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If you’re looking for a new home, waterfront, or commercial investment, I hope you contact us here at LaValley Real Estate. When I have the pleasure of selling to buyers who may be new to this area, I know they’re wondering “What can we do here for fun, food, entertainment, investment”…the list goes on. I’m more than happy to suggest some of the amenities and services that this beautiful part of the country can afford. There are many places to help make life here easier and a beautiful experience. You’ll find the people here very warm, and helpful. There’s fraternal organizations for Moose, and Veterans including the Foreign Legion, VFW, and Amvets.

A stop at the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce, or Canton Chamber of Commerce is a good beginning. They have pamphlets or booklets that list a lot of what’s available here. The scenery is beautiful year round, and there are many places to see or purchase items from local artisans and furniture makers. From Lake Placid to Massena, Cornwall, and Montreal, there’s always a way to experience the North Country. Pick up some current events in the North Country This Week paper, or northcountrynow.com, or listen in to Tod Moe on NPR in the mornings. The area is full of trails for snow mobiles, hiking, and climbing up mountains in the Adirondack Park. There’s lots of wild life and opportunities for hunting and fishing.

If you like sports, there’s a very active sport program at the local colleges with Soccer, La Cross, and Basketball. You can ski at Big Tupper, or cross country ski at the Catamount Lodge area.

For entertainment the Potsdam area, the Roxy Theater offers recent film releases and also offers HD Opera and such from what’s been playing on Broadway. Scoopuccino’s Bakery & Cafe’ very often feature local talents such as Scott Shippley and the Lemmings, or students from SUNY Potsdam, and Crane School of Music. Often there is an Irish Dance near by that you may join in. Adirondack music can be heard at the Opera House in Russell as they bang out some original tunes on the hammer Dulcimer with great accompaniment. In Norwood there are summer series of concerts in their new entertainment center, or in the park.

Having the Crane School of Music, and SUNY Potsdam here is a real wow factor. They are presently building a new theater arts complex. There are many times that there are free performances put on by the staff and students. Some are seasonal, some are requirements for the students. These include the one time concert by the Potsdam Campus Community Band. This is a band that you may want to join as well. If you are less experienced at playing, there is also a beginner band, and a senior band.

A good place to eat food that sticks to your ribs, and the service is great is Eben’s Hearth on Maple Street. It’s worth a 20 minute trip to the Ol’ Smokehouse in Madrid Springs for great smoked Barbecue at it’s best! Lighter fair can be ordered at Julian’s on Market Street, the Black Bird or Partridge Cafe’ in Canton, and For a somewhat more upscale experience the 1844 House between Canton and Potsdam, and I love the steaks and menu at Maxfield’s on Market Street, who also happens to have a nice Bar.
There is a great place for breakfast any time of day and huge pancakes at the Foxy Roxy’s Diner.
I can’t leave out the New York style pizza places like Little Italy’s and Sergi’s on Market Street. There’s MaMa Lucia’s for oven fired pizza and old world Italian menu, in an old train station. In Colton there’s some real down home cookin’ at the Hideaway Cafe’. For seafood, north of Potsdam is the Lobster House, and food with a Mexican flavor there’s the Cactus Grill and Cantina in Potsdam, the Hotel Grande’ in Norfolk, with some quick service types in Potsdam and Canton as well like the Spicy Iguana and The Hot Tamale. There’s also the A1, and Oriental Buffet restaurants in Canton and Potsdam. This just scrapes the surface of good local food and entertainment, and of course there are some traditional national chain restaurants too.

Don’t forget the Dairy Princess Parade in Canton, the 4th of July fireworks in Norwood and Hannawa Falls. We receive fresh locally grown vegetables from our CSA service once a week from the Corse Family and the Birdsfoot Farms for winter.

The One Stop Service center in Canton on 310 can help with registering your car, boat, and such. There’s a VA center there, Employment center, and some health services too.

You can come into our office at 35 Main Street in Potsdam for a list of bankers, lawyers, and investment firms if you need help in this area. I know that Dottie Parker at North Country Savings in Potsdam, or Gary Throop in Canton are willing to help with home buying or your investment future.

If you like, post your favorite areas for entertainment, investment, food, and sports. I’d like to see what you can add.

