Slip sliding away...

Tuesday 10:10 am


Wednesday 10:10 am (And DPW workers make how much per hour?)

No, sometimes they don't.

So I’m rarely if ever stunned into silence by a reporter –especially when my caller ID gives me a few seconds advance warning.

I knew something was wrong late this morning when I answered the phone (something I don’t always do) and she robotically rattled off: "Phyllis Lehrer, Daily Hampshire Gazette/Amherst Bulletin,” …pregnant pause--and way more personably, "How are you Larry?”

I’ve only known Phyllis for, oh, 25 or 30 years--and after the first 10 or 15 she stopped rattling off the routine, ‘on the record’ reporter ID (besides, she’s a columnist). Phyllis wanted to discuss the sudden, tragic death of Eugene O’Neil, age 47, a former business neighbor of mine in South Amherst for many, many, years. And that stunning news was news to me.

He opened the Amherst Ale House, a townie bar, in South Amherst after Lenny Pratt moved his (townie) package store a couple hundred yards down the road. Back then (the late 1980's early 90’s) I was working 70-80 hours a week, as was he, so we would cross paths at least daily (not too mention nightly).

We had that mutual respect that comes from common folk working long and hard at what they love to do.

But then in 1999 we parted ways. I was a loud spokesperson (back when I only had a Amherst Bulletin Column) for the smoking ban in bars. Amherst inaugurated its ban just after the Northampton Board of Health crumbled under the withering fire of bully barowners.

At the time the Amherst Board of Health committee chair was a female physician (perhaps 99 pounds soaking wet); and when a consortium of male barowners dared to use a Martin Luther King Jr. quote to kick off their aggressive ‘repeal the smoking ban campaign’ I engaged full throttle.

The ban, just barely, held. Gene sold his beloved bar business, and I’m sure by the glares he gave me over the past ten years that he partially blamed me.

Last September his twins started attending the Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in the same class as my 7-year-old daughter Kira. We had one of those awkward moments while picking up our kids when for a brief moment neither of us knew quite what to do.

I tentatively held out my right hand saying, “No hard feelings?” And, smiling, he shook it and responded in kind.

When Phyllis called I was heading out the door to pick up my 2-year-old daughter, who will also someday attend the Chinese Charter School. Jada had just yesterday started partial daycare at a state approved home in Hadley and I’m told the second day is the worst.

When I arrived, still reeling from the awful news, the sweet caregiver was cradling my somewhat distraught daughter whispering, “See, I told you: Daddy’s always come back”.

Let's hear it for "The A Team"

Well hey, at least the town mangler designated the original July 4’th Parade Committee , you know, the Good Guys (and Gals) as the A group. Because, of course, they are.

Now there's a term you will only hear in Amherst: An "alternative" July 4'th Parade Committee.
As I pointed nine months ago, when I first uploaded this clip (turn up your volume at the very end): no desks or chaired were injured during my exit.

Golf anyone?

I gotta start arriving early for the Select Board meetings! Last week, knowing the July 4’th Parade issue was a 7:40 PM timed item, I snuck in around 7:30 PM.

And I even had someone tape the entire meeting starting at 6:30 pm and put it on a DVD so I could create the clip I posted last week. But even that did not record the little joke of the town manager testing his microphone (must have picket it up from President Reagan) about Amherst “buying another golf course.”

Of course the not so funny thing is he managed to get ink in both the crusty Bulletin and today’s highly read ‘Cries and Whispers’ column in the Springfield Republican. And both of them fell for the argument (only made by Shaffer) that the golf course has become more successful.

Currently Cherry Hill year-to-date revenue stand at an anemic $110,000. Dan Engstrom, who ran the course for twenty years until mysteriously disappearing almost two years ago, told the Select Board the easy way to estimate an entire year’s revenues is simply double the amount at Fall closing, thus a total intake of $220,000.

This year (FY09) Cherry Hill has an operation budget of $208,000 a brand new capital item costing $22,000 (lawn mower) and employee benefits and insurance hidden in another budget of $25,000. So just to break even the golf business needs to intake $255,000.

And that of course does not include the $30,000 guaranteed opportunity income from Niblick Management’s privatization offer, hastily rejected by the Town Mangler.

I even question if they will hit $220,000 because Engstrom's formulae relied on the roughly 180 to 200 Season Pass holders renewing their memberships in April and May. Rather than shell out $500 for an annual membership many of these folks may cut back and just pay the $15 day rate here and there.

So a loss of $25,000 (assuming they do hit $220,000 this year ) when you could have had a guaranteed $30,000 is...well, nothing to joke about.

Reunited

Olga (Tysz) Hagelberg, 85, peacefully passed away January 26'th at the Vermont Veterans' Home in Bennington where she spent the last few months of a long admirable life--mostly lived in Arlington, Vermont with her beloved husband of 45 years and fellow WW2 veteran Richard (Dick) Hagelberg in a classically practical New England style home he built for her.

One large window peered into the woods out back and another even larger one perpetually displayed the top of a mountain they mostly owned.

Olga was born and raised in bucolic Southwick, Massachusetts and barely out of her teens, spotted an article with photo in the Springfield newspaper of a graduation ceremony at Mt. Holyoke College in 1943 about women marines and became inspired to enlist. She proudly served in the US Marine Corps from 1943 to 1945.

And she almost never missed a reunion or Parade over these past 60+ years.

Semper Fi Auntie Olga.

And who could forget Uncle Dick

Boats against the current

The Amherst Athletic Club turns 27 today and I, twice that. We originally opened in what long-time locals still occasionally call Hadley’s “Dead Mall”—now very much alive with Wal Mart as the ultimate anchor.

And ironically enough new home to Planet Fitness, the low-cost—some would argue predatory pricing—franchise that thrives on high-volume memberships, where they hope the majority of members never actually show.

And since the rent has skyrocketed with the Mall’s revival, Planet Fitness will need a continuous flow of customers cascading through the door.

The three AAC owners huddled last night at the Irish bar out front to contemplate a strategy: do we continue limping along, or commit suicide (advertise the business for sale.) Or go for it, via a “surge.”

We chose to surge. Never surrender!

My 7-year-old daughter said she used the "cursive Y" to mimic the logo for Big-Y Supermarkets, our favorite grocery store.

Last year’s reflection

Close the loophole!

Since the state--after blindsiding local cities and towns with a mid-year retroactive Local Aid cut of sizable proportions--is now talking about local option meals taxes, and increases in the hotel/motel tax to raise additional millions to soften next Fiscal year's even more devastating Local Aid cuts, could we finally do what ‘Special Committee to Recommend Mitigation for Local Aid Cuts’, chaired by Amherst resident State Senator Stan Rosenberg (an indefatigable Umass supporter) clearly stated W-A-Y back in 2003:

“Eliminate UMASS Amherst Campus Center's exemption from hotel motel tax (that tax doesn't cost the state anything, doesn't cost the university anything, shouldn't be an edge in competition against local hotels / motels). This could be a significant ($70,000+) help to Amherst.”

And those were of course 2003 dollars at the old tax rate. So if the increase does go into effect and factoring in inflation this could easily provide Amherst with an addition $100-K annually.

If the Campus Center Hotel, after a $9.2 million renovation (at taxpayer expense) wants to compete with private sector, taxpaying operations in the Valley (mostly run by Amherst native Curt Shumway) let them compete on a level playing field.