SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Courage, makers of Pick Six Vodka, initiated a charitable production of hand sanitizer this week to support the community needs in response to the shortage during the current COVID-19 Pandemic. CEO and pharmacist, Holly Shishik, evaluated the distillery infrastructure and production line to produce a large batch of hand sanitizer to donate as an offering of good will to their trusted clients and local municipalities.

“For us, this was an opportunity to do something positive for the local municipalities and businesses that have supported our products over the years,” Shishik explained. “As a healthcare professional, I knew that we could quickly use our facility to produce hand sanitizer in bulk once the ingredients were identified and sourced.”

 Shishik teamed with their regular suppliers for donations of the ingredients as well as packaging.  She identified local first responders and businesses with a need for the sanitizer. For production, Shishik took the opportunity to include her teenage children in the effort. Family and friends also assisted in the assembly line to package the product as quickly as possible.

In all, 130 gallons of hand sanitizer were donated to area EMS and Fire Departments, as well as the Saratoga Hospital Emergency Department.  Donations were also delivered to some liquor stores and restaurants that regularly carry Pick Six.  Each bottle was hand delivered by a member of the Saratoga Courage Team.

 “This is another example of why “buying local” is critical,” Shishik added. “We’ve been proud to produce Pick Six as the local favorite vodka, and we’re grateful it afforded us this opportunity to give back to the community and to help protect our fellow neighbors and customers.”

Local companies that joined in to donate materials include Burch Bottle and Packaging Inc., Culligan Water, Greg Mastrianni Design and Grant Graphics.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Darling Donuts, a shop dedicated towards creating unique donuts, was set to open this month, but COVID-19 restrictions has pushed the store towards a new opening date.

Owner of Darling Donuts, Natascha Pearl-Mansman, set her new opening date at 441 Broadway to early June. Due to COVID-19 restrictions placed over the community, renovations have slowed the opening for her new store.

“Construction has been dramatically slowed. Part of the issue was some of the supply warehouses that we were getting the materials from were closed,” Pearl-Mansman said. “Little by little things are happening. This process…in the best of times takes longer than you hope it would, and in the worst of times it seems to drag on forever.”

Despite the slow progress, Pearl-Mansman said electrical work has finally finished and plumbing would start this week. After renovations are finished, Darling Donuts would wait for inspections once COVID-19 restrictions were lifted.

“Its really just a waiting game,” Pearl-Mansman said.

Darling Donuts started in 2018 after Pearl-Mansman had her first child. After experiencing difficulties in the past with pregnancy, Pearl-Mansman said she didn’t feel right putting her child in daycare.

“I decided not to go back to my regular job right away. The thought of putting her in daycare and working fulltime-after everything I went through just to have her in the first place-it was just too hard,” Pearl-Mansman said. 

She began to spend more time at home with her new daughter, attempting to still earn an income to pay for loans she had. She took to her roots as an avid baker and started to bake cupcakes and cookies. 

“There is a ton of people in this area that make [baked goods] and I didn’t want to feel like I would be competition against a ton of people early on just to get my name out there. I wanted to make something that was going to be different from everybody else,” Pearl-Mansman said.

The idea for Darling Donuts was inspired after visiting her sister in Brooklyn years prior. While there, Pearl-Mansman and her sister visited Doughnut Plant, a shop making different kinds of gourmet donuts. After experiencing not only the taste, but the feel and smell of the atmosphere Pearl-Mansman knew she needed to create something similar for Saratoga. 

After testing her own recipes on family and friends, she decided to venture in a serious route and developed a business plan. New York only allows homemade food to be sold at farmers markets, and she realized she needed a proper kitchen to sell her donuts.

Pearl-Mansman found a commercial kitchen to rent and started to bake orders in summer 2018. She purchased her location on Broadway in November of 2019, partnering with Glenn Severance to expand Darling Donuts. 

“Once I [started], things took off and started to get crazy. I increased my production as much as I could, with the equipment that I had in the kitchen that I was working in. A year and a half in, I realized it was time to move to the next step,” Pearl-Mansman said. 

Pearl-Mansman creates all her donuts from scratch. Using brioche style dough, which creates a yeast raised donut. The brioche style gives Pearl-Mansman a neutral base that allows her to get creative with her donut flavors. 

