Around the Lakes

Jason Middaugh and his family have designed, created and proposed a LEGO set based on the classic holiday film "It's A Wonderful Life" which is widely believed to be set in Seneca Falls, NY.  Currently the Middaugh's creation is up for vote at the official LEGO website. Jason is in-studio on Tuesday afternoon to talk about the project.

Bird tours have been a smash hit at the former Seneca Army Depot. A partnership between Seneca White Deer, Inc. and the Montezuma Audubon Center has brought bird tours to life. And during the same month they kicked off - Seneca White Deer celebrated their 10,000 visitor to the former depot. To discuss all of this, including how to experience this yourself in June - Chris Lajewski, of the Montezuma Audubon Center; and Dennis Money, of Seneca White Deer, Inc. were in-studio.

Over the last several months a group of local teens have been working to raise money for Honor House and the Habitat for Humanity. On Monday, those efforts culminate with their final fundraising effort with 'A Walk of Honor'. It's slated for Monday, June 2nd at 2 p.m. along the canal harbor in Waterloo. This week Abby Palmer and Gavin Rhinehart were in-studio discussing efforts to raise money for a good cause.

This week on Around the Lakes one of the organizers behind the successful FLX Pride Festival sits down with FingerLakes1.com to discuss the event, and how it has evolved over several successful iterations. The FLX Pride Festival will be held along the Geneva Lakefront property on June 8th. Festivities start at 1 p.m. and run through the evening.  Chelsea Snyder, who has organized the event for three years, was in-studio discussing.

Tory Carissimo serves as the flight director for Overlook Horizon, founded in 2016 with the mission of inspiring students (& adults) into science, technology, engineering and mathematically careers  using high altitude weather balloon flights to the edge of space and back as our inspirational platform. Tory recently attended a NASA Social event for the 17th SpaceX Commercial Resupply Mission (CRS-17) which is a resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

A free event slated for Tuesday, May 7th from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. is aimed at educating the community about housing options in Seneca County. On this episode of Around the Lakes Melissa Nesbit, Executive Director of Seneca Housing, Inc. and Joe McGrath, CEO of the Finger Lakes Regional Land Bank discuss the implications of the Housing & Services Fair, which will be held in Waterloo. The free event is open to the public, and will provide a forum for residents to ask questions about a variety of topics related to housing. It will also provide a range of experts the ability to chat with residents in a one-on-one fashion to address individual questions and concerns. Hosted in conjunction with Seneca Housing, Inc. and the Finger Lakes Regional Land Bank - both organizations are working to make Seneca County better in different ways.

To learn more about the event, check out this episode of Around the Lakes - or visit the fair on Tuesday.

Since 1981 Rural & Migrant Ministry, a statewide, non-profit organization, has been standing proudly with the rural and migrant communities throughout New York. They work to overcome the prejudices and poverty that degrade and debilitate people within rural New York by building communities that celebrate diversity, achieve true mutuality and fight for dignity and opportunity to all. On this special episode of Around the Lakes - Gabriela Quintanilla, who serves as Western New York Coordinator - was in-studio talking about Senate hearings, and current challenges, as it pertains to migrant communities in the Finger Lakes.

Coming up on May 4th the Montezuma Audubon Center located in Savannah, New York will host the 13th Annual Montezuma Audubon Center Wildlife Festival. Beginning at 10 a.m. attendees will encounter the Center's largest event of the year, featuring a great lineup of family-friendly activities.  This week on Around the Lakes Chris Lejewski, Center Director for Montezuma Audubon was in-studio discussing the impact of events like these. "This is an amazing event, and one that we're really proud of. Not only because it captures the essence of our sprawling grounds, but because it allows us to bring in new visitors, families, and kids who are eager to learn about what we do," Lejewski explained. Some of the exciting things to be featured at the Wildlife Festival will include food trucks, a 24' rock wall, animal presentations, live music, nature-based magic shows, a bounce house, local art vendors, games, conservation exhibitors, a native platn sale, bird box building, guided bird-watching walks, and canoeing excursions.