Adirondack Family Time™

Annual Indian Lake Winterfest    Feburary 17-19, 2012 Friday: Mardi Gras Parade 4:30pm, Pasta Dinner at the Legion Hall 5:00pm, Movie at IL Theater 7:00pm. Saturday: Breakfast at the Firehall 7:00-10:00am, Snowarrior Poker Run starts at Byron Park 9:00am, Craft Fair at IL School Cafeteria 10:00-3:00pm, Book and Bake Sale at the Town Hall 10:00-2:00pm, Roast Beef Dinner at the Methodist Church 5:00pm, Gallery Reception and Dance Party at Adk. Lakes Center for the Arts (Blue Mountain Lake) 5:00pm, Tricky Tray at IL School Gym doors open at 6:30pm, Movie at Indian Lake Theater 7:00pm. Sunday: Breakfast at the Firehall 7:00-11:00am, Games and Fun for grade school age kids at the Ski Hut 1:00pm, Make Your Own Sled Races on the sliding slope at 3:00pm, Jalapeno Eating Contest at Marty's Chili Nights at 3:00pm, Bon Fire, Torch Run and Fireworks at the Ski Hut 6:30pm. FREE skating, skiing and sliding all weekend and during President's Week on Tower Hill, weather permitt

The Paul Smith's VIC has instituted a No-School Day Junior ADK Steward Program. On Tuesday, February 21, join Sarah Keyes, Paul Smith's VIC naturalist for a full day program (9:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.)  of outdoor activities geared toward 6-10 year-olds. There will be arts and crafts, snowshoeing and other activities. Bring your own lunch though snacks will be provided.  The costs is $20/$25 for non-members. Call 518-327-5241 or email skeyes@paulsmiths.edu for more information! © Diane Chase, author of Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks (Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities) for the towns of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Jay/Upper Jay, Wilmington, Keene/Keene Valley which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the second guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities.

By Diane Chase We aren't actually going on the bobsled, this time. My partner in crime does not meet the 48" height requirement and if heredity stays true, she won't be that tall for quite some time. We drop her brother at Mt Van Hoevenberg for a skate ski lesson and figure out how to entertain ourselves. I have a bum knee from a skiing mishap and she is hungry.  A short distance away is the Lake Placid Bobsled Experience . We are fortunate because busloads of people are being dropped off. Though you do need a ticket to enter the building, we ask if we can just watch a few runs while enjoying some hot chocolate from the snack bar.

Join Old Forge in Celebrating Super Bowl XLVI at McCauley Mountain. Ski races, parade, music, fireworks and more! 

Lake George Winter Carnival Schedule of Events.   There is something to do every Weekend in February in Lake George! 8:00AM ::  Hot Air Balloon Tether Rides  (Fee) :: Million Dollar Beach -SunKiss Ballooning  (Weather Permitting) 11AM-2:00PM ::  Children’s Activities  & Face Paintings by Amanda ::King Neptune’s 2:30PM ::  Snowmobile Water Skip  :: Shepards Park Beach 12-2:00PM ::  Games  ($1) :: Prizes at Shepards Park Beach 3:00PM ::  Polar Plunge  :: Shepards Park Beach 12-2:00PM ::  Snowmobile Rides  ($2) :: On the ice 12-2:00PM ::  Wood Carving Demonstrations  :: Shepards Park Beach 12-2:30PM ::  Children’s Petting Zoo  :: Saturdays at Shepards Park All day ::  Dog Sled Rides  ($10) :: On the ice All day ::  Helicopter Rides  ($45) :: On the ice Below are some additional highlights from each weekend's events or click on the picture. 

Our car in the winter looks like a sporting goods store. Ice skates, sleds and snowshoes are the standard elements for winter fun for our family in the Adirondacks.  Sledding in Lake Placid can be tricky. Though most people will go sledding on local golf courses, do realize that it is private property and you are considered a trespasser.  One of the wonderful things about an old fashioned sledding hill is anyone can do it from the youngest to eldest in your group. 