“I have really simply natural recipes and there is actually no sugar in the dough itself, just enough to get the yeast to rise. All of the flavor comes from the glazes and the toppings. And all the glazes and the toppings are made with real fruit and real nuts. Even the cake glazes that I do, such as funfetti, has actual cake that’s in the glaze,” Pearl-Mansman said.

Along with sweet donuts she creates, savory donuts are also listed on the menu. She creates an everything-bagel donut, which has a savory cream cheese glaze, everything-seasoning and a bagel chip on top. She also creates a pizza donut, which starts with a san-marzano tomato base topped with fresh mozzarella and pesto.

“The biggest compliment that I get from people is that it really tastes like you say it will. My donuts taste like what I say it will because that’s what I used to make them,” Pearl-Mansman said.

Until renovations on her Broadway store have finished, Pearl-Mansman will not be producing any donuts. The commercial kitchen Pearl-Mansman has been using belongs in a religious institution, which has since closed. However, once the Broadway shop finished, they will explore to-go and delivery options if the restrictions are not lifted. 

“I like showing my children that if you work really hard and if you follow your dreams, that pretty much anything is possible. I never would have thought when I was writing my business plan that I’d be opening a store on Broadway. Things happen as long as you work hard and you are dedicated, then things fall into place,” Pearl-Mansman said. “There will be donuts.”

I struggled to write this column more so than any before…maybe ever.

It just seems to me these days that ALL we read and hear about is COVID 19. There are some heroic stories. There are lots of tragic ones too. 

A few in the local media have asked me questions to produce stories meant to provoke fear and anxiety. They ask hypothetic questions where I’m asked to predict the future and to comment on it.  I’ve always said no thanks. I want to talk about facts and actions.

Turn on the television. Turn on the radio. It’s all COVID 19. Even the commercials are about new cleaning products or what this corporation is doing to help during this pandemic.

Check on social media and it’s almost entirely COVID 19 stories and a bunch of people posting photos from their high school yearbooks. 

So I’d really like to write about something else. 

I’ve been telling people that this is the week where the Chamber is transitioning. We’ve gone from near 24/7 triage as we tried to help our members and others in the community with the immediate impact of this attack to now developing a plan for our local recovery.

We may not know when exactly we’ll all start to transition to a new normal but the recovery will come.

Let’s talk about and write about what we’d like to see our communities do and be when we recover.

I love the fact that Saratoga’s theme is “Health. History. Horses.” I love that in Saratoga HEALTH has always come first here. But do we need to settle any longer for just three words to describe us. Could we add a fourth word – Arts! 

That’s something worth talking and writing about.

After living through this pandemic, I’d like to talk about and write about and listen to ideas about how we really make HEALTH number one.

If we do this, we WILL attract new people and new businesses to our City and Saratoga County.

I think we’re all going to pay way more attention to our personal and our economic health than we have in a long time.

Talent is going to go where it’s healthy to live. Where the talent goes so will the companies or maybe they’ll let us live here while working remotely. 

Many of us have learned to work remotely. Our children have learned to learn remotely too. So this could be a game changer for a generation. 

Let’s talk about and write about and figure out how we can locally source more of the things we really need. 

Let’s not run out of toilet paper again. Let’s not have to beg people for masks to protect our health care workers and essential workers. 

Let’s make sure our local farms survive so we have local food whenever we need it.

Things are going to change for sure. And we’re learning how to adapt.

So let’s write about and talk about our future. What can we do better? What should we do differently? What will make Saratoga Springs and Saratoga County an even better place to live, work and play?

Right now, I have more questions than answers. 

So send me your answers to these questions. Share with me your thoughts and ideas. I need some good ones as we start to plan our local recovery effort.

And I’m hoping you’d also like to write and read and talk more about our future and our recovery than what we’ve been seeing and hearing for the last four weeks.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Shelters of Saratoga (SOS) Executive Director Karen Gregory announced Sunday that The Holiday Inn, located in downtown Saratoga Springs, will serve as a temporary location for the city’s homeless. 

Isolating people experiencing homelessness in individual hotel rooms with access to private bathrooms is the best possible solution to facilitate safe distancing and the ability to practice good hygiene thus preventing a community-wide spread of COVID-19. Food service, basic necessities and case management is being provided to those staying in the hotel. The shelters on Walworth Street remain open and SOS is serving over 100 people through the outreach program, which provides people with food and hygiene products. 

