Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.94 | Feat. Sharon Sherman, Chair of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair!

Episode Date: September 16, 2025

A Deep Dive into the Vibrant Westcott Street Cultural Fair In this episode of Good News York, host Mike Brindisi interviews Sharon Sherman, the chair of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair, at Recess Coffee. They discuss the origins and growth of the fair, which showcases arts, performances, and the community spirit of Westcott. With over 11,000 attendees in just six and a half hours, the fair includes a parade, numerous booths, various stages for performances, and a kids' area. They also touch upon how the neighborhood supports local businesses and the logistical efforts involved in organizing the fair. Sherman highlights the importance of volunteers and ongoing planning to ensure the fair's success. They conclude with a walk through the neighborhood, noting key locations and community contributions. 00:00 Introduction and Sponsor Message 00:15 Meet Sharon Sherman: Chair of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair 01:10 History and Growth of the Cultural Fair 02:08 Parade and Booths: What to Expect 03:23 Performances and Activities 04:44 Community Involvement and Volunteer Opportunities 07:49 Food Highlights at the Fair 11:32 Future Vision and Sustainability 14:25 Exploring Westcott: A Guided Tour 18:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

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to hear about river cruising and Unirold's 50th anniversary summer specials. Welcome to Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the Go, get ads on the go.com. Mike Brinsey flying solo today, but I'm with a very special guest, the chair, who's sitting next to me in a chair, of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair

going on Sunday, September 28th, from noon to 630, right here in the beautiful neighborhood. of Westcott. It is Sharon Sherman. Hello. Hi. I'm so glad to be sitting here with you. I'm enjoying my dirty chai. We're at recess coffee by the way. This is a great place. Do you come here often? Yes. Yeah. It's a great little spot. What are you drinking? I'm drinking their ice coffee. Ice coffee? Okay. I'm doing the dirty chai. So let's talk about the cultural affair. It's something you're very passionate about and I love that. It's a it's a fair, a cultural fair that's very successful. It kind of showcases all the great arts and performances and just the

community of Westcott. Talk about how it started and what it's all about. So it started 33 years ago. I didn't live in the neighborhood then, but people were concerned because this neighborhood was in what we call transition. They had just lost their grocery store. So a group of neighbors, and the area's been called from the 60s, the Westcott Nation, kind of a funky. And they were a bunch of hippie types. Sure. University people, because we're right near Syracuse University.

Of course. And they founded this little fair, and it has just grown and grown and grown. And last year, we hit the number that we hit in 2019 before COVID of overla. 11,000 people in six and a half hours. Oh my gosh. So it's massive. 11,000 people in six and a half hours. And we're going to kind of take a walk after this, but what, where does it exactly take place?

Okay. So it starts with a parade, which starts at the Westcott Community Center, which is at the other, is at the corner of Euclid and Westcott. And they come marching down the street. This year we have 35 groups. signed up and we don't have any motorized things, but the PTA, the belly dancers, every kind of lefty cause is marching down the street, and it's led by this year by the mayor of the city of Syracuse, various assembly and Senate people, it's wild. And when it gets to

Dell Street, which is the barry, the end of the fair grounds, it disperse. And as soon as the it's done at 1230, we open. We have 140 booths. The majority of them are people selling crafts like jewelry and pottery and things of that nature. We're not a flea market. You can only sell things that you make. And then about 30% of the booths are non-for-profit organizations. After that, you have the program. We have six stages. Wow. And we have a kids area. One of the highlights is the kids race, where even if you're four years old, if you run,

the Syracuse Track Club gives you a medal from medals left over from other races. It's just a lot of stuff going on. That is fantastic. How long has this been going on? This is a 33rd fair. And you've been involved for how many of those? I think I got hooked in. I know in 2003 I was living in DeWitt and my friend was a chair and I decided I was working for

meals on wheels so I did a booth by myself. I learned a lot. You can't do a booth by yourself because you don't have a break and I only had pamphlets. And after that I started volunteering and at some point it became treasurer and the two previous chairs have both left Syracuse. So if it's me, maybe for about 12, 15 years. So in those 12 to 15 years, you know, life has been changing rapidly in this world. What's the biggest change that you've seen over the years with this cultural fair? Everything's more expensive for us. Ain't that the chance. So, but what is not changed here is I'm a volunteer and,

there are so many people who are volunteering. There's a woman who handles the 140 booth application. Our performing arts committee picks the acts, and that includes artists like Mark Zane and Adam Gold from Sophistophunk. They figure out who's going to perform. And it's just wild. It's a really joyous day, and the only thing we can't control is the weather. That's right.

and where rain or shine. I love that. The Westcott Street Cultural Fair Sunday, September 28th from noon to 630. You explained it kicks off with the parade and then it opens up to all the performances and events. But kind of the mission statement of this fair, talk a little bit about that because it seems that anybody involved with this, especially you, are very passionate about this neighborhood in Syracuse. Tell us what? you love about Westcott and what the fair is all about. Well, there's a wonderful vibe here.

