Country life had appeal, the mystique of a statue and enhancing local tourism.
All of these were aspects of our area’s life and times during June of 1986.
Apparently some New York City and Long Island residents had had enough of big city life.
At least two cases were brought to light that month. In one, as reported in The Daily Star of June 13, “A Freeport, Long Island family has given up on the downstate way of life and moved to Maryland to enjoy the relaxed ways of the country.
“The family of Edward Ward Sr. moved into the area about a month ago to operate a service station business with breakfast and lunch served on the side on Route 7 in Maryland.
“Ward and his two sons, Edward Jr. and Pat, run the service station while Ward’s wife, Ethel, and daughter Marie operate the kitchen.
“‘We’ll never leave this place,’ Pat Ward said. ‘The first time we saw this place, we all fell in love with it.'”
A similar story, with a dateline of Mount Vision was told in the June 18 edition of The Star as, “‘Animals surround the Liebermans.
“A year ago, instead of goats and sheep, cats and chickens, the Liebermans lived with honking horns and rumbling of trains. City slickers all their lives, they decided to become country hayseeds. They found a farm for sale in the town of Hartwick and said goodbye to Brooklyn.
“‘We just wanted to do something completely different, and farming is almost as different as you can get,’ Mrs. Lieberman said, with only a trace of a Brooklyn accent. ‘We thought it would be neat to learn a whole other lifestyle.’
“First, they learned what they could from books, and from talking with specialists at Cornell University and with Cooperative Extension. Mrs. Lieberman put some time in mucking sheep stalls and chopping wood at a restored village in Westchester County.”
Newcomers to the area, like the Wards or the Liebermans, may drive through Oneonta’s Neahwa Park and wonder what that small Statue of Liberty is all about, next to the pond.
As Star readers of June 28 learned, “Oneonta is a member of an exclusive club. Neahwa Park is home to one of only about 76 remaining eight-foot replicas of the Statue of Liberty.
“The statue’s presence in Oneonta sprang from an idea by businessman Jack Whitaker more than 35 years ago (1951).
“Whitaker, president of Whitaker Cable Corp. wanted replicas of the statue placed in every community in America to remind people of this country’s heritage of freedom.” Along with Whitaker, the Boy Scouts of America launched a program to erect 191 copper replicas.
“The dedication for the Oneonta statue was held May 15, 1951, with a parade of 1,500 scouts from the Otschodela Boy Scout Council,” and several marching bands.
Otsego County officials perceived themselves in need for improvement in attracting more tourists that month, as The Star of June 14 reported, “Otsego County wants to untangle planning and promotional duties in the planning department, and is considering a full time tourism director to catch up with other counties’ efforts to net tourist dollars.”
A report had been issued, calling for a Tourism Bureau with a new director position and a secretary-bookkeeper. In time, this bureau was formed.
Another area involving tourism also needed improvement, as according to The Star of June 27, “Tourism may not be as hot as it could be because too many visitors get the cold shoulder from New Yorkers, a state Commerce Department official told local residents at a recent seminar in Fly Creek.
“Deborah A. Byers of the Commerce Department said the results of a recent survey showed that New York business people are not perceived to be as friendly as tourism business people from other states.
“She said in survey of about 1,000 visitors, New York state tourism business people were perceived 15 percent less friendly than their Pennsylvania counterparts, 10 percent less friendly than New Hampshiremen and 6 percent colder than Vermonters.”
“‘That always gets a shocked reaction,’ said Ms. Byers. ‘It is one of those things you don’t like to hear.'” The seminar then focused on tips for improving customer relations.
This weekend, times were “returning to normal” in June 1946.