If you’ve been to a wedding at the Canfield Casino or attended a corporate event at the Hall of Springs, you’ve experienced what Mazzone Hospitality does best: make parties tick. Whether it be enjoying their top-notch catering services or watching their staff work tirelessly in the background, you know that the event you’re attending is in good hands. No other business in the Capital Region is so entirely dedicated to customer service—and nails it every time. We recently talked to Mazzone Hospitality’s Chief Financial Officer, Matt Mazzone, about how he got into the business and what the best part of working at Mazzone is.
How did you get your start in the hospitality industry?
The hospitality industry is in my blood…I grew up in it and can remember it being a big part of my life for a long time. I left the family business for a short time between 2000 and 2007, but what drew me back was the excitement you get taking care of a guest.
What makes Saratoga Springs such a great place to run a business?
Saratoga Springs is great because of the variety it offers…meaning there’s so much to do, so many different customers and venues to work with and a variety of seasons.
What sets Mazzone apart from the other like-minded companies in the region?
In a simple word, what sets Mazzone Hospitality apart—or allows us to deliver the difference for our customers—is the passion our employees have for what they do. We have an amazing team that really enjoys what they do and gets excited about making guests’ experiences on their special day something to remember.
What’s your favorite part of running and/or working at Mazzone?
The best part of my job is when I can make an impact on the team. What excites me is watching a person join our company and seeing them grow. We have many people that started as servers that are now General Managers, and dishwashers that have become Executive Chefs.
What impact do you hope your business has on the Saratoga community?
We’ve been a big part of the Saratoga dining and event scene for a long time and look forward to continuing to push the envelope for amazing events and innovative culinary delights. Events bring people together, and we want to be synonymous with bringing people together with good food, great service and hospitality.
For saratoga living, there was a lot to celebrate on the night of Wednesday, May 30, at Putnam Place in Saratoga Springs. For one, we were celebrating the magazine’s 20th anniversary—and our wonderful new issue, which has just hit newsstands (make sure to grab an issue or take a look at some of the features on saratogaliving.com). We were also unveiling our first-ever “Saratoga 20,” an exclusive list of individuals in Saratoga and the surrounding region who have been contributing to our community in new and exciting ways.
Many of the Saratoga 20 were in attendance, from Elizabeth Sobol, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s President and CEO, and Lizzie Hunter, the American Cancer Society’s Senior Community Development Manager, to local wunderkind TJ Tracy and Mike Phinney, Principal Architect at Phinney Design Group. They all received framed versions of the black-and-white photographs that were featured in the magazine (all were expertly shot by saratoga living‘s Senior Photographer Dori Fitzpatrick).
With guests enjoying signature cocktails (the aptly named “Saratoga 20”), a bourbon tasting courtesy of Upstate Distilling Co., delicious food from Buddha Noodle and the music of Alta Havana—both indoors and outdoors—it was nothing short of the “party of the year.” Take a look at some of the photos taken at the event by Bigler Studio above.
It’s officially summertime—at least from where I’m standing—and that usually means more time with the family. I was honestly torn this weekend about the theme, because there’s not only a host of family-oriented happenings, but there’s also a lot of events highlighting the Capital Region’s diversity. I was debating which to pick when it occurred to me that family is just a microcosm of community. It may sound corny, but it’s true. I could easily cover all of these wonderful events, because a community—a region like this one—is just a vast web of families and relations. In this spirit, the editor’s choice this week is the Puerto Rico on My Mind Community Event at 160 Central Avenue, Albany on Friday, June 1.
It came as a shock to many, but according to a Harvard Study that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Tuesday, the actual death toll in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria was nearly 5,000, not 64 as the official estimate originally concluded back in September 2017. Many of these deaths were from a delay or lack in medical care. More than eight months have passed since the deadly Category 5 hurricane blew through Puerto Rico.
For these reasons, a Capital Region advocacy and outreach group called LATINOS, has created a free, family-friendly event to honor and commemorate those affected by the deadly hurricane. The celebration lasts from 1pm to 7:30pm, and includes a little bit of everything for everyone. For the artsy types, patrons will be able to visit a new exhibition of Puerto Rican artist Juan Maldonado, as well as see the local debut of Ay Maria!, a tragicomedy of five survivors recounting their experiences before, during and after the hurricane. There will also be a prayer service and vigil lighting for Puerto Rico at the Capital District LATINO’s beautiful new headquarters, formerly St. John’s Lutheran Church. And for the hungry and festive, there will be Latin American food provided by Salsa Latina restaurant, not to mention live music from the Rumberos and the closing act of the evening, Alex Torres & His Latin Orchestra. If this great lineup doesn’t convince you to come out to Puerto Rico on My Mind, then come out just to show your support. Here are some of the other events going on this weekend:
Friday, June 1
Park and Play Movie Night – free event at St. Mary’s Hospital, 1300 Massachusetts Avenue, Troy. Polish Fest – three-day event at Mary of Czestochowa Church, 250 Old Maxwell Road, Latham. St. Basil Greek Festival – St. Basil Greek Orthodox Church, 909 River Street, Troy.
