11/11/2019
Postcards From The Bottom: What Ever Happened To Jessica Lee Smith?
November 11, 2019: Barry’s Mountain
I’m going to be organizing a celebration of life and fundraiser in this area in my fathers Barry Smiths name.
I truly feel that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be at this moment in time in the place I love more than anything in the world. Ever since coming to Vermont I’ve felt so close to God. I’ve felt him with me. I’ve felt a sense of purpose but have not known why. Now I know.
The money raised will go into a business I’m building in the Deerfield Valley, specifically this area, Wilmington and Dover. A business that will create a second industry here and create so many more jobs for the local People here who are struggling so Much and deserve so much better and so much more. The business I’m developing will create. Continuous flow of money and jobs for all throughout the Deerfield Valley.
A portion of the money will also go to the valley and help people who are losing farms, Homes and businesses here in the mount snow area.
I Also plan to build a small memorial of some kind here for Barry. Something that will always be here even long after I’m gone.
My father Barry Smith was not honored as he should have been. He wasn’t honored at all but I always planned on changing that.
Barry was the bravest most loving person I ever knew. He was a creative genius with a brilliant business mind. He was born and raised in Sheapshead Bay in Brooklyn New York. He was the father of NYC commercial Real Estate in so many ways. He inspired and mentored so many. He mentored some of todays best. He was magnetic. He was extraordinary. There was no one like him.
If you were in his life at any point, you already know that.
His first business Sutton & Towne was a huge success, both in Great Neck, NY and Manhattan. He was then bought by Coldwell Bank and eventually created and founded Sutton & Edwards, A long
Island and Manhattan based commercial real estate company that went on long after he was gone.
It was pre internet and pre 9-11.
It was a different world.
My father accomplished tremendous things in such a short time, both in his business and in his personal life. If he were Alive today he’d surely have taken over the whole world, but as fate would have it, he didn’t have the time to.
Barry passed away in 1984, at only 45 years old when all he wanted to do was live. He fought like a champion and doctors said that heart disease had never been given such a fight They said it was a
Miracle that he lasted as long as he did.
Many people say that my father was “Weird” Or that he was “Strange” or “Eccentric”. He was surely one of a kind and he was so completely
Unforgettable.
He was a man and a mind before his time. He cared very little about material things. His family and his children were his world, and every single weekend, he’d pack them into the family station wagon and drive from NY to his favorite place of all, Mount Snow, Vermont.
I spent half of my life here, Before this area was really built up. When there was only one other family on Maple Loop Drive In west Dover, where my father owned a house back in the 70’s.
Since running here from a dangerous situation and a life of struggle, I’ve gotten to know the Locals so much more closely. I’ve gotten to know their families , their Children and their grandchildren. I’ve seen the love the locals put into every single thing they do here. I’ve seen them come together for each other to help in a disaster or emergency, even when they all Work So hard and get so Little for themselves.
I’ve learned so much more about the state I’ve always loved so much and that I always wanted to come to. I’m a single mother of four and this is where I ran to when running was my only choice. This is where I found safety when there was none. This is where I found peace. This is where I found family.
What’s most upsetting of all is what I’ve learned about the economic situation here. I had no idea that this area was suffering the way that it is.
The people here in the Towns and the people of Vermont as a whole need help. They deserve help and they need and deserve funding. Federal funding Would be Vermont’s only real hope because It’s not fair to ask each town there to rely on state help. Especially when the entire state struggles with the same.
I can’t believe they’ve all Been left this way.
Since I’ve been here, I’ve seen so many beautiful things. Many people in New York warned that I’d never want to start here long term and that I would never be Happy here. What they didn’t understand was that what makes Vermont so beautiful is not just the aesthetics. What makes it most beautiful is the people. Those people who Said I’d run from here couldnt have been more wrong. In fact coming here has made me fall in love with Vermont even more and now I feel like a protective mother who’d do anything to help.
