Help us keep bringing you the Adirondack information you value.
Email
Twitter
RSS
FacebookHere’s a look at news from around the Adirondacks this week:
Brian Mann, Julia Goren part of last week of VIC’s fall lecture series
Temperatures have dropped at the Visitor Interpretive Center at Paul Smith’s College along with most of the fall leaves. This is the perfect time to attend the Adirondack Lecture Series. The weekly lectures are held in our mountaintop theater and we even provide hot coffee! Brian Mann and Julia Goren are the last speakers of the fall lecture series. The lecture series was a success thanks in part to our sponsors; the Adirondack Council and the Paul Smith’s College Center for Sustainability.
Fall foliage report: Past peak, with uneven change in some places
This is the seventh 2021 I LOVE NY Fall Foliage Report for New York State. Reports are obtained from volunteer field observers and reflect expected color conditions for the coming weekend. Reports are issued every Wednesday afternoon. I LOVE NY urges travelers to follow all COVID-related public health and safety guidelines while enjoying the foliage this season. Visitors should call ahead and check websites and social media to make sure attractions are open and available. More information on New York State travel and COVID-19 is available here.
Smart Philanthropy in 2021: Strategic Giving as Tax Rules Change
Philanthropy drives so much good in the Adirondack region. Join Adirondack Foundation on Thursday, November 4 at 10 am for “Smart Philanthropy in 2021,” a special webinar that will highlight charitable giving strategies and expected tax law changes ahead. During the session, you’ll hear from the following experts:- Lea Paine Highet, Adirondack Foundation Trustee, CFP® professional and Principal, Douglas Winthrop Advisors, LLC
- Jeff Hamond, Vice President at Van Scoyoc Associates, a government relations practice focused on philanthropy
- Jill Beier, Attorney, Founder of Beier and Associates – Estate Planning, Tax Matters, Charitable Giving
Here are three reasons to attend:
Rangers respond to lost, injured hikers and hunters
Recent NYS DEC Forest Ranger actions:
Town of Lyonsdale
Lewis County
Wilderness Rescue: On Oct. 11 at 3:13 p.m., Forest Ranger Hanno overheard radio traffic about an injured hiker along the Moose River. Ranger Hanno responded to the location and assisted the Port Leyden Fire Department and Lewis County Search and Rescue with packaging the 65-year-old woman from Port Lyden into a litter. The subject fell and injured her right wrist, ankle, and head while hiking. At 4:31 p.m., the injured hiker and rescue personnel were out of the woods and a Port Leyden Ambulance transported the hiker to a local hospital for treatment.
OurStoryBridge Celebrates One Year Anniversary
September 29, 2021 marked the one-year anniversary of OurStoryBridge, the free online resource and tool kit for producing crowdsourced, web-based community story projects. And with this anniversary comes the launch of several oral history projects OurStoryBridge has inspired across the United States, with even more to follow.
The tool kit, posted on www.ourstorybridge.org, has received national interest from librarians, historical societies, teachers, and other organizations beyond the original expectations of its creators.
Great Pumpkins
Precocious, blanket-toting Linus from the Peanuts comic strip awaited the Great Pumpkin each Halloween night from 1950 to 1999. If anyone else had been stood-up that many times, they’d have thrown in the blanket for sure. Perhaps Linus’ resolute faith that the mythical pumpkin would show up was because every year brings the world a greater pumpkin.
In 1900 the world record was 400 pounds. By 1990 it was up to 816 lbs., but that wouldn’t even get you in the door these days – you need a 2,000-pound entry just to qualify for international judging. Pumpkins have gotten so great they’ve been used as boats, and it wouldn’t surprise me to learn somebody had moved into one. I suppose a pumpkin house would be a nice upgrade for the old lady who lived in a shoe (though the kids would eat the poor lady out of house and home).
Ray Curran and Dan Spada Named Adirondack Land Trust Volunteers of the Year
KEENE, NY — The Adirondack Land Trust recognized two scientists as 2021 Volunteers of the Year for their work to engage people in conservation through natural history.
Friends Ray Curran, of Saranac Lake, and Dan Spada, of Tupper Lake, (pictured here) are volunteers together in many endeavors, including the Northern Forest Atlas, Adirondack Botanical Society, Adirondack Orchid Survey, New York Flora Association, Northern Current music festival, and the Adirondack Land Trust.
Help Track Spotted Lanternfly – Claim a Grid Square to Survey
Spotted lanternfly (SLF) is an invasive pest from Asia that feeds on a variety of plants including grapes, hops, and maple trees, posing a severe threat to New York’s forests and agriculture. SLF has been found in several locations in NY but has not yet spread to much of the state. One potential pathway for the spread of SLF is its preferred host plant, tree-of-heaven (TOH), which is already found in many locations across NY.
Volunteers like you are needed to look for SLF and TOH in your area. You can help protect NY’s agriculture and forests by knowing what to look for and how to report it to NY’s official invasive species database, iMapInvasives. Visit iMap’s website to learn about the project and sign up for a grid square on the map to look for these species out in the field.
