Holiday Life 2022

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This year, for Christmas, my 3-year-old wants a horse. A live horse. She has her precious little heart set on it, and has been asking, with her big, plaintive brown eyes wide, since Octo ber.

This is the thing about holidays, or at least modern holi days. They’re set up to be inherently disappointing. At least a little. My whole life, I have struggled with what I now call “enoughness.” As a kid, I would get so, so excited in the lea dup to an event or a holiday that the thing itself could never live up to such anticipation. It made the success of a thing almost impossible. And now, culturally, there’s so much pres sure to be and do and buy “enough” this time of year. No wonder it’s stressful. Then throw in a horse-desperate toddler.

Don’t confuse me with a Scrooge. I do all the merrymaking things: the fresh-cut tree, still dripping snow and smelling of pure pine; the dozens of sugar cookies shaped like stockings and Santas and candy canes, ready for the frosting that will cover more of my kitchen than anything else; the cloth Advent calendar with the tiny Velcro pieces for my kids to fight over; sledding down the big hill behind the high school and the homemade hot cocoa that must follow; the hand-rolled truffles boxed and ribboned for teachers.

It can just be hard, all that expectation around a single day, a single season.

BUT. This year feels promising. Minus the longed-for horse. Just in this edition, there are several events and performances returning after years away. And that feels good, feels hope ful. It feels like there’s more to celebrate this year, because this year, we can go to the holiday concert or breakfast with Santa or artisanal shopping bazaar. We can get out and mingle. There was a coziness that came with hunkering down through the pandemic, but a big part of the season is connecting with others and finding fellowship, whatever you celebrate.

There will still be pressure and retail-driven mayhem. But the chance to buy a wreath of just-snipped pine boughs made by a neighbor or watch an army of local children defeat a mouse king or hear a choir sing Christmas music from the 1600s sounds a little like magic. Like enough. Happy holidays!

Editor Allison Collins

Publisher and Advertising Director

Valerie Secor

Graphic Designer

Tracy Bender

ON tHE COvER

Hailey Guenther Decker is pictured in this undated photo.

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A Catskills Christmas on the Farm

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By Chelsea Frisbee

Black Friday doesn’t have to involve long lines, stress, bright lights and waking up early to beat the crowds. There’s another, more wholesome game here in the Catskills.

Imagine holidays of years past, where hot cocoa, beautiful antique decorations, wreath-making, handmade gifts and seeing your neighbors was the norm. No time travel required; you can experience this at “A Catskills Christmas on the Farm” at Maple Shade Farm in Delhi.

A Catskills Christmas on the Farm takes place from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday, Nov. 25, Saturday, Nov. 26 and Saturday, Dec. 3. In its 18th year, this event of fers an opportunity for local shopping in a stunning historic barn, complete with hot cocoa, wreaths and greenery, baked goods, kids’ activities and even a warming bonfire.

Co-owners Abby and Jay Wilson of Maple Shade Farm.

The event takes place in the Wilson’s historic 1700s barn.

“Many years ago, our family friends, Mary and Sharon Tucker, invited us to bring some items to their event, Christmas on the Farm. It was the sweetest event! They opened their home and had folks fill their rooms and walls with displays of wonderful items for the holidays. When they stopped doing this event, I jumped at the opportunity to host it and to expand it, while carrying on the tradition of showcasing friends and neighbors.”

Abby Wilson, co-owner of Maple Shade Farm, said the event grew from fond memories.

“As a creative person, I’ve always loved making handmade gifts and started making things in college to sell with my mom,” she said. “Many years ago, our family friends, Mary and Sharon Tucker, invited us to bring some items to their event, Christmas on the Farm. It was the sweetest event! They opened their home and had folks fill their rooms and walls with displays of wonder ful items for the holidays. When they stopped doing this event, I jumped at the opportunity to host it and to expand it, while carry ing on the tradition of showcasing friends and neighbors.”

Something for Everyone

A Catskills Christmas on the Farm is the place to go for unique holiday gifts, many handmade or homemade by local craftspeo ple, farmers and artisans. There’s honey, jams, maple syrup, art, antiques, candles and more. Although the barn has been turned into an event space, the rustic feel of wood, the lingering smell of hay and the twinkle of Christmas lights invite visitors back to a time when holidays were more than the biggest deal or latest consumer trend. Wilson and her husband, Jay, take what some places aim for with Small Business Saturday and create an experi ence beyond retail. The sound of excited young voices mixes with steaming hot chocolate and maybe even a few snowflakes to set the holiday spirit in motion.

The setting of the three-story, 1785 barn makes the event even more special.

