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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.
Almanack Contributor Community News Reports
Community news stories come from press releases and other notices from organizations, businesses, state agencies and other groups.
Submit your contributions to Almanack Editor Melissa Hart at [email protected]
Indian Lake Offers Free Face Masks
Online activities for Earth Day
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.
Battling COVID-19 boredom? Make your own puppets!
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.
Earth Day Virtual Action Event
From 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.
Business loan program aims to help Lake Champlain/Lake George region
The Lake Champlain – Lake George Regional Planning Board is helping the region’s small businesses by offering working capital micro-loans for enterprises within Clinton, Essex, Hamilton, Warren, and Washington Counties. The loans will be available for businesses that have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. The funds are not to be used to pay off existing debt, refinancing other loans, acquire a position in business, purchase of equipment, investments, expansion, or personal expenses. Other restrictions also apply and more information can be found here.
COVID-19 related reopenings in the Adirondacks
Updated on 5/22
As we move closer to summer, many attractions that were closed last summer are looking ahead to reopening this year. Same goes with the many annual events that people have come to expect throughout the summer and fall months.
For example, The Wild Center in Tupper Lake. While they have been open, visitors have been limited to outdoor attractions such as the Wild Walk. The facility will close for maintenance in April and reopening in May. The museum will remain an outdoor experience through June and reopen on July 1.
“The summer is going to be chock-a-block full with outdoor activities, fishing experiences. We’ll have some surprises for people, but it will be another wonderful get-outside experience,” said Hillarie Logan-Dechene, deputy director. For now, the Wild Center will continue to use its ticket reservation system for people to schedule their visits in advance, and masks will still be required.
Here’s a look at what’s in store for some other attractions and events around the region.
We’ll be adding to this list as we go. Send announcements and updates to [email protected].
ATTRACTIONS:
Read what Enchanted Forest Water Safari in Old Forge is planning this year when they reopen on June 18.
Great Escape Water Park/Lodge (Queensbury) https://www.sixflagsgreatescapelodge.com/ – The lazy river, Tak-It-Eesi-Creek & children’s activity pool, Tip-A-Kanu-Beach are now open Friday through Sunday. The remaining attractions in the indoor lodge opened up March 26, Monday through Friday from 9am to 9pm.
Great Escape Theme Park https://www.sixflags.com/greatescape – opened May 1
Adirondack History Museum in Elizabethtown http://www.adkhistorymuseum.org/ – opened on Memorial Day.
Adirondack Experience Museum in Blue Mountain Lake https://www.theadkx.org/the-adkx-and-covid-19/ – Summer 2021
Adirondack Lake Center for the Arts (Blue Mountain Lake) Opening on May 31 (Memorial day weekend)
View Arts Center (Old Forge) https://www.viewarts.org/ – Open Monday – Saturday 10am to 4pm and closed on Sundays.
Ausable Chasm (Port Kent) https://www.ausablechasm.com/ – Open daily from 9 am to 4 pm.
Fulton County Historical Society and Museum http://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/ – opening up June 2 – June 27, Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4pm. July 1 – Labor Day, Thursdays – Sundays, 12-4pm.
Clinton County Historical Association Museum (Plattsburgh) https://www.clintoncountyhistorical.org/ – anticipated on opening June 20.
The Sembrich https://thesembrich.org/ – Summer 2021
Depot Theatre http://www.depottheatre.org/ – Live performances start July 2nd.
Ausable River Association https://www.ausableriver.org/ – Guided river tours now open.
Hancock House Museum https://www.ausableriver.org/ – Opening on June 2nd, from 10am to 4pm daily.
EVENTS:
Essex County Fair https://www.essexcountyfair.org/ – Will be held on Aug. 18-22, 2021.
90 Miler Canoe Race– Anticipated on being held on Sept. 10, 11 and 12 on the Northern Forest Canoe Trail.
Pendragon Theatre (Saranac Lake)- Anticipated live shows outside starting in May.
Ironman (Lake Placid) https://www.ironman.com/im-lake-placid – Triathlon set for July 25; regular tickets sold out.
Adirondack Nationals Car Show– Sept. 9-11, 2021
Ticonderoga Triathlon Festival- June 19, 2021
CATS Northern Pathways Challenge www.champlainareatrails.com –beginning on June 5th, 2021
Ride for the River www.bikeadirondacks.com/events/ride-river –July 18th, 2021
Hancock House Program on Black Voting Rights – June 18th, 2021 at 7pm
EVENT CANCELLATIONS:
Adirondack Wine & Food Festival– Originally slated for June 26 and 27, 2021. Postponed until 2022.
Lake Champlain Basin Program Offers Emergency Grants
The Lake Champlain Basin Program is providing watershed organizations located within the Basin with emergency funding of up to $5,000. The grants are intended to provide relief for those adversely affected by COVID-19, so they may continue to operate throughout this turbulent time. The grants are a one-time award and will be made available for immediate relief. Projects must begin within a week of notification of award and be completed within 90 days.
The LCBP has awarded over $10 million to more than 1,300 projects since 1992 within New York and Vermont, and all applications will be reviewed by independent volunteers.
The deadline of the grant proposals are due April 24 and should be sent to [email protected].
More information about the grants can be found at www.lcbp.org/grants.
