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

_ The Oz-Stravaganza! committee is proud and honored to announce that Gregory Maguire will serve as Grand Marshal of the 34th annual  Oz-Stravaganza! parade, themed "The Wonderful Witches of Oz", which kicks off at 2:00 PM Saturday June 2nd.

_In addition he will be part of the Friday June 1st kickoff program at Chittenango High School. Many new and exciting guests and events as well as the longtime favorites will be part of Oz weekend, June 1st - 3rd. Check in often at: www.oz-stravaganza.com to keep up to date with the latest information.

Many  Oz-Stravaganza! sponsorship opportunities are available, contact Colleen Zimmer at 315-415-8546 or colleen@oz-stravaganza.com for further information.

Come join the fun on Sunday November 27th at 4:00 when the Syracuse Silver Knights take on the Baltimore Blast at the Oncenter War Memorial in Syracuse for a fast paced professional indoor soccer game. Adult tickets cost $15 and youth tickets are $13. The Siver Knights have reached out to the Oz-Stravaganza!/"All Things Oz" organization and  $2 from every ticket the Oz committe sells will be given to the organization to support the "All Things Oz" exhibit in Chittenango. Please contact any Oz committee member to purchase tickets or call 315 333 2286 or email marc@oz-stravaganza.com. Further information can be found at:
www.oz-stravaganza.com.

To all of our Oz friends and supporters~~~~We have started an "It Takes Two" campaign to support the "All Things Oz" exhibit in Chittenango~~~~~~please support us by sending $2 ( payable to GSACC ) and mail it to: Oz-Stravaganza! "It Takes Two", Village of Chittenango, 222 Genesee St, Chittenango Y 13037~~~~~~questions: 315 415 8546~~~~if everyone who receives this sends their $2~~~~~and then forwards this to their friends~~~~Chittenango, NY, birthplace of L. Frank Baum, author of the "Wonerful Wizard of Oz" will have a permanent museum~~~~thank you!!!!

A great day for golf here in Madison County.  Weather today looks like it is headed for the low to mid 80's.  Summertime is such a nice reward for our sometimes brutal winters.  There are a few links and stories out there this morning to share with you, so without further ado, here we go:

A good story and some nice video of the Peterboro Civil War Weekend (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
The Madison County Courier is celebrating local business this week (Madison County Courier)
The Barnwell County, SC paper has a blurb about local residents who attended Oz-Stravaganza! in Chittenango (The People Sentinel)
I Love NY wants to know what your summer vacation plans are (I Love NY Facebook Page)
The Chittenango Rotary will be hosting a Brazilian Dinner (Madison County Courier)
Boxing Hall of Famer Larry Holmes will get his diploma (The Morning Call)
Plans continue for 40th annual antique show (Auction Central News)
The Red House will be performing Shakespeare in the park Sunday in Cazenovia. (syracuse.com)

Things are settling down a little bit from the busy past weekend here in Madison County.  Here are some things of note from the interwebs on a Tuesday morning:
Cartoonist Eric Shanower blogs about his recent visit to Chittenango and the Oz-Stravaganza! (Hungry Tiger Talk)
Author Paul Miles Schneider gives his take on his visit to Oz-Stavaganza too! (Silver Shoes)
Trout Unlimited stocks local streams (Madison County Courier)
A nice recap of the Boxing Hall of Fame Weekend (SecondsOut Boxing News.)
Canastota gets a shout out in the ESPN Power Rankings this week (ESPN.com)
Another recap of this weekends events in Canastota (HuffingtonPost.com)

We going to try a little something new at the blog this summer.  With so many great events, and so many news stories out there, we are going to open the week with a link dump of all sorts of information.  This may happen once a week, it may happen every day, but we will start with today.  A lot of great links in the great big internet involving Madison County today from this past weekend.  Enjoy!
Oz-Stravaganza! takes over Chittenango (Syracuse Post Standard)
Mike Tyson Set to be inducted to Boxing Hall of Fame (NY Daily News)
Civil War Commemorations Come to Madison County (Syracuse Post Standard)
Bouckville Show to Last One Week (Utica Observer Dispatch)
Fiber Fair this Weekend (Syracuse Post Standard)
Children Channel Wizard of Oz (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
Fiber Fair in Bouckville (Oneida Daily Dispatch)
Reenactments Commemorate Civil War (syracuse.com)
Stallone and his Induction to the Boxing Hall (examiner.com)

What better way is there to spend a Friday, then hitting the links and playing in a golf tournament?  Registration is now open for foursomes who would like to play in the annual Emerald City Classic Golf Tournament on Friday June 3, 2011 at Woodcrest Golf Course.

The tournament kicks off the annual Oz-Stravaganza! weekend and features 18 holes of golf with a 9:00 am shotgun start.  Players will have the opportunity to win $10,000 by hitting a hole in one, and many other prizes will be up for grabs at the tournament.  The golfing will be followed by a buffet lunch, silent auction, raffles and more. 

The proceeds from this year’s tournament will go to support the on-going Oz-Stravaganza! activities and to help promote tourism in Madison County.  Madison County Tourism, Inc. is proud to partner with the Oz-Stravaganza! committee to host the 2011 Emerald City Classic.  People travel from across the country to Chittenango to celebrate the life and works of our native son, L. Frank Baum.  Oz-Stravaganza! is part of an overall great summer of events in Madison County. 

Tourism is one of the largest industries in New York State and provides employment opportunities for over 3,000 of our residents. Visitors to Madison County spent over $73 million in the county last year and the tourism industry contributed over $4.5 million in taxes to the county     coffers.  The tourism industry saves the average tax paying household $150 each year in county taxes.

Cost to participate is $65 a person and $260 for the entire foursome.  Registration forms may be downloaded at www.oz-stravaganza.com or you can call Madison County Tourism at 315-684-7320 to register as well. 

The 2011 Emerald City Classic Golf Tournament will take place on Friday June 3, 2011 at Woodcrest Golf Club in Chittenango.  Sponsorship and registration is now open to golfers who want to experience one of the best golf views in all of Central New York.  The tournament benefits the annual Oz-Stravaganza Festival which celebrates the legendary L. Frank Baum and his Oz stories.  Click below to download the registration and sponsorship packet.