By Jill Nagy

Three weeks after Craft 9 closed the space at 7 South Street in Glens Falls was reborn as Southpaw Bistro. The new restaurant, under owner-chef Shaun Hazlitt, opened with a ribbon-cutting in September .

Hazlitt worked for the Murphy family, owners of Craft 9, for five or six years and, he said, he had an excellent relationship with them. 

“They are wonderful people,” he added.

The space needed only minor renovations and updates, some cleaning and a little painting, he said.. Hazlitt liked the look and ambience of the place and did not want to change that. It has a rustic industrial feeling, nothing stuffy or pretentious, he explained.

He plans to serve “the best burger in town,” a mix of beef and pork from Grazin’ Acres Farm. He will, as much as possible, use locally sourced ingredients in order to “showcase how incredible our local producers are,” he said. 

The menu will change every two or three weeks, “depending on what comes out of the ground,” he noted.  He will include vegetarian options and a children’s menu, and will be able to accommodate vegans as well. Southpaw Bistro also has a full liquor license.

By Susan Elise Campbell

Moreau Animal Clinic is within months of relocating to a new facility designed by Nick and Jill Outterson, the husband and wife veterinarians who purchased the practice in August 2018.

“After being in a general veterinary practice and Nick in emergency medicine, we were looking forward to the next step, and practice ownership was next on the list,” Dr. Jill said. 

Moreau Animal Clinic had been a single-doctor practice for 50 years when the Outtersons relocated from Albany to take it over, she said. 

In the years that followed, it became more of a challenge with two practitioners working out of a clinic that had been set up to accommodate only one, they said.

“With two of us, we have grown the practice quite a bit and have also added a full-time associate who we have been mentoring the past three years,” said Dr. Jill. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

MVPT Physical Therapy opened a second clinic in Glens Falls last month. 

The business was founded by Zachary Cole, PT, DPT, a former athlete who started Sports PT of NY 16 years ago in Saratoga Springs, now located at One West Avenue. But he rebranded after merging into Cypress Heath Partners, a network of clinics spanning five states. Under this model, Cypress Health owns both clinics and Cole is their managing partner. 

MVPT is bringing to the North Country the same needed therapies and guidance that has grown his Saratoga clinic to a staff of six. Cole is the sole practitioner at the new clinic.

“To grow our business and serve as many people as we can, we are confined by the space of the Saratoga clinic,” he said. “We expanded into Glens Falls because from a health care perspective there are a lot of people, but from a physical therapy perspective it is not as dense an area.”

Up Yonda Farm Environmental Education Center’s annual  “Trunk or Treat” event will be held Saturday, October 26.

The staff at Up Yonda will have a variety of fun activities and at least 20 Trick-or-Treat stations for kids to enjoy, with the festivities running from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. There will be pumpkin decorating, wildlife exhibitions and free books along with plenty of treats for costumed youngsters.

This event is open to all ages. Dress up in your Halloween best and Trick-or-Treat among decorated vehicles, decorate your own pumpkin, and check out Up Yonda wildlife exhibitions that will include a live raptor display. 

A number of local organizations have committed to decorating vehicle trunks for treats, including Bolton Fire Company’s Ladies Auxiliary, Bolton Fire Company, Bolton Community Church, Bolton Emergency Medical Services, Bolton Police Department and Bolton Central School PTO.

In addition, the Bolton Free Library Board of Trustees will be handing out books, Friends of Up Yonda Farm will offer pumpkin decorating, and representatives of Silent Wings Raptor Rehab and Education Program will bring their birds for viewing.

Normally the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery in Schuylerville is a quiet and peaceful place. On September 18 it was a buzz of activity as Environmental Conservation & Forestry Instructor Dennis Flynn and 16 of his students joined professional arborists from around the state and Vermont for the 10th Annual Saluting Branches Day of Service, one of 100 sites in the national event.

Students performed tree care and site beautification using the skills they’ve acquired in their Career and Technical Education (CTE) program to honor those who gave so much. This year the students concentrated on raising the tree canopy six feet in one area of the property. They used the drone to survey the trees and map out their work. 

“Every year it astonishes me how quickly the students perform. They did their jobs so quickly and effectively that they even made a dent into our overflow work. The chipping and stump grinding is a huge help,” said Michaela Shelton, who is the distribution forester for the Mechanicville division of NYSEG who was the site leader for the day.  

The Adirondack Council and the Adirondack Park are “Poised for Action” as 2025 approaches, according to the 43rd edition of Adirondack Council’s State of the Park Report, released recently. 

The Adirondack Council’s annual State of the Park Report is comprehensive annual assessment of environmental conditions, social issues and government actions for the largest park in the contiguous United States.  Its current 43 editions serve as an almanac of important park events and decisions affecting generations of New York residents.

“The Adirondack Park had a good year in terms of water quality funding, a new draft of the State Wildlife Action Plan, approval of a Climate Superfund Act and significant improvements in river habitat for native trout,” said Adirondack Council Executive Director Raul J. Aguirre. “All of those wins will require additional action and collaboration in the coming months to achieve their intended goals. 

“Even when we saw wins for the Adirondacks, such as the governor doubling the amount of grant funding available to rural communities seeking to build or replace municipal wastewater treatment systems, there is work to do to see actual projects come to fruition in the North Country,” he said. “Facilitating positive outcomes on the ground from our successful advocacy efforts in Albany and Washington, DC is part of what we envision in the year ahead.”