Wayne Herring00:00:00 - 00:00:33
Hey, business builder. This week's episode of the business builder way was recorded back in 2018. It was remixed, you know, put together in 2022, just now. But this episode features business builder Pete Claire. Pete is the founder of Turkey Trot Acres in Kandor, New York. Pete is a friend. Pete is somebody who I've spent a lot of time with. Pete is a creator, extraordinaire, always with a new idea, and then he executes.
Wayne Herring00:00:33 - 00:01:49
He's got guts. And I really wanted to share this story even though we shot it, recorded it back in 2018. But before we get into the episode, I just wanted to give you a little bit of a background. Back in 2018, we were creating business builder camp Turkey Hunt. And so in the spring in May of 2018, We had about 8 business owners all gathered at Pete's Lodge, and we did turkey hunting in the morning, and then we did business build work in the afternoon, masterminding, creating plans, solving problems, and just generally having a great time with lots of great food, etcetera. But before we had that live camp, a friend of mine, Josh Ott, pastor of Grace Free Church in Crosona, Pennsylvania, and a creator and builder in his own right, joined me. So Josh and I drove up to New York, and what you're about to hear was partially shot in the truck with Josh asking me questions about who Pete is to me, and then it was partially shot in the lodge as I asked questions about how did he create a celebrity hunt with NFL football players and with, I can't remember the Verne, not Verne. He would say, hey, Verne.
Wayne Herring00:01:50 - 00:02:25
It was Jim Varney. Jim Varney from, like, Ernest Goes to Camp. How did Pete create a celebrity hunt like that? How did Pete and his wife, Sherry, come together to create their unique brand of hospitality. How did they build a lodge from logs that they went and cut and peeled? How did they expand into some record production and music festivals? And it was such a great conversation. I real I wanted to share it with all of you, present day 2022. I hope you enjoy. And just remember, you are a builder. You are a business builder.
Wayne Herring00:02:25 - 00:02:27
Keep going. Go get them. Thanks.
Wayne Herring00:02:28 - 00:03:01
So this Pete guy that we're going to visit, Pete is the the builder, the founder, Under the creator of Turkey Trot Acres in Candor, New York. The pizza's long haired, gray haired, Mustached, hippie ish kind of fellow who in the way the way I think about it, he just Decided one day that he loves hunting and loves Central New York where he lives, and he's gonna go out in the middle of nowhere and carve out his dream life. Him and his wife, Sherry, have done it.
Pete Clare00:03:23 - 00:03:25
Nice to meet you, man. Nice to see you. Yeah.
Wayne Herring00:03:27 - 00:04:05
He's hosted hunters like Ernest. Ernest goes to camp. NFL players have come to Turkey. The guys who are in the board of directors from National Wild Turkey Federation have come there, like, throwback retro huds for people that wanna come and and wear old fashioned duds and go out in the woods with an old fowling shotgun and hunt turkeys. So Pete just It has no there's no limits on Pete. Pete is all imagination, and when him and Sherry get an idea, they do it. They Wanna have a lodge, they go out and cut logs and get a permit from the state, cut logs, and build a lodge. They wanna have NFL players, they do it.
Wayne Herring00:04:05 - 00:04:32
And So, Pete, it was just the perfect person for me to create an event with. I thought, who would I who would I Want to take people creatively building businesses and creating lives. Where would I wanna take them for a combination hunt mastermind? And Pete was just the automatic choice. It's always been a super experience to to hunt, but also really just the camaraderie and the fellowship that they've created in this cabin.
Pete Clare00:04:32 - 00:04:40
People say, you know, I got balls. I got balls. I just got confidence. You know? I I think I believe in something, whether it be the peace tree now or Yeah.
Wayne Herring00:04:40 - 00:04:43
Re We're coming there. Or the turkey hunting 30 years ago.
