Canoeing is not one of those sports where the learning curve is beyond the average recreationist. However, it does take a sort of finesse and, quite honestly, patience with your fellow paddler. Much of what is unnerving to first-time canoegoers is the feeling of instability in the boat. ...

This is part two [part one May 11] from a September 1933 Saranac Lake newspaper, The Advertiser, a tabloid-size sheet published by Russell Dawson. --- The National Recovery Administration [NRA] was a very big deal. [See illustration] Merchants were happy to carry the NRA emblem on their ...

“I’ve got tomorrow off,” said Jen-Ex. “You wanna go on an adventure?” “An adventure?” I said. “Where to? Deepest, darkest Africa? Kathmandu? Tahiti?” “Nope,” she said. “Somewhere more exotic.” “Oh?” I said. “And where would that be?” “The garden ...

“Sunset and evening star, but one clear call for me. Let there be no moaning at the bar when I put out to sea.” So began a new admiralty judge when he first took the bench. The courtroom bar keeps the public outside side the “well” of the courtroom where court business is done. ...

From the Clyde to Sandy Hook --- “Naturally his first visit to America, a land without class distinctions, was to him (Robert Louis Stevenson) an event of extraordinary interest. The privations he endured as an amateur emigrant caused him much less suffering than his friends, who could ...

Recently proposed to the Lake Placid-North Elba Joint Review Board by the Hurley Brothers, a local fuels dealer, is to convert an acre atop Vitvitsky Hill, the highest hill between the AuSable and Chubb rivers on Old Military Road, into a tank farm for LPG, liquefied propane gas, for unloading ...

Spring has come to the Adirondacks. The lakes are open. Loons, geese, ducks, robins, and songbirds have returned. The snow is gone, and the brown earth and dry winter grass is now a bright spring green. Trees are starting to leaf out. Spring symbolizes new life. After a long, dark winter, the ...

A few years ago, I was in the Champlain Valley helping to clear a trail. Just to let you know even with huge signs warning me to be careful of ticks, I did everything wrong. I walked through tall grassy areas with dark pants, shirt, and socks. I didn’t check my clothes before getting in the ...

Surfing radio stations I happened upon Elton John’s “Sorry Seems To Be the Hardest Word,” and two lines jumped out at me: “It’s sad, so sad. And it’s getting more and more absurd.”  These 11 words perfectly capture the Trump presidency and likely caught my attention, as I had ...

“In the Bleak Mid-Winter” is a crime novel that has been out since 2002, but if you haven’t read it, or even if you have, it’s a good one to crack open. I read this story not long after it was first published, and it was tons of fun to read again. Julia Spencer-Fleming has ...

Roadway fatalities are soaring at rates not seen in 50 years, resulting from crashes, collisions and other incidents caused by drivers. The operative words here are “caused by drivers.” So don’t call them accidents anymore! This is the position of a growing number of safety advocates, ...

Once upon a time, May 1 — May Day — was a day for working-class parades in factory towns. This year, it was a day for Joe Biden, to set off on his third presidential campaign in 32 years, to make news on the stump, not in a working-class venue but in the university town of Iowa City, now ...

WILMINGTON — With the state Department of Environmental Conservation asking hikers to stay below 2,500 feet in elevation during mud season, Monday’s sunshine and summer-like weather provided a good chance to check out a pair of ponds, even if the water was too cold to go swimming. Owen ...

There were at least four weekly tabloid size newspapers that sprang up over the years to compete with The Enterprise which will be celebrating its 150 Anniversary this year. None lasted very long. I have a copy of one, The Advertiser, dated Friday, Sept. 29, 1933 from which I will mine ...

So, is it Cooper Kiln Pond or Cooper Kill Pond? I have seen it both ways. The USGS map for the region reads “Cooper Kill Pond,” while other maps and writings call it “Cooper Kiln Pond.” A kill is a Dutch word meaning creek. It is commonly used where the Dutch settled — the ...

In St. Lawrence County, scores of people showed up at a recent county Legislature meeting and about 40 made comments after a Republican legislator from Massena, Rita Curran, put up a post on her Facebook page attacking Muslims. Many of them wanted Curran to resign, but the board voted 10-5 ...

Last week I did something I rarely do. I left my my mountain lair and traveled to civilization — Portland, Maine. Why Portland? Because that’s where Willie Kendrick, my college bestie from Old Siwash, lives. And what did I do in Portland? Precious little. The purpose of the ...

Four hundred thousand dollars for a “whitewater kayak feature” in the village! Rebuild a river so people can play in their kayaks? First of all, rebuilding a river so it suits the needs of a single recreational group is a pretty disgusting and arrogant idea. We long ago learned what ...

Who is a member? - If you have a library card you are a patron, which entitles you to all library services. You become a member when you fill out a membership form and make a contribution to the annual Member Campaign. - Why a membership campaign? - This is the time of year when you are ...

We ran two mugshots on page 1 Wednesday. State Police had released the photos of this father and daughter when troopers arrested them last year in what was then a murder case — since pleaded down to manslaughter. Police probably wouldn’t release mugshots now, even in a murder ...