Legacy Farm Cohousing- Who are we?

Perri Ardman is a business consultant and writer currently living in Kingston. She moved to the Hudson Valley six years ago from the West Coast to be near friends and family. In 2006, she became a grandmother for the first time. She is a student at One Spirit Interfaith Seminary and will be ordained as an interfaith minister in 2008. She has been president of Hudson River Playback Theatre, a steering committee member of Sustainable Hudson Valley, and a volunteer at Benedictine Hospital. She is currently an agent for Genworth Financial Long Term Care Insurance.

Gai Galitzine was initially interested in the cohousing movement because she and her husband had been looking to build a sustainable or passive solar house when moving to Kingston over five years ago. Finding the cost prohibitive to build themselves, they started coming to the Legacy Farm meetings and became enthusiastic about the idea of a cooperative community and developing an organic farm as part of a way of living sustainably. Born in Ireland and raised mostly in England, Gai has been in the US for over 35 years. Currently she teaches management at the Culinary Institute of America but most of her working life was spent as a partner in an executive search firm and mothering her two children, Philip and Katusha.

Dmitri Galitzine was born in Germany to Russian parents and spent his childhood in South America. He currently does Mechanical Design consulting for The Metropolitan Museum of Art and other interesting clients. He likes to ride his red motorcycle with sidecar and read, fish and think. Plans to do a lot of thinking in cohousing.

Linda Gluck is a freelance graphic designer specializing in social justice organizations, one of the two co-general managers of Ulster County Co-housing, a widow, a mother of two daughters, and a grandmother. An Ulster County resident since 1973, she relishes the slower-paced rural life of family, gardening, cooking, eating, singing, raising chickens, working with her hands, and making sculpture.

Lynne James is a grandmother of three wonderful children. She works as an Occupational Therapist with multiply-handicapped young children. When not working, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, yoga, gardening, music, and the company of her friends and family. She has been a professional potter and still enjoys spending time in her studio and on other creative projects. She is also a peace activist and interested in pursuing a lifestyle which protects and appreciates all living things.

Cameron Rabe has journeyed from Virginia to California to New Jersey to (finally!) the Hudson Valley of New York. He misses sweet Southern accents, but a tour of East Coast cohousing communities convinced him that the rolling hills and friendly folks of Ulster County are home. Cameron works as a CPA, and especially enjoys advising non-profits to help keep them up and running. For fun, he loves to read, travel, fish, hike and play outdoors, do the NY Times crossword, play cello and read some more. He met his wife, Ilyse, on a cross-country walk from LA to NY. His goal is to someday have a coffee shop called the “Bean Counter”. He and Ilyse are about to become parents.

Ilyse Simon moved to Kingston from Virginia to be a part of this cohousing community. She enjoys cooking, eating, singing, and loves the creative process in community organizing. Ilyse is a freelance writer and nutrition therapist who works specifically with eating disorders. She is married to Cameron Rabe, and looks forward to making friends with farm animals. She likes pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Bashert Meirav Rabe-Simon is Legacy Farm's youngest member. She loves swimming and kayaking on the pond, and hiking through the tall grasses. On her first visit to the land, she hopped out of her car seat, squirmed out of the car, headed for the hills and didn't stop running. We're still looking for her (just kidding). She loves the Land and all the animals on it. She eagerly awaits making new friends and neighbors.

Barbara Sarah has lived in the mid-Hudson Valley since 1988 and began her second career here as an oncology social worker. Founder of the Oncology Support Program at Benedictine Hospital, she now also maintains a Third Opinion private practice as a CancerGuide. Active as a volunteer in local cultural and political activities, she shares a house in Woodstock, poised to relocate to Legacy Farm Cohousing in the near future! She has three astonishing daughters and two amazing grandchildren.

Nancy Schafer has lived in Chatham, NY (Columbia County) for the past fifteen years, with her husband Vagn Visbo. Nancy is a psychologist at Hudson High School and has a part-time private practice. Nancy has two young adult children currently living in Manhattan. Vagn is a Danish master mason, with 10 children (and stepchildren) who live in Miami, Denmark & Sweden. Nancy & Vagn both enjoy travelling & vegetable gardening.

Ellen Sribnick and Pat (Pasha) Clarke have lived in Ulster County for over 35 years. The past 20 years have been in Rosendale where they have restored their 1840’s colonial home. Pasha, retired from the Women’s Studies Program at SUNY New Paltz in 2004, now fills her time gardening, swimming, reading and taking care of children. Ellen plays the trumpet as therapy, dabbles with the electric bass and always needs a creative outlet. She has been a Massage Therapist for almost 30 years, a Fitness Trainer for large women, and for the past two plus years has been one of the co-general managers of Ulster County Cohousing, LLC. Together, they enjoy biking, hiking, and cross-country skiing, as well as movies, music, theatre and art. They are commited to making sure there is always time to visit with family and friends.

Sheilah Davidson and Sean Westlake have lived in Ulster County since 1995, and have recently purchased and moved into the original farmhouse that was part of the cohousing property. They intend to move into the community once it is built. Sheilah has spent her entire adult life as an activist, working for and managing non-profit advocacy organizations. She is currently the Policy Program Manager and Partner Liaison for School Food FOCUS. Sean is a Master Carpenter with over 20 years of experience, who can build or fix anything. Their teenage daughter, Jenny, loves animals, horseback riding and skateboarding.

Below are some of the names of the people working to make Legacy Farm a reality.
We'd love to see your name on the wall!

(click on the wall to enlarge)