The Huletts Current

Talent is God-given; be humble.
Fame is man-given; be thankful.
Conceit is self-given; be careful.

John Wooden

Congratulations to Courtney Laczko for winning first place in the Lake George Land Conservancy’s first Scholarship contest! Courtney is a senior at Lake George High School.

For her winning essay Courtney will receive $500 and her school’s science program will receive $250 to help towards equipment, field trips or other educational opportunities.

Click here to read Courtney’s winning essay.

LGLC’s Scholarship Program is open annually to high school seniors, including homeschooled students, whose school district boundary lies mostly within the Lake George watershed: Bolton, Lake George, and Ticonderoga (also – students who are year-round residents of Hulett’s Landing). To apply, students must submit an essay between 1000 and 2000 words addressing the year’s question.

For more information about LGLC’s Scholarship Program email Helen Barton Benedict at hbartonbenedict@lglc.org, call 518-644-9673 or visit www.lglc.org for more details.

I spoke with Ms. Martha Bascue, Clerk of the School District, and the write-in votes have been released to the public. These are the totals:

Samantha Kingsley - 25 Votes
Mark Ives - 13 Votes
Joyce Corcoran - 13 Votes
Robert Putorti, Jr. – 4 Votes
Andre Gordon - 3 Votes
T. Scrime - 1 Vote
Michael Putorti - 1 Vote
Rick Juckett - 1 Vote
Eric Sunduttl -1 Vote

Because Mr. Ives and Ms. Corcoran are technically tied for the final opening, both Mr. Ives and Ms. Corcoran have 5 days to decline a runoff election for the final 4-year term on the school board. If neither declines, a runoff election will be held for the final spot.

It is interesting to note that the reason why there were three openings during this election cycle is that Ms. Corcoran originally declined to seek re-election.

Mr. Brooks and Ms. Kingsley have been awarded the two 5-year terms pursuant to their higher vote totals.

I have asked to review the write-in ballots and have been assured by Ms. Bascue that this is possible.

Ms. Bascue did confirm that the final open school board position is for 4 years pursuant to the legal notice.

There have been some reports that one of the three seats on the Board of Education (contested in Tuesday’s election) is for a one-year term. This is contrary to the legal notice that the school district ran announcing the election.

The three seats open on the Board of Education were identified in the district’s legal notice as two 5-year terms and one term to fill the unexpired term of George Armstrong which is set to expire in 2016 (4 years). See the legal notice announcing the board of education election and the terms for those elected. Is the district now saying that the term of the person replacing George Armstrong is for one year? If so, this seems to be contrary to the their own legal notice.

The school district election was held on Tuesday, May 15th.

Three seats were open on the school board, with James Brooks being the only candidate on the ballot who had submitted a petition to run. However there were a number of write-in candidates who joined the contest late. Mark Ives from Dresden was one write-in candidate, and other write-in candidates were evidently written in at the election booth by several voters.

I contacted the school district at 2:30 pm and spoke to Martha Bascue, the District Clerk. She informed me that the write-in votes were still being tabulated and that no vote totals would be released until the election was official. She said nine different names had been written in and that a number of ballots were being looked at still, and that they had to contact their legal counsel. She said there were approximately 60 write-in votes. I asked how many votes were in question and if any vote totals could be released. Ms. Bascue said that the vote totals would not be released at this time. She suggested that I call back on Thursday, May 17th.

Ms. Bascue did provide me with the names of the people “written in” as candidates in this order (there may be spelling mistakes):

Samantha Kingsley
Mark Ives
Robert Putorti, Jr.
Joyce Corcoran
T. Scrime
Michael Putorti
Rick Juckett
Andre Gordon
Eric Sunduttl

This is an important issue, because the top two write-in candidates would serve one 5 year term on the school board and the other would serve a 4 year term. I personally find the fact that no vote totals have been released yet to be a bit troubling, as well as the fact that the number of ballots being looked at for possible issues is also unknown.

The budget passed with 190 votes “for” and 25 “opposed”.

The proposition to buy a new school bus passed with 153 votes “for” and 35 “opposed”.

More on this as it develops.

Imagine an election where there are no contested seats and no candidate states a position beforehand? That’s what is happening on Tuesday in the Whitehall school board election, where there are three open seats and only one candidate who has submitted a petition to run. While I submitted a questionnaire to the one announced candidate, he has not returned it as of the date of this post.

I find this disappointing on a number of levels but this appears to be the new normal in regards to the Whitehall school board. While I personally believe our democracy and institutions deserve better, unless people step up and run for the seats in question, the candidates running unopposed can simply take this position. I’ve posted the questions below that I submitted to the declared candidate so you will at least know what I asked.

The election and vote on next year’s budget is Tuesday, May 15th from noon to 9 pm in the large group instructional room at the Whitehall High School.

Questions submitted to candidate (which to date have not been answered).

1.) Could you please tell us about yourself and why you are running for the school board?

5.) The job market today is a highly competitive one. What should the school district be doing that it is not already doing to see that its graduates have the skills and education necessary for success?

God’s Helpers

God could not be in every place
With loving hands to help erase
The teardrops from each baby’s face,
And so He thought of mother.

