BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa House & Garden Club (BSH&GC) and the American Legion Auxiliary Unit #234 will host a Wreath Ceremony at the Veteran’s Memorial on Saturday, Dec. 10 at 12 p.m. The public is invited to attend this solemn event to honor deceased veterans during the holidays.
The Veteran’s Memorial is located on Low Street, adjacent to the Ballston Spa Library.
The Ballston Spa House & Garden Club is a member of the Federated Garden Clubs of NYS. One of their missions is to promote civic beautification of the Village of Ballston Spa. Currently, the organization maintains several public gardens in the Village of Ballston Spa.
“In the spirit of Service, not Self, the mission of the American Legion Auxiliary is to support the American Legion and to honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military and their families, both at home and abroad.”
For questions about the ceremony contact Marilyn Stephenson, BSH&GC at mcstephenson@nycap.rr.com or Melanie Edwards, Auxiliary President at number41@nycap.rr.com
SARATOGA SPRINGS —Saratoga-Wilton BPO Elks Lodge 161 will conduct their Annual Memorial Service on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2022 at 1 p.m.
The service is held annually at all Elk Lodges nationwide on the first Sunday of December to honor the memory and community service of each departed Elk. Locally, Lodge 161 and the Ladies Auxiliary will remember 14 departed members.
This ceremony is open to the public and all are welcome. A light reception, hosted by the Elks Ladies Auxiliary, will immediately follow at the lodge. Saratoga-Wilton Elks Lodge is located at 1 Elk Lane, Saratoga Springs.
For more information, contact Memorial chairman Mark Phillips at 518-584-7464.
SARATOGA COUNTY — Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, D-Round Lake, announced that she sponsored and helped pass a new law to ensure both public and private child advocacy centers (CACs) can run background checks on current and prospective employees by using the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR) (Ch. 611 of 2022).
Under current law, only county-run CACs can access the register, while private and not-for-profit CACs cannot.
“Child advocacy centers are critical resources for young victims of sexual and physical abuse,” said Woerner, in a statement. “Children are the most vulnerable among us, and the bill I sponsored and helped pass into law will ensure that private and not-for-profit CACs are able to conduct thorough background checks on both prospective and current employees to better protect them. It’s imperative that child victims and their family members receive the aid they need in a manner that minimizes trauma, and this law helps to do just that.”
Child advocacy centers (CACs) must comply with standards set by the state Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and respond to cases involving child victims of sexual abuse and serious physical abuse.
To provide the services victims need, centers often rely on employment, contractual or volunteer arrangements with physicians and medical providers trained in forensic pediatrics, mental health professionals and victim advocacy personnel. As these professionals will be in close contact with the children, it is important that CACs be able to properly vet personnel through comprehensive background checks, including through inquiries to the State Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR).
Formerly, New York State did not grant equal access to the SCR to all advocacy centers.
Congressman Paul Tonko visits Lyrical Ballad bookstore on Phila Street in Saratoga Springs on Nov. 21, 2022, in support of Small Business Saturday. Photo by Thomas Dimopoulos.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Fifty-one years running and a collection of 200,000 books stand to greet those who who journey to Lyrical Ballad bookstore on Phila Street.
Here, what begins with the first step of an innocent stroll leads to a sequence of new encounters, one room into another, deep and deeper still. Innumerable entryways sink into a labyrinth of characters and events. Things to be learned. Dreams to be launched. It is everything the mind can conjure and a few it never before imagined.
Here is where Congressman Paul Tonko chose to visit this week during a multi-county regional tour to highlight and promote the upcoming Small Business Saturday events this weekend.
“I think of small businesses as the economic engine of our economy,” Tonko said.
“They have a vibrant offering and (provide) an opportunity for the community. Their economic impact is three times greater than that of our chain stores, so we have to be very sensitive to their needs and concerns,” said the congressman while standing framed by rows of leatherbound editions boasting the writings of Henry James, Gustave Flaubert, Balzac, Chekhov, and Thackeray.
“Many small businesses struggled through COVID, and so I also want to hear if they participated in any of the COVID programming, how that worked. We came through a once-in-a-century public health crisis and economic crisis, (which) caused a global inflation. We just want to make sure everybody is strong and steady as we move forward so that they can contribute to the whole economic picture.”
Small Business Saturday – Saturday, Nov. 26, 2022 – is promoted as a day to celebrate and support small businesses and all they do for their communities. It was initially created in 2010 by American Express on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to encourage people to Shop Small and bring more holiday shopping to small businesses. In 2011, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution in support of the day.
Lyrical Ballad bookstore was founded by John DeMarco in September 1971. He died in 2019 and two years later DeMarco’s wife Janice sold the bookshop to Charlie Israel and Jason Zerrillo – the latter of whom worked at the shop for more than decade.
“We bought the business because we love the business, and so we don’t want to change it too dramatically “ said Israel, who grew up across the street from Congress Park and remembers spending his allowance money at the shop when he was a kid.
