SARATOGA SPRINGS — Pitney Meadows Community Farm’s signature event Fire Feast returns for 2023. Named one of Saratoga’s most unique summer events, Fire Feast features an all-star team of renowned farm-to-table chefs cooking over 6 open-fire pits sourcing meats, vegetables, and other ingredients from local producers and from the Pitney Meadows’ Farm fields.
The event takes place 6 – 9 p.m. Aug. 1 at Pitney Meadows Community Farm, 223 West Ave.
Pitney Meadows Community Farm was founded as a non-profit in 2016 after the 166-acre farmland was protected in perpetuity as conserved agricultural lands. In 2022 alone, the Farm welcomed over 6,000 visitors and community members; donated 8,743 pounds of produce; supported over 100 community gardeners; hosted 162 educational programs; added a full-time staff member to lead the food sovereignty program; and collaborated with more than 20 community organizations. These incredible accomplishments were made by a small working board and staff all while simultaneously reinvigorating the fields for organic farming and operating a 100 member Pick Your Own CSA; and made possible by grants and hundreds of generous community members who share a vision of food justice, agricultural education, recreation, and community.
Fire Feast: Guests will watch as the chefs prepare a seasonally inspired and carefully curated meal over open fire pits, meander through the Community Gardens while enjoying hors d’oeuvres, and enjoy horse-drawn wagon tours of the trails while taking in the sights of the Farmscape at dusk.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center will launch their 2023 guided trolley tours on Aug. 1.
The 90-minute guided tour of Saratoga Springs which starts at 10 a.m. will run through Aug. 31. Tickets are $25 per person.
The tour includes historic sights and points of interest along Broadway, North Broadway, Skidmore campus, High Rock Park for a mineral water tasting, the Saratoga Race Course, and more.
The Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center has partnered with Upstate Transit of Saratoga – who have designed trolleys with authentic wooden seating, decorative etched glass windows and air-conditioning. The 28-passenger trolleys also feature a wheelchair lift.
For advance reservations, call 518-587-3241. Day Of tickets, based on availability, can be purchased at the Saratoga Springs Heritage Area Visitor Center, located at 297 Broadway. No refunds for reservations cancelled less than 48 hours prior to start of tour. Cancellations can be made by phone or email at karen@discoversaratoga.org.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Father Dan Corrou, SJ, will speak on his life and work in Lebanon where he has served for 8 years in a discussion 8:45-10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 11 at St. Clement’s Church, on Lake Avenue.
Corrou, 50, born in Saratoga Springs, is currently director of the Middle East and North Africa region for Jesuit Refuge Service (JRS). Since 1980, JRS has provided a range of services, including child and adult education, emergency assistance, and advocacy for refugees.
For more information, contact Barbara Naple, Program Manager, IVC Albany, at bnaple@ivcusa.org.
SCHUYLERVILLE — The Saratoga County Department of Aging and Youth Services is seeking volunteers to deliver meals to homebound seniors in Schuylerville.
This important program helps many seniors, age 60 and older, remain independent in their homes by providing them with a nutritious ready-to-eat lunch each weekday.
Meals are picked up at 11 a.m. and delivered until 1 p.m. Volunteers’ schedules are flexible to meet their availability.
To become a volunteer, individuals must submit paperwork, including references, to the Saratoga County Department of Aging and Youth Services. Volunteers must have a valid driver license and their own vehicle. Training and orientation are provided to all volunteers. Being a volunteer for this program is a gratifying experience as seniors look forward to seeing a friendly face with their meals.
Those interested in becoming a volunteer may call the Saratoga County Department of Aging and Youth Services at 518-363-4020 for details.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — After more than 40 years of setting up shop on Williams Street, the Saratoga Senior Center this week began its physical relocation into the future: one mile southwest and to its new home adjacent to the Saratoga Regional YMCA at 290 West Avenue.
“Shut down, packed up, and moving over here,” executive director Lois Celeste explained to hundreds of visitors attending the center’s first event staged at its new location. The senior expo was held July 20 and featured a variety of speakers, presentations and more than 40 community vendors.
The new site hosts multiple classrooms, a kitchen and dining room, a chair-and-table area for card games, an art room, exercise room, employee offices, and an education center.
The Meeting Room will host gatherings of the Alzheimer’s Association as well as various medical insurance organizations, and the Game Room will be fitted with computer stations, a TV, ping-pong tables and a pair of pool tables.
“We actually have a sound system and a projector – we’re coming into the next century here,” said Celeste, flanked by the new-look gleam of marble and glass.
The new location boasts plentiful parking and a quartet of columns that frame the entryway that lead to a main reception area inside. A physical therapist will be on-site five days of the week. There is still some work to be done prior to the new center’s opening.
“We don’t know how long it is going to take to set up operations, but our goal is to have a soft opening with classes by the first or second of August,” Celeste said. “It will be a kind of a one-stop shop.”
The non-profit, non-residential community center welcomes adults aged 50 and over. Cost is $35 a year to participate in programs, trips and social activities tailored to adults and seniors.
The Center was founded in 1955, purchased its own building at 162 Circular St. five years later and in 1979 relocated to a larger facility at 5 Williams St. The Williams Street venue that is being vacated is owned by the city of Saratoga Springs.
The city last year announced plans to use the location when empty to site a 24/7 permanent homeless shelter. Earlier this year those plans were quashed, however, after the proposal met with a backlash from some community members and parents of students of the nearby Saratoga Central Catholic School. Plans for the future of the city-owned property are not currently known.
North Elevation plans for 70 Fifth Ave., submitted to the city by Balzar & Tuck Architecture.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy will be seeking an area variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals this week that would permit the demolition of a ranch style home and the subsequent construction of a new home upon property he purchased in Saratoga Springs earlier this year.
