First Impressions of Wanakena

Apparently Blogger has a mind of its own. Even though I, Peg, am signed in under my own name and am writing this post, Blogger is attributing the authorship to Russ. It has done this on the post I wrote in Lexington, and also on the one I wrote from Dublin to Wanakena.  However, it gave me authorship of Road Trip Day 1. That was nice of you, Blogger. Thanks.

Last summer, when we were doing research for Russ' book, The New Gem of the Adirondacks, we spent quite a bit of time in Wanakena. The sense of community struck us as unusually strong and we wanted to know if that was a correct impression. This year, we are renting here for two weeks, then moving over to Star Lake where we have stayed in past years.

 

Russ actually lived in Wanakena for half a year when he was about 12. His family was moving to the area and decided to build a house in Star Lake, where his dad would work. While the house was under construction, they rented a house on the Oswegatchie River, near the Ranger School.

We arrived on Friday evening, after a 12 hour drive from Meg and Steve's place. Our rental house is really nice . . . lots of all the things you need when you rent. Towels, blankets, dishes, pots and pans, a lovely view from the deck, a clothes line!

 

 

Saturday was Bridge Day, a community event to raise money to help replace the iconic footbridge that was destroyed by an ice jam in winter of 2014. This town with a year-around population of 64 raised almost $25,000 on Bridge Day. People bid hundreds of dollars for pies and bought raffle tickets totally thousands of dollars for quilts made by their neighbors. A bike club stopped by.

The area is rich in hiking trails. We walked to the Ranger School from the South Shore Road every day. Every time we went near the town square, someone stopped us to say hello, introduce themselves, and welcome us.

We were here with our Golden Retriever Jake years ago, before the sidewalk was installed. Russ had to carry him across the scary metal to get to the town square.

view from the scary bridge

The next several photos are taken along the Ranger School Road.

 

walking with us on the road

First impression . . . this is an amazing example of small town life and big time community.