Scenes from Trick or Treat on Park

Senator pays a visit

Senator Dan Stec paid a visit to Tupper Lake on October 24. Above he is shown at the town office with its staff and local officials. After a stop there he headed over to the civic center to connect with the school officials wrestling with the issue of the leaking chilling vessel which has prevented ice-making to start this season. From left at the town hall in front of the tall state lawmaker were Councilman Tim Larkin, County Legislator Nedd Sparks, Youth Activities Coordinator Christielee Geiger, Town Clerk Mary Kay Strack, Supervisor Ricky Dattola, Town Accountant Samantha Davies and Assessor and Planner Jessica Eggsware. (photo provided)

Four dozen residents learn how to prepare for emergencies

by Dan McClelland

The community room at the Emergency Services Building on Santa Clara Ave. was just about full Wednesday with local residents looking for a heads up on how to best prepare for natural and man-made emergencies and disasters.

The event was sponsored by the New York State Homeland Security and Emergency Services and the state’s National Guard. It was organized and promoted here by Tupper Lake Emergency Services Director Carl Steffen.

For their trouble and interest, each one in attendance that evening received a canvass backpack filled with emergency supplies including work gloves, a mask, duct tape, a collapsible water bottle, batteries, plastic sheets, portable radio, small fire aid kit, a light stick and a small mylar rescue blanket.

The presenters that evening- both from the Army National Guard- were Sgt. First Class Nicodeme Esmel and Lt. Lydia Gerardi.

Lt. Gerardi, with 13 years of military service so far, welcomed the guests that filled most of the seats in the meeting room that evening. She previously served as an E-7 (Sgt.) in the Air National Guard.

She said she served in the medical unit as a medical technician her entire career, with one deployment to Kuwait, on Operation Asylum-seeker.

She said she now operates out of joint force headquarters in Latham, N.Y., division of Military Naval Affairs. Lt. Gerardi is also a military chaplain.

The program involved the screening and narration of 72 slides, with questions from the audience at the end.

In her previous work she was involved in flying missions to Antartica and Greenland using planes equipped with skis to enable them to land on snow and ice.

Her colleague Esmel told the crowd that she was in the unit that flew that emergency mission to the southern most continent to bring needed cancer-fighting medicine to the medical female scientist a number of years ago.

He said her unit had the only planes in the world equipped with the special skis that could bring that life-saving medicine to the scientist.

Sgt. Esmel, introducing himself, said he has served in the Army National Guard for 20 years. “I’ve been with this program since 2019. I started the program, was working with the program, and then COVID hit.

“I started off on the National Guard side….working on light and heavy vehicles. Then I started working on helicopters and became a Black Hawk crew chief. When I was 22 I was stationed in Bagdad for one year, working on the aircraft there.”

He said he later transferred to military intelligence as an analyst. “When you watch your favorite James Bond movie, I was the guy sitting in front of a computer screen and writing all those reports and the guy who doesn’t normally see any sunlight. That was me!”

He said he last worked in that military role “when ISIS was crossing the border in 2013- and at one point I was up and on duty for 56 hours straight. I was one of the lead analysts for army aviation at that time. At that point I completed an 83-page report for Washington to decide what to do, and from that point I was up for 56 hours running operations there.

He said he worked at a number of other military agencies in Washington for a number of years, before moving into information technology.

“That segued into cyber defense, what I currently do on the Army National Guard side of my service.”

Since then he has worked part of the time in emergency communications, at the headquarters for communications for New York State’s Army National Guard.

Two large trailers there house that communications unit that held 70 laptop computers, 200 radios, 25 satellite cell phones and four eco-generators, and two portable dishes which can receive data from everywhere in the world.

“I can show up in your town. If you don’t have power in this building, I’ll load my generators and bring you power. If you don’t have internet, I’ll pull in my dishes and provide you with internet. All your emergency departments can communicate through our radios.” He said his service in that wing of the guard was through 2019.

“So, naturally, when I applied for this job, they asked me when could I start,” he said of the broad range of experience he brought to the new job.

“We respond to a lot of emergencies...a lot of storms!”

Sgt. Esmel said that evening’s course objectives were to make people more aware of natural or human-caused disasters. The four pieces of the course: prepare for, respond to, recover from and how to get involved.

“We work full-time for CPC (Citizens Preparedness Corp)- which operates under the Department of Homeland Security and is attached to the Governor’s office.

It was created after Super Storm Sandy, which hit the east coast of New York State very hard.

“There weren’t enough first responders for every family, so some families waited days for help!”

“One of the families I was working with was a single mother with four kids. She lost everything in that hurricane!”

“There are 14 teams spread across the state and our team in No. 6- and from the Capital District. We cover your county. We cover about 14 counties, including Franklin, Essex, Warren, etc.”

He asked the audience to give examples of natural disasters in this area and the answers were: ice storms, floods, earth quakes.

A particular and troubling things about earth quakes is that if they are not rated as 5.1 “your area is not qualified for federal assistance.”

“So I always tell the press, if you are in there covering it, round up the number to 5.1 or more to help your town.” Lots of laughter. “What? Only 4.9...it’s got to be more than that!” he joked of what a media member should say.

How about human-caused disasters? One is 9-11. Another is a preventable fire, as are dam failures. Infrastructure failures is another, he said, remembering that catastrophic collapse of the condo complex in Florida a few years ago.

He said one of the issues there was the owners’ lateness on their safety inspections.

Bioharzards caused by things like train derailments which pour hazardous chemicals into communities is another man-made disaster.

Active shootings are another. He cited the recent Buffalo shootings in a black neighborhood as a recent one.

Another human-caused disasters are cyber-attacks. Sgt. Esmel said in a state that loves to win prizes, this one ranks Number 3 when it comes to the cyber-attacks of seniors. Over $188 million in financial losses is recorded in attacks to older adults in this state, he told the group.

There are medical disasters, such as a pandemic or an epidemic. He said a pandemic, according to a world health organization, is a much broader disaster. Any disease that grows exponentially out of control across the globe is a pandemic, whereas one that is only nationwide is considered an epidemic and determined by the nation’s Center for Disease Control.

A Lyme Disease outbreak some years ago in America was an example of an epidemic. COVID, which was worldwide, is an example of a pandemic, he told the crowd.

“During emergency disasters, resources are available to help communities. Advanced planning can prevent disasters. Plans how to shelter in place and plans how to emergency evacuate, are two examples of needed planning.

“Timing is super important. The Buffalo snow storm, is a good example. There were so many residents who lived their entire lives there, got stuck in that storm. Some people got lost in the storm in their neighborhoods. Many people got out of their vehicles, couldn’t see their hand in front of their face in the severe storm, and couldn’t tell left from right or couldn’t see or recognize otherwise familiar landmarks.

He directed the audience to a section in the emergency information handbook handed out that evening and to a section on developing a family disaster work plan where information on family members, their relationships to each other, their birth dates and social security number. There was space too for details on pets, their breeds, their veterinarians and medications. The aim is to alert first responders who might respond to a family’s house in an emergency.

Included in the plan should be a drawing of the home’s floor plan. Information about a family’s key contacts- both local and distant, the names of the nearest relative and family work numbers. Phone number for schools family members attend and places where parents work- plus other important family contacts like physicians, pharmacists, insurance companies, fire, police and 911 agencies.

The plan is important, he said, to the safety and security of every family member and pet. “Practicing the plan” is critical to often surviving all kinds of disasters.

Being prepared takes four simple steps, Sgt. Esmel related: develop an emergency plan, build emergency kits with food for at least seven to ten days and emergency tools; Be Aware, for example, sign up for NY-ALERT to receive emergency notifications and Get Involved by donating some time to your community to learn what organizations exist and what they do.

Food in each emergency kit should include energy bars, ready to each canned foods, non-perishable food, manual can opener, disposable utensils, plates and cups.

Each emergency kit should include a gallon of water per day per person. Plan for between seven and ten days.

Restock the food goods and water every year, so products have not expired.

Each emergency kit should also contain personal hygiene supplies like tooth brushes and toothpaste, feminine hygiene products, baby wipes, eye care products, a ten-day prescription supply, travel-size soaps, shampoo, deodorant and a towel and wash cloths.

That section of the book also contained a list of emergency supplies: a backpack to be used for evacuations, gauze and band aids and rolls of medical tape, antiseptic wipes, bottle of saline, medical gloves, whistle, work gloves, eye goggles, emergency blanket, batteries, dust masks, sanitation wipes, manual can opener, flashlight, multi-tool with pliers, cell phone charger, LED light and flash light, crank-operated emergency radio, reflective vest and sleeping bag.

Copies of vital family documents like bank accounts, birth and marriage certificates, immunization records, credit card information, insurance policies, wills, passports, deeds, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, etc. Special consideration should also be given to the needs of infants, children, elderly and pets. The document holder should be waterproof, and also include cash and local maps. Also in the waterproof container should be pens, pencils, markers and paper.

Family members should also be aware of a pre-determined meeting place in the home during a a disaster, as well as an out of the home place, best out of the neighborhood.

People should also be very familiar with their insurance coverage before a disaster strikes. Know what will be covered and what won’t be. For example most homeowners’ and renters’ policies don’t cover flood damage. An inventory of property and all valuables is also important to include in a document container for the best settlement of insurance claims after disasters.

For the actual evacuation, families should have smaller “Go Bags”- lightweight and smaller versions of the household emergency supply kits. There should be one small kit per household member.

Where to go in a disaster should also be practiced.

He also advised families to supply their individually-designed disaster plans with some friend or family members out of state or far from the place of residence who wouldn’t be affected by that particular disaster.

Those out of town contacts could furnish key information to first responders and other emergency personnel for the family caught in the local disaster.

Ironically, a fire alarm sounded in the building about 20 minutes into the presentation.

In any disaster, pets should not be left behind. Families also should prepare pet kits made up of pet food, manual can opener, bottled water, food and water dishes, pet hygiene supplies, ten days of medicines, cat little and pan, leash and crate, medical records and name of vet.

Every home should be prepared for a disaster in advance. There should be abundant fire alarms, as fire presents the greatest safety threat in this nation. There should be a smoke alarm in each sleeping bedroom and outside of each and at least one in other living space on each level, including basements and attics. Test fire alarms regularly and check older battery-powered alarms each year at daylight savings time. Use 10-year, no tamper fire alarm from now on. Have fire extinguishers present to combat fires rated A, B and C. Everyone in the family should be trained to use each of them. There should be carbon monoxide detectors in every house, as CO is “the silent killer.” Residents should know where utility shut-offs are located.

More tips from the recent presentation in an upcoming issue soon.

Tupper Lake Community Food Pantry serving important community need in new quarters, with new director

by Dan McClelland

Nearly a year in a new location and under the direction of a new leader the Tupper Lake Food Pantry continues to provide a life-sustaining role in our community.

In their bright and warm new quarters in the HGA parish building at 40 Marion Ave. things have improved for its small band of loyal volunteers, now that the not for profit operation has moved from the dank and dark quarters in the basement of the Aaron Maddox building where it operated for too many years.

The move was made possible after years in the basement of the town building by town leaders and by Fr. James Teti and the parish of St. Alphonsus/ Holy Name, which gave it a new home.

The move to new quarters came on October 27, 2023.

At that time Volunteer Director Lisa Kimpflen stepped in to replace long-time director Laurie Pickering.

In one former classroom in the former Holy Ghost Academy at the west end of the building, all the packing of food now happens.

According to Mrs. Kimpflen the shelves and refrigerators in that room next to the entrance are organized by meal types: breakfast, lunch, side dishes, snacks and miscellaneous. “This is the room we do all the packing of orders!”

She said the bank of refrigerators and freezers which line an entire wall “hold much of the basic” foodstuffs.

Mrs. Kimpflen said the two rooms that now comprise the Tupper Lake Food Pantry are organized in such a way so the volunteers can do as little of the running between the rooms as possible.

The second room is the back-up for the storage of food, and houses the in-take desk at its door where the orders of clients are processed, she explained during a recent tour of the new quarters. Both rooms are very bright, basked in the natural light of the walls of windows in each.

Christine Russell is the volunteer at the pantry who most often runs the in-take desk.

Clients order off a form where they can choose three lunches, three breakfasts, three dinners twice a month. Breakfasts include hot and cold cereal, pancakes, eggs, French toast, coffee, tea, cocoa, juice, bread/margarine, milk, cottage cheese and yogurt.

Lunch choices are dry or canned soup and crackers, sliced meat and cheese, canned pasta, canned tuna and canned chicken.

