Editorial» It’s the North Country: Rready yourself for extreme weather
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Saturday, November 1, 2014
Summit sets course for renewed tourism efforts
A GHOULISH TIME
This Week DEBATE
By Pete DeMola pete@denpubs.com
Candidates for Congress debate for final time PAGE 7 TASTE OF HOME
Local children had a ghoulish time at the Lewis Library on Saturday, Oct. 25 making spiders and tossing eyeballs. Pictured above: Judah Rutz, Daniel Rutz and Victoria Daniels Goss display their spiders and prizes. The Haunted Hallway of Library Humor was so popular, said event organizer Kathy Linker, library staffers will repeat the activity on Thursday, Oct. 30 from 4-6 p.m. Photo provided
Taste of Home returns to P’burgh this weekend
‘Sustainability’ vocab word of the year for WCS By Pete DeMola pete@denpubs.com
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SPORTS
Griffins get by Beavers in boys soccer PAGE 15
WESTPORT Ñ Two months into an academic year that has seen a total administrative overhaul, Westport Central School is humming along nicely, said new Superintendent Cynthia Johnston-Ford. Johnston-Ford said she and Adam Facteau, the schoolÕ s new principal, have hit the ground running. Ò Sustainability is our focus for the year,Ó she said. Ò ItÕ s all very positive.Ó Ford-Johnston, who served in the same capacity at Keene Central, said the two districts were very similar. Like with Keene, she looks forward to becoming an integrated part of the local community. Right now, sheÕ s continuing to learn student names and becoming acquainted with local families. In an era of budget cutbacks, programs CONTINUED ON PAGE 14
Westport Central School sixth graders recently spent a day at Camp Dudley promoting teamwork and effective communication through various challenge activities. Photo by Joanne Mazzotte
LAKE PLACID Ñ Underdeveloped infrastructure. Lack of critical mass. Dropped cell signals. A dearth of lodging. Taxing jurisdictions that draw occupancy tax from one county but not another. One after another, representatives from tourism destinations across the Adirondack Park strode up to the podium at the first-ever Adirondack Destination Summit at the VisitorÕ s Bureau last week and briefly highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing their communities. For the past year, 33 towns and hamlets across the Adirondack Park have quietly been involved in something called the destination master planning process, a customized way of growing the tourism economy to fit the needs of each community. The 33 have been melded into 13 Adirondack Tourism Destination Areas, or TDAs. They cross municipal lines, a first-ever for communities that have traditionally bred generations of insular tradition and intense rivalry. Now, theyÕ re bound together in arranged marriages of survival, tasked with branding, marketing and ultimately, drawing visitors to their respective regions before gently encouraging them to visit the next. Keene, Elizabethtown and Lewis, for instance, constitute the High Peaks TDA. The representative for that group, Keene Business Association Chair Marie McMahon, said their challenges include creating a cohesive web presence for the region, which CONTINUED ON PAGE 18
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Index TRAIL WORK
2
WOOLF IN LAKE PLACID
3
LOCAL COLUMNISTS
4
PETER PAN AT WCS
5
PUBLISHER’S COLUMN
6
LETTERS
7
SPORTS
15
CLASSIFIED
20
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