Big Chuck

Big Chuck

When delivering papers was all in a day's work

I walk to work in the morning. Shortly after 5 a.m.
Readers who write get a little feedback

Well, it's that regular interval where we stop for a minute and take a look at some of the offerings from the mailbag over the last six months. And it has been busy. And please, do not hesitate to drop me a line if something stirs you in one of my columns.
I Was Just Thinking: Inventors, writers and others pass on in 2011

Plenty of ink was spilled this year reporting on the passage of such giants as Steve Jobs, Andy Rooney, Elizabeth Taylor and a couple of baddies named bin Laden and Gadhafi. But let's take a peek behind the final curtain and see who else merits a tip of the hat.

1 Photo
I Was Just Thinking: Stella turned me into a pet person

I never really understood being a "pet person." I just didn't get it. My wife, however, is incomplete without a pet. When I met her, she was in the waning days of a relationship with her dog, "Jake," who was a venerable elder presence in the house until she passed away many dog years beyond her typical span.

1 Photo
I Was Just Thinking: Waiting for a friendly wave that never came

My earliest recollection of taking a train ride was when my dad would take me and my brother Jim and sister Fran on the train from Sidney down to the Afton Fair. Mom would greet us at the crossings along the way with a baby in her arms and a big wave to the four of us.

1 Photo
Monday, November 21, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Local youngster created amazing tribute to veterans

When I think of veterans, I often think of the older ones who fought in World War II. I honor all vets from all wars, but as my radio listeners know, I just love to hear stories from the old warriors of the Greatest Generation.

1 Photo
Monday, November 7, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Remembering my small glimpse of the Cuban Missle Crisis

I read recently in a newspaper that the U.S. was beginning a "year-long observance of the 50th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis, culminating in October 2012." Fifty years? I'd been following the crisis on TV as my mom and dad fretted over the news being presented by the dour-faced men in gray business suits who gave us the news each night on our brand-new Zenith television set.

1 Photo
Monday, October 24, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: A remote-controlled cooler sounds enticing

Here they come! I am ready to gird myself against the onslaught of junk mail that is starting to roll in for the holidays already. I do not buy from catalogs. Never have. Don't even read them. North Face? L.L. Bean? Omaha Steaks? Vermont Country Store? No thanks. Except for one.

1 Photo
Monday, October 10, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: I never took a hike in my life; would do it again

"Take a hike!" That is what my father used to tell me when he'd had enough of my smart talk as a kid. Unfortunately, I never took that hike. In fact, I don't think I've ever hiked in my life, either formally or informally.

1 Photo
Monday, September 26, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Local traffic's got nothing on LA

I will never complain about traffic again. I just got back from a wonderful vacation with my daughter, Frances, in Los Angeles. I had lived there many years (and a million people) ago. While I was there from 1974 to 1980, I saw this exciting and vibrant city through the eyes of a longhaired wanderer. It was great.

1 Photo
Saturday, September 10, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: 9/11 is behind us but we'll never be the same

Since the horror of Sept. 11, 2001 is now a decade in the past, many will use this as a time to reflect on how our nation has changed since my generation's Pearl Harbor was visited upon our country.

1 Photo
Saturday, September 3, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: 'Radioathon' was about more than just donations; it meant love, sharing

Over the years I have been involved with many fundraising efforts at our radio stations. As far back as the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995. We raised a thousand dollars in change and turned Main Street Oneonta into one large collection bucket.

1 Photo
Monday, August 29, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: No mystery about good works done by PEO

I get a lot of requests for speaking engagements. A lot. Most of the time I actually know who the audience will be. I've addressed more than 50 historical societies, dozens of reading groups, several museum groups and enough Rotary and Kiwanis luncheons to make me feel like the Toastmaster General of the U.S.

1 Photo
Monday, August 15, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Back-to-school used to be a simpler affair

Have you seen the "back-to-school" sales now going on in stores? Ahem, hello? It's still summer! Which got me to thinking about back-to-school shopping when I was a kid in the 1950s. The list seems almost infantile by today's standards.

1 Photo
Monday, August 1, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Messages from the (virtual) mailbag

Well, it's mail call time again. Every six months I like to recap some of the correspondence I have received from readers. I welcome any and all emails!

1 Photo
Monday, July 18, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: St. Mary's was part of Oneonta life

One of the longest-running chapters of Oneonta history just came to an end. Officially.

1 Photo
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Small-town memories have universal appeal

This Friday, July 8, I will be presenting my one-man show, "My Town is a Cathedral," at the Oneonta Theatre. It is sponsored by the Green Toad Bookstore and is a benefit for the Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care. The show is a gentle look at growing up in Smalltown U.S.A. in the black-and-white days of the 1950s and 1960s.
Monday, June 20, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Father's Day gifts reflect the man ... or the times?

Well, Father's Day 2011 is history. Hey, dads, did you dodge a bullet this year? Gift giving for dad is always problematic. Being a father now for nearly 30 years, I can certainly identify with the touchy situation that my own dad was put in on Father's Day back in the 1950s. As they always say, "What do you give a man who has everything?"

1 Photo
Monday, June 6, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: How a softball game can conjure youthful memories

While listening to a sports report at the radio station last week, the high score tallies for local youth softball games struck me as unusual. Eighteen, 20, 27 runs and more. Geez, I thought. What does a game like that look like?

1 Photo
Monday, May 23, 2011
I Was Just Thinking: Move over, Vegas: Oneonta's got live music to spare

Forget "City of the Hills." Shelve "Life Enjoyed." How about "Oneonta: The Live Music Capital of America." OK, so that might be a stretch, but has anybody else noticed how live entertainment around these parts has exploded in the past year?

1 Photo