#saranac lake winter carnival

[historicsaranaclake]

Dancing with Death

Dear Friends,

With Winter Carnival in full swing, I'm sending along this short essay inspired by this year's "Creepy Carnival" theme.

One of the best things about Carnival is that we get to see old friends and meet new ones. Please stop by the museum if you are in town, and watch for us in the parade tomorrow!

Thanks and Happy Carnival!

Dancing with Death by Amy Catania

“Be absolute for death; either death or life Shall thereby be the sweeter.” — William Shakespeare

Sometimes it’s good to stare down the things that scare us most. Perhaps this helps explain the popularity of ghost stories, Halloween, and this year’s Winter Carnival theme, “Creepy Carnival.”

This year’s spooky theme evokes Saranac Lake’s past as a community where an untold number of people died from tuberculosis. Before the advent of antibiotics, tuberculosis was killing one in seven people in industrialized countries. With no known cure, fear surrounded the disease. Many TB patients were shunned by their communities, but Saranac Lake opened its doors to the sick and dying. Thousands came from around the world, hoping that a long rest in the fresh air would help fight off the disease.

It was an imperfect cure, and an untold number of people died here or were sent home to die. Even the man who founded the TB industry in Saranac Lake, Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, died of the disease, as did his young daughter and many of his friends and associates.

For such a morbid story, Saranac Lake history has a surprising number of bright spots. In many ways, tuberculars demonstrated hope and humor in the face of death. Doctors did everything they could to boost the immune system’s ability to fight the disease. Those with a positive outlook tended to have better outcomes, and so attention was paid to mental health. Patients were encouraged to have friends, learn hobbies, enjoy the view, exercise in the outdoors, read, attend parties, and fall in love. They were taught to dance in the face of death.

The symptoms of TB tend to wax and wane in the body, and so when patients were feeling up to it, they lived life to the fullest. Our collection contains hundreds of photos of patients having picnics, performing in costumes, snowshoeing, and even playfully climbing the sanatorium gates. Surrounded by the reality of death, patients embraced life. Gallows humor lightened the mood. People called the Saranac River, “Sputum Creek.” Helen Hill was known as “hemorrhage hill.”

Richard Ray cured at the Trudeau Sanatorium and Ray Brook Hospital in the late 1930s. Historic Saranac Lake helped him compile his photos and notes into a memoir. While his time in Saranac Lake was marked by painful struggle with the disease, his days were full of friendship with fellow patients and nurses.

The best way to fight death was to laugh in its face, and Saranac Lake learned how to throw a good party to do just that. Winter Carnival was founded as a diversion for TB patients and their families during the long winter months. One page from Richard Ray’s memoir shows four fellow patients in elaborate silly Carnival costumes.

Historic Saranac Lake will be dancing with death in this year’s Winter Carnival parade, honoring the TB patients who embraced life here in Saranac Lake, and learning from their example. One way or another, it’s gonna get us. Until then, we might as well dance.

Images:

This 1915 Winter Carnival parade entry made light of the fight against infectious disease. Dr. Francis Trudeau is "Mrs. Silas Saranac." Dr. Trembley is holding the cannon. [Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2009. 10.4.66. Gift of Natalie Leduc.]

A page from Richard Ray's memoir showing fellow patients at Ray Brook Sanatorium.

#local history #historic saranac lake #saranac lake history #saranac lake #museums #history #museum collections #adirondacks #historic photographs #tuberculosis #winter carnival #saranac lake winter carnival

[adk-almanack-mirror]

#ADK #Adirondacks #Adirondack Almanack #Adirondack Park

[webseriesviral]

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival kicks off this weekend, complete with ice castle Winter fun is getting its annual boost ... #movie quote #movies #movie line #movie line #movie scenes #cinema #movie stills #film quotes #film edit #vintage #movie scenes #love quotes #life quotes #positive quotes #vintage #retro #quote #quotes #sayings #cinematography

[chequerootlurks]

Ice harvesting back home. The ice is used for sculpting and building the Ice Palace. (c) Mark Kurtz Photography

#adirondack mountains (ny) #adirondacks #saranac lake winter carnival #ice harvest

[kinetic-elaboration]

Bellarke Holiday/Winter Inspiration Brainstorm

[there are no bad ideas in brainstorming okay?]

Cuddling during a snowstorm

Watching snow fall through a window

Cabin in the woods, enjoying nature

Crisp air, just above freezing; the crunch of snow beneath boots

Reminiscing about the Ark

Excessively affectionate new couple

Excessive coziness

Candles

Running away together

Sleigh ride

Blankets

Hot chocolate

Field covered in snow

Preparing Arkadia/Dropship for winter

Power outage

Delinquent holiday party

Winter road trip; driving through snow; snow in the headlights

Only light on in the woods in winter

Winter camping

#honestly i've already done snowed in college au #and saranac lake winter carnival au #and west virginia au #and even a very short post-winter-break undergrad au #what else is left?

