Scattered Frost: A Look Through Time in Glens Falls, New York
I picked up Mark Frost’s first book from the Chapman Museum at a recent book sale, published in 1979; nearly 46 years ago. The wonderfully organized book is a compilation of selected articles and essays from Mark’s early career as a writer for the Post-Star, delving into the fall of the Paramount Theatre, the rise of the Glens Falls Civic Center, the trials of small business sabotage from New York State regulation, tales from young children at Jackson Heights, the excitement around the Baltimore Orioles, and many more intriguing but short essays.
Mark Frost, for those who don’t know, is well known in the Glens Falls area. He created The Chronicle, a free weekly newspaper that has been in business since 1980. Mark started it on a shoe-string investment of $1,700, and it has blossomed into an essential paper for the area. His former employer, Post-Star, has been in decline for decades; still struggling to maintain itself in a media landscape of nearly limitless options. But The Chronicle has taken up the torch, delivering fresh perspectives on new developments in the upstate New York area, personal anecdotes on national news, and, thanks to the incredible work of Cathy DeDe, a detailed calendar of weekly events. Cathy DeDe just celebrated 30 years at The Chronicle, an incredible accomplishment that is worthy of celebration. Both Mark and her, along with David Cederstrom, Sandra Hutchinson, Ed Deso, and more talents writers and artists, have brought joy and timely information to its thousands of readers.
Mark Frost’s first book, titled Scattered Frost, is a testament to his unique perspectives, talented writing, and love of Glens Falls. It was an interesting experience reading about a uniquely pivotal point in the history of this little city. As I learned from his articles, the Glens Falls Civic Center had just opened its doors; it would later host a semi-professional hockey team as well as countless concerts and events. On another end of town, the General Electric plant in nearby Fort Edward, which used to be a big local employer, was in the midst of alleviating environmental concerns from NY State regulators. In downtown Glens Falls, the Paramount Theatre, as Frost describes, had been a beacon of the city for decades but was on the precipice of demolition, writing:
“In ways I realize more every day, [the Paramount Theatre] helped shape my optimistic version of the world, occupying the strategic left top corner of the rectangle that surrounds City Park and expresses a concept of what a town ought to be. There [is] the bandstand, and the library, the bank, the dress shop, the City Hall, the public health center, the hotel. And the Paramount. Promises of prosperity and stability, culture and excitement.
Even now. Because the rectangle, even without the now demolished insurance company building at its base, says more about community and self-reliance, about snugness teamed with opportunity, than any place I’ve ever been. A spirit so strong it has survived the tearing down of much of its heritage and is ready now to blossom from its neighborhoods once again, because tastes change but eventually always return to quality and basics and downtown Glens Falls signifies those things.
There will be a call for a Paramount Theatre in our future, another gleam in our own and the outsider’s eye, another emblem of our pride.”
Paramount Theatre was demolished in March of 1979, though as Frost has written during that time, it did not go unnoticed. He describes many people that attempted to save the building with no luck in persuading city officials or local business owners. It sat on the corner of Ridge and Maple Streets, across from the Queensbury Hotel. It was as a shining example of the possibilities with a thriving downtown that the city is in the midst of revising. Glens Falls just revealed the completion of one of the many projects funded by New York State’s Downtown Revitalization Investment grant back in 2016: the Market and Event Center, called The Ed in recognition of Edward Bartholomew who passed away in 2020. He was instrumental to helping secure the funding that is transforming the city back to its former glory.
Glens Falls does have a theatre that took up the mantle of the Paramount: the Charles R. Wood Theatre, which opened in 1998 to great fanfare. It hosts the much beloved Adirondack Theatre Festival on its stage every summer, with dozens of events and shows throughout the year. With Emily Murphy as its Executive Director since 2017, it has become a beacon of joy for the city.
Some of other articles shed a light on the children at the local schools in the area at the time. From a conversation with young Drew FitzGerald who just learned how to makes zeroes to a short story from Jo Anne Rathburn in a third-grade class, Frost illustrates the hopes, dreams, and struggles from the children in the city. Drew FitzGerald eventually grows up to co-found two companies with Jaden Smith (Yes, that Jaden Smith!): Just and 501cTHREE, companies that are transforming how we distribute water.
One of the endearing moments in the book came from Mark Frost’s love of the Baltimore Orioles, which led not only to articles interviewing players but transported the reader to the streets of Maryland. He describes his father’s experiences at the University of Maryland in 1941 in an article titled, “The Baltimore Story”. He writes a story for how his father and mother met:
“Men who wore argyle socks were the Baltimore girl’s main weakness. The young man from Hudson Falls owned one pair of argyle socks. He wore them every day. [A list of students] said that the fellow who wore argyles was tall and blond and handsome and wore gray-flannel pants and had gone to Cornell University and came from a town called Hudson Falls.
