Blue Mountain Lake resident John Collins will be honored for his achievements over the past forty years in education, community enhancement and wilderness protection in the Adirondack Park by Protect the Adirondacks! at the Forever Wild Dinner in Glens Falls on Saturday.
The organization will award Collins with its highest honor, the Howard Zahniser Adirondack Award. For more than 10 years Collins served on the board of the Adirondack Park Agency, and helped to organize the Residents’ Committee to Protect the Adirondacks in 1990; he was chairman of both institutions for a time. He also had a lengthy career on the staff and board of the Adirondack Museum, as a trustee of the Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts, and chairman of the Town of Indian Lake Planning Board. Collins also taught 5th grade at Long Lake Elementary School for 26 years. » Continue Reading.
Hamilton County Sheriff Douglas A. Parker has announced his retirement, ending a history of Parkers serving as the county’s top cop that stretches back to 1964; just three men have filled the post since 1946. The Long Lake resident, now 67, has spent 40 years with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. He was appointed to the position of Jailer by his father Arthur E. Parker in 1964 after a short stint about and anti-submarine aircraft carrier in the U.S. Navy, he was elected Sheriff on his father’s retirement in 1983. Parker is being lauded by locals for his approach to rehabilitation of those that find their way into the county’s criminal justice system. “I’d describe Doug as one of those rare individuals that can project authority, that isn’t questioned, and still has the ability to listen and empathize, almost like a social worker,” Hamilton County Board of Supervisors Chair William Farber (who has known Parker all these 40 years) told the Schenectady Gazette. “He’s seriously going to be missed. We have a department that’s second to none in how they handle people,” Hamilton County Judge S. Peter Feldstein told the paper. “More young people get turned around because of their interactions with the department, and that’s all because of him.” Some 250 people showed up at the Oak Mountain Ski Center lodge in Speculator for Parker’s retirement party last week.
While serving as Jailer (and living above the jail with his wife), Douglas Parker was put in charge of serial killer Robert F. Garrow when he was held in county lock-up in Lake Pleasant (part of which was built in 1840) for nine months in 1973-1974. He immediately doubled the guard (to two), but still felt uneasy about his charge, calling the experience “a nightmare.” “We didn’t trust Garrow to take a shower. He took a bath in a kiddy pool.” he recently told the Gazette, “He was never out of his cell, but that there were two deputies with him.”
Douglas Parker’s father Arthur E. Parker was elected Long Lake Town Clerk in 1939, and then served 19 years as Long Lake Town Supervisor before being appointed by then New York State Governor Nelson Rockefeller when then sheriff Merritt Lamos died in office in 1964.
Hamilton County is the most rural and least populated county in the state, and also, at 1,700-square-miles, one of the largest. The county’s year-round population is about 5,400, which rises to an estimated 55,000 during the summer. The Sheriff’s department includes a staff of six including dispatchers.
The county is considered the most consistently Republican of the entire state. The Republican candidate has lost the county only once over the last 23 Presidential elections (Barry Goldwater). John McCain carried Hamilton County by 27% margin over Barack Obama – the highest margin of victory of McCain in the state.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will meet on Thursday, October 8 and Friday, October 9 at APA Headquarters in Ray Brook, NY. The agency will consider two more towers along the Northway, one near the Lincoln Pond Rest Area in Elizabethtown and the other near Exit 30 in North Hudson. The October meeting will be webcast live on the agency’s homepage; meeting materials are available online. Here is the meeting agenda as provided by the APA: » Continue Reading.
For the interest of Almanack readers, we present the September DEC Region 5 Forest Ranger Report in its entirety:
Clinton County Town of Black Brook, Taylor Pond Wild Forest On Saturday, September 19, at approximately 2:05 PM, DEC Dispatch received a call from State Police in Plattsburgh, reporting a group of 3 young girls, ages 9, & 10, missing from the DEC Taylor Pond Campground. The girls were last seen at 11:30 AM heading to an outhouse. The girls’ parents searched for 2 hours before reporting them missing. Five DEC Forest Rangers responded, along with the State Police Aviation Unit helicopter. A forest ranger aboard the helicopter spotted the missing group approximately 3 miles from the campground. Another forest ranger searching in the area made contact with the children and safely escorted them out of the woods by 5:15 PM. » Continue Reading.
If you have not had an opportunity to visit the Adirondack Museum yet this season I am here to pave the way with offers of free admission and coupon savings. Okay, it isn’t money falling from the sky but if you attend Smithsonian magazine’s free museum day money may just jingle in your pocket. Though with or without Museum Day the Adirondack Museum is a bargain any day of the week. In its fifth year Museum Day is an annual event taking place across the country on September 26th. More than 900 participating museums will offer free general admission to an attendee and guest with a Museum Day admission card. The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake is just one facility that is participating. A complete list by state can be found at Smithsonian magazine.
