Newsletter Detail

It’s been a season of change and new beginnings for the Parks Family Outdoor Center at Raquette Lake. The first is our bidding a fond farewell to longtime Secretary Mary Jo Carey, who left at the end of October. She will be missed and we wish her well in her retirement. Cyndi Perelka was hired to begin working as secretary in mid-November.

She comes with twelve years’ experience at SUNY Cortland in Student Accounts, Central Receiving and Purchasing. Her friendly personality and knowledge of the College make her the perfect replacement for Mary Jo.

The Parks Family Outdoor Center campus office moved from the Miller Building to the Professional Studies Building in June. The new location will provide closer access to students and faculty on lower campus, especially the key departments of Physical Education and Recreation, Parks and Leisure Studies, as well as the Outdoor Pursuits Program.

This summer also marked the transition of Adirondack Trail Blazers (ATB) to the Outdoor Pursuits area of the new Student Life Center. Thirty-nine incoming first-year and transfer students completed the six-day wilderness-based orientation under the direction of Jason Harcum, assistant director of recreational sports and outdoor pursuits, Chris Bode, graduate assistant in outdoor pursuits, along with a strong staff composed mostly of former ATBers and outdoor pursuits student leaders. Program scholarships totaling $3,700 benefitted 18 students. The merger of ATB and outdoor pursuits will allow greater promotion of both programs and continuity of leadership. Plans are underway to offer a midyear incoming transfer student section in January.

Numerous groups took advantage of the Camp Marion lean-tos to offer a rustic camping experience for their participants, and many others utilized the self-service Main Lodge at Antlers for retreats and programs. Every week was booked at Kirby Camp for the season, with a number of new faces coming to enjoy the pastoral lakeside cabin.  
Angela Pagano, associate professor in biology, continued her research on aquatic invasive plants by laying biodegradable mats on the bottom of Raquette Lake to study their impact on controlling variable leaf milfoil. A new Waldbauer Nature Trail Guide was published by the faculty and students of the Biological Sciences Department and is now available for ecology classes held at Raquette Lake.

Hamilton College expanded its first-year orientation program by offering a number of topic-based cohort programs at Camp Huntington in August. In September, the camp hosted the entire faculty of the Town of Webb Schools for a morning of professional development through outdoor learning and history of Camp Pine Knot.

And finally, a number of facility projects are underway as this edition is being compiled. At Camp Huntington, New York State Emergency Management installed a comprehensive weather station that will be connected to a network of similar ones around the state designed to provide early warning of catastrophic weather events like hurricanes Irene and Sandy. Extensive improvements are being made to the high ropes course, and we are in the final stages of selecting a contractor for the solar panel installation on the wastewater treatment plant this spring. The project has generated quite a bit of interest, raising an additional $15,185 from alumni donors. At Antlers, the Casino is being remodeled to accommodate new and improved refrigeration and fire suppression in the kitchen area. A new storage shed was installed in the Main Lodge parking area to take the place of the old shop in the Casino.

As you can see, it’s been a busy summer season here at Raquette Lake, and we look forward to the coming of ice and snow this winter. Thank you to all who have donated time, talent and money to our programs and facilities. And we hope you will enjoy reading this edition of the Raquette Lake News.