hassle-free boating hassle-free boating

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25c
February 2016
DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE QUEEN OF AMERICAN LAKES
Established 1880
HASSLE-FREE BOATING
THE LAKE: TOTALLY WIRED
ICE: IN LATE, OUT EARLY
Frost flowers in February. Mirror photo.
Two
The Lake George Mirror
February 2016
Let’s fix this.
stormwater runoff and pollution
is regarded as the Nation’s
single largest source of
water quality problems*
We’re building an
innovative solution to
protect Lake George
and threatened waters
anywhere.
Find out more and invest in solutions at:
fundforlakegeorge.org/LowImpactDevelopment
*According to the Environmental Protection Agency
For more Lake George, visit LakeGeorgeMirrorMagazine.com
Established 1880
“THE QUEEN OF AMERICAN LAKES”
LAKE GEORGE, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 2016
Town Drops
Environmental
Specialist
See TOWN DROPS Page 5
By Anthony F. Hall
Kathy Flacke Muncil
Muncil Elected
Chair of State-wide
Industry Group
By Mirror Staff
Kathy Flacke Muncil, the Fort
William Henry Corporation’s chief
executive officer, has been elected
Chairman of the New York State
Hospitality & Tourism Association’s
(NYSH&TA) Board of Directors.
“I am happy to work with
NYSH&TA for the legislative and
educational support it offers to the
industry,” said Muncil. “NYSH&TA
is helping hotels and tourism
organizations hold steady and thrive
so we are ready when the economy
does turn around.”
Muncil has worked at Fort
William Henry Corp., which
owns independent hotels and the
Fort William Henry Museum, for
approximately twenty years.
As CEO of the Fort William
Henry Corporation, Muncil oversees
20 separate businesses ranging from
the independent resort hotel and
conference center to the restored
French & Indian War fortress. At
the height of the tourist season, the
corporation employs more than 400
people.
She has served NYSH&TA in a
number of offices and on several
committees, including its Finance &
Audit and Publication & Marketing
Action Committees.
Lake George Village
Looking at Rental
Housing Rules
By Paul Post
SPECIAL TO THE LAKE GEORGE MIRROR
Katherine Canale, a 7th grade
social studies teacher in Lake
George, was among the five
educators honored by Adirondack
Thunder at its February 12 game
against the Wheeling (W.VA)
Nailers. She’s shown here
with Thunder president Brian
Petrovek, who presented her with
a customized, team-signed hockey
stick.
No. 2
With Deadlines Looming, Village Desperately
Seeking State Aid for New Treatment Plant
By Mirror Staff
Kathy Bozony, the Town of Lake
George’s environmental specialist,
is out of a job.
For the past two years, Bozony
has studied, mapped and analyzed
460 shoreline properties from the
village to Diamond Point, with a
goal of identifying and improving
problem septic systems to protect
lake water quality.
A $130,000 state Water Quality
Improvement grant that Bozony
won for the Town included $45,000
to pay her to administer additional
septic initiative studies and
planning.
“The grant has a number of
components to keep the initiative
moving forward,” said Bozony.
“It will offer reasonable solutions
to individuals who want to correct
failing septic systems, which impact
water quality and personal property
values.”
But, she said, she was not
informed that she would not be
hired to administer the grant until
recently.
“I assumed that since I had won
the grant, I would administer it. I
have no idea of why I was not hired
to do that,” said Bozony.
According to Supervisor Dennis
Dickinson, Bozony lacked sufficient
support from the Town Board to
retain her position.
Board members said that Bozony
was hired to write the grant, but
that was all. It is not unusual for a
community to request proposals
from other groups or individuals to
administer a grant, they said.
The Fund for Lake George will
administer this grant, Dickinson
said.
Eric Siy, the executive director of
The Fund for Lake George, said his
organization has discussed the best
means of doing that with Dickinson
$50 For 1 Year
Lake George Village will
consider a measure addressing shortand long-term rental properties. Last
year, a potentially critical situation
arose when fire broke out at a
building occupied by several young
foreign workers.
At the time, no one knew exactly
who or how many people were
living there. There was no way to
contact family members in the event
of an emergency.
The incident also sparked
concerns about potentially unsafe
and overcrowded living conditions.
A proposed “Lake George Rental
Housing Law” says the village
code currently “lacks sufficient
safeguards on the population
densities of rental housing.”
Also, transient residents have
generated a disproportionate number
of complaints about noise, property
damage and property neglect and
the village code currently “lacks
sufficient incentives for owners
to regulate the conduct of their
tenants,” the proposed law says.
A public hearing on the new
measure will be held at the next
village board, which is scheduled
for Monday, March 21.
A new wastewater treatment plant
could cost Lake George Village as
much as $18 million. That’s a heavy
lift for a small community, one that
officials believe will require some
extra muscle. To get it, they’ve hired
a prominent lobbyist.
At a special meeting on February
3, the Village’s Board of Trustees
voted unanimously to pay the firm
of former US Senator Alfonse
D’Amato $25,000 to lobby federal
and state officials on behalf of the
Village and its project.
“We will put our entire team’s
years of experience and knowledge
to work on behalf of the village,”
said David Catalfamo,a spokesman
and Managing Director for Park
Strategies.
Having been unsuccessful in
their efforts to secure grants through
Governor
Cuomo’s
Regional
See TREATMENT PLANT Page 4
In 2001, Lake George Mayor Bob Blais, Congressman Gerry Solomon,
Supervisor Lou Tessier, Councilman Jim Ianaco and County Superintendent
of Public Works breaking ground on treatment plant improvements funded
with federal dollars. Mirror file photo.
New Swim Marathon is Among
Events Funded by Occupancy Taxes
By Anthony F. Hall
Lake George has awarded more
than $140,000 to 37 groups seeking
support for concerts, food festivals
and athletic events, the joint
Town and Village committee that
distributes occupancy tax funds has
announced.
According to Village Mayor Bob
Blais, who co-chairs the committee
with Town Supervisor Dennis
Dickinson, events were ranked
according to a variety of criteria.
“We were especially interested
in events that generated overnight
stays or room nights; we also
looked at the quality of the event,
its potential impact on our image
as a family destination and whether
it generated business during the
shoulder seasons,” said Blais.
Organizers who could document
the economic impacts of their events
were given special consideration,
said Blais.
The Lake George Jazz Weekend,
the Winter Carnival and the Lake
George Triathlon received at least
$15,000 each.
The Lake George Music Festival,
the Elvis Festival, an Oktoberfest
and the Wine and Food Festival
were among the other events earning
financial support.
A new event, the Lake George
Marathon Swim, was awarded
$6,000. The marathon, which will
take place on September 17 and 18,
will include thirteen relay teams and
thirteen individuals swimming the
length of the 32-mile lake.
According to event director Bob
Gibson, swimmers from nine states
have registered for the marathon.
“The solo swimmers have all
been screened to represent people
most likely to complete the swim.
Most of them have done other
distance swims, including long
stage swims down the Hudson
River, around Manhattan Island, the
English Channel, or the swim from
Catalina Island to the California
coast. One swimmer has completed
See SWIM MARATHON Page 5
Town Hopes to Prevent Loss of Historic Sites
By Anthony F. Hall
It’s been almost fifty years since
the ruins of Fort Gage were destroyed
when a motel was constructed on the
site, a hill overlooking the historic
trail to Fort William Henry.
Could something similar happen
today? Perhaps. Lake George
officials know they can’t halt
progress, but at the very least, they
want to know what other forts,
encampments and redoubts were
built here before all traces of them
are lost.
The Town is seeking a $50,000
grant from the National Park
Service that will enable it to conduct
a comprehensive survey of military
sites surrounding Fort George, Fort
William Henry and the Lake George
battlefield.
“The grant is awarded by the
American Battlefield Protection
Program,” said Dan Barusch, the
town’s director of Zoning and
Planning. “It doesn’t fund land
acquisition or archaeological digs.
What it does fund is research.”
If the town’s application is
successful, a consultant will be hired
who will identify and map every site
in Lake George associated with the
military campaigns of the French
and Indian Wars and the American
Revolution.
A final report will include the
historical research necessary to
accurately interpret Lake George’s
role in America’s 18th century wars.
According to Dan Barusch,
who wrote the town’s grant, the
final report will also include
recommendations for protecting the
town’s historic resources.
New York State Senator Betty Little discussed trends in tourism with the Lake George Chamber of Commerce’s
Women in Business Committee on February 10.
Four
February 2016
With Deadlines Looming, Village Desperately
Seeking State Aid for New Treatment Plant
from page 3
V
Economic Development Council,
Village officials felt compelled to
explore other avenues of funding,
said Mayor Bob Blais.
“The
competition
for
infrastructure grants is enormous, so
we’ve been in contact with anyone
who could help us get funding,
including our representatives in the
state legislature and Congress, who
have been very cooperative,” said
Blais. “But it was also suggested to
us that we hire a lobbyist.”
Initially, Park Strategies will help
Lake George Village pursue $3.5
million in grants for engineering
designs, said Blais.
“State officials prefer to fund
projects that are ready to go. With
the engineering in place, we’ll be
shovel-ready. It’s also been my
experience that if you’ve been
successful is winning funds for the
first phase of a project, you have
a good chance of getting the next
phase funded,” said Blais.
While Village officials will
continue to apply for grants through
programs such as the state’s Water
Infrastructure Improvement Act,
which will award $200 million over
three years to municipal wastewater
and drinking water projects, the
lobbyists are expected to pursue so-
called discretionary funds.
New York State Senator Betty
Little, who represents Lake George
in the legislature, said she was not
surprised by Lake George Village’s
decision to hire Park Strategies.
“Funding is now so competitive,
even school districts are hiring
lobbyists,” she said.
Asked how Park Strategies would
operate on behalf of Lake George,
one former state official speculated,
“They can advocate in the bowels
of the Division of Budget, grab the
ears of some people on the second
floor who have influence over
pots of money, and, in general,
make the case that Lake George
Village’s infrastructure problem is
of statewide significance.”
If Lake George Village is
unsuccessful in its pursuit of state
and federal grants, local property
taxes will rise by 20% or more, said
Blais.
“We’re a small community, but
because we’re a resort community,
we serve numbers far greater than
our year-round population,” Blais
said.
Built in 1939, the plant serves
roughly 4,000 people in the offseason and approximately 40,000
people in the summer.
According to Dave Harrington,
the Village’s Superintendent of
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February 19 | HomeTown Hero Rail Jam
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February 19-20 | Polar Ice Bar & Bonfire Lounge
Fort William Henry Resort, Lake George :: 518-668-3081
February 19-20 | Ice Bar & S’mores
Dunham’s Bay Resort, Lake George :: 518-656-9242
February 19-21, 25-28 | Ice Bar
King Neptune’s Pub, Lake George :: 518-668-2017
February 20 | Brant Lake Winter Carnival ~ Fireworks
Jimbo's at the Point, Brant Lake :: 518-494-3016 :: trilakesalliance.com
February 20 | Pinnacle Full Moon Snowshoe Hike ~ Restaurant Crawl
Up Yonda Farm, Bolton Landing :: 518-644-3831 :: boltonchamber.com
February 20 | Saturday Night Rush Hour ~ Nordic & Snowshoe Race
North Creek Ski Bowl, North Creek :: 518-251-2411 :: goremountain.com
February 26 | Paula Poundstone ~ A Night of Comedy
Charles R Wood Theater, Glens Falls :: 518-480-4878 :: woodtheater.org
February 27 | Hall of Fame Inductions ~ Adirondack Thunder Hockey
Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls :: 518-480-3355 :: echlthunder.com
Public Works, more than $5 million
has been spent over the past fifteen
years bringing the plant into
compliance.
“We just reached a tipping point
where we realized a plant that’s
eighty years old is inadequate, no
matter how many upgrades we
make,” said Harrington.
In the 1980s, more than $500,000
was invested in making the plant
more effective, but according to the
DEC, it remained “in serious need
of upgrades.”
A $951,000 distribution from the
Lake George Basin Sewer project
funded more improvements, which
were completed in 2001.
More recently, the Village’s
Board of Trustees agreed to
borrow $2.2M in 2012 from the
state’s Environmental Facilities
Corporation
to
make
more
improvements to the plant, including
new sandbeds.
Nevertheless, New York State
has found that the plant has been
discharging unacceptably high
levels of nitrates into ground water
for several years.
In June, 2014, the Village
was fined $3,900 and ordered to
modernize or replace the New Dealera plant.
According to Lake George
Waterkeeper Chris Navitsky, “the
Lake George Village Superintendent of Public Works Dave Harrington,
shown here with Lake George Park Commission executive director Dave
Wick. Photo courtesy of The Fund for Lake George.
Wastewater Treatment Plant is the
largest discharger of pollution in the
Lake George basin.
With Lake George Watershed
Coalition executive director David
Decker and Jim Sutherland, a
retired DEC scientist, Navitsky
monitored the plant’s discharges
every two weeks from May, 2014 to
September, 2015.
“We found a clear correlation
between heavier flows and the
pollution that enters West Brook
and ultimately Lake George,” said
Navitsky.
Excessive levels of nitrates, he
said, stimulate the growth of weeds
and algae and can endanger fish
life, the quality of drinking water,
recreation and even human health.
“Fortunately, we haven’t reached
that level yet,” said Navitsky.
And, he added, after Lake George
Village completes construction of a
new plant, nitrate discharges will
sink to acceptable levels.
Harrington said final plans for
the new plant should be developed
by next summer “so we know what
we’re building.”
The project will likely be put out
to bid less than a year from now,
giving the Village two years to
complete construction and have a
new plant up and running before the
September 2018 deadline.
Town Board at Odds Over
Upgrades to Caldwell Sewer District
By Paul Post
The Town of Lake George is
faced with a critical and potentially
costly decision over the future of
Caldwell Sewer District’s aging
pump stations.
Supervisor Dennis Dickinson
favors a plan, which the village
also backs, to replace a lower
pump station near the Million
Dollar Beach parking lot with a
new facility and eliminate an upper
pump station off Fort George Road,
near the Stewart’s Shop on Route 9.
The project would cost $700,000,
and raises taxes from 3 percent to 7
percent within the district.
“They (the village) would really
like to have us do this,” Dickinson
said.
Fixing, instead of replacing, the
lower station’s three pumps would
cost $150,000, but would only keep
them “limping along,” Dickinson
said. “I think they’re close to the end
of their lives. They definitely need
some work.”
However, town Councilman Dan
Hurley is strongly opposed to a new
pump station, which he says is too
costly and unnecessary.
Dickinson plans to schedule
a meeting with himself, Hurley,
village officials and The Chazen
Companies, the town’s engineering
firm, to discuss the situation.
Under
a
town-village
consolidation program, the village
public works department has
maintained and operated Caldwell
Sewer District for the town for the
past few years, a move that has saved
the town about $70,000. Previously,
the town was spending large sums
on overtime for an employee to
make twice daily inspections.
“It’s been very, very beneficial to
the town,” Dickinson said.
But the village has indicated
that it might no longer handle such
duties if the lower pump station isn’t
replaced with a new facility, he said.
“They’re just nervous about (the
condition) of these stations,” town
Councilwoman Marisa Muratori
said. “I don’t blame them.”
However, town Councilman
Vincent Crocitto said, “It’s still
$700,000 on a district that is already
stressed.”
Councilwoman Nancy Stannard
said, “Our concern is the cost to the
Caldwell Sewer District.”
