Adirondack Family Time™

By Diane Chase,  (as seen in the Adirondack Daily Enterprise) My family had the pleasure of going through Stan Burdick’s Ticonderoga Cartoon Museum before the collection was moved to Pittsburgh Toon-seum in 2010. We were given a rare treat; the founder and curator, Stan Burdick, was also our personal guide. As other guests came and went, Stan gave everyone the same level of attention. This Saturday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m., Stan will be at Saranac Village at Will Rogers in presenting one of his many road shows based on what he knows best, cartooning.    After talking briefly with Stan he told me this particular show is good for people of all ages. As a storyteller, he will be using large cartoon storyboards or panels to help illustrate familiar and unusual poems. He gives two examples of poetry through the ages with “Casey At the Bat,” and “A Trial In New Amsterdam.”

By Diane Chase Safety is always a concern when paddling with children so we want to take whatever precautions necessary to assure a fun experience. Adirondacks Lakes and Trails Outfitters   owner Steve Doxzon says, “This time of year it’s the cold water that is the biggest issue. People need to dress for the water temperature not the air temperature. It may be 70 degrees outside but the water is still only 37 degrees.” Doxzon especially urges a person kayaking to dress accordingly as there is a greater chance for capsizing and  hypothermia . He reminds paddlers that sudden changes in conditions, like windy days, are something to be wary of when getting out on Adirondack lakes, rivers and ponds. Read More Here

Paul Smith's College students will be giving away CFL light bulbs on March 3rd 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. so go check out The Community Store and see what else is being offered.

Would your 11 to 17-year old like to go to Environmental Conservation Camp? Here is a chance to win a full scholarship to a week at either Camp Colby in Saranac Lake or Camp Pack Forest in Warrensburg. Deadline to enter is March 7. 

Don't forget to help stop hunger at the 2nd annual North Country Food Pantry Benefit. Eleven musicians are donating their amazing talents for a free concert. Your cost is to bring a nonperishable food item or donation to the food pantry. Come and go! The concert (February 25) starts at noon and continues to 8:00 p.m. at the Saranac Lake Harrietown Town Hall. Help fight hunger! This year’s line-up is impressive. Drop by the Harrietstown Town Hall to see Cameron Anderson, Shamrock House Band, Theresa Hartford, Rustic Riders, Celia Evans, Eric and the Dutchman, Jamie Savage, Roy Hurd, Blind Owl Band and the Ruff, Good Daques Band. There will be refreshments available for purchase through Paul Smith’s College and SODEXO with all proceeds benefiting local food pantries. There will be another musical benefit in the spring to benefit the Tupper Lake Food Pantry. 

Pendragon Theatre in Saranac Lake, the Adirondacks only year-round professional theatre is taking its production of "To Kill A Mockingbird" on the road.

Saranac Lake's 2nd annual Home For The Holidays is a weekend full of activities from marshmallow roasts, children's crafts, movies, Breakfast with Santa, snowman building contest and more. Enjoy this time to walk the streets of Saranac Lake, peek around and enjoy some family time!  

The Adirondack's only year-round professional theatre presents "To Kill A Mockingbird"  Performances  in Saranac Lake are:  November 17,18,19, 30 at 7:00 p.m.   December 1, 2 at 7:00 p.m.   The only matinee is Sunday, December 4, at 2:00 p.m.   The production will return to Saranac Lake for only one more performance  as a part of the Winter Carnival on February 11, 2012 at 7:30 p.m. To Kill A Mockingbird  will tour through March to schools and Arts Centers throughout the region. Consult the Pendragon Theatre’s website or contact the Pendragon Theatre directly for information about these performances “on the road”. Ticket prices are $20 adult, $18 senior and $10 for people under 17. For further information contact the theatre at: 518-891-1854,  via e-mail:  pdragon@northnet.org   or on the web: www.pendragontheatre.org.  © Diane Chase, author of Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes and High Peaks (Your Four-Season Guide to Over 300 Activities) for

