A hosiery distributor may not be your image of a committed conservationist.
by Electa Kane Trisch
You may not have forseen that the younger son of an immigrant dairy farmer would be a power in Massachusetts town affairs. James Cormier, who died in November 2005, was all of these and more. Thanks to his carefully planned generosity, The Trustees opened their 100th reservation – Cormier Woods – in Uxbridge, in the fall of 2007.
By all accounts, Mr. Cormier was a careful man – meticulous, some described him. He served on the Uxbridge Finance Committee for nine years and is remembered as a man who took time to study the issues.
Some decisions he kept closer to his chest than others, including disposition of his family’s 175-acre dairy farm. Mr. Cormier spent at least twenty years working on that decision and ultimately contacted The Trustees.
“He had watched us over many years,” remembers Wes Ward, Trustees’ Vice President for Land Conservation. “He liked the fact that we were as interested in historic buildings and stone walls as in land. His family’s farm was a legacy he had worked all his life to save, and he was not going to make a mistake.”
The Cormier farm, located on the Uxbridge-Mendon line, was bought by Cormier’s parents, Theodore and Bertha (Kosloski) Cormier, about 1930. The property includes a classic gambrel-roofed colonial farmhouse and a rare 18th-century barn that reflect the property’s long agricultural heritage. After he retired from Hanes in 1986, Cormier became guardian of that heritage, painstakingly restoring stone walls tumbled by frost; maintaining a rock garden built by his mother; tending blueberry and raspberry stands; building additions in keeping with what came before.
To stay busy, Cormier opened a mail-order business called Stocking Style offering “Hard-to-Find Basic Women’s Hosiery” through ads in Yankee magazine. He developed a loyal following. Ward remembers getting a glimpse into Cormier’s home office. “He opened a closet and behind that door, it was packed, floor to ceiling, with thin, rectangular hosiery boxes. The phone was always ringing and he always answered it!”
Cormier rarely missed a meeting having to do with the town. He was very strong in his convictions concerning what was best for the community. He took active care of his forests and fields, considering himself a caretaker to his lands for future generations.
Reflecting on this quiet man’s accomplishments, Ward observes: “Mr. Cormier was frugal and careful. He lived simply, served his community and somehow saved enough money as a small businessman to ensure that this place would be his family’s enduring legacy. He lived his own version of the American Dream.”
|
|
|
Learn More  | |
| |
|
| | |
