The town of Lake George became the first municipality in North America to earn the Sustainable Winter Management (SWiMTM) program certification for employing best practices in maintaining safe winter driving conditions while reducing the use of road salt.

The FUND for Lake George has identified road salt runoff as one of the greatest threats to the water quality of Lake George and other area waterways, and is coordinating a multi-year salt-reduction effort among the municipalities in the Lake George basin with a goal of reducing road salt usage by 50 percent by 2020.

FUND officials said the town of Lake George has been the leader among those municipalities in implementing best practices, reducing its road salt usage by more than 30 percent over the past two years and earning it the SWiMTM certification, which is administered by winter management consulting firm WIT Advisers LLC of Delanson.

After three years of growth, Freedom Boat Club owners Matt and Rebecca O’Hara have closed on the purchase of the Dunham’s Bay  Boat Co. located at 10 Dunham’s Bay Road (Route 9L) on the east side of Lake George.

Freedom Boat Club Lake George has been located at Beckley’s Marina in Diamond Point since the start of 2016. The couple plans to grow the fleet from seven boats to 12 boats in the coming year and with that growth came the need for more space.

Freedom Boat Club owns, maintains, stores and insures a fleet of new, name brand boats for membership use. With close to 170 locations and growing around North America, the sharing model is surging in popularity, the owners said.

By Maureen Werther

Gore Mountain was a hub of construction activity over the summer. It involved three separate projects, all designed to enhance skiers’ enjoyment t the facility, both indoors and outdoors.

When everything is complete, a total of $12.5 million will have been spent on expanding the Tannery Bar and Restaurant on the Base Lodge’s upper level, with an expansion of the locker areas and the Mountain Adventure kid’s ski school program.

On the slopes, a new pump house, automated snow-making equipment and a widening of one of the more popular beginner/intermediate trails will be completed before the snow flies.

According to Gore Mountain’s General Manager Bone Bayse, a total of 8,000 square feet has been added to the Base Lodge. Some 4,000 square feet on the upper level in the Tannery will result in an additional 240 seats in the full-service bar and restaurant. Directly below, the other 4,000 square feet will mean an increase of 150 lockers for skiers to store gear, as well as creating a new home for the ski school program.

The Glens Falls Collaborative will hold its annual Boo2You Halloween festival on Saturday, Oct. 27, from 2 to 4 p.m.

Children, and adults, are encouraged to attend in costume to trick-or-treat during the downtown festivities.

Activities will take place along Glen Street, and in City Park, from 2 to 4 p.m.

They include trick-or-treating at downtown storefronts and along “candy lane” with guest businesses and organizations;  a meet-and-greet with costumed characters; spooky dance performances by local dance schools; and a Fun Zone, including pony rides, a petting zoo and games.

A new Adirondack Welcome Center rest area that the state is calling state-of-the-art opened in September on the Northbound side of the Northway, between exits 17 and 18 in Queensbury.

The 8,615-square-foot center cost $16.2 million and is located on a 22-acre lot, just over the Saratoga County line between the Hudson River and Exit 18.

The facility is a comfortable, modern gateway to the Adirondacks region, promoting local attractions and providing a family-friendly respite for travelers heading into New York state’s six-million-acre Adirondack Park, the largest publicly protected park in the contiguous United States.

“You have one chance to make a great first impression, which for a tourism region like ours is so important,” said state Sen. Betty Little. “This new and much more appealing rest area is fitting of the region’s hospitality.  It is welcoming and informational and accommodating. For many years, the rest area has been in need of major improvement. This new Welcome Center far exceeds what I and others envisioned but it does a much better job reflecting what we’re about and all we have to offer.”

The new center features an Adirondacks Walk of Fame leading to a new, 8,615 square-foot, LEED certifiable building the state said is  more than four times the size of the buildings that serviced the rest area for decades.

By Maureen Werther

It has been two years since JUST Water located to Glens Falls, setting up a water packaging facility in the former St. Alphonsus Roman Catholic Church on 31 Broad St.

In August, the company launched its signature baby blue water container in the United Kingdom.

With the help of actor Will Smith, whose son, Jaden Smith, created the company to help fight back against the global problem of plastic waste, JUST launched its increasingly familiar pale blue square “bottles” in some of the most popular retail locations in the UK, including Whole Foods and Boots.

JUST Water packaging is made of 54 percent paper, sourced from 100 percent certified and traceable Forest Stewardship Council-managed forests, 28 percent plant-based plastic (made from an FDA-approved sugarcane-based resin), 15 percent traditional plastic and 3 percent aluminum foil, which forms the protective liner on the inside of the packaging.

The final result is what the company likes to call “A Better Bottle.”