Real Estate: A Former Rectory, Ripe for Conversion to a Summer Home

By Mirror Staff

Monday, July 23, 2012

Of all the vacation homes on the market, this may be the most unusual: a fomer Roman Catholic rectory.

Located in Hague, next to a Catholic church where services have been discontinued in all but the summer months, the four bedroom, red brick house is for sale at a listing price of $249,000.

The Catholic diocese in Albany is selling the house, which sits on a four tenths of an acre lot, said Nancy Jefts, a realtor with Davies-Davies.

“We listed the house in January, and there’s been some interest since then, but we think that will really pick up now that summer’s here,” said Jefts.

According to Jefts, the house’s advantage as a vacation home lies in the fact that it’s within walking distance of the Hague Town Beach and boat launch.

Restaurants, shops, the community center, and the Hague Market are even closer, said Jefts.

But what truly distinguishes this house from other houses available within lakeshore hamlets is the construction, Jefts said.

“The house is incredibly solid and well-built,” said Jefts. “The costs of constructing it today would be astronomical.”

Realtor Nancy Jefts

According to Jefts, records state the house was built in 1950, but the architectural style, interior layout, room dimensions and details suggest a house of much earlier vintage.

“It’s reminiscent of houses built in Glens Falls in the 1920s,” said Jefts.

The ground floor consists of a kitchen, which looks as though it was last remodeled in the 1950s, a dining room and den separated by glass French doors, a living room and access to a winterized porch,.

An open stair case leads to the four bedrooms. The master bedroom contains its own bathroom (and a safe, where offertory receipts were kept), as does a small bedroom reserved for the priests’ housekeeper. A suite of two bedrooms share a half-bath.

Upstairs details include transoms above the doors, a floor to ceiling, built-in linen closet and high ceilings that make even the smaller bedrooms feel spacious.

The house carries with it some deed restrictions which anyone shopping for a vacation home may think unusual, but will not find surprising, given the house was once a Catholic rectory. The house cannot be used as an abortion clinic, an adult bookstore, a theater showing x-rated films or a topless bar.

For more information, contact Nancy Jefts at Davies-Davies and Associates at 656-9068.

Tags: Davies-Davies and Associates, Hague, Nancy Jefts, Real Estate

Happy Times

Remembering Lake George Racer, Boat Builder Bill Morgan

By Anthony F. Hall

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Bill Morgan, the individual most responsible for reviving wooden speedboat building in North America, died in Glens Falls on February 21. He was 84.

Best known for re-animating the Hacker-Craft brand, whose boats he manufactured in Silver Bay, Morgan also restored or built replicas of more than twenty Gold Cup racers of the 1930s, including “Happy Times,” a replica of George Reis’s El Lagarto.

“Those beautiful, slender race boats were in my background long enough to make an impression,” Morgan once told the Mirror.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Morgan spent his summers on Lake George, where he was able to view the Gold Cup races of the 1930s from his front yard.

“He was always interested in engines; that’s all he ever talked about,” recalled Jane Kiernan Gabriels, a friend of Morgan’s since their summers as children on Lake George.

(Apparently, Bill had no interest in joining the family business, Morgan Lithograph Co., which was founded in 1864. By the 1920s, the company was the nation’s foremost printer of movie posters.)

George Reis, whose El Lagarto had brought the races to Lake George in 1934, was a friend of Morgan’s family, and “his stories furthered my interest,” Morgan said in 2000.

After attending Williams College (where, according to Gabriels, he was a champion swimmer) and serving in the Navy, Morgan himself became a racer, competing in Gold Cup, President’s and National Sweepstakes races, as well as in the Silver Cup, Canadian National and in a World Championship, compiling an impressive record of victories.

After building his own inboard racing boats, Morgan said in 2000, “I got to the point where I wanted to build replicas of boats that were no longer around.”

El Lagarto was donated to the Adirondack Museum in 1969, and after several trips to the museum to take measurements, Morgan completed Happy Times in 1971.

