Happy Thursday!
A VERY BIG FULL MOON HELLO TO EVERYBODY! TRICK OR TREAT! WIND AND RAIN! YEP! IT SNOWED! JUST IN TIME FOR OPEN AIR OPEN MIC! THE SNOW DID NOT DETER THE FINE HARDY FOLK YOU KNOW HOW TO HAVE A GOOD TIME! MAKE YER OWN FUN! Yes! The people bundled-up and got down! Another fine evening of bold souls taking those ten minutes slots and givin' it what they got! THANKS PERFORMERS! THANKS SPECTATORS! And that event (Halloween Open Mic) is a capstone to a LONG stretch of outdoor entertainment in ZPARK that started with OPEN MIC this past April! That's eight months of pleasure! AND THE FUN DOESN'T STOP! It just sort of takes a pause. Our next SCHEDULED event is NEW YEARS EVE MIDNIGHT BALL DROP! But, stay tuned... WE'RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE! Except we will be taking a WEEK VACATION the second week of DECEMBER! So count on us being around for Thanksgiving (when we usually close and get out of town). Word on the street is that SANTA CLAUSE is hunkered down at the Wanakena History Center. Take a peek why dont'cha! Election day has come and gone! Town of Clifton has a NEW SUPERVISOR! And Town of Fine has a NEW CLERK and a NEW HIGHWAY SUPERINDENDENT! GREAT JOB EVERYBODY! There's no events advertised in the Bargain Hunter this week so ALL we'll say is GET OUT THERE! Support your local businesses! Wear orange when you hike in the woods! Thanks for reading Wanakena Weekly! AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF! ALL FOR NOW!
HAPPY AUTUMN EVERYBODY! SUMMER IS OFFICIALLY OVER AND NOW'S THE TIME WE NEED YOUR CONTINUED AND CONSISTANT BUSINESS MORE THAN EVER! IF YOU LIKE WHAT WE DO PLEASE CONSIDER COMING ON DOWN AND BROWSING OUR WIDE ARAY OF GROCERY ITEMS! CHECK OUT OUR ROBUST SELECTION OF MAPS BOOKS AND GUIDES THAT FOCUS ON THE LOCAL LANDSCAPE AND HISTORY! WALK-IN COOLER WITH OVER SIXTY VARIETIES OF BEER, CIDER, N.A. AND MORE! WHETHER YOU'RE STOPPING IN FOR HOT COFFEE, QUICK LUNCH, LAST-MINUTE DINNER IDEAS OR DOING SOME GOOD OLD GIFT AND GEAR SHOPPING, THANKS FOR CHOOSING TO TAKE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO SHOP AT OTTO'S ABODE! QUALITY INCONVENIENCE SINCE 2016! AND DONT FORGET... OPEN AIR OPEN MIC SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1ST 6-9PM! RAIN OR SHINE! IN BEAUTIFUL AND HISTORIC WANAKENA, NY! GATEWAY TO WILDERNESS AT THE MOUTH OF CRANBERRY LAKE! NORTHWESTERN ADIRONDACKS IN SOUTHERN ST.LAWRENCE COUNTY! WE'RE OPEN AND HOPING YOU'LL STOP BY AND COME FIND WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR AND PERHAPS WHAT YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU COULDN'T LIVE WITHOUT! CHEERS FROM YOU'RE FAVORITE YEAR-ROUND INCONVENIENCE STORE AND MORE! THANKS FOR SHOPPING LOCAL!
THERE'S SO MUCH TO EXPLORE AROUND CRANBERRY LAKE AND WANAKENA IN THE NORTHWEST ADIRONDACKS AND SOUTHERN ST. LAWRENCE COUNTY FOOTHILLS! BIG PINE! BEAR MOUNTAIN! RANGER SCHOOL FIRE TOWER! PEAVINE SWAMP! LOST POND! MOORE TRAIL! CAT MOUNTAIN! HIGH FALLS! TOOLEY POND ROAD! AND MORE! WE LOVE SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE AND PASSION FOR THE AREA! STOP IN AND SAY HI, CHECK OUT OUR ROBUST SELECTION OF LOCAL TRAIL MAPS, BOOKS AND INFO AND STOCK UP ON GROCERIES, GEAR AND BEER WHILE YOU'RE HERE! HAPPY TRAILS!
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 and Post Office! Lodge at Dodge Pond IS FOR SALE. 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. EARTH MOVING AT THE OLD CONCESSION STAND. 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 They are closed for the winter but will be back! CF Golf Course OPEN!! Star Lake Volunteer Fire Department and Water works! 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 Star Lake Scoops ICE CREAM! American Legion OPEN and REFURBISHED with LOTS OF EVENTS! Newton Falls Giving Box & Post Office & Community Church OPEN. PAPER MILL CLOSED! BENSON MINES CLOSED! Mountain Gate Plaza Bottle Hometown General Store, Deli and Redemption Center OPEN JUST DOWN THE ROAD at CLIFTON CORNERS bottle redemption no longer in operation! Down in Wanakena Packbasket Adventures Lodge and Event Space in Wanakena OPEN... with NEW OWNERSHIP TRIVIA NIGHT EVERY FIRST TUESDSAY OF THE MONTH!! Mary holds down 13695 Wanakena Post Office (!!!!!!!NEW NUMBER 8489022!!!!) - 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 class of 2026 IN SESSION!! Wanakena Historical Association has closed the History Center for the winter! BUMMER! Don't forget about the Wanakena Walking Tour and Labyrinth trailheads campground 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! Down in Windfall Wooden Fish Hatchery and Dragun Designs! Birch's Lakeside OPEN! Tilly's? Cranberry Lake Art Show 2026 GET READY!! Cranberry Lake North Shore Hub (AT THE OLD CHURCH) 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 and is OPEN FOR USE! Sevey's Point at Sevey's Corner OPEN. Thirsty Moose Childwold OPEN with new owners coming soon?!! ROLL SNOWPACKERS ROLL! 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!! Hello to all them local churches out here in the area! 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!
"My friends, today when I look out over Cicely, I see not a town, but a nation's history written in miniature. Inscribed in the cracked pavement, reverberating from every passing flatbed. Today, every runny nose I see says "America" to me. We were outcasts, scum, the wretched debris of a hostile, aging world. But we came here, we paved roads, we built industries, powerful institutions... Of course, along the way, we exterminated untold indigenous cultures and enslaved generations of Africans. We basically stained our star-spangled banner with a host of sins that can never be washed clean. But today, we're here to celebrate the glorious aspects of our past. A tribute to a nation of free people, the country that Whitman exalted. (reading) "The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives and legislators, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges or churches or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people." I've never been so proud to be a Cicelian. I must go out now and fill my lungs with the deep clean air of democracy." - Chris Stevens (Northern Exposure S03E15 Democracy in America)