“I don’t want to change this place. It’s part of what makes Saratoga special. You know, I talk to people who are in their 60s now who tell us they used to come here when they went to Skidmore,” he said.
“It’s been a part of the community for a long time and was an anchor when it took a little bit of vision to invest in downtown Saratoga. John (DeMarco) and a few other visionary business people took that on, and that brought Saratoga back from the brink, and I’m eternally grateful to him for that,” said Israel, adding that the notion of the electronic age displacing physical media such as books, has been exaggerated.
“The question hanging in the air is: how is the digital age affecting businesses such as ours? And the answer is: Not as much as you’d think,” Israel said. “We’ve been here 50 years we fully intend to be here for another 50.”
“I like the personalized impact that small business brings. You know, you walk in and you see Charles, or you see Jay – there’s a relationship that develops. And those relationships are important. It builds community,” said Tonko, who couldn’t see his way out of the bookshop without making a handful of purchases – a two-volume set about the Civil War and a book about horse racing, among them.
“We want to bring an awareness of the importance of small businesses and learn what we can do to further sustain them, and enable them to grow,” he said.
Video capture from city camera at 3:03 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022 depicting officers on the west side of Broadway near Caroline Street tending to scene of weekend shooting. Snapshot of a 2-minute video officially released by the city on Nov. 20. A 26-second video from an officer’s body cam was also released.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — An early Sunday morning altercation turned into an exchange of gunfire that spilled onto Broadway and ultimately resulted in approximately 20 shots being fired.
The 3 a.m. incident believed to have begun as a verbal dispute at a bar on Caroline Street between an off-duty Sheriff’s Deputy from Vermont and “a group of individuals from the Utica area,” Public Safety Commissioner Jim Montagnino said, accelerated as the altercation moved west to Broadway with approximately 8 shots being fired. City police officers responding to the incident fired approximately 11 shots after the off-duty deputy allegedly ignored calls to drop his weapon. The incident marks the first discharge of a weapon in the line of duty by a Saratoga Springs officer in more than a quarter-century.
During the initial dispute, the Vermont deputy was physically attacked by at least three people, Montagnino said, during a press conference staged at City Hall Sunday, less than 12 hours after the incident had occurred.
The Vermont man gathered himself at some point during the attack and by “apparently by moving his jacket back, showed the other individuals that he was armed. One of the other individuals then draws a handgun, points it in the direction of the deputy and then apparently begins to fire,” Montagnino said.
Officers responded to the scene.
“What they see is the Vermont sheriff’s deputy, standing on the sidewalk, his gun leveled and moving from side-to-side pointing the gun,” the commissioner said. “The officers repeatedly, loudly direct the deputy, “Drop the gun, get on the ground,’ again, again and again. By my count there are at least eight separate clear unequivocal demands to put the gun down and get on the ground. They are all ignored.”
Three city officers fired a total of approximately 11 shots. The Vermont man suffered a number of wounds. A woman believed to be the Vermont man’s girlfriend was “nicked by one of the bullets in her upper arm.” The man is reportedly in stable condition at Albany Med.
The Vermont man, Vito Caselnova IV, is a Rutland County deputy who has been on the force since April 2019, first reported by WNYT NewsChannel 13. A native of Glens Falls, he graduated from Glens Falls High School in 2016 and school at The College of Saint Rose.
“None of our officers were harmed. That’s something we can all certainly be happy about,” said Mayor Ron Kim.
State police are conducting an investigation into the incident and Broadway was closed from Lake Avenue to Division Street for the majority of the day on Sunday.
“This is the first time in 26 years a (city) officer has discharged a firearm in the line of duty,” Montagnino said. There have been no immediate arrests made in connection with the incident.
SARATOGA SPRINGS —At its meeting on Nov. 15, the City Council announced an initiative aimed at identifying solutions related to increased commercial truck traffic along the Broadway corridor.
Over the last 20 years, there has been an increase in commercial truck traffic on Broadway due to the development of several regional truck transportation distribution centers. The increase of commercial truck traffic has led to additional vehicular traffic using other residential streets to avoid Broadway. Additionally, there has been the establishment of increased outdoor dining, and increased traffic has led to increased vehicular and pedestrian conflicts.
Previously, the city completed traffic studies in 1996 and 2008 and developed a Complete Streets Plan in 2020 – which identified a high density of crashes involving bicycles and pedestrians along the Broadway Corridor.
The following steps have been identified as part of the Broadway Corridor Improvements Initiative:
• Conduct a Truck Origin/Destination Study of truck traffic in downtown Saratoga Springs.
• Review state route classification for Broadway
• Evaluate policies for limiting commercial truck traffic in the downtown based on the Truck Origin/Destination Study
The following streets have been identified as the potential study areas: Broadway (U.S. Rte 9); Ballston Avenue (NY Rte 50); Church Street (NY Rte 9N); Finley/Adelphi Streets; Geyser Road; Lake Avenue (NY Rte 29); Union Avenue (NY Rte 9P); Van Dam Street; Washington Street (NY Rte 29).
