- Tonight on WPBS weekly, inside the stories we hit the greens with pro golfer Peter Beames.

Discover the fascinating life story of this traveling linksman and turning fantasy into reality through cosplay.

We meet an educational organization dedicated to George Lucas's Star Wars.

Also discover how New York maintains the Erie Canal and preparations underway to commemorate the 200th anniversary of this engineering marvel.

Your stories, your region.

Coming up right now on WPBS weekly.

Inside the stories, - WPBS weekly inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

The Carthage Walk-in Clinic is here for you.

Located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing close to home when you need it most - North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country Strong at claxtonhepburn.org Today - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community re-grant program, a re-grant program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York State legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- Good Tuesday evening everyone, and welcome to this edition of WPBS Weekly Inside the Stories.

I'm Michael Riecke.

When you think of golf, some names that come to mind are Jack Newton, Gary Player, and Arnold Palmer.

But what all these golfers have in common is a connection to Peter Beames.

As a child, Peter always dreamed to be the greatest golfer in the world.

Since then, he has traveled the world, sharing his stories with every place he passes.

Through WPBS producer Luke Smith had the chance to catch up with the professor to learn the story of the boy who rode clouds.

- We are here at Highland Meadows in Watertown, and I don't know if you can see behind me, but the view here is insane.

Great place to play golf.

And I'm sitting here with pro golfer storyteller and the professor himself, Peter Beames.

Pete, how's it going?

Good to see you again.

- Well, it's wonderful to be here.

I mean, this is one of the nicest places in the world.

- Yeah, no kidding.

Yeah.

Like honestly, just look behind you like, oh, wow.

- Yeah.

- And you know, I you, you are a, you really are one of a kind.

You have, you have authored so many stories, there's tons of articles about you, and we'll get into that shortly.

But the first thing I want to talk to you about is you played with pros like Gary Player Arnold Palmer.

I just wanna know, where did everything start for you?

- It all started in Wales when I was three with my dad.

My dad was just a, a lover of anything America.

He loved Bobby Jones, he loved Fred Astaire.

And he kind of imbued in me this idea of go west young man and, you know, make something of yourself.

Of course, I didn't realize it had end up here with you at Highland Meadows - And it led you to playing with all of these pros.

And you, I, when I read, I read an article about you Yeah.

Here in the Golfer's - Journal.

Yes.

- And there you are, right there.

- Yep.

- I read about your experiences with Gary Player.

Can you tell me a little bit about that?

- Well, when I first went to South Africa in 1967, Gary had come to England, I think in 1955.

He just had a couple of pairs of trousers, a belt that held it, it up.

It was actually doubled for his tie.

He had no money and he became one of the greatest that ever lived.

So we, there was kind of a mutual respect for both of us.

And he helped me with money, clothing, and I would play with him in a lot of practice round, which was a tremendous help because people like him, you, you were never going to play with.

But he took pity on me and it really helped.

- I remember reading that too, in the Man Riding Clouds.

I remember he mentioned, there was something in there at the end talking about like saying, Hey Pete, your time is up.

Yeah.

When, when that happened, how did that make you feel?

- It was very hard because you've gotta remember, I've been trying to become number one in the world, which I did for 24 hours, unbelievably in Australia.

I led the Australian Masters for two rounds, played with Palmer and Player.

And obviously after the tournament was over, Gary was so happy that, you know, everything he believed in me had come true.

Obviously he was the guy that beat me.

- And you mentioned you traveled all over the world.

Yes.

You mentioned that South Africa, but you've also traveled to New Zealand.

Yes.

You traveled to Australia.

Yeah.

And you did that with no money.

Yes.

Is that right?

- That's - Exactly.

How did you do that?

- Well, there's so many stores.

I mean, like when I, when I first left London, I think it was like $150 to get to South Africa.

We didn't realize it was a three day trip on a prop jet, you know, and we ended up in Lorenzo Marx, and then you had to pay probably $200 to get from Lorenzo Marx to Johannesburg.

I had made that money selling football coupons in London then, you know, nowhere to stay.

