Join us for the 4th workshop in our 5-part series Building Community Resilience

3:30 p.m. via zoom on April 14, 2022

Teaching Credits Available

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware and Orange Counties are excited to offer a series of five free virtual webinars that will focus on building resilience in communities and youth.  Our fourth webinar will be “Growing” community resilience even without a green thumb! 

Join Theresa (Teri) Barila as she highlights lessons learned in her journey of creating the first community-wide initiative focused on resilience. Speaking to two priorities, project management and organizing skills, Teri will emphasize key points that will boost energy and confidence in shaping your initiative. Teri uses four words to describe key principles: convener, catalyst, cheerleader, and coach. Each guides the foundational principles of organizing your own blueprint for framing your community initiative. This is a journey, not a sprint. Join Teri to learn more about growing resilience at the community level!

This series is sponsored by Delaware and Orange County Cornell Cooperative Extensions and the Delaware County Rural Healthcare Alliance.

Registration is required. Go to:  http://bit.ly/BCR555

You will create one link to join all 5 workshops.

(Copy the link from the registration page)

To view recorded workshops, go to

 https://www.ccedelaware.org/delaware-county-rural-healthcare-alliance/

For more information contact Jeanne Darling

607-865-6531 or jmd30@cornell.edu or visit  www.ccedelaware.edu

“Accommodations for persons with disabilities may be requested by calling Cornell Cooperative Extension of Delaware County at 607-865-6531 by April 4th, 2022, to ensure sufficient time to make arrangements. Requests received after this date will be met when possible.”

Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, protected veterans, and individuals with disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities. 

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Delhi Telephone Company Awarded Designation on NYS Historic Business Preservation Registry

Delhi Telephone Company was recently named to the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry.  The program is administered by the Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, highlighting businesses that have been in operation for at least 50 years and have contributed to their communities' history. DTC was nominated by the office of Assemblyman Brian D. Miller of the 101st Assembly District. 

The Delhi Telephone Company has been dedicated to providing exceptional communications services to Delhi and the surrounding area since it was founded in 1897 by a visionary local attorney, Stephen F. Adee. 

Since the early days of switchboard operators, DTC has evolved and expanded their footprint across Delaware County to offer must-have services including telephone, cable, broadband internet, home security, and smart home devices.  DTC now stands, 125 years later, with the same principles founded by Steven Adee: Be an active member of the community, provide the latest technology and products in the industry, and provide superior local service.

The Delhi Telephone Company is honored to have received this recognition. Visit https://parks.ny.gov/ to view the registry today.  

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SUNY Cobleskill Student Harrison VanDeWalle Selected as Agriculture Future of America Ambassador

COBLESKILL, N.Y. -- Harrison VanDeWalle, an Agricultural Business Management major, has been selected to serve as an Agriculture Future of America (AFA) Ambassador on our campus. VanDeWalle was selected for this role through a competitive application and interview process and will now work to build bridges among his peers that foster engagement and innovation in food, agriculture, and natural resources. 

AFA is a non-profit organization dedicated to developing undergraduate students into the next generation of leaders in the agriculture industry. VanDeWalle and his 31 fellow Ambassadors will interact with agribusiness leaders, campus faculty, and fellow students as they represent AFA. 

“In the last three years with AFA, I have built relationships with incredible people from every corner of the agriculture industry,” says VanDeWalle. “In my time with the organization, I have grown personally and professionally. As an Ambassador, I hope to help other students do the same.”

During their year of service, the Ambassadors will lead initiatives to increase awareness of AFA’s programs fostering engagement and innovation in food and agriculture.

 

About SUNY Cobleskill
With an emphasis on experiential education, The State University of New York College of Agriculture and Technology at Cobleskill prepares students for successful careers, advanced studies, and engaged citizenship. SUNY Cobleskill is an accredited, baccalaureate, residential college, with a rich academic tradition that spans 100 years. Today, we offer 52 baccalaureate and associate degree programs through our two schools – The School of Agriculture and Natural Resources and The School of Business and Liberal Arts and Sciences. Learn more at www.cobleskill.edu.  

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WMCHealth Appoints Pair to Senior Leadership Positions

Matilde Roman Joins as Senior Vice President, Chief Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Officer; John Brand Now Senior Vice President, Marketing and Communications

 

VALHALLA, N.Y. (April 5, 2022) – The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth), has appointed Matilde Roman as Senior Vice President, Chief Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Officer and John Brand as Senior Vice President for Marketing and Communications.

