News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
Kayaker Dies in Lake George
An accident claimed the life of a kayacker, the Post Star reports.
Giants Make It Official / Will Return to Albany
The NY Giants will return to Albany this summer. See the press release and practice schedule here.
Fort Ticonderoga’s 1950 3D Premiere
The Adirondack Almanack shares the interesting story of Ticonderoga’s cinematic world premiere.
Why Take Tests at All?
The NY Post comments on the tests NY State students are taking nowadays.
LGA Lake Steward Monika LaPlante holds samples of three invasive species Eurasian watermilfoil, curly-leaf pondweed and zebra mussels. These were pulled off a boat at Norowal Marina during her first day on the job for 2010.
LGA lake stewards are once again on duty at boat launches around Lake George for the summer, inspecting boats and educating boaters on how to prevent the spread of invasive species.They began their work on Memorial Day weekend.
Coordinated by the LGA, the program seeks to contain the spread of three species already present in Lake George: Eurasian watermilfoil, zebra mussels, and curly-leaf pondweed, as well as a possible fourth – brittle naiad – which was found and removed from Dunham’s Bay last summer. The program also helps prevent new invasive species from being introduced, such as spiny waterflea and water chestnut, which are present in nearby water bodies.
On her first day out, Friday, May 28, Lake Steward Monika LaPlante removed three invasive species – milfoil, curly-leaf pondweed and zebra mussels – from one of the boats she inspected that day. Monika and fellow stewards Lee Peters, Mark Altwerger and Brendan Carberry, were trained in inspection, identification and data collection by the LGA and at the Adirondack Watershed Institute at Paul Smiths College, in cooperation with the Adirondack Park Invasive Plant Program and the Lake Champlain Basin Program.
LGA stewards will be located at Norowal Marina and other launches in the south end, and Mossy Point, Hague Town Launch, and Rogers Rock in the north end on weekends throughout the summer. In addition to inspecting the boats for aquatic invasive species, the stewards will also remind boaters of the DEC firewood regulation, new in 2009, which limits the transport of untreated wood to 50 miles, in an effort to protect forests from insect invaders, such as the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) and Asian Longhorned Beetle (ALB), which have had a devastating impact on tree populations in the Great Lakes and the Northeast regions.
Emergency funding for the program this year was provided by the town of Hague, the town of Bolton’s Local Development Corporation, and the Lake George Park Commission. “In past years, the LGA has received funds from New York State through the Lake George Watershed Coalition to run this essential prevention model program, which is respected across New York and New England,” said Walt Lender, LGA’s executive director. “We are grateful to secure funding from other sources this year, including grant funding provided by the Helen V. Froelich Foundation. Without preventative measures like this, Lake George could suffer the kind of devastating impact, both ecologically and economically, that we’ve seen in other lakes,” Lender said.
Last summer, the stewards inspected 3,886 boats at launch sites around the lake between May 23 and August 28, and collected 162 samples, with 75 of those being invasive species. The invasive samples included 48 specimens of eurasian watermilfoil, 13 of curly-leaf pondweed, seven of zebra mussels, and seven of water chestnut (which is not currently found in Lake George). Eurasian watermilfoil was removed on 22 occasions from vessels entering at Mossy Point and 21 times from vessels entering at Norowal Marina. A total of 158 different water bodies were visited in the two weeks prior to their entrance into Lake George. Many of these water bodies are known to have invasive species.
The most common previously visited water bodies include the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Great Sacandaga Lake, and Lake Hopatcong (NJ). With 65 boats having last visited the Hudson River and 62 last on Lake Champlain, which contain 91 and 49 invasive species respectively, along with last year’s discovery of the invasive zooplankton the spiny waterflea in Great Sacandaga Lake, the importance of having Lake Stewards at our launches to help protect Lake George from new invaders is very apparent.
Ticonderoga Searching for Another Grocery Store
Denton Publications says Ti wants more than Wal-Mart.
Slew Of New Motor Vehicle Fees
WCBSTV tells us that NY is asking for more $ for just about everything.
Supernova Any Day Now?
I came across this interesting post which seems fascinating. Looks like a relatively nearby star is going to blow.
Man Drowns in Lake George
The Post Star reports on a Lake George drowning.
Every Wonder Where Our Alphabet Came From?
This is a neat graphic which shows how our alphabet came to be.
The Darrin Fresh Water Institute and the Historical Society of Bolton recently announced their 2010 summer lecture series.
These events are open to the public and free of charge. The programs are on Monday evenings at 7:30 PM. To learn more call 518-644-3541 or visit the website: www.rpi.edu/dept/DFWI.