“Our number one priority is the health and safety of people we are helping each day. Social distancing and hygiene is the only way to slow the spread of COVID-19. Unfortunately, people experiencing homelessness don’t have the ability to stay home.” Gregory said. “People experiencing homelessness don’t have regular access to sinks where they can wash their hands and those staying at homeless shelters can’t always remain six feet from another person. There are simply too many people and not enough space.” Quarantine for a sick or exposed individual would not be possible in these settings.

In addition, homeless individuals face a variety of issues when it comes to COVID-19. Age, poor health, disability, and living conditions make them highly vulnerable to illness. Once the virus is introduced to this high-risk population, further transmission will be very difficult to contain. As such, Shelters of Saratoga initiated this proactive, rapid response plan for this crisis.

Gregory stated “I made several requests to Saratoga County to move our shelters into a local hotel before someone was symptomatic or tested positive for COVID-19. I was told over and over again that would not be possible until somebody tested positive, although I explained at that point it would be too late and I was afraid we would have a shelter full of very sick people including my staff. Ultimately, I did not want anyone to die.”

When Gregory voiced her concerns and ideas to Saratoga Springs Mayor Meg Kelly, the Mayor was immediately aligned with her worries. They met the next morning and started going door to door to find a hotel. Kevin Tuohy, General Manager of the Holiday Inn in Saratoga, offered his support immediately and without hesitation. 

While the guests will be staying at the hotel, Gregory has opted to move in as well to keep operations running smoothly. “Although, I miss my family tremendously, it is critically important to me, to keep both my family safe as well as the people SOS is serving.”

Kelly shared this, “As Mayor, it’s my job to protect all of my citizens, including and especially those most vulnerable. Current federal and state guidelines for COVID-19 and homeless individuals set a reactive threshold – quarantine only after an individual presents with symptoms. For our city, this was not a high enough standard. I’m proud that Saratoga Springs is joining a short, but growing list of communities across the country prepared to prevent infection and spread among our homeless population by using hotels to practice social distancing and enable access to adequate hygiene, hand washing, and quarantine. This will save lives. And I’m grateful to Shelters of Saratoga’s Executive Director, Karen Gregory for her agility in the face of this crisis and to Kevin Tuohy, General Manager of the Holiday Inn here in Saratoga for stepping forward.” 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Showing and preparing homes for the housing market are two of the main challenges Roohan Realty has faced since COVID-19 struck the community. 

Currently, real estate is listed as essential in New York, with specific precautions put in place. Residential and commercial showings can be done virtually and social-distancing protocols are being followed for any home inspection of appraisal. 

Owner of Roohan Realty, Tom Roohan, defined Saratoga’s housing market as unique, stating virtual video tours doesn’t always work for the company. Roohan said no property in Saratoga is the same, and can vary from a stick-built bungalow to dental offices and multi-family homes. 

“[COVID-19] has created new challenges because this is what I call a contact sport,” Roohan said.

Typically when a client is looking for a home, they want to visit the home to walk around the rooms, and see if the furniture they have will fit. To follow proper social-distancing protocols, Roohan said no realtor would be present during a home showing. 

“We have some houses that are vacant. Under the right conditions and with everyone being smart, people are able to get into those houses and see them,” Roohan said. 

Since the home is vacant, and has been typically vacant for a while, the realtor will arrive first to open the home and turn on any lights, while wearing gloves and a mask. The prospective buyer can then enter the house and not have to touch anything because the realtor opened everything up. The same approach is being taken with any home inspection of appraisal. 

“You’re practicing safe social distancing. You have a mask on, you have gloves on, so there is no contact even close,” Roohan said. “Of course there has been less activity because there are so many houses that we can’t go into.”

Those homes Roohan is referring to are occupied homes. If two people are living in the home, they might be uncomfortable with others coming in there to view it. Typically, homes have been unoccupied for a period of time before a prospective buyer comes in. 

Although Roohan Realty has been operating with less activity, Roohan believes there is going to be an amount of pent up demand after everything opens again.

“There are people that want to put their homes on the market, but it’s a more challenging time and it depends on access to the house,” Roohan said. “Things are still happening. They’re not as robust as we’re used to for April in Saratoga Springs, but we’re doing the best we can.”

According to the National Association of Realtors, U.S. mortgage rates hit an all-time low in early March, dropping to a 3.29 percent. One year ago, mortgage rates averaged in the mid-4 percent range.

