Adirondacks – (May 11, 2023) – The 2023 Great Adirondack Garage Sale will take place on Memorial Day weekend, May 26 – 28, 2023, within the Adirondack region of upstate New York. The event takes place throughout communities along a 200-mile trail, along NYS routes 28, 30 and 3.
The annual event has become a popular kick-off to the summer season, with residents and visitors embracing the opportunity to buy and sell unique household items, gently-used home furnishings, and quirky treasures.
It’s time to get out there and clean up Adirondack area towns for the upcoming tourist season. This year, Community Pride Day will occur on Wednesday, May 3. Residents throughout the area will take to the streets with gloves and garbage bags in hand to rid lawns and roadways of detritus left over from fall and winter. All volunteers participating will receive a free shirt to wear with pride while they clean up the streets. The back of these shirts lists all 126 sponsors of this year’s Community Pride Day.
Easter is on its way, and there are an array of festive events on tap around the Adirondack area including Old Forge, Inlet and Raquette Lake. These events include those of the family-friendly variety, such as egg hunts and an Easter egg dyeing workshop as well as an Adult Egg Hunt in Inlet, NY that will feature a wide variety of prizes donated by local and area businesses.
This week was a February thaw most of the time, with rain and wet snow. Then Friday night [Feb. 10] we did get two inches of nice snow to start the weekend…and Old Forge’s Winter Carnival. About the only time I got outside was to feed the birds and get the mail, as the ankle is still not up to par. The cold I had, I passed on to Karen and so far, we have both survived it. Got tested for Covid and strep throat, had neither…just a good, old fashioned cold. Alka-Seltzer, cough drops, and many naps for the cure.
The great November thaw has arrived and the day is rainy and grey, what better time to share some picturesque snapshots of an Inlet resident’s frequent hiking excursions and walks about town with her two canine friends, Cornbread and Okra Fritter. Amanda Miller, who moved to the Adirondacks from Texas in 2002, owns and operates the Screamen Eagle restaurant in downtown Inlet alongside her husband, Matt. Amanda also works at the Old Forge and Inlet post offices on a part time basis and has two children, Lorelei who attends the Town of Webb UFSD in Old Forge and Alex who lives in Greenville, SC with his fiance, Hunter.
As another extension of our initial post about an Old Forge grandmother, Beth Pashley, avid hiker and talented photographer, The Adirondack Almanack will be featuring snippets of Pashley’s hiking adventures on a year-round basis including her visually-striking and artistic nature photographs. Pashley was inspired to embrace the great outdoors with her grandchildren starting at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, dubbing the family bonding time as “The Grandma Chronicles.”
Our last Hiking with Grandma Beth post was published in April, so we thought it was high time to reintroduce her photography to readers, this time by covering her recent excursion to Moose River Plains, as well as to highlight her involvement in the 2022 NY Loon Census.
At the August 2017 Inlet Historical Society’s Annual Membership Meeting at The Woods Inn, I presented a program about The Neodak Lodge. My research was augmented by Kathy Tortorello, Diane Tyrell and Marylou Arps, granddaughters of Roy and Emma Rogers, who generously provided me with Rogers family information and photographs. That program and its supporting content became the foundation for this history. Also, this is an updated version of the article printed afterwards in the Adirondack Express.
What is the origin of the word Neodak? Three authorities use the term. Two indicate it as the first part of a Cayuga (Iroquois Nation) town name, Neodakheat, in western New York. The third considered the name as typical usage of Native American-sounding names in the Adirondacks, giving Nehasane Park and Neodak Lodge as examples.
A 1927 account about the New Neodak Hotel claimed that Native Americans in the distant past routinely landed at the Head of Fourth Lake and named it “Neodak”, meaning “good location” or “head of the lake.” According to a 1941 report, sixteen Rochesterians representing the “Cayuga Tribe” made the “first” of planned annual pilgrimages to the burial ground of Chief Neodakis (?), “famous Adirondack tribal leader of the 18th century.” Following a ceremony and a steak dinner, the group concluded festivities with an evening “indian circle” council fire, featuring stories, songs and “tribal games.”
