Lauren's Book

In case you still come to this page from time to time to linger over memories of last year, the big news now is all about Lauren's book, "The Monsters of Templeton" which is coming out in February 2008. Her publisher's marketing machine is really starting to rev up, so check out the latest news at www.laurengroff.com.

Even more wedding pics...

Here are some select shots from the disposable cameras that were on the table. These tended to be slightly more "candid" (and the number of thumb-on-the-lens shots increased as the night went on)

Disposable camera photos

-Lauren and Clay

More Fantastic Wedding Pictures

More pictures are available in addition to the ones mentioned below:

Wedding Pictures

Welcoming Party Pictures


Enjoy!
-Lauren and Clay

We Did It!!

At long last, we're married!

Lauren and I are still floating (and recovering!) from an amazing weekend. We couldn't have asked for a better celebration and wanted to thank everyone once again for making the voyage to Cooperstown to be with us!

Thanks to a long list of volunteers who helped out on everything from decorations to driving errands to dance-floor-setup, you helped make the weekend a smashing success. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude!

We have a ton of pictures to share that are just now starting to come in. We'll update the site when more become available online, but here are a few to get you started:

Sam's Wedding Pics -- Click Here

Finally, Lauren and I decided that since maintaining this site was so fun and so many people found it to be a great way to check in on us, we'll try to keep it updated with our new adventures in the days to come. So if you check back from time to time we'll be writing more! (or if you are a nerd like me and have a feedreader, there's an xml feed at the bottom)

Cheers,
Lauren and Clay

Need Last Minute Reservations?

A number of our friends and family have told us they just found out they are able to come (hooray!) but are having trouble finding hotel rooms. Cooperstown is beautiful this time of year, and between vacationers, folks making pilgrimages to the hall of fame, and Opera-goers, places to stay can get pretty scarce.

We reserved a few rooms near the Groff's house for anyone who needs them:

Lake N Pines Motel (nice)--we have reserved more rooms and only need to book 1 night. Some singles, some doubles. Please mention "Linda Kallman" when you call.
607.547.2790: http://www.cooperstown.net/lake-n-pines
price range: ~$175 per night.
Don't be misled by the name or the semi-cheesey website: the Lake N Pines has some very nice rooms, is right on the lake, and has a pristine indoor pool. It is also less than a mile from the Groff house and the Opera, so that you'd have a very short trip for Sunday Brunch.

Hickory grove inn B&B (607) 547-1313 (not to be confused with the hickory grove motor inn across the street, which is full): we have a few rooms here, this is within walking distance to the Groff's house.

KC's Corner Motel (budget): we have a few rooms here on a first come first serve basis. Mention "Lauren Groff" to get the $110 rate
1-(607) 264-9392
http://www2.telenet.net/commercial/kc/
price range: $110
This is probably the least expensive place to stay at this point. Not deluxe, but it's really close to the Groff homestead. Plus, it has some efficiencies with full kitchens.

If all of these places are still over your budget, please contact us as we do have some more "rustic" options.

Wedding/Reception Transportation Information

The Cooperstown Trolley will begin taking folks back and forth to the wedding every 20 minutes starting at around 4:30pm.

The two pick-up spots are:

* The corner of main street and pioneer (near the Tunnecliff Inn)
* The parking lot at the Otesaga Hotel

If you are staying a ways out, it would be a good idea to park in the large Otesaga Hotel parking lot and take the trolley from there to Brookwood Gardens (where the wedding and reception are taking place). If you try to park in town and take the Trolley from there, you might have trouble finding parking.

There is plenty of parking at Brookwood, but if you are inclined to have a few drinks, we'd love to encourage you to take the trolley.

T minus 31 Days and Counting

One month remains until the wedding! Lauren and I (well, mostly--ok pretty much entirely Lauren) are working feverishly to ensure a great weekend for all.

In fact, Lauren is in New York right now, ostensibly at a fellowship at Yaddo in Saratoga Springs, but she's also dropping by Cooperstown for some final wedding preparations.

By now we hope everyone has accomodations and transportation. If not, please be sure to contact us for help. We know it can be tough this time of year to find anything available!

Meanwhile, we are excited to see all of you soon! Lauren and I are also excited to see each other, since we're currently going to be at opposite ends of the country until the wedding.

Cheers!

Our New House

We've moved in and are just beginning to get settled in downtown Gainesville, Florida.

Map of Wedding Festivities

A map of the main events.