Roohan mention they recently sold an office building, two family home and a single family home that were all vacant. He added that he, along with any realtor, is accessible by phone or email. 

To help with the possible demand after COVID-19 is over, Roohan said preparing your home for sale is the best thing homeowners can do. He mentioned one realtor, who hopes to list a house on May 1, said the homeowner is currently de-cluttering and painting the home. 

“They’re busy doing the type of things we typically ask people to do to prepare their house for sale, so that the house might look the best. Each situation is unique. Safety and flattening the curve are the two most important things that everyone is concerned about,” Roohan said. “It’s a trying time but everyone will get through it. We’ll come out smarter on the other end.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Hospitals have become the epicenter of COVID-19 around the world, and while most feelings concerning COVID-19 include fear and anxiety with the unknown, two women at the center of it all boiled their experience thus far with COVID-19 down to one word: heartwarming.

Dr. Jacqueline Smith, hospitalist, is a member of Saratoga Hospital Medical Group – Inpatient Medicine at Saratoga Hospital. She works with Clinical Coordinator Christina (Chrissy) Citarella, BSN, RN. Citarella is a Certified Medical-Surgical Registered Nurse working with inpatients. Both women have worked countless hours since COVID-19 hit the community in early March.

On January 20, 2020 a 35-year-old man returned to his home in Washington state after recently travelling to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. That date marks the first recorded case of the virus in the United States. News across the states travelled fast, and Citarella said the first change she noticed in her usual daily routine was the unknown surrounding the virus at the time.

“Initially, when we started hearing about the COVID patients—that the hospital would potentially be seeing these patients—we had a lot of questions, a lot of uncertainty, and the staff just wanting to know what was our plan, what are we doing here,” Citarella said. 

Both Citarella and Smith said they started self-isolation early on due to their jobs in the healthcare industry. Citarella said she wanted to keep herself, family, and co-workers safe and took to extreme social distancing as the best approach. 

In her own personal life, Smith said she experienced the same initial changes the rest of the world had, and started to self-isolate weeks before the rest of the community on principle, because she was working in the hospital. 

“I considered myself high risk and took every precaution possible to avoid being with other people,” Smith said.

In her professional life, Smith said COVID-19 is a daily-changing thing. Since beginning to work with patients who had the disease, everything changed in the way they practiced. Daily conversations involving personal protective equipment (PPE) have happened regularly since.

“We have constant conversations about PPE and how to keep ourselves safe. We’ve seen a ton of innovation, which is so heartwarming, in terms of different ideas for PPE. It’s been very useful. So every day is a brand new experience, really,” Smith said. 

Angelo Calbone, President and CEO of Saratoga Hospital, shared his perspective concerning the hospital and how the institution has worked as a collective with other hospitals. Calbone said they coordinate through an early morning call with all the institutions throughout the region as a daily check-in. During that call, they compare notes, share approaches and learnings, and get a sense of what each institution is experiencing and how they’re managing it. 

“For the first time in my career, the entire region is functioning, in some ways, as a single health system and not really as competitors. It’s been a satisfying, but unique, experience that I think is helping prepare all the institutions, including Saratoga, really to be in the best position,” Calbone said. “As a collective, we have discussed and implemented changes, such as checking temperatures at all of our doors and timing the curtailment of visitors…we did that in somewhat of a coordinated fashion. We shared how we’re each using our protective equipment for our staff, testing the science and keeping an eye toward what makes our staff safest.”

MIXED EMOTIONS

While the virus forces the community apart, Smith said she was profoundly struck by the mixed emotions COVID-19 brought with it. She said working with a disease that is known as scary—and not yet over—creates questions concerning the unknowns of the virus. However, along with that feeling of fear and sadness the virus creates, Smith countered, “People truly need us, so that is rewarding.” 

Calbone has seen that rewarding sense reflected in hospital workers. He couldn’t think of an adjective strong enough to describe the extent to which Saratoga Hospital staff have invested their commitment to patients. He said the time and energy spent in having good plans in place appears to be paying off well, and the staff has left him in awe. 

“Their focus, calmness, and ability to take this work on while keeping their heads up has just been…we always knew we had a great staff but really seeing them work through this has been just impressive,” Calbone said. 

Smith reflected the same ideas as she mentioned her own amazement with not only the nursing staff, but with other staff, such as the kitchen and cleaning crews. She described everyone as being high quality, caring, and willing to help with whatever anyone needs, creating an amazing atmosphere at work. 

