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6/16/2009 – Greenhouse or Go-Karts? by NCC News reporter Zachary James reports on the Galletta’s Karting Club (w/footage from 6/14/2009)
Posted on June 16, 2009 by Christopher Galletta Stevens

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Report on our 6/14/2009 event:

Greenhouse or Go-Karts?

From Singapore (above) to Oswego, Go-Kart racing is a popular fastime
video
Galletta's... greenhouse or go-karts?
OSWEGO, N.Y. -- On Sunday nights in Oswego beautiful beds of flowers bite the dust. Literally. Surrounded by a go kart track, Galletta’s greenhouse moonlights as a place to put the pedal to the metal. “Sometimes, people will come up and be looking at the plants and see a go kart track and be like, ‘Look at this thing!’” said Chris Stevens, co-founder of Galletta’s Go-Karts. Stevens and his brother Matt started racing Go-Karts in the 1990s but after Oswego speedway drove them off its track last year, the brothers took matters into their own…feet. Every Sunday night, Galletta’s plays host to Go-Kart races. The Stevens brothers don’t charge for track time, only rentals, and prefer keeping the Kart track a place for fun, friends and fast racing. “We like it the way it is now. Although we always leave the door open to something bigger,” said Matt Stevens. And though the races rev on, the owners say it’s not about winning, but about whipping around corners, and having fun. “We don’t have trophies…nothing like that. None of us will ever drive NASCAR or anything like that, probably, but we still have fun,” said Russell Hockey a regular Galletta’s racer. NCC News reporter Zachary James reports on a Sunday-night sport that takes place in Oswe-GO

