Another Plattsburgh Celebration?


One of the special events during the summer for Plattsburgh, NY is Mayor’s Cup Festival, complete with music, fireworks, and fighting drunks. Now there’s a rumor the city might start up another event to keep the tourism dollars flowing in.

One problem: the person they want to memorialize is on the run from the law.

Arthur Pope has been trying to stay ahead of the feds since he blew up a napalm lab during the Vietnam War. His life is the basis of the movie, Running On Empty (1988). Pope was born in Plattsburgh on July 16, 1944. Some are advocating that his birthday should be remembered as part of the tragedy that was the Vietnam War.

Well, they do honor abolitionist John Brown, who is “a-mold'ring” in his grave in the greater Plattsburgh area, despite the fact that his actions were considered criminal at the time. But I wonder how Pope –- a lefty radical of the 1960s –- would appreciate his birthday being turned into a materialistic, money-centered event by the Establishment.

What a bummer, man.