Whitehall School Enrollment Edges Up

For the second consecutive year, student enrollment went up in the Whitehall School District.

For the 2013-2014 school year, total enrollment for all grades K-12 was 757 students.

This was 2 students higher than the 2012-2013 year, when enrollment was 755 students.

The exact demographic and grade breakdown for the 2013-2014 school year for the district can be seen here.

I have been tracking and reporting on the enrollment for a number of years. Even with the small increase from this past year, enrollment has been down over 14% since the 2004-2005 school year.

# 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 13-14 Percent Change
 885 860 858 845 815 779 753 742 755 757       -14.46%

Bits of Everything

Whitehall School Superintendent to Leave

The Whitehall Times reports on Whitehall School Superintendent Liz Legault leaving the district.

Ticonderoga IP Plant Pipeline Project Buried by Vermont Gas

The Times of Ti reports that there will be no natural gas pipeline running under Lake Champlain to the International Paper Ticonderoga Mill.

Ranking The States From Most To Least Corrupt

FiveThirtyEight.com recently published a ranking of the most “corrupt” states. Guess which state was ranked #1 in corruption convictions?

“Caveman” Blogger Wins Right to Blog Advice about Food and Fitness without a State License

North Carolinian Steve Cooksey had been obese, diagnosed with Diabetes, and almost keeled over, but emerged from his near-death experience to adopt a simple, “Caveman” or paleo diet of meat, nuts, and veggies along with exercise including running and jumping, sometimes without shoes. He lost a lot of weight, felt great and healthy, and wanted to share with the world, so he started a blog, wherein he dispensed advice about food and fitness. Recipes, grocery lists, general advice.

The state of North Carolina declared this illegal “counseling and assessing” without a license provided by the state. For three years, the “Caveman” has been fighting for the right to blog without a license.

Recently, Mr. Cooksey won. The Institute for Justice which represented Cooksey made this video.

Frances Hebert, R.I.P.

It is with much sadness that I report that Frances Hebert, passed away on Thursday, December 18th at the age of 101. Frances was the oldest child of Royden Barber, who was instrumental in selling the first Hulett hotel to William H. Wyatt. Royden Barber had three children; Frances, Agnes Peterson, and Stanley Barber, who I interviewed in 2012. Frances was a delightful person who passed along many recollections of life in Dresden to me during the early part of the 1900’s.

Her father’s sister, Cora Barber, was married to Henry Buckell making Frances the niece of Henry and Cora Buckell, who owned the first Hulett hotel. She was an invaluable link to the history of the town of Dresden, experiencing first hand, life in Dresden and Huletts Landing during the first part of the last century.

For many years, she helped her father deliver milk, vegetables and meat to the families in Huletts Landing on horse drawn sleds. She also helped mow the fields, including Bluff Head. She loved horses and was even riding one when I last saw her at age 99!

Frances was always very kind to me, sharing not only her knowledge of local events but most importantly, sharing her experiences about what life was like in Huletts from the early 1900’s.

In another unique fact, she was also featured on the billboard advertising the Whitehall Health Center for many years, as you entered Whitehall.

She will be dearly missed. Our condolences to the Hebert, Peterson, Barber and Foster families.

Update:

Here is her obituary 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.”

California Veterans Get Gift with Local Significance


Veterans in San Diego received a gift with local significance.

During this season of giving, I wanted to post this heartwarming story.

As everyone knows, Whitehall is the birthplace of the U.S. Navy. While Peter Ballantyne was in Whitehall this past summer, he picked up some tee-shirts commemorating this fact, to distribute to some veterans he works with at the Paralyzed Veterans of America, at his winter home in San Diego, California. These vets are in the spinal cord injury unit, and needless to say, appreciated Peter’s thoughtfulness.

So on the day after Navy beat Army in the traditional Army/Navy football game, I wanted to post these pictures and thank Peter for demonstrating what this season is really about.


The veterans also learned about the history of the U.S. Navy in Whitehall.

Independent Film Producer Provides Update on Movie Filmed Locally in April 2014


The producers and film crew making an independent short movie in and around Huletts Landing in April 2014 (seen here), recently provided an update on the movie.

Back in April, a film crew and actors descended on Huletts Landing and Whitehall, where they shot an independent short movie.

I recently heard from one of the producers, Jeremy Leach of Lost City Creative, who gave me an update on where things presently stand.

