Carl Carpenter
This past Friday afternoon Carl Carpenter of Pittsfield, NY was involved in a head on
vehicle crash on County Route 13 in Pittsfield, NY, less than a mile from his home. His
injuries were too massive to overcome and he went on to our lord at 9:30 Am today. It's an
absolute shock to us, as it is to everyone who knew Carl. The list is long I assure you. Less
than an hour before the accident he was sitting with my father, talking as they did almost
daily, Carl helped Dad load the 43A for the races at 5 Mile Point and then headed
downtown to New Berlin. Unfortunately, he didn't make it back home. My father related
the news to me Friday evening and at the races on Saturday we talked of it, and figured
Carl, tough guy that he was, would pull through. When Dad called this morning he related
they were on their way to see him, had called and found that he had just passed, it was
like swallowing a brick.
Carl Carpenter was our club's first president, an office he held for the first 10 years of our
existance. He was also the fourth turn flagger at Afton Speedway for 17 years, through a
total of five promoters. To say that Carl loved racing is the definition of understatement.
His involvement can be traced to being a fan at Midstate Speedway, through the years with
Ralph Raasted and Dick Schoonover with the Webb's Lumber #26A latemodel at Fonda, to
the beginnings of our Midstate Club. Carl was one of the charter members of our club, one
of five that started the Midstate Antique Stock Car Club in 1983 which was the first club of
it's kind in New York State. I remember distinctly going to Gilbertsville with my father and
Carl to look at a coupe that was to become our first car, the 43. As we headed home we
were talking, I had just met a girl and was thinking about not pursuing the relationship
and Carl turned to me, he said, "Don't ever throw anything away, you may need it
someday." That always stuck with me, to this day.
Through his years as president our club grew in leaps and bounds. During the early
years it was based around our home town of New Berlin which boasted, by my count, as
many as a dozen teams racing at one point. When I first met him I wondered, why is this
guy the president, what has he got? He was not polished in his bib overalls and tin of
Skoal. I soon found out though, it's hard to describe when you look back but Carl had a
gift. In recent years we often talked of it, not in making a point of it but offhandedly -
which was the beauty of it. Carl never drew attention to himself but yet, he had the ability
to gravitate people to him. I call it the 'gift of gab' and Carl had it in spades. He could make
you feel comfortable and important in talking with you, and it was because of this gift that
he made the club successful.
I don't honestly know who else could have gotten our idea off the ground as well as Carl.
There were times we battled, mostly, looking back now, over ridiculous baloney that holds
no water. As my mother put it to me today, he perservered in making friends with my
father, and in turn with me as well. I am happy that this transpired with Carl, whenever I
saw him or he saw me we just sauntered over to each other and started talking. About the
good times that we had enjoyed in the club, racing in general, and the possibilties that
lied ahead. He never lost his love of racing, or the thought that what we had was a good
thing. We calculated what we could do to make it come back, but we ran out of time. Carl
was planning on re-building his #32 for our club, I wish it could have been as I always
enjoyed our conversations and was looking forward to him being around the club again.
My father, this afternoon as we talked related "I've lost a good friend, he always showed
up just to talk and see how I was. And always at the most opportune times, whenever I
needed a hand, Carl showed up and pitched right in." My mother related that "Carl always
kept us up on what was going on in town, everyone knew him." That's true. New Berlin has
lost another icon, Carl was the salt of the earth and people like him do not grow on trees.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the Carpenter family,
Myrtle, Mike and Rusty, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. It is a loss for all of us. And to
those who still race in all the clubs across New York, you owe a tip of the hat to Carl.
Without his vision, work and perserverence, you would not enjoy the sport as it is today.
God Speed Carl.