On a recent trip to the Louvre in Paris, it wasn’t until I went up to the third or fourth docent and asked in my minimal French, “Could you tell me where Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus is?,” that I realized I was wasting valuable time. There was so much to see! (I later realized that the painting was 200 miles away in Belgium, but that’s another story.) I’m happy to say that Saratoga Springs will soon have its own Louvre’s worth of fine art on display and for purchase—and it’s coming to the City Center this August.
Historically, Saratoga’s main summer attractions have been the racetrack, ballet and other cultural events—but a major art show has been oddly absent. That’ll all change with the introduction of the inaugural REVEAL International Contemporary Art Fair. “Art is a common language,” says Jacquie Grande, Founder and President of REVEAL. “I think hosting an event where art is the common denominator will bring people together.” Hundreds of artists’ works will be shipping in from dozens of galleries all over the globe, and it’ll be the perfect atmosphere for both the serious collector and window-shopper.
Running from August 3-5, with a VIP celebration and preview on August 2, the REVEAL Art Fair will be a welcome addition to an already frenetic Downtown Saratoga summer scene. And when I stop by, I’ll certainly know enough not to be looking for the Mona Lisa—but it’s possible that the next one might be hanging somewhere nearby.
Take a look at some of the art that will be on display at the REVEAL Art Fair in the above gallery.
I have traveled more than 14 million miles on behalf of my clients, I’ve been fortunate enough to constantly find inspiration from cultures and traditions all over the world, allowing me to bring new and exciting elements to my designs. I put a lot of effort into the timing and flow of events so that the guest experience is seamlessly constructed from beginning to end.
1. What Makes A Colin Cowie Event Distinctive?
I pull from the client’s unique DNA, meaning no two of my parties ever look the same. I use my five-senses approach to guarantee that everything guests smell, touch, taste, see and hear is flawlessly orchestrated and catered to the seasons, time of day and overall experience of the event. There’s a certain art in giving guests just the right amount of time to eat before livening up the dancefloor with a carefully curated musical selection. My favorite part of any event is when the candles have burned halfway down, the wine’s taken its effect and everyone’s got a smile wrapped two-and-a-half times around their face. That’s truly why we do what we do. My recent work in Saratoga’s the ideal example. After expanding our presence into the area, I was able to get involved with events like the Saratoga Wine & Food Festival and use the DNA of the event itself to enhance and revamp it. This September, guests at the festival can expect to experience it like never before.
2. What’s The Best Way To Make Over Your Home?
I like to start with a basic canvas. Gray or white are my favorites, as they showcase all other colors fabulously. When it comes to entertaining, I’m a huge collector of tabletop items. Start with your basic white and treat it like a little black dress. You can dress it up or down, depending on the occasion and your mood. Embrace a couple of colors that speak to you and build a collection of coordinating napkins, placemats, candles, water glasses and objects, allowing you to create multiple looks. That way, you build a wardrobe that is a reflection of your own personality, whether you’re setting a few placemats up for a TV dinner or a formal meal at the dining room table. I find it’s a good idea to think of your home as a summer and winter space. Lighter, more beautiful and airy colors for the warm summer days, and darker, warmer colors for those winter nights. Always remember that bringing guests into your home is the best way to give them a window into your life!
3. What’s The Most Difficult Part Of Planning A Destination Wedding?
The obvious difficulty is the added logistical consideration. If guests are flying in for a multiday event, you have to think about moving their luggage seamlessly, making sure everyone’s able to make it to and from each venue in a timely way and creating a well-thought-out production schedule to adhere to. What I usually do is bring in a core management team and then hire local creative partners and vendors, who are familiar with the location should we need anything. I’ve had the pleasure of teaming up with the right people at these destinations and making sure that I have a crew of intelligent and professional producers who can handle site-visits and other premeditated logistics, so that there are minimal surprises on the day-of. And remember, with all the logistics, a well-informed guest is a happy guest. Send a save-the-date, set up a website with all the travel and attire information the guests might need and mail out a confirmation package that clearly stipulates the different events, times and dress codes. Finally, assume that they haven’t read anything and leave them the itinerary again, along with a welcome note.
4. What’s The Single Best Tip You Can Give An Aspiring Colin Cowie Protégé?
The one ideology that’s guided me throughout my career? Ruthless editing and perseverance. The service industry today is oversaturated with products. We don’t need another solution or hospitality provider; what we need is to ruthlessly edit to get rid of the 90 percent of clutter and keep the 10 percent that truly matters in making a quality offering to the client. Perseverance is key. Remember, every “no” gets you one step closer to a “yes.” Surround yourself with a team of individuals who are experienced, knowledgeable and ready to put in the work. Having a support system that you can depend on is a major key in being able to sustain a successful business.
This year marks the milestone 150th running of the Belmont Stakes—“The Test of the Champion”—on June 9 at Belmont Park in Elmont, NY. First run in 1867, the Belmont’s the oldest of the races that make up the American Triple Crown—and at 1½ miles, it’s also the longest.
