In These Otsego Hills

June 12, 2008 08:50 am

— We are pleased to announce that the wee-we, Christopher, and the weeshe, Annie, are now officially wed following a ceremony at the wee-she’s parents house on Martha’s Vineyard. Although originally planned as an outdoor wedding in the front yard, the actual ceremony, due to an unpleasant weather forecast of thunderstorms, lightening and high winds, was moved into the house. And although, given the numbers in attendance, it was quite a tight fit, it nonetheless seemed to work well, starting off what was to be a most enjoyable celebration of the marriage. Of course, the unpleasant weather forecast, with the exception of the high winds, was never realized which was quite all right with us. We traveled from Cooperstown to Martha’s Vineyard the Wednesday before the wedding, leaving almost at the crack of dawn in order that we not miss the all important ferry reservation.

And we must admit we were successful. In fact we arrived at the ferry dock two hours before our appointed departure time.

Fortunately, we were able to get on the next ferry, thus arriving on the Vineyard before our original departure time. Interestingly enough, on our return trip we arrived at the ferry dock just as a freight ferry was departing and once again we arrived at our destination well before our original departure time. We are quite certain, however, that the time of year had something to do with our luck with the ferries.

Our responsibility for the celebration was, of course, the rehearsal dinner. Per instructions we received from the bride and groom, we hired Bill Smith’s Martha’s Vineyard Clambake Co., specialists in clambakes and catering. The menu included New England Clam Chowder, Maine Lobster with melted butter and lemon wedges, or, for those otherwise inclined, Herb Roasted Chicken, Steamed Clams and Mussels, Baby Red Bliss Potatoes steamed in their own jackets, Sweet Corn on the Cob, Linguica (a mild Portuguese sausage), Pearl Onions, Cole Slaw, Rolls and Butter, Watermelon and Fresh Brewed Coffee. We loved every bit of it. We were somewhat distressed, however, to discover that a number of the guests had never before encountered a whole lobster and thus had no idea where to begin. Fortunately, those who did have a working knowledge of lobsters came to the aid of those who didn’t.

All in all, we thought it to be a great evening highlighted, in our opinion, by the shirt that was sported by the wee-we’s good high school buddy, Andy Bullard. Andy’s wife Randi found the weewe’s ninth grade CCS band picture online where we understand the wee-we had willingly put it.

Randi downloaded the picture, printed it onto fusible paper and ironed the resulting picture onto a white tee-shirt which Andy then wore, tastefully hidden under his button down shirt, to the rehearsal dinner. Upon request, however, Andy would show off the band picture laden shirt much to our delight and, we suspect, the wee-we’s horror.

We are also happy to report that Bella, one of the wee-we’s and wee-she’s English bulldogs, served as ring bearer for the wedding. The rings were attached to her collar and she was led into the ceremony by Erin, sisterin- law of the bride, who did one of the readings for the service. Bella, who had been standing around for at least and hour and a half before the wedding waiting for her turn at the picture shoot, seemingly decided the ceremony would be a great time to catch a cat nap, which, as far as we could tell, she did. Nonetheless, she performed her duties admirably. And certainly she was a better choice for the role than Barnaby, the other English bulldog, would have been.

Before the reception, which was held in an enormous tent in the back yard, began, the wee-we and weeshe explained that there were no wedding favors on the tables for anyone. Instead of such favors, they had decided to make a donation to the ALS Association (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is often referred to as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease) in honor of their good friend, mentor and teacher who could not make it to the wedding as he is fighting the good fight back in Gambier, Ohio. Not surprisingly, this announcement was met with a thunderous round of applause lead no doubt by the many Kenyon people in attendance. During the reception, we were treated to two toasts, one by the bride’s Uncle Pat and the other by the bride’s father, Hal. Uncle Pat chose to tell about a time when the whole family was at Big Moose, partaking of the Sunday night buffet supper. At the time, Annie was only tall enough to see food in those food dishes in which the food was piled higher than the edge of the dish. When she got to the table after going through the buffet, she noticed that her father had a potato while she did not. Without any hesitation she speared the potato and plunked it on her plate. When her father asked what she was doing, she replied that she was sharing. Uncle Pat’s advice to the wee-we was to always take two potatoes. The bride’s father in his little speech explained that the groom’s father, a.k.a the he-we, always wore shorts no matter the weather. And consequently, in memory of his father, the wee-we wore shorts at the wedding. We were most pleased by Hal’s explanation and only wished we could have added the story of the time the he-we was in Church & Scott when someone realized he was actually wearing long pants.

This person took one look at the long pants and announced that the weather forecast must be worse than he knew and thus he was rushing right home to hide under the bed. We were most pleased that the wee-we wore shorts and that the he-we was remembered. After all, had he been here, he would have greatly enjoyed it all. In closing, we must admit that after the food, our second most favorite part of the wedding reception was the “photo booth.” Set up in the family room, the photo booth presented an opportunity for anyone to take whatever selfportrait was desired. The Ellsworth family, now officially numbering three, naturally choose to take a selection of family portraits including the one in which the family put its best side to the camera. Unfortunately, we do not yet have a copy of the photo so we are unable to share it at this time. However, we certainly hope it turned out as we, for whatever misguided reason, left our camera in our suitcase the entire weekend. Thus, no one will have to suffer through any pictures that we took of the event. Of course the possibility of seeing any, or all, of the thousands of pictures that were taken still exists. Forewarned is forearmed.

We remain, The she-we, the wee-we and the wee-she,

In these Otsego hills and elsewhere, 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.