Newsletter
Town of Wilmington
WINTER
2008
Town of FROM YOUR TOWN SUPERVISOR
Wilmington
Supervisor
First, I want to wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season.
Randy Preston Wilmington’s first annual Christmas celebration was
946-7179 a huge success!!. Over 400 residents took part in the evening
festivities. My plan is to make this an annual celebration and I am
Town Board
very happy that the Town was able to partner with Santa’s
Rarilee Conway Workshop to give something back to the community. I have
524-0493 many people to thank;
Steve Corvelli
946-7430 The Town Board, Craig Waters and Matt Stanley of Santa’s Workshop,
Darin Forbes Committee members Bob Hockert, Michelle Burns, Shirley Lawrence,
946-2058 Gerald Bruce.
Dawn Stevens Entertainment provided by “The Dogs of Jazz,” AuSable Forks
586-2796 Elementary School Chorus, and the Whiteface Methodist Church
Town Clerk Choir.
Gerald Bruce The Wilmington Youth Center, Wilmington Fire Department, Wilmington Town
Office 946-2105 Employees, all the people who donated snacks and John Peck for the Poster.
Home 946-2249
Thanks to all who donated to make the fireworks possible:
Town Justices special thanks to the Whiteface Mountain Regional Visitors Bureau for paying one-third
Robert Kirby of the cost; Little Super Market,The Hungry Trout, Whiteface Mountain, Adirondack
Sauna, Haselton Lumber, The Candyman, ABC Automotive, Wilderness Inn, Tom
946-2486
Hinman, ACO Property Management, T&T Tanning, Bridgett Hinman, Century Fire,
Lora Bushy
Levitt Construction, Mountain Brook Lodge, C&C Auto, Alpine Country Inn,
946-7245
Willkommen Hof, Adirondack Regional Federal Credit Union, and Adirondack Holiday.
Deputy Thanks to all that donated money for the children’s gifts:
Highway Supt. Wilkins Agency Insurance, Rhoda Morrisroe, Hungry Trout, Wilderness Inn, Century
Bill Skufca Fire, Ledge Rock at Whiteface, Dr. Emil Miskovsky, Cornerstone-Rarilee Conway, Peck
Cell 524-6758 Builders, Young Lyon Floor Covering, Alpine Country Motel, Brett Heineman,
Hughes Sports Television, Parkside Supply, and Santa’s Workshop.
If you wish to donate to the second annual event, you can send you checks made out
to the Town of Wilmington, P.O. Box 180, mark in the memo section: Children’s gifts or
Fireworks.
(Additional officials
& phone numbers
can be found on Town of Wilmington website:
page 2)
townofwilmington.org
Town of SUPERVISORS’S REPORT (cont’d.) Ironman-Yes, I know the bikes are a
Wilmington pain, however Ironman provided a
The Wilmington/Whiteface $1500 grant to the town for the Youth
Code water project is drawing to a close. Ski Program, a $1000 grant for upgrades
Enforcement The Wilmington part of the project is to our beach, and $1750 to the Fire
Bob Guynup
completed with the exception of some Department. I am currently working
946-2105
restoration work in the spring.The with Ironman on something on a larger
Whiteface part of the project is sched- scale.
Home 946-2348 uled to be completed mid January. I
Cell 569-4878 want to again thank everyone for their ORDA/Whiteface Mountain-
Water Dept. patience. It did not go without a few The relationship with ORDA in the past
bumps in the road, but for the most has not always been as smooth as one
Ed Orsi part there were no serious problems. would hope. Some very positive things
524-0380 have happened this year and I want to
Emergency or after Wilmington applied for and bring them to your attention.
hours received a $15,000 Grant from the The first and biggest is the new trail
Pager 574-8755 NYS Justice Court Assistance Program (2+ miles!) that has been named the
for upgrades to our Town Court.The “WILMINGTON” trail.This trail is
money is for Towns to help with the receiving national attention as the
costs of running the Court. Most biggest thing to happen at Whiteface
Newsletter Courts like ours share a room and the since the Olympics.There are brochures
Editor money was available for improvements. announcing the trail, which talks only
Ginny Crispell We will be replacing both entrance about Wilmington.
crispcook43 doors, carpeting, new conference table In the Whiteface winter guide
@yahoo.com and chairs, fireproof filing cabinets, and Wilmington is talked about in two dif-
computer software. ferent places.This is a first!
