SARATOGA SPRINGS — Freezing temperatures couldn’t stop hundreds of runners from participating in the Saratoga First Day 5K on New Year’s Day, Jan. 1, 2024.

Only 16 minutes and 15 seconds after the race began, Cameron Davis became the first runner to cross the finish line, followed seconds later by Nicholas Conway. Emily Bush, a standout on the Saratoga Springs girls cross-country team, finished first among all female runners and fourth overall. 

According to the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, nearly 800 people registered for this year’s race. 651 officially finished the race, leaving about a hundred people who decided not to brave the cold and/or their New Year’s Eve hangover.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — A new student-designed lunch truck will make its debut this spring on the Saratoga Springs High School campus.

Eric Bush, the district’s School Lunch Program Director, said the truck was designed by students from the high school’s graphic arts class. “They worked on all the signage, all the graphics, the look, the name; everything came from the high school students designing it,” Bush said.

High School seniors are allowed to leave the campus for lunch, and the goal of the food truck, Bush said, is to entice them to stick around for what Bush called “a different, unique experience.”

A promotional image from the district described the truck as “a novel dining experience that will expand meal options for students and staff.” The image also stated that the truck will embody “a fusion of culinary diversity.”

In terms of cost to students, the truck will essentially operate the same as the existing cafeteria. Free meal packages will be available at the truck, along with a la carte items that can be purchased for an additional fee. Proceeds from those purchases will go back into the school’s cafeteria fund.

“The more kids that participate, then the more money I can put back into the program,” Bush said.

Despite claims to the contrary found on a local Facebook page, Bush said that no “COVID money” was used to purchase the truck. According to Bush, the vehicle was bought using money from the school’s self-sufficient cafeteria fund, which is separate from the school’s general fund. “I did see that [Facebook post], which I thought was pretty funny,” Bush said.

The high school’s cafeteria is currently undergoing renovations, but is set to re-open in mid January. Then, Bush will turn his attention to getting the lunch truck up and running. “We’ve been working on it for a couple months,” Bush said, “doing the [request for proposal], going out to bid, then getting it delivered, and now it will have to go to Glens Falls for the health inspection.”

The school will create menus for the truck in the coming months. Bush estimated that the truck will be operational by April.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga County hotels are seeing notable increases in revenue this year for one primary reason: visitors are willing to spend more money to stay in the area.

From January through October of 2023, hotels in the county reported a RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room) of $110.70, up 6.5% from last year’s numbers, according to the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.

“The demand was up slightly, the occupancy was up slightly, but the willingness of individuals to pay in order to be here, and to be especially in downtown [Saratoga Springs] was pretty clear,” said Todd Shimkus, president of the Chamber.

Although the flood of summer tourists betting on ponies at the track or dancing the night away at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) is still a big part of hotel revenue, the city is increasingly becoming more than just a seasonal attraction.

“SPAC’s now got a year-round agenda and schedule of events. Live Nation has often now moved into September. This year they’re moving into May so they’ve spread out,” Shimkus said. “And then you can’t count out the City Center. This is the first year where the City Center has been full virtually every day. This is twelve months of success for the leisure and group tourism business.”

With the Belmont Stakes coming to town this spring, horse racing season is also kicking off ahead of schedule. “The Belmont coming here is going to have a huge impact in the month of June, if not a little earlier,” Shimkus said.

The most sought-after bookings might be downtown, but hotels throughout the region continue to profit from the deluge of visitors. “We don’t have enough lodging capacity to handle everyone who is going to want to be here,” Shimkus said. “So they’re going to have to stay in places outside the area.”

Hotels in Malta, Clifton Park, Glens Falls, Queensbury, Lake George, and even Albany benefit from the lodging shortage in Saratoga proper. 

Within city limits, developers are working to create more accommodations. A Marriott AC Hotel is set to open on South Broadway sometime in the next 12 to 18 months. The Brookmere Hotel is expected to open late next year at the former site of the Longfellows Hotel and Restaurant. The Adelphi Hotel is also in the midst of an expansion.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — When the owners of Impressions of Saratoga and The Dark Horse Mercantile launched their Adopt a Grandparent gift-giving campaign last month, their goal seemed ambitious. They wanted to sell 350 gift tags in order to buy holiday presents for every senior at the Wesley Community. 

As of December 19, a total of 385 gift tags had been sold, surpassing the initial goal. Although the campaign’s December 17 deadline had technically passed, store co-owners Maddy Zanetti and Marianne Barker were still adding more gifts to their heap of donations.

“We’ll just make more [gift] bags and give them to more people,” Zanetti said. “We had people coming in today that still want to buy them.” Zanetti and Barker said that several people also offered to buy as many gift tags as necessary to hit the 350 goal.

