Blue Jay’s back and better than ever

by Dan McClelland

Blue Jay Campsite, a popular vacation spot here for generations of camping visitors to Tupper Lake, is back and better than ever.

The tourist venue closed over a year ago when the Scotti family sold it to Stanley Rumbough’s limited liability company SHR Ventures LLC. None of the facility’s 101 campsites were rented last summer, as re-construction began.

In the past year there have been many improvements, and now the private camping area is open again, and awaiting new and old guests.

The facility has also become affiliated with the national campsite organization, KOA, and its new name is “KOA Tupper Lake.”

Tupper Lake’s Jill Trudeau, the general manager of the campground and Stanley Rumbough’s associate, Mike McNally, showed the Free Press around the renovated facility last week- and the improvements are impressive.

Entering the place off Moody an existing overflow parking area to the right is being regraded by Josh Trudeau’s Trudeau Construction, which has been working there re-manicuring the grounds and vistas overlooking the Big Lake.

That day Josh and some of his crew of ten were building a gravel ramp to one of the new sections of dock that have been installed in recent weeks.

Next to the overflow parking lot near the entrance is another section of campsite which have always been there.

All 101 campsites remain and all of them have been improved with new water, sewer and electric services.

Before more of those services were supplied by long time hosts Mr. and Mrs. Frank Scotti and their children- but using mains on the surface. All of that infrastructure has been buried now.

The electrical system transformers which once hung on utility poles will all now be pad-mount.

Mr. McNally said all the road in the campgrounds have been regraded and resurfaced by Trudeau Construction.

The old campground store, where campers for decades bought their groceries and snacks and where anglers purchased their worms and tackle, has been completely razed.

On the day of our visit, the concrete contractors had just finished a new pad for a brand new store on the original footprint. The building is expected to be up and finished in coming weeks for the facility’s July re-opening.

Most of the same groceries and camping supplies will be sold there, plus a national brand pizza by Hunt Bros. will be served hot every day from a new pizza oven. It will also be the check-in building and laundry area for the campers.

Right beside the new store there will be a dog run built to accommodate the pets of the campers.

Opposite the store building, to accommodate the campers and their sometimes large rigs as they enter the campgrounds and register there are three long parallel parking lanes.

On the large lawn in front of the lake where campers have always had picnics and played lawn games and which sports one of the best views of the Tupper’s main lake, a large wooden play structure apparatus to entertain the campers and their kids has been installed replacing the old playground and swings. It features tiny elevated cabins and ramps and such, made out of logs and timbers.

Campsites continue to be along the main road into the place, and leading up to the Scotti’s former family home, the exterior of which has been all re-stained. Exactly what the residence will become is still up in the air right now. Plans are to rezone the residential property on which the house sits, so someday soon it might be a new restaurant for the campgrounds and the community. “Right now, however, its use is to be determined,” noted Mr. McNally.

“We are offering a new and improved version of all the good things that were here,” Mr. McNally explained of the approach that has been taken.

Two new and very deep wells have been dug- one that produces 60 gallons per minute. The other one produces more- about 110 gallons per minute, so there’s now plenty of fresh water for all the campers.

All the docks in the marina have been replaced with brand new sections- all at least five feet wide and decked in a non-slip plastic material. In all about 34 dock section have already been installed by Josh Trudeau and his crew, and about 11 more coming for another section- for about 46 slips in all. The marina is now open for dock rentals.

Aerial shots of the shorefront were used to make sure the new docks were situated exactly where the old ones were. New concrete anchor were constructed by Trudeau Construction to secure the new docks in place.

There is also a new section of parking designated for locals who rent boat slips this summer.

The new system is designed to meet state DEC specifications.

The best news, perhaps, for local and visiting boaters, is that gas will continue to be sold at the new KOA Tupper Lake. The old gas pump was moved off a section of dock and a new modern one has replaced it, situated on higher ground 20 feet or so from shore, where it sports a very long fuel hose.

Even though the new owners kept the old pump running last summer, with all the work going on at the site, many boaters figured there was no gas being sold there, so didn’t pull up to the old docks to refuel. Instead boaters here carried heavy five-gallon cans of gas to their moored vessels here last summer.

The old path from the docks to the campgrounds was upgraded in gravel, with a foot high retaining wall of large stones.

There were many state-required improvements to the actual fuel system and to the existing tanks behind a brand new wooden building beside the new pumps. The fuel supply system is all brand new to meet the many environmental requirements from the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

“We assured both the town supervisor and the village mayor that we will always provide gas on the lake- because it’s so important for both local and visiting boaters!” Mr. McNally stressed.

The new improved marina and dock slip network are right where they were before, Josh Trudeau explained that morning.

The pre-fab shoreside cabin will be the marina office. Fishing supplies will also be sold there.

“So this summer we’re open to leasing slips and to providing gas to all boaters,” according to Mike.

“Are we ready to pump gas today, he asked Mr. Trudeau, who said they were.

Josh’s mother, Jill Trudeau has been the onsite manager of the renovation project for over a year- working alongside her son and his construction team. Mr. McNally said she “is the ultimate perfectionist” when it comes to the making of applications to government agencies to meet regulations they had to meet. She also won the KOA designation for the place, and even attended two KOA management schools over the winter to learn the system.

KOA campgrounds are unique and popular with even non-campers as they usually provide small sleeping cabins to rent. KOA Tupper Lake has at least five on order- and all come with bathrooms and small kitchen areas. “One of our new cabins is arriving shortly,” Jill announced that morning.

Editor’s note: the Free Publisher and his wife stayed in one at a KOA campgrounds in St. Augustine, Florida one week this winter and the cabin was small but extremely comfortable. It has all the amenities.

Those new cabins will be situated on five of the 101 campsites in their own neighborhood on the spacious grounds. The cabins are manufactured by Lancaster Log Homes in Pennsylvania.

The renovated campgrounds will be open to both seasonal and transient campers, beginning in July.

“All along our approach has been taking the great things that the Scottis offered and making them better,” she said the philosophy of Mr. Rumbough and his company.

The exact date of opening depends on the arrival of the new pad-mounted transformers from the village electric system. All winter Electric Superintendent Mike Dominie has reported at village board meetings the difficulty he is having obtaining the two types of transformers- and particularly the pad-mounted type, due to long supply chain delays.

Ms. Trudeau said Mr. Dominie was very helpful to their project when he was able to convince KOA officials that seven new transformers would be enough to handle the power needs there, as opposed to the 17 the KOA officials were requesting.

One improvement the new operators didn’t need to make was to the septic system, which had been improved by the former owners in recent years and which meets state requirements, and the gray water system on the hill which Mr. Scotti installed some years ago and which was considered state of the art at that time.

Jill Trudeau noted that they’ve had several inquiries from either former campers or new ones who are interesting in renting sites this summer. She said they welcome everyone to come and enjoy their much improved facility.

One of last old hotels burns to the ground

by Dan McClelland

Dan and Jennifer King were in Pennsylvania to compete in a blacksmithing competition this past weekend when they received a 3a.m. call Saturday that their home and shop at 34 Main Street were in flames. The news turned their lives upside down in an instant.

They cancelled their competition plans and headed home, to find a place they had worked on tirelessly to restore in the past 18 years completely destroyed.

Members of the Tupper Lake Fire Department and of ten other fire departments from across the North Country did their best to contain the massive blaze which erupted in the back of the century-old wooden building before 3a.m., and did a good job stopping the conflagration’s spread to adjoining buildings on the northeastern corner of Pine and Main.

Departments helping Tupper Lake were Saranac Lake, Paul Smith’s-Gabriels, Lake Placid, St. Regis Falls, Owl’s Head, Mountainview, Duane, Bangor, Malone, Constable and Bombay.

Witnesses say the fire was so massive and the heat so fierce that it rivalled many of Tupper Lake’s huge fires in past decades. Most notably were the Iroquois Hotel fire in 1976 which destroyed the large hotel plus several adjacent buildings and caught the Free Press building on fire three times, or the two legendary fires which destroyed five businesses in the Park Street business block or the Owen’s Boat House fire of the early 1980s- which produced a ball of fire 70 feet high which consumed the tinder-dry marina building on the shore of Raquette Pond.

Photographer Jim Lanthier, who managed to get dozens of photos and a video which he has shared with numerous news outlets in the North Country this week, said exteriors of neighboring buildings across the street like The exterior walls of Larkins’ Junction Deli, where a new picnic pavilion was added this past year and the building that contained Tony’s Barber Shop for years and most recently the Jones’ Boys band headquarters were so hot that steam was rising off them.

The fire was extinguished by about 6a.m. but a small contingent of the Tupper Lake department volunteers remained on the scene until after 8a.m., pouring water on the steaming piles of debris.

Volunteer Fireman Ray Bigrow, one of two volunteers manning the hose that morning said when he arrived on the scene about 3a.m. the fire was in the rear portion of the building and he thought there was a chance it could be contained. Moments later, however, he and his colleagues realized the entire interior was consumed in fire- and roaring wildly through the building.

The entire interior and exterior of the old two-story building was mostly wood, and very dry and there was little sheetrock or plaster in the building after years of renovations to slow the fire’s spread.

Fire Chief Royce Cole said Saturday that he was one of the first to arrive on the scene about two minutes after the 2:40a.m. call., as he lives only several blocks away. He said the flames were starting to dance out the upper floor windows and he knew his volunteers and their colleagues from the ten neighboring departments were in for a big fight.

“Within 15 minutes the fire went through the roof and the entire building became engulfed in flame.” Just minutes later the entire building collapsed, the fire had moved that fast, he said.

A tribute to their work, however, was saving the small house immediately east of the long time hotel, occupied by Martin Hughes and the other large buildings commercial and residential buildings nearby.

Before the 3a.m. call Jen and Dan were planning to again compete like they have in the past in a contest at a conference of blacksmiths from all over the nation. The competition’s theme this year was “Forging Connections in Iron” featuring many nationally known artistic blacksmiths like Dan. Artisans are given four hours to complete a piece of iron work from scratch and then be judged on it.

The first call came to them from their neighbor, Pete Jarvis, who lives on Oak Street.

Dan said Monday the call took their breaths away, so heart-wrenching was the news.

The major fire took everything they owned, except the clothes in the suitcases they carried with them to the conference.

The couple could have lost their lives, given the ferocity and quick-moving nature of the fire, had they been home at the time and Dan said they were very grateful for that good fortune. Two pets- a cat and a rabbit were lost.

The lone human occupant was a temporary tenant, Joe Peck, who was outside when the fire started. See separate story of Joe’s harrowing experience this week.

The Kings, who have been tireless volunteers here since their arrival 18 years ago, recently purchased the Bencze Logging garage in the Junction and had just started moving some of Dan’s welding materials there, including a generator, one welder, a grinder, and “one screw driver and one wrench,” he said, trying to make a joke of a very horrible situation. The rest of his many tools and pieces of specialized blacksmithing equipment were lost in the blaze, along with all their personal contents and furniture in the residential part of their building.

What they found waiting for them in addition to the wreckage of their building was a community waiting to help them.

“This community has been so good to us, not just this week, but for the entire time we have been here,” he asserted.

Dan and Jennifer bought the Wheel Inn in 2006- buying the historic building that had been empty over two years and in dire repair. It was a mess when they bought it, full of pigeons and their droppings. Vandals had scrawled graffiti on the walls.

“Since Saturday we have friends who have rallied about us, bringing us meals, giving us whatever we need- clothing, bedding...it’s been amazing!”

The couple is in need of all sorts of household belongings- but it’s too early to receive them as they currently have no place to store them until they get permanent quarters.

Right now Dan and Jen are staying at a friend’s family cabin on Upper Saranac Lake, and can stay there until July 1. “-And its not the only lodging offer they have been extended,” he said with appreciation.

Since the Kings bought the place, they’ve undertaken one renovation project there after the other, including the creation of a two-story apartment unit, over and including the former liquor store on the uptown end of the building. They have invested thousands of dollars in improvements.

The once-grandiose hotel featured many 11 foot high floor to ceiling walls and some ornate woodwork. But it had fallen into decay in the years before they bought it. “The first year we had it, we took out 19 tons of construction debris” before renovations could begin.

The building- a landmark in the downtown commercial district since the early 1900s, was built in 1908 by Moses Elly and it was operated as a dry goods store for many years. In 1919, according to Louise Simmons’ “Mostly Spruce and Hemlock,” Jenny Elley, widow the first owner, sold the property to Walter Yanuskewich, Nicolai Kiklowich and Walter Kiklevich. Mr. Kiklevich bought out his partners’ interest soon afterwards and operated the place as Hotel Kiklevich until 1957. It was operated thereafter under lease by Zigmund Fraczek and his wife Dorothy and by Cyril and Myrtle Malbouf, who renamed it “The Evergreen.”

In 1965 after the death of Mr. Kiklevich it was purchased by Irene LeBlanc, who modernized its exterior and renamed it The Wheel Inn. Under her ownership the building also featured a liquor store and barber shop on the building’s uptown side.

It was something of a family affair in that neighborhood after 1965. Irene’s brother Al “P-2” LeBlanc owned operated the bar across the street, which is currently owned by his daughter Michelle Blair. Under her ownership what was previously “Al’s Lounge” and now “P-2’s Irish Pub” has seen many improvements, including in recent years an outdoor bandstand and large exterior tent.

