Daily Archives: July 14, 2011

VIEW: New arts center opens officially with dedication, ribbon cutting

The Dedication and Ribbon Cutting for View, the new arts center of Old Forge, was held Friday, July 8, and included several congratulatory addresses.

The program got started shortly after 10 a.m. with a welcome by John Munyan, president of the board of directors.

“We have indeed come a long way. We’ve had 60 years of history beginning humbly in a front yard, and many people helped us get here today,” Munyan said.

He acknowledged the architects, Saratoga Associates; contractor Bill Gaetano of Charles Gaetano Construction Company; Senator Jim Seward; Assemblyman Marc Butler and Jill Harvey and Kathleen Goodman of the USDA, Rural Development Agency.

Over the past years, Seward and Butler secured funding and grants for the project; while Harvey and Goodman, through the Rural Development Agency, provided a $3 million direct loan and a grant of $50,000.

Munyan also acknowledged major donors from the Mallinckrodt family, Dr. Franklin and Sandy Gould, the Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Kevin and Candy Jost, Tim and Sherry Noonan and Dutch Vandervort, “and of course the owner of the front yard where it all began, our founder Miriam “Mirnie” Kashiwa,” he said. Continue reading →

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Niccolls Fashion Show set for July 20 at North Woods Inn

The Women’s Fellowship group of Niccolls Memorial Presbyterian Church in Old Forge will host their annual “Fashions by the Lake” benefit fashion show and luncheon at North Woods Inn on Wednesday, July 20 at noon.

Clothing featured at the show will be provided by local shops and will be modeled by area residents. This year’stheme is Adirondack Women – Forever Wild!

The proceeds of this year’s event will benefit the Parkinson’s Unit fund at the Presbyterian Home in Utica.

“This is a great opportunity for us to support the upgrade of the existing residence for the special needs of Parkinson’s patients,” said Ruth Brussel, co-moderator of the Women’s Fellowship group,

Tickets are $18 and include a “trio” salad with all the trimmings. Vegetarian options will also be available.

Due to limited seating, it is recommended that tickets be purchased in advance by calling Cathy Trevett at (315) 369-9917.

 

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Grant from Community Foundation provides Glimmerglass opportunity

With the support of a grant from The Community Foundation of Herkimer and Oneida Counties, Inc., residents of Herkimer and Oneida Counties will have the opportunity to attend this summer’s Glimmerglass Festival in Cooperstown at a reduced rate.

Residents of both counties who have never attended a Glimmerglass performance, or have not been since 2006, can attend a production for just $12. The remainder of the ticket cost is subsidized by The Community Foundation grant.

The Glimmerglass Festival runs through August 23, with many matinee and early afternoon offerings.

This year’s productions are Carmen, Medea, Annie Get Your Gun and the double bill of A Blizzard On Marblehead Neck and Later the Same Evening.

Residents who meet the criteria for the special ticket rate should call the Glimmerglass Box Office at (607) 547-2255 and mention HOCF to receive the special offer. Visit www.glimmerglass.org for details. See related story page 11.

 

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Meet the Common Ground Alliance of the Adirondacks

The Common Ground Alliance grew from a small core group of local elected officials, economic development non-profits and environmental non-profits who asked the question: “What solutions can we offer for the Park that will benefit the communities, their economies and the environment?”

Although the Adirondack Park has few year-round residents, more than 10 million visitors per year make the Park one of the state’s most important tourism destinations.

It also protects a huge portion of the state’s fresh water, with 2,800 lakes and ponds, more than a thousand miles of navigable rivers and 30,000 miles of brooks and streams.

About half of the Park is made up of “forever wild” Forest Preserve, which is protected from logging and development by the NYS Constitution.

Those protections ensure the long term health of the Park’s forests and waters, but can be an impediment to traditional development and commercial activity on the adjoining private lands.

The Alliance groups are coming together to find ways to nurture the environment and economy at the same time.

The Adirondack Common Ground Alliance core group is made up of:

• Lani Ulrich, founding Director, CAP-21 and local resident commissioner on the Adirondack Park Agency Board;

• Brian Towers, President of the Adirondack Association of Towns and Villages;

• Bill Farber, Chairman, Hamilton Country Board of Supervisors;

• JR Risley, Adirondack Economic Development Corporation;

• Kate Fish, Executive Director and of the Adirondack North Country Association;

• Zoë Smith, Adirondack Program Director, Wildlife Conservation Society;

• Ray Curran, Sustainable Communities;

• Ross Whaley, senior advisor to the Adirondack Landowners Association;

• Greg Hill, Independent Adirondack Consultant; and,

• Brian Houseal, Executive Director, The Adirondack Council.

