CLIFTON PARK — A new pickleball club will celebrate its grand opening in Clifton Park on Dec. 20 after opening festivities were postponed earlier this month.
Stephen Frye, a former math teacher and athletic director, founded the FryeGuys Pickleball Club as a space where people of all ages can enjoy the game, stay active, and connect socially. The club will feature three new indoor courts, and three instructors are already listed as staff members on the FryeGuys website.
According to the website Pickleheads, pickleball saw a 158.6% nationwide growth rate from 2020 to 2023, and has become “the fastest-growing sport in America.” There are now hundreds of places to play pickleball in New York State, with a number of them scattered throughout the Saratoga region.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Calling it “a total departure from our usual fare,” iTheatre Saratoga is preparing an upcoming holiday musical event titled “An Elemental Christmas.”
A band that includes Emmy-nominated composer Will Severin, Capital Region music veteran George Snyder, and 30-year Saratoga Springs High School music teacher Jeffrey Halstead will perform a selection of tunes ranging from the traditional (“Winter Wonderland”) to the decidedly unorthodox (“River” by Joni Mitchell and “Hounds of Winter” by Sting).
“It’s based on, to some degree, the elements: Fire, rain, that sort of thing,” iTheatre Saratoga Chairman Will Severin told Saratoga TODAY. “There’s going to be songs people know, there’ll be songs that people forgot they knew, and then there’ll be some songs that they’ve never heard before.”
These tunes will be thematically linked together via an original script written by iTheatre’s Artistic Director Mary Jane Hansen, who also wrote last month’s charming “Baker Street Adventuress.”
As if their holiday show wasn’t unpredictable enough, iTheatre also decided to toss in some surprise dance numbers, performed by the Saratoga-based Tango Fusion.
“We’ll probably have, towards the end of the night, one number where it’s basically audience participation,” Severin said.
Overall, the performance is aiming for a casual yet spirited experience that includes audience members seated around large tables, vendors selling last-minute Christmas gifts, and a concession stand stocked with craft beer from local breweries.
The “Elemental Christmas” show is the fourth installment of iTheatre’s annual holiday event. Past installments have included “A Colorful Christmas” (in which all the songs included a color in their titles) and “Cosmic Christmas” (featuring David Bowie’s “Space Odyssey” mixed with “What Star is This?”).
“Elemental Christmas” will be performed at the Saratoga Music Hall on Dec. 19 and 20. Tickets are available at www.itheatresaratoga.org.
Cover image of “River Time: Mindful Reflections from the Upper Hudson” provided by author Susan Meyer.
SCHUYLERVILLE — Susan Meyer, a Saratoga Springs native who now calls Schuylerville home, released last month a book that compiles roughly 15 years’ worth of stories, observations, reflections, and photographs of the Hudson River.
“River Time: Mindful Reflections from the Upper Hudson,” focuses on Meyer’s connection with a body of water that’s had a colossal impact on both the history of New York State and the nation. The Hudson has also been a source of inspiration to Meyer, who has experienced moments of profundity while kayaking upon it.
“I think it’s a great metaphor for life,” Meyer told Saratoga TODAY. “You never know what you’re going to encounter on the river of life.”
56 original stories and poems (accompanied by 73 full-color photographs) are drawn from Meyer’s journeys on the Hudson, where she contemplated existential ideas while encountering herons, ice formations, changing seasons, and even a Superfund dredging project.
“I get in my kayak, and it takes about one second before I’m in the zone,” Meyer said. “It’s this different perspective; all the usual mental chatter subsides and deeper insight becomes available.”
The book is organized into four thematic sections: “The More Than Human World,” “The Human World,” “Rhythms of the River,” and “The Inner River.” Each part presents a journey from the outer landscape to the inner mind.