[adventureswithmabel]

Ice Palace

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival

02/02/2019

[rasalgethi-herculis]

I know Glee is very problematic, but I'm thinking about that scene where Rachel is talking about Finn, it's The Quarterback episode (which makes me cry harder everytime I watch it again but that's a subject for another time)

She said, "I had it all planned out. I was gonna make it big on Broadway and maybe do a Woody Allen movie. And then we were ready I would just... come back, and he'd be teaching here, and I'd walk through those doors and I would just say, "I'm home." And then we would live happily ever after."

I just keep going back to it time and time again. Someone who will wait for you. Is it fair to make them wait? Is it selfish?

Here's how I'm imagining my future these days. I'm living in the city, maybe NYC, maybe Boston, who knows. I'm a lawyer, and my partner is a teacher, and we save up to buy a cabin with my best friend and spend winter weekends and Christmas there every year, and then go up in the summer so we can visit family. I think that Saranac Lake would be a good spot. It's a good middle ground, with the winter carnival and the people who are always willing to lend a helping hand.

He'd start teaching while I'm in Law school, down in the city.

We might not be rich, but we're both in a better situation than where we came from. Spending our weekends going to the farmers market for fresh produce that was never an option growing up, and always having a small window garden. There's peace. I'm not sure if kids are in the picture but I'm slowly starting to warm up to the idea that I could be a parent if I wanted to. There's freedom. There's peace. We're happy

(The thoughts of someone in college planning their life out, while it wildly changes every few months)

[rattlinbog]

i brought one of my clients to a specialist appointment in saranac lake today, and we drove through lake placid on the way back. he’s from downstate and had never been to either place before and was just in awe about how cute the two towns were and how beautiful the adirondacks and the lakes were. i was basically playing tour guide and being like “this is mirror lake and this is the olympic center and those are the high peaks over there and that’s the ski jump tower and etc.”. and the first thing we went by on our way out of saranac lake was the ice castle (since their winter carnival was still going on) and he was like “OOOOOOH SHIT”. and on the way there, we had passed catamount mountain (not very big) and he was asked “is that whiteface mountain?” and i’m like “no you’ll know when you’re going by whiteface mountain” and we did on the way back. driving right past the base of it. so that was super cool. it was just a fun time. adirondack park is gorgeous all snow-covered. 

#social work #kind of but not really but it's a work post so #ramblings

[rymind]

Moon over the mountain! 📸by me (at Saranac Lake Winter Carnival) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8XBcLFBfEgIeSStWfZJodm24LzLPChJ8mKg4c0/?igshid=12kbxhnqagvt0

[historicsaranaclake]

5 Ws Wednesday

Historic Saranac Lake needs your help identifying the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, and/or WHY of this photo. We've been looking at Winter Carnival photographs to try and cool off, and we loved this float! It also presented a couple of mysteries: what building is this behind the float with the wide porch? What year was this parade? Do you have any ideas? Send us a message or leave a comment!⁠

[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2021.6.73. Gift of Karen Lewis and Beth Glover.]

#local history #saranac lake #saranac lake history #historic saranac lake #museum collections #adirondacks #history #museums #historic photographs #winter carnival #saranac lake winter carnival

[aodoublej]

Great weekend with the family at the #saranacwintercarnival 2020 #saranacicecastle #mythsandlegends Having fun and being #goofy (at Saranac Lake Winter Carnival) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8WlCiThxmZ/?igshid=1cs8e8ivlmzhk

#saranacwintercarnival #saranacicecastle #mythsandlegends #goofy

[adk-almanack-mirror]

#ADK #Adirondacks #Adirondack Almanack #Adirondack Park

[northcountryschool]

February 7, 2020

At North Country School, working together to care for our farm and garden is part of everyday life. Each morning and afternoon, a rotation of students head to the barn for chores, where they help our farmers make sure our animals are happy, healthy, and safe. In addition to working together for our community, our students had plenty of playtime this week as well, skiing and snowboarding on campus and at Whiteface Mountain, enjoying a local theater production, baking tasty treats, and enjoying the festivities at the Winter Carnival in nearby Saranac Lake. 

ACADEMICS

Our 7th graders were provided multiple opportunities to learn alongside their peers and share findings this week, both in their English class and as part of their chemistry unit in science class. In Isaac’s English class, students are studying informational writing techniques. The students read humorous articles in class before practicing their summarizing skills, determining the importance and each piece of information. The class, which includes students Alejandro, Daven, Tyler, and Paula, then worked in pairs to sequence the events and information in their articles by assembling deconstructed summaries.