The 115th annual Saranac Lake Winter Ice Carnival will take place from February 3- 12, 2012.  With a full 10-day schedule of activities and events, there is something for everyone in Saranac Lake. THURSDAY, February 2 5:30 p.m.  – 13th Annual Past Royalty Mixer and Dinner *Red Fox Restaurant, $, call 891-1286 for reservations FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3 7:30 p.m.  –  Coronation Of Carnival Royalty *At the Harrietstown Town Hall Sponsored By Women’s Civic Chamber Reception Following Ceremony; Downhill Grill SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4 10 a.m.: Ice Palace Fun Run (4 miles) (Ice Palace) 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: 19th Annual Business & Professional Women Chocolate Festival (Harrietstown Town Hall, $) 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.: Lutheran Church Women’s Craft Sale (Harrietstown Town Hall, $) 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Petrova Winter Carnival (fun for kids) (Petrova Elementary School Cafeteria, $) 11 a.m.: The Curling Exhibition (Near the State Boat Launch site on Lake Flower) 11 a.m.: Paul Smith

Tuesday, January 31st  at 1:00 p.m. The Saranac Village at Will Rogers Senior Outing Club, in conjunction with Dewey Mountain Recreation Center, will host a Senior Snowshoe Outing at Dewey Mountain.  Join seniors (55+) for a free afternoon of snowshoeing.  Snowshoes will be provided at no extra cost.  Reservations must be made by calling  Jenn Grisi at  (518) 891-7117  or emailing her at retireatwillrogers@verizon.net .     The Saranac Village at Will Rogers Senior Outing Club is open to all seniors (55+) interested in venturing out for moderate activity at various locations around the area. Activities are held on the last Tuesday of every month. The club's mission is to "offer seniors the chance to enjoy outdoor adventures with companionship, safety and fun." © Diane Chase, author of Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks (Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities) for the towns of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Jay/Upper Jay,

  Bobcats Return to Champlain Valley Thursday, January 26, 7:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Whallonsburg Grange Join  Sue Morse, renowned wildlife tracker and founder of Keeping Track , as she shares stories and evidence of the bobcats’ return from near extinction in the Champlain Valley. © Diane Chase, author of Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks (Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities) for the towns of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Jay/Upper Jay, Wilmington, Keene/Keene Valley which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the second guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities.

I am often sent emails from people looking for activities to do with children or family members of all ages. I am honored to be able to suggest ideas. (My email is below but do to very unpleasant spammers I can't make it a live link.) Below are a few ideas from Schroon Lake to Lake Placid, along the "Adirondack Lake Champlain Coast. Inside activities: These suggestions all have some sort of cost: pan for gems at High Falls Gorge  518-946-2278 , Wilmington (also beautiful trails, waterfall), paint your own pottery at Brush On In, Lake Placid    518.523.6554 , go to the Essex County Fish Hatchery in Crown Point (for a few quarters the kids can feed the fish)  518) 597-3844 .  Ice skating  gets tricky this time of year. We have had so many melts and freezes. Schroon Lake and Ticonderoga flood the tennis/basketball courts or by the beach for an outdoor ice rink but that is not currently available but the playground at the Schroon Lake public beach is fun.

By Diane Chase, author of Adirondack Family Time Tri-Lakes and High Peaks: Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities Mush!  John Houghton, the owner of Thunder Mountain Dog Sled Tours has been checking the ice on Mirror Lake daily to make sure it is safe and ready for dog sled rides. Since we saw a dog sled movie (more than one movie so it's not worth mentioning a name) there has been some insistence from the ranks about being pulled around by dog. There had been attempts in our past of attaching a sled to our gold retriever, with little success. I have been even dubbed the team at times, but believe the allure isn't in the ride but in the animals. Houghton, who also breeds his Alaskan Huskies as well as runs them, is not going to jeopardize his eight-dog team or the passengers that are along for the ride. He has over 20 years experience with dog sled tours. If his dogs are on the ice, his daughter assures me, the ice will be safe. He periodically checks the ice for

Martin Luther King delivered his famous "I Have A Dream" speech in August 28, 1963 on the "March To Washington" at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  Martin Luther King. "  I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity