“It’s Nicer on this Side”

Yesterday, on the way back from Whitehall, I stopped at the pavilion/walkway out over South Bay on Lake Champlain. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this little improvement shows the difference between how Dresden and Whitehall are facing their future.

Dresden Town Supervisor, Bob Banks, spearheaded this initiative a few years back and it’s a nice improvement. I met a couple from Whitehall and they said they loved fishing on the Dresden side because; “It’s nicer on this side.” There’s a parking lot, benches, the pavilion on the end, etc.

On the Whitehall side, there’s nothing and they haven’t even tried to improve things.

I’m going to be doing a story soon, on all the businesses that have closed in Whitehall over the last few years. It’s analogous to not seeing your nieces or nephews for a few months and seeing how they have grown. Except in Whitehall’s case it’s the reverse, when people come back for the summer they notice how things have declined.

I wish there was a concentrated effort by the Whitehall town fathers to do something, anything to stem the decline. It’s always more of the same though; “What can we do?”

Come up with a plan. That’s what. Try to bring business to the town, start or try to attract a college to come here, make the facades of the buildings like an alpine village. CUT TAXES. I don’t have the answer but try something. Use what you have and try. It’s a major thoroughfare to Vermont, get people to stop.

Getting back to the South Bay pavilion though, it’s dedicated to John Brooks who was the conservation officer for many years. I remember him as a child because he would issue permits for burning leaves, etc. and it always amazed me that he carried a gun. (He had to confront poachers and people hunting illegally who were armed so it makes sense.) As a child, he taught me things about the environment that I still remember to this day. I wish there were more people like him. I sense the environmental movement is creeping to an extremism that forgets people are part of the equation. That’s why I took a picture of the dedication to John Brooks that meets visitors to the pavilion.

He always gave me the sense that he would protect the environment but he also wanted people to enjoy the environment also. That’s why the last line of the dedication really hit home for me. He understood that there has to be access for PEOPLE to enjoy the environment.

Vision and enthusiasm are definitely needed on the Whitehall side.

Saturday Quote

“A dreamer is one who can only find his way by moonlight, and his punishment is that he sees the dawn before the rest of the world.”

Oscar Wilde

Summer Picks: Non-Fiction

With the first day of summer officially getting closer, I know we have a lot of people who love to read during the summer, especially on the beach. So, I thought I would throw out some picks for some non-fiction books that people might enjoy.

When the Nazis invaded Poland in 1939, few could have imagined the fate that awaited the Polish clergy. The Catholic Church had a powerful influence on the Polish people. For the Nazis to gain absolute control, the solution was simple – the clergy had to be destroyed. As a young seminarian trapped in the merciless events of the time, Kazimierz Majdanski – who would later become an Archbishop – was not prepared for the events that would follow his arrest. You Shall Be My Witness is his extraordinary memoir, which chronicles his experiences and remarkable test of faith.
Lou Gehrig started his professional baseball career at a time when players began to be seen as celebrities. Though this suited the charismatic Babe Ruth, Gehrig avoided the spotlight and preferred to speak with his bat. Best known for playing in 2,130 consecutive games as well as his courage in battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (a disease that now bears his name), the Iron Horse that emerges from Luckiest Man is surprisingly a common man. Honest, humble, and frugal, his only vices were chewing gum and the occasional cigarette. Despite becoming one of the greatest baseball players of all time, the author shows how Gehrig truly was one of a kind.
Many people will attest to the happiness pets bring, but few are aware of the neurochemical basis. In one of those delectably books that tie together threads of science, history, and everyday life, Made for Each Other explains the evolutionary processes behind our love and need for animals. Olmert starts with our ancestors’ transformation into hunters, the forging of communities, and the welcoming of wolves around the hearth. As wolves evolved into dogs, it is the chemical oxytocin that turned them into “man’s best friend,” and the same mutually beneficial oxytocin-enhancing chemistry makes possible the close bonds between humans and horses, cattle, and cats. More proof of the astonishing intricacy of life’s interconnectivity.
This gripping true story about a 34-year-old Buffalo firefighter who regained consciousness after nearly 10 years patiently records a family’s heroic grief and fortitude. Trapped under a collapsed roof in a burning house in 1995 and deprived of oxygen for six minutes, Donny Herbert suffered severe anoxic brain injury and lapsed into a long, largely unresponsive, nonspeaking state. Finally on a stupendous day in 2005, Donny simply started talking again. In The Day Donny Herbert Woke Up, the author offers a restrained version of events, frequently tying Donny’s recovery to divine intervention, though the miraculous events are spare in relation to the enormous span of time anticipating Donny’s recovery.
I Am Murdered relates the tale of the 1806 murder of one of the nation’s most celebrated public figures. Virginia’s George Wythe was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and of the Constitution. He was also teacher and friend to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, John Marshall and Henry Clay. Few were as beloved and admired; but one day in 1806, he and his entire household were poisoned. Historian Bruce Chadwick takes readers through the circumstances of Wythe’s murder and gradually reveals—no surprise to the attentive reader—the murder suspect. It’s a good story, well told about life in Richmond, a small, elite-driven capital city in the young nation’s most important state.

