Books & Brews Fundraiser

SCHROON LAKE – Valenza Publishing and Common Roots Brewery announced that this Summer they will be partnering for a Books & Brews Fundraiser event to support the 42nd Rainbow Division Veterans Foundation.

The family event, on July 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., aims to bring readers together for a day of great food, great drinks, and great literature by authors from around the region. 

Andrew Valenza, the owner of Valenza Publishing and author of “The Empire Marathon” sci-fi series, is a veteran of the NY Army National Guard, and served with the 42nd Infantry Division for two deployments to the Middle East. 

According to the 42nd RDVF website, “The Rainbow Division Veterans Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable non-profit organization dedicated to commemorating the deeds, sacrifices and traditions of the 42nd Infantry (Rainbow) Division through memorials, education and preserving the Legacy of the 42nd Division.”

Valenza decided to put this event together because of the success of a “Boozy Book Fest” he attended in Schuylerville earlier this month at an American Legion.

“The last one I got to be a part of was a fundraiser for the Schuylerville Library,” Valenza said. “It was a really great night, and I’m glad I got to be a part of it. And since it was at an American Legion post, I thought, ‘Why not do one of these for a veterans group?’”

Valenza Publishing regularly contributes a portion of its net income to veterans and first-responder organizations, and in November and December annually, uses those proceeds to build care packages for deployed service members around the world.

At the event, there will be fundraising opportunities through raffles of gift baskets put together by local businesses and authors, those in attendance and others who want to support in their own way, donations made by book sellers from their sales, and proceeds from specialty drinks sold by Common Roots.

Participating authors include Jack Pendleton, Kiersten Marcil, J.T. McGee, David K. Wilson and Sarah E. Burr. Also in attendance as a vendor will be Locally Crafted, a book-oriented crafting group.

Authors who would like to participate and local businesses who would like to be involved in the raffle can contact Valenza via email at andrewvalenza@valenzapublishing.com.