The Fifth Avenue property was purchased in March by Portnoy’s company, Smokeshowcity LLC of Miami Florida, for $1.4 million, and sites an approximate 1,500 square-foot ranch style home. The property is bounded by the Oklahoma Training Track on the lot’s south side.
Plans call for demolition of the existing home and construction of a new residence.
Recent plans submitted to the city by Balzar & Tuck Architecture depict a dining room, living room and kitchen downstairs, a pool and patio area in the backyard, and three bedrooms and baths upstairs. A fourth bedroom and bath, as well as a fitness room is indicated in the basement, according to plans the architects submitted to the city.
The ZBA meeting takes place 6:30 p.m. Monday, July 24 at Saratoga Springs City Hall.
The Fifth Avenue property would need only the approval of the ZBA to move forward.
Another project on that night’s ZBA agenda – 12 Ballston Avenue Chipotle Area Variance – would require eventual approval from all three city Land Use Boards – the Planning Board and Design Review Commission are the others – before plans for a new restaurant may move forward, according to the city’s building department.
An incident last November that involved an alleged altercation between three men and an off-duty Rutland County sheriff’s deputy took place in the Caroline Street-Broadway area, with a subsequent police response that resulted in about 20 bullets fired overall in the pre-dawn hours.
The three men – Alexander Colon, 28, Darius A. Wright, 29, and Christopher (AKA Christian) E. Castillo, 28 were each subsequently charged with one count attempted assault in the third-degree, a misdemeanor, in connection with the incident. According to the prosecutor’s filings, the charge specifies each of the defendants “attempted to cause an injury to a person by repeatedly punching him.” Each of the men pleaded not guilty.
The off-duty deputy, Vito Caselnova of Glens Falls is facing eight charges, including attempted murder.
This week, in an update first reported by NewsChannel 13, Caselnova’s attorneys want his alleged victims charged with gang assault, alleging that Colon was the initial aggressor.
A new court filing by Caselnova’s attorneys alleges that prosecutors didn’t let grand jurors know they could also charge Colon and two others with attempted murder and gang assault, according to the news report, and comes a supplement to a defense motion that had asked the court to dismiss the indictment against Caselnova, accusing the district attorney of prosecutorial bias.
Bomb Threat Evac at Live Nation SPAC Show: No Arrests Yet
Arrests have yet to be made in connection with a July 8 bomb threat that saw the evacuation of Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the cancellation of an appearance by show headliner Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
Several area law enforcement agencies responded to the bomb threat. The threat was ultimately deemed a hoax.
In a statement made July 9, authorities said the incident was under investigation, and that “this case will be investigated as Making a Terroristic Threat, a Class D Felony.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS — At its July 15 meeting, the Saratoga Springs Democratic Committee considered – but rejected – a motion to rescind its endorsement of Public Safety Commissioner James Montagnino for re-election.
The committee instead voted to issue a Letter of Concern over actions that have “caused unnecessary ill will,” said city Democratic Committee chairperson Otis Maxwell. “These are real concerns, and we hope the Commissioner takes them to heart. We had a frank discussion and listened to the serious issues our members had raised, then we took a vote. The result is an example of democracy at work, and I think our committee is stronger and more united after going through this debate.”
The Letter of Concern sent to Montagnino specifically cited “the aggressive way you have handled confrontations with members of Black Lives Matter in Saratoga Springs and with other members of the City Council,” in causing “unnecessary ill will” and running counter to SSDC’s mission of promoting “open and inclusive governance,” according to the Democratic Committee’s letter.
LAKE GEORGE — Step back in time to celebrate Wiawaka Center for Women’s 120th year with the “History of Fashion Show.”
Re-enactors portraying Wiawaka founders Katrina Trask (1853-1922) and Mary Fuller (1862-1943) will welcome guests from 2 to 4 p.m. July 23 to celebrate the evolution of women’s fashions from the philanthropists’ era.
Spend the afternoon at the newly renovated Fort William Henry Carriage House, mingling with actresses portraying Trask, Fuller, iconic artist Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986), intrepid journalist Nellie Bly (1864-1922), abolitionist Harriet Tubman (1822-1913), education activist Emma Willard (1787-1870) and several of their peers — all dressed in the fashion of their time.
Victorian jewelry will be available for purchase, with 10 percent of proceeds benefiting Wiawaka. Wiawaka Center for Women is located at 3778 Route 9L.
Tickets — which are $65 and include a luncheon of light sandwiches, scones, sweets and iced tea, lemonade, and a special signature drink. Tickets are available at wiawaka.org or by calling 518-668-9690. For more information, contact Executive Director Doreen Kelly at wiawakadirector@gmail.com.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Casino Hotel is teaming up with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive 12 to 6 p.m. on Monday, July 24 inside the hotel ballroom.
Schedule an appointment to give blood by using the Red Cross Blood Donor app, visiting RedCrossBlood.org and enter sponsor code SARATOACASINO, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A 90-minute guided walking tour, designed to entertain and enlighten both visitors and residents alike, takes place Tuesday through Saturdays, from 10:30 a.m. – noon.
The tour will guide participants from the Saratoga Springs Visitor Center to Congress Park and will conclude with a complete tour of the Canfield Casino, and includes stories of the Spa City’s gilded period of the 1800’s when it served as the playground of the rich and famous.
Cost is $20 per person. For reservations, call the Saratoga Heritage Area Visitor Center at: 518-587-3241.
The tours will run til October and run rain or shine. Tours begin on Broadway at the Saratoga Heritage Area Visitor Center, 297 Broadway, and ends with a visit inside the Canfield Casino.