It was named for August Belmont, a 19th-century German immigrant, who amassed a great fortune and great political power in New York and was a leading sportsman. The greatest Belmont ever? There are plenty to choose from, and good arguments can be made about a number of them.
But for my money, it’s the epic 2015 running, when 90,000 people cheered as American Pharoah ended the 37-year Triple Crown drought. In all my years covering sports, I’ve never seen, heard or felt anything like it. Happy birthday, Belmont—here’s to 150 more.
For saratoga living‘s 20th anniversary, we decided to compile a list of the most recognizable faces who actually hail from Saratoga Springs, the Capital Region and beyond. Below, we take a deep-dive into these dive individuals—Saratoga native David Hyde Pierce; Jimmy Fallon, a graduate of The College of Saint Rose; Lake Placid’s Lana Del Rey; Schenectadian Mickey Rourke; and Lake George’s Rachael Ray. (Art by Robert Risko exclusively for saratoga living.)
(Robert Risko)
David Hyde Pierce
Frasier’s little brother is Saratoga’s favorite son. By Will Levith
I remember when simply watching television was considered an event. There wasn’t a smartphone alarm or DVR to set; you had to make time in your calendar to watch a show—and if you didn’t catch it at that exact date and time, you were out of luck. You had to either tape it (which was incredibly tedious), fake it through the water-cooler conversation or sheepishly admit to your friends that you’d dropped the ball.
One of the first shows that I had a weekly date with was Frasier, the spin-off to mega-hit Cheers. First airing in 1993, it had that memorable, jazzy theme song (“Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs”) and an ensemble cast that seemed like it had been stripped right from my childhood, which was spent knee-deep in the stilted egos of academia. My two favorites were the constantly-at-odds, über-educated brothers, Drs. Frasier and Niles Crane—played by Kelsey Grammer and newcomer David Hyde Pierce, respectively—who would lob witticisms at each other like hand grenades. Sure, it helped that Frasier inherited Cheers’ Brobdingnagian network audience, but right out of the gate, there was a different kind of intelligence to its dialogue and humor, and the chemistry between its characters was palpable—which had a lot to do with Pierce’s presence.
Prior to his turn as Niles, Pierce had appeared in a mishmash of mostly forgettable fare, and to the average viewer, he was just another “anybody.” Overnight, Frasier turned him into a star. Pierce, apparently, didn’t even have to audition for the role; he tells me it was handed to him by the show’s three creators. “They told me, ‘We’re thinking about having a brother for Frasier, and all we know is, since Frasier went to Harvard, his brother would go to Yale, and since Frasier is a Freudian, his brother would be a Jungian.’” Soon after, he was offered the part—and it’s safe to say that he exceeded all expectations: Over the next decade-plus, Pierce was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Emmy 11 times in a row—a record-setting feat (he was 4-for-11, by the way).
Rewind the highlight reel a bit further, and you get the David Hyde Pierce that grants him inclusion in these pages. Born in 1959, Pierce grew up on Fifth Avenue in Saratoga Springs, attending Caroline Street Elementary School and eventually landing at Saratoga Springs High School—also my alma mater—where he excelled in the arts and won the coveted Yaddo Medal as a senior. “I was in the drama club and the choir, and I played the piano for the orchestra,” says Pierce. He’d gotten serious about the arts in a particularly fortuitous and hilarious way: As a sophomore, he was skipping gym class to play the piano in one of the school’s practice rooms. Music teacher Jeff Vredenburg happened to be within earshot, and instead of sending Pierce to the principal’s office, asked him if he’d be interested in accompanying the choir. “Now, looking back, I can’t tell you how important that moment was,” Pierce says.
While Frasier could’ve easily been any actor’s creative peak (it wrapped in 2004), Pierce stayed busy on the small and silver screens—as well as on his first love, the stage. You can find him in the film Wet Hot American Summer and its Netflix TV reboots, doing guest spots on critically acclaimed drama The Good Wife, and reprising a Niles-like role opposite Grammer’s Sideshow Bob on The Simpsons. And most recently, he’s been part of the stellar cast in the 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, which landed him a Tony nomination. “We’re bringing it to a close this August,” he says of the musical. “I’ve had many one-of-a-kind moments in my career, but this was certainly one that is to be remembered and cherished.”
Pierce has also remembered his roots, making his way back to Saratoga often. In the last decade, he’s played organ at the Bethesda Episcopal Church, lent his name to a Home Made Theater benefit and appeared at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center with the Philadelphia Orchestra. “I’m looking forward to the next chance I get to come back home,” Pierce says.
I think I can speak for my fellow Saratogians in saying that we’re all eagerly awaiting that day, too. (Read the full-length interview with David Hyde Pierce here.)
(Robert Risko)
Jimmy Fallon
How the king of late night started it all at The College Of Saint Rose in Albany. By Richard Pérez-Feria
The first time I met Jimmy Fallon, more than a decade ago, about a dozen of us were sipping champagne and listening to Madonna’s Confessions On A Dance Floor softly playing in the interior cabin of an impressive yacht docked in Paradise Island, The Bahamas, moments after an epic fundraising concert by Patti LaBelle (to be more specific, the song “Hung Up” was playing on repeat). It was an epic night made even more memorable when Fallon, fresh from announcing his departure as a Saturday Night Live regular, joined our small group and immediately started joking around. Fallon was impossibly funny, unbelievably kind and as cool as you remember your best buddy from college being. And that, precisely, is his brand personified: Jimmy Fallon is everyone’s best friend from college.
