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Free Public Advanced Screening of PBS Show Featuring Saratoga County Presented at UPH on April 22

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in News.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —A free advanced screening of PBS’ upcoming Revolutionary Road Trip episode featuring Saratoga County will take place 5:30 p.m. on Monday, April 22, at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga Springs. 

Produced by Travels with Darley in coordination with Saratoga: America’s Turning Point, Saratoga County Historian and Chair of the Saratoga County 250th Commission Lauren Roberts takes Emmy nominated host, producer, and writer, Darley Newman to fascinating local revolutionary sites and to some of the amazing amenities Saratoga County offers destination travelers during this Saratoga centric episode. 

In addition to the Saratoga Battlefield and historic sites, the episode highlights local businesses including Adirondack Trust Co., Caffe Lena, Hatsational, Hattie’s, Impressions, Morrisey’s, Olde Bryan Inn, Revolutionary Rail, Saratoga Apple, Saratoga Arms, Saratoga Tea & Honey, Stewart’s, and Walt & Whitman. 

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Heading into the nation’s 250th anniversary, Saratoga County’s Revolutionary Road Trip episode will air in 97% of PBS national markets, including WMHT in the Capital Region, this spring. It will continue to air and stream across multiple services in future years, promoting Saratoga County as a premier heritage tourism destination. 

To attend the screening at UPH, register at www.saratoga250.com. 

Start Time is 5:30 p.m., and the 25-minute episode screening will begin at 6:30 p.m. following brief introductory remarks. 

For more information about Saratoga: America’s Turning Point, visit www.saratoga250.com.

Henry Baker – Loyalist

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in History.

by Sue Thompson | Sponsored by The Saratoga County History Roundtable

Our home sits on a small knoll within sight of Round Lake on English Road in the town of Clifton Park. The house, a true “fixer-upper” was solid but plain, without ornamentation of the Victorian houses in the nearby village of Round Lake. Built of timber frame construction on a loose stone foundation, insulation was sparse, and wildlife roamed in and out of the house, especially in the kitchen as the north wall was porous. Whatever work we did, we used the mid-nineteenth century as a benchmark stylistically but suspected that the house might be older.

We replaced the small front porch in 2019 and during the building permit process it was suggested that we apply to the Clifton Park Historic Preservation Commission to determine if the house should be put on the town’s register of Historic Places. A deed search by the town historian led to the discovery that the original 100-acre farm lot was purchased in 1797 by Henry Baker (1747-1834), a farmer from Halfmoon and his wife Hannah. I had by then started to take archaeology courses locally and had acquired enough research skills to roughly date the artifacts I found in the yard while gardening. I started to search for Henry Baker and found that he had been a Loyalist that had settled in Halfmoon after the Revolutionary War.

The 1797 deed lists the grantor of Lot three as Janet Smith and Harriet, widow and daughter of the Honorable William Smith (18 June 1728-6 December 1793), Esquire, a Loyalist, chief Justice of the Province of Lower Canada and previously the Chief Justice of New York from 1780-1782. The sale was facilitated by Janet’s son and lawyer William Smith III who had appointed Stephan Baynard of the town of Schenectady to act as their attorney. The lot was sold for a purchase price of 190 pounds. Because the first half of Lot two of the Ninth allotment had been surveyed in 1790, the Baker family may have lived on the property before the purchase date. The tax roll for the Town of Halfmoon in 1786 and 1788 indicates that Henry lived in the town and paid a tax of two pounds both years. In 1786, he paid taxes on the value of his real estate and personal estate. He was taxed in 1788 on the value of his real estate which was described as a farm, though it’s not clear if there was a house on the property at the time. The 1790 Town of Halfmoon census lists eight people in the household.

