To the Editor:

The Wilson Hill Association, the Town of Louisville, and the Louisville Volunteer Fire Department (LVFD) thank the many volunteers, local businesses, and participants who helped make the July 13, 2024 annual Turtle Trot a great success. The event raised a record $10,955.53 for the Louisville Volunteer Fire Department. A total of 280 registered for the event.  

We would like to thank the 2024 contributors, donors, and sponsors who supported this event: BJ’s Wholesale Club, C & M Farm, Carney's Sales, Nancy Charleston, Coach’s Corner, Corky's Collision, Rita Curran, Ann and Donald Duncan, Fay Motors, Dave and Christine Foster, David and Linda Frary, Gristmill Brewery, Johnston's H2O Zone, Kinney Drugs, Massena Savings & Loan, McDonald’s Restaurant (Main Street), Mills Country Store, North Country Savings Bank, O’Keefe Realty, Paquette Jewelry, Pig & Moo Barbecue, Pizza Hut, Price Chopper, Sharon Reynolds, River Course at Louisville Landing, Gail Schneider, SeaComm Federal Credit Union, Seaway Smokehouse, Time Quest Mini Golf, Valley Paper Company, Waddington True Value, Walmart Superstore, and Yelle Realty.  

The Turtle Trot Committee would like to extend a very special thank you to Curran Renewable Energy for sponsoring free shirts to the first 250 who registered for the race; In-Law Brewing Company who provided a free glass and beer to anyone who registered that was of legal drinking age; Blue Spruce Motel for hosting our timer; the Salvation Army for providing food, Tracy Thomas, Executive Director of the Nicandri Nature Center and Zowie Auger, Her.petology, for bringing some live turtles/reptiles to the event and Ray Drake for using his drone to take pictures of the event. 

We are also most thankful for the wonderful job Meaghan Janovsky did singing the Canadian and U.S. national anthems prior to the race start. We thank them all for their support and generosity. 

Contributors such as the New York State Police and the Massena Rescue Squad insured participant safety.  

We would also like to recognize the efforts of Louisville Town Supervisor Larry Legault, (Master of Ceremonies); Louisville Town Clerk Amy Ellsworth (registration table); Town Board member Nancy Charleston and Chrissy Amo (same day registration table); and Ron Aldous, for helping out with t-shirt distribution and general registration duties. Louisville Recreation Maintenance Supervisor Lindsey Gladding and his crew did a fabulous job helping set up the event area.

We were most appreciative of the outstanding job Kelli Curran Ramsey did designing, creating, and administering the 2024 Turtle Trot Facebook page. A special thank you to Jerry Manor for promoting the Turtle Trot on television and radio. Also helping to spread the word were SLC Chamber of Commerce, SLC Free Trader, 1027 WICY and Wild Country 96.5 radio.  

Brian Burr, Underdog Race Timing, provided a very professional timing experience for participants. Thank you to Roger Bennett for providing a manual timing backup. 

We have been very fortunate to have an extremely dedicated and effective Turtle Trot Committee. The members who planned and worked this event were Nancy Charleston, Jerry Manor, Larry Reynolds and Merlon Rogers. We would also like to give a heartfelt thank you to Geri Rausch for covering the Silent Auction Tent, Sally Manor for covering the Raffle Tent, Linda Tredo and Joanne Hurlbut for covering the Door Prize Tent, Joanne Cameron for helping out at the registration table as well as Michelle Stone and Jacenta Fregoe for pitching in anywhere help was needed. There were many individuals not named here who came together to help make this event such a success. We thank them all.

Nancy W. Foster
Louisville Turtle Trot Committee