MILANVILLE - Innisfree, A nonprofit youth hostel and inn, offers a unique type of lodging on the Upper Delaware River.

Started by school teachers from Montclair, N.J., Innisfree has remained open, "with some interruptions," as a not-for-profit public eating and drinking (non-alcoholic) place for 15 years. It also offers a conference and "growth center" for secondary schools, social service agencies, colleges and private industry.

The name does not mean that literally, the inn is free -- it comes from a pastoral poem by Yeats -- but owners Bud and Ann Rue say that no one draws a salary, and they do allow young people of limited means to trade work for their room and board.

The Rues, who serve as president and vice president, also offer home-cooked meals, provide river float trips and lead periodic excursions down to the Delaware to pick up garbage bags full of empty beer containers deposited by others not as concerned about the cleanliness of the area.

Innisfree Corporate Secretary Thomas Rue edits a periodic "almanack" aimed at those who stay at the facility or are involved with the organization.

The organization will put on a "comet party" April 11, to benefit its "human relations training program" the following weekend. Featured are Nate & Annie, a comedy-music team composed of Nate Herman, who has written for and performed on the Saturday Nigh Live television show, and singer-writer Annie Hat. They reside in nearby Callicoon.

The party, on the night of Halley's Comet passes closes to earth, will also feature a "pot-luck dinner" and the video-tape, Night of the Comet. It is billed as a "non-alcoholic occasion... open to both teenagers and adults."

The "growth laboratory" the following weekend is designed to help participants "increase self-awareness and enhance interpersonal skills. It will give group members an opportunity to "experiment with new and more productive ways of expressing themselves in a 'laboratory' setting." It is modeled after a similar program at Trenton State College. Fee includes two nights' lodging and meals.

Innisfree has not been completely immune from the political turmoil surrounding the Upper Delaware National River project. A recent publicity release gave some local residents the impression that the corporation was a project of the National Park Service.

The Park Service, which has been getting blamed for several transgressions lately, wrote a letter for publication in the River Reporter, Narrowsburg, in which Supt. John Hutzky stated that the agency has "no association with Innisfree, implied or otherwise. We don't discredit youth hostels, as they have proven beneficial in other places, particularly in Europe. However, such a program must succeed on its own merits, rather than through an implied relationship with the National Park Service."

This led Innisfree secretary Rue to regret the ambiguity in a follow-up letter of his own, adding, "We are inclined to remind Mr. Hutzky that if the National Park Service is to succeed in its efforts in this valley, it will have to be on its own merits, in order to gain the support of the local communities. Innisfree neither supports nor opposes the Park Service in these efforts... we simply acknowledge its existence. In no way do we wish to either align ourselves with its goals or imply our approval of its methods."

That's telling 'em.

Those who want more information about Innisfree or its programs may contact Rue at P.O. Box xx, Milanville, Pa. 18443, (717-729-xxxx).

The above article was written by Doug Hay, editor of the Pike County Dispatch.

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Related articles

Innisfree Growth Laboratory, The River Reporter, 12-19-1985, etc.

Comet party to aid encounter weekend, The Wayne Independent, 02-01-1986

Innisfree Growth Laboratory, The River Reporter, 12-19-1985

Innisfree Growth Laboratory, program proposal, October 1984

Letter to the Editor, The Signal, 10-16-1984.

Inner growth comes from sharing one's perceptions, The Signal, 11-13-1984

Upper Delaware Scenic & Recreational River, U.S. Department of the Interior, NPS website