Zanetti said that a group of volunteers would meet at Wesley to prepare the gift bags, which will then be distributed to the seniors in time for Christmas.

Due to the campaign’s success, it may now become an annual event. “We had a lot of fun with it,” Zanetti said. “People have been so, so supportive.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Adirondack Trust Company Community Fund (ATCCF) awarded $84,070 in grants to 38 local nonprofits this month.

Some of the Lend-A-Hand Grant recipients included A Dapple a Day Equine Center, Camp Abilities Saratoga, Family Services Association of Glens Falls, First Baptist Church of Ballston Spa Summer Lunch Program, and Shelters of Saratoga.

“The awarded grants will support programs for a wide variety of needs as a whole, and will include the areas of the arts, education, health, and family activities,” said Colleen Carlson, Volunteer Chair for the ATCCF Independent Advisory Committee. “Thank you to the organizations, volunteers, and donors who provide support, time, and hard work throughout the year,” Carlson said. “We are honored to be a part of this process.” 

SARATOGA SPRINGS —A new Chipotle location in downtown Saratoga is one step closer to becoming reality.

The Saratoga Springs Planning Board approved Chipotle’s site plan review application on November 30 after considering the proposal for several months. The board will decide upon issuing a building permit after an easement is filed.

The planned Chipotle at 12 Ballston Avenue will be located next to the Saratoga Strike Zone bowling alley. The site was formerly the home of Paddy Duggan's Irish Pub.

The location will include an outdoor patio with around 20 seats, in addition to a small outdoor seating area with benches and planters. 23 parking spaces will be created on the .32 acre site.

SCHUYLERVILLE — All nine of the Schuylerville Central School District’s fall sports teams have been recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association for their academic success. To earn recognition, a team’s average GPA for 75% of the roster must be 90 or above. The following teams met this criteria for academic success:

• Girls Cross Country
• Boys Cross Country
• Fall Cheer
• Field Hockey
• Football
• Golf
• Girls Soccer
• Boys Soccer
• Volleyball

BALLSTON SPA — Passer la nuit à danser! That’s a rough French translation for “dance the night away,” which is what more than 150 high school students did at the Ballston Spa world language lip sync concert earlier this month.

Performances included the Barbie movie’s hit anthem “Dance the Night” by Dua Lipa (in French), “Cruising for a Bruisin” from “Teen Beach Movie” (in Spanish), and Queen’s iconic song “Bohemian Rhapsody” (also in Spanish). Barbie finished in first place. One can only speculate that the Kenergy must’ve been surging.

The event was hosted by the Ballston High School International Club. All donations from the concert will help fund scholarships for graduating seniors.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs Recreation Department is launching a new “Try Sports for Free” program for kids in grades K-12.

Participants can try winter sports such as curling, figure skating, hockey, and speed skating.

The first “Try Sports for Free” event will take place at the Weibel Ice Rink on December 29 from 6 to 8 p.m.

For additional information, contact the Recreation Department at 518-587-3550 ext. 2300 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Last season, the Saratoga varsity wrestling team struggled to overcome Burnt Hills and Ballston Spa. This year, the Blue Streaks have already beaten them both, and are in the conversation for one of the best teams in Section 2. 

The success has come in the midst of a new weight descent plan rule that has altered coaches’ strategies. “The new descent plan thing is really interesting because it kind of ties coaches’ hands on how strategic they can get going into the dual meets,” said Saratoga wrestling coach Jake Zanetti. “Everybody is impacted by that.”

The rule is a bit complicated. “They’re only allowed to lose 1.5% of their body fat each week of the season,” Zanetti explained. “So even if a kid is actually weighing the weight class, if his individual descent plan doesn’t allow him to be eligible for that, even though he’s legitimately weighing it, he can’t wrestle it.”

Despite the curveball, the Blue Streaks have already garnered nearly a dozen victories about a third of the way through the season. One tough matchup that saw Saratoga lose a criteria tiebreaker came against Queensbury earlier this month. The Blue Streaks were tied with Queensbury 30 to 30, but were credited with a loss because their opponents won one more individual match. 

“Queensbury kind of came out of nowhere,” Zanetti said. “They’re looking at the number one seed going into the Section 2 duals.”

The next time the two teams meet, Saratoga may have an ace up its sleeve with the return of standout Taylor Beaury, who has been sidelined with injuries. Beaury met with doctors this week to determine a timeline for his return.

As Zanetti awaits word on Beaury’s health, the Blue Streaks have two challenging tournaments ahead of them. The Windsor Christmas Tournament begins December 28, and the Saratoga Invitational starts January 6.

“January is going to be a long grinder,” Zanetti said. But the Blue Streaks are used to that. They were “grinding all summer long, all offseason,” Zanetti said.