WILTON — During the Holiday week, Wilton Rotary Club President Robert Lounsbury presented Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez, Deputy Director of the Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council (SCEOC), Peter Maynard, Director of The Wilton Food Pantry and Dee Whitten, Member of the Board of Directors of the Schuylerville Area Food and Emergency Relief (S.A.F.E.R.) with assorted gift cards with a combined value of $3,000 for their organizations.  Each gift card has a value of $50 and will be utilized for those of need in our local communities.   

 In an effort to help save our local businesses and encourage others to buy local, the Wilton Rotary Club purchased gift cards from the following local businesses: Hewitt’s Garden Center, KIng’s Dairy, Quality Hardware, Primal – Your Local Butcher, and Benson’s Pet Center.  The Club then donated these gift cards to SCEOC, The Wilton Food Pantry and S.A.F.E.R. to share with our neighbors in need during this holiday season.

If you are interested in learning more about the Wilton Rotary Club, please contact Don Wildermuth at 518-430-8670. Also, if you are interested in volunteering for the SCEOC or learning more about it, please contact Krystle at 518-288-3206, ext 112. If you are interested in volunteering for The Wilton Food Pantry or learning more about it, please contact Peter at 518-350-4456. If you are interested in volunteering for S.A.F.E.R. or learning more about it, please contact Dee Whitten at 518-507-6043.

SARATOGA — Mangino Buick GMC participated in the official presentation of Sergeant Eddie Ryan’s smart home presented by the Tunnels to Towers Foundation on Dec. 23. 

 For those that don’t know the Tunnels to Towers Foundation provides wounded and disabled veterans opportunities to be awarded smart homes that help them live day to day after injuries that occurred during service. Mangino GMC is part of the upstate GMC dealer group that donated a check for $25,000 in partnership with GMC to the Tunnel to Towers Foundation.  There is no more deserving than the men and women who are severely wounded risking the ultimate sacrifice to serve for our Armed Forces. #tunnelstotowers #tunnelstotowersfoundation 

BALLSTON SPA — The Village of Ballston Spa received a $26,555 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Urban and Community Forestry grant. The grant will fund a Tree Inventory and Management Plan for the street and park trees in the village. 

The grant is part of DEC’s efforts to increase public awareness of the importance of trees and to help communities develop and implement comprehensive tree management plans to create healthy forests while enhancing quality of life for residents. 

The award was one of 38 projects statewide selected to receive funding from a total of 154 applications. The Village formed an advisory Park and Tree Board last year to make recommendations on trees and other plantings in the parks and along streets. 

For more information: www.dec.ny.gov/lands/4957.html  and www.VillageofBallstonSpa.org 

SARATOGA COUNTY — Wellspring, the domestic violence and sexual assault services resource for Saratoga County residents, has received a charitable contribution in the amount of $40,000 from The Rotary Club of Saratoga Springs. 

The donation supports the development of Wellspring’s planned new facility, located just south of exit 13 on Rt. 9 in Malta, which is anticipated to be completed in October 2021. 

The new building will replace Wellspring’s existing facility at 480 Broadway in Saratoga Springs, and allow the organization to provide more impactful programs and services for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault in Saratoga County. 

To learn more about Wellspring’s mission, services and programs, visit www.wellspringcares.org, call their office at 518-583-0280 or reach their hotline at 518-584-8188.

Photos provided.

SCHUYLERVILLE — On Saturday, December 19, Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York troops particiapated in Wreaths Across America, a national initiative to pay tribute to veterans. More than 25 girls from the Clifton Park Service Unit layed thousands of wreaths at markers throughout the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.

 Wreaths Across America began in 1992 at Arlington National Cemetery. Now, every December hundreds of thousands of wreaths are placed on veterans’ graves at National and State cemeteries each year to remind people to remember, honor and teach about our nation’s veterans and their families.

For more information visit www.wreathsacrossamerica.org.

BALLSTON SPA — Sterling Homes Real Estate, located in Ballston Spa, collected more than 3,000 pounds of food during its Holiday Heroes Project Food Drive. 

The company’s food drive project is a movement to address the growing needs of hunger, income loss, and isolationism exacerbated by the current pandemic state, record job loss, and seasonal depression. 

The donations were collected by the Regional Food Bank of NENY. The Regional Foodbank supports 23 counties and over 1,000 different agencies throughout those counties and estimates they serve approximately 400,000 families each month.

For more information on the foodbank, go to: www.regionalfoodbank.net. For more information about Sterling Homes, go to: sterlinghomesrealestate.com. 

 SARATOGA — The 2021 Town of Saratoga calendars featuring pictures from days gone by in the villages of Schuylerville and Victory and in the surrounding areas are now on sale.  Calendar pages are sprinkled with close to 150 historical tidbits. 

The photos include the Schuyler Hose Company in new turnout gear in 1987, the Periard family of Victory Mills, the 1954 champion VFW baseball team, a Knights of Columbus meeting, Schuylerville FFA members in 1964, and seven other pictures from the Town’s past.

You will learn that fire struck the village firehouse in 1947, the gristmill in Grangerville in 1938, the Visitation Church in 1871, the Quaker Springs hotel in 1899, and the Liberty wallpaper plant in 1924. Other tidbits include the date the last cotton mill machines moved south, Saratoga County was formed from Albany County, the General Schuyler Pantry opened, Schuylerville Central School District was formed, and a helicopter crashed and burned in Grangerville.

Calendars may be purchased for $5 in Schuylerville at Byron’s Market, Saratoga Apple, Schuylerville Public Library, Schuylerville Village Clerk’s office and at the Town Clerk’s office or at Old Saratoga Mercantile and Olde Saratoga Home and Garden on Route 29.

The Old Saratoga Historical Association has produced the Town of Saratoga calendar for the past 36 years. Call Pat Peck, 518-584-4129, to arrange to have calendars mailed and to offer photos for the 2022 calendar.

WILTON — The two local Scout Troops for Wilton, 4024B (Boys) and 4024G (Girls) built a new trail bridge at Moreau Lake State Park on Mud Pond Trail.  The project was Jackson Ellnor’s Eagle project, and was supported by the park, both BSA Troops, members of Friends of Moreau Lake State Park, and members of the community. 

Over the course of two weekends in November the bridge went from a plan to a fully functional completed bridge. This is the second Eagle Project completed in conjunction with Moreau Lake State Park in the past two years.  The other was Evan Schmid’s project of rebuilding a lean-to within the park that was completed last year. 

Additionally, both the Boys and Girls Troops did a fall clean-up at Dorothy Nolan Elementary school, and also helped a few seniors in the area with their clean-up earlier this fall. The Boys Troop also collected items from the community for the Adopt-a-Soldier program and helped package the items for soldiers deployed around the world. 

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Members of the Saratoga-Wilton Elks Lodge #161 recently delivered a variety of items to Shelters of Saratoga to help aid the homeless. 

Goods included: six tents, dozens of canisters of propane for outdoor heaters, long thermal underwear, socks, and hand and foot warmer packets. For this project, a $1,000 portion of an Elks National Foundation Beacon Grant was used. 

Additionally, and unrelated to the Beacon Grant, the Lodge in late November donated 40 meals for the homeless, which volunteers from the Shelters of Saratoga (SOS / Code Blue) delivered to people locally.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — In lieu of the annual Victorian Street Walk, and the city’s First Night Saratoga celebration – both of which have been cancelled due to public health safety concerns – city residents and businesses are encouraging the community to illuminate the exterior of their homes with lights this holiday season.