Complicating matters, Dickinson
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See TOWN BOARD Page 19
March 5 | Woodworking ~ Build an Observation Bluebird Nest Box
Adirondack Folk School, Lake Luzerne :: 518-696-2400 :: adirondackfolkschool.org
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March 5, 12, 19, 26 | Maple Sugaring ~ Sap to Syrup
Up Yonda Farm, Bolton :: 518-644-9767 :: upyondafarm.com
March 10 | On Rockwell: Tom Daly from the Norman Rockwell Museum
Hyde Collection, Glens Falls :: 518-792-1761 x317 :: hydecollection.org
March 11-13 | NYSPHSAA Boys’ Basketball State Championships
Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls :: 855-432-2849 :: glensfallscc.com
March 10, 13 | Adirondack Thunder Hockey Home Games
Glens Falls Civic Center, Glens Falls :: 518-480-3355 :: echlthunder.com
March 12 | St Patrick’s Day Parade
Main Street, Chestertown :: 518-573-4386 :: trilakesalliance.com
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February 2016
Five
New Lake George Boat Share Club Hopes to Appeal to Local Homeowners
By Paul Post
Matt and Rebecca O’Hara have a
new option for local residents who
want to enjoy a day on Lake George
this summer.
The couple is starting a new
Freedom Boat Club franchise at
Beckley’s Marina, in Diamond
Point, where they’re leasing space.
Memberships range from $2500
to $3600 per year.
“We own, store, maintain, clean,
and insure the boats,” Matt said.
“All members have to do is make
a reservation, show up to the dock,
and they are ready to get out on
the water. We think this appeals
to a few groups of people -- those
who have owned boats and couldn’t
keep up with them, but still want to
spend time on the water; those who
have dreamed of owning a boat,
but realized they didn’t know a
thing about buying and maintaining
one; and those who love the idea
of boating, but don’t have the time
for everything that comes with
ownership, such as maintenance and
cleaning.”
“For example, a family with
young kids can go out on the water
in the morning and still get to the
kids’ soccer game in the afternoon
because when they’re done boating
they hop off the boat and head right
to the parking lot while we clean it.”
Freedom Boat Club is the
country’s oldest and largest boat club
with more than 10,000 members in
19 states. “We will have a fleet of
brand new boats delivered in midApril for a club opening in May,”
Matt said. “We will initially have
two Bennington pontoons, a Key
West dual console bowrider, and a
Hurricane deckboat. As membership
grows, we will continue to add to
Matt and Rebecca O’Hara. The couple has long-standing ties to Assembly Point.
the fleet and will be taking member
feedback into consideration for
future boat purchases. Our fleet will
turn over every two to three years
so members will always have use of
new or like-new boats.”
“ We will be running an 8-to1 member-to boat ratio to help
ensure members can get boats
when they want them,” he said.
“So with our initial four boats we
can accommodate 32 members, but
as membership interest grows we
will add boats.” To date, they’ve
gotten positive response from area
residents and some outside the
region, too.
“Since it is a membership club,
we think the bigger focus will be
on people who live, or have homes
within an hour of the lake,” Matt
said. “If someone is coming for just
a weekend, they are better off renting
Town Drops Environmental Specialist
from page 3
and has also agreed to contribute
$25,000 to the initiative.
“As we did in North Queensbury,
we will provide matching grants
to people upgrading their septic
systems,” he said. “We’re excited
to continue our efforts focusing on
problems that pose direct threats to
the lake.”
“There’s already a list of 12 to 20
people that want septic upgrades,”
said Dickinson. “More than 100 of
these properties need immediate
attention.”
Plans call for having property
owners pay for half such work, with
The Fund for Lake George supplying
the rest under the matching funding
program.
Bozony said she is currently
seeking new employment in her
field, which is natural resources.
Before being retained by the Town
of Lake George, Bozony worked
for The Fund for Lake George,
the Lake George Association, the
Association for the Protection of the
Adirondacks and the Adirondack
Watershed Institute.
After leaving Union College in
1984 and embarking upon a career
in finance, Bozony returned to
school in 2002 and earned a degree
in environmental science from Paul
Smith’s College.
“I have a passion for Lake George
but I may end up working on some
other lake,” said Bozony.
one time than joining the club. We
have already received tremendous
interest from as close as Queensbury,
Saratoga and Schenectady, all the
way to New Jersey and Long Island
residents who have summer homes
in the area.”
Before taking a boat out, members
undergo classroom training and on
the water.
“We take boating safety very
seriously and feel we have a
responsibility to put respectful,
competent boaters on Lake George
to help ensure everyone’s enjoyment
of the lake,” Matt said. “People new
to boating love the idea of being
trained.”
Members have reciprocal usage
of the other 100 Freedom Boat
Clubs across the country.
This is the first Freedom Boat
Club franchise in upstate New York.
There are four on Long Island and
another in Stamford, Ct.
The business is a full-time
venture for the O’Haras.
“We both believe wholeheartedly
that this business model is right for
Lake George as the sharing economy
spreads to the boating industry,”
Matt said. “We are committed to
giving it 100 percent.” “Although
the boating season isn’t year round,
our commitment to the club is,”
he said. “We will be attending
and presenting at boat shows,
including the Great Upstate Boat
Show in April; we’ll be working
on developing relationships with
local businesses year round to
come up with mutually beneficial
partnerships; and we will be active
in local Chambers and associations
including the Lake George Chamber
of Commerce, Lake George
Association, and Lake George
Power Squadron.”
In addition, plans call for offseason member social events.
And marketing and developing
new memberships is a year-round
job, too.
The franchise is a whole new
career path for both Matt and
Rebecca, who live in Saratoga
Springs.
Matt left CBS Television in the
Boston market where was sales
manager, while Rebecca most
recently worked in development
and fundraising at Massachusetts
General Hospital. The twosome,
both avid boaters, observed the
growth and popularity of the
Freedom Boat Club franchise in
the Massachusetts market and
envisioned the potential for success
in Lake George.
“Rebecca’s granddaddy bought
land on Lake George in the 1940s,
and her 96-year-old grandmother,
Jane Shires, still lives in the house
he built on Assembly Point,” Matt
said. “Lake George is a very special
place for her and her family -- all
family holidays and summers were
and still are spent on the Lake.”
“We had our rehearsal dinner
aboard the Morgan, and got married
at the Lake George Club,” he said.
“So we knew we wanted to relocate
here from Boston as soon as we
were able to. The Freedom Boat
Club franchise in Boston was one
of my CBS ad sales clients. Instead
of joining in Boston, we realized it
was the perfect opportunity to do
something we love, in a place we
love, and bought the franchise on
Lake George. We are so excited to be
here, and to provide people access
to this beautiful lake while helping
improve the quality of life and the
quality of boating in the area.”
New Swim Marathon Among
Events Funded by Occupancy Taxes
from page 3
15 crossings of the English
Channel,” said Gibson.
Among the events missing from
the calendar were the Performance
Weekend, a springtime gathering
of off-shore speedboats, and the
Catskill Chill, a jam band festival
that was expected to be staged at the
Charles R. Wood Park.
According
to
Blais,
the
Performance Weekend was canceled
because the organizers were finding
it increasingly difficult to arrange
an event while, a the same time,
readying their customers’ boats for
the season.
Jason Saris, the co-owner of
Performance Marine and one of the
organizers, said that it is also a busy
time for the event’s participants,
boat owners and drivers on the off
shore racing circuit.
Catskill Chill will take place in
Pennsylvania this year rather than
Lake George, said Blais.
Some funds were withheld in the
event that new attractions are added
to the calendar, said Blais.
The funds awarded by the
committee are derived from room
taxes levied by Warren County,
a portion of which is allocated to
individual communities.
Under a formula adopted last
year, the County itself is responsible
for funding only those events with
regional impacts, such as Americade,
the Adirondack Nationals car show
and the balloon festival.
In addition to Blais and
Dickinson, Lake George’s Joint
Committee is composed of Town
Councilman
Vinnie
Crocitto,
Village Trustee John Root and
business owners Carollee LaBruzzo,
Dave Menter and Joseph DeSantis.
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Six
The Cure For Democracy’s Ills
Is Not Always More Democracy
To the conservative mind, there is a latent wisdom in old
institutions, even and especially in institutions that have outlived their
original purpose. Think of the annual ritual of repairing a stone wall
as it’s described in Robert Frost’s “Mending Wall.” According to the
narrator, a city dweller or a college professor spending a weekend at
his country place, the exercise is a pointless one, “just another kind
of out-door game… we do not need the wall.” But the neighbor, an
old Yankee whose pastures and fields are reverting to forest, just
keeps repeating his father’s ancient proverb, “good fences make good
neighbors.” And, of course, the old fellow is right, perhaps more than
even he knows: shared tasks sustain common interests, provoke at least
a casual conversation and strengthen a relationship that is frequently
a tense or adversarial one. Which brings us, in a roundabout way,
to the Electoral College. Dismissed as archaic, undemocratic and
confusing, it could be all of those things and still be the chief bulwark
against an extremist of either the right or the left ever becoming
president. The framers of the US Constitution feared that a population
as dispersed and as insulated as ours was in the 18th century lacked
the information necessary to hold a national conversation about the
relative merits of the presidential candidates. Unlike the compact
city-states of ancient Greece and Rome, ours was “an extended
republic;” we lacked the forums, literally and figuratively, that made
direct democracy practical. Electors, however, that “small number
of persons, selected by their fellow citizens from the general mass,”
would in all likelihood, according to the Constitution’s framers,
“possess the information and discernment requisite to so complicated
an investigation. ” To some, it may come as a surprise to learn that
when we cast our votes for a presidential candidate, we are actually
voting for electors. Unless you’re one of the politicians who appoints
people to those largely ceremonial positions, you probably have no
idea who they are. Nevertheless, they still gather in the chambers of
their state capitols every four years to cast their state’s electoral votes,
in all but a few cases for the candidate who won a plurality of popular
votes. Those who argue that the Electoral College is outdated and
should be replaced by the direct election of the president and vicepresident overlook a few things, the most important of which is that to
win a majority of electoral votes, a candidate must carry states at both
ends of every spectrum: red and blue, rural and urban, conservative
and progressive. One hundred of the 270 electoral votes needed to win
the presidency, for instance, come from states whose major product is
corn. That’s why the two major parties tend to select candidates who
can appeal to the center, where most voters in almost every state are
still to be found. (The Republicans’ nomination of Barry Goldwater in
1964 and the Democrats’ choice of George McGovern in 1972 are the
exceptions that prove the rule.) The parties tend to reject candidates
who will sacrifice victory for ideological correctness. In a direct
election, however, those institutional restraints on extremism are
absent. A candidate can win the presidency merely by appealing to a
mobilized faction. As the nation grows more polarized and the leaders
of the established parties lose influence with the voters, it’s more
important than ever that we retain whatever forces for moderation
we possess.
1930:
The Zoo Escape of
“Joe the Monkey”
By Joseph W. Zarzynski
It was the autumn of 1930, nearly
a year into the “Great Depression.”
Many area citizens were searching
for diversions to take their minds
away from the tough economic
times of the past 12 months. For
some, a distraction came from
an unexpected source, “Joe the
Monkey.”
On October 12, 1930, a rhesus
monkey escaped from the Ark Zoo
in North Creek. All around the
hamlet of North Creek and also
along the shores of Lake George,
residents were on the lookout for the
elusive creature.
The Ark Zoo, operated by Willet
Randall, was a wildlife park that
just a few weeks before acquired
a black bear named “Sunny Boy”
from Vermont’s Green Mountains.
The North Creek zoological park
was home for numerous native and
exotic mammals, birds, and other
animals.
February 2016
Newspapers and word of mouth
reported on the daring flight of
“Joe,” a pink-faced, sand-colored
primate from India that stood nearly
two feet tall with a tail.
Rhesus monkeys (aka-rhesus
macaques) can adapt to many
climates outside their native South
Asia and China. They eat fruit,
roots, insects, crops, and even food
scraps from garbage cans. In India
and Bali, they are found in the
forests and at some Hindu temples
where they are revered.
Soon after “Joe” dashed into the
Adirondack wilds during the autumn
foliage season, his owner, Willet
Randall, placed ads in regional
newspapers. Randall offered a $10
reward for the capture and return of
one of the Ark Zoo’s most popular
attractions.
A space ad in the October 30th
issue of The Warrensburgh News
suggested “Joe” might be “baited
with fruit” or could be captured
if chased into a building “at the
approach of snow.”
For several weeks there were
numerous sightings of “Joe”
from around the southeastern
Adirondacks. Finally after over a
month on the run, on November 16,
1930, the small primate was caught
at Lake Luzerne nearly 25 miles
from North Creek. One news story
reported the furry primate had been
A display ad from The Warrensburgh
News (October 30, 1930) that offered
a reward for the return of an escaped
zoo monkey.
enticed into a barn by the lure of
food. Randall was then contacted
and drove to Lake Luzerne where he
retrieved his prized occupant of the
Ark Zoo.
The November 20, 1930 edition
of The Warrensburgh News
recalled that “Joe the Monkey “was
seen by many persons” during
his “ramblings.” “Joe” provided
“several amusing experiences” that
intrigued a populace so disheartened
by the “Great Depression.”
Stefanik Sees Role for Federal
Government in Fighting Invasives
By Paul Post
US Representative Elise Stefanik
wants the federal government
involved in the fight against
invasive species, and on February 5
she hosted a meeting in Clayton, NY
to explore ways in which it can aid
state and local efforts.
“From Lake George, to the St.
Lawrence Seaway, to the pristine
waters of Lake Champlain, and
all of the beautiful mountains and
maple trees that run between -- our
district is home to many ecological
treasures,” said Stefanik.
“Sadly, many of these natural
wonders have fallen under siege to
invasive species that threaten the
health and beauty of these natural
habitats. Our environment is our
lifeblood in Upstate New York,
and we must protect it from these
predators to boost our economy
and to ensure we protect our
environment for future generations,”
she continued.
The event was attended by public
officials, environmentalists and
fishing groups from the U.S. and
Canada. The summit’s main focus
was tackling invasive species in the
St. Lawrence River. But a federal
program could boost similar efforts
on Lake George and throughout the
Adirondacks.
Fund for Lake George Executive
Director Eric Siy applauded
Stefanik’s initiative.
The Adirondacks has one of the
greatest assemblages of waterways
in the country, but at present the
federal government has no direct
Elise Stefanik
involvement in ensuring their
quality and ecological health, he
said.
“To have her taking the lead
on this is music to our ears,” said
Siy. “We need voices, we need
leadership from Washington. This is
an issue which requires every level
of government.”
Free Screening of Casablanca in Lake George
The Caldwell-Lake George Library will show the classic film, ‘Casablanca’ on Wednesday, February 24 at 7
pm. For information, call 668-2528.
Tell Albany to Protect
Our Adirondack Legacy
Stand Up for Wilderness!
BEWILDNY.ORG | #BEWILDNY
Boreas Ponds and the High Peaks. Photo © Carl Heilman II - Ad made possible by the Adirondack Council.
February 2016
Totally Wired:
By Anthony F. Hall
A $500,000 grant from New
York State will enable the Jefferson
Project to add ten more sensors
to a system that is designed to
give scientists a remarkably
detailed understanding of the
lake, an understanding that will
help advocates and policy makers
preserve its clarity and purity.
The grant, announced by
Governor Andrew Cuomo on
February 9, was awarded to RPI
through a state Higher Education
Capital Grant Program.
“The
state’s
support
acknowledges that the Jefferson
Project is a global model of hightech environmental research,” said
Rick Relyea, an RPI professor who
serves as the director of the project,
a collaborative effort of RPI, IBM
and The Fund for Lake George. “We
thank the governor for recognizing
the importance of taking a sciencebased approach to understanding
such a valuable resource as Lake
George.”
According to Relyea, plans call
for the Jefferson Project to deploy
41 sensors in and around the lake to
monitor its physical, chemical and
biological features.
“Of
these
41
planned
deployments, we have already
deployed 20. This grant will help us
fund about half of the remaining 21
sensors,” said Relyea.
The system of sensors, known as
the “Smart Sensor Web,” collects
data about everything from weather
to water quality.
“The new sensors will collect the
same types of data as the existing
sensors, but the new sensors will be
At Adirondack
Museum: Living
with Beavers
John Warren and Charlotte
Demers will present “Living
With Beavers” at the
Adirondack Museum on
Sunday, February 28 at 1:30
pm. Part of the Cabin Sunday
Series, the program is free
to members, $5 for nonmembers.
deployed in new locations around
the lake. Most of our current sensors
are in the South Basin. Many of the
new sensors will provide us with
coverage in the Narrows and the
North Basin,” said Relyea.
