Whether he is protecting his country or volunteering locally, U.S. Navy and Army veteran Scott Rager has spent his life giving back.

Passionate about helping those around him, he participates in various service organizations. Despite his life taking many unexpected turns, the one constant has been his selfless desire to help others.

In 1978, Scott joined the U.S. Navy, inspired by his brother, Tom. “My older brother had joined the Navy and I sort of followed in his footsteps,” he said. Going in, he wanted to become a gunner’s mate, meaning he would be in charge of the operation and maintenance of guided missile launching systems, underwater explosive weapons, gun mounts, and other ordnance equipment. Following boot camp, Scott went into basic electricity and electronics school. He then went to gunner’s mate, a school where he finished his training.

Scott was stationed aboard a landing ship tank (LST), the USS Orange County. Used to transport Marines, the USS Orange County was an amphibious transport ship. Next, Scott served on a patrol gunboat out of Little Creek, Virginia. Built during the Vietnam War, the ship was used for high-speed coastal interdiction. “As a gunner’s mate, it was ideal duty because we had lots of armament aboard that vessel,” he explained.

While stationed in Virginia, Scott was introduced to Karen, a naval photographer. Scott’s close friend from boot camp married a girl who had gone to boot camp with Karen. Scott and Karen’s friends introduced the two, and in 1980, they were married.

In 1982, Scott’s tour ended while he was serving aboard the USS Harlan County. Karen and Scott had welcomed their first child, so he decided to leave the Navy but stayed in the Navy Reserves. He was part of a special boat unit based out of Little Creek, Virginia that did riverine warfare and trained with the Navy Seals. He then traveled to Pittsburgh where he was part of a mobile mine assembly group. Afterwards, Scott moved again and was stationed out of Earle, New Jersey.

After a few years of being inactive in the Navy Reserves, Scott moved to New York. At the time, he was looking for work and saw an advertisement looking to hire an armorer at a tank unit. During the interview process, he was told that joining the National Guard would help his chances of getting the position. “I didn’t get hoodwinked, but I sort of got sucked in a little bit into the National Guard, but it was a good choice,” explained Scott.

The armorer position was never activated, but Scott had many successes during his time in the National Guard. He started in Hoosick Falls, where he worked at an armor unit for a few years. The armor unit was transitioning from M60 tanks to M1 tanks. However, Scott was a Staff Sergeant working as a Sergeant, and therefore, had to find a new position so he didn’t lose a stripe. He transferred to the division headquarters intel section and stayed for four years before being offered a Senior Ammunition Sergeant promotion out of the division support command unit in Troy, New York.

After a few years in this position, he once again received a promotion and transferred to the support battalion unit in Utica, New York. While relocating so often was difficult, Scott knew it was essential to move up in his military career. “If you really want to obtain some type of rank, you really have to be willing to move because in one particular unit, there’s only so many people that can be promoted up the chain of command,” he explained.

Scott was serving as an active member of the National Guard on September 11, 2001, when two planes crashed into the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. He was serving as a senior noncommissioned officer at the time, and was sent down three weeks after the attack. He had various teams that did security missions on the east side of the WTC. They were stationed along different access points to keep civilians away from the damage and escorted VIPs to the towers so they could see the destruction.

Throughout 2002 and 2003, his teams continued various security missions in New York City during the holidays. His last tour in the city was the 2004 Republican National Convention. During this time, he was preparing to retire but received an invitation to travel to England for three weeks on a tour with the Territorial Army, England’s version of the National Guard. He accepted and traveled to many places like Belgium, France, England, and more as a liaison for the U.S. National Guard.

After years of service, he retired shortly after returning from the trip. Due to his time in the Navy and National Guard, Scott had the opportunity to go on an honor flight with his wife. Originally, honor flights were only offered to World War II veterans. However, more recently, they are allowing multiple different veterans this opportunity, to recognize and thank them for their service to the country. During the all-paid-for trip, the veterans on the flight have the opportunity to go to Washington, D.C. and visit the monuments. “It was very special for both of us to go on that honor flight,” said Scott.

During his trip, he and his wife spent two days in Washington D.C. getting to see Arlington, the changing of the guards, the Vietnam War memorial, the Korean War memorial, and more. There were many touching moments experienced during the trip, one of which Scott shared was when a Vietnam War veteran found his friend’s name on the memorial. Additionally, this honor flight had the most women out of any others, with 10 female veterans.

“It was an exceptional experience just to be able to travel with fellow veterans. Any veteran that has an opportunity to go on an honor flight, whether they’re a combat veteran or cold war veteran, should take advantage of it,” said Scott.

During his time serving in the National Guard, Scott was also working as a salesman. Despite being successful in the position, this career endeavor was not something he had originally planned. “It’s kind of funny; I never wanted to be a salesman,” he explained.

