Women who are providing the primary source of financial support for their families while pursuing their education are encouraged to apply for the Soroptimist “Live Your Dream” award. 

Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, a volunteer organization for business and professional women, is offering grants up to $5,000 for any costs related to pursuing an education. The first-place award recipient is also eligible for additional awards at the regional and international Soroptimist levels. 

Eligible applicants must:

· Demonstrate financial need

· Be accepted or enrolled in an undergraduate or vocational skills training program

· Live in or near Saratoga County  

Applications must be submitted by Nov. 15, 2025. For more information and a link to the online application go to: https://www.soroptimist.org/our-work/live-your-dream-awards/apply-for-the-live-your-dream-awards.html.  

For assistance with the application process, e-mail liveyourdreamsaratoga@gmail.com with questions or to request a mentor.

Research on the impact of the “Live Your Dream” Award has shown that investing in educational opportunities for women results in a “multiplier” effect for their families and communities. Not only does this program enable women to secure higher paying employment and a raised standard of living, it increases the likelihood that their children will obtain an education and secure a future of economic independence and success. 

Soroptimist International of Saratoga County is part of an international volunteer women’s organization with 72,000 members in 121 countries and territories. The group provides both hands-on and financial support for programs and people in keeping with the Soroptimist mission to empower and improve the lives of women, girls and the community, locally and globally. Soroptimist uses its international voice and official status with the United Nations to advocate on behalf of women’s issues. For more information: www.soroptimistsaratoga.org.

All events take place at Brookside Museum, 21 Fairground Ave Ballston Spa, NY 12020. Unless noted. For more information check www.brooksidemuseum.org. 

Brookside Explorers Club: School Days 

When Exotic Plant Hunters Roamed the World 

Sunday, September 28, 2-3:30PM 

A presentation on a time when exotic plant hunters roamed the world. Meet the brave and adventurous souls whose unquenchable thirst for exotic plants took them at great personal risk to remote areas in Asia, Africa, South America, and beyond. Their spellbinding stories changed landscapes forever. The dedication of the James Mann Victorian Shade Garden will follow. In tandem with the day’s festivities, a daylily plant sale and Porch sale will be held on the front porch. Daylilies will be sold for $8.00 each or 3 for $20.00. Cash is preferred. Refreshments included and all are welcome. 

Fourth Annual Public History Awards 

Tuesday, September 30, 6-8PM 

The Saratoga County History Center Board of Trustees is pleased to announce the winners of the fourth annual Saratoga County Public History Awards. The award recognizes individuals that have made a significant contribution to extending knowledge and understanding of the history of Saratoga County. A celebratory event will be held with a reception on the front porch of Brookside Museum. The 2025 recipients of the award are Anne Clothier, Assistant to the Saratoga County Historian, and Russ Van Dervoort, Waterford Town Historian. 

Greenridge Cemetery Tour 

Wednesday, October 1, 1-2:30PM 

Greenridge Cemetery, Lincoln Avenue, Saratoga Springs 

The Saratoga County History Center has announced an additional walking tour to conclude our 2025 season. Experienced tour guide Gloria Marceau will lead a fall walkabout of the Greenridge Cemetery on Lincoln Avenue in Saratoga Springs. This tour is focused on Civil War veterans and their stories and will include a ghostly tale appropriate for the season. Attendees will meet at the Lincoln Avenue gate. Registration is required. 

Second Mechanicville Walking Tour – Hudson View Cemetery 

October 15, 1-2:30PM 

Hudson View Cemetery, South Street, Mechanicville 

Due to popular demand, local history buffs Tom Salvadore and Bob Murphy will lead a second walk through the historic cemetery, made even more beautiful by the fall colors. Beginning at the gravesite of Civil War hero Elmer Elsworth, they will tell stories of community leaders in the glory days of the city during the industrial age. Parking is available through the entrance to the cemetery on South Street. This tour is sponsored by the Saratoga County History Center. Registration is required.

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is offering a wide range of educational resources and programming throughout the 2025-26 academic year. 

From on-site field trips to in-person classroom visits to digital courses, the Museum has numerous learning and engagement opportunities at all grade levels for schools and teachers throughout the Capital Region and beyond. 

Health, History, and Horses Tours now available for more grade levels

The Museum’s Health, History, and Horses tour is now open and available for grades 3-12 and college classes. This excursion takes students to Saratoga Race Course’s historic Oklahoma Training Track to learn about the rich history of thoroughbred racing. Students get the chance to see live racehorses in action as they go through morning workouts. After the tour, visit the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for a special private screening of our signature film, What It Takes: Journey to the Hall of Fame.

Tour dates: Available through Oct. 31. The program will then resume May 1, 2026. Click here for more information or to book at tour for your group: https://racingmuseum.org/education/health-history-and-horses

Field trip experiences across subjects

The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame offers structured field trip experiences covering a number of engaging topics. From history to science to the arts, our Museum has the resources to make your day extra special. Our experienced educators can customize programming that fits your educational needs and goals. Every visit to the Museum includes a private screening of our signature film. We also offer the Horsing Around tour, made just for young learners, with hands-on activities that engage and educate.

