|
Friday, December 8, 2006December 8 2006With Motels Full for HoF Induction, 1,000 Beds Sought in Private Homes COOPERSTOWN The Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce has issued a plea, asking the public to make available 1,000 rooms to meet the demand expected when Cal Ripken Jr. and other standouts are inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame next summer. Hartwick College has made 100 rooms available, and Chamber Executive Director Polly Renckens thanked the college for that, but said it won’t be enough: “Many more are needed.” “We have been fielding requests since the day Cal Ripken retired,” she continued, “and have now reached a point where our available inventory is pretty well depleted.” “People will be staying as far away as Albany (to the east) and Syracuse (to the west),” said Jeff Idelson, the Hall’s vice president of communications and education. “If the voting goes as expected, we are making preparations for a record or near-record crowd.” For a $40 fee, the chamber is offering to help homeowners through the inspection and bed-tax application, and to put a photo and description of available rooms on a special “induction accommodation” web site. With hotels and motels booked up and charging more than $300 a night, people offering rooms can expect $175 a night for two beds and a private bath; semi-private rooms bring somewhat less, Renckens said. On average, visitors stay three nights. If people want to rent out whole houses, that’s a possibility as well. In addition to the former Baltimore Oriole “Iron Man,” who holds the record for most consecutive games in a row, eclipsing Lou Gehrig’s record, former San Diego Padre Tony Gwynn’s consistent hitting record is expected to be next to Ripken next July 27-29 on the podium outside the Clark Sports Center. Within days of this year’s induction of 17 Negro League standouts, it was evident 2007 would be a banner year, perhaps surpassing 1995, when Philadelphia Philly Mike Schmidt brought out a record crowd. Or 1999, when Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Orlando Cepeda were among seven inductees. In 1999, Dreams Park was only hosting 30 teams a week; now that the number is closer to 100; that’s 15 players per team, plus an average of 3.5 adults. “I don’t think we’ve ever seen this kind of response,” Renckens said the other day. All local rooms are already booked, she said, as have 500 rooms outside the area. Judging from past experience, said Renckens, the phone will begin “ringing off the hook” when the 2007 inductees are announced Jan. 9 on the Hall of Fame web site; she wants to be ready for that, and isn’t right now. With a huge contingent of fans scheduled to make the trip from Maryland to Cooperstown to honor Ripken, and requests for space already coming in from Gwynn aficionados in California, hotels within a 100-mile radius will feel the demand, said Idelson. In comparison, this past July 30, when reliever extraordinaire Bruce Sutter was the only former Major League player elected, 11,000 attended the ceremony. This year, there’s anticipation that 700 to 800 media members will be credentialed and well over 200 buses will bring tourists. Dreams Park Solicits City In Alabama COOPERSTOWN Call it “Dreams Park: The Sequel.” The Dreams Park organization is asking Limestone County, Ala., and its county seat, the City of Athens, to build what the local newspaper terms “a massive, 25-field baseball complex ... to accommodate hundreds of youth teams that travel the country looking for a place to play.” If that sounds familiar, it should: Cooperstown Dreams Park in Hartwick Seminary, which opened in 1996, has 22 fields and attracts 1,152 teams per season between the middle of June and Labor Day. The big difference: The development here didn’t require public money. Athens and Limestone County are being asked to spend $2-3 million alone to buy the land, not to mention the construction. When complete, the Dreams Park organization, which is based in Salisbury, N.C. during the winter, would lease the complex from the local governments. Folks in the know in Athens and Limestone County were reticent to talk about the proposal, saying it’s very early in the game. Hugh Ball, president of the Limestone Chamber of Commerce, called the idea “just a possibility.” “I’m an industrial recruiter,” said Tom Hill of the Limestone Area Development Association. “We just don’t comment on anything until the company is ready to make an announcement.” However, Athens Mayor Harold Wales, contacted in Reno, Nev., where he was attending the annual conference of the National League of Cities, said city and county officials met with Hill, and the economic developer will now approach Dreams Park executives to try and set up a meeting around the first of the year. “We would have to know the cost; we would have to find the piece of property,” said Wales, emphasizing everything is premature. Mike Walters, Dreams Park spokesman, said the company’s president, Lou Presutti III, is leading the initiative, but he was out of town and unavailable for comment. While the site doesn’t have Cooperstown -- Lou Presutti Sr.’s dream was that “every kid in America should have the opportunity to play baseball in Cooperstown!” -- it would be located near a planned interchange on Interstate 65 near the