However, we were told we even though we were the first to identify a voting district, our voting district had to be verified by checking the list of voters. We asked if the person did not believe that after 25 years of voting in Cooperstown, always in district one, we actually knew what we were doing. However, it didn’t matter. We had to give our name, after which we were told that we were indeed correct and would be voting in district one. What we didn’t understand then, and still don’t understand now, is why, if our designation of voting district was not to be believed, were we asked which district we voted in in the first place. It quite left us disgruntled with the whole process.

However, after voting we felt we could redeem the day by taking in breakfast at the Vet’s Club. Unfortunately, we ran smack dab into another road block there. When we entered the Vet’s Club we were met with what we might be tempted to describe as a hyperactive paparazzo wannabe if it were not for the fact that we are quite certain that the all important celebrity aspect for such a situation was missing. Nonetheless, we felt assaulted by the photographer. In fact, we feel very strongly that in such situations, permission to photograph someone should be asked for and received before taking any pictures.

Fortunately, we found the morning to be somewhat salvaged by the great pancakes, sausage, applesauce, cider and coffee that was offered by the Rotary Club of Cooperstown. Thus, we left the Vet’s Club less disgruntled and were able to make it through the rest of the day during which we are happy to report no other pitfalls befell us.

We were quite surprised recently when we were plowing through the Nov. 5 edition of the Christian Science Monitor to discover, in a little blurb entitled "Etc ... College teams that refuse to lose," that 30 college teams are trying to win at least a third straight National Collegiate Athletic Association championship for their school. And, heading the list of most consecutive championships, is Kenyon College which has won 28 successive titles in men’s swimming and diving. We knew that Kenyon had a good men’s swimming team. But we hadn’t realized that they have won championships for 28 years in a row. And, upon checking with the wee-we, we learned all of those wins have been under the leadership of the same swimming coach, Jim Steen. Our congratulations go to the 28 teams which have made this somewhat impressive record possible.

And while on the subject of Kenyon College, we would like to mention an interchange that took place earlier in the fall between the set designer for the fall production of "Travesties" and Kenyon’s Department of Dance and Theater’s technical director, a.k.a the wee-we. The set design called for a kidney shaped desk. The technical director asked the set designer if a search was going to be made to try and find a suitable kidney shaped desk. The set designer replied that the desk would have to be built as no one would have a kidney shaped desk. The technical director then pointed out that that was not actually quite true as he knew for a fact that there is a kidney shaped desk located in the family room of 105 Pioneer St. in Cooperstown. He of course knew this as the desk, which originally belonged to his grandparents in Michigan, moved to Cooperstown following his grandmother’s death a number of years ago. Of course, we hasten to point out that a kidney shaped desk was built for the production as, not only were we not inclined to offer to loan ours, the wee-we was not inclined to ask to borrow it. Besides, from the pictures we received of the set, the desk which was built looked rather good and more than filled the bill for the production.

In closing, we have recently been involved in helping an older friend make the difficult move from an apartment here in Cooperstown, to an adult home in Richfield Springs. And, although we hated to have to help with such a move, we hated even more that task, which fell to us, of discontinuing service for a number of utilities. And although none of our efforts were particularly pleasant, we think our least favorite encounter was with the telephone company. Instead of the usual, for repair service, press one, for billing, press two and so forth, we discovered a robotic voice which wanted us to answer a number of questions in order to better help us. This might have worked had the robotic voice been able to understand anything we said. Unfortunately, it couldn’t. It kept telling us it was sorry it could not understand us.

Fortunately, it finally told us it would have to have us talk with a real person, which, of course, is what we wanted in the first place. So, should contact need to be made with the telephone company, we would suggest that in answer to the first question, a rousing rendition of "Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy. A kid’ll eat ivy too, wouldn’t you?" might work well to confuse the robotic voice, thus moving more quickly to a connection with a real person. And we might add that the irony of a lack of intelligent communication on the part of a company whose main business is communication was not lost on us. We suspect it will not be lost on others either.

We remain,

In these Otsego hills,

The Ellsworths

The Ellsworths may be reached by mail at 105 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, N.Y. 13326, by telephone at 547-8124 or by e-mail at cellsworth1@stny.rr.com. They look forward to hearing from you.