The f/k/a gang is not feeling very inspired today. But, we
have our stash of Honored Guest poetry for your enjoyment,
and chose a few winners from Gary Hotham:
the dog takes a sniff
— snow that didn’t go
with the first warm day
thrown away
without counting–
birthday cards
warm night —
a soda machine rejects
my coin
three caws
and the crow has flown
over
each lull
in the winter wind:
you and I
“snowflakeS” gary hotham
“the dog takes a sniff” – The Heron’s Nest (Dec. 2005)
“warm nights” – The Heron’s Nest VII:2
“thrown away” frogpond XXVII:3
“each lull” & three caws” – breathmarks (1999)
potluck
of our beloved Schenectady, NY, or Metroplex, its economic development
agency, it is only fair to give a standing ovation for a great success story.
Supported by a $9.5 million Metroplex grant, and its own fund drive, our
already grand Proctor’s Theater has expanded its stage area, in order to
accommodate even the largest Broadway roadshows. The boosters promised
to bring those shows to our small city (which is part of the NY Capital Region,
along with Albany, Troy, and Saratoga Springs), and to put some life into our
mostly moribund downtown com-mercial scene.
To prove it, and despite the skeptics, Proctor’s lured the road production
of The Phantom of the Opera to Schenectady, for the longest run in the
old vaudeville Theater’s history — the entire month of February. A week
into the run, Proctor’s announced that all but one hundred of the 80,000
available tickets have been sold (with all the remainders being single
seats).
Perhaps more important, with a cast and crew of 150, plus the thousands
of theater-goers bringing customers to restuarants, hotels and other es-
tablishments, downtown businesses are beaming and crowing. (Fox23News,
Albany, NY, “Ecomonic Boom with Phantom of the Opera“, Feb. 10, 2006).
Proctor’s has always been able to bring business to downtown Schen-
ectady only one night at a time. If it becomes a destination of choice
for major Broadway roadshows and their audiences, the foot-traffic that
has been so sorely missing, and the core of business needed to sustain
a lively downtown, may indeed be possible in the near future — in this
City that has lost so much of its jobs, population, stores, and hope over
the last few decades. Thanks and best wishes to Proctor’s “Next Stage”
and all who have made it possible.
Since we’ve never been reluctant to 
