The Saratoga Torch Club will recognize Matt Veitch, longtime Saratoga Springs representative on the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, for his 18 years of distinguished public service at a dinner and program on Monday evening, December 15, at the Saratoga Springs Holiday Inn.

 “The Supervisor & the City: An Evening with Matt Veitch” will open with dinner at 6:00 p.m., followed by remarks from Supervisor Veitch at 7:00 p.m. Admission is $40 per person, payable by cash or check at the door. To reserve a seat, go to Smartacus.com/events.

 First elected in 2007, Veitch has been a steady and respected presence in local government for nearly two decades. Representing Saratoga Springs on the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors, he has earned a reputation for pragmatism, collaboration, and long-term civic stewardship. During his 18 years of service, he has played a pivotal role in initiatives that improved infrastructure, expanded public safety, promoted environmental sustainability, and strengthened city–county cooperation.

 Mayor John Safford, in recognizing Veitch’s decision not to seek reelection in 2025, called it “the end of an era,” noting his consistent dedication to the city and his rare ability to “build bridges instead of barriers.”

 Among his many achievements, Veitch championed the Geyser Road Trail project that first drew him into public service and went on to found the Saratoga County Trails and Open Space Committee, which established new grant and reserve funds for conservation. He helped secure county support for the city’s third fire station and new EMS facility, led efforts to modernize government transparency through meeting livestreams, and advocated for the creation of a permanent Code Blue shelter to assist the city’s homeless residents.

 Beyond his policy work, Veitch also has emerged as one of Saratoga’s leading public historians, dedicating time to documenting the city’s experience with urban renewal and the communities displaced by it. His lectures and research have shed light on a complex period in Saratoga’s history—one that saw progress mixed with loss—and he continues to lead efforts to commemorate the neighborhoods, churches, and Black-owned businesses erased during that era.

 While Veitch is leaving elected office, he will remain in public life as the newly appointed City Historian and CEO of the Saratoga County Capital Resource Corporation. 

 The Saratoga Torch Club is a nonprofit forum that brings together professionals and citizens from across disciplines to exchange ideas, foster understanding, and promote civic dialogue. The Saratoga chapter was established in 2021 to encourage dialogue among leaders in business, education, government, and the arts throughout the Capital Region.

Village of Ballston Spa will sparkle brighter than ever as the Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association (BSBPA) hosts its 40th Annual Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting on Friday, December 5, along Milton Avenue. First held in 1985, this beloved tradition has grown into one of the community’s most anticipated events of the year.

For four decades, the parade has brought families, neighbors, and visitors together to celebrate the magic of the season. The 2025 parade steps off at 6:30 PM from the north side of Milton Avenue and proceeds to West High Street. The festivities culminate in Wiswall Park, where Mr. and Mrs. Claus will arrive aboard an Eagle-Matt Lee Fire Company fire truck to light the village’s holiday tree.

This milestone year also continues the event’s longstanding support of the Toys for Tots Campaign, presented in partnership with the Ballston Spa Community Emergency Corps, the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department, and the U.S. Marine Corps. Volunteers will collect new, unwrapped toys along the parade route and during the tree lighting ceremony to help brighten the holidays for local children.

“We’ve been working hard on this event for months, and celebrating the parade’s 40th anniversary makes it even more special,” said Dana Womer, Holiday Parade Committee Chairperson. “This parade has been part of Ballston Spa’s story since 1985, and watching Santa light the tree from a fire truck never loses its magic.”

To enhance the festivities, the BSBPA’s First Friday celebration will take place the same evening. Local shops and businesses will extend their hours and offer holiday treats, hot cocoa, hot chowder, festive activities, and more. Free parking is available throughout the village.

The 2025 Holiday Parade is made possible through the generous support of The Mangino Group, Curtis Lumber, Pompa Bros., Ballston Spa National Bank, and SlicFiber. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the Ballston Spa Holiday Parade and Tree Lighting, visit www.ballston.org.

Editors Note- This story contains reference to suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, resources are available through the National suicide and crisis hotline by calling or texting 988. An online chat is available at 988lifeline.org. 

One person is dead, and another was injured in a Thanksgiving shooting in the town of Galway. 

The shooting occurred Nov. 27 at 7:41 pm on Consaul Road in the Town of Galway. According to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, a 54-year-old woman was shot by a 63-year-old male and fled to a neighbor’s house. Once Deputies arrived on scene, they were able to secure the victim. She was transported by Life Net to Albany Medical Center. 

