The Belmar plans 'Thirty-three Cecils' holiday. Novel's Binghamton setting inspires event

Neal Simon, Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin
·3 min read

Leave it to a legendary Binghamton pub and grill to create a new holiday for the city.

The Belmar is doing just that Sept. 1 with the first annual “Thirty-three Cecils Day,” a celebration of life, Binghamton and the acclaimed novel and future motion picture of the same name.

The Main Street pub is a key plot location in “Thirty-three Cecils,” Everett De Morier’s London Book Festival fiction prize winner set in 1990s-era Binghamton and Erie, Pa.

De Morier is a former Binghamton resident.

“Thirty-three Cecils” was published by Blydyn Square Books in 2015. It unfolds through a series of fortuitously discovered journal entries by two murdered men: a prominent cartoonist/documentarian from Erie who goes to prison for forgery, and a hard-drinking Broome County landfill employee who quits his job and sets off on a life-altering bicycle journey.

Sunset River Productions will produce a motion picture adaptation of "Thirty-Three Cecils," based on a screenplay by the novel's author, Binghamton native Everett De Morier, and movie producer Brian Esquivel. Published in 2015 and partially set in Binghamton, the novel won the top fiction prize at The London Book Festival.
Sunset River Productions will produce a motion picture adaptation of "Thirty-Three Cecils," based on a screenplay by the novel's author, Binghamton native Everett De Morier, and movie producer Brian Esquivel. Published in 2015 and partially set in Binghamton, the novel won the top fiction prize at The London Book Festival.

While “Thirty-three Cecils” is on many high school and university reading lists and is currently being developed as a major motion picture by Sunset River Productions of Los Angeles (with extensive filming slated to take place in Binghamton and Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman reportedly attached), it was one reader’s love of the novel that led to the new holiday.

More: Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman tied to Binghamton film 'Thirty-Three Cecils'

A man walks into the Belmar ... How new holiday was created

Mike Pedley visited the Belmar Pub in Binghamton for the first time on Sept. 1, 2022. Pedley had waited to stop by until that day because it is the date when the main characters in his favorite novel, “Thirty-three Cecils,” are slain. Dutch, the landfill worker, frequents the Belmar early on in the story.

Pedley ordered a beer and started chatting with the bar patrons about the book.

“I know it’s a novel,” Pedley said to Jennifer James, the Belmar manager. “But it always seemed real to me.”

Pedley’s enthusiasm turned out to be contagious. James took a photo of Pedley and sent it to De Morier, who lives in Delaware.

“I was sitting at home when I got a text from Jennifer with a photo. It said ‘Happy Cecils Day,’” De Morier said.

The Belmar Pub on Main Street in Binghamton is shown Sunday, March 6, 2022.
The Belmar Pub on Main Street in Binghamton is shown Sunday, March 6, 2022.

The author admitted he did not remember the exact date the characters he created died in the novel.

When De Morier told the story to Tara Tomczyk, editor-in-chief of Blydyn Square Books, she couldn’t believe it.

“The fact that someone would remember that date and make a pilgrimage to one of the settings is incredible,” said Tomczyk. “That needs to be celebrated.”

Tomczyk and De Morier came up with an idea for how to do that and ran it past James and Ed Hickey, the owner of the Belmar. He loved the idea.

So they began planning.

‘Thirty-three Cecils Day’: Here's what's on ‘tap’ at the Belmar

The Belmar is putting together an exciting night to mark the first observance of "Thirty-three Cecils Day."

Activities on Sept. 1 will get started at 7 p.m. There will be food, door prizes, book signings, a visit by De Morier and the publisher and great conversation, much perhaps about a tragic but ultimately redemptive story that captures at least a small piece of Binghamton's heartbeat, circa 1992.

Everett De Morier’s first novel, “Thirty-three Cecils,“ is set in his hometown of Binghamton.
Everett De Morier’s first novel, “Thirty-three Cecils,“ is set in his hometown of Binghamton.

The Belmar owner is a big fan of the novel and loves what it says about the city.

“I loved the book,” Hickey said last year. “It’s very unique, has a lot to say and Binghamton is seen through a very specific set of eyes. It also shows The Belmar Pub back in the days when my dad ran it.”

Follow Neal Simon on Twitter @HornellTribNeal. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on The Evening Tribune: The Belmar, Binghamton pub in acclaimed novel, plans Sept. 1 event