Happy Thursday! Happy Equinox!
WITHINANUTSHELL – Wow! Those hills have color! BIG FULL MOON! Jupiter and Saturn, too. Bernie showed us where the Space Station was, for a few moments. Some cool nights under our belts (39F Sunday morning - foggy too!) Jeff said coyotes were tussling in the middle of the road by Wanakena sign, in the fog, early Sunday morning. Heard some yelping pretty good at the moon, too - south of the village. Swimmers report: water's COLD! Folks wondering and poking around the neighborhood, making the seasonal rounds. RT61 heading into Wanakena had some shoulder work the other day; FRESH LINES ARE PAINTED. No-see-ems. LOTS OF BATS! The hole in the fence got repaired! Thanks Town of Fine crew! WHAT THE HELL MADE THAT HOLE IN THE FENCE AT THE TENNIS COURT?!?!? Here’s a link to the most recent town board meeting minutes HERE: Town Of Fine: Minutes: September 08, 2021: Town Board Meeting [Digital Towpath]
FORECAST - Looks like temps slowly declining though the weekend. Rain Thursday Night! Bring an extra shirt, a rain coat, bugs pray, and more! 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 HERE: Wanakena, NY 10-Day Weather Forecast | Weather Underground (wunderground.com) Lots of updates on the CliftonFineADK website these days, too: Clifton-Fine Community News & Events (cliftonfineadk.com).
LOCAL LANDMARK - The Adirondack Explorer (who wrote an article about Otto's Abode last year HERE) has just published an article about a local point of significance just south of Star Lake. The article also mentions local explorer and author Bill Hill! Both of Bill Hill's books are available for purchase here from the bookshelf at Otto's Abode. After reading the article: if you find the (mentioned) pic of Bill at the monument please SHARE IT WITH US... we've looked, but not enough. Please and thank you! Here's a link to the Explorer Article about a CLIFTON-FINE COLVIN'S CORNER adventure: Great Corner Monument: In search of a hidden marker (adirondackexplorer.org) Be sure to check out Bill Hill's website, too!! LOTS of local adventures. Also! Abode Alum Ola Aldous has new music out in the world called: FORK : HERE Oh, and here's a different local landmark:
DOWN AT THE ABODE - New Hours Announced! We've adjusted our hours in conjunction with the change of season. Check out our ad in this week's BARGAIN HUNTER. We'll post it up on here on website, also. Thanks to everyone who came out to support Otto's Abode this past busy summer season! And we thank you VERY MUCH for your continued support throughout the WHOLE year! We couldn't do what we do without YOU! THANK YOU! New Paintings by Wanakena's own Bev McKeown. More info below. Junk Drawer Exhibit remains on view with some new additions. Want to exhibit your art/work at Otto's Abode? We want you! Martin's Pretzel's pretzel fairy visited the shop! Bags of Red on the rack! NEW AND IMPROVED Wee-Keena Library bookshelf, check it out. The front porch is PACKED with produce. This week: plums, robust romaine, concord grapes and lots more! Delivery arrives Wednesday afternoon and we keep it stocked all week. Eggs bread and milk too. Dry goods in cans, dry goods in boxes, dry goods in bags, frozen meats, local cheeses, snack sacks, candy racks and more. Cold drinks, hot coffee. Walk-in cooler holds COLD beer, cider, seltzers and more! Books, maps, gifts and necessities. Trail information for any wondering soul; stop in the shop or give us a call. Right along the Cranberry Lake 50 and a hop skip and a jump up from the Oswegatchie River/Cranberry Lake! Post office next door for all your mailing needs 10-noon M-Sat - thanks, Mary! When else can we say? LOTS, but we've said enough!
ON VIEW - Paintings; Our Local Landscape - NEW Paintings by Wanakena's own Bev McKeown. On view at Otto's Abode September 1st - October 11th, 2021. Some words from Bev about the show: Nothing is more exciting than looking at an array of colorful paints, painting surfaces and a beautiful landscape to stimulate one's curiosity and creativity. The paintings in this show all began with a vision: to embrace the colorful and dramatic beauty of our local landscape. My approach to painting varies greatly, often starting with one particular medium and ending in a mix of many. Redoing the exact scene over and over is a common occurrence. There is seldom an initial sketch drawn onto the canvas or paper. Instead, I just jump in and let the creative process begin, applying color to various section of the painting surface while establishing its composition and values. This is done very quickly, loosely and spontaneously to avoid over-thinking. It allows the freedom to relax and enjoy the unknown. A variety of painting mediums and painting surfaces opens the door for various painting styles to develop. Doing so, keeps painting interesting and challenging as I curiously explore the art of painting. Bev considers herself mostly a self taught artist, having experience in adult education classes and workshops. As a school age child Bev began sketching and learning the primary principles of art. She later progressed to oils, acrylics, pastels, watercolor and alcohol ink. Her work has been in various shows throughout the years. She finds nothing more fun and relaxing than to sit by her easel and “play” with paints. She calls it her “zen”. Bev Lives in Wanakena, NY.