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A key part in that atmosphere is the interaction both Smith and Citarella have with patients. Smith described her interactions as heartwarming, stating patients appreciate them in return and feel concerned about the staff, which she said is highly unusual. 

“It’s a comfort to me. As much as we care, they’re caring as well,” Citarella said. 

Smith said, “It also feels very heartwarming to me, caring about those patients. I want to cheer when someone leaves the hospital—I’m just so happy for them.”

Saratoga County reported its first COVID-19 case on March 7, 2020. On March 27, 2020, Saratoga County reported its first COVID-19 death. Despite the span of increasing reported cases over the last month, Calbone said social distancing is key to helping stop the spread. As of April 7, 2020, the Saratoga County Office of Emergency Services reported 167 confirmed cases in the county. 

“Social distancing and staying at home are the very best things the public can do right now. Our impression is that it’s working and having a positive impact. It hasn’t stopped this, but we do think we are seeing signs that the rate of growth is slowing, which allows all the regional hospitals to better manage the influx. We appreciate what the community is doing, we can tell, and we think it’s working,” Calbone said.

THE UNKNOWN & THE UNCERTAINTY

After reporting the county’s first case one month ago, both Smith and Citarella noticed fear isn’t playing a large part in the virus anymore. They said they no longer see fear in patient’s or co-worker’s eyes as they work with the virus. 

“This is very scary, but I have to say, the staff has done an absolutely phenomenal job being extremely professional and calm. I don’t see fear in people’s eyes. I think everyone just wants to help and that is pretty amazing,” Citarella said. 

Both women said they feel very safe while working at the hospital, but that feeling changes as soon as they step out of that environment. Citarella is living at her home with her husband, practicing social distancing even inside the home. Besides an occasional trip to the grocery store, Citarella said she keeps to herself. 

“I feel very safe [at work]. Being out in the grocery store—it’s the unknown and the uncertainty there,” Citarella said. 

Smith said she currently lives by herself, so while it’s easy to self-isolate, the biggest challenge she faces is venturing out to get groceries.

“I have not been to a grocery store in probably a month, and I’ve managed to order things online, but I can’t do that anymore. They’re just not available. I’m going to have to go to a grocery store. I’ve put it off for three weeks now,” Smith said. “I’m becoming a really creative cook,” Smith finished with a laugh. 

But it’s no laughing matter for those who travel to the grocery store. From being exposed safely to COVID-19 on a daily basis, Smith doesn’t feel that she should be in a grocery store but simply has no other choice. To keep the safe feeling they have inside the hospital when they are out in public places, such as grocery stores, both women said social distancing is key in uncontrolled environments. 

“What influences people to do the right thing? [By not social distancing] people are not choosing the right thing. Why do they do that…I don’t know,” Smith said. 

Calbone reflected those same feelings about the safe environment the hospital generates. He said a combination of limited building access, proper hand washing hygiene, and masking has all contributed to create that protected environment. 

“We have long-established protocols and products here on how we disinfect and isolate areas. The public can’t access this building anymore. General visitors can’t come anymore. Other businesses and locations can’t necessarily make that work. If they don’t want the public accessing their space, they can’t do business. Whereas, we can keep our staff here taking care of patients, restrict a lot of traffic, and still do what we need to do,” Calbone said. 

Calbone encouraged the public to continue proper social distancing and recommended masks should be used as well in public places. He said the masks provide more protection when it’s on someone who is sick. If everyone in public spaces uses masks, it can create a more comfortable sense, similar to the atmosphere the hospital holds. 

At the end of the day, Calbone said personal health comes first. While practicing social distancing, proper hand washing, and self-isolating all contribute toward limiting the spread of COVID-19, people still need to pay attention to their health. 

“If people need healthcare, they should not be afraid to access healthcare. The emergency room is open; we can still manage almost any case here in the organization. We would hate for people who need care to be staying away, allowing their conditions to worsen because they somehow think they shouldn’t or can’t access the hospital. We know that perception probably exists, but that really isn’t the case,” Calbone said.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Jessica Holmes and Nicolina Foti, from the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Saratoga County, interviewed three farms to discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on the agricultural community.

The results, they say, showcase the strong relationship between the consumer and the direct market farmers. 

