ROOST is pleased to welcome two new hires to our staff! Videographer and Digital Media Manager Blake Cortright hails from the capitol region of New York State and recently completed the Adirondack documentary "The 46ers," which has shown in theaters all around the state and will air on PBS in the future. He graduated from Regent University with a bachelor's degree in film and television and has been telling stories with a camera for over a decade. Mary Gallagher is our new visitor service specialist in our Saranac Lake Visitor Center. She was raised in Rouses Point, the youngest of 5, and was destined to move to the Adirondacks. She graduated from Plattsburgh State with a dual major in Business Administration and Management Information Systems.

The Lake Placid Holiday Village Stroll Committee is looking forward to great participation from local businesses to ensure the event is successful again this year! Holiday Shopping Dollars will work the same way as always. Those who haven’t accepted Shopping Dollars before but want to this year, please contact committee Chair Olivia Zeis. If you’ve taken Shopping Dollars before and she doesn’t hear from you, she will assume you will be participating again this year. For more information, click these two links to download: 2015 Holiday Stroll Shopping Dollars Info and Shopping $ Brochure.

The North Country Chamber of Commerce and its licensed health insurance service, the Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp., are reminding all employers and households in the North Country of the need to review updated health insurance options and to enroll in new plans or make changes in coverage soon, in time for the new year. The Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp. is a fully licensed health insurance agency with trained and licensed professionals available to review all options available and then to enroll in new coverage or make changes in existing coverage. Their professional services are free and are available throughout northern New York including Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Warren, St. Lawrence and adjacent counties as well as Akwesasne. The Chamber and its Service Corp. offer access to a number of plans and options, both on the state's health insurance exchange, New York State of Health, as well as off the exchange. Advice and assistance is available for employers of all kinds including businesses, non-profits, government entities and self-employed persons, as well as for individuals and their families. Depending on the county, available options include a variety of health insurance plans through Excellus, Blue Shield of Northeastern New York, Fidelis, and MVP, including Healthy New York options, as well as stand alone dental and vision plans. The North Country Chamber of Commerce is the official provider of health insurance services to ROOST, and the Saranac Lake Area, Tupper Lake, Malone, Akwesasne, Ticonderoga Area, Schroon Lake, Indian Lake, Adirondack Speculator, Gore Mountain Region, North Warren and Stony Creek Chambers of Commerce as well as the Whiteface Visitors Bureau and the Inlet Business Association. For more information or assistance, contact Lisa Bedard Dupee at the North Country Chamber at 518-563-1000.

The 25th Ironman Lake Placid will take place on Sunday, July 21; its course is defined along roads throughout Lake Placid, Keene, Jay, Upper Jay, Au Sable Forks and Wilmington. Ironman Lake Placid organizers have, once again, established a community liaison to assist businesses and community members with questions related to race training and travel throughout the region, along with addressing specific race-day issues. The community liaison is the primary point of contact regarding road closures, traffic delays and other inquiries or concerns. This position is expected to work closely with race officials and other local agencies to quickly mitigate any issues that arise. According to Ironman Lake Placid Race Director Greg Borzilleri, the community liaison will work closely with the local community to ensure coordination, provide timely information and address any questions that may arise. “The community liaison position was established two years ago and was extremely successful in assisting businesses and community members,” he said. Recognizing the impact of a large-scale event like Ironman Lake Placid, the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism (ROOST) led a task force in 2021 to address community concerns, improve safety and logistics and establish ways to communicate more effectively with community members and race participants. One important outcome was the establishment of the community liaison position to be a direct line of communication between the local community, spectators, athletes and race organizers in preparation for the race, and during the event. The task force evolved, becoming known as the event committee, and remaining in place to support the Ironman event.Residents and community members are encouraged to reach out to the Ironman community liaison for assistance before and during the race via email at IMLakePlacidCommunity@ironman.com or by phone at 888-497-5009.The public should expect road closures and associated traffic delays beginning shortly after 5:00 a.m. that day. Traffic pattern changes and delays will impact communities along the bike and run course. A list of traffic detours and road closures can be found at ironman.com/im-lake-placid-course.According to ROOST Chief Operating Officer Mary Jane Lawrence, the event committee meets throughout the year to review opportunities for continued improvement. “We recognize that improvement is a continual process,” she said. “The group meets post-race, as well, to review the event and consider additional recommendations based on feedback from athletes, volunteers, businesses and community officials.”

Lake Placid, adirondacks, usa — Lake Placid Mayor Craig Randall and Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism President James McKenna learned about the new Olympic agenda at the World Union of Olympic Cities summit in Switzerland. The agenda was addressed at the Smart Cities and Sport Summit, held in mid October in Lausanne, Switzerland. The summit also included the annual meeting of the World Union of Olympic Cities, which Lake Placid has been an active participant in for eight years. The new Olympic Agenda 2020, which sets forth new guidelines for Olympic bids, focuses on ways to make Olympic Games both benefit and reflect the communities they are held in. It emphasizes building infrastructure that reflects the long-term needs of the region, increasing business investment and helping develop the next generation of leaders. It also highlights sustainability, requiring Olympic bids to show long-term solutions to help the environment and combat climate change. Mayor Craig Randall and ROOST CEO James McKenna attended the summit and participated alongside representatives from some of the most influential cities in the world. “The Lausanne Summit is an opportunity to share information and resources with other Olympic host cities,” said Mayor Randall, who is a member of the World Union of Olympic Cities Executive Committee. "We are honored to represent Lake Placid, which remains an example of the games being an appropriate mechanism to meet community development goals." Lake Placid has been a winter destination since 1905, and the goal of community leaders has been to establish the destination as a world sports center and resort since the 1920s. “As we approach the winter season, we’re again reminded that we’ve been playing in the snow in Lake Placid for more than 100 years, and hosting two Olympic Winter Games has helped solidify the village as a premium international destination for winter outdoor recreation,” McKenna said. The WUOC is firmly committed to the development of exchanges of experience between cities that have hosted, or are going to host, Olympic Games or other major international sports events.