I, I got on the road and hitchhiked to Cape Town because somebody said, there's a guy down there that'll help you.

Well, I knocked on the door and he did, he let me stay.

Gabriel Dion, one of the great world great artists hanging in the National Gallery in London.

- And you're a bit of an artist yourself.

You know, I, I was looking at your, I believe it was your fantasy, not your fantasy story cloud.

Yeah.

Boy wrote the Boy who rode Clouds.

Yeah.

Can you educate me a little bit on that - Story?

It came to me in, I think it was 1989 and the very unusual circumstances, which I'll tell you at another date.

But anyway, it's taken me that long and all the ins and outs, you know, meeting Bill Murray, who I gave it to, and meeting the head woman of Scholastic, all, all these different people sending it to Disney, blah, blah, blah, blah.

But the, the point is, you've, you've got to do it for your own self.

You can be doing it because you, you want to get money or notoriety, you've got to do it because you love it and it will take its place as sure as Sure.

And you just keep going until you, you get it so good that people want to read it.

- I noticed that throughout this article about you, and it just sounds like you're an absolute dreamer who shot for the moon, no pun intended.

Yeah.

And landed exactly where he wanted to.

And you landed here in Watertown.

Yeah.

How did that happen?

How did - You up here?

Well, that was pretty remarkable.

I was married at the time and I was in Florida with our little baby.

And we, I was teaching at a driving range and this guy came Doug Horton from Thousand Islands and said he wanted somebody to teach up here.

Well, everybody, when they found out it was $25 a green fee.

'cause down there it's like 200 jumped outta the windows.

I was the only guy left standing.

I said I would go because I'd been up to New Hampshire and I knew that it could be really good.

And it's been the greatest time of my life.

- Well, Pete, you've got a ton of stories you're sharing and you know, there's so many stories.

They could probably make a movie about you at this point, - Right?

- Well, I feel like they could do that.

- They're going to do that.

Oh, - No kidding.

Yes.

Tell me about that.

- Yep.

Well, a guy that I knew many, many years ago when he was about 12 or 13 at Princeton at the golf course, he and his brother I used to teach, and then they saw the article in the golfers Journal got in touch with me.

Their friends are in the movies, and they said, you know, they wanna make a movie.

And then they found out that Tom Holland was a great golfer.

He looked kind of like a young me.

And so - I can see the - Resemblance.

It's going along well.

He's, you, mark, you can't say he's - Gonna do it.

You guys look similar right now.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow.

That's a great, now I must, I gotta say yeah, you, you know, you've been through all these experiences in your life, you know, whether you're as a golfer, as a storyteller, but also as a professor.

Is that correct?

- Well, they nicknamed me that because, because they said I knew too much about golf, which I probably do, but, - And I just found it so humorous when I read it, when I read in that article that you just showed up and started coaching.

- Yes.

Well, I did it Pebble Beach.

We lived there and that's where my son was born.

And I used to go to the driving range and teach totally illegal - As we begin to wrap up, and I would really love to go and - Hit a couple ball with you.

Hit a couple walls.

Yeah, yeah.

- But before we do, you know, you're, you're an inspiration.

And to dreamers alike, what's something I I even wanna quote something - Yeah.

- That Daniel Riley mentioned here.

You said when you've done something, the universe tends to continue putting you in touch with people.

- Yes.

- What does that mean?

- Well, if you follow your dreams and you don't do any harm to anybody, you'll find that the universe buoys you.

I don't think I've ever gone out trying to do something where the universe dropped me.

It always kind of held me up no matter how absurd the situation was.

I mean, being in, for instance, Sydney and I needed to be three days later in a golf tournament, and I got out on the, the road and hitchhiked, and the most incredible things happened.

I, a student took me in and played the harp.

So I went to sleep, a truck driver, got two hamburgers and two Cokes, and I'm like, he goes, get a bloody job and ate them both.

And then about a week later, I'm, I'm on Quarry network as the color commentator the channel he listened to.

So, you know.

Amazing.

- Well, Pete, it's been a pleasure talking with you here.

Now, I'd love to play some golf with you, if you - Don't mind.

