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Last weekend was picnics and parades, this weekend one of the most unique festivals you will ever experience highlights a full schedule of events.  It is time for the annual Art in the Sky Kite Festival at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Cazenovia.  The hills of the Art Park will be filled with Art in the Sky on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. This family friendly event is free with $5 parking donation. You are welcome to bring your own kite or create one at the Art Park’s kite workshop. There will be large kite demonstrations, kite battles, kite candy drops, face painting, beautiful ground displays and much more. The Cazenovia Rotary will sell hot dogs, drinks and other munchies. Kimberly’s Ice Cream will sell their treats. A raffle of merchandise from Central New York businesses will round out the activities of the weekend. Come and experience the Art Park’s exploration of kinetic art and its relationship to the area’s unmatched natural beauty, encompassing not only its stunning vistas, but the sky that surrounds them as well. This celebration of sky and wind art is unforgettable. Bring your camera and capture the day.  This is also an excellent opportunity to take unique photos and enter them in the photo contest for Madison County Tourism!  There are lots of great events from art exhibits to farmers markets all weekend long.  Check out the complete list here.
 
 

Janet Ambrose, Associate Professor of Textiles from Syracuse University, College of Art and Design, will be at the Madison County Fair on Friday and Saturday to lead us through the creation of her personal design work from the fiber animal to her final knitted and felted product.  Janet and her family raise Angora goats, Cashmere goats, and Alpacas on their farm in Jamesville, NY.   From their fiber she produces lace weight yarns and uses the computer and a computerized knitting machine to create her custom textile art.  

Janet’s presentations in the Focus on Fiber pavilion will begin with an introduction to the animals on the farm and to the spinning mill housed there, including its 2.5 ton industrial Stoll Knitting Machine.  Her recent work enables her to integrate her long-standing love of photography with more recently acquired skills in fiber animal husbandry and knitting machinery to create beautiful and functional textile art.  For a preview, see her new website at janbrose.com.

 
Oz Parade Update 05/26/2009
 

The annual Oz-Stravaganza parade is less than two weeks away and the organizers sent along an update:

70 Years of Movie Magic - 100 Years Along the Road to Oz"
Grand Marshals: The Munchkins of Oz
Saturday June 6th at 2:00pm
Downtown Chittenango

Including Bands:
The Hitmen Brass Band
Central NY Police and Fire Band
Syracuse Brigadier's Alumni Drum Corp.
Canastota Community Band
Canastota Raiders Marching band
Chittenango High School Dixieland Band
Stockbridge Valley High School Marching band
Syracuse Scottish Pipe Band

Munchkins:
Margaret Pellegrini
Jerry Maren
Ruth Duccini
Karl Slover

Plus:
A wide variety of Ozzy Floats
Over 300 basset hounds
Marching units
Baum Family members
Judy Garland's movie stand in
plus more!!!

 
 
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It is Memorial Day Weekend and that mean the unofficial start of summer here in Central New York State.  It is a great time to get out and explore the area and the weather will be perfect.  Here are some ideas for your holiday weekend:
1. Chittenango Falls State Park -- An oldie but a goody.  This park features one  CNY's most spectacular waterfalls and it is perfect for a picnic this holiday weekend.
2. Take a Hike! -- Whether it is on the Link Trial, through the Brookfield State Forest, or along the Erie Canal, the weather this weekend is perfect for hiking and seeing late spring/ early summer at its finest.
3. Go Fish.  Trout and Walleye season are both open and both taste awesome on the grill.
4. Gobble, Gobble, No not your first picnic of the summer, but in the woods.  There are two more weekends left of spring turkey season.  Mmmm I can taste the turkey jerky right now.
5. Visit a farmer's market.  If the ultimate organic turkey quest is not for you, or if you need ingredients to prepare a turkey with, the local farmers markets in Cazenovia and Hamilton provide a perfect opportunity to buy local. 
 
 

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Reviving one of the biggest events from Madison County's Bicentennial, the Hamilton Business Association will be hosting a Fly-In Breakfast on Father's Day, June 21 at the Mid-York Airpark on Route12B north of the village of Hamilton.  Advanced tickets at $7 for adults and $4 for kids 6-10 and free for kids under 5.  The breakfast begins at 8am and goes until 1pm.  There will be hot air balloon rides, airplane and helicopter rides, door prizes from local merchants, fire trucks and a cruise in.  You can get tickets by calling 315-824-2300 or 800-684-7320.  You can also see a local HBA merchant or Rotary member.  This is a great way to spend your father's day!

 
 
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The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor announced today 16 cultural heritage sites selected to participate in the Passport to Your National Parks © program. The sites will join five existing National Park sites in the National Heritage Corridor where visitors can collect free cancellation stamps in a special spiral-bound National Park Service Passport.  The Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum on Lakeport Road in Chittenango was named as one of the sites.

Millions of people participate each year in visiting hundreds of national parks and NPS-affliated areas nationwide and recording their experiences with the free cancellation stamps. Passport to Your National Parks © is coordinated by Eastern National, a National Park Service partner, in cooperation with the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

"Collecting passport stamps will encourage people to visit multiple sites, each one telling a different part of the canal story," explained Lori Solomon-Duell, Erie Canalway Director of Heritage Tourism. "By linking sites along the Erie Canalway, the passport program offers visitors a more complete experience and memories to last a lifetime."

Passport Stamps will be available starting June 18, 2009. Additional details about Passport sites are available at: www.eriecanalway.org. National Park Service Passports are available online at www.eparks.com/store/ and at National Park Service visitor centers. A Kids' Passport ® To Your National Parks Companion is also available.

 
 

The Madison County Historical Society announces the opening of the 2009 exhibition, “Madison County Underground: Cemeteries & Gerrit Smith.” On May 31 from 1-3 pm, the Madison County Historical Society will mark the opening of the exhibit by hosting a presentation and book-signing event featuring the authors of Guide to Madison County Cemeteries 2nd Edition and Practical Dreamer.
Cemeteries are outdoor museums that tell the history of an area’s development. Gravestones and monuments provide an opportunity to learn about individuals who have made important contributions to a community. Gerrit Smith was a nationally known abolitionist and philanthropist from Smithfield. Samuel Gage of DeRuyter was the President of the Village of DeRuyter, and Niles Higinbotham of Oneida was President of the Oneida Valley National Bank, a bank he created in his family’s home in 1851. These men are a few of Madison County’s notable residents featured in the exhibition and presentation.
Anita M. Ingalls, Charles E. Page, Sandra B. Wilsey, Charles E. Page III, and Faye PageLackey wrote Guide to Madison County Cemeteries, 2nd Edition. Author and publisher, Anita Ingalls of Florida, provided the inspiration and technical expertise for the creation of the guide. She and Charles E. Page co-edited the first edition of the guide, which was published in 2006.  Charles traveled throughout the county identifying cemetery locations, and has written the driving directions featured in the guide. The revised guide with its special interest articles and hundreds of photographs involved the efforts of three additional authors. Charles’ son, Charles E. Page III of Morrisville, located many of the cemeteries indexed in the guide – including 65 within the Town of Brookfield, and gathered GPS readings for all of Madison County’s known cemeteries.  Charles’ daughter, Fay Page Lackey of Boonville, designed the title page and assisted her brother with the GPS readings.  Sandy Wilsey, a retired Oneida City School District social studies teacher, contributed many photographs and information about some long forgotten burial grounds.
The Madison County Historical Society’s new exhibition and program: “Madison County Underground: Cemeteries and Gerrit Smith” is free of charge and the public is cordially invited to attend. The program will commence at 1 pm with a presentation by Sandra B. Wilsey speaking on behalf of the cemetery guide authors, followed by Norman K. Dann’s discussion about his book on Gerrit Smith. The exhibit room will open at 2 pm. There will be an opportunity to purchase books in the gift shop and request author signatures. Refreshments will be served. For more information call 315-363-4136, or 315-361-9735, or stop by the Madison County Historical Society at 435 Main Street in Oneida.

 
 

If you have ever wanted to see the Oneida Community Mansion House, once home to the 19th century utopian Oneida Community; Sun., May 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. presents a perfect opportunity. 
At the Mansion House annual Open House and Bake Sale, visitors may explore exhibits and tour period rooms for free and at their own pace throughout the 93,000 square foot building.  On exhibit: “The Braidings of Jessie Catherine Kinsley”; an Orientation Exhibit; and “Art of the Oneida Community and its Children”.  Period rooms include the Big Hall, described as “an embodiment of our life and faith” by founder John Humphrey Noyes, with its exquisite trompe l’oeil ceiling; the Upper Sitting Room that most defined their idea of home; the Community Library where lifelong education was encouraged and more than 100 newspapers, magazines, and journal subscribed; and the Vestibule and its cabinet of curiosities.   Tour guides stationed in the period rooms are available to answer questions about the Oneida Community and their Mansion House, a National Historic Landmark. 
            Melanie Zimmer, storyteller, will be in the Lounge -- also the locale of the Bake Sale -- from 2:30 to 3 p.m. and 3:30 to 4 p.m. to entertain young visitors.  
The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the 93,000 square living museum houses residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org.