 

Roman brings extensive public policy, legislative and leadership experience to her new position at WMCHealth. The Network’s mission is to provide the highest quality care for all and in her new role, Roman will develop strategic plans that ensure “patient-first” service alignment across all Network hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and provider practices with a goal of further increasing WMCHealth’s capacity to meet the needs of the Network’s diverse patient and caregiver population. Within the Network itself, Roman will champion a work culture that encourages individual expression and idea-sharing in order to provide the best care to patients.

 

A graduate of New York Law School, Roman has devoted her career to developing policies and programs that support underserved communities that both improve meaningful access to important services and drive positive social change at an institutional, structural and individual level.

Prior to joining WMCHealth, Roman was employed by NYC Health + Hospitals as Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.  Roman also served as Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel to the New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Brand joins WMCHealth after a successful stint in Philadelphia at Jefferson University/Jefferson Health, where he was Vice President and Chief Communications Officer.  There, Brand led communication to an internal workforce of more than 40,000 as well as a community of millions in one of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. He arrives at WMCHealth with more than two decades of experience developing multifaceted healthcare marketing plans that include tactics for workforce engagement, press interaction, social media and web strategies as well as customer relations management.

 

Earlier in his career, Brand was a journalist before moving into healthcare marketing with ascending roles at Newton (NJ) Memorial Hospital, St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in New York, Barnabas Health in New Jersey, and St. Luke’s University Health Network in Pennsylvania, where he was Senior Director for Marketing and Public Relations.

 

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org.

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The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) debuted this week a new cardiovascular program that aims to stop preventable coronary death and disease in its tracks

The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) debuted this week a new cardiovascular program that aims to stop preventable coronary death and disease in its tracks.

Located at Westchester Medical Center and MidHudson Regional Hospital, the Cardiovascular Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Program (CHPDP), prioritizes prevention, education and wellness while using best-practice methodologies to assess and manage the myriad of factors that can lead to cardiovascular disease such as genetics, environment, stress, and access to healthy food options.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and according to the American Heart Association, about 80% of cardiovascular disease is preventable.

“For so long, the specialty of cardiology has focused on treating patients after they have a problem, rather than trying to get to them before things become an issue,” said Joshua Melcer, MD, a cardiologist with WMCHealth’ s Heart and Vascular Institute and the CHPDP’s clinical lead. “When treating individuals who are at risk of developing heart disease, you want to be aggressive and proactive. This is extremely important for disadvantaged populations where cardiovascular diseases often develop earlier in life, which places additional stress on these communities as well as the entire health system. Ours is a program that wants to care for these and all patients, so we can diagnose and treat them before the onset of disease.”

A Proactive Plan for Heart Health Here is how the CHPDP program works: Patients entering the program undergo a full intake survey as well as a comprehensive physical examination. The examination includes screenings for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking, and blood sugar levels, factors that increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular conditions. The program’s multi-disciplinary staff includes cardiologists, endocrinologists, nurse practitioners and dietitians who place special emphasis on the latest guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and the American Heart Association.

Depending on the results of the initial evaluation, a program participant may also participate in echocardiograms, stress tests and coronary calcium scoring, which is a screening for asymptomatic coronary artery disease. And because exercise is vital for cardiovascular health, a cardiologist or nurse practitioner helps patients develop a personalized plan to get moving.

“The program calls for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise a week,” said Melcer. Patients also connect to a clinical dietitian who aligns their eating habits with their health goals.

“Heart disease is a complex matter, based on genetics, environment and personal choices, and optimal heart health is the result of a lifelong plan and commitment,” Melcer said. “Our goal is not to be just a one-time, ‘Hey, you’re doing great, and hopefully we won’t need to see you for some real heart problems down the road’ type of program. We want to maintain a relationship with each participant, encourage a healthy lifestyle, monitor that healthy lifestyle and be aggressive in managing any changes that come about.”

The CHPDP program is designed for any individual, regardless of their ability to pay, with a concern about their cardiovascular health. Melcer encourages those with a family history of heart disease, or individuals seeking to monitor their heart health, to call 914.909.6922 or visit https://wmchealthnetwork.tfaforms.net/337 to request a convenient appointment. The program also welcomes physician referrals. Additional CHPDP program information can be found at WMCHealthaps.com/Heart.

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 12,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. The Network has Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several

community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State. Today, WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org or follow WMCHealth at Facebook.com/WMCHealth or Instagram.com/WMCHealth.

