That is, however, but an excuse. In reality, the truth is that we are simply not very good at decorating a wreath. Each year we vow we will not do another wreath the following year and will instead do something with a needle and thread that will adorn a door. And while our intentions are good, the Saturday after Thanksgiving seems to come earlier and earlier each year.

Thus, we have done another wreath, this one featuring the 2008 Calendar done by the Women’s Club of Cooperstown.

The calendar has pictures, all done by Lady Ostapeck of Fly Creek, of members of the Women’s Club. We find it to be an absolutely delightful calendar which we intend to add to our collection of printed Cooperstown memorabilia. And this is not, we hasten to point out, just because we can be found in the month of April. And while we certainly hope any number of people will bid on our wreath because of the calendar, we also would like to point out that additional copies of the calendar are available in Cooperstown at Augur’s Bookstore, Ellsworth and Sill and the Village Cobbler and in Fly Creek at the General Store. Proceeds from the sale of the wreath will go to the Cooperstown Art Association while proceeds from the sale of the calendars will go to the Helen Hale Scholarship Fund.

We would also like to point out that, since we were asked to do so, we would only be too happy to autograph, on the April page of course, any and all calendars. This is not something we had thought of and were quite surprised when we received the request to autograph a calendar. I do believe the person who asked us would actually like to get everyone in the calendar to autograph her copy. Perhaps a calendar signing is in order. We shall pass it by the powers that be in the Women’s Club and see what the thinking about such an event might be.

The next meeting of the Literary Discussion Group, sponsored by the Women’s Club of Cooperstown, will be held on Thursday, Dec. 20 at 2:30 p.m. The group will meet in the Christ Church Parish House Library, which is on the second floor of the Parish House, located at 69 Fair St. in Cooperstown. Those attending are asked to bring cookies to share at the meeting. Beverage will be provided. The book for discussion will be "Wish You Well" by David Baldacci.

Members of the Literary Discussion Group have chosen their reading list for 2008. Upcoming dates and the attendant books are Jan. 24, "Atonement" by Ian McEwan; Feb. 28, "Father Joe: The Man Who Saved My Soul" by Tony Hendra; March 27, "The River of Doubt: Theodore Rossevelt’s Darkest Journey" by Candice Millard; April 24, "A Woman in Jerusalem" by A.B. Yehoshua; May 22, "The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards; June 26, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror and the Future of Reason" by Sam Harris; July 24, "Ender’s Game" by Orson Scott Card; Thursday, Aug. 28, "Lost Horizon" by James Hilton; Sept. 25, "Utilitarianism" by John Stuart Mill; and Oct. 23, "Rector’s Wife" by Joanne Trollope. The meeting on Nov. 20 will be the planning session for book selection for 2009 while for the Dec. 18 meeting those attending are asked to bring a book of poetry from which to read a favorite poem. All meetings are at 2:30 p.m. and are held in the Village of Cooperstown Library, except for the meetings in June, July, August and December which will be held in locations to be announced.

In closing, more than one person has wondered why we did not have a column in last week’s paper. Actually, we did. Unfortunately, because such things happen from time to time, it appeared on page two under the headline of "South Valley" instead of under "In These Otsego Hills." We hasten to point out that since starting to write this column in 1984, we have never not written the column each week. Of course, don’t think that there haven’t been times when we might have preferred to have been doing something else. So, there is yet another column this week, which we trust is appropriately entitled "In These Otsego Hills."

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.