SARATOGA SPRINGS — Nothing Bundt Cakes, a specialty cake franchise with more than 600 locations nationwide, has come to Saratoga Springs.
The new shop, which took over the former Edible Arrangements location at 6 Lowes Drive near the Wilton Mall, is spearheaded by Colonie native Melissa Gleason, who said she fell in love with bundt cakes after her mother-in-law sent her one.
“I got to try, for the first time, white chocolate raspberry, which I absolutely love, and that kind of sold me,” Gleason said.
With her kids in school, Gleason decided the time was right to open up her own business. So in 2017, she opened Nothing Bundt Cakes’ first shop in New York State in Albany. Three years later came a location in Clifton Park. Now there’s one in Saratoga. Another outpost in North Greenbush is next on the agenda.
“Albany really took off. We’re actually still one of the biggest bakeries in our region. It just kind of encouraged us to open up more stores to spread it out and take some pressure off that bakery,” Gleason said.
The Saratoga bakery had a soft opening in late March, and is now officially celebrating its launch with a series of events this weekend. Friday, April 11 is both the official ribbon cutting and AIM Services Benefit Day, when 20% of sales will be donated to an organization that supports people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. On Saturday, April 12, the first 50 guests age 18+ will receive a Free Bundtlets for a Year punch card valid for one personal-sized Bundtlet per month for 12 months.
Nothing Bundt Cakes is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, visit nothingbundtcakes.com.
“Destination Saratoga” podcast host MacKenzie Zarzycki with guest Cate Masterson, director of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. Photo via Discover Saratoga.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau (commonly known as Discover Saratoga) is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, but that doesn’t mean its eyes are solely focused on the past. The organization is using popular forms of new media (such as a podcast launched last year and partnerships with social media stars) to help bring tourists to Saratoga County.
The “Destination Saratoga” podcast, hosted by Discover Saratoga’s vice president of marketing and communications MacKenzie Zarzycki, has thus far showcased local luminaries from institutions like Caffe Lena, Hattie’s, the Saratoga Arms Hotel, and Putnam Place. Zarzycki has also interviewed Brit McAdams, the director of “Paint,” a dramedy starring Owen Wilson that was shot primarily in Saratoga Springs; and Cate Masterson, director of the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame (Masterson’s episode is set to premiere on April 11).
“I run into people occasionally in town, and people are recognizing [the podcast] and talking about it,” Zarzycki said. “We’re starting to have sponsors come to us now which is really exciting, especially since we’ve only been live since January.”
The podcast kicked off with a live episode shot on the front porch of the Saratoga Arms during the New Year’s Eve celebration downtown. Other (pre-recorded) episodes have been hosted at the Bright Sighted podcast studio, at Caffe Lena, and at the National Museum of Racing.
Zarzycki said that Discover Saratoga started the podcast so that stories about the community could reach both locals and visitors alike.
“My goal is to bring in different folks within the community who can tell stories, insider stories, talk about hidden gems, and share different experiences that locals and visitors might not be familiar with,” Zarzycki said.
Zarzycki also said she’s also working on a Belmont-themed episode that will hopefully feature some big names and drop right before the racing festival begins on June 4. One dream guest Zarzycki would like to get on the pod is Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, a frequent Saratoga Race Course visitor who is currently building a home on Fifth Avenue that borders the Oklahoma Training Track.
“He’s a huge supporter of Saratoga,” Zarzycki said.
Last year, Discover Saratoga was named the county’s official Tourism Promotion Agency. This meant that the organization shifted its focus from planning events to promoting any and all travel to Saratoga County. Thus, Discover Saratoga has been working with influencers within both traditional media and social media to try to draw attention to the area.
“It’s so hard to dictate exactly what [social media influencers] are going to post and what they’re going to share, but overall I feel like they cover 90% of the itineraries we create,” Zarzycki said. “All in all, I think their videos have been the most successful for us in terms of reach and engagement. Every time they post a video of their point of view or a day in Saratoga Springs, we seem to get a lot of viewers and a lot of new followers.”