He started working at The Valve and was the first employee in the department. As a result, he had to hire his replacements while the business grew, and he worked his way up, eventually working himself out of a job. He knew more about the product than anyone else and had to begin training the sales representatives, which jump-started his career in sales. After a few years, his position was terminated, leaving the New York companies he was representing without coverage. He asked some companies if they would give him the product lines if he were to start his own business. Immediately, six companies said yes. Scott took the risk and created S.A.R Sales in 1999. At the time, his daughter was just starting college and he was going to a fully commission-based pay.

“It was scary because I was leaving a salaried position where I was doing fairly well and I was going to an unknown as a sales rep,” he shared. Despite the challenges, Scott had a lot of support from those around him, especially his wife. “My wife worked as a silent partner in the business doing my graphic design and some of my books,” he explained. As a graphic designer, Karen was able to help out a lot, and she often took on more responsibilities when Scott was away with the National Guard. Scott jokingly described her as the “unpaid employee.”

In addition to his successful sales career, Scott has also always tried to be an active member of his community and volunteer whenever he could. “I’ve always tried to give back,” he explained, “I started giving blood when I was younger, and I’ve been doing that for 50 years.” In addition to donating blood, he is an active member of the Glens Falls Lions Club, the world’s largest service organization. Scott knew about the Lions Club as a kid, but he joined around 21 years ago after a friend suggested he get involved with the organization. The Lions Club has several global causes including vision, childhood cancer, diabetes, disaster relief, environment, humanitarian, hunger, and youth.

The Glens Falls group hosts various fundraisers to raise awareness and support the causes. They sell food, coffee, and drinks at the Adirondack Balloon Festival, and more recently they started a garage sale. This, they year will be hosting their 21st golf tournament at Airway Meadows. In addition to the Lions Club, Scott also participates in the Longest Day to support Alzheimer’s awareness. He discovered the event through John Marcantonio, who unfortunately passed away in 2023. John founded the ‘Paint the Peaks Purple’ fundraiser, where people pledge to hike a mountain and fundraise to support the cause. Scott has participated in the event for several years.

Today, Scott is looking forward to retirement and having more time to spend with his family and friends. He has a daughter, Rhiannon, who lives in Las Vegas and works as a school psychologist. His son, Nathan, is a research and development chef working in Chicago. Scott is a huge outdoorsman and spends a lot of his free time fishing or hunting. He is currently working on becoming a member of the Adirondack 46ers, with five already completed. He is a Lake George 12ster and is also working on the fire tower challenge. He has completed 18, and only has five left.

Plant diversity is essential for the growth and sustainability of every park… However, today over half of the parks in America are being threatened by invasive species. If left untreated, these invasive species will have detrimental consequences on the surrounding ecosystem. As a result, some people have started to take action against these harmful species.

The Crandall Park Beautification Committee’s ongoing project is a standout example of how a community of people are working to protect this diversity. They’re approaching the issue head-on, removing these invasive species from the park. The two most dominant invasive species in Crandall park are burning bush (euonymus elatus) and Oriental bittersweet (celastrus orbiculatus). While these species are commonly found, very few people understand exactly what they are, and more importantly, the damage they are doing to the park.

Earning its name from the bright red color of the leaves in the fall, burning bush looks beautiful to the human eye; so much so that it is extremely common to find in suburban landscapes. However, while it grows the plant creates many complex root systems and dense thickets. It can grow to become over six feet tall. Additionally, the plant produces an abundance of seeds, can self-fertilize, and has no known predators. As a result, other plants have a hard time surviving where burning bush is present and plant diversity decreases immensely.

Unlike burning bush, Oriental bittersweet doesn’t affect other plants’ ability to grow, but it harms the plants that are already present. Oriental bittersweet is a vine that grows along tree trunks. It can be recognized by the fruit it produces which are green in the summer, but turn bright orange in the late fall. It is surrounded by small oval-shaped leaves that become gold in the fall, but are a glassy green in the spring and summer. Many animals like birds eat the fruit of Oriental bittersweet once it’s exposed in the fall and this carries the seeds across large distances, allowing it to reproduce.

The issue is that as the species grows, the vines smother the trees and shrubs it comes in contact with, strangling them. While these plants may look nice or seem harmless, if left untouched they could take over the entire park.

To combat the issue of invasive species, this past fall, the Crandall Park Beautification Committee formed a plan for their elimination. Using arcGIS, a software program designed to display geographical data, members of the committee and community went into the park and tracked the locations of these invasive species. This helped map out specific areas throughout the park in which each of the invasive species are most prevalent. Using the data from this research, with the help of the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District, the committee made a plan for the species’ removal.

Volunteers have the opportunity to help remove invasive species June 3rd to the 7th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Everyone will meet at the pollinator garden, and are encouraged to bring gardening gloves and a small garden hoe. Specialists from Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District will provide more specific instructions to all volunteers.

