THE COURT TAKETH AWAY AND THE COURT GIVETH

       On Tuesday the Supreme Court by a 5-4 vote declared Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, thus paving the away for red states to pass laws restricting the voting rights of African Americans and other minorities. The court taketh away.
       The next day the Court, again by a 5-4 vote, declared the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional, which decision in effect guarantees same sex couples the same rights under the law that heterosexual couples enjoy. The court giveth.
       In refusing for procedural reasons to rule on an appeal against California's Proposition 8, which banned same sex marriage, the Supreme Court Court, once again by a 5-4 vote but with a different alignment of justices, in effect paved the way for California to become the thirteenth state to allow same sex marriage. The court giveth a little more.
        So now we await the impact of these decisions. Will Congress act to pass new legislation to restore the Federal government's role in protecting the rights of all citizens to vote? Will more states
pass laws to legalize same sex marriages?
        We'll see.





     

A BIG WIN FOR VOTER SUPPRESSION, A BIG LOSS FOR AMERICA!

        How can any fair-minded person not be concerned if not outraged by this morning's action of the Supreme Court in throwing out the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965?  By a vote of 5 to 4 the conservative justices on the court, despite their rhetoric, showed their total insensitivity to and lack of concern for the African Ameraicns and other minorities who will be adversely affected by their action.
        I hope the justices are listening to the reactions of those for whom their ruling is a serious set-back to the equal voting rights they struggled so long to attain.  The fact that voting rights activists are so outspokenly opposed to their ruling should tell them something!
        It is one more glaring example of the fact that racism is still alive and well in America. That Justice Scalia should defend the decision to eliminate Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act by referring to it as "the perpetuation of a racial entitlement" is utterly astonishing.  
        We who were infuriated by the egregious voter suppression efforts of so many Republican-controlled state legislatures in the last election have every right to be terribly concerned about the next election, when those states will have free reign to pass any legislation they have a mind to. State voting laws will still be subject to review by the Justice Department, but only after the fact, when the damage has already been done.
        Given the experience of recent elections, the constitutional rights of millions of Americans will be violated, unless we the people do something about it. We must let our voices be heard. One way to do that is to sign the petition that is already being circulated by Credo. Click here to read about it and to become a citizen sponsor of a constitutional amendment to restore the protective provisions of Sec. 4. 
        To read more about today's Supreme Court action, click on the following links: NY Times; Daily Beast; Huffington Post.

SHOPPING ITALIAN STYLE

       I enjoy watching flash mobs. Have you seen this one? Click here, turn up the volume, and enlarge your screen.

AN EERIE EVENING OF LOST JERSEY ICONS

By Bob Golon

Special Contributor

        My life-long affection for baseball history began long ago on Sunday afternoons. My father would pack my mother and me into the car at our Kearny home. Our firs stop would be at his favorite Kearny Avenue deli to pick up a barbecued chicken (made with Lawry’s seasoning salt, a recipe that I use to this day) and, along with a container of my mom’s homemade iced tea, we’d head to a parking lot adjacent to Newark Airport. There I was allowed to engage in one of my favorite pastimes – watching the big planes taking off and landing at the airport, at very close range.

Ruppert Stadium, Newark, NJ

        Many times on the way home my Dad would stop at an abandoned baseball stadium with huge light towers in Newark’s Ironbound section, the old Ruppert Stadium. After parking the car, he would tell me stories about the Newark Bears baseball club of his youth in the 1930s – of Tommy Henrich, Charlie Keller, Joe Gordon, Marius Russo, and other stars, and of those magical times when the AAA affiliate of the New York Yankees was one of the dominate teams in minor league baseball. From those days on forward, I always wished for a rekindling of baseball in the city of my birth, Newark, New Jersey.

Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, Newark, NJ

        In 1999 the “Bears” finally did return to Newark and a brand new, 35-million-dollar Riverfront Stadium, financed by Essex County. The stadium was the dream of ex-Yankee and Newark native Rick Cerone, who also sought to rekindle his father’s memories of the Bears.

        It has not gone well, however. Low attendance has plagued the Newark Bears from the very beginning. Playing in the high-level, independent Atlantic League, the Bears struggled to attain a thousand fans per game, while the nearby Somerset Patriots, also in the Atlantic League, were drawing five thousand or more every night.

