WILTON — Winslow’s Restaurant in Wilton, first built in 1948, is entering a new era after 75 years of family ownership. Jeff Baker, grandson of the original owners, announced last week that he’s sold the business.  

“Most of you know that I got hurt last winter, I’m still not fully recovered,” Winslow wrote in a Facebook post. “The opportunity popped up to sell the restaurant, so I felt it was probably the right thing to do. The new owners are going to keep it Winslows [and] add some new dimensions.” 

Jeff Baker began working at the restaurant in 1984, according to Winslow’s website. He’s a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. He purchased the restaurant from his grandmother in 1989. 

“These past 40 years have been a real blast. There’s been a lot of ups and downs, but mostly ups,” Baker said. “I tried to keep the restaurant the way my grandparents did, and I met so many people along the way, both customers and employees, so many really good people.” 

Winslow’s Restaurant is located at 801 Saratoga Road
in Wilton.  

SARATOGA SPRINGS —The Backstretch Employee Service Team of New York (BEST) has named Nancy Underwood as its new executive director. Underwood previously directed BEST’s work at the Saratoga Race Course from 2014 until the end of 2023. Last year, BEST opened a health care clinic on the Oklahoma side of the track.

“BEST is successful because of the dedication of our staff, volunteers and healthcare providers,” said Underwood. “I am honored for the opportunity to lead this organization at a time when the future of thoroughbred racing in New York State is so bright.”

Underwood succeeds Paul Ruchames, who retired in December after serving as BEST’s executive director for 14 years.

According to its website, BEST is a nonprofit organization “devoted to resolving the health and social needs of the several thousand barn area (“backstretch”) workers of the Aqueduct, Belmont, and Saratoga racetracks by providing on-site counseling and primary healthcare services, access to health insurance, and case management assistance.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Dorinda Medley, star of the hit Bravo reality series “The Real Housewives of New York City,” will be a special guest at Hattie’s Mardi Gras fundraiser party at the Saratoga Springs City Center on Saturday, January 27.  

The beneficiary of this year’s event is the SEAT Center Culinary Lab, an organization that trains young people for careers in the culinary and hospitality industries. Ed and Lisa Mitzen, co-founders of Business for Good, will host the party. 

Hattie’s Mardi Gras will feature New Orleans-style food, as well as live music from DJ Fernando Bustamente and Garland Nelson with Soul Session.  

“Hattie’s Mardi Gras is one of the biggest parties of the year and with Dorinda in the house, we know it will be a night to remember,” said Ed Mitzen.  

Last year, more than $100,000 was raised for charity. Tickets for this year’s event can be purchased at eventbrite.com/e/mardi-gras-2024-tickets-770572401797. 

TROY — WMHT Public Media, a radio and television organization based in the Capital Region, has named Patrick Carpenter its new vice president, chief advancement officer. 

Carpenter previously served as senior director of development for New England Public Media, where he led a fundraising team and increased mid-level fundraising by 70% last year, according to WMHT. 

WMHT Public Media’s services include WMHT-DT (17.1), WMHT-Create (17.2), WMHT-World (17.3), WMHT PBS Kids (17.4), WMHT-FM 89.1 & WRHV-FM 88.7 (classical public radio), and WEXT Radio 97.7/106.1 (AAA public radio). 

For more visit wmht.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS —Designer Staci Snider’s fashion store in downtown Saratoga Springs closed its doors at the end of December. Snider will relocate to Raleigh, North Carolina, according to a statement released on the company’s social media pages. Snider’s garments will continue to be made in New York City and available for sale online.

Snider Fashion, formerly located at 18 Congress Street, first opened its doors in 2019.  

BALLSTON SPA — Stewart’s Shops’ annual Holiday Match program raised $2 million for local children’s charities this year. Customers donated $1 million, with Stewart’s contributing the rest. The money will be distributed over the next few months across New York and Vermont.

“Even during uncertain economic times, our customers continue to amaze me with their generosity,” said Stewart’s COO Chad Kiesow.

Stewart’s Holiday Match fundraiser began in 1986, and has raised more than $38 million since then. According to Stewart’s, the company does not charge any administrative fees, meaning that all of the funds are re-distributed into the community. 

