Daily Archives: August 8, 2013

VIEW: Kashiwa poem coming to life for August 14th multi-media event

View will present a multi-media experience based on an inspirational poem written by Miriam Davis Kashiwa on Wednesday, August 14 at 7:30 p.m.

The poem, I Am the Adiron-dacks, will come to life with performances by acclaimed Adiron-dack musicians, Dan Berggren, Dan Duggan, Peggy Lynn, and composer/musician Casey Fillaci.

The inspirational images by award-winning Adirondack photographer Carl Heilman II will form the visual core of the performance.

Kashiwa’s poem gives the Adirondacks its own voice to introduce visitors to the legendary beauty and natural mystique of the region.

Combined with the live music and Heilman’s images, the performance will capture the true spirit of the Adirondack Park.

Tickets are $20 for non-members, $15 for members, and $5 for children and can be purchased at the box office, or by phone at (315) 369-6411, or online at ViewArts.org.

The box office is open during regular hours of operation, Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4:30 p.m.

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Thendara Victorian Tea to benefit Goodsell Museum on August 14

The Town of Webb Historical Association will host a Victorian Tea at the Thendara Town Hall on Wednesday, August 14. The event will begin at 2 p.m.

This year’s event will follow the theme of Weddings, and all guests are encouraged to bring a wedding photo to share.

The tea will include a wide selection of sweet and savory treats and tea by the pot.

Along with the tea and fare served, there will be a drawing for Seven Days of Decadent Desserts.

Seven lucky people will go home with an invitation to have A Decadent Dessert for Two at an area dining spot.

An assortment of gift items will be on display for silent auction.

Tickets are $15 and reservations are requested by calling (315) 369-3838. Proceeds of the event will benefit the Goodsell Museum.

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Keep roadways safe: Become a MAC’s Safe Ride volunteer

MAC’s Safe Ride, the local service that provides a safe alternative means of late-night transportation, is in need of volunteer drivers and navigators for its two service vans.

“In keeping people who have been drinking off the roads, MAC’s Safe Ride is keeping them and everyone else safe,” said co-founder Gisele Kress.

“One decision, one moment can ruin lives. So one night of volunteering can make a difference in saving lives.”

While the group has 150 volunteers, a core group of 15 to 20 people do most of the driving.

“People can get burned out. And right now there are a lot of holes to fill in the schedule,” Kress said.

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Deadline nears for weighing-in on 315 area code changes

The New York Public Service Commission has instituted a public comment period to evaluate the options for adding additional phone numbers in the 315 area code region.

The relief plan proposed by the Commission follows forecasts by the North

American Numbering Plan Administrator (NANPA) that the number of available 315 phone numbers in the region would run out in early 2015.

This forecast is an adjustment to two earlier predictions that overestimated the time in which the demand for new numbers would exhaust the 315 numbers available.

The options under consideration are to either create an overlay, superimposing a new area code on the present 315 region, or geographically splitting the region into two zones.

With the overlay, new numbers would have a new area code and everyone in the region will be required to use the full 11-digit number (1+area code+7 digit number) when making calls.

With the geographic split, one region would keep the 315 area code and the other would be assigned a new area code.

The public comment period is due in part to a letter from State Senator Patty Ritchie of the 48th District to the Commission asking them to delay action on the relief plan due to questions about the need for a new area code.

In her letter, Ritchie notes that “it is not clear that recent growth in the use of mobile or other devices…has brought the region anywhere near the point where we are at the risk of exhausting the supply of available numbers” with a 315 area code, which the NANPA identifies as 600,000 numbers.

Senator Joseph A. Griffo of the 47th District urges residents and businesses to contact the Public Service Commission with their opinion on the proposed plans stating that the 315 area code has been a part of the region’s telecommunications system for decades.

“Those three little numbers have become part of our identity and everyday lives, so when someone wants to change them, the consequences are real,” Griffo said.

Additional information and a survey are available on the Public Service Commission’s website www.askpsc.com.

