Melissa is a journalist with experience as a reporter and editor with the Burlington Free Press, Ithaca Journal and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. She worked as a communications specialist for the Adirondack North Country Association and runs her own New York State Women owned Business-Enterprise Bootstrap Communications, which includes digital marketing, strategy and design. She enjoys hiking, camping and other outdoors activities, and spending time with her husband, their twin daughters, and rescue animals -- two dogs and a cat.
Just for fun discussion idea….I recently watched a filmed performance of the musical “Hamilton.” Which got me thinking: What would “Adirondacks, the musical” look like? Who would the main actors be? What would they sing about?
Some song title ideas (using existing songs for inspiration): “Climb every mountain”
“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”
“Misty Mountain Hop”
Maybe we can take these ideas and start an Adirondack-themed playlist…
Photo: Shepard Park amphitheater by Fred Thatcher/Almanack archive
A while back, an Almanack reader shared some photos of bald eagles eating carrion, caught on a trail cam. (One of those is pictured here.) Got me thinking that it would be cool to see more of these kinds of photos, as we start to emerge out of winter. Send in your winter trail cam pics to [email protected].
In recognition of Valentine’s Day, here are some stories that speak to love in the Adirondacks, from the Almanack archive:
(Pictured here: Mary Welday and Duke Huntington, finding love and companionship in Saranac Lake. during the time of tuberculosis. Courtesy of Priscilla Goss/Historic Saranac Lake)
This week on the Adirondack Explorer website, we ran a story about the community of Indian Lake rallying to save their local branch of Community Bank from closing. (Read it here)
Now I’d like to hear from you: Who are the people in your community that make things happen? What are some other examples of Adirondack towns and villages coming together to creatively solve problems and come up with innovative solutions?
A proposed state constitutional amendment would make clean air and water — two things plentiful in much of the Adirondacks — a right for all New Yorkers.
“The proposed bill would add to the state bill of rights, giving citizens the “right to clean air and water and a healthful environment.” …The bill passed the state Senate and the Assembly’s Environmental Conservation Committee. It will now go to the Assembly’s Judiciary Committee.
The full Assembly will have to vote on the amendment for the constitutional change. Then it would appear before voters on a November ballot.”
Curious to hear your thoughts. If this moves forward, would you vote yay or nay and why?
Boreas River headwaters. Photo by Phil Brown/Almanack archive
In his essay, Hallas traces the origin of the term North Country back to “the author, Irving Bacheller, when his novel, Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country, became a literary sensation in 1900. Bacheller was born in Pierrepont, St. Lawrence County, NY in 1859 and graduated from St. Lawrence University in 1882. Two years later, he founded the first U.S. newspaper syndicate and introduced the writing of Stephen Crane, Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle and Joseph Conrad to American readers. Bacheller retired from newspaper work in 1900 to concentrate on writing novels. Eben Holden: A Tale of the North Country was his fourth novel and it became a runaway best seller.”
While Bacheller’s “North Country” referred to St. Lawrence County, Hallas cites five varying versions of what counties and places make up the North Country.
What are your thoughts? What comes to mind for you when hearing “North Country”? Does the North Country have a distinct identity apart from the Adirondacks or are the two forever linked together?
A pet Vietnamese potbelly pig owned by the Gallaher family in Jay decided to go off on an adventure recently, only to be quickly rounded up thanks to the help of concerned neighbors.
An item in the Jay Community News email news digest on Jan. 9 spoke to the quick actions of getting “Frank the Lady Pig” back home safely:
“THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO LOOKED OUT FOR FRANK THE LADY PIG! We just wanted to send a HUGE thank you out to everyone, especially Bobby Meconi, who called, texted, and spread the word (so quickly!) and Gary Dreiblatt who posted here on JCN that Frank was wandering off the property today. » Continue Reading.
“In 1982 I was a young Syracuse based sales representative for a distributor of composite raw materials selling all the supplies a manufacturer of small boats would need. Accordingly, when I noticed an ad in Adirondack life for Hornbeck Boats, I dutifully called the number introducing myself and company while setting up a future sales call. Little did I know as I hung up the phone the call would be the genesis of a 38 – year friendship with one of the most beautiful and unique human beings my path would ever cross.
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