Ah, college…After leaving The College of Saint Rose in Albany a semester before graduating to pursue comedy full-time, the affable host of The Tonight Show impressively finished his degree in 2009, some 14 years after leaving.
It shouldn’t be surprising that some of Fallon’s most successful career highlights include him as part of a brotastic duo with his megawatt pal, Justin Timberlake. In other words, the man sure knows how to be a friend. Fallon’s true genius lies in the fact that not only does he look like a guy who’d be your best friend, but he also is that guy. And Saint Rose graduates can proudly claim him as one of their own. So, yeah, Jimmy Fallon’s our kind of friend.
(Robert Risko)
Lana Del Rey
How the girl from Lake Placid conquered the music world. In style. By Jeffery Dingler
In my humble opinion, Lana Del Rey’s Born To Die is one of the greatest albums about heartbreak ever written. Its hit single, “Summertime Sadness,” I’m not ashamed to admit, became a personal anthem after a certain breakup (yes, it was a summer breakup, too). But attached to all the heartache in these songs—in the sultry lyrics and smoke-filled atmosphere—is a vivid depiction of the wanderlust, confusion and longing that often comes with the territory of one’s early 20s.
You wouldn’t necessarily guess from her name and music that Del Rey’s a local girl. Born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, the daughter of two former NYC advertising workers, she was raised in Lake Placid—site of the 1980 Winter Olympic Games—and grew up singing as the cantor in her church choir. “It’s not really somewhere I’ve spent a lot of time, not since I was 14,” Del Rey told GQ in 2011 of Lake Placid. “It’s beautiful. It’s a vacation destination. Olympics. It’s small, 2,800 people…it’s very different from [New York City].” (Three years later in Rolling Stone, she said it was “really, really quiet,” comparing it to the town in the TV show Twin Peaks.) She and her family also spent some time in Miami, where she picked up a little Spanish and started thinking about a different, more exotic stage name. Raised Catholic in a tiny town, Del Rey rebelled, picked up a drinking habit at 15 and was sent to Kent School, a boarding school in Connecticut. It was there, influenced by its proximity to the music scene in the Big Apple, that she began her transformation into Lana Del Rey (her first stage name was Lizzy Grant).
Since releasing her “eponymous” debut album in 2010 (it’s actually titled Lana Del Ray, not Rey), Del Rey’s released a string of critically acclaimed albums, sold millions of records worldwide (three have been certified platinum), collaborated with artists such as Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks and pop powerhouse The Weeknd and been nominated for a quartet of Grammys. Her most recent album, Lust For Life, debuted last year at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. I think we can comfortably say that Lana Del Rey gives the “Miracle On Ice” a run for its money in the Best Of Lake Placid category.
(Robert Risko)
Mickey Rourke
From Schenectady to Hollywood, the star of 9½ Weeks and The Wrestler has been through it all. By Will Levith
When I was a teenager, my parents unwittingly allowed me to rent the director’s cut of 9½ Weeks from the Drive In Movie Store on South Broadway in Saratoga Springs (RIP). Had they known the lurid contents of the VHS tape, they might’ve thought twice about renting it for me. Confession: I was watching the 1986 film for Kim Basinger’s racy love scenes—but had I given the movie a fair shake, I would’ve realized what a solid actor the young hunk playing opposite her was. That was Mickey Rourke, who’d go on to play a broad range of rough-around-the-edges characters before having a career-defining moment in 2008, when he won a Best Actor Golden Globe for his turn as Randy “The Ram” Robinson in The Wrestler opposite Academy Award-winner Marisa Tomei (he also got an Oscar nomination for the role).
Long before Rourke became one of Hollywood’s most notorious bad boys, he was a kid from Schenectady. Born Philip Andre Rourke, Jr., in 1952, he was the son of a carpenter/bodybuilder. Rourke told host James Lipton on Inside The Actors Studio that his mother had nicknamed him “Mickey” because she hated his father—who had the same name. His parents divorced when he was six, and eventually, his mom remarried a police officer and moved Rourke and his two siblings to Miami (according to the actor, his stepfather physically abused him and his younger brother for a decade). Years later, in order to summon the proper emotional state for an audition at New York City’s famed Actors Studio, Rourke traveled back to the Electric City and reconnected with his estranged father. “We spoke for about seven hours,” Rourke told Lipton. “He gave me $50 and bought me pork chops and mashed potatoes and sauerkraut, and he had 22 screwdrivers, and that was the last I ever saw him.” Needless to say, he nailed the audition, and the rest is cinematic history.
(Robert Risko)
Rachael Ray
How the girl next door from Lake George took television by storm. By Natalie Moore
When I returned home from a whirlwind, two-day trip to New York City—during which I experienced a $25 margarita, my maiden voyage through the subway system and a meeting with superstar chef/philanthropist/designer Rachael Ray (quite a change from a day in my typical Upstate life)—my mom wanted to know what the Lake George native was like. “Blunt,” I said. “But in the best way.” It’s true. Ray’s a to-the-point, no-nonsense force to be reckoned with; a boss. She says what she means without offending, follows her passions until they’re realized and manages to balance an Emmy Award-winning show, a furniture line, two nonprofits and cookware and pet-food lines, all while leaving time to buy thoughtful gifts for her coworkers and pose for the cover of saratoga living.
Born in Glens Falls, Ray moved to Lake George when she was eight. There, her mother managed the local Howard Johnson’s restaurant, the chain’s last surviving outpost. After a stint working in New York City in her 20s, Ray returned to Upstate New York, where she managed Mr. Brown’s Pub at The Sagamore and then worked as a buyer at Cowan & Lobel, a gourmet market in Albany. There, she began teaching her “30 Minute Meals” classes, which got her discovered by the local CBS TV affiliate, Today and eventually, The Food Network.
On Saratoga Springs, Ray says, “I consider it my backyard.” Her go-to spot here is Lyrical Ballad, the cavernous bookstore on Phila Street. “I love music and I read actual books, and Saratoga is where you go to get that stuff.” Though she admires Saratoga for the arts, Ray tends to steer clear of the racetrack. “I love horses,” she says. “I’m always deathly afraid that one of them will get injured, and they’ll have to shoot it like in Marnie.” This sentiment’s certainly not uncommon, even among track lovers. Ray’s just not afraid to say it. And I, for one, respect her even more for that. Like a boss.
I recall seeing a David Hockney work at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City last winter, one of his composite Polaroid pieces, where a series of individual photographs, all taken from slightly different vantage points, are assembled to form a “complete” picture. A century earlier, photographer Seneca Ray (S.R.) Stoddard was working the same type of magic in the Lake George region.
Stoddard’s photographs of “The Queen of American Lakes” and the Adirondacks are some of the finest ever taken—and a number of them are now collected in Water & Light: S.R. Stoddard’s Lake George (Chapman Historical Museum). He took 10,000 photographs in the Adirondacks, including more than 700 shots of Lake George. It’s a selection of 150 of those sepia-toned images, culled from the Chapman Historical Museum’s collection, that forms the heart of Water & Light. The book is organized as a pictorial tour of the lake from its head at Lake George Village (then Caldwell Village) northward, past Bolton Landing and through The Narrows, to Ticonderoga, where the waterway drains into Lake Champlain.
Photographer S.R. Stoddard.
Before Stoddard became a highly-sought-after photographer, he was earning his living painting decorative landscapes on the interiors of railway cars. When he settled in Glens Falls in 1864, he opened his own business doing ornamental and sign painting—and spent his free time painting portraits and landscapes. Stoddard would end up approaching his landscape photography with a painterly eye. When taking photographs of a lake or falls, he’d use a longer exposure to render the surface of the water milky and luminous. And when he made prints, Stoddard would sometimes combine different exposures to obtain a stronger image, for example, burning the clouds from one image into the clear sky of another to heighten drama.
Though Stoddard exhibited work at Philadelphia’s “Centennial International Exhibition of 1876”—the first official World’s Fair—the artistry of his photographs went largely unrecognized during his lifetime. It wasn’t until 1980, when his work was prominently featured in “American Light: The Luminist Movement, 1850-1875” at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, that Stoddard’s reputation as a fine artist was established. That it was ever in doubt should come as a surprise to anyone paging through Water & Light. Though the scenes themselves can be described simply—views over the pristine glacial lake to the forested mountains beyond, shots of rocky coastlines and picturesque wooden bridges, steamboats and landings, ruined forts, staid hotels, rustic camps and people in Victorian dress fishing, canoeing, lounging in hammocks or engaging in a tug-of-war—the sum is considerably greater than the individual value of the parts. I can’t help but let Stoddard’s work whisk me away to a serene summer afternoon on Lake George. Won’t you join me?
By the age of 20, Alexander The Great had conquered numerous countries, Augustus Caesar had become a Roman Senator, Joan of Arc was victorious in war, Mary Shelley had published Frankenstein and on and on—legends, apparently, are in a hurry to get things done. In the hubris of my youth, I, too, saw myself on the fast track to greatness, and precisely on my 20th birthday, the day after Labor Day, I was beginning the second week of my junior year at Tulane University in New Orleans. As Editor in Chief of the school’s award-winning newspaper, The Tulane Hullabaloo, I presided over an interminable meeting that finally ended with my crew surprising me by singing/mumbling “Happy Birthday” and passing around slices of ice cream cake, tortilla chips and cold beer. What a way to end our long, productive day. Even now, I smile when I think of that moment.