“There is something for everyone,” Wilson said. “You have to walk through a few times to really see everything. The farm market is open on the first floor, where you can find honey, milk, cheese and varied treasures, and the second floor features mini shops and scenes to meander through: a candy shop, local spirits and the Grinch’s Greens shop. The third floor features antiques, arts and tablescapes, where the whole scene is for sale and there’s even a make-your-own hot cocoa bar. We also have the ‘Island of Misfit Toys’ shop for those bargain shoppers. There are always little photo spots around the farm and mini sessions will be an option with a local photographer, just in time for those holiday cards.”

Community Cheer

Abby and Jay love bringing the community out to Maple Shade Farm. Every fall, the popular Taste of the Catskills festival attracts hundreds of people for local food, vendors, crafts, workshops and live music. Maple Shade also hosts weddings and events through out the warmer months, with couples and their friends and family enjoying the 200-acre historic farm and its outbuildings, including a three-story barn, mountain views, pond and beautiful stone walls. The space is also available for private and corporate events and photo and video shoots.

“This event is a labor of love,” Wilson said. “It’s inefficient, a bit chaotic, a bit chilly at times and sometimes things don’t always add up at the end of the day … but it’s so much fun. We take a lot of pride in the economic impact our events have. It was always our main goal to showcase local farmers, artisans and makers bringing people to this beautiful area.”

Learn more at mapleshadefarmny.com/events, call 607-4355382 or visit Maple Shade Farm at 2066 county Road 18, Delhi. f

Pick up a homemade wreath for your front door from the Delhi event.

Catskills Christmas

Greenery and holiday decorations galore are pictured at the Delhi event.

Creative decorations are available for purchase at A Catskills Christmas on the Farm.

Find the perfect hand-crafted gift for the holidays.

A ‘Love, Joy, Happy Holidays!’ banner is featured in this undated photo from A Catskills Christmas on the Farm.

Photos Contributed

Nature-Inspired DIY Holiday Ornaments

By Chelsea Frisbee

This year, make your own holiday ornaments with the whole family. You’ll get some exercise and fresh air in the process, plus the satisfaction of finding your materials in nature, playing with paint and creating a beautiful holiday decoration to be enjoyed for years to come. You can make many ornaments at the same time – save some for yourself and give others as gifts.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to making nature-inspired DIY holiday ornaments:

Step 1: Before the snow covers the ground, take a walk in the woods looking for acorns, pinecones, leaves, sticks and anything else that calls to you and might make for a cool orna ment or decoration.

Step 2: Gather materials: silver spray paint, super glue or hot glue gun, wire and ribbon.

Step 3: Cover your natural items with silver spray paint, making sure you’re outdoors or in a place with suf ficient ventilation. Let dry thoroughly.

Step 4: Cut a 2-inch strip of wire. Use super glue to attach one end to your spray-painted natural item and let dry. Curl the other end to facilitate easy hanging.

Step 5: Cut a strip of ribbon and tie a bow below the wire to add festive flair.

Step 6: Hang ornaments on your Christmas tree or around the house to bring natural, festive cheer to your home.

It’s that easy. Happy holidays!

Inspired by Martha Stewart’s Silver Seed-pod Ornaments at marthastewart.com. f

Chelsea Frisbee

By Allison Collins

Grangers Serve Up at Annual Breakfast

The Butternut Valley Grange will bring cheer to children and seniors this holiday season with its annual “Breakfast with Santa.”

The free event takes place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Butternut Valley Grange Hall, 7 Bloom St., Gilbertsville. Attendees are asked to make reservations before Dec. 2 by calling 607-434-9922, 607-783-2232 or 607-445-4037, at which time a child’s name, age and gender should be pro vided, ensuring an appropriate gift from Santa.

Roger Halbert, past president and member of the organization’s commu nity service committee, responsible for

planning the event, said Breakfast with Santa has been happening “for well over 10 years.”

“It was started to generate community fellowship, with a focus on children and senior citizens,” he said. “We wanted to hit both age groups, and we’ve been do ing this for at least 10 years on the sec ond Saturday of December and, naturally, Santa is there … and, if (attendees) have children from infant up to age 12, Santa has a gift waiting for them. Any senior from the community is invited to come for the breakfast and (to) participate in the festivities, and they also receive a gift. Those are donated by Grange members, and they sign up for various gifts so that they’re there at Santa’s disposal.”

“This is free; it’s a community service project to encourage families and seniors to come and enjoy the holiday season together.”

The event’s success and longevity, Halbert said, relies on such dedication from the group’s roughly 100 members. The Butternut Valley Grange, he noted, is New York State’s largest.

“This is free; it’s a community service project to encourage families and seniors to come and enjoy the holiday season together,” he said. “Members sign up and donate food and have fundraisers throughout the year to help fund (such events). One of the big ones is, we sell homemade pies at our farmers’ market from May to October every Saturday, and we have a dinner or two throughout the year and other fundrais ers to help support the community service projects that we do.”

