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• The Enchanted Elbridge • In & Around Syracuse • Taste Buds and Wine? by Dennis DeRado
September
2021
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Watercolor Artist Cheryl Chalmers Illustrator and fine artist draws inspiration from the stunning landscapes of CNY
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Gem and Mineral Society of Syracuse Replacement Show, Sept. 25-26
Gem society rocks its 70th anniversary with show featuring rock, gem, mineral, fossil, and jewelry vendors and fun for all ages
A down-home, old-fashioned farm offering U-Pick apples, fresh cider, farm store, wagon rides, and all kinds of fall fun
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Content, Editorial and Publishing Team: Principal, Graphic Design Scott Hopko Principal, Photography Roger William Theise Copy Editor Sophia Marko Advertising Sales James Robinson, Accounts Executive 315-863-7432 jameslocalmarketing@gmail.com Advertising Design Brandon Buchanan
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Cheryl Chalmers, Illustrator and Fine Artist
Contributing Writers Dennis DeRado All content © 2021 What’s HOT Magazine all rights reserved worldwide. No part of this magazine or online content may be reproduced or re-published in any way without express licensing and written consent of the publishers. The name What’s HOT Magazine, all logos and designs are trademarks of What’s HOT Magazine. The publisher reserves the right at it’s sole discretion to accept, reject, omit or modify any advertising, photographic, or written content at any time without reason. The publisher assumes no responsibility for any submitted advertising or content. Please direct all requests for prints of photographs or digital image licensing to: info@whatshotmagazine.com Phone: 607-423-2133 or 607-591-0830
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Owen Orchards
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Gem and Mineral Society of Syracuse
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Richard Heyward on his custom Harley Davidson 6:53 PM, July 28 2021, Downtown Syracuse, NY 1/200 f/8 ISO 800 Flash On
School’s Open! Please Drive Carefully. Please enjoy our September issue of What’s HOT What’s HOT Magazine highlights the best of dining, arts, entertainment, and so much more in the Syracuse and surrounding CNY areas. Designed with exceptional photographs, articles of interest, community connections, and an enthusiasm for our beautiful region, What’s HOT will inspire you to seek out all life has to offer in Central New York and beyond. Lifestyle. Leisure. Shopping. Cooking. Business. Real Estate. Health and Wellness. Recreation. Theatre. Travel. Tourism. Treasures. Education. Exploration. Enrichment. Motivation. Inspiration. You’ll find an eclectic mix of anything that’s up, and nothing that’s down. If it’s hot, we’ve got it covered. What’s HOT Magazine is published monthly in print and online, with a free distribution of thousands of issues to hundreds of local sites. Find your copy each month at many of your favorite stores, supermarkets, professional offices, restaurants, gas stations, libraries, newsstands, hotels, tourism centers, coffee shops, and many other locations. Read past issues of What’s HOT online at whatshotmagazine.com
EAT
Taste Buds and Wine?
I often serve couples whose tasting choices seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum. One wants dry, bold red wines and the other is interested in bright, sweet white wines. “Come on just try a sip of this Cabernet Sauvignon,” the dry wine lover will coax his or her sweet wine loving companion. “Ugh, it’s so dry!” is usually the response. How can two people that have so much in common have such drastically different reactions when tasting the same wine? Taste buds! The old tongue map diagrams you may have seen in the past that show different areas of the tongue are responsible for tasting salty, sweet, etc., have been replaced. Scientists currently believe that all parts of the tongue taste each of these flavors. People are now
BY DENNIS De RADO
broken into categories based on the amount of taste buds on their tongue. A simple test is done using blue food coloring to determine your taste bud level. People with the highest number of taste buds are categorized as “supertasters.” This makes them extremely sensitive to bitterness and strong flavors, making it more difficult to find wines they enjoy. Wine drinkers that fall into this hyper-sensitive category are more likely to gravitate to wines with lower alcohol, lighter flavors, and sweetness and find bold, red wines to be overpowering to their palate. Sweeter style Rieslings (like our Sweet Lissy), Vidals, and Niagaras are the perfect Finger Lakes wines for their taste preferences. Sensitive tasters tend to be in the middle and may enjoy wines that are closer to the hyper-sensitive range, but may also enjoy drier whites like, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Grigio, as well as reds like Merlot, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir - especially ones that are light on oak and not too high in alcohol.