This Friday there will be a benefit at Michelle’s bar to benefit the Kings, beginning at 5p.m. The local band, “Junction Jam,” is performing.

Local residents are invited to stop by and share their stories about The Wheel Inn, which was operated for many years by Michelle’s colorful Aunt Irene.

The couple has been active in the community as volunteers from the first days they arrived here.

One of Dan’s first offers of help came the first week they arrived in town, he helped the Next Stop! Tupper Lake volunteers install windows in the first part of the emerging train station.

“I said to myself: those people are working to build a train station in my neighborhood...I’m going over there to help.” -And he did.

Mr. King reported they had some insurance on the building and its contents, the proceeds from which will help them cover some of their extensive clean-up costs ahead and to start over at their new property.

“We intend to comb through every bit of the debris to find anything and everything we can.” They are hoping some of their contents underneath the piles of burned debris may have been somehow spared.

They intend to cordon off the site with fencing or some type of barrier to permit that extensive search to be done, he noted.

“People who have gone through this sort of thing have been telling us not to give up in a search. They have told us we’ll be surprised by what has been spared and what we will find in the debris!”

Underneath the last piece of building still standing they have found Dan’s large fly-press, a blacksmithing tool that hold pieces of metal together for welding procedures. It was given to him by his mentor, a master smith when he retired. The device, which dates back to the 1800s, holds sentimental value for Dan. “It’s one of my prized possessions, and it’s still standing under the front wall.”

The business’ “Hammersong” sign was saved by the firefighters.

On the day of the fire, their daughter Alamanda’s boy friend, Cruz Carriere, started a GoFundMe campaign which was approaching $30,000 less than 24 hours later on Sunday- another strong testament to Tupper Lake’s generosity to help neighbors in their time of need.

Cruz and Attorney Kirk Gagnier are apparently administering the fund currently underway, according to Dan.

“If it weren’t for our firefighters and those from around the area who came out to fight that fire, it could have been a lot worse,” Dan said on the upside. He credited them with saving many neighboring buildings in close proximity to their building.

This is not the first time that the building has been damaged by fire. During his renovations, Dan discovered burned timbers in the attic, from a fire obviously there many years ago that was successfully extinguished.

“Some of the firefighters told me later it was one of the hottest blazes they’ve experienced in a long time. Some of the new members had never fought one that big and all-consuming,” he said.

He called the eleven-department response amazing and he and Jen are so appreciative of everyone who helped fight the dramatic fire and who have extended so many kindnesses to them since the loss.

The fact that the building burned totally to the ground with the exception of an entrance way over the old liquor store speaks volumes of the fire’s severity and force.

He said their attendance at the blacksmith event may have been a blessing in disguise. “Jen and I are so grateful we didn’t have to watch it burn in real time...the pain would have been more profound than it already is!”

He said their loss pales by comparison to what would could have been the case had any harm from it come to his family or his friends, or the firefighters. “There’s not one thing in that house that I would ever trade for anyone’s safety. We are so grateful no one was injured!”

“This was a tragedy, but we’ve also received many blessings!”

He said, for example, Dom Dattola at Tupper Lake Supply, who runs the new welding shop there, has already offered the use of the shop to get Dan’s blacksmithing business going again until he’s set up at his new place. “People have come forward with so many offers of help,” he added.

“You can’t imagine how our hearts are so swollen with love for all the people here who are trying to help us get back on our feet! Tupper Lake is a wonderful place to live!”

The Kings eventually plan to build a house on the four acres they own at the Bencze garage property. In the meantime there is a hook-up to village services there where they may place a temporary camper trailer for use during the summer months.

“It would give us a few months to figure out what we want to do next,” he explained.

New Tupper Arts’ “Grotto” aims to grow new musicians here

The Grotto teachers and a couple of students pose with some of the band equipment now in the downstairs of Tupper Arts. If anyone has an old instrument or amplifier in good condition and not using it, consider the donation of it to Tupper Arts for use by the kids. From left are Corinne Mather, Lauren Connell, students Joelle Bedore and Lance Shaffer at keyboard Brock Gonyea and Audrey Longhurst. (McClelland photo)

by Dan McClelland

There’s something magical and musical going on every Friday night in the basement of Tupper Arts on Park Street. It’s all about young adult musicians in our community teaching younger ones.

It’s called “Grotto,” a name familiar with many music lovers as a cool, out of the way place to hear a variety of types of music. By definition a grotto is a natural or artificial cave used by humans in both modern times and antiquity, and historically or prehistorically. Naturally occurring grottoes are often small caves near water.

Tupper’s new Grotto is but a block and a half from Raquette Pond, so maybe it is naturally occurring?

The long range aim is to create more musicians here in the future and instill a lifelong love of music in local folks of all ages.

Teenagers will be taught to play many instruments including guitar, keyboard, drums and vocals. Taught too will be music appreciation.

Says Evie Longhurst, the executive director at Tupper Arts: “Grotto is dedicated to inspiring and nurturing musical talent in youth by providing instruction, fostering creativity and building confidence in a safe environment. We strive to create a supportive community where young people can explore their passion, develop their skills and express themselves through the transformative power of music. We aim to cultivate a lifelong love of music, develop individual talent, and encourage self-expression, collaboration and personal growth.”

The program’s mission is: “to explore music, explore yourself; empowering youth through the musical arts,” she told the Free Press this week.

The program is under the direction of four enthusiastic musicians in their twenties and early thirties.

The four include:

Brock Gonyea, local musician, singer/songwriter/ recording artist, who spent over a year performing, recording and studying in Nashville, Tenn.; Middle/High School Teacher Lauren Connell, a vocalist and member of Tupper Lake’s popular rock band, “Night School;” and High School English Teacher Corinne Mather, who is also a vocalist in “Night School.” Rounding out the talented four is Audrey Longhurst; creative coordinator and volunteer facilitator assistant at Tupper Arts.

“Grotto, to me is an opportunity to provide teens with a space to experiment with music and connect with their peers in a safe space,” Corinne Mather said of the new program this week. “They get to make connections and create through music, in ways that reflect their own interests.”

“To me, Grotto is about connecting teens to music and each other,” notes Lauren Connell. “I’d love to see our teens grow into a fully functional rock band that can play live for our community. Band mates share a truly unique bond. I hope our Grotto members are able to experience the friendships, the challenges and the rewards that accompany making music/art with one another.”

Like the other three Brock Gonyea is very excited about the new musical project. “For me, Grotto feels like the beginning of a new generation of Tupper Lake musicians. When I was first starting out on my music journey, my friends and I had an outlet for our music. There was always some place and someone ready to jam. I felt encouraged by friends and family and at school. This has been missing, until now. Grotto will provide a space for teens to really explore how they feel about music and teaches them to hone their skills. There is a lot of talent out there in this community and Grotto can grow as big and as exciting as the expectations of those who are a part of it.”

He hopes the program has a domino effect in the community. As one or two young people learn to be musicians, more will want to as well.

“I play somewhat of a different role at Grotto. Although I have a musical background, my creative talents are what I offer at this amazing program” explains Audrey Longhurst. “The music industry is a multi-faceted one, encompassing creative design, promotion, marketing, press releases— you name it! For those who want to take a breather from the music, or even those who find playing or singing really isn’t their thing; we can hang out and create. From lanyards to pins and even band T-shirts, I am really looking forward to creating while supporting the interests of all the Grotto members.”

For it to grow and flourish Grotto needs the community’s help. Currently made possible through the generosity of The Glen and Carol Pearsall Foundation and The Adirondack Federal Credit Union. To sustain this program, however, Tupper Arts leaders need ongoing financial support. Tupper Arts is dedicated to keeping the dream of Friday Nights at the Grotto alive, but it needs help from the community to make this happen. “Please consider us in your charitable donations,” notes Mrs. Longhurst. Donations can be made on the Tupper Arts web site, tupperarts.org or by dropping by its headquarters and gallery on Park Street any day this summer. Grotto begins every Friday at 6p.m. and those interested are encouraged to drop by and check it out. Different musical programs are planned each week. One recent night saw over 15 young people taking part in it.

Memorial Day moved inside school, due to high winds forecast

by Dan McClelland

High mid-morning winds forecast and the threat of a rainstorm prompted the VFW Post organizers of the annual Memorial Day ceremony Monday to move it inside the auditorium at the high school.

It was a wise choice, given the 15 mph winds predicted with gusts up to 41mph which would had made it difficult to hear the very moving speech of Shane Holmes, a veteran now associated with the Homeward Bound program that helps veterans and the others who spoke that day, had it been held as usual in the veterans park on Park Street.

-And the crowd of 100 or so enjoyed this year’s observance from the comfort of the auditorium’s comfortable seating.

This was the VFW Post’s turn to host the Memorial Day event here and Commander Tracy Luton welcomed the observers that morning.

The only thing missing in the event that morning was the annual firing of three volleys by the honor guard, which would have deafened those in the room and maybe posed a fire hazard.

Her first job was to welcome the retired Rev. Rick Wilburn to the podium in front of the stage to deliver the opening prayer, which honored America’s many who fought the good fight and lost their lives to that end. “To the many who served this country with dignity and honor, may they rest in peace.”

Commander Luton then called upon the Winged Eagles 4-H Club to lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, which the six or so of them did with confidence and skill.

Mike Larabie, commander of the Veterans Honor Guard called his members to attention before the youngsters began.

Commander Luton introduced the guest speaker, Shane Holmes, who currently works for Homeward Bound Adirondacks, as its events and education coordinator. Originally from Ogdensburg, he currently lives in Long Lake, she said.

“Shayne is a lifetime member of the VFW, is a New York State licensed outdoor guide and certified nature and forestry guide. He also facilitates Homeward Bound Adirondack three-day retreats, twice a month.

A veteran he served in the Marine Corps and U.S. Army National Guard, she said he did one tour in Iraq in 2004 and 2005. “It is my honor to introduce our guest speaker Shane Holmes.”

Mr. Holmes began by thanking the crowd for gathering that morning to honor and remember the brave men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the service of our nation.

“Tracy asked me to talk today on what Memorial Day means to me personally as a veteran. For me, Memorial Day is a time of reflection and remembrance. It’s a day when I abandon my daily routine, to remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice!”

“For many others it’s just a long weekend, with barbecues, parades and family gatherings. But for me and for those who I served with and to those families who have lost loved ones, Memorial Day holds a profound, deeply meaningful significance!

“On this day of remembrance and mourning there are three names I want to share with you...three names I remember and always think about on this day.

“The first is Marine Lance Corporal Nicholas J. Sovie, from my hometown of Ogdensburg and who is a cousin of mine. He lost his life on the horn of Africa on February 19, 2006 during Operation Enduring Freedom.

“His dedication and sacrifice serves as a heartfelt reminder of the price of freedom.”

He said the second person he remembers often is Major Michael S. Evarets. Michael was just not a fellow soldier, he was my college roommate, a ROTC peer of mine and a very close friend. Michael died in Iraq on January 17, 2011 during Operation New Dawn.

“His leadership, his courage, his unwavering commitment to this country are all qualities I hold dear!”

Several times during his emotional speech, he became a little misty and had to take a moment to compose himself.

“Last but certainly not least, he continued, ‘is U.S. Army Sergeant Michael Uvanni. A friend of mine who I share a unique bond with, like me, he was a former Marine who joined the Army National Guard for the sole purpose of volunteering in Iraq. He gave his life in Iraq on October 1, 2004 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.”

“His selflessness and bravery continue to inspire me!”

“These are not just names on some memorial wall, or just faces in photographs. They are my brothers, they are my friends and they are my heroes. Each one of them had dreams, had hopes and had families who loved them. Their sacrifices is testament to the highest forms of patriotism and I owe it to them to remember their stories and to keep their memories alive!”

“These three embody to me the true meaning of service and sacrifice. Their memories remind me always that freedom is never free. It is my duty and my honor to speak of them today...to keep their legacy alive!”

“On this Memorial Day, I want you all to join me in remembering and honoring not just these three, but all who gave their lives in the service of our nation!” he told the audience that morning.

“Let’s carry their legacies forward. Let’s insure that their sacrifices are never forgotten. In closing I ask you to take a moment to reflect on the sacrifices made by our servicemen and servicewomen. Let’s remember their bravery and their dedication and let’s commit to insure that their legacy endures!”

“Thank you for being here today. Thank you for helping me honor my three heroes. May we never forget their sacrifices and may we always try to live up to the ideals that they bravely defended for our nation!”

He received a standing ovation from the crowd that morning.

Up next on the high school stage was the Tupper Lake High School Band, under the direction again of Laura Davison.

In their usual skilled fashion they performed a five-minute long medley of rousing and emotionally stirring service anthems- much to the pleasure of our hometown patriotic crowd. This year’s observance provided a much more familiar setting for the band- in chairs on the high school stage versus standing in the grass in the back of the veterans park, in all sorts of weather at Veterans Day and Memorial Day observances here this past decade or so.

To a person, the students really showed their skill that morning and we heard a number of “wows” from the audience amid the loud applause.

Commander Luton called their performance “amazing.”

Amazing too, she said, is Homeward Bound, where both her and the guest speaker that day both work.

