The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) and the Adirondack Film Society have been working with 13 north country theater owners and CAP-21, to help address the digital conversion costs facing our local theaters, including the Strand of Old Forge.

Recent closures have left the Strand as one of only two small theaters left in Herkimer County.

With the closure of the Tamarack Theater in Inlet, Hamilton County now has the Indian Lake Theater as its only remaining community theater.

To address the cost of digital conversion, ANCA and the theater owners will be implementing a fundraising campaign titled, Go Digital, or Go Dark.

The campaign, which will be initiated in March or April, will have two strategies.

There will be a regional North Country strategy that will initiate an on-line marketing and fundraising campaign with funds being distributed to participating theaters.

As funds will be distributed through the non-profit Adirondack Film Society, donations will be tax-deductible.

To complement this regional campaign, The Strand and Indian Lake Theater will implement local fund raising campaigns.  Continue reading →

From left, Student of the Month Chairman Ray Schoeberlein, Students of the Month Ali McCumber and Danielle Gibbs and Danielle’s parents Linda and Jeff Givvs and Town of Webb School Counselor Kandis Griffin. Courtesy photo.

The Kiwanis Club of the Central Adirondacks recognized Students of the Month for December 2012 and January 2013 at a recognition event on Monday, January 28.

Ray Schoeberlein, Kiwanis Student of the Month chairman introduced Ali McCumber as the recipient of the December honor and Danielle Gibbs as January’s recipient.

Ali is the daughter of Gail Weedmark of Old Forge. Danielle is the daughter of Linda and Jeff Gibbs of Old Forge.

During the program, each of the students was presented a certificate and a check for $50 in recognition of their individual achievements.

The students each presented a brief outline of their activities and plans following graduation.

Kiwanis Club Vice President Mike Griffin congratulated the students and thanked them for their dedication to school and community activities.

Carter Lawrence, Coach Jim Holt, Cy Barkauskas and Connor Glasser.

The five alpine racers on the Polar Bear U16 team, Carter Lawrence, Cy Barkauskas, Connor Glasser, Mara Gaffney and Adam Levi, have been busy competing on their race circuit since January 12.

The racers began competing at Whiteface Mountain on January 12 and 13, followed by competitions at Belleyare and Windham Mountains in the Catskills two weeks later.

On Monday, February 4, the racers competed in a Super G at Gore Mountain where Super G race athletes were named to the state team.

This team includes the top 24 boy and 21 girl racers from the East who will compete against the girls’ and boys’ team from the West at Whiteface Mountain on February 21 to 24.

There will be 121 athletes competing in Super G, GS, and Slalom disciplines over the four-day period.

Representing the Polar Bear Ski Club on the Eastern U16 State Team are Carter Lawrence, Cy Barkauskas and Connor Glasser.

Citing a healthy operating surplus, a large tax base, and growing reserves, Moody’s Investors Service has recently upgraded the Herkimer County general obligation rating to Aa3 bond rating from A1 bond rating.

An Aa3 rating is the second highest rating that can be received by Moody’s and signifies Herkimer County as high quality with a very low credit risk with the best ability to re-pay short term debt.

Moody’s believes that the county’s debt profile will remain manageable given its sizable tax base, population stability, modest future borrowing plans, and nominal direct debt burden.

According to Herkimer County Legislators, the upgrade in the County’s bond rate will be beneficial to any refinancing that is considered and is a testament to hard work done by the Legislature and in particular, the Ways and Means Committee, to build up operating reserves and keep debt low.

“Our healthy financial position is a direct result of our conservative management style as mentioned in the report, as well as taking the difficult but necessary steps in managing county government on a day to day basis,” said Patrick Russell, Herkimer County legislator and chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.