Attendees young and old, Halbert said, appreciate the

group’s efforts.

“They’ve just been very supportive and appreciative,” he said, noting that members typically serve between 60 and 70 breakfasts. “It’s people from Butternuts, Gilbertsville and Mount Upton school district. Anything that a small commu nity can (do to) muster up and create fellowship time and enjoying the holidays together just generates good memories, for kids and families that attend.

“(It) generates a neighborliness and a feeling that you care about each other and it’s just a fun event,” he continued. “And it’s quite a lively event. It’s just fun to see the kids interacting with Santa and seeing the seniors take this in and visiting with other and having a good breakfast, compliments of the Grange.” f

Butternut Valley Grange is also introduc ing new and returning holiday happen ings, Halbert said.

“New this year is the cookie swap … Saturday, December 17,” he said. “That, again, is a fun, fellowship time with friends and neighbors. Anyone that wants to participate brings two dozen holiday cookies in a container and then they go home with two dozen cookies from people participating.”

According to a media release, the cook ie swap will also feature a vendor fair, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The swap happens at 7 Bloom St., with participants asked to bring cookies by 10 a.m. and use the downstairs side entrance to the hall.

Craft vendors should call 607-563-1104 by Nov. 28 to reserve a space.

And, Halbert said, Grangers will return to the streets of Gilbertsville for Christ mas caroling, around 6:30 p.m., Monday, Dec. 19.

“We did that for a number of years and, interestingly, a lot of the places we went to, the persons died over the years, and we didn’t have a lot of shut-ins that we could come up with a list to carol at,” he said. “So, we haven’t done it the last two or three years, but decided to try it again. Grange members go around Christmas caroling to various people who are shut in or would just like a little cheer.”

Photos Contributed

Catskill Choral Society Revives HolidayConcert

By Allison Collins

The Catskill Choral Society will sing out the season at its annual holiday concert, Friday, Dec. 2 and Saturday, Dec. 3.

President Christopher Shields, in his seventh year as presi dent and 18th as member, said this year marks the group’s first post-pandemic holiday performance, entitled ‘Christmas with Brass.’

“We did a very quick pop-up concert … where we re hearsed for three weeks and did a free and open to the pub lic concert that was very informal but quite nice in December 2021,” he said. “But our first full concert (since the pandem ic) was last May.”

Despite the delay, Shields said, the holiday concert has been years in the making.

“The interesting thing about this concert is, this is the third year we’ve been going to do it, only now, we’re going to do

it,” he said. “We canceled it in 2020 and in 2021, so we’ve had this in the hopper for three years, but now we’re actually doing it and it’s a very interesting concert.

“It’s Christmas- and holiday-themed, obviously, and there are several unique things about it,” Shields continued. “First ly, we’ve combined very ancient Christmas and holiday music from the 1600s – there’s medieval music that’s been edited, changed around and made readable by our director, G. Roberts Kolb – and there’s an old German carol by Praetorius from the same dates, the 1600s. Then, we do more contem porary things, (such as) a piece from the repertoire of Cana dian Brass called ‘The Angel Choir and the Trumpeter’ and that’s written around 1995. In almost all of these pieces, there are melodies that the audience will recognize: Olde English carols that have morphed into what we now call Christmas carols. A lot of the tunes of Christmas carols are hundreds of years old, and that’s what this program highlights.”

Members of the Catskill Choral Society are pictured performing in 2014.

Additional features of the night, Shield noted, will include a James Whitbourn piece from 2004, “a quite well-known ver sion of the ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’” and Daniel Pinkham’s “Christmas Cantata” from the 1700s, written, he said, “spe cifically for a chorus and double-brass choir.” CCS, he said, has “hired a brass ensemble of two trumpets, two horns, two trombones, two piccolo, percussion and keyboard” for the event.

True to Tradition

Reviving the holiday concert, Shields said, was a matter of tradition and keeping with CCS’ mission.

“Our holiday concerts are always well attended,” he said, noting patronage of roughly 250. “There’s always a different enthusiasm for holiday concerts than ones in another time of year. People love traditional choral holiday music. This is a chance for people to get out and hear the classics; music that they know, or melodies that they know that are Christmas in origin. And all of this concert is just going to be brilliant in the First United Methodist Church (because) the acoustics in there are the best in this area.

“The mission has always been to bring the choral repertoire that exists to the greater Oneonta community ... and we’re still doing it,” Shields continued. “We always sing a mix of traditional and sacred choral music, which of course exists in huge volume that’s been written over the last three or four hundred years. Quite often, we sing things out of the 16th or 17th centuries, and we mix that with contemporary music of a more secular nature, so we provide a mix whenever we can.”

