their finest ales. On March 7 the chef is from Stella Luna Ristorante.

Let’s banish the winter blues and enjoy these events. Don’t forget to tell the sponsors that you heard about them from Oneonta On The Map!

More events to follow,

Mary Robinson

www.OneontaOnTheMap.com