Adirondack Special Events, ASE, is a newly formed event management LLC with four principals: Jim Connerty, Jane Slack, Dennis Michael and Donna Pohl. Phone 315.369.5456

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Jim, who along with his wife Diane owned and operated North Woods Inn Resort for seven years, has been in the hospitality business for 17 years.   The wedding business at North Woods Inn was developed substantially during the Connerty’s tenure.  Prior to operating their seasonal ocean-front motel in New Jersey Jim was a VP of a large construction firm, responsible for costing out jobs and monitoring subcontractor performance.

Jim has a track record for community involvement and commitment, serving as a past president of Kiwanis of the Central Adirondacks and continuing to serve on its Board; a past president of the Community Youth and Activity Center in Old Forge and continuing to serve on their Board; 5 years service on the Board of Directors for the Central Adirondack Association (CAA), two of them as an officer, in addition to chairing the CAA Marketing Committee and serving on the Executive, Events and Liaison Committees. 
The list of events Jim has helped stage include:
  • Kiwanis 20th Anniversary Gala
  • Co-Chair Thunder in Old Forge motorcycle event in 2010 (CAA signature event)
  • Snofest Committee member for 4 years (CAA signature event)
  • Co-organizer of Adirondack Ice Bowl in 2010 (CAA partnered event)
  • Polkafest for 3 years (CAA partnered event)
  • Plus numerous other smaller not-for-profit community events
Jane Slack

Jane  brings a background in financial planning and management to the company.   She was a business teacher for 11 years and a business administrator for 22 years, responsible for all aspects of the BOCES for whom she worked- from property casualty insurance to program budgets to capital projects coordination.  She also served on the Board of Trustees for the Jefferson-Lewis Employees’ Health Care Plan for the Jefferson-Lewis Workers’ Compensation Plan. Jane was involved in the financial planning required to manage the changes schools in the Watertown area experienced when the 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum was reactivated.  Currently she serves as chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Reliant Community Federal Credit Union, an organization she has helped nurture since its inception 40 years ago, starting with $0 in assets and now with over $310 million in assets and 8 branches in the Rochester area. Jane served on the CAA Board of Directors as Treasurer for two years as well as chaired the CAA Finance and Insurance Committees.  She also served on the TOW School Board for 7 years.


Dennis Michael

Dennis is our on-site facilities and logistics manager. It’s Dennis who lays out the floor plan for exhibitors, the parking schematics, signage, knows about the electrical, heating and  utilities infrastructure, especially at the North Street Pavilion in Old Forge.  Dennis, a decorated Viet Nam veteran, owned and operated  a large general contracting business in Connecticut, with 23 employees, for almost 40 years, building shopping centers, gas stations and housing developments.   When he and his wife Eileen relocated to the Old Forge area, Dennis served as an Assistant Codes Officer for the Town of Webb and on the Planning Board for 2 years.  A member of the CAA Board of Directors for 13 year, six of those as an officer,  Dennis served on numerous CAA committees either as chair or as a member, including Events, Health Insurance, Executive and By-Laws/Policies.  Dennis chaired CAA’s Snodeo event for 14 years, a popular December event which kicks off the snowmobiling season and which has grown every year in terms of spectators, vendors and net income.    Dennis loves the camaraderie that goes into relationship building with show vendors and volunteers.  He also served on various motorcycle rally event committees as the event morphed from Thunder in the Forge to Thunder in Old Forge.


Donna has lived in Raquette Lake for 40 years, raising a family of 4 children as well as growing several family businesses.  Her 21 years as daily operations manager for Raquette Lake Navigation Co,, an award-winning cruise and dine operation,  have given her extensive experience in managing employees, event planning and execution, promotion and marketing.  Targeting different demographic groups in the company’s marketing plan, Donna has had experience promoting not only the WW Durant cruise vessel but the Central Adirondack region at local, regional and national trade shows.  She has had extensive travel experience and is familiar with what different segments of the traveling public are looking for in a vacation experience.
Donna served on the CAA Board of Directors for many years and was elected president of CAA in 2009 for a 2 year term.  As president she served on all CAA committees including Executive, Marketing, Events, Liaison, Finance, Volunteer, Bylaws/Policies and Insurance as well as individual events, including Thunder in Old Forge 2010 and Snodeo. Like most year-round Adirondack residents, Donna and her family  have had several income streams which, when combined, have enabled her and husband Dean to live and work and raise their four children.  Prior to devoting herself fulltime to the family businesses, Donna taught school in North Creek and in Long Lake for 15 years.  Besides the cruise and dine business, the family owns and operates Pohl Construction, (heavy equipment operators specializing in building driveways, foundations, septic systems, barging, permitted sand and gravel pit, landscaping),  Adirondack Receptive Services (promoting upstate NY by designing one day and multi-day itineraries for motor coach groups of 20 or more people) and is involved in land development.
Like the other 3 principals in ASE, Donna has a track record for community involvement and volunteering , currently serving as vice president of the Adirondack Lakes Center For the Arts in Blue Mountain Lake, treasurer of the Raquette Lake Chapel and recording secretary for the New York State Tour Boat Association.  Over the past 40 years she has served on numerous other Boards including Cooperative Extension, ANCA, Hamilton County Tourism and the Raquette Lake Library.