MALTA — Podcast production company Bright Sighted Media has moved its studio from downtown Saratoga Springs to the Innovation Center at Saratoga in Malta.
“This all happened in a short amount of time and we are so grateful to everyone who helped us with the move,” Bright Sighted said in a social media post. “We’re looking forward to creating with the Innovation Center to continue helping creators and entrepreneurs do their thing.”
The company has produced a number of local podcasts, including “Destination Saratoga: All Access,” which premiered its second season in January and is hosted by Discover Saratoga’s MacKenzie Zarzycki; the recently-launched “Good Stuff,” hosted by Bright Sighted Founder Christine O’Donnell and guest hosted by Saratoga Arts’ Spencer Sherry; “The Other 3 Years,” hosted by Saratoga Olympic rower Kristi Wagner; “Afternoon Tea at Pantry Hill,” hosted by Saratogian Darien Rozell; and the real estate-focused “Selling Saratoga.”
The Innovation Center at Saratoga—a makerspace and community collaboration space designed to support inventors, creators, and innovators—opened in June of last year. The center is stocked with a variety of tools and equipment, including 3D printers; computer workstations with object modeling and graphic design; woodworking stations; digital photography software; embroidery and sewing machines; creative pods; and offices. It’s located at 16 Old Stonebreak Road.
A tree-tapping ceremony at Hop City Maple in Ballston Spa celebrated the beginning of New York’s maple season in 2024. Photo by Super Source Media for Saratoga TODAY.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — March is Maple Month in New York State, and the nation’s second-biggest maple producer is ready to party.
New York’s 2,000-plus maple sugar makers produced 829,000 gallons of the sticky substance in 2025, and the state has the largest resource of tappable maple trees in America.
To celebrate these sweet achievements, Maple Weekends will be held on March 21-22 and March 28-29.
“Maple Weekend is a tradition and celebration we all look forward to, especially after a snowy winter,” New York State Maple Producers Association Executive Director Helen Thomas said in a press release from the governor’s office. “For the 160 farms taking part in Maple Weekend, it’s an opportunity for them to open their doors and share the skill and passion behind what they do… Every participating farm offers an educational presentation or a demonstration, showing firsthand how maple syrup and maple products are made. For visitors, there’s nothing like tasting fresh maple syrup right from the source.”
Here’s a roundup of local maple-related events occurring this weekend and next.
• Hop City Maple in Ballston Spa is inviting people to experience the world of maple on both Maple Weekends. See the sap run down the tubing system to where the maple syrup comes out in the evaporator. Taste maple sap along with all the end products: maple syrup, candies, lollipops, maple fudge, and more. Pet the GOATs, taste maple, drink beer, and eat crepes. Dickinson Delight’s will be there serving their crepes and other food. Dancing Grain Brewery will be on site offering their farm craft brews, all New York grown and certified. Saratoga Wild Roots’ certified wild mushroom forager will be there as well.
• Twin Leaf Farms in Greenfield Center will host a special New York State Maple Weekend event on March 21 and 22. The family-friendly event will include a $5 pancake breakfast, guided farm tours, live maple-making demonstrations in the sugarhouse, local vendors, and live music. Guests can learn about the traditions and modern processes of maple sugar making, explore working farms, and taste maple products straight from the source.
• Sugar Oak Farms in Malta will be celebrating both Maple Weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. See firsthand how maple syrup is made, from tree to table. There will be fresh maple coffee, free samples of maple syrup, and all of the farm’s products will be available for purchase. At the sugar house, chat with “Sap Commander” Erich to hear more about the family operation. Events include: 12 p.m. tapping demonstration, 1 p.m. sawmill demonstration, and a 2 p.m. sugarbush walk.
• Maple Valley Farm in Corinth will feature live music by Keanen Stark and Orion Kribs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its 30th annual Maple Open House, occurring both Maple Weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Take part in maple tours and learn how the 6th generation farm makes maple syrup from tree to table. Visitors can also enjoy a pancake breakfast, featuring the farm’s pure maple syrup, as well as lunch items. Kids can enjoy pony rides, and there will be a variety of local vendors offering unique goods and treats.
• Taste NY at the Adirondacks Welcome Center in Queensbury will feature Maple Bingo and will offer weekly maple product sampling on Thursdays in March from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. They will also host an event, ‘From Sap to Syrup,’ on March 20 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event will allow attendees to sample maple products, such as sap water, light syrup, dark syrup, maple sugar, and a hard maple cube, from local producers Wild Hogs Sugar Shack and Holly & Vine Farm & Winery. In addition, the Adirondacks Welcome Center will have educational and interactive displays, and samples of maple lattes and locally made maple hot cocoa, which will also be sold on site.
