Difficult as it is to believe, this week begins our 20th year of writing a weekly newspaper column. And we must admit to being sorely tempted to start recycling previous columns. We figure that if we can't remember what we wrote when, no one else will either. We would not, of course, stoop so low as to recycle an entire column. We would stick to just bits and pieces, a little here and a little there. We could probably slip it in so that even we wouldn't notice.

This holiday season we were asked how and why red and green became the colors of Christmas. We must admit that not only have we never been asked this question before, we also have no idea what the answer might be. Is anyone else less clueless than we are? Please let us know.

However, there is one area of the holiday season in which we feel we have done quite well, namely the area of not receiving a ton of catalogs. We seem to have that area pared down quite nicely. And we are hoping to increase our lack by not trying not to buy anything in 2003 from the catalogs we do receive.

We must admit though, that there are times when we do enjoy a good catalog. One in that category for this year would be the catalog from the Mount Herob Mustard Museum in Mount Herob, Wis. This year's catalog is done as a theater playbill, called the "Mustardbill," and features such great shows as "The Sound of Mustard," "Curator on the Roof," "Mustardtown the Musical," "The Best Little Mustardhouse in Wisconsin," "Annie Get Your Bun," "West Side Slather," "The Full Mustard," "Les Moutardes," "How to Succeed in Mustard Without Really Trying," and "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Museum." We found the catalog to be a riot.

But, the very best thing about the "Mustardbill" is that it actually was sent to our sister who then sent it on to us which means, of course, that she is on their mailing list and we are not. However, it is possible to receive a copy of this catalog via the website: www.mustardmuseum.com. And even though the catalog is not on the website, it is possible to view the cover of the catalog which is worth, in our opinion, a peak. Also it is possible to order on-line without the benefit of the catalog.

And, although we have managed to keep the majority of catalogs at bay, we have not been so successful with the county. We have received a reply regarding our question as to whether or not one could be removed from the lists which the county disseminates upon request. And, based on their research, the answer is no. Under the Freedom of Information Act the county is required to give such information to whomever desires it no matter what the intended use of the information might be. Nor is the county allowed by law to remove anyone from their lists. We, of course, find this to be rather ironic on several levels.

In the first place, governmental bodies can not suppress names on their various lists. Yet other list owners, such as catalog senders, are required by law to suppress names from their lists when asked to do so. Secondly, the county is required to release lists which can be used to send what we would consider to be junk mail. Yet, the county now finds it necessary to increase the solid waste fee as well as the tipping fee for garbage, which, we suspect, is exactly where the junk mail will go. We just don't get it.

We understand that congratulations and birthday greetings are due Mary Pangborn of Pioneer Street who not only celebrated her birthday in December but also her retirement as secretary/bookkeeper, a job which she had held for over 30 years, at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Cooperstown. It was reported that about 150 people gathered at St. Mary's on Dec. 18 for the festivities.

In amongst our holiday cards this year, was one from Carol Eurillo of Bainbridge, N.Y. Carol, who is a faithful reader of the column, for which we thank her, finds that through the column she is able to keep up on what is happening in Cooperstown during the winter when she is not able to be at the family's cottage on Otsego Lake. It is her plan that when they retire they will make their home in Cooperstown and hopes at that time to be able to meet us. We would encourage her not to wait but rather give us a call when she is next in the area. We always enjoy the opportunity to meet, for coffee or lunch or whatever, with our readers. After all, we can always turn such meetings into news for the column.

In closing, we feel that we know who to blame for our Christmas Day snow storm. It would be Melanie. On Christmas Eve she mentioned that, since she is from the south, it would be fun to see what 12 inches of snow looked like. Needless to say, she found out. In fact, we were unable to make the journey to Milford to partake of our usual Christmas dinner with the Bullards. And the wee-we spent a fair amount of time digging pathways in the back yard so that the Winnie dog could attend to business. Given her statue, she rather quickly found herself in over her head. It was certainly a good thing that Santa brought her a very stylish Fido Fleece Coat.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

Where nature smiles,

The Ellsworths

The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer Street, Cooperstown, NY 13326, by telephone at 607-547-8124 or by e-mail at gbecle@wpe.com. They look forward to hearing from you.