To receive the $500,000 grant,
the three partners must contribute
matching funds.
“We will continue to raise and
invest funds in the project, but the
state’s support is welcome because
it allows us to take an important
step forward,” said Eric Siy, the
executive director of The Fund for
Lake George.
Thanks to the millions already
invested, much of the data collected
by the sensors now streams directly
to IBM computers across the globe,
said Harry Kolar, the IBM Research
Distinguished Engineer who’s a codirector of the Jefferson Project.
“Different computers are used
for different things through various
stages of the project,” said Kolar.
“For example, our Deep Thunder
weather model, which enables us
to forecast weather with increasing
accuracy over ever more detailed
areas of the lake and watershed,
is being moved to a brand new
computing cluster in our Yorktown
lab. This was configured and
Seven
State Grant Helps Jefferson Project
Complete Web of Lake Sensors
Top: The Jefferson Project’s Rick Relyea and Harry Kolar. Bottom: A
$500,000 state grant will help the Jefferson Project complete its Sensor Web.
purchased specifically for The
Jefferson Project and is another
example of our continued investment
in the project.”
Kolar added, “We also have a
powerful computer at the Darrin
Fresh Water Institute to drive the
display wall in the visualization
lab. We have a mirror image of this
also in our Yorktown Heights lab,
and there is a fast secure network
connection linking these. So we
can do research and development in
both places.”
Two years into the project,
scientists are “making significant
progress” in acquiring actionable
intelligence about such things as the
spread of invasives through the lake,
the sources of salt and the quantity
of nutrients, among other things,
said Kolar
But the Jefferson Project’s
scientific research and technological
advances are not only helping
protect Lake George, they’re
pushing the boundaries of several
disciplines and fields, Kolar and
Relyea said.
The
technology
can
be
transferred to other ecosystems
around the globe and will be refined
as scientists and engineers learn
more from their experience on Lake
George, said Kolar.
And according to Rick Relyea,
Jefferson Project researchers “have
already made a large number of
important discoveries that are being
prepared for publication in scientific
journals.”
The Jefferson Project is expected
to host another open house at
the Darrin Fresh Water Institute
sometime in the near future to
highlight its progress and its plans
for the year ahead, said Mary
Martialay, a spokesperson for RPI.
Eight
February 2016
Lake George Winter Carnival’s Organizers Adapt to Fickle Weather
By Paul Post
Lake George isn’t exactly the
same as balmy Orlando, Florida.
But it was just fine with a Buffalo
tour bus group that showed up for
the first weekend of the Lake George
Winter Carnival.
The lack of snow and ice curtailed
some activities, but to Buffalo
residents -- to whom blizzards are
a way of life -- this year’s mild
weather has been a welcome relief.
They were glad just to get away
and take part in the carnival’s other
fun events such as a chili cook-off,
outhouse races on wheels and the
Winter Carnival parade.
“I took my first-ever helicopter
ride!” one man said.
The group spent the weekend
at The Sagamore Resort in Bolton
Landing. During the day, bus driver
Gary Pencille took them around the
area, stopping on Canada Street in
Lake George to let people wander
about the village. Many visitors
got a big kick out of having their
pictures taken with Native American
re-enactors Michael Dickinson
and Alex Warrington who portray
Mohican river people.
Dickinson and Warrington can’t
help being amused at some of the
funny questions people ask them.
“We just had one, five minutes
ago, where a guy asked if we were in
the right century or if we were lost,”
Dickinson said, smiling.
“Another guy wanted to know if
we were from here: you’re not local,
right?” Warrington added.
They portray Native Americans
Lake George
Mariott Hires
Management Team
The new Courtyard by Mariott,
the 119 room hotel being constructed
by Dave Kenny in Lake George
Village, will be managed by Urgo
Hotels & Resorts, a hotel company
that develops, owns and operates
hotels and resorts in the U.S.,
Canada and the Caribbean.
Assembly Point
Water Quality Group
Receives Grant
Native American re-enactors Michael Dickinson and Alex Warrington, who portray Mohican river people, were a
popular attraction during the first weekend of the Lake George Winter Carnival.
at many local events, a hobby that
helps keep the area’s heritage and
history alive.
Dickinson said this winter’s
unusual weather isn’t unprecedented.
However, just the reverse occurred
one year during the French and
Indian War.
“There was a ‘Summer That
Never Was’ where it stayed cold and
snowed all summer long,“ he said.
“This has happened. This is part of
the cycle.”
Winter Carnival organizers have
learned to adapt to changing patterns
and keep crowds entertained
no matter what Mother Nature
provides.
Visitors voted Duffy’s Tavern
winner of the Feb. 6 chili cookoff, followed by Shepard’s Cove
Restaurant and the Olde Log Inn.
A different cook-off is held at
noon each Saturday during the
month-long carnival, in which local
restaurants compete for top honors.
There are two remaining events
-- a chowder cook-off on Feb. 20
and a chicken wing cook-off on Feb.
27.
The venue has been changed this
year from the lakefront walkway
to the Shepard Park bandstand
pavilion. Volunteer Kathi Kokalas
said she was surprised by the large
turnout for the Feb. 6 chili cookoff. “We had a lot of people here. It
was really good, a lot better than I
expected,” she said.
Visitors also had fun singing and
making music with an “open mic” in
the bandstand.
New this year, each weekend
a different worthy cause is being
recognized during the carnival. The
two remaining are: Women in Need
(Feb. 20-21) and Be Aware for a
Cause (Feb. 27-28).
The Assembly Point Water
Quality
Coalition
has
been
awarded a $4000 grant from the
Lake Champlain Basin Program
to continue its informational and
educational activities, as well as its
work improving and restoring Lake
George’s water quality. According
to the group, it conducts an annual
“snorkel” swim to monitor shoreline
algae blooms and invasive aquatic
plants. The group also encourages
residents to plant buffers and to use
pervious paving to control runoff.
It also distributes newsletters and
signage that discourages the use of
lawn fertilizers.
SUBSCRIBE TO THE MIRROR
[email protected]
Colin Brookes, Barbora Kolarova, Ronaldo Rolim and Richard Narroway presented the Lake George Music
Festival’s Winter Series of chamber concerts at the Caldwell Presbyterian Church in Lake George on February
6 and 7.
Town Judge Mike Stafford, on a recent trip to Florida, relived Lake
George summer nights listening to Herman’s Hermits on WPTR with
Peter Noonan, the Hermits’ lead singer.
February 2016
Nine
Lake George Olive Oil Company
Opens New Store in Glens Falls
By Paul Post
The Mastrantonis’ children,
Robert and Letizia, have an active
role in this family-run operation.
In summer, when the Lake George
tourist season arrives, they’re
expected to run the two Olive Oil
Company stores while their parents
take care of Mezzaluna.
Robert, the Village of Lake
George Planning Board chairman,
has been doing business in Lake
George since he was 16, when he
opened Capri Pizza -- the village’s
first pizza shop -- on Canada Street,
with his father Angelo’s backing.
Robert still owns the building,
although his brother, Rocco, now
runs the business.
Meanwhile, Carmela’s parents
(Freddie and Carmela Chiaravalle)
owned La Roma Restaurant, which
is now Gino & Tony’s, run by her
One of Lake George’s most
successful business couples has
expanded operations with the
opening of a new store in downtown
Glens Falls.
Throngs of customers turned out
for a Valentine’s Weekend reception
to sample the dozens of delicious
products at Lake George Olive Oil
Company, which recently opened a
second location at 179 Glen Street.
The business, begun three years
ago at 283 Canada Street in Lake
George, is owned by Robert and
Carmela Mastrantoni, who also
own Mezzaluna Restaurant in Lake
George.
“It’s been exciting,” Carmela
said. “The community has really
welcomed us.”
The firm offers 35 different
vinegars, some aged 18 to 25 years
just like wine, and 30 types of oil -from all parts of the world including
Spain, Italy, Greece, Turkey and
Chile. The Mastrantonis get their
products from Delizia Olive Oil Co.
in Oakland, Ca., which only handles
100 percent extra virgin olive oil,
Robert said.
“They deal with small boutique
farmers who provide the highest
March
2015
quality,”
Carmela said. “Delizia has
the top-rated olive oils and balsamic brothers.
“Our parents competed against
vinegars in the world. They’re all
each other, but we fell in love
lab tested.”
The Glens Falls store is open anyway,” Carmela Mastrantoni said
seven days per week. In February, smiling.
no increase
operational
George in Olive
Oil
the Lake George location is open beenLake
By
Paul Post
budgets,
despite
more Falls
money
for
Company’s
new Glens
location
weekends
only.
capital projects.
Upgrades to Crown Point State
Harvey said $850 million of the
Historic Site are part of a statewide $900 million earmarked for capital
$900 million, multi-year parks spending is state money, with the
capital program.
rest “Ia combination
and
think it’s ofa private
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opportunity for the entire region,”
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In early 2015, a coalition of area George Chamber of Commerce
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facility
put the city under
Next January,
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and
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“His
severe fiscal strain, by having to Adirondack Thunder willMajesty’s
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we putsuch
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to makecenters
variousand
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multi-media
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program,”
John
new seating,
a scoreboard
with was
will occupied
be held byin General
Lake George
said
Alane
Ball Chinian,
regional
after
the
video
features,
and locker
room Burgoyne’s
because thearmy
eventin is1777
being
touted
parks
commissioner. “Plus, when
improvements.
as a way to promote the region and
the bridge was rebuilt, we were able
to install nice, new handicappedaccessible
pathways
to
get
people from a nearby (DEC-run)
campground to the historic site,
under the bridge.”
Next, plans call for stabilizing
the historic site’s lakefront banks.
“There’s kind of a cliff on Lake
Champlain, right at the edge of the
peninsula, that’s been eroding,” said
Chinian. “There’s archaeological
issues with that. We need to shore
up that cliff.”
It’s not certain if work will take
place this year, but the project is
one of many in the department’s
capital spending program. State
Parks Commissioner Rose Harvey
outlined details during a March 2
press
at Laura
Saratoga
Spa and John
Top:conference
Sam Bowser,
Von Rosk
State
Park.dining at the new Merrill McGee
Strong
The state has
been allocating
restaurant
in Warrensburg.
John is the
$90executive
million director
per yearof since
2011George Arts
the Lake
forProject,
capital improvements.
The plan
Laura is its gallery
director and
is to
maintain
funding biologist
at that level
Sam,
an American
specializing in
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$900 million
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Recession.”
said
many
dining at theHarvey
Bullhouse
in Chestertown.
facilities statewide had fallen into
disrepair.
More than half of all capital
money will be used for park
infrastructure such as roads, bridges,
parking areas, clean water and
restrooms. Another 27 percent will
Top: Robert Mastrantoni. Bottom: The Mastrantonis’ son and daughter, Robert and Letizia.
is a love story, too.
The site was previously occupied
by Poor Richard’s Antiques.
The Mastrantonis bought the
building and went right to work
giving it a complete overhaul.
Crumbling concrete was peeled off
walls, exposing handsome old brick.
Also, floors were completely redone,
giving a bright shiny appearance to
the original hardwood maple. “The
tin ceilings were rusted and falling
apart. We fixed those, too. I call it a
labor of love. He (Robert) just calls
it labor,” Carmela joked.
In addition to its main products,
oil and vinegar, the company
also provides
varietyMirror
of related
The LakeaGeorge
products and accessories such as
gourmet pastas; wooden salad
bowls made from olive wood; and
imported olive-based soaps and skin
care products.
American
evacuation
to Mount
Plans also
call for a small
seating
Independence
and remained
area where customers
can under
relax
British control until the end of the
war. The ruins of Fort St. Frederic,
“His Majesty’s Fort of Crown
Point,” and surrounding lands
were
acquired
by the State
of New
its winter
attractions.
“It can
only
York
in
1910.
Today,
visitors
help synergize everyone withincan
the
explore
the ruins
of thesaid.
original
whole area,”
Consuelo
“It’s
18th-century
structures and tour the
very exciting.”
newly
museum.
Across
The renovated
Civic Center
Coalition’s
the
street,
the
historic
Crown
Board of Directors includes Point
Fred
Pier
and owner
newly restored
Vogel,
of the Champlain
Lodges at
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also open
CresthavenLighthouse
and TheareBoathouse,
to
theapublic.
and
Lake George chamber board
The 2015 season begins May 1.
member.
An State
on-sitefunding,
walking tour
is scheduled
made
available
for
May
30.
through the Capital Region
Most of Development
Harvey’s presentation
Economic
Council,
dealt
with broadFeb.
themes
for Gov.
the
was announced
9 by Lt.
parks
as increased
Kathy system
Hochulsuch
during
a press
recreational
use, at
protecting
and
conference held
Heritage art
Hall
in
culture,
andCenter,
using parks
promote
the Civic
with tomore
than
local
economies
through special
100 people
on hand.
events.
For example,
“A community
is oftenSaratoga
defined
Spa
State
Park alone
hosts“This
60
by one
landmark,”
she said.
Civic Center is vital to the lifeblood
and enjoy imported gelatos and
espressos, while watching the world
go by from the storefront window.
The Mastrantonis are always on
the lookout for new ways to enhance
their business. They recently
attended the large New York Now
trade show and gift fair in Manhattan
to see what’s available.
Their Feb. 12 open house
reception featured fresh desserts
from Dickinson’s Delights in Glens
Falls and wines from Lake Georgebased Adirondack Winery.
“I really like what they’ve done
with the building,” Jon Dickinson
said. “There’s so much ambiance. It
brings out all the history.”
Olive oil and vinegar can be used
many ways -- for marinating, on
salads, or simply dipping with fresh
bread. Aside from the flavor, olive
oil has many health benefits. It is
high in antioxidants.
Pomegranate and apple flavored
vinegars, and rosemary-infused
olive oil are among the company’s
many offerings.
The public’s increased demand
for fresh, healthy, good products
explains why olive oil and vinegar
have become so popular in recent
years, Carmela said.
“People now are more educated
and care more about what they eat,”
she said. “They’re more concerned
about the quality of their food.”
Aside from its two retail stores,
Lake George Olive Oil Company
products are also served at area
restaurants such as the Log Jam,
Morgan & Company, Gino &
Tony’s in Lake George Thirteen
(run by
Robert’s brothers) and, of course,
the Mastrantonis’ restaurant -Mezzaluna.
“We’re talking to The Georgian
and Sagamore, too,” Carmela said.
“We expect them to start serving our
products, too.”
&URZQ3RLQWWR%HQHÀWIURP1HZ,QYHVWPHQWLQ6WDWH3DUNV
Lake George Chamber Director: Resort Economy Benefits from Downtown Civic Center
of this community.”
Assemblyman
Dan
Stec,
R-Queensbury,
said,
“Any
investment Albany makes in this
region is a good one.”
The Adirondack Thunder pro
hockey team is the Center’s main
tenant, but the building also hosts
many other sports and entertainment
activities throughout the year,
making it a major catalyst to the
region’s economy.
The building first opened in 1979.
Some money will be used to
purchase 1,800 new folding seats
– the original
onesyear
are with
still in21,000
use –
athletic
races per
that are placed on the arena floor for
participants.
concerts
and similar events. Plans
´:H·UHQRWMXVWÀ[LQJLPSURYLQJ
also enhancing,”
call for new particle
board
that
and
she said.
“We’re
transforming. We are going to
See CIVIC CENTER Page 19
change the state parks system.
We’re going to modernize it and
make it more relevant for the 21st
century.”
Michael Consuelo, the Lake George
Chamber executive director.
Ten
Hearts for Peter
Lakeside Lodge,
Bolton Landing
February 5
Photos by Laura Quigan
A benefit for Peter Cady, who
is awaiting a heart transplant in
Florida, raised approximately
$20,000. Get Well Soon!
