Happy Thursday!
This past week in a nutshell… Mama mia! The leaves have peaked, that’s for sure. A spectacular past weekend; perfect weather to see the hills aglow. Lots and lots of out-of-towners poking around the ‘Daks peepin’ the colors. Four black bears reported running across Wanakena Road (rt61) this past weekend, too. They were heading east. It was a Sunday, Blackwaters is closed, perhaps they were heading to Stone Manor for some lunch. Lots of robins bobbin’round town. Raccoons still out and about, too, actually. Purple aster along the roadside, ideas we’ll never get to, etc… Full Moon! Bo said he hit a stump out down the flow, just before the tiny island with two trees before site 41– time to take the boat out… maybe after this weekend… Someone asked if they still deliver mail by boat. No, that'd be cool, though. Here’s a shot of cars parked all the way down at the sewer, the trail heads were full but the trails were not (so we heard). Lakeside General Store in Cranberry Lake closed for the season. Clifton Community Library in Cranberry Lake is back open!
WEATHER FORECAST: Having been peeking at the forecast throughout the week.. it seems as what was once going to be a cool but CLEAR weekend, seems to have shifted to a cool and WET weekend. Possibility of showers throughout the weekend… we’ll see. Daytime temps in the 50s, 30s by night. Hillside Diner in Oswegatchie re-opens Thursday, October 1st! Looks like Twin Lakes Hotel in Star Lake will be opening soon, also. This weather forecast is brought to you by Wanakena’s own PATTIJACKNAN weather team – a Wanakener garage pole mounted weather station and crew. THANKS, TEAM! This weather station can be found at: https://www.wunderground.com/weather/us/ny/wanakena/KNYWANAK8
Bridgework continues! Steel beams rest like fossils in a museum down around Main Street. The “pillows” are set in place on the abutments. Giant faux stone-bricks stacked like Legos, an ice cutter built on the middle abutment!!!! Flatbed trucks hauling stuff OUT of town!Jack hammers are back at it on the ol’ bridge boulder-beast. It sounds like the crew will be crane-ing the beams into place next week! Check it out, they even made a flyer:
This past week CHANNEL 7 NEWS featured a story about the future Wanakena Historical Association’s Wanakena History Center. The story opens by saying: There’s a lot of history in Wanakena, the problem is where to find it. Really? It’s hard to find history in Wanakena? C’mon, dude. There’s a freakin’ historical walking tour throughout the village. There’s a sign on Rt 3 that says “historic church, that way”. There’s a giant hand painted saw in the center of the village that celebrates Wanakena’s Centenial (2002). Or head into Otto’s Abode, got pleanty of history collecting dust in there. Or there’s this little thing called the internet. Shall we continue? No, we won’t. There’s a lot of history in Wanakena, the problem is where to find it. HA! Here’s a link to the video: https://www.wwnytv.com/2020/09/24/wanakenas-new-history-center-show-how-community-survived-thrived/
Down at The Abode! KATHIE NEVIL'S BEAUTIFUL WILDFLOWER DRAWINGS on view through October 25th. DAMN GOOD COFFEE! If you have not checked out the grocery section: please do! New maps and books in the shop, camping stuff too. Primrose brought some new, homemade face masks down as well, more on the way! The band USELESS CANS who played the CF Music Series last summer just mailed us some CDs! FRESH CHEESE CURD THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON!!!!! Hey look! Susan painted the ICE MACHINE!!
WANAKENA’S BLACKWATERS CAFÉ AND TRADING POST FALL/WINTER hours/menu/etc. announced! Breakfast at B-Dubs returns! New hours are: Tues+Wed+Thus: 8am-3pm and Fri+Sat 8am-7pm. Call to make DINE-IN RESERVATIONS! 3153094040!!!! Blackwaters Café and Trading Post in Wanakena is open for pick-up/take-out too, YA’HEARD! Picnic tables and port-o-john out front! Picnic tables out back by the river, too. Order though their take-out window or better yet do it online at their website www.blackwaterscafe.com
RANGER SCHOOL IS IN SESSION, BUT THE CAMPUS IS CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC!!! That means no hunting. Here’s a message from the Ranger School: The Ranger School's James F. Dubuar Memorial Forest will be closed to the public for an indefinite amount of time beginning Saturday, August 15, 2020. The Cranberry Lake 50 trail, which passes in front of the school, will remain open. This action is necessary to protect students and staff as they begin a new academic year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, but it is a critical precaution as we work to ensure the health and success of the Class of 2021. Thank you for your cooperation.
BIG NEWS!!!! Clifton Community Library in Cranberry Lake is back open!!!!! Hillside Diner in Oswegatchie re-opens October 1st!!!!
Stone Manor Diner and Motel in Cranberry Lake, UB’s Mercantile & Adirondack Rustics in Oswegatchie, Coffee Fever, Todd Hardware, Adirondack Pharmacy and Circle K in Star Lake, Mountain Gate Redemption near Benson Mines, and Sevey Point remain open for business in one way or another (open, take out, pick up, drop off, etc…). The Clifton-Fine Municipal Golf Course is open seven days a week. Post Offices are open too (Thanks, Mary!) Duck Decoy and MORE showroom open for pop-ins. “Showroom FILLED” 481 Tooly Pond Rd, Cranberry Lake – 315-848-4223. Always beautiful photography at the Wanakena Tracks facebook page. The Clifton Community Library in Cranberry Lake is open! Cranberry Lake State Campground – closed **early** after Labor Day Weekend. UPDATE: because of construction project, NOT Covid. WANAKENA CEMETERY ASSOCIATON announces via NEW flyer hanging on the message board out front that Cremation Remains burial has gone up from $150 to $250. Also, there is no longer a backhoe charge for cremation burial because they don’t use a backhoe for cremation burials any longer. Both Twin Lakes and SOS in Star Lake got a fresh paint job but remain temporarily closed. Word is Twin Lakes is re-opening SOON!
Kim’s Lost Dog Report: As of today, there are NO lost dogs in Wanakena. No lost dogs... but, MAN... this boat may have been lost... that water is LOW!!!! Big ol' rocks under there poking through like baby teeth!
All for now!
Any questions, comments, concerns, trail condition inquiries, legends, jokes, animal sightings, etc… feel free to email otto@ottosabode.org or call 3158483008 or pop-in the shop! Wanakena Weekly archive here: http://www.ottosabode.org/p/wanakena-weekly.html
"I am so much immersed in farming and nail making (for I have set up a nailery) that politics are entirely banished from my mind..." - Thomas Jefferson (1794)