“El Lagarto was the best Gold Cup boat in its time, and Happy Times is its duplicate,” Morgan told the Mirror in 1971. “Like El Lagarto, my boat with the five steps has the same distinctive leap which enabled the original to clear itself from the water and run a little faster than its competition.”

Asked by the Mirror if he intended to enter Happy Times in races, Morgan replied, “No, but I’ll let her out and just see who we pass.”

Morgan went on to build “ten or twelve replicas – one each of the nicest boats,” he said.

That number includes Delphine IV, a replica of the 1932 Gold Cup winner designed by George Crouch for Horace Dodge, and Hotsy Totsy, a replica of the Purdy-built two-time Gold Cup.

Morgan also bought and restored the Californian, which competed in the Gold Cup races of 1930, 31 and 32; Miss Detroit VII, a Gar Wood boat which won the 150 mile Sweepstakes in 1924 and 1925; Miss Los Angeles, which competed in the 1929 Gold Cup races; and Miss Canada III, which competed in the 1939 Gold Cup Race.

“It would have been a crime to let them go,” Morgan said. “They are a part of our history… the Californian was in rough shape. Canada III-we rescued her days before she was about to be bulldozed. She was stripped of her deck for use as a fishing boat. Detroit VII was a basket case.”

Morgan’s replicas and restorations took first place awards in nearly every antique and classic boat show in the Northeast.

He donated his personal collection of Gold Cup raceboats – as well as a rare 1923 Gold Cup Packard engine and volumes of archival material about the boats – to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York.

In the 1980s, Morgan assisted the Wolgin family, which had recently acquired the Sagamore hotel, with the construction of an excursion boat.

“Bill was a friend, so we went to him for advice, and he became the project’s shepard,” said Ike Wolgin.

The 70-ft boat, which was built on Green Island, was launched in 1985. At the suggestion of Marian Wolgin, the boat was named “The Morgan,” in honor of Bill.

Bill Morgan

In 2004, Morgan made arrangements to sell Hacker-craft and his Silver Bay boat yard to another former speedboat racer, Lynn Wagemann.

The company was purchased in 2011 by investor George Badcock, who became the company’s president.

“We at the Hacker Boat Company would not have the honor today of building Hacker-Craft without Bill,” said Badcock. “Everyone at the Hacker Boat Company has a responsibility to keep the Hacker-Craft brand vibrant as a testament and memorial to Bill’s life’s work.”

Morgan was married to Jean Eckert of Albany, New York and later to the late Patricia Robinson of Marblehead, Massachusetts. There were no children from either marriage.

He is survived by his sister, Mary Burry of Cleveland, and two nieces, Marilyn Hitchcock of Chagrin Falls, Ohio and Susan Phillips of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Morgan was a member of the Lake George Club, the Fort Orange Club and a Director of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (International).

“With his passing, Bill Morgan leaves behind a multitude of friends and fans who honor and revere his many and diverse lasting contributions to boating, especially wooden boating and racing, on a level of excellence which may never again be equaled, much less surpassed,” attorney David Morris said in a statement announcing Morgan’s death.

Memorial services are scheduled for late May or early June.

Tags: Anthony F. Hall, Bill Morgan, Boat Builders, Boating, Hague

Dr. Stuart Kelley

Mission Accomplished: Stuart Kelley Completes Swim for the Cycle

By Mirror Staff

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

On February 6, Dr. Stuart Kelley became the first person to have swum in Lake George at least once every calendar day–leap year included.

The swim completing the cycle, witnessed by several friends of Kelley’s as well as his wife Melissa, took place at Silver Bay’s Slim Point on a fortuitously, unseasonably, warm day.

The temperature of the lake was 38 degrees – less bracing than the 6-degree lake Kelley has dived into in the past, but cold enough to deter any bystanders from joining him.

“Swimming in Lake George every calendar date of the year has required some determination, some logistical planning, and some strong support from my wife, Melissa,” said Kelley. “Lake George is spectacularly beautiful in any season, and I’ve enjoyed each and every swim I’ve taken in the Queen of American Lakes.”

