These businesses create bonds with events and activities.

Trappers II Pizza & Pub, Minoa

1. What is your vision for the local community?

Our vision is a community that feels connected, supported, and proud of where they live. We want T2 to always be a place where people come together, where neighbors know each other, families feel welcome, local schools and organizations are supported!

2. How does your business fit into that vision?

We see our restaurant as a gathering place not just somewhere to eat, but somewhere to celebrate with family and friends. We support our community by employing local! Most of our employees are high school students who are just beginning to enter the workforce. We pride ourselves on opening our doors to the community, especially local youth sports and clubs. We really try to give back as much as we receive.

3. What inspired you to do more than simply sell a product — specifically, creating events and spaces where people can gather?

Pizza has always been about sharing. Growing up, some of the best conversations, laughs, and milestones happened around a table with food. We strive to provide a space where people can slow down, connect with each other and feel at home. When we create that type of environment people naturally want to celebrate milestones with us and we love being able to provide them with a space for that.

4. What types of events and gatherings do you have?

We host a mix of family-friendly and adult-focused events, including community fundraisers, local team celebrations, themed nights, live music, trivia, and private events. We partner with schools, sports teams, and local organizations to support our community and the people who keep us going!

5. What else should people know about your business?

We’re more than a pizza restaurant, we're a place that's truly built on relationships. Whether you’re here every week or stopping in for the first time, we will treat you like family. We are family owned and operated, and we care deeply about our customers, our staff, and our community, and we’re always looking for new ways to bring people together, one slice at a time!

Blue Moon Apothecary and Wellness Center, Liverpool

1. What is your vision for the local community?

My vision is a community where people feel connected — to themselves, to one another, and to the place they live. Our mission statement is to create a local shift, in perspective and patterns. If you know someone who needs a product or service refer them to your “local” resource. It could be a store, provider, artist, mechanic, but the ripple effect that it creates locally will truly be felt. Buy from the farmer and you know where your money goes.

2. How does your business fit into that vision?

Blue Moon was created as a welcoming “safe space” where people can come as they are. We’re part apothecary, part tea shop, part studio, and part gathering place, part gift shop. So, whether someone is stopping in for a blend that supports their wellness journey or coming to a class or workshop, we’re building connection and community in a really grounded, local way. You are working with or making a purchase to support a local family, person, teacher, or provider.

3. What inspired you to do more than simply sell a product -— specifically, creating events and spaces where people can gather?

I’ve always believed wellness isn’t just something you purchase — it’s something you practice and live, and it grows when you feel supported. I wanted to create something that felt warm and human: a place where people could learn, explore, create, and connect. The products are part of that, but the heart of Blue Moon is the experience—community, conversation, and shared growth.

4. What types of events and gatherings do you have?

We host a mix of wellness and community-centered events, including yoga and movement classes, workshops such as paint-n-sips, seasonal gatherings to make ornaments, guided self-care experiences, and collaborations with local practitioners and artists. We also love offering events that invite people to try something new, whether that’s learning about herbs and tea, exploring mindfulness, or simply meeting neighbors in a relaxed setting. We even offer monthly meet-ups for those who are grieving which we call our Life & Death Tea Society because grief is such a deeply underserved emotion in general and working together to explore those feelings and understand them is important.

5. What else should people know about your business?

Blue Moon is proudly local and rooted in the idea that everyone deserves a place to feel welcomed and supported. We collaborate with local makers and businesses, offer organic handcrafted teas (including partnerships with cafés), and curate experiences that help people feel more connected and well, inside and out. If someone hasn’t visited yet, I’d love for them to stop in, say hi, and see what we’re creating together.

Of Moose and Mind Bookshop, Manlius

1. What is your vision for the local community?

We truly believe Manlius is becoming a destination. Over the past few years, so many incredible local shops and businesses have opened, offering great food, merchandise, and experiences. Our vision is to help continue that momentum and contribute to Manlius as a place people intentionally come to, not just pass through.

The bookshop exists as more than a retail space, it’s meant to be a gathering place. A quiet place to read and reflect, a space for conversation, a place to sit, think, and connect. Our phones give us access to the entire world’s news and information, and while being informed matters, the cost is often distraction from the things that actually enrich life. We want the bookshop to be a small counterbalance to that, a place where you can slow down, be present, and connect with others in your community.

