The Schroon Connection to Solomon Northup Celebrated Saturday

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The Schroon-North Hudson Historical Society is one of three locations celebrating the 18th annual Solomon Northup Days, starting Saturday. (July 16)

The event is being staged by The North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association. Events will also take place in Ft. Edward and Keeseville.

You may recall Northup, who was born a free man in Essex County in what was then an area which is today known as Schroon and Minerva, was kidnapped into slavery and emerged to write about his ordeal in the gripping autobiography, Twelve Years a Slave, published in 1853.

That book became the basis for the 2014 Oscar winning film, “12 Years a Slave”, starring Oscar winner, Lupita N’yongo.

More from event organizer Peter Slocum: 

“Northup worked along Lake Champlain and the Champlain Canal, in Fort Edward, Saratoga Springs and other areas throughout New York State before being kidnapped. The Saturday morning kick-off event takes place in Fort Edward at the Old Fort House Museum, with a walking tour of the neighborhood where Solomon grew up, and a re-enactor, Clifford Mealy Oliver, playing the main character in drama. This begins at 10 a.m. and will be followed with other activities at the Museum, at 29 Broadway. Saturday afternoon an expanded exhibit on Solomon Northup will be opening at the Schroon Lake/North Hudson Historical Society. This coincides with the 47th Annual Arts and Crafts Festival at Schroon Lake. The Museum is at 1144 Rt. 9, in the village. On Sunday, The North Country Underground Railroad Historical Association will present the final portion of the weekend events. Angela (Angie) M. Terrell, great-great granddaughter of New York City UGRR conductor Louis Napoleon, who conducted many of the people whose stories Sydney Howard Gay kept in a Record of Fugitives between 1855 and 1856, will speak about her own research. Terrell, a retired reporter for the Washington Post and other newspapers, has only recently learned about her ancestor's connection with the movement to help people escape from slavery before the Civil War. This program will begin at 1 p.m. at The Adirondack Architectural Heritage Building, 1745 Main Street, Keeseville, across the street from an important abolitionist gathering spot. The program will also offer details about Solomon Northup's legal struggles with Washington Allen, a Peru landowner who hired Northup to ship logs south on Lake Champlain to Troy. Don Papson, Underground Railroad, author and museum founder, and Renee Moore, founder of the Solomon Northup event will be on hand that day to answer questions. This program is made possible, in part, by the Essex County Arts Council Cultural Assistance Program Grant supported by the Essex County Board of Supervisors”.

RIP Joanne Poulos Mieras 1954 – 2016

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Joanne Mieras died peacefully in Glens Falls, surrounded by her loving family on July 14, 2016, reports the Post Star. Our condolences and prayers go out to all of her family and friends.

Family and friends may call from 3pmto 4pm on Saturday, July 16, at the Mountainside Bible Chapel. Funeral services will follow at 4pm on Saturday. Interment to follow at the Severance Cemetery, Schroon, NY.

The family suggests memorials take the form of donations to the Westport Bible Chapel, Westport, NY.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Edward L. Kelly Funeral Home Schroon Lake. Online condolences may be left by visiting the funeral home’s website, here.

From Joanne’s official obit:

“She  is survived by her husband of seven years, Rev. Douglas H, Mieras; two daughters, Sarah Tebbutt, of Troy, and Rebecca Tebbutt of Hudson Falls; two granddaughters, Maddison Andersen and Emma Tebbutt; five siblings: Jim (Sylvia) Poulos of Hallendale, Florida, Jeffrey (Tracy) Poulos of St. Simons Island, Georgia, Carol Alger of Boone North Carolina, David (Vivian) Poulos of Miami, Florida, and Laurie (Mike) Martin of Boone, North Carolina; 15 nieces and nephews and many grand-nieces and nephews who will miss their Aunt JoJo dearly. She was blessed with five stepchildren upon her second marriage: Helen (Dave) Stansbury, Denise (Glenn) Bischoff, Douglas (Ellen) Mieras, Jonathan (Cindy) Mieras, and Paul (Amber) Mieras, along with 12 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Joanne was preceded in death by her parents, James George and Madeleine Legault Poulos, as well as her sister, Janet Poulos Metzger.