Join iMapInvasives and the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets for some tips on how to find these invasive species (particularly adults and egg masses), and for a recap of the incredible monitoring efforts made by volunteers across the state this year:
- Monday October 27, 1 p.m. – Virtual Event: Identifying & Reporting Spotted Lanternfly and Tree-of-heaven with NY iMapInvasives – Register online.
Photo: An adult spotted lanternfly, photo from NYS AGM
Exploring Cranberry Lake
When the air is crisp and the leaves are the color of lollipops and hikers descend on Keene Valley like seagulls on a sub, thoughts in this quarter inevitably turn to Cranberry Lake in the Adirondack’s northwest quadrant.
Cranberry Lake in the autumn has the feel of an outpost on civilization’s edge — a port from which the last ship has sailed for the year, leaving behind a skeleton crew of people to keep systems operational through a long dark winter.
Conservationists honored at Adirondack Wild’s annual meeting
Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve conveyed its annual awards to five Adirondack residents on Friday, September 24, 2021, at Tannery Pond Community Center in North Creek.
The Paul Schaefer Wilderness Award was conveyed to recently retired Adirondack Park Agency natural resource planners and supervisors Walter (Walt) Linck and Richard (Rick) Weber. Both men are residents of Saranac Lake. For the past 20 years, Linck and Weber steered the APA in Ray Brook toward the protection and preservation of the natural resources of the Adirondack Park’s state lands, the Forest Preserve. Their high standards employed to enhance management plans, private land permits and wild land policies across the Park admirably reflected the legacy left by the 20th century’s foremost Adirondack wilderness coalition leader Paul Schaefer (1908-1996), Adirondack Wild’s award states.
Help support Historic Saranac Lake’s collections
A generous local collector, Richard Monroe, donated 25 of these Collins Brothers bottles to be sold to further the preservation and use of Historic Saranac Lake’s collections.
Each bottle will be sold for $100, with options for a clear or blue bottle (shipping available). Please note: these bottles are old, and were discovered after spending many years in local lakes and rivers, and therefore may contain small imperfections.
The sale will be open to the public on Tuesday, October 19 at 12:00PM (EST). The sale will be first-come, first serve, so mark your calendars! A link will be added to this page at that time.
Please note: these bottles are identical to ones contained in our permanent collection. If you would like to see these bottles in the future, please get in touch! Questions? Send us an email!
The Real Johnny Appleseed
There’s little in life more pleasing than biting into a fresh, crisp, juicy, mouth-watering, slightly sweet, slightly tart, apple. And what could be healthier? Apples contain vitamins C and A, antioxidants, potassium, pectin, fiber, and no cholesterol. They can be eaten fresh, baked, or stewed. They can be juiced or turned into cider; made into sauce, butter, jelly, vinegar, and wine; or cooked into pies, crisps, crumbles, cakes, doughnuts; even meat dishes. They make delightful confections when coated with candy (sugar syrup), caramel, or toffee and nuts, too.
Pearsall Foundation Announces Grant Awards
The trustees of the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation have announced this year’s awards to area not-for-profits. Of the 53 grant proposals received this year, 38 were funded in whole or in part.
Area not-for-profits that received grants from the Pearsall Adirondack Foundation this year included:
Latest News Headlines
- Hochul appoints John Ernst APA chairman
- Entrepreneurs on tribal lands test marijuana gray area
- Authorities: Cover-ups abounded at wildlife refuge
- Becoming an Outdoors Woman
- Democrats Give Hochul Early Double-Digit Lead
- Some States Want to Charge for Rescuing Lost Hikers
- Hear from the First Black Summit Steward
- The Pavilion in Ticonderoga: An American treasure
- Clarkson Honors Former NYS Sen. Betty Little
- Fulton County buys $520K lake front property for museum
Latest News Headlines
- Hochul appoints John Ernst APA chairman
- Entrepreneurs on tribal lands test marijuana gray area
- Authorities: Cover-ups abounded at wildlife refuge
- Becoming an Outdoors Woman
- Democrats Give Hochul Early Double-Digit Lead
- Some States Want to Charge for Rescuing Lost Hikers
- Hear from the First Black Summit Steward
- The Pavilion in Ticonderoga: An American treasure
- Clarkson Honors Former NYS Sen. Betty Little
- Fulton County buys $520K lake front property for museum
The Adirondack Almanack
The Adirondack Almanack is a public forum dedicated to promoting and discussing current events, history, arts, nature and outdoor recreation and other topics of interest to the Adirondacks and its communities
We publish commentary and opinion pieces from voluntary contributors, as well as news updates and event notices from area organizations. Contributors include veteran local writers, historians, naturalists, and outdoor enthusiasts from around the Adirondack region. The information, views and opinions expressed by these various authors are not necessarily those of the Adirondack Almanack or its publisher, the Adirondack Explorer.
General inquiries about the Adirondack Almanack should be directed to editor Melissa Hart.
To advertise on the Adirondack Almanack, or to receive information on rates and design, please click here.
The Phoenix Rises! Celebrating a restored lean-to
From the ashes of our beloved Bull Rush Bay lean-to’s old cedar logs, life rises anew!
Meet “The Phoenix”
» Continue Reading.