Page 312 – Saratoga Living

Destination Saratoga: Weddings Aren’t Just For The Caribbean Anymore

EXCLUSIVES / FEATURES
WEDDINGS

February 22, 2014

Destination Saratoga: Weddings Aren’t Just For The Caribbean Anymore

There was a time when destination weddings were associated strictly with tropical locations. Eloping to a beachside locale was out, inviting loved ones along for the festivities was in, and a trend was born.

Lisa Light, a destination-wedding planner and author of the book Destination Bride, says that what started as a custom reserved for the wealthy blossomed into a mainstream tradition 20 years ago, with vacation hotspots such as Las Vegas, Miami and Newport elbowing for market share. In recent years, however, area restaurants, hotels, caterers and the like have noticed a growing number of destination weddings taking place in Saratoga Springs.

“Around the late ‘90s is when ‘destination wedding’ became a term and a practice,” says Light, a Chatham resident who runs Lisa Light International Events & Design. “The trend started in Hawaii, and then Jamaica captured it because they saw it as a money-maker and marketed it well.”

Though she plans weddings around the globe, Light said the Hudson Valley recently became the number one destination wedding location in the United States, and Saratoga Springs has grown exponentially more popular in the past decade.

“People in all four corners of our country have heard of Saratoga Springs because it’s renowned in a ‘Great Gatsby’ sense,” says Light. “The mineral baths, race track, and natural beauty already make it a romantic destination.”

Area wedding experts agree that the Spa City’s make-up is a compelling formula: whirlwind weekends that start with a rehearsal dinner at a downtown restaurant, ceremony and reception at an elegant venue such as the Canfield Casino or Hall of Springs, and a Sunday brunch at the Gideon Putnam. In between there’s fun to be had: museum stops, rounds of golf in the State Park, hikes in the Adirondacks, spa treatments, or shopping up a storm along Broadway.

So solid is the trend for Saratoga-based destination weddings, the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau recently created the position of Destination Wedding and Social Market Specialist, appointing industry veteran Tom Ellis in May.

Even before taking the position, Saratoga had already won him over. His own wedding five years ago took place on Sacandaga Lake, with a honeymoon at the Batcheller Mansion Inn. “Saratoga is a very romantic place…I drank the Kool-Aid for this town a long time ago,” he says with a laugh. “We’re hoping to make Saratoga Springs synonymous with Newport, the Napa Valley, and Savannah in terms of romantic locations for a destination wedding.”

“A lot of people tell us they want a place people can get to in a day,” says Ellis, who spent more than two decades doing event planning in New York and Los Angeles. “Flying has become much more expensive and problematic. It’s a big reason why upstate New York has become a destination in general.” He adds that most clients are from nearby metropolitan areas such as New York, New Jersey and Boston, but inquiries come from as far as California.

Susan Baker, vice president of sales and marketing at Mazzone Hospitality, says that Saratoga-based destination weddings once were comprised only of brides or grooms who had a personal connection, such as vacationing in the historic city or attending Skidmore College. “Lately we’ve seen clients with no prior connection to the region choose Saratoga Springs as a destination because they love what it offers,” she says. “And it’s a close drive or Amtrak ride from several metropolitan areas.”

Krissy Nelligan, a hairstylist and make-up artist who works at Vanity Salon & Boutique, began doing destination weddings a decade ago. “That’s when they first started in Saratoga, but in the last five years, they’ve really increased.”

THE DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD OF POPULARITY

The Spa City’s universal appeal, enviable location, and relative newness to the destination wedding market has placed it in high demand. Light says the biggest challenge lies in demand exceeding venue availability. “Saratoga is the only location I’ve encountered where the wait list is a year or more. People who book destination weddings don’t want a hotel ballroom. They want private estates, barns, places with character. The Hall of Springs, National Museum of Dance, Canfield Casino, and Batcheller Mansion Inn are all wonderful, but Saratoga needs more similar venues.”

With spring and summer weddings booked at full throttle, the experts agree that reserving in the off-season or on a weekday is a great idea, particularly if you want to plan the event within the span of a year or less.

“If people want some of the more popular venues in town, we’ll sometimes suggest a New Year’s Eve or Valentine’s Day wedding,” says Ellis. “It’s all on the table now.”

Though on the surface it seems like a destination wedding involves an inordinate amount of planning and money, experts say it’s borne of a desire for a milestone moment not to be over in a flash. “They spend all this time and money planning an event; it’s over in a day, and they’ve barely had time to say hello to friends and family they rarely get to see,” says Light. “With destination weddings, both sides of a family can get to know each other over a weekend, and it’s fun.”

“Destination weddings are often more enjoyable because of the intimate size,” says Baker, who estimates 20 percent of Mazzone’s wedding business is destination weddings. “The average is 80 to 100 people.”

COSTS AND EFFECTS

For better or for worse, experts say there’s no clear-cut rule as to who pays for destination-incurred expenses such as transportation and hotels, which makes Saratoga an attractive option for many. “There are people with the means to cover the travel expenses of their guests, but most don’t,” says Ellis.

“For a five-hour travel period you can be in Cancun, but it will cost you $1,700 to get there. It’s much more affordable to jump in the car instead.”

Many caterers and hotels offer price breaks for weddings booked off-season or on a weekday. “We usually offer about a 15 percent discount for weddings booked off-peak and a 20 percent discount for weddings booked mid-week,” says Baker.

Ironically, some couples choose a destination wedding as a cost-cutting strategy, says Light. “Couples have told me that if they choose a location in proximity to a hometown, they may have 300 people show, whereas with a destination wedding, the guest list is often 100 people or fewer.”

“Destination weddings are lavish, but not as lavish as, say, staying home and doing Tiffany gifts for the bridal party,” says Ellis. “Weddings, especially destination weddings, are signature moments; there’s a weight to them. People want a magical time that transcends their everyday life.”

Fortunately, the lavish-factor can be adjusted. “It’s a numbers game; the best way to save is keep the guest list down,” says Light. “If you invite 100 people to a $100-a head reception, that’s already $10,000, and doesn’t include the dress, flowers, photography, and music. The average wedding for 150 is $30,000, and that’s a tight budget.”

Ellis said his aim is to make constructing a destination wedding less overwhelming for a couple. “I’m the first point of contact. I don’t provide wedding planning but help in the first steps of it,” he says. “I’ll take couples to site visits and introduce them to the parties involved.” He notes that saratoganyweddings.com and discoversaratoga.org have comprehensive lists of venues, caterers, photographers, florists, disc jockeys, bands, make-up artists, and other vendors involved in the production and design of weddings.

A BRIGHT FUTURE

Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau President Todd Garofano said that based on feedback he has received from members in recent years, the destination market in Saratoga is lucrative and growing.

“Nationwide it’s a $10 billion-dollar industry and climbing. But in order to fully realize our potential, we had to develop a marketing plan,” Garofano says. “Tom brings more than 20 years’ experience with weddings and special events. We’re thrilled with the results we’re seeing.”

This past fall, Baker attended the Wedding Salon show in New York, a major industry event where Saratoga Springs was represented in the destination line-up for the first time, competing head-to-head with cruise lines and global resorts such as Aruba and Cancun. “Destination weddings are great for the area economy,” she says, “because people are staying the weekend and not just driving away after the wedding reception.”

“Saratoga’s no longer dead after Labor Day,” says Ellis. “It has always been a destination, and now it’s becoming a place for destination weddings.”

