Fact Finder, vol 2, issue #25, July 7, 2012

THE PORT HENRY FACT FINDER

Reporting the News and Needs of Port Henry and Vicinity

vol. 2, issue #25 July 7, 2012

This issue has been made possible by the generous support of the following:
"Lake Music" Rouses Point, NY; Bernadette and Tom Trow and The Fashion Corner

SCHOOL NOTES

Friday, June 22nd - the rite of passage night for 58 Moriah Central School students - they graduated! It was everything such an event should be from the marching in of the graduates to the traditional accompaniment of Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" to an amazingly wonderful performance on the drums by Michael Badger. His talent was underlined when the lights were dimmed so the blurring speed with which he used glow-in-the-dark drum sticks could be seen.

The auditorium was packed. It seemed that every seat was in use and people were standing and sitting on the outside aisles. After the graduates were seated, Lauren Cross opened the ceremonies with a nicely sung "Star Spangled Banner" and Superintendent Larrow welcomed everyone to the evening's celebration. A truly very wise and interesting speech was given by Cyndi Carpenter Johns, Class of 1962. High School principle Alison Burch presented the graduating class to everyone and Salutatorian Santana Martinez spoke to and for her class. Presents of recognition and appreciation were presented by the Class Officers to a large group of teachers and others responsible for their passage through school to this final step out its doors onto the next step into the "world." The guest speaker was Sharon West, chemistry and anatomy teacher, who had taught many of the graduating students, so she used her insider knowledge to make the graduates laugh. Presentation of awards and scholarships followed. It was impressive how many students received awards and scholarships and how many of these students received multiple awards and scholarships. Then the entre of this many coursed meal - diplomas! The touching and funny farewell address by Valedictorian Andrew King was well received by class mates and audience. The grads exited to "Good Riddance!"

SHOWCASED BUSINESS

This is the first time a business is being showcased that is, as yet, not doing business. But, as it has been a source of avid interest and rumor for over eight months, it seems the right time to set rumor aside and find out some facts. For the few Port Henry residents who have not already learned by our amazing, almost instantaneous, village- news-distribution system - the Diner, officially, has a new owner! He, Jackie his wife and daughter Alexis live in Westport and though he was born and raised in New Jersey, he unquestionably belongs here because his name is Foote and he is a branch on this area's Foote tree.

When asked what enticed him to become the Diner's new owner, he said, "When I saw it was for sale, I just had to have it!" He is interested in restoring the dining car itself, as much as possible, back to the way it was originally except for the kitchen which, though really small, will be made efficient by some new equipment and organization, organization. The day Fact Finder stopped in, Don had just finished changing the booth set-up from the large six-seater booth back to two four-seater booths on either side of what was the original entry door. Both booth tables have their wonderful original 3" thick marble tops and three of the large Diner windows still have their original rolled glass which transforms the outside world into an ever-changing slightly alien place.

Although Don has a long history in the restaurant business, it was not his vocation of choice. Before he graduated high school, his after-school job was raking sand traps on a local golf course and he decided this would be a good career field. He attended Rutger's two-year "turf science" course, for which you had to be sponsored. Then he attended Paul Smith College for forestry. During this period he worked summers at the Lake Placed Club which was a very large establishment with about 85 wait staff alone. For two years Don was the vegetable cook, then cook's first assistant, and then the prep-cook, who checks menus to find out what will be needed to prepare the foods on these menus, then prepares all the ingredients and places them in the refrig ready for the chef to just come in and begin cooking. The Lake Placid Club served breakfast, lunch and dinner, so, although there were breaks between servings, it was basically a full and long day of food preparation. He then worked at the Hungry Trout in Wilmington, NY near Whiteface. Most recently he operated a Food Cart off exit 30 of the Northway for himself and a partner, a veteran, who held the permit. Then New York State changed its law concerning Food Carts, making it obligatory for the permit holder to be on premise. His partner was operating a restaurant further Upstate, could not fulfill this requirement and Don did not have a permit. End of food-carting off the Northway. Last summer he had his cart at Norm's on route to the bridge, but the bridge being closed caused everyone to rush by tying to be sure to catch the next ferry. This past winter he worked for ORDA (Olympic Regional Development Authority) until he saw that ad saying the Port Henry diner was for sale!