Born in Schenectady on July 19, 1954, Joanne also lived in New Jersey, Alabama, and Key Biscayne, Florida. Upon her divorce and with two young daughters, she went back to school with the help of family and friends, attending Mercy Hospital School of Nursing and Miami Dade Community College. She worked as a registered nurse for 37 years, raising her girls as a single parent. She returned to her parents’ home in South Glens Falls in the early 1990s, finding community in Schroon Lake where her daughters attended Mountain Christian Academy. It was there at Mountainside Bible Church that she met her future husband, the Reverend Douglas Mieras. She described their Dec. 9, 2008 wedding as the happiest day of her life, as she married a Godly man and the love of her life. Soon thereafter, Joanne was diagnosed with cancer, which she battled bravely until the end. Doug was by her side throughout, singing hymns to her as she endured surgeries and chemotherapJoanne’s life was marked by her unwavering faith in Jesus Christ, with whom she is now rejoicing, freed from the power of sin and death and healed by his stripes.

Her desire was for all to know her favorite passage of scripture, John 3:16-17, which says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.”

Family and friends may call from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 16, at the Mountainside Bible Chapel, South Schroon, New York. Funeral services will follow at 4 p.m. on Saturday. Interment to follow at the Severance Cemetery, Schroon, NY.

The family suggests memorials take the form of donations to the Westport Bible Chapel, Westport, NY.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Edward L. Kelly Funeral Home Schroon Lake. Online condolences may be left by visiting the funeral home’s website atwww.edwardlkellyfuneral.com.

 

 

A Night At The Opera At The Strand With a Swing By From Tarzan

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It’s going to be a busy and "zany" weekend for film buffs at Schroon's Strand Theatre this weekend, with screenings of a new Hollywood blockbuster,  two historic features from last century and two very informative lectures.

Friday night it’s the Legend of Tarzan at 8pm.

And on Saturday and Sunday, The Adirondack Film Society, which played a role in helping Save The Strand, begins a two night Film Festival, calledthe “Easy Screening Series”

To celebrate the Strand Theatre’s recent acquisition of digital film-projection equipment, the Adirondack Film Society (AFS), which was the nonprofit conduit for New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) grant funding of the upgrade, will screen the zany comedy, “A Night at the Opera,” starring the inimitable Marx Brothers.

The film is referred to by Hollywood historians as one of their funniest movies and one of the truly great comic movies of all time..

On Sunday evening, the AFS will screen what’s been called one of the greatest films ever made: the Depression era comedy/drama classic, “Sullivan’s Travels”

This film served as partial inspiration for the Coen Brothers’ 2000 classic, “O Brother, Where Art Thou.”

More From The Adirondack Film Society;

 “Join in on the fun of “Bloopers, Secrets, and Surprises from Hollywood’s Golden Age,” which will set the stage for the hilarity to come with Groucho, Chico and Harpo in “A Night at the Opera.” On Sunday the 17th,  Historian John DiLeo shifts the focus from outtakes to outstanding but underappreciated screen appearances by some of Hollywood’s shiniest starts with “Great Film Performances You Should Remember But Probably Don’t,” adapted from his book of the same name.

"The fun and festivities begin each evening at the Strand Theatre, 1102 Route 9 (518-532-9077) at 6:15 pm with a reception, followed by Mr. DiLeo’s movie clips-and-anecdotes program at 7 pm and the film at 8 pm, capped off by the Q&A.

Admission to each evening’s program is $10 per person; tickets will be available for advance purchase beginning the first full week of July—during the day at the Schroon Lake Chamber of Commerce, 1075 Route 9 (518-532-7675) and in the evening at the Strand, as well as at the door on the evening of each screening.

For more information, please call the AFS at (518) 588-7275 or visit www.adirondackfilmsociety.org". 

On Monday, Tarzan swings back into action at 8pm.