Solomon Northup Had A Saratoga Connection Long Before ‘Twelve Years A Slave’ Became A Hit Movie

CULTURE / ARTS
EXCLUSIVES / FEATURES

Johnnie Roberts

February 21, 2014

Solomon Northup Had A Saratoga Connection Long Before ‘Twelve Years A Slave’ Became A Hit Movie

Long before there was a movie, the story of Solomon Northup was recognized as an important narrative. It was first presented to a local audience in 1999 through an extensive exhibit at Union College, curated by Rachel Seligman, current curator at Skidmore’s Tang Museum. People interested in American history, the antebellum period, slave narratives and African-American history were especially taken by the presentation of this local story spearheaded by Union Prof. Clifford Brown. Much of the source material was taken from the life’s work of Sue Eakin, the Louisiana woman responsible for resurrecting the narrative—not only preserving the work but also documenting the 12 years that Northup spent in her home state of Louisiana. Through Dr. Eakin’s work over the years, the state of Louisiana embraced this incredible odyssey as part of its own history, even constructing the “Northup Trail.”

Sue Eakin understood the importance of this true story and was passionate in her dedication and research. There are few if any other first-hand accounts of slavery, and none with the detail and precision of Solomon Northup’s book Twelve Years A Slave. The many published slave narratives were second-hand renderings, often affected by the level of comfort and trust between the former slaves and the researchers who wrote them down. Native Saratogian Renée Moore first encountered the story at the Union College exhibit and, like Sue Eakin, immediately understood its importance as it pertained to our local history. Whereas Louisiana had championed its heritage, very few in Saratoga Springs were aware of our long lost citizen or of the fellow Saratogians who ultimately contributed to his rescue. In 1999, Moore created “Solomon Northup Day, A Celebration of Freedom,” an event that invites the community to honor this story.

A decade later, enter Steve McQueen, the acclaimed British director of West Indian heritage. McQueen, winner of the prestigious Caméra d’Or award for first-time filmmakers, was in the process of working with Hollywood screenwriter John Ridley. In a post-screening interview at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, McQueen explained that he had wanted to make a film about slavery and was in the process of scripting it when his wife came upon the book Twelve Years a Slave. And the rest, literally, “is history.”

McQueen began his studies as an art student in London, but found the need to transition to film and came to the United States to study at New York University, where his exploration of the medium was extensive, often resulting in conceptual avant-garde work. His vision was always more than that of moviemaking. McQueen brings an artistic sensibility to the rendering of the Solomon Northup story. His oeuvre embraces extreme detail and a broad visual palette. These extremes are coupled with his choice of socially uncomfortable material (Hunger is about the hunger-strike death of Bobby Sands and Shame is about sex addiction). Slavery is also a very difficult topic, but McQueen has unflinchingly taken it under his wing to create a visually stunning, emotionally gripping film that informs viscerally. Such is his mastery.

Yet 12 Years a Slave is “a movie,” nonetheless, and in reflecting upon it as a Saratoga story, it is at times disappointing. To the production team’s credit, many local people were contacted, including myself, during the film’s production phase. An earnest effort was seemingly thwarted by the limited budget of $20 million. The entire film was shot in Louisiana and the necessary Saratoga scenes were done on a fabricated set. McQueen’s desire was to show the horror of slavery as well as the hero’s journey. At the Toronto interview, he took issue with slavery being “what the film is about” and, as in his broad artistic cinematographic landscapes, declares that the film is “a love story.”

It is the story of a man who longs deeply to return to his family and who holds on to that hope against all odds. It is a story of the triumph of the human spirit. However, Northup was able to have the life he so loved in Saratoga Springs, the place to which he had come for a better life, and to some good measure had attained. Because history is so much a part of our local culture, what may seem inconsequential to some hits a nerve to those familiar with the details of the book. The portrayal of our town, which had begun its ascent to grandeur, was slighted in the on-screen representation.

When the first rushes were released, I contacted the production team about just that, providing images of what the United States Hotel would have looked like at the time. The gracious response was that they hoped that we would all be happy once McQueen had spun “his magic.” However, aside from the park scene, the Saratoga settings—the Northup home, the crude streetscape, and identification of the place as “Saratoga” and not Saratoga Springs—were disappointing as a local viewer.

The movie does grasp and accurately portray the relationship with Cephas Parker. Solomon Northup regularly did business with Parker at his shop on Washington Street. It was also Parker to whom Solomon wrote the letter in hopes of reaching his beloved family. And it is because of Parker that Henry B. Northup (not Parker himself, as portrayed in the film) was able to bring legal action against the state of Louisiana to free him.

Nonetheless, the spotlight has been thrown on Saratoga Springs with the release of the film. Reporters from London, Japan, Los Angeles, New York and elsewhere have traveled here to get the back story on the place where Northup lived before his captivity. It is an exciting time for those of us who have been so close to the story for many years. Saratoga Springs was Northup’s chosen home, a place that had accepted him and his family. The city has cause for pride that one of its citizens was caring enough to take action on the letter that he received. In the 1800s, travelling to Glens Falls was no small thing. In the 21st century, the threshold for inconvenience can be rather low and Parker’s journey for an acquaintance might well go undone.

Director Steve McQueen has brilliantly created a film that has served to once again revive the story of Solomon Northup. Northup’s story is a Saratoga story and Northup is part of our city’s heritage. For over a decade, a marker has stood on Broadway, across from Congress Park, in honor of his journey. Because of this film, townsfolk and visitors alike seek it out as proof that, yes…the story began right here! Sue Eakin, Clifford Brown, and Renée Moore recognized the significance of a first-hand account of American history. The movie serves to bring the story to the many who may well not read the book.

Sometimes the best medicine is the hardest to swallow. 12 Years a Slave can serve to heal the blight of slavery by helping the world witness the inhumanity of mankind in one of its many faces. It is said that change cannot happen without first acknowledging the truth with an unflinching eye. Art serves society in its ability to reflect that which is often difficult to comprehend. Steve McQueen is truly an artist and he has, in fact, worked his magic. Solomon Northup is a Saratoga story that has been made an international story with the release of this remarkable film.

Saratoga County’s Remarkably Long Connection To The Winter Olympics

SPORTS / RACING

Mike Kane

February 20, 2014

Saratoga County’s Remarkably Long Connection To The Winter Olympics

Led by a gang of speed skaters that graduated from the Saratoga Winter Club, Saratoga County has had a remarkably long connection to the Winter Olympics. During the past 60 years, 14 athletes and the renowned skating coach Pat Maxwell of Ballston Spa have represented the United States in Olympic competition on snow and ice. There has been at least one athlete from the Saratoga region on each of the seven American teams between 1988 and 2010.

However, that Saratoga tradition will be interrupted at the 2014 Olympics in February at Sochi, Russia. Five Winter Club skaters participated in the U.S. trials held just after Christmas but were unable to secure a berth on the team.

Saratoga’s link to the Olympics began with bobsledding when Maurice “Dick” Severino was a member of a four-man team in 1952. Athletes have qualified for the U.S. team in biathlon, cross country skiing and women’s ice hockey, but the nine speed skaters dominate the list. Sixteen years after Severino’s adventure in Oslo, Saratoga’s distinguished skating program produced its first Olympians: the Wurster brothers from Ballston Spa, Richie and John, who competed at Grenoble, France in 1968. John Wurster also earned a berth on the 1972 team.

