2021 Marks 40th Gallodoro Landmark

World-class clarinetist and saxophonist, Al Gallodoro, who played in sets with Sarah Fieg Corkery's drummer husband, Kevin, arrived in Oneonta 40 years ago next year.  His name can easily be spoken in the same sentence with Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw and any other great clarinetists of the 20th Century.

A member of the Hartwick College faculty, and eponym of the H'05 Award for outstanding achievement in music performance by a student, he was notable for having played alto sax with the famed Paul "King of Jazz" Whiteman Orchestra in the 1930s and, later, bass clarinet for 12 years with the NBC Symphony Orchestra under Arturo Toscanini.

Fortunato Alfred J. Gallodoro (whose surname in Italian means "golden rooster"), had a career that spanned eight decades, playing until his death at age 95 in Oneonta on Oct. 4, 2008.  Fieg cousin Allison Bookhout officiated at his funeral.

Al Gallodoro

By any measure, he was one of the world's longest continually active performing musicians, having started his career in the city of his birth, Chicago, at the age of 13.  

In addition to Toscanini, Al was conducted by Leopold Stokowski, Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Fiedler, Percy Faith, and Skitch Henderson.  

He appeared with George Gershwin, Victor Borge, Dinah Shore, Sid Caesar, Les Paul, Bob Hope, Edgar Bergen, Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Mario Lanza, Frank Sinatra, and Milton Berle.  Al also appeared in the 20th Century Fox 1952 production of Ernest Hemingway's "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner and Susan Hayward.

The Gallodoro Serenade was written for him by composer Ferde Grofe.  He was also the subject of a PBS documentary.

A member of the adjunct faculty and instructor, he trained numerous Hartwick College graduates to play the reeds, and was the recipient of an honorary doctoral degree from the school.

At the time of his death, he held the world's record for the most performances on the clarinet in Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," ten thousand.  He played both classical and jazz selections, and was arguably the greatest saxophone/clarinet virtuoso in history.

The Al Gallodoro Music Memorial Fund is named for him, as well as the annual Al Gallodoro music award at Hartwick.  

At the time of his death he had produced eight CDs and a music video, in addition to recordings with other artists.  His production company was Chmusic Productions/Golden Rooster Records.

Take a listen to Al Gallodoro and the Beau Hunks playing a 1931 hit, "The Hour of Parting."

Still Standing After 100 Years

In 1920, Lothar Fieg established his business, Fieg Builder, at 3 Lewis St. in Oneonta, N.Y.  He went on to build some of the most elegant residences in the city.  As this year marks the 100th anniversary of his entry into the business world, grandson Greg Fieg has put together a photo spread of some of the lovely places that remain standing today.

Still a citizen of Germany, Lothar had been fired as an "enemy alien" from his supervisory position at the Corbett and Stewart Acid Factory, which supplied components for the making of munitions during World War I.

"G" for Gardner

106 Chestnut St.

 Lothar found work with the then-booming  Delaware and Hudson Railroad in Oneonta, drawing from his similar experience as a young man with the Union Pacific in the Far West.  In 1920 he struck out on his own, building his first home, a 1,262-square foot revival Tudor-style at 106 Chestnut St.  The chimney was adorned with the letter G, for the Gardner family, owners of the former Gardner Music Store, who first lived there. 

Another neo-Tudor at 148 East St. was at one time owned by the head of the journalism department at the State University of New York in Oneonta.  It is a 2,180-square foot quaint and cozy home in an fairly affluent part of town.  Lothar built it at the height of the Depression in 1932.

148 East Street

 Because much of the economy was crippled, woodwork such as sashes, wood frames, windows and other pieces were very hard to come by, and the builder had to make do with odds and ends as he could find them.  A self-taught architect, he made the components of the house come together like a jigsaw puzzle.  It recently listed in excess of $200,000.

It's not difficult to imagine that once word got around about Lothar's old-world craftsmanship that he became much in demand by discriminating individuals with deep pockets.  Thus, he was contracted to build the elaborate six-bedroom, 5,200-square foot Thornwood mansion for Edwin W. Elmore, the founder of Elmore's Milling. Thornwood is now the residence of the president of Hartwick College.  

Thornwood

In an affirmation of the laudatory recognition that Lothar had achieved, one of his final homes was the relatively palatial Duncan Briggs residence at the mouth of the rugged Glenwood Gorge.

Briggs, owner of the Briggs Lumber Company, was the scion of a family whose history can be traced to the creation of hundreds of homes dating back to the 19th century.  As such, he had an acute, discriminatory judgment concerning every builder in the area and, from among them, chose Lothar to build his own personal home.

Lothar had previously constructed Woodchuck Knoll, the sprawling edifice on the grounds of Emmons Farms.  Woodchuck Knoll today is owned by Marty Patton, a multi-millionaire restauranteur and the founder of the Cooperstown All-Star Village, a travel baseball camp.

