CWR celebrates Extending the Table Chamber to establish events committee with help from local donor

By KAtE Hill Staff Writer

The Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce (GCACC) is in the process of establishing an events committee with financial support from long-time GCACC member and local business owner Ralph Monforte.

The committee, which is seeking additional volunteer members, will be responsible for continuing and evolving the GCACC’s traditional events, including the Fourth of July, the Christmas Walk, Block Fest, Ladies’ Night Out, Men’s Night, and business after-hours, and creating additional events.

the success that we’ve had. Because we’ve been so successful in our Fayetteville location, we are making an investment in Cazenovia.”

According to GCACC member McKenzie Houseman, who owns 20|EAST & Cazenovia Cut Block, she and Monforte attended the May 3 GCACC board meeting to help figure out how downtown businesses could come together to support the chamber in reinvigorating the community’s event offerings.

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On Saturday, May 6, Cazenovia

Welcomes Refugees (CWR) held its fourth “Extending the Table” fundraising dinner in celebration of global friendship and local hospitality. Ngoc Huynh, the owner of Mamma Hai Vietnamese restaurant at Salt City Market in Syracuse, prepared the meal for 150 guests. the mission of CWR is to work with people who were refugees as they integrate into American life and to engage with the residents of Cazenovia to create a welcoming place for everyone to live, work, go to school, and enjoy recreation together.

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“With the last few years being very hard due to COVID, a lot of the ‘normal’ activities stopped,” said GCACC board member Barb Houghton, who is co-chairing the committee with GCACC President Sara Wean. “With that [came a drop in] membership, [and therefore] volunteers. With the donation made by Ralph, we are hoping to bring back some of the events and add a few more.”

During the May 3 GCACC board meeting, Monforte, who owns Cazenovia Jewelry on Albany Street and in Fayetteville, announced that he will be donating $10,000 to start the new committee off with a healthy amount of funds to support local events.

The business owner said he is also very excited to invest in Cazenovia by renovating his storefront at 49 Albany St. starting on Jan. 1, 2024. The work will involve rebuilding the front of the building to feature a 19th-century-style, handicap-accessible center entrance. While the renovation is underway, the Cazenovia store is expected to be closed from January through approximately May of next year.

“Emotionally, I’m very connected to the [Cazenovia community], since we bought that business in 1985,” said Monforte, who was a member of the founding board of the GCACC. “We started there and that’s really been the foundation for

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“The past couple of years have been a little rough for everyone,” said Houseman. “I had some personal medical issues that took me away from the chamber board and my shop. COVID was the worst culprit, taking away many of the events many people in the community really enjoyed. I believe the restrictions created by COVID created an environment of isolation for many businesses. We were all just trying to keep our doors open, and this didn’t allow much time to plan the fun things we had counted on in the past. . . The majority of people coming through my shop want these events back. . . The committee is so important because these events truly take a village. A variety of creative and motivated minds who love this community will be unstoppable. I look forward to working with others to see what should stay the same and what needs to be added to create the most positive events that make our area such an amazing place to live.”

According to Monforte, the GCACC has traditionally funded its events by approaching local businesses beforehand and asking if they would like to donate and/or participate.

Monforte said his donation is intended to enable the new events committee to be more financially independent.

“I think if you present a good enough plan and show that you can execute [it] effectively as a committee, other people will want to participate and feel better about the money that they do contribute to an event,” he said.

Monforte added that he hopes other busiChamber l Page 3

If you live in Madison County, your local Boy Scout Troops and Packs are benefiting from support services, character development programming and leadership training funded by donations to The Leatherstocking Council.

On average, our Eagle Scouts alone (4% of all Scouts) are providing 190 community service hours to more than sixty other local nonprofit organizations each year!

If you would like to help recruit or support more Scouts in Madison County, please text the word LOCALSCOUTS to (844) 615-4269. LeatherstockingCouncil.org