SARATOGA LIVINGThe City. The Culture. The Life.

1. While residents and tourists alike often call the City of Saratoga Springs “Saratoga” for short, they might not realize that there’s actually a Town of Saratoga as well, located due east of Saratoga Springs.

2. Saratoga, which is home to the villages of Schuylerville and Victory, is bordered by the Hudson River to the east, Saratoga Lake and Saratoga Springs to the west, the Town of Stillwater to the south, and the towns of Northumberland and Wilton to the north.

3. Once a part of Albany County, Saratoga became one of the four “mother towns” of Saratoga County in 1791. Over the years, the town became smaller as parts of it were redistributed into the towns of Ballston, Stillwater, Northumberland, Moreau, Wilton, Saratoga Springs, Greenfield and Corinth.

4. A center of conflict during the French and Indian War, Saratoga rose to prominence during the Revolutionary War as the site of the British defeat at the hands of the Americans in 1777’s Battles of Saratoga, often referred to as the turning point of the American Revolution.

5. Today, Saratoga is home to Saratoga National Historical Park, the Battle of Saratoga Monument and the Schuyler House, the country home of Revolutionary War hero Philip Schuyler, among other historical landmarks.  

In mid-March of 2020, while the rest of Saratoga was shutting down, Saratoga Hospital was preparing for war. While most Saratogians were huddled in their homes, fearing the spread of the invisible, highly contagious and potentially deadly COVID-19 virus, an army of doctors, nurses and staffers, led by Saratoga Hospital CEO and President Angelo Calbone, were gearing up for the fight of their lives. “It essentially turned quickly,” says Calbone. “We [had to] retool ourselves, focusing on what needed to be done and marshaling resources from one area to another. It was impressive how quickly and efficiently that happened inside our institution.” 

In the months that followed, Saratoga Hospital staffers took things in stride, keeping a positive attitude, says Calbone, and doing their best work despite the heavy emotional strain. “From a leadership perspective, we were just all in,” Calbone says. “Most of our energy was focused on planning, improvising and making sure we had resources where we needed them.” The truly heroic work, though, was done by “the folks on the ground,” as he puts it—“the people taking care of patients at a personal level, and those that support our caregivers. They did spectacular work.”  

Fast forward to this past spring, when the vaccine became widely available to the general public. There was a sense among hospital staffers that “we were going to get through this,” says Calbone. So it was a bitter pill to swallow when COVID case numbers began rising again, due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant coupled with people’s unwillingness to get vaccinated. 

That latter issue—the unvaccinated—has become a political lightning rod, despite overwhelming scientific evidence that getting vaccinated not only protects people from getting COVID, but also significantly slows the virus’ spread and makes the potential side-effects from a breakthrough case less serious. To that end, this past August, Calbone announced that Saratoga Hospital would be requiring all staffers to either get vaccinated by early September or be forced to submit to weekly COVID tests. For those seeking to color the decision as a political one, he assures it was anything but. “We’ve had a whole series of vaccines that we’ve mandated as a condition of employment here for years,” says Calbone. “That has been a normal part of our operation.” 

Looking forward, Calbone sees only one endgame, only one wish for 2022. “Wide adoption of the vaccine is our way out of this,” he says. “There’s no other better and more straightforward answer.”

Santa Claus really is coming to town, or, rather, Santa Clauses are coming to town. On December 18, the Saturday before Christmas, hundreds of red-suited revelers will once again take to the bars and restaurants of Downtown Saratoga for Saratoga SantaCON, the Capital Region’s largest pub crawl.

This year’s crawl isn’t just any old mass gathering of grown adults dressed up as an imaginary immortal being for the purpose of consuming alcohol—no, this is Saratoga SantaCON’s 10th anniversary event, and the organizers are pulling out all the sleigh stops. In addition to the bar crawl (which will take Santas around downtown for $4 Labatt Blue, Blue Light and Blue Light Seltzer, and $5 Tito’s cocktails), this year’s con will also attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the largest scavenger hunt in the world, which is currently held by the City of Ottawa (a 2017 scavenger hunt in the Canadian capital drew 2,732 participants). Scavenging Saratoga Santas will be tasked with snapping photos, scanning hidden QR codes and answering trivia questions throughout the day in an attempt to rack up the most points and win a $1,000 cash prize.

Sound like some ho-ho-hometown holiday fun you don’t want to miss? Buy your $10 ticket ahead of time, print it out, and bring it with you to registration, which will begin at the Soundbar at noon on the 18th. Also bring five non-perishable food items; 100 percent of food collected and funds raised will be donated to the Franklin Community Center, a nonprofit that provides Saratoga County families in need with basic necessities and services. Once your food donation has been made and your ticket has been confirmed, you’ll receive the Santa Scavenger Hunt passcode and can get hunting. Later that night, be sure to check out the official Saratoga SantaCON after party at Putnam Place, where Hartley’s Encore will perform with Hilltop from 8-11:30pm. And lastly but perhaps more importantly: Do you have to dress up? Only if you plan to be on Santa’s nice list this year.