We were interested to read about the Cooperstown Business Advancement Committee's plans to create "welcome packets" for newcomers to the area. Having just attended a Bassett Healthcare volunteer recruitment meeting, we immediately recognized the possibility of including volunteer opportunities at Bassett in such a "welcome packet."

A quick call to CBAC co-chair, Mary Ann Dietz, has us now asking for any and all area organizations to contact us if they would like to have their various volunteer opportunities included in the proposed packets. We request that information be e-mailed to us at gbecle@wpe.com. Please include a contact name and telephone number as well as the type of volunteer opportunities available. We will work with the CBAC in compiling the collected information into a listing of volunteer opportunities which can be included in the "welcome packets."

Although we are by no means an expert on newspapers, we have long been under the impression that the headlines are designed to give the reader an inkling as to the content of the article. However, from time to time we have found this not to be the case. An example of this would be a headline which appeared in a paper not long ago which read "Bassett awarded for being on guard." We found this most bemusing as we were under the impression that one had to be awarded something as in "Bassett awarded something for being on guard." We assumed, from the headline, that Bassett had received an award for increasing its security. At least that is what we got out of the headline. However, upon reading the article, we discovered that the expression being "on guard" did not, as we had assumed, refer to being in a defensive position but rather for allowing employees who served in various reserve units to leave when called upon by the government to do so. All in all, we discovered that just reading the headline was not going to give us an accurate understanding of the article. As a headline, it just did not make it.

We have learned that the Cooperstown Central School Class of 1958 will be holding its 45th reunion on July 19 at the Otesaga Hotel. Unfortunately, reunion organizers are having a bit of trouble locating quite a few of the class members.

If you are a member of the Class of 1958, or know someone who is, please contact Charlotte P. Koniuto by telephone at (607) 286-7522 or by e-mail at ckoniuto@stny.rr.com. Any help in rounding up the classmates would be, we know, greatly appreciated.

At a recent Literary Discussion Group meeting, which is sponsored by the Women's Club of Cooperstown, the question arose as to where the expression "to let down one's hair" came from. Everyone present was appropriately clueless. However, as the question was bantered about, it became obviously that not only did no one know where the expression came from, but also that there did not seem to be agreement about exactly what the expression meant. Some members felt it meant that one could speak candidly or frankly about something. Others felt it meant that a more casual or relaxed attitude could be taken. We must admit that we tended toward the casual or relaxed attitude meaning as we had never, as far as we can remember, encountered the speaking candidly or frankly meaning. After the meeting, since we were in a library, we consulted Barron's Dictionary of American Idioms which gave the definition as "Act freely and naturally; be informal; relax."

However, since we realized that there was such a difference of opinion about this expression, we have continued to ask various and sundry people what they think the expression means.

And, interestingly enough, we have gotten both the casual and relaxed attitude and the speaking candidly or frankly. As we were relating all of this most important experience to the wee-we, we asked him what he thought it meant. We were told in no uncertain terms that "to let one's hair down" meant one was going crazy. And when Melanie was asked, she concurred wholeheartedly with the wee-we's definition. Are there, we wonder, any other definitions? If so, please let us know. We suspect we may have stumbled upon one of the major problems of communication. Even those people who speak the same language, do not necessarily have the same understanding of that language. No wonder we don't understand each other.

In closing, when we heard about the horrific fire at the Thanksgiving Home, we were stuck once again with the fact that the Cooperstown landscape has so often been drastically altered by fire. By taking a simple walk down Main Street, one can easily identify where fires have taken their toll. And now it seems that we must add the Thanksgiving Home to the list. We can only hope that it will rise again from the ashes and continue to provide an excellent retirement home within our community. Our thoughts and prayers are with the residents who lost their home in this most unfortunate fire.

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.