Write a commentEditor's note: The official tree lighting ceremony sparked memories of the first one in 1988, originally brought to life by Mayor John T. Sullivan (1988-1992) and his wife, Charlotte. Both left indelible footprints on Oswego and in the hearts of many Oswegonians. I recently gave Mr. Sullivan a call to find out what he is doing now and get some insight into his thoughts about the city he holds so dear. I hope you enjoy this latest OzUpdate. Merry Christmas to all of you. Debra Lupien Robillard
Former Oswego mayor, John Sullivan, may have his feet planted in Kansas, but his heart will always call Oswego home. Since retiring, Sullivan has moved various times, but he has always makes it a point to spend time in New York and especially Oswego.
Where are you now and what are you doing?
"I have been living in Pittsburg, Kansas, for about two years now," he said.
Sullivan said Pittsburg has a lot in common with Oswego – 20,000 people and a university – just without the water. He teaches at Pittsburg State University along with teaching political science at Missouri Southern State University in Joplin, Miss.
"I have also been able to do some things I couldn't do in New York," he said. " I have a lot to say when it comes to government and politics, so I write regular columns for the Albany Times Union and the Pittsburg Morning Sun."
Sullivan was asked recently to write for The Joplin Globe as well.S
"I am also the new president of the Southeast Kansas Symphony," he added.
"Four or five times a year, I try to spend my summers in Upstate New York, which is really my home," he said.
Sullivan is a widower and has four daughters. He said daughter, Elizabeth, is a singer-songwriter who lives in Brooklyn; Sierra is a life coach and business consultant in Saratoga; Danielle is a teacher in Ithaca; and Kathleen works as general counsel for Infigen Energy in Colorado and Dallas.
"Kathleen is the only woman on the executive board of this Australian company," he said proudly.
Because of the geographic locations of three of his daughters, Sullivan said he gravitates between Oswego, Sackets Harbor, Saratoga and Albany, where he used to work.
"My sister lives in Oswego, so I usually stay with her or friends when I come here," he said.
What did you do after leaving office?
"I had a successful, full-time law practice for close to 30 years," Sullivan said. "I did not choose to run for re-election in order to devote the necessary time needed to the practice."
Since retiring from his practice, Sullivan has taught political science at SUNY Oswego as an adjunct professor; taught a course on New York State Politics and Government at SUNY Albany's Rockefeller School of Government; served as Assistant Attorney General in charge of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's Watertown office; and recently retired as New York State's Deputy Medicaid Inspector General for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.
Why did you leave Oswego?
"After my wife died, it took me three years to realize I was not okay," he said. "I lost my wife and best friend. It was hard."
Sullivan said people were always coming to him to talk out their problems, but he did not address his own for a while.
"I finally realized that I need to move on and the first step was to move," he said. "I decided to sell the mausoleum where I lived with just me and the dog. I took the position with the attorney general thinking I would commute, but I ended up moving to Sackets Harbor."
When you talk about Charlotte, what do you tell them?
Sullivan joked that he usually describes their relationship as "we fought for 10 years, then we got married and fought for another 25 years."
Sullivan said he met Charlotte when they were 9 years old, becoming on-and-off sweethearts in high school.
"The first time we danced was at an eighth-grade dance and she was so lovely," he said. "We were on again off again for 10 years."
Sullivan recalled running for president of the Catholic High School, during one of their "off" times.
"She was mad at me at the time and supported the other guy," he said with a laugh. "I lost and thought, 'hmmmm, I better get her on my side.'"
He said she initially was against him running for mayor, but when she got on board with something, she would do it better than anybody else.
"She stepped into the shoes of being the first lady of Oswego like I don't know if anybody ever has or ever will," Sullivan stated. "We were a pretty strong team. She had the ability to make people feel good and she was an excellent fundraiser – she could pick your pocket and make you smile. She just knew how to do things."
One thing she would never do, however, was watch a common council meeting.
"She stayed away from the political stuff," he said. "Her tendency was geared toward the community and the "Hall of Mayors" was her project."
It was on their 25th wedding anniversary, Sullivan said, that she was diagnosed with an incurable cancer.
"How she dealt with it, though, was incredible," he said. "She became an inspiration for a lot of people and never showed weakness or a lack of purpose. She always exuded positivity, which can be exhausting at the end of the day. "
What are some of your fondest memories of Oswego?
He said while serving as Oswego mayor, he and Charlotte were instrumental in starting at least two major events that Oswego continues today – Harborfest and the city's Tree Lighting Ceremony.