The phalanx of skaters developed by Maxwell began to emerge in 1988 and— during the ensuing five Games—Kristen Talbot, Moira D’Andrea, Amy Peterson, David Tamburrino and Erin Porter all made at least two trips to the Olympics. Saratoga did not produce a speed skater for the 2006 team, but Trevor Marsicano of Ballston Spa earned a berth on the 2010 team and came home from Vancouver with a silver medal.

Saratoga Springs has been known for horse racing for 150 years, but speed skating—another sport about going fast around an oval—has been part of the local culture just as long. Historians have found that rinks were open in the city by the middle of the 19th century and skating competitions were part of the annual winter carnivals. Beginning in 1931, the city played host to the Eastern States Championships for about 50 years. A record 344 skaters participated in 1961.

In the 1920s, the Saratogian was reporting the exploits of teenage skater Eugene “Bud” Lynch and other skilled athletes from the high school team. Lynch went on to be a standout in hockey and speed skating while a student at the University of Southern California, but fell short of the qualifying times for the U.S. skating team for the 1932 Olympics at Lake Placid.

The Saratoga Toboggan Club was formed in 1888 and later was known as the Saratoga Winter Sports Club. In 1930 the name was changed to the Saratoga Winter Club and it has had a skating program throughout its 84 years. Lynch, who had a long career as an attorney in Saratoga Springs, spent time as the club’s coach.

“People from the summer used to ask, ‘What do you do here in the winter time?’ because they couldn’t figure out if we had anything to do here,” says Erin Porter’s father, Tom, a Saratoga native and former Winter Club president who guided state, regional and national skating organizations for many years. “Speed skating was a big part of the winter activity here and it has continued that way.”

Among the early standouts were Lynch, Vern Green and Jack Kearney. Green, active in skating throughout his life, managed the city school district’s recreation fields, was well known as a competitor and coach and as the icemaker for Saratoga’s rinks. His daughter, Mickey, was a top-level competitor who fell short of qualifying for the 1968 Olympic team. Twenty years later, Mickey Green Talbot’s daughter, Kristen, earned a berth on the U.S. long track team that skated at Calgary.

The Wurster brothers, who still live in the Ballston Spa area, joined the Winter Club when it loosened the rules that restricted membership to city residents. At Grenoble, John finished in a tie for fifth in the star-studded 500-meter event. Three of the four skaters who finished ahead of him earned gold medals in the event during their careers. He also was on the 1972 team, but lost all chance in the 500 due to a problem at the start. Richie was the U.S. all-around champion three times and the runner-up twice. He was 19th in the 1,500 meters in the Olympics.

Kristen Talbot of Schuylerville was a member of the group that Maxwell developed during his long run as the coach of the Winter Club from 1976 through 2002. Maxwell was so well-regarded as a teacher, technician and mentor, especially in short track speed skating, that top young athletes like Peterson relocated to the region to train with him. Maxwell grew up in Rochester and became friends with the Saratoga skaters he competed against. Speaking at the induction of John and Richie Wurster into the Ballston Spa High School Hall of Fame, Maxwell said he came to visit John Wurster for two weeks 40 years ago and stayed. Maxwell is the deputy commissioner of Saratoga County’s Department of Social Services. He was the head coach of the 1988 short track team and an assistant coach in the next four Olympics.

Tamburrino, a homegrown talent who began skating with the Winter Club as a five-year-old, says there is no question why so many Saratoga skaters were successful. “You have to look for the common denominator there and it’s pretty obvious who that is, it’s Pat,” he says. “Even my dad refers to Pat as my second father. He would take so much time out of his life.”

Tom Porter says that the Winter Club skaters have benefitted by having a number of strong coaches, a list that includes Green, Lynch, John Wurster and Maxwell.

Moira D’Andrea and Kristen Talbot competed in Calgary in 1988. Talbot, 17, was on the long track team and finished 25th in the 500 meters. Her top Olympic finish was 17th in the 500 in 1992, and she finished in a tie for 20th in 1994. Just a month before the 1994 Olympics, Talbot donated bone marrow to her brother Jason, who was battling the life-threatening blood disorder aplastic anemia. He recovered from the illness. Talbot married Neil Peck in 2005, lives in Northumberland and is a physical therapist in Gloversville.

At 19, D’Andrea skated for Maxwell’s short track team in 1988 when it was considered a demonstration sport. An age-group national champion many times in her distinguished career, D’Andrea competed in long track skating at two other Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, she finished 32nd in the 1,000 meters. The Saratoga Springs native was severely injured when her bicycle was struck by a car in May 1996, but was back on the team as a 29-year-old in 1998. At Nagano, D’Andrea was 19th in the 500 meters, ninth in the 1,000 meters and 14th in the 1,500 meters. D’Andrea retired after the 1998 Olympics and moved to Calgary to enroll in a coaching program. In 1992, she married Mike Marshall and the couple spent time as coaches for the Canadian national team. The mother of three young children, she is still active in the sport and is the development coach for the Calgary Speed Skating Association.

Erin Porter followed her siblings into the Winter Club’s skating program and made the 1998 and 2002 Olympic short track teams. Her best finishes were with the 3,000-meter relay teams that were fifth in Nagano and seventh at Salt Lake City. She was the runner-up in the world junior short track championships in 1996 and the national champion in 1997. Porter earned a doctorate in physical therapy at the University of Washington in 2013 and lives with her husband and two children in Seattle.

Peterson, who was born and raised in Minnesota, participated in five Olympics and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2006 team. In 2002 at Salt Lake City she was selected to carry the U.S. flag in the opening ceremony. She was D’Andrea’s teammate on the 1988 demonstration short track team and earned a silver and two bronze when short track was elevated to a medal sport. The silver came in 1992 as a member of the 3,000-meter relay team. In 1994 at Lillehammer,

Peterson was third in the 500 meters and a member of the third-place 3,000-meter relay team.

After the 1994 Olympics she developed chronic fatigue syndrome, which compromised her training. Peterson lived in Ballston Spa from 1997 through the 2002 Olympics and followed a training and competitive program developed by Maxwell that enabled her to qualify for two more Olympics. Peterson and Kristen Talbot are sisters-in-law and neighbors in Northumberland. In 2005, Peterson was in Talbot’s wedding to Neil Peck. Thirteen months later she married Peck’s older brother, Bill, currently the town supervisor. The couple has four children and their two older sons are Winter Club skaters.

Heeding Maxwell’s advice, Tamburrino moved out of the area to focus on long track skating after graduating from Saratoga Springs High School in 1990. The distance specialist enrolled at Marquette University in Milwaukee and was able to train at the facilities used by the national team. He just missed qualifying for the 1992 Olympics but made the teams in 1994 and 1998. His best results were 16th place finishes in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter events in 1998.

Tamburrino completed work on his undergraduate degree and spent some time coaching skaters. He worked in corporate advertising sales for the Milwaukee Brewers for several years. Married and the father of three children, he works full-time in corporate development at Marquette while attending the university’s law school as a part-time student.

Paul Marchese succeeded Maxwell as the Winter Club coach in 2002 and helped Marsicano blossom into an international-caliber long track skater. Marsicano turned in a breakthrough performance with four medals at the 2009 world single distance championships, topped by a gold in the 1,000 meters. His Olympic medal came as a member of the men’s team pursuit.

Marchese an international coach and noted skate maker, is teaching another generation of Winter Club athletes at the Wiebel Avenue ice rink. Helping to guide that next wave of aspiring Olympians are two knowledgeable assistants: Maxwell and Peterson.