Willow Marsh Farm in Ballston Spa. Willow Marsh Farm has seen an increase in milk, eggs, yogurt, and butter sales with the uncertainty of COVID-19. They have also seen an increase in new wholesale accounts, an increase in supply for existing accounts, and an influx of new customers. 

“I think there has been a realization from people as to what real, locally sourced food is,” said Chuck Curtiss of Willow Marsh Farm.

King Brothers Dairy in Schuylerville. Home delivery service has increased, breathing life back into the times of the milkman. During the past week, King Brothers Dairy has seen a 50% increase in their new consumer base.

“I hope we will retain the customers we have obtained during COVID-19, but what I am sure of is the bridge in the educational gap from how we get our food and where it comes from,” said Becky King of King Brothers Dairy.

Smith’s Orchard in Charlton.  Smith’s Orchard has been stocking their meat in the freezer as fast as it has been leaving. They have also been advertising sales on applesauce apples as a fun family quarantine activity. While they have decided to close the doors to their pie shop for the next two weeks, they will be accepting orders with scheduled pickups, according to Shelley Smith of Smith’s Orchard. 

“There is this symbiotic relationship between all of the farms, and how we find a way to survive,” Becky King said. 

WILTON — Construction on the first Wilton Aldi’s began this month with clearing the plot of land. The only work being performed is the clearing of the town road and infrastructure for the building. Due to COVID-19, these are the only construction items that are considered essential. The store will be built on 2.10 acres off of Lowe’s Drive in the Wilton Marketplace. The Wilton Planning Board originally approved the Aldi’s store in February of 2019. According to the meeting minutes, there will be store access through Lowes and a new road will connect with Old Gick and have a pedestrian connection in the future. The Planning Board was not available for comment at this time.

In response to the COVID-19 crisis, Hannaford Supermarkets is donating $750,000 to numerous hunger relief and homeless outreach organizations throughout the Northeast as they work to support some of the most at-risk members of the community during the pandemic.

The health crisis and related economic impact are creating unprecedented demand for food assistance, resulting in operational disruptions and significant new costs for the agencies that provide emergency meals. In addition, individuals who rely solely on pantries and shelters – or who live on the street – face particular risk of contracting and spreading the virus because they have no home to shelter within.

Hannaford’s donation includes:

• A total commitment of $550,000 to food banks in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York and Massachusetts. This includes $300,000 in new funds, in addition to a recently announced $250,000 donation to the food banks.

• A total of $200,000 to organizations that work with homeless people. The donation will be used to help create social distance among these individuals, while helping them to meet the most-basic needs of survival and staying healthy amid the crisis.

 “Every day, we are learning more about the impact of this virus and responding together as a community to the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hannaford President Mike Vail. “Our company and our associates are working hard in our grocery stores to meet the most-basic needs of our community during this difficult time: food and medicine. We hope that this donation also will help the most-vulnerable of our neighbors meet their fundamental needs of staying fed and healthy, during this difficult time.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Adirondack Trust Company announced it has secured a five-star rating from BAUERFINANCIAL, the Nation’s Premier Bank Rating Firm. 

A five-star rating indicates that the bank excels in areas of capital adequacy, profitability, asset quality and much more. Earning and maintaining this top rating for 55 consecutive quarters puts Adirondack Trust in the most prestigious bracket as an Exceptional Performance Bank.

“I am often asked what it takes to be a 5-Star bank,” BAUERFINANCIAL President Karen Dorway said. “Like so many other things in life, success in banking boils down to knowledge. Knowledge of banking, of course, but knowledge of its customers and the communities the bank serves are equally important. This intimacy enables the bank to steer clear of danger and work with customers for a common goal. It’s what gets so many community banks, like Adirondack Trust, through the tough times unscathed.”

“We are pleased to continue to be honored by BAUERFINANCIAL as an Exceptional Performance Bank,” Adirondack Trust Company President & CEO Charles V. Wait, Jr. said of the achievement. “We are focused on maintaining a very strong balance sheet and our strong financial discipline has helped us to achieve this honor. We are grateful for the support we’ve received from our customers and our communities since our founding in 1901.”

BAUERFINANCIAL, Inc., based in Coral Gables, Fla., is the nation’s leading independent bank and credit union rating and research firm, has been reporting on and analyzing the performance of U.S. banks and credit unions since 1983. No institution can pay for or opt-out of a BAUERFINANCIAL rating. Star ratings are all available for free at bauerfinancial.com.