Sunday, January 22, 2012

Upstate News in Brief

First--although mention of personal health is considered ill-bred in some quarters--Regional Coordinator A. Marie Sprayberry will be taking a few weeks off to recover from partial knee replacement. However, she and Co-RC Lisa Brown have endeavoured to put the "Events" listings at right for February and March in such a state as to prevent her being missed. Note particularly the upcoming Lady Day meeting (a joint meeting of JASNA Syracuse and the JABC-CNY at the Colgate Bookstore, although there is already considerable overlap between the two groups) on March 24 at 2:00 p.m., where the topic will be Regency fashions! More details about this meeting will follow in a future post.

Second, loud huzzahs for Miss Brown, who has just been appointed to the Co-RC position for JASNA Rochester as well as JASNA Syracuse! Although Miss Brown's employer transferred her to its Rochester office last year, she maintains a Syracuse mailing address, many relatives and friends in the Syracuse area, and a keen interest in the Syracuse Region, so she will continue to hold this post for both regions for at least the near future. Close cooperation already exists between the two Upstate Regions, and we trust that this new development will make it even closer.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Reminder: Combined Christmas/Candlemas Meeting in Liverpool, Sat., Jan. 14, 2 pm


Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, the Official Spokescat of JASNA Syracuse, reminds us that our JASNA Syracuse meeting for both Christmas and Candlemas will be Saturday, January 14, at 2 pm, in the Sargent Room of the Liverpool Public Library. The topic will be "Food, Glorious Food!" We'll discuss mealtimes and meal preparation in Jane Austen's era (which were surprisingly different from our foodways today); look over Maggie Black and Deirdre Le Faye’s The Jane Austen Cookbook and some other recipe books; and talk a little about the role of food in JA’s work (feel free to bring favorite food-related quotes!). We'll also try some "rout cakes" (a type of cookie mentioned in Emma), prepared according to the recipe in The JA Cookbook. And we'll raise a belated toast to JA's 236th birthday in December.

The Liverpool Public Library is located at 310 Tulip St., Liverpool, NY 13088. The Sargent Room is the smaller of the library's two meeting rooms (the Carman Community Room is the other). The library is easily reached from both I-81 North (if you're coming from the south) and the NY State Thruway:

From I-81, travel north from the junction with I-690, follow the signs for the Liverpool exits (near Carousel Center), and select the exit for NY Rt. 370 (Onondaga Lake Parkway). Take 370 along Onondaga Lake into the village of Liverpool, and stay on it as it angles slightly to the left and also becomes 2nd St. in the village. The library is on the corner of Tulip St. and 2nd St./370.

From the Thruway (from either direction), take Exit 38 (Liverpool/County Rt. 57). Travel south on 57 into the village, and take a right on Tulip St. (57 curves left at just about this point). Come down Tulip to 2nd St./370.

There is a small underground parking garage (entrance on Tulip), and ample free on-street parking is also available on Tulip and elsewhere. So we trust that your coachmen will be agreeably accommodated--and we hope you'll join us on the 14th for this "winter depression disperser"!