Staff Writer

More than 475 people from Schoharie traveled to Manhattan on Monday afternoon to watch a taping of the "Late Show with David Letterman" that featured their village.

Monday's show, which aired at 11:35 p.m., featured an edition of Biff Henderson's America, a video quiz and a Top Ten List read by Schoharie Mayor John Borst.

Borst said he didn't have any stage fright before reading the list. "Well, actually, my knees were shaking a little bit, but I think it was because they keep it 47 degrees in that place," he said while on his way back from the taping.

"To be honest with you all you've got to do is be able to read," he said. "But coming from Schoharie, some people think you can't do that."

Borst said the list was written by the Late Show staff.

"Boy, that doesn't have much class," he said about the last item, "but I said it."

Teenagers Elaine Snowden and Clare McMahon, both of Schoharie, gave a live Irish step dance performance during the taping.

The previously taped segments included shots of Henderson milking a cow at Collier's Farm and attempting a turkey call at Schoharie Hardware, in addition to a variety of shots of Schoharie.

"The community was portrayed very fairly, with great variety and some exquisite scenery shots," said Jim Batsford, executive director of the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce.

Henderson and crews from the show filmed in Schoharie for three days at the end of October.

The Schoharie residents traveled to Manhattan by bus Monday, arriving two hours before the taping at The Ed Sullivan Theater and leaving shortly afterward.

"We were the audience, and the pages and Letterman's staff told us to applaud, laugh, have a good time," Batsford said.

But, why Schoharie?

"We don't know for sure," Batsford said. "As I understand it, they were looking for a small community within three hours of New York, population around 1,000 — and maybe they threw darts at a map."