The city will be applying for up to $150,000 via a Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) grant through the Capital District Transportation Committee (CDTC). It is anticipated the project will cost approximately $150,000 and requires a cash matching funds of not less than 15% of the total project cost. The 2023-2024 UPWP covers the period April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024 and an estimated $1 million in federal funds will be available for planning activities. Project proposals are due Nov. 30, 2022.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Applications for The Mayor’s Non-profit Grant Program will be accepted online through Dec. 31, Saratoga Springs Mayor Ron Kim announced during City Council meeting on Nov. 15.
Applicants must be 501 (c) 3 non-profits located in or serving the residents of Saratoga Springs, and projects must fall under one or more of the following categories: Human Services, Housing, and Workforce Development; Environmental Sustainability and Resiliency; and Arts, Culture, and History.
Four $10,000 awards and one $150,000 award will be granted. Applications at the $150,000 funding level must be shovel ready and will ideally involve partnership and collaboration across at least two of the three funding areas.
In an effort to address growing community needs, as well as provide equitable access to city financial support for local non-profit organizations, the Community Development Department, in coordination with the Mayor and Commissioner of Finance, established funding for a city-funded non-profit grant program, to be administered by the Mayor’s office.
For additional information and/or to apply, go to: The Mayor’s Non-Profit Grant Program Application at: https://www.saratoga-springs.org/2690/Mayors-Non-Profit-Grant-Program.
Christine Dixon, left, of Charlton, and Joy Lucas, DVM, of Saratoga Springs, talk during the 2022 Capital Region Go Red for Women Luncheon. Both are survivors of heart disease. Dixon shared her story during the Capital Region Go Red for Women Luncheon on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at the Albany Capital Center. The Luncheon has raised $250,000 so far; donations continue to be accepted at CapitalRegionNYGoRedLuncheon.heart.org. The Go Red for Women movement raises awareness about heart disease in women, and the funds to help the American Heart Association fund research and education to fight it. Photo provided.
The Ash Grove Inn, 1947. Photo: Saratoga Springs History Museum.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation presents “A Taste of Saratoga: Restaurants Then and Now,” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 29.
This virtual program will highlight restaurants, both past and present, located in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Featured restaurants include Pennell’s, Lou’s Luncheonette, The Ash Grove Inn, Ma DeMartino’s, Lillian’s and others.
Carol Godette, a former school teacher and author, will deliver the presentation. “For years, Saratoga Springs has been home to beloved family-owned and operated restaurants that have been cherished for generations. I’m excited to share the history about Pennell’s – Saratoga’s oldest continually running restaurant that is celebrating its 100th year – as well as other restaurants that have offered residents and visitors of Saratoga Springs unique experiences, delicious recipes, and unforgettable memories,” Godette said, in a statement.
The virtual program is offered for a suggested donation of $10 or more. For additional information or to register for the virtual program visit www.saratogapreservation.org or call 518-587-5030. Everyone who pre-registers for this program will be emailed a Zoom link in advance and will receive a link to the recording.
CORINTH – Saratoga PLAN has received a donation of 127 acres from The LeClair for the Curtis Preserve, located in the town of Corinth.
In 1986, Patricia LeClair and her husband built a house on nine acres of land in Corinth purchased from neighbors Jack Curtis and Mary Curtis. Jack, Mary’s brother, was an old friend of Patricia’s husband. Over the years, Mary and Patricia became close and Patricia frequently walked in the woods that spread across both the LeClair and Curtis’ properties. After Jack and Mary passed away, the Curtis’ property was left to the LeClair family.
Patricia LeClair held on to an article about Saratoga PLAN for many years and after thinking about how important land preservation was, she decided to donate 127.5 acres of her land to Saratoga PLAN.
The donated property is mixed forest dominated by red oak, white pine, eastern hemlock, pitch pine, and American beech. The forest has been growing since the 1930’s, or earlier, and the property has a history of agricultural land use and timber harvest, creating a unique educational opportunity for forest management and succession. Today the property is 100% forest cover with a peaceful brook running through the property offering cool, shaded areas for wildlife to rest during the increasingly hot summers.
The Curtis Preserve exhibits key linkages in wildlife habitat connectivity at the edge of the Adirondack Park. The now permanently protected property is also close to potential development threats on the Route 9N corridor.
The Curtis Preserve will be closed to the public apart from the existing S85 snowmobile trail that runs on the gravel road along the southwest border until a detailed management plan is developed. Preserve management plans follow the purpose and priorities of conservation, encouraging biodiversity, education, and research in balance with public use.
Saratoga PLAN is a nonprofit land trust that preserves the rural character, natural habitats, and scenic beauty of Saratoga County so that these irreplaceable assets are accessible to all and survive for future generations. The gift was also made possible by Saratoga County’s Farmland and Open Space grant, where monies were used to pay transaction costs, and from the Nature Conservancy’s Resilient and Connected Network grant which will help with future stewardship needs for the land.
