Written correspondence is a bridge connecting people to one another.
Joan Tepper-Neal adds authenticity and emotion to her thoughtful greeting cards – at the holidays – and during other special occasions. It’s part of a writing practice that has recently blossomed into something larger.
When Words Mean More
As a girl, Joan’s mother discovered her daughter’s artistry and believed in her abilities, said Joan, “She always told me that I could do anything I wanted, and if I didn’t, I didn’t want it badly enough!”
While studying as an undergrad at the University of Miami, Joan sat on the bathroom floor and journaled as a form of catharsis. “I’m a very, very sensitive person. My feelings go down to the tips of my toes.”
Joan graduated from the New York Academy of Theatrical Arts and maintained the habit of heartfelt handwritten correspondence throughout her life. Now a widow with two adult children, Joan’s writing has taken on a life of its own.
“It just falls out of my head. The words come and I have to write them down because I’m so afraid I’m going to forget what I was thinking. The words just pour out of me.”
Joan and her husband, Ronald Neal, were together for 30 years. He used to love her writing, and she received loads of praise for the handwritten notes she sent out, all filled with meaningful messages (she collects blank cards if you have any!).
After Ronald’s passing, she sat in her bedroom looking through all the musings she had saved. She said aloud, “Honey, I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to write.”
Rich and Engaging
Joan’s writing is a snapshot of a moment in time, her emotions, and a shared experience.
It’s all part of her artistry. A self-described fashionista and a greeter at Saratoga Saddlery, Joan said she receives elaborate compliments on her style and personality. Her writing is about fun, laughter, dancing, singing, drinking, (and everything else possible!). Her poetry is distributed on Fridays to an email list of 100+ (because Fridays are days meant for rejoicing, she said).
To grow her writing practice, Joan has performed at Caffe Lena’s 2024 Open Mic Nights (where she also volunteers); it’s read aloud during the Well-Noted Writing Club meetings hosted by Asheley Cruz, founder of Coral and Blue, a children’s stationary company; and has worked with mentor, renowned poet Suzanne Rancourt. Her work has also been shared by Pat McBride McFriesen, the host of regular literary and musical salons in Saratoga.
“I’m like a drummer starting out in a garage band trying to get bigger and bigger,” she laughs.
A Legacy of Love
Joan photographs the cards she writes to chronicle these handwritten keepsakes. Looking back through them, she is given a glimpse of the past, reminded of the relationships she values, and discovers a legacy of love (a word she believes is used much too nonchalantly these days).
“When you get to know me, you will love me,” she said. Also a hostess at The Wine Bar, where she makes friends easily, Joan said she has a fan club full of people rooting for her writing success.
“My writing has SOUL,” said Joan. “I love words but I’m not a good reader,” she added, “When I’m writing, words come into my head, and I’m not sure where they come from or if I’m using them correctly, so I have to look them up, but still, there they are.”
To receive a new piece of Joan Tepper-Neal’s poetry in your inbox each week, email her at joantepperneal@gmail.com
The Saratoga New Year’s Eve celebration will kick off with free outdoor entertainment by DJ RVMBA on Ellsworth Jones Place, located just outside of the Saratoga Springs City Center, along with a spectacular fireworks display launched from the top level of the City Center’s parking garage.
∅This portion of the event, held from 5 to 6:30 p.m. on New Year’s Eve is designed to offer a family-friendly option that is available to the public at no cost.
Afterward, Saratoga New Year’s Eve ticketholders can enjoy an evening filled with a diverse array of live entertainment at multiple downtown venues including the Saratoga Springs City Center, Universal Preservation Hall and Caffe Lena. For tickets visit saratoganye.com
The festivities will conclude on New Year’s Day with the Saratoga First Day 5K, a fun tradition for runners and anyone looking to begin 2026 with a healthy activity.
New for 2026, the First Day 5K is partnering with the Saratoga Springs Lions Club to support one of the club’s core missions of diabetic awareness and education. An optional donation for this cause can be made upon event registration. To register visit fc4events.com.
The Line Up
Saratoga Springs City Center
The Allman Betts Band
Maggie Doherty
The Belle Curves
Heard
Ally the Piper
Doc Horton
Glass Pony
UPH
Nicotine Dolls
& More
Caffe Lena
Reese Fulmer and the Carriage House Band
This year’s event was organized through a partnership between the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, Discover Saratoga, the Saratoga Springs City Center, the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association, the City of Saratoga Springs, Proctors Collaborative, Caffe Lena and the Saratoga Regional YMCA, along with support from sponsors Adirondack Trust Company, Druthers Brewing Company and the Saratoga Springs Special Assessment District.
