On Tuesday afternoon community members gathered at Galway Nature Preserve for a mural unveiling on Saratoga Preserving Land and Nature’s (PLAN) stewardship resource center. The mural was funded by a grant from Saratoga Arts.

“We’re hoping to have both sides and the front to represent the three pillars of land that Saratoga PLAN conserves, which is woodlands, farmlands, and wetlands,” said Stewardship Manager, Magnolia Roosa.

Long time Galway resident Sallie Way was the commissioned artist for the project.

Last year Way painted the right side of the building to represent the woodlands, this year the front facing mural represents the farmlands of Galway.

Way started conceptualizing the mural last winter in anticipation of a renewed grant from Saratoga Arts.

“I looked into a lot of the archival photographs that the library has, the farmer is inspired by one of the photographs of James Donnan,” Way said.

The barn is inspired by Donnandale farm, a sixth-generation family farm founded by James Donnan. On the right side of the mural are Christmas trees representing beloved local business, Bob’s Trees.

“This was quite an undertaking, a little ambitious, but it really came together,” Way said. “I think I’m most happy with all the connections that I made throughout the process.”

Galway high school seniors helped Way paint the mural and local dog walkers and hikers stopped while Way and her crew were battling the august heat to complete the mural. One hiker even played his Guitar for the volunteers.

The Galway Nature Preserve is overseen by Saratoga PLAN and contains about two and a half miles of trails and almost 50 acres of conserved forest land. Check out the mural and trail system at 2519 Crane Road, Galway, NY. 

Ballston Spa— The Ballston Spa Farmers’ Market will celebrate summer with its Second Annual Peach Festival on Saturday, August 15, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Wiswall Park in downtown Ballston Spa.

The Peach Festival will feature locally grown peaches and a variety of peach-inspired foods and drinks, including pies, iced tea and other seasonal treats. Market shoppers can also find fresh produce, baked goods, handmade products, and other offerings from local farmers, food producers, and artisans.

The event will include live music and family-friendly activities throughout the morning, making it a fun stop for market regulars and anyone looking to spend a Saturday morning downtown.

The Ballston Spa Farmers’ Market is organized by the Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association (BSBPA) and is held every Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. through October 3.

“We’re excited to bring the Peach Festival back for a second year,” said BSBPA secretary, Steve Miraglia. “It’s a great way to celebrate the season, support our local farmers and vendors, and enjoy everything the market has to offer.”

The public is invited to attend the Peach Festival on August 15. Admission is free.

For more information, visit www.ballston.org or follow the BSBPA and Ballston Spa Farmers’ Market on social media at @BSBPA and @bspafarmersmarket.

(Photos Provided by Impressions of Saratoga)

Impressions of Saratoga is welcoming children’s book authors Bridget Farry and Margot Tohn on Sunday, August 16th, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Both books and authors foster the love of dogs and the lessons they teach us in everyday life.

Local author Bridget Farry started Paw Print Books with a simple mission: to inspire young readers while giving back to the world we all share. Her award-winning debut children’s book, “Cooper’s Campervan Adventures: Montana,” is based on the real-life adventures of her rescue dog, Cooper. The story is packed with his fun-filled adventures from his time in Montana that teach us to dream big, be curious, and discover the magic in the world around us, with a gentle lesson to help protect nature. That mission extends beyond the pages of her books. Passionate about animals and the environment, Bridget donates a portion of every book purchase to animal rescue organizations and climate change initiatives, helping make a positive impact for future generations.

Joining Bridget is Margot Tohn, another local author. “Murray Goes to the Playground” invites young readers into the delightful world of Murray, a confident and lovable Sheepadoodle with a heart full of curiosity. In this debut picture book from The Murray Tails series, Murray and his beloved Lady, aka Margot Tohn, venture into a bustling New York City dog park, where Murray discovers the ups and downs of making friends. Through playful encounters with pups of all shapes and sizes, Murray learns that while not everyone may want to be your friend, there’s always someone who does. With vibrant storytelling and a gentle message of perseverance and kindness, this joyful tale is perfect for children ages 3–7 who are beginning to navigate the world of friendships.

Nowadays you can find Dave Powers sipping white wine on the back porch of The Olde Bryan Inn, a place he bought on a whim back in 1979. But behind the mystique is a story of an old life across the Atlantic Ocean, all revealed in his new book, “The Intrepid Spy.” 

