December 17, 2020
The first variety of spring malting barley bred by Cornell to succeed in New York’s wet climate and support the state’s $5.4 billion craft beer industry just got a new name: Excelsior Gold.
Formerly called CU-31, the barley got its name as a result of a contest co-hosted this fall by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Richard Ball, commissioner of Ag and Markets, announced Excelsior Gold to more than 100 attendees from across the craft beverage supply chain at this year’s virtual Empire State Barley and Malt Summit, Dec. 16.
Where some people see trash, the owners of Valandrea’s Venture in Bouckville see the opportunity to repurpose old and often discarded items into decorative and functional home furnishings.
Valandrea’s Venture an amalgam of the first names of sisters Valerie Clark and Andrea Kane, who co-own the shop in the heart of the Central New York antiques haven has really experienced a “different” year in 2020, Kane admitted. Thanks to the pandemic, fewer people are coming to the shop and there are fewer places to source their repurposed materials, Kane explained.
Kane, who lives next to the shop, said her favorite part of the business is going on the search to find items to refurbish. Turning trash to treasure is what Valandrea’s Venture is all about. Buying the used or even overused items also helps keep their overhead down, she added.