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By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

The Lake George Music Festival opens year nine this week, with artists arriving on Sunday, Aug. 11, and events beginning Monday, Aug. 12.

“The music we have programmed and the events are the most innovative yet,” says artistic director Barbora Kolarova.

“It’s a very adventurous year,” agrees Festival founder and director Alexander Lombard.

Musical offerings this year range from the oldest known written music …

Lake George Village Mayor Robert Blais, the longest serving mayor in New York State history, will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the Boston Red Sox home game at Fenway Park against the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, Aug. 18. Game time is 1:05 p.m.

“We’ve got 106 people going as of this morning,” Mayor Blais told The Chronicle Monday. “I’ve got 40 seats together. Phil Morse got them for …

By Cathy DeDe, Chronicle Managing Editor

The Fort William Henry and the Lake George Music Festival are collaborating on a plan to transform the vintage Towers Hall into a modernized, atmospheric venue to be called the Carriage House — suitable for large concerts as well as weddings, conventions and other gatherings.

“This is something we’ve been looking at for at least five years,” Fort William Henry CEO Kathy Flacke Muncil …

By Gordon Woodworth, Chronicle News Editor

Before last November, only two homes on Lake George had sold for more than $3.4-million. But in the last eight months, three more joined that exclusive list in a flurry of high-end lakefront activity.

• $4.95-million was paid on Nov. 28, 2018, for a secluded 4,700-square-foot home with 1,267 feet of lakefront and seaplane access on 8.22 acres on the lake’s Northwest Bay in …

By Mark Frost, Chronicle Editor

After 33 years auctioning antiques for a living, Mike Smith conducted his last one Saturday night at the Washington County Fairgrounds.

“It’s time. I’m 66,” Mr. Smith told The Chronicle Saturday afternoon — but he readily acknowledges that what prompted the end of Cherry Tree Auctions is that demand for antiques has plummeted.

“The business is a shadow of what it used to be,” he …