Though Shields noted that holiday concertgoer demograph ics largely “mirror” the membership, its draw is diverse. “We advertise, but the majority, or at least half, of tickets are sold by members, so, for that reason, we draw from where members live,” he said, noting member representation in Otsego, Delaware, Schoharie and Chenango counties. “The Christmas program generally includes more families, and there’s apt to be quite a few younger people … (be cause) we also have the youth and children’s choirs, which have been rebuilt, as well, and this is their first semester. They will do a few numbers, right around the intermission, and that’s under the direction of Cynthia Donaldson, a well-

known local musician, church musician and instructor.” ‘Making

Music for Over 50 Years’

Shields attributed the longevity of the holiday concert and the society to the dedication of its roughly 70 members.

“The group was formed in 1970 by a group of people who were involved in the arts – particularly music – at the two colleges, as well as other community folks that were involved in theater groups,” he said. “They recognized a void in the community of a choral group to sing the choral masterworks. There was an active symphony at the time, so it just made sense. They formed, at the time, what was called the Com munity Chorale, and that consisted of folks from the music departments at Oneonta State and Hartwick, and church musicians, high school music teachers and just people who had an aptitude for choral singing. I think the original group numbered 35 folks.

“We have paid musicians within the group and the director and accompanists or artists that we hire, but, by and large, it’s a volunteer organization and the governance is just dedi cated volunteers who have the interest, desire and passion to keep the group going,” Shields continued. “I can really relate to that, having just guided the group as president through the pandemic when we had no concerts, no income, no

Holiday concert tickets will be $25 for adults and $20 for seniors and may be purchased at catskillchoralsociety.com. For more information, also find “Catskill Choral Society” on Facebook. f

Catskill Choral Society Presents ‘Christmas with Brass’

at First United Methodist Church of Oneonta, 66 Chestnut St.

Friday, Dec. 2 at 7 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 3 at 3 p.m.

Tickets: $25 for adults, $20 for seniors

Catskillchoralsociety.com

nothing.”

From left: CCS members perform, masked, in this 2021 photo. Members of CCS’ youth choir perform in this 2018 photo.

“People love traditional choral holiday music. This is a chance for people to get out and hear the classics; music that they know, or melodies that they know that are Christmas in origin.”

Photos Contributed

A Sweet Feat:

‘Nutcracker’ Ballet to Bring Back Hol

oliday Magic

By Allison Collins BRENT DELANOY

Donna Decker, owner of Decker School of Ballet and director of Fokine Ballet Company, is returning visions of sugar plum fairies to Oneonta.

Decker will revive her annual holi day production of “The Nutcracker” Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17, with performances at Goodrich Theatre on the State University of New York at Oneonta campus. Per formances took a pandemic-induced hiatus, though abbreviated Nutcrack er events were held in 2020 and ’21. This year marks the company’s 35th Nutcracker and the first full-length production since 2019.

Decker said she felt the show must go on.

“People kept saying, ‘You have to do it for the kids,’” she said. “And I didn’t want to end Nutcracker that way, being forced not to perform (during the pandemic), so we needed to come back.”

This year’s roughly 50-person cast, Decker said, includes area children from 6 to 18, parent volunteers and professional dancers.

“We’ve got (students) from One onta, Unadilla, Walton, Delhi, Andes, Cooperstown, Morris and Laurens,” she said. “Most young people love to perform and they’re always excit ed about the guest artists coming in. The older girls are going to be backstage watching the guest artists, but even the younger ones, 8 and 9, are in the wings watching these professionals and, normally, profes sional ballet dancers are the kind of people that are so happy to share with younger kids and they’re always willing to help. (Former student and current studio instructor) Hillary (Re iter) did most of the casting, so she’s getting friends (from international and national productions in which she’s performed, such as) ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘Annie’ and ‘West Side Story.’ And I had a student, Kouadio Davis, who is now with Dance The atre of Harlem, coming as Cavalier (the male lead), and he’s bringing his own Sugar Plum (Fairy), so it’s the prodigal son returning and I’m very excited about that. (The profession als) bring so much maturity that it really rounds out the program.

“Nutcracker is definitely a holiday tradition, and I decided 35 years ago that we would do this for the community. But I’ve always felt, if you’re going to do it, we have to do it right.”

Gnomes, portrayed by some of Decker’s youngest students, push the sleigh containing Clara and her Nutcracker prince as members of the corps and the Snow Queen dance.

“Nutcracker is definitely a holiday tradition, and I decided 35 years ago that we would do this for the community,” Decker continued.

“But I’ve always felt, if you’re going to do it, we have to do it right. I

have great dancers in the studio, but they’re not as polished as an older professional, so I thought it would be good to bring in the profession als to add the icing on the cake … and I also wanted to bring in professionals so the older students, especially, had something to look forward to and up to and see what it’s like to be a real, professional dancer.”

