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WEEKEND’S
BEST BETS
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THURSDAY-FRIDAY, September 27-28, 2012
LIGHTS ON!
AllOTSEGO.life AFTER 150 YEARS, HYDE HALL’S INNOVATIVE CHANDELIERS REHUNG
Ian Austin/
“Knuckleball,” a film by Rickie Stern and Annie Sundberg, opens the Baseball Hall of Fame Film Festival at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 29.
‘Knuckleball’ First Pitch At Hall Film Fest
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elebrate the Boys of Summer this fall at the seventh annual Baseball Film Festival. Six films a day, free with museum admission. $19.50 adults, $12 seniors, $7 kids. 7 p.m. Friday, Sept 28, 10 a.m. Saturday-Sunday, Sept 29-30. Baseball Hall of Fame, 25 Main St., Cooperstown. Info, schedule, (607) 547-0287, www.baseballhall. org.
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Jim Kevlin/
Joel Paradis, a tinsmith and antique lighting expert from Westmoreland, near Utica, relights Hyde Hall’s once-futuristic vapor-light burners for the first time in 142 years. It happened at dusk Saturday, Sept. 22, during the annual National Conference on Historic Lighting at the National Historic Landmark on Otsego Lake. In top left photo, Paradis and Jeremiah Rusconi, a craftsman from Hudson, prepared to reattach the chandelier to Hyde Hall’s diningroom ceiling the day before.
LADIES IN ‘LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN,’ INDEED
As ‘Girls’ Return, Many For Last Time, Tears, Laughter Punctuate Visit To Hall By LIBBY CUDMORE
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By LIBBY CUDMORE HYDE BAY
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COOPERSTOWN or Laura Moellering, the annual All American Girls Professional Baseball League reunion is more than a chance to see old friends: It’s a time to hear stories about her mother, Rita Meyer, shortstop and pitcher with the Peoria Red Wings in 1946-50. “I love hearing stories about my mother,” she said. “About how they would sneak beer on the bus. Or how, one time, my mother was so homeHall of Fame sick that they drove President Jane home, had breakfast Forbes Clark at my grandmother’s welcomes “the kitchen table, then girls” back. drove back and confessed to their chaperone what they’d done.” Twenty years after “A League of Their Own” brought nationwide recognition to the All American Girls Professional Please See LEAGUE, B3
In 1830s, George Hyde Clarke’s Light Fixture Was Cutting Edge
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Jim Kevlin/
Laura Moellering hugs Maybelle Blaire, who played with Laura’s mother, Rita Meyer, as part of the All American Girls Professional Baseball League.
or the first time in 142 years, Hyde Hall is filled with light from once-futuristic chandeliers. “It’s a dramatic moment,” said Jon Maney, executive director at the National Historic Landmark. “They were last hung in 1870. You’ll never see anything like this again.” The chandeliers were lit at dusk Saturday, Sept. 22, during the annual National Conference of Historical Lighting, and attendees toasted the occasion with champagne and sat down to dinner in an atmosphere that harkened back to the mansion’s 19th century heyday. Adding to the light were silver candelabra from Merchant-Ivory films, courtesy of Jeremiah Rusconi, a craftsman from Hudson who was also a set
Rusconi adjusts one of the chandeliers from the top of a step ladder while Paradis looks on.
designer for “Room With A View” and “Howard’s End.” “Imagine the table, set with china and silver candlesticks,” Maney said. “That’s what we’re trying to recreate.” The chandeliers are outfitted with very rare vapor-light burners, which use a “burning fuel” of five parts alcohol to one part turpentine, poured into a ring reservoir. The four small holes in the burner release the vapor which, Please See FIXTURE, B2
GOOD LUCK: “Luck of the Draw” exhibit, fundraiser: 80 tickets will be sold for $80 each; winner will go home with one of 80 donated pieces of art. Also displayed, “Art Teachers: Past and Present.” 11 a.m.-4 p.m., reception 5-7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 28, Cooperstown Art Association, 22 Main St. Info Janet Erway, (607) 5479777, www.cooperstownart. com. COOKING WITH FIRE: “Woodstove Cooking: Preparing a Farmhouse Meal.” Learn basics of cooking on Hanford Mills Museum’s Royal Bride wood-fired cookstove. Savor the meal prepared. $45 members; $55 nonmembers. 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept 29, at the museum, 73 Cty. Hwy. 12, East Meredith. Info, (607) 278-5744, X-205; info@ hanfordmills.org BEER, BIKES: “Drops to Hops” bike race, 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 29, starts and ends at Brewery Ommegang, 656 Cty. Hwy. 33, Cooperstown. $40. Info, (607) 544-1800. DUCK DERBY: Cooperstown Lions Club’s fourth annual Duck Derby Race. Prize to winner. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 29. Races start at 11. Also Sunday, Sept. 30. Fly Creek Cider Mill, 288 Goose St, Fly Creek. Info, Rich McCaffery, (607) 547-5256.
THREE BANDS: The
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with special guests Just Throw Money and Horseshoe Lounge Playboys. 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept 30. The Oneonta Theatre, 47 Chestnut St., Oneonta. $30. Info, (607) 965-6032.
THE FREEMAN’S JOURNAL • HOMETOWN ONEONTA EVERY HOUSEHOLD, EVERY WEEK IN ONEONTA, WEST ONEONTA AND COOPERSTOWN