Booey's Doing Well!

Other than running labby loops in the sand and finding mud puddles to splash in, Booey is doing well at Guiding Eyes.

She is currently in harness training but being evaluated for their breeding program as well.

She is well loved (and loving those around her well). She's such a kiss face!

It's great to see her off to a fine start.

We're cheering you on, Boo Bear!

The Puppy Passed!!

Booey passed her testing at Guiding Eyes for the Blind today with flying colors.

Her next step is a medical evaluation and then she begins her harness training.

She did it!

Three cheers for the puppy! She's come along way since that day we got her in March 2010.

Good Luck to Booey!

Barbara, aka Booey, leaves the Capital Region tomorrow for her testing and placement at Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

Many Puppy Bones to Barbara.

And thanks to everyone who was involved in her puppy raising.

She's going to change lives.

Bye Miss Boo.

23 DAYS!!!!!!

See you on the beach in 23 days.

Splish! Splash! Last one in buys the first round of ice cream!

A Formal Caroga Tease

I will be speaking about my latest book at an upcoming Caroga Lake event on Saturday, June 18. More details to follow.

The Caroga book is due to be on bookstore shelves on July 4.

Check back for a listing of summer speaking and booksigning engagements. See you there!

Carol

Waiting for Spring

The calendar says April but ...

I took this photo today at our cabin. The boys were boiling down maple sap to make syrup, but the wind and snowpack felt much more winterlike than springlike.

We need sunshine! (And there's mixed precipitation in the forecast for tonight.)

Reviewing the Caroga Proofs!

The proofs have arrived.

I now have one week to perform a final check, dig a little deeper for a few facts, cross the t's and dot the i's, and send the proof back for final prep before it goes on the press!

Woo Hoo!

The book is scheduled for release on July 4.

Carol

P.S. The beach opens in 54 days!

A Sneak Peek at the Caroga Cover!

The cover for Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake is now on Amazon, with a projected release date of July 4, 2011.

Do you know where this shot was taken? (Answer lies on the inside cover of this book!)

Here's a marketing tease from Amazon:

Product Description

The southern Adirondack Mountains community of Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake is known for the power of its water and the perseverance of its people. The quiet mountain-lumbering community changed quickly in 1865 when two entrepreneurs purchased 20,000 acres of hemlock-rich land and erected a tannery to cure leather for a shoe-making business. Additional lumbering opportunities followed, and sawmills sprung up around many of the lakes. Horse-drawn carriage services and wood-burning steamboats delivered summer residents and artists to rustic camps that dotted the lakes' shorelines and tourists to grand hotels. Today the ghostly remains of Sherman's Park on West Caroga Lake and Groshans' Park at Pine Lake remind its residents and guests of the past that was and the future that might yet be.

About the Author

Author and educator Carol Parenzan Smalley moved with her family to the area in the late 1990s to live in a log cabin nestled within a maple sugar bush. She sees the dams with engineering eyes and feels the entrepreneurial spirit of the lakes. When not capturing the summer sun on sandy lake beaches, she hikes old Native American paths and logging roads to explore the area's trails and listen to tales of those who traveled before her.

Woo Hoo! 100 Days!

The beach opens in 100 days.

Good bye ice and snow.

Hello sunshine!

Looking at Lakes' Past

An article about the creation of the Caroga Lake book is in today's Leader Herald newspaper.

From the article:

Carol Parenzan Smalley hopes her new book, to be titled "Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake and Pine Lake," will be a conversation starter around campfires for people visiting the lakes this summer.

The Johnstown resident said she hopes those conversations will turn from the area's past and focus on its future.


Enjoy! (And be sure to test your knowledge of the lakes by scrolling through this blog for questions.)

For my fellow beach bums, I'll see you on the sand in 145 days!

Watch for an Article in the Leader-Herald

The Leader-Herald newspaper interviewed me today about the Caroga Lake book. When the story is live, I'll post the link!

Woo Hoo!

Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake is now officially in production!