Later, a traditional Neodak Lodge event would have a “chief Neodakis” meet the steak roast boat at an Eighth Lake location where a ceremony included the taking of a volunteer female guest as an “indian wife.” Participants sang and danced around a large tree and the Neodak staff treated them to a wonderful feast. Then, wearing headdresses and paint on their faces, they returned on the Osprey to Sixth Lake Dam where they were transported to the Neodak.
Inspired by and with the help of the Boon Family of Fourth Lake, the Fulton Chain of Lakes Association is teaming up the Towns of Webb & Inlet, the Adirondack Watershed Institute and the 6th-7th Lake Improvement Association to start an annual volunteer clean-up event to maintain the beautiful lakes and watershed of the Fulton Chain of Lakes.
They are planning to announce this event Memorial Day Weekend with an article in the Adirondack Express and will have registration tables set up – one at the Inlet Information Office and one at the Town of Webb Visitor Center.
They have some activities in mind for this event that will involve waterfront improvements, visiting the Adirondack Watershed Institute’s sanitation station and educating through some of their webcasts. They also plan to have awards for participants, including “Best Project” encouraging people to share some of their own ideas.
If you would like to help the FCLA with awards or have any questions about this event contact John Jeffery johnjeffery124@gmail.com or Ray Letterman rdletter@syr.edu.
Fourth Lake, part of the Fulton Chain of Lakes, photo courtesy of Elizgoiri, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
February may be the shortest month on the calendar, but it is a month full of Adirondack festivals and winter celebrations. One place to finish the season off February is the 18th annual Frozen Fire and Lights in Inlet.
It is the perfect place to celebrate the best of the winter season. Always held on the last Saturday in February, this year Inlet’s town-wide celebration lands on Leap Day. » Continue Reading.
Reservations have re-opened for the May 15th start of the camping season at DEC’s Adirondack Park Eighth Lake Campground, Inlet, Hamilton County.
Earlier this year, DEC posted alerts in the camping reservation system to notify campers that the facility would open later in 2020, to accommodate planned improvements. DEC can now accommodate reservations for the first half of the season at Eighth Lake campground. » Continue Reading.
Skip the crowds and the Black Friday madness and enjoy Christmas throughout the Central Adirondacks. Santa and Mrs. Claus are making the rounds to see who is going to make the nice list. Local food, fun runs, and crafts are just a few reasons to make Speculator, Indian Lake, Inlet, and Old Forge a holiday stop.
These events have so many activities to choose from. You get to decide if you want to keep it on the more intimate side or festive enough to ring in the Christmas spirit. » Continue Reading.
My children believe that every day is Adirondack Kids Day. There is certainly enough for them to do around the Adirondack Park to make them feel that way. Though they may think every day is about them, there is only one official Adirondack Kids Day. It takes place on the first Saturday in October in Inlet, New York.
My family participates in a lot of events and activities throughout the Adirondack Park. Autumn is no exception. We enjoy harvest celebrations and catching views with the leaves in full color. Our draw to be part of Adirondack Kids Day is its unique blending of meeting local children’s book authors and illustrators, and outdoor recreation experts. » Continue Reading.
The nonprofit Adirondack Hamlet to Huts (AHH) has announced they are accepting registrations for their first ever trek from Old Forge to Inlet and back as well as a trip from Old Forge to Raquette Lake and back.
These are pilot trips which are guided test runs of future AHH routes that are expected to be self-guiding. » Continue Reading.
The Fulton Chain of Lakes Performing Arts Council has announced their annual event, “An Evening with the Symphony,” has been set for Friday, July 26, 2019 at 7:30 pm. This is their 21st year of presenting this concert under a tent overlooking 4th Lake in Inlet. » Continue Reading.
Head to Inlet on April 27th for the Adirondacks’ only adult Easter egg hunt. A traditional children’s egg hunt will also take place, but bring your own basket to hold some wonderful local prizes. » Continue Reading.
Free Fishing Days this weekend, ice anglers enjoying atypical winter
This week was a February thaw most of the time, with rain and wet snow. Then Friday night [Feb. 10] we did get two inches of nice snow to start the weekend…and Old Forge’s Winter Carnival. About the only time I got outside was to feed the birds and get the mail, as the ankle is still not up to par. The cold I had, I passed on to Karen and so far, we have both survived it. Got tested for Covid and strep throat, had neither…just a good, old fashioned cold. Alka-Seltzer, cough drops, and many naps for the cure.
» Continue Reading.