BLACKWATERS CAFÉ AND TRADING POST - New hours announced: Tuesday and Wednesday 8am-3pm & Thursday, Friday, and Saturday 8am - 7pm. Closed Sunday and Monday. "Yes, we're open! We added a DELI to out cafe and trading post! Daily meat & cheese discounts, veggies, dairy items, bread, specialty foods and gifts, dozens of teas, fishing supplies, local artisan pieces, books. We have two air purifiers, and we have an ONLINE take-out menu if you don't want to come inside. And YES, we still serve beer and wine with your meal!!! www.blackwaterscafe.com 3153094040" CHECK OUT THEIR TRAIL CAM HERE: gotsnowcams.com - New York - paul@NorthernChateau@.com
WANAKENA HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION – The Walking Tour around Wanakena is OPEN for the warm-weather season! Bottle and can drive outside of the History Center ALL SUMMER/FALL LONG! Get chuggin' and give up those nickels and NO DOG POO BAGS!! The "History Center" is open two hours a week; 12-2pm on Saturdays.
PACKBASKET ADVENTURES – Website says: "We are OPEN FOR BUSINESS and following NYS DOH Guidelines. We are accepting reservations with proof of completed vaccination protocol OR proof of negative Covid test within 3 days of planned arrival. Come have a safe and relaxing stay!"
RANGER SCHOOL - Students! Faculty! Staff! Ranger School Class of 2022 is IN SESSION! Campus hiking trails are open to the public. Stay away from the buildings, though. CHECK OUT THEIR TRAIL CAM
WANAKENA CHURCH – Wanakena Church CLOSED for Fall, Winter and Spring. Service schedule September 12th - May 29, 2022: Star Lake 11:00am. ZOOM meeting # 666 365-4813.
WANAKENA CEMETERY ASSOCIATION – 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.
HAREWOOD – NEW hours at Clifton Community Library: still OPEN 6 days a week: Mon-Fri 10-2pm also Wed 6-7pm and Saturdays 10-1pm. Tilly's at Stone Manor was open for Ice Cream this summer, we're not sure what's next! Do you? Cranberry Lake Book Club first Mondays of the month in the pavilion out back. Lakeside General Store is OPEN but not for too much longer! Tooley Pond Duck Decoy Showroom in Cranberry Lake is OPEN!!!!!!! John Dragun NEON ARTWORK and MORE down in Windfall… OPEN! Cranberry Lake North Shore Hub has a new break wall and the public docks are laid out for YOU to dock your boat in Cranberry Lake! They also got the old church organ put back inside. What ever happened to Grass River Railway? We spoke with someone who’s workin’ on it! They're working on it. NEW Cranberry/Wanakena-based BLOG here: Blog | CRANBERRY B[L]OG (cranberryblog.org). Also, check this old CL website out: http://cranberrylake.com/defaults.asp
OUT WEST - What's The Scoop? Hard and soft serve ice cream on rt. 3 on the right heading up the hill into Star Lake - new hours announced - Friday, Saturday, Sunday 4-8pm with PUMPKINS for sale. Jreck Subs OPEN out at the Golf Course Club House with a BUTT-LOAD of coupons in the Bargain Hunter. New limited hours at Community Bank in Star Lake effective the 13th. The old IGA is GONE; we'll miss ya! Make way for a fantastic, brand-spanking-new Dollar Store. NEW hours at the Fitness Room at CFCS: It is OPEN to community members 6pm – 8pm and 5pm - 10pm M-F and weekends 6-10am (paperwork required). Mountain Gate Redemption near Benson Mines is open. Golf course is open. Twin Lakes Hotel, Coffee Fever, American Legion, Todd Hardware, Adirondack Pharmacy, Community Bank and Circle J’s in Star Lake are open! Alcoholics Anonymous Friday nights at 7pm in the SOS Building. UB’s, and Adirondack Rustics, Hillside Diner in Oswegatchie are open!
