2017-18 Dining Guide Web

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Thurman – Cultivating a Heritage of
Living off the Land
Thurman has forever romanced her land and waterways. Hardy
settlers cleared fields to pasture animals and grow crops. They
harnessed creeks to power mills for grinding grist or sawing wood
from thickly forested hills. The woods
offered
not only building materials,
but wild game and maple sap, while
streams and rivers supplied fresh water,
fish, furs and transportation.
The love affair lingers, with many
in Thurman still seeking sustenance
from nature’s abundance, and sharing
their experience with vacationers.
The Glen Lodge, a charming
B&B, perches beside the Hudson, where
fishermen still cast. Kayakers and rafters, patrons of Wild Waters
Outdoor Center and Beaver Brook Outfitters, ply paddles. Many
produce pure and natural foods, like Nettle Meadow Farm’s internationally-acclaimed
gourmet cheeses made from sheep, goat
and cow milk, and Whitefields’ Farm’s plump pork, poultry, fresh
eggs and garden goods.
Thurman boasts the four largest commercial maple producers
in Warren County. Hidden Hollow Maple Farm is operated
by three generations of the Wallace family, and currently boasts
the highest number of taps of the four. Valley Road Maple Farm
makes syrup from a sugarbush worked for over 100 years by the
Combs family. Adirondack Gold Maple Farm claims the title for
tapping trees owned by the Kenyon family for generations reaching
back to the late 1800s. Toad Hill Maple Farm, worked by one
Galusha family for over 40 years, in 2010 won a USDA REAP
grant to help them build and equip a brand new energy-efficient
facility. These maple producers make an extensive product line
that includes syrup, sugar, cream, popcorn, peanuts and candies.
Many in Thurman cut the vigorously growing forests, for
lumber, like Martin’s Lumber and Northern Hardwoods, to
make rustic furniture at Adirondack Ambiance, or for fuel or
paper. They all celebrate their harvests during annual festivals.
Mountainside Adventures introduces climbers to rocky
mountain slopes in town.
Most of Thurman’s businesses are cottage industries with
no “store-fronts” to boast of their goods and services. Numerous
folks work in the building trade, offering everything
from custom carpentry to either log cabin homes or traditional
“stick built” houses to meet the growing need market for second
homes and vacation camps.
Others operate heavy equipment to build and grade roads or
excavate. Got a gravel road? Hire someone for gravel driveway
re-surfacing. Many ply the traditional Adirondack trade of logging,
but with increased attention to sustainability of this valuable
resource. There are bakers who take their wares to farmers’
markets, seamstresses relied on for custom sewing jobs, house
painters, lawn care specialists, and auto mechanics – including the
long-established Pendell Hollow Garage. A new company, Thurman
Farm Tours, attracts motor coach groups to town to learn
about our agrarian operations.
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