Students from Putnam were the first to board the Lake George Association’s Floating Classroom, through a grant by the Froehlich Foundation which aids local school districts. Helen Froehlich was a longtime resident of Huletts Landing.
Due to a grant from the Froehlich Foundation, elementary students from Putnam School District were the first to venture out on the Lake George Association’s Floating Classroom this spring. And this was the first time in the 20-year history of the Floating Classroom that the Putnam School District has participated. Students from Warrensburg, Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Ticonderoga and Lake Luzerne will also be going out before the school year ends. Because of a generous grant from the Froehlich Foundation, the program can be provided at no cost in 2010 to school districts in the Lake George watershed.
“The program tied in perfectly with the New York State science curriculum for our 4 – 6th grade students,” said Meredith Beeman, a teacher at Putnam Station School. “The trip included scientific investigations and methods, and information about the water cycle and the local ecology of Lake George. The students had a fantastic time. They talked about the equipment they got to use for days. The program provided a real world hands on science experience for our students. The highlight was catching plankton and examining them under the microscopes. This activity was a good primer for the students as they are set to begin studying invasive aquatic plants in the Adirondacks using our new wireless microscope,” she said.
Last year the Lake George Association purchased and launched a new 40-ft boat, a custom-built Floating Classroom for schools throughout the Lake George Watershed and beyond. On the boat, students investigate the Lake George ecosystem, and engage in the hands-on science behind keeping the Lake’s water clean and healthy. Students catch and identify tiny animals called zooplankton that live in the lake and they measure the water’s quality and clarity.
“We instill in the students a sense of life-long stewardship for the Lake,” said Kristen Rohne, a former Queensbury student who took a trip on the floating classroom during her 7th grade year, and grew up to become the LGA’s watershed educator. “It’s an experience the students will never forget… I know I never did! The program helps the students see how important it is for people to protect Lake George.”
On the boat, students have the opportunity to use the actual tools of the water ecology trade: Secchi disks, plankton nets, field microscopes and Van Dorn bottles. Students measure water temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen, all are important indications of lake quality. In addition, they gain an understanding of how Lake George is different from other lakes, and learn about the Lake’s geographical history, and learn about threats to the lake from invasive species and pollution.
For the first time this summer, the LGA will be offering Floating Classroom trips for the general public on Wednesdays during July and August, leaving the dock at Shepard Park in Lake George at 11 am. Reservations are required. Scouting groups, homeowner associations and others are also welcome to book a trip for their group.
The Floating Classroom will visit Huletts twice this summer courtesy of the Friends of Historic Huletts.
The Lake George Association’s Floating Classroom will visit Huletts Landing twice during the summer of 2010, courtesy of the Friends of Historic Huletts
The Floating Classroom teaches over 1,000 area students, adults and visitors each season, providing hands-on activities about lake ecology, geology and stewardship. In 2009 the LGA purchased a new 40-foot custom-built catamaran boat and outfitted it with water quality measurement tools, including Secchi disks, plankton nets and other lake monitoring equipment. Schools, youth groups, adult groups and tour groups are invited on board for programs customized to their interests.
It is scheduled to make two stops in Huletts this summer: Saturday July 10th at 2 pm and again on Monday August 2nd at 2 pm.
I will have more details on how to sign-up for boarding the Floating Classroom in the next two weeks. Please do not contact the Lake George Association for sign-up information. Both of these events are sponsored by the Friends of Historic Huletts and more information regarding sign-ups will be forthcoming soon.
Rogers Ranger Challenge: Fort Ann to Lake George
Are you up to the Rogers Rangers Challenge? Find out what it is on the Adirondack Almanack.
Info-graphic: Teens and Their Mobile Phones
Here’s a great graphic from Flowtown showing how teens use their cell phones.
Lawns on Lake George Face Scrutiny
The Post Star reports on manicured lawns and Lake George.
Webcam: Bald Eagles in their Nest
The Eagles of Hornsby Island webcam stays focused on a Bald Eagle nest in British Columbia.
The Lake George Arts Project which runs through June 11, 2010 will present a solo exhibition of recent work by Michael Millspaugh. This event is free and open to the public. The Courthouse Gallery hours during exhibitions are Tuesday through Friday 12 – 5 pm, Saturday 12 – 4 pm, and all other times by appointment.