This money will go a long way for much ORDA partnered with us on the
FUTURE needed improvements to our new Bus Route, gave a sizable donation
Court/meeting room. to our Christmas celebration and pro-
vided forty free tickets to our Youth
NEWSLETTERS
We are compiling This winter please keep an eye Center to attend the recent Ice Show.
a new list of con- on your neighbor. Some people are ORDA has a new Marketing
tributors to the too proud to ask for help.We do not Coordinator, and with Bridgett Hinman
want anyone to have to choose between from Whiteface and the Lake
newsletter. heat and food.There are various pro- Placid/Essex County Visitors Bureau, we
If your community grams at the Town and County level, have met to discuss better communica-
group which can help. If you need assistance, tions. We plan to meet quarterly to
wishes to or if you know of someone who needs keep the communications open. I have
contribute an arti- assistance, contact the Town offices at asked if we could work together to pro-
946-7174. vide advertising.. I understand that Lake
cle to future Placid is the name draw, however we all
issues of this The sledding hill, which was con- agreed it could be accomplished without
newsletter, please structed in the park, is completed and offending Wilmington residents. I think
send your emaill ready for use.Thanks to Rarilee Conway that working together we can all suc-
address to the for writing another grant which awarded ceed. I would also like to say that Jay
the Town $8000 from the Lake Placid- Rand (Manager) and Bruce McCulley
editor at Wilmington Connecting Youth Coalition. (Asst. Manager) have been excellent to
crispcook43@ This money will be used for various work with, and together I think we can
yahoo.com programs to include skiing, sledding and accomplish some very positive things for
crafts.The Youth Ski program this year Wilmington.
will offer skiing and rental equipment at
no charge. All is being paid for from The last item I have is the always con-
grant funds. Contact Bethany Kress troversial: Wood Boilers.
946-7448 or Michelle Hozley at the Wilmington has enacted a local law,
Youth Center 946-7197 for further which covers several aspects of wood
2 details. (cont’d on page 3)
SUPERVISORS’S REPORT (cont’d.)
boiler installation and operation.You
need to contact our Code Enforcement
HISTORY
Officer to obtain a permit before one
can be installed. He will also be able to
TRIVIA
inform you of the new regulations that
you should make yourself aware of
prior to purchasing one of these units.
Unfortunately no matter what we
decided, someone was going to be
unhappy.We, as a Board, felt we were
doing the right thing based on the
1. What was the
information we received from studies
that have been conducted, with all of
Owaissa Club?
the townspeople in mind. I know some
2. For whom was Lake
people are very upset, and I am sorry
for that, but we felt it was something
that needed to be acted upon.
Everest named?
That’s all for now.
Randy Preston
The Wilmington SURF Club
3
Councilman Steve Corvelli
Wilmington
Board Another in the never-ending updates on the Cell Phone Tower situation: I have spo-
ken to the Site Acquisition Consultant for Verizon Wireless and she assures me that
Meetings things are moving in the right direction. My tw- year contract with them has expired
and been renewed since I started this endeavor. The wheels of progress for this
PLANNING project obviously turn very slowly. She stated that there is one minor item to be
BOARD: addressed before they draw up a lease agreement with a property owner and then
the dreaded application process starts with the APA. Soooooo, be patient and maybe
First Monday before cell phones become obsolete, we will have much better cell coverage in
of the month Wilmington.
TOWN Anyone who missed the Christmas celebration at Santa’s Workshop missed a truly
wonderful and magical event. I think it was an experience that will stay with all who
BOARD: attended for a very long time. I would like to personally thank every single person
Second and organization that made this event possible. So many people volunteered their
Tuesday of time and financial support to make it a memorable evening.This one event brought
the month all of Wilmington together for a joyous celebration of the season and our communi-
ty.
ZONING How can you be an informed Wilmington Resident ?…….With the
BOARD: many issues facing our growing community, everyone needs to be informed of
Third impending permit requests. The best way to keep informed is to attend meetings.
Of course it is impossible for everyone to attend every meeting. so in the days fol-
Wednesday lowing all Town Board, Zoning Board and Planning Board meetings, anyone who
of the month could not attend the meeting may stop at the Town Offices and request a copy of
the minutes from any of the public meetings. There are no meetings of these Boards
All meetings that take place without a public notice of the meeting posted for all to see. The
are at 7pm in monthly schedule of meetings of these Boards is listed in the column to the left.
