On Nov. 23, beginning at 11 a.m. until 2 p.m., the annual Empty Bowls fundraiser will be held at Fredonia’s Wheelock School gymnasium. Approximately 1,200 custom bowls will be available for purchase at Wheelock, with proceeds to be donated to combat food insecurity in the community.

The event is organized by Ron Nasca, the owner of Mudslingers Ceramics Gallery in Fredonia. Including Nasca, between 15-20 professional potters will be making handmade bowls to be featured at the event, along with art students from the Fredonia and Brocton school districts.

“We love doing this. This is really good for us potters because we can try out different things,” Nasca said. “It gives us an outlet for being creative. Instead of making the same bowl everybody already buys, we can try something new and see if people like it.”

Last year, the Empty Bowls fundraiser raised $26,500 at Wheelock in just over three hours. To date, coupled with an event in Jamestown now in its third year, Empty Bowls has raised approximately $380,000 countywide to address food insecurity.

Pictured is one of the many bowls crafted from historic clay discovered in Sheridan, dating back 200 years.

“That is a lot of money, it really is,” Nasca said. “I’m happy to pass that on to the food pantries of Chautauqua County. I’m more than happy to do that.”

From cherished holiday gifts to unique additions to shelves across the community, Empty Bowls has left its mark on Chautauqua County in more ways than just the money it has raised.

“Empty Bowls is, by far, one of my most favorite fundraisers to participate in,” said Jeannie Gallaway, Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Northern Chautauqua County.

Gallaway, who attends the event each year, has built her collection to a point where her family has replaced all of their own bowls with custom bowls purchased from the event.

“It’s so much fun,” Gallaway said. “It’s really cool to see the community come together.”

Prices vary in increments of $5, with each potter setting the price for their work. Cash, credit cards, and checks are all accepted.

For his own custom pieces, Nasca has used clay from Dunkirk in recent years to create many of his bowls, including historic clay dating back to the 1820s when the Darwin R. Barker Historical Museum was originally constructed.

This year, Nasca is incorporating historic clay yet again, which he discovered at the site of the Haven and Kenyon Pottery site in Sheridan. The Haven and Kenyon Pottery operated from 1818-1828, located near the Scott Creek intersection with Route 20. Nasca credited Hanover Town Historian Vince Martonis with documenting the site where thousands of pottery shards have been recovered.

Nasca said the owners of the land, Lori and Steve Mayr, were “very welcoming” in allowing him to dig a hole on their land to locate some of the historic clay. On his second attempt, he found exactly what he was looking for.

The Haven and Kenyon Pottery clay appears similar to that of the Barker Brick clay that Nasca featured at Empty Bowls last year. Bowls created with the Haven and Kenyon Pottery clay will be marked for sale at Empty Bowls this year.

More than 500 people attended last year’s event. Rather than soups this year, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate will be available for guests at the event, along with hundreds of cookies. Culinary students from BOCES will assist in baking hundreds of cookies in anticipation of a large crowd again this year.

Beginning in the early 1990s, Empty Bowls fundraisers were held in various stats across the country to support local communities battling food insecurity. The event began in Michigan, but has expanded across the U.S., with notable events in West Virginia, Connecticut, Vermont, Rhode Island, and even in Houston, Texas.

Locally, the tradition began in 2007 at St. John’s Church on Central Avenue in Dunkirk. Marvin Bjurlin, a former ceramics teacher at SUNY Fredonia, is the one who first brought the concept of Empty Bowls to northern Chautauqua County. Bjurlin was a graduate assistant in Ann Arbor, Michigan, when John Hartom, a high school teacher, started the first Empty Bowls event in 1990.

Recently, the city of Jamestown began its own Empty Bowls event, organized by Rev. Luke Fodor of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church. This year’s event will take place at St. Luke’s on Dec. 7, on the corner of Fourth Street and Main Street in Jamestown, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

After the two events this year, Nasca believes the total amount raised in Chautauqua County through Empty Bowls will exceed $400,000.

“It’s overwhelming, actually,” said Nasca. “It’s just crazy how much support we get from the community. It’s amazing.”

The event is supported by several community sponsors, including the Northern Chautauqua Community Foundation, the Beaver Club, BOCES Culinary Arts, Walmart, Piede Tents, Southpaw Signs, Lake Shore Savings and Loan, Community Bank, Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union, with a special thanks to Wheelock Principal Amy Piper.

“It’s wonderful,” Nasca said. “We’ll see how it works out this year.”