Published: April 17, 2008 11:01 am         

In These Otsego Hills

This past weekend we returned from a rather flying trip to Ohio, for another bridal shower, and Michigan where we checked out the parents’ planned move into a smaller, although better suited to them, condo. The trip meant that we had to write two columns before we left and another one the minute we returned to Cooperstown no matter how tired we might have been following our 10-hour drive back from Ohio. Consequently, we were absolutely delighted to realize that in our absence we had received four communications from four different people, all of whom had something for us to put in the column. Talk about hitting pay dirt!

Claire Kepner wondered if we might make note of the upcoming baseball game between the Syracuse Chiefs, an AAA baseball team, and the Rochester Red Wings which will be played on Sunday, May 18 at 2 p.m. at Doubleday Field. Evidently the game is being played here as part of the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the International League.

The Cooperstown Lions Club, as well as the Cooperstown Leo Club, will be selling reserve seat tickets on the first base line. We understand that the Lions’ involvement is in keeping with their goal of supporting wholesome family entertainment. The Lions will also receive a small portion of the sale of each ticket which will be used to fund their many philanthropic endeavors. Tickets, which are $10 each, are available at Ellsworth and Sill or from any Lions or Leo Club member. We think the game sounds like an excellent way for the community to celebrate the end of what we tend to think was a rather lousy winter season.

We also received an e-mail from Kit Byrd who wrote: “I ... wanted you to know that Robert and Helen Mulligan traveled down to Lampasas, Texas for the Religious Recognition Mass that was recently held at the Christ the King Catholic Church in Belton, Texas. Their grandsons, Robert and Michael Byrd who are 14 and currently Life Rank in BSA Troop 90 ... received their Ad Altare Dei award from the Most Rev. Bishop Gregory Aymond, Bishop of the Austin Diocese.” The boys’ parents are Kit and Michael Byrd. Kit also noted that the Mulligans stayed for a week and said they had a great time.

And former English teacher at CCS, Jan Kerr, sent us the following e-mail: “Actually this is a question that my grandson asked me: did Cooperstown teach German prior to WWI and then drop it? I told him that was before my time. It did make me think though because I do remember my mother telling about studying German in high school (in Mass.) and it was long gone when I got there. Any idea how I might help him get an answer? I thought of you because of all your (both the he-wee and the she-wee) knowledge about the school.” We must admit that off the top of our head, we are completely clueless about the teaching of German at CCS. We do know that we took German in high school, but that was in Kalamazoo, Mich. which has absolutely nothing to do with any pre-WWI Cooperstown curriculum. But we are ever hopeful that we might discover the answer to this question without having to do a great deal of research. So if anyone has any thoughts on the teaching of German at CCS, please let us know. Haben Sie vielen Dank!

And finally, we received a telephone call from June Christman who thought we might be able to help her out, since she knows everyone reads this column, a fact that we might tend to disagree with as we can generally tell who does and who doesn’t. Nonetheless, June was concerned that she would not be able to properly thank everyone for all that has been done for her during her current illness. So she asked if we might be able to convey her gratitude to everyone for the support shown not only to her, but also to her husband Jim and the rest of her family. She said she has found it to be absolutely unbelievable. And she wants everyone to know how much it has meant to her. We assured her that we would do our best by saying “June sends a great big thank you to everyone!” And we assured her that we, along with all those other good souls, will keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

In closing, we thank Claire Kepner, Kit Byrd, Jan Kerr and June Christman for their help with this week’s column. You all made our return to Cooperstown just a little bit easier and for that we thank you.

We remain, In these Otsego hills, The Ellsworths

The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, by telephone at 547- 8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.