        Forced to leave the Atlantic League, the Bears became members of the Can-Am League, another independent league whose quality of play is a grade below that of the Atlantic League. But in the minor leagues the level of play should not matter so much. The “affordable family entertainment” factor does, however, and even though the current Bears ownership and staff have done a good job of sprucing up the stadium and providing a bona fide minor league experience, the plain and simple fact is the community does not support the team.

James Gandolfini

        Last night, I sat, with 313 other dedicated souls at Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium, watching the Newark Bears lose a doubleheader to the New Jersey Jackals. Around 8:30 PM they announced over the public address system the death of James Gandolfini, star of the “Sopranos” television series. As they proceeded to play the Sopranos theme, I looked at the Stickel Bridge towers beyond left field, the backdrop of so many Sopranos Essex County based scenes. I was immediately overwhelmed by the empty seats, and the eerie feeling of the loss of some of my personal New Jersey icons – the Bears, James Gandolfini, and my Dad’s memories.

        But, I’ll keep going back. 

BASEBALL AS A ROAD TO GOD?

        Baseball as a road to God? I can buy that.                                                      
        I haven't yet read John Sexton's book, but my friend George Betz sent me John Timpane's review of it in the June 9, 2013, Philadelphia Inquirer. You might want to check it out. If the book is as good as the review, it ought to be worth reading. 
        My Dad taught me to throw and catch a ball when I was two years old, and I have loved baseball ever since. I thought it would be my life-long career, but God had other plans.
        In my own book, A Sense of Being Called, I have recounted the story of how I got from professional baseball into the ministry. It's not exactly an illustration of what John Sexton has written about, but it explains why I am intrigued by his title and look forward to reading his book.  

NO TALKING TO PASSENGERS?

      A few days ago the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released the results of a recent study indicating that using voice-activated hands-free wireless technologies like Blue Tooth and Siri while driving may be even more dangerous than using a hand-held iPhone. It’s easy to understand why texting with a cell phone while driving can be terribly dangerous, but to hear that using hands-free technology is equally if not more dangerous is quite surprising.
        I haven’t read the report, but the news item made me wonder if that means we shouldn’t talk with passengers while driving. Why is talking on Bluetooth any more dangerous than talking to someone sitting next to you in the front seat?
        In either case, it is certainly true that while driving you must keep focused on what you’re doing. Distractions can be hazardous, but ordinary conversation doesn’t have to be a distraction.
People have been talking while driving since they first started using automobiles.

A FATHER’S DAY MESSAGE

”When I was a boy of 14,” wrote Mark Twain, “my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much (he) had learned in seven years.”  (Quoted from an old “ Reader's Digest”)
Tomorrow we honor the fathers of our nation, though Father’s Day has become another   commercial promotion. Millions of greeting cards are still being mailed or hand-delivered, despite the huge increase in the use of on-line greetings and e-cards. It’s the fourth largest card-sending occasion, according to the Greeting Card Association that represents the greeting card industry.
Despite the commercialism, it is appropriate and good for us to honor our fathers and to celebrate the estate of fatherhood. To the best of my knowledge the United States was the first nation in the world to do that. The precise origin of Father's Day in our country is not certain, as the idea of honoring fathers on a special day was actually begun independently in several places, each locality thinking it was starting something new. Certainly one of the first and foremost promoters of the day was Sonora Smart Dodd, of Spokane, Washington, who, not surprisingly, came up with the idea while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909.
She wanted to honor her own father, a courageous, selfless, and loving man, so she

MY FAVORITE SMALL TOWN

        

        I told my Facebook friends that in response to my post on America the Beautiful someone  asked me what's my favorite place to visit. I said that there are many, but if I had to name one it would be Cooperstown, NY. I think there are more things to do and see in that beautiful little town than any other small town in America.

National Baseball Hall of Fame

        Let me justify that statement by describing some of the highlights, starting with the most obvious one, the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The Museum is simply amazing, with constantly changing exhibitions that are a marvelous history not only of baseball but of America. Equally impressive and of even more interest to baseball historians and researchers is the Hall of Fame Library, which is a matchless source of information.

