They decided a different tactic was necessary to re-charge the enthusiasm for Lake George among the go-fast crowd.  That was three years ago and on May 18 – 20 the hot boats will be back at the lake.

The concept was to provide a venue where off-shore and high-performance boats could come to Lake George for a weekend of fun and be able to demonstrate the capabilities of their boats without being stressed by speed and noise limitations. If you like performance boating, this is the event to attend.

“Last year’s crowd was a testament to how much the Performance Weekend (formerly known as the Queen’s Great Boating Weekend) has grown in just two short years,” Gage said.  An idea that was conceived by three friends has created an event that has become an economic force in the community and a must-attend event for performance-boating fans.

“I am very excited to see the performance boats return to the Village again this year,” said Mayor Blais.  “Our part of the lake is a great location for this event and I’m glad that it has turned into an annual occurrence,” Blais said.

The event’s sponsor is Performance Marine of Bolton Landing.  Saris and Gage have been partners in the high-performance boat company since 1987.  “The driving force is to more effectively reach out to recreational boaters,” Gage said.

The Saris racing team. Photo by Sharkey Images.

“It amazes me how this event has evolved,” said Saris.  “They’re not vying for a purse or huge trophies.  The only thing I can think of (why it’s grown) is that we’ve kept it simple and fun.  Everybody loves Lake George and this is a way for them to get out on the lake and unleash the power that these boats have,” he said.

“This is not a formal competition,” Saris explained.  “The driver’s enjoy this event because it is simply a demonstration.  They can get out on the lake, show what their boats can do and not have to go through all of the rigorous safety inspections required during sanctioned races,” Saris said.

The Lake George Performance Weekend is also a key economic boost for the local economy.  It is held the weekend before Memorial Day, which would typically be a slow weekend at the lake, but that’s no longer the case.  “Some people will attend the Performance Weekend and stay the following week for the holiday.  The result last year was packed hotels and motels and bustling restaurants,” Gage said.

The tentative schedule calls for a boat parade down Canada Street on Friday evening followed by a reception at a local restaurant, which will be open to the public.

According to Gage, there will be a driver’s meeting at 11 am on Saturday.  The main Offshore Demonstration Races will take place from noon to 4 pm followed by a reception/party at King Neptune’s Pub in Lake George Village.  The awards ceremony is open to the public and includes live entertainment and a spectacular fireworks display over the lake.

Spectators will be able to walk along the Village docks to gawk at the fancy paint jobs or to ooh and aah at the huge engines with the big blowers and gleaming exhaust pipes. The powerboat demonstrations may be easily viewed from any vantage point along Beach Road.

This year organizers have added a two-day custom car and motorcycle show in the Beach Road parking lot and there will be a sailboat race at noon on Sunday. All of the weekend events are free and open to the public.  For more information call Rick Gage at 518-644-3080.

This intimate exhibition of etchings, woodcuts and lithography from the Jan Balet and the Sparling Family collections demonstrates the varied printmaking techniques and styles of the “Belle Epoque”.

The “Belle Epoque”(the beautiful era, 1880-1914) was the period in French history that experienced the formation of the Third French Republic(1870-1940), the French Industrial Revolution, and the modernization of France. An exciting new way of life and opportunity for some, unemployment, poverty, and injustice for others(The Dreyfus Affair). The arts flourished. Impressionism, Post- Impressionism, Fauvism, and Cubism, all had their origins and fruition during this time. Literature, Music, Dance and Architecture also experienced exciting new forms of expression.

Paris night life was infamous and a new group of entrepreneurs embraced the advant-garde, employing them as entertainers and performers, as well as program, poster and set designers.  The goal was to achieve a total spectacle. The Theatre de L’Oeuvre and the Moulin Rouge were just some of these famous theaters.

To promote and support the “Spectacle”, lithography emerged as the reproduction method of choice. The continually changing venues demanded new designs and material. Lithography, unlike woodcuts and etching(which were labor intensive), was a perfect medium for the artist and the style that reflected the exciting new form of entertainment.