For dinners, clients can choice a variety of things, including tuna or salmon casserole, chili, spaghetti or goulash, fish, chicken, pork chops, pizza, tacos, hamburgers, roast beef (for families of three or more), Shepherd’s Pie (ground chicken or turkey), ham, ham steak, rice and beans and pork loin roast (families of three or more. There are also dinner specials.

In each category, heart healthy choices are plentiful.

If items are out of stock, the volunteers will substitute for them.

To order people can call (518) 359-3080 on the day of pick-up. Pick-up times are scheduled by appointment and food must be picked up on the same day it is ordered. Orders must be placed no later than a half hour before closing.

The pantry is open on Tuesdays from 9a.m. to noon and Thursdays from 1p.m. to 4p.m.

Mrs. Kimpflen said the pantry’s mandate is to provide three days worth of food, twice a month.

A typical week might see food distributed to 30 local families.

“Some come twice a month, some might only come once a month and some people only come to us occasionally- if they are in a pinch!”

“We see a huge spike in clients, starting the third week of the month and it ramps up until the end of the month when many people are running low on funds.”

“Typically, however, the amount of food we give people- depending on the size of their appetite, will last more than four days,” she said of the quantities of food in each order. “I feel the quantities are very generous!”

“So if a person calls us and says they want for breakfast hot cereal, pancakes and eggs, they will receive two packages of hot oatmeal, a box of pancake mix (a dozen or more pancakes) and a half dozen eggs. That’s for one person.”

“If you are a family- and that’s one of the questions Christina asks clients each visit-” more food is given. The people served by the pantry are re-certified on a regular basis as to family size, place of residence, etc.

She said for a family of four with two adults and two children, they might get an entire box of cold cereal (10 to 12 servings), one or two boxes of pancake mix and one dozen eggs.

Sometimes families can get two dozen eggs per order- because we routinely get “free eggs” from agencies like state-funded “Nourish New York,” which provides fresh and healthy foods to food pantries across the state.

“When we get extra, we give extra,” she said of their rule.

She said for lunches, a single person could receive a can of soup and a sleeve of crackers. If they choose macaroni and cheese they’ll get a box of it. If they choose canned pasta they receive a can in their order. If sliced meat and cheese is ordered, they’ll get a pound of sliced meat and a pound of cheese.

If a family of four orders lunch, they would get two or three cans of soup and a sleeve of crackers, a pound of sliced meat and maybe an extra package of cheese. If the family ordered canned pasta, it would likely get three to four cans.

A similar arrangement works for dinners, and according to Mrs. Kimpflen there are many good choices.

“We also usually have some kind of dinner special- particularly if we have received an abundance of some product.”

“Right now we received a quantity of pulled pork free. We ordered some barbecue sauce and right now we are offering “Pulled Park Barbecue” as our dinner special.

She said the only restriction on dinner is that “we ask people to choose no more than two beef-based dinners.”

Pulling out one of the forms she must routinely file with the regional food pantry, it showed that during the month of September the local pantry provided food to 93 households- all from Tupper Lake.

The 93 households reported by her consisted of 39 children, 93 adults and 31 elderly. She admitted there is “a real need” for food assistance among our elderly citizens, some of whom live on very small Social Security allotments and pensions.

“There are also a lot of working poor families here- but there are many elderly living far below federal poverty lines.

“We are not allowed to know” the types of elderly assistance people receive. But, she said, on their new client in-take form, “it lists what qualifies someone to receive food from us. Either they have to be receiving other kinds of assistance like SNAP or WIC, or its based on their income, based on the size of the family.

She said her agency can’t asked for proof of income from anyone. “We have to take people’s word” for what they get as income.

She said, for example, to qualify for their food a family of four would have to have a total family income of at or below $70,200 per year. That covers many families here, she guessed.

“Many families of four here are living well below that sum.”

“Our two largest demographics of people who need our help are the elderly and people addicted to drugs.”

Although the pantry officials can’t ask for proof of income, they can ask for proof of residency” in the 12986 area code.

“Anybody can get food from us once,” without documentation. “When they come in, however, if they plan to return, we set up a card file for them, get them registered.”

“We tell them if they plan to return, they need to fill out this form we give them and we need to have them provide us with proof of residency that they reside in Tupper Lake (or Piercefield). The in-eligibility forms are just a single page and easy to complete.

She said all they need for proof of residency is a medical bill with the person’s name and address, an electrical bill, etc. A driver’s license isn’t verifiable proof of residency, however, she noted.

There must be proof of residency furnished for each child, because sometimes different parents who are separated claim the same kids, she told the Free Press. -Or a grand parent may claim them too.

“We do a lot of cross-checking of information people provide, and it helps that a lot of our volunteers are long-time Tupper Lakers who know a lot of people here.”

“We had to start requiring proof of residency, after years of not having to do it, because there was such a large level of fraud happening here!”

Typically the volunteers at the pantry only volunteer their time during the hours the agency is open two days a week. “Occasionally,” she says, “we’ll have people in here when deliveries arrive.”

For example, once a month there is a Wesleyan Church in North Bangor “that receives a mass distribution of food from the Food Bank in Albany. “Once a month we go there with three pick-up trucks and bring back a ton of food….actually, three half-ton trucks worth of food.”

She said the food is unloaded from “a monster trailer” into the trucks of pantry volunteers from all over the county. The pallets of food are dropped by loader onto the street and the volunteers load it onto their trucks from there.

Mrs. Kimpflen said because the trailer is refrigerated, much of the food is frozen and can last the hour-long trip back to Tupper without damage.

“A lot of time its fresh produce near the end of its life that the Albany Food Bank needs to get ride of!”

Eight member food agencies qualify to receive the mass distribution food.

Four cases of fresh pumpkins for pie-making came with the last distribution.

“We let the pastor of the church who runs the program know if we are coming that day, and when we get closer to home- like at Paul Smith’s College- we let our volunteers know we’re a half an hour a way so they can help us unload. “And that way too we are not wasting our volunteers’ time.”

She said it takes about two hours to unload and process the arriving food from the North Bangor church.

“As part of the processing the volunteers have to log every product coming into the pantry.”

She said they also have to mark out every bar code because people have been known to take the food we give them and take them to stores for a refund.

The volunteer director says they also have to check the termination or “best to use by” date of every product to make sure the food they are distributing is not outdated and unsafe for consumption.

“That’s why food drives can become problematic,”- because people sometimes donate food that is far beyond their safe use dates. “The oldest product I ever saw come in here was when the elementary school did a food drive and one product had a use-by date of 2011.”

“Our message to the community right now is if you want to make a food donation, please, please, please look at the date of expiry. Don’t give us something outdated… don’t give us rusty cans, don’t give us a half box of potato flakes!”

She said unacceptable goods actually cost the pantry money, as it has to dispose of those things at the transfer station. “Those kind of donations hurt us, because people are asking us to get rid of their garbage!”

She said the pantry has a heightened obligation to provide safe food, more so than local families do. “Some people believe they can consume expired food, but we can’t distribute it, because it may be unsafe.”

The director said they don’t have the luxury of opening an expired food product to see if the contents are okay.

She said they just recently received a food drive bounty from the Tupper Lake Christian Center off Main Street. “Every single thing they brought us was usable...not a single one was out of date. They were extremely prudent about checking everything!”

“If people or groups want to give us stuff we need, please check everything before giving it to us!”

“The other thing to know going into the holiday season, is that every year we give boxes of food for Christmas dinner. All our regular clients get one. The boxes contain a turkey or a ham and every thing to go with it for a holiday meal.”

She said people can call us and adopt a family and we will assign them a family size. Donations of money are also important, because if the pantry can’t assemble enough meal boxes for the requests it has, the volunteers have to go out and buy the products to put in them.

Food boxes (or baskets) should contain a turkey or ham, gravy, two kinds of vegetables, rolls and butter, Christmas snacks, cranberry or pineapple sauce, pickles and olives, stuffing, potatoes or sweet potatoes or yams, cheese and crackers, fresh fruit, coffee, tea or cocoa and pie or other desserts.

Solicitation letters are going out October 15 but people who haven’t done so in the past can adopt a family by creating a food box or to make a donation to fund a holiday meal by calling the pantry at the phone number above.

The Tupper Lake Community Food Pantry is always in the need for more volunteers to add to the small cadre of folks working this important place right now.

The current volunteer team includes Claire Lucas, Mike and Christine Russell, Kathy Albert, Janet Perth, Natalie Zurek, Sherry Bradley, Jim Bradley, Joe Kimpflen and Noah Tyo.

The pantry could also use the donations of or funds to buy a large refrigerator and a new freezer right now to replace failing ones. “We’re looking for the largest possible non-commercial refrigerator and freezer.”

Used appliances don’t have the lasting power or the reliability the pantry relies on, she says.

A big wish too for the pantry would be a back-up generator to power their rooms and appliances in power outages.

A generator large enough to run the entire parish building is a bigger ask and could run in excess of $50,000.

If somehow the pantry received a major donation of $100,000 or more that would fund a whole-building generator and perhaps even a box truck to collect its donated goods at distribution sites around the North Country.

“Three or four times a month, in addition to the mass distribution at the Bangor church, we’re going to Saranac Lake for distributions from the Regional Food Bank in Albany where food is dropped off there at the civic center. Mrs. Kimpflen said some of that comes free, some the pantry has to pay for at a discounted cost.

Sometimes the pantry buys staples at Save-A-Lot and at Shaheen’s- things they can’t get at the distribution sites and food banks. Both are very generous to the pantry- particularly at Christmas time when the food baskets (boxes) are built and distributed to many here, she noted.

Over the course of any given year the pantry spends about $5,000 a month on food purchases, to supplement the free food it receives. She estimated that if it had to purchase all its food at market prices, the food tab could exceed $150,000 a year.

The Tupper Lake Community Food Pantry is a shining example of Tupper Lake people helping their neighbors in a very discreet but important way!

Water levels lowest in decades for Setting Pole Dam testing

by Dan McClelland

Shoreline property owners on the local lakes and river have undoubtedly noticed the low water levels of the past week or so.

Brookfield Power Co. which controls the Raquette system’s water level at Setting Pole Dam opened the gates wide in recent days at the request of the town and LaBella Engineering. LaBella is the firm the town engaged to study the below-water condition of the century-old dam.

According to Town Supervisor Rick Dattola, the company needed the water level lowered so its divers could more easily inspect and photograph the underwater portions of the dam here.

Once LaBella Engineering finishes its research work and files its report, town leaders will then know the amount of reconstruction the main dam here will need.

The last time the dam saw major infrastructure improvements was during the 1980s when Pat Quinn was supervisor.

Mr. Dattola said they have been told by their engineers on the project the gates should be closed and local water levels should return to normal for this time of year by mid-week next week. “The divers only needed a day or two to get their underwater inspections completed,” he told the Free Press Monday.

With the water level down, there have been some concerns from local boaters about the depth of the water in the channel in front of the state boat launch site at Moody and of the cut-off channel between the river and Simond Pond.

Councilman Tim Larkin, who is the board member directly overseeing the dam project, said this week that Monday was the last day the water level declined.

He said the divers were expected to be in the water in and around the dam doing their underwater inspection yesterday.

By today the water level is expected to increase again as fast as natural rainfall in coming days will permit, he explained.

Councilman Larkin estimated this week the water level had declined between a foot and 18 inches during their drawn down period.

He noted too that the minimal amount of rain that has fallen in recent weeks has helped with the water lowering effort. “It’s been something of a perfect storm!”

Kids Row vendors brought entrepreneurial flair to Oktupperfest

There were glasses for every occasion at Violet Strader’s booth on Kids Row at Saturday’s Oktupperfest.

Amelia Arey, 4, was showing off a stuffed pumpkin at her booth Saturday, as her mom Dakota looks on. “Mimi” had homemade crayons and slime for sale at the Oktupperfest.

Tattooing was the trade of the day Saturday at Emilia Savage’s booth. With the young businesswoman (left) was her tattooing assistant, Delaney Wilson. The willing victim was Lee.

Evelyn Willett, 15, who carries the same name as her great grandmother, loves to bake and she’s very good at it, judging by the chocolate chip and pumpkin cookies we sampled. Her treats, in professionally labeled and bagged wrappings to identify her business, Evelyn’s Sweets and Treats, were all the rage on Kids Row Saturday.