Sullivan recalled both he and Charlotte each had defining moments during each of these events.
For Charlotte, it occurred during the Harborfest fireworks. Sullivan said the first two years, they watched the fireworks from a boat on the lake, but Charlotte did not like that.
She wanted to be with the people," Sullivan said.
So, as they stood in the midst of the crowd, watching them watch the fireworks, they heard a little girl say, "Look, Mommy, the sky is raining stars."
"Charlotte realized at that moment she had done something significant for that child," he said. "That became the backdrop for the hope and promise to fulfill the dream. If you can reach into and inspire awe in the littlest of those among us, you are sowing seeds for the future."
Sullivan still believes in the community celebration Harborfest as a validation of all good things about Oswego.
"Some negative things developed that was never our intent; it was designed to be family-oriented," he pointed out. "By and large, it succeeded. If you take a city of 20,000 put it on the map take a celebration that has lasted 25 years, I would call that a success. You can't listen too much to the naysayers, you have to navigate around them."
The essential moment for Sullivan himself was during the first tree lighting in 1988.
"Oswego had never had a big tree and never had a tree lighting," he said. "So we got a big tree donated and we got the school district and Ed Garno involved. Ed to agree to talk to all of the art teachers in school and we got Alcan to donate aluminum foil for the students to make ornaments."
He said they also had every chorus from all of the elementary schools involved for a complete children's choir; the Jewish temple donated a menorah; St. Joseph's contributed a living manger scene; and the Coast Guard flew in Santa while high school cheerleaders cheered Santa on.
"More than nine thousand people showed up and it was symbol of community pride and togetherness," Sullivan said. "This was like the first dress rehearsal for the Civic Plaza that we envisioned."
The moment came when Channel 5 News did a story with a father holding a child while he put his ornament on the tree.
"The newscaster said this is like a Norman Rockwell painting," Sullivan said. "I was so proud at the time when we did the countdown. I wanted everyone to say Tiny Tim's line, "God bless us everyone," and they did. It was a goose-bump moment."
Sullivan was known to coin a few phrases that are still used today. One is "Let the fun begin!" used every year to begin Harborfest. Another was "Oswego – where the water never ends."
"When I ran for Mayor I ran on the theme of waterfront development. My motto was "Sail with Sullivan."
He said people accused him of just wanting to take care of the "yacht people."
"But I wanted the fishermen and the boats, too," Sullivan said. "We all need to sail together. Our waterfront is our future and if we develop our waterfront we develop our future."
Sullivan believes if you have a community that has an idea, and then you invite some captain of industry to see it and they get on board, it can become a self fulfilling prophecy.
"My wife always said if you make people believe in themselves, anything is possible. We had a few shining moments where we helped people believe in themselves."
Do you have any advice for the future of Oswego?
Sullivan said in his eyes, Oswego has always represented hope.
"Everything we tried to do had hope attached to it," he said. "We tried to appeal to the positivity in everybody. I have always believed Oswego has great potential but has never been used to its fullest potential."
The goal, Sullivan said, should be to bring Oswego to the level it can and should be at.
"When we started talking about Harborfest and taking Oswego to the next level, it was really a dream," he said. "Charlotte always used to say, 'A dream is your wish that your heart makes when your fast asleep. You have to wake up to fulfill it.'"
What Sullivan believed then he still believes now.
"Many of the dreams are still unrealized," he said somberly. "This time of year is a good time to reflect and think about what next year can portend. It's time we stop shooting each other in the foot and stop moving three steps and four steps back. In life, if you are traveling true north and stick to the course, you can wind up in a swamp and get stuck. You have to see the obstacles and avoid them. It's like sailing. You can't head straight toward your destination; you have to zig and to zag to get to where you need to be while keeping the wind at your back. You can't just plow straight ahead – you have to know when to shift direction with the goal still in mind. That is how I have always envisioned Oswego."
What is on the horizon?
Sullivan pointed out that he rarely has lived in one place for more than a few years since leaving Oswego. But along the way he said he has maintained one lofty ambition:
"My ultimate goal is to replace Andy Rooney on 60 minutes."
Even Sullivan himself is not sure where he will end up next or where the next stop in his journey will be. He simply knows he will keep his mind and options open to opportunity, deliberately zigging and zagging along the way, while keeping his eyes on the goal in mind.
"It's been a good life," he added. "I have had opportunities a lot of people would like to have. My only regret was I couldn't continue or complete all of the dreams we had – but you hope to inspire and motivate others to continue."
To read some of Sullivan's columns, go to www.morningsun.net and click opinion.
