To the Editor:

Voorheesville is a just the sort of a town that most people would love to call home; it’s small, charming, and is home to a local historical landmark Smith’s Tavern.  It has come to my attention that Stewart’s Shops would like to relocate the current Voorheesville location to the corner of routes 156 and 85A which is home to our beloved tavern (See related story).

So many memories of Smith’s Tavern come to mind: class reunions; families gathering after baseball, soccer, football, and basketball; Thanksgiving Eve; birthdays and even funerals.  For me personally, our wedding rehearsal dinner was there in 1988, and my son worked there for many years.

To me, this is like closing down a historic site only to be replaced with a depressing Stewart’s. Is that what we want here?

Do we really need another big-box convenience store?  To be honest with you, I find Stewart’s to be anything but convenient, always crowded and expensive.

There is a very nice supermarket in town called Hannaford; they sell everything that Stewart’s sells for a portion of the cost. We already have a “blue ribbon gas station” called Mobil and that is operated by some pretty nice people.

There are three other Stewart’s shops in very local proximity to our community — two on Route 85 and one on route 155; all three of those shops provide gas.  Do you know what else this site has?  A pretty nice trout stream, so nice, in fact, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation stocks it with trout annually.  

Why on Earth do we need a bigger better Stewart’s in the middle of Voorheesville?  Well, we don’t.

Find a different location; we don’t want you tearing down two thriving businesses to put in yet another big-box convenience store.  Want to stay in Voorheesville?  The Voorheesville Carpet Company building is for sale and it is very close to your current location. I am sure they would be happy to sell to you. Leave our tavern and gas station alone!  

Janis Dunham Relyea

Voorheesville