Michael Millspaugh’s current work relies on iconic military imagery which he translates into hand-carved sculptures, dioramas, and drawings as “Gestures of Resistance”. These “gestures” are sometimes whimsical, sometimes satirical, and often personal and autobiographical. He ironically combines images of weapons with flowers. Millspaugh’s arsenal is stocked with gardening tools and art supplies: rifles are transformed into garden hoes, cartridge/bullet belts into pencil holders. He says: “I think it is possible to have a sense of humor but still be disciplined and serious about making work.”
This exhibition is funded in part by Glens Falls National Bank and the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. The Courthouse Gallery is located at the side entrance of the Old County Courthouse, corner of Canada and Lower Amherst Streets, Lake George, NY. For more information call: 518-668-2616
Dr. David Starbuck, has authored a new book, Excavating the Sutlers’ House: Artifacts of the British Armies in Fort Edward and Lake George.
University Press of New England has just published a new book which details the excavations of Dr. David Starbuck and his associates and colleagues.
It focuses on Rogers Island in Fort Edward, and Fort William Henry and the Lake George Battlefield Park in Lake George. It’s a great local history, which is very well done.
In 1996, on the East bank of the Hudson River, Starbuck’s team discovered the remarkable remains of a sutlers’ (or merchants’) house which had supplied goods to the British armies throughout the late 1750’s.
It retails for $24.95 and can be purchased from University of New England Press.
Pepe Productions, a Glens Falls, NY-based multi-media firm, and Bateaux Below, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that studies Lake George, NY shipwrecks, have released their new DVD documentary: “Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758.” The 58 min. long DVD is the team’s second full-length documentary. The partnership’s first documentary, “The Lost Radeau: North America’s Oldest Intact Warship,” released in 2005, won three national awards for documentary and video excellence.
“Wooden Bones” examines the historical event at Lake George known as “The Sunken Fleet of 1758.” It was the autumn of 1758, three years into the French & Indian War (1755-1763). With winter approaching and no fort to protect their fleet, Fort William Henry had been destroyed the previous year, British forces at Lake George made a fateful decision. They deliberately sank much of their flotilla, over 260 warships, to protect their wooden vessels from their enemy, the French. The British put their watercraft into “cold storage” intending to raise them the following year. Many of these sunken vessels, however, were not retrieved in 1759 and today they offer unparalleled opportunities for scientific study.
“Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758” tells the story of this historical event and the modern-day investigation of these shipwrecks by Bateaux Below underwater archaeologists to better understand why the British decision to deliberately sink their Lake George squadron helped them win the French & Indian War.
Among the stories featured in the documentary are the archaeological study of the dozens of bateau wrecks found in Lake George, the strange story of a 1960 research submarine built to help photograph French & Indian War shipwrecks that was stolen and was mysteriously sunk in the lake, and an underwater archaeology project that mapped a submerged 1758-built military wharf, one of the best-preserved waterfront structures from the colonial era.
“Wooden Bones” examines interpretive programs that help tell the story of Lake George’s “Sunken Fleet of 1758″—school-conducted replica archaeology programs that built bateau watercraft, an underwater state park where scuba enthusiasts “Dive Into History,” and a cutting-edge endeavor where a science illustrator, a cell biologist, and an underwater archaeology team collaborated to create startling art that interpreted the micro-world of fauna inhabiting historic shipwrecks.
“Wooden Bones” is directed by Peter Pepe (Pepe Productions) and is written by underwater archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski (Bateaux Below, Inc.). John Whitesel created the animation and Kip Grant did the narration.
“Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758” DVD documentary is priced at $24.95. Part of the proceeds from its sale will go to Bateaux Below to support future underwater archaeology projects at Lake George. For more information including viewing the documentary trailer and how to order the DVD, consult the web site: www.woodenbones.com
Here’s the trailer:
I posted this last summer, about the battle of the Harbor Islands.
Recently in rummaging through a box of old papers, I came across this correspondence from the Paulist Fathers that explains this battle in greater detail. (It may take a few seconds to download.)
This spring view of Deer’s Leap is the Huletts Current newest desktop background.
I’ve updated the Wallpaper page with a spring background of a clearly recognizable shot from Huletts.
A school of smelt can be seen in Foster brook.
Just this week, I noticed one of the more interesting occurrences of the spring. The smelt have begun their trip upstream to spawn in many area streams.
Smelt are a food source for salmon, lake trout and bigger fish. They traditionally swim in schools and are easy to see in the bright sunlight against the bottom of a shallow stream.
You know spring is here when you see the smelt start “running”.
This shot was difficult to take because they were swimming so fast in the cold water.
It was a pleasant surprise to see such large numbers of smelt in Foster brook this year.
I think these ducks were even trying to get a mouthful.