West Ave Pizza owner Mario Cardenas listens to Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford read a proclamation celebrating the pizzeria’s five-year anniversary. Photo by Aidan Cahill.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Springs Mayor John Safford officially proclaimed March 10 (stylized as Mar10 or “Mario”) to be West Ave Pizza Day in a small ceremony held at the pizzeria on Tuesday afternoon.
Safford read from a proclamation written in honor of the pizza shop’s owner, Mario Cardenas.
“West Avenue Pizza has achieved tremendous popularity in our city and across our region, offering its enthusiastic customers a menu that now includes pizza, chicken, Guatemalan dishes, and other specialties,” the mayor said. “It is just as well known for its charitable and philanthropic efforts and support of many organizations in our community. It’s a great example of a local pizzeria and restaurant gaining wide exposure and a wide following through dedication and initiative.”
West Ave Pizza has been owned and operated by Cardenas and his family since June 2021.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — There is an air of mystery to creating a successful podcast. The conversations and content have to be interesting, of course. But the hosts also need a special rapport, an “it” factor, a je ne sais quoi (if you will) to keep their listeners engaged.
Former WTEN/News10 ABC anchor Noel McLaren and restaurateur Zac Denhan (co-owner of Standard Fare and Bocage Champagne Bar) had been friends for a year or two before they launched the “Off Track Saratoga Podcast” earlier this month.
McLaren has a boatload of experience being on camera and mic’d up. Denham is a self-described “recovering musical theater performer.” United, the two easily weave their way through conversations that can begin with a debate over the spelling and pronunciation of “kerfuffle” to a sincere chat about the realities of doing business in the Spa City.
“I think Zac and I are used to, in our lives, having some kind of script or some kind of, at least, an outline for how things are going to go,” McLaren told Saratoga TODAY. “We’ve found that what works best for us is to literally just go off on tangents, and we talk about things that are going on and each other, and that’s how we get our best material.”
The “Off Track” hosts exhibit a gift for gab that is hard to replicate. The conversations are meant to feel inviting and casual, as if you, the listener, have just stumbled across two friends conversing over cocktails and pulled up a chair to join them. That friendly vibe is partly achieved by producing episodes outside of a formal studio space. (One day, Saratogians might even spot an episode of “Off Track” being recorded on a front porch on Broadway.)
The podcast’s informal aura was matched on its first episode by guest Daniel Chessare, the owner of Saratoga’s Broadway Deli and Bibulous. Chessare unexpectedly found himself at the center of town gossip recently after a public exchange on Facebook with Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce President Todd Shimkus. In between some censored vocabulary, Chessare, Denham, and McLaren discussed everything from dealing with tourists to the impact of the Saratoga Race Course to Spa City “propaganda” (Chessare’s term).
“As soon as everything went down with Dan and the County Chamber, we were like, ‘Let’s jump in on this and get it while it’s relevant,’” Denham said.
“The second I saw people caring about something in the community, sirens went off, light bulbs went off, and I said, ‘Well, we’ve got to talk about this,’” McLaren said. “Everything we talk about on our show is going to be newsworthy. It’s going to be stuff that is impacting people in our area, and that was something that is impacting people.”
Although the second episode’s guest was Trinity Mouzon (whose family owned the Mouzon House restaurant), the pod won’t only feature local business owners. One future guest, for example, was a contestant on “America’s Next Top Model.” Potential future or dream guests could include Saratoga socialite Michele Riggi (“Where did she go?” wondered McLaren), Opera Saratoga’s Mary Birnbaum, and track WAGs (the wives and girlfriends of horse trainers). But some episodes won’t have any guests at all, and, ultimately, the hosts hope that their podcast becomes part of the community, which means incorporating the voices and ideas of their listeners.
“As long as people tune in and stay engaged, I’m willing to be engaged as well,” Denham said. “I would love to see [the podcast] reach as far and wide as it can. We want to keep this podcast rooted in Saratoga, but we definitely are talking about things that are culturally relevant.”
“I feel like something that got exhausting as a journalist to hear was, ‘Oh, the media just spins things’ and ‘The big bad media’ and ‘Big bad journalists,’” McLaren said. “I feel like my gift as a reporter has always been [that] I’m approachable. I want this to feel like a table that everybody can pull a chair up to… If I successfully create something that everybody feels like they can come to and have fun with and enjoy, and I’m also informing them and giving them information about the community, then I have succeeded in continuing the important work of reporting.”
The first two episodes of the “Off Track Saratoga Podcast” are currently available on Spotify and Apple.
New Saratoga Film Forum logo provided by Spencer Sherry.
Photo of Saratoga Arts’ newly renovated theater via the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Film Forum is being revived and will return to Saratoga Arts on April 9.
