Finding a little bit of Christmas on a humid July day

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The five of us descended on the old DeLong House in Glens Falls Saturday morning.

We got there early, to not only beat the heat, but to beat winter.

This was a mission six months in the making. We were there to decorate for Christmas.

The Delong House is the face of the Chapman Museum and last fall when I was asked to join the museum's board as a trustee, I floated an idea about making the museum a holiday destination for anyone who appreciates the magic of Christmas lights. I imagined it being a must-see stop during the annual downtown holiday celebration for families across the region.

Tony Derrick measures the Chapman Museum for the holiday season.

By last fall, we had assembled a decorating committee. I started with my wife Gillian, the ultimate expert in all things Christmas with more than 40 years of experience. I've got the photos to prove it.

I reached out to Paul Smith, whose house behind Glens Falls High School on Clayton Avenue is legendary during the holiday season.

After doing a story on Rich Elmer last winter about the Christmas/winterscape in his yard off Dixon Avenue in Queensbury, I knew he had to be included.

I asked former Post-Star feature writer and friend Meg Hagerty to lend her creative expertise.

When I asked for volunteers from the Chapman Museum membership, Andrea Matte, a retired insurance underwriter for Travelers who loves doing historical research and has a couple of books under her belt, stepped up.

My wife and I first met Tony Derrick and his wife Melissa in a birthing class at the hospital nearly three decades ago. He later became our go-to guy for doing electrical work at our house. I knew if we were going to light up that old house on Glen Street we were going to need an electrician. When I asked Tony to join us, it turned out he also had a big dose of St. Nick in him when it came to the holidays.

We first met in January and crafted a vision for the next holiday season.

We got our first look at what the north side of the DeLong House would look like in December.

We proposed wreaths on all the windows of the DeLong House and bringing the front porch alive with lights and greenery. I imagined a giant wreath for the north side of the house.

We proposed a Christmas tree as the centerpiece for each of the three main rooms at the DeLong House. For the white walls of the education room I proposed making this the "Penguin" room with a winter habitat filled with animated penguins and polar bears on a Arctic glacier. I can see it, now I just have to build it.

Our first mock-up of what the 1900-era downtown diorama might look like.

The Upstate Model Railroad Club came forward to propose a 1900-era Christmas diorama of downtown Glens Falls complete with a running trolley line up Glen Street.

We inventoried the current supply of Christmas ornaments, sorted through it, then sought donations. Since then, we've picked up three or four artificial Christmas trees, Ace Hardware in Queensbury donated 16 wreaths for outside and a nine-foot tree inside, and along the way we received a steady stream of decorations from various kind-hearted souls.

So there we were, the five of us Saturday morning with ladders and wreaths doing a dry run in the humidity of July.

Rich Elmer gives us our first look of what the big wreath would like in December.

As we hoisted the four-foot wide wreath on to the north side of the building, a shirtless man sitting at the picnic table at Stewart's rushed over to help hold the ladder.

He didn't ask why we were doing Christmas in July.

Nobody did.

None of the cars on a busy Glen Street seemed to even slow down.

We went about our work with Tony and Rich climbing the ladder to the second floor and holding wreaths up as the rest of us shouted where they should be positioned.

We all got lost in the mission as we imagined what it would be like in December.

There is still a lot of work to be done.

We still need to raise another $1,000 for the train diorama and enough funds to purchase new lights inside and outside the house. And I'm not even sure how much it will cost to build a glacier.

But for the first time Saturday, there was some tangible evidence that we were going to be able to get this done. We had talked the talk for months, now we were doing something about it.

It's a good group with different backgrounds and all kinds of ideas.

Maybe the best part is we get to live Christmas all year long.

Editor's Note: To donate to the model train diorama or the general fund for decorating, click on the Chapman Museum link below. Make sure to note the purpose of the donation.

Adirondack Explorer

The first I heard of the Adirondack Explorer was five or six years ago when one of our reporters at The Post-Star announced she was leaving to take a job covering the environment for them up north.

I realized then I also knew their publisher, Tracy Ormsbee, a former editor at the Times Union.

The Explorer described itself as "the only nonprofit, independent media organization solely dedicated to covering the Adirondack region in Northern New York State. Through our news reporting and analysis, we aim to further the wise stewardship, public enjoyment for all, community vitality and lasting protection of the Adirondack Park."

A couple weeks ago, Ormsbee contacted me and wondered if there was a way to share The Front Page content on their website, The Adirondack Almanack.

Ormsbee described it this way: "The Adirondack Almanack is a community-powered news forum, owned and operated by the Adirondack Explorer, featuring event announcements, commentary and discussion generated by readers and a wide network of contributors." 

Now The Front Page is part of that. On Monday, my recent column "New York is No. 1 - In people leaving." We're hoping our coverage of the Glens Falls region, state issues and Rep. Elise Stefanik will be an asset to readers in the North Country and open a new market for us.

Hope you get a chance to check it out.

Stefanik misses VP

I know many of the more liberal-minded citizens here in the Adirondacks are disappointed that Elise Stefanik was not named Donald Trump's vice president.

Many saw it as the only way to rid us of her presence in the 21st Congressional District.

I disagree.

I believe a good candidate who believes in honesty, treating people in a civil way and addressing issues that affect those of us here in the North Country, would stand a chance.

It would be a refreshing change after 10 years of Stefanik.

Interesting programming

Neal Herr posted on The Front Page on Monday about the reading of a new musical at Crandall Library on Thursday.

It is called "Drag Queen Story Hour." It should immediately get lots of attention from our neighbors in Lake Luzerne.

The reading of the musical will be held Thursday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Christine L., McDonald Community Room downstairs at the Glens Falls library.

It was described as "A free, participatory reading of a new musical, Drag Queen Story Hour, inspired by library closings, book and pride-flag banning as well as other LGBTQ polarizing events in small towns across America. This fun, family-friendly, gay-pride satire invites YOU to read parts (Preacher, Librarian, Editor, Lawyer, Mayor, Trustees, etc.) from the short, one-hour script, with all songs played from a pre-recorded CD -- with a few surprises thrown in to spice it up even more! No singing, costumes, set, lights or blocking, just YOU reading parts."

I'm intrigued.

Two approaches

I haven't followed the herbicide controversy in Lake George as closely as I should, but I know someone who has.

Gwen Craig, who previously covered the environment at The Post-Star, now works for the Adirondack Explorer and wrote a story recently about how Vermont and New York came up with two different approaches to the issue.

It is worth checking out.

Businessman?

Heather Cox Richardson, historian, author and Substack columnist had this insight last week about Donald Trump as a businessman.

So many people have said over the years they voted for Trump because of his business acumen. After all, he did play one on TV. Recent stories suggested that CEOs and executives were donating to Trump's campaign.

This is what Richardson had to say:

"If you want the most telling data point on corporate America’s lack of enthusiasm for Mr. Trump, look where they are investing their money. Not a single Fortune 100 chief executive has donated to the candidate so far this year, which indicates a major break from overwhelming business and executive support for Republican presidential candidates dating back over a century, to the days of Taft and stretching through Coolidge and the Bushes, all of whom had dozens of major company heads donating to their campaigns."

It is telling that the richest people in business who would benefit the most from another Trump tax cut, aren't supporting him.

Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.