Interview with Mr. Bud Lippitt

Stories Around the Lake

With Bud Lippitt

Interviewed by Pearlie Bailey

“There is so much power in talking

face to face”

Pearlie Bailey interviewed Mr. Bud Lippitt for Stories Around the Lake. Many questions were asked and all were answered beautifully. Mr. Lippitt is the P.E. teacher for K-6th and he coaches many teams. He loves knowing how deeply rooted his family is in this community. His family owns the lippitt farmstead at the Farmer's Museum. His children are the 6th generation in Cooperstown and the 9th generation in Otsego County. When he was a child, for fun in the summer, he would fish, spend time at Council rock, bike, hike, boat, and swim. In the winter he would sled, build snow forts, snowmobile, snowshoe, and ice fish. He believes that if you find a way to recreate in the snow, you will enjoy it a lot more than if you are trying to remove it. He feels grateful about growing up in a small community because people are always watching out for you, it makes you a well-rounded individual, and it gives you more confidence. Mr. Lippitt thinks that the town has changed because we do less talking face to face, instead, we text or call. He is a gym teacher and his least favorite part of his job is disciplining children, because he doesn’t like making the other children miss out just because he has to talk to whoever is being rude. His favorite part is just the opposite. He got into his job because he loves sports and children. He enjoys going to his job each day and has maybe 1 or 2 bad days in an entire school year. He says, “ When it’s time to get a job, you should get one that you actually like. Too many people are in their jobs for the wrong reasons. I’m in my job for all of the right reasons. I know what motivates me and I get to do it every day. I think that’s why I enjoy my job so much.” He wishes that, for the next generation, we could get a grip on how we use technology. He said, “...There is so much power in talking face to face.” “ It is so important that people see reactions and how they are interpreting things said over the conversation, and I feel that so many 5th and 6th graders are missing out on that important life skill as they go from the elementary to the middle high school.” He would want all the extra curricular activities to stay the same for the children. He finds it challenging that, because we are rural community, we don’t have as many shops and grocery stores. He sometimes dislikes having to travel away to get something. Mr. Lippitt likes to spend time outside with himself, and with his family, he likes to spend quality time with his family to bond them. Some words of advice is always keep learning, and you must realize that we all have something to offer, we must realize that we are not always great at everything but must find our passion because that might be our calling, our future job, we have to find what motivates us. We are never too young to start thinking about what to be. Also, one last thing is that Mr. Lippitt’s grandfather on his father’s side was mayor of cooperstown. They needed a mayor so he stepped in. Mr. Lippitt said that he was always was very proud.

THANKS FOR READING!