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Well...assuming the closing goes smoothly, we are purchasing a home in the town of Benton, just outside of Penn Yan village. Tell me everything you guys know about this area.
I know that Canandaigua and Geneva are the next closest larger towns so I included them too.
I'd like to hear about things for kids to do up this far north. Zoos, museums, indoor bounce houses, malls. Any good outdoor playgrounds?
What about athletics around here?
Also...surprisingly, there's not a Wal-Mart in Penn Yan! I would have thought there would be! But I hear there are some development plans near Keuka and was wondering what the chances of a Walmart Supercenter might be.
You'll probably have to go to Watkins Glen, along with the other 2 communities for Wal*Mart and perhaps bouncy houses, some museums and other shopping. Rochester has a zoo and museums. Ithaca, Elmira, Waterloo and Victor have malls. Penn Yan should have parks and sports leagues for kids. Geneva will be the closest city with a good deal of diversity, racially/ethnically. Geneva also has private schools up to HS in DeSales Elementary and HS. Elmira has private schools as well.
For watching athletics you can also check out the local colleges - between Keuka and Hobart/W&S you'll have some choices ..... Hobart lacrosse is fun to watch
I really like this hike - it's about 7mi, but you could cut some of it off .... IMO the better parts are closer to Keuka than Seneca ... it's the keuka lake outlet trail .... very easy walk
When you get to fall there are pick your own apple orchards close to penn yan .... it's a shame that burkitt mills no longer puts on the buckwheat festival
you can check out the windmill and some other diversions
Our new neighbors are actually Mennonite...we're very curious about them, but hoping to not seem too touristy...lol. I just hope they don't mind us and our brood of four kiddos. They're pretty much the only neighbor we have and they're right next door...just a few yards away from the house...there's an old Meat store on the same road, Zimmerman's, but it's for sale so I'm assuming it's closed. There's a farm across the street...I'm assuming Mennonite as well. Anyways, we put our offer in just before another Mennonite family was preparing a cash offer...the seller accepted our offer so I hope the mennonite neighbors don't hold grudges or anything.
It's definitely going to be a culture adjustment for us. Here in Reading Center, at least the Wal-Mart is just down the road some...sounds like up there in Benton, we're going to have to learn to make do without a Wal-Mart...lol.
looks like there is one in Geneva - which shouldn't be that far away .... with rural areas it's always hard to pinpoint exactly and it can take a little extra time to cover distance ... but i'd doubt you would be more than 10 miles/20 minutes from it ..... will be a pain, moreso in the winter ... but a place to stop every now and again
Looks like Penn Yan would be your closest bet for groceries .... should be a little closer than geneva - but still something that I always hated growing up in a rual area .... we lived about 5-6 miles outside of the village and it was a pain if you just wanted to go and pick something up
but for some the tradeoff to seclusion is worth it so I'll try not to impart my city bias
as for the mennonites - I wouldn't worry much about them ... if you're the only non-mennonite in the area and they knew the people who were going to get the house they may hold a bias .... but i wouldn't expect them to be aggressive or mean or anything ..... I don't know what local congregations are around there but I had a few of them a bit closer to the PA border where I grew up (corning, avoca, hammondsport & wellsville all have congregations)
I doubt they'll mind your children - but may be a little leery of their influence with extensive playing, etc
In my interactions they have always been pleasant, cordial and willing to have base level interaction ... community is important and they do have a fair amount of tolerance and are generally peaceful ..... but they also want to protect & defend their way of life and are cautious about things that could disrupt it ..... I hate to broad brush, especially because when it comes to a group of people I think you'll generally find the same core distribution in how we are with just some top level customs that may be different .... but that is my experience
if they are rural & farming you have a decent chance of not interacting with them all that much ... they'll do their thing, you'll do yours and everything will be fine
they moved in after a reputed "satantic/voodoo" group moved out ..... as with most things in small towns there is plenty of gossip, but people just kind of go about their own thing
basically a long winded answer to "you'll be fine"
I'm hoping they'll be welcoming of us into their community. I mean...not as mennonites, because we aren't and never will be...but we are conservative baptists and hold conservative standards for our children as far as dress and behavior go. My husband and I were joking that we hoped we wouldn't be seeing any "children of the corn" type stuff going on as retribution for us buying the house under the other family's feet...lol.
