September 24, 2024 • 23 mins
Are there places on your travel bucket list? I’m sure you’ve got some spots that you’ve always wanted to visit. One of the places I’ve always wanted to see is Cooperstown New York. I grew up around Boston so baseball runs through my veins. The baseball hall of fame has been on my list for so long. I still have this vivid memory of watching A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN for the first time and thinking to myself how badly I wanted to visit that place.
And I’ve been so close so many times. My wife grew up not too far from Cooperstown and her family still lives there. But for whatever reason, we haven’t made it there yet. I will say though, as I’ve spent more time in central New York, I ‘ve realized there’s so much more to Cooperstown than just the baseball hall of fame.
The area is beautiful. Cooperstown sits on the south shore of Gilmmerglass Lake, there’s hiking, leaf peeping, beers and so much more. Joining me for this episode of Delightful Destinations is Cass Harrington. She’s the president and CEO of THIS IS COOPERSTOWN.
Ok that’s it. I’ve convinced myself. My family is going to Cooperstown next time we go up to New York. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Cass Harrington.
And I’ve been so close so many times. My wife grew up not too far from Cooperstown and her family still lives there. But for whatever reason, we haven’t made it there yet. I will say though, as I’ve spent more time in central New York, I ‘ve realized there’s so much more to Cooperstown than just the baseball hall of fame.
The area is beautiful. Cooperstown sits on the south shore of Gilmmerglass Lake, there’s hiking, leaf peeping, beers and so much more. Joining me for this episode of Delightful Destinations is Cass Harrington. She’s the president and CEO of THIS IS COOPERSTOWN.
Ok that’s it. I’ve convinced myself. My family is going to Cooperstown next time we go up to New York. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Cass Harrington.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hey, what's up everyone. Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre Delightful Destinations. It's a show designed
to give you an inside or deeper look at vacation
locations around Maryland, at the mid Atlantic, and of course
some other places as well. My hope here is to
speak with people who know these areas best and inspire
you for your next trip. Are there places on your
(00:21):
travel bucket list? Like, I'm sure you've got some spots
that you've always wanted to visit right One of those
for me has been Cooperstown, New York. I grew up
around Boston, so baseball runs through my veins. The Baseball
Hall of Fame has been on my list for so long.
I still have this vivid memory of watching a league
of their own for the first time and thinking to myself,
how badly I wanted to visit that place in Cooper's Town.
(00:45):
It just looked so cool, and I've been so close
so many times. Like my wife grew up not too
far from Cooperstown and her family still lives there. I
think we've driven through Cooperstown before going somewhere else. I
don't know. For whatever reason, we just haven't made a
stop in Cooperstown. I will say, though, as I've spent
more time in Central New York, I've realized there's so
much more to Cooperstown than just the Baseball Hall of Fame. Like,
(01:06):
people there talk about all the things they love to
do in Cooperstown, and no one mentions the Baseball Hall
of Fame. So you know that this area is super
awesome to check out. The area is just beautiful. Cooperstown
sits on the south shore of Glimmerglass Lake. There's hiking leaf,
peeping beers, and so much more. And Okay, that's it.
I've officially convinced myself my family is going to make
(01:27):
a stop in Cooperstown next time we go up to
Central New York. Joining me for this episode of Delightful
Destinations is Cass Harrington. She's the president and CEO of
This is Cooperstown. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's me you too. I'm so excited to be here
and I have a chat with you.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So on your website, this is Cooperstown dot com, it
says America's hometown. Explain that to me.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You know, so many people liken this to a Norman
Rockwell painting, and we kind of pride ourselves and very
similar to the way it was when people visited fifty
years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And we've got some advancements and changes happening, but for
the most part, we really like to keep things old school,
and it's kind of the quintessential Americana experience when you're here.
When you're here, we got beer, baseball, and diners, and
you know, what else could you want?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I have to admit to you, I have driven through
Cooperstown and I've been very close to Cooper's Town many times,
but I've never stopped to hang out. My wife's family
lives in Green New York, so not too far from
where you guys are. So I've been in the area
and you know, it kind of happened to drive through
going somewhere else, but I've never stopped. And it's been
on my list of things that I've always wanted to do.
(02:43):
We just never have made it happen, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
To be honest with you, we hear that all the time.
It's a it's a bucket list destination. And so we're
always trying to convince the people that there's no better
time than now and so you know, join, join the club. Visit.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
My wife and I will always say when we're going
up to visit family, Okay, this time, we're going to
go to Cooperstown. We're gonna Ama Gang is up there
right the brewery. Yeah, we're gonna do Ama Gang. We're
going to see all the things. And then we get
up there and we're their family, and then it's like, okay,
now we've run at a time, we've spent too much
family time and we have no time.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, you need to go before you commit to the family.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yes, absolutely, that is my game plan. It's her family,
not mine, So I'm ready to go. Whatever Cass tell
me about yourself, though, how did you end up in
this position?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So? I started out well. I went to college for
marketing and business in the Finger Lakes region where I
grew up, and had been working tour some industry at
wineries and the Finger Lakes for as long as I could. Really,
it was my first job when I was in high school.
