SARATOGA SPRINGS — Katrina Trask Nursery School recently announced that they would be closing in June of this year. Originally founded in 1929 as a playgroup organized by Skidmore College, it later evolved into a full day childcare program in the 1940s, and then a cooperative non-profit nursery school in the late 1960s. 

“This was not a rash decision,” said Shelia Vanacore, President of the Katrina Trask Board of Trustees. “For several years we’ve been hanging on, and saying, ‘We can stay open for one more year.’” However, due to a lack of enrollment and fundraising, the nursery school decided to close. 

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Vanacore stated that the school tried many solutions to its problems. “We did change some of the cooperative to a traditional drop off program in hopes that that would help,” she said. “But unfortunately everything that we tried just didn’t work.” Vanacore said that as enrollment and fundraising declined, so did staffing. The nursery was facing the loss of 3-4 teachers in the coming year. 

The nursery school is most well known for its annual consignment sale, which was a major fundraiser for the school. However, those numbers have also recently declined. “There used to be us and one or two other places with a consignment sale, but now with Facebook Marketplace and other stores, the market is spread out,” explained Vanacore. With a lack of funding, Katrina Trask did not want to burden parents with a higher cost of tuition, and was running out of its own finances. 

Vanacore said that many in the community have reached out to express their sadness over the school’s closing, and share their fond memories of the school and annual consignment sale. “We’re incredibly grateful to the families and entire community of Saratoga, especially what we were able to give to families and what they gave back to us,” said Vanacore. “We’re very sad to see it come to an end, but maybe someday there will be another Katrina Trask Nursery School. We’ll have to wait and see.”

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Saratoga Casino Hotel is teaming up with the American Red Cross to host a Blood Drive on Monday, January 20. Members of the local community are urged to join dozens of Saratoga Casino Hotel team members to give blood on Monday, January 20 from Noon to 6 p.m. inside the hotel ballroom. 

January is National Blood Donor Month, and right now, the Red Cross has a critical shortage of type O blood and urges donors of all types to make an appointment now to give and help replenish the blood supply.

“Declines in donations can affect patient care, and the winter months can be a difficult time to collect enough blood and platelet donations to meet patient needs due to inclement weather and seasonal illnesses causing some donors to temporarily be unable to give,” said Alyson Barraza, communications director with the Red Cross. “If you’ve ever considered giving blood to help save lives, now is the time to do it.”

In an effort to help more patients, Power Red donations will also be accepted at this year’s drive. A Power Red donation allows donors to safely donate a concentrated dose of red blood cells, which are the most commonly transfused blood component.

Each donation can help save more than one life. To date, Saratoga Casino Hotel has collected more than 1,300 blood donations at their biannual blood drives.

“We always see a tremendous response at our Annual Blood Drive.”, said Alex Tucker, General Manager of Saratoga Casino Hotel. “Year after year this event is embraced by our team members and local community. We’re very excited to once again partner with the Red Cross and help serve those in need.”

All presenting donors at this year’s Blood Drive will receive a $10 voucher to Perks Café, located in the hotel lobby.

Donors are encouraged to make an appointment prior to the January 20 Blood Drive. To schedule a time, call 518-581-5774 or visit RedCrossBlood.org. In an effort to receive as many donations as possible, donors are asked to complete their RapidPass® online on the day of the drive. Donors can complete their RapidPass® in 10 to 15 minutes by following the four steps. Donors will start by providing some initial information, before reading through the pre-donation materials and answering health history questions. After completion, donors are asked to print, download or email their RapidPass® to themselves, and bring it with them to the drive.

BALLSTON SPA — The Ballston Spa Business and Professional Association is proud to announce our 7th Annual Chocolate Fest, taking place on First Friday, February 7, from 6-9 pm.  We are currently announcing sponsorship opportunities as well as a call for Chocolate Chef entries.