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Acoustic Open Mic this Saturday, April 9th

Join noted scholar Rochelle L. Johnson for a lecture exploring how literature and painting employed similar techniques to represent landscape change in the nineteenth century.

 

Live Zoom Lecture with Q&A - Susan Fenimore Cooper and the Hudson River School
Thursday, April 14, 2022 • 7:00-8:30 PM EST
Registration is required, visit FenimoreArt.org or go directly to Eventbrite.com.

 

Cooperstown, New York—To commemorate Earth Day, Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown presents Susan Fenimore Cooper and the Hudson River School—a live virtual lecture via Zoom with noted scholar Rochelle L. Johnson. The lecture explores how literature and painting employed similar techniques to represent landscape change in the nineteenth century, with a special focus on Susan Fenimore Cooper and Thomas Cole. Cooper was a naturalist, author, artist, and also the daughter of James Fenimore Cooper. Her 1850 book Rural Hours was the first major work of environmental nonfiction written by a woman. This lecture via Zoom features a live Q&A session and takes place on Thursday, April 14, from 7:00–8:30 p.m. Registration is required. 

To register, visit FenimoreArt.org or go directly to Eventbrite.com. A link to the lecture will be provided to all registrants 24 hours prior to the start of the program via the email address used during registration.  All participants will need Zoom installed on their computer or mobile device to join. There is no charge for this event, but if you value this type of program, please consider a donation of $15 or above in order to assist Fenimore in continuing to provide you with interesting content in the future.

About Rochelle L. Johnson

Rochelle L. Johnson is a leading scholar of Susan Fenimore Cooper and, with her co-editor, has made Cooper’s environmental writings available to today’s readers. The current president of the Thoreau Society and a past president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, her work has been supported by grants from several organizations, including the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is professor of American literature and environmental humanities, and director of the honors program, at the College of Idaho. Her lecture is from a book in progress. Learn more at: https://www.rochelleljohnson.com.

 

 

Sign up now for other related programs:

 

June 28, 2022

THREE-DAY WORKSHOP: THE LIFE AND LANDSCAPES OF SUSAN FENIMORE COOPER

 

November 16, 2022

ZOOM TALK: SUSAN FENIMORE COOPER'S RECKONING WITH NATIVE AMERICAN DISPOSSESION

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Acoustic Open Mic this Saturday, April 9th

The Community Music Network April Acoustic Open Mic takes place Saturday, April 9th at The Gallery, located at 128 Main Street, Stamford, New York.  Doors open at 6:30 and music begins at 7:00 pm.  Open to all ages, all styles, and all ability levels as well as poets and comedians. Donations suggested. In memory of Tim Touhey.  To sign up in advance, email communitymusicnet@gmail.com or call 607-441-8448.  To contact the venue, call 607-652-4030 or 607-353-2493.  This project is made possible with funds from the Restart New York Grants, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered in Delaware County by the Roxbury Arts Group. 

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Everyday Equine Behavior Modification

Manage and prevent unwanted behavior in your barn.  Determine the cause of the behavior, create a plan to address it, and take steps to prevent it from occurring in the future. Topics will include how management influences our horses’ behavior, capturing and shaping behaviors, and how to create or eliminate behaviors using positive reinforcement-based training. This Zoom webinar is presented by Lauren Anderson of Cornell Cooperative Extension Schoharie and Otsego Counties. To register, visit https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/Equinebehaviormodification_243 and contact Lauren at lna23@cornell.edu / 518-234-4303 ext.111 with any questions.

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Plants for Birds: Creating a Year-Round Garden Habitat

 

Cost of Admission: Free- WEBINAR, please sign up on our website.

Each spring and fall, we welcome migrating songbirds back to our yards and parks as they stop to rest and refuel on their long journeys. In a world beset by ongoing habitat loss, pollution, and climate change, many of these migratory bird species are in decline. We can each do our part to support them, however, by choosing the right plants for our yards and gardens. New York City Audubon's Tod Winston will explore why native plants are so important to this effort, and how to create an enriched habitat for birds during migration, nesting season, and through the winter.

 

A lifelong birder and gardener, Tod Winston grew to love birds as a child in rural Pennsylvania in the company of his nature-loving father. In his work with New York City Audubon, Tod teaches the organization's Beginning Birding course and Birding by Ear series, edits its Urban Audubon newsletter, and has led the Harbor Herons Nesting Survey of New York Harbor's 20-plus islands for the past eight years. In a previous role as program manager of National Audubon's Plants for Birds program, he helped to launch its country-wide native plants database, and is devoted to spreading the good word about native plants and their importance to a rich and healthy ecosystem.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO VOLUNTEER?