Tolerant tasters have the lowest amount of taste buds and are usually red wine lovers. They will tend to prefer boldly flavored red wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Old Vine Zinfandel, and Syrah. Heavy oak flavors accrued during barrel-aging are also a favorite of wine drinkers in this category. Environment also plays a key role in our taste preferences. For instance, someone who is a hyper-sensitive taster might still enjoy bold, spicy foods if they grew up in a home that cooked spicy foods regularly. Also, your tastes can change with time. Many customers I have seen over the course of several years have gradually moved to from sweet wines to wines with less sugar. Some have even grown to love dry reds! Wherever you fall in the taste spectrum, Long Point Winery has a wine for you. Doing a wine tasting is a fantast Dennis DeRado Long Point Winery www.longpointwinery.com
Fast Facts
Business: Cheryl Chalmers’ Art Studio/Gallery Location: 1355 Taughannock Blvd. Ithaca, NY Email: cherchalmers@yahoo.com Phone: (607) 319-4277 Studio (607) 379-1606 Cell Hours: By Appointment Monday - Sunday Online Shops: • CherylChalmersArt.Etsy.com • Amazon.com/handmade/ CherylChalmers Retail Stores:
• The Cornell Store, Cornell Campus, The Commons, Ithaca, NY • Ithacamade, The Dewitt Mall, Ithaca, NY • Sunny Days, The Commons, Ithaca, NY • Watkins Glen State Park Gift Shop • Finger Lakes Welcome Center, Geneva, NY • Artizanns, Naples, NY • Renaissance, Canandaigua, NY • The Savory Pantry, Saratoga Springs, NY • Northshire Book Store, Saratoga Springs, NY https://cheryl-chalmers-art-studiogallery.business.site/
ART
Cheryl Chalmers, Illustrator & Fine Artist
Living and working on the West Shore of Ca-
yuga Lake is a dream come true for illustrator/fine artist Cheryl Chalmers. After years of working out of small spaces while raising her three children, Cheryl and her husband recently relocated to a lake house. With a stunning view of the lake from her drafting table, Cheryl says, “My studio is now the creative space of my dreams, a place of refuge, where I can listen to music, bring creative ideas to life and escape the world. Just what one needs during a pandemic!”
a contemporary twist, she uses deep saturated color with dramatic light and shadows. Watercolor, with its reputation for difficulty, is what excites Cheryl. The combination of control and letting go gives her work a freshness and vibrancy. “The process of creating an image by hand is incomparable; painting is about slowing down, observing light, color and texture just for the pure joy of being in that moment,” says Cheryl. “I love the unexpected results.”
A graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York City, Cheryl’s award-winning illustrations and regional watercolors have been featured in national magazines, newspapers, hotels, and in corporate and private collections. Giving a traditional medium, watercolor,
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What’s HOT September 2021
Since moving to the Ithaca area from New York City, Cheryl has been inspired by the region’s lakes, landscapes, and waterfalls. “Watercolors suit the liquid nature of my subjects.” Locally, Cheryl has enjoyed a long professional relationship with both Ithaca College and Cornell University. After many commissions to illustrate the gothic architecture and iconic scenes of Cornell’s campus, Cheryl took her first step in her entrepreneurial journey. Encouraged by her husband, she began to market her watercolors as notecards and prints to local retail shops, expanding her line and reach throughout the Finger Lakes into Saratoga Springs and beyond. She also began attending the many outdoor summer art fairs, including the Ithaca Artists’ Market, where she enjoyed meeting other artists and art buyers. But after having endured one
too many extreme weather events and collapsed tents, she once again took on an innovative mindset and created two online shops, with Etsy and Amazon Handmade. “Even though I miss meeting my fellow artists and art lovers, my online shops have an international reach, and have been a wonderful addition.” Cheryl recently completed a watercolor scene of the Ithaca Yacht Club Marina, which was a muchneeded oasis on her regular neighborhood walks during the lockdown last summer. With the summer season approaching, Cheryl is looking forward to the bright days ahead and welcoming visitors to her new gallery. Her art studio/ gallery showcases her latest work, as well as her creations of home décor products and wearable art. “As an illustrator, creating functional products with my imagery is a natural impulse” says Cheryl.