The Adirondack Museum houses twenty buildings on 32 acres of land, beautiful gardens and ponds. There are many interactive elements like the Rising Schoolhouse filled with paper crafts and era-specific wooden toys, a treasure hunt in the “Age of Horses” building, or build a toy boat at the Boat Shop. Since that barely touches on the activities available, keep in mind all admissions are valid for a second visit within a one-week time period.
If unable to attend Museum Day, The Adirondack Harvest Festival will be held the next weekend, October 3rd and 4th. A good tip for all: year-round residents of the Adirondack Park are admitted free all days that the museum is open in October.
This festival will provide wagon rides, music and even a traditional blacksmith demonstration by David Woodward. There is a barn raising, cider pressing and pumpkin painting. If just having fun isn’t enough there are altruistic opportunities as well. Have children bring canned or dried goods to support the Warren–Hamilton Community Action Harvest Food Drive.
Please call 518-352-7311 for more information. Open daily from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. until October 18. If you visit the museum website, click on the monthly special icon for a coupon good for $2 off one adult admission. There is no charge for children under six.
Even with discounts, coupons and free admission museums need to function so keep in mind that even on free days a donation (no matter the size) is probably greatly appreciated.
The Adirondack Museum will play host to its annual Antiques Show and Sale on September 19 and 20, 2009. The event features forty-six antiques dealers offering examples of vintage furnishings and collectibles, including regional roadside advertising and painted American country furniture – also known as “rustic country.” A a complete listing of the antiques dealers who will exhibit at the show and sale can be found at the “Exhibits & Events” section of the Adirondack Museum’s web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org. In preparation for the show, the museum will be closed to the public on September 18, 2009. The museum will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. each day and visitors can take in the Antiques Show and Sale for the cost of regular general admission to the museum grounds. The weekend will begin with an Antique Show Preview Benefit on September 18, 2009 from 2:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m.; hors d’oeuvres and beverages will be served. Preview Benefit tickets are $100 and include admission to the Antiques Show and Sale on Saturday and Sunday. The admission price supports the museum’s exhibitions and programs. To reserve preview tickets, call (518) 352-7311, ext. 119.
A reroute of the Northville Placid Trail has been completed by Adirondack Mountain Club professional trail crews (under contract with DEC) to move the trail off Cedar River Road and into the Blue Ridge Wilderness; the trail has been constructed, marked, and is now open for public use. Although others are planned, this is the first of the DEC’s road-to-trail projects to be implemented on the Northville-Placid Trail.
Previously, the trail followed the Cedar River Road for 6.6 miles between Wakely Dam and the former McCane’s Resort in the Town of Indian Lake, Hamilton County. The new trail section – eliminating all but 0.7 miles of road walking – passes through old growth forest of sugar maple, yellow birch, hemlock and red spruce. » Continue Reading.
We have no set standard for musical appreciation in our family. We have always run the gamut from Broadway soundtracks to jazz, classical to rock. We are (thankfully) well past the refrains that require an “oink, oink here and an oink, oink there.” Though each childlike step through those mind numbing repetitive refrains did serve its purpose whether to learn what happens as the wheels turn on a bus or learn all the sounds the animals at Old MacDonald’s Farm.
As parents of young children we do have ultimate control of the car stereo and able to intersperse nursery rhymes with an eclectic mix of music. From The Grateful Dead to Marcia Ball and Cole Porter to Pavarotti, our kids are being exposed to a variety of musical tastes. I’ve always used music as a means to set the mood whether we are dancing around the house, quietly working or keeping the peace.
My daughter knows our wedding song while I am, much to my chagrin, prolific at singing and performing the Hannah/Miley “Hoe-down/Throw-down.” Listening to classical music is one thing but going to the opera is not an everyday occurrence for this family. Perhaps it should be.
George Cordes, an operatic bass, has performed a variety of roles while with the New York City Opera, Metropolitan Opera and other operatic companies. He will be accompanied by his wife and pianist Elizabeth as they perform at the Long Lake Town Hall at 7:00 p.m. this Saturday. The husband and wife team are of the newly formed High Peaks Opera Studio of Tupper Lake. The Cordeses will perform musical cocktail ranging from the Great American Songbook to scores from Gilbert and Sullivan’s Operettas.
Admission for the event is only $5.00 while children 12 and under are free. If the low cost doesn’t get you to come then the offer of dessert and refreshments should. My children are excited to see someone who performed on stage. I’m glad to oblige.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) will hold a public hearing on Wednesday, August 12, 2009 at 7:30pm in the Inlet Town Hall to discuss the Town’s proposed amendments to the Official Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan Map and provide opportunity for the public to comment on these proposals. The town’s proposals could result in a net increase of more than 1,000 buildings according to the APA. The hearing will be preceded at 6:30pm with an informal information session.
