Adirondack Family Time™

Join Saranac Lake teacher Maria DeAngelo April 17 18, 19, 20 as she walks to Albany through the Adirondack Park.  *Updated with Friday Departure Time!  How do you solve a problem, like Maria?  If you want to teach children how to solve a problem, no better example exists than my daughter's New York State (NYS) 6th grade public school teacher, Maria DeAngelo. Maria's dynamic approach to teaching is the same in and out of the classroom. She is not just talking the talk, but walking the talk. Starting on April 17, 2015 Ms. D (Maria) is asking students, teachers, children, administrators and especially the  New York State Board of Education  and  Governor Cuomo  to look at public education from the inside out and take a  "Walk in Our Shoes." DeAngelo is hitting the road and walking from Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, through the Adirondacks, to Albany in support of public education. Maria DeAngelo (Ms. D) is the type of teacher that my children have had the pr

"Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished." ~ Lao Tzu (640-531 BC) Chinese Philosopher

This spring the Adirondack Shakespeare Company is launching its first Adirondack spring tour with the tragedy Romeo and Juliet . The play will open at North Creek's Tannery Pond Community Center for one night only. This professional theatre troupe will be hosting shows from Saratoga Springs to Upper Jay, NY. According to ADK Shakes Artistic Director  Tara Bradway  the company has been producing its summer festival season in the Adirondacks since 2010 and an autumn season since 2013. Now they are expanding their Adirondack season to bring Shakespeare in springtime as well.  "We did a spring season in the past but it was always based in New York City," says Bradway. "Now we've been here [Adirondack] full time for the past year. We feel there is a demand for  'off-season' programming. We wanted to transplant that spring season from New York City to the Adirondacks."  "We chose these plays because the tragedy and comedy are so nicely balan

“No winter lasts forever;  no spring skips its turn.” ~ Hal Borland Alternative text: man snowingshoeing with mountains in background. Text quote from Hal Borland "No winter lasts forever, no spring skips its turn." 

Though it may not feel like spring, things are starting to wake up around the Adirondacks. We’ve even been lucky enough to observe a few bald eagles! We are waiting for maple sap to run so we can begin producing. Our seedlings are starting to sprout. This is also a great time to explore the area’s museums and ski hills before the snow finally melts for good.  Whether you are visiting or taking a staycation, here are a few ideas to keep yourself active during an Adirondack spring break.  Snow Tubing (weather permitting) Lake Placid Jumping Complex   (weekends only) Call 523-8830 Titus Mountain   Snow Tubing, Malone. Call 518-483-3740

"Wilderness complements and completes civilization.  I might say that the existence of wilderness  is also a compliment to civilization.  Any society that feels itself too poor to afford  the preservation of wilderness  is not worthy of the name of civilization." ~ Edward Abby, Down the River

Since ____ New York State has celebrated everything maple related with its annual Maple Weekends the last two weekends in March. This year, 2015, the dates are March 21-22 and March 28-29. These events encourage maple producers of all sizes to open their doors and provide individuals the opportunity to see how maple is made from tree sap collection to dress up the pancakes on the table.  For the second year, the Tri-Lakes/High Peaks region of the Adirondacks is planning to pull out all the stops with its own special Adirondack Maple Weekend March 28-29.. Maple producers in Tupper Lake, Paul Smiths, Wilmington, Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Keene and beyond are adding extra incentives to the normal maple sap tours. Enjoy family fun activities at Tupper Lake's The Wild Center, The Paul Smith’s VIC, Wilmington's Whiteface Mountain, Lake Placid's Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Center Cross Country Ski Center, Saranac Lake's Mark Twain Works, Lake Placid's Cornell Ex

Make this easy shamrock to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Write a message on it and give it to a friend. Make a whole bouquet for a table arrangement. Use a pipe cleaner for a stem and hang it from the door! Happy St. Patrick's Day! © 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.

To celebrate National Pi(e) Day  on March 14, make your favorite dessert or this quick refrigerator magnet! Materials: bottle cap tooth pick small beads (the color of your pie.. red for raspberry pie, blue for blueberry pie) clear drying glue small magnet no larger than the back of the bottle cap small pieces of tan felt   Instructions • Using the bottle cap as a pattern draw and cut out a circular piece of felt (to use as the bottom crust) • Glue the "bottom crust" into the bottle cap. • Pour a small bit of glue into the bottle cap lined with felt and pour a small amount of the beads on top. • Mix the glue and beads together using the tooth pick. • Continue to add more beads and glue until the bead/glue mixture is level with the top of the bottle cap • Cut small strips of felt and glue over the beads, mimicking the top of a pie. • Let dry • glue small magnet to back of bottle top and let dry Place on fridge! This makes a great party favor that is easy a

"As a man tramps the woods to the lake he knows he will find pines and lilies, blue herons and golden shiners, shadows on the rocks and the glint of light on the wavelets, just as they were in the summer of 1354, as they will be in 2054 and beyond. He can stand on a rock by the shore and be in a past he could not have known, in a future he will never see. He can be a part of time that was and time yet to come." ~ William Chapman White, Adirondack Country (page 264)

ESSEX – The Champlain Valley Film Series will present the children’s movie  Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures  this  Sunday, March 15 at 2:00 p.m.  at the Whallonsburg Grange Hall.  The movie will be the final one in their winter series of free family films. Winner of two Academy Awards, this film tells the story of Wallace, an inventor whose gadgets do not always go as planned, and his ever-faithful friend Gromit.     The film is free, and is made possible by Stewart's Holiday Match.   Refreshments will be available for purchase. The Whallonsburg Grange Hall is located at 1610 NYS Route 22 at Whallons Bay Road, five miles south of the Essex ferry. The Whallonsburg Grange Hall serves as a community gathering space for eastern Essex County, hosting musical and theatrical performances, lectures, forums, and workshops, as well as hall rentals for private events.  For more information about this event or the Hall, please contact Stephanie Beneng, office

March 2nd kicked off this year's   National Education Association’s   Read Across America, in celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday.  To further the celebration The  Adirondack Carousel  and  The Saranac Lake Teachers Association  will host the “Dr. Seuss Read Across America Celebration”  on Saturday March 7th, from 10:00am- 12:00pm.  Come with your child, receive a brand new book, meet the Cat in the Hat, and enjoy a snack. The Cat in the Hat will also be reading stories!  The Saranac Lake Free Library will even be at the Carousel to sign your child up for their first library card.  The event is free to the public. ( Carousel rides will be at an additional cost.) You may even look for Thing One or Thing Two (One, being my child.) Enjoy!  © Diane Chase is the author of the Adirondack Family Activities™ guidebook series, Adirondack Family Time™guidebooks have easy Adirondack family hikes, Adirondack swimming holes, Lake Placid Olympic activities, Adirondack trivia,

What does a play about a green ogre and a world music festival have in common? I find the common ground between the Lake Placid High School performance of “Shrek the Musical” and the Reason2Smile World Music Festival is closer than you may think. Discovering different forms of music has proven to help with creativity and communication skills, besides music and movement can relieve stress and as we all know is fun.  There is something heartwarming about a reluctant hero on a life-changing journey with a band of misfit fairytale characters and a gutsy princess. Based on the popular animated film, “Shrek the Musical” hits the Lake Placid High School stage this Thursday – Saturday, March 5-7 at 7 pm with a matinee on March 7 at 11 am. Tickets are $10/adults, $6/students. Join Shrek, Donkey, Fiona and a dragon as they battle the bad guy on a journey to discover that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  On Saturday, March 7, Reason2Smile is hosting its 3 rd  annual World Music