The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society News Page offers news and updates on seasonal and year-round Society news items and about activities and programs that are happening in the towns of Hadley and Lake Luzerne and their surrounding areas. Not all the news on this page is sponsored, presented, or endorsed by the HLLHS. We post them on this page in partnership with and as a service to our community
Letterboxing 101
Enjoy treasure hunts and orienteering (the sport of finding your way to checkpoints on a map)? Then Letterboxing is for you. The Warren County Historical Challenge letterboxes are in place. Pick up a Letterbox Passport and begin your historical search, alone or with friends. Check the Warren County Website link below for more info!!
Media Advisory
Contact
Board President Ted Mirczak
518-403-4394,
Reopening Celebration Set at Rockwell Falls Public Library
LAKE LUZERNE, N.Y. (April 9, 2024)—The Rockwell Falls Public Library will be celebrating its reopening with a community gathering from noon to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 20. Join us for refreshments, kids’ activities, giveaways, and a chance to meet new Library Manager Marion Allan.
WHAT:
Community celebration of the library, which reopened on March 1
WHERE:
Rockwell Falls Public Library
19 Main Street
Lake Luzerne NY 12846
WHEN:
Noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 20
Children’s story times, 12:30 and 1:30 p.m.
Magic show, 1 p.m.
MORE INFO:
Plenty of on-street parking
Library website: https://rockwellfalls.sals.edu/
Travels With Darley
Darley Newman is a world traveler, producer, and creator of “Travels with Darley. Darley has created episodes at several Revolutionary War sites. An in-person viewing of Saratoga's Revolutionary Road Trip feature episode premiere will be held on April 22. Interested persons should register directly via the program link.
The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society is not sponsoring or coordinating this program but is sharing it with any interested local history enthusiasts.
The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society, in coordination with the Town Historian, is formulating plans for local special events to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and to honor our Continental soldiers.
Mapping the Mountains
On Jan.3, 2024, Maureen Jones, HLLHS Program Coordinator, presented, “Mapping the Mountains.” The program covered the early mapping of the Adirondack Park. Ms. Jones noted that Verplanck Colvin made the first map of the area, had signed the Wayside Inn Guest Register, and had done surveying with the Jessups. The Colvin Map was the basis of the Adirondack Park Blue Line, so called because, in 1891, the boundary was drawn on the map in blue ink. Blue Line regulations govern land use in the Adirondack Park] and the Adirondack Park Agency is the governing board. Part of the Blue Line (unpainted, of course) runs down East Rive Drive between the towns of Lake Luzerne and Corinth.
The HLLHS thanks Maureen Jones for her research and for the program. We also thank Sally and Mike Goodhart for their assistance in setting up the presentation. Fourteen people visited the Kinnear Museum that day.
Triangulation Tower
Once located on Cobble Mountain and thought to be used by Verplanck Colvin
President Howard Schaffer
Sally Goodhart and John Bennett
Appreciation Day, 2023
On July 26, 2023, the HLLHS formally recognized eleven of our long-term members and stewards at an Ice Cream Social at Bon’s on Lake Ave. in Lake Luzerne. Honorees were issued Appreciation Certificates and were treated to ice cream by the Society. Sue Trentecoste organized the event which was funded by donations from the public. Among our Honorees was John Bennett, a founding member of the Society
We sincerely thank Bon’s for the use of their venue. We thank Sue Trentecoste for her kind words, and we thank all who donated their time, funding, and assistance with the event
Colonel Butler
Hollis Wood III & Grandaughter
with Sally Goodhart
Dawn Grant and Family
Jean Mayo with Chris Blakely
The Kinnear Museum:
Giving Back to Our Towns
In May, I joined the board of the Hadley Luzerne Historical Society. All board members and supporters are volunteers. There are no paid employees.
One of our missions is to maintain and improve the Kinnear Museum on Main St. across from the Adirondack Folk School. The building was donated to the town by the Kinnear family in 1978 to house and display local, historical artifacts.
The museum is open to the public from June through October, Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 12 noon to 3 pm. Hosts greet and guide visitors and manage the gift shop. (My wife, Patricia hosted on July 8th.)
