While the Democrats have not yet chosen a candidate to run for Kirsten Gillibrand’s former house seat, the Republican’s today chose Assembly minority leader, James Tedisco, as their choice.
Paulist Fathers Offer Summer 09 Programs
We received the following press release from our friends, the Paulist fathers.
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 26, 2009
Paulist Fathers to offer exciting retreat program during June and July at Lake George, NY
As they have done for the past 12 years the Paulist Fathers will offer a series of retreats during June and July 2009 at their summer home at St. Mary’s on the Lake, located on Lake George in New York. Fr. Isaac Hecker, the Paulist Founder, established the foundation in 1868. The retreats are open to anyone. More information can be found at www.lakegeorge.paulist.org
June 12-14 Fr. Ken McGuire, CSP: RE – MEMBERING RETREAT: Bring all your parts!
Your body and soul, humanity and divinity,
color and orientation, sorrows and joys.
Don’t wait for other to recognize you in your goodness:
God already does.
Don’t let other confer power: God has done that.
If we listen, the God of the universe is acting in the ordinariness of our lives.
Let us get together and re-member ourselves and each other.
June 19-21 Fr. Vinny McKiernan, CSP : Praying Your Life Weekend
A weekend to learn and experience Centering Prayer and the practice of Lectio Divina, the prayerful practice of praying the Scriptures.
June 22-26 Fr. Vinny McKiernan, CSP : Praying Your Life 5 day retreat
Praying Your Life:contemplating and celebrating your life, past, present and future in the the context of God’s Providence. The week will be anchored by daily periods and Centering Prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist in the beauty of the Adirondacks. Fr. Vinny McKiernan, CSP is Campus Minister at The Ohio State University and an experienced Spiritual Director and Retreat Master.
June 26-28 Fr. Ken McGuire, CSP : Spiritual Discovery Through Movies
Spirituality and values portrayed through movies have a huge effect, maybe more than 10 minute sermons on Sunday. We will explore themes, values and spirituality of films like Whale Rider, Into the Wild, Brokeback Mountain and Inherit the Wind, Notebook and Stand and Deliver. Ken McGuire is a Paulist Priest and Cultural Anthropologist. He has served many years as a campus minister, pastor, director of St. Mary’s on the Lake and taught Cultural Orientation for International Priests and Nuns, COPIM at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
July 6-10 Br. Michael Moran, CP “Windows to Heaven: An Icon Painting Retreat”Brother Michael Moran, C.P., an artist who specializes in the painting of icons will lead the participants in the painting of an icon of the Mother of God. The daily schedule of the week will consist of two large blocks of time for painting, as well as “teachings” relevant to the spirituality of seeing and of icons. There will also be daily prayer, opportunties for discussion, as well as quiet time. No experience is necessary and art supplies will be provided. The goal is for each participant to have painted his/her own icon by the end of the retreat.
July 10-12 Brett Hoover, CSP “Here Comes Everybody: Catholic unity amidst our different opinions, cultures and theologies.”Brett Hoover is the author of “Loosing Your Religion, Finding your Faith” and “Soundbyte Spirituality” as well as numerous articles. He was the founder of Busted Halo, the Paulist Fathers program for young adults and is currently a Ph.D candidate in theology with a focus on the multicultural church at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley.
July 24-26 Fr. Lawrence Boadt, CSP “Exploring the Major Insights of St. Paul for Modern Spirituality.”
Noted Old Testament scholar, Fr. Lawrence Boadt will examine the ten most important aspects in Paul’s understanding of life in Christ, with an in depth look at some key Pauline passages in his Letters. Lawrence Boadt, CSP, is an ordained priest in the Paulist Fathers, and professor emeritus of Scripture Studies at the Washington Theological Union. He has written and spoken widely on Old Testament topics, and currently serves as the president and publisher of Paulist Press in Mahwah, NJ. He is author of “Reading the Old Testament” by Paulist Press.