Kelley’s swim for the cycle began on New Year’s Eve, 1991. “The New Year’s swim was the start of it. After that, I decided to make certain that I swam in Lake George at least once a month, no matter what the temperature,” said Kelley, a summer resident of Hague.

“We had to make special trips from our home in Virginia, even in April, when the appeal of Lake George is not especially evident,” said Kelley’s wife Melissa.

Having achieved his goal of being in the lake every month of the year, Kelley grew more ambitious, rather than resting on his laurels. Hence the drive to become the first person to have swum in the lake every day of the year.

“It got out of hand,” Kelley concedes, speaking of his quest.

“What’s pushing me?” he asks. “I can’t explain it. Call it obsessive compulsive behavior.”

A retired staff physicist for the Department of Defense, whose hobbies include restoring antique clocks, antique electric fans and early outboard motors, Kelley is nothing if not exacting.

For instance, he has a precise definition of what constitutes a swim, as opposed to a dip:

“You have to be buoyant, moving on your own power, completing a minimum of two or three strokes with kicking,” he says.

After the lake freezes over, he finds open water to complete his swims.

“More often than not, I’m swimming with the ducks,” he says.

Dr. Stuart Kelley and friends lakeside after the final swim

Completing the cycle at Silver Bay was especially important to Kelley, since Silver Bay is where he met his wife and where his mother visited in the 1920s, starting a family tradition of summers on Lake George, one that’s now in its fourth generation.

“My parents were school teachers in New Jersey, and they began bringing my brother and me to Lake George when we were quite young. We stayed at Rogers Rock, Trout House Village and Silver Bay before they found this property,” Kelley says in his living room, whose windows overlook Pudding Island.

Kelley attended Union College as an undergraduate and received a PhD in Solid State Physics from the University of Delaware. Both he and Melissa worked as Emps at Silver Bay.

“What’s intriguing are the number of Emps we knew who are still friends of ours, including a number of couples who, like us met at Silver Bay and are still married,” remarks Melissa, who worked as a travel agent while Stuart was at the Department of Defense and they were raising their two children.

If there’s a quality that Kelley admires, it is, he says, perseverance, and that trait has characterized his work as a scientist – he’s published more than sixty papers on physics, chemistry, mathematics, optics, and oceanography, as well as his athletic pursuits. In addition to swimming for the cycle, he is, for instance, a marathon runner and an Adirondack 46er.

Now that he’s completed his goal of swimming in Lake George every day of the calendar year, Kelley has had a chance to reflect upon his accomplishment.

“I treasure most my memory of those swims when it was snowing softly and quietly, with other sounds muffled and distant. Numb toes and ice on my glasses are small prices to pay for being immersed in Lake George’s silky waters in winter,” said Kelley. “Setting such a goal and achieving it is one of life’s pleasures. By the way, these swims have provided an icebreaking conversational topic at cocktail parties. An unfortunate consequence of achieving my goal is that now I’ll be expected to devise some new jaw-dropping challenge.”

Tags: Hague, Outdoors, Stuart Kelley, Swimming

Sally and Jim Rypkema

Hague Keeps its Market, the Oldest in the Adirondacks

By Anthony F. Hall

Monday, December 5, 2011

As a fifth generation resident of Hague, it’s not surprising that Sally DeLarm Rypkema considered saving the Hague Market a civic priority.

Established in 1900, it’s said to be the oldest continuously operated general store in the Adirondacks, and for most of its history, it has served as an informal community center, a place where people meet as well as shop.

But Rypkema has ties to the Hague Market stronger than even her oldest neighbors’. She worked there. When she was five years old.

“For the first six years of my life, my family lived next door, at the dairy, and the market’s owners, Bob and Ada Hoyt, who had no children of their own, seemed happy to have me around. They even gave me a job – selling penny candy to the other kids,” said Rykema.

When Art Seitz put the market up for sale several years ago, Rypkema and her husband Jim considered purchasing it, but the timing wasn’t right.

