Month: October 2021

By Christine Graf

In 1921, Irish immigrant Michael Minogue purchased a soda bottling plant and distribution center in Granville, NY. After Prohibition ended in the U.S., he was issued the 34th wholesale beer license in New York state.

Today, the business he founded is thriving under owner John Minogue Jr. He said it is the oldest continuously operated family owned and operated beer distributor in New York state.

This year, it has been celebrating 100 years in business.

Minogue’s Beverage Center has locations in Queensbury, Saratoga Springs, Wilton, and Malta. Stores carry a wide variety of beer including seasonal varieties and craft beer. They also feature a large selection of ciders, growlers, kegs, seltzers, and sodas.

Minogue was 14 when he first started working part-time for his father, John Sr.. At the time, his father operated just one beverage center in Queensbury.

While Minogue was pursuing a degree in economics from College of the Holy Cross, a friend of his father  who was a retired F.B.I. agent suggested that Minogue consider a career with the F.B.I. Intrigued by the possibility, he moved to Washington, D.C., and entered the bureau’s clerk -to-agent program after he graduated from college in 1976.

“You could work for the bureau as a clerk assisting agents in their work, and after a three-year period, you would be given an opportunity to take the (agent) exam,” he said.

After the program was eliminated, clerks were no longer guaranteed the opportunity to take the exam. As a result, Minogue made the decision to leave the F.B.I. in 1977.

Ground was broken Oct. 7 on the Adirondack Winery project that will result in a $2.6 million, 14,100-square-foot winemaking facility and tasting room at the site of its current Queensbury headquarters.

Company officials said the new building will provide the family run winery with the space it needs to triple its wine production over the next 10 years.

The new building will house an all-new tasting room, where the winery plans to offer new services customers have long desired, such as wine by the glass, outdoor seating, and light dining.

The winery will introduce classes and launch tours of the new facility. There are also plans to rent event space for private events and conferences.

The goal is to complete the construction by April, in time for the winery’s 14th anniversary celebration.

“This groundbreaking is the start of a new chapter for Adirondack Winery,” said Adirondack Winery president and co-owner Sasha Pardy. “This company started as a small family business, making wine in the back room of our Lake George tasting room almost 14 years ago. Now we’ve grown to the point where this new building is the only way we are going to keep up with demand.

“Beyond that, we are very excited for all the new opportunities this new building is going to provide for us. We’re going to create a facility that is unlike anything else in Warren County. We want to be a destination for craft beverage lovers from across the Northeast, and this groundbreaking is the first step toward making that happen.”

The new building will be constructed behind the winery’s current headquarters building on a two-acre lot at 395 Big Bay Road in Queensbury. About 8,500 square feet will be used for winemaking (more than twice its size now); 2,600 square feet for the new tasting room and another 2,600 square feet for a dedicated event space, Pardy said.

Wiawaka Center for Women located on the eastern shores of Lake George has presented this year’s Mary Fuller Women Helping Women Award to Warren County Supervisor Andrea Hogan.

In keeping with the vision of Mary Fuller, the Wiawaka Center for Women annually recognizes a person or an organization that exemplifies direct service to and impact on local women with the award.

Hogan has many responsibilities in her many roles in our community. She is the supervisor for the Town of Johnsburg, supervisor of the Warren County Board of Supervisors, an appointed Adirondack Park Commissioner and chair of Economic Growth and Development.

In her role as the Economic and Growth chair  for Warren County, “she has demonstrated her fierce advocacy for our community. Her efforts impact women across the State, but they especially impact Warren County, Johnsburg and the Adirondacks,” the organization said.

To that end, in the spring  Hogan sponsored the first-ever legislation prioritizing diversity, equity, and inclusion. She works tirelessly to provide countless opportunities for small businesses and zealously advocates for minority and women owned businesses.

