This year, free concerts at the Recovery Lounge in Upper Jay are paid for with occupancy tax money. That's the Essex County tax paid by guests at hotels and rental homes. In February 2026 the Jay Town Board voted 4-0 to give the Upper Jay Art Center $8,000 for six concerts that would be free to Town of Jay residents. Five of those six shows have already happened. The last one is Saturday, December 12.
Over the summer and fall, money from people staying in hotels and inns turned into free nights out for the people who live here year-round. The arrangement also says something about UJAC's position heading into winter, and about how much the Lounge needs year-round neighbors to come through the garage door.
Why the town stepped in
The Upper Jay Art Center lost a large share of its funding going into 2026. In a Whiteface Region profile of the building, Artistic Director Gabrielle Schutz said, "Our total budget is reduced by about 41% compared to what we operated at last year, which clearly will impact our programming and what we're able to do." The same piece traces the drop to cuts in national, state and private foundation arts funding that UJAC began learning about in 2025.
Jay Community News reported that UJAC brought the town a few project options after losing some of its federal grant funding. Under the agreement, UJAC runs the whole series, including venue, artists, booking, sound, production, marketing and oversight. The town pays $8,000 out of occupancy tax revenue. Board member Olivia Dwyer explained the vote to Jay Community News:
"This is a really exciting opportunity to use our occupancy taxes for their intended purpose, which is to support the arts and culture of our community. Occupancy tax is supposed to be used to support things that bring business to town, and a concert series like this will certainly do that."
The February 12 meeting minutes record the motion as coming from Supervisor Stanley, seconded by Councilor Dwyer and passed as Resolution 2026-36. Councilor Dwyer, Supervisor Stanley, Councilman McDonald and Councilman Forbes all voted yes.
Split evenly, $8,000 comes to about $1,333 per concert. That money is set aside for the concerts alone. It keeps one of the center's two signature programs on the calendar. Schutz told Whiteface Region, "Our two hallmark programs are the concert series and our theater work."
Five shows down, one to go
The series started in spring. A Supervisor's Weekly Update from March 27 called the Dirty Cello show the first of six concerts. The full run:
- Dirty Cello, March 26
- Isaac Newcomb, May 23
- Dawn Tyler Watson, September 24
- Charlie Millard Band, October 1
- Bad Penny Pleasuremakers, October 8
- Kathleen Parks Band, December 12
The town's August 28 update set the three fall shows for 7 p.m. at the Recovery Lounge. The update called them "completely free to residents of Jay and surrounding towns." It also noted that this series and the JEMS summer concerts on the Jay Village Green are both paid for from the town's share of Essex County Occupancy Tax funds. One tax stream covered live music in two hamlets this year, outdoors on the Village Green through early September and then indoors in Upper Jay as the nights got cold.
The December finale, and what it asks of you
Kathleen Parks plays the Recovery Lounge on Saturday, December 12, from 8 to 10 p.m., at 12198 Route 9N. UJAC describes her as a fiddler, singer and songwriter whose writing "leans toward Pop, Folk, and classic Jazz." She has shared the stage with Gordon Lightfoot, Aoife O'Donovan, Jerry Douglas and Sierra Hull.
UJAC's event page says the show is free for residents of Jay and the surrounding communities. Tickets will show as free, and UJAC asks you to RSVP through the page. Donations to the art center are still welcome.
The RSVP and the donation line point back to UJAC's funding gap. Board President Chris Radey told Whiteface Region the Lounge has long carried "a shroud of coolness and mysteriousness that maybe gives people the impression that the Lounge is fine, because there's all this programming." He added, "We need to communicate to people that it's expensive to do what we do." The same article says that with affordability pressures nationwide, donations tend to be smaller, but more people are giving. The town's money got this concert on the calendar. Attendance and donations from residents decide what fills the stage after the series ends.
Before December, the Lounge's theater work
The other hallmark program has two productions left this fall, and neither one is part of the free series.
Misery, October 25. The Stage Rats give a reading of Misery on Sunday, October 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is pay-what-you-wish.
Unpacking, November 12 to 15. Unpacking is an original memory play built around everyday objects, the sentimental ones and the mundane ones. UJAC's event page poses the play's questions this way: "What makes an object trash vs treasure? What could your possessions tell us about you?" An ensemble of local people of different ages created the piece over nine weeks, led by Schutz. For some of them, it's the first time they've performed or written original work. The cast is Joy McCabe, Peter Beuf, Elizabeth Sackett, Jon Fremante, Areli Romero, Niko Romero and Colleen Corrigan. Shows are at 7 p.m. on November 12, 13 and 14, and at 2 p.m. on November 15. General admission is $15.
These dates match the way Schutz described casting to Whiteface Region. She said her theater choices are "largely inspired by people who I think that I can engage in the process … people who are already performers, or who have expressed an interest in wanting to perform." Every member of the Unpacking cast is a local resident.
The room the tax money is keeping lit
The building matters to this story too. According to Whiteface Region, the boxy three-story structure at the sharp turn where Route 9N crosses the East Branch of the Ausable River used to receive sections of Ford Model Ts for final assembly. It later served as a seed propagator and an antique store, and it's now on the Historic Register. A large hand-operated freight elevator beside the stage once carried finished cars from the upstairs assembly floor down to the showroom.
Brothers Scott and Byron Renderer took over the old Ford plant for their furniture reupholstering work and opened the Recovery Lounge. The name is a joke on their day job of restoring worn-out furniture. Schutz told the same outlet that the brothers had been hosting concerts and plays for a few years before the community said "we want more of this" and came together to fund and form the nonprofit.
Building a night around a show
The Whiteface Region piece names a few places to eat within 10 to 15 minutes of the Lounge. Adirondack Mountain Coffee is steps away, in a building that was once part of Arto Monaco's Land of Makebelieve theme park. Ice Jam Inn in Upper Jay serves dinner in an 1860 brick inn on the Ausable River, and the article recommends reservations. NewVida Preserve in Jay, the reborn Paleface Ski Mountain, serves farm-to-table dinners in an A-frame lodge looking out at Whiteface Mountain. Check each one's current hours before you go.
If you have a free weekend before the finale, Au Sable Forks has a full calendar too:
- Thursday, October 29, 2 p.m. The Two Branches Heritage Society holds a "Tavern Tales" Throwback Thursday at the Au Sable Forks Library, according to Jay Community News, remembering places like Art's Village Inn, Meconi's Restaurant and the Rendezvous Diner, with Randy Douglas moderating. Bring old photos and they'll scan them and hand them right back.
- Saturday, December 5, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Au Sable River Valley Business Association holds its Christmas Market at the Community Center, 11 School Lane, Au Sable Forks.
- Saturday, December 5, 6 p.m. The Christmas in the Forks tree lighting takes place at the Town of Black Brook Clock Tower, according to Jay Community News.
For more on how weekends work along this stretch of Route 9N, see our earlier look at the Route 9N rhythm in Jay and Upper Jay. For a wider view of the hamlets, visit our Jay and Upper Jay neighborhood page.
Town board votes and visitor dollars do a lot to shape what everyday life looks like in Jay and Upper Jay, and that's the kind of local detail we follow every day at Bob Miller Real Estate. If you're thinking about what the arts calendar, the hamlets and the year ahead mean for your own place in the Town of Jay, contact Bob for a local market consult.