Coat was the only public facility within walking distance off
my home. Started working at a winery restaurant, fell in
(03:54):
love with marketing during the high school class session that
we had, and ironically the project We had a class
long project. We had to create, do research for, and
create a baseball team the city that doesn't already have one,
and justify why we chose the city. And then we
had to develop a jersey and to a mock up
(04:17):
of a stadium. So it was quite an interesting project.
I literally just was like, this is what I want
to do for the rest of my life, having no
idea that eventually I was going to end up in
baseball land. But I went to college at Elmira College,
transferred to CUCA College, got out a little early, started
working in the admissions office at a youth treatment facility,
(04:40):
and quickly moved on to the Chamber of Commerce. Chamber
of Commerce was the tourism entity for Seneca County, where
I was left that to be the executive director of
America's first wine trail on Kyuga Lake. You got a
little tired of talking about the same product all day
every day, and my liver was like, please, please, please
find some variety in life. And so I ended up
(05:02):
moving to Cooperstown for this role when I heard that
it was available, and I have not looked back since.
That was six and three quarters years ago. Now. I
moved here two days after Christmas in twenty seventeen. My
predecessor had been here for thirty plus years and they
were looking for some new blood, and I was very excited.
(05:23):
It was a smooth transition from one small lake town
in upstate New York to another small lake village in
upstate New York. And I love it here. And I
have to admit I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but
I still love Cooperstown in Otzigo County. So there's you know,
lots of variety, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I'm glad you mentioned that because I think most people
know about Cooperstown because of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I mean, that's how I knew about the town before
I had been up in that area. But I will
even say to my wife sometimes when she would or
used to say, like, let's go to Coopersown, Like, I mean,
I want to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, but like,
I don't know, Hall of Fame isn't really my jam,
Like I don't need to go walk around that. And
she's like, you need to understand there is so much
(06:05):
more to Cooper'stown than just the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And I think that's why it's so important that we
had this conversation to put Cooperstown on the map for
more than a museum.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Does she want a job, I asked, Yah, it's the
hardest cells. Sometimes I love going to consumer travel shows
and we're all set up with all of our Cooperstown swag,
and you can tell that oftentimes in a you know,
in a twosome, one person loves baseball and the other
person doesn't. And so when one person gets really excited
(06:38):
and they're like, I've always wanted to go, the other
person's eyes roll in the back of their head and
I'm like, hey, you you you need to have a
talk because there is like I said, I don't I
don't love baseball, and I that was one of the
reasons why they saw value in bringing me into this
role was because I wasn't going to talk all day
every day about you know, the latest baseball game and
(07:01):
back then have probably have to google that, but all
the rest of the things, it's what I love Cooperstown for.
So it's good to hear that there are ambassadors out
there spreading the good word.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I do think it's kind of interesting that the Baseball
Hall of Fame ended up in Cooperstown in general, because
there are no major baseball teams anywhere near Cooperstown, Like,
it's kind of in the middle of nowhere in baseball land.
I don't really know why, and I'm sure there's a
historical reason why, but I've always thought it was interesting
that it is where it is.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, and there's plenty of renditions of the story, but
the shortest one I know of is Stephen C. Clark
was a big baseball fan. He had a private collection
of his own, and around that same time, Spaulding did
a contest for people to submit a location as to
where did baseball begin? And Civil War hero Abner Doubleday
(07:54):
made a submission for Cooperstown, saying it started right here
on Main Street at this cow pasture in the village,
and it was accepted. The cow pastor eventually turned into
Double Day Fields. We had people coming in playing baseball there. STEVENS.
Clark's private collection of baseball items turned into a museum.
(08:16):
The Hall of Fame decided to, you know, they inducted
their first class, have to have the ceremony happened here
in Cooperstown, and really the rest is history. The Clark
family has ties to the Singer sewing machine, and therefore
you know they're they're huge supporters of all things first
Town and the counting area and stewards of sustainability and
(08:40):
making sure that we're in really good hands here. We
were very thankful for all the things that that the
Clark entity provides for us. And they they own the
National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum as well as the
Farmers Museum atam Or Art Museum, the Oda Saga Resort
luxury resort right on the lake shore here, and they've
(09:02):
built quite a strong reason for everybody to come visit
at least once in their life.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Well, Cas, we're getting into the fall season, which for
my money, I've been there in all seasons visiting family,
and for my money, fall season is my favorite to
be up there in sort of central upstate New York.
I love it this time of year. So you know, baseball,
I'm sure is very busy in the summertime for you guys,
But now you get into the fall and now you
can really embrace just the season that is coming your way.
(09:29):
And I know you've got a long list of events
that are coming up here. So let's start with something
that you're really excited for coming up. What's your favorite
thing that's going to be on the way.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Here so much? I mean, I absolutely adore fall. We're
in a little grace period right now between the end
of the youth baseball tournament facility season and the start
of the leaf peeping, and leaves have already begun to change.