By Diane Chase, from my weekly Adirondack Almanack post Being an active family, my kids seems to outgrown their sporting gear before I’ve finished tying up the laces. For other parents looking to outfit their children for the winter ski season, a ski swap is a nice starting place. A ski swap can also be a much-needed opportunity to clean house Generally the ski swaps are consignments where you drop off your gear, helmets, and winter clothing a day before the event. If the gear sells then you will receive 80% of the set sale price. Usually the funds generated benefit a special organization like ski clubs or ski patrols so the 20% commission goes to support the sport. It is best to ask what each ski swap's arrangement is, as it varies with location. Keep in mind no “collector’s items” like wooden skis and only clothing in good condition.   Lake Placid: November 5, 9:00 a.m. – noon In Lake Placid, the   Lake Placid Ski Club/NYSEF Ski Swap   is asking for any winter gear from

By Diane Chase* There are a lot of festivals that happen around this time of year, Harvest Fest, Oktoberfest and Pet Fests. What sets the North County Life Flight Pumpkin Fest apart is that this fundraiser benefits an organization that we all want to have available to us though we hope we will never require its services. This festival is a pay as you play type of event with plenty of activities for your money. It’s nicely set up in that you can choose what you or your children participate in. There are easy games of chance, pumpkin decorating, a hay ride and face painting. My favorite event is always the cake walk. Area restaurants and local chefs donate the cakes so you don’t have to worry about getting one of my lumpy cakes.  

Loon Lake Live! is a FREE classical chamber music and interactive series that continues to bring beautiful music to the Adirondack High Peaks area. Situated in Loon Lake in Franklin County, New York.  These professional musician want to share their love of music with the North Country.  This is the 15th season for Loon Lake Live!. Enjoy one or all of the various concerts that will take place around Loon Lake, Saranac Lake and Lake Placid this summer.  Loon Lake Live!  2011 - Our 15th Season Concert Set 1: Location and DateSunday 7/24, 7:30 pm Loon Lake Jewish Center Monday 7/25, 7:30 pm John Black Memorial Room Historic Saranac Lake Laboratory 89 Church St., Saranac Lake PerformersStephen Redfield, violin Aaron Packard, violin Catherine Beeson, viola Lori Lax, viola Sara Fierer, cello Debra Sherrill, french horn 

By Diane Chase Charlie’s Inn in Lake Clear is going to become a hub of activity this weekend, July 16-17, in celebration of the Lake Clear Junction Station Centennial. Inside the beautifully preserved Lake Clear Junction Station Depot is an exact miniature replica of the Lake Clear Depot and surrounding houses, circa 1911.  To commemorate the event will be a variety of vendors, events and activities meticulously planned by Betsy and Wayne Tucker. The building has some stories to tell. My daughter and I are able to gather just tidbits of the momentous era when train travel provided possibility to the Adirondacks. Historic Saranac Lake, Paul Smith’s College and over 15 other vendors will be around to demonstrate the elements that brought together Dr. William Seward Webb, Paul Smith, stagecoaches, an electric railway, NY Central Railway and settling the Adirondacks. There will be authors to meet, Adirondack Carousel carvings to see and a Pendragon Theatre historical interpretation.

SARANAC LAKE , NY – A new guidebook outlining family activities in the Adirondack Park will be released in July. “Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes & High Peaks Regions,” by Diane Chase, is a comprehensive guide to over 300 activities. The first of four proposed books published by Hungry Bear Publishing in Saranac Lake, the Tri-Lakes/High Peaks edition targets four seasons of family activities for Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Jay, Upper Jay, Keene, Keene Valley and Wilmington with a foreword by acclaimed author Edward Kanze. Based on Chase’s Adirondack Daily Enterprise weekly “Family Time” column and Adirondack Family Time blog, “Adirondack Family Time: Tri-Lakes & High Peaks Regions” is a must-have guide for anyone wishing to discover ideas on how to entertain family, friends and visitors while in the Adirondack Park. The points of interest also include GPS coordinates. “This book is designed to be used by everyone, not just those with children,” Chase said. “My