In & Around Syracuse
,13057
Elbridge The Enchanted
Elbridge The Enchanted
Fast Facts
Business: Owen Orchards Location: 8174 Grant Avenue Road, Route 5 – Weedsport, NY Phone: (315) 252-4097 Email: apples@owenorchards.com or owenorchard@peoplepc.com Facebook: @OwenOrchards Hours: Mon - Fri 9am to 7pm Saturday 9am to 6pm Sunday 9am to 5pm
www.owenorchard.com
BIZ
Owen Orchards
Owen Orchards is an old-fashioned apple or-
chard and farm located on Route 5 between Elbridge and Auburn, New York. Easy to get to and easy to enjoy, there’s something for everyone at Owen Orchards. With 15 U-Pick apple varieties to choose from, you can wander the orchard at your own pace and pick apples at your leisure. The Owen Orchards store, open from mid-August through March, is reminiscent of a down-home farmer’s market! You’ll find fresh apples, homemade pies, fresh pressed apple cider, apple cider donuts, and an assortment of locally grown and produced vegetables, condiments, cheeses, and preserves.
A DOWN-HOME, OLD-FASHIONED FARM Our History
Owen Orchards began in the late 1920s and the early 1930s when Charles Owen, a superintendent of local Cayuga County schools, wrote letters to Isaac C. Rogers (breeder of the sweet and juicy Rogers McIntosh apple) about buying and planting apple trees. He started growing just a few trees and apple varieties including McIntosh, Cortland, and maybe six others, on a stretch of land way back in the distance off Route 5 between Elbridge and Auburn. In those early days, the original Owen Orchards store and farm market were housed in a 6’ x 10’ trailer.
Family Fun
Picking apples at Owen Orchards has been a tradition for hundreds of families for decades. Now in its fifth generation, Owen Orchards remains family owned and operated, a throwback to a down-home, old-fashioned farm. Young and old alike come from near and far to enjoy the simple, wholesome pleasures of picking apples, sipping fresh apple cider, and savoring the taste of hot apple cider donuts.
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What’s HOT September 2021
In the late 1980s, Charles Owen’s grandson, Gordon Tripp and his son, David Tripp began planting, growing, and harvesting a wider variety of delicious apples in a newer and larger orchard. The original apple trees and orchard have since been retired, and the current Owen Orchard location spans 30 acres dedicated to more than 25 varieties of apples. Another 10 acres are set aside for peaches, pumpkins, and squash when the weather cooperates. In 2000, Owen’s family added a welcoming 1,500 square foot store complete with cider mill, apple storage, and commercial kitchen. Today, Charles Owen’s legacy and reminders of those early days live on at Owen Orchards. The old trailer serves as a chicken coop, and the original antique tractors from the 1920s continue to intrigue visitors year after year, resting on the porch outside the Owen Orchards Cider Mill and Farm Market.
U-Pick Apples Open 7 days a week during the U-Pick season, apple picking at Owen Orchards begins in early September, the perfect time for mid-week activities with your little ones or outdoor weekend adventures with your whole family. Come back again and again because the different U-Pick apples at Owen Orchards are ready for picking at different times through the end of October. All apples are sold by the pound, so you can bring home as many or as few as you like. Best of all, 90% of Owen Orchards U-Pick apples can be picked from ground level! The Cider Mill Over the years, Owen Orchards apple cider has gained a reputation throughout Upstate New York for being a great-tasting and all-natural apple cider. Owen Orchards produces more than 10,000 gallons of apple cider each year, so fresh jugs are available every day! With no added preservatives,
Owen Orchards apple cider is unpasteurized (UV treatment) and meant to be sipped and savored within days, not weeks, because of its all-natural quality. This quality makes it perfect for creating hard apple cider, something that can’t be accomplished with supermarket apple cider.