Tele-Town Hall events feature Lt. Gov.; hospital executives
The North Country Chamber of Commerce is hosting two “tele-town hall” events this week:
- What: A conversation with Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
- When: 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 22.
- Details: Hochul will be updating the membership on the COVID-19 Pandemic and she will be answering questions about the state’s response to COVID-19 and plans for economic recovery.
Register for the event and ask questions by going to www.northcountrychamber.com.
Three ADK orgs receive historic preservation grants
The Preservation League of New York State has announced targeted grants to projects in the Adirondack communities of Whallonsburg, Saranac Lake and Blue Mountain Lake. The grants will play a role in the restoration and reuse of historic buildings in areas affected by the downward trend in the forest products industry.
The funds are made possible by an award granted to the Preservation League of New York State, the Preservation Trust of Vermont, Maine Preservation, and the New Hampshire Preservation Alliance from the Northern Border Regional Commission (NBRC). This 4-state coalition has evenly split the $1 million award to fund 15 projects called the Northeast Heritage Economy Program. Here are the projects that have been funded in New York state:
From the Archive: Phil Terrie on fixing the APA
From the Almanack archive, here are some classic features for a few suggested “weekend reads”:
From 2013: Historian Phil Terrie on fixing the APA: https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2013/04/historian-philip-terrie-on-fixing-the-apa.html
“When the APA was created by the state legislature in 1971, the Park had existed for eighty years, and the new agency was expected to provide more sense of Park-ness than had obtained before. … For some it was a sense of a shared future in a newly defined park; for others it was hostility to regional zoning and land-use controls imposed by the state. Court challenges, hopes for a protected future, a Park-wide feeling of optimism interspersed with a sense of victimization—all gave the Adirondacks a regional identity it had never previously possessed.”
From 2012: From the 4/20 files: Lawrence Gooley’s “A pot-lover’s paradise”
From last year: Peter Bauer’s “The Adirondack Park and Rural America”
HOT TOPIC: From last year, Kevin Chlad’s “Protect State Lands From ATV Misuse” generated more than 100 comments: https://www.adirondackalmanack.com/2019/04/kevin-chlad-protect-state-lands-from-atv-misuse.html
‘Explore more’ gives a look behind the headlines
Each week, Adirondack Explorer Brandon Loomis gives an update via his “Explore More” newsletter.
Explore for yourself and sign up here: https://www.adirondackexplorer.org/newsletters/explore-more-newsletter.
NYS business leaders: Economic recovery will take more than 6 months
Only a third of CEOs expect the New York State economy to return to pre-virus levels of revenue and employment within the next six months. That’s according to a special Upstate New York Business Leader COVID-19 Survey from Siena College Research Institute (SCRI), sponsored by the Business Council of New York State, Inc.
Similarly, while only five percent have not suffered due to the virus and 35 percent think that their business will recover within six months, a quarter say by the end of 2020 and 35 percent don’t think their business will return to pre-virus levels until 2021.
Among the other findings:
- Majority of Upstate CEOs Say Return to Pre-Virus Economy Will Take Longer than 6 Months
- By 57-35%, CEOs Say NYS Should Focus on Public Health NOT Relaxing Restrictions for May 1
- Nearly 90% Downgrading 2020 Revenue & Profit Expectations; 40% Have Laid off Workers; 58% Cutting Back on Buying Equipment
- 89% Say will be in Business a Year from Today; 61% Confident in Fed Response; 72% Plan on SBA Paycheck Program
Adirondack Wild: Plan for Remsen to Lake Placid Travel Corridor Fails to Assess Impacts
A DEC plan for the 119-mile Travel Corridor that runs through the heart of the Adirondack Park does not adequately assess actual and projected impacts on the Park’s public wilderness and natural resources according to the group Adirondack Wild: Friends of the Forest Preserve. At issue is whether the plan complies with the Adirondack Park State Land Master Plan. Adirondack Wild does not believe it does comply. The group filed comments on the Remsen-Lake Placid Travel Corridor Unit Management Plan amendment with the Adirondack Park Agency this week.
Latest News Headlines
- Behind the Loon: Meet Megan Phillips
- Moriah Shock: More than a prison
- Glens Falls hospital ICU is full of unvaccinated patients
- A new role in park leadership
- Several Adirondack Health employees resign over vaccine mandate
- Lake Placid ski jumps upgraded ahead of Olympic trials
- Mirror Lake Inn welcomes new executive chef, Curtiss Hemm from Carriage House Cooking School
- Hundreds of Sunmount jobs may be in limbo as vaccine mandate approaches
- Whiteface, Van Ho now open
- No vacancy for backcountry campers? Are permits the answer?
Latest News Headlines
- Behind the Loon: Meet Megan Phillips
- Moriah Shock: More than a prison
- Glens Falls hospital ICU is full of unvaccinated patients
- A new role in park leadership
- Several Adirondack Health employees resign over vaccine mandate
- Lake Placid ski jumps upgraded ahead of Olympic trials
- Mirror Lake Inn welcomes new executive chef, Curtiss Hemm from Carriage House Cooking School
- Hundreds of Sunmount jobs may be in limbo as vaccine mandate approaches
- Whiteface, Van Ho now open
- No vacancy for backcountry campers? Are permits the answer?
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.
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