THEATER COURSE—10 a.m. to noon. All adults are invited to a collaborative theater course around the theme of “Tales of Love & Transformation.” Participants will learn mime, acting, storytelling, mask making, and improvisation to create original vignettes for live shows. Classes held each Tuesday and Thursday from 10 a.m. to noon. Show dates are June 16 at 6:30 and June 17 at 3. Classes and performances held at The First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut Street, Oneonta. Register by calling (607) 895-6032 or visit gregson.theater/new.html for info.
ONEONTA—Mountain View Wellness Center is partnering with theater director Barbara L. Gregson and musician Eric Porter to present a free theater course for adults 18 and older, to be held at the First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut Street.
This collaborative course focuses on creativity, storytelling and the theater-making process. Participants will learn mime, acting, storytelling, mask making and improvisation, and will create original vignettes to be performed at two live shows in June. The basic theme is “Tales of Love and Transformation.”
Tentative dates for classes and rehearsals are Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon on May 9, 11, 16, 18, 23, 25, and 30 and June 1, 8, and 15. Show dates are Friday, June 16 at 6:30 p.m. and Saturday, June 17 at 3 p.m.
Registration is required by contacting Gregson at (607) 895-6032 or blgregson@gmail.com or Mountain View Wellness Center Program Director Shari Stallone at sstallone@rehab.org.
This project is made possible with public funds from the Statewide Community Regrants Program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and administered by The Earlville Opera House.
CONCERT—7:30 p.m. Enjoy a performance by the award-winning “Catalyst Quartet,” hailed as “invariably energetic and finely burnished… playing with earthy vigor,” by the “New York Times” for their Carnegie Hall debut. Presented by the Oneonta Concert Association at the First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut Street, Oneonta. (607) 432-1589 or visit oneontaconcertassociation.org
CHICKEN DINNER—4-7 p.m. Support this local fire department and enjoy a meal of Brooks’ BBQ. Half chickens are $8; chicken dinners are $13 and include baked beans, macaroni salad, roll and dessert. East Springfield Fire House, US Route 20, East Springfield. Springfieldfiredept@gmail.com or visit facebook.com/SpringfieldFireNY/
CLASSICAL CONCERT—7:30 p.m. The Catskill Choral Society presents their spring concert, “The Intimate Brahms.” Rescheduled due to the pandemic, this concert will feature wonderful songs for the springtime.Tickets are available at The Green Earth Market in Oneonta and Cooperstown Natural Foods in Cooperstown. Held at First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut Street, Oneonta. (607) 435-7008 or visit catskillchoralsociety.com
BLOOD DRIVE—Noon to 6 p.m. Save up to three lives with the American Red Cross. Elm Park Methodist Church, 401 Chestnut Street, Oneonta. Register at redcrossblood.org
CONCERT – 7:30 p.m. Join the Oneonta Concert Association for fun concert featuring soprano Rachel Schutz performing with pianist Spencer Myer and featuring young artist Louis Doherty. Cost, $25/adult. First United Methodist Church, 66 Chestnut St., Oneonta. 607-433-7252 or visit oneontaconcertassociation.org/rachel-schutz-soprano-and-spencer-myer-piano-march-19-2021/
BLOOD DRIVE – 1 – 6 p.m. p.m. Donate today to receive an exclusive Red Cross T-Shirt while supplies last. Zion Episcopal Church, 162 Main St., Morris. 1-800-733-2767 or visit www.redcrossblood.org
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS – 5 – 10 p.m. Drive through a winter wonderland featuring light displays created by local businesses, individuals, and organizations. Admission is Free. Neahwa Park, Oneonta. Visit www.facebook.com/FNOneonta
CHRISTMAS – Be an Angel. Sign up to give the gift of Christmas to local families in need with this years Angel Tree Program. Visit www.allotsego.com/angel-tree-program/ for details.
SYMPHONY – 7 p.m. The Catskill Symphony Orchestra presents a program of serenades, both classical and romantic, by a trio of master composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to Antonín Dvořák and Richard Strauss. Health guidelines will be followed. Cost is $32/adult. Foothills Performing Art Center, Oneonta. Visit catskillsymphonyorchestra.org
ANNIVERSARY PARTY – 7 – 11 p.m. Join interskate 88 to celebrate their 40th year. Will feature Hanzolo performing live on the dance floor. Interskate 88, 5185 St. Hwy. 23, Oneonta. 607-432-0366 or visit www.facebook.com/interskate88/
CONCERT – 7 p.m. Get out and enjoy a concert in the park. Bring a chair, a blanket and get comfortable to listen to A Capella quartets as performed by the New Horizons Barbershop Chorus. At the Bandstand, Spring Park, Richfield Springs. 315- 858-0964.
