ROOST employees joined representatives from ORDA and several local lodging properties last week to promote the Lake Placid region and Whiteface Mountain at Canada’s biggest ski/snowboard show. The group joined more than 130 vendors at the four-day Toronto Snow Show to talk to skiers and snowboarders getting hyped for the coming snow season. Our representatives interacted with more than 500 people, giving them information about the many lodging, dining, and activity options in and around Lake Placid and Whiteface, as well as giving free beer samples, showing videos of the area and giving them a photo opportunity in a real bobsled. Titus Mountain Family Ski Center also set up a booth at the Snow Show to promote its family-friendly destination close to the Canadian border.

Job fair, candles and a snow show! Read this week's ROOST news:

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.