Six years ago, Becky and Terry McKim became empty nesters. “A year into it, we began contemplating our next move,” says Terry.

Baby Boomers. They continue to impact the way of the world. Now ranging in age from their early 50s to early 70s, the “baby” part of this generation’s title was dropped years ago. They simply became known as “boomers.” But, it seems other buzzwords – Perennials and the Ageless Generation – are replacing boomer in describing the generation that came of age in the 60s. This is a generation that loves to work and play. They’re doting grandparents. They’re involved in their communities. Education is on-going. They remain an economic force as they redefine retirement.

The new buzzwords define the McKims to a “T.”

Married for 37 years (they met on the playground as third graders), they are the parents of a son and daughter and the grandparents of two boys and four girls who range in age from 2 to 8. Together, they work for Gage Personnel, which has offices throughout the region; Terry is the director of operations, while Becky is the business development manager.

They raised their children in a farmhouse they completely remodeled. The one-acre property included gardens, a swimming pool and a rental house. “We were spending our weekends doing nothing but yard work,” Becky recalls of life after children. “We hadn’t used the pool in two years. When the kids lived here, it was perfect, and we all loved it, but now that it was just the two of us, it became a burden that kept us tied down.”

In Terry’s estimation, “Our lifestyle had outgrown the property.”

 

So, the two began searching for a new homestyle that would complement their new lifestyle, which included discovering new restaurants, taking in productions at EPAC and the Fulton, becoming First Friday regulars and treating themselves to weekend getaways. Retirement communities didn’t appeal to them. The only thing they planned to retire was the lawnmower.

They came up with a very short check-list for their next home. “It had to be unique, low-maintenance and offer a fun and lively environment,” Terry says. Attending Open Houses didn’t yield results. “We didn’t see anything that made us want to move,” Becky recalls.

The check-list took them to downtown Lancaster, where a warehouse was on the market. “We almost went in that direction, but in the end, we thought it would be more of a project than we’d like to tackle,” Terry explains.

Then, Becky thought of Stoudtburg Village in Adamstown. “We looked at it 20 years ago, when it was first being built,” Becky says of the German-inspired village that was launched by Ed and Carol Stoudt. Visually, the village borrowed from Bavarian-style architecture. Conceptually, the premise was for small business owners to open shops on the ground floor of the buildings they owned or rented and live on the upper floors. Becky, who was formerly a personal shopper at Doneckers, loved the concept as she had always entertained the idea of opening a fashion store of her own. But, the house with a big yard won out, and the family put down roots in Ephrata.

 

Stoudtburg Village is comprised of Bavarian-inspired buildings that provide shopkeepers with retail space on the ground floor and living space on the upper floors. The village is home to antiques shops, bed-and-breakfasts, a salon, a restaurant and other similar-type businesses.

The Mckims decided to check out Stoudtburg Village for a second time. They were happy to discover that Bob Achey was building new single homes on the undeveloped land adjacent to the village. The McKims chose a building lot that offers a view of the village, as well as a pond and woodland.

They then worked with Bob on tweaking the design of one of the models that was being built on the property. “We really wanted to put our spin on downsizing,” Terry says.
The McKims’ tweaks created an open first floor, eliminated a dining room, enlarged the windows on the first floor and allowed for flex spaces (the basement gym can easily become a shop or office, and the very large closet on the second floor could become a nursery, a small third bedroom or an in-home office). A patio creates an outdoor room that’s perfect for relaxing or entertaining. “And, there’s no grass to cut,” Terry points out.

The McKims were then assigned the task of choosing a color for the stucco that defines the look of the village. “We were given color charts, and the two of us studied them in separate rooms,” Becky explains. Incredibly, when the meeting reconvened, each had chosen the same color; Becky describes it as “Barney Purple.” “I don’t know where that came from,” she laughs. “My favorite color is red and Terry’s is green.”

Inside, the very contemporary charcoal-and-white color scheme is accented with pops of purple. “We figured if we’re going with purple, we need to fully embrace it,” Becky says. The color scheme balances perfectly with the black leather furnishings, stainless appliances and LVT floor.

From a décor perspective, minimalism rules. “We gave so much furniture away,” Becky says. “I figure the more storage you have, the more stuff you accumulate.” She has even downsized her wardrobe.

As you might imagine, living in a purple house has come to define the McKims. “If we meet someone new from the village, all we have to say is ‘we live in the purple house,’ and they know exactly where our house is,” says Terry. Visitors to the village can’t resist having their photos taken in front of the house. “It’s very popular with Baltimore Ravens fans,” Terry adds. Wedding parties from Stoudt’s gravitate to the fountain in the village’s plaza and to the McKims’ house for photo ops. “It’s fun; we get to meet a lot of nice people,” Becky says.

