Schroon's Strand and Paramount Theatres on The World Stage

EMILY ROSSI-SNOOK WITH A POSTER FROM THE STRAND.

It’s been said that Schroon Lake is the cross-roads of the world, and the more we spend time here, the more we believe it. There are so many small world connections that continue to amaze us. So it’s no surprise when Emily Rossi-Snook recently wrote to us to tell us about a Schroon connection to the Grammy’s Miami, Hollywood and Marlon Brando. Read on. From Emily:

“Any Schroon Lakers going to be in Miami after March 4? The History Miami Museum is hosting the traveling Frank Sinatra exhibit, curated by the Grammy Museum. It originated in New York at Lincoln Center, then on to LA to the Grammy Museum and will open in Miami on March 4. It will also be in Brazil for the summer Olympics.  What does this have to do with Schroon Lake? Look closely at the title cards for the Sinatra movie posters; "From the Rossi Collection, Strand and Paramount Theaters, Schroon Lake, NY.

OK, this is a stretch for Schroon Lake and you have to be an "Old Timer", but the documentary film "Talk To Me Marlon", about the actor Marlon Brando is on the "short list" for best documentary film" for the Oscars. Watch the trailer by clicking here.

It was also on David Edlestein's Best Ten Films of 2015. I hear that it is now available on Showtime. Again, what does this have to do with Schroon Lake? The home movie footage from the filming of "On the Waterfront" with Brando horsing around off screen has a clear shot of Charlie Rossi, long time Schroon Laker and owner /operator of the former Paramount Theater on Main Street  (Check out the plaque at the community garden, site of the Paramount ).

It was Charlie's home movies of the screening of "Waterfront" that was used for this documentary. NOTE: for those of you who don't remember Charlie, he's wearing his cap backwards in the clip. This footage with Brando and Charlie Rossi was used a couple of other times; Feb 20, 2013 on ABC news, "Mad About Oscar" with Katie Couric, has the clip with Marlon and Charlie.  

The Rossi's lived in Schroon Lake and Hoboken, NJ. Charlie loved all aspects of the movies and when Hollywood came to his two hometowns, he was there with his 16mm camera. He was an extra on the set of "Waterfront"; you can spot him in several scenes in the movie. He was also a stand-in for Lee J. Cobb to prepare for several shots”.

Editor’s Note: The Rossi’s also have footage from behind the scenes of the filming of "Marjorie Morningstar" at Scaroon Manor in 1957 which Emily’s daughter Elena Rossi-Snook, a film archivist encouraged her mum to deposit with the Academy film archive in Hollywood, where they oversee preserving and lending out of the footage.

Founding Fashion: The Diversity of Regularity in 18th-Century Military Clothing

This weekend is your last chance to check out  Fort Ticonderoga Museum’s clothing exhibition entitled, Founding Fashion: The Diversity of Regularity in 18th-Century Military Clothing.

The exhibit closes on November 1, 2015. This remarkable collection of historical military garments, accessories, and artworks. It explores how European military fashion and global commerce influenced American martial appearance throughout the American Revolution. Founding Fashion is included in a Fort Ticonderoga general admission ticket and is located in the Deborah Clarke Mars Educational Center at Fort Ticonderoga. To learn more about this exhibit and related programs click here,  or call 518-585-2821. More from Fort Ti:

“This is the last opportunity to see the finest and earliest pieces of military textiles from Fort Ticonderoga’s rich collection,” said Matthew Keagle, Fort Ticonderoga’s Curator of Collections. “These represent the years before, during, and after the American Revolution and illustrate the evolution of military dress the way virtually no other collection in North America can.”

The objects and artworks featured in this exhibit are unique and can only be seen at Fort Ticonderoga. The key objects in the exhibit include four extremely rare and important American and British 18th-century uniforms along with three other related textile objects including an American soldier’s knapsack, a British officer’s sash, and one of the few surviving examples of a British army soldier’s blanket. Remarkably, each of these key objects in the exhibit has a provenance of use in America prior to or connected with the American Revolution.

One featured uniform coat in the exhibit was worn by Cyrus Baldwin from the Boston Independent Corps of Cadets, the oldest surviving American-made military uniform and a witness to the events leading up to the American Revolution.

Don’t miss the opportunity to explore this incredible collection of original clothing, accessories, and artwork, on display together for the first time!

Funding for the Founding Fashion was made possible in part by the following supporters: Best Western Plus Ticonderoga, D&E Technologies, Glens Falls National Bank, History Channel, Lake George Mirror, National Grid, Ticonderoga Credit Union, and individual donors".

Big Grant For Fort Ti

Fort Ticonderoga has been awarded a federal education grant that will be used to host history workshops for teachers next summer.

Officials at Fort Ti say the grant for $170,000 comes from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The fort will use the grant for its two-weeklong Landmarks of American History and Culture Workshops for 72 school teachers in the summer of 2016.

The workshops will focus on the American Revolution's northern frontier and Fort Ticonderoga's key role in the events leading up to the Battles of Saratoga in 1777.

Fort Ticonderoga was one of 22 institutions nationwide and four institutions in New York state to receive NEH grants for Landmarks Workshops in 2016.

Story: Courtesy The Associated Press. October 14, 2015

Exploring Frontier Town

POSTCARD FROM THE SCHROON LAKER COLLECTION

Via urbanpostportemwordpresswebsite

By Chad Abramovich

Copyright. All rights Reserved 2015

Most people my age aren’t likely to recall Frontier Town, a once prominent destination turned ghost town in the woods of tiny North Hudson, New York, but there are plenty of people who will tell you that it used to be great,  and once integral to the once-thriving Adirondack tourism heyday of the mid 20th century.

I’ve mentioned Frontier Town before in an earlier blog entry, but never truly got around to exploring it until recently. Frontier Town is a massive place, it’s kitschy ruins stretch unassumingly from the roadsides of Routes 9 and 84, and far back out of sight on the sprawling property at the bottom of shady hollows and a myriad of cold swamps that pulse with mosquitoes in the summers. Because the property is so large, it’s very difficult to get a good idea of just how much there is to see, until you start exploring for yourself. It’s taken me 3 trips to see a good deal of it, and I still feel like I’ve been unprepared with every visit.

My trips started back in 2012, which were focused on the assortment of abandoned motels and cabins lining Route 9 that once served the motel, and slowly, I would move inwards.

In 1951, Arthur Bensen, a Staten Island entrepreneur who installed telephones for a living, toured the northeast with $40,000, to find a location suitable for building his dream project which would be far more ambitious than his current profession; an amusement park. 267 wooded acres in North Hudson would seal the deal, and despite having no construction skills and no real income after purchasing the property, he went to work. He was known for his amiable personality, someone who was convincing and charismatic, and got many North Hudson locals on board with helping him build the theme park, despite some of them thinking that both him and his idea was crazy. But his tenaciousness and optimism paid off, as his dream began to take shape. Using his 1951 Chevy, he would drag timber behind his car to build many of the log cabins around the site that still stand today. Check out more of Chad's post, right here.