Jim continued to work with his family’s business in New Jersey and Sally opened Juniper Design and Goods, a home furnishings shop and interior design firm, which is also located on Hague’s Main Street.

The Hague Market

The decision by Doug and Sharon Zeyak to sell the market earlier this year presented them with a second chance to own the market, as well as an opportunity to aid the town.

“The town needs the market, in a big way,” said Rypkema. “It’s nice to be able to run to a local market. And this market was once the center of Hague. Everybody came in to chat about what was going on. We wanted to be certain that Hague would always have that.”

According to Jim Rypekema, the market will re-open within the next two months.

Since the couple purchased the market, “There’s been a lot of excitement, which is very encouraging” said Jim. “People are pleased to see that the building has been repainted.”

Much of his time has been spent renovating the market’s commercial space and upstairs apartment.

“Structurally, we’re not changing anything, and we’re keeping as many of the details as possible, such as the tin ceiling and the hardwood floors. We want a traditional country store,” said Jim.

While the store will stock staples, its line of offerings “will evolve, as we learn more about what people need and want,” said Jim.

“I want to offer more of what I would want as a shopper, such as organic foods and local cheeses,” said Sally.

When Sally Rypkema was growing up, the store was named the Hague Supermarket. She and Jim are giving some thought to calling their store the New Hague Market.

But they realize that it will probably always be known as the Hague Market. And that will be fine with them. After all, their only goal is to ensure that Hague will always have a market to call its own.

Tags: Adirondack Country Store, Hague, Hague Market, Jim Rypkema, Sally Rypkema, Shopping

Hacker-Craft in Premiere Catalogue of Luxury Gifts

By Mirror Staff

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Among the high-end items offered by Neiman Marcus in its annual Christmas catalogue is a custom designed Hacker-Craft from Lake George.

“All of us are thrilled to have a Hacker-Craft selected for the Christmas Book”, said George Badcock, President & CEO of the Hacker Boat Company, which is headquartered in Silver Bay.

Explaining the Dallas, Texas department store’s decision to include Hacker in its Christmas catalogue, spokeswoman Ginger Reeder said “We look for the best. If we’re looking for a speedboat, we have to find the best on the market.”

The Hacker-Craft offered in the Christmas Book was designed especially for Neiman Marcus and sells for $250,000. For every speedboat sold, Neiman Marcus will make a $3,000 donation to the Double H Ranch in Lake Luzerne.

Tags: Boating, George Badcock, Hacker Craft, Hague, Neiman Marcus

Paddle to Crag: Lake George Rock Climbing Gets National Exposure

By Mirror Staff

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Adirondack Explorer editor Phil Brown and Associated Press reporter Michael Virtanen not only write about the outdoors, they thrive on it.

The two journalists, who have known each other since second grade and who once worked side by side at the Amsterdam Recorder and the Times Union, have both found beats that allow them to indulge their passions, and they frequently turn their joint expeditions into news reporting.

A recent article by Virtanen about scaling Rogers Slide in July with Brown and Queensbury climber Tom Rosecrans was published in newspapers around the country, including the New York Times.

The story by Virtanen, who has covered Adirondack issues for the Associated Press for decades, is one of several that have appeared in national newspapers and magazines in recent weeks calling attention to Lake George’s extraordinary recreational resources,

“Lake George’s opportunities for hiking, climbing and paddling are often overlooked,” said Kate Johnson, the director of Warren County’s Tourism Department. “These articles not only help build our brand, they attract new visitors. This is exposure we couldn’t afford if we had to pay for it.”

Rogers Rock, Virtanen wrote, is “the classic paddle-to crag,” a climbing spot that can only be approached by boat.

“Almost a mile of shimmering water stretches east to rolling green mountains, and from a few hundred feet up, much of the 32-mile lake to the south can be seen as the mist burns off and the cliffs get warm. The lake issues a siren call to climbers after they rappel back down,” Virtanen wrote.

“I climbed Rogers Rock once before and told Mike about it; he was anxious to try it,” said Brown, who wrote about his first ascent of Rogers Rock for Adirondack Explorer.

