COVID-19 has affected all of us in one way or another, and hopefully things are winding down. For those of us in upstate New York, getting back to a sense of normalcy seems just around the corner, and listening to some bluesy folk music about the Adirondack High Peaks may be the perfect way to hold us over until we can return to the outdoors ourselves without fear.
Upstate New York-based band Nite Train is back with their newest album “Cat on a Mission,” named after band leader Ken Briggs’ newly adopted blind cat, whose other senses have turned up to overdrive. The cat zooms around with some serious conviction, and the phrase “cat on a mission was born.”
Sing on, sing on you gray-brown bird, Sing from the swamps, the recesses, pour your chant from the bushes, Limitless out of the dusk, out of the cedars and pines. Walt Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
A whole year has gone by since we first heard the word “Covid.” We are coming full circle, and soon the hermit thrush will sing again.
The Adirondack Foundation, alongside several funding partners has awarded close to $1.2 million over the course of 175 grants to nonprofits, schools, and community-based organizations towards COVID-19 response. This rapid-fire community response is due to a coalition of corporate, philanthropic, and nonprofit organizations and partnerships on the front lines. Several of these organizations serve those of us who were greatly affected during times of crises.
With over $1.3 million raised, grants are being gifted all throughout the region, alleviating the social and economic hardships of tens of thousands of Adirondack citizens. These grants consist of both emergency-response grants and long-term relief. The grants awarded fall into the categories listed below. If you would like to view the full list of recipients, you may do so by following this link.
The New Yorkers for Clean Water & Jobs coalition is made up of over 175 organizations have joined together to advocate for important environmental programs, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, fortifying local economies, protecting clean drinking water, creating new parks, advancing environmental justice, and mitigating an intensifying climate crises. State programs included In the funding are:
AdkAction is currently accepting submissions to their “Spread the Word, Not the Virus” COVID-19 Public Service Announcement (PSA) contest, open to all New York State middle and high school students. The winner will receive a prize of $1,000 and have their PSA broadcast on television, as well as at the Beyond the Peaks Student Film Festival on Friday, June 4, 2021.
Each PSA Submitted should be between 30 and 45 seconds in length, and should include the slogan “Spread the word, not the Virus.” The PSA must also contain logos, as specified within the directions, and address a broad range of audiences. Deadline for submission is midnight on Friday, January 15, 2021. Participation in the contest is free.
Over the past year, The Pendragon Theatre has done its best to adapt to circumstance in providing a large array of virtual and physical content like The Pendragon Play, acting and playwriting classes for adults and children, the Young Playwrights Festival, a veterans improvisation PTSD therapy program with St. Joseph’s Rehabilitation Center, puppet workshops, a partnership with Adirondack Experience (ADKX) the Winter Carnival show – Life, Love & Legends, and work on their new building project on Woodruff street. However, with the quarantine in place and with the lack of a live audience, there is only so much a theatre can do.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented worldwide societal and economic instability. We’re facing an astonishing loss of human life and unprecedented challenges to public health, economies at every level, food systems, employment, and education. And global extreme poverty is rising for the first time in more than 20 years.
While nations everywhere struggle to prevent the further spread of the virus, developing a Covid-19 vaccine has, apparently, become the number one priority in the world right now. Several candidate vaccines are in development, including a few that are currently in phase 3 trials in the US. The first two were halted briefly after safety incidents, but the FDA has since allowed them to continue. The results are promising.
Historic Saranac Lake’s Saranac Laboratory museum is re-open, operating under limited hours and strict guidelines in order to keep their patrons and their staff healthy. The museum is the first laboratory in the nation that was built for the study of tuberculosis, showcasing Saranac Lakes history as a community that built a bustling economy around the response to an infectious disease.
Museum staff expects that visitors will find Saranac Lakes history relevant once again in response to COVID-19. The museum is currently open on Thursdays through Saturdays from 10am or 5pm, and visitors are encouraged to check out historicsaranaclake.org for updates.
Restaurants and food service industries may begin to open indoor spaces and seating for their customers and personal care facilities such as tattoo and piercing parlors, spas, massage therapy, etc. may begin accepting clients again.
Following are some webinars and virtual events you can tune into in order to stay informed, courtesy of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA).
Friday, June 12, 9:00-10:00 a.m.:Virtual Meet & Greet with Local Web Developers In response to the COVID-19 crisis, many North Country small businesses are looking to expand their online presence. ANCA can help you find the right person to help build or expand your website. Join us via Zoom to meet “face to face” with local web developers.
I was driving to an appointment with my family and we had to make a few scheduled stops. I saw many people not wearing masks. (Now, keep in mind people do not need to wear masks while practicing social distancing. I know you all know, but I digress.) The gas station even had a sign on their front entrance requiring all patrons to only enter if wearing masks. It was difficult to miss since you have to push on the sign to get through the door. Yes, there were people inside not wearing masks. Yes, some of those people mocked those of us wearing masks.
I found it ironic on Memorial Day weekend, a time to remember people who have died–not served– but died for our country there are people still putting their individual rights before the collective whole. You can wear a poppy on your lapel for a person who lost his/her life, but you can’t wear a mask to protect someone from actually dying? That doesn’t even make sense.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
Fulton County Historical Society and Museumhttp://fultoncountyhistoricalsociety.org/ – opening up June 2 – June 27, Saturdays and Sundays, 12-4pm. July 1 – Labor Day, Thursdays – Sundays, 12-4pm.
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