Preliminary Schedule of Events

Hi, All! Here's what we're seeing as the Preliminary Schedule of Events--things probably will be tweaked in the near future, but this should give you an idea of how the weekend will be set up:

**Changes have been made!*

THURSDAY AUGUST 17TH
Early guests can hang at the Groff lakehouse, water-ski, take in the Baseball Hall of Fame, see "Janufa," a Czech opera at Glimmerglass Opera, go antiquing--you name it. You are more than welcome to come early, and stop by the house for a game of pool or a motorboat tour of Lake Otsego.

Clay will also lead a trip to and tour of Ommegang Brewery for outstanding Belgian ales. We'll meet at the Groff house at 3:00 PM and carpool over.

A champagne hike to Natty Bummpo's legendary cave will take place at about five in the afternoon. Meet at the Groff house at 5. Natty Bumppo--also known as Hawkeye, the Leatherstocking, Deerslayer, etc.--is the most celebrated and interesting character from James Fenimore Cooper's novels, and the hike to his cave is moderately difficult and spectacularly beautiful.

FRIDAY AUGUST 18TH
CHANGE! 9:00-ish, or as soon as Gerald Groff gets the tee-time Golf at Cooperstown's historic and beautiful Leatherstocking Golf Course, led by groomsman Adam Groff and father-of-the-bride Gerald Groff. (Please email Lauren--legroff at gmail dot com--if you're interested. We'll need a head-count).
12:00-1:00pm Bridesmaid's luncheon somewhere spiffy.
1:30pm Possible matinee at Glimmerglass Opera of "Pirates of Penzance?" Please email Lauren (legroff at gmail dot com if you're interested).
5:00pm Rehearsal at Brookwood
6:00pm Welcoming cocktails and hors d'oeuvres at Edgewater Mansion on Fair Street in Cooperstown, courtesy of Clayton and Linda Kallman and Karine and Walter Rich. All guests invited!
9:00pm Rehearsal Dinner for the wedding party and family, thanks to the Kallman family.
11ish pm Cocktail party moves to Cooley's on Pioneer Street for anyone so inclined. Cooley's is just up the block from the flagpole, on the left-hand side.

SATURDAY--AUGUST 19TH--WEDDING DAY!!
9:00am Wedding day four-mile run, led by world-class triathlete and Maid of Honor, Sarah Groff. We will meet somewhere in town, to be specified later. We'll have Schneider's doughnuts, coffee, and orange juice to tempt you out of bed.
4:30 Trolley-stop in town to pick up non-driving guests. There will be two stops--one on the corner of Pioneer and Main Street (Farkle Park) and one at the Otesaga Hotel. There is more than enough parking at Brookwood, but if you are inclined to have a few drinks, we'd love to encourage you to take the trolley.
5:00 Cocktails and hors d'oeuvre hour at Brookwood to await the ceremony.
6:00 The ceremony, immediately followed by the reception.
7:30ish-dawnish The reception.

SUNDAY AUGUST 20TH
9am-1pm Sunday brunch at Momma and Poppa Groff's new lakehouse, a few miles north of Brookwood. Come for good food or the hair of the dog, if need be.

Flying to Cooperstown & Ride Share

Hi All --

Wow, you guys have your act together! We've already been getting questions about flights so here is some help:

Airports and directions from them:
The nearest airport is Albany, NY (ALB) and is about 1.5 hrs away.
Here are directions to Cooperstown from Albany

Ride Sharing
I'm not sure if this will work but thought it couldn't hurt to try. If you're flying to Albany and would like to try to avoid renting your own car, just leave a comment at the bottom of this message (click on comments). Hopefully someone else who is renting a car and has room will see your comment and offer to take you along.

Cooper

This is a picture of our dog. He won't be in the wedding, but he was named for Cooperstown, so we thought we'd post him. He has eyes, they're just closed.

About the Ceremony--Brookwood Gardens!

Hi, All--

We'd like to just introduce you briefly to the place where the ceremony and reception will be taking place--it's called Brookwood Gardens, and it's almost a mile up West Lake Road from Cooperstown.

It's a quaint Victorian garden right on the lake, and has a tiny little garden house where we're hoping to put a bar. Don't you fret--will have all the modern amenities, or at least a tent and dance-floor. As it's a garden party, and an evening wedding, it may grow a little chilly and/or difficult to walk about in stiletto heels. I'd recommend bringing a pashmina and maybe leaving the Manolo Blahniks in the closet--and maybe bringing a few doses of Claritin, if allergies are your thing.

It's super-cute! We're excited to have snagged the location.