We would love your help with greeting visitors or gardening. Find more information on our website https://www.mtarboretum.org/volunteer.

LOCATION: Webinar

DATE: April 23, 2022

TIME: 2:00 to 3:15 pm 

EMAIL: info@mtarboretum.org

PHONE: 518-589-3903

WEB SITE: www.mtarboretum.org

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FENIMORE ART MUSEUM REOPENS APRIL 1 WITH NEW EXHIBITIONS

Cooperstown, New York — Fenimore Art Museum in Cooperstown, New York reopens for the season on Friday, April 1 with new exhibitions including Al Hirschfeld: Caricaturist to the Stars (April 1–September 11, 2022), North by Nuuk: Greenland After Rockwell Kent—Photographs by Denis Defibaugh (April 1–December 31, 2022), and Ralph Fasanella: Americans Unseen (April 1–September 18, 2022). The museum presents a total of nine new exhibitions this year alongside its world-renowned collections of fine art, folk art, and Native American art, which includes The Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art. Admission is free for ages 19 and under—sponsored by the Robert and Esther Black Family Foundation with the support of Richland County Foundation.

 

Fenimore Art Museum, nestled on the shore of picturesque Otsego Lake, offers visitors to the village of Cooperstown an opportunity to experience a wide variety of world-class art in an idyllic, small-town setting.

 

For more information on Fenimore Art Museum’s 2022 exhibitions and programs visit FenimoreArt.org. The museum is open April 1–December 31, 2022. Spring hours (April 1–May 6): 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday (closed Mondays). Summer hours begin May 7: open daily 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. 

 

 

 

  

Exhibitions opening April 1, 2022:

 

 

Ralph Fasanella: Americans Unseen

April 1 – September 18, 2022

Visit website

 

Ralph Fasanella (1914-1997) is best known for his large, dynamic paintings of American politics and urban life that include crowds of people involved in struggle, protest, or celebration. These crowds, however, are mostly made up of many individuals whom the artist knew personally. Fasanella’s portraits are a lesser-known body of work, but are in fact, the building blocks for his famous works. This exhibition, the first of its kind, explores Fasanella’s portrait-making as a vital tool for staying connected with people in an intimate, emotional, personal way, in order to give meaning to their collective actions in society at large. It includes more than two dozen works spanning more than thirty years.

 

 

 

North by Nuuk: Greenland After Rockwell Kent—Photographs by Denis Defibaugh

April 1 – December 31, 2022

Visit website

 

Photographer Denis Defibaugh presents his journey from Nuuk to the settlement of Illorsuit, 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, following Rockwell Kent’s earlier footsteps and offers a fresh look at timeless Greenland. Defibaugh’s revealing documentary photographs, made during 2016–17, introduce a changing country and its cultural continuity in response to Kent’s 1930s historic writings and images made during his residence in Greenland. Gallery text and video include native language speakers as well as Kent’s lantern slides.

 

The exhibition is supplemented with etchings and prints from Rockwell Kent’s Greenland sojourn, on loan from the University of Plattsburgh, and artwork from the Thaw Collection of American Indian Art.

 

Sponsored in part by Nellie and Robert Gipson.

 

 

 

Al Hirschfeld: Caricaturist to the Stars

April 1 – September 11, 2022

Visit website

 

Al Hirschfeld (1903-2003) started his career at the age of 17 and continued drawing to the end of his life. During his eight-decade career, Hirschfeld gained fame by illustrating the actors, singers, and dancers of Broadway plays, films, and popular entertainment. His portfolio reads as a who’s who of 20^th-century entertainers.  

 

Drawn from the Nocciolino collection, the exhibition features 20 original large prints of Hirschfeld’s drawings of well-known performers. Many of the prints contain his signature “Nina” motif hidden in the design, a sly reference to his daughter that became a national obsession.

