Schroon Laker Update

G’day All:

It’s been about a week since we last updated Schroon Laker. On that sunny Wednesday last week the world was rapidly changing and continues to do so at warp speed. Our memories of that day include watching Schroon Lake’s kite skater sluicing on the ice, the walkers  -- with and without dogs --  joggers and runners, hoofing  up and down Route 9 and the noise from construction crews at Pitkins and the new 9 Mile Coffee Building.

(Pitkins is getting a total make-over and 9 Mile Coffee was getting ready for a soft opening, now planned sometime in the future.)

That day we ran into Joel Friedman ad Tony Kostecki, both optimistic about the future.

Up the road in North Hudson, Paradox Brewery Founder Paul Mrocka was overseeing canning of what they had in their finishing tanks. Production is on hold for a couple of weeks.

Two nights before we were with folks enjoying a glass at Sticks and Stones, the last night Steve and Gary had a full service.

Our last stop was at the Dollar General, where a large semi was being unloaded for much needed supplies, including, we were told, toilet paper.

Our family is hunkered down in Montclair, New Jersey, with everyone safe. I’m working remotely as the Senior Broadcast Producer for CBS News 48 Hours, helping our staff get the show on the air each week from our remote offices and edit suites: that would be our living, dining and bedrooms, kitchen tables and whatever space is available. Our two sons are occupied and our daughter, a senior at Syracuse, is finishing her year via online and video classes. Like millions of young men and women, there will be no traditional graduation coming up in May.  

So I’m now back on the Schroon Lake grid, and will continue to report on happenings around town. We pray that everyone in greater Schroon is safe and well, and like you we can’t wait to get back to what life was like before COVID-19 became part of our vocabulary.

And if there’s are sure signs that summer is around the corner, it’s that email from Craig at the Schroon Lake Marina asking when we’d like our boat back in the water…and that shelf full of sun screen at the DG.

If you’ve got news to share, drop us an email at schroonlaker@me.com or leave us a note in comments.

Adirondack Legend Anne LaBastille

This week we learned of the passing of an Adirondack legend, Anne Labastille. Anne was an author and champion of protecting the Adirondacks from over development. She served as commissioner of the Adirondack Park Agency (APA) from 1975 to 1983. Those efforts were not always appreciated, according to Dick Beamish, founder of the Adirondack Explorer magazine. From the New York Times:

“She would always come down on the side of protecting nature. She was reviled for that by those who didn’t believe in the APA or who didn’t believe the APA should be telling people what they can or can’t do with their land.”

LaBastille was the author of several books, among them the Woodsman series, written on an old typewriter from a log cabin on Twitchell Lake in the western Adirondacks. She was born in Montclair, NJ and died on July 1 at a nursing home in Plattsburgh, NY. She was 77.