—
Once again this year we had the pleasure of watching the Fourth of July fireworks from the peace and comfort of Grace Welsh’s front porch, which is located just past the Clark Sports Center towards Bowerstown. Needless to say, many people question our judgment as to our choice of location from which to view the fireworks.
However, we have joined Grace on her front porch for what is probably upwards of 15 years and always find it to be a most enjoyable undertaking. Of course, since we started joining Grace for the fireworks, a number of trees have, not surprisingly, increased in height thus obscuring more of the fireworks display.
And this year, we also had to deal with the fact that, for whatever reason, Grace’s flower boxes have really gone to town, reaching heights which also made watching the fireworks a challenge. And while we have little hope of anyone being willing to top a number of trees to improve our view of the fireworks, we are hopeful that the flower boxes will not be quite so industrious next year.
However, in spite of the view, we nonetheless had a most enjoyable time and thank Grace for sharing her front porch with us.
Many years ago now, there was a little sub shop located on the west side of Otsego Lake. And one day when we, that would be both the he-we and the she-we, were out walking on Chestnut Street in front of the Cooper Inn, we were asked by passing motorists if we knew where that sub shop was. The he-we proceeded to explain that they should turn left on Lake Street and continue on that road until they came to Stiles Motel and the sub shop was across from the motel on the lake side of the road.
As they went merrily on their way, we told the he-we that they would never find the place using his directions. When he rather indignantly asked why not, we pointed out that while he might call the motel in question Stiles Motel that was not the name of the place.
Granted, at one time back in his youth it was owned by the Stiles family, but the motel was, and still is, actually called the Lake View Motel. It all comes under the category of never asking a native for directions because such directions will include something like turning at the pink house, which unfortunately hasn’t been pink for last twenty years.
Of course, we now have a very similar situation on our hands now. It is once again possible to purchase subs on the West Lake Road, a.k.a. Route 80, at the newly opened Mt. Wellington Market. And where might the Mt. Wellington Market be? We would tell you it is right across from the Deer Run Motel. Never mind that the Deer Run Motel is no longer the Deer Run Motel and if you plan on finding the Mt. Wellington Market by locating the Deer Run Motel first, your chances of doing so will be nil. Nor will it help you to be told that the Mt. Wellington Market is just past Beaver Cross as Beaver Cross is also no longer there.
Therefore, if you wish to enjoy a delightful lunch on the porch of the Mt. Wellington Market, we suggest you look for their sign, which will be on the left not long after passing the Otsego golf course, which is just across from where Beaver Cross used to be and just south of the former Deer Run Motel. And we would further add that the Mt. Wellington Market is not where TJ's used to be in Springfield Center.
We recently had the opportunity to lunch at the Mt. Wellington Market, and we found the experience much to our liking. Not only was the food very good, but the setting was perfect, far removed from the hustle and bustle of Cooperstown.
Plus, and this is a big plus, there is ample parking, the market is handicapped accessible and the owners are very pleasant.
All in all, we have added it to our growing list of places to eat. The market is open 7 a.m.
to 7 p.m. weekdays and 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. weekends. Because our spring vacation was somewhat more prolonged than we had anticipated, we found ourselves having to cancel a six-month check-up with our dentist. The appointment was rescheduled for last week which gave us great pause as the parking on Main Street is somewhat more doable the middle of May instead of the end of June. And while we had several offers of a ride to our appointment, we were stubborn enough to want to figure out how to get there on our own.
We knew if we could park close enough we would be able to simply use our cane. But, if we had to park further away, we would need to use our walker, the Red Rocket.
And that would present a problem as there is no place to park the Red Rocket at the dentist’s unless we wished to lug it up what we refer to as the stairway to heaven. And since we were not at all desirous of doing that, we hit upon the idea of asking Ellsworth and Sill if we might park the Red Rocket there while visiting the dentist upstairs.