Toulouse-Lautrec, Bust of Mademoiselle Marcelle Lender, 1895

Toulouse-Lautrec, a collector and student of Japanese Art, integrated the Japanese approach into his paintings and his graphic art. Bold, flat primary and secondary color, black contour, simplified shapes, and unique perspectives, drawn with an ink stick on a stone surface produced immediate and fresh images. He was an accomplished draftsman and a natural for the medium. His line gesture and compositions were sophisticated and elegant, as well as entertaining and provocative. Toulouse- Lautrec created a style and standard that future artists and craftsmen would emulate.

Jules Cheret developed the technique of printing with 3 separate stones. Black, warm and cool colors printed independently, overlaying each to create a spectrum of color with just three “runs”. He is credited with over 1,000 graphic designs.

Pierre Bonnard,  realizing he had to simplify his shapes and compositions, introduced abstract patterns into his work.

Modern artists loved lithography, and those who appreciated the work and the artist began employing them in advertisements (Toulouse- Lautrec’s “Confetti” and “La Chaine Simpson”). They also collaborated on portfolios and catalogs chronicling famous celebrities, entertainers, Parisian night life and even prostitutes.                                                                                      The 1890′s were the golden age of lithography and the prints are as popular (and as collectable) as ever. They would also influence the artist of future styles from Art Nouveau to Pop Art.

The Hyde is located at  161 Warren Street, Glens Falls, and is open Wednesday through Saturday from  10am to 5pm and Sunday from noon to 5pm. Call 792-1761 for information.

Richard Stout is an artist living and working in Hague

“Fort Ticonderoga is a family destination and a center of learning. A visit is an interactive, multi-disciplined experience,” said Beth Hill, Executive Director. “It’s about exploring the beautiful gardens, finding adventure in our events, marching with the Fife and Drum Corps, and learning about a historic trade. It’s a walk through the restored Fort, a stroll overlooking Lake Champlain and the Green Mountains of Vermont, and an afternoon in our exhibit galleries exploring our premier collections.”

Highlights of the 2012 season include Fort Ticonderoga’s newest exhibit,  “Bullets & Blades: The Weapons of America’s Colonial Wars and Revolution.” The exhibition will showcase nearly 100 weapons from Fort Ticonderoga’s internationally significant weapons collection including many never-before-seen recent acquisitions exhibited together to illustrate the remarkable beauty and broad diversity of muskets, pistols, swords, and related weaponry used in America and at Ticonderoga through the American Revolution.

Last year’s exhibit,  “Art of War:  Ticonderoga as Experienced through the Eyes of America’s Great Artists,” continues for a second season and brings together for the first time fifty of the museum’s most important artworks. Fort Ticonderoga helped give birth to the Hudson River School of American Art with Thomas Cole’s pivotal 1826 work, Gelyna, or a View Near Ticonderoga, the museum’s most important 19^th-century masterpiece to be featured in the exhibit.

The King’s Garden, one of North America’s oldest gardens and the largest public garden in the Adirondack-Lake Champlain region, will open on June 1 and offer daily tours and garden-related programs.

Kicking off the 2012 season is a weekend-long celebration of Ethan Allen’s capture of Fort Ticonderoga from the British in 1775.

Throughout the weekend, visitors will explore this dramatic story from the perspectives of both the British garrison and the Green Mountain Boys and meet such historical characters as Ethan Allen, Benedict Arnold, and Captain Noah Phelps, Connecticut Militia Captain and patriot spy.

On Saturday, re-enactors based in Vermont will cross Lake Champlain by bateaux to begin the assault on Fort Ticonderoga. As the Americans advance toward the Fort, the British garrison under Captain William Delaplace will go about their daily routines.  In a special evening program, visitors can take a front row seat inside the walls of the Fort at 9 pm to watch the re-staging of “America’s First Victory.”

Saturday’s events will include a book signing at the Museum Store by authors participating in the Fort’s annual War College of the Seven Years’ War. The signings will take place from 1 pm to 1:30 pm.

Fort Ticonderoga is open daily through October 18 from 9:30 am until 5 pm. General admission is $17.50 for adults, with discounts for senior citizens and children.

Ms. Hoffman says the nationally renowned museum will host its 4^th Annual “Invitational at Saratoga” May 18 – 20 on the grounds of the Saratoga Spa State Park.  According to Hoffman, the gathering of exquisite automobiles from around the world is quickly becoming a premier East Coast automobile event.