Addressing the veterans in the audience Monday, in particular, she said “if anyone in the audience wants to know what we do please contact one of us at the VFW Post. We all lost someone there. If anyone needs help with anything, let us know. We do retreats twice a month. We hear stories around our campfires you would not believe. Many of the soldiers who come to our retreats sport tattoos that remember comrades lost,” she told the crowd.

More loud clapping.

She then presided over the annual laying of wreaths by numerous local groups and organizations, including the VFW Post 3120, presented by member Mike Larabie and American Legion Post 220, presented by its commander, Mark Moeller, Adirondack Leathernecks Marine Corps League, presented by Terry Tubridy, Tupper Lake Honor Guard, presented by new member Brandon Cooke, Town of Tupper Lake, Village of Tupper Lake, presented by Mary Casagrain and former town councilwoman Mary Fontana, respectively, Tupper Lake Volunteer Fire Department and its ladies auxiliary, presented by Fireman Mike Russell and his daughter, Christine, Tupper Lake Central School District, presented by Brock Fleishman and Raegan Fritts, Knights of Columbus, Council 2177, Tupper Lake Kiwanis Club, presented by member Dennis Jones and his tiny friend, Bella, Woodmen Life Foundation, presented by officer Judy Wilburn, and Sunmount Center, presented by Nina Tice Hare accompanied by a resident there. The final wreath was presented by Lyndon LaVallee, representing the CSEA chapter here.

The presentation of arms, without the volleys of course, was very crisp as usual, ably handled by two of the honor guard’s most senior volunteers, Commander Mike Larabie and Ray Bigrow. Joining them this year was newcomer Brandon Cooke, co-owner with Rachel King of the new jewelry and gem shop on Park Street.

Following it was the traditional performance of “Taps” by former high school band teacher Wayne Davison, who routinely plays with his wife’s student orchestra.

“Taps,” with its echo, was following by a short interlude by the school performers.

The closing prayer was again delivered by retired Pastor Wilburn.

“I’d like to thank you all for coming out today,” Ms. Luton, a former town councilwoman, told the crowd in closing. She announced the VFW after-observance gathering with refreshments and food, prepared by Phil Smith and other post volunteers, and encouraged everyone to join them.

“Please stop up...Phil and company didn’t make all this great food just to go to waste,” she told everyone. “Come out and enjoy it!”

“Thank you again for the nice showing this morning, when the weather didn’t want to cooperate. We all know Tupper Lake is strong, however. -And thank you band. As always, you guys are awesome!”

Trudeau out-shoots some of the best; Jacks’ 7th grader shoots 36, 38 at TLCC

by Dick Sterling

Tupper Lake Head Golf Coach Hayden LaMere was confident that one of his youngest golfers could make an impact in the Northern Athletic Conference this year. Wyatt Trudeau, a seventh grader, who started to make his presence and abilities, known to Coach LaMere last year when he started hanging out around the Jacks team as a sixth grader, has put together a solid season on the Lumberjacks top six starters!

Last Friday he rose to the top in a match against some of the best golfers in Section 10, and this Friday he will attempt to repeat that performance as Tupper Lake hosts this year’s Section 10 Championship at the Tupper Lake Country Club.

Friday’s match was against Canton and Gouverneur, at the local course, and the Jacks earned a pair of victories as they finished the day with a team score of 213… one stroke better than Canton (214) and also defeating the Wildcats (235).

Trudeau was medalist for the event, shooting an outstanding round of 38.

Tupper Lake Head Coach Hayden LaMere was proud of his young golfer. “Wyatt, as a seventh grader, had the low round of the event. He beat senior Ryan Jones, of Canton, who is a Division I commit for golf, and he also beat junior Raine Rumble, of Gouverneur, who is currently leading Section 10 in scoring average, and is the front runner for Section 10 MVP,” said Coach LaMere. Both Jones and Rumble finished the day with scores of 39. Trudeau’s score was just three shots over par.

Other Lumberjack scores were: Christian Moody-Bell (42), Ashton Clark (43), Bauer Callaghan (45), Phil Lindsay (45) and Gavin Mitchell (54 – non-scoring). Shooting exhibition rounds for the Jacks were another pair of seventh graders Graedyn Ellers, (47) and Nate Ostrander (54).

Other scorers for the Golden Bears were: Matthew Tupper (40), Daniel Richardson (41), Jackson Zebedee (47) and Eliza Creurer (47), which was the low score for girls. For the Wildcats, JD Minckler scored a 44 and Trevor Moore had a 49, Caitlyn Storie finished with a 51 and William Riutta scored a 52.

Coach LaMere said the closing hole was exciting. “As the match was coming to a close, members from all three teams surrounded the ninth green to see the final group come finish. In this group was Moody-Bell, who made a clutch bogey putt to seal the win for Tupper Lake by a single stroke.” The coach added, “we were without one of our low scorers in Aiden Churco, but the guys stepped up and, in his absence, got the win as a team.”

The Jacks traveled to Potsdam on Monday to finish off the season against a very good team. The race for the team regular season championship was tight as Salmon River topped the field at 10-2; Potsdam stood at 9-2; Ogdensburg was 7-1, with some matches to complete, Malone and Massena both stood at 8-2 and the Jacks were 8-3.

Earlier in the week, Tupper played a tri-match against Clifton-Fine and Colton-Pierrepont. The Jacks finished with a team score of 207.

Coach LaMere commented on the impressive score. “This is the best round as a team in my tenure as coach. I know Tupper golf history pretty well, and I am confident this is the best round since the 2005-2010 era with Zach Meade,” said the coach. Lindsay shot a career-best 39, Aiden Churco finished with 40, Bauer Callaghan and Wyatt Trudeau each shot 42, Gavin Mitchell had a 44 and Ashton Clark a 48.

On Wednesday, Tupper Lake shot 210 while taking down Norwood-Norfolk (290). The Jacks were led by a 36 from Trudeau (+1), Callaghan with a 40, Lindsay finished with a 44. Churco and Clark both shot 45s and Mitchell had a 46.

“This week we will be getting ready to host the sectionals at the Tupper Lake Golf Course,” said Coach LaMere. “Thursday will feature a practice round. Friday is the team event and Saturday, the top third of the field will battle it out to see which golfers will represent Section 10 at the New York State Championships.”

About 100 attend budget hearing to express concerns, ask questions about annual budget

by Dan McClelland

About 100 school district residents- many of them parents of school-age children here- came out to the high school auditorium Monday for the school board’s budget hearing. It was one of the biggest crowds in years at a budget hearing.

Normally budget hearings here draw a handful of residents at most.

School officials obviously expected a larger than normal sized crowd so wisely moved their normal meeting place in the Michelle LaMere library to the much larger auditorium in the face of the controversial budget with its large 8.75% tax levy increase in prospect.

Much of the information presented that evening by Superintendent of Schools Russ Bartlett, who hosted the meeting, was contained in the district’s budget newsletter distributed in recent weeks. Much of that information is carried in a story this week.

“Thank you for coming,” he told the crowd, “whether you are a for sure yes vote or sure no vote or I haven’t decided yet vote. I appreciate and respect your presence here this evening.”

He said there was a lot of information to share with them that evening. “There’s a lot of information floating around and not all of it’s accurate. I’m going to do my best to present things in a straight forward understandable way!” he promised the crowd.

He invited everyone to ask their questions as his presentation went along, especially if they didn’t understand something he said. “So please ask!”

He said the information he would present was based on people hearing about the budget for the first time. Admitting the budget is somewhat complex he admitted that he and the new BOCES business manager, Jessica Rivers, have been living this budget proposal 24/7 for a while, “and there’s still things in it we have to clarify for each other every so often.”

He said that while not all of the budget is that complicated there is one critical thing to understand where the 8.75% tax levy increase comes from or where the allowed 9.18% tax cap comes from.

“That’s the capital tax levy...that’s the building project you voted on in October.” He said the project approved by voters addresses many “health and safety issues.”

“We have a building we are sitting in tonight that is almost 100 years old and L.P. Quinn was built in 1970, “so that’s old too.”

He said too the building project adds safety vestibules with modern communications systems in each of the buildings.

“I hate that we have to have these...but it’s the world we live in! Safety must be among our most important concerns, so those are things we have to do now!”

He said the building project amounts to roughly $20 million.

“Going into next year and budgeting for the first year of that building project next year” adds over one million dollars to the district’s annual expenditures. “That’s roughly five percent of our budget.”

“So out of our $20 million to $21 million budget, over $1 million is factored in from the building project. So when you look at a 9.18% tax levy increase that the state will allow (in the tax cap), the building project that voters approved last year accounts for five percent of it.”

The first question came from Jerry Seleni of Stetson Road who asked Mr. Bartlett who he was. The superintendent apologized for not introducing himself at the start, quipping: “I thought everyone knew who I was.”

The Rev. David Boyea told the top school official that he assumed the million dollars was the annual payment on the building project, and Mr. Bartlett said it was and would be for about the next 17 years.

Board Vice President Jason Rolley, sitting in the back row, asked Mr. Bartlett to explain how much the annual building payment would generate in state aid in coming years.

Mr. Bartlett said the building aid payments come back to the district over a period of years. He said that building aid to this district is approximately 78% of building costs.

“You have to spend the money first and then the state education department reimburses you for 78% of that over time.”

Lisa St. Pierre asked him how long it will take for the state to reimburse the district for that project and the superintendent estimated it will take five to seven years.

Mr. Bartlett then continued his presentation. “So the proposed budget for 2024-25 is $21.92 million- that’s $464,943 or 2.08% less than this year’s budget. So there’s actually a decrease in spending next year!”

What he didn’t say, however, is that the new school budget proposed is lower than the current budget of $22.38 million in large part because of the departure of the $1 million the district received this year in federal COVID aid, which dries up in September.

“The bottom line, however, is that for every property here assessed at $100,000 the new budget” will cause its taxes to increase this coming year by $137.

He said the passage of the building project last fall represented about half of that increased amount.

His presentation then moved on to what he called “frequently asked” questions.

The first question: “$21.9 million seems like a large budget for a school district that only graduates about 50 kids?”

“It does seem like a lot,” he admitted and then presented some information from across the state that showed the budgets of every school district in New York State within student populations of 25 or less of Tupper Lake’s student body.

“I don’t love that we spend almost the least” of the 30 schools in the comparison. Tupper Lake was third from the bottom in spending.

“But it makes me appreciate the heck out of our staff that does what they must do” with nearly the least amount of resources in the state.

He said among the schools in this BOCES region Tupper Lake ranks in the bottom three with Chateaugay and Brushton-Moira. “So I don’t think we are over spending. Our budget at $21.92 million is a lot of money...it’s a lot, but it’s what it costs to do our job!”

He said he didn’t include Long Long, because it’s an outlier because of its uniquely small size. “Their expenditure per student is almost over $51,000 compared with Tupper’s at $19,897.”

He said the two schools- Chateaugay and Brushton-Moira- that join Tupper Lake at the bottom of the per pupil spending chart are both increasing their budget substantially this year “so the next time you see this list we’ll be at the very bottom.”

“My point here is we are not overspending! We’re not reaching for the stars...we’re not trying to buy our way out of anything as far as educating our kids!”

“We’re doing what we can with what we have!”

One resident asked about if family-income rates figure into the budget picture, and in particular in comparison with communities like Lake Placid.

“I will tell you that the incomes in Lake Placid are not much different from ours,” the superintendent told him. “Ours are actually a little bit more,” as many workers in Lake Placid work in the service industry, which traditionally pays lower wages or are part-time.

That question prompted him to explain foundation aid, which is one of the basic state education department’s aid to districts each year.

Typically districts were never to get less foundation aid than the previous year, under a save harmless arrangement. However, this year the Governor said the save harmless arrangement would be abandoned. It was later restored for one more year by the legislature, but it is expected to be eliminated for good after this school year, he told the crowd.

He said the approximately $140,000 in foundation aid Tupper stood to lose earlier this year was later restored by state lawmakers in the budget agreement, with the understanding it will disappear next year.

He said the district could have used the $140,000 to bring back one of the teachers who are being cut this year. They didn’t use it that way, however, because they knew the money would disappear next year. The money has just been added to the fund balance for now, he noted.

“You probably heard Mr. (Dan) Bower or I use the term ‘fiscal cliff’ a thousand times since 2020-21. We knew what was coming from the federal government on COVID aid would be around $1 million (per year) and at the end of four years it would be gone. That’s one of the biggest losses of revenue in our budget this year.”

The loss of $1 million in COVID money caused the need for the district going forward to eliminate 16 to 17 teacher positions. Twelve of those, however, were directly associated with the education loss programs taught during the four years of COVID, where in some cases retired teachers were brought back to teach them. Answering a question from the Free Press publisher, he noted the actual faculty losses in the district’s regular teaching program for this coming year were five- including one art teacher and one music teacher.

Of the 16 or 17 positions that had to be eliminated, “I only had to have that awful conversation with about five people,” he lamented.

He said most of the other positions were lost to resignations and retirements and by not filling positions since “we knew this cliff was coming.”

“Here’s the biggest question I hear: ‘The budget is going down, so why are my taxes going up?’”