Click here for more information or to book at tour for your group: 

Health, History, and Horses | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Digital learning courses

The Museum offers a growing library of digital learning packets, completely free, for teachers to use in their classrooms. Current course offerings include:

• On Track to Change: How 20th Century America Shaped Thoroughbred Racing

• From Track to Trench: Civil War on the Turf

These courses take the form of downloadable PDF packets containing structured lesson plans and in-classroom activities, designed to integrate seamlessly into established curriculum. To see our digital courses, or to download the packets for your classroom, head to this page on our website: Digital Learning Courses | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

Readers Up returns with new books!

The Museum’s Readers Up program, sponsored by the New York Thoroughbred Breeders, is back for the 2025-26 academic year. Choose from one of six exciting stories, and we’ll send you enough copies of that book for your whole class to read and enjoy. Then, when you’re ready, Museum educators will visit your classroom or perform an online Zoom program with authentic Museum items and artifacts that tie into the book you just read. This program is completely free to all schools and educational organizations. 

In addition to our usual slate of books, this year, we’ve added two new tales to enjoy:

• Get a sneak peek into farm life with Pony Parade, a Sky View Farm Adventure, by Angelina Natale, with illustrations by Jess Bircham.

• Meet a baby foal named Polly in Polly and the Birth Day, by D.H. Anderson, with illustrations by Steven Lester.

Returning books include: 

• The Long Shot, by Chris Carpenter, with illustrations by Dave Papa

• Abella and the Almost Racehorse, by Zane Carson Carruth

• Jim Dandy: A Dark Horse on a Dark Day, by Maddy Zanetti, with illustrations by Gretchen Louise Tisch

• The Jockey and Her Horse, a novel, by Sarah Maslin Nir and Raymond White, Jr. 

Reservations are now available for every book in the Readers Up program. Books are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. If you are interested in participating in the Readers Up program, check out this page on our website: Readers Up! | National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame

This October, Pitney Meadows Community Farm, in partnership with the Ndakinna Education Center, will host a special evening lecture that brings language, culture, and history to life. On Thursday, October 2nd, from 6:00–7:00pm, renowned storyteller, musician, and language scholar Jesse Bruchac will lead “Art of Remembering: Indigenous Language Reclamation & Regional History” at Pitney Meadows Community Farm. Sign up now!

This event offers a rare opportunity to hear directly from one of the leading voices in the revitalization of Algonquian languages. For more than four decades, Bruchac has worked to reclaim and strengthen Indigenous languages, teaching and preserving knowledge that spans generations. His journey has taken him from communities across the Northeast to projects across the U.S. and Canada, and into the world of fi lm and television, where he has served as a language consultant for acclaimed productions such as Turn and Jamestown.

At Pitney Meadows, Bruchac will weave together personal stories, historical insight, and reflections from his lifelong work in education and cultural preservation. His lecture will explore how language is more than a tool of communication—it is a vessel of memory, identity, and resilience. Attendees will come away with a deeper understanding of the ties between Indigenous language reclamation and regional history, and how these connections shape both the past and present.

“Jesse Bruchac’s work reminds us that the land holds memory—that every plant, every word, every song is part of a living history,” says Brooke McConnell, Executive Director of Pitney Meadows Community Farm. “It’s a privilege to partner with the Ndakinna Education Center to bring these off erings to our community, and to learn from Jesse’s knowledge, creativity, and deep-rooted connection to this place.”

Bruchac, a citizen of the Nulhegan Abenaki Nation, is the founder and director of the The Abenaki Language School at Middlebury College and the Assistant Director of the Ndakinna Education Center. He has dedicated his life to teaching, sharing, and creating spaces for Indigenous knowledge systems to thrive. His work bridges generations and disciplines, whether through the classroom, the stage, or the screen, bringing both urgency and hope to the eff ort of cultural reclamation.

“Language reclamation is not just about the past, it is about the future,” says Jesse Bruchac. “By revitalizing these words, we ensure that generations to come can inherit not only a language, but the worldview, values, and knowledge that it carries.”

This lecture is free and open to the public. Community members of all ages are welcome to attend. The revitalization of language is the revitalization of culture, identity, and spirit. On September 18th, Jesse Bruchac will remind us that what is remembered can never be lost—and what we carry forward has the power to shape generations to come. Sign up now!

Supported with funding from the New York State Conservation Partnership Program (NYSCPP) and New York’s Environmental Protection Fund. The NYSCPP is administered by the Land Trust Alliance, in coordination with the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

The League of Women Voters of Saratoga County is announcing the third of four scheduled sessions of their Profiles in Courage series, in response to growing concerns over the federal government’s oppression of marginalized groups. 

