By Lisa Green Behold! New Lebanon is a living museum of contemporary rural American life. There are no ladies in bonnets spinning wool a la Sturbridge Village. These people are the real deal, willing to open their lives to share their skills and experience of rural living as a step toward creating their own sustainable future through tourism. [See full story here.] I chose to “take" two events on the first day, and while I enjoyed both of them immensely and learned a huge amount, I found that part of the fun was not only the give-and-take with the presenters but with my fellow “visitors" as well. The two-room Visitor’s Center is part gift shop (offering New Lebanon-made products and Behold! New Lebanon merchandise) and part sign-in desk. But furnished with rocking chairs, filled with sunshine and a light breeze, it is a welcoming gathering space where locals greet one another and the rest of us meet them and each other. On the bus ride to the events, the anticipation is palpable – what are we going to see and learn? — and on the ride back, oh my, it is a voluble, good-natured competition about whose experience was better.
At “Hitching the Horse to the Plow," we met 23-year-old farmer Even Thaler-Null, who runs Abode Farm CSA with his partner, Sarah Steadman. A first generation farmer from Westchester, Thaler-Null farms the former Shaker land (which before was Mohican land) using two plow horses and somewhat ancient but working farm equipment. The couple’s mission is to provide more food for New Lebanon, so they attempt to keep their 150 varieties of crops affordable through their CSA. It’s one thing to know that farmers work hard, but it is another to witness Thaler-Null’s commitment to this labor of love.
My afternoon event was “Going Once! Going Twice: Auctioneering 101" to meet with Dolores Meissner of Meissner’s Auction Service. I have attended these auctions in the past, and have walked out a bit dazzled by the speed, efficiency and humor with which the auction items are dispatched. But I didn’t know how Dolores and her late husband, Keith, built up their business, how she “reads" a crowd, learned the patter, where the merchandise comes from — and how she is coping with running the business without Keith. When it was time to get back on the bus, I was finally able to express my condolences to Dolores on the tragic loss of her husband just last December. “Now I need to give you a hug," she said. And did. I have beheld New Lebanon, and I will be going back. Behold! New LebanonFriday, September 12 – Sunday, September 14 Friday, October 10 – Monday, October 13 Friday, October 31 – Sunday, November 2 Visitor’s Center 14398 NY Route 22, New Lebanon, NY (518) 795-5756