One story in “The Human World” details Meyer’s interest in Saratoga County history, and how the remnants of hundreds of years of tumultuous events are still present today. After acquiring a copy of “Early Days in Eastern Saratoga County” by Grace VanDerwerker, Meyer brought the history book to an old local cemetery where soldiers from five different wars are buried. Meyer spent hours reading names from the gravestones and looking them up in her history book.
“The names and stories came alive there among the tombstones,” Meyer wrote. “I knew the gossip: who was highly respected, who were the doctors, the deacons, the soldiers, even who had been murdered. Somehow, I felt at home among all these personalities, as if I, too, am part of the long story of this land through which the river flows.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Meyer is a meditation teacher, “River Time” is also available as an unabridged visual audiobook that’s narrated by the author and accompanied by hundreds of still and moving images, as well as the occasional sound effect. The result is an immersive experience that is both soothing and pensive.
“I feel like the book is for nature lovers, people who have a mindfulness practice, or anyone who’s seeking peace and steadiness and sanctuary in daily life,” Meyer said. “I think of it like having a refuge that is bigger than whatever waves you’re experiencing, personally or collectively. A natural landscape that you can go to, and it can put things in perspective so that things don’t feel so big.”
“River Time” is available in both a premium full-color print edition and a visual audiobook edition at the author’s website, SusanTaraMeyer.com.
Photo of the 2025 Saratoga Springs High School football team at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse via player Cam Toomey’s X account.
SYRACUSE — It was a bittersweet title game; a loss that ended a season that some will remember for years to come.
For only the second time in program history, the Saratoga Springs varsity football team competed in a state championship game. Their opponent, Syracuse’s hometown Christian Brothers Academy (CBA), hadn’t lost a game in more than two years. Yet, at the JMA Wireless Dome last Saturday night, the Class AA championship was within Saratoga’s grasp.
The first glimmers of hope emerged in the second quarter, when the Blue Streaks put together a 7-minute drive against CBA’s relentless defense, battling ferociously to move the chains. The concluding play of the drive, a fourth down pass into the end zone that slipped through the intended receiver’s fingers, left Saratoga scoreless heading into halftime.
With a 21-point deficit, the Blue Streaks entered the third quarter determined not to be summarily dispatched by two-time title-winners CBA. A 23-yard pass to wideout Gavin Lafrance signaled a momentum shift, resulting in a series of plays that inched the Blue Streaks closer to the goal line. After a pass was deflected, Saratoga was faced with 4th and 7. Going for it, the squad’s state-leading rusher Benjamin Coryea caught a pass and found the end zone, putting the first points on the board for Toga. Kicker Olivia Mancini missed the extra point kick—had the ball sailed between the goalposts, Mancini would’ve become the first girl to score a point in a New York State championship football game.
Saratoga’s defense then emphatically entered the chat. Defensive end Cam Toomey came up with a big sack in the third quarter, forcing CBA to punt on 4th and 17 and giving the Blue Streaks another shot at narrowing the Brothers’ lead.
Quarterback Bobby Morris did his best Josh Allen impression when he recovered a fumbled snap, evaded three CBA defenders, and then hurled the pigskin to receiver Jaden Lockrow for a first down that landed Saratoga back in the red zone.
In the opening moments of the final quarter, Morris connected with Lafrance once again, this time for a touchdown. An attempted two-point conversion resulted in a completed pass that fell short of the end zone, leaving the score 21-12 with less than a dozen minutes left to play.
This 9-point deficit, however, was as close as Saratoga would come to evening the score. After a huge defensive stop yielded another turnover on downs, the Blue Streaks struggled to maintain their offensive momentum. Morris got sacked at the 1 yard line, narrowly avoiding a safety. Then a completion to Lockrow was brought back after a personal foul was called on the receiver. Faced with 4th and 17 on their own 5 yard line, Saratoga was forced to punt.
A subsequent 4-yard touchdown run by CBA would prove to be the fatal blow. The Brothers began to widen the gap, later earning a pick-6 and walking away with their third-straight championship. The final score: CBA 41, Saratoga 12.
