Yama Farms: A Most Unusual Catskills Resort, a new book published by the Cragsmoor Historical Society, takes a look at one of the most significant historical and cultural sites in the area. Wendy E. Harris and collaborator Dianne Wiebe hope the book will allow new light to be shed on both the farm and the people responsible for bringing it to the Hudson Valley, Frank Seaman and Olive Sarre. In addition to illuminating the farm's history to those who aren't familiar with it, Harris expects people to get a good, entertaining read out of this beautifully packaged slice of history.

Yama Farms Inn was a resort situated on the outskirts of Napanoch in the Town of Wawarsing, and catered to guests ranging from Henry Ford to Thomas Edison to John D. Rockefeller. In fact, a photo of "the Famous Four" (Edison, Ford, the naturalist and essayist John Burroughs, and Harvey Firestone, founder of Firestone Tire and Rubber) featured within the book showcases the diverse and prominent patrons of the resort. Part of what made the resort so special and unique was its integration of architecture and landscaping influenced by Japanese traditions.

Harris, an archeologist by training and by trade, describes the origins of the book as springing from her father's fascination with the resort after his migration to the Hudson Valley from New York City after the end of World War II. "Over the years, he just collected information, material, and artifacts associated with Yama Farms, and letters, and did research, and towards the end of his life, he decided he wanted to turn all of this into a book." Unfortunately, he was unable to complete his work before his death in 2003, but that's when Wendy, working with her father's collaborator, Dianne Wiebe, took over the project, ensuring that it would see the light of day. "She and I joined forces and completed the manuscript," says Harris of her partnership with Wiebe.

Harris goes on to describe how the process of putting the book together changed after she and Wiebe had taken the reins of the project. "We were able to start working with a guy who was in Ellenville also, William Winters, who has a Yama Farms web-site. We created this virtual Yama Farms community made up of descendents of the owners, guests, and staff members who supplied us with all sorts of materials�photographs, letters, more memoirs." When it was completed, the Cragsmoor Historical Society took up publishing duties, partially because of Harold Harris's close ties to the Cragsmoor community. "All the proceeds from the book's sales are going to the Cragsmoor Historical Society," says Wendy.

The book can be bought at various locations: online from the Hope Farm Press, the Golden Notebook in Woodstock, and the Ellenville and Cragsmoor libraries, just to name a few. At 6:30 on October 11th, Harris and Wiebe will be hosting a slideshow and lecture at the Ellenville Public Library and Museum, complete with Yama Farms-themed refreshments.

COMMENTS about this article (0 )