SARATOGA SPRINGS — Vincenza Hanson, age 70, passed away on Tuesday, February 21 at Ellis Hospital with family at her side. A graveside service will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday, March 3, 2023, at the Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National, 200 Duell Rd, Schuylerville, NY 12871.compassionatefuneralcare.com
BALLSTON SPA — Daniel Gregory died February 22, one day after his 91st birthday. A funeral service will be held at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 4, 2023 at Compassionate Funeral Care. Family and friends may call from 4 to 6 p.m. prior to the service at the funeral home.compassionatefuneralcare.com
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs is seeking nominations for recognizing the service contributions of a Saratoga County resident aged 65 or better with their annual Senior Citizen of the Year award.
Rotary International is an organization of business and professional persons united worldwide who provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill.
The Rotary motto is Service Above Self. The Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs knows that there are many members of our community, particularly senior citizens, who live this philosophy every day. The Rotary Club encourages community members to nominate a deserving Saratoga County Senior for this award.
Nominees must be:
• 65 years +
• Resident of Saratoga County
• Demonstrate a commitment to community service
Deadline for nominations is March 10, 2023. The Senior Citizen of the Year will be recognized at The Rotary Club of Saratoga’s Breakfast on April 12, 2023 and receive a $500 donation to the charity of their choice. For more details and the application visit saratogaspringsrotary.org
Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs:
The 65+ members of the Saratoga Springs Rotary Club meet every Wednesday for fellowship, luncheon, and an informational program. These weekly gatherings are the launching point for the Club’s community service activities, including funding for local organizations and youth scholarships. The Club’s annual Home & Lifestyle Show is the major fundraiser. Other important activities include service events where club members help an organization accomplish a major clean-up or construction task, cultural exchange programs, and the provision of scholarships to local students. Saratoga Springs Rotary is part of a network of clubs in the upstate region (District 7190), which rolls up into Rotary International.
ALBANY — Schuylerville resident Command Chief Master Sgt. Denny Richardson, has been selected to serve as the command chief for the 15,000-member First Air Force.
Gov. Kathy Hochul made the announcement on Feb. 23.
“Chief Richardson’s career epitomizes public service and I am proud to call him a fellow New Yorker,” Hochul said, in a statement. “His experience serving as a member of the country’s largest Air National Guard and the wise counsel he has provided to its commander have made him uniquely qualified for this job. The First Air Force and the nation will be well served with him in this critical role.”
Headquartered in Panama City, Florida, the First Air Force is responsible for aerospace control and air defense of continental United States and handles duties of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which is the joint Canadian-U.S. entity responsible for the air defense of North America.
A resident of Schuylerville, Saratoga County, Chief Richardson has served as the senior enlisted advisor to the commander of the 5,880-member New York Air National Guard since 2020. In this role, he advises the Air Guard’s Commander, Major General Denise Donnell, on issues such as enlisted training, readiness, and morale.
Richardson served in the Air National Guard for 34 years, in Maryland before moving to New York. He will begin his new position in April, reporting to First Air Force Commander Lt. General Steven Nordhaus, and will serve as command chief for three years.
BALLSTON SPA — Sean Kelleher, the vice president of the Saratoga County History Center, has been appointed to the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission. This federal commission works with communities along the Erie Canal to celebrate and promote the Canal’s heritage.
Kelleher directs communications and is a project director for special events at the History Center based in Ballston Spa. Kelleher is also the historian for the town of Saratoga and the vice chair of the Saratoga County 250th American Revolution Commission.
“The Erie Canal was one of the most significant factors in the development of upstate New York,” said Kelleher, in a statement. “As we approach the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal’s opening in 1825, we must have a commemoration involving all in the 500 miles across the corridor.”
The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission is a 27-member, community–based federal commission appointed by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior that works with 234 communities along the Erie Canal route. They plan and direct activities that preserve and celebrate the historical, natural, scenic, and recreational resources of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Kelleher’s appointment is for a three-year term.
ALBANY — Eight local wrestlers competed at the NYSPHSAA Division 1 State Championships over the weekend at MVP Arena in Albany, concluding their seasons against the top wrestlers in New York State.
Ballston Spa’s Darrien Insogna finished as the NYSPHSAA Division 1 runner-up at 215 pounds, falling to Minisink Valley’s Ethan Gallo in the state championship match. Connor Gregory earned a third-place finish at 160 pounds for the Scotties, while Ralph Keeney placed fourth at 110 pounds. Also competing for the Scotties was Cameron Hinchcliff.
Saratoga Springs’ Taylor Beaury earned a seventh-place finish at 126 pounds, while Lorenzo Palleschi battled to an eight-place finish at 189 pounds. Also competing for the Blue Streaks were Vito Spadafora and Patrick McKinley.
Ballston Spa head coach Harvey Staulters said it was “great to get them out there a second time,” noting that Insogna, Gregory, and Keeney all wrestled at last year’s state championships as well.
