“Party on Park” Saturday

Businesses in the uptown business district are celebrating the arrival of the summer season with a day-long party, this Saturday, May 28. The event, appropriately dubbed “Party on Park” runs from 1p.m. to 5p.m.

“It's a kick-off of our summer season,” explained Organizer Josh Mclean of the Adirondack Store. “We're hoping folks here and around the region will visit us that day and find out what's new in our businesses.

Participating merchants in addition to Josh's unique store are Earthgirl Designs, Tupper Arts and its gallery, Birch Boys and Spruce & Hemlock and its new bakery. At Tupper Arts the latest Kathleen Bigrow exhibit is still running.

There will be food specials that afternoon at business district eateries- Well Dressed Food, The Swiss Kitchen, China Wok and The Washboard Donut Shop. Mike Vaillancourt's Porkbusters BBQ trailer will also be parked there.

Several local organizations including the Wild Center, the Adirondack Skycenter and Goff Nelson Memorial Library are planning activities and exhibits there that afternoon.

A number of local and area vendors will also be participating. They include Usher Farms, KW Ranch, Shear Paradise, All Wound Up In The ADKs, Alpine Moon Magic, AW Pottery, Hamard Art, Suko Thai Treasures, a Supply Drop Pastry Shop. Beer lovers will have an opportunity to try some of the best beer in the region, with free tastings by Raquette River Brewing.

For more information about the party or to join it contact Josh at the Adirondack Store.

Opening of Thrifty & Nifty at new location greeted with big crowd rush

by Dan McClelland

The long-awaited opening of Tupper Lake's popular Thrifty and Nifty department store happened Wednesday. There were as many people through the front door of the former Grand Union and Rite Aid stores after the 10a.m. opening, as there were over 40 years ago when Tupper Lake's Ames Department Store opened in the Demars Blvd. Plaza.

Ironically, that's exactly where the thrift store has been situated for years. From narrow quarters one spot in from the west end, with permission later from the plaza owners, Thrifty and Nifty expanded in phases into the former Ames space, eventually filling the entire space.

That first day on Park St. saw hundreds of shoppers. The volunteers to assist them were out in force.

A tired but still enthusiastic Phyllis Crate, who owns and directs the not-for-profit thrift store operation, was pleased to see the big turn-out for their first day at the corner of Wawbeek Ave. and Park Street.

Phyllis started her community-minded business about eight years and it has become a retail place many here, particularly the low-income, have come to depend on.

Phyllis and her small, but dedicated band of volunteers, have been moving for weeks- loading their thousands of pieces of merchandise into private pick-up truck and hauling it from The Boulevard to the new uptown business district.

Don Bennett and his contracting team extensively renovated the white concrete block building this past year, to prepare for Don's new tenant and the only department store Tupper Lake has now.

The building has been vacant in recent years and considerable decay took place in the unheated quarters before Mr. Bennett bought it.

The walls of the interior of the building were taken right down to the studs and all ceiling materials were removed and replaced, as part of the ambitious renovations by the Bennett company.

All new plumbing and electric systems were installed, as were four new, independent propane-fuelled furnaces in the full basement of the place sufficient to heat the store in the winters ahead. Large metal vents from the furnaces extend up into the main floor. Considerable insulating improvements were also done by Don and his crew.

Part of the roof of the building now has a new rubber membrane. New air conditioners are awaiting installation and should be in place soon.

The spacious ground level quarters also now feature new restrooms for both the public and the staff, as well as a staff room with kitchen and table and fitting rooms. All are found in the rear of the building.

“Everything is brand new!” exuded consummate Thrifty & Nifty volunteer Shelly Brown. Shelly and her sisters are some of the mainstays of the place.

A new check-out counter has been installed along the front of the store, with lots of room in front of it for shoppers to maneuver and prepare to check out.

Shelly took us downstairs into the basement into what is the new staging area for the operation. That's where the volunteers in charge of each department- clothing, footwear, furniture, etc.- now organize their donated products and plan for their arrangement on the retail shelves on the main floor.

The large basement quarters is not quite as large as the main floor, but it offers the department heads lots of rooms to spread out their goods and plan for their trip upstairs.

A section of the basement has been leased to Dawn Sauve and Holly Sauve Clark to operate their craft business, according to Shelly.

Much of the merchandise that is still arriving daily from the old quarters is first moved into the basement for sortation.

A huge pile of hangers, for example, stands ready for the clothing that will be hung on them for display up stairs.

One section of the basement is set up to organize boxes and boxes of children's clothing and toys. That department is directed by volunteer Serena Clement.

The Christmas and holiday section is directed by Shelly's sisters, Ann Martin and Jane Denis. A part of the basement is devoted to their colorful items for sortation and preparation for their holiday shelves upstairs.

Shelly has a number of tables in the basement too for her bedding products, footwear and winter wear which she oversees. Another volunteer, Maria Twyman of Wanakena, helps Shelly in that department.

Right now all of Shelly's summer shoes are on display upstairs and will be switched as the seasons do. Dozens of yellow boxes on tables in the basement is how the merchandise is moved between floors.

On some of the boxes are written the words, “Shelly's Shoes,” and that means “Don't touch them,” she said only half joking. She admits she's bossy.

“Now we have room to organize everything,” she said of the staging area in the basement. Before volunteers had to use the unheated, unloading space with its 20-foot high ceiling in the rear of the former Ames Department Store to try to organize the various types of goods.

Products also come to the store's shelves from storage rooms on the main floor.

Mike Sparks recently gave her a hand organizing and setting up dozens of dozens of tables in the staging area, she noted on opening morning.

The Boushie girls- Rita, Shelly, Ann and Jane- know what's good and what isn't from years of patronizing local garage sales and auctions. So they know what people want at the local store and they know the value of merchandise.

Shelly admitted last week that when she finds a gem among the goods donated, she never buys it and takes it home. “There is nothing here that spins me, because I see so much of it. I might see ten pairs of nice boots, but so what? How many can I wear? I don't bring anything here home, because I'm just not that type. I don't need a lot of things!”

“People come into the store and say they need this and they need that. That's not how I fly!”

So why does she go to so many garage sales? “Because I tag along with those sisters...it's an outing I guess!”

She said the sisters go to Albany shopping three days each year and this year she told them she had to stop. “I don't buy anything...the only thing I buy is lunch!”

Shelly and Ann Martin showed us the store's new handicapped section, with a full line of crutches and things to assist people with disabilities.

It's not uncommon for Ann to work double shifts at Sunmount and then stop at the store to volunteer her time.

Several other volunteers maintain the book department in the store, from where novels and periodicals are sold and replenished with donated ones.

Ann made all the attractive signs above the doorways to the various rooms which tell people what's inside.

The volunteers that help Phyllis at the thrift shop have been moving merchandise for over three months, and for much of that time the new quarters were unheated. To say many are worn out is an understatement.

Right now too the old quarters are still open, as the volunteers look to sell some of the old inventory, rather than move it.

Don Bennett plans to install new rubber floors in the many aisles of the new space this fall to make it comfortable for shoppers to stroll and shop there.

Thrifty & Nifty now occupies 10,000 square feet of space on the main floor and 7,000 square feet in the basement. The front part of the main floor is built on a slab. The former Ames store was much larger- about 35,000 square feet of space. The staging area in the basement has made the retail operation more fluid and more efficient now.

“We had a lot of wasted space before,” noted Ann Martin.

The store in its new location now features all kinds of household goods, furniture, men's, women's and children's clothing of all types and sizes, sports apparel, bedding goods, footwear, and just about anything you might find in a for-profit retail department store. Some of the older style goods on the shelves take us back to an earlier time and frequently trigger memories.

-And browsing those shelves in those many departments, can be just plain fun! Stop by today!

The summer hours are 10a.m. to 5p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays. The store is closed Monday and Tuesday, to give the volunteers a break.

The store is starting to receive donated goods again this week but Mrs. Crate reminds supporters to please drop them off only when the store is open and asks that people do not leave merchandise outside when the store is closed.

For information contact (518) 359-5222.

Town needs crusher run

The Town of Tupper Lake is advertising for bids for 4,500 tons of item No. 4, one and one half inch minus crusher run for summer construction projects of the town highway department. Of the total, 1,200 tons has to be delivered to a site on Gull Pond Road for work there this summer. The balance has to be delivered to the stockpile at the town garage on Pine Street. Offers are due at noon June 6- at which time the sealed bids will be opened by town staff.

Mac's Safe Ride leaders in need of help to resume; pitch to town officials Thursday

by Dan McClelland

In the face of a shortage of board members and volunteer drivers and navigators, the leader of Mac's Safe Ride reached out to town officials for help at Thursday's town board meeting.

Vivian Smith, who directs the 13-member board that operates the volunteer get home safe driving program, offered several options of help from the town that evening.

In recent weeks Ms. Smith put out a call for volunteers in a front-page story published in the hometown weekly in recent weeks. As the evening and late night driving program emerges from the pandemic and leaders look to continue to resume the valuable weekend service, a shortage of volunteers is the reality right now.

Ms. Smith began her presentation that evening with a short briefing of the organization's role in the community as it shuttles folks out on the town between licensed drinking establishments and private parties with the intention to keep drivers under the influence off local streets and highways.

Distributing their operational brochure that evening she said Mac's was born on December 31, 2014- mirrored after a similar one that was started earlier by Tupper Lake native Gisele Lavigne Kress in Old Forge.

“I just wanted to remind everyone that Mac's is a great service and it's not for a lack of donations that we are not running right now, it's lack of volunteers!”

“The town...the community has been amazing in its support” of the program since its inception.

Mac's Safe Ride was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic about March, 2020. The leaders resumed it for a short time in late 2021- but the ongoing pandemic stopped it again.

“We were seeing our volunteers dwindle a little bit before COVID. When COVID came, we shut down. We started again the next year but when COVID returned we shut down again. Right now we are shut down!”

Ms. Smith said at this point she and her colleagues who direct Mac's don't have a clear path forward. There was a board of directors meeting last night from which she hoped a new plan will be forged, she told town officials at the monthly meeting last week.

