This cache is hidden in Cooperstown’s Badger Park. Named for the numerous invisible, rabid badgers residing there, the park is located off of Beaver Street and is somewhat hidden. The park is mostly used during the winter as a skating rink. (While the badgers are hibernating.) As you turn onto Beaver Street from Chestnut Street (Rt 28), there is now a large sign identifying the entrance.
This cache is a hard one. Use the reference point to follow a path to GZ. No bush-whacking this way. The cache is hidden in a small jar that is well camouflaged. It should be winter cachable. Please screw the cap on tightly and replace it as found. If you notice any problems please message me.
I almost forgot, please take great care in the park, due to the numerous invisible, rabid badgers. Make sure that you have your GPS unit turned on when you enter the park. I have created, for your protection, a GPS badger stunning force field activated by any working GPS unit in the park environs. Since you will be searching for this cache for quite awhile, you probably should make certain that your batteries are not low. You will not have time to replace them, if your unit shuts off unexpectedly. Few people have survived the speed and ferocity of an invisible badger attack. (Unless you are from Wisconsin!)
Once you are in the park you will see the back of a large building with an attractive mural painted on it. Built around 1964, it originally was a bowling alley called the Bowl-a-rama. Badger Park was a just a weed-choked vacant lot. Eventually the Bowl-a-rama proved unprofitable, and has since gone through several reincarnations into different grocery stores. However, on June 31, 1967, the vacant lot was the scene of a horrific murder, the details of which have been covered up over the years so as not to tarnish Cooperstown‘s idyllic image. This cache will reveal the true story of the man, last known as “The Chopper!”
NOTE: The following is a short story that does not give any clues to the cache. It’s just a story. (And a good one, despite what nameless cache-reviewing literary critics may believe.) If you would like to read the original story, with an alternate ending, see the archived geocache GC30XA0 “The Legend of the Chopper!”
Our story begins with Tom Golub, a quiet, good natured fellow, in his early twenties. Tom had a small apartment on Linden Avenue where he lived with his puppy, General Price. (Tom was a Civil War buff.) He was a hard worker and well thought of in the community. He worked at a grocery store on Main Street, long gone now, known as the Pic and Pay. (Or as the young hoodlums in town called it, the Pic and Don’t Pay.) He had moved to Cooperstown from the Schenectady area where his family owned a grocery store chain. Tom, though, wanted to strike out on his own and build his own business.
On April 31st in 1966, Tom observed Butch Bowers III, shoplifting a carton of cigarettes. Butch, also known as “Ball Buster” was a real shi . . . , um . . . well let’s just say he was a jerk! He wasn’t too happy being arrested because of Tom and harassed him unmercifully whenever their paths crossed.
In the fall of 1966, the men’s Friday night bowling season started at the Bowl-a-rama. Four man teams were chosen randomly. Unluckily for Tom, he was selected for a team that included Butch. To the surprise of many, Butch seemed happy to have Tom on his team. He knew Tom was a strong bowler, and being the competitive shi …, oops, jerk that he was wanted his team to win. When the season ended, Tom and Butch’s team found themselves in the championship match.
We need to pause here for a moment, to teach some bowling terminology for those not familiar. Bowling pins are set up at the end of the lane in the shape of a pyramid, made from four rows, totaling ten pins. The top of the pyramid closest to the bowler has one pin. The pins are numbered starting with the closest pin, it being of course #1 or as it’s commonly called, the headpin. The second row made of two pins, is numbered #2 and #3 from left to right. Continuing, the third row is #4, #5, and #6. The last row of four pins is #7-10. Knocking down all the pins in one roll is called a strike, in two rolls a spare. Making some spares can be very difficult. If after your first roll you have left the #7 and #10 pins, you have the two pins farthest apart and this is known as a split. This is the hardest spare to make. Occasionally you might make your first roll and leave the #2 and #8 pins or the #3 and #9 pins. This is know as a double wood, because one pin is directly in front of the other. This can also be a difficult spare to make. When you attempt to make this spare, you must make certain that your ball will take out both pins. Often, your ball may hit the front pin a glancing blow. This will deflect your bowling ball away from the pin behind it and is known as a “chop”. You have “chopped” off the first pin and left the second behind.
A match consists of four points. Three games are bowled by each team, with the scores of all the team members being totaled. The team with the higher total wins that individual game and gains one point. However the fourth point goes to the team with the highest total of all three games. What sometimes can happen is that one team may win two of the games by small amounts. If the other team wins its only game by a large enough margin, then their total pinfall could end up higher and they would win the fourth point. The two teams would end up tied with two points apiece.