Vieve Lascala’s creations were popular with art lovers combing Kids Row this year at the Oktupperfest. The 17 year old has many creative and literary interests, but her paintings were what she decided to showcase at the Row. Her company is called Ant.Leers Design Co. Vieve and Evelyn’s grandparents- Mark and Flora McCuen- sitting behind their booths- were obviously very proud of what their granddaughters had produced for the first time Kids Row at the Oktupperfest.

Estelle Labarge, 8, was one of the nearly one dozen young entrepreneurs at Saturday’s Oktupperfest as part of the new Kids Row vendors added this year. Estelle was selling candles in her booth she dubbed “Stelly’s Scents.”

Every day she rides on The Flow between school and her home at Tamarac, Quinn Whitman snaps a shot of what she sees there. And the scenes dramatically change with the seasons. On Saturday she brought a sample of her photographic collection for sale on Kids Row at the Oktupperfest.

Darrah Dattola, 7, and her business partner Leah Strader, 8, were all about creating decorative accessories to sell at their vending booth they called “Meant to Bead.” It was some very pretty stuff on things they beaded like key chains and straw-toppers.

Tupper Arts “Plein Air” returns next week

It’s that time again of the year when artists from all over the north east will come to Tupper Lake to paint local landscapes and buildings and compete for prizes in Tupper Arts’ Plein Air festival.

This year’s outdoor event begins on October 1 and runs through October 6. During that week they’ll be artist scattered all over the community with their easels in place to capture many familiar scenes with oil, watercolor, or crayon.

“There’s four days of painting and then on Friday, October 4, we have our reception to salute the artists!” Evie Longhurst, who directs the local arts and cultural place on Park Street. Friday also marks the start of the public viewing of the works of the more than two dozen artists who are expected to attend this the fifth year of the event. The sale of their works continues on the fifth and sixth of October at the center.

She said the artists will be headed home early that next week.

The most artist who have taken part at past events, here was 27 and this year’s field is expected to mirror that. last year 26 new and accomplished artists came here to compete.

“They come from all over America and Canada.” She said one of this year’s entrants, Timothy Frazier has a Tupper connection, while there are several others from various parts of the North Country. Right now there are 24 artists signed up to take part.

“I am expecting several more people to sign up in coming days.”

She noted the artist count will be capped at 30 to keep things manageable.

When the visiting artist will arrive, many will choose their own vistas to paint and draw. The art center has a list of suggestions too of good locations around town. Moody Road and route 30 S. and particularly the high pull offs are places people commonly see the artist working but throughout the community that week they will be scattered all over.

“Some artists like the water views and others, the forest and mountains,” she noted. “Bog River Falls seems to be a popular painting place with many.”

“We are anticipating that this Plein air will be successful and will again be thoroughly enjoyed by the people who come to appreciate the beauty area and by those here who enjoy what they produce on canvas!”

She said, however, that weather is always a big factor. “Last year we had a great run. The weather all week was beautiful. “So we are keeping our fingers crossed for another great week.

“The Plein Air artists enjoy coming to Tupper Lake, judging by their comments in the past. Last year after the show we sent out a survey to those who participated asking them what they liked what they didn’t like and how they think we could improve it. There was an underlying theme in the survey response. What the artists said what they really enjoy about Tupper Lake’s show is that it is casual and it is fun.”

“Some of the festivals around the region are more regimented,” she said they have been told by the artists. “Here we keep it fun for everyone,” she stated.

Mrs. Longhurst said that one of the things the artist like is the system they have here where they connect local hosts with the visitors so some people end up staying with people and end up becoming friends. She says a number of families here with spare rooms open them up to these visitors free of charge. That creates a very welcoming flavor here, she noted.

“These visiting artists get to know the community through the eyes of their hosts and they enjoy that!”

She said this year 10 local families have opened their homes to these visiting artists.

Mrs. Long Hearst said the artist typically don’t spend a lot of time at these host homes as they are up early in the morning to get to their sites and they paint there most of the day.

“They are often up and gone by 6a.m. and don’t return until early evening!”

The local organizer of events at Tupper Arts said she has seen great improvement among some of the people who have been coming for years. On one of their first visits they may have just been starting and now there are very good at what they do with paint and canvas.

“ADK Bark in the Park” Sunday draws dogs of all kinds

by Dan McClelland

The Tupper Lake Municipal Park was populated with dozens of friendly dogs Saturday and their loving owners when the Tri-Lakes Humane Society returned its popular “ADK Bark in the Park” there Sunday.

From mutts to special breeds, the canines sniffed and slept and overall just seemed to enjoy themselves in the pet-friendly atmosphere of the afternoon. All dogs were leashed, in keeping with the rules of the event

The event is the society’s major fundraiser of the year, and while we don’t have any numbers to report yet, it appeared to be very successful.

Mother Nature couldn’t have been kinder to the humane society for a fall event. With the mercury in the low eighties F., Sunday, like Saturday, was a bright sunny day.

The key sponsor of the humane society event was again the Adirondack Regional Federal Credit Union in this the sixth annual fundraiser.

Credit Union staff members helped out the society’s volunteers, operating the refreshment stands and such.

The Rotary Pavilion area of the park was cordoned off and ringed by over a dozen vendors- selling an assortment of pet apparel and treats.

Inside the pavilion, one of musical legends of the North Country, Double Axel, produced exceptional versions of popular covers from the 1960s and 1970s.

The band was a must-have for the organizers of high school proms and dances for over four decades.

Dozens of folks sat in the shade of the pavilion all afternoon to listen to their great tunes.

Humane society mainstays Kim Charland and Lea Bedore were again two of the key organizers of Sunday’s successful fundraiser.

Tupper Lake’s new superintendent of schools hit the ground running in August

by Dan McClelland

Since her arrival here on July 23 the Tupper Lake Central School District’s new superintendent of schools, Jaycee Welsh, has been very busy- meeting the district’s employees and many in the community, and learning everything she can about the particular workings of this school district. She has also helped polish several policies including the student code of conduct, a district safety plan and in recent weeks elementary school and district-wide “comprehensive education improvement plans.”

Mrs. Welsh was named to succeed retiring Superintendent of Schools Russ Bartlett in July after emerging as the top candidate in a superintendent’s search this spring, conducted by Dale Breault, superintendent of Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES.

In an interview in recent weeks in her office at L.P. Quinn School’s administrative wing, she said she is already enjoying the Tupper Lake community and the folks she has met so far.

She was at this past month’s village board meeting and was the guest of honor on a recent Thursday afternoon at a meet and greet held to introduce her to the community at the Tupper Lake Public Library. That morning she also attended the village’s official ribbon-cutting of the new dock system on Raquette Pond. She has already participated at two school board meetings in August and was in full swing at Monday’s September meeting.

She also attended, in the company of Chris Savage, the new middle/high school principal, the Northern Forest Center’s ground-breaking of its new apartment project on Park Street in August.

Tupper Lake’s new top school administrator’s was the LaFargeville School District’s executive principal in recent years.

The 44 year old is married and has been for the past nine years to Kevin Welsh, another educator who is currently the director of data and technology at Brasher Falls school district- the head IT guy there.

Kevin, a widower when he met Jaycee, taught special education in the past and before going into education he worked in the hospitality industry at the Bonnie Castle Resort in Alexandria Bay, working in its various recreational programs.

The Welsh family are long-time Alexandria Bay people.

Jaycee is mother to two adult step children.

She began her post-secondary education in the pursuit of the study of law. “I wanted to be a lawyer. My parents were both teachers, as were my grandparents.”

She grew up in Camden, N.Y., one of three children in their family. She noted her family kn ew the family of Dan Christmas, who has been active in real estate since his arrival in Tupper Lake in the early 1980s.

She described her hometown as quite close-knit when she was growing up there, but like Malone it has seen growth and commercial sprawl on its outskirts in recent years. Camden sported three elementary schools when she was growing up there.

Jaycee attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia where she studied pre-law courses of political science and criminal justice.

“I loved the study of politics and I loved the law. But in the course of my studies I soon learned I probably didn’t have the ruthlessness needed to be a good criminal lawyer. I would have been the legal aid attorney who brought all the kids home with me!”

“There were two moments I had when I realized I didn’t want to pursue a career in law. One of my classes was graded on a curve. This was before computers. There were about 15 in the class and the professor said the bottom third will fail the class.

“On the bulletin board outside the classroom he would post the answers to tests. Students rushed there and they were stealing the answers because they wanted an edge. The course was very competitive. I graduated third in my high school class and I was doing fine at university...I’m a hard worker... but all of a sudden I realized I didn’t want to be in a profession that competitive.

“That was the first time I felt that.” She said in the summer between her sophomore and junior years she attended Northwestern Law Institute in Chicago for a week to feel out the law. They put you with third year law students to help you decide if you really wanted to go to law school. All of my fears were affirmed after that week. I realized I could love something, but I didn’t have to make it my career!”

At James Madison she was working in one of the dining services on campus and really enjoyed that, she said. Eventually she became a student manager. She then applied to be the student manager over all of the company’s 14 dining operations on campus and landed the job.

With that much bigger job came a company offer to pay for her to take a human resources degree, if I would stay on with the company after graduation.

“At that point I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do so I said ‘sure, let’s try this!’”

“There were many parts of the job I loved, but I soon learned I was overseeing a lot of customer-service training. -And I loved the teaching part of that job!”

“A lot of the focus of that job was on employee training, and I really liked that!”

“As much as I was enjoying it, I knew the position wasn’t a forever one for me!”

She said she spent many weeks thinking about all the things she liked to do, admitting she likes to do a lot of things.

“I thought back to my senior year in high when I was ahead in my credits and had some free time so I was permitted to go to a nearby elementary school for part of the day and spend it in a classroom, working with the students there, some with disabilities.”

“So I thought that maybe this teaching gene in me that I had been fighting” I needed to follow. She said she began taking education classes at night, working in her human resources position with the dining company during the day.

“I completed my special education master’s degree in a year and one half. At that time there was a huge teacher shortage, especially in special ed. I didn’t do student teaching, because I was hired right away by a school district and did my student teaching in my own classroom.”

She later completed her master’s degree and decided it was time to come home to New York.

Jaycee landed her first teaching job in New York at Carthage. Her music teacher at Camden High was a principal in Carthage at the time and she knew of some pending openings, and told her about them. She was hired there first to teach summer school. At the time she was also working to complete the numerous certifications required by the New York State Department of Education.

She taught for three years in the Carthage school system.

“At the board meeting in Carthage where I was granted tenure, I also resigned to take a position at Lafargeville as both elementary school principal and director of special education in the district.” That was 2015.

Seven years later the high school principal, who started with the district there the same year as Jaycee did, left for another position “and our superintendent knew I was ready for the next thing in my career.”

At that point she was promoted to the position of executive principal at LaFargeville Central.

While she continued as director of special education, she began doing curriculum instruction in grades K to 12, helping with personnel, working alongside a new K-12 principal who oversaw athletics and student discipline.

She was executive principal at LaFargeville before coming here.

“I’m always looking for a challenge. When my husband and I sat down two years ago to talk about what was next for me, we talked about the different districts that we would be interested in moving to. We decided if we were going to be moving a significant distance from our house in LaFargeville, we wanted to make sure we were going in the same direction. Kevin is commuting an hour and a half from LaFargeville to Brasher Falls district, leaving home at 5a.m. every day for school.

Kevin also referees high school football and hockey. The Tupper Lake football team is scheduled to play the Vikings of Thousand Islands later this fall, but he won’t be able to officiate that game because of the conflict of interest.

“I wasn’t interested in applying to be a superintendent of schools for the first time just anywhere. There have been opportunities in recent years. I wanted my first job to be the right fit for me!”

“I’ve been eligible to be a superintendent for years, but I wanted to be in the right place!”

She noted too her LaFargeville superintendent wasn’t going to retire any time soon, because of his relatively young age.

Outside of school Jaycee has logged extensive community service with the Cornell Cooperative Extension board and with the board of Watertown’s Victims’ Assistance organization. She was also a member of several golf leagues. She admits she has golfed since she was a toddler, but is still not as good as her mother, an avid golfer and retired physical education teacher. Her mom golfs in three or four leagues each week.

Jaycee laughs when she said her mom came here earlier this summer two days after she got the job to do some reconnaissance of Tupper Lake and found her an apartment. “But right after that her next stop was to check out the Tupper Lake Golf Course.

Jaycee won’t be on local 18 much for now, unless playing a round or two with her mom this fall. For right now, she has dispensed with her outside interests to devote her full attention to her new job.

One of the reasons that Tupper Lake appealed to her is that in at least one respect it is similar to LaFargeville. That community is one of three along with the more prominent and affluent Clayton and Alexandria Bay that are called “the river communities.”

