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Long known as one of the best restaurants in CNY, the Brewster Inn, in Cazenovia has a take-out deal for you this St. Patrick's Day. For only $50 you can take home a traditional Irish dinner and enjoy it at your kitchen table.  They meals include corned beef, new chef potatoes, braised cabbage, onions and carrots, stone ground mustard, stretch bread and Irish mint brownies.  Call the inn at 315-655-9232 and place your order and it will be ready for pick-up at your convenience between 4 and 7 on the 17th.  Dinner for 4 for $50 plus tax!  Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Brewster Inn!

 
 
As found this morning on the Madison County Courier website:

Just because it’s winter doesn’t mean that Central New Yorkers can’t enjoy locally-produced foods. Meadowood Farms and Circa Restaurant of Cazenovia have organized a “Fourth Saturday” Winter Farmers’ Market.
On Saturday Feb. 27, from 9 a.m. to noon, a group of local producers will gather at Circa Restaurant to sell their farm-raised products. Meadowood Farms will offer pasture-raised lamb and beef, wool blankets and sheepskins. They will be joined by several other local producers, including Ingallside Meadows Farm, selling pastured pork, beef, and eggs; Dutch Girl Cheese, selling artisan goat and cow’s milk cheeses; and Owen Tallman, selling gourmet mushrooms.
In addition, Alambria Springs of Lebanon will share information about their Community Supported Agriculture program.
Bee Tolman, manager of Meadowood Farms, explains that in past winters, her customers have had to come to the farm to pick up their lamb and beef.
“They risked life and limb, leaving the tropics of Cazenovia and Manlius, to brave the blasts of frozen precipitation up here on the ridge,” Tolman said. “Now our customers can pick up their meat in a warm place, even relax and have a cup of Alicyn’s coffee if they’d like.”
Furthermore, she says, it’s a nice environment for the farmers in the winter.
“Winter can be isolating,” Tolman said. “Now we get to chat with one another. I talk to Daniel [of Ingallside Meadows] about his pasture management and visit with Renata about her experiences making incredible cheese.”
Circa Restaurant’s chef and owner, Alicyn Hart, has long been a supporter of locally-produced food, Tolman said. All of the farmers at the Fourth Saturday market also supply her restaurant with menu ingredients.
“I like hosting this market because it offers my customers and the larger community an opportunity to meet the farmers who grow our food,” Hart said. “It’s an extension of the farm-to-fork initiative that I’ve been part of for the last four years.”
The Fourth Saturday Winter Farmers’ Market at Circa Restaurant will also be held Saturday, March 27 and Saturday, April 24, from 9 a.m. to noon. Circa Restaurant is located on Main Street by the traffic light in the center of Cazenovia.
The farmers at this new market invite everyone to come and discover the variety of local farm products available, even in the depths of winter.
 
 
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A story in today's Post Standard says that closing the state parks will have little impact on the state's budget deficit.  Due to lost tax revenue we still think it will have the opposite effect.

Syracuse, NY -- State officials on Friday recommended closing dozens of state parks to fill New York’s budget gap, a move that would affect hundreds of thousands of Central New Yorkers and produce minimal savings.
The $6.3 million saved through proposed park closures would amount to a fraction of 1 percent of the state’s $8.2 billion budget gap.
On the same day state officials said they need to close the parks to make the state solvent, they gave millions of dollars in grants to private companies — more than enough money to save every park.
Gov. David Paterson and parks Commissioner Carol Ash announced Friday they want to close or reduce services at 64 state parks and 15 historic sites statewide. Central New York risks losing six parks, two beaches and two historic sites if the Legislature approves the plan. More than 300,000 people a year use the targeted parks in Central New York alone.
See a complete list of proposed park closures.
“In an environment when we have to cut funding to schools, hospitals, nursing homes and social services, no area of state spending — including parks and historic sites — could be exempt from reductions,” Paterson said.
 
 
The list of state parks slated for closure under the 2010 state budget proposed by Governor David A. Patterson is out this afternoon and two parks in Madison County are on the chopping block.  The Governor, has chosen to shutter Chittenango Falls State Park and Helen McNitt State Park along Cazenovia Lake.  Of course there is a long way to go before the state parks are officially closed, and the legislature has to approve the closings, but as of today you better get your last pictures of the falls before they are closed forever. 
You can rest assured that we here at Madison County Tourism will be pulling out all of the stops to try and stop the shut down of this regional icon, but with the state budget for 2010 it is a crap shoot as to how successful we will be.  Do you want to help?  Contact your state representative, and tell them a personal story about your time at a state park and how important the parks are to our quality of life and economic future in Upstate New York.
 
