Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Entrepreneurs tell us their inspiring stories, learn about products that
could make both you and your child's life easier and
more fun. And of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh
about what's happening in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey.
Thanks for joining me onmine. Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm
Michelle Jerson. So my family and I had the best
(00:33):
Fourth of July weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We went to Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We went to the area of Middlefield, Connecticut, because there
are two really awesome adventure parks there. One you may
have heard of Powder Ridge because they are known for
their skiing during the winter time, but did you know
that they are a full season, year round park. They
are a mountain park and they have so many activities
which are so much.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Fun during the summer.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And then also we spent the second day at Brownstone
Adventure Sports Park, which is unlike any park the kids
and I have ever been to ziplinespuls rock climbing, so
many things, and so I'm so thrilled to have on
the show with me today Tom Loring. He is going
to talk to us about both parks and all that
(01:18):
we can expect on a trip to this area of Connecticut,
and then later in the show we're actually going to
also talk about a craft studio in the area, which
is such a nice side trip from when you're tired
from all the parks. And also there's an orchard right
next door. Tom, thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Oh, Michelle, You're so welcome. I'm so pleased to be
able to join you and tell you a little bit
about the parks that we run and what we can
offer families.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Absolutely, so let's start with Brownstone Adventure Sports Park, because this,
oh my goodness, what a way to spend a day.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I think kids of all ages.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
My kids are six and eight, but there's teenagers there,
there's adults like myself who.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I will not mention my age jumping off cliffs. Tell
me a little bit about what goes on.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Here, right, So, Brownstone is a flooded quarry. You know,
everybody in our region has heard about the Brownstones in
Back Bay and Boston and in New York and in Philadelphia. Well,
that stone came out of this hole, and some other
quarries right in the region, including the rocks at the
base of the Statue of Liberty. Is all this incredible
(02:24):
Brownstone came out of here. And in nineteen thirty eight
there's a hurricane that flooded these quarries and they stayed
flooded until the early two thousands, and then a group
of local businessmen opened Brownstone Adventure Sports Park to welcome
families to as you mentioned, cliff jumping and rock climbing
(02:46):
and ziplines and all these great inflatables.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yes, and it really is.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's a beautiful setting because of what you just mentioned,
and you're able to use those rocks in your activities. So,
like my daughter, not only do you have regular ziplines,
but you also have ziplines that start with rock climbing.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
You know, as you mentioned, we kind of have a
whole arc of activities, so we can cater to even
the youngest two and three year old kids that are
just exploring the water in our twelve and under area.
And then as soon as children, as soon as children
are brave enough, they can start with our ziplines and
we do have what we call our mini ziplines, which
(03:25):
you basically just walk on to that height and zip down,
and then more challenging ziplines. As you mentioned, we have
a sixty five foot rock wall that you can either
climb with a fixed ladder that's called a via ferrata,
or you can rock climate and of course you're harnessed
in and tethered with lots of safety gear to make
sure everybody has a safe adventure.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yes, and then the water slides are so fun. It's
not your typical water slide, but it's one that you
go speeding down and then drop several feet.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Into the water.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And I feel like this amuse in park or an
adventure park, I should say it's so good because it
challenges your fears. Right, Like I saw maybe a six
year old attempt the cliff jumping I don't know how
many times the day that we were there, and I thought,
how great, because it really helps you conquer your fears,
maybe discover some new adventures that you never knew you
(04:20):
could do.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Right, I mean, that is such a great observation right
where we and I'm sure and I'm sure you've talked
about it as a parent before, right, we want to
challenge our children in safe ways to face their fears
an attempt to overcome them and grow and learn from them.
And you're absolutely right. Like our mini cliff jump is
you know, it's about twelve to fifteen feet high and
for a six eight ten year old, I mean that's
(04:43):
you know, that's jumping from the Eiffel Tower.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I mean it's up there right right, And so to
go to that edge and for them to you know,
to look at that and process it and jump and
to be okay, and even if it's not a perfect
jump and it stings a little bit, but it's thrilling.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And so they come back and they try it again
and they get better. You're absolutely right. These sort of
challenge by choice, where it's a safe opportunity to face
a fear and grow is something that we love to
be able to provide to kids.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And families exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And I have to say one of the memories that
we have from there is your catapulting activity.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I don't know what you call it. On the big inflatable.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
My daughter, who like I said, is six and about
fifty pounds, insisted that my husband be the ones she
jump off after her, and I have never seen, i
think the whole day we were there, seen anybody fly
so high into the air.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think she was surprised, and so absolutely you're huns right.
It's the brave children who insist that Dad launch them.
They go the highest right, and too often they look
like a spider that someone flicked through the air as
they fly it. And you know, collectively as the staff,
(06:03):
we hold our breath to see if they have a
good water entry or if not, and the not so
good water entry certainly staying. You know, they'll get an
ice back and some encouragement from us. But it is
great when they managed to control their body in the
air and have a nice water entry, and everybody's all smiles.
But yes, it is a cautionary tale to do dads
(06:26):
everywhere for their little ones. You will send them high
in the sky.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I swam to her immediately, and I couldn't tell that
she was part shock, part like what the heck just happened.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I don't think she even knew what to expect.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
But then as soon as that was processed, it was,
oh my god, look at me, look what happened.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And it went down as a really good memory.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So yeah, you definitely provide things like that, and then
even the inflatable trampolines and the swings in the water,
those are so much fun.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, right, and you know, as a parent myself, too
often we're challenged with our kids want to be on
their screens and because of all the algorithms and things
that are designed to keep them wanting to be on
the screens. To be able to bring them out here,
I mean we're not, you know, by any means remote
and then out in the middle of nowhere, but we
(07:18):
are out of nature. It is a natural body of water.
We have a very healthy, clean ecosystem in this quarry.
The water is super clean. And to have the kids
come out and maybe come face to face with a fish,
but certainly to be surrounded by the greenery it is
it's just such a great experience. Everybody go home rosie
cheek and tired. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Absolutely, And you also host camps many days.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
We do, absolutely, and so that's a great point for
the savvy shopper. Right during the week, our weekdays numbers
are definitely lower than our weekend days, and on those
week days, most of the camp groups that come to
us will leave in the early to mid afternoon, so
the last couple hours of the day, the park quiets down.
(08:05):
It's actually my favorite day afternoons, as the park empties
out and it's quieter, and you know, some people are
just relaxing, but other people are still doing all the activities.
And to see the sunlight reflected off the water and
off the rock walls, it's it's a great place to work, honestly.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh yeah, unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And then also you cut off the amount of people
who are allowed in the park at a particular time, right,
so it doesn't get overcrowded.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Absolutely, totally correct. We based our daily limits both on
our available staffing, and that's actually the primary driver. But
also we do require life jackets for everybody in the
park anytime you're on a doctor in the water, and
so we limit the number of people in the park
based on our available staffing. Well. And also you know
(08:56):
since COVID, we used to put a lot more people
in here before cod and the experience is better now
because we limit it. And we know that everybody's a
little more conscious about their personal space in our post
COVID world.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So yeah, exactly, But something like this is such a
great activity because it is outside. And I love too
that you have that little section of sand where you
could just hang out and play beach volleyball and.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
People were bringing food having picnics. It's really like a
great place.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
If you're local, I imagine you do something like a season
pass or if you are visiting the area.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
You definitely have to put this on your list.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Right And as you mentioned, since we do sell out,
you want to buy your tickets ahead of time, and
all of our tickets are available online, and you don't
want to drive from you know, we see folks from
Rhode Island in the Boston area all the time that
I heard about us in common, and we hate it
if you show up on the day when we are
sold out. So, especially especially if you're traveling, you want
to you know, you want to call ahead or sort
(09:55):
purchase your tickets ahead of time online to make sure
that you get in right.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Excellent advice.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And because you do have a Brownstone Adventure Sports Park
and also powder Ridge Mountain Park and resort, you have
that resort there part of it as well, which is
so convenient. So if anybody is traveling from Boston Rhode Island,
I would advise staying over for a night or two
so you can enjoy both parks and everything else there
(10:23):
is to do in the area.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
You're able to stay the night in the region, there's
some really neat places to stay, you know, up and
down the Kanaga River on the coast. Of course, there's
local accommodations and powder Ridge even has a few rooms there,
so it is well worth it. And as you observe,
there's a tremendous amount to do in the region. I
mean powder Ridge has fired the Ridge Restaurant, which is
(10:46):
a great mountainside restaurant, open air, so if the kids
are anzy on the table, you can say, go enjoy
the yard games, get out of here.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Hey, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
And I want to talk to you about that a
little bit later in the show because powder has so
many activities also for adults and kids.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
The restaurant was phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
We are speaking with Tom Loring, Powder Ridge Mountain Park
and Resort and Brownstone Adventures Sports Park.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'm Michelle Jurson.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
The Passport Mommy more coming up in a few you're
listening to Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson. Whether you are
with your kids or maybe you're with your girlfriends. You
have to check out eventful Splat and Craft Studio founder
Laura Lefrido has been working with Powder Ridge Resort and
(11:32):
also Brownstone Park, but this is her baby.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Laura, thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Well, thank you so much for having me on and
coming and visiting with me while you were here.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Oh my pleasure. You know, we had so much fun.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And I have a six and an eight year old
and we have never done splat before, so that was
truly really fun. And I can see this being such
a good birthday party for young kids, even adult bachelorette parties,
baby showers, girls night out.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
There's so much that you can do at your studio.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Yeah, it really is. This flat room is probably the
highlight for everybody. They all come in to dry, and
like you said, it can be just a mom and
her one child, it can be a couple, and then
we get the whole parties in there doing a splat
and throwing paint on walls and glow in the dark.
