We’ve Got The Vibes: Line Dancing, Trivia, Community Theater And Outhouse Races
Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise: We’ve got plenty to do for fun in Upstate NY’s Schoharie County. Sometimes you just need to know where to look.
We’ve got Dance Festivals—this is the Klinkhart Hall Arts Center’s—where you can join in or just watch.
What do we do for fun here? You have no idea. Fun is a full-time job in Schoharie County.
Line (and contra) dancing. Trivia. Sip and…lots of stuff.
Book clubs (and local author meet-and-greets.)
Arts and culture with our own twist (on-stage and in the audience.)
Coffee klatches (where we solve all of the world’s problems), pancake breakfasts with fresh-from-the tree maple syrup, and something we guarantee you’ve never been a part of: Summit’s Outhouse races.
It ’s all part of Schoharie County’s Vibe with a capital V: things you might have to look a little harder to find, but when you do, you know you belong here.
Those Legendary Outhouse Races (& All The Pancakes to Go With Them)…
You haven’t lived in Upstate New York unless you’ve witnessed the Summit Conservation Club’s Outhouse Races. You can even sign up with your own team, all in the name of a good cause.
A fundraiser for Catskill Area Hospice every January at the Summit Conservation Club, this outhouse race is a chance to build your own one or two-seater for a good cause. Not that handy with a saw, hammer, and nails? Come cheer on your favorite costumed team as they maneuver “creatively-named” potties across the finish line for a chance to earn bragging rights in what has to be one of Upstate NY’s most unique (and fun) events. Then, dance into the night.
Summit’s Conservation Club is also locals’ favorite spot for:
Stuffed Pizza Nights: Third weekend, Jan–Apr
Pancake Breakfasts: First Sunday, Jan–Mar
Just over the hill and down the road, the Charlotteville Schoolhouse serves up Sunday breakfasts, a soup buffet and a chili cookoff throughout the fall. Meet your neighbors there and help fund efforts to preserve the 1894-1951 Schoolhouse.
Pancakes during maple season? Pancakes are served up hot at Stone House Farm, a 60-cow Jersey farm and 5,000-tap maple operation in Sharon Springs. Pancake breakfasts run February to April and no one leaves hungry. The Everett’s have been farming since 1986. Interested in getting up close and personal with their doe-eyed cows (and seeing how they use robots to milk)? Check back in August when they’re part of Cooperative Extension’s free three-county Family Farm Day.
Looking for a way to work off those pancakes? Get Up & Dance.
Line Dancing at Chieftans in Cobleskill most Wednesdays, 7-9pm.
If your thing is singing, Locomotion’s Sports Bar has karaoke (on 25 cent Wing Wednesday!) and live music on Thursdays.
The Gallupville House is a real community center in a really cool community with seasonally, toe-tapping music, vendors’ markets, local theater performances (think an all-girl staging of The Odd Couple). And just when winter’s starting to get you down, contra dancing.
The Breakabeen Grange also hosts contra dances. No partners needed and beginners welcome. Because on the dance floor? We’re all neighbors.
There’s never a bad time to catch up over a cup of coffee or grab a fresh, hot bagel and cream cheese. Or maybe a slice of quiche. Or a pastry. They’re not “just” coffee shops, they’re also community–and arts–hot spots. And a good place to catch up on the “tea.”
Coffee shops in Schoharie County to check out:
Middleburgh Coffee
Brickhouse Bakery (Cobleskill)
Brimstone Bakery (Sharon Springs)
If books are your thing:
Start your own book club–or join one at the Sharon Springs Library (third Friday, 6pm) or the Cobleskill Community Library (Fridays at noon.)
If you like books and food (there’s that food thing again), the Middleburgh Library hosts a Crockpot Challenge every March. $7 buys you all you can eat–including dessert and they’re always looking for more cooks.
Pro tip: all of our libraries have plenty of fun activities for adults, kids,and families: Music, arts and crafts and STEM, writing groups, storytimes, movies, even yoga…
There’s also yoga at SEEC’s 287 Main, and at Wayward Lane Brewing, where you relax even more afterwards with a cold beer. (There’s always something fun going on at Wayward–music, Punkin’ Chunkin’, and even a Hawaiian Luau). Same at Serious Brewing in Howes Cave–think Soap & Sip with Mineral Springs Soap or wreath-making with The Studio for Art and Craft. And dog-friendly Middleburgh Winery does it all too–with a special focus on our four-legged friends. All great ways to make friends and have fun.
Movies, Music, Trivia & Theater
$7 will get you movies like this at Cobleskill’s Park Theater. For $2 more? Buttered popcorn.
What does $7 get you? At Cobleskill’s beloved Park Theater, adult admission to first-run movies. Buttered popcorn? Just $1 more. (The old-style single screen theater screened its first movie on September 21, 1922, the silent flick “First Born.” That admission? 40 cents.)
Before or after the show, there’s a plethora of dining (and drink) options on Main Street …pizza, Mexican, burgers…
Think you’re so smart? Prove it:
Bull’s Head Cellar in Cobleskill
Think & Sip Trivia at Sunken City Cider in Gilboa. Music too.
Performers, Creators, Dreamers:
Most of our communities take turns offering free outdoor concerts featuring everything from country to rock to jazz during the glorious long days of summer.
But if you’d rather be part of the show, the Schoharie Valley Concert Band puts on four concerts a year and they’re always looking for new musicians.
If your instrument’s your voice, there’s the Schoharie Valley Singers, “many voices building community together through the universal language of music.” Everyone’s welcome.
If you’re a thespian, the Theater Project of Schoharie County and the Timothy Murphy Playhouse are always open to ideas, performers, and set and stage crew volunteers.
A poet? Check out the Sharon Springs Poetry Festival. (There’s a Dance Festival too.)
In Schoharie County, the Vibes are just the beginning. There’s no reason to ever run out of things to do.
Root Access is your guide to live, work and community in Schoharie County. Comment your favorite things to do in Schoharie County below!
