Discover Essex, NY!

Are you ready to help launch Discover Essex, NY!? Our newest website is a community portal for Essex, NY residents and visitors, and it just went live today! Go explore it at www.essexny.us.

In response to your feedback and the success of Essex on Lake Champlain, our local community blog born during the June 2011 floods (and which recently surpassed 10,000 views per month!), we have created a whole new website to promote businesses, organizations and events in Essex, NY. And it will be the online home for The Doodler’s Guide to Essex, NY, a whimsical way to explore and rediscover the lives, legends and landmarks of our wonderful village.

Essex Calendar

Iconic Essex Sunburst — Essex sunburst doodle

Do you find yourself wondering what fun or interesting events are taking place nearby but don’t feel like searching through the newspapers or lots of text online? It’s sort of mind boggling (and really, really exciting) how much is going on lately. But you’re in luck because the user friendly Essex Calendar will help you monitor and schedule upcoming local events. You’ll be able to find out more information about Essex area events, make reservations and promote your own events. Did I mention that it will cost you nothing? Zip, zero, zilch. And you’ll even be able to import events that you’ve already set up on Facebook.

We’ll be explaining further in the weeks ahead how to post Essex events on the calendar, but in the mean time we’ll be working with a small beta group to streamline the process. Contact us if you’d like to participate.

Essex Doodles

Steven Kellogg's sketch of the nefarious Samuel de Champlain from his "Ode to Essex." — Steven Kellogg’s Samuel de Champlain

You can also get a sneak peek at The Doodler’s Guide to Essex NY. This is the first book in a series that explores Essex through doodles! The team at the Essex on Lake Champlain Blog is compiling and editingthis series with the help of the community. (That’s you!) You can enjoy some of the Essex doodles we received during our Depot Theatre debut in July on the new website. We’re working on an encore performance in Essex in August. Stay tuned!

We will soon beta launch the digital edition of The Doodler’s Guide to Essex NY, but the new site will be offering frequent glimpses into segments of the book and doodles that will be featured in the book, along with others we receive from the community.

Essex Directory

In addition to the Essex Events Calendar and The Doodler’s Guide to Essex NY you will be able to access a straightforward one-stop Essex, NY Information portal at EssexNY.us to help our residents and visitors quickly and easily find out what they want to know. Think of it as a hyperlocal business directory for Essex, NY (and surrounding environs). We’ll let you know when we’re ready for submission.

How do you doodle, Essex? (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Vintage Photo: Old Brick Store, Main Street, Essex, NY (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
2013 Downtown Essex Day on August 3 (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Steamboat Sighting (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)
Independence Day Parade (rosslynredux.com)
Essex Day Book Sale at Library (www.essexonlakechamplain.com)

About Geo Davis

Geo Davis (aka virtualDavis) is a writer, storyteller and unabashed flâneur. He taught and coached at Santa Fe Preparatory School and The American School of Paris, co-founded Maison Margaux: "Paris à la parisienne" in Faubourg Saint-Germain, and owns Adobe Oasis in Santa Fe, NM with his bride.

Geo chronicles adventures (and misadventures) of rehabilitating an historic Essex home at Rosslyn Redux: Reawakening a home, a dream and ourselves; blogs about doodling and other esoterica at virtualDavis.com; posts sometimes unnerving, occasionally euphoric, and always pollyanna "midlife mashups" at 40x41.com; waxes nautical at Sailing Errant; and delves into matters of parenting, babylandia, and childfreedom at Why No Kids? He meanders on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube and Flickr.