Essex County Arts Council Out and About

In this edition of Out and About, Essex County Arts Council Arts Administrator Susan Hughes highlights the upcoming Piano by Nature concert Blue Hues.

Piano by Nature, an ECAC CAP-funded organization, will offer a concert called Blue Hues, with the Larry Ham Trio on Saturday, February 17th at 7 pm and Sunday, February 18th at 3 pm, at the historic Hand House in Elizabethtown, New York.

Blue Hues is a celebration of music that looks forward while staying firmly rooted in the tradition of the great piano trios of jazz. Piano by Nature is so fortunate to host three masterful jazz musicians: Larry Ham on piano; Matt Dunne on bass; and Tom Melito on drums as a special mid-winter treat. The concert will feature new music from bassist (and ECAC Board member) Matt Dunne, as well as Larry Hamm originals and creative arrangements of jazz classics.

The program has a special North Country connection, as the three musicians met at the Crane School of Music in the late 1970s, performing in a variety of groups during a particularly fertile and active period in that school’s history.

Admission to each of the concerts is $20 with a special $5 for children of 15 and under. All seating is available on a first come- first served capacity. Reservations are requested to be made through email at by pianobynature@gmail.com or by phone at 518-962-8899.

You won’t want to miss these extraordinary performances!

In Service to Your Story: A Creative Nonfiction/Memoir Workshop

Saturday, February 17, 2024, 1 – 5 pm

Lauren McGovern will lead this free workshop for adults at Rock-E House on North Country School’s campus (Lake Placid). Participants will get:

• prompts –
• writing time
• revision tips & tools
• sample Creative Nonfiction pieces to learn from
• resources for publication
  *positive feedback, encouragement, good vibes, & good snacks

To save a spot (required) by February 10 email or call/text: laurenmcgovern79@gmail.com 518.837.7152. Funding for this program is made possible with a generous Sunburst Award from the Essex County Arts Council and Price Chopper’s/Golub Family Foundation.

North Country School, 4382 Cascade Rd, Lake Placid

The Bookstore Plus Presents

Blind Date with Book

Wednesday, February 14, 2024 @ 9 – 6

Get a blind date for Valentine’s Day … It’s on us!

Ready for a mysterious blind date this February? If you are, we’d like to fix you up on a blind date… with a book, of course! We are a bookstore, after all!

What’s in it for you?
We have selected a variety of books, and they’re all ready to go on a blind date adventure with you. We’ve wrapped them in brown paper, with a few written hints, so you won’t be completely biased with your selection. Will your blind date be romantic, funny, empowering, relaxing, thought-provoking; none of those, or a memorable blend of all? The best thing is, it’s all free!

How to get yourself a blind date
STEP 1 Come to The Bookstore Plus on February 14th.
STEP 2 Make a purchase. Any purchase, of any price.
STEP 3 Your purchase entitles you to choose one free, mysterious-brown-paper-wrapped-book, from our selection and take it out with you on a blind date.
STEP 4 You have yourself a Blind Date with a Book! A snuggle buddy for Valentine’s Day.

Stop by The Bookstore Plus on February 14th—Who knows, you might get lucky!

The Bookstore Plus, 2491 Main Street, Lake Placid

SnoCade in Indian Lake

Saturday, Feb 17, 2024 through Saturday, Feb 24, 2024, various times and locations (see schedule HERE)

Join us for Snocade during President’s Week for free indoor and outdoor activities, dining specials, special events, and so much more!

And also at SNOCADE…

The Ghost of Garnet Hill Lodge

Saturday, February 17, 202, 7 pm, Free

Indian Lake Theatre, 6311 NY-30, Indian Lake

Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour

Sunday, February 18, 2024, 7 pm

The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, the most prestigious mountain film festivals in the world, will return for its twenty-third year to Lake Placid.

This year’s selection of eight films from six countries showcases over 2 hours of magnificent cinematography telling powerful stories that reflect a wide range of mountain experiences and portraits from mountain sports, culture and mountain environment to adventure.

Selected from over 400 entries, this year’s tour features a collection of the most inspiring and thought-provoking action, environmental, and adventure mountain films with stops in 550 locations in 40 countries in all seven continents.

Tickets, which have sold out in advance the past twenty-two years, are $26 in advance or $29 at the door, and are available at High Peaks Cyclery, 2733 Main Street, Lake Placid, 518.523.3764, daily 9 am to 5 and at Lake Placid Center for the Arts, 518.523.2512, Th-Sat 1-5.

Tickets and more info—including a trailer—available HERE.

Lake Placid Center for the Arts, 17 Algonquin Drive, Lake Placid