For the interest of our readers, here is a note from the Adirondack Council about the their connection to the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Two former Council interns, Lowell Bailey and Haley Johnson, both from Lake Placid, competed in the biathlon. The Council’s note to the media is presented here in it’s entirety:

Two former Adirondack Council Clarence Petty Interns are competing on the US Biathlon Team at the 2010 games. Lowell Bailey and Haley Johnson, both of Lake Placid, both successfully completed their internships — earning college credit while working in the field of conservation and while training for this Olympics.

You may recall that Clarence, who passed away last year at the age of 104, and his two teammates were the NYS Speed Skating Relay champions in 1924, during Clarence’s senior year at Saranac Lake High School. By the 1932 games in Lake Placid, he was a 26-year-old commercial pilot and flight instructor. I would say that he was past his prime by then as a skater, but we all know better than that.

For those less familiar with Clarence, he was a founding trustee of the Adirondack Council in 1975, and remained on the board for about 20 years (before we had term limits). He remained a close friend and advisor to the organization until his death in 2009. Our internship program is named for him.

It is a program of independent study under Adirondack Council staff supervision that provides college credit, a modest paycheck and the opportunity to explore careers in conservation through hands-on experience. We host between two and four interns per year between our two offices. The Clarence Petty Internship Program was created in 2002 via a gift from the Nordlys Foundation (of Saratoga Springs and Raquette Lake). In addition, the Uihlein Foundation (of Lake Placid) provides funding for Clarence Petty Interns who hail specifically from Lake Placid.

Several former Clarence Petty Interns have been hired as full time staff members of the Adirondack Council, while others have gone on to careers as staff members for US Senators and Congressional representatives, the NYS Legislature, state agencies, and other conservation organizations.