First held in 2009 as a supplement to SAM’s longstanding Spring Auto Show, the “Invitational” immediately became a popular kick-off event for the Spa City’s summer season.

Just like the thoroughbred horses which come to the city in July, horsepower and speed are the buzzwords of the “Invitational.”

The three-day weekend begins with a $45 per person cocktail reception at 6 pm on Friday at SAM.  Members of the public are invited to meet special guest Wayne Carini of Chasing Classic Cars fame.  Carini will get the weekend underway as Friday’s featured speaker.            According to a recent article written by Don Weberg, Carini is one of those guys that pretty much any car guy or gal can relate to. He’s constantly on the quest for the rarest, most sought after, most unique cars ever built, cars that he personally loves, and more to the point, cars that his clients are looking for.

Saturday’s line-up of Euro cars has historically attracted over 200 widely recognized examples of British, French, German, Italian and other European makes and models.  According to Hoffman, anyone who owns or drives a European made automobile is invited to enter their vehicle in the show.  “Saturday is not by invitation only…only Sunday,” she explained.

The “Euro Experience on the Field” will be followed by a fund-raising dinner and auction at the Gideon Putnam Resort in Saratoga Springs.

The auction will feature items such as one-day of driving with the Sports Car Drivers Association School at Lime Rock Park or your chance to bid on a package which includes two tickets to the Tonight Show, a photograph in the Green Room with Jay Leno and a tour of Jay’s car collection in Burbank, California.

Featured guest speaker will be noted actor Ed Herrmann, best known for his Emmy-nominated portrayals of Franklin D. Roosevelt on television, and to younger generations for his role as Richard Gilmore in Gilmore Girls and as a ubiquitous narrator for historical programs on the History Channel.  Tickets are available for the 6 pm Saturday event at a cost of $150 per person.  Contact Becky Earls at 518-587-1932 ext. 16.

Rounding out the weekend’s activities, the Sunday “Invitational” should provide attendees with an up-close-and-personal look at cars from around the US and beyond.  The “Invitational”, as the name implies, is open only to select collectors with rare classic and historic automobiles.

Over 100 extraordinary vehicles and vintage motorcycles will be on display Sunday.  The featured marque for 2012 is Cadillac, one of America’s most highly respected names in automobile manufacturing.  Reportedly at least 20 vintage Caddies will be featured during the “Invitational”.

Saturday’s and Sunday’s events are open from 10 am to 3 pm each day and the cost of admission to the grounds is $15 and children under 12 are admitted free.  No pets are allowed.

As an added bonus, the Museum itself will welcome visitors without charge with paid admission to either the Euro Show on Saturday or the “Invitational” on Sunday.

According to Hoffman, all proceeds from the weekend events will benefit the Museum’s Educational programs and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northeast New York.

Best known for re-animating the Hacker-Craft brand, whose boats he manufactured in Silver Bay, Morgan also restored or built replicas of more than twenty Gold Cup racers of the 1930s, including “Happy Times,” a replica of George Reis’s El Lagarto.

“Those beautiful, slender race boats were in my background long enough to make an impression,” Morgan once told the Mirror.

Raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Morgan spent his summers on Lake George,  where he was  able to view the Gold Cup races of the 1930s from his front yard.

“He was always interested in engines; that’s all he ever talked about,” recalled Jane Kiernan Gabriels, a friend of Morgan’s since their summers as children on Lake George.

(Apparently, Bill had no interest in joining the family business, Morgan Lithograph Co., which was founded in 1864. By the 1920s, the company was the nation’s foremost printer of movie posters.)

George Reis, whose El Lagarto had brought the races to Lake George in 1934, was a friend of Morgan’s family, and “his stories furthered my interest,” Morgan said in 2000.

After attending Williams College (where, according to Gabriels, he was a champion swimmer) and serving in the Navy, Morgan himself became a racer, competing in Gold Cup, President’s and National Sweepstakes races, as well as in the Silver Cup, Canadian National and in a World Championship, compiling an impressive record of victories.

After building his own inboard racing boats, Morgan said in 2000,  “I got to the point where I wanted to build replicas of boats that were no longer around.”

El Lagarto was donated to the Adirondack Museum in 1969, and after several trips to the museum to take measurements, Morgan completed Happy Times in 1971.