LEADING THE WAY ON A BOBSLED

Dick Severino was a push athlete on the USA II team that finished ninth in the four-man competition in 1952 at Oslo, Norway. He was an active competitor in the sport in major national and international events, including six appearances in the world championships, through the 1950s and into the 1960s while living in Europe and Beirut, Lebanon.

The Olympic sled, driven by veteran Jim Bickford of Saranac Lake, flew out of the track during a training run, and Bickford and Robert Scott of Au Sable Forks suffered shoulder injuries. Equipment issues plagued the team during the first two of the four-run competition. In both of the trips down the course, the metal foot stirrups that Bickford used to brace himself broke, affecting his ability to pilot the sled.

In a lengthy 1960 article in the Saratogian, Severino said his first connection to bobsledding came during the winter of 1951 in Lake Placid when he was working for a public relations firm and writing some articles for the New York Herald Tribune. Severino said he took a ride down the course at Mount Van Hoevenberg and liked the experience so much that he wanted to learn more and compete. He passed his driver’s test and was recruited by Bickford for his team, which qualified for the Olympics.

Severino’s father, also named Maurice, was the manager of the Albany regional office of Mack Trucks. The Severino family moved to Saratoga Springs in 1929 when Dick was about 10 years old. He had a career in the military, worked for Mack Trucks in Europe and the Middle East, moved into marketing and public relations and later in life became a well-known golf writer and photographer. He died in 2005 during a visit to his hometown.

A number of other Capital Region bobsled athletes have competed in the Olympics through the years. Max Bly Sr. and Dick Lawrence of Lake George were members of the four-man team that finished sixth in 1936. Ed Rimkus of Schenectady was on the gold medal-winning team in 1948. Rimkus, a former football player at St. Lawrence University, was recruited into the sport and slid for parts of two seasons.

One of Severino’s teammates in 1952 was Floyd “Hank” Wisher of Au Sable Forks, who was a coach for many years at Niskayuna High School. At Grenoble in

1968, pilot Howard Clifton of Elnora and brakeman Mickey Luce of Saranac Lake finished 11th. Luce, a longtime resident of Glens Falls, was a teacher in the Lake George district for 35 years. Clifton and Luce were push athletes on Bill Hickey’s four-man sled that was 15th.

In 1992, push athlete Todd Snavely of Ballston Lake was in the middle of a controversy when he was on the USA I sled driven by Chuck Leonowicz, a Scotia native who lived in Clifton Park. The selection process was challenged in court by hurdler Edwin Moses and NFL players Willie Gault and Greg Harrell. New push trials were conducted four weeks before the Olympics, and Snavely failed to hold onto his spot on the team. Leonowicz, whose sled was 11th, died in 2000 at the age of 42.

In 2010 at Vancouver, Schenectady native John Napier piloted the USA II sleds in the two-man and four-man competitions. He was 10th in the two-man but crashed in the four-man.

PERSEVERANCE PAID OFF FOR KAUTH

Kathleen Kauth of Saratoga Springs was a finalist for the 2002 team in Salt Lake City when her father Don was killed in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Don Kauth had been in Lake Placid a few weeks before 9/11 when his daughter was named as one of the 25 players being considered for the 20 roster spots. After the 9/11 tragedy, she stayed with the national team through the fall series of training and games but was cut in early December.

In the summer of 2002, the former Brown University standout decided to resume her playing career. While attending graduate school at Boston University, she took early morning power skating lessons and participated in co-ed pickup games. Kauth went to Canada to play in a women’s pro league for the Brampton, Ontario team, and was named to the U.S. national team in 2003. She blew out a knee playing touch football in 2004, but recovered from surgery and rehab in time to return to the national team program in 2005 and earned a berth on the 2006 Olympic team.

The American team ended up with a bronze medal after it was upset in the semifinals by Sweden, which won 3–2 in a shootout. Kauth continued her education at the University of California Berkeley and works for an energy company in Toronto.

SCHREINER: STRAIGHT-SHOOTER WENT THE DISTANCE

Curtis Schreiner qualified for three trips to the Olympics in biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and marksmanship with a .22 caliber rifle. Biathlon is a very popular sport in Europe, but it remains in obscurity in the U.S.

The Schreiner family discovered biathlon at the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid. They developed a course on their 175-acre property in the town of Day about 24 miles northwest of Saratoga Springs and formed the Saratoga Biathlon Club. His older brother, Jim, became a national team kayak racer, while Curtis emerged as a top young American in biathlon. He made the 1988 Olympic team as a 20-year-old and represented the U.S. in 1992 at Albertville and 1994 in Lillehammer. He was the alternate in 1998 and finished seventh in the trials for the five-man 2002 team. A U.S. champion several times, his best finish in the Olympics was a ninth at Calgary in 1988 in the 4 x 7.5 kilometer team pursuit.

Schreiner spent 24 years in the Army National Guard, including a tour in Iraq, and retired with the rank of major in 2010. He lives in Day with his wife and three children and is a director of the Saratoga Biathlon Club.

FARRA’S LIFE OF SKIING

John Farra grew up on skis at the Farra Family Ski Touring Center operated by his parents at the Saratoga Spa State Park. To further his athletic career, he attended high school at the National Sports Academy in Lake Placid and was on the ski team at the University of Utah. He made his international racing debut in 1986 at the age of 16 and climbed the competitive ladder on U.S. teams: the junior world championships in 1990, World Cups in 1990 and 1991 and the Nordic World Championships in 1991. At the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, Farra finished 60th in the 10K and was 49th in the 10/15 Pursuit, which combines the classical and freestyle cross-country skiing styles.

“My special Olympic memory was having my folks and sister at the opening ceremonies sitting just five or six rows behind me,” Farra says. “And dancing with my mother during the closing ceremonies in the middle of the stadium amongst other athletes celebrating the games. I am very proud to have been a part of it.”

Farra retired from competition after the Olympics and resumed his studies. He became the assistant head coach at the National Sports Academy and then served as the vice president of the Maine Winter Sports Center in Caribou, Maine. In 2008, he was hired as the Nordic Director for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association. In 2011, the United States Olympic Committee named Farra as its high performance director of Paralympic Nordic skiing. SL

The Capital Region’s Trail System: Saratoga County And Beyond

SPORTS / RACING

Staff Report

September 18, 2013

The Capital Region’s Trail System: Saratoga County And Beyond

In a world of cars, transportation for people who want to travel on foot, with bikes or even by horse often seems senseless. Take, for instance, the case of the Saratoga Springs High School track team, who used to be bussed half a mile from their school on West Avenue to Saratoga Spa State Park just to go for a practice run.

That changed in June, when a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by local officials and trail advocates marked the expansion of Saratoga’s Railroad Run, a multi-use trail that now allows students and others to cross busy Route 50 into Spa State Park with the first-ever pedestrian activated stoplight providing safe passage.

It’s just one segment in an ever-growing trail system for the county, with pieces puzzled into place by advocates like Maria Trabka, executive director of Saratoga PLAN (Preserving Land and Nature), the group that has done more than any other to make Saratoga County a more trail-friendly place.

“The idea is getting people to places they want to go under their own power,” says Trabka. “Trails are not just for recreation, but to connect people who may be walking or riding bikes to places. Then you don’t have to have more parking—just a few bike racks.”

The seeds for the county’s rapidly growing trail system were planted by the Saratoga County Green Infrastructure Plan, which was adopted unanimously by the county Board of Supervisors in 2006 and set in motion a plan to preserve and connect a network of “green infrastructure,” including trails, parks and waterways.

An opinion survey sponsored by Saratoga PLAN found overwhelming support—80 percent—among residents for a network of green infrastructure. At public meetings to discuss the plan, the majority of those attending were looking for trails that connected county communities, says Julie Stokes, an emeritus board member of Saratoga PLAN who heads up the Countywide Trails Committee.

“Saratoga County Board of Supervisors has really stepped up” to help make this happen, forming their own committee to focus on priorities for the county trail system, Stokes says.

Saratoga supervisors and Chamber of Commerce officials understand that public recreation is important to the economy of a community with such a strong tourism base, says Stokes. “Trails are a real attraction not only for residents but also for visitors,” she says. “It’s not just about quality of life—it’s also an economic issue.”

“A key component of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s economic development strategy is about the quality of the place in which we live and work,” says chamber president Todd Shimkus. “Trails that go from city to town and town to village all across Saratoga County for those who love to hike, bike, snowshoe, and cross country ski can be a real game changer. The better integrated, connected, safe and well maintained these trails are the better. We’re also visible and vocal in advocating that Amtrak allow passengers on their trains between New York City and Montreal to bring their bikes on board so that we can attract more cyclists to our communities as tourists too.”

Linking trails is often a matter of biding time, waiting for the opportunity to acquire land or the rights-of-way needed to tie pieces together. Ironically, increased development sometimes leads to new trail opportunities, when trails can be built over newly sunk water and sewer lines, says Trabka. “Once you have plans in place, when opportunities come forth, you can take advantage of them.”

When President Obama’s administration announced stimulus funds for “shovel ready” projects in 2009, Saratoga County had trail projects that fit the bill—such as the new Spring Run Trail, built on an old railroad bed off Excelsior Avenue. “Sometimes it’s just serendipitous,” says Trabka.

Highlights of the county trail system—over 200 miles long and growing—are listed below. Trails vary in terrain and surfaces, as well as uses. Anything from horseback riding to snowmobiling to unleashed-dog-walking may be allowed on certain stretches. Visit www.saratogaplan.org for maps and more information; trail data for Saratoga County trails can be downloaded and used in conjunction with Google Earth.

Bog Meadow Brook Nature Trail

(Saratoga)

The two-mile Bog Meadow Brook Trail in Saratoga Springs follows the path of an abandoned railway through three distinct wetland communities, including open marsh, wet meadow and forested wetland. Interpretive signs show the significance of the flora and fauna that flourish there. An extensive boardwalk system facilitates travel by foot, snowshoes or cross-country skis, and kids can follow clues on a “Passport” nature hunt.

Champlain Canalway Trail

(Saratoga and Washington counties)

This in-progress 71-mile route stretches from Waterford to Whitehall along the old Champlain Canal, which connects Lake Champlain to the Hudson River. The trail will make use of historic towpaths, existing local and regional trails, and Champlain Canal shoreline to connect key historic and cultural sites. Some communities already have trail sections completed or underway.

Erie Canal Towpath

Community Connector

(Southern Saratoga County)

Efforts are underway to re-create a historic towpath trail along the original Erie Canal Route in the southern Saratoga County towns of Clifton Park and Halfmoon. The towns are teaming up on a connector trail that will link the nearly 700-acre Vischer Ferry Nature Preserve in Clifton Park with the newly enhanced Crescent Park on the banks of the Mohawk River in Halfmoon. When complete, the connector trail will span more than seven miles through the two towns, allowing hikers, cyclists and cross-country skiers to cross Wagar’s Pond and travel around the Northway.

Fish Creek Trail

(Victory)

Along Fish Creek in the village of Victory, Saratoga PLAN is building a new hiking trail on hallowed Revolutionary War ground. The trail marks the spot where American forces gathered during the Siege of Saratoga at the end of the 1777 Battles of Saratoga. The British, commanded by Gen. John Burgoyne, had retreated and were waiting for reinforcements from Albany that never arrived, leading to Burgoyne’s surrender and the turning point of the Revolutionary War. Fish Creek Trail will close a three-mile loop from Saratoga Monument through Victory Woods—a historic site opened by the National Park Service with boardwalk trails and interpretive signs explaining Burgoyne’s last stand.

Kayaderosseras Creek Canoe

and Kayak Trail

(Saratoga)

Paddlers can travel this six-and-a-half mile trail along the local creek with the mouthful of a name—the Mohawk Indian word for “the land of the beautiful lake of the winding river.” The trail offers a relatively mild paddling experience, with two opportunities for whitewater when the river runs high, and is navigable from spring to autumn. The route—with five access points for different levels of ability—provides easy access to Saratoga Lake, Fish Creek and Lake Lonely.

Palmertown Ridge Trail

(Northern Saratoga County)

From Moreau Lake State Park to Saratoga Springs, this in-progress trail will intersect the heart of the county, eventually connecting the Saratoga Springs Greenbelt Trail, Saratoga Spa State Park and the Zim Smith Trail to form the spine of the county trail network. The Palmertown Trail links lands belonging to the state’s Mt. McGregor Correctional Facility, DEC state forest, easements on a new Wilton subdivision built by developer John Witt, and former Finch Pruyn paper company land acquired by the Nature Conservancy. “We call this the alternative Northway,” says Trabka. Roughly a quarter of the trail is in place.

Railroad Run

(Saratoga)

Railroad Run is a half-mile trail in Saratoga Springs connecting West Circular Street to Congress Avenue. Stone dust on one side and asphalt on the other, the trail is used for walking, bicycling, rollerblading and skateboarding. In June—thanks to land donated by the YMCA—the trail was extended south across Route 50 and into Saratoga Spa State Park. Plans are to eventually connect the trail to the Zim Smith Trail in Malta.

Saratoga Springs Greenbelt Trail

Residents are working to create a trail loop that circles Saratoga Springs, connecting people with nature. The goal is to link three existing trails—Railroad Run, Spring Run Trail and the Bog Meadow Trail—with downtown and key destinations, including the YMCA, Spa State Park, Skidmore College, Saratoga National Golf Course and more.

Spring Run Trail

(Saratoga)

In the 1800s, a railroad shuttled passengers between downtown Saratoga Springs and Saratoga Lake for recreational fun, with mineral springs and mud baths along the way. Much of this railroad bed still exists. Spring Run Trail is a 2.4-mile, off-road (handicapped accessible) pedestrian and bike path along the Victorian-era railroad bed. Plans call for linking it to Bog Meadow Trail.

Zim Smith Trail

(Southern Saratoga County)

A backbone of the county trail system, this multi-use trail now connects Ballston Spa to Coon’s Crossing in Halfmoon through the towns of Ballston, Malta and Clifton Park and the village of Round Lake. The county is working on completing the last stretch from Coon’s Crossing into Mechanicville via the in-development Mechanicville Rail Yard, which will eventually connect Zim Smith to the Champlain Canalway Trail. Plans are underway to connect Zim Smith to Saratoga Springs through Saratoga Spa State Park. When the massive Global Foundries plant was approved, one of the stipulations was for the Zim Smith to connect with recreational trails in Luther Forest, where the plant is located; Saratoga PLAN’s Malta Trolley Line was used to make this connection. The trail was named in honor of Saratoga resident Zimri Smith, a retired USAF officer who helped establish the Saratoga County Heritage Trail System.

