High Notes: Fresh water, free braces, preservation

PHOTOGRAPHER: File Photo

The Camp Boyhaven sign in 2017

In Schenectady, the Rotary Club of Schenectady received a gift of a medical microscope from Ellis Medicine. The microscope was sent earlier this month to Haiti, where it was given to a doctor who runs a clinic in the city of Carrefour, west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. Since 2013, the Schenectady Rotary Club, in efforts led by Brian Merriam, its International Committee chairman, have distributed 600 water filters in Carrefour, which is still recovering from the devastating effects of the 2010 earthquake. These filters enable up to 25,000 people to bathe in, cook with and drink clean, safe water. For more information, or to make a donation to support the Haiti Water Project, visit http://schenectadyrotary.org/haiti-water-project.

In Latham, Adirondack Orthodontics is working with international nonprofit organization Smiles Change Lives to provide braces to 25 local children whose families could not otherwise afford them. Last week, the locally owned and operated orthodontic practice screened more than 200 income-eligible children and families. Over the next few weeks, representatives of Smiles Change Lives will review and evaluate each case before selecting the children who will receive treatment. The expertise, services and supplies are valued at $150,000, making this the region’s largest-ever donation of orthodontic treatment. For more information about Adirondack Orthodontics, visit https://adirondackorthodontics.com/. For more information about Smiles Change Lives, visit https://www.smileschangelives.org/.

In Milton, a local construction company owner is helping preserve a former Boy Scout camp and protect the environment by purchasing in order to give the town and the state more time to find a way to keep the property under public ownership. John Munter Sr. of Middle Grove paid $1 million for the former Camp Boyhaven, a 297-acre wooded property that borders the state-owned Middle Grove State Forest. It has trails and shoreline along a section of the Kayaderosseras Creek. The town had attempted to purchase the property from the Boy Scouts in order to keep it out of the hands of private developers. But the deal fell through in July when a private donor withdrew his pledged donation and a deadline for the purchase passed. Munter says he bought the land with the intention of giving the town and state more time to line up financing.

High Notes is a feature of The Gazette Opinion section that appears every Monday to spotlight the good being done in our communities by individuals, organizations and businesses. Reader submissions to High Notes are welcome. Send suggestions to Editorial Page Editor Mark Mahoney at [email protected].

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