NASA’s Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, according to the local paper, the Athens News-Courier. For his part, Marty Patton, owner of Cooperstown All-Star Village in West Oneonta, said, “I don’t know how successful it is without the Cooperstown aura.” That said, he was optimist the youth-baseball-tournament field will just continue to grow, so Presutti is wise to look to the future. “It’s the greatest sport, let’s face it,” said Patton, it’s regained its status as a “real pure environment” since the player strike in 1995, and parents believe the camps provide a wholesome environment for their boys. The World Is Discovering Dana Spiotta  By JIM KEVLIN CHERRY VALLEY Imagine. The phone rings and you’re told you’re a National Book Award finalist. “I was thrilled and surprised,” said Dana Spiotta, who received that call on a lucky Friday the 13th in October. “They tell you even before they tell your agent or editor.” But, then, there must have been many thrills for Dana this year since the publication of her second novel, “Eat the Document,” chronicling the secret life of a Kathy-Boudin-like radical on the lam after a botched protest ends in a death. The novel carries through to the 1990s, when the protagonist, in the suburbs with a teen-age son, is still hiding from her past. The reviews glowed. The New York Times’ Michiko Kakutani called it “stunning.” “With only her second book, Dana Spiotta has become, I think, a major American writer,” wrote Brett Easton Ellis. Readings and publicity appearances followed. She was interviewed twice on NPR, and in numerous other venues. The last month has been a whirl of activity, as she attended the awards banquet at the Marriot Marquis in New York City and read from her book at The New School, returning home to a big bouquet of flowers from her local friends, fans and customers. Then came more good news: The New York Times Book Review had chosen “Eat the Document” as one of its 100 Notable Books of the Year. The list was published Sunday, Dec. 3. This year’s National Book Award – it went to “The Echo Maker” by Richard Powers – comes with a $10,000 award. The four other finalists received $1,000 prizes, which is beside the point. “It’s a big break for me,” said Dana. “You dream about stuff like that happening.” When Dana Spiotta was a girl, her family traveled a lot. “My friends were my family – and my books and my records,” she said the other day during an interview in the front room of the Rose & Kettle, which she and husband Clem Coleman have run for the past six years; she as hostess, he as chef. Daughter Agnes, 2, wiggled on a chair nearby. Those travels – her father worked for Mobil – took the family to Rome for a year, where Dana attended a Catholic girls school. She calls it her “exile from suburban America” – no cliques, no money, no boys, no competition “about shallow things.” Her father shifted to the movie industry and the family moved to the West Coast, where Dana found herself at the arts-oriented Crossroads High School in Santa Monica. She was “very studious,” dressed in black, and, though living in L.A., never went to the beach. Following high school, Dana attended Columbia for two years, went back west to Seattle – the city figures in “Eat the Document” – and eventually finished her B.A. in 1992 at Evergreen State College in Washington State. She returned to New York City and went into the restaurant business, working mostly nights, which allowed her to write during the day. “I’m either going to do it or not,” she finally told herself, “and not stop until I’ve finished. I wrote every morning until it” – her first novel, “Lightning Field,” about a surfacey heroine, Mina, living in a surfacey life in L.A. – “was done. It took four years.” The reviews were good – “A striking, original and very funny debut,” said Publishers’ Weekly – but not so good as to set up expectations beyond reach. Mina has pieces of Dana, but isn’t Dana, said the author. “I tend not to write biographical fiction,” she said. “All the characters have pieces of you – but it’s not you – or anyone else.” About the time the book came out in 2001, Clem and Dana spent a weekend in Roseboom with two friends, Beep Brown and Becca Wright, and fell in love with the beauty of the area. The couple began operating the Rose & Kettle. “Our goal is to make food we feel good about – that’s also a pleasure to eat,” said Dana. Lately, Clem was particularly happy to find a local source of lamb. The restaurant is downstairs; the family lives upstairs. Two years ago, Agnes came along. Dana’s mother, Emy Frasca, moved to town with Dana’s stepfather to be near the granddaughter; the Frascas run Cherry Valley Wine & Spirits. Soon after arriving, Dana was back in her regimen, getting up at 6 a.m., making coffee and working for three hours. She doesn’t tend to talk about her writing while it’s going on. “If you talk about it too much, you lose the energy.” Said Clem, “When the assault–rifle and handgun catalogues came in, I knew there was something going on.” Dana is 40, too young to have experienced the counter-culture and anti-Vietnam War movement first-hand, although the Kathy Boudin saga played out during her 20s and 30s. “Paradoxical, contradictory” aspects of life that intrigue the author played into the development of Mary Whittaker, an activist who almost by accident finds herself in a new life, “a