The Huletts Current

Makes you think of summer.

Governor Cuomo noted in his State of the State address that everyone in the education system in Albany from bus drivers to school board members has a lobbyist – everyone that is except for the ones who need it the most, our students.

“Our schools are not an employment program,” Governor Coumo has stated in the past, according to the New York Times.

This explains why more time has been spent in Albany worrying about the “business of education” — contracts, salaries, and benefits — than worrying about the children. This must be changed and our priorities need to be reversed.

That’s why Governor Cuomo has now declared that he will become the lobbyist for the students. And his goal will be to make major changes in our state’s education system, including shifting the focus in Albany to improving student performance and school accountability.

An important part of this reform is adopting a real teacher evaluation system. In 2010, New York was awarded a $700 million grant from the federal government that required teacher evaluations. But the state has failed to produce the system, and the schools are now at risk of losing this Federal aid.

The process is now bogged down in a lawsuit between the education unions and the State Education Department. To break the logjam, the Governor has announced that the State Education Department and the unions have 30 days to agree on a new effective teacher evaluation system. If they don’t, the Governor will propose an evaluation system in his 30 day budget amendments. Schools will be given one year to implement the system or risk forfeiting increases in education aid.

On Sunday the Washington Post praised Governor Cuomo saying he should be applauded because, “he has now set his sights on shaking up an educational bureaucracy that is better at spending money than serving children.”

Please read the entire Washington Post editorial here.

Father William Esmond, 1923-2012

I am sad to report that the former long-serving Pastor of the Chapel of the Assumption in Huletts Landing and Our Lady of Angels Church in Whitehall passed away recently.

Father Esmond spent a good portion of his adult life in Whitehall and Huletts Landing and was loved by the people in the communities that he served. I have many fond memories of Father Esmond, including him in his Navy uniform! He will certainly be missed.

Fr. Esmond’s complete obituary is in the Post Star.

“May God support us all the day long, till the shades lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in His mercy may He give us a safe lodging, and a holy rest and peace at the last.”

For our Giant and Patriot fans, congratulations on your respective NFC and AFC titles.

Who would have ever guessed that this match-up would take place?

Oh wait, you read it here on the Huletts Current a few weeks ago!!

If you don’t quite understand what all the fuss is about over SOPA and PIPA, this video concisely states why many sites on the Internet went black yesterday in protest.

Watch the entire thing. (If you really love freedom but can’t watch the entire thing, watch the last 3 minutes.)

Fort Ticonderoga. Photo credit Richard Timberlake.

The Lake Placid CVB/Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (LPCVB/ROOST) has awarded Fort Ticonderoga the 2011 Tourism Marketing Award. The award was presented January 12 in Lake Placid at a gathering of tourism industry peers and elected officials.

The Tourism Marketing Award is given to a group or individual who has produced or launched an innovative tourism marketing product or initiative. Fort Ticonderoga was named the 2011 winner for its America’s Fort branding and expanded audience targeting through the creation of family activities, special events, re-enactments and the internationally acclaimed Art of War exhibit.

The award was presented by Justin Smith, Chair of the LPCVB/ROOST board of directors. “As part of its strategic marketing plan in 2011, Fort Ticonderoga launched an initiative and rebranding effort that associated the Fort with its significant history and the experience visitors will have there today,” said Smith during the presentation. “Aptly identified now as America’s Fort, the historic site has also extensively broadened its programmatic offerings to result in a premiere tourism experience.”

Beth Hill, Fort Ticonderoga’s Executive Director, said “Fort Ticonderoga is honored to receive the recognition for its newly developed America’s Fort brand and related programs.” Hill said, “The America’s Fort brand is intended to represent the site’s extraordinary story and to build increased visibility for one of North America’s most beautiful and defining historic sites.”

Fort Ticonderoga’s 2011 marketing strategic plan, led by Albany marketing firm Brawn Media, incorporated the America’s Fort brand in all of its messaging including TV and radio commercials, online advertising, news releases, and all marketing collateral.

In 2012 Fort Ticonderoga will unveil its new weapons exhibit Bullets & Blades: The Weapons of America’s Colonial Wars and Revolution, numerous new programs, and major special events. Visitors will be immersed in the Fort’s tumultuous events of 1775 through daily programs including the Fort’s new historic trades initiative which will include shoemaking and military tailoring. Visit www.fortticonderoga.org for event and program details. Fort Ticonderoga offers special programs and events throughout the year and opens for the daily visitation for the summer season on May 18, 2012.

