JIM OWENS: Dick Bova of Port Allegany writes, “Another little
Jim Owens story. As teen-agers, we had a baseball league that
included Cyclone, Smethport, East Smethport, Coleville and Hazel
Hurst. I can’t remember any other teams in the league which was
organized and run by a Mr. Burt from Smethport.”

“My buddy Gene Carnahan and I lived in Duke Center and since
Duke didn’t have a team and we were baseball nuts, we went over
Columbia Hill to play at Coleville. I think you could play until
you turned 18. We played as 15- and 16-year-olds.

“One evening on the way home from playing at Cyclone, my dad
asked, ‘Who was that kid playing shortstop for Cyclone?’ I said,
‘Jim Owens.’ My dad, who was quite a ballplayer when he was young,
said, ‘That young man can be a big leaguer if he wants to.’ When I
replied, ‘What about me?’ he answered, ‘You’d better get a factory
job.’

“This is one more testimony to Jim’s natural athletic
ability.”

“P.S. I’d like to expand your quest for the best all-around
athlete and nominate Emporium’s Matt Grimone and Salamanca’s Chuck
Crist as well as Brian Stavisky from Port Allegany.”

CASE TIME: Bill Flexman of Duke Center just returned from a trip
to North Carolina where he visited the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum
on Harkers Island, sending us an e-mail with an attached photo of a
Case knife on display.

The knife had belonged to Colon Taylor of Sea Level, N.C., who
was retired from the Coast Guard, and was a fisherman and duck
carver.

(We’d love to show you the knife but the photo somehow got lost
in cyberspace. You’ll just have to imagine it.)

“A relative told me he kept the knife so sharp it would cut
through rope and nets with little effort. The relative then reached
into his pocket and proudly pulled out centennial model Case knife.
I was embarrassed that I didn’t have my Case knife in my pocket at
the time.”

Not to ignore Zippo, we pass along a “Zippo sighting” from Julie
Hamilton of Oklahoma City, Okla.: “My husband Lee and I saw the
movie ‘Doubt’ today and in the movie, the priest, played by Philip
Seymore Hoffman, used a Zippo lighter to light his cigarette.”