The two recruited Tom Rosencrans, the owner of Rocksport Climbing in Queensbury who Brown says is largely responsible for identifying most of the routes up Rogers Rock and who was the first to climb many of them.

On that day in July, they chose Little Finger, which Virtanen describes as “a five-star route with clean rock and stunning views, is an easy climb that follows a vertical crack for 490 feet as it thins to the width of a pinkie.”

Virtanen writes, “The Little Finger ascent is largely a friction climb up a huge slab of brown-hued rock, a narrow route rubbed clean of lichen and nearly black. The crack provides for easy handholds and allows climbers to insert small spring-loaded devices and thread a safety rope through them.”

He quotes Rosencrans: “Little Finger gets climbed almost every day. The others not so much. If you’re going to come to the area and do just one climb, you’ve got to do it.”

Virtanen didn’t neglect to mention Rogers Rock’s place in American legend, which makes it an even more appealing spot for rock climbers.

“The crag gets its name from Maj. Robert Rogers, a militia commander who legend has it was retreating over the mountain after a losing battle in the winter of 1758 and slid down the cliff to escape or made it look as if he did by going to the edge and then retracing his steps while wearing snowshoes backward.”

Tags: Hague, Lake George, Outdoors, Paddling, Rock Climbing, Roger's Rock, Rogers Slide

Peggy Darrin with her family

Lake George Land Conservancy Dedicates Park in Hague in Honor of Peggy Darrin

By Buzz Lamb

Sunday, August 7, 2011

A 1.9-acre piece of lakefront property that once was home to a gas station and automobile repair shop has been transformed into a serene park and friendship garden, thanks to the generosity of a venerable Hague summer resident.

Margaret “Peggy” Darrin was honored this summer at a reception at the Hague Community Center. The Lake George Land Conservancy (LGLC) invited the public to the celebration which included the unveiling of the property’s “Peggy’s Point” sign.

“Peggy’s Point” is located just north of Hague beach on property Mrs. Darrin donated to the LGLC in 2005. According to Judy Shultz, of the Hague Historical Society, Mrs. Darrin bought the property in June of 1989.

In opening remarks, John Macionis, LGLC President said, “We are here to celebrate the generosity and the vision of Margaret Darrin, a member of our community who has done more things to help Lake George…above it, on top of it and underneath it.”

Macionis went on to say, “She does things quietly with kindness and her characteristic passion,” a comment which elicited a large round of applause from the packed community room.

Hague Supervisor, Dan Belden, said, “I think that piece of property is one of the most beautiful parcels on Lake George and on behalf of the town I want to thank you very much. I know the people in town will enjoy it for years to come.”

Nancy Williams, Executive Director of LGLC said work on the Friendship Garden has been completed over the past few weeks. According to Williams, as an on-going LGLC project the public is invited to bring a perennial or a small shrub to add to the garden. “Plants to remember friends, family or moments at the lake can be added to the garden at no charge,” she said.

Williams said the project already has a special meaning for her. “My brother, whom I saw last summer for the first time in 30 years, is a landscape architect and he and I have gotten together again to work on this project,” she said. Williams said she did a planting to commemorate the reunion with her brother.

The dedication was a reunion of sorts for the Darrin family as well. Son Drake and his family traveled from Connecticut and son Tim and his family flew in from Napa, Calif. to join in the celebration. Mrs. Darrin’s third son, David, who resides in Hague during the summer as well, offered a champagne toast to his mother. “This afternoon the property shall be known from here on and forevermore be officially known as Peggy’s Point,” he said. “Congratulations, Mom.”

“It is so nice of all of you to be here with me today,” Mrs. Darrin said to the crowd. “And to all of you support people who made this possible, God bless you,” she added.

Immediately following the celebration at the community center attendees had the opportunity to visit “Peggy’s Point”. A mulch-covered path meanders toward the Friendship Garden under the cover of native deciduous and pine trees. LGLC Board member Dr. Douglas Langdon says plans are being readied to install a native plant buffer along the 315 feet of shoreline at the eastern edge of the park.

