Last weekend
I posted a diary that was intended to serve as a forum for info on interesting and maybe fun events that other Kos readers might enjoy. I thought I'd try again this week. If this doesn't generate much interest, I'll discontinue the effort, but it's worth another shot (I think...).
Last week I wrote about the New York State Snow Sculpting Contest in Glens Falls.
This week (since it's still very much winter around here and that sort of limits the theme of available events...) I'm featuring The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival in (ta-da!) Saranac Lake, NY, February 4th thru 13th. Saranac Lake is located about two and a half hours north of Albany and about an hour north of my house.
From the
official website
The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, the oldest winter festival in the eastern United States, will celebrate its 108th anniversary when it returns to the Adirondack Mountain village of Saranac Lake, NY from February 4 to February 13, 2005. The theme for 2004 was "Carnival Time ". The theme for 2005 is "Adirondack Aloha."
The Winter Carnival's origins can be found in Saranac Lake's history as a world-famous health resort. In 1897, the first year of the event, the village was already a thriving community nestled deep in the Adirondack wilderness, its pristine setting providing rejuvenation for hundreds of tuberculosis sufferers drawn from all over North America. In the course of "taking the cure" here, many patients experienced a renewed passion for life, and took every opportunity - in every season - to explore the natural beauty that surrounded them. The long, cold Adirondack winters offered an array of snow-covered mountains and ice-covered lakes, begging to be enjoyed on skis, sleds and skates. Thus, to break winter's chill and to promote "outdoor sports and games", the Pontiac Club was formed in 1896, and a year later, they sponsored the first "Mid-Winter Carnival".
...
The Winter Carnival still offers a fascinating array of sporting events. These include snowshoe and nordic ski races at the Dewey Mountain Cross-Country Ski Center, innertube and alpine ski races down the slopes of Mount Pisgah, skating races, broomball and hockey games at the Saranac Lake Civic Center, volleyball played in knee-deep snow, softball played on snowshoes, and a competitive display of traditional logging skills.
...
Rounding out the carnival schedule are dramatic presentations by the Pendragon Theatre, Gem*Boy Productions Murder Mystery - Dinner Theater, an old-time amateur revue in the historic Harrietstown Town Hall, a Main Street Festival, a bevy of dinners, dances, receptions and concerts, and a slide show presentation and two spectacular fireworks displays over what has become the symbol of the Winter Carnival, the world renowned Ice Palace!
The palace was an outgrowth of the village's ice industry, which, in the days before electric refrigerators, harvested ice from local lakes for use in ice boxes across the country and around the world. Despite some refinements in machinery, the Palace is still constructed in much the same manner as it was in 1898, the first year it was built."
I was last up there for this event about a dozen years ago (I was in the area for an Adirondack Park Agency hearing on a plan to build a huge landfill in my town. We actually won the battle, but that's another story.). The picture below doesn't begin to do justice to what the Ice Palace looks light at night illuminated by colored lights and fireworks. It's really spectacular!
So, if you're going to be in the area during the next week or so, I very much recommend a visit to Saranac Lake. The scenery in the High-Peaks/Lake Placid area is worth the trip by itself.
Please feel free to share other events in your area that might be of interest.
Thanks for playing!