Candidates & Their County Supporters
Here is a short piece from Channel 13 in Albany about which congressional candidates have the most support from the different county chairmen who will be deciding between candidates. (The way Channel 13 shares video, is to alternate video between the weather and a given story. Start the video when you see the list of candidates by county. Otherwise you will get the weather forecast.)
Bits of Everything
The Governor Doesn’t Want to Pay Taxes Either
While upstate legislators and groups are fighting the proposed cap on NY state paying property taxes on its forest preserve, the Governor for the time being is standing behind the proposal. 
GOP Chairmen Weighted Votes Explained
The Governor will also, sometime soon, issue a proclamation calling for a special election to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat being vacated by Kirsten Gillibrand who will be sworn in to the U.S. Senate on Tuesday to replace Hillary Clinton. In a special election, like this, there will be no primary. Republican chairmen from the 10 counties in the 20th Congressional District will meet this week to discuss how they will select the Republican nominee. Here is an look at how each County Chairman will have their vote weighted.
See Some Great Stuff This Summer
Here is an interesting story about the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake getting a surprise donation to put on a show, starting in May, where some of the earliest known pictures, paintings and artifacts of the Adirondacks will be on display. The Adirondack Museum is a great day trip from Huletts.
Luke La Valle – Rest in Peace
We ask for your continued prayers for the Spiess/La Valle family as they cope with the loss of Jennifer’s husband, Luke. Jennifer is the daughter of Peter and Mary Spiess. She worked many summers in the Soda Fountain growing up. Luke battled heroically during his last months and was an inspiration to us all. Luke and Jennifer’s daughter, Abigail Rose, was born on August 30th.
For those who were unable to attend the funeral, here was Jennifer’s touching eulogy to her husband.
Luke was a very engaging guy who was a four-year All-American at Notre Dame who also won the 1998 NCAA men’s sabre title in fencing. Here is a tribute to him on the Notre Dame site and a wonderful piece on his life on CollegeFencing360.com. More than this, he was a great husband, father and friend to many.
Luke was a true hero and will be greatly missed by his family and the Huletts community.
Saturday Quote
“With this in mind, I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, when at midday along the road, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining around me and my companions. When we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, `Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It hurts you to kick against the goads.’ I asked, `Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord answered, `I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”
Acts: 26:12-15
La conversion de Saint Paul (1690), by Luca Giordano (Naples 1634 – 1705)
She Beat Them Out of the Gate
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With the announcement today that Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) has been appointed to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, this in turn opens up the Congressional seat which Huletts is a part of. Within hours of this announcement, we received this press release from Senator Betty Little’s (R) office announcing her candidacy for the House of Representatives. |
Senator Little has always been a fierce advocate for lower taxes in the Adirondacks, and while we are not endorsing a candidate for Congress at this time, the fact that the Huletts Current was notified so quickly bespeaks a winning campaign operation that is organized and up and running already. You heard it here first, because Senator Little was the first. The Current likes people who move.
SENATOR LITTLE ANNOUNCES CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDACY
State Senator Betty Little (R,C,I-Queensbury) today announced she is a candidate for the 20th Congressional District. The popular upstate senator well known for her accessibility and hands-on approach has a strong record of experience in local and state government.
“I have a proven record of fighting and winning for the people I represent,” said Little. “I am eager to put that experience to work for the residents of the 20th Congressional District and look forward to traveling the district and talking with voters to earn their support over the course of this campaign.”
Prior to first winning election to the State Senate in November 2002, Senator Little served in the New York State Assembly for seven years. Little is a proven vote-getter and has consistently led the ballot on Election Day.
Little’s legislative successes include: creation of a program that encourages greater government efficiency to save tax dollars; reform of the adverse possession law to protect private property rights; and an affordable housing program to help low- and middle-income families.
The mother of a combat veteran, active duty Navy pilot, Little was honored to sponsor Patriot Plans I and II, which expanded benefits and services available to New York’s military personnel and their families.