And while I go year round, one of my favorite
(09:57):
things to do is go to brewery, oma gang or
fire pit Fridays, and it's much nicer when you can
appreciate the fire for what it is, as opposed to
know a night in mid July when you want to
stand away from the fower supposal as you can. So
I love that, and fall is actually also my favorite
time to go on rail Explorers. We have a company
(10:21):
has multiple locations throughout the US, but they've repurposed an
old section of railroad and they've got recumbent bikes that
sit on the tracks with an electric motor. So it
is something that the multi generation attraction for people who
want to maybe bring their grandchildren and enjoy that. But
(10:43):
they have a special ride. If lots of themed rides,
but the count Tracula is a Halloween themed ride on
the Charlotte Valley Haunted Express and that's something really to
look forward to. They come and two and four person
bikes and you know, if you've got a party of eight,
(11:05):
they can send you out in clusters so that your
group gets to stay together and they pause and wait
for the next group to clear and send them out,
so it's not like a big group tour. You can
have a really intimate experience and it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I have to add that to my list. I didn't
know that was up there. That's a really cool, cool
option to bring and we can bring the family out.
Then that can be my excuse to get everybody to
Cooper's Town.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
There.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You go, tell me about historic Hide Hall.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Hide Hall so it is in a historic mansion on
the northern end of Otstegel Lake where I think you
have one of the best views in the county. You
can see all the way down the lake shore and
it is inside Glimmerglass State Park, on of one of
the best state parks I think New York has to offer.
(11:54):
But they have candlelight ghost tours on weekends in October
called Hide and Shriek and their guy tours well the
his House and some of it is quite interesting, and
so you wonder if whether or not that shadows in
the corner it's really a shadow and into that Also,
Orange County, New York Paran Normal will be there mid
(12:14):
October to actually work with people who visit at that time.
You'll get a chance to like see if you can
detect any activity yourself while they're there. So it's really
interactive and looking forward to that. And then at the
end of the month they have a haunted mansion for kids.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Oh that's good. My daughter loves all things spooky, but
there comes a limit, right, Like she my daughter is
like three and a half, almost four, so she loves
spooky things, and then there's a point where she's like, Okay,
that's a little too spooky for me.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, And that's not That's not the
only thing there's there's also Cooperstown Candlelight ghost tours here
in the village and so nice weather, it's a nice
way to get out and get some steps in around
the village and hear about the hiss and some of
the historic buildings here in the village and the stories
of the folks that were here.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So I love that one as well. At the Farmers
Museum called things that go Bump into Night. So if
you wanted to, you could really plan a whole weekend
full of ghostly adventures. You could stay at the Inn
at Cooperstown. They're having a spirited weekend. They'll have a
medium coming in and lots of activities. So in October,
(13:31):
you'd never know that this is baseball town.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You'd think you're in sleepy hollow on most almost.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, for some people, it's not as far of a
drive to get there, and I would assume not as
many people.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I grew up fairly close to Salem, Massachusetts. Grew up
in Salem, New Hampshire. We were not far from Salem, Massachusetts,
and it was one of those things that even though
I grew up there, I never went because we were like,
we're not going there around Halloween, forget it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
All right, So you've got a lot of cool stuff
going on for Halloween theme stuff. Let's talk a little
bit more about just sort of like fall things in general.
I know Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad has got some
cool things coming up too.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, so they have themed rides they have Fall Foliage excursions.
They've also got a couple of kid friendly events. One's
a pumpkin patch, so if you take a ride out
on the train, they stop at a field and each
child gets to pick a pumpkin and then you ride back.
Really charming, and of course you can see the Fall
Foliage while you're on that too. And then at the
(14:34):
end of the month they have a trick or treat
ride as well, so also good at the kids. Those
book up quick, so I would encourage everybody to look
into that. And then they share the track with the
rail Explorers, so they leave from the same station in Milford,
which is about fifteen minutes south of the village at Cooperstown.
(14:57):
And then if you're taking the north route and the
train in itself comes north into the village and then
turns around it goes back.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know, since you just mentioned that, things book up
fast and people should look into it. Where is a
good place people can find details about all the things
that we're talking about today.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
This is Cooperstown. Dot Com is probably the most comprehensive
location where you can find an event calendar that has
all the things and also other attractions, lodging dining, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
What's your favorite thing to do? I always love asking
people because you are the boss, like you know everything
that's going on there. Like you're the person that does
these conversations. You do these interviews where you tell people
all the things they should be checking out. But like,
what is it that you look forward to. What's a
weekend that you're like, Okay, I'm going out and I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
What a typical weekend for me. Let's see Saturday morning.
Let's start out at doubled Ay Cafe. I have breakfast there,
very diner style, friendly steph lots of options on the menu.
