Donor Spotlight: Ed Krug Found His Forever Home on the East End
October 20, 2023
By Olivia Waterhouse
About 50 years ago, Ed Krug first fell in love with the East End, when an aunt and uncle moved to Hampton Bays in the early 1970s. He became a frequent houseguest with friends in Sag Harbor and Bridgehampton as a young Manhattanite through the early 1980’s and visiting started to feel more and more like coming home. The undeveloped farmland reminded him of his childhood in New Jersey, where the farm across the street was his favorite after-school playground. Just some “light trespassing,” he jokes, “as kids do.” His summers had been spent in a family cottage on the New Jersey shore, so the beaches of the East End were a familiar draw too – “and here, we get both the farms AND the beaches!”
As much as he was drawn to this familiar landscape, it was also the people who felt like home. Ed appreciated the deep roots of many of the East End’s farming families, as well as the arts community here – painters and writers also pulled east by Long Island’s natural beauty. While work forced him to leave the area for more than a decade, when the opportunity arose to come back to the east coast in the late 90s, Ed knew that he wanted to be here.
Ed was apprehensive before moving back east. He had witnessed the rapid development across the country throughout the 80s and knew all too well the sense of loss that comes when the character of a place is utterly changed. As a child, he had watched as the farm across the street, like so many others, was subdivided and made into lawn for neighboring houses. Would the farms be gone, and Montauk Highway lined with big box stores and subdivisions?
To his amazement, no. There had been changes, of course, but his worst fears proved unfounded. Somehow, the most fertile soil in the country was still being used for food production, the ponds and waterways were still clear and beautiful, and the historic hamlets were largely intact. Thanks to the passion of our local communities, the enlightenment of some local leaders, and most of all the work of the Peconic Land Trust, the essence of this place had been preserved.
“Since then,” Ed says, “I do what I can.” As a donor, volunteer, Board Committee member, and now Chair of our Board of Directors, his leadership and generosity has made a lasting impact on this place and the people who make eastern Long Island home.
When the time came to consider planning his estate, Ed wanted to continue his commitment to the land he loves. “A conservationist friend of mine always says ‘you have to marry your land.’ I’ve decided this is my place,” he explains, “I feel a responsibility to protect it – not just today, but in perpetuity.” By including the Trust in his estate plans, Ed has ensured that Long Island’s working farms, clean waters, and pristine woodlands, meadows, wetlands, and shorelines will be protected for generations to come.
We are thankful to Ed Krug for sharing his story with us! To learn more about how you can create a lasting legacy by remembering the Trust in your estate plans, contact Alison Delaney, Senior Manager of Major and Planned Gifts.
Olivia Waterhouse
Donor Relations Manager
OWaterhouse@PeconicLandTrust.org