Fairy Chefs Cook Up a Farewell Feast
By Iain Corkhill, Alex Howard, and Autumn Zevallos
The sun still had yet to rise on Tuesday morning when alarms sounded all across the yurt village. At 5:30 a.m., for the second day in a row, groggy Arcadians crawled out of their sleeping bags for quite an early morning. It was class registration week at St. Lawrence University, and we weren’t left out of the fun. Every student, except for graduating senior Elder Autumn, will be returning to campus next semester to reintegrate back into normal college life, something that once seemed so far away but is now creeping up on the horizon.
We piled into the van, still yawning, to head over to Gannett Lodge, where our laptops were being held for occasions such as these. This access to technology wasn’t always the case for the Adirondack Semester, signing up much the same way as students on campus.
Assistant Director Will Madison reminisced about his registration experience as a former ADK Semester student: “When I was a student here, you just wrote your choices on a piece of paper and hoped that someone from the registrar would manually sign you up. So, even though waking up so early kinda sucks, it could definitely be worse.”
It was still dark outside when we stumbled into Gannett, and flicking the light switch did nothing to illuminate the situation. A few more fruitless flicks and a mild panic began to spread throughout the group as it became apparent that the power was out. The past few days the area around Massawepie was besieged by heavy winds, and a downed tree had fallen into a power line, an ill-timed issue we had all believed to be resolved.
Our director Jake quickly reached out to Ben Geiger, the ranger who manages the Lake Massawepie property and a reliable source of solutions. Arcadians were still inside opening up laptops in a fit of anxious anticipation, while counting down the minutes. The tension was nearing its peak at ten-to-seven when Ben arrived and got a generator set up for us with only a couple of minutes to spare. A quick cheer of gratitude followed him out of the room, then hands were quickly returned to trackpads, and clicking fingers were readied.
A smattering of relieved sighs dotted the tense silence, as some students were able to get into their priority courses selected for the day. Others grew more nervous, staring from screen to clock, as they found themselves running into unexpected hurdles. Loading screens and technical difficulties were whittling away the hour, until all the students received an official email from the school notifying them that the registration system had crashed. Thus, the morning’s ordeal had been in vain. Perhaps there was some merit to the analog ways of past Arcadians.
Reflecting back on this somber morning, Arcadian Abby had this to say: “I love school. I love learning and think the pursuit of education is a beautiful goal to have in your life. I was really excited to sign up for my courses next semester. However, I found registration this morning to be quite unpleasant, mentally, emotionally, and physically.”
There wasn’t time for the Arcadians to dwell upon these unfortunate circumstances, however; there was still much for us to do, and as our time here in the yurt village was winding down, we had to start thinking about what was coming next.
A key part of the Adirondack Semester is the capstone internship in which we live and work with residents of the North Country for the final two weeks of the semester. Each Arcadian has worked with the directors over the past few weeks to organize a homestay that will follow our Thanksgiving break. Ranging from Canton to Essex, we were soon going to leave Arcadia to spread out across the North Country for a varied array of valuable learning experiences. Internships involve a 30-hour work week and, for this year’s students, will include some of the following: woodworking, North Country Public Radio, Adirondack Explorer magazine, the Adirondack Center for Writing, a couple of grade schools, and even ski patrol at Whiteface Mountain.
Our first step, now that we all knew where we’d be living, was to send an email to our upcoming hosts. This was to work out logistics, like dinner, transportation, and the expectations that both parties should have toward one another. Each of us made this a priority during our rare and much-appreciated laptop time. Our next step will be learning how to live in a society again, which could prove to be the greater challenge.
Nonetheless, we are all quite excited for what’s to come. When asked about her upcoming internship with Northern Lights School, Autumn Nealis said, “I’m so excited. I love kids, and I can’t wait to work with them and teach them as they teach me. I’m considering becoming a teacher after college, so I think this is going to be a really good experience.”
Matt Ferland, who will be interning with Tupper Lake’s master woodworker and local personality Michael Frenette, had this to say: “I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with Michael. He’s got a lot of knowledge to share, about woodworking and life, and I think I’ll get a lot out of it. But, mostly, I’m excited to make a trident.”
But before we set out on our own, we still have to wrap up what’s left of our classes, something that can be a bit of a struggle with some much anticipation about what’s to come. There were still a few big projects to finish: one that saw all of us working together was drawing up a new management plan for Big Simonds Pond in Tupper Lake as part of our Ecology class with Professor Sue Willson. Back in October, we embarked on a field trip with Sue to a little island to conduct an ecological survey of the entire five-acre island, which culminated in sheets of data used that we compared with the old management plan written in 1977.