The shooter, later identified as Donald Keller, 63 of Galway, was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. According to Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office, there were conflicting reports over whether Keller had fled to the nearby woods or barricaded himself in a structure.

The Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office was assisted at the scene by the New York State Police, Saratoga Springs Police, New York State Parks Police, Galway Fire, Galway EMS, Saratoga Springs Fire and Life Net.

In addition, several police agencies responded to calls for service while the Sheriff’s Office was at the scene. These agencies include the Mechanicville, Waterford and Ballston Spa Police Departments. 

518 ElevatED (formerly Capital Region Sponsor-A-Scholar) announces today that it has received a transformative $10,000 gift from Arrow Bank. This contribution will establish an educational scholarship for a college-bound Schenectady High School student in the Class of 2028.

 Arrow Bank selected 518 ElevatED as part of its initiative to support ten Capital Region nonprofits that deliver essential afterschool programming and youth mentorship. Arrow Financial’s President and CEO David DeMarco and Vice President and Community Engagement Manager Kate Otis presented the gift during 518 ElevatED’s weekly program session at Schenectady High School on Monday.

 Since its founding in 1997, 518 ElevatED has supported more than 500 Capital Region student alumni through comprehensive pre-college and pre-employment programming. The nonprofit provides students with college campus visits, career-readiness workshops, and opportunities. Each participant is paired with an adult mentor for individualized guidance throughout high school, and eligible students may receive scholarships to pursue post-secondary education.

 The scholarship made possible by Arrow Bank’s generosity will help ensure long-term support for a Schenectady scholar as they pursue their educational goals. Peter Gabak, Executive Director of 518 ElevatED, said, “518 Elevated raises over half a million dollars each year through mission-driven charitable giving from individuals, private foundations, and corporate supporters like Arrow Bank. This profoundly generous commitment is unique as the banking landscape changes. Arrow Bank is headquartered in Glens Falls, and their geography fuels their commitment to support nonprofits in the Greater Capital Region.”

 About 518 ElevatED

Currently, 518 ElevatED supports more than eighty high school students through its weekly in-school and after-school programs across Albany, Schenectady, and Troy High Schools. The organization also maintains a cohort of 130 active college scholars who are enrolled at 92 institutions of higher education in 17 states. Notably, 80% of students in the program identify as first-generation college-bound, highlighting 518ElevatED’s critical role in expanding educational opportunity and access.

A sentimental possession, a gold pocket watch recovered from the body of Isidor Straus, a wealthy Titanic passenger, fetched £1.78m at auction this past November. Mr. Straus and his wife Ida were returning from Europe and booked first class passage on the ill-fated White Star Liner.

Isidor and his brother Nathan were pioneering retailers operating the famous New York department stores Abraham & Straus and Macy’s. Isidor Straus also had represented New York State in Congress, where, as a merchant importer, he opposed reactionary tariffs in favor of lower prices for his consumers.

Isidor and Ida Straus were among the more than 1,500 fatalities incurred when the vessel, on its maiden voyage, struck an iceberg that fractured the Titanic’s hull on its way to New York in mid-April 1912.

Some survivors were able to relate the touching events of the open-ocean evacuation, where the 67-year-old Isidor refused a seat in a lifeboat, as women and children remained aboard the doomed liner. Ida Straus and her maid had already been seated. Rather than leave her husband to meet fate alone, Ida handed her fur coat to her maid in the lifeboat and re-boarded Titanic. The maid was rescued with all the other 705 survivors, by RMS Carpathia.

The floating body of Isidor Straus was recovered from the frigid Atlantic Ocean several days after the disaster, and one of the items used to identify his remains was an eighteen carat gold Jules Jurgensen pocket watch, inscribed with his initials and the date of the occasion of his forty-third birthday. This watch, which had been a gift from Ida in 1888, had stopped at 02:20 upon immersion with Titanic beneath the waves.

The watch was returned to the family and passed down until a great-grandson decided to dispossess himself of what might possibly be the most sentimental of any physical objects from Titanic.

