(Chittenango, NY – Feb. 2012) The Oz-Stravaganza Committee announced last week 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 p.m. Saturday, June 2. In addition, he will be part of the Friday, June 1, 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 1 through 3. Visit oz-stravaganza.com for 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.

Colgate University Bookstore Marketing Coordinator Heather Elia selects books and films for each ‘season’ of the Hamilton Book and Movie Club, a popular program offered in partnership with Hamilton Theater.

(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 2012 ) Heather Elia kicks off the discussion with the Hamilton Book and Movie Club, gathered in the community room on the third floor of the Colgate University Bookstore, across the street from the Hamilton Theater where the group has just finished seeing The Help, this month’s feature in the current Book and Movie Club season.

The group, numbering 19 today, enjoys a light dinner while they digest the film and exchange views on how this film and book compare to an earlier Book and Movie Club feature, To Kill a Mockingbird.

“Both are controversial,” offers Peter Darby.  “I grew up during the civil rights era, so The Help really hit home for me.”  Darby, a self employed contractor, is a first time participant at the monthly screenings and one of three men in the group tonight.  He joined for the varied offerings and lively discussion, even though he admits to not having quite finished the book before seeing tonight’s movie.

“Emma Stone was wonderful as Skeeter,” says Linda Khan, a county foster care supervisor. “So was the woman who played Abileen.  Wasn’t she a stage actor, too?”  Heather goes to her iPad and quickly reports that Viola Davis won a Tony Award for her stage role in the 2010 production of Fences.

Now in its seventh year, the Hamilton Book and Movie Club is a program initiated by the University Bookstore in partnership with the Hamilton Theater.  Both entities are owned by Colgate, which in the last decade has made a major commitment to revitalizing the downtown of this college community of 3,000 residents.

The Book and Movie Club features four ‘seasons’ per year.  For each three month season, Bookstore marketing Coordinator Elia selects three books and accompanying movies, centered around a common theme.  The theme of the current season is ‘Down South’, featuring The Help, Fried Green Tomatoes and Cold Mountain.

She says the most popular season was “Sibling Rivalry,” featuring Atonement, The Other Bolin Girl and East of Eden.  For “What’s Cooking?” several cub members made something from the Julia Childs Cookbook and brought it to the post-film discussion following Julie and Julia, which was featured along with Chocolat and Water for Chocolate.

Members read the featured book in advance, then meet at 5:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month to see that month’s film, followed by discussion at the Bookstore located conveniently across the street.  A light dinner is catered by Curtain Call, a sandwich shop located in the Hamilton Theater building.

The Book and Movie Club offers two subscription plans.  The Full Subscription includes three books, movie admissions and dinners for a three month season. The Basic Subscription includes movie admissions and dinners without the books. Currently, there are 12 Full Subscribers and 10 Basic Subscribers.  Elia says average membership is fairly steady at about 25 or so each season.

“We have a lot of teachers, but overall it’s a pretty varied group including recent college grads and retirees,” says Elia.  “The discussion is fun.  Sometimes people just jump in and start talking.  I try to bring trivia and discussion questions for each discussion.”

Elia cites a few key factors in the success of the program.

“This started out as a free program, but having people buy in is better,” Elia said. “Breaking it up into three month seasons avoids the pressure of committing for a whole year, and is good for snowbirds and others who aren’t here all year long.”  She said the weekday timing at 5:30 seems to work well for most.

Eight years ago, the Hamilton Movie House was a fading first run theater with three screens, an absentee owner, peeling paint and an aging furnace. The theater was on the verge of boarding up the doors when Colgate University stepped in to prevent having a vacant eyesore in the center of the village.

Located in an historic 1895 opera house, Hamilton Theater has re-emerged as a vibrant centerpiece of community life, offering not only first run films but a weekly independent film series, European opera, two free children’s series, midnight movies, silent film, free educational programming for area schools, movies under the stars, Sensory Friendly screenings, its own film festival- and a popular Book and Movie Club.

“This is a great example of coordinated programming,” said Elia.  “The Bookstore, the theater and Curtain Call all contribute to provide the community with an innovative program not always available in a small community like ours.”

“It’s wonderful,” said Sherry Wright, a regular subscriber as she polished off tonight’s dessert, a Curtain Call brownie.  “I love the chance to get together, see the films and discuss with friends.”

(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 2012) Students from Pinney’s American Karate School performed an exhibition before last Saturday’s screening of Kung Fu Panda 2, sponsored by the Hamilton Central School Teachers’ Association.

This week’s feature in the Alliance Bank Children’s Matinee series on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 12:30 p.m. is Tooth Fairy, sponsored by Reality Check. Admission is free.

Dave Evans, director of Nelson Farms, left, and Amanda Hewitt, right, product development manager, pose with Cazenovia resident and entrepreneur, Bob Rose, middle, at Nelson Farms.

 Pictured is Bob Rose’s Thermal Bar. (Photos by Nicolas Murphy)

Morrisville State College News

By Franci Valenzano

(Morrisville, NY – Feb. 2012) You’ve heard about performance bars that give you energy and boost endurance. How about one that’ll keep you warm too?

