_ Over the past three decades, thousands of patrons have enjoyed the sights, sounds and wonders of the holidays at Lorenzo. And as in years past, hundreds of hours of preparation and decorating have been invested in the 2011 celebration of “Christmas at Lorenzo.” In celebration, The Friends of Lorenzo will kick off the holiday season with their annual “Mansion Preview Party” on Thursday, December 1 from 6-8 pm.

“The Friends are very excited about this year’s party. We’ll be offering sleigh rides to the Mansion, fabulous live music, and great hors d’oeuvres and wine. And we will also sponsor a special raffle for a complete holiday table setting for eight. Attendees will be encouraged, too, to place a silent auction bid on one of the giclees we have reproduced from the incredible Lorenzo fine art collection. The “Preview Party” will be a great way to ring in the season,” offered chairwoman, Dianna  Slodowitz.

For more information about attending the “Preview Party,” please call Diane Voss at 655-3200; admission is $20 for Friends of Lorenzo members and $25 for non-members.  Public hours for “Christmas at Lorenzo” will be from 7-9 pm on Friday, December 9, and from 1-4 pm on Saturday and Sunday, December 10 & 11.



 
 
The Great Swamp Conservancy, Inc. will host a non-scary day of fun for children and parents onSunday October 23, and again on October 30 from 11 AM to 4 PM. The Great Halloween Fun Days will feature Halloween displays, games, crafts and fun activities during daylight hours geared for children with accompanying adults. Each child in costume will receive a trick or treat prize. The Good Witch will escort visitors through her house where she will be brewing up some creepy surprises. Other displays include a “petting zoo” with spiders, rats, bats and other creatures of the night, a frog pond, a bird sanctuary, and an underwater scene with giant fish. In the pumpkin patch children can talk to the Great Pumpkin and vote for their favorite jack-o-lantern. At Old McDonald’s Farm there’s a “horse” to ride and a corn-filled “sandbox” to play in.  Children can go into the Bat Cave, and crawl through the Giant Caterpillar. Every hour there will be an interactive story-telling presentation, and the breaking of a Halloween piñata. There will be a coloring contest with prizes awarded in each age group, along with stamping and face painting. A variety of games will test the children’s skills with prizes awarded, while the make-n-take crafts will encourage their creativity. Everyone will be offered free popcorn by costumed waiters. Lunch and other refreshments can be purchased at the Lady Bug Café. Weather permitting; visitors can go on a tractor-drawn hayride.

The Great Swamp Conservancy is located on North Main Street, three miles north of the village of Canastota. Suggested donation for admission to the Great Halloween Fun Day is $3.00 per child, ages 12 and under. Anyone accompanied by a child is free. Kids always have fun at the Great Swamp Conservancy.

 
 
Driving into work this morning, two hot air balloons were flying in the Peterboro/Munnsville area and it was a peaceful beautiful sight.  All weekend long the skies of Madison County will be filled with Hot Air Balloons as the third annual Balloons and Bounty festival comes to Wolf Oak Acres in Oneida. 
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The fun begins tonight when the festival grounds open at 4pm.  There will be a balloon glow at 7:45 and fireworks at 8pm.  The grounds then stay open until 10 for the flashlight corn maze and other farm activities.
Tomorrow morning bright and early 21 balloons will lift off from the launch field and fill the skies over Madison County.  Pilots from around the country are taking part in this event which continues to grow each year. 
All day long the festival fields will be open for the fall harvest festival.  There will be a farmer's market, wine tastings, and fun for the entire family.  There will also be live music all day long too.  The afternoon balloon launch begins at 4pm.
That same schedule repeats itself on Sunday and Monday, so there will be plenty of opportunities to see hot are balloons fill the skies. 
Check out the complete schedule of events, information on booking a flight and other activities at the farm.  The weather is perfect this weekend, so you have little excuse to miss all of the excitement of the annual Balloons and Bounty Festival at Wolf Oak Acres in Oneida.

