News & Opinion About Huletts Landing, N.Y.
I am sorry to report that Maynard Rushia passed away Thursday morning. He was the Town of Dresden’s Highway Superintendent for many years.
Services will be at Jillson’s Funeral Home in Whitehall on Sunday from 4:00 to 7:00 pm.
No other information is available at this time.
Here are the minutes from the February 2015 Dresden Town Board meeting.
The minutes for any given month are not approved until the next month’s meeting. So these are the minutes from February which were approved in March. The March minutes will not be approved until April and so on.
The minutes from the January regular town board meeting have been posted here.
The agenda for the Town of Dresden’s regular monthly meeting to be held Monday, March 9th at 7:00 p.m has been posted here.
Some visitors to Huletts circa the 1990’s. If you know these people, please invite them back!
Now that daylight saving time has begun, and winter is hopefully drawing to a close, I wanted to opine for a minute on the fragile economic ecosystem of the Landing. Winter has been tough and people are fed up of the cold, so I thought I would talk about summer for a minute.
While most people come to Huletts for the peace and quiet which accompanies the beautiful nature that surrounds us, the Landing also relies on new people coming in during the summer months. Many people who rent their houses rely on the extra income to help pay their property taxes, and the local businesses that give Huletts its unique charm, including the Post Office, need people to support their activities.
Many Adirondack communities are suffering today because new people are not coming into them. People who visit a community are more likely to come back, spend some dollars locally, and perhaps settle there some day.
So here is a call to invite someone new to Huletts this summer. Tell a friend about the beautiful place where we spend parts of our summer. Perhaps consider a family reunion here, or tell people at work where they could go for a getaway.
Invite someone new to Huletts, there are lots of places for them to stay if you don’t have room, and take them out and show them the Landing. Consider bringing some of your children’s friends up with you for a week. There have been marriages here, years later, of people who’ve met in Huletts.
Remember how you or your family first learned of Huletts Landing? Do the same for someone else. Tell someone about Huletts and encourage them to visit. Everything really good needs to be shared.
Whitehall School Superintendent to Leave
The Whitehall Times reports on Whitehall School Superintendent Liz Legault leaving the district.
Ticonderoga IP Plant Pipeline Project Buried by Vermont Gas
The Times of Ti reports that there will be no natural gas pipeline running under Lake Champlain to the International Paper Ticonderoga Mill.
Ranking The States From Most To Least Corrupt
FiveThirtyEight.com recently published a ranking of the most “corrupt” states. Guess which state was ranked #1 in corruption convictions?
“Caveman” Blogger Wins Right to Blog Advice about Food and Fitness without a State License
North Carolinian Steve Cooksey had been obese, diagnosed with Diabetes, and almost keeled over, but emerged from his near-death experience to adopt a simple, “Caveman” or paleo diet of meat, nuts, and veggies along with exercise including running and jumping, sometimes without shoes. He lost a lot of weight, felt great and healthy, and wanted to share with the world, so he started a blog, wherein he dispensed advice about food and fitness. Recipes, grocery lists, general advice.
The state of North Carolina declared this illegal “counseling and assessing” without a license provided by the state. For three years, the “Caveman” has been fighting for the right to blog without a license.
Recently, Mr. Cooksey won. The Institute for Justice which represented Cooksey made this video.
Pickerel Bay’s, Aileen Colligan, recently won a Gold Medal in figure skating at the 2015 New York State Winter Games.
Competing in the pre-juvenile figure skating division on Feb. 6th, at the prestigious 2015 New York State “Winter Games” in Lake Placid, Pickerel Bay’s, Aileen Colligan amazed the judges and her viewers with an outstanding performance that took the gold medal.
Aileen is the daughter of John and Beth Colligan of Troy, New York. She also participated in the opening ceremonies at the Games with her synchronized skating team. Aileen, who has been an ardent competitor of ice skating for 6 years, is a firm believer that “practice makes perfect.”
Aileen was also quick to add that she attributes her skating successes to date to two very important attributes, namely “Outstanding Coaching” and “Supportive Parents.” The Colligan’s are members of the Pickerel Bay Association here on the Landing, and John is a member of the Huletts Landing Volunteer Fire Department.
Congratulations Aileen!
All has been extremely quiet this past week, but Huletts has seen some snow.
As of 3:30 pm on Monday, February 2nd, there is about 8 inches of light fluffy snow on the ground which has fallen today.
One webcam is back online so you can see for yourself on the left sidebar.
This sits on top of about another 4 inches that fell last week.
All in all, everything is asleep for the winter.
I am sorry to post that John M. Barber Sr., father to Dresden Town Councilman, John Barber Jr., passed away on Thursday, January 15th.
John M. Barber Sr. served on the Whitehall Board of Education at one time and was an advocate for prudent spending and high student standards. He also was an avid fisherman.
Here is his obituary from the Post Star.
“May God support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last.”
Here are the minutes from the December 2014 Dresden Town Board meeting.
The minutes for any given month are not approved until the next month’s meeting. So these are the minutes from December which were approved in January. The January minutes will not be approved until February and so on.
Rep. Stefanik being sworn in by Speaker John Boehner. (Click image to see full-scale.)