While public hearings were held this past week in Utica, Watertown and Syracuse, written and phone comments are still being accepted via the following avenues:

• The Internet or In Writing:  Submit comments electronically to Hon. Jeffrey C. Cohen, Acting Secretary, at secretary@dps.ny.gov or by mail or delivery to Acting Secretary Cohen at the Depart-ment of Public Service, Three Empire State Plaza, Albany, New York 12223-1350.

Comments may also be entered directly into the case by locating the case via the home page of the Commission’s website, www.dps.ny.gov, by clicking on “Search,” and entering 07-C-1486 in the “Search by Case Number” field.

After clicking to open the case, enter comments in the “Post Comments” section located at the top of the page.

• Toll-Free Opinion Line: Individuals may choose to submit comments by calling the Commission’s toll-free Opinion Line at 1-800-335-2120.

This line is set up to receive in-state calls 24-hours a day. Callers should press “1” to leave comments about “Case 07-C-1486 – Area Code 315 Overlay.”

Comments are requested by August 16, 2013.

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Community softball games being planned in Old Forge

Bill Brooker Sr. is inviting any interested community members, ages 16 through 80+, male or female, to participate in a relaxed-rules community softball fun game, first on Sunday, August 18, and maybe August 25, too.

Anyone interested should call Bill at 369-3233 (daytime), or at 561-702-2081 (so he can get a beverage count), then show up at the Park Avenue ballfield at 5 p.m. Please leave a phone number where you can be reached if necessary.

Tom Smith’s playing status is still unknown for this year, according to Brooker, but Joe Rintrona could wander far enough off the disabled list to umpire.

A variety of beverages will be provided.

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Rustic Riders to play at Big Moose Chapel

The Rustic Riders will appear in concert at the Big Moose Chapel at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, August 10th.

The Rustic Riders includes vocalist and guitarist Lisa Meissner, percussionist Klaus Meissner, and Bill Chamberlain, Jeff Couture, Dan Salpaugh and David Katz  who round out the group playing banjo, fiddle, mandolin, guitar and bass.

They have played across the North Country, Vermont and New Hampshire and love interacting with audiences.

There is no admission fee, but a free will offering will be accepted to defray costs.

In addition to the Saturday evening show, The Rustic Riders will perform during worship services at the Chapel at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 11th.

The Chapel is located at 1544 Big Moose Road, six miles from Eagle Bay. All are invited.

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‘Eat well, live well. Locally’: Motto of Old Forge Farmers’ Market vendor

Visitors and residents have been enjoying the local farmers’ market since it opened in June 2008, but area restaurants are also finding it to be a valuable resource as they seek out homegrown ingredients to offer in special entrees.

For the past few years, Jones Family Farm has been a vendor at the Old Forge market, providing such products as all-natural goat cheese, grass-fed meats, free-range eggs, and new to this year’s offerings, gelato.

Their food has become the basis of selections that appear regularly on the menu of Sisters Bistro, and for special events at Five Corners Café.

The Jones Family Farm, located in Herkimer, started almost 10 years ago with the motto, “Eat Well, Live Well. Locally.”

And they seem to be doing just that as they do most of their business in a 60-mile radius of the farm.

Their primary outlets for sale are at various Farmers’ Markets in Herkimer, Oneida, and Madison counties, and they also provide products to The Tailor and the Cook and the Bagel Grove in Utica, Nola’s in Clinton, and Peter’s Cornucopia in New Hartford.

Suzie Jones, the face of the operation, and her husband, both have farming in their backgrounds having grown up in Wisconsin and Minnesota, respectively.

After having their first child they left their nine-to-five jobs outside of Boston and settled in the Mohawk Valley to start the farm. The land prices were good, reminding them of their midwest roots.

“We found a great fit here,” said Suzie.

Wanting to  “feed our community” and “to be diversified,” the Joneses began to raise and sell meat chickens and meat goats as well as produce goat, cow and sheep’s milk with milk purchased from four different neighboring farms. This summer they started making gelato.

The Old Forge Farmers’ Market is in operation every Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. through October. It is located on Park Avenue behind the Old Forge Hardware.

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