 Long
before Glynwood Center came into being, the surrounding land held a deep
connection to conservation.
Even before George and Lynn Perkins purchased the property in 1929,
Mr. Perkins' father was a leading force in the creation of the Palisades
Interstate Park Commission (PIPC), which manages over 100,000 acres
of parkland in New York and New Jersey. For many years the elder
George Perkins served as the Chairman of PIPC, and the family
has remained actively involved in the commission to this day.
In naming the farm, George and Lynn combined their first names
with the breathtaking terrain that surrounded them-and Glynwood
Farm was born. Ultimately, the property expanded to include nearly
2,500 acres of fields, lakes, farm, and forest.
After Mrs. Perkins's
death, the land was preserved by the Open Space Institute
and the Open Space Conservancy with funding
from the Lila Acheson and DeWitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands.
The forested uplands have become part of Fahnestock State Park,
while the property's core now houses Glynwood Center.
With so many partners committed to its preservation, the land serves
as a prime example of the complex, public-private transactions so
often required to protect and preserve open space.
Glynwood Center, Inc. is a nonprofit, tax exempt organization that
develops the programs and manages the facility at Glynwood Center.
After assuming responsibility for the property in the fall of 1995,
it spent two years converting it to its current use as a conference
and training facility with overnight accommodations.
The site "officially" opened in the fall of 1997 with
the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Countryside Exchange program.
The Countryside Institute (TCI) had been the lead organization for
the Exchange in North America since 1990. For many years TCI and
others had shared the desire to provide the Exchange - which stresses
the importance of place - with its own "home". Glynwood
Center presented that opportunity. Eventually TCI was melded into
Glynwood Center.
A powerful synergy has been developed between the Countryside Exchange
and the other programs delivered on site at Glynwood. The Exchange
serves as the "field laboratory" through which we understand
the current and emerging issues confronting community leaders. We
respond through training and other programs at the Center, drawing
upon our national and international network of colleagues. Training
at Glynwood integrates leadership development with education in
substantive areas and stresses learning through personal experience.
Several years ago we launched our
Agriculture
Initiative in response to demand from the field identified through
the Exchange. Communities wanted to understand more about
agriculture and what they could do at the local level to help local
farmers stand their ground. A key part of the agriculture
initiative has been our effort to help strengthen the regional food
system in the Hudson Valley and the metropolitan region.
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