 
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The 2010 New York State Budget as submitted by Governor David A. Patterson deals a near fatal blow to the NYS Parks System.  Already beset by rising costs and a budget that has been cut by more than 30% over the past 3 years, the parks are facing an additional $29 million in cuts for 2010.  This level of cuts would be unsustainable and parks will have to close along with state historic sites.  In Madison County that means parks such as Chittenango Falls State Park and Lorenzo State Historic Site in Cazenovia could both be shuttered forever, or at least until the state gets its financial house back in order.
Besides providing jobs and years of enjoyment and memories for visitors, these parks have a financial impact on our communities.  People from all over Central New York visit Chittenango Falls to hike its gorge, and use its facilities.  Those visitors spend money in our shops, at our gas stations and in our restaurants.  Many a person has taken the autumn drive down route 13 to see the falls and then continued on for a nice lunch or dinner in Cazenovia or Chittenango.  We will keep you updated in this space about the potential closings, and if you are concerned please contact your legislator with a personal story about what NYS parks mean to you.  Here is a story from today's Post Standard with more information on the potential cuts.
 
 
The Stone Quarry Hill Art Park wants to see the way you see the Art Park every season of the year. You are cordially invited to take part in the 2011 Art Calendar and Exhibition Project by registering and presenting your personal photographic vision of the Art Park to the Stone Quarry Hill Art and Exhibition Committee.

Beginning now and continuing through October 2010, you may come to the Art Park once or numerous times and photograph the environs and the art. The Art and Exhibition Committee will select the monthly seasonal photos for inclusion in our 2011 Art Park Calendar. In addition, every photographer that is registered will have at least one photograph in an Art Park Gallery exhibition scheduled to open on Sunday July 24, 2011 and continuing through August 14, 2011 in the Winner Art Gallery located on the Art Park grounds.

You can register by printing this document, filling out the form below, cutting it as indicated and mailing it, with a check for $35, $25 for Art Park members, to:

Stone Quarry Hill Art Park 3883 Stone Quarry Road  PO Box 251 Cazenovia, New York 13035.

As soon as your registration has been received you may begin photographing the Art Park.  Please send a maximum of three digital images in the third week of the month you are photographing via email to: office@stonequarryhillartpark.org

The Art and Exhibition Committee will make their decision on the winners for that particular season and the winning images will be posted on our web site the following month. You will be notified of the committee's selection of your photo for the exhibition by April 2011. Calendar photos for November and December will be selected from our archives.

Thank you and we look forward to seeing you at the Art Park.
 
 
Skiing can be hard on the wallet, but this winter when you stay at select inns and B&B's in Madison County, you can ski all day long at Toggenburg in Fabius for $25.  Great country inns such as the Brewster Inn or Brae Loch Inn in Cazenovia headline this special, but there is a price point available for every family.  Other participating accommodations include Graziano's World Famous Inn, The Lincklaen House, The Octagon B&B, Colgate Inn and Notleymere Cottage.  You won't find a better way to save money on the slopes this season.  All of the details can be found here.
 
 
I know it and you know it, Christmas Shopping is not always fun for men.  This Thursday, however, men have the chance to win a flat screen TV and get all of their holiday shopping done in Cazenovia.  It is the annual Men's night and it runs from 6pm-9pm.  The shops will be open late, and the deals will be very hot.  At 9pm, join your friends for a night cap at the Lincklaen House.  Someone's name will be drawn to win a flat screen TV.  It is all in Cazenovia, Thursday December 10, 2009.  See you there.
 
 
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Barbara Rumrill Dahn - 'Frost on the Pond'
Are you looking for unique and affordable holiday gifts?  A silent auction of donated art scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 12 from 1 to 4 p.m., at the Cazenovia College Art Gallery, features original art created by Cazenovia College students, faculty and staff members, and artists in the community. 
The art gallery is located in Reisman Hall, Cazenovia College’s art and design building, located at the corner of Sullivan and Seminary Streets in Cazenovia. Refreshments will be served.
Among the artists represented at the auction are Amber Blanding, of Amber Waves of Glass (www.amberwavesofglass.com); Anita Welych, professor of art at Cazenovia College;  a number of other faculty members and many students.
Those wishing to donate art works, jewelry, sculpture, and other items to be auctioned, may deliver the items to the lobby located at Reisman Hall’s Seminary Street entrance, on Monday, Dec. 7, from 5 to 10 p.m. Potential donors may also e-mail bnmoore@cazenovia.edu to arrange another delivery time and location.
Auction organizers are Caroline Locatelli, a senior studio art major from Gloversville, N.Y., and Brittany Moore, a studio art major specializing in photography, from Alton Bay, N.H. Locatelli and Moore, students in the College’s Arts in the Community class, are undertaking the auction as a class project. Moore says, “We wanted to do something for a local organization that would both benefit people and bring the community and the College together.”
Purchases at the silent auction will benefit the Two Smiles One Hope Foundation Inc., a tax exempt public charity based in Fayetteville, N.Y., dedicated to funding research to discover effective treatments, and to find a cure for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Please e-mail bnmoore@cazenovia.edu for more information about the auction, or to donate to the cause. For information about Two Smiles One Hope, visit www.twosmilesonehope.com.
Cazenovia College, named one of “America’s Best Colleges” by US News & World Report, is a small, independent, co-educational, baccalaureate college.  Located near Syracuse, N.Y., Cazenovia College offers a comprehensive liberal arts education in an exceptional community environment, with academic and co-curricular programs devoted to developing leaders in their professional fields.  For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu.
 
 
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Photo by Christian Phillips Photography
The seasonal sounds and joy of Christmas at Lorenzo will once again be filling the air in Cazenovia this year beginning on Wednesday, December 16 and running through Sunday, December 20, 1-4 pm daily.  Additionally, Christmas by Candlelight will be staged on Friday, December 18 from 7-9 p.m. and sleigh rides (weather dependent) will be also available to and from the be-decked Rippleton Schoolhouse on Family Day, Sunday, December 20.   
With generous program support from The Friends of Lorenzo and the artistry of volunteer decorators, the Neoclassical mansion will be abounding in “Christmas Carol-themed” decorations throughout—and in the spirit of giving, more than 25 volunteer docents will be assisting staff with tours. Whether dreaming of a “White Christmas” or walking in a “Winter Wonderland,” guests will enjoy a number of favorite holiday carols interpreted in spirited decorations by Dan McCann of Five Seasons, Susan Anthony, Nancy and Elizabeth Whiting,  Jill Gates, Nancy Hook, Sara Mitchell, Wendy Van Der Bogart, Sydney Regan, Priscilla Arthur, Diane Voss and Jackie Vivirito. Festive greenery and decorations throughout the site have also been provided by The Cazenovia Garden Club. Another special feature of Christmas at Lorenzo this year includes a display of vintage and collectible dolls from an extensive private collection. A favorite among patrons, wassail and peanut brittle will also be served daily in the kitchen. And guests will also have the opportunity to win Kit, an American Girl Doll and companion book, and a decorative “suitcase” packed with unique gifts and seasonal items from the Lorenzo gift shop.
During the weekend festivities, Friday evening’s Christmas by Candlelight will feature American holiday standards by the John Rohde Jazz Trio; the Belle Aire Handbell Trio will delight visitors on Saturday; and the Bells and Motley Consort will offer the sounds of a “Merry Olde Christmas” on Sunday’s Family Day.  The Friends of Lorenzo will also host a holiday open house on Family Day at the Schoolhouse--replete with live music, holiday crafts and refreshments—and round-trip sleigh rides by Lamplit Farms will also be sponsored by The Friends. Mary Jeanne Bialas, of Victorian Whispers, will present “Over the River and Through the Woods: A 19th C Holiday Journey” on Family Day, and a jolly Father Christmas and holiday music by John Wisniewski will be welcoming patrons at the Visitor Center during Friday night, Saturday and Sunday hours.  
A modest admission price is charged for a holiday visit to Lorenzo--and during weekdays, beginning December 8th, group tours of 12 or more may also be arranged by advance reservation only. A vast array of distinctive gift-giving items is also available for purchase at the museum gift shop throughout Christmas at Lorenzo hours. For more information, please call (315) 655-3200 or visit www.lorenzoNY.org.