Posted by Jessica Nahmias at 11:26 AM

Also on YouTube here. Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - Report on our 6/14/2009 event. 7/2009 EDIT: This report also got the fine folks at the Oswego Kartway - for reasons that don't make the most sense - EXTREMELY OFFENDED. A.K.A. *TRIGGERED*! After this report was linked to and witnessed on OUR website - where they apparently were looking at and found - we were immediately attacked by people directly related to the Oswego Kartway on their (now defunct) message forum, our message forum, and even in YouTube comments. Some of the insults at threats were as followed:
  • Calling us "GAY-letta's" (isn't that Homophobic or something? Not that any of us are gay, not that that'd stop them either way, but I digress. And I'm sure they wouldn't say that to the Galletta's Greenhouse Founder, the late John J. Galletta, WWII Veteran and retired Oswego Police officer, either... since I don't remember any of them being intimidating MMA expert badasses or anything, but I digress again...),
  • "Clowns",
  • "Sour prunes" compared to their "fresh fruit" (er, wha?! Sounds a lil' pedo-like, but, okay),
  • Calling our property an "unsafe track" and a "hayfield" (despite having -- thank God -- zero serious injuries in thousands o race laps),
  • Equated our karts with broken down "lawnmowers" that would be sold at a side garage sale,
  • Called our karts "Yard karts" despite the fact that they are clearly hybrid racing karts with speeds comparable to their beloved much higher-priced classes,
  • Calling our respected business - which is larger than, has far more customers than, and has existed for over five decades longer than the Kartway - a "side road stand",
  • Mocked me - Chris Stevens, the website editor, long-time driver and Galletta's Club co-founder - a whiney mama's boy who failed at my career as a graphic novelist/sequential artist (Chrusher and Towner). 
  • Calling us failed drivers despite our track record of over 50% win percentage and Championship race sweeps on every track we've ever raced at - including their own beloved track in '06, '07, and '08!
  • Called us "woodchucks", which we had never heard before, but later on learned that it is a redneck-centric slang that means basically low-income, red-necked white trash, racist, uncouth, social misfits on public assistance. Irony is not lost on these people, as none of us are on welfare, we all had day jobs. For example: - Wes was employed in steel fabrication for over 30 years (he then retired years later due to Parkinson's), and Mary owned Galletta's Greenhouse since her father John Galletta signed it over to her when he got too old to run it anymore (shortly before he passed away). - Matt has been head grower at Galletta's since his grandfather passed in 1996, and his then-gf/now-wife Mel is employed as a public school teacher's aid in Wolcott. They were living with his parents until saving enough to build their own home, which they later on did and own outright with no mortgages nor any debt. They have also since had two kids. - Chris and his wife Rung at the time saved their money to build their own home. They were, at the time, living with his parents until saving enough to build their own home. They since started their own small business where they are contracted to make sushi for both Oswego Price Chopper (2011-2015) and SUNY Oswego (2011-today), and they now do indeed own their own home outright with no mortgages and no debt and also now have two kids. In addition, Rung is from Thailand and their kids are half-Asian, making the accusation of us being dumb racist rednecks a provably false one, and likely -- as they are all as white bread as can be -- hypocritical.     ... so, I would wager that most of the people attacking us probably have big debts, mortgages or rent, some may be on public assistance, etc.... making them hypocrites at best and, well, if they DID have money... arrogant prick assh0les at worst.
  • Calling us "hobbits" that should die and nobody would miss us and...
  • and last but not least... threatened to smash our skulls in with shovels.
And although the insults and threats were later denied despite the fact that all of the offenders were confirmed to have IPs, message forum and YouTube usernames directly connected to the Oswego Kartway faculty and prominent drivers and a driver dad/engine builder... they never once offered an apology. The police were notified of the threats and took them seriously. No charges were pressed, but they knew where the messages came from and probable culprits were in case any altercations took place. Nice family-friendly facility you have there, guys. We enjoyed it there until they made these things known to us. Quite saddened by it all after that. The whole story is located here.
Errata:  - Galletta's Greenhouse Go-Karting Club began in the early 1990s (1st kart 1990, 2nd kart 1992, full points racing by the 1995 season, and we have raced EVERY SUMMER ever since 1992). Oswego Speedway's Dirt Kartway began in 2006, one year after the Kartway track operator visited and raced at our track in 2005 (and is seen in some of our 2005 race videos). We raced both tracks for three full seasons from 2006-2008. The video erroneously implies that we started at Oswego Speedway, got booted, then started our own track. Not accurately implied. We preexisted since the 1990s but DID get booted after the 2008 season (for no other reason than the track operator got mad at us because our division had it's own rules and no concrete weight rules. And that's it! Period!), and the "Clone" classes that replaced us cost SEVERAL TIMES MORE to field and compete in.

- Nick Dann in the interview erroneously said, "it's a business, too." Businesses operate to make money. They have owners, operators, employees, products sold, and so on. Between 1990 to date, all money collected has been "parts" and "gas" money, and never has one cent been made. If you think we can make money, you are welcome to try and build 12-20 karts from scratch, race them for 40-200 laps every week for $15 a week (many with wreck-prone inexperienced drivers and a bumpy track) and try to make one red cent. Nominal rental fees do not cover expenses. We do this purely for fun. Our greenhouse? That's a business. Our go-karts? Just a hobby. - The video edit implies that, "you have to buy parts off of them." While parts ARE for sale at the Kartway, you don't HAVE to buy from them (and many buy prefabricated motors from professional engine builders at a premium). However, at the time, the clone class was not yet fully realized, and there were discussions of buying stock motors only from them, having them sealed and claimed. That apparently didn't happen, and from what we heard from disgruntled racers there, the clone classes now are really not that much cheaper/easier to build/compete in than the methanol WKA/NKA-type classes. Our class consists entirely of custom homemade 1-WD clockwise karts -- essentially racing-modified yard karts that cost $250 used to $700 brand-spanking new. All have their own unique looks and traits. And all motors are built on site by Matt Stevens and tested to be within microseconds of each other, so they essentially eliminated the "affordable" class for a little bit less expensive one. In our opinions: STUPID. We'll do our own thing our own way, thanks.

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