Beyond Ballet

Benefits to the young performers, Decker said, begin far before they take the stage.

“One of the biggest things is the weekend rehearsals,” she said, not ing that auditions were held in early October. “Parents keep telling me how much (kids) love these, so even though they’re working hard, it’s like party weekend for them. We started ‘Sushi Saturdays’ (this year), because I’m there, and anyone who’s helping me is there, six to seven hours. I would say rehearsals are probably 80 to 100 hours.”

Decker said pre-production de mands, too, are varied and vast. Planning for the show is execut ed by several parent-volunteer committees.

“I think what people don’t realize is all the behind-thescenes work,” she said. “It’s not just dance; it takes us four or five days just to get the stage ready for the produc tion. It’s lighting and all the scheduling and rehearsals and housing for the guest artists. We do the school programs Thanksgiving Week, where we go to three schools and do a truncated version of Nut cracker. And it’s finding advertising for the programs. It’s endless, and that work starts the year before.”

Very Merry

But Nutcracker’s accessibility and seasonality, Decker said, have kept it a classic among audiences and performers.

BRENT DELANOY

Olivia Collins and Kahrin Vesterfelt, cast as party girls in the 2018 ‘Nutcracker,’ pose backstage. Contributed.

Children and parents in the party scene of the ‘Nutcracker’ listen to Godfather Drosselmeyer in this shot from the 2017 Fokine Ballet production.

“It’s for the young and young at heart,” she said. “It’s a great ballet to introduce kids to, because there are children their age on stage, and I think children love watching children perform. It’s one of the best ballets to introduce children to the artform.

“I have a lot of audience members who come because they went to a Nutcracker as a child and they have to see it again,” Deck er continued, noting patronage from Otsego County, Norwich and Binghamton. “Many make it a tradition just to come every year. Last year, the community was very disap pointed that we didn’t have a Nutcracker and our school shows are already selling out – usually they’re sold out by Thanksgiv ing, so we’re way ahead of schedule – so people have missed it. And the dancers are very excited to bring this production back to Goodrich Theatre.”

For ticket information, email fokineballet@ hotmail.com or call the studio at 607-4326290. Also, visit deckerschoolofballet.org. f

Above: Dancers perform, masked, in one of the abbreviated ‘Nutcracker’ events during the pandemic. Right: Juliet Doherty, playing the Sugar Plum Fairy, dances with her cavalier, Slawomir Wozniak Jr., in a pas de deux from the second act of the Fokine Ballet production. Contributed.

Steeped in Tradition

According to deckerschoolofballet.org, the Fokine Ballet Company was established in 1988 “to enhance the area’s cultural climate with quality performances.”

“The company prides itself on showcasing professional dancers of the highest caliber from the New York metropolitan area, and Poland and Rus sia, with whom our young dancers have the opportunity to perform,” the site states.

Company director Donna Decker began dancing at 4, performing with the Bolshoi Ballet by 14. She toured the East Coast, dancing professionally with the Irine Fokine Ballet, founded by her mother. Decker, is also a descendant of Michael Fokine, often credited as “the father of contemporary ballet,” the site notes. Decker founded the Decker School of Ballet, providing classi cal ballet instruction, in 1972.

The Fokine production of “The Nutcracker” reflects that pedigree, based as it is on the original 1892 Petersburg production. Decker’s grandmother, Alexandra Federova Fokine, restaged the original production, the site notes, for the Ballet Russe in 1940 and Decker’s mother, Irine Fokine, presented her version in 1957. It is on the latter that Decker’s production is based.

The Nutcracker will be performed at Goodrich Theatre, Ravine Parkway, Oneonta, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16 and 17. Friday’s show begins at 7 p.m. and shows take place at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday.

BRENT DELANOY

The ‘Waltz of the Flowers’ from the Fokine Ballet ‘Nutcracker’ is seen in this 2017 photo.

By

Latkes are the food most associated with Hanukkah, and not just because they’re delicious.

While many sources connect the crispy potato pancakes and the oil in which they’re fried to the miracle of oil lasting for eight days and nights, others suggest a different history.

According to reformjudaism.org, the “real history of latkes” begins in the late 18th century.

“Although potatoes were introduced to Europe in the 16th century,” it notes, “it took close to 200 years before the edible tuber made its way from animal fodder to pris on food and then to sustenance for the masses, especially the poor.

“The real reason for latkes is explained by the traditional activity of slaughtering geese in early December,” the site continues. “For three months before slaughter, geese were slowly and methodically fed at increasing intervals and quantities to fatten them to excess. Goose feathers and down were used for warmth, the meat was pre served as a confit for winter consumption and goose fat was rendered to provide cooking oil for most of the year. Even a poor person could find a potato in the field, an onion in the cellar and some of the precious, newly ren dered goose fat to create the Hanukkah culinary story of neis gadol hayah sham, ‘a great miracle happened here.’”

