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• EDITION •
Coming: Stewart’s on steroids New Port Henry ‘lab’ will carry more groceries By Tim Rowland STAFF WRITER
PORT HENRY | Port Henry no longer has a grocery store, but next year it might have the next best thing: a Stewart’s Shop on steroids. And if the beefier Stewart’s succeeds, it might have positive implications for other “food deserts” throughout the North Country, where residents are forced into making unhealthy food choices due to a dearth of traditional grocery stores. Within a year, Stewart’s is expected to move from its current site to property next door, which was the former location of Mac’s Village Market. Mac’s — which had been the last remaining grocery store on the Adirondack Coast between Ticonderoga and Plattsburgh — closed in late summer, and Stewart’s purchased the site shortly thereafter for $737,100. Crews from Stewart’s Shops are expected to begin demolition of the former grocery store in a few weeks, with the
construction of the new Stewart’s Shop beginning early next year, according to company and town officials. Moriah Supervisor Tom Scozzafava said he talked with several grocery store chains after Mac’s closed, but none were interested, partly because there’s a Walmart within 30 miles, and partly because Moriah doesn’t have adequate numbers to support a grocery. Moriah has a population of 5,000, with another 2,000 to the south on Crown Point. That’s well short of what the chains say they need to sustain a grocery. When those feelers didn’t pan out, Scozzafava said he explained the issue to Stewart’s representatives, who took an interest in the problem. “They told us we’re going to be their lab,” the supervisor said. The store will sell more fresh and frozen food items and, based on what sells, they might apply the lessons to other communities where Stewart’s is the only game in town. “I’m very excited, this will be a huge plus for the community,” Scozzafava said. “This is really needed not just in Moriah, but in a lot of towns across the Adirondacks.” A number of North Country communities are home to ghostly grocery stores abandoned years ago as mining, timber and paper jobs have disappeared. Scozzafava said his biggest fear was that Mac’s would become the same — a
The former Mac’s Village Grocery will be demolished this year to make way for a Stewart’s Shop.Photo by Tim Rowland hollow storefront in the center of town. It would have been a tough blow to overcome. “That property is the nucleus of Port Henry,” Scozzafava said. Meantime, other businesses have been doing what they can to fill the gap. Delis in the area have been offering more meats, and the Mountain Weavers Farm Store that opened this summer in Port Henry has a selection of healthy fresh and frozen foods. ■
Time to think small New move combines Small Business Saturday with other events By Tim Rowland STAFF WRITER
PORT HENRY | Small businesses — in the small hamlets along Lake Champlain there is no other kind — are gearing up for their day in the sun the Saturday after Thanksgiving, and the Moriah Chamber of Commerce is pairing Small Business Saturday with several other events on Nov. 30 to increase interest. C ha mb er Event s coord i nator Catherine Sprague said this is the 10th year Port Henry has participated in Small Business Saturday, a shopping holiday sandwiched between the more trumpeted Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The holiday was created by American Express to encourage people to consider
small, locally owned businesses as they entered the Christmas shopping season. Sprague said the Chamber is encouraging businesses that want to participate this year to contact the chamber office, which will offer promotional assistance. Participating stores generally have sales and specials, drawings and prizes. The chamber needs to be contacted by Nov. 3, at 518-250-1050. In addition, pop-up shops will be set up in the Chamber office, including Home of Champ (homeofchamp.com), which sells sea-creature-related T-shirts and novelties, and A Gift to Remember, which produces custom crafts and remembrances. Refreshments will be available for shoppers. Sprague said other home businesses that lack a storefront of their own can move into the chamber offices for a day. “Everyone is welcome,” she said. “We’ll make space, we always do.” Last year 17 businesses participated, and reported good sales. It’s also a chance for residents to show appreciation for Port Henry merchants. See SMALL BUSINESS » pg. 2
Moriah Central School seventh grade tech student Joshua Drake designed and built the fastest race car as part of his Technology Class activity with teacher Aaron Brassard. Photo/Moriah Central School
MORIAH STUDENTS BUILD ROCKETS, RACE CARS “Students had a blast,” teacher says By Kim Dedam STAFF WRITER
MORIAH | Technology students, in the seventh and eighth grades at Moriah Central School, got a “hands-on” jump start to their math and
science classes this year by building their own rockets and race cars. “Eighth grade technology students had a ‘blast’ making and launching homemade model rockets to start the school year,” Technology teacher Aaron Brassard said. And seventh grade students designed and built race cars, which they later tested for speed and aerodynamics. See MORIAH STUDENTS BUILD » pg. 4
Names on display in the window of the Moriah Chamber of Commerce from last year’s Memory Tree commemoration. Photo by Tim Rowland
Moriah Central: $14.9 million project for safety, security upgrades By Kim Dedam STAFF WRITER
MORIAH |The Moriah Central School Board of Education approved steps toward a proposed $14.9 million capital project. At a special meeting last week, Superintendent William Larrow presented the multi-faceted plan to the board. Much of
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address safety and building infrastructure needs at a point when prior debt will be paid off, so there is no impact on taxpayers,” he said. The School Board approved bringing the measure to referendum vote on Dec. 17 with polls open from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. in the Central Office Lobby. The board also approved bringing the plan to public hearing on Nov. 19 at 6 p.m. The scope of the proposed Capital encompasses important security improvements, Larrow explained, walking the School Board through the lists of proposed projects.
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the work involves improvements for school safety and repairs. Moriah receives 95.3 percent building aid from the State Education Department, which means that, of the proposed $14,960,000 project, the local share is 4.7 percent, or $703,120. The local share would be moved in a bond payment, essentially maintaining current spending levels. “There will be no impact on taxes as the proposed project debt will replace retiring debt from previous projects,” Larrow said. “We have been working on this plan for over a year now,” he said of ongoing project development. “The district is proposing a project at this time in order to
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