End-of-Year Appeal
Dear Friend of the Arts,
It’s that time of year again where we send our End of Year Appeal. So many of you donated to our Summer Appeal and helped us reach our goal, for this we are truly thankful. Your support makes what we do possible and we couldn’t do it without you, or for you! IF you have not given this year, and/or are feeling extra generous toward your love for arts, music and historic preservation, we encourage you to consider a gift now, for the joy of it.
As we wrap up our 52nd season of robust cultural activities at your 1892 National Landmark, we want to recap the accomplishments support from people like you helped to make possible in 2024 at Earlville Opera House (EOH):
Our Main Stage hosted a mixture of local, regional, national and international talent including: Lauren Mettler with Musicians’ Performance Trust; Syracuse Vocal Ensemble; Hazmat Modine with their genre-defying global roots; Sherburne Community Chorus; powerhouse Celtic group Gaelic Storm; folk icon Richard Thompson; award-winning Sherburne Music-Theater Society’s (SMTS) “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”; GRAMMY awarded banjo virtuoso Alison Brown; John McCutcheon, “the most impressive instrumentalist” Johnny Cash has ever heard; Reyna Stagnaro’s Songwriters’ Showcase; Sherburne-Earlville High School’s “Little Women”; our hometown prodigy Matt Nakoa who Boston Goble says “drops jaws”; Pathfinder Village Bell Ringers; SMTS’ “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”; and Nine-Time All-Ireland fiddle champion, GRAMMY awarded Eileen Ivers.
Our Arts Café featured the Irish shenanigans of Tumbleweed Gumbo; New England singer/songwriter Jim Paradis; the gritty blues and folk pop of Amanda Rogers; and an album release of “Advent” by local favorites Fiddle Sax Fusion during their Holiday Show. Our outdoor Courtyard’s beautiful intimate setting hosted the authentic country music with a modern flare of Fish Creek Rodeo; the genre-bending blues-infused jazz of Fiddle-Sax Fusion; the roots rock Americana/Alt Country music of JP Payton and Loveday Greene; and original songs mixed with oldies from Denny McCormick.
Fundraisers included Paranormal Investigations by Pride Paranormal NY in June and October; Classical Guitar Society of Upstate NY; The Nate Gross Band: and the second annual Halloween event with Grateful Upstate Toodeloo. We held two “Eat for the Arts” at Gilligan’s Restaurant and Ray Brothers BBQ, and our 11th annual Auction for the Arts is currently up and running with 75 donated items available to bid on in support of our mission.
Classes and workshops included hosting Preserve NY; Jenni’s Music Recital; Jenni’s Youth Summer Musical Theatre Camp; Spot Dance Center’s Youth Musical Theatre Camp; Reyna Stagnaro’s three-part Songwriting Workshop Series; Schmidt Dance Studio’s Line Dancing class; Buffalo Bills official Drumline “Downbeat Percussion” which bussed in hundreds of students from five school districts; “Tree of Life” Ornament Making Class; and a free Holiday Card Making Class for the community.
EOH Galleries hosted the diverse, unique and creative talents of artists Bill McLaughlin; Deb Whitman; Anna Perkins; Henry Drexler; Phoebe Rotter; Abrina Rogers; Kenny Harris; Gahae Park; Katelyn Lee; the annual Quilt Show; solo quilter and 2023 People’s Choice winner Carolyn Raimy; Lutz Scherneck; Genevire Geer; and the private collection of “CATS…”, artwork collected and curated over a 40-year span by Sherburne resident Chris Hoffman.
We participated in “Make Music Day”, a global day of music celebration on June 21; hosted free tie-dying for youth during Earlville Celebration Day; held a “Meet the Author” with Michael Tefft; participated in Earlville’s Winterfest with a gingerbread decorating contest for families; and held our annual Holiday Open House filled with raffle baskets, a bake sale and “Silent Night” auction, plus a visit by Santa and Mrs. Claus!
Our Artisan Gift Shop boasted the work of numerous area arts throughout the year, culminating in celebrating the 27th annual Holiday Gift Shop, a traditional shopping destination featuring the best-selling artists of the past with the new and exciting work of first-time participants. We also invested in new inventory for EOH merchandise including handmade mugs from Village Clay in Hamilton, new t-shirts, tumblers and magnets.