Exactly 20 years ago, I was, unbelievably, living my absolute best life: Surrounded by dozens of close friends and colleagues, I was a bachelor on the loose, working as co-owner and Editor in Chief (with business partner, George W. Slowik, Jr.) at PressCorps, our New York City-based magazine company. (Living in an incredible apartment at 2 Fifth Avenue next door to Washington Square Park certainly didn’t suck either.) Frequent travel to Los Angeles and Miami for celebrity interviews and photo shoots added to my enchanted existence, but it was my yearly summer trek to the Hamptons that truly gave me life. That summer, two decades ago, I shared a Southampton cottage (with an incredible pool) on a former potato farm with two of my closest friends, Jim Long and Geoffrey Blatt, and all I can remember from that entire season was how we couldn’t stop laughing. Hilarity was the norm at Chez Papi. We. Had. Fun.
Since, right now, I’m excited and determined to make my new home in Saratoga Springs permanent and love-filled, I really can’t imagine what I’ll be doing exactly 20 years from now, but I sure do hope that, whatever it is, people who love me are near, the work I do is top-notch, I continue to think before I speak and my mad crush on this city, this seductive Saratoga, develops into an epic romance without an end in sight.
Twenty years is a curious time to measure, for it’s simultaneously a very long time indeed as well as gone in the blink of an eye. So here’s what I propose: Let’s take a moment and raise a glass to celebrate our collective past 20 years, with the strong belief that the very best for all of us is yet to come. I can feel it.
One of the benefits of being a product of Saratoga Springs and its public school system—this year marks my high school class’ 20th reunion—is that I’ve had the chance to get to know a number of Saratogians who’ve ended up becoming way more famous than this guy. While I don’t know every single one of the people on this list personally, I’ve had a chance to see many of these stars shine, up close and from afar—and for that, I can’t help but be honored that we share a common hometown.
ANTHONY WEAVER (Football)
Tony and I both graduated from Saratoga Springs High School in the class of ’98—and that’s where our similarities end. An absolute beast for the Blue Streaks’ football team—he completed his high school career with 1305 rushing yards and 11 TDs, offensively, and 192 tackles and 15 sacks on defense—Tony ended up bringing his skills to the University of Notre Dame, where he starred as a defensive end and was named a team captain. Entering the National Football League draft in 2002, he was picked up by the Baltimore Ravens, where he played for four seasons. Tony ended his NFL career with the Houston Texans, where he currently works as Defensive Line Coach. (He previously coached for the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills and Cleveland Browns.)
Josh Greenbaum with Stephen Colbert, who’s featured in his latest documentary, ‘Too Funny To Fail.’ (Josh Greenbaum)
JOSH GREENBAUM (Film)
A year ahead of me at Saratoga High, Josh got his undergraduate degree at Cornell University and landed an MFA in film from the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. He’s since become a highly sought-after documentarian and director, with films to his name such as The Short Game and Becoming Bond, both of which took home the Audience Award at SXSW (you can watch them on Netflix and Hulu, respectively). He’s also the man behind the TV docu-series Behind The Mask, which picked up Hulu’s first Emmy nomination, and he’s landed directing credits for episodes of Fox’s New Girl and ABC’s The Neighbors. Josh’s latest film, Too Funny To Fail, about comedian Dana Carvey’s failed attempt at a comedy series, is currently streaming on Hulu.
Gabriel Boyers (center) at his Boston art gallery, KABINETT. (KABINETT)
GABRIEL BOYERS (Auctions)
Gabe and I grew up together in Saratoga and became fast friends because of a number of shared interests, including music (he’s a concert violinist), collecting (I’ll get to that shortly) and the fact that we were both “fac brats” (i.e., sons of Skidmore College professors). Gabe and his husband now run Schubertiade Music, a Boston-based auction business focused on hard-to-find music items, such as signed manuscripts and jazz LPs, and they recently launched the KABINETT art gallery in Beantown’s trendy SoWa district. Gabe’s also President of the Professional Autograph Dealers Association, with expertise in authenticating the John Hancocks of many of the world’s top musicians. “I’m the person that people call to authenticate music material from all over the world,” he tells me. See, kids? It pays to know that old-fashioned cursive.
Scott Valentine (Bader Howar)
SCOTT VALENTINE (Acting)
Fun fact: I shared a class at Lake Avenue Elementary School with Scott Valentine’s nephew, and the kid’s claim to fame was being related to Scott. It makes sense. If you grew up in the ’80s, Scott was about as famous an actor as Saratoga had ever produced: From 1985-89, he had a recurring role as the gritty Nick Moore on the hit sitcom Family Ties, starring Michael J. Fox. He went on to have a busy acting career, doing turns on everything from Murder, She Wrote to NewsRadio and JAG. These days, Scott’s no longer in the acting biz, and in fact, has gone in a completely different direction: Based in Los Angeles, he’s now Managing Director of Excelsior Capital Partners, an investment banking firm. But Scott has fond memories of his days in the Spa City: “It was one of the most iconic places to grow up,” he says. We, of course, agree.
