High school students from near and far traveled to Oswego on Saturday, October 28th, to visit SUNY Oswego’s Open House. The open house was hosted by the office of admissions.
The Open House gave students and families an opportunity to talk with faculty and explore the campus buildings including academic buildings, residence halls, and dining halls. Just over a hundred tables were set up in the Marano Campus Center. Students and parents had the chance to talk to representatives from financial aid, career services, athletics, international education, and experience-based education.
“The people are very friendly and i felt very welcomed here. the campus is very modern and beautiful so it was easy to find my way around,” High School Senior Allison Smith said.
To schedule a visit register at www.oswego.edu/visit or for more information about when future open houses will be visit oswego.edu/events.
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Underage Drinking
by Daniel Manou
Oswego, NY- As underage drinking and drug use grows around the country, Oswego County is trying to find ways to not only control this epidemic but turn it into a positive trend.
On a daily basis alcohol is in the public’s eyes whether from advertisements, stores or people using it around them regardless of the viewers age. According to a multi-year study by Farnham Family Services alcohol is the most used drug among minors in Oswego County. However, compared to the last survey, this year’s results are showing progress. Prevention Services Director Penny Morley believes the results of this year’s survey is heading in the right direction.
“We did a youth development survey in 2013 and another one in 2016, and our numbers are going down, youth that are reporting underage drinking,” she said.
Although Morley acknowledges the comparison of surveys shows only a small drop in underage drinking, she is still pleased with the numbers.
“Just a few percentage points, but even just a few percentage points is better than having an increase”, said Morley.
According to the survey nearly 70 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol. Most minors reported the easiest access is from their own home.
In an effort lead by Oswego County Undersheriff Gene Sullivan, police have attempted to stop underage parties. Sullivan has been working to shut down these parties and educate minors about the dangers of underage drinking since 2011. However, he has directly seen what consequences arise.
“By the end of the night we would have fights, vandalism would occur and in the worst case scenario people driving away from that party, getting into crashes some of them were fatalities,” Undersheriff Sullivan said.
In 2014, Farnham instituted the Oswego County Prevention Coalition in response to the 2013 survey and has worked alongside schools to educate the youth. According to the 2016 results, ninth grade, the same age period when alcohol is most dangerous to children, was where the usage jumped the highest.
“Anyone that uses before the age of 15 has a much higher likelihood of addiction as an adult, their brains are not fully formed at that point”, said Morley.
With the tactics that have been put in place and continue to be worked on, there have been signs that they have made an impact.
“I think there’s been tremendous progress, but it’s been painfully slow. It’s a difficult message to deliver”, said Undersheriff Sullivan.
Even with the long awaited results showing optimism, both Morley and Sullivan know their job isn’t done.
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Oktoberfest in Oswego
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From the Polka to the party the first ever Oswego Oktoberfest brought Deutschland to downtown Oswego.
“This is the first time running the Oktoberfest. So this is something that I think a lot of people have been interested in and we’re just putting it together for a fun community event,” said Event Director Chris Jones.
Jones felt that whether people came for the food or the fun. Everyone found something worth staying for.
Jones said, “Honestly I think it’s a little bit of both. For me the fall season’s the best time to eat and you know, we’ve got about three hundred pre-sales on the event. Hopefully with everything looking the way that it is hopefully about five hundred or so.”
Ice-cold local beer topped everyone’s glass while the polka band played on, but the beer wasn’t the only thing that was cold. With temperatures in the forties most individuals camped out. Enjoying some good times as well as some delicious local beer.
“Most of them are New York State breweries. There are seventeen different beers that are going to be on tap in addition to a couple wines and beverages. So there’s a long list, Adirondack, Woodchuck, Davidson brothers, quite a few on there,” said Jones.
The weather was cold but more than 400 turned out for the night’s events.
Jones felt, “This is fall weather, this is what Oktoberfest is about,” and he hopes to re-create the event again next year. And based on the reception from Oswego resident Trish Auer.
“I think, yeah I’d love to see it come back again and definitely more entertainment,” said Auer.
Jones added, “I think that bringing more events into the community and encouraging not only the people that live here to come out, but start getting people to come here from other regions.”
And Auer felt, “I just love it there’s just so much more going on here. This year especially and it’s just so exciting to have everybody out and about.”
Although next year’s Oktoberfest is a year away you can visit WTOP10.com and take a look at some photos of this year’s festivities. -
Port City Co-Op Antique Store
by Sabina Longo, WTOP10-TV
Port City Co-Op is an antique store that is hidden on West Second Street in downtown Oswego. The store celebrated its two year anniversary on Tuesday, November 1. Linda Demassi had the idea to open up Port City Co-Op and help bring more local businesses to Oswego.
Originally the store opened with ten vendors but now there are 37. With more vendors selling their items, the store needed to be expanded and that is when the owners of Port-City bought out the soap store that is located nextdoor.
Antiques and unique items are not the only reason why people shop here. Mary Waite is a regular at Port City and says she loves all the different items because it brings back nostalgic memories. It reminds her of her childhood.
Linda Demassi encourages people to shop local because, “it’s huge to shop local, for the economy, the city. Shopping local is huge to keep the small businesses”
Port City Co-Op is opened on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11am to 5pm, Thursday to Friday from 11am to 6pm, Saturday from 11am to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 3pm.