On Thursday morning, just after breakfast, we remained huddled around the table to discuss our thoughts on what stewardship over the island should look like in the future. The topic of debate we had to hash out was our recommendations on use and public access. We bounced around ideas such as adding minor infrastructure, locally advertising that the land is an ideal destination for fledgling paddlers, or simply suggesting that the land stays relatively untouched. What we settled on as a group was to focus on the island as a resource for educational use, so that local classes might have a similar enlightening experience with the nature of the island as we did, learning the importance of its preservation and how one might cultivate a low-impact relationship with the land.
Margo, who was enthusiastic about the project as a resident of the North Country herself, remarked on the experience: “The Simonds Pond land management project is a really exciting opportunity for us. The prospect of being tangibly involved in the future and care of a chunk of land is really special and doesn’t occur for a lot of people. I’m really happy to know that I’m going to have a lasting, positive impact on part of my home.”
Not all of our time was spent reviewing data this week, though. After the registration debacle on Tuesday morning, we took an exciting field trip with Professor Pete Pettengill. As a testament to how unique our learning experience is during the Adirondack Semester, for our class we hiked a portion of the 50-mile trail that runs around Cranberry Lake. Stopping at High Rock, we sat to discuss Cranberry Lake’s own land management plan, the importance of tourism as part of the North Country’s economy, and how that can—but doesn’t have to—come into conflict with ecological preservation. It was an engaging discussion that was really accentuated by our presence out on the land.
On our way back to the van, Grace remarked, “I can’t believe that this is class. When I’m back on campus, sitting in a classroom for a four-hour lecture, I’m not gonna be able to stop wishing that I was here.” This sentiment was shared by all.
We sat down for one last discussion before driving back to Arcadia. It was Election Day, and Pete found it prudent to discuss the importance of political involvement, especially as it pertains to land conservation and advocating for the change we want to see in the world. Pete asked us, “How do you go about making a real change in today’s world?” Discourse was shared between us all, and the question invoked some profound insight from all the students. A main theme that kept resurfacing was local politics. Echoing a reading assigned to us, Pete imparted the wisdom that “we don’t have to be passive agents in politics. If you find a cause you believe in, like solar energy or stopping destructive development, action can start with you, in your hometown, going door-to-door and finding people that might feel the same way you do. That’s how things really get done.”
One Arcadian was already taking this lesson to heart. Over the past few weeks, Kimberly Bravo made the decision, from a yurt in the woods, that our own university was in need of some positive change and that she is the woman for the job. Having announced her candidacy for Vice President of University Relations, her fellow Arcadians got involved to help her win an election from a remote location. We all took part in helping her campaign by getting her a portrait for her poster, giving feedback on her positions, or reaching out to friends on campus. We were there for her because we knew she would be there for us as a leader. After voting closed, all there was left to do was wait. It was Thursday afternoon when the results were sent out, and Kim was able to proudly proclaim that she had won! It felt incredibly rewarding to see the result of our coming together for something and someone we believe in.
Vice President Kimberly had this to say in her victory speech: “This win is for all the Arcadians who supported me, and more, for all St. Lawrence students to whom I will dedicate my efforts toward supporting.” We can’t wait to see what Kim does next semester, but we feel certain that it will leave us with one word: Bravo.
Although the future was waiting for us outside Massawepie, there was still time left for us to find a way to celebrate the life we’ve shared here together before we go. A tradition in pervious years has been an early Thanksgiving dinner the night before we start closing Arcadia for the winter, and to us there seems no better way for us to commemorate the memories we’ve made than to come together to cook one last, giant, home-cooked meal! Cooking has become a very special task for us each night. It gives us a chance to bond over something so lovely and so essential: food.
Anni Panici perhaps put it best when asked about what cooking has come to mean to us, saying, “Cooking means having the opportunity to share our creative expressions with each other in a way that sustains each other in a structured time block every night. Cooking is magical, and we’ve all become fairy chefs, sprinkling flavorful magic dust onto each other’s taste buds. We also have fun while we do it.”
Smiles lit up the room as a menu sprung to life. Arcadians reminisced about their favorite Thanksgiving plates from home as they signed up for dishes, promising to call their parents to get the recipe. In no time, everyone had signed up to add to the meal, which is sure to become a lavish, elaborate, memorable dinner, with a chaotic, and maybe even more memorable day spent together in the kitchen.
Three months of life have passed here at Arcadia, and it is hard to believe that it is about to come to a close. But, as we prepare to depart back home for our Thanksgiving celebrations, one thing feels certain: there won’t be any finality in these goodbyes. In our tenure here, living, learning, laughing, lazing about, choring, and cooking with one another, the most profound thing we created was a family, one that is sure to transcend our temporary residence in this beautiful place and last with us as long as the once-in-a-lifetime memories that we have made.