Another very large structure, with a more utilitarian purpose, was built on the campus of the Upstate Baptist Home, now Springbrook, an institution for people with mental disabilities.  

One of the more recent homes, the Russell House on Union St. was built to withstand an earthquake or tornado, with a steel I-beam frame. 

A house was built at 6 City View Dr. for Elizabeth Lewis, a dietician for Homer Folks Hospital.  It was the second of two houses of a planned development that was scuttled when Lothar died in 1958.

Woodchuck Knoll

The Russell House

6 City View Dr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE FARMER'S MUSEUM IN COOPERSTOWN

Todd's General Store

Never one to stymie his ambition, Lothar Fieg not only took on the construction of well-built houses and big mansions such as Thornwood and Woodchuck Knoll, he even tackled the piece-by-piece disassembly, transport and rebuilding of historic structures for the Farmer's Museum in Cooperstown.

Among them was Todd's General Store, which had been operated by Lemuel Todd of nearby Toddsville. Built in 1819, it was moved to Cooperstown at the end of World War II, with each joist, crossbeam, brick and sash painstakingly numbered for exact reassembly at the museum.

Filer's Corners Schoolhouse

 In a similar fashion, Lothar transported and reconstructed the Filer's Corners schoolhouse, circa 1829, from the town of Butternuts, and the blacksmith shop, built in 1827, from the New Berlin area.  He also built the original display for the Cardiff Giant, a hoax perpetrated by charlatans to be the petrified remains of a huge human being. 

Blacksmith shop

Fieg Family Albums Now on the Blog

 After much prodding and poking, your editor has added a link to the old Fieg family photo albums that were digitally scanned by Don Roman lo these many years ago.

To view the photos, click Fieg Family Albums on the home page of the blog.  This is found under Photos, Sundry Links and goodies.

Enjoy!

Cousins Spared from California Wild Fires

Fieg cousin Janet (Holm) and her husband, Craig McHenry, have survived yet another major forest fire that threatened their community of Loyalton in the Sierra Valley, an hour north of Lake Tahoe in northern California. 

The Loyalton Fire started Aug. 14 after a lightning strike just east of town, about a mile from Craig's ranch. It raced in several directions over the next couple of days, then threatened the outskirts of town on Aug. 17, when firefighters took a stand at the highway that leads into town and put it out.

As of Aug. 24 it was almost fully contained after burning about 50,000 acres of forest and high desert vegetation. The fire gained international attention because of numerous fire tornadoes that occurred, burning five homes and numerous outbuildings. Mandatory evacuation orders were in effect for an area where the McHenrys' daughter Rebekah, husband and six children live, so they had to transport horses and many other animals to a ranch away from the fire and stayed with Janet and Craig.

Janet said, "We saw lots of miracles. Our daughter's best friend's sheep ranch was completely saved, whereas the fire wiped out everything else around it. And Craig watched as the fire swept down the mountain, but spread in an inverted V around a historic barn and home. Even displaced cattle have been found. We are thankful." 

The fire occurred exactly 26 years after the Cottonwood Fire, which also burned about 50,000 acres and threatened the town many days in a row. Janet has been blogging about the experience with photos on her Facebook page and on her website: https://www.janetmchenry.com. 

The two photos are views of the fire from Craig's ranch--at the beginning of the firefighters' stand and toward its end. 

 

 

Janet Holm McHenry Garners Award

Fieg cousin Janet Holm McHenry, a prolific author of Christian lifestyle books, has earned the 2020 Jennifer Kennedy Dean Award from the Advanced Writers and Speakers Association.

 Dean, who passed away in June 2019, was an author and speaker who wrote numerous books, studies and magazine articles specializing in prayer and spiritual formation.  She and Janet were close friends, and Janet penned a lovely tribute published online in "Looking Up." 

Warm congratulations to Janet!

 

Fiegs Mark 75th Homecoming Anniversary

Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the Fieg boys coming home from World War II, with Bud, Frank and Phid finally sleeping in their own beds once again.

With the loss of so many contemporaries of the period, we are left to imagine what a happy reunion that must have been.  After having lived on K-rations and C-rations for four years, they now could enjoy mother's cooking again.

The scent of chicken and dumplings certainly wafted through the house, and Mom's special creation of gingerbread surely graced the table that Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Mary Bookhout Wolcott, who inherited the gingerbread recipe from her late sister, Liz, who got it from her mother, Flo, after she inherited it from her mother, Florence, has prepared the dessert many times, and it is a favorite in the Wolcott household.  Mary has the original index card from her mother's recipe box, which dictates that the gingerbread should be prepared thusly:

Mother's Gingerbread                                     325 deg. - 45 min.

1/2 c. sugar                                         1 c. hot water added last

1/2 c. butter & lard mixed

1 egg                                                    Bake in moderate oven for 35 min. in shallow pan.