On top of the hardships they all struggled with already, this area has also been hurt by a business deal gone wrong with another shady character. They just keep getting hurt time and time again. All while trying so hard to better the area. It’s a huge family here and we are all reaching for life preservers.
That’s why I’m Creating this fundraiser. What better way to honor my father than in the place he loved the most. In the place he found peace. In the place we all treasure so much.
As far as I have concluded Vermont has always had the same problem. As it stands now and in its history, Vermont is mainly a one industry state. Although the ski industry produces billions of dollars each year, the trickle down money that comes from sales to the local businesses doesnt support the locals well enough at all. Because of that people are leaving this area and they’re leaving the state.
Vermont has gotten peanuts in terms of funding and needs much more. Because of this Vermont has been forced to find other ways, one of those being raising taxes, making it even more unaffordable for the locals than it was before.
If ever there was a state to save, its this one. If there was ever a group of people worth saving it’s these people.
The ski industry being the only
Industry makes Vermont constantly at the mercy of Mother nature’s and that’s much more Of a disadvantage than other states have. Betting it all on weather is an Extremely vulnerable position to be in. Mother Nature is unpredictable and that is never going to change.
The only real solution is federal funding and a second industry to sustain the people that will Be long term and continuous, not seasonal and unreliable.
The people here are the hardest working people I’ve ever known in my life. I’ve gotten to know them each more closely, I’ve observed, I’ve listened, I’ve watched and I’ve been so moved by it all. By some miracle, Vermont has retained so many things that so many of us in other states lost so long ago.
It’s place frozen in time in a good way. Where a man still keeps his word, where a lost item is returned, where the whole Community looks out for each other’s children, where the Police Officers care, where disabled people and children with special needs are not discarded, where family still matters and so does honor.
These people have become my family. They have become my friends. Their children have become my children , their parents and their grandparents have also become mine. The elderly are not thrown away like garbage.
And yet they are still suffering. They are being forced to leave this area to look for jobs, Forced to move away to other states because they can’t afford to live in their own home towns, as much as they love it here. As much as they want to stay.
The economic hardship has also effected the farmers terribly. Farms that have been in families for generations, farms that generate so much for these areas, are being taken away. The struggling economy has made Vermont vulnerable to laws that will take a farm from a local family because of the inability to make payments, and given to people Coming from abroad at deals that are so much less money. It’s absolutely awful.
It’s for this reason that I want to raise money to build a business in this area in Barry’s name. A business that will
Benefit all who live here and create a second industry. I have all the details worked out and will
Tell you More. It’s not me being a dreamer. It’s a an excellent plan born from the love in my heart.
I want to Barry and honor him. I want to invite you all to a celebration of his life.
Any and all money raised will go into building business in the Deerfield Valley. Something that will help not just me but all in this community.
I know that’s what Barry Would have wanted.
As I’ve mentioned, My father wasn’t honored as he should have been. The time has Come to do so. For Barry
I’m Going to invite everyone, including all of my fathers friends, business associates and any of his remaining family.
I truly hope you’ll all attend. It would mean so much to me. I’ll keep you updated on dates and times.
This business will create countless jobs, generate a huge amount of business locally and create a second industry for this Area and others to follow that will be constant. So that no one has to be at the
Mercy of Mother Nature ever again.
That’s what Vermont deserves.
I know I am here for this reason. I can feel it. I know it’s what God wants me to do. I like it’s what Barry wants. The people here need help.
All of my love to everyone,
Especially to my family aka
Deerfield Valley, Wilmington, Dover and the whole entire state of Vermont and all of its beautiful people
Wilmington, Vermont
Wilmington Village Historic District
Town of Dover, Vermont; Home of Mount Snow.
Mount Snow
of Dover, Vermont; Home of Mount Snow.
Wilmington Works
Deerfield Valley News
The Commons -- Windham County's Independent Source for News and Views
Reformer
Vermont PBS
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Wardsboro, Vermont
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Carinthia Parks at Mount Snow
South Newfane/Williamsville VT Bulletin Board
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OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network
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NYC: The Official Guide
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Vermont Farm Bureau
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