Saturday, May 31, 2008

So You Want Your Own e-Commerce Website? THE CHSHOPS ARE OPEN!

May 31, 2008 - Saturday

So, you want your own website? Think it is too difficult to do? Think it is too expensive? Well, think again! YOU CAN HAVE YOUR OWN WEBISTE! It is not too difficult to do--you have outstanding site support! It is not too expensive--how about as little as $6.95 a month, depending on what options you choose! All this can be yours at CHShops.com!

Check out CHShops at: http://www.chshops.com/

Join the CHShops Community Forum! It has step-by-step instructions on every phase of building your own website.

See my own website on CHShops at: http://pennysantiquesandwedgwoodpantry.chshops.com. This is a work in progress and I plan to be listing items very soon.

copperpenny22
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Sunday, May 25, 2008

Remembrances This Memorial Day Weekend



We Left Our Youth on the Beach
Posted by Scott Ott on Sunday, May 25, 2008 12:37:20 PM

A World War II veteran, closer now to 90 years than 80, told me he once had a dream that he died and was reunited with his fellow soldiers who had perished between Normandy and the Ardennes.

They were all as he remembered them, young men. He, however, in the dream appeared as he does today -- well advanced in years. They didn't know him at first, he being now decades their senior. It disturbed him to see himself that way, and to be seen by them an old man.

They left their youth on the beach. See entire article at: http://scottott.blogtownhall.com/2008/05/25/we_left_our_youth_on_the_beach.thtml
___________________________________________

On this Memorial Day Weekend, remember those who fight to keep us free and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for this great nation.

copperpenny22
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

TED NUGENT AND THE NRA


We have just returned from a family visit and a weekend in Louisville, Ky, where we attended the Annual NRA Meeting and Exhibits. In addition to the exhibits, the annual meeting of the NRA membership, and many informative seminars, there were special programs each day held at the Kentucky Expo Center and the Louisville Downtown Convention Center.

NRA'S Celebration of American Values Leadership Forum included special guest speakers--Oliver North, John Bolton, Carl Rove, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, Mitch McConnell, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, and John McCain.

The Celebrate Freedom Concert featured country music's favorite comedian T. Bubba Bechtol with an all- star evening of fabulous female performers! The three-act lineup for this all-free Celebrate Freedom Concert included the incredible talents of Kentucky's own Sarah Johns ... the all-girl band Cowboy Crush ... and the amazing Jamie O'Neal.

The key-note speaker for the NRA's Celebration of American Values Banquet was Glenn Beck, television and talk-show host and author of "An Inconvenient Book", which is at the top of bestseller lists across America.

A favorite of many attendees was the appearance of Ted Nugent. While he’s often called a guitar hero, it’s because of his work with the National Rifle Association (NRA) and his advocacy for hunting, that he has earned the respect of hunters across North America. To the Nuge, hunting is not just a sport; it is a way of life. And, Ted doesn’t just limit himself to music and hunting, he’s very outspoken when it comes to other issues that hit close to home; including politics, the Second Amendment and crime. Visit Ted at: http://www.TedNugent.com.

Ted--and we--also encourage you to join the NRA membership. See a brief history of the NRA and information on how to join at: http://www.nra.org/aboutus.aspx.
_____________________________________________________

copperpenny22
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Sunday, May 18, 2008

NEED A VACATION?








NEED A VACATION?

We have three weeks of timeshares available for rent. Your choice of a Winter Ski, Summer Beach, or a Quiet Mountain Retreat!