 

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Charting Future Path for the Adirondacks: Common Ground Alliance to host major planning forum on July 20th

Small town economies and environment among key concerns

More than 100 Adirondack citizens, including small business owners, local, state and federal officials, and non-profit leaders are expected to participate in a Long Lake forum to discuss the future of Adirondack Park communities and how to improve their economies and environment.

The interactive forum is to be held Wednesday, July 20, and will focus on future Park scenarios.

It is being hosted by the Common Ground Alliance of the Adirondacks.

Local businessmen and scenario experts Dave Mason and Jim Herman will present six possible scenarios for the future of the Park.

Mason and Herman are the entrepreneurial team that brought affordable broadband telecommunications to Keene and Keene Valley. “We hope to stimulate people to think more strategically about the difficult and complex issues facing the Park,” Mason said. “We want people to think hard about what they want the Park to become in the future.”

Participants in this year’s forum will rank the scenarios and discuss how Adirondackers can work towards, or away from, these possible future outcomes.

Each participant will also have the opportunity to sign up and be part of a team that will continue this process of scenario planning to help drive the process into the future of the Park.

Kate Fish, executive director of the Adirondack North Country Association, said the scenario approach has proven to be constructive in many applications.

“Scenarios are powerful tools that the private sector has used for decades to plan, anticipate and help drive toward desired outcomes,” she said. “We are extremely fortunate to have Dave Mason and Jim Herman bring their extensive experience in managing scenario planning to the Adirondacks to help us collectively determine our own desired future and to work toward achieving it,” she said.

Lani Ulrich, founding member of CAP-21, said the forum should help Adirondackers communities pull together with a stronger voice. “There are too few people in the Adirondacks for us to be sending mixed messages to our officials,” she said. “We need to determine what our strongest mutual concerns are, get them down on paper and work together to get attention for them.

Brian Houseal, executive director of the Adirondack Council, agrees. “The Adirondack Park has only about 150,000 residents, spread over 12 counties, covering more than 9,000 square miles. It is larger than Massachusetts, but has barely 1/40th of its population. So it’s easy for lawmakers and policymakers to write-off the region as politically insignificant,” he said.

But the Park is not without its stengths, Houseal said.“[We have] a strong supply of dedicated leaders and well-run organizations that can help bring the needs of the Park and its residents to the forefront. By working together on our common problems, we can send a stronger and clearer message to Albany and Washington, D.C. than any of us could manage on our own.”

The Common Ground Alliance Forum will be held from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Mt. Sabattis Pavilion, Long Lake. Participants may register on-line at http://tinyurl.com/6be9pdr.

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Daiker’s to host fundraiser July 20th: Proceeds to benefit MAC’s Safe Ride

The interest in use of MAC’s Safe Ride, an Old Forge-area late night transportation service, has increased greatly since its inaugural launch on New Year’s eve.

During the winter/spring months the service was available solely on weekends.

But, according to the not-for-profit service’s spokesperson, Beth Tickner, now that summer has hit, the van is on the road seven nights a week.

And, Tickner said, with the accelerated usage has come a demand to transport larger parties than the current 5-person van can accommodate in one trip.

Therefore, MAC’s Safe Ride will be conducting future fundraisers to support the purchase of a used 15-passenger van.

The first fundraiser will be held at Daiker’s Inn on Wednesday, July 20 beginning at 9 p.m.

It will feature live music by headliner, Adam Reynolds, along with area musicians Doug Green, Andy Minnie, and Joe Bolton.

All proceeds from the door will support the purchase of the additional larger van.

Tickner said representatives of MAC’s Safe Ride will be available the evening of the benefit to distribute information on the service, and to sign-up volunteer drivers and co-pilots for the month of August.

She added that they are in the process of putting a calendar on their web page, MACsSafeRide

.com, which will show what nights volunteer drivers are needed.

Anyone who finds themselves in a situation where they need a safe ride home, can call (315) 369-8121.

Tickner recommends that callers speak directly to a volunteer rather than by text or leaving a phone message as area cell service is not always readily available during peak usage times.

More information on MAC’s Safe Ride is available by email at: MACs369.8121@gmail.com.

Volunteers are currently on the look-out for a suitable used van, but Tickner said the organization welcomes any help or leads from the public as well.

Any musician who would like to perform at the July 20 fundraiser can call Tal Daiker at (315) 360-6954.

 

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Downtown Public Restrooms find new home in Old Forge

At the monthly meeting of the Town of Webb Board on Tuesday, July 12, Kate Russell announced that public restrooms will be available at the site of the former Howard Johnson’s restaurant, across the street from the Strand Theater beginning Friday, July 15.

The town has entered into a rental agreement for the restrooms with current owners of the property, Bob Card and Helen Zyma.

During the meeting, Supervisor Robert Moore extended thanks to Kate Russell, Bob Card and Helen Zyma for providing the town with public restrooms.

 

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