“There are a number of reasons. Start by looking at the bottom line. Here’s my PTSD about the 2021-22 budget vote. We asked for what I thought was a small, modest budget increase of 3.01%. -But it passed by only eight votes! That close vote told me that this community is not willing to look at a particularly large increase! So when it got to the next school year, and we looked at what the tax levy increase could be based on what the tax cap was set at, we looked at some of our fund balance and said we could use some of that to keep the tax levy down. There were two things that happened. If we used the fund balance again this year where are the revenues coming from next year? It wouldn’t be coming, we knew that.

“When you don’t go to the full extent of the tax levy allowed in a tax cap, you are not collecting all the money the state says you should be collecting. So there’s a double whammy in terms of a loss of revenue.”

“School funding goes in cycles. It’s been my experience over the past 15 years I’ve been paying close attention to it, that in state and federal election cycles all of a sudden there’s money for education where there wasn’t before. Our hope was we might hit one of those (revenue) bubbles that comes around periodically, and we’ll be able to put several hundred thousand dollars back in our fund balance. That hasn’t happened. I have to take ownership of that. Because of my own reservations about asking too much from the community, probably had a little bit to do where we are today!”

He said too the tax levy increase proposed also reflects the cost of “everything” going up today. He said “we have to buy all those things that every household has to buy today.”

“We have to buy fuel for our buses to get kids to school. We have to buy food to feed kids breakfasts and lunches. We have to heat our buildings. Everywhere there’s an increase in costs, we’re feeling those same increases as all of you!”

“Therefore we need a little more money to cover our costs this coming year.”

The Rev. Boyea asked about district revenues: how much comes from state aid and how much from taxpayers.

With help from Mrs. Rivers, the superintendent said that $10.6 million of the $21.92 million budget proposed will come from New York State and the balance from local taxpayers in the three towns in the district.

In answer to another question, he said state aid is based on a multi-faceted formula, which includes the number of students to be educated and their daily attendance.

In another question, Jerry Seleni said he thought that the COVID money was supposed to be spent on improvements within the district. “Did you take that money and hire a bunch of employees?”

Mr. Bartlett said “a million regulations” came with the federal COVID money for what the money was supposed to be used for. The majority of it was used on ‘stop learning loss’ programs!”

He said in addition to the programs to help students educationally, there was social and emotional help provided some of the students who were suffering.

Jessica Rivers said that before any of that COVID money could ever be spent, many forms had to be submitted to the state education department for permission how the district could spend it.

Mr. Bartlett said a number of retired teachers were hired back to teach these special programs, because most of their benefits were already being paid by the district. “And what we were getting from the retirees were people with hundreds of years of teaching experience.”

“Of the COVID money were there funds used to employ people who probably should have been paid through the general budget?” the Free Press publisher asked him.

“Here’s how I’ll answer that because it is not a cut and dried situation.

“One of our COVID hirees was Fran Fortune as an additional resource nurse, because we needed another person to do the testing that was required “and a thousand different things that had to do with the pandemic.”

“We knew the COVID money was going to run out, yet we hoped we could keep that position, but we didn’t know, but let’s keep it mind that it’s there.”

“That happened a lot here,” as we hoped to keep some of those employees on after COVID.”

He noted too that in most school districts there is a constant flow of people in and out of the district, moving on, retiring, etc., and so its always nice to have a replacement for those people in the wings.

Mr. McClelland had another question: “Jessica Rivers and Jamie O’Dell who now are the district’s business managers presented two scenarios to you in recent months. They were a budget with a 4.5% tax levy increase in prospect and another forecasting 9%. Why did the board go with the 9% one?”

“I’ll speak for the board for a minute and then they can speak afterwards,” Mr. Bartlett told him.

“You remember when I said one of the things that got us intp this hole was not reaching the full amount of the tax cap each year. The state tax cap formula said you should be allowed to raise your taxes to the full amount allowed.” He said if a district needs to raise its taxes by five percent and only raises it two percent, “the state is not making up the difference the next year! You just now lost three percent of your income!”

He said that lost income carries forward too into the next fiscal year.

“If you don’t levy to the full tax cap you are going to have to make cuts somewhere down the road!”

There were a number of other clarification questions asked by Jessica Cole and others that evening.

Mr. Bartlett promised that if the vote Tuesday fails, the board and he and Mrs. Rivers will sit down and decide what could be cut in a second budget that would be presented to voters next month.

It’s time again for Tupper Arts’ Mud Ball

by Dan McClelland

It’s time to clean the caked-on muck off your mud boots this week and get ready to dance, because Saturday will see the return of Tupper Arts’ popular spring-time Mud Ball.

The event which is free and open to the public will again be held this year at Raquette River Brewing, where there’s plenty of space to kick up those newly cleaned boots.

Highlighting the event will be the entertainment of Tupper Lake’s popular classic rock band, Mickey Desmarais and his sister, Claire. The evening will also see the first pouring of the brewery’s limited edition Mud Ball brown ale.

For every glass of the signature beer sold, $1 will go to the arts and entertainment work of Tupper Arts. The first glass of the evening is courtesy of Tupper Arts.

The event begins at 5p.m. and runs until the close of the popular brewery Saturday.

In recent years Tupper Arts, the local not-for-profit organizations which offers dozens of diversified arts, cultural and educational programs, has used the Mud Ball as their gift to the community for its generous support throughout the year. This year it is again saying thank you for all that support.

School board approves $21.9188 proposed budget for voter consideration

The two BOCES employees who now direct the Tupper Lake School District’s business office fielded questions at last week’s school board meeting, which didn’t manage a quorum of members. At left is the new business manager, Jessica Rivers, and her boss, Jamie O’Dell, the BOCES director of shared services.

by Dan McClelland

When it comes to approving a new school budget to present to voters later this month, it seems three times is the charm.

At the board’s regular monthly meeting on April 15, there wasn’t a quorum of members present (three needed), so a meeting couldn’t officially be held. The plan was to approve the budget that night, but only an informal discussion of it ensued. Only Sabrina Shipman and Mary Ellen Chamberlain were present.

A special meeting to approve the BOCES budget and the new school budget was set for last Monday morning. The members present for the non-meeting meeting on April 15 were joined by Korey Kenniston. When the new $21.988 million budget was proposed the board voted two to one, with Mr. Kenniston voting no. When a bare quorum of members is present, all three must vote in favor for a measure to pass.

Both Board President Jane Whitmore and Vice President Jason Rolley were both out of town on vacation in recent weeks.

The board convened again Thursday with all five members sitting, with Mr. Rolley back and Mrs. Whitmore connected via Zoom. This time the vote was unanimous in support of the draft budget.

This week Jamie O’Dell, Franklin-Essex-Hamilton BOCES’ director of shared services, who now oversees the Tupper Lake business office, shared some of the details of the budget approved by the full board Thursday. She oversees the district’s new business manager- also from BOCES- Jessica Rivers.

The budget document has been trimmed somewhat since it was presented at the March school board meeting when a 9% tax levy increase was in prospect.

Since then the state legislature approved a late budget which kept the long-time “Save Harmless” in place for school districts for another year so that the $126,000 decrease in state foundation aid forecast was averted for this year.

In the budget proposed by the full board last week there are 17.5 positions to be eliminated. “Twelve of those positions are a combination of either COVID-funded positions we knew had to be eliminated or positions that are being eliminated through attrition- staff and faculty people resigning and retiring who will not be replaced.”

“Then there are 5.5 positions on top of those 12,” which she described as “physical positions” currently held by an employee that will be eliminated.

She listed those: one art position, one music teacher position, one middle/high school special education position, one middle/high school science position, one L.P. Quinn classroom position and half a library media specialist position.

With those cuts done, she said that brings the budget to a tax levy increase of 8.75%- down from a first draft levy figure of 9.1% and under the state imposed tax cap.

The levy figure showing the 8.75% increase represents a total contribution by taxpayers in the three towns $10.383 million- “which is $41,153 lower than what we originally proposed (in March) at the 9.1% tax levy increase.”

The tax levy in the current budget (2023-24) amounted to $9.548 million.

She cautioned that if this budget is not accepted by school district voters, the board has a choice to put a budget to the voters again in June or go to a “contingency budget.”

She said if the board adopts a contingency or what is often called “an austerity budget,” the district will have to eliminate another $835, 450 from the budget.” The would mean more jobs lost, likely.

She explained a contingency budget would not permit the district to exceed the current year’s tax levy. “So we couldn’t exceed this year’s levy of $9.548 million. -And that’s the already scarier part than what we are now facing.”

In the informal discussion on the budget in prospect at the April 15 session, Superintendent Russ Bartlett said there wasn’t a great deal new to report since the earlier meeting in terms of major revenues or expenditures.

He said since the first draft of the budget was released the “expenditure side of it has been decreased by $1.6 million.

He said there had been eight or so full-time positions that had been funded with federal COVID money that has disappeared, “as was intended.”

He said some of that money was spent on additional cleaning in the schools, permitting smaller class sizes at both schools, an additional school nurse, interventionist to help assess and correct learning loss because students weren’t in school. “-And because we had been so long without two school psychologists, one of our psychologists was funded with COVID funds.

One of those professionals left in March, so that is a position we won’t currently re-fill, he told the two board members present that evening.

“We had a couple of teaching assistants retire. We also had several other retirements that we will attribute to attrition.”

“The part that is painful” were the positions cut, that were listed by Ms. O’Dell above.

In addition to the full-time faculty cuts, were five what he called “para-professionals”- aides or teaching assistants.

While several of the five were leaving through attrition, the balance were people serving or acting in teaching roles, because there weren’t certified teachers available to hire, he noted.

“We can now free up a few teaching positions that can actually be filled by teachers.”

“Other significant expenditures we’ve reduced are most of our JV sports and “a fair amount of new athletic equipment” to the tune of over $100,000.

“Dan Bower’s retirement will leave us with an empty assistant superintendent’s position, which will not be filled in title as an assistant superintendent.”

“-And you remember last fall when Mr. (Lee) Kyler left, that was another administrative position that we have not refilled,” he continued.

He said through BOCES services and other contractual items, “we were able to amass about $400,000 in savings there.”

He said the difficulty of eliminating spending on BOCES programs and services, the district shorts itself on BOCES revenue, which can be as much as 50% of expenditures.

“It’s a ‘for now’ savings, but that $400,000 will not come back to us every year.”

“I spoke with Mayor Mary Fontana this afternoon.” The superintendent said the plan was for school, town and village leaders to meet soon to come up with the best solution for funding school resource officers in the future.

He said the need to keep the officers in place in each school was one of the things residents in the community feel strongest about keeping, judging by his recent conversations with folks in here. “The community has been very vocal about wanting to see them remain!”

“So we are working on ways to fund them- albeit a little differently than in the past. -And, at this point, it is reasonable to think we can keep the school resource officers!”

The cost of the officers’ salary and benefits amounts to about $140,000 per year which the district pays the village.

“Currently the budget we are looking for the board to approve” would be $21.918837 and that’s with a tax levy that is under the tax cap. I’m happy we have been able to get under it!”

Asked by Mary Ellen Chamberlain about the elementary school faculty and staff cuts, Mr. Bartlett said they included a cleaner, a K-5 general education teacher, a K-5 special education teacher, school psychologist, school nurse, two middle/high school interventionists and one elementary school interventionist.

“As Russ mentioned, I don’t think there’s anything new since the last time,” Ms. O’Dell told the two board members and the administrators present for what was supposed to be the regular monthly meeting.

“We have some deadlines coming up” with respect to the budget and its adoption.”

She opened a discussion on the fund reserves the district needs to create. “Any time a reserve is established” for a specific spending or budgeting purpose that has to be passed as a proposition on any district ballot.

“Tupper Lake only has two reserves at this point”- the unemployment reserve and an Employee Benefit Accured Liability Reserve (EBALR) and combined they total about $500,000.

“What reserves are are basically savings accounts for the district, but it is a savings account that is not only advantageous for this school district, but also for local taxpayers. It’s a way that OSC (state office of state comptroller) prefers for us to have extra dollars. It doesn’t like anything over the four percent unassigned fund balance.”

She said as of last June, the district’s fund balance figure was 4.8% “-and so you are in a pretty good position.”

She said reserves help districts prepare for unexpected things in the future. “For example with your unemployment reserve, that permits you to pay claims in times when there are times of lay-offs and cuts.” The claims money comes from the reserve rather than a district’s general fund.

An EBALR can be used when employees retire and its written in their contracts that they get paid for all their accrued sick time which could equate to $10,000 or more, she explained. Again, instead of paying that sum out of the general fund in any given year it could come out of that special reserve.

She said the EBALR can be permitted to build to the amount of all of your liabilities that exist with your current staff.

She proposed the district create TRS and ERS reserves, which can be done by the boards and which don’t require taxpayer approval.

Another valuable reserve for the district to have is what is called a capital reserve, which can be used for many things including the purchase of buses, capital equipment like plow trucks or boilers, supplements to building projects to lower any local impact on taxpayers.

They can also be helpful, she said, to cover “unplanned projects” when they suddenly arise, like the presence of previously unknown asbestos or mold “that can cost a pretty penny for a district to abate.”

“It would be my recommendation to take a look at the reserves you have now, those you could create and put forth a plan,” she advised the two board members present.

Mr. Bartlett said the reserve creation doesn’t involve the spending of more money, but a more structured way of categorizing the money we are taking in each year.

