The PSC VIC is one of my favorite places in the Adirondacks. In the summer I run on the trails, or walk when I want a different sort of ‘peace’. In the winter, I nordic ski there, often before work at PSC and on the weekends. Every semester my General Ecology class and STEM group conduct research there.
Besides from running the VIC for the past four years, I know Brian McDonnell as one of my close personal friends. Shortly after moving here 16 years ago, I met Brian and his wife, and partner-in-crime (and the VIC), Grace, through family connections and the friendships of our children. So I just happen to know a lot about the labor of love that taking over and running of the VIC was. I know that even before the VIC existed as the APA’s interpretive center, Brian had a vision for what could happen on the land. His experience programming events like canoe races (most notably, the Adirondack Canoe Classic – 90 miler), running Dewey Mountain as a recreation center ‘back in the day’, and this long-held vision made him the best guy around to take over the operations.
photo courtesy of NCPR
photo courtesy of Adirondack Daily Enterprise
I don’t have the numbers, but I know that from 8:00 to somewhere near midnight on sugaring days, Brian was hard to find in the building, because when work needed to be done anywhere on the property, he was always getting things done. I would see him sometimes working on trails when I was running, grooming trails while I was skiing (often by headlamp), and making sure everything ran smoothly at events in the evenings when I was speaking or singing or just attending. The birding festival, homestead festival, art shows (he helped promote and hang), running races, ski races, sugaring and sugaring education programs (Adopt a Tree), are all things he grew into what they are, over the past four years, working long hours with a hoard of wonderful volunteers from the community and dedicated hard-working PSC students, and a very few paid hardworking individuals (Brian McAllister comes to mind). Many people came to visit, and saw Paul Smith’s for the first time, because of the events Brian organized and made possible at the VIC.
Brian was also a big participant in Capstones (mentored a bunch!) and a big part of the practical education of the students who worked with him. I’ve never known someone with such a strong work ethic. I am so sorry to see him leave this post. I have thanked him, and will thank him, again and again for the work he’s done for our students, name recognition of our wonderful little college, and the added value to the VIC that I have taken advantage of personally.
photo courtesy of NCPR
Here is a slideshow of images, pulled from a wide variety of sources (special thanks to Ellen Jones, who populates the VIC website, and North Country Public Radio, from whom we took many of these pictures), demonstrating just some of what Brian has either initiated, or has helped make possible, at the VIC during his time here.
Celia Evans is a Professor of Ecology here at Paul Smith’s College. See her full bio here!