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An Interview with Father Flannery


Fr. Flannery, pastor of Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall and the Chapel of the Assumption in Huletts Landing, stands overlooking Lake George.

It was my great pleasure recently to get together with Fr. Michael Flannery who is pastor of Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall and the Chapel of the Assumption in Huletts Landing.

Father agreed to chat with me about a wide range of topics.

Father, one of the things I’ve noticed about you is that you have a wonderful sense of humor and people can really tell you enjoy being a priest. Could you tell our readers what you like most about being a priest?

“I love saying the Mass every day most of all, and it’s a wonderful privilege being involved in people’s lives. I get to see family life at so many different levels. Last week, I went from saying a funeral mass in the morning to doing a baptism in the afternoon. Usually baptisms are done on Sunday’s but this was a special case because the baby’s father was a soldier in Afghanistan. I honestly love it all except the administration. (Big laugh.) Our culture has become so secularized but the world will return to Christ someday, and I feel like I’m carrying the torch for future generations.”

Father, perhaps you could tell us about your own family growing up. I know your parents live nearby.

“Well, I lived on Long Island until I was 14 and then my family moved to Granville. My father worked as a general contractor and, for a short period starting in 1992, he worked as a corrections officer in Great Meadow corrections facility. Both my mother and my father attend my masses regularly and it’s nice to live close to them. I have one brother.”

That was probably a perfect segway to my next question. Is part of your “territory” Great Meadow corrections facility?

“Great Meadow actually falls within the boundary of Our Lady of Hope parish, but they have their own ministry office which is staffed by another priest. I do say Mass and hear confessions there occasionally though.”

Prisoners are largely a forgotten population. Could you tell our readers what it is like to walk into a prison as a member of the clergy?

“The inmates there actually are extremely respectful of the clergy. I have never had a problem. Their confessions are certainly not your typical confessions. I sense great remorse in speaking to prisoners and a great fear of the Lord. It’s not a show for them, it comes from the heart.”

Is it safe for you?

“I don’t think in those terms. There’s a large officer presence, but my job is to bring the Gospel message into the walls. God always takes care of the rest.”

Father could you share some about your education and the call to your vocation?

“The short story is this. There has never been a time in my life when I felt God wasn’t calling me, even as a young boy. My parents never mentioned becoming a priest to me. I thought at first I was being called to family life because I always wanted a big family. However, I began to feel that God was calling me to become a priest when I was a freshman at Siena.

I actually have a distinct moment when this happened. I was heading home on President’s Day weekend in 1989 and I told God, ‘I’ll be a priest if you want but I want a sign and you’ll have to break it to my parents’ because I knew if I became a priest they probably wouldn’t get any grandchildren because at that time my brother wasn’t the settling down type of guy.

I got home and I was standing in the kitchen and my mother said to me, ‘Have you ever considered becoming a priest?’ and I just knew. I cried tears of joy that night because in that very moment I knew God was speaking to me.

I went on to Wadhams Hall Seminary and then Catholic University. I have now been a priest for 12 years, and I have to say I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”

Father what a wonderful story. What would you say to a young man or woman who is considering religious life today?

“Pope John Paul II said it best: “Be not afraid.” The biggest point I would make is that the lines our culture feeds you are all wrong. You’ll hear these thoughts: you’ll never be happy, you’ll be lonely, you’ll miss out on family life when in actuality it’s the reverse: You’ll have true joy, you won’t be lonely and you’ll have an extended family like you’d never expect. Don’t give in to the lines and the negative thoughts. They’re not true. Look where God has led me. He has called me to the clean waters of Lake George at Huletts Landing and the wonderful rolling hills of Washington County, probably one of the most beautiful areas in the entire world!”

Father I know in your travels you have been to many places. How does Huletts differ?

“Huletts is unique because there’s a core community there that doesn’t change but every week we have visitors and guests whom I really enjoy meeting. I look forward in the winter to seeing everyone again. It’s a community like none other.”

One last message for our readers?

“Please tell everyone, I pray for them all the time and I wish God’s abundant blessings on everyone. Always feel free to stop and chat, I enjoy meeting everyone and sharing in their life’s story.”

