The O-town Scene - Oneonta, NY
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/28770
Scene the O-Town Vol. 1, No. 27 www.otownscene.com 102 Chestnut St., P.O. Box 250, Oneonta, NY 13820 (607) 432-1000, ext. 255, editor@otownscene.com EDITOR Cassandra Miller ASSOCIATE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE DAILY STAR Adrienne Wise Publisher Armand Nardi Editor of The Daily Star Sam Pollak CONTRIBUTORS Zach Bender, Sam Benedict, Tammy Doyle, Emily Ernsberger, Clint Henderson, Terry Ludwig, Jim Koury, David Martin, Emily Popek, Bertha Rogers, James Derek Sapienza, Sam Spokony, Jennifer Tighe and Anne Van Deusen. Circulation Director Fred Schmidt Advertising Director Sean Lewis The O-Town Scene is published Thursdays by The Daily Star Inc. Free copies are distributed throughout Oneonta, as well as parts of Otsego, Delaware and Schoharie counties. Member of The Associated Press and CNHI News Service Editor’s Note It’s National Poetry Month, and we’re fea- turing one of the area’s poetic meccas, Bright Hill Center, which offers workshops, poetry readings and exhibits in its Word and Image Gallery. Bertha Rogers is the founder and director of the center, as well as Bright Hill Press, which publishes books of poetry. Bertha has a wealth of experience _ from designing theater sets and collectible dolls based on literary heroines to being a prolific poet herself. She is full of energy and artistic clout, yet she’s still humble and approach- able. In recent years, she’s been dying her hair candy colors _ changing from Robin’s egg blue to lavender to her current hot pink. She’s a character, a protagonist in the story of the area’s arts community. During this week’s Casual Chit Chat inter- view she eloquently described poets as visual artists of the word. She herself is also a visual artist, and often incorporates text into her work. I met Bertha 10 years ago when I was in high school and participated in Bright Hill Press’ Share the Words High School Poetry competition. (I made it to the final round and won third place with a poem about bullying titled “Roadkill.” I remember Bertha smiling at 2 O-Town Scene April 7, 2011 me from the front row while I was reading.) Bertha is also acquainted with my mother, a retired high school English teacher who now teaches at Hartwick College. Anyway, we chitchatted over the phone, and she made the connection. She cares about students, and she recognizes the work of devoted teachers, of which she is one. She is passionate about passing on the importance and power of poetry to younger generations. She contributed a poem for the debut of the Scene’s Manifest-o, which will feature the po- etry and creative writing of locals. Clint Hen- derson, who previously ran the Seen Unseen Gallery on Main Street in Oneonta, came to me with the idea, and I agreed that if creative writing is going to be in an area publication, the Scene is the place. I hope you enjoy the addition, and that you might contribute a piece or two. This issue isn’t all poetry, though. There’s a lot of jazz, too. Good to write to. Please refer to Page 3 for a note to our readers about some mis- information in an article that ran last week. — Cassandra Miller