“El Lagarto was the best Gold Cup boat in its time, and Happy Times is its duplicate,” Morgan told the Mirror in 1971. “Like El Lagarto, my boat with the five steps has the same distinctive leap which enabled the original to clear itself from the water and run a little faster than its competition.”

Asked by the Mirror if he intended to enter Happy Times in races, Morgan replied, “No, but I’ll let her out and just see who we pass.”

Morgan went on to build “ten or twelve replicas – one each of the nicest boats,” he said.

That number includes Delphine IV, a replica of the 1932 Gold Cup winner designed by George Crouch for Horace Dodge, and Hotsy Totsy, a replica of the Purdy-built two-time Gold Cup.

Morgan also bought and restored the Californian, which competed in the Gold Cup races of 1930, 31 and 32; Miss Detroit VII, a Gar Wood boat which won the 150 mile Sweepstakes in 1924 and 1925; Miss Los Angeles, which competed in the 1929 Gold Cup races; and Miss Canada III, which competed in the 1939 Gold Cup Race.

“It would have been a crime to let them go,” Morgan said. “They are a part of our history… the Californian was in rough shape. Canada III-we rescued her days before she was about to be bulldozed. She was stripped of her deck for use as a fishing boat. Detroit VII was a basket case.”

Morgan’s replicas and restorations took first place awards in nearly every antique and classic boat show in the Northeast.

He donated his personal collection of Gold Cup raceboats – as well as a rare 1923 Gold Cup Packard engine and volumes of archival material about the boats – to the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton, New York.

In the 1980s, Morgan assisted the Wolgin family, which had recently acquired the Sagamore hotel, with the construction of an excursion boat.

“Bill was a friend, so we went to him for advice, and he became the project’s shepard,” said Ike Wolgin.

The 70-ft boat, which was built on Green Island, was launched in 1985. At the suggestion of Marian Wolgin, the boat was named “The Morgan,” in honor of Bill.

Bill Morgan

In 2004, Morgan made arrangements to sell Hacker-craft and his Silver Bay boat yard to another former speedboat racer, Lynn Wagemann.

The company was purchased in 2011 by investor George Badcock, who became the company’s president.

“We at the Hacker Boat Company would not have the honor today of building Hacker-Craft without Bill,” said Badcock. “Everyone at the Hacker Boat Company has a responsibility to keep the Hacker-Craft brand vibrant as a testament and memorial to Bill’s life’s work.”

Morgan was married to Jean Eckert of Albany, New York and later to the late Patricia Robinson of Marblehead, Massachusetts.  There were no children from either marriage.

He is survived by his sister, Mary Burry of Cleveland, and two nieces, Marilyn Hitchcock of Chagrin Falls, Ohio and Susan Phillips of Williamsburg, Virginia.

Morgan was a member of the Lake George Club, the Fort Orange Club and a Director of the Antique and Classic Boat Society (International).

“With his passing, Bill Morgan leaves behind a multitude of friends and fans who honor and revere his many and diverse lasting contributions to boating, especially wooden boating and racing, on a level of excellence which may never again be equaled, much less surpassed,” attorney David Morris said in a statement announcing Morgan’s death.

Memorial services are scheduled for late May or early June.

Two area teachers, Steve Tomb and Mike Smith, have launched the Adirondack Pedal Cab Company, which will manage a fleet of 22 pedal cabs, also known as rickshaws, bicycle taxis, and pedicabs, in Lake George and North Creek.

Tomb and Smith hope to have the cabs on the streets of the two communities by Memorial Day.

If all goes according to plan, they told the Lake George Chamber of Commerce in March, the company will expand into Bolton Landing and Lake Placid.

“The timing is right,” Tomb and Smith told the Lake George Chamber. “These three-wheeled vehicles are changing the face of transportation and provide an exciting opportunity for customers and tourist communities.”

According to Tomb, who teaches English at Johnsburg High School, the idea of introducing pedal cabs to resort communities came to him while traveling in India on a Fulbright fellowship.

“I saw all these rickshaws and I thought we should have something similar in the Adirondacks: the cabs are emission-free, they engage you in the community you’re visiting, and it’s the type of small business that communities support,” said Tomb.

Tomb said that he, Smith and their partner, Ken Murray, are in the process of securing whatever permits may be needed to operate a livery in Lake George Village.