1. Latkes use simple, inexpensive staples to make a delicious holiday side. Peel large, Russet potatoes for latkes. 2. A food processor with shredding attachment is a great way to save time (and your arms) when preparing the latke batter. 3. After removing as much moisture as possible, dump shredded onion and potatoes into a large bowl. Add egg and seasonings to potato mixture. 4. Hands work best to mix the latke batter. Photos by Allison Collins

Allison Collins

Kosher.com states, “We eat latkes … on Chanukah … because the holiday is about the small jar of oil miraculously lasting for eight days and, therefore, frying foods in oil com memorates that miracle.” But it, too, acknowledges, “there’s more to it than that.”

The site explains: “Chanukah celebrates the victory of the Jewish forces, led by the Chashmonaim (AKA the Maccabees), against their Syrian-Greek oppressors. The Jews recaptured the Temple and were able to rededicate the altar, giving the holiday its name (‘Chanukah’ meaning ‘dedication’). The menorah … was relit with a single cruse of ritually pure oil, enough for just one day, which miraculously lasted eight days.”

Further derivations of the Hanukkah story credit the victory of Judith, or Yehudit, with slaying the general Holofernes after plying him with drink and cheese, leading to the lesser-known holiday custom of eating fried cheese pancakes.

Despite a complex and varied history (what religious tradition isn’t?) these latkes are easy to make, elevating simple, staple ingredients to something special.

Easy At-Home Latkes

Ingredients:

3 large Russett potatoes, washed, peeled and shredded 1 white onion, peeled shredded 1 egg

2 tbsp. matzo meal or breadcrumbs

1 tsp. salt

Canola or vegetable oil for frying Apple sauce and/or sour cream for serving Chives for garnish (optional) Yield: Roughly 12 latkes

Directions:

Wash and peel potatoes.

Once peeled, shred the potatoes using either a box grater or shredder attachment on a food processor.

With a cheesecloth, heavy-duty paper towels or a clean cloth towel, squeeze moisture from the shredded potatoes. (Squeeze hard!) Set aside in a large bowl.

Shred the onion and add to shredded potatoes.

Into the potatoes and onion, add egg, matzo meal or bread crumbs and salt. Mix well.

Add oil to a heavy-bottomed skillet and heat on medium-high. When oil is hot, scoop latke mixture with a ¼-cup measure and invert onto a spatula. Flatten with fingers and slide the patty into the oil. Repeat until the skillet is full but not crowded. Flip latkes when underside is crisp and golden brown, roughly five minutes per side.

Place cooked latkes on a paper towel-lined plate, sprinkle with salt and, if working in batches, set aside in a warm oven. Repeat process until all latke batter is cooked.

Serve latkes with sour cream or apple sauce (or, if you’re like me, both), and garnish with chives.

Leftover latkes (if there is such a thing) can be refrigerated in an air-tight container for up to five days. f

Tips: I found my hands worked best to mix the shredded potatoes and other ingredients.

You can gauge the readiness of your oil by placing the stem of a wooden spoon in the oil. If bubbles swarm the spoon stem, it’s ready.

I strongly recommend using a cast-iron skillet for these. They crisp up better and there’s never any sticking.

I know purists will say a box grater is the only way to shred potatoes for latkes, but the shredder attachment on my food processor worked beautifully and saved not only time, but my arms. I also used it for shredding the onion.

5. Using a 1/4-cup measure ensures a good-sized latke. Inverting and flattening the latke batter helps keep the shape. Press latke batter onto the back of a spatula. 6. Oil should be hot before sliding latkes into the pan. 7. Flip latkes after four or five minutes of frying, when the underside is crisp and golden-brown. 8. Garnish latkes with fresh chives and serve with apple sauce and sour cream.

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From gourmet treats to idiosyncratic housewares, local businesses offer holiday gifts that are anything but expected.

The most meaningful holiday gifts all have one thing in common: they feel personal. But how to sort through the overwhelm and anonymity of online shopping? Enter local businesses.

Independently-owned area shops reflect the point of view and personality of their owners and of the Catskills, offering not only distinc tive objects not found at chains or big online retailers, but community and camaraderie to boot. Three Delhi shop owners discussed how they give meaningful gifts, and the unique ways they celebrate the season.

Emily Helck

Photos Contributed

Emily Helck

Tay Tea is foremost a tea shop featuring owner Nini Ordou badi’s gourmet tea blends, but since opening in 2005, it has grown to encompass delicious edibles, artisan skincare, global ly-inspired fashion and home goods, and much more.

Describe your store in three words: Inviting, entertaining, ever-changing.

What are you excited about this holiday season? To once again host fun and popular workshops and events like our Tea & Tarot, boho-style fashion shows, head-wrap tutorial workshop and seasonal, themed tea cocktail parties to bring the community together and enjoy the changing seasons.

What do you expect to be bestsellers this year? Our new seasonal artisan tea blends, offering new holiday fashion items in my curated fashion line (NINI O. COLLECTION) and our new ly sourced eco-conscious local and global handmade gifts.

What’s your advice for giving meaningful holiday gifts? Think about the person you’re giving the gift to and try and give a gift that they would want—not what you want! That’s key in “mindful giving.” And make an effort in wrapping it beautifully.

What’s a unique holiday tradition you practice? One winter tradition that I’ve insisted on repeating year after year is the forcing of bulbs, like paperwhites and hyacinths. Once they bloom they create a fragrant and heavenly spring garden inside the shop, when it’s cold and dreary outside. We enjoy it and our customers are absolutely mad about it!

Apple pie or gingerbread? Apple pie, because it’s the only dessert I can make with my eyes closed and it’s usually delicious (at least my husband tells me it is!).

Location: 159 Main St., Delhi, NY

Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday and 10 to 3, Sunday Visit: taytea.com

luck dragon, an arts and crafts supply, is the newest shop on Delhi’s Main Street, located in a beautifully renovated storefront. Kelli Cain and Brian Crabtree opened the shop in summer 2022. In addition to art and craft supplies such as art paper, paints, fabric and embroidery kits, luck dragon also hosts workshops and events, with classes that include drawing and sewing, and a monthly meetup to play Go, the ancient Chinese game of strategy.

Describe your store in three words: Spirited true blue.

What are you excited about this holiday season?

Handmade watercolor paint in the Hilma af Klint palette by the company Beam of M’Chigeeng First Nation, Herbin fountain pen ink in gris nuage (cloud grey), wood carving knives by Morakniv and Holbein watercolor, hues sap green and pyrrole red.

What do you expect to be bestsellers this year? All things mending related, fountain pens by Lamy, books about color, notebooks by Leuchtteurm, toolboxes by Toyo Steel and gift cards for luck dragon classes and workshops.

What’s your advice for giving meaningful holiday gifts? We like gifts that endear themselves over time with use, and gifts that encourage the exploration of a new pro cess or honor one in progress.

What’s a unique holiday tradition you practice?

Our annual combination garlic festival/Halloween party...lots of garlic, lots of costumes, lots of dancing.

Apple pie or gingerbread? We’d like to write in pumpkin pie!

Location: 100 Main St., Delhi, NY

Hours: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday - Saturday

Visit: luckdragon.space

Emily Helck

Chef Matt Marchese opened This & That in 2020, the pandemic accelerating a long-held vision of a shop that offers engaging and unusual pieces, new and old, for the home. Don’t miss the treasures in the barn out back, The Market, featur ing local vendors on Satur days or Marchese’s weekly pop-up, The Kitchen, also on Saturdays.

Describe your store in three words: Curated, objects, design.

What do you expect to be bestsellers this year? Vintage ornaments and art prints, especially from Caroline Fay. What’s your advice for giving meaningful holiday gifts? The older you get, the less gifts matter. Think about someone’s favorite color/food/musical artist, and go from there. If nothing comes to mind, a copy of “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein is always a go-to for me. Or just ghost the person a month prior to the holidays so you don’t have to buy them a gift.

What’s a unique holiday tradition you practice? I grew up on the short side of the dollar and my family often used food stamps. So when it’s holiday meal shopping time, I’ll buy a family’s groceries for them.

Apple pie or gingerbread? Apple brandy.

Location: 110 Main St., Delhi, NY

Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesday - Monday

Visit: thisandthatdelhi.com f

Also in Delhi:

DELCO

95 Main St., Delhi, NY delco-ny.myshopify.com

Main Street Cards and Gifts

96 Main St., Delhi, NY facebook.com/ MainStreetCardsGifts/

92 Main St., Delhi, NY thestonehouseshop.com

Stewart’s Department Store 85 Main St., Delhi, NY

The Ar tisans’ Guild

The Stonehouse

A local cooperative shop featuring hand crafted gifts

Lorem psum

By Allison Collins

The Sidney Chamber of Commerce is feeling festive as it readies for the village’s annual Holly Jolly Pa rade.

The parade, followed by a tree-lighting ceremony and indoor photo-ops with Santa and Mrs. Claus, will take place at 6 p.m. on Main Street, Sidney.

Chamber president and Sidney native Teri Schunk said, while the parade’s inception is unclear, it’s long been a fixture of the season. Schunk noted that she’s been involved with parade planning for “over 10 years.” Schunk planned this year’s Holly Jolly Parade with chamber secretary, Anna Banks.

Planning, Schunk said, began in early September.