Freedom Now! The Civil Rights Movement of the ‘60s will be presented on Wednesday, September 24 at 7pm in Davis Auditorium at Skidmore College. Dr. Winston Willis-Grady, Director of Skidmore College’s Black Studies Department, and Donald A. Hyman, American Studies professor at the College of St. Rose for ten years, will lead the discussion. The event is co-sponsored by the Skidmore College Black Studies Program.

The Civil Rights movement of the 1960s profoundly changed the American landscape. The apartheid system of segregation laws and policies, designed after Reconstruction, had reduced African-Americans to second-class citizens. Social justice organizations across the country formed coalitions and alliances to initiate change. This session will explore what civil rights organizers were up against and how they found the courage to demand their rights in a nation still grounded in white supremacy. 

The series showcases the resilience and determination of past movements and encourages attendees to support the democratic principles of justice and inclusion during yet another oppressive time in our nation’s history. Registration is required at www.lwvsaratoga.org/events 

The fourth and final session of this Profiles in Courage series will feature the Pride Movement on October 20 at 7pm at Crandall Library. For more information, visit www.lwvsaratoga.org. 

Malta, NY –  The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of its Fall 2025 schedule of classes, offering a wide range of engaging, hands-on learning opportunities for all ages. From weaving to stained glass to photography to electronics to self-publishing and more, the lineup provides something for everyone in the community. In addition to classes, we are thrilled to introduce three new events this fall:

STEM Saturday: Everything 3D Printing

Date: Saturday, October 18 from 11am to 4pm

Curious about the future of making and innovation? Join us for an interactive day exploring the world of 3D printing. Participants can attend demonstrations, learn about design software, and discover how 3D printing can be incorporated into their favorite hobbies. Do you have a 3D printer at home that you need help with? Bring it in and we’ll see if we can help you diagnose the problems.

Repair Café — Hosted together with Sustainable Saratoga

Date: Saturday, October 25 from 1pm to 4pm

Bring your broken items and learn how to fix them instead of throwing them away. Volunteer “fixers” will help participants repair textiles, electrical items, jewelry, clothing, computers, and more. This collaboration with Sustainable Saratoga highlights our joint commitment to reducing waste and promoting sustainability.

Holiday Marketplace

Date: Saturday, December 6 from 11am to 5pm

Celebrate the season while supporting local makers and artisans at our festive Holiday Marketplace. Discover unique, handcrafted gifts, enjoy seasonal music, and connect with the community in a warm holiday atmosphere.

“Fall is about fresh starts and new opportunities,” said Beth Moeller, Board President of The Innovation Center at Saratoga. “We’re proud not only to offer diverse classes but also to partner with the community on innovative events that inspire creativity, sustainability, and local pride.”

The full schedule of classes and event details can be found at https://innovationcentersaratoga.org. Registration is now open, and early sign-ups are encouraged.

The Innovation Center at Saratoga, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) collaborative maker space where artists, entrepreneurs, and community members come together to learn, create, and innovate.  More information can be found at https://innovationcentersaratoga.org.  

With the fall 2025 semester underway, Empire State University begins this term with another year of enrollment increases. New student enrollment has increased by 7.2%, and overall student enrollment has gone up by 7.4%.  

Amidst a challenging higher education landscape of enrollment declines, SUNY Empire is well-positioned to meet student needs and provide accessible, flexible, and high-quality education. The university currently serves 17,500 students and has over 120 degree programs. 

This year, Empire State University expanded its course offerings, adding three new bachelor’s programs and three new master’s programs for the fall semester to meet the needs of current and future students. The university also granted 434 eligible students associate degrees as part of its associate degree granting program. 

“Our enrollment growth this year is a result of the university’s commitment to access and innovation,” said Vice President of Enrollment Management and Marketing Andrea Hennessy. “By continuing to expand our online academic programs and strengthening workforce partnerships, we’ve been able to meet students where they are and provide flexible pathways to success. Coupled with targeted marketing campaigns that tell our story in authentic ways, these efforts have allowed us to reach more learners and support their educational goals. This growth reflects not only the strength of our programs but also the dedication of our faculty and staff to student success.” 

Schuylerville Central School District is conducting its 2025 Census to identify children ages 0–4 who live in the district but are not yet enrolled in school. This important initiative helps the district prepare for the future while providing families with valuable resources and support. The information assists with:

• Planning future UPK & Kindergarten classes

• Offering early learning resources and support

• Connecting families with upcoming events

• Making the registration process easier for parents

Information needed

Families will be asked to provide:

• Parent/guardian name(s)

• Address and contact information

• Child’s name and birthdate

• Child’s current setting (home, daycare, etc.)

• Interest in UPK/school updates

How to Complete the Census

Families can easily complete the census by scanning the QR code found on district materials or by visiting the census webpage directly at: http://tiny.cc/SCSCensus. Participation ensures the district can better serve families, support young learners, and prepare for a smooth transition into UPK and Kindergarten. Thank you in advance!