Needless to say, Marti Jex, who owns the store along with her husband Ron, readily agree to help us out. And while talking with her, we discussed the need for walker racks, not to mention bicycle racks, on Main Street. However, we are not terribly optimistic about getting walker racks since the request for bicycle racks has been around for years.
Nonetheless, we do believe the time has come to review the issues facing those of us with physical disabilities who struggle to access Main Street. It certainly is not a new issue. Yet it is one which we think definitely could use a bit of attention.
And we think we would like to start with the Village Library Building which offers able-bodied vehicles the options of fifteen-minute parking, two-hour parking and all day parking while offering the handicapped vehicles the option of one thirty minute parking space. If anyone has any suggestions as to how to attack the issue, please let us know.
In closing, our quote of the week from Plato, ``Necessity, who is the mother of invention,’’ goes rather nicely we think with the old saying ``Where there’s a will, there’s a way.’’ And come fall, we fully intend to use both of them in our quest to improve accessibility to Main Street for those for those of us with mobility issues.
PLEASE NOTE: Comments regarding this column may be made by mail at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326, by telephone at 607-547-8124 or by email at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com.
Columns
In These Otsego Hills: Travels around town ...
- Columns
-
-
From Fly Creek: For help with the smug
I’ve been having much fun lately, friends, writing a short book called “Saints for Special Needs,” completely fictional characters whomight get us thinking about humanity—and ourselves, in particular. Here’s a sample. Let me know your reaction. (Oh, and I have a fine cartoonist to illustrate the book!) [Almost every culture has a place for “the wise fool,” the vacant sort of person who, in fact, has a witty and trenchant view of humanity, and may even see into its future.]
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: Still more from 1986
Early August found us asking the question, “Does anyone know when Edgewater was builtand by whom?” The answer, much of which came from Ralph Birdsall’s history of the village, appeared in the Aug. 13 column as follows:
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: Continuing on from 1986 ...
We continue this week by answering the question we asked if anyone remembers the old Cooperstown National Bank? On May 13, we wrote: “Martha Dickison, Delaware Street, called to tell us about the Cooperstown National Bank where she worked at her first ‘real job’ after her graduation from school.
Continued ... -
Up On Hawthorn Hill: Spring inventions
The second line of Lawrence Durrell’s novel “Justine” reads as follows: “In the midst of winter you can feel the inventions of Spring.” I first read all four novels of his magnificent Alexandria Quartet during the year I traveled from Saigon to Paris after working in Vietnam for a refugee organization for several years.
Continued ... -
From Fly Creek: Revving up for spring
Time to bring you up to date on Fly Creek’s happy clambering into Spring. First, the eatery scene. “Is Jerry’s open yet?” The answer is, “Oh, yes!” The porches are freshly stained; the lawns a uniform green, and the hop vines are already climbing the posts on the covered side deck. Blue and I went up there to lunch earlier this week, and I celebrated spring with my traditional bacon, onion and Swiss cheese hamburger. We two sat on the deck, enjoying the broad view and some spectacular clouds marching across, up toward Schuyler Lake.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: More from 1986 ...
This week we continue with the discussion of telephone service from the pre-dial days. On March 12 we noted that: “No one has yet produced a telephone directory from pre-dial days, but Doug Preston of New Hartford recalls that some business (which one?) in the village had the phone number 7.”
Continued ... -
Home Notes: Celebrations abound at the Thanksgiving Home
April was a month of celebrations and much to appreciate. We had a 90th birthday celebration for Wanda Noyes on April 4 including her family and friends. Personal care staff Dee Bouck worked with residents to hand paint Easter eggs for the tree in the activity room.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: 1986 continues ...
This week we continue our journey through the columns of 1986 with the answer to the question “for whom, according to tradition, was Hannah’s Hill named?”
Continued ... -
Book Notes: Baseball book features local contributors
Baseball is part of the nation’s fabric. Most kids have a memory of the game either from playing Little League, attending a major league contest or meeting a favorite player. In Cooperstown that feeling is magnified since we are the official home of baseball. We get to see firsthand what has made the sport the national pastime.
