And That’s What I Like About the North

Although I’ve lived Upstate for a decade, suburban friends everywhere still query, with varying degrees of puzzlement, “What on earth are you doing up there?” They suggest, none too subtly, that there are so many places with so much more to offer. Joe, my long-time pal from Kansas City, usually punctuates our conversations with “Have you put the “For Sale” sign in the front yard yet?”

Joe and the others, for all their good intentions, seem to forget that I have already lived so many places and have sampled so much of what they think I’m missing. I came to the Susquehanna Valley by choice, amicably divorcing the suburbs. I gave them the endless commuting, the cookie-cutter shopping malls, supermarkets filled with overwrapped products , the multiplexes, the big boxes, the housing “developments” made of ticky-tacky that all look just the same, forever more asphalt and concrete and cars, cars, cars in the settlement.

Recently, I spent the day researching a new book, savoring the rural New York I love. On the back roads and in valley enclaves I discover how New Yorkers diligently and passionately spend their most precious commodity – their time. That day’s road trip took me to Grant’s Cottage (north of Saratoga Springs,) then to the Sundae’s Best Fudge Sauce production kitchen; lunch at Troy’s local product-supporting Ilium Café and then on to the Savor New York chocolate producer, Candyman Chocolates of Catskill, NY. The way home included a nickel tour of Irish East Durham and a mental note to arrange a visit to a Buddhist temple, located deep in the Catskills.

After my gratifying day of discovery, I was happily nearing home when a light flashed from the dashboard. “Add Fuel Now” it warned. Fuel? As in gas? I drive a Prius hybrid and, at 50 miles to the gallon, I don’t fill very often. Yet, with my mind a-whir with new places and people, new products, and new chapters to write, I had overlooked a basic tenet, even for a Prius: put gas in the tank. There I was on the beautiful, isolated Upstate back roads, in the rain, daylight fading, no cell service, no prospect of an open gas station, and my lone fuel bar insistently blinking that I was on fumes. This is one situation I doubt I would face in suburban America.

I did the only thing I could do; I approached a roadside house, knocked on the door and fervently hoped that my mother’s childhood fear mongering would prove untrue and I would not end up at the bottom of a well. My worst fears vaporized when I was greeted warmly and sympathetically by a pleasant woman in cozy slippers and her friendly dog. She confirmed that I was, indeed, in a pickle. She also confessed to being a kind person who, with true Upstate resourcefulness, had just replenished the five- gallon tank she kept for her mower. I needed only a gallon to get me to petrol salvation, which she gave good-humoredly, assuring me that I was not the first soul she encountered in similar straits. Despite her protests, I paid her for the fuel and for saving me much time and even greater vexation. We parted with her open-ended invitation that the next time I pass, if the fire was going, be sure to stop for a friendly libation.

I wonder if my experience would have been the same in suburbia.

The Savor New York Story

A Remarkable Little Company with a Great Big Mission

My business partner, Melissa Manikas, and I will frequently stop during our happily whirlwind days, look at each other with a smile and say “How on earth did we get here?”

We created Savor New York to celebrate the hidden gems of New York State; the passionate producers of out-of-the-ordinary items, made my New York hands. The forty succinct words of our mission statement state: Savor New York books and products celebrate New York’s distinct regions, promoting family farming and local products, determined small businesses and outstanding visitor attractions. Savor New York illuminates the remarkable people and unparalleled spirit that makes New York State extraordinary. (And, yes; we can recite it on a short elevator ride.)

Our venture started with the book Home Plate: The Traveler’s Food Guide to Cooperstown and Otsego County, a cross of travel guide and recipe collection that I wrote as a fundraiser for two Cooperstown, NY area non profits: Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) of Otsego County and The Walking Example Group Organization (WE-GO). The first organization promotes important quality-of-life programs and family farming; the second promotes the importance of walkable communities and the smart lifestyle choices that fend off the debilitating health consequences of obesity.

I founded WE-GO in 2001, inspired in part by my brother, Ken. Kenny was my beloved older brother who had a zest for life, a charming wit, and an encyclopedic knowledge of all facets of baseball. No one was a pleased as Ken when I announced my move to Cooperstown, NY in 1999. A professionally trained umpire, he was crucial to the creation of the city summer baseball/softball program in our hometown of Columbia, MO.

Ken’s was a classic case of diabetes 2, a misery of a disease that unfortunately affects millions of Americans, and whose numbers are growing at epidemic rates. The outrageous shame of diabetes 2 is that most cases are preventable by proper nutrition and adequate activity, the very issues that CCE and WE-GO address.

I watched my darling, mischievous brother struggle with the awful effects of diabetes 2 for a decade before a stroke took him the day after Christmas, 2003. Numb and floundering in the months that followed, I grasped for a solid place above the unrelenting waves of sorrow. So, to quote Edward Gibbon, “unprovided with original learning, unformed in the habits of thinking, unskilled in the arts of composition, I resolved to write a book”. Thus, Home Plate was conceived and dedicated to Ken. The book provides Cooperstown’s thousands of annual visitors with an entertaining guide to the area and also supplies recipes using New York State’s diverse agriculture. All proceeds from the sale benefit CCE and WE-GO. My payment came from the priceless intangibles I collected on the journey.

During the research of the first Home Plate I discovered the multiple dimensions of the Upstaters around me, their incomparable character and an admirable dedication to their endeavors. From shopkeepers to goat cheese makers to museum curators, all deserve heralding and notice. Thus, Savor New York was born. As the concept became a business, Melissa Manikas came on board because, while we are cut from many of the same cloths, her talent is numbers while mine is words. We now travel all regions of New York State, finding more products and enterprises that bear the dual hallmarks of pride and passion. Nearly all items are from producers who put their dollars into quality instead of advertising. We offer many varieties of food, jewelry, wood products, fiberworks, art, fishing lures, soaps, candles and more. Savor New York’s criteria are that whatever it is be made by New York hands, with a lot of heart and excellent standards.

The first Home Plate sold well and is still available, 100% of the proceeds going to community programs in the Cooperstown area. Cornell Cooperative Extension used much of their share of the proceeds to remodel their conference room and demonstration kitchen; visit http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/otsego/ to view the result. WE GO is currently funding a variety of activity- encouraging undertakings, including upkeep of the Toddsville, NY pedestrian bridge and enhancement of a playground in Cooperstown. More monies are yet to be distributed.