“We'll have to see who shows up and what we can decide,” she admitted of her frustration at this point.

“The mission of Mac's is not to bring drunken people home. Our mission is to keep our roads safe!”

“No one started this to bring drunk people home.” She said she frequently hears that it is just a program to drive drunks home and that irritates her. “Our aim is to be proactive instead of reactive” and keep local streets and highway free of intoxicated drivers so that every motorist can be protected.

“I'm here before you this evening to see if there is something we can work out” to acquire the services of a paid driver. “-Or maybe (funding for) half a paid driver?”

She said that with someone to operate their van on a regular basis around town, there are many services it could provide- above and beyond the role Mac's uses it for.

“Maybe we could all sit down and think of ways it could be used in the community. The van just sits idle during the week.”

“In the past we have tried to open up for every event in town where alcohol is served.”

She said too Mac's Safe Ride may become even more important than it now is with the inability of the Tupper Lake Police Department to have enough active officers to staff round the clock shifts. Right now the department is only fielding a 12-hour day shift.

With no village patrols here after midnight, it may “entice more drinking and driving,” she worried.

“So it is important again to have us there!”

She said her board members have worked “tirelessly” to keep Mac's rolling on weekends and at special events.

“But we're tired. Our board members are tired. Our volunteers are tired. But I don't want to see it go!”

“Over the years we have given tens of thousands of rides to local people and visitors with the help of as many as 150 volunteers. It's been pretty amazing!”

Ms. Smith said she and her board is open to any and all ideas local elected leaders may have to help the life saving service continue here.

“I also thought of turning everything over to the town. We would still do our benefits and give those proceeds to the town,” she offered as one idea.

The Mac's Safe Ride program is currently a federal 501-3c program that enables donations to be tax-deductible.

Acting Supervisor Mary Fontana noted that the town, by law, can't take donations, but thought that maybe some arrangement could be worked out for the town to help the program.

“Have you tried hiring drivers?” Councilman John Gillis asked her. Vivian said that was tried unsuccessfully in the program Gisele Kress ran in Old Forge.

John Girouard, a member of the Mac's Safe Ride board here, said that in Old Forge they weren't able to raise enough money to continue to pay paid drivers and the program, unfortunately, just dried up.

Mrs. Smith said her organization for a time offered gift certificates to people to induce them to sign up to drive or navigate, but that practice was viewed as questionable.

“We also sponsored raffles where volunteers were entered in the contests for prizes...we've tried all sorts of things” to recruit volunteers.

She told the town officials, that although she has not discussed this idea with her board members yet, she thinks there is enough money in the Mac's bank account “to pay drivers for the summer. So that's an option before us that this point.”

She admitted there was a lot for her board “to talk about” when it met last night. “But I wanted to come here before you tonight to remind you who we are, what are mission is and how important it is!”

Mac's drivers and navigators “bring babysitters home after we take people home. We bring people to events and back from events where there's alcohol. We do weddings and events of all kinds here!”

John Gillis spoke to the importance of Mac's here. “I've used it and I've driven it,” he told his colleagues that evening. “I've had a blast driving it...it can be a lot of fun!”

“-And I hate to say our local teenagers use it, but they do. It's a safe way for them to get home!”

Councilwoman Tracy Luton, who directs the VFP Post here as its commander, noted Mac's role here is even more important in a community like ours since Tupper Lake has no taxi businesses. “Everyone relies on Mac's!”

Tupper Lake Business Group leader Mark Moeller, in attendance there on another matter that evening, joked that maybe some of the often entertaining late-night antics in the van could be filmed with the footage sold to Tic Toc.

Councilman Gillis and Ms. Smith assured him the very confidential nature of the rides, noting that “what happens in the van, stays in the van.”

“One of the reasons for coming before you this evening,” Ms. Smith told the town board members was just “to remind you and the community that we are not in the business of just bringing drunk people home every weekend. We don't have the same riders every weekend. Our goal is just to keep our roads safe for everyone!”

Mac's riders have included many visitors to Tupper Lake for many local events like the Northern Challenge, the Brewski...people who come here to snowmobile and camp and vacation, according to Ms. Smith.

“We are going to try our hardest to stay open, but we are looking for help and we are in dire need of help!” she emphasized.

Mr. Gillis supported what she said about tourists taking advantage of the service. “I've driven our visitors in the van and they are always blown away by the service....absolutely blown away and what a great community Tupper Lake is to do this!”

John Girouard offered the hope that evening that maybe with the town's help, an arrangement for Mac's to be able to pay some of its drivers could be worked out.

Kelly Fleury, a member of the Mac's board also in attendance that evening, noted that Vivian has covered all the important points for town board consideration in her talk that evening. Kelly was also instrumental is generating many of the facts presented in the recent Free Press article about the current state of Mac's Safe Ride right now.

“The only future we have is that we either need a lot more volunteers or we can get the funding to pay the drivers,” Mrs. Fleury said of the program's current predicament. “They are our only two options at this point,” she added.

When Ms. Smith wondered about town grants, Acting Supervisor Fontana offered access to several parties who have written successful grant applications for the town in the past. “There may be some things we can look into,” she told her.

With the expected arrival of train excursions coming to Tupper Lake in 2023, Mr. Moeller wondered if the Mac's van could somehow fit into the forthcoming ground transportation needs of the arriving train riders.

“The van could be used for other things like that,” Ms. Smith noted.

“Or it could be used to bring kids to the beach each summer, or to the ski slope, if it ever opens,” she offered as two other local uses.

Asked when her organization may hear from the town board on their requests, Councilwoman Luton spoke for her colleagues, promising to discuss it at length in the near future to help find a solution for the volunteer organization in its current challenge. “We definitely don't want to see Mac's go away!” she assured Ms. Smith and her volunteers.

New brewery proposed at 138 Park gets green light from planners

by Dan McClelland

The proposed Tupper Lake Brewery, to be situated on now nearly leveled grounds at 138 Park Street, can now move ahead, following approval by the joint village and town planning board of an amendment to its original permit filed and approved nearly a year ago.

Neil and Sara Kriwox saw the endorsement of their project by the entire planning board at the April 27 monthly meeting.

The amendment was required because the young couple changed their building plans. Instead of replacing the old two-story building on the site, Neil and Sara now intend to build their new brewery and tap room on the footprint of an old brick garage on the site. The couple intends to attack their project in phases.

On grounds newly cleaned up last week by Kentile Excavating, the new business people intend to create an outdoor garden, punctuated with plenty of flowers, shrubs and decorative trees where craft beer fans will enjoy what they came to the brewery for.

At the March meeting the planning board members asked for a detailed site plan, showing the various plantings planned, with elevations. Neil and Sara had presented various architectural sketches and maps and and other drawings that evening.

The April meeting opened with the comment by Chairman Shawn Stuart that updates to the couple's plans had been sent to the members in advance of that night's meeting.

“They have provided us with what we asked them for last meeting,” Board Member Tom Maroun said, pointing to the completed paperwork.

Jim Merrihew agreed that the couple had furnished them with the additional sketches and plans they wanted. “We know now exactly what the building will look like,” as well as what the site will look like.

The completed plans for the new brewery building and the colors the exterior surfaces will be painted were all in materials before the planners that evening.

Jan Yaworski thought it was wonderful that these “young entrepreneurs are investing in the community.”

Planner Dave St. Onge called their proposed brewery “a great addition to Park Street.”

Another board member and the newest one, Andrew Chary, applauded the applicants “for making their plans a lot clearer to us” and that are easier to visualize.

He also thanked them for including a sketch of the “pathway lighting” leading into the building through the garden.

Mr. Stuart asked about two sheets in their planning documents which show different details in plans for the outdoor beer garden. One sheet, he said, showed grass right up to the sidewalk, while another showed paving stones there.

Sara Kriwox told him they plan a combination of surfaces in the front of the outdoor garden- paving stone sections where the outdoor fire pits will be situated, and grass in other places.

She also said they are proposing an open-style fence in front with flower beds and plantings along the sidewalk.

Planner Paul O'Leary reported to his board that since the March meeting he reached out to the couple and they had several discussions about where any large propane tank to service the propane-fuelled fire pits would be situated.

“They don't want it (any tank) to be seen either, so it would be screened,” he said of the couple's intentions.

The board approved the brewery project unanimously, and wished the young couple well with all their future endeavors.

The monthly planning board meeting opened with a public hearing on a two-lot minor subdivision of lands located at Moody at 1718 State Route 30. The property owner, Jim Richer, was represented by Survey Owen Littlefield.

At Chairman Shawn Stuart's suggestion the local surveyor gave a brief overview of the application.

Mr. Littlefield said the subdivision plan effects “two main parcels with common ownership.”

“They are looking eventually to sell the main house which was one of Tupper Lake's oldest hotels.”

He showed how they wanted to partition the property which involved using the one lot to complement the other. In doing so it gives the house “a nice yard and looks like it it the property that goes with the house. Rather than being cut up in a strange way!”

There were no public comments regarding the matter, neither at the meeting nor in the weeks before following notice of the hearing.

Approving the new land arrangement at Moody was first on the agenda of the regular part of the meeting.

Chairman Stuart called it a fairly straight forward proposal and asked his members to share their thoughts, which there were none.

The board, on a motion by Doug Bencze, seconded by Jan Yaworski, passed the matter unanimously.

Tupper Lake CSD annual student exposition Tuesday May 17 at High School from noon to 8p.m.

After two long years without the opportunity to present the annual Student Expo, the halls of the middle high school will once again be filled with amazing projects and the sound of music! Months of preparation and weeks of displaying are leading up to this long anticipated event.

On Tuesday May 17 the community is invited to a night of student creativity. The hard work and talent of our Pre-K through grade 12 students throughout the year will be on display. Everyone is very excited to show parents and neighbors what they’ve created at school this year.

Our art teachers and students have been busy putting the final touches on hundreds of beautiful projects to share, including ceramics, photography, paintings and sculptures. We will have high school students painting live and throwing on the pottery wheel as well. Teachers of all grade levels and subject matter will be showing off their students’ work, including 2D and 3D projects.

