Monthly Archives: July 2011

Patrick Venetz receives Mike Burke scholarship

The Mike Burke Memorial Scholarship is awarded annually to a Town of Webb School graduating senior with a military service connection and who shows an exemplary community spirit.

This year’s recipient is Patrick Venetz, whose brother Casey is on active duty with the Marine Corps.

Patrick has performed many volunteer hours with Key Club and Niccolls Church. According to Jean Burke, administrator of the award, Patrick is a worthy recipient of the Mike Burke Memorial Scholarship .

Patrick is the son of Nancy and Pat Venetz of Old Forge. He will be attending Norwich University in the fall.

 

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Louis Vaccaro: Local summer resident publishes memoir

Dr. Louis C. Vaccaro, Ph.D., a longtime seasonal resident of Fourth Lake, has recently published his memoir, “Around the Corner – From Shoeshine Boy to College President”.

Vaccaro said the title, “Around the Corner” is a play on words that refers to one of his childhood diversions at the start of World War II. At that time he lived on Dana Street in Los Angeles and he and his friends called themselves, “The Dana Street Commandos”.

The neighborhood was multi-ethnic with Irish, Italian, Latino and Germans, “and it was our job to defeat the Germans,” he said with amusement as he recalled those days when he was also a shoeshine boy and sold newspapers on the corner.

Growing up in an Italian-American family with five brothers and an older sister, the Italian motto: “You don’t work. You don’t eat,” was ingrained in him by his hardworking father, who worked two jobs as a plumber and a truck driver to support his big family.

His father, who died at 61, encouraged him to stay in school and get a good education and not become a laborer.

“Do something with your brain,” his father said.

And Dr. Vaccaro did stay in school, earning two Masters Degrees and a Doctorate. He taught at many colleges, eventually becoming President of The College of St. Rose in Albany.

“I went into education primarily because I was not happy with corporate life, and I knew I wanted to teach. I loved connecting ideas and I think I’m fairly good at explaining complex ideas to students,” he said.

He also created a number of international student programs at colleges in the U.S. and he has served as an advisor to the University of Science and Technology (USTC) in Heifei, China. He plans to return to China in October, he said.

His book is the story of his life’s journey and the people he met along the way. It was edited by former student, Renee Lapham Collins, now a journalist and teacher, and published by Infinity Publishing.

It can be ordered by calling Infinity at (877)-289-2665 or by visiting Amazon.com. It will also be available in local stores in the near future.

Dr. Vaccaro enjoys his summers on Fourth Lake with his wife Linda and their family.

 

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View workshop wing: Cohen family issues matching funds challenge

View, the new arts center in Old Forge, has announced the receipt of a generous gift from the Bob and Ellie Cohen family.

The Cohen family has graciously stepped forward with a pledge, and a challenge, to match donated funds to insure that the workshop wing of View will be known as the “Meyda Tiffany & Lighting Creative Arts Wing.”

Any and all funds donated toward the naming of the wing will be matched three-to-one by the Cohen family in an attempt to reach the $500,000 goal.

The wing houses a large pottery studio with electric and gas kilns, a glazing booth, clay recycling and hand building areas; a multi-purpose workshop for painting, jewelry, wood working and children’s classes; as well as a teaching kitchen. Continue reading →

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Local women design quilt square for N.Y.S. Historian Quilt Project

A quilt square that represents the Town of Webb, will soon be added to a giant New York State Quilt along with the quilt squares from other townships from across the state.

The quilt will eventually be on display in the State Museum in Albany. The New York State Quilt is a project of the Association of Public Historians of New York State.

The quilt square for Webb was designed and created by Town of Webb retired school teachers, Annette Eyre and Louise Watson.

There are no stitches in their quilt block because Wonder Under, a paper-backed commercial product, was used to bind the two fabrics together.

“The square we made is very suggestive of our Adirondack heritage. We’ve incorporated mountains, water, sky and a Parson’s guide boat,” said Watson.

“Our quilt square was designed for our area of the Adirondacks. We received permission from the Adirondack Museum to use the guide boat logo because Parson’s Guide Boats was a large industry in our early history,” Eyre said.

 

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‘Complete Streets’ legislation designed to make travel safer by Sen. James L. Seward

A Column of News & Comment

As our communities grow and change with the times, local officials, who design our streets and plan for the future, are met with increasing challenges.

