Press-Republican

Local News

Discussion

PLEASE NOTE: There is a 150 word maximum for comments. All comments greater than 150 words in length will be deleted in their entirety.

ALSO NOTE: Derisive name-calling of an individual or group will result in the entire comment being deleted. This includes the terms "stupid" and "idiot" and similar references.

Welcome to our new online comments feature. 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 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.
comments powered by Disqus
May 28, 2009

Headstones toppled at Saranac Lake cemetery

By KIM SMITH DEDAM

SARANAC LAKE — About 12 headstones in the Hebrew Memorial Cemetery, part of the historic Pine Ridge Cemetery in Saranac Lake, were vandalized over Memorial Day weekend.

Lionel Arlan, previous president of the Pine Ridge Cemetery, said Thursday that vandals “absolutely” targeted the Jewish section of the cemetery.

Such actions are considered hate crimes.

Arlan’s mother’s tombstone was one of those knocked over.

The vandalism was reported to Saranac Lake Village Police on Saturday by cemetery caretaker Mike Madden.

“I understand Mike Madden restored the headstones to an upright position,” Arlan said. “I think it was in the order of a dozen headstones (knocked over).”

Some of the memorials in Hebrew Memorial Cemetery are historic, including one stone placed by Lake Placid residents Dr. and Mrs. Bartholomew Ring that is dedicated to 25 of their relatives who died in Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust.

The Ring stone was among those vandalized.

“There is a mixture in that section of the cemetery, with some very old headstones,” Arlan said.

Somewhere between 15 and 20 years ago, a similar incident occurred, Arland said, when headstones were tipped over and broken throughout the entire cemetery.

Pine Ridge Cemetery was established on six acres of farmland once owned by the Moody family, the first settlers in Saranac Lake.

According to the Cemetery Association’s brief online history, Jacob Smith Moody, a fifer and soldier who fought in the Battle of Plattsburgh, was interred in the graveyard in 1862, along with a child of the first Moody family to live here.

The graveyard includes a section for parishioners of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church, one for Norwegian sailors who came to cure from tuberculosis in the 1940s and a special area for graves of T.B. doctors.

Saranac Lake Police are investigating the vandalism.



E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at:

kdedam@pressrepublican.com

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Local News

Recent Article Comments
Albany Round-up

Photo of the Day
Strange News
Videos: Editor Picks
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion' 5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La. Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal $25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses Pentagon: Allow Women Closer to Front Lines LA School in Sex Abuse Scandal Reopens Raw Video: Italy's Mount Etna Bursts Into Life Greeks March; Angry Despite Debt Deal Air Force Airlines: Leaders Get Polished Service Ga Girl Fights Off Kidnapper at Walmart