“-And Tupper Lake, like LaFargeville, has a vastly different dynamic in those river communities, much like Tupper does in the tri-lakes villages.

“That’s what really drew me to Tupper Lake.”

She noted that LaFargeville is largely a farming community, a working community. It’s that same working class background that attracted her here.

“I can identify with that! I felt that Tupper Lake was the right fit for me from the start!”

“When I first saw the job posting (in the statewide education newsletter), I immediately felt that. She said she sometimes possesses strong gut instincts that have always sent her in the right direction. “I thought to myself: I cannot not put my name in for that job!”

-And that brought her to Tupper Lake!

Arrival of new dock system in park celebrated Wednesday

by Dan McClelland

Village officials were joined by about 30 of their counterparts from various local, county and state agencies on the shore of Raquette Pond Wednesday morning to celebrate the arrival of new docks- the latest addition to hundreds of thousands of dollars of state money invested in the Tupper Lake Municipal Park in recent years.

Mayor Mary Fontana welcomed the well-wishers to the 20-minute ceremony in Flanders Park adjacent to the bottom of Cliff Ave. She apologized in advance for reading from a prepared script, joking that was the best way for her to address the group.

“Our celebration today is only possible by the partnership that began over 10 years ago when residents coming to meetings and sharing their ideas that led to the development of a master plan, including these docks. The village board and committee members put in the time to sit through meetings, consultants gave their input and played the all important role of making sure what was built aligned with our community goals.

“Volunteers who dedicated their time and effort to help improve the park and provide matching funds for grants. Partners included ROOST which shared its expertise and helped us draft a strategy to help us develop this waterfront park with high quality designs and amenities that would meet the needs of residents and visitors and encourage them to return.

“Staff, who shouldered the tasks to get these improvements built. Funders, including the New York State Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization program, Department of Environmental Conservation and its Adirondack Community Smart Growth, the Aseel Legacy Fund, the Fund for Tupper Lake and Adirondack Foundation, the Cloudsplitter Foundation- all of whom provided the funding that made these improvements possible.

“The installation of these Flanders Park docks and our new wayfinding signage are the latest enhancements installed as part of our ongoing efforts to welcome residents and visitors to Tupper Lake to our beautiful waterfront park.

“The docks were designed by Environmental Design and Research of Saratoga Springs and fabricated by Dock Doctors. The Village of Tupper Lake Department of Public works assisted in their installation and site preparation. The new docks have had several weeks of heavy usage by boaters accessing the Sunset Stage performances and for uptown dining and shopping. They are also being used by residents to get out on the water to fish and enjoy the waterways. We heard during the planning sessions that Raquette Pond is a favorite fishing spot of many so we are not surprised to see people with lines in the water.

“It won’t be long until a new fishing pier will be constructed just a short way down the shoreline. It’s been designed and permitted and we have received a Department of State grant to help construct it. We hope to be inviting you to another ribbon-cutting ceremony next summer.

“Also keep an eye out for the new scoreboard that will soon be installed at the grandstand ball field, which was also funded by our Department of State grant and matched by our many generous donors.

“I’d also like to draw your attention to the new wayfinding signs behind you which connect the Junction Depot train station, the shoreline walkway along the crossroads of the Adirondack Trail. These signs guide Tupper Lake visitors to key community assets including the Wild Center, the Adirondack Rail/Trail, the Waterfront Park, and dining and shopping in both downtown and uptown Tupper Lake.

“The signage was designed and fabricated by Rob Carr and Derek Pryor of Darwin Designs and installed by the village’s DPW crew. The wayfinding signage was funded by the New York State DEC’s Adirondack Community Smart Growth grant program, and grants from Heart Network and the Fund for Tupper Lake at Adirondack Foundation.

“We’ll also be celebrating the new signs at Oktupperfest on September 28 right here in the park and we hope you can join us for that event!”

Before about a dozen of the dignitaries present that day gathered to officially cut a red and black plaid ribbon, the young mayor called on Kate Black, the regional supervisor for the North Country region of the Local Waterfront Revitalization program at the department of state.

“Our office is dedicated to partnering with waterfront communities across the state to protect our natural and cultural assets, redevelop underused sites, provide public access opportunities and strengthen the local economy.

“Today it is an honor to be here to celebrate these achievements and to be here in Tupper Lake. The village here holds a lot of happy, childhood memories for me and it’s always a pleasure to return to see everything that has been happening here over the years. Today is particularly special as we cut the ribbon on this latest park improvement!

“Here in Tupper Lake the department has had the pleasure of working closely with the village in a relationship that spans decades.

“Today we are celebrating the latest accomplishment and the completion of new Flanders Park docks funded by our Environmental Protection Fund Local Waterfront Revitalization program. These new docks will offer boats convenient access to downtown amenities and to the Sunset Stage where they can enjoy performances. This project is the perfect example of how downtown revitalization and waterfront recreation are coming together to make Tupper Lake a lively, public destination for residents, businesses and visitors.

“On behalf of Secretary of State Walter T. Mosley and all the dedicated staff and community volunteer partners that made this happen,” the village is applauded. Your commitment both on these docks and the decades-long commitment to revitalize and realize your community vision is truly commendable. The successful completion of this project is a testament to everyone’s hard work and needs to be celebrated!

“I look forward to our continuing partnership for waterfront revitalization through our LWR program as well as the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI). Congratulations on reaching another significant milestone!”

Loud clapping!

Melissa McManus, the community development director who was instrumental in winning the many LWR grants for the village, called up a dozen or so of the guests that day to help Mayor Fontana cut the ribbon.

Invited to do the ceremonial cutting were Benefactors Lee and Nancy Keet of Saranac Lake, Supervisor Ricky Dattola, DEC Forester Keith Carrow of Lake Placid whose both parents are Tupper natives and who is helping to direct the agency’s rail/trail project, Ms. Black, Jeremy Evans from Franklin County Economic Development Agency, the new ROOST chairman Dan Kelleher and Village Clerk Mary Casagrain. The cutting event is shown above.

The cutting was actually done twice, with a little adhesive applied to permit the mayor to cut it a second time.

Brownies and other sweet items were served to the guests.

Tupper Lake’s postmaster is enjoying his job

by Dan McClelland

Just over a year into his new position as the Tupper Lake postmaster, Nick DeGrace is enjoying the job.

Nick’s promotion came just over a year ago on July 1, 2023.

“I very much like it,” he said, sitting for a moment behind his desk in his office off the lobby.

A Tupper Lake native, Nick is the son of Colleen Proulx DeGrace and the late Nick DeGrace. Nick’s uncle is former Police Chief Robert “Butch” DeGrace.

The family moved from Tupper Lake to Saranac Lake when Nick was eight. His dad worked for Davison Chevrolet in Ray Brook as a detailer and his mother worked as a nurse at the hospital.

Nick is a 1985 graduate of Saranac Lake High School.

After high school he joined the work force, working in assorted jobs.

He and his wife Val have one son, Dane. Dane and his wife, Brittany, are are parents of two children- daughter Tessa and son, Jackson. The family lives in Vermontville and Nick said he’s tickled to be a grandfather.

“I worked at a lot of restaurants in Lake Placid after high school and then turned to electrical work, living and working in Saranac Lake.

Nick joined the United State Postal Service in September, 1998, starting as a part-time letter carrier. He did that for about nine years.

“I was outside most of my time with the post office,” he noted. He worked as a letter carrier on the various local routes for 25 years.

Last July he was appointed to succeed Postmaster Hannah Fokenmeyer, after serving as a time as acting postmaster, when she was out on medical leave.

“I knew most of the programs here so I stepped in to help and to keep things running” at the office here.

Over the years Nick had taken training under previous postmasters to eventually be the “officer in charge” at a post office here or somewhere.

He was trained over the years as an inside clerk too, but he never worked in that capacity here. From time to time, however, he would fill in to help Clerks Mike Larabie, Mary Simmons Dennis Neenan and others at the hometown PO.

Over the years Nick has worked here under a number of postmasters, including Fred Everhart, Mike Chartier, Vaughn Stevens, Kevin Hanlon and Hannah.

“All of them gave me opportunities to learn the various post office systems.”

He noted that the letter carrier’s job is physically demanding, as carriers are in and out of the vehicles, up and over curbs, up and down stairs to get the mail to the residents of a community. The work took its toll on Nick’s knees.

Mentally, carriers typically catch on quickly to their routes and develop their own systems to best service the customers on their routes.

Letter carriers also must work every day until all their mail is delivered, and its not uncommon to see them delivering mail into the early evening.

“You work from your first delivery to your last delivery.”

And when the post office is short-handed, as it has often been in recent years, the letter carriers pick up the slack to insure mail is delivered promptly and efficiently every day.

Jobs are routinely posted on USPS.com and people apply on line and take the required tests on line, he explained.

For decades postmasters in communities across America were politically appointed and it was a job that carried some local political weight.

“The postmaster is actually the highest ranking federal official” in a community, Nick said of that legacy.

“I love the job!” he admitted matter-of-factly during our interview. He said he finds it very both satisfying and challenging.

The 57 year old wants to complete his postal service in his hometown. “But I’m not going to rush to retirement, because I really like what I do!”

Nick keeps his office door open almost all the time, and judging by the comments from customers he has received, people like that.

“I’m open to everyone...I like to see people in here!”

He notes the postmaster’s job is to run the local operation and to make sure there is adequate staff to do that. “If you’re short of staff, you do what you have to do to get the mail out.” And that includes picking up a postal bag and delivering the mail on a route.

“On a recent week one of the carrier’s daughter was very ill and she had to stay home. So I went out and did her route. -And then I did my job when I finished hers!”

Monday he was out delivering mail again on one of the uptown routes.

He knows all the local routes very well, having done them all at one time or another. He’s also done the private contract routes on the outer edges of the community.

He said if the private contractors can’t complete their route, he or they try to find a replacement, but the bottom line is that if all else fails, he would have to do that route. “Fortunately,” he noted, “our contractors are very reliable.”

He feels the postal service is a good career opportunity for a person today and he feels it’s been good to him and his family.

“Everyone here knows their jobs, they know what they need to do,” and he finds that make the work environment very pleasant. “We have a very good crew here and there’s always been a good crew in Tupper!”

Crew members include Leon Jessie, Judy LaPlante, Wendy Pavlus, Nick LeBlanc, Erin Kentile, Jake Philion, Joe Kelly and Rebecca Mitchell.

“People here really care about their jobs and they understand how important the U.S. Mail is to people!”

Traditionally first class mail was the bread and butter of the postal service, but parcel post is now emerging as a mainstay, he said he has seen over recent years.

He estimated that from the time he started with the postal service the number of first class letters are a tenth of the business of the post office now, what with e-mail and other social media.

“We used to have six or seven complete trays of letters to deliver every day. Now we maybe have two?”

Catalogues and third-class mail like flyers have also decreased dramatically over the years to the point now it’s mostly gone, he noted.

Part of the post office’s mission now is working with private carriers like UPS to deliver packages locally.

“We’ve been doing that for a long time. Our express mail, for example, comes here and goes over the counter. It’s trucked to Plattsburgh or Albany and then connects with a private carrier like UPS or Fed-Ex, he said of just one change in recent years. Some of those national private carriers move the mail from there by airliner. “The postal service uses Fed-Ex planes for some of our mail.”

He explained that the postal service never employed its own air fleet and used to ship mail on the flights of commercial carriers.

“We’re basically helping each other,” he said of the evolved symbiotic relationship of the postal service and the big private delivery companies.

The postal service is the “last mile” deliverer of of many “smart post” services today.

Nick admitted that if he was to start his working career all over, he would certainly again join the postal service. “It’s a good job...it really is!”

“-And I’ve met a lot of nice people along the way!”

During his time with the post office here Nick also served as a volunteer fireman for over a decade, some of that community-service time as a department captain. He was also a volunteer on the Tupper Lake Emergency and Rescue Squad for nearly a decade.

Former Plaza Hotel now just a memory

The former Plaza Hotel, which was a bar and rooming house for lumberjacks in its early days and which contained apartments in recent years, is no more today after it was razed yesterday morning.

For years the Plaza was owned by Maurice Beausoleil.

The Northern Forest Center, which is planning a brand new nine-apartment complex on its footprint, engaged a company, Dan’s Hauling and Demolition of East Greenbush, N.Y. to demolish the old landmark on Park Street and it made short work of it.