The highlight of the evening, the annual Community/Alumni Concert will begin at 6:30pm. Members of our student band and chorus, along with alumni and community members will perform in the gymnasium for your listening pleasure. Always a wonderful show, please join us for a unified performance. If you would like to perform with one or both of these groups please contact Laura Davison (laurad@tupperlakecsd.net) or Liz Cordes (elizabethc@tupperlakecsd.net) or call the school for more information at 518-359-3322.

Our students are very proud to share their accomplishments with you. Their effort is honored and validated by these displays, performances and community participation.

Organizers hope to see everyone at the middle high school on Tuesday, May 17 for a wonderful evening.

Water, sewer rates erupt

by Dan McClelland

Sewer and water rates for Tupper Lake water and sewer customers will increase by nearly 50% when customers get bills after June, following a public hearing and vote of the village board Wednesday.

The higher rates are designed to enable the village to pay for millions of dollars of improvements and upgrades to both systems undertaken in recent years. Improvements made to each system totaled more than $10 million each.

The rate increases will be the same for both village residents and town residents who enjoy village utilities. Town residents currently pay slightly more for their monthly water and sewer services.

“We've had two major projects going on- both water-side and sewer-side for the last few years,” Mayor Paul Maroun said after reading the public notice to start Wednesday's 5p.m. public hearing. The hearing preceded April's rescheduled village board meeting.

The recent capital improvements in both departments have included, the long search for new wells to replace the big lake as a primary source of village water, the drilling of two new wells beyond Pitchfork Pond, the village's meter/monitor project ordered by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, and major improvements to the sewer lift station on Demars Blvd., a new line between there and the Water Street treatment plant as well as many improvements there.

Mayor Paul Maroun, after reading the legal notice to introduce a local law to permit the rate increases at Wednesday's public hearing, said all the improvements in those departments have been “short-term financed to date. Now we're moving into the bond phase of the projects which means a significant chunk of money we have to re-pay each year.”

“Now we have to come up with the payments” for all this work “as it is not currently budgeted” in the monies we receive from our water and sewer rates. The village's coming bond payments for the water improvements will be $237,580 per year. The new sewer bond payment will be $274,500 each year.

“That means we have to increase the rates because we have to pay for all of this! We've been short-term financing the work. Now we are going to bond for 30 years!” explained the mayor.

The monthly rate increases will be $10.80 for water and $10 for sewer.

The rate increases will be equal for both village and town customers, Superintendent Mark Robillard noted.

He said the two village departments “now have a lot of long-term debt” following the recent years of upgrade work. “And now we have to pay the debt...it's pretty black and white!”

Trustee Ron LaScala, who oversees Mr. Robillard's departments, said much of the work was required by state agencies through their mandates in matters of water and sewer. He listed the meter project and the development of the new wells as two projects forced on the village by state order.

“We can't tell the state 'no.' We have to follow what they say. We have to follow their mandates because that's the law.”

“I know my phone is going to blow up because people are going to tell me you are raising my sewer and water rates but we still can't drink our water and in some cases the water looks worse than when we started!”

He was referring to the blasts of brown water people occasionally see when they turn on their taps caused by a high percentage of iron in the wall water. The presence of iron started a short time after the new wells went on line. Also of concern to water customers are the continually failing quarterly water tests by the state department of health.

He said neither are the village's fault. “We have done everything we can. We've hired the best people to figure out these problems and this is where we are at.”

“We were told there would be no iron” in our well water supply before the wells were developed. “Now there is an iron issue!”

“It's going to cost us more money to solve that, but at the end of the day our rates are still cheaper than most municipalities around us.”

In Saranac Lake, for example, where charges are based on the size of the house, owners of three bedroom houses currently see a charge of about $99 per month for water and $78 for sewer. That information was supplied by the mayor at Wednesday's hearing.

“We've held the line (on our rates) for a long time,” Mr. Robillard noted.

The mayor said all of Tupper's rates are flat, whereas in nearby communities like Saranac Lake, many water customers are on meters and pay based on usage.

“I don't like raising the rates, but it's still cheap for what we are getting,” he added.

He said, too, if in the future the village receives grants or other monies that can help it pay down these bonds, there's a possibility that rates could fall in the future if that happens.

Although most of the sewer improvements are completed, the village still has more work to do to solve problems in its water system.

“And we're not done yet. This is not the last rate hike we will see,” commented Mr. LaScala.

“Your cable rates go up every year. Your insurance rates increase every year.” It's what we see each year, he stated.

Trustee Jason McClain countered, however, saying that utility cost increases are different. “You can switch some of those other things to avoid the increases. You can change internet services. You can switch your insurance plan and save money for a few years. But when it comes to sewer and water services, we have no other options.”

He agreed with Mr. LaScala that the board members will likely face criticism on the rate hike. “People will be paying $21 more each month crappy water!”

Free Press Publisher Dan McClelland quickly calculated that the new rates represent nearly a 50% hike in water and sewer rates for village users- up from $43.20 to $64 per dwelling unit. Apartment owners who pay for a lot of units “are going to pay a considerable chunk of money more each month” for those village services.

“It looks like rents are going up in Tupper Lake,” commented Trustee McClain.

“By about $50 per month,” added the publisher.

The rates for town residents in water and sewer districts will go from $28.40 per month for water to $39.20 and for sewer from $27.20 to $37.20 each month.

The cost of the well project was about $10 million- $3 million of which was grant money to the village and about $7 million in no-interest loans which now have to be paid back through the new bonds.

Some of that money includes the meter installation project which is about half done and which has cost the village so far about $1.5 million.

Trustee McClain wondered why the entire well system couldn't have been metered for the water draw at the well site, rather than having to meter every customer at their property.

“The reason the state wants those meters at individual houses is because the entire” push to move the village to a ground water-based system was under a water conservation program,” Trustee LaScala told him. “Even though we don't charge customers by the gallon, at the end of this project we're supposed to have a guy drive around and read meters and quarterly report our usage!”

“If the gallons don't match up” then there's a leak somewhere.” Then it will be up to the village to find that leak.

“It would have helped us a few years ago when we had an individual on Stetson Road who was making a pond using village water,” Trustee LaScala told his colleagues. “We had guys working sometimes overtime looking for a leak” when someone was just drawing village water for their new pond.

He argued: “this is when those meters can be a useful tool!”

Trustee McClain figured water conservation shouldn't be such a priority in sections of the country where water is plentiful like here in the Adirondacks. It should be a top priority in drought-prone places like the American southwest, he reasoned, however.

Trustee LaScala said it costs a lot of money for communities to produce treated drinking water and it makes good sense to try to conserve it whenever possible.

Mayor Maroun said the reason for the meter project was that the DEC wouldn't permit the village to draw the well water without a water conservation program in place.

Trustee LaScala remembered as a rookie trustee eight years ago at a meeting with a state official when he and the mayor were discussing the potential well project, they were assured meters wouldn't be required if the village switched to wells as a primary water source.

“So we all moved forward with the well project and we get almost through the entire well project” and all of a sudden we were told we had to do meters because that was all about water conservation.

He said the state put this mandate on the village and held the well project hostage unless a meter program was embraced.

Mr. LaScala said a better alternative for the village would have been to keep drawing water out of Tupper Lake and upgrade the Moody treatment station to a micro-filtration one to produce clean water that met state standards. He said the state wouldn't provide money for such a project, and instead pushed the village to develop the wells.

Trustee McClain wondered how much the village would have to spent to construct a micro-filtration plant to treat the water from the big lake.

It was estimated by Mr. Robillard that the cost would have been approximately the same as developing the wells, to which Trustee LaScala added: “except we wouldn't have an iron issue right now.”

More water department expense lies ahead as village officials try to find a way to treat the iron or remove it from the well water.

Mr. LaScala noted too that the village saw considerable expense rerouting the water from the Moody filtration plant to the new well site on the opposite end of the community. All that expense could have been avoided if the village would have just modernized the Moody plant or replaced it with a more sophisticated one.

The upgrades to the sewer system were all necessary, it was noted, just to extend the life of it. Since its construction there have been major rebuilds of the village sewer system every 30 years or so, Superintendent Robillard noted in the discussion.

“There's a lot more to this ball game than the $10 rate increases in each department,” figured Deputy Mayor Leon LeBlanc. “We have to curtail our spending! Because rate payers are seeing everything go up in price.” He said what revenues that are available to the village, it must live with. “That's the bottom line, guys!”

“We can't hire any more people. Every time we hire someone that's an extra $100,000 in salary and benefits! -And it's coming out of our rates!”

“We have to curtail spending wherever we can,” he asserted, adding there is new debt in both departments right now “that would scare you.”

Mr. LaScala didn't disagree with him, but said that the debt now before the village is legitimate infrastructure improvement debt.

Mr. LeBlanc said he believes there were a number of mistakes made by the board along the way, saying although the village is now going to have to live with this debt, “I am embarrassed.”

“I am embarrassed,” he repeated, “because now we are going to have to tell the public we are raising their rates!”

“I guess it is what it is.”

A bit of a sparring match began between the deputy mayor and Trustee LaScala.

“You are entitled to be embarrassed,” Mr. LaScala told Mr. LeBlanc. “I'm not embarrassed because I am trying to provide clean, drinking water for my community, for the future and for the growth of our community.”

“I would be more embarrassed about our emergency services situation than about our sewer and water.” He was referring to the current lack of active village police officers. See related story this week.

“When our people can't drink the water, I'm embarrassed,” the deputy mayor replied.

“We have invested thousands and thousands of dollars into our water system and you still can't drink the water,” he asserted.

Trustee LaScala questioned Mr. LeBlanc's effort to help the board find answers to the village's water woes.

“Have you been to any of our meetings, Leon? I haven't seen you at any of the water and sewer development meetings over the years,” Trustee LaScala told him.

“You can be embarrassed but you haven't been part of the process!” he scolded Mr. LeBlanc.

“What I hear at our meetings, I take it from there. We still have a problem,” retorted Mr. LeBlanc.

“If you are that concerned about our water problems, show up at the meetings,” replied Mr. LaScala.