        But the Baseball Hall of Fame is not the only attraction that Cooperstown has to offer. There is also the Farmers' Museum and Village, where a visitor could easily spend a half a day experiencing a rural America village on land that has been a working farm since 1813, originally owned by James Fenimore Cooper.

Glimmerglass Opera complex

        Diagonally across the road from the Farmer's Village is the impressive Fenimore Art Museum,  where one can view the works of Howard Pyle and the entire Wyeth family, and many other art treasures.

        Journey a few miles further on the same road and you come to the spacious grounds of the hugely popular Glimmerglass Festival (formerly the Glimmerglass Opera), with performances of operas and musicals featuring renowned vocalists like Nathan Gunn, who is starring in Camelot this summer. In the nearby Glimmerglass State Park you can visit the Hyde Hall State Historic Site, the handsome estate built by George Clarke (1768-1835). It is said to be the largest privately owned mansion built in the United States between the Revolutionary and the Civil Wars.  

       On the opposite edge of town from Glimmerglass are two quite different sites well worth visiting. One is the Ommegang Brewery, which you don't have to be a beer lover to enjoy. You can have a great lunch there, and then take a guided tour of the property. During the season thousands of contemporary music lovers gather on the spacious property to attend outdoor concerts featuring top bands and vocalists from New York and elsewhere. 

        Returning to town you can, for a complete contrast, stop by the lovely Carefree Gardens Nursery, where you can get a healthy meal of home grown organic foods at the Origins Cafe and hear about the wonderful work the two enterprising young female owners are doing to educate the broader community about healthier eating and living.   

Fly Creek Cider Mill

       Just north of town is the village of Fly Creek, which you must visit before leaving Cooperstown, to see the Fly Creek Cider Mill, whose products are shipped all over North America, It is a great place to shop for gifts and to have a snack. Their homemade caramel apple pie a la mode is out of this world! We've made a lot of people happy with the things we've given them from Fly Creek!

Dreams Park

        Here is something that will stagger your imagination: from the time school is out until it begins again in the fall, every week a new horde of eleven hundred twelve-year-old-and-under baseball players with their coaches and parents descend upon Cooperstown's Dreams Park to compete in a week-long tournament. Believe or not, there are twenty-two fenced in baseball fields on the huge property, with ample parking for cars and buses, lodging and restaurants for the participants and their accompanying adults. It is a mammoth operation, and of course they all want to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame. That helps to explain the Hall's 350,000 visitors every year! 

High rope course at the Clark Center

       Another impressive complex is the Clark Center, a very large sports, fitness, and recreational center, with a swim meet size indoor pool, a fine gymnasium with an indoor running track, bowling alleys, squash courts, a table tennis room, a sizeable and well-equipped fitness room, expansive athletic fields, and many other facilities.

        Just to drive in and around Cooperstown is a delight. The tree-lined streets, the lovely houses, the stately churches, the restful parks and picnic areas, and the surrounding wooded hills and meadows, would be enough of an attraction in themselves. To top it all off, the town is situated at the southeastern end of beautiful Lake Otsego, and during the summer season any visit there should include a boat ride on the lake. It takes only about an hour, during which the passengers are given a very informative and most interesting narration over the P.A.system. It's just a short walk from the boat dock to a picturesque little park, where you can view the source of the Susquehanna River.  

Doubleday Field, Cooperstown, NY

        There are plenty of motels, elegant inns, charming bed and breakfast homes, and attractive restaurants. It's fun to stroll up and down Main Street and window shop or patronize the many souvenir shops and other quaint stores. Just off Main Street is Doubleday Field, where the Hall of Fame Classic is played. It's also the home field of the Cooperstown Hawkeyes of the 10-team PGCB League. There's a farmers' market near the center of town, where two days a week you can purchase the fresh produce of local farmers.

        Another treasure up the hill from Main Street is The Smithy. Built in 1786 by Judge William Cooper, the founder of Cooperstown, it is the town's oldest building, having survived the great fire of 1860. It is now a multi-arts center, with a gallery displaying the works of contemporary and traditional artists, and a courtyard for concerts, theatrical productions, and other events.  

