ENVIRONMENT

Follow the people and the path they make

Donna Schaper For the Poughkeepsie Journal

There is a folk wisdom in college planning departments that goes like this: Before you put down a new path, leave the space open and watch the way the students walk. Then pave the path. We of the Hudson Valley live nested in one old trail after another. Think of the white blazes on the Appalachian Trail that ribbons its way through the region. Famous people like Sojourner Truth walked that path. Ordinary people like my friend who met his wife on the trail walk it. People who should be famous like Emma Gatewood walk it.

Emma’s story is worth telling. She started north on the Appalachian Trail in May of 1955, with a shower curtain (in case of rain), a blanket, peanuts, Vicks salve, a few bobby pins and a gingham dress she would put on if she came off the the trail, in say, Beacon or Peekskill. They say Emma could tell a bird by its song and maybe that’s how she became the first woman to hike the Appalachian Trail solo.

I was sitting on a bench in Beacon the other day, on a newly groomed little trail, along the now liberated Fishkill Creek, near the Roundhouse in “upper” Beacon. Benches have been put in on a “trail” that many have used before. A Spanish-speaking family of four came to join me, carrying a pizza box, a scratch card and a Frisbee. They had clearly been to this part of the trail before. The trail may be two years old, maybe less. You could always hear the great falls falling – and now you can see them, too. The mother quieted the children, took out her scratch card and starting to scratch it for luck. The children’s eyes were glued to it as were hers. They didn’t win. The next step on this trail for them, the trail to the pizza, came next. The mother led them in prayer, which they all mumbled fast together, in that way that people pray when they are hungry and when they have prayed the same words before many times. They then dove into the pizza, following the prayer and the scratch on this small trail, on this small river, in this small town.

You may or may not know Groundwork Hudson Valley. It was established in the year 2000. It has led efforts to restore and build urban trails. You can learn more about it at www.groundworkhv.org. I, of course, wonder if they follow the collegiate folk wisdom to restore the ancient paths or if they do something new.

According to its website, Groundwork Hudson Valley is part of the Groundwork USA network, the only national network of local organizations devoted to transforming the natural and built environment of low-income communities. Working at the intersection of environment, equity and civic engagement, Groundwork “Trusts” across the nation develop community partnerships, which empower people, businesses and organizations to promote environmental, economic, and social well-being.

When asked on Public Radio how he made it to 93 years of age, Norman Lear said it was knowing the difference between “over” and “next.” Are old trails ever over? Or can history ever change? Is something new or next in the world of the trail? Or for immigrants?

When it comes to trails and trailblazing, a friend of mine who is a nun offered me this advice. I was asking her how we attract people to spiritual life. She said, “Just slap the word ancient on it and they will love it.” I was amused and intrigued by her cynicism. Then I remembered the college wisdom and Lear’s wisdom. Want to build a new trail? Follow the people and the path they make. Follow the ancient ways as well.

Immigrants know about new trails. They wash our lettuce, pick our strawberries, tend our children and our elders – and then we tell them they aren’t welcome. That trail is as old as the Appalachian Trail in the Hudson Valley. My German ancestors swear they came down from Tannersville to Kingston after being thrown out for being accused of stealing a horse they didn’t steal. Immigrants are almost always being accused of misbehaving, while doing so much good for so many and so much.

Groundwork and new paths are needed in our nation and in the valley. Following the old paths while forging new ones? What an unusual idea. I’m going to give it to the college planners and see what happens. I so hope the people go the right way and learn how to tell a bird by its song and its prayer. What’s next? Being the first to be different, that’s what’s next.

Donna Schaper

Kingston native Donna Schaper is senior minister at Judson Memorial Church in New York City. She is the author of 34 books and summers and weekends (Mondays) in Hopewell Junction, where a large garden keeps her busy, only 62 miles north of her Manhattan residence on Washington Square Park. Contact her atDonnaschaper@judson.org