80-YEAR TRADITION STILL STRONG

Santa, Games, Kids Aplenty

At Cooperstown’s Fire Hall

Now you see it, now you don’t!  It’s magic, in evidence this afternoon at the Cooperstown Fire Department’s annual kids’ Christmas Party.  Delighted by the mystery are, from left, Haley Kehoe, 14, and sister Natalie, 8, from Hartwick, Angelo Martinez, 8, Hartwick, and Alex Pernat, 11, Fly Creek.  Inset, Abigail Pierce, 3, is determined to win a contest of skill.   The annual Christmas party has been a Cooperstown FD tradition since 1940, according to Joe Carentz, who joined the department in the 1960s.  He and Bob Satriano said the party used to begin in Smalley’s Theater, a half block away, then end up at the fire hall on Chestnut Street.  (Jim Kevlin/AllOTSEGO.com)