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Rainbow Over Route 4

On the way back to Huletts last night, as we were driving north on Route 4, we came across a brilliant rainbow. So we stopped and I was able to shoot some video. So here it is.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiKNm3Gjtf4

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“It’s Nicer on this Side”

Yesterday, on the way back from Whitehall, I stopped at the pavilion/walkway out over South Bay on Lake Champlain. I don’t want to beat a dead horse, but this little improvement shows the difference between how Dresden and Whitehall are facing their future.

Dresden Town Supervisor, Bob Banks, spearheaded this initiative a few years back and it’s a nice improvement. I met a couple from Whitehall and they said they loved fishing on the Dresden side because; “It’s nicer on this side.” There’s a parking lot, benches, the pavilion on the end, etc.

On the Whitehall side, there’s nothing and they haven’t even tried to improve things.

I’m going to be doing a story soon, on all the businesses that have closed in Whitehall over the last few years. It’s analogous to not seeing your nieces or nephews for a few months and seeing how they have grown. Except in Whitehall’s case it’s the reverse, when people come back for the summer they notice how things have declined.

I wish there was a concentrated effort by the Whitehall town fathers to do something, anything to stem the decline. It’s always more of the same though; “What can we do?”

Come up with a plan. That’s what. Try to bring business to the town, start or try to attract a college to come here, make the facades of the buildings like an alpine village. CUT TAXES. I don’t have the answer but try something. Use what you have and try. It’s a major thoroughfare to Vermont, get people to stop.

Getting back to the South Bay pavilion though, it’s dedicated to John Brooks who was the conservation officer for many years. I remember him as a child because he would issue permits for burning leaves, etc. and it always amazed me that he carried a gun. (He had to confront poachers and people hunting illegally who were armed so it makes sense.) As a child, he taught me things about the environment that I still remember to this day. I wish there were more people like him. I sense the environmental movement is creeping to an extremism that forgets people are part of the equation. That’s why I took a picture of the dedication to John Brooks that meets visitors to the pavilion.

He always gave me the sense that he would protect the environment but he also wanted people to enjoy the environment also. That’s why the last line of the dedication really hit home for me. He understood that there has to be access for PEOPLE to enjoy the environment.

Vision and enthusiasm are definitely needed on the Whitehall side.

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Sometimes Life Throws A Curve

The Washington Nationals announced this week, that they replaced Randy St. Claire as their pitching coach. Randy grew up in Whitehall and he and his family have many ties to Huletts. His parents ran the soda fountain for a few years in the 70’s and his brother Shane built some docks in Huletts in the 70’s also. His father, Ebba, was a major league catcher and actually taught me how to throw some different pitches when I was young.

Randy signed out of high-school with the Montreal Expos and played a number of seasons in the major leagues. He had been the pitching coach of the Washington Nationals for the last few years.

Sadly, I had recently submitted a request to the Nationals to interview him. We wish Randy the best and we know he’ll end up someplace good soon.

Here is a picture of his brother, Shane, (standing on the left) building a dock in Huletts in the 1970’s.

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Bits of Everything

Whitehall Marina Sold

I received this announcement about the Whitehall Marina being sold.

Ballplayer Hulett Tells of Tragedy

If you ever do a search on the name “Hulett” it will return the name of “Tim Hulett” a former pro-baseball player. This story on MLB.com is about a tragedy that happened to his family as told by his son, Tug Hulett, who is now a professional baseball player himself. It’s a great story about overcoming a tragedy and turning it into a positive. Read the whole article. I’ve always wondered if they’re related to our Huletts.

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The Teachers Contract

Previously I posted the Whitehall teachers contract online here. Today, I thought I would give my analysis of it.

Overall I believe the contract is fair but it could be improved. The problem that I have had with the district does not involve the teachers contract but revolves around the yearly budgets being padded and the excess being put into reserve accounts only to be spent later. The taxpayer is simply viewed as a deep pocketed dupe and never are any excesses returned in the form of lower taxes or lower budgets the following year. When coupled with falling enrollments, even in a year where there are no tax increases, per-pupil spending rises.

I have always had the utmost respect for teachers. It is more work than most people realize and the pressures to deal with students and parents can be overwhelming at times. Students have a lot of energy and teachers deserve our appreciation and support.

I’ve compared the Whitehall teachers contract to those in nearby districts and I would say it compares relatively favorably to those of nearby districts. Some districts have higher starting salaries than Whitehall but lower ending salaries after many years of service. However, while the current teacher’s contract is not extravagant, it is generous and it is certainly not frugal.