“The other thing I wanted to point out is that when we originally looked at budget numbers and a $1.7 million shortfall, it was devastating and it is. And then we started looking at the facts that the COVID money was going away and that this person was leaving and we wouldn’t have to replace that person. But whenever you have a position and you see the impact that person has on a kid...a kid who might have been struggling without intervention and then you start to see them succeed, you think how great it would be to keep that person or that position in place.”

“-And then you start to convince yourself there is a way to keep that position. But then when you look at the dollars coming from state ed., you realize there is no way to keep that position!”

He said they knew with the COVID money drying up and the retirements coming there would be positions to be eliminated. “Some of them we had already written them off to attrition.” But of the actual half dozen or so teaching positions that had to be eliminated that hurt him deeply.

“I hate losing an art teacher...I hate losing a music teacher. Hopefully overtime the financial situation in the district will improve and they can be restored. We’ve lost both those positions in the past but over time we were able to add them back. So my hope is that as time goes by and funding cycles change, hopefully we can add them back soon.”

“I think Jamie and Jess and the building principals and Trish (Wickwire) found a lot of ways to make this budget balance that didn’t tear away a lot of things from kids that we thought we were going to lose in the beginning.”

“I wish there was more we could do. I hate to lose the people we have to lose. But I think we’ve done a fairly good job at maintaining the integrity of ability to educate kids, pre-K through 12!”

The Free Press publisher asked how the $1.7 million shortfall occurred this year to create this budget dilemma. He said that seems to be troubling the public the most these days.

“A million of it are the COVID funds that we used in recent years and now they are gone,” Business Manger Jessica Rivers told him.

The balance, she said, reflect “raises and increases in health insurance premiums over the years. In addition to that was the unassigned fund balance.”

“Was the COVID money spent when it shouldn’t have been?” Mr. McClelland asked her and she replied, no.

“The COVID funds arrived in different pots,” she said referring to different federal funds that came to address different problems created by the pandemic and the profound school absences that it caused.

“The last bout of it cycles out in September, 2024.”

She explained that all of the funds in the first rounds were spent in accordance with the requirements of each. The money that was left and that is being spent this year and over the summer of 2024 that’s the remainder of it.

The superintendent said the federal money had to be shown as revenue in the district’s budgets during the COVID years. “And now that revenue doesn’t exist in this year’s budget!” he told Mr. McClelland. “So that’s where the first million dollars went.”

Mr. McClelland asked if there was a lag in federal money arriving to fund programs already underway. “Were we employing people we shouldn’t have had?”

The superintendent said the district wasn’t. There were eight positions funded through the end of this school year” with the COVID funds.

Ms. Rivers said the federal funds came as grants allocated on the basis of the special programs offered by the districts. There were grants that came annually. It all depended on the grant program. Some had carry-over funds attached to them. Some did not.” She said some of the grants had different end dates.

The last federal fund was for a program that will end September of this year, she noted.

Ms. Rivers said the “district has also been balancing it budget with an unassigned fund balance...so you’ve had a gap for years!”

“Did the gap just keep rolling over and over,” the publisher asked and Ms. Rivers said it had. “If you go back and look at your revenues and where they were coming from before the arrival of the federal funds, you’ve always had a contribution (to the budgets) from the unassigned fund balances.”

“You can use unassigned fund balances to balance their budgets, but we always caution districts from doing that because it can suddenly go away or run low, where Tupper is now!”

“At the end of last year the district fund balance was at 4.8 percent of the budget, which is very low!”

She agreed with Mr. McClelland that state auditors like districts to keep their fund balance low and in the range of 4%.

“But in our eyes, running a school district year to year to year, 4.8% will not get you very far” when problems arise.

She some districts carry fund balances of 12 and 13%.

Jamie O’Dell said that realistically what this district should be doing, as per state regulators, is keeping an unassigned fund balance of 4% of total spending but create other reserves for particular purposes (as outlined above) to provide a suitable financial cushion for times of emergencies and surprises.

Many local governments have equipment purchase reserve funds or capital reserve funds, and others, Mr. McClelland noted.

“The contradictory thing we hear from the state is if our fund balance exceeds 4%, we have to write a corrective action plan. If you go back to 2010 (which saw a major lay-off of faculty and staff) and with the arrival of the gap elimination assessment, the average cut to districts across the state was 8.8% and the state said just use your fund balance. So on one hand the state will slap you on the wrist if you exceed a fund balance of 4%, but it will expect that you actually have one more than that!”

“So after this year, once the COVID funds are gone and corrected for, will we still have a $700,000 gap?” Mr. McClelland asked.

Ms. Rivers said this year’s budget should eliminate the gap, with the exception of the $250,000 that the district is still using in its budgets as an unassigned fund balance.

In recent years the board members have used $350,000 from the district’s fund balance to apply as revenue in the new budget. That figure has been trimmed by $100,000 in the proposed budget.

“We’d love to see Tupper Lake lower that amount again a year from now because it cannot sustain putting that much unassigned fund balance into each year’s budget.

Three Lions Club dignitaries visit Tupper club

About two dozen members of the Tupper Lake Lions Club entertained special guests on April 18 when the current district governor, the last district governor and the next district governor came to town. The meeting was held at Allison Hollingsworth spacious staff room above Hollingsworth Construction on High Street. Flanking Lions Club President Stuart Nichols were at right DG Priscilla Laurin of Chazy and her husband, Rickey, was district governor last year and at immediate left, Holly McConcie of Galway, incoming district governor and Margot Warlrath, another Lion from the Galway club who accompanied her that evening.

An amazing prime rib supper with all the fixin’s was prepared by the club’s culinary pros- Lions Kurt and Mark Garrelts, Paul LaMere and Rick Skiff. Carrott cake fresh from the oven of Lion Cindy Lewis crowned off a meal fit for Lions. Club members raved about the main course and the dessert.

In her address to the local Lions DG Laurin encouraged the club to donate to the Lions Club International Foundation, which performs major acts of disaster relief around the world. Through LCIF local clubs can apply for generous matching grants to help fund local civic projects and she encouraged the hometown club to apply.

Last year the club embraced the Tupper Lake Varsity Hockey Team and purchased new special team uniforms as well as publicly feting the successful team and its top players.

DG Laurin said those expenditures would have been great candidates for LCIF grants.

Donations of $250 a year for four years qualifies the club for a Melvin Jones Award to recognize outstanding Lions and community members.

She applauded the club for its recent boost in membership, noting the club has grown by over ten members since last year. Such growth makes the local club eligible for an award from Lions International, she announced.

DG Laurin also encouraged Lions to bring their children and grandchildren along with them as they work on community civic projects. She said it instills in them community pride early in their lives by working on projects that help this community. Those young folks, learning the ways of Lionism early, make them excellent candidates for Lions membership when they become adults.

She also urged the local Lions to consider starting a teenage Leo Club here.

New book by Jerry Hayes details history of Tupper Lake Civic Center

by Dan McClelland

The history of the Tupper Lake Civic Center is the focus of a new book by long time coach and local attorney, Jeremiah Hayes.

The story of the civic center- one of Tupper Lake’s crowning moments in volunteerism- is now on sale exclusively at Park Street’s Spruce and Hemlock. All the net proceeds from the sale of the book will be donated later this year to the Tupper Lake Minor Hockey Association, as a gift by the author and the owners of Spruce and Hemlock, Faith and Andrew McClelland.

Cost of the new book is $11 plus tax.

The new book covers the period of 1980 to 2020, but focuses in large part on the founding and construction years of the major community recreational asset in the early 1980s. The book is dedicated to Tom Proulx and Phil Edwards who conceived, planned and supervised the construction of the facility, according to Mr. Hayes.

The local author devoted entire pages to each of them and their families in his new publication.

According to the author, “it’s a story about the marvelous community achievement accomplished selflessly by donors, volunteers, town, village and school boards, local professionals, parents and players in constructing this facility which is one of the finest in the North Country.”

The author began work writing the book over a year ago, and interviewed a number of local people who were involved with the civic center project from the start. The book includes many photos of the work bees taken by long time Free Press Photographer Kathleen Bigrow, from her collection now held by Jim Lanthier. Mr. Lanthier also contributed several shots for its cover.

Mr. Hayes grew up in Potsdam where in the 1950s he played hockey in the Potsdam Junior Hockey Association and at Potsdam Central School. He moved to Tupper Lake in 1977 with his family and practiced law for the next 37 years. His first son, Jay, began playing hockey on the outdoor rink here in the early 1980s and brothers Brendan and Mike joined Jay in playing minor and school hockey at the Tupper Lake Civic Center. The local lawyer worked closely with Tom Proulx and his group behind the scenes in the arena-building campaign, providing legal and professional advice.

Jerry coached many teams here during the time his sons played hockey and continued to coach long after they graduated from the program and from school here.

Now retired, he’s still a frequent visitor and avid hockey fan at games held there.

In an interview with the first-time author last week he said his motivation for writing the book came from several things.

“I was involved pretty much in this from the beginning in the early 1980s. I was involved in coaching in minor hockey at that time and I coached all three of my sons” as they advanced through the hockey program. He said he began working with Tom Proulx and his group as they were working hard to raise the money to build the civic center, providing whatever counsel and advice he could.

Over the years he coached with Garry Lanthier, Bill Hutt and other long-time coaches in the program.

In 2006-07 the high school hockey team didn’t have a coach, so he and Jed Dukett stepped forward, at the urging of their wives, Eileen and Julie, who were both teachers at L.P. Quinn Elementary School.

They were both welcomed into their new jobs by the local athletic department.

In all Jerry coached the varsity team for six years, the first four with Jed.

About 2010 Dan Cook of Potsdam was hired by the school district as a math teacher and he joined the two coaches as a volunteer.

“It was great, because Dan brought a lot of hockey experience with him.”

When Jed stepped down to tend to his young family, Dan, who had been a hockey player, was named as head coach, and Jerry stayed on as his assistant for several years.

“-And I enjoyed those years very much. So that was one of the reasons for the book.”

He said the second reason was his involvement with Tom Proulx and Phil Edwards and their small band of volunteers in the early 1980s as their fundraising began and the project was gaining momentum. “At that time I did whatever they needed me to do, legal or otherwise.”

His secretary Sue LaVigne was serving as the group’s secretary/treasurer at the time, and he joked there wasn’t a day that passed that Tom Proulx wasn’t in his office with money to drop off or for some other matter.

“From the start it was a tremendous community effort- largely volunteer, gathering small donations,” he explained, adding that for years he has felt this wonderful story needed to be told and placed in print for future generations to learn.

He said it was “hand to mouth” for the group for a number of years until it was taken over by the town and then the school district where it benefitted by major improvements like refrigeration in a number of successive capital construction campaigns.

“I thought it was wonderful that the village, the town and the school district officials” worked cooperatively to help this community group build and develop this amazing facility- the pride of the community!”

“-And it was important to tell that story, so generations of hockey players and coaches to come will know how this community came together to build this wonderful arena!”

When Coach Hayes was coaching the high school hockey team one of the most dedicated players was the team’s current head coach, Broyce Guerrette, who played on the team from eighth grade through graduation.

“About three years ago when his team finished the season, I was out of town on vacation. I got a call from Broyce and he told me they wanted to name a sportsmanship award in my honor and I was humbled by that. In the days following his call, I thought about that a lot. Broyce was probably 25 or 26 years old at the time and it dawned on me that he wasn’t even born when our arena was conceived and built.”

“So I think it is important that those younger players and the younger parents in the hockey association now and those involved in the future know this important story!”

In addition to the copies that will be sold at Spruce & Hemlock, the author has also donated a handful of copies to the local library.

Big party at Wild Center kicked off “Totality in Tupper” weekend celebration

by Dan McClelland

The Total Eclipse kick-off party Saturday at the Wild Center brought together many residents and weekend visitors to celebrate this once in a life time event in Tupper Lake.

The Wild Center was joined in co-sponsorship of this welcome party by the Adirondack Sky Center, the Tupper Lake Rotary Club, Woodmen Life Lodge, Blueline Concerts and the Tupper Lake Public Library. Each of the sponsors had booths set up with some of their informational products and large prizes which were the subject of online auctions that evening.

Hillarie Logan-Dechene, deputy director of the Wild Center, addressed the 150 or so guests that evening in the Wild Center’s great room, telling them there were three simple goals that evening.

“We want to have fun celebrating Totality in Tupper Lake. We want to shine a light on some of the great things that are happening in our community and the organizations that are making that possible. -And thirdly we want to give you a chance to support all the organizations you love with the silent auction.”

“Bid early and bid often,” she encouraged the guests. She said the procedure to bid was detailed on numerous signs in the room that evening, and staff members and volunteers were available to help.

Following her to the podium that evening were representatives of some of the Wild Center’s event partners, many of whom have spent what she called “countless hours” preparing for the eclipse event.

“The first person you will hear from is the epitome of that, Tupper Lake’s number one fan of totality, Mr. Seth McGowan,” chairman of the Adirondack Sky Museum and Observatory.

Loud applause.

“Welcome everyone and welcome to Totality in Tupper Lake. The year 1349 was the last time we had this party,” he told the cheering guests.

He jokingly encouraged the guests to buy their tickets that evening for the next total solar eclipse coming to Tupper Lake in 2399. “I hope you’re here for it...I’m getting my tickets for it tonight!”

“Let’s talk about the big issue: the weather! Everyone is looking around...we have snow on the ground, we have clouds. You know what? The eclipse doesn’t care!”