Henry Baker (Hendrich Becker) was a Palatine German and his family were Loyalists. His father Bastian Becker owned a farm on the Schoharie Kill in Albany County at the time of Tory uprising in the Mohawk Valley. Henry was his oldest son and with his father and brother Conrad (Coenrat) participated in a skirmish known as the Flockey on 13 August 1777. It is considered to be the first time that the Continental Army mounted a cavalry charge. After the Tory defeat, all three Beckers/Bakers fled to Oswego, New York and enlisted 18 August 1777 in Sir John Johnson’s Kings Royal Regiment’s First Battalion. The particulars of the Baker family involvement in the Uprising are provided by various original sources which listed all three in a group of forty-three men led by John McDonell Scotus who were planning to join British Colonel Barry St. Leger in his march east to Albany.

In 1786, Bastion (who had died in 1779), Henry and Conradt Baker were indicted and convicted for crimes against the state of New York and the family farm was confiscated. Their involvement in the Schoharie Uprising is collaborated by an enlistment date five days afterwards in John McDonell’s company. It is also mentioned in the narrative that Henry provided, as his father’s oldest son, to justify his claims for reimbursement of the loss of his father’s farm when he filed for reparations from the British government on February 9, 1787 in Montreal.

Under oath, Baker and a witness Andrew Sommers stated that he abandoned his farm on the Schoharie Creek when the rebellion broke out. He swore that he had joined Sir John Johnson at Oswego where he “served all the War.” After producing his discharge, he stated that he lived in the Fifth Township. His father died in the King’s service at Carleton Island and he was at Isle a Noix in 1783. The claim included 40 acres of cleared land, household furnishings, stock animals, and the farm’s harvest of wheat, corn, peas, oats and Indian corn. Six guns and a spinning wheel completed the list which totaled up to 461 pounds, six pence in New York currency. Witness Andrew Sommers supported Henry Baker and added that he knew the claimant’s father Bastion (sic) Baker and that he and his two sons “joined the British at first.” Sommers went on to state that he knew the lands on Schoharie Creek, bought “long before the war” and the claimant was the oldest son. He added that the stock was good and the land was valuable.

The second claim Henry Baker made for reparations from the British Government was dated 2nd March 1788. Under oath, he stated that he was “late of Schoharry (sic) in the County of Albany in the late Province of New York” but he resided in the Province of Quebec from 15 May 1783 to 25 March 1784 “doing a soldier’s duty,” in the First Royal Yorkers under Sir John Johnson’s command. Because of his service he was not able to apply for compensation for his losses which he estimates to be the same amount, “461 pounds and 6 shillings in New York currency is Fair and True to the best of his knowledge.” The resolution to the matter is on the outside of the packet. It states that “Henry Baker is late of Schoharie in the County of Albany now of the Fifth Township 15 April 1786 and referred for claim 19 June 1787.” It is signed in expansive script “Hearde.”

Henry Baker sold the farm in 1814. He is buried in the Prospect Hill Cemetery in Schuylerville, New York, in the family plot that includes his wife Anna, who died in 1799, and their son William and his wife and children. The large monument sits on a grindstone possibly from a mill owned by William and is close to the Battle of Saratoga monument. Knowing how Henry Baker came to buy the Lot three by claiming reparations for his prosperous farm on the Schoharie Creek illustrates how some Loyalists lost much for their allegiance to their king but with compensation for their losses they were able to start anew. We remain grateful caretakers of his legacy. 

Contact The Saratoga County History Roundtable at: saratogacohistoryroundtable@gmail.com

Times Union Watch: Liberatore Misrepresents Arrest At Council Meeting

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Saratoga Springs Politics.

Wendy Liberatore and the Times Union have once again done a disservice to the public by this time publishing inaccurate information surrounding the removal from the Council chamber and arrest of a woman at the April 2, 2024, Saratoga Springs City Council meeting.

user_email=cbeatty@saratogapublishing.com&;encoded_url=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGltZXN1bmlvbi5jb20vbmV3cy9hcnRpY2xlL3dvbWFuLWFjY3VzZWQtZGlzb3JkZXJseS1jb25kdWN0LXNhcmF0b2dhLXNwcmluZ3MtMTkzODU3MjMucGhw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer” style=”border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;” data-auth=”NotApplicable” data-linkindex=”7″ data-ogsc=””>In an article in the April 4, 2024 edition of the Times Union Liberatore claimed that Mayor John Safford “could not keep the atmosphere calm” and erroneously reported that he asked the police to remove a woman who was being disruptive. This is not an accurate description of what occurred.

