Adirondack Family Time™

Dewey Mountain is hosting a Ski Jam, Friday, January 8, 6:30 - 9:00 with live music, food from Eat N' Meet, and of course skiing. Join the fun . Additional Hours of Operation Monday 10:00an - 5:00pm Tuesday - Friday 10:00am - 7:00pm Saturday 9:00am - 5:00pm Sunday 10:00am - 4:00pm

High Peaks Hospice Blood Pressure Clinic is a free service held at Saranac Village at Will Rogers in Saranac Lake. These programs are free and open to the public. This first clinic is January 8th For more information, please call (518) 891-7117. The time for the free clinic is 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. The dates for each clinic is below: January 8 February 5 March 5 April 9 May 7 June 4 July 9 August 6 September 3 October 1 November 5 December 3 Saranac Village at Will Rogers is a retirement community providing independent living for those 55 years or older. We offer three meals a day, weekly laundry and housekeeping, activities, transportation, maintenance, twenty-four hour staff, an emergency response system, heat, hot water and electricity. For more information on the services we provide and availability, please call (518) 891-7117.

Looking for events between Christmas and New Year's? Here are some ideas: The Lake Placid Center for the Arts will host the Pendragon Theatre holiday production of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!" on Dec. 26, 27, 28 and 29. All shows begin at 7:00 p.m. The Wild Center will be open for special holiday hours from Dec. 26 to Dec. 31, and on Jan. 2 and 3 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. See a movie at the Lake Placid Palace Theatre (518.523.9271) or Tupper Lake State Theatre (518-359-3593) Go to the Paul Smiths VIC to see a nature film, ski the trails or play with the touch table. Hours are from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Tuesday - Saturday, closed Christmas. The trail are open from dawn to dusk, every day of the year Join a pick-up game of hockey at many outdoor free skating rinks. Wear a helmet! Check out the Olympic venues Ski at Whiteface , Gore , Titus , Mt Pisgah or Big Tupper . Participate in First Night® Saranac Lake with activities, events, music, fireworks and food

As my children grow older I understand that every child feels their parents grew up in the “olden days.” My daughter is confused during a family movie night when an actor plays an album on the turntable. To her a record player is a DJ’s scratch pad. She hears all about keeping things simple and I now realize I have set myself into that cliché. She believes I grew up in it, that simpler time in her mind, where people sang for no reason at all and danced to the orchestra in their head. Now it is my turn to pass along the experience and recreate a simpler time for my own children, to elevate some of the holiday stress and just enjoy being together. This weekend the village of Lake Placid will turn on its old world charm and celebrate its annual Holiday Stroll. Santa will kick off the event with free skating at the Olympic Oval starting at 6:30 p.m. On Saturday, for anyone wishing to complete or (gasp!) start holiday shopping, several venues are available for children to be dropped off gi

Bowling for Prizes I have never thought about bowling as something to do on the fly, go in for a quick game and leave. In my experience it has always been on outing. Romano’s Saranac Lanes has changed my opinion with all the various activities they have going on for children. Anyone wondering what to do with their children during school closings (snow days, conference days) may want to rethink bowling as an option where the special is $5.00 for two games and $1.00 for shoes. Though I am a huge fan of manual labor on school closings, I am sure my children would prefer to bowl. That said, there is also after school bowling from 3:00 -5:00 for the same $6. As far as my daughter is concerned bowling is all about the shoes. She does not care about the score on the screen or that her brother fist pumps with each pin down. She is there to see and be seen. Once again Romano’s Saranac Lanes has generously offered to hold another fundraiser. Twenty-four teams of five can sign up for the Nort

If you missed the live stream of the The Adirondack Youth Climate Summit that took place this past weekend at the Wild Center, please check out the video of the event. Workshops were scheduled throughout the two-day event pairing students with experienced personnel to inspire the 150 participants to come up with working models to green their schools and communities. Twenty high schools and six universities participated in this inaugural event. These institutions will serve as models in energy efficiency, sustainable energy usage, building maintenance, landscaping & grounds management, school & community garden planning, and how to affect the current science curriculum in schools. Read more

