WCDO Radio News

The Chenango County Historical Society offers free programming this season through the “Family Fun Days at the Museum!” series, it is held during select Saturdays from 10 am until 4 pm. The series begins tomorrow, more information is available at ChenangoHistorical.org..

The Greater Afton Area Chamber of Commerce is holding a "Summer Party" Sunday from 4:00 to 8:00 PM at 174 Main Street in Afton. The event will honor 130 years of the Afton Fire Department, there will be food & live music at the event.

A.M. NEWS Friday 7-18-25

Amphenol of Sidney is celebrating 100 years in operation in the village of Sidney, with an Open House on Saturday with a host of activities & exhibits. The day will start at 8:00 with the Spark in the Park 5K race, and then the activities will shift to the new plant, spokesman Chris Cappello explains:

(CHRIS CAPPELLO 7-18-25)

Cappello also wrote a 500 plus page book about the history of the plant in Sidney since it opened 100 years ago in 1925, the event runs from 12:00 to 6:00 PM tomorrow at the main facility at Delaware Avenue in Sidney, it is free & open to the public.

The Sidney Alumni Weekend gets underway today with a host of activities, spokesman Brian Innes explains:

(Brian Innes 7-18-25)

The full schedule can be found at sidneyalumni.org

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The Unatego Alumni Association will hold their All-Classes Alumni Reunion today & tomorrow, spokesperson Judy Pitel explains:

(Judy Pitel 7-15-25)

Also, on Sunday, July 20th, the Association is hosting a PANCAKE BREAKFAST at the Wells Bridge Firehouse from 8-11 am.

An American Red Cross Blood Drive will be held in Oneonta today from 12 pm. - 5 pm., at the American Legion Post 259, 279 Chestnut Street, appointments can be made at the Red Cross Blood Donor App, at RedCrossBlood.org, or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS.

Hartwick College introduced the Baking Innovation Lab Tuesday during a ribbon cutting ceremony at the new site on Dietz Street in Oneonta. Hartwick President James Mullen commented about the new facility:

(James Mullen 10-23-24)

Oneonta Mayor Mark Drnek also commented:

(Mayor Drnek 10-23-24)

The Baking Innovation Lab is part of a Dietz Street development, which includes 64 units of affordable housing. The project received $1,470,000 in funding from the City’s $10 million Downtown Revitalization Initiative award.

The Otsego County Board of Elections announced that Early Voting for the November 5 General Election will begin October 26 through November 3 at the Foothills Performing Arts Center, on Market Street in Oneonta & at The Meadows Office Complex, at 140 County Highway 33W in Cooperstown. Polls will be open from 9 am. to 5 pm. on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Polls will be open from 12 to 8 pm. on Tuesday and Thursday. Otsego County voters are welcome to vote at either location. For more information, contact the Otsego County Board of Elections at (607) 547-4247.

The Delaware County Historical Association annual meeting will be held on Sunday, November 3rd at 1:00 PM in the large gallery at the Association's facility in Delhi. The annual Awards of Merit this year will go to the Walton Theatre Preservation Association, the Delaware County Diggers, Eli Taylor of Middletown & Scott Payne of Deposit

A.M. NEWS Wednesday 10-23-24

The Delaware County Board of Supervisors will have an official ribbon cutting ceremony at the new DPW Administration Building at 2 Bridge Street in Delhi at 12:00 PM Today. The new office building houses the DPW administrative staff along with the Planning and Watershed Affairs offices. Remaining on Page Avenue in Delhi is the DPW material storage yard, the fueling station, the bridge fabrication shop and the salt shed. The new patrol building in Bloomville will allow for greater access to roads in the northern part of the county for maintenance and snow removal. The new mechanics facility in the Town of Walton will be for car and heavy equipment repair.

Christmas activities will get underway Saturday in the village of Afton, Greater Afton Chamber of Commerce Spokesperson Sheryl Roush explains:

(Sheryl Roush 11-22-23)

More information is available at the Greater Afton Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook Page.

The Chenango County Historical Society will also have their annual Holiday Open House Sunday from 10 am. to 4 pm at the Chenango County Historical Society at 45 Rexford St., Norwich.

A.M. NEWS FRIDAY 12-1-23

Sidney Chamber of Commerce Holly Jolly parade tonight, no pre-registration is required to be in the parade. Sidney Chamber of Commerce President Teri Schunk comments:

(Teri Schunk 12-1-23)

Santa will be set up at the Limitless Performing Arts Complex following the Holly Jolly Parade at their new location at 22 River Street.

