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Established 1880 DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF THE QUEEN OF AMERICAN LAKES June 1, 2012

AMERICA’S OLDEST RESORT NEWSPAPER

Musket firing on Lake George. Photo by Buzz Lamb. See page 6.

NEW HOME FOR OLD BOATSORGANIC ALTERNATIVES IN HAGUEBOLTON’S BATTLE BAYEXPANDED SCOPE FOR FLOATING CLASSROOM

NEW HOME FOR OLD BOATSORGANIC ALTERNATIVES IN HAGUEBOLTON’S BATTLE BAYEXPANDED SCOPE FOR FLOATING CLASSROOM

Reuben Smith has returned to hisroots: owning and managing hisown wood boat shop.

Smith, who was, until last fall,the boatworks manager at Hall’sBoat Corporation in Lake George,has opened Tumblehome Boatshopon Route 28 in Warrensburg.

Smith and his crew will focus onrestoring antique wooden boats andconstructing new boats based onhistoric designs.

“Tumblehome’s specialty is his-torically significant boats and boatsthat have been important to genera-tions of families,” said CyndeSmith, who has joined her husbandin the new business.

“We want to be known for theintegrity of our restorations,” saidReuben Smith. “The methods ofconstruction have to be the same.Every detail has to be as historical-ly accurate as possible. A goodrestoration is a time-consuming,painstaking process. We researchthe history of boats long before westart working on them.”

The shop, which the Smiths con-verted from a massive 1950s indus-

trial building that once served as thegarage for Warrensburg’sDepartment of Public Works, willhost a grand opening on June 9.

“This building became availablejust as I was thinking about goingback out on my own, and as soon asI saw, I had my heart set on it,” said

Reuben Smith. “It’s the perfectplace for a shop like ours; we’re atthe gateway to the Adirondacks andnear Lake George.”

Smith added, “Lake George hasbecome a hub for wooden boatbuilding and restorations; that’s oneof the reasons why we wanted to

stay here.”Smith learned his craft in his

youth, working with his uncle,Everett Smith, and his father MasonSmith, restoring runabouts andlaunches, Adirondack guideboats,Rushton canoes, St. Lawrenceskiffs, and building the cold-mold-ed Adirondack Goodboat.

In 1997, Smith moved to theSouth Shore of Boston Harbor,where he worked as Boat Shop

Director for the Hull LifesavingMuseum, building and maintainingthe museum’s fleet of open-water,multi-oar gigs, and training crewsof at-risk kids in Boston. In 2000,he set up his own business, workingout of the storied old Jones RiverLanding in Kingston, Mass. There,he worked on saltwater vessels,everything from dories and wher-ries to 20,000-pound motorsailers.

While working inMassachusetts, Smith became thefounding director of MassachusettsBay Maritime Artisans, an organi-zation dedicated to preserving andprotecting the historic boatbuildingindustry in Massachusetts.

Smith has given courses in boat-building at several institutions,including the MassachusettsInstitute of Technology.

As Smith indicated,Tumblehome is in business not onlyto restore wood boats, but to repli-cate boats no longer in production.

The first of these will be “thetrue ISC,” based on the SoundInterclub, a 29-foot, one-designsloop that was raced on LakeGeorge from the 1930s through the1950s.

Smith is completing the restora-tion of the second of two originalSound Interclubs for AssemblyPoint resident Dr. John Kelly III.

They will be exhibited at the

annual WoodenBoat Show atMystic Seaport on June 29.

Tumblehome will also beginwork on the Echo, the 1927, 30-ftFay & Bowen that was used forwaterskiing at Echo Camp for girlson Racquette Lake. It’s now part ofthe Adirondack Museum’s perma-nent boat collection.

When the Echo was originallyrestored in 1987 by Smith’s uncle,Everett Smith, Reuben Smithassisted.

“I think I know every inch of thisboat,” said Smith.

During this restoration, anothermember of the Smith family will bepart of the crew: Alex Smith.

Alex Smith is Reuben Smith’shalf-brother, the son of MasonSmith and his wife Hallie Bond,best known as the curator of boatsat the Adirondack Museum and theauthor of ‘Boats and Boating in theAdirondacks.’

Alex Smith will serve as anapprentice at Tumblehome thissummer before returning to college.Like Reuben, he’s also worked in

the shops of Mason Smith andEverett Smith.

Another member ofTumblehome’s crew is SeanO’Neill.

“Sean has always been my righthand,” said Reuben Smith. “Wefirst worked together in my shop inMassachusetts and he then joinedme at Hall’s. We’re excited to havehim with us.”

Although Tumblehome has yetto be formally opened, Smith saidhe already has enough work to keepeveryone busy for months to come.

“It’s starting to feel like a busyboat shop,” said Cynde Smith.

Reuben Smith OpensTumblehome Boatshop

By Anthony F. Hall

June 1, 2012 The Lake George Mirror Five

4964 Lake Shore Drive • Bolton Landing (518) 644-9672

An Old-Fashioned Country Store

Fine Gifts and Adirondack Decor• MINNETONKA Moccasins

• Sheepskin Slippers• Chocolates by the Candy Man

Handcrafted from around the world and around the corner...

Celebrating Our 51st SeasonSumptuous SettingsAntiques & Interiors

Antiques in a French ChateauSetting in the largest single-owner shop in the Northeast

Region. Vintage furniture, chan-deliers and mirrors for grand

homes. Large selection of china,crystal, silver, etc. Fabrics,

linens and hundreds of decora-tive accessories. Bridal GiftRegistry. Minton, Limoges,

Steuben, Baccarat, Tiffany, etc.

