Looking back on a year in the Owl Light – 2018
January 2018
January 2018 featured “Time” our theme for our first Owl Vision of the year. Contributors included William Page who submitted “The ‘Owl Child’ at the Lower Mill,” about a displaced owlet.
“This magnificent Owl
Child came out of its nest
to land on these stairs.”
Lyndsay Clark offered us a glimpse back with “Memories were ‘stronger than the years’ for Westover AFB childhood friendship.” While Tawn Feeney reminded us of “The Gift of Time” in her poem about making time for children. Renee Thornton explored the rise in centenarians in her essay “One hundred years of memories” and Cherie Frid explored the nature of time in her poem titled “Time.” Other poems were shared from Mary Murphey Rouse, Jo Wall and John Mattei.
Dee Sharples explored time in the issue as she continued to help us all look up with “The Night Sky: Hubble Telescope – Looking back in time.”
“The Light Lens: Hey dummy it’s cold outside.” by T. Touris explored the life of a rhododendron and reminded us that with time comes the passing of the seasons – and changing weather patterns.
Later in January we also took a look back in time – taking in the past with the Clax Motometer Collection Exhibition at Ontario County Historical Museum, which opened February 2, 2018. Betsy Harris also took us back in time January 2018 with a look at The New Deal Art Gallery, Mount Morris, NY: The world’s only gallery dedicated to WPA easel art.
February 2018
Our February 2018 Owl Light coverage included a focus in on the proposed trash incinerator at the former Seneca Army Depot in Romulus, NY. 
Coverage included an article – “Firestorm in the Finger Lakes” by Len Geller and an Opinion piece – “Tourists not trash – not so simple after all” by William Ouweleen. The legal battle around the incinerator continues as we move toward 2019. Seneca Lake Guardian along with many concerned citizens, businesses and municipalities in the Finger Lakes continue to work to stop this project from moving forward.
Other February 2018 coverage explored the allure of flowers with an article “The language of flowers” by Mary Drake. February Owl Light News also featured an interview with Jane Barnard by Renee Thornton, following Barnard’s 100th birthday celebration. February column contributors included:
“The Light Lens – My fiery valentine” by T. Touris; Kade in the Kitchen … with Ganache” by Kade Bentley; Richmond History: Native American presence in the Honeoye Lake area” by Joy Lewis; “The Night Sky: Pleiades and Gemini ~ The Twins” by Dee Sharples; “Simple Sustainability: 5 R’s to zero waste” by Sky Trombly: and “The Village Gardener ~ Seeds” by Georgeanne Vyverberg.
March 2018
It was “Not just another day in court” as Owl Light visited Ontario County Youth Court and explored a restorative justice approach to helping youthful offenders make better decisions for themselves and their communities. “ Youth court is not just a court serving youth defendants. It is made up entirely of youth, judging and defending their peers in the hopes of making a difference in the lives of those involved, and in their communities.”
An opinion piece by Joshua Murphy “The future is now: Educating youth for an ever-changing world,” offered us further opportunities to explore our world views from diverse and accepting perspectives (www.owllightnews.com/the-future-is-now/).
Later in March we explored that age old question: “Is it Spring” (www.owllightnews.com/is-it-spring/) and Georgeanne Vyverberg cautioned us to think twice before giving bunnies as gifts (www.owllightnews.com/easter-bunnies/).
April 2018
As summer season 2018 heated up, Owl Light News explored “Where to go and what to see and do in the Finger Lakes – as we do in every Owl Light issue. Our travels included a look at “Accessible Glass Art” at the Corning Museum of Glass as Laurie Phillips reviewed a visit to the museum and National Poetry Month readings at FLCC Honors House in Canandaigua. We also looked at “Art in Bloom,” a collaborative show co-hosted by Ontario County Arts Council and Ontario County Historical Society – also in Canandaigua. We also featured many different performers across the region.
“Owl Outings” had us “Hopping at the Rabbit Room” in Honeoye Falls listening to Jim and Eric – AKA The Back Sliders.
As Joy Lewis explored another summertime pastime with part two of “The Mountain Climbers: An Allens Hill Baseball team” and T. Touris joined in with his Light Lens satirical look at the changing face of youth baseball.
We were also on the move as we helped DEC spread the word about the annual frog and salamander migrations that are a part of spring season.
Later in April we explored “Notes toward a Finger Lakes cuisine with Stephen Lewandowski and and the Village Gardener visited “Community gardens, CSA’s and garden markets as ways of helping us all enjoy the bounty of these lands.
That enjoyment included an Owl Outing to enjoy “Regional Ravioli in Mt. Morris” while watching Finn Kennedy ply his pasta-making craft.
Jean Long’s poems “April Fool” and The Crocus,” let us imagine the warmth of summer as we ventured out to explore
May 2018
We continued a bit of a sports theme in May as we traveled to Cortland to watch “Professional women on wheels” and cheer for the Assault City Roller Derby team.