February 2016
February 2016
Eleven
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For more Lake George, visit LakeGeorgeMirrorMagazine.com
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Twelve
February 2016
Local Food and Brew Pairing Draws Crowds to Lake George
By Paul Post
More than 500 people turned
out for the first-ever Paired event,
featuring local restaurants, craft
breweries and wineries, at the Lake
George Forum on Feb. 6.
The
celebration
of
craft
beverages and food was organized
by the Adirondack Regional
Chamber of Commerce, promoter of
the Adirondack Craft Beverage Trail
that stretches from Clifton Park to
Lake Placid.
Each menu item prepared by an
area restaurant was accompanied by,
or made with, beverages from a local
brewery, distillery or winery. For
example, The Sagamore Resort’s
food was “Paired” with beverages
from Common Roots Brewery and
Amorici Vineyard.
Visitors were asked to vote for
their favorite food and beverage
pairing.
The “People’s Choice Award” was
won by The Sagamore for its duck
confit macaroni and cheese, paired
with Common Roots’ Daylight
Double India Pale Ale. “We’ve been
getting great feedback,” said Doreen
Kelly, the chamber’s program and
events coordinator. “People are
asking when we’re going to do it
again.”
Plans are already in the works
for next year, said Tom Albrecht,
chamber board president. “It’s
an opportunity to bring people
together,” he said. “It’s a Saturday
afternoon to come out and enjoy
your family, friends and live music.
It’s exciting. This is our first annual
event that we’re hoping to build on
for years to come.”
More than 350 people purchased
tickets in advance. Many more
bought them at the door. “We’re
hoping it’s going to continue to be
a vibrant asset to the community to
bring people out,” Albrecht said.
“This is a great opportunity to enjoy
a festive afternoon. It’s also good for
area hotels.”
Albrecht said Paired brought
quite a few people to Lake George,
at a relatively quiet time of year,
from the Capital District and
Metropolitan New York. Promotion
was funded in part by the state’s
ILoveNY and TasteNY programs.
It’s hoped that even more people
from outside the region will visit
Lake George as the event grows in
size and popularity. “This is just
the tip of the iceberg for what the
potential is,” Albrecht said.
John Carr, owner of Adirondack
Pub & Brewery in Lake George,
said, “Right now the amount of beer
consumed in New York state that’s
made in New York is very low. As
more people understand that their
local breweries, distilleries and
wineries make great products they’ll
buy more of them when they see
them at retail locations.”
“Events like this help group us
altogether,” he said, “and bring us to
the consumer as one group. All the
brewers in New York have a close
bond and we all work together.
A lot of beer sold in New York is
made other places. We don’t see any
reason why you can’t buy local.”
Adirondack Pub & Brewery
employees Chris Anderson and
Nathan Zerbe staffed one of the
many booths at Paired.
Carr said Paired fits in with local
efforts to make Lake George a more
year-round tourist destination.
Fort William Henry’s food was
paired with Shmaltz Brewery and
High Rock Distilling. Adirondack
Winery of Lake George was paired
with Rainer’s Gourmet and Bogey’s.
Lake George Distilling Company
was paired with Full Moon Bar.
“I’ve been following the Craft
Beverage Trail online,” said LeaEt
Ordon of Saratoga Springs. “I
saw this event on the website and
decided to come. I’m here with my
brother and two sisters-in-law.”
Ordon
said
her
favorite
sample was Adirondack Winery’s
strawberry wine served with a tart.
Like other people at Paired, she
expects to purchase more of these
products and visit some of the
restaurants and Craft Beverage Trail
venues represented at this year’s
inaugural event, which is one of its
main goals.
“It’s shedding light on our local
craft beverages,” said Robin Edinger
of Amorici Vineyard in Washington
County.
This group of Bolton Landing residents were among the thousands who visited this year’s Glacier Ice Bar and
Lounge at the Sagamore. Photo by Lauren Quigan.
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February 2016
Lake George Park Commission
to Hold Hearing on Mandatory
Boat Inspection Program
By Anthony F. Hall
The
Lake
George
Park
Commission will hold a public
hearing on its mandatory boat
inspection program on March 28 in
Bolton Landing.
The hearing, which will be held
in the Town hall from 4 to 6 pm, is
a necessary step in the process of
making a two-year, pilot invasive
species protection program a
permanent one.
That program required all boats
trailered to Lake George to be
inspected for invasive plants and
animals before being allowed to
launch.
If inspectors are to resume
examining boats this spring, as
planned, New York State officials
had to agree to move the process
forward before mid-January.
They did so with only a few
hours to spare, said Dave Wick, the
Lake George Park Commission’s
executive director.
“They were concerned that there
was a lack of permanent funding.
I reminded them that every state
program is funded on an annual
basis. Moreover, we have a threeyear commitment from Lake George
Village and the other municipalities
to share the costs of the program
with the state,” said Wick.
This year’s program is expected
to cost $532,000, said Wick.
As much as $350,000 will come
from the state’s Environmental
Protection Fund. Warren County, its
Lake George shore communities and
not-for-profit organizations such as
the Lake George Association and
The Fund for Lake George will pay
the difference.
The largest single expense is
personnel, which this year will
cost $489,600. Inspectors will be
stationed at seven boat launches,
from Dunham’s Bay and Million
Dollar Beach in the south basin to
Mossy Point in Ticonderoga.
As with a two-year pilot program,
boaters will not be charged for
the costs of the inspection and
decontamination.
During the first two years of the
program, inspectors were on duty
from mid-April to December 1.
Starting this year, they will work
from May to the end of October.
According to the final report of
the 2015 program, the Commission
found that too few boats are brought
to the lake in the off-season to justify
the expense; moreover, plants and
animals are effectively dormant at
those times of the year.
On the whole, though, the
permanent program’s regulations
are substantially the same as the
pilot program’s, said Wick.
The program has, however, been
expanded to include The Town of
Bolton’s Trout Lake.
Any boat trailered to Trout Lake
will have to show that it has been
inspected for invasive species at one
of the Lake George stations before
Thirteen
launching, Wick explained.
“Since Trout Lake drains into
Lake George, this will give us an
additional level of protection from
aquatic invasive species,” he said.
Owners of private resorts
and members of homeowners’
associations will be asked to sign
a Memorandum of Understanding
agreeing not to allow any boat
lacking proof of inspection to be
launched from their sites, Wick
said.
According to Wick, 70 to 90%
of the boats on Trout Lake are
permanently berthed there, and
they will be exempt from inspection
requirements.
Few other changes to the program
are expected to be made as a result
of the public hearings, said Wick.
“One of the nice things about
a pilot program is that you have a
chance to work out kinks,” said
Wick.
Boaters arriving at the launches
will, however, be given more
information about the lake’s sanitary
regulations and be reminded that
boats with unsealed heads, or which
are in violation of other regulations,
are not allowed on Lake George.
Boaters will also be given the
opportunity to purchase Lake
George Boater Registration stickers
at inspection stations.
Those sales could generate
thousands of dollars in additional
revenues for the Lake George Park
Commission, said Wick.
Top Left: A boat is decontaminated on northern Lake George. Photo by Veronica Spann. Top Right: Signs directing
boaters to inspection stations were temporarily erected two years ago. Now they’ll be permanent. Bottom: The Lake
George Park Commission will hold its public hearing in the Bolton Town Hall, where it meets at least once a year.
Please Do Your Part this winter to keep Lake George clean
If you bring it out on the ice,
please also bring it back off the ice.
Otherwise, in the spring when the Lake ice melts*,
trash and equipment forgotten or left out on the ice
will fall into the Lake, polluting it.
Please enjoy Lake George this winter ...
Just don’t leave anything out on the ice!
www.LakeGeorgeAssociation.org/join
Carry On — Carry Off
* Of course, this anticipates that Lake George will fully freeze this year ...
Fourteen
February 2016
Top: A view of the Hudson from Huckleberry Mountain. Photo courtesy of OSI. Bottom: Nathanael West, author of “Miss Lonelyhearts” and “The Day of the Locusts,” (left) with John Sanford at
Viele Pond, Warrensburg, 1931.
Woods Where ‘Miss Lonelyhearts” Author Roamed to be Protected
By Anthony F. Hall
John Sanford, the writer who
placed a series of novels and stories
in Warrensburg, once recalled, “In
the spring of 1931, when Nathanael
West was writing his second
novel, “Miss Lonelyhearts,” I was
working on my first. Neither of us
was progressing… and when West
proposed that we get away from the
city, I turned up the right place to
go. I’d met an upstate game warden,
and through him, we obtained, for
$25 a month, a seven-room cabin
in the Adirondacks, together with
a forest preserve of 1,200 acres and
a 50-acre pond – Viele Pond, it was
called. There in that private realm,
we wrote, fished, swam and shot
away the summer.”
That Adirondack Forest Preserve
that accommodated West and
Sanford so hospitably in the 1930s
is about to be enlarged by another
836 acres.
The Open Space Institute has
announced that it has purchased
a tract just on the other side of
Harrington Hill from Viele Pond
known as “Huckleberry Mountain
Forest,”
Both tracts lie off Alden Avenue
in the town of Warrensburg and
border the Hudson River.
Until recently, the Huckleberry
Mountain property was on the
market for $450,000, offered to
prospective buyers as a timberrich investment or for private
recreational purposes.
According to the Open Space
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Institute, the land has been
considered “a high priority
acquisition in the region for decades”
by New York State’s Department of
Environmental Conservation and
“was secured by OSI at the request
of the DEC.”
The land will ultimately be
purchased by New York State and
added to the Adirondack Forest
Preserve, OSI stated.
“OSI is delighted to continue
our commitment to the Adirondack
Park, an international treasure right
here in New York State,” said Kim
Elliman, OSI’s President and CEO.
“The Huckleberry Mountain Forest
property will ensure the preservation
of beautiful scenery and buffer the
Hudson River, while keeping the
land in the hands of the public.”
Nathanael West completed “Miss
Lonelyhearts” one year after the two
writers spent the summer at Viele
Pond.
Both moved to California to
work in the film industry, and less
than ten years later, West died in an
automobile accident.
Sanford would live until the
age of 98, dying in 2003. He never
returned to the area. But in 1997, a
Lake George area resident sent him
some photos of the pond, which
elicited this response: “I actually
cried out, ‘My God!’ to an empty
room. West’s biographer has told
me that the cabin is gone. (And) the
pond has changed, but the woods
are as they were, and they evoked
memories of a summer now sixtyfive years gone.”
Once it is part of the Forest
Preserve, the Huckleberry Mountain
Forest will be accessible to the
public, the DEC stated.
“The Huckleberry Mountain
Forest will offer outstanding
recreational
opportunities
for
hiking, camping, sightseeing and
fishing, and I applaud OSI for their
work in preserving such a valuable
natural resource, said DEC Acting
Commissioner Basil Seggos.
The land will be classified by
the Adirondack Park Agency and
the DEC as ‘Wild Forest,’ a less
restrictive category of state-owned
land than Wilderness.
Like the surrounding lands, it
will be considered part of the Lake
George Wild Forest, which currently
consists of more than 71,000 acres
in Warren and Washington Counties.
Forest Lake Camp
Offering Local
Scholarships
Bolton Landing’s
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Clothing GIft Sandal Swim
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every Saturday
Saturday
(and
some
Sundays)
(and some Sundays)
Forest Lake Camp, a private co-ed
summer camp founded in 1926 and
located north of Warrensburg, will
award eighteen $2,000 scholarships
and two full scholarships this
summer to children between the
ages of eight and fourteen living in
northeastern New York or western
Vermont. For information, call Gene
Devlin at 623-4771.
ADVERTISE IN
THE MIRROR
[email protected]
February 2016
Fifteen
Another League Championship
For Lake George Girls
By Paul Post
The Dock Doctors are rebuilding Wiawaka’s dock, which was damaged last
spring.
Wiawaka Restoring
Storm-Damaged Dock
By Mirror Staff
The
Dock
Doctors,
the
Ferrisburg, Vermont based firm
specializing in the construction of
docks and boat houses, will rebuild
the dock at Wiawaka, the historic
women’s retreat on Lake George’s
east side.
The dock, which serves as a
lakeside gathering place and which
protects a historic boat house, was
all but demolished by a storm in
May.
To replace it, the retreat initiated
a campaign to raise more than
$150,000 through events large and
small, including an ice cream social
and a farm to table dinner.
“We’ve raised some money,
but not enough to cover the full
cost of the project,” said Meaghan
Wilkins, Wiawaka’s executive
director. “Fundraising for the
project is ongoing. We are looking
for grant money, we will hold some
fundraising events and we are still
seeking donations.”
According to Joe Wylie,
Wiawaka’s caretaker, the dock was
built in 2004 and has been repaired
every year since then.
The dock is the retreat’s primary
waterfront facility, said Wilkins,
who was appointed Wiawaka’s
executive director in 2014.
It is attached to the prominent
boat house, which was completed
in 1917 and designed by Charles S.
Peabody, who was also the architect
of the Lake George Club and
Wiokosco (sometimes known as
Blenheim and Holiday House), his
father’s Lake George mansion.
The new dock will be a more
sustainable structure, one that can
withstand the annual attack of ice,
wind and waves, said Wilkins.
Work began in late November
and will continue throughout the
winter.
“The crew has been doing an
amazing job. We all look forward to
the finished dock,” said Wilkins.
Wiawaka opened on July 4,
1903 as a retreat for working
women, according to a new book
by longtime guest and volunteer
Jacqueline Duane Kelly.
According to Kelly, the founder
was Mary Wiltsie Fuller, the
daughter of a Troy industrialist who
became aware that vacations and
recreation were beyond the means
of the women working in the shirtcollar factories, mills and laundries
of Troy and Cohoes.
Fuller was able to interest others
in her plans to provide vacations
for working women, among
them, Katrina Trask, the owner of
Wakonda Lodge, an adjacent camp
that she and her husband Spencer
built as an artists’ retreat in 1905.
The Trasks sold Wakonda to Fuller
for a nominal sum in 1908.
“The spirit of Mary Wiltsie Fuller
and Katrina Trask live on in the
women who come here today,” said
Kelly.
According to Meaghan Wilkins,
Wiawaka serves women from every
generation and all walks of life.
Wiawaka hopes to have the new
dock in place in time for the 2016
season. To make a donation, or for
more information, call 518-6689690 ext 2.
Village Requiring B&Bs to
be Occupied by Owners
By Paul Post
Lake George Village’s Board of
Trustees has approved a measure
that requires bed-and-breakfast
establishments to be owneroccupied.
The law is designed to bring
“B&Bs” in line with current laws
regulating boarding houses.
“We
have
two
bed-andbreakfasts in the village,” Mayor
Bob Blais said. “We have never had
one problem with them. It’s a step in
the right direction if we’re going to
have more.”
In the past, when problems
have arisen at boarding houses, it’s
because “no one is home,” Blais
said.
The village board approved the
new law by a 4-1 margin on February
8. Trustee Joseph Mastrodomenico
cast the lone dissenting vote.
Recently, the village Planning Board
reviewed the application for another
B&B. The Planning Board would
have raised the owner-occupied
issue if it thought it was important,
Mastrodomenico said.
The new law wasn’t necessary,
he said.
But Blais said it closes a potential
loophole in the village code.
Previously, the law drew sharp
criticism from some residents
because it contained language that
said B&Bs must be owner-occupied
“at all times.”
Opponents said this could be
interpreted to mean B&B owners
could never leave the house while
guests were there, even for routine
daily activities.
The “at all times” phrases was
eliminated from the law that was
approved on Feb. 8.
Trustee John Root said he
hopes the new law is handled with
discretion to prevent nuisance
complaints against B&B owners.
“It does take some discretion and
reasonable interpretation of what
the law says,” Village Attorney
Matt Fuller said. “You are giving
them the ability to run a bed-andbreakfast with the provision it’s
owner-occupied. That’s one of the
obligations.”
Roger Kalia
Lake George
Music Festival
Director Among
Finalists for
Conductor’s Job
By Mirror Staff
The Owensboro (Kentucky)
Symphony Orchestra has announced
that Roger Kalia, the music director
of the Lake George Music Festival,
is one of four finalists for the position
of Music Director and Conductor.
