20-10 – What A Year Awaits!

 1-8-10

Since we can’t predict the future, why not predict optimum outcomes?
So here goes, for Otsego County in 2010:
10 The Christmas Spirit remains strong within the Baseball Writers Association of America, which elects the biggest induction class in years: Andre Dawson (Cubs), Roberto Alomar (Blue Jays), and Bert Blyleven and Dave Parker (Pirates).  (The announcement was due Wednesday, Jan. 6.)  The “commuter Induction Weekend” draws a record crowd, a punctuation mark on a banner summer tourist season.
9 The Cooperstown Hawkeyes and Oneonta Tigers (although in different leagues) organize a “Tweety and Sylvester” series that generates a red-hot in-county rivalry, selling out Doubleday and Damaschke fields and raising interest in local baseball throughout the season.
8 Organic farmers and dairymen create an All-Otsego Coop and obtain financing to build a processing plant and market their O-So-Fresh brand in the New York Metropolitan Area, (a la Cabot Cheese.)
7 Madison Square Garden Entertainment announces it is reviving plans for its Bonnaroseboom music mega-festival targeted for East Springfield, but is shifting the site to the Worcester or Schenevus exits of I-88, and is tapping students in SUNY Oneonta’s music-industry program to help with the planning and management.
6  The National Baseball Hall of Fame hosts a national forum, “Let’s Grow To-gether,” on steroids abuse.  MLB Commissioner Bud Selig emcees as owners, players, academics and fan delegates gather.  The resulting manifesto eradicates the scourge from the National Pastime.
5 The county’s Albany delegation, led by state Sen. Jim Seward, R-Milford, convinces the state Legislature to designate the whole county as the Otsego Opportunity Zone (acronymn, OOZE; slogan, “Let’s Ooze to Prosperity, and Beyond!”), where all manner of novel community- and economic-development ideas for Upstate can be road-tested.
4 Glimmerglass Opera, the Foothills Performing Arts Center (it’s temporary challenges behind it), Orpheus Theater, the Cooperstown Art Association, the Smithy Pioneer Gallery, the Oneonta Theater and all the other arts groups, galleries and artists unite and use each others’ talents and facilities to move a strong base in the arts to a world-class one.  The UCCCA opens its umbrella wide, extending its name to UCCCCCCCCA to handle the new responsibilities.
3Ginnah Howard of Gilbertsville’s “Night Navigation” wins the National Book Award.  Oprah names Dana Spiotta of Cherry Valley’s “Burn The Document” as one of her book club selections.  Tom Travisano of Oneonta’s thinly disguised “fictional” take on the Oneonta college scene electrifies the county as no novel has since “The Sex Cure” roiled Cooperstown.  Cooperstown’s Lauren Groff turns out a hit sequel to “The Monsters of Templeton.”  This creative outpouring draws national attention to the “Colliersville Renaissance.”
2 The Big Three automakers announce they’ve awarded a contract for Oneonta-based Ioxus to install ultracapacitors in all its hybrids.  (In a flashlight, a capacitor connects the battery with the bulb; an ultracapacitor recycles the power back into the battery, extending its life.)  As was IBM, so becomes Ioxus, reviving the region, and the U.S. auto industry in the process.
1 Gov. David Paterson throws out the DSGEIS – that’s draft supplemental Generic Environmental Impact Statement – prohibiting use of horizontal hydro-fracking to extract natural gas from Marcellus Shale until it can be guaranteed safe.  In short, forever.
Of course, there’s much more good that can happen then fits in this space.  2010 – we can hardly wait!