Sawyer Fredericks. (Lawrence White)
SAWYER FREDERICKS (Music)
Hailing from Connecticut by way of Montgomery County, where he grew up on a Fultonville, NY, farm, Sawyer was a quick study as a singer-songwriter, getting some of his earliest gigs in at Saratoga’s Caffè Lena. After releasing his debut album in 2015, he found himself on the national stage, competing in NBC’s The Voice. After performing a range of covers that could’ve easily been a playlist on local radio station PYX 106—including a medley performed with Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty (who’s playing a headlining gig at Saratoga Performing Arts Center this July)—the then 16-year-old ended up becoming the show’s youngest ever male winner. He’s toured tirelessly since—selling out a trio of dates at the end of May at Caffè Lena—and has released a pair of well-received albums, A Good Storm (No. 48 on the US charts) and the independently released Hide Your Ghost.
Pia Carusone
PIA CARUSONE (Politics)
Pia and I—along with Gabe—attended The Beagle School over on Regent Street in Saratoga. Fast forward to the aughts, and Pia had been named the youngest Chief of Staff to a Congressperson in history. Her boss? Arizona Democrat Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head by a mentally unstable gunman at a public event in 2011. Overnight, Pia was thrust into the spotlight, keeping the world informed of the Congresswoman’s condition on the national news—and running her office. Now semiretired from politics, Pia’s cofounded Republic Restoratives, a distillery based in Washington, DC, with her longtime friend and fellow Saratogian, Rachel Gardner.
The Figgs (left to right): Mike Gent, Pete Donnelly and Pete Hayes.
THE FIGGS (Music)
I’ve seen The Figgs perform at Caffè Lena, The Parting Glass, Putnam Den (now Putnam Place) and the Bowery Electric in New York City. I own most of their albums—including some rare cassette tapes and EPs. In short, I’m a superfan. The band, consisting of Saratogians, reached its mainstream peak in the ’90s, with Pete Hayes on drums, Pete Donnelly on bass/vocals, Mike Gent on guitar/vocals and Guy Lyons also on guitar/vocals. By ’96, they’d been signed to a major label, Capitol Records, and were all over the radio. Guy eventually left the band, but The Figgs continued touring as a trio—and just last year celebrated their 30th anniversary as a band. For interested parties, start with Low-Fi At Society High and fan out from there.
Phantogram. (Timothy Saccenti)
PHANTOGRAM (Music)
If The Figgs were Saratoga’s Great White Hope in the ’90s, Phantogram would be that for the Millennial generation. Founded in nearby Greenwich, NY, in 2007, the duo consists of Sarah Barthel (vocals/keyboards) and Josh Carter (vocals/guitar). They’ve put out a trio of albums, the last two of which, Voices and Three, hit No. 11 and No. 9, respectively, on the US charts. (Four singles have charted as well, including the most recent and a personal favorite, “Same Old Blues.”) A close friend of mine also worked with Josh at saratoga living’s neighbor, Uncommon Grounds, so, I’m guessing, at least 50 percent of Phantogram can make a killer latte.
Scott Underwood, former drummer for the pop band Train. (Cheryl Underwood)
SCOTT UNDERWOOD (Music)
If his name doesn’t ring a bell, his former band’s certainly will: Train. The graduate of Saratoga High, class of ’90, was the San Francisco pop band’s drummer from its inception in ’94 through its era of superstardom, during which it battered the charts with songs such as “Meet Virginia” (No. 20 on the Billboard Hot 100), the Grammy-winning “Drops Of Jupiter (Tell Me)” (No. 5), “Calling All Angels” (No. 21) and “Hey, Soul Sister” (No. 3). Scott left the band in 2014, but, I’m sure, not before making whomever his instructor was in the Saratoga High jazz band very proud. These days, Scott runs Thunderwood Sound, a music studio in Nashville.
Dottie Pepper. (Timothy Kuratek/CBS)
DOTTIE PEPPER (Golf)
I was at local French restaurant Chez Pierre with my parents recently, when Dottie Pepper walked in. Whispers and rubbernecking abounded—including from my mom, who confirmed Dottie’s existence out of the corner of her eye. She’s one of an exclusive cadre of elite athletes from the area—a decorated LPGA golfer who won a pair of major championships in 1992 and 1999, and 17 total tour events. Since she retired in 2004, Dottie’s worked as a golf analyst for NBC, the Golf Channel, ESPN and CBS, and recently launched her own brand of sunglasses, Pepper ProEyes. They help improve your shade…not your handicap.
Giacomo Smith. (Choi David)
GIACOMO SMITH (Jazz)
Giacomo and I missed each other at Saratoga High—he’s a tad younger than I am—but our families are close, and we have a Skidmore connection (his mother, Shirley, is an Italian professor there, and my parents had a number of overlap years with her). A talented jazz clarinetist and saxophonist, Giacomo now runs Kansas Smitty’s jazz club in London and regularly plays with his band there and at the historic Soho venue, Ronnie Scott’s. (The head of music and promotions there is an old friend of mine, and I connected the two.) Did I mention that Giacomo’s played for Prince William, Duchess Kate and even the Queen of England? He most recently landed onstage at NYC’s Jazz at Lincoln Center, introduced to the crowd by actress Glenn Close.
