Irish Cultural Center Jammed for Oneida County History Center “Living
Legends” Award Ceremony
by Tom Loughlin Jr
Utica Oct 10 2024 Greeted at the door of the Irish Cultural Center of the
Mohawk Valery by an honor guard of Proctor High School Naval Junior ROTC cadets a record crowd jammed the I.C.C banquet hall for the presentation of the Oneida County History Center’s Richard W Couper 2024 “Living Legends” awards.
The attendees were welcomed by Rebecca McCain and Julie Geederos
respectively Executive Director and Board President of the Oneida County
History center. Their remarks were followed by presentations by Oneida County Executive Anthony J Picente Jr and Assemblywoman Marianne Buttenschon. The invocation was delivered by Reverend Mary Webster.
This year’s honorees were Michael Bosak, an historic landmarks
preservationist; political activist Lucretia Hunt, cardiologist Michael Lieberman, Town of Paris historian Bonny Tyler Nile and Hamilton College Jazz educator and bassist Michael “Doc” Woods. In addition to the “Living Legends induction, the I.C.C.’s “ David and Carolyn David and Carolyn Ellis Historical Hall of Fame inducted new members. They were Dr John Cochran, a military physician who attended to the Marquis Lafayette; local construction magnate /philanthropist Charles A Gaetano; Chauncey Goodrich an experimental biologist who developed the blight resistant
Garnet Chili potato and; Carolyn Kelly Tyler, Utica’s first Black school teacher.
Photos-by Utica Phoenix photographer Tom Loughlin Jr
Honoree “Doc” Woods and family.