The original teacher’s contract was from June 1, 2005 to June 30, 2009 and the agreement was extended with a memorandum of agreement from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2011.

The biggest thing I noticed is that there is no anti-nepotism language or policy in effect. This allows for all types of inter-connectiveness in the hiring and staffing of positions. Almost all districts are moving to these types of policies to prevent relatives from hiring and recommending other relatives. Whitehall has been criticized in the past as being a “good old boys network”. This type of language and/or policy would go a long way in blunting this type of criticism.

The second thing I noticed is that in the first agreement the percentage the school district was paying for medical, surgical, hospital, and dental costs for the teachers was declining.

2005-06 – 92%
2006-07 – 91%
2007-08 – 90%
2008-09 – 89%

However, in the extension (for the next two years) the percentage goes up.

2009-10 – 90%
2010-11 – 90%

This seems a bit odd in so far as the teachers had already agreed to lowering this percentage and it appears to be a major concession on the part of the District. It would seem that with a concession such as this, the District would ask for other concessions in return.

However, the district agreed to 4% annual increases for the next two years in the memorandum (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2011) which seem exceeding generous in these bad economic times.

I was also a bit surprised at the amount of compensation being paid to club moderators and team coaches. The athletic director’s salary was increased 33% from the original agreement to the memorandum for the next two years (July 1, 2009 – June 30, 2011).

One criticism that I have heard repeatedly is that the school system needs to do more to crack down on unruly or misbehaving students. The one policy that has been shown to work and which many private schools use is academic, behavioral and/or attendance probation. This denies students the ability to participate in interscholastic or after-school activities who are failing, exhibit behavioral problems and/or who refuse to attend school regularly.

However if the teacher’s union views these clubs as a quick source of extra cash, there is no incentive to crack down and discipline students. You have a cycle where misbehaving students are needed for clubs so that a moderator can collect extra income.

Finally the number of clubs and paid positions should be evaluated in light of Whitehall’s falling enrollment. Hopefully the school board and the teachers will realize these types of positions are funded by hard-earned taxpayer dollars and that not everyone can afford these types of increases and that if the district doesn’t have an academic, behavioral and/or attendance probation policy it will continue to have disciplinary problems.

Hopefully the Board will think carefully about these types of increases and policies as they negotiate the next contract. Until they are able to reduce taxes and spending, I’m afraid Whitehall will continue to suffer from continued declines in enrollment, population and business as it has experienced over the last 15 years.

I believe the biggest problem the taxpayers face is the continued overcharging of the taxpayers by the district to fund reserve accounts which are earmarked for future building projects. These make little or no sense in a district which is losing students and population. What’s the point of having a new school and no people left in the Town?

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School District Vote Results

Yes     No
Budget – No Tax Increase or Decrease 215     39
Prop # 1 – $184,000 for Two School Buses 197     39
Prop # 2 – $500,000 Surplus to Reserve / No Tax Decrease 188     47
Prop # 3 – $15,000 for the Whitehall Library 197     41


Budget and all 3 Propositions Pass
No Tax Decrease Next Year

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John Paul Jones – Hero of the Seas


A rare photograph of President Theodore Roosevelt speaking in front of the remains of Captain John Paul Jones as his body is re-interred on U.S. soil in 1913.

John Paul Jones (July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was America’s first well-known naval commander in the Revolutionary War. He is regarded as the first leader of America’s navy and is known to have uttered the legendary reply about surrendering to a British captain: “I have not yet begun to fight!”

The historical circumstances regarding his burial and the finding of his body over 100 years later are equally as fascinating.

In May 1790, Jones arrived in Paris, where he remained in retirement during the rest of his life. He died of a severe brain tumor and was found lying face-down on his bed in his third-floor Paris apartment, on July 18, 1792. He was buried in Paris at the Saint Louis Cemetery, which belonged to the French royal family. Four years later, France’s revolutionary government sold the property and the cemetery was forgotten. The area was later used as a garden, a place to dispose of dead animals, and a place where gamblers bet on animal fights.

In 1905, Jones’s remains were identified by the US Ambassador to France who had searched for years to track down the body using old copies of Jones’s burial record. Jones’s body was ceremonially removed from his interment in Paris and brought to the United States aboard the USS Brooklyn, escorted by three other cruisers. On approaching the American coastline, seven U.S. Navy battleships joined the procession escorting Jones’s body back to America.