2. How does your business fit into that vision?

From the beginning, the bookstore was designed around two core ideas. First, it had to be a space the community could genuinely be proud of. It had to be beautiful. We wanted high-quality fixtures, carefully curated displays, and a unique artistic feature to tie it all together. Second, it needed to feel inviting, somewhere you don’t feel rushed; a place where you’re comfortable spending time.

To meet the first objective we knew we wanted a unique focal point, a piece of art that creates an immediate “wow" factor when you walk through the door. The beautiful mural and logo wall designed by our local talent, Mark Noble, surely solved that objective. But it’s not just about how the space looks, it’s also about how it feels. And that's where the darker natural colors, tones, and lighting were meant to provide a feeling of calm and warmth, especially during the long winter season here in CNY.

3. What inspired you to do more than simply sell a product — specifically, creating events and spaces where people can gather?

Books have always been about more than reading, they’re about shared ideas, shared stories, and shared experience. Community has always been built around gathering: conversation, storytelling, learning, and reflection. We wanted the bookshop to reflect that tradition.

We also did not want a space that felt transactional. We didn’t want it to feel like “come in, buy something, leave.” We wanted it to feel like “come in, stay a while.” Events, discussions, story times, and gatherings help create connection. They turn a store into a community space, and that’s something we value.

4. What types of events and gatherings do you have?

We are just beginning to build out our schedule of events, but we intend to host a mix of events for all ages and interests: children’s story times, author events, book clubs, community discussions, seasonal gatherings, and collaborative events with other local businesses and organizations. Recently we've partnered with the Onondaga Historical Association and Manlius Cinema for their "Strides Toward Democracy" film series.

5. What else should people know about your business?

The bookshop is here for this community. We're trying to play a meaningful part and synergize with local businesses in anyway we can. When you walk into a locally-owned store you're not just a transaction or a data point, you're a friend, a neighbor, a familiar face. I think a lot of us miss that. Local businesses shape a town's character, they make it distinct and they tell the story of the town. It's exciting to be part of that story, to be part of shaping the character of our community.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you! We are so grateful for how welcoming and supportive this community has been! The bookshop team is motivated and enthusiastic to keep creating an environment this town can proud of!

Taco Bell Cantina, Manlius

1. What is your vision for the local community?

When people think of local businesses, Taco Bell usually does not come to mind. And rightfully so! Taco Bell is a huge national brand that is instantly recognizable and loved by millions. So, what makes the new Cantina by Taco Bell in Manlius any different? How could this restaurant be a local business?

Let’s start by diving into what Hospitality Syracuse, Inc (HSI) is. HSI was founded by Wayne Lobdell in the ‘80s. Wayne grew up very poor and worked his way up through the restaurant industry. He wrote a Memoir, “Climb from the Cellar” if you want to check it out-a true American Dream story. He purchased his first Taco Bell restaurant in Traverse City, MI. Soon afterwards, the opportunity came up to open and operate three mall units in the Syracuse area: Carousel Center, Great Northern Mall and Salmon Run Mall. He moved here and worked tirelessly to get those locations up and running and this was the start of HSI. Over the next few years, he brought on new partners in the business, both from the Syracuse area, who had worked for Taco Bell since they were teenagers. While Wayne and the original partners are now retired, his son Marty Lobdell has taken over. Marty is the CEO and president; he runs the company along with his partner in the business, Matt Prouty, vice president, of Baldwinsville. HSI is based in Liverpool.

2. How does your business fit into that vision?

All of the employees that you meet at the Cantina (and all area Taco Bell restaurants) are employees of HSI — not Taco Bell. We love Upstate NY, raise our families here and give back to our local communities.

Speaking of giving back, how does HSI help our local communities? In 2025, HSI donated over $500,000 to local children’s charities through the Taco Bell Foundation round-up program, including $94,000 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Syracuse!

HSI also is a presenting sponsor of the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHAA). This sponsorship helps to offset the cost for athletes and their families attending local playoffs, championships and more!

Our employees are also encouraged to apply for our scholarship opportunities, which are awarded based on an individual’s passions and how they are using that passion to improve their communities. For just the 2025-2026 school year HSI had 16 recipients receive a total of $205,000!

3. What types of events and gatherings do you have?

The Cantina hosts trivia nights, live music, creative workshops, community parties, and more. A few recent examples include an ugly holiday sweater party, a disco ball planter workshop, a board game night, a wedding giveaway, a magic show, and a celebrity bartender night.

Check out our event calendar to see all the fun events coming up at manliuscantina.com or email us at info@manliuscantina.com

Local Places Where Neighbors Become Friends

These businesses create bonds with events and activities.

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