Chaos reigned after induction

When I finished reading Jake Palmateer’s article "75,000 welcome Ripken, Gwynn," in the July 30 paper I had to read it again to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating.

I wasn’t!

The end of the ceremony did not go smoothly, as Police Chief Diana Nicols claimed; rather it was hours of utter chaos.

My friends and I left the ceremony at 3:25. We got to the car at 6:05. In the intervening hours we watched bus after empty bus roll by because Cooperstown was not prepared.

The number of buses on the downtown routes far exceeded the number of people going there.

The number of people trying to get to the color parking lots far exceeded the number of buses going there.

Why weren’t all those buses rerouted immediately?

The crowds got loud and unruly, with some people beating on all the empty buses that rolled by. People shouted at state troopers. People shouted at each other.

Signs were nonexistent. Nobody in any official capacity knew what was happening, and most of the information that wormed its way through the crowd was rumors.

The few parking lot buses that came by were already full by the time they got to what was allegedly the main pickup point.

I heard a volunteer tell a visibly angry man that the parking shuttles were not picking up people down the road as two full shuttles passed directly behind him in a scene reminiscent of Baghdad Bob telling reporters that United States troops would never enter Baghdad as U.S. Marines patrolled mere blocks away.

I hope the people who ran this show learn from their fiasco and look up "contingency plans" in the dictionary to prepare for the next big crowd. But for now they should be ashamed of themselves for the pathetic job they did on Sunday.

David Benson

McLean, Va.

Group did service for community

On July 8: Did you see that? Did you witness it?

How dare they do such a deed in broad daylight, right on Chestnut Street from Wall Street to West Street.

The families in the community at 81 Chestnut St. in Oneonta were out in force performing a random act of kindness ... picking up trash left on the sidewalks and road by those who I affectionately refer to collectively as "The Great American Pig." It was refreshing to see them "walking the walk."

These pickups are not scheduled events. Be on the lookout for the next one.

Robert Waghorn

Oneonta