On April 24, 1906, Jones’s coffin was installed in Bancroft Hall at the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, following a ceremony presided over by President Theodore Roosevelt. On January 26, 1913, the Captain’s remains were finally re-interred in a magnificent bronze and marble sarcophagus at the Naval Academy Chapel in Annapolis.

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Proposition # 2


The School Budget vote and election will be held on Tuesday, May 19th between 12:00 noon and 9:00 p.m. in the large group instruction room in the high-school on Buckley Road.

One of the things to be considered is Proposition # 2. What is this?

Here is the wording of the legal notice which the district ran in the paper.

Proposition # 2
“Resolved that the Board of Education of the Whitehall Central School District is authorized and directed to increase the ultimate amount of the capital reserve fund known as the “Future Renovations to the Elementary and Jr./Sr. High School Buildings Capital Reserve Fund”, which Capital Reserve Fund was approved by the voters on May 20, 2003, from the original sum of $1,500,000 to be increased (to the) sum of $3,500,000. A sum not to exceed $500,000 shall be transferred from the current general fund into this Capital Reserve Fund as part of the increased ultimate amount authorized by the proposition. The original term of such Fund shall remain at ten (10) years from May 20, 2003.”

What is this really all about? It’s about our tax dollars being frivolously wasted.

In 2005, the school spent over $ 2 million dollars from a reserve account to build an addition on the school and tennis courts. Now the district is building up the account again by overcharging the taxpayers on the yearly budget, putting the excess into reserve accounts and planning future construction projects. All the while, enrollment is dropping!

This year $500,000 is proposed to be put away and the reserve account is proposed to grow to $3.5 million. This would seem to indicate that the district is planning on putting $500,000 away for 4 years before they spend it.

When they go to spend it, they will claim it will have no effect on taxes. When in fact, the district has already taken it out of our pockets.

The problem Whitehall is having is that the town is dying because of the school district’s taxing policy. Dresden has actually cut taxes two years in a row, and increased spending at the same time because Dresden has grown its tax base. The school district could do the same; put money in reserve, cut taxes and improve the tax base of the town.

Whitehall is doing exactly the opposite. I keep a list of businesses that have left Whitehall over the last 10 years and every year it continues to grow. Dunkin Donuts left last year.

Sadly the good news is, you can’t miss the problem any more. Recent local headlines about Whitehall all show a town in significant decline; water problems unresolved, a former police chief who couldn’t pass the civil service exam, a low-income subsidized housing center which can’t attract enough residents, the municipal offices being located in a state facility which doesn’t want them there. Do I have to list more?

Dresden on the other hand, and especially Huletts, is growing and thriving because of low spending and wise stewardship. Every year positive change is happening in Huletts.

While the Huletts Current recommends a “NO” vote on Proposition 2 this Tuesday, Whitehall will most likely continue to go down the declining path it has chosen. The real news is that enrollment will plummet in the years ahead and the district will have put itself and the town of Whitehall out of business. They might build a fancy new school with our tax dollars, but at this pace it will be empty because there won’t be any children or businesses left in Whitehall.

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Bits of Everything

Whitehall School Budget Set For Vote

The Whitehall Times has a good piece on the school budget up for vote next week. I’ll have more analysis over the weekend.

Mammals, Mammals, Everywhere

The Adirondack Almanack has a really interesting piece on the number of mammals in the Adirondacks. It has some great statistics about the moose and bear populations.

NY Post Picks Lake George

Lake George is ranked # 2 in a NY Post survey of inexpensive destinations close to NY City. Then again, you know that!

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“Man What A Ride”

How do Whitehall, Lake Champlain, and the U.S. Naval Academy all come together in a post?

Well, Whitehall is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy and I recently visited the U.S. Naval Academy. In their new visitor’s center they have an exhibit dedicated to Alan Shepard Jr., the first American in Space, and a 1945 graduate of the Naval Academy, who was picked up by the USS Lake Champlain on May 5, 1961 when he splashed down. How’s that for six degrees of separation from Huletts? If you ever visit Annapolis, Md. it’s certainly worth the trip.

Here are a few shots that I thought everyone might like.