After all, this weekend is the 41st annual Cooperstown Winter Carnival which, as usual, is chock full of things to do and, if this year is anything like any other year, there will be plenty of people to do them. We must admit that we tend to shy away from Winter Carnival for the simple reason that it takes place in the winter, never our favorite season. In fact we think that winter is best viewed from inside where the temperatures don’t drop, the wind doesn’t blow and the ice is in the freezer.

However, we fully realize that there are a great many of people who do not agree with us on the state of winter and thus quite enjoy Winter Carnival.

However, this is not to say that there are not certain Winter Carnival activities in which we would seriously consider participating. And while most of those activities in which we might be interested are food related, we also know we would enjoy the Fenimore Quilt Club 2007 Show for two reasons, the first being that it is inside and the second being that we quite enjoy quilting. Of course, we are much more likely to partake of the food during Winter Carnival as it is only available during the Winter Carnival weekend. The quilt show, on the other hand, runs through the Feb. 25 at the Cooperstown Art Association Galleries, located at 22 Main St. The show is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. So if we don’t make it to that during Winter Carnival, we will be able to catch it later.

We also note that there will be another book collection on Saturday, Feb. 10. The Friends of the Village Library of Cooperstown will be collecting books, videotapes, CDs, and DVDs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. at the Village Library. All materials collected will be sold at the Friends of the Library’s annual book sale in July.

Proceeds from the book sale are used to fund a speaker program and summer children’s events, as well as the purchase of computers, books and furniture for the library. Donors who need help in bringing books to the library can contact Lynda Selover at 547-8192.

And while on the topic of books, we hasten to note that the next meeting of the Literary Discussion Group, sponsored by the Women’s Club of Cooperstown, will be held on Thursday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. at the Village Library. The book for discussion will be "Genesis: Chapters 1-3" from the Old Testament of the Bible. The meeting is open to the public.

We also note that next Women’s Club meeting, to be held on Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 2:30 p.m. in the Christ Church Parish House is also open to the public as long as the public is willing to participate in the program. Those attending are asked to bring the ONE thing, excluding husbands and pets, that, should they have to evacuate, they could not leave behind.

We, of course, are having a great deal of difficulty with this as we are unable to figure out how to transport the one thing which we would want to take with us, namely our house with all of its contents.

We personally find the ONE item limit to be somewhat difficult, if not to say unrealistic. Of course, we have never been in the position of having to evacuate, but our sister has, an experience we participated in via the telephone. [an error occurred while processing this directive]