Book cover of “Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution” via the publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Angelica and Elizabeth Schuyler had just reached their early 20s when their country home in present-day Schuylerville was incinerated.
“On October 11, surrounded and desperate, his army depleted by casualties, [General] Burgoyne petulantly put the torch to Schuyler’s house, barns, and mills, reducing everything to ashes and charred timber,” writes Amanda Vaill in her new book, “Pride and Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution.” “On the thirteenth he began negotiations for capitulation, and on the seventeenth his entire army of nearly six thousand men, seven thousand muskets, and forty-two cannon—in addition to tents, blankets, and other military provisions—was surrendered to Horatio Gates at a meeting place ‘150 rods south’ of the still smoking ruins of Schuyler’s estate.”
The Schuyler sisters not only bore witness, but also participated in a turbulent time of war, death, and the pursuit of a republic. The odds seemed to be always stacked against them, just as the ragtag colonists were thought to have little chance of success against the British Empire—that is, until Burgoyne’s surrender at Saratoga changed everyone’s fortunes.
The remarkable story of the Schuylers, especially the glamorous Angelica and the steadfast Elizabeth (wife to Alexander Hamilton), have been recounted time and again, most famously in the “Hamilton” musical and in Ron Chernow’s brilliant biography, “Alexander Hamilton.” But there’s often been a tendency to cast these characters in supporting roles, relegating them to shiny accessories.
The historical record reveals Angelica and Elizabeth to be fascinating figures in their own right; well-read, insightful, and influential women living in a time when women’s ambitions were restricted. Vaill, a bestselling author and Emmy-nominated screenwriter, explores their stories in her new book.
In advance of her Dec. 3 appearance at the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs, Vaill spoke with Saratoga TODAY about her new tome. Below is our interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.
Saratoga TODAY: Of all the things you could have written about, why the Schuyler sisters?
Amanda Vaill: If you look at my past publications, you’ll notice maybe that what I seem to be attracted to are these kind of turning point moments in history when things are changing. The ground is shifting under everyone’s feet… I’m attracted to this like bees to honey and I like thinking about the way people interact with those moments; how they’re caught up in them, how much they can influence them or not, how much they are affected by them. And in this case, I had these two women who did something so different from what they would have been expected to do. They didn’t just marry the right guy, they married the wrong guy [laughs]. They married really wrong guys, and one of them actually so much so that she had to elope, and her parents threatened to disown her. Of course, they didn’t. But Alexander Hamilton, even though Philip Schuyler became enamored of him…he was a real outsider. And the fact that these women decided, ‘Oh, I think I’ll cast my lot in with this guy,’…I thought that was awfully intriguing.
ST: I’d love to talk a little about Eliza. On paper, Angelica’s life seems so exciting and romantic, but Eliza always seems like someone who gets cast as a dull background character.
AV: Oh, you have put your finger right on it.
ST: What makes Eliza more interesting than perhaps we’ve been led to believe?
AV: If I may say so, I think a lot of historians who’ve looked at [Angelica and Elizabeth Schuyler] are as enthralled by Angelica’s flirtatious charm as men in her own time were, and I think they all kind of want to date her… But the fact is, [when] these very same people think about Eliza, ‘Well, she was a good housekeeper. She could do the household finances. She could bear a bazillion children. She could do all of these things. They’re not very glamorous. Don’t I wish I had that person at home to do all my stuff for me.’ I feel as if people have willfully not paid attention to the evidence in front of their eyes. She is a beautiful woman. She was as beautiful as her sister. In some respects, maybe more so… They’re ignoring the things that she did to help Hamilton’s career, and it’s not just by being a hostess, although she was one. When people maintain that she wanted Hamilton to leave the government, they’re only relying on one witness for this… She also, of course, helped Hamilton with drafting his political papers and memoranda. She was there when he wrote the memoranda that justified the Bank of the USA. And in fact, [she’s] probably the person who read all of the horrific, thick tomes about economic history because it’s her name in those books, not his… She has an incredible ability to run things. Once Hamilton is dead, she’s able to collect all of his papers, which is an extraordinary undertaking. This little woman is traveling all up and down the eastern seaboard copying letters… She ran an orphanage for 20 years, an entirely woman-run nonprofit, and got it a state charter. She got money from the state. She got bills passed that would enable it to receive funding. She did all of that. This woman is really pretty formidable.