Thank you,

Philip D. Collins,
LaValley Real Estate
35 Main Street,
Potsdam NY 13676

When one purchases an older seasonal camp for the purpose of tearing it down to build a year-round cottage in St. Lawrence or Franklin County on one of the many bodies of water, it is hoped that one seriously considers subscribing to sustainable design principles. To do so, the landowner could invite and encourage interested individuals and/or contractors to come in and salvage any possible materials from such a tear-down or the owner could even incorporate these building materials into their new construction. In doing so, one is saving the landfills from filling up with additional waste and at the same time avoiding the expense of disposing of such as well as preserving the character of construction that is evident in those camps built long ago that somehow cannot be duplicated in modern-day construction. Even the simplest design possesses a uniqueness that cannot be easily replicated.

This can also be accomplished in the various towns and villages in St. Lawrence and Franklin County. For example, old fraternity houses associated with such colleges as SUNY Potsdam, Clarkson University, and SUNY Canton are an excellent source of sustainable design. If a house has to be demolished, let us not destroy each and every piece of its historic past with it. Houses obtained by area hospitals through eminent domain should also be considered as valuable sources of sustainable design. Time needs to be allotted for those who could salvage and recycle these building materials. Sustainable design is environmentally necessary and greatly lends itself to being a preserver of historic architecture.

As December gets going and the Christmas season approaches the North Country offers lots of opportunities to enjoy the season. For me and my family it begins with SUNY Potsdam’s Candlelight Christmas Concert. This is always a wonderful performance and this year Potsdam’s Brass Quintet performed with the choir. If you are unable to attend, our local PBS station airs concerts from previous years throughout the month. Next comes the annual Food, Wine and Craft Fair at Clarkson University’s Cheel Arena. I’m always able to find the great gifts and support local individuals. The week is rounded out by attending some excellent college hockey at Festivus in Lake Placid. By the time the weekend is over the Christmas spirit will be well and truly here even without the snow!

LaValley Real Estate is pleased to announce the opening of an office in Malone. For several years we have enjoyed listing and selling property in the Duane, Mtn. View, and Titus Mtn. area. Now we are looking forward to being involved in the community and providing a full service Agency.

Our office is located at 368 West Main Street, and is easily accessed from the front or back. If you are traveling from Titus Mtn. Ski Area or the Malone Golf Club, you can easily see our big sign on the back of the building.

Dave Yando, Jim Haley, Bryant Gonyea, and Melody Roy make up the current team and we are working with a few others as they strive to get their real estate license.

With the opening of Malone, we now offer 3 office locations that work closely together to provide the best coverage for sellers, and the best selection of properties for our buyers.

Summer is here and while the weather is warm it’s a great time to get outside. It is also the perfect time to catch up with family. I come from a large family so coordinating events to do together is always a little challenging. This summer instead of taking a big pricey vacation somewhere we decided to try and visit some local attractions. You know, the ones that you always mean to get to but just never quite get there. If you live in St. Lawrence County, all of these trips are easily accessible.

First off I have a 3 year old niece and a 2 year old nephew so we wanted to include them in as many trips as we could. The Wild Center in Tupper Lake was up first. We had a blast looking at the otters and the turtles and touching the “glacier.” After a quick lunch it was time to walk around outside on the nicely groomed trails. With ages 2 to 56, there was something fun for everyone and all had a good time. Two weeks later, it was time for our next adventure, North Pole NY.

One of the best kept secrets of the world is that Santa Claus actually lives here in Northern New York just an hour and a half away from Potsdam! Little ones will have a great time here with rides made just for them and a chance to feed Santa’s reindeer. My niece and nephew had a blast and the hardest part of the day was convincing them that it was time to go home. Now that July is winding down and August is rapidly approaching we hope to fit a few more trips in. Visiting Thompson Park Zoo in Watertown is on the list as well as trying to do some geocaching. We discovered the hard way that you really do need a good GPS for geocaching! All in all the nice weather never lasts too long up here and it is easy to get caught up in a variety of projects as we struggle to fit everything in. However, we need to remember one project that is always with us, our families. Enjoy the rest of your summer!

-Jennifer Blevins
LaValley Real Estate Sales Associate