Entries sought for gingerbread contest
CANTON — Beginner and expert gingerbread-house makers are invited to enter Traditional Arts in Upstate New York's annual Sugar & Spice contest; the entry deadline is noon Dec. 2.

Structures must be made of gingerbread baked from scratch and must be entirely edible. Entrants are encouraged to create a replica of a local landmark, though all styles are welcome.

Categories are: children under 14; youth groups such as scouting, church organizations and 4-H; and adults.

The "Sugar & Spice" exhibit will open Saturday, Dec. 5, with judging and awards that day during Traditional Arts' Holiday Open House. All entries must remain on display throughout the exhibit, which goes through Dec. 22.

Pre-registration is required. For more information or to sign up, go to www.TAUNY.org, call (315) 386-4289 or e-mail info@tauny.org.

Supporting the event this year are Stewart's Shops and Riverside Liquor.

Plattsburgh State offers entertainment
PLATTSBURGH — Christmas events are in rehearsal at Plattsburgh State and will take the stage as December unfolds.

"A French Holiday Celebration: Faure's Requiem," a performance by Champlain Valley Voices and SUNY Plattsburgh Choral Union, is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at the United Methodist Church, 127 Beekman St., Plattsburgh.

Dr. Karen Becker is artistic director of the event, which features a mixed chorus, soloists and orchestra. Call 564-2283 for ticket information.

Also Dec. 6, at 5 p.m., is the Soulful Christmas Concert featuring the university's 70-member Gospel Choir with an eight-member band, the Praise Team, the Praise Dancers, Step Team and special guest Minor Adjustments. Admission to the event, which takes place in E. Glenn Giltz Auditorium, Hawkins Hall, is $5 students advance; $8 day of show and $12 general admission advance; $15 day of show. Get tickets at the Angell College Center desk; the Great Adirondack Soup Company, North Country Cultural Center for the Arts, and Wood Ski & Wheel in Plattsburgh; and Advance Music Center in Burlington.

For more information about these and other events, many of which offer free admision, go to plattsburgh.edu or contact Michelle Ouellette, associate director of public relations and publications, at 564-3095 or michelle.ouellette@plattsburgh.edu.

Christmas tea to benefit Historic Saranac Lake
SARANAC LAKE — A limited number of tickets are available for Historic Saranac Lake's "A Franklin Manor Christmas," a tea hosted by Ann Laemmle and author Paul Willcott at their home, the historic cure cottage and former monastery on Franklin Avenue in Saranac Lake.

The setting for the fundraiser is the centerpiece of Willcott's book, A Franklin Manor Christmas.

The tea is from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, with Laemmle's homemade holiday cookies, tea biscuits, homemade marshmallows with hot chocolate and teas.

Willcott will present a history of the house, followed by a select reading of his Christmas story and then carols around the tree. Signed copies of the book will be available for purchase.

Tickets are $25 each. Call 891-4606.



Packbasket workshop set
CANTON — Visitors to Traditional Arts in Upstate New York's "Anatomy of a Packbasket" exhibit can try their hand at making their own packbasket at a workshop by basketmaker Mick Jarvis of Chateaugay from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 12.

The workshop fee is $100 for Traditional Arts members and $125 for nonmembers (includes instruction and the cost of materials). Class size is limited and registration is required. For more information or to register, call (315) 386-4289 or e-mail info@tauny.org.

Traditional Arts is located at 53 Main St. in Canton. Gallery and Folkstore holiday hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays. For more information, visit www.TAUNY.org.

TAUNY begins
capital campaign

CANTON — Traditional Arts in Upstate New York (TAUNY) has launched its $1.25 million Evergreen Campaign to raise funds for renovations to the folklife organization's new home at 53 Main St. in Canton.

So far, $468,285 — or 37 percent of that goal — has come in from North Country friends, private foundations and public funds.

Find details about the campaign and renovations on the organization's new Web site: www.TAUNY.org.

Photo contest winners chosen
CANTON — "Crossing Flowed Lands, homeward bound" by Art Boni of Ottawa, Ontario, has won first prize in the 2009 Laurentian Chapter of the Adirondack Mountain Club Photo Contest.

Second prize went to Ron Larsen for "Autumn from Lows Ridge"; third prize to Blair Madore for a photo of Madeline Wheeler, Clare Sullivan-Catlin and Celeste Zwingel, all of Potsdam, on the Red Sandstone Trail.

Honorable mention awards went to Blair Madore of Potsdam; Duncan Cutter of Nicholville and Jane Laba, both of Massena; Ron Larsen of Canton; and Boni for "Woods, Ampersand Trail" and "Summiting Basin."

The contest was open to club members and participants on chapter trips; the criterion was on technical quality, artistic expression and extent to which the photo conveys the chapter's goals of wilderness conservation, education, and responsible outdoor recreation.

Find links to the photos at www.adklaurentian.org. For further information, call (315) 265-8219 or e-mail tortmeye@twcny.rr.com.

Museum wins grant
BLUE MOUNTAIN LAKE — The Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake has received a $4,000 donation from the Glenn and Carol Pearsall Adirondack Foundation.

The gift will provide support for the museum's Cabin Fever Sunday programs as well as a new winter offering, "North Creek Songs and Stories — Working for the Man," which will feature tales and songs from the mining and logging industries.

The foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for year-round residents of the Adirondack Park. Learn more at www.pearsallfoundation.org.

Find the museum's Cabin Fever Sunday program schedule at www.adirondackmuseum.org.

Meetings suspended
LYON MOUNTAIN — The Friends of Lyon Mountain Mining and Railroad Museum will suspend its monthly meetings over the winter.

The group will meet next on March 18, 2010, then every second Thursday from April 8 to Sept. 9, 2010.