Month: June 2020

By Christine Graf
After months of being allowed to serve takeout only, local restaurants were permitted to open for outside dining in June.
John Carr, owner of Lake George’s Adirondack Brewery, is concerned about the long-term impact the extended closure will have on local restaurants.
“It’s been very frustrating for us,” he said. “I think we could have followed other states like Vermont and Connecticut and opened sooner. In places where the restaurant industry relies on tourism, we have a very fragile and very short season.”
Jane Schmidt, owner of Bank Café in Lake George, typically hires 10 international students for the summer. She currently has just two employees and has been unable to fill open positions. High unemployment payouts are discouraging people from returning to work.

By Christine Graf
In accordance with the state’s four-phase reopening plan, West Mountain in Queensbury will open for its summer season on July 4.
“The good news for us is that our activities are outdoor activities that have social distancing baked into them to begin with,” said West Mountain co-owner and on-site operator Spencer Montgomery. “We think there is just an enormous pent up demand to get outdoors.”
The mountain offers numerous outdoor activities including a high ropes course, mountain biking, hiking, scenic chairlift rides, and mountaintop picnicking.
When the mountain opens for business, all employees will follow social distancing and sanitary guidelines issued by the state as well as the CDC.
“The exact guidance is changing daily, so I don’t know exactly what the end game will be,” said Montgomery. “I’m expecting that as we move forward in the summer that the guidance will be continually updated. I just know we will be able to open and that we will conform to anything that is required. We’ve just been in a wait-and-see pattern and letting people know that we will be open on July 4. We will do whatever we have to do to be open.”
Although the mountain will be open for outdoor recreation, weddings will not be able to take place there until pandemic gathering restrictions had been lifted. Weddings are a new addition to West Mountain for the 2020 season, he said.

By Susan E. Campbell
The long Memorial Day weekend at the end of May marks the beginning of summer each year and with it, traditionally, comes an influx of consumers on which many Lake George businesses depend.
But this year has been overshadowed by coronavirus pandemic. Village Mayor Robert Blais was concerned about whether the community, one of upstate’s most popular tourist areas, would draw its usual surge of visitors.
“I wondered if people would take the time and expense to come here and rent a room and then find enough to do,” he said.
The weekend proved to draw good-sized crowds and hotels were busy. The mayor attributed the success of the weekend to Lake George itself.
“The water is consoling and mesmerizing,” Blais said. “Never before have we learned how important it is to have that lake. What saved us was the state opening up Million Dollar Beach.”
“People came from other parts of the state as if it was going to be different here, but we had to explain that we were still in Phase I” of the state’s reopening, said Gina Mintzer, executive director of Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The board of directors of the Adirondack Balloon Festival has announced the cancelation of this year’s event due to restrictions involving the COVID-19 pandemic.
The board “is disappointed” to lose the popular festival that was slated for Sept. 17- 20, it said in a new release.
“The most important part in planning in an event of this magnitude is safety. Safety is not only for our balloon pilots, but also includes our spectators, law enforcement, public works, fire and rescue staff, vendors, volunteers, musical acts, and our landowners in the region,” said Mark Donahue, board president.
“This is an unprecedented decision for us and one we did not take lightly. Our decision process included discussions with state officials and the Federal Aviation Administration officials as well,” he said. “This event is for the community by the community. We have a responsibility to make certain social distancing occurs and we do not feel we could make that happen with the tens of thousands of people who attend our event.”

The oldest resort on Lake George, the Fort William Henry Hotel, opened for business in May for its 165th season.
“Since before the Civil War, people have come to the southern end of Lake George for rest and relaxation, warm hospitality, fresh air, swimming, boating and hiking in our beautiful mountains,’’ said Sam Luciano, president of the Fort William Henry Corp. “Because the world has changed, things will look a little different this year. But our long tradition of Adirondack hospitality, taking care of our guests and looking out for their wellbeing and that of our staff and community, will be more visible than ever before.’’
This year, the focus at Fort William Henry will be protecting the health of its staff, guests and community, Luciano said. The hotel has adopted rigorous standards of sanitation informed by the guidelines of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state Department of Health and leading hoteliers.

People planning to go to the Great Escape this summer will have to make reservations. But the Six Flags Great Escape Lodge will re-open with new guidelines on Friday, June 26, and the Johnny Rockets restaurant will also re-open, Six Flags said in a June 4 news release.
The 200-suite lodge, located across Route 9 from the Great Escape theme park, is now taking reservations.
The lodge will initially open with limited capacity. The theme park and indoor water park will remain closed until allowed to re-open by state and regional officials.
“The hotel will offer a clean and safe getaway for families coming to the beautiful Lake George area to enjoy hiking routes in the Adirondacks, exciting bike trails and stunning mountain summit reviews with outdoor adventures,” Six Flags said in new release.
High-touch items like coffee makers, pens and paper and in-house guides have been removed. Cleaning protocols have been elevated and room rentals are rotated so rooms can be thoroughly cleaned after guests have departed.