Daily Archives: December 1, 2011

Runners tearing down Main Street. Photo by Carol Hansen

Warm weather, festivities draw crowds to Adirondacks

Local communities host weekend events for annual Christmas on Main Street

Reindeer next to Walt's Diner attracted many onlookers. Photo by Carol Hansen

Last weekend’s An Adirondack Christmas on Main Street event was “the best ever,” according to Mike Farmer, Old Forge Tourism Director, with hundreds of visitors foregoing the city traffic and crowded malls to enjoy some hometown holiday spirit and charm.

“They came because we offer a unique shopping experience of items you won’t find in the big box stores. Plus, there were lots of family activities going on all weekend. Spirits were high—as was evidenced by the estimated crowd of 1,800 that lined Main Street for Friday night’s light parade and tree lighting,” Farmer said.

Nate Haley, age 2, tries out the Reindeer sleigh at Candyland on Friday. Photo by Carol Hansen

Farmer said the Christmas Train, which carried hundreds of passengers from Utica on Friday and Saturday, was a huge success, with many Friday passengers spending the night at area motels to enjoy an extra day of holiday fun before returning to Utica on Saturday.

Chuck Rowlee, Train Master at Thendara Station, said that the number of passengers traveling from Utica’s Union Station to Thendara Station was up fifty percent over last year. Continue reading →

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Growing up Adirondack by Mitch Lee

Making a Christmas wish list and checking it twice

The snow fell heavily on that Saturday afternoon in December of 1973 as my sister and I laid on the living room floor pouring through the pages of the Sears, Montgomery Ward, and JC Penney holiday catalogs making our wish lists.

H.R. Pufnstuf was blaring from the television, and between episodes were commercials for the most amazing toys that any kid could ever hope for.

I was quite specific about what I wanted for Christmas and broke down my requests into four categories: 1) Items that I absolutely could not live without; 2) Items that I would most likely receive whether they were on my list or not; 3) Stuff that sounded cool but I could live without; and 4) Practical stuff. Continue reading →

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Services later for Leona E. Smith, 85

Leona E. Smith, 85, of South Shore Road, died November 26, 2011, at her residence with her family by her side. She was born March 6, 1926 in Tupper Lake, a daughter of Edward and Lucy (Boulier) Brown, and received her education in Town of Webb schools. In May 1956 she married Rufus M. Smith. The couple made their home in Old Forge. Continue reading →

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Herr-Story by Charles Herr A look at local days gone by

A look at local days gone by 

The Forge House: Owners, Proprietor & Managers, Part VI

The Garmon & Crosby Years: 1888-1895 The Utica Weekly Herald of March 24, 1891 published an announced and then a retracted selection of John Studer as the new Forge House proprietor.

Studer was a hotel proprietor in Watson and had reached a verbal agreement with Dr. Crosby. But Garmon had signed a one-year agreement with partners George B. Kitts of Boonville and Mortimer D. Alger of Rome. Kitts was experienced in running hotels at Boonville and later at Rome where he may have met Mortimer D. Alger.

After the one year Forge House lease, he ran the Lewis Hotel in Fulton and then the Doolittle Hotel in Rome.

While at the Lewis Hotel in 1895, Kitts invested in a company manufacturing fire alarm systems for hotels.

At the time of his death of tuberculosis on April 29, 1913, he had been proprietor of the Orlando Hotel in Corning since 1898.

Mortimer D. Alger ran a popular hardware store in Rome for many years until June 1891. After his stint at the Forge House, Alger concentrated on his camp at Big Island on Fourth Lake.

Originally, camp builders erected a camp for guide Fred Rivett and his brother Peter.

They sold their squatters’ rights to Continue reading →

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Feeling a little blue this fall? You’re probably not alone

by Dr. Adam Seigers, Medical Health Contributor

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is a common pattern of seasonal depression. In its most common form called “the fall blues” it starts predictably in the fall months lasts throughout the winter and then resolves in the spring.

It is suspected that as many as one in ten people suffer from the condition with those in the northern latitudes being disproportionately affected.

The condition is more common in women and usually has an age of onset in the mid-twenties.

The exact cause is not known although some experts suggest altered melatonin metabolism or circadian rhythms. Continue reading →

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Gary Lee’s Daybreak to Twilight

Mild temperatures add joy to post-Thanksgiving activities

The nice weather continues locally with only a few snowballs along the Limekiln Road to remind us of things to come. I heard that about ten inches of snow fell in Blue Mountain Lake and also in eastern New York.

Big Moose, of course, got more snow than us in the low lands. It’s that elevation and temperature difference that does it to them.

Just yesterday (11/27) I saw two Chipmunks run across the beechnuts in the road in the Plains.

I’m sure they have been active in this warm weather and have already eaten the first batch of nuts they gathered. Continue reading →

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SAVING FLORELA: Adirondack Mountains give opportunity for employment and life experience to international visitors

by Sheila Brady, Guest Contributor

It was the end of June I was returning from my monthly trip to New York and was waiting for my Amtrak train in Penn Station, which was filled with not only Amtrak passengers, but Long Island Railroad and New Jersey Transit commuters as well. While standing in the midst of throngs of people, I was approached by a terrified young woman who said she had traveled three days from Romania and needed to be sure she was at the right gate to get the train to Utica.

I assured her that I was going to Utica, and would see to it that she got on the right train.

That’s the first of many times she referred to me as her guardian angel.

We sat together and I learned that she was in graduate school studying Marine Law.

Although her family was opposed to her coming to America, she convinced them that she would be part of a foreign student work program, and showed them the brochure from an agency in CA that offered to arrange for a four month visa, a job, housing, and promised travel and a wonderful cultural experience, all for a $3,000 fee.

She said her family gave her the money at great sacrifice, since the average salary in Romania is $300 per month. Continue reading →

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