The championship match was very close. Tom and Butch’s team won the first game by a total of 11 pins. In the second game, Tom was bowling lights out, until the tenth frame. Bowling as the anchor man, he needed a spare and seven pins to give his team the victory. He rolled his first ball. The ball hit high in the pocket and left the double wood, the #2 pin hiding the #8 pin behind.
“Tom, we need this spare,” Butch grunted.
Tom took his approach and let the ball roll. But, unluckily his ball barely hit the front pin, and was redirected away from the pin behind. A chop! No spare! The team lost that game by seven pins. If Butch was mad he didn’t show it. “Let’s just win the last game and go home!” he said quietly.
Early in the third game it didn’t look good for the guys. They started slowly, but around the fifth frame the pins started to fly. All four guys getting multiple strikes and spares, they began making up the lost ground. By the tenth frame, it looked like they had it in hand. Tom could close out the other team with a strike or spare. He rolled his ball and it looked good. He hit the pocket, but instead of the pins emptying into the pit, he was left staring again at the double wood.
Butch glared at him. “Make the spare Tom and let’s get out of here!” he growled.
Of course, it wasn’t to be. Tom hooked his ball too sharply and it hit the left side of the #2 pin and bounced away. Another chop! The #8 pin standing alone on the lane for all to see.
Tom and Butch still had a chance. The anchor man for the other team still needed to get three strikes in a row to beat them. And, (or this story wouldn’t have any drama), he made all three strikes with ease, winning the third game total by one pin!
Butch kept his cool again. The score was 2-1 in games, but when the total pinfall for the match was added, Tom and Butch’s team had won by seven pins. The teams were tied at two points each for the match.
It had been agreed upon before the championship that if the match ended in a tie, there would be a one frame roll-off. All four bowlers on each team would roll one frame with the higher team total deciding the contest.
The other team rolled first. Their man made a strike. Butch matched him with another strike! The second man took his approach. He made a 9 on his first ball, but covered the lone pin with his second for a spare. The second man on Butch’s team took his turn. He hit the pocket but left a solid ten pin, which he easily made with his second ball. The teams were still tied. The third men on each team rolled. The other team got an unlucky break when their third man nervously rolled and ended up with a 7-10 split. He threw his second ball but could only cover the seven pin. Tom’s team mate stepped up and threw a ball that came up heavy on the head pin. Luckily the pins all fell but one. He was left with just the five pin standing, one of the easiest spares to make, but his second ball missed the lone pin by a mile. The two teams were tied with 29 pins apiece. The anchor man for the other team threw his first ball but could only manage to knock down eight pins. He made the spare. All eyes turned to Tom. He made his approach and rolled the ball. He made solid contact, but again two pins were left standing on the alley. The #2 and #8 pins. Unbelievably Tom had to face the double wood for the third time! He would need to spare in order to tie and continue the roll-off.
“You’d better make it this time!!”, Butch snarled, for all to hear.
This wouldn’t be much of a story, if Tom was successful, and naturally he knocked away the front pin for his third chop that evening. The team lost the roll-off 39 pins to 38. The alley was dead silent until . . .
“Way to go Chopper!” Butch screamed. “You absolutely suck!!”
Tom’s life was made miserable every chance Butch got, after that night. He continually embarrassed Tom in public, with some sarcastic remark referring to him as the “Chopper.” Every nasty thing you can think of Butch did, and of course he made certain it couldn’t be traced back to him. Tom found all his car tires slashed one morning. Then the locks on his apartment door were all super-glued. Finally one night near the end of June, Tom came home and found his beloved puppy, General Price, dead in the backyard. Someone had given the dog a pork chop laced with poison.
That very night, Tom disappeared and was never seen again. He left no note and all his possessions were still in his apartment. His car was in the driveway. No one had any idea how or where he had gone.
On June 31st, a grisly discovery was made in the vacant lot behind the Bowl-a-rama. Someone had mowed the weeds down, the exact shape and length of a bowling alley. Two pins were at the end of the lane. One fallen, the other still standing. There was no bowling ball however. What had knocked down the pins was obvious by the trail of blood down the “lane.” It was the head of Butch Bowers. A typewritten note pinned to the ground nearby read, “Huh, I guess you’re right Butch, I am the Chopper!”
Butch’s body was never found, nor was there any other evidence found that might help solve the murder. To tell you the truth, the local police didn’t try very hard to bring anyone to justice. People had their suspicions, of course, but Butch had it coming no matter who the perpetrator was.
That’s it! Well, . . . there is one more thing. Remember that mural I mentioned earlier, on the back of what once was the Bowl-a-rama? On your way out of town, check out the new owners of the building! More than coincidence? An homage to Tom and his dog? You be the judge.