Interview with Daphne Monie

Stories Around the Lake - Interview with Daphne Monie by Finn Morgan

Date: March 30, 2017

Daphne Monie moved to Cooperstown, NY, originally to the Fly Creek area when she was 2 years old with her dad, Willis senior, her mom, Barbara, and her brother, Willis junior. She went to school here and graduated from Cooperstown High School. Her parents have lived here ever since. After college she moved around a bit, but after she had her first child, Finn, she moved back to Cooperstown, to be a part of the wonderful close-knit community here and to be near family. Ever since she moved back she’s been a part of the school system, with two kids going to the elementary school, and she taught High School Biology for awhile. She now works at Bassett Hospital.

She has many experiences that involve Otsego Lake, from playing in it as a child to doing research on it as a High School student and as an adult. One time she was out on the lake in a small metal boat with a broken down motor during a thunder and lightning storm. They were rescued by the sheriff. Another time she was home alone and all of a sudden there was a huge explosion that shook the windows of the house. Later she found out that they had found a bomb at the bottom of Otsego Lake, so they took it to the airfield near her house in Fly Creek to explode it safely, but they didn’t warn the people of the neighborhood.

Last year she and her family hiked up to Star Field on a beautiful Fall day and it was all sunny. Her older son, Finn, was catching grasshoppers, she was taking pictures of all of the pretty Fall leaves and the lake, and her younger son, Lachlan was wrestling with her husband, Devin in the grass.

Listen to hear Finn and Ms. Monie’s entire interview.