Area restaurants, bakeries, and chefs are all welcome to compete to showcase their talents and tastes by preparing small, sample sized chocolate offerings in up to 3 categories: Dessert (Sweet), Savory, and Chocolate Beverage. A panel of our First Friday Fanatics and visitors will judge these chocolate treats in the Fan Favorite competition. More information and applications to participate as a Chocolate Chef can be found atballston.org/category/first-fridays.

On First Friday, visitors can pick up a ballot form at any participating business and head to their favorite “Sweet Spot” shops, restaurants, and chefs to sample a $1 chocolate taste. While savoring these chocolate treats, visitors will enjoy a variety of First Friday activities going on throughout the Village, including art gallery openings, live music, artist demonstrations, and special promotions and sales just in time for Valentine’s Day. A complete listing of all events can be found at Ballston.org.

Last year featured over 20 “Sweet Spots” throughout our downtown area.  We were proud to welcome over 1,500 visitors to the Village for this annual event.

Sponsorships from regional and local businesses and community members help make this event possible.  For more information on advertising opportunities and how you or your business can support our 2020 Chocolate Fest, please visit: ballston.org/product/2020-chocolate-fest-sponsorship. 

 The Ballston Spa Business and Professional Association, established in 1983, is a non-profit organization committed to making the Village of Ballston Spa a better place to live and work, and to bringing quality arts and entertainment events for all ages to the community. More information can be found at www.ballston.org

LAKE LUZERNE — Howard Schaffer of Lake Luzerne has been elected President of the Hadley-Lake Luzerne Historical Society, following outgoing President Joe Kavanagh, who has served for the past four years. The Historical Society, founded in 1973, is one the region’s longest-standing historical preservation organizations and has been responsible for multiple conservation projects over the past half-century.

Among the noted projects the group has played a key role in preserving is the historic Hadley Parabolic Bow Bridge, as well as the Harmon House and the Gailey Hill Schoolhouse in the Town of Lake Luzerne. 

Schaffer previously served as Vice-President and Programming Chair, coordinating monthly programming for guest speakers including authors and historians over the past three years.

Professionally, he is founder of Media Marketing Inc. in Albany and has served as President of the Lake Luzerne Association, working on the effort to address milfoil and invasive species in the southern Adirondacks. He is a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club as well.

Also elected were David Cranston as Vice-President, Sally Goodhart as Treasurer, Christine Blakley as Secretary, Nan Plantier as Media Director and Susan Wilder with Maureen Jones as Programming & Events Chairs.

For additional information contact the Society at kinnearmuseum@gmail.com

Saratoga Springs — The Saratoga Springs Lions Club is holding their annual “Because Hunger Doesn’t End with the Holiday’s” food drive on Saturday, January 18 from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. at four different locations throughout Saratoga Springs and Wilton. The club will be collecting non-perishable food items to be donated to seven different food pantries in the greater Saratoga Springs area. The club partners with the Golub and Hannaford Corporations to hold this event. The four collection locations will be at:

• Hannaford on Weibel Avenue
• Price Chopper on Railroad Place
• Market 32 by Price Chopper on Ballston Avenue
• Market 32 by Price Chopper on Route 50 (Wilton)

The donated items will be assisting the Franklin Community Center Pantry, Wilton Food Pantry, St. Clement’s Church Pantry, Saratoga EOC, New England Congregation Presbyterian Church, Salvation Army Pantry, and Shelters of Saratoga. Last year the club collected a record amount of approximately 7,500 pounds of food to support the pantries. Monetary donations of $346 were donated to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, which further supports all the pantries throughout the region. 

Anyone interested in donating that is not able to visit one of the locations above, please contact saratogaspringslions@gmail.com

The Saratoga Springs Lions Club is a volunteer-based service organization with a mission to serve its community and support local youth, promote diabetes prevention, and promote sight and hearing conservation. To learn more about the club, visit www.saratogapsringslions.com

SARATOGA COUNTY — The Saratoga County Foundation’s Veterans Business Council recently elected a new slate of officers for the 2020 year. Elected for a two-year term were Jason Collins, from SUNY Empire State College, as Chair, Erica Choi, from Bank of America, as Vice-Chair, Robert Scheurer, from Adirondack Trust Company, as Secretary, and Tom Dingley, from Mosaic Wealth Advisory, as Treasurer.