“Ron, I have other things to take care of,” said Mr. LeBlanc.

“We're doing the best we can with the mandates we have from the state,” noted Mayor Maroun. “Absolutely, our sewer system needed the upgrades!

Mr. Robillard noted the original sewer plant was built in 1959. It was rebuilt in 1989 “and we were at that 30-year mark again.”

Mr. LaScala said he was proud of the job he has done directing the sewer and water department since he took village office eight years ago. He said many infrastructure improvements have been tackled.

“I remember in those early days, I was on Pleasant Ave. during a rain storm and we had raw sewage pumping out onto the street and onto our taxpayers' front lawns.”

“We took action and that's not happening anymore. I'm embarrassed about other things going on in the village right now, but water and sewer is not one of them.”

“Had we known what we know now, we would have gone back to the lake” for our water, Mark Robillard said of the Moody plant redo.

“But again, the department of health, in order to get funding, was pushing us to ground water!”

In all, it was noted, the village received over $3 million in grants towards the $10 million in water infrastructure spending these past half dozen years.

Trustee LaScala remembered shortly after joining the village board they were weighing whether or not wells should be dug or a modernization of the Moody Plant was the way. “I wanted to go to the lake for our water and Carrie Tuttle, who was working with us at the time with the Development Authority of the North Country” told us quite clearly the state was not going to let that happen.

“It wasn't a matter of what this board wanted, we weren't given the option” of building a modern plant to clean the lake water.

“This is one of the bad parts of being in government,” Paul Maroun lamented of the big rate hike.

“I hope five years down the road people here will be happy, because we have systems that have been upgraded and which should be good for another 20 or 25 years.”

Mark Robillard said he thought the past estimates to rebuild the Moody plant so it produced clean water were about $9 million. He said the well project was about half of that at the time and there were state funds to help accomplish it.

“When the state mandates something, you don't have a choice,” Mr. LaScala said of the board's decision six years ago to develop the new wells.

Jason McClain wondered then why the state doesn't take responsibility when its mandates don't work.

“They don't...that's just the way it works!” declared the mayor.

“Here's how the states works,” added Trustee LaScala. “The state spend $35 million to build a new ski lodge in Lake Placid. It has spent hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years in Lake Placid with ORDA, while the poor people of Tupper Lake scrounge to get clean drinking water!”

“What does the state tells us? It's a mandate...deal with it!”

He said there were few people in power in Albany “that get” what poor communities like Tupper Lake have to deal with.

The trustee said, however, that we have leaders in Assemblyman Billy Jones and Senator Dan Stec who do get it and fight hard for us. “Unfortunately they are in the clear minority!”

New Bigrow exhibit on local industry opens at Tupper Arts Center; reception on May 7

By Rich Rosentreter

The latest exhibit at the Tupper Arts Center is a new showcase of Kathleen Bigrow’s photography that will include not just her work depicting local history but will also feature memorabilia from the Tupper Lake Historical Society’s collection with a focus on the area’s logging industry and the Oval Wood Dish Company, both former mainstays of the town.

The exhibit, titled Mostly Spruce & Hemlock; Tupper Lake’s Logging Heritage,” started this week and will run through May 29. There will be an opening reception from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 7 and will feature music by The Rustic Riders. Admission to the gallery is free and open to the public, it is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

The Free Press was given an advance tour of the exhibit and discussed it with Jim “Cookie” Lanthier, who helped construct the exhibit along with Tupper Arts' Ed Donnelly.

Mr. Lanthier explained that the exhibit will display 119 of Bigrow’s photos and a dozen by other photographers along with old issues of the Free Press, each having something to do with logging or the OWD plan and some covering local businesses in the hospitality industry such as hotels and eateries. He pointed out that although there will be mostly photographs featured, there will be many historical items on display. Although Kathleen's photos cover both logging and the OWD, she did not cover all of it, hence the additional displays courtesy of the local historical organization, Mr. Lanthier added.

“She wasn’t here around 1900; she did cover fifty years worth,” Jim told the Free Press as he took a break from his work setting up the exhibit.

Mr. Lanthier said with the help of Amanda Lizotte, the Woodsmen Association and Historical Society, a booklet was produced that will contain all of the images in the exhibit and be available for purchase at the Arts Center. Both Jim and Amanda edited the publication, which is chocked full of local history.

The booklet features images such as aerial views of Tupper Lake and the OWD, the baseball teams that played for OWD, logging-related companies such as the Drapers Corporation and Woodsmen’s Field Days of the past.

The booklet also mentions many local hospitality businesses such as the Hotel Altamont, Wood’s Laundry, LaFave’s Grill, Mason’s Drive-In, Roy’s Restaurant, Elite Restaurant, Bob’s Grill and the Miss Tupper Diner, among others.

Jim Lanthier has been the mainstay of the Kathleen Bigrow collection and he recently donated it to Tupper Arts. It includes thousands of photos taken during the famous local photographer's half-century long career here.

Tupper Arts has begun cataloging and archiving her wonderful images, under Mr. Lanthier's direction.

His goal and the goal of the Tupper Arts leaders is to digitize every photo in the collection that was given to Jim by Kathleen, as well as the written descriptions of some of her photos. The film conservation project involves the permanent storage of all images and information connected to them. As well as the prints, all of Kathleen's thousands of negatives will be preserved and archived for the enjoyment of future generations.

Tupper Lake High School students have been assisting with this ongoing project.

Erin's Easter Egg Hunt set for Saturday

Youthful egg hunters are reminded of Saturday's big Easter Egg Hunt at the L.P. Quinn playing fields.

The annual Erin's Easter Egg Hunt, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Tupper Lake and the Adirondack Federal Credit Union remembers elementary school teacher Erin Farkas Dewyea, who loved children and who was loved here by many.

Each year the memorial event puts kids in contact with delicious eggs and other goodies in a celebratory way. This year's hunt begins at noon that day.

Toddlers through pre-kindergarten ages will hunt on half the Rotary Club's football field and older children in grades kindergarten to grade two will search for eggs on the other half of the field. Older children in grades 3, 4 and 5 will hunt in front of the school.

The event, as usual, will go off regardless of the weather, so egg hunters are encouraged to come prepared for the weather that day- be it rain, snow, mud or sunshine.

Kids are also asked to bring a basket to fill with their goodies found in the hunt.

Erin's Easter Egg Hunt is free to all children up to and including Grade 5.

The Easter Bunny,will stop by to have his photo taken with the kids.

Mac's Safe Ride needs help!

by Dan McClelland

Mac's Safe Ride needs help.

The all-volunteer organization that has safely transported people to and from bars and private parties in recent years desperately needs both drivers and board members.

Without enough help, Mac's Safe Ride is in jeopardy.

Director Vivian Smith, in an interview in recent weeks, explained the Mac's closed temporarily at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.

In the summer of 2021, over a year into the pandemic, the board of directors of Mac's Safe Ride tried to resume operations on weekends. “We found, however, that riders were down, as many people were staying home, and drivers were way down!” Ms. Smith lamented.

“Not having enough drivers was a huge problem!”

This is how the driver recruitment used to work at Mac's. Each of the 13 board members was asked to take a month and find enough drivers for the month's Friday and Saturday evenings. If the board members couldn't find drivers, then they drove. Vivian admits that is a big ask of her board members.

“But we stayed pretty steady doing that for about five years,” she remembered.

“Then we got to the point that the volunteer pool was just drying up!”

Taking a Mac's shift on a Friday or Saturday involves a two-person team (driver and navigator) being on call with the Mac's van from 8p.m. to 3a.m.

“Our volunteers lose almost the next day because they are normally up most of the night before”

To make it easier on the willing volunteers the hours of service last year were shortened to 9p.m. to 2a.m.

“It slowly got to the point it was tough to man our shifts. But Tupper Lake has been great- both the residents and businesses. People support us as best they can!”

“Our donors, in particular, are both generous and plentiful,” she asserted with great thanks.

Vivian worries that people may have lost the understanding of the program and its mission. “When I talk to people, they tell me the same people are driving and the same people are riding from bar to bar. But that's not our mission!”

She said the primary mission is to keep “our local roads safe and our community safe!”

“-And an important side effect of keeping our roads safe is that people get home safe and they are not driving under the influence.”

“When Mac's is rolling, our roadways are safer for everyone!”

“If someone is out drinking and driving and I'm out on the road with my babies in the car, and you hit me because you are in my lane, we're trying to prevent that kind of stuff from happening. We're trying to be proactive or preventive, instead of reactive!”

“Our need now as we look to start up again is to find new people to serve on our board, which has dropped in past months” from an original 13 to 12.

Last summer, when the operation closed for a second time, there were evenings when Mac's didn't run because there were no drivers and navigators to operate the van.

“In addition to Friday and Saturday evenings, we tried to also open up when there were special events in town where alcohol was being served.” That too, took its toll on available volunteers.

Mac's closed for a second time last summer and it hasn't re-opened yet.

-And that really bothers the director. “I was sitting home last month when the Tupper Lake Football Boosters had another successful St. Patrick's Day celebration. I thought to myself Mac's should have been operating!”

“Our board members, who continue to meet, are struggling to find ways to go forward!”

Mac's Safe Ride began here in December of 2015, modelled after a safe driving program started by Gisele Lavigne Kress in Old Forge years earlier after her son died in an alcohol-related motor vehicle accident. So it has a solid history of service here that Vivian and her board members don't want Tupper Lake to lose!

“Our program is in jeopardy right now. We're at a point where we either get new blood or we face closure!”

She said Mac's is a completely anonymous operation, meaning the board members and drivers never discuss who the riders are. There are no questions ever asked. “We've picked up underage teenagers who might be at a house party. We've often driven babysitters home, who might otherwise not have had a safe way home. We've given tourists rides home from a bar to their motel room.”

Vivian notes that some of the nicest compliments have come from visitors who used the service who say how lucky Tupper Lake and its residents are for having such a valuable service. “Visitors are particularly generous with their praise and their donations!”

She noted that unfortunately some residents and frequent riders have started to take Mac's Safe Ride for granted. “There is nothing better to dampen the altruistic spirit and enthusiasm of a volunteer driver than a gripe or complaint from an unappreciative rider.”

