Hamilton County

Adirondack Museum to Host Fiber Fest

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Talented artisans will make this year’s Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival at the Adirondack Museum the premier needlework event of the season. The festival will be held on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Activities are planned from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All are included in the price of general museum admission.

The festival will include demonstrations of rug hooking, quilting, felting, spinning, and weaving, a regional quilt show, textile appraisals, an artisan marketplace, a &#8220knit-in&#8221 for a good warm cause, hands-on activities, and the museum’s beautiful exhibit, &#8220Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters.&#8221

Demonstrations will be held from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. at locations throughout the museum campus. Returning participants include the Serendipity Spinners, members of the community-based needlework group Northern Needles, the Adirondack Regional Textile Artist’s Association, as well as felter Sandi Cirillo and mixed-media quilter Louisa Austin Woodworth.

Liz Alpert Fay will make her first appearance at the festival, demonstrating the art of rug hooking. Fay studied at Philadelphia College of Art, and then participated in the Program in Artisanry at Boston University, where she received a BAA in Textile Design in 1981.

Fay created art quilts for seventeen years, exhibiting nationally and in Japan. Her work was exhibited in shows such as &#8220Quilt National&#8221 and at the American Craft Museum in New York City. In 1998 she became intrigued with the technique of traditional rug hooking. Since then she has created colorful hand hooked rugs of her own design. The rugs have been purchased for private collections, and many have been selected for juried shows and invitational museum exhibitions. In 2002, Fay’s rugs were featured in the October issue of Country Living magazine- in 2005 she was filmed in her studio and her rugs featured on HGTV (the Home and Garden Channel).

Thistle Hill Weavers, Cherry Valley, N.Y. will offer a weaving demonstration from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. The company is a commercial weaving mill that produces reproduction historic textiles for museums, designers, private homeowners, and the film industry. Textiles created by Thistle Hill have appeared in more than thirty major motion pictures. The business was founded by Rabbit Goody, who is also the owner and current director. For more about Thistle Hill Weavers, visit www.rabbitgoody.com.

Museum visitors can learn more about personal antique and collectible fabrics with Ms. Goody who is a textile appraiser and historian. For a small donation to the Adirondack Museum, she will examine vintage textiles and evaluate them for historical importance and value. Appraisals will be held in Visitor Center from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 noon.

The second annual &#8220Great Adirondack Quilt Show&#8221 will feature a display of nearly three-dozen quilts inspired by or used in the Adirondack Mountains.

A presentation, &#8220Knitting in the North Country: History and Folklore,&#8221 will be offered by Hallie Bond and Jill Breit at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m. in the museum’s Auditorium. Bond, a museum curator and novice knitter, will share her ongoing research about the place of spinning and knitting in local history including traditional techniques and the wearing of knitted garments. Breit, Executive Director of Traditional Arts in Upstate New York and a superb knitter, will discuss the vital and vibrant knitting scene in
the North Country today.

A special knit-in, &#8220Warm Up America!&#8221 will create afghans that will be donated to Hamilton County Community action, an organization that helps people help themselves and others. The knit-in will be held in the Visitor Center from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Participants will knit or crochet 7&#8243- by 9&#8243- rectangles that will be joined together to make cozy afghans.

A dozen regional artisans will sell handmade fabrics and fiber specialty items in a day-long marketplace as part of the Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival.

The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people &#8211 past and present &#8212- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Great Adirondack Quilt Show, September 25th

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The Second Annual Great Adirondack Quilt Show will be held at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York on Saturday, September 25, 2010. Nearly fifty contemporary quilts will be displayed in the museum’s Roads and Rails building from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. The show is part of the Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival and is included in the price of general museum admission.

All of the quilts and wall hangings in the show were made after 1970- the natural beauty of the Adirondack region has inspired the design of each. This is truly an Adirondack quilt show. Communities from Piseco to Dickinson Center, Diamond Point to Watertown, N.Y., and many towns in between are represented.

The show will include quilts made from published designs (three from one book alone), original compositions, those that are quilted by hand and others by machine, a few tied comforters, and wall hangings constructed using modern layered fabric techniques.

There are a profusion of appliqued animals &#8211 bear and moose predominating! Visitors should look for the &#8220red work&#8221 embroidered piece, the round quilt, and the wall hanging made from forty-two rhomboid-shaped &#8220mini&#8221 quilts.

Some of the makers featured are truly &#8220quilt artists&#8221 with resumes listing the prestigious shows that they have done, and others are Grandmas who have lovingly fashioned special quilts for their grandchildren.

In addition, there will be a mini-exhibit of the textile production of five generations of the Flachbarth family of Chestertown, N.Y. From an 1877 sampler made in Czechoslovakia by Julia Michler Flachbarth to a contemporary quilt representing Yankee Stadium, the exhibit is a fascinating tour of textile history as interpreted by a single family.

