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August 8, 2009
A Denton Publication
Good Times
History
Legit
Popular Upper Hudson Bluegrass Festival returns, Aug. 21-23.
Let the Mountain Men show you a glimpse of Adirondack’s past.
Sprague’s residency no longer an issue for election board.
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Late blight destroying Waynestock II: The second annual benefit crops throughout region By Laura Cormack denpubs@denpubs.com
Most gardening aficionados are well versed in how a plant disease known as late blight can devastate crops — most notably tomato and potato plants. This summer, however, has been near catastrophic for local growers as it was in the 1850’s when the same blight caused the Irish potato famine. Late blight is a plant disease that attacks both potatoes and tomatoes. It is caused by a fungal pathogen that survives from one season to the next in infected tubers and the
NORTH CREEK — The second annual “Waynestock” will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15 at the Ski Bowl Pavilion in North Creek. Waynestock was founded last year, previously held on Aug. 12, to benefit Wayne “Wayno” Bukovinsky and family of North Creek. Bukovinsky was seriously injured last April in a motorcycle accident on Golf Course Road near Cronin’s Golf Course in Warrensburgh. After being airlifted from Cronin’s, he was in a coma for three weeks, and his friends and family did not know if he would make it through that critical time. But he did make it, and has achieved a miraculous recovery since then, something his friends and family attribute to his remarkable will power and inner strength. “Last year he was still in a wheelchair, unable to walk, just starting to get his speech back. Now he’s doing well walking with a cane and speaking very fluently. He’s back to enjoying life,” said friend Steve Studnicky. “To watch his progress has been nothing short of amazing. For weeks on end we didn’t even know if he would survive, let alone how he would recover. Just watching where he was to where he is now, I think that type of accident would have taken the life of most, but he has this strength, stamina and inner will. I would honestly expect nothing less of him; that’s just his character.” And he is still making progress, Studnicky said. “The doctors didn’t think he’d be at
See BLIGHT, page 8
See WAYNESTOCK, page 3
Late blight, pictured above on tomato plants, is destroying most, if not all of the local tomato and potato crops this growing season. Experts say they haven’t seen an outbreak this bad in decades. By Marcia Bierce denpubs@denpubs.com
Wayne “Wayno” Bukovinsky poses with family and friends during the first “Waynestock” fundraiser held last year in his honor. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15 at the Ski Bowl Pavilion in North Creek.
North Country Life Flight focus of woman’s fundraising campaign By Jeremiah Papineau jeremiah@denpubs.com
Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts actor Heath Saunders mingles with a crowd of Minerva Youth Program campers at Minerva Lake on July 30 just prior to the start of the theatre production of Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night's Dream".
SARANAC LAKE — Janice D. Washburn considers herself lucky to be alive. It was four years ago when the now 55-year-old Keeseville resident was returning to work from her lunch break and noticed something wasn't quite right. "I started to feel dizzy," Washburn recalled. "I thought I was having a stroke." Though her memory of that day is still fuzzy, Washburn said she remembers being taken by ambulance to CVPH Medical Center, just minutes away from her office. Upon further evaluation, it was found she had a ruptured brain aneurysm and doctors immediately ordered her to be airlifted to Fletcher Allen Healthcare in Burlington, Vt. — a trip that would have taken much longer by ambulance, said Washburn. "I only suffered mild dis-
abilities because of how quickly they got me to Burlington," she said. Though she lost hearing in one ear and occasionally suffers from dizziness, improper balance and short-term memory loss, Washburn said her condition could have been a lot worse if not for North Country Life Flight, the nonprofit medevac service which flew her to Fletcher Allen. "My head was filling up with blood. If I would have had to ride by ambulance all the way [to Burlington], there would've been even more damage,” Washburn said. “My husband and I would even say Life Flight saved my life." About a year after her incident — a year spent recovering from her aneurysm — Washburn was reviewing her medical bills from that time and realized something was missing. "I started getting ambulance bills but I noticed there was no bill for the
See LIFE FLIGHT, page 7