I’ve never been a huge fan of the celebrating New Year’s Eve, until moving to the Adirondacks where my children have grown up attending Saranac Lake’s First Night celebrations. With magic acts and live music, First Night Saranac Lake provides a central location to catch up with old friends and meet new ones.

We are also an outside family, so when Christie Sausa of Lake Placid Skate Shop organized Skate into The New Year, it was a natural fit. From 10:30 pm – 12:30 am you can lace up and Skate into the New Year at the Olympic Oval. It’s a great outside alternative for families and raises funds for the local food pantry.

Skating is only $5 for adults. It’s free for children, active military and veterans, as well as all students (with a valid student ID).  The one request is for everyone to bring a non-perishable food item. Food and beverages are donated as well as the ice time, so each admission directly benefits the Lake Placid Ecumenical Food Pantry.

Please be safe this New Year’s Eve. Take an Uber, Mac’s Safe Ride Continued, or call a taxi if you’re ringing in the year with alcohol. Everyone on the roads, as well as the local police, would greatly appreciate it. I wish you all a prosperous and safe 2020.

Photo of Skate into 2020 used with the permission of Diane Chase, AdirondackFamilyTime.com 

Diane Chase

Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time. She writes about ways to foster imaginative play through fun-filled events and activities in the Adirondack region.

From her home in Saranac Lake, Diane also writes a weekly family-oriented newspaper column for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and keeps her own blog Adirondack Family Time. Her writing and photography has appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines, marketing companies and advertising agencies.

She even finds time to assist her husband with Adirondack Expeditions guiding families and young adults in the High Peaks.

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