He said the eclipse will occur if snow is falling. He said it will still get dark and it will still get cold.

It is estimated the temperature drops between 5 degrees and 15 degrees F. during a total eclipse.

“Animals often act weird...humans sometimes go weird- you know who I’m talking to, right?” pointing out into the crowd. “Pplus because of the instability in the atmosphere when that cloud comes moving 2500 miles an hour, it sometimes causes thunder and lightening and there’s an amazing array of light. It’s a beautiful event- even if there’s clouds. Don’t stay at home!”

He predicted “a bright sunny day and we’ll all get to celebrate that beautiful corona together (ring around the sun). So let’s pray for that and if we don’t get it, who cares? We’re still going to celebrate!”

On the note of celebration, he said “Totality in Tupper” is a community-wide event where his organization partnered with all of the organizations represented that evening.

“We have partnered with all of these organizations here plus the village, the town, the local newspaper and The Wild Center.

He said he hope those able partnerships last until the next one in 2399. “They have all helped put Tupper Lake on the map!”

He offered a special shout-out to Michelle Clement, marketing director of ROOST and the ROOST staff “for not only helping to bring many tourists to Tupper Lake for the event, but for their work spreading the word to bring many visitors this weekend to the entire Adirondack region.

“Finally I’d like to acknowledge that this is the event that the Adirondack Sky Center has hoping for, for a long, long time. We’ve been planning this since 2017, the last time the total eclipse happened across the United States.

Mr. McGowan and his family were at that event in Hopkinsville, Kentucky that year.

“This one is special because it’s happening in our own hometown!

Tupper Lake is positioned in the direct center of the 2,000 plus mile long, 100 mile wide “Path of Totality” that stretched from Texas to Maine, diagonally across this nation.

He said his organization has a very supportive board of trustees and that some of the founding members, including co-founders Marc Staves and Tim Moeller were in the room that evening. He also mentioned Gordie Duval and other observatory visionaries.

“What a tremendous idea this was to form our organization 24 years ago...when this little idea blossomed into an enormous lift for Tupper Lake. What a positive idea (the creation of the observatory organization) for the entire community!”

“I want everyone to enjoy themselves this evening. I’d like to thank the Wild Center for hosting this. Thanks everyone for coming and we’ll see you at 2:12p.m. Monday,” for the start of the eclipse.

Mr. McGowan introduced the next speaker, Susan Delehanty, president of the board of directors of Tupper Arts.

The local arts center on Park Street hosted an impressive art show at its headquarters the evening before that drew several dozen area artists with works themed about “darkness.”

“I wanted to start by giving a community shout-out” to Seth and his team at the sky center for their help in organizing this event and to the Wild Center for its role too, she began that evening.

“It was just over a year ago that Seth invited Tupper Arts to be part of the planning group for this event, and we were very touched to be involved with this!”

“Some of you may have attended our art show that opened last night. Thanks to the hard work of Evie Longhurst, our director, and all of our volunteers and our board members, to put together” one of the first events of this exciting weekend. She said her organization also appreciated being invited to be part of that evening’s online auction.”

She hoped everyone that evening would have a chance to see all the wonderful pieces at the various stations hosted by the participating organizations, and bid, and possibly be one of the successful bidders.

“We’re all looking forward to a nice sunny day on Monday, but as Seth explained, that doesn’t really matter! -And have fun tonight!”

She introduced Therese DeSalvio from the Historic Beth Joseph-based Blueline Concerts.

She explained the concert series will run this year at the local synagogue, the first performance that evening at the same time as the Wild Center party. “If you have been there, it’s a wonderful place to visit to learn its history, and we like it for concerts because the acoustics are absolutely beautiful.”

She said the entire interior is made of wood, “and the musicians who perform there love it!”

That evening’s concert will be repeated for the benefit of all who missed it Saturday on August 20, she told the crowd at the Wild Center. Party.

Another concert in the series is planned for August 15, according to Ms. DeSalvio.

“We bring up top- notch musicians from the city to perform and sometimes from the musical community at Potsdam.”

She encouraged everyone here to come out this summer and enjoy them.

The final speaker was Libby Clark, the development director at the Wild Center.

“First of all thank you for supporting this event. -And thank you also to our sponsors and to our many volunteers!”

She explained to the audience that evening how to bid online for the variety of paintings and other valuable donated prizes at the sponsors’ stations around the great room that evening.

“The proceeds from the sale of the auction items go to the organizations” that donated those keepsake items for the evening’s event.

She pointed to one of the unique gifts up for auction that evening: Larry Churco’s snowshoe coffee table, the proceeds from which will go to Tupper Arts.

The money raised by another special prize, a private star-gazing party, will benefit its host, the Adirondack Sky Museum and Observatory.

She pointed the guests, unfamiliar with the online bidding process, to the many posters in the room with instructions printed on them, and to the volunteers around the room who were there to help.

She told guests too the silent disco was planned later that evening, as well as the films being screened in the Flammer Theater.

The event featured complimentary drinks and an elaborate buffet of hors d’ oeuvres.

Also highlighting the evening were a number of door prizes awarded.

Final “Totality in Tupper” plans reviewed at Friday’s planning session

by Dan McClelland

Seth McGowan, president of the Adirondack Sky Center and Observatory, has for more than a year directed much of the planning for Monday’s “Totality in Tupper.” He presided over the final planning meeting Friday. Joining him in the board room at L.P. Quinn Elementary School that is the main staging area for the eclipse event, were 15 or so members of the community and representing different organizations here who have been working with Seth for the past year, meeting monthly.

Joining Mr. McGowan that morning for the final wrap-up planning session were Natalie Zurek of the Adirondack Sky Center, Evie Longhurst of Tupper Arts, Michelle Clement of ROOST, Free Press Publisher Dan McClelland, Police Chief Eric Proulx and Sgt. Travis Farmer, Town Councilman Tim Larkin and Rick Godin, Leeanne Favreau, Nick Corcoran and Anna Stuckey- all of the Wild Center.

Others who have been involved with the planning but who were not present for the final session were the library’s Courtney Carey, Tupper Arts President Susan Delehanty, Sarah McGowan, Mark Moeller, Leslie Karasin and The Wild Center’s Hillary Logan-Dechene and Nick Gunn.

Mr. McGowan began the discussion by looking at the digital clock on his web site being streamed which showed ten days, four hours, 47 minutes until what he called “go time.”

“That’s the Totality time, but by now everyone is also amped up with their own activities that are part of the weekend-long event.

The Adirondack Sky Museum has dozens of activities planned for this coming weekend at its staging area at L.P. Quinn Elementary School. So does the Wild Center. An entire schedule of events is published inside this week.

Also planning events are the Goff-Nelson Memorial Library, Tupper
Arts at its headquarter on Park Street and the new Tupper Museum, which is staging an advance opening to show off its spiffy new quarters on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

“My purpose this morning is to bring everything back around to where we started. That is: creating an event that is fun, safe, educational and just a fantastic experience for the community so that people can come in” and be impressed at how well Tupper Lake has done this “and plan to come back and enjoy our community more when they have more time and when it’s not so crowded.”

“That was the premise of this whole group. Everyone had their compartments to deal with- the sky museum had its role to play, the Wild Center had its role, and no one was the overlord of this event, with the exception of The Almighty, himself.”

He said the sky center’s schedule of events for Sunday and Monday is complete. That too is found inside our issue this week.

He screened a map of the L.P. Quinn (also printed inside) that showed the various locations of the activity and merchandise tents, the food trucks, the locations of several media sources which are coming. Aerial drones will be flying above the event to gather what he called “future footage” for planetarium exhibits when it is built here in coming years.

Mr. McGowan said about five food truck operators have been engaged for Sunday and Monday.

“We have our speakers ready to be set up; our volunteer army ready to go!”

He said the school district and its very able building and grounds superintendent, Pierre St. Pierre will be running power lines to the various exhibitors on the fields around the school building this week.

There will be a solar telescope set up for public viewing, “as well as our live feeds to NASA.”

NASA officials are expected to be in attendance at the event.

In addition to the live feeds of the event to NASA, Good Guy Productions of Saranac Lake will also be streaming footage to the NASA channel, Mr. McGowan noted.

The video company’s live screens will also be set up on the grounds Monday.

“So we’re ready to go!” he told his volunteer board that morning.

“All of the equipment is starting to be moved to this building.” He praised the Tupper Lake Board of Education for its support of the solar event there- giving him, the former superintendent of schools, what he called “free rein” of the building and grounds.

“Any room, field or space we needed, the district has gone above and beyond to provide it to us!”

The complete sky center schedule of events is on its web site, with live links to what every activity is, he explained.

Most of those events are listed too on our inside pages this week.

“I hope everyone out there in the world has started to plan their own experience. We’ve been promoting not to wait to come and make a decision what you want to do when you get here, but instead look before you come through the events we’re doing, the events the Wild Center is doing, and make a plan in advance where you want to be at that ground zero moment!”

Many of the exhibits at the school will be on the large soccer field behind the school and bordering Park Street or on what has been dubbed “the Artemis Field,” which is the one below and beyond the parking lot.

Many of the sites at the school have been named for celestial or solar terms.

The school’s playing fields below that field next to the parking lot will also be available for people to gather- depending on how many come, he added.

The school and The Wild Center will be connected for this special event by the bus transportation route and by a primitive road and the fields that connect the two sites.

The Wild Center’s Leeanne Favreau said she and her facility colleagues will be using parking signs that ROOST furnished to guide visitors between the two places. Those signs will be erected on Thursday of this week, she expects.

“Most of our festivities begin on Saturday but we do have some starting on Friday, she told the group.

A list of the Wild Center events is also carried on our inside pages this week.

She said Wild Center video photographer Rick Godin will be live-streaming their events on You Tube all weekend, with links to the Wild Center’s various social media networks.

“The You Tube events can be embedded on any web page,” Mr. Godin explained to the group that morning. “That way when someone goes to one of your web pages, the You Tube footage is there.”

Ms. Favreau said the Wild Center’s Marketing Director Nick Gunn will be on site some of the weekend and she’ll be there when he isn’t to help “the streaming people” and others with their jobs.

She provided Mr. McGowan with several portable radios so he and others can be in constant contact with the Wild Center staffers through their new mobile communications system.

Cell phones will also connect officials at both sites, as a back up to the radios, it was noted.

Ms. Favreau said there will be medical response teams through the Tupper Lake Rescue Squad at both the Wild Center and the school on Monday.

“We are sold out for Monday for pre-registered tickets,” she was pleased to report that morning. She predicted the crowd Monday could be as big as the one that celebrated the opening of the Wild Center several decades ago. The opening day crowd approached 7,000 people.

On recent summer days, and especially since the opening of Wild Walk the facility has seen crowds of over 2,000 people a day. Monday’s sell-out event will at least double that. Saturday and Sunday will likely see a typical summer-time daily attendance, she thought.

Ms. Favreau said it is not uncommon for the crowd on any given day at The Wild Center to double or triple the pre-registered visitors.

“This event will likely be our largest event in our history, aside from our opening day” many years ago. “So this is super exciting!”

“We’re open 10a.m. to 6p.m. to the public on Monday. Our staff people will be coming on site starting at 6:30a.m. so we can prepare.”

She asked that the bus loops Monday not have a stop at The Wild Center until the 10a.m. opening, and Michelle Clement of ROOST, who developed the parking and bus systems, agreed to that.

Mr. McGowan thought too that was a good plan not to have guests arrive before the day’s opening.

Ms. Favreau figured that many of the early birds to the Wild Center might stop first at the school, since the “Totality in Tupper” starts there at 8a.m.

Natalie Zurek assured her the volunteers at the school wouldn’t send any visitors down to the Wild Center until 10a.m. that morning.

The bus routes conclude at 7p.m. and so there will be an effort at both places on Hosley to get visitors on the bus back to the various parking lots in advance of 7p.m.

“We will be announcing throughout the day, in addition to messaging from our greeters here, the importance of people knowing where their cars are parked and which bus route-blue or green- they should be on to get back to their vehicles, Mr. McGowan noted.

He said when the eclipse is over, the buses leaving the school grounds and the Wild Center will be going to the parking lots that are the farthest out first, like the Tupper Lake Golf Course. “These will be express buses, and they won’t stop on their way there through town.”

Mrs. Clement said “all the transportation information and maps are out there” on social media and the ROOST sites,” as well as by scanning the postcards the promotional agency had printed, which is also reprinted in our paper this week.

Mrs. Clement said signs have been printed and will be posted prominently indicating there will not be parking on either side of Hosley Ave. and the Country Club Road- to make room for buses on two of the major corridors of the new bus routes.

She said sections of the village municipal park- especially the lawn areas which are still very wet- will be also posted for no parking.

Mr. McGowan said the school district will have personnel at the bus garage on Monday so that if one of the buses encounters mechanical trouble, another bus from the fleet can be dispatched immediately.

He noted too there will be smaller events at the school grounds after the eclipse which people can stay and enjoy. They are designed to help curb what is expected to be a mass exodus from town late Monday.

“We’ll be re-running on our big screens some of the videos we captured before and during the event and some of the astrophotography shots taken of this solar eclipse,” he gave as one of the activities planned later Monday.

“We’re also thinking about screening the 2014 movie ‘Interstellar’ in the hours after after the eclipse to keep people on site longer,” he told the group.