Tags: Buzz Lamb, Hague, Lake George Land Conservancy, LGLC, Peggy Darrin

Hacker's Sterling

Hacker Boat Company Has New Owner

By Mirror Staff

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

George Badcock, a summer resident of Lake George, is officially the new owner of Hacker Boat Company.

The Silver Bay-based manufacturer of mahogany boats announced earlier this week that former owner Lynn Wagemann has sold his interests in the company to Erin Investments, LLC, a holding company owned by Badcock.

Founded by legendary naval architect John L. Hacker in Detroit in 1908, the company was later bought and moved to Silver Bay by Lake George resident Bill Morgan. Wagemann, a former speedboat racer who lives in Diamond Point, purchased the company in 2004.

Erin Investments first became an investor in the company in 2009. Badcock acquired a majority interest in Hacker-Craft in 2008 and became the company’s chairman. He will now also serve as chief executive officer.

“Lynn’s contributions to the company have been significant and he will be missed. We wish him continued success in his future endeavors,” said Badcock.

Earlier this month, the company opened a newly renovated 4,800 square-foot showroom in Silver Bay. New Hackers are displayed on two floors of the building, whose interior is decorated with company memorabilia, art and boat models.

“This new showroom is an example of the commitment I have to Hacker-Craft,” said Badcock.

George Badcock with sales manager Dan Gillman

“During Americade, bikers poured into the new digs and marveled at the boats on display,” said Ken Rawley, the company’s marketing director.

Built entirely by hand, the wood boats are crafted in Ticonderoga in a state of the art, 32,000 square foot production facility. Employing some 60 people, Hacker also has two storage facilities plus a full service marina as well as the new showroom in Silver Bay.

Badcock said he has assembled a team of professionals who will propel the company into international markets. “Ken Rawley came on board about 14 months ago. He is in charge of our marketing strategies. Twenty-three percent of our sales are now via the Internet. We’ve got a boat going to Finland, one to Canada, as well as several to the Long Island Sound,” he said.

“Not having a traditional dealer network is a challenge but, the traditional dealer agreements don’t work for us,” he explained. “Over the next five years we will register our name in the overseas markets. We have already had a visit from a boat dealer in mainland China,” he said.

According to Badcock, Kent O. Smith, Jr. now manages their production facility and 11,400 square-foot restoration shop. “Our business model has been revamped and revitalized. Our production process has been streamlined and, with the new Sterling and Sport series, we are poised to expand worldwide,” Badcock said.

Badcock said Hacker-Craft currently builds three models; the traditional Hacker-designed runabouts (including a sleek gentleman’s racer) and the newly designed Sterling and Sport boats. The boats range in length from 22 feet to 35 feet. “We’re working on ideas for new ‘green’ 22-foot and 24-foot planing hulls that will be powered by an electric motor,” Badcock said.

Tags: Boating, Dan Gillman, George Badcock, Hacker Boat Company, Hague, Lake George Boating

DeFranco Landscaping was the recipient of the 2010 Frank Leonbruno Memorial Lake Stewardship Award

The DeFrancos of Hague: Sustainable Landscapes and Green Infrastructure

By Buzz Lamb

Sunday, June 5, 2011

What does sustainable landscaping actually mean? There are varying definitions but, according to Tony DeFranco, sustainable landscaping should include an attractive environment that is in balance with the local climate and requires minimal resource inputs, such as fertilizer, pesticides and water.

Tony’s father, Dave DeFranco, started DeFranco Landscaping, Inc. in Hague more than 30 years ago. After graduating from Clarkson with a degree in Civil Engineering with a concentration in environmental engineering, Tony, 36, spent about 12 years consulting in the Capital District region.

Tony said that a couple of years ago he realized that he could take his expertise and implement it to broaden the range of what DeFranco Landscaping has to offer to the public. As a result, DeFranco Landscaping was the recipient of the 2010 Frank Leonbruno Memorial Lake Stewardship Award from the Lake George Watershed Coalition.

