SARATOGA SPRINGS —Roohan Realty is thrilled to announce that Carol Raike has joined the team as a Licensed Associate Broker.

Raike has been in the real estate industry for the past 17 years, a consistent multi-million dollar producer, and ranked among the top 100 Realtors® in the Capital District. Her many honors include being recognized by The Women’s Council of Realtors® as a top producer.  In addition, Raike is trained in relocation practices and ethical standards. She is a member of the Greater Capital District Association of Realtors® (GCAR) and the National Association of Realtors® (NAR).

Raike is a board member for Catholic Charities of Saratoga, Warren & Washington Counties. She is also a dedicated volunteer for The Lucky Puppy Dog & Rescue Kennel in Argyle.

Raike and her husband Larry have been residents in the Town of Malta for 19 years. They have been married for over 35 years with three children and four grandchildren. 

Raike can be reached at 518-791-2728 or carol@roohanrealty.com. Like her Facebook page@ Carol Raike- Licensed Associate Broker with Roohan Realty  @carolraikerealtor. Follow on Instagram @carolmccaberaike.

Longfellows Restaurant is hosting The 20th Anniversary Longfellows Wedding Show on Sunday, February 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Longfellows, with its elegantly rustic décor, provides a distinctive setting for this one-of-a-kind wedding show. This year marks the 20th year that Longfellows has showcased their venue to engaged couples and they are celebrating with elaborate food displays and tastings, a champagne toast and proclamation read by Mayor Meg Kelly of Saratoga Springs, and an exciting variety of door prizes and giveaways. Entertainer Garland Nelson will be performing live at the event. As always, admission is complimentary.

In combination with the 20th Anniversary Year, Longfellows is offering two additional ways to celebrate their milestone year. Engaged couples can take advantage of a pre-show Wedding Workshop Breakfast at the Inn at Longfellows, where they can enjoy a sumptuous breakfast buffet while listening to a sequence of ten minute talks on how to choose your caterer/venue, rental company, photographer, DJ and florist offered by the industry professionals themselves. In addition, Longfellows is offering a 20th Anniversary Overnight Package that includes a standard room in the Inn at Longfellows, $50 toward dinner for two at Longfellows Restaurant and the pre-show Wedding Workshop Breakfast for a package price. Reservations for both events are required and can be made by calling 518-406-0505.

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The list of Longfellows Wedding Show 2020 Vendors includes the following: All Occasions Limousine; Ambiance Floral & Events; Autumn Wright Hair & Make-up; Bed, Bath & Beyond; Belmonte & Son Tents and Events; Blue Rose Cheesecake and Bakeshop; Butter and Sugar Company; Capital Region Ceremonies; Carol’s Confections; The Chocolate Spoon; Conway Entertainment; Cruise Planners of Upstate NY; DeMaranville Farm and Gardens; DJ Joe Mazzuca; Drabek Homes at Keller Williams Capital District; Dr. Rachel Hargraves; Dtrembs Designs; Erin Malcolm Photography; Fairytale Florist; Fyvie Films; Garland Nelson-Soul Session Edu-tainment, Inc.; Jos A Bank; Linda Conley Photography; Mary Kay Inc.; Mr. Formal Wear; Music Man Entertainment; Oh Goodness Cakes; On The Go Concierge & Events; Paul Saunders Photography; The Registry at Boscov’s; Saratoga Olive Oil Company; Saratoga Sound DJ; Saratoga Tents and Events; Spa City Brew Bus; Fun Booth; Sweets for You Candy; Upstate Transit of Saratoga; Viscosi Photography; We Do Fondue-Chocolate/Beverage Fountain Rentals; Whimsical White Fox and Longfellows Restaurant, among others. 

A Wedding Shower for up to 25 guests, courtesy of Longfellows Restaurant, will be given away as a Grand Prize. A second Grand Prize Package will be offered including a $250 Gift Certificate from Belmonte & Son Tents and Events, a One-hour Couple’s Location Photo Session with files and one 11”x14” print from Viscosi Photography, a $250 Gift Certificate for your dj from DJ Joe Mazzuca, and a $250 Gift Certificate for flowers from Fairytale Florist. 

Again featured this year is the Tasting Room at the Longfellows Wedding Show. Engaged couples will be invited to taste a variety of confections provided by show vendors and vote for the “Best Confection of the 20th Anniversary Longfellows Wedding Show.” The winning confectioner will win a $50 prize. Confectioners include Blue Rose Cheesecake and Bakeshop, Butter and Sugar Company, Carol’s Confections, Oh Goodness Cakes, Sweets for You Candy and The Chocolate Spoon.