Ms. Favreau said the Wild Center will continue some of their demonstrations like the glass blowing by Corning and the silent disco through to 6p.m. to try to help slow the exodus.

Her facility, she reported, has received some cancellations from regional schools who were planning a field trip that day to The Wild Center because those school officials are now worried about traffic congestion here on Monday.

Eclipse glasses required for the event are available from ROOST at its office at 2608 Main Street in Lake Placid and from the sky center at the eclipse staging area at L.P. Quinn. Mr. McGowan reported his organization purchased 20,000 pairs of glasses, and they are available free at the school site while supplies last.

Ms. Favreau predicted her organization has about 7,000 glasses to provide visitors.

The Wild Center will also have available what are called “disco balls” to provide hundreds of different sun projections in all directions- one of the fun things planned over the weekend.

There is an organization called Astronomers Without Borders that collects used eclipse glasses after each celestial event and stores them until the next one. The sky center is participating in this collection process after the event Monday and there will likely be bins at the school site to collect them as people leave, Mrs. Zurek reported at the Friday meeting.

Ms. Favreau said the Wild Center would like to do the same thing, using their Americorp volunteers to collect the used glasses and package them up.

She reported that the Astronomers Without Borders has changed its strategy from past eclipses, and is asking donor groups to store those discarded glasses until the group can collect them for the next event in future years.

The sky center organization will have two volunteers on each bus on Monday, serving as tour guides.

Michelle Clement noted that ROOST is encouraging the visitors to all communities to plan doing activities on Saturday and Sunday, while making Monday all about the eclipse and viewing it from their lodgings or a designated viewing place near them.

Mr. McGowan said his group has encouraged visitors in nearby communities of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake, Long Lake or Malone to visit the sky center’s events at the local school on Sunday, when things won’t be so congested as Monday.

There will be six food trucks at the school site on Monday but only Tupper’s PorkBusters BBQ will be there Sunday. The other five on Monday only are: The MacFactor, Perk and Pine Coffee, Big Bear ADK, Love, Peace and Grilled Cheese and 876 Jerk. At The Wild Center there will be three food trucks and a bakery stand on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday there will be a fourth food truck. Most will open at 10a.m. or 11a.m. that day.

Ms. Clement said of the local restaurants that are open here this week, several have expanded hours. Several local restaurants, however, will be closed Monday.

Some are selling single specialty items from their front doors or parking lot, she noted.

Ms. Favreau said they have contacted all of their pre-registered visitors to come prepared with coolers and snacks for a possible long ride home. -And bring cash, should there be cell phone interruptions and resulting credit card processing issues.

“Yes, bring coolers of snacks of drinks and food, but leave them in your car, because you may need that stuff on your way home,” Mr. McGowan agreed.

At the close of the hour-long the volunteers that day gave Mr. McGowan a round of applause for the work he put into the planning of what is expected to be the largest event of its kind to be held in this community, since the hey days of the Woodsmen’s Days in the 1990s.

Mr. McGowan also offered “a shout out” to Michelle Clement for her contributions to the various logistics of the event.

Recreation Department’s Adult Prom raised over $1,500 for summer day camp

The Town of Tupper Lake’s Recreation Department reports there was a great turnout for its second annual Adult Prom at the Raquette River Brewery Saturday evening.

The event was billed as a major fundraiser for the town’s growing summer day camp program and to that end it produced a big boost for the town program. Over $1,500 was raised to help underwrite growing costs each summer.

Besides local supporters, it brought people in from Vermont, Lisbon and the Watertown area. A few adults were grateful as it was their first prom experience ever or they got a chance to "re-do" their original prom. There was a mixture of formal attire and casual 80's wear.

Organizers Laura LaBarge and Christielee Geiger say the event wouldn’t have enjoyed the success it did, without the help of many volunteers who included Mary Kay Strack, Brent Cook, Courtney Carey, Katelyn Drasye, Laurie Fuller, Jessica Eggsware, Kathy Savage, and the four Wild Center AmeriCorps volunteers.

Other individuals and groups also had a big hand in the success, including the host site, Raquette River Brewing, bartenders Annie and Allison who did amazing work all night. The musical entertainment provided by “Night School” and the band’s new sound man, Leon Jessie, was top rate and Magnus and his crew at Fusion Street turned out some delicious food.

Another highlight of the evening were the “Moon Cookie” treats produced by Mary Churco at Spruce and Hemlock bakery.

Michelle Clement, the ROOST marketing director and one of Night School’s biggest fans, arranged for the more than 125 guests free Eclipse stickers and county’s Tourism office and its Adirondack Frontier division provided free “Totality in Tupper Lake” eclipse glasses.

Organizers also noted that MAC's Safe Ride Continued was another important piece of the event for being available to prom-goers to have a safe ride home from the event.

Sponsors/Basket donations were furnished by Santa and his Elves, Brooke Bell, Jessica Vaillancourt, Lisa Reed, Pam Arsenault, Birch Boys, KW Ranch, Vicki Hubbard, Laurie Fuller, Mary Kay Strack, Christielee Geiger, Laura LaBarge, and Wild Center. The many raffles and auxiliary fundraisers helped make the event the financial success it was.

Some of the prize winners of the evening were: Donna and Matt Averill, Kati King, Brittany Bush, Kellie Trudeau, Clay Sauvie, Rachel Helt, Ashley Colby and Bobbie Jo White.

Mrs. LaBarge called the community support for the Adult Prom “truly a blessing” for the local kids, many of whom wouldn’t be able to attend the camp without the town scholarship this event will help to provide. (All photos by Christielee Geiger)

“Legally Blonde, the Musical” coming to high school stage this weekend

These are just some of the scenes local musical-goers will see when the Tupper Lake Red and Black Players present the delightful “Legally Blonde, the Musical,” on the high school stage. The lively show is all about the musical journey of Elle Woods from the Delta Nu Sorority at UCLA to Harvard Law School and the antics along the way as she charms here way in. There are three shows- March 22 and 23 at 7p.m. and a matinee on Sunday, March 24 at 2p.m.

Tickets are available at the door and children five years and under are free.

County’s social services agency opening more offices here

by Dan McClelland

Franklin County Commissioner of Social Services Michelle Mulverhill met with County Legislator Nedd Sparks at Ivy Terrace in recent days to scope out some of the rooms her office will be renting there.

It’s part of an overall plan to expand the services of her agency to Tupper Lake to better serve those who rely it here.

The first step occurred several months ago when the county rented one office off the large Ivy Terrace community room.

That led to the recent hiring of Adirondack Adult Center Director Stacey Button to staff that office on a full-time basis. Stacey’s now there during normal business hours each day of the week to distribute applications to people seeking public assistance and to explain to them what information is needed for them to include in their applications.

She’s doing interviews with people that are required at the beginning of the process, Mrs. Mulverhill explained. Once all the initial work is done, the paperwork is then sent to the main office in Malone for processing.

According to Mr. Sparks, who has been lobbying since last fall to have a permanent presence for the county’s social services agency here in Tupper Lake, the first office and Stacey’s presence have been very well received thus far. It’s helping people avoid the trips to either Saranac Lake or Malone to apply for help.

The next step was the reason the reason for Mrs. Mulverhill’s visit to the administrative wing of the local housing complex.

Social services is expected to create again a full-service satellite office in Tupper Lake, under the current plan, according to the county commissioner.

“We’ll have case workers working here” representing several parts of her agency which deal with children, including child protective services.”

She noted that several CPS case workers already live in Tupper Lake so it will be handy for them. Case workers in other social services divisions will also use the office space when they are in town seeing local clients. While they will be using the new office space for their paperwork, typically the county case workers visit people in their homes for reasons of privacy.

In all the county is looking to occupy three of the Ivy Terrace offices and the commissioner and Mr. Sparks were there that recent day to forge the new office plan. As the director of maintenance at Ivy Terrace Mr. Sparks knows every aspect of the facility.

The case workers who work in prevention, adult protective care and foster care will also be using the new offices from time to time when their work brings them to Tupper Lake, according to the commissioner.

Mr. Sparks feels that bringing more county offices here is not only good for the local economy and for those in need of county services, it will also build traffic and add riders to the local county buses circulating here and throughout the county.

The county legislator and Supervisor Ricky Dattola have also secured a promise from the county board to provide surplus buses to the town as early as this summer- to help further community bussing programs here.

The one office that social services will use is the one on the most westerly end of the building which for a time was called “the library.” That’s where the various case workers will be.

The second office, across the community room from Stacey Button’s financial office, will be for private meetings between case workers and clients, out of public view.

As for its other south-end offices in Saranac Lake, the social services agency is in transition, as the lease for its space in the former Niagara Mohawk building is up. That’s the building which some on the APA are interested in situating, relocating from the agency’s long time headquarters in Ray Brook.

Mrs. Mulverhill said they expect to have a smaller satellite office in Saranac Lake in new quarters there with a financial person like what Ms. Button is doing here.

She said they are looking at various places for the offices, but no decision has been made yet on specific locations.

The commissioner noted that with respect to space size and rental fees, officials at the Tupper Lake Housing Authority which operates Ivy Terrace “have been very accommodating” to bring more county offices here.

In an interview several weeks ago County Manager Donna Kissane explained that finding affordable office space is always a big part of bringing county services to all parts of the county. Mrs. Mulverhill agreed, saying having more county offices here really helps local residents get the services they need.

She noted, too, having offices in all the three communities in the county provides more opportunities for more “face to face” meetings between case workers and clients.

All offices at Ivy Terrace are handicapped accessible, making for easy access to all residents who rely on the county’s social services agency.

An MVP Season! Griffin Shaheen, Tom Peterson the best in Section 10

by Dick Sterling

Two Tupper Lake seniors have been honored by the Northern Athletic Conference for their excellence in high school athletics. Tom Peterson, the son of Rose and Cecil Peterson, and Griffin Shaheen, the son of Tina and Andy Shaheen, have been named the winners of very special awards for the 2023-24 winter high school sports season. Tom was recognized for his tremendous season on the basketball court and Griffin was honored for his outstanding season with the Tupper Lake ice hockey team.

Tom, who was named the Most Valuable Player of the Northern Athletic Conference East Division at the conclusion of the season, has now been announced as this year’s winner of the Joe Jukoski Award, which is presented annually, by Section 10 league officials, to the player who best demonstrates excellence both on and off the court. Tom was also nominated for the award last year.

Griffin was recognized for his incredible season as the Northern Athletic Conference Division II Most Valuable Player. In addition, the Tupper Lake senior has recently been notified that he will be the Tupper Lake Class of 2024 Salutatorian. In addition to his MVP Award, Griffin was also named an Athlete of Distinction Award winner.

Tom Peterson

Tom has been a three-time First Team All Northern, including his winning the MVP this season. He has scored 1,408 points in his varsity career, which is the most in school history. Tom’s Head Coach Brian Bennett, who has been coaching him since fifth grade, and who was named the NAC East Division Coach of the Year, said “Tom is the hardest worker I have ever coached, and a leader of the whole Tupper Lake basketball program.”

Other finalists for this year’s Jukoski Award were: Tanner Sullivan, of Harrisville, Ian VanWagner of Potsdam and Ryan Jones of Canton.

Tom scored 20 or more points in 16 of the Lumberjacks 23 games. He has averaged 24.2 points per game. On Dec. 12, he scored a season high 41 points against Brushton-Moira, he scored 38 in a 70-66 loss to Saranac Central and netted 32 in a game against Lisbon, in which he surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career. Peterson averaged 17.3 points per game as a sophomore and 21 points a game last year as a junior.

Tom said that his senior season has been nothing short of amazing. “I’m really happy with the way everything has gone. What is really amazing is the fact that the entire community is behind us. It lifts us all to see a big crowd, all cheering us on,” said the Lumberjack senior over the weekend.

He said that winning the Jukoski Award was very special. I was nominated last year, and hoped to win. This year I knew I had a decent shot, but any of the other guys who were nominated deserved it too. They all had very good seasons. I felt that it would be cool to win, but I was still surprised when they announced my name as this year’s winner,” said Tom.

The Jacks senior said that he is a year-round basketball player. “I’ve been playing since the fifth grade, including in the spring and fall. I just love the sport! In 11th and 12th grades I played with the Cap City Scrappers from Albany. I tried some other sports when I was little, but once I started playing basketball I knew it was for me.”

Tom said that even though he’s still undecided, “I am definitely playing college basketball. I’ve received a few D (Division) 3 offers and I may decide to play for a SUNYAC school. I would love to stay fairly close to home,” said Tom.

The Tupper Lake all time scoring leader said that playing with his current teammates has been a wonderful experience. “Playing with this group of guys has been great. We just love playing… we’re always playing basketball,” Tom pointed out that he and his teammate Mikey Corneau, who was named First Team All Northern, have been teammates for many years. “Mikey and I have been on the court together a lot. He had an incredible season… if we needed a three-pointer, we knew who to go to.”

Tom said that the team has scouted out Maple Hill, their first opponent in this year’s Class C state playoffs (the game was played last night), and we’re ready for them… we hope to just keep on playing as long as we can,” said young Peterson.

Griffin Shaheen

There was an indication that this freshman, Griffin Shaheen, just might be a bright spot for the future of Tupper Lake hockey when he first took to the ice during the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season. The Jacks only played four games, but this freshman scored five of the team’s 10 goals… it was just a sign of what was to come.

