GCSD Superintendent of Schools Lauren French announces intent to retire

by Rachel Hunter

Lauren F. French, Superintendent of Gouverneur Central School District, has announced her intent to retire effective June 30, 2021.

Following rumors that circulated around the Gouverneur community this past week, the Gouverneur Tribune Press asked GCSD Board of Education President David Fenlong about the decision. “(Lauren French) chose to retire. The board is respecting her decision… She is going to complete the entire school year with us, and the board is going to accept her letter of retirement at our regular meeting on Oct. 19. She decided to let her school family know before it was released to the public…”

The GCSD Board of Education will accept her letter of retirement at their regular meeting on October 19, 2020. The meeting will be held at 5:30 p.m. from the Gouverneur Middle School cafeteria on the GCSD Wildcats page. The meeting is closed to the public (in-person) and will be conducted with social distancing, in accordance with Governor Cuomo’s suspension of Article 7 of the Public Officers Law, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The meeting will be broadcast live on the District’s Wildcat Facebook page and the recording will be posted to that site.

Lauren French has been with the District since 1984, starting her career as a Junior High Science Teacher. She taught Biology for 15 years, until August 1999 when she was appointed as Middle School Principal. She held that position until January 1, 2012, when she took over as Superintendent of Schools.

On the evening of Tuesday, October 6, Supt. French went live on Facebook to address the rumors circulating the community about her intent to retire.

“I know over the last several week (the GCSD Board of Education) has had multiple board meetings that have had executive sessions to discuss personnel, and I understand that does create a level of concern in our community. That is not what I want people to be concerned about, so with the permission of Board President (David Fenlong), I have been able to make this public at this time. All of this work has been to accept my letter of resignation for retirement. I did not approach this easily or hastily. It has been quite a burden to think about. I knew last spring that I was reaching the time where it was important and imperative for the school to continue moving forward with, I would say, a younger person that would be able to invest the time and energy that I am not able to do to the level of perfection that I demand.

“So in March, I was getting ready to write a letter of retirement, and then COVID hit, and I thought that was pretty poor form for COVID to hit, a pandemic to hit, and the superintendent to say: “Well, folks, I am out of here.” I did not submit the letter of resignation for retirement at that time, but held on to it. Now, we’ve made it through the spring and we’ve made it through the summer, and we’ve opened up school and I feel like we’ve been quite successful with the hurdles that we have been asked to get over that I can get on with my personal plans.

“So I tendered my resignation for retirement, effective June 30, 2021. My goal will continue to be to serve this community, the scholars that we have on a day-to-day basis between now and the end of the school year. This was not a decision that was taken lightly. With COVID and with the hours of work, and I hate to say it but approaching 60 in the next month or two, I am just not able to do those tasks to the degree that matches my level of need, and the detail, keeping everyone safe weighs heavily on me.

“Sitting today with my husband, as I was entering the data remotely on all of the students who had been tested and the number of reports that we have received back of negative tests, and desegregating it by building and adding it to the state dashboard… he said, “How much time do you spend on this every day?” And I said usually it is between one and one-and-a-half hours to do it well. I don’t use that as an excuse, it’s just that what means the most to me, what really fulfills my goals as an educator and as a human being is to have direct contact with teachers and scholars.

“And I hate to say it, but this year I have had contact with one scholar in the middle school, and it was wonderful to run into him and have a conversation, get him turned around a little bit, and try to help with some of the anxiety of going into the building and wearing masks, and that meant more to me than any report that I filed or any data that I collected, or any columns that I organized was probably the 8-10 minutes of human interaction with a child in need. That’s what means the most to me.

“So to put this in a nutshell, in the next few minutes I will load the resignation letter onto Facebook so that people can see what I provided to the Board. What I am looking forward to is finishing the rest of the year, to continue to support the community. I know that I have an absolutely wonderful staff, a wonderful Board of Education, an Administrative team, and a group of scholars and they have meant the world to me.

“When I look back, having started at Gouverneur in 1966 as a kindergartener and retiring in 2021, my association with Gouverneur Central will be over 55 years. And then you start thinking about it, and you say: “Oh my goodness that is over half-a-century.” If somebody told me as a kindergartener that I would be here for a half-century, I probably would have done what I did then as a kindergartener… and that was hide under the table and wait for Mrs. Bigarel to say it was cookie time. That was my favorite call to action. So I am not leaving with hard feelings, I loved just about every day. I did tell my staff that I would put in my retirement when I didn’t love what I was doing – but that’s not the case. I absolutely love what I am doing. I just know for the time and the wear and tear that this has put on me to work at least six days per week, it’s not healthy for me. And I really want the time to enjoy the three grandchildren that I have. We were able to visit all three of them in the last three weeks… Having someone run to you and yell, “Grandma!” That has been so missing, and that’s because of school…

“I miss the presence of the scholars and the day-to-day conversations that I have with them. They have been the guiding and driving force for why I have continued to work and dedicate the better part of my life to help them forward… One of my favorite quotes that I like to use is: “I have never looked down on anyone, except to put out a hand to help them up.” And I really, truly believe that. Because I have been successful in a career and living in a community that I enjoy that it is incumbent upon me to help others to do the same thing.

“So even in retirement, while I will not be associated with the school and will not meddle in school business, I will continue to look forward to have those resources and networks and continue to help and benefit people of this community. Number one, it is the right thing to do, and it is what I want to do. It has been a wonderful opportunity. I am leaving on good terms with what I am able to accomplish as a superintendent. It was quite a haul to attempt to restructure the district… but looking at the circumstances we have right now, we have buildings that have the air quality index that they should be having. We have buildings that are safe and secure. We have buildings that are wired for the level of technology that we need to do. There’s always room to grow, but you can’t grow unless you have a solid foundation. And I really feel that for the time, that’s what I have been able to accomplish with the support of a phenomenal Board, and with the support of taxpayers in the community that have supported the requests for their children.

“So I thank you, and I will continue to invest my time and effort through June 30th to making sure that our scholars get what they need. I can’t be any more appreciative than that, so I thank members of the community and my staff, and the Board. You will see me quite busy and quite active until June 30th. And then hopefully, you will find me in my garden or with my grandbabies. So thank you and goodnight.”

An outpouring of congratulations and well-wishes for GCS Superintendent of Schools Lauren French was received at the announcement by many members of the Gouverneur community and beyond. Mrs. French’s letter of resignation due to retirement was not made public by press time on Tuesday. More information will be published once it becomes available.

For more information on the Gouverneur Central School District, visit gcsk12.org.

Halloween Trunk N Treat to be held October 31

by Rachel Hunter

Parkstead Gouverneur Assistant Property Manager Sean Peck of Gouverneur eagerly anticipates decorating for the Halloween Trunk N Treat to be held on October 31, 6 to 8 p.m., hosted by Parkstead Gouverneur. Pictured with Mr. Peck are “his boys” Billy Joe, Axle the Rebel, Junior, and Billy Bob which will be part of the Halloween décor at the Halloween Trunk N Treat on Halloween Night. (Rachel Hunter photo)

A Halloween Trunk N Treat, sponsored and hosted by Parkstead Gouverneur, will be held on Halloween Night, Saturday, October 31, 6 to 8 p.m., at 500 Sleepy Hollow Rd., off Pooler St., Gouverneur.

“The Trunk N Treat we are going to open up to the public because we wanted to make sure that with everything going on with COVID that we wanted to make sure the kids had something,” Parkstead Gouverneur Assistant Property Manager Sean Peck of Gouverneur said. “With Parkstead, I am deep into community. I want to get our complex into the community. Some of our residents came to me, and said: “What are we going to do for the kids?” I said, “Well, I am thinking about a Trunk N Treat. And they said, “Well, that’s what we were thinking.” So at that point we decided to go ahead and open it to the public.”

The Halloween Trunk N Treat will start at the Parkstead Gouverneur Leasing Office. “All the people giving out candy will be on one side of the road, so that way kids are not running all over the complex. So, they are going to go down the one side of the road, turn the corner and go back around. All the residents will be lined up on the side of the road here and they will be required to wear a mask and gloves to hand out candy, because they are handing out. On the back side, where we don’t have apartments, where the tennis courts and basketball courts are… I have actually had some people call and say, “Can we come and help?” So they are going to come and we are going to set them up over in that area. If the kids are wearing costumes that don’t require a mask, we ask that they do put a mask on. We just want to make it fun, but safe for everybody and just do our part to help Gouverneur. All of us have been through enough with this, but the kids don’t deserve to lose Halloween. Halloween is my favorite holiday, and I wanted to make sure that this was going to be a special one for them. It is the least we can do. We have a big enough complex… We have 100 shares on Facebook already. With phone calls and responses, I am expecting we will probably have well over 100 kids come. It’s really good, not just for us but the community.”

Regarding social distancing requirements, Assistant Manager Peck said the Parkstead staff will be located throughout the property. We’ll let them know that the families can walk together, because they are a family. But the next one must be six feet apart, and we’ll just make sure that we stagger them. We are doing it from 6 to 8 p.m., so over a two-hour period, I don’t think everyone is going to come at one time. So we’ll be able to spread it out… Tell them to get to one car and then get to the next, so someone else can start. We just want to keep it moving along… We just don’t want the kids to be running all over, because that might cause some issues with the social distancing requirements.

“We looked into it. The governor is not canceling Halloween. He did say that in his press conference. And we just are making sure that whoever is handing out candy wears a mask and gloves. We are going to make sure that if they don’t wear a mask and gloves, that they are provided. We’ve already ordered masks and gloves to make sure that everyone has masks and gloves. So we will provide that, and we are just following everything that is in the guidelines right now. It is going to be a fun event, and it is for the kids. It is 100 percent for the kids…. The last group that gets here at 8 p.m., we will let them push on through. All of our residents have been given the flyers, and I am going to see if businesses around town will put them in their windows.”

Parkstead Gouverneur will also host a Best Costume Contest. “We are going to ask local business to donate prizes for the costume contest,” Assistant Property Manager Peck said. “And we are also going to be taking pictures of everybody and we are going to post them on our webpage… so that people can go in and print off their kids in their costumes.”

Parkstead Gouverneur Assistant Property Manager Sean Peck, the son of Carlton Peck (of Peck Band Awards fame), said he’s looking forward to becoming more active in the community in the future. “Everybody knows what my dad did,” he said. “Dad was always the one who made sure things were bigger than what they were supposed to be… I am following in his footsteps. I want to make sure that is really big for the kids. I am excited… my bosses are excited, and the community’s excited. We just want everyone to know that Parkstead is here. We are in this community, and we want to be a part of the community. We are going to do a lot more community activities once a lot of this passes, and we are going to do more things. We are here. We love this community, and we want to be part of the community. I just got the Gouverneur Area Chamber of Commerce stuff in the mail. We are going to join the Chamber… I am already an assistant director with the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association. That fair has been a part of my life since the day I was born. I am 51, and dad has been active at the fair for 56 years, so it has been a part of my life since the day I was born. Gouverneur has always held a special place in my heart… I am here now, and I am here to stay. And now it is time for me to do what dad always wanted to do – and dad always wanted to be back here and part of the community. So now it is time for me to follow in his footsteps. So we’ll start with (Trunk N Treat) and use the Parkstead Gouverneur complex for everything.”

Parkstead Gouverneur Assistant Property Manager Sean Peck said the company has been getting more involved in the community lately with the giveaways at the Gouverneur Pumpkin Festival, social media postings, and more. The company is looking forward to inviting the public to Parkstead Gouverneur for the Halloween Trunk N Treat on October 31, 6 to 6 p.m. All CDC guidelines amid the COVID-19 crisis will be enforced.

Gouverneur hydrants to get flushed Oct. 5-6

The following is a public service announcement from the Village of Gouverneur:

The Village of Gouverneur, Department of Public Works, wishes to inform residents that hydrant flushing will be done during the day, from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday October 5, 2020 and then again from 6:00 am to 3:00 pm on Tuesday October 6, 2020.

Residents may notice a loss of water pressure and a slight discoloration of the water. While the water is safe to drink, residents are encouraged to hold off on doing white laundry.

The Village of Gouverneur Department of Public Work extends gratitude to local residents for their cooperation, and apologizes for any inconvenience the hydrant flushing may cause. If you have any further questions, you can contact the Department of Public Works at 287-0110.

9th Annual Pumpkin Fest: Giant pumpkins win big prizes

by Rachel Hunter

The 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest, presented by the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association and the Gouverneur Chamber of Commerce, featured the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest on Saturday, September 26 at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds. Giant pumpkin growers from all over New York State arrived with their gourds on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning to enter into the competition in either the adult or youth division. Much gratitude was extended to all those who participated to make the annual event bigger and better than ever. All participants were asked to wear face masks and follow social distancing guidelines.

The Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association utilized a scale to accurately weigh the giant pumpkins entered into the competition.

The first prize ($150 and rosette) in the adult division went to the heaviest pumpkin on the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds – a 1,108-pounder entered by Christine Nolan, a former Gouverneur resident who currently makes her home in Champion. Nolan’s passion for the giant gourds has been visible at the annual pumpkin festival since she started growing the giant pumpkins and entering them into competition in 2012. When asked by the Gouverneur Tribune Press how she grew the giant pumpkin, Nolan said that her motivation was through a little family competition with her son-in-law, Travis Clemons of Croghan. Travis won the second-place prize ($100 and rosette) with his 949-pounder. Nolan said said her secret – especially in a hot summer like this one has been – was to ensure that her giant gourd received plenty of water. She said she also started the plant early, and buried vines to help the giant pumpkin receive it best chance to receive all the nutrients it needed for proper growth.

“You have to start it early, by the end of April, and it takes a lot of work,” Nolan said. “I had one year that was bigger than this, but I’m happy. I was worried because Travis’ is higher, mine is lower, so I kept trying to think if I smooshed his down would it be that long…”

The close race was evident, and Travis Clemons said he is planning on returning for the 10th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest for a chance to claim the top podium spot. When asked by the Gouverneur Tribune Press the reason for his smaller giant pumpkin this year, Clemons said that he didn’t know if any pumpkin festivals would be organized this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, and stopped “feeding” his gourd, not wanting to put money into it for a fruitless return. But the second-place finish did not discourage Clemons, but instead motivated him to grow a bigger than ever giant pumpkin in 2021.

And Nolan is ready for this family competition to commence once again, knowing that there is always room for growth. She commented that the Saratoga Pumpkin Fest draws giant pumpkins that weigh over 2,000 pounds. Knowing this, Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Manager Don Peck encouraged all those in attendance to participate in the 10th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest, directing the crowd to pick up some giant pumpkin seeds before leaving the fairgrounds.

The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest results were announced in an award ceremony by Fair Manager Don Peck. The results commenced with the youth division, followed by the adult division. The top prize in the youth competition went to Travis Clemons’ son and Christine Nolan’s grandson, Brayden Clemons of Croghan, who entered a 752-pound giant pumpkin. He told all those in attendance that the Clemons’ had weighed the gourd before travelling to the Gouverneur Fairgrounds, and it weighed 761 pounds. When asked what he did to grow the giant pumpkin, Brayden Clemons did not reveal his secrets. Fair Manager Peck then encouraged the youth to keep doing whatever he did to grow the giant, and to return next year. The youth smiled as he walked away with his rosette and first-place $50 prize.

Brayden’s sister, Lilyanna Clemons, also entered a 14-pound pumpkin into youth division contest, and took home 12th place.

The second-place winner in the youth division, taking home the $25 prize, was Jolie Fuller with a 60-pound giant pumpkin.

The third-place winner in the youth division, taking home the $10 prize, was Peyton Fortin with a 57-pound giant pumpkin.

Fourth-place went to a 47-pound giant pumpkin, entered by Jack, Afton, and Max Riley of Richville. They also entered a 20-pound pumpkin in to the competition, which took 11th place. There was a tie for fifth place. Jonathan Webb and Liam Fields grew giant pumpkins weighing in at 43 pounds. Colby Fortin grew a 40-pound giant pumpkin, Jackson Fortin, a 38-pound pumpkin, Wyette Daniels, 37-pound pumpkin, Blake Fortin, a 32-pound pumpkin, and Stanley Fields, a 26-pound pumpkin. Many words of congratulations was granted to the youth for their participation in the Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest this year. All were encouraged to grow bigger pumpkins next year and bring them to the competition at the 10th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest.

In the adult division, the remaining results are as follows: The third prize ($50 and rosette) was presented to Lyle Hotis of Gouverneur (Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Past President and Director), who entered 459-pound pumpkin. He also won fourth place with a 426-pound pumpkin, fifth place with a 417-pound pumpkin, sixth place with a 404-pound pumpkin, and seventh place with a 248-pound pumpkin. Eighth place went to Chris Boyle for his 119-pound pumpkin. Ninth place went to Fred Morrill with a 63-pound pumpkin. Tenth place went to Dave Bishop with a 47-pound pumpkin. Eleventh place went to Kriston Webb with a 38-pound pumpkin. Much gratitude and words of congratulations were extended to the adult participants as well.

“I think this is one of the best years we have had as far as attendance of pumpkins,” Fair Manager Don Peck said. “Last year it was a little sparce, but this year it turned out very, very well. I am glad we did this.”

Fair Manager Don Peck encouraged all who were interested in growing a giant pumpkin to talk with the growers and pick up a few seeds that were made available for anyone interested in testing out their green thumb in time for next year’s competition.

While many of the growers wouldn’t give out their secret for growing the giant gourds, the following tips will go a long way for those who are interested in joining next year’s competition:

Choose or prepare the soil for growing giant pumpkins. Collect some of the soil where you intend to plant your pumpkins. Take the soil to your local agricultural or conservation agency for testing. The test will let you know exactly what nutrients are in the soil. You can then determine what needs to be added. Having the right kind of soil will create vigorous, healthy vines. You can prepare the soil in early spring when the ground begins to warm, but it is best to start preparations in fall. This will allow any amendments you add to break down and work their way into the soil. You will need to prepare a 25 x 25 x 25 triangular area for each giant pumpkin vine to grow. Giant pumpkins generally need 2 pounds nitrogen (N), 3 pounds phosphorous (P2O2) and 6 pounds potash (K2O) per 1,000 square feet of growing space. Your soil should fall between 6.5 and 6.8 on the pH scale.

Choose a fertilizer to enhance your soil. If your soil doesn’t have the proper amount of nutrients, fertilizers can help to create the perfect environment in which to grow your pumpkins. Even if your soil is nutrient rich, adding a granular fertilizer, composted manure, or mature garden compost will fertilize the soil while improving the structure of the soil. Incorporate this fertilizer into the soil several days before you intend to transplant your pumpkins. Your plot should be located in the sun. Pumpkins need a fair amount of sunshine to grow up healthy and large. Keep in mind that pumpkins are sensitive and will need shelter from any intense wind. Add organic matter to your soil. Organic matters like manure will help your pumpkins grow up strong, healthy (and large!) You should use four inches of manure. Work the manure into the top few inches of soil.

Select proper seeds for planting. The genetics of the seeds you choose is important. They should come from a background of large-to-giant-size pumpkins. Plant your seeds (such as the ones made available at the Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest).If you live in a place that could potentially get frost in late April or May, you should start by planting your seeds in pots and keeping them indoors. If you think your pumpkins will be safe from frost, plant your seeds outside. Keep in mind that the seeds that sprout the fastest will generally grow the strongest pumpkins.

Germinating your seeds inside: Plant your seeds in peat pots that have four to six inches of soil in each pot. Plant the seeds one inch deep in the soil that is moist and keep the pots at around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26 degrees Celsius). Some people use a greenhouse effect while others find setting them on top of the refrigerator works well. You should begin to see sprouts within three to five days. Germinating seeds outdoors: Before planting the seeds, soak them in warm water for four hours. Create a two-foot circle in the soil and remove the top inch of soil. Plant five seeds in the circle and cover them back up with the one inch of dirt. If possible, you can create a greenhouse over where you intend to plants the seeds and begin warming the soil several weeks in advance and several weeks after the sprouts have come up.

Transplant your sprouts. Only do this if you have chosen to germinate your seeds inside. Transplant your sprouts when you see the first true leaves appear (they will be green and full looking.) Build up mounds of soil that are roughly two-foot circles (they should be about the size of a pitcher’s mound.) Plant one sprout in each mound. Keep each mound approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) apart. If possible, place a small greenhouse on top of each mound. Doing this will keep your sprouts warm and healthy. Cut off weak vines. After a few weeks of growth, examine the pumpkin plant. Select the strongest looking vine in the group. Remove all others by clipping off the vines.

Pollinating: Pollinate the pumpkin blossoms by hand. Pollinating by hand is the preferred method but if you don’t have the time or the energy, it is a pretty safe bet that the bees will do most of the pollination for you. The flowers generally show up in late July. Pick your vine. The strongest and thickest vines often produce the largest pumpkins. Monitor your vines and see which one seems to be growing the fastest and thickest.

Identify the male and female plants to pollinate by hand. As in every form of reproduction, there is a male and female pumpkin counterpart. Do not begin pollinating until you the plant has roughly 200 leaves. The female has a small pumpkin at the base and no pollen inside the flower. To achieve the strongest female plant, you can break off the first female flower and wait for the second or third to grow (the strongest females grow when the vines are roughly 10 feet long, or longer.) The male will have a stamen inside the flower. The stamen will be covered in pollen. These male flowers generally show up before the female flowers do. Pull the petal from the male blossom. Only do this when a female flower grows from the largest and healthiest vine. Pulling the petal will help to expose the pollen needed for pollination. Rub the pollen stamen on the blossom of the female flower. This step is most successful if completed before the middle of July. This will ensure that the pumpkin has ample time for growth.

Time to pick your prize pumpkin. The largest pumpkins balloon out from the vine. Vines generally have two to three pumpkins. Once your pumpkins have reached the size of a softball, select the one on a vine that looks the most promising. You will have to cut out the others as they will steal nutrients from the prize pumpkin. Tear out the roots that are close to the pumpkin. Pumpkin vines grow roots at every leaf. Tearing out the roots nearest to the pumpkin will allow the pumpkin a bit of wiggle room. If the vine is held down by the roots near the pumpkin, the pumpkin might accidentally tear itself away from the vine as it grows massive. This would effectively end any more growth. Train vines away from the pumpkin. While growing, the pumpkin could accidentally crush the vines near it. Make sure to weed the area completely as your pumpkin vine grows. Once it reaches twenty feet and has covered the garden with leaves, you shouldn't have to weed anymore.

Pinch off the ends and side shoots. Only do this when the primary vine has reached 20 feet (6.1 m) in length. Pinching off the ends and side shoots will guarantee that the vine’s nutrients will go to your pumpkin. To increase the chance of a prize-winning pumpkin, shape the vine into a triangle. Treat the base of the vine as the bottom of the pyramid. You can cut the secondary side shoots shorter and shorter as they grow farther away from the base. For example, the shoots growing closest to the base might be twelve feet long; the next set of shoots might be ten feet long, then eight feet and so on.

Give the pumpkin shade. You can either drape a sheet over it or build a small structure to hold a tarp up over the pumpkin. That said, try not shade too many of the leaves. These need sunlight to grow the pumpkin. Give each plant 15 to 20 gallons (56.8 to 75.7 L) of water twice a week. Only do this if it is a dry season. Pumpkins do most of their growing at night. Water in the early evening so that the leaves and soil are not wet overnight. Try to avoid getting water on the leaves because wet leaves are more susceptible to disease.

Harvest your pumpkins to bring to the Gouverneur Pumpkin Festival!

The 2020 Gouverneur Pumpkin Festival was also complete with a crafter/vendor fair, food truck vendors, pumpkin giveaways and raffles, and so much more. A great draw was the Giant Pumpkin Drop, which concluded the day-long event at 4 p.m. The Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association encouraged all to maintain COVID-19 precautions throughout their attendance at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, September 26 while on the Gouverneur Fairgrounds.

9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest attendees enjoying taking photos as local youth sit atop the second heaviest pumpkin entered into the weigh-off contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Christine Nolan of Champion won the top prize in the adult division during 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest for her 1,108-pounder. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Brayden Clemons of Croghan wins the top prize in youth division for 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest with his 752-pounder. Brayden told the local officials that he weighed it at 761 pounds before he left home. The giant pumpkin superseded the second-place winner by nearly 700 pounds. Many words of congratulations were extended to Brayden for his big win. He hopes to enter another giant pumpkin at the 10th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest in September 2021. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Travis Clemons of Croghan won second place in the adult division with his 949-pound pumpkin that he entered in the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Lillyanna Clemons of Croghan shows off her 14-pound pumpkin that she entered in the 9th Annual Gouverneur Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Jolie Fuller won second place in the youth division with her 60-pound pumpkin during the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Jonathan Webb receiving his youth division prize for his 43-pumpkin he entered at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest’s Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off Contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

SLC Court Judge Candidate Stops By Pumpkin Fest

SLC Court Judge Candidate Nicole Duve with Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Manager Don Peck at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest. They are pictured behind the heaviest pumpkin entered into the weigh-off competition, totaling 1,108 pounds. “Nicole and her husband, Bill Mitchell, make their home in Potsdam, where they have raised their three children, Owen, Jake and Olivia, and dote on their beloved golden retriever, Maggie. A north country native with north country values, Nicole knows the importance of hard work and perseverance. The first person in her family to go to college, Nicole received her Bachelor of Arts degree from SUNY Potsdam and went on to receive her Juris Doctor degree from Albany Law School of Union University. Returning to the north country after law school, Nicole began what has become a three-decade legal career leading to the knowledge, experience and commitment necessary to be the next St. Lawrence County Court Judge.” (Rachel Hunter photo)

Parkstead Properties Manager Stormy Cox and Assistant Manager Sean Peck (who also is an associate director for the Gouverneur & St. Lawrence County Fair Association) brought 300 bags to hand out to North Country residents at no cost – so they could have a bag to carry all their vendor/craft fair purchases at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, September 26 on the Gouverneur Fairgrounds. (Rachel Hunter photo)

A couple of the food trucks on the Gouverneur Fairgrounds as North Country residents stopped by the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest to get a taste of their fair food favorites. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Gouverneur Kiwanis Club booth and crafters/vendors were positioned by the livestock barns on the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Festival, on Saturday, September 26. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Lyle Hotis of Gouverneur walked away from the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest Weigh-Off Contest with several wins from the giant pumpkins he entered in the adult division of the contest. Lyle also donated the pumpkins that were in the Giant Pumpkin Weight-Guessing Contest and the Giant Pumpkin Drop. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Dave Bishop of DeKalb celebrates his win in the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Weigh-Off contest. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Treasurer Linda Bishop of DeKalb counting tickets at the 9th Annual Gouverneur Pumpkin Fest on Saturday, September 26. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Sales tax distribution a hot topic at Gouverneur village board meeting

by Rachel Hunter

St. Lawrence County Legislator District 5 Harry A. Smithers II (R-Gouverneur) gave his first in-person report to the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees on Tuesday, September 15. This was the first meeting the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees met in-person since the COVID-19 pandemic. Other meetings were open to the public via teleconference.

Legislator Smithers said the following in his report: “I was appointed to take (Former St. Lawrence County Legislator Henry Leader’s) place the first of July, so I am relatively new at this. A lot of this stuff has been kind of routine, talking about maintenance, bridges and accepting grants. A couple of unusual things being the resolutions to support law enforcement, and to oppose making law enforcement officers provide their own liability insurance.

“We haven’t really started talking about sales tax, which has been in the news. My understanding is that the first meeting between the Mayor of Ogdensburg and the County representatives is scheduled for Thursday (September 17) morning. What I know about this is what I have seen in the paper and was given to me from the Town Board, which I read over. And it piqued my interest in sales tax because I didn’t know that much about it. So I would recommend to you, if you would like to know about it… this is a very readable, understandable document that is readily available about sales tax in New York State. It is dated 2015 but not too much has changed, and if you are going to talk about that later… I do have some concerns about what has been labeled final sales tax proposal. It is kind of strange because we haven’t really started negotiating yet for next year, other than to extend current distribution of sales tax.

“The key question seems to be what people would consider a fair distribution. Different people would obviously think different amounts would be fair – What is fair to the county? What is fair to the towns? What is fair to the cities? A couple of things that might be worth talking about is the sales tax was initiated to help the County be able to meet their obligation for Medicaid, and what I have been told is that they haven’t been able to meet that until they raised the sales tax from 7 to 8 percent, back five or six years ago. Since then, the fund balance has grown a little. It sounds like a lot, but it is really a smaller portion of the overall budget… Also, I was told that when they did raise the sales tax, they lowered the property tax to give some of that back to the taxpayers.

“One concern I have is where (Ogdensburg Mayor Mike Skelly) says a separation occurs between the City and the County, the County has no obligation to distribute any sales tax revenue to the towns and villages. Whereas, this (document) says frankly the opposite. I’ll just read from page 11. It talks about the option that the City has of pre-empting, which is an option. They would see how much revenue they would generate from that.

“I am willing to listen, maybe they do deserve more. I don’t think anyone on the legislature wants to give the towns and villages, and the City less money than they get now.

“Most of the counties do share some portion of the sales tax with the cities, towns and villages. In 2015, the revenue of the 56 outside of New York City did retain all of it. The other 46 shared with the towns, villages and cities. And it says that counties with cities that pre-empt are required by state law to allocate a portion of their sales tax revenues with cities other than the pre-empting cities and towns in the county. So, I think you should have that information, and maybe you can ask (Mayor Mike Skelly) why he said that… because I don’t understand that.”

Legislator Smithers then asked the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees: “Do you have any questions for me?”

Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall then said the following: “A couple comments. First, I am glad you are here. Do you have any report or anything? If you don’t that’s fine. So (Village of Gouverneur Clerk/Treasurer) can get you a copy of the report that (Former SLC Legislator Henry Leader) and his predecessor used to supply the Village. I am not sure what they do in DePeyster, if they get anything or not. But Henry would provide us a monthly report orally and written report. They are usually the same for the Town of Gouverneur Council and the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees… We’ll give you some help and provide you with some of the reports that Henry and before that Travis Dann used to provide to us. If you don’t have one, we understand. We don’t have to have one, it is just more paperwork, but on the other hand I listen to most of the meetings anyways… So, it’s fine. You are here.”

Legislator Smithers then said the following: “I’d just like to say on sales tax we are just getting started, we haven’t really talked about it.”

Mayor McDougall then said the following: “From my perspective, that’s troubling. You haven’t started talking about sales tax yet? There hasn’t been any executive sessions on sales tax? Nobody mentioned it last night. Nobody mentioned it a couple weeks ago… Harry, I’m not a fool. Henry was talking about sales tax since the day he took office almost, and he left because of Travis Dann. The County has had many meetings with the City of Ogdensburg, going back a year, maybe two. The County themselves has spent several years planning this… and you probably haven’t heard my argument yet. But we got three fiscal Conservative senators, very important, Betty Little, Joe Griffo, and Patty Ritchie. Sales tax was raised by 33 percent. It wasn’t 7 to 8. It went from 3 to 4. The State gets the other, the rest of the first 4. It has been that way for a long time.

“It came in with Rockefeller actually, the sales tax when it started. It was just at 1 percent and it was going to go away after a while. Well, it’s been 60 years or whatever it has been… But nevertheless, I don’t want to lecture you on sales tax. Everyone in this room has heard me talk about it before, but it has been going on and on and on. I find extraordinary that you come in here and tell me that nobody has said anything about sales tax. Just today, SLC Legislator Dan Fay who they haven’t seen in months over at the town and village office was coming in, fishing around or whatever, and he was going around and saying: “Gee, when are you guys getting together with Ogdensburg again?” And he talked about the last meeting they had and the meeting before that. Over in Potsdam, another local legislator, their legislator went around the Potsdam office, and they hadn’t seen her in quite some time. I know they probably told you what to say...”

“No, they didn’t,” Legislator Smithers said immediately.

Mayor McDougall continued: “But please don’t say it in front of Henry, who has been through this and through this and through this. I haven’t gotten over the fact that… whatever happened to him. He’s got great credibility, and the issue is sales tax. But I find it interesting that another legislator in another part of the county would approach the City of Ogdensburg, saying: “They have not treated you right.” Maybe we should go back to where we were before and everybody gets the same. That’s why Henry left office, but enough on that… I am all done.”

“But I am not. I’m not telling you something that is not true,” Legislator Smithers said.

“People talk, Harry,” Mayor McDougall said.

“And I can’t tell you what we talked about in executive session,” Legislator Smithers said. “I can tell you that we haven’t discussed anything that the Mayor of Ogdensburg has given to the County… The first meeting to talk about that is Thursday. It has been in the paper. You have talked about it, and shared what (Mayor Skelly) sent around to the towns, but that is kind of a backdoor approach to negotiation. Our current agreement is to continue the way that it has been distributed… that is what is in effect right now. So they are going to be negotiating for down the road… Yes, sales tax is ongoing, but I am not standing here telling you lies.”

Mayor McDougall then said the following: “Sales tax has been widely discussed, even if it hasn’t been with you… But anyways, I am glad you did find your way to come in tonight. It’s our first meeting… You haven’t provided you report yet, which is okay. We can help you there to know how to give a report…”

Mayor McDougall then asked Village Attorney Henry Leader: “Don’t you wish you were still county legislator? Probably not...” Attorney Leader shook his head as the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees continued to discuss the business matters before the board.

Later in the meeting, Mayor McDougall said sales tax was one topic of discussion at the SLC Conference of Mayors meeting. He also mentioned the Town Supervisors had met the week before, and one topic of discussion was sales tax. “In particular, the narrative that was put out by the City of Ogdensburg, the facts and figures behind it. I know I am being tentative but… Is that the final resolution? I don’t know. I know that the City of Ogdensburg is scrambling to go at this two ways… either so that they and the towns and villages can get a bigger percentage over the last penny in particular, as we did the first three cents, and have for years. They are also, barring the negotiations breaking down, they can pre-empt. They may go that way. I don’t think the County wants that, I’m not sure. But I don’t think they want that, and I am not sure the City of Ogdensburg wants it. But for decades the City of Ogdensburg along with the villages and towns have been joined at the hip. We negotiated together to lobby those three senators I mentioned, and also some Assembly people but the difference then was that those two senators were in the majority, and there was one Democrat Addie Jenne who was in the majority in the Assembly. We worked at that really hard, and we joined up with the county legislators, mayors and supervisors in the county… we all joined up to lobby those senators to grant a 33 1/3 percent raise in sales tax. They did that, somewhat begrudgingly, but they did that… But they also tried to do the opposite, to take more in negotiations with the City of Ogdensburg, more away from the towns and villages. So it became a stalemate. There was some Home Rule legislation that was approved earlier this year, dealing with the one-year extender. That is the situation we find ourselves in. The different mayors, village boards, town boards are left scratching their heads as well. There is going to be a meeting in a couple days with the town supervisors along with the Chairman of the Town Supervisors Association… things are happening rather quickly. And if it is possible, Harry, I apologize if I offended you. It is possible that nobody has talked to you about sales tax. But I have, and so has (Town of Gouverneur Deputy Supervisor Eldon Conklin)… Maybe the legislators don’t say anything about sales tax to you. But I’ll lend this to you: The representative of Lisbon was good enough to go to town board meeting, Dave Forsythe, and reported that what you called a little fund balance, he figures is over $34 million, and expects it to go to $40 million if things keep going… What’s the reason for that? There’s lots of reasons… He was good enough to report that to Bill Nelson and the town board. Also again, I thought it was $31 million. I listened to the audit and I thought it was $31 million. You heard the same thing as I did, probably. Anyways, they are finding money in these bad times… The other thing that certain mayors talked about and town supervisors… a lot of people are questioning: “We have a COVID problem?” Gee, what’s going on. The three percent raise to the executives… everybody voted for it, I think. When you are talking $100,000 and a 3 percent raise. “What COVID? What bad times? What is going on?” I understand contractual, but this was not a contract vote… But when you are out making $100,000 like some of these department heads are, at 3 percent, that is $3,000. When you are making $30,000, that is $900. But when you go to the store to buy the loaf of bread… it costs the same. It doesn’t matter what your income is. So anyways that is my kick at the cat…”

“I am asking for a motion to support Ogdensburg with what they have done, and what they have been doing for us for decades. They have been supporting us, and I am damn glad they are doing it, I’ll tell you. One of things I have said, and I have said in here, is that the County wants us to pay the increase in Medicaid. They are looking for towns and villages, local governments, to pay for the increase in Medicaid. That’s what is going on. So this is in negotiations… it doesn’t mean it will be the final answer.”

The Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees then voted to support the City of Ogdensburg. The Town of Gouverneur Council made a similar resolution the week before, at their monthly board meeting on Sept. 8.

When discussion was sought during the vote, Village of Gouverneur Deputy Mayor Charles Newvine said the following: “I think this is a step in the right direction. I think what Harry was trying to say was that negotiations haven’t been going on, discussions have been going on for quite some time. But the actually negotiations haven’t gone on, and they won’t until Thursday. I think this is a step in the right direction. I don’t think that the County is going to agree with this, but I think it is something that has to be said to get the negotiations to go ahead. I think we are looking at a 28 percent increase in sales tax revenue here in the Village of Gouverneur, 28 percent to the Town of Gouverneur, and 27 percent to the Town of DePeyster. And a $6.5 million loss to the County. Those are the numbers, so I think it would be hard to have all county legislators agree to that. But, like I said, it is a step in the right direction to at least get the negotiations more discussed than they have been in the last four or five years.”

The motion was received by Deputy Mayor Newvine, seconded by Village Trustee Troy Besaw. There was no further discussion. All were in favor, and the motion carried.

The next meeting of the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees will be held on Tuesday, October 20, 6 p.m., in the municipal courtroom.

Surgeon Dr. Brandy Joins SLHS Team in Canton and Gouverneur

General Surgeon Kiri Brandy, MD, has joined St. Lawrence Health System’s Canton-Potsdam Hospital (CPH) medical team. She has offices in the lower level of the E.J. Noble Medical Building, 80 East Main Street, Canton; and at Gouverneur Hospital’s CPH Specialty Suite, 77 West Barney Street, Gouverneur.

Dr. Brandy’s name may be familiar to many regional residents; she has had privileges at Canton-Potsdam Hospital for several years, and now has employed provider status with the Hospital. She earned her New York Medical College, Fifth Pathway Certification; her medical degree from Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico; and underwent her residency at Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY.

“I have lived and worked in St. Lawrence County for my entire professional career and it is definitely a place I call home. The people of the North Country are extremely special to me,” Dr. Brandy said. “I look forward to being able to continue to serve the community and help my patients through their healthcare needs. Assisting each patient as an individual is something I am passionate about.”

“It’s an honor to work within St. Lawrence Health System as it grows and adapts to meet the ever changing healthcare needs of the region,” she added.

As a general surgeon in Potsdam and Gouverneur, Dr. Brandy specializes in laparoscopy with an emphasis on minimally invasive breast surgery, venous disease, upper endoscopy, colonoscopy, wound care, and skin lesions. She also performs minimally invasive breast surgery, minimally invasive venous treatments, gall bladder surgery, hernia surgery, vascular access, and skin excisions (including neoplasia).

For more information on General Surgeon Dr. Kiri Brandy, visit https://www.stlawrencehealthsystem.org/providers/kiri-brandy.

Record numbers enjoy family fun at Harvest Town Corn Maze

by Rachel Hunter

A record-breaking 200 people drove to the Harvest Town Corn Maze, 1580 US-11, Gouverneur throughout the day on Saturday, September 19 to enjoy some old-fashioned family fun. For a $5 admission cost per person, families can enjoy an obstacle course, walk through a corn maze, play on the glider, go a hayride, etc. There is free admission for all those under 3 years of age. The Harvest Town Corn Maze is open Saturdays and Sundays, noon to 5 p.m. -- rain or shine. Private parties can also be booked upon request.

Harvest Town Corn Maze opened to the public on Labor Day (September 7, 2020) and Owner Karl Bender of Gouverneur said repeat customers have already returned to enjoy all the activities at Harvest Town. For Mr. Bender, it is a dream come true.

“I always loved doing them when my kids were small,” Mr. Bender said. “We actually did one in Morristown… it was three generations at the time. My father passed away, and we had lived in the Village of Gouverneur and moved out here and got the land. So we decided to move the corn maze to here.

“Friends of mine in Lake Placid have the mining system, and I always thought that looked great and I always wanted to do it. So we built the mining tower, the mining system, and they can mine for gems, fossils. So we put that in.

“We have the maze. We used to do a haybale maze. I don’t have hay, so I was trying to figure out what I could do. So if you see our mine shaft, I was driving down the road and I saw a bunch of tires stacked up. And I said, “I could do that. I could make a tunnel.” So I went to Smithers Tire here in Gouverneur, and they gave me the tractor tires. And I said, “Well, if I have tractor tires, I can do a balance beam. And after I did the balance beam, I said: “I could do stairs.” And then of course everybody has to do the football obstacle. And then you come over and you run through the mine shaft (tunnel) and then you end by shooting balls to take on the dragon. That’s how you finish. We have two stations over there, so you can race.

“We have this glider over here, which is really interesting and cool, that we built and perfected across the road. Then we brought it here and the kids are loving the daylights out of it… It’s made out of one-inch PVC pipe, and wheels we bought on Amazon. And they hug the one-inch PVC so it stays on.

“We do a hayride too. And starting in October, we are going to have haunted hayrides on Saturday nights, time to be announced. This year, we are going to have Salem Witch Trial. This is fictitious. But here is the story: “I bought a map of St. Lawrence County. An old map of St. Lawrence County. When I unrolled it, there was another, smaller map. The smaller map had a road from Salem, MA to Gouverneur, NY. I then found out through my research that Gouverneur was a puritan community just like Salem. So you know how the Salem Witch Trials ended up being fake, right? That’s because the real witches got out before it happened. There was only two Puritan communities besides Salem that they had ben welcomed to. One of them was in Maine and one of them is in Gouverneur, NY. That is the tie. So while I was getting ready to do my haunted hayride, the shed over there will be full of witch stuff. We found it in the woods! And we kept being followed by a young lady. I think this young lady might be from Salem… We are posting these videos on Facebook. So we are whispering that were 100 feet away, using a telephoto lens and that she can’t see us. And she is sitting up in a tree… What happens is we tell the story of how I found the shed. And then she shows and we drop the camera. So we have (this footage) and we’ll be posting them along the way to tell the story. So I am going to be dressed up as a Bannister (judge), and the Salem Witch Trials rules and regulations are still in the Salem government books. The governor of Massachusetts has graciously allowed us for one night to use the rules and regulations of the Salem Witch Trial here in Gouverneur. We happen to know where this person is in the woods. I want to see if they are really a witch, and I need people to come and be the jury. As members of the jury, we’ll find out who put this witch on trial… following the Salem Witch Trials rules of 1692.” So that is our thing, we put them on the hayride, take them out. We get them in the woods, which is scarier than scary. We put them through two or three little scares, and we put them in the trial. It is more of a theater act, and we want them to ask questions of the witch and try to help me either prove she is a witch, or she is not a witch.”

When asked by the Gouverneur Tribune Press how many people could be in this jury, Mr. Bender said that the maximum allowed number was 6,000.

“New York State rules and regulations say that we can only have 33 percent capacity,” Mr. Bender said. “We are 13 acres, and that works out to 20,000 people. We are allowed to have 6,000. If we hit 6,000 in one night… we’ll have to go and have somebody look in the Village because there won’t be anybody left.

“So, this has been a dream of mine because it is one of the things we did as a family. My family is still highly active. We added the mining because it was something I always wanted to do. The obstacle course was because I couldn’t afford the haybales, so everything here is free. The sawdust comes from the Amish sawmill down the road, and the tires came from Smithers Tire in the Village. We recycled it all, and people are enjoying the daylights out of it… We lowered our fee. We were at $8, but lowered it to $5 because of the COVID-19, and our first post on Facebook hit 25,000 views in one day. And there is a high chance that we are going to get a lot of repeat customers… so I said, “Let’s lower the price and make it more affordable for families.” The very first day I had a grandfather, grandmother and four grandchildren. They came up and asked: “How much is it?” I said it is $5 per person. The grandfather looks at me, and he says: “Corn maze? Obstacle course? The glider thing?” I said, “Yeah.” He was like, “For $5?” I was like, “Yeah. The only thing you have to pay for was this mining thing, because I got to buy the roof… oh and I forgot, you also get a hayride.” And he was like, “I get a hayride too for $5?” I was like, “Yes, sir. You are getting all that for $5. We are doing this for family fun. We enjoy the Gouverneur community, and we are members of the Gouverneur community. We are here…”

Mr. Bender said the Harvest Town Corn Maze is possible thanks to his family, who is integral in every aspect of the operation. He said it is still being operated by three generations, as his children and grandchildren are involved. “I just moved up a peg,” he said.

Mr. Bender said he gets a kick out of seeing all the families come and enjoy the activities at the Harvest Town Corn Maze, and especially when he sees repeat customers back for more old-fashioned family fun.

Mr. Bender said that Harvest Town Corn Maze will be open through Halloween on Saturday, October 31. “And at the end, we are going to pick the corn. We got a corn picker. Right now most of the farmers are harvesting their corn, and come November it will be past where it is worth anything except for the corn itself. So we bought a corn picker, and we’re going to sell the corn off too. So everything is going to get used. And we’re hoping that it keeps growing.”

When the Gouverneur Tribune Press asked about COVID-19 precautions, Mr. Bender said the following: “We are considered a low-risk outdoor activity… because we are outdoors. The requirements by New York State is that you have a mask, and as long as you are more than six feet away and in your group, you don’t have to wear a mask. Once you get within six feet of somebody, you have to mask up.” The owners clean/disinfect common surfaces, and especially the pans that are used in the mining activity. Those, he said, are cleaned after each. Also mention was that the tables are cleaned once a day, and whenever customers aren’t using them. Mr. Bender informed that all requirements are followed as provided by the health department.

“We went through stuff with the Health Department, Economic Development… because both had the right to say if we could open or not. But we’ve met all the rules and regulations, and we have a whole COVID-19 plan, COVID-19 policy,” Mr. Bender said.

Mr. Bender also informed that through 95.3 The Wolf, Gouverneur Breast Cancer T-shirts were available for purchase in support of that organization’s mission to to help someone who is facing the long road from diagnosis to recovery from breast or ovarian cancer in St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Lewis, and Franklin Counties, New York. All funds received from donations become direct financial support to someone who is facing a diagnosis of breast or ovarian cancer and needs help during this challenging time. A Virtual Walk is also being organized, check out gouverneurbreastcancerfund.com for more information.

“You can buy your shirts here for the $10, and all the proceeds are going to the Gouverneur Breast Cancer Fund,” Mr. Bender said. “The COVID-19 really hurt their fundraising… So 95.3 The Wolf came up with this idea, and said: “Will you help us out with this?” And I said, “Hey, we support the Gouverneur Breast Cancer Walk too.”

Food trucks are also available on site. Nibbles Snackery of Rensselaer Falls has been on site to serve customers. Joining in October will be Nick and Amber Ormasen’s Cotton Candy N More. They will offer their usual menu along with the addition of hot cocoa and hot apple cider.

Mr. Bender also informed the Gouverneur Tribune Press that pumpkins were available from purchase. He said they came from Charlie Burt of Rowan’s Little Pumpkin Ridge in Gouverneur. The pumpkins have already attracted much attention from those who arrived to the Harvest Town Corn Maze in the past couple weeks.

Mr. Bender said he hopes that, as word spreads about the great activities offered to North Country families at Harvest Town Corn Maze, that this past weekend’s record attendance will be smashed. Don’t miss your chance to visit Harvest Town on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The time for the Haunted Hayrides on Saturday nights through October will be included in an upcoming edition of the Gouverneur Tribune Press when the information becomes available.

Ed. Note: Karl Bender is also the Owner/Professional Engineer at AOK Engineering, PLLC, in Gouverneur.

Pumpkins available for sale at Harvest Town Corn Maze, 1580 US-11, Gouverneur, on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Harvest Town Corn Maze mining tower stands tall at 1580 US-11, Gouverneur, welcoming all those who stop by the new venture, set forth by Owner Karl Bender of Gouverneur and is operated by his family. (Rachel Hunter photo)

North Country residents enjoyed the obstacle course at Harvest Town Corn Maze since their grand opening celebration. Pictured, a local youth enjoys running over the mine shaft and then through it. (Rachel Hunter photo)

The entrance of the Harvest Town Corn Maze. North Country residents can go through the maze in about 45 minutes, and the main trail is about three-quarters of a mile long. Owner Karl Bender said Harvest Town has a hayride plus a scavenger hunt and trivia in the maze. It is all included at $5 per person. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Local youth enjoying the glider ride at Harvest Town Corn Maze. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Local youths finishing the obstacle course at Harvest Town Corn Maze by shooting balls at the dragon. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Paving on village streets due Sept. 23-24

by Rachel Hunter

Paving is due to occur in the Village of Gouverneur on September 23 and 24, Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall at the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees Sept. 15 meeting. The first street to be paved will be Grove St.

“Two days will take care of it, right (Village of Gouverneur Department of Public Works Superintendent TJ Simmons)?”

“Oh yes,” Supt. Simmons said.

On Wednesday, Sept. 16 Supt. Simmons issue the following public notice: “The Village of Gouverneur, Department of Public Works, would like to advise our motoring public that on Wednesday, September 23rd, we will be paving Grove Street (From South Gordon Street to Pooler Street). On Thursday, September 24th, we expect to be paving on East Barney Street (From Clinton Street to North Gordon Street). Work will begin at 7:00 am and continue throughout the day. Of course, inclement weather will change this schedule. During these two days, throughout the day these streets may be shut down to thru traffic and only emergency vehicles will be allowed through. We apologize for any inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation.”

Village of Gouverneur Mayor Ron McDougall also at the village board meeting on Tuesday night reported the following: “Jaine Witherell has passed and she now has her full-fledged license. We’re very happy for her. We know it is not easy, and we appreciate somebody going after it. So that means that all three operators are now licensed.”

Supt. Simmons then provided the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees a run-down of some of the projects handled by the DPW during the month of August:

“We installed a new manhole on Bellevue St. to gain access to our sewer mains for flushing purposes,” Supt. Simmons said.

“We repaired a hydrant on East Main Street by G&R Auto that got struck by a vehicle over the weekend, and was not reported to the Gouverneur Police Department.

“We picked up Truck 16, which is our 1999 International from Vikings, after the new Proline Box was installed. They did a great job on it. They painted the frame while it was up there and stuff. It looks great.

Several days were spent marking out shutoffs for the GIS program for DANC.

Shared Service: The Village helped the Town to vac out the pump station so they could repair the pumps and floats in one of their stations. We helped the Town with the water break on the West Side, which they had many in the month of August. The Town helped us hot-patch several areas on North Gordon, East Barney, by the high school, Waid Street and John Street. We used 14 tons of blacktop to patch those areas.

“We dug up a sinkhole on East Barney by Clinton Street, and found that the catch basin pipe and basin needed to be rebuilt. We also found that sewer main was broken. We replaced the catch basin, an eight-foot section of sewer main.

“The DPW spent several weeks prepping for paving by rebuilding catch basins, manholes and replacing the boxes that needed to be repaired.”

At the conclusion of the report, Village of Gouverneur Deputy Mayor Charles Newvine asked: “The power plant – of course it is not on there, but it says that the KW produced is just 4,000. That’s kind of low, isn’t it?

Supt. Simmons responded: “It’s the flow of the river… We try to run it. Usually we start just one generator in the morning, and by 10:30, it’s down below the dam. And according to the FERC license, they would like us to maintain a minimum of two inches flowing over the dam during operation. So we haven’t been able to run it.”

Deputy Mayor Newvine then asked: “And you said that new milling machine is working pretty good, huh?”

“Yes, we received our milling machine. I picked it up at LeBerge and Curtis in Canton last Tuesday and it works amazing. Our machine handles it perfectly. It takes so much stress off the guys. We literally can do our own milling around our manholes and stuff. I think it is a great machine. It’s a nice piece of equipment.”

There were no further questions for Supt. Simmons following his report.

The next meeting of the Village of Gouverneur Board of Trustees is to be held on Tuesday, October 20, 6 p.m., in the municipal courtroom.

Giant pumpkins sought for weigh-in competition at 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival on Sept. 26

by Rachel Hunter

Attention pumpkin growers! Now is the time to look at those giant gourds and select the biggest for competition at the 2020 Pumpkin Festival! This past week, Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association Past President/ Director Lyle Hotis submitted photos of these possible “victims” for the pumpkin drop and guessing the weight contest. “I encourage anyone who has a big one to bring it to the weigh in on September 26,” Mr. Hotis said. “There is no cost to enter and the weight measurement is very accurate.”

Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association Past President/Director Lyle Hotis of Gouverneur shows off the “possible victims” considered for the Giant Pumpkin Drop and the Guessing the Weight Contest at the 9th Annual Pumpkin Fest to be held on the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 26. (photos provided by Dean Harper)

The 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival will be held at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. If you grew a giant pumpkin this year, this is your chance to compete for prize money for growing the largest pumpkin. The adult division pays $150 for 1st place, $100 for 2nd and $50 for third. The youth division pays $50 for 1st place, $25 for 2nd and $15 for third.  Pumpkins can be dropped off Friday afternoon or before 10 a.m. on Saturday morning.

As Fair President Beth Martin announced in an earlier edition of the Gouverneur Tribune Press, the big event of the day will be the Great Pumpkin Drop at 4:00 p.m. Tickets are available by contacting any Fair Board member. They are also available through the Gouverneur Chamber of Commerce. Watch Facebook for dates and times that they will be out around the community selling tickets before the event. Tickets are $5.00. 1st Prize - $500; 2nd Prize - $250 and 3rd Prize - $100.

“For those not familiar with this event, golf balls with corresponding ticket numbers are placed in a hollowed out giant pumpkin,” Fair President Beth Martin said. “A crane lifts the pumpkin as high as it can and then releases it. When it hits the ground, golf balls scatter in all directions! The golf ball that travels the farthest wins the big prize! The next two traveling the furthest win 2nd and 3rd prize respectively. This event can be viewed from your vehicle, or you can watch it on Facebook Live.”

The 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival will be held Saturday, September 26, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Gouverneur Fairgrounds. Crafters, Vendors and Flea Marketers from all over the north county can secure a spot for $25 for the day. Registration Forms can be found on our website at www.gouverneurfair.net.

Face Masks and all social distancing requirements will be adhered to. Food vendors will be on site as well. The Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Association directors will also be selling tickets to guess the weight of a giant pumpkin. This is a 50/50 contest. Children can also enter their name in a drawing to win pumpkins that have been donated.

Don’t miss your chance to participate in the 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival!

2020 census wrapping up with local canvassing

by Dan McClelland

The 2020 census officially concludes September 30 and in the weeks until then enumerators are working diligently in the North Country communities to get everyone counted by the finish line.

“September 30 is the last day that households can either self-respond, either online, over the phone or on paper and that's also the last day we'll knock on doors,” Jeff Behler, census spokesman, explained this week.

He said that when census workers go to anyone's door they always produce a photo identification, with their photo, an expiration date and the U.S. Department of Commerce water mark on it. The census is always conducted by that federal agency.

“Most carry a bag with their paper supplies in it and their smart photo, because that's how we collect the data!”

After interviewing the resident the census-takers then enter the data into their smart phone, he explained.

“They are also required to wear a mask when they are out in the public, regardless of what local restrictions may be!”

Mr. Behler stressed that mask-wearing is a requirement. “Whenever we learn of people not wearing them, we deal with those issues as we hear of them.”

He said things have gone relatively smoothly in this year's census. “There have been some issues like every census where someone points a gun at an enumerator” or makes other threats. “Some of these things typically happen every census!”

There have been some incidents in the North Country where people show up at a door and say they are with the census bureau and they don't produce the required ID.

“Now that we are door-knocking, this is when scams typically start...this is when people say: 'hey, I'm from the census bureau.'”

Mr. Behler said his agency alerts local authorities when that happens.

He said the questions on any census form are very simple. “Name, age, address, date of birth, race and ethnicity, whether or not you are of hispanic origin. We ask for a phone number, the person's sex, whether they own or rent their home and the relationship to the first person that is listed on the census form...mother, father, son, daughter.”

“Important things for people to know is we don't ask for citizenship status, for bank account information, for money, for social security numbers.” Mr. Behler said asking those questions are normally what happen if scams are underway.

“That should always raise a red flag that this is a scam” and the fake enumerator is a scammer.

If anyone feels they have been scammed or they just want to check out the process they can call the regional telephone number at (212) 8827100, he told the press.

“We'll do the leg work. We'll let you know if it's a legitimate survey. -And if it's a scam we immediately notify the local media, local law enforcement and notify all of our partners.” Those people include elected leaders, church officials, business owners, etc.

“We let everyone know there is a scam going on in their area so they can get the word out to everyone in their area,” Mr. Behler stressed.

He noted this is his third census and the numbers this time are better than in the past.

“We finished the 2010 census with a final self-response rate of 66.5%. That's one of our bench marks” of success. “That means that 33% of the people enumerated we had to go out and knock on the door to get their date.”

He explained when all numbers are tabulated, both self-responses and those who were interviewed by a census worker, they will get data from 100% of the addresses they are expected to canvass.

“Going into the 2020 census process several years ago, before we knew anything about COVID 19, we had predicted we would be at 60.5% at the time we would begin knocking on door.”

“We needed to know how many people we needed to recruit and hire and train. So we have to come up with an estimate” of self-responders.

He said that actual self-responders this time hit 63.5%- three points more than there initial estimate. “And this was before COVID.”

Asked if he was content with how everything in the census process has gone this time, Mr. Behler said he was. “I'm extremely pleased, especially with the self-response. I think we overachieved in a lot of areas. “Hiring has been excellent. We were worried after COVID struck. Would a lot of the people who applied eight months ago still be interested?

He noted initial recruiting began in October, 2018. “Some people could have applied that early.”

Mr. Behler said the start of this year's census was pushed back due to the pandemic. “The start of knocking on doors should have been May 13 and concluded July 31. But because of COVID we had to shift the start to August 9 and conclude September 30.

What type of person is a census enumerator? We asked.

Mr. Behler said it depends on the geographic area, but typically they are retired people, housewives, “any and all of the above.

He said many time the people who apply are recently retired. “This is a gig job...an eight-week job!”

“Some people just want to earn extra money. Where there are college campuses, a lot of times students apply because it's short-term employment.”

He said if his agency had been able to stick to its original schedule- May to July would have been perfect for students, since they are out of class then in the college year.

“This time we had student enumerators, but not as many as we typically would have had.”

“We had some people we hired who were no longer interested because of the schedule change or because of the COVID-19 scare itself.”

Some were genuinely concerned about meeting the public during this time and we understand that, he noted.

He said a typical enumerations takes between five and ten minutes, depending upon the number of people in the household who have to be interviewed. “On average it's five minutes for a family of four!”

One person can fill the census form out for their entire family, but everyone must be listed, he said of the process.

“We are basically taking a snap shot of the country,” who is living in America and where they live. “On April 1 2020 that's when we snap the camera.”

He said regardless of when the census form is completed, all questions relate to the April 1 date. “For example where did you live on April 1, 2020?”

Enumerators in the upstate region are paid $20 per hour.

“And the great things about these jobs are you choose the days and hours you work,” Mr. Behler stated.

“-And then we assign you work based up those choices. If you have a full-time job and just want to work for the census on evenings and weekends, you can be very successful!”

A person could easily work 20 hours a week for eight weeks and get the job done? “Absolutely,” he replied.

Why is it important that everyone gets counted in a census?

“It boils down to two things: representation. The number of seats the State of New York will have in the U.S. House of Representatives. The trend has been New York has lost seats because of population declines. While states like Texas and Florida, where populations are growing, gain Congressional seats.”

He said each state will use the census data to do their redistricting for drawing voting precincts, their school districts. He said local governments will use the data to determine boundaries for their legislative districts.

Mr. Behler said businesses typically use census data for the planning and marketing. “They want to grow where they know they will have a customer base and the abilitiy to hire employees.”

“When we talk about the distribution of federal fundings around the nation we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars each year.”

“Funding things like Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, WIC but also for fixing the nation's infrastructure: bridges, tunnels, roads, parks, community block development, etc.

Census data also determines, he said, how federal school meal grants are formulated, Title I grants, Headstart, Pel grants for college students. “One of the most things is health care, showing there are enough hospitals in communities, that there are enough beds in the hospitals, supplies they need, that there are enough fire stations, police departments, ambulances- all of those are based on formulas that will use 2020 census data.”

He explained that the 2020 census report will be a living document with statistics to guide the country for the next ten years.

“That's why it's so important to get the message out far and wide that everyone must be counted. The five minutes they take to complete the census is an investment in their futures for the next ten years.”

Mr. Behler directs the U. S. Census Bureau's New York district, one of six in the country. The New York district covers New York, New Jersey and Puerto Rico.

2020 Hammond Fair canceled

by Rachel Hunter

The Hammond Fair Association has decided to cancel the 2020 Hammond Fair amid the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. This year would have been the fair’s 81st anniversary.

The Hammond Fair Association announced the cancellation following considerable discussion, and the results of an interest survey by local 4-H and FFA members and their families. Fair Secretary Joan Hadlock said the Hammond Fair Association through the interest survey received about 50 percent positive and 50 percent negative responses about holding the 2020 Hammond Fair, and so after much discussion, it was decided to cancel the fair.

The Hammond Fair Association has announced that plans are underway for next year’s Hammond Fair which will be held at the fairgrounds in Hammond. Project that 4-H and FFA members were working on the be exhibited this year will be eligible at the 2021 Hammond Fair.

Started by a local agriculture teacher in the early 1900s, the Hammond Fair features the long tradition of developing local youth’s agricultural knowledge during the two-day country fair – featuring skills contests, livestock shows, vegetable and homemaking judging, and so much more. The youth assuredly will take the opportunity to fine-tune their skills and anticipate the Hammond Fair’s return in 2021!

More than 100 North Country students attend First UMC ‘s first drive-thru We’ve Got Your Back 2 School

Volunteers showcase the backpacks available at the Annual We’ve Got Your Back 2 School giveaway event, hosted by the First United Methodist Church of Gouverneur on Sunday, August 30. (Rachel Hunter photo)

by Rachel Hunter

The First United Methodist Church of Gouverneur hosted the North Country community at its 34 Grove Street location for its annual We’ve Got Your Back To School giveaway event on Sunday, August 30. Over 100 students in the North Country region were served during the event, encompassing the Gouverneur Central School District, Harrisville Central School District, Edwards-Knox Central School District, and Hermon-DeKalb Central School District.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, the annual event was organized by appointment with stations being set up in a drive-up style around the church. The efforts of many volunteers made the event possible. Social distancing was observed. Volunteers wore face masks, and hand sanitizer was available throughout the event.

Volunteers ready the school supply packets for community members at the Annual We’ve Got Your Back 2 School Giveaway at the First United Methodist Church of Gouverneur on Sunday, August 30. (Rachel Hunter photo)

School supplies were gathered in individualized packets, and brought to the community members vehicles as they arrived. At the next station, the community members were able to choose from a wide selection of backpacks. Also, toiletries and food was made available to all attendees.

Many contributions from community members and businesses made this event possible to help support local students during the upcoming 2020-21 school year.

Attention was also drawn during the event to the First UMC Blessing Box. This box (cabinet) is meant to provide non-perishable food items and toiletries for folks with an immediate need. Take what you need, give what you can, share the word if you know of someone who needs a little boost. You may add items to the box at any time, if the box is full you may drop items off at the church office (Monday – Friday, 9 AM – 1 PM) to replenish when supplies are low.

For more information on First United Methodist Church of Gouverneur, visit the church Facebook page or website gouverneurumc.org or call (315) 287-2440.

Annual St. James Golf Tournament a big swing for education

On Sunday, August 23rd, the Annual St James Golf Tournament was held at the Emerald Greens, 18-hole golf course on U.S. Highway 11, Gouverneur. It was a great turnout and success on a hot, summer day. There were 22 teams that came out to play and support St. James School, which has been opened since 1960 in the Gouverneur community and is a beacon of light for so many children and families. It was great to see some alumni of St. James School play in the tournament. The teams enjoyed a hotdog/water stop, spent time with friends and family, had a chance to win a Corona raffle drawing, 50/50 raffle, and enjoyed a steak dinner(steaks were cooked by Joe Pistolesi) and everyone had the opportunity to get a prize at the end.

The $1000 cash prize was split between male, female, and coed teams. The winners of the male team were the "Old Timers" made up of Dick Pitts, Brian Marsh, Carl Gifford, and Jeff Davison. The female team called themselves, Sisters Galore and was made up of Shelley Bush, Diane Easton, Dianne Lallier, and Michele Lallier. The co-ed team was the Bason/Frenyea team was made up of Wayne and Marie Frenyea, and Mike and Emily Bason.

Dan Baker had the longest senior's drive. Audra Schwelnus had the longest women's drive. And the longest drive for men was Terry Axtel, which was on hole 17. Closest to pin on hole 7 was won by Frank Bush for the men's division with 9 foot 1 inch. Marie Frenyea won the closest to the pin with 19 feet.

The Committee of Michelle Fuller, Bridgette LaPierre, Teresa Minckler, Mike Bason, and Ashley June would like to extend gratitude of those who supported this year's successful golf tournament. A total of over $10,000 was raised and we greatly appreciate the support and amazing turnout this year despite the effects the coronavirus has had on many.

GCS Superintendent answers community’s concerns ahead of 2020-2021 school year

by Jessyca Cardinell

Gouverneur Central School District Superintendent of Schools Lauren French shared information pertaining to the upcoming 2020-2021 school year. Mrs. French stated there were many posts on Facebook concerning the wearing of masks by students. She felt the need to go into detail with what is being expected with mask wearing.

“Gouverneur Central School will be providing three masks,” she said. “These are three cloth masks for each scholar and also for our staff. We had also been encouraged to allow students to wear the gators because there is a higher level of comfort. We do not have a revised guidance on that from the health department but many of you may be aware that the use of gators article was published by a medical study saying they are not an effective control mechanism.

“This is just another example of where we are moving forward with very purposeful action in terms of what we know with the time. Today we find out that they may not be as safe as once understood. We will be providing masks and we will wait on additional guidance on the gaiters.” said Mrs. French, who went on to say, “I do think what’s most important is that we focus on the fact that all our actions are in accordance with our concept of trying to make spaces in our educational environments as safe as possible for our scholars and our employees.” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French said this priority has brought up another topic that is of concern and importance.

“That is that all of our actions in cleaning of the buses, hallways, classrooms and teachers with masks and cleaning tough surfaces will not be beneficial or helpful if all of us aren’t doing our part,” she said. “All of us have to work in partnership with this and what you do at home and in the community and what our scholars do, any weak link in that chain of events or environment, will weaken what we are able to do here at school. That is something that we are taking as many precautions as we can and as I said to parents all along, I cannot guarantee the safety of your child, but we will most certainly do anything in our power and within our control in terms of cleaning, disinfecting, social distancing and health protocols,” said Mrs. French

The next topic was that many had brought up the Quarantine areas, which are being set up by Head Custodian Harold Simmons and Head Nurse Bev Martin.

“Those are in accordance with Department of Health guidelines. They have to be in a supervised area and isolated to the point we are not placing two, three or four students together and violating social distance. Please be aware of that,” said Mrs. French

Another question that has come in is asking what the protocol is for sending students home and then allowing them to return to school.

“Again, as of today, which is August 12th, the guidance that we have received is that a child that is sent home or that does have an elevated temperature needs to have medical paperwork to be able to return to school and has to have a clear COVID testing, again that’s guidance we have received from the Department of Health. People have asked, what are you going to do in terms of contacting families. We will be working with the Department of Health. I personally am not going to be made aware of Positive case unless a family member tells me or it is confirmed through the Department of Health and that’s the importance of contact tracing is so that I can say well this child was in this classroom and these are the families could have been potentially exposed. Then we will work individually with those families to make sure that all protocols are safely followed,” said Mrs. French.

“Several people asked how come we are doing the hybrid version of school where people are in for a couple of days then they are learning remotely. The reason for that, again, is we have to follow the guidelines for social distancing. When we map out our classrooms, most classrooms are not able to handle more than 12 students. We also have to take into an account a teacher being in a classroom and the potential of an aid or an additional teacher. We are actually maximizing classrooms if we are capable of having 12 students. In most cases, it will be ten and in some cases even fewer,” said Mrs. French.

Many people have also asked how the district is going to be sure about the cleanliness of the room.

“All soft touch items, upholstered furniture, stuffed teddy bears, manipulatives that are shared between and among students are going to have to be removed from the classroom. I am very proud of my teachers for coming up with solutions,” said Mrs. French, who was able to share some of those tremendous jobs done by teachers with this process.

“Mrs. Heather Delity, with our STEM is actually making individual kits for kids. This means instead of sharing gears and Legos back and forth. A student will have his or her own unique kit and be able to work with that,” said Mrs. French.

“We have talked about but I have not been able to confirm this yet with the art department, but we have talked about in the art department, students being given an art bag which would be their own pencil and drawing utensils, their paint brushes, their set of paints, their crayons, those kinds of items that you do not want to be co-mingled between students. A lot of effort has certainly gone into this. I had talked earlier about UV light on cleaning surfaces, only to find out later that schools cannot use ultraviolet radiation or ultraviolet light sources as a mechanism for cleaning these frequently handheld items,” said Mrs. French, who stated another idea of using sanitizing cupboards is not in regulation for public schools.

Mrs. French said the district is open to any other community led ideas which she said were great and had wonderful intentions behind them.

“We’re talking about hybrid learning and that hybrid meaning combination. So we are going to have face to face interactions two days a week for the majority of our scholars. Remote learning opportunities will be for the other three days. Many people have asked what does remote look like,” said Mrs. French.

“This will include a variety of things including reading tasks and writing tasks. Our teachers have actually spoken about making videos that students can observe. Teachers themselves making videos that would explain content, other assignments and things as appropriate to specifically target a standard or learning outcome we want a student to have,” said Mrs. French

She explained that most of the remote learning will be done at a different time from when the classroom learning is happening. This would help to alleviate some of the stress and confusion off of teachers and students.

There will be opportunity where the students and teachers would benefit from a simultaneous remote and classroom learning. This Mrs. French explained would be for older students. It would provide an experience much like college learning with a professor.

Mrs. French explained that there are so many different circumstances and situations which need to be looked at and which will determine the best solution for each family and each learning experience and option this coming school year.

“Our number one focus and most important aspect is to limit the amount of exposure,” she said. “We can do that by controlling the number of scholars in the building at any one time. We do that by controlling how close they are to one another in the building. We do that by controlling the amount of cleaning that takes place. We do that by controlling the presence of a mask and we do that by controlling the exchanges that potentially occur in a hallway. That is our number one task and priority to focus on. The second is to provide equable learning opportunity to all scholars.”

“In looking at our first goal which is limiting contact and limiting exposure, followed by quality instructional programming, we felt we were best able to do that with a smaller number of students with one teacher and then providing access to quality resources online that a student could manage with family at a time that is convenient to the dynamics in the special circumstances in place.

On remote learning days when a scholar is at home, we’re going to be asking scholars to check in with teachers in a variety of ways. We are asking our individual buildings to communicate that check in mechanism with the family. The reason I say this is I have heard some really exciting ideas. At the elementary, teachers mentioned to me they would like to have a group morning meeting to help with the sense of community and family we want to build.

“We’d really like on the remote days for those children to still check in with us at a synced manner. So at one time we are all on the camera seeing each other and checking in. The model at the Elementary might look different at the Middle School, where I know several teachers have spoken about their advisory to have a daily check in during advisory to continue to maintain those relationships which I’m finding right now are more important than the information. It’s the people with whom I get to meet every day. That’s more important right now is the sense of community and family that we can provide our young scholars,” said Mrs. French who stated that each school building has been asked to share those expectations with the scholars.

St. Lawrence County Holstein Club hosts 2020 show at Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County fairgrounds

by Rachel Hunter

Noah MacDonald of Elm-Dell Farm in Richville showing at the 2020 St. Lawrence County Holstein Show. He won the Master Showman award. (Rachel Hunter photo)

The 2020 St. Lawrence County Holstein Club Show was hosted at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds at the Harry Parow Show Ring on Thursday, August 13.

Spectators arrived throughout the day to see the high-quality dairy cattle get evaluated. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, all those gathered were encouraged to wear facial coverings and abide by all local and health recommendations while in attendance.

The 2020 SLC Holstein Club Show judge was Adam Liddle, who owns and operates Liddleholme Farm in Argyle, N.Y., with his wife, Nicole, and children, Anthony, Brock and Hailee. Liddle developed an appreciation for deep pedigrees and show types by working as a herdsman for PamTom Farm, Reid’s Dairy and Ridgedale Farm prior to purchasing his farm and developing his own herd. His 75-cow milking herd has an elite breed age average of 110.7% and a lactation average of 22,000 lb. of milk. Liddleholme cattle have earned numerous All–New York and Junior All–New York awards, as well as nominations for All-American and Junior All-American recognition. Liddle serves on Expo’s Dairy Cattle Show Committee and is a director of the Tri-County Holstein Club. He’s judged many shows, including the Northeast Fall National, All-American Junior Show, Western National Spring Show and Wisconsin State Fair Junior Show. In 2008, he was the associate judge of Expo’s International Holstein Show.

All those in attendance were impressed with the high-quality Holsteins that were entered from dairy cattle farms all around New York State.

Full results will be published once they are made available to the Gouverneur Tribune Press.

Junior member holds a Holstein heifer’s head high during the 2020 SLC Holstein Show at the Gouverneur St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds on Thursday, August 13. (Rachel Hunter photo)

2020 SLC Holstein Club Show Judge Adam Liddle talks to LouAnne King of Midas-Touch Genetics and her grandson, Simon, about the heifer in the showring. (Rachel Hunter photo)

2020 SLC Holstein Club Show Judge Adam Liddle talking with exhibitors about the heifer they were showing. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Exhibitors position their dairy cattle in the show ring for the judge as he makes his final determinations in the class. (Rachel Hunter photo)

2020 SLC Holstein Club Show Judge Adam Liddle looks over the dairy cattle in a class in the Harry Parow show ring at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Junior exhibitor looks her Holstein heifer in the eye as she leads it around the Harry Parow show ring during the 2020 Holstein Club Show at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds on Thursday, August 13. (Rachel Hunter photo)

Keeping eyes on the judge, exhibitors were astute to follow the judge’s directions around the show ring during the 2020 SLC Holstein Club Show on Aug. 13. (Rachel Hunter photo)

More showmanship action at the 2020 St. Lawrence County Holstein Club Show in Gouverneur. (Rachel Hunter photos)

More showmanship action at the 2020 St. Lawrence County Holstein Club Show in Gouverneur. (Rachel Hunter photos)

More showmanship action at the 2020 St. Lawrence County Holstein Club Show in Gouverneur. (Rachel Hunter photos)

USDA Food Box Distribution hosted at Gouverneur Community Center

by Rachel Hunter

North Country community members started getting in line for the USDA Food Box Distribution Program as early as 6:15 a.m. on Thursday, August 6 on State Highway 58 in front of the Gouverneur Community Center.

The free event was open all with no registration necessary. Staff and volunteers were on-hand to provide curbside pick-up of family style food boxes. Families received a total of three boxes – including a box of frozen meats, a box of produce and a box of dairy products. North Country community member were informed that products would be provided while they lasted, and the program would end when all products have been distributed.

The USDA Food Box Distribution Program is part of the Federal COVID-19 Food Assistance Program. The program is intended to purchase surplus commodities to assist farms and food businesses while making products available for free to those suffering from the economic impacts of the pandemic. This specific event is made possible by the work of the Gouverneur Community Center, Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County, the Gouverneur Neighborhood Center and GardenShare. Local distributors, such as Renzi Foodservice, deliver the products to non-profit partners who manage distribution to local families and individuals.

While no early arrivals were requested, distribution commenced in advance of the 10 a.m. start time. Town of Gouverneur Supervisor Dave Spilman, Jr. reported to the Town of Gouverneur Council at its Aug. 11 meeting that the Renzi Foodservice truck arrived at 8:30 a.m.

“We had a bunch of great volunteers,” Supervisor Spilman said. “They got it all unloaded in a half-hour, 45 minutes. At 9:15 a.m., we started handing out and it was all gone before 10 a.m. They got 20 pounds of frozen meat, 20 pounds of produce, and 20 pounds of dairy. It really went well. I had some disappointed people that showed up at 10 a.m. And I was warned that this is how this happens from the lady that does it every week up in Edwards… She does it a 5 p.m. at night, and has people lining up at 2 p.m. But it was a great turnout. We helped a lot of people, and I want to thank all the volunteers who came down and helped – and Cornell Cooperative Extension, I can’t say enough about them. Hopefully we’ll be able to do another one in the future.”

Town of Gouverneur Supervisor Dave Spilman Jr. and Cornell Cooperative Extension of St. Lawrence County Executive Director Patrick Ames started turning away vehicles on State Highway 58 at 9:59 a.m. The last box was distributed in front of the Gouverneur Community Center at about 10:15 a.m. The speed at which these USDA food boxes were distributed showcases the incredible need for such programs in the Gouverneur community. It was through the dedicated volunteer support of many St. Lawrence County agencies and local community members that made this event possible. Much gratitude was extended to the volunteers as the motorists made their way through the curbside pickup lines.

According to Supervisor Spilman, about 340 to 360 USDA Food Box Distributions were made available to the North Country at the Gouverneur Community Center, 4673 State Highway 58, Gouverneur, NY.

First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur commences Fruit Bags Program with ENF grant funding

The First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur Fruit Bags Program had its first distribution on Wednesday, July 29. The bags were packed in the basement of the First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur. From left: Volunteers Susie Spilman, Carol Amberg, Terry Streeter are pictured with the packed bags that are tagged and ready for distribution. The bags are resting on the picnic tables that were recently built and made available for the North Country community members to use. (Rachel Hunter photo)

by Rachel Hunter

The First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur on Wednesday, July 29 distributed the first round of “Fruit Bags” to shut-ins and senior citizens in the Gouverneur community. This was made possible due to the generosity of a $1,700 grant distributed from the Elks National Foundation to the First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur by the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035. Its purpose? To serve community members – especially senior citizens – in need during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.

A selection of fruit, including such fruit as peaches, apples, oranges, bananas, plums, nectarines, and clementines, were put in paper bags. A tag with an explanation of the program along with one of four Bible verses was included (I John 4:11, Psalm 133:1, Proverbs 17:17, and Galations 6:2). Volunteers who assisted in putting the bags together included Jim Mosher, Terry Streeter, Carol Amberg, Barb Laidlaw, Joe Laurenza, Judy Brown, and Susie Spilman.

A total of $244.84 was spent on the first round of the Fruit Bag Program, and a total of 70 people throughout the Gouverneur community received the Fruit Bags.

Seniors citizens throughout the Gouverneur community received the Fruit Bags, including those who were shut-in, and those at Cambray Court and Kilkarney Court.

Much gratitude is extended to the Gouverneur Elks Lodge No. 2035 for making this program through the $1,700 ENF grant.

The First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur also invites the North Country community to enjoy sitting at the picnic tables in front of the church building. Organizer Susie Spilman said the idea to build and position a couple picnic tables under the tree’s shade when church members spotted that several motorists had their cars parked along Church St. and were eating their lunches in their vehicles. She supervised the project, while the pressure treated wooden tables were assembled by Teddy Markwick and Kyle Spilman. The project took a couple hours to complete, but now the First Presbyterian Church of Gouverneur hopes the community will make good use of the tables in the future.

GCSD Board of Education discusses re-opening plan

by Jessyca Cardinell

The Gouverneur Central School District Board of Education met for their monthly meeting at the Gouverneur Central Middle School on the evening of Monday, August 3rd. Everyone was welcomed to watch the meeting via Facebook Live, a safe alternative during this confusing time of COVID-19 Pandemic

A major topic of discussion was the upcoming 2020-2021 school year, which is in the works of becoming a functioning plan to assist the Gouverneur Central School District families, staff and students.

“At this time, we are sharing Gouverneur Central School District’s reopening plan, approximately 80 pages worth of work, this was accomplished by a team of fifty-seven people with over three hundred people in the community providing input. A good thing to note is this is a working document, it’s a live document as we find out more information and collect more questions in the community. We will address those and redesign the plan with the given information we know about,” said Mrs. French

“What is very difficult is it’s like a chicken and the egg type story, do you put the plan out and then get feedback or do you get feedback first and then make the plan. So what we have done is with the 57 individuals that have volunteered to sit on this and with the comments we got from the community we are putting an initial draft and then we will be looking at feedback,” said Mrs. French as she went over the drafted item.

“The survey is basically going to be asking parents to make a commitment and that is, here is the plan we are looking at, here is the commitment we need from you. What is it and where is the disconnect? What is the connection between what your family needs and the school?” said Mrs. French. “Basically what we have done is divide the student population in half with the letters of the alphabet A-K and L-Z. There are 808 students in the first half of the alphabet and 838 students in the second portion of the alphabet. Those students will be placed in their grade appropriate classrooms. What that will enable us to do is to socially distance all of our scholars. The average classroom can hold about ten students. When you look at the elementary, I don’t want to say easy, because none of this will be particularly easy, but it will be easy for us to hold students in groups of about ten in the elementary. This enables them to be socially distanced and they will also be wearing masks during this time. Classrooms will have their encores pushed in so that students will be limited to exposure and there won’t be as many opportunities for our scholars to be mixing with different groups of children. This would mean music would be pushed in, PE will be pushed in, this way our scholars will be pretty much a group of nine or ten other students with their teacher and about one or two other push in teachers,” said Mrs. French.

She shared exciting news that meals can be served in homes, the school is looking into being able to provide meals in bags for students to be take home and enjoy.

“Another thing we’ve looked into is in order to litigate congestion in the hallways, we have designated certain doorways as UPK and Kindergarten doorway, a 1st and 2nd grade doorway and a 3rd and 4th grade doorway,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French shared that the bussing situation will also provide social distancing for students, as 61% of the school population uses the bus as transportation to and from school. This amounts to approximately 360, however this will be separated in half to about 160 students and separate doorways.

Mrs. French stated that students with be based in small groups, limited interaction and socially distancing int the classroom, providing a safer atmosphere. The School District will also be looking for ways to help assist families seeking childcare.

“With families coming with by the letter of their last name, the entire family will be coming into school and leaving a 1st or 2nd grader home while an older sibling is at school. That jumps to the next step which indicates we will be going back to a single bus run, students will be picked up on a single trip and they will be taken home on a single trip.” said Mrs. French, who explained why this would be more effective.

“When we looked at how much time it would take to clear a bus and clean a bus and then letting the bus sit in a resting stage while the disinfectant has time to work, which is a good chunk of time, then send that bus back out to get another bus run of students, there’s no way we could get all students into a seven hour day. It will be a single run A-K, what we are looking at is Monday and Tuesday will be A-K, Wednesday will be a remote day and Thursday and Friday will be L-Z,” said Mrs. French.

“Another thing we have indicated is we will certainly work with families who have blended families.” said Mrs. French, this would mean those families with two last names who are not in the same group would still get to attend school at the same time. This would also be helpful as families do not have to social distance on the buses.

This Mrs. French stated is the reason for the second survey, a way to get a closer look at what families need.

Mrs. French went over the various options that they are looking for feedback on, including parents who are interested in remote learning only, meaning their student would acquire attendance through a remote platform.

“We are also looking at a hybrid modeling your student is in two days a week and then three days a week with remote learning included. We are also looking at students who are self-contained and get outside serves including speech and P.T. The things that we cannot send people who provide those services to individual homes. Those students are in classes of eight or less so we can actually meet their needs here at school and again keep the environment as safe as possible,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French stated that is the purpose of the survey, to figure out which model of learning parents are most interested in their students receiving. Whether that be the hybrid model which includes in school learning as well as remote learning from home, or if the preferred model would be a completely remote learning experience from home.

When it comes to masks, there has been a great debate and concern about this.

“Right now, the medical opinion is that they wear their mask 100% of the time in school.” said Mrs. French, who expressed more input from the community would be really appreciated on this plan in the works.

The survey will be put out through the GCSD Wildcats Facebook Page. If there is no response from Facebook, there is a team of 20 people who will be calling families in order to ensure that there is 100 percent participation opportunity for the survey.

“I do understand it is very hard to put a survey out on Facebook because you have populations of people who do not have access to quality technology, which is why we will do a check off, the survey will be due by Friday, as it is going Live tomorrow at 11 a.m. On Friday, if we do not have a response then we will start triaging those names between the twenty people who have volunteered to collect the data. Family engagement should be very constant,” said Mrs. French, who gave Nurse Bev Martin and Harold Simmons credit for being substantial in knowledge of health and safety.

The school district is looking at hands free hand sanitizer dispensers to help with controlling and eliminating contamination. The air flow meets the safety concerns and regulations in the Middle School and Elementary, which is wonderful news. The High School needs to a closer look to make some changes.

“There are all sorts of things we are going to have to be doing in terms of taking trainings and so Bev Martin has to do hygiene and respiratory health and mask wearing.” said Mrs. French, who stated that Mrs. Martin is in fact making videos to help with education in these areas.

Parents will be asked to take their child’s temperature every morning before sending them to school as a precaution to ensure that no sick children are sent to school.

“We are purchasing three cloth masks for every teacher and every student. They will be washable so they can go home and be laundered. If a student comes to school and has forgotten their mask, they will be given a disposable mask for the day. The district is looking at ways in providing students with breaks from wearing the masks in safe manner.

Social distancing will require us to be careful of the exchange in the hallways. Students are pretty much going to be delegated to certain areas of the school.

We have no resolved lunch yet. Some of the other schools with whom I’ve spoken are actually taking the extra time and are setting up in the gymnasium and social distancing lunch that way.” said Mrs. French, who again stated these areas really need some feedback from families and staff so the school is prepared with what the community would like to see and what would make them feel comfortable. Gouverneur Elementary is looking at lunches being held in individual classrooms.

Parent pick-up is another avenue that needs to be explored.

“We are working with bussing 61% of students, we are also looking for parent commitment transport because we might actually be able to do bus runs differently,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French explained the concern with splitting half days with various running around from parents as they try to keep up with the differing schedules if they have multiple children who all go to different schools in the District. It could cause a lot of chaos, confusion and frustration.

Mrs. French said details like one staircase is for going up and one for going down is being looked at to lessen the possibility of contamination in the High School.

“We’ve set up restricted areas in terms of someone comes to school and doesn’t feel well. That child is set up in an isolation room. That is something we have to set up under certain perimeters. With testing we have different sources available where testing can take place. What we have to do in what order and how long. This is probably going to be one of the biggest areas in Gouverneur as far as compliance. I think it is very important that people understand why we are doing what we are doing.

Right now we are limiting when teachers and support staff can come in the building. The reason for that is, if I come into the building and I turn out to test positive for COVID, and I used the faculty lounge to do some xeroxing and I went to the bathroom and into the kitchen to get water out of the cooler and then went into my classroom; then someone later on followed some of my same patterns and touched surfaces that I may have touched, if we don’t know who’s been there, we can’t accurately trace the individuals that were there after me. It’s going to be very important that we know when people arrive at the building, are in the building and leave the building,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French stated that work is aggressively being done so teachers have the ability to set up their classrooms and get ready for the upcoming school year. This includes getting rid of items no longer allowed that have potential to spread the virus.

Mrs. French stated that many items will have to be thoroughly gone through including toys, calculators and items that are frequently handled and touched.

The school district is looking at UV cabinets to store items so they can be disinfected properly and used again.

Mrs. French stated that food is vital to be provided and students will be able to take home their lunch for the portion of the week they are not at school.

“Probably the biggest concern not only for teachers and administrators but for families as well is the social, emotional well-being of each scholar. This is not an easy situation to be in, so we have counseling planned, we have the trauma team and social workers. Our staff has been generating

“We are giving parents the opportunity to look at this and say to themselves, what best meets the needs of our family, our scholars and the resources we have. They will then make a commitment on the survey as that comes out. If no one responds to this survey on Facebook, we figure it would take each one of us making 78 phone calls. We know we will have a lot of good response from people,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French stated in conclusion,

“Do parent have a choice? Yes they do,” said Mrs. French.

She went over what had been stated previously, “Letters of the last name, A-K and L-Z in terms of what days they come in on. We will work with blended families to put in one group. We will provide transportation; however these are going to be commitments. They are not going to be opt in or opt out, we cannot do that when we have to socially distance kids,” said Mrs. French.

Mrs. French explained she really needed the Board of Education to have the opportunity to listen to the information and ask questions pertaining to the reopening of school for the 2020-2021 school year.

Mrs. Laurie Roberts, GCSD Board of Education Member, asked about those families who do not have thermometers at home and are unable to obtain one.

Mrs. French stated the school is looking into helping those families out and providing them with the thermometer to use to ensure everyone is checked daily.

The District is also required to social distance during fire drills, ensuring students stay the six feet apart. The one circumstance where this will not be necessary is in the case of a real fire. This will also be the case for shelter in place drills, the students will be socially distancing, unless there is an actual real threat.

When it comes to remote learning Mrs. French said that dependent on grade level it will look very different.

High School students will have a work level more closely related to college students, while younger grades will have less expectations on them and more interactive.

The District has been looking into a way to work with families to make the work at home less stressful than the period from March to June this past school year. Many parents were concerned it was too much busy work and Mrs. French and the staff at Gouverneur Central are looking into ways to alleviate this concern. Offering more fun and different looking models and experiences, as they now have more time to plan such learning.

As the meeting continued many areas are being discussed and looked into to make the most of this upcoming school year with the circumstances as they are. The District has many strict guidelines to follow and is doing their best execute and effective plan.

All parents are asked to participate in the survey as to give the Gouverneur Central School District a better grasp on what exactly will work the best for families and students to ensure a successful school year for all.

Thirst of the Dead: Gouverneur native authors, plays lead zombie in short horror film to air in over 60 countries this October

by Rachel Hunter

Gouverneur native Gregory French in all of his zombie makeup as the lead zombie in “Thirst of the Dead.” (photo courtesy of Coastal Independent Films)

There is not much to celebrate during a zombie apocalypse – but when five friends stumble across a rare commodity (a six-pack of beer) their celebration leads to some trouble. That was the premise of a short film, “Thirst of the Dead,” written by Gouverneur native Gregory French, and produced by Coastal Independent Films, Myrtle Beach, SC.

In an interview with the Gouverneur Tribune Press, Gregory French told how he got the idea for the film: “There’s a product out there that is a metal beer koozie that holds a beer bottle, but also has a lid that screws on and keeps it from spilling. I use it all the time. It is one of my favorite things, because I burn a lot of beer… and so I was using that and somehow it got knocked off of my end table onto my cement patio. I picked it up and the beer inside was still good. None had spilled. The bottle was not broken, and I was like: “Wait a second. This gives me a really neat idea for a commercial for these guys.”

“So I came up with a zombie apocalypse and there is some survivors that are searching through a convenience store for whatever and they find a six-pack of beer. They are celebrating because beer is like a commodity in the post-apocalyptic zombie world, I’m sure. So when you find it, you have to celebrate the little things. So they are hanging out, celebrating, and the lead guy. He has his in one of these bottle holders – and all of a sudden they are making too much noise celebrating and a zombie comes in and kind of knock over all their beers and they all break except for the one that was in the container. That was the idea I pitched to them for the commercial, but nothing ever came of it.

So maybe for or five years later, we formed Costal Independent Films, my film production company. We were pitching ideas, and it just pops back into my head. Hold on a second, I got an idea for a commercial that I was working on. It might be what we are after. So I went home and developed a script based on the zombies and beer type of thing and turned it from a 30-second commercial into the movie that became Thirst of the Dead. It’s got a lot more parts than the zombie knocking over the beer…”

“Thirst of the Dead” by Coastal Independent Films won the 2020 Homegrown Horror Award at the Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest in Charleston. (photo courtesy of Coastal Independent Films)

Formed in July 2019, the group of passionate filmmakers at Coastal Independent Films, were looking for creative ideas. And by September 2019, a group formed and started pre-production work on “Thirst of the Dead.” Usually a month-long process of meticulous planning, it took the group less than a month. And the filming which can take weeks, took place in one day – October 13.

The filming took place on 30-acres of rural land on the outskirts of Myrtle Beach owned by one of the production team members. “He had a small house on it, and at the time he was building another room, so that’s where we filmed because it looked like we were able to take the unbuilt room and put some set dressing on it to make it look like a broken-down building,” French said. “There was already a lot of boxes from construction and stuff, so we needed to make it look like the scavengers were finding stuff to look through and find cans of food or whatever. So that was good, but his property has some pretty heavily wooded areas but also has this nice open field. There is a dirt road, gravel path, and it also has this beautiful stream with really calm water where it goes into a waterfall. And so staying in that one place, we were able to get a lot of different environments and make it look like they were on this epic journey – traveling miles and miles when really we were just turning the camera around… We were all within the same 30-acre area.”

Gregory French said his experience on the set of “The Walking Dead” allowed him to play a convincing zombie – and to teach others to do the same.

“We had an open call for all the zombie extras,” he said. “I was the only one we knew was going to be a zombie. We had an open casting call for other zombies, and we had a whole bunch of other people come in and I had to teach them, like, how to be a real zombie, Walking Dead- style zombie. We didn’t want it to be hokey. If a zombie film is not done the right way, it can look kind of cheesy and hokey and the makeup can be kind of ehhh… but we wanted it to be as good as The Walking Dead zombies with The Walking Dead makeup. We want the people who watch this to be like totally blown away that a totally non-Walking Dead group could pull off this level of performance and material and everything. I think we nailed it.”

Coastal Independent Films also had some help from Sean Krumholtz of RedHouse FX.

“I met him through The Walking Dead,” French said. “Through Season Three, Season Four, they were sending me to different places for Walking Dead pictures and autographs and whatever. I was at a (charity event called) a Zombie Run.. and I kept seeing this really good zombie makeup coming through. And so I asked five or six people with just this amazing makeup, “Who is doing your makeup?” I don’t remember what he said he was doing, computer engineer or something, and I was like, “No, I am going to put you in touch with some people. You need to be doing this… and now, this is what he does. He is a professional makeup artist… He’s that good. So when we decided to do Thirst of the Dead, I knew he was the guy that I wanted to do my makeup. I knew there was going to be some closeup shots of my face or whatever – and I wanted him to do it. He worked on the makeup he was going to do for me for two months.”

Gregory French got in the makeup chair at 5 a.m. on October 13 and four-hours later had transformed into the lead zombie for the Thirst of the Dead film.

“It seems like a long time, but being on The Walking Dead – that’s a typical day. You show up at 5 a.m. You sit in a chair, and you let them work on you, and then three hours later, you look in a mirror and you don’t recognize who you are.

“And that’s one of the things, strange enough, that a lot of people can’t handle… there’s different levels of makeup on The Walking Dead. If you are going to be featured and you are going to be all up in the camera, you are in the makeup chair for a long time – and it is very claustrophobic. It’s hard to breathe. We film all summer long it Atlanta, so it is super hot, sweaty. A lot of time they put dental implants in, so you can’t close your mouth all day… and a typical day is 12-16 hours in the makeup. And if you are going to be a super-feature, they put contact lenses in, and these lenses they are cataract lenses… so you cant see anything. It’s very claustrophobic. A lot of the guys are like, this is pretty cool, but then at the end of a couple hours are like, “Okay, this sucks. Get me out of here...” They start freaking out. There is a core of us that they use over and over and over because for some reason, it doesn’t bother us at all… and we can still give a really convincing performance acting in this hot, sweaty makeup without needing to take too many breaks and crying because it hurts or whatever.”

“Thirst of the Dead,” a 13-minute film won the 2020 Homegrown Horror Award at the Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest in Charleston. A few days later, Mr. French, the film’s writer and lead zombie, heard from Shorts TV, an international television channel. They wanted to buy the rights to the film and air it in over 60 countries.

“I got an email from them,” Gregory French said. “I was out camping in the woods when I got it, so I had like spotty cell coverage anyway. So I got an email… One of the directors of Thirst of the Dead, his daytime job is a lawyer, so I told him about it. So I told him to look it over. He said, “Dude, this is legit. This is real.” So then we finally got our contract signed and their contract signed and everything sent to them...

“We had to do a whole behind-the-scenes bumper for this that they will air before the film. On their channel, they will have like the filmmakers spotlight, and it will talk about like making the film, and so we had to do a whole sit-down interview with like the crew. So I did one as the writer, the two directors were there, the cameraman, the sound-guy – and we all did our own thing. It was like its own production all in its own, coming up with what we were going to do for that. So they said it was going to air around the October timeframe, around Halloween, which makes sense because it is horror. It is not really horror. It is a lighthearted zombedy… The way it is written and filmed, you don’t know it is a comedy until the funny stuff happens. It looks very scary at first, and then you’re like, “Wait a second, did that really just happen?” And then it goes back to being serious again… It sets the hook by that first funny thing that happens, and then it just takes you along for the rest of the ride...”

“Thirst of the Dead” is set to air on Shorts TV in October, just in time for Halloween. You can find it in a variety of places, including DirecTV(Channel 573), AT&T U-Verse (Channel 1789), AT&T TV NOW, Google Fiber (Channel 603), Frontier Communications (Channel 789) and Hotwire (Channel 560). For more information, visit: shorts.tv/en/

Gregory French also informed the Gouverneur Tribune Press that he got his directorial debut on The Vegetarian, which will come out on Labor Day. It was filmed it mid-March, and it is still in post-production.

“I had never directed before,” he said, explaining that Coastal Independent Films provides the opportunity to learn from the best in the film production industry. “I had no idea what I was doing. There’s a lot that goes into it. You don’t just show up and say action. You have to have the vision. You have to control people, and tell the actors like, “Okay, I like what you are doing here but do it this way instead, and bring that out of them, but also leading up to it… all the pre-production things, you have to know which cameras you have to use, which lenses the cameras need to use, and where you need the camera focused, and everything the camera is going to see has to be planned out before we get on set… and I had no idea that is what a director did. I just thought they showed up and said, “Okay, you go over here, action.” And there is a lot more to it, and I learned from Paul (Inman) one of the guys who directed the Thirst of the Dead, he taught me the whole process, helped me to get my whole shot lists and everything. I’m learning a lot. I’ve never edited before, so I am starting to get into that, but there’s a lot that goes into that than I can possibly learn in a year.”

Gregory French’s acting talents are no stranger to the Gouverneur community. He got his start on the Gouverneur High School stage when he was a fifth grader, when he took on the role as Louis in the “King and I.”

“I had no idea what I was doing, but I guess Mary Lou Scott, the musical director at the time, knew they needed a kid and asked my mom – and said, “Yeah, I’ll ask him.” Of course, I could sing and do all that stuff when I was a kid and so I auditioned and the next thing I know I am up there on stage. And then I was in every musical since fifth grade until I graduated. I always loved performing. I love being in front of people. I love the applause. I don’t know why. It is just who I am. So that really got me started.”

After graduation, Gregory French joined the US Air Force, and served during Operation Desert Storm. “While in the military, I was in different acting groups and such at different stations. If there wasn’t one, I’d start one at whatever base I was on.” He then moved to Myrtle Beach, SC to attend Coastal Carolina University for Marine Science and got a job at the Dixie Stampede. One of the emcees was leaving, so I told the head of production there, “Hey, I would like to audition… I had been there for a couple years already and I had the show memorized, because you hear it every night. The only thing I couldn’t do was ride a horse, and the whole show was on horseback. So I went and took some horseriding lessons… the one who trained all the riders. He lived right down the street from me… and so, I spent a couple weeks learning how to ride a horse so I could look like I knew what I was doing. So when I auditioned, “They were like, “Holy crap, man! Yeah. Hired!” So I was the Master of Ceremonies. There’s two roles that person does… one night I would be the master of ceremonies out there leading the show and singing on the horseback and doing all that stuff, and on nights that I wasn’t that, I’d be the comedian… It was a lot of fun. I’ve always tried to find something new where I could be in front of people.

“And then I was playing in a rock band here in town and a guitar player from my band he makes local commercials. He’s in advertising. So every once-in-a-while he’ll have me do voice-overs for a radio spot or whatever, because I do a lot of voices and impressions also. One day, he was like, “I need someone to be on camera. Are you interested?” And I was like, “Yeah man, whatever, I’ll do it.” That commercial still plays every year around football time because it is the football team’s commercial – and it’s been 10 years and it is still playing, because it is that good of a commercial. Once he saw what I could do on camera, anytime he needed something for a commercial, “Hey man, you’re my go-to.” So I started doing a lot of commercials with him – and it started out as no pay or only like $6 because it was just as a favor to him. But then we were on a really big commercial for one of the resorts here, and so he brought in actors from all over the southeast… and that’s what the professional job was, acting. And he kept using me for all these shots. And all these other actors were like, “You’re good, man. Where do you get training? Who is your agent?” And I was like, “I am just helping him out. He is a friend of mine.” And they were like, “Wow, you should look at doing this more professionally than what you are doing… because your talents are being wasted doing what you are doing.” And I was like, “Oh man, I appreciate that.” So I made some contacts and realized that the Southeast is one of the hotspots for TV and movies...”

Gregory French has been featured on TV programs including "The Walking Dead" and "Under the Dome" and has had small parts in several movies such as "Spiderman: Homecoming", "Iron Man 3", "Parental Guidance", and "We're the Millers." He also enjoys the Indie Film world, where he has earned starring roles in movies such as the horror film, "The Legend of 7 Toe Maggie," and the military comedy, "Weekend Warriors." Greg has now added "Stunt Performer" to his resume after completing several stunt training classes, and is looking forward to his career as a Stunt Actor. Gregory is represented by Reel Sisters Talent out of Wilmington, NC.

Gregory French is looking forward to upcoming project with Costal Independent Films.

On Wednesday, August 5 he announced that Coastal Independent is producing a Stephen King film.

“They give us a Stephen King story – one of his short stories to develop a script out of and then film it, and we got approval for everything so far, so now we are in pre-production on a Stephen King film… We are really stoked about that. But not only that, we are starting on our next projects… so we have about two years worth of films already lined up. We’re just pumping it out. We’re trying to do one film every two months with shorter films in between. Most places will do like one film every six to eight, maybe 10 months, some only one film every year… so we are kicking them out here.”

Coastal Independent Film premieres "SHOTS! A Guy Walks Into A Bar" this week and "The Vegetarian" on Labor day. Follow them on Facebook and Youtube.