I think I mentioned before that sometime ago my brother and I were driving one evening to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from Atlanta. He was driving the car. And for some reason the drivers were very discourteous that night. They didn’t dim their lights; hardly any driver that passed by dimmed his lights. And I remember very vividly, my brother A. D. looked over and in a tone of anger said: “I know what I’m going to do. The next car that comes along here and refuses to dim the lights, I’m going to fail to dim mine and pour them on in all of their power.” And I looked at him right quick and said: “Oh no, don’t do that. There’d be too much light on this highway, and it will end up in mutual destruction for all. Somebody got to have some sense on this highway.”

Somebody must have sense enough to dim the lights, and that is the trouble, isn’t it? That as all of the civilizations of the world move up the highway of history, so many civilizations, having looked at other civilizations that refused to dim the lights, and they decided to refuse to dim theirs. And Toynbee tells that out of the twenty-two civilizations that have risen up, all but about seven have found themselves in the junkheap of destruction. It is because civilizations fail to have sense enough to dim the lights. And if somebody doesn’t have sense enough to turn on the dim and beautiful and powerful lights of love in this world, the whole of our civilization will be plunged into the abyss of destruction. And we will all end up destroyed because nobody had any sense on the highway of history. Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.

Excerpted from Loving Your Enemies -
Talk by Martin Luther King

Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
Montgomery, Alabama
17 November 1957

Samsung’s Smart Window at CES 2012.

Over 30 people, including many children, enjoyed having the Lake George Association’s Floating classroom stop in Huletts in 2011.

I’m pleased to announce that the Lake George Association’s Floating Classroom, will return to Huletts on Friday, July 20th at 1:00 pm, courtesy of the Friends of Historic Huletts Landing who is sponsoring this event.

A donation will be required to help defray the cost but I’ll have more specifics as the date draws closer.

So if you missed the excursion last summer, please plan on attending the trip in 2012!

(Click on image to see full-scale.)

So you love looking at old photographs of Huletts Landing and Lake George, but you thought you had seen them all.

Well the #1 reason to read The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George, is that it contains a treasure trove of pictures, published together for the first time, of Huletts Landing and Lake George. Some of these pictures have their own mysterious origins that you will want read about!

To see these unique pictures, you’ll definitively want to buy:
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

Pre-order the book here and you’ll have it as soon as it is released.

Don’t we all grow by learning new things? Isn’t learning imaginatively enriching? Well, if you want to learn something new about something old, while capturing your imagination in new ways, you’ll definitely want to read the The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

The book includes almost two years of research, so I can confidently say that you’ll enjoy turning every page. I was able to unearth some incredible historical documents, which I was originally convinced were lost, that are real eye openers.

Whether you love history or just the Lake George region, you’ll learn plenty of new things when you read The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

To learn about my research, you’ll definitively want to buy:
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

Pre-order the book here and you’ll have it as soon as it is released.

There’s an old saying that says in effect; “the people make the place.”

Well a hundred years ago is a long time though, and history sometimes forgets the people “that made the place.”

One of things I enjoyed while writing, The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George was researching the many interesting characters that the book encompasses.

Would you like to know about the tragic, fatal accident that the District Attorney was involved in roughly a year before the arson trial started? Would you like to know which participant in the trial had a relative who went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize? Want to learn which witness had trouble testifying about their own name?

To learn the answers to these and many other interesting questions you’ll definitively want to buy:
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

Pre-order the book here and you’ll have it as soon as it is released.

Do you like a good story? How about a good mystery?

Well you’ll read a really great story and find a mystery in a mystery in the book;
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

A mystery in a mystery? You’re probably asking; “What’s he talking about?”

Well, I can’t give it away, you’ll have to read the book. What I can tell you is that as I delved deeper into the story, the material was quite rich and very interesting. So rich in fact, I can say that you will thoroughly enjoy it!

To learn more, you’ll definitively want to buy:
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

Pre-order the book here and you’ll have it as soon as it is released.

Did you know that the Hulett Hotel Fire of 1915 was one of the largest fires ever on the shores of Lake George?

In chapter five of The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George you’ll learn what happened on that day in 1915 when the fire occurred.

You’ll see the only known photographs of the two people who discovered the fire, and you’ll learn how the unique weather conditions that day made extinguishing the fire almost impossible. You’ll also learn how many other houses the fire spread to and what happened to those cottages on that fateful day!

To learn more about these interesting events, you’ll want to buy:
The Hulett Hotel Fire on Lake George.

Pre-order the book here and you’ll have it as soon as it is released.