 

 

 

 

 

ONGOING EXHIBITIONS:

 

Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art

 

The Coopers of Cooperstown

 

Fine Art from the Permanent Collection

 

American Memory: Recalling the Past in Folk Art

 

 

 

 

 

About Fenimore Art Museum


Fenimore Art Museum, located on the shores of Otsego Lake—James Fenimore Cooper’s “Glimmerglass”—in historic Cooperstown, New York, features a wide-ranging collection of American art including folk art; important American 18th- and 19th-century landscape, genre, and portrait paintings; more than 125,000 historic photographs representing the technical developments made in photography and providing extensive visual documentation of the region’s unique history; and the renowned Eugene and Clare Thaw Collection of American Indian Art comprised of nearly 900 art objects representative of a broad geographic range of North American Indian cultures, from the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands, Plains, Southwest, Great Lakes, and Prairie regions. Visit FenimoreArt.org.

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Raccoon tests positive for Rabies in the Town of Tompkins

A raccoon in the Town of Tompkins has tested positive for rabies. The rabid raccoon

attacked and exposed one dog; no human exposures were reported. The dog was up to

date on its rabies vaccinations and received a booster.

Rabies is endemic to the area. An exposure to rabies can be fatal for a human or a pet.

Vaccination of pets and other animals is the best preventive measure available. Be a

responsible pet owner by keeping your pet’s vaccinations up to date.

Once infected, rabies is a virus that has a 100% fatality rate for mammals, including humans,

when left untreated. Public Health recommends the following precautions to protect yourself

and your family from possible exposure to rabies:

• Report any sick or strange acting wildlife

• Vaccinate pets and livestock. New York State law requires that all dogs, cats and ferrets

be vaccinated against rabies by 4 months of age. Vaccinating your domestic animal not

only provides protection for the animal, but vaccinated pets act as a barrier to keep the

rabies virus from spreading between wild animals and people.

• Vaccination is also recommended for livestock with frequent human contact.

• Do not feed wildlife or stray animals and discourage them from seeking food near your

home.

• Do not feed strays. According to Public Health Law an owner is defined as any person

keeping, harboring, or having charge or control of or permitting any dog, cat or

domesticated ferret to remain on or be lodged or fed within such person’s house yard

or premises.

DELAWARE COUNTYPUBLIC HEALTH SERVICES

99 MAIN STREET, DELHI, NEW YORK 13753

Amanda Walsh, MPH Public Health Director

607-832-5200 Fax 607-832-6021

Early Intervention & Preschool Fax: 607-832-6022

• Do not approach an unknown animal, either wild or domestic, especially if it is acting in

a strange or unusual manner.

• Report all animal bites and any contact with bats to the Health Department in your

county. Human rabies can be prevented after exposure by administering a series of

shots.

• Keep garbage cans tightly covered and avoid storing any food outside.

• Children should be instructed to tell an adult immediately if they were bitten or

scratched by any animal.

• If an unvaccinated pet comes in contact with rabid or suspected rabies the pet must be

quarantined for six months.

• Vaccinated pets that come in contact with rabid or suspected rabies animal must be

given a booster rabies vaccination within five days of the contact.

The remaining 2022 rabies clinics are listed below (date, time and location subject to change):

• Hancock-April 19, 2022, 6:45PM-8:45PM @the Town Hall 661 W Main St., Hancock, NY

13783

• Sidney-May 10, 2022 6:30 PM-8:30PM, @the Sidney Fire Hall, 74 River Rd. Sidney, NY

13838

• Arkville- June 8, 2022 4PM-6PM @the Arkville Fire Hall, 43365 NY-28, Arkville, NY 12406

• Franklin- June 15, 2022, 4:45PM-6:45PM @the Franklin Fire Hall 351 Main St., Franklin,

NY 13775

• Deposit- October 4, 2022, 6:45PM-8:45PM @the Town Clerk Building, 3 Elm St, Deposit,

NY 13754

To report a suspected rabid animal call Delaware County Public Health Services at 607-832-

5200. For more information call 607-832-5200 or visit our website at

www.delawarecountypublichealth.com

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The Flag Tying SUNY Cobleskill to Ukraine

Former Ukrainian Student Shares Her Story 

By Timothy Knight 

COBLESKILL – As the crow flies, approximately 4,588 miles separate a solitary blue and yellow Ukrainian flag on SUNY Cobleskill’s campus from Kyiv, Ukraine; the capital city of a country besieged and invaded by Russian forces over the past four weeks.

Situated outside of Knapp Hall, the blue and yellow flag of Ukraine symbolizes the agricultural college's Ukrainian connection. Photo by Timothy Knight.

Although the European conflict can seemingly feel equidistantly close and far, Schoharie County has many residents of Ukrainian ancestry and multiple efforts have sprung up locally here to support the Ukrainian defense by means of advocacy and donations.