Wayne Herring00:04:44 - 00:04:53
Welcome to the Business Builder Way podcast, where we help business builders grow leadership Skills and wisdom and stay grounded through business builder hero stories.
Wayne Herring00:04:53 - 00:05:18
So let's get after it. Wayne Herring, and I'm here with Pete Clare who is the Owner and the builder of Turkey Trot Acres. This is where we're going to do our, business builder event in spring, and so my friend Josh Ott I took a ride up here. Mhmm. It's still snowy outside, but it won't be long. The store will be gone. And, Pete, yeah, it'd be great if you would just tell us a bit, like, How did this place come to be? How did you build this place?
Pete Clare00:05:18 - 00:05:58
Well, it's good to hear you back, Wayne. You and your family have been here. I know you and your dad at least 2 times, maybe 3 over the years, and you came with family one time and now you're here for a different reason and that's what's cool about turkey trout. We are we are a hunting lodge, but our hunting seasons are pretty much limited to, know, the month of May and then a little bit in the fall. So my wife and I, Sherry, realized that, you can't just own a place like this and It worked a month or 2 out of the year. So, going back to 1987 when we first Proclaimed our guide check as Turkey Trot Acres that as brief as they can be. It started on a a trip to Virginia, Hot Springs, Virginia.
Wayne Herring00:05:58 - 00:05:59
Uh-huh. No.
Pete Clare00:05:59 - 00:06:42
That's Way out on the western Yeah. Part of Virginia West Virginia border. And to make a long story short, we went turkey hunting. I think it was the spring of 86 and I found out one thing and it almost put me in jail that a blotch of white paint on a tree is a posted there. I was amongst 18,000,000 acres of George Washington National Forest, but I parked my truck where it was a black some white paint or somebody And, well, I know after getting through that ordeal on the way home, I got thinking, I just wonder how many other people wanna go on these hunting trips re And get into all sorts of mischief because they just don't know. So we created Turkey Trad Acres with a guide shack. It was a wood stove and a an outhouse. Yeah.
Pete Clare00:06:42 - 00:07:09
And in 87, we had 6 or 7 hunters. In 88, we had 10 or 12 hunters. And by 89, That wasn't gonna work anymore. So we begged, borrowed, mortgage, stole, whatever we had to do to start building this joint. And then from, we opened this in May of 1990. So to make a long story short, spring and fall, I believe we're getting ready to start 63rd turkey season. Oh, wow. 63 seasons.
Pete Clare00:07:09 - 00:08:04
One of the most wonderful things that I've always said is the friendships And the people that I have met, my wife and I, and all our guides have met over the years that otherwise, we wouldn't have met whether, You know, any other way. In in this world, it was through the hunting community. It could be many different ways to meet people, but, It it's just been a a long staying strange trip, and we've enjoyed every bit of it. Everybody that knew me and my wife thought we were nuts. What What are you talking about? That guy's nuts. He's building a honey lodge in upstate New York. What what what's he think he is? And, well, we just kept persevering and believing And kept following along with what our plan was to provide quality hunting, lodging, and dining for people that came here And, that's how we started out, and then I started meeting some industry people through through, like Quaker Boy or
Wayne Herring00:08:04 - 00:08:04
Okay.
Pete Clare00:08:04 - 00:08:25
Bill Jordan from was one of the early guys that came in from Realtree, and I said, well, let's do a celebrity on. So the next thing you know from 1994 to 2002, 8 years. We brought well, as you see the pictures on the wall, Michael Strayhand was on and on. I think Jim Varney, you know, Ernest goes to Turkey drop.
Wayne Herring00:08:25 - 00:08:25
Yeah.
Pete Clare00:08:25 - 00:08:38
And we we made 1,000 and 1,000 and 1,000 of dollars, and it all went 2 things. It went to our community for the kids. We rebuilt a little league field here that was literally was literally chicken wire and barn boards.
Wayne Herring00:08:38 - 00:08:39
Yeah.
