The Whallonsburg Grange Hall is set to host its annual Election Night Dinner on Tuesday, November 5 from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.
Prepared and served by volunteers and candidates for Essex town offices, the Election Night Dinner at the Grange is a tradition that goes back decades. » Continue Reading.
The fall Lyceum lecture series at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall is set to kick off on Tuesday, September 24th.
The theme of this season is “Hidden in Plain Sight,” and the five lectures will examine well-known things from unusual angles and look at objects and ideas that have been hidden from plain view. » Continue Reading.
Wildway Overlook trail, part of the Champlain Area Trails (CATS), is a relatively easy, family and dog-friendly hike that begins in Whallonsburg. The hike is 1.5 miles round trip, includes interpretive signs along the trail, and ends in at a rocky outcrop that overlooks the Split Rock Wildway Wildlife Corridor and the Lake Champlain Valley. » Continue Reading.
The Whallonsburg Grange Hall, has announce that it has purchased Whitcomb’s Garage in Whallonsburg, the vacant building and land directly across Whallons Bay Road from the Grange.
The 1950s-era garage, on a 1.5-acre lot along the Boquet River, was owned by Clarence “Narni” Whitcomb. Whitcomb was a lifelong resident of Whallonsburg who sold and serviced cars there until the 1990s; he died in 2017. » Continue Reading.
Adirondack musicians will come together on Saturday, February 24th at 7 pm at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall for a concert called “Adirondack String Fever.” Led by songwriter and storyteller Dan Berggren on guitar, the show includes John Kirk and Trish Miller on fiddle, mandolin and banjo; and Peggy Lynn and Dan Duggan playing guitar and hammered dulcimer. These five long-time friends have played in combinations and separately for decades at concerts, festivals, dances, theatrical performances, and events all over the North Country. » Continue Reading.
Andrew Buchanan, lecturer in global and military history at the University of Vermont, will be presenting on “A History of the World in Six Weeks” at the Whallonsburg Grange on Tuesday, February 13th at 7:30 pm, continuing on subsequent Tuesdays until March 20th. » Continue Reading.
The Whallonsburg Grange Hall, a non-profit community center in the Champlain Valley, has appointed a full-time manager, thanks to a grant from the Cloudsplitter Foundation. The Grange Hall Board has hired Kate Ritter, of Essex, as its new full-time Manager. Cloudsplitter, based in Saranac Lake, is “dedicated to improving the future for the flora, fauna, communities, and people of the Adirondacks.” » Continue Reading.
The Whallonsburg Grange has announced its winter Lyceum series, “More History of Everything in Six Objects.” The presenters will choose and discuss six objects that demonstrate the history, evolution, and significance of the common things around us. The lectures will occur on Tuesdays at 7:30 pm throughout the months of February and March.
The series opens on February 9, 2016 with architects Beverly Eichenlaub and Bryan Burke presenting “Six Buildings.” Admission for each lecture is $5, and free for students. » Continue Reading.
The public is invited to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Whallonsburg Grange Hall on Sunday, September 13 from 1 to 5 pm. The event will include music, food, a historical exhibit, and a farmers and crafters market, with a celebratory program at 2:30. » Continue Reading.
A series of natural history programs about Adirondack wildlife will be held at the Whallonsburg Grange in Essex, NY. The series begins with naturalist and photographer Susan Morse speaking on Friday, February 21. Morse’s lecture, entitled “Animals of the North: What Will Climate Change Mean for Them” will be held at 7:00 p.m. Suggested donation is $8.
Morse, Founder and Director of Keeping Track, Inc., describes says the program is not about climate change itself, or even how it will affect us; rather, it’s designed to educate audiences about ways in which northern wildlife species are already being affected, with more serious challenges ahead. » Continue Reading.
February 2nd is going to be more than just the Broncos trying to best the Seahawks in the XLVIII Super Bowl, when the Champlain Valley Film Society (CVFS) brings Captain Richard Phillips to introduce the 2014 Oscar nominated film named in his honor, based on the harrowing experience of his capture and attempted ransom at the hands of Somali pirates.
It is easy for my family to get caught up in the animated version of pirates or the swash-buckling Johnny Depp characterization without realizing that real pirates do exist and there is nothing romantic and comedic about it. I remember reading the news stories when Phillips sacrificed himself to save his crew in the 2009 hijacking. Now is an opportunity to meet a true survivor. » Continue Reading.
The Champlain Valley Film Society is going to spend its 10th anniversary this Saturday, April 27 with an Oscar-nominated film. After screening almost 170 films since its inception in 2003, The Film Society is thanking audience members with a free showing of Daniel Day-Lewis’s Oscar winning performance in Lincoln.
Founded by Larry Barns, Thurston Clarke, Bill James and David Reuther, the Champlain Valley Film Society has grown from an infrequent outdoor movie experience to a nonprofit, monthly art house cinema from fall to spring.
The four men found that the closest theatre experience was the Plattsburgh area, which wasn’t always showing films they wished to see. Burlington was too far so they joined forces to bring current, classic, foreign and independent films to the Champlain Valley. » Continue Reading.
