On Saturday, September 12th, interested parties can join Foor-Pessin at the Otselic Valley Central School at 8:15 a.m. and travel by bus to Historic Johnstown to learn more about the events and people who were influential in the founding of our country. Anyone wishing to attend should email Foor-Pessin at foorpessin@gmail.com to reserve a seat on the bus. (Submitted photo)

SOUTH OTSELIC – Residents in South Otselic know that communities that read together, learn together. The Otselic Valley Fishing and Heritage Association’s 2026 reading series will continue this weekend with a trip to historic Johnstown and Johnson Hall.

“For the last three years, we have been tracing the events leading up to and including the Revolutionary War, especially as it relates to Central New York and the Mohawk Valley—the Land of the Oneidas,” said reading series organizer Michael Foor-Pessin.

Each year, the reading series has focused on events leading up to the Revolutionary War and the role our local communities played in that history. Previous field trips started in the western area of New York State, and moved east.

“Sir William Johnson, at the height of his power as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department was one of the greatest forces helping to determine the dynamics between the French, British, the Six Nations, the Loyalists and American rebels that led to the founding of the US.” Foor-Pessin explained.

On Saturday, September 12th, interested parties can join Foor-Pessin at the Otselic Valley Central School at 8:15 a.m. and travel by bus to Historic Johnstown to learn more about the events and people who were influential in the founding of our country. Anyone wishing to attend should email Foor-Pessin at foorpessin@gmail.com to reserve a seat on the bus.

“History comes alive when stories told in a text are grounded in the reality of place.” Foor-Pessin said. “Understanding that individuals like William Johnson, Samuel Kirkland, Chief Shenandoah, General Herkimer, Polly Cooper, and Philip Schuyler, just to mention a few, played enormous roles in the birth of a nation, is a valuable lesson. Individuals who helped facilitate important events are often lost in greater histories. Individual action matters.”

Otselic Valley’s reading series is currently in its third year. Each year field trips have been added to enrich the content and bring a greater context to the material. Previous trips have been taken to Nichols Pond, Oneida Carry, Fort Stanwix, the Oriskany Battlefield, Fort Herkimer, the Herkimer Home State Historic Site, Indian Castle Church, and Hamilton College. While participation varies from trip to trip, 50 copies of the reading series books have been distributed to readers each year. “As our series continues, our understanding of the role that the Haudenosaunee played in the development of the US becomes clearer. This year, we delved into Shays’s Rebellion and discovered that some of Chenango County’s earliest settlers emigrated here because of the rebellion. Our session and book signing with author Daniel Bullen was outstanding—the Methodist Church in South Otselic was full. Folks who attended our trip to Hamilton College now understand more fully the events that led to the establishment of the college and its original mission to educate Oneida Indian youth,” Foor-Pessin explained.

The reading series will continue from 10 a.m. to noon on October 10th with a trip to the Loomis Barn in Norwich on the campus of the Chenango County Historical Society Museum.

“During that meeting, we will be joined by representatives from the Oneida People who will concentrate on their Creation Story.” Foor-Pessin said. Participants who have read all three books in this year’s series — My Dear Hamilton, Daniel Shay’s Honorable Rebellion, and The Oneida Creation – will receive a Polly Cooper commemorative coin.

“It is never too late to join our reading series. Come October 10th, participate, and be ready for the 2027 series,” said Foor-Pessin.