Down River – June 26, 2014
Apologies to the County Seat:
It was partly an oversight, partly a space limitation thing when this column last week did not delve into prospective replacements for Lock Haven’s longtime Mayor Rick Vilello who has already announced he will not seek another term in next year’s election.
The oversight was brought to this paper’s attention by the United Kingdom’s most notable local ex-patriot, wordsmith Richard Morris. He wrote:
“Down River’s analysis of the likely runners and riders in the 2015 elections ignored one important race. It is likely that the City of Lock Haven will be looking for a new Mayor. The city is home to almost a quarter of the county’s population and is the workplace of many more. The office of Mayor plays a crucial role in securing their economic and social wellbeing. It demands political skill, business acumen and an ability to form positive relationships with people in all walks of life.
The present mayor has exemplified all these qualities, together with an endearing modesty and an obvious love for the city. It remains to be seen whether a similarly gifted apprentice will emerge from the present members of council, or whether we will need to cast our net further afield within the community.”
We can all make our judgments as to the level of giftedness among the presently sitting council members. What we can tell you is the names of several of those apprentices are being heard as prospective candidates.
They are two Democrats, council vice-president Steve Stevenson and council member Bill Baney, and one Republican, council member Rick Conklin. Beyond those, our moles aren’t hearing much.
Whoever gets elected next November will be making a few more bucks than the current mayor come January of 2016.
Council a while back jumped the pay for council members and the mayor, effective with the 2013 election. For mayor, with Vilello in mid-term, he is not eligible for the hike. But next year’s winner will get $4,800 beginning in 2016, compared to the $1,800 a year Vilello gets (again we’ll state, the best $1,800 a year the city has ever spent).
When council approved the pay increase Vilello said he hoped the additional money would attract more candidates in these every-couple-of-year’s elections. Recent times have seen few competitive races, most seats filled when vacancies occur.
Former Record Editor Buck O’Reilly, some years back in talking about a county commissioner race, famously said, “Drag $40,000 across the table and someone will jump at it.” We’ll find out next year if $4,800 for mayor of Lock Haven does the trick.
Speaking of the Mayor:
They were pretty nifty duds Mayor Vilello was sporting on the Clinton County float in last Saturday’s parade in the downtown.
The attire was the same worn by Harvey Korman as Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks’ “Blazing Saddles.” Mrs. Mayor, Marie Vilello, was not wearing a Lili von Shtupp dress as worn by Madeline Kahn in the same movie; the Mrs.’ beard was a little off-putting too, but whatever works.
I Thought So:
It’s taken a quarter of a century but true baseball aficionados have been vindicated relative to a line from the 1989 baseball movie “Field of Dreams.”
It rankled from that first viewing through earlier this month, the inaccurate movie line about a father and son throwing the ball to one-another.
Towards the end of the movie Kevin Costner says to his father (who through the magic of movie-making and baseball appears in an Iowa field long after his death), “Do you wanna have a catch?”
From the get-go we of father-and-son games of catch all knew that was wrong.
Here in central Pennsylvania we grew up saying, “Do you want to play catch?”
Now the truth can be told: Kevin Costner, in last week’s Sports Illustrated, related that he almost didn’t say “Do you wanna have a catch?” He noted in his growing-up days on the West Coast he and his father said, “Do you want to play catch?”
Costner said to the director he would never say “do you wanna have a catch?” but sadly it stayed in the movie, throwing slightly off kilter an otherwise strong emotional ending to one of the better baseball films.
Little League Heaven:
On the subject of baseball, Iowa may have been heaven in “Field of Dreams,” but it is Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport for Little League baseball.
With Little League baseball and softball playoffs now in full swing, here’s a warm reminder picked up off the Little League facebook page:
The 2011 World Series set an attendance record of 410,905, due in large part (obviously) to participation by the Keystone Little League squad.
That attendance record fact was just recently posted on LL’s facebook page, backed by a picture of a Keystone-blue dominated crowd shot. It has already attracted more than 30 favorable viewer responses, including many from Clinton County.
