Author Archives: jimholleran29

Back ailments are the leading cause of injuries for golfers.    To put it coarsely, this aging thing (inhales).   One minute, you lash your drive down the center cut of the fairway and you and your ego are strutting like a peacock, the next minute you’re doubled over, waiting for a pain spasm toContinue reading “Humility training started in ’74 and continued at doctor’s office”

The truck looked great in the showroom catalog, but the tires were balding and cracked. They would need replacing, but I didn’t plan on hitting a curb.       There was a day and a half last week when I made myself nuts, almost. If no good deed goes unpunished, that’s where it all began. MyContinue reading “For 36 hours, it seemed like a terrible, horrible, very bad day”

Photographer Betty Steele took this image of Train No. 198, the last New York Central passenger train to Syracuse to leave the Ogdensburg depot.    Mary Farrell was a participant in history almost 62 years ago. At some point, Lera Wright Bertrand was along for the ride. I was an observer but probably didn’t realizeContinue reading “Keeping memories on track of the last train out of town”

    I was running toward my position while refereeing a high school lacrosse when I peered through rain-spotted glasses at a photographer aiming his long lens in my direction. Nothing odd about that, I reasoned. He is probably shooting the action behind me.    The closer I got, the clearer his features became. My memoryContinue reading “Referee and photographer meet, leading to tales from newsroom”

     I was steering the lawn mower into the chilly wind and light rain at Katie’s home when I lamented: “I wish she could do this herself.’’ This was Day Three in the elements. On a Monday, I refereed lacrosse through a driving rainstorm in a 30-mph, 40-degree wind. The raindrops clung to my glassesContinue reading “Measuring heart, not height, of civic-minded Special Olympian”

  Jason the electrician had holes cut in the living room ceiling. The recessed LED lights were ready to be installed. He stopped to make sure I knew what he was doing, that everything was correct, and his tarps were in place.   All the while, the radio churned out country music. No problem.   IContinue reading “Whistle while you work, but the radio offers a better playlist”

      The Saturday morning plan seemed tidy. We would relax over breakfast at a diner followed by a brief trip to an estate sale to purchase a vintage end table. Then Mary began to add layers. Her friend, Kaye, would tag along to the estate sale. We made a quick detour and picked her up.Continue reading “Men, women are different animals within the same enduring marriage”

    As a worldly friend once chided me, “Not all sports have a ball or a puck.’’ The Black Lake Fish & Game Club members figured that out about 80 years ago, and may have assembled the biggest sports team around St. Lawrence County.    Fish & Game members have helped to develop high schoolContinue reading “Black Lake Fish & Game Club aims high with shooting range”

    I don’t recall how Eileen Holleran’s nickname started, perhaps from her sisters who also were nurses, maybe from her Morristown moms group, but it fit aptly. “Florence of the St. Lawrence’’ worked on several levels – her home overlooking the river, her 47-year career at A. Barton Hepburn Hospital, and the alliteration stemming fromContinue reading “Florence of the St. Lawrence was more than a family nickname”

Reprinted from March 28, 2021 Imagine players soft tossing during warmups at the Morristown Central School baseball diamond when a Green Rockets player spies the sign in the left-field corner – Holleran Field. He wonders aloud to his throwing partner, “Who was Holleran?’’ If the players are 16, perhaps their parents have reached their mid-40s,Continue reading “Fran Holleran’s 100th birthday”