secret life.” “I wanted her to be an average person,” Dana continued, “and seem like an ordinary person even though she was in these extraordinary circumstances.” Like everyone, Mary makes decisions and can never go back. “I think most people are conflicted about the choices they’ve made,” she continued. “...Even in the luckiest life, there’s a lot of sadness. It’s a human experience.” There she is in Cherry Valley with “a beautiful life; a beautiful daughter,” she said, with a motion toward Agnes. “Some day, all of this will be gone.” But not yet. For now, the early morning regimen has resumed, and the evening duties: The Rose & Kettle is open weekends during the winter. “Eat the Document” recently came out in paperback. And Dana is considering teaching a writing class at the community center in the old school. “I don’t think of myself as a very ambitious person,” she said – yes, paradoxically, given her success and what is still to come. “I’m very engaged in my life.” 350-Pound Bear Felled By Hunter in Pierstown  By BREN MIOSEK PIERSTOWN After a weeks-long rampage through Pierstown bee hives and bird feeders, the suspected perpetrator has been brought to bay. David Bertram, a Cooperstown Central sixth-grade social studies teacher and multi-sport coach, went for a walk in the woods near his Pierstown home with his seven-millimeter rifle earlier this week, in search of a trophy buck or doe. He didn’t find any deer. Instead, as the waning daylight hours of Monday, Dec. 4, faded to dark, Bertram – adorned head-to-toe in camouflage – bagged a black bear rambling through a thicket less than 400 yards from his backyard. “I was just walking into the woods behind my house when I spotted him in an old apple orchard, about 50 yards away,” said Bertram. “I hit him with my first shot, but that only dropped him for a minute. He rolled over on his shoulder and started to get back up. That’s when I dropped him for good.” Bertram’s bear – the third shot in Otsego County since the season began on Nov. 20 – tipped the scales at an even 350 pounds, confirming the belief of Pierstown resident Paul Lord, who speculated two weeks ago that a big black bear was reeking havoc on his honey-producing bee hives. “This bear had been on a tear for awhile” said Lord. “He consumed 350 to 450 pounds of honey and pollen. Out of the 50 hives I had, I’m now down to about 30 because of him. I knew he was a big bear and I’d like to congratulate Bertram on a nice shot.” The two other black bears tagged in Otsego County this winter weighed-in at 180 and 225 pounds respectively. “I knew that bear was out there,” said DEC Nuisance Specialist Ray Key, who lives in Pierstown. “I’ve been after him for awhile. A few weeks ago I was hunting him at night, helping (Paul) Lord keep an eye on his hives, when I came within 40 yards of him. I fired a shot, and know I hit him, but he ran off. I got a feeling that when Bertram skins him out, he’s going to find an extra bullet hole.” An avid hunter since age 10, Bertram plans on adding his latest kill to a trophy room. “I’ve taken antelope, mule deer and elk in Montana, along with whitetail deer in Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and New Jersey,” said Bertram. Ironically, Bertram has ventured into the deep woods of Maine on six different occasions with professional hunters only to return home empty handed. According to Bertram, bagging his first big bear right in his own back yard makes the whole hunting experience that much sweeter. On Tuesday, Dec. 5, Gerry Golga, a DEC officer based out of Stamford, paid a visit to Bertram to confirm the kill. After extracting a tooth to determine the bear’s age, Golga presented Bertram with a state Bear Management Program patch. “It’s a big bear,” said Golga. “There’s no doubt about that.” Self-Written Obituary Causes Hometown Stir  When habitues of the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s obituary page settled into their armchairs a few days ago, they received a bit of a jolt.“With trumpets blaring,” they were told, “Zeus, god of gods,” had called Daniel Reed Porter III, 76, of Cooperstown, retired New York Historical Association president, “to His Heavenly Pantheon.” Porter “was reared on a small farm with his siblings in Worthington,” it continued. “Sickly as a child, his parents often contemplated drowning him in Watt’s Brook that flowed (trickled in summer) behind the house into which (the brook, not the house) they deposited other trash, sewage and cow manure.” No, it turned out, this was not a prank. Mr. Porter had written the obituary himself, handing it to his brother, Edward K., during a visit to their hometown of Worthington, Mass., five years ago. “This is my obituary,” he told Edward. “All you have to do is fill in the date.” “He was always one to have a self-deprecating sense of humor,” the surviving son, Drew, said of his dad. Be that as it may, the obituary caused quite a reaction, most of it positive, judging from “Talkback,” the Daily Hampshire Gazette’s blog. “I have a new hero!” wrote one blogger. “That is the best obit I ever read,” wrote a second. “I would have loved to have met this guy!” And a third: “It’s great to read something with this tone on what is usually such a dour subect, and reminds us not to take ourselves so seriously, even in death.” “The obituary has generated a lot of calls, e-mails