There are flowers all around Margaretville. The little garden above is in an alley.
Main Street is lined with planters. These are all the handiwork of Sue Ilho and high school students doing their community service. Sue owns The Cheese Barrel, which was devastated by floods following Hurricane Irene on August 28, 2011.
The ice cream cone marks The Cheese Barrel . (Those are bales of hay, not giant marshmallows). Inventory was ruined and the store had to be gutted. Sue set up shop in temporary quarters. I remember how great it was to be able to get a cup of coffee in town, something that wasn't possible for a month or so after the flood, with 2/3 of the town washed out. Sue's a hard worker (when I think of her the words pluck and gumption come to mind); she rebuilt the Cheese Barrel, and opened the doors in May.
This year, there are even flowers in the parking lot.
Margaretville is starting to feel whole again.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
After the floods (during which he was up to his neck in water) the Freshtown Bear became something of a mascot for Margaretville. Freshtown is a small supermarket chain that bought out the Margaretville store from a much larger chain. It was pretty ratty, as supermarkets go, and the Freshtown people put a ton of money into making it nice and being supportive of the community, including carrying local products. Then they, and many other businesses got flooded out. They have not yet reopened, but are working on it. Main Street merchants gussied the bear up for the holidays and put up a tree nearby.
My friend George cut the tree. A towing company sent a flatbed to pick it up. An electrician donated his time. Everyone contributed ornaments, many handmade. We had a tree-lighting ceremony Saturday and lots of people showed up. It was all very sweet and Charlie Brownish.
School children painted the windows on some of the buildings that are still closed due to flood damage.
Lights are up all over town, even on a block that has no power. There are are a lot of extension cords in use--I'm sure building codes are being violated, but it sure looks nice.
I'm considering keeping the store open. I have been touched by how many people--especially other business owners--have reached out to me. I would probably close for a time after the holidays for renovations and restructuring, and maybe just be open Saturdays for the lean months. I have some ideas that I think can reduce my travel burnout. The store's been open almost a year now, and in that time I've become part of the community in a way I wasn't when I was just a weekend resident.
The effects of the floods will continue for quite some time. I was in Margaretville last weekend, three weeks after the storm, and there was nowhere to get a sandwich or cup of coffee, in a town that a month ago had three luncheonette/diner type establishments, a pizzeria, and three restaurants. Of those seven businesses only one of the restaurants was partially open. There are normally three ways to get to Main Street. Two were closed because of flood damage. The third was closed for several hours last weekend because of a fire--arson--a desperate owner who didn't have flood insurance, allegedly set fire to his own building. EDIT: Oct 5: Authorities said it was a clothes dryer that caused the fire, not arson. It was very depressing. However, many of those businesses will reopen sooner or later, and the town will rebuild.
It seems like a particularly selfish time to give up my business. I can just walk away, but so many other people can't. If my little store provides a flicker of light in the dark time this community is in, maybe I should make the effort to keep it going. Perhaps business will get better and perhaps I will become a better person and member of the community in the process.
(if those photos look familiar, yes I have used them before here ...)
The flood mobilization/recovery efforts--grassroots/community/ and yes, even the government and corporations, have been great, but ... it's been a weird and depressing weekend in the Catskills. Yesterday I went to my store, which is okay, but I didn't feel right opening it, when half the town is ruined, and there are National Guard soldiers everywhere. I spent today trying to help someone dear to me who has been profoundly impacted by the floods. I've been thinking about tragedy, those created by man, nature, and a combination of man and nature (Katrina). I did give myself a break and sat in sight of the waterfall and ate cherry tomatoes from the farmers market, which was, hallelujah, open, and spent some time reading A Soldier of the Great War, a broad, deep, moving, profound novel about World War I, trying to put things in perspective.
the above block is across the street from my store. the entire block, including apartments above stores has been evacuated, at least 2 buildings on that block have been condemned, because they are falling into the creek which is behind it. (Those are hay bales, not giant marshmallows.) The pharmacy collapsed, the supermarket is a shell, and several other buildings in the village are gone. Governor Cuomo came back to Margaretville today and to some of the other hard-hit towns. See pictures here. (Don't tell anyone, but I used to have a little crush on his father Mario, who has a marvelous intellect and is a great orator.) He brought Janet Napolitano-I guess FEMA is part of Homeland Security, and some other big shots.
Though still in Massachusetts I'm helping moderate a liveblog on the amazing Watershed Post and coordinating some relief efforts. Friday I'll see it for myself and it won't be pretty.
My store is fine. My house is fine. I'm fine. But so many others aren't. It's a true disaster. People still trapped, bridges, roads, homes, buildings, and the entire town of Prattsville destroyed...The size (three counties are involved--each about the size of Rhode Island) and geography make this an especially challenging situation.
The one good thing I can say is how amazing people are--how selfless and helpful and caring in times of need. If you check out the Watershed Post link above you'll get a better picture of it all.
So, I know this is a downer, but I started this blog to write about running a store in the Catskills and I guess this is part of the deal. But just so I don't leave you feeling totally miserable, here are some pictures I took in the store last weekend before ... Isn't it cute? (Don't be shy about clicking on the pictures to get the full effect.)
If you're still with me here, and wondering about the #'s in the title ...I don't use facebook or twitter--too distracting, too ugly (facebook), one/two more things to do, and the real reason/truth is, I'm not very social. But these past few days on the Watershed Post, I've seen how they can work in a crisis. Sunday, the Hurricane was a non-event as far as the media was concerned, desperately trying to eke stories out of almost nothing. It was social media that got them, finally, to the Catskills, Vermont and a few other places hit hard by the storm. Hence, #'s. And if you don't know about # a/k/a hashtags, I didn't either until I read this.
This is across the street from my store on Main Street in Margaretville yesterday. The building I'm in is fine, but the other side of the street was hit hard. The supermarket (the only one in at least a 25 mile radius) and pharmacy were destroyed, as were some small businesses. Many houses lost to floods, bridges washed out, roads destroyed, people trapped in their homes. Boat and rooftop rescues. The area is full of hills, hollows, dirt roads and small bridges. No cell phone service either. No water in some towns. I hope to get up there Thursday--right now all roads are closed except to emergency workers. This will be preoccupying me for a while ....
Margaretville today. The Bun 'n Cone, where I get my soft serve ice cream.
Photo by Megan Van Keuren.
The Granary Building today
and a few months ago.
Footage of flooding on Main St. Margaretville where my store (which is on the 2nd floor) is: files.me.com/jstarch/1fsbpx
Thanks to all who've asked how I'm doing. Here in Boston, big winds and rain, lots of branches down, etc. Staved off the basement flood and no serious damage. The real story is in the Catskills I left yesterday, there is serious/probably record flooding, which will devastate an already economically depressed area. Earlier this morning the governor of NY drove through Margaretville, where my store is, and posted pictures on his twitter account. The streets and stores are flooded, and now there is four feet of water gushing down Main Street, and people are being rescued by boat.
Pictures from Fleischmann's, near Margaretville, where Harriet who watches the store when I'm not there lives, here. National Guard is doing helicopter rescues there now.
