By Edwin Cooney
It’s my guess that many of us, if not most, spend a lot of
our lives chasing elusive dreams.
Shortly after 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 7th,
2014, a seemingly elusive dream came true for me. I was elected President of the New York State
School for the Blind Alumni Association.
It was an office I’d sought three previous times to no avail. The first two times I was defeated by a very
able gentleman who is a member of the New York State Bar. Two years ago, I was vanquished by an old
high school sweetheart, but there was nothing romantic about it.
It was a political spanking of the first magnitude! This was to be my last run for this office
because, after all, losing is a pretty painful experience and my masochistic
tendencies are, at least I trust, minimal.
Recently, in some private communications, I’ve been billing myself as
the Harold Stassen of NYSSB politics.
(Note: Harold Stassen was the “boy” governor of Minnesota during the
1930s who sought the GOP presidential nomination thirteen times without success.)
Beyond ambition or fulfillment, there are compelling reasons
people seek favor in popular elections.
Popular favor is an expression of trust, which I believe to be the
highest honor anyone can ever receive!
Additionally, popular support is a statement of an expectation of fair
and equitable treatment on the part of a constituency. Being something of a “political animal,” I’ve
sought popular favor at the services for the blind organizational level and
even within the municipal level of service to the disabled. What makes this opportunity and office
special is the constituency.
The seeds of my “dream come true” were planted early in
life. Between 1950 and 1966 I was a
student at the New York State School for the Blind in Batavia. During those years, I struggled academically,
emotionally, and socially. When I
entered school in September of 1950, I was the youngest kid among the
approximately 200 students who were usually in attendance during those
years. I was only four years old. I repeated kindergarten, fifth, sixth, and
seventh grades, yet I was never put into the special classes that were coming
into vogue during those years.
Obviously, despite terrible grades, the powers that be decided that I
was of some academic potential. The fact
that I was a foster child going between foster homes and orphanages was
probably the reason the staff didn’t give up on my potential. When I graduated in June of 1966 at age
twenty and a half, I was the oldest student on campus.
Batavia is a small city of 15,465 people (according to the
2010 census) occupying 5.2 square miles.
It is located on a plateau of land 35 miles west of Rochester and 30
miles slightly northeast of Buffalo.
Founded by Joseph Ellicott, a surveyor for the Holland Land Office, a
nineteenth century Dutch owned land development company, Batavia was
incorporated in 1802. (Note: Ellicott
also surveyed Buffalo, New York from his Batavia headquarters. Thus it could be
said that little Batavia founded Buffalo even though Joseph Ellicott wanted to
name Buffalo “New Amsterdam.”) Batavia is a remarkable city for its size. Since 1868, it has been the home of the New
York State School for the Blind. Even
more remarkable, Batavia has also been home to a veteran’s hospital, a Sylvania
plant, a shoe manufacturing plant, an agricultural machine manufacturing
company, a minor league baseball team, not to mention a thriving horseracing
track called Batavia Downs.
Today, 48 years after graduation, I realize with a new starkness
that the well being of those with whom I attended school matters very much to
me. To join an alumni association means
to personally identify and even to emotionally connect with the comfort and
pleasure of one’s fellows in friendship.
Many members of our alumni association, although perhaps not
all, regard our annual reunion as being as important in their lives as sharing
birthdays and holidays with friends and family. To sing of “old Batavia”
and trade reminiscences of old friends, teachers, and times provides a
priceless comfort that’s beyond adequate description. Hence, to serve as
president of such a personally sustaining organization is downright
inspiring! Too soon all of us will surrender to the inevitable ravages of
age. Inevitably, the organization will follow suit.
Now that my dream has come true, my task is to gather the
resources that will fortify the structure of our union so that it might stand
fast against the immediate demands of outrageous fortune and time as far into
the future as possible.
For a lot of very special people, NYSSB is Batavia’s sweetest
child. In its bosom, these special human
beings were intellectually, emotionally and even spiritually nourished. Thus, our school served as the cradle of our
minds, the garden that nurtured our capacity to lovingly recall our past and be
at peace with who we are today. As
such, NYSSB stands as a haven for some of our fondest memories. To be responsible for the care and feeding of
alumni will be nothing less than a sacred honor!
If there exists a higher honor (with the exception of marriage
and parenthood) that is within my ken, I have yet to learn of it!
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
Published June 16, 2014
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