Little first began public service as a member and later Chair of the Town of Queensbury Recreation Commission. In 1986, she was elected to serve as an At-Large-Supervisor to the Warren County Board of Supervisors for the Town of Queensbury, where she served on various committees, including the Warren County Recycling Advisory Committee which she organized and chaired, and as County Budget Officer in 1990 and 1991.
Born in Glens Falls, New York, Senator Little has lived in upstate New York most of her life. The former teacher and realtor now resides in Queensbury and has six children and thirteen grandchildren
Bits of Everything
How a Sunken Boat Became a National Treasure
Here is a piece from the Saratogian that details the story of the Forward, a boat which sank in Lake George in the the 1930’s, which was just added to the National Register of Historic Places. This is an interesting story.
Senator Little Fights NY Property Tax Cap Proposal
As a followup to yesterday’s post about the proposal to cap NY state payments on their forest reserve property, Senator Little has posted what she is doing to stop this on her website. Keep those emails and calls coming to our elected officials.
Clean Air Increases Longevity
Here is a short article from National Public Radio about something which seems so simple: breathing clean air lets you live longer. No wonder people like it in Huletts.
Now for Some History – 1925
I came across this brochure from the 1920’s when I was researching my book. Unfortuately, I found it after I had submitted the manuscript and it missed the deadline. It’s interesting to note that it specifically says; “No Dull Days At Huletts, Not Even On Rainy Days”. It’s easy to forget that this was from a time when there wasn’t any TV or Internet and one of the “selling points” was that there was always something to do in Huletts.
$27 Million is Something to Know About
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Previously I had linked to this story about the Governor’s proposal to cap property tax payments on forest preserve land in the Adirondack Park.
I checked and NY State has over $27 million in assessed property in the Town of Dresden. |
This means that, if successful, the Governor will shift a percentage of the tax increases in the future on this land to us – the private property owners in the Town of Dresden.
Here’s what you can do:
Tell the Governor and our representatives that you know about this and it’s not fair and it’s simply not a good idea. NY State made a covenant with the people of NY to pay the taxes on this land when they added it to the forest preserve. It’s worked since 1884, and it shouldn’t be changed now. Tell the Governor when he’s up for reelection, this issue will mean a lot to you.
You can contact the Governor here.
More importantly, if you live in NY, contact both your downstate representative (lookup by zip code on the right) and our Huletts Representative, Tony Jordan, here. Also contact your downstate Senator and our Huletts Senator, Elizabeth Little, here.
Now is the time to speak up. If we don’t, our taxes will be whats going up.
Technical Update
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Just a quick update on our technical progress. We most likely will be enabling comments in about a week to 10 days. We had some backend problems and the code needed a major tweaking, to do what we wanted it to do, but we’re almost there. |
Registration will be open soon and once registered you can submit comments. Please read our rules on posting and user guidelines here.
Inauguration Day – 2009
This is a timeless piece entitled; “America – Why I Love Her”, performed by John Wayne. On Inauguration Day, when we all come together to inaugurate our new President, it’s a great reminder of the special place that is America.
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQM1oLnMLNU
Bits of Everything
Still No Bars – Cell Phone Towers Approved Slowly by APA
Here is a piece from the Adirondack Express that details the Adirondack Park Agency’s policy on cell phone towers and explains the ongoing situation with cell phone towers in the Adirondacks.
Skiers Going Down the Slope – Expected To Go Up
Here is also a good article about the upcoming ski season in NY state. It’s expected to be a good one.
Budget Woes Mean State is Buying Less Land
Here is a short article from the Adirondack Daily Enterprise about how the plan to acquire more property by the state in the Adirondacks is being impacted by the state’s budget crisis.
Lake Ice Looks Good for Winter Carnival.
Here is an article from the Post Star about how the ice on Lake George should be good and thick for the Ice Festival in Lake George Village in February.
What To Do If You Fall Through The Ice
This is the time of year when people start venturing out onto the ice. However, now is the time to be extra careful. It takes at least 4 inches of ice to hold an average person. Here is a great video explaining ice safety and how to get out of the ice if you happen to fall in. Hopefully this is information you will never need but it’s good to know and it might just save your life.