Introducing the Thermal Bar—an edible performance energy product that enhances circulation to combat the cold. It’s the mastermind of Cazenovia resident Bob Rose, an avid outdoorsman who came up with the idea to help him stay warm while enjoying his favorite activities.

After a frigid day of ice climbing, Rose decided to take his venture into his own kitchen to experiment. He first researched spices that warm the body, then bought and cooked them up into different recipes.

When numerous trials started to produce desired results, Rose reached out for help to fine tune his recipe and move Thermal Bar into the production phase.

He turned to Nelson Farms—an entrepreneurial agri-business incubator and food processing facility, operated by Morrisville State College, that helps budding entrepreneurs turn their ideas into marketable products.

He signed on to become a client and was soon working alongside Amanda Hewitt, product development manager.

In October, Rose’s high-energy bar packed with organic grains, nutrients, anti-oxidants, omega acids and spices hit the shelves at 68 Eastern Mountain Sports stores throughout the country.

He’s heating up the shelves locally too, selling Thermal Bar at the Nelson Farms Country Store, at Buyea’s True Value Hardware on Albany Street in Cazenovia, and in the snack bar at Highland Forest County Park in Fabius. They are also available through the Thermal Bar website at thermalbar.com.

Becoming a business owner wasn’t in the plan for Rose who grew up in Syracuse and after college, pursued a career as an engineer. He joined the National Guard in 1968 and become a pilot flying fighter jets, then later piloted planes for Delta Airlines, before officially retiring in 2007.

But sitting idle has never been in the cards for the 65-year-old adventurer who’s still getting used to his role running a business.

“I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit,” Rose said. “I’m an inventor and a dreamer and I had this idea (Thermal Bar) that I couldn’t ever give up.”

There were others who shared his tenacity. Among them, Nelson Farms, who he credits with taking his “out of the box” idea under its wing and working with him so it could take flight.

“You would not see my product on the shelves if it wasn’t for Nelson Farms,” Rose said. “Not once did anyone say it wasn’t possible or that I couldn’t do it. They jumped into the project with nothing but support and 100 percent encouragement all of the way.”

“We were working on three things at once: the flavor, warming effect, and making it something that would work with our equipment,” said Hewitt who’s been a part of the facility that’s helped nearly 600 businesses bring more than 400 products to market.

Hewitt, a graduate of Morrisville State College’s dietetic technician program, helped Rose tweak the recipe, working on scientific formulas and the taste. Additional staff at Nelson Farms also provided assistance along the way.

That support never waned even when Rose’s product exceeded Nelson Farms’ equipment capacity.

“We are very proud to assist our clients from the very start to finish to where they are able to get their products produced, packaged and into the marketplace and onto the store shelves,” Dave Evans, director of Nelson Farms, said. “But in this case, to meet these challenges to produce and package this very unique and unusual product, we did not have the exact equipment and therefore could not “fine tune” the product totally for sale. So we recommended a person who could possibly get this accomplished.”

That person was food chemist Dr. Danny Chawan of Srim Enterprises LLC, who further advanced the formulation of Thermal Bar.

“We are very proud to have been instrumental in getting Bob started from the beginning and to be able to work and support him through these years to see his Thermal Bar become such a success,” Evans said.

Word is out about the 230-calorie bar, a mix of carbs, anti-oxidants, omegas and protein that also contains Thermal Blend, a special mix of healthy spices, including grains, soy protein, nuts and oats.

“The effect of our warming spices is the breakthrough element and the basis for our unique performance,” said Rose who consumes a bar whenever he’s ice climbing, ski mountaineering, fishing, or involved in an outside activity.

But outdoor sports enthusiasts aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the bar wrapped in vibrant red and orange packaging designed by Rose’s brother, Don Rose. It’s for anyone who spends a lot of time outside in the cold: construction workers, landscapers, EMTs, hunters, sports fans and anglers.

Rose’s plans for Thermal Bar are heating up and include adding more flavors to his apple cinnamon line and marketing it as product that’s nutritionally beneficial year-round.

Nelson Farms is a unique combination of a business incubator, food product processing facility and hands-on academic classroom. Structured as an LLC of the Morrisville Auxiliary Corporation (MAC), Nelson Farms assists entrepreneurs including Morrisville students and existing private firms with product development, small-scale food processing, marketing and sales and distribution, and is also a Pride of New York distributor for the entire state.

It is located between Cazenovia and Morrisville in the village of Nelson on Route 20 and the corner of Nelson Road.

Franci Valenzano is Public Relations and Nicolas Murphy is marketing assistant at Morrisville State College.

(Solsville, NY – Feb. 2012) Help the Madison County Drifters celebrate its fifth year with a chili cook-off party Saturday Feb. 25 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Hotel Solsville. You make it, we taste it. Prizes will be awarded; 50/50 raffle available. Entertainment provided by Tommy Hoe and The Barn Cats.

A $10 donation will be accepted. To enter your chili, or for more information, call Mike at 825-5044, Bob at 825-0255 or Barb at 495-2907.

(Cazenovia, NY –  Feb. 3, 2012) Live Space Entertainment, in association with Cazenovia College, presents SAMMY award-winning acoustic guitar standouts Loren Barrigar and Mark Mazengarb live on stage at Catherine Cummings Theatre, 16 Lincklaen St., in Cazenovia, on Saturday, Feb. 11, at 8 p.m.

Cazenovia-based band The Unstoppables will open the show.

Doors open at 7 p.m., and a cash bar is available. General admission is $15, Students, $5. Tickets are available at the door, by calling 315-655-STAR, at Cazenovia Jewelry and at Sound Garden in Armory Square.

Barrigar, a native of Central New York, and Mazengarb, from New Zealand, have teamed up to form an incredibly dynamic finger-picking guitar duo, winning the hearts of music fans across Upstate New York. They have now gotten the attention of fans and festivals around the globe.

After their Cazenovia “Bon Voyage” show, they head to the International Folk Alliance Music Conference in Memphis, Tenn., and then to the Cordes Sensibles Guitar Festival in Bordeaux, France. They follow that with a concert in Kaisersesch, Germany. Later this summer they will again headline at the Chet Atkins Festival in Nashville.

Both Barrigar and Mazengarb have been heavily influenced by the finger-style picking style of guitar greats such as Chet Atkins, Tommy Emmanuel and John Knowles.

Visit www.cazenovia.edu/theatre for more information about events at the Catherine Cummings Theatre at Cazenovia College.

(Oneida, NY – Feb. 2012) There will be a social dance on Sunday, Feb. 5 at the Greater Oneida Kallet Civic Center, 159 Main St., Oneida.  Music will be provided by DJ Dave, with a lesson from 6 to 7 p.m. and open dancing from 7 to 10 p.m.  Admission is $10 per person, and the dance is open to the public.

Please call the Kallet at 315 363-8525 if there are questions.

(Hamilton, NY – March 2012) The Palace Players are pleased to announce the cast for their upcoming production of Neil Simon’s comic masterpiece The Odd Couple.

Michael McCormack (Norwich) and Mark Walden (Hamilton) will portray Oscar Madison and Felix Ungar respectively. Vito Bolognone (Earlville), Christopher Farrell (Hamilton), Mason McDowell (Eaton), and Bruce Ward (Hamilton) will appear as Oscar and Madison’s poker buddies Speed, Vinnie, Roy, and Murray. Jan Webb Guistwite (Sherburne) and Shari Taylor (Earlville) will play Cecily and Gwendolyn Pigeon, Oscar’s upstairs neighbors.

Dominick Pangallo (Hamilton) directs the production, with stage management by Kate Reynolds (Sherburne) and set design by Colgate University student Andrada Danila (Class of 2015).

The Odd Couple will take the stage on Friday March 9 and Saturday March 10 at 8 p.m. and on Sunday March 11 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults (18 and older) and $8 for students (with ID). Reservations at palacetheater.org/tickets.php or by calling 315-824-1420 are highly recommended. Tickets may also be purchased at the Palace box office (Mondays-Fridays, 9am-4pm, and two hours prior to each show).

Seating is general admission and the house will open 30 minutes before show time.

(Oneida, NY – Feb. 2012) The Oneida Area Chapter 3328 will hold catered spaghetti dinner/meeting Feb. 8 at noon at St. Paul’s Methodist Church, Sayles Street.

There will also be a gift auction, members and guests are being asked to bring a wrapped gift for this part of the meeting program.

Highlighting this meeting, will be the crowning of “King and Queen” for the day. Chapter members and guests are asked to purchase dinner tickets at $8 each. Tickets can be purchased by calling Virginia Steward at 315-280-0089, prior to the date of this dinner/meeting.

Pictured are Jenni Larchar, Mason McDowell and Carl Pickett who will perform music from the 40s to the 60s at The Palace Theater Feb. 4.

(Hamilton, NY – Feb. 2012) The Palace Players announce an impromptu cabaret filled with nostalgic songs that celebrate musical favorites of the past. Flashback—Celebrate Music of the 40’s – 60’s is Saturday, Feb. 4 at 7pm. Three musicians come together for this rare treat: Jenni Larchar (Sherburne) is the lead vocalist, Mason McDowell (Lebanon) will tickle the 88’s on his electric piano, and Carl Pickett (Earlville) brings the sound home with his stand-up bass.

Jenni, Mason, and Carl are excited to perform together for Flashback and invite all of you to 70 plus minutes of entertainment. Enjoy tunes such as I’ve Got You Under My Skin, Star Dust, Georgia On My Mind, Someone to Watch Over Me, Blue Moon Taking a Chance on Love, and other timeless favorites.

The Colgate Inn will provide light drinks at a cash bar. Tickets are $10 and available at the door, but reservations are welcome. Seating is general admission, cabaret style (tables and chairs) and first come-first served. Doors open at 6:30pm.

The Palace Theater is located at 19 Utica St.

For more information, visit palacetheater.org.