During his sophomore season Griffin scored 17 goals and dished off 14 assists for a 31-point season. Last year, his junior year, Shaheen upped his goal total to 27 goals. Other teams were certainly taking notice. He also handed out 18 assists to finish the season with 45 points. In each of those two seasons the Lumberjacks finished the season with identical records, 2-17-1.

When Griffin’s senior season started there was plenty of hope for a much improved team. The Jacks lost their first two league games, with their senior captain scoring just one goal and assisting on another… but then something happened. The Jacks discovered they could celebrate after the final horn had sounded. The Jacks put together a four-game winning streak, beating Malone, Saranac/Lake Placid, Thousand Islands and Canton. In the four games the Jacks outscored their opponents 20-14. Shaheen scored 11 of those goals and was credited with six assists. He had back-to-back hat tricks, and certainly cemented himself near, or at, the top of the Division II scoring race. Tupper won two of their next three games, making their streak six out of seven.

As the season progressed the Jacks certainly had their ups and downs, but they were certainly in nearly every single game, and Griffin Shaheen was right at the heart of their attack. On Jan. 19 he scored four goals against Plattsburgh, On Feb. 10 Griffin enjoyed a six-point game against Northeastern Clinton scoring three goals and picking up three assists in an 8-2 win, and then on Feb. 14, in a league game, the senior sharp-shooter scored four goals and dished out four assists in a rare eight-point outing as the Jacks won 8-5, with Shaheen figuring in on every single goal.

The Jacks finished the season with nine wins, making it their most successful season. Griffin topped Division II with 35 goals and 59 points, stretching his career totals to 84 goals and 140 points.

The Jacks gave St. Lawrence Central all they wanted in the playoffs, storming back from a three goal deficit to tie the score, only to see the Larries score late to win 5-3. Griffin scored two of the three goals and assisted on the other. St. Lawrence went on to claim the Division II championship.

For his efforts Shaheen was named the Northern Athletic Conference Division II Most Valuable Player. Griffin said over the weekend that he didn’t know for sure what to expect before the award was announced. “I was a little bit surprised, but I earned it,” said the Lumberjack captain and top forward in Section 10. “What was really nice was being a part of putting Tupper Lake back on the map in hockey. It’s been a long time, and this season we finally started to get some respect. It was a fun season. We really played well.”

Griffin has been playing hockey since he was four or five years old. He has been a member of the St. Lawrence Steel, out of Canton, for some time and gets in about 20 games a season.

In addition to Griffin’s expertise on the ice, he is also an all-star caliber baseball player, not to mention an excellent student. In fact, Griffin has been announced as the Class of 2024 Salutatorian. But right now he’s looking forward to the 2024 baseball season. Shaheen is an all star catcher for the Lumberjacks and also plays some shortstop and is in the pitching rotation. “Our baseball goal for this year is to win Sectionals, and then advance to the State Final Four in Class C,” said Griffin.

The talented student/athlete has plenty of choices to further his education, but Clarkson University, in Potsdam, is at the top of his list. “I hope to look into playing both hockey and baseball at some level at Clarkson. When asked which sport he prefers, Griffin stated that “it’s really about 50/50. I love playing both.”

Congratulation to Tupper Lake’s two very special seniors… Tom Peterson and Griffin Shaheen… champions in every sense of the word!

Brewski a sell-out as hundreds come here again four outdoor fun and beer

by Dan McClelland

The Town of Tupper Lake Recreation Department’s second annual Brewski proved that without a doubt that despite the cold, people will come from miles around to celebrate with copious amounts of beer in the great outdoors in February.

The mercury didn’t quite make it to 20 degrees F. that day but bright sunshine prevailed, making the town’s second version of the popular winter event a banner success. Every one of the 1,200 participant tickets was sold- making it a sell out event before registration opened Saturday morning.

Recreation Director was very pleased how everything went and credited the event’s huge success with her cadre of able volunteers- particularly John Gillis and his maintenance team and the small band of Americorp volunteers working out of the Wild Center this winter.

Despite a shortage of snow, the 1.5 mile trail around the golf course had been packed hard by the groomers, making for great walking that day. Cross country skis and snowshoes weren’t needed but some Brewski-goers wore them anyway.

The grooming team kept the fires roaring at each of the almost 20 brewery stations, to provide the welcome warmth that cold but pleasant winter day.

This year’s event drew more brewers than in the ten or more ones in the past. The event was first held for several years in the Tupper Lake Municipal Park and later moved to the golf course to take advantage of the excellent trails there. Last year there were 16 companies dispensing the craft products- the most event at that point. Some earlier events, under the sponsorship of the chamber, drew ten or 12 brewers.

In the early days the brewers who participated donated their beer products. Some years they ran out of beer. But two years ago Laura LaBarge made the decision to pay the brewers for their beer, as insurance there would be no short supply.

At the end of the course (or beginning depending which way you headed out on the trail) the Lions were busy preparing their legendary hot dogs and hamburgs, smothered with Lions onions. Other Lions, like Tom LaMere and Scott Edwards coaxed more than a dozen team of three to try their luck at the Fire and Ice snow golf tourney. The half dozen holes were much more snowless than in the past, but participant numbers were up larger than any year the Lions have been sponsoring the event.

Scott’s team with his wife, Pam, and Spencer Lanthier, didn’t win this year, despite their track record of at least five or six wins. Newcomers Eddy West, Mike Kelly and Mike Zande were the winners and team to beat this year.

The other piece of the Lions role Saturday was the culmination of the club’s annual 50-50 raffle, which always nets the winner more than two grand. The lucky ticket this year was purchased by Linda Pickering, providing over $2,000 for her two grandchildren- Keegan and Emerson Pickering, children of Nicole and Kevin Pickering. The winners were announced after the Brewski down at Raquette River Brewing. Lions Cindy and Bob Lewis spent Saturday selling tickets in the pro shop.

One of the skillful elements of the town staff’s able event organization was keeping traffic to the east side of the Country Club road, making for safe and easy access up the mountain. Vehicles were lined up almost a mile beyond the golf course up Mt. Morris and all the way to the base of the town road at Route 30- something we’ve never seen in our many years operating and covering events in that area of town. Many of the subdivision roads off the Country Club road were also packed with cars.

Kudos to Laura and her staff and all the volunteers who helped them produce another first-class Brewski for Tupper Lake- bringing hundreds of visitors here in what otherwise would have been a sleepy winter weekend!

No. 1 seeded Jacks open C playoffs at home

By Dick Sterling

Let the playoffs begin!

The road to the New York State Class C playoffs begins tomorrow evening when the top-seeded Tupper Lake Lumberjacks open the Section 10 playoffs with a semifinal game against either fourth seeded Brushton-Moira, or fifth seeded St. Lawrence Central.

The game will be the final one of the season on the Jacks home court, where they have won 18 straight, a streak that stretches back into the 2022-23 season. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tupper heads to the playoffs with an overall record of 17-3 (14-0 NAC East). The Lumberjacks are currently ranked No. 18 in the New York State Sportswriter’s Association Class C poll.

The other opening round Class C game which was played on Tuesday featured sixth seeded Madrid-Waddington at number three seeded Heuvelton. The winner of that game will play second seeded Lisbon tomorrow (Thursday). The two winners will battle in the Section 10 Class C championship game next Friday (Feb. 23), with tip-off scheduled for 5:45 at SUNY Potsdam.

Last week the Jacks reeled off three straight victories for the second consecutive week. On Monday they headed to Russell to tangle with the Edwards-Knox Cougars in a non-league contest that had been postponed twice because of winter weather issues.

Tom Peterson opened the game with a three-pointer, but the Cougars responded with threes from Kale Geer and Cooper Allen to grab an early lead. Another three from Allen and a putback from Dawson Matthews gave Edwards-Knox a 13-7 lead, before the Jacks regrouped and reeled off 12 straight points, from four different players, and they never trailed again as they held a 19-15 advantage after one and scored the first six of the second quarter to open up a double-digit lead. The Jacks reeled off 18 straight points in the quarter to race to a 45-21 lead at the intermission.

Peterson scored Tupper’s first 11 points of the third quarter, and the Jacks outscored Edwards-Knox 24-5 in the period to open a huge 69-26 lead as both teams slowed the pace and left the final quarter to the bench players as Tupper coasted to a 78-34 victory.

Peterson finished with 29, leading four scorers in double figures. Ashton Clark scored 12, Mikey Corneau finished with 11 and Tyler LaPlante added 10. Garrett Pelkey and Wyatt Godin each finished with eight. Allen scored nine to lead the Cougars. Kyle Reif added eight.

On Tuesday, the Lumberjacks hosted the Madrid-Waddington Yellowjackets for their last home game of the regular season and, once again, faced a stiff challenge in the opening quarter. Peterson took just three seconds to score off the opening tip, but Madrid-Waddington’s Ryan Mayette scored his team’s first eight points as the visiting Jackets took an early 8-7 lead, and the two NAC East division foes battled back and forth over the first eight minutes with the Jacks taking a 17-14 lead after one.

Tupper opened the second quarter with a 20-4 run, with all five starters contributing to the scoring run. At the half-time break the Lumberjacks held a 40-21 advantage, and they kept the offense rolling through the third quarter, where they put up another 25 points, 11 of them from freshman Garrett Pelkey and 10 more from Peterson as the Jacks lead swelled to 65-34 and they rolled to an easy 78-45 victory.

Peterson scored 21 to lead Tupper Lake. Pelkey finished with 19 and Mikey Corneau added 17. LaPlante scored eight, Godin had seven and Clark finished with six. Ryan Mayette, who was hot early, scored 13 to lead the Jackets. Jakob Mayette scored 10. Jamison Zysik and Kolby Todd each added seven.

On Friday, Tupper Lake wrapped up the regular season by traveling to Colton to battle the Colts. The Jacks eased out to a 15-6 advantage after the opening quarter and outscored Colton-Pierrepont 20-5 in the second quarter to open up a big 35-11 advantage at the half. The Colts were much more competitive after the half-time break, outscoring Tupper Lake 18-15 in the third quarter as the two NAC East Division foes played nearly even in the second half as the Jacks wrapped up the season, and put the final stamp on their undefeated league season, improving to 14-0 in the East (17-3 overall) with a 65-40 victory.

Peterson scored 19 points, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out five assists and was credited with six steals to lead Tupper Lake. Pelkey scored 15 points and had 15 rebounds and Corneau added 12. Eric Friedel scored 18 to lead the Colts. Ty Farns finished with six.

Tupper Lake Head Coach Brian Bennett is proud of his group. “I am very happy with the boys going undefeated in the league, but our true goal is a Class C championship. So I told them that they still need to be hungry, and not to be satisfied yet as we still have a couple of weeks ahead of us,” said Coach Bennett.

Four of Tupper’s top student athletes carry torch through town last week

by Dan McClelland

Four of Tupper Lake High School’s top students- both academically and sports-wise- had the honor Thursday of carrying the New York State Empire Games torch from the school, down Park Street, to Community Bank, which is one of the Empire Games sponsors each year. In front of the bank they were joined by Athletic Director Dan Brown (far right) and Mayor Mary Fontana.

The torch bearers were Taylor Stohl, with the torch, Ellie Dukett, Tommy Peterson and Griffin Shaheen.

Ellie, a solid soccer player on the girls varsity team, competed in the girls’ figure skating event in the Empire Games and Taylor, another solid high school athlete, has played on a women’s hockey team in the games in years past. Both Tom and Griffin are record-breaking athletes in their respective sports, basketball and hockey.

Next to the mayor was Community Bank Manager Christine Mozdzier, and staffers Cailyn Sauve, and Courtney Duval.

Our new mayor spoke briefly at the brief ceremony in the front of the bank.

“Tupper Lake is honored to have the Empire State Games coming back...we’re very excited to see these athletes from around the state showcase their skills here and in our neighboring villages. It’s become a great tradition for the North Country each winter! So, Happy Games!”

Adirondack Jazz Ensemble delights hometown audience

by Dan McClelland

Some of the best in jazz performers in Upstate New York were on stage Sunday afternoon to the delight of nearly 80 hometown music lovers.

The Adirondack Jazz Ensemble is something of a rotating ensemble from the 20-member Adirondack Jazz Orchestra, dubbed the “Big Band of the Adirondacks.”

The orchestra plays once a month- on the first Wednesday- at Plattsburgh’s Olive Ridley’s Taphouse and Grill. Out of that skilled performance group comes the ensemble, one of which played here Sunday.

The seven who entertained at the free event in the high school auditorium included Matt Pray of Keeseville, trumpet player and founder of the group, Todd Pray with his big tenor sax, Tupper Lake’s own Wayne Davison on alto and soprano sax, Piano Player Neil Wright of Saranac Lake, Mike Iturrino of Ticonderoga on lead guitar, Eli Moore of Saranac, bass player and Michael Lewandowski of West Chazy on drums.

The concert was made possible by funding from the Tricia Woods Memorial Music Fund and by Stewart’s Shops. Tricia is the late daughter of Bob and Betty Woods of this village, who was a talented professional musician before her premature passing.

Arrangements for the first time event here were made by music teacher and band director, Laura Davison, with help from some of her music students, along with Liz and George Cordes.