Syracuse native prioritizes local business through blog

By Abby Presson asst. digital editor

When Danielle Benjamin moved to Australia to earn her master’s degree in 2017, she needed a way to keep her family and friends updated on her travels. Instead of a large group chat or lengthy email thread, Benjamin started a blog.

After she completed her degree and returned to the U.S., Benjamin began working at Syracuse University in international education. Her students often came to SU from major international cities, and started out thinking that there was nothing to do in the campus area. But Benjamin, a Syracuse native, wanted to fix that misconception. In order to build her network of local activities, events and things to do, Benjamin returned to blogging.

“Don’t say there’s nothing to do,” Benjamin said. “There’s so much to do in the area, and no matter what you like, you can always find something.”

Benjamin’s blog, Wandercuse, focuses on travel, food and activities in the central and upstate New York regions, with a particular emphasis on Syracuse. With Wandercuse, Benjamin tries to share her passion for local activities and businesses with her readers.

Several years ago, Benjamin decided to turn Wandercuse into a business. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Benjamin has transitioned to being self-employed, working on both her blog and on freelance writing and social media work.

“Part of the reason I wanted to turn it into a business is I found out how much I love to do it,” Benjamin said. “I love sharing stories. I love learning more about the local history. I love trying new places, meeting new people and sharing from page 5 and love for music, Brennen said. Different venues will lend each other equipment and are ultimately all interested in making sure that each venue strives for as long as they can, he said.

Some of the group’s most memorable moments come from interactions with eccentric attendees, Rowland said. One night, he met an attendee who wore a Pikachu hat, a Cheeto shirt and a Spongebob backpack, held a hand bongo drum and brought his own collapsible chair.

“I see him with his hat on and he just makes eye the stories, both locally and I will occasionally throw in things that aren’t in Syracuse.”

The blog’s focus on the central New York region came together naturally, Benjamin said. During the pandemic, she wanted to show that there were outdoor activities people could engage in locally. She noticed her local posts received more engagement and got content ideas from local tourism boards.

When Benjamin travels both domestically and internationally, she’ll often write blog posts and travel guides about her destinations. Ultimately, though, her favorite content centers on local tourism.

“I’m super passionate about upstate New York, as silly as that might sound,” Benjamin said. “But I contact with me, smiles and whips out this collapsible seat and sets it down and then just takes a seat,” Brennen said. “And I’m like, this is the best patron I have ever had. He was a frequent visitor. He didn’t do the seat every time but that was still just amazing. I’m so lucky to serve him.”

One night, Rowland said multiple musicians started playing “So What” by John Coltrane. An attendee came up to the sound booth in tears and said it was his favorite song.

“That’s some of my favorite parts about Redgate — the small conversations and small friendships that you have every week,” Rowland said.

Rowland said the group’s ability to bring in artists from outside the Syracuse area is love where I’m from, and I think there’s so much to do around there that people don’t always realize.”

Though Benjamin earns money through affiliate income, ad revenue and sponsored posts with her blog, she wanted a profit stream that gave her more control and involvement. That goal, led her to develop the Wandercuse Passport — a plastic $20 “punchcard” that offers one-time discount codes at 18 local businesses and activities during the 2023 calendar year.

Benjamin hoped that the passport, which features a variety of locations from a chocolate shop to the Erie Canal Museum, would help to promote and drive interaction with local busi- a source of pride. He said bringing artists like One Way Out introduces a variety of new sounds to the community.

“We got there and they took really good care of us as the artists. We’ve played at a lot of venues where that is not the case at all,” Gaba said.

At the professional venues that One Way Out plays in New York City, the band feels like it has to do things in a structured and rigid way, Gaba said. At Redgate, he experienced a positive and welcoming energy.

“It felt like when we were there, people wanted to hear us for who we are, which was a really cool feeling,” Gaba said.

Gaba calls the experience that they had play- nesses. When she set out to create the program, she’d already established relationships with many local business owners through blog content she’d previously created. Both businesses she had and hadn’t worked with were eager to get involved and saw how mutually beneficial it could be, she said.

When Benjamin first approached Sarah Simiele, owner of local cheese shop The Curd Nerd,, Simiele knew she wanted to get involved with the passport. Since joining, Simiele’s noticed new customers coming in because of the passport card. Carissa Monahan, co-owner and operator of local craft beer store Branching Out Bottle Shop, shared Simiele’s excitement for how the project could help local businesses, “After opening a small business, it has really been apparent how many small businesses there are, but how often they get overshadowed by bigger companies,” Monahan said.

