What caught our eye - 7/20/19

July 20, 2019

The Adirondacks region was home to a wonderful and wide variety of Old West themed
attractions — including Ghost Town as part of Storytown U.S.A. —
 the predecessor of The Great Escape. (Richard Dean image)

DUNK THE DANG VARMINTS: For the generation of kids who grew up on TV westerns, Adirondack vacations meant tamin’ the wildlands for law-abidin’ citizens, survivin’ wild shoot-outs, savin’ lovely damsels in distress, hog-tyin’ outlaws and throwin’ in the hooskow. You keep your “Little House on the Prairie.” We had our “Gunsmoke.” So how did the Adirondacks turn into the Wild West? Pat Gormley has the answer in this week’s The Adirondacks You Don’t Know. http://bit.ly/OldWestAdirondacks

SHE SHOWED THIS PLACE HOW TO WIN: It is quite appropriate that, for another reason altogether, the Saratoga Race Course will be dark today. We should use the moment to pay tribute to the grand champion of Saratoga, Marylou Whitney. Mrs. Whitney’s humble upbringing and her wealth will be well chronicled as will her love for Saratoga Springs and her generosity to the community. Less notice may be paid to the fact this heiress from another era, who married into two of America’s wealthiest families, was an astute (and, as necessary, outspoken) businesswoman in her own right. Her family once was the largest private landowner in the Adirondack Park. She was a successful breeder and horse owner. She loved people, parties and adventure, and knew how to have fun. She was a founder of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and a co-founder of the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs. She helped restore the National Racing Museum and was a member of its Hall of Fame.  In her seventh decade, she discovered dog racing and attended the Iditarod in Alaska. She danced in the mud in her bare feet at a Grateful Dead concert and snuck out at 2 a.m. to drink champagne with friends in a tee-pee on her estate. She was the largest individual donor to the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid, and she took care of the Long Lake Methodist Church. She and her husband John Hendrickson took care of the unsung heroes of racing, Saratoga’s backstretch workers, with dinners, food and games.  She once gave a construction worker $5,000 and treated him to a day at the races when he found her lost jewelry, and helped a State University of Albany student who was wounded when he stepped in to stop a gunman shooting up the campus. The moniker Socialite hardly did her justice.

PEAK PERFORMANCE: The first time they tried hiking the Adirondack 46 they ran into a bear. Goodbye, food. The second time they endured swarms of bugs that left them bitten and bloody. Two intrepid personal trainers from Manhattan persevered, setting a new speed record for an unassisted hike of all 46 high peaks, covering 25 to 30 miles a day and more than 200 overall. Best of all, they raised money to support breast cancer survivors. http://bit.ly/AdkSpeedHikers

THE SECOND REVOLUTION: When the Dutch settled the Hudson Valley, the British gave enormous tracts of land to a few notables. You know the names: VanRensselaer and Vanderbilt, among others. To pay their bills and the taxes, these patroons rented the land to tenant farmers, many of whom had just paid an enormous price in lives and limbs to free the Colonies from British rule. So why did these farmers allow themselves to be controlled by another European master? They didn’t for long. http://bit.ly/ColonialRentWars

HAMPTONS FIRST COUSIN: PropertyShark.com.com has ranked the most expensive zip codes in Upstate New York. Three Lake George communities make the top ten. http://bit.ly/UpstatesExclusiveZipCodes

IT’S NOT THE HEAT …. The temperature hit 99 degrees in Albany on a July day 24 years ago. A horrific windstorm barreled across the state, strong enough to toss one Boeing 727 against another in Syracuse and to fell nearly a million acres of trees in the Adirondacks. http://bit.ly/AdkWindStormLookBack

THE NORTHUP STORY: The Adirondack community of Willsboro is honoring the memory of Solomon Northup, the free African-American citizen of Saratoga Springs who was kidnapped in Washington in 1841 and sold into slavery. After 12 years, Northup was rescued. He chronicled the harrowing tale in his own 1853 memoir, and it was retold in the 2013 movie. As horrifying as was his story, we now learn Northup was not the only free citizen forced into slavery. http://bit.ly/SolomonNorthupandOthers

ARISTOTLE SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT: Millions of words have been written about the art of persuasion, none more germane than those offered more than 2,000 years ago by Aristotle. The great philosopher’s insights are the basis of a skill set anyone can learn and implement to great effect. http://bit.ly/AristotlesWisdom

CRIBS TO CONSIDER

KINGSTON KOOL: Uptown Kingston, the first capital of New York, is capitalizing on one shot of hip and a chaser of big attention with the 43-room Hotel Kinsley, four refurbished 19^th-century buildings, chosen by The Wall Street Journal as one of the four “best designed things of August.’’  Think Scandinavian lighting, Moroccan kilims, and snail-shaped lumache pasta with pecorino and peas. http://bit.ly/KingstonsBestDesignHotel

