L.L. Bean’s Outdoor Discovery School in Cazenovia, which started offering kayaking classes in June out of Lakeland Park, turned out to be so successful this year that the company plans to continue its offerings this winter with snowshoeing as well as more classes next summer, Trustee Jim Joseph told the village board at its Nov. 4 meeting.
“Greg Schwartz [department manager for the L.L. Bean Fayetteville store’s Outdoor Discovery School] wants to make this the best Discovery School in North America,” Joseph said. “He’s got big plans.”
Earlier this year, L.L. Bean revamped its Fayetteville outlet store into a full retail store, and part of the change included the decision to offer one of its Outdoor Discovery Schools at a nearby location. Outdoor Discovery Schools offer demonstrations, clinics and introductory hands-on activities for L.L. Bean’s customers such as kayaking, fly casting, clay shooting, archery, biking and canoeing.
In May, Joseph – whose corporate background includes being the former president and CEO of Oneida Ltd. and personally acquainted with L.L. Bean executives for 25 years – announced that negotiations with the company had commenced and were progressing. Within two weeks, the deal had been made for Cazenovia Lake to be the latest L.L. Bean Outdoor Discovery School destination.
On June 1, a green L.L. Bean trailer loaded with kayaks and kayaking equipment was parked near the beach access in Lakeland Park, and for the entire summer the company offered kayaking classes every weekend from Cazenovia.
The Cazenovia Lake location was so successful this year that Schwartz intends to offer snowshoeing classes this winter from Cazenovia – with possible snowshoeing routes to include the trails and grounds on and around Lorenzo State Historic Site or in the wetlands behind Oneida Savings Bank – and next summer plans to offer more kayaking, as well as paddle boarding and fly casting, Joseph said.
“They’re very pleased with Cazenovia and they want to stay,” Joseph told the board.
Joseph also told the board that L.L. Bean will store its kayak trailer in the barn throughout the winter, and will pay a $500 rental fee for using the space.
Also at the meeting, the board:
—Scheduled two public hearings to precede its Dec. 2 regular meeting: One at 6:55 p.m. to discuss the progress of the Village Edge South draft design guidelines and zoning, and the other for 7 p.m. to discuss revisions to the village code to update the Lakeland Park use regulations.
—Stated that the public boat launch and the public restrooms at Lakeland and Lakeside parks are closed for the season.
—Heard from Village Police Chief Michael Hayes that that “Exercise Stalker” case is still ongoing and the police have a suspect identified who is also connected to two of the vehicles reported in the numerous incidents. “The individual is reluctant to sit down with us — but he will be sitting down with us,” Hayes told the board. He also said the village police department has a new Facebook page now up and running.
—Heard from village Public Works Administrator Bill Carr that brush and leaf pickup in the village officially ended on Nov. 7, but village crews will continue leaf pickup as long as weather permits.
—Heard from Village Attorney Jim Stokes that Susan Light has withdrawn her application for a zone change for her property at 8 Farnham St. in order to create her food-related business. Stokes advised the board that despite Light’s action, the board could still move forward on the previously proposed action for the house at 6 Farnham St., which the village owns and intends to raze in order to create more parking for the Cazenovia Fire Department. The village had tied zone change requests for the two separate properties into one resolution because they were related actions. Mayor Kurt Wheeler agreed with Stokesand said the village should move forward with the 6 Farnham St. project. He said the proposal would be added to the board’s Dec. 2 meeting agenda.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