Saratoga Wine & Food Festival: Eat, Drink And Be Merry…For A Good Cause

FOOD / DRINK
LUXURY / TRAVEL

Staff Report

September 17, 2013

Saratoga Wine & Food Festival: Eat, Drink And Be Merry…For A Good Cause

A sold-out crowd filled the Saratoga Performing Arts Center grounds on Sept. 7 for the 13th annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival and Concours d’Elegance, day two of a three-day celebration of fine wines, fast cars, and fabulous food that drew about 5,000 people. The bacchanalian grand finale to the summer season is SPAC’s biggest fundraiser, raising about $200,000 for educational programs at SPAC and the Saratoga Automobile Museum. Museum chairman Anthony Ianniello and restaurateur Angelo Mazzone were honorary co-chairs.

Mo Rocca, the wry correspondent for CBS Sunday Morning and star of My Grandmother’s Ravioli on the Cooking Channel, did a culinary comedy routine with Saratoga’s own “Mamma Theresa” Viva of DZ Restaurants, who shared pointers on how to make an Italian fruit tart. Rocca later provided an off-beat commentary to master wine connoisseur Kevin Zraly as he solicited bids during the live auction. Was Rudolf Nureyev’s foot really ensconced in the hollow center of the five-foot ballet shoe sculpture, which was signed by the entire corps of the New York City Ballet? Michele Riggi, president of the Museum of Dance and creator of the En Pointe project, was high bidder at $20,000. Her yellow Lamborghini was among the high-end cars on display on the SPAC lawn. Lynda and Craig Kinns of Clifton Park, who were high bidders in past years for clubhouse boxes at the track, raised their paddle for a Lake Placid condo and Vero Beach, Florida, vacation, but were outbid. A seven-day stay at a private villa in Rocco d’Evandro, Italy, donated by Ianniello, went for $13,000.

Chef Zak Pelaccio, former executive chef of 5 Ninth and the Fatty Crab in Manhattan, co-founded Fish & Game in Hudson with Jori Emde: “She’s the reason I’m here.” Pelacio did a pig butchering demonstration sponsored by Flying Pigs Farm in Shushan. Saratoga is “beautiful,” Emde said of her first visit here. “It’s a very well-curated event…very nice people. We had a great time.”

With a 35-car road rally to the Lake George Club and nearly 400 at the gala on Friday, a sold-out grand tasting and sold-out burger bash with bands on Saturday—with Comfort Kitchen winning the judges’ best burger award, and Druthers winning people’s choice—and a Southern brunch at Saratoga National on Sunday, the weekend had something for everyone.

Pellaccio and Tom Thibeault of Adirondack Appliances were judges for the inaugural Big Green Egg barbecue cook-off, hosted by Times Union foodie Steve Barnes. “We expect you to come back and defend your title,” Barnes told Rob Johnson of Castleton, who took first place and won a Big Green Egg cooker with his “Cheap Chicken.” Craig Couture of Clifton Park was runner-up with his blackened swordfish, and Jill Kavanagh of Troy came in third with her stuffed pork tenderloin. “I love pork,” she said, and she likes Barnes’ food blog, too.

Eric Clapton performed at SPAC three times. Fans at the festival got to admire the 2003 Aston Martin DB7 Zagato that he originally owned, and the 2014 Maserati Ghibli that debuted at the Shanghai Motor Show in April. Several Shelby Cobras were exhibited, and a 1957 Porsche that participated in the 2013 Peking-to-Paris rally—a 7,500-mile commute. The 2010 Morgan Aero Super Sport, which can reach 60 mph in four seconds, was one of only 200 produced by the historic British car maker. Dr. Stephen Knoll, a Saratoga dentist and MG enthusiast, was pleased to see British cars at the former Ferrari fest, where Italian cars predominated.

Jim Taylor of Mayfield and Colorado brought four cars from his hefty collection near Sacandaga Lake. Joe Kollmann of Johnstown got to drive Taylor’s 2003 Aston Martin Zagato to Saratoga, and Herb Bozer of Gloversville drove his 1965 Cobra. John Miller of Saratoga drove Taylor’s 1958 AC Bristol, a Cobra forerunner made by Carroll Shelby.

Bruce and Lucette Levinsky and Leon Knesel of Saratoga Springs, and Lorrie and Saverio Minucci of Loudonville were among those listening to jazz and sampling rare wines, artisan cheeses and charcuterie at the new Connoisseur’s Tent. It was his fourth festival, said Saverio, whose black Ferrari Spider convertible was parked on the concourse. “People watching” is what Lorrie liked most.

Juliet Teimoori and Chris Stamatakos of Colonie and Michael and Susanna Lia of Guilderland were attending for the first time. “We always wanted to go,” said Susanna.

“A great way to keep the party rolling,” added Chris.

“Good cars, good food, good drink,” said Michael.

“Good company,” added Chris.

The new Infiniti Q50 from Lia Infiniti was parked at the SPAC entrance. “We’re buying Saratoga Nissan,” Michael mentioned, which will be their 18th dealership, and the first in Saratoga.

Sam Ramic and Mike Rupcic of Wine World Wide, Inc. in New Paltz sampled wines with Ian Thomas, a chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia, and Ian’s former boss, Sandy Foster of Village Pizzeria in Galway.

Melissa Zieker and Melanie Manuel of the SPAC Action Council were there with husbands Chris and Keith. “We’ve been coming here for eight years,” said Chris Zieker. “If I had to pick one event of the entire year, it would be this.”

Chris Harmon and JoAnn Grande were newcomers; Jenn Merriman came last year, too. “I think it is intriguing, tasteful,” said Merriman. “It’s a people-watching event. You can be seen here.”

“It’s a good day in Saratoga,” added Harmon, “after the races are over.”

From Market To Menu, Saratoga County Does Food Right

FOOD / DRINK

Staff Report

September 17, 2013

From Market To Menu, Saratoga County Does Food Right

Here’s the thing about going to the Saratoga Farmers’ Market as a food writer. It inspires. It makes you want to build a story around what you see. And ultimately, it leads to multiple purchases.

The late summer/early fall harvest is plentiful at the farmer’s market, and that bridge from late summer squash varieties to root cellar finds can be tantalizing.

“We are a four season farm,” says Michael Kilpatrick of Kilpatrick Family Farm. “We have several harvests of spinach, and as fall progresses, we have the root cellar with winter radishes, garlic, onion, some greens, carrots, beets [recipe on left], rutabaga, Brussels sprouts, all potato types….”

Michael Kilpatrick meets with local restaurants early in the year to help plan his growing season. He finds out changes on the menu and feature items, and chefs and owners can call in orders during the season. “If we have extras of a crop—say tomatoes a restaurant can use for canning later in the season—we call them and offer them special pricing,” he explains. It is this kind of symbiotic relationship that makes farm-to-table effective, affordable and community-minded. Kim Klopstock, owner of Lily and the Rose Catering and Fifty South Restaurant in Ballston Spa, is one of his most dedicated customers, but his farm is only one of several local vendors that Klopstock has committed to long-term.

“I am heavily involved in the farm-to-table movement,” says Klopstock, and a meal at her restaurant confirms that statement.

Foodie and the Scribe, with the help of Scribe’s son, Bennett, a.k.a. “Market Price,” went to Fifty South as fall came into view. The meal was an unwavering local farm showcase, and that is the restaurant’s normal operation. “I could order from Sysco and it is cheaper, but that is not what I am about,” says Klopstock.

