ROUSES POINT, NY – The Rouses Point/Champlain Historical Society, America's Historic Lakes, Powertex, Inc. and Stephen and Victor Podd announce the first ever Fort Montgomery Days Heritage Weekend.

Historic Fort Montgomery, recently designated a "Seven to Save" Site by the Preservation League of New York State, will be celebrated in a very special 2-day event.  This important Nineteenth Century fort, constructed at the same location as the infamous Fort “Blunder,” is the only Civil War era fort on Lake Champlain. Erected in a strategic location along the border of the United States and Canada, Fort Montgomery was the last in a long line of important fortifications built along this historic waterway. The Fort is privately owned and access to the public has been restricted to small, private tours for many years. For this celebration, however, certain areas of the fort will be open to the public free of charge.

These tours will be guided by Fort Montgomery historian and author Jim Millard. Jim is the publisher of the popular America's Historic Lakes website, "Fort Montgomery through the Years," an upcoming new book, "Bastions on the Border- The Great Stone Forts at Rouses Point on Lake Champlain," and a number of other local history titles.

Other activities scheduled for the weekend include Civil War re-enactments with the Montreal Grays & Blues, live musical entertainment provided by Laura Capito, Friends Union, Staber & Chasnoff and Tom Ventiquattro (Tom24). There will be vendors on site, displays of artifacts, vintage photos, maps and plans.

Gates open at 8:00 am both days. The Welcome Ceremony will be held at 9:30 am Saturday, September 12.

Updated information including a current schedule of events is available on the event web page: http://historiclakes.org/fortmontgomerydays.htm. 

The Fort Montgomery Days event will take place at the Fort in the vicinity of Powertex, Inc., 1 Lincoln Blvd. Rouses Point, New York. Rouses Point is easily accessible via US Interstate 87 and US Route 9 from points south and west, Routes 15, 221 and 223 from Quebec, and US Route 2 from Vermont. It is located but an hour from Montreal. The Village is served by Amtrak’s Adirondack.

Fort photos for news media use available upon request at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Two members of the CVPH Medical Staff, Gamal Eltabbackh, MD, OB/GYN, Lake Champlain GYN-ONC and Diego Grinsberg-Funes, MD, urologist, Urology Associates of Northeastern New York, PC will be on hand to discuss the da Vinci and how it benefits their patients. Dr. Eltabbackh will be
available in the morning while Dr. Grinsberg-Funes will be at the mall from 1 to 2 p.m.

CVPH Medical Center is one of slightly more than 500 first-class health care facilities in this country to offer the da Vinci Surgical System. At CVPH, it is used by members of the medical staff specializing in urology and gynecology. The benefits to patients are many including less pain, less blood loss and less need for blood transfusions. Hospital stays are often shorter and recovery time is quicker.

Using the da Vinci Surgical System, specially trained CVPH surgeons operate while seated comfortably at a console viewing a 3D image of the surgical field. Their fingers grasp the master controls and the system seamlessly translates his or her hand, wrist and finger movements into precise, real-time movements of surgical instruments.

For more information, call the Public Relations and Marketing Department at 562-7389.

Chris Blake
CVPH Public Relations
518-562-7320

 Customs and Border Protectionʼs Buffalo Field Office Announces Fiscal Year 2009 First Quarter Accomplishments

CHAMPLAIN, NEW YORK- Enforcement results from Customs and Border Protectionʼs (CBP) Buffalo Field Office reflect significant results in our efforts to protect our Nationʼs Borders during the first quarter of Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09).

James T. Engleman, Director of Field Operations for the Buffalo Field Office said that, during this time frame, CBP Officers processed approximately 4.9 million passengers, 1.9 million autos, 345,000 commercial trucks and 10,800 commercial buses. The Buffalo Field Office encompasses all seventeen international land border crossings in the State of New York , from Buffalo to Champlain and Rouses Point.

CBP Officers arrested 47 fugitives wanted for crimes including aggravated attempted murder, racketeering, conspiracy and organized fraud. Our apprehensions included the arrest of an individual wanted by INTERPOL in Pakistan and one arrested on child pornography charges.

CBPʼs Buffalo Field Office reported the following accomplishments for the first quarter of FY09, which started on October 1, 2008 and ended December 31, 2008:

• CBP officers prevented approximately 1,100 criminal aliens from entering the United States . Foreign nationals are considered criminal aliens if they have been convicted of committing crimes involving moral turpitude.
• Nine fraudulent documents were seized.
• 22 travelers were intercepted while making a false claim to United States citizenship.
• CBP officers prevented the entry of five foreign nationals who were identified as potential threats to national security.
• CBP officers arrested 27 people who attempted to smuggle contraband into the United States .
• CBP officers seized over 350 pounds of hydroponic marijuana and 22 pounds of ecstasy were seized. The combined narcotics seized have an estimated street value of 1.7 million dollars.
• CBP Officers also seized over $700,000 of undeclared currency entering the U.S. , nearly surpassing the $730,000 seized throughout all of fiscal year 2008. Officers also seized $113,000 in undeclared currency exiting the U.S.
• CBP Agriculture Specialists made over 455 pest interceptions and issued 25 penalties for smuggling attempts.
• In one case in November 2008, CBP Officers seized eleven endangered Asian arowana fish that were found concealed in a speaker box located in the trunk of the vehicle. The Asian arowana fish are covered under the Endangered Species Act in the United States and cannot be possessed without a permit.

Locally, Acting Champlain Port Director Steven Bronson said that the Service Port of Champlain, which includes the ten border crossings from Ft. Covington to Rouses Point, processed 244,000 vehicles, 84,000 commercial vehicles and 700,000 passengers. Officers also seized over 23 pounds of ecstasy with a street value of nearly $625,000, approximately $133,780 in undeclared currency, and arrested seven wanted fugitives.

The final stages of the new Champlain Port of Entry construction project is nearing completion, with the majority of the
work being completed in FY 08. This includes the reconstruction of the passenger processing facility, where both passenger vehicles and buses are processed. Completion of the construction project is slated for March 2009.