The back porch of the Otesaga Hotel

        Not far from the center of town and overlooking Lake Otsego is the majestic Otesaga Hotel, a luxurious resort hotel, where my wife Margie and I have sat in rocking chairs on the huge back porch on summer evenings to listen to band and orchestra concerts by very talented local musicians, and where we love to eat in the delightful Hawkeye Grill. The food is delicious and surprisingly reasonable, especially in the off-season. Golfers love the Hotel's beautifully manicured eighteen-hole course. 

        Cooperstown is a very cosmopolitan community with year-round programs of various cultural interests. Most of its citizens are well educated and are socially and environmentally conscious. There are active service clubs, a fine public library, an excellent public school system, a large fire department, and the 180-bed Bassett Medical Center, a regional hospital, which is one of the top forty health care centers in the United States.

        All this in a town of fewer than 2000 permanent residents! There are, of course, many people from surrounding communities who are employed in Cooperstown, and with the constant flow of tourists, especially from Memorial Day to Labor Day, one gets the feeling of being in a much larger community.

        I should mention that Margie and I love the scenic drive through part of the Catskills and the Adirondacks to Cooperstown.  It's not a place you drive through en route to somewhere else. It's a destination! There are any number of ways to go, via so many country roads through the mountains; or you can go most of the way on Interstate Highways, with only the last 20 miles or so on a two-lane road.                                                                                                                                           

First Presbyterian Church

        Do you wonder why I think it is the most unique small town in America and my favorite place to visit? There are other interesting places to visit in the area, but I hope I have listed enough of them to justify my choice. And I haven't even mentioned the fact that my daughter, the Rev. Elsie Armstrong Rhodes, is pastor the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown. It was she who introduced us to many of the places I've mentioned in this post as well as others I haven't mentioned, although we had visited Cooperstown more than once before she was called there.

         If you haven't been there, why don't you plan a visit? If you do, by all means visit the Baseball Hall of Fame, but be sure to stay long enough to take in as many of the other attractions as you can.

AMERICA THE BEAUTIFUL

        For two decades I participated every summer in the national conferences of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. In the first fifteen of those years that always included the conferences at the YMCA of the Rockies near Estes Park, Colorado, on the edge of the Rocky Mountain National Park. Within a few years additional conference sites around the country were added to accommodate the rapidly growing program, including Ashland, Oregon, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, and Henderson Harbor, New York. Today there are scores of campus and conferences served by a staff of more than four thousand instructors, and the FCA is the largest sports program in the world.
       Although I am a Trustee Emeritus of the National Board, I'm not as actively involved in the FCA as I was for many years on both the national and the local level, having helped found four local chapters, and having served in just about every role in the summer conferences, from huddle leader to song leader, from platform speaker to devotional leader, from editor of the camp newsletter to Conference Dean. In my book A Sense of Being Called I have related the story of how I came to be involved in the FCA at the very beginning of the program.
        But that's not what I want to talk about in this article. Rather I want to talk about our country, about America the Beautiful. This is not about politics, or sports, or music, or any of the other topics I'm usually writing about. The reason I mentioned the FCA and my participation in the national summer conferences was to explain how it came about that my family and I in the course of the first ten of those fifteen years were in every one of our contiguous forty-eight states.

IS IT POSSIBLE TO LOVE TWO AT THE SAME TIME?

By Bob Golon

Special Contributor

Baseball teams, that is, lest anyone get the wrong idea!

Back in 1960, I was a baseball-obsessed eight-year old, fully devoted  to the likes of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and of course, the inimitable Casey Stengel. I took my second trip to Yankee Stadium that year, and arrived early enough to gasp, as ball after ball flew into the stands during batting practice. Nothing could be so good!

I suffered my first broken heart in October, 1960, when Bill Mazeroski’s home run went flying over the Forbes Field fence, denying the Yankees the World Series. That disastrous (from  my point of view)  loss was  followed immediately by the firing of Stengel. But along came Ralph Houk to replace him. Roger Maris hit 61 home runs in 1961, and Whitey Ford won 25 games while losing only 4 that year. My heart mended quickly.

In late 1961 it was announced that this new team in New York being planned for 1962, the Mets, were hiring my beloved Casey Stengel to be their first manager. Hmmmm, pause for thought. As the 1962 season began, I now realized that I often had two games to watch on TV, which was especially convenient when one of them was rained out or was being played late at night on the West Coast.

The 1962 Mets, even though a dreadful club, simply provided me with more baseball! It was a chance to see National League stars like Willie Mays and Stan Musial, and besides, they never played the Yankees. Where was the conflict? There was none, in my young mind.

I lived and died with these two clubs as a young man. The hollow feeling of the Yankees' futility, which began in 1965, was soon replaced by the utter euphoria of witnessing the Mets’ World Series “miracle” trouncing of the thought-to-be-invincible Baltimore Orioles in 1969. Thurman Munson, Tom Seaver, Bobby Murcer and Jerry Koosman were equals in my mind and heart.

So, it was no surprise that last night, as I was driving home from the Trenton Thunder game, I tuned in the “subway series” finale on the radio. I was immediately appalled that the Yankees could not touch Dillon Gee for more than one run. When  Joba Chamberlain bounced a pitch that set up the Mets insurance run in the eighth inning, I cursed under my breath. Yet, just two seconds later, I felt happy for the upstart Mets. They remind me of the 1967 Mets: one very good young pitcher (Matt Harvey) among a not so talented young team.  Yet those ’67 kids accomplished great things within two years.

Maybe these kids will, too.

They say you can’t root for two teams, but I am living proof that you can. Tonight, I can go back to being “myself” again. Go Yanks! Go Mets! The TV remote will be where it always is, squarely in my hand, switching between my two loves

THIS IS THE MOMENT!

        I love this arrangement, and I think you will, too. It is sung by one of my favorite choruses, the Masters of Harmony, then under the direction of Jeff Oxley, who also sings the solo. It was their acceptance song, after winning the 1999 International Barbershop Chorus Championship. Click here, then turn up the volume, enlarge your screen, and sit back and enjoy an inspiring rendition of "This Is the Moment!"

A POEM FOR MEMORIAL DAY

This poem was written in August, 1945. I was inspired to write it while I was on the island of MogMog, Ulithi, in the Marianas. The island I was writing about was an imaginary island in the Pacific to which my imaginary soldier had returned, having been there before during combat. It contains a message that seems appropriate for Memorial Day.

RETURN TO AN ISLAND

He heeded not the ocean's muffled roar,
as sweeping waves refreshed the baking sand.
He stood and gazed along the golden shore,
and brushed his sweating forehead with his hand.
 
He marveled at the change before his eyes.
Could such a transformation really be?
Here was indeed an island paradise ---
a tropical oasis of the sea.

The air was still, save for the faintest breeze,
that breathed upon the greenish tufts a while
and rippled through the bent palmetto trees,
reluctant to escape this magic isle.

Could this sweet spot that same inferno be,
where scarce two years before amidst the slain
he prayed to God that he would live to see
his country, home, and loved ones once again?

No shrieking shells, whose mission to destroy
leave silhouetted in the blinding glare
the crumpled, blood-stained body of a boy
whose eyes, once clear, are fixed in glassy stare.

Not long ago this same enchanted isle
  where now he walked had been a blazing hell.
O demon War, so murderous, so vile,
because of you now tolls the mourning bell!

Return now to your gloomy heritage
and rest you from the efforts of your work
of ruin, sorrow, havoc.  Let the age
of peace return anew.  You will but lurk

behind the curtain of a few more years,
till once again you burst upon the world,
when human pride and greed eclipse the tears
of death, and flags of hatred are unfurled.  

God grant the prayer that now bestirs his soul,
that humankind might learn what ne'er before
their minds have grasped, that this must be the goal:
to win not wars but peace forever more.

RSA

"TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME," Sung by the American Boychoir

        In case you were not able to open the video in my previous post of the American Boychoir singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, try clicking on the song title below.
        As I explained in the earlier post, the boys had just learned this song and were singing it publicly for the first time. Tour Proctor Matt Caruso had written the creative arrangement just the day before!
        You will see boys raising their hands throughout the song. They were invited to do so by Music Director Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, whenever their favorite Major League team was mentioned.      Listen carefully and you may hear your favorite team, as well!
        Click here: "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

HISTORIC FAN SURVEY

        Way back in 1954 the Baltimore Orioles conducted the largest fan survey in the history of Major League baseball and the first of its kind ever taken. The survey covered a stretch of twenty home games over a two-month period, during which approximately 2,500 questionnaires were distributed on a random basis throughout Memorial Stadium. More than 2,400 completed forms were returned, representing an amazing response of close to 97%! Without going into detail about the carefully supervised and deliberate procedures we followed, I want simply to say that having studied public opinion polling and having conducted numerous surveys for various clients and organizations, including the Philadelphia Athletics and their farm club in Portsmouth, Ohio, I made sure that approved polling methods were used throughout the massive project.        