See all the info at:

http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=378333

http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=378406

http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=378409

_______________________________________

copperpenny22
http://www.pennyspantry.net

Blogs for Pro Gunners



http://www.snowflakesinhell.com shows the following gun blogs:

Alphecca
AnarchAngel
Anthroblogology
Armed Canadian
Call me Ahab
Cam Edwards
Days of Our Trailers
Dustin’s Gun Blog
Firearms and Freedom
Geek vs. World
Gun Law News
Gun Legislation and Politics in New York
Gun Talk
Joe’s Crabby Shack
John Lott’s Website
Michael Bane
Mr. Completely
Musings of The Geek With A .45
NJ Voices: Scott Bach
Of Arms and the Law
Pro-Gun Progressive
Publicola
Red’s Trading Post
Ride Fast & Shoot Straight
Rustmeister’s Alehouse
Say Uncle
Sharp as a Marble
Target Rich Environment
TFS Magnum
The Bitch Girls
The Breda Fallacy
The Conservative UAW Guy
The Countertop Chronicles
The Liberty Sphere
The Madman Raves
The Other Side of Kim
The Smallest Minority
The Ten Ring
The Unforgiving Minute
The View from North Central Idaho
The War on Guns
Traction Control
VCDL Blog
View From the Porch
Virginia Shooting Sports Association Blog

_________________________________________

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REPORT FROM THE NRA CONVENTION



Saturday, May 17, 2008

Louisville Grassroots Workshop Tremendous Success!
NRA Members Ready To Take Action This Election Season

This morning, 180 staunch, pro-gun patriots attended the NRA-ILA Grassroots Workshop, held in conjunction with NRA's Annual Meetings & Exhibits in Louisville, Ky. Though most attendees were home state Kentuckians, NRA members represented states from across the country. Diversity in geography notwithstanding, all were united in the singular mission of learning what more they could do in their local communities to elect pro-gun lawmakers to office this year—and they weren't disappointed!

Virtually all of NRA's national officers addressed the attendees, including: NRA EVP Wayne LaPierre; NRA President John Sigler; ILA Executive Director Chris Cox; First Vice President Ron Schmeits; and Second VP David Keene. One by one, our Association's leaders came to the podium and gave credit for NRA's successes to whom it rightly belongs—our members and grassroots activists—and noted the importance of their continued and increased activism in the following months leading up to Election Day. Also in attendance were more than a dozen of NRA-ILA's Election Volunteer Coordinators (EVCs)—the true tips of our grassroots arrow.

Grassroots staff provided attendees with an overview of the threats and opportunities we currently face in Congress, including efforts to reform BATFE, micro-stamping legislation, and a bill to end gun shows, as well as updates on the Heller Supreme Court case and efforts to allow Right-to-Carry in national parks. Once all were apprised of our legislative priorities, and provided with tips to effectively communicate their views to their lawmakers, discussion then turned to grassroots strategies for us to win at the ballot box this year.

In addition to stressing active participation in NRA-ILA's various grassroots programs, attendees were provided with training and materials on voter registration, early and absentee voting, volunteer recruitment, letters to the editor, yard sign and bumper sticker distribution, literature drops, and of course, integral Get Out The Vote and Election Day activities.

Tomorrow, ILA Grassroots will conduct the second annual "In Their Own Words" Special Session that will feature some of NRA-ILA's most renowned activists in a panel discussion that will include Q&A with their fellow NRA members and grassroots supporters. For additional information on the "In Their Own Words Special Session," click here.

Please keep an eye out for next week's Alert for additional information on NRA-ILA's grassroots activities in Louisville, including more in-depth reporting on the "In Their Own Words Session", NRA-ILA's "Celebration of American Values Forum", and other Annual Meeting news and activities.
__________________________________________

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Saturday, May 17, 2008

AuctionBytes.com Article on Haggle Marketplaces



Three New 'Haggle' Marketplaces Hope to Unseat eBay
By Ina Steiner
AuctionBytes.com
May 18, 2008


Three new entrants in the ecommerce space have rejected eBay's auction model in favor of systems that encourage haggling between buyers and sellers. And while the three sites take very different approaches, they all offer low fees and social networking components that are built in from the beginning.

Fididel actually introduces a middle-person into its ecommerce model - real-life human negotiators typing live at their keyboards. Flippid is more like a traditional bulletin board, letting buyers and sellers create and browse "BuyOff" and "SellOff" postings. Wigix takes an approach it likens to NASDAQ stock trading.

Flippid lets sellers offer a variety of payment methods, including PayPal. However, Wigix and Fididel both use PayPal exclusively. I wonder if that gives eBay proprietary competitive information and an immediate knowledge of when and if these sites gain traction.