Pete Clare00:08:39 - 00:08:53
And Now it's a 1st class little leak field. We put a timber frame gazebo in town, and there are signs that proclaim that Hunter's dollars did The people that really cared, the landowners, saw what we were doing, and it, it it just worked for us.
Wayne Herring00:08:53 - 00:09:11
So so You you just mentioned how you got this dream and idea that you're gonna do a celebrity hunt, which in a small town in New York was crazy, and people Said you can't have a lodge. You can't do that. So how did you push through that, like, resistance of people saying it's crazy, and how did you make that We
Pete Clare00:09:11 - 00:09:32
we got involved with the Chamber of Commerce. It it can't the Louisville's Canada just started this Chamber of Commerce, and I just had this idea. What a way to things off. How would you like to be the beneficiaries of this event? Help us put it together. And wow. I mean, It was just a huge the 3 day weekend was, you know, involved. They get here Thursday. We'd have a welcome party.
Pete Clare00:09:32 - 00:09:56
We'd hunt Friday. Friday night, there was a big huge auction at the fire station. They pull all the fire trucks out. We did all these art prints and all the celebrities down there, 500 people there. Saturday morning, we'd hunt. Saturday afternoon, we had a golf tournament. And before you know what, the weekend was over on Sunday and you might have slept 6 hours if you were lucky. But every year, the community could wait.
Pete Clare00:09:56 - 00:09:59
Who's gonna come this year? So it really drew in people.
Wayne Herring00:09:59 - 00:10:04
How did you find those people in the days before social media and Internet? How do you how do you find
Pete Clare00:10:04 - 00:10:30
You know, I wonder about that. I well, how did I do that? That's a very good question because without the Internet and emails and, you know, Facebook, how did I do that? It started out with 1 or, knowing some of the industry players through Quakerboy and then they knew some of the Buffalo Bills. And then the 1st year, we'd have only 4 or 5 and then but those Celebrities, if you wanna call them that, celebrities, knew somebody that hunted and be
Wayne Herring00:10:30 - 00:10:31
I gotcha.
Pete Clare00:10:31 - 00:10:41
So it it the word spread. And before you know it, we're getting a waiting list people they would be calling me. And if they were outdoors folks and they want they like to turkey hop, this was the place to be.
Wayne Herring00:10:41 - 00:10:48
So this table is where I expect some of our guys will wanna gather, and there'll be some stories shared and things.
Pete Clare00:10:48 - 00:11:14
I can't even begin to tell you the wheels and the deals That have happened around this table. I mean, I just want you you know, whether it's do doing business, from with 1 guy to another guy or it it's just been the focal point because there's always good food out here. We have Amish made cheese and venison salami or baloney. It's just a place to hang out. Cocktail hour is a big deal here.
Wayne Herring00:11:14 - 00:11:14
Yeah. This is
Pete Clare00:11:14 - 00:11:22
where the cocktails are flowing. And cocktail hour here is a state of mind. It doesn't mean you have to have Alcohol. You can do it with a cup of coffee.
Wayne Herring00:11:22 - 00:11:22
Yeah.
Pete Clare00:11:22 - 00:11:37
But you'll find and you know from hunting here in the spring, We can only hop till noon at 1 o'clock after lunch. This place is like a morgue. Yeah. The bedrooms are sleeping. It's very quiet. But about 3 30, 4 o'clock. Everybody's up. Take a shower.
Pete Clare00:11:37 - 00:11:39
You got a whole new attitude.
Wayne Herring00:11:39 - 00:11:39
Yeah. A a
Pete Clare00:11:39 - 00:11:57
whole new day is starting, basically. But, you know, every every individual's different, And everybody has their own pace. And all all I know, and I don't know, people have somebody have magic dust here. Call it whatever you want. It's the place is just conducive to doing business Yeah. And relax and and and any I don't know why, but it is.