In preparation for the demolition, the company cordoned off the entire lot with orange fencing and posted signs warning of the presence of asbestos and its harmful effects Monday. Demolition began about 9a.m., with workmen in hazmat suits pouring water on the building as sections were pulled down by a large excavator.

In accordance with state building code the crew also covered the windows of the duplex at 173 Park Street facing the building with plastic prior to the start of the work.

For most of the day Dan’s Hauling and Demolition had its large 18-wheel dump trailer parked in front of the building where the debris was placed.

According to comments by Northern Forest Center leaders at a ground-breaking observance several weeks ago, construction of the new apartment building that will cater to worker families is due to start in coming weeks.

Ceremony marks official start of Park Street residential project

by Dan McClelland

Northern Forest Center officials welcomed about 60 local and regional leaders and friends of their unfolding residential project to its three-lot site across from the high school Thursday afternoon, marking its official start.

The local project will involve the construction of a new building at 179 Park Street and the renovation of the house next door at 185. Originally the Northern Forest Center had intended to renovate the former Plaza Hotel, but it was later condemned in the winter of 2022-23 after pipes burst in the partially renovated building. After additional structural inspections, the center officials determined the benefits of attempting to salvage the building were not worth the risks and the costs.

Addressing the group first that afternoon in the paved driveway of 185 Park Street in front of the sidewall of the former Plaza Hotel, Leslie Karasin, Adirondack director with the Northern Forest Center who work out of an office in Saranac Lake, welcomed the invited guests, calling the major residential initiative “very exciting.”

She first welcomed to the microphone that afternoon Mayor Mary Fontana and Town Supervisor Ricky Dattola.

The mayor spoke first. “On behalf of the Village of Tupper Lake we want to welcome the Northern Forest Center here and we are pretty excited about this project. It’s going to be a wonderful opportunity for Tupper Lake and we look forward to future projects.”

“Same here,” Mr. Dattola joined in. “We’re very excited about everything in this project. The town can’t wait for it to happen. -And we want to thank Leslie. She is not only leading this effort for her organization, she is also helping us develop new snowmobile trails and new bike trails. She’s become a real asset here and we welcome her.”

He offered a special welcome to the many out of town guests in the audience, many of them state and regional officials.

“So let’s start tearing this building down and building new!” he said in his trademark enthusiastic way.

Ms. Karasin joked Community Development Director Melissa McManus, in the audience that day, had suggested trading the ceremonial shovels for sledge hammers to attack the century old and decaying former Plaza building.

Ross Whaley of Upper Saranac Lake, a board member of the Northern Forest Center, echoed Ms. Karasin’s comment about excitement, saying he was excited too.

“-And I’ll tell you why I’m excited. My postal code is 12986. That means Tupper Lake is my home. When I have visitors I can take them to a museum that is ranked the No. 1 natural history museum in the nation.

“When I’m too lazy to cook, I can take them to the Woodshed on Park, and not only have dinner, but be welcomed.

“If I need boards, I can visit Tupper Lake Supply, and I not only get boards I get the low down on what’s happening politically in the area.”

“That makes me excited!”

“Secondly I’m excited because I’m on the board of the Northern Forest Center. Why would I be excited about that?”

“Millinocket, Maine has a similar main street to this town. Today there are a half a dozen gorgeous apartments- with rents priced for nurses, for school teachers- and they are beautiful.

“Go over to Lancaster, New Hampshire. Downtown three-story buildings converted to apartments with retail space on the first floor.

“-And you know what is more exciting? Someone is doing renovations to the building next door. These projects are contagious!

“Move over to St. Johnsbury. I met a young man- maybe in his twenties- a young entrepreneur who told me he wouldn’t be in business if it wasn’t for the Northern Forest Center who gave him a grant.

“So that’s why I’m excited. Here in my home the Northern Forest Center is doing something that is going to make a difference!”

Rob Riley followed Ross calling his short address “a tough act to follow.”

He introduced himself as the president of the Northern Forest Center who lives in Concord, N.H.

“One of the things I am proud of is that we are now taxpayers in this community. We, as a non-profit organization, feel that it is important that we are not only contributing to and investing in the community, but we are paying a portion to make sure those residents we are hoping to bring to this community are accessing services and contributing to a system that really leads to a vibrant community.”

“I dare to say we’re taking a bet on Tupper but Tupper is also taking a bet on us. That feels like the right type of partnership as we look at the communities that Ross mentioned: Millinocket, Maine, Greenville, Maine, Bethel, Maine, St. Johnsbury, Vt., Lancaster, N.H.!”

“It’s that partnership that provides that deep rooted sense of why we are here and why our work matters beyond the building. It’s about relationships...it’s about people...it’s about the scholars who move this process forward in partnership with us and the review boards at the state and levels that allow this process to move forward. It was our board that allowed us to take this leap forward to buy these buildings so we could try to be part of the excitement that we see as happening in Tupper Lake!

“It all comes down to people meeting with people. In the long-term the building is only a building, but the people who will live in it will be the ones to really lean into it and become part of the community!

“-And that’s what we’re really excited about. I’ve seen this happen in the other places we’ve been. A new couple moves into town. They end up having a baby, and put kids into the local school system.” The result is growth, he emphasized.

He said this school year in Millinocket, Maine, will be the first time in many years that the kindergarten class will be larger than the graduating class, calling it exciting.

“This will be the first year in Bethel, Maine that they will see an old building that has been sitting idle and empty for 15 years that is now seeing work done to it...showing that someone cares and we care!”

“People ask what we have learned from these various projects. We’ve learned how much these buildings and these buildings mean to people. People have told me stories showing this. I’ve received four-page letters from former residents” about their fond memories of these places.

“We take that very seriously, and we take that personally and feel very proud of our community revitalization effort,” Mr. Riley told the five dozen supporters there Thursday afternoon.

“As I measure long-term, what we hope to get out of this project” is new housing, new investments in these neighborhoods. “We hope it builds community pride!”

“People feel very good about living in Tupper Lake.” While that’s already underway, he said he and the Northern Forest Center hope this new project will build more of that feeling.

He introduced some regional officials in the audience that day: Kiley Peck and Jennifer Voss from the state department of state’s office in Watertown. He said they were associated with the village’s successful DRI grant for the uptown area which helped to fund his organization’s project.

He also recognized Steve Hunt of the New York State Empire Development Agency “which is second in state funding” through the village government here.

He noted too a representative from Governor Kathy Hochul’s office had planned to attend, but had to send her regrets at the last minute.

Mr. Riley called the extra money from Empire State Development to this project was “super helpful.”

He said private money through groups like the Cloudsplitter Foundation and the Adirondack Foundation’s Generous Acts program has also been very helpful to their project.

Mr. Riley said that in addition to the state and private contributions, the balance of the cost of the project is being what he called “self-financed.”

“We didn’t have to go to the banks or other lending institutions.” Instead they used in-house “impact investments,” which has helped his organization use “lower-priced capital,” a combination of private money, state money and in-house monies.

He said too their project has attracted new investors from many nearby states in the northeast.

“So thank you for permitting us to be part of this cool project...we’re glad to be here today for this ground-breaking.”

“Our legal department said ‘no sledge hammers’,” he joked.

Next up was Steve Hunt, the regional director for Empire State Development. He joked that he was expecting to have a podium, from which to read his notes on his cell phone. He said to read those words while holding his phone was a little too challenging for him that day.

“So I’ll try to be quick. I love Tupper Lake. It’s a great community. I have a special kinship with the school mascot (the lumberjack) so any time I have the opportunity to be up here is good!”

He introduced several influential people in the audience: Assemblyman Billy Jones, Jim McKenna, co-chair of the village’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative, and already mentioned Kiley Peck and Jen Voss from DOS, Barbara Rice from the Adirondack Park Agency...there are many others who helped.

“On behalf of Empire State Development, I want to thank all the partners involved in this project. When Governor Hochul was talking about pro-housing communities and neighborhood redevelopment, these are the types of projects she was thinking about. So this is great. It has a DRI investment as well as a ‘Restore New York’ grant. They are grants specifically intended to try to revitalize communities, to help build new homes. Right here on Park Street we’re going to have new homes for folks.”

He emphasized that community development also includes new housing. “You need good places for people who work in the community to have quality homes to live in! ESD is excited to be part of this project!”

Assemblyman Billy Jones kept his remarks brief too, joking that at every outdoor event he speaks, that’s when a group of Harley Davidsons passes by, drowning out his voice.

“It’s great to be here in Tupper Lake. As was mentioned, you can feel the excitement here, with all the partners here today, along with the village and town doing so much work here.”

He offered a big thanks to the Northern Forest Center for making this investment here.

“Wherever I go in all of my communities throughout my district,” when you talk to school leaders, government leaders, business owners, hospital operators they all say “we need housing for our work forces.

“This is important in fitting that niche that is needed for middle-market work force housing needed...needed here and all across the North Country!”

“I want to congratulate everyone here today in being so pro-active and making this happen in Tupper Lake.”

“We must continue to push forward” to meet the needs of all communities in this region with more and better housing.

“-And as has been said. These project are contagious. Once this project is done, we’ll move a block over and then again a block over!”

“And eventually people will have the housing they need.” He called the lack of worker housing a huge issue not only in this region, but all across our nation.

He applauded Jim McKenna, who is also co-chair of the North Country Economic Development Council, for making housing a priority for his economic development group.

In closing Ms. Karasin shared some of the details of their project.

She said with all the work that has gone into the project by the host of supporters and supporting organizations, “we’re going to start to see things happening here very soon.”

“This week the asbestos abatement work” necessary has been taking place in the former hotel building. “We’re expecting the all clear news” as early as today.

She said they expect to apply for a demolition permit from Code Enforcement Officer Pete Edwards shortly.

“The community will see visible demolition work happening here soon.

She said when they first bought the former Plaza Hotel “we thought we could rehab it. But by the time we assessed the kind of rehab we wanted to do we came to the realization it made more sense to treat it as a demo project and do new construction. It wasn’t an easy decision for us, because we wanted to take the approach like the frugal, scrappy organization we are and save what we could.

Pointing to architectural sketches being displayed next to her, she said the big new building will be on a similar footprint and of similar scale to the existing one. “But it will be a new building with nine high quality apartments that we will rent to long-term tenants.”

“There will also be some renovations to the house next door, so all together we are going ten units of workforce house between the two buildings!”

She thanked many of the people who have helped in the project, including many others that afternoon mentioned.

Following public hearings here in May and the endorsement of the village board, Ms. Karasin’s group recently won a grant from the ESD’s “Restore New York” grant program.

Timberjaxx Pass to celebrate its grand opening Saturday

by Dan McClelland

This Saturday Tupper Lake’s newest tourist attraction- Timberjaxx Pass at 86 Demars Blvd. will celebrate is grand opening from 2p.m. to 5p.m. A ribbon-cutting and blessing by Fr. James Teti will take place at 3p.m.

Those who bring along a non-perishable, non-expired food item for the Tupper Lake Food Pantry, will be able to sample one of the company’s small soft serve ice cream cone in exchange for their donation.

The event will also produce an afternoon of live entertainment by Tupper Lake’s favorite duo, brother and sister Mickey Desmarais and Claire Brown. Visitors can try out the new course or a delicious Hersey-brand frosty treat from the parlor.

Saturday’s event marks the finish of over two years of study and research and over a year of construction by the owners, Juli and Jed Dukett and a team of friends and family members. The local couple transformed the Hyde Company’s vacant gas station problem on the Route 3 corridor that connects the two sections of the village into an attractive 18-hole miniature golf course and cozy ice cream parlor that is expected to draw tourists and residents for decades to come.

The new business was one of the ten projects selected from an initial round of 16 finalists in the village’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative that produced $10 million in development money for economic development in the uptown business district and for southerly pieces of the local corridor known as “The Boulevard.”

Juli and Jed and their Timberjaxx Pass is about the second of the ten funded projects to come to fruition.

Jewelry creator Rachel King and her silversmith and gem-crafting partner, Brandon Cooke were the first DRI recipients open this summer at their new Park Street store site.

Under the state grant program, candidates had to fund 100% of their projects with their own money, and then at the finish received up to 40% reimbursement from the state department of state. The local couple invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their new business- far beyond the grant allocation of about $199,000. If project budgets go over budget, as theirs did, it’s up to the owner to pay any overage, as they did.

Jed Friday offered great praise for the DRI’s local planning committee who he said spent many hours of their time to help grow businesses here.

Our first stop there Friday was inside the new, freshly decorated ice cream parlor.

Featured inside are two types of ice cream- hard and soft, and both made by the famous Hershey company. The couple went with the national brand because of its popularity.