 
 
Jazz in Caz begins tonight in Cazenovia with performances at the Brae Loch Inn.  Colleen Pratt and Friends will take the stage at 8pm.  Here is the full schedule of music over the next three days:

Thursday September 22nd  

8:00 p.m.         Colleen Pratt & Friends – outside on the Brae Loch lawn  (Brubeck Brothers & Henry Butler will be in attendance)

Friday September 23rd

7:30 p.m.         Brubeck Brothers Quartet – Chris Brubeck bass, Dan Brubeck drums, Mike DeMicco guitar, Chuck Lamb piano

9:15 p.m.         Henry Butler  

11:00 p.m.       JAZZ AFTER HOURS Seven Stone Steps/Lincklaen House with house band (New this year!) Evan Knight sax, Karl Sterling drums and Tom Witkowski piano.    Finger foods and cash bar and all musicians are welcome to jump in.                                     

Saturday September 24th

7:30 p.m.         Gap Mangione and the New Big Band

8:30 p.m.         Jimmy Van Heusen tribute with musical selections of Van Heusen’s performed by the Cazenovia College Singers ‘Swinging on A Star’, David Lowenstein ‘Tender Trap’& ‘Love and Marriage’ and Colleen Prossner ‘Imagination’, audience singing ‘High Hopes’

9:15 p.m.         Gap Mangione and the New Big Band second set

11:00 p.m.       JAZZ AFTER HOURS Seven Stone Steps/Lincklaen House with Jazz ‘N Caz house band (New this year!) Evan Knight sax, Ricki       Montalbano drums, Andy Carroll piano.  Finger foods and cash bar and all musicians welcome to jump in!             
 
 
he Phoenix Project Dance, performs Saturday, October 15 at 8pm and has performed with great success in Europe and America.Three signature pieces will highlight the essence of the dancers’ effortless strength, ability, and powerful elegance of movement.  Animal Farm explores the themes of dominance and oppression through movement. Liquid Matter will be a splash as the dancers play in water, exhibiting its various cycles. Brutte Force is the study of pushing, pulling, throwing, and smashing, demonstrating the trust between dancers. Tickets are available for $15 (adults 18+) and $10 (17-). Call 315.824.1420. Visit www.palacetheater.org to learn more about The Palace Theater, 19 Utica Street, Hamilton NY, 13346.

 
 
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The grapes are growing in preparation for the fall harvest at Owera Vineyards and the anticipation is building for an evening of celebration at the annual Taste of Cazenovia which will take place under the big tent at Owera Vineyards in Cazenovia on Wednesday, September 21st from 6-9 pm.  For 40 years, the community has supported and embraced the mission and work of the Cazenovia Children’s House.  Cazenovia Children’s House, a not-for-profit charitable organization, proudly provides quality early care and education to the children of Cazenovia and surrounding areas. The Taste of Cazenovia is the largest fundraiser for the Children’s House and all proceeds support programming and tuition assistance for qualifying families with financial need.

 

This year’s Taste is generously hosted by our Valued Partner, Owera Vineyards and Presented by Willowbank Company, L.LC.  Event sponsors: Bryant & Stratton, Dannible & McKee, L.L.P., East Lake Designs - Maggie Borio, Ecologic LLC, Marquardt Switches, Inc., Key Bank, Pelco Component Technologies and GHD; Entertainment Sponsor: The Noisy Boys; Media Sponsors: Eagle Newspapers, Oneida Daily Dispatch, Southern Madison County Living and Table-Hopping Newspapers; Graphic Design Sponsor: bzdesign; Printing Sponsor: Avalon Printing Services.

 
 
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Stone Quarry Hill Art Park is proud to offer to the Central New York community an exhibition of exquisite original limited edition prints by some of the world’s most important and renowned late 20th and 21st century artists. Each print is represented in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art (New York, NY), as well as other major museums in the world.

The Opening Reception of New York Prints of Mind welcomes guests on Sunday, October 2, 3:00pm – 5:00pm, in the John and Virginia Winner Memorial Art Gallery of Stone Quarry Hill Art Park. The exhibition continues through November 27. Gallery hours are Tuesday – Sunday from Noon to 5:00pm. Members and children under 12 are free. Non-members pay a $5 entrance fee at the exhibition and $5 to park their car.

New York Prints of Mind creates a visual dialogue of artists’ prints, including work by Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Helen Frankenthaler, Susan Rothenberg and others, from Universal Limited Art Editions (ULAE), a fine art print publisher established in 1957, which sparked a revival of printmaking in America. Today, ULAE continues to collaborate with artists to publish small edition prints and artists' books.

