Happy Thursday!
Hello everyone! Want to give a BIG shout out to all the folks out there continuing to support small/local/family-owned businesses as "SuMmEr WiNdS dOwn..."!!!!! Thanks for not forgetting about us little mom and pop shops... your consistent support keeps us going! Yes, folks are evacuating the area for the winter, which is NUTS because this is really such a freakin' perfect, calm and beautiful time of year... BUT WE GET IT! We won't hold it against you (too much!) AND... lots of folks will still be coming to hit the trips, visit camp, peep the leaves and check the scene! We'll be here all year! And NO we have not changed out hours for winter. YES, THE LEAVES ARE CHANGING! And Wanakena had it's first frost of the year, not quite below freezing but enough to frost. This past weekend we had a DOUBLE HEADER MUSIC WEEKEND and even a BOOK SIGNING! "SURE IS QUIET AROUND HERE!" Yeah, right! It is though, overall. Crickets - as someone called: fall peepers - are really singin a tune! Migrating warblers blend in with the golden leaves, rose breasted grosbeak still aorund the neighborhood. Raccoons, too... and the average house flies are thick and heavy. TOWN OF FINE BOARD MEETING LAST NIGHT Meeting Detail For the second year we send in a weekly foliage report to ILOVENY! Here it is: In St. Lawrence County: 15-20% change in Wanakena with muted to average red and purple leaves. The Adirndack Trail Ride 500+ mile bike race begins friday in Northvill and riders will buzz right past our little store - some stopping, of course! Follow along here: https://trackleaders.com/adirondacktr25. We've got VINYL AFTERNOON SUNDAY 1-5PM.... looks like the rain is going to hold off... FINGERS CROSSED! In a couple weeks its THE RETURN OF OPEN AIR OPEN MIC out in ZPARK! Saturday the 27TH and another one on HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR OPEN AIR OPEN MIC PARTAY! Ranger Schoolers are out and about doing their DENDRO WALKS checking out some interesting and common tree species in the neighborhood. You know the routine: C'MON DOWN AND POKE AROUND BEAUTIFUL & HISTORIC WANAKENA SURROUNDED BY WILDERNESS AT THE MOUTH OF CRANBERRY LAKE! OTTO'S ABODE IS OPEN 9AM-7PM ALL WEEK AND 9AM-5PM ON SUNDAYS! TRAIL INFO, MAPS, BOOKS, GEAR, GIFTS AND GOODIES! ART SHOW ON VIEW! MUSIC! LOCAL HISTORY! CROQUET! HOT COFFEE, COLD DRINKS, ICE CREAM, SNACKS, BEER CAVE AND GROCERIES GALORE! HANNAH'S SANDWICHES EVERY DAY AND SPECIAL WEEKLY FRIDAY SOUP FOR LUNCH! THANKS FOR SHOPPIN' AND HANGIN' LOCAL AT YOUR FAVORITE YEAR-ROUND INCONVENIENCE STORE AND MORE! P.S. THE WANAKENA HISTORY CENTER IS OPEN 11AM-4PM EVERY SATURDAY AND SUNDAY ALL SUMMER LONG! P.P.S. DONT FORGET TO UNWIND YOUR MIND AT THE LABYRINTH! LIVE LOCAL! SHOP LOCAL! OKTOBERFEAST OCT 11TH 1PM BRING A DISH TO PASS!
HERE'S A LIST OF SOME UPCOMING EVENTS HAPPENING AROUND THE AREA!
****UNDER CONSTRUCTION****
ALL YEAR - FREE COMMUNITY MEAL AT ST HUBERTS CHURCH 5PM
ALL SUMMER - YOGA AT THE CF COMMUNITY CENTER MON 5:30AM & TUES 9:30AM
ALL SUMMER - WANAKENA HISTORY CENTER OPEN SAT & SUN 11-4PM
SEPTEMBER 10TH - SOS MEMBERS MEETING 2PM NEW MEMBERS WELCOME
SEPTEMBER 14TH - VINYL AT OTTO'S 1-5PM!
SEPTEMBER 20TH - FAMILY DAY AT RANGER SCHOOL
SEPTEMBER 20TH - PSYCHIC READING AT CF COMMUNITY CENTER STAR LAKE!
