- Book Review By JOEL FREEDMAN
Finger Lakes Times, Dec 27, 2022 www.fltimes.com
In her Aug. 12, 2018, “Beyond The Fence” column in the Finger Lakes Times (“A Seminal Moment, seeing a beautiful white deer leads to commitment to the cause”), Dee Calvasina wrote: “It’s rare, but occasionally there is one magnificent moment in life that transcends all others. Saturating all levels of your consciousness, it indelibly freeze-frames a picture upon the mind’s eye, timelessly reverberating in the depths of the soul.”
Entrepreneur John Ingle told Calvasina about his own seminal moment he experienced during a tour of Deer Haven Park, a nature preserve and home to numerous species of wildlife, including the majestic Seneca white deer, located on land that had been the location of the Seneca Army Depot. Ingle explained: “We were on the bus and it was moving, and all of a sudden a big, beautiful white buck came toward the side of the bus and when he got to us, he turned and ran parallel alongside us for about fifteen seconds. I was amazed and also humbled by the almost religious aspect in that it was surreal and beautiful and uplifting.” A few years later, that experience prompted Ingle and his wife Josephine to play a big role in protecting the Seneca white deer herd.
Although the chapters of “Beyond The Fence” had been previously published by the Times in some form or version, usually in Calvasina’s monthly “Beyond The Fence” column, and although I had previously read Calvasina’s columns, this did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. As I toured Deer Haven Park through Calvasina’s compilations of pictorial and written experiences about Deer Haven Park that she has previously shared with Times readers, I thought about Calvasina’s seminal moments column. I suspect that many visitors to the park have experienced seminal moments as a result of their visits.
"...Calvasina’s deeply moving description of the many fascinating aspects of nature in all its glory, reminded me of my awesome experience of reading Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden,”..."
I have not been to Deer Haven Park. Nevertheless, by reading Calvasina’s narrative and viewing the magnificent photographs of the park and its inhabitants, I had an enthralling, memorable adventure. The wild beauty of the park, and Calvasina’s deeply moving description of the many fascinating aspects of nature in all its glory, reminded me of my awesome experience of reading Henry David Thoreau’s “Walden,” Thoreau’s famous essay, published in 1854. Thoreau wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
Calvasina writes that “Touring beyond the fence at Deer Haven Park is always a unique and fascinating adventure. As an ecotourism park, visitors encounter wildlife in their own habitat, making each and every journey a memorable experience.” I had such an adventure during my reading of Calvasina’s book as I gained new insights about whitetail deer, beavers, birds, and insects in their natural habitats.
On the occasion that a group of park supporters from the Binghamton area embarked on a private tour, “Everybody commented on the serenity of the grounds and how soothing was the hum of nature as it seemed to envelop its guests. A brown fawn made an appearance, prancing with delight unperturbed like that of a carefree youngster until its sight settled upon its audience and stage fright froze the young doe on the spot — yet another chance for great photos.
“Then it was homeward bound as lingering thoughts hinted at mankind’s daily lives and how there remains an underlying interconnection, one of roots, so to speak. One that connects one person to another, one place to another, and so on, as was proven on the day’s journey. History has a tendency toward revealing such connections, as does nature, both of which can be found beyond the fence.”
I was attentive to both the spiritual tranquility of the park that Calvasina reveals, as well as its history. “The roughly 10,000 acres that the Seneca Army Depot occupied used to be a small village called Kendaia, aka: Appletown. The name remained as it was given from the Iroquois Nation of Senecas who originally settled in the area prior to the Revolutionary War. After the war this small village was rebuilt and replete with a post office, blacksmith, more than one church, and many farm homesteads,” Calvasina writes in her Introduction.
In the summer of 1941, when the government chose the site to build a munitions facility, 162 families received Western Union notices of evacuation from their homes and farms. While they were eventually compensated for their loss — at much less than their actual worth — they endured considerable hardships. “Some families had a couple of weeks to vacate, some a mere 3 days to move from homes that many had built up from scratch through family ownerships of decades upon decades. Crops had to be abandoned in the fields, fruit trees and berry bushes deserted, and many personal items that homeowners did not have time to secure were destroyed in the demolition and burning that followed.”
Such haste was necessary. President Franklin D. Roosevelt wanted to be prepared for war. The construction of the Seneca Ordinance Depot that began in July 1941was completed on November 15, 1941. A few weeks later, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
In the Preface to “Beyond the Fence,” Times Publisher and Executive Editor Mike Cutillo aptly describes this book as “an all-encompassing look at this slice of the world blessed by the Great Spirit. For years, Finger Lakes Times readers were the only beneficiaries of Dee Calvasina’s passion and her knowledge. Thanks to this collection, others, too, can learn about this very special place and this very special herd of animals through Dee’s eyes and words.”
Canandaigua resident Joel Freedman contributes book reviews and essays to the Finger Lakes Times frequently. Now retired, Freedman taught history, political science and sociology at Finger Lakes Community College for many years.