John Nemjo is a gambling man. Each year the owner of Mountainman Outdoor Supply Company brings his Adirondack Paddlefest to the area at a time of year when the weather could be described, at best, as “questionable.”
Sometimes, as was the case last year, his gamble pays off in a big way. Continue reading
Town of Webb Historian Peg Masters, and longtime resident, Linda Cohen, have co-authored their second book, Old Forge and The Fulton Chain of Lakes, which contains more than 200 historic photographs of the area with their descriptions.
Most of the vintage photographs in the book were provided by the Town of Webb Historical Association, along with the research materials to describe the location and identify the people in the photographs.
Cohen and Masters also co-authored a previous book of historic postcards in 2003, Old Forge: Gateway to the Adirondacks. Continue reading
The Herkimer County Legislature’s Committee on Education is seeking candidates for a local sponsor appointment to the Herkimer County Community College Board of Trustees.
Candidates must be residents of Herkimer County for this position, which will have a term to be completed through June 30th of 2016.
The Committee on Education will be responsible for conducting the selection process, with final confirmation by resolution of the full County Legislature.
Letters of interest/resumes may be sent to Peter F. Manno, Chairman of the Committee on Education, c/o Clerk of the County Legislature, 109 Mary Street, Suite 1310, Herkimer, New York, by June 8, 2011.
For further information, contact James W. Wallace, Jr., County Administrator at 315-867-1112.
As most people in the North Country are quickly learning, Lyme disease is now a concern for dogs and people who venture outdoors in our area.
Fifteen years ago, the only cases of Lyme disease came from outside our area. New England, the Hudson River Valley, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were hot spots and remain so.
We have now joined these areas as we have diagnosed approximately 300 cases at our three clinics in the last 10 years.
Since we have started vaccinating for Lyme (and more people have chosen to do so), we are seeing fewer new cases.
Prevention of Lyme disease is accomplished by vaccination, quick tick removal and tick prevention with various products such as Frontline. Continue reading
The issue of whether or not the floor drain in your garage floor needs to be connected to an oil separator before being discharged to the ground has been a topic of discussion several times in the past couple of weeks.
This was being required some ten years ago in all garage floors; however, it has never been part of the Residential Code…
It has, however, always been part of the Building Code that applies to commercial uses.
Straight from the code pages, here are the two basic standards:
RESIDENTIAL CODE of New York:
R309.3 Floors.
Garage floors shall be of approved noncombustible material.
The area of floor used for parking of automobiles or other vehicles shall be sloped to facilitate the movement of liquids to a drain or toward the main vehicle entry doorway.
R309.4 Carports.
Carports shall be open on at least two sides. Carport floors shall be of approved noncombustible material.
Carports not open on at least two sides shall be considered a garage and shall comply with the provisions of this section for garages.
Exception: Asphalt surfaces shall be permitted at ground level in carports.
The area of floor used for parking of automobiles or other vehicles shall be sloped to facilitate the movement of liquids to a drain or toward the main vehicle entry doorway.
FIRE CODE of New York SECTION 2211 REPAIR GARAGES
2211.2.3 Drainage and disposal of liquids and oil-soaked waste.
Garage floor drains, where provided, shall drain to approved oil separators or traps discharging to a sewer in accordance with the Plumbing Code of New York State.
Contents of oil separators, traps and floor drainage systems shall be collected at sufficiently frequent intervals and removed from the premises to prevent oil from being carried into the sewers.
As you all know, Old Forge is home to one of the smallest Class D schools around-and that’s not a bad thing. There are countless advantages to the environment our kids enjoy when they step off the bus ever morning.
To be fair, however, it can create some challenges when assembling teams. Not only is there a smaller talent pool from which these squads must be formed, but many of the student-athletes participate in two sports.
That reality makes this year’s accomplishments in Varsity Golf as well as Boys and Girls Track and Field all the more impressive.
In fact, be prepared to be blown away by the unprecedented success of these three teams.
Varsity Golf
Coming off last week’s CSC Northern Division Championship, all eyes were on these guys. After all, if they could continue swinging the clubs as they had been, there was a pretty good chance that they could make some noise at Sectionals.
Sure enough, that’s exactly what they did, although I’m not sure anyone expected things to play out quite so favorably.
On Monday, May 23, New York Mills’ Twin Ponds Country Club played host to the Section III Championships. Entrants would face a full eighteen holes on this challenging course, testing both stamina and consistency.
Apparently, they were more than up for it, as they posted a tremendous four-player team score of 338, as follows: Damon Kull (79); Colin Criss (82); Ben Hannah (86); and Devin Daiker (91).
