MASSENA -- The 31st annual Boss Frog Jumping Contest takes place Thursday, July 21 at 9 a.m. at the Massena Arena.

Age groups are as follows: 5 & under, 6 - 9, and 10 and over.

To pre-register or for more information, call the Massena Recreation Office at 769-3161. Participants may register the morning of the event. Trophies, ribbons and prizes will be awarded in all age groups.

STAR LAKE -- The Adirondack Lakes Center for the Arts in Blue Mountain Lake will present the musical comedy “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” Wednesday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m, in the Clifton-Fine High School Auditorium.

The encore performance features 10 professional actors from around the country as well as local actors, including Jessica Brown, Andrea Brown, Colleen Pine, Colleen Nerney, Jordan Hornstien, Andy Studdiford, Kierstyn Natter, David Meyers, Garrick New, and Kirsten Lomnitzer.

To the Editor:

Right now, Congress is mulling over a big transportation bill and the “Rooftoppers” are working overtime to get some recognition for their project.

I would urge anyone who is against this to make their opinions known to the decision makers.

To all of you who continue to say that it will never happen, this would certainly be the time to write an e-mail or better yet, make a call.

I have just returned from what I had hoped would be a leisurely swim in the river at Pine Street Park. On arrival to the beach, however, I was dismayed to see a gathering of dozens of folks for a riverside Baptismal. The minister was proselytizing: Jesus and heaven and salvation and hell. He was loud; he had to be to reach not only his brethren on the banks, but all the rest of the kids swimming in the Raquette. Pine Street is a public beach, not church property. As a village resident, I protest the use of the park for religious purposes.

I just wanted to say that I am very disappointed in the Summer Festival; it has declined year to year and I think is at the end. There’s hardly any stores down there worth going to unless you want cheap kiddie junk, I’m a longtime resident of Potsdam and remember how it used to be so I am judging it on those merits, I think it’s like the Gouverneur Fair—it’s about seen its last. I’m not sure what they could do to change it enough to make it something to come to, but I just wanted to say what I had on my chest.

COLTON – There will be an ice cream social and the New Horizons Band of Northern New York will perform at the Colton Riverside Gazebo behind the Colton Museum on Main St. at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20.

The ice cream social will be provided by St Patrick's Altar Rosary Society members.

Everyone is invited to attend free of charge; bring a lawn chair. A rain site will be announced, if needed.

The event is sponsored by the Town of Colton Beautification and Tourism Committee.

MASSENA – The next meeting of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 01-01 Massena is at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20 at the Massena VFW.

More info: Flotilla Commander Tim Flack, 713-4448.

LISBON -- The Lisbon Hepburn Library is now accepting donations for the annual Book Sale scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sought are children’s and adult books, DVDs, and VHS tapes.

For more information, e-mail the library at [email protected] or call 393-0111.

CANTON – For the fourth consecutive year, SUNY Canton is again expecting a record number of students.

Total applicants and deposits have both increased since 2010 when the college broke previous records in nearly every admissions category.

To date, SUNY Canton has received 5,369 applications for fall, an increase of more than 200 from the same time last year. The previous record was set in 1977 when 5,331 students applied. Applications have nearly doubled in the past five years when SUNY Canton had just under 2,800 people apply in 2006.

POTSDAM -- SUNY Potsdam instructor Dr. Linda Moerschell has been named the recipient of the College's 2011 Thomas L. and Jane D. Russell Distance Education Faculty Excellence Award.

Moerschell received the $1,000 award for her course titled "Team Building," which she taught on-line in the fall semester of 2010. She is an instructor in SUNY Potsdam's Department of English and Communication, and the College's Department of Computer Science, Organizational Leadership and Technology.