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Saturday,ÊO ctoberÊ1,Ê2016
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www.SunCommunityNews.com
In SPORTS | pg. 14-15
Soccer season at halfway point Recapping the week in sports
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In OPINION | pg. 6
A new voice in Adk.
New land use group offers fresh debate
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In MINERVA | pg. 11
Bike Rodeo
Youth attend safety course
SNCR to offer weekend stays in Pullman train cars By Thom Randall thom@suncommunitynews.com
NORTH CREEK — Passengers on the Saratoga-North Creek Railway will soon be offered a novel experience — a throwback to a more gracious era of travel a century ago. As of January 13, the railway is to begin offering a ski-train service in which passengers stay for two nights in one of three Pullman sleeping cars parked on a side track in North Creek. This premium service will accommodate up to 53 passengers. Saratoga-North Creek Railway General Manager Justin Gonyo announced the new service Sept. 22 at a Warren County Public Works Committee meeting. “This is a very unique service, something you really can’t get anywhere else in the nation, reminiscent of the old Den-
ver-Rio Grande ski trains out west,” he said, noting that the Pullman overnight initiative “rebrands” Saratoga-North Creek Railway’s conventional ski train service which was cut back due to declining ridership last year. After connecting with Amtrack’s northbound Adirondack trains from New York City, the new Pullman ski trains, complete with luxury lounge cars and dining cars, will be departing the Saratoga Springs station at 1 p.m. Fridays to spend two days in North Creek. The ski trains will return to Saratoga Springs at 6 p.m. Sunday, providing a connection with the southbound Amtrack train. During the trips, passengers can enjoy beverages and hors d’oeuvres. The return trip will feature a full dinner aboard the train. Gonyo said the North Creek station will be totally renovated — transformed to resemble a rustic lodge with a bar, pool
tables, shuffleboard games, rustic couches, and televisions — to accommodate the new Pullman service passengers. When these trains arrive in North Creek, passengers can step into this renovated station that resembles an rustic but upscale hotel lobby, have their ski equipment stored, then relax and socialize, he said. The Pullman excursion will not include food service from Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon, so the passengers will be encouraged to go into North Creek and patronize local restaurants and taverns. The PUllman service tickets will include lift charges at Gore Mountain, and passengers can take a shuttle to and from Gore — as well as around North Creek — at various times over the two days. >> See RAILWAY | pg. 11
NoÊ easyÊ answersÊ toÊ communityÊ Ê Ê Ê revitalization Building dynamic local economies requires a complex formula, say speakers at Adirondack North Country Association By Pete DeMola pete@suncommunitynews.com
KEESEVILLE — Some of the region’s leading thinkers gathered in a drafty stone mill along the Ausable River last week to ponder a fundamental question: How to unpack the secrets of successful communities? Why are some downtowns bustling, while others are lined with empty storefronts? What makes some communities a nexus of the local food movement? And how, exactly, did a remote town along the Canadian border transform a decrepit industrial waterfront into a boutique hotel? Answer: It varies. Some of the officials underpinning these changes attempted to offer a crash course to their counterparts at the event, the annual meeting of the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA), a nonprofit tasked with jumpstarting rural economies across a 14-county swath. >> See ANCA | pg. 10
Gore Mountain’s Harvest Festival returns Oct. 8 and Oct. 9 offering two days of attractions including a craft expo, entertainment, children’s games and activities, music, hikes, mountain biking, ‘zorbing’, creative food and drinks, vendors, a climbing wall and a bungee trampoline. A street fair in North Creek and a ski swap at the Gore Ski Bowl will be held simultaneously. See more on page 3. Photo provided