Paul Szmal: And welcome back to FLX Morning on Finger Lakes News Radio. It's 816. I have a couple of guests joining me now. First, I'd like to welcome the Community Engagement Director for Seneca Lake Pier Waters. That is Kelly Blackhurst. Kelly, good morning. How are you?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Hi, Paul. How you doing?
Paul Szmal: Doing well this morning. Doing well. And also joining us is the Executive Director of the Seneca Lake Wine Trail, Brittany Gibson. Good morning, Paul.
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Morning.
Paul Szmal: Now, there's a thread between the two here, and we'll explain that in a minute. But first, Kelly, can you give me a little bit of your background? You're relatively new in overall terms to the Seneca Lake Pier Waters organization.
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yeah. So I'm actually coming up on almost a year with Pier Waters and moved to the area about three years ago. And I grew up in Adirondacks on 13th Lake. So always having that sort of that body of water to ground me was really important and huge in my life. And moving here with my husband, we got married on the shores of Seneca Lake, and we welcomed our son here as well. He took his first ever swim in Seneca Lake. So it's really been awesome to be part of this community and see what the area is about. And I think just having such a deeper appreciation for Seneca Lake and how important it is and vital it is to the region has been really, like, I really have deeply appreciated that.
Paul Szmal: So tell me how the partnership between the Seneca Lake Wine Trail and Seneca Lake Pier Waters came about. Ladies, either one of you can go ahead and respond to that.
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Well, we launched our auction three years ago, and we knew we wanted to have a charitable component, Paul. And after speaking with our member wineries, they really recognize the importance of the work that Seneca Lake Pier Waters is doing. We have a number of wineries who have worked very closely with Seneca Lake Pier Waters to do some watershed improvement projects on their properties. So it just became, obviously, we want to protect the lake. We know that the lake is our future. The wineries wouldn't be here if it weren't for Seneca Lake, right? So it just behooves all of us that we can help support the very important work that Pier Waters is doing.
Paul Szmal: And Kelly, could you elaborate a little bit from your perspective?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yeah, I mean, we're just so excited to partner with Seneca Lake Wine Trail and this, you know, wine experience and auction. And I think being their charity partner allows us to continue working on some of these really important projects like monitoring water quality, advocating for conservation efforts, educating the public in a lot of different ways, and making sure we protect the lake for generations to come.
Paul Szmal: Brittany, why don't you go ahead and fill us in on what the Seneca Lake Wine Trail's Wine and Experience Auction is all about?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yeah, it's all about things that you can't get anywhere else. So it's a combination of experiences that are all wine focused and wine lots. So right now we're up to about 10 experiences and five wine lots, but I promise you there will be tons more to come. I think last year we had a total of close to 30 auction items. So, you know, there's going to be a lot more added in the coming days, but it's an all digital auction. So it takes place online. The beauty of that is you can bid from anywhere, right? You don't have to be a local person or buy a ticket to an event to bid on this. So it opens at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Friday, March 28, and closes at 5 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, March 30.
And so, again, the whole purpose behind this, Paul, is our wineries really roll out the red carpet. The rule to them, right, that I give them is this cannot be an experience that someone can walk in off the street and purchase at your winery. So it needs to be something that's extra special. And it's everything from vineyard experiences where you actually go out into a vineyard with a winery owner and you learn how to prune a vine. It's a harvest experience where you get to go out and experience harvest for a day at a local winery. There's behind the scenes tours. There's visits with winemakers. There's wine and food experiences. It really spans the gamut.
Paul Szmal: I love the idea, and I love these unique experiences that are being made available. Why the decision to support Pure Waters in this way, Brittany?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Well, again, we knew a few years ago we wanted to have an auction, but many wine auctions around the country are really aimed at very high-level wine buyers who are like professionals in the industry, right? And we knew that we needed to do something a little different than that, but we were intent that this is not solely to benefit the Seneca Lake Wine Trail as a revenue generator. It is a way for us to reach out and stand shoulder to shoulder with an organization that we believe is doing really important work. And so, again, Seneca Lake Pure Waters was just the natural choice. And as you said, it just makes such obvious sense, right? If you win one of these amazing experiences, you'll be out in the vineyards. You'll be working with the fruit that comes from the soil, right? And none of this could be here if we don't have a healthy Seneca Lake. So, as Kelly mentioned, we need to do everything we can to protect the lake for generations to come, and the wineries are very, very firm believers and supporters of that mission.
Paul Szmal: And Kelly, if people want to get involved, not just in bidding on items for the auction, but maybe working with Seneca Lake Pure Waters, I know you're always looking for volunteers for certain specific elements. How can people get involved?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yeah, that's a great question. So, one of the most important things for Pure Waters is just community involvement. So many ways to get involved. We have a lot of volunteers who do HAB shoreline monitoring, becoming a member, supporting fundraisers like this. I think it's important to keep in mind that anything big or small really helps ensure the future of Seneca Lake. So, you can go to our website at senecalake.org. You can check out all the volunteer opportunities. We've been trying to be pretty active on our social media to show you what our volunteers are doing out there. And we want people to know that they can make an impact, whether they live here year-round, visit seasonally, or just care about the lake.
Paul Szmal: And Brittany, if there's one particular item on the items that are in the auction list that stands out, what would you say that maybe one of the big highlights might be?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Oh, there's a really cool one at one of our wine cellars. It's called Make the Wine, Dine and Sleep Among the Vines. The neat thing about this is it accommodates up to four guests. So, it could be a couple that, you know, two couples that are friends or a group of four girlfriends that want to come experience this together. But it's essentially, you get to go behind the scenes with the winemaking team. You customize a case of sparkling wine to your liking. So, you get to taste various levels of what's called dosage or sweetness in sparkling wine. You customize that to your liking. You each take home a case of personalized bottles. You get a Master of Dosage Certificate. And then after that experience, you get an overnight in one of their beautiful guest rooms. So, there's two guest rooms included in this. And dinner for up to four at their restaurant on-site called Verasian. So, this is something, again, you're not going to get that anywhere else, right? They certainly have components of that available. But you're never going to get this very personalized private dosage experience that also includes a fabulous dinner and an overnight. So, again, that's just one. It's difficult to pick just one at this point because there are so many other ones that are so stellar. Folks can go to our website at SenecaLakeWine.com and preview some of the items. But again, lots more coming.
Paul Szmal: And again, Brittany, if you want to recap when the items are open for bid and when the bidding closes?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yep. So, bidding opens at 5 p.m. on Friday, March 28th and closes on Sunday, March 30th at 5 p.m. Folks will go right to our website to the SenecaLakeWine.com website and go under our events tab. The auction is right there, and that's where you'll link up to the auction platform.
Paul Szmal: And, Kelly, if people want to get involved with Seneca Lake Pure Waters as a volunteer or in some other way, shape or form, where can they find more information?
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Yeah, they can head right to our website at SenecaLake.org, and there's a volunteer tab. So, click on that tab, and we'll get you connected. We love volunteers, and we hope to see you soon.
Paul Szmal: I am loving the idea of this auction, and I might just bid on that Glenora experience myself because that sounds fantastic. So, ladies, thank you very much for joining us and filling us in this morning. We appreciate it.
Kelly Blackhurst, Brittany Gibson: Thank you, Paul. Thanks, Paul. Have a great day.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, you as well. It is 825 on FLX Morning.