The Foote's Port Henry Diner will be open six days a week, Tuesday-Sunday - closed on Monday, serving breakfast and lunch. As of this writing, it is planned that the Diner will be open from 6:30 am to 2 pm. Don plans to restore the clock face, changing the name from "Miss Port Henry Diner" to "Foote's Port Henry Diner" by slanting the word "Foote's" across the word "Miss." He also hopes he can find someone to restore the workings of the clock. I was impressed by the proposed menus: a standard breakfast plus "create your own omelet"; a very full lunch offering plus some specialties (such as Mexican) and a dessert menu. There will be an emphasis on home baking. Don will be the chef and although his wife Jackie has a home business and is a published writer working on a novel, she will be a visible contributor to this family project. Note on Jackie: thanks to a grant, in the very near future she will be attending a writer's conference in Lithuania.

A hearty welcome to a soon-to-open Diner and to Don and Jackie Foote, two very interesting people new in Port Henry life.

A bit of Diner History off the internet (Fact Finder can not vouch for the correctness of facts in this history.)
"The Miss Port Henry Diner, a Ward Dining Car built by the Ward & Dickinson Dining Car Co. in 1927, has seen a number of owners in its 70 plus years of operation. Starting out in Glens Falls, NY as lunch cars were first meant to do, the diner was brought to the factories each day to serve the workers. By 1932, the diner was sold, and moved to Port Henry.

The Miss Port Henry diner is one of only a handful of Ward & Dickinson diners that are still in business, and one of even fewer which are in such good shape. Even if it is because of the restoration of the diner in 1996-7. If you could only vist one Ward & Dickinson diner, this is the diner to pick, hands down.
The diner opened up on Labor Day of 1933, owned by Wilford & Grace Tario. They sold the diner on Oct 25, 1937 to Stanley Zelinsky, and he renamed it to "Stanley's Diner." The diner was deeded to Leonard Bradley on Sept 10, 1963. Pat & "Rose" Marie Capuano took over the diner on Aug 10, 1964 and renamed the diner, "Rose's Diner." The name changed to "Laura's Diner" on Jan 22, 1982 when Laura Lehman took over the diner.
The diner saw other owners and names until Linda Mullen & Hank D'Arcy took over the diner in 1996. Through the hiring of Edward LeClair, a local carpenter, the diner was restored. The first day of the re-opening was December 16, 1996. Initially, they were open 24 hours a day, but they eventually cut back the hours.
On December 16, when the diner reopened, the owners brought back a special guest. It was none other then Grace Tario, age 97, the original owner. Grace was picked up in a White Limousine, and was given the honor of cutting the ribbon, officially re-opening the diner. Another special guest was on hand, and again, it was another former owner. Rose Capuano, who put in 14 hour days from 1964 to 1978.

As the 21st century started, the diner saw a successive number of new owners and minor alterations. Some of them include, repainting the exterior and interior and cutting larger openings in parts of the diner. To a diner purist, these changes are nothing short of a pure shame. The good news is that currently, the diner is back open once again. Here is hoping that the new owners will have a prosperous business, while also caring for one of the most original Ward & Dickinson diners still around. If anyone, wants to read even more about the diner and its builders, just type in Ward & Dickinson Diner Co. and several sites come up."

BOARD NOTES

The Monthly Board Meeting was held June 11th at its usual time and place. Chip Perry reported that the Waste Water Plant has been running smoothing for four years with maintenance coming up to keep it so. John Tromblee reported that the dock was installed at the pier before Memorial Day, College Street remains closed at the intersection of Grove and College due to erosion, fire hydrants were flushed throughout the village and some manholes were treated with root killer as a preventative measure. These reports point up (in miniscule number) the mundane but vital tasks required and accomplished daily of everyone who serves the village in some way. When something doesn't work, stop and consider how many more things do work 24-7.

Code Inspector Bill Ball reported that Mountain Lake Services (ARC) has obtained the engineer's specs to begin repair on the Main Street Bldg. (the Basket Shop).

The sump pump inspection is under way and (by law) must be completed fairly soon, so try to make your home available for inspection when asked.