The Mckims love living in the village. They appreciate its diversity, explaining that residents range in age from their 20s to 70s. “More families are moving here,” Becky notes. Being so close to the turnpike allows residents easy access to jobs in Harrisburg and Philadelphia. They like that they can pop into the Village Haus or walk to Stoudt’s restaurant and brewery for drinks or dinner. Walking has become a favorite pastime. “We walk through the village, over to Stoudt’s and around Adamstown,” Becky reports.
They are hopeful that the retail atmosphere in the village will come back to life; the economic recession impacted businesses in the village, and recovery has been slow.
A new builder has set up shop in the village. Late last year, Keystone Custom Homes purchased the remaining lots. Its entry in the 2017 Parade of Homes claimed first place in six categories, resulting in Best of Show honors in its price division.

The village’s plaza has become a social center thanks to impromptu get-togethers or Party on the Plaza musical and food events that are sponsored by the Village Haus (typically on Friday evenings), which attracts visitors as well as residents.

The McKims are excited that the village’s Task Force is planning events such as the Christmas in the Village celebration (December 2; check the village’s Facebook page for details) that will include a wine walk, open houses, carriage rides and musical entertainment provided by a choir from Albright College. “It’s so pretty here at Christmas,” Becky says. “It looks like something out of a Charles Dickens’ novel.”

“Don’t cry over spilled milk … it could have been beer!” reads the sign positioned directly over the stove in Kurt Fichthorn’s beer kitchen.

Stepping into Kurt Fichthorn’s home is a treat in itself. The circa-1841 farmhouse is like a local historical preserve. Once an active horse farm owned by Kurt’s great-uncle Dan, the property, tucked away amid new development in East Cocalico Township, was once a bustling apparatus of early community, drawing neighbors to its harness-racing track.

The home, which has been meticulously restored and updated (it won a C. Emlen Urban restoration award from the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County), retains the character and charm of a mid-19th century dwelling. It’s the sort of place where the gardens smell like lavender, fresh roses stand in a vase in the dining room and an uber-friendly golden retriever, King, serves as official greeter to this iconic snapshot of serene life.

However, I was here for the beer.

Now retired, the former consulting actuary of 40 years started homebrewing many years ago, when he “was young,” he says. Kurt opens the book in which he records all his brews and pinpoints it to December 1987. Like what happens with most hobbies, brewing eventually fell by the wayside. For a time, work and family replaced barley and malt, but there was always a lingering interest in brewing.

Then, his wife, Tracy, got him a Christmas present, the Daisy Red Ryder bb gun of home brewing. “I recreated the monster,” says Tracy, as we pass her on our way downstairs.

 

How the Fichthorns came to reside in the family farmhouse was a story uncovered in the April 2009 issue of Lancaster County magazine. The story ends with Kurt hinting at turning an unfinished room off of the garage into a beer kitchen. Well, he’s done it. The space was completed in January 2016, and he’s been brewing recipes one after another ever since.

Stepping into Kurt’s beer kitchen is like being transported into another world – a world of beer from yesteryear. Reminiscent of the dark but neon-lit basements familiar to Generation X as the places where their grandfathers would hang out and swap old stories about the Great War, Kurt’s beer kitchen differs only in modernity, as a selection of digital music pumps through unseen speakers. Kurt’s room isn’t dark either, but it does have that secluded, comfortable feel – complete with neon signs, old beer coasters and breweriana of all makes and styles. I’m instantly traveling down memory lane when I spot a trio of frogs on a lily pad croaking out Bud… weis… er. I laugh, remembering the popular 1995 commercial.

The decor includes “a lot of items that have a local connection or a connection with my family,” Kurt explains. He points to a Red Tips cigar box top hanging on the far wall. “My dad was a cigar smoker, and I enjoy cigars, too. My dad had that hanging at his farm, and after he passed away it was one of the things I picked up.” Framed auction posters for a carriage sale also hang on a wall. Kurt credits Tracy for finding a lot of the decorative items that fill the room.

A comfortable leather sofa and matching recliner take up the center of the room; Eagles fans congregate here to watch the games. There’s a card table, a humidor, and of course, a couple kegerators.

“Man cave is the common term, but my intent from day one was to use it for brewing; I call it the beer kitchen,” says Kurt. He even has a few shirts advertising Fichthorn Farm Basement Brew Works sitting around.