Debating an issue is healthy and brings out all sides and opinions. I encourage every-
the one to ask questions and talk to your representatives of each of the Boards. We all
Community strive to make informed decisions that will benefit our community and help it to
Center. remain the wonderful place where we each chose to live, start a business, or raise
our families.
All meetings
and any I hope everyone has a wonderful Holiday Season and hope you will enjoy a healthy,
prosperous, safe and happy 2009.
changes are
posted in
Town Hall &
the Post
Office, as well
DOG CONTROL Just a reminder that all dogs 4 months and
as in the older are required by NYS Agriculture and Markets Law to be licensed.
Adirondack Rabies vaccines must be current. Please
Enterprise license your dog at the Town Clerk’s
office. At this time of the year you should
take extra care to make sure your dog is
protected from the winter weather. If you
have questions, you may contact Shirley
Lawrence, Dog Control Officer @ 946-
4 7174 or 946-1282.
Fire The Wilmington Fire & Rescue has elected new
District
Officers for the year 2009:
News
Chief Louis Adragna
1st Asst Chief Randy Preston
2nd Asst Chief Fire Scott Briggs
2nd Asst Chief Rescue Marty Bausmann
If you have any Captain Fire Travis Holzer
questions or Captain Rescue Robert Kirby
Lt. Fire Aldo Aquino
problems that
Lt. Rescue Kevin Santo
the Fire Secretary Tina Preston
Officers or Treasurer Bill McGreevy
Commissioner Training
s can address, The Wilmington Fire & Rescue volunteers have been continuing their training
please do not to keep them up to date with the many skills the organization can provide to
hesitate to the community.Training on vehicle extrication took place where several vehi-
contact us at cles were completely taken apart.The department also surveyed the KOA
any time. And Campground to pin point hazards to the volunteers and locate the best
access for swift water rescue calls in the Flume area.The department is tak-
as usual, we
ing a tour of the new water projects around the town to locate all the new
are always fire hydrants and will be touring the water project on Whiteface Mountain
looking for new and examining the new fire sprinkler systems installed at the Kids Kampus
members to and the NYSEF building.
compliment our
department, so Safety Tips
if you are As winter is now upon us, we encourage everyone to keep their driveways
and private roads clearly plowed at all times.We can’t assist you in your time
thinking of join- of need if we can’t get to you. And please keep your 911 address numbers
ing, you may visible from the road.
contact any
Fire or Rescue When setting up your Christmas tree and outdoor lights, do not attach too
many lights and appliances to your electrical outlets.This could cause an elec-
Officer or stop trical fire, which could destroy your home.
by the Fire
House at our Its still not too late to have your fireplace chimney or wood stove cleaned
monthly meet- and checked by a professional. Not much could spoil your holiday season
worse then you’re home being filled with smoke and soot from a chimney
ings which are
fire.
the 3rd
Monday of If you are using an alternative-heating device in your
each month or home such as an electric space heater, be sure to keep
our Work all flammable and combustible items away from the
unit.
Nights which
are the 1st In closing, the Wilmington Fire & Rescue Officers and
Monday of District Commissioners wish everyone the happiest,
each month. safest and healthiest 2009 and hope everyone has a
joyous holiday season. 5
Cooper
Friends Annual Cookies by the Pound Sale: The Friends
of the Library held their Annual Cookies by the Pound Sale on
Library
Saturday December 13, 2008. It was a great success. We also
had a bag o’ books sale and many other items were available
News
for sale at this event. The winner of the “Wilmington Heritage
Quilt” was Gail Mitchell. Congratulations Gail! Thank you to the
wonderful residents who came out to support our library. We
also want to thank everyone who donated cookies or other
items to our sale.
New Library Databases: The Clinton Essex Franklin Library System
recently purchased access to three great databases. They are the
Home Improvement Reference Center, Auto Repair
Reference Center and the Small Engine Repair
Reference Center. All CEF patrons have access to this
database using their library card to login. If you don’t
have a library card, the databases can be accessed
from the library’s computers.
Calvary Baptist Church
6065 NYS RTE 86
Wilmington, New York
(518)946-2482
E-mail us at: CBCWilmington@yahoo.com
Opportunities for Worship
Sunday School 9:45 am
Sunday Morning Worship 11:00am
Sunday Evening Worship 7:00pm
Wednesdays
Youth & Children’s Group 7:00pm
Bible Study & Prayer 7:00pm
There will be a presentation by Calvary Baptist Church kids of the
Christmas Musical,
Too Busy!!!