Museum curator Hallie E. Bond has organized the Great Adirondack Quilt Show. Bond also curated the exhibit &#8220Common Threads: 150 Years of Adirondack Quilts and Comforters&#8221 which will be on display at the Adirondack Museum through October 2011.

The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people &#8211 past and present &#8212- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Photo: &#8220Late Summer&#8221 by Joanna Monroe is one of the entries in the 2010 Great Adirondack Quilt Show.

Museumwise Meet-Up at the Adirondack Museum

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Adirondack area museum professionals and those involved with local historical societies will have a chance to network with colleagues at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York on Monday, September 20, 2010.

Museumwise (formerly Upstate History Alliance) will hold a meet-up, an informal after work reception, in the museum’s Visitor Center from 5:00 p.m. until 6:30 p.m. This is a great chance to get together with professional peers! The Museum Store will also be open until 6:30 p.m.

The reception is free, but pre-registration is requested. Please call 1-800-895-1648 or email [email protected] with your name, organizational affiliation, and full contact information including address, phone number, and email.

Museums, historical sites, and heritage societies are a vibrant and essential element of New York’s cultural life. Museumwise is a statewide membership organization dedicated to providing resources, training, and expertise to help New York’s museums and historical societies strengthen their capacity to better serve their communities and institutional missions.

Adirondack Museum Benefit For Those In Need

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The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York will accept donations of food and winter clothing for a full month this fall, in collaboration with Hamilton County Community Action. From September 20 through October 18, 2010, donations of dried or canned foods, winter outerwear to include coats, hats, scarves, mittens, or boots for adults and children, as well as warm blankets, comforters, or quilts will be collected in the museum’s Visitor Center.

The Visitor Center is open from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. daily. During the annual Adirondack Fabric and Fiber Arts Festival on September 25, 2010, a special knit-in, &#8220Warm Up America!&#8221 will create afghans that will also be donated to Hamilton County Community action. The knit-in will be held in the Visitor Center from 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Participants will knit or crochet 7&#8243- by 9&#8243- rectangles that will be joined together to make cozy afghans.

Hamilton County Community Action, located on Main Street in Indian Lake, N.Y., provides programs and services for income-eligible senior, disabled, or in need residents. In 2009, the Adirondack Museum’s Harvest Festival food drive contributed more than ninety pounds of dried and canned food to their pantry shelves.

The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people &#8211 past and present &#8212- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Market Basket Class at Adirondack Museum

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Learn the basics of basket making or refine your weaving skills in a one-day class at the Adirondack Museum, in Blue Mountain Lake, New York on Saturday, October 2, 2010. Shea Farrell Carr will lead a market basket class.

The market-style basket has a variety of household uses. It can be carried in the garden to gather flowers, but is also handy for storing towels and blankets. The base of the basket is 10&#8243- by 15&#8243- and finished dimensions are 21&#8243- long, 10&#8243- wide, and 14&#8243- tall. Participants will select material colors to create their own unique basket.

The cost will be $55 per participant, and includes all materials and instruction. The class will begin at 10:00 a.m. Pre-registration is required, space is limited. To register, call (518) 352-7311, ext. 115 or email [email protected] .

Born and raised in Long Lake, N.Y., Shea Farrell Carr has been making baskets since 1992. She took ownership of &#8220Adirondack Basket Case&#8221 from her mother, basket maker Patty Farrell, in 2009. She lives in Troy, N.Y. with her husband and two young children.

The Adirondack Museum tells stories of the people &#8211 past and present &#8212- who have lived, worked, and played in the unique place that is the Adirondack Park. History is in our nature. The museum is supported in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency. For information about all that the museum has to offer, please call (518) 352-7311, or visit www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Photo courtesy Shea Farrell Carr.

@adkmuseum.org>

Local Foods Writer at the Adirondack Museum

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If you love to cook and support regional agriculture, join a discussion about cooking with local ingredients in the Adirondack region.

On Monday, August 23, 2010 food writer Annette Nielsen will offer a program entitled &#8220North Country Foodways in the 21st Century&#8221 at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

The final offering of the season in the museum’s Monday Evening Lecture series, the presentation will be held in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for museum members. Admission is $5.00 for non-members.

Annette Nielsen is the editor of Northern Comfort, Recipes from Adirondack Life &#8211 the fall and winter edition, as well as the newly released Northern Bounty: Spring & Summer Recipes from Adirondack Life.

Drawing on recipes from both cookbooks, Nielsen will identify ways to obtain ingredients throughout the entire year, whether sourcing from forest, orchard, or farm.