Okay.

Yes.

Let's do it.

It, let's go, let's hit some balls.

Let's go - Hit some balls.

- Get some golf balls and get a hole in one.

- What does it take to land the perfect pipe?

- You've got to look at what you're putting at.

So we're look from here to there, what?

15 feet.

And I am looking pretty difficult because it kind of goes down that way and this, but looking where we are on the putting green, it looks to me like it goes from right to left and then the, a good idea is to go round the other side and how to hold it.

Well, you want your hands pretty, pretty soft.

You don't want to be charging it.

I'm gonna go a little on the outside of the right.

That's where I think the, the, the flag.

Okay.

You see you did so Exactly.

So it was much more than I thought.

So I want to go a little more to the right again, it, it really turns.

So that's the only way you can find out is practicing.

I've gotta go further out.

Hey, there we go.

Yeah.

So it's, it's a question of elimination, but I, what I said from the beginning there was, it looked like it went from right to left.

Question.

- So you wanna see questions?

Let's see if, let's see if I can, let's see if I can sink apart.

All right.

If you can do it, then we know we can teach - People.

So your hands are on pretty soft and you're gonna aim that putter blade probably out here - Somewhere.

How's my stance?

Does my stance look good?

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah.

Get in there.

Get in there.

Get in there.

Ah, can can the wind just push that a little bit?

Well maybe if we wait for a day or two, maybe the wind will pick up.

- Pete, I had a question for you too.

Yeah, yeah.

I noticed your eye.

Yes.

You lost your eye to a Portuguese mana war.

Correct.

In Australia.

How does that affect when you play?

- Not at all.

- When it happened, - When I, I was on the train in 1970, I was going to Sydney, bumped into a guy on the train whose friend was experimenting with lasers.

And anyway, he helped, but I decided, as soon as I realized I was losing the eye, that I'll become the best one eye golfer that ever - Did I say.

And it makes you look sick.

I love it.

Alright, let's see what I got.

Best job.

- Arm's relaxed.

Yeah, there - You go.

Right there.

Yep.

And it's like very soft.

No, - No, no.

Soft.

There you go.

Yes.

Very soft.

Yes.

- There we go.

Let's go.

I just did the Tiger Woods thing.

Yeah.

- Well, Pete, it was an awesome chance to learn to putt with you.

Thank you so much for taking the time.

Welcome.

Coming out here today.

- The, the game is chipping and putting as you saw the US open, so you're pretty good.

The first one you had, you knocked in.

- I'm shocked.

And I, I don't think I would've got it without your teaching, so thank you so much for your time.

You're welcome.

- Thank you.

- Anchor Con in Clayton is just around the corner.

With that in mind, we bring you a special story from Florida.

The Outer Rim Guilds is a not-for-profit educational organization dedicated to George Lucas's Star Wars.

From costuming to choreograph stage combat to prop creation, members of this fan-based group can spread their knowledge and be a part of a welcoming community.

Take a look.

- The Outer Rim Guilds is a place where you could create a character, put on a costume, and perform that character in front of people.

If you want to do light Saber Combat, great.

We can teach you.

If you just want to put on a costume and talk to people, we could do that.

The Outer Rim guilds is for everybody.

We don't discriminate against any race, creed, or color.

Star Wars is made up of all kinds of characters and so are we.

The Outer Rim Guilds is a not-for-profit, Lucasfilm approved costuming group.

My name is Kevin Daniels and I am actually the local director for the Outer Rim Guilds.

We do cosplay, we teach people how to build sets and props.

We also do lightsaber choreography.

We put on shows and informational panels where people can come and see demonstrations and ask questions.

Our main focus is giving back to the community, the Star Wars community and the sci-fi community.

When we go to a convention, you know, we're presenting and performing.

- My name is Christopher Allard.

I am a board member and I'm also one of the characters.

My first day with the Guild, that was probably my first class for the Saber choreography.

Just like a lot of the new members now in the choreography class.

They don't know about the Guild yet.

The guild's still growing, it's getting out there, but it usually starts with the classwork from there.