Sunday, December 21 at 7:00, with cookies and cocoa to follow.
Please come and enjoy!
Our Christmas Eve service will be held on Wednesday, December 24 at
6 7:00, and will be a candlelight service. All are invited!
7
Archives Directory
The Wilmington Historical Society is listed on the Northern
New York Library Network’s website as one of the organiza-
tions housing archival materials in northern New York.The
Northern New York Library Network is the regional agent for
the New York State Archives’ Documentary Heritage Program
and facilitates cooperative services in this region.To find us, go
to www.nnyln.org , click on “archival programs”, then "Directory
of Archival and Historical Document Collections", then “Essex
County” and scroll down to “Wilmington Historical Society”. It lists our contact information and gives a
comprehensive description of our collection.You can learn what we have and determine how we might
help you do your research ---from looking for your “roots” to researching background for a historical
topic, to searching for specific photo.Try it! And don’t forget you can always do some research on our
website www.wilmingtonhistoricalsociety.org which can connect you to Wilmington’s cemetery records,
as well as link you to the Northern New York Library Network’s searchable historical newspapers.
National World War II Memorial Registry
As one of our projects the Historical Society will be working on getting all of the Wilmington residents
who served our country during World War II to be registered on the electronic National World War II
Registry. According to the website, “The World War II Memorial honors the 16 million who served in
the armed forces of the U.S., the more than 400,000 who died, and all who supported the war effort
from home. Symbolic of the defining event of the 20th Century, the memorial is a monument to the
spirit, sacrifice, and commitment of the American people.” If you have a computer, you can do it yourself
by going to www.wwiimemorial.com , then click on “World War II Registry” on the underlined click
here and follow the instructions.You are even allowed to add a photo if you wish for a small fee, once
they check for accuracy. For those without computer access or if you would just like assistance doing
it, the historical society will have a special day and time in the next year for you to be able to register
yourself or a family member. Please watch for the details after the historical society’s planning meetings
in January and February. Help us honor our Wilmington World War II veterans.
Collections Growing
Our collections have grown considerably this year, thanks to donations from many
people, including the Myrtle M.Haselton Gowan family who donated a significant col-
lection of 19th and early 20th century portraits and photos of the Haseltons,Thews,
Richardsons and Gowans, as well as historical documents and books, cemetery
records and notebooks of ephemera and news articles. Augie Augenthaler donated a
number of 1980 Olympics memorabilia items. Barbara Mulvey donated a ca. 1930
architectural drawing of a proposed memorial atop Whiteface Mountain (which never
materialized). Nancy George McNabb donated a book of VanDyke Poems published
by Wilmington’s Owaissa Club in the 1920’s. Neil and Pat McKenna donated their
genealogy of the Bigelow family entitled From Bellmont to Brooklyn and Beyond. Many
others donated photos and other ephemera (paper-based materials such as brochures,
stickers, etc.) to our collection. A big thank you to all donors! The contributions to
our Wilmington history collection are conserved using the best current archival prac-
tices.They are available to the public for research and will be utilized by the society
for educational purposes. Each contributor who donates an artifact or any archival
materials to our collections is given a “Deed of Gift” to sign, which legally and clearly
passes ownership to the Wilmington Historical Society and at the same time gives the
donor the ability to claim the donation as a tax-deductible gift on his/her income tax
8
since we are a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization.
?
Programs---
Fall 2008
Festival of Colors:well over 100 people signed our guestbook at our booth themed “Whiteface
Mountain Outdoor Activities.” Thank you to all of the photo contributors to our exhibit. If you missed
the photo exhibit, it is now on display in the Whiteface Mountain Regional Visitors Bureau on Rt 86 in
Wilmington.We also would like to thank Sid Ward who sold his locally famous cutting boards and
ANSWERS donated the proceeds to benefit the Wilmington Historical Society. Archives Day, October 4th: How
TO TRIVIA Deep Are Your Wilmington Roots? Those who attended learned to research their genealogies. Some
have continued their contact and research with the Society, growing their “Family Trees” even larger.
QUESTIONS While the Wilmington Historical Society does not meet in December, our annual Budget and Planning
Meeting is on Wednesday, January 7. If you have any ideas for programs for 2009, we appreciate your
input. Please contact Karen Peters by phone at 946-7586 or email: whs12997@hotmail.com.
Students Welcome
preneur.
