Chuck Ricker always tucks his tie into his shirt for work because he "nearly got strangled" once when someone he was carrying hung from it.

The story tells a lot about the eccentric and enthusiastic personality of Ricker, known to many as "Chuck" on Oneonta's WDOS radio station.

Nineteen years ago, Ricker began a relationship with Glimmerglass Opera as a volunteer usher and fund-raiser.

"I'm known for helping handicapped patrons into the house," he said. "I'll carry them right in."

Ricker's last opera season is winding to a close. He retired from the job and his other occupation as radio host so that he can "go anywhere a military plane can go." Ricker, who is retired from the Navy, flies for free.

Ricker said he has made many contacts on behalf of Glimmerglass Opera for the purpose of seeking funds and advice.

"I spent a lot of time in Washington D.C. when Glimmerglass Opera was in its infancy," said Ricker. "So while I was down there I went to a bunch of different places to tell them about Glimmerglass Opera and what they were doing there."

Ricker visited the National Endowment for the Arts, National Public Radio, National Endowment for the Humanities, Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Agriculture. Ricker worked in tandem with Rene Prins, an oboeist, who spoke from the creative side while Ricker took an economic angle.

"The Department of Agriculture gives money for non-agricultural projects if they're in an agricultural town," Ricker said. "Cooperstown? Too rich. Try Richfield Springs. They can benefit from the proximity of Glimmerglass Opera."

Ricker questioned various organizations about their success with grantwriting. He credits the favorable response he garnered to "amateur enthusiasm." He still sends a Glimmerglass Opera program to a contact at PBS and receives a note back each year. "That's how you keep it going," he said.

On July 18, 1986, Glimmerglass opera received a letter from Ronald Reagan after Ricker extended an invitation the president's way.

"What would we do without music," Reagan wrote, "and what would America do without baseball? Our gratitude goes to Cooperstown for the gift of our national pastime, or maybe I should say our national passion?"

Reagan then went on to say that a "baseball fan at the White House" took a few liberties with "Casey at the Bat," resulting in the following poem:

"Oh! Somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light; And somewhere families fill their lives with happiness and mirth, And that somewhere is Cooperstown, where baseball found its birth."

In 1985, Glimmerglass Opera's current house was being built on a former turkey farm and Ricker was settling into his role as volunteer usher.

"It's a combination of their special need and physical strength," he said. "I get tips but I give them all back to the opera. So far this season I made $56. I don't feel I ought to keep tips. Other volunteers at the opera work too, you see."

Ricker said he's most known for "Potty Patrol."

"Once the men's room dies down at intermission, I close it off and let the women use it because their lines are much longer. One time one of the men complained and I said 'We'll gladly accept your $50,000 check for a new men's room,"' Ricker said.

Glimmerglass Opera's administrative director Jeryl Dropp said Ricker, who received the Usher of the Year Award on Sunday evening, will be greatly missed.

"He's just so good at assisting our physically challenged patrons," she said. "He's really outgoing. We're very sad to see him go."

Ricker's three radio shows, Feature Time, Show Time and The New Orleans Jazz Show, will also end soon. He interviews community musicians, arts, cultural, public service organizations, educational groups and writers for the programs. His most notable interview, he said, was with a prince and princess from India, in town on a fundraising effort for a school in India started by Dr. Ashok Malhotra of Oneonta.

"It's a school for low-caste girls in Rajastahan, where I did my Ph.D. work in information flow study for agricultural extension officers," Ricker said. "The princess talked for fifteen minutes straight about education being the secret to success, and the need to educate low-caste girls. People come on to spread the word about what they're doing."

His shows have been well received. In a Cooperstown Concert Series newsletter, freelance writer Jane Johngren wrote, "Chuck Ricker...singlehandledly does more to promote the arts in our area than just about anyone we know."

Ricker said that opera administration is "super about thanking their volunteers." In 1997, they named Ricker their "Unsung Hero."

"Last year, I got a 'Hell on Wheels' award from the opera," Ricker said. He gets to attend shows for free, he said, and witness the evolution of the opera.

"The increase in the level of quality has been amazing," he said.

Ricker said he plans to be on the next military flight to Australia.