Washington, D.C. – Today, January 6, 2015, Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) was officially sworn in to represent New York’s 21st district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“I am thrilled and humbled by this opportunity to serve the wonderful people of New York’s 21st district,” said Congresswoman Stefanik. “I pledge to be a strong voice for our community in Congress and to work my hardest to advance bipartisan solutions. Washington is broken and now is the time for leaders to work together on behalf of the American people. I am grateful for this incredible opportunity.”
Since I’ve been writing here on the Huletts Current, I’ve gotten in the habit of recapping at the end of the year what I consider to be the top news story of Huletts Landing from the past year. A lot happened in 2014 in Huletts. An independent film producer shot a movie in Huletts, the Town of Dresden launched a new website, the Catholic Bishop even visited. We had storms, and the Chapel of the Assumption was also renovated inside.
However, the biggest “story,” in my opinion, was a series of changes that have occurred and which will soon go into effect at our local Post Office.
The Huletts Post Office began 2014 on the US Postal Service’s POST plan. This meant that the community had to come together to vote to keep the Post Office open albeit with reduced hours. The vote was indeed impressive, not only because of the number of people who voted but also because of the impressive margin by which the community voted to keep the Post Office open. Out of 136 questionnaires returned, 133 or 98% voted for realigned hours, while 3 made no selection.
The next change to occur, was that Pam Stragnell, our beloved and long-serving Postmaster, announced her retirement. Her dedication and love for our community has not gone unnoticed. She now joins the likes of other former Hulett Postmasters who served with distinction going back to the days when the original Post Office was opened by Philander Hulett himself. While she will not be at the Post Office’s window, Pam still resides in Huletts and she might even answer a question about how to mail something if you see her!
So for 2014, I’ve selected the changes at our Huletts Post Office as the: Top News Story of Huletts for 2014.
The long serving Postmaster of the Huletts Post Office, Pam Stragnell, has recently announced her retirement. I know I speak for the entire Huletts Landing community in wishing her much success and happiness. In an effort to learn more about her plans and what the future holds for the Huletts Post Office, I asked her a few questions.
Can you give the readers of the Huletts Current a brief synopsis of the changes going on today in the United States Postal Service.
The Postal Service wants to keep its small offices open. With the increased use of email instead of First Class Mail, revenue has fallen. The Postal Service decided to save money in small offices by having them be remotely managed instead of having a manager or “Postmaster” in each one. All small offices across the nation are losing their Postmasters. We are being replaced by hourly employees who will not have the benefits we had. I had three choices: transfer to a larger office somewhere else where there was an opening, retire early (I am only 60), or I will be layed off at close of business January 9, 2015. With the health challenges I face living with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma, my husband and I decided I should retire rather than return to commuting over the Huletts mountain every day.
Can you explain what changes will take place in the Huletts Post Office?
The Huletts Landing Post Office will convert to a Remotely Managed Office on Saturday, January 10. The Whitehall Post Office will be the administering office and Huletts will be staffed by a Postal Support Employee which we hope will be Jennifer Hallock. The staffing decision has not yet been made. The reduced hours will take affect and have been announced as Monday through Friday 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. That is the time someone will be there staffing the window. The building will be open from 8:00 am through 4:30 pm every day. The automatic door and timer lights have already been installed. Saturday operations will not be affected – they will remain open from 8:00 am to 11:45 with the building open from 8:00 am to 12:00 noon. Everyone should use their keys to access their mail boxes. Also recently installed are Parcel Lockers. They will be used to deliver packages to people who can’t be there between 9:00 am and 1:00 pm. The package gets delivered to one of the lockers, the locker key is put in your PO box, you use your key to open your PO box, get the parcel locker key and use it to get your package. The parcel locker key is then locked in place until the postal worker unlocks it the next day.
You will be retiring but not leaving Huletts. Can you fill us in on your plans?
My husband and I are not leaving Huletts Landing, I’m just going to be home more often. I will miss seeing everyone at the Post Office but I’ll see everyone on the road or somewhere around town.
I’d like to take this opportunity to say “thank you” to all of my Huletts Friends for my surprise retirement gift at the Fire Company Christmas party. I am deeply touched by everyone’s generosity and support. My husband and I look forward to our long weekend in Maine at one of our favorite places in warmer weather. Thank you so much for thinking of me.
Any finals thoughts?
Don’t forget to keep supporting your local Post Office. The USPS will re-evaluate the small offices each year to make sure they are open the correct number of hours. Please keep sending in your Stamps by Mail orders. I will miss you all.
Santa Klaus stopped by the Dresden Christmas party this past Saturday to give out gifts to the children. (Those in attendance were amazed that he looked so much like Deputy Town Supervisor, John Barber.)
Here are some photos from Dresden’s Christmas party held at the town hall this past Saturday. There was a large crowd of children, who were very happy to all leave with a gift. There were many people who worked to make the event such an enjoyable time for those in attendance. From those who donated gifts, to those who prepared the food, as well as those who decorated the town hall.
Town Supervisor, George Gang, tried to convince Santa that he had been good all year.
Former Town Supervisor, Sue Foster-Ives, along with husband Mark, worked tirelessly to make the event a success.
Santa was kind enough to leave some delicious food for his young friends.
A child’s smile says it all. Thanks to everyone who made this event such a huge success.