Adirondack Family Time™

The Red Dot Trail in Paul Smiths, NY is an easy multi-trail system that connects to the Jackrabbit Trail, near the Paul Smith's College VIC. Either cross-country (XC-ski) or snowshoe during the winter. Be careful, nearby Osgood Pond does not always freeze.  Follow the clearly marked trail. Either cross the bridge over the canal or continue to Little Osgood Pond. There are two lean-to along the trail with a variety of conditions. There are some hills as the trail follows an esker that overlooks Osgood Pond.

Trumpet honeysuckle ( L. sempervirens )   is a native plant DID YOU KNOW? Native Adirondack honeysuckle to look for are: American fly-honeysuckle  ( Lonicera canadensis ) and  Limber honeysuckle  ( Lonicera dioica) and   Northern bush-honeysuckle ( Diervilla lonicera ), Wetland area honeysuckles : Mountain fly-honeysuckl e ( L. villosa ) and Swamp fly-honeysuckl e ( L. oblongifolia ) Native vines:  Trumpet honeysuckle ( L. sempervirens ) and Hairy honeysuckle ( L. hirsuta ) How to tell the difference? Invasive honeysuckle have hollow stems while the Adirondack natives have solid stems . Non-native are larger and more vigorous than the Adirondack honeysuckles.

The  Saratoga Arts Center in Saratoga Springs  has released in 2013  Fine Art Classes for Everybod y program.  There are Open Studio to Basic Drawing classes available. Don't forget to enroll children in the School Break Camps .  School Break Camps are full week programs in theatre and visual arts for children ages 5-14. There are two sessions, February 18-22 and April 1-5. 

2013 Public Skating Schedule Glens Falls Recreation Center, Fire Road, Glens Falls Hours are subject to change or cancellation *   For weekly updates call 518- 761-3855 Admission is Free

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  PLEASE BE SAFE AND REMEMBER  WE ALL CARRY PRECIOUS CARGO TODAY AND EVERYDAY!  (So keep those highways and roads safe and don't forget your designated driver!)

First Night Saranac Lake is just around the corner with exciting events,  spoken poetry, live music, comedy and magic. Come watch the snowflake ball watch and fireworks at midnight! Happy New Year from the Adirondacks!   to print a schedule, click here !  Buttons are $12 for adults and can be purchased starting in Mid-November at : Ampersound Music, Price Chopper Supermarket (Lake Placid), Books & Baskets, Blueline Sports, ADK Daily Enterprise, Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce, and the Lake Placid Visitor Bureau. Children 12 & under are FREE. All button sales are final. © Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities™ guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time™, which is available online or bookstores/museums/sporting good stores. Diane is currently working on the third guidebook in the four-book series of Adirondack Family Activities™.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from everyone at  Adirondack Family Time (Diane, Tyler, Sawyer and Lisse Chase)

According to a press release from the National PTA, when school resumes for Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT ,  in the wake of last Friday’s school shootin g, students  will be in a new building. Parents and volunteers are working to ensure that the students are welcomed back by a winter wonderland with the entire school decorated with as many unique snowflakes as possible. The National PTA reports that an effort is under way to cheer the Sandy Hook Elementary students when they resume instruction. They are asking everyone to make snowflakes or to donate change in support of the Sandy Hook PTSA. Be as creative as possible, no two snowflakes are alike!  Please send snowflakes by January 12, 2013 to: Connecticut PTSA 60 Connolly Parkway Building 12, Suite 103 Hamden, CT 06514 The National PTA met with PTA leaders of all of the schools in Newtown, Conn., including the Sandy Hook PTA, as well as community leaders who requested the group’s help in supporting th

Adirondack Park Zipcode Areas. Search and find where the next Zip Code Meets Date will be around the Adirondack Park!

The main reason we drag ourselves out of our winter bed on weekends is to ski at Whiteface. We have also found there are plenty of other reasons to visit Wilmington, a quiet town known for Olympic caliber alpine trails. Besides the restaurants nestled along the roadside, one favorite stop for my family is the Adirondack Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. The Wildlife Refuge is a 50-acre rehabilitation center on the western branch of the Ausable River. There is a one-mile educational nature trail; animal enclosures and a pet timber wolf. Run by Wendy and Steve Hall, the Halls are passionate about the environment and always willing to explain how plants and animals play a vital role in nature. Wendy holds Federal and State licenses in wildlife rehabilitation and education. The Wildlife Refuge continues to educate the public through presentations at schools and other organizations. There is usually an animal on site that has been brought to them to (at best) return to its natural e

It has been a few years since I’ve been back to Santa’s Workshop in Wilmington, NY. My children are a bit older and getting too tall for most of the rides. Without sounding too much like the Grinch, I was feeling like the North Pole didn’t fit me quite right (most of the rides are for children 48” or smaller.) Well, thanks to a friend who was madly packing her children into her car to make it to Santa’s Workshop, we were reacquainted with the North Pole as a family with older children. Each Sunday in December as well as December 21-23 and 26-30, Santa’s Workshop puts on a special evening show with a Nativity Pageant under the evening sky. Holiday music surrounds the tiny village where elves are busily preparing for Christmas. Join in the caroling around the fire pit, or go to Jack Spratt’s Bakery to get your s’more kit (stick included.)    Of course, no visit is complete with out a stop to see the “jolly old elf.”

Once a month the staff of Fort  Ticonderoga will lead the  “Fort Fever Series” through April 2013.  When: Sundays  at 2:00.  Where: Deborah Clarke Mars Education Center at Fort  Ticonderoga .  Admission: $10 per person payable at the door; (members of the Friends of Fort  Ticonderoga  are free). Programs are scheduled for January 13, February 10, March 17, and April 21 "The Realities of War" Christopher Fox, Curator of Collections Sunday, January 13, 2013,  2:00 p.m. Using petitions filed by Massachusetts Provincials following their service in the French & Indian War, Chris Fox talks about the experiences of those soldiers during the 1758 campaign against French-held Fort Carillon ( Ticonderoga ). "Exploration on Snow Shoes: A Timeline of Trees on the Pavilion Landscape" Heidi  Karkoski , Curator of Landscape Sunday, February 10, 2:00 p.m. Tour the Pavilion grounds on a winter's afternoon and learn about the ornamental tree speci

2013 DEPOT THEATRE 35th Anniversary Season Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays at 8 PM Saturdays at 3 PM ·  Thursdays, Sundays at 5 PM (unless otherwise noted)  June 28 - July 14 ROUTE 66 *World Premiere Musical* Book by Jerold Goldstein & William Squier Music by Fred Stark, Lyrics by William Squier ROUTE 66 is a new romantic musical comedy about  a charmingly neurotic big-city journalist and the  cowboy photographer with whom she teams up to  tell the captivating and quirky stories of the historic  old highway. In the process of discovering the beauty  of the small towns of America that follow ROUTE 66,  the two of them fall in love – not only with one  another, but with the good ol’ U.S.A. In the Depot’s  tradition of bringing new musicals that feel as  comfortable as your favorite sweater, ROUTE 66  features catchy story-songs and clever down-home  lyrics that move to the rhythm of America. • No show on Thursday, July 4 • Additional show on Friday, July 5 a