From there, I walk to the Cooperstown Farmers Market and
I grab whatever it is that I need for perhaps
(16:05):
the week's meal prep and visit all the vendors and
say hello to my neighbors because everybody's there. Then I
would probably go someplace, grab maybe a four pack, and
go out on the kayak if it's nice weather, you know,
sit out on the lake or take the mouth of
(16:27):
the Susquehanna Rivers right here too. So in Sary, if
I was feeling really ambitious, I could paddle the four
hundred and forty four miles and end up in the
Chesapeake Bay, but I don't think that that's in my future.
But so seeing the fall Foliage from the lake is
pretty great. You can also do that via the glimmer
(16:48):
Glass Queen, which is a boat tour that we have here.
Leaves from the village, share that four path with some
good friends, come back to shore. And I also really
enjoy going to the firebar. This may not be all
on the same day because it's going to sound like
an alcoholic but on the on the lake at the
Oda Saga, they've got like a twenty person round bar
(17:13):
that has a fire pit in the middle and they
have a good, good menu, really cool craft cocktails, which
I should also mention you can get from the Cooperstown
Beverage Exchange, which is zoned by and operated by the
Cooperstown Distillery. Some of the best gin that I've ever
(17:33):
had comes from the coopers Down Distillery. I love it there.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
This is good insight for me because again I can
look at the website, I can see the touristy things,
but like you live there, Like this is the insight
that I want to know if I'm coming to visit.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, and uh, the Fly Creek Cider
Mill is a gem. We're so lucky to have it here.
They were actually just voted to the best sidery in
the nation by USA Today Home Best Reader's Choice. Nice,
and so they are. They're seeing a lot of people
(18:07):
coming in and visit for the first time, but they've
had quite a following for a very long while. They've
got it. They've got it down to a science, kind
of like an Ikea. You go in, use one way
in and one way out. But they just added a
new tasting facility where you can get craft beverages as
well from from local locations from the beverage trail, and
(18:31):
they do regular sweet cider and hardsider, and there's ducks
and geese and all sorts of waterfall on the mill
pond and ridiculously sweet snacks that you do. Yeah, you
have to talk yourself out of. But they're so good,
(18:54):
especially if I'm having guests the Phleork cnimals and must
visit at a.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Little part to the cider mill and Endicott. That's the
one that I tend to visit when I'm up in
that region, but I may have to swing over to
Cooperstown next time and stock the car with that before
we make our way back down to Maryland.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I agree. I mean we're coming up with a very
long list as to why you need to visit, so.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
It's going to be really hard for me to not
make it happen next time. I think.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
It's great. And if you know, staying with the in
laws for too long, we've got plenty of options. There's
a package deal with the in at Cooperstown called Cooperstown's
to the Core and you get a bunch of Fla
Creeks cider mill stuff with that as well. And speaking
of that in they also have throughout the fall and
(19:42):
winter and.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Bed and bruis okay, And so it's a hotel packagers
day a couple of nights at the inn, but they
do transportation to brewery Omgang, and you get a private
dining experience, guided tasting, and a gift guard to the mercantile.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
It's really popular. Those are also probably going to fill
up relatively quick. But if you're a craft beer connoisseur,
they especially invite you to bring some of your favorites
and they have a little cocktail hour amongst all the
attendees so, but it can kind of maybe maybe you
bring your home brew and flex a little bit.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I love that. That's cool, cool, they really embrace it.
I really like that. I love that they seem to
think through a lot of the things to make the
experience full. Like you're not just going there to say,
go visit the brewery or go to the Hall of Fame,
but you're going there and you get a full experience.
While you're there. You get to really embrace the locale.
And I don't feel like you miss out on anything.
(20:41):
I mean, they give you everything you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Need, but you certainly need a couple of days to
do it all. And that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
One more thing I saw on your list here for
the fall is I saw sh october Fest. Tell me
more about that.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, it's down at the Foothills performing on Center in Oneonta,
And yeah it's it is family friendly, but it's three
pm to midnight and they have all sorts of things craft,
beverage acts, throwing, pumpkin carving, live music, film screenings, tart
(21:16):
guard readings, all the things. So it's a huge little
bit and it's certainly worth looking into. It's it's not
it's been going for a couple of years, and every
year I hear amazing stories. I have to admit, I
am not one for anything that's going to startle me,
(21:38):
but it's great. You know. It's a good precursor as
well to in November, we have a Glimmer Glass Film
Festival that'll be coming up soon. And on the topic
of October fests, I have to also mention Gotoberfest, where
New York goat yoga at Gilbert Field Armhouse. It is
(22:00):
about forty five minute drive from Cooperstown. But who doesn't
want to do yoga with baby goats?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Of course that always looks like so much fun.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Well, listen, Cass, this has been great. You have really
opened my eyes to a lot of reasons that I
need to make the trip to Cooperstown official next time
I get up there to visit family and everybody else
listening the best place to go once again, to book
the trip or to find out everything that you need
to know? Where should they go?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Cast?