        From 100 to 150 carefully designed questionnaires were distributed by the well instructed ushers on each date at the start of game and collected by the third inning. Those who received the forms were most cooperative and seemed delighted to have an opportunity to participate.

        Not having computers at our disposal, the massive amount of information gathered took us several weeks to tabulate. The results were first reported publicly at a major press conference, with colorful charts to portray the highlights graphically. It had taken about two hours to present the full report to the Board of Directors. The results were also summarized and published in a 24-page booklet, attracting huge interest throughout the country. The Sporting News, for example, featured this two-page cartoon spread on the story: 

AMERICAN BOYCHOIR AT THE BASEBALL HALL OF FAME

The American Boychoir, direct by Fernando Malvar-Ruiz

        This weekend the world renowned American Boychoir is celebrating its 75th Anniversary. Established in Columbus, Ohio, in 1937 by Founding Director Herbert Hoffman, the Columbus Boychoir moved to Princeton, New Jersey, in 1950, where until the current school year it was located at Albemarle, the former Lambert family estate. It is now located on the expansive campus of the Princeton Center for the Arts and Education (PCAE), with two other schools as its sub-tenants.
        In 1980 under the enterprising leadership of  Board Chairman Herbert W. Hobler, who got a green light from the American Choral Directors Association, the name of  the school was officially changed to the American Boychoir School, which remains the nation’s only non-sectarian boarding school. The American Boychoir is America’s most widely touring and frequently performing choral ensemble.
        On their recent Spring tour they were the over-night guests of the First Presbyterian Church of Cooperstown, New York, where my daughter the Rev. Elsie Armstrong Rhodes is pastor. With the help of

THE LEGACY OF RITA KAY THOMAS

By Bob Golon

Special Contributor

. Rutgers University President Robert Barchi looks on as
 newly appointed Athletic Director Julie Hermann takes
questions. (A. Evans/AP)

        As a Rutgers’ alum, a former employee, and an aficionado of all things Scarlet, I have high hopes that yesterday will be remembered as a good day for Rutgers and its beleaguered Athletic Department. Julie Hermann was announced as the new Athletic Director. Her appointment is being called “historic,” as she becomes the first woman Athletic Director in the University history, as well as one of only three women currently serving in that capacity at BCS level schools.

        After the Mike Rice fiasco and the fallout that followed it, I was beginning to wonder if the otherwise positive historic nature of the Rutgers athletic program could ever again be appreciated. After all, good old RU is the “birthplace of college football” in November, 1869. It has a men’s basketball final four appearance in its distant past, as well as national championships and numerous tournament appearances in its storied women’s basketball program.

        It should be understood, however. that Ms. Hermann is not the first woman “pioneer” in Rutgers athletics history. The trail was blazed for her and others by a remarkable woman named Rita Kay Thomas.

FOR THOSE WHO LIVE IN GLASS HOUSES

By Bob Golon
Special Contributor to "Minding What Matters"

Sergio and Tiger exchange a brief handshake
after the match (AP photo). 

        At the completion of yesterday’s Mother’s Day festivities, about 5PM, I settled in front of the TV to see what sports were on. Mid-May is a great time for this. Major League Baseball is finally starting to sort itself out from the Spring Training malaise, do-or-die hockey games are being played, and the NBA playoffs are in full flower. 

        But the most compelling event of the weekend was played at the TPC Sawgrass Golf Course at Point Vedra Beach, Florida – The Players Championship of the PGA. For the first time since 2001 Tiger Woods prevailed in this event, but, like anything involving Tiger these past few years, it was not without controversy.

        On Saturday, Woods and Sergio Garcia of Spain were locked in an epic struggle at the top end of the leader board. On the par-5 second hole, Woods, after receiving clearance from one of the tournament marshalls that Garcia had completed his shot, committed the sin of reaching into his bag to select his club, causing a loud gasp from the gallery. The only problem was that Garcia was

CLEAR THE TRACK!