ST: Near us, we have the Schuyler family’s country estate. Could you talk about why you think these types of sites are important? If you go to the estate, what can you learn about the family and about the people who lived there?
AV: The thing that’s really stunning about going to the historical residence is the scale that life was lived on in this country. If you go to England or any of those stately houses, they’re Downton Abbey. They’re giant, huge things. Even the grandest places here are not that imposing. It’s a big house that you could kind of manage by yourself. I mean, you couldn’t manage it by yourself if you had to do all the cleaning and everything yourself and keep things up to the standards that people wanted, and also take care of all the agricultural work that went along with them because these were working farms and they needed a lot of attention. But they’re not immodest. There’s a scale that’s human about them, and it makes you suddenly realize that these are people that lived at a scale that’s a little less grandiose than you might imagine, given the fact that Philip Schuyler owned thousands and thousands of acres of New York State… The other thing is the relationship that the houses have to the land around them. When you go to see them, you can see how the people lived in them and related to their surroundings in a way that you wouldn’t if you had never seen it. And of course, in the case of the Schuyler Mansion—where so much of the furniture has been reassembled or they’ve made real efforts to replicate some of the objects that they had to make the house appear, at least in part, the way it might have when [the Schuylers] were there—you get a sense of: What was the material texture of life for these people? What kind of beds did they sleep in? How many people slept in a bedroom? All that kind of stuff is fascinating.
ST: Based on your research, what do you think the Saratoga estate meant to the family?
AV: Oh, a lot. The first house, the one that was burned by Burgoyne, Catherine Schuyler was really fond of that house. She loved it. I think it must have caused her terrible pain when it was burned. But [Philip] rebuilt it pretty much as fast as he could. Right after it was destroyed, he used Army carpenters and construction people and he really got that house put up pretty quickly. It’s grander now than it was because originally, when it was first built, the floors of the second story were the ceiling of the first story. They weren’t putting insulation and layers of stuff in between. It was just, ‘Get something put up here quickly.’ Because they wanted to have a place there. He had all of that real estate and all of the farms and the mills and the fisheries along the river there, and I think it was important to him to be able to be close to them to supervise them. But the family also appears to have had a real fondness for the house and the country because Albany was not New York City, but it was a pretty bustling small city. And Saratoga was just the country, and I think they loved it the same way people do now.
Amanda Vaill will appear in person at the Northshire Bookstore in Saratoga Springs on Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. Her book about the Schuyler sisters, “Pride and Pleasure,” was released on Oct. 25 and is available everywhere books are sold.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Tang Bazaar will return to the Skidmore College campus on Dec. 5, allowing more than 50 student vendors to sell their original artwork, pottery, clothing, jewelry, accessories, and other wares to hundreds of expected shoppers.
The one-day marketplace will run from 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. at the Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery. The event is open to the public. Although each vendor will have their own payment system, most will accept Venmo.
A few highlights of this year’s bazaar will be spoon jewelry (which student organizer Sophie Schulman-Cahn said has been a bestseller for the past few years), hand-painted calendars, handmade leather goods, chainmail jewelry, and even an original novel.
“Last year, about 800 people attended the Tang Bazaar, making it our most attended event,” Schulman-Cahn told Saratoga TODAY. “Many students have told me that it is their favorite Skidmore event, and I feel very lucky to be a part of making it happen this year!”
For more information, visit tang.skidmore.edu/calendar/2705-2025-tang-bazaar.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Once known as “the world’s most dangerous band,” Guns N’ Roses will perform amongst mineral springs and pine trees at the bucolic Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on July 26.
The group’s global 2026 tour also includes stops at a number of stadiums, including MetLife in New Jersey, the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
Guns N’ Roses made their mark on music history with their 1987 debut album “Appetite for Destruction,” which featured rock anthems “Welcome to the Jungle,” “Paradise City,” and “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” The record ranks as one of the best-selling albums of all time in the United States, shipping around 18 million units. The group’s success continued into the 1990s with a series of chart-topping albums: “G N’ R Lies,” “Use Your Illusion I,” and “Use Your Illusion II.” Today, nearly 40 years after the release of their first album, the group averages around 27 million listeners each month on Spotify.
