By Jana Eisenberg
Turkish-born Mine Dosluoglu (âMin-nay Dose-loh-looâ) came here as an immigrant, a non-native English-speaker who will âalways have an accent.â Over the decades, sheâs relied on the combination of her outgoing personality, her love of food and cookingâand yes, that status as âotherââto build community.
Growing up, she learned the power of food and cooking. After her parents divorced, her family moved in with her grandparents in Istanbul, where she was exposed to their deep commitment to excellently prepared and served meals.
Dinner was a multi-course, homemade ritual featuring a beautifully set table and stimulating and intellectual conversation where everyone in the household, including children and frequent guests, gathered.
Most evenings, Becca Hoppy settles into the âcozy little shackâ in her brotherâs backyard, pours a drink into a mug she created and turns on the pottery wheel.
This 24-by-10-foot shed is the studio for her business, Peach Pit Pottery. Hoppy arrives by 7 p.m. following a full day in her marketing role at Rich Products, fires up the space heater, flips on the string lights lining the wooden walls and gets to work. She stays until 11, creating mugs, vases, soap rests, taper holders and other vessels forged from lumps of clay while blasting her favorite music.
The 23-year-old East Aurora native and SUNY Geneseo graduate never imagined owning her own pottery business growing up, only taking her first ceramics class in 2019. But the weeknight routine she developed in this shed by the woods on the edge of East Aurora has become a new dream realized.
But dig a little deeper, and stories of generosity and grace emerge.
Mainly based on Facebook, the premise of these groups is simple: one member posts a photo of something theyâd like to give away, and another person claims it. Truly anything can (and is) claimed, from a pile of rocks to designer handbags.
Thatâs cool enough on its own. But as groups evolve over time, most end up growing beyond their initial transactional nature.
One woman in South Wales collected enough Halloween and crafting gear to create a drive-thru haunted houseâthen posted the free event on the site for the community to enjoy.