If there is one thing we have learned over the past few months is that when you get the right minds together in one room - magic happens!
And truly it has!
Through the diligent work with CACDA and CazArts, we are the recipients of two very large community grants. One from Al Stirpe's office for $40,000 and another for $50,000 from Market NY, through Empire State Development. These combined with last months donations of $10,000 from the annual dinner is making us feel immensely blessed!
Not only blessed, but also highly motivated to allocate these funds towards making a difference within our community.
Each grant will of course come with stipulations of what it can and cannot be used for - and we are learning those as we delve into budgeting and planning meetings.
The Stirpe Grant is designed to be used toward the promotion of winter in Cazenovia- so let's give it a go!
Many ideas have been tossed around in planning meetings including, but not limited to:
Setting up a curling league in the community
Free public events including snow showing, cross country skiing, etc.
Outfitting community recreation areas (including ice skating rinks) with supplies in need.
Winter light art installation
Community signage and decorations
Professional services for snow and ice sculptures
Beverages and snacks for winter bonfire events
Setting up indoors celebration including bands, movies and other entertainment
And so much more!
At this current time, we are still madly brainstorming and connecting with community partners who may be able to help facilitate all this fun - no official decisions have been made as of yet.
The Market NY grant is still in the very early stages of acceptance. More details will be shared soon.
However in the spirit of transparency we wanted to keep everyone in the loop on what we currently have in motion. Very exciting things to say the least. And we definitely can promise that winter (especially including Winter Fest Feb 9-11) will be full of fun surprises!