Did the rain or flu limit your ability to enjoy a bit of spooky happenings on Halloween? There is still an opportunity to continue the thrills and chills by seeing this year’s production of Sleepy Hollow, directed by Jessica Deeb. Based on the classic short story by Washington Irving, this musical pulls from a range of local child actors, ages five to fourteen. The story of Sleepy Hollow it takes place in 19th Century Dutch settlement of Tarrytown, NY where a gangly superstitious schoolmaster named Ichabod Crane comes to Sleepy Hollow looking for a wealthy wife. He meets Katrina Van Tassel whose brawny jealous boyfriend, Brom Bones, uses local stories to attempt to frighten off his rival. The townspeople further Crane’s fears with stories of the local ghost, the Headless Horseman. My daughter and I nip into the Lake Placid Center for the Arts for a quick preview. The Headless Horseman is sitting on stage waiting for the dress rehearsal to begin. She makes a beeline for my leg and peer

This year we will be hunting space aliens in Gabriels. Yes, crop circles have been found in the Adirondacks, though this time they can be proven the direct result of human effort, not the paranormal. For the fourth year in a row the design for the maze at Tucker Farms is from the artistic work of Scott Rohe. He didn’t even have to perpetuate any crop circle myth by going out in the dead of night to complete the large-scale land art. He just came up with the design so the Tuckers could plant the corn in a grid-like pattern. To read more

There is still a buzz in the air regarding, what has been termed “the “Mozart Effect.” There have been studies done and videos made all in the attempt to make our children smarter, better and stronger. One aspect of the term emerged from the work of University of California Irvine’s Raucher, Shaw and Ky (1993). Their findings researched the effects of Mozart’s Music on 36 college undergraduates and tracked improvements in spatial intelligence after listening to 10 minutes of certain scores of Mozart. The findings created a cottage industry of hope for the fountain of intelligence with as many critics as followers. One part of the equation that I feel isn’t given its due is the passion and drive of a musician, those that practice for love of their instrument and what can come out of it. Those that want to show music as more than a sheet of paper with notes or a disk in a jewel case. It is a connection with people, played by people and very much for people. That is the Loon Lake Live! E

Speakers from the Nature Conservancy were on hand at the 2nd annual Wildlife Habitat Day at Wildlife Refuge in Wilmington on Saturday, May 30th. Handouts and demonstrations were given to educate the public on invasive species to the Adirondack Park. The Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (APIPP) is one program partly sponsored by the Nature Conservancy that helps to coordinate t the Aquatic Invasive Species Project and the Terrestrial Invasive Species Project. Aquatic Invasive Species include: Eurasian watermilfoil Curlyleaf pondweed Water chestnut Terrestrial Invasive Species include: Garlic mustard Fly and tatarian honeysuckle Purple loosestrife Japanese knotweed Common and smooth buckthorn for a complete list of invasive plants and how best to education yourself and children on their removal, please go to Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program (www.adkinvasives.com) for more information.

Energy, alternatives and the rising costs of fuel have all garnered a lot of much needed press lately. I am a supporter of alternative energy, the funding of it and the need for it. Though I am not the perfect example of using it. I do not yet drive a hybrid and my home is not powered by alternative energy. My excuse for the latter is that I am currently renting and looking to buy. My excuse for the former; I am waiting for my current car to make the choice for me. It doesn’t excuse me from teaching my children that every decision I make whether it is the gas I put in my car or the means that I use to turn on the lights, is not an easy one. We have errands to run in Malone and decide mid-trip to check out the wind turbine farm that has conjured up all sorts of controversy. I have seen wind turbines in the Altamount Pass when visiting Northern California and from the highway they looked quite serene, lining the ridge as I drove on I 580. Of course I was just visiting and the wind

I have always been partial to fairs. Not really the huge amusement parks (though we have gone to a few of those) but the traveling carnivals. I am not, however, much for the fast rides. A lifetime ago a cousin once challenged me to an "eat and ride-off" at one such visiting fair. Yes, immature, I know. So we ate carnival food and rode on the fastest rides. I lost and to be frank so did anyone else that was riding "The Zipper" with me. My cousin went on to consume more food and enjoy many more rides. I woefully handed over all my tickets and sat with my head between my legs. Interestingly enough my taste for carnival snacks never diminished, just the jostling rides. The Franklin County Fair in Malone, NY, is the largest annual, long-standing event in Franklin County. The Franklin County Agricultural Society was formed in August 1851. For over 150 years the Society has continued their purpose of improving agriculture, horticulture and the inclusive mechan