To the editor:

Last week, I retired from many happy years of cooking and serving at the Left Bank Cafe and I have been trying to put into words what being a part of the day-to-day life in this village has meant to me. Today, inspiration came out of the blue: flowers were delivered anonymously, “just to bring you cheer!” Wow! So, as I pass my whisk and my corkscrew to the new skilled and enthusiastic team at the “LBC,” I wish to say thanks.

In 2003, when our little family traded in the suburbs of New Jersey for the mountain views of the Adirondacks, we knew we were meant to be here — after all, we drove a Subaru with a Labrador in the back seat and our hiking boots were broken in from summer hikes near Keene Valley. But now we were committing to the North Country as a permanent home. Saranac Lake seemed ideal — great library, good pizza and cozy health food store (daughter approved), a college nearby (with a study abroad program in France), a hospital just down the road and a choice of veterinarians, opticians, dentists — all within a much shorter drive than where we had migrated from. The first few years, I mentored at the middle school and traveled to our sister city in France with Paul Smith’s College students. I was a happy camper.

But I did not feel like I really belonged until I worked “in town” at the Left Bank Cafe and was asked by summer tourists, “How do you survive the brutal winters?” “Don’t you get bored in the middle of nowhere?” “Do you like living in this tiny town?”

Many of us become ambassadors for Saranac Lake this time of year. Vacationers are amazed when they learn that winter driving is no problem thanks to dozens of snowplows working through the night (really? I don’t believe it!) and that we celebrate (in costume no less!) the below freezing temperatures with fireworks and parades. Some folks passing through from India are probably still talking about Mark Kurtz’s images of building the ice palace and ladies throwing frying pans in the snow.

Bored? I have never been less bored. Lectures at the library, art walks, concerts and markets in the park, snowshoe and jalopy races, high school musicals to beat the band, Lawn Chair Ladies, Canoodlers. I especially delight in how the generations mingle and cooperate to make every event a success.

But most of all, I have bragged about our volunteers. I have never lived in a town where so many people give so much of themselves to make a community thrive. This is truly the nicest place I have ever lived. Merci.

Anne Sterling Alsina

Saranac Lake