NBC's "Today" show visits Cooperstown
Dec. 22—Hundreds of people braved the early morning cold Friday, Dec. 22 to wave and cheer on national TV during a live segment of NBC's "Today" show featuring Cooperstown as part of the show's Merriest Main Street tour.
Crews from "Today" and Utica station WKTV arrived around 5 a.m. to record video in front of Santa's Cottage in Pioneer Park. The crowd began to assemble around 7 a.m. for the 8:20 a.m. broadcast.
Destination Marketing distributed Santa hats to the crowd. Stagecoach Coffee provided free coffee and hot chocolate.
WKTV anchor Kristen Copeland — a SUNY Oneonta graduate — hosted the broadcast in Cooperstown. The 3-minute segment also used prerecorded footage of Pioneer Park and Main Street.
Cooperstown Mayor Ellen Tillapaugh talked with Copeland during the live segment, saying that the village's "community spirit really shines" during the holiday season.
"We have families coming out in late November to decorate all our Main Street lamp posts, all 44 of them, as well as Santa's Cottage here in Pioneer Park," she said.
Cooperstown, the final stop of the show's tour, shares the title of Merriest Main Street with Steubenville, Ohio; Georgetown, Colorado; and Essex, Connecticut.
Tillapaugh also highlighted the Cooperstown Food Pantry, Angel Network of Cooperstown and the Cooperstown Community Christmas Committee.
"It's the local spirit that is so important," she said.
Familiar faces in the crowd included Santa and Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, the Grinch and SUNY Oneonta's Red the Dragon.
The segment concluded with a shout-out to Karen Trosset, senior producer on "Today" and Cooperstown native, who encouraged the show to consider visiting Cooperstown.
The group of "Today" anchors in New York City — Savannah Guthrie, Craig Melvin, Sheinelle Jones and Carson Daly — commented favorably on the virtual visit to Cooperstown.
Following the tradition of sign-waving by visitors outside the "Today" studio in New York City, plenty of people brought handmade posters with greetings for family members and Cooperstown-themed messages to wave for the cameras.
One gold tinsel-lined sign with a tartan bow declared Cooperstown the "Nation's Best Christmas-town," referencing NBC.
The Cooperstown Children's Choir declared they sing for cookies, while a sign from the Utica Breakfast Club stated the group "scrambled" to Cooperstown for "Today."
One sign nominated Santa Claus for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024, and another featured Santa with a baseball mitt and stating "catch the spirit in Cooperstown."
Local resident Ellie Paley said her partner, Jack Bryant, came up with the idea for her sign, "Deck the hall(s) (of fame)" with a picture of the museum.
"We came before work," Paley said. "It was a good time and we wanted to celebrate Christmas."
Sarah Dewey, who grew up in Cooperstown and now lives in Nashville, held a sign declaring "We Love Coop." Her mother, Jeanne Dewey, had a matching "We Love Today" sign.
"I was really excited because we got into town yesterday," she said, "so I told my mom that we had to come down."
Kim Quartucio, of Seattle, was visiting her parents and made a sign that read "Real Life Hallmark," referencing the holiday movie powerhouse.
"I just think this town is very cute," she said. "My mom and her friends are very nice. They always do cute things, like leave Christmas presents on each other's porches, and go for walks. We went caroling last night. I make fun of her, but it's like real-life Hallmark."
To watch the "Today" segment, visit http://tinyurl.com/6pmrk84w.