Speaker 2 (22:27):
This is Cooperstown dot Com.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's the easiest website I think we've had yet on
this show. This is Cooperstown dot Com. Cass Harrington, the
president and CEO of This is Cooperstown. This has been
an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for your time
and if we do make it up there, I'll make
sure I let you know you better.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Big. Thank you to Cass for her time today. Cooperstown
is the perfect destination for the fall season again. You
can start planning your trip right now at this is
Cooperstown dot com. And thank you for listening today. I
always appreciate the fact that you share some your day
with me. Until next time, be well.
Hey, what's up everyone. Welcome to Delightful Destinations. My name
is Jeff Saint Pierre Delightful Destinations. It's a show designed
to give you an inside or deeper look at vacation
locations around Maryland, at the mid Atlantic, and of course
some other places as well. My hope here is to
speak with people who know these areas best and inspire
you for your next trip. Are there places on your
(00:21):
travel bucket list? Like, I'm sure you've got some spots
that you've always wanted to visit right One of those
for me has been Cooperstown, New York. I grew up
around Boston, so baseball runs through my veins. The Baseball
Hall of Fame has been on my list for so long.
I still have this vivid memory of watching a league
of their own for the first time and thinking to myself,
how badly I wanted to visit that place in Cooper's Town.
(00:45):
It just looked so cool, and I've been so close
so many times. Like my wife grew up not too
far from Cooperstown and her family still lives there. I
think we've driven through Cooperstown before going somewhere else. I
don't know. For whatever reason, we just haven't made a
stop in Cooperstown. I will say, though, as I've spent
more time in Central New York, I've realized there's so
much more to Cooperstown than just the Baseball Hall of Fame. Like,
(01:06):
people there talk about all the things they love to
do in Cooperstown, and no one mentions the Baseball Hall
of Fame. So you know that this area is super
awesome to check out. The area is just beautiful. Cooperstown
sits on the south shore of Glimmerglass Lake. There's hiking leaf,
peeping beers, and so much more. And Okay, that's it.
I've officially convinced myself my family is going to make
(01:27):
a stop in Cooperstown next time we go up to
Central New York. Joining me for this episode of Delightful
Destinations is Cass Harrington. She's the president and CEO of
This is Cooperstown. I hope you enjoy our conversation.
Speaker 2 (01:39):
It's me you too. I'm so excited to be here
and I have a chat with you.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So on your website, this is Cooperstown dot com, it
says America's hometown. Explain that to me.
Speaker 2 (01:49):
You know, so many people liken this to a Norman
Rockwell painting, and we kind of pride ourselves and very
similar to the way it was when people visited fifty
years ago.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
And we've got some advancements and changes happening, but for
the most part, we really like to keep things old school,
and it's kind of the quintessential Americana experience when you're here.
When you're here, we got beer, baseball, and diners, and
you know, what else could you want?
Speaker 1 (02:22):
I have to admit to you, I have driven through
Cooperstown and I've been very close to Cooper's Town many times,
but I've never stopped to hang out. My wife's family
lives in Green New York, so not too far from
where you guys are. So I've been in the area
and you know, it kind of happened to drive through
going somewhere else, but I've never stopped. And it's been
on my list of things that I've always wanted to do.
(02:43):
We just never have made it happen, you know.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
To be honest with you, we hear that all the time.
It's a it's a bucket list destination. And so we're
always trying to convince the people that there's no better
time than now and so you know, join, join the club. Visit.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
My wife and I will always say when we're going
up to visit family, Okay, this time, we're going to
go to Cooperstown. We're gonna Ama Gang is up there
right the brewery. Yeah, we're gonna do Ama Gang. We're
going to see all the things. And then we get
up there and we're their family, and then it's like, okay,
now we've run at a time, we've spent too much
family time and we have no time.
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Yeah, you need to go before you commit to the family.
Speaker 1 (03:20):
Yes, absolutely, that is my game plan. It's her family,
not mine, So I'm ready to go. Whatever Cass tell
me about yourself, though, how did you end up in
this position?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
So? I started out well. I went to college for
marketing and business in the Finger Lakes region where I
grew up, and had been working tour some industry at
wineries and the Finger Lakes for as long as I could. Really,
it was my first job when I was in high school.
Coat was the only public facility within walking distance off
my home. Started working at a winery restaurant, fell in
(03:54):
love with marketing during the high school class session that
we had, and ironically the project We had a class
long project. We had to create, do research for, and
create a baseball team the city that doesn't already have one,
and justify why we chose the city. And then we
had to develop a jersey and to a mock up
(04:17):
of a stadium. So it was quite an interesting project.
I literally just was like, this is what I want
to do for the rest of my life, having no
idea that eventually I was going to end up in
baseball land. But I went to college at Elmira College,
transferred to CUCA College, got out a little early, started
working in the admissions office at a youth treatment facility,
(04:40):
and quickly moved on to the Chamber of Commerce. Chamber
of Commerce was the tourism entity for Seneca County, where
I was left that to be the executive director of
America's first wine trail on Kyuga Lake. You got a
little tired of talking about the same product all day
every day, and my liver was like, please, please, please
find some variety in life. And so I ended up
(05:02):
moving to Cooperstown for this role when I heard that
it was available, and I have not looked back since.