Whatever you do this summer, read a few good books and let me know some of your picks. I’ll be posting the fiction list soon. I’ll probably post another list of both non-fiction and fiction in August after I’ve read a few more and heard from you!

Bits of Everything

Whitehall Marina Sold

I received this announcement about the Whitehall Marina being sold.

Ballplayer Hulett Tells of Tragedy

If you ever do a search on the name “Hulett” it will return the name of “Tim Hulett” a former pro-baseball player. This story on MLB.com is about a tragedy that happened to his family as told by his son, Tug Hulett, who is now a professional baseball player himself. It’s a great story about overcoming a tragedy and turning it into a positive. Read the whole article. I’ve always wondered if they’re related to our Huletts.

Pentecost Sunday

The Pentecost, El Greco, 1596

“And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they began to speak in diverse tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.” [Acts 2:2-4]

Saturday Quote

“I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.”

Vincent van Gogh

Bits of Everything

Ironside Has Become Rusty

Denton Publications has a story about guardrails that were supposed to be an environmental innovation, becoming well……rusty.

Warren & Washington County Homes Sales Plunge

The Post Star has a story about plummeting homes sales in Warren and Washington Counties.

When Photoshopping Goes Too Far

Here’s an interesting story about how some media outlets have gotten into trouble when they photoshop images. This is an interesting subject as image manipulation becomes more advanced. (The code on the page linked to has an error which may force you to scroll to the right to see the article.)

Memorial Day 2009


Photo Courtesy of Arlington National Cemetery

To all those who have served, and their families who have sacrificed, we say thank you.

Saturday Quote

“If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.”

Vince Lombardi

Can You Remember? We Can’t Forget

The recent extradition of alleged suspected war crimes criminal, John Demjanjuk, for being the infamous Ivan the Terrible made me think about this.

Many people may remember that back sometime in the 1970’s, a person moved to Dresden (who has long since left the Town) who I believe was suspected of being a war crimes criminal from World War II. I have the person’s last name but have run into numerous dead ends trying to do a story about this.

Recently the Simon Wiesenthal Center has increased its reward for information related to tracking down former Nazi war criminals. If anyone remembers anything about this, I would appreciate anything that you remember.

What I remember myself (I was only a child) is that this individual lived in Dresden and was hounded repeatedly by media organizations and then moved out of the Town. My guess is that it was in the 1970’s. If you know anything about this, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

“Man What A Ride”

How do Whitehall, Lake Champlain, and the U.S. Naval Academy all come together in a post?

Well, Whitehall is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy and I recently visited the U.S. Naval Academy. In their new visitor’s center they have an exhibit dedicated to Alan Shepard Jr., the first American in Space, and a 1945 graduate of the Naval Academy, who was picked up by the USS Lake Champlain on May 5, 1961 when he splashed down. How’s that for six degrees of separation from Huletts? If you ever visit Annapolis, Md. it’s certainly worth the trip.

Here are a few shots that I thought everyone might like.

Happy Mother’s Day

“When I was a child, my mother said to me, ‘If you become a soldier, you’ll be a general. If you become a monk you’ll end up as the pope.’ Instead I became a painter and wound up as Picasso.”
— Pablo Picasso

Saturday Quote

“In my eager surprise I was trying to behold God’s deathless, sapphire gemmed city of burnished gold.”

H.H.Hyder, “The Double Golden Chains with Blazing Diamonds Strung” (1889)