Scores Attend Septic Training


Recent training offered by the Lake George Association and the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York was well attended.

While not exactly your typical cocktail conversation, alternative septic system design was a hot topic for 90 people in Lake George last week.

Engineers, CEOs, municipal authorities and health professionals came to Lake George last Thursday to learn state-of-the-art design solutions for septic systems. The workshop was sponsored by the Lake George Association (LGA) and the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York (CWICNY), and taught by a certified Onsite Wastewater Training Network (OTN) instructor. Jim Meacham from the New York State Dept. of Health answered questions and spoke about new revisions to the Wastewater Treatment Standards for Individual Household Systems that went into affect earlier this year.

“We were overwhelmed by the attendance and positive feedback this year, our first year of offering this workshop,” said Emily DeBolt, LGA’s director of education. “The Lake George Watershed is challenging for homeowners and contractors because lot sizes can be small, hilly and rocky for traditional septic systems. Proper wastewater design is of great concern for us at the LGA, and teaching and consulting with the public on effective practices is one of our highest priorities.”

“Our local professionals needed convenient, affordable and high-quality training; in the past they have had to travel too far and pay too much,” said Beth Gilles, of the CWICNY.

The LGA and CWICNY plan to offer additional workshops in the future which may include such topics as the installation of residential onsite wastewater treatment, wastewater phase II requirements for small projects under one acre, and alternative energy sources.

Thank you Lake George Association and Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York for a very worthwhile day.

Bits of Everything

See Pictures of the iPad

Engadget has some great pictures of the new iPad.

Scaring the Birds Away

The Post Star reports on a novel way to scare birds away from the lake.

Report: School Hiring Increasing, Enrollment Decreasing All Over State

The Post Star reports on a new study which documents the problems caused when NY public schools hired nearly 15,000 teachers and almost 9,000 administrators over the last 10 years as enrollment dropped by more than 121,000 students. This is what we need more of. (Watch the videos.)

Now for Some Baseball: 1889

Because today is Major League baseball’s opening day, I thought I would present the hand recorded score card from August 23, 1889 which shows Bolton and Sagamore losing to Pearl Point and Hundred Island in Lake George.

It looks like the final score was 8-7 and Bolton and Sagamore played with only 8 players. (They had no center fielder.)

The entire card is quite readable and demonstrates just how far back our national pastime truly goes.

Maybe Dresden Could Borrow It?


The Lake George Association’s Catch Vac in Action

With warmer weather hitting the area a little earlier than normal, the spring cleaning bug may have come early for some.

The Lake George Association (LGA), the membership organization that works to protect the beauty and cleanliness of Lake George, takes an unusual approach to spring cleaning, its called a Catch Vac, and it came out of storage and hit the streets of Lake George Village this week.

The LGA’s Catch Vac removes large quantities of sand and grit, applied to the roads during the winter, that accumulates in the region’s catch basins, said Randy Rath, LGA’s project manager.

The Catch Vac reaches and pulls out leaves, debris, bottles and cans from as far down as 100 feet into storm water drains, manholes and catch basins. By providing the Catch Vac for lease to area municipalities, contractors, homeowners and private citizens, the LGA makes this essential spring cleaning task both easy and affordable.

This month the village of Lake George is using the LGA’s Catch Vac. It requires only a couple people to operate, and efficiently removes large quantities of litter and polluting debris, allowing the catch basins to function properly so they can capture additional material before it enters the Lake, Rath said. Many storm drains and basins in the Watershed go for years without cleaning, because of perceived difficulty or expense. The LGA’s Catch Vac makes it relatively simple and inexpensive to take care of these cleaning tasks, which are so vital to keeping the Lake clean and healthy, and we are encouraging other area municipalities and contractors to contact the LGA.

To make a reservation to use the Catch Vac, the public may contact Mona Seeger at the LGA, 668-3558. In cooperation with the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District and other partner organizations, the LGA has applied for federal funding to acquire a larger, truck-sized system that will be shared by organizations across the Lake George Watershed and will more easily capture heavy material. A non-profit organization, LGA members work together to protect, conserve, and improve the beauty and quality of the Lake George Basin. For more information, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the website at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.