That was six and three quarters years ago. Now. I
moved here two days after Christmas in twenty seventeen. My
predecessor had been here for thirty plus years and they
were looking for some new blood, and I was very excited.
(05:23):
It was a smooth transition from one small lake town
in upstate New York to another small lake village in
upstate New York. And I love it here. And I
have to admit I'm not the biggest baseball fan, but
I still love Cooperstown in Otzigo County. So there's you know,
lots of variety, you know, And.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
I'm glad you mentioned that because I think most people
know about Cooperstown because of the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I mean, that's how I knew about the town before
I had been up in that area. But I will
even say to my wife sometimes when she would or
used to say, like, let's go to Coopersown, Like, I mean,
I want to see the Baseball Hall of Fame, but like,
I don't know, Hall of Fame isn't really my jam,
Like I don't need to go walk around that. And
she's like, you need to understand there is so much
(06:05):
more to Cooper'stown than just the Baseball Hall of Fame.
And I think that's why it's so important that we
had this conversation to put Cooperstown on the map for
more than a museum.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Does she want a job, I asked, Yah, it's the
hardest cells. Sometimes I love going to consumer travel shows
and we're all set up with all of our Cooperstown swag,
and you can tell that oftentimes in a you know,
in a twosome, one person loves baseball and the other
person doesn't. And so when one person gets really excited
(06:38):
and they're like, I've always wanted to go, the other
person's eyes roll in the back of their head and
I'm like, hey, you you you need to have a
talk because there is like I said, I don't I
don't love baseball, and I that was one of the
reasons why they saw value in bringing me into this
role was because I wasn't going to talk all day
every day about you know, the latest baseball game and
(07:01):
back then have probably have to google that, but all
the rest of the things, it's what I love Cooperstown for.
So it's good to hear that there are ambassadors out
there spreading the good word.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
I do think it's kind of interesting that the Baseball
Hall of Fame ended up in Cooperstown in general, because
there are no major baseball teams anywhere near Cooperstown, Like,
it's kind of in the middle of nowhere in baseball land.
I don't really know why, and I'm sure there's a
historical reason why, but I've always thought it was interesting
that it is where it is.
Speaker 2 (07:31):
Yeah, and there's plenty of renditions of the story, but
the shortest one I know of is Stephen C. Clark
was a big baseball fan. He had a private collection
of his own, and around that same time, Spaulding did
a contest for people to submit a location as to
where did baseball begin? And Civil War hero Abner Doubleday
(07:54):
made a submission for Cooperstown, saying it started right here
on Main Street at this cow pasture in the village,
and it was accepted. The cow pastor eventually turned into
Double Day Fields. We had people coming in playing baseball there. STEVENS.
Clark's private collection of baseball items turned into a museum.
(08:16):
The Hall of Fame decided to, you know, they inducted
their first class, have to have the ceremony happened here
in Cooperstown, and really the rest is history. The Clark
family has ties to the Singer sewing machine, and therefore
you know they're they're huge supporters of all things first
Town and the counting area and stewards of sustainability and
(08:40):
making sure that we're in really good hands here. We
were very thankful for all the things that that the
Clark entity provides for us. And they they own the
National Baseball Hall of Fame Museum as well as the
Farmers Museum atam Or Art Museum, the Oda Saga Resort
luxury resort right on the lake shore here, and they've
(09:02):
built quite a strong reason for everybody to come visit
at least once in their life.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Well, Cas, we're getting into the fall season, which for
my money, I've been there in all seasons visiting family,
and for my money, fall season is my favorite to
be up there in sort of central upstate New York.
I love it this time of year. So you know, baseball,
I'm sure is very busy in the summertime for you guys,
But now you get into the fall and now you
can really embrace just the season that is coming your way.
(09:29):
And I know you've got a long list of events
that are coming up here. So let's start with something
that you're really excited for coming up. What's your favorite
thing that's going to be on the way.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
Here so much? I mean, I absolutely adore fall. We're
in a little grace period right now between the end
of the youth baseball tournament facility season and the start
of the leaf peeping, and leaves have already begun to change.
And while I go year round, one of my favorite
(09:57):
things to do is go to brewery, oma gang or
fire pit Fridays, and it's much nicer when you can
appreciate the fire for what it is, as opposed to
know a night in mid July when you want to
stand away from the fower supposal as you can. So
I love that, and fall is actually also my favorite
time to go on rail Explorers. We have a company
(10:21):
has multiple locations throughout the US, but they've repurposed an
old section of railroad and they've got recumbent bikes that
sit on the tracks with an electric motor. So it
is something that the multi generation attraction for people who
want to maybe bring their grandchildren and enjoy that. But
(10:43):
they have a special ride. If lots of themed rides,
but the count Tracula is a Halloween themed ride on
the Charlotte Valley Haunted Express and that's something really to
look forward to. They come and two and four person
bikes and you know, if you've got a party of eight,
(11:05):
they can send you out in clusters so that your
group gets to stay together and they pause and wait
for the next group to clear and send them out,
so it's not like a big group tour. You can
have a really intimate experience and it's so much fun.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
I have to add that to my list. I didn't
know that was up there. That's a really cool, cool
option to bring and we can bring the family out.