Mac's Safe Ride has depended since the start on donations and sponsorships of businesses, as well as its annual summer fundraiser. Since the beginning of COVID, however, fundraising has been at a standstill and that's also hurt the program which still has its operating expenses.

The current board of Mac's Safe Ride currently consists of Ms. Smith, Melissa Howard, Tammy LaLonde, Kelly Smith, Connie Kennedy, Kelly Fleury, John Miller, Sandy Grahm, Bridgette LaPierre, Janelle Lavigne Kentile, John Girouard and Bob Zande.

Any of this dedicated folks would like hear from any community resident with any time to donate to the program so that Mac's Safe Ride can re-open and continue to keep the roads of Tupper Lake safe on weekend evenings- as it has done so well for so many years.

To help Mac's Safe Ride in any way, Vivian would love to hear from you at (518) 651-6178.

Planning ramping up for Field Day event in July

by Dan McClelland

The Town of Tupper Lake Recreation Department, in its planning for the new Tupper Lake Field Day and Parade event on Saturday, July 23 conducted a survey to gather information about what people wanted it to be, via Facebook and the town web site. From that came a number of ideas for the day.

Reporting on the new event at last week's town board meeting, Deputy Supervisor Mary Fontana called it “the largest event the town has planned in a very long time.”

The event is intended to help replace the Tupper Lake Woodsmen's Days, which is not expected to return this year.

“We're hoping to have a parade and are currently waiting on village board approval.” That approval hinges on the availability of enough village police officers to staff it.

The police department is currently down in personnel in the face of a recent resignation, a maternity leave and a retirement.

Village Trustee Ron LaScala recently met with Recreation Director Laura LaBarge and Ms. Fontana to discuss how many officers will be required to handle the traffic logistics of running a parade on the state's Route 3.

It is hoped that state troopers and members of the Franklin County sheriff's department might be engaged to supplement the work of the village police and to fill in gaps where necessary. It is unknown, however, at this point if that help will be forthcoming.

The anticipated parade route is from Route 3 at Pine Street to the municipal park. Ms. Fontana noted Thursday that the town will have to secure permission from the state Department of Transportation in order to close the state highway and direct through traffic around the planned route.

She said there would be prizes for the best floats and heavy equipment entries in the “hoped for” parade.

According to the tentative information submitted to the board for its review by Mrs. LaBarge that evening, the Field Day parade would begin at 11a.m. and conclude before noon. From noon to 1p.m. judging of the floats and other entries would be done by the members of the town and village boards as the rigs collect along the firemen's strip in the park.

The theme of the proposed parade is “Not All Heros Wear Capes,” and it's intended to be a tribute to first responders here and everywhere.

The theme is expected to generate color floats, many of them sporting costumed super heros.

Grand Marshall of the parade is the late Clint Hollingsworth. His family will be honored in the procession.

Police, fire and emergency squads from around the North Country will be invited to bring their members and their large pieces of equipment to join in the parade.

There will be cash prizes for the best floats and first responder rigs, according to Mrs. LaBarge's report to the town board that evening.

Between 1p.m. and 2p.m. that day the emergency rigs will stay parked along the firemen's strip where guests will explore their inner workings and technological advancements. Organizers are hoping that during that hour the various agencies will do demonstrations for the public- K-9 presentations, fire drills, loading presentations, etc.

There will be youth field games in the park from 2 to 4p.m. that afternoon. Included will be a Little Bucket Relay for ages two to five, spoon races for kids two to five, sack races for children six to eight and nine to 12 years of age, two tugs of war- one between six and eight years old and a second where kids between nine and 12 will pull off. There is also planned a Color Run- a one kilometer fun run for all ages.

Award medals will be given out for each contest.

From 4p.m. to 6p.m. the agenda in the park will change to adult field games. Planned are a first responder bucket relay, a three-legged race, a sack race and a tug of war. There will also be another Color Run for all ages.

Scattered around the outer field of the municipal park will be a number of games and inflated rides and such, including Knockerball, an extreme X obstacle course, carnival on the go games, cornhole, a bouncy house and face painting artists. A beer garden is planned and local and area food trucks will be on the scene.

At 6p.m. music will arrive at the venue, with two Tragically Hip tribute bands performing from under the Rotary Pavilion. The music begins with an area band, “The Altered Tones,” which will open for “Fully Completely Hip” from Southern Ontario.

Admission to the field day event is free. There will be an admission fee for the concert. First responders will be admitted to the concert area free that evening.

For more information about the event contact Mrs. LaBarge week days at 518 359-8370.

Former Tupper Lake resident raises $250,000 to battle cancer, help victims

A check for $20,000 was recently donated to the American Cancer Society. Pictured, from left, were James Flynn, Move for the Movement Event Coordinator, Rose Flynn, Move for the Movement Event Director, Louise Santosuosso, American Cancer Society vice president, Boston/New England and Allison Mannette, American Cancer Society Senior Development Manager. (photo provided)

By Rich Rosentreter

Former Tupper Laker Rose Leonard-Flynn is a cancer survivor and over the course of several years has raised approximately $250,000 on her crusade to help fund research to find a cure for the deadly disease and provide aid to its victims.

Rose currently resides in Massachusetts with her husband James, but she was born and raised in Tupper Lake. She moved away in 1985. Her sister Kim Henning and brother Ted Leonard still live in the village and her mother, Donna Exware, lives in Potsdam.

In May 2011 at the age of 44, Rose was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer, and she is doing well now and technically considered a survivor. She recently discussed her bout with cancer and how it inspired her and James to begin their fundraising campaign.

Getting the news

Bad news is difficult to handle, but none worse than hearing the dreaded words: “You have cancer!”

When Rose received the news, she said it hit her hard.

“It was devastating” she said, adding that her daughters were in their early teens at the time, the youngest still in middle school the other in high school. “I was a full-time mom. It was scary because you never want to hear those three words and you automatically think it’s a death sentence.”

She said she was fortunate to have support from her family and friends who rallied around her in a time of crisis.

“Everyone seemed to just come and become part a part of our life and just picked up what we couldn’t do. They say it takes a village and it really took a village for us to get through the first six months to a year,” she said.

During the first six years after being diagnosed with cancer, Rose had nine surgeries.

“It was a tough six years,” she said. Eventually, after years of radiation and other treatments, Rose gradually began to feel better as her condition lightened up a bit and a certain degree of hope settled in.

“It’s hard to pinpoint a specific time. I had a very radical treatment,” she said. “When I hit five years, I think it was OK, it’s not in my face and I’m still here. I’m surviving and I’m moving forward. I had other things to focus on. I decided early on in my treatment that I wanted to fight back and that’s when we started our fundraiser and became a huge thing for us to focus on – and the Relay for Life and American Cancer Society, that became our goal, to find a cure.”

That was in 2013.

“That’s when we started. It wasn’t a black mark in our lives, it became something that we celebrated and we focused on trying to make it hope and something that wasn’t awful,” Rose said, adding that she and James did their best to make a positive out of a negative situation.

“We took the focus off of us and put it on other people who were diagnosed and we needed to raise money to help those people and also for the future too,” James said, adding that they both realized it wasn’t just them facing the challenges of cancer.

“When you think about it, and it seems like a sad statement, but nowadays it seems like almost everyone knows somebody who either has cancer or gone through cancer or knows somebody who has died of cancer. So there’s a lot unfortunately,” he said.

Despite all the hope, there is always a chance that cancer will again appear.

“There’s always going to be that cloud; there will always be that fear,” Rose said.

“Every time she feels a little bump somewhere, it goes through her mind that ‘Oh crap, it’s back.’ Even though it may not be, she thinks that. It will always be with her,” James said.

Fundraising

Rose said her first experience getting involved in fundraising for cancer came by participating in the Relay for Life with her team called “Rosie’s Riveters.” But that was just the start.

“We decided we needed to do a fundraiser, so we decided to do a dance fundraiser where we would invite dance studios to being their upper echelon dancers to come and perform,” she said.

That dance event came to be known as Move to the Movement and since its inception has grown to six shows in Massachusetts in which an average of 1,800 to 2,000 dancers cross the stage, with a total of nearly 3,000 people in the audience, according to James. This year was the event’s tenth anniversary.

“The first year we did it we raised $5,000 and it was so exciting. We had so much fun!” Rose said. “So next year, when we hold Move for the Movement again, will be the eleventh year. We will have raised almost $250,000. That’s what we have handed over to the Cancer Society. This year we held it during the pandemic so it was a bit challenging and we still raised $35,000.”

According to Rose, she and James recently presented a $20,000 check to the American Cancer Society, and this year the monies went to transportation for cancer patients, something she said North Country residents are familiar with.

“I know in Tupper Lake they have a van that transports patients to Plattsburgh for radiation. My sister utilized that transportation and it was a Godsend. Even here where I live in the city, people don’t go for treatments because they don’t have transportation and we were able to designate that our $20,000 this year is going directly to help transporting cancer patients to the hospital for that treatment,” she said.

According to James, the program sponsored by the ACS is called “Road to Recovery.”

“In the past years the money we raised has gone into the general fund of Relay for Life and left it up to them as to where the money should be used, but this year we felt strongly that we wanted the money we raised to go to a specific benefit for people and also to our local community here in Massachusetts,” he said.

Helping others

The shift from cancer victim to cancer-related fundraising has provided Rose and James with a mission and sense of purpose that did not come overnight. Rose said she is happy that she is a 10-year survivor, but the memories of the battle she fought are still fresh in her mind and fuel her enthusiasm to keep raising money to help those currently going through what she endured.

“I guess when I was first diagnosed, I felt that I was too young. I had so much more to give and I wasn’t ready to quit. As the days went by and it sunk in more and more, I had more and more people that came around me and said ‘You can do this; you’re the strongest person I know. You’re a fighter. This will not take you down.’ And those words, when you hear them over and over again, no matter what spot you’re in, you tend to believe them. I have many friends who have had many horrible things happen in their life and I’ve always turned around to help them and then I finally received it back,” Rose said, adding that she just celebrated her 55th birthday. “I don’t feel like a victim anymore. I definitely feel that I have been given a reason to live and I am going to take every day and embrace it and move forward and do what I can do just to make someone else’s life easier.”

