Hello Sourcers!

Let’s see what we’ve got on the docket for this week!

🏡 Be My Neighbor Day!

📚 Readings!

🧚🏽‍♀️ Fairy Fest!

♟️ Games!

Hopefully things will be thawing out (again) soon, and there’s quite a bit going on this week, so I’m cherrypicking just a couple.

First off, there’s Be My Neighbor Day right here at the WSKG Studios in Vestal on Saturday. Be My Neighbor Day celebrates community and the legacy of Fred (“Mister”) Rogers by bringing together dozens of community organizations and resources. There will be trolleys, haircuts, and puppets (at least two of which were key features in Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood). The event runs from 10a-1pm and is free and open to the public.

I would be disowned by my own fey kiddo if I did not mention that it is also Fairy Fest in Ithaca on Saturday, with fairy-related vendors, crafts, and activities all over town. Kiddo and I will be attending both these events, possibly by use of some sort of spell or incantation, so I hope to see you at one or both.

There’s a reading that just showed up on my radar the other day, but I’m excited about it. The Ithaca Irrealist reading series has been going on since May 2025, bringing in writers whose work “does not privilege the typical human conception of reality.” This Friday, they’re bringing Vajra Chandrasekera and Debbie Urbanski to Liquid State Brewing for a reading at 7pm. I’m not as familiar with Debbie Urbanski’s work, but Vajra Chandrasekera’s debut novel, The Saint of Bright Doors, is one of my favorites of the past few years. I lucked into a reading of his in Baltimore when the book came out, and he’s really fantastic (in any sense of that word).

Another great music series, 6 on the Square in Oxford is hosting singer songwriter Reggie Harris and slide guitarist Pat Wictor on Saturday, and has a really stellar season of folk and Americana over the next few months.

Lastly, not so much an event, but our friends at the Broome County Arts Council have an open call for artists to be part of their artist in residence program. BCAC artists in residence get studio access, a stipend, and a gallery show as part of First Friday. This round of residency applications closes on March 27, and the application can be found here.

But hey, if you’re not a visual artist, you can still enter WSKG’s The Revolution Will Be Poeticized, a poetry contest celebrating America’s 250th. The prize is you get to meet at least two, that’s right TWO, Locally Sourced contributors (and get your poem recorded at the WSKG Studios for broadcast!). Find more information here.

That’s what we’ve got this week, Sourcers. Let me know what’s thawing out in your neck of the woods.

Yours,

Bob Proehl

Locally Sourced editor

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Good day, fellow travelers, and welcome back to the latest installment of Waypoint! Not only do I enjoy being able to support our local communities, even just a little bit, by writing these segments, but it’s also a great excuse to travel and check out all the different game stores around us!

But really, who needs an excuse for fun? This time, I made the trip to Area 51. No, not that Area 51; I mean the game store in Cortland, New York (although arguably just as interesting). I had actually met some of the staff at FLAGCON 2025, where they had a booth. After my experience with them there, I was eager to visit the mothership.

“Whoa” was my first word when I walked through the doors. Area 51 was big, and the selection of goods they offered certainly matched the space. The store was split up into a few different sections, with the usual one would expect: a counter for TCGs, a section filled with board games and TTRPGs, lots of dice and gaming accessories—the usual shabang. Their play space in the back was also sizable, with plenty of tables for any kind of gaming one might desire, plus two private gaming spaces to host, for example, your group’s weekly D&D session.

But Area 51 didn’t stop at the usual: they also featured old and discontinued video games and accessories, sci-fi and fantasy books and manga, and a wide range of nerd memorabilia and paraphernalia, making this game store a space for not just tabletop gamers. There was even a play space for kids, offering toys, games, and crafts to play with and a spread of kid-focused games and toys for sale.

But perhaps coolest of all is Area 51’s cosplay section. Yes, cosplay, in a game store. Honestly, I shouldn’t have been so surprised, because it only makes sense. An array of swords, lightsabers, shields, bucklers, and even pieces of chainmail armor are available to purchase. It was all I could do to refrain from picking up a new piece for myself. There was even a small section for hair dyes, in case you really want to get into character.

Overall, I’d trust Area 51 to have anything I or anyone else might need, so if you’re in the area and searching for something specific that you haven’t been able to find anywhere else, you might just find it here. You can be sure I’ll be stopping in whenever I make a trip up to Syracuse.

That’s all for this issue! Take up your swords and shields (or if you’re lacking, you now know where to find a new one) and adventure on, and I’ll be sure to see you at the next Waypoint.