October 20, 2017 Contact: Aurora Wheeler, Oral History Coordinator HISTORIC SARANAC LAKE 518-891-4606 aurora@historicsaranaclake.org Saranac Lake, NY - Historic Saranac Lake has been awarded major grants to support the implementation of the Cure Porch on Wheels project in 2018. The New York Council on the Arts (NYSCA) has approved a $17,000 grant to support the creation of the mobile oral history booth and pop-up museum. A generous grant from the Cloudsplitter Foundation and additional private donations boost the fundraising total to over 63% of Historic Saranac Lake’s goal. In 2017, a National Endowment for the Arts grant is funding the design of the mobile exhibit space by Melissa Kline and engineer Wiley Lavigne with consultation from Adirondack White Pine Cabins builders Dan and Joe Plumb. In 2018, Historic Saranac Lake will contract with local builder Don Rumble to construct the Cure Porch on Wheels on a 16 foot trailer. The porch will be shared with other organizations and artists in order to host a wide variety of arts and cultural activities in the region. The Cure Porch on Wheels will be fully accessible to persons with disabilities via a platform lift. A collapsible stage will make it a flexible venue for musical performances and other events. “The fundraising campaign to build the porch next year is off to a great start,” said Executive Director, Amy Catania. “We can’t wait to build the porch and put it into use.” Project Director Aurora Wheeler has recently returned from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she gave a presentation about the porch project to an audience at the Oral History Association Annual Meeting. “The porch project is designed to be a model for other organizations to develop their own mobile spaces for arts and culture,” she noted. “It’s very special to be able to share our plans with organizations that are located all over the country.” Planning ahead for the long-term viability of the Cure Porch on Wheels, Historic Saranac Lake recently submitted a major National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant in partnership with the Village of Saranac Lake and Traditional Arts of Upstate NY to support porch programs in 2019. ####

For Immediate Release Crown Point, N.Y. — The Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) invites all Lake Champlain region municipal leaders, businesses, organizations, and individuals to attend a short regional destination marketing review, followed by a reception, at the Westport Hotel, 6691 Main Street on Thursday, November 2 from 5:00-6:30 p.m. The agenda will include a brief presentation by ROOST staff, time for Q&A, followed by a networking opportunity with light refreshments and a cash bar. “I encourage our marketing partners to attend this informative, casual gathering,” said Suzanne Maye, Lake Champlain regional marketing manager for ROOST. “It will be a great networking opportunity, and a chance to continue our ongoing dialogue about ROOST’s destination marketing strategies on behalf of the Lake Champlain Region of Essex County, N.Y."All those interested in attending the event are asked to RSVP to suzanne@roostadk.com. The regional destination marketing review is one in a series that ROOST will be hosting throughout the region this fall, including upcoming events in Lake Placid on Nov. 30, Tupper Lake on Dec. 7, in Malone on Jan. 11, in the Whiteface Region on Jan. 25, and a date to be announced in Hamilton County. ROOST is the accredited destination marketing organization (DMO) responsible for promoting Essex, Hamilton and Franklin counties in the Adirondacks of New York. For more information about ROOST and its team, visit roostadk.com. ###

Oct 30, 2017 ROOST hosted, in conjunction with I LOVE NY, influencer Gina Homolka, known for her foodie and travel website skinnytaste.com. Gina has 3.6 million Facebook followers, 615,000 Instagram followers, and 46,000 Twitter followers. She was sharing photos of our area on social media during her stay over Labor Day weekend. The video of her trip to the Thousand Islands and the Adirondacks was shared on I LOVE NY and SkinnyTaste’s Facebook pages. Click here to read her full blog about her Adirondack getaway.

ROOST and ORDA is coordinating with Lake Placid business owners to organize community involvement during the Skate America event November 24-26. To date, 2,500 tickets have been sold for this three-day Grand Prix exhibition skating competition held at the Olympic Center. ROOST’s Lake Placid/Whiteface Region Marketing Manager, Catherine Ericson, is contacting Lake Placid business owners who want to help welcome the athletes and crowds and support the event. To date, 25 businesses have signed on to "adopt an athlete," decorate the fronts of their businesses, offer drink specials, and stay open later in the evening to accommodate those who may want to eat after the events finish in the evening. ROOST will be creating maps including participating businesses that will be given to hotel guests at check-in. For information on how you can get involved, contact Catherine at catherine@roostadk.com or by calling 518-621-3656. What is Skate America? The 2017 Skate America will feature three days of competition in ladies, men, pairs an ice dance. The field of competitors will include 60 world-class athletes, including Olympic and World competitors and national champions. On Sunday, the Smucker’s Skating Spectacular, an exhibition of champions, medalist and invited guests, will be the feature event. Skate America expects 3,500 people will attend this final event. The full schedule can be found on LakePlacid.com.

October 30, 2017 Recently, local leaders met with representatives from Special Olympics World Winter Games at the ROOST Lake Placid office to discuss potentially hosting the event in our region, and what host year would be appropriate should it be pursued. The meeting also included Lake Placid resident John Piestrzynski, a cross-country silver medalist, who shared his experience from the 2017 Special Olympics World Winter Games in Austria. The preliminary visit included a brief tour of area winter sports venues. The Special Olympics World Winter Games is the largest sports organization for adults and children with intellectual disabilities. The organization provides sport opportunity, competition, and training for athletes year round. The most recent Special Olympic World Winter Games were held in Austria in 2017. Official winter sports for the Special Olympics include: alpine skiing, short track speed skating, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, figure skating, snowshoeing, floorball, and floor hockey. Other non-sport events would include Opening Ceremony, Closing Ceremony, awards ceremonies, and torch runs. The last time the Special Olympic World Winter Games were held in the United States was in 2009, in Boise. Left to right: Jay Rand, former Olympian; Anne Marie Nightingale, Special Olympics; Jeff Bryne, ORDA; Kim Widdess, Special Olympics; Lou Lauria, Special Olympics; John Piestrzynski, Special Olympics athete; Craig Randall, mayor of Lake Placid; Jim McKenna, CEO of ROOST.