The business will be supported in part by solar-powered electronic ads mounted on the rear of the cab.

“Our orientation is hyper-local; we want to support local businesses,” said Tomb. “We’ve already been approached by a national brand, and we turned them down.”

Drivers, who must be at least 18, possess a drivers’ license and able to pass a background check and survive rigorous training sessions, will lease the cabs in four-hour shifts and work for tips. No set rate, no minimum fee, will be charged for any ride.

Tomb expects to recruit college students and vacationing teachers as Adirondack Pedal Company drivers.

“The tipping model works for the drivers,” said Tomb. “Personality will be the key. The ride should be a Lake George experience, not just a convenient way to get from one place to another. The driver will function as a guide. He or she will have to know Lake George, the businesses, the places of interest, the stories. The best driver will be someone who not only knows Lake George, but loves it.”

Tomb said he and his partners began coming to Lake George when they were growing up in Saratoga County.

A graduate of LeMoyne College and SUNY Cortland, Tomb and his wife Suzanne (who’s a social worker at Hudson Headwaters Health Network) moved to North Creek to be near her family.

Prior to settling in North Creek, Tomb said he “traveled a lot, teaching Outward Bound programs, guiding, teaching people to be guides, developing curriculum for Adventure Sports programs.”

The Tombs have three sons, triplets, who will be twelve years old in April.

“They’re amazing. One of them designed the logo for the company. They have their own egg business; they have 40 hens and have local businesses as customers, including Bar Vino. I’ve tried to instill in them the entrepreneurial spirit – that’s what’s uniquely American, as I discovered in my travels. It’s what’s driving us to make our Adirondack Pedal Cab Company a success.”

For more information, visit adirondackpedalcab.com

Plant Hardiness Zone Maps help gardeners determine which plants are most likely to thrive in a location. Even when gardening with native plants, you have to keep zones in mind. For example New York State covers zones 3-7. So there might be plants native to southern New York zones 6 or 7, but they aren’t for us – since our area is mostly a zone 4 (or at least I thought it was! – more on that in a second).

If you are an experienced gardener, you are probably very familiar with what zone you are gardening in. However, in late January USDA released a new version of hardiness zone maps for 2012. You might think you know what zone you are – but it turns out you might be wrong according to the new maps.

Hardiness zones are based on the average low winter temperature. Zones are divided by 10 degree increments, with a and b subsections for 5 degree increments. In the new 2012 maps many locations across the country shifted and became a subsection warmer. So if you were a 5a you might now be a 5b, and if you were a 4b you might now be a 5a. This new map is based on 30 years of temperature data, from 1976-2005, and was created with new and improved algorithms that took elevation and other terrain features into account. The old maps were based on a shorter and older temperature record, and simpler modeling, so they had become outdated. The new maps are much more accurate for our current conditions.

Another great thing about the new map is that it is also now interactive – so it is much easier to see exactly what zone you are in. You can just enter your zip code and ta-da – the site will tell you what your new zone is! Go to http://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/PHZMWeb/ and enter your zip code to try it out.

According to the older map that we have been using up until now, the Lake George area was 4b. That means that the average low winter temperature was -25 to -20 degrees F. However the map has changed slightly for our area, and some locations around the lake are now considered 5a, meaning average low temperature of -20 to -15 degrees F. Now this new map has been making headlines in relation to global climate change, but I just want to talk about what it means for gardeners in terms of plant selection.

Whenever you are buying plants for the garden, you want to make sure they will be hardy to your location. This shift means that some of us might be trying out a few new plants in our gardens and see how they do! For example, Inkberry, Ilex glabra, is listed on many lists as hard to zone 5-9. Although well-known native plant expert William Cullina notes in his Native Trees and Shrubs book that if sited carefully, it can be hardy to zone 4. I have been growing Inkberry at our nursery because it is such a great native alternative for many non-native evergreen shrubs used to landscape foundations, such as boxwoods. Even though it has been making it through the winters so far, I have not been growing large amounts, because I was nervous about it overwintering in our area based on the zone data available. Now of course, our climate conditions haven’t changed from last year to this year, but now with the new maps based on more accurate modeling, I have more confidence in this plant for our area.