The four proposals would reclassify lands into a less restrictive classification which could potentially result in increased development in the areas under consideration. Here is the description from the APA: On June 22, 2009 the Adirondack Park Agency received a completed application from the Town of Inlet, Hamilton County to reclassify approximately 1,913 acres of land on the Official Park Map in four separate areas within the Town of Inlet. The Official Map is the document identified in Section 805 (2) (a) of the Adirondack Park Agency Act (Executive Law, Article 27), and is the primary component of the Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan, which guides land use planning and development of private land in the Park.
Area A involves 203.4+/- acres of land along Uncas Road, between the Pigeon Lake Wilderness on the north and the Fulton Chain Wild Forest on the south. The Town proposes to reclassify the area from Low Intensity to Moderate Intensity.
Area B involves 23.6 +/- acres of land along State Highway 28 which serves as the southwest boundary for this area. This area is adjacent to the hamlet of Inlet and positioned between County Highway 1 and Limekiln Road. The Town proposes to reclassify the area from Low Intensity to Moderate Intensity Use.
Area C involves 1,043.7 +/- acres located along Limekiln Road which intersects with NYS Route 28, to the north, and runs south to Limekiln Lake. The Town proposes to reclassify the area from Rural Use to Moderate Intensity Use.
Area D involves 642.6 +/- acres of land south of State Highway 28, which serves as the northern boundary. The area is bordered on the east by the Moose River Plains Wild Forest. The Town proposes to reclassify the area from Low Intensity Use to Moderate Intensity Use.
Detailed information and maps related to this proposal may be viewed at the Agency’s website at: www.apa.state.ny.us/_assets/mapamendments/MA200804_DSEIS.pdf
When considering proposed map amendments the Agency must prepare a Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS), hold a combined public hearing on both the proposed map amendment and the DSEIS, and incorporate all comments into a Final Supplemental Impact Environmental Statement (FSEIS). The FSEIS includes the hearing summary, public comments, and Agency staff written analysis, as finalized after the public hearing and comments are reviewed. The Agency then decides (a) whether to accept the FSEIS and (b) whether to approve the map amendment request, deny the request or approve an alternative. The Agency’s decision on a map amendment request is a legislative decision based upon the application, public comment, the DSEIS and FSEIS, and staff analysis. The public hearing is for informational purposes and is not conducted in an adversarial or quasi-judicial format.
In addition to the public hearing on August 12 at the Inlet Town Hall the Agency is accepting written comment on these proposals until September 4, 2009.
Written comments may be sent to: Matthew S. Kendall Adirondack Park Agency P.O. Box 99 Ray Brook, NY 12977
The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts–The Arts Center in Blue Mountain Lake is hosting Out in the Adirondacks at Great Camp Sagamore, August 21st – 23rd. According to the Arts Center this will be the first event of its kind–a destination weekend in the beautiful Adirondack Mountains for the “out” population and their supporters that celebrates the diversity of the human experience. The weekend includes a concert by singer/songwriter Catie Curtis, a one-man comedic show by actor/comedian Steve Hayes, an old-fashioned square dance, open mic, and more. The family-friendly lodging, food, and entertainment package will cost $249. According to their website, the Arts Center is revitalizing its mission established over forty-two years. The Center was the first community arts center in the Adirondack Park.
In the August 2008 issue of Adirondack Life, photographers from all around the park assembled a beautiful feature called “A Day in the Park.” It included pictures taken on a single, hot August Saturday.
Here are 18 shots that didn’t make the magazine, mostly because the other photographers took better pictures, but also because I didn’t have the sense to know the camera was set on low-res, which works for a computer screen but not a glossy page. In honor of Wells Olde Home Days and Carnival, which take place this weekend, and in honor of August Saturdays, and with apologies to the residents of lower Route 30, who were not well represented in Adirondack Life because of my goof, this link to a Flickr set contains photographs taken from Long Lake to Mayfield on that day.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) held three public hearings in July regarding proposals to classify and reclassify state lands and water involving the Five Ponds Wilderness Area, Lows Lake Primitive Area, Hitchens Pond Primitive Area, Round Lake Wilderness Area, Lows Lake, Hitchens Pond and the Bog River. These areas are located in the northwest part of the Adirondack Park in Hamilton and St. Lawrence Counties. The Agency will hold an additional hearing on August 10, 2009 at its Ray Brook headquarters and will continue to accept written public comments through August 28,2009. » Continue Reading.