And support for Rose still continues as well.

“My sister was diagnosed too. She is doing fantastic. She supports me, she travels for six hours and comes and volunteers at Move for the Movement. My nephew Timothy Fuller always made me smile. He shaved his head and put a pink ribbon on his head for me as support. He was a big supporter too. My brother Ted does fishing derbies and raises money for the relay team,” Rose said. “My mom and her husband hold paint nights. She sells ribbons and peanut brittle that she makes. She is a huge supporter for our fundraisers as well.”

These days, the fundraising efforts takes a good amount of time and energy. Move for the Movement takes roughly nine months to do between organizing, planning and getting it to happen, and the neighborhood Rosebud Relay, an event organized to replace the Relay for Life because it was canceled the past two years due to the pandemic, was held in May and Rose and the team walked 24 hours straight for a total of roughly 40 miles.

Rose said both events continue to grow and those two things keep her and James busy enough, even with a crew of volunteers who help out. With the success of their fundraisers and the efforts of organizations such as the American Cancer Society, they say there is hope in the battle against cancer.

“As much as we hear about people that succumb to cancer, there are just as many success stories and there has been so much new treatments that as little as ten to fifteen years ago, didn’t exist and people are surviving because of those treatments or procedures,” James said. “It’s encouraging and that’s part of the reason we try to raise as much money as possible to help research for those types of things and hopefully it will save more lives.”

Rose also had a message to others battling cancer.

“If I would have gotten my diagnosis in the early 1980s, it was a death sentence. Stage 3 breast cancer was a death sentence. In 2011, it was something that could not be cured, but could be helped – and I got 11 more years out of that,” Rose said. “If I can say anything, it’s don’t give up. Believe, keep fighting.”

“And if someone asks them to donate money to help fund research for cancer, donate. Don’t brush them off, because they may not think that $10 or $20 doesn’t make a difference, but it actually does in the long run,” James added.

The best way people can help is to make a donation online at move4tm.org. They can also get more information about the couple’s fundraisers on their social media outlets on Instagram, Facebook and soon to be on Tik Tok.

Village investigating closing Park St. for May festival

by Dan McClelland

A request by the Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce to close off Park Street for “A Party on Park Street” revival on May 28 is under study by the village board, following discussion about at its March meeting.

“It's tough to close off Park Street,” Mayor Paul Maroun said in opening the discussion that evening. He said the festival is planned for the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend which sees many people traveling through the community.

He turned the discussion to Police Chief Eric Proulx to explain the logistics of closing the state highway, as has been done for a number of events in past years.

“In order to close a state highway (which Park St. is) without using police officers” is difficult, he reported.

He said if he applied to the state DOT on behalf of the village to close a state highway, “we either have to man it with police officers or fire police, which I found out today we don't have any.”

“Or we have to have DOT-approved signage (to direct traffic around the selected section) which we do not have.”

“I'm sure you all remember the old wooden signs used at Woodsmen's Days” parade which were painted and pointed to the various ways to local state highways that by-passed the parade route.

“We would have to buy signs that they (the Woodsmen's Days Association) had! It would cost us a lot of money to buy all the signs we'd need!”

He said it requires “a crazy amount” of signs just to close Park Street.

The chief remembered the years when state construction prevented parade organizers from using the Park Street corridor, and the village was spending thousands of dollars a year to direct motorists to the detours.

He said with his current staffing levels, “while I could do it, it would leave me” with no officers for other duties here.

He predicted he wouldn't see extra officers in his department by the time of the late May event- given the amount of time it takes to train new officers. The chief has intimated to the board at recent board meetings he needs a bigger force.

He said there were other options he could explore, but suggested the board get more specifics about the time of street closure from the organizers of the event.

The chief said, in contrast to state highways, the village board could easily close a village street like Cliff Ave. without police officers to direct traffic by simply erecting barricades.

That was done at several times when Cliff Ave. was closed a day or for an evening for events staged by the Big Tupper Brewing in the years it operated there.

The chief said too with the timing of the event on Memorial Day weekend he didn't know “how generous” other law enforcement agencies in the region would be loaning him officers for the event, like they have done in the past.

“Their communities all have their own events going on that weekend!”

He said he could probably free up his schedule to provide officers to direct traffic around the Park Street business district for several hours. The event, however, is planned from noon to 7p.m. that day which will require he have officers posted there from 11a.m. to 8p.m. for the set up and dismantling of the event.

Mayor Maroun wondered if money could be found in the new DRI grant to buy new multi-purpose signs to direct traffic for many types of events here.

Trustee Ron LaScala reported that the chamber of commerce was proposing to stage the event in the uptown business district to eventually grow it into a major event here.

“They were hoping to do something big to help the Park Street” business owners to kick off the summer season.

Village Clerk Mary Casagrain said the two blocks of Cliff Ave. could contain many street vendors for a party the size the chamber is planning.

“We'll look into it and see what we can do,” the mayor promised as the discussion closed.

Trail counters showing robust use of town ski trail system

by Dan McClelland

Councilman John Gillis, who directs the volunteer team that has been grooming and maintaining the town's cross-country ski trail system at the golf course for years, reported some impressive trail user numbers at the town board's monthly meeting March 15.

Last year, at Mr. Gillis' request, the town purchased a trail counter system to measure ski numbers there to create a data base which might prove helpful in future grant applications to improve the town-owned network of trails.

“We had our first glitches with our trail counters this year,” Mr. Gillis told his colleagues during the committee reports that evening.

“I had to estimate our visits for February. I went to the very low end of 600 because the January count was over 900 and the count last March was 655.”

He told his colleagues that even using what he figures was a low estimate for February, the trail count for the past year “our trail count stands at 4,750 user visits.”

He joked that of that total, 1,200 were seen at the wildly popular Brewski staged by the chamber in February.

“The chamber volunteers did a great job. Everything went well. The parking (arrangement) was excellent” with all vehicle owners directed to park on the downhill side of the Country Club Road.

Mr. Gillis and his volunteers helped prepare the very packed course that day and shuttled camp fire wood to keep the fires fed at the 12 brewery stations. He said three of the town's grooming machines were used to help the visiting vendors at the Brewski.

He said the chamber borrowed from the Tupper Lake Rod and Gun Club its “parking on one side” signs it uses for Lake Simond Road during the Northern Challenge Saturday” and the parking arrangement went off “without a hitch.”

“We couldn't believe how well the parking worked out....so thanks to the Rod and Gun Club for that!”

He said all of the brewers offered robust congratulations on the staging of the event “so hopefully they will all be back next year, plus more, and hopefully we can continue to build the event!”

Mr. Gillis figured their trail grooming has concluded for the year, given last week's melt during several warm days.

He said that the work on the town's rehabilitation and winterization of the golf course pro shop is almost complete. He said the few outstanding items on the contractor's electrical punch list were expected to be completed this week.

Now insulated and heated and with operating indoor restrooms the building was welcomed by both those attending the Brewski and the Lumberjack Scramble Jr. in past weeks.

“Beauty and the Beast JR” packs the house over weekend

by Rich Rosentreter

The Tupper Lake Midde High School’s Red & Black Players attracted large audiences and rave reviews during its showings of Beauty and the Beast JR over the weekend. Each performance was done with a high level of energy, perhaps partly due to the fact that it was the first live, in-person show with the cast not wearing masks since the pandemic began.

Music director Elizabeth Cordes told the Free Press that overall she was thrilled by the performances and especially the support demonstrated by the strong attendance drawn by the shows. The shows were greatly enhanced by the vibrant costumes for many of the characters.

“I’m incredibly proud of the cast and crew for three amazing performances this past weekend! We were very fortunate to also have three terrific audiences, each one nearly filled the auditorium to capacity,” she said. “My sincere thanks to the community for coming out and supporting the Red & Black Players!”

Meika Nadeau and Lowden Pratt were exceptional as the lead characters and kept the crowd captivated and at some points emotional, especially near the end when the beast apparently dies but is shortly resurrected when the Enchantress’ curse is lifted.

But Nadeau and Pratt were not alone on the stage, as the large cast provided many superb moments on the stage. Cody Auclair was very entertaining playing the role of Gaston, as were the supporting roles of Jenna Switzer as LeFou and Karen Bujold as Maurice

The roles of the other characters who were cursed by the Enchantress spiced up the level of the play allowing for some humorous and very entertaining moments. They were Emileigh Smith as Mrs. Potts, Raegan Fritts as Lumiere, Nolan Savage as Cogsworth, Sophia Staves as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Lacey Pickering as Chip and Shae Arsenault as Babette.

Although not in lead roles, the performance featured standout minor roles, but equally important. They were Hannah Barber, Joelle Bedore and Nevaeh Toohey as the Silly Girls, Aubrey Sparks, Haylee Callaghan, Antwon Gachowski and Samantha Flagg as the Narrators and Hailey Bissonette as the Enchantress, Milkmaid and Dance Captain.

Rounding out the large cast was Aubrey Bissonette, Jeevika Branchaud, Eliza Bujold, Ava Facteau, Bug LaVigne, CJ Levey, Dane O'Connor, Rylee Preston, Ayden Rabideau, Bryce Richer, Lyla Robillard, Ghost Switzer, Noah Switzer, Brianna Towne and Sireea Zaidan. Each played a small yet vital role to make the stage full of fun.

The aforementioned were the cast members who were visible for most of the show, however, any performance has a crew who work mainly behind the scenes, yet their participation is critical to the success of a performance. Working on the crew were stage manager Genna Carmichael, assistant stage manager Alison Richer and Hannah Callaghan, Liza Crouse, Mya Fortier, Raegan Hudak, Nick LaPlante, Kelsie Liscum, Morgan Lohr, Rylee Kennedy and Robert Paige and lighting crew Johnathan Jauron, Caydence Flagg and Casper Pratt.