According to OSO, a committee
composed of board members,
community leaders, symphony
volunteers and orchestra musicians
screened more than 135 candidates
from around the world before
selecting Kalia and three other
finalists. As part of the selection
process, all four candidates will
conduct programs during OSO’s
2016-17 season. Before their
concerts, the finalists will run
orchestra rehearsals and meet with
members of the community.
Kalia, who currently serves as
Assistant Conductor of the Pacific
Symphony in Orange County,
California and Music Director of the
Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra
as well as Music Director of the Lake
George Music Festival, will conduct
the Symphony’s final Subscription
Series concert on Saturday, April
22, 2017.
A native of New York, Kalia
received his Doctorate in Orchestral
Conducting from Indiana University
in 2015, where he served as an
Associate Instructor and Assistant
Conductor of the IU Opera Theater
and New Music Ensemble. He has
been a fellowship recipient at the
Aspen Music Festival, Cabrillo
Festival of Contemporary Music,
Kurt Masur Conducting Seminar,
and the St. Magnus Festival in
Scotland. He received his Bachelor’s
of Music from the State University
of New York at Potsdam and his
Master of Music in orchestral
conducting from the University of
Houston.
The Lake George High School
girls basketball team takes its first
step toward a possible Section II,
Class C championship at 7:30 p.m.
Friday (Feb. 19).
The Lady Warriors will host
either (No. 8 seed) Middleburgh
or (No. 9) Mayfield, which played
Tuesday for the right to face No. 1
seeded Lake George (16-0 league,
18-2 overall), which captured its
second straight Adirondack League
championship with a dramatic 4948 victory over Fort Edward on
Feb. 13.
“That gives us a lot of momentum
heading into the postseason,” Coach
Rob Tefft said. “It was a good test
for both teams. We didn’t have a lot
of games like that during the regular
season.”
Junior Nicole Nolin’s two foul
shots put Lake George ahead for
good with 12 seconds left, capping
off a remarkable comeback that
saw the Lady Warriors reel off
seven points with just 62 seconds to
play.
Lake George is seeking its first
sectional title since 2004. Last
year, the girls lost to Hoosic Valley
by one point in the championship
game, which has motivated them to
work even harder this time around.
“The kids have thought about
that a lot,” Tefft said. “Their goal all
year has been to get back there and
win it. They put that date on their
calendar.”
The Class C title game is
scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb.
27 at Hudson Valley Community
College.
However, the Class C bracket has
plenty of stiff opposition. Hoosic
Valley has moved up to the Class
B tourney, but at least a half-dozen
other teams reached double digits
in wins this year and are capable of
going all the way. The list includes
No. 2 seed Mekeel Christian, (No.
3) Cambridge, (No. 4) Maple Hill,
(No. 5) Greenville, (No. 6) BerneKnox and (No. 7) Greenwich.
Lake George didn’t face any of
these schools in non-league action
this year.
Its only two losses were to
Hoosic Valley and Cohoes, both B
schools, at Thanksgiving time.
“We’ve improved in all facets
of our game since then,” Tefft said.
“We’re playing better defense, both
man-to-man and zone; our transition
game is better and we’ve got really
good team chemistry. But we still
have a lot of work to do.”
Offensively, the Lady Warriors
are led by 5-foot-11 senior
Mackenzie Bennett and her 6-foot-1
freshman sister, Graceann. They’re
both averaging 16 points per game.
Graceann
is
also
strong
underneath with 10 rebounds per
game.
Mackenzie
reached
the
1,000-point plateau for her varsity
career in a game against Corinth.
She’s headed to Keene State next
year, where mother, Michelle -Tefft’s assistant and the JV team’s
coach -- went to school.
Lake George’s balanced attack is
one of its greatest strengths.
Lacey Cormie averages 13 points
per game. Cormie, Nolin and Paige
Farrington round out the starting
lineup, while Alauna Wright sparks
Lake George with key contributions
off the bench.
After beating Fort Edward last
Saturday, the girls went right to
work Monday getting ready for their
first sectional opponent, with a onegame-at-a-time approach.
“We just need to take care of
business Friday,” Tefft said. “We’re
looking forward to the challenge.
We want to get on a roll here.”
Sixteen
February 2016
Adirondack Thunder Hockey
Coaches and Players Aid Local
Causes, Build Community Ties
By Paul Post
The Adirondack Thunder are in
good position to make the ECHL
playoffs with less than two months
to go in the season. However, the
team has also made great strides
in the community by supporting a
variety of good causes such as the
Double H Ranch for seriously-ill
children in Lake Luzerne and the
Charles R. Wood Cancer Center at
Glens Falls Hospital.
“It’s part of the culture of the
Calgary Flames organization,”
Thunder President Brian Petrovek
said. “It’s an important part of their
DNA. The expectation when you
sign with Calgary is that you’ll do
good things on and off the ice.” The
Thunder are the Calgary Flames’
affiliate in the ECHL. “Most guys
on the team have grown up in
markets like this, of similar size,
so they’re comfortable going out
into the community,” Petrovek said.
“Things they do also make them feel
welcome and integrate with the fans.
It’s a good way for them to develop
as people.
“As an organization it’s our
way of giving back and saying
thank-you to the fans that support
us,” Petrovek said. “Community
events also give fans a chance to
meet players without their helmets
and masks on, so its’ a two-way
street.”
The Thunder wasted no time
getting involved and making their
presence known since arriving last
summer to begin their inaugural
season in the ECHL. One of their
first activities was a “Cruise With
the Thunder” outing, giving fans a
chance to meet coaches and players
on a Lake George cruise. The entire
team was present as they engaged
with fans for the first time as a
group.
It was a fun event, but more
importantly, players also spend
a great deal of time and energy
helping the community, too.
In November, they took down an
old rusted fence next to the Glens
Falls Senior Center parking lot,
cut down wires and cleared out old
branches, paving the way for a new
fence to be built this spring.
On Military Appreciation Night,
Top: Adirondack Thunder players James Henry, Mackenzie Braid, Alex
Carrier and Brent Troyan attended Pedal For a Purpose to help raise
awareness and funds for the Glens Falls YMCA’s annual event. Bottom: The
Thunder held 45-minute long open skates after games with local fans.
in December, the team wore and
auctioned off camouflage-style
jerseys, which raised more than
$8,000 for the Wounded Warrior
Project.
In January, a similar event called
a “Pink in the Rink” night, raised
awareness about breast cancer and
thousands of dollars to help fight
the disease. Players wore specialcolored pink jerseys that were
auctioned off after a game, with
all proceeds given to the CR Wood
Cancer Center. Community
Boosts
Many
players’ wives and girlfriends have
gotten on board, too, by organizing
charitable fund-raising activities.
The women donated over $1,000
to the Open Door Mission through
the sales of two puck wreaths at
December home games. “We felt
the Open Door Mission was a great
partner,” said Kayla MacAskill,
fiancé of Thunder defenseman Patch
Alber. “The puck wreaths seemed to
be a big hit with Thunder fans and
the money raised helps support a
really important charity.” The ladies have also sold special
“Mystery Pucks” in the Civic
Center lobby on game nights, with
all proceeds going to the C.R. Wood
Cancer Center. The first night alone
raised $1,300. Fans pay $10 for a
grab bag. Each bag contains a puck
autographed by a Thunder player.
However, fans that buy a special
gold-colored pucks get to spend
some free time with a player in the
community.
“It gives us another chance to
give back to the local community,”
said Laura Wolfe, wife of Thunder
forward Greg Wolfe. In another
creative benefit, players went to Sip
& Canvas in Glens Falls and painted
an outdoor hockey game scene.
Paintings were then sold to fans to
raise money for United Way.
“We do a few events every
week,” said Zack Dooley, Thunder
communications director.
In March, players will be selling
a cookbook for charity. The Thunder
have also held activities to help Big
Brothers/Big Sisters, Adirondack
Youth
Hockey
Association,
Amanda’s House at Glens Falls
Hospital and South High Marathon
Dance.
A November coat drive raised
over 400 coats for the Washington
County Economic Opportunity
Council and Moreau Community
Center. The Teddy Bear Toss on
Dec. 4 collected over 350 stuffed
animals, which Salvation Army
gave to local kids at Christmas time.
Players have also spent time
visiting kids at the Glens Falls
Youth Center, Glens Falls Hospital’s
pediatric ward, and elementary
schools to stress the importance of
reading.
On Jan. 10, the team held a Walk/
Skate-a-Thon at the Civic Center
to raise money for the Double H
Ranch, whose mission is to provide
specialized programs and yearround support for children and
their families dealing with lifethreatening illnesses. Last year,
the Adirondack Flames raised
more than $5,000 for the ranch
with a walk/skate-a-thon. The
Flames, which left Glens Falls after
last season for California, were
also part of the Calgary Flames
organization. The Thunder picked
up right where they left off by
holding a similar event to benefit
the Double H Ranch. Players are
planning a visit to the ranch, too. “Without
these
special
community partnerships the Double
H Ranch programming would not
be possible,” said Robin DeMattos,
ranch corporate and special events
manager.
Derrick, from Peru near
Plattsburgh, is a retired army
colonel, Desert Storm veteran
and West Point graduate who also
worked for the State Department.
But rather than debate credentials,
Stefanik said her 2016 campaign
will focus on her track record as
the youngest woman ever elected to
Congress two years ago.
“I have a record this past year of
keeping my promises to this district;
bringing in a new generation of
leadership to congress; bringing
independent ideas and innovative
policies to focus on getting our
economy working again and job
creation,” she said. “I look forward
to continuing to earn support from
constituents in my district.”
Stefanik, a Republican from
Willsboro, was a keynote speaker at
a recent Warren County Economic
Development gathering, with more
than 200 people on hand at Great
Escape Lodge in Queensbury.
Stefanik formally kicked off her
campaign on January 20. A press
statement said her campaign raised
$236,000 in the fourth quarter of
2015. She raised more than $1.3
million last year, the highest offyear total in the history of the 21st
Stefanik Untroubled By Opposition
By Paul Post
Elise
Stefanik’s
opponent,
Democrat Mike Derrick, could
present a difficult challenge as she
seeks re-election to a second term in
Congress this year.
See STEFANIK Page 20
February 2016
Seventeen
Bolton’s Full
Moon Snowshoe
Hike Set for
February 20
Team members and their coaches from all seven teams who received the
NYSPHSAA Scholar Athlete Team award gathered in the gym for a group
photo.
Lake George Sports Teams
Honored by State Association
New York State high school
teams with a combined team grade
point average of 90% or higher
qualify as New York State Public
High School Athletic Association
(NYSPHSAA) Scholar Athlete
teams, and this past fall, all Lake
George High teams qualified.
“We’re very proud of all our
team members and coaches who
have worked tirelessly to not only
achieve athletic success but also
academic success,” said Athletic
Director Kyle Manny.
Tech Smart Kids: Lake George
Students Among Those Preparing
for 21st Century Careers
By Paul Post
Casey Collins, a Lake George
High School freshman, wants to
join the aerospace industry some
day and build space craft that
venture to unexplored areas of the
universe.
He’s one of four Lake George
students enrolled in the Clean
Technologies
&
Sustainable
Industries Early College High
School program, held at the
TecSmart center in Malta.
The other students are freshman
Logan Galusha and sophomores
Noah Middleton and Kiersten
Martindale.
Each one is getting exposed
to all kinds of career possibilities
they never knew about, while
earning college credits at the same
time.
“I’ve always been interested in
building rockets,” Collins said.
The program was launched five
years ago as a partnership between
Ballston Spa Central Schools,
Hudson
Valley
Community
College and the New York State
Energy Research and Development
Authority. From a couple of dozen
students, it has mushroomed to
include more than 20 school districts
from Greene County north to Lake
George.
About 300 kids are enrolled, with
75 each from grades 9-12.
Freshmen and sophomores do
most of their work online from
school or home and meet once
per month for hands-on projects
at TecSmart. On Feb. 5, they built
model cars powered by renewable
energy -- a combination of
magnesium, saltwater and air.
By working with kids from other
schools, students are exposed to
new ideas and experiences.
“It teaches us teamwork,
collaboration and innovation,”
said James Pinnell, a Ballston Spa
freshman.
Juniors and seniors spend the first
half of each day at TecSmart before
returning to their respective high
schools for afternoon classes. So
they’re still part of their local school
and can take part in sports and other
activities.
Ballston Spa science teacher John
Balet said some of the program’s
first participants, five years ago,
have already found good jobs after
learning about careers they weren’t
previously aware of.
“One of them is working in
wind technologies,” he said.
“Another is a staff supervisor at
GlobalFoundries.”
So the program not only exposes
students to real-world issues, but
opportunities as well.
Three students -- T.J. Marron of
Saratoga Springs, Payton Tromblee
of Ballston Spa and Nick Romeo
of Troy – worked on a solar energy
project that shows how Gore
Mountain could become a nighttime ski resort by using energy from
the sun.
They built a model that shows
how solar panels could be mounted
on chairlift towers, to provide
electricity for lights, so people can
ski and snowboard longer hours.
“They’re losing a lot of business
because they close at 4 p.m.” said
Marron, a Saratoga Springs High
School senior. “Night skiing would
attract a whole new demographic.
It would create more night life and
circulate more money. At present,
North Creek has a 13 percent
unemployment rate. Some of these
people could be trained to install
solar panels, which would create
jobs.”
Marron works part-time as a Gore
Mountain snowboard instructor, so
he knows firsthand the difficulties
Gore has had attracting customers
during this unusually mild winter.
Their proposal is an example of
project-based learning that teaches
kids how to think about and solve all
types of real-world situations.
“I’m surprised how much support
we’ve gotten from business leaders
in the community,” Balet said. “So
many people have gotten involved
to get this program off the ground
and make it what it is.”
Students, starting out as high
school freshmen, earn college
credits from HVCC for their work.
So they could have up to 24 credits
by the time they leave high school.
They earn one credit as high
school freshmen and seven more
as sophomores with online courses
in Introduction to Computing
and Information Systems and
Introduction to Psychology.
As juniors they can pursue one of
four paths – clean energy, computer
science and information systems,
entrepreneurship, leadership and
innovation; or mechatronics.
Bolton Landing’s third annual
Full Moon Snowshoe Hike will be
held this year on Saturday, February
20.
Two treks have been planned for
this year. Both start at 6 pm.
A hike for novices, or for those
interested in a short, relatively easy
hike, will be held at Up Yonda Farm.
For those interested in something
more strenuous, a separate hike will
take place at the Pinnacle. Hikers
will meet at the preserve’s parking
lot on Edgecomb Pond Road and
are requested to supply their own
hiking poles, snowshoes, yaktrax,
or microspikes.
Participants should plan to arrive
at both locations at 5:30. Both hikes
will be led by experienced guides.
As in the past, the snowshoe
hike will be followed by a Bolton
Landing Restaurant Crawl in
which participating restaurants will
offer specially selected items and
discounts to those who participated
in one of the hikes.
Dome Island
Trek Set for
February 20
The
Lake
George
Land
Conservancy will host its annual
“Walk on Water” trek to Dome
Island on Saturday, February 20
at 10 am and 2 pm. A third walk
will be scheduled if necessary.
Led by members of the Dome
Island Committee, a group of local
residents who advise the Eastern
New York Nature Conservancy
on the island’s management, the
two-mile treks across the ice take
approximately two hours. Because
public access to Dome Island is
prohibited except under special
circumstances, tickets for the trek
are in demand. To reserve a space,
call Sarah Hoffman at 518-6449673. A donation of $10 will be
requested.
Fort Ti Talk: The
Northern Frontier
In the spring of 1776, the
Continental Army had retreated
from Canada and was trying
desperately to protect the
Lake Champlain, Lake George
area from an expected British
invasion.
Fort Ticonderoga’s Director
of Education, Rich Strum will
pick up the story on Sunday,
February 21, at 2 pm. with
“Who’s in Charge Here?” Fort
Ticonderoga’s “Fort Fever
Series”
Strum will discuss the steps
taken to maintain control of the
vital Lake Champlain corridor
and explore the conflict over
the command of the American
fleet that developed between
Benedict Arnold and his rivals.