Some may think that an invasive species eradication is unnecessary, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. In America, over half of all parks are being threatened by invasive species that will result in substantial consequences if left untreated. The Crandall Park Beautification Committee is a dedicated group of community members and volunteers that devote a remarkable amount of time to improving their local park for everyone. It’s people like them that are helping to keep parks open and safe, so everyone can enjoy the diverse ecosystems.

If you have the time, please consider giving a few hours of your time to help support the committee’s efforts and maybe even start your own movement at your local park. As Jim Liebrum, manager of the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District says, “Look for small victories to make big changes.”

Joe Zakriski, the Head Instructor of Atlas Jiu-Jitsu in South Glens Falls, has a passion for martial arts that goes back a long, long way.

“One of my best friends took me to his taekwondo dojang (a formal training hall) back when I was in kindergarten or first grade,” recalled the Hudson Falls resident, now 34, in a recent telephone interview, “And I automatically fell in love with it.”

For a while, he tried to continue in, “any kind of martial arts after school program whenever I could.” But other sports — such as soccer, football, hockey, basketball, and primarily, baseball — occupied most of his free time growing up in the Scotia-Glenville area. During his college years however, that love was rekindled when he took up judo after discovering that the Jason Morris center in Burnt Hills was only five minutes from his parents’ house.

And when he was later introduced in 2010 to another martial art in the Albany area by a college friend, his destiny was determined. “Jiu jitsu has been my passion since the first class I ever took with Professor Ed,” Zakriski said of longtime martial arts instructor Edward Anthony and his New York Jiu Jitsu (now Atlas Jiu Jitsu) academy, then on Wolf Road in Colonie. “I knew that the day I took my first class (with him) that I was going to one day run an academy of my own.”

Six years later, Anthony told Zakriski he wanted him to be in charge of the new Atlas branch, that was opening in South Glens Falls, and Zakriski’s conviction became a reality. “It feels like it’s what I was meant to do,” said Zakriski, who was promoted by Anthony to black belt in jiu jitsu in 2021.

The 2,000 square-foot South Glens Falls facility, located in Midtown Plaza on Main Street, includes a grappling area, a mixed-martial arts (MMA) cage, and a fully equipped strength and conditioning zone. Classes at the academy include: adult Brazilian jiu jitsu, cardio kickboxing, strength and conditioning, striking, and the “Tiny Titans” children’s jiu jitsu program. Brazilian jiu jitsu specializes in ground fighting, submissions, and leverage, while Japanese jiu jitsu focuses on takedowns, traumatic blows, and weapons. The academy caters to people seeking to learn self-defense methods as well as to those desiring to learn how to master MMA techniques and train for competition.

With the recent popularity of the Ultimate Fighting Championship competition, interest in MMA has soared. “MMA takes the striking-based martial arts and the grappling-based martial arts and turns them into a sport, like modern-day gladiators, whereas jiu jitsu is a grappling-based art (in which) we don’t punch, we don’t kick,” said Zakriski.

In 2019, he won double gold medals at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Open in Washington, D.C. “If there’s any striking, it’s purely accidental.”

In his younger days, Zakriski himself wanted to be an MMA fighter and excelled at the combat aspect (punching, kicking, etc.) of it, but not so much at the grappling portion of the equation. That’s when he got an education from Anthony. “He said, ‘If you want to be a good MMA fighter, you still need to learn jiu jitsu. You still need to learn ground work.’ So I was like, ‘OK, I’ll start doing jiu jitsu,’” Zakriski said. “I fell in love with (it). I was still learning martial arts, and I was getting punched in the face a lot less than I was before. That was very nice.”

In sum, “you don’t need to get roughed up when you do jiu jitsu,” said Zakriski. “It’s a physically active way to learn problem solving. Are you going to take this person down or are you going to pull them into your guard (a position in which your legs are in between your upper body and your opponent’s upper body, allowing you to attack)? That could be based on: Is this person the same body type as you? Is this person smaller than you? It’s like human chess.”

Brazilian jiu jitsu, Zakriski’s specialty, “is just an amazing physical workout (and) mental workout because you’re always thinking.”

In addition to Zakriski, an Atlas participant and instructor for 13 years, the Glens Falls staff includes cardio kickboxing and striking coach, Justin Hall, and “Tiny Titans” assistant coaches Sherwyn Iledan, Nicholas Regner, Ashlyn Nowicki, and Zoe Herrick. “Every class is different; every class works your body differently,” explained Zakriski, who has a bachelor’s degree in physical education and a master’s in health education.

No matter which classes patrons participate in, “my goal,” Zakriski said, “is to make sure they understand that even though this is a combative sport, their safety is the number one concern. They’re going to learn martial arts practically (in a way) they will be able to apply in class on a regular basis in a controlled and safe environment.”

For more information, go to www.atlasjiujitsu.com or call 518-391-0891.