Washington County Fairgrounds “Holiday Lighted Nights” returns Nov. 24.
GREENWICH — Opening Day of the Washington County Fairgrounds “Holiday Lighted Nights” takes place Friday, Nov. 24 and will run select nights through Dec. 30.
The drive-thorugh holiday tradition includes giant, lighted displays featuring holiday favorites as well as community-created displays over a mile-and-a-half journey.
Tickets are $25 per carload. The event is staged at the Washington County Fairgrounds in Greenwich. For specific dates, times and other information, go to: washingtoncountyfair.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Racing City Chorus from Saratoga Springs invites men 18 and older from the Greater Capital District to sing with them at two upcoming holiday performances.
Criteria: Learn two songs by attending at least two upcoming Tuesday night rehearsals, Nov. 21, Dec. 5, 12 at the PBA Clubhouse, 5 Bliven Way, Saratoga Springs, and November 28 at St. Edward the Confessor Church, 569 Clifton Park Center Rd, Clifton Park.
Instruction will be provided by chorus members. Attendees will receive free sheet music. and learning tracks on either CD or digital download.
Performances are at Saratoga Victorian Streetwalk on Thursday, Nov. 30, inside the Adirondack Trust Bank, and Greenwich High School, at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 16.
Greenfield goes green for Veterans Week. Photo provided.
GREENFIELD — In honor of the Veterans Day holiday, the Town of Greenfield is participating in Operation Green Light for Veterans, a nationwide effort created by the Association of Counties to support military veterans.
The Town will illuminate its Town Hall building and its Veterans Park with green lights for the week of Veterans Day and through Nov. 12.
“We thought it was too perfect for a town named Greenfield not to miss the chance to literally go green,” said Town Supervisor Kevin Veitch, in a statement. “We honor our hundreds of military veterans in our council room each month, when we pledge our allegiance to the United States flag alongside all the names of Greenfield veterans. Tying into this national effort was another way to draw attention to our respect for our hometown heroes.”
Greenfield honors veterans with a memorial in its Town Council room and also has a centrally located ¼ acre park located on Route 9N called Veterans Park that features a flag, a monument and a gazebo. In addition, the town recently held a Veterans Tournament at Brookhaven Golf Course and raised $5,778.60, which is being donated to the Saratoga Veterans Agency and the Albany VA Medical Center this week.
The Black Woods, a new book and a discussion Nov. 19.
BALLSTON SPA — Amy Godine, noted Saratoga Springs scholar, will discuss her newly released book, The Black Woods: Pursuing Racial Justice on the Adirondack Frontier, at the annual meeting of the Saratoga County History Center at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19.
The Black Woods chronicles the history of Black pioneers in New York’s northern wilderness. From the late 1840s into the 1860s, they migrated to the Adirondacks to build farms and to vote. On their new-worked land, they could meet the $250 property requirement New York’s constitution imposed on Black voters in 1821 and claim the rights of citizenship.
The book, scheduled for release the preceding week by Cornell University Press, will be available for purchase that evening in the museum’s shop. Light refreshments will be served. Seating is limited to 75, reserve a at: brooksidemuseum.networkforgood.com/events/63811-schc-annual-meeting-featuring-amy-godine
The Saratoga County History Center at Brookside Museum is located at 21 Fairground Ave. in Ballston Spa.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Restaurant Week returns Monday, Nov. 6 and continues through Sunday, Nov. 12, Discover Saratoga announced.
The event marks the 18th anniversary of Saratoga County’s original restaurant week, and many local restaurants will serve up a variety of prix fixe menu options ranging from $25 and $35 three-course dinners to $15 lunch specials, plus tax & tip.
“Saratoga Restaurant Week is a significant annual event designed to promote and generate business for Saratoga County restaurants,” said Darryl Leggieri, president of Discover Saratoga. “We encourage you to support our local restaurants and their staff by trying a new place to eat or revisiting a favorite. Enjoy a meal and explore our area’s unique local businesses, attractions, shopping, and more.”
For participating restaurants and menus, discounted hotel rates, and more information about Saratoga Restaurant Week, visit www.discoversaratoga.org/restaurantweek or call 518-584-1531. Restaurant and hotel reservations are highly recommended.
Saratoga Restaurant Week is sponsored by Saratoga Today, Saratoga.com, IronGlass Productions, Black Dog Designs, The Saratogian, The Daily Gazette, Saratoga’s Star Radio, Townsquare Media, iHeartRadio, and Albany Broadcasting.
In conjunction with Saratoga Restaurant Week, the 11th Annual Toys for Toga campaign runs through Dec. 10. Members of the local community can donate new, unwrapped toys at participating locations, which may be found at: www.toysfortoga.com.
“With the holiday season fast approaching, it’s so important to give back,” said Leggieri. “We are honored to be part of Toys for Toga again this year, and we hope to see the local community participate in collecting toys for the children of Saratoga County.”
For those who would like to participate by making a monetary donation, there is a GoFundMe page online at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/toys-for-toga-2023.
All toys and monetary donations will be equally distributed to Franklin Community Center, CAPTAIN Community Human Services and Mechanicville Area Community Services Center in time for the holidays.
STILLWATER — Saratoga National Historical Park, in partnership with the Friends of Saratoga Battlefield, will host a series of five lectures this fall. The talks are free, but reservations are required as space is limited.
The schedule is:
A Tale of Two Generals: The Later History of the Benedict Arnold Monument at Saratoga Battlefield. Thursday, November 9, 6:30 p.m. Saratoga National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater. Benedict Arnold is a figure well-known to Americans and aficionados of the Battles of Saratoga. Less well known is General John Watts de Peyster, a resident of Dutchess County, New York, who paid for a special inscription to be added to the Arnold Monument on the battlefield. Hear the colorful tale of this eccentric and scandalous 19th-century New York personality, who, like Arnold, found himself at the receiving end of nearly everyone’s ire.
