The Dedericks
Bob Dederick said his family has been in Saugerties since 1710. Their farm, adjacent to the Lazy Swan Golf Club, has been in his family for four generations. Bob’s great-grandfather served as a surveyor in the Civil War. Today, Bob and Samantha Dederick grow grasses to make hay – up to 4,000 bales in a good year, and some 50 varieties of fruits and vegetables. Dederick, like many of the farmers who spoke at the gathering, emphasized that one of the major hurdles to maintaining family farms is the tax rate on land.
Among the artifacts the Dedericks brought to show at the farmers’ market were metal stencils that were used to mark the crates and barrels of produce they sold, and a milk bottle with the Dederick name on it. The raised logo on the one-pint bottle reads “one pint liquid; Maple Lawn fruit, poultry and dairy.” This information forms a circle around the name, James J. Dederick.
The Shafers
Steve Shafer said he can trace the history of his land, known as Anchorage Farm, back 250 years. The old name he’s found, John Brink Jr., owned the property in the late 1700s. Shafer raises animals, mainly sheep. He has 80 ewes, four rams and about 80 lambs. The animals are mainly sold as breeding stock, and the farm also sells wool to craftsmen and some meat.
The Wrolsens
Farming is a family affair for John Wrolsen, whose grandparents bought the land in 1908. His two children, ages 6 and 8, help with the chores on the 50-acre farm. They began doing some farm work as young as 18 months, he said. Wrolsen raises dairy goats, mainly for the family, as well as pigs. He also works at Precision Flow Technologies, so farming leaves him with little free time. But he’s determined. “I’m a steward of this land,” said Wrolsen. “I feel I have to continue it.”
Wrolsen’s grandfather had been looking at farm properties all over the area, but was not satisfied with any that he saw, Wrolsen said. When he saw the property he finally bought, he said, “It reminds me of Norway. I’ll take it.”