Also helping oversee the production was stage director George Cordes, lighting and technical director David Naone, assistant director Danielle LaMere and choreographer Kendall Davison.

Town board forms its own committee to explore recreational opportunities of Mt. Morris acres

by Dan McClelland

The Tupper Lake Town Board Tuesday formed a citizens' advisory committee to explore recreational opportunities on Mt. Morris should the town be permitted to purchase the 600 plus-acre parcel on which the now closed Big Tupper Ski Center is situated.

Over a year ago, as part of its mission to improve Tupper Lake economy through the development and promotion of recreational facilities and assets here, the Tupper Lake Business Group created its own Mt. Morris/Big Tupper recreation park committee to encourage and help the town promote hiking, biking, cross-country skiing and back-country skiing there.

The business group has lobbied county lawmakers, with the help of Legislator Paul Maroun, to consider selling those acres to the town, should the property go to county foreclosure for non-payment of back property taxes. The town board late last year embraced that plan.

The group's members also met several times last fall with Mike Foxman, one of the partners of the Big Tupper LLC which owns the property, to secure his permission to lease those acres to the town, as he does acres just above the golf course where the town's nordic trail system was expanded. Mr. Foxman has been very amenable to the newest plan in order to help the community.

The lease discussion with Mr. Foxman has continued informally in recent weeks with Town Attorney Kirk Gagnier and Councilman Rick Donah.

The TLBG Big Tupper committee was chaired by Rick Donah and Rob Gillis. That chairmanship arrangement will continue in the new town board group, as will most of the members who served on it.

Introducing the idea last week Deputy Supervisor Mary Fontana said the new town group would be an advisory one made up of town and village residents “with participation from experts and professionals with a working knowledge of business and recreation to come together to explore the idea of approaching Mr. Foxman to allow public use of the Big Tupper property for specific recreations.”

She turned the discussion over to Councilman Donah, who is the only town board member on the new committee.

“This is something I feel very strongly about,” he told his colleagues that evening.

He pointed to several reasons for that. “Going back in Tupper Lake's history we all know the generations of people who grew up here and who understood how valuable the Big Tupper Ski Area was to the community! -And how much it still means to quite a few people here and who live elsewhere!”

He said the ski center unfortunately has been idle for many years. “There was an effort (through ARISE) that many of us participated in as volunteers tried to resurrect it from 2010 to 2015. There was very little snow any of those years. “Unfortunately, it just wasn't sustainable!”

“We all know the circumstances involving the Adirondack Club Resort piece of this, but the ski area itself has large value to the community as a recreational area.”

“I am hopeful with the development of this committee, which has really been meeting informally for about a year and with participation from former Supervisor Patti Littlefield,” a lease for those Mt. Morris lands can be inked.

He said the new town committee will be charged with exploring all the options to bringing four-season recreation back to those lands.

The new councilman said he hopes the new advisory group can devise what he called “a long-term vision” for recreational use of those mountain lands, not just at Big Tupper but below it on Mt. Morris where the excellent James C. Frenette cross-country ski trail network has been created.

“We already have a beautiful recreational foot print” on Mt. Morris and new recreational opportunities developed farther up the mountain at Big Tupper will just add to that.

The new advisory group was dubbed by Mr. Donah as the “Mountain Rec Park” committee. He said its mission will be to “encapsulate all the activities we can develop up there, with the help of Mr. Foxman.”

“Our aim will be to create a major recreational asset there!”

He said as the committee co-chair, he will report monthly to the other elected officials on the town board.

“It will be intense...there are many things we will have to research. -And we want to do this the right way!”

Continuing on from the TLBG group will be Rosie Littlefield, whose family has a wealth of ski industry experience, retired Coca-Cola executive Charlie Frenette, Matt Ellis, who is with the Coldwell-Banker Whitbeck, and Free Press owner Dan McClelland.

New on the committee is Village Trustee Ron LaScala, Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce President Jocelyn Law, Building Contractor Jim Frenette Jr., Scott Brandy, president of the state ski area association and a man who brings decades of ski industry experience to the group and Eric “Shakey” Lanthier, a volunteer on the town ski trail maintenance team and a lifelong skier.

“I think we have a great make-up of people on what I think will be a very active committee exploring opportunities” for the Mt. Morris acres, Mr. Donah told his colleagues.

Ahead for the committee's discussions will be research of the insurance necessary for the outdoor activities proposed there to protect the town and the property owners, he noted.

Among the activities that could be staged there are hiking, biking, cross-country and back country skiing, snowshoeing and picnicking, as well as community events.

“As next steps we'll be focussing on developing policies and an operating plan. At this point there won't be a significant investment by the town, because so far we are only talking about the cost of insurance,” he explained.

“We're not talking about re-opening the ski area. That's not on our agenda! I just wanted to make that clear!”

“Our focus will be instead on the basic recreational opportunities!”

“This committee is organized for the purpose of creating and marketing recreational opportunities on or around the dormant Big Tupper Ski Area!”

“Improving our community's quality of life and promoting abundant activities for our youth are, in my view, our priorities No. 1.” he asserted.

He said while the new group will function independently from the town board, it will collaborate regularly and vigorously with the town's elected officials.

He said the charge of the new group is “to return to the community something that has been missing in Tupper Lake for many years”- the use and enjoyment of that special parcel here.

Mr. Donah said from recent conversations with the late town supervisor, Clint Hollingsworth, he was very interested in seeing something good happening there, as “all of us would like to see. We just have to make sure we put a good plan together that makes sense for the town” and reduces liability for both the town and the landowners.

“It was a tragedy we lost Big Tupper. We've all seen the effects. Our town is now a lot slower in the winter time and our small businesses” struggle to make it through each winter. This is a wonderful use of our time to look at ways to reinvent” our winter economy, he asserted.

The new group is expected to convene shortly via Zoom, before the end of March.

The board motion was adopted unanimously.

In the second public committee period Tuesday former supervisor, Patti Littlefield, said she really liked the idea of an advisory committee for the mountain to create recreational activities there. “It's great it will be more of a community advisory committee rather than the business group telling everyone what they think should be done. This way, you'll get more feedback from other people here too!”

Red and Black Players to perform Beauty and the Beast Jr.

The Red and Black Players of the Tupper Lake Middle/High School will perform Beauty and the Beast JR. at the auditorium at 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are available at the door. Children 5 and under admitted free. As restrictions have been eased by the school district, wearing of masks by audience members will be optional for these performances. Pictured is the cast and crew: Meika Nadeau, Lowden Pratt, Cody Auclair, Jenna Switzer, Emileigh Smith, Raegan Fritts, Nolan Savage, Karen Bujold, Shae Arsenault, Sophia Staves, Lacey Pickering, Hannah Barber, Joelle Bedore, Nevaeh Toohey, Aubrey Sparks, Haylee Callaghan, Antwon Gachowski, Samantha Flagg, Hailey Bissonette, Aubrey Bissonette, Jeevika Branchaud, Eliza Bujold, Ava Facteau, Bug LaVigne, CJ Levey, Dane O'Connor, Rylee Preston, Ayden Rabideau, Bryce Richer, Lyla Robillard, Ghost Switzer, Noah Switzer, Brianna Towne and Sireea Zaidan. The crew is: Genna Carmichael, Alison Richer, Hannah Callaghan, Liza Crouse, Mya Fortier, Raegan Hudak, Nick LaPlante, Kelsie Liscum, Morgan Lohr and Robert Paige. Lighting crew is Johnathan Jauron, Caydence Flagg and Casper Pratt. (Rich Rosentreter photos)

New Junction Connectivity Study aimed at improving economy of downtown area

by Dan McClelland

The opportunities for a second village Downtown Revitalization Initiative- this time targeted at the Junction, or other grant programs currently or possibly on the horizon- were the subject of several information-gathering meetings Wednesday. They were conducted by the village's community developer, Melissa McManus and a consulting team from Elan, the firm that helped the village win the Park Street and Boulevard- targeted DRI.

The Zoom meetings were set up by Elan's Susan Caruvana, senior planner at the Saratoga Springs-based agency.

The focus of the discussions is to provide fodder and good ideas for what is now called The Junction Connectivity Study that Elan will complete in preparation for grant opportunities ahead.

Among the questions the participants Wednesday were asked to ponder and those who will weigh in at upcoming meetings were: What's your vision for the Junction in 2030? What places in your travels would be a good model for what the Junction can be? What was it about that place that you thought would be right for the Junction? What types of projects and investments are important in achieving this vision? What barriers currently exist to sustainable job growth and investment in the Junction?

At the afternoon session Melissa McManus explained the purpose of the sessions that day.

Also attending from Elan were Jere Tatich, Mark Westa and Sue Caruvana. Town Councilman John Gillis tuned in as did Matt Ellis, a steering committee member of the Tupper Lake Business Group, Hope Frenette of Schoolhouse Renovations and one of the promoters of the rail/trail project and Main Street Restaurant owner Shawn LaBarge.

Mrs. McManus noted that “the village has been very successful in recent years in using a couple of funding streams (most notably the state department of state's waterfront revitalization program) to do improvements in the park, make trail connections, do street-scape enhancements on Park Street, business assistance programs, etc.”

“However, we have not focused our planning on the Junction.” She said the downtown section of the village has been broadly included in some large planning documents completed by and adopted by the village over the years. “But we've never focussed on what the Junction wants to be and what it can be!”

She said a few years ago when she and community volunteers were looking to upgrade the village's waterfront revitalization grant program “we made sure we brought the Junction into it.”

“We all know of the possibility of the rail/trail and what it can bring” to the community, and the Junction in particular. “But we didn't have that same kind of focused vision there...we don't have the narrative together or the project list” to develop future grant programs there.

She said those things are imperative for future funding sources for the Junction and its businesses.

“That's why we're here today...to gather that information to start building that (planning) document to line us up for future funding!”

She said many people, particularly downtown residents, have spoken to her in recent years about their area getting ready for the opening of the new trail and the return of the train.

“We heard that from downtown business owners at a meeting this morning.”

She recommended as a first step in preparing a long-range planning document, the development of “an urgent” or short-term plan.

