Abe Waruch — “Cherrytown”
I met Abe Waruch in 2016 at a very difficult time in his life. His wife Joan was seriously ill, attended to by hospice aids in a hospital bed in their living room. Unsure at first how our interview process would unfold in these circumstances, I quickly discovered what a marvelous storyteller Abe was, and it was clear he enjoyed our time together. “Livelihood Magazine” did a piece about Abe and our work together, in which Abe talks about his life on the farm, “Local Wisdom: The Legend of Abe Waruch.” Abe was deeply connected to his land, his place: Cherrytown, an area of Kerhonkson, New York.
Abe’s song was part of the “Unsung Heroes” concert honoring elder farmers. A collaboration between SageArts and the Rondout Valley Growers Association, it featured local high school students singing background vocals and special guest musicians. Abe’s wife passed just days before the concert, and his emotional speech left the audience in tears. He passed on August 12, 2019.
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© Kelleigh McKenzie with Abe Waruch
In Cherrytown…
Efim Waruch fled from Ukraine
Made it to Brooklyn sold fish from the dock
Learned him the language, saved up his dough
Bought a farm in Cherrytown
Nine little babies born in the farmhouse
Drinking a bottle squirt straight from the cow
We came up rugged, we grew up strong
Planted down in CherrytownThey call me Abe...
I pick them rocks and crank that butter
Climb up in the mow and spread around the hay
Fetch the water from the creek in a pail
Work the field with my ass to the sun all day
Dance on Friday to the hillbilly music
I'm "a likeable chap" the girls all say
I'll tumble your outhouse over as a prank
Do what I do and they call me AbeWoo hoo, work hard for my family
Do what's right, make a little sport from time to time
Help my neighbor, we take care of each other
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good lifeCome boss come boss...
Cow got a problem know how to solve it
Farmer come a-hollerin’ the calf won't come
Rope around the feet, two fingers in the mouth
I pull it on out, get the birthin' done
Three cows down and another cow dying
Pills don't work vet don't know why
I tell that doctor cut the belly open
We find the deadly nightshade berries insideI hunt it down...
Fox and deer and snowshoe hare
Up Mombaccus with my beagle and a gun
Clever tracking signs on the trail
Off the top of that mountain all the way down
My brother Sam poked a bear out the hole
Shot hit early and it fell back dow
Broke our belts trying to pull it out
So we used a big pry and the wire I foundWoo hoo, work hard for my family
Do what's right, make a little sport from time to time
Help my neighbor, we take care of each other
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good life
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good lifeIn Cherrytown, I miss my brothers and sisters
And my dear wife Joan
In Cherrytown, they're all down in the ground
Back there behind my home
In Cherrytown, never could figure how a person
Can be here one day and then gone
All the love in this place I belong
In Cherrytown...Time come to sell my herd
Never forget that lonesome day
Watch my living load up on a truck
Tear in my eye as they hauled away
All my kids I sent to college
All went out and made me proud
Growing their families all around the world
But they sprouted up in CherrytownWoo hoo, work hard for my family
Do what's right, make a little sport from time to time
Help my neighbor, we take care of each other
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good life
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good life
Tend your roots in your place, grow a good, good life
In Cherrytown