1 c. molasses

1 1/2 c. sifted flour

1 1/2 t. soda

1 t. cinnamon

1 scant t. ginger

1/2 t. cloves

1/2 t. salt

Here is the original index card of the gingerbread recipe, transcribed in Flo's hand, from
Florence Fieg's instructions.

Fieg Reunion Movies Available on YouTube

Your editor recently received an email from Doug Fieg, son of the late Lothar Fieg, Jr.  Doug is a computer whiz, who also understands how to get stuff done on the Worldwide Web, and his latest coup was to upload movies taken by his dad and mine of Fieg reunions beginning in 1950, as well as shots of 1405 Knightwood Drive in the early '70s.

You'll grin from ear to ear as you watch our aunts and uncles waltzing around the dining room of an unnamed restaurant.  You'll go gaga over the baby faces of your cousins as they act silly for the camera.  You'll see how kids 'way back then kept busy outdoors, with nary an electronic device to be seen.  And you will really love seeing Grandpa and Grandma Fieg.

So click this link and, beginning with the still photo of ---- who can guess the name? -- enjoy a trip back in time.

Thanks, Doug, for your hard work!

Cade Dangca Enters Business World

Cade Dangca, 25, son of the former Anna Fieg, and Allan Dangca of Oneonta, NY, has entered the business world with the creation of his own enterprise, Dangca Co., having signed a multi-thousand dollar contract with Cason Inc. of Duanesburg, NY.  Cason is engaged in the hauling of heavy duty business and construction materials to various areas of the northeast.

Dangca has acquired his own authority from the government to operate his 1992 Peterbilt tractor to pull end-dump trailers primarily in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and New York.

Cade splits his time with Cason while serving as an active member of the Army Reserves, where he recently became qualified as a military policeman.  He is an Army veteran.

Dangca's grandparents are Greg Fieg of San Antonio and Hartwick, NY, and Jacqueline McAdams of Oneonta.  Best of luck to Cade!

Miss Maren Corkery Weds Mr. Thomas Buff

Maren Cokery, 22, daughter of the former Sarah Fieg and Kevin Corkery, was married to Thomas Buff, 21, of Middletown, N.Y. on Saturday July 11, 2020 at St. Joseph's Church in Worcester, N.Y., with the Rev. Fr. Joseph L'Arche officiating.

The couple will reside in Albany, where Thomas is employed as a mechanic at Firestone Complete Auto Care. Maren has resigned her position at NBT bank in Cooperstown, and will enter the field of childcare.

Maren wore a lustrous, street-length strapless ivory satin gown with a pearl and rhinestone belt, a trailing chapel veil, and a silver and rhinestone necklace.   

The maid of honor was the bride's sister, Colette Corkery, and the matron of honor was Emily Guardado.  Bridesmaids were Grace Corkery, Hannah Stuart, Hope Sonnenburg, and Jamie LaBarbera.  Junior bridesmaids were Mary Buff and Karoline Corkery.  The best man was Thomas Borchers, and groomsmen were Dimitri Maricich, Joseph Buff, Gabriel Hanus, Jacob Berben, and Matthew Mason.  Flower girl was Gemma Corkery, and the ring bearer was Daniel Corkery.

Jean Hren was pianist, and Colleen Rockwell was soloist.  Readers were Frances Corkery, Bridget Buff, and Christa Buff.

Due to limitations imposed because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, a guest list of 150 people had to be trimmed to 50 in the sanctuary and 70 at the reception in Oneonta.

The couple has been dating for three years, having met 5 years ago in Worcester at a graduation party.  Maren and Thomas were home schooled.

Maren is a graduate of Northeast Catholic College in Warner, N.H where she studied business.  Thomas attended Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan. for three years before choosing to pursue his present endeavor.

Maren's grandparents are Greg Fieg and Jacqueline McAdams of Oneonta.  Parents of the groom are James and Joann Buff.

A honeymoon is planned in Lake George, N.Y.

Picture This: Don Roman's Photo Background on "Live Chat" Radio

Don Roman was recently the guest on a live podcast about South Jersey photography, sharing his experiences in camerawork from middle school to the present. Don is the middle son of the late Bob and Dorothy Roman.

The host, Charles Kershenblatt, introduced Don, saying that for many years he had looked forward to having him on the show.

Don began with a description of the hook that got him interested in photography - his paternal grandfather's home dark room, in Utica, N.Y. - wending through his introduction to cinematography, close encounters with the likes of Buckminster Fuller, his work on a live-action "Scooby-Doo" film, and affectionate descriptions of the cameras he has owned throughout his life.

In one segment of the show, Don describes his six-month motorcycle trip to Guatemala with a buddy in the winter of 1983-84, when he actually stopped in Laredo and visited with cousin Greg Fieg and your editor's husband, Joe Kestner.  The results of that trip comprised his portfolio for admission into photography school.


Take a listen!