An invitation to go a-touring

 CORNWALL — If you are feeling bound to your own town, you might want to consider venturing out and about in the state. If you think your town is great — and it is, for sure — other towns offer their own compelling histories, sites  and people, all worth getting to know.

Author Marty Podskoch came to the Souterrain Gallery in West Cornwall on Saturday, Dec. 15, to introduce his new book, “The Connecticut 169 Club: An Epic Road Trip!” 

This recently published guidebook sold 30,000 copies in its first two months, the author said.

The purpose of the guidebook is to get readers to commit to visiting as many of the state’s 169 towns as they can manage — and not only to visit but also to engage with each town by speaking with someone who actually lives there. 

A system within the book helps the Nutmeg State explorer to track towns visited. Periodic luncheons are scheduled so that participants can gather and share personal stories of visits to towns and their progress with reaching the goal of all 169.

Podskoch said that once someone has completed visits to all 169, the Leatherman Award is granted. The leatherman actually lived between 1860 and 1880, and became an expected visitor in towns throughout the region. Today we would call him homeless, but in those days he stayed largely in caves, moving from town to town on a prescribed circular route starting in New York state’s Hudson Valley and walking east as far as the Connecticut River and to Thomaston, and then back to the Hudson Valley, the entire circle taking 34 days. 

Connecticut residents could estimate the dates on which he would pass by, and they would provide a meal and perhaps shelter if needed.

Podskoch began writing books after his retirement in 2001. His first interest was in chronicling the history of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), particularly their work in building fire towers in the Adirondacks between 1933 and 1940, when the country was climbing out of the Great Depression. The Housatonic Meadows Camp in Sharon was a significant CCC camp in the area.

“I enjoy the passion of interviewing people,” Podskoch said. About the 169 Club, Podskoch said, “It’s a fun thing to do.”

The idea of the 169 Club was born in Vermont, where Podskoch created the 251 Club, indicating the number of towns in Vermont. Then he brought the idea to the Adirondacks, where he created the 102 Club. There he initiated the Vagabond Award for anyone who visited all 102 towns.

When he moved with his family to Connecticut in 2005, he began work on a history of the CCC camps in the state and went on to initiate the 169 Club.

Contributing authors to the Connecticut 169 book numbered 183. Cornwall was well-covered by Jeremy Brecher; Kent was covered by Marge Smit. Podskoch also credited Richard and Bianka Griggs for their assistance with the project.