KIM AND THOMS LOST DOG REPORT - As of today, there are NO lost dogs in Wanakena.
THIS TIME LAST YEAR - Otto's Abode: WANAKENA WEEKLY #33 - 09/17/20 - 09/23/20 (ottosabode.org)
ALL FOR NOW!!!!!!
Any questions, comments, concerns, trail condition inquiries, legends, jokes, animal sightings, cartoons, 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 Also, we probably wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to publish your submission! Write “submission” in the subject line if emailing! Wanakena Weekly is brought to you by the folks at Otto's Abode.
"The Name of it is Autumn, the hue of it is blood - an artery upon the hill, a vein along the road. Great globules in the alleys, and Oh! The shower of the stain when the winds upset the basin and spill the scarlet rain! It sparkles bonnets far below, it gathers ruddy pool, then eddies like a rose away, and leaves me with the hills." - Emily Dickinson (1892)
READER SUBMISSION - Jack Williams (Wanakena, NY) - READER SUBMISSION - Jack Williams (Wanakena, NY) - OUR VILLAGE, OUR PROPERTY, AND CRANBERRY LAKE ARE IN DANGER. Jack Williams September 19, 2021: I hate to sound alarmist, but Cranberry Lake and Wanakena and our properties are being threatened by one of the most invasive and fast growing plants there is - Japanese Knotweed. Just five streets in Wanakena have a total of 500 FEET of it, each patch except two new ones are about 15 feet wide. That's more than 7400 SQUARE FEET of Japanese Knotweed and the numbers increase with each new street looked at.
Japanese Knotweed kills everything in its path, and If it gets to the banks of the Oswegatchie, it will quickly travel downstream to the lake and will be totally out of control. It spreads via its root system, and on average, our knotweed doubles in length every 1.5 years. It can be destroyed by inoculating the stems, and it takes three applications, one year apart, to do the job. Because of the toxicity of the chemicals the inoculation is administered by a professional trained in the process.
A PROFESSIONAL WILL BE HERE ON OCTOBER 1ST TO MEET WITH ANYONE WHO IS INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE: RYAN BURNUM, one of the professionals and a Ranger School graduate, will be in Wanakena at 10AM, OCTOBER 1ST. THAT'S A FRIDAY. We will meet IN FRONT OF OTTO'S ABODE and probably move to Z Park so we can maintain social distancing. PLEASE WEAR A MASK.
HOW DOES IT DO ITS DAMAGE? - Japanese Knotweed's roots and stems push other plants, shrubs, and flowers out of the way and steal their nutrients. Bees are attracted to the weed more than to native plants, so the natives go unpollinated. The root systems travel under houses and under basements and grow up through the floors or into the foundation. The weed can be spread by birds and shoes and irresponsible handling of cuttings. Japanese Knotweed loves damp ground. Roots and seeds can be carried downstream to take root on the shoreline. The UK is having a terrible time with Japanese Knotweed growing into foundations and up through floors and destroying houses.
IDENTIFICATION - Japanese knotweed is a bamboo-like plant with heart shaped or spade shaped leaves. The leaves have pointed tips and alternate on the stem. Often the stem is red where the leaf joins. It can grow up to 10 feet tall, though in Wanakena the current stands are about 8 feet tall. Knotweed blooms in the Fall with white flowers on a long stem separate from the leaves, so they are easiest to identify in September. Identification pictures and three pictures of a large stand of Wanakena knotweed, as well as two knotweed photos from elsewhere.
WANAKENA KNOTWEED INVENTORY - If you believe you have knotweed on your property or know of some on an absent owner's property email me at packjac2000@gmail.com. I will come by as soon as I can to verify the identification and measure the plant, though ultimately it needs to be verified by a professional.
When you email, please tell me the address of the plant and its location on the property, the name and address and phone number and email address of the property owner, your name, email address and phone number, and if you know it, when the plant took root, when you first noticed the plant, and any efforts that have made to kill or remove it. We are working on ways to inoculate the plants that have been identified if the property owner agrees.
Hopefully everyone agrees that this is a serious problem that needs to be addressed quickly and thoroughly before it does serious damage.