Lake Placid, adirondacks, usa – IRONMAN Lake Placid is only weeks away, but officials have announced that volunteer opportunities are still available, including those for local non-profit charities to qualify for Ironman Foundation Grants. With a combination of multiple athlete pre-race visits and the activity during the days surrounding the race, the Ironman Lake Placid event drives approximately $10 million in direct economic impact to the region on an annual basis. The race welcomes over 2,500 athletes who are supported by over 3,000 volunteers, and 2/3 of those volunteers have traditionally been from outside of the Adirondack region. In addition to visiting volunteers, the region enjoys a tremendous resident volunteer base for Ironman and a long list of other events, committees and organizations. “For many, Ironman provides the opportunity to participate in an emotionally-charged, fast-paced, feel-good event that is so important to their beloved Lake Placid and the Adirondacks,” said Sue Cameron, Ironman Volunteer Director and Events Manager for the Lake Placid-based Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism. “As a bonus, some nonprofit groups enjoy the chance to both spend time volunteering together at the race while simultaneously raising money for their respective charities courtesy of the IRONMAN Foundation.” The IRONMAN Foundation was established in 2003 as a way to leave a legacy behind in communities where IRONMAN events take place. Since its inception, the IRONMAN Foundation has given over $1.4 million to support community funds in the Lake Placid region, and grant applications are welcome from qualified organizations from throughout the Northeast. Each year, the IRONMAN Foundation accepts grant applications from nonprofit groups with a volunteerism component from all of their U.S. race communities. Since 2003, the Foundation has supported a variety of Adirondack community efforts at various levels, such as awarding a grant to purchase an off-road ATV for the Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department, and refurbishing the tennis courts in Lake Placid. The Foundation has also funded the Uihlein IRONMAN Sports Fund with more than $125,000 to distribute locally. “Typically, nonprofit applicant groups select one volunteer ‘station’ for their group to manage or to provide a contingent of volunteers for during the race,” added Cameron. “There are still some fun volunteer assignments available this year for both individuals and groups!” This year’s Ironman Lake Placid event will take place on July 24, 2016. Nonprofit organization representatives interested in applying for Ironman Foundation grants should contact Sue Cameron at sue@roostadk.com for more information. Individuals interested in volunteering for this year’s Ironman Lake Placid can sign up for available positions online at: www.lakeplacid.com/ironman-volunteer ###

SCHROON LAKE — Seagle Music Colony will hold a ground-breaking ceremony to kick off construction of a new nine bedroom faculty and staff housing unit on its Schroon Lake campus. The ceremony will take place at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, July 14, at 999 Charley Hill Road. The new housing unit is part of the first phase of an overall campus improvement plan at Seagle Music Colony that will eventually restore or replace many of the aging structures used by the Colony during its now 101 year history. The housing unit construction has been partially funded by a grant from the New York State Regional Economic Development Council. New York State Senator Betty Little as well as Assemblyman Dan Stec will be present at the ground-breaking as representatives of the state. The project has also gained additional support from the Charles R. Wood Foundation. The remainder of the construction costs will be funded by individual supporters of the not-for-profit Seagle Music Colony. “This summer we had to retire one of our old cabins that had served beyond its useful lifetime,” said Seagle Music Colony General Director Tony Kostecki. "We have our faculty and staff tucked into every available space now and are literally busting at the seams when it comes to available beds on campus. This new building will not only accommodate our current housing needs, but serve us well into the future as we continue to grow our world-renowned program.” A full campus revitalization plan is currently being formalized by the Seagle Music Colony administration and Board of Directors that will serve the Colony in its next 100 years. The plan will include additional new housing for artists and staff, a dining and gathering hall with a commercial kitchen, improvements to the grounds and pathways as well as a new state-of-the-art theater to supplement the existing Oscar Seagle Memorial Theater. “We are formulating an 8 to 10 year strategic plan to try to implement all these improvements and are excited about the future, though we have a long way to go and a lot of money to raise to make our vision a reality”, says Kostecki. The mission of Seagle Music Colony is to identify, train and develop gifted singers and to present quality opera and musical theatre performances to the public. More information about Seagle Music Colony, including a full listing of its summer events and performances, can be found online at seaglecolony.org.