And it is true that we're still trying to support the businesses. Our business district has fabulous restaurants. Unfortunately, some don't stay in business that long because it's a kind of business that is not that stable. But the only people who can sell food here are restaurants that are on our street. So no trucks or anything like that. And we have a library right in this little neighborhood. And we're surrounded.

We have a lot of neighborhood organizations who better the place. They come and they clean up the streets. And we have planters and we have bike racks. Those who are all gotten by different neighborhood organizations. So there's a real spirit of friendliness. It's kind of what Syracuse has been known for always. as being a very friendly city. And I think this kind of epitomizes that.

What's something you want people watching or listening to know about the neighborhood of Westcott? It's a great mix. It does have Syracuse University students, although a greater number of them are graduate students and people who stay on when they graduate and are just starting out, as well as homeowners. and a lot of renters even, you know, not associated with the students. So everyone tries to be involved that makes our neighborhood strong, having all those people. I live in Ithaca, which is a college town. And a lot of times these types of festivals kind of meld the townies with the students.

And sometimes people don't understand that that can happen. And it's actually a really great thing. Right. It's been great. Yeah. Let's talk about some of the food. What do we got for food at this great cultural fair? Well, one of the best places for food is Mungids, which is around the corner here.

And they bring their food. They own Munchids as well as Taps the bar that is across the parking lot. And they bring out the usual Greek food, you know, gyros and whatever you want. and it's outside the business so they can have it. So people can get it without going inside. Alto Cinco across the street, very famous. And they also have a special menu, so it's quick, you know, grab it. But now we've got Syracuse Hala over there.

It has a food truck. We let them put their food truck in front of the place. And again, more of the Greek things. Sure. We have a Chinese restaurant. It's like lots and lots of food. Oh, and one of our big sponsors is Yetis, and that is an ice cream, yogurt place.

And we do get students from Nottingham High School to volunteer to set us up, and in return they get a free coupon for a Yeti's yogurt cone. That's amazing. Yeah. You seem to have everybody that works at this cultural fair, It's volunteers? Yeah, we have one consultant does some of our logistical work.

Yeah. Where can people, if they want to be a part of this and a volunteer in the future, where can they go? Well, definitely, if this is on before the day, we're still looking for volunteers. Perfect. And unfortunately, we do need volunteers for cleanup. Because we've got all these tents and chairs and tables that we rent from Orban Party. rental, all got to be loaded up again. Sure.

And, you know, there's other things like working in the kids' corner, but we're really looking for people. And you just go to the website and you sign up and you pick a shift. And, you know, that's how we get things done. It's amazing. You seem to have put so much care and thought into this festival, I mean, based on how long it's been around and all the things that you guys bring. Is this a year-round planning event?

When it ends, are you already planning for the next year? Unfortunately. And that really gets to, you know, my responsibilities because I'm also treasurer of our nonprofit. So it doesn't stop. And we have a lot of support right now from grants. We get 10,000 from Onondaga County. There's a downtown. There's a festival fund that, you know, so we're getting a lot of grants.

And grants, they don't go by our scale. The reports, the application. In fact, we just were notified that we're probably getting, again, $10,000 to the county for 2026. Oh, okay. And we're also getting money from that festival fund that's run by the downtown committee. I think it's funded by the city, and we've got 10,000 for 26 as well. So those are our two biggest funders.

That's wonderful. Yeah. Before we give out the plugs on where we're going to do. to go and all that, where do you see, like, do you have a vision for maybe the next step of this festival, maybe a kind of something you're aiming for, whether that's something, a new event as part of the festival or a new act that you want to go? How do you see this growing in the next few years? We're going to have to think about how to replace, you know, volunteers. I have to say, but I'm 75 now.

And so, you know, we're trying to, you know, look at a more sustainable way to continue it. Because not everybody has this much time. And the founding chair, she was working when she founded it. But for the next, she stopped working and was retired for, you know, 10 years of doing the fair. So we got to find a person. We're kind of, we did expand our streets, but I think we're going to stick where we are now. Because it's really focused on the business district and we're on in the business district. Absolutely.