Wigix
http://www.wigix.com
Wigix is going after eBay sellers, but Amazon.com may also be worried about this upstart marketplace. While perfectly suited for consumer goods, at this point Wigix seems less suited for antiques and unique collectibles. Whether it's intentional or not, certain features of the site strike me as drawing in the type of shopper who might scorn malls and boutiques, but feel comfortable on Wigix and view it as a form of entertainment - even without buying or selling a thing.

Wigix encourages you put all the "stuff" you own as a consumer into your portfolio. Like stock, you can calculate the value of your portfolio. You can choose to make your portfolio of products public or private. If you want to buy more stuff, you find the item on Wigix and look through the list of sellers, their descriptions (which are not detailed and contain no photos), and make a purchase. Or, like the stock market, you can make an open buy order. "I"ll buy this model of Nintendo Wii for $50," and you can put an expiration date or leave the offer good til cancelled.

In addition, you can choose to get notified when someone is interested in buying the items you own in your portfolio but haven't listed for sale.

Wigix uses a catalog approach, creating only one entry per product (or "SKU"), then hanging seller information off of each product. While it may seem strange for sellers used to eBay's approach, the structured data of the catalog approach gives shoppers a lot of flexibility in how they search for and sort listings.

Each product SKU has its own permanent URL, an interesting concept that may prove useful to both buyers and sellers in the long term. Wigix actually encourages sellers to embed Wigix URLs in their listings on other marketplaces. But of course, the URL is not your individual item - it links to the product listing that shows all of the sellers of that item.

Wigix gave me a demo of the tool it is preparing for eBay sellers that allows them to import inventory and that is scheduled to be ready in July. It looks like it may take a lot of upfront work for sellers to translate eBay listings into Wigix listings - but I'll reserve judgement until the tool rolls out.

Revenue-Generating Opportunities Beyond Selling
http://www.wigix.com/index.php/makemoney
Wigix has ways you can earn revenue without actually selling any products. Because Wigix relies so heavily on product attributes for its catalog (think "Item Specifics," such as color, size, make and model), it needs experts to help it build the catalog and add appropriate attributes for each product.

In a concept called "homesteading," you can add items to the catalog, and if approved by the Category Expert, you will earn 5% of the Wigix revenue for each sale of that item.

"Category Experts" earn 1% of their total category's revenue (advertising and transaction fees) in return for keeping the category accurate. You must apply to be considered for the position of Category Expert, and experts must be "reelected" each year.

Wigix also has rewards for referring friends and has "Golden Items" to encourage users to browse the site. You can read all the details on the "Make Money" section of the website.

Fididel
http://www.fididel.com
Fididel uses real-time negotiation. But rather than straight automation, the site uses real people to negotiate on behalf of its sellers. Shoppers can search the site for products they're interested in and immediately begin negotiating on price. Buyers can engage the seller or a "Fidideler" on any product. Fididelers are trained to negotiate on behalf of sellers and receive a commission based on final selling price. Either party can walk away from the negotiations at any time.

There are no listing fees for sellers. The seller sets the commission amount, either a flat-rate commission, or structured as an incentive plan for the Fidideler. The company said sellers would likely want to offer more commission as an incentive to the Fidideler to drive the product price as high as possible. Founder Hal Wendel compared the process to sellers hiring a sales force. "Using Fididelers is the only way a seller can scale on real-time negotiations," he said.

It's a little frustrating that there isn't more information on Fididel about how the site works and how to become a Fidideler, but like Wigix, the site is in beta and is a work in progress.

Flippid
http://www.flippid.com
Flippid lets users create BuyOffs and SellOffs in a model similar to Wigix. Flippid also uses wish lists and want lists that can be incorporated into social networking sites and will soon be completely free.

We have published a separate review of Flippid in this issue - assigned before the launch of Wigix and Fididel (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y208/m05/abu0215/s03).

Appealing to Buyers
As experienced sellers know, a marketplace must draw in buyers in order for it to be a viable venue on which to sell. Each of these three new marketplaces hopes to lure buyers with features that engage and entertain, including through the use of social networking features.