This year brought more progress in preserving our building for future cultural use with nearly $75k spent on major brick repairs all around building; EOH was fortunate to purchase more of the rear lot with plans to expand our Courtyard, developing plans to build a new dedicated outdoor performance area; and we removed an old oil boiler and combined the system with a newer gas boiler, unifying the building to one system. Plans are underway for EOH to be deeded the Quincey Square Museum which will help us expand programming centered around local history.
EOH, with support from a Senate Initiative from the NYS Legislature, awarded $162,950 in cultural grants to 44 organizations including individual artists in Broome, Chenango and Otsego counties. $15k of this was provided by the Hoyt Foundation for service into Broome County.
EOH was busy with grant writing this year, successfully gaining funding from Community Foundation for South Central New York; RC Smith Foundation; Follett Foundation; Golden Artist Colors; Hamilton Community Chest; Mid York Foundation; Preferred Mutual Insurance Company; NBT Bank; Sidney Federal Credit Union; Commerce Chenango Tourism; Village of Earlville; Madison County Planning Department’s Main Street Capital Grant; and advocating for funding from New York State.
All of this, but we still need your help! For many years, our largest funder has been New York State, either through the New York State Council on the Arts, or more recently, through a state budget line item. However, New York State has drastically cut back its funding for direct line-item appropriations for arts groups across the state, leaving EOH to face a 50% cut in our primary funding source for 2025. The biggest impact of these reduced monies will be what we have available to regrant to other arts organizations and artists, as well as how our own staffing and operating capacities will be affected.
So, we appeal to you again now to contribute whatever you can to help us close this major funding gap. Your continued support is necessary for us to continue to offer the quality arts programming as you have come to expect from us, all while preserving this iconic building for future cultural use. You can send in a one-time gift in any amount, or consider dividing your support into monthly payments, and/or you can memorialize a loved one with our ‘Save A Seat’ campaign.
You may donate online using this online system. Please know your support causes a ripple effect of healthy economic activity driven by the arts in our small town which extends outward to our region, thereby contributing to the overall betterment and cultural heritage of New York State. We thank you and appreciate you!
With Gratitude and Cheer,
Bruce H. Ward, President
It’s that time of year again where we send our End of Year Appeal. So many of you donated to our Summer Appeal and helped us reach our goal, for this we are truly thankful. Your support makes what we do possible and we couldn’t do it without you, or for you! IF you have not given this year, and/or are feeling extra generous toward your love for arts, music and historic preservation, we encourage you to consider a gift now, for the joy of it.
As we wrap up our 52nd season of robust cultural activities at your 1892 National Landmark, we want to recap the accomplishments support from people like you helped to make possible in 2024 at Earlville Opera House (EOH):
Our Main Stage hosted a mixture of local, regional, national and international talent including: Lauren Mettler with Musicians’ Performance Trust; Syracuse Vocal Ensemble; Hazmat Modine with their genre-defying global roots; Sherburne Community Chorus; powerhouse Celtic group Gaelic Storm; folk icon Richard Thompson; award-winning Sherburne Music-Theater Society’s (SMTS) “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”; GRAMMY awarded banjo virtuoso Alison Brown; John McCutcheon, “the most impressive instrumentalist” Johnny Cash has ever heard; Reyna Stagnaro’s Songwriters’ Showcase; Sherburne-Earlville High School’s “Little Women”; our hometown prodigy Matt Nakoa who Boston Goble says “drops jaws”; Pathfinder Village Bell Ringers; SMTS’ “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus”; and Nine-Time All-Ireland fiddle champion, GRAMMY awarded Eileen Ivers.
Our Arts Café featured the Irish shenanigans of Tumbleweed Gumbo; New England singer/songwriter Jim Paradis; the gritty blues and folk pop of Amanda Rogers; and an album release of “Advent” by local favorites Fiddle Sax Fusion during their Holiday Show. Our outdoor Courtyard’s beautiful intimate setting hosted the authentic country music with a modern flare of Fish Creek Rodeo; the genre-bending blues-infused jazz of Fiddle-Sax Fusion; the roots rock Americana/Alt Country music of JP Payton and Loveday Greene; and original songs mixed with oldies from Denny McCormick.