The Process

Brewing is part mechanical process and part art requiring attention to detail, an aptitude for science and mathematics, and patience. A basic outline of the brewing process can be summed up in eight parts. Step one, the grist, where malt is prepped for brewing to release fermentable sugars. The grist goes into the mash tun, where it is mixed with hot water. The next step, lautering, separates the sweet wort from the grain husks. The wort is then boiled. Enter hops, and the wort is cooled and filtered. Almost finished, the liquid is transferred to a fermenting vessel where yeast is added. Now it is time to be patient, wait, and let science take its course. Filter, carbonate and keg, and the beer is ready to be enjoyed.

This is an extreme oversimplification. Many other elements go into making different beers: lagers, for instance, need to be fermented differently from ales. Homebrewers use kitchen plastic buckets, glass carboys, and a slew of instruments to create their own beers. It is sometimes tedious work, but the reward, well, that’s self-explanatory.

Kurt is lucky enough to have a wife who buys wonderful gifts. Actually, the previous bb gun analogy from A Christmas Story doesn’t work well at all here. The PicoBrew Zymatic that Kurt received for Christmas is more like getting a cherry-red Testarossa with a big, red bow on top.

“The Zymatic is a computer-controlled piece of equipment. It’s a high-tech piece of equipment for homebrewing,” explains Kurt, understating the complexity of the professional brewing apparatus now living in his beer kitchen.

Billed as “the world’s first, fully automatic all-grain beer brewing appliance,” the Zymatic simplifies many of the tedious steps involved in making homebrew. The digital interface allows Kurt to scroll through a menu of recipes, standard brews provided by the manufacturer and some of his own he has loaded via Wi-Fi. He can check on a brew’s progress and tweak the process from anywhere in the world. He stops scrolling on Foxchase Porter, a traditional style beer he named after a local golf course.

It’s not like making instant coffee, but the days of lautering to strain out the wort from the grain are gone,” says Kurt.

The self-contained system makes it easy to proceed through each step and simplifies the all-grain brewing process. “It’s still quite a lot of time. You still have to have absolute, proper sanitation, which is the single biggest mistake homebrewers make,” says Kurt, whose beer kitchen is fully equipped with a stove, a double sink, various sources of clean water, a handy dishwasher and a refrigerator.

The cleanliness factor is part of the reason why he wanted his own kitchen. “I was always messing up the stove and counters in Tracy’s kitchen when I made my beer,” he explains.

The brewing process with the Zymatic takes about an hour. The product is chilled, yeast is pitched, and fermentation begins all within the same setup. Scales monitor the weight of the fermented beer and chart the specific gravity of the brew. Once it levels off, the recipe is done. Kurt does not filter his beer and carbonates the drink by forcing CO2 into the keg.

“You fill a keg with clean water to the volume that is prescribed by the recipe, put your ingredients in, select a recipe, and brew,” says Kurt. “It makes very, very tasty beer.”

But, Kurt is not beyond a bit of experimentation.

“Yes, I enjoy drinking the beer, but to me it’s about the process. I enjoy making the variety of styles and the control you have over the process,” he says.

He uses the stove to cook up a mash if he desires a higher malt content. He also likes to add special ingredients like freshly ground ginger or even quinoa as an adjunct to the traditional grain bill. “I like it as a dish, so I thought, ‘Hey, why not try it in a beer,’” says Kurt in all seriousness, referring to the quinoa. “The ginger is not to be confused with ginger beer; it adds just a hint of clean crisp flavor that I enjoy.”

One thing he never messes with is yeast. If a style calls for a certain yeast, he uses the proper yeast.

What’s on Tap

During my visit, Kurt is serving two big beers. Big beers are anything weighing in above 8% alcohol by volume. Total Amnesia (8.4 ABV, 80 IBUs) is an India Pale Ale made primarily with Cascade hops, not overly bitter, with a full-flavored, robust grain bill. Mind Eraser (9.0 ABV, 47 IBUs) is a strong porter made with Tettnanger, Kent Golding, and East Kent Golding hops. This dark beer is rich and malty, with hints of roasted chocolate and caramel. Both beers contain hops Kurt grows right outside his living room door.

His Double IPA is a crowd favorite, which heavily features his homegrown hops. Since creating his beer kitchen, his list of friends has grown. To meet demand, he keeps two 2-tap systems stocked with beer (plus a kegerator in the garage stocked with a common domestic variety). One features two choices from his notebooks of recipes, while the other is supplemented with Yuengling Lager and Yuengling Light, or maybe a local craft beer from a place like Union Barrel Works in Reamstown.

