TUPPER LAKE — Tupper Lake is looking to turn Flanders Park into a performance park, and it needs help from the community and visitors. The plan is to build a bandshell on the shore of the scenic Raquette Pond and build a stone plaza in front of the bandshell. Construction will also include a rain garden behind the bandshell that will help with drainage. The bandshell will be an eye-catching timber structure built to reflect the local lumberjack and logging heritage. The village has received grant funding from the Department of State Local Waterfront Revitalization Program to begin work on Flanders Park, and the Lions Club has raised funds and donated services. Organizers are hoping for help from the public to give the project a final funding boost and provide matching funds for future grants. Local contractors will donate their services for construction, but organizers are looking to raise another $85,000 for materials for the bandshell. Supporters are launching a crowdfunding campaign through Woodmen of the World’s fundraising site, Red Basket. Potential donors can go to tupperlake.com/bandshell to find more information on how to donate. “Our vision is that the bandshell at Flanders Performance Park will be a venue that hosts a robust schedule of concerts, theatrical performances, entertainment acts, educational workshops, events and more,” said Dan McClelland, president of the Lions Club. “The site offers one of the most beautiful vistas in the entire Adirondacks, and the sunsets are magnificent.” If enough money is raised, organizers also plan to extend the existing Waterfront Walkway along Raquette Pond, connecting it to Cliff Avenue, and install gateway structures at the Mill Street and Cliff Avenue entrances to the park, completing the Flanders Performance Park. Flanders Park, off Martin Street, is named for Allen B. Flanders, 1890-1949, an early Tupper Lake settler who built the Flanders Lumber Mill on the site where the park now stands. Flanders Performance Park is the second major park improvement the village has undertaken in partnership with the Department of State Local Waterfront Program. Little Loggers Playground, adjacent to Flanders, was constructed in 2014.

Charlie Cowan is an Ironman and an avid skier and kayaker, and sometimes he takes a break from all of that to help with ROOST finances. The ROOST board treasurer grew up in Western New York. He started visiting the Adirondacks in high school when he got into whitewater kayaking; his introduction to the area was dipping his paddle into the Hudson River Gorge. He moved to the Adirondacks before the Olympics, then left in 1981. He's always been an outdoorsy type, ski bumming around Stowe, attending the University of Utah, and living in Denver. Charlie returned to the Adirondacks in 1988 and raised his family here. His wife, Sofie, worked at ROOST in the '90s, back when it was called the visitors bureau, so Charlie has been familiar with the organization's work for years. He's competed in about 10 Ironman competitions, including multiple world championship triathlons in Kona, Hawaii, and he usually tops his age group. When he's not training for tris, he can still be found paddling flatwater and whitewater in warm weather and tearing up the slopes and woods trails in the winter. He passes his love of the outdoors through his work with the Lake Placid Outing Club, which aims to introduce area children to all the great things there are to do outdoors in the Adirondacks. It's been 35 years since Charlie got into the finance world focusing on investment advisory services, and he's been doing it in the Adirondacks since he returned here in '88. He's always been fascinated by the way markets work. He calls it detective work — figuring out what's going on in the world and how it reflects in the markets. Some days are a nail-biting challenge, and others are more low-key. He and his partner started their current financial advisory business, Long Run Wealth Advisors, last December. Charlie has served on the ROOST board since 2010, helping with the organization's finances. Right now, he and the rest of the Finance Committee are working on making ROOST's finances more transparent and easy to understand. He believes ROOST provides valuable services to the North Country, since the area's economy is driven by tourism, and most businesses outside the service industry still see a significant impact from it.

Don't miss live music, Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce membership updates, Blue Moon Cafe's speciality hors d'oeuvres, and other fun surprises. Admission is $20. RSVP to Johnny at Johnny@saranaclake.com.

The North Country Chamber of Commerce and its licensed health insurance agency, the Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp., are actively assisting small businesses and individuals throughout the region with their health insurance needs during the current open season. This includes reviewing current coverage in light of rate increases scheduled for January 1st and assisting with the identification of options, whether a different plan structure with the same insurance company or a possible move to another company's plan. Changes for January 1st need to be made by Dec. 15. The chamber and its health insurance subsidiary can serve businesses and employers of all kinds, non-profits, self-employed people and individuals, and can assist clients with coverage on either the "N.Y. State of Health" exchange or off the exchange. Its services are available throughout Clinton, Franklin, Essex, Hamilton, Warren and adjacent counties as well as Akwesasne. Access is offered to all major plans in the market including Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Shield of Northeastern N.Y., Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield, Fidelis and MVP, with availability varying by county. Access to the Healthy New York Program is also available, as are group rates on stand alone vision and dental plans. The chamber's health insurance professionals are licensed and trained, and advisory and enrollment services are without cost to the clients. The Plattsburgh-North Country Service Corp. is the official provider of health insurance services for the North Country, Malone, Saranac Lake, Tupper Lake, Akwesasne, Schroon Lake, Ticonderoga, North Warren, Gore Mountain, Stony Creek, Indian Lake and Adirondack Speculator Chambers as well as ROOST, the Whiteface Visitors Bureau and the Inlet Business Association. For more information or to make an appointment to review coverage, contact Lisa Bedard Dupee at 518-563-1000.

ROOST keeps a close eye on indicators such as Smith Travel Report data and occupancy tax collections to gauge our destinations’ economic health and to compare to our competitive set. Following is a snapshot of numbers to date! JAN-SEPT 2016 compared to JAN-SEPT 2015* Essex County Statewide Upstate New York Occupancy UP 2.4% 0.0% UP 0.2% Revenue UP 4.1% UP 2.4% UP 3.8% *Based on the Smith Travel Report (STR), which represents 67.9 percent of the rooms in Essex County. OCCUPANCY TAX COLLECTIONS - ESSEX COUNTY JAN-SEPT, 2016: $1,772,600 Based on these occupancy tax collections, which do not include day trips and other overnight visitation, we can estimate that taxable lodging sales were $59,075,000. Travel research indicates that lodging normally represents 1/3 of a traveler's expenses. That means that YTD in 2016: Estimated travel expenditures (tracked through occupancy tax only - which doesn't include day trips and other overnight visits) in Essex County = $177,225,000 SALES TAX determined via occupancy tax collections through September by travelers to Essex County = $7,089,000 Factors that played a part in this year's tourism activity include the largest conference year in North Elba's history, terrific weather for outdoor activities, events all over the county, including Ironman, the Lake Placid Horse Shows, Summit Lacrosse Tournaments, the Bike Fest in Wilmington, Adirondack Harvest Festival in Westport, a huge bass fishing tournament schedule on Lake Champlain, the Adirondack Distance Festival in Schroon Lake and a big push in leisure travel promotion. ROOST will post a year-end report in February!