I spread the word since I'm the instructor now, but they can continue on into the costuming and to the big production stuff.

Building a fight is a funny and slow process.

Usually you get paired up with a partner that's roughly your level, and then you stare at each other for a half hour and say, what do you want to do?

And the other one says, what do you want to do?

And that's about the first 30 minutes of it.

After that, you loosen up and you start saying, okay, I want to do this, this, and this.

And the other person says, okay, then I'm gonna counter with this, this, and this.

And from there you start putting a fight together.

- My name is Stephanie Moffitt and I, I believe my full title is Costume director.

What's really important when you're a Lucas Film Guild is that you stand up to the standards of what you see on the screens for Lucasfilm.

So when we go to start designing a costume, the first thing we have to do is we've gotta look at the source materials that we have so that when somebody sees you wherever you are, they go Star Wars and you go, yeah.

And there's a, there's a so many tricks of the trade from making that work.

And the early films, you don't see a lot of fasteners, especially on Jedi apparently.

They just use the force to hold their stuff together.

We use a lot of snaps.

The fabric you choose is incredibly important.

We use natural fibers and sometimes it's just the magic of how the fabric holds together.

This first thing I would do is I'd pop those buttons off of there.

I would stitch the the, the base of this up and I would close up these button holes.

And then up here, what I would do is I would put either a hook, an eye, a snap, or some magnets.

But if you did that, this is pretty much a shirt ready to go.

- What is it like performing as a character?

Well, it is a performance and it is a character.

So if you can make a small child or a teenager or even an adult think that you're probably really a Star Wars character and they don't have to be afraid and they can see how much fun you are having interacting with them, well that's a pretty good feeling.

People that have loved Star Wars their whole lives might not have ever thought that they could do this.

And we tell them, yes you can.

- We just got a request in to do a parade in Oldsmar.

This will be our second year doing that parade.

It's great because obviously they want a big presence in their parade and we're able to fill that gap.

They want that Star Wars, they want characters, they want people cheering for us.

So doing parades is awesome, you know?

Yes, it's a lot of walking, but that's why you wanna invest in a pair of boots that you can walk around in a lot.

When it comes to charities, we get contacted by local groups and they're looking to raise money, and so they're looking for that presence.

We could be there to do lightsaber demonstrations or run little shows, but we also had one of our members as a electronics expert.

He actually built a lightsaber and we raffled it off the outer rim.

Guilds helped raise $1,500 for kids in canines one year at a convention.

Once everybody learned there's a chance to win a lightsaber, I mean, it went crazy.

We love doing that Switch one.

- My name is Michael Pupa and I'm a new member for the Outer Room Guild.

From my point of view, the Outer Room Guild is the best thing that's ever happened to me.

We're a wonderful community that are all obsessed with Star Wars and we turn our dreams into reality.

- The sense of community and the outer rim guilt, well, it's a little more than a community.

- I would've to describe our community more like a family.

Everyone's welcoming, encouraging, very supportive, - Kind people who really wanna hang out with other people that are as geeky about Star Wars as they are.

- It is a family oriented group as well.

So parents, children, we invite the whole family in and everybody's so nice.

Everybody's there for Star Wars, everybody's there for the guild - And they just want the best for everyone and everyone's happiness.

Just to let me know that I can be myself and be this Star Wars nerd, it's okay - With you.

- If you're a fan of cosplay or all things fantasy, you might want to check out Anchor Con happening Saturday and Sunday, August 16th and 17th at the Ciero Recreation Arena in Clayton, New York.

Just visit AnchorComicCon .com to learn more.

Well, 2025 marks the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal.

We're celebrating this technological marvel with a multi-part special series tonight.

We take you behind the scenes to discover what happens when the canal is closed for the winter.

We show you how New York State maintains the canal infrastructure and how it prepares for the next navigation season.

- We're standing here at the Waterford Machine Shop actually on the Waterford compound.

Really, this machine shop is the hub for all manufacturing, machining, and fabrication for the entire state of New York Canal network.

We're building, replacing fabricating components and parts for each one of the canal locks and other infrastructure throughout the state.