And what did that get them for their efforts? Only the school’s first-ever Section III Championship!
Yes, it’s true. The team brought home the gold and finished their season in style, to say the least. I don’t know if a simple “congratulations” will suffice, but I hope they know how much this means to all of their fans and the town in general.
Nice work, team. Ya’ did yourselves proud. Not to mention that Hannah, Criss, and Kull are all moving on to the State Qualifiers on May 26th and 28th at Seven Oaks Country Club in Hamilton. Best of luck to you three as well.
That’s not all, though. Read on and find out what might possibly be the best Spring sports season of all time looks like.
Boys and Girls Varsity
Track and Field
New York Mills will be remembered as a particularly friendly place for local athletes as both track teams would compete in the Center State Conference Division III Championship Meet on Thursday, May 19, only a few days prior to their club-toting pals.
Competing against Remsen, Hamilton, New York Mills, Oriskany, Poland, and Owen D. Young, the girls had their work cut out for them. Suffice it to say, they never flinched.
The points rolled in from team leaders Caitlyn Bailey and Maddie Phaneuf to be sure. There were also some pleasant surprises from numerous members who all contributed mightily to the final outcome.
Bailey finished first in the high hurdles and second in the intermediates. Pheneuf had a strong showing with a second in the 1500 and a fourth in the 800.
Lauren Holt’s outing was also key, as she pointed in the triple jump (2nd), high jump (2nd), and pole vault (3rd).
Jessica Hannah earned a fourth place ribbon in the high hurdles along with a sixth place finish in the intermediates and was joined by Sarah Branch (4th-100 meters), Ada Rannels (4th-shot put), and Elizabeth Getty ( 6th-long jump; 6th-triple jump) to round out the scoring.
At the end of the day, they compiled enough points to finish in second place overall, which is the strongest showing for our girls in recent memory. Remsen, who has been a frontrunner all season, won the meet.
As for the guys… well, what can you say? Their run of excellence just rolls on and on. I’d like to use the word dominating to describe their day, but it doesn’t really do them justice.
Hitting on all cylinders, their top four scorers amassed enough points (144) to win the thing all by themselves. That was hardly the case, though, as they managed a team total of 232, enough to exactly double that of their closest competitor, New York Mills, who finished with 116 points.
As has been the case all year, Connor Rockhill and Ethan Kress were superb. They won three events each, including the high hurdles, intermediates, and pole vault (Rockhill) and the triple jump, high jump, and discus (Kress).
Not to be outdone, Trevor Godemann came in first in the 400, 800, and long jump. When you add in Ryan Queen’s win in the 1600, the team’s jaw-dropping ways are clear, with ten first-place finishes out of the fourteen individual events.
And those are just the winning ribbons-there’s a whole lot more to report.
Other points came from Kevin Kress (2nd-high jump, high hurdles, 200 meter dash, pole vault); Queen (2nd-3200); Godemann (2nd-triple jump); Ethan Kress (2nd-long jump); Lance Frymire (2nd-100 ; 3rd-200; 4th-400); Rex Rimato (3rd-800, triple jump); Rockhill (3rd-triple jump); Pat Venetz ( 3rd-discus, 4th-shot put); Dane Daiker (4th-pole vault); Ken Pastore (5th-3200); John Landl (5th-400); Will Johnson (6th-3200); Hanson Schmid (6th-intermediates).
Despite the unbelievable result, the celebration was short-lived. This team and their coach, Tim Leach, know that there is a bigger fish in the pond, just waiting to be hooked, cleaned and wolfed down.
On Wednesday, May 25, right at deadline, this squad will be in Remsen as they attempt to Three-Peat as Section III Champs. Now that would make for a tasty supper! More on their exploits next week.
Kelly Hunkins of Old Forge has announced that she will seek reelection for the position of Town of Webb Tax Collector.
She was elected in November 2010 to finish the term of former tax collector Tricia Crofut who resigned from the position, and hopes to continue her service to the community for the next two years.
“Serving as tax collector has been a remarkable experience. I enjoyed working with the taxpayers and believe I did a good job in my position during the tax collection period.
I appreciated the support of the community in last November’s election and hope for their continued support as I seek reelection,” she said.
Hunkins is a 24-year resident of the Town of Webb. She and her husband, Mike Hunkins, have one son, Alex who is a Town of Webb School graduate.
Aside from her being the bookkeeper for the family excavation business, Michael Hunkins Construction, LLC, she works as assistant, bookkeeper, and receptionist for Old Forge dentist, Dr. Joseph Rintrona.
She is an active member of the Old Forge Fire Department and a certified EMT with the Old Forge Ambulance Corp.