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ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID DENTON PUBLICATIONS/ NEW MARKET PRESS PO Box 338 Elizabethtown NY 12932 Postal Patron

Saturday,ÊJ anuaryÊ2,Ê2016

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www.SunCommunityNews.com

In FEATURES | pg. 3

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Book: “Not a Catholic Nation”

In ARTS| pg. 7

Party like it’s 2016!

Local professor releases novel on KKK

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Big events to ring out the new year

In NEWS | pg. 2

Hockey team helps locals

Beekmantown Eagles send hunger to penalty box

Belcam Inc. receives $130 $130,000 in funding Funds to allow purchase of machinery and equipment to become more efficient By Teah Dowling

teah@suncommunitynews.com

ROUSES POINT — Belcam Inc. has netted $130,000 for private label and export development. The funds, which were granted as part of the state’s regional economic development council awards last month, will go toward new equipment and machinery to allow the body care product company to become more

efficient and compete with other similar businesses. “This is a very competitive business,” said Fran Wynnik, export sales manager for Belcam. “We need to improve and we want to grow.” With this investment, along with targeting certain markets, Belcam hopes to grow their workforce, build sales and expand into global markets, including China and Russia. Currently, Belcam exports their products — bath products, fragrances and beauty tools for manicure, pedicure, hair care and skin care — to about 30 countries and sells their products in a variety of large retail stores, including Big Lots, Walmart and Burlington

Coat Factory. To keep up with competition, Belcam hasn’t set a price increase of their products in years. So, in order to grow, an investment needs to be made on new equipment that produces products more quickly, such as in labeling and packaging. Belcam started in 1946 and has been located in Rouses Point since 1954. It was originally a family-owned business and now it’s employee owned. Belcam started building their business in the past few years. With the help of this award, they’ll be able to expand more. “This is a terrific program because it does give businesses an opportunity to do things

DOT rolls out tow-riffic new snow clearing machines New add-ons will allow plows to clear two

Ò AbandonedÓ piecesÊ of Ê art Passing of local artist sparks international tributes from artists around the world PLATTSBURGH — A key ring left in the laundry room of an RV park. A miniature, football-topped Christmas tree left on a lonely country road in Silverdale, Washington. Pete A handcrafted purple flower deposited DeMola on a gas station picnic bench as tendrils Editor of fog enveloped New Windsor, Orange County. A necklace placed in a mammogram waiting room in Ohio. Tulips dropped at a Pennsylvania train station; fluffy holiday hearts in Essex, England — Across the world, including as far away as New Zealand and Australia, thousands of hearts beat as one on Wednesday to remember a local artist who passed away unexpectedly earlier this month. The items, left in remembrance of Plattsburgh resident Erika McKinstry, were abandoned as part of the “art abandonment” project, whose participants leave art in locations around the globe for unsuspecting passerby to find. Before dropping them, artists post the objects to a Facebook group that contains nearly 25,000 members.

they might not be able to do,” Wynnik said. “We’re very pleased to have received this award.” Although Belcam is very appreciative about the award, the grant itself is about 20 percent of what the business plans to spend. Wynnik stated the estimated cost of the project equates to $600,000 to $650,000. The rest of the funds, she said, will come from profits, bank loans and a combination of other sources. Belcam plans on starting the project quickly into the new year and have it complete by the end of 2016.

lanes at once By Pete DeMola

pete@suncommunitynews.com

Dozens of artists “abandoned” pieces of artwork across the country on Wednesday, Dec. 23 in remembrance of Erika McKinstry, a Plattsburgh woman who passed away unexpectedly last week. Pictured above: Art waiting to be dropped by Victoria Perry Knapp, of Bowling Green, KY. Photo provided

McKinistry’s passing on Dec. 16 sparked dozens of group members to post items on Wednesday, each tied together by a common hashtag. Facebook via Michelle Williams. A necklace left in a mammogram clinic near Kettering, Ohio. While unique in their choice of medium— the aforementioned items are joined by ink drawings, watercolors, seashells and sculptures — all have the same sentiment: We miss you, Erika.

>> Story Continued | pg. 8

ELIZABETHTOWN — While we’ve had an unusually mild winter so far, state officials are planning for the worst. On Tuesday, the state department of transportation revealed their newest tool in the fight against extreme weather — the tow plow. The devices, which attach as trailers to the back of standard dump trucks, can be hydraulically adjusted to swing out to the side of the truck. To the uninitiated, they may resemble jackknives cutting across the wintry landscape. But to the state, they resemble progress. Paired with the standard plow, the attachment doubles plow width and helps clear 24 feet of road, or two lanes, at once. The fleet, 62 in all, will also speed up response times and allow the state to better deploy their resources in the event of >> Story Continued | pg. 8


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