Motorists have already stopped this summer when they see the Hershey sign out front.

The one counter is glass-fronted so customers can pick from the dozen colorful containers of hard ice cream that are ready for scooping.

High school student and stand-out athlete, Taylor Stoll was working the bar that morning and when asked she said the she thought a big favorite is the “Roadrunner Raspberry” in that day’s line-up. The flavors change week to week. Another bin, featuring a dark chocolate flavor, is also very popular, she told the Free Press. Its color was as deep and rich, as the flavor itself, she said.

“The kids love ‘Cotton Candy’,” a pink and blue mix, noted Juli Dukett. “It’s so popular we run out of it all the time!” It was missing that day. There’s only room for 12 bins in the ice cream case- so the flavors are routinely rotated to give customers as wide a choice as possible.

Juli showed us how to dispense the soft ice cream cones from their soft ice cream machine that serves both custard and soft ice cream in vanilla and chocolate, or the favorite, a swirl or two of both. Sprinkles are there for the asking.

A third flavor is included every week- but the black raspberry has been a steady one in recent weeks- given its popularity.

She offered us the custard sample, and while we refused initially, we relented and took it from her. It was a good decision. The creamy custard was delicious.

At the second counter there they dispense shave ice in over 32 flavors. Some of the flavors are sugar-free.

Across that counter is where the sundaes and other creations spring from- topped with cherries, chocolate, and caramel sauces, whipped cream and other mouth-watering things. “Right now banana splits are very popular,” explained Juli.

The sundae special last week was one called “Cabin Crunch Twix,” which features a tiny Twix bar. It starts with caramel topping on vanilla custard swirls and a chocolate crumble cookie, dressed out in whipped cream and cherries. “Wow!” is a common response to the first bite.

Several large signs over that counter list all the splendid and gooey goodies that can be made and served there.

Ice cream lovers can enjoy their treats inside the parlor at tables and counters there or go outside under the awning left over from the site’s gas station days.

“We’ve been very busy since we opened earlier this summer,” the local elementary school teacher said that day.

“It’s busiest when its sunny and hot. But people have even been coming for ice cream when it’s rainy!”

The new miniature course has seen the most traffic this very hot summer when it’s overcast- and comfortable to play outdoors.

She said they have seen many campers from nearby campsites coming out to play when the sun is behind thick clouds. Some mini-golfers come in the bright sun, but most prefer the cool days and evenings.

“People obviously don’t play during heavy downpours, but many will stay and play through light rain and sprinkles.

“They find our new course both fun and challenging. We’ve seen people of all ages play...anyone can play miniature golf. Sometimes they organize friendly competitions, particularly among families and groups of friends.”

The new tourist venue is becoming the fodder of bragging rights between family members and friends who live here or who vacation here.

“Our golfers love the waterfall, they love the fountains, they love the varying elevations on many of the holes.” She said they built their course with no impediments on the fairways so that wheelchair bound people can easily maneuver it and play.

She said the course was designed by miniature golf course builder Bob Horwath, who has built courses all over the world. For months last summer he worked side by side with Jed building the place from scratch.

Their course, according to the couple, is easy for everyone to play, but offers its challenges.

One difficult hole is what they call the anthill hole No. 8, where a hill similar to where ants might live en mass rises around the hole. On another the golfer either has to negotiate a six foot long, narrow bridge over water to a corridor beyond, which most always dumps the ball onto the green. If the golfer’s ball goes off the bridge it just meanders down the stream and up onto the same green.

On some holes bumpers along greens and fairways have been eliminated so your ball can easily land in a nearby pond.

The balls are easily retrievable with nets attached to poles.

Tupper native Dan Dattola was in town that day with his wife Laurie with their daughter in law Ashley and her children. Everyone was enjoying their ice cream cones under the former gas pump covering outside.

Dan, who developed both the Rockridge and Haymeadow subdivisions here in the 1980s, stopped into the parlor to congratulate Juli on their new business. “All I can tell you is this is the nicest thing in Tupper Lake right now. I hope you are successful and that you grow it bigger.”

Juli thanked Mr. Dattola, telling him she and Jed planned to work very hard to do just that.

Riley Fletcher and Cameron Sarvis came into the parlor after their first 18-hole round and were eager to sign up for a second one.

Riley and Cameron thought the toughest hole was the par 4 Hole No. 15 featuring a long and steep fairway. Juli explained they got the design for it from the Lake Placid bob run course. Riley wasn’t happy, however, that Cameron managed several holes in one that day.

The young pair said they would highly recommend Timberjaxx Pass to any and all comers. “It’s just so much fun!” exclaimed Riley.

Juli said she and Jed and their children played many miniature golf courses on annual vacations in the south over the years and from those experiences they eventually knew some of the features they wanted on their course. “We knew we wanted a waterfall and the ponds. There was an over/under hole we’ve played on other courses that we knew we wanted to include.”

Laurie Pickering and her sister Penny Larche stopped by that day for their daily “baby cones.” They said it was the highlight of their days in these unusually hot, summer months.

Sitting with Jed that day and looking out over his 30-car parking lot, he said there had been some concerns during the planning if that would be enough parking. He said even if very busy times at their new place, the parkings space there have been sufficient.

“Unlike a place like a restaurant or brewery where people might be there for an hour or more, people here can play a round of golf in between 30 to 45 minutes and then they’re gone.”

“Of course that all depends on the size of the group, and if there are large groups ahead of them.”

Of the groups their place attracts, are individuals who come by themselves to try the course or couples who come in two and often with another couple. “But we also had a lot of large family and family groups...a lot of grandparents with their grandkids.”

Some parents and grandparents come with their kids and grandkids, and just walk along with them through the course as the kids play, he also noted.

He said sometimes if the children are older and perhaps young teenagers, parents will come into the parlor and have ice cream while the kids enjoy the course. “That’s worked out well many times so far this summer...every one is very respectful of others playing the course and everyone seems to really enjoy themselves.”

As Juli said, Jed also noted they have had many compliments on their new place from customers.

He said many mini-golfers like the water holes. A ball that goes errant off the green or fairway into the water costs the player a stroke. That’s every water hole except No. 10 where the water can be played to the hole.

He called that unique double-way to play hole and the bob run hole their course’s “signature holes.”

Jed said one of the most pleasurable parts of the construction phase which began July of last year and finished this spring was working with Designer Bob Horwath.

In his research Jed thoroughly vetted the designer and learned first hand he was the best for the job. “I talked to people Bob had worked for and they couldn’t say enough good about him and his work!”

The two bonded within days and became fast friends. “We still talk at least once a week.”

He said that while many of Bob’s trademark designs are found in the Duketts’ new course, several like the two-route water course were altered and are unique to this course.

Jed also had lots of praise for his Uncle Gus of Saranac Lake and Juli’s brother Todd and her parents, and Jack Moody who helped them in so many ways, including much of the construction.

Todd Bickford did much of the interior and exterior painting to spruce up the former convenience store, and built two modern handicapped washrooms next to it. The entire place now is decked out in bright red solid stain and black trim- and as such has become a most attractive addition to the Boulevard strip.

He said all the suppliers and local contractors they used all went the extra mile to help them finish on time. Most of the local folks like Mitchell Stone which provided dozens and dozens of truckloads of the packy sand to build the base and Lemieux Excavating which furnished dozens of large boulders for the giant waterfall and to line and punctuate the fairways and Tri-lakes Masonry which poured the many concrete surfaces sent trucks and crews whenever they needed them. Tupper Lake Supply, Aubuchon Hardware and Fortune’s Hardware were always available too with needed supplies. At one of the first holes Chip Lemieux fashioned with several boulders the shape of a turtle, and so it’s logically called “the Turtle Hole.”

The entire miniature golf course is very well lit, downward style in keeping with the community’s dark skies policies.

That downward style is most appropriate for focussing light where it does the most good in the evening- on the tees, fairways and greens, Jed and Juli have found.

In the construction work by Bob and Jed, every hole was built atop lots of drainage pipes to make sure surface water disappears from the course minutes after a big rain storm.

We toured every hole with Jed and Juli, with Jed tossing a golf ball out in front of him at each hole to show us their particular peculiarities and challenges.

By their smiles and enthusiasm the two owners are very proud of what they have accomplished here with the state’s help. They look forward to their new place being a big part of Tupper Lake’s late spring, summer and early fall seasons for the enjoyment of the people who live here and those who come here each year to enjoy this community.

Stitchin’ Bees bring vivid color, incredible workmanship with fabric to Tupper Arts

The Stitchin’ Bees quilting group brought vivid color and tons of handcrafted fabric together at Tupper Arts for another wildly successful quilting show in recent weeks.

Most of the quilts in the show, which filled almost the entire show room of the Tupper Arts center were machine-pieced by local and area quilters where the fabric pieces are sown together by a sewing machine.

A few quilts were of the variety called
art collage, where multiple pieces of fabric are overlaid on one another and secured with thread.

Some were “rag” style where squares of fabric, often flannel, are sewn together in such a way that the seam allowance is clipped. When washed a rag quilt tends to fray and soften.

Another type of quilt shown is called “appliqued” where pieces of fabric are sewn on top of other fabric, either by hand or with sewing machine.

Other quilts were embroidered where decorative stitches are sewn onto the fabric, either by hand or machine. Some quilts on display were a mix of techniques.

Field Day begins with colorful parade with varied entries

The town’s Field Day parade again featured many emergency vehicles and a number of well-decorated floats for the many who lined Demars Blvd. Saturday morning.

The parade was again directed with skill by Amanda “Bird” Lizotte, with organizational help from Hailee LaLonde, who rode with her husband Rick in one of the electric department’s big rigs.

In the photo above, perched in the bucket of the Tupper Lake Fire Department’s ladder truck was Santa Claus, a.k.a. Mike Russell, grand marshal of the parade of the Field Day last year.

Shown below in a photo by Christielee Geiger was this year’s grand marshal, Jeremy Dukette, piloting a school district bus in the parade. Jeremy was recognized by the community this year, via nominations as a man who gives tirelessly to the school district and its students. Jeremy is the DJ at many school dances, volunteers to help with many school activities, over and above his bus driver and custodial duties.

He was called by Parade Announcer Dan McClelland, a school employee who is loved by school children of all ages.

Jeremy also volunteers regularly with town recreation department events, whenever asked.

Eric Shaheen, Rick Pickering win GOP nods for two village trustee posts

by Dan McClelland

Trustee Eric Shaheen and political newcomer Rick Pickering will represent the village Republic Party on the November ballot when village voters will be asked to chose two trustee candidates to serve for two-year terms.

There are no elections for town board this fall, so hence no town caucus was paired with Wednesday’s village one.

The caucus chairwoman, Mayor Mary Fontana, called the village caucus to session at 6:07 p.m. Wednesday evening in the cleared-out truck bays of the Tupper Lake Emergency Services Building.

Among the guests that evening were residents of both the village and town and Mayor Fontana asked town residents to move to the back of the room, telling them “they could neither participate or vote” in that evening’s political meeting. “You may just observe,” she told the town residents.

Everyone in the room stood for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Handling the sign-up of village GOP party members as caucus tellers were former Town Councilwoman Tracy Luton and former school board member, Bill King.

Town Councilwoman Crystal Boucher served as caucus secretary that evening.

The caucus chairwoman joined the other officials in reciting the constitution oath.

The first candidate nominated was Trustee Eric Shaheen to run for his second two-year term as village trustee. Trustee Shaheen was also appointed last fall by the mayor to serve as her deputy.

Eric was nominated by his sisters Margaret and Rose.

Seconds later Eric Shaheen nominated Rick Pickering, a former member of the Tupper Lake Golf Course Board, to run for trustee with him. Shane St. Louis seconded that nomination.

The third nomination came next from Trustee Leon LeBlanc, who nominated Barbara Denis. Trustee David “Haji” Maroun seconded the nomination of Ms. Denis, who is a banking software specialist and who has been a regular guest at village board meetings in recent months. She and her partner, retired Police Officer and Businessman Mike Vaillancourt, were instrumental as community activists in setting up a well-attended meeting earlier this year to address concerns about Mercy Living Center, the care of its residents and the new ownership team. They continue to monitor conditions there.

Trustees Maroun and LeBlanc both started their trustee terms last December at the village organizational meeting and neither was opposed in the fall 2023 election.

Because there were three candidates for two positions the caucus was moved into the election mode using a secret ballot.

Ms. Fontana explained every village registered Republican in attendance that evening could place the names of “up to two” of the three running on their ballot.