Smooches,
Lauren and Clay

Registry

Hello, everyone--

Though we are incredibly grateful for any gift that you think of giving us, we know that it is expensive and difficult to get to Cooperstown and we hope you won't feel obligated to give us a gift. We're just excited to hear from all of our loved ones. That said, if you are so generous as to want to send us a gift, we are registered online with Williams-Sonoma, Target and Tiffany & Co. You can click on any of the links to go to the registry site.

If you'd like to donate to a charity, we are registered with Oxfam America through weddingchannel.com. Please go to the website and type in our names to donate. We have chosen Oxfam because we're impressed by the quality and effectiveness of the work they do, and think that it is one of the worthiest charities out there. This is from the Oxfam America homepage: "Oxfam America is an international agency committed to developing lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and social injustice. We achieve results through long-term partnerships with groups in poor communities that are already working successfully toward these goals, as well as through informed advocacy for policy changes that will improve the lives of poor people around the world."

Thank you!

Hotel Information for Cooperstown

To our wonderful guests:

Cooperstown is very popular in the summer, with the nationally renowned Glimmerglass Opera, the hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and the Cooperstown Dreams Park.

Because the village is so small, hotels in the area are limited and fill up pretty quickly. We urge you to try to book your rooms as soon as you know if you can attend our wedding. We started blocking rooms in September and already had some difficulty finding blocks of rooms.

That said, we've found good accommodations for you, and if you can't find something off this list give us a ring.

Super-Chic:

The Otesaga Hotel
607.547.9931, http://www.otesaga.com/
price range: $300-380 per night.
No more rooms available in our original block, but if you really want to stay here let us know since we're on the waiting list for more rooms.
The grande dame of Cooperstown, the Otesaga is a magnificent hotel, in the middle of town and on Lake Otsego. It is right next door to the gorgeous Leatherstocking Golf Course, and less than a mile from Brookwood, the garden where we are getting hitched.

Quite Nice:

Lake N Pines Motel--we have reserved a block of rooms, some singles, some doubles. Please mention "Lauren Groff" when you call.
607.547.2790: http://www.cooperstown.net/lake-n-pines
price range: $140-$160 per night.
Don't be misled by the name or the semi-cheesey website: the Lake N Pines has some very nice rooms, is right on the lake, and has a pristine indoor pool. It is also less than a mile from the Groff house and the Opera, so that you'd have a very short trip for Sunday Brunch.

Tunnicliff Inn--no rooms left unless they get a cancellation.
607.547.9611 http://www.cooperstownchamber.org/~tunnicliff/
price range: $150-190 per night.
A very charming, very historic boutique-style inn just off Main Street in Cooperstown.

Budget:

KC's Corner Motel: we have reserved a block of rooms here if you mention "Lauren Groff"
1-(607) 264-9392
http://www2.telenet.net/commercial/kc/
price range: $110
Okay, so perhaps it's not the most deluxe place you've ever seen, but it's really close to the Groff homestead, and is somewhat cheaper than other places. Plus, it has some efficiencies with full kitchens, and a "state of the art fire alarm system," (re: the website) which is pretty hilarious, but great to know.

Campgrounds:
We recommend Glimmerglass State Park (you can see it directly across the lake from the Groff house!)
In 2005, this park was named one of the top 100 campgrounds in the nation.
To reserve a campsite, click: http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=22

Cabins:
Because most of our friends are doing amazing--but not especially lucrative--things with their lives, we're working hard to find inexpensive lodging for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford the trip. We're in the midst of negotiating the rental of a few lakeside cabins for more communal-style living--it will be
inexpensive, though some people may need to bring sleeping bags. PLEASE give us a call, and we'll put you down for a spot--first come, first served--and if you call early enough, you'll probably get a *real* bed.


Bed and Breakfast Suggestions
(Note:we have not negotiated any rates with these):


At this point, B&Bs are filling up quickly, and it's probably easier to use the room availability system from the Cooperstown Chamber of Commerce. Click Here for details.

However, if you've got some time to dial around, here are B&B's we've taken a look at:

Country Lion--607.547.8264
4 Glen Ave (Lauren's mom says: "Looks nice!"

Dutch Door--607.547.8354
57 Lake St., opposite the Otesaga. Lauren's mom says, "Also looks nice."

Green Apple Inn--607.547.8354
81 Lake St., also opposite the Otesaga. L's m says: "Pretty."

Jones House--607.547.5547
64 Grove St. A little far from the center of town. L's mom says, "Looks nice."

Landmark Inn--607.547.7725

Overlook B & B--607.547.2019