Hessians: German Soldiers in the American Revolutionary War. Thursday, November 16, 6:30 p.m. Saratoga National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater.
“Perticulars that I have Been eye & ear witness to”: How Nathaniel Bacheller Changed History. Thursday, November 30, 6:30 p.m. Saratoga National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater.
Retracing Our Steps: the French-American Joint Reconnaissance Tour in the Winter of 1780-1781. Thursday, December 7, 6:30 pm. Saratoga National Historical Park Visitor Center Theater.
Saratoga National Historical Park is located at 648 Route 32 in Stillwater. More information on each program and links to make reservations are available at go.nps.gov/saraevents or email: SARA_info@nps.gov.
The Oct. 18 commemoration included The Saratoga Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim; representatives from Assembly Members Jim Tedisco and Carrie Woerner; Saratoga County Historian Lauren Roberts; Saratoga Springs City Historian Mary Ann Fitzgerald; Tim Mabee, National President, Sons of the Spanish American War Veterans. Photo provided.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A commemoration of the 125th Anniversary of the Spanish-American War was held Oct. 18 at The Hiker Monument at Greenridge Cemetery.
The event included commemorations of the 125th Anniversary of the DAR Nurses Corp and the 125th Anniversary of the death of Reubena Hyde Walworth, daughter of DAR founder Ellen Hardin Walworth and a nurse who died in service in the Spanish-American War.
The Spanish-American War was from April to August of 1898 and expanded territories for Americans in the Caribbean and Pacific. Over 4,000 Americans died with about 460 being New Yorkers. Events of the war included the Sinking of The Maine Battleship in the Havana Harbor, the taking of San Juan Hill by the Rough Riders, Hawaii becoming a US territory and the Treaty of Paris to end the war with Spain.
With a shortage of nurses, the DAR Nurses Corp was created to train over 1,000 nurses. This corps was the start of the Army Nurses Corp. Reubena Hyde Walworth trained at Saratoga Hospital and was the first female nurse to arrive at Camp Wykoff in Montauk, NY. During the last week of the camp, she succumbed to Typhoid Fever and died on Oct. 18, 1898 at 31 years old. Many of her patients wrote letters of sympathy to her mother telling her what a compassionate and caring nurse she was.
Following the ceremony, wreaths were laid at Reubena Hyde Walworth grave in Greenridge Cemetery.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A community of skateboarders from Saratoga Springs and surrounding areas will celebrate the newly opened cemented skatepark on Lake Avenue.
The “Skate Jam” event, organized by ON DECK, will take place 3 p.m. to sunset on Saturday, Oct. 28.
Saratoga Skatepark exercise facility – the oldest municipal skatepark in New York State – is located at East Side recreation field, is open to all human powered wheeled micro transport, organizers say.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Fall Festival will be held in downtown Saratoga Springs 12–3 p.m. Oct. 21. Entertainment and festivities will take place on Caroline Street and extend out on Maple Ave and Putnam Streets.
The annual event, presented by the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business Association will feature trick-or-treating throughout downtown, the Pumpkin Roll down Caroline Street, face painting, balloon twisting, live entertainment, a petting zoo and a scavenger hunt.
Starting at noon, participating businesses will be candy-ready, and the Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs will start orchestrating the Pumpkin Roll down Caroline Street. Sunnyside Gardens donated pumpkins for volunteers to hand out to kids at the top of Caroline Street. The kids will then roll them down the hill as hay bales donated from Vincek Farm will be placed throughout the street.
Live entertainment and Kettle Corn as well as additional entertainment, face painting, jugglers and clowns, a petting zoo and balloon twisters will be located down and around Caroline Street.
For more information visit: saratogaspringsdowntown.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — On Saturday, Sept. 30, Saratoga Bridges held their 23rd Annual Great Pumpkin Challenge in the Saratoga Spa State Park with close to one thousand participants who ran, walked or rolled to raise over $41,000 for the agency’s essential non-funded or underfunded programs, services and activities as well as to reward their staff.
The 5K winners were Peter Maroko from Nyack and Elizabeth Predmore from Malta. The 10K winners were Ethan Carey from Queensbury and Brigid Dake from Greenfield Center.
Prizes were given to the first, second, and third finishers in each age group, according to a press release from Saratoga Bridges. Winners who missed the awards ceremony can call Saratoga Bridges at 518-587-0723, ext. 1266 to make arrangements to pick up their gift.
The event featured offerings including a Kid’s Fun Run, NET Chip Timing from Albany Running Exchange, costume contests, favorite pumpkin contest, homemade refreshments, plus donated food and beverages from Hixny, Bimbo Bakeries USA, Hannaford and DeVoe’s Rainbow Orchard.
Many “Bridges Buddies” participated in the 5K upon completing the agency’s Walking and Wheeling Program, an initiative developed by Saratoga Bridges’ Wellness Committee to pair staff and individuals in a three-week training program leading up to The Great Pumpkin Challenge, the release states.
There were teams from Regeneron, TEL and Fort Miller and Ainsley’s Angels partnered with the event. The Great Pumpkin Challenge also featured over 120 volunteers from a variety of businesses, schools, and organizations, including students from WSWHE BOCES’ Criminal Justice Program and Skidmore College’s Political Science Program, Goldman Sachs’ Community TeamWorks, MVP Health Care, Soroptimist International of Saratoga County and Saratoga Bridges’ staff, board members and friends.