“I can’t keep up with demand, so to speak,” jokes Kurt, who spends a lot of his free time brewing in the beer kitchen. He brews seasonally, too, making crisp, lower-alcohol beer during the summer and hearty, dark beers in the winter. He doesn’t like brewing with wheat because it makes a mess of his equipment. He also doesn’t love the taste of the styles wheat produces: Wits, Whites and Weisses. That said, he’ll try anything brewed.

“When I go someplace that is serving a variety of beers, I try and drink anything I’ve never had before, and I typically won’t drink the same beer twice,” says Kurt.

As a result, Kurt does not have a favorite beer and although he tries to steer clear of fruit beers, I later found bottles of Kriek and Framboise – lambics made with sour cherries and raspberries – in the beer kitchen fridge. “I do like Belgian styles,” he admits.

When not in brewery mode, the beer kitchen is home to “typical man cave activities.”

“That’s the simple story of the beer kitchen,” says Kurt, as he taps a beer.

This northern Lancaster County hamlet is home to history, antiques, the nation’s oldest hat manufacturer, the state’s first microbrewery and Lancaster County’s best swim team.

 

Back in the 70s and early 80s, my sister Ginny and I spent nearly every Sunday in Adamstown. We were both into old stuff, and perusing the stands at Renninger’s and the Black Angus provided us with lots of finds. Oh, sure, we went through other phases – chrome and glass for me and Williamsburg for her – but to this day, we love the blanket chests, clothes trees, tables and chairs that we found during our travels and that our dad refinished in his basement workshop.

We both love our pie safes – Ginny’s belonged to our grandmother, while mine was discovered by my dad in a North Carolina barn. Jack Cunningham of The Salt Box made new punched-tin inserts for it. Ginny also adores the desk she bought at an auction that was held for Gladys Good, who owned Good’s Dairy with her husband, Bob. We both worked at Good’s as high school and college students. I suppose we’re just two sentimental boomers.

Ginny was also an avid collector of Fiesta ware. My thing was decoys. We both collected stained glass. I tired of mine and sold the window-sized pieces at a garage sale. I kick myself every time I see stained glass creatively used in outdoor living areas.

I hadn’t been to Adamstown in ages. So, on a Sunday in late August, I drove up and took in Renninger’s, the Black Angus and for the very first time, Shupp’s Grove. It was fun and a bit frightening – it seems the wedding gifts boomers typically received are now classified as collectibles!

As seen at Michael McCue’s shop at Stoudt’s Black Angus Antiques: a colorful quilt and stone fruit. Stoudts.com.

 

 

A Little History

Originally home to a Native American village, Adamstown was founded by William Addams on July 4, 1761. Only then, it was known as Addamsburry. It was incorporated as Adamstown on April 2, 1850. This Pennsylvania Dutch enclave is home to the nation’s oldest hat manufacturer – Bollman Hat Company – which was founded in 1868. It is also home to the state’s first microbrewery – Stoudt’s – which began operating in 1987.

But, antiques are what put Adamstown on the map. Widely known as Antiques Capital, USA, Adamstown’s renown dates to 1962, when antiques dealer, Charles Weik, began holding flea markets at Shupp’s Grove.

The venture was a hit. Locals took notice that the stuff they had stored in their attics was very popular with dealers and buyers from outside the area and began selling their stashes. On the flip side, dealers found the area so lucrative that they began to buy real estate along the main highway (Route 272) and set up permanent shops.

Venues such as Renninger’s (which began as a farmer’s market) switched their focus to antiques. More markets opened, including the Black Angus. Co-ops formed. The area is now home to an auction house – Morphy Auctions – which adds another layer to the mix.

Adamstown is also known for an event that is held three times per year – Antique Extravaganzas. Held in April, June and September/October (this year’s dates are September 28-October 1), a 7-mile stretch of Route 272 is filled with shops, dealers from across the country (some of whom are only in Adamstown for the event) and outdoor markets that offer extended hours, coveted antiques and sought-after collectibles. Visit antiquescapital.com for details.

As for the swim team reference, the Adamstown Gators, which is based at Adamstown Community Pool, claimed their fifth-straight win during July’s Summer Swim League Championships meet, beating their closest competitor by nearly 400 points.

If you love old stained glass, period doors, massive mantels, etc., then Oley Valley Architectural Antiques is your kind of place. It has the largest selection of architectural antiques in the country and is simply fascinating to walk through. Antiques procured from Oley Valley have been seen in more than 40 motion pictures, including Lincoln. Outdoors, you can find everything from fencing to the bathroom sink! Oleyvalley.com.