By Darren Johnson
Journal & Press
First off, be sure to sign up for our FREE weekly NFL pick’em. The more participants we get, the better the prizes will be.
Again, it’s free, but sponsors are more likely to donate prizes if we actually have a good number of people playing. Plus it will make watching the NFL more interesting.
Just click on the image above and join with your Facebook or Google account, or email.
Bob Henke’s Nature Writing to Grace Our Pages
Acclaimed nature columnist Bob Henke, whose work has been a staple in the Post Star, will now appear in The Journal & Press’s print edition. Subscribe here if you haven’t already.
Here’s one of his recent Sightings:
Another white deer has made an appearance in the South Argyle area. There seems to be a good gene frequency for piebald pigmentation (white with some brown patches) in this area of Washington County. It is not an albino. Albinos lack the gene for pigmentation, are completely white with pink eyes and skin, and typically do not live long for they cannot tolerate strong sunlight. Piebald deer have normal eyes and skin pigmentation and can live long productive lives if allowed to do so. Some states prohibit taking white deer and I wish we could refrain from taking these deer as soon as they appear to allow them to reproduce. Some areas have a significant tourism income from people traveling to see unique leucitic (white or light phase) animals, not only deer but squirrels and other species. Olney, Illinois is famous for its white squirrels and even has one on its city crest. So many of its businesses depend on visitors to see the white squirrels it is a misdemeanor to kill one.
Contact Bob Henke with your sightings or questions by email at outdoors.tomorrow@gmail.com.
We’re excited to bring Bob Henke on board!
He’ll also be in the e-edition for paid subscribers to this newsletter.
Saratoga Battlefield Brings $9M to Region
We received this press release: A new National Park Service report shows that 102.000 visitors to Saratoga National Historical Park (aka the Saratoga Battlefield) in 2023 spent $6.8 million in communities near the park. That spending supported 85 jobs in the local area and had a cumulative benefit to the local economy of $9 million.
“I’m so proud that our parks and the stories we tell make a lasting impact on more than 300 million visitors a year,” said National Park Service Director Chuck Sams. “And I’m just as proud to see those visitors making positive impacts of their own, by supporting local economies and jobs in every state in the country.”
“People come to Saratoga National Historical Park to discover and remember the stories and people from the creation of the United States at the site of one of the Revolutionary War’s most important battles and to enjoy a beautiful landscape for recreation and reflection. They end up supporting the US and local economies along the way,” said Superintendent Leslie Morlock. “We’re proud of Saratoga National Historical Park’s contributions to our surrounding communities, Saratoga County, and the Capital Region.”
The National Park Service report, 2023 National Park Visitor Spending Effects, finds that 325.5 million visitors spent $26.4 billion in communities near national parks. An interactive tool is available to explore visitor spending, jobs, labor income, and total economic contribution by sector for national, state and local economies. Users can also view year-by-year trend data. The interactive tool and report are available on the NPS website.
Which begs some questions — how much of that $9 million actually comes to our particular region? Say Schuylerville and maybe a bit into Washington County?
Probably very, very little. I have never heard a local businessperson say, “Boy, I can’t wait for battlefield season and all the customers it brings!”
But obviously the battlefield is bringing in lots of people. They probably just venture back into Saratoga Springs, where they may be staying in a hotel, or maybe some other tourist friendly town, like Lake George, or the Capital Region cities.
Then how do we get them to come here?
One solution may be billboards — like you see everywhere else in the country. You ever drive through the Carolinas and see all of these billboards for South of the Border?
There’s a billboard, often with a character named Pedro, seemingly every other mile along I-95 telling people about this kitschy rest stop.
Maybe some municipality or chamber of commerce can develop a character like Pedro and place fun billboards promoting Schuylerville and/or Southern Washington County on Route 4.
Speaking of rest stops, does our region even have a trifold brochure that can be made available at area rest stops, and maybe at the battlefield itself?
Just saying, it would be nice to get some of that battlefield tourism money!
Letter to the Editor
To the Editor:
Since moving to the area earlier this year, I've come to very much enjoy each new issue of the Journal & Press. Not only do I find the variety of articles interesting and informative, but I'm happy to become aware of the services available to me by way of your many advertisers. I've had the good fortune of calling on a few of them and have yet to be disappointed.
In addition to thanking you and your staff for the work you do, I also want to mention how much I enjoy the puzzles included in each issue. I do have one favor to request, however, and that is to increase the size/font of your crossword puzzles. While I have many bones to pick with the entire process of aging, diminished eyesight is chief among them. Doing crosswords is one of my favorite pastimes, but I have to admit, it's tough to do when I have to squint and plunk down directly under a bright light. I know, I know...it's a minor thing, but hopefully, you'll consider this suggestion as a method of improving an already stellar paper. 👀
Thanks for all you do, and for your consideration of my request.
Best wishes,
Scott Mears
Schuylerville (or, Stillwater...depending on who you ask...).
Editor’s Reply: Yes, Scott, we can do that! BTW, when I chose the fonts for the body copy in the paper, I did pick a slightly larger one than other papers use, as my reading eyesight was getting worse, too.
And now for the comics — ‘9 to 5’ by Harley Schwadron
And that’s it for today, this last day in August. More tomorrow — consider it “the Sunday Paper.”
What good news that Bob Henke will be writing for the Greenwich Journal! I have really missed his column! That’s a very fitting comic following that Battlefield revenue report.