I was interviewed by the Howe Cavern’s publicists, who drafted this article.

Meet Jim from Howes Cave, New York. His story winds through the Schoharie Valley rolling pastures, echoes in cavern walls, and lingers in the laughter of children chasing ponies through fields. Born into a time when the roads welcomed hooves over wheels, Jim’s roots run deep in the limestone heart of the Schoharie Valley. From the early 1950s to the mid-1960s, Jim’s family owned a dairy farm that abutted Howe Caverns property. His childhood was stitched together with the rhythms of the land. Springtime meant tilling soil with his father and picking rocks from the fields, joking all the while that the largest stones surely guarded the path to the Garden of Eden.

Life in Howes Cave was a tight knit community. The neighboring families were the Nethaways, Vannattens, and Sagendorfs. He drove a team of horses for the Nethaway’s and learned to ice skate on a pond nestled on the Vannatten’s land. He spent endless days riding around the village on horseback or exploring the caves with the other local children. At just five years old, Jim was entrusted with a pony named Nip. His parents believed that Nip’s sense of self-preservation would protect their son better than any bicycle on roads being frequented by tourists. Jim, Nip, and another pony named Tuck, were a familiar sight, trotting through the village or tied outside the local luncheonette while the local children enjoyed a treat. Sometimes, Nip and Tuck would escape. They would be lured by the scent of tourist snacks in the Caverns’ parking lot, prompting a wild chase across the fields to retrieve them.

When Jim was thirteen, his family sold the farm and built a new home across the Schoharie Creek. In 1969, at sixteen years old, Jim donned the uniform of a Howe Caverns tour guide. During the late 1960s the tour guide uniform consisted of olive colored, wool pants and an “Eisenhower” jacket, named after General Dwight D. Eisenhower. It was a uniform that he proudly cared for and kept safely tucked away as a symbol of pride and purpose. That same year, Rich Nethaway, our Cave Historian, began his own journey with the cave as a tour guide. Jim spoke of Rich with admiration. “There are only two true keepers of the history and stories of Howe Caverns, the cave walls and Rich Nethaway.” He said, “We would guide 3 to 4 tour groups a day. We led groups of 40 people into the cool 52°F, echoing, cavern. Those days were magical. It was a great job for a teenager. It paid well. It taught me public speaking. It introduced me to people from all over the world. It sparked a lifelong passion.” With the guidance of experienced caver Bill Dodge, Jim and his friends explored caverns on private lands, within the surrounding area. Even though he didn’t learn to ride a bicycle until he was eighteen—thanks to his parents worries about speeding tourists—Jim never felt he missed out. He had the valley, his ponies, the caves, and a sense of wonder that most never find. His three other siblings also worked at the caverns. The girls in the snack bar, as back then girls weren’t allowed to be tour guides. The boys went underground. Later, even his nephews joined the legacy. Now, at 72 years old, Jim lives near Utica. but the cave remains etched into his soul. He said, “In those quiet moments underground, alone or with a small group, felt as if we were the first to ever walk those ancient corridors.” Jim has a message for young and old alike: “If you’re blessed with the opportunity to explore—to spelunk, to guide, to share something as wondrous as Howe Caverns—savor it. Because the moment will soon become memory. And one day, you’ll look back and realize just how precious those years really were.” And so, the light that Jim once carried into the cave—through laughter, wonder, and stories—still shines. Not from a lantern, but from the spirit of a boy who grew up where the earth breathes magic, and from the man who never let that magic go. Jim came back with family to visit the cave and to return his time-honored uniform to our historic archives. We were honored to host him in the cave on another magical walk beneath the surface of the earth.

This was a very special visit for all of us- especially, for Rich, the elder of our cave. We are having Jim’s uniform framed, with a plaque with his name, and it will be displayed in our Main Lodge sometime this summer