Schroon's 29th Annual Old Tyme Christmas Spectacular

The weekend gets its unofficial kick off in Thursday night, at Witherbee’s Carriage House with Mark Piper and the gang raising spirits with a sampling of Christmas favorites, among the regular Open Mic set featuring some of our area’s finest musicians.

Be sure to pick up your Christmas Tree at Sticks and Stones, all weekend long!

On Friday and Saturday stock up on some heavily discounted bargain gifts from The Towne Store, and enjoy 35 per cent off on all Carhart clothing from Curtis Lumber. Also check out Giant Mountain Studio for some last minute one of a kind style gifts.  And for the beer lover in your life, our friends at the Paradox Brewery have a large range of clothing, glassware and beer pulls! Need a place to stay? Check out the Schroon Lake Place, right in the heart of Schroon.

On Saturday morning it’s the official celebration kick off with the Community Church Bazaar from 10 am to  2 pm.

Be sure to buy your tickets for some amazing Holiday Basket Raffle at Schroon  Lake Area Chamber Office, from 11 am to 8 pm. All proceeds go to benefit the Christmas Express Project, to help under those in need of  helping hand this season.

From 2pm to 5pm it’s the 2nd Annual Craft & Food Bazaar at Town Hall, from 2 pm - 5 pm. The official Tree Lighting, Caroling & Nativity Walk starts at the Town Park at 5pm. And, drum roll please, Santa arrives at the at the Strand Theater at 6pm, where he will be posing for pictures and hearing wish lists until 7:30pm, proudly sponsored by Uncle Larry and Aunty Liz McNamara. Around town check out  -- from 6 pm to 8 pm ongoing activities with numerous musical acts, Cocoa & Cookies at Senior Center,  Horse & Wagon Rides,  Kids Crafts at Towne Store and Decorate your own Cupcake table! And to round out the weekend, catch up with old friends and new at the annual Schroon Lake Association Holiday Party, at Sticks and Stones from 2pm onwards. Please RSVP to grovepoint17@msn.com if you are coming.

First Comes Christmas in the Winter, Then (Hopefully) Radiator Springs, In Spring!!!

We love  the folks of The Tri-Lakes Association (TLBA) for their full agenda and their open door policy! They are happy for EVERYONE to participate to see their communities thrives.

We know of several of our readers from the East Shore who are regular attendees. Tri-Lakes is a no muss, no fuss outfit, which keeps things streamlined and on track. Here are the minutes from their General Board Meeting held November 14, 2014, at the Panther Mountain Inn.

Wine & Beer Tasting held November 12th at the Suzie Q’s in Brant Lake was a great success. We had 69 paid entrance fees and a huge thanks is extended to Linda & Al Muench, Jo Anne Nick and all the business who contributed raffle items and food. Also thanks to Paradox Brewery, Wildman Wines and Craig,  Anika, Monica and Jack from Suzie Q’s!

“Repeal Day”  The End of Prohibition – Friday December 5th (Repeal Day –end of Prohibition and the 21st Amendment was signed into law on  December 5, 1933 and the TLBA will be sponsoring a celebration of this historic day at the Panther Mt. Inn that evening with Al Tolomeo’s Jazz Five band playing all night so get your gangster gear and flapper outfits out again for a night out on the town!

Electric Sign for Town Events:  Committee is moving forward but variances are needed from the Town of Chester and the APA and Fred Holman is working on obtaining the necessary permits. Checks can be made out to the North Warren Chamber of Commerce and mailed to PO Box 490 – Chestertown, NY 12817 Attn: Digital Sign.

Mike Turrano has tried to contact Walt Disney Corporation to see if we can use the name “RADIATOR SPRINGS” for a weekend long event to be held next October with the movie CARS being shown, children’s events, and our area’s classic auto’s possibly ‘dressed up’ for the weekend??? Anyone who has contact with  Disney or know of any cars that might be all ready decked out or if you want to help with this event should contact Mike Turano at  EXCAPT425@yahoo.com .

Shop Local will be held at area businesses on December 12th and 19th for holiday shopping. More information can be obtained from the Chamber of Commerce.

Linda Lewis is looking to form a Book Club and anyone interested can drop her a note at lindalouski2@yahoo.com .

The Carol Theatre is back on the market for $349,000 and interested parties can contact Cindy at cmead3@nycap.rr.com for more information.

Restaurant Hours: it was suggested the local restaurants post their winter hours so locals and visitors to the area know what days they are open.

Now is the time for anyone with ideas or suggestions for monies received from the Healthy New York program (which were split between the Town and the School) should speak up now and tell Chestertown Supervisor Fred Monroe and/or the Town Board what you would like to see in our towns.

SAVE THE DATE: Woof Stock : A Weekend of Peace, Paws, and Music will be held over Father’s Day weekend (June 20-21, 2015) in the field behind Main Street Ice Cream Parlor. It was voted to purchase a dog costume similar to our snowman costume to wear over this weekend and in other TLBA events. Here is the best part he Tri-Lakes Mission statement:

You do not have to be a business owner to attend! We only have two rules:  Meetings last for only 1 hour. Only 1 person speaks at a time. For more info, click, here.

More Signs Of Christmas!

For the second year in a row, Sticks and Stones is helping bring the Christmas spirit to our part of the ‘Dacks. Last year owners Gary Tromblee and Steve Holmes imported a huge load of Christmas trees.

So popular, the trees are back this year, and this past weekend saw brisk sales. Gary was onboard unloading the trees – some as high as 12 feet!

“It’s a fun thing for us to do. Folks really appreciated it last year and it fits in with what we do here, bringing the community together where they can hang out by the fires, grab a drink, catch up with friends and have room to spread out  in our big Adirondack style lodge,” Gary told us.

If you are planning to go,  S&S has posted new winter hours. MON-THURS: 4 PM - 10 PM,  FRI-SAT: 11:30 AM - 11 PM and SUN: 11:30 AM - 10 PM.

How Much Snow For the Winter of 2014-2015?

Photos by Paul Mrocka. Copyr ight2014. All Rights Reserved. Main street, schroon lake,, thankgiving eve, 2014

There's one man in town whose opinion we have come to respect on all matters regarding weather: Tony Tenda. We recently caught up with Tony for his thoughts about this winter.

SL: How much snow do you see for this season?

TT: Potential snow? Long term or short?  Right now for Schroon Lake it looks like we are in for a bunch of nickel and dime events, nothing big on the horizon, at least right now.  I think we are in for a lot of cold this winter, which has started over a month early.  Here in Northern NY when we have extreme cold the storms are suppressed south, giving the coasts the big snows and us on the fringes. Our chances will come when the cold pattern relaxes. It will be interesting to see how this will all play out.

SL: How did you get so interested in weather?

TT: I’ve been interested in weather since I was a little boy.  After getting my degree in Landscape Design and Development  I planned on going to Lyndon State College in Northern Vermont for a Meteorology degree, but had a change of plans and never did that.  No regrets, however the last 12 years thanks to the Internet I now have computer forecast models and forums available to me and that has rekindled the interest.