The two candidates who garner the highest number of votes would be the party’s choice in the village race this fall, she noted.

The mayor announced that there were 36 registered Republicans who live in the village who were in attendance that evening.

She explained that the 36 party faithful could “place one name on their ballot or two names.”

After about five minutes of gathering the votes and counting them the two tellers presented the results to the mayor to announce the winners.

“The results are as follows,” the mayor stated. “Twenty-two votes for Rick Pickering. Twenty-six votes for Eric Shaheen and 13 votes for Barbara Denis.”

She said Mr. Shaheen and Mr. Pickering were the party’s choice to run for village trustee this fall. A motion to conclude the caucus came seconds later.

The Town Democratic party is expected to hold a caucus on Thursday, July 25 at 2p.m. at the Aaron Maddox Hall, according to comments at Monday night’s village board meeting by Daniel “Boonie” Carmichael, who will be serving as caucus chair.

At Monday’s village board meeting a letter was read by Trustee David “Haji” Maroun from Barbara Denis, who was out of town on business, that challenged Eric Shaheen’s candidacy, based on his claim of residency within the village. More on that next week.

Over 100 join museum board at grand opening of new history museum Saturday

by Dan McClelland

About 100 supporters and well-wishers joined members of the Tupper Lake History Museum Board Saturday afternoon for a grand opening celebration and ribbon cutting at the new museum quarters at 291 Park Street.

The renovated building has been the site of many businesses here over the years, most recently as a Mexican Restaurant.

For the occasion American Flag semi-circular banners hung from the front deck which was built by the previous operators when the building was last leased by the Knapp family.

A new banner inviting people inside was also hung for the special occasion.

Board Member Dan McClelland introduced several of the local leaders in attendance that day: Supervisor Rickey Dattola, who he called a great businessman, active community member and forward-thinking supervisor, County Legislator Nedd Sparks, the second generation of his family to represent Tupper Lake on the county board (his father, John Sparks, served this community well as both village mayor and county legislator in the 1970s before his untimely death) and Trustee Eric Shaheen, who he called a very hard-working business man and dedicated public servant who as deputy mayor was filling in for Mayor Mary Fontana that afternoon who was out of town.

He also introduced former and long-time town supervisor Dean Lefebvre.

“Wouldn’t Art Richer have been proud of this day?” Mr. McClelland asked the people packed into the museum’s new great room. His question brought cheers of agreement.

“Our museum here goes back nearly 20 years when Mr. Richer began collecting artifacts from people he knew. Art was charming and well-liked here and he planted seeds with many here of the importance of preserving Tupper Lake’s history by cleaning out their attics and basements and giving him things thought to be of a historical nature. Art enlisted the help of his nephew Michael and the paired combed the community for historical goodies for years, hauling them back and storing them at the Richer Farm.

“The first museum here was in the former Hull family home on Water Street for a very brief time. Its next location was on the second floor of the Town of Tupper Lake’s old Junction fire station on Pine Street, where it operated for more than a decade.

“A number of local men and women, many from downtown Tupper Lake, worked alongside the two former funeral directors to ready the collection for exhibit in those quarters.

“Among them were Dian Connor, for many years the museum board president, and others like Jeannette Keniston, Gail Auclair, Fleurette Rolley, Shirley Lavigne and others. Mrs. Connor and Mrs. Keniston continue to serve on the current board of the museum, as vice president and treasurer, respectively.

“The founding board members were Judy Frey, Chalice Dechene, Mike Richer, Bob and Joyce Earle, Bill Frenette, Herman and Irene Charland, Gail Auclair, Shirley Lavigne and Art and Pat Richer.

“During the years in the old fire station the two-story building encountered a number of mechanical and structural problems, the severity of which convinced the town board about eight years ago that the best path to take was for the museum leaders to find other quarters.

The local history museum was homeless, the hometown publisher told the group.

“With no place to go and with many museum pieces to store until a suitable place could be found to exhibit, the Next Stop! Tupper Lake board offered temporary space to them in the great room of the train station.

“There the museum volunteers built some wonderful historical exhibits, under the vaulted 30 foot high ceilings in the spacious depot. The museum operated in the historic train station for two summers, greeting visitors from all across the nation and Canada. The volunteers loved it there.

“So that made it that much sadder when they again had to move.

“The Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society needed the train station space for its operation and its passengers. The building was built by this community as a train station, so when the opportunity arose to fulfill its mission, that was the route Next Stop! Tupper Lake leaders had to go.

He said that was a very tough decision for him as the train station chairman and a history museum board member.

“Museum leaders were left again with the unfortunate circumstance of finding a new home. Homeless for the second time in three years!

“The museum board set about on a plan to find a permanent home, once and for all.

“All the artifacts were placed in temporary storage again.

“After a year of ambitious fundraising which produced many donations from supporters here, the museum board purchased the empty gas station at 291 Park Street, with the help of a mortgage.

“Seed money for the campaign was a $12,000 donation from Next Stop! Tupper Lake, and donations flowed from there.

“It is my pleasure to introduce my fellow board members, most of whom need no introduction.

Representing the Richer family here and Art’s nieces are Mary Richer, a tireless worker and pretty good carpenter, and Laurie Amell, who with her husband Stuart, are responsible for the nice landscaping you see outside. Stuart was on our board too for a time. Both have offered sage counsel along the way, and routinely make the trip here from their home in the Syracuse area for our board meetings.

“A lady who like her friend, Art, believed in the importance of a local museum and who has been there behind it from the start is our vice president Dian Connor. Dian is steadfast in her thinking about the important things that must be showcased here, and we don’t mess with her.

“Another museum veteran is our treasurer, Jeannette Keniston, who has offered the strong backs of her sons, Chris and Mike, on some of the past moves. Jeanette insists this is the last move for the museum. Her sons concur.

“Another of the board members, Jim Lanthier, donated over a year of his time and carpentry talent to renovate most the entire quarters into the showpiece it is today. Any time last winter if you passed this place at 11p.m., Jimmy’s car was outside and he was inside painting, staining, hanging ceiling, redoing walls. Without Jim’s generous gifts of time and skill we wouldn’t be where we are today. Contractors Ed West and Brandon Moeller were also hired to help. Ed did many electrical improvements and Brandon laid several laminate floors.

“The board members have been very busy in recent months building exhibits and planning for today.

“Another board member is Joe Kimpflen. Joe Kimpflen spent many hours on grant applications to augment the fundraising campaign.

“Prior to the campaign Mr. Kimpflen and our chairwoman won accreditation from the New York State Department of Education to be an official museum and from the federal internal revenue service was secured 501-3c, not for profit status, which made all donations to the museum tax-deductible.

“Joe and his wife, Lisa, took it upon themselves to create our new gift shop inside and get it ready for visitors.

“Our museum relies on donations to sustain itself and sales from their gift shop will also help pay our bills.

“Board member Patty Reandeau brings the Piercefield perspective to our board, and is always willing to help with any chore in the building we agree to tackle. She scrubbed the place before today’s opening.” He joked Elvis Presley has a huge fan here in Mrs. Reandeau, and there’s always a chance The King may pay a visit to the museum soon.

“Great help has come too this year from Board Member Marlene Hyde. Marlene and her husband, Tom, and their technicians at Hyde Fuel Co. helped in the building’s completion in many ways. For two years between the time the museum left the train station and moved into its new home this spring, the couple donated the space to store all the artifacts in company-owned buildings.

“Tom and Hyde Fuel also donated and installed a Monitor heater in the renovated great room. Tom and his crew picked up and installed the new museum sign out front, and hung it between posts and planters. They removed an old exhaust hood and vent and the accompanying Ansul fire suppression system from the year or so the place was a Mexican restaurant. In recent weeks Hyde Fuel Co. workers removed the fan cover from the building’s roof and repaired the hole in the roof. Hyde Fuel Co. and Mr. and Mrs. Hyde also donated an air conditioning system with heater unit which will warm the public place in winters and cool it in summer. In recent days too Ken Stoll and his local firm did electrical upgrades to permit the recent cooling and heating upgrades to the building.

“I’ve also had the pleasure of serving on the museum board in recent years, telling the good story about it whenever I had space on my front page. I’ve also used the hometown weekly to raise money for our cause and applauding those who gave so generously in recent months.

“The final board member is our town and village historian Jon Kopp, who has archived thousands of early stories about Tupper Lake, many of them which can be found on Jon’s Facebook page.” He called Jon a great ambassador of history for this community, and joked he’s always willing to share a tale with any visitor to his antique shop at the corner of Park and McLaughlin.

“Not on the board but heard from often in recent years is our enthusiastic cheerleader, Bob “Popcorn” Duhaime. Bob’s been an exhibit builder, and he’s cleaned out his garage at the Duhaime farm to that end, and he’s promoted our museum’s importance with everyone who would listen. He’s also pleaded our case for donations recently and been very successful to that end.

“My most important job this afternoon is to introduce the local lady who brought us to where we are today: our very able leader, Kathleen Lefebvre. A retired science teacher, former town board member, Kathleen is the person who gives tirelessly to her community every day in so many ways. She is involved in the work of so many groups and organizations, the museum project was fortunate to have her step forward a number of years when we were in crisis and inspire us to all work together to find the museum a new home.

There’s been challenges along the way, but Kathleen’s leadership has permitted us to meet them and overcome them. She’s been the calming influence that a high-spirited and creative group like ours very much needs to succeed.

“Our chairman and leader: Kathleen Lefebvre.”

Tupper Lake History Museum to celebrate the opening of its new home

This is one of dozens of historic photographs you’ll find on display in the museum. This one is of “the Klondike Saloon,” one of the first businesses to spring up after the great fire which leveled much of the uptown area. The caption reads: “The scene which greeted Tupper Lake’s pioneer businessmen on the morning of July 30, 1899 was a grim one. For a short time there was talk of abandoning the uptown village site and building downtown. With few exceptions Tupper residential property had survived the big fire, however, as had the “Racket Pond House”- later the “American House” on Lake Street (across from the present day Raquette Pond Car Wash) and the “Hotel Altamont” (southwest corner of Park Street and Wawbeek Ave.), so shelter was not pressing a problem. Lumber was plentiful and cheap at the local sawmills. Business was brisk and the despair of the morning after the fire was quickly replaced with optimism. Rebuilding started almost at once led by the crude and temporary little one-room unpainted board shack put up by businessman Paul Prespare put up on the later Holland House site (corner of Park and High streets), labelled “Klondike Saloon,” the beverages of which may have helped contribute to the return of optimism and confidence in the future. Photos of the Park Street business district several years after the fire show Park Street pretty much restored and back in business as usual, according to long-time Tupper Lake Historian, the late Louis J. Simmons in his book, “Mostly Spruce and Hemlock.”

The Tupper Lake History Museum finally has a permanent home and the museum leaders are planning a grand opening of the new place and ribbon-cutting on Saturday, July 6 from 1p.m. to 3p.m.

The ribbon-cutting, with remarks by museum officials and local leaders is set for 1:30p.m.

There is much to celebrate with the completion of the museum’s new multi-room quarters in the former gas station building at 291 Park Street, across and just east of the Adirondack Federal Regional Credit Union.

Tupper’s once fledgling museum has a history that dates back nearly 20 years to 2005 when it was founded by the late Arthur Richer. His nephew, Michael, helped him collect local artifacts in those early years. Initially the growing collection was stored at the Richer Farm.

The first museum here was in the former Hull family home on Water Street. Its next location was on the second floor of the Town of Tupper Lake’s old Junction fire station on Pine Street, where it operated for more than a decade.

A number of local men and women, many from downtown Tupper Lake, worked alongside the two former funeral directors to ready the collection for exhibit in those quarters.

Among them were Dian Connor, for many years the museum board president, and others like Jeannette Keniston, Gail Auclair, Fleurette Rolley, Shirley Lavigne and others. Mrs. Connor and Mrs. Keniston continue to serve on the current board of the museum, as vice president and treasurer, respectively.

The founding board members were Judy Frey, Chalice Dechene, Mike Richer, Bob and Joyce Earle, Bill Frenette, Herman and Irene Charland, Gail Auclair, Shirley Lavigne and Art and Pat Richer.

During the years in the old fire station the two-story building encountered a number of mechanical and structural problems, the severity of which convinced the town board about eight years ago that the best path to take was for the museum leaders to find other quarters.

With no place to go and with many museum pieces to store until a suitable place could be found to exhibit, the Next Stop! Tupper Lake board, headed by Dan McClelland and Kathleen Lefebvre, offered temporary space to them in the great room of the train station that the town committee and later not for profit organization built, beginning in the early 2000s.

