April 2013 Letter From the Publisher
As far back as I can remember, my parents took us on weekend getaways and summer vacations in the Catskill Mountains. Our favorite place was in a town called Krumville, and had an old guesthouse with a wrap-around porch containing a dozen rooms or so. The proprietors, a middle-aged immigrant Ukrainian couple, lived in a smaller home that had a large banquet room we would sometimes commandeer for feasts with the other guests, who I remember were typically all friends of my parents.
It was the early 70s, and the vibe at this place was simple and completely laid back. I remember sitting outside on the pristine, flat, grass-covered grounds eating cucumbers that my mother had just picked from the proprietors’ garden. My younger brother and I would explore the surrounding woods, catching salamanders and collecting interesting-looking forest debris. It was the first time we got to play with fire, burning sticks at the fire pit and waving them around wildly as we ran into the cool night like crazed members of some long-lost primitive tribe. It was an inviting haven from the coarse city environment we came from. The proprietors and my parents became lifelong friends.
I stopped going there with my parents once I hit my teens, but renewed my love for the area in my 20’s from subsequent visits sparked by an encounter with Bob McBroom, a client at the time, and part owner of the Onteora Mountain House, an acclaimed B&B and wedding site in Boiceville, New York. Onteora, originally a retreat built by the mayonnaise mogul Richard Hellmann, is only eight miles of local back road away from Woodstock, a charming tourist town that doubles as an artists’ colony. The Woodstock community is progressive, environmentally conscious, and politically active. It was here that I first learned about things like the dangers of hydraulic fracturing (fracking), the difference between organic and non-organic food, and the harmful effects of factory farming. It occurs to me that many folks in this area were living a green, sustainable lifestyle and buying local and organic long before it was popular. Perhaps monumental change does typically begin with a small number of people. I still visit the area as often as I can. In fact, Pat and I make it a point to stay at Onteora every October for our anniversary and take in the amazing fall foliage.
I thank the citizens and business owners of Woodstock for my early education in green/sustainable living and a variety of other useful topics, but I first have to thank my parents for introducing me to the country life, because without that, I may have missed out on the Woodstock experience that has undoubtedly helped to shape who I am and how I have influenced those around me over the last 20 years.
Related Posts
July Publisher’s Letter →
June 2013 Letter From the Publisher →
May 2013 Letter From the Publisher →