In its first year as an official Tourism Promotion Agency, Discover Saratoga’s marketing efforts have reached over 13 million potential visitors, the agency said. Those visitors typically come from within a 3-hour radius of the Spa City. Top markets include the New York metropolitan area, Boston, Syracuse, Burlington, Rochester, Philadelphia, and Buffalo.
Next up for Discover Saratoga is the Belmont on Broadway celebration, which includes a free concert performed by a headlining act that will be revealed at a City Hall press conference on April 10. But the event isn’t just for incoming visitors hoping to catch a Triple Crown winner.
“We look at it as an opportunity to give back to the local community, to thank them for embracing the influx of tourists during a busy time,” Zarzycki said.
For more information on the “Destination Saratoga” podcast, or to watch episodes, visit www.discoversaratoga.org/destination-saratoga/.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Kerry Flaherty, a Saratoga native and graduate of Saratoga Springs High School, recently broke the Catholic University women’s basketball single-season three-point record by draining 82 triples in one season.
She was only the fifth player in Landmark Conference history to make more than 70 threes in a season.
Flaherty officially broke the record during a 17-point performance against Goucher in February.
Flaherty, a graduate student, finished the season averaging 11.3 points per game, with a .418 three-point percentage. She started in all 28 games she played in.
Prior to joining Catholic for the 2023-24 season, Flaherty played two seasons at Holy Cross. At Saratoga Springs High School, she scored 1,400 career points and was a four-time Suburban Conference All-Star.
She is currently earning her master’s degree in World Politics, after getting a bachelor’s in International Relations.
THE INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS PROGRAM& THE PRESIDENT’S OFFICE PRESENTS:
HOLDING NATIONS ACCOUNTABLE THROUGH INTERNATIONAL LAW? A CONVERSATION ON THE GLOBAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WITH PROFESSOR WILLIAM BURKE-WHITE
APRIL 9 (5PM) DAVIS AUDITORIUM
Criminal Actions by Governments all over the world are policed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the intent of keeping the world safe for humanity. Recent high-profile cases involving countries like Russia, Israel, South Africa, Myanmar, Iran and others have drawn attention to the courts’ jurisdiction, legitimacy and overall efficacy. Professor Burke-White will be engaging in a focused conversation with Professor Pushkala Prasad (MB & IA) where he will lay out the foundations of the international legal system and discuss its continuing relevance while alluding to specific recent cases.
William Burke-White has a JD from Harvard Law and a Ph.D. in International Relations from Cambridge University. He is currently a faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School where he teaches courses on international law, human rights and global legal governance. His research is at the intersection of international law and international relations and his focus has increasingly been on the international courts and tribunals. He has published widely in various law journals and is currently working on a book “The New Geography of Global Governance”.
Professor Burke-White has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and was a non-resident Fellow at Brookings Institute. He is also the founder and inaugural director of the Perry World House, an interdisciplinary policy think tank at UPenn. He served under the Obama Administration as a member of the Policy Planning Staff to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton. He has also worked in various capacities with the International Criminal Court and was an active participant in the Rwandan Genocide case that was presented to the court.
Please circulate this among students and anyone likely to be interested in this topic. This vent is being sponsored by the President’s Office.
We look forward to seeing you at the event.
Pushkala Prasad
Zankel Chair Professor of Management for Liberal Arts Students
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Pierce Byrne, a junior pitcher and hitter for Saratoga Central Catholic, has agreed to play college ball at Siena, Saints Coach Alphonse Lambert announced in a social media post last week.
“We’re all very proud of you Pierce,” Lambert wrote. “You worked very hard to get to this point. I believe the best is yet to come.”
Byrne is a 6’2” right hander from Warrensburg with a fastball that can hit 88 mph. In previous seasons, he’s posted ERAs as low as 0.48 and 0.82, racking up more than 200 strikeouts in the process. On Saturday, he crushed a walk-off home run in a Florida scrimmage game.
Byrne will be joining a program that has sent dozens of players to the majors. Currently, two Siena alum, Matt Gage and Brendan White, are pitchers for the Toledo Mud Hens, the AAA affiliate of the Detroit Tigers.