We also traveled south to check in at a train station restoration in Dansville, NY with “Honest Beer at Battle Street Brewery. Despite continuing cool temperatures, we ventured slightly closer toward summer with Wendy Schreiner’s poems “Nature’s Springtime” and “Frog Hop.” We ventured out to the First Annual Finger Lakes Pottery Tour and the Funky Functional Fashion Show at the Cheshire Union. Ben Haravitch explored “Music as Language.”
Bee Lines offered us “Notes on foraging and hive manipulations and we learned that “for Natalie Northrup the future is now.” Jeanne Beck reminded us that “anyone can be an art collector!” Things also took a more serious turn later in the month, with a visit to Mercy Flight Central to learn more about “critical care in the air.”
June 2018
June 2018 featured “Wars Waged,” with an impressive selection of literary and visual art from our readers for our second Owl Vision of the year. Contributors included cover art from Susanne Allen, a story adaptation from Cris Riedel, and poems from Wendy Schreiner and Sky Trombly. Puppets were also “in the spotlight” in June as The New York State Puppet Festival became a reality in downtown Perry, NY. Owl received press information from many of the performers and made this available to our readers so everyone had the chance to experience this great performance art – I caught all of the shows and look forward to 2020 where, rumor has it -Josh Rice and supporters will be at it again.
Other art in the spotlight in June included Author Sean Thomas Dougherty, Poets Scott Williams and Stephen Lewandowski, Bird Art at Cummings Nature Center and a collective of artists that were part of the Hey Dude After Hours at Photo City in Rochester.
Students from the Metal Trades Program at the Mount Morris Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center teamed up with Suzanne’s Comfort Care Home to bring an incredibly unique and highly visible fundraiser to Perry, New York.
And…with summer growing season finally upon us, Owl Light continued our coverage of agriculture in the region by offering free listings for Regional Farm and Garden Markets. Motorists in June were encouraged to watch for turtles crossing the road.
Owl Light News readers were encouraged to “infuse your summer with music as we continued to highlight the musicians that keep up all happy and up on our feet. This included year eighteen of the Honeoye Public Library summer music at the Gazebo. IN the spirit of summertime fun, Brittany Touris encouraged readers to “Do something you have never done before in a review of Canadice Lake Outfitters.
www.owllightnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Owl-June-29-2018.pdf
July 2018
July Owl Light News included coverage of the Ithaca area Families Belong Together rally – one of 600 or more such rallies held in support of families being separated at the US border. This continues to be an active issue that has again escalated in response to migrants from Central America that have made their way – in the thousands – across Mexico to the US-Mexican border. The so called “caravans” include many children. The issue included a lead story as well as an opinion piece by Daniel J. Ellers.
We also gave “voice to silent pens” in July, in recognition of the newsroom shooting at the Maryland Capital Gazette Newsroom. We also helped the Wayside Seekers – a nature study group started in Bloomfield, NY in 1918 – celebrate 100 years of exploring the great outdoors. Stephen Lewandowski took readers way back in time with a look at fossil hunting.
Entertainment coverage in July 2018 included Mill Creek Cafe’s Music on the Patio, , Tommy Z. at Fanatics, Mount Pleasant String Band at Rio Tomatlin and Shake on the Lake’s Richard the Third.
With summer well on its way, Bee Line looked at helping “bees keep their cool.” While the Village Gardener looked at The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the parsley family. Sky Trombly’s “Summer ideas for school-aged children helped keep the focus on families and children as did “Dance transcends boundaries for those who dare to dream” by Shanna Butler.
While Fairy magic on Dansville Main Street kept magic in the air. “The Magic of the Old and the Promise of the New” was also evident in Mary Drake’s coverage of history and renovation mission at The Cheshire Theatre and Meeting Hall. Owl Light took the opportunity to highlight many area theatre-type venues that are bringing performances back to these historic area venues
On the lighter side, a reader shared the copy cat work of an “artistic pileated woodpecker in Canadice.”
August 2018
August Owl Light welcomed the first chapters from four youthful writers. We have since seen two other chapters from each of the four writers and we hope to see more of their work as well as future non-fiction stories (and poetry) grace the pages of every Owl Light News issue – not just during our twice yearly Owl Visions.
“Clone Wars” invited us to imagine a future world where one might suddenly discover that they are not who they thought they were. A fitting realization that fits nicely with our “Mistaken Identities” writings that will be shared in our January 2019 issue. I want to hear more of this story and the others (Sam, Sam the FBI Man, Reba the Lizard Queen and Scouting for Myself) – hopefully we can collectively will these young writers to continue with their stories in print or our online Owl Light pages.
Theatres remained in the Owl Light in August, as we looked at another grant-funded theatre renovation project with the Park Theatre in Avon. Long time resident Anne Younger has purchased the theatre and has received access to a $400,000 grant to move forward with renovations to reopen the theatre for movie showings as well as live performances.
Later in August, we paid a friendly Owl Light – well actually mid morning – visit to Joe Dady and two of his musically inclined students (brother and sister Shealeigh and Casey Brown). In “Sibling Harmony inspired by musical roots” we share the joys of that visit with Owl Light readers.
Meanwhile, our Concerts/Performances, Arts/exhibits pages and community calendar highlighted the abundance of area events that often happen during these dog days of summer.
