Town Shop Youth Center

The Town Shop STAFF , youth participants, and volunteers wish to express sincere thanks to Solvay Bank for once again providing pizza for the TS birthday celebration on March 4th. Their generosity has spanned over three decades! Thank You……

Not too many human endeavors last 39 years, which is why it is remarkable that on March 7 the Town Shop will be starting it’s 40th year of operation. Predictions back in 1971 were “it might last 2 years, 3 years TOPS”. It is a tribute to the community group that created the program and had the wisdom and good instincts to invite teens into the creation process and give them real power (to design, choose directors, pick the building, decide how to decorate and what goes on there, set the standards etc.). And it is a tribute to the various funders and individuals who have donated money, time, and energy to sustain it.
The birthday will be celebrated with two live music events: Thursday, March 4, 7pm, White Picket Fence, with special guests Run Forever (from Pittsburgh, PA), and Thursday, March 11, 7pm, The Handsome Bastards with special guests. Come celebrate the start of our 40th year with us.

Other scheduled activities this program period include:

• Seva (Samaritan Center)Every Wednesday at 3pm.
• Seva (Sunshine Horse Rescue)Alternating Saturdays, 2/20, 2/27/, 3/13, 3/27, at 9am
• X Country Ski/ Snowshoe: 2/1, 2/9, 2/15, 2/18/, 2/21 & 2/28 (moonlight), 3/2, 3/21 (spring skiing up on Tug Hill Plateau) …..if there’s snow, we go.
• Town Shop All-Nighter: Open 7pm Friday 2/12 to 10am Saturday 2/13….come for some or all the time.
• Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) Tuesday (2/16) 1pm, the town shop has a “group pass”.
• 2010 CNY Scholastic Art Exhibition: Tuesday, 2/23, 3pm at OCC.
• Dodgeball: Thursdays, 2/25 & 3/25, 6:30pm
• Peter Mulvey Concert: he’s performed 2X at the Town Shop, outstanding singer/songwriter on Friday, 2/26 at Funk & Waffles (talk with DV)
• Febfest: Saturday, 2/27, 10am…..we’ve offered to help the Camillus Methodist Church with childrens’ face painting…talk with Cheryl if you are willing to volunteer for an hour or two.
• Eating Our Way Around The World : Saturday, 3/6, 12 noon, this time…..Italy.DELICIOUS!
• Cooking Class: Tuesday, 3/9, 6:30pm, “waffles and pancakes”
• Classic Movie Night : Hosted By Dan Nolan – Tuesday , 3/16, 7pm, “Back To The Future”

Read More »

It’s been a slow transition from autumn to winter, but worry not….winter IS coming. In anticipation the Town Shop has planned some cool outdoor experiences and some warm indoor activities (check the “calendar link”).

Here are some highlights

• Seva (Samaritan Center)Every Wednesday at 3pm.
• Seva (Sunshine Horse Rescue)Alternating Saturdays, 12/5, 12/19, 1/2, 1/16, 1/30, at 9am
• Holiday Music Concert Thursday 12/10 at 7pm at Camillus Methodist Church featuring students from The String Corner.
• LIVE MUSIC SHOWCASE : Sunday 12/13 at 6pm (ts opens at 4pm) With 2 great bands: Brothers We Grow (a reunion of sorts, and a chance to wish Dan Lyons well before deployment 12/15) and This Horseless Carriage.
• DodgeBall Thursdays 12/17 & 1/21, at 6:30pm east hill elementary.
• Everson Museum Sunday 12/20 at 1pm, “Impressionism: Turner to Cezanne”, normally $12 per student for this world famous touring exhibition, but down to $4 thanks to a generous gift from Travis Sky Ingersoll.
• X Country Skiing : 12/28, 1/10, 1/18, 1/25 & 1/28 (in the moonlight) plus winter camping February 16-18. Snowshoes also available as an alternative.
• Eating Our Way Around The World Tuesday 12/29 at 1pm, this time Thailand (Little Thai House). DELICIOUS!
• Classic Movie Night : Hosted By Dan Nolan – Wednesday 12/30 at 7pm, “The STING” (robert redford and paul newman, butch & sundance, united again)
• English Shuffleboard Tournament – (Henry VIII used to play this game as did Robinhood) : Over 2 days 1/4 and 1/5 starting at 7pm.
• Vegetarian Cooking Class – (simple meals with guest chefs) Thursday 1/7 and Tuesday 1/26 at 6:30pm.
• Rough Times Live (Teen Produced Television Show) Tuesday 1/12 at 6pm, they’ll be coming to tape a feature on the town shop with open mic performances for poetry & music plus a short theatrical piece.
• Facials : Thursday 1/14 at 7pm, cleansing toners masks and lotions, free and fun.
• Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) Sunday 1/17at 1pm, the town shop has a “group pass”.
• Town Shop Overnight : Friday 1/29 into saturday 1/30, food games music movies and a little bit of sleep, info available on 1/18.

