To the editor:

Wow! What a day! Aug. 31, 2024 marked a new era of bringing food, music, wrestling and family entertainment together with raising funds for the Thomas Shipman Youth Center. We had rain, sun and more rain, but that didn’t stop family and friends from the area coming to support a good cause.

Dmitry’s Feast of the Peaks and Music Festival is a revitalized event formally known as the I Love BBQ and Music Festival. Our dear friend, Dmitry Feld, passed away in January. He worked for the USA Luge as the marketing manager and was the president of the board of the Youth Center. He helped to bring Thomas Shipman’s vision for a place for children to hang out to realization. He was raising money, getting donations of supplies and building materials for the youth center. Dmitry continued this hard work for the next 25 years.

The board had decided early on that we had to continue his work. We wanted a way to honor Dmitry as well. Through our discussions and meetings, we decided on Dmitry’s Feast of the Peaks and Music Festival. We wanted to keep the music and activities for everyone to enjoy. We changed out the competition barbecue teams for a competition among the local restaurants. People came and sampled food from nine restaurants in the categories of wings, mac and cheese and appetizer (chili). Food was great! Kids entertainment was provided by Scott Eichholz, Sue Delamarter and Joe Ferris. They provided balloon art, face painting and caricature art.

All this work couldn’t have been done without the help of the sponsors, family and friends of Dmitry’s. Coakley’s Home and Hardware, Hannaford, Price Chopper, Gwynn Bissonette, Golden Arrow, UPS Store, Bear Essentials, Cambria Hotel, The Reynold’s Group, Community Bank, the USA Luge organization and Olympic athletes, Jim Cushman Studio, Meister Accounting, Egglefield Ford, Wildwood on the Lake, Lake FM, Lake Placid News, Adirondack Daily Enterprise, woodsman from Paul Smith’s College and Northern Lights choir for the singing of the national anthem. The board of the youth center, North Elba Park District, Lake Placid police, Sandy Caligiore and Tim Baker and Laura Hooker. Almy Bartis, who came up with a wonderful logo. I can’t forget to thank Linda and Dima Feld for their continued support of the youth center and help in getting sponsors.

Lastly, I want to thank Dmitry. He left us far too soon. His dedication over 17 years of organizing the BBQ festival made it the largest fundraising event for the center. The youth center is strong because of his hard work and dedication, and we will keep doing it in his memory. Big thanks to everyone for joining us and for your support. I can’t wait until next year! As Dmitry would always say, “Big Hugs.”

Michael Durham

Board president, Thomas Shipman Youth Center

Lake Placid