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Lake Champlain- Lake George Regional Planning Board 2013 Annual Report

I recently received in the mail, the 2013 Annual Report for the Lake Champlain – Lake George Regional Planning Board. This organization operates a number of revolving loan fund programs provided by the US Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture. The brochure details the companies that the Board loaned money to locally and a number of their initiatives which includes a winter road education program. (Readers of the Huletts Current will know the dangers road salt plays in the pollution of fresh water lakes.)

It’s 5 pages but an interesting read. (Click the image above to read the report.)

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Visiting Maine? Try Kennebunkport

Two questions I enjoy asking people from other states are; “What areas of your state are the most scenic?” and “Where are some great places to visit in your state?”

I have consistently been told from residents of Maine, that Kennebunkport, the town where former President George. H.W. Bush has his summer retreat, is a great place to visit in Maine.

So without further adieu, I share some pictures that were forwarded to me of Kennebunkport, ME. It’s a little over fours hours from Huletts. (Click all pictures to see full-scale.)


Former President George. H.W. Bush’s summer compound from the ocean.


Another view of the Bush vacation home.


St. Ann’s Episcopal Church is also located on Walker’s Point.


One of the largest boats docked downtown.


The tour guide also demonstrated how Lobster was caught.


What looked to be Secret Service boats were also observed.


A small lighthouse guards the shoreline.

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Huletts Landing Post Office to Remain Open


The Huletts Landing Post Office will remain open with realigned hours

Update/Correction 8/12/14

While the survey numbers below were presented at the meeting, the actual vote totals were: out of 136 questionnaires returned, 133 or 98% voted for realigned hours, 3 made no selection. My original numbers – while presented at the meeting by the Postal Service – were wrong.

Postal service officials announced today near the steps of the Huletts Landing Post Office that the Huletts Post Office will remain open, but have its hours reduced to four hours per day. The start date for these new hours has yet to be determined, but will most likely begin in early 2015.

Residents had been asked to submit their preferences and, today, officials from the postal service announced the results.

Out of 231 questionnaires sent out, 136 total responses were received back, with 98 votes to keep the Post Office open with reduced hours. Saturday hours will not change.

The postal service staff suggested that the new hours be 9:00 am to 1:00 pm but a majority of the nearly 30 local residents in attendance preferred the hours of 10:30 am to 2:30 pm.

The new hours will not be finalized at this time.

Because of pension costs, every post office’s hours will be reevaluated every year. Please be sure to continue to buy your stamps and postage in Huletts Landing.

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Last Chance to Keep the Huletts Landing Post Office Open

If you receive mail in Huletts Landing, July 28th is the last day to have your survey results postmarked for the Post Plan Survey

If you have no idea what I am talking about, please review the post here, if you are unfamiliar with this issue.

Please note that voting for option 1, keeping the Huletts Post Office open with reduced weekday window service options, is the only option that will keep the Huletts Post Office open. Voting for any of the other options will be a vote to close the Huletts Post Office.

Here is a copy of the survey you should have received if you have a mailing address in Huletts Landing (with option one checked). Please note that option one is the correct one to choose, if you want to see the Huletts Landing Post Office remain open.

This will be your only opportunity to make your voice heard on this issue. Please vote wisely by July 28th!

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What Are You Doing This Off-Season? U.S. Naval Academy Graduation

On Friday, May 23rd, I had the distinct privilege of attending the graduation and commissioning ceremonies of the class of 2014 from the U.S. Naval Academy. In-so-far as this weekend is the Memorial Day weekend, I post below some pictures from the day. (Click all pictures to see full-scale.)


The graduating class processing in, captured on the scoreboard. (Those in white become Naval officers, those in dark are commissioned as Marine officers.)


A fly over from the Blue Angels to start the graduation.


From my vantage point, a twenty-one gun salute, captured on the scoreboard.


Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, gave the commencement address.


The iconic tossing of the caps in the air, concluded the day.

“On the strength of one link in the cable, Dependeth the might of the chain:
Who knows when thou mayest be tested? So live that thou bearest the strain!”

From the commencement brochure.