Wigix is a sticky site - you can spend a lot of time doing research and building your "portfolio." Fididel, on the other hand, hopes the excitement of real-time negotiation will draw buyers to its site.

It's too soon to say whether these three sites will succeed in drawing enough traffic and interest from buyers to become viable marketplaces. But sellers are sure to appreciate the hope these sites hold out to them to re-ignite buyer interest and generate sales!

About the author:
Ina Steiner is Editor of AuctionBytes.com and author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). She has a background in marketing and research in the high-tech and publishing fields. If you have story ideas, comments or questions, send them to ina@auctionbytes.com.

_____________________________________

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Saturday, May 10, 2008








A great collection of Anchor Hocking Fire King pieces in the 50's popular Cornflower pattern. You can find all of these available on my website at: http://pennysantiquesandwedgwoodpantry.chshops.com.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

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Monday, May 05, 2008

Fididel launches live-negotiation auction business



Fididel is new kind of auction site that aims to draw in buyers and sellers who aren’t happy with the lack of real-time negotiation on sites such as eBay or Priceline.com. The site gives buyers and sellers the ability to chat in real-time and quickly agree upon a sales price.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company, which VentureBeat uncovered a couple of months ago, appears to fill a hole in the auctions market that those big companies have long left uncovered.

See entire article here: http://venturebeat.com/2008/05/05/fididel-launches-live-negotiation-auction-business/

_________________________________

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Friday, May 02, 2008

ANOTHER GREAT MOTHER'S DAY GIFT




Wedgwood Majolica Grape Plate

Josiah Wedgwood established his pottery factory in 1754. One of his finest medians was Majolica ware. Production of Wedgwood Majolica was stopped many years ago; and Majolica pieces are a very rare find.

You are purchasing a quite rare Wedgwood Majolica "Grape" plate, oval in shape and in MINT condition, with no cracks, chips, or restorations. Measuring 10 inches by 12 inches, this plate is in the rare grapes and grape leaves design. Base markings are: "Wedgwood", with symbols and potter's marks dating this piece prior to 1880.

Price $250.00 plus shipping and insurance. See this item at: http://www.hibidder.com/855043,auction_id,auction_details
_______________________________

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ATLANTA AREA GMRS


For the latest info on GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service) in the Atlanta area, visit the KG4LNE mobile radio website at:

http://www.rtzaudio.com/kg4lne/atl-repeaters.asp

The Atlanta Area GMRS Repeater System is located in the metro Atlanta area. The system is comprised of repeaters owned and operated by WPRX486, WQFU865 and WPSD889. The Atlanta Area Repeater System is "open" to all licensed GMRS users and is generally accessed by using CTCSS a tone 141.3 Hz. All interested licensees who wish to use the system repeaters are required to obtain "permission" from the “Gate Keeper” prior to using the repeater(s). Contact information is provided on the website.
_______________________________

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eBay Defies Boycott Threats




12.30pm BST
Auction site eBay defies boycott threats
John Sterlicchi guardian.co.uk,
Friday April 25 2008
Article history - This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Friday April 25 2008. It was last updated at 14:27 on April 25 2008.

Online auction giant eBay is standing firm against sellers who have scheduled a global boycott of the site on May 1 over policy changes they say hurt their bottom lines as well as protect scamming buyers.

The sellers have a long list of complaints, ranging from the fact they can no longer give buyers negative feedback, to eBay putting a 21-day hold on some PayPal payments and increases in the fees that are paid as a percentage of the final sales price.

Sellers in Australia are also upset that buyers will soon be able to use only PayPal for purchases. If that switch works well, the move could be duplicated in bigger markets.

Many of the changes take place on May 1 and on that day an unknown number of eBay sellers, believed to be in the hundreds, have pledged not to list, buy or peruse any of eBay's listings. Postings on websites such as MySpace and Delphiforums are asking sellers to join the boycott.

For its part, eBay is holding firm on the changes. Its spokesperson, Usher Lieberman, told guardian.co.uk there is no place on eBay for sellers who do not give buyers exceptional customer service and the "vocal minority' who are unhappy "will be routed off" the site. "We have set the bar high," he admitted.