Susie Middleton, the talented author of Fresh, Fast & Green ,  is always tinkering in her kitchen coming up with fresh recipes for all the produce from her garden. As a trained chef and former editor and current editor-at-large of Fine Cooking , Susie experiments with fresh product so that I don't have to. It is about as close as I'm going to get to a personal chef. I love to cook but I'm going to leave the recipes to Susie! With my rhubarb popping up all over, I need some new recipes to use up the rhubarb, get my children jazzed about their school snacks and add something interesting when backyard grilling. Rhubarb muffins? Each week my children help make muffins for their school snacks. They get to choose different recipes or make old favorites. It has become a few precious moments we spend with each other and the outcome is always delicious. On Susie's blog, SixBurnerSue , she has pages dedicated to testing recipes from her own garden or from the test kitc

By Diane Chase  51,000 bulbs are starting to wake up in Saranac  Lake New York (NY)  in time for the first Daffest   April 29 - May 1, 2011. Throughout the weekend there will be garden tours, historic tours and the Saranac Lake Chamber of Commerce will have a booth with a map available. 

By Diane Chase Paul Smith's Retail Bakery Themes March 23  = Princess Day March 30 =  Chocolate April 6 = Cupcakes April 13 = Springfever April 18 = Easter (open two days for Easter) April 20 =Easter (open two days for Easter) April 27 = Daffest I have never managed to get to the Paul Smith’s College Retail Bakery when it is open. I have certainly managed to get to the shop when it is closed, peered into the window looking at the empty bakery shelves thinking if I had only remembered a few hours earlier. I am told the prices are more than reasonable and the 2 nd  year bakery students use this opportunity to showcase the skills they’ve learned toward earning their Associated Degree in Baking and Pastry Arts.

Wii Bowling & Golf! Saranac Village at Will Rogers, Saranac Lake, N.Y.  DATE:  Every Monday TIME:  2:00 p.m. LOCATION:  78 WIll Rogers Drive, Saranac Lake  MORE:  Learn the fun and exciting game of Wii!   All seniors are invited to attend this free event in which you will learn how to play Wii Bowling and/or Golf and then compete in tourmanents.     Please RSVP by calling Jenn Grisi at (518) 891-7117

Clipart from Clipartheaven.com By Diane Chase What better way to ring in the New Year than to celebrate the innovative and exciting ways that people bring community and guests together. Coming up with new ideas isn’t difficult.    It is the implementation that is the challenge. We have our busy lives and get caught up in all the activities. Thankfully there are those who are thinking outside the box and willing to carry out their “great ideas.” Without those special people in the community we would not have live theatre like Pendragon , Third Thursday Arts Walks and First Night® Saranac Lake , just to name a few. First Night® started five years ago when Sue Paterson and Connie Landon attended other First Night ® celebrations in Burlington and Saratoga and thought Saranac Lake would be a perfect fit. This weekend, the excitement continues with over 42 family-friendly activities in 12 venues.

Happy New Year! Dance the night away as part of Saranac Lake First Night.  Dance the night away in this family-friendly event.  Sparkling Cider, hors d'oeuvres and desserts will be provided. Bring in the 2011 New Year as part of Saranac Lake First Night ® at Will Roger's in Saranac Lake, just minutes from Lake Placid.  Join musical guests Dan Duggan and Peggy Lynn with their Adirondack style of bluegrass and folk music.  This program is open to the public as part of the First Night® Saranac Lake celebration.  A First Night Button is needed for members of the public and they will be available to purchase ($12) at the door.  Purchasing this button will allow you admission to all First Night activities.

By Diane Chase First Night   celebrations offer  families visiting or living in the Adironacks an opportunity to ring in the New Year in a healthy fashion. Just ten minutes from Lake Placid, Saranac Lake will ring in the New Year with its fifth First Night® celebration.  Originating in Boston over 35 years ago, First Night originators wanted to provide non-alcohol related New Year’s Eve festivities. The arts centered event grew from a small community celebration to what now showcases Boston’s diverse culture and art. There are now 200 similarly modeled celebrations worldwide. In our part of the world,   Saratoga Springs   and   Saranac Lake   are two such sanctioned events. Read More