The 2023 U.S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Train will be coming through the region Saturday. The holiday train will stop in Oneonta at the Gas Avenue Rail Crossing, from 12:05 pm. to 12:40 pm. The train will be in Bainbridge at the Walnut Street Rail Crossing from 1:30 pm. to 2:00 pm. The train's schedule ends at the East Binghamton Yard Entrance, 3:20 pm. to 4:00 pm.

Governor Hochul announced the annual statewide holiday donation drive to benefit families in need across the state, will begin Today. Donations of new unwrapped toys, coats and school supplies are requested, Drop off locations will be set up locally through December 15th at the Binghamton State Office Building, 44 Hawley Street and the Homer Folks Facility, 28 Hill Street, Oneonta.

The Greater Oneonta Historical Society will hold a walking tour of Main Street this afternoon, starting at 5:00 PM, the tour is by donation & will leave from the History Center on Main Street.

Oneonta Fire Department responded to a structure fire last night at Monser Brothers Tire & Auto on Chestnut Street in Oneonta. Fire fighters responded to the report of flames through the roof of the building late last night, Multiple fire departments also responded including West Oneonta, Laurens, West Laurens, Mount Vision, Franklin, Sidney, Worcester, Pindars Corners & Otego.

The Afton Annual Christmas Parade, will be part of the scheduled activites tomorrow, Greater Afton Area Chamber of Commerce President John Hinman told WCDO News what activites are planned:

(John Hinman 12-3-21)

Hinman said that floats and vehicles will line up at Corporate Park off Route 7, Walking groups, bicycles, and golf carts will gather at the Afton Edge Apartments.

Also on Saturday, Unadilla's Santa Saturday & Holiday Magic Parade will be held, sponsored by the Unadilla Chamber of Commerce & The Unadilla Historical Society, spokesperson Linda Bickos explains:

(Linda Bickos 12-3-21)

More Information is available at the Unadilla Chamber of Commerce Facebook page.

Destination Oneonta's Festival of Trees will be held at the Foothills Performing Arts Center in Oneonta today & tomorrow; all trees are decorated by local businesses and community members and can be viewed at Foothills today from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm and on Saturday, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm. Winners of each tree will be drawn on Saturday at 2:15 pm; more information is available at destinationoneonta.com.

The Greater Oneonta Historical Society is planning an online Auction starting at 5:00 PM today, and they will also return with an in person Auction November 19th, as their 2 main Fundraisers this year. Spokesman Bob Brzozowski told WCDO News that they hope to bounce back this year after just doing an online auction last year, due to the pandemic & shutdown:

(Bob Brzozwski 11-12-21)

The online auction can be found at 32auctions.com, the in person auction will be held November 19th at the Quality Inn on State Route 23 in Oneonta, more information about both auctions are available by calling the Greater Oneonta Historical Society at 432-0960.

This year, The Firemen's Association of the State of New York RecruitNY Weekend will be on April 24th & 25th will be unlike any before. In response to COVID-19, many firehouses across New York State are choosing to organize a virtual open house or conduct other digital outreach in an effort to attract new volunteers. Some firehouses may still elect to open their doors to the public. Individuals looking to find out if their fire department is participating in RecruitNY, visit?recruitny.org/participation-area. For more information, contact your local volunteer fire department via a non-emergency phone number or its website.

The Greater Oneonta Historical Society will be holding a virtual program to coincide with its History Center exhibition, "Up from the Ashes: Oneonta Shaped by Fire". The Zoom program will be held Tonight at 6:30 PM. The Zoom link can be found at OneontaHistory.org or Facebook.com/OneontaHistory or on Instagram "@OneontaHistorical Society". "Up from the Ashes" will remain on display at the History Center at 183 Main Street through Saturday May 1, more information is available at 432-0960.

The 14th annual Benefit Auction of the Greater Oneonta Historical Society will take place online this year at 32Auctions.com/GOHSBenefitAuction. Society Executive Director Bob Brzozowski comments:

(Bob Brzozowski 11-13-20)

Bidding begins this Sunday at 12:00 noon and ends on Saturday November 21 at 5:00 PM. A sampling of items up for auction can be viewed at the Oneonta History Center, 183 Main Street, more information is available by email at info@OneontaHistory.org or by calling 432-0960.

SUNY Oneonta’s COVID Response Team hosted 2 online town halls recently, 1 for employees and another for students and their parents, to report on planning for the spring 2021 semester. Recordings and transcripts of both town halls are available at suny.oneonta.edu. Acting President Dennis Craig formed the COVID Response team earlier this month to lead spring semester planning, with 50 faculty and staff members, administrators, students and other stakeholders, A video by President Craig regarding the potential for in-person classes in the spring is also available at suny.oneonta.edu.