Take a look at the map and see if your zone shifted. If it did, there may be some new plants that you might want to go ahead and try out this year that you hadn’t tried before. I wouldn’t go out and plant a dozen of something new, but maybe get a few and see how they do. I know I might add some Sweetspire, Itea virginica, a great native alternative to the popular non-native butterfly bush, to some of my own gardens and see how it does. According to the new maps – it should do just fine! But I think I will do some testing on my own first for my own specific site conditions. After all, algorithms and equations are great, but they aren’t Mother Nature!

Emily DeBolt is owner of Fiddlehead Creek Farm and Native Plant Nursery in Hartford, NY. She can be reached at Emily@fiddleheadcreek.com.

In Long Lake, for instance, forty of the 711 year-round residents make their living as artisans and craftsmen.

Getting the product to the market, however, can be difficult, and that’s why many craftsmen depend upon the Adirondack North Country Association (ANCA).

ANCA was founded in the 1950s to bring new industry to the region. The organization is still doing that, but it’s also assisting people like Peter Shrope, who makes pottery in Rainbow Lake.

His line of ceramics, which he calls Rockware for its glazes made from native stone, was among the products on display at ANCA’s annual Buyer Days, held this year at the Civic Center in Saratoga Springs on March 7 and 8.

“ANCA’s mission is to build the local economy, and artisans are such an important part of that economy,” said ANCA’s communications director Melissa Hart, who organized this year’s show. “We foster collaborative relationships throughout the Adirondack Park, and with this show, we’re fostering connections between producers and retailers.”

The Buyers Days event is a trade show, but a juried one. Only producers of hand crafted or locally sourced products are allowed to exhibit their wares. Owners of gift shops, markets and museum stores typically attend the show every year.

“We invite everyone who wants to get more local products into their shops,” said Hart. “For the shop owners, it’s a chance to meet the producers and learn the stories behind the products. They’re shopping locally, which enables the consumer to shop locally.”

According to Stephanie Ratcliffe, the executive director of the Wild Center in Tupper Lake, local products support eco-tourism.

“People visit the Adirondacks to have an authentic experience, and they want something authentic to take home; they want a piece of the Adirondacks,” Ratcliffe said.

Deb Morris, whose Barkeater Chocolates will be sold at Dave’s Market in Bolton Landing this summer, noted that her customers value the experience of buying a local product almost as much as the product itself.

“I don’t have a shop, but people know they can find me in the commercial kitchen we use in North Creek. I tell people we ship, but they’d rather make a special trip to buy the chocolate themselves,” she said.

Having so many producers in one place, at one time, makes it that much easier to stock his shop with local wares, said Doug Deneen, the owner of Trees, a book and gift shop in Bolton Landing.

“If I went to a typical trade show, I wouldn’t be assured that the products were local. When we bought our shop a few years ago, I didn’t necessarily know who the best local crafts people were, or how to contact them. This show introduced them to me, and allows me to meet new producers,” said Deneen.

Since he started attending the show, Deneen has placed orders for rustic frames and mirrors, soaps, photographs, prints, t-shirts and books.

His best source for books about the Adirondacks is North Country Books, a publisher and distributor whose president, Rob Igoe, was at this year’s show.

“We know from experience that books about the Adirondacks are frequently purchased as souvenirs of the Adirondacks,” said Igoe. “That’s why we’re insulated from competition from e-books and e-readers. You can’t take home an e-book and put it on your coffee table.”

Igoe does worry, though, about the loss of small, independent bookstores, which have suffered from the expansion of on-line retailers and e-books.

“We need new outlets for our books, especially the Adirondack classics that we feel a duty to keep in print. That’s why this show is important,” said Igoe.

Almost all craftsmen now sell their wares through the internet, some more than others.

Barkeater Chocolates’ Deb Morris said 40% of her business now comes through her website.

Others, like rustic artisan Melisa Fox, rely primarily upon shops like Trees, where her twig and birch bark frames and mirrors are sold.

Morris has also embraced social media to get her message out, while Fox prefers the personal contacts made through shows like Buyer Days.

“For a lots of craftsmen, this is the only place where they can show their work,” said Fox. “For us, it’s the perfect fit. All of our material is locally-sourced. I collect the raw product from the woods and recycle it.”