It's fabulous.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Oh yeah, it's so fun.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And then you walk away with this canvas that's so pretty.
I mean, it reminds me of the old days. Of
spin art, but this is something completely different where you
just get to take the paint and throw it where
you want and see how it lands.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Yeah. Yeah, I got always remind everybody don't forget the canvas,
you know, busy splatting their parents or each other, and
don't save paint for the canvas please, Exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I had to remind my kids of that. It's like
they're decorating your wall. They were leaving their mark. But yeah,
they came home with beautiful paintings, beautiful canvases. And so
what made you start a ventful splat and craft studio.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Well, I've had a passion for crafting and art for
as long as I can remember. My grandmother and my
mother were very creative people and I would sit along
them and watch them do their thing. So growing up,
I've always just played with it. And about five years
ago I thought, well, you know what I've seen these
paint parties. I think I can do that. And what's
(13:25):
turned out the most interesting or the surprising thing for
me was the sense of community that we all build.
You know, we were going to restaurants and breweries and
you know, doing they having a little bit of sip
and eating and painting. But boy, the way that all
these ladies, we all get together once a month, twice
a month, and they get to know each other, They
(13:45):
encourage each other, they can come alone, it doesn't have
to be with a gang, and everybody just gets to
know and that's that's the biggest.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Part of it.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
And then of course when they leave, I'm always and
they are always so surprised at what they created. Yeah,
you know, they'll come in and they'll say, I can't,
I can't draw, I can't, I can't do this stuff,
and then they leave them they're like, darn, that looks good.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, you know exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
We don't know what talents lie within us until we
have an outlet and a place to explore. What else
do you offer at the Craft Studio besides the splot.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Well, you can come in. We have workshops like twice
a month, once a month for kids and adults, so
everything's up on a workshop calendar. But you can also
do a drop in, so you can typically we like
you to schedule, you know, a quick drop in session
and when you get to the get to the studio,
(14:41):
you get to decide what you want and there's everything
from resin art to paintings to Ferry gardens. We had
a bunch of girls, little second graders in on Saturday
and they were busy painting rocks and making friendship bracelets.
There's loads and loads of different crafts to choose when
(15:03):
you get in there and see what you're to do.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, even, and it's so funny because my son picked
up these little I guess it was crabs that you
had made out of shells and pipe cleaners and googly eyes,
and he loved it and he wanted to make one,
and I thought, wow, you know, and that's the thing.
Sometimes it's really simple to make crafts that really look great,
but we don't always think of them. We need someone
(15:28):
like you to maybe put some cute things together and
give us some ideas as parents, right, Yeah, And.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
It's just the supplies, you know. You don't have to
go out and buy the googly eyes and the pipe
cleaners and you know, so all that's right there for them.
And like you said, inspiration, there's ideas there. Yes, that
particular project is super affordable. It's so inexpensive, you know, him,
make a couple of crabs come in and then maybe
mom or dad can do a.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Different craft exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
And that's you know what, can you just say that
part again, I'm sorry, just say a mom and dad
can make a different.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Crafts mom and dad can make a different craft exactly.
And we need that time too for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
You know, we're all about the kids, but something where
we can also just relax and unwind.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's great and you're located in it pronounce Meridan, Meridan.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, and you're located in Meriden, Connecticut, which is super convenient.
If let's say you are traveling as a family and
you're going to visit Powder Ridge Mountain Park or Brownstone
Adventure Sports Park, make it a weekend, go visit the
craft studio, go do these adventures, and then when you're
tired out from all your adventures, you can go relax
(16:39):
by you.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
That's exactly right. Mine's an indoor spot, so you get
out of the sun if you've had too much and
just kind of mellow out and relax for the rest
of the weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, it's a great end to the weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
And again, if you're a local or within you know,
you're very easy to get to. I'd say if you're
within an hour, you know, you could still make it
a date and to you.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
We also ate at this in Mexican.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Restaurant next door and that was like authentic, really good food.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So you can really make a day of it.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Yeah, you really can. And we do the parties, you know,
like you said, the bachelorette parties, the baby showers. We
do a cute little baby shower craft where everybody paints
a onesie, a baby onesieh or yeah, the child. So
it's really you know, we can incorporate just about anything
into these parties.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So where can we go for more information on eventful
splat and craft studio and how to get in touch
with you.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
The ventfulcraft Studio dot com.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Well, Laura, thank you so much for having us. We
had a blast. Thank you so much, Laura Lafrido. I'm
Michelle Jurs and the Pasport Mommy. More coming up in
a few If you are in the Long Island area,
you have to head to adventure Land this summer. For me,
this is close to home because this was my childhood
amusement park growing up and I have so such fond
(18:00):
memories of going there every season and I still can
remember which rides were ware and they have a few
exciting new things for this season.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
They have a new ride called the Wave Twister. It's
opening this season.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
The first of its kind ride in the United States
was custom built for Adventureland. It is part of Phase
two of the Amusement Parks multi year five phase fifteen
million dollar redevelopment plan announced last year.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The track is shaped.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Like a boomerang and it fits into the Legacy corner
and will maximize the available space in that section. The
Wavetwister is a family ride. It was made in Switzerland,
the same company that built the Fireball Ride, which was
so much fun. Would you believe that my daughter got
my mom to go on it? And I have to
(18:49):
say the Fireball ride was the ride that I was
most scared to go on, and my daughter pulled me on,
including the newest.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Roller coaster, which was so much fun.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It's the only roller coaster online Island that spins while
going up and down.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And I just have such fond memories of.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Riding the Galaxy, the old red roller coaster when it
was there. So there was the Galaxy back when I
was a child, then there was one other one in
the middle, and now there is the Turbulence Coaster. It
was so much fun. My daughter just kept pulling me
on it, one after the other after the other. And
then of course Adventureland has your classic rides like the
Swings and the Ferrets Wheel that they've had since I
(19:25):
was a child. The arcade is fun, of course, playing
the games and getting food is fun like the Dippin' dots,
and they have entertainment. And what I love most about
this year is they have incredible deals. So if you
want to bring the grandkids, if you want to go
yourself as a family, they have sunset savings if you
want to go at night when the heat goes down
(19:46):
after five pm Tuesdays and Thursdays only twenty seven dollars
per person. They have discounts at the Nassau and Suffolk Libraries,
military discounts, Alfi's Last Call if you had there two
hours before closing, also twenty seven dollars per person. You
have a Catholic Health employee discount. So just head to
Adventureland dot.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Us for all of the information.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
And what I love about this park is that you
can definitely spend the entire day there and have so
much family fun, but it's not overwhelming like some of
the really big parks. It was founded in nineteen sixty
two just as a local place to have fun and
relax as a family, and over sixty two years later,
the park is now a destination amusement park.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It has the classic rides like.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I mentioned, including the ferris wheel and the carousel, and
those new thrills like the Fireball coaster and the custom
designed spinning roller coaster Turbulence.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
So definitely fun in games for both adults and kids.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
You're listening to passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jurson, and we
were talking with Tom Loring, the director of guest services
before for Brownstone Adventure Sports Park and powder Ridge Mountain
Park and Resort, and we took a little break in
there to talk about the eventful splat and craft studio,
which my kids absolutely loved. But I wanted to come
back and talk all about powder Ridge in our longer segment. Tom,
(21:10):
thank you so much for joining me today. So we
all know that powder Ridge is known for its skiing
during the winter time, let's start with that.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
What can we expect when we head that way for
the winter.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Well, one of the great things about powder Ridge, even
though it's a small or southern Neinngland Mountain is we
just two years ago invested in a snow factory that
will make snow up to sixty degrees fair and light.
So wow, we are Yeah, we are able to guarantee
a snow surface starting on Black Friday, no matter what's
going on for the rest of the local weather. And
(21:46):
what that means is our Winterfest, which starts on Black Friday.
We're able to offer snow tubing to families in a
variety of winter sort of pre Christmas holiday events that
go into Winterfest. But also there is some skiing and snowboarding.
It's not a tremendous, you know, amount of acreage, but
it is an opportunity to get out there and slide.