Then that can be my excuse to get everybody to
Cooper's Town.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
There.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
You go, tell me about historic Hide Hall.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Hide Hall so it is in a historic mansion on
the northern end of Otstegel Lake where I think you
have one of the best views in the county. You
can see all the way down the lake shore and
it is inside Glimmerglass State Park, on of one of
the best state parks I think New York has to offer.
(11:54):
But they have candlelight ghost tours on weekends in October
called Hide and Shriek and their guy tours well the
his House and some of it is quite interesting, and
so you wonder if whether or not that shadows in
the corner it's really a shadow and into that Also,
Orange County, New York Paran Normal will be there mid
(12:14):
October to actually work with people who visit at that time.
You'll get a chance to like see if you can
detect any activity yourself while they're there. So it's really
interactive and looking forward to that. And then at the
end of the month they have a haunted mansion for kids.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
Oh that's good. My daughter loves all things spooky, but
there comes a limit, right, Like she my daughter is
like three and a half, almost four, so she loves
spooky things, and then there's a point where she's like, Okay,
that's a little too spooky for me.
Speaker 4 (12:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, And that's not That's not the
only thing there's there's also Cooperstown Candlelight ghost tours here
in the village and so nice weather, it's a nice
way to get out and get some steps in around
the village and hear about the hiss and some of
the historic buildings here in the village and the stories
of the folks that were here.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
So I love that one as well. At the Farmers
Museum called things that go Bump into Night. So if
you wanted to, you could really plan a whole weekend
full of ghostly adventures. You could stay at the Inn
at Cooperstown. They're having a spirited weekend. They'll have a
medium coming in and lots of activities. So in October,
(13:31):
you'd never know that this is baseball town.
Speaker 1 (13:34):
You'd think you're in sleepy hollow on most almost.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, for some people, it's not as far of a
drive to get there, and I would assume not as
many people.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Oh yeah, I'm sure.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
I grew up fairly close to Salem, Massachusetts. Grew up
in Salem, New Hampshire. We were not far from Salem, Massachusetts,
and it was one of those things that even though
I grew up there, I never went because we were like,
we're not going there around Halloween, forget it.
Speaker 2 (13:57):
Yeah, yeah, I understand.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
All right, So you've got a lot of cool stuff
going on for Halloween theme stuff. Let's talk a little
bit more about just sort of like fall things in general.
I know Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad has got some
cool things coming up too.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Yeah, so they have themed rides they have Fall Foliage excursions.
They've also got a couple of kid friendly events. One's
a pumpkin patch, so if you take a ride out
on the train, they stop at a field and each
child gets to pick a pumpkin and then you ride back.
Really charming, and of course you can see the Fall
Foliage while you're on that too. And then at the
(14:34):
end of the month they have a trick or treat
ride as well, so also good at the kids. Those
book up quick, so I would encourage everybody to look
into that. And then they share the track with the
rail Explorers, so they leave from the same station in Milford,
which is about fifteen minutes south of the village at Cooperstown.
(14:57):
And then if you're taking the north route and the
train in itself comes north into the village and then
turns around it goes back.
Speaker 1 (15:04):
You know, since you just mentioned that, things book up
fast and people should look into it. Where is a
good place people can find details about all the things
that we're talking about today.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
This is Cooperstown. Dot Com is probably the most comprehensive
location where you can find an event calendar that has
all the things and also other attractions, lodging dining, et cetera.
Speaker 1 (15:26):
What's your favorite thing to do? I always love asking
people because you are the boss, like you know everything
that's going on there. Like you're the person that does
these conversations. You do these interviews where you tell people
all the things they should be checking out. But like,
what is it that you look forward to. What's a
weekend that you're like, Okay, I'm going out and I'm doing.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
What a typical weekend for me. Let's see Saturday morning.
Let's start out at doubled Ay Cafe. I have breakfast there,
very diner style, friendly steph lots of options on the menu.
From there, I walk to the Cooperstown Farmers Market and
I grab whatever it is that I need for perhaps
(16:05):
the week's meal prep and visit all the vendors and
say hello to my neighbors because everybody's there. Then I
would probably go someplace, grab maybe a four pack, and
go out on the kayak if it's nice weather, you know,
sit out on the lake or take the mouth of
(16:27):
the Susquehanna Rivers right here too. So in Sary, if
I was feeling really ambitious, I could paddle the four
hundred and forty four miles and end up in the
Chesapeake Bay, but I don't think that that's in my future.
But so seeing the fall Foliage from the lake is
pretty great. You can also do that via the glimmer
(16:48):
Glass Queen, which is a boat tour that we have here.