Read More »

Hi David, it’s Jen here, your old kayaking buddy! How’s your summer been? Full of music festivals and the outdoors, I’m sure.

I took part in a really cool multimedia project this past summer on youth and technology. Our site, www.theyoungandthewireless.com is set to launch any day now (it’s just blogs and temp stuff right now) and we’re running a contest to help get youth-generated content for our site. We’re a bunch of college journalists…what do we know about being young anymore! I know that you have a lot of interaction with youth at the Town Shop, and wanted to extend encouragement to your more tech-minded students to enter our video contest.

Technology has changed young peoples’ experience of the world, and we want to get them to reflect on that creatively. Maybe you could even make an event out of it and do a video all together.

Here are the contest details: Students make a 2 to 3 minute soap-opera style video on how technology has affected their life. It can be silly or sad, reflective or raucus, and be done solo or in groups. Submit it to our YouTube group before December 31st, 2009, and you’re in! We’ve paired up with author and researcher Don Tapscott to offer up to $1,000 in prize money for the best work.

I hope you’ll consider encouraging your students to enter. It could serve as great motivation and exposure for their work. If you have any other ideas for how I could get the word out, I’d love to hear them.

Contest details: www.thewirelesscontest.com
YouTube Group: www.youtube.com/group/youngandthewireless

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback. I look forward to hearing back from you.

Jennifer Ward
Syracuse University
www.thewirelesscontest.com

Also check out her AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS Food Blog

The Town Shop reopened on October 5 following a September staff vacation. An October/November program calendar is in the process of careful planning and will be posted on the website, and available as “hard copy” soon.

Here are some highlights

• Seva (Samaritan Center)Every Wednesday at 3pm.
• Sunshine Horse Rescue(moving hay) Tuesday, Oct. 13, 5pm – Also Saturdays (Oct. 24, Nov. 7 & 21) 9am working with the horses
• Moroccan Visitors: Thursday, Oct. 8, 2:30-4:30pm, come help us welcome Ms. Fadwah RIH (Director, National Information and Documentation Center For Youth) and Mr. Hicham El Mdaghri (Chief of Service, Ministry of Economy and Finance)……it is their first visit to the U.S. and they would like to meet American teens and learn about youth organizations.
• Zoo (Rosamond Gifford Zoo) Monday, Oct. 12 (no school), 1pm, the Town Shop has a group pass.
• Apple Picking Thursday, Oct. 15, 3pm, Beak & Skiff (sign up), 79c per pound.
• Chimney Bluffs (Chimney Bluffs Hiking) Sunday, Oct. 25, 12 noon, spectacular autumn hiking.
• Sterling Nature Center Sunday, Nov. 1, 12 noon, another Lake Ontario adventure.
• Dodgeball Thursdays (Oct. 29, Nov. 19, Dec. 17), 6:30pm, East Hill Elementary, a chance to get out pent up aggressions.
• Rough Times Live (Teen Program (TV Show) Tuesday, Nov. 10, 6pm, teen produced television show taping at the Town Shop followed by short theatrical performance.
• Eating Our Way Around The World Wednesday, Nov. 11, 11am (no school), Ling Ling’s (China).
• Trip To The Big Apple (New York City) Friday, Nov. 13 to Sunday, Nov. 15 hosted by Mike and Kelly Dubois in Woodstock, NY.
• Classic Movie Night Wednesday, Nov. 25, 7pm hosted by Dan Nolan (film to be announced).

COMING IN DECEMBER/JANUARY: live music showcases, Town Shop overnight, cross country ski trips, winter camping, Everson Art Museum exhibit (”From Turner to Cezanne”) and more……stay tuned!

by John Mariani

More than an hour and a half before the forum was to begin, the line of spectators to see Vice President Joe Biden and his all-star education panel extended from the metal detector at the entrance of Goldstein Auditorium, through the lobby of Schine Student Center and out the door.

It included Grace Castaneda, a Syracuse University freshman from Corpus Christi, Texas. “My parents supported President Obama and Vice President Biden. It’s pretty cool to see something they were a part of,” Castaneda said.

It also would be cool if the panelists talked about how to help college students get their education, she said.
David Vermilya, co-director of the The Town Shop youth center in Camillus, was escorting several teenagers from the center. They got their tickets courtesy of Rep. Dan Maffei, whom Vermilya said wanted teens from his district to attend the forum. Dan Nolan, now a Maffei aide, is a Town Shop alumnus, Vermilya said.

Read More »