Back to the future

Kids, listen up

By CHRISTOPHER FREY

There is hardly anyone in Sullivan County today who doesn’t believe that the performing arts center on the original Woodstock site in Bethel is emerging from its conceptual cocoon and will, in our lifetime, spread its acoustically perfect butterfly wings and flutter into place on Max’s farm.

The New York Philharmonic will come to perform—perhaps they will stay—and music lovers will flock to the county to hear them. Bravo, indeed. I have no doubt that the Gerry organization will do the right thing and that the ripple effect will be immediate and widespread.

But there is one very important factor that county residents should begin to address right now. How will the county’s hospitality industry expand and mature to ensure that the new visitors are well-treated and will therefore want to return—especially when there is nothing scheduled at the performing arts center?

It is only a guess, but I would imagine that very few graduating seniors in the county’s high schools this June heard their speakers suggest to them that the hospitality industry is a great way to make a living. It may take a backward glance at the history of the region to remind kids how much the economy has risen and fallen as a function of the tastes of the vacationing public.

Tallying cars at Reber’s Restaurant in Barryville was a rudimentary yet revealing way to gauge the local economy back in the 50’s and 60’s. If you wanted a good understanding of the trickle-down effect of tourism, all you had to do was watch the waiters and waitresses walking to their cars at the end of their shifts counting out the fists full of dollar bills. You could almost see the cartoon balloons over their heads—mortgage payments, kids’ clothes, a couple of beers at Johnny’s Melody Bar—as they budgeted for the month.

That was then; this is now. Yet the basics are the same—if you are a young person living in the county, you can make real money and develop transferable skills that will serve you for the rest of your life by working in the hospitality industry now.

The county is clearly poised on the brink of enormous opportunity—it is up to the leaders to make sure that the benefits are reaped by those who have hung in there for the long haul over these past three decades. This is a competitive world and, based on the realities of tourism throughout the northeast, if local people are not prepared or not inclined to handle the service jobs that the performing arts center will spawn, there are thousands of young people in Eastern Europe and other places who will be vying for work visas and white aprons.

So, kids, here’s the real story. The hospitality and travel industry is, whether you realize it or not, the world’s largest employer. The leisure business is experiencing unprecedented growth because the baby boomers are taking more time off, retiring, doing all the things they never had time for before. This is great news for young people with the right attitude.

It is a fair generalization to say that visitors engaging in cultural tourism are a different guest than those loyal river rafters who have visited the Delaware Valley for decades. There will be different tastes to cater to, different expectations about food and shelter, and the county needs to be ready. The area’s fine restaurants have certainly utilized local labor over the years—but think of how many new businesses could be launched as the county’s rebirth becomes real.

Historically, Sullivan County Community College and BOCES have offered solid preparation for some of the hospitality industry’s demands—yet, they will almost certainly have to ratchet up their offerings, and quickly, so that local residents will be ready for the new breed of visitor.

If the Gerry Foundation and New York State have had the foresight and deep pockets to assemble the resources to be the legitimate parents of the county’s rebirth, the least the community can do is encourage its young people to develop the skills and attitudes necessary to ensure a welcoming environment.

The music will get people here the first time—it’s up to us to keep them coming back.