The Greenhorns, a national nonprofit organization led by a self described “raucous posse of America’s new generation of farmers,” will host a grange hall mixer at the historic Whallonsburg Grange Hall on the shores of Lake Champlain this Saturday, June 25th beginning at 10 am and continuing into the night.
More than 150 aspiring, young, beginning and veteran farmers from the Hudson Valley, Champlain Valley, Capital Region, Adirondacks, and even some Vermonters are expected to attend this inaugural event. » Continue Reading.
UPDATE: Due to the snow and very cold weather predicted for Friday, this birds of prey event has been postponed until March or April.
Mark Manske of Adirondack Raptors and Wendy Hall of the Adirondack Wildlife Refuge and Rehabilitation Center will have a number of birds on hand for a question and answer session about raptors.
The event will be held on Friday, January 21st at 7:00 pm at the Whallonsburg Grange and will benefit the North Country Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NCSPCA).
Manske, who has been banding raptors for the past 25 years, is an educator, a falconer, and a New York State licensed nuisance wildlife rehabilitator. Hall, a retired nurse, runs a wildlife sanctuary with her husband in Wilmington, where she rehabilitates sick and injured animals, often re-releasing them into the wild. » Continue Reading.
By Diane Chase, Adirondack Family Activities ™
Children of all ages are most likely familiar with one of the over 100 children’s books illustrated by Steven Kellogg. If you are one of the few unfamiliar with his work the opportunity to right such a travesty is at hand.
Children’s book author/illustrator Steven Kellogg will be in Essex this Saturday along with University of Vermont history lecturer Andy Buchanan to celebrate the holidays with a narration of The Incredible History of Samuel de Champlain’s Cat and Kellogg’s book, The Island of Skog.
Starting at 4:00 p.m. on December 18th, this benefit for the North Country Society for the Prevention of the Cruelty to Animals (NCSPCA) will be held at Whallonsburg Grange Hall.
“Steven is a generous supporter of the shelter,” explains Margaret Reuther, President of the Board of Directors for the NCSPCA. “There will be a reading with Andy Buchanan loosely based on the history of Samuel de Champlain’s cat. Steven and Andy wrote it together. It is wonderful. Steven is glorious drawing on the spot. We had done a similar event in the summer and it turned out so well that we thought it would be wonderful to do another near Christmas. One of our goals for the organization is to gain positive feelings for our shelter. We also hope to raise some much needed money.”
In the second part of the evening’s activities, Kellogg will again be illustrating on the spot while retelling his popular book The Island of Skog. The drawings created onsite will be part of a Silent Auction. Kellogg is also donating 50% of the sale of two of his books, And I Love You and The Island of Skog to the animal shelter. Both of which can be personally autographed at the event. Cider and cookies will be served and all proceeds will benefit the NCSPCA.
“The North Country SPCA is the only animal shelter for all of Essex Country, one of the largest counties for New York State,” says Reuther. “Each year we care for over 400 homeless, abandoned and abused cats and dogs. We have an amazing staff that works extraordinarily hard to give loving care to these cats and dogs,” says Reuther. “We give medical care to the animals. We spay and neuter. Our goal is to find a loving family for each and every animal. We are also a no kill shelter. We welcome volunteers. We encourage everyone to come and visit.”
Reuther explains that some volunteers have a specific routine and spend a few hours a week walking dogs or cleaning cat cages. Other volunteers may show up sporadically and help out where they are needed.
“We love volunteers,” say Reuther. “We have people that will come and walk the dogs and foster the cats. Our shelter manager, Pam Rock, is truly extraordinary so anyone interested should call and talk with her. We even have teenage volunteers that will show up after school. It is a great way to help out.”
Reuther understands that not everyone is able to have a pet. Volunteering at the NCSPCA is an opportunity for families and young children to see the level of care necessary for keeping an animal. Allowing children to assist with these homeless animals will help them grow into responsible pet owners.
“I know one family that has been coming with their eight-year-old child every Sunday to walk dogs,” Reuther explains. “We also have an older couple that do not have a dog but they travel frequently so they come two or three times a week. It is a wide gamut of people. ”
The organization does there best to care for “surrendered” animals. Reuther admits the task seems endless. She briefly mentions how the NCSPCA is overflowing with cats. There are no New York State laws pertaining to cats. There are dog control officers but nothing for cats. She encourages people to contact Pam at the shelter whether they have to give up a family pet or have found a stray.
So perhaps all the holiday shopping isn’t yet complete or one more gift can be squeezed into that stocking. Adopting a pet isn’t the only option to help out animals in need this season. To enjoy the reading and watch Kellogg ply his craft live, the NCSPCA asks for a donation of $5.00 per adult while children under 12 are free.
photo and content © Diane Chase, Adirondack Family Activities ™. Diane is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities Guidebook Series including the recent released Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks Your Guide to Over 300 Activities for Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Keene, Jay and Wilmington areas (with GPS coordinates) This is the first book of a four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities. The next three editions will cover Plattsburgh to Ticonderoga, Long Lake to Old Forge and Newcomb to Lake George.
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