Calling hours are Wednesday, Oct. 14th from 2:00 to 4:00 Pm and 7:00 to 9:00 Pm with
the funeral set for Thursday, Oct. 15th at 11:00 Am at the Dakin Funeral Home in New
Berlin, NY.
vehicle crash on County Route 13 in Pittsfield, NY, less than a mile from his home. His
injuries were too massive to overcome and he went on to our lord at 9:30 Am today. It's an
absolute shock to us, as it is to everyone who knew Carl. The list is long I assure you. Less
than an hour before the accident he was sitting with my father, talking as they did almost
daily, Carl helped Dad load the 43A for the races at 5 Mile Point and then headed
downtown to New Berlin. Unfortunately, he didn't make it back home. My father related
the news to me Friday evening and at the races on Saturday we talked of it, and figured
Carl, tough guy that he was, would pull through. When Dad called this morning he related
they were on their way to see him, had called and found that he had just passed, it was
like swallowing a brick.
Carl Carpenter was our club's first president, an office he held for the first 10 years of our
existance. He was also the fourth turn flagger at Afton Speedway for 17 years, through a
total of five promoters. To say that Carl loved racing is the definition of understatement.
His involvement can be traced to being a fan at Midstate Speedway, through the years with
Ralph Raasted and Dick Schoonover with the Webb's Lumber #26A latemodel at Fonda, to
the beginnings of our Midstate Club. Carl was one of the charter members of our club, one
of five that started the Midstate Antique Stock Car Club in 1983 which was the first club of
it's kind in New York State. I remember distinctly going to Gilbertsville with my father and
Carl to look at a coupe that was to become our first car, the 43. As we headed home we
were talking, I had just met a girl and was thinking about not pursuing the relationship
and Carl turned to me, he said, "Don't ever throw anything away, you may need it
someday." That always stuck with me, to this day.
Through his years as president our club grew in leaps and bounds. During the early
years it was based around our home town of New Berlin which boasted, by my count, as
many as a dozen teams racing at one point. When I first met him I wondered, why is this
guy the president, what has he got? He was not polished in his bib overalls and tin of
Skoal. I soon found out though, it's hard to describe when you look back but Carl had a
gift. In recent years we often talked of it, not in making a point of it but offhandedly -
which was the beauty of it. Carl never drew attention to himself but yet, he had the ability
to gravitate people to him. I call it the 'gift of gab' and Carl had it in spades. He could make
you feel comfortable and important in talking with you, and it was because of this gift that
he made the club successful.
I don't honestly know who else could have gotten our idea off the ground as well as Carl.
There were times we battled, mostly, looking back now, over ridiculous baloney that holds
no water. As my mother put it to me today, he perservered in making friends with my
father, and in turn with me as well. I am happy that this transpired with Carl, whenever I
saw him or he saw me we just sauntered over to each other and started talking. About the
good times that we had enjoyed in the club, racing in general, and the possibilties that
lied ahead. He never lost his love of racing, or the thought that what we had was a good
thing. We calculated what we could do to make it come back, but we ran out of time. Carl
was planning on re-building his #32 for our club, I wish it could have been as I always
enjoyed our conversations and was looking forward to him being around the club again.
My father, this afternoon as we talked related "I've lost a good friend, he always showed
up just to talk and see how I was. And always at the most opportune times, whenever I
needed a hand, Carl showed up and pitched right in." My mother related that "Carl always
kept us up on what was going on in town, everyone knew him." That's true. New Berlin has
lost another icon, Carl was the salt of the earth and people like him do not grow on trees.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my condolences to the Carpenter family,
Myrtle, Mike and Rusty, I am sincerely sorry for your loss. It is a loss for all of us. And to
those who still race in all the clubs across New York, you owe a tip of the hat to Carl.
Without his vision, work and perserverence, you would not enjoy the sport as it is today.
God Speed Carl.
Calling hours are Wednesday, Oct. 14th from 2:00 to 4:00 Pm and 7:00 to 9:00 Pm with
the funeral set for Thursday, Oct. 15th at 11:00 Am at the Dakin Funeral Home in New
Berlin, NY.