Outgoing Chair Karen Charbonneau, from Saratoga Home Team, was recognized by the VBC for her outstanding leadership the past two years as the Chair of the volunteer group of Veterans. During her time as Chair, the Veterans Business Council helped to coordinate funding and construction of a 7,700 square foot field house at the Naval Support Activity Base in Saratoga Springs, implemented a new scholarship program to aid Veterans pursuing higher education and established a new fundraiser to help raise money for Veterans initiatives in Saratoga County, among many other efforts to assist Veterans that the VBC undertakes.

The Veterans Business Council operates under the Saratoga County Foundation of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, and is made up of a select group of Veterans who are business leaders in the region. The Veterans Business Council works to facilitate opportunities for military veterans residing in Saratoga County, including offering scholarship opportunities and connecting them with the business community to enhance their knowledge of employment opportunities, job or entrepreneurial training, and new business development.

More information on the Veterans Business Council is available online at www.saratogaveterans.org. 

QUEENSBURY — Saratoga Hospital has added space and services at the former Adirondack Urgent Care center, which is now known as Saratoga Hospital Urgent Care – Adirondack.

 Patients have easy access to urgent care—no appointment necessary—from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day. Walk-in X-ray and laboratory services are also available seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. for X-rays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for lab draws. A prescription is required for lab and X-ray services.

 The hospital invested about $750,000 in the renovations and expansion, which created three more exam rooms plus space for lab drawing and other services.

 “This expansion makes it easier for patients to access important healthcare services, and that has a positive impact on community health,” said Nicole Salone, site and medical imaging manager at Saratoga Hospital Urgent Care – Adirondack.

 Urgent care provides walk-in services for patients with minor illnesses or injuries. Extended hours enable patients to receive the prompt, high-quality care that can prevent conditions—such as strep throat, earaches and upper respiratory infections—from getting worse. Prompt treatment also can prevent contagious infections from spreading.

 Patients with a serious illness, chest pain, difficulty breathing, dizziness or a life-threatening emergency should call 911 or go to the nearest emergency department.

Saratoga Hospital operates urgent care centers in Queensbury and Wilton. The Queensbury center is located on Route 9, just north of Walmart, in the Mount Royal Plaza. For more information, go to UrgentCareAdirondack.org.

Perhaps you (or your children) remember when life was all about the mall. Shopping, eating, watching movies, meeting up with friends.

The mall was where it was at from the 1970s through the late 1990s. Malls were a key focal point of public life. Like downtowns across the United States, malls brought people together by offering us the things we love: food, entertainment, things to buy. They gave us space to walk, to sit, to read, to browse, to eat, and to shop.

Online shopping and Internet marketing changed our buying habits in the early years of the 21st century. Malls and their traditional retail anchors struggled as a result. The loss of two retail anchors – Sears and the Bon Ton – along with the closing of such popular stores as Forever 21 and Charlotte Russe at the Wilton Mall are signs of that struggle.

Farmers markets meanwhile have proliferated, as Americans have begun to seek healthy foods grown, raised, and made locally. The crowds that throng High Rock Park on Saturdays in the summers for Saratoga’s oldest and most established farmers’ market are evidence of that.

Now, the market and the mall are joining forces. During this holiday season and into the winter, the Wilton Mall will host the Saratoga Farmers’ Market for its indoor season. The market moves indoors on Saturday, November 2, and will operate at the mall from 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. each Saturday through April.

The partnership marks a transformation for both the market and the mall.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market was established in 1978, as a summer outdoor market. It evolved into a year-round market in the late 1990s, and currently offers produce, meats, eggs, artisanal cheeses, milk, and a wide array of prepared foods and crafts throughout the winter.