The company's president of global marketplace operations, Lorrie Norrington, said in a speech to sellers this week that eBay was all about improving the buyer experience.

"If you cannot, or will not, change business practices to provide a great customer experience, then eBay is not for you. As I said before, sellers who do not make customer service a priority make it difficult for everyone and are not welcome on eBay," reported AuctionBytes.com.

Sellers now pay fees based on detailed seller ratings left by buyers, and Norrington did say the company had tweaked the rules a little so that feedback by unresponsive or suspended buyers wouldn't count.

Earlier in the week, John Donahoe, who took over as eBay's chief executive last month, said on his blog: "Put simply, we will make more of our money when sellers are successful. The seller dashboard that we're rolling out in May is in direct response to that."

It is clear there are still masses of sellers who are sticking with eBay. Citigroup Global Markets this week issued a report saying US listings for the quarter to date are up 23% over last year. UK listings are up 21% and Germany's are up a massive 45%. Pricing promotions no doubt played a part, however.

Another indication that all is not gloom and doom is a posting on eBay's blogs by Jim Griffith, the dean of eBay education, who recently asked sellers for their success stories. "I was not prepared for the sheer number of stories or the array of hardships conquered they contained," he wrote this week. "So many of you have weathered such extreme difficulties and have overcome them, with help from a little opportunity provided by eBay and a whole lot of dedication and passion for believing in yourselves, in spite of the odds."

Yet there is no doubt that some sellers are jumping ship and going to a dozen or so alternative sites such as ebid.net and OnlineAuction, where founder and CEO Chris Fain says registrations have risen to 100,000 in the last few months. He expects them to reach one million this year; eBay has 250 million registrations.

The privately-funded company has signed on for a TV advertising campaign in the US, and Fain says he has received more than 300 emails from disgruntled eBay sellers who, he says, view his site as a serious competitor to eBay.

"People have built their internet future on a company that has made very unwise decisions in the past several months and now people are done. They can't trust the decisions that are being made by the management at eBay," said Fain, who added that he had sold more than $5m (£2.5m) worth of goods on both eBay and OnlineAuction.

Instead of the eBay model of sellers paying ad hoc fees based on listings, sales price and feedback, OnlineAuction sellers pay a monthly membership fee. "Sellers are going to know exactly what their outgoings are so they also know what their profits can be," he said.

One low-volume seller of military memorabilia said he had switched to OnlineAuction after seeing that 35% of his gross sales went in eBay and PayPal fees.

An independent internet analyst, Greg Sterling, says that eBay has been hit by these type of boycotts several times in the past. The boycotts "have in general turned out to be less potent than hoped for by the organisers. But it is a reflection of people who are disgruntled and dissatisfied with change and the degree on which they have come to rely on eBay as an income source for their level of investment."

The company announced recently a stronger-than-expected first quarter earnings, reporting $2.19bn in revenue, a 24% increase over the first quarter of 2007. Net income also rose 22% to $562m.
___________________________

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Thursday, May 01, 2008

MAY 11--- MOTHERS DAY

Your mother is always with you. She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street, she's the smell of bleach in your freshly
laundered socks, she's the cool hand on your brow when you're not well.
Your mother lives inside your laughter. And she's crystallized in every
tear drop. She's the place you came from, your first home; and she's
the map you follow with every step you take. She's your first love and
your first heartbreak, and nothing on earth can separate you. Not
time... not space... not even death.

NEED A GIFT FOR MOTHER'S DAY?




This lovely Wedgwood Jasperware Mother's Day Plate is 6 1/2 inches in diameter and is in MINT condition, with no chips, cracks, or restorations. The plate has been in a display case since it was purchased new and has never been used. The base markings are "Wedgwood Made in England", circa 1972.

A great Mother's Day gift for your favorite Wedgwood collector.

This item is available at PlunderHere.com for $32.00 plus shipping and insurance. See at: http://www.plunderhere.com/auction/cgi-bin/auction/view?cmd=view&listingID=378669

copperpenny22
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http://pennyspantry.ecrater.com/]My eCrater
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http://tinyurl.com/3ymen8]My iOffer
No Duplicate Listings! All Unique!

