LOCALadk Magazine

LOCALadk 24 Stephen Moyer and Lester Allen, Wanakena For more than forty years, Stephen W. Moyer and his hus- band, Lester C . Allen, have supported numerous projects and endeavors in the Clifton-Fine region, an area tucked away in the northwestern portion of the Adirondacks. Their support for the small community of Wanakena and the surrounding area started soon after they purchased a large, seven-bedroom home originally constructed by a manager of the former Rich Lumber Company, which put the hamlet on the map in 1902. The Syracuse couple searched throughout the Adirondacks for an ideal summer home for nearly two years, but found a limited number of properties for sale because "so many fam- ilies had been keeping their Adirondack homes for genera- tions, they were just hanging on to them," Steve said. Then a friend told them about a large house for sale in Wa- nakena, a hamlet on the shore of Cranberr y Lake in the town of Fine. The community lies within the border of St. Law- rence County, which contains approximately 623,500 acres of the six-million-acre Adirondack Park. " We were vaguely aware of Cranberr y Lake," said Steve. "Yet it was off our radar screen at the time." While the re- gion attracted fewer tourists than better-known areas of the Park, they found Wanakena a ver y vibrant community de- spite its smaller size. "Our original concept was to find a waterfront cabin in the woods," said Steve, who purchased the property with Lester in the early 1980s. "But what we found was a community, and soon after, a group of lifelong friends." Wanakena is in the Five Ponds Wilderness area and is home to the State University of New York ESF Ranger School, es- tablished in 1912 after the Rich Lumber Company shut down its operations. There are approximately 160 residential prop- erties, but only a small fraction of people ― fewer than fifty ― live there year-round. The Wanakena community has faced tough economic chal- lenges over the years. "At one time this area had a paper mill and a large mining operation, but they closed by the 1980s," Steve said. Yet the community has worked to reinvent itself, continuing to attract more visitors and seasonal and year- round residents to this remote section of the Adirondack Park, he added. The Wanakena community has a diverse population of res- idents with a range of incomes, ages and backgrounds, and most have a strong desire to take care of their community. Not long after moving there, Steve and Lester decided to join their efforts.

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