OTSEGO COUNTY FAIR – 10 a.m. – 9 p.m. Come out for the 6 best days of summer featuring livestock shows, rides, games, food, the Rafter Z Rodeo (admission $10), 4-H games on horseback, Butternut Valley Grange singers in the grange building, Karaoke contests, much more. Otsego County Fairgrounds, 469 Mill St., Morris. 607-263-5289 or visit www.otsegocountyfair.org
GHOST TOUR – 7 p.m. Come hear the tales of mysterious and frightful happenings in the shadowy corners of our local historic mansion. Cost, $20/adult. Hyde Hall, Glimmerglass State Park, 1527 Co. Rd. 31, Cooperstown. 607-547-5098 Ext. 1 or visit hydehall.org
HISTORY DISCUSSION – 7 p.m. Explore the personal stories of Japanese American incarcerees during World War II. First learn about some of the people Ansel Adams met while taking his pictures of the camp at Manzanar, the listen to local resident Liane Hirabayashi as she discusses the effect the camps had on her fathers family. Free, recommended donation $10. Auditorium, Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown. 607-547-1400 or visit www.fenimoreartmuseum.org
CHRISTMAS CONCERT – 2 p.m. Enjoy cozy virtual concert with artists DiSavino & AJ Bodnar. Call for how to connect. Suggested donation $20. Presented by First United Methodist Church of Oneonta. 607-432-4102 or visit www.firstumc-oneonta.org
Joyce Mason is retiring as Lord’s Table director after rescuing the food pantry 10 years ago. (Ian Austin/AllOTSEGO.com)
In 2008, Joyce Mason, working as a missionary in Honduras, got an urgent message that she was needed at home in Oneonta.
“Opportunities for Otsego had decided to give the Lord’s Table two weeks’ notice that they would no longer run it,” she said. “And although they tried to limp along, it wasn’t enough.”
After locating a landline phone to talk with the staff at St. James Episcopal Church, Mason came back to Oneonta as director of the nightly feeding ministry and the Loaves & Fishes food pantry.
“I got home on May 31,” she said. “I went into work on June 2, and I’ve been here ever since.”
And at the end of the year, Mason will retire from feeding families, the elderly and the disenfranchised after 22 years of service.
“If people are hungry, you have to feed them,” she said. “That’s important. It doesn’t matter if they’re rich or poor or sideways. Anyone can come.”
A native of Forrest Hills, Mason moved to Sidney with her husband, James. He passed away in 1995, leaving her with their two sons, James and Peter.
“After they graduated high school, I became a missionary,” she said. “And I was sent to Honduras.”
But when she got back, there was much work to be done to get the pantry and the kitchen where they needed to be to serve the city’s hungry.
“When I got here, it was not a happy situation,” she said. “So much of what was in the freezers wasn’t labeled, and I had to throw everything in the dumpster. It made me very sad.”
She immediately set to restocking the fridges. “I ordered food from the Regional Food Bank and, sometimes, from restaurants or catered events, like weddings,” she said. “And I started calling every group I could get to help serve the meals.”
With the First United Methodist Church hosting Saturday’s Bread, and the Salvation Army offering the “Meal With a Message,” a hot meal is offered free of charge seven days a week in the city.
“There is no place else between Albany and Binghamton that does that,” Mason said. “And in a town this size, we’re absolutely blessed to have three meal service programs.”
In 2018, Mason spearheaded the formation of the Otsego County Hunger Coalition, creating a network of all the food pantries, feeding programs and farmers’ markets in the county to make sure everyone has access to food wherever they may be.
But there have been challenges along the way. “After the flood of 2011, we were the Otsego County Disaster Feeding program,” she said. “St. Mary’s was housing people, many of them from
Lantern Hill” – the Southside trailer park – “and we had to feed them three meals a day.’
She was preparing lunch for the flood victims one afternoon when she smelled smoke. “The food pantry was on fire,” she said.
Rather than shut down, the pantry moved into St. James and continued its ministry. “We were closed from Friday to Tuesday,” she said. “We had to keep it going.”
The pantry was rededicated in March 2012, and Mason was lauded by Father Kenneth Hunter for continuing to feed the most needy among them.
And this year, the ministries had to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced the Lord’s Table to go to take-out only.
This year, 3,642 households have received food, the highest number in five years.
“It’s tough for the older people especially,” she said. “They need that socialization of sitting down and having a meal with somebody. It’s not available to us right now, but as soon as we can reopen, we will.”
It has also limited the food available at the pantry. “We’re having a lot of trouble getting beef or pork,” she said. “It’s just not available.”
While Mason is leaving her post at year’s end, she doesn’t expect to stay put for long in her retirement. “I’m a missionary at heart,” she said. “I go where I’m needed.”
YULE BALL – 8 – 10 p.m. Dress up with your friends for Harry Potter themed ball featuring mocktails, food, games, some vendors. Admission, $5 with proceeds to support charity Reading is Fundamental. Ballroom, Hunt Union, SUNY Oneonta.