SEPTEMBER 27TH - OPEN AIR OPEN MIC ZPARK WANAKENA
OCTOBER 31ST - OPEN AIR OPEN MIC HALLOWEEN SPOOKTACULAR ZPARK WANAKENA
RISE AND SHINE CLIFTON-FINE... Starting from the west... Historic Fine Town Hall Building in Fine Village seeking input for its use and future! Fine Volunteer Fire Dept THANK YOU! Lodge at Dodge Pond OPEN. UBs Mercantile and ADK Rustics in Oswegatchie (Home of The Bargain Hunter!) are OPEN! Oswegatchie Baptist Church Community Garden GROWING! Around Star Lake: Star Lake's ADK Holy Grail gift shoppe OPEN with A GIANT LOON out front!! ADK Pharmacy OPEN. Clifton Fine Central School GO EAGLES! Fitness Center at the school is open M-F 5-8am & 5-10pm and weekends 5-10pm! Community Bank OPEN! Clifton Fine Hospital OPEN and HOPIN' you're healthy! They raised enough money to expand - check out their live construction camera! And look out for Food Truck Thursdays and Farmers Markets in the summer! Dollar General OPEN! Twin Lakes OPEN! CF Arena HAD A GREAT WINTER! Golf Course CLUB GRUB at the CLUB HOUSE has BREAKFAST LUNCH AND DINNER! CF Golf Course OPEN!! Star Lake Volunteer Fire Department THANK YOU! SOS Adirondack Exhibit Center EVENTS HAPPENING... stay tuned! Every Friday Night, open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous at the Schoolhouse 7PM. Clifton-Fine Community Center and Food Pantry & Free "Community Meal" Wednesdays! Todd Hardware OPEN and FOR SALE!!!!!! Coffee Fever SOLD? Circle Jays OPEN! What's The Scoop Scoops OPEN! American Legion OPEN and REFURBISHED with LOTS OF EVENTS! Newton Falls Giving Box & Post Office & Community Church OPEN. Newton Falls Volunteer Fire Department THANK YOU! Mountain Gate Plaza Bottle Hometown General Store, Deli and Redemption Center OPEN! Down in Wanakena Packbasket Adventures Lodge and Event Space in Wanakena OPEN... with NEW OWNERSHIP! Mary holds down 13695 Wanakena Post Office - Clifton Community Library Book Drop Box and Lost and Found and MORE out-front on Otto's Porch! OTTO'S ABODE OPEN ALL YEAR DOWN HERE! Wanakena Ranger School!! Wanakena Historical Association Walking Tour UP AND RUNNIN' FOR SEASON and the History Center OPENS JUNE 20TH and are every sat and sun though summer 11-4pm! Don't forget about the Wanakena Walking Tour and Labyrinth AND MORE! Clifton-Fine Summer Series in ZPARK SUMMERTIME check it out CLIFTON FINE ARTS. Common Thread Quilt Fest Labor Day Weekend! Out in Harewood: Wooden Fish Hathery OPEN! Billy's BLACK LIGHT ART SHOW this past Halloween! Cranberry Lake Volunteer Fire Department THANK YOU! Down in Windfall Wooden Fish Hatchery and Dragun Designs! Birch's Lakeside OPEN! Tilly's? Cranberry Lake Art Show 2025 GET READY!! Cranberry Lake North Shore Hub hosts space use, dock use, summer concerts and summer lectures! Clifton Community Library OPEN! Cranberry Lake Boat Club summer events! CHECK OUT THE Cranberry Lake DEC Campground! Cranberry Lake Mountaineers Snowmobile Club, check 'em out! THEY HAVE A GREAT LISTING OF LOCAL YEAR-ROUND RENTALS ON THEIR WEBSITE! Grasse River Railway has created a NEW MAP! Sevey's Point at Sevey's Corner OPEN. Thirsty Moose Childwold OPEN!! Childwold Presbyterian Church though September 15th! And don't forget... Back West: 2E's, Golden Glow, Edwards Opera House, Jim's Auto in South Edwards OPEN! Plum Brook Cafe in Russell OPEN! Jockos in Degrasse OPEN and re-painted and hosting SUNDAY FUNDAYS!! CLIFTON-FINE RT. 3 CORRIDOR ROLL-CALL ROUND-UP! We're Southern St. Lawrence County. We're Northwestern Adirondacks. We're BOTH. We're NEITHER! WE'RE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE-LESS! WILD WEST! GREAT SOUTH WOODS WAY SOUTH OF THE ROCK! ALL THAT STUFF! OH YEAH! (Who's missing? What's stale? Les us know! Zoom Zoom!) Also... if you appreciate the work put into these newsletters (and Otto's Abode in general) consider donating something extra to the cause! We're on VENMO as Otto's Abode. Or as Click and Clack used to say: Write our address on a twenty-dollar bill and mail it to us!
"No man ever reached to excellence in any one art or profession without having passed through the slow and painful process of study and preparation." - Horace (68 BC)