Unleash your wild side with these four high-energy adventure sports
By Stacie Foster
Calling all daredevils: Get your adrenaline pumping this summer with extreme sports. These activities aren’t for the faint of heart — they’re for the thrill seekers and adventure lovers. They might seem dangerous, but they’ll satisfy the kind of rush all adrenaline-junkies crave. Here are the most enticing adventures Central New York has to offer. « Keep reading »
From Folk to Open-Mic Nights, Kellish Hill Provides a Stage for CNY
By Kaitlin Pitsker
Driving through the outskirts of Manlius, there’s no shortage of barns. Old-time red, wooden barns with horses’heads protruding through stall windows, abandoned barns made of rotten brown wood, and the modern sheet-metal structures built to replace them, speckle the miles of land. Kellish Hill Farm stands out, not only for the two bright-yellow wheels that line the driveway leading to the 152-acre farm, but also for its blend of agriculture and music. « Keep reading »
School kids learn green living, starting with the transformation of their classrooms.
By Katherine Salisbury
Illustration by Kathleen Corlett and Lauren Harms
Kevin Woods, an eighth grade student at Lincoln Middle School in Syracuse’s Eastwood neighborhood, shuffles into a science classroom and takes his seat at a makeshift conference room table made of five smaller tables pushed together. He sits down, looks around the room, and fiddles with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He is the first of six students present to speak. He mumbles that he found a lot of school appliances, such as little freezers and microwaves, still plugged in even when people weren’t in the classrooms. It only takes a few seconds for his shyness to wear off and his voice and opinions to take on a stronger tone: “Sometimes they’ll have the lights on and a lamp on, even though there is only one person in there.” « Keep reading »
By Kate Morin, Kathleen Corlett, Katherine Salisbury, and Carine Umuhumuza
Edited by Kaitlin Pitsker
Alicyn Hart, the Local Foodie
Whitney Daniels, the Pattern Maker
Colby Morgan, the Safe Sipper
Evin F. Robisnon, the Ring Bearer
Before kicking off their second tour, the Northbound Traveling Minstrel Jug Band finds a new sound, adding folk to their signature blend of rock and bluegrass.
By Carine Umuhumuza
On a snowy Monday night, the members of Northbound Traveling Minstrel Jug Band hang out in an apartment a few blocks from the Syracuse University campus. Aaron Gittleman, 20, and Adam Cohen, 21, lounge on an orange futon by the window while Lucas Sacks and Dan DiPasquale, both 21, sit on an old ’70s-style couch. A quick sweep of the apartment that Gittleman, Sacks, and DiPasquale share proves two things: Musicians live here, and they’re boys. Guitar cases lean against one wall. To the left of the TV, more than 30 records fill four metal cases. Music festival posters are taped to another wall. Beer bottles line the top of the window ledge, each carefully placed like trophies on a mantelpiece. A blue Nintendo set sits in front of the TV, the attached cords leading to a crate of games under the coffee table.
The boys discuss their band name. “I made it up off the top of my head at an open mic,” says Cohen, the shaggy-haired and talkative guitarist. “I just pulled together some of my favorite silly words.”
“We tried to change it,” he adds.
“For like a day,” interjects Sacks for clarification. « Keep reading »
Assault City derby girls toughen up for their fourth season with a new coach, lots of face paint, and a power-packed crop of “fresh meat.
By Alyssa Grossman
Don’t tell the women of Assault City Roller Derby it’s not polite to hit. Then again, they probably don’t care what you think. These fiercely competitive ladies, banging each other around in their mismatched socks, polka-dot booty shorts, and shredded leggings, aren’t afraid to “derby it up.” « Keep reading »
No Limits to Business
Local Program Helps Disabled Entrepreneurs Start Their Own Companies
By Carolyn J. Clark
Della Brown sits behind the counter of her taco eatery, going through papers and making sure her two employees complete their tasks. Her small counter-service restaurant, Tacolicious, decorated with brightly painted walls and Mexican-themed banners, is the fulfillment of a long-held dream.
Brown didn’t have the resources to start her own business. So, in February 2008, she turned to the South Side Innovation Center, a Syracuse University-run center that helps entrepreneurs launch businesses. Because Brown is a disabled Onondaga County resident, she worked with the center’s Inclusive Entrepreneurship program, which helps people with disabilities in Onondaga develop and sustain small businesses. Through the program, Brown met with an advisor, developed a business plan, and took classes on entrepreneurship. « Keep reading »