LGA’s Floating Classroom Receives Glens Falls Foundation Grant


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 Lake George Association has received a $5,000 grant from the Glens Falls Foundation in support of its 2010 Floating Classroom educational program. The grant will help the LGA continue to offer the program free of charge to area students within the Lake George Watershed, including students from Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Queensbury, Lake George, Luzerne, Warrensburg, and Bolton. It is scheduled to visit Huletts Landing twice this summer.

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. This summer, for the first time, the LGA will offer two-hour floating classroom trips to the general public on Wednesday mornings during July and August, leaving from a dock near Shepard Park in Lake George.

The Glens Falls Foundation is a non-profit community trust that serves the tri-county region comprising Warren, Washington and northern Saratoga Counties. Since 1939, the Foundation’s purpose has been to improve the quality of life for the people of the greater Glens Falls area. The Foundation provides grants to non-profit organizations and donor-directed scholarships for area students. It also serves as an endowed investment fund for non-profit organizations. Funding for the Glens Falls Foundation and its sub-funds comes from private donations and bequests. The Foundation funds capital projects, equipment purchases, start-up costs, and special projects of non-profit organizations.

Now in its 125th year of service, the LGA is a non-profit membership organization of people interested in working together to protect, conserve, and improve the beauty and quality of the Lake George Basin. For more information, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the LGA’s website at www.lakegeorgeassociation.org.

2009 Test Results Show Lake George is Clearer Than 113 Other New York Lakes

Lake George received the best reading on a measurement for clarity among 113 New York lakes in 2009, the Lake George Association announced today.

Peter Leyh, an LGA member, was one of several LGA volunteers to participate in the 2009 Citizen Statewide Lake Assessment Program (CSLAP), coordinated on Lake George by the Lake George Association. On September 2, Peter was sampling water near Gull Bay on the north end of the lake, and sank a measuring disk for clarity, called a Secchi disk, into the lake. He was able to see the disk in the water at a depth of 13.55 meters, or almost 44 and 1/2 feet. No other lake participating in the CSLAP program last year could match it.

“This is great news for Lake George,” said Walt Lender, Executive Director of the Lake George Association, “but by no means does it mean we are free to relax our efforts to protect the Lake and keep it clean. In fact, it is just the opposite. This reading shows what a unique treasure we have in Lake George, and how diligently we must work to keep it that way. People need to know that this reading was taken at the north end of the Lake on a dead calm day. The clarity and cleanliness in the south end of Lake George, near West Brook, is not anywhere close to this. The water in Lake George flows from south to north, and it takes eight years for a drop to flow from the south to the north. Our challenge is to ensure that in eight years at Gull Bay our Secchi disk reading will remain at or beat 13.55 meters.”

Every summer since 2004, the Lake George Association has coordinated volunteers to assess water quality and clarity through the CSLAP program. The data gathered is used to help manage and assess trends in New York’s many lakes. The program is sponsored by the New York Federation of Lake Associations. In addition to CSLAP, the Lake George Association actively encourages adults and children to learn more about lake monitoring and stewardship aboard its Floating Classroom, a specially equipped catamaran which takes groups out on the Lake from May through September.

To learn more about CSLAP or how you can help Lake George, contact the LGA at (518) 668-3558 or visit the website: www.lakegeorgeassociation.org

Nuisance Waterfowl Workshop Offered


Canadian geese have been causing significant problems around the lake.

The Lake George Association will offer a Nuisance Waterfowl Workshop on Wednesday, April 7 at 6:30pm at the Hague Community Center, and again on Thursday, April 8 at 6:30 at the LGA office in Lake George. A growing population of Canada geese on the lake is causing significant problems for property owners, with negative impacts for both people and the lake’s sensitive eco-system.

Staff from the USDA’s Wildlife Services department will make a presentation and demonstrate techniques, such as egg oiling, that can be used during nesting season to manage the area’s over-population of geese. The workshop is free, and will last approximately one-hour with questions and answers afterward. Reservations are not required.

