by Amy Catania This month, one block at a time, an ice palace emerged again on the shore of Lake Flower. If you had the chance to stop by, you may have felt its warm embrace. The massive ice blocks of the palace remind me of the stone walls of Machu Picchu. Relying on a system of communal labor called mit’a, the Inca built enormous stone structures and highly engineered roads and bridges. Each citizen who could work was required to donate a number of days of their labor to cultivate crops and build public works. Historians of ancient Peru trace the ways the mit’a system forged a complex society. Working together, people developed friendships and bonds of reciprocity that served the common good throughout the year. Saranac Lake has its own form of mit’a. Winter Carnival brings together individuals from all walks of life, all ages, political persuasions, types of jobs, and personalities. Building an ice palace or a parade float isn’t always fun. We disagree about costumes, decorations, and dance moves. Like siblings we squabble, but we emerge on the other side laughing. Just like the blocks of the ice palace, one person at a time, carnival comes together. Eventually the palace melts down to a pile of rubble like an Incan ruin. But when it’s time to argue about an issue relating to the school district or village politics, having survived the dry run of carnival, we make it through together. A community net is forged. When your luck takes a turn, it is there to catch you. At Winter Carnival time, I think of this illustration by Mildred McMaster Blanchet. Milly left behind beautiful artwork and lively poems that belie a life marked by its share of hardship. A trained artist who came to Saranac Lake with TB, she met her husband Dr. Sidney Blanchet when they were both patients at Trudeau. Dr. Blanchet served as Dr. E. L. Trudeau’s personal physician. He was well respected and deeply loved by his patients. Milly and Sidney settled in the village and had three children. The community reached out to help the Blanchet family more than once. In the winter of 1933, the oldest Blanchet boys, Gray and David, fell through thin ice while skating on Lake Flower. The Ogdensburg Journal reported, “Their screams were heard by a group of boys on the shore. With presence of mind the youths quickly grabbed planks, and ropes at a nearby garage and rushed to the aid of the lads in the freezing water.” Thanks to the heroic efforts of young Saranac Lakers, including Charlie Keough and Paul Duprey, the boys survived. Four years later, tragedy struck again and didn’t miss. During the Depression, many of Dr. Blanchet's patients could not pay for care. He often treated them for free, resulting in his own bankruptcy. Dr. Blanchet fell into a deep depression and tragically took his life. Milly must have felt the world crumble under her feet. But the community net reached out. She was offered a place to live at the Trudeau Sanatorium and hired as an occupational therapist at the workshop. She taught painting, knitting, crewel work, and hand embroidery. Piece by piece, Milly re-built her life by helping others.
Eventually, thanks in part to the heroic ice rescue of 1933, Milly became a proud grandmother of ten. She retired to a senior center in Massachusetts where she created a craft room for the residents. Her granddaughter Sylvia remembers, “The walls were lined with shelves of every kind of art supply. There was a great table in the center of the room that was always filled with busy, happy people when Grand Milly was in attendance. She would mentor whoever was in need of attention and encourage every project. I saw people hooking rugs, knitting, doing needle point, and painting among other things. It was as if the people in the room were her garden and everyone there would blossom through her kind and gentle presence.” In Saranac Lake, the workshop that shaped Milly’s life still stands. For a brief time, an ice palace emerged on the shore of Lake Flower. Sadly, this year's palace was demolished early to avoid gatherings during the pandemic, but come back next winter for a warm hug.
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Did you miss our Zoom presentation, "Picturing Winter Carnival: History Through our Photograph Collections?" Now you can watch it on demand! Learn about some of the fascinating history of Winter Carnival, from 1897 to today, and get a peek at some never-before-seen photographs from our collection. Join our Executive Director Amy Catania and Museum Administrator Chessie Monks-Kelly as they highlight what makes Saranac Lake's Winter Carnival so special.
If you have a Winter Carnival memory, object, or photograph you'd like to share with HSL, please take our survey. This year's Winter Carnival is certainly historic, and we loved this DIY Carni Card made by some awesome locals to keep the Carnival spirit alive at home! We thought you might all want some inspiration for dressing up like like historic Carnival attendees. Check out these wonderful photos from our collection and recreate their looks at home! If you missed our presentation on the history of Winter Carnival last night, we'll be sharing the recording across our social media channels next week. Stay tuned! Images:
-DIY Carni Card, 2021 -Pre-1909 Fancy Dress Carnival. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 280. -Women's barrel racing, 1914. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 448. -Alice Delisle, 1898 winner of the Fancy Dress Carnival. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 280. -Saranac Lake High School teachers' float, 1915. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2009.10.4. -Parade participant, c. 1924. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 609. -Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium nurses on a float honoring the Red Cross, 1915. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, 2009.10.4. -Skaters at Pontiac Bay, c. 1924. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 609. Back by popular demand, Sally Svenson will be reprising the Historic Saranac Lake presentation she gave more than two years ago on her book, "Blacks in the Adirondacks," published in 2017. This presentation will take place online, at 4:00PM on Thursday, February 25. We will open the meeting for questions and discussion following the presentation. Advance registration is required via this link.. You will receive an email with a link to the Zoom meeting the day before.
We are pleased to release the Pre-Bid Announcement for the rehabilitation of the Trudeau Building at 118 Main Street. Architectural design is wrapping up, and we anticipate going out to bid for construction this spring. We invite contractors with experience in historic preservation projects to contact us to find out more about this exciting project!
Visit the Trudeau Building page to learn more about the project so far, and to download a full-size PDF of the bid preview flyer. Looking for Black History Month educational resources, programs, and events from all across New York State? The New York State Museum has great resources online, in addition to a list of events taking place at museums and historical societies. Check them out here.
This Tuberculosis Thursday, we want to highlight Bill Bailey! Bailey was a tap dancer and vaudevillian and brother of actress-singer Pearl Bailey. He came to Will Rogers Memorial Hospital to recover from a "respiratory ailment," possibly TB. The doctors wanted Bailey to rest, but he often entertained fellow patients with his dance skills.
Bailey is credited with inventing the Moonwalk, although he called it a "Backslide." Check out this video of Bailey dancing at the Apollo Theatre in 1955. He danced with Cab Calloway, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and Miles Davis. Learn more about Bailey on our wiki. Stay tuned for more Black History Month stories from Saranac Lake! Image of the week: Crowds gathered along the skating rink at Pontiac Bay with the Ice Palace visible behind, c.1915. This photograph came from an album kept by Hilda Mae Yeager while curing in Saranac Lake in the early nineteen-tens. Winter Carnival is coming up! Check out our events page for info on a special virtual Winter Carnival history presentation on February 11.
[Historic Saranac Lake Collection, ACC 2020.11] On Thursday, February 11 at 6PM, Historic Saranac Lake staff will present a special Zoom presentation celebrating the history of Winter Carnival. Executive Director Amy Catania will give an overview of how Carnival has evolved since Saranac Lake's first carnival in 1897. Museum Administrator, Chessie Monks-Kelly will share photos from Historic Saranac Lake's collections. We welcome community members to share their stories and photographs following the presentation! Registration in advance is required; use this form to register. Participants will receive a Zoom link via email the day before the presentation!
Image: Ice Palace, c. 1920s. Historic Saranac Lake Collection, TCR 273. Courtesy of Audrey Vanderhoof. |
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