Wayne Herring00:11:57 - 00:12:05
And I think everybody needs that. Everybody needs some space, And it's a place where people can get away. Last year, we did a I I told you we rented a house in Gettysburg.
Pete Clare00:12:05 - 00:12:06
I saw you.
Wayne Herring00:12:06 - 00:12:13
And we had good food, and we had Business owners all gathered around a big table, not unlike the table Sure. Back there.
Pete Clare00:12:13 - 00:12:13
Sure.
Wayne Herring00:12:13 - 00:12:41
We didn't have hunting, and we didn't have, the outdoor feel of this place, and that was magic. So my hope in creating this event is that we get that magic And the magic of those people plus your magic and the things we do here, and I think it'll be what is that? Double magic or magic squared or something like that. I I think the last thing I wanna ask you that is really fascinating to me, and I was telling Josh about this on the way here. You you did things like celebrity hunts, and you do things like, well, we're just gonna do this thing, and we take a leap and you share
Pete Clare00:12:42 - 00:13:04
Constantly. Constantly. Evolve. Reinventing ourself is the word you might wanna call it. Re Constantly. Whether it's going into the the music business or different food things that we're doing all the time. We've we've we've recorded Two major league, you know, DVD live concert performance by, you know, world class bands from the seventies here. Just something I wanted to do.
Pete Clare00:13:04 - 00:13:18
These are my favorite bands, Commander Cody and the new writers of the Purple Sage. I mean, these guys sold millions of albums, and we've had them both here many times. We've filmed them. Yeah. That's just something I my personal thing. Right? Yeah. One of my favorite bands here, so why not?
Wayne Herring00:13:19 - 00:13:19
Yeah.
Pete Clare00:13:19 - 00:13:32
And and lately, the newest, thing we're doing is is is Carmela Yeah. Which is my grandmother, and I got this crazy idea. I wanted a wood fired pizza oven. And I Stevie Lekorchik, I could still one of my guys, my best friends,
Wayne Herring00:13:32 - 00:13:32
Yeah.
Pete Clare00:13:32 - 00:13:36
Said to me and he's a Pennsylvania coal miner all the way. Here's his man, Evan.
Wayne Herring00:13:36 - 00:13:37
I know Steve's. Yep.
Pete Clare00:13:37 - 00:13:54
He was your guy. Yep. Do you realize how many pizzas you had So to get the $8,000 you spent on that oven back. That was his tires away. $8,000. You know how many pizzas you gotta make? And I I just shook my head. I said that It's not about how many pizzas. It's about entertaining people.
Pete Clare00:13:54 - 00:14:26
And soon as Carmela came out of the scene and we figured out how to make pizzas in 90 seconds, It it just changed everything here. Just another another reason to to come and enjoy. And, of course, now we're, you know, because of the response that I saw from Being the only wood fired oven in Talaga County, when we do a party here, if a 100 people walk up those steps, 25 of them are in a trance. 75 walk right by, and they're going to the bar. They're going somewhere. They're gonna eat what comes out of there, but they don't really care where it came from. The foodies. If you're a foodie or you're
Wayne Herring00:14:26 - 00:14:28
a foodie, you're gonna be
Pete Clare00:14:29 - 00:14:44
and that it's a new experience, and that's always what we're looking for. Just new experiences. And there's something about watching that pizza go in and come out in 90 seconds then handing it to him. It's It's just that that's the kind of stuff we live for is new experiences.
Wayne Herring00:14:45 - 00:14:46
Got it.
Pete Clare00:14:46 - 00:15:19
And one of the last things I just wanna say that I can say, You know, from 32 years of doing this is and talking to people this time of year. Everybody in life needs something to look forward to. I don't care if it's your wife's birthday or your daughter's graduation. It was 2 weeks away or 2 years away, something to look forward to. And I guarantee you, a trip to Turkey out with your people. Once they maybe see this video or they do a little look around, they're gonna they're gonna be excited, and they're gonna Look. I have something to look forward to. And then pretty soon, I said 2 more weeks.
