E'town trying to buck dying town trend in Adirondacks
Chapman Museum schedules Friday walking tours in month of June
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Aaron Woolf was short on time and he wanted to share with his vision.
As the road narrowed and got rockier, Woolf drove his black SUV faster until the ride was a teeth-rattling, hold-on-for-your-life experience.
It finally ended in a pristine meadow with a view overhead of dramatic outcrop of rocks.
This would be the spot for a wilderness lodge catering to a new community with a focus on healthy living and extreme sports.
After my conversation with he documentary film-maker and former congressional candidate three weeks ago, I promised to visit him and see what his Woolf and his partners envisioned for the future.
"I always knew I was going to come back here," Woolf said about Elizabethtown, and after last week's visit it is clear he isn't about to leave.
A couple miles after leaving the Northway at Exit 30, I veered onto Route 9 toward Elizabethtown.
I had not been there in years. When I do travel into the Adirondacks, I usually head toward Lake Placid or Saranac Lake. I suspect that is true for most people.
The ride up Route 9 is typical of many up north. The communities are rural with residences miles apart, and the ones you do see are old and often in disrepair. I passed at least one spit of land with nothing more than a fireplace and chimney.
The stories we hear about rural communities in the Adirondacks are not good.
They are bleeding population like most of upstate New York.
The residents that remain are getting older and it is difficult to find the volunteers for ambulance and volunteer fire departments.
Schools are struggling to survive.
And good jobs are scarce.
Elizabethtown has a lot more going for it than most places as the home to county government and a traditional downtown.
As I drive into the town from the south, the Bouquet Valley Central School is on the right. Six years ago it merged with Westport to remain viable.
Just past the school is the requisite Stewart's on the left, then a Tops Friendly Market and drugstore on the right and the sprawling county offices and courthouse on the left.
Across the street from the county offices is the Deer's Head Inn (the only real eatery in town and run by Woolf's wife). There is also a bank and a hardware store.
Next to the county offices are the town offices in the old Baptist church, and next to that is a scene that is especially rare in small communities like Elizabethtown - new construction.
It is there that I met up with Woolf to see his vision first hand.
Woolf calls it "The Pharmacy Project," because, well, the building was a pharmacy all the way back when it was first built in the 1860s or so. The most frequent question is: When will it be finished?
Woolf remembers visiting Minneapolis during one of his film shoots and finding a place that was part mountain bike center, part entertainment and eating venue. It was the heart of the community.
Something clicked.
Woolf and his partners have taken their time to provide great care in renovating the old structure while envisioning a community square, meeting place, bike shop and food emporium with entertainment. There is still a lot of work to be done, but the building is taking shape.
While giving the tour, Woolf reminds me of an excited real estate salesman emphasizing what is possible, than what we currently see. One by one we meet the partners who share his vision.
Along the way, I met Andrew Murphy, the builder and designer of the Pharmacy Project, and Jori Wekin, who is developing the beverage and food side of the business. She
founded a nonprofit in Essex to help connect small farms in the Champlain Valley with restaurants and people.
Then, there is Jeff Allott, an Elizabethtown native who later worked as an engineer at Dupont, retired, and came back to Elizabethtown to start a business called General Composites Inc. that specialized in developing construction materials. He eventually sold that business and admits he is not good with retirement.
We find him busily working in the bike shop side of the Pharmacy building - separated by the construction by a tarp - where he is working on mountain bikes he has designed and sells.
It all starts to crystalize. This is the draw for the tourists.
But Allott and Woolf quickly correct me. This is where Woolf and his partners have taken the fork in the road. This is not for tourists.
Not at all.
They want to attract people to live in Elizabethtown.
They are selling a lifestyle.
"It's a counter narrative," Woolf says.
For the past two decades, community members have been building and caring for a vast array of mountain bike trails in the hills around the town that are unmarked and unpublicized.
That may seem odd for those of us an hour south who had it drilled into us that the future is tourism; that Lake George and Saratoga Springs are the economic engines that are the keys to our survival.
That's not what Woolf or Allott see. It's not their goal.
"Our passion is Elizabethtown," Allyn said. "To me, it's a cop out. We want first homes, not second homes."
They believe people looking for healthy options in their lives will want to come here.
But they are also playing the long game.
Woolf and Allott took the initiative to buy a trek of land where they plan to build a wilderness lodge linked to the mountain bike trails. They recruited some 50 other community members, established a corporation and sold shares in a venture that allows community members to use the facilities for free.
Woolf believes the population in Elizabethtown has stablized, but more housing is needed. Woolf says the hospital could hire 15 to 50 more people with more housing.
