At our 37th annual New York Folklore Arts Roundtable, we did things “new” in an old-fashioned way! A new and old hotel, a new and old format, and new and familiar faces! We excitedly welcomed Roundtablers who attended last year and colleagues like George Ward and Ruby Marcotte, who joined us for the first time in many years.
Monday morning, we gathered in the recently refurbished Queensbury Hotel – first opened in the 1920’s. “What You’re Working On Presentations” harkened back to the first years of the Roundtable – devoid of audio visual materials. In just 5-minutes participants presented on their current projects and solicited feedback for the breakout discussions that followed. The format was well accepted, letting each person the hear what everyone else was working on. Those with an affinity for technology, created short videos in lieu of an oral presentation. The videos were an excellent way to end our second day, before turning the Roundtable attendees loose to further explore the city of Glens Falls.
Monday and Tuesday morning gave Roundtablers the chance to explore downtown and the Folklife Center at Crandall Public Library. Todd DeGarmo Center director, welcomed us to learn about the archiving, programming, exhibiting and other productions. We heard briefly about the Farm 2 Library by Comfort Food Community. The project brings fresh produce and food to those in need.
Comfort Food Community Food Recovery Manger, Zach Bain, joined us as a guest to discuss Land Stewardship, Agriculture and Food Sovereignty. Along with Zach we welcomed Jinah Ahn of Sunhee’s Farm and Kitchen and Peter Jemison and Angel Jimerson of the White Corn Project at Ganondagan State Historic Site.
As always, we ended the Roundtable with an overview of the work done by New York Folklore. Remember you can always find information about Mentoring and Technical Assistance on our website at https://nyfolklore.org/mentoring-professional-development/