In Rob’s science class, students have been learning the foundations of chemistry and studying the periodic table of elements. To culminate this unit, each student completed a research project on a specific element and created a "wanted” poster on that element, detailing facts about the element and its past and current uses. The group then held an exhibition in the Main Building Dining Room during morning snack time to present their posters to the larger student body, allowing them to share their interesting and often surprising findings with a broader audience.

ARTS

In one of our culinary arts classes, Non-standard Lunch, students have been creating their own versions of the to-go lunch offerings (or Standard Lunch, as it is called at NCS) provided to our off-campus weekend trips. This past week the class, which includes students Alex, Eliza, Amon, and Colton, made homemade Oreo truffles as their “non-standard” dessert, and made from-scratch granola and energy bars. 

This past Friday evening North Country School hosted a dress rehearsal for a dinner murder mystery play put on by local Gem*Boy Productions in our theater. The NCS student community gathered to watch the play, which will be performed at the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival and features NCS 8th grader, Ella. After the first act, students were invited to interview the show’s actors for clues about “who done it.” The audience submitted their guesses before a fun second act that revealed the killer. 

Ceramics students worked on their hand-building and glazing skills this week, creating functional and decorative pieces using the coil technique. Teagan, Hanna, and Josh coiled and smoothed out clay to make boxes and wall hangings, while Summer glazed her already bisque-fired work. Completed ceramics were unloaded from the kiln after a glaze firing, and students including Silvia were able to enjoy their colorful and carefully sculpted finished projects.

OUTDOORS

This week saw our students venturing off campus for a wide variety of adventures. Our student and teacher community enjoyed a great Tuesday afternoon skiing and snowboarding at Whiteface Mountain, while several groups of students traveled to nearby Saranac Lake to experience the annual Winter Carnival. Students participated in a competition to build a mini golf hole out of snow, won second place in a “largest icicle” competition with an icicle they brought along, and explored an ice palace adorned with giant mythological figures. 

A group of students watched with excitement this past Saturday as NCS 5th grader Duncan participated in the Empire State Winter Games at Lake Placid’s ski jumps, where he competed in a Nordic Combined event and won second place in his age group for the 20 meter jump. Another Saturday trip traveled down the road to the Adirondak Loj—the headquarters for the Adirondack Mountain Club—where they hiked up Mt. Jo, earning a spectacular view of Heart Lake below. 

FARM AND GARDEN

The barns at North Country School are home to sheep, goats, chickens, ducks, and horses, and part of the NCS experience is learning how to care for these creatures during twice-daily barn chores. Students have the opportunity to rotate through these different animal jobs, as well as help the barnyard as a whole in the barnyard maintenance (BYM) role.

This past week our students on horse chores and BYM met down at the barn for afternoon chores, making sure our animals were fed and cared for before heading off to their own dinner. Students including Sweety, Azalech, Eliza, and Tyler led the horses into their stalls to groom them for the evening. Members of the BYM team including Steven, Kentaro, and Amon measured out grain and brought flakes of hay to each horse’s stall for their evening meal.

Check back next week to see what we’re up to on our mountain campus.

For more information about the #This Week At NCS blog, contact Becca Miller at [email protected].

For general school information, call 518-523-9329 or visit our website: www.northcountryschool.org

#ThisWeekAtNCS

[billiamj]

Happy Carnival #saranaclake #wintercarnival (at Saranac Lake Winter Carnival) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8E6XLknj_P/?igshid=9crcrvnwkmoo

#saranaclake #wintercarnival

[whoops-a-doodles]

Saranac Lake Winter Carnival~ 🏰❄ #saranaclakewintercarnival2019 #icepalace https://www.instagram.com/p/BtY96qFDzhrcJQtzytqAoQhV7pbgsYhFWepzzY0/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=13q4dml8uhexw

#saranaclakewintercarnival2019 #icepalace

[gocottage]

It’s the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival! https://www.go-cottage.com/blog/

#saranaclake #saranaclakewintercarnival #wintercarnival #festival #winter #wintervacation #travel #tourism #holiday #familyvacation #cottage #cabin #bungalow #lakeplacidskiresort #lakeplacidskiing #lakeplacidrental #lakeplacidrentals #lakeplacidcabinrental #lakeplacidcabinrentals #lakeplacidvacationrental #lakeplacidvacationrentals #lakeplacid2019 #lakeplacid2020 #newyears #wintersports #skiing #lakeplacidbnb #upstate #upstateny #upstatenewyork