Glens Falls has potential to be seen from outer space
Girard back in Sweet 16; Parade being held to honor local state champions
The ultimate goal is for astronauts to see Glens Falls from the International Space Station.
It can be done during the holidays. I'm sure of it.
In my mind, Glens Falls has always been the real-life version of Bedford Falls except without Mr. Potter.
Over the years, I've been to many downtown celebrations, Christmas tree lightings, enjoyed holiday lights and watched screaming kids sledding in the middle of Glen Street after snow was trucked in from West Mountain.
It's A Wonderful Life is life in Glens Falls as far as I'm concerned.
There is momentum again for Glens Falls to reach new heights of holiday bedazzlement as the City of Glens Falls, the Glens Falls Collaborative and the Glens Falls Business Improvement District have all joined forces in recent years to make downtown Glens Falls a destination.
The Glens Falls Collaborative website already has a "mark your calendar" reminder for what is now being called the Adirondack Holiday Celebration. It is scheduled for Dec. 6-8 this year. In the past it has included a Christmas tree lighting, a visit with Santa Claus, horse-drawn carriage rides and a holiday parade.
This year's chairman Cam Cardinale is hoping to enhance the lights in City Park this year.
It's never too early to think about Christmas and since we have more snow on the ground now than in December, this seemed like a good time to reveal my long time goal of Glens Falls being seen from outer space.
For years, the one and only holiday destination was Paul Smith's house over on Clayton Avenue behind the high school. His wall to wall, end to end Christmas-light extravaganza took a three-year hiatus but returned this year.
Lake George has become a destination the past couple years, first with the "Ice Castles" and now with "Winter Dreams" lights at Fort William Henry. Nearby is more lights and an ice skating rink at the Charles Wood exhibition space as well as more lights along Canada Street in Shepard Park.
If you build it - with colorful lights and snow - they will come.
But my space station dream is obviously larger.
After joining the board of trustees at the Chapman Museum this past fall, I pitched an idea to create even more momentum in downtown Glens Falls. I wanted to upgrade the holiday decorating at the old DeLong House to make it a holiday destination in and of itself with a dazzling interior and an exterior that will get the old museum noticed.
If you haven't been to the Chapman Museum, the old house is a gem. Each winter, the staff dresses it up in full holiday regalia. It's beautiful, but there are only three of them and a few volunteers.
So I formed a committee to take the celebration to the next level.
Our committee, which includes the holiday decorating expert Paul Smith, has met three times. We've talked to the Upstate Model Railroaders club about a Christmas train display.
I'd like to devote one room to an arctic wonderland complete with penguins and polar bears. Not sure about that, but I can dream.
We have other ideas.
But we need help.
Ace Hardware in Queensbury has already generously donated two nine-foot Christmas trees and more than a dozen holiday wreaths and offering to give other decorations at cost. We are hoping there will be others.
We're hoping anyone downsizing or having to deal with the estate of a loved one will consider a Chapman Museum donation to take loving care of family heirlooms.
I'm hoping you might will consider making a small contribution to the cause on the Chapman Museum website. Click on gifts and make sure to make a note that the gift is for holiday decorations. We’re hoping to raise $1000 and see where that takes us.
We have other ideas and lots of energy.
If you have decorations, artificial Christmas trees or lights, you can email me at tingleykenneth4@gmail.com and our committee will evaluate whether it is something we can use.
We're hoping to add to the momentum in downtown Glens Falls and add to the December spectacle.
And when the holiday parade is held in December, we're hoping it can start right outside the Chapman's front door.
The ultimate goal is to make the museum a must-see holiday stop that will drive families from all over the region into the DeLong House and provide an extra revenue stream so the museum can continue to tell the story of Glens Falls, which for my money is the next best place to Bedford Falls during the holidays.
Sweet 16
Glens Falls' own Joseph Girard III will be playing in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Basketball Tournament on Thursday.
Sixth-seeded Clemson will be playing second-seeded Arizona at 7 p.m. Girard is a graduate student at Clemson and is second on the team in scoring.
Celebrating state titles
Reminder that there will be a parade through downtown Glens Falls today at 5 p.m. to celebrate three local state champions.
The unbeaten Adirondack United girls hockey team, Glens Falls skier Piper Dock and the unbeaten Glens Falls boys basketball team all earned state titles this year.
The parade will begin at the high school, proceed down Sherman Avenue, turn onto Glen Street to the roundabout, turn on to Ridge Street and conclude at the City Park bandstand. Five year ago, they did the same thing, but there wasn't a foot of snow in the park.
Book sale
It will be a big weekend for books in Glens Falls April 19-20.
Crandall Public Library is holding its annual spring sale of books while a couple blocks away the Chapman Museum will also be holding a book sale for the first time.
If you are looking for local authors and books about local history, some from two or three decades ago, the Chapman is the place go go.
Included among the great books is "Bridging the Years," the definitive history of Glens Falls and the region. If you don't have a copy of Bridging the Years, then you don't know Glens Falls history.
We also stumbled upon a bunch of former Post-Star columnist Don Metiver's second book as well as all of former Post-Star journalist Maury Thompson's books.
The book sale will be 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
Evening visitors
We had four unexpected visitors Tuesday evening. We occasionally see deer in the evenings in our yard, but it is usually limited to one or two.
When we heard Sophie barking Tuesday, we looked out to see two deer in the yard, then three and finally a fourth jointed them.
They stayed for quite awhile after Sophie stopped barking.
Still available
For those of you still looking to obtain one of my books, I am now selling them online via Shopify.
There are several discounted packages if you get more than one of the books. There are two collections of columns - The Last American Editor and The Last American Editor, Vol. 2 - as well as my memoir on the great journalism we did at The Post-Star over the past 25 years - The Last American Newspaper, which I am currently adapting into a play for the Adirondack Theater Festival.
You may have read recently, the Adirondack Theater Festival has commissioned me to adapt The Last American Newspaper into a play. I'm hoping for a world premiere in Glens Falls in 2025.
Just a reminder, the book sale at Crandall Library is run by the Friends of the Library. The Friends have been providing low cost books to the community for over 50 years.
Great column! The Chapman truly deserves to be a fabulous venue for Hometown USA!