And if I'm going to the fair for the first time, is there a certain food I have to try or an event that I have to go check out? I would say, we have on our website, the stage schedule. So you pick when you're coming by what you want to see. And if you want to see Sophistifunk, they're 530, 630. They close the fair. So you're not necessarily going to want to get here at 1230. Sure.

So, you know, looking at the schedule. And then, of course, for the children, we close the Kids Corner at 5 and the race. are three. So, you know, people who come with kids, they got to maybe plan that aspect. You're amazing. Sharon Sherman, the chair of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair Sunday, September 28th, from noon to 630, right here in the beautiful neighborhood of Westcott. Give us the plugs. Where can people go for information? website, anything like that. Westcott Streetfair.org.

and our Facebook page has everything on it. So I think it's Westcott Fair at the street fair. I'm not sure. It'll come up in Facebook. We have Twitter. We have Instagram. But really the Facebook and the website are key. Well, Sharon Sherman, you've been a delight.

You're a firecracker. I love you. I love your passion. I'm excited from Recess Coffee here in the neighborhood of Westcott. It is the Westcott Street Cultural Fair, Sunday, September 28th, new to 630. We'll be there. You should too. They need volunteers.

Help them out. And with that, we will be back on Good News York, sponsored by ads on the go. Get Ads on the Go.com. All right. Is it going? All right, welcome back to Good News, York, sponsored by ads on the go, get ads on the go.com. We decided sitting with Sharon Sherman is not enough. She's going to take us around the beautiful neighborhood of Westcott and kind of give us a lay of the land.

for the Westcott Cultural Fair. Do you lead the way? Let's see if our poster's on the bulletin board, and it is right up there. I spy one right here. See, you know what I love about this? Is, you know, I'm an artist myself, musician, comedian, so I've been performing my whole life,

and these are the kind of neighborhoods that breed that kind of creativity. Oh, yeah. It's very artsy, which I live in Ithaca. It's the same kind of deal. I can see why. So up and down here, there'd be booths set out. And as I said, it ends at that street, Del Street.

That's the end of it. And there's Boom Babies. That's one of our famous businesses. Many people come here from all over the area to get a prom dress, very. and every year they have a sidewalk sale during the fair. And they're a big sponsor of us. So we put up these banners every year, and all we do is change the date.

And I'm assuming, obviously, the streets are closed off for this. Oh, my God, yes. And we now have to have, we couldn't keep enough volunteers to men or staff the barricade. So this year we're going to all private security. to stay at the barricades to keep people. Cars out. So this is exactly where the Info Nation booth is.

Oh, and it's still called Info Nation after the Westcott Nation. Love that. Not me. And this is, over there is the center stage. And that's where our most in-demand rock type bands play. The library every year has a book sale in the library. They make so much money that they use that for activities, that they give money to the other city branches of the library

who would not be able to raise money for their activities. That's wonderful. This really is a community here. I know part of your mission statement is to promote the community itself. And it seems like people that are, people that are, that live here are really not only passionate about it, but they care and they're very giving. And you get to do a lawn sign because we only have 20 lawn signs. Every year, Speed Pro Imaging gives us, makes us 20 lawn signs for free.

And believe me, that's a great help. It's huge. I've looked into getting more. And so in the library is the book sale. and then in that parking lot is the kids' corner. And we have a stage in there where, let's say we have Bluebird Music Together. That's a great group that has kids' music. My granddaughter went to them in Liverpool, and we have a magician and storytelling and all kinds of things.

And then right here on Victoria. until we get to Cambridge is where we have these kids races. And it's so cute. They just run up and around and down the street. And if you're in the 7 to 9 category, they actually give you a free T-shirt if you win, our T-shirts. So did you look in the library where we have a memorabilia hanging up?

No, I've not been in. Take a very quick shot. We do that all. So here's a poster, here's a t-shirt. These, and of course, there's a t-shirt at the printer right now that matches this year's sign. All right, Mike Brindisi, in the beautiful neighborhood of Westcott, celebrating the Westcott Street Cultural Fair, September 28th. You don't want to miss this.

Sharon Sherman was a delight. You can see the passion, you can hear the passion, and, I mean, what's the moment? not to love about this cultural fair. It celebrates the culture of Syracuse and, of course, the neighborhood of Westcott. So make sure you guys check that out from Good News York. We'll be back tomorrow. Sponsored by Ads on the Go, get Ads on the Go.com. It's a gentle cruising. You start to see the village, almost like a painting. Join me, travel expert Darley Newman and Uneworld Boutique River Cruises L'Ik Bally to learn about river cruising in France. As we have been selling there for decades, we have been able to create deep connection

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