Fundraisers included Paranormal Investigations by Pride Paranormal NY in June and October; Classical Guitar Society of Upstate NY; The Nate Gross Band: and the second annual Halloween event with Grateful Upstate Toodeloo. We held two “Eat for the Arts” at Gilligan’s Restaurant and Ray Brothers BBQ, and our 11th annual Auction for the Arts is currently up and running with 75 donated items available to bid on in support of our mission.
Classes and workshops included hosting Preserve NY; Jenni’s Music Recital; Jenni’s Youth Summer Musical Theatre Camp; Spot Dance Center’s Youth Musical Theatre Camp; Reyna Stagnaro’s three-part Songwriting Workshop Series; Schmidt Dance Studio’s Line Dancing class; Buffalo Bills official Drumline “Downbeat Percussion” which bussed in hundreds of students from five school districts; “Tree of Life” Ornament Making Class; and a free Holiday Card Making Class for the community.
EOH Galleries hosted the diverse, unique and creative talents of artists Bill McLaughlin; Deb Whitman; Anna Perkins; Henry Drexler; Phoebe Rotter; Abrina Rogers; Kenny Harris; Gahae Park; Katelyn Lee; the annual Quilt Show; solo quilter and 2023 People’s Choice winner Carolyn Raimy; Lutz Scherneck; Genevire Geer; and the private collection of “CATS…”, artwork collected and curated over a 40-year span by Sherburne resident Chris Hoffman.
We participated in “Make Music Day”, a global day of music celebration on June 21; hosted free tie-dying for youth during Earlville Celebration Day; held a “Meet the Author” with Michael Tefft; participated in Earlville’s Winterfest with a gingerbread decorating contest for families; and held our annual Holiday Open House filled with raffle baskets, a bake sale and “Silent Night” auction, plus a visit by Santa and Mrs. Claus!
Our Artisan Gift Shop boasted the work of numerous area arts throughout the year, culminating in celebrating the 27th annual Holiday Gift Shop, a traditional shopping destination featuring the best-selling artists of the past with the new and exciting work of first-time participants. We also invested in new inventory for EOH merchandise including handmade mugs from Village Clay in Hamilton, new t-shirts, tumblers and magnets.
This year brought more progress in preserving our building for future cultural use with nearly $75k spent on major brick repairs all around building; EOH was fortunate to purchase more of the rear lot with plans to expand our Courtyard, developing plans to build a new dedicated outdoor performance area; and we removed an old oil boiler and combined the system with a newer gas boiler, unifying the building to one system. Plans are underway for EOH to be deeded the Quincey Square Museum which will help us expand programming centered around local history.
EOH, with support from a Senate Initiative from the NYS Legislature, awarded $162,950 in cultural grants to 44 organizations including individual artists in Broome, Chenango and Otsego counties. $15k of this was provided by the Hoyt Foundation for service into Broome County.
EOH was busy with grant writing this year, successfully gaining funding from Community Foundation for South Central New York; RC Smith Foundation; Follett Foundation; Golden Artist Colors; Hamilton Community Chest; Mid York Foundation; Preferred Mutual Insurance Company; NBT Bank; Sidney Federal Credit Union; Commerce Chenango Tourism; Village of Earlville; Madison County Planning Department’s Main Street Capital Grant; and advocating for funding from New York State.
All of this, but we still need your help! For many years, our largest funder has been New York State, either through the New York State Council on the Arts, or more recently, through a state budget line item. However, New York State has drastically cut back its funding for direct line-item appropriations for arts groups across the state, leaving EOH to face a 50% cut in our primary funding source for 2025. The biggest impact of these reduced monies will be what we have available to regrant to other arts organizations and artists, as well as how our own staffing and operating capacities will be affected.
So, we appeal to you again now to contribute whatever you can to help us close this major funding gap. Your continued support is necessary for us to continue to offer the quality arts programming as you have come to expect from us, all while preserving this iconic building for future cultural use. You can send in a one-time gift in any amount, or consider dividing your support into monthly payments, and/or you can memorialize a loved one with our ‘Save A Seat’ campaign.
You may donate online using this online system. Please know your support causes a ripple effect of healthy economic activity driven by the arts in our small town which extends outward to our region, thereby contributing to the overall betterment and cultural heritage of New York State. We thank you and appreciate you!
With Gratitude and Cheer,
Bruce H. Ward, President