From left to right: Ballston Spa Superintendent of Schools Dr. Gianleo Duca, Petrina Zborovszky, Devin Hemraj, Gabrielle Bozeth, Coach Matt Germann, and School Board President Jason Fernau. Image via the district’s March 19 board meeting livestream.
BALLSTON SPA — Matt Germann, a coach for Ballston Spa High School’s indoor track program, celebrated his team’s “unbelievable” achievements at a March 19 Board of Education meeting.
Germann said that runners Devin Hemraj, Petrina Zborovszky, Kala’i Makanani, and Gabrielle Bozeth have broken a combined 40 school records.
In Section 2, which Germann called “the best running section in the state,” Bozeth and Zborovszky are ranked #3 in the 4×200 meter relay, #1 and #5 in the 200-meter dash, #1 and #4 in the 300-meter dash, and #1 and #2 in the 55 meters. They’re also top two in the 60-meter dash.
Bozeth, this season alone, broke the 55, 60, 200, and 300-meter school records. In the 55, she was 5th in the federation championships and 4th in the state. She was also #2 in both the state and federation championships in the 300.
In New York State, Bozeth is ranked #11 in the 4×2, #7 in the 55, #3 in the 60, and #2 in both the 200 and 300. She holds the all-time Section 2 records for the 60 and 300. At New Balance Nationals, she was #15 in the country in the 200-meter dash en route to breaking the school record.
Zborovszky has broken the 55-meter record four times this season. In the 55, she’s ranked #6 in the federation out of all public and private schools, and she’s ranked #5 among all New York public schools. Out of roughly 30,000 athletes in the state, Zborovszky is ranked #31 in the 300, #24 in the 200, #11 in the 4×2, #8 in the 55, and #6 in the 60.
Makanani is ranked #3 in the 200 and 400, and #1 in both the 300 and 600. Makanani also broke the 300 and 600 records this season.
Hemraj is ranked #1 overall in the entire state for the 60-meter hurdles.
“It’s been an absolute joy to coach them,” Germann said of his historic team. “It’s just amazing what these people have done.”
The cover of the 2019 edition of “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” written by Douglas J. Gladstone. Image via Word Association Publishers/Amazon.
HOUSTON, TEXAS — Douglas J. Gladstone, a freelance writer from Gansevoort, is advocating for retired MLB players who he says are getting stiffed out of pensions.
Gladstone discussed the issue, detailed in his book “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” at the Houston Public Library last Friday alongside two retired ballplayers, David Clyde and Scipio Spinks.
According to Gladstone, in 1980 the Major League Baseball Players’ Association (MLBPA) told MLB that they would strike unless their demands were met regarding a collective bargaining agreement. A strike was averted when the league’s negotiator approached Marvin Miller, who was the head of the players’ union, and made him the following offer: call off the strike and MLB will allow its players to be vested into the pension plan after just 43 game days on an MLB roster (the previous eligibility requirement was 4 years).
The offer was accepted, but the deal did not retroactively include players who were on an MLB roster for 43 game days prior to 1980. Thus, post-1980 players benefited from the new deal, but more than 500 other players, such as Clyde and Spinks, did not benefit because they played prior to 1980.
After the first edition of Gladstone’s book was released in 2010, MLB and the MLBPA announced that these pre-1980 players would begin receiving annual stipends. However, those payments, Gladstone said, are significantly less than those received by vested retirees. The stipend also doesn’t allow players to designate a beneficiary for when they pass away.
Gladstone, who described himself as a “pro-union man,” said he thought the MLBPA was “stiffing the pre-1980 players.”
“I’m pleading with you,” Gladstone said at the event in Houston, “to help me end this blight on the national pastime.”
By day, Gladstone is an assistant public information specialist with a public retirement system in New York. An updated edition of his book, “A Bitter Cup of Coffee,” was released in 2019. For more information on the book, or to view a comprehensive list of pre-1980, non-vested MLB players who do not receive pension or benefits, visit bittercupbaseball.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs School Board voted to approve a resolution that reaffirmed the district’s support for, among other things, DEI policies and transgender students’ ability to participate in sports consistent with their gender identity.
At a Mar. 27 meeting, seven board members voted in support of the resolution. One opposed it, and another abstained from voting.
