“There’s a Place”: Intern Produces Landis Video

When some­one hears about Lan­dis Arbore­tum for the first time, they typ­i­cal­ly ask, ​“What is an arbore­tum?” We may respond with a brief def­i­n­i­tion — a col­lec­tion of trees — but more often than not elab­o­rate on some of the many attrib­ut­es of the place we have come to know and love. Now, there is a new and beau­ti­ful way to show every­one what we are talk­ing about. And see­ing, they say, is believing.

Lan­dis is proud to announce the launch of a local­ly-pro­duced video illus­trat­ing the year-round won­ders of the Arbore­tum. You can find it on the home­page of our web­site, lan​dis​ar​bore​tum​.org, as ​“Lan­dis Arbore­tum: Who We Are”, and below this article.

Board Vice Pres­i­dent Wilma Jozwiak, always on the search for new tal­ent, heard about bud­ding video­g­ra­ph­er Gavin Leach through her cir­cle of friends, and sur­mised that there might be a project in the works. Gavin, a grad­u­ate of the State Uni­ver­si­ty Col­lege at Oneon­ta, brought his infec­tious enthu­si­asm and well-earned cre­den­tials in mass communication/​media stud­ies to the Arbore­tum. We in turn regaled him with our sto­ries and wish lists, our favorite places, events, and images. Gavin then mag­i­cal­ly made them come alive.

He pro­duced a high-qual­i­ty video that cap­tures some of the best aspects of Lan­dis. It’s a four-sea­son look at our incred­i­ble nat­ur­al beau­ty, res­i­dent wildlife, hall­mark events, and more, all in less than three min­utes. Spec­tac­u­lar col­or, unfor­get­table views, Gavin’s skilled nar­ra­tion, and an orig­i­nal melody by our own Fred Breglia add depth and artistry. You will see the Arbore­tum with new eyes, whether you are a fre­quent vis­i­tor or a far-away friend. As Wilma exclaimed, ​“I want to go, I want to go!”

The Lan­dis team that worked with Gavin is impressed by his atten­tion to detail and abil­i­ty to use our ideas, turn­ing them into such a remark­able video. Vis­i­tors to our web­site will have a com­pre­hen­sive but suc­cinct view into just how much we offer. Those we meet off­site, e.g., at pre­sen­ta­tions or booths dur­ing pub­lic events, will get a clear and elo­quent under­stand­ing of Lan­dis. As Lan­dis Vol­un­teer Coor­di­na­tor Anne Don­nel­ly said, ​“We will be very proud to show this far and wide.” Mod­est, though clear­ly pleased with the results, Gavin expressed his appre­ci­a­tion for the oppor­tu­ni­ty to show­case Lan­dis for a broad audi­ence of poten­tial vis­i­tors, vol­un­teers, mem­bers, and sup­port­ers. He praised the team that shared their insights and pas­sion for this spe­cial place, and said that ​“with­out your knowl­edge and devo­tion to Lan­dis, I wouldn’t have been able to make the video what it is.”

And with­out Gavin Leach, who tells us his mot­to is ​“There’s no point in doing some­thing unless you do it right,” we wouldn’t have this resplen­dent look at the jew­el known as the George Lan­dis Arbore­tum. Thank you, Gavin, for mak­ing Lan­dis shine, as bright as the night sky dur­ing our famous Star Parties.