Published: July 24, 2008 09:27 am         

In These Otsego Hills

Back in June of last year we wrote about the then newly established loading zones that appeared throughout the downtown area. The one which was established on the north side of Main Street, running east from in front of CVS, was originally in effect 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

At the time, we wrote: “In a conversation about the loading zones, we were asked if we thought one could park in the loading zone if one was actually loading one’s vehicle. For example, we suppose, if one were to park in the loading zone to pick up a pizza and, if one got a ticket, one could make the argument that after all, one was not actually parking but rather one was loading one’s pizza into one’s vehicle in what can only be described as a well marked loading zone. It is, we think, an interesting argument.”

We still think it is an interesting argument, even though the time frame for the loading zone has been substantially reduced, allowing two-hour parking at other than loading zone times. And obviously there are others who are still musing about loading one’s pizza, as we are the recent recipients of a red and white square plastic sign, suitable for dashboard display, which says quite plainly “Pizza ... Loading and Unloading.” We were told we would no doubt find it handy the next time we wanted to pick up a pizza at Sal’s.

And while we might always be up for picking up a pizza, now that the gauntlet has been thrown down, we must say we are not ready to place our order and rush to Main Street to try out our new dashboard display. It’s not that we are worried about whether or not the sign would work, thus avoiding a ticket. After all, the donor of the sign also offered to pay any ticket we might receive. We are far more concerned about motoring down Main Street this time of year and will hence put off the use of our sign until after Labor Day.

We received an e-mail from former Cooperstonian Doug Preston, who now lives in New Hartford, N.Y., in which he wrote: “I was sorry to note this past week the passing of two ‘honorary’ members of the CCS Great Class of 1965 (’honorary’ in the sense that they passed a portion of their scholastic careers with the class, but didn’t graduate with the class in June of 1965).áBoth were from the Mohawk Valley area.

“In the Observer-Dispatch of 7/16/08 was the obit of Gerald (Jerry) J. Carroll, 61, of Barneveld, born in the Bronx ... and (who) worked for 35-plus years for the Postal Service in Utica, where I ran into him for the first time in a long time several years ago ... No mention of time spent in Cooperstown, but I’m sure if you asked other 65’ers, they’d remember him.

“In the 7/10 C’town Crier was the obit of Edith Byrnes, also 61, who had been living in Ilion and was employed by Herkimer ARC.áI well remember Edith and her late twin sister Evelyn as late as Mrs. Wilmot’s 6th grade at CCS. I don’t remember when the Byrnes girls left CCS.” We thank Doug for sharing his memories of both of these individuals with us. While we had read the obit of Edith Byrnes, we did not know about Gerald Carroll. Doug also wrote: “On a lighter note, I enjoyed Jim Atwell’s suggestion that Cooperstonians be permitted to resume raising their own chickens.áNow there’s one for the NIMBYs to cluck and crow about. Nevertheless a few of us ‘old-timers’ can remember at least one chicken yard in the village, that of the Lee family on Eagle Street (just a couple of doors from Pitts Garage, another use that would set people off these days, too).” Doug is, of course, referring to Jim’s column “More from the Country Store,” which appeared in the July 3 edition of the paper. In that column, Jim wrote: “I have a gentle suggestion for the Cooperstown leadership. Consider dropping the prohibition on raising fowl in the village. Instead, establish a minimum lot size for doing it, and permit up to 10 hens. No roosters, since their cock-a-doodling can be really annoying, especially if several are at it.” And while we can understand the suggestion from an economic and local food source point of view, we hasten to point out that we believe chickens present the same problem that Jim mentions in his column regarding some turkeys, namely his dislike of “... the stench of the caged turkey poults. I do the smelling; they, passively, stink.” In fact, we well remember a story related about set construction at the former Cooperstown Playhouse located up the west side of the lake where the Glimmerglass Opera offices now are. Someone, who was a supporter of the playhouse, offered the used lumber to be found in a then unwanted chicken coop if someone from the playhouse wished to tear the building down and transport the lumber. Since budgets were tight, and one did not look gift lumber in the mouth, the offer was taken and the wood duly appeared at the playhouse and found its way into the next set. Unfortunately, in the heat of the summer, the aroma from that set nearly knocked the actors off their feet. And the stage manager was none too fond of it either. At that point efforts were taken to remove the smell from the wood. It was washed. It was bleached. It was set out in the sun to dry. It never gave up its smell and thus never appeared on stage again.

In closing, therefore, even though we know exactly where on our property we would locate our 10 hens, no roosters allowed, we tend to think that 21st-century Cooperstown would frown on what we suspect was fairly common earlier in the village’s history. Of course, given the price of everything, it is possible, we suppose, that moving back in time will be considered progress in the future. And, if doing so reduces the overall noise level, we would tend to think real progress had been made.

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.