"For 15 years there was no need for me to come to E'town," Jori Wekin says. "Now, it's the place I want to be."
Over dinner at the Deer's Head Inn, Woolf explains that his wife did a national search for a chef who came on board from Seattle. The food and drink quality exceed most larger city restaurants. Even on this Thursday, in a town of just 900, people are trickling in for dinner or a drink at the bar.
One business at a time.
One family at a time.
That seems to be the philosophy for Woolf and his partners.
At one point, Woolf tells me that as a kid, his family was on on vacation when they learned their summer home in Elizabethtown had burned to the ground and there was nothing left.
He doesn't speak of a childhood trauma, but years later he returned and built his current home on that spot.
It seems like his intent is to rebuild, reinvent the entire town.
Recently, he turned 60. There is no talk of retirement or scaling back. He's talking about the long haul, about a decade in the future.
That's the type of vision the Adirondacks needs.
King Corn
Coincidentally, This Week with John Oliver showed several clips of Aaron Woolf's 2007 documentary "King Corn" as he tackled the issue of farm subsidies for corn and the impact those subsidies have had on farming.
Woolf's documentary followed the journey of two college friends who moved from Boston to Iowa to grow an acre of corn. The film explores how government subsidies increase corn production with all kinds of different ramifications.
You can stream it on Prime.
Library results
The Rockwell Falls Public Library has two new members of its board of trustees.
Janice Waterhouse and Colin Hagadorn were the top vote-getters in last week's election to earn three-year terms. They received 214 and 187 votes respectively.
Ted Mirczak, the current president, and Margaret Hartley, the current secretary, received 139 and 166 votes respectively and will serve one-year terms. Both were appointed by the state after the library closed when two members of the library staff resigned because of harassment from the public after a drag queen story hour for children was scheduled, then canceled.
All four candidates were assured a spot on the board.
Mirczak had earlier told me he wanted to sever another years to finish the job. Neither he nor Hartley campaigned for the board.
Hadley-Luzerne passed its school budget 215-69 with 284 people voting.
Walking tours
The Chapman Museum has crafted a perfect way to spend your lunch hour with a weekly walking tour of downtown Glens Falls from 11 a.m. to 12 or 12:30 p.m.
The tours will be held June 7, 14, 21 and 28.
Downtown Glens Falls Tour - June 7
This tour explores the major historical events and figures that shaped Glens Falls, from the signing of the original land patent to becoming one of the most prosperous cities in New York. Participants can park at the Chapman Museum in the lot behind the Museum off Bacon Street.
Tours are $15/person or $10 for Chapman members.
Payment is required at the time of registration. A minimum of four participants are required for tours to run and no more than 15 participants per tour
Tours are $15 per person ($10 for Chapman members). Make sure to reserve a spot by calling (518) 793-2826.
Bill Maher and Stefanik
Elise Stefanik again notched some national recognition when comedian Bill Maher included her in a bit on his HBO show "Real Time with Bill Maher."
In a segment titled, "Ass-Kisser of the Month," - sorry it's HBO - Maher mentioned a series of Republicans and what they were saying to kiss up to Donald Trump. They included Fox News host Bret Baier, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, Rudy Giuliani, Eric Trump, Rep. Lauren Boebert and Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
As one of the "Ass-Kissers of the Month," Maher said "Rep. Elise Stefanik says that Trump's farts smell like a new car."
I guess this is the price of fame and power.
Judge weighs in
Michael Ponsor, a senior judge on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts weighed in on the Samuel Alito flag controversy with an op-ed in the New York Times Saturday.
He wrote:
"In four decades as a federal judge, I have known scores, possibly hundreds, of federal trial and appellate judges pretty well. I can’t think of a single one, no matter who appointed her or him, who has engaged or would engage in conduct like that. You just don’t do that sort of thing, whether it may be considered over the line, or just edging up to the margin. Flying those flags was tantamount to sticking a `Stop the steal' bumper sticker on your car. You just don’t do it."
Ken Tingley spent more than four decades working in small community newspapers in upstate New York. Since retirement in 2020 he has written three books and is currently adapting his second book "The Last American Newspaper" into a play. He currently lives in Queensbury, N.Y.
It’s really refreshing to see people pursuing solutions instead of grievances! Working together to promote positive action is our only way forward.
This is great news for my hometown! The Agnew's have been in E-Town since the 1800's first running a stage coach and livery on Park St - where the nursing home now sits - which eventually became a taxi and coal trucking business that closed in the late 1950's when my granddad passed suddenly, just before I was born. I wish Mr. Woolfe all the success in the world with his projects. E-Town is a jewel.