Our Annual Member Picnic will be on Wednesday, June 26 at Otsiningo Park in Binghamton. Please bring your own table service and a dish to pass. Drinks (soda, water, juice) will be provided. If you don’t have a dish to pass, come anyway, as there is always plenty of good food.

Program: History of Otsiningo Park
In 1971, Dolores Elliott directed salvage archeological excavations at Otsiningo Park during the construction of the Comfort Station. She will talk about the history of the land and will point out where the excavations took place and where the prehistoric houses were located.

More than 12,000 years ago, the land on what became Otsiningo Park was buried under a mile of ice. As the glacier retreated, animals such as mastodons, mammoths, and other megafauna moved north into our valleys. People we call PaleoIndians followed their prey north. The big animals became extinct, the climate warmed, and berry and nut producing plants began to grow here. The cultures of the people changed over the millenia to adapt to the changing environment. Less than 1,000 years ago a horticulture economy based on many varieties of corn, beans, and squash evolved. By 400 years ago people related to the Iroquois were living here. Artifacts documenting life here over the last 12 millenia have been found in Otsiningo Park.

Directions to Picnic Pavilion: Otsiningo Park is located near the intersection of Upper Front Street and Bevier Street with the entrance off of Bevier Street. After entering the park follow the loop. Shortly after the volleyball pits, take a right on the driveway to the community gardens follow the driveway to the Pavilion located near the old I-81 rest stop.