“The new date for the opening of the Adirondack Champlain Festival in Lake Placid has been moved to July 2, this Friday, with the production of “The Barber of Seville” by the Metropolitan Opera Studio. The concert will be held in the auditorium of the Lake Placid Central School at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Lake Placid Chamber of Commerce or North Country Community College.”

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“‘George M’ stands for George M. Cohan, one of America’s Greatest showmen and is also the title of the musical which will open the 1971 season at Joan Frank’s Lake Placid playhouse on July 7.

“All of the music for this play was written by Cohan himself. The score is made up of ‘My Town,’ ‘Give My Regards to Broadway,’ ‘Mary,’ ‘Harrigan,’ ‘Over There,’ ‘You’re a Grand Old Flag’ and ‘I’m a Yankee Doodle Dandy.'”

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Pius X High School Closes:

1959-1971

There were two stories about Pius X; one about the Awards Ceremony and honoring the Principal Sister Kathleen Marie Faughnan and the other about the final commencement.

“More than five hundred parents, educators, and friends of the 40 graduates attended the tenth and final commencement exercises of Pius X Central High School Thursday evening in the high school auditorium. The Most Reverend Stanislaus J. Brazana, Bishop of Ogdensburg, presided over the exercises.

“Pius X central opened to grades seven through ten in September 1959 and added the eleventh and twelfth years in 1960 and 1961, will not reopen in the Fall due to budgetary and staffing problems.

“Following the invocation by Sister Rhea Bean, Assistant Principal, Senior Class President Lawrence Barry introduced Father Thomas Tucker who was chosen by the seniors to deliver the commencement address.”

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“The students of Pius X Central High School gathered for the final time Friday morning at the Awards Ceremony. At the close of the assembly, Student Council Vice-President William Bola presented a plaque to Sister Kathleen Marie Faughnan, principal, in gratitude for her service to Pius X Central and to the community from 1963-71. One behalf of the faculty, Mrs. Pamela Gallos presented Sister Kathleen with an olivewood tray symbolizing peace.”

The awards presented were in many, many categories. Following are the names of a few of those recipients: Paul Capone, Yvonne Willette, James Duffy, Mary Beth Wigger, Luanne Keith, Maureen Hogan, Jonathan Reiss, Thomas Thiemann, Francis Powers, Mary Jean Hayes, Elaine Woodward, Karen Guiney, Kathleen Peer, Peggy LaFrance, Jean Sweeney, Gail Renadette, Eloise Carley, Debra Barry, Kathleen Duffy, Michelle Ryan, Yvonne Bohling, Kathleen Branch, Cynthia Bell, Brian Baker, Ashley Roland, Kathleen Sweeney, Nancy Branch, David Fregoe, Karen Downs, Anne LaBlanc and Richard Moon.

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Head lifeguard gets pay raise

“The head life guard at the municipal beach was granted a pay raise last week but similar requests for the regular guards and the matron were rejected by the village board.

“Trustee James Rogers (Hi, Jim), acting on behalf of the beach staff, made requests for a $5 raise for the head life guard and $7.50 for each of the other guards and the matron. He said these increases were asked for by the head life guard in behalf of his staff.

“The head life guard is now paid $125 per week and the increase will bring his salary to $130. The other guards earn $97.50 per week and the matron $70.

“There were some comments as to the scarcity of jobs in the area this summer for youth and poor timing in requests for pay increases.

“Rogers first moved for a $5 increase right down the line but nobody seconded the motion. He then moved the increase just for the head guard which was passed.

“Another motion for the increase of $5 for the guards was ignored.”

(The head life guard in Lake Placid today, in July of 2025, earns $28 per hour and the other life guards earn $23 per hour. Too bad the reporter who covered this story never mentioned by name the other trustees who obviously discussed the matter or what they actually said about the issue except the scarcity of jobs. And, of course, life guards are trained and certified for their jobs, not like being hired to mow the grass.)

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Governor signs APA bill

“The Adirondack Park Agency is now law. The bill, final product of negotiations with opponents of its enactment, was signed by Governor Rockefeller on Friday.

“In signing the bill, the Governor said the creation of the Park Agency was ‘one of the most significant accomplishments of the 1971 legislative session.’ He expressed regret that the five other Adirondack bills were not acted upon. The bill provides $25,000 for the Agency’s work.”

(Golly, that would be enough money today to hire a part-time janitor. Of course the “signing hit the fan” when it came out that the ‘state camps’ were abolished by the act. The owners burned them down, torn them down and left the debris and others just abandoned them including whatever was still in the camp.)

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Summer ski jumping

“Preparations work prior to snowing the 40 meter hill at Intervales starts this week.

“The first and now the only summer ski jump in the USA is staged each year by the Lake Placid Ski Club and the Lake Placid Jaycees. U.S. sanctioned for this event was granted at the United States Eastern Ski association Convention in May 1970.

“Many famous name jumpers (reporter, how about some names?) compete in this event. The field this year will include some fine United States and Canadian jumpers in Senior Class (I’ll bet my pal Jay Rand was in the event) and several excellent young and local jumpers in the Junior Class.

“Snowing the hill for the event will start early on Sunday, July 4th, the day of the event. Volunteer workers from the Ski Club, Jaycees, Town of North Elba and the Village of Lake Placid.”