“I spent pretty much my whole childhood growing up in the (landscaping) business,” Tony said. “After graduating, I focused on stormwater management, doing a lot of inspections for erosion control and sediment control. Last year New York State came up with a new set of stormwater regulations called Green Infrastructure,” he said.

“It concentrates on using such things as rain gardens instead of dry wells; permeable pavers instead of blacktop and a system of credits for stormwater management techniques by using certain native plants and trees when redesigning a site.” Tony said the new regulations went into effect on March 1, 2011.

Tony says a recent study by the University of New Hampshire shows that using a combination of native plants is better for the environment. “It (the study) does not rely on one technology such as installing an on-site stormwater basin. They found that stormwater basins do not always function properly. Using the previous technology, contaminants were flowing through the system, so the State re-vamped the system based on those findings.”

Tony DeFranco

Tony says he tries to use native plants whenever possible. “Native plants are the best for this region because once they are established they require little or no irrigation and no fertilizer. Some clients may want more variety or splashes of color so we try to offer a mix that works for their property,” he said.

Tony says there are several plants that are more tolerable of wet environments. “We are currently working on a 1,100 square foot rain garden on a property in Bolton Landing. We’ll be using dogwoods and witch hazel for the larger plant material. They should consume more water and they will pick up some of the contaminants as well,” he said. “For really wet spots we use iris, Joe Pyle weed and cardinal flowers.”

According to Tony, DeFranco Landscaping has, for several years, been installing landscape buffers along the shoreline that provide filtered views offering privacy for the property owner by shielding out noise and light from boat traffic on the lake as well as neighboring activities on shore.

“Plant buffers also provide a natural way to filter run-off before it leaves your property, as well. Plants and trees have a deeper root structure than grass and therefore will consume more water from the soil,” he said. “Landscape buffers provide greater benefits by reducing a lawn’s footprint and reducing the amount of maintenance for that lawn area.”

Tony said shoreline buffers are also an excellent deterrent for Canada Geese. “Geese will not go onto a shoreline with dense vegetation because they feel threatened that a predator, such as a fox, may be lurking in the plants,” he added.

Tony said that when he returned to the Lake George area he began following what the Lake George Association was promoting. “I realized that they were advocating what we were already doing in some of our designs,” he said. “I said to my Dad that we were definitely on the right track and yet we did have some projects we did 15 or 20 years ago where we went back and said, ‘I guess we could have done this or that a little better,’”

Tony said recent designs have included the use of a combination of residential and native plants such as Black-eyed Susan, silky dogwoods, Christmas ferns, switch grass and wild ginger. “We use a lot of low-grow fragrant sumac. It’s a native that is a perfect lush-green ground cover in the spring and summer that turns a very rusty color in the fall,” he said. “Don’t confuse this with the stag horn sumac…along the road that’s great, but for me it almost looks like a plant from the dinosaur age,” he said with a grin.

Tony says that sustainability means cutting down on greenhouse gasses and trying to be more sensitive to the environment. “If everyone buys into being environmentally friendly we’ll all be at an advantage. New construction will unquestionably have to comply with the new regulations but if existing property owners just did some small things on their property, globally we are all going to be better off,” he said.

Tony recently started a civil engineering consulting business to complement his family’s landscaping and property management business. According to Tony, he recently completed the design of a Pura-Flo Peat Fiber Biofilter System, an on-site wastewater treatment system, which will be installed this summer.

Tony notes that the “Do-It-Yourself Water Quality: A Landowner’s Guide to Property Management, a guide published by the Fund for Lake George, is a great resource which helps educate the public by providing specific examples of best management techniques.

For more information, contact Tony DeFranco at 518-543-6089.

Tags: Dave DeFranco, DeFranco Landscaping, Do-It-Yourself Water Quality: A Landowner's Guide to Property Manaement, Fund for Lake George, Hague, Landscaping, Sustainable Landscaping

Volunteers assisting athletes. Photo by David Darrin

North Country Triathlon Comes into its Own

By Anthony F. Hall

Monday, May 23, 2011

When the last athlete crosses the finish line at the fifth annual North Country Triathlon in Hague this June, among those cheering will be Nancy Williams, the executive director of the Lake George Land Conservancy.