But the market, like the mall, has had its share of struggles, particularly in establishing a home for its winter season. As Sandy Arnold of the market’s Pleasant Valley Farm recounts, the market began its winter season first at the Waldorf School, then the Salvation Army building in downtown Saratoga. It quickly outgrew the space at the Salvation Army and moved to the Division Street Elementary School in 2009. School rules prevented the market from staying at that locale, so it moved in the winter of 2013 to the Lincoln Baths Building at the Saratoga Spa State Park where it operated until last spring. Each of these locales presented challenges in terms of vendor space, accessibility, and parking.

The mall changes that. 

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“A bus travels twice an hour from downtown Saratoga, Skidmore, and points in between to the market entrance,” says Emily Meagher, market manager. “Entrances and restrooms all are handicapped accessible, and there’s free WI-FI provided by the mall, as well.”

Mike Schaffer, manager of the Wilton Mall, noted that while malls and markets often appear quite different from one another, they also can be quite complementary. “The market board approached us because they needed space,” he said. “We have available space and are thrilled to have them here for the season.”

To visit the Saratoga Farmers’ Market during the holiday season, drive up Route 50 to the mall, or take the bus. Pull in or disembark near the main entrance. From 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., you will find Christmas trees, wreaths, and kissing balls from Charles Holub of Scotch Ridge Farm arranged artfully on the lawn outside. Nearby will be Trish Nusbaum’s Food Florist truck and wood-fired pizza from a new vendor. Enter the doors and a bounty of fresh seasonal vegetables, eggs, meats, milk, prepared foods, and other locally grown, raised and made items await.

The market stretches between the DMV to the reflecting pool near Bath & Body Works, with vendor stalls weaving in and out of such mall retailers as the Shoe Depot, American Eagle Outfitters, Kay Jewelers, and Balsam & Birch Adirondack Accessories. Hot dishes will be available for onsite eating or take-out from Euro Delicacies, Daily Fresh, Petra Pocket Pies, Giovanni Fresco, and many others. 

Skylights bring natural light to the vendor tables. In between are chairs and tables, free Wi-Fi, and an opportunity to also shop at Healthy Living Market, which already offers products from many Saratoga farmers. Both the mall and the market are looking forward to creating joint activities with the market through the winter.

“It will be a different experience for the market and for our loyal base of customers,” says market board president Beth Trattel. “But it’s giving us the opportunity to work with the mall to repurpose community space and create something new.” 

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SARATOGA SPRINGS –  It’s been a long and winding road to Adelphi Street since a community of residents, clergy, business leaders, politicians and everyday folks first came together to create a space where people without a home can find shelter during frigid nights, get fed a warm meal, recharge their bodies and head back out into the light of the next day to try and secure a more stable standing.

Motivated to action in the wake of the death of a city woman exposed to a winter’s elements on a December night in 2013, a temporary homeless emergency shelter was launched that Christmas Eve at St. Peter’s Parish Center.

A series of temporary winter shelters, sited at a variety of venues across town, have followed: the Salvation Army building west of Broadway and Soul Saving Station Church east of Broadway, among them. The latter, having a 41-bed capacity, required the addition of the Presbyterian New England Congregational Church also open for extended periods to care for the “overflow” of guests.

Last month, Shelters of Saratoga – which oversees the Code Blue shelter program – opened the latest temporary venue at 4 Adelphi St., just west of South Broadway. In 2016, an executive order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo directs emergency shelters to operate when temperatures drop below 32 degrees.

Many hands were needed to transform a previously vacant Adelphi Street warehouse into a suitable shelter space in time for the winter season.   

“On behalf of Shelters of Saratoga, I extend my heartfelt appreciation to the incredible generosity of all the businesses that helped bring Code Blue to Adelphi Street a reality,” said S.O.S. Executive Director Karen Gregory.

The locally based Bonacio Construction firm led the way, transforming the 4,000 square-foot of industrial space into accommodations for people during cold temperatures, at cost. The work included fitting up the existing building with new electrical, HVAC, and plumbing, painting floors, adding bathrooms with showers, and donating shelving.

“We worked hard to get this project on schedule after running into asbestos in the building in November,” Bonacio says. “After working through the weekends, we were able to make up valuable time and got them up and running for opening on December 9.”