MOTHER'S DAY



A MOTHER'S DAY POEM

I don't know who the author is/was, but it was Somebody's Mother...

Somebody said it takes about 6 weeks to get back to normal after you've had a baby...
That Somebody doesn't know that once you're a mother, "Normal" is history.

Somebody said being a mother is boring...
That Somebody never rode in a car driven by a teenager with a driver's permit.

Somebody said if you're a "good" mother, your child will "turn out good"...
That Somebody thinks a child comes with directions and a guarantee.

Somebody said "good" mothers never raise their voices...
That Somebody never came out the back door just in time to see her child hit a golf ball through the neighbor's kitchen window.

Somebody said you don't need an education to be a mother...
That Somebody never helped a fourth grader with their math.

Somebody said you can't love the fifth child as much as you love the first...
That Somebody doesn't have five children.

Somebody said a mother can find all the answers to her child-rearing questions in the books...
That Somebody never had a child stuff beans up his nose or in her ears.

Somebody said the hardest part of being a mother is labor and delivery...
That Somebody never watched her "baby" get on the bus for the first day of kindergarten...
Or on a plane headed for military boot camp.

Somebody said a mother can stop worrying after her child gets married...
That Somebody doesn't know that marriage adds a new son or daughter-in-law to a mother's heartstrings.

Somebody said a mother's job is done when her last child leaves home...
That Somebody never had grandchildren.

Somebody said your mother knows you love her, so you don't need to tell her...
That Somebody isn't a mother.
__________________________________

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A GREAT STORY




This story is just too good not to pass on.
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Central Washington offers the ultimate act of sportsmanship
By Graham Hays
ESPN.com
(Archive)
Updated: April 28, 2008

Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky had never hit a home run in her career. Central Washington senior Mallory Holtman was already her school's career leader in them. But when a twist of fate and a torn knee ligament brought them face to face with each other and face to face with the end of their playing days, they combined on a home run trot that celebrated the collective human spirit far more than individual athletic achievement.

Both schools compete as Division II softball programs in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. Neither has ever reached the NCAA tournament at the Division II level. But when they arrived for Saturday's conference doubleheader at Central Washington's 300-seat stadium in Ellensburg, a small town 100 miles and a mountain range removed from Seattle, the hosts resided one game behind the visitors at the top of the conference standings. As was the case at dozens of other diamonds across the map, two largely anonymous groups prepared to play the most meaningful games of their seasons.

It was a typical Saturday of softball in April, right down to a few overzealous fans heckling an easy target, the diminutive Tucholsky, when she came to the plate in the top of the second inning of the second game with two runners on base and the game still scoreless after Western Oregon's 8-1 win in the first game of the afternoon.

"I just remember trying to block them out," Tucholsky said of the hecklers. "The first pitch I took, it was a strike. And then I really don't remember where the home run pitch was at all; [I] just remember hitting it, and I knew it was out."

A part-time starter in the outfield throughout her four years, Tucholsky had been caught in a numbers game this season on a deep roster that entered the weekend hitting better than .280 and having won nine games in a row. Prior to the pitch she sent over the center-field fence, she had just three hits in 34 at-bats this season. And in that respect, her hitting heroics would have made for a pleasing, if familiar, story line on their own: an unsung player steps up in one of her final games and lifts her team's postseason chances.

But it was what happened after an overly excited Tucholsky missed first base on her home run trot and reversed direction to tag the bag that proved unforgettable.

"Sara is small -- she's like 5-2, really tiny," Western Oregon coach Pam Knox said. "So you would never think that she would hit a home run. The score was 0-0, and Sara hit a shot over center field. And I'm coaching third and I'm high-fiving the other two runners that came by -- then all of a sudden, I look up, and I'm like, 'Where's Sara?' And I look over, and she's in a heap beyond first base."

