Things to do, places to eat, shows to see, places to stay in Madison County, NY      

Magic Carpets….Genis….Adventure, it’s all live in the theater production of Aladdin. Aladdin, the magic Geni, and cast perform the live family theater production of Aladdin on Friday, August 5 at 6:30pm. The Palace Theater and the Colgate Bookstore (both located in Hamilton) are proud to co-present this all-time favorite performed by Merry Go Round Youth Theatre.

Bring your blanket and a light dinner to have a special indoor picnic (no ants or storm clouds) while you enjoy the live show. Tables (seating 10) and chairs are available, but limited for sharing. The hour long show starts at 6:30pm and the doors open at 6pm. After the performance meet the cast for autographs and photos. Tickets are $5 per person or $15 for a family of 4 or more. Reservations are suggested.  The Colgate Bookstore will also have themed books for sale.

The Palace Theater, an intimate performing arts center, presents their 5th season of live national acts featuring Capitol Steps, Girls Night; the Musical, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Are You My Mother?, Beauty and the Beast, The Odd Couple, Ode to Chocolate, and Twelve Angry Men.  Visit www.palacetheater.org or call 315.824.1420 to learn more about Aladdin or the future season’s shows.

It was a fairly busy weekend in Madison County with the kick off of Buy Local Week, the long running Lorenzo Driving Competition and everything else that we try to pack into a summer weekend here in Central New York State.  Here is a bit of the coverage of this past weekends events.  Enjoy!
The Story Behind Chittenango Creek's Catch and Release Fishing Section (Post Standard/Syracuse.com) Anglers noticed something different along an almost two-mile stretch of the world famous trout stream.  A new section was named catch and release only.

Fourth Annual Buy Local Week Kicks Off (YNN)
Buy Local Week on Today in Central NY (cnycentral.com)
Fresh! Gala Opens Madison County's Celebration of Agriculture (Post Standard/Syracuse.com) All of these stories focus on yesterday's Fresh! Gala and the upcoming Buy Local Week highlighting agriculture in Central New York and Madison County.

Horses, Drivers Compete at Lorenzo (Post Standard/Syracuse.com) This is a signature event for Equine Alley and it has been bringing visitors to Madison County and Cazenovia for over 30 years.

A Very Cool Picture of an old Rail Road Car Names "Chittenango Falls" Look into the discussion thread below the picture to learn about the car and rail road history in Upstate New York.
Dutch Girl Teams Up with the Imaginary Farmer (Madison County Courier) I love the headline as it sounds like the name of a book or something, but the story is a good story about small farmers working together to make their business work.

Morrisville State College Shows off Roadster at Syracuse Nationals (Oneida Daily Dispatch) The Syracuse Nationals is a big time summer event just 25 minutes from Madison County . This year Morrisville State students built and then raffled off a roadster to a lucky winner.

Slater Brothers Entertainment’s Hamilton International Film Festival (HIFF), founded by brothers Wade, Grant and Todd Slater, whose father, Terry Slater, was the head hockey coach at Colgate University for 15 years, is returning for a 3rd year with an impressive all star line up of films, charity themed events and parties.

The Festival is set to take place August 4th – 7th, 2011. The brother’s efforts to bring back top international films, award winning directors, and academy nominated actors is based on their  desire to expand the arts and film awareness in Central New York. This year’s festival also has screenings dedicated to organizations and charities close to the brother’s hearts, including Thursday night, August 4th screening at the Hamilton Movie Theater where 100% of proceeds will be dedicated by SBE to Hamilton Central School.

Through the Film Festival, the Slater brothers aim to bring a piece of Hollywood back to the area they proudly grew up in and provide a platform to recognize local area talent and advance the careers of aspiring filmmakers. Supported by the town of Hamilton, NY and Colgate University, this year’s festival will have some of the biggest filmmakers and entertainment companies in attendance. The first film will be screened at 7pm on Thursday night at the Hamilton theater and events will continue throughout the weekend, capped off with a festival closing night party and guest DJ at the newly renovated Colgate Inn in downtown Hamilton.  

Todd Slater’s announcement of the line up and scheduled filmmakers set to appear came with great excitement, “This year we wanted to get the best films possible for our festival so we reached out to some of the world’s best international film festivals, including Cannes, Toronto and Tribeca, and we got an incredible response. We feel very fortunate to have award winning selections as well as many of the directors, producers and stars attending who are responsible for them. My brothers and I started this festival week to give back to the area we grew up in. We couldn’t think of a better way to promote the arts of Central New York than by hosting this annual event.”