Overall, CBA’s dominant defense proved insurmountable for Saratoga, even with the state’s leading rusher in a Blue Streak uniform. The Brothers have won 41 straight games, and it’s a small miracle that Saratoga held its own against a high school football juggernaut.
After the loss, some Blue Streaks took to social media to share their thoughts.
“[The] state championship game didn’t end how we wanted, but I am very thankful to my teammates, coaches, and community for getting us here and being one of the best teams in program history,” said Toomey.
“Unfortunate ending to my Saratoga football career last night with the State Championship loss to CBA, but extremely grateful for all my coaches and teammates who I was able [to] make history with,” added tight end Josh Simon.
Overall, the Blue Streaks finished the season 11-3, their best record in years.
Coryea concluded his standout season with more rushing yards than any other running back in the state. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was also named Section 2’s Player of the Year.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Anthony Weaver, a Saratoga Springs native and member of the Blue Streak Hall of Fame, is among the NFL’s top head coaching candidates, says Dianna Russini, senior NFL insider for The Athletic/New York Times.
“Expect these assistant coaches to garner serious looks in the upcoming coaching cycle,” Russini wrote before listing Weaver, who is currently the Miami Dolphins’ defensive coordinator. “Since 2011, at least five head-coaching vacancies have popped up each cycle. Right now? Only two teams have openings: the Giants and Titans. That number will go up… Coaches have about a month left, maybe through the playoffs, to prove they can handle the big seat.”
The Dolphins are currently 6-7 this season but have won four straight games, keeping them on the brink of playoff contention alongside the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, and Indianapolis Colts. Defensively, the team is roughly middle-of-the-pack in several key metrics: They’re ranked 19th in yards allowed per game, 15th in sacks, and 18th in turnover ratio. During their four-game winning streak, however, the Dolphins have limited their opponents to 17 points or less in each contest.
Before being hired by Miami, Weaver attracted interest from several teams (including the New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears) for then-vacant head coaching jobs. His resume includes coaching stints with the New York Jets, Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Baltimore Ravens.
Saratoga Central Catholic basketball player Sophia Ryan celebrates with her family after scoring her 1,000th career point in a game against Lake George on Dec. 4. Photo provided by Athena DiLorenzo-Ryan.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — It’s been 45 years since the 1,000 career points threshold was crossed, but Sophia Ryan didn’t do it alone.
From the sidelines, Saratoga Central Catholic basketball coach Athena DiLorenzo-Ryan witnessed history being made by a girl who is both her star player and her daughter.
“When she was going up for that last shot, I just had this exhilarating feeling come over me as a mother,” DiLorenzo-Ryan said. “As a coach, it’s great to see that big milestone for her… I didn’t want to show too much emotion as a mother. I think if I was out in the stands, I might have shed some tears.”
On Dec. 4, Ryan scored her 1,000th point as a high school basketball player in a victorious home opener against Lake George. The last time someone achieved that feat was in 1980, when Patti King finished her career with 1,031 total points. As of press time, Ryan was only 5 points away from breaking that all-time record. But don’t expect too much fanfare when it happens. Ryan and her coach/mom are laser-focused on winning.
“We’ll just pat her on the back and say, ‘Congratulations,’” DiLorenzo-Ryan said. “She knows she’s got bigger fish to fry now. We’ve got some big games coming up, so [we’ve] got to refocus.”
Ryan wants to ensure her team finishes the season with a winning record, stays competitive against bigger schools, and works hard in practice. Although adept at scoring, Ryan seeks to contribute to her team in other ways; some stat-driven, others more intangible. As a leader, she offers advice and inspiration. As a player, she contributes by racking up assists, rebounds, and steals. “I like to try to make the right play every single time,” she said.
Ryan admires basketball players who maintain their composure during tense or exciting moments. “Cool under pressure” seems to be her mantra. But another source of inspiration is closer to home. “[My mom] is definitely someone that I want to play like,” Ryan said.
Having a parent as a coach is “definitely hard at times,” Ryan said, “but she’s always there to support me, on and off the court.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Neither snow nor sleet could stop Noah’s Italian from delivering on its opening night, which saw the new Phila Street eatery more stuffed than a conchiglioni.
Packed with a boisterous crowd, the highly anticipated Italian chophouse that features handmade pastas by Chef Danny Petrosino (of Osteria Danny fame) rolled out a menu that included early favorites like fried mom’s spaghetti, mezzi rigatoni, K.D.’s chicken parm, and hand-selected USDA Prime steaks. The dishes were served on plates that a server said were made by the same company that provides dishware to the White House.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given Chef Noah Frese’s background at the track-adjacent Siro’s, a few notable names in horse racing were among the opening night attendees (trainer Chad Brown, jockey Katie Davis, and former jockey Trevor McCarthy, to be specific).
Noah’s now joins several new establishments that have created something of a restaurant renaissance on Phila Street. Nearby are Familiar Creature, a wine bar from the owners of Hamlet & Ghost; Standard Fare, the latest venture from the duo behind Bocage Champagne Bar; and Fillies on Phila, a casual wood-fired pizza joint.
Noah’s is located at 43 Phila and is open Tuesday through Sunday.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — If you’re looking for Broadway’s newest bookstore, look up.
Botanica Books hovers above downtown Saratoga, a couple flights of stairs removed from the shoppers, drinkers, and gallivanters.
“I wanted something that felt a little bit off the beaten path, something that people might be curious about,” said Botanica’s owner and manager Carissa Mina. “The foot traffic has been great… Booklovers will go as far as they need to see a bookshop.”
The short climb is rewarded with a boutique-style store that looks more like a treehouse than Tree House Brewing: a plant’s tendrils fall between two bookshelves; a floral rug rests beneath two green cushioned armchairs; and a bird named Stevie Nicks is perched above the patrons. (Yes, Botanica has its own pet bird named after the witchy singer-songwriter.)
If the arboreal vibes aren’t enough to lure you in, the shop differentiates itself from other Broadway booksellers with its special-interest titles that cover literature, art, antiquity, botany, history, religion, politics, and more.
“I think my distinct personality would be that I love to read and I love to learn, and I really wanted to have a bookshop [where] all the books in it are books that I’m really interested in reading or learning from,” Mina said. “People can come in and find something that maybe they weren’t looking for and that they might have an interest in reading or learning about.”
Mina is a New York native (Niagara Falls, to be exact) who moved back to the great Upstate after living in Colorado, where she owned and operated a children’s bookshop called The Wandering Jellyfish. She’s also a writer herself and was active in Colorado’s wordsmith scene. After journeying back to New York, she hoped to recreate that community here in the Spa City. To that end, Botanica offers itself as a meeting place for writing workshops, book clubs, classes, and other small gatherings.
“Writers, we’re a lonely bunch,” Mina said. “I missed my community and [wanted] to give writers a reason to get together.”
Although Botanica only recently opened, local authors are already drawn to it. Saratoga Schaefer—a self-described “author, poet, and graveyard dweller” who is both named after Saratoga Springs and now lives in the area—stopped by Mina’s shop with an advanced copy of the forthcoming horror novel “Trad Wife.”
“It’s fantastic,” Mina said of the Schaefer book that’ll be out in February. “I love a good horror book.”
Lovers of good books of all kinds can stop by Botanica Books at 456 Broadway, Suite 302. It’s open Thursday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Those interested in using Botanica as a meeting place for book clubs or writing workshops can contact the store at hello@botanicabooks.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Scenes of deadly demonstrations, dog fights, and collapsed schools provided glimpses of social problems in post-Mao China that underground filmmakers hoped to spotlight.
The images were presented by Paul Pickowicz—a professor of history and Chinese studies at the University of California, San Diego—at Skidmore College on Monday night as part of a lecture designed to “challenge the assumption that all early 21st-century Chinese films were government-produced.”
Pickowicz certainly achieved his objective, showing a wide array of excerpts from independent films produced by non-state filmmakers that explored themes of identity, migration, and protest. Many of these filmmakers aimed to expose government wrongdoing and push back against state-sanctioned narratives.
“In 1953, shortly after the revolution, the Mao state nationalized all filmmaking,” Pickowicz explained in his lecture. “No more private sector filmmaking was allowed after 1953. All films were made by the state, and so only the voice of the state could be heard. That went on for multiple decades. But with the post-Mao reforms, something called independent, non-state films could be made… This began around 1990 and it peaked in the early 2000s… I think it was the high point of this particular moment in the history of Chinese filmmaking. Lots of very remarkable stuff was made.”
Among the topics explored in the films were the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests (known in China simply as “June 4th”), the Sichuan schools corruption scandal, child trafficking, and extreme academic pressure.
Although filmmakers were successful in creating these movies, their work doesn’t exist on official websites or streaming services in China, Pickowicz said. It’s been the task of younger, tech-savvy cinephiles to upload the films to the hidden corners of the internet.
Today, independent Chinese filmmakers still face many obstacles. Last month, according to an NPR report, a New York-based film festival that showcased Chinese filmmakers was abruptly canceled. The festival’s organizer blamed the Chinese government, saying it pressured participating filmmakers to back out of the festival.
But at Skidmore, independent Chinese protest films could be viewed by anyone curious enough to drop by Palamountain Hall.
Pickowicz’s lecture was sponsored by the Central Humanities New York Corridor, as well as Skidmore’s History Department and The Frances Young Tang ‘61 Program in Asian Studies. Like many Skidmore events, it was free and open to the public.
Saratoga Springs celebrates its 2025 Section 2 Class AA football championship, while Schuylerville repeats as 2025 Section 2 Class C champs. Photos via Section 2 Athletics.
MIDDLETOWN — For only the second time in the team’s history, the Blue Streaks football squad is headed to the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse to compete in a state title game.
Saratoga Springs will vie for the Class AA championship against the undefeated, Syracuse-based Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) on Saturday.
To earn their shot, the Blue Streaks first had to vanquish Mamaroneck in the semifinals. They did it, with a final score of 28 to 14, by earning three touchdowns in the first quarter, creating a deficit the Tigers couldn’t overcome. In that contest, quarterback Bobby Morris completed all 5 of his pass attempts for 94 yards and a touchdown. On the receiving end of the 55-yard touchdown completion was junior wideout Gavin Lafrance.
The run game, per usual with standout back Benjamin Coryea, was exceptional. Coryea rushed for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns on 19 carries. Morris added 5 carries, 35 yards, and a rushing touchdown of his own. Also clutch in the contest, nailing all four extra point attempts, was kicker Olivia Mancini, who is currently ranked 13th in the state in PAT kicks made and 20th in total kicking points.
The next hill to climb will be a steep one for Saratoga. CBA Syracuse hasn’t lost a game since Nov. 13, 2023. They are 12-0 this season and finished 14-0 the past two seasons. A Blue Streak victory would be unexpected, but then again, the team’s entire season has been one big, successful surprise.
Elsewhere in high school football postseason play, the reigning Section 2 Class C champion Schuylerville Black Horses were felled by the Bronxville Broncos, 49 to 16, in the state semifinals. The Horses mounted a fourth-quarter comeback attempt, racking up 16 points in the final stanza, but it was too little too late for a team overwhelmed by Bronxville’s steady stream of touchdowns.
For Schuylerville, quarterback Ben VanVegthen tossed for 126 yards and a touchdown, adding 42 rushing yards. On the ground, junior Blake Cumm led his team’s rushing efforts, scooping up 52 yards and a touchdown on 9 carries.
The loss to Bronxville snapped the Horses’ 22-game win streak. Their season ended with an 11-1 record.
