One man ‘found his way through life' in Goosepond Mountain Park

Bench honoring local man offers hikers a chance to rest and reflect By Nancy Kriz Monroe - About a mile into Goosepond Mountain Park, located between Monroe and Chester on Route 17M, in an open meadow filled with wildflowers, sits a lone rustic log bench, intended to offer those who frequent the trails an opportunity to rest and reflect. The bench was designed to look old, but it’s brand new. And, it was recently placed there by park officials and dedicated last Saturday by family and friends in memory of a Chester man who loved the park and the peace it offered to him. The family and friends of Laurence “Tully” Wansor felt the bench was a perfect tribute to Wansor, a New York City realtor who was an avid outdoorsman and a frequent user of Goosepond’s trails. “It was his playground for his mind and body,” said son Sean Wansor of Warwick, who worked with the Palisades Interstate Park Commission to make the bench a reality. “He always seemed to work out his problems while there. And, he always had a laundry list of things to do when he got back.” When Wansor died of prostate cancer at age 66 this past February, his family knew that he wasn’t the kind of man who would want flowers at his funeral, said his son. Instead, they requested memorial donations be made to the Friends of the Palisades Interstate Park Commission, and the family would later decide how those funds could be best used within the parks system. Serendipity The family shortly learned that the parks commission had begun a memorial bench program. “The benches really add to the parks,” said Susan Smith, research and development director at the parks’ administrative offices in Bear Mountain. “They are just so beautiful.” There are now five benches within parks system: three at Bear Mountain State Park, one at the Kanauwaukee area within Harriman State Park, and the latest - in honor of Wansor - at Goosepond State Park. The impetus for the bench project began in 2002 when the parks commission held a public art exhibit along Hessian Lake at Bear Mountain to offer people an opportunity to view “public art in the great outdoors,” said Smith. Dan Mack, a Warwick resident, was one of the artists with works on display. His handcrafted rustic bench was designed to match the surrounding areas, Smith explained, and she soon found people asking about how more of these benches could be installed in the parks. Along the same time, when a young man involved in a parks group program died, money was raised by friends for an identical bench to be installed, along with a memorial plaque. People saw the bench with its plaque and asked how they might be able to raise funds for a bench to honor a deceased person. “I love the program,” said Smith. “It started as serendipity. It makes me feel really good that we have a place for families to come to have the healing tendencies of nature soothing them.” Each bench costs $2,000. When the Wansor family learned of the bench program, they knew they found just the right way to memorialize “Tully” Wansor, as friends and family called him. ‘Weather was a sign’ To get to that bench, people must first enter the park via the Hudson Trail, off of Route 17M, located across the road from the gravel parking lot adjacent to Craigville Road. They will walk approximately one mile on the trail and bear right at a sign saying “Board Cemetery,” a very old burial ground for members of the Board family. At that point, park rangers mowed a trail that leads directly to the bench. “It’s a nice, wide trail,” said Sean Wansor. “It’s made from materials that make you think are from the park itself. And when you sit down, you look directly up to Goosepond Mountain. But we always called it, and still do, ‘Tully’ Mountain after my dad because he was always in that park.” He praised Tim Sullivan, the park ranger stationed to Goosepond, for all his help with the project. Family and friends held a dedication ceremony in the park, with more than 40 people ranging in age from three to 75 hiking to the bench. Some walked from the Hudson Trail, others simply traipsed through the field, while others walked through the back way “Tully” Wansor used from his house on Aye Road in Chester. “It was a very surreal moment,” Sean Wansor said. “People were coming out of the trees. My father would have loved seeing this. He always wanted a family reunion, and on that day, he sort of got one.” The sky during that past Saturday afternoon was ever-changing. What started out as a bright blue day turned on and off to extremely dark gray cloudy and blustery skies that teased area residents of desperately needed rain. Thunder rumbled and lightening flashed, but the needed rain never amounted to more than brief, light drizzle. It was torture to those who wished for rain, but not for those at the Wansor gathering. “Some people say, ‘Look to the sign that he’ll be communicating to you,’” said Sean Wansor, who noted his father was a huge weather buff and fan of The Weather Channel. “I think the weather was a sign that he knew what was going on. The bench and that day and the weather, he would have loved it. He would have talked to people about the bears and deer he’d seen from that point, and the quads he’d seen that shouldn’t be driving there. A tear would have come to his eye because of the effort people made.” About Goosepond State Park: Consisting of 1,543 acres, about six miles west of the New York State Thruway, Goosepond Mountain State Park is located on Route 17M between Monroe and Chester. Public parking is available at the intersection of Craigville Road and Route 17M. Almost completely wooded, Goosepond is popular for horseback riding and hiking and was acquired with funds from the New York Bond Acts of 1960 and 1962. About the Memorial Bench Program: Information is forthcoming on the Palisades Parks Conservatory Web site, www.friendsofpalisades.org. For those interested in finding out how to purchase a memorial bench in any of the parks, contact Susan Smith at 845-786-2701, extension 239, or e-mail: smiths@pipc.org. The inscription on the plaque reads: Laurence “Tully” Wansor February 18, 2007 You can never get away from what you really want to do in life. It is just a matter of finding a way through life to get to it. In this park he often found his way through life. Whether he walked, jogged, biked or viewed it from his plane, it was his playground; a playground for his mind and body. He loved this Park.