Recently, the Cobleskill Herald had the opportunity to interview Eveline Levin, a former SUNY Cobleskill student who is a Ukrainian visual storyteller and creative producer currently based in Boston, about the conflict facing her friends and family at home.

“I grew up in the heart of Ukraine – beautiful and historic city of Kyiv,” commented Ms. Levin. She continued on, “Despite living in the United States for the past eight years, I’ve always been proud to differentiate myself as Ukrainian. Now it’s true more than ever.

“Today, my family, friends, and everything I love are under the ongoing strikes of Russian missiles and ballistic rockets. The land I used to walk on as a child is now covered in blood, the air that used to smell like spring is now filled with pain and despair,” she commented.

Ms. Levin added, “Along with thousands of Ukrainian immigrants, I start every morning texting everyone I know “are you okay?” but what I really mean is “are you alive?” Born in Brooklyn but raised in Ukraine, Ms. Levin returned to the United States in 2014.

“On one of those days, I woke up to the news that my mother’s best friend, who she’s been staying with since the beginning of the war, has lost her entire family to a direct rocket hit,” recounted Ms. Levin. Her mom and friend then began an arduous process of fleeing the war.

They ran under air raid sirens and missile explosions to reach the train station by foot, meanwhile Ms. Levin waited. “For the next twenty-five hours, I was counting seconds till they made it over to NATO guarded safety,” she said before adding, “Luckily, they did.

“However, there are millions of Ukrainians who can’t make it out, and they’re the ones we can and need to help,” said the 2019 New Paltz graduate. Beginning college at SUNY Cobleskill with an interest in equine, she transferred to pursue journalism and filmmaking.

She encouraged donations to legitimate funds that organize centralized shipments of necessary items, including body armor, medical supplies, and humanitarian aid to the frontlines of Ukraine. “If you’re a business owner, think of ways you can use your platform to support Ukraine, and if you’re a consumer support the former,” commented Ms. Levin.

“Apart from monetary donations, try to stay informed, come out to demonstrations in solidarity, share resources with your circle and continue talking about Ukraine even when the Internet trend dies out,” she stated. Ms. Levin knows the power of advocacy, as although she only briefly attended SUNY Cobleskill, she left her mark by way of the solitary flag.

Ms. Levin explained, “Those who have been there, know the walkways between academic buildings are decorated with flags. It seemed like every country was represented there, but one was clearly missing – Ukraine.

“So before transferring to another college, I went straight to the administration and asked to add my country’s flag to one of the alleys. I didn’t get to see it until one day almost a year later, my friend sent me a photo of a Ukrainian flag up by Knapp building. It was a small thing, but to me it felt like the biggest victory,” she concluded.  

Years later, the blue skies and yellow wheat fields of Ukraine continue to grace the walkway near Knapp Hall; a reminder that our connections to the battlefield thousands of miles away is a lot closer than we can imagine. 

Story originally published in the March 25th edition of the Cobleskill Herald.

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CCE Schoharie & Otsego Introduces Helen Powers-Light

Cornell Cooperative Extension of Schoharie and Otsego Counties (CCE SO) is pleased to announce Helen Powers-Light as the Ag Implementation Specialist for Otsego County. She began in mid-February.

Ms. Powers-Light was born in Cooperstown, NY and grew up in the Hartwick, NY area. She was involved with local agriculture from an early age as several of her family members were farmers and veterinarians within New York. Helen’s interest in agriculture began with her involvement in Otsego County 4-H and her show quality herd of LaMancha dairy goats, which gave Helen the skills and knowledge to pursue agriculture on a collegiate level. Helen graduated from SUNY Cobleskill with an AAS in Animal Industries and BT in Agricultural Business Management before accepting the position of Agriculture Implementation Specialist. Helen continues to improve her small herd of dairy goats and other various livestock as she supports and promotes local agriculture through her personal and professional endeavors!

The Otsego County Ag Implementation Specialist is primarily responsible for coordinating educational, organizational, and economic development efforts in support of the county-adopted Agriculture and Farmland Protection Plan and its Implementation Committee.  Under committee guidance, Helen will work on the marketing and coordination of community based agricultural efforts.

“We are just so pleased to have Helen join our CCE team. Having a personal background and familiarity of the regional agricultural landscape provides Helen with the skills to hit the ground running and help Otsego County continue to develop its agricultural future”, said Marilyn Wyman, CCE SO Interim Executive Director.

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