Cider Donuts There’s nothing like savoring the variety of warm apple cider donuts made fresh daily at Owen Orchards either on a chilly autumn morning, or in the evening while nestled in your favorite chair. Available in three mouth-watering flavors—plain, cinnamon, and sugar—Owen Orchards apple cider donuts let you relive a feeling of down-home country comfort. The Farm Market Open from mid-August through March, the Owen Orchards farm market store is easy to get to, a pleasure to browse around, and a great place to
stock up on locally grown and produced vegetables, condiments, cheeses, and preserves. You’ll find a great selection of apples, homemade pies, freshly made apple cider donuts, candy apples and caramel apples, and so much more with great customer service. And remember, if Owens Orchard didn’t grow it, their neighbors around the corner did!
The Owen Orchards store was recently expanded and now stores upwards of 5,000 bushels of apples each season! Any of the more than 25 varieties of apples available at Owen Orchards are wholesome, delicious, and sure to be enjoyed either on their own or as part of a tasty recipe. From the middle of August through March, all of the apples become available at the Owen Orchards Cider Mill & Farm Market as they’re picked. Prefer your apples sweet, tart, crunchy, or juicy? You can find them all at Owen Orchards.
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Fast Facts
Business: Gem and Mineral Society of Syracuse (GMSS) Clubhouse Location:: Ponderosa Plaza, 209 Oswego Street Liverpool, NY Email: gmssrocks@gmail.com Facebook: gemandmineralsyr Event: The Replacement Show When: Saturday, September 25 from 10am to 6pm, and Sunday, September 26 from 10am to 4pm Where: Ramada Inn (formerly Holiday Inn), 441 Electronics Parkway, Liverpool, NY Photo Credits: Judy Cook www.syracusegemsociety.com
EVT
Gem and Mineral Society of Syracuse
The
Gem and Mineral Society of Syracuse (GMSS) began in March 1951. Richard Sylvester, an employee of New York Central Railroad, was tired of having to take the train to Rochester for mineral club meetings. He met with six central New York people who were also interested in geology and rockhounding, the hobby of searching for gem and mineral specimens, and formed the Syracuse group. The GMSS Club now meets in the Ponderosa Plaza, 209 Oswego Street, Suite 15, Liverpool, NY. Meetings are held on the third Monday of most months at 7:30 pm. We have monthly speakers who present topics related to the rockhounding hobby and geology. Visitors of all ages are always welcome.
The GMSS is celebrating its 70th anniversary with The Replacement Show on September 25 and 26 at the Ramada Inn (formerly the Holiday Inn), 441 Electronics Pkwy (NYS Thruway Exit 37) in Liverpool, NY. This show replaces our annual July show which was canceled this year due to the COVID restrictions. Our annual show will be back in 2022 at the NY State Fairgrounds during the second weekend in July. Our annual show typically has over 60 retail and wholesale vendors.
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On September 25 and 26, The Replacement Show will feature 29 rock, gem, mineral, fossil, and jewelry retail vendors from around New York and surrounding states in the Ramada Inn’s Convention Center and Cotillion Room. There will be a drawing for the Grand Prize, an amethyst necklace designed by Jim Fowler of Fowler’s Wire Wrapping. Our everpopular 25 cent Straw Draw will be held at the GMSS Club Booth where people can win a tumbled polished stone or other prize on each draw. Also at the booth, there will be sluice bags available for purchase for the kids to take home and discover the enclosed minerals and fossils.
The Replacement Show will run from 10 am to 6 pm on Saturday, September 25, and from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, September 26 at the Ramada Inn. Suggested donation is $5. Scouts in uniform and children under 12 will be admitted free. Come join us for the fun at The Replacement Show! More information is available on our website at www.syracusegemsociety.com, or on our Facebook page: gemandmineralsyr