 
Jerry Luke is an expert in energy and a connoisseur of conviviality due to his role co-managing the Fox Hill Bed and Breakfast with his wife Jeri. But his passion is for hiking and specifically for hiking along the Black Creek rail trail in the town of Lloyd; he is vice president of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association, an all volunteer organization that provides the labor and funding for keeping the three-mile trail open to hikers, bikers and equestrians.
Luke, 63, had retired as an energy-use consultant with IBM and was recently asked by the company to return to work. He and Jeri have operated their Fox Hill B&B since 1994, when they opened on a weekend-only basis as the first bed and breakfast in the town of Lloyd. “Back then it was more of a hobby,” Luke said. Now it is a full-time business that can accommodate up to 10 guests.
In those early days before the Internet was ubiquitous, they published brochures and had most of their guests referred to them by chambers of commerce. But times have changed. At first, they said perhaps 10 percent of their business came from the Internet, but today, they say 95 percent of their guests come to them through Web searching. “And that has expanded our visitor base from all over the New York City area to all over the world.”
They said travelers are drawn to this area for the history, the natural beauty, the Culinary Institute of America and the bevy of colleges from West Point up to Bard. Asked the home of the guest who traveled furthest to their B&B the Luke”™s looked at each other and laughed. “Is New Zealand farther from us than Japan?” asked Jerry. Â
Jerry Luke was a Boy Scout as a youth and a scoutmaster as an adult and said his love of hiking is life long. But the couple says their bed and breakfast business grew logically into a love for the rail trail, although it did not come easily.
“They asked me to be on the board, of the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association back in 1996,” said Luke. He was put in charge of maintenance, which was no plum. “The first duty was chainsawing,” he said, because trees had fallen onto the rail bed in the 22 years since it was abandoned in 1974. The ruptures in the trail had to be repaired and the rough spots smoothed over he said, but using all-volunteer labor and donations of heavy equipment, operators and old fashioned sweat equity, the former rail bed in went from a liability to a community asset.
Today, the central two-and-a-half mile swath is paved and there are plans to pave the remaining half mile on each end. The trail is used by everyone from moms pushing strollers to senior citizens, to bicycle riders and people in wheelchairs enjoying the outdoors. “When we had it paved it became really popular,” said Luke. “We are on it ourselves as often as we can get out.”
He said he appreciates the peace and quiet, the ability to hike safely without fear of traffic or tripping over roots and the wildlife such as birds and beavers visible in the Black Creek watershed. He said the rock cuts where the railroad dynamited sections of cliff to clear the tracks are “really fantastic” and the historic bridge the railroad built to let farmers cross the tracks is still in place.   Â
And that popularity is likely to grow. Luke also volunteers with the Walkway Over the Hudson Project, to which the Black Creek trail will connect when the Walkway opens later this year. Additionally, the trail will connect to the new waterfront park in Highland, another all-volunteer initiative that, both Jerry and Jeri agree, is forging a stronger community around volunteerism and may result in a stronger economy built around tourism. Â
But already the Black Creek trail serves as a community hub. The winter chili cook off, ice sculpting, running races, a harvest moon walk ”¦ are all arranged starting from the caboose pavilion that serves as unofficial headquarters for the rail trail, and to some extent for town volunteerism in Lloyd.
“The rail trail builds a whole community connection,” said Luke.
