Saranac Lake Winter Carnival, The Beginning
With Adirondack winters abounding and extending from early fall into late into spring, deep back in those final years of the /last few years of /late 19th Century, the genius of an idea for this festival in the middle of the winter was brokered, approved, and here we are in the third century of its existence where the anticipation and participation and carrying on and out of those and today's current activities and fun events is as exciting now as it was all those years ago.
This is my first time to experience Winter Carnival here in Saranac Lake, beginning to end. It is an exciting time, I must say. The amazing bit here is that everyone working on every aspect of this Carnival all have a personal investment in it. It is part of the life they live.
Here is it in its beginnings. A hefty wall of blocks of ice. Each is ,, long and weighs ,, pounds.
Here it is as if begins
One of the things I found interesting, while taking pictures of the building of the ice palace, is the tools used to build the palace. It is called, Ice Palace.
In that first year of Winter Carnival was just a one day happening. An ice hockey game followed by a fancy dress skating party for children early in the day and the same for adults in the evening.
Well, apparently the festival was so much fun, the following year it was extended to three days.
And all these years later it is ten days of activities, filled with all manner of events, including two fireworks displays, the lighting of the Ice Palace, frying pan throwing contests, snow shoe races, softball, volleyball and frisbee games knee deep in snow, all topped off with two parades, a slide show of the carnival's festivities, and the second fireworks display to top it off. We'll get to see most of those activities as we move along. We will get to see most of those activities as we move along.
/Begun and finished with fireworks displays.
Deep in the Adirondack Mountains, way up at the top of the state of New York, far away from anything resembling a US city, but conveniently close to Montreal--just eighty-four miles to the north as the crow flies--lives a town of fifty-four hundred people surrounded by mountains, lakes, rivers and brooks, called Saranac Lake. But it is not a town at all, it is a village. The Village of Saranac Lake.
And each year in the beginning of February this village holds the longest running mid winter festival of its kind in the eastern United States. It is Winter Carnival, and it began in 1897.
The center piece of Winter Carnival is its Ice Palace. This is the third century of its existence. /And the origin of the palace goes back more than one hundred years. /The first was built in 1898, and with the exception of being interrupted by wars and depression, interrupting its construction, it has been an ongoing event every year since. It was also in jeopardy for yet another reason, the town decided in could no longer incur the expense of it, but the town's people would not hear of it / but the people of Saranac Lake would not hear of it.
There was even a time when the town decided it could no longer incur the expenses of it, but the people of the town would not hear of its discontinuation and gathered together, put plans and efforts together to continue it, and it has been happening since. It is a tradition no one in Saranac Lake wants to see the end of.
It also includes an ice palace. This ice palace is the only one being built anywhere in the US. There had been others in different parts of the country, but no more. Saranac Lake's is the only one surviving.
And each year in the beginning of February this village holds the longest running mid winter festival of its kind in the eastern United States. It is Winter Carnival, and it began in 1897.
The center piece of Winter Carnival is its Ice Palace. This is the third century of its existence. /And the origin of the palace goes back more than one hundred years. /The first was built in 1898, and with the exception of being interrupted by wars and depression, interrupting its construction, it has been an ongoing event every year since. It was also in jeopardy for yet another reason, the town decided in could no longer incur the expense of it, but the town's people would not hear of it / but the people of Saranac Lake would not hear of it.
There was even a time when the town decided it could no longer incur the expenses of it, but the people of the town would not hear of its discontinuation and gathered together, put plans and efforts together to continue it, and it has been happening since. It is a tradition no one in Saranac Lake wants to see the end of.
It also includes an ice palace. This ice palace is the only one being built anywhere in the US. There had been others in different parts of the country, but no more. Saranac Lake's is the only one surviving.
With Adirondack winters abounding and extending from early fall into late into spring, deep back in those final years of the /last few years of /late 19th Century, the genius of an idea for this festival in the middle of the winter was brokered, approved, and here we are in the third century of its existence where the anticipation and participation and carrying on and out of those and today's current activities and fun events is as exciting now as it was all those years ago.
Think about this, if the idea of Winter Carnival was entered today, it would be just as great an idea now as it was then. And why not? Adirondack winter encroaches and digs into you today just as it did then. And from where Saranac Lake sits at fifteen hundred feet above sea level, it is reputed as being the coldest place in the continental United States, while its annual allotment of snow dependably arrives faithfully every season. It's is probably not too much of a reach to think the weather is similar today as it was then. So, sure, let's do something to keep us vibrant and in a good mind set.
Before Winter Carnival begins, out of doors the first order of business is to get Ice Palace built.. That starts two weeks before opening day.
This is my first time to experience Winter Carnival here in Saranac Lake, beginning to end. It is an exciting time, I must say. The amazing bit here is that everyone working on every aspect of this Carnival all have a personal investment in it. It is part of the life they live.
Here it is as if begins
One of the things I found interesting, while taking pictures of the building of the ice palace, is the tools used to build the palace. It is called, Ice Palace.
Many
of the tools were designed specifically to work with ice. This saw, for
instance, has no job other than to cut ice. Notice the handle. A saw
designed for cutting wood has a handle at each end. This has just the
one. And like a wood saw, lots of teeth.
These
tools are used for moving the ice into position before one of the
machines comes along and picks it out of the water. One is a straight
sharp point, the other has a hook. On the left you can see the pieces of
ice lined up and ready to be taken out of the lake.
And
here are the teeth of that machine. Here you see one of those pieces of
ice being taken out of the lake by a big piece of machinery.