Powers was a pilot for Pan American World Airways in West Berlin from 1985 through 1991. During his time in Berlin, Powers befriended an old-world aristocrat, Albrecht Graf von Hardenberg. Powers knew him as a Mercades-Benz salesman. 

But before Powers lived in Berlin, before he met Albrecht, and before Powers received a 2,000-page dossier on his friend by the East German secret police, Powers was 22 years old with a mountain in college loan debt. 

Like every other American male at the time, Powers received a draft notice in the mail after graduating from college. He fulfilled his military requirement by serving in the Air Force for five and a half years and was deployed in Vietnam during his tenure. 

Following his military service, Powers started his first stint flying with Pan American out of New York City. After six years in his new career, he was furloughed.

 Aimless, he decided to move back home to Delmar.

“I just didn’t know what to do with myself. I was not doing very well financially,” Powers said.

Right about that time he was driving around Saratoga when he came across an old building for sale by the Veitch family.

“I just love the civil war and presidency war era, and I saw that old building and a sign out front said for sale. So, I said geez, I’m going to stop in there, it looks like a beautiful old building.”

Upon entering Powers saw the drop-down celling and plaster and lath walls and quickly decided he was not interested; he didn’t have the money for it anyway. 

But like a lot of things in Power’s life, opportunities arose over a cold beer and a conversation.

Veitch and Powers bonded over familiar family friends and American history that evening. After a while, Veitch convinced Powers to take a look at the attic.

“It was the most incredible moment of my life. When I got my head up, I saw the original walls, I could see the beams, the mortis and tenons. And I remember shouting down,

‘You know you’ve got some fireplaces.’”

‘No, I don’t,’ replied Veitch.

‘You got three fireplaces. I can see the chimneys up here.’

I was interested right away,” recalled Powers.

Naturally Powers dialed up his friend from Broadalbin and convinced him to partner with him in buying the historic building with the vision of opening The Olde Bryan Inn. 

So, Powers embarked on tearing down the interior to reveal the original wooden structure, which dates back to the 18th century. 

There was just one problem: Dave Powers knew nothing about running a restaurant.

“About four months into this I was messing it up so bad, and this little fanny rooster comes up to me one day, Steve Sullivan, hand on his hip and says: 

‘Mr. Powers, you don’t know what you’re doing, do you?’

And I said, ‘No, I don’t.’ 

After about two days of him lecturing me, I said, ‘ why don’t you take over as manager?’”

At this point Powers was recalled back to Pan American and was appointed to work in Berlin. So, Powers proposed a deal with Sullivan; he would run the Olde Bryan Inn while Powers flew in Berlin. In exchange, Sullivan would obtain ownership in the business. Sullivan agreed, and Powers went over to Berlin.

Albrecht grew up in what was then East Germany, on his family’s multiple estates. The onset of Hitler’s rise to power saw the German government seize land and money from the aristocratic class.

However, the Nazi government could not capture land owned in foreign countries. Therefore, Albrecht’s father bought 8,000 acres in Denmark, far away from the imminent Nazi regime. 

During Powers’ time in West Berlin, Albrecht obtained a visa to East Berlin to write a travel book for West Berliners who hoped to one day be able to return to the East. 

This got the attention of the East German government. Stasi spy, Colonel Klaus Braun, was appointed to investigate Albrecht’s agenda. 

“Going back to the question I knew everybody was going to ask, Was he really a spy? I don’t know,” professed Powers. “But there’s certain things that led me to believe he was. For example, the day the wall came down, he disappeared for about two weeks. And his wife didn’t tell me where he was. Why? I mean I was his best friend in Germany.”

Albrecht passed away in 2010. 

When Powers returned to Berlin for his funeral, he was met with a different landscape. The wall that had separated a generation had disintegrated, and with it the network of international operatives and black-market profiteers it created.

Friends old and new were waiting to ambush Powers upon his decent into Berlin to mourn his late friend.

All in search of answers.

Who was Albrecht Graf von Hardenberg? Why was Albrecht writing a travel book to communist East Berlin? And to whom had the deed to the 8,000 acres in Denmark gone?

Pick up a copy of “The Intrepid Spy” at the Olde Bryan Inn at 123 Maple Ave to find out. 