‘You know what?” said the Baltimore girl, “I kind think I’d like to take him myself. I’m not going to give him to anybody else.” The girl from Washington was cautious, “He’s probably a big glump,” she warned.
If there was one thing both girls couldn’t stand, it was a glump, of any dimension. The girls got up from the table and headed for the door. On their way, a tall, blond, handsome, gray-flannelled, argyle-socked, Cornell alumnus from Hudson Falls rose and tapped one of them on the shoulder.
‘I’m that glump you were taking about,’ he said. On a warm day in January 1944, the guy from Hudson Falls and the girl from Baltimore were married.”
The book sleeve is bright orange, with a picture of Mark Frost with Brooks Robinson on the cover. His love of Baltimore and Orioles is just as important as his love of the Glens Falls area. The article describing meeting Brooks Robinson at his final game before retiring in 1977 was beautifully written, describing the aspirations of the man that inspired him to love baseball. It was a reflection on the childhood wonder of future dreams, as Mr. Robinson had written an essay in eighth grade about his desire to play baseball professionally. Frost wrote:
“He has made a success of himself and a friend of most everyone he has come into contact with, including numerous folks at Little League banquets in Glens Falls. […] Brooks does not fear the future. He is disposed to view life as an opportunity instead of a burden. He dares yet to approach the world with kindness, openness, and generosity, even though trusting people is not an easy thing for anybody—especially a celebrity—to keep on doing. Brooks brings out the best in himself and so in other people. That’s why people cried when he retired. That’s why he is more my hero now than he ever was before.”
There were a few articles and essays of the beauty in nature, particularly “Autumn Blaze” from October of 1977 and “Winter in Baltimore” from January 1978. His descriptions of the red hues of autumn to the seemingly challenging winters in Baltimore, as compared with New York, offer a unique perspective on nature and the human experience. His use of personification on the seasonal changes inflicted on the trees is wonderfully imagined.
Frost’s article reflecting on the life and passing of Hilda Hayes in June of 1978 was heartfelt, as he described the spare moments that he spent with her after graduating from high school. Mrs. Hayes taught English at Glens Falls High School for many years, as Frost described, “and generations of Glens Fallsians”. She was a community treasure in her time, with a memorial scholarship fund started in her name through Chris Beaty back in 1978. His encounters and conversations with her in adulthood, from museum recommendations in Maryland to comments on his newspaper articles, illuminated a side of writing for the public that is easy to dismiss: gratitude and recognition. Hilda Hayes appreciated all her former students and loved to watch their lives unfold, creating genuine connections with everyone. As Frost writes, “in her steadfast, quiet generosity, she left the world a good example.”
His article titled “Coping with the Cold” offers a historical guidepost for the technological transformations in building architecture. He described the changes in insulation and plexiglass to keep homes and churches heated without substantial heating fuel bills. It was an interesting piece that shed light onto the longevity of the churches around Glens Falls, from Christ Church Methodist to St. Mary’s Catholic Church.
The reflections on the importance of the Washington County Fair, a staple of upstate New York for decades, was a treasure to read. Titled “One down, one up”, it began with the destruction of Paramount Theatre to the rise of the Washington County Fair. His inclusion of a review by a man named Frank Wiles described the special bonds that good neighbors share at the local fair, writing:
“You walk onto a fairground—at least I think I can tell, whether a county fair is really involving local people or not—and you can tell by the way the people walk on the grounds, that here I haven’t watched too many people walk all the way down this road here, without stopping and talking. And they’re looking to see if they can find somebody they know and they’re saying hello to the youngsters that are from their area. And it’s this type of reinforcement that I think is beautiful and really what county fairs are all about.”
Mark Frost ends his first book reflecting on the similarities between baseball and writing. His parallels that he has gleamed in his young life regarding his love of baseball and his writing career are beautifully explained. The divergence of similarities ends, as he describes, after a pitcher throws the ball; a pitcher instantly knows the outcome, while a writer waits to see if they held their reader’s interest.
At 74, Mark Frost is not slowing down, though his sons, Max and Zander, have taken up the torch in the news business. He is still a valuable member of the Glens Falls community, coming to some of its many events as the city continues to grow. If you want to learn about what makes this area special, be sure to find a copy of his book, Scattered Frost. There is a website, Abe Books, that seems to have some used copies available. It is also available in the Folklife Center at the Crandall Library, right in Glens Falls.
