Mocktail Magic Returns, Meet an Organizer Behind the Event on Meet Cortland County

John Harrison: [00:00:00] Good morning everyone. Welcome back to another edition of Meet Cortland County. It’s John Harrison and the Cayuga Health System sponsored studios. And joining me today is Melissa Simmons, the Director of Cortland Prevention Resources. Melissa, thanks so much for joining me.

Melissa Simmons: Thanks for having me, John.

John Harrison: Of course.

Happy to have you. And we’re talking about a great event. You guys did it last year and it went so well, so. Doing it again this year. And that’s Mocktail Magic.

Melissa Simmons: Yeah. Mocktail Magic. So last year was the first year we’ve held the event and it sold out. Basically what Mocktail magic is, is local businesses and individuals, make mocktails.

So if you don’t know what a mocktail is, it’s a cocktail with no alcohol. Yeah. Make a mocktail. So they make teeny tiny little servings of mocktails and then the, the people who come to the event get to sample all of the mocktails, and then at the end they vote on their favorite and some business or individual wins.

Best mocktail of Cortland County.

John Harrison: Wow. Yeah. That’s a, a great, great competition. Great way to get out there and, and try some of the different drinks that [00:01:00] restaurants offer, and especially mocktails, arguably better than an actual cocktail. They taste better. They’re, they’re, you can drink as many of them as you want.

Only thing you have to worry about is the sugar.

Melissa Simmons: That’s right. This year we’re having some, we actually had a liquor company in LA send us three bottles of NA gin and three local businesses have agreed to make their mocktails with those, with the gin. So it will taste more like a traditional cocktail than sugary sweet juice or soda.

Wow. All

John Harrison: right. That’s. That’s really exciting. Yeah. Getting a, a company all the way out in LA noticing this, this great event that, you’re putting on here. Let’s, let’s talk the details That way our, our listeners know, you know, where and when and what to expect. Looks like it’s gonna be happening January 22nd, towards the end of the month.

And that’s gonna be six to 8:00 PM at the Cortland Repertory Theater.

Melissa Simmons: Yep. The downtown Cortland Repertory Theater. Yep. That’s it. And tickets are available now on, the family and children’s website, which you can find by going to Cortland Prevention Resources Facebook page. And you’ll see the tickets right there available for purchase.

Alright, super easy. Do [00:02:00] you know

John Harrison: how much, they cost off the top of your head if you. I have a number. Tickets

Melissa Simmons: are one for 25 or two for 40, I believe. Okay.

John Harrison: All right. Not bad. And that’s for, sampling all these great, mocktails and getting to again, experience some awesome local restaurants.

I love when there’s events that bring all these different businesses together so you don’t have to, plan out your life around experiencing everything Corland has to offer.

Melissa Simmons: It’s really important for us. To have local businesses represented as well. Yeah. Matt from Gorger is doing the food.

Oh, awesome. We’re really excited about that. Yeah. Frosted is doing the desserts this year. We have Rocco Rich doing live music, and this year we have a photo booth. Ooh. We’re super excited about that.

John Harrison: That is very exciting. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Let’s, you mentioned, goers is doing the food.

We’ve got Frosted doing the, the desserts. What about, some of the bars and restaurants that are gonna be. Bringing their mocktails, to the event.

Melissa Simmons: This year we have, Guthrie is making a mocktail awesome. They’re also one of our sponsors. We have, a lot of little local businesses who are making, mocktails.

Cortland Arts Connect has awesome. Signed on to make a [00:03:00] mocktail, lift a latte, Cortland CrossFit. We’ve got, seven Valley’s Health Coalition. We’re really excited because, our funder, the Office of Addiction Supports and Services is also gonna be there to see our event and many, many more.

It’s gonna be so exciting.

John Harrison: Awesome. Yeah, I can’t wait. And folks, again, listening at home, that’s gonna be January 22nd. Six to 8:00 PM at the Cortland Repertory Theater downtown. And you want to, say the website one more time for people where they can go and buy their tickets now?

Melissa Simmons: Yeah, so you can get your tickets from the Family and Children’s Counseling Services website.

You can also find it, the link for that on Cortland Prevention Resources Facebook page.

John Harrison: Awesome. Yeah. Perfect. And looks like we’re, we’re running, a little low on time here, but, is there anything else you wanna mention? If you want to, bring up anything, what the event is for, who it’s, it’s benefiting, any, anything like that you want to talk

Melissa Simmons: about?

Absolutely, yes. So it, society is starting to experience a shift where they’re consuming less alcohol. This is in a lot of cases for health reasons. Mm-hmm. So. A lot of people are [00:04:00] familiar with dry January where you you don’t drink for all of January. A lot of people are taking dry January further.

So Mocktail magic is a really good way to have that sober experience, and, and to realize that by. Not using alcohol, you’re not removing anything from your life. There are tons of other opportunities. Yeah. Whether you are not drinking for, pregnancy, if you’re in recovery or if you’re a designated driver or you’re making a, a personal choice for health and wellness.

There are lots of reasons that people choose it, and we want people to feel they’re not deprived and this is something to celebrate.

John Harrison: Yeah, that’s, that’s an amazing reason to, to put on this great event. Well, Melissa, thank you so much for coming into the studio and joining and talking about this.

I’m looking forward to the event. I’m gonna, try to make it out there this year. Looks like it’s gonna be a ton of fun, although I gotta. Jump on that ticket now. ’cause it sold out last year.

Melissa Simmons: Yeah, it did. Sold out. And you gotta get your outfit too, or semi-formal, which is a really fun part of the event.

John Harrison: Ooh. All right. Finally, an excuse to buy a suit. Yeah. Alright. Well Melissa, thanks so much for joining me for another [00:05:00] edition of me, Cortland County, and folks listening at home. This has been John Harrison on X 1 0 1.