He could not send us here alone
And leave us to a fate unknown;
Without providing for His own,
The outstretched arms of mother.

God could not watch us night and day
And kneel beside our crib to pray,
Or kiss our little aches away;
And so He sent us mother.

And when our childhood days began,
He simply could not take command.
That’s why He placed our tiny hand
Securely into mother’s.

The days of youth slipped quickly by,
Life’s sun rose higher in the sky.
Full grown were we, yet ever nigh
To love us still, was mother.

And when life’s span of years shall end,
I know that God will gladly send,
To welcome home her child again,
That ever-faithful mother.

–George W. Wiseman

Continuing on my posts of this week regarding the Hulett family and local iron ore production, I received this information today (with sources) from John Warren about Arnold Hulett, Philander Hulett’s brother. Interesting stuff indeed!

In 1864-1865 Arnold Hulett was a involved in the Horicon Iron Company. [i] According to a report in the Ticonderoga Sentinel: [ii]

In 1864 and ’65 the Horicon Iron Co., was formed in New York City. In 1864 Col. Wm. E. Calkins was chosen general superintendent, assisted by William Hooper of the Graphite mill, and Arnold Hulett of the Lake George [overseer of the] wood jobs. The company seemed to prosper. About 1865 the forge referred to was built [at the foot of Lead Mill Hill], one of six fires, and of the substantial kind, on the north side of the lower falls. Had not the cost of transporting the crude ore from the mines been so great it would probably have been a success. It run but a few years then was left to idleness, rust and decay. The greatest output was 1865, near 4,500 tons. [iii]

Arnold became Captain of the steamer Horicon on Lake George on May 15, 1866 (he received his pilot’s license on May 31, 1866 at a cost of $10).[iv] The Horicon may have been owned by James Caldwell, who is believed to have owned the first steamboats on Lake George.[v] This boat should not be confused with the later Horicon which was in service from 1877 until 1911, or the Horicon II which was constructed in the winter of 1910-11. References to the earlier Horicon could not be found on the web or in the standard sources. The writer Charles Lanham noted in 1850 that there was a “tiny steamboat” on Lake George.[vi] In his book published in 1854, he noted that “a nice little steamboat, commanded by a gentleman, passes through [the landing at Bosom Bay] every morning and evening (excepting Sundays,) and though a convenient affair to the traveler, it is an eyesore to the admirer of the wilderness.”[vii]

[i] Ticonderoga Sentinel, Thursday, March 24, 1898 accessed September 22, 2005 online at http://news.nnyln.net/ticonderoga-sentinel/search.html.

[ii] Ticonderoga Sentinel, Thursday, March 24, 1898 accessed September 22, 2005 online at http://news.nnyln.net/ticonderoga-sentinel/search.html.

[iii] Ticonderoga Sentinel, Thursday, March 24, 1898 accessed September 22, 2005 online at http://news.nnyln.net/ticonderoga-sentinel/search.html.

[iv] Arnold Hulett Business Ledger cited in Nora Blohm (mimosabeach_84@hotmail.com), “David Hulett, Hulett’s Landing” and “Hulett info” E-mails to John Warren, March 3 and March 9, 2003, in possession of the author

[v] “History of the Lake George Steamboat Company” accessed online March 11, 2003 at http://www.lakegeorgesteamboat.com/history.html.

[vi] Charles Lanham, Haw-ho-noo; or, Records of a tourist (published 1850), page 84 and available in full text at the Making of America Website at the University of Michigan (March 11, 2003).

[vii] Charles Lanham, Adventures in the Wilds of the United States and British American Republics (Philadelphia: John W. More, 1856), page 202 and available in full text at the Making of America Website at the University of Michigan (March 11, 2003).

Iron ore can be seen locally in many spots. Seen here behind the Washington County Highway facility in Whitehall, NY, iron production is referenced in many historical writings.

During the nineteenth century the Adirondacks were mined for iron ore. Streaks of iron ore can still be seen in local rock outcroppings today.

The Adirondack Iron Works company was one company that mined in the Adirondacks. Iron deposits were first found in Tahawus (also called Adirondac, Adirondak, or McIntyre) in the Town of Newcomb, Essex County, in 1826 by Archibald McIntyre and David Henderson.

Impurities of titanium dioxide were present in the iron, which made it difficult for equipment of that era to properly process the ore. A local flood and a nationwide economic crisis were also factors in the closure of the Upper Works.

The village was abandoned in 1856, but a portion of the property was redeveloped 20 years later into the first sportsmen’s club in the Adirondacks, the Tahawus Club.

In a strange twist of historical fate, the club, located at the gateway to the High Peaks, was the site where Vice President Theodore Roosevelt learned that President McKinley had been shot. In September 1901, upon hearing the news that President William McKinley was near death from injuries sustained by an assassin’s bullet, Roosevelt embarked from the McNaughton Cottage at the Tahawus Club on his historic midnight ride along the back roads of the Adirondacks to the North Creek railroad station. At the station, Roosevelt received a telegram informing him that President McKinley had died of his injuries. As a result, Roosevelt became our nation’s 26th president.

