Hello Sourcers! Let’s see what’s going on this week around the region!

🏒 Hockey

🎶 Gershwin

🧒 Opera for Kids by Kids

📚 Literary Arts

🫟 Other Arts

First up, the Binghamton Black Bears are looking to three-peat as champions of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, a minor league professional hockey organization with teams across the country. This weekend, they’re going into games three and four of a tied series with the Pee Dee IceCats of South Carolina at the Visions Veterans Memorial Arena in Downtown Binghamton. A great opportunity to see some amazing hockey at a reasonable ticket price.

This Saturday, the Catskills Symphony Orchestra performs a cabaret-style show, Gershwin, By George, at the Hunt Union Ballroom on the SUNY Oneonta campus. As our All Things Considered Host (and Locally Sourced contributor) Seth Nichols mentioned to me, pretty much every orchestra in the region is doing some sort of amazing show in the next couple weeks, so your orchestral options are wide open.

Back in Binghamton, there’s a very special event going on this Saturday at Tri Cities Opera. The Pocket Opera Project is a show produced in collaboration with Binghamton University and WSGK’s Student Writing Challenge. Winning pieces from last year’s Challenge have been selected to be transformed into mini-operas by composition students from BU and the artists-in-residence at TCO. The 60-minute program will feature several pieces from kids all over the region. It starts at 3pm on Saturday May 9th.

All weekend, Ithaca hosts the Spring Writes Literary Arts Festival, an event that includes dozens of readings, workshops, and other opportunities to immerse yourself in the writing community. The full list of events can be found here.

Finally, the Saltonstall Arts Colony in Ellis Hollow is hosting a very special art opening featuring the works of Judy Barringer. Since its founding in 1995, Saltonstall has offered hundreds of New York State writers and artists (including me) the time and space to do their work. In addition to being a printmaker, painter, photographer and chef—she was one of the founding members of Ithaca’s Moosewood Restaurant—Judy Barringer has been a long-standing part of Saltonstall, serving at times as the colony’s director and its chef. This is Barringer’s first ever solo exhibition, an opportunity to celebrate the work of a remarkable member of the community and visit a vital resource to the arts in New York state.

That’s a little slice of what’s coming up. And if you’re in Binghamton on Thursday night, be sure to come say hi at Atomic Tom’s; I’ll be hosting our Trampoline storytelling event starting at 7pm.

Yours,

Bob Proehl

Locally Sourced editor

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Out of My Way- sharing stories of food across the region that I would go out of my way for…and so should you!

Little Venice

111 Chenango St

Binghamton, NY 13901

Little Venice is an old school Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown Binghamton complete with classic neon sign beckoning you to come in. When you walk in, the place seems cavernous yet cozy with hundreds of paintings hanging on the wall of the main dining room and nearly 80 years’ worth of restaurant and family memorabilia including newspaper articles and photographs of famous diners in the bar and take-out areas.

My husband specifically requested Little Venice for his birthday dinner this year as he loves their signature “meat logs” which are essentially sausage shaped meat balls. According to the lore, the meat logs are unique to Little Venice and were invented by co-founder and cook Carmella Yezzi in 1946. Aunt Carmella believed that the traditional round shape caused meatballs to dry out too easily so she began shaping them into small, delicious logs that became synonymous with Binghamton.

Like all traditional Italian restaurants, Little Venice has many pasta-forward items on the menu but unlike most others, they make much of their pasta and ravioli in-house (using a machine that was custom made for them by a family friend who worked in a machine shop at IBM!) My go-to is typically their “Create Your Own Pasta” option where you can choose either a full or half order of pasta, dressed with your favorite sauce, and finished with your desired toppings. The also offer a gluten-free spaghetti which was nice to see.

This time, my husband and I split the Little Venice parmigiana sampler which came with two meat logs, one sausage and a chicken cutlet. He ordered a side of homemade spaghetti, and I had the homemade ravioli, which was fluffy, tender, and absolutely divine. I also had the house salad which is served with homemade croutons and your choice of homemade dressings. I ordered mine with the crumbly blue cheese and Italian dressing and was not disappointed.

Even though we weren’t hungry at all, we could not leave without trying their house made gelato and settled on the Spumoni, a classic combination of pistachio, cherry and chocolate. In our satiated and blissed out states, we neglected to pick up some jars of their red sauce on the way out, but I would highly recommend a visit to their gift shop where you can also find shirts and other fun merch, gift cards, and thoughtfully curated gift baskets.

There is a reason Little Venice has been a staple in the Binghamton area for nearly 80 years. They have created a space that feels nostalgic without being stuck in the past and their food honors tradition while also making space for modern tastes and preferences.

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Used Vinyl

May 2026

Robert Gordon and Link Wray

“My gal is red hot, your gal ain't doodly-squat”

Side one, track one of 1977’s Robert Gordon and Link Wray album opens with this proclamation. I was lucky enough to pick this up at the discounted price of $4 at Angry Mom Records in Ithaca. 

In 1977, when Punk and New Wave were “in,” the Rockabilly style wasn’t extremely popular, but that didn’t stop Robert Gordon from embracing the genre. With his high pompadour, deep voice and slick attire, he covered songs from the 1950’s, including Billy Lee Riley’s 1957 tune “Red Hot.” The Rockabilly sound is a fusion of old country and rhythm and blues - think early Elvis, Gene Vincent or Carl Perkins.

This album was Gordon’s first solo effort, and he enlisted the help of guitar virtuoso Link Wray, which is a bit weird since Link Wray wasn’t a Rock-a-billy kinda guy like Robert Gordon. Wray was known for his hit “Rumble,” from 1957, which was banned in New York City and Boston for fear that it would incite teenage gang violence. That dovetails with the Punk aesthetic of the mid to late 1970’s, which was what Gordon was living through in NYC, regularly performing at the legendary venue CBGB’s.

The Robert Gordon and Link Wray record is toe-tapping fun married with some slinky sounding ballads, thanks to Link Wray’s guitar playing. Sure, it’s cover-heavy, but that’s part of the fun. And because of Gordon’s style and sound’s similarities to “The King of Rock n Roll,” this disc saw a boost in commercial sales after the unexpected death of Elvis Presley in August of 1977. This disc is timeless, even if it is a 1970’s release featuring songs from the 1950’s that I bought in the 21st Century.