Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It is 8.15 and I'm joined by Jessica Vandermaer from Visit Finger Lakes. Jessica, good morning. How are you this morning?
Jessica VanDeMar: Good morning, Paul. I'm good. How are you?
Paul Szmal: Ah, enjoying a nice start to the day, which happens to be Earth Day.
Jessica VanDeMar: It is. It is a beautiful day outside. I'm glad that we're experiencing spring now.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, it's about time and there are quite a few Earth Day activities happening around the region. Yeah. So there's different ways to get out and enjoy Earth Day and a great way is to get out to all of the local parks and the Finger Lakes region. It's such a beautiful region to go hiking, biking, trail walking. And we actually have a Finger Lakes Wellbeing Passport, which is a great way to earn points towards prizes just by going to parks throughout Ontario County. And those parks are absolutely gorgeous this time of year with the flowers just starting to bloom and the trees just starting to bloom.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, they're absolutely gorgeous. I love going kind of down towards Naples and going towards the scenic overlook on County Road 12 or over to Ontario County Park at Gannett Hill and really getting that high level view of Canandaigua Lake. Absolutely gorgeous.
Paul Szmal: Oh yeah, that is a beautiful, beautiful view. The New York State Tourism Conference is in town while all of this is going on today. Starts today, runs through the 25th.
Jessica VanDeMar: It is. Our office is involved in hosting the New York State Industry Association for Tourism and their New York State Tourism Conference is in town. It's being hosted at the Hotel Canandaigua this week, so people may see some more visitors coming around the area, but we're excited to welcome our tourism professionals from across New York State to see our beautiful area and to enjoy a conference this week. We're going to be getting them out and about and visiting a lot of the different local restaurants while they're here.
Paul Szmal: I think that's a neat idea to be able to not only have the conference sessions, but to also have some field trips to get out and about wherever the conference happens to be. Get a little bit of the local flavor, shall we say.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yeah, it's going to be great too because we even have a day where we're going to be taking the conference attendees out of the hotel and they're each going to be on a bus going to different areas in Ontario County to learn their topics on the go and really see real examples in our community. So it's going to be a great opportunity.
Paul Szmal: Well, what are some of the things that are covered in a tourism conference like this?
Jessica VanDeMar: We talk about topics such as sustainable tourism, how to travel safely, how to welcome community members into your area and how to leave little to no impact as far as being safe when you're looking at the environment, which is very suitable considering that today is Earth Day. And we also talk about new innovations as far as technology, such as augmented reality and AI. We have a great opportunity to promote our Finger Lakes Virtual Museum project that's going to be launching here soon where we're going to be using augmented reality to turn some of these historic marker signs to life and share more of the story. Yeah, we get to show that off to our fellow attendees.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing how that project turns out and seeing some of how that augmented reality helps. It sounds really interesting. We're talking with Jessica Vandermeer from Visit Finger Lakes about some of the events and activities that are happening around the area. One of my favorites is coming up on Saturday in Shortsville.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, it is the annual Wild Water Derby this weekend in Shortsville.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, a Wild Water Derby event, homemade crafts going down through the rapids. I've only had a chance to visit it a couple of times, but man, what a fun time it is. And you know, it's a great way to get into the Shortsville area. It's such a quaint town there. And right there at the Bud Park, it's a great park area too. So if you don't get to go and visit that area this weekend for the Wild Water Derby, it's definitely a great place to go walk around in the summertime as well.
Jessica VanDeMar: You know, now that you mention it, Jessica, I kind of feel like that whole Manchester Shortsville community, people kind of sleeve on it. There's some really neat stuff there.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, there's some great restaurants, some great bakeries that are there as well. And you know, it's so easy to get right on and off, right by the thruway and right by 96. And again, great walking trails too, the Manchester Gateway Trail is a beautiful walking trail and they even have one of those fitness trails on it, which is really fun. You know, like the kind of the different outdoor obstacles of ways to stay fit between chin up bars and items and it's really neat. Great way to get some outside fresh air and get a workout going at the same time.
Paul Szmal: I'm intrigued by this next one on April 30th, because I have to be honest, I've never heard of it. Raisin Day is April 30th.
Jessica VanDeMar: So there are, if you ever look at the National Day calendar, there are national days for just about everything. And on Wednesday, April 30th, it happens to be National Raisin Day. But really, we just use that as a way to celebrate grapes and all their form. And obviously the Finger Lakes is such a beautiful grape and wine region. It's actually 200 years of Finger Lakes grapes and making wine. So that's an exciting milestone. And we have all the wine trails that you can go tasting wine on as well.
Paul Szmal: Absolutely. And there's that passport that's available too.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, the Canandaigua Lake Wine Trail has seven wineries on it this year. And they sell a digital passport where it includes your tastings at each location. And you can also get different savings while you're there also, so you could get some dollars off your purchases when you go.
Paul Szmal: I'm going to sound the early alarm on this one, because even though we're not in May yet, before you know it, May 11th is going to show up, happens to be Mother's Day.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, it is not too early to start thinking about what you want to do for Mother's Day and where you want to bring your mothers, yourself, if you're a mother, your friends, your wife. And there are a lot of great events that you can start looking at booking your reservations. Lots of restaurants throughout the county doing brunches. You could consider doing a class at New York Kitchen, or maybe starting off kicking off the Canandaigua Lady Cruises on Canandaigua Lake.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, and some places like Sonnenberg are offering a special discount for Mother's Day.
Jessica VanDeMar: Yes, so if you haven't been to Sonnenberg, or you have, or you've been wanting to go, it's a great time. You can get an admission discount on Mother's Day if you bring your mother, if you're a mother. And it'll be the start of the season, the season at Sonnenberg opens up at the beginning of May. So we're coming up close to that. And, you know, looking a little ahead beyond that Memorial Day weekend, Contagion Official started the summer season here in the Finger Lakes.
Paul Szmal: It is, and you can find some different local parades for Memorial Day weekend, but it's such a great time to go spend some time by any of the lakes in the region, especially as a kickoff to summer and start looking forward to the different water activities that you'll be able to do. I love going out and kayaking, I try to get out to each lake if I can, because it's such a beautiful way to be out with the region and in the nature.
Jessica VanDeMar: Absolutely. Jessica, it's always a pleasure to talk to you this morning. Thank you so much.
Paul Szmal: Thank you, Paul. Have a great day.
Jessica VanDeMar: It is 824 on FLX Morning.
