The Oneida Community Mansion House invites the public to an opening reception for the exhibition “View From the Tower” on Tuesday, August 17 from 5 to 7 p.m.

Revealing the look of the landscape in Victorian times, this photographic exhibit documents many of the buildings once clustered near the Mansion House, residence of the Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Structures illustrated include barns, industrial facilities, tenant houses, and places where the business, service, and educational tasks of the famous utopian group took place. 

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a remarkable photographic panorama taken from the Mansion's North Tower in about 1874.  In addition to over thirty historical photographs, the exhibit includes an 1869 map of the grounds and two 1868 architectural drawings of the Mansion House.   

“View From the Tower” is located in a second-floor gallery funded by a Gorman Foundation grant and dedicated to exhibiting the Oneida Community Mansion House’s photographic collection.   

The Oneida Community Mansion House was the home of the 19th century utopian Oneida Community (1848-1880).  Today, the building houses a museum with permanent and changing exhibitions, residential apartments, overnight lodging, Zabroso Restaurant, and banquet and meeting space.  Guided tours are available Wed. through Sat., 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., and Sun. at 2 p.m. for a nominal fee.  The Oneida Community Mansion House is located at 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, NY.  For information call 315-363-0745 or visit www.oneidacommunity.org. 

The Madison County Courier featured this great review of the Lorenzo Driving Competition held in Mid July at Lorenzo State Historic Site.

By Linda J. Haley

(Cazenovia, NY) I have family in Cazenovia providing me the opportunity to drive past Lorenzo during the annual Driving Competition. Yes it’s gorgeous and the horses and carriages are amazing, and no, that’s OK, I’ll pass.

I’ve never entertained the idea of attending. Why? Because everything about it reeked of exclusivity, privilege and wealth, obviously something I would hardly feel welcome at, let alone enjoy.

I WAS WRONG.

My friends in Fenner asked if I was attending. I gave them The Look telling them the above. They gave me The Look, insisting it wasn’t at all like that, and to get my butt down there to see for myself. They said it’s an excellent opportunity to learn about driving and competition, plus see different styles of carriages and horses. They also mentioned there would be food and vendors, food and mini-horses to pet… and food.

I am easily swayed by food, er, horses, so I went.

THEY WERE RIGHT.

I had a blast! I only planned on going for a few hours on Saturday and ended up staying later than planned and went all day Sunday too! Go figure! Now I feel the need to educate everyone out there like me to get their butts down there for the next year’s competition.

First, I have to say I am SO not competitive. Unless it’s for the last pair of shoes or bra available in my size, I could care less about competition or winning. That’s why I’ve never been a big fan of horse shows where people are brutal in the quest to win. I’ve not attended hundreds, but the few I have were enough for me to say it’s not my thing.

I appreciate the huge amount of work invested by people who show. The training, hauling, handling, massive time and financial investment they dedicate to their passion. I respect the devotion to their animals and sport, just not the “vibe” I feel among the competitors.

Brrrr!

So I wrongly assumed all competitions would feel like that. Lorenzo looks like it would be like that, but EVERYONE I came in contact with was friendly, helpful, down-to-earth and ridiculously happy to share their hints and secrets to competitive driving.

WOW.

My friends and I wandered into a staging area. I met Iliana and her beautiful horse, Annie Star, from the Albany area. She was a lovely, approachable person. She told me normally she’s a hunter-jumper girl but got into driving because it was so much fun. She said she’d only been doing it a year, had no idea what she was doing, and relied on Miss Annie to show her the ropes.

How humble is that? You’d NEVER hear that in a normal competition.

She said Annie was a seasoned competitor and excellent teacher whom she adored. She went on to tell me that even though it looks like “driving for dollars,” many of them get their garb from consignment and thrift shops. She said it’s more likely a competition to see who could spend the least to compete.

She could not have been more complimentary of Annie and how lucky she was to have her. I wanted to cry; at other shows I would hear, “stupid horse” did this, or “my horse was a jerk, wait till we get home.” If you stuffed me in a hot trailer, dragged me to an unfamiliar location, dolled me up, strapped a cart to my fanny and sent me out in a ring full of strangers to roll out perky, perfect and play nice, I might just let you down.

These animals are amazing.

The people at Lorenzo understand it’s not about winning; it’s about love of the animals, their abilities and the joy of driving carriages on a lawn of a beautiful historical estate on a brilliant afternoon. It’s about getting together with like-minded people, sharing hints and tricks, making it all that much better for horse and driver.

I was inspired and happy to know people like this exist in the horse world. It’s really something to see the fantastic rigs and period wear cruising along the gorgeous lake backdrop. You get lost in it, forgetting everything but the beauty in front of you.

I wasn’t lost for long. I snuggled the minis, drank frozen piña coladas, bid on silent auctions, checked out the carriage museum and had a sausage sandwich before I left.

Plus an unexpected art investment from a Cazenovia artist I’m hiding to bring out slowly claiming to have had for years while I dread the next credit card statement.

Worth it!

To summarize, the Lorenzo driving competition? GO!

Linda J. Haley is a nine-to-five working stiff reporting on her love of rural life as she learns about all things country.

Alaini Potrikus, the Madison County beat reporter for the Post Standard had a good news story today about $200,000 that could be coming to Cazenovia College to support Equine Alley today. 

Cazenovia, NY -- U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., is following through with his promise to deliver federal money for a think tank at Cazenovia College to spur the growth of the state’s equine industry.

Schumer attended the debut of the New York State Center for Equine Business Development at the school’s 243-acre Equine Education Center last August.

On Wednesday, he announced that a $200,000 funding request for the project has been approved by a Senate subcommittee and is on its way to approval as part of a federal spending bill.

Supporters of the effort believe Cazenovia College is ideally located to house the center. The Route 20 corridor was termed “Equine Alley” in recent years by local enthusiasts looking to capitalize on the horse-raising culture from eastern Madison County to LaFayette in Onondaga County. The area includes hundreds of miles of riding trails, a proximity to big events such as racing at Vernon Downs and competitions at the New York State Fairgrounds, and the star power of Olympian Beezie Madden, who brought home gold medals in 2004 and 2008.

The area is also rich in educational opportunities, including Morrisville State College, where officials are raising money to build an Equine Rehabilitation and Physiology Center with a therapy pool and a hyperbaric chamber for the recovery of injured horses and the conditioning of healthy ones.

Schumer said the equine industry accounts for 35,200 jobs and $169 million in wages in New York, from training and lesson facilities to tack shops, feed stores, equipment dealers and veterinarians.

“We already have the basic economic infrastructure in place,” Schumer said in a news release. “Now, we just need to expand it.”