“When you look at the Junction you have Next Stop! Tupper Lake owning the train station, the town owning the land, the state involved in both the rail/trail and train arrival preparations and then the private sector with their businesses.”

“We want to be the most ready we can be...weaving together all the various pieces” of that neighborhood, she told the meeting participants.

She left time at the end of the meeting to hear from the attendees so “the Elan team can begin weaving this blanket of readiness” for the new things coming to the Junction this year and next.

Shawn LaBarge said “it sounds like great things are happening in Tupper Lake right now. We waited a long time for this,” pointing to his 18-year tenure as a main street business owner.

“It's time to shine and we must be quick about it! -And we have to take advantage of everything we can to make sure we are ready for this influx coming” on the train and the trail.

“They are going to want to eat, to shop and go to places” like Raquette River Brewery. “It's going to be good for everyone in this town!”

“We've needed this for a long time when we had this blanket over Tupper Lake. It's time to shake it off and get our community back to what it used to be” in the forties and fifties, when the community was thriving.

“It's very easy to make a list of all that we had here when my parents were young and most of that is all gone now!”

“I'm excited about it,” he said of all the plans developing for Tupper's future.

Hope Frenette said it was important for everyone to “know what the schedules are” of the state departments of transportation and environmental conservation with respect to the improvements on the rail/trail and railroad corridors coming into Tupper Lake.

“One of the big issues we are going to have to address for everyone using the rail/trail or the train is parking” in the vicinity of the depot, she warned. “It's not an issue there now but it's going to soon be a huge problem” without proper preparation here for all the corridor users.

Especially with Tupper becoming the hub for train riders and hikers and bikers coming to use the rail/trail, Mrs. McManus agreed.

“Here's what I know” about the timing and schedules of two projects, Mrs. McManus told the participants.

She said from the DOT they have received plans for most of the track restoration work- including a new crossing on Main Street and property improvements at the station.

She said the DOT contractor has possession of the rail corridor until the end of 2022 to finish its work. “Although no one will speak on the record, but informally, I was led to believe for us not to expect a train until 2023” because construction will be ongoing through the end of this year.

“On the improvements and preparation on the rail/trail side we do not have much information” from the DEC. “We have sketches of the large parking areas in Tupper Lake that the DOT staff recommended to the DEC.”

“I've hear reports it could be 2025 before the trail is finished but that's all hearsay!”

There have been some estimates this past year the trail could be open between Lake Placid and Tupper Lake by 2023.

“On the positive side, this information gives us more time to get our acts together,” she conceded.

Dan McClelland, a member of the Tupper Lake Business Group and chairman of the train station organization, said the business group has had several meetings with representatives of the Adirondack Railroad Preservation Society over the winter months. ARPS, which currently leases the line every summer to run trains from Utica to Thendara and on to Big Moose, has won the DOT contract to operate trains from there north to Tupper Lake and to run excursion trains out of here.

“Their contacts with the DOT as to when the corridor is ready for their trains are sketchy at best,” he told the group.

“They are getting mixed signals from the DOT and as the train provider they should be getting better information.”

He said Rick Dattola of the Tupper Lake Business Group recently reached out to the Watertown office of the DOT and the fellow he spoke with said he is very eager to come up and speak with the TLBG and the community in general.

“What I've been pushing is a community meeting when all the players are there: the town and village boards, the planning board, school board and the local businesses.”

“That way everyone will know what's planned at the depot site in preparation for the arrival of the rail/trail visitors and the train passengers,” he stressed.

“A few months ago we were told the first trains would arrive this August and then we were told later it would be in the fall. I think you are bang on correct, Melissa, that we won't see trains until 2023.”

“There is a lack of information for whatever reason between the DOT and the DEC!”

He said he received a call from a trail staff member at the DEC who was trying to set up a meeting between the two agencies in Tupper Lake and wondered if the train station was free.

“I'm thinking to myself” why aren't these guys talking? What are you coming to Tupper Lake for...aren't you talking with each other every day?”

“They are apparently not!”

He said the business group would like a huge community meeting conducted by those two agencies soon “to really dissect all that's going to happen.”

Mr. McClelland said he anticipates some major logistical problems with the train's arrival. “I envision 250 people getting off a train here, and there won't be a taxi, a shuttle service, a bike rental business, a car rental business to move those people into our community where we can benefit from their economic impact!”

“We're hoping the ARPS people will have a plan in place to provide secondary transportation for these train riders to move about the community.”

He said when a cruise ship in the Caribbean pulls into port on some island there are a fleet of buses to greet them to take them into the island to explore it.

He said while he knew the ARPS volunteers were working on trying to find buses to transport riders to places in Tupper Lake and around the tri-lakes, those plans remain to be finalized.

“And Hope makes a good point about the need for abundant parking places near the depot.”

Matt Ellis said what was recently discussed by the business group was inviting DOT representatives to come to town to meet with them and community leaders and to make plans for a big community meeting shortly thereafter.

“Our idea was to have a DOT representative come from Watertown and meet with community leaders so that they get a real understanding of what their plan is for Tupper Lake. A short time later we'd like them to come back and do a complete briefing to the entire community!”

“They told Rick Dattola they were open to coming here a couple of times” to detail all the plans, he explained.

“That sounds good,” Mrs. McManus told the two business group leaders. “I sense that among everyone I have spoken with, there's a receptiveness” of the two ventures starting here, “but we're all in a big information vacuum right now!”

Continue next week

Red & Black Players continue return to live theatre with “Beauty and the Beast JR.” March 25, 26, & 27

The Red and Black Players continue their return to live, in-person performance as they present Disney’s Beauty and the Beast JR. at the Tupper Lake Middle/High School auditorium, 25 Chaney Avenue, on March 25 and 26 at 7 p.m. and March 27 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students and senior citizens and will be available at the door. Children 5 and under admitted free. As restrictions have been eased by the school district, wearing of masks by audience members will be optional for these performances.

Beauty and the Beast JR. tells the story of Belle, an adventurous young girl, and the Beast, her hideous captor who is actually a young prince trapped under a spell. In order to break the spell, the Beast must learn to love another and earn her love in return – before time runs out. With the help of the castle’s enchanted staff, including a loving teapot, a charming candelabra, and a nervous mantel clock, Belle and the Beast find a beautiful friendship and love that neither knew was possible. Beauty and the Beast JR. features classic songs from the Academy Award®-winning film score such as “Be Our Guest” and “Belle,” as well as original songs from the 1994 Tony®-nominated Broadway musical.

The cast features Meika Nadeau as Belle, Lowden Pratt as the Beast, Cody Auclair as Gaston, Jenna Switzer as LeFou, Emileigh Smith as Mrs. Potts, Raegan Fritts as Lumiere, Nolan Savage as Cogsworth, Karen Bujold as Maurice, Shae Arsenault as Babette, Sophia Staves as Madame de la Grande Bouche, Lacey Pickering as Chip, Hannah Barber, Joelle Bedore, and Nevaeh Toohey as the Silly Girls, Aubrey Sparks, Haylee Callaghan, Antwon Gachowski, and Samantha Flagg as the Narrators, and Hailey Bissonette as Enchantress/Milkmaid/Dance Captain. Other cast include: Aubrey Bissonette, Jeevika Branchaud, Eliza Bujold, Ava Facteau, Bug LaVigne, CJ Levey, Dane O'Connor, Rylee Preston, Ayden Rabideau, Bryce Richer, Lyla Robillard, Ghost Switzer, Noah Switzer, Brianna Towne, and Sireea Zaidan.

Crew for Beauty and the Beast JR. are stage manager Genna Carmichael, assistant stage manager Alison Richer, Hannah Callaghan, Liza Crouse, Mya Fortier, Raegan Hudak, Nick LaPlante, Kelsie Liscum, Morgan Lohr, and Robert Paige. Lighting crew is Johnathan Jauron, Caydence Flagg, and Casper Pratt.

Stage director George Cordes and music director Elizabeth Cordes have again been joined by lighting and tech director David Naone and assistant director Danielle LaMere. Choreographer for this show is Kendall Davison.

There will be flowers and a bake sale in the lobby before the show and during intermission. Kids of all ages are encouraged to come in costume, and there will be a Costume Parade across the stage on Sunday during intermission. Pictures in front of the enchanted dining room background will also be available each show.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast JR. is presented through special arrangement with and all authorized materials are supplied by Music Theatre International. With this production, the Red and Black Players celebrate their 16th anniversary of bringing musical theatre to Tupper Lake. Previous shows include Footloose: The Musical, along with Guys and Dolls, Godspell, Anything Goes, Hello, Dolly!, All Night Strut: A Jumpin', Jivin', Jam!, Back to the 80s: The Totally Awesome Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Annie, Seussical: The Musical, The Boy Friend, and Bye, Bye Birdie. In 2020, we had to cancel our production of Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods because of the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope to revisit this production (with our original cast) sometime in the future. Stay tuned!

Local skaters compete in ESWG in Lake Placid

Once again, several girls from High Peaks Academy took the Empire State Winter Games by storm in February and brought home several medals.

The medal standings were as follows:

Beginner Girls Excel group: Sierra Welch, 1st place; Lyla Robillard, 2nd place; Rena Reandeau, 3rd place.

High Beginner Excel: Rylee Preston, 6th place.

Pre-Preliminary Girls Excel: Emilie Schuller, 3rd place; Alyssa Pickering 5th place.

Pre-Juvenile Girls Excel: Sophia Nadeau 4th place; Sarah Higgins 4th place; Elli Dukette, 4th place.

Juvenile Girls Excel: Abby Gavin 4th place; Michaela Gillis 5th place.

Intermediate Girls Excel: Kiera Levitt 4th place.

Pre-Preliminary Synchronized Skating Team, 3rd place: Aubrey Bissonette, Emilie Schuller, Hadley Savard, Isabel Tessier-Day, Jeanelle Lizotte, Lyla Robillard, Brianna Towne and Rylee Preston. These talented young ladies skate under the coaching direction of Amy Payton. While training for Empires these young ladies along with the rest of the HPA ladies are also training for an upcoming competition in Massena and their local show which both will take place later this month.