The senate has approved legislation, known as “Complete Streets” which will offer some guidance to state, county and local transportation with an eye toward safety.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), more than 300 pedestrians were killed on New York’s roadways in 2009—more than 45 other states.

Twenty-six percent of all traffic fatalities in New York State in 2009 involved pedestrians, which is more than double the national average.

No one factor can be blamed for the disturbing numbers, but clearly, steps need to be taken to design safer streets.

By requiring planners to consider “Complete Streets” principles better safety strategies will be implemented.

“Complete Streets” design principles are roadway design features that accommodate and facilitate safe travel by pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorists of all ages and abilities.

These features include sidewalks, paved shoulders suitable for use by bicyclists, bicycle lanes, “share the road” signage, crosswalks, pedestrian control signalization, bus pull outs, curb cuts, raised crosswalks, ramps, and traffic calming measures designed to allow pedestrian and motor traffic to easily coexist. Continue reading →

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Talkin’ Code by Andrew Getty

Ground Snow Load – Roof Design

The Town of Webb Office of Code Enforcement tackles some frequently asked questions

Roof-load designs may need elevating in higher elevationsContractors, engineers, architects and code officers are all familiar with the concept of roof loads and design.

Ever since 2002, when the state entered into the family of the International Building Code (of New York), the design criteria is referred to the Ground Snow Load (GSL).

When a roof truss is designed, all sorts of potential conditions are considered.

Things like unbalanced snow accumulations (wind-blown clean on one side with six feet of snow on the opposite side), wind uplift and general wind conditions.

It’s not uncommon to receive a set of construction drawings showing the ground snow load design as 80 pounds per square foot.

That is what the Building Code of New York shows on the chart for this area.

However, unless you read the text and the fine print, all too often the designer misses the increased load requirements for areas having an elevation of greater than 1,000 feet above sea level.

Straight out of the code books:

1608.2 Ground snow loads.

The ground snow loads to be used in determining the design snow loads for roofs shall be determined in accordance with ASCE 7 or Figure 1608.2.

When using Figure 1608.2 for sites at elevations above 1,000 feet (304 m), the ground snow load shall be increased from the mapped value by 2 psf (0.095 kN/m2) for every 100 feet (30 480 mm) above 1,000 feet (304 m).

Site-specific case studies may be made in lieu of snow loads in Figure 1608.2 or ASCE 7.

Ground snow load determination for site-specific case studies shall be approved and shall be based on an extreme value statistical analysis of data available in the vicinity of the site using a value with a 2-percent annual probability of being exceeded (50-year mean recurrence interval).

Please SEE ABOVE MAP…

Most USGS maps will show the elevation of your site.

Today, many cars with navigation systems will also tell you the elevation as you’re driving along.

The Town of Webb varies from approximately 1,650 to as high as 2,200 above sea level.

That means the GSL design shall range from 93 to 104 psf.

Don’t forget, these are minimum standards; in some areas it may make sense to increase that because of known snow falls that never seem to get reported.

Now you know to remind your designer to make sure they have adjusted the design of the roof based on elevation.

 

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A heartfelt thank you from the family of Frank Plummer

On July 21, Frank Plummer of Keene, NH died while hiking the Bald Mountain/Rondaxe trail near Old Forge.

As a family we grieve the loss of “Papi”, but are at peace that he died with his boots on and his hiking stick in his hand in his favorite place on earth—the Adirondacks. None of us would have it any other way.

The Plummer family wishes to express a very humble and heartfelt thank you to everyone who assisted in responding to the call for help that day.

We are so grateful for the assistance, support and caring we received on the trail and in the days afterwards.

To those of you on the trail who jumped in and helped—thank you for your generous spirit and the gift of your skills, physical strength, and desire to help a fellow hiker.

To the rescue personnel and emergency responders—thank you for your professionalism, and your commitment to the well-being and safety of your communities. What everyone did that day was exhausting and difficult. Thank you so much.

As a family, we are blessed with years of memories of hiking, paddling, camping, and loving the Adirondacks. We thank you for your help and support.

You can bet you will see us next year. We have to finish our hike to the fire tower!

With deep gratitude,

Ellen Plummer,

Frank’s daughter

Blacksburg, VA

 

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