LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 22 Sarah earned a master's degree from the Maxwell School of Syracuse University and worked at the Ad- irondack Experience (at that time it was known as the Adirondack Museum), and later ser ved on its board of trustees. She has been an honorar y trustee since 2007. Linda graduated from Elmira College and worked as a development specialist at various arts organizations and for the National Trust for Historic Preser vation. She is a member of the Adirondack Experience's Governance and Nominating Committee. In 2020, the sisters were honored for their support of the Adirondack Experience with the Harold K . Hoch- schild Award, which recognizes those who have made significant contributions to the civic and cultural institu- tions of the Adirondacks. The sisters became more involved with the family busi- ness after their father's death, operating the Old Forge Hardware Store until it was sold in 2008. Although they have lived in various parts of the world, Old Forge will always be their home. They have also co-authored two books with the Town of Webb Historical Society: Old Forge: Gateway to the Adirondacks and Old Forge and the Fulton Chain of Lakes. " We've been able to do all sorts of things to help peo- ple, and it's been wonderful," said Sarah. "People should really be involved in their communities. I feel my life has been much richer for it." The late Dr. Alfred M. and Janet Decker, Saranac Lake Charlie Decker started his newspaper career as a teenag- er, rushing to the Adirondack Daily Enterprise office to write about the Saranac Lake High School games for the local newspaper ― shortly after he finished playing in them. Charlie was the son of the late Dr. Alfred M. "Fritz" Decker and Janet Parker Decker. The youngest of five children, he was "the baby of the family, and definitely the most athletic ― and the most gregarious," said his brother, Dr. John Deck- er, a longtime ENT physician in Saranac Lake. He not only excelled in both baseball and football, but Charlie also thrived in the outdoors, with a penchant for fly-fishing, a result of his Adirondack roots, Dr. Decker said. Those interests helped to define Charlie's early journalism career. After finishing high school, Charlie enrolled at Cornell Uni- versity and joined the football team. But a knee injur y early in the season left him sidelined, and he never recovered fully enough to get back on the field. Charlie later transferred to the University of Missouri School of Journalism but left college before graduating. He was restless in the academic world and ready to pursue a journalism career. "He just wanted to get out there and start working," Dr. Decker said. Charlie returned to his hometown in 1976 as a reporter for the Adirondack Daily Enterprise and soon worked his way up to the position of sports editor. His background made him perfectly placed to oversee cov- erage of the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. Charlie be- came editor of a special newspaper section devoted to the Olympics, a joint venture with the Lake Placid News, which received a special award of excellence from the New York State Publishers Association. Charlie would later become the newspaper's managing editor.

• Cover