What an incredible month it has been! CIViC Heritage Pioneer Day surpassed our expectations. There was a multitude of hands-on activities and demonstrations for teeny tinies to senior citizens: stirring ice cream paddles, grinding corn, tin can lantern making, washboard scrubbing, boring holes with giant hand drills, and planing wood competed with spinning demonstrations and our fiddler band. In a surprise twist, not only could we sing along with the fiddlers, but many got to play the spoons! What a great afternoon at the brick schoolhouse.
We will absolutely plan on this again next summer. Our year-long planning for Conquest Community Day was realized. The day was very hot and humid but many shopped, ate and played together as we celebrated our distinctive small town! Fantastic fireworks capped our festivities.
Give a call if you would like to be part of next year’s celebration — it can only get better with your input and enthusiasm. A New York State Police representative attends the Conquest Community Day. The next day, our Amazing Grace Parish gathered for our outdoor service and picnic, this year catered by Mooney’s BBQ.
Again, fantastic fellowship and food! The first annual Joni and Dewey Lincoln Day was on Aug. 5. A dozen or so folks gathered to pack hygiene kits for disaster victims.
We had been gathering supplies at the town offices and church for the past few weeks and folks dropped off even more. Kate Pelky’s donation of 50 bars of custom-made soap set a high bar. We ended with 61 kits completed and the Waterman family added 10 menstrual kits also.
When we delivered the kits, they filled an immediate need for the southern flooding caused by Hurricane Debby. Thank you all for the spirit, donations, camaraderie and outcome! Classmates from 1957 to 1986 gathered at Schasel Park on Aug. 8.
We feasted on our potluck offerings and shared school memories of our Panther days. On Aug. 11, Bodhi Knapp was baptized at Countryside church.
We were pleased to welcome this very young worshipper and his family. The Rev. Deb Hitchcock performs the sacrament of baptism with Bodhi Knapp and his parents.
I was honored to be part of the fundraising cabaret celebration at Auburn Public Theater. Nineteen years ago we welcomed this amazing addition to our community — they are now in the process of adding a black box space to their theater, movie emporium and cabaret gathering. Also, a special plug to Scot Wisniewski’s concerts in October — my late husband’s favorite oldies.
Several years ago I had one of the roles of a lifetime as Snout in "A Midsummer Night’s Dream." Dan Stevens and Nora O’Dey brought their Shakespeare in the Gardens to our Seward House Museum. What a treat to smile at the vagaries of "Two Gentlemen of Verona" and renew acquaintance with these talented folks.
We are so very fortunate to have so many artistic opportunities in our communities! The Port Byron Class of ’62 had a great lunch at Potters Farm to Fork. Delicious food and incredible memories were shared by the nine folks present. The Pilgrim family reunion picnic celebrated the 124th birthday of our grandmother Kukum, Lillian Viola Halcrow Pilgrim.
Three generations gathered at Trolley Park and shared our family stories and food. Glorious! The Port Byron alumni picnic brought together folks from many classes. The last activity of this incredible month was the Port Byron alumni field hockey game, designed to raise funds for the 2024 team.
What fun it was watching these women celebrate athleticism and support our Panther women. Several months ago I mentioned that our town of Conquest name appears occasionally on the Channel 9 weather maps. One neighbor personally contacted Jim Teske to find out why it was so rare.
Imagine her amazement when he personally found that it was a random computer selection and wrote back to acquaint her of that fact! That is certainly consumer accountability! Wow. Joni Lincoln If you want to attend the Sept. 8 Senior Picnic in Conquest, please call Peg Gilmore at (315) 776-4400.
In the midst of political wrangling, budget woes, grief and worry, there are many opportunities to enjoy and celebrate. Please do! Joni Lincoln is the historian of the town of Conquest. Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!.