Fifty South is also its address. Two miles south of SPAC on Route 50, the modest diner-like establishment features an eclectic interior and friendly staff. A local musician Jean plays lively, nostalgic show tunes on piano and says, “This is my home away from home.”

To start, Fifty South’s charming waitress Courtney brought Spanakopita with cheese from Argyle Cheese Farmer and spinach from Kilpatrick Family Farm adorned with battered squash blossoms. The spinach was delicately sautéed, and the cheese had the tart tanginess of fresh feta. The phyllo was a thin layer encasing the interior without taking over; the squash blossoms a quirky sidekick. Fifty South also serves house-made potato chips and tapenade from SoLively upon arrival, a delicious alternative to bread.

Salads were Smoked Duck for Market Price, and Beets and Greens for Scribe. Both salads included candied walnuts and a fan of red beets with a tangy sweet house-made balsamic. “The smoked duck melts in your mouth,” said Market Price. The other salad featured greens from Pleasant Valley Farm owned by the Arnold Family, and chèvre from Argyle Cheese. It had sweet plump cranberry raisins scattered on top of the generous portion.

The restaurant had freshly foraged chanterelles, a seasonal find that landed on the daily specials in a few dishes. A chanterelle and shaved Parmesan risotto had a creamy texture. “The nuttiness of risotto was complimented by the chanterelles and parmesan,” said Market Price, the teen gastronome, who also mentioned that mushroom foraging is the national sport of the Czech Republic.

The Vegetable Napoleon was served on mashed sweet potatoes and topped with julienned zucchini and a spray of beet greens. There was something vital and healthy about the grilled eggplant, zucchini, Portobello and red peppers, with a touch of mozzarella and sun-dried tomato chèvre to make it indulgent. It was a tower of fresh ingredients for a big appetite: a lacto-ovo vegetarian dish from a menu that also has an unprecedented amount of gluten-free and vegan choices.

Also presented were pan-seared scallops from Moby Rick’s on Lewis Waite Farm pork belly. The scallops were light, “fluffy” and buttery, the pork belly a rich foundation. Market Price swore he could discern the meaty layers.

Concluding this varied locovore meal were several house-made desserts, many accented with a generous dollop of Battenkill Valley Creamery whipped cream. An espresso bombe, tiramisu and cheesecake with berry compote made up a dessert trio. The berry compote retained the tartness of the berries; the cheesecake flavor and brownie crust were ideal. Also on the table was a blueberry cobbler: warm and accented with a crumbled sweet whole grain crust and whipped cream topping from Battenkill Valley Creamery that could be the cloud upon which one travels to heaven.

As we took our last bite, the pianist was playing “Somewhere over the Rainbow,” which is where we were transported by Kim Klopstock’s healthy, locally focused restaurant. Make the trip over the rainbow…or to Fifty South.

All of the mentioned farmers have retail stands at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, open 3-6 p.m. on Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. on Saturday. Fifty South opens for dinner at 4:30 daily; check www.fiftysouth.com for closing times and weekend hours. Klopstock also owns www.lilyandtherose.com. Many more local farmers were featured at the restaurant; the list varies daily.

Portraits Of Beekman Street: Saratoga’s West Side Gem Has Much To Offer

CULTURE / ARTS

Staff Report

July 10, 2013

Portraits Of Beekman Street: Saratoga’s West Side Gem Has Much To Offer

Beekman Street, in the heart of Saratoga’s West Side, has always been a neighborhood in transition—and one that accommodates new people and new ideas.

The neighborhood acquired the name “Dublin” around 1835 as Irish immigrants flocked there seeking work at the rail yards or in city hotels. Italian immigrants started coming in 1880, and the neighborhood was a hub of family-owned Italian restaurants for nearly 100 years thereafter. African-Americans made their mark on the neighborhood as well, opening businesses on nearby Congress Street in the 1910s.

“The neighborhood is welcoming to change,” says Saratoga Springs City Historian Mary Ann Fitzgerald. “It’s a true melting pot.”

By the 1970s and ‘80s, the area had fallen on harder times, as the younger generation of family businesses moved away and many others closed, says Fitzgerald. But a revival started around 2005, as other Saratoga businesses—driven from the Broadway vicinity by rising rents— began renovating historic buildings there. Beekman was dubbed the “Arts District” after a movement to draw local galleries and artists to the street took off.

The past few years have seen no shortage of transition on the street, as some of the art galleries have closed or moved away—victims of a poor economy or seeking locations with higher foot traffic. But a resourceful crop of creative artists and entrepreneurs remain, carving out a niche and surviving in their own singular ways.

Feneex Studio & Learning Space

The mythological phoenix—a bird that rises from ashes in a cycle of rebirth—was the inspiration behind Feneex, an art studio, gallery and learning center. When artist Francelise Dawkins opened in 2010, the name had a very literal meaning for her—although she creatively adjusted the spelling. In 2008, Dawkins’ apartment building on nearby Grand Avenue caught fire and burned to the ground. She lost everything, including a lifetime’s artwork.

But the accident had a silver lining. Dawkins used insurance money to start Feneex as a learning space and studio for her brilliantly colored textile collages. She also hosts group “collage parties” and teaches French classes. Dawkins grew up in Paris, spending her childhood in an experimental orphanage/boarding school for the children of performing artists. “I grew up with art in a natural way—I lived with it,” she says.

Her artwork, featured in the New York Times when she first opened, has drawn interest from collectors all over the world. “Colors, life, joie de vivre, that’s what I stand for,” she says. “When you buy art, you don’t just buy the piece—there’s an energy that’s born. That’s why art is so vital. It’s not like bread necessarily, but it’s bread for the soul.”

The Groggery

Artists Michelle Corbett and Michael Pape first made their name on Beekman Street in 2005, when they opened Gotchya’s Trattoria in a brick building they painstakingly restored. The former DeRossi’s Restaurant had served Italian food to neighborhood residents and racetrack dignitaries there for seven decades, closing in 1981.

In 2011, Corbett, who has an MFA in ceramics, and Pape transformed their restaurant to a bar called the Groggery, with an adjoining gallery to display Corbett’s wall platters and tiles based on vintage wallpaper patterns. Art has always their first love. Several months ago they closed the bar and are using the Groggery kitchen as a clay production facility creating artisan works—both functional and decorative—including “cannonball” beer growlers with flip caps, kitchen pottery sets and tiles with vintage designs. (They sell their works online at www.thegroggery.com.)

They plan to market the growlers to brewers and aficionados of artisan beer. “Everything used to be made out of clay 100 years ago—I want to try to bring that back,” Corbett says. “I think clay will have a resurgence. It’s reasonable. It’s durable. It’s environmentally friendly. It’s so beautiful, even though it’s so simple.”

Pink Raven Tattoos

“We really want to change the image of tattoos,” says Doug Gruse, who opened Pink Raven Tattoos last September with artist Chris DiBiase. By all appearances, Pink Raven is not your average tattoo shop. The walls are painted a Disney color called “Pretty as a Princess” pink, contemporary pop art fills the shop’s gallery space, and a coffee machine dispenses complimentary cappuccino and chai.

“We wanted it to feel like a salon—you come in and get pampered. Working with a tattoo artist is a very personal experience. When you’re in the shop, it’s all about you,” says Gruse, who runs the gallery that features up-and-coming local artists. Every first Saturday of the month, Pink Raven hosts an art opening bash—with free food, drink and door prizes for the public. Last month, the work of skateboard and punk-inspired Saratoga artist Benj Gleeksman was feted.