If you've got those young kids who just can't wait
(22:08):
to get back on snow.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yes, and so do you offer lessons and for people
who maybe are beginners to skiing.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Absolutely so. I mean that's honestly it's powder, ridges, bread
and butter. And as the before I became a director
of guest Services, I was the ski school director and
I'm still responsible for all of our coaches and our
training and I am just so thrilled to be able
to introduce people to the sport that I'm really the
most passionate about that. I just love being outside in
(22:39):
the winter and being able to slide on snow. And
our seasonal programs at Powder Ridge sell out annually. For
our weekend programs which we call Little Rippers, which is
a ninety minute program for children ages four to eight,
and we also have a program called the Ridge Rippers,
which is a three hour program which is for children
six it's twelve, And these are great opportunities for kids
(23:02):
to really learn the fundamentals in skiing and snowboarding so
that when your family is ready for that trip to Vermont,
you know, Stowe or Stratton or Jpeek wherever you may
want to go, or Colorado even we've helped you so
that your kids are ready for those bigger hills and
the more challenging terrain offered by those resorts.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
My kids took their first ski lessons at the end
of this past season, and I'm not so much a skier,
and I got on and took a couple of lessons,
and I said, you know what, come this winter, we
are going to take lessons starting at the beginning of
the season because they loved it, and it's amazing how
quickly kids can advance with the proper instruction.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Oh, absolutely right. I mean, we unfortunately are worried about
getting hurt and what we might have to do if
we're hurt and the kid kids. You know, the kids
much more if they have and we strive so hard
with our coaches to teach that it's so much more
about fun and camaraderie and the enjoyment of the activity
than it is about skill development. Because you must know this,
(24:04):
with everything you do, if the kids are having fun,
the learning just happens. They just they get comfortable, they
try new things, they develop new skills, and it's almost
magical to watch this progression when you have a group
of kids that are laughing and having a good time,
get comfortable on their skis and just you know, a
few minutes ago they were flounding around and now they're
(24:25):
riding a magic carpet independently, or they're taking their first
chair with bride. It is truly, I think it's just
winter magic. I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Yeah, I'm with you. And it's so nice what you
do in a way for parents.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
To get involved and also save money on their family
skiing is to join your snowsports schools.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Coaches, absolutely, there's nothing better as a director, and they
have a parent come because you know, teenagers being closer
to the age of the kids, they have a little
pied piper quality. But so many of us as parents
are so much more comfortable and trusting our children to
other parents because they understand it right, They get what
(25:04):
our concerns are and know our fears and our hopes
for our children because their parents themselves. So when we
have parents join our snowspoards school, it's incredible to not
only watch those parents their own fundamental skills develop, because
of course, if you're teaching fundamental skills, you're modeling them
and practicing them, so your skiing or riding improves dramatically.
(25:25):
And then you get to share this love that you
have the outdoors with other kids, and to see their
smiles and their growth and their development. To get handmade
cards and all the great things that these kids give
to our coaches at the end of our multi week programs.
It's incredible, and yes we do offer. You know, people
(25:47):
say to me, oh, I'm not a good enough skier,
and my tagline everybody in this organization is sick of
me saying my tagline is listen if after my training program,
our training program, we just need you to be better
than a four year old on the our year old's
first day, right right, right, that's the level of skiing
you need to start as a coach. I'm not going
to have you, you know, coaching the race team on
(26:08):
day one. So that's if you want to coach the
race team. I'll hope you get ready for that. We
love that.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
That's great, all right, So now let's talk about what
we could expect over the summer because we had such
a great time with all of the activities, whether it
was a giant water slides, also zip lines, you have paintball,
talk to me about everything, right.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Well, I thought you were going to start with paintball
because you said something about splat in the last segment.
And for the for the little kids coming out who
want to try paintball and the parents are a little
concerned about projectiles, we do have a single pump what
we call splatball paintball, and we can also do it
in one of our shooting galleries. So it's not being
(26:49):
shot at individuals, you're shooting at targets.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
So that's a fun way to start and remind me
if we talked about our haunted talk about our student
gallery there. But so paintball is tremendous. You know, it's
a lot of fun running around and we have this
platform as I mentioned, and the next level up. It
(27:13):
still uses a smaller fear of paint than traditional paintball,
so it doesn't hurt as much because it's less mass
and it's less velocity, and so it is good for
those kids that are to ten to twelve year old kids.
They want to try the paintball and then the tournament
style paintball. The kids that take it more seriously use
that same traditional big paint ball, so you know, those
(27:37):
kids typically want to wear a little more protective gear,
a heavier sweatshirt or something. But it's a ton of
fun the paintball. That's a new partnership for us over
the last couple of years with Hogan's Sally And one
of the great things, probably the biggest straw in the
summer to Powder Ridge is actually our mountain bike program
and so we have we are the only lift service
(28:00):
and biking in the state of Connecticut, and we have
some incredible trails with amazing jumps and drops and burns
to really challenge every level of rider. But of course,
the same as our skiing, it's the beginners that we
love to welcome to the sport and teach. We have
a skills park with little rollers and we have a
(28:22):
pump track which is paved, so it's a consistent service
to help kids and beginner bikers learn how to work
with their bike. We start with in our summer camp.
We have a license day camp in the state of Connecticut.
Our summer camp will start even with non riders, kids
as young as four, teaching them how to ride, getting
(28:42):
them just on a regular bike, and then getting them
onto the grass and onto the trails. So again it's
something about having families being outdoors together, challenging themselves to
overcome fears and develop skills and grow and to to
not be afraid to try new things and develop new skills.
(29:03):
Can you mention slide the slopes which are our giant
water slides. These are inflatable water slides that have bumper
sides and we give you a small essentially like cool
inner tube and then using the snowmaking system to pump
a lot of water down the hill. We send you
down these water slides and as you've experienced, some of
(29:23):
them are going. You're moving in a pretty good clip
there and it flats out at the bottoms of are
a nice gentle deceleration, a great way to cool off.
And so from there, so you've had your mountain biking.
Now you've cooled off in the water slide. We've got
a zip line that goes over the snowmaking pond from
about halfway up the mountain, which a lot of people love,
and it's a nice safe breaking system. And now you're
(29:44):
probably ready to eat, which would bring you to fire
at the ridge or our ridge side tavern. We have
that deck that sits right at the base of the mountain.
All of our yard games out there, so the kids,
you know, when they're tired of sitting still, instead of
handing them to your phone, you can tell them to
play corn hole or or hang out on the volleyball corn.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
The restaurant is so good.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
The aq tuna, tacos, the burgers, the salads, I mean,
everything was phenomenal. And you know, sometimes when you think
about a restaurant that might be at a resort like that,
you might think, oh, it's just quick, fast food type stuff.
But no, this is good food. And I was told
that your clam chowder was ranked the best in Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Yeah. Well, we were super fortunate when we started up
the restaurant to partner with Kevin Coddle, who was the
Season six runner up of Hell's Kitchen. And so working
with Kevin, we developed this menu and he's you know,
he's a New Englander through and through, and we developed
this menu and he still consults with us on our
menu and develops these dishes that absolutely Those tunanachos you
(30:46):
mentioned are one of my favorites. And our clam chowder
is outstanding. A little bit of bacon in there to
help with that that salty rich flavor.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
And I'm a huge fan of our of our our
wings as well all of our sandwiches.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
It's actually a problem working there because every day you're
tempted to go for luck.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah. No, the food definitely quality. And then also I
just love the little lounge in the.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Back the fire at the Ridge Main restaurant area. You
got the mezzanine level, right, so you get the great
view of the mountain from up there or looking down
into the restaurant where we do have that, and we
probably didn't have it lit on your visit, but that
central central fire pit is actually an alcohol fire pit,
so we do light that up in the winter to
have a little warmth and ambiance. And one of our
(31:35):
desserts is a table side s'mores which comes with its
own little fire kit and you can make s'mores writing
your tables. Love that of course, right and and then yes,
you can hang out by the fire pit while you're
waiting for your table or having a drink, while the
kids are doing their quote last run right for another
hour skin or biking. Yeah, so a great place for
(31:58):
family standing out and you know we do. Of course
the downstairs lots does have more traditional fare in the
wintertime that cafeteria food if your kids aren't sitting down
or if you don't have time for that sit.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Down meal, right, absolutely, all right, So now let's talk
about the fall because around Halloween I imagine it is very
fun here.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Oh it's tremendously fun. Right, So everywhere in New England
we know nature does to the amazing firework show of
foliage and Powder Ridge is no different. We have the
mountain with the tailift rides, and of course mountain bike
and continues. But the big draw is our haunt, our
Haunted trail. You come to the park, you ride our
chair lift to the top of the mountain and then
(32:40):
you have just under half a mile to descend down
through the Haunted Trail. You know, as you're riding up
in the dark, there's a lot of screams, there's some
spooky sounds. This is We do have a PG session
that is earlier in the afternoon. I'm gonna recommend that
(33:01):
you know, your kids enjoy some scares if you even
if you come to the PG session. But then as
it gets darker and later, it's definitely for the older kids,
the parents, maybe the college kids. The Haunted Trail has
been a tremendous success. It is everybody loves it. And
(33:22):
my favorite, honestly is when you get through the Haunted Trail.
You've come through there are some jump scares, the's some
different things that are going to get your blood going.
And now you get to the bottom and we have
some big fire pits going. We have some bars there, snacks,
some food available so you can hang out, enjoy the
evening for a little while, have a cocktail, and we
have some incredible entertainment and we have live music during
(33:44):
the winter. Every Saturday night. We have off in live
music year round. On Saturdays we do some concerts, but
in the fall at the Haunted Trail we bring in
different groups, fire jugglers, a dance troup for thriller. So
some great added shows value when you go to the
Zombie Lounge after the Haunting Trail.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So what tips do you have for us if we
want a book tickets to either Powder Ridge Mountain Park
and Resort or the Brownstone Adventure Sports Park. I know
you said get your tickets ahead of time. What do
we need to know when we are looking to visit
powder Radge either during the fall, summer or the wintertime?
Speaker 3 (34:21):
You know everything these days if you want to plan ahead,
it's a little bit challenging, of course, because we are
weather related. And I will tell you one of the
things about both of our parts is we're very lenient
on rescheduling provided it's forty eight hours before your day.
So if you're looking at the forecast, or if something
comes up and you need to move a ticket, just
you know, call in or in many of our reservation systems,
(34:42):
you can request a rebooking without even calling. If you're
interested in tubing, we did not mention this winter tubing
at Powder Ridge. If you're coming for winter tubing, that
sells out on the weekend, so that's super important to
buy that ad Our multi week ski and snowboard lesson
probe will sell out by late December for the January
(35:03):
sessions and by early January for the February sessions. So
if you're interested in those lesson programs, I highly recommend
you book ahead so that you get those. Also, I
would tell anyone who's coming for more than two or
three visits get seasonal rentals rental programs. So this is
across the ski industry. You're taking your kids skiing. The
(35:26):
rental shop is the bane of parents' existence. Your kids
are overdressed, they're cooking inside that rental building. The lines
move slow, and this is true in every rental shop
everywhere in the ski industry. So get yourself some seasonal
rentals and keep your kids out of that rental shop.
Everyone will be happier. And as a longtime parent and
(35:46):
ski instructor, change your kids socks right before you put
on your ski or snowboard boots. They've been cooking. You
cook their feet all the way in the car, all
the way in the resort. Their feet are sweaty. If
you put those wet socks into that ski boot, their
feet will get cold much faster. So change your socks,
get them in the seasonal rentals. Don't leave those in
the car by the way, because then you're putting them
(36:06):
in blocks of ice. Make sure the boots spend the
boots spend the night inside. And that's the biggest thing,
right set your kids up for success. We all the
weather now is oh, it's so colder, it's so dangerous.
It's We grew up where we dressed for the weather,
and you can safely dress your kids for the weather.
We have guides on our website. There's lots of opportunities
out there, and you can ask any of us will
(36:28):
help you dress properly so that you can enjoy almost
any weather condition within reason, and kids can be out
even in sort of harsher weather, safe and warm and fun.
All of our ski coaches know what to look for
for frostbite and know how to tell if your kids
getting a little bit older, because we all know that
that learning breaks down if the kids are uncomfortable, and
(36:49):
that includes you know, if they have to go to
the bathroom or hungry, you're tired, or cold, learning's going
to break down. And so we want to keep everything
fun and light for all of our learners, adults included,
so that it's easy for learning to happen. Because if
you're scared or afraid or apprehensive, you're not on a
good learning space.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Great, great advice. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Tom Loring, director of Guest Services for Powder Ridge Mountain
Park and Resort and for the Brownstone Adventure Sports Park.
Thank you for providing such a fun few days for
my family and I look forward to seeing you this.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Fall and winter.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Well great, Michelle, thanks so much, and you know, please
everybody reach out to us because we'd love to accommodate
all the families we can and help them enjoy the outdoors.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I'm Michelle Jurson the Passport Mommy More coming up in
a few.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
You're listening to Passport Mommy.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I'm Michelle Jerson and we were just talking about the
two adventure sports parks in Middlefields, Connecticut. Well something else
that is truly special and I have known about Lineman
Orchards for years because we used to live in Connecticut
and it was my favorite place to go to. So
when I saw that it was right down the road
from Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort, I said, oh,
we have to add this on to our trip and
(38:01):
leave a day for it. And so we had some
really fun blueberry and raspberry picking the other day.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I'm really happy to have.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
On the show John Lyman the third and he's going
to talk to us all about everything going on this summer. Hi.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
John, Hi Michelle, how are you today? Good? Thank you?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
So we picked blueberries and raspberries, which we're still eating
and they're delicious.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
What else is coming up?
Speaker 6 (38:24):
Well, peaches just started and you know, we got a
really nice crop of those as well. And peach season
will last about thirteen weeks, so we'll have peaches right
into the middle and end of September.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Oh great.
Speaker 6 (38:41):
And then following the next crop after that will be
early apples and early pears, and then the pair season,
regular pair season will start in you know, end of
August early September. We have Asian pairs that are available
that as well. Apple season, we have the early season,
(39:01):
as I mentioned, mid August, and then we get into
our regular apple harvest September and October into early November,
and later we'll have some pumpkins, and so yeah, we've
got a five and a half month pick your own
season for people to come and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And you know, Limeean Orchard, out of all the orchards
I've been to, it's just always provides such wonderful memories
for the family and for us because in addition to
the pick your own.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
You have festivals.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You have a blueberry festival coming up, a peach festival,
and then you have so many fun activities for the kids.
So tell me about some of those upcoming activities.
Speaker 6 (39:38):
Sure, As you mentioned, a blueberry festival is coming up
in July nineteenth. And in addition to the picking, we
have a number of activities going on down at Apple
our farm mark at the Apple Borrow. We have horse
drawn wagon rides, we have a trackless train that runs
around the pond. We have a petting far, a number
(40:01):
of crafts for the kids to do, we have live music.
There's just plenty of food, and each of our festivals
will feature the theme of that particular fruit that's being featured.
So blueberries will have all kinds of treats with blueberries,
and then our Peach Festival on August ninth, same thing,
peach theme and similar activities. So yeah, just a lot
(40:26):
to do enjoy and as you mentioned, it's really geared
for the whole family to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yes, absolutely, and I love the petting zoo. And you
have a Corn Maze which benefits the American Cancer Society
and the Connecticut Cancer Foundation.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
When does that start?
Speaker 6 (40:43):
The Corn Mays will run September and October. This year's
theme is Connecticut Pizza, so we're going to help promote
the state tourism promoting Connecticut piachas the best in the world.
So we figured we had to get in on the
action right so people will enjoy the intricacies that a
(41:06):
pizza will generate for a maze. And then before that
in August, we have our Sunflower Maze and that theme
is going to be Sesame Street and we're pretty excited
about that and we similar to the Corn Maze, we
uh a portion of that proceeds go to Connecticut Children's
(41:28):
and support their work, and so we've had a long
relationship with both all those organizations and raised a lot
of money over the years with the help of all
our customers.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
That's wonderful. Yeah, Connecticut children.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
So my brother actually works there and so I know
the work that they do is amazing, and the work
that you do at Limeman Orchard is also amazing. And
everything that you do with the community which I love.
And your pies are pretty special.
Speaker 6 (41:53):
Yeah, we we kind of have grown that business pretty
significantly and we sell to a pretty much throughout the
East Coast, you know with the groceries chains, and it's
one of the parts of the business that, as I mentioned,
has grown significantly. We started in the bakery business and
we built our farm market, the apple Barrel, We put
(42:15):
a scratch bakery in and we started really making pies
for the store. Donuts the co donuts are to die
for and just you know, how to scratch bakery. And
we got to started getting inquiries back in the late
nineteen nineties for wholesaling and we started small and before
you knew it, we were producing millions of.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
Pies a year.
Speaker 6 (42:39):
So yeah, it's a very significant part of our business today.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Where can we go for more information just to check
out your schedule and everything that you have coming up,
just go to our.
Speaker 6 (42:48):
Website linean orchards dot com or our Facebook page and
we'll have everything listed and we keep it up to.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Date and current perfect.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
John Lyman Third, thank you so much for joining me
today on Passport Mommy. Look forward to seeing you again
really soon.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
You my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. Thanks so much for
listening this week. Have a fabulous week.
Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm your host, Michelle Jerson. This
show is for anyone raising little humans. We feature experts
with tips and advice to enrich the lives of our children.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
Mom and dad.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
Entrepreneurs tell us their inspiring stories, learn about products that
could make both you and your child's life easier and
more fun. And of course, fellow parents discuss and laugh
about what's happening in their child's world. Motherhood is a journey.
Thanks for joining me onmine. Welcome to Passport Mommy. I'm
Michelle Jerson. So my family and I had the best
(00:33):
Fourth of July weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We went to Connecticut.
Speaker 1 (00:37):
We went to the area of Middlefield, Connecticut, because there
are two really awesome adventure parks there. One you may
have heard of Powder Ridge because they are known for
their skiing during the winter time, but did you know
that they are a full season, year round park. They
are a mountain park and they have so many activities
which are so much.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Fun during the summer.
Speaker 1 (00:58):
And then also we spent the second day at Brownstone
Adventure Sports Park, which is unlike any park the kids
and I have ever been to ziplinespuls rock climbing, so
many things, and so I'm so thrilled to have on
the show with me today Tom Loring. He is going
to talk to us about both parks and all that
(01:18):
we can expect on a trip to this area of Connecticut,
and then later in the show we're actually going to
also talk about a craft studio in the area, which
is such a nice side trip from when you're tired
from all the parks. And also there's an orchard right
next door. Tom, thank you so much for joining me today.
Speaker 3 (01:36):
Oh, Michelle, You're so welcome. I'm so pleased to be
able to join you and tell you a little bit
about the parks that we run and what we can
offer families.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Absolutely, so let's start with Brownstone Adventure Sports Park, because this,
oh my goodness, what a way to spend a day.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
I think kids of all ages.
Speaker 1 (01:53):
My kids are six and eight, but there's teenagers there,
there's adults like myself who.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I will not mention my age jumping off cliffs. Tell
me a little bit about what goes on.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Here, right, So, Brownstone is a flooded quarry. You know,
everybody in our region has heard about the Brownstones in
Back Bay and Boston and in New York and in Philadelphia. Well,
that stone came out of this hole, and some other
quarries right in the region, including the rocks at the
base of the Statue of Liberty. Is all this incredible
(02:24):
Brownstone came out of here. And in nineteen thirty eight
there's a hurricane that flooded these quarries and they stayed
flooded until the early two thousands, and then a group
of local businessmen opened Brownstone Adventure Sports Park to welcome
families to as you mentioned, cliff jumping and rock climbing
(02:46):
and ziplines and all these great inflatables.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yes, and it really is.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
It's a beautiful setting because of what you just mentioned,
and you're able to use those rocks in your activities. So,
like my daughter, not only do you have regular ziplines,
but you also have ziplines that start with rock climbing.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
You know, as you mentioned, we kind of have a
whole arc of activities, so we can cater to even
the youngest two and three year old kids that are
just exploring the water in our twelve and under area.
And then as soon as children, as soon as children
are brave enough, they can start with our ziplines and
we do have what we call our mini ziplines, which
(03:25):
you basically just walk on to that height and zip down,
and then more challenging ziplines. As you mentioned, we have
a sixty five foot rock wall that you can either
climb with a fixed ladder that's called a via ferrata,
or you can rock climate and of course you're harnessed
in and tethered with lots of safety gear to make
sure everybody has a safe adventure.
Speaker 1 (03:48):
Yes, and then the water slides are so fun. It's
not your typical water slide, but it's one that you
go speeding down and then drop several feet.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
Into the water.
Speaker 1 (03:57):
And I feel like this amuse in park or an
adventure park, I should say it's so good because it
challenges your fears. Right, Like I saw maybe a six
year old attempt the cliff jumping I don't know how
many times the day that we were there, and I thought,
how great, because it really helps you conquer your fears,
maybe discover some new adventures that you never knew you
(04:20):
could do.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Right, I mean, that is such a great observation right
where we and I'm sure and I'm sure you've talked
about it as a parent before, right, we want to
challenge our children in safe ways to face their fears
an attempt to overcome them and grow and learn from them.
And you're absolutely right. Like our mini cliff jump is
you know, it's about twelve to fifteen feet high and
for a six eight ten year old, I mean that's
(04:43):
you know, that's jumping from the Eiffel Tower.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I mean it's up there right right, And so to
go to that edge and for them to you know,
to look at that and process it and jump and
to be okay, and even if it's not a perfect
jump and it stings a little bit, but it's thrilling.
Speaker 3 (05:00):
And so they come back and they try it again
and they get better. You're absolutely right. These sort of
challenge by choice, where it's a safe opportunity to face
a fear and grow is something that we love to
be able to provide to kids.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
And families exactly.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
And I have to say one of the memories that
we have from there is your catapulting activity.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I don't know what you call it. On the big inflatable.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
My daughter, who like I said, is six and about
fifty pounds, insisted that my husband be the ones she
jump off after her, and I have never seen, i
think the whole day we were there, seen anybody fly
so high into the air.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I think she was surprised, and so absolutely you're huns right.
It's the brave children who insist that Dad launch them.
They go the highest right, and too often they look
like a spider that someone flicked through the air as
they fly it. And you know, collectively as the staff,
(06:03):
we hold our breath to see if they have a
good water entry or if not, and the not so
good water entry certainly staying. You know, they'll get an
ice back and some encouragement from us. But it is
great when they managed to control their body in the
air and have a nice water entry, and everybody's all smiles.
But yes, it is a cautionary tale to do dads
(06:26):
everywhere for their little ones. You will send them high
in the sky.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
I swam to her immediately, and I couldn't tell that
she was part shock, part like what the heck just happened.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
I don't think she even knew what to expect.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
But then as soon as that was processed, it was,
oh my god, look at me, look what happened.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
And it went down as a really good memory.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
So yeah, you definitely provide things like that, and then
even the inflatable trampolines and the swings in the water,
those are so much fun.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, right, and you know, as a parent myself, too
often we're challenged with our kids want to be on
their screens and because of all the algorithms and things
that are designed to keep them wanting to be on
the screens. To be able to bring them out here,
I mean we're not, you know, by any means remote
and then out in the middle of nowhere, but we
(07:18):
are out of nature. It is a natural body of water.
We have a very healthy, clean ecosystem in this quarry.
The water is super clean. And to have the kids
come out and maybe come face to face with a fish,
but certainly to be surrounded by the greenery it is
it's just such a great experience. Everybody go home rosie
cheek and tired. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
Absolutely, And you also host camps many days.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
We do, absolutely, and so that's a great point for
the savvy shopper. Right during the week, our weekdays numbers
are definitely lower than our weekend days, and on those
week days, most of the camp groups that come to
us will leave in the early to mid afternoon, so
the last couple hours of the day, the park quiets down.
(08:05):
It's actually my favorite day afternoons, as the park empties
out and it's quieter, and you know, some people are
just relaxing, but other people are still doing all the activities.
And to see the sunlight reflected off the water and
off the rock walls, it's it's a great place to work, honestly.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
Oh yeah, unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
And then also you cut off the amount of people
who are allowed in the park at a particular time, right,
so it doesn't get overcrowded.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Absolutely, totally correct. We based our daily limits both on
our available staffing, and that's actually the primary driver. But
also we do require life jackets for everybody in the
park anytime you're on a doctor in the water, and
so we limit the number of people in the park
based on our available staffing. Well. And also you know
(08:56):
since COVID, we used to put a lot more people
in here before cod and the experience is better now
because we limit it. And we know that everybody's a
little more conscious about their personal space in our post
COVID world.
Speaker 1 (09:09):
So yeah, exactly, But something like this is such a
great activity because it is outside. And I love too
that you have that little section of sand where you
could just hang out and play beach volleyball and.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
People were bringing food having picnics. It's really like a
great place.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
If you're local, I imagine you do something like a season
pass or if you are visiting the area.
Speaker 2 (09:31):
You definitely have to put this on your list.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Right And as you mentioned, since we do sell out,
you want to buy your tickets ahead of time, and
all of our tickets are available online, and you don't
want to drive from you know, we see folks from
Rhode Island in the Boston area all the time that
I heard about us in common, and we hate it
if you show up on the day when we are
sold out. So, especially especially if you're traveling, you want
to you know, you want to call ahead or sort
(09:55):
purchase your tickets ahead of time online to make sure
that you get in right.
Speaker 2 (10:01):
Excellent advice.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
And because you do have a Brownstone Adventure Sports Park
and also powder Ridge Mountain Park and resort, you have
that resort there part of it as well, which is
so convenient. So if anybody is traveling from Boston Rhode Island,
I would advise staying over for a night or two
so you can enjoy both parks and everything else there
(10:23):
is to do in the area.
Speaker 3 (10:24):
You're able to stay the night in the region, there's
some really neat places to stay, you know, up and
down the Kanaga River on the coast. Of course, there's
local accommodations and powder Ridge even has a few rooms there,
so it is well worth it. And as you observe,
there's a tremendous amount to do in the region. I
mean powder Ridge has fired the Ridge Restaurant, which is
(10:46):
a great mountainside restaurant, open air, so if the kids
are anzy on the table, you can say, go enjoy
the yard games, get out of here.
Speaker 2 (10:54):
Hey, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (10:56):
And I want to talk to you about that a
little bit later in the show because powder has so
many activities also for adults and kids.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
The restaurant was phenomenal.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
We are speaking with Tom Loring, Powder Ridge Mountain Park
and Resort and Brownstone Adventures Sports Park.
Speaker 2 (11:11):
I'm Michelle Jurson.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
The Passport Mommy more coming up in a few you're
listening to Passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jerson. Whether you are
with your kids or maybe you're with your girlfriends. You
have to check out eventful Splat and Craft Studio founder
Laura Lefrido has been working with Powder Ridge Resort and
(11:32):
also Brownstone Park, but this is her baby.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Laura, thank you so much for joining me.
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Well, thank you so much for having me on and
coming and visiting with me while you were here.
Speaker 2 (11:42):
Oh my pleasure. You know, we had so much fun.
Speaker 1 (11:45):
And I have a six and an eight year old
and we have never done splat before, so that was
truly really fun. And I can see this being such
a good birthday party for young kids, even adult bachelorette parties,
baby showers, girls night out.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
There's so much that you can do at your studio.
Speaker 5 (12:03):
Yeah, it really is. This flat room is probably the
highlight for everybody. They all come in to dry, and
like you said, it can be just a mom and
her one child, it can be a couple, and then
we get the whole parties in there doing a splat
and throwing paint on walls and glow in the dark.
It's fabulous.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
Oh yeah, it's so fun.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
And then you walk away with this canvas that's so pretty.
I mean, it reminds me of the old days. Of
spin art, but this is something completely different where you
just get to take the paint and throw it where
you want and see how it lands.
Speaker 5 (12:32):
Yeah. Yeah, I got always remind everybody don't forget the canvas,
you know, busy splatting their parents or each other, and
don't save paint for the canvas please, Exactly.
Speaker 1 (12:45):
I had to remind my kids of that. It's like
they're decorating your wall. They were leaving their mark. But yeah,
they came home with beautiful paintings, beautiful canvases. And so
what made you start a ventful splat and craft studio.
Speaker 5 (13:01):
Well, I've had a passion for crafting and art for
as long as I can remember. My grandmother and my
mother were very creative people and I would sit along
them and watch them do their thing. So growing up,
I've always just played with it. And about five years
ago I thought, well, you know what I've seen these
paint parties. I think I can do that. And what's
(13:25):
turned out the most interesting or the surprising thing for
me was the sense of community that we all build.
You know, we were going to restaurants and breweries and
you know, doing they having a little bit of sip
and eating and painting. But boy, the way that all
these ladies, we all get together once a month, twice
a month, and they get to know each other, They
(13:45):
encourage each other, they can come alone, it doesn't have
to be with a gang, and everybody just gets to
know and that's that's the biggest.
Speaker 6 (13:53):
Part of it.
Speaker 5 (13:53):
And then of course when they leave, I'm always and
they are always so surprised at what they created. Yeah,
you know, they'll come in and they'll say, I can't,
I can't draw, I can't, I can't do this stuff,
and then they leave them they're like, darn, that looks good.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
Yeah, you know exactly.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
We don't know what talents lie within us until we
have an outlet and a place to explore. What else
do you offer at the Craft Studio besides the splot.
Speaker 5 (14:21):
Well, you can come in. We have workshops like twice
a month, once a month for kids and adults, so
everything's up on a workshop calendar. But you can also
do a drop in, so you can typically we like
you to schedule, you know, a quick drop in session
and when you get to the get to the studio,
(14:41):
you get to decide what you want and there's everything
from resin art to paintings to Ferry gardens. We had
a bunch of girls, little second graders in on Saturday
and they were busy painting rocks and making friendship bracelets.
There's loads and loads of different crafts to choose when
(15:03):
you get in there and see what you're to do.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Yeah, even, and it's so funny because my son picked
up these little I guess it was crabs that you
had made out of shells and pipe cleaners and googly eyes,
and he loved it and he wanted to make one,
and I thought, wow, you know, and that's the thing.
Sometimes it's really simple to make crafts that really look great,
but we don't always think of them. We need someone
(15:28):
like you to maybe put some cute things together and
give us some ideas as parents, right, Yeah, And.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
It's just the supplies, you know. You don't have to
go out and buy the googly eyes and the pipe
cleaners and you know, so all that's right there for them.
And like you said, inspiration, there's ideas there. Yes, that
particular project is super affordable. It's so inexpensive, you know, him,
make a couple of crabs come in and then maybe
mom or dad can do a.
Speaker 2 (15:54):
Different craft exactly.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
And that's you know what, can you just say that
part again, I'm sorry, just say a mom and dad
can make a different.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
Crafts mom and dad can make a different craft exactly.
And we need that time too for ourselves.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
You know, we're all about the kids, but something where
we can also just relax and unwind.
Speaker 2 (16:13):
It's great and you're located in it pronounce Meridan, Meridan.
Speaker 1 (16:18):
Yeah, and you're located in Meriden, Connecticut, which is super convenient.
If let's say you are traveling as a family and
you're going to visit Powder Ridge Mountain Park or Brownstone
Adventure Sports Park, make it a weekend, go visit the
craft studio, go do these adventures, and then when you're
tired out from all your adventures, you can go relax
(16:39):
by you.
Speaker 5 (16:40):
That's exactly right. Mine's an indoor spot, so you get
out of the sun if you've had too much and
just kind of mellow out and relax for the rest
of the weekend. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:49):
Yeah, it's a great end to the weekend.
Speaker 1 (16:51):
And again, if you're a local or within you know,
you're very easy to get to. I'd say if you're
within an hour, you know, you could still make it
a date and to you.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
We also ate at this in Mexican.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Restaurant next door and that was like authentic, really good food.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
So you can really make a day of it.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
Yeah, you really can. And we do the parties, you know,
like you said, the bachelorette parties, the baby showers. We
do a cute little baby shower craft where everybody paints
a onesie, a baby onesieh or yeah, the child. So
it's really you know, we can incorporate just about anything
into these parties.
Speaker 2 (17:29):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So where can we go for more information on eventful
splat and craft studio and how to get in touch
with you.
Speaker 5 (17:36):
The ventfulcraft Studio dot com.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Well, Laura, thank you so much for having us. We
had a blast. Thank you so much, Laura Lafrido. I'm
Michelle Jurs and the Pasport Mommy. More coming up in
a few If you are in the Long Island area,
you have to head to adventure Land this summer. For me,
this is close to home because this was my childhood
amusement park growing up and I have so such fond
(18:00):
memories of going there every season and I still can
remember which rides were ware and they have a few
exciting new things for this season.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
They have a new ride called the Wave Twister. It's
opening this season.
Speaker 1 (18:13):
The first of its kind ride in the United States
was custom built for Adventureland. It is part of Phase
two of the Amusement Parks multi year five phase fifteen
million dollar redevelopment plan announced last year.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The track is shaped.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
Like a boomerang and it fits into the Legacy corner
and will maximize the available space in that section. The
Wavetwister is a family ride. It was made in Switzerland,
the same company that built the Fireball Ride, which was
so much fun. Would you believe that my daughter got
my mom to go on it? And I have to
(18:49):
say the Fireball ride was the ride that I was
most scared to go on, and my daughter pulled me on,
including the newest.
Speaker 2 (18:56):
Roller coaster, which was so much fun.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
It's the only roller coaster online Island that spins while
going up and down.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
And I just have such fond memories of.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
Riding the Galaxy, the old red roller coaster when it
was there. So there was the Galaxy back when I
was a child, then there was one other one in
the middle, and now there is the Turbulence Coaster. It
was so much fun. My daughter just kept pulling me
on it, one after the other after the other. And
then of course Adventureland has your classic rides like the
Swings and the Ferrets Wheel that they've had since I
(19:25):
was a child. The arcade is fun, of course, playing
the games and getting food is fun like the Dippin' dots,
and they have entertainment. And what I love most about
this year is they have incredible deals. So if you
want to bring the grandkids, if you want to go
yourself as a family, they have sunset savings if you
want to go at night when the heat goes down
(19:46):
after five pm Tuesdays and Thursdays only twenty seven dollars
per person. They have discounts at the Nassau and Suffolk Libraries,
military discounts, Alfi's Last Call if you had there two
hours before closing, also twenty seven dollars per person. You
have a Catholic Health employee discount. So just head to
Adventureland dot.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Us for all of the information.
Speaker 1 (20:09):
And what I love about this park is that you
can definitely spend the entire day there and have so
much family fun, but it's not overwhelming like some of
the really big parks. It was founded in nineteen sixty
two just as a local place to have fun and
relax as a family, and over sixty two years later,
the park is now a destination amusement park.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
It has the classic rides like.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
I mentioned, including the ferris wheel and the carousel, and
those new thrills like the Fireball coaster and the custom
designed spinning roller coaster Turbulence.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
So definitely fun in games for both adults and kids.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
You're listening to passport Mommy, I'm Michelle Jurson, and we
were talking with Tom Loring, the director of guest services
before for Brownstone Adventure Sports Park and powder Ridge Mountain
Park and Resort, and we took a little break in
there to talk about the eventful splat and craft studio,
which my kids absolutely loved. But I wanted to come
back and talk all about powder Ridge in our longer segment. Tom,
(21:10):
thank you so much for joining me today. So we
all know that powder Ridge is known for its skiing
during the winter time, let's start with that.
Speaker 2 (21:19):
What can we expect when we head that way for
the winter.
Speaker 3 (21:23):
Well, one of the great things about powder Ridge, even
though it's a small or southern Neinngland Mountain is we
just two years ago invested in a snow factory that
will make snow up to sixty degrees fair and light.
So wow, we are Yeah, we are able to guarantee
a snow surface starting on Black Friday, no matter what's
going on for the rest of the local weather. And
(21:46):
what that means is our Winterfest, which starts on Black Friday.
We're able to offer snow tubing to families in a
variety of winter sort of pre Christmas holiday events that
go into Winterfest. But also there is some skiing and snowboarding.
It's not a tremendous, you know, amount of acreage, but
it is an opportunity to get out there and slide.
If you've got those young kids who just can't wait
(22:08):
to get back on snow.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
Yes, and so do you offer lessons and for people
who maybe are beginners to skiing.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
Absolutely so. I mean that's honestly it's powder, ridges, bread
and butter. And as the before I became a director
of guest Services, I was the ski school director and
I'm still responsible for all of our coaches and our
training and I am just so thrilled to be able
to introduce people to the sport that I'm really the
most passionate about that. I just love being outside in
(22:39):
the winter and being able to slide on snow. And
our seasonal programs at Powder Ridge sell out annually. For
our weekend programs which we call Little Rippers, which is
a ninety minute program for children ages four to eight,
and we also have a program called the Ridge Rippers,
which is a three hour program which is for children
six it's twelve, And these are great opportunities for kids
(23:02):
to really learn the fundamentals in skiing and snowboarding so
that when your family is ready for that trip to Vermont,
you know, Stowe or Stratton or Jpeek wherever you may
want to go, or Colorado even we've helped you so
that your kids are ready for those bigger hills and
the more challenging terrain offered by those resorts.
Speaker 2 (23:23):
Yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 1 (23:24):
My kids took their first ski lessons at the end
of this past season, and I'm not so much a skier,
and I got on and took a couple of lessons,
and I said, you know what, come this winter, we
are going to take lessons starting at the beginning of
the season because they loved it, and it's amazing how
quickly kids can advance with the proper instruction.
Speaker 3 (23:42):
Oh, absolutely right. I mean, we unfortunately are worried about
getting hurt and what we might have to do if
we're hurt and the kid kids. You know, the kids
much more if they have and we strive so hard
with our coaches to teach that it's so much more
about fun and camaraderie and the enjoyment of the activity
than it is about skill development. Because you must know this,
(24:04):
with everything you do, if the kids are having fun,
the learning just happens. They just they get comfortable, they
try new things, they develop new skills, and it's almost
magical to watch this progression when you have a group
of kids that are laughing and having a good time,
get comfortable on their skis and just you know, a
few minutes ago they were flounding around and now they're
(24:25):
riding a magic carpet independently, or they're taking their first
chair with bride. It is truly, I think it's just
winter magic. I love it.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Yeah, I'm with you. And it's so nice what you
do in a way for parents.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
To get involved and also save money on their family
skiing is to join your snowsports schools.
Speaker 3 (24:43):
Coaches, absolutely, there's nothing better as a director, and they
have a parent come because you know, teenagers being closer
to the age of the kids, they have a little
pied piper quality. But so many of us as parents
are so much more comfortable and trusting our children to
other parents because they understand it right, They get what
(25:04):
our concerns are and know our fears and our hopes
for our children because their parents themselves. So when we
have parents join our snowspoards school, it's incredible to not
only watch those parents their own fundamental skills develop, because
of course, if you're teaching fundamental skills, you're modeling them
and practicing them, so your skiing or riding improves dramatically.
(25:25):
And then you get to share this love that you
have the outdoors with other kids, and to see their
smiles and their growth and their development. To get handmade
cards and all the great things that these kids give
to our coaches at the end of our multi week programs.
It's incredible, and yes we do offer. You know, people
(25:47):
say to me, oh, I'm not a good enough skier,
and my tagline everybody in this organization is sick of
me saying my tagline is listen if after my training program,
our training program, we just need you to be better
than a four year old on the our year old's
first day, right right, right, that's the level of skiing
you need to start as a coach. I'm not going
to have you, you know, coaching the race team on
(26:08):
day one. So that's if you want to coach the
race team. I'll hope you get ready for that. We
love that.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
That's great, all right, So now let's talk about what
we could expect over the summer because we had such
a great time with all of the activities, whether it
was a giant water slides, also zip lines, you have paintball,
talk to me about everything, right.
Speaker 3 (26:29):
Well, I thought you were going to start with paintball
because you said something about splat in the last segment.
And for the for the little kids coming out who
want to try paintball and the parents are a little
concerned about projectiles, we do have a single pump what
we call splatball paintball, and we can also do it
in one of our shooting galleries. So it's not being
(26:49):
shot at individuals, you're shooting at targets.
Speaker 5 (26:52):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:53):
So that's a fun way to start and remind me
if we talked about our haunted talk about our student
gallery there. But so paintball is tremendous. You know, it's
a lot of fun running around and we have this
platform as I mentioned, and the next level up. It
(27:13):
still uses a smaller fear of paint than traditional paintball,
so it doesn't hurt as much because it's less mass
and it's less velocity, and so it is good for
those kids that are to ten to twelve year old kids.
They want to try the paintball and then the tournament
style paintball. The kids that take it more seriously use
that same traditional big paint ball, so you know, those
(27:37):
kids typically want to wear a little more protective gear,
a heavier sweatshirt or something. But it's a ton of
fun the paintball. That's a new partnership for us over
the last couple of years with Hogan's Sally And one
of the great things, probably the biggest straw in the
summer to Powder Ridge is actually our mountain bike program
and so we have we are the only lift service
(28:00):
and biking in the state of Connecticut, and we have
some incredible trails with amazing jumps and drops and burns
to really challenge every level of rider. But of course,
the same as our skiing, it's the beginners that we
love to welcome to the sport and teach. We have
a skills park with little rollers and we have a
(28:22):
pump track which is paved, so it's a consistent service
to help kids and beginner bikers learn how to work
with their bike. We start with in our summer camp.
We have a license day camp in the state of Connecticut.
Our summer camp will start even with non riders, kids
as young as four, teaching them how to ride, getting
(28:42):
them just on a regular bike, and then getting them
onto the grass and onto the trails. So again it's
something about having families being outdoors together, challenging themselves to
overcome fears and develop skills and grow and to to
not be afraid to try new things and develop new skills.
(29:03):
Can you mention slide the slopes which are our giant
water slides. These are inflatable water slides that have bumper
sides and we give you a small essentially like cool
inner tube and then using the snowmaking system to pump
a lot of water down the hill. We send you
down these water slides and as you've experienced, some of
(29:23):
them are going. You're moving in a pretty good clip
there and it flats out at the bottoms of are
a nice gentle deceleration, a great way to cool off.
And so from there, so you've had your mountain biking.
Now you've cooled off in the water slide. We've got
a zip line that goes over the snowmaking pond from
about halfway up the mountain, which a lot of people love,
and it's a nice safe breaking system. And now you're
(29:44):
probably ready to eat, which would bring you to fire
at the ridge or our ridge side tavern. We have
that deck that sits right at the base of the mountain.
All of our yard games out there, so the kids,
you know, when they're tired of sitting still, instead of
handing them to your phone, you can tell them to
play corn hole or or hang out on the volleyball corn.
Speaker 2 (30:04):
The restaurant is so good.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
The aq tuna, tacos, the burgers, the salads, I mean,
everything was phenomenal. And you know, sometimes when you think
about a restaurant that might be at a resort like that,
you might think, oh, it's just quick, fast food type stuff.
But no, this is good food. And I was told
that your clam chowder was ranked the best in Connecticut.
Speaker 3 (30:23):
Yeah. Well, we were super fortunate when we started up
the restaurant to partner with Kevin Coddle, who was the
Season six runner up of Hell's Kitchen. And so working
with Kevin, we developed this menu and he's you know,
he's a New Englander through and through, and we developed
this menu and he still consults with us on our
menu and develops these dishes that absolutely Those tunanachos you
(30:46):
mentioned are one of my favorites. And our clam chowder
is outstanding. A little bit of bacon in there to
help with that that salty rich flavor.
Speaker 2 (30:56):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (30:56):
And I'm a huge fan of our of our our
wings as well all of our sandwiches.
Speaker 2 (31:01):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (31:02):
It's actually a problem working there because every day you're
tempted to go for luck.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
Right.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Yeah. No, the food definitely quality. And then also I
just love the little lounge in the.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
Back the fire at the Ridge Main restaurant area. You
got the mezzanine level, right, so you get the great
view of the mountain from up there or looking down
into the restaurant where we do have that, and we
probably didn't have it lit on your visit, but that
central central fire pit is actually an alcohol fire pit,
so we do light that up in the winter to
have a little warmth and ambiance. And one of our
(31:35):
desserts is a table side s'mores which comes with its
own little fire kit and you can make s'mores writing
your tables. Love that of course, right and and then yes,
you can hang out by the fire pit while you're
waiting for your table or having a drink, while the
kids are doing their quote last run right for another
hour skin or biking. Yeah, so a great place for
(31:58):
family standing out and you know we do. Of course
the downstairs lots does have more traditional fare in the
wintertime that cafeteria food if your kids aren't sitting down
or if you don't have time for that sit.
Speaker 1 (32:11):
Down meal, right, absolutely, all right, So now let's talk
about the fall because around Halloween I imagine it is very
fun here.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
Oh it's tremendously fun. Right, So everywhere in New England
we know nature does to the amazing firework show of
foliage and Powder Ridge is no different. We have the
mountain with the tailift rides, and of course mountain bike
and continues. But the big draw is our haunt, our
Haunted trail. You come to the park, you ride our
chair lift to the top of the mountain and then
(32:40):
you have just under half a mile to descend down
through the Haunted Trail. You know, as you're riding up
in the dark, there's a lot of screams, there's some
spooky sounds. This is We do have a PG session
that is earlier in the afternoon. I'm gonna recommend that
(33:01):
you know, your kids enjoy some scares if you even
if you come to the PG session. But then as
it gets darker and later, it's definitely for the older kids,
the parents, maybe the college kids. The Haunted Trail has
been a tremendous success. It is everybody loves it. And
(33:22):
my favorite, honestly is when you get through the Haunted Trail.