Pete Clare00:15:19 - 00:15:23
You know, 2 more days. Yeah. I don't know. It's just I hear that all the time.
Wayne Herring00:15:23 - 00:15:24
Was excited just to come take a
Pete Clare00:15:24 - 00:15:43
But that's what I said. Right. Be with me. I could tell you were. And Yeah. That I I don't know how that that's part of that magic dust, I think I was telling you. I don't know how that happened and why it happened, but don't be afraid to take chances. That that's one thing I have never, You know, people say, you know, I got balls.
Pete Clare00:15:43 - 00:15:49
I got balls. I just have confidence. You know? I I think I'd believe in Whether it be the peace tree now or Yeah.
Wayne Herring00:15:49 - 00:15:52
The brick oven or or the turkey hunting 30 years ago.
Pete Clare00:15:52 - 00:15:56
I don't know. You find something that's That nobody else is doing.
Wayne Herring00:15:56 - 00:15:56
Right.
Pete Clare00:15:57 - 00:16:01
And and if you do it right, you you you'll probably do fine with it.
Wayne Herring00:16:01 - 00:16:11
And so we're talking right before we, got started too about you could Could've stayed a teacher, and you could've stayed, and you would've had a nice retirement, but you have so many memories and so many other people you've impacted.
Pete Clare00:16:11 - 00:16:29
I I taught school for 10 years, taught elementary school, coached football, did everything I wanted to do while I was out of college, but there's something about those 4 walls that was Was closing me in, and something was pulling me in. I didn't know what it was, but I guess it was, you know, it was this. I don't know where I was going, but this is where we ended up kind of a deal.
Wayne Herring00:16:30 - 00:17:08
So, hey, if you're a if you're a business owner, if you're a guy, and if you're working to build that business, and you're also working to build Family and Build A Life, and you want something to look forward to, that's what we're working to create here. I like the way that Pete phrased that. If you're looking for something to look forward to, A hunt, a time in the New York State, wilds and in the turkey lodge here, then go ahead and sign up for Business Builder Camp Turkey Hunt. We'd love to have you. There's an application form, that you can find on the web page, and it's gonna be a good time. We gather up here at May 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th. If you don't hunt, That's okay. We have an option where you can hang out in the lodge Mhmm.
Wayne Herring00:17:08 - 00:17:29
And you can relax and sleep in if you like and, You know, sit out on the couch, and by that time, it'll probably be warm, sit out on the porch. It's a good place to just let things kinda settle in. We'll work in the afternoon. But if you do hunt, That'll be a great time too. There's lots of turkeys. There's, turkey guides here. You'll be out in the woods with a different, business owner every day.
Pete Clare00:17:29 - 00:17:29
We'd love
Wayne Herring00:17:29 - 00:17:30
to have you.
Pete Clare00:17:30 - 00:17:35
Mix it up a little bit. Let everybody share the experience, you know, amongst each other, really.
Wayne Herring00:17:35 - 00:17:36
Pete, thanks for I wanna
Pete Clare00:17:36 - 00:17:44
Oh, wait. That's what I'm looking forward to. You got me excited. I and I get excited about all this kind of stuff anyway, but You're I always like doing something different.
Wayne Herring00:17:44 - 00:17:45
Not easily excited. Right?
Pete Clare00:17:45 - 00:17:51
No. I haven't. Oh, I no. You can tell. I'm very easily so good. Come on out.
Wayne Herring00:17:51 - 00:18:02
Thank you for tuning in to the Business Motor Wave podcast. If this episode spoke to you, click that subscribe button and share it with a friend. That's how this message gets out into the world. If it is helpful for us
Wayne Herring00:18:02 - 00:18:04
to have a short conversation, I'd love
Wayne Herring00:18:04 - 00:18:06
to do that. Send me an email at wayne@businessbuildercamp.com.