“Because of their experience, they were a little more at ease, and had a little higher expectations, a little higher goals,” said Staulters. “It was great to watch them compete.”
All three of the Scotties’ returning wrestlers improved on their finishes from the 2022 state championships.
Saratoga head coach Jake Zanetti said the weekend was “a nice culminating event” for Spadafora and Palleschi, who are seniors. Zanetti added that it was great experience for Beaury, a sophomore, and McKinley, a junior.
“Definitely a great opportunity for all four of them for different reasons,” said Zanetti.
For Ballston Spa, Insogna opened his tournament by pinning Longwood’s William Francois, then pinned Central Square’s Rocky Files in the quarterfinals. Insogna pinned Bellport’s Jaiden Green in the semifinals, dropping an 11-4 decision to Gallo in the state title match.
Gregory earned a 17-6 major decision over Horseheads’ Liam Levantovich in his opening match, rallying to earn a 6-4 sudden victory decision over Iona Prep’s Sean Dagl in the quarterfinals. Gregory fell in the semifinals, dropping a 5-3 decision to Cornwall’s Tyler Reed, before winning a consolation match over Churchville-Chili’s Coy Raines to advance to the third-place finals. There, Gregory beat Degl again, earning a 3-2 decision.
Keeney opened the tournament with a 15-2 major decision over Brady Judd of Warwick Valley, dropping a 9-0 major decision to Valley Central’s Luke Satriano in the quarterfinals. Keeney earned consolation round victories over Jason Euceda (Brentwood), Ryan Cielinski (Spencerport), and Ryan Ferrara (Chenango Forks), before dropping the third-place finals in an 8-4 decision against Long Beach’s Dunia Sibomana.
Hinchcliff defeated Hilton’s Tyler Simons in the first round, falling to Niagara Falls’ Amarfio Reynolds in the second round. In the consolation rounds, Hinchcliff earned a 9-5 decision over Horseheads’ Cody Dale, and a win by fall over Carthage’s Landon Copley before dropping a 5-0 decision to Pittsford’s Samson McKissick-Staley.
Staulters had praise for his wrestlers, saying they “exceeded expectations” over the weekend.
“They were inspirational, to continually fight and move forward, despite some of the adversities,” said Staulters. “Sometimes they lost, and they just kept coming back. It was really a great experience.”
For Saratoga, Beaury opened the tournament with a victory by technical fall over West Babylon’s Billy Colloca. He fell to Calhoun’s Ray Adams by an 8-2 decision in the quarterfinals. Beaury won his first consolation match over Fox Lane’s Justin Gierum, falling to Nikolas Massero of St. Joe’s Collegiate in the second. Beaury earned a 4-2 decision over Bellport’s Camryn Howard in the seventh-place match.
Zanetti said that Beaury “did really well,” noting that the 126-pound weight class was particularly strong.
“The seeds don’t really matter much at states,” Zanetti said. “He’s a tenth-grader, he battled a lot of older kids than him.”
Palleschi beat Canandaigua’s Mason Depew in the opening round, avenging a loss to Depew earlier in the season on Jan. 21. Palleschi fell to top-seeded Zack Ryder of Minisink Valley in the quarterfinals, and bounced back by winning his opening consolation match over Bethlehem’s Quincy Bonville. Palleschi lost to Pine Bush’s Braydon Pennell in the second consolation match, and dropped a 6-2 decision to Orchard Park’s Jack MacDonald in the seventh-place match.
Zanetti said it was nice to see Palleschi avenge his earlier loss to Depew, which came in sudden victory during the King Bison Invitational at Shaker High School.
“For him to get a ‘W’, that was really nice,” said Zanetti.
Spadafora lost his opening round match to Nyack’s Sam Szerlip, defeating Lancaster’s Mikey Schaefer in the consolation rounds. Spadafora fell to Clarke’s Justin Soriano in the third consolation round.
“(Vito has) been a key program guy for a long time, so for him to get to the state tournament was really fun for him,” said Zanetti.
McKinley earned a 5-3 sudden victory decision over Davit Abjandadze of Edward R. Murrow High School, falling to Gallo, the eventual state champion at 215 pounds, in the quarterfinals. McKinley beat Josh Amiel of John F. Kennedy (Bellmore) by 4-3 ultimate tiebreaker in the first consolation match, falling to MacArthur’s Ben Velasquez by 7-2 decision in his second consolation match.
Zanetti described McKinley as “a total Cinderella story,” saying he emerged as one of the team’s top wrestlers midway through the season.
“Once he started showing signs of that, it was great for him to get out there,” Zanetti said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — “What If?” is prize-winning-author Hollis Palmer’s fourteenth book. A lifelong lover of Saratoga Springs, his specialty is the families and stories of the Gilded Age. This book is the second of a series “Gilded Saratoga” based in part on newspaper accounts of the incidents from the lives of real, wealthy families who were in Saratoga Springs during the 1890s.
As a life-long educator, Hollis has always used stories as a way of conveying a message. As a teacher, he used accounts to add relevance to his lessons. Frequently a mentor, he used anecdotes as a framework for addressing problems. Now, he has turned a lifetime of learning into an art form. Hollis has taken the stories from his books and turned them into entertaining events telling his stories much the same way your grandfathers told you their stories.
Hollis will be at Impressions of Saratoga to autograph this new book and all of his previous releases on Saturday, February 25 from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Palmer will be available to autograph books and will also have promotional pricing the during the event. Impressions of Saratoga is located at 368 Broadway, Saratoga Springs.
QUEENSBURY — The Saratoga Springs varsity boys’ alpine ski team captured the Section 2 Championship for the fifth consecutive year on Wednesday, placing first overall out of 13 teams at West Mountain.
BALLSTON SPA — Nick and Olivia Verdile, senior twins for the Ballston Spa varsity boys’ and girls’ basketball teams, have each emerged as stars for their respective Scotties teams. But while the duo will move on to college in the fall, they will still be representing the same school.
The Verdile twins have each committed to play basketball at Suffolk University in Boston. Ironically, they did not discuss their decisions with each other, with Nick saying, “We just happened to pick the same school.”
“During the whole recruiting process, we didn’t really talk much until the end,” said Nick Verdile. “I kind of had my schools that I was focusing on, and she had hers.”
Olivia Verdile said part of Suffolk’s appeal was its location in Boston, saying she “always wanted to go to Boston.”
“I thought it would be really cool to experience that when I was still younger,” Olivia Verdile said. “That was kind of what drew me there.”
Nick echoed this, adding that he felt he could be a good fit with the Rams’ offense.
“When I was being recruited, I felt like I connected with their coach very easily,” Nick said. “And just seeing how they run their offense, I felt like I could fit in there.”
Both twins said they grew up around the game, noting that their family is “a big basketball family.”
“My dad really got me into basketball at a young age,” said Nick. “He’s just been such a big fan of it, he would take me to all the high school games in our area growing up. So I always thought that was cool, and I wanted to play at that level.”
The game has helped bring the duo closer together, especially during the COVID-19 quarantine, they said.
“She was like really my only friend at home,” Nick said. “I couldn’t see anyone else. The only person I played basketball with was her, so I feel like that definitely brought us closer together and helped both of us out.”
“We never really like argued or anything a lot,” added Olivia. “We were always in the gym together.”
Nick Verdile, the leading scorer for the Scotties’ boys team, has helped guide Ballston Spa to one of the best regular seasons in team history, finishing 18-1 and winning the Suburban Council Championship for the first time. The Scotties will play the winner of #8-seed Colonie and #9-seed Albany in the Section 2 Class AA quarterfinals on Sunday.
“It’s a great feeling, obviously,” said Nick of the team’s regular season. “Except now, that doesn’t really matter going into the playoffs. Every team has the same record. We’ve just got to focus on winning every game.”
Olivia Verdile is also the leading scorer for the Ballston Spa girls’ team, who finished the regular season at 8-12. The Scotties fell to #8-seed Guilderland, 57-47, in the opening round of the Section 2 Class AA playoffs on Feb. 18.
Olivia credited first-year head coach David Morse for “changing the environment” around the team, saying he has provided a boost of positive energy to the program.
“We hadn’t been the most successful team over the years, but I think he stresses the idea of getting girls to come back, and just positive energy all-around,” Olivia said. “Even if we’re not succeeding at our final outcome, maybe in a game, we’re still finding little things that we’re improving upon every game.”
Nick also credited Ballston Spa boys coach Ben Eldridge for his trust in the Scotties’ boys’ team, saying many of their players have been playing together for a “very long time.”
“I feel like it’s great that he really just allows us to play our game,” said Nick. “We’ve been playing for so long, so he kind of understands that we’ve built a pretty good chemistry. He says he does most of his work in practice. He talks and prepares us for the games, and then in the games, hopefully he doesn’t have to coach that much, and we know what to do, the right things, and the right situations.”
And the goal for the Ballston Spa boys’ team is simple: a sectional championship.
“I’ve been thinking about that since fourth grade,” said Nick. “Ever since I started playing, that was the end goal. All the work that we put in the offseason was to win a sectional championship, win those games. It would definitely be cool, especially winning it with all my buddies.”
“Like he said, that’s always been the end goal and always been the talk in our family,” added Olivia. “I think it would just be really awesome to see.”
The duo also said it has been great to see each other’s work pay off over the years.
“I think it’s just cool to see her hard work, and just making the people around her happy, making our parents proud,” said Nick.
“It’s awesome to see his hard work has paid off,” Olivia said. “It’s just nice to see each other be successful after all that we’ve put into it.”
