This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting two prospective students for the Cooperstown Graduate Program, Mark and Robert. At least we think it was Mark and Robert although it might have been Mike and Richard or maybe Mike and Robert or Mark and Richard. We readily admit to not being good with names.

However, in spite of our confusion over their names, they were delightful guests. And we quite enjoyed hearing about their reaction to the graduate program interview process in particular, NYSHA in general, and the community at large.

We were interested to learn about the availability of apartments from September through May, due, we suspect, to the whole Dreams Park rental situation. We are quite sure that this has always been the case as we well remember a former graduate program student who rented a room, if we remember correctly, in Graystone. So we gather that the housing options have improved in recent years.

We were also happy to hear about the "night life" in Cooperstown, an area which we must admit that in our 22 years here, we have never explored. One place in which the interviewee group gathered informally closed promptly at 10 p.m. on Friday night. But they were able to move to another location from which they, nonetheless, returned shortly after midnight. It reminds us of the time that the wee-we announced about nine o'clock one evening that he was going to make a trip to Stagecoach Coffee. The he-we told him in no uncertain terms that wee-we was not. The wee-we became quite defensive about that pronouncement until he learned that the reason he was not going to Stagecoach Coffee was that, at that time, it closed at five o'clock.

We thank our two visitors for their insights and we also thank the graduate program for thinking of us when they found themselves in need of lodging facilities. For a number of years before his death, the he-we participated in the graduate program's orientation session by offering the incoming students a walking tour of the village. And since a walking tour is definitely not our forte, we were most happy that we too could help with the program by providing lodging.

Not long ago we included a piece in the column about the difficulty one Cooperstonian encountered with a neighbor's alarm clock. In response, Bill Fleischmann, of Plymouth, Michigan and long time friend of the Ellsworth family, wrote "I don't have neighbors near enough to hear their alarm clocks in the summer months. My problem is hearing each of the boys' alarms, through several snooze cycles, since they have to be out of the house by 6:45 a.m. to get to high school on time, and I don't. Interestingly, Jay - whose room is farthest from ours, but whose alarm is by far the loudest - does have a cell phone which he plugs in near his bed to recharge overnight..." It sounds as if Bill must suffer with a number of annoying things, not the least of which is, no doubt, two boys in high school. We always thought one was quite enough, although we must admit that since we know both Jay and Adam we can't imagine they prove too difficult, once one gets beyond the alarm clocks.

Bill also took us to task about our thoughts on signing a funeral home guest book on line, something about which we were less than favorable in a previous column.

Bill writes: "Of course, a handwritten note to the bereaved family would be an appropriate avenue of expression, and yet it is certainly the case that one might both send such a note and enter something into the guest book on-site at the funeral home. The two are not mutually exclusive, the guest book being a more public expression, available to all mourners. Yours, ever vigilant in the net's defense, Bill." And although we well understand Bill's point of view, we hasten to point out that he must remember that he is in another generation which is no doubt more in tune with the internet and its various uses. Some of us old fogies, a category into which we easily fall, are simply too old fashioned and too set in our ways to wholeheartedly endorse that of which we know so little.

Besides, we hate to think of losing the personal touch which comes with seeing someone in person or talking with them on the telephone. Somehow the internet and e-mail seems so very disembodied and thus we are always surprised when it works. Nonetheless, we thank Bill for staying in touch via e-mail as it is always good to hear from him.

In closing, we must note that we think the Cooperstown area is simply overrun with talented people. For two weeks now, first with the Cooperstown in Lights II performance and then with the Fly Creek Philharmonic's production of "For the Birds," we have enjoyed two evenings of great entertainment thanks to the hard work and dedication of any number of people from the area. We thank them all for a job well done and look forward to seeing them all on stage again in the future.

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 cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.