This week, Ryan Haig shares his perspective on moving to Glens Falls from Cape Cod and putting down roots in this community, his go-to diner, the trio of downtown restaurants that would make up the perfect date night with his wife, and more…
Tell us about yourself!
My name is Ryan Haig and I am a father, husband and a transplant from Cape Cod. Moving from the beaches to the mountains over a decade ago was quite an adjustment, but I continue to be pleasantly surprised by Hometown USA and the many benefits of being part of this community.
I am a beneficiary of the radical generosity of this North Country community and God’s grace. I moved to this area without knowing a soul or having a cent to my name (a story for another day). Today I have a beautiful wife, two amazing children, a thriving career, lovely home, dynamic church community and a great network of friendship and support.
I work with Amsure, the insurance division of Adirondack Trust, and I partner with many North Country businesses by providing insurance solutions. I work with the best boss, best co-workers and benefit from a great culture. I’ve never had the Sunday night “scaries” and it may be hard to believe, but I actually look forward to going to work each day. My career affords me the opportunity to do what I am most passionate about: create connection, develop authentic relationships, and live out the Golden Rule in the business community.
On Life In and Around Glens Falls
Having not grown up in the Glens Falls area, I have a unique perspective which allows me to see what a special community this is. Of course it’s not perfect, but it is a community that values relationship and not just transaction. It has history and class but is also down to earth. It has a rich arts and nonprofit community. It has a growing and healthy business environment. It is a safe community to raise a family and the natural environment surrounding it is second to none.
Glens Falls will always have a special place in my heart as this is where my wife and I were married, had our first baby, graduated college (SUNY Adirondack & Skidmore,) and started a career. We wanted more space before baby number two came along, so we bought a home not far from town. While we do not reside in Glens Falls, our life still revolves around the rhythms of the Glens Falls area with work, social life, and community engagement.
We live in an a generous community and I have benefitted from being a part of it in many ways. I have so many examples of generosity, but one of my favorites is when I was starting night classes at SUNY Adirondack while working three jobs. At the time I was wondering if I had the ability and resources to jump back into academia after being out for over a decade. After my first semester I was praying about what to do when out of the blue one of my customers who I hardly knew, offered to pay for my education. Talk about an answer to prayer! Radical generosity.
A Perfect Glens Falls Day
I really do love my job, so I have two kinds of “ideal” days - weekdays and weekend days. For the perfect week day, it would start with my favorite quarterly event called Christian Business Men’s Connection. These breakfasts take place at the Queensbury Hotel where 50-100 men in our community gather to connect and be encouraged by speakers from all walks of life.
From there I would meet up with a client and deliver something delicious from Birch Bark Eatery or Lox of Bagels. It is important to fuel up with some quality carbs in order to tackle insurance related issues for their business.
Afterwards I would meet up with clients and friends on the golf course. Starting up golf this year at the ripe age of 38 is not pretty, but courtesy of PSG Golf it gets better every day. More importantly, at this stage of life, there is no other venue to spend extended quality time with great people and dig into meaningful conversations revolving around family, faith and business.
After searching for lost golf balls in the woods for 4 hours it would be time to put the suit and tie back on and shift gears to my favorite event of the year, the Adirondack Regional Chamber’s annual gala at the Sagamore Resort. The ARCC is a special organization and always seems to attract a crowd of amazing people. This event always reminds me that we are surrounded by community champions who are continuously working and sacrificing to make this region a place that people like me can move to, raise a family and put down roots to live out the American dream.
Family days are the ones we live for. There is always plenty to do in our area and my primary task is rallying the troops (my wife Tiffany, 6-year-old daughter Elsie and 3-year-old son Adam) to seize the day. An ideal day would be a Sunday which would start off with our Pine Knolls church family.
Since I am putting together the hypothetical ideal day, our favorite diner, Poopie’s, would happen to be open on this Sunday (typically only open Monday-Saturday) for a post-church brunch. There is nothing like a classic diner and one of my primary functions as a father is to introduce my children to the finer things in life.
From there we would focus in on kiddo time: Skyzone Trampoline park, Cole’s Woods, a whirlwind playground tour- whatever it takes to let out the crazy toddler energy.
After everyone is wiped out it would be time for date night with Tiffany. Since date nights are less frequent at this stage of life, we like to hit as many of our favorite spots as we can in one outing. This ideal date night would magically skip past any wait times and we would be able to seamlessly enjoy the patio at Doc’s (serenaded by Chris Ristau,) Farmacy, and finally Raul’s for Salmon Tacos (courtesy of JK.)
We’d arrive home just in time to watch our beloved New England Patriots dominate on Sunday night football.
And of course, no Sunday night scaries.
Ideal day indeed.
On the Past and the Future
This is a stretching time of life and it is a season that I will always wish to have back. Moving to the Glens Falls area over a decade ago started this chapter. The anchor points of getting married, welcoming my children to this world, completing a secondary education and starting a career will always be associated with putting down roots in the Glens Falls community. I have been a beneficiary of radical generosity and that generosity cannot be found just anywhere. This is a special community and I am grateful to have stumbled into it. I don’t know all that the future holds, but I do know that my calling in life is to be a servant leader in my home, at my job and in my community. I hope to play my part in giving back and continue to grow this generous spirit that is the bedrock of Hometown USA.
