A Letter & Appeal from a Guinan's Fan in Australia


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This email recently was sent to savegarrisonslandingstore(at)yahoo.com:

"I might be too late for this email to matter, as I've just found the news about Guinan's closing just a few minutes ago.

I think it is essential that a similar store is retained on that site as without such an establishment, the little Village of Garrison's Landing will simply fade....

I can appreciate the need to service commuters, tourists and the like; but the spirit of community that a place such as Guinan's represents is irreplacable and should not
be allowed to go the way of so many small, quirky places that used to be so much a part of the Hudson River Valley.

Guinan's was a very important part of my life and my mother's life for over 30 years. We used to drive up from Bergen County, New Jersey, either together, individually or with friends, to drop by for a cup of coffee and a chance to relax either out the front of the store or in the bar. Guinan's, along with Lulu the ageing basset hound, made those drives and visits a truly unique experience that allowed each of us to step outside of the usual and customary, and back to a much simpler, more reasonable time.

Please do you level best to not let this unique spot and the history it represents become yet another victim to 'alleged' progress. Banality and homogeniety are not progress; they're expedient and brainless. Guinan's represents a unique and special way of living life. To have anything else would be a very sad state of affairs, indeed.

As a bit of information: I currently live in Australia, in a little seaside town called Trinity Beach, which is north of Cairns in Far North Queensland. We're in the wet tropics and have been an area of unique homes, etc. not unlike the feeling one gets at Cold Spring, Garrison's Landing or even Nyack. Unfortunately, developers, greed and people with no clue have taken something very unique and, one by one, have managed to reduce something special to special rather ordinary and predictable. We've all paid the price for this stupidity.

The people who live around Garrison's Landing and that very special region of the lower Hudson Valley, are not stupid people and deserve the best that life has to offer. My partner and I are back in the area next autumn; and we look forward to having a cup of coffee or a beer at Guinan's carefully crafted predecessor.

Many thanks for reading this. I hope I am not too late in this effort."

All the best,

Rob Stahl
Trinity Beach, Queenland, Australia

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