Students are welcome to attend our “Open Discussions,” our programs and our events.This past year
keeper and entre-
we’ve had some students attend our open discussions including Elena Bushey and Colleen Mulvey.They
Wilmington hotel
asked good questions and Elena even drew us a picture of what she learned during the “More Hunting
Everest, veteran
Stories” open discussion.Wilmington history has no age boundaries!
2. For Frank
Comings and Goings
welcome to join. A digital projector was purchased and works well with our laptop computer. It will allow us more
and visitors were flexibility with our programming and offers a sense of security that slide and other presentations will
munity members work smoothly.
ship and all com- In the upcoming year 2009, the Whiteface Community United Methodist Church will celebrate 175
years. A number of activities have been discussed, including two dates in 2009:
through member-
July 12, 2009 for the main celebration of 175 years of the church’s existence
was supported
and Sept. 20, 2009 for a “homecoming” celebration specifically to celebrate the merger of the Jay
Club
Methodist Church with the Wilmington Methodist Church, marking the importance of the contribu-
much more.The
tions of the Jay Methodist Church and rededicating the memorials of both churches.
es, movies and
The Historical Society will support these activities by providing research and research materials, digi-
dances, craft class-
tizing historic church documents and photos, and recording oral histories.
tournaments,
Thanks go to Paul Langway for getting our historical society laptop connected to the internet at the
court, and summer
Community Center using the town’s WIFI connection. Researchers can now go online at our
paddle tennis
baseball diamond, a
swimming facility, a Community Center Location.
provided boats, a For an AARCH (Adirondack Architectural Heritage) special showing on Santa’s Workshop, the WHS
Town Beach. It provided the PowerPoint Program, created by the Wilmington Historical Society, entitled, “The History
of Santa’s Workshop --- the Early Years.”
Wilmington
In October, three Board members attended a workshop sponsored by the Northern New York
the current
Library Network on “Internet Access to Historical Records.” Another board member attended the
and was located at
Fall Regional Roundtable in Elizabethtown on “Digitization—Best Practices for Cultural Heritage
formed in 1919
Institutions.”
Wilmington was
Merri Peck held a training session October 8 on Past Perfect, our archival cataloguing program, which
organization in
was attended by Karen Peters and Lora Bushy.
bird”.The
In order to meet the New York State mandate for a chartered historical society,WHS President Karen
meaning “blue-
Peters appointed an audit committee to annually review its financial records. Merri Peck, Doug Wolfe,
American word
is a Native
visitors. “Owaissa” and Guy Stephenson were appointed to the committee, with Merri serving as chairperson.They will
town residents and meet to review with the treasurer at 6:30pm January 7th prior to the regular meeting.
entertainment for Membership
For 2008, we have 183 members, an all time high! Thank you everyone! The 2009 WHS Membership
for recreation and
Brochure will be coming out in early February. Please keep your
borhood center
eye out for it to either become a new member or to renew your
formed as a neigh-
current membership. Membership is our primary fundraiser and
1. An organization
provides funding for our programs and archival storage require-
9
ments.Thank you in advance for considering or renewing
your membership.
TRANSPORTATION NEWS
Bus Service-Starting December 18th,Wilmington will have Bus Service!! In a
cooperative agreement between ORDA, Essex County, and the Town of Jay we
will have Bus Service running from AuSable Forks to Lake Placid twice in the
morning, once midday and twice in the evening.The schedule will be out by the
time you receive this.This service is FREE and can be utilized by workers, skiers
and persons shopping in Lake Placid.This bus will tie in with the Lake Placid
Trolley system. Schedules will be posted throughout town and can be downloaded
from the Ground Force 1 website.
Contact 946-7179 with questions.
Seniors-The Town has hired a part-time driver for our Senior Bus.The Bus
operates every Tuesday and Thursday with transportation to and from the nutri-
tion site at the Methodist Church for lunch. Also on the 1st Monday there is a
shopping trip to Plattsburgh, and on the 3rd
Monday a shopping trip to Lake Placid and
Saranac Lake. Contact the Town Office at 946-
7174 for more details. Supervisor Randy
Preston thanks the Town of Jay for the use of
their van until our bus is delivered, which is
now scheduled for mid-January.
PRESORTED
Town of Wilmington STANDARD
U.S. Postage PAID
7 Community Circle Wilmington, NY 12997
Wilmington NY 12997 Permit # 12
Re s i d e n t
Wilmington NY 12997
WINTER
2008