The plant consumes more than 60 percent of power produced by the village and accounts for about 40 percent of the municipality's water production and another 40 percent of wastewater.

"People are still working; that's the biggest thing," Rivers added.

Kouba also said the Rouses Point plant would be hiring about 40 temporary, on-call employees "to support 2007 production demands."

Hearing that, former Wyeth production helper Allisn Blain -- Shana's mother -- felt a stirring of nostalgia.

"There's a part of me that says, If they called you, would you go?'" she said.

As she officially retired in March, that isn't possible, but the Champlain woman worked for the company for many years at a wage that far exceeds that of most other employment in the North Country. When she left last November, she made close to $20 an hour. A newly graduated licensed practical nurse from CV-TEC in Plattsburgh, she'll earn less than $14 to start.

With two daughters employed at Wyeth, Allisn was happy to hear the place would remain open longer.

"But then again, it can leave a lot of people in limbo," she said.

It's difficult, she said from her own experience, to plan a future when the end of a job is up in the air.

With seven years until she could retire at age 62 and not knowing if she'd be laid off before that time, Allisn opted to volunteer for layoff last fall, just in time to start nursing school.

But then Wyeth delayed her group of layoffs, she said, again and again because the company needed the workers.

From September until Nov. 10, Allisn juggled school and full-time work.

As the company promised, most of her schooling was paid for by Wyeth.

"They did let us go," she said, "but they asked for volunteers to stay. (Otherwise) they would have lost so many operators.

"It will be interesting to see how all this works out," Allisn said of the change in closure date.