Damage on Lake George from both Canada geese and double-crested cormorants has already been seen. The droppings from these birds add nutrients to the lake that can lead to increased algal growth and can contain harmful bacteria such as E. coli, making swimmers sick and contaminating the drinking water provided by the lake. The presence of geese is also related to swimmer’s itch.

“We would like to prevent the populations from growing out of control before they have irreversible effects on the lake’s water quality, plant life, and landscape,” said Emily DeBolt, the LGA’s Education Director. “The LGA receives calls and complaints about geese and cormorants all summer from members, so we decided to host these workshops to help address these concerns. We also continue to encourage property owners with large lakeshore lawns to create landscaping buffers, as these can be an effective deterrent.”

The Lake George Association sought grant funding earlier this month from the Champlain Basin Program to create a Waterfowl Nuisance Management and Monitoring Program for Lake George. Public input and education, along with monitoring, surveying, data analysis and the implementation of nest management, population reduction and harassment techniques would be included in the plan. The USDA Wildlife Services already conducts population management for both geese and cormorants on numerous other bodies of water statewide, and recognizes the need for this type of work on Lake George. Through the grant, the LGA will partner with experts from the New York Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the USDA Wildlife Services.

Rosenthal Joins LGA Staff

The Lake George Association, a not-for-profit membership organization that protects Lake George, announced today that Lynne M. Rosenthal has joined the organization as Communications Coordinator. She will be responsible for print and electronic publications, media and government relations, and the organization’s website. Previously she served as the Assistant Director for the World Awareness Children’s Museum of Glens Falls, and as an Educational Program Manager for the WSWHE BOCES in Saratoga Springs. She holds a B.S. degree in marketing management from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia.

“Lynne has joined us during our 125th anniversary year, and we couldn’t be more delighted,” said Walt Lender, Executive Director of the Lake George Association. “Lynne not only brings a strong background in communications and marketing to the LGA, but also a wealth of experience working for not-for-profit educational organizations. The LGA is proud of its leadership role in education, from the lake friendly outreach work we do for people planning projects on the lake, to our Floating Classroom and in-school programs. Lynne will play an instrumental role in all of our efforts.”

Ms. Rosenthal has lived in Lake George since 1999 with her husband and two sons. She is a flutist and vocalist with the Lake George Community Band and enjoys swimming, kayaking and camping on the lake in the summer, and hiking and cross-country skiing in the mountains surrounding the lake during other times of the year. “Just as the founders of the LGA said when they established the organization 125 years ago, I want to give something back to a lake which has given so much to me,” said Ms. Rosenthal. “I was amazed to learn the LGA is the oldest lake association in the United States. I am also impressed by the scope and number of projects the LGA has completed over the past year. While the amount of the work the LGA produces certainly will make my job challenging, the fact that so many of the organization’s projects produce concrete results, makes the job easier. I am eager to get the word out about the LGA’s many educational programs and lake saving projects.”

Septic Training Course Offered

The Lake George Association (LGA), in conjunction with the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York (CWICNY), is sponsoring a septic system training course on March 25, 2010 at the Fort William Henry in Lake George.

The one-day course, titled “Small Scale Wastewater System Design II – Alternative Systems” is designed for professionals in the wastewater field, including engineers, designers, health officials, inspectors and planners.

“We wanted to offer our local professionals an opportunity to receive some high quality training close to home” said Beth Gilles of CWICNY. Participants at the training can earn 7.5 PE or CEO credits, and will gain an understanding of wastewater regulations and guidance, site appraisal and evaluation, and treatment system design elements. The course will provide guidelines for making soil evaluations, site design examples and alternative onsite technologies. The course is being offered as part of the New York Onsite Wastewater Treatment Training Network (OTN) and will be taught by a certified OTN instructor.

“We felt it was very important to encourage as many people as possible to gain up-to-date knowledge and skills in this area since good wastewater design is essential to protecting water quality. Alternative systems are a great way to effectively manage wastewater on sites around Lake George that have tough physical constraints such as small lot sizes or shallow bedrock,” said Emily DeBolt, LGA’s Director of Education.