“It is with great enthusiasm that we present this work created by many of the important artists of our time. They illuminate themes and images spanning six decades, held in print through the initiative of Tatyana Grosman, founder of Universal Limited Art Editions, ” commented exhibition curator and Executive Director Joseph A. Scala.

 For more information, contact Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, 3883 Stone Quarry Road, Cazenovia, NY 13035, +1.315.655.3196, office@stonequarryhillartpark.org, http://www.stonequarryhillartpark.org


 
 
So you've been to the great big beer fests where you find a lot of fizzy yellow beer, overpriced food and too many people crammed into a smoke filled events center, right?  That sounds like it might be fun, or maybe not.  We here at Madison County Tourism have the cure for the common beer fest. How about an outdoor, fall festival with local and regional CRAFT beer companies.  Buy local and drink local right?  That's what you are going to find at today's Hop Fest in Oneida.  Over 2-dozen local and regional breweries will be on hand to offer samples of their beers.  A good time should be had by all.  Here is the list of brewers and the beers that will be available today at Hop Fest in Oneida.

Cooperstown- (6 styles)-Backyard India Pale Ale, Nine Man Golden Ale, Benchwarmer Porter, Pride of Milford Special Ale, Old Slugger Pale Ale, Strike Out Brown Ale

Landmark Brewing- (2 styles)  and German Beer- Haufbrauhaus

FX Matt-Saranac- (2 styles) Octoberfest, Pumpkin Ale

Middle Ages- (3 styles)

Empire Brewing Co.- (2 styles) Empire State Pale Ale, Empire IPA

Sackets Harbor Brewing Co. –War of 1812 Amber Ale

Cortland Beer  (2 styles)

Ithaca (2 styles)

Sam Adams- (5 Styles)Boston Lager, Octoberfest, Angry Orchard Cider:crisp, Traditional Dry, and Apple Ginger

Keegan’s Mother’s Milk

Butternuts Heinineweise

Threeheads Blimey English Pale Ale

Doc’s Pear Cider Draft

Bluepoint Blueberry

Magic Hat #9

Ommegang Belgian Independence Day

Brooklyn Lager

Southern Tier Imperial Pale Lager

Yuengling Porter

McSorleys

Blue Moon Pumpkin

Woodchuck
 
 
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Stone Quarry Hill Art Park, a unique, outdoor sculpture park, features the 2011 Artist in Residence Walking Tour and Lecture by the artists at the sites of their new installations. The tour will be held Sunday, September 25, from 1:00pm - 4:30 pm, followed by a Meet the Artists Reception from 5:00pm - 7:00pm in the Art Park's - Art Barn. A golf cart will be available for handicapped persons.

The artists include: Diane Banks (Harrisonburg, VA), Sheila Crider (Washington, DC), Peter Forbes (Syracuse, NY), Alice Momm (New York, NY), Bill Schuck (Brooklyn, NY), Laura Smith (Pine Island, NY), Jenny Hillenbrand (Rochester,NY), and Howie Sneider (Providence, RI).

"The talented artists accepted into our program live at the Art Park during the summer months, while crafting their works which become a permanent contribution to our beautiful landscape of art in nature." explained Executive Director Joseph A. Scala.

Artist in residence Howie Sneider, a Public Project Director at the Steel Yard, Providence, RI, commented, "The physical landscape of Stone Quarry Hill with its sculptures, presents a unique combination of stewardship and philanthropy.  It encourages public discourse on both the artistic and natural worlds. I'm honored to, complement this innovative collection with my work, Outcropping."


 
 
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The Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee announces plans for the 20th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend to be held on June 9 and 10, 2012. The annual event coincides with the Sesquicentennial of the Civil War commemorated throughout the nation. Peterboro had a pivotal role in the ignition of the Civil War because of Gerrit Smith, who was an influential leader in anti-slavery efforts – a movement that led to the Civil War. Smith’s support of John Brown caused a direct ignition of the Civil War.

For two decades the Peterboro encampment has demonstrated many aspects of military and civilian life in the mid-1800s. In recent years exhibits and programs on abolition and the Underground Railroad have been added. The committee plans to develop more programs in 2012 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.