This means that for the first time since the early days of the pandemic, locals will be able to munch popcorn and gaze at independent films here in the Spa City. They’ll do it inside a newly-renovated theater replete with an updated projector and sound system. They might even, to paraphrase Nicole Kidman’s famous AMC ad, witness dazzling images on a silver screen with sound they can feel.
Every Thursday night for at least 12 weeks, an independent film will be screened inside Saratoga Arts’ 110-seat theater. One of the first films will be A24’s “Sorry, Baby,” the Sundance-premiering, Golden Globe-nominated tale of a reclusive college professor that was helmed by, written by, and stars Eva Victor.
“I heard stories about the [Saratoga Film Forum] and people were kind of clamoring for it,” said Spencer Sherry, who works at Saratoga Arts, runs the Saratoga Film Showcase, and presides over the 518 Film Network. “Ever since working [at Saratoga Arts], I’d get questions about it all the time, then decided to figure out how to get it back up and running with a structure that works and makes sense.”
The first iteration of the Saratoga Film Forum began in 1993, when an alliance of Saratogians decided their hometown needed a theater that would screen harder-to-find indie flicks not already viewable at multiplexes. Today, with Hollywood forever altered by the rise of streaming services, enticing moviegoers to actually leave their homes can be a tall order. But the success of the recent Saratoga Film Showcase (also held at Saratoga Arts) proved there’s an appetite for both independent films and locally produced work.
One unique way the revamped Film Forum will hope to sell tickets is by collaborating with Joseph Masher, the CEO of Scene One Entertainment, which owns the movie theater inside the Wilton Mall. Sherry described Masher as a “friend” who has been “really, really good to the local film scene.” Scene One will be a promotional partner with the Film Forum, Sherry said. The two cinemas will advertise each other’s screenings, and at each Film Forum event, two free tickets to Scene One will be raffled off. The partnership works, in part, because the two theaters will screen different types of films.
“We both agree that we have kind of different audiences between the mall and downtown,” Sherry said. “So, if there’s any way that we can help each other get each other’s audiences to maybe favor Scene One over AMC, make that little extra trek and support someone local instead of a giant chain, then [I’d] just love to help any way I can.”
In addition to Sherry and Masher, some of the other local film fans working behind the scenes to resurrect the Forum include Amy Godine, who served on the Forum’s board from 1993 to 2016; Field Horne, an acting director/curator for the Saratoga County History Center; Amy Bloom, executive director of Saratoga Arts; and Susan Bokan, who made a sizeable donation.
“The support seemed to really be there, and we had a team of people that were saying, ‘We’ll form a programming committee. We will volunteer on the day. We’ll do the popcorn.’ So, it felt like we had enough support to give it a swing,” Sherry said.
With a team and theater in place, expect to see an array of narrative films, foreign flicks, documentaries, and perhaps locally made shorts. The Film Forum will also aim to book in-person appearances, from either people who worked on the films being screened, or from experts and academics who can speak about the topic of a documentary being screened.
Those interested in the Film Forum’s offerings can purchase a $100 membership pass that’ll be good for the first 12 films/weeks of programming. Individual tickets for each screening will be $10 apiece. For these tickets and future film announcements, keep an eye on the Saratoga Arts website and Facebook page.
“I think that this is a huge step in service of bringing back a film culture here, making this a really great place to live and to see independent stuff,” Sherry said.
Photo of the 2025 Saratoga Springs High School football team at the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse via the Saratoga Springs City School District.
VERONA — The New York State High School Football Coaches Association presented Saratoga Springs’ Eric Hayden with its Section 2 Class AA Coach of the Year award at a banquet last Friday. The event was held at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Oneida County.
“This does not happen without my assistant coaches,” Hayden said in a social media post. “I’m lucky to be in a school district that supports our football program. Thank you to all the great players I’ve had the pleasure to coach as you made this award come true. Special thanks to my wife Danielle for being the rock at home and supporting me in my coaching journey.”
In 2025, Hayden’s varsity football squad competed in a state championship game for only the second time in program history. The Blue Streaks finished the season 11-3, their best record in years.
Hayden joined Saratoga as its new head coach in 2023.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced Tuesday the return of Belmont Toast the Turn, a hospitality experience during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival on Friday, June 5, and Saturday, June 6 at Saratoga Race Course.
Featuring a capacity of up to 200 guests per day, the Belmont Toast the Turn tented hospitality area will be located along the Clubhouse turn to provide fans with a premium vantage point of horses rounding the first turn. Each ticket will include general admission to Saratoga Race Course, admission to Belmont Toast the Turn, and two alcoholic beverages, with additional drinks available for purchase throughout the day. The area will also feature food trucks offering a variety of options for purchase during the afternoon. The hospitality space will also include mutuel bay terminals, televisions, and restrooms. Tickets may be purchased at gofevo.com/group/BSRFtoastturnG.