Girl Scouts at Camp
Chingachgook
Camp
Chingachgook
will
host Girl Scout Days this year on
February 26 through February 28.
For more information about this and
other programs, please call 518-6569462, or visit LakeGeorgeCamp.
org.
Sons and daughters of John and Margaret Ann (Somerville) Woodward,
born between 1834 and 1848. Emma J., David M., Isaac S., Thomas W.,
Samuel A., Margaret Ella and Nancy O. were great-grandchildren of Josiah
and Abigail Woodward who emigrated to Warrensburg from Massachusetts
about 1788. Photo courtesy of Warrensburgh Historical Museum.
Family Portraits Exhibited
at Warrensburgh Museum
From the advent of photography
during the latter half of the 19th
century and well into the 20th
century, photography studios were
a common features of even the
smallest towns. The Warrensburgh
Museum of Local History is
currently exhibiting portraits made
in those studios, including those of
prominent Warrensburg families,
among them: Griffings, Emersons
Conservation
and Woodwards. Other families
include the Herricks, the Wilseys,
the Bakers and the Cunninghams.
The exhibit, which opened
February 14, will remain on view
through May. The museum is
located at 3754 Main Street and is
open Wednesdays, noon to 4 pm and
Sundays, 1 to 3 pm. Admission is
free.
Recreation
Education
Conserving the land & water of Lake George for future generations since 1988
518-644-9673
www. LGLC.org
Eighteen
February 2016
Something to Chirp About!
By Mirror Staff
Cupid assumes many shapes. But
who could have imagined that one
would be a souvenir from a roadside
attraction’?
Certainly not Abby Jones and
James McReynolds, two employees
of the Adirondack Pub and Brewery
who were brought together by the
artifact, a painted wood mailbox.
Common in the Lake George
area in the 1950s, the mail boxes
were distributed to motor courts and
cabin colonies for the guests’ cards
and letters, to be post marked later
from places such as Adirondack and
Merrill Magee
Restaurant
8 Hudson Street
Warrensburg, NY
(518) 623-2030
Open Wed. 5pm – 8pm, Thurs.
– Sat. 5pm - 9pm, Sun. 5pm – 8pm,
tavern opens 4pm, full bar-lounge,
daily specials, children’s menu, onsite parking, reservations suggested,
handicap access, accommodations on
site, all major credit cards.
Meticulous!
First
class,
extraordinary, beautiful, great!
These are all the adjectives I’ve
heard from folks who’ve been to
the new Merrill Magee House in
Warrensburg.
Vacant for more than three
years, Donna and Michael Flanagan
painstakingly renovated this historic
dining destination on Warrensburg’s
Central Square.
Built originally in 1835, this
National Historic Register colonial
home passed through several
owners until shuttered suddenly in
2011. The beautiful property also
holds a newer bed & breakfast on
an adjoining property, the former
Carriage House of the original
owners Henry Griffin and Dr.
Merrill.
The Flanagans, hailing from
Nyack, NY, purchased a home in
Warrensburg and over the past
several years must have sensed the
potential of this property and “The
Gateway to the Adirondacks.”
We three chose to visit two days
before New Year’s on a Wednesday
evening and found the tavern full
and a much larger, formal dining
room over half full.
You enter from a side porch
and a friendly hostess offers you a
choice of dining in either the tavern
with wooden booths and a small
cozy bar or the larger dining room.
We chose the dining room with a
magnificent stone fireplace, floor
to ceiling windows and a unique
central chandelier hanging from a
tall open beamed ceiling. Tables
are nicely spaced; outside the tiny
spruces glittered with holiday lights
reflecting on the fresh snow.
It’s definitely the Adirondack
feel and while lacking any wall
decorations, drapes or other
softening touches, I’m certain they
may be in order to somewhat reduce
the noise level in the vast dining
area.
The Flanagans, who have no prior
history in the restaurant business,
have assembled a veteran staff led
by Chef Chuck, a returning veteran
of the Merrill Magee House. His
varied and creative menu includes
my all-time favorite entrees and
raised my expectations to new
heights.
The obligatory French onion soup
with Swiss cheese heads the apps as
well as escargot in mushroom caps,
crab cakes with lemon basil tartar
sauce and bacon bar-b-que shrimp.
There’s an interesting baked brie
with apricots and almonds as well as
sausage stuffed mushroom caps.
Salad choices include house,
Caesar, and Greek salad with
artichoke hearts, Kalamata olives,
roasted red peppers and feta cheese.
Entrees span the globe with
America’s favorites; NY strip, filet
and tournedos with béarnaise sauce.
Also offered is “Chicken Cordon
New”, piccata, and stuffed flounder
as well as a great Italian dish,
Chicken Scapariello which is my
personal favorite.
Germany checks into the menu
with Wiener Schnitzel ala Holstein.
Merrill Magee also offers stuffed
shrimp with crab, sea scallops, and
Veal Oscar rounds out the menu.
We were seated at a nice corner
table and our waitress, Patty, took
our drink orders and delivered
a nice basket of freshly baked
bread. Companion was impressed
by a quality selection of wines by
the glass and chose a California
red blend, “The Cleaver” from
Renwood Winery.
I love liver pates and Chef Chuck
offers a tureen of beef liver with
crackers on the side. The creamy,
soft consistency was bursting
with flavor, dotted with capers. I
slathered it on the fresh bread, my
favorite way to enjoy pate.
Mr. Yelp quaffed down a glass of
Indian Brown Ale from the Dogfish
Head Brewery in Delaware. The
hearty, crisp ale blended nicely with
a generous bowl of chopped Caesar
salad dotted with house made garlic
croutons. Anchovies are offered on
the side as an extra.
He followed that with a grilled
center-cut Atlantic salmon filet,
anointed with light lemon-dill butter
and a fluffy baked potato.
Constant Companion loved the
pate and went directly to a heaping
platter of rack of lamb. Several of
the frenched chops were seared and
then roasted to a perfect temperature
and layered over wonderful garlic
roasted potatoes. Drizzled with au
jus sauce and some fresh mint jelly,
it was a picture perfect, succulent
dish.
I began with the house salad
that truly held “everything but the
kitchen sink,” - very cold, fresh and
crisp cukes, onion, radish, grape
tomatoes, carrots and greens. House
made blue cheese came on the side
without asking. A nice touch!
Patty presented Yours Truly with
two pounded and lightly breaded
veal cutlets with a delightful lemonbutter sauce and topped with a
sunny side egg, capers and several
fresh anchovy filets alongside.
About as good a Wiener Schnitzel
ala Holstein as I have ever had.
The marriage of all of these
flavors is worth waiting for and
although some folks skip the egg or
anchovies, to me, it’s like a hot dog
without mustard and bread without
butter.
We all shared the house made
bread pudding, offered hot with a
warm bourbon sauce and some very
good de-caf coffee.
From start to finish, the Merrill
Magee
House
delivered
an
extraordinary dining experience.
The meticulous attention to detail
in the re-construction has carried
over into the ambiance, service and
menu.
The Flanagans and their staff
have come up with a true gem to add
to our great North Country dining
choices.
by a Chestertown commercial artist
named Forrest Jones, who was hired
by Stone Bridge and Caves to help
promote the attraction.
Jones may also have had a hand
in choosing the attraction’s slogan –
“something to chirp about” - and its
logo, a bluebird.
Jones, who died in 2007, also
created graphics for Frontier Town,
Storytown, Animal Land, Indian
Village, Mount Defiance and
Enchanted Forest, according to an
obituary.
Abby Jones (no relation to
Forrest Jones) came to work at the
Adirondack Pub not long after it
James and Abby Reynolds with their daughter Vivienne at the Adirondack
Pub and Brewery.
North Pole, NY.
This one found its way from the
Victorian Village resort in Bolton
Landing to the Brewpub, where
owner John Carr hung it on a wall.
Rather than regard the box as one
more piece of decoration, the couple
used it to conduct an epistolary
courtship, slipping each other notes
through the slot, retrieving them
later.
“In spy novels, it would be known
as a ‘drop,’” said John Carr, who
watched the budding relationship
unfold.
Having grown up in Pottersville,
James McReynolds was certainly
familiar with Stone Bridge and
Caves and even the mailboxes.
They were built and decorated
opened, while still in high school in
Hudson Falls.
McReynolds arrived a few years
later, and while he left briefly to
work at a Queensbury restaurant,
he’s managed the restaurants in
Lake George for John and Cindy
Carr for the past several years.
Because they were co-workers,
they felt they had to be discrete, the
couple said.
“We weren’t trying to advertise
the relationship; we wanted to keep
it private,” said James.
“It was our own little secret,”
said Abby.
“Work is for work,” said James.
The mailbox not only enabled
the romance to unfold in the busy
workplace, it may have helped it
grow by allowing the couple to
share thoughts and feelings that
might have gone unexpressed had
they not been required to write them
down.
The notes, however casual and
humorous they may have been at
times, were important enough to
Abby for her to have kept them.
The night before their wedding,
she returned them all to James – in
the very mailbox that had brought
them together in the first place.
February 2016
Town Board at Odds Over
Upgrades to Caldwell Sewer District
Lake George
Obituaries
from page 4
Jack Hoffman
John H. (Jack) Hoffman, an
Assembly Point resident for 35
years, died on January 3, 2016 at
Albany Medical Center. He was 80
years old.
Jack was born on May 1st,
1935 to Howard D. and Margaret
Kilmartin Hoffman. He attended
Albany schools and served in the
National Guard.
He is survived by his daughter
Wendy and son John. He cherished
his time working with and mentoring
his daughter each and every day.
Jack’s business acumen was
ignited at an early age. He worked
long hours with his father and
brothers in the family-owned C. A.
Hoffman & Sons ice business and
the family-owned bowling alley in
Menands.
He showed early signs of his
entrepreneurial prowess when he
started trapping in order to sell pelts
to a local furrier. Skunk pelts were
stretched and dried in his home attic
(‘til the smell became so offensive
that his dad threw them out the attic
window). He caught turtles to sell
to Keelers State Street Restaurant
in Albany. By the age of 20 he
had purchased his first bulldozer.
Digging ditches, laying pipe,
building roads and developing land,
his career path was now in motion.
He soon owned and operated
County Excavating, Colonie Eq.
and Leasing, Colonie Paving and
Latham Construction.
In the 1950s, he helped develop
Whiteface ski center, a project in
which he took great pride.
Never stagnant, his favorite quote,
“There is danger in delay,” propelled
him to create the Turf Mobile Park in
Clifton Park. As a land developer, he
built many subdivisions, established
the Westmere water district in
Guilderland, Colonie’s Sewer and
Sanitary Improvement area, made
improvements to Latham’s water
district and built local sewer lines,
streets, homes and duplexes.
His proudest accomplishment
was the completion in 1974 of
his first hotel, The Turf Inn on
Wolf Road in Albany. The hotel
was known far and wide as the
most innovative and well-received
establishment of its kind. Having
traveled to Texas where he met
hotelier and actor John Wayne, he
acquired blueprints and ideas for
the inn’s highly popular “Pirates
Den” Mutiny Bar & Lounge, an
exact replica of a schooner with
a 40-foot bar featuring New York
City-style entertainment. The hotel
Jack Hoffman (1935-2016)
boasted the largest courtyard with
an indoor pool, townhouse-style
executive suites, a dining room with
seating for 250, and banquet rooms
to accommodate 800.
The ultimate success of the Turf
Inn was the catalyst for many more
hotels, including the Holiday Inn on
Lake George, Homewood Suites on
Wolf Rd., Staybridge Inn in Colonie,
Hampton Inn on Western Ave and
the Hampton Inn in Saratoga.
His next extensive venture
presented itself when his friend
John Roohan of Saratoga convinced
him that purchasing the original
Skidmore College campus in
Saratoga Springs could benefit
both himself and the community.
This extensive undertaking would
take years to complete; with some
demolition, much renovation and
successful restoration he returned
deteriorated building to their former
state. He created new offices and
business space, apartments, private
homes, parking lots and green space
that currently serve the community
today.
Bank and hospital boards,
friends, relatives and business
acquaintances all gained from his
financial genius. He was known to
write out a quote, bid or business
plan on the back of a napkin, at a
moment’s notice. His charitable
contributions made him the unsung
hero of countless organizations,
including the Humane Society, the
Special Olympics, the Sierra Club,
Boys Town, St. Peters Hospice
Program, the Rogosin Institute
(where he received a kidney
transplant in 2009) and the Lake
George Association.
Jack’s endless thirst for travel
inspired many early adventures
with his father, including an
African safari, elk hunting in
Montana and Wyoming, ocean
fishing off the Florida Keys,
ice fishing in the northeast, fly
fishing in Newfoundland, and
local pheasant and deer hunting.
In the latter part of his life, he
and his beloved companion Linda
Casse, of Saratoga Springs, would
explore Alaska, Iceland, the Yukon,
Mexico, Germany, Austria and
many destinations throughout the
United States, but what he enjoyed
most was coming home to “the
best destination in the world,” Lake
George!
More that 50 years ago, Jack
fell in love with the magic of the
lake. He treasured his Lake George
friends and his camp was his private
retreat where he could relax and
enjoy endless sunsets. He would
bask in the beauty and serenity of
the lake while navigating his 1926
Hacker Craft, which provided him
with immeasurable happiness and
pleasure. He knew the lake like
the back of his hand, and proudly
provided “lake tours” for many. He
would often reminisce about the
old days and boating with friends
Eddie King, Charlie Friehofer, Art
Arkulian, Phil and Eileen Patenaud
and Art Leonhardt, all who have
passed before him.
There could never be a complete
account of all the ways in which
Jack’s life effectively impacted so
many. His life was one of vision,
generosity, accomplishment and
persistence. He was a man of action
who turned his dreams into realities,
not only for himself but for all those
he cared about. It was a blessing
and an honor to have known this
extraordinary man who made a
difference in this world, and who
will truly be missed.
Lake George Chamber Director: Resort
Economy Benefits from Downtown Civic Center
from page 9
covers the ice during non-hockey
events.
Hochul’s announcement marks
the second large state allocation for
the Civic Center. In 2013, Empire
State
Development
provided
$675,000 for building-wide WiFi,
sound system improvements, and
a recently installed new LED
marquee sign outside the center,
which is used to promote upcoming
events.
“Upgrades that have been done
so far are the first step toward
bringing the building to a state-ofthe-art condition that it’s in need
of,” said Brian Petrovek, Thunder
president. “The list is long. I think
the $2 million is going to go rather
quickly.”
The Civic Center Coalition is
Nineteen
running the facility under a fiveyear lease-to-purchase agreement.
“More than dollars, they’ve put
lots and lots of effort into it,” said
state Senator Betty Little, R-Glens
Falls.
Little, who chairs the senate
tourism committee, said minor
league sports are a big part of the
state’s tourism industry.
“It’s not just the Mets and
Yankees,” she said.
The Thunder are one of two ECHL
teams in New York state, along with
Elmira, which coincidentally played
at Adirondack on Tuesday night.
There are also AHL hockey teams in
Albany, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester
and Binghamton; and about a dozen
minor-league baseball franchises in
the state.
Glens Falls has been home to the
state high school boys basketball
tournament since the early 1980s.
But the event will be moving to
Binghamton beginning in March
2017.
However, a Federation hoop
tournament, featuring the best teams
from New York City, is coming back
to Glens Falls after an absence of
several years.
Coalition member George Ferone
said work on the next round of
building upgrades will likely begin
this summer.
“We have a long list of projects
we’re going to attack with that $2
million,” said Ed Bartholomew,
of Warren County Economic
Development. “This is significant.
This puts Glens Falls back in a very
competitive situation for hosting
concerts, boys basketball and many
other events.”
said the new parking lot at Million
Dollar Beach is four feet higher
than before. Runoff, instead of
going into Snug Harbor, now flows
toward the town’s sewage pump
station, which is below grade from
the parking lot.