Laura Hajek
LAURA HAJEK (Acting)
A former Miss Glens Falls and graduate of The Waldorf School in Saratoga, Laura’s an actress known for roles in the Richard Gere movie The Dinner and the TV series The Deuce and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She’s also an indie musician, performing as Edith Pop, in the duo Schlomi Bagdadi and in A Place Both Wonderful and Strange.
Steven Brundage, appearing on ‘America’s Got Talent.’ (Getty Images)
STEVEN BRUNDAGE (Magic)
Steven was born in Brooklyn—but made a name for himself performing magic on the streets of Saratoga. After gaining fame in 2014 for a viral video that features him talking his way out of a speeding ticket by wowing the cops who pulled him over with a Rubik’s Cube trick, he went on to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America and NBC’s Today and impressively, was a semifinalist on America’s Got Talent. Luckily, you can catch him on June 21 in Saratoga at the ESSAE Annual Conference & Expo.
Mike Brown. (Death Wish Coffee Company)
MIKE BROWN (Coffee)
In 2012, Mike founded Death Wish Coffee—“The World’s Strongest Coffee”—in Saratoga. Three years later, he had a 30-second advertising spot running during the Super Bowl, and soon thereafter, a joe-brewing empire for the ages. Death Wish has since been an official sponsor for the New York Comic Con and NASCAR driver Ty Dillon—and you can buy it at supermarkets all over the Capital Region. Maybe they’ll sponsor saratoga living’s next deadline crunch?
James Charles. (James Charles)
JAMES CHARLES (Modeling)
Growing up in nearby Bethlehem, NY, James is nothing short of a groundbreaker. At the age of 17, he became the first-ever male spokesmodel for CoverGirl. Now 19, he’s built himself a YouTube empire too, servicing more than 4.2 million subscribers with makeup and pop culture tips—not to mention showing off his ethereal mug—and racking up multiple millions of views on everything he uploads. We’re not worthy!
MARTHA QUINN (TV/Radio)
I didn’t have MTV on my rabbit-eared TV on Second Street until I was 15, so I really didn’t grow up on music videos or VJs. But when I was able to mainline a half hour here and a half hour there at my grandmother’s place in Schenectady (she had cable), I fell hard for the format—and VJ Martha Quinn. She always seemed to be interviewing my favorite hair-metal bands—Van Halen, Poison and the like. My young Spidey senses must’ve been going off for another reason too: Martha and I were both products of Upstate New York; she’s originally from Albany. These days, you can hear her on SiriusXM and iHeartRadio. And, she’s still as good as ever.
Dion Lewis (The New England Patriots/David Silverman)
DION LEWIS (Football)
If Tony Weaver was our area’s most famous NFL defensive player, Dion’s got the offensive category wrapped up. An Albany native, the running back/kick returner starred for Albany High and Albany Academy before winding up at the University of Pittsburgh and being drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles (he’s currently on the Tennessee Titans). But it would be his handful of seasons with the New England Patriots that solidified his career in the annals of football history: He won a Super Bowl ring in 2016 with the Pats, who pulled off the largest comeback in the championship game’s history.
Adam Gray.
ADAM GRAY (Entrepreneurship)
Sometimes it’s good to give people labels. Adam Gray was just 14 and still attending high school in Lake George in 2003 when he—incredibly—launched SheetLabels.com, an Internet start-up that bought and sold labels of all kinds—for food, wine, chemicals and cars, to name a few. “I had a special arrangement with our Vice Principal, where I could actually leave class and take a phone call, because he understood I was trying to get a business started,” he tells me. By the time he left high school, the business was banking six figures in revenue, and the company’s now worth well into the seven-figure range. (He serves as its President and CEO.) SheetLabels.com is headquartered in a 33,000-square-foot facility in Glens Falls, has 30-plus full-time employees and serves 50,000 customers nationwide. Talk about a high school job.
WILLIAM DEVANE (Acting)
William’s that actor whom you can’t quite place, but you know you’ve seen in a million things. Born in Albany, William was the son of then New York Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s chauffeur (yes, that Franklin who ended up becoming President of the United States). William’s acting career, which kicked off in 1967, is a Leonard Maltin movie guide’s worth of the greatest TV shows of all time, including the mini-series From Here To Eternity, Gunsmoke, Knots Landing, The X-Files, The West Wing, and most recently, 24, where he played the fictional POTUS. His father would’ve been proud.
JES HUDAK (Music)
I’ll never forget this: I played cello in the Saratoga High Chamber Orchestra, and we were accompanying the chorus one day, when this young soloist just tore the roof off the place. Everybody was like, “Who’s that?” It turned out to be Jes Hudak, who would soon become a mainstay at Caffè Lena, self-release an album and hit the fast track to superstardom. Among her accomplishments: She toured as the lone backing vocalist to Enrique Iglesias and performed at the rebooted Lilith Fair in 2010. The following year, she landed on Bravo’s songwriting competition reality show, Platinum Hit—featuring pop/folk star singer Jewel as a judge and host—and came in a close second. She’s since released a follow-up album—and a number of singles, EPs and side projects with a range of players in the pop world.
