New/Returning Member from Western NY

[djhayes]

Hi folks, I have recently renewed my membership after a lag of several years. Used to live in Cato, the next town over from Meridian; home of Jack McGreevey. Jack insisted I join the first time around and I was thinking about some great afternoons hanging around his shop. Learning about wood and canvas canoes until late afternoon when he had his gin and I quaffed a beer. He was a great guy and was well loved by the paddling community! Anyhow, I think Jack may have sent a message from the great beyond that "you need to rejoin WCHA ASAP". All the best,
Dan

 

[MGC]

Hi Dan,
Well...it sounds like you have paid your dues. Geneseo is (in my opinion) a better spot to hail from than Cato, nothing against Cato. There are quite a few active WCHA members within a short drive of you. The Western NY local WCHA chapter might be of interest to you. There is a link to the WCHA chapters on the WCHA website. https://www.woodencanoe.org/chapters
The Western NY groups most recent content is dated from 2023..... that seems like quite a while ago.
Pete Shea is listed there as the groups contact. He also happens to be the current Secretary of the WCHA. His listed email is pshea802@gmail.com. If you have an interest in finding out what the local chapter is up to, you might reach out to him.
A word to the wise....Assembly 2025 begins tomorrow and runs into the weekend.
Mike

 

[djhayes]

Hey Mike, thanks for the followup. I won't be able to make Smitty's but will reach out to Pete after he returns. By the way, I went to Paul Smith's a little more than a half a century ago. Beautiful place but tough to focus on studies given what surrounds it : )

 

[MGC]

Yeah...for sure. You guys were known for the firing it up. Any chance you knew a Serabian? One of our 1972 Allagash crew went there as did his brothers. They were at the core of the Placid Hotels for many years. And the Saranac Inn.....that was our best kept secret. Duck for a buck. Not bad.

 

[djhayes]

I was there 1971-72 but I don't recall the name. Unfortunately, my class became known as the one who took down the college's symbolic white pine. That was not good. My wife was at North Country Community College and we met at the Waterhole. Three friends and I rented a beat up old place in Gabriels for year 2. There were some dandy parties for sure. I would sometimes feed a whole crowd of hungover students with bacon and brook trout for breakfast! Lots of great memories!!

 

[MGC]

Lots of great memories!!

I'm finding that many of these old memories were in the category of "you had to be there to believe it". The Waterhole, I was struggling to recall. It's still going. The Tupper Lake Hotel, gone but not forgotten. The Bluebird in Star Lake.... oh boy.
That tree....that was epic.
Thank you.

 

[Rob Stevens]

I have heard about the destruction of the PSC white pine, with various years "recounted", including up into recent times.
Found this article about the deed.

The unkindest cuts

In mid-November 1971 I was in the Navy, doing what I did most of the time — taking Morse code — when my friend Frank walked over. “Hey,” he said, “you went to Paul Smith’s College, right?” “Yeah,” I said. “Why?” “’Cause there’s something about it in today’s Stars and Stripes.” “Something in the...

www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com

 

[djhayes]

That was a fun article to read! Thanks for sharing!! The 2 dorms closest to the tree were Courier and Livermore. I resided in Courier dorm. In the wee hours of the morning the fallen tree was discovered, some very upset folks got us all out of bed and we were told to bring our axes. As both dorms' students lined up military style in various states of disarray, the edges of our respective axe blades for chips and other signs that we may have been the culprit who chopped down the cement laden, leaning white pine. The students who did it were from Livermore dorm but many of us didn't know who they were until days later. There were some tough old buggers in the forestry deoartment and the professor mentioned in the article as giving the student a bad grade was certainly among the toughest. He failed me on some field work because I had a pair of jeans on that weren't "stagged" to his satisfaction. But, from the perspective of 50+ years,I can understand that same man dedicated his life and passion to Paul Smith's; it's lands, draft horses, and traditions. Sorry for the long winded reply but you triggered a flood of memories!