For us, our summer fun took the form of assisting for a couple days with a timber framing project at Finger Lakes Museum and Aquarium in Branchport, NY. The structure will be raised in the spring, so stay tuned for Owl Light News reminders in May 2019.
September 2018
Our September Owl Light featured two essays from women reflecting on their lives and experiences related to the attacks on the World Trade Towers on September 11, 2001. “Giving Way to Light” by Nancy Quinones reflected on being a new mother when the attacks took place and the changes in her life that came soon after. In “Infinite ocean of light & love,” Emily Pecora explores the mood and her feelings as she walked into the streets of NYC after the attacks. We also shared related art work from William Wayne Page.
Owl Outings were “Caught up in the Blues” as we reviewed a show – with Johnny Rawls and Joe Louis Walker – at the Geneseo Riviera in Geneseo. We also explored the past with “Reels and history in Honeoyye Falls after a chance encounter with a group of school children doing the Virginia Reel in period costumes on the lawn in front of the one room school house in the village
“Salvaged sounds” has Owl Light venturing inside of Temperamental Recordings in Groveland, NY to learn about – and see first hand – the amazing collection of instruments and instrument equipment collected and lovingly housed by musician and producer Mike Brown. These days, Brown is out and about playing music much more and you can catch him at any number of venues in and outside of the region.
“Touching the Past” was a continuing theme with the late September issue’s editorial. Author Rebecca Leclair shared an overview of Mae Fox’s A-Mae-Zing’s new location, 142 Mill Street in Canandaigua and explored hypnosis as a path to recovery.
October 2018
October is a perfect time for a “Gathering of fall spirits”and our gathering was inspired by Honeoye Fall Distillery. We had discovered the distillery in 2015, a couple years after moving to the area, and an interview on site provided an opportunity to learn more about the distillery as well as about the distilling process and the history of distilling in New York State. It also gave us a great reason to gather with family and friends to taste some of their distilled products.
October also featured “Owl in the Owl Light,” the story of the carved owl on the front of this issue. We would still love to learn more about the owl’s maker – Peter A. Ligozio.
Georgeanne Vyverberg took us “Off Grid in Western New York” with a visit to Menagerie Farm.
A press release about the Genesee Valley 100 gave us an opportunity to learn more about and promote this creative fundraising venture. We also featured an advertisement for the Letchworth Arts and Craft Show, featured an abundance of performers offering music around the region and highlighted “Word Soup” poets’ readings at Wood Library in Canandaigua. A feature poem from Susan Reynolds, “Communion” was sent in by a friend and shared with readers and The Conscious Crow encouraged us “Beyond.”
A feature article by Jeanne Beck in October reminded us again that “regional art collecting is on the rise” and introduced readers to the Rochester Art Collectors – a Rochester area group helping to share the beauty of art collecting.
The Toad Prince explored another view of “me too” in a cautionary tale of romance and affections and a related letter to the editor from Martha Ferris also touched on this subject in a meaningful way.
Spider Tales offered up a poem “Spider Tale” by Beth Sleboda and a short story about a spider “in a corner…”. Chapter 2 of “Clone Wars” also offered us some continuing exciting reading as the adventure continued for Jenna and Molly and tied in nicely with some Halloween events offered here and there.
A swing dance event at Little Lakes Community Center was featured and, while in the area, we did some “dropping in on Main Street” in Hemlock, NY.
We also covered the Print Club of Rochester’s 87th Members’ Annual Exhibit at the Mill Art Center at the Lower Mill in Honeoye Falls.
November 2018
November was the mid-term elections, and Owl Light News encouraged people to vote and hosted a number of different poems and commentaries from readers about the elections and the candidates.
A number of area art exhibits also opened in November: Buffalo Society of Artists 122nd Catalogue Exhibition; Nature and Abstract Collide, featuring the fiber art of Mary Ann Fritz; and Dansville’s Online Art auction benefit. Lectures included: New Frontiers in Surgery looking at 3D Printing presented by Ahmed E. Ghazi, MD., M.Sc at University of Rochester Medical Center and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s “Writings on the Wall”.
Derrick Gentry took us on a journey to Tompkins County, NY to visit various farms using permaculture approaches to managing and caring for the land. Each offered a different perspective and practices for their farms, with the same end goal of growing and nurturing a wide range of plants (and animals -including humans) while helping the land that sustains them.
November also meant the sharing of “unplanned memories” of recent journeys further afield and across the water to Ireland (by Renee Thornton), Scotland (by D.E. Bentley) and to Croatia (by Scott Page and Emily Hughes).
We also looked at a “friendly takeover” at the Hemlock Agway as long time owner Jim Turner handed over the reins to Ray Bournival. Hemi, the cat, remained with the store, along with the same friendly service we have come to expect. In Honeoye, there was the five year celebration at the Fuzzy Bunny, which offers a wide range of holiday homemade gifts.
Finally in November, Owl Light News offered up some creative ways to give this holiday season. This included a visit to The Pinwheel Market in PennYan, NY, which has “dizzying array of gifts and goodies in store – all for a great cause.” To round out the issue, Sky Trombly looked at ways of having a “simpler holiday”.