You've come through there are some jump scares, the's some
different things that are going to get your blood going.
And now you get to the bottom and we have
some big fire pits going. We have some bars there, snacks,
some food available so you can hang out, enjoy the
evening for a little while, have a cocktail, and we
have some incredible entertainment and we have live music during
(33:44):
the winter. Every Saturday night. We have off in live
music year round. On Saturdays we do some concerts, but
in the fall at the Haunted Trail we bring in
different groups, fire jugglers, a dance troup for thriller. So
some great added shows value when you go to the
Zombie Lounge after the Haunting Trail.
Speaker 1 (34:03):
So what tips do you have for us if we
want a book tickets to either Powder Ridge Mountain Park
and Resort or the Brownstone Adventure Sports Park. I know
you said get your tickets ahead of time. What do
we need to know when we are looking to visit
powder Radge either during the fall, summer or the wintertime?
Speaker 3 (34:21):
You know everything these days if you want to plan ahead,
it's a little bit challenging, of course, because we are
weather related. And I will tell you one of the
things about both of our parts is we're very lenient
on rescheduling provided it's forty eight hours before your day.
So if you're looking at the forecast, or if something
comes up and you need to move a ticket, just
you know, call in or in many of our reservation systems,
(34:42):
you can request a rebooking without even calling. If you're
interested in tubing, we did not mention this winter tubing
at Powder Ridge. If you're coming for winter tubing, that
sells out on the weekend, so that's super important to
buy that ad Our multi week ski and snowboard lesson
probe will sell out by late December for the January
(35:03):
sessions and by early January for the February sessions. So
if you're interested in those lesson programs, I highly recommend
you book ahead so that you get those. Also, I
would tell anyone who's coming for more than two or
three visits get seasonal rentals rental programs. So this is
across the ski industry. You're taking your kids skiing. The
(35:26):
rental shop is the bane of parents' existence. Your kids
are overdressed, they're cooking inside that rental building. The lines
move slow, and this is true in every rental shop
everywhere in the ski industry. So get yourself some seasonal
rentals and keep your kids out of that rental shop.
Everyone will be happier. And as a longtime parent and
(35:46):
ski instructor, change your kids socks right before you put
on your ski or snowboard boots. They've been cooking. You
cook their feet all the way in the car, all
the way in the resort. Their feet are sweaty. If
you put those wet socks into that ski boot, their
feet will get cold much faster. So change your socks,
get them in the seasonal rentals. Don't leave those in
the car by the way, because then you're putting them
(36:06):
in blocks of ice. Make sure the boots spend the
boots spend the night inside. And that's the biggest thing,
right set your kids up for success. We all the
weather now is oh, it's so colder, it's so dangerous.
It's We grew up where we dressed for the weather,
and you can safely dress your kids for the weather.
We have guides on our website. There's lots of opportunities
out there, and you can ask any of us will
(36:28):
help you dress properly so that you can enjoy almost
any weather condition within reason, and kids can be out
even in sort of harsher weather, safe and warm and fun.
All of our ski coaches know what to look for
for frostbite and know how to tell if your kids
getting a little bit older, because we all know that
that learning breaks down if the kids are uncomfortable, and
(36:49):
that includes you know, if they have to go to
the bathroom or hungry, you're tired, or cold, learning's going
to break down. And so we want to keep everything
fun and light for all of our learners, adults included,
so that it's easy for learning to happen. Because if
you're scared or afraid or apprehensive, you're not on a
good learning space.
Speaker 2 (37:05):
Great, great advice. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:08):
Tom Loring, director of Guest Services for Powder Ridge Mountain
Park and Resort and for the Brownstone Adventure Sports Park.
Thank you for providing such a fun few days for
my family and I look forward to seeing you this.
Speaker 2 (37:19):
Fall and winter.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
Well great, Michelle, thanks so much, and you know, please
everybody reach out to us because we'd love to accommodate
all the families we can and help them enjoy the outdoors.
Speaker 2 (37:29):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I'm Michelle Jurson the Passport Mommy More coming up in
a few.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
You're listening to Passport Mommy.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I'm Michelle Jerson and we were just talking about the
two adventure sports parks in Middlefields, Connecticut. Well something else
that is truly special and I have known about Lineman
Orchards for years because we used to live in Connecticut
and it was my favorite place to go to. So
when I saw that it was right down the road
from Powder Ridge Mountain Park and Resort, I said, oh,
we have to add this on to our trip and
(38:01):
leave a day for it. And so we had some
really fun blueberry and raspberry picking the other day.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I'm really happy to have.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
On the show John Lyman the third and he's going
to talk to us all about everything going on this summer. Hi.
Speaker 2 (38:13):
John, Hi Michelle, how are you today? Good? Thank you?
Speaker 1 (38:17):
So we picked blueberries and raspberries, which we're still eating
and they're delicious.
Speaker 2 (38:22):
What else is coming up?
Speaker 6 (38:24):
Well, peaches just started and you know, we got a
really nice crop of those as well. And peach season
will last about thirteen weeks, so we'll have peaches right
into the middle and end of September.
Speaker 2 (38:40):
Oh great.
Speaker 6 (38:41):
And then following the next crop after that will be
early apples and early pears, and then the pair season,
regular pair season will start in you know, end of
August early September. We have Asian pairs that are available
that as well. Apple season, we have the early season,
(39:01):
as I mentioned, mid August, and then we get into
our regular apple harvest September and October into early November,
and later we'll have some pumpkins, and so yeah, we've
got a five and a half month pick your own
season for people to come and enjoy.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
And you know, Limeean Orchard, out of all the orchards
I've been to, it's just always provides such wonderful memories
for the family and for us because in addition to
the pick your own.
Speaker 2 (39:29):
You have festivals.
Speaker 1 (39:30):
You have a blueberry festival coming up, a peach festival,
and then you have so many fun activities for the kids.
So tell me about some of those upcoming activities.
Speaker 6 (39:38):
Sure, As you mentioned, a blueberry festival is coming up
in July nineteenth. And in addition to the picking, we
have a number of activities going on down at Apple
our farm mark at the Apple Borrow. We have horse
drawn wagon rides, we have a trackless train that runs
around the pond. We have a petting far, a number
(40:01):
of crafts for the kids to do, we have live music.
There's just plenty of food, and each of our festivals
will feature the theme of that particular fruit that's being featured.
So blueberries will have all kinds of treats with blueberries,
and then our Peach Festival on August ninth, same thing,
peach theme and similar activities. So yeah, just a lot
(40:26):
to do enjoy and as you mentioned, it's really geared
for the whole family to enjoy.
Speaker 1 (40:32):
Yes, absolutely, and I love the petting zoo. And you
have a Corn Maze which benefits the American Cancer Society
and the Connecticut Cancer Foundation.
Speaker 2 (40:42):
When does that start?
Speaker 6 (40:43):
The Corn Mays will run September and October. This year's
theme is Connecticut Pizza, so we're going to help promote
the state tourism promoting Connecticut piachas the best in the world.
So we figured we had to get in on the
action right so people will enjoy the intricacies that a
(41:06):
pizza will generate for a maze. And then before that
in August, we have our Sunflower Maze and that theme
is going to be Sesame Street and we're pretty excited
about that and we similar to the Corn Maze, we
uh a portion of that proceeds go to Connecticut Children's
(41:28):
and support their work, and so we've had a long
relationship with both all those organizations and raised a lot
of money over the years with the help of all
our customers.
Speaker 2 (41:38):
That's wonderful. Yeah, Connecticut children.
Speaker 1 (41:40):
So my brother actually works there and so I know
the work that they do is amazing, and the work
that you do at Limeman Orchard is also amazing. And
everything that you do with the community which I love.
And your pies are pretty special.
Speaker 6 (41:53):
Yeah, we we kind of have grown that business pretty
significantly and we sell to a pretty much throughout the
East Coast, you know with the groceries chains, and it's
one of the parts of the business that, as I mentioned,
has grown significantly. We started in the bakery business and
we built our farm market, the apple Barrel, We put
(42:15):
a scratch bakery in and we started really making pies
for the store. Donuts the co donuts are to die
for and just you know, how to scratch bakery. And
we got to started getting inquiries back in the late
nineteen nineties for wholesaling and we started small and before
you knew it, we were producing millions of.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
Pies a year.
Speaker 6 (42:39):
So yeah, it's a very significant part of our business today.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Where can we go for more information just to check
out your schedule and everything that you have coming up,
just go to our.
Speaker 6 (42:48):
Website linean orchards dot com or our Facebook page and
we'll have everything listed and we keep it up to.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Date and current perfect.
Speaker 1 (42:56):
John Lyman Third, thank you so much for joining me
today on Passport Mommy. Look forward to seeing you again
really soon.
Speaker 2 (43:02):
You my pleasure. I'm Michelle Jerson. Thanks so much for
listening this week. Have a fabulous week.
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