When Frank Sinatra got the gang together during the 1960s at The Sands in Las Vegas, the gatherings were often called “The Summit” — defined by Webster as heads of government gathering for diplomatic negotiations. Frank, Dino, Peter, Sammy, Joey and sometimes Shirley used the time on stage to sing and screw around.
Longtime Capital Region public relations execs Ed and Maureen Lewi tossed a “summit” of their own Thursday night in Saratoga Springs — gathering people from the media who covered the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
The Lewi firm handled public relations for the Placid proceedings, and with the 30th anniversary coming up next year, Ed and Maureen decided to assemble reporters, editors, producers and broadcasters to share memories of their times up north.
I was surprised at the turnout — half expecting just a few tables full of people. But about 40 stopped by the West Side Stadium Cafe on Congress Street in Saratoga Springs. Chicken with pasta and flat iron steaks were on the menu, and Ed assembled a highlight reel of skiers, hockey players and figure skaters for one of the cafe’s large-screen televisions.
It’s rare that so many members of the media assemble in one place when there isn’t a story to cover. So it was nice to say hello and shoot the breeze with people like Liz Bishop of WRGB television, Skip Dickstein, Carol DeMare and Fred LeBrun of the Times Union in Albany, Steve Baboulis of WNYT television, Paul Vandenburgh of WGDJ radio and Al Marlin, ex-WRGB and ex-Capital News 9. As an added bonus, sports writers Matt Graves and Mike Kane were also in the mix.
To see photos of the “summit,” click HERE.
A bunch of people told stories. Baboulis talked about then-WNYT sportscaster Scott Murray always on the prowl for feminine company in Lake Placid. Dickstein spilled the beans on UPI photographers who — like other photographers — were not allowed to shoot color film during the big hockey games; Sports Illustrated had the rights. The tricky guys at UPI decided to paste 10 or 15 frames of black and white film to a role of color — when the inspectors wanted look-sees at everyone’s film, the UPI guys unspooled a bunch a black and white leader, passed the test and put the camouflaged color back into their cameras.
My story was kind of tame. I was a 24-year-old reporter for The Post-Star in Glens Falls at the time, and was given a photographer’s credential. We were just doing locally-themed stories for the Post-Star, and my biggest piece was the local state police presence and the troops’ high-tech security system.
While the Times Union and WNYT had rented houses in Lake Placid for their staffs, my trips were up-and-back. I finished my interviews with the Troop G guys, looked around downtown Lake Placid and was preparing to drive two hours south back home to Saratoga Springs in late afternoon when I visited the media center. All sorts of press guides and posters were there for the taking, and I grabbed a bunch. The complimentary ticket table was uncrowded, and I ambled over. I didn’t think I could actually get any tickets, but there was zero problem — I got USA-Norway and USSR-Poland. I had to go — couldn’t pass up seeing teams the whole world was watching.
Watching the USA game, I sat near a young woman who was also solo — someone Scott Murray had obviously missed. We got into a conversation — she was an American working for Canadian Television. And as we were both rooting for the USA separately, we decided to sit together and root collectively. She bought a round of beers; I returned the favor. And after the game, we shook hands and went our separate ways. I don’t even remember her name, but remember talking a bunch of shuttle buses out of Lake Placid, jumping into my aging 1973 AMC Gremlin sometime after midnight and praying the old car would not freeze during the way down the Northway.
I sat next to the Times Union’s Matt Graves, whose usual sidekick — my brother Tim — did not attend. Tim claims he was “not invited,” although he did cover the Games for the Saratogian. “Martyr syndrome,” said Graves, through clenched teeth. Always fun talking to Matt. He told a quick story about drinking in Lake Placid with some guy named Art Devlin, and got a bigger laugh than I did with my Scott Murray quip.
“Think you knocked me down to No. 3,” I told Matt, as we had been keeping an informal score of the most popular stories.
“Seventh,” said Matt, again through clenched teeth.
Ah, Liz Bishop beat us both. You’ll have to wait for the highlight reel to hear it, I’m sure Ed Lewi had someone taping the whole thing.
And speaking of Ed, it was sure nice of him and his wife to toss the party. I told Ed that maybe a bunch of us could take him and Maureen out for the 40th Lake Placid anniversary, the next “summit.”
Maybe I’ll remember the name of that Canadian Television reporter’s name by then.