Leaves from the village, share that four path with some
good friends, come back to shore. And I also really
enjoy going to the firebar. This may not be all
on the same day because it's going to sound like
an alcoholic but on the on the lake at the
Oda Saga, they've got like a twenty person round bar
(17:13):
that has a fire pit in the middle and they
have a good, good menu, really cool craft cocktails, which
I should also mention you can get from the Cooperstown
Beverage Exchange, which is zoned by and operated by the
Cooperstown Distillery. Some of the best gin that I've ever
(17:33):
had comes from the coopers Down Distillery. I love it there.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
This is good insight for me because again I can
look at the website, I can see the touristy things,
but like you live there, Like this is the insight
that I want to know if I'm coming to visit.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
Yeah, yeah, that's awesome, and uh, the Fly Creek Cider
Mill is a gem. We're so lucky to have it here.
They were actually just voted to the best sidery in
the nation by USA Today Home Best Reader's Choice. Nice,
and so they are. They're seeing a lot of people
(18:07):
coming in and visit for the first time, but they've
had quite a following for a very long while. They've
got it. They've got it down to a science, kind
of like an Ikea. You go in, use one way
in and one way out. But they just added a
new tasting facility where you can get craft beverages as
well from from local locations from the beverage trail, and
(18:31):
they do regular sweet cider and hardsider, and there's ducks
and geese and all sorts of waterfall on the mill
pond and ridiculously sweet snacks that you do. Yeah, you
have to talk yourself out of. But they're so good,
(18:54):
especially if I'm having guests the Phleork cnimals and must
visit at a.
Speaker 1 (18:59):
Little part to the cider mill and Endicott. That's the
one that I tend to visit when I'm up in
that region, but I may have to swing over to
Cooperstown next time and stock the car with that before
we make our way back down to Maryland.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I agree. I mean we're coming up with a very
long list as to why you need to visit, so.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
It's going to be really hard for me to not
make it happen next time. I think.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
It's great. And if you know, staying with the in
laws for too long, we've got plenty of options. There's
a package deal with the in at Cooperstown called Cooperstown's
to the Core and you get a bunch of Fla
Creeks cider mill stuff with that as well. And speaking
of that in they also have throughout the fall and
(19:42):
winter and.
Speaker 5 (19:45):
Bed and bruis okay, And so it's a hotel packagers
day a couple of nights at the inn, but they
do transportation to brewery Omgang, and you get a private
dining experience, guided tasting, and a gift guard to the mercantile.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
It's really popular. Those are also probably going to fill
up relatively quick. But if you're a craft beer connoisseur,
they especially invite you to bring some of your favorites
and they have a little cocktail hour amongst all the
attendees so, but it can kind of maybe maybe you
bring your home brew and flex a little bit.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
I love that. That's cool, cool, they really embrace it.
I really like that. I love that they seem to
think through a lot of the things to make the
experience full. Like you're not just going there to say,
go visit the brewery or go to the Hall of Fame,
but you're going there and you get a full experience.
While you're there. You get to really embrace the locale.
And I don't feel like you miss out on anything.
(20:41):
I mean, they give you everything you.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Need, but you certainly need a couple of days to
do it all. And that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
One more thing I saw on your list here for
the fall is I saw sh october Fest. Tell me
more about that.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Yeah, it's down at the Foothills performing on Center in Oneonta,
And yeah it's it is family friendly, but it's three
pm to midnight and they have all sorts of things craft,
beverage acts, throwing, pumpkin carving, live music, film screenings, tart
(21:16):
guard readings, all the things. So it's a huge little
bit and it's certainly worth looking into. It's it's not
it's been going for a couple of years, and every
year I hear amazing stories. I have to admit, I
am not one for anything that's going to startle me,
(21:38):
but it's great. You know. It's a good precursor as
well to in November, we have a Glimmer Glass Film
Festival that'll be coming up soon. And on the topic
of October fests, I have to also mention Gotoberfest, where
New York goat yoga at Gilbert Field Armhouse. It is
(22:00):
about forty five minute drive from Cooperstown. But who doesn't
want to do yoga with baby goats?
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Of course that always looks like so much fun.
Speaker 2 (22:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Well, listen, Cass, this has been great. You have really
opened my eyes to a lot of reasons that I
need to make the trip to Cooperstown official next time
I get up there to visit family and everybody else
listening the best place to go once again, to book
the trip or to find out everything that you need
to know? Where should they go?
Speaker 3 (22:26):
Cast?
Speaker 2 (22:27):
This is Cooperstown dot Com.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
That's the easiest website I think we've had yet on
this show. This is Cooperstown dot Com. Cass Harrington, the
president and CEO of This is Cooperstown. This has been
an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much for your time
and if we do make it up there, I'll make
sure I let you know you better.
Speaker 2 (22:43):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Big. Thank you to Cass for her time today. Cooperstown
is the perfect destination for the fall season again. You
can start planning your trip right now at this is
Cooperstown dot com. And thank you for listening today. I
always appreciate the fact that you share some your day
with me. Until next time, be well.
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