In June I replaced a cumbersome manual and outdated hosting calendar with an interactive, real-time calendar for host sign-up. The technology is now there but the need for more hosts remains.
Of course, with this warmup, you're probably expecting me to ask members of our community to volunteer as hosts. And, yes, I am. For both security and safety reasons, we require 2 hosts for each summer/fall afternoon.
Please check your calendars. If you think giving back just 3 hours (or more) to Hadley’s and Lake Luzerne’s history is worthwhile, let me know. Just click on and fill out our website’s Contact page and I will provide you with a link to the “Kinnear Museum Volunteer Hosting” calendar where you can see available dates. Volunteering is a great way to give back to our towns and the wider community.
Stan Goldberg, Acting Kinnear Museum Volunteer Coordinator
Marking Our Territory
In
2023
We invite the public to visit our namesake communities, Hadley and Lake Luzerne, in Warren County, New York.
These small towns share a big history, which is accessible as antique artifacts, written documents, and old photos in our home, The Frances G. Kinnear Museum of Local History on Main St. in Lake Luzerne. Throughout our 50 years, the HLLHS has been dedicated to finding new and exciting ways of sharing our history. We maintain a booth at Hadley’s Annual Maple in April Festival. We provide private and public guided tours of our Museum. We sponsor a self-guided Walking-Windshield Tour with free maps to historic sites in both towns. We hold a Lantern-making course for adults and children followed by a guided, evening Lantern Walk around town in October. We host a Speaker Series of programs with experts and historians who share their knowledge. We have a Living History program where we interview and video our older, exemplary residents’ life-long experiences. This year, we will have a presence at our area’s Annual Memorial Day Parade to honor those who have served our country. And on June 4, we will celebrate our anniversary with a luncheon at the Painted Pony Rodeo and Dude Ranch, one of the oldest running, competitive rodeo sites in operation today. The HLLHS is a community-oriented, non-profit, all-volunteer organization located in a beautiful area. Our history spans the pre-Revolutionary War Era through the present and reflects our area’s growth, development, and adaptation. Preserving history is an honor and a privilege. We have stories to share, exhibits to see, and knowledgeable people to meet. So come and celebrate our 50th year with us as we mark our territory.
Sue Trentecoste, former HLLHS Board Member and long-time Volunteer
A MOST SINCERE THANK YOU
The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society is most grateful for the very generous $ 500.00 donation from our friends at the Serendipity Thrift Store in Lake Luzerne.
We are fortunate to live together in a community where there are countless, selfless people who make the quality of life here in the Hadley- Lake Luzerne region so unique. Your thoughtfulness will long be remembered.
Howard Schaffer, President
Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society
Stewart’s Grant
The Hadley-LakeLuzerne Historical Society has received $500 from Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match on March 23, 2023!
Stewart’s Shops annual grant program received a record number of requests this year and has chosen our Historical Society as one of the many local organizations to receive funding.
Each December, Stewart’s Shops customers donate the funds we received in several upcoming programs in o canisters found in each Stewart’s Shops store in New York and Vermont. This year those customers donated over one million dollars and Stewarts Shops matched those donations dollar for dollar. Applications are submitted in January and funding is announced in March.
Stewart’s Shops funding support programs that benefit children of all ages. The Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society will use these funds for several 2023 programs.
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Above: Howard Shaffer and Mike Goodhart
Below: Mike Goodhart and our youngest helper, Quinn Allen, 7 years old
Above: Stewart’s own Brittany DuRose presenting a check to Maureen Jones, Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society Board Member and Program Co-chair
Thank You Stewarts Shops!!
Our HLLHS Earth Day Celebration occurred on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Volunteers raked the grounds, bagged leaves, and enjoyed refreshments on a sunny, spring morning. Children learned about the logging history in the Southern Adirondacks. They also created their own “log brands” after viewing samples still required by law in Oregon. Ira Gray’s poem “Lumberwoods-1910-11” from Follow My Moccasin’s Tracks was read and copies were available to take home. Ira Gray was a jack-of-all-trades and worked in the woods as a teen. He was also one of our Historical Society’s earliest members.
We also thank Howard Shaffer, Mike Goodhart, Quinn Allen, and all who helped make this event happen!