The Tamarack Lodge

The Lodge was created so that people could come to a comfortable and protected environment to explore how their bodies work in the physical process of COMMUNICATION.  It is especially concerned with giving people a place to develop a stronger physical connection to their surroundings and to their relationships with other people.The Tamarack Lodge in its current form was set up in 1995 for people to explore the communication techniques known as The Williamson Technique.  This remains a major activity of the Lodge, but the work there is by no means limited to that particular technique.  Its foremost mission has been to serve any person, any group, and any style of exploration or teaching as long as the major focus is on communication within ones surroundings and relationships with other people.

The History of the Lodge

The Tamarack Lodge was built in 1898 as far as we can tell; there is some graffiti under the front stairs that gives this date.  It was a hunting and fishing lodge through the 1960's and remained unused for several decades. Luckily, during that time it had one caretaker, Red and Rose McPhilmey and his family who lived in the farmhouse next door and kept the Lodge in excellent repair.  His son now helps with part of maintenance of the land.  We began restoration-renovation in January 1995, much to the delight of our only neighbors, the family who currently lives in the farmhouse.

The Land

The Tamarack Lodge sits on thirty-six acres of land surrounded by the Hogsback State Forrest.  The eastern end of the property sits on a twenty-acre lake, Rosy Pond, named after Mrs. McPhilmey. There is a screened gazebo at the edge of the lake where you can sit and write, read, or just have quiet time; whatever you most enjoy.  There is also a four-person paddleboat for you to use to glide around the lake.  Whenever you decide to go for a long walk, you can have a well-appointed trail that wanders through our woods and into the paths laid out through the State Forest.  There will be no highways or subdivisions to bother you.  You may also take the resident dog, Katie, who would be more than delighted to explore along with you. 

Life at The Lodge

The house is a five thousand (5000) square feet, three story (includes the master suite-bed room in the converted attic), shoe-box-shaped building.  It is eighty feet long and twenty-five feet wide.  The first floor contains the Great Room, which is a space fifty feet long by twenty-five feet wide including the original stone fireplace.  This is also the class work space.  At nights, when classes are over, the fireplace, which is surrounded by comfortable sofas, is a major gathering place for socializing or just quiet lounging.  Adjacent to the Great Room is the kitchen-breakfast room, also with its own fireplace and reading area.  The final down stairs room is the large screened-in porch, which looks out into the woods surrounding the lodge.  It serves as our dinning room during most of the summer.

For winter guests, the Lodge has an excellent heating system.  Snow is an average of two feet deep.  Paths are blown cleared for walking in the woods, but most people find that using cross-country skis and snowshoes is a fun way to travel, even if you are a beginner.  Snow Ridge ski slopes are fifteen minutes away from the house.  There are twenty trails and eight lifts for skiing.  At the Lodge, there are always crackling fires in the fireplaces and plenty of good books to read.

The second floor is divided by one long hall way adjoined by seven guest rooms, the lodge office (with fax, phones, computer, etc.), and three full baths.  Each guest room accommodates two people and can house more when there is an event for a group larger than twelve. The decorations and furnishings have been chosen to give the comfort of a modest Adirondack Inn.

The food at The Lodge

Meals at the Lodge receive a good deal of attention.  They are a major component of having a comfortable stay there.  All food is prepared to be enjoyable within the boundaries of most people’s eating habits.  The food is country cooking.  It is plentiful and always fresh (and grease free).  Breakfast is a hardy meal of cereals, grains, breads and plenty of fresh seasonal fruit.  Lunches  (which more often than not during the summer are a picnic affair at our swimming place on the Black River) are usually of several salads, chicken, tuna, turkey, lentil, potato, various slaws, whole grain breads and all other trimmings for plates or sandwiches and of course fruits, most often watermelon. Boonville has its own ice cream plant, which makes for an excellent field trip after lunch and before the afternoon class sessions.  Dinner is our major gathering time.  It usually centers around simply prepared fish or chicken with side dishes of pasta or potatoes and always some full serving of a brown rice dish.  Each dinner has large portions of fresh steamed vegetables and green salads.  Deserts at the Lodge are designed to wreck anyone’s Puritan ethics surrounding sugar consumption.  Alcohol is not served at the Lodge, this has nothing to do with some moral scruples; it just seems to get in the way of the other aspects of our gatherings.

The major goal of the Lodge is for people to have a comfortable and safe place to explore and discover aspects of their connections to their environment, themselves, and other people. Hopefully you will find the Lodge to be very comfortable, but please understand that it does not pretend to the lavishness of some four star European hotel.  Please enjoy and when things are not quite luxurious enough, just offer your patience as your gift to your event.   Everyone will always have to give a little of themselves to make the Lodge complete. Just know that next time you come, something will probably have been added to make the accommodations a little nicer than it was at your last visit.  Both you, the Lodge, and all of us are always growing.

The Village of Boonville

Boonville is a rural town on the southwestern border of the Adirondack State Park.  There is nothing especially quaint about it that attracts city tourists or vacationers.  The people there have lived there for generations.  It is a quiet and traditional small town. To see a movie you must travel to Utica, forty minutes away.  There are, however, two golf courses, tennis courts and wonderful places to swim both in the village and in the Black River near the Lodge.  It is also a fine place for bicycles.  Mountain bikes are great fun on the back roads around the Lodge.

Retreats