Bates attends Chamber party; none injured

The headline is a bit misleading. The Chamber of Commerce function I attended was sponsored by the East Aurora, NY, Chamber of Commerce. Thursday night was President Millard Fillmore's 204th Birthday Party, held at the historic Roycroft Inn. I'm in the area on business, and I met up with a friend and joined the festivities.

The event was graced with the presence of the birthday boy himself (bearing a startling resemblance to the editor of the local newspaper), fresh from his resting place at Forest Lawn in Buffalo. The 13th President delivered some choice remarks on local and national politics. For example, he recently visited Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to see how he was settling in to his new job. The new governor reports that he has his hands full....

It was rather relaxing and amusing to hear about local political intrigue in which I have no involvement whatsoever. But local politics are the same everywhere -- developers and preservationists battle for control of the village council, governments face tough decisions on controlling spending, political rivalries mutate into personal vendettas.

So in this lovely hotel in this charming village east of Buffalo, we drank Teetotaler Cider, ate Know-Nothing Stew and Politically Correct Corn Bread ("nicely presented and easy to swallow," according to the menu), and sang the ballad of Millard Fillmore, by Carol Sturdevant, to the tune of "Davy Crockett":

Some folks wanted to invade Peru And make their forunes with rare bird doo. But they couldn't convince Millard Fillmore So he got credit for averting a war.

Millard, Millard Fillmore, least known prez of all!