Nielsen, a food writer, has contributed articles and columns on regional farms, food and folkways to a variety of publications and has conducted farm-to-table tours and cooking classes at the Battenkill Kitchen, in Washington County, N.Y. for youth and adults.

She worked earlier in her career with Glorious Food, a catering concern in New York, and taught principles of healthful eating and cooking to teens and parents in underserved areas of Washington, DC with Share Our Strength’s Chef Outreach Program.

Photo: Annette Nielsen, photo by Elias Garfinkel.

Mountain Men Return to the Adirondack Museum

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The grounds of the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake, New York will become a lively 19th century tent city with an encampment of American Mountain Men interpreting the fur trade and a variety of survival skills this weekend, August 20 and 21, 2010.

The group will interpret the lives and times of traditional mountain men with colorful demonstrations and displays of shooting, tomahawk and knife throwing, furs, fire starting and cooking, clothing of both eastern and western mountain styles, period firearms, and more. This year’s encampment may include blacksmithing as well as a beaver skinning and fleshing demonstration.

All of the American Mountain Men activities and demonstrations are included in the price of regular Adirondack Museum admission. There is no charge for museum members. The museum is open daily from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.

Participants in the museum encampment are from the Brothers of the New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts segment of the national American Mountain Men organization. Participation in the encampment is by invitation only.

Mountain men are powerful symbols of America’s wild frontier. Legends about the mountain man continue to fascinate because many of the tales are true: the life of the mountain man was rough, and despite an amazing ability to survive in the wilderness, it brought him face to face with death on a regular basis.

The American Mountain Men group was founded in 1968. The association researches and studies the history, traditions, tools, and mode of living of the trappers, explorers, and traders known as the mountain men. Members continuously work for mastery of the primitive skills of both the original mountain men and Native Americans. The group prides itself on the accuracy and authenticity of its interpretation and shares the knowledge they have gained with all who are interested.

Antiques Show and Sale at the Adirondack Museum

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The Adirondack Museum will host it’s annual Antiques Show and Sale on August 14 and 15, 2010. Forty-five of the country’s top antique dealers will offer the finest examples of premium vintage furnishings and collectables. For a complete listing of dealers, visit the &#8220Exhibits and Events&#8221 section of the Adirondack Museum web site at www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Show hours will be 11:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. on August 14, and 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on August 15. The Antiques Show and Sale is included in the price of general museum admission.

The 2010 Antiques Show and Sale will include: vintage Adirondack furniture, folk art, historic guideboats and canoes, genuine Old Hickory, taxidermy, books and ephemera for the collector, fine art, oriental and Persian rugs, camp and trade signs, Olympic advertising, and everything camp and cottage.

A shipping service will be available on each day of the show. Porters will be on site to assist with heavy or cumbersome items.

Rod Lich, Inc. of Georgetown, Indiana will manage the show. Rod and his wife Susan Parrett have 32 years of experience organizing premier antiques shows throughout the country. To learn more about Rod Lich, Inc. visit www.parretlich.com.

The Antiques Show Preview Benefit will be held on August 14 from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. Guests will enjoy exclusive early access to the show, a champagne brunch, and music. Proceeds from the benefit will support exhibits and programs at the Adirondack Museum. Preview benefit tickets are $125 and include admission to the Antiques Show and Sale on Saturday and Sunday. To reserve tickets call (518) 352-7311, ext. 119.

Durants Adirondack Railroad Company Lecture

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The rails of the Adirondack Company were the first to penetrate the central Adirondack Mountains. Construction began in 1865. The goals of the endeavor were to serve the iron mines at Sanford Lake, and more ambitiously, to connect with Great Lakes shipping at Ogdensburg.

Tomorrow, Monday, August 9th railroad historian and author Dr. Michael Kudish will offer a program entitled &#8220Where Did the Tracks Go? Dr. Durant’s Adirondack Railroad Company&#8221 at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York.

Part of the museum’s Monday Evening Lecture series, the presentation will be held in the Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge for museum members. Admission is $5.00 for non-members.

The illustrated program will cover the history of Dr. Durant’s railway line to North Creek, N.Y. and its effect on the region.

Dr. Michael Kudish received his PhD at the New York State college of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse, N.Y. As a professor in he Division of Forestry at Paul Smith’s College, he has written four books on the vegetation of the Adirondacks. His railroad books include: Where Did the Tracks Go (1985)- Railroads of the Adirondacks: A History (1996)- as well as four volumes devoted to the mountain railroads of New York State. Dr. Kudish is now retired.

Photo: Dr. Michael Kudish

Adirondack Museum Hosts Dog Days Saturday

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Dogs will be welcome at the Adirondack Museum, Blue Mountain Lake, New York on Saturday, August 7, 2010. The now legendary celebration of all things canine &#8211 &#8220Dog Days of Summer&#8221 &#8212- will return for a fourth year. In 2009, 159 dogs of all shapes, sizes, and breeds participated in this event.