This just in.

The Postal Service is proposing to reduce the hours of operation of the Huletts Landing post office from 8 hours to 4 hours a day and the Clemons post office from 8 hours to 2 hours a day.

See page 158 of the following list.

The Postal Service has posted a 260-page list of post offices where hours will be reduced. It includes current retail operations and proposed reduced hours.

In addition to reducing hours, the Postal Service will seek to offset the cost of keeping all rural facilities open by offering $20,000 buyouts to about 21,000 postmasters, Chief Operating Officer Megan Brennan said at today’s news conference, the Federal Times reports.

The Lake George Land Conservancy’s
Spring Newsletter is here.

Read about:

The Richard Hayes Phillips Trail, (named after the local Dresden resident) in honor of the man whose respect and devotion to these mountains is unparalleled.

The LGLC’s new campaign to protect the most sensitive lands and waters, from the lake’s peaks to its shore;

Updates on preserves, new and old, and new hiking trails;

Get a sneak peek at the Round the Lake Challenge, coming this summer;

Member Survey results;

Events, events and more events!

This is a follow-up to my post earlier this week, when I posted a picture of Harvey Hulett (the great great grandson of David Hulett; 1882-1948) and family from roughly 1940.

This week, after my post, Mark Stanton forwarded me the front and back of an envelope addressed to Addie Hulett in St. Augustine, Florida postmarked 1880. Mark has this envelope in his collection.

This is a very rare and unique piece of memorabilia because I would surmise that this was to Prudence “Addie” Hulett, the daughter of Harvey Hulett (born 1822; the brother of Philander Hulett), and the niece of Philander. Philander Hulett is reputed to have built the steamship landing.

The Huletts are a bit confusing because Philander’s father (born 1794) and brother (born 1822) were both named Harvey and there are a few other Harvey Hulett’s in the line.

The only thing I know about Addie Hulett was that she was born on November 15, 1860 (which would have made her about 20 when she got the postcard).

She married Langdon BARTHOLOMEW who was born in Castleton, Rutland Co., VT. Other than that I know nothing about her. A date of death, children, etc.

She must have been in St. Augustine visiting her uncle, Philander Hulett, who retired there, when she received the postcard.

What a find! I also note the sender’s name: Mr. Lewis DelNoce, spelled just like the cottage, which still stands today.

Many thanks to Mark Stanton for forwarding this fantastic find along.

A $21,000 LGA stormwater project on Black Point Road in the town of Putnam will start this summer with funding support from the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP). Survey and design work will begin in May, and final construction is slated for completion this August. The Lake George Association, Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District (WCSWCD), and the town of Putnam are partners in the
project.

When completed, the project will intercept stormwater runoff from a 37-acre watershed in the town. Currently, large volumes of untreated stormwater are washing down a hill and into a homeowner’s driveway, creating a temporary stream that flows directly into Lake George. A large plume of sediment is created after every storm. A concrete precast trench drain will capture and direct sediment-laden runoff into a dry well. The runoff will then overflow into a rain garden, where nutrients and phosphorus will be removed, before entering a small stream and flowing to Lake George.

The project is located on private property, just outside the right-of-way for the town of Putnam’s Department of Public Works. An option to move the project within the right-of-way was considered, but would have required doubling the size of the trench drain and removing trees at the end of the driveway.

“This project will be a great benefit to Lake George, as it will treat a large volume of previously untreated stormwater,” said LGA Project Manager Randy Rath. “This new project will accomplish two important objectives: the trench and dry well will reduce non-point source pollution, and the remaining overflow will spread out into a grassy area and rain garden, removing any phosphorus or nutrients attached to the sediment,” he said. These watershed objectives were cited by the LCBP in their online document: Opportunities for Action in the Champlain Basin.

Lake George is classified by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYS DEC) as an “AA Special” waterbody, which means it is a source for drinking water. Lake George is also listed as a sediment Impaired waterbody on the NYS DEC’s List of Impaired Waters.

This project will be similar to many others completed by the LGA. LGA Project Manager Randy Rath, will manage the grant and overall project. The LGA will apply for all permits and address any regulatory issues. Rath will work with WCSWCD, the town of Putnam and the property owners to oversee and implement the project. LGA Director of Education Emily DeBolt will select native plants for the rain garden. LGA Staff will install the plants. “We call upon the expertise of an engineer or the WCSWCD for project oversight,” said Rath. “We want to ensure the project functions properly, according to its design, and follows best management practices for stormwater runoff construction,” he said.

Similar projects completed in the past include a joint project with WCSWCD and the town of Bolton: runoff coming down a dirt road and eroding a beach was captured. In that project, the dirt road was paved, and a trench drain was installed. The stormwater was directed into a dry well and underground chambers, where it could infiltrate into the soil prior to entering the Lake. Also, in 2011, the LGA installed a stormwater separator (AquaSwirl) along English Brook, with funding from the LCBP.

For those who missed it, Eli Manning hosted Saturday Night Live last night and the reviews are….well, not too bad!

However, I thought the following skit on the “tanning mom” was one of the better ones from the night.