All proceeds from the book will go towards the Tunnels to Towers Foundation, which provides mortgage-free homes, specially adapted smart homes, and comprehensive housing services to wounded veterans, Gold Star families, fallen first responders, and homeless veterans. 

The Frances Young Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery are preparing for their next year-long exhibition, “A Feeling of With,” featuring three interconnected explorations of how people understand themselves in relation to one another and the world.

On view August 8, through July 18, 2027, “A Feeling of With” is organized by Rachel Seligman, Assistant Director for Curatorial Affairs and Malloy Curator, in collaboration with six Skidmore College faculty members from English, dance, art history, environmental studies and sciences, mathematics, and religious studies. Across three galleries, relation becomes both the exhibition’s subject and the structure through which artworks, disciplines, and ways of knowing encounter one another.

“Works of art are always in relation—to other objects, to the people who make and encounter them, and to the histories and ideas we bring into the gallery,” Seligman said. “Developing this project with faculty across six disciplines activates the Tang collection as a space for interdisciplinary inquiry and creates new ways for students and visitors to encounter the artworks and the ideas they carry.” 

“A Feeling of With” is the second in a series of three year-long Tang collection exhibitions developed to support interdisciplinary teaching and learning for Skidmore courses and wider public audiences. The initiative began with “All These Growing Things,” an exploration of becoming and belonging.

Drawing from a collection of more than 18,000 objects, “A Feeling of With” includes works recently acquired by the Tang as well as objects never before exhibited at the museum. 

A public opening reception will be held on Saturday, October 17, with additional details to be announced.

The Tang’s galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, from noon to 5 pm, with extended hours until 9 pm Thursday. Admission is free. For more information, visit tang.skidmore.edu or call the Tang Visitors Services Desk at 518-580-8080.

Saratoga Springs— Richard Cobello, author of the cybercrime thriller set in our own backyard, “The Shady Side of Saratoga” on Saturday, August 1st, from 9 a.m. until noon at Impressions of Saratoga. Rick Cobello is a former Chief Information Security Officer, enterprise IT executive, and cybersecurity advisor with more than four decades of experience securing large-scale systems for Fortune 5 companies, government agencies, healthcare organizations, and law enforcement. He also has significant experience working in the back stretch at the Saratoga Race Course and is a former Saratoga TODAY magazine contributor.

The Shady Side of Saratoga is the first of 5 in the Catherin King Enigmatic Quest. The tale grows directly from Richard Cobello’s lifelong immersion in cybersecurity, history, and the world of horses. Its “polite” system failures, institutional blind spots, and crimes concealed behind flawless compliance reflect a hard-earned truth from his career: the most dangerous breaches rarely announce themselves. They hide inside trusted processes, respectable organizations, and records that appear perfectly correct. Cobello uses his firsthand experience inside complex institutions to write fiction about crime hidden in plain sight.

This August, Spa Fine Art presents “Where Legends Run,” a captivating exhibition of new paintings by acclaimed artist Lisa Palombo, celebrating the enduring beauty, tradition, and excitement of Saratoga Race Course.

Guests are invited to meet Palombo and view her collection during the Opening Reception on Thursday, August 6, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public and will have a special jockey appearance.

Timed to coincide with Saratoga’s most celebrated season, the exhibition showcases Palombo’s vibrant interpretations of one of America’s most historic sporting venues. Through expressive brushwork, luminous color, and a keen sense of atmosphere, Palombo captures the energy of race day—from thundering thoroughbreds charging around the track to iconic architectural landmarks that have welcomed generations of racing enthusiasts.

Featured works depict the races at Saratoga Race Track where legendary equine athletes have been running for generations. Rather than simply documenting these races, Palombo brings them to life with a painterly style that evokes memory, movement, and emotion, inviting viewers to experience the excitement and tradition that have made Saratoga Springs a legendary destination.

“Lisa Palombo’s paintings beautifully capture the character of Saratoga Race Course,” said Alyson Stryker, Executive Director of Spa Fine Art. “Her work reflects not only the excitement of the races but also the deep sense of history and community that has made Saratoga a treasured summer tradition for more than 160 years.”

Whether a lifelong racing enthusiast, collector, or admirer of Saratoga’s unique charm, visitors will find themselves immersed in a visual celebration of the place where champions are crowned and legends are made.