Cost including meals and printed materials is $40 for municipal employees and $80 for private industry employees; Pre-registration is required and space is limited. For more information or to register, contact Emily DeBolt at the Lake George Association at 518-668-3558 or Beth Gilles at the LCLGRPB at 518-668-5773.

Biography of Nominee for Lake George Park Comm.

I was able to confirm today that Dr. Dean L. Cook of Ticonderoga was nominated by Governor Paterson to fill a vacancy on the Lake George Park Commission caused by the expiration of the term of Thomas J. Morhouse, for a term which will expire on March 31, 2017.

Dr. Cook’s resume was provided to the Huletts Current:

Born:
August 24, 1944

Education:
Ticonderoga Central School
Graduated 1962

State Univ. of New York at Buffalo
1962-1966, B.A. Biology Major

Seton Hall University
1966-1967, Graduate Biology

Univ. of Pennsylvania
1967-1971, Doctor of Dental Medicine

US Naval Hospital Boston
1971-1972, Oral Surgery Internship

Employment:
United States Navy
Naval Dental Service
Roosevelt Roads P.R.
1972-1975
Discharged 1975 LtCdr

Adirondack Dental Health Associates
Ticonderoga, New York
Private Practice 1975 to Present

Honors:
Bausch & Lomb science award 1966
SUNYAB Dean’s List
OKU National Dental Honor Society 1975
Matthew H. Creyer Society Univ of Pennsylvania
Dental Honor Society 1975

Advocational Memberships:
Adirondack Council – Board Member
High Peaks Audubon Society – President & Board member
Lake George Association – Board member
Lake George Land Conservancy – President & Board member
Adirondack Conservancy
Lake Champlain Committee – Board member

Professional Memberships:
American Dental Association
New York State Dental Society
Fourth District Dental Society
Association of Graduate Dentists

Academic Position:
Assistant Professor of Comprehensive Dentistry
Louisiana State University
New Orleans, La

Dr. Cook’s nomination will now advance to the NY State Senate Finance Committee. No date has been scheduled at this time.

Committee Moves Lake George Park Commission Nominee Forward

While I had not seen anything about this in the news or heard about a pending nomination, the NY State Senate Committee on Environmental Conservation voted on Tuesday, February 23rd, to move the nomination of Dean Cook to the Lake George Park Commission forward. The next step is for the nomination to be acted upon by the Finance Committee.

The Lake George Land Conservancy lists a Dean L. Cook on their Board of Directors in their Summer 2009 newsletter and Protect the Adirondacks! has pictures of a Dean Cook at their July 11, 2009 membership meetings. While I cannot confirm that this is the same person being considered for the Lake George Park Commission, I note that the name of the person in these publications is the same as the person being nominated.

Update 2/26/2010 8:11 a.m.

The Governor issued this proclamation for an Extraordinary Session to be held on June 27, 2009, where he stated it was his intent to nominate someone to the Lake George Park Commission but I have checked the Lake George Park Commission’s website and have found no press releases on this topic. Who this nominee would replace is unknown to me at this time.

Emails to the Editor

I received the official poster from the organizers of the Lake George Alumni Association for their evening with Rachael Ray.

Correction:

I mistakenly reported that the historic Lake George photos were donated to the Bolton Library. I was informed that the glass plates were actually donated to the Bolton Museum, not the Library. I apologize for my mistake. If you’re interested in the pictures, you want to contact the Bolton Museum.

Bits of Everything

Vermont Neighbor Wins Olympic Gold

Hannah Kearney from nearby Norwich, Vermont won the gold medal in the women’s moguls at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics!

Historic Lake George Photos Donated to Bolton Library

The Adirondack Almanack has a story which should interest all history lovers.

Beautiful Bird Pictures

This site: http://birdbook.org/ has some stunning photography of different birds.

You will need to:

Click on the Copyright OK
Then select “Photographs”
Then select “Index” to see all birds
When you select a type of bird there are numerous pictures of each type.