Board member Dr. Connie Woytowich said she abstained due to the resolution being a “political act” that could create deeper division in the community and put the district at odds with federal regulations. Dean A. Kolligian Jr. was the lone “no” vote.
Board member Dr. Deborah Amory said the district’s lawyers reviewed the resolution prior to the vote and found it to be “certainly legal.” The lawyers recommended some minor edits to the resolution, which Amory and several other board members addressed.
Prior to the vote, students, parents, and community members offered their thoughts during public comment periods. Most speakers supported the resolution.
One transgender student said that the federal government was targeting trans people and that school board members who voted “yes” were “brave.”
A parent who opposed the resolution said that his daughter on a track and field team won’t compete due to transgender students being allowed to play on teams consistent with their gender identity.
A district resident who called the issue of transgender people in sports “touchy” and “not clear-cut,” said she still supported the resolution as a whole because kids “need to know” that grownups “have got their backs.”
A parent with two daughters in the district said swimming record times showed that biological male high schoolers significantly outperformed biological female college athletes. As a result, she called for delaying a vote on the sports-related section of the resolution.
Superintendent of Schools Dr. Michael Patton responded to comments about trans athletes, saying that the New York State Public High School Athletic Association has already established guidelines for transgender students that all districts in the state must follow. Those guidelines state that students should be placed on teams that most align with the student’s gender identity.
News of the resolution attracted national attention in the days preceding the vote, when the popular conservative X account “Libs of TikTok” accused the Saratoga Springs School District of supporting “radical gender ideology” in a post that garnered more than 237,000 views. The account also retweeted a post from the local conservative blog Moving Saratoga Forward that listed the names and emails of Saratoga School Board members.
The resolution, titled “Affirming Our Support for Every Student,” states, among other things, that the Board of Education would:
reaffirm its support for the district’s policy and regulation 0105 titled “Equity, Inclusivity, and Diversity in Education”;
uphold New York State laws safeguarding vulnerable populations and not comply with directives that violate civil rights protections;
affirm that every student has a right to an education regardless of immigration status, and that law enforcement officers may not question students on school property except under very specific conditions;
respect students’ chosen names and pronouns while also ensuring their right to use facilities and participate in activities and sports consistent with their gender identity.
The resolution appeared to be a clear attempt to combat several Trump administration policies that threaten to rescind federal funds from educational institutions that don’t comply with the president’s orders. According to Board Vice President Tony Krackeler, $3.1 million of the district’s 2024-25 budget came from the federal government. All of those funds, Krackeler said, are only amendable by an act of Congress.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Caputo’s Pizzeria, located near the Wilton Mall in Saratoga Springs, is currently undergoing renovations that will transform the eatery into a more formal dining establishment.
Caputo’s Trattoria will offer an “elevated dining experience” via its new “upscale,” expanded dining room and vestibule.
“Our grand opening of the expanded space is coming soon,” Caputo’s said in a Facebook post. “We continue to operate during renovations.”
Caputo’s is also looking for waitstaff, busers, and food runners. Interested applicants should contact or stop by the restaurant to apply.
Caputo’s is usually considered one of the best pizza joints in the Saratoga area. In 2018, Dave Portnoy, of Barstool Sports fame, gave the eatery an 8.1 rating (out of 10) during his “One Bite Pizza Review.”
QUEENSBURY — Former Saratoga Springs softball player Natalie Conroy recently won the National Junior College Athletic Association’s Region 3 Athlete of the Week Award for the week ending Mar. 16, going 15 for 25 at the plate in her debut season with the SUNY Adirondack softball team. She also hit a double, two triples, a home run, and stole 7 bases to earn the honor.
Conroy has had a superb season thus far, despite only being a freshman. In her first 8 games, she notched 18 hits in 30 at-bats for a .600 batting average, .647 on-base percentage, and a .933 slugging percentage.
Conroy is a right-hander who plays both shortstop and catcher. In addition to her time with the Saratoga Springs Blue Streaks, she also played for the Electric City Bombers National 18u team and she competed in the inaugural 518 Futures High School Softball Classic in 2024.