TEL & FAX: 518-644-3145Proprietors: Ginette & David Maslanka

msumptuous@aol.com

WE BUY and SELL

4590 Lake Shore DriveBolton Landing, NY 12814

(Directions: I-87 N, take Exit 22, go 7 mi. north)

Wood Boat Builder and Restorer Has Found thePerfect Place to Continue the Family Legacy

Clockwise from top right: Reubenand Cynde Smith with Alex Smithand Sean O’Neill. A Rosenfeld photoof two Sound Interclubs, both ofwhich have been restored by Smith.Smith with his father Mason Smithand uncle Everett Smith, both leg-endary boat builders. The exterior ofthe shop on Route 28, before thewindows have been installed.

Friday, June 1st is NationalDoughnut Day, and frankly, I planon celebrating in style – healthyeating be damned. While many cul-tures cook a sweet dough in oil, ourdoughnuts should be celebratednationally. A doughnut has all thecharacteristics that make it irre-sistible to homo sapiens, sweet andfatty and easy to handle. Perfect fora species on the run.

Frankly, I love doughnuts so

much, they’re the reason I learnedto cook. A real, deep-fried dough-nut – the only way to get one was tomake it myself. It was in makingthose first batches of doughnuts atage 12 that I experienced thatdelight and wonder at taking someuninteresting and inedible ingredi-ents and producing … doughnuts.As soon as I could, I would dunkthose warm wonders into icy coldmilk. I would sprinkle some with

cinnamon sugar, others with pow-dered sugar, but I prefer nothing. Ifthere were any left the next day,they’d get dunked into coffee. Irealize that you can buy a prettygood doughnut at a couple of out-lets, but honestly, the homemadeones are worth every second. (Andthese were cooked in hot lard. Lard.Oh.My.Stars.)

Side note: Thus began my loveaffair with the deep-fried. I moved

on to making onion rings, a labor-intensive dish that lasted about fiveminutes in my house. I also suf-fered my first cooking accident,getting burned on one hand by hotoil. Eureka! I just noticed that thescars on my hands are all cookingrelated. (If you don’t count the oneon my lower arm from a tubing-down-Magic-Mountain-in-the-mid-dle-of-the-night-while-under-the-influence scar. It’s not really on myhand. And I’m not going to namewho else was with me on that slidedown Magic Mountain. Unless I’mbribed. Which I can be.)

If you’re going to an outlet, I’mhappy to weigh in on the DunkinDonuts/Krispy Kreme debate. I’mvoting DD all the way. They’d winif it’s just for the coffee, to whichI’m addicted, but their old-fash-ioned donuts are my store-boughtfavorites. If I’m tempted by thesugared, the cinnamoned, theglazed, the donut holes, it’s only apassing fancy. They just aren’t rightfor that dunk into the coffee. In mylast year of graduate school, I’dstop on Fridays and get 2 dozendoughnuts for the others in myearly class. I could have won MissRPI that summer – I was the classhero. Somehow recursive functionsbecame solvable with a littledoughnut deliciousness. (Maybebecause our doughnuts have themathematical shape known as atorus? It inspired our mathematics?No?)

For the record, my favorite friedsweet dough from another countryis the Indian gulab jabun, a littleball of heaven sitting in a caramelsyrup flavored with cardamom.One of my student’s mom bringsme some when she makes them;they are amazing.

So on Friday, I’ll be dunking ournational fried dough into some cof-fee and savoring every bite. HappyDoughnut Day!

Twenty Two The Lake George Mirror June 1, 2012

Alison V. Craig Realty, LLCSpecializing In Lake George HomesVisit Our Office in Hague-On-Lake GeorgeTel: 518-543-6221

www.alisonvcraigrealty.com

Stafford, Carr & McNallyAttorneys at Law

Specializing in Lake Front Properties

Residential • Commercial175 Ottawa Street Lake George, NY

668-5412

CELL: 518.812.9318if no answer during the day,please try in the evening

The

CorruptedPalateby Kate Baker

Doughnuts

“Bullets & Blades: TheWeapons of America’s ColonialWars and Revolution,” an exhibitof more than 150 pieces from FortTiconderoga’s historic arms collec-tion, will be on display at the Fortthroughout the 2012 season.

Divided into seven sections andincluding a wide variety of mus-kets, pistols, swords and powderhorns (some of which are one ofonly two or three of their typesknown), the exhibit explores theweapons used in America from theearly 1600s through the end of theAmerican Revolution.

“This is the first major newweapons exhibit the museum hasundertaken in over half a century.The creation of this exhibit is animportant step in a process toimprove Fort Ticonderoga’sexhibits and make them moreengaging and informative for thepublic,” said Chris Fox, FortTiconderoga Curator ofCollections.

“Bullets & Blades” includespieces from the Grafton H. andBarbara W. Cook, many of whichwill be displayed for the first time.British cavalry swords and pistols,massive basket-hilted swords car-ried by Scottish Highland troops,and an extremely rare British mili-tary pistol used during the reign ofKing James II are among the piecesfrom the collection that will be dis-played.

Fort Ticonderoga is open dailythrough October 18. For moreinformation, call 585-2821.

“Bullets &Blades,” New

Exhibit ofHistoric Arms,

Opens at Fort Ti