While she was doubling back to tag first base, Tucholsky's right knee gave out. The two runners who had been on base already had crossed home plate, leaving her the only offensive player on the field of play, even as she lay crumpled in the dirt a few feet from first base and a long way from home plate. First-base coach Shannon Prochaska -- Tucholsky's teammate for three seasons and the only voice she later remembered hearing in the ensuing conversation -- checked to see whether she could crawl back to the base under her own power.

As Knox explained, "It went through my mind, I thought, 'If I touch her, she's going to kill me.' It's her only home run in four years. I didn't want to take that from her, but at the same time, I was worried about her."

Umpires confirmed that the only option available under the rules was to replace Tucholsky at first base with a pinch runner and have the hit recorded as a two-run single instead of a three-run home run. Any assistance from coaches or trainers while she was an active runner would result in an out. So without any choice, Knox prepared to make the substitution, taking both the run and the memory from Tucholsky.

"And right then," Knox said, "I heard, 'Excuse me, would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?'"

The voice belonged to Holtman, a four-year starter who owns just about every major offensive record there is to claim in Central Washington's record book. She also is staring down a pair of knee surgeries as soon as the season ends. Her knees ache after every game, but having already used a redshirt season earlier in her career, and ready to move on to graduate school and coaching at Central, she put the operations on hold so as to avoid missing any of her final season. Now, with her own opportunity for a first postseason appearance very much hinging on the outcome of the game -- her final game at home -- she stepped up to help a player she knew only as an opponent for four years.

"Honestly, it's one of those things that I hope anyone would do it for me," Holtman said. "She hit the ball over her fence. She's a senior; it's her last year. … I don't know, it's just one of those things I guess that maybe because compared to everyone on the field at the time, I had been playing longer and knew we could touch her, it was my idea first. But I think anyone who knew that we could touch her would have offered to do it, just because it's the right thing to do. She was obviously in agony."

Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace lifted Tucholsky off the ground and supported her weight between them as they began a slow trip around the bases, stopping at each one so Tucholsky's left foot could secure her passage onward. Even with Tucholsky feeling the pain of what trainers subsequently came to believe was a torn ACL (she was scheduled for tests to confirm the injury on Monday), the surreal quality of perhaps the longest and most crowded home run trot in the game's history hit all three players.

"We all started to laugh at one point, I think when we touched the first base," Holtman said. "I don't know what it looked like to observers, but it was kind of funny because Liz and I were carrying her on both sides and we'd get to a base and gently, barely tap her left foot, and we'd all of a sudden start to get the giggles a little bit."

Accompanied by a standing ovation from the fans, they finally reached home plate and passed the home run hitter into the arms of her own teammates.

Then Holtman and Wallace returned to their positions and tried to win the game.

Hollywood would have a difficult time deciding how such a script should end, whether to leave Tucholsky's home run as the decisive blow or reward the selfless actions of her opponents. Reality has less room for such philosophical quandaries. Central Washington did rally for two runs in the bottom of the second -- runs that might have tied the game had Knox been forced to replace Tucholsky -- but Western Oregon held on for a 4-2 win.

But unlike a movie, the credits didn't roll after the final out, and the story that continues has little to do with those final scores.

"It kept everything in perspective and the fact that we're never bigger than the game," Knox said of the experience. "It was such a lesson that we learned -- that it's not all about winning. And we forget that, because as coaches, we're always trying to get to the top. We forget that. But I will never, ever forget this moment. It's changed me, and I'm sure it's changed my players."

For her part, Holtman seems not altogether sure what all the fuss is about. She seems to genuinely believe that any player in her position on any field on any day would have done the same thing. Which helps explains why it did happen on that day and on that field.

And she appreciates the knowledge that while the results of Saturday's game and her senior season soon will fade into the dust and depth of old media guides and Internet archives, the story of what happened in her final game at home will live on far longer.

"I think that happening on Senior Day, it showed the character of our team," Holtman said. "Because granted I thought of it, but everyone else would have done it. It's something people will talk about for Senior Day. They won't talk about who got hits and what happened and who won; they'll talk about that. And it's kind of a nice way to go out, because it shows what our program is about and the kind of people we have here."

Graham Hays is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. E-mail him at Graham.Hays@espn3.com.