Stewart’s is currently accepting applications for Holiday Match funds until the end of the month. Local 501c3 charitable groups that benefit children can apply online at stewartsshops.com. The funds will be distributed by the end of March.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The U.S. State Department estimates that, at any given time, there are 27.6 million victims of human trafficking across the globe. There are even victims right here in Saratoga County. Susana Lehan, the Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory Anti-Human Trafficking Director, knows some of them personally. “This is everywhere,” Lehan said. “This is happening in everyone’s backyard.”

Human trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor services against his or her will.

To raise awareness of this issue, the Salvation Army is hosting an event on January 11 from 12pm to 3pm at 27 Woodlawn Ave in Saratoga Springs. “There’s not a lot of awareness in the communities and all the counties in this area,” Lehan said.

The Human Trafficking Awareness Day event includes a free lunch and a presentation by Julie Chapus, LMSW. Chapus is from Rochester, New York and works with both hair and nail salons, where trafficking victims often interact with workers. “Those are people that have intimate connections with victims,” Lehan said. Traffickers often bring their victims to salons, where workers can see scars and other signs of physical violence.

Lehan said that evidence of trafficking can be hard to spot, even among trained professionals and police officers. “I’ve been in the field for thirty years and I even was not aware of the nuances until I started working with the clients,” she said. 

Lehan’s Anti-Human Trafficking program at the Salvation Army helps to stabilize victims’ lives with housing, employment, clothing, food, and other basic needs. Since she first began working on this program four months ago, Lehan has already acquired at least twenty clients.

According to Lehan, only about 1% of victims report trafficking to anyone, and reports to law enforcement occur even less frequently. While trafficking can be organized by criminal groups, it can also happen in intimate partner relationships. “Individuals are coercing people to enter these situations that they can’t get out of, and it’s by use of force, coercion, or fraud,” Lehan said. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit that aims to combat human trafficking, estimates that in 2020, 39% of victims were recruited via an intimate partner or marriage proposal. 

The objective of the Human Trafficking Awareness Day event in Saratoga is to bring awareness of this ongoing issue to community members and leaders.

“We’re not asking people to intervene or anything in any kind of situation because it’s dangerous,” Lehan said. “However, we’re asking people to just be aware and to be able to pass on a phone number, and if the client feels safe enough to come to us, they can.”

To contact Susana Lehan, call 518-584-1640 or send her an email at susana.lehan@use.salvationarmy.org.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joseph Grillo cut his teeth working at trendy Brooklyn wine shops, and now he’s brought his experience and sensibilities to By the Bottle, a wine store located in downtown Saratoga.

The shop was previously owned by Annmarie Guglielmo, who now works at the Kindred wine bar on Henry Street. Grillow took over By the Bottle in July of 2023. His goal is to create an unpretentious neighborhood shop where customers don’t feel intimidated by wine.

“I just want people to be at ease in the shop and ask questions,” Grillo said. “I’m more concerned with people and building a sense of community.”

By the Bottle offers a large selection of orange wines, as well as biodynamic and organic wines. The shop tends to favor smaller production bottles, hoping to offer customers a unique selection. “There are tens of thousands of wines in the world and I’m happy to represent different things, maybe things people don’t see every day,” Grillo said.

“Everything I have, other than maybe two wines, is between $12 and $40,” Grillo said. “I don’t have a lot of expensive stuff because I think that there’s so much wonderful stuff out there that you don’t have to break the bank to try.”

Grillo previously ran Northside Discount Liquors & Wine in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He still goes there regularly to check in, but is now managing By the Bottle full time. Prior to owning Northside, he worked at Trojanowski Liquor in Williamsburg. “That’s where I learned about wine,” Grillo said.

Grillo and his wife were married in the Spa City twelve years ago, and when the pandemic hit, they decided to move their kids to Saratoga in search of a safer, gentler city. “It has a cinema, it has a beautiful book store, it has Caffe Lena, it has all these great things,” Grillo said. “I do like it up here.”

By the Bottle is located at 11 Spring Street in downtown Saratoga Springs.