Whatever their differences, both Morris and Fox have at least one thing in common. Both said their businesses grew from a passion for their craft. And it’s passion, when paired with finely honed skills, that makes Adirondack products truly unique.

In the 1960s and 70s, the farm was headquarters for a band which Billboard magazine called “one of the best unknown groups in the world,” McKendree Spring.

Last summer, the Lake George Mirror published a brief history of the farm, recounting the lives of the Furlongs, two New York artists who painted along side John Graham, Alexander Calder, Thomas Hart Benton and Rockwell Kent, and who were responsible for introducing sculptor David Smith to Bolton Landing.

Affiliated with the Art Students League, the Furlongs purchased the house, fields, barns and outbuildings in 1921 and renamed the old farm “Golden Heart.”

The farm was reputed to have “one of the most magnificent views of the lake in the vicinity,” according to a newspaper clipping from 1961.

The house was built in the 1860s by Rufus Randall, a returning veteran of the Civil War. He cleared and farmed the land and raised his family there before selling the property to another Bolton man, Edson Persons.

For three decades, from the 20s through the 50s, artists came to the farm every summer to work and study with the Furlongs.

After Thomas Furlong’s death in 1952, Weber Furlong moved to Glens Falls, where she continued to teach and paint until her death in 1962.

That, more or less, was where our story ended.  But at least one chapter of the tale was missing, because we were unable to answer this question: what became of Golden Heart after Weber Furlong sold it?

Ted Caldwell, Bolton’s Town Historian, suggested we contact Michael “Doc” Dreyfuss.

“There’s a reason why Dreyfuss is known as ‘Doc.’ He holds degrees in physics and medicine. And he was a founding member of a band called McKendree Spring. He’ll fill you in,” said Caldwell.

We reached Dreyfuss at his home in Cleveland, Ohio.

In 1947, Dreyfuss began visiting Golden Heart with his parents, Dr. William Dreyfuss and Lily Dreyfuss, a painter.

“The Furlongs and my parents became fast friends, and we would visit every summer for two weeks or so. My mother painted. My father and I hung out,” says Dreyfuss

“Several years later, Weber was offered a modest amount for Golden Heart. We offered her more, because she was such a good friend. Next thing you know, we owned land, a barn, a house that was quaint, without water or electricity, but with an astonishing view of Lake George.  Olaf Ronning rehabbed the house and put it into beautiful shape,” recalled Dreyfuss.

Seeking a quiet place where he could complete his first novel, Dreyfuss and his wife, Elizabeth Travis Dreyfuss, moved to the farm in 1965.

“Elisabeth taught American history at Adirondack Community College, while I stayed home, being a daddy to our first child and writing,” said Dreyfuss.

Having played the violin since he was five and the viola since high school, Dreyfuss also taught music at Skidmore.

“I also played chamber music with local musicians, mostly from Saratoga Springs. I remember one summer in particular. A friend of mine, a cellist named Christopher von Baeyer, happened to be performing with the Lake George Opera Festival, and he stayed with us.  After the performances, he would bring home a bevy of extraordinary musicians. We had three cabins, and the musicians would spend the night. Our chamber music evenings usually began around 1 am and ended at 4 am, by which time Chris and I were inevitably incoherent, mentally and musically,” said Dreyfuss.

Dreyfuss’s wife Elizabeth introduced him to another extraordinary musician, Fran McKendree.

“Elisabeth mentioned that she had seen a student in an ACC talent show who sang beautifully. ‘Would you like to meet him?’ she asked. His name was Fran Mckendree. Elisabeth brought Fran to Golden Heart one day and we hit it off immediately, very much enjoying improvising and playing tunes together. We invited guitarist Marty Slutsky and bass player Larry Tucker to join us, and we rehearsed with the intention of forming a band. That was the beginning of McKendree Spring,” said Dreyfuss.

“We knew we had something right away. Our first official gig was a benefit for the NAACP in Glens Falls. We had heard that the organization was under duress, and we volunteered to play. All the instruments, including my violin, went through a small Fender Reverb amp which I had purchased at a gift shop in Glens Falls,” said Dreyfuss.

The band, which drew initially upon the traditions of American folk music that also inspired groups like the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers, Poco and Quicksilver Messenger Service, began playing the coffee house circuit from Boston to New York. The band’s rise was a quick one.