Otsego County Department of Health reported 6 new cases of COVID 19 Thursday, they now have 46 active cases, no one is hospitalized, there have been 1078 total confirmed cases, 8 deaths, with 756 cases linked to SUNY Oneonta & 65 confirmed cases in Hartwick College students.

The Firemen's Association of the State of New York announced that Governor Cuomo has signed legislation addressing the growing decline in volunteer firefighters across the State. The new law creates a New York State Recruitment and Retention Task Force that will study challenges to recruiting and retaining volunteer firefighters. A link to the legislation can be found at nysenate.gov.

As New Yorkers prepare to set their clocks
forward one hour this Sunday for Daylight Saving Time, the Firemen's
Association of the State of New York is urging everyone to change the batteries
in their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Homeowners with alarms
that have sealed, non-removable batteries should test the alarms to see if they
are functional.  Batteries should be
changed twice a year, because according to the National Fire Protection
Association, almost 3 of every 5 home fire deaths resulted from fires in homes
with no smoke alarms or without working smoke alarms. Last year New York State
led the nation in home fire deaths with 126 fatalities, more information is
available at fasny.com.

Beginning Saturday, the Greater Oneonta
Historical Society will present a display of the history of the local chapter
of the League of Women Voters.  There
will be an opening reception on Saturday from 2:00 to 3:00 PM at the Oneonta
History Center, 183 Main Street.  The
reception is free and open to the public, more information is available at
432-0960.

The DCMO BOCES Spelling bee will be held
tomorrow in at the SUNY Oneonta Goodrich Theater Saturday at 10:00 AM,
Spokesperson Martha Ryan comments:

(Martha Ryan 3-6-20)

Melodie of course is Melodie Loya of
Bainbridge, who made it into the top 50 the last 2 years at the Scripps
National Spelling Bee in Washington DC.  Ryan
also said that the fundraising effort is continuing to help the families of
tomorrow's winner, to make it to the Scripps competition & stay in
Washington for all the days of the event, more information is available at
335-1292.

The Greater Oneonta Historical Association announced today
that the Friends of the Oneonta Theater are looking to revitalize the building.
Society Executive Director Bob Brzozowski explains:

(Bob Brzozowski 1-23-20)

The Theater was built in 1897
& has been dormant for the last several years; more information is
available at the oneontahistory.org.

Governor Cuomo today announced legislation in the Executive
Budget to make New York's fracking ban permanent. The measure would restrict
the Department of Environmental Conservation from approving permits that would
authorize an applicant to drill, deepen, plug back or convert wells that use
high-volume hydraulic fracturing as a means to complete or recomplete a well.

The American Red Cross will hold another Blood drive today
in Otsego County.  The drive will be held
at the Foothills Performing Arts Center on Market Street in Oneonta, from 1:00
to 6:00 PM, Walk-ins are welcome,
appointments can be made using the Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting
RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on
any Alexa Echo device,

Starting today, November 1st, 2019, New York State law
requires any child under the age of 2 to ride in a rear-facing car seat. Did
you know that many car seats are designed with greater height and weight limits
and can keep a child rear-facing, even beyond age 2? The American Academy of
Pediatrics suggests that the best way to keep your child safe is to keep them
rear-facing for as long as possible.

The annual meeting of the Delaware County Historical
Association will be held on Sunday, followed by the presentation of DCHA’s
annual Awards of Merit to those individuals who have volunteered their time and
skills to preserve and/or present the history of Delaware County.  The general public is invited at 2:45pm to
hear local historian and author, Bill Birns, give a presentation based on the
life of Congressman John Clarke of Delaware County,    more information is available at 746-3849.

Starting Today, The Otsego County Planning Department &
Solid Waste announced that Televisions, monitors, and commercial grade
electronics will be charged at $12 per unit at the Oneonta Transfer
Station.  All other electronics will
remain free.  Officials said that the
change is to help cover rising recycling costs related to electronics, more
information is available at 547-4256.

The Sidney Alumni Associations Sports Hall of Fame Induction weekend begin tonight during Half Time of the Sidney Football game, Spokesman Greg Davie told WCDO News who is being recognized this year:

(Greg Davie 9-22-17)

Activities will continue at the Sidney VFW after tonight’s game, Saturday's Induction Dinner will begin at 5:00 PM at the Sidney Elks Lodge on River Street.

State Senator Jim Seward joined officials from the Greater Oneonta Historical Society to announce a $250,000 state grant to fund renovation and restoration work at the Oneonta History Center on Main Street. The $250,000 grant is under the state's 2002 Strategic Investment Program and is administered by the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York.