We've actually met the neighbors once...when we were doing our initial driveby. They happened to be arriving home at the same time and were watching us look at the exterior of the property. We drove over and introduced ourselves as an interested buyer of the property. They were very nice, but very cautious and reserved.
I'm thinking an apple pie or peach cobbler might help break the ice with them.
Then again...we are the quintessential family moving from the city to the country. Complete with intentions of installing a pool, hot tub, and a huge play structure for the kids (we feel we owe it to them as repayment for the months they've spent indoors recently while we've moved and gotten settled...lol)
I suspect they'll either fully accept us and love us, or look at us as hopelessly lost and wish we'd move out. Or ignore us.
As far as the driving into town goes...lol, I have to laugh because even though we're moving from a much more developed region, we still had to drive a good ten to fifteen minutes to get to the store. Well...a good store anyways. I mean, convenience marts were all over the place, but usually, their food is stale and overpriced. Basically, the drive into Penn Yan village is nothing big to us. It's really only about five to ten minutes away from the house.
I am definitely sad that the nearest Walmart is so far...I rely on their low prices to meet our grocery budget. But I'm thinking with the local farmer's markets and fresh food that's available around here, we'll have an easier time meeting that budget.
How about youth athletics around here? I've not found much for the kiddos to do...I did find the Finger Lakes Football League (I think that's what it was called). But not much other youth sports. Are there any hockey leagues around here? Is there a full YMCA besides the camp?
It's good that you met your neighbors and I'd definitely extend an olive branch or three .... but don't be taken back or offended if they tolerate and/or choose to ignore your existance
definitely make your property your own - obviously be respectful like you would in any instance with neighbors ..... but a pool, hot tub, play yard, pets, don't usually offend ... especially in rural settings
I honestly don't know what will be offered through your town - although I know Penn Yan will be a lot more active
I grew up in Bath so soccer was probably the king sport - we had most others as well though and it wasn't hard to find youth sports for the majors (basketball, t-ball/little league/babe ruth, soccer, football, track & field)
The schools offered a lot of summer activities (arts & crafts, swim lessons, tennis, etc)
Not sure about the YMCA, but you'd think there would be some kind of structure given the camp @ Keuka ... they weren't active in my town though ... there were some church groups, etc .... some would have ski trips and the like (although I'm pretty sure Swain shut down a few years back - which is a shame)
Lacrosse is popular in the area and growing
hockey is tough from a cost/infrastructure perspective .... a lot of us followed the game and would play on frozen ponds when we could/streets when we could not ..... but there really isn't a big youth program that is widespread - if you can find a rink you'll find a program though (for example corning has a rink and a youth program for hockey)
Hobart has a hockey program and it looks like they have an active rink
There is a lot of stuff to keep the kids interested ... for the baptist groups I know that Awana was fairly active in the area and the church in Avoca had a good group - probably one close to your area will as well if that's an interest .... plus scouting and the like is very popular
honestly the problems will generally start when brooding teenagers emerge who have outgrown youth sports & activities and aren't active in the HS programs
[quote=Finger Laker;18814926]
(although I'm pretty sure Swain shut down a few years back - which is a shame)
Nope, they're still there. Swain Resort | Skiing, Snowboarding, Tubing in Swain, NY I always liked that place. It wasn't as overcrowded or expense as KB and Holiday Valley. EDIT I just looked and their prices seem similar now to the others.
The only ski center in the region is going out of business.
“It’s like polishing the brass on the Titanic in some cases for the last few years,” said Eric Stearns, general manager of Swain Resort, in an emotional few moments after a meeting broke news the largest business in Allegany County is going to close.
At 3 p.m. Wednesday in the Wildwood Restaurant of Swain Resort, owner Philip Saunders met with Stearns, Allegany County Industrial Development Agency Director John Foels, Legislator William Hall R-Alfred, Executive Director of the Greater Allegany County Chamber of Commerce and Director Tourism Sherry Grugel, Grove town Supervisor Mike Johnsen, and about eight year-round Swain employees to announce the business would be shutting down.
Many fun nights/days on that hill .... they didn't have the tubing when I was going there though
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