Arrest at Council Meeting Highlights Changes to Public Comment Protocol

In a way the April 2, 2024, City Council meeting was “deja vu all over again” as Yogi Berra once said. A 54-year-old white woman, who had previously participated with Saratoga Black Lives Matter in the disruption of Council meetings and been arrested, interrupted the public hearing on Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub’s paid parking proposal. Once again she grabbed the microphone and wouldn’t give it up, and among other things screamed at the Mayor to “shut up”. In the incident she was involved in under the previous administration, the meeting descended into chaos with additional arrests. Here’s how this recent incident was dealt with.

While as Mayor Safford told Wendy “you can’t legislate civility” you can put in place procedures that are designed to de-escalate a toxic situation should it arise. In this case, the procedures Safford and the Council have put in place allowed the person to calmly be removed and the meeting to continue without descending into chaos, more shouting, and dysfunction as has been the case in the past.

Arresting People Who Disrupt Meetings: It’s Complicated

Our city has struggled with the challenge of maintaining order in dealing with members of Black Lives Matter who have repeatedly disrupted City Council meetings for years now. Many have wondered why most persons arrested in the past for disruptive behavior at Council meetings have had their charges dismissed. To some extent, this can be attributed to the mishandling of these events by previous Council members.

The key here is distinguishing the roles of the Mayor who chairs the meeting and the police. If a person behaves in a manner that violates the policies established by the Council, the Mayor has the authority to rule the individual out of order. This behavior could include, for example, a person refusing to relinquish the microphone when their time limit for speaking has lapsed or an individual in the audience yelling or otherwise hampering the deliberations of the Council.

But neither the Mayor nor the Commissioner of Public Safety is a sworn law enforcement officer and thus they cannot decide who or when a person can be arrested. Allowing politicians to have people arrested is a slippery slope that would be subject to abuse. The decision as to whether any of this behavior rises to the level of disorderly conduct is now in the hands of the sergeant of arms (a police officer assigned to City Council meetings). The police officer has the authority to attempt to remove the person from the meeting by requesting them to leave. If the person refuses the police officer’s order, at the discretion of the officer, the person may be charged with disorderly conduct and forcibly removed.

This is what happened at the April 2, 2024 meeting. The person refused to give up the microphone and the Mayor first ruled her out of order and then requested that she leave. Only when she continued to yell into the microphone did the sergeant at arms approach her and request her to leave. When she refused, he arrested her. The video documents the incident. I would add that the officer involved showed great restraint and empathy in his attempt to deal with the woman who was clearly disturbed.

So it is important to note that Safford did not ask the police to remove the disruptive speaker as Wendy reported. This was a decision made independently by law enforcement. Safford calmly tries to reason with the woman and then tells her repeatedly that she needs to leave, but it is the police officer who uses his professional judgment on when to move forward and how to proceed with the removal of the disruptive person, not a politician. Another habitual BLM disrupter who calls herself Diogenes hovers around the police officer but does not interfere with the arrest.

Mayor John Safford has worked closely with Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll to reassess the role of the Council and the police in maintaining order and to establish standards that are fair to both the Council and members of the public attending Council meetings. A new set of procedures for dealing with disruptive members of the audience were presented and adopted by the Council and these were the rules that were in play at the April 2 meeting.