Schunk called the event an inclusive, “exciting kick-off to the holidays.”

“I feel it’s important for our com munity,” she said. “We’ve had it, and it brings people out. It’s shop local and (in) support of our beau tiful new Main Street and it just gets everybody in the holiday spirit and kicks off the month of December in a nice, fes tive way. We’re encouraging everyone to come down; all are welcome: youth groups, marching bands, firetrucks, dance groups, schools, anything.”

Making Merry

This year’s parade, Schunk said, will in clude returning fa vorites alongside new features.

“We’ll have some food vendors this year that might be new and music by Powerhouse Entertainment – he’s a fan favorite – and he’s live and sings,” she said. “The pa rade will be emceed by my brother, Chuck D’Imperio.

“One thing new this year is we have the tree-light ing, and that’s sponsored by Sidney Federal Credit Union, (in Market Square),” Schunk continued. “(The parade) will go to the red light (at the end of Main Street), then we’re asking everybody to come back to Market Square for the tree-light ing, then head down to the Community Cultural Center for Santa’s headquarters. We’ll decorate the Community Cultural Center, and it gives us visibility there, to make people aware of (the center), and it keeps everybody inside and warm (during photo-ops). Santa and Mrs. Claus will be on the stage, and we’ll have hot chocolate and Christmas music playing, so it’ll be a lot more warming, instead of outdoors where kids are freezing.”

In November 2020, the Community Cultural Center, 1 Bridge St., was launched from the village’s former First Congregational Church, which shut tered after more than 200 years serving the community.

Schunk noted that, eventually, the tree-lighting ceremony will likely transi tion to the CCC, too.

“We’re encouraging everyone to come down; all are welcome: youth groups, marching bands, firetrucks, dance groups, schools, anything.”

Schunk is president of the CCC board.

Cross-Community Cheer

Schunk said the Holly Jolly Parade typically draws a crowd, bolstering Sidney and surrounding communities.

“I would say (it brings) a few hundred people,” she said. “With our Four Towns Forward initiative, (a non profit, community-boosting organization representing Sidney, Unadilla, Bainbridge and Afton and of which Schunk is a founding member), all four communities do all four parades; Afton puts floats in Unadilla’s and we’ll put floats in theirs and we encourage all communities to attend all parades, just to show our support.

“This was the first year that we made sure (not to schedule parallel parades) … because, for a few years, Afton and Unadilla used to have theirs on the same day,” Schunk continued. “This year, they separated; we support each other, and it’s a big deal for us this year.”

Schunk said Sidney’s parade sees roughly 30 entrants. No pre-registration is required; participants are asked to line up in the Great American parking lot at 5 p.m., Dec. 2.

Community members, Schunk said, appreciate Holly Jolly’s continuation and expansion.

“People love it,” she said. “The tree-lighting has been new since I’ve been president and … we get a lot of positive feedback about that. There will be a few spon sors, because there’s a small amount of expense, but really, it’s just a giveback that the chamber provides for our community.”

For more information, find the “Holly Jolly Parade & Tree Lighting” Facebook event page or visit “Sidney Chamber of Commerce” on Facebook. f

Unadilla:

a.m.

Bainbridge: Saturday, Dec. 10

4

(607) 286-4061 sybilsyarnshop.com

65 S. Main St.

Tuesday- Friday 12pm-6pm Saturday 10am-5pm

Left to right: Attendees of the Holly Jolly Parade are seen on Main Street, Sidney in this undated photo. CCC President Teri Schunk stands with siblings Susie Whitham, Fran Martin, Bob D’Imperio and Chuck D’Imperio and sister-in-law Jan D’Imperio in this undated photo, taken after the annual Holly Jolly Parade.

Saturday, Nov. 26, with holiday bazaar at Unatego Elementary School from 9

to

p.m.; holiday movies with free popcorn; parade and visits with Santa Afton: Saturday, Dec. 3, beginning at 5p.m. with lineup at 4 on Commercial Drive. Free hotdogs, popcorn, cookies and hot cocoa at the VFW and visits with Santa following the parade.

The Cooperstown Crier

102 Chestnut St., Oneonta, NY 607-432-1000 coopercrier.com

The Daily Star

102 Chestnut St., Oneonta, NY 607-432-1000 thedailystar.com

Titan Drilling Corp. 264 Co. Hwy. 38, Arkville, NY 1-800-GO-TITAN • 1-845-586-4000 titanwelldrillingny.com

Oliver’s Campers Inc. 6460 State Hwy. 12, Norwich, NY 607-334-3400 •oliverscampers.com

HOME & GARDEN HOME

Otsego, Delaware, Chenango & Schoharie Counties 607-287-7908 Secorhomeinspections.com

SHOPPING & RETAIL RESTAURANTS & BARS

BROOKS’

PERSONAL