Tickets for the Guns N’ Roses’ SPAC show will go on sale to the general public on Friday, Dec. 5 at 10 a.m.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Hedonistic heavy metal rockers Motley Crue will perform at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) on July 29, 2006, Live Nation announced recently.
Crue’s SPAC stop on their “Return of Carnival of Sins Tour” will include opening acts Tesla (the hard rock group, not the car company) and Extreme.
The Los Angeles-based band has amassed more than 100 million album sales, 22 Top-40 mainstream rock hits, and 3 Grammy nominations during their storied career. The band’s mythology has continued to grow in recent years with a pair of streaming hits: “The Dirt,” a biographical Netflix movie about the group’s history, and “Pam & Tommy,” a Hulu series about drummer Tommy Lee’s marriage to Pamela Anderson.
Tickets for the SPAC show are currently on sale via spac.org.
Attendees enjoy a recreation of a Mithraic feast of grilled meats, bread, fruit, olive oil, honey, garum (a fermented fish sauce), and wine at Skidmore College’s Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery on Nov. 13. The feast followed a dialogue about the cult of Mithras, a Roman mystery religion, that featured artist Sheila Pepe in conversation with Brigitte Keslinke and Gregory Spinner. Photo by Jonathon Norcross.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mithraism may have petered out more than a thousand years ago, but it made something of a comeback at the Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery last Thursday. There, visitors partook in a Mithraic feast of grilled meat, olive oil, bread, wine, and fermented fish sauce that recreated (to some extent, at least) the ritualistic practices of a mystery religion once prominent in Ancient Rome.
Mithraism died out sometime during the late 4th century, when Christianity took hold of Rome. But before that, depictions of the god Mithras appeared in “almost every province” of the empire, said Brigitte Keslinke, a PhD candidate in Art and Archaeology of the Mediterranean World at the University of Pennsylvania.
Although archeologists have discovered hundreds of sites containing materials believed to be related to Mithraism, no written texts explaining the beliefs or narratives of the religion have survived.
“I’ve come to terms with the fact that there’s a lot that we just won’t know unless we somehow find this text, this magical book, that tells us what people were doing and why,” Keslinke said during a Dunkerley Dialogue event about Mithraism at the Tang on Nov. 13. “But one of the things we do know and one of the things that interests me most is that we know community was important. This was an occasion to come together and hang out with people.”
In that sense, the event at Tang faithfully followed Mithraic practices. Attendees gathered to enjoy the Mithraic meal before venturing upstairs to see artist Sheila Pepe’s installation, “When & Where We Rest,” which transformed the museum’s mezzanine into a “communal lounge for reflection and conversation.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College is presenting “Family Forms”—an exhibition that invites visitors to consider how families are made, remade, and represented—from Nov. 15 until April 12.
Photographs, artists’ books, collage, sculpture, and video provide visitors ways to explore the spaces between ideas about “the family” and the lived experiences of families. Much of the exhibition draws from the Tang collection. The installation includes a domestic vignette built from thrifted frames displaying found photographs gifted to the Tang from Peter J. Cohen. Arranged above a historic mantelpiece, the scene turns the gallery into a living room where family pictures naturally gather.
Artists with work on view include Julie Chen, Mike Disfarmer, For Freedoms, Jesse Freidin, Erika Kapin, Ann Lovett, Tracey Moffatt, PaJaMa, Milton Rogovin, Joachim Schmid, Yinka Shonibare CBE, Laurie Simmons, and Danielle St. Laurent, among others.
Visitors are invited to contribute to the exhibition by submitting their own family photographs via an online form (app.youform.com/forms/nlxjibua). These images will be shown in the gallery on a digital frame throughout the run of the exhibition.
The exhibition is free and open to the public.
The Tang Museum, located on the Skidmore College campus at 815 North Broadway, is open noon–5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday, with extended hours until 9 p.m. on Thursdays. For more information, visit tang.skidmore.edu.
Image via the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Awards.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Universal Preservation Hall and WEXT announced the eighth class of inductees into the Capital Region Thomas Edison Music Hall of Fame on Wednesday.
2026 inductees include: Dominick Campana, Ernie Williams, Lee Shaw, Maria Brink, Jim Furlong, Eddie Angel, Heavenly Echoes, and the owners of the Van Dyck Music Club in Schenectady, Don Wexler, Marvin Friedman, Peter Olsen, the McDonald Family, and Chris Sule.