“Sometime in 1968, we decided to drive to New York in our Dodge Dart with our instruments and gear and audition for the Bitter End’s Hootenanny Tuesdays, where we knew bands got discovered by agents, managers, and other record people. We made it through the audition and were scheduled to play the Hootenanny late – 2 am.  The place was nearly empty. They invited us back and as a result of that show we were offered recording, publication, and management contracts,” said Dreyfuss.

Within the next few years, the band traveled through Europe and the United States, performing at places such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, and at the Washington Monument, where the group played before a million Vietnam War protesters.

McKendreee Spring opened for bands like Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the Velvet Underground, groups that shared Dreyfuss’s interest in experimenting with electric violins and feedback.

“Between tours, we would come home to Bolton Landing to crash,” said Dreyfuss.

Michael and Elisabeth Dreyfuss sold Golden Heart in 1972, and the members of Mckendree Spring went on to pursue new careers.

Mckendree, Slutsky and Dreyfuss, however, still re-unite on occasion, and in 2010 the band released its first studio recording in 35 years, “Recording Number 9.” The Progressive Rock Hall of Fame named it the best progressive rock album of the year in 2011.

Dreyfuss’ days in Bolton Landing, though, are indelibly printed in his memory.

“I’ll never forget that view across Lake George from Gold Heart, or rehearsing in the barn,” said Dreyfuss. “Bolton Landing was essentially dead in the winter, but it was a fun, relaxed place, especially in the summer. I was always struck by the camaraderie and the good will of the community. Good people.”

Of Golden Heart, Dreyfuss says,  “Writing all day and playing tunes all night. It was music heaven.”

The drawings of the colony that appear on this page  were made by one of the students, whose  identity is unknown.

The property has been subdivided and the house altered radically, but both are  still recognizable from the drawings.

The colony’s instructors, and the property’s owners, were Thomas and Weber Furlong, New York City artists affiliated with the Art Students League. They purchased the house, fields, barns and outbuildings in the 1920s and renamed the old farm “Golden Heart.”

The house was built in the 1860s by  Rufus Randall, a returning veteran of the Civil War. He  cleared and farmed the land and raised his family there before selling the property to another Bolton man, Edson Persons.

The farm was reputed to have “one of the most magnificent views of the lake in the vicinity,” according to a newspaper clipping from 1961. The lake is still visible from the porch, but barely.

The Furlongs moved to the farm in 1921. Although Weber Furlong was an administrator at the Arts Students League rather than a teacher, like her husband, she is generally regarded as the better artist.

Weber Furlong was born in St Louis in 1878. She studied with William Merritt Chase and Max Weber and Furlong himself, whom she called “the best and most important” of her teachers. After the two were married, they moved to a building on Washington Square where John Graham, Alexander Calder, Thomas Hart Benton and Rockwell Kent also rented studios.

Weber Furlong refused to call herself a teacher. Rather, she saw herself as an enabler of other artists, distributing advice and encouragement.

After Thomas Furlong’s death in 1952, Weber Furlong moved to Glens Falls, where she continued to teach and paint until her death in 1962.

James Kettlewell, a curator at The Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, organized an exhibition of Furlong’s work at The Hyde in 1966, and he is largely responsible for the belated recognition she received from critics, collectors and museums as a serious, mid-century artist.

“Weber Furlong emerged as an artist only after Thomas Furlong’s death in 1952. And at that time the only art that could make it in America had to be very large and abstract. Nevertheless the art she produced was entirely of her time,” Kettlewell wrote in a catalogue for the exhibition.

Although she painted almost nothing but still-lifes, Furlong’s work was influenced by the abstract expresssionists, said Kettlewell.

“If she finds the place she deserves in the art historical record,” Kettlewell wrote, “she will be classified with the Abstract Expressionists, as was her friend, the greatest sculptor of the American modern movement, David Smith.”

(The Furlongs are credited with introducing David Smith to Bolton Landing, having invited him to stay at the farm in 1929. Shortly thereafter, he bought the farm on Edgecomb Pond Road.)

In 1961, the farm was bought by Michael “Doc” Dreyfuss, an avante-garde, electronic violinist who achieved some popular success in the 1970s as a member of a middle-of-the-road country rock band called McKendree Spring.

Today the house is owned by Ike Wolgin.