Continued ... -
From Fly Creek: Ya really wanna know?
SETTING: Fly Creek General Store. CAST: Assorted seated geezers, drinking coffee. [Door opens, enter heavy-set geezer; walking slowly with wide stance, maybe prostatitis.]
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: Returning to 1986 ...
For the past several years now we have undertaken sharing some of the area’s oral history we have collected over the years that we have written this column. Therefore, this year, we would like to go back to 1986 to share that rather unusual year. Those who were here then no doubt remember that it was that year that the village celebrated the bicentennial of its founding.
Continued ... -
From Fly Creek: For reasons unknowable
[Jim’s reached back to 2002 to share one of his favorite columns.] My father was born as the last century began into a river village in tidewater Maryland. He told me once of a man there in his boyhood who, like so many, made a thin living tonging for oysters in the cold months and, in the hot and humid ones, crabbing and raising vegetables.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: CCS balancing act ... side two
Last week we shared a number of activities in which students at CCS can participate. We thought it was an impressive, if not overwhelming, list. And we are indeed pleased that the young people of our area have these opportunities. However, we think it is also important to keep in mind that these undertakings do have a cost associated with them. They are not free. In fact there are, no doubt, those who would say they do not come cheap.
Continued ... -
From Fly Creek: A graceful crowd
Make of this what you will, friends. I feel I’m really meant to share it with you. Despite good medication for my Parkinsonism, every four or five weeks I can sensethe symptoms building up on me, giving me more than ordinary trouble. Lately it’s been falls, and last week brought a typical one. I’d gone out to get the paper, moving along with penguin steps on the snowcoved ice patches, and usingmy spike-tipped cane the waya climber uses an ice axe. But circumstances overcame me. Parkinson’s wipes out the possibility of multi-tasking.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: This and that and the other side ...
We note that the CCS Class of 2012 is presenting its senior class play, “Snow White” by Tim Kelly, this week with performances 7:30 p.m Thursday and Friday, March 29 and 30, and at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 31. All performances will be at the Nicolas J. Sterling Auditorium at the Middle/High School.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: That green thing ...
Of late we have noticed that our email inbox has been much busier than usual. In fact, we find ourselves hard pressed to keep up with all the various messages we receive. As a result we suspect we have not answered some in as timely a fashion as might be thought appropriate.
Continued ... -
From Fly Creek: What you need to know
In their last Sunday’s bulletins, all 84 churches of Otsego County were to have carried announcements of an important meeting; most of them did. But because the announcement is so important, and not just to the churched, here it is again.
Continued ... -
Book Notes: Living the magic of ‘Hoosier’
A lot of people consider “Hoosiers” the best sports film of all time. The 1986 classic follows the exploits of a fictional small town Indiana high school basketball team in 1952 as it attempts to achieve the impossible dream of a state championship. The story is inspired by the true life achievement of the 1954 Milan team, who with an enrollment of only 161 students shocked big city power Muncie Central on a last second shot to win the state title. It’s the kind of sports story that represents something that is hard to grasp unless you live in a small town.
Continued ... -
In These Otsego Hills: The most perfect village... home to heavy industry?
We suspect we would get a whole lot more accomplished if we spent less time thinking, pondering and musing about things. In fact, there is a good possibility we might actually have completed our goal of cleaning the basement if we only focused on the task at hand, instead of trying to figure out the world around us. It almost makes us wonder if it is possible to think too much about things. We certainly hope not because should that be the case, we are in deep trouble.
Continued ... -
Up On Hawthorn Hill: The past in the present
Clichés abound about the value of photographs. Most are probably true at least to a certain extent. What I do know about an image is that it represents something of the past that is not the pastitself. But that is the power of any image. It represents something that once was. The beauty of an image, revisited, is that it functions as a catalystfor reliving in the present a past experience. My own view, one that I thank the Spanish writer Jorge Luis Borges for, is that all we ever can experience is the present.
Continued ...
-
From Fly Creek: For help with the smug