Coopering is the ancient art of making casks, barrels, vats, buckets, and other circular or elliptical wooden vessels bound together by hoops. Historically, wooden barrels were used for the storage and transportation of all sorts of goods. Coopering was a valuable skill. David Salvetti will demonstrate the art of coopering at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake on July 18, 19 and 20, 2009. The demonstration will be held in the Mark W. Potter Education Center from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and is included in the price of general admission. David Salvetti’s love of woodworking began at age seven – with simple projects such as birdhouses. In 2005, at the age of fourteen, woodworking became something more. The Salvetti family visited the Adirondack Museum in July of that year. The rustic furniture on exhibit fascinated David. Inspired by what he saw, Salvetti cut a sapling on the family’s property and built a twig chair. Another chair followed in 2006 – winning “Best in Show” (4-H Youth Division) at the Oswego County Fair. David entered the white birch chair in the 2007 New York State Fair, Adult Arts and Crafts competition – winning another blue ribbon. David’s prize-winning rustic chair is on display at the Adirondack Museum and will become part of the permanent collection.
David Salvetti’s exploration of traditional woodworking techniques has led him to build his own shed, making shingles to cover the structure by hand. He has learned to make watertight wooden buckets without nails, adhesives, or modern sealants. He demonstrates his skills at Fort Ontario State Historic Site in Oswego, N.Y.
Coopering is part of a summer-long series of craft and trade demonstrations at the Adirondack Museum. To see a complete listing, visit the museum’s web site www.adirondackmuseum.org and click on “Special Events.”
Photo: Wooden sap bucket, ca. 1800s. Collection of the Adirondack Museum.
The Adirondack Park Agency (APA) has opened the public comment period and will conduct three public hearings on its proposals to classify and reclassify 12,545 acres of state lands and water of the Five Ponds Wilderness Area, Lows Lake Primitive Area, Hitchens Pond Primitive Area, Round Lake Wilderness Area Lows Lake, Hitchens Pond and the Bog River. These areas are located in the northwest part of the Adirondack Park in Hamilton and St. Lawrence Counties. » Continue Reading.
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has announced $3.3 million in grant awards for 32 trail-related projects around the state as part of the federal Recreational Trails Program. Over a quarter million dollars is slated to be spent on local snowmobile trails. The grants will be used for such projects as creating new trails, improving trails, providing connections and purchasing equipment. Trail development plans must emphasize providing access for people with disabilities and minimizing environmental impact. New York has one of the most expansive trail systems in the nation. The trails, which lead through public and private lands, are developed and maintained by state and local municipalities and volunteers.
State Parks administers the federal matching grant program providing funding to state and local governments, not-for-profit organizations, corporations, and partnerships for the maintenance, renovation, development, acquisition and construction of trails and trail-related facilities. Funding is provided through the Federal Highway Administration’s Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU).
Projects recommended for funding in the Adirondack counties include:
Hamilton County
Pleasant Rider Snowmobilers Inc $54,900 – The grant will go toward the purchase of equipment for public snowmobile trail maintenance in Lake Pleasant, Hamilton County.
Herkimer County
Salisbury Ridgerunners Snowmobile Club, Inc. $132,782 – The Salisbury Ridgerunners Snowmobile Club will purchase equipment to groom and improve 79 miles of heavily utilized, multipurpose, year-round trails in the Southern Adirondack-Mohawk Valley region.
Jefferson County
Jefferson County Soil and Water Conservation District $107,760 – The project is to restore approximately six miles of trails, including improving stream crossings and drainage, on two county forest lots as part of a multi-county trails system.
Village of West Carthage $114,908 – The village will expand public and pedestrian access, walkways, and amenities at the South Main Street Boat Launch area, including an asphalt walkway, a picnic shelter, a wood chip wetland trail, a concrete boat launch ramp, an asphalt road and parking area, tree plantings, interpretive panels and signage, and benches.
Lewis County
Lewis County Department of Forestry, Parks and Recreation $110,550 – The project will create a Tug Hill Trail System using county reforestation lands, and private land for motorized and non-motorized recreation.
Barnes Corners Sno-Pals, Inc. $37,064 – The Barnes Corners Sno-Pals, which maintains over 100 miles of snowmobile trails, will purchase an all-season tractor with a front end loader and rotary cutter to perform all-season trail maintenance.
Saratoga County
Town of Halfmoon $200,000 – The Town of Halfmoon will construct a second segment of the Champlain Canal Towpath trail.
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Blue Mountain Lake resident John Collins will be honored for his achievements over the past forty years in education, community enhancement and wilderness protection in the Adirondack Park by Protect the Adirondacks! at the Forever Wild Dinner in Glens Falls on Saturday.
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