Ashokan Reservoir
As I road my bike to work today, I thought about the similarities of the ride and that of doing business. We live on a hill and Woodstock Chimes is on another hill here in the Catskills of Upstate New York. In between is the magnificent Ashokan Reservoir which has supplied clean water to New York City since the early 1900s.
We have been making Woodstock Chimes since 1979 and have seen many ups and downs, some challenging curves in the road but all rewarding and enjoyable. The last mile of my ride is a pretty steep one mile climb on curvy DuBois Road. While it’s exhausting to pedal, the reward of arriving at my destination is worth it. My reward is not only getting to the office (alive), it’s the great feeling of accomplishment, good exercise and beautiful vistas along the way. In biking as it is in business, you have to enjoy the moment while always looking ahead for good opportunities and danger. A few miles of my ride are on the two lane scenic highway of Route 28 with plenty of cars and trucks moving quickly. As I steadily pedal with traffic passing me, I think of how we have slowly grown the company through the years while many companies have come and gone. Our secret is simple: offer unique, high quality products at fair prices and take good care of your customers. As we continue our journey, we’ll never lose focus of these important elements. Riding a bike slows you down, gives you time to contemplate what’s important and reminds you to keep your balance!
Me at the end of my 10 mile ride to work.
I appreciate those of you who make our journey so pleasant: our employees, retailers and sales force. We are always looking for a smoother ride with new and exciting products. Someone once said, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel when we can tighten and clear the spokes. Our collection of new items is as a tight as a drum and as clear as a bell. I hope you enjoy them.
Keep on Biking (and Buying),
Garry
Life is like riding a bicycle — in order to keep your balance, you must keep moving.
— Albert Einstein
My route to work