We wrapped up filming in mid/late April after thirteen days of filming. If memory serves, we spent 3 days in Brooklyn, one travel/shoot day going upstate from Brooklyn and the next nine days splitting time between Whitehall and Huletts Landing. One of our biggest concerns before heading up to Huletts was the state of the lake. I was told it had been one of the coldest winters on record and as of April 12th, our first day of production, large portions of the lake had not thawed. Because we had several scenes on the lake, this was a cause of great consternation. However, upon arriving at Huletts on April 15th (in a torrential downpour), we were relieved to find the lake had completely thawed. Apparently, it had gone out two days before we arrived!

Upon beginning the edit, we were delighted to find that many of the scenes from the film, including those filmed in and around Huletts Landing, really capture the beauty of the landscape. The scenes we filmed there are important because they are essentially the first time our main character is immersed in a completely natural environment, a significant stage in the film. We were honored to be able to work with such wonderful people both in Huletts Landing and in Whitehall before, during, and after production.

The first thing we had to do once we finished filming was to cull through and organize the many hours of footage. That took some time because we filmed several complicated scenes, many of which included a variety of long takes. Initially we were unsure of the potential length of the film but after going through all the footage and putting together some rough assembly edits, we’re thinking it could potentially be anywhere from 75 – 90 minutes long. Right now, we are working on and are close to completing a rough cut of the entire film, creating a story arc by assembling the visual building blocks of the film. From there, we will review and move on to a fine cut, where we will start incorporating more complex sound design and begin the arduous process of color correction.

Finding free time to edit while juggling work/personal responsibilities can be challenging, often resulting in a process that takes longer than expected. That said, we’re hoping we can have a finished film by early spring of 2015. After it’s finished, we’ll begin the process of submitting the film to festivals and arranging screenings. I’ll keep you updated with our progress for some follow-up posts for your blog.

Actor Who Played “Screech” to Appear in Whitehall

Dustin Diamond who played the nerdy character, Screech Powers, on the popular 1990’s TV show, Saved by the Bell, will be coming to the Whitehall Athletic Center as part of the World of Hurt Professional wrestling tour on Sunday, November 9th.

Tickets are $15. Call 518-260-8759 for info.

Email to the Editor

Dear parishioners,

As you know, our new Bishop Edward Scharfenberger is visiting this weekend. Originally, he had planned to be at all four Masses, with a reception for him at Huletts Landing on Saturday evening. However, just yesterday (Monday), I received a call from him, apologizing that because of an unforeseen scheduling conflict, he can only come to this Sunday’s Masses and cannot join us on Saturday.

Bishop Scharfenberger had planned to be with us the whole weekend, so he is very sorry and said he is still looking forward to being with us this Sunday. We will move the reception to Sunday at Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall, since that now fits in his schedule. He will be at both Sunday Masses, 9:00 at St. Ann’s in Fort Ann, and 11:00 at Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall. Please join us for the Eucharistic procession after the Masses, as the bishop (our successor of the Apostles) brings the Lord Jesus into our streets, to bless our area and to show proudly our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the central truth and mystery of our Catholic faith.

Please also remember that Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Hope will be at 11:00 a.m. starting this Sunday. This will be a realistic schedule that allows the pastor to attend to and drive between his three communities in a reasonable way. Thank you for your understanding of this needed measure, and may God bless you.

Peace in Jesus
Through Mary,

Father Rendell Torres

Family Dollar Store in Whitehall to Close


The Family Dollar store in Whitehall will be closing soon.

Recently, Family Dollar announced a consolidation that would close a number of its stores nationwide. Under this plan, the Whitehall store is one of the stores slated to close.

July 1st is the latest date that the store will remain open according to a store employee.

This is another blow to Whitehall which is dotted with empty storefronts. The store employed between 7 to 10 employees. The store is open as merchandise on hand is liquidated.

School District Vote Results

Yesterday’s vote to choose three members of the school board resulted in Amy Austin and James Huntington winning five-year terms with 257 and 240 respective votes.

Jeremy Putorti won a two-year term with 205 votes.

Pat Rushia finished in fourth place with 139 votes.

The budget for the 2013-2014 school year passed with 206 “yes” votes and 122 “no” votes.

The reserve fund to make capital improvements to the school buildings was increased by a vote of 146 to 60.