“The North Country Triathlon is a fantastic event that showcases the woods and waters that everyone works so hard to protect,” said Williams. “It brings a new audience to the lake, ready to embrace the region in a new way.”

2011 poster, created by Leslie Quinn Engler

This year, Williams will have further reason to cheer the triathlon.

According to Randy Engler, the event’s founder, the Lake George Land Conservancy has been selected to be a beneficiary of this year’s triathlon.

The triathlon could raise as much as $5,000 for the Conservancy in 2011, and even more in successive years as the event continues to grow said Engler.

“We’re psyched, being able to support the Lake George Land Conservancy,” said Engler. “We depend upon its work. If the lake were compromised, we couldn’t have a triathlon here. And open space is important. When I look across the lake and see nothing but the moon and the stars, I can visualize what it was like here hundreds of years ago.”

The race, which has grown in size every year, has become one of Hague’s leading, signature events, said Engler.

This year, Engler said, approximately 500 racers from 15 states and four countries will compete in front of 1000 spectators and volunteers.

Founder Randy Engler with his wife Leslie

And, while the event is based in Hague, Engler and Kelly O’Neil-Teer, the event’s new co-ordinator for sponsorships, have been busy extending the triathlon’s economic reach.

“We want our racers, their families and friends to explore the entire Lake George corridor,” said Engler.

Among the communities where they hope the athletes and their families will stay, dine and shop is Bolton Landing, where they’ve been meeting with local business owners.

“Bolton Landing’s response has been overwhelming,” said Engler. “It may take a year or two, but we think the triathlon has the potential to be a great, shoulder season event for the entire region.”

The North Country Tiathlon already come a long way since Engler first conceived of the idea.

But it’s still very much as he imagined it.

“I wanted to build a high-quality, environmentally low-impact race that showed respect for the community and would be of benefit to the community,” said Engler.

The idea came to him, he said, after he left the internet giant Ebay and was searching for something new and meaningful to do.

2009 Triathlon - Photo by David Darrin

“I was out cycling near my home, and the light came on! A triathlon! As someone who loves cycling and swimming, It seemed like something I could and should do. I knew that while I had never built a race, I could probably figure out the logistics,” he said.

Engler knew that he wanted his triathlon to be an alternative to the mega-events drawing ten thousand athletes, and he wanted to base it in Hague.

“I’ve been coming to Hague every summer, just as my father, my uncles and aunts did when they were children,” said Engler. “I got the chance to grow up as every kid should grow up, out of doors from morning to night; the broken bones and bruised shins were part of the fun.”

Engler starting working on the event a year before it was launched – talking to local officials and business owners and recruiting volunteers.

“Our first year, we had seventy volunteers; to me, that was amazing. But volunteers make the difference between a good course and a great course.

Their support gives the athletes an extra kick and helps make the event the intimate and the well-organized race that it’s become. And it provides a way for the community to come out, get together and see everyone,” he said.

“Word is really getting around that the North Country Triathlon is different from other races in a number of ways. We are a relatively small race in terms of overall numbers, but racers are finding this to be a huge plus. They’re a serious bunch, very competitive, but this event brings out the camaraderie. The racers look forward to seeing each other,” he said.

This year’s North Country Triathlon will be held on June 25. Sponsors include the Town of Hague, Green Mountain Coffee, Silver Bay YMCA, Codino’s Foods, Lake George Mirror, Hague Chamber of Commerce, Warren Country Board of Tourism, MojoMotors.com, XTERRA Wetsuits, IZZE Sparkling Juices, TD Bank, and Zatista.com.

For race registration, volunteer opportunities, sponsor requests and other information visit the North Country Triathlon’s website, northcountrytri.com.

Tags: Cycling, Hague, Lake George, North Country Triathlon, Outdoors, Running, Swimming