Almanac: Chevy, do you have a favorite joke concerning the environment? Or is just too serious?
Chase: I once played a New York City writer who sojourns to the country to write a novel, in one of my favorite movies, Funny Farm. It has a lot of humor surrounding the mishaps and confusion of a city boy unaccustomed to life in the country. He was so lost, and things struck him as suspiciously picturesque: “Cue the deer” is an oft-quoted line I got to deliver. Made me think of a city friend of my mother’s gazing out a window of our country house at nightfall, shaking her head and saying, “All those animals without any owners…” It was her first trip from Manhattan to the Catskills.
Almanac: What is your connection with Opus 40 and owner Tad Richards?
Chase: I watched Harvey Fite build Opus 40 over many years. An amazing sculptor, artist, engineer and builder, Harvey was an inspiration to anyone who knew him. He and his wife Barbara were close friends of my parents. Barbara and my mother were particularly tight. Each had given a former husband a pair of sons – Ned and me, and Tad and Jonny Richards – before remarrying. Harvey and Barbara alerted my mother and stepfather to an abandoned farmstead adjoining their land in Highwoods, just outside Woodstock in Saugerties Township. They bought it at auction and it served my family as our country base after the death of my grandfather in 1965. I played inside Opus 40 as Harvey was creating it during my childhood. We swam in its rainwater pools, caught frogs and turtles with our bare hands, then let them go. We used to beg Harvey to let us place a stone, just a single stone! He always said it was the work of one artist, of one man alone, then set us instead to raking leaves out of its crevasses and canyons. That was an honor. So I can say that I helped in minor ways to maintain Opus 40 even as it developed before my eyes.
When this one wall collapsed after recent heavy rains that washed out whole communities up in the Catskills, we who knew him were all struck that it happened right where Harvey died almost four decades back, from a tragic fall while building his masterpiece. When my brother called to inform me, I immediately agreed to do whatever might be in my power to help. Opus 40 is a sacred place, ancient and iconic even to those just discovering it today. We decided to launch a fundraising effort, not only to raise whatever money may be necessary to fix this particular wall, but to fund future maintenance and restoration as needed.
Almanac: Can you provide any details about the fundraising brunch on June 23?
Chase: Jayni, myself and our daughters, my sisters and brothers, and many Woodstock friends will gather for a catered brunch at Opus 40 on the Sunday after Barnfest in Woodstock. Our aim is to have a good time, reminisce and raise awareness and funds for Opus 40. It’s going to be an intimate gathering, just a couple hundred people for brunch and schmoozing. Several interested special guests will be joining us, but I don’t want to make promises without positive commitments. Michael Lang, who brought us the Woodstock concert in 1969, plans to be there. Local celebrities abound, of course, from Jimmy Fallon to David Bowie. We’ll see who shows up… Later that evening a score or more of us will catch Steve Martin performing in Kingston with Edie Brickell, my dear friend Paul Simon’s wife. They’re good friends, all. We’re hoping they’ll join us. But like I said, it remains to be seen.
Almanac: So it turns out you know the venues of the two events you’ll be at better than most of us.
Chase: This year’s Barnfest will be particularly poignant for Jayni and me, being honored on my old turf up Rock City Road. I have a great photo of my father, my brother Ned and me playing football on the old Woodstock Rec Field (now Andy Lee Field), where the festival will be centered. It’s going to take over Woodstock, with live bands and fun events. I’m really looking forward to that whole weekend: Barnfest on Saturday, then Opus 40 on Sunday morning and early afternoon, then Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers with Edie Brickell on Sunday evening at UPAC. Family and friends, old and new… It’s going to be great!
Preservation Brunch at Opus 40 Sculpture Park and Museum in Saugerties will be hosted by Chevy & Jayni Chase on June 23 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., held on the lawn. Banjo virtuoso George Stavis and master violinist Bob Stern will be among the performers; celebrity guests will also be attending. Tickets cost $150 per person or $1,200 for a table of ten. Visit www.opus40.org/preservation-brunch to purchase tickets online or call (845) 246-3400.
Frank Swift Chase, mentioned in this interview, was my grandfather. He died 7 years before I was born.