Visitors and their pets can explore all that the Adirondack Museum has to offer and enjoy a variety of dog demonstrations, programs, and activities. All dogs are
welcome when accompanied by well-behaved owners.

The event will include a few simple rules and regulations for pups and their people: dogs must be leashed at all times- owners must clean up after their pets &#8211 special bags will be available- dogs will only be allowed on the grounds &#8211 not in the exhibit buildings- Doggie Day Care will be available throughout the day at no charge, with the understanding that dogs cannot be left for more than an hour- poorly behaved or aggressive dogs will be asked to leave the museum grounds with their owners.

Sheep herding demonstrations will return this year. Sarah Todd of Dog Days Farms will herd with a variety of breeds including a Belgian sheep dog, Bearded Collie, German Shepherd, an Old English sheep dog, and an Appenzeller. Visitors can watch these amazingly skilled animals work at 2:30 and 4:00 p.m.

&#8220Dog Days&#8221 demonstrations will include &#8220Dancing With Dogs&#8221 at 12:00 noon. An informal workshop for visitors and their own dogs will follow. Join members of the Adirondack High Peaks Training Club for fast-paced routines. The talented dancing dogs include German Shepherds, Corgis, Labs, Rotweiller, Border Collie, and Australian Shepherd.

Watch a variety of skilled dogs and their handlers, the &#8220JAZZ Agility Group,&#8221 go through their paces on an agility and obstacle course featuring hurdles, weave poles, and tunnels, at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.

The annual &#8220pooch&#8221 parade will include a costume contest this year. The parade will begin at 1:00 p.m. Gift certificates from Benson’s Pet Centers will be awarded
category winners, and there will be participation prizes for all. Benson’s
Pet Centers are located in Queensbury, Clifton Park, and Albany, N.Y.

The Lake Placid Pub and Brewery will sponsor an &#8220Ubu Look-Alike&#8221 contest as part of the festivities. Not that long ago, Lake Placid, N.Y. was home to Ubu, a legendary chocolate lab with a nose for great beer. Ubu’s story is still going strong, thanks to Ubu Ale, the brewery’s signature beer named in honor of the dog. Is your &#8220best friend&#8221 an Ubu double? Chocolate labs can vie for the honor and a gift certificate for the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery.

Lake Placid Pub and Brewery will also offer samples of Ubu Ale and other craft beers at &#8220Dog Days.&#8221 Participants must be twenty-one years of age.

Adirondack storyteller Bill Smith will tell &#8220Tall Tails,&#8221 humorous stories about people and their dogs at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. Chris Shaw will provide music at 2:00 and 4:00 p.m.

Special presentations will be held in the Mark W. Potter Education Center. At 11:00 a.m. Lois, Alea, and Andy Rockcastle will offer &#8220From Sprint Mushing to the Iditarod: Tales of the Trails.&#8221 At 11:30 a.m. Lisa Godfrey and Elizabeth Folwell, contributors to the Shaggy Dog Press publication Dog Hikes in the Adirondacks, will talk about their favorite trails and experiences hiking with dogs.

In addition, Ralph Holzhauer will offer &#8220Fur Under the Desk,&#8221 based on his book of the same title. The book tells the real-life story a teacher and dog lover who introduced dog therapy and dog-assisted special education at his school. Finally, Museum Curator Hallie Bond will discuss &#8220Canine Tourists in the Adirondacks&#8221 at 3:00 p.m. Historic photographs from the collection of the Adirondack Museum of dogs on vacation over time will illustrate Bond’s presentation.

From 11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. &#8220Doggy Booths&#8221 featuring great regional working dogs and organizations will be open. Participants include: Champlain Valley K-9 Search and Rescue Dogs- the Schenectady Chapter, Therapy Dogs- Tri-Lakes Humane Society- North Country SPCA- and Canines Can Do. Dog owners and representatives will answer questions about the training, care, and work of special dogs.

&#8220Dog Days of Summer&#8221 will also include an expanded agility course for visiting dogs, &#8220Say Woof,&#8221 a photo opportunity for dogs and owners, and special story hours for puppies and kids at 11:00 a.m., 2:00 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.

Visitors are asked to bring a donation of food, toys, or cleaning supplies to the museum on &#8220Dog Days.&#8221 A drop-off spot will be located in the Visitor Center. The museum will deliver donations to regional animal shelters.

This year’s &#8220Dog Days of Summer&#8221 event was made possible by generous support from Nancy and Lawrence Master.

Photo: &#8220Everybody Smiles Here,&#8221 The Antlers Hotel on Lake George ca. 1930. Photo by Alfred Santway- collection of the Adirondack Museum.