Most people don't understand is that the fabrication is done at canals in-house and we have the capabilities, we have the machinery, we have the skillset of people to do so from the engineers right down to craftsmen doing the work.

We historically have machined a lot of the rails, and these are the rails that the valves actually ride up and down on.

On 1950s, 1960s era equipment, it took a substantial amount of time, roughly about 10 days on each one of those pieces of equipment.

Whereas now with the three axis state-of-the-art three axis mill, where we cut that time down to about a day, day and a half, yeah, that's exactly the wintertime.

It's all hands on deck.

Full bore, full steam ahead, if you will.

In the Waterford shop, we receive valves, sets of valves from each one of their seven other sections across the state where we'll take them in.

We'll refurbish those valves, we'll inspect them, make any critical repairs, any structural repairs to the valves, clean them up, paint them locks.

- So we're at lock 17 in Little Falls, New York, which is the highest lift lock in the canal system.

We're here this winter finishing a winter pump out project where we actually dewater the entire lock and rehab a lot of the working components that are underwater most of the year.

This lock is approaching 110 years old and a lot of the components that we use here are still original or they're patterned after the original, so we, we have to re fabricate a lot of these in our maintenance shop over the winter in order to restore them and replace them for the coming navigation.

Pump outs is just that we're working in the winter.

We have a very limited season when the canal is closed for navigation between November and April where we have to do all of this major construction work and we're doing it in the worst of conditions.

We have an in-house skillset that we have learned and conditioned and developed over many years in the decades that the canal system has been here, and those skills are passed on from one generation of worker to the next.

- This will be my third season.

My first two years were seasonal.

This year I worked the winter pump out and I just became a canal worker.

One, I'm working here because I am interested in the air canal.

It's the only reason I work here is because I wanted to learn more about it and I considered it the perfect job.

I like the old canal.

It's, I'm learning about the new canal.

It's a hundred years old, but for me, this is the new canal.

I started a group called Historic Erie Canal, and what I was trying to accomplish was to build like a canal army to help me clean up old structures, you know, up and down the line.

I don't know what it is about it, but I just leveled masonry.

That's kind of what got me hooked on this whole thing.

I'm trying to turn people's light on for the canal because the more people that are enthusiastic in the canal, you know, it's, it's gonna be good for this one and the old one - That does it for us this Tuesday night.

Join us next time for a fresh look inside the stories.

40 years ago, the 10th Mountain Division arrived at Fort Drum.

We celebrate this important milestone with a look at how the division has become a treasured part of our community, and we sit down with advocate drum executive director Michael McFadden, to learn about the positive impact Fort Drum has on the north country.

Also, what happens when you take a tiny kayak into a giant Erie Canal lock?

We'll show you one couple's amazing experience.

Meantime, if you have a story idea you'd like us to explore, we'd love to learn more.

All you need to do is send us an email at wpbs weekly@wpbstv.org and let's share it with the region.

That's it for tonight.

Everyone have a safe night.

We'll see you next time.

Take care, - WPBS weekly.

Inside the stories is brought to you by - When you're unable to see your primary care provider.

A Carthage Walk-in clinic is here for you, located off Route 26 across from Carthage Middle School.

Comfort and Healing, close to home when you need it most.

- North Country Orthopedic Group is there for your urgent ortho or sports related injuries.

With our onsite surgical center and same or next day appointments, we're ready to provide care for patients of all ages.

Your health matters to us.

North Country Orthopedic Group, keeping healthcare local.

- We are the north country.

We're protecting one another, like family is who we are and where our tomorrow will always be worth defending.

Find out how we keep the north country strong.

At Claxtonhepburn.org.

Today, - Select musical performances are made possible with funds from the statewide community Regrant program, a REGRANT program of the New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the office of the Governor and the New York state legislator administered by the St. Lawrence County Arts Council.

- My stance is, my stance.

Look good.

Yeah, that's good.

Yeah.

Get in there.

Get in there.

Get in there.

Ah, can.

Can the wind just push that a little bit?

Well, maybe if we wait for a day or two, maybe the wind - Will pick up.