and conversations in coffee shops and business offices,” reports Jim Foudy, Daily Hampshire Gazette editor. According to a conventional obituary provided to other newspapers, Daniel Porter was born July 2, 1930, Northampton, Mass., son of Daniel and Eleanor (Parsons) Porter; his mother was a revered school teacher in Worthington. He died Nov. 21. After high school, he received a B.A. – “without honors” – from the University of Massachusetts in 1952, then was drafted into the Army and sent to Korea, where “he had a tough time,” according to his brother. Before he left for war, his father, to keep young Daniel focused on the future, promised to give him 30 acres to farm when he returned home. “We were poor farmers, that’s what we were,” explained Edward. As the alternate obituary reports, he learned more in Korea than at college: “Never volunteer, be cowardly to survive, don’t circulate petitions and keep away from indigenous females. “Returning home ill-prepared for an occupation, he was strangely accepted by the University of Michigan Graduate School where he tried to prepare for an acceptable if not respectable occupation.” In 1958, he married Joan Dornfeld in Madison, Wisc.; she survives him at their Nelson Avenue home. A 35-year career followed as a museum and historical agency administrator and professor, or, as he put it, “He moved from state to state five times to keep ahead of his reputation.” He was director of the Historical Society of York, Pa., director of the Ohio Historical Society, and the executive director of the Preservation Society of Newport County, R.I. In 1978, he joined the Cooperstown Graduate Program in Museum Studies and, from 1982 to 1992, served as NYSHA executive director; today, the title is president. During his career, he served on the American Association of Museums Accreditation Commission. In addition to his wife, brother and son, he is survived by a daughter, Leslie, her husband, Edward Easton III, and their daughters, Erika, Caitlin, and Allison, of Coudersport, Pa.; Andrew’s wife, Amy (Pens), and their son, Reed; Edward’s wife Shirley (Smith); a brother-in-law, Al Leroux, and nieces and nephews. His sister, Janet Leroux, predeceased him. “There will be no final rites or any mumbo-jumbo,” he concluded. “He will not lie in state at the The Farmers’ Museum. His cremated remains will be scattered on Watt’s Brook. Memorial gifts will not be accepted and cards are a waste of money.” After his retirement from NYSHA, his brother said, Mr. Porter completed a history of Worthington, where he unearthed the names of all the original pioneers who settled 100-acre farms there. When the local historical society dedicated its new headquarters in a replica of an East Worthington colonial church, Dan Porter delivered the keynote address. Edward delivered this epitaph: “He was about normal to me.” Bailey May Help Ease Loss of Barclay COOPERSTOWN When Barclay the Basset, the unofficial Mayor of Main Street, expired after a long decline, Karen Leminster wasn’t sure she could do it again.But she has. When you stop by Rudy’s Liquor Store these days, you’ll see a pint-size version cuddling in her new owner’s arms or dozing in an easy chair under a blankie. It’s Bailey the Basset, and Karen sees mayoral qualities in her new pup as well. “I think she’s going to be very personable. She loves to be stroked and petted,” she said. Come summer, Karen plans to put a mat out in front of the store, just as she did for Barclay, and she hopes her new pup will be as friendly to tourists and passersby as her old friend was. Barclay had been a member of the Leminster family, along with Karen’s hubby Fred and the kids, Kim and Andy, for 14 years as the children were growing up. Before him, Bessie, also a three-tone basset, had been a Leminster for 12 years. After Barclay passed on in September, “weeks of grief and sorrow” followed, said Karen. The Leminsters put together a memorial in the plate-glass front window of their business, Rudy’s Liquor Store. Mayor Barclay had spent many a summer day on a mat on the front sidewalk – between an ice cream store and Schneider’s Bakery – greeting one passerby and all, and many sent condolence cards or stopped by to express their regrets. Karen wasn’t sure she could again make herself vulnerable to that kind of heartache. Still, their once-full home was very empty. In October, the Leminsters went to Florida to visit Kim and Andy. Kim reported many dogs evacuated from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina were still unclaimed; perhaps there was a dog there for her mother. Karen also checked “Basset Rescue” web sites, to no avail. Finally, Fred told her, if you don’t find a basset, I’ve always wanted a German shepherd. That galvanized Karen, and she called a basset breeder in Barneveld, north of Utica, to see if any litters were due, perhaps in the spring. As it happened, a litter of eight had arrived in October and there were three two-toned pups left. Karen visited and was hooked. Back in Cooperstown, she asked Becky Ericksen of Augur’s Books to look up “B” names for girls in one of those baby-name books. It turns out there weren’t that many, but “Bailey” seemed just right. And so it is. And there’s plenty for Bailey to look forward to, including a big backyard at her new home. Labels: Archives
Subscribe to Posts [Atom] |
|
 |
