Stories under the Almanack's Editorial Staff byline come from press releases and other notices.
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For the first time in its 105 year history, the Seagle Music Colony in Schroon Lake is cancelling its summer season.
Tony Kostecki and Darren K. Woods, the General and Artistic Directors of the Seagle Music Colony, made the decision for the health and safety of their artists, staff, patrons, and audience members. Seagle leadership did not make this decision lightly and had the following to say about it in an announcement sent this week:
Saratoga PLAN (The Preserving Land and Nature land trust in Saratoga County) has received a $500,000 grant from the Sarah B. Foulke Charitable Fund. The donation will go to the planning, design, and stewardship of over 20 miles of permanently conserved trails in the 40,500-acre Southern Palmertown Range, an area that stretches north of Skidmore college in Saratoga Springs to the Hudson River.
It is the largest private cash gift ever made to the 17-year old conservation organization.
Saratoga PLAN aims to design Friendship Trails that will provide enjoyment through an inclusive spectrum of outdoor activities: walking, running, wheelchairing, dog-walking, mountain-biking, horseback-riding, bird-watching, botanizing, forest-bathing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and learning about nature and local history. Saratoga PLAN will announce new trail segments as they open to the public over the next several years, beginning in late 2020 if public health restrictions are lifted.
A popular annual motorcycle rally could look very different this year.
Nearly every year for the past 40 years, Lake George has been hosting one of the most popular seasonal events in motorcycle culture: Americade. Traditionally Americade is held the first week of June, but in lieu of this year’s events, rally organizer Christian Dutcher said the event will be pushed back until July 21-25.
The Adirondack Council awarded 10 micro-grants totaling over $32,000 to local farmers. According to a press release, the grants are an effort to address the greatest short-term and long-term threats to public health and the Adirondack Park: COVID-19 and climate change.
“COVID-19 and climate change each have the potential to devastate Adirondack communities,” says Adirondack Council Conservation Associate Jackie Bowen, the coordinator of the grant program alongside the Essex Farm Institute. In some cases, farms/food producers need to prepare more serve-at-home meals…others need equipment and funding to protect and sustain their employees who work in urban farmers markets.
New Yorkers give Gov. Andrew Cuomo record high job performance and favorability ratings. His favorability rating is 77-21 percent, up from 71-23 percent last month, matching his highest ever in February 2011. His job performance rating is 71-28 percent, up from 63-35 percent last month, his best ever.
By a 78-16 percent margin, voters say they trust Cuomo over President Donald Trump to make a determination about opening New York, according to a new Siena College Poll of registered New York State voters released today.
“Mired in middling poll numbers for the last two years, Cuomo is feeling the love from New Yorkers of all stripes
in year three of his third term, and his first global pandemic. He is viewed favorably by 90 percent of Democrats,
73 percent of independents and 53 percent of Republicans, his first time favorable with Republicans in more than
six years,” said Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg.
Plattsburgh International Airport (PBG) received news that Spirit Airlines will resume a modified schedule starting on May 2. They will be offering three flights a week to Fort Lauderdale (FLL) from Plattsburgh International Airport.
The airline suspended all flights in April due to travel restrictions in light of the global pandemic and travel restrictions.
The Town of Keene is prohibiting spill-over hiking parking, in order to reduce health risks during the governor’s “New York State on PAUSE” directive. Access to the Garden, a jumping off point for all major trails into John’s Brook Valley and the Great Range, will remain open to local hikers and visitors, but once the 46-car lot is full, no more parking will be allowed. There will be signs and barricades to mark where it has been made illegal to park and violators of the new restrictions will have their vehicles towed.
From the Almanack archive, here are some classic features for a few suggested “weekend reads”:
From 2018: Lorraine Duvall, author of “In Praise of Quiet Waters,” looks forward to putting in her kayak and reflects on the importance of peaceful paddling: https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2018/04/a-paddler-looks-to-spring-quiet-waters.html
“When looking for new places to paddle, the first piece of information I want to know is if motorboats are allowed.”
From 2017: From the ‘it’s tick season again” files: An uptick in disease-carrying ticks
Another gem from 2017: Tim Rowland: Bass Fishing And Drag Performance
The Adirondack Health Foundation of Saranac Lake has made three scholarships available for local students who are planning careers in health care. The scholarships are awarded to those who have already been accepted into a nursing program, or another approved allied health career.
Now that face masks are deemed “essential,” (and required in public to help stop the spread of COVID-19), a group of volunteers in Indian Lake have been making cloth masks and distributing them free of charge. As of Friday, April 17, they are available for pick up at Pines Country Store in Indian Lake and in the vestibule of the Adirondack Lakes Center for The Arts in Blue Mountain Lake. The contributors ask people to only take one per person. Those willing to help out with the effort by donating masks can drop them off at the Pines Country Store.
The Nature Conservancy’s Adirondack Chapter has shared the following activities for joining in the online festivities on this 50th anniversary of Earth Day:
Learn About Nature: some parents are finding it stressful to take on the roles of their teachers while the schools are closed, but the NCAC has created a Nature Lab to help children and parents alike to take part in nature related activities, in turn learning the science behind nature and what we can do to preserve it. View the Nature Lab’s resources for K-12 students here.
During the quarantine, Pendragon Theatre is hosting a “Germ-Free Season” series of virtual events, productions, and alternative performance formats. First up is an encore presentation of Pendragon’s 2015 production of “The Snow Queen” by Hans Christian Andersen. Streaming 24/7 at www.pendragontheatre.org.
“The Snow Queen” is directed by Matt Sorensen and features his own puppet creations. In fact, he credits that show as launching his interest in puppet making. In that vein, Sorensen has produced and posted two stay-at-home puppet camp sessions, sponsored by Adirondack Health. Children can learn how to build and perform with shadow puppets, rod puppets, sock puppets and toy theater, using common household supplies.
To find the puppet lessons you can visit the following links: Hand Puppets, and Toy Theatre Puppets.
Join Sorensen for a unique “Sock and Sip” online event on Friday May 1, from 6-8 p.m. Sorensen will walk step by step through making a sock puppet, using basic supplies (which can be found here). It costs $25 to sign up via zoom, and all proceeds go to support Pendragon’s free virtual workshops. Click here to sign up.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, everyone is invited to take part in a national virtual action event. Today through Thursday, activists, performers, thought leaders, and artists will all be collaborating on a 3-day live stream. Organized by the US Climate Strike Coalition and Stop The Money Pipeline Coalition, who together are made up of over 500 organizations, have come together to organize Earth Day Live.
Click here to more information.
Photo: Students from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay march on the first Earth Day in 1970.
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