There the museum volunteers built some wonderful historical exhibits, under the vaulted 30 foot high ceilings in the spacious depot. The museum operated in the historic train station for two summers, greeting visitors from all across the nation and Canada.

Two years ago the Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society, which was selected by the state Department of Transportation to be the operator of trains for a new tourist service from Remsen and Utica to Tupper Lake, needed the train station space for its operation and its passengers.

Museum leaders were left again with the unfortunate circumstance of finding a new home.

Under the direction of a new chairwoman, former town councilwoman and long time science teacher here, Kathleen Lefebvre, the board set about on a plan to find a permanent home, once and for all.

All the artifacts were placed in temporary storage again.

After a year of ambitious fundraising which produced many donations from supporters here, the museum board purchased the empty gas station at 291 Park Street, with the help of a mortgage.

Seed money for the campaign was a $12,000 donation from Next Stop! Tupper Lake, and donations flowed from there. Chairwoman Lefebvre and board member Joe Kimpflen spent many hours on grant applications to augment the fundraising campaign.

Prior to the campaign Mr. Kimpflen and the chairwoman won accreditation from the New York State Department of Education to be an official museum and from the federal internal revenue service was secured 501-3c, not for profit status, which make all all donations to the museum tax-deductible.

One of the board members, Jim Lanthier, donated almost a year of his time and carpentry talent to renovate most the entire quarters into the showpiece visitors will see when this visit. Contractors Ed West and Brandon Moeller were also hired to help. Ed did many electrical improvements and Brandon laid several laminate floors.

In recent months museum board members and volunteers worked tirelessly many days a week to build the new exhibits in the place.

Working under the direction of Mrs. Lefebvre were Joe Kimpflen, Mary Richer, Dian Connor, Jeannette Keniston, Marlene Hyde, Dan McClelland, Laurie Amell, Patty Reandeau and Jim Lanthier. Bob “Popcorn” Duhaime helped too with the exhibit building.

Marlene and her husband, Tom, and their technicians at their Hyde Fuel Co. helped in the building’s completion in many ways. For two years between the time the museum left the train station and moved into its new home this spring, the couple donated the space to store all the artifacts in company-owned buildings.

Tom and Hyde Fuel also donated and installed a Monitor heater in the renovated great room, picked up and installed the new museum sign out front, and hung it between posts and planters. Tom Hyde and his crew removed an old exhaust hood and vent and the accompanying Ansul fire suppression system from the years the place was a Mexican restaurant. In recent weeks Hyde Fuel Co. workers removed the fan cover from the building’s roof and repaired the hole in the roof. Hyde Fuel Co. and Mr. and Mrs. Hyde also donated an air conditioning system with heater unit which will warm the public place in winters and cool it in summer. In recent days too Ken Stoll and his local firm did electrical upgrades to permit the recent cooling and heating upgrades to the building.

The new museum opened informally on Memorial Day weekend and during June it was open limited hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

This summer in the months of July, August and early September the new showplace will be open five days a week, Tuesdays to Saturdays, 10a.m. to 4p.m. At the new site, like was done at the three earlier locations, the place will be staffed by enthusiastic volunteers- eager to help visitors learn of Tupper Lake’s mixed and rich heritage. Already over 20 exhibits mark the path of the community from the late 1800s to today.

Admission is free and everyone is most welcome to visit. Details of the place can be found at tlhistorymuseum.org or the museum can be visited on Facebook. The new museum was created and now operates on community support, so donations are always welcome.

Graduation exercises return to familiar surroundings this year

by Dan McClelland

Friday evening was a warm, humid early summer evening with indoor temperatures hovering in the high 70s and low 80s. But that didn’t keep hundreds of proud parents and families from crowding into the high school gym to celebrate a major milestone in their children’s lives at the 2024 commencement exercises.

The bleachers and seats in the gym were filled almost a half an hour before the 6:30p.m. start of graduation.

The number of graduates was up slightly from recent years, a few of which saw class sizes in the lows 40s.

It was more of a traditional setting compared with recent ones which were held outdoors in various ways at the elementary school’s Rotary Track and Field or in the parking lot during the COVID years.

Class valedictorian was Emelia Foote but she did not attend the ceremony. Griffin Shaheen was this year’s salutatorian and he was in attendance to give his address.

The outstanding educator award had to be awarded in absentia. Missing too were the large screens and ceremonial adornments that Good Guy Productions have added to recent high school graduations.

Once the graduates marched into the gym to the processional, performed with enthusiasm by Laura Davison and her middle/high school band, Senior Class Member Zoe Abbott led everyone in the “Pledge of Allegiance” and “acknowledged the ancestral homelands” of the region and the generations of native peoples before us who “stewarded these lands” which eventually became known as the Adirondacks.

Their heritage and our heritage are combined and decisions made by both now guide our society and the lives of the people here today, she told her fellow graduates and their families.

“We honor this legacy today as we inspire, challenge and proudly support” all citizens.

Zoe’s words led to the performance of the national anthem by the chorus and band, directed by sisters Elizabeth Cordes and Laura Davison, and then the “Alma Mater.”

“Welcoming remarks” were offered by Senior Class Treasurer Liza Crouse. “To the graduates sitting in front of me, we made it, surviving the years of dodging hallway traffic, tirelessly making flash cards for exams, the chaos of group projects, mystery lunches and countless all-nighters.”

“Congratulations and good luck with your adventures ahead!”

“Let’s take a moment to reflect on our high school journeys. As freshmen we were like lost puppies, wandering the high school trying to navigate our schedules and petrified by the juniors and seniors cowering over us!”

“Now, four years later, we parade around the building, holding our heads high, as masters of the hallways.

She said COVID robbed them of some of their educational opportunities, but she and her classmates weathered those challenges “and came out on top! We worked to adapt and explore uncharted waters!”

She said too it’s now time for everyone to face the new challenges with that vigor and determination that carried them well through the COVID years.

Miss Crouse applauded their teachers and coaches who guided them along the way- mentioning a number of them by name.

She thanked their parents and families too for “their unwavering support, their unconditional love...and the money...oh my gosh, the money!”

Miss Crouse thanked all the parents for their many packed lunches, purchases of school supplies “and who donated to every fundraiser” that came along during their school years.

“We hope to be able to do the same things for the next generation!” Liza promised.

“-And lastly, to my fellow graduates, let’s not forget our community of Tupper Lake...we all know it takes a village to raise a child.” She challenged her fellow graduates to go forward in all their future pursuits, because now they are fully armed with the tools to overcome the adversity and challenges ahead.

Next to the podium was the middle/high school principal for the past two years, Amanda Zullo. The principal resigned earlier this month.

She told the graduates that it has been an honor and a privilege to work with them these past two years.

“I have learned a lot and I hope you did as well! Thank you! Recognizing that this is the end for us all being here I will be the first to say this day is bittersweet.

“After our many conversations these past two years I was nervous about making sure everything was as you would want it to be, all while being excited for you. Based on my experience you, I knew we had an amazing group of people behind you: Mr. St. Pierre and his crew, Mr. Bancroft, Mr. Sussey, Mrs. Tucker, Mrs. Savage, Mrs. Sorensen, Mrs. Brunette, Mrs. Drews, Mr. Bennett, Mrs. Stuart, faculty volunteers)- working together to help this be an awesome graduation.

“I can say with 100% certainty that you are a most resourceful and kind group of individuals. Reflecting back on our time together, I thought of when Mr. Bennett and I came to your classes and spoke with you. As we brainstormed solutions to challenges, things fell into place. I know many students are grateful for your sharing about the student parking lot, something that was able to be resolved. Senior privileges, same thing-starting them at the start (of the school year) was huge.

“You kept us on our edge with sports and many other things. Whether it was a tough decision, finding something, playing a close game or wrapping up loose ends, you persevered . As we see here today, you get stuff done and do it well. I am proud of all of you,” she told the graduates

“Your determination, and perseverance will serve you well. Two weeks ago I shared with you that this was the start of a celebratory few weeks. Fifteen years later, after my college graduation, I got this weird little thing that most of us keep in our pockets. While for me I hardly know where it is most times, many of you know well. A cell phone. I share this with you because in the past few weeks I’ve come to realize that as much as things change, things stay the same. New tools to communicate with, and to research with; and have become the godfather of. Things that do stay the same are the importance of your relationships and connections.

“I know you all experienced challenges before being here today, especially those who played kickball with the bouncy serves. Use those challenges and your actions to overcome them as a guide. Unexpected, sometimes unpleasant things, are going to pop up in your lives. When they do, use them as an opportunity to take a look inside yourselves and see what works and what doesn’t work well and make some changes for the better.

“Some paths lead to CTE certifications in heavy equipment, culinary arts, cosmo, and our budding EMT; other paths will lead to institutions of higher learning. Whatever the path and destination, there were no doubt a number of twists and turns along the way. The determination that has guided the way came from many of you here today and it is our hope that as soon-to-be graduates of Tupper Lake Middle/High School you will shine bright and share your spirit with each other and those you encounter on your path that may need a little of what you have.

“You will always be a TLCSD Graduate in the Class of 2024-a group known for its resourcefulness and kindness. The people you are sitting next to and those of us in the school will always support you. I hope you will always remember the feelings and memories of your high school experience. I also hope you will always remember that the entire TLMHS faculty and staff care about you and celebrate your achievements of today, and most importantly that you will use them to help guide you to taking the next best step. If you need us, reach out!

“Congratulations to every single member of the Class of 2024!”

An honor student and senior class president, Rachel Sorensen was next to the podium in the far end of the gym.

She said it was her privilege to serve as class president this year and honored to deliver the annual address to her fellow graduates.

“Graduating from high school is a major accomplishment, she told them, and so it is now the time to to slow down a bit to celebrate all their successes.

She said early in their high school days they looked up to the seniors, “who all seemed so grown up, and now here we are as seniors.”

“I remember admiring all the things that come with being a senior- the special award ceremonies, senior nights...and all the things seniors seem to get away with being seniors.

She said all those senior events came to them in a flash.

Growing up in the Adirondacks- a very special place, she told her classmates that wherever their journeys take them, “we will always have a place to call home here!”

“We are so fortunate to be surrounded by a wonderful community that has provided us with many opportunities to learn and grow! She said Tupper Lake is a community that recognizes individual differences “and allowed us to make mistakes.”

Rachel applauded the senior class advisors- Melissa Savage and Sundy Sorensen “for creating a magical backdrop” to their senior years by coordinating their many senior privileges.

“And thank you to our families for their endless love and support. You have been there for us since the beginning. You have provided our motivation, pushing us to keep going and not to give up.

Rachel said they will always be grateful to the contributions of their teachers, coaches and advisors, who will always be part of our lives...even if we don’t know it yet.

She encouraged her classmates to remain close and stay together through the coming years. “Soon, when we come together, we’ll be sharing stories about all those good old days in high school.”

“To the Class of 2024, you have made this moment and one of our last memories together, so bittersweet. When writing this speech, I was struck by all the things” we have experienced together...COVID, getting our driver’s licenses, prom, Homecoming, games and each one of our birthdays.

She made some comical comments about some of her classmates, including Cody Auclair, Grant Bencze, Raegan Fritts and Mikey Corneau, saying they brought both color and fun to their class.

She finished her address with the words of Natasha Bedingfield’s song, “Unwritten”- Live your life with arms wide open...Today is where your book begins...the rest is still unwritten!”

Class Salutatorian this year was Griffin Shaheen, who excelled academically and athletically during his school years with the second highest grade point average in his class and as a stand-out and record-breaking athlete in baseball, hockey and other sports.

Griffin told the crowd that with the temperature and humidity in the room he was going to do everyone a favor and keep his salutatory address short.

Applause of agreement from the crowd.

“First and foremost I’d like to take the opportunity to thank” our teachers, coaches, support staff, administrators, “because without you folks there would be no celebration tonight!”

“It is also my honor to stand before you to represent the Class of 2024. With that said, this past decade we have watched ourselves change from children into young men and women.

He encouraged his classmates to embrace that change and to continue to grow as responsible adults.

“As we embark on the next chapter in our lives, I am confident we will all do great things in our own different ways. -And as much as you may all wish you had one more event at high school, one more game to play or one more project to work on with friends, this chapter of our lives is complete!

He told his classmates not to be sad that their high school years are over, but to relish the experiences and be happy it happened!

Griffin’s address was followed by the performance of the class song, “Have It All,” by Jason Mraz, song by the high school chorus, with the graduating seniors in the front row.