FUN

by Casey Gerrish ’10, PSC Head Men’s Hockey Coach & Sports Information Director

Creating a sense of place and building community for 35 years

Jim Tucker, who has been a familiar face around campus for the last 35 years, retired from his role as Athletic Director at Paul Smith’s College this past August.

His career has spanned five decades, and in that time, he has touched the hearts and minds of countless staff, faculty, students, community members, officials, athletes, visitors, family, and friends. His dedication to the college and its students rivals no other, and the lives that he has touched will forever be grateful to have known him.

Jim started at Paul Smith’s College in 1987 as the Director of the Higher Education Opportunities Program (HEOP). In that role, he acted as the chief administrator for the New York State funded academic support program for disadvantaged students. Responsibilities included writing program grant proposals and reports, supervising program staff, developing program components, recruiting disadvantaged students, and acting as an advocate for program students in all aspects of college life. The first eight years of recruiting potential students who were academically and financially under- prepared for college proved to be the bedrock on which he developed his outlook on helping students.

In 1995, Jim became the Recreation and Intramural Coordinator, a role that enabled him to bring his love for the outdoors to the larger campus community at PSC. Fittingly, from 1995-2010 he was cordially referred to as the “Dean of Fun.” In his time in that position, Jim developed and maintained indoor and outdoor recreational facilities, participated in trail route maintenance for outdoor pursuits, coordinated aquatic programs, supervised undergraduate recreation, coordinated and supervised intramural athletics, coordinated a broad-range of outdoor recreation programs for the campus community and contracted public service organizations and corporations, and supervised year-around outdoor treks. One of the most memorable outdoor adventures occurred in 2000 when Jim led a dozen students, staff, faculty, and alumni from Paul Smith’s College/Lower St. Regis Lake to the Statue of Liberty. “Enviro-trek 2000,” as it came to be known, provided environmental education programs to over 1,200 school children in pre-arranged locations along the 425-mile route. Jim worked with Stu Buchanon at the Region V DEC Office to establish camping opportunities on state land during the 17-day excursion, finishing at Liberty State Park on Liberty Island. The local community followed their adventures as “Enviro-trek 2000” was featured on the front page of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise each day. Thom Hallock of WPTZ News Channel 5 featured the group’s exploits on the evening news in a weekly segment called Champlain – 2000.

Jim also enjoyed encouraging hundreds of students to participate in snowshoe racing. “A great many of them likely ran further in snowshoe racing than they thought was possible over the past 35 years,” Jim remembers fondly. “I still have video footage of Andrew Lockhart from St. Vincent on the CBS Morning Show describing the first time he saw snowflakes coming down in October of his freshman year as he wondered if they would hurt him. Then five months later, he was earning medals on snowshoes in the North American Snowshoe Classic with the CBS crew filming his success.”

Throughout, there have been challenging weather conditions that presented incredible obstacles, like driving cold winds, temperatures well below zero, powder snow well over three feet deep while competing north of Ottawa at the Canadian Nationals and running 10 kilometers over 10,000 feet in Leadville, CO. “Who does these things while in college?” remarks Jim. “To the best of my knowledge, they all survived and grew from their snowshoe racing experiences.”

The PSC Striders still compete and have won 14 International Snowshoe Championships over the years.

Jim has also volunteered his time and achieved several accolades in the sport:

• 1999 through 2014: Served as President of the Empire State Snowshoe Racing Association.

• 2003: Received the Empire State Snowshoe Racing Association’s Snowshoer of the Year award.

• 2009 and 2013: Served as Chief Field Judge (Head Referee) for Special Olympic World Winter Games Snowshoeing; McCall, Idaho, and PyeongChang, South Korea.

• 2014: Received the Snowshoe Magazine & U.S. Snowshoe Association’s Cindy Brochman Person of the Year award.

• 2015: Received the Area 27 Special Olympics New York State Volunteer of the Year award.

At the behest of President Peter Linkins, Jim also jump-started the marathon canoe team at Paul Smith’s College in 1995. The team enjoys continued success to this day, based on the foundations built by Jim in the early years. He has contributed even more to the various curricular and extra-curricular programs here at PSC, including but not limited to aquatics classes, lifeguarding sessions, CPR and First Aid, First Year Seminar, Canoe Safety, The Humble Spud, and a plethora of intramurals and other recreation.

“I’ve known Jim for almost 30 years, from student to peer to good friend,” stated Professor Becky Sutter ’97. “I’ve seen him humbly change lives by instilling confidence and a sense of place in this community. I think his greatest achievement with me was that he was there when my best memories of PSC were made. He’s very much like his course’s name, ‘The Humble Spud.’ We underestimated his importance.”