The passport benefits more than just local businesses and Benjamin’s blog. With every purchase of the card, Benjamin donates 10% of the profits to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

Benjamin has big plans for the future of the passport. She’s hosting a launch party in early May, and is currently working on special discount deals for cardholders so the passport continues to engage the community even after a person has used all the discounts. Benjamin hopes to continue offering a new Wandercuse passport each year.

“I really think the best way to create a business community that you want to be a part of is just to support a growing business community,” Simiele said. “None of us in Syracuse, as small businesses, are doing well if any of us aren’t doing well.” abbypresson@dailyorange.com @abbyvp08 ing at Redgate a refreshing one where they and their needs felt prioritized, which contrasts the venues that they play at in New York City. The band really appreciated their green room.

Next year, Redgate will try and host even more shows, Rowland said. The group feels lucky its goals and passions have manifested themselves, Herman said.

“As a musician, those are the kind of people you want to work with,” Gaba said. “They take it seriously, but they also know that the goal is to have fun and they’re always just very selfless people who want to make the show good, so that everyone has a good time.” cmroshu@syr.edu lutely hilarious,” Fears said. “I think that they are such an asset to Syracuse in general with what they’re able to bring to the table.”

Fears said that Kusak is involved in various initiatives for the queer community as well as helping queer homeless youth. Knowing that Kusak was a little shy, Fears said that she was a little surprised when she found out Kusak would be performing drag, but nonetheless, knew they were more than capable of putting on a show.

“Not too long ago, I watched them do an impromptu performance of some Prince songs, which blew me away, because I’ve never seen them ever perform like that or dance like that,” Fears said. “(They did the performance) just from listening to music in this youth group that they were volunteering at, and I was blown away at their ability to just pick that up.”

Kusak loves horror movies, more specifically slasher-esque films, and so they wanted to incorporate that love into their drag. With their love of drag and horror, they wanted the audience to feel a mixture of pleasure and horror while watching them. For the preliminary, they said they toned it down a bit, but they are looking forward to upping the ante in the final.

“My goal on stage is to make people go like, ‘what the f*ck did I just watch?’” Kusak said. “But then also be very confused on, ‘why am I really a little turned on right now?’”

Kusak got into the local drag scene by meeting some queens at downtown Syracuse bars like Trexx and Wunder Bar. They mainly take pictures for Black and Brown queens in the area, they said.

There are a lot of conversations not being had within queer communities in Syracuse and around the country about how cis- and whitecentered these spaces can be, Kusak said.

“With a lot of the Black queer folks, they now have two things that people are seeking them to educate them on: Blackness and queerness,” Kusak said. “It’s not our job and it’s not their job to continue to have to advocate for why they are deserving of basic human needs.”

Queer conversations are currently dominated by cis white gay men, Kusak said, which means the violence and struggles of Black trans women often go unnoticed and undiscussed. All of those things considered, Kusak holds the relationships they have made in the queer and drag community close.

They understand the importance of chosen family, especially for Black queer people, Kusak said.

Their activism doesn’t only support and protect marginalized communities, but has also had an influence on their friends and loved ones.

Eboni Britt is one of those loved ones. Britt, the Executive director of strategic communications and initiatives for the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at SU, has known Kusak since they were three years old. Knowing Kusak has impacted her view on DEIA, she said.

“Having Hunter in my life has given me an education on activism that I could never learn within a classroom or normal environment,” Britt said. “Their advocacy for Black people, for queer people, for people who are Black and queer, is tireless. They are one of the most courageous people that I am honored to know.”

Both Britt and Fears said that Kusak is the type of person who radically impacts the people they meet. Their activism, care, sense of humor and intellect shines through in everything they do, Britt said.

“Being along with Hunter through their life journey thus far has fundamentally changed me in a variety of ways,” Britt said. “They have helped me to become a better diversity and inclusion advocate, a better parent and a better human – I love them.”

Kusak hopes they can be a representation of the true vastness and overall idea of drag. They feel like drag is just another extension of oneself, in a way that doesn’t have as many restrictions as a person’s everyday life might have.

“A lot of the times, (in) the persona that people portray when they get into drag, they’re able to basically be their authentic selves,” Kusak said. ofentse.moipone.mokoka@gmail.com