Since its inception in 2019, the Eddies Hall of Fame has honored more than 55 individuals and groups whose artistry and dedication have been credited with enriching the cultural fabric of the Capital Region. This year’s class includes performers, producers, and educators who span generations and genres—from blues and jazz to gospel, rock, and metal—all united by their shared impact on the Capital Region’s musical legacy.
The 2026 Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at 6 p.m. on Monday, March 23 at Universal Preservation Hall in Saratoga. The event will feature live performances, a social hour, video retrospectives, and acceptance speeches celebrating each inductee’s journey.
2026 Inductee Highlights:
• The Van Dyck owners Don Wexler, Marvin Friedman, Peter Olsen, the McDonald Family, and Chris Sule: Honoring the owners who, across generations, made the Van Dyck a cornerstone of the Capital Region’s music scene. From its early days as a jazz institution to its recent rebirth as the Van Dyck Music Club, these stewards have carried forward a legacy of live music, community, and creativity in Schenectady’s historic Stockade.
• Dominick Campana: A force in Albany’s music scene for more than 40 years, Campana is a musician, producer, and sound engineer whose career has spanned performance, recording, and education. From his early bands including Dirty Face to his work at Paint Chip Records, Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, The Egg, and Valentine’s, Campana’s influence has touched artists and audiences throughout the region.
• Ernie Williams: Known as the “Ambassador of the Blues,” Williams was the leader of Ernie Williams & The Wildcats, and, later, The Ernie Williams Band. He became an influential figure in the Albany music scene, performing for decades, mentoring young musicians, and giving back through benefit concerts.
• Lee Shaw: Considered the Capital Region’s “First Lady of Jazz,” Lee Shaw was a pianist, composer, and educator who shared a lifetime of creativity both on stage and in the classroom. Performing worldwide and teaching generations of young artists, she led her acclaimed trio for more than 40 years.
• Maria Brink: A Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter, and visual artist, Brink rose from the Capital Region to global stages as the front woman of In This Moment. Her groundbreaking artistry and theatrical performances continue to redefine women’s presence in hard rock and metal.
• Jim Furlong: Record shop owner, collector, and preservationist; Furlong has championed independent music culture in Albany for more than three decades. His shop, Last Vestige Music, remains a hub for collectors, musicians, and music lovers from across the world.
• Eddie Angel: A Grammy-nominated guitarist, songwriter, and performer from Rensselaer, Angel has toured internationally with Los Straitjackets and collaborated with Nick Lowe. His blend of humor, virtuosity, and love for classic rock and roll continues to inspire fans and fellow musicians alike.
• Heavenly Echoes: Founded in Albany in 1965, this gospel group has entertained audiences for six decades with their soulful harmonies and message of faith. Performing everywhere from churches to festivals and museums, they remain a cornerstone of the Capital Region’s cultural community.
“Each of this year’s inductees embodies the creative spirit and community connection that defines the Capital Region’s musical legacy,” said Kelly Auricchio, producer of the Eddies. “Their influence reaches beyond the stage, reminding us how music brings people together, shapes culture, and sustains our sense of place.”
More information on the Eddies Music Hall of Fame is available at theeddiesawards.com.
Mike Farris performs at The Parting Glass in Saratoga Springs on Nov. 14 as part of a co-headling “Heavyweights of Soul” show with Sugaray Rayford. Photo by Stefanie Waldek.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Mike Farris, who won a Grammy Award in 2014 for Best Roots Gospel Album, sung SPAC’s praises last Friday night during a performance at The Parting Glass.
“[The Saratoga Performing Arts Center] may be the most beautiful amphitheater in the country—in the world,” Farris said on stage.
The founder and lead singer of the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies also shared amusing stories of his life on the road with the Allman Brothers and Meatloaf.
Once when he was a young musician opening for the Allmans, Farris eagerly waited around prior to a show to hear the legendary group’s sound check.
“Finally, I couldn’t wait any longer so I walked up to the stage and there were several roadies standing there,” Farris said. “And I go, ‘Hey, so are you guys gonna sound check?’ And they were like, ‘We don’t sound check, man.’ And he handed me a joint, and I was like, ‘This is paradise.’”
Farris co-headlined at Parting Glass with Sugaray Rayford, whose 2019 album, “Somebody Save Me,” was nominated for a Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy.
Farris’ latest album, “The Sound of Muscle Shoals,” was released earlier this year.