NYRA also recently announced ticket and hospitality on-sale dates for the 2026 summer meet at Saratoga, which will open on Friday, July 3 and continue through Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 7.
Season tickets will go on sale on Thursday, March 12 for the 46-day summer meet and include reserved seating in the Clubhouse, Grandstand, and Michelob Ultra Stretch. Season ticket holders can enjoy the same guaranteed seat throughout the summer, including Whitney Day and Travers Day. Season tickets and season passes may be purchased online at NYRA.com/Saratoga/Tickets.
Full-space group hospitality reservations will be available beginning at 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 5 for 1863 Club Suites, as well as for the Paddock Suite and Spa Verandas presented by Casamigos. Reservations may be made by phone at 855-NYRA-123 or by email at premiumsales@nyrainc.com.
Tickets are also now on sale for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s 10th annual Kentucky Derby Party on Saturday, May 2. From 4 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the Derby-themed fundraiser will feature samplings of local brews and spirits, as well as signature bites from local restaurants. While exploring the Museum and its exhibits, guests can enjoy entertainment in the Hall of Fame before a live airing of the Kentucky Derby. An award for the most fashionable-themed attire will be presented before post time. There will also be a photobooth, live music, a sticker machine, a race-day-inspired 50/50 raffle, and a silent auction. Tickets may be purchased at: https://1049a.blackbaudhosting.com/1049a/10th-Annual-Derby-Party-Fundraiser.
BARRE, VERMONT — After emerging from the first quarter with a five-point deficit, the Saratoga Racers rebounded in their first game of the East Region Blue Division playoffs, finishing with a 148 to 114 victory against the Vermont Coyotes.
The Racers will now advance to the second round of the ABA postseason, where they’ll face the New England Lightning on Sunday afternoon.
In Vermont, Saratoga point guard and All-Star nominee Donovan Williams led his squad with 35 points, 8 boards, 6 assists, and 4 steals on 12-for-17 shooting. Cam Thomas netted 31 points, draining a whopping 8 of 10 attempts from beyond the arc. Saratoga standout John Ryals also added 20 points and 8 rebounds to help secure the W.
Anderson Baird at the state meet in Ithaca. Photo provided by Elizabeth Baird.
ITHACA — Saratoga Springs High School swimmer Anderson Baird had a spectacular showing at the state championships in Ithaca last weekend.
Baird returned home as the New York State public and federation title holder in the 200 individual medley, earning him automatic All American status with a winning time of 1:48:81. The Section 2 sportsmanship winner also placed fourth overall in the 100 breaststroke with an All-America consideration time of 55:73.
Four additional Blue Streaks competed at states. Preston Arnold swam the 100 butterfly individual event. The 200 medley relay team of Baird, Loic Goffioul, Jordan Nyatome, and Arnold earned a spot in the bonus final and placed 24th overall in the state. The 400 freestyle relay team of Baird, Arnold, Goffioul, and Magnus Lohse placed 20th overall in the bonus final.
The Saratoga Springs boy’s varsity swim team is coached by Bill Asay.
At last year’s state championships, Baird placed fourth in the 200 individual medley with a school record-breaking time of 1:50:72. He also placed seventh in the 500 freestyle with another school record-breaking time of 4:38:70.
The Lady Saints basketball team had a .500 winning percentage when they fought for their first-ever Section 2 Class D championship. The team had suffered misfortunes that included bouts with the flu, an injured ankle, and mono. But those obstacles weren’t enough to stop a squad determined to make history.
“We were clearly the underdog in a lot of ways, but we didn’t let that affect us going in,” Coach Athena DiLorenzo-Ryan told Saratoga TODAY. “You’re on a high when you’re winning, but then when you go on some type of losing streak, I think the important thing is to look ahead to better days and keep working hard in the gym, keeping your head held high. I try to instill that in them. This isn’t over. We’ve got to keep pushing through. And that’s what happened.”
On March 7, Saratoga Catholic narrowly defeated the two-time defending champions Northville, 43 to 41, in a game that was decided in its final moments. The victory clinched the Lady Saints’ first sectional title in program history.
Sophia Ryan, who broke her school’s all-time scoring record earlier this season, led with 30 points. In other words, she netted almost 70% of her team’s point total. It was a dominant performance but an unsurprising one from a standout who once told Saratoga TODAY that she most admires players who can maintain their composure in big moments.
To secure the W, Lady Saints Leanna Scaperrotta, Lily Norton, Madison Norton, Maggie Durfee, and Margaret Crowe all added digits to the scoreboard.
“I just told these girls, look what you’ve done, it’s totally amazing,” DiLorenzo-Ryan said. “They deserve it. They really do.”