It is impossible to prohibit members of the public who may become disruptive from attending meetings, but I have witnessed way too many Council meetings shut down or dragging on till almost midnight because members of the public have been allowed to remain out of control. While disruptions cannot be avoided, in my opinion, these new procedures have been thoughtfully planned and were effectively executed. The meeting continued, other members of the public were able to speak during three public hearings that were scheduled plus a public comment period, the city’s business was conducted, and the Council adjourned by 9:30

Commissioner Sanghvi’s Odd Memory Loss

According to FOILed documents I received, Commissioner Coll submitted a draft of rules for public comment written by Mayor Safford to the New York State Committee on Open Government (COOG) for review before the Council voted to adopt the document. The January 2, 2024, response by COOG is at the bottom of this post.

Oddly, though, Liberatore includes this remark from Finance Commissioner Minita Sanghvi who seems to have been unaware of or to have forgotten conversations the Council members were involved in and the memos that were circulated before the adoption of these rules.

Sanghvi said she has proposed to the mayor that the city reach out to the state Committee on Open Government and other advocates to come up with a plan for meetings.

Times Union

Sanghvi received Coll’s memo with the COOG review of the proposed plan for handling public comment at Council meetings. The Mayor submitted the proposed rules to the Council for adoption and the Council vigorously debated them. Commissioner Sanghvi was the sole vote against the adoption of the rules objecting to any kind of limit on public comments.

Notwithstanding Commissioner Sanghvi’s remarks to the Times Union, the COOG was clearly consulted and she had been provided with their assessment of the rules before she voted.

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These are the proposed procedures with commentary on right by COOG

Saratoga Firefighters Playing Benefit Hockey Game

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs Professional Firefighters hockey team will play the Troy Firefighters IAFF Local 86 in a benefit hockey game to raise funds to help repair, renovate, and expand the Farm Toy Show Building at the Washington County Fair in Greenwich. The game will be held on Monday, April 22 at the Cool Insuring Arena in Glens Falls at 6 p.m. Admission is free for the game, with donations being collected at the door.

The Washington County Fair Toy Show allows people of all ages to express their love and knowledge of agriculture through the creation of exhibits that tell a variety of stories. These exhibits allow for the preservation of farm toys and related memorabilia. Estimated construction costs for the renovations have been quoted at around $16,000.

Saratoga Catholic Ballplayers Visit Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Catholic varsity baseball team has returned from a trip to Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando, Florida. The annual, week-long event allows ballplayers to participate in scrimmages and practices with teams from across the nation.

“Thank you to the parents who made this trip possible,” wrote baseball Coach Alphonse Lambert in an X post. “A great tradition.”

Disney’s spring training event for baseball and softball teams runs from March 16 to April 20. According to Disney’s website, the experience includes “high-impact performance clinics, professional-caliber facilities, and a proven training ground built for pros and aspiring pros alike to raise their game.”

Local Athletes Qualify for Judo Championships

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

GLENVILLE — Seven Athletes from the Jason Morris Judo Center (JMJC) in Glenville have qualified to compete for the USA Team in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on April 26-27 at the Pan American Judo Championships.

The Pan Ams allow athletes to earn points on the world rankings toward qualifying for the Paris Olympics. JMJC also had seven athletes qualify for the event last year, with Hannah Martin and Nate Keeve winning bronze medals.

Martin will make her eighth appearance at the Pan Ams at 63kg, with her best results being bronze medals in 2013, 2017, 2019, and 2023. Keeve will head to his fifth Pan Ams at 100kg, with his best results being bronzes in 2021 and 2023. Nicole Stout will also be competing in her fifth Pan Ams at 78kg. Ari Berliner will compete for the fourth time, having previously won a bronze at 66kg in 2022. Kell Berliner, Alex Knauf, and Melissa Myers will all make their second appearances.

Skidmore Alum Promoted to Blue Jays’ High-A Team

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canadians, High-A minor league affiliates of the Toronto Blue Jays, announced last week that former Skidmore College baseball player Jackson Hornung has made their opening day roster. Last Season, Hornung, a catcher, played with the Low-A Dunedin Blue Jays in Florida.