Can there be a connection between the Straus timepiece and Saratoga Springs? I believe if you connect certain dots, there are some interesting aspects; enter Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

She was the daughter-in-law of William C. Whitney, a presence in business, politics and the riding community of Long Island, who brought keen sense with him when he purchased the Saratoga Race Course from Gottfried Walbaum.  ‘Dutch Fred’ had nearly ruined the track before selling it to Mr. Whitney in 1900, who along with his partners and competent management, revived racing.

Gertrude’s husband, Harry Payne Whitney, shared his father’s enthusiasm for horse sports, with the Whitney Stables breeding and racing many champions under their Eton blue with brown silks.

Many of Titanic’s victims would have been known to Harry and Gertrude Whitney, from equine competitions on Long Island and the annual August sojourn to Saratoga Springs. The Whitneys purchased a Saratoga residence, Cady Hill, in the geyser district, from the famed architect Samuel Adams Clark, which they had leased during August for several seasons prior.

As well-known as her spouse was a sportsman, Gertrude Whitney was equally recognized in the art world, not only as an artist herself, but also as a philanthropist and patron. She was selected to create the National Titanic Monument. Henry Bacon, the architect who planned the placement of the Spirit of Life sculpture in Congress Park, also designed the pedestal and exedra bench to support Mrs. Whitney’s creation in Washington, D.C.

In viewing the Titanic Monument created by Gertrude Whitney, it is difficult not to imagine James Cameron’s inspiration for his 1997 movie epic.

Congressman Paul D. Tonko announced the awarding of 13 federal grants totaling more than $5.45 million in funding for 11 Capital Region fire departments and EMS squads. The funding announced today comes from two Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant programs for Fiscal Year 2024 — the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) program and the Assistance to Firefighters Grants (AFG) program.

The following 5 departments will receive the following amounts of funding from the FY2024 SAFER program to support the hiring of new firefighters and bolster recruitment and retention:

• City of Schenectady Fire Department: $2,008,304

• Rotterdam-Princetown Fire District #5: $821,192

• Halfmoon Hillcrest Volunteer Fire Department: $635,886

• S.W. Pitts Hose Company of Latham, NY: $426,838

• City of Rensselaer Fire Department: $237,090

The following 8 departments will receive the following amounts of funding from the FY2024 AFG program to support improvements in equipment, operations, and safety:

• Round Lake Fire Department: $295,428

• Albany Fire Department: $266,181

• City of Schenectady Fire Department: $201,933

• Ravena Rescue Squad: $191,428

• Halfmoon Hillcrest Volunteer Fire Department: $137,142

• Glenville Fire District #2: $124,936

• Cohoes Fire Department: $85,714

• Voorheesville Fire Department: $27,450

Taken together, these significant grant awards will help recipients hire more firefighters, support essential training courses, improve recruitment and retention efforts, and purchase vital equipment like new turnout gear and personal protective equipment (PPE), turnout washer/dryer/extractors, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) face masks, and more. Last December, Congressman Tonko submitted letters to FEMA in support of the City of Schenectady Fire Department and Voorheesville Fire Department’s requests for federal funding.

“Throughout my time in Congress, I’ve made it a top priority to ensure that our Capital Region firefighters and EMS squads have the resources, equipment, and support to continue serving our communities safely and effectively,” Congressman Tonko said. “These brave men and women put their lives on the line every single day to keep our families safe, and it is up to us as elected officials to make certain they are properly equipped to safely face the monumental challenges of their jobs. I’m proud to celebrate this significant federal investment in our local emergency responders, and I look forward to continuing my efforts to ensure our local fire departments and EMS squads have the tools and training they need to succeed.”

Each year, Congressman Tonko and his staff assist numerous local fire departments and EMS organizations by writing letters of support and helping to prepare their applications for these critical grants. Today’s announcement marks the completion of the competitive rounds of Fiscal Year 2024 SAFER and AFG funding, delivering a total of $5,459,522 for Capital Region emergency responders.

Earlier rounds of AFG funding for Fiscal Years 2021, 2022, and 2023 delivered nearly $3 million for departments in Albany, Ballston Lake, Burnt Hills, Colonie, Glenville, Greenfield, Latham, Menands, North Greenbush, Saratoga Springs, Schenectady, Scotia, South Glens Falls, Troy, and Watervliet.

In total, the Fiscal Year 2024 AFG and SAFER programs distributed 1,885 awards totaling $615.6 million in competitive grants for fire departments, non-affiliated EMS organizations, and state fire training academies nationwide.