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EPA Honors LGA


Lake George Association Education coordinator Kristen Rohne and LGA Board of Directors President Victor Hershaft at the awards ceremony at EPA in Manhattan along with Judith Enck, EPA Regional Administrator; Michelle Depass, former Assistant Administrator of the EPA Office of International and Tribal Affairs and currently Dean of the Milano School at the New School for Public Engagement in New York City; and Bonnie Bellow, Director, Public Affairs Division.

The Lake George Association has been honored with a 2014 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Environmental Quality Award for their flagship environmental education program, The Floating Classroom.

The Environmental Quality Award is the highest recognition presented to the public by the EPA. Each year during Earth Week, the EPA recognizes individuals, businesses, government agencies, environmental and community-based organizations and members of the media in EPA Region 2 who have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to protecting and enhancing environmental quality and public health.

LGA Education Coordinator Kristen Rohne and Outreach Coordinator Emily DeBolt traveled to Manhattan to receive the award, where they were joined by Victor Hershaft, President of the LGA’s Board of Directors.

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Lynn Kapusinski’s Book Announced as Finalist for “Excellence in Publishing Award”

I’m happy to share that the best selling author in the family, Lynn Kapusinski, has been named by the The Association of Catholic Publishers (ACP) as a finalist for the new Excellence in Publishing Awards, which will be given out at the 2014 Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE) in St. Charles, Illinois. The goal of these awards is to recognize the best in Catholic publishing.

While Lynn has always supported my books on local history, it has always been her books that people stop us all over the country to talk about. Her love of children dealing with the aftermath of separation or divorce has taken us all over the world and she is much deserving of this recognition.

When Parents Divorce or Separate: I Can Get Through This (A Catholic Guide for Kids) is a guidebook for children ages 8-12 and one of six finalists nominated for the Resources for Ministry category. This category encompasses books used as tools in parish faith formation.

Finalists are judged by a three-person panel. Final judging will narrow the entries down to first, second and third place winners for the awards ceremony at the RBTE.

“This year’s finalists reflect a range of topics that are timely like Pope Francis, evangelization, and social media,” noted Therese Brown, ACP’s executive director. “At the same time, a number of them also address a depth of human-sacred experience that explores the fragility and tenuousness of our lives. The call to live the Gospel, to evangelize, to bring the brokenness of our lives to our loving and all-embracing God is striking.”

For a comprehensive list of finalists, see the press release on the ACP website at:

http://www.catholicpublishers.org/news/168236/ACP-Announces-Finalists-for-2014-Excellence-in-Publishing-Awards.htm

To see a sample chapter or obtain the book, please visit www.pauline.org/whenparentsdivorce.

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Bits of Everything

Post Star: Whitehall School District Plans to Increase Spending in Budget Proposal

Your eyes are not deceiving you. With student enrollment plummeting and test scores lagging, the district is proposing to spend more money next year hiring more employees. The Post Star reports.

Buffalo News: Bills at Risk of Being Moved to Larger Market

The NFL’s Buffalo Bills’ tenure in Western New York may be coming to an end. Team founder and owner Ralph Wilson, passed away last week at age 95. The team will presumably be up for sale soon and the new owner will want to move the team to greener pastures. Likely sites may include L.A., Toronto and yes, even London. Read the column here.

Times Union: Fort Edward GE Plant Gets Temporary Reprieve

The Times Union reports that the Fort Edward GE Plant will stay open a few more months.

Imaging Resource.com: 100-year-old negatives discovered in Antarctic

An interesting story about 22 exposed but unprocessed photographic negatives, found frozen in a solid block of ice for nearly one hundred years.

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Deibold Wins Bronze In Snowboardcross

Alex Deibold, who grew up in nearby Manchester, Vermont, took the Bronze medal today in snowboardcross.

You can read about his epic performance on ESPN. This accomplishment is even more remarkable in that four years ago he attended the Olympics as a snowboard technician, the man who essentially gets the snowboards in shape for the athletes.

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Holcomb & Langton Take Bronze in Two-Man Bobsled

Americans Steven Holcomb and Steve Langton took the Bronze medal today in the two-man bobsled event in Sochi.

Langton, the brakeman, resides in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Bleacher Report: Steve Holcomb Drives U.S. to Historic Bobsled Medal at Winter Olympics