In 2023, Hornung had 62 plate appearances for Dunedin. He finished with a .442 OPS, hitting two doubles and one dinger. He also had a 1.000 fielding percentage.

Hornung was selected in the 16th round (484th pick) of the 2023 MLB Draft by the Toronto Blue Jays. He was the first Skidmore alum to be drafted by a professional team. 

DraftKings Partners with Saratoga Race Course

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Sports.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — DraftKings, one of the country’s most popular sports betting operators, will be an official betting partner of both the Saratoga Race Course and the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) announced last week. DraftKings will also be the presenting sponsor of the Travers Stakes.

DraftKings’ advance deposit wagering offering, DK Horse, will play a prominent role throughout the 2024 Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. Launched in 2023, DK Horse is a standalone app that allows eligible customers access to pari-mutuel wagering on domestic and international racing.

“DraftKings is a premier brand within the rapidly growing sports wagering marketplace, and this arrangement will help to introduce world class racing to a wider audience of fans and bettors,” said Tony Allevato, NYRA Chief Revenue Officer, in a statement.

The DraftKings and DK Horse brands will be displayed throughout the Saratoga property beginning in June, with a variety of on-site activations reminding fans of the availability of DraftKings products.

Public Invited: Tours, Talks, Screenings, and Art-Making Workshops For Families at The Tang Museum

Written by Saratoga TODAY on . Posted in Entertainment.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College invites the public to its April programs, featuring tours, screenings, family programs, and two special performances How Vowels Endure Winter on April 12 and If Our Hands Could Hold The Weight Of Promise on April 17.

How Vowels Endure Winter will be performed at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 12. It is the world premiere performance of a series of monologues with piano created by David Greenberger and Tyson Rogers in response to work by the artist Joachim Schmid that occupies an entire wall in the Tang exhibition Studio/Archive. The new work features short tales about collecting, creating, organizing, and memory. 

On Wednesday, April 17, at 5 p.m., if our hands could hold the weight of promise features Elevator Music 48: Alone, only in flesh exhibiting artists MIZU, Theresa-Xuan Bui, and Antonius-Tín Bui, as well as dancer Glenna Yu. They will activate the Tang elevator and atrium staircase with cello, improvisational movement, spoken word poetry, and audience interaction with traditional Vietnamese garments (áo dài). 

These performances are in addition to the Framing the Flesh feature film screenings, weekly Tang Guide tours, curator’s tours, family art-making workshops, and a conversation around The Life and Times of Hannah Crafts, a groundbreaking study of the first Black female novelist in the US.

Additional events:

Saturday, April 13, 2 p.m. – Family Saturday: Rock Animals. A multigenerational art-viewing and art-making workshop inspired by Yvette Molina: A Promise to the Leaves. For children 5 and older with an adult companion. Another Family Saturday will be April 27. 

Wednesday, April 17, 4:30 p.m. – K-Pop Dance Performance! Students in Visiting Artist-in-Residence Chia-Ying Kao’s Dance 317: K-Pop II class will perform as part of their semester’s final work. 

Thursday, April 18, noon – Curator’s Tour of Elevator Music 48: Alone, only in flesh. Curatorial Assistant Ivy Vuong leads a tour of the latest elevator installation. 

Thursday, April 18, 6 p.m. – Framing the Flesh: birth/rebirth (2023). The third and final screening in the Framing the Flesh series, organized by Piper Ingels ’24, explores our fascination with and revulsion to the fantasies of unconventional bodily alterations. 

Friday, April 26, 8 p.m. – Tang Party 2024. The annual Tang Party celebrates student creativity with immersive and interactive installations and performances on the Tang grounds. 

Current exhibitions include – Isaac Julien: Lessons of the Hour A tour-de-force, ten-screen video installation explores the life of Frederick Douglass.

All events are free and open to the public. For more information, contact the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080 or visit the Tang website at http://tang.skidmore.edu.