And we think it is reasonable to assume that it did not make the people of Gambier happy either. In fact, we understand that even though the polls closed in Ohio at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 2, the last vote was cast in Gambier at 3:55 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 3. Obviously, there was some sort of snafu at the polling place.

Interestingly enough as we watched the election returns, we heard that the lines to vote in Ohio in both Franklin County and Knox County, where Gambier is located, were so long that permission was given by a judge to use paper ballots in those two counties. As the evening wore on, Tom Brokaw announced that there was a long wait to vote at Kenyon College. We, of course, already knew that given our roving reporter in Gambier. We are also happy to report that the wee-we was able to vote. In fact, he discovered that the polling place in Gambier housed two separate election districts. The one for Gambier proper, which included all the students at Kenyon College, was the district with the long line. The second district, for College Township, was the district in which the wee-we was registered to vote. So, once he figured this out, he went to the polling place, waltzed in, signed his name and voted. As he told us, his roof may leak and he can't drink the water at his house, but he can vote.

For a number of years now, area knitters have been making chemo caps for patients at the Hagar Cancer Center here in Cooperstown. The coordinator of this effort, Carla MacMillan, has told us that she is now being asked to also make the caps for Bassett patients in both Oneonta and Herkimer in addition to Cooperstown. Therefore, she is hopeful that she will be able to recruit more knitters for the program. Anyone who is interested in knitting chemo caps should contact Carla at 607-547-5368. It should be noted that all yarn is furnished for the knitting of the caps.

We have been asked to note that an Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service will be held on Sunday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at the Cooperstown Presbyterian Church on Pioneer Street. An offering of non-perishable food items will be taken at the service to benefit the Cooperstown Food Bank.

And, the Literary Discussion Group, sponsored by the Women's Club of Cooperstown will hold its November meeting on Thursday, Nov. 18 at 2:30 p.m. at the Village of Cooperstown Library. This meeting will be the group's annual book selection meeting to choose books for discussion for 2005. Those attending are asked to bring recommendations for not more than two books, both of which should come highly recommended from either personal experience or favorable reviews. For more information about the meeting please contact Pat Wilson at 547-1301 or Cathe Ellsworth at 547-8124.

Several months ago now, we received two items in the mail from former Cooperstonians, Gus and Linda Chiacello. When cleaning out in preparation for a move this fall, they found a copy of "My Experiences In France" by Lieutenant Irene Briggs, A. N. C. as well as a copy of a "German Phrase Book" dated Nov. 30, 1943 which we assume belonged to Miss Briggs although we have no proof of that. "My Experiences in France," which is a series of letters which Irene evidently had written home, was produced by the Otsego Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution of which Irene was an Associate Member. Needless to say we found the booklet most interesting especially in view of the fact that we have Irene's army cape in our attic as she gave it to the he-we absolutely years ago.

We also found the German Phrase Book to be of interest, but since it is marked restricted we are unable to share any information about the book. In fact, it clearly states on the cover that "The information contained in restricted documents and the essential characteristics of restricted material may be given to any person known to be in the service of the United States and to persons of undoubted loyalty and discretion who are cooperating in Government work, but will not be communicated to the public or to the press except by authorized military public relations agencies." Of course we can well understand the government not wanting just anyone to say "Die amerikanische Regierung wird Sie bezahlen." We thank Linda and Gus for thinking of us and wish to assure them that we will add these two treasures to our Cooperstown collection.

In closing, in addition to all the sewing that we did on our recent "vacation," we also were able to read the recently published book Morning Walk, A Journey of Discovery by local author Lona Smith. And we must say that we think congratulations are in order for Lona for the writing job she has done. We found the book to be a most enjoyable read and were, in fact, quite sorry to see it come to an end. We thank Lona for her addition to our vacation.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

Where nature smiles,

The Ellsworths

NOTE: 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.