ROOST board member Laura O’Brien and her husband Matt have taken on one of the most challenging jobs in the area — running a small family ski slope and making it profitable. But they’ve made huge strides in diversifying their options at Oak Mountain in Speculator, and hopefully they will be there for many years to come. Laura is originally from New Hampshire, and she earned a fine arts degree at Montana State University in Bozeman, then she earned a graduate degree from the University of Nebraska. She and Matt met while working at Sugarbush Resort in Vermont, then they started running a camp store at Moffitt Beach in the summers while working ski slopes in Park City, Utah, in the winters. At the time, they didn’t even realize there was a ski slope in Speculator. But after a few years, the mayor of Speculator, aware of their background in working at ski resorts in both the west and the east, approached them to run Oak Mountain Ski Center. And they quickly fell in love with it. The village couldn’t afford to keep them on after some time, so they moved on to Maine’s Sunday River, but then the Hamilton County Industrial Development Agency approached them to see if they wanted to bid on the ski slope. After a year-long process of submitting various operational plans, budgets, and other documents, the O’Briens were the owners of Oak Mountain Ski Center. “It’s just been a blast,” Laura said. Over the last few years, they have grown skier visits by nearly 90 percent, from 8,000 when they were running the center for the village to 15,000 in their best season. (The most recent ski season was far from their best, but it wasn’t just Oak — it was a trend seen throughout ski slopes in the U.S. Laura is confident the coming winter will be awesome, though!) Laura and Matt have expanded snowmaking and put some oomph into the ski center’s marketing efforts, trying to focus in on who their customers are and reach out to that segment of the popular better to help build their customer base. They have also focused on improving the experience in their lodges, doing renovations, painting, and making things look better. The lodge now also includes the Acorn Pub and Eatery, a restaurant with delicious eats cooked up by Chef Lou Petrozza, who was a season 4 finalist on Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen TV show. “People just love him, and of course they love his food, because it’s amazing,” Laura said. Oak also recently took over ski rentals, now offering brand new Rossignol skis. The O’Briens have also taken efforts to expand their summer offerings, trying out a disc golf course and downhill mountain biking trails. The idea is to make sure there’s something for everyone, no matter what time of year a family visits Oak. They also tried mini golf under a tent, but there wasn’t much interest in that. Laura said they like to try things here and there to see what sticks, and if it sticks, like mountain biking has, they will expand it. If it doesn’t, well, the mini-golf course is currently for sale. When they’re not working on their business, Laura loves to spend time with Matt and their daughter and son, and their black lab. Laura loves the outdoors and can often be found hiking, paddleboarding, snowboarding, skiing, and otherwise exploring the woods and waters of the Adirondacks. Laura has also been involved in efforts to improve Speculator and the surrounding area, and she helped with a destination planning co mmittee ROOST facilitated. Last year, she was offered a seat on the ROOST board, and she said, “Heck yeah, whatever I can do to help out this area and make us more well known is great.” She notes that the small businesses of Hamilton County have seen significant impacts from ROOST’s marketing efforts already, and she hopes ROOST will continue to grow its efforts to bring more awareness and tourism to the area. For more information about Oak Mountain, like them on Facebook or visit their website.

Please read this note from ANCA and fill out their survey! Dear North Country resident, business owner, visitor: You know it when you get there... Main Street buildings are well maintained. There are people on the sidewalks, young families, galleries, dogs, a cool-looking coffee place, buckets of flowers, the place where a weekly farmers market sets up, a tangible buzz. You can feel it. You want to join in. You wonder how this community does it. The Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA) is reaching out to YOU to take a minute to fill out our survey, “Unpacking Secrets of Successful Communities.” These survey questions are based on successful strategies from around the country. We recognize that national trends are driving against economic viability in rural places and rural communities, but some of our Adirondack North Country communities are bucking those trends. We want to understand how and why. Results from this brief survey will be instrumental for building a highly relevant and comprehensive agenda for ANCA’s annual meeting in September. Results from the meeting, in turn, will be used to create tools for individual communities to learn from each other and explore new ways to invigorate their own towns and villages. We want to know what you think! We need to hear voices from all over Northern New York. Beyond knowing your feedback will help shape economic development tools for the North Country, we are adding the extra incentive of FREE COFFEE! New and independently owned coffee shops throughout the region are donating gift certificates for a drawing of survey participants. You could be a winner! So please take the survey, enter the coffee shop drawing, and help ANCA help North Country communities. Best wishes, The ANCA Team