Briefs: Friends of Newman, Hangar stage, pop-ups

Friends of Newman, Inc donates $5,000 to city of Ithaca

On June 15 at 8:30 a.m., the Friends of Newman, Inc. (FON) donated $5,000 to Newman Golf Course Superintendent Mike Addicott and the city of Ithaca to help with the ongoing, much-needed irrigation project at the course. The funds were available because generous golfers and non-golfers donated to the various fundraising projects that FON initiated over the past year. The presentation was held at Newman located on Pier Road in downtown Ithaca. Newman Golf Course was closed all of 2020 due to COVID and re-opened full force in April of this year. Members range from 12 years old to senior member 95-year-old John Perko. The diversity of the course is apparent as you watch kids, students and people of all ages playing the course while also enjoying the breathtaking view of Cayuga Lake. Youth are encouraged to become members with a very attractive season membership rate for just $50 for ages 12-17. Youth can play every day all season long for just $50. The Newman restaurant serves up tasty variety sandwiches, burgers, fries, beverages and even breakfast seven days a week. The greens and fairways are in great shape and it’s a perfect course to walk or take a cart. And coming soon to the Newman neighborhood will be the new Guthrie Medical Center and the new City Harbor housing project. In this photo: Ithaca Common Council member George McGhonigal (far left), Newman Supervisor Mike Addicott (foreground, second from left), Friends of Newman board members Lester Sowell (back row, center left) and Laura Anderson (foreground, center), Newman golfer Rick Favro (background, center right), Friends of Newman Chairperson Gale Smith (foreground, second from right) and Newman golfer John Perko (far right).

 

Tompkins Trust Company Stage opens at Hangar Theatre

The Tompkins Chamber hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Tompkins Trust Company Stage at the Hangar Theatre at 801 Taughannock Blvd. on June 1 at 4:30 p.m. The Hangar’s preview performance of “The REALNESS: another break beat play” followed at 7:30 p.m., kicking off the Hangar’s 2021 Outdoor Mainstage season. Members of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce were joined by Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick, Tom Knipe, city of Ithaca deputy director of economic development, Hangar Managing Director R.J. Lavine, Hangar Artistic Director Shirley Serotsky, members of the Tompkins Trust Company leadership team, and Hangar staff, artists and board members. Tompkins Trust Company is the premier performance sponsor of the Hangar’s outdoor season. Greg Hartz, president and CEO of Tompkins Trust Company, said, “Arts and culture are important for the well-being of communities, as they often inspire us to move towards various levels of positive change by creatively telling stories and sparking important conversations. Our community is grateful for the opportunity to join the Hangar Theatre this summer to enjoy their performances safely at their outdoor stage. Thank you to the Hangar Theatre for your commitment to make the show go on, even when it has been extremely challenging to do so.” In this photo (from left to right): Serotsky, Lavine and Myrick at the ribbon cutting.

 

Women-owned business pop-ups open by the waterfront

On June 17, five women-owned businesses opened up shop in the old bus station on West Martin Luther King Jr./State Street in Ithaca: Ithaca Waterworks, Paddledockers Kayak Shop, DripHouse, Coal Yard Cafe and DarlingCake. Tami Wilmot, co-founder of DripHouse, which currently has two other locations in Pittsford, New York, and Williamsville, New York, said, “We are really excited to expand into Ithaca and start off getting our toes wet by having our pop-up boutique here and getting the word out to everybody here. [We’re] hoping to open up in the fall with all of our services — which is infrared saunas and blankets, and then an add-on cryotherapy machine — and really hope that we’ll be able to get a lot the athletes in Ithaca for recovery and the students. Everybody in general is working out really hard and needs a place to come recover.” Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick attended the ribbon cutting with other local leaders and called the openings a “sign of a newer, brighter, better future here in the city of Ithaca.” Thomas Knipe, deputy director of economic development for the city of Ithaca, praised Lincoln (Linc) Morse, a partner in Paddledockers and the developer behind the Water Works project planned for the waterfront. “It takes vision and perseverance to do what you’ve done here and to do what you’re doing all over this part of the city,” he said. “We’re grateful for your perseverance.” Jennifer Tavares, president of the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, also attended the ribbon cutting and welcomed the businesses to Ithaca. “Micro-entrepreneurship is a really important thing in our community and everywhere, and anything we can all do to support our smallest businesses and to create spaces for them — particularly women-owned businesses, of course, very near and dear to my heart — we’re very excited to support that,” she said. Learn more about DripHouse at driphouse.com, Ithaca Waterworks at facebook.com/ITHACAWATERWORKS, Paddledockers Kayak Shop at paddledockers.com, Coal Yard Cafe at thecoalyardcafe.com and DarlingCake at darlingcake.com. In this photo (from left to right): Tavares, Knipe, Ithaca Alderperson Cynthia Brock, Coal Yard Cafe Manager Michael Wszolek, Morse, Myrick, Paddledockers owner Jodi Lee Denman, DarlingCake owner Amy Gaines and Wilmot at the ribbon cutting.