Emily VanLaeys, of Oneonta, has started Custom Ceremonies, a business offering personalized ceremonies for a variety of occasions, from weddings to baby-naming ceremonies, retirements and tributes.
She studied with the Celebrant USA Foundation & Institute, a nonprofit educational organization in Montclair, N.J., and said she was certified as a wedding celebrant May 3 and recently conducted her first wedding.
More people have been looking for alternatives to weddings in a church or synagogue, VanLaeys said, and celebrants work closely with clients designing a ceremony that reflects their needs, cultural background and values, she said.
VanLaeys also offers ceremonies to help women mark the passage from middle-age to ``wise womanhood.'' She will lead such a ceremony during a Release & Renewal Workshop & Ceremony from 2 to 5 p.m. Aug. 10 at Harmony Hill Retreat Center in East Meredith.
"Celebrancy is the art of creating and performing customized ceremonies to honor life's milestones,'' she said.
For more information, call VanLaeys at 432-4625, e-mail her at evanlaeys@yahoo.com or visit www.customceremonies-in-the-heartland.com.
Wood shop opens in Otego
Roy and Judy McMullen, who were married last year, have opened Rustic Wood Creations in Otego.
The shop, at 377 Main St., opened at the beginning of the year and sells furniture built by Roy McMullen. He uses maple, pine, birch and other types of wood, his wife said, to make country furniture, primitive reproductions, chimney cupboards, tables, bookcases, pie safes and other items. He has 20 years of experience and has taken his products to fairs and shows. He also creates custom-made pieces, said Judy, who is administrator of the in-home business. Her husband works in the shop, which is open by appointment, she said.
For more information, call 988-6674 or 287-1827 or visit www.rusticwoodcreations.com.
Grant to boost tests, training
CDO Workforce was awarded a $50,000 E-Learning grant from the state Department of Labor to help job-seekers with online skills assessment and training, according to a media release.
The training will be through Internet-based Metrix Learning System, and the award will enhance the existing capacity of the CDO Workforce One-stop Career Centers to conduct assessment and provide development and education. The Metrix Learning System also will help identify a person's ``skills gap'' for a selected occupation and will access technology-based courses to identify skills needs.
For more information, call Carlie Masciola at the CDO Workforce One-stop Career Center in Oneonta at 432-4800, ext. 115.
Insurance firm moves
Leatherstocking Cooperative Insurance Co. has a new office location at 4313 County Highway 11, off of state Route 28 and three miles south of Cooperstown.
"This new move is to accommodate the company's continuing growth," Philip A. Lewis, company president, said in a media release.
Leatherstocking Cooperative has 11 full-time and two part-time employees, about $6 million in underwriting premiums and uses 100 independent agencies around central New York to sell products.
Founded in 1886 as the Otsego County Farmers' Cooperative Fire Insurance Co., the firm's principal location had been on Main Street in Cooperstown for almost 120 years. In 1990, the company changed its name to Leatherstocking Cooperative Insurance Co. to emphasize its growth into a regional market and a change from insuring farm properties to a diversified mix of homeowner and small-business policies.
Other officers are Wayne D. Benjamin, vice president; MaryAnn Willoughby, treasurer, and Carl Johansen, secretary. The company's board of directors includes John E. Clow, Peter L. Craig, Nathan R. Fenno, Eric C. Hage, Richard F. Lohrman, Sue Giudice, Lynn J. Woodard, Kim K. Muller and Carol Ronovech.
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To suggest a business story, announce a new business or changes to an existing one, e-mail drichardson@thedailystar.com or call Denise Richardson at 432-1000 or (800) 721-1000, ext. 213.
