For Immediate Release: June 21, 2006
Contact:
Andy J. Flynn | Public Relations | Adirondack Park Agency
contact@apa.ny.gov | (518) 891-4050
CONCERT ANCHORS PAUL SMITHS VIC'S "NATURAL HERITAGE" PROGRAMS ON JULY 3 FOR SARANAC LAKE CHAMBER'S GREAT ADIRONDACK DAYS
PAUL SMITHS, NY – The Adirondack Park Agency Visitor Interpretive Center (VIC) at Paul Smiths will add a few special programs to its regular summer schedule on Monday, July 3 to help celebrate the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce's inaugural Great Adirondack Days, including two trail walks and a wildlife-inspired musical performance.
"The Chamber is calling July 3 'Heritage Day' in Saranac Lake, and the Paul Smiths VIC is pleased to be promoting the Adirondack Park's natural heritage as part of the Great Adirondack Days," said Senior Public Information Specialist Andy Flynn.
The day will begin as it always does in the summer, with a Naturalist on Station program at 9:30 a.m. and the opening of the Native Species Butterfly House at 10 a.m. Then the special programs start at 10:30 a.m. with a naturalist-led Adirondack Nature Trail Walk on one of the VIC trails, a program that will be repeated at 1 p.m. The regularly scheduled Bird-of-Prey program with a live red-tailed hawk will be held at noon at the Whispering Pines Amphitheater and will be followed by the day’s featured event, a family-oriented concert with local musician Jessica Deeb. In case of rain, the bird program and the concert will be held in the VIC theater.
The concert, titled "Loons, Raccoons, and Other Tunes," is an interpretive musical presentation sponsored by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Deeb will perform her original songs about Adirondack wildlife, including "It's better for our Adirondack Bears," and traditional Adirondack folk music and campfire songs.
"This is an opportunity to enjoy one of the Adirondack Park’s top musical performers and learn about the Park's wildlife," said Zoe Smith, community coordinator of the Wildlife Conservation Society's Adirondack Communities and Conservation Program in Saranac Lake.
"Loons, Raccoons, and Other Tunes" is made possible, in part, with a Developing Community Arts Grant with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts Decentralization Program administered locally by the Arts Council for the Northern Adirondacks.
All the July 3 programs at the Paul Smiths VIC are free and open to the public.
The New York State Adirondack Park Agency operates two VICs, in Paul Smiths and Newcomb, which serve as Adirondack Park HQ for parkwide interpretation. They are open year-round from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily except Christmas and Thanksgiving and offer a wide array of educational programs, exhibits, miles of interpretive trails and visitor information services. Admission is free.
The Paul Smiths VIC is located 12 miles north of Saranac Lake on Route 30. For more information about the VICs, call (518) 327-3000 or log on to the centers' Web site at www.adkvic.org.