Jim has been the cross-country running coach at Paul Smith’s College since 2009, and in that time, he has watched both the men’s and women’s teams blossom into national competitors. Crosscountry team accolades include the NAIA Men’s XC Sunrise Conference Coach of the Year in 2009, YSCC Cross-Country Champions: Men’s - 2011, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2022, Women’s –2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, a pair of Cross-Country Nationals podiums (Men’s team 3rd place in 2010, Women’s team 3rd place in 2021), and 9 AllAmericans (6 women, 3 men). He has also been named YSCC Men’s Cross- Country Coach of the Year four times (2011, 2014, 2015, 2022) and YSCC Women’s Cross-Country Coach of Year four times (2013, 2014, 2015, 2021). Jim will continue to coach the Paul Smith’s cross-country team.

In 2010, Jim was hired as the Athletics Director at the college. As AD, he oversaw an annual budget that grew to $1.4 million and led a staff of 22 full-time and parttime coaches, overseeing 27 athletic teams at PSC. Jim was pivotal in shaping the athletics department into what it is today. With generous financial help from E. Philip Saunders, the Saunders Gymnasium, ski/wax room, soccer field, and climbing wall were all updated and refurbished for modernization. Under Jim’s leadership, the college also increased its sports offerings, starting with the reintroduction of Men’s/ Women’s Basketball, then including Golf, Bowling, Women’s Rugby, Trapshooting, esports, Men’s/Women’s Hockey, and various other varsity sports. During his tenure, full time coaches were hired to coach men’s and women’s soccer, the Nordic ski team, both men’s and women’s ice hockey as well as men’s and women’s basketball.

The recent athletic success of the Bobcats was due, in part, to the groundwork already laid in place by Jim and his continued guidance over the years. With the focus on developing FIS caliber ski trails at the Paul Smith’s College VIC, and the purchase of a Pisten Bully for trail grooming, the PSC Nordic Ski Team claimed the men’s USCSA National Collegiate title in 2022, while the women’s team placed second. Even during the pandemic, the department experienced growth in athletic enrollment and the recent success is due in large part to the overall vision set forth by Jim, his staff, and the support of the campus community.

His dedication to Paul Smith’s College earned him numerous achievements through the years. In 2002, he was recognized by the Paul Smith’s College Alumni Association as the Faculty Member of the Year. A decade later in 2012, he was named the David H. Chamberlain Staff Member of the Year. Jim was also recently inducted into the Paul Smith’s College Hall of Fame, and as Jim Voorhies ’72 exclaims, “Jim Tucker is one of the most dedicated college employees I have ever met. I first met Jim during the early stages of developing the PSC Hall of Fame. Wish I would have met him sooner. Jim, have a great (semi) retirement!”

Jim has held a variety of different positions both inside and outside the college, has served on various committees, coached numerous teams (including Nordic Skiing, Marathon Canoe, and Track/Field), consulted for snowshoe marketing and design companies, authored and wrote on a variety of subjects (including potatoes, snowshoeing, and biking), worked as a consultant for magazines like Sports Illustrated and The New York Times, counseled several youth and student groups, and acted as a Director for many other local programs. He has developed his own personal garden and farmstead called the Ponderosa Poultry Pharm, specializing in beautiful lupins, dahlia bulbs, and some of the best produce that is carefully tended to March through October. Jim is on the Board of Directors for Tucker Farms Inc, owned and operated by his brothers. The farm specializes in seed potatoes but also sells vegetables in season and is home to the “Great Adirondack Corn Maze.”

Jim has also served as the Paul Smiths - Gabriels Fire Department Secretary for 15 years from 1986-2001, instructed coursework for the NYS Outdoor Guide’s Exam, coordinated Wilderness SOLO safety courses, worked as an American Red Cross Instructor for over 20 years, and has been a member of countless local, regional, and national organizations (including the Adirondack Mountain Club and New York State Farms Bureau). He has also been active in many sports and recreational programs and associations over the years. He serves as the President of the Empire State Snowshoe Racing Association, is a delegate for the World Snowshoe Federation (where he was the Race Director for the World Snowshoe Championships held in Saranac Lake, NY in 2017), and acted as a delegate for the New York State Trails Council.

Jim is an Eagle Scout and is a longtime member of the Boy Scouts of America. He is a former Scoutmaster, Assistant Scoutmaster, and Committee

Chairman. He is a Merit Badge Counselor for five required Merit Badges: Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Cycling, and Lifesaving and Swimming for BSA Troop 12 in Gabiels, NY. Jim is a lifelong member of the Catholic Church, attending Mass every Sunday regardless of where he is geographically, having a knack for finding a church wherever he may be. Jim has seamlessly done everything and more, all while also being happily married to his wife, Michele, raising two sons, Larry and Mike, and spending time with his grandchildren.

An amazing role model, mentor, and friend to his coaching staff, Jim will continue to be celebrated for all that he has achieved both personally and professionally. He has created a community who will miss his lengthy stories, his calm, cool, collected demeanor in any situation, his deliberate way of doing things, and his wonderfully quirky mannerisms and sense of humor. Jim has helped those fortunate enough to work with him or know him develop into better versions of themselves. And for that, we thank you.

Jim can still be seen walking around campus with his dog, George. George has become the unofficial mascot for the athletics department at PSC and accepts belly rubs as payment for brightening everyone’s day. He is looking forward to another snowshoe season!