        As I explained in a previous post, two of our fellow Nassoons, because of other obligations, did not feel they could participate in the Triangle Show. They would be sorely missed, but their absence did not dampen the enthusiasm of the remaining ten of us It was not that we didn't have other demands on our time as well. Everyone of us was heavily involved in other extracurricular activities. A few of us, of whom I was one, were also facing the daunting requirement of a senior thesis.
        But being in the Triangle Show was an experience we all felt we could not afford to miss. There would be many rewards, including our being inducted into the historic Triangle Club. So it was full speed ahead for "Clear the Track!" Learning the songs, rehearsing with the cast, the dress rehearsal ---it all went so fast. Opening night was upon us sooner than we ever could have imagined, when we first agreed to take part, and before we knew it winter break was over and we were on campus again, looking back on the tour and sharing stories with our friends.

The Princeton Nassoons in  the 1946-47 Triangle Show "Clear the Track!" - L to R: Bill Rogers '48,
Jack Pemberton '49, Jim Buck '46, Ed Knetzger '46,  Jeff Penfield '49, Og Tanner '48, Al Burr '49,
Don Elberfeld '47, Dick Armstrong' 46, Don Finnie '47

A HARD DECISION: THE GLEE CLUB OR THE TRIANGLE SHOW?

        If this part of the Princeton Nassoons’ history is ever to be told, I realize that I’m the one who will have to tell it, as there are only two other living  members of the original twelve post-WWII Nassoons. I have spoken with my two fellow surviving ‘Soons, Jack Taylor ‘45 and Jack Pemberton ‘49, and while neither of them recalls too many details of that first year (1946-47), they do recall our having to face a major decision early that fall.
        We were proud of the fact that several of our members also had been or were currently in the Princeton Glee Club, including two stellar first tenors, Jack Pemberton and Steve Kurtz, who was President of the Glee Club that year. It was a tacit assumption that we would resume our affiliation with the Glee Club, and perform as a special added attraction at their concerts at home and on the road. This, of course, would work out well for those who were also in the Glee Club. We were already lined up to make our public debut at their joint concert with the Dartmouth Glee Club on November 22.
        We had hardly begun practicing, however, when we were invited to become the featured singing group in the Triangle Club’s first post-WWII production, “Clear the Track!” Having been involved in conversations with some good friends who were producing what sounded like a very exciting musical, with a great story-line and some wonderful songs, our Music Director Don Finnie and I were all for accepting the invitation, hoping our fellow Nassoons would agree. We realized, of course, that it would be a particularly tough decision for our Glee Club members, especially for Steve Kurtz, given his responsibilities with the Glee Club.
        So we faced a really tough choice between the Glee Club and the Triangle Show. There were strong feelings on both sides, and our newly organized singing group, which had gelled so nicely, was in danger of becoming divided over the issue. At the request of Steve Kurtz President Og Tanner called an “emergency” meeting to decide what to do. Unfortunately, I couldn’t be at that meeting, and I was most distressed when I was informed that the group had decided to go with the Glee Club.

HOW WE GOT STARTED: The Early Days of the 1946-47 Nassoons (revised)

 The Princeton Nassoons' logo 

        My article on the 1946-47 Princeton Nassoons attracted such interest that I decided to tell more of the story. My original account of "How We Got Started" has been slightly revised, based on some information I garnered from some faded clippings in an old scrapbook I hauled out this morning.

        I am sad to report that of the original twelve reconstituted Nassoons, only three of us are still living. Later in this article I have included links to obituaries for some of the deceased members.

        It has been hard to lose such good friends over the years, and each death has stirred wonderful memories of that first amazing year, when twelve men from several different classes, including mostly returning veterans, had to start from scratch and develop a repertoire in a few short weeks. 

       Along with our own new arrangements we wanted to include some of the favorite songs of the pre-WWII Nassoons, whose "modern" harmonization had distinguished them from other college men's a cappella groups like the Yale Whiffenpoofs, with their traditional four-part harmony. The accomplishment was all the more remarkable considering that we had never sung together as a group, and we had no members of the earlier Nassoons to serve as a nucleus to build upon.