In addition to her other positions, Hogan is dedicated to the Girl Scouts in our community, and she helps Adirondack Community Outreach Center provide clothing to those in need, developing community gardens to address food insecurities, providing toys for those during times where they are without and helping mothers and families that are sometimes left not knowing who to turn to for help.

By Lisa Balschunat

Golden Goal Sports Park recently installed two lighted outdoor basketball courts to its complex in Fort Ann, with pickleball courts next on the facility’s installation agenda. 

In operation for 15 years, Golden Goal is a 196-acre sports complex designed in the style of an Olympic Village. The property at 495 Goodman Road touts eight outdoor fields for soccer, lacrosse, field hockey and flag football, training, games and tournaments. Four fields are natural grass. Four are artificial turf.   

According to Emmie Doin, facility director, the complex—promoted as the Northeast Premier Residential Sports Venue—offers practice times, sports retreats, tournaments, a college internship program, and has 25 cabins that can sleep up to 400 people.  Field rentals are available for professional organizations, clubs, colleges, academies, high schools and travel teams.

“Golden Goal gives young athletes a place to fine-tune their skills, compete in games and tournaments, and train outdoors,” she said.

Players, team staff and chaperones can participate in 2-day to 7-day programs that include meals and all of the amenities in the Athlete’s Village and staff lounge.

“The Athlete’s Village includes outdoor activities like spike ball, can jam and cornhole and indoor activities include ping pong, air hockey, televisions, Xboxes and PlayStations,” she said.  “We also have a challenge course for athletes to work on their team building skills while having fun.”  The course includes a 10-foot vertical wall and tire flips. 

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC)  announced the winners of its 2021 Business of the Year Awards.

This annual awards honor deserving chamber members who are nominated by their peers and interviewed by the Business Awards Nomination Committee to determine the winners.

“It was a blessing to honor and celebrate these businesses who give so much to our greater community. These past 18 months were challenging for businesses, but we came together as one people. It really is about community, and the people in it, making a difference every single day,” said Michael Bittel, ARCC president and CEO.

The winners were announced at an awards breakfast, on Oct. 7 at Dunham’s Bay Resort on Lake George. The winners, in their respective categories, are:

Large Business category winner, Ideal Dairy Farms. Nominees for this category included  Morcon Tissue.

Small Business category winner, FISH307.com. Nominees for this category included Better Than New Painting, J. Reid Menswear, Lakota’s Farm Weddings & Events, Massie’s Restaurant, Putorti’s Broadway Market, Saratoga Quality Hardware, Inc./Burgoyne Quality Hardware, and Springbrook Hollow Farm Distillery

Large Nonprofit Organization category winner, Hudson Headwaters Health Network.

By Lisa Balschunat

Lids, a store featuring officially licensed Major League Baseball, National Football League and National Basketball Association  hats and caps in a wide variety of styles, is stocked up for the fall and winter season at The Outlets of Lake George, 1415 Route 9, Queensbury.

Hats of most MLB, NFL and NBA teams can be found on the shelves of the 1,000 square foot store. The new store also carries a limited selection of college and hockey hats. 

Customers can also walk into the store, order a custom designed embroidered hat and walk out of the store with it in less than 30 minutes.

“With our in-store embroidery machine, we can customize any hat, and with most orders, embroider it right on the spot,” said Joe Refici, district manager.  “If you want a team logo on the front and the signature of your favorite athlete on the side, we can do that,” he said.  “If you want a local Little League team logo and your kid’s signature on the side, we can to that, too.”

Depending on the design, it takes from 5 to 25 minutes to embroider.  “If the needle can go through it, we can do it,” Refici said.  Customers can choose from New Era, Mitchell & Ness and other brand-name caps to have embroidered.

Additionally, the store has a graphic collection with over 1,000 designs that have been created specifically for embroidering.

Lids also embroiders local logos on hats for local teams or businesses when provided with custom design in a digital format. Refici said JPEG, PNG and PDF files work best. 

For orders of 12 or more hats, the turnaround is two to three days.