The Village of Port Henry Board of Trustees is considering implementing zoning regulations in the Village of Port Henry and is therefore seeking volunteers to serve as members of a Zoning Commission. The purpose of the Zoning Commission is to recommend boundaries for proposed zoning districts and appropriate regulations to be enforced therein, hold public hearings and submit a final report to the Village Board before the Board may take action to pass a zoning local law. The Zoning Commission is deemed a separate body, set apart from the responsibilities of the Village Board, which allows the commission to focus solely upon its limited mandate to prepare draft zoning regulations. If you are interested in serving as a member of the Village of Port Henry Zoning Commission, please send a letter of interest to:

The Village of Port Henry

Re: Zoning Commission Membership

4303 Main Street

Port Henry, NY 12974

WORTH READING - (whether you end up agreeing or disagreeing)

If I hadn't already liked what I knew of Warren Buffett, after reading the following email, I certainly would have become a grateful fan. Thank you Warren Buffet for giving voice to what I've been thinking and muttering about for years. This reprint is for those of you who may feel as I and have not read it as an email.

"Warren Buffett, in a recent interview with CNBC, offers one of the best quotes about the debt ceiling:

"I could end the deficit in 5 minutes," he told CNBC. "You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.

The 26th amendment (granting the right to vote for 18 year-olds) took only 3 months & 8 days to be ratified! Why? Simple! The people demanded it. That was in 1971 - before computers, e-mail, cell phones, etc.

Of the 27 amendments to the Constitution, seven (7) took one (1) year or less to become the law of the land - all because of public pressure.

Warren Buffet is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in The United States of America will have the message. This is one idea that really should be passed around.

Congressional Reform Act of 2012

1. No Tenure / No Pension. A Congressman/woman collects a salary while in office and receives no pay when they're out of office.

2. Congress (past, present & future) participates in Social Security. All funds in the Congressional retirement fund move to the Social Security system immediately. All future funds flow into the Social Security system, and Congress participates with the American people. It may not be used for any other purpose.

3. Congress can purchase their own retirement plan, just as all Americans do.

4. Congress will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Congressional pay will rise by the lower of CPI or 3%.

5. Congress loses their current health care system and participates in the same health care system as the American people.

6. Congress must equally abide by all laws they impose on the American people.

7. All contracts with past and present Congressmen/women are void effective 12/1/12. The American people did not make this contract with Congressmen/women. Congress made all these contracts for themselves. Serving in Congress is an honor, not a career. The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so ours should serve their

term(s), then go home and back to work."

Post script to the above: we in this area have a perfect and recent example of "public pressure" obtaining desired results. We have a bridge! It was built in two years - instead of the five or six years usually expected for such a project to be completed! Its cost was not only reasonable for such a bridge, it has many extra added features (easily replaceable parts which can be assembly-line made and a support design which deters erosion by lake water and ice).

NOTES FROM THE EDGe

The monthly meeting of the EDGe was held on its heat-postponed date of June 27th. In reality this meeting has developed into a joint meeting of the EDGe, the Moriah Chamber of Commerce and Port Henry's pH7 Committee as all three groups have a dedication to one over-all goal - bring an awareness of the marvels of our area to businesses, writers, artists, retirees and tourists while improving our own lives.

Ronnie Cunningham, Moriah Chamber of Commerce president, presented the dates for the Chamber's concert series which begins on July 13th, at 6:30pm at the Bandstand across from the Town Offices.

This year's line up includes:

July 13th George Potter and Loose Connections

July 20th The Fritz Polka Band

July 27th The Church Street Band

Aug 3rd The J R Walker Show

Tesar's Food Wagon will be on hand for the July 13th, 20th and Aug. 3rd shows.

This year's concerts are supported by generous donations from:

Essex County Arts Council, Inc.

Stewart's Corporation

Ti Federal Credit Union

Glens Falls National Bank and Trust

Celotti's Wine & Spirits and other area businesses and individuals.

There were discussions about Champ/Johnny Podres Day (August 4th) and Labor Day (September 1st and 2nd) celebrations. If you are interested in being a vendor on either of these days contact Ronnie Cunningham at 546-3369, jrcunningham77@yahoo.com or Jack Woods at 546-7816.  Ronnie stressed that volunteer help is truly needed and appreciated for set-up (beginning at 8am and lasting usually about an hour, but it can be longer) and break-down, on the day of both events. If you are of a helping nature, particularly if you are an early riser, call Ronnie or Jack and sign-up!

Look for the next issue of the Fact Finder on Saturday, July 21st at Adirondack Hair Associates, Macs, Moriah Pharmacy, Celotti's Wines and Spirits; also you may find copies to read at the Sherman Free Library.