He said water reached the
station’s threshold last year and
“came close to flooding.” A heavy
summer storm could cause a “major
catastrophe,” he said.
“We need to put the state on
notice,” Dickinson said. “There’s no
place for water to go. That is a very
serious problem for us.”
A new pump station could be
relocated to higher ground.
The state has several facilities
within Caldwell Sewer District
such as the Million Dollar Beach
bath house, Lake George Park
Commission offices, Lake George
Battlefield Campground and a
state Department of Environmental
Conservation motor pool.
But the state has refused to pay
sewer bills for these sites, which
totals more than $120,000 for the
past three years alone, Dickinson
said.
If the state paid its bills, the
cost of a new pump station would
be much lower for sewer district
property owners, he said.
Governor
Andrew
Cuomo
recently announced a $75 million
program designed to promote more
shared services between local
municipalities.
The town and village already
have a close working relationship
this way.
“We’ll probably be doing more of
that,” Dickinson said.
It’s possible that funding from
the state’s new shared services
initiative could be used for new
pump stations. Village and town
officials were scheduled to watch
a Feb. 10 webinar to see how they
could access this money.
Sewage from the town pump
stations goes to the village treatment
plant. The village is under orders
from the DEC to replace this plant
with a new one, which could cost up
to $18 million.
The Bolton Historical Museum
has been awarded a grant from the
New York State Council on the
Arts to enable its director, Jaclyn
Andersen, to attend the Museum
Association of New York’s Annual
Conference in Lake Placid later this
spring.
Bolton Museum Awarded Grant
Holiday Inn Hosting Winter Grape School
Current or prospective grape
growers in New York and Vermont
are invited to attend a one-day
educational program on cultivating
grapes and making wine in cold
climates on Thursday, March 17 at
the Holiday Inn in Lake George. For
information on the program, which
is sponsored by Cornell Cooperative
Extension and the University of
Vermont, call Anna Wallis at 518410-6823.
Twenty
OFF THE
BY MARK RODEN
On Valentine’s Day morning,
frost flowers suddenly appeared
everywhere, climbing the brush off
the new black ice on my pond’s
dam, like clumps of feathery frost
on the stream overflow that flooded
the snowpack last week. Lake
George was totally covered with ice,
with frost flowers as far as the eye
could see into the distance before
the breathtaking cold mountains on
the east side.
A friend joined me as we gingerly
explored the flowered black ice. A
snap, then a shallow snap and crack
reminded us that the ice is always
moving. A sound like breaking
glass traveled up the line between
old and new ice. When it gets cold
this quickly, water gets larger as it
turns to a solid and also sticks to the
shores. The lake level drops due to
frozen runoff streams, and sheets of
ice sink like melting ice cubes in a
cocktail, creating cracks and “whale
talking.”
It’s the middle of February, so
be careful out there. I always take
sets of two six-inch barn nails in
the pockets of my outer, zipped-up
layer. The protocol, should anyone
go through: everyone should lie
down on the ice and freeze. The
person in the water should throw
their gloves in the direction they
came from – the ice supported you
getting here and it’s your best bet
for getting out! Instead of flailing,
stop and put your arms out on the
ice, reach for the pair of 6-inch nails
and use them to dig yourself out and
slide for shore. To help someone
else, use the nails to slide around so
the victim can grab your feet, and
then ease out together.
During one season of good
ice in the early 80s, I spent hours
skating from Log to Basin and Boon
bays, against the wind, tacking the
big water on the far side of Dome
Island, head down, eyes on my feet
while stitching the cracks over to
Calves Pen, out of the wind. I lost
all sense of time with the rush of
endorphins. All the pressure ridges
got bigger with the constant cold.
Depending of the direction of the
wind, Dome was always a good
break area. The best part of tacking
the wind was the quick, 3-mile
down leg. Somewhere along my
route I discovered, by lying down
on the dark ice, mirage-like heat
waves creating a thermocline above
my head. All around me was the
soft sound of breaking glass. A few
days later I looped into inner Log
Bay, where I found intact, monstersized frost flowers. Just then, I
realized that they were the source of
the crackling glass sounds, as they
tumbled down the ice, broken up
by the wind. It was delightful, and
humbling, to discover something so
obvious about nature.
The ice was a long time coming
this winter. Before the lake froze, we
went den hunting along some stream
corridors with terraced marshes and
ponds, as we headed for the higher
country. By the afternoon, the breeze
had waned and the clouds gave way
to a lapis blue sky.
Our first stop – the Canada
porcupine; a barkeater with few
serious threats from predators. This
year, I came across two of them; the
first nosed into a boulder and stood
his ground, tail up and ready. The
other scooted up a tree, climbed
out of reach and stared me down,
looking like a small bear as the
twilight darkened. The den is in the
same rock pile as last year. I fondly
call him “the shambler”; I often find
on his packed snow trails a wobbly
yellow line.
After some exploring, we reached
the pond at the near end of the valley,
and transitioned to the ice. We
followed a fox track to the frozen
marsh of leather leaf and holidayred sphagnum moss-covered tree
stump hummocks where the beaver
houses are found. Near an active
house, a sunken cache of green
limbs, prepped for a cold winter,
has hardly been touched. Chips on
shore 50 yards away indicate on and
under-water activity.
Back to den hunting – my
favorite woodland neighbor is
the otter. When the ice expands,
it pushes the shoreline up against
frozen land, creating hollow pockets
scattered along the pond edges. Last
year, with all the snow, the otter
had a tunnel to the edge of the ice
and backdoors in a rocky outcrop.
This winter, his entry is a hole on
top of a root ball of a big hemlock.
We knew we were in the right place
when a small pile of glittering fish
scales revealed his outhouse. The
logistics seem impossible – he takes
a breath, shimmies through a tunnel
of dark, murky water, catches and
carries a fish, then finds the tunnel
February 2016
in the weeds and stirred-up muck
– it’s simply amazing. I call this
wonderful king of the forest water
“the kid.” Light snowfall with warm
temperatures means open water
everywhere. One thing the kid loves
to do is slide. Pushing and gliding,
even on the flats, he is easy to track,
some downhills look like toboggan
runs as he cuts corners overland,
from water to water. It was a bit
unusual to have open patches in
the small runoff streams, going into
Presidents week.
Stefanik
Untroubled
By Opposition
from page 16
Lake George Ice: In Late, Out Early
By Buzz Lamb
Records of ice-in and iceout on Lake George have been
kept officially since 1908 by the
Lake George Association and
most recently by the Darrin
Freshwater Institute. A look back
over the years reveals some very
interesting facts.
As you all know, water freezes
at 32 degrees Fahrenheit. That
doesn’t mean, however, when
the air temp reaches 32 the lake
freezes. Water is a great insulator
and good at holding heat, which is
why the lake temperature doesn’t
fluctuate much day to day like the
air does. Therefore, below freezing
temperatures are needed for a week
or more to form ice on a large lake
similar to Lake George.
Since ice-in does not occur in
one day like ice-out usually does, it
is hard to keep accurate records. The
ice can form around the edge of the
lake, and then a warm sunny day can
come along and melt it again. Freeze
dates occur when a continuous and
immobile ice cover forms over a
body of water. That’s why, at least
on Lake George, ice-in happens
when, theoretically, a person can
walk on the surface of the lake from
the Steamboat dock in Lake George
Village to the Steamboat dock at
Baldwin.
Interestingly, no records for 1910
or 1911 indicate when the lake froze
but ice-out occurred within one day
of each other … Tuesday April, 12,
1910 and Tuesday, April 11, 1911.
The first year that the lake did not
freeze over completely was 1919
and it spanned more than seven
decades before it would happen
again in 1991. It has happened eight
more times since 1991 (1995, 1997,
1998, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2012 &
2013).
The earliest ice-in recorded was
December 20, 1980 and it only froze
over in December on four other
occasions … December 23, 1989,
December 24, 1983, December
28, 1976 and December 30, 2008.
During each of those winters the
lake remained frozen for over
100 days except in 2008 when the
deepfreeze lasted only 95 days. One
of those December freeze-overs set
the record for the longest time that
the lake remained solid. The freeze
that occurred on December 24, 1983
lasted until April 23, spanning 121
days.
The lake customarily ices-over
in January but in the course of
14 winters Mother Nature waited
until February to work her magic.
February freezes lasted no more
than 74 days at most. The shortest
amount of time the lake was icecovered was less than one month. In
1949 the lake froze on February 28
and on March 29 it became ice-free.
That was a mere 29 days to set up
shantys and tip-ups.
Only twice since 1908 has the
lake remained frozen into the month
of May. That first occurred in 1940
and then re-occurred in 1971. On
both occasions the lake became icefree on May 2nd. The difference
between the two events is that in
1971 the lake remained frozen for
113 days (ice-in January 9) whereas
in 1940 it was frozen for only 100
days (ice-in January 23).
The thaw usually occurs in April
(88 times), except for the two times
in May, as mentioned above, and five
times in March, with March 27,1913
being the earliest. The most popular
time for the thaw is mid-April. The
ice has disappeared on April 12
eleven times since 1908 making it
the most frequent date. Ice-out has
never occurred on April 18, 26, 27,
28 & 30 so if you’re going to place
a bet in one of those “ice-out pools”
… stay away from those dates.
District.
She begins the 2016 election year
with $928,000 cash on hand.
The 21st District is the largest
one east of the Mississippi River
and covers the entire North Country
from Watertown to northern
Saratoga County.
Stefanik said she hopes to run on
the Republican, Conservative and
Independence lines this fall.
She told local business leaders that
she was responsible for modifying
President Obama’s Affordable Care
Act by getting a medical device tax
suspended, which helps local firms
such as CR Bard, AngioDynamics
and Precision Extrusion. By saving
money, these companies can invest
more for job creation, she said.
“That is a win for our district,”
Stefanik said. “That’s an issue I’ve
led on in Congress.
In another matter, of particular
interest to Lake George officials,
Stefanik said she voted for a multiyear federal highway bill, which
passed, and could provide funding
for much-needed infrastructure
such as sewers, broadband, roads
and bridges. “I am working with
towns and villages to see if there
are federal funds available,” she
said. “We are always partnering
with local officials to make sure we
can help them if they need to access
those funds.”
ADVERTISE IN
THE MIRROR
[email protected]
February 2016
Scott Outboards Move to California
Sometime before the end of 1962
California became #1 in population
of all of the states in the nation. Along
with all of this influx of people came
the engineering, manufacturing and
sales operations of the former Scott
Outboard Motor Division of the
McCulloch Corporation.
People and companies … perhaps
their reasons for moving west were
the same … a new life and new
opportunities. For Scott Outboards
it was certainly the case because
this move was conceived on a farreaching scale intended to make
Scott #1 in the outboard industry.
In August of 1962, President
Robert P. McCulloch announced
that all Scott activities (except the
manufacturing of boats) would
be consolidated into one worldwide headquarters at McCulloch’s
Los Angeles plant. After that
announcement preparations went
forward at a rapid pace to assure that
there would be no interruptions in
the production and sales promotions
of Scott’s 1963 line of boats and
motors.
By the time of Robert
McCulloch’s announcement, the
engineering staff had already been
integrated into a department in Los
Angeles. Manufacturing operations
for Scott products continued with
as little interference as possible.
The 1963 boats were already on
the assembly lines at McCulloch’s
new boat division plant at Grabill,
Indiana.
Supplementary
boat
manufacturing was proceeding
full-steam-ahead under contract at
Huntington Beach, Calif.
As for outboard motors, many
of the precision die-cast aluminum
parts had been manufactured in Los
Angeles for years (75 hp blocks and
7 ½ hp housings, are two examples).
Three years prior, McCulloch had
installed highly automated, ultrahigh-pressure machines in its
die-casting plant in Los Angeles
purposely for the production of
Scott outboard components. Due to
economics, the machines were never
used to 100 percent capacity but
with the move they soon became the
largest aluminum and magnesium
die-casting operation west of the
Mississippi.
The bulk of the 1963 outboard
motor manufacturing, including
machining
and
assembly,
continued at Minneapolis until
the 72,000-square-foot assembly
building was completed in Los
Angeles. In order to offset the freight
costs of shipments from the West
Coast, central warehouses were
established in various sections of the
U.S. shortly after the consolidation
was completed.
One of the most important
aspects of this consolidation was
Twenty One
that all McCulloch products – chain
saws, go-kart engines, welders,
tools, outboards and boats were
seasonal in sales and, in general,
these seasons complemented each
other. There can be no doubt that
the consolidation move was one of
the most important steps taken by
McCulloch since the acquisition of
Scott Outboards in 1956. It was a
solid manifestation of McCulloch’s
determination to crown Scott’s
30-odd-years of producing outboard
engines with eventual domination.
National magazines, including
LOOK and LIFE gave wide-spread
publicity to the industrial complexes
located in Southern California and
particularly Los Angeles. For there
was located the production base for
America’s entry into the Space Age.
Within a five-mile radius of
Scott’s new factory were the
titans of the aerospace industry –
North American Aviation, Hughes
Aircraft, Aerospace Corporation,
Space Technology Laboratories,
Douglas Aircraft and Airesearch
Manufacturing. These were the
companies that developed the
nation’s first-line of defense …
the Minuteman missile, the Thor,
the RS-70 bomber, the XD-15
and scores of other military space
vehicles.
Hardly more than two blocks
separated the new Scott facility from
the central command of the U. S. Air
Force’s Ballistic Missile Division.
This was where the flights of most
of America’s space satellites and
astronaut capsules were centrally
controlled.
The atmosphere of the entire
area was futuristic and that went for
the production of such earth-bound
sources of propulsion as outboard
motors. McCulloch, located in
the very center, had long kept up
with its neighbors in engineering
advancements and continued to do
so in the spirit of lively competition.
In the next installment of Over
the Transom we’ll have a look at the
1963 line-up for Scott and you’ll be
surprised at a couple of motors they
had to offer. Until then, keep you
ropes dry.
The Upper Hudson: A Tourism
News of Local Students
Heritage Rivaling Lake George’s Own
By Paul Post
An ornate railroad depot, a
massive Swiss-style hotel where
President Ulysses S. Grant once
stayed, and steam trains crossing
a high trestle over the Sacandaga
River are images of a bygone
“Golden Era of Tourism” that
marked the Hadley-Luzerne area for
nearly a century during the 19th and
early 20th centuries.
This was just one part of
the economy in these thriving
communities that also boasted large
mills such as the former Union Bag
and Paper Company in Hadley and
Garner Tannery in Luzerne.
But in contrast to heavy industrial
factories, summer brought hordes of
city dwellers from New York who
arrived by rail to enjoy the area’s
clean, refreshing air and peaceful
surroundings.
“We’ve always been a tourist area
where life was a little slower,” said
David Cranston, Hadley-Luzerne
Historical
Society
president.
“People like the Vanderbilts and
Astors had Great Camps in the
Adirondacks. But they came here,
too.”
Cranston led a recent program,
accompanied by dozens of old
photos, that brought this history
to life. More than dozen historical
society members turned out to learn
about their towns.
“Things
have
changed
dramatically over the last 50 years,”
Cranston said. “It’s important that
we don’t forget our past.”
The more than 200-room
Wayside Inn, whose architecture
featured numerous peaks and
gables, was located where HadleyLuzerne High School now stands.
As the most imposing edifice
around, it’s no wonder Grant was a
guest there.
The main structure, which burned
in the 1940s, was surrounded by
several large cottages with 15 to
20 rooms each. Two of these still
remain.
Many other places welcomed
guests such as the Cascades Hotel
and Arlington Hotel in Hadley. The
latter was about halfway between,
and within easy walking distance of
the Hadley train depot and Rockwell
Falls, a tourist attraction in its own
right.
“Hadley train station was the
largest depot on the Adirondack
line from Saratoga to North Creek,”
Cranston said.
One picture showed dozens of
people, including women clad in
long Victorian-era dresses, standing
on the high railroad trestle. Another
photo showed the former boathouse
on Lake Luzerne, where the town
beach is now located.
