CHENANGO COUNTY – The Chenango County Historical Society’s 2026 season will debut on Friday, March 6, and this year’s Community Gallery will feature “Chenango County’s ‘Better Half’ – The Life and Works of Randy Glasbergen.”

 

“Our mission is to preserve and present local history. Specifically, unique characters of Chenango County, and Randy’s exhibit is charming and witty and falls into the kind of narrative that we like to share with the community,” said Jessica Moquin, Executive Director of the Chenango County Historical Society.

 

Glasbergen was a Sherburne resident with a penchant for art from a young age. “He had a work ethic like no other. From the age of 15, he was drawing, writing, and selling his work. Imagine knowing what you want to do with your life at 15 and having the raw talent and drive to actually do it,” explained Glasbergen’s daughter Jennifer Ashton.

 

Glasbergen began his professional career at just 15 years of age, as a freelance artist. “There’s a lot to be said for the talent of someone who was employed as a professional artist while still in high school at just 15 years old,” Moquin said.

 

For more than three decades, Glasbergen created the syndicated comic strip, The Better Half. The comic was published in newspapers across the country from 1982-2014.

 

The exhibit is made up of original art pieces spanning all decades of Glasbergen’s professional career. In addition to being a successful cartoonist, Glasbergen was also a best-selling author who published several books on how to be a cartoonist. The exhibit will also include merchandise featuring his art work and a variety of his treasured pop-culture items. “Randy loved monster movies, superheroes, and he was in contact with many of the major cartoonists of his day,” Moquin said. “We have included a wide variety of items that show who he was and what was inspiring to him.”

 

“Every piece in the exhibit tells a story. From the action figures that adorned every shelf in his studio, to the scratch-off lottery tickets from the UK that featured his drawings. There are silly drawings he created in high school, books he wrote and illustrated, and even his old high school yearbook,” Ashton said.

 

Glasbergen’s family got a sneak preview of the exhibit. “The most emotional thing to see, as his daughter, was his old drawing board on display. I can still picture my dad sitting there working with a pencil behind his ear, one in his hand, and rubber eraser dust on the floor from drawing and erasing and redrawing every piece. He was a bit of a perfectionist in that way.”

 

While most of the art on display was created by Glasbergen, the exhibit also includes gifts and art pieces he collected from other well-known artists. “Something noteworthy in the display is his collection of original artwork by well-established cartoonists. As a young and aspiring cartoonist, my dad would write to successful and well-known cartoonists who would encourage him and respond with signed originals of their own work. This includes cartoons like Popeye, Family Circus, Beetle Bailey, and Dennis the Menace, to name a few.” At one time, Glasbergen even had an original Peanuts drawing gifted to him from Charles Schulz. The piece will not be on display at the exhibit, because, according to Ashton, her father donated it. “My dad was both generous and a lover of Basset Hounds of which he owned several over the years. Upon his passing, he willed that his signed Peanuts cartoon be sold and the proceeds donated to a Basset Hound rescue. My mom had the pleasure of speaking with Charles Schulz’s widow, who ultimately purchased the cartoon and returned it to his estate.”

 

“What I love about Randy’s work is it is universal,” Moquin said. “He found the humor in life circumstances. In the universal nature of being human. His work reveals the humanity in all of us.”

 

Ashton said she is excited for the public to get to enjoy her father’s work again. “We visited the exhibit on what would have been our dad’s 69th birthday. It’s hard to believe he’s been gone 11 years. While we each have small pieces of memorabilia that remind us of him, it was incredibly special to see everything gathered and displayed together again in one place. We spent the evening walking down memory lane, laughing, tearing up a little, and simply appreciating the incredible man he was. I can’t wait for the exhibit to open to the public. I’m looking forward to going back with friends and sharing my dad’s legacy with them.”

 

The exhibit will be open from 4 to 6 p.m. on Friday and will remain up throughout the season. For more information, visit ChenangoHistorical.org.