Local News
Related Photos
-
Robin Caudell
-
Robin Caudell
Discussion
Welcome to our new online comments feature. In a change from our previous article comments system, before you can join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address.
Once you do, your comments will post after they have been reviewed by a moderator.
We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean.
Not all comments are deemed printable. Some are disqualified, at the newspaper’s discretion, for a number of reasons. Here are some typical practices to avoid in trying to get your comment printed:
There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.
Don’t state as a fact something that is unsubstantiated or that our editors wouldn't know to be true.
Don’t presume someone’s guilt in a case when it hasn't been established by a court.
Don’t make political statements that more correctly belong in a signed Letter to the Editor.
Don’t assail or impugn an identifiable individual or group. If you have that kind of criticism, sign your name and submit it as a Letter to the Editor. (There is some leeway on this in connection with public officials, but it is not unconditional.)
Don’t use profanity. This includes the term “tea bagger.”
Don’t be incendiary or tasteless. Those qualities are subjective, of course, and our editors will be the arbiters.
Do not identify yourself in the main content area of the article content form. Only by enforcing this rule can the moderators prevent unscrupulous commenters from falsely identifying themselves as someone they are not.
Don't type in all caps. It is considered the Internet equivalent of shouting.
In sports articles, do not criticize officiating.
Remember, moderators are not allowed to edit any article comments. If an article comment fails any of the above criteria, the entire comment will be deleted.
We monitor comments Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. Approval of comments outside these times may be delayed.
Etched in clay
Area schools work to make quadricentennial mural
CHAZY — Shelby Gonyo gingerly pressed a piece of paper marked with a sailing ship against a slab of clay.
Then, she cut out the vessel that will be fused on a tile with a marine motif.
She is one of approximately 900 students in the nine Clinton County school districts creating commemorative tiles for the quadricentennial mural to be installed on an exterior wall of the Clinton County Government Center in Plattsburgh.
The project was the idea of Sandy Morse, who had seen a tile mural at Peru Central School. She contacted Bucky Seiden, the school project manager, who brought up the idea to Sue Burdick Young of Studio & Gallery in Jay, who was artist-in-residence for the mural.
"Bucky contacted me in late August 2008 and said they want to do this. 'Are you interested?' I pretty much said yes right away," Young said. "The Peru project was a huge amount of work in a short period of time. The sense of community that created was really cool. I was really glad to be part of that. I said, 'Let's do that.'"
VISUAL TIME LINE
The 35-foot-long mural will span 400 years of history and occupy the once ivy-covered facade of the building at the corner of Margaret and Cornelia streets.
"When they took (the ivy) down, they realized we have this bare wall here not looking so good," Young said. "They were thinking of some king of public artwork. They have to do a lot of work on that wall from the ivy. They have little suckers. They fused into the bricks."
The bricks need to be wire brushed then re-pointed.
"We need a flush wall to put this on. We hope by June we will be installing it. We will need most of the month to get it done."
The project, "Clinton County History Through the Eyes Of Its Children," is a visual time line tracing local history starting with First Nations to post-Civil War.
"There is such a rich amount of history," Young said. "There are so few areas where you have 400 years of history. I started doing some historical research that started blowing my mind."
Clinton County Historian Anastasia Pratt identified nine historic periods on which to focus the time line. Each school district was designated to make the tiles that were the best fit for them: First Nations — Northern Adirondack Elementary School, Ellenburg.
1609 Samuel de Champlain, early French settlers — Northeastern Clinton Central School, Champlain.
1750-1776 Early settlers, Battle of Valcour — Seton Academy, Plattsburgh.
1780-1800 Settlement of the county — Chazy Central Rural School.
1806 Iron and industry — Ausable Valley Central School.
1812-1814 Battle of Plattsburgh, Stafford Middle School.
1815-1830 Early transportation — Beekmantown Central School.
1840 Dannemora Prison, Redford Glass Co. — Saranac Central School.
1850-1870 Underground Railroad, Industrialization — Peru Central School.
