ECRWSS PRESORTED STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID NEW MARKET PRESS/ DENTON PUBLICATIONS
Save a Stamp
Now You Can!
P.O. BOX 338 ELIZABETHTOWN, NY 12932 POSTAL PATRON
Simply go to www.trilakestoday.com Enter the letters to the editor section. Post your own letter, reply to others. It’s simple, easy, and free!
September 12, 2009
A Denton Publication
Free
Coupon Queen
Observer
Outdoors
Couponing best kept secret is revealed, can you say ‘BOGO?’
Dan has a strange encounter in Pennsylvania.
Sightings of moose are becoming more common in our area.
Page 4
Page 4
Page 8
Tri-Lakes housing Festival brings Ireland to Adirondacks study progressing By Matt Bosley
matt@denpubs.com
By Chris Morris denpubs@denpubs.com LAKE PLACID — Officials are busy narrowing down the list of possible consultants to perform a grant-funded housing study for the TriLakes. Lake Placid Village Trustee Jason Leon said the study is being funded by a $25,000 grant from the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal. The grant requires a 40 percent local match. The villages of Lake Placid, Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake as well as the town of Harrietstown all chipped in to fulfill the matching requirement. Saranac Lake Community Development Director Jeremy Evans wrote the grant application and sits on the housing study committee with Leon. Joining the two on the committee are Emily Kilbourne from the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County and Mike Conway from the Adirondack Economic Development Committee. Leon noted that each community in the TriLakes has its own specific set of needs, but affordable housing may be one of the most prevalent problems that each municipality shares. “The benefit of the study is that it has several municipalities in it,” he said. “It’s not a village of Lake Placid focus, or a village of Saranac Lake focus. It’s looking at the Tri-Lakes area. How can we as a regional community, a TriLakes community, come to some sort of solution that would alleviate some of our problems?” The study aims to establish baseline data on the kinds of housing available in the Tri-Lakes. Leon said the study will also reveal the level of need for affordable housing among residents. Information about the area’s demographics will also be included. Leon said one of the main goals is to explore village and town-owned land and determine where development of affordable housing is feasible. “Once the study is finished we don’t want to just file it away,” Leon said. “It needs to be implemented and we need to tackle affordable housing aggressively.” Lake Placid Village Mayor Craig Randall agreed. “The livelihood of this region can’t just depend on tourism,” he said. “We need to find a feasible way for our residents to stay here and thrive here.” And that’s what Leon hopes the study will address. He said the cost of housing is no longer crippling just for lower-income workers. “You’re starting to see young professionals and doctors leave the area because they can’t afford to stay here,” he said. “It’s just one part of the problem,” Leon said. “But how can we find affordable housing for the full-time residents here, providing opportunities not just for the people who enjoy the Adirondacks to come live here, but providing opportunities for individuals who went away to school and came back, or people who already live here and are blue collar or middle class and have an opportunity to live here too." “We’re trying to provide an opportunity for multi-generational natives to actually stay here before an ultimate displacement occurs,” he added. There’s no word yet if the committee has selected a consulting firm to perform the study.
JohnJoe Reilly of Aiseiri Productions demonstrates the Guiness keg lift at The Festival of Ireland Sept. 5. The two-day event at the Lake Placid Ski Jumping Complex gave hundreds of visitors a healthy taste of Irish culture. Photo by Matt Bosley
LAKE PLACID — Visitors to Lake Placid had a chance to relish in their Irish heritage last weekend as they attended the second annual Festival of Ireland. Held at ORDA’s Olympic Ski Jumping Complex, the Sept. 5 and 6 event drew hundreds from across the Adirondacks and beyond, reaffirming it as a late-summer mainstay in the Adirondacks. “We just felt that there was some (Irish) culture that needed to be brought to the area,” said Shane O’Neil, who, together with fellow Irishman JohnJoe Reilly, organized the event both this year and last. The two day festival featured a wide variety of Irish-themed music and arts. Among the many performers were the Celtic Grace Irish Dancers, Irish storyteller Deidre McCarthy and Adirondack Harper Martha Gallagher. Among the event’s activities were tugo’-war games, Guiness keg lifts, and hay bale throwing. Several artisans and vendors were on hand, selling food and crafts that celebrated the rich culture of Ireland; one O’Neil and Reilly hope to preserve for future generations. Their band, Aiseiri (pronounced “Asheye-ree”), gets its name from the old Irish word for “revival,” denoting their goal to revive the ancient culture. Aiseiri plays traditional Irish music around the Tri-Lakes region throughout the year, but the pair decided to start their own production company just to put the Festival of Ireland on in Lake Placid. Prior to the 2008 festival, the nearest comparable event took place in Albany. Now, said Reilly, people need not travel as far to celebrate their Irish heritage. “I think this year, the outpouring of support has been great,” said Reilly, optimistic that the festival will continue to expand. “Hopefully as the years go by, we’ll turn it into a hugely successful event.”
Feature film to be shot in Tupper Lake By Matt Bosley matt@denpubs.com TUPPER LAKE — One local town could garner international attention as it serves as the stage for a mainstream movie. “Recreator,” a full-length feature film with plans for a worldwide release will be primarily filmed in Tupper Lake this fall, and local leaders are welcoming the venture with open arms. Gregory Orr, the film’s writer, director and producer, has over two decades of experience in the film industry, most notably as a cinematographer on James Cameron’s Oscarwinning 1989 film “The Abyss.” Since then, he has produced a handful of documentaries that have appeared on national television as well as a successful
short fiction film. “I’ve been waiting to make a feature film for a number of years, and I wrote a number of scripts,” said Orr, “but it’s “Recreator” that has received the greatest interest from financiers and other movie makers.” Orr, who resides in New York City, first visited the Adirondacks when he stayed at Rainbow Lake last year. When time came to decide on a location to shoot his latest film, the TriLakes region came to mind. “In my research, I found both the lake and the camp we’re planning to use as having a great combination of scenic beauty and practical access so important to a film production,” said Orr. “There’s also cell service in the area, which is a real boon.” Filming for “Recreator” will take place in Tupper Lake for
five weeks, beginning in October. Negotiations are still ongoing for some specific locations, but Orr said the production will be visible in town for at least one day. “Everyone has been both hospitable and helpful in trying to make our visit work,” said Orr. “I’m delighted with the mayor, the supervisor and the many local business people who have tried to accommodate our many needs.” “Recreator” tells the story of three teenagers on a camping trip who stumble on the abandoned secret laboratory of a mysterious scientist. It is there that they accidently trigger an experiment that creates duplicates of each of them. The clones have enhanced physical abilities and seek to trap the teens, who must outsmart the clones to avoid being replaced.
Gregory Orr is the writer, director, and producer of “Recreator,” a full-length feature film that he plans to film primarily in Tupper Lake beginning in October. Orr said the film is a sci-fi thriller in the tradition of the
See FILM, page 12