“We’re very grateful to them for completing the project at cost, foregoing profit and being very generous with their expertise,” Gregory said.

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During the 2017-18 winter season – the latest figures available – Code Blue was open 162 nights, served more than 8,000 meals, and provided sleeping quarters for a total of 6,480 overnight stays – or on average, 40 nightly guests.

The new location houses a 61-bed facility – many more than in previous locations – and as such, Gregory said an “overflow” shelter is not anticipated at this time.  “I think the new location is working well. We’re working with people to get them to and from different appointments they need to be at. We’re in Saratoga Springs, so realistically anywhere in the city would have worked well,” she added. 

The lease on the new location runs until November 2021. An entirely new staff and leadership has been hired providing more people than in years past working each shift, and just over 107 new volunteers have also been added this year, pointed out Gregory, who said the search for a location to host a permanent site continues. “That’s something I’m truly committed to and is something in the conversation and on my agenda every single day. Two years is going to go by quickly, so we can’t take our eye off of that. That has to be a priority on my agenda, the city’s agenda, and hopefully the county’s agenda as well,” Gregory said. 

Finding a permanent shelter location has proved to be a challenge.  A permanent shelter location was thought to be found in 2017 on Walworth Street, where a Code Blue structure would be built on property belonging to Shelters of Saratoga after local business owner Ed Mitzen, and his wife Lisa announced they would pay the costs for the new, permanent shelter to be built. In September 2018, however, following a lawsuit filed by local residents challenging the proposed shelter expansion as not being in accordance with zoning regulation, a Saratoga County Supreme Court judge nullified previously granted approvals by the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals and the Planning Board which would have allowed the shelter to be built.

Regarding the new temporary spot, the city of Saratoga Springs provided $50,000 towards the upkeep of the building as well as for paying rent in the off-season for the next two years, as well as supporting the S.O.S. outreach program.

As far as need, Gregory says the best way for people to help is to make donations directly to Shelters of Saratoga to aid in the continuation of the organization’s providing of services.

“We haven’t been reimbursed by the county or the state at all yet, so we’re carrying this tremendous financial responsibility forward,” Gregory said. “We’re not exactly sure what the county and state are going to reimburse us for and there’s always a risk of the unknown.  That makes it difficult on a small non-profit like us because we can’t afford to incur those expenses and not get reimbursed, obviously. In the interim, we have applied and been approved for a bridge loan for $200,000 by a non-profit bank just in case reimbursement continues to be prolonged. At least that would not put the agency in a tough spot and cover some of the costs, until we get some kind of reimbursement.”

Finding a long-term solution to address the city’s homelessness issue – specifically including a permanent Code Blue facility – is listed among the city’s outlook of priorities in 2020. 

“I’m so thankful to be working in this incredibly generous community – the amount of expertise and support and humanity – just coming together when there are needs and putting people first,” said Gregory, who was named executive director of S.O.S. last year.  “We really do care about our homeless neighbors, keeping them safe, and I’m very appreciate of having a community that’s so behind S.O.S. It’s been a wonderful experience so far.” 

Statement from Bonacio Construction Inc.: The temporary Code Blue shelter in Downtown Saratoga Springs required transforming this 4,000 square foot industrial space into accommodations for people during the cold temperatures. Thank you to our incredible team of local businesses who helped out on this project: Allerdice ACE Hardware for donating materials. B&B Plumbing & Heating for donating both its plumbing and HVAC services. CT Mail for providing its air monitoring services during asbestos removal at a discount. Kyle Fillion of Evolve IT for donating his services for video conferencing. Granite & Marble Works, Inc. for donating granite countertops. NRC NY Environmental for working on the asbestos abatement at a discount. Prediletto Electric for donating its time and supplies. Tom Roohan of Roohan Realty for donating the showers. Stone Industries for providing its services. Thermally Yours, Inc. for installing the insulation. Tuff Kote Flooring LLC for installing the epoxy flooring at half price. Winsupply of Saratoga Springs & Bath Expressions Showroom for donating the plumbing fixtures. Project Manager: James Ackerman.