Eventually, with the advent of
automobiles, tourism changed as
America became a much more
mobile society. Many large hotels
and boarding houses went out of
business and are long gone, quite
often succumbing to fire.
In the post-World War II era, a
new kind of tourism came along as
dude ranches sprang up throughout
the area, thanks in large part to
the work of entrepreneur Earl
Woodward. “He sold moonlight,
cowboys and romance,” said Larry
Bennett, co-owner of Bennett
Riding Stables and Warren County
Historical Society president. “Earl
came from Ohio. The story is that he
was looking for a place to move to,
blindly put his finger on a map and
it just happened to land on Stony
Creek.”
Woodward started out in the
timbering business, then began
buying up land that he advertised
in New York City and resold as
Adirondack camps. At one point
he owned a 1,400-acre tract in
Luzerne, including the (circa 1779)
homestead of Joseph Ferguson, one
See UPPER HUDSON Page 22
Hunter Lambert of Lake
George earned Dean’s List honors
for the fall 2015 semester at SUNY
Oneonta.
Corey Mitchum of Lake George
was named to the Fall 2015 Dean’s
List at Hudson Valley Community
College.
Tufts
University
recently
announced the dean’s list for
undergraduate students enrolled
for the Fall 2015 semester. Among
these students is Nicholas Whitney
of Bolton Landing, class of 2016.
Michaela Dunn of Lake George
was named to the Fall Dean’s List at
the University of New Hampshire.
Thomas Devlin named to Dean’s
See LOCAL STUDENTS Page 22
Twenty Two
February 2016
Fort William Henry Waste Haulers to
Warriors
Lake George
Defending State Hotel Honored Meet at Sagamore Obituaries
of
New
Championship The Fort William Henry Hotel YorkThe SolidFederation
Waste Association’s
The Lake George Warriors’ boys
basketball team, defending Class
C state champions, played its first
sectional game at home Tuesday
against No. 12 Schoharie.
The Warriors finished the regular
season with a 13-7 record (7-2 on
their home court).
The Section II, Class C title game
will be Friday, Feb. 26 at Glens Falls
Civic Center. The state tournament
is March 11-13 in Glens Falls.
DEC Presents
“Managing Your
Woodlot” in
Warrensburg
State Forester Rich McDermott
will present “Managing Your
Private Woodlot” at the Department
of Environmental Conservation’s
Warrensburg office on Tuesday,
February 23 at 7 pm.
McDermott will discuss: defining
forest management objectives;
resources available to help meet
your objectives; understanding
the forest tax law; management
techniques for native species and
invasive species; and selecting seed
sources for future regeneration.
For information about the free
program, call 518-623-1203.
and Conference Center was awarded
the “Couples Choice” award from
Weddingwire, an on-line resource
for wedding planners and couples,
for the third year in a row.
Conference and Trade Show will
be held this year at the Sagamore
in Bolton Landing from May 15
through May 17.
King’s Garden: Symposium Set for April 9
The King’s Garden at Fort Ticonderoga will present its fifth annual
Garden & Landscape Symposium on Saturday, April 9, 2016. The daylong symposium will feature garden experts who live and garden in
upstate New York and northern New England. For information, call 518585-2821.
Wiawaka Seeks Women Hague Creek Gallery
Planning Summer Season
Who Help Women
The Wiawaka Center for Women
seeks nominations for its Mary
Fuller Award for Women Helping
Women. The award, which honors
women whose work and influence
benefits other women, will be
presented at the annual Wiawaka
Ladies of the Lake Luncheon, to
be held in June at the Lake George
Club. For information, contact
Wiawaka at 518-668-9690.
The Hague Creek Art Gallery
will open for its eighth season
on Memorial Day weekend and
present new exhibitions every
week through Labor Day. Group
shows are scheduled for holiday
weekends. Artists interested in
exhibiting in one and two-person
shows should contact Richard Stout
at [email protected] or by
phone at 518-543-8884.
Fort Ti Acquires 18th
Century Military Painting
An
18th
century painting
depicting
a
French regiment
on campaign in Italy has been
acquired by Fort Ticonderoga.
“The intricate detail of the
painting is a remarkable window
into daily life in the French
military,” said Fort Ticonderoga’s
Curator Matthew Keagle. “It
illustrates in full color many of the
details of camp life depicted in the
engravings of military manuals in
the Fort Ticonderoga Museum’s
library collection. The level of
detail allows the identification of
numerous examples of objects from
soldiers’ muskets to powder horns to
eating utensils that match examples
recovered archaeologically at Fort
Ticonderoga.”
The painting will be on display
during the museum’s 2016 season in
the Deborah Clarke Mars Education
Center.
Theta Swinton Curri
Theta Swinton Curri, 84, of
Valley Woods Road, Bolton Landing
passed away Wednesday, Jan. 13,
2016, at her home, surrounded by
her adoring family.
Born Aug. 14, 1931, in
Ticonderoga, she was the daughter
of the late Ray W. and Elsie
(McKinstry) Swinton.
Theta graduated from Bolton
Central School in 1950 and later
from Cortland State Teacher’s
College (now SUNY Cortland) in
1954, with a Bachelor’s Degree in
elementary education.
In the summer of 1954, Theta
married Tom Curri in Lake George,
and they began their years of
teaching, moving around central
New York to Norwich, Syracuse,
Auburn, and back to Cortland
Village Makes News of Local
Way for
Students
Snowmobiles
Lake George Village’s Board of
Trustees has approved a resolution
limiting the points of access
snowmobiles and ATVs can have
to reach Canada Street after exiting
frozen Lake George in winter time.
During the month-long Winter
Carnival in February, many riders
like to visit downtown bars and
taverns at places such as Dieskau
and Ottawa Streets on the west side
of Canada Street.
The village will allow riders to
cross Canada Street. But they may
only leave the lake at the north end
of Shepard Park and go up Lower
Amherst Street to get there.
Trustee John Root objects to
letting snowmobiles and ATVs
ride on Beach Road sidewalks, the
lakefront walkway and in Shepard
Park. “Especially this year with
limited snow,” he said at a January
11 meeting. . “They have heavilystudded tracks. They do damage. It
doesn’t make sense to me to have
them on the sidewalks.”
Forest Rangers, Fire Department, Rescue Hiker
New York State Forest Rangers
and members of the Lake George
Fire Department assisted a 56-yearold Queensbury woman down
before returning to Bolton Landing
in 1970. She retired in 1986 from
the Ticonderoga Central School
system after 22 years as an educator.
Theta was named to Who’s Who
Among America’s Teachers in
1990. Following her retirement,
she was active with the Bolton
Historical Society and the Warren
County Cooperative Extension 4-H.
She treasured time spent working
in her flower garden and visiting
her friends and relatives. Theta had
many friends, some long-standing
and some newer; some were
like sisters and others were like
daughters to her.
In addition to her parents, Theta
was predeceased by her brothers,
Oscar and Charles, and her sisters,
Drusilla, Dorthy and Arlene Fay.
She is survived by her husband,
Tom; their children, Thomas Scott
(Diane), Kristen (Art) Valentine,
Mark, Lonnie (John Branski), and
Theta Maille; five grandchildren,
Joshua Curri-Brimhall, Katherine
Curri Westphal, and Cassandra,
Peter and Christopher Seymour. She
also leaves behind several nieces,
nephews, and cousins.
Prospect Mountain on January 27.
The woman, who alerted responders
from her cell phone, complained of
a lower leg injury.
from page 21
List at Paul Smith’s College.
Kellie O’Brien of Lake George
was named to Hofstra University’s
Fall 2015 Dean’s LisT
Aaron Chambers and Amanda
Chambers of Lake George of Lake
George were named to the Castleton
University Dean’s List for the fall
semester of the 2015-16 academic
year.
Tyler Calzada of Bolton Landing
completed
his
baccalaureate
studies in psychology, cum laude
in fall 2015 at SUNY Oswego and
was recognized at the college’s
Commencement in December.
The Upper
Hudson: A
Tourism Heritage
Rivaling Lake
George’s Own
from page 21
of the town’s earliest settlers.
The structure still stands on
Northwoods Road, near the shore of
Forest Lake that Woodward created
by building a dam in 1933.
Woodward’s
brother,
Jay,
convinced him to bring a few horses
to Stony Creek and start a ranch,
called the Lazy J, to extend the
tourist season. It proved so popular
that more than a dozen similar
businesses took hold during the late
1940s and 50s.
Several were located along
present-day Route 9N between
Lake Luzerne and Lake George.
The current Double H Ranch for
seriously ill children was once
Hidden Valley Ranch.
“That Western lore brought a lot
of people to the area,” Bennett said.
Now
tourism
has
come
somewhat full circle. The Saratoga
& North Creek Railway travels the
same route once used by the former
Adirondack line and a new, smaller
Hadley depot stands near the site of
the old one.
People usually don’t stay as
long as they once did, but HadleyLuzerne’s wide variety of yearround recreational opportunities
-- golf, rafting, snowmobiling,
horseback riding, hiking -- still
make it a destination for countless
fun-loving vacationers each year.
February 2016
Twenty Three
TO VIEW OUR OPEN HOUSE SCHEDULE,
NEW LISTINGS, AND OUR EXCELLENT
SELECTION OF PROPERTIES FOR SALE
OR RENT, PLEASE VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
www.davies-davies.com
LAKE GEORGE LAKEFRONT chalet offering a bright open floor plan with a great room
overlooking the lake, 3BR/2½BA, den, modern
kitchen with granite countertops, private master suite with sitting room/office. Finished
lower level w/2BR, full bath, living room and
kitchen for possible in law apartment. Waterfront living with multiple decks, crib dock and
covered picnic area with storage shed. Resort
living by the lake! Just Reduced to $599,000
CAREFREE LAKE GEORGE RETREAT
Enjoy endless hours of recreation from sunrise to moon rise. Beautiful lake & mountain
views over Warner Bay. A new 2 tiered deck
-dock complex with custom quality features
on 35’ of Lakefront. Open floor plan with easy
care knotty pine interior 2 Bedroom 2 Bathrooms A delightful peninsula setting in a
friendly community $689,000
STILL BAY DUPLEX! Newly renovated 2
family home w/deeded beach rights on Lake
George. Each with 4BR/2BA & an open floor
plan. 1st floor has a kitchenette & a new kitchen w/pine paneling, a living room & family
room w/sliders to large deck. 2nd floor has a
large kitchen, dining room has a wall of windows & a living room w/sliders to the large
deck w/filtered lake views & a patio. 1 car
garage in basement. $575,000
JOIN THE
CONVERSATION
A MASTERPIECE of custom wood & stone work,
w/large stone fireplace, gourmet kitchen, lakeside
porch w/panoramic lake & mtn views. Includes 2
Carriage Houses (1 w/in-law apartment above 3 car
garage & the other w/large media room above 2 car
garage), an ice house & custom built boat house. Living space total 5,328sqft. Landscaped w/lush green
grass, beautiful flowers & plants, exquisite stone work,
a large patio, walk paths, level lawn area and a stone
seawall & steps to a sandy swimming area. $2,949,000
PRIME LOCATION IN STILL BAY located
on Lake George. Meticulously maintained
seasonal home w/lake views, beautiful shared
sandy beach & 24' dock in Still Bay Assoc.
Bright open floor plan w/kitchen, dining area
& living room w/wood stove. Add’l room on
1st floor. 2 Bedrooms upstairs w/cozy 3 season
porch in Master Bedroom. $399,900
SPACIOUS MODERN LOG HOME! On 1.4 Acres
of wooded privacy surrounded by beautiful landscaping. This tranquil 4 Bedroom, 3 Bath home has a large
kitchen, a living room w/remote controlled propane
fireplace, upstairs bedrooms w/skylights, back deck
and patio, attached 2 car garage with nicely paved
driveway and storage shed. Automatic Generator.
Add’l 2 rooms on the lower level. Great convenient
location. Lake George Schools. $389,000
SUBSCRIBE TO THE
LAKE GEORGE MIRROR
(A TRULY SOCIAL MEDIUM)
LAKEGEORGEMIRROR.COM
ARCHITECTURAL GENIUS! Magnificent
design of wood, stone & glass. This 4+Bedroom
home has open light filled multi-level living
spaces, 3 stone Fireplaces, 25x37' heated carriage house (permit for guest house) 4C carport all on 200' LF & 2.36Acres with unparalleled Lake & Mtn views. F-crib dock & sandy
swim area on Lake George. Adjacent to conservation protected land for a feeling of exquisite
seclusion! $2,199,000
visit our mobile-friendly website for:
all MLS listings  download our app  search by interactive map  virtual tours  vacation
rentals  1,000s of photos  request a showing  land  new construction  condos/townhouses
camps/seasonal cottages  commercial properties  investment properties  other waterfront
Contemporary colonial in
Lehland Estates. 4BR/2.5BA,
3500 sqft on .73 ac. Finished
basement with rec room,
large backyard with inground pool with solar cover.
$349,900
Experience this LG view
from the cozy deck on a
custom log home completely renovated in 2010.
5BR/3BA, two fireplaces,
family room with wet bar.
2.26 acres. $825,000
Completely remodeled year
round log home at Sabbath
Day Point north of Mother
Bunch Islands on northern
LG. 3BR/1.5BA, 1632 sqft,
40’ crib dock, fire pit and 72’
of shore. $999,000
Rare opportunity to own a
waterfront unit at the world
renowned Sagamore Resort.
Updated 2BR/2BA unit
offers granite counter tops,
stainless steel appliances
$639,000
(518) 668-9500
Over 50 years experience selling Lake George real estate!
ADVERTISE IN THE MIRROR • [email protected]
McDonald Real Estate Professionals, Inc
Arcady Bay in
Hague - Well designed 4 bedroom,
2.5 bath home open
family/living/dining
area, den, spacious
kitchen, screened
porch, on 1/2 acre
lot. Exceptional association waterfront, dock for 22’ boat,
sandy beach, tennis & more. $649,900
Lake Access
Enjoy the sandy
beach and lake
access in Hague
that comes with
this charming 2
bedroom log cabin. Includes seasonal lake views, stone fireplace, enclosed porch, and an
apple tree just outside the door. $299,000
1 Mile to the Lake
Warm and welcoming describes
this 3 bedroom
home with 3 season enclosed
porch, 1+ acres
with large yard,
PLUS a year round 2BR apartment over a large 2 car
garage. All lovingly maintained. $234,000
Sagamore
Juniper Hill Villas
A one of a kind Includes boat club
resort on Lake
membership with
George. Golf,
use of 6 power
tennis, indoor/
boats, sandy
outdoor pools, beach, tennis, pool
fitness center,
and club house.
spa and docking Spacious 2 bedare available This 1 BR condo includes a gas fireplace,
room with large sleeping loft, 2.5 baths, fireplace, large
full kitchen, covered balcony & lake views. $465,000
deck, attached garage and nice lake views. $409,000
In Town!
Fantastic Bolton
Landing location,
walk to the lake,
restaurants and
shops. This 3BR,
2.5 bath townhome is just 3
years old an in excellent condition - fireplace, attached
garage, patio, central air, finished basement. $449,000
Year Round Home
Ranch style home
with 3 bedrooms,
2 full baths, sliders
on main level to a
private spacious
deck, additional
finished living space on lower level with a family room,
workshop and good storage. Includes an outdoor shower
and is on 5.88 acres in Bolton. $299,000
Ranch Style
This is ideal as a
starter or retirement home with
easy maintenance,
everything on one
level,
3 bedrooms,
Coolidge Hill Rd, 5.5 acres with a pond. $59,000
New Vermont Rd, 25+ Acres with 3 separate building lot, 2 baths, kitchen good storage, full dry basement, shed,
private rear deck, on .7 acres. $199,000
peaceful surroundings. $137,000 or $75,000/lot.
North Bolton Rd, 2.4 acres
with some lake view.
Private spot just a few
minutes to town and the
lake. $72,000
4956 Lake Shore Drive, Bolton Landing, NY 12814—www.mcdonaldrealestate.com—518.644.2015

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