Hello Sourcers!

What’s in store today?

👾Gaming!

🍺Drinking!

If you’re reading this, congratulations, you have almost completed 2025. You may have time to sneak in a sidequest before the year wraps up. You may have one more hidden Level Boss to defeat. But you are almost, nearly there.

As for us here at Locally Sourced, we are calling it a wrap on this year: don’t let the door hit you on the way out, 2025.

We’ve got some stuff cooking for you to try out next year, but we’ll keep that news quiet for now. 

For the moment, I just want to thank all of you who’ve been reading this newsletter every week, and who’ve reached out with suggestions for things to include (and to correct my spelling). Locally Sourced launched in the spirit of “Let’s see what happens if we try a thing!” and the response has been fantastic. 

In addition to Last Newsletter of the Year Day, today is also WSKG’s end of year One Day Drive. 2025 has been a wild ride all around, and WSKG has definitely been weathering some rough times. But we’ve seen such overwhelming support from our communities over these last few months that we believe we can continue into a future without federal funding.

But that future means relying 100% on our community for support. That’s why I’m taking this moment to ask you, as part of our end of year drive, to consider making a gift to WSKG. Maybe that means coming on board as a new sustaining member at $5 a month. Maybe it means looking at one of your streaming services and reallocating that money to support local and national journalism. Maybe it means a one-time gift to close out the year. 

Whatever it is, your support in this moment would mean the world to us here at WSKG. It means that we can continue serving our communities well into the future.

If you’ve already made a gift this year, thank you so much. If you can give a little more today, please consider it. Any gifts of $60 or more that come in today will be matched by a $100 additional gift from an anonymous donor, which means your gift has Added Holiday Impact!

Have a lovely holiday season, and we’ll see you in 2026!

Yours,

Bob Proehl

Locally Sourced editor

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Welcome to Waypoint, your go-to for local tabletop gaming! No matter your level of interest—ranging from just an itch to a full-blown urge—there’s plenty of game stores in our communities that offer up all you need to satisfy your cravings.

For this issue, we’ll be directing our attention to the Binghamton area, touching down at Dragon Master Games. Just down the road from SUNY Broome Community College, it’s a great place if you’re a student looking to get your tabletop fix, but of course anyone in the community is welcome to stop in.

Dragon Master Games is your stop for trading card, role-playing, and tabletop strategy games. I haven’t seen much of a selection for board games when I’ve stopped in, only ever having spotted a couple copies of vanilla Catan, but perhaps I’ve just missed others.

On the TCG front, Dragon Master Games definitely has its focus on Magic. There’s a display case at the main counter featuring a nice selection of some of the more expensive cards in the game, and there’s a wide selection of TCG accessories. But my favorite part is their large selection of Magic card singles. A few times now, I’ve visited their website to browse their offerings, and only rarely have they not had what I was looking for. As someone who loves to deck build and shop local, that’s a big plus!

Then there’s the store’s tabletop role playing game (TTRPG) selection. Admittedly, this isn’t as much my forte (although I do enjoy a good D&D session), but from what I’ve seen, the resources and accessories are extensive. I’m talking mini figures, model terrain and buildings, expansion books, painting supplies, and loads more.

But it’s not all about buying what you need and then hitting the road. Dragon Master Games has a second floor where it hosts weekly events. It’s able to fit roughly 160 people, so if you’re looking for a good place to get your gaming fix while touching base with friends or making new ones, well . . . you probably already know where I’m going with this.

If you’re in the Binghamton area, passing through, or looking to make a trip out, Dragon Master Games is a must-go for any fan of tabletop gaming. Maybe I’ll see you there!

Until next time, go safely, travelers, and I’ll see you at the next Waypoint!

For this month’s Hops Along article I made a stop at Bluestone Brewing Company in Sayre, PA. I will say up front that I love Bluestone. I’ve been coming here for years. I’ve seen Bluestone find their stride, mastering their brewing and the food they make to create a great experience. I honestly don’t stop here nearly as much as I should anymore. Maybe an opportunity for the next Pints for Public Media? [Editor’s note: YES!]

I started with Golden Boar Saison (7.1% ABV), a bright and crisp take on the style, spiced well. The higher ABV surprised me a bit, I had to double check the menu to be sure I read it correctly, I would have put it around 5%. I really appreciate a brewery that can master a Saison, the style doesn’t allow for flavorings or hops to cover any mistakes, and Bluestone certainly didn’t make any mistakes with this one.

If Bluestone Brewing is a new name for you, you may be shocked to hear that they have been in business for ten years! (I wasn’t kidding when I said I’ve come here for years) To celebrate this, they had their Anniversary beer on tap: Ten, an 8% ABV Maple Bourbon Berry Brown Ale. A beautiful base of their English Brown Ale, aged in Bourbon Barrels that previously aged Maple Syrup, then berries were added. This poured dark, almost a stout or porter color, very little light shining through. It brought a well balanced Bourbon flavor with a berry and maple syrup sweet finish. Understandably it came in a small pour and I drank it all before I remembered to get a picture, so you are going to have to just check it out yourself if they still have it around!

Now with two beers above 7%, I knew I needed to pace myself. Luckily, Bluestone has a perfect option for this, The Pub Ale (3.8% ABV), an English Pale Mild that is anything but mild in flavor. These lower ABV styles are starting to take off more, and I for one am here for it, especially with this one. It pours a nice light brown, it’s well-carbonated and brings a lot of flavor in a light package. Not too hoppy, not too sweet, it was a perfect beer to sip while catching up with friends.