And this is the machine at the other end of those teeth.
And
here is Cliff, inside of it and working the ice. From the looks of it,
just another day at the lake, pipe and all. Each year he volunteers his
machine to help make the palace happen. One of the roughly seventy-five
people who give their time each year to this great project.
And when you think about it, if the idea of Winter Carnival was entered in today, it would be just as great an idea now as it was then. Why not? Winter encroaches and digs into you, on top of which it has been long acknowledged as the coldest place in the continental United States, to go along with its average one hundred inches of snow every season.
fifteen hundred foot level
Think about this, if the idea of Winter Carnival was entered today, it would be just as great an idea now as it was then. And why not? Winter encroaches and digs into you today just as it did then. And from where it sits at its fifteen hundred foot above sea level, it is reputed as being the coldest place in the continental United States, while its annual allotment of snow is sure to arrive faithfully every season. It's is probably too much of a reach to think the weather is similar today as it was then.
and it still gets its annual allotment of one hundred inches of snow. while its annual allotment makes sure to come faithfully come by every season.
fifteen hundred foot level
Saranac Lake sits are fifteen hundred feet. Some of the forty-six mountain peaks in the neighborhood, rise to as much as five thousand feet. With all that, the beauty is stunning. As Mark Twain said when he visited here in the early Twentieth Century, "It has been paradise to us all summer. One doesn’t need to go
to the Swiss lakes to find that condition."
is known / is long here and encroaching in this, what is known as the coldest place in the United States, where one hundred inches is the average snowfall every season./where it sits at a fifteen hundred foot level.
Along the way, winter is still long and at time arduous in this elevated to fifteen hundred foot
, if it was thought of entered upon today, it would be just as good and ideas as it was back then. The winter season matches up today with the winter of more than a century ago when it began.
It is a great idea for today. / was as great an idea back then as it is today. With all the opportunities this area offers, just the physical layout of the land gives all manner of opportunities to ski its mountains, to skate it lakes and rivers; play hockey on, curl on, or just to walk on, after all, it is not every day we get the opportunity to walk on water, and many other related winter activities, how could the idea not have been a great one?
In that first year of Winter Carnival was just a one day happening. An ice hockey game followed by a fancy dress skating party for children early in the day and the same for adults in the evening.
Well, apparently the festival was so much fun, the following year it was extended to three days.
And all these years later it is ten days of activities, filled with all manner of events, including two fireworks displays, the lighting of the Ice Palace, frying pan throwing contests, snow shoe races, softball, volleyball and frisbee games knee deep in snow, all topped off with two parades, a slide show of the carnival's festivities, and the second fireworks display to top it off. We'll get to see most of those activities as we move along. We will get to see most of those activities as we move along.
/Begun and finished with fireworks displays.
And all these years later it is ten days of activities, filled with all manner of events, including the lighting of the Ice Palace, a frying pan throwing contests, snow shoe races, softball, volleyball and frisbee games knee deep in snow, all topped off with two parades, a slide show of the carnival's festivities, and the second fireworks display to top it off. We'll get to see most of those activities as we move along. We will get to see most of those activities as we move along. All this starting and finishing with rousing displays of fireworks.
/Begun and finished with fireworks displays.
Ripe to be explored and experienced, and there will be a lot of people doing that in the coming days.
The first order of business is to get the Ice Palace built.
With Adirondack winters abounding and extending from September to May, deep back in that late 19th year, the genius of an idea of strong activities in the middle of the winter was brokered, approved, and here we are in the third century of these activities, and Winter Carnival, the anticipation and carrying out and participating in it is as exciting today as it was all those years ago.
as well for those living in the village, who had come for one reason or another, not the least of which was to be cured from the scourge of tuberculosis.
With Adirondack winters abounding and extending from September to May, deep back in that late 19th Century year, the genius of an idea for this festival in the middle of the winter [to help cope with it] was brokered, approved, and here we are in the third century of its existence where the anticipation and participation and carrying out of those outdoor and fun events is as exciting today as it was all those years ago.
The genesis of the idea came about not just for the local and hardy Adirondackian's, but also for those who were in town temporarily, for one reason or another, not the least of which for the purpose of being cured of the scourge of TB. Saranac Lake was the first place in the country to treat people with TB. But that is another story and we will briefly touch on it later.
, as a way to help people deal with the long, long Adirondack winter. It is not a stretch to say it begins in September and extends all the way into May. Saranac Lake back then was the first place to treat tuberculosis. People from all over would come here to be cured. With all those people who were not from here, and not used to the long winter, a way was devised to help them cope with all that being indoors for such a long stretch.
that this festival was conceived of back then, but also for the people staying from across the country, in some cases, the world. Many for the TB cure. But not all.
who'd moved in in the hopes of being cured of the scourge of TB.
Robert Louis Stevenson lived here the winter of 1887-1888.
Christy Mathewson died here in 1925.
Béla Bartok 1945 the great Hungarian composer Béla Bartok
Robert Louis Stevenson stayed the winter of 1887-88.
Somerset Maugham stayed in Saranac Lake during the summer in 1944
Mark Twain early in the 20th Century.
On September 19, he wrote to his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Duryee,."Hail and farewell. It has been paradise to us all summer. One doesn’t need to go to the Swiss lakes to find that condition."
https://localwiki.org/hsl/Mark_Twain_Camp
Albert Einstein in Saranac Lake, and was saved from drowning
http://www.saranaclake.com/blog/2013/10/saving-Einstein
Only today, instead of the just one day event it began as,
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