Sponsors of the 2020 show include Saratoga Today and B95.5FM. Engaged couples can register for the show at longfellowsweddingshow.com/ or by calling 518-406-0505.

SaratogaBride.com is relaunching! 

The bridal website, owned by Saratoga Publishing, is the place to go for anyone in the wedding planning process. Whether you’re thinking about engagement, recently engaged, or have been planning your wedding for awhile, there’s something for every bride and groom.

The website follows the Saratoga Bride magazine, and along with being a digital companion to each issue, can offer more information and perspectives at regularly updated intervals. It also signifies the expanding market of the Saratoga Bride brand from south of Albany, up to Plattsburgh, and into eastern Vermont.

The Saratoga Bride website offers a variety of advice, ideas, and information to couples at any stage. Website articles range from how to know if your significant other is “the one,” how to plan a great proposal, and how to choose the perfect barn-wedding venue. 

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The website’s new look and design is thanks to Mike Nelson, who co-owns SaratogaBride.com with Saratoga Publishing owner Chad Beatty. “Our number one goal is to be the best resource in the region to brides,” said Nelson. “We’re very excited about this relaunch, and think it’s a great tool and resource for anyone in the stages of engagement and wedding planning.”

Beatty also expressed his enthusiasm for the website. “I am very excited to offer a bridal website that matches the quality and visual appeal of our award winning Saratoga Bride magazine,” he said. “The partnership with Mike is a win/win for everyone involved. Mike has the technical expertise and skillset to deliver an exceptional online product. We have the name recognition, content and background, and the readers now have a high-end bridal website for all of their wedding planning.”

“With Mike at the helm of SaratogaBride.com, and Chris Bushee [Managing Editor at Saratoga Publishing] at the helm of Saratoga Bride magazine, I can’t think of a better team to deliver exceptional bridal products to the upstate region,” said Beatty. 

For more information, check out SaratogaBride.com, and be on the lookout for the next issue of Saratoga Bride magazine, out Feb. 21. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Herzog Law Firm, P.C., is pleased to announce the addition of Daniel S. Glaser, Esq. to head its growing real estate division. In addition to Glaser, the firm has also expanded its local footprint by opening a new office in Clifton Park. The office, coupled with Herzog’s other locations in Albany, Saratoga Springs, and Kingston, will help Herzog continue to grow its Estate Planning, Elder Law and Real Estate Practice throughout the Capital Region, North Country, and Hudson Valley.

Glaser spent the past 11 years building and managing his own law firm. Glaser concentrates his practice in residential and commercial real estate representing buyers, seller, and lenders while also handling title insurance. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Real Property Section of the New York State Bar Association. 

Herzog Law Firm P.C., which has been providing legal services since 1946, has been dedicated to providing clients with custom legal advice and counsel. The firm primarily focuses on Estate Planning, Elder Law/Medicaid Planning, Estate Administration, Tax Planning and Real Estate. Over the last several years, it has turned its attention to other  supporting areas such as Matrimonial Law, Corporate Law, and Litigation as additional ways to give its clients a superior level of knowledge and service.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mary Solomons has been named executive director of Saratoga Hospital Foundation, responsible for hospital fundraising and other development activities.

Solomons combines extensive experience with a longstanding commitment to the Saratoga region. The Saratoga Springs resident served for more than two decades in positions of increasing responsibility at Skidmore College, where she developed and expanded the donor relations program, set fundraising records and laid the foundation for continued growth.

Solomons comes to Saratoga Hospital Foundation from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in Albany, where she served as executive director of development. Previously, she was executive director of donor relations and campaign events, and leadership gift officer at Skidmore.

An accomplished writer and speaker, Solomons shares her expertise at conferences, seminars and via webinars. She has served on the boards of the Saratoga County Arts Council, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation and the Association of Donor Relations Professionals. She is a graduate of Wellesley College in Massachusetts.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — As part of Fingerpaint’s continued commitment to bring forward the best opportunities to their clients, the full-service health and wellness marketing agency has acquired 1798, a market access and commercialization firm located in La Jolla, CA.

Biopharmaceutical manufacturers have entered a new era wherein a primary consideration is now how their products will allow healthcare professionals to provide cost-efficient, value-driven, quality care to patients. Today, the expectation is that these life sciences companies expertly communicate well-thought-out, market-responsive data demonstrating not only the clinical benefit of a product, but also its impact on cost of care. The 60-person team at 1798 specializes in developing tailored market access and commercialization support programs for drugs at any stage in the product life cycle (from early to late product stages). The acquisition of this well-respected, experienced managed markets firm will allow Fingerpaint to offer their life sciences clients a wealth of new healthcare consulting services, including patient and provider access services, financial impact analysis and analytics, competitive intelligence, pull-through solutions, account leader support materials, and training materials.

“With the acquisition of 1798, Fingerpaint will be able to assure our life sciences clients that we can provide the full continuum of market access planning and commercialization support services to successfully assist them in building their brands and launching new products,” said Ed Mitzen, founder of Fingerpaint. “We are honored and excited that 1798 is joining the
Fingerpaint family.”

Roshawn Blunt, a former biopharmaceutical company senior executive with experience in hospital administration and the founder of 1798, stated, “It was a welcome opportunity to join a great creative powerhouse within the health and wellness industry, and we look forward to a synergistic relationship that will provide elegant solutions and superior outcomes for our clients.”

Mitzen and Blunt, along with the rest of the leadership team, will work hand-in-hand to continue delivering a competitive advantage and customized approaches to their clients, from early-stage commercialization to overcoming challenges that occur post-launch in the commercialization process.Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

On March 1, the Bag Waste Reduction Law will go into effect across New York State. The law is meant to encourage shoppers to use reusable bags and cut down on waste. However, some see it as a downside.

The new law bans plastic bags that would be provided to customers at any state retailer that collects sales tax. Instead, stores will provide paper bags at an extra cost of 5 cents, which is collected as a state tax. Stores will also begin to sell reusable cloth bags for customers to purchase.

Not every plastic bag is banned under this new law. Exempt bags include those used to wrap food products and plants, bags for collecting bulk items, garment bags, trash bags and most importantly for us, bags for delivering newspapers. Shoppers are also encouraged to keep using the current plastic bags that they already own.

Local businesses are already preparing for the change. Healthy Living Market and Café in Wilton has already instituted a plastic bag ban at their store and recently began charging 5 cents for paper bags earlier this week. However, their paper bag decision was made long before the law was passed, and the 5 cents they charge goes to a local food pantry.

“We’re really trying to be a step above the game,” said Duane Hendershot, General Manager at Healthy Living. “We don’t care about the nickels and dimes, we care about the environment and getting people to reuse their bags.” Healthy Living Market and Café also offers a 10-cent discount for anyone shopping with a reusable bag.

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In a recent Facebook post, Stewart’s Shops also announced that they would no longer have plastic bags, and encouraged members of the community to share their memories of the bags. Many commenters said they particularly liked Stewart’s plastic bags because they were thicker than other bags, and used them for carrying winter boots, cleaning cat litter, and using as garbage bags in small garbage pails.

While Stewart’s encouraged its customers to keep reusing their plastic bags, some expressed sadness and frustration about not being able to get new ones anymore. Others in the community think that the new law is a positive sign for the future of the environment. “A lot of people want their hands held and want things to be the same as when they were kids, but things change,” said local resident Daniel Abrams. “Maybe this makes life more inconvenient, but you just have to get another kind of bag. It may be annoying, but a law is a law.”

It is still unclear in the scientific community whether plastic bag bans are actually beneficial to the environment, or have unintended and harmful consequences. According to the Environmental Literacy Council, plastic bags take up less space in landfills than paper bags, creating less waste by volume. They are also reusable, unlike paper bags. However, plastic bags are not biodegradable and can be extremely harmful to marine life, clog sewer pipes and are some of the most common stray trash found on the planet.

Another study that examined a plastic bag ban in the state of California showed that after the ban was implemented, the sale of garbage bags skyrocketed. Garbage bags can be even more harmful than regular plastic bags, as they are made of thicker material and use more plastic. According to the study’s author, economist Rebecca Taylor, “…about 30% of percent of the plastic that was eliminated by the ban comes back in the form of thicker garbage bags.” Even reusable cloth bags are not without their harm, due to water use and other production factors.

No matter what bag consumers use, it may feel like a Catch-22. The best option for New Yorkers is to keep reusing whatever bags that they already have. Whether it’s plastic bags, cloth bags, tote bags, purses or backpacks, reusing what you already own is a better choice than buying something new. For more information on the NYS Plastic Bag Ban Law and other exempt plastic bags, visit www.dec.ny.gov/chemical/50034.html.

For Purposes of Clarification

In Saratoga Today’s Feb. 7 edition, the front-page article “So Long, Plastic!” omitted that at this time Saratoga County and the City of Saratoga Springs will not opt-in to the 5 cent paper bag tax under the Bag Waste Reduction Law.

MALTA – The Board of Directors of the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership has unanimously approved the appointment of Shelby Schneider as President and CEO.  Schneider had served as the interim President and CEO during the past month.

“Shelby has nearly two decades of experience working in economic development and is well respected among community and business leaders both in Saratoga County and throughout the state,” Saratoga Partnership Board Chairman Kevin Hedley said, in a statement.

Schneider has more than 17 years of experience in economic, workforce and community development in Saratoga County. Since 2016, she has served as Director of Business Retention and Expansion, and as Vice President of the Saratoga Partnership.  She had previously spent 13 years at the Saratoga Economic Development Corporation, where she was a member of the economic development team that brought GLOBALFOUNDRIES to Saratoga County. In addition, she led one of the most successful Empire Zones in New York State, helping businesses throughout Saratoga County to access millions of dollars in state tax benefits to support expansion and growth.

“The Prosperity Partnership plays a vital role in the economic development strategy of the County and Shelby, a long-time fixture in the region’s economic development scene, is the right person to lead the organization into this new chapter,” Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Preston Allen said, in a statement.

The Prosperity Partnership is a Saratoga County-based economic development organization. According to a company statement, it has achieved success in siting the Key Capture Energy project, the state’s largest battery energy storage facility in Stillwater, New York; the transformation of the Proctors-Universal Preservation Hall, in Saratoga Springs, into a year-round, world-class arts and cultural venue in downtown Saratoga; Land Remediation Inc.’s new $1.8 million corporate headquarters in Waterford; the opening of Esperanto’s 2,700-square-foot Oboy commercial baker in Ballston Spa; and the $60 million adaptive reuse project that will transform the long-vacant 230,000-square-foot industrial building in the Village of Victory, into 186 workforce housing units and along with the availability of commercial space.

 Under Schneider’s leadership, the Saratoga Partnership team will continue Next Wave Communities Initiative which assists communities within Saratoga County in developing economic development plans tailored to their particular strengths, needs, and aspirations. The Saratoga Partnership has been working with the Towns of Moreau, Malta, Galway, and the Village of Ballston Spa by leading a series of activities including interviews with key government, business, and community stakeholders.

“I thank the Saratoga Partnership board for its confidence and support and am honored to have the opportunity to lead the organization. With a strong and growing economy in Saratoga County, I am excited to lend my experience to leverage new public and private investment and create jobs and opportunities in our communities. I look forward to working closely with the board and am committed to fully engaging all of our stakeholders including elected officials, and businesses and community leaders,” Schneider said.

“As an organization, we are well positioned to help Saratoga County’s communities plan for future success, by partnering with employers, developing our workforce, and serving as an advocate for initiatives that will drive a vibrant and prosperous future.”

NEW YORK — The New York State Association of Agricultural Fairs (NYSAAF) represents 52 Agriculture Fairs throughout New York State. The association’s objectives are to promote and encourage agriculture, horticulture, and the domestic arts through annual fairs, including material and educational development of agriculture and industry. 

NYSAAF fosters a spirit of cooperation among members and a place for the exchanging of ideas on management and problems of general interest, resulting in the continuing improvement of fairs and expositions throughout the state and providing a memorable experience for all fairgoers.

On Tuesday, January 21, it was announced that the New York State Fair would extend its dates to include five additional days. 

There are concerns about local County Fairs dates overlapping, as well as the limitations this may create for those respective agricultural showcases and entertainment packages. At this point, we do not know the impact that this will have on county fairs throughout the state during this transition. Next steps will be determined as we await further information from the New York State Department of Agriculture and the Governor’s Office.

SCHUYLERVILLE/ QUEENSBURY — Come hear from Jan King, owner of King Brothers Dairy, and John Bolster of Reduced-Fat Design, as they share insights into the re-birth of a family-owned business. Learn how this client/designer partnership used customer insight to craft a brand promise to provide farm-fresh quality dairy to the community through home delivery, restaurants, grocery stores and farm-based retail in Schuylerville. The event will take place on Thursday, Jan. 30 from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. at SUNY Adirondack’s Queensbury campus. Tickets are $15, free for students and faculty, and can be purchased online. For more information, please contact the Office of Business by calling 518-681-5613 or emailing businesscentral@sunyacc.edu.