WE’LL KEEP THE LIGHTS DOWN FOR YOU: A roadside motel in the Catskills has been hollywoodized. Behind each green door is a room straight out of pop culture. Stretch out on Cleopatra’s gold mahogany bed of more than 500 pounds. Freshen up in the Genie Bottle bathroom, relax in Fred and Wilma’s cave, or take a break along the shoulder of the Yellow Brick Road. Just check the shower before stepping in. http://bit.ly/GreatestThemesHotel

CRAN APPLE OF OUR EYE: Cranberry Lake Campground in St. Lawrence County is ranked among the eight most breathtakingly beautiful campgrounds in America. It’s “off the charts,” says the Washington Post. By the way, what’s the third largest lake completely within the Adirondack Park? Lake George, Great Sacandaga and … http://bit.ly/MostBeautifulCampgrounds

Find your cool in Glens Falls this summer. Check out original theater, music, markets, baseball, exhibits, free outdoor movies, healthy eating and festivals. (Eric Potter)

SUMMER STUFF

PAVLOV’S DING-A-LING: We have Ohioan Harry Burt to thank. It is he who is credited with creating the ice cream van jingle.  Mr. Burt festooned one of his trucks with bells — and the neighborhood kids came running. Then he put bells on his entire treat fleet. http://bit.ly/TheIceCreamJingle

WHY BASEBALL MATTERS: Time for a pitching change. So, the Kalamazoo Growlers coach marched smartly to the mound.  He took the ball, rubbed it for good luck, talked a bit of quiet strategy, and encouraged his players, even slapped a few backsides.  He’s 6. http://bit.ly/6YearOldCoach

TAKE ME OUT TO THE ANALYTICS GAME: Trevor Bauer is one of the best pitchers in baseball, but he’s the first to admit he’s no natural athlete. So how did he do it? It wasn’t just hard work. His relentless focus on data and analytics to make incremental improvements are, in the words of the authors, “what the future of world-class professional development now looks like — and not just on the pitcher’s mound.” http://bit.ly/PitchingDataOverTalent

MOO OVER: The airlines are struggling the numbers of fliers bringing aboard therapy animals. First there were the usual dogs and cats. Then came peacocks. Then pigs, miniature horses and even baby alligators. How now therapy cow? http://bit.ly/FlyingTherapyPets

CULTIVATING SUPPORT: Where would we be without farmers? They work from sun up to sundown to nourish the world. The conditions are tough, the weather uncertain, the compensation unequal to the work. They do so with nary a complaint. They’re the volunteer firefighters and school board members who keep rural communities alive. They give it all they’ve got, and politicians of every stripe bask in their reflected earnestness. The New York Post last week made its way to Easton, N.Y., and introduced us to Paul Molesky. http://bit.ly/FarmersEfforts

GOOD READS

IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK: Charles Darwin was a scientific phenom at 27. He stagnated in his 50s. What happened? Early achievers sometimes plateau and find themselves unfulfilled and unhappy in their later years. Some thoughts on how to change it up at mid-life. http://bit.ly/DoEarlyAchieversPlateau

SWEET PLACEMENT: Imagine receiving this text: Wouldn’t you love a S’more tonight? Even in this post-brick and mortar retail era, Hershey Bars, the quintessential guilty-pleasure checkout-counter impulse buy, is finding its sweet spot. http://bit.ly/HersheysSweetPlacement

TAKE THIS CAR AND SHOVE IT: A motorist stranded along a highway in Canada was facing both an engine repair bill and a tow charge when three teenage boys came along and offered to help. Five hours later, here’s where she was. http://bit.ly/TeensActOfCarKindness

BAG MAN BENNY: If you hate the way teenage bag boys pack your groceries, meet Stop and Shop’s Benny Ficeto of Perth Amboy, N.J. who, based on 97 years of work experience, knows what goes where. http://bit.ly/97YrOldBagBoy

DEPUTY’S JUST THE TICKET: A sheriff’s deputy in rural South Carolina pulls over a car for speeding. What happened next is unforgettable. http://bit.ly/TrafficStopALifesaver

THE SIGNOFF

IT WORKED IN EMERALD CITY: The good people of Merseyside, England, are safe, resting in the knowledge that they’ve time to “while away the hours, conferrin’ with the flowers, consultin’ with the rain.” The Scarecrow is on the job.  http://bit.ly/ConstableScarecrow

NEARLY FINAL WORDS

 “(S)ome people without brains do an awful lot of talking, don't they?”
-The words of the Scarecrow in L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz”

PLEASE SHARE: Feel free to pass this along to your friends and colleagues.

THANK YOU to our content contributors John Brodt, Bill Callen, Bill Richmond, Tina Suhocki, Lisa Fenwick, Colleen Potter, Nolan Murphy, and Pat Gormley.

FACING OUT: FACING OUT is what we do. We help companies, organizations and individuals work effectively with their most important external audiences – their customers, their shareholders, their communities, the government and the news media.  www.behancommunications.com

Facing Out features news and other nuggets that caught our eye, and that we thought might be of value to you, our friends and business associates. Some items are good news about our clients and friends, others are stories that we hope will leave you a bit more informed or entertained than you were five minutes ago. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback. 

Let’s make it a conversation: mark.behan@behancom.com