PROTECTED SPOT
The bottom portion of the mural depicts Lake Champlain.
"You have the land mass and all these different events that occur going left to right," Young said. "On the far left is an Indian maiden looking back toward history. She's holding a basket. After the Indian maiden, Samuel de Champlain is coming in a birch bark canoe with two Indians."
The mural is 35 feet wide, and its highest point (tall ships) is approximately 9 feet tall. All tiles will be completed by the end of April and bisque fired in May.
"The kids will glaze the tiles. Then the tiles will be fired full temperature."
This is possibly the biggest tile mural in the North Country, which is known for its treacherous freeze cycles.
"Luckily, the mural is under an eaves. It's really protected. It's a good spot."
Right now, the project needs installation funds.
"But we figure it will happen," Young said. "We're glad to be at the stage we're at working with the kids and having fun with it now. It's looking good."
E-mail Robin Caudell at: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com
- Local News
-
-
Area's state legislators recognized for taxpayer support
Sen. Betty Little ranked first in the Senate, while Assemblywomen Janet Duprey and Teresa Sayward ranked 23rd and 25th, respectively, when Unshackle Upstate released its 2010 Legislative Scorecards.
-
Essex County layoffs debated
The Essex County Board of Supervisors isn't sure it wants to include layoffs in its early retirement incentive plan.
-
City school mulls new tax
A utility tax would force everyone to help cover the costs of public education, while reducing the amount property owners pay in terms of property taxes.
-
Capital project continues for City School
School officials say it has been a long summer with some setbacks, but work is moving forward and the outcome will benefit students.
-
Tribes celebrate cigarette-tax stay
St. Regis Mohawk will be included in the temporary stay on tribal cigarette sales-tax collection.
-
Ti lakeshore zoning gets rewrite
Water quality and quality of life are being touted as components of revised Ticonderoga waterfront zoning.
-
Construction begins on new sidewalk along School Street in Peru
Workers have begun installing a sidewalk along School Street in the hamlet of Peru that will allow safer access to school property for students walking to and from school during the busy morning and afternoon commutes.
-
Champlain Telephone Employee Stock Ownership Plan approved
President and CEO Trent Trahan will sell his majority shares to the company's non-union workers. They will get stock based on their years of employment and will be reimbursed for them when they retire.
-
Women in wartime: heros, helpmates, history makers
The annual commemoration of the Battle of Plattsburgh begins this week, culminating in a remarkable mix of events over next weekend, writes columnist Richard Frost.
-
P-R wins 5 Associated Press awards
Press-Republican staff takes home five awards in the 2009-10 New York State Associated Press contest.
-
Ellenburg man opens dive shop in brother's memory
As he copes with the loss of his younger brother, Archie Jones hopes to teach others about scuba diving, something Melvin Jones became passionate about before his death.
-
Women offered chance to boost self image
Program gives participants an opportunity to look and feel their best.
-
A day in paradise
Chris Fasolino opens a window on the peaceful, stunningly beautiful village of Amalfi in Italy.
-
Bed Race deadline extended
People have more time to sign up teams for Sept. 11 Rotary Red Race.
-
Of Interest: Sept. 5, 2010
PSU accepting spring '11 applications; Lake Placid School Board meeting set; Westport School Board agenda planned
-
Business Briefs: Sept. 5, 2010
Labor Day donation; Deadline extended; Health forum; School program; Grant received.
-
Farm Briefs: Sept. 5, 2010
Hay and pasture insurance expands; High-tunnel crops experience success; Online courses for beginning farmers debut; Local dairy recognized as eco-friendly farm.
- September 4, 2010
-
City school mulls new tax
A utility tax would force everyone to help cover the costs of public education, while reducing the amount property owners pay in terms of property taxes.
-
Ti lakeshore zoning gets rewrite
Water quality and quality of life are being touted as components of revised Ticonderoga waterfront zoning.
-
West Chazy meat market burns
D&D Meats and its upstairs apartments are now a total loss, but the owners' house next door was saved.
-
Area's state legislators recognized for taxpayer support