I still have a few new images to find and captions to tweak, but we are moving forward and on schedule for a summer release as planned.

I have many "stories behind the stories" to share. Watch for a release date, book signings, and special programs!

Carol

Thank You, Herkimer Gifted 4th Graders

I spent the day with a wonderful group of gifted fourth-grade students at Herkimer BOCES, where we make books that Flip, Flop, Squeak, and Pop!

Thank you to the Herkimer BOCES administration for inviting me, the teachers that accompanied the groups of students for assisting, the buildings staff for helping us set up and clean up, and the enthusiastic and energetic young artists and mathematicians! I had a fantastic time.

Here are a few of their creations:

Caroga/Canada/Pine Lake Teasing Tidbit No. 40

Caroga Lake was known for Sherman's Park. However, it wasn't the lake's first park. What amusement park first sat on the banks of West Caroga Creek?

The Caroga Clock is Ticking!

I am doing my final research and caption writing this weekend for my book -- Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake -- for Arcadia Publishing.

On Monday, it goes to two sets of eyes for review. (Fingers crossed I haven't made any glaring mistakes!)

On December 6, an electronic file containing 200+ photographs, captions, and text heads to South Carolina for editorial and layout work.

Then, I catch my breath just in time for the next holiday (and the next big project)!

Thank you to everyone who has supported this effort along the way. For those of you who shared photos and stories, I say thank you.

For my friends and family who knew I was simply lost in my own world, thank you.

For the historians, museums, agencies, and all-knowing Carogians who never seemed to mind one more question, another email, an unusual phone call ... thank you.

For those of you who will come out to a summer program or book signing ... I thank you in advance.

It truly is a Thanksgiving!

Now ... to make it through another North Country winter and find that warm spot of sand by the lake in June! (Thank you.)

Caroga/Canada/Pine Lake Teasing Tidbit No. 39

With my manuscript due to the publisher in just two weeks, I'm quickly scanning the last of my collected photos and memorabilia. While most folks will be stuffing themselves with turkey and shopping for Black Friday specials this week, I will be laying out a book, writing captions, and putting the final touches to Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake for Arcadia Publishing. We are on track for a June 2011 release, and this project has been one of my favorites, as I have met some wonderful people and heard remarkable stories.

How well do you know the lake area? Print out the teasing tidbits from this blog and take them with you to your family's Thanksgiving celebration. They'll be good conversation sparkers.

Here's the latest tidbit:

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) biologists are collecting the skat of what species of animal that has been observed in the Caroga area? And, why are they collecting it?

[A photo of one is planned for the book -- with the answer too!]

Caroga/Canada/Pine Lake Teasing Tidbit No. 38

If snow-birds are people who "fly south" for the winter, what are snow-monkeys?

[I'm having too much fun!]

Caroga/Canada/Pine Lake Teasing Tidbit No. 37

What's a Skippy?

[Hint: It doesn't go with jelly -- not even Adirondack blueberry jelly!]

Adirondack by Owner

For more flexibility in showings, marketing, and pricing, we have moved our log home that is for sale onto "Adirondack by Owner."

We invite you to take a peek both online and in person.

Please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions.

Carol@CarolSmalley.com
518-332-0891

The Caroga Cover!

Arcadia Publishing's Art Department has completed the cover for Around Caroga Lake, Canada Lake, and Pine Lake. It captures the essence of days past at the lakes well. Thank you, Arcadia.

Thanks, too, to Fulton County Historian Peter Betz for keeping me on the straight and narrow (or at least off the bottom of the lake). Peter will be reviewing my content and writing the foreword for the book.

But no sneak peeks of the cover! You'll have to wait until the book has been officially released to see the outside (and the inside too).

Speaking of the inside, folks with photos and other hidden treasures are popping out of the woodwork these past few days. Thank you!

For anyone reading this who has a photo he or she thinks I "might" be interested in seeing (or even one that you don't think I would be interested in seeing), please contact me! The publishing clock is ticking.

Carol@CarolSmalley.com
518. 332. 0891

See you at the bookstore!