“We really wanted to make it feel like you’re in your friend’s apartment,” says DiBiase of the space. “A lot of women, minorities and gays might not be comfortable in your average tattoo shop. We wanted to keep art the focus here.”

A lifelong artist with a fine arts degree and a love for color and comic books, DiBiase takes tattooing seriously as an art. “It’s an art form that should be respected,” he says. “You really have to be on your game. You can’t erase. That’s why you should choose your tattoo artist wisely: You’re trusting someone to permanently modify your body.”

70 Beekman Street Art Gallery

The building at 70 Beekman was the first on the street to be renovated during the last decade’s wave of revitalization. Mary Hong Yu Chen and her husband Yong Li—distinguished Chinese vocalists who met years ago when Chen was teaching voice at NYU—bought the dilapidated property and restored it into apartments and gallery spaces.

The couple opened their own 70 Beekman Street Art Gallery in 2003 to showcase local artists—including Chen’s abstract art—and an eclectic mix of world-class Art Deco sculptures, Italian marble busts, bronze statues and blown glass lamps. A Yamaha piano fills one corner of the space, used during monthly concerts they host, including recent performances by members of the Sicilian Opera Academy and Opera Saratoga.

Chen has seen some other galleries in her building come and go—including the popular Mimosa, which relocated to Broadway. But she is optimistic, if realistic, about the future of art on the street. “I’d like to keep art in the space, but it is hard for artists,” she says. “Even when the economy is not bad, art is still hard as a business.”

Sharon Crute Art Studio

Equine artist Sharon Crute is thriving in her art studio, which recently moved across the street from its former spot next to 70 Beekman Street Art Gallery. Much of her work is by commission, via the Internet and through her vendor space at Saratoga Race Course, where she sells her popular equine art as fine art digital giclée prints and on merchandise such as magnets, mugs and mouse pads.

“I know horses really well,” says Crute, a horse painter of 30 years whose husband Michael Bray is a former trainer. “I know their anatomy. I focus on recreating the powerful movement and speed that is horse racing.”

Spa City Bicycleworks

“This is a great town to ride around in,” says Anthony “Tone” Ferradino, who runs one of Beekman Street’s newest businesses with partner Stephen Aalderink. “We want to be the neighborhood bike shop, where people can come hang out and there’s no attitude. We try to cater to everybody.”

The full-service bike shop offers something new in Saratoga: bike rentals for tourists, summer residents or locals who want to take a road cycle, beach cruiser or mountain bike for a spin. They also offer guided trips, custom group rides and repairs. “With two restaurants on the street, we have a lot of customers who will drop their bike off for a repair on their way to dinner,” says Ferradino.

Textile Studio

In 2009, the neighborhood gained a working weaving studio at the corner of Beekman and Grand. Long-time textile designers Cecilia Frittelli and Richard Lockwood make handmade apparel and accessories for men and women, selling it from their studio and through high-end craft shops, boutiques and galleries around the country.

A stop by their shop—which also features other designers—typically finds the pair hard at work weaving on their looms. But they are “happily interrupted,” says Frittelli, when customers come in and ask questions about weaving—a no-carbon-footprint process fueled solely by hand and foot power. This spring, for the first time, the studio offered classes in textile weaving. “Part of our mission is giving people the experience of how the work is done,” Lockwood says.

Special Promotional Section: Holiday Dining Guide

EXCLUSIVES / FEATURES
FOOD / DRINK

Staff Report

November 30, 1969

Special Promotional Section: Holiday Dining Guide

Morrissey’s Lounge & Bistro

The Adelphi Hotel is pleased to announce the grand opening of Morrissey’s Bistro dining room in the Adelphi conservatory. The restaurant is open seven days a week with new and expanded menus for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner. Menu highlights include Bread Pudding French Toast, cheese fondue and specialty paninis, flatbreads and pastas. Plus, there’s authentic NYC Carnegie Deli hot pastrami sandwiches, hot corned beef sandwiches, classic potato knishes and cheesecake. Dine-in and takeout are available.

365 Broadway, Saratoga Springs 518.678.6000

Osteria Danny

Chef Danny Petrosino says it best: “When you come to our restaurant, it’s like you’re coming to our house. It’s a warm, creative party with family every night.” He’s talking, of course, about Osteria Danny, an Italian-American restaurant he runs with his wife, Patti. Featuring an ever-changing, inventive menu, Osteria Danny is open seven days a week, with “Danny’s To Go” takeout offered Wednesday-Sunday. Call (518) 423-7022 after 4pm for reservations.

26 Henry St., Saratoga Springs 518.423.7022

The Wishing Well

Located just north of Saratoga Springs in Wilton, The Wishing Well has been serving fresh fare (think: certified Angus beef, pan-seared salmon and freshly steamed Maine lobster) and fine wines by the glass since 1936. With four dining rooms, each with a fieldstone fireplace, The Wishing Well is the perfect place for a romantic night out, or a holiday gathering of family and friends. Reserve your table online at wishingwellrestaurant.com or call (518) 584-7640.

745 Saratoga Rd., Gansevoort 518.584.7640

The Brook Tavern

The Brook Tavern is The Wishing Well’s sister restaurant, a casual spot for elevated dining located a mere stone’s throw from Saratoga Race Course on Union Avenue. The menu has a wide selection of small plates, burgers and tacos, plus larger ones such as beer-battered fish and chips, a grilled filet mignon and sesame-encrusted ahi tuna. Stopping by for a drink? The Tavern has an extensive offering of wines, liquors and specialty cocktails, too. Visit thebrooktavern.com for more information.

139 Union Ave., Saratoga Springs 518.871.1473

2019 Saratoga Gives Back Party: Meet The ‘saratoga living’ 10 Under 40 List Honorees

EXCLUSIVES / FEATURES

Staff Report

November 8, 1969

2019 Saratoga Gives Back Party: Meet The ‘saratoga living’ 10 Under 40 List Honorees

Get ready, Saratoga! The next issue of saratoga living hits newsstands on December 6, and we’re giving you an exclusive sneak peek of one of the issue’s most important features: our first-ever “10 Under 40” list, the young people we feel are the future of philanthropy in Saratoga Springs. The honorees are philanthropists Dave and Stephanie Collins, representing Wellspring; the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s (SPAC’s) Junior Committee, consisting of Amanda Ettinger, Ashley Budd, Caitlin Goetz, India Adams, Katrina Railton and Samantha Kercull; Aliza Pickering, vegetable manager at Pitney Meadows Community Farm; Meredith Woolford, executive director of the Saratoga Hospital Foundation; Amanda Vance, Thoroughbred trainer, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program; Carmine DeCrescente and Matt DeCrescente, both representing Alzheimer’s Association of Northeastern New York; Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez, deputy director of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council; Jahkeen Hoke, co-founder and chief development officer of 4th Family; Lizzie Hunter, senior manager, community development at the American Cancer Society; and Mark Duffy, community engagement leader for SEFCU’s Holiday Sharing Program.

To honor these wonderful individuals and their charities/nonprofits, saratoga living will be hosting its first annual Saratoga Gives Back event on December 12 at Putnam Place from 6-9 pm. Fifty percent of your ticket purchase goes to the charity or nonprofit of your choice, from the options above. To learn more about the wonderful organizations that our host committee honorees have chosen to raise funds for at our Saratoga Gives Back event, click here.

To purchase tickets to the Saratoga Gives Back event, click here.

Our host committee honorees, in the flesh: