Saratoga Living 2022 Summer Issue

PLACE YOUR BETS: ZED

RUN’S HORSES ARE ON THE (BLOCKCHAIN) TRACK

*{ long live the 1959 prom queen! }

THE CIT Y. THE C U LT UR E. THE LIFE.

SUMMER 2022 FLIP ➛

➛

➛

FLIP ➛

exclusi

ve

Yfi o-Yo M nds

a

joy in p erformi outside ng w i t h Philade the lphia O rchestra

Carolee Carmhomelelowith comes

Opera Saratoga

C A SisPback!

’s n i t l y H Sterling ty Ballet i New York gC Swan Son

(places, ev

eryone)

Full companies, strong lineups— your ticket to the return of everyone’s favorite concerts and shows!

n o i t a vi e Nyone's The

Lshows everbout:

a Band g n i k l ta atthews n, a y M r e B v e a k D g, Lu re! o m 0 n Sti n, and 3 a D y l e e St

Saratoga Ja z gets a Funk z Fest Facelift

saratogaliving.com | @saratogaliving

2022 CHEVROLET SILVERADO 1500

2022 CHEVROLET TAHOE

2022 CHEVROLET SILVERADO HD

2022 CHEVROLET EQUINOX

2022 CHEVROLET BLAZER RS

2022 CHEVROLET TRAILBLAZER

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2008 FERRARI 430 SCUDERIA

2008 FERRARI 599 GTB

403 MILES, SCUDERIA RED

5,850 MILES, ROSSO CORSA

1984 PORSCHE 911 TARGA

1986 PORSCHE 911 TURBO

29,694 MILES, GUARDS RED

2001 FERRARI 550 MARANELLO 4,375 MILES, ROSSO CORSA

1965 MGB

41,147 MILES, GUARDS RED

371 MILES, TAN

1980 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT

1973 FORD BRONCO

SOLD

1978 INTERNATIONAL SCOUT 94,327 MILES, ORANGE

96,981 MILES, BLUE

SOLD

722 MILES, GREEN

SOLD

1966 SHELBY GT350

22,000 MILES, WIMBLEDON WHITE

PRE OWNED 2021 CHEVROLET CORVETTE 1,15O MILES, BLACK

SOLD

1963 CORVETTE SPLIT WINDOW 346 MILES, DAYTONA BLUE • NCRS TOP FLIGHT •

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starting gate contents | summer 2022

26

SPAC is Back!

PHIL AD E LP H I A OR C H EST R A

28

BEAUTY IN NATURE: YO-YO MA

BY ABBY TEG N E L I A N EW YO R K C I T Y BA L L ET

30

A STAR BIDS ADIEU: STERLING HYLTIN

38

BY ABBY TEG N E L I A O P E RA SAR ATOGA

32

SWEET AS PIE: CAROLEE CARMELLO

BY ABBY TEG N E L I A FR E IHO FE R ’ S SA R ATOGA JA Z Z FE ST I VA L

34

GIVE IT UP FOR GALACTIC

BY N ATALIE MOOR E LIV E N ATIO N

36

SARATOGA’S CONCERT COMEBACK

BY N ATALIE MOOR E

&

37 MODERN MARVEL:

The Third Annual Mostly Modern Festival

BY N ATALIE MOOR E

Features

Mini Magic: Terry Decorah’s MOREAU TABLEAUS

38

BY N ATALI E M OORE

42

(Horse) Racing Into the Future

BY RAY R OGERS

46 The

Real Abner Doubleday

BY BRI EN BOU Y E A

wedding crasher One of 34 pop, rock and country acts Live Nation is bringing to SPAC this summer, Josh Groban will perform at the venue on July 2. One Saratogian is hoping the star can swing by the Hall of Springs before the show to sing at his daughter’s wedding, which is going on the same night.

BRIAN BOWEN SMITH

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2 saratoga living

⁄ SUMMER 2022

(Lego) CREDIT TERRY DECORAH

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starting gate

contents | summer 2022

60

FROM THE CEO

8

54 off track

54 saratoga living’S OVERDRESS TO IMPRESS

First turn Planet: The Palmertown Range At Home: Sue Casa Lake Life: Hammocraft

By The Numbers: Saratoga Summer #TBT: Prom Royalty Music: Warden and Company Horse for the Course: Discovery

56 AIM SERVICES’ CARNIVAL

Home stretch 11

59 Fashion: Spoken Boutique 60 Food & Drink 60 ON THE MENU: BOCA BISTRO 60 BAR TAB: MORRISSEY’S 62 MIXING IT UP: HENRY STREET TAPROOM 62 REBRAND NEW: FARRIER BAR 64 TRANSPLANT LIST: THE BRICK AT 2 WEST 64 WORLD TOUR: YEA MON JAMAICAN RESTAURANT

66 Book Nook 68 Haute Property 73 Horseplay Crossword: Switch Back Overheard SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

76

Opera Saratoga’s New Groove

saratoga living After Hours 74 Celebrity Endorsement

54 (60) KURTIS OKOSKY; (11) ROBERT STONE/OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE; (54) RACHEL MCNAIR/THE CONTENT AGENCY

11 12 14 14 16 18 20

56 MAKE-A-WISH’S SPARK JOY GALA

“Mostly Modern Festival dazzles!”

— S A R ATO GA TO DAY

O U R A N N UA L M U S I C F E S T I VA L I S B AC K & B E T T E R T H A N E V E R!

1 2 S H OWS | J U N E 8 -24 Arthur Zankel Music Center | Skidmore College | Saratoga Springs, New York

Robert Paterson

Composer • Artistic Director

Victoria Paterson

Violinist • Executive Director

BUY TICKETS HERE M O S T LY M O D E R N F E S TIVA L .O RG/C O N C E RT S @ M O S T LY M O D E R N F E S TIVA L

Abby Tegnelia CEO CREATIVE DIRECTOR DIRECTOR OF CONTENT SENIOR DESIGNER SPORTS EDITOR SENIOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

ON THE COVER Cellist Yo-Yo Ma

FASHION EDITOR

photographed by Jason Bell.

EDITOR AT LARGE

Kathleen Gates Natalie Moore Linda Gates Brien Bouyea Francesco D’Amico Dori Fitzpatrick Hannah Kuznia Heather Thompson Susan Gates

WRITERS

Lisa Arcella, Karen Bjornland Tony Case, Field Horne Benjamin Lerner, Daniel Nester Tom Pedulla, Ray Rogers PHOTOGRAPHERS

Elizabeth Haynes, Dustin Lanterman, Rachel McNair Konrad Odhiambo, Terri-Lynn Pellegri Susie Raisher, Alyssa Salerno

Annette Quarrier PUBLISHER CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

saratoga living is published six times a year by Empire Media Network, Inc. subscriptions: $35 per year (Nonrefundable).

SALES DIRECTOR, CAPITAL REGION LIVING ART DIRECTOR, MARKETING SALES ASSISTANT SUBSCRIPTIONS MANAGER

Tina Galante Tara Buffa Steve Teabout Tracy Momrow Rachael Rieck

saratoga living 6 Butler Place Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 Volume 24, No. 3 Summer 2022 Copyright © 2022 Empire Media Network, Inc. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reprinted or otherwise reproduced without written permission from Empire Media Network, Inc. All editorial queries should be directed to editorial@saratogaliving.com; or sent to 6 Butler Place, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866. saratoga living assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions.

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⁄ SUMMER 2022

Anthony R. Ianniello CHAIR

Abby Tegnelia PRESIDENT/CEO

Tina Galante CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

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FROM THE CEO

Comeback, Take II his time last year, we were taking our magazine’s role of celebrating Saratoga seriously, heralding the post-COVID “comeback summer” to anyone who would listen. And it was thrilling— our summer party exceeded our expectations, the track was back, and the city really did come alive again.

So what about this summer? How do you dub something “even more of a comeback”? Many of the people who were still a little skittish about crowds in 2021 have been out on the scene this year, pre-sale tickets for just about everything are up (way up), the number of summer events being planned is staggering, and there is an electricity in the air that’s hard to describe. But you can feel it.

To capture all of that buzz, this magazine issue spotlights this summer’s SPAC schedule, starting with our world-renowned cover subject, Yo-Yo Ma, who will guest star there with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Plus, we’ve got the New York City Ballet, Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, ///////Live Nation concerts and Opera Saratoga. We also bring back our party pic pages after a winter hibernation, learn about a Saratoga-worthy opportunity to enter the NFT market (via horse racing, of course), and revel in all of the moving and shaking, expanding and new menu–creating that’s happening in our food scene—something that seemed impossible such a short time ago.

So while this year’s second “comeback summer” is hard to describe, maybe we don’t even have to try. Let’s simply enjoy it.

PS: It’s our honor to help spread the word about Opera Saratoga’s fabulous new Festival model that brings the Spa City company to venues all over the Capital Region. Flip to p.76 for more information.

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ABBY TEGNELIA CEO @abbytegnelia

friend zone (clockwise from left) Abby Tegnelia at a Salt & Char wine dinner with Ettie Seymour, Samantha Nass, Bethany Bowyer Khan, Leah Ferrone, (back) Emily Mopsik, Ally Meyers and Seana Mosher; at the Overdress to Impress VIP pre-party at Bocage with Mike and Andrea Zappone, Ellen Scharf, Zac Denham, Clark Gale, Helen Watson and Seana Mosher; at The Bourbon Room with Brian Miller and Marcella Hammer planning summer event partnerships; enjoying the first sip of Champagne at Bocage.

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{ first turn }

P L AN ET

Being Green

COURTESY OPEN SPACE INSTITUTE

A

BY NATALIE MOOR E

n

photography by ROBERT STONE

beautiful ravine with flowing waterfalls and mature woods.” s Kermit the Frog famously crooned, it’s not easy To that end, PLAN is also working on a project within being green. Take the Palmertown Range, a forested the Palmertown project—one that will allow nature lovers tract of land that connects Saratoga Springs to to hop on a trail at Daniels Road and literally walk, bike or the Adirondack Park, which Saratoga PLAN is cross-country ski all the way to Moreau Lake. Last summer, working to protect, for example. Of the 40,000-plus acres in a master plan for the Sarah B. Foulke Friendship Trails was the Palmertown Range, which stretches from Daniels Road completed, its focus being on accessibility State Forest in Saratoga to Corinth and and inclusivity. PLAN will begin building Moreau Lake State Park, about 9,000 are home on the range the trail system, which will be a mix of already protected. PLAN is still hard at work The Greentree Lake primitive, developed and highly developed protecting the remaining 31,000 acres, by way property located next to Lincoln Mountain State trails, this summer. of conservation easements, land acquisitions Forest in Greenfield is just “It’s getting increasingly difficult to find and inter-organization partnerships. one protected segment of large blocks of forest close to populated “The goal is to conserve a forested the Palmertown Range. areas that can be protected,” Saratogalandscape and keep it intact for wildlife based ecologist Michael Gaige says in an habitats, protect the waters flowing out of it, informational video about the Palmertown Range. And while and create a place where people can get outside and enjoy protecting them may not be a walk in the park (pun intended), nature close to home,” says PLAN’s Maria Trabka, who in May “it’s those forest blocks and those large protected areas that will be retiring after 14 years as the organization’s executive are going to have the capacity to change under a warming director. “You don’t need to drive two hours north and climb a High Peak. You’ll be able to drive five minutes and visit a climate. The large places are where the hope lies.”

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saratogaliving.com 11

{ first turn } AT HO M E

Tidy House Nation

T

ime to fess up: Did anyone not go on a manic home organization binge after watching at least some clips from Netflix’s Tidying Up with Marie Kondo? Whether you did or didn’t, that was three years ago now (holy COVID time warp—how was that three years ago?!), so you’ve probably reverted back to all your disorganized ways.

You may even have items in your home that don’t—gasp—spark joy. That’s where organization and styling service Sue Casa comes in.

“Sue Casa was an Instagram handle that I grabbed a few years ago,” says Saratoga Lake resident Sue Lepkowski.

“I wanted it to focus on the decorating and organization of our new home.”

Shortly after creating her @thesuecasa account, though, Lepkowski got pregnant, and her focus shifted. It wasn’t until after the birth of her second child that she decided to go all in on an organization and styling business.

This spring, Sue Casa began offering in-person and virtual consultations and transformations for any space in a home, from a closet or pantry overhaul to an entryway facelift.

The main barrier to having an organized house, Lepkowski says, is “too much stuff and too little time.” She continues: “Everyone is busy, whether it’s with kids, work, a social life—and organizing takes time. That’s where Sue Casa comes in: I’m able to take the daunting task off your to-do list and set you up with a maintainable system moving forward. It’s a big task to take on yourself.”

— N ATA L I E M O O R E

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super mom “I’ve come to realize how important it is to hold on to those defining factors of your pre-mom self,” says Sue Casa owner Sue Lepkowski of her love of being creative.

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{ first turn }

L AK E LI FE

Hanging in There

T

wo of the most relaxing summer activities are undoubtedly lazing around in a hammock and floating on the lake. Now, thanks to a Wyomingbased company that’s serious about leveling up our idle time, you can do both—at once—right here in Saratoga.

Last summer, the Kayak Shak, Fish Creek’s resident kayak and stand-up paddleboard rental company, started renting out its Hammocraft, a floating platform outfitted with a frame that holds up to four hammocks at once. “This latest addition

to our fleet allows guests to swing and hang out while floating on the water,” says Kayak Shak manager Suzanne Carpenter.

“It comes with an anchor so people of all ages, families and/ or friends can chill, listen to music and even bring a cooler.”

(The rental, which is $150 for three hours, also comes with oars to actually maneuver your floating oasis.)

Interested parties—or should we say flarties (floating parties)?—can reserve the Hammocraft for their aquatic adventure at kayakshak.com. Flarty on!

— N ATA L I E M O O R E

As of mid-April,

34

Live Nation concerts are coming to SPAC this summer, the most in

20

years.

⁄

Saratoga Race Course generates

$240 million and

2,000

jobs for the Capital Region.

14 saratoga living

t h e n u m b e r s : S a r at o ga s u m m e r

NYRA is hoping 2022 will mark the

7th

consecutive season of more than

1

million paying attendees at Saratoga Race Course.

⁄ SUMMER 2022

The Saratoga Race Course meet will feature

77

stakes races worth

$22.6

million in purses, a

$1.1

million increase over last year.

Saratoga Casino attracts

1.5-2

million people per year, many of whom come in the summer.

Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival will take place on

2

stages over

2

days and feature

24

bands and solo acts.

SPAC’s classical season will feature more than

12

SPAC premieres.

}

Opera Saratoga will perform on

The Wesley Foundation will celebrate its

stages around the Capital Region this summer.

anniversary Golden Gala on May 14 and Saratoga Hospital will celebrate its

7

50th

40th

annual gala on August 3.

CARLA JOHNSON

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{ first turn }

# T BT

T

Prom Royalty

he year was 1959, and an ecstatic Cathy Adinolfi had just received the news that she won the coveted Saratoga Springs High School prom queen crown.

“I was very happy that Cathy got it,” says Kathy Tyger Totten, who was a junior at the time. “You always wondered who it was going to be.” Though never on the court herself, Totten is somewhat of the prom expert of her era, queen sweep having attended the event four consecutive years from 1958-61. (Since her Linda Stiles (right) moment in the limelight more than 60 years ago, Adinolfi has chosen to tells Cathy Adinolfi live a life of privacy; she declined to comment on her big win.) (center) that she is “Prom was at the Canfield Casino and we always had a live band—no the 1959 prom queen. records or anything like that,” Totten says. “Usually, you’d go with another couple. First, you’d have pictures taken. Then, a lot of times we went over to Dublin.”

(Saratoga’s West Side is known as “Dublin,” because of the Irish immigrants who lived there; in the early 20th century, many Italians settled and opened restaurants in the neighborhood as well.) “You had a white gown on, and you’re eating spaghetti,” Totten continues. “And then the next day, every year, we went to Hearthstone Park at Lake George. But I didn’t stay out all night.”

As for the selection process of the queen herself, Totten says that it was only the boys who voted for the queen. The king? No voting necessary! Whoever happened to be the queen’s date was crowned king. Of course, the male student body selecting the queen would be unimaginable today, and the high school actually discontinued the naming of a queen/king/court altogether sometime after 1998. But while Saratoga prom queens may be a thing of the past, the select few who were crowned all those years ago will never have to give up their titles. Once a prom queen, always a prom queen.

— N ATA L I E M O O R E

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{ first turn } little more universal?” So the musician wrote a children’s album, and the band Seth and the Moody Melix—made up of Warden, Doug Moody and Brian Melick—was born.

Fast forward a few years, and the music Warden was writing began to change, again because of his children.

“My kids were getting older and the kids that we were performing for were getting older, and it felt like the messages needed to change a bit,” says the vocalist and guitarist. “We started writing more adult-themed or world-themed music in the last couple of years, and it has been very gratifying.”

In 2019, Warden, Moody and Melick released their first EP as Warden and MU S I C Co., but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that the new band really found its sound. “Those moments of downtime with the guitar sitting in the corner really proved to be fruitful as far as SA RATO GA- BASED BAND WARDEN AND C O M PA N Y’S DE B U T music and new material is concerned,” A LBU M , S O M EWH ERE, GETS A YOUTH F U L J O LT F R O M LE A D Warden, a middle school music teacher, S IN G E R SETH WARDEN’ S DAUGHT E R , LOV E LLA . says of the early days of COVID. “I wrote something like 26 songs over

BY NATAL I E MOORE the pandemic and nine of those are p h otograp h y by TIM F E R R I S on Somewhere.”

One such tune is “Somewhere (feat.

Lovella).” “We originally thought I was going to sing on a different song, that was for children,” Warden says. his past April, Saratoga-based and I sang it and it just didn’t sound We had The Wiggles and Teletubbies… trio Warden and Company right,” Lovella says of the day the band The Teletubbies didn’t even speak! released its first full-length recorded the album at Ballston Spa’s And the music was very silly. I was like, album, an insanely catchy, Millstone Studio. “And I was going why don’t they make music that’s a sing-along-able 11-track folk/rock debut through the songs in my head called Somewhere, to rave and I was like, ‘What about reviews. Critics especially loved this one?’ And it just ended the album’s title track, a duet up working.” Warden adds:

by Warden and Co. frontman “When she started singing in Seth Warden and his 13-yearthe studio, the song instantly old daughter, Ella, whose stage became better.” name is Lovella. But while So, will Saratoga hear more there’s no question that the from Lovella, either on future Maple Ave middle-schooler Warden and Co. tracks or stole the show this time around, albums of her own? “A couple Ella has been influencing her reviewers said they were father’s music since long before hoping for another duet, and Lovella made her musical debut. now and then Ella Warden, a.k.a. Lovella, on the Parting Glass stage with her father, Seth, when the two of us have started “My wife and I started having she was 2 and when she was 12; (top) Warden and working on some music for her children, and as a musician I Company is made up of Seth Warden (vocals/guitar), specifically,” Warden says. “So was being tortured by a lot of Brian Melick (drums) and Doug Moody (vocals/violin). the television programming it’s completely inevitable.”

Good Company

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⁄ SUMMER 2022

(young Ella) TANIKA WARDEN

T

Saratoga Performing Arts Center 2O22 SEASON

Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival June 25−26 New York City Ballet July 12−16 The Philadelphia Orchestra July 27− August 13 Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center June 12− August 21 Visit spac.org for tickets

ILLUSTRATION BY KATE DEHLER 2022

{ first turn } A HANDICAP is a contest in which horses carry different weights, allocated by the track handicapper. A more accomplished horse will carry a heavier weight to give it a disadvantage when racing against slower horses in an attempt to level the playing field.

S ome top American handicaps:

H O R S E FO R THE COUR S E

An Amazing Discovery

THI S HA LL O F FAMER REMAINS TH E ONLY H O R SE TO H AV E WO N THR E E CONSECUTIVE EDITI ONS OF T H E WH I T N E Y.

BY BR IE N BO U Y EA

T

he year was 1933, and Discovery—a golden chestnut bred by Walter Salmon, Sr. of Mereworth Farm near Lexington, KY—wasn’t necessarily a horse to write home about. A son of Display out of the Light Brigade mare Ariadne, Discovery was described as a graceless juvenile, winning only twice in 14 starts as a 2-year-old. But near the end of his first campaign, Discovery began to show promise, finishing second in the Breeders’ Futurity.

That performance prompted Alfred Vanderbilt to purchase him for $25,000 (more than $500,000 in today’s dollars) upon the advice of his trainer, J. H. “Bud” Stotler. Discovery, fortuitously, turned out to be quite the discovery for Vanderbilt.

During his 3-year-old season, Discovery was pointed toward the handicap ranks, a division in which he thrived. His ability to carry weight was

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20 saratoga living

⁄ SUMMER 2022

victory prance The New York Times reported that Discovery’s third consecutive Whitney Handicap win in 1936 was “the most decisive victory to be scored in a big American stake in many years.”

his calling card: Throughout his career, Discovery was burdened with 135 pounds or more 11 times, including in

SANTA ANITA HANDICAP APPLE BLOSSOM HANDICAP METROPOLITAN HANDICAP ALFRED G. VANDERBILT HANDICAP CIGAR MILE HANDICAP

his victory in the 1935 Merchants’ and Citizens’ Handicap at Saratoga, in which he carried 139 pounds. The weight assignments began to take a toll on Discovery during his 5-year-old season in 1936, but not before he won both the Brooklyn and Whitney handicaps for a third time, the Wilson (another Saratoga fixture) for the second time, and the Saratoga Handicap.

“The good Lord makes one like him every 50 years or so,” Stotler said after sending Discovery out for his final race, “and sometimes not even then.” Discovery was retired with a career record of 27-10-10 from 63 starts and earnings of $195,287. He set world records in both the Brooklyn and Rhode Island handicaps and a track record in the Arlington Handicap.

Twelve of his starts took place at Saratoga, of which he won eight.

It’s been more than 85 years since his last jaunt around the Spa oval, but Discovery still holds the unique distinction of being the only horse to win the prestigious Whitney Handicap in three consecutive years (1934–1936).

Named Horse of the Year in 1935 and the champion handicapper in both 1935 and 1936, he went on to sire 26 stakes winners, including champion Conniver, while his daughters produced Hall of Famers Native Dancer, Bold Ruler and Bed o’ Roses. His incredible durability and success carrying significant weight earned him a spot among the game’s immortals in the Hall of Fame in 1969.

A discovery indeed.

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COPAKE COUNTRY CLUB

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“Public Golf, Private Quality” is the motto of Copake Country Club, a 160acre, 18-hole golf course nestled in the foothills of the Berkshire and Catskill mountains. Having celebrated its 100th anniversary last summer, Copake features pure greens and meticulously maintained terrain, more than 15 different membership rates, weekday specials for local service workers, discounted twilight packages and a rustic-chic restaurant overlooking the fairways.

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CRAIG WOOD

141 Country Club Way, Lake Placid

Craig Wood Golf Course offers a challenging round of golf in a spectacular setting. Designed by Seymour Dunn in 1925, this carefully maintained municipal course was strategically carved into the Adirondack countryside. The back nine is narrow, tree-lined, and an excellent challenge! With quick, true greens, Craig Wood offers the perfect opportunity for a great round, plus a pro shop and restaurant with impressive views!

518.523.9811 | craigwoodgolfclub.com

CRONIN’S GOLF RESORT

Golf Course Road, Warrensburg

Cronin’s Golf Resort has proudly been serving New York’s North Country for more than 75 years. Five generations of Cronins have operated the resort, which, located on the Hudson River, is known for its breathtaking views of the Adirondacks. Spend an afternoon playing the Cronin’s 18-hole, par 70 course, or stay for the whole weekend in one of the resort’s motel units or cottages.

518.623.9336 | croninsgolfresort.com

HIGH PEAKS GOLF COURSE

Santanoni Drive, off Route 28N, Newcomb

Snuggled up to big views of the highest mountains in the state, the High Peaks Golf Course offers golfers exceptional scenery that will make keeping your eye on the ball a challenge. Located in Newcomb, the heart of the Adirondacks, this 9-hole, par 33 course is ideally situated for days full of golf and other outdoor adventures including hiking, paddling and birding.

518.582.2300 | newcombny.gov/high-peaks-golf-course

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SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

The Capital Region’s Ultimate Golf Guide INLET GOLF CLUB

300 State Route 28, Inlet

Challenging yet serene is the name of the game at Inlet Golf Club, an 18hole, 6,131-yard, par 70 championship course offering beautifully manicured greens and an impressive layout. The course boasts well-maintained fairways and greens, and golfers who’ve played can’t stop talking about the tough sixth.

Stop by the fully-stocked pro shop, and enjoy the scenery at Double Eagle Bar and Grill.

315.357.3503 | inletgolfclub.com

LAKE PLACID CLUB GOLF COURSES

88 Morningside Drive, Lake Placid

The Lake Placid Club offers 45 holes of spectacular golf in the Olympic village.

Award-winning courses offer a unique variety of golf for players of all abilities.

Choose from a Seymour Dunn–designed classic Scottish links course laden with bunkers; the straight, tree-lined mountain course; or the short iron-friendly “Pristine Nine.” Discover why presidents and legends golf at the Lake Placid Club!

518.523.4460 | thelakeplacidclub.com/golf

LAKE PLEASANT GOLF COURSE

2537 State Route 8, Lake Pleasant

Fans of Donald Ross courses adore his design for this tree-lined, 9-hole, par 35 course in the scenic small town of Lake Pleasant. Overlooking Sacandaga Lake, the course, with four back nine tees and five black tees for longer play, is a hidden gem in Adirondack golf. The challenges on this course are plentiful, packing a lot of play into 9 holes.

518.548.7071 | lakepleasantgc.wixsite.com/lpgc

SARANAC INN GOLF CLUB

125 County Route 46, Saranac Lake

The Saranac Inn Golf Club is one of the Adirondacks’ most stunning courses, challenging golfers since 1901. Legendary course architect Seymour Dunn called it his masterpiece! Noted for its lightning fast and true greens, the classic Scottish design has a great mix of long, medium and short par threes, fours, and fives, and is fun for a range of skill levels.

518.891.1402 | saranacinn.com

SARATOGA LAKE GOLF CLUB

35 Grace Moore Road, Saratoga Springs

Saratoga Lake Golf Club is a par 72 public golf course located in the heart of a lush forest just outside of Downtown Saratoga Springs. It’s one of the most relaxing courses in Upstate New York; every round takes players past sparkling ponds, beautiful wetlands and views of Saratoga Lake. Post-round, golfers can enjoy drinks, snacks or dinner on the spacious patio or deck of The Hideaway, the club’s onsite restaurant.

518.581.6616 | saratogalakegolf.com

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SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

The Capital Region’s Ultimate Golf Guide SCHROON LAKE GOLF COURSE

36 Clubhouse Drive, Schroon Lake

The Schroon Lake Golf Course is a 9-hole, par 36 course close to the amenities of the classic Adirondack vacation town for which it’s named. Make your way through rolling hills and over a picturesque landscape as you glimpse Pharaoh Mountain in the distance. This public course has been in action for nearly a century, but its fun holes surrounded by natural beauty never lose their appeal.

518.582.2300 | schroon.net/golf%20course.htm

TICONDEROGA GOLF

609 State Route 9N, Ticonderoga

Friend to beginners and seasoned golfers alike, Ticonderoga Golf Course is built into the rugged Adirondack landscape. Scenic panoramic views, babbling brooks and tree-lined fairways make for a truly memorable round. A par 71 with 18 holes, the course is ideal for those looking to fine-tune their game in a historic, legendary town. Exceptional dining at Seymour’s Restaurant caps off an ideal day.

518.585.2801 | ticonderogagolfcourse.com

TUPPER LAKE GOLF

141 Country Club Road, Tupper Lake

With stunning views of lakes and the Adirondacks, the Donald Ross–designed Tupper Lake Golf Club is a “must play.” Established in 1932, this mountain course provides the perfect balance of challenge and beauty. Rolling terrain, tree-lined fairways and undulating greens offer a rewarding round of golf to both the low and high handicapper. After your game, unwind at the course-side Lookout Bar & Grill.

518.359.3701 | tupperlakegolf.com

WHITEFACE CLUB & RESORT

373 Whiteface Inn Lane, Lake Placid

Luxury awaits at this historic course, perched on the shores of Lake Placid (it’s the only course on the lake). Tight, rolling fairways pair with challenging greens that keep golfers exhilarated and on their toes. Opened as a 9-hole course in 1895 and later expanded to a full 18 holes by architect John Van Kleek, the Whiteface Club is known for excellent play and rewarding post-round celebrations.

whitefaceclubresort.com/amenities/golf

WOLFERTS ROOST COUNTRY CLUB

120 Van Rensselaer Boulevard, Albany

Conveniently located just minutes from Downtown Albany, Wolferts Roost offers unparalleled views of the Berkshire Mountains and the exciting vistas that are traditionally found in Upstate New York. Above all, Wolferts Roost is a family club that provides members with a wide variety of sporting, social and culinary experiences for all ages in a safe and luxurious environment.

518.449.3223 | wolfertsroost.com

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C A P S k! c a si b

While last summer saw the return of iconic mainstays to the SPAC amphitheater, the world wasn’t quite back to normal yet, and favorite programs were shortened, limited or distanced. Now, as Covid restrictions continue to be loosened, Saratoga’s hottest outdoor venue is gearing up for a summer that may be the biggest and best— not just in recent years—ever.

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(SPAC audience) FRANCESCO D’AMICO, (Ma) JASON BELL

cello fresh Renowned Cellist Yo-Yo Ma will return to SPAC for the first time since 2017 on August 5; (opposite) a packed audience enjoys a 2019 performance in preCOVID bliss, the last time venues such as SPAC enjoyed summer seasons untouched by the pandemic.

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e r u t a N n i y t Beau F O R C E L L I S T G R E AT YO -YO M A , P E R F O R M I N G O U T S I D E O N T H E S PAC S TAG E B R I N G S O U T T H E V E RY E S S E N C E O F MU S I C FO R T H E M OST S U B L I M E C R E AT I O N O F S U M M E R T I M E M E M O R I E S .

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n a comeback classical season that’s about as buzzed-about and fanfarefilled as it could possibly get, there’s no denying that Yo-Yo Ma’s return to SPAC is the boldest headline. Not only is the world-renowned cellist the most famous name on the marquee, but he also made the news during COVID for his comforting impromptu performance at a vaccination clinic in nearby Massachusetts.

And now the famously positive and smiley musician will bring his healing powers of music to SPAC’s outdoor amphitheater August 5, in what is sure to be an especially meaningful experience for the virtuoso.

“There’s nothing like creating music in nature,” Ma says of SPAC’s location in the Spa State Park. “The natural world, like the best music, engages all of our senses, demanding that we use our head, our heart, and our hands.

In my experience, it’s when we use all three that we form the most enduring memories, that we can understand who we are and how we fit into the world. That’s the purpose of music.”

Ma’s performance will be a highlight of the Philadelphia Orchestra’s residency, which features the full orchestra for the first time since 2019. The residency runs from July 27 to August 13 and also features the return of Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin (in four programs including a finale featuring Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony) and violinist Joshua Bell (alongside star soprano Larisa Martinez on July 29). Ma will perform Camille Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No. 1, an emotional and dramatic solo that’s written in one continuous movement with a final section that is especially demanding.

“Saint-Saëns’ first cello concerto is so full of joy and sparkle,” Ma says. “It is beloved for good reason, and I hear it always as a celebration of nature and human nature. It is fitting

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music for such a beautiful place and such extraordinary musical company.”

Ma’s passion for the arts began at an extremely young age; as a 7-year-old prodigy he performed for President John F. Kennedy after a rousing introduction by the great composer Leonard Bernstein. Since then, the 19-time Grammy Award winner has become a household name by appealing to about as diverse a crowd as possible, having performed for children on Sesame Street, with friend James Taylor on a range of projects and even with Miley Cyrus on a (charity) Metallica tribute album. But while his dedication to a diverse repertoire of music has certainly helped make him the most famous cellist in the world, it’s his mind-blowing mark on the classical music realm that has garnered him esteemed awards, appointments and accomplishments the world over.

“There is no artist better than Yo-Yo Ma to embody the essence of this summer—joy, community and celebration of the human spirit,” says SPAC president and CEO Elizabeth Sobol. “Summer 2022 will be a season like no other as we welcome our audiences and resident companies home to SPAC and the park after several long years of yearning.”

Ma has a long history of performing with the Philadelphia Orchestra and says he is excited to reunite with them on the SPAC stage (he was on-hand for the Orchestra’s first postCOVID performance at their home theater, Verizon Hall, where he also performed Saint-Saëns’ Cello Concerto No.1).

“The Philadelphia Orchestra always plays with the very fullest commitment,” he says. “Its musicians sound extraordinary every time I hear them—and as an institution, the orchestra has a remarkable, almost magical ability to pass on its love of music and performance from generation to generation.”

(Ma) JASON BELL; (opposite) JAN REGAN

By Abby Tegnelia

strings theory Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducting the Philadelphia Orchestra at SPAC in August 2015; (opposite) Yo-Yo Ma made headlines during the pandemic for performing outside a vaccination clinic in his home state of Massachusetts.

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u e i d A s d i B r a A St R E T I R I N G P R I N C I PA L DA N C E R S T E R L I N G H Y LT I N K I C K S O F F H E R F I N A L Y E A R W I T H N E W YO R K C I T Y B A L L E T W I T H A G O O D BY E P E R F O R M A N C E O F ‘A M I D S U M M E R N I G H T ’ S D R E A M ’ AT S PAC .

By Abby Tegnelia

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ew York City Ballet (NYCB) principal dancer Sterling Hyltin is preparing for her bittersweet final Saratoga performance— she’s sad to be saying goodbye but thrilled that she’ll be dancing in George Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as her last SPAC show before retiring next year. “It’s such a lovely way to say goodbye,” she says. “The ballet is approachable for all ages. Plus, dancing outside adds to the magic. There can be lightning bugs on the lawn while watching lightning bugs dancing on stage.”

When Hyltin started coming to Saratoga with NYCB 20 years ago, the company’s residency was still three weeks long, and she cherishes her memories of her extended Spa City stays. “You were in a house with your friends,” she says. “It felt like we were a family there, so much more so than in the city. It felt like home.”

Hyltin’s love for Saratoga is so strong that she and her family visited during lockdown. And it’s sitting on the SPAC lawn—as a spectator—where the new mom hopes to show her daughter, Ingrid, who was born near the beginning of lockdown, her beloved NYCB for the first time. “SPAC is so kid-friendly, with the lawn,” she says. “So I would like to show my daughter ballet there.”

From the amphitheater stage, Hyltin has certainly felt SPAC’s magic as well, most dramatically as Juliet in Peter Martins’ Romeo + Juliet, a role she originated. “One year as we were dancing, right as it got into the story, the sky got ominous,” she says. “You really get immersed in the story that way—for some

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ballets, being outside really enhances the story. Or sometimes you look out, and there’s a full moon in the sky. As people are watching us, we’re watching nature!”

Hyltin considers herself so blessed to have been able to do what she loves that she’s retiring in order to help her daughter find that special something for herself. “I love dancing so much,” Hyltin says. “It’s been a gift to be surrounded by passionate people. That gives you confidence. I want to inspire that in my daughter, let her teach me where she should be. And for that I need to be present for her, not off dancing all the time.”

NYCB performs at SPAC July 12 to July 16, bringing the whole company of more than 90 dancers to Saratoga for the first time since 2019. In addition to the comical and fanciful Midsummer, they will also dance a roster of contemporary works, including Merce Cunningham’s masterful Summerspace, plus a special “NYCB On and Off Stage” presentation. At press time, Hyltin was expected to dance the famous “Divertissement” pas de deux in the second act of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a romantic piece that shows off her most ethereal qualities. She will then start her final season back in NYC, which will culminate in her grand final performance December 4 at Lincoln Center, where she will dance the coveted role of the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker.

“Going in for my final season, I know I have to enjoy dancing everything for one last time,” Hyltin says. “I have to stop myself from thinking that I have to make every step the most perfect ever. This year, I get to just enjoy it.”

PAUL KOLNIK; (opposite) ERIN BAIANO

flying high Principal dancer Sterling Hyltin in Hallelujah Junction, a ballet by Peter Martins whose Juliet in Romeo + Juliet Hyltin originated and performed at SPAC; (opposite) Hyltin retires from New York City Ballet next year.

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Sweet as Pie

D E L I C I O U S LY DA R K H U M O R TA K E S C E N T E R S TAG E W H E N O P E R A S A R AT O G A P E R FO R M S SW E E N EY TO D D , S TA R R I N G A L B A N Y N AT I V E C A R O L E E C A R M E L L O , AT S PAC .

By Abby Tegnelia

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hen Broadway star Carolee Carmello was growing up in Albany, she treasured her summer evenings at SPAC, taking in concerts such as James Taylor from the lawn while dreaming of performing there herself someday. That milestone was looking elusive, however, as SPAC historically hasn’t been a home for Broadway shows.

But Opera Saratoga changed that last year when it brought Man of La Mancha to the amphitheater. After its resounding success, theater-lovers will this year get to see the musical thriller Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street— with Capital Regionite Carmello starring.

“I’m thrilled,” says the Broadway veteran who’s starred in shows such as Falsettos, Finding Neverland, Mamma Mia! and most recently as Dolly Levi in the touring production of Hello, Dolly.

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“It’s going to be nostalgic for me. SPAC is a very special place.

I always dreamed of performing there but thought I’d probably never get to. My family is still in the area, plus my friends from high school. Showing them what I do is going to be great. My folks come to NYC to my shows, but this is in their backyard.”

Carmello gets to be wickedly villainous in Sweeney Todd, which uses dark humor to tell the story of the wrongly accused title character as he returns home from prison to exact his revenge.

He partners up with the unassuming pie shop owner Mrs. Nellie Lovett—played by Carmello—to get rid of any potentially tasty evidence. The show plays SPAC June 29 and June 30 and is part of Opera Saratoga’s new summer festival model, which sees performances of several shows hit venues all over the Capital Region. Carmello’s co-star is internationally acclaimed bass baritone Craig Colclough, playing Sweeney Todd.

no more mrs. nice pie Carolee Carmello says she loves the dark humor behind her role as accomplice baker Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd; (left) the award-winning Carmello is considered Broadway royalty.

“Sweeney Todd is thrilling in a dark way,” says Carmello, a three-time Tony nominee for her work in Parade, Lestat and Scandalous. “I hope people won’t be scared of the subject matter. If people don’t know the show, it is actually really fun, not daunting. It’s so funny—really entertaining. Don’t be afraid of it!”

Carmello would know: She recently sang the part of Mrs. Lovett off-Broadway, with only three musicians and in a tiny space that allowed her to walk on the tabletops where the audience was sitting and sing without a mic.

“SPAC is completely the opposite,” she says. “You’re far from the audience, and there’s a full orchestration. I loved doing the role, so doing it again on a big open-air stage is exciting.”

The music and lyrics for Sweeney Todd were written by the great Stephen Sondheim, who is known for a particular style of

complicated rhythms that make it sound almost as if the actors are both singing and talking at the same time.

“Sondheim is tricky to learn, but once you have it in your body, it starts to feel more natural,” Carmello says. “When you’re doing Sondheim, you want your audience to be on a ride with you. I’m having a flashback to my first performance of Sweeney Todd in New York City. Sondheim came to our very first performance. We could have used a little more time to settle in before he came! It is already challenging to do Sondheim, even more so when Sondeheim is in the audience!”

The legendary composer and lyricist passed away last November, which makes this performance even more poignant and impactful for Carmello.

“It’s a great way,” she says, “to honor Sondheim and his memory the year of his passing.”

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r o f p u t i e v Gi c i t c a l Ga T H E N E W O R L E A N S – B A S E D F U N K B A N D , F E AT U R I N G V O C A L I S T A N J E L I K A “ J E L LY ” J O S E P H , W I L L TA K E T H E S TA G E AT W H AT ’ S S U R E T O B E A S A R AT O G A J A Z Z F E S T F O R T H E B O O K S .

CREDIT

By Natalie Moore

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CREDIT

hile it was certainly great to be back at the Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival last summer, the experience wasn’t exactly what local jazz fans have come to expect from the uberpopular annual event. For one, the festival, which had skipped a year due to COVID, had a much smaller lineup than in previous years, and was also tainted by the fact that attendees were confined to their “pods”—socially distanced circles painted right on the SPAC lawn. Jazz Fest was back, but it wasn’t quite the same.

This year, however, Jazz Fest as we know it returns, and it’s going to be even bigger and better than ever. “The 45th Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival will be a grand reunion and a big party all weekend long,” says festival producer Danny Melnick. “Fun, funky, groovy groups”—a whopping 24 of them—”will keep the audience moving day and night.” One such group is New Orleans– based funk and jazz collective Galactic, which will be performing with frontwoman Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph.

After getting its start in The Big Easy in 1994, Galactic dropped its first funk album in 1996 and hit the road.

The core five members—Ben Ellman, Robert Mercurio, Stanton Moore, Jeffrey Raines and Richard Vogal—have been touring with a rotating cast of vocalists, including David Shaw of The Revivalists and Grammy-winning R&B artist Macy Gray, ever since. It was with the latter that the band was introduced to New Orleans native Joseph, who sang backup for Gray when Galactic was on tour in Japan several years ago. “We totally fell in love with her voice and personality,” says Mercurio, the band’s bassist.

“They asked me to lead a song,” Joseph says of the Japan performance. “I studied the song the entire flight because I was so scared—I cannot mess this up. I led the song and a few years after that they asked me to sing lead, and I was so shocked and of course super-excited, so I jumped on the opportunity to do so.” Up until that point, Joseph had been performing mainly backups, which she continues to do with another New Orleans– based band, Tank and the Bangas.

Obviously, it’s incredibly difficult to explain a band’s sound in words, so if you want a sneak peek at what’s in store for Galactic’s Saratoga Jazz Fest performance, Joseph recommends listening to songs “Dolla Diva” (“It’s like a party,” she says) or “Does It Really Make A Difference” (“funky, but so soulful”). Mercurio concurs.

But, if words were all we had, Joseph would describe Galactic this way: “It’s definitely New Orleans,” she says.

“It’s New Orleans to the core.” jelly’s role Galactic and vocalist Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph will make their Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Fest debut on Saturday, June 25.

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k c a b e m o C t r e c n o C Saratoga’s

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L O C A L M U S I C FA N S A R E L O S I N G T H E I R M I N D S OV E R S PAC ’ S 2 02 2 L I V E N AT I O N L I N E U P —T H E F I R ST FULL SEASON SINCE 2019 AND T H E B I G G E ST B I L L I N 2 0 Y E A R S .

performed a choreographed dance f you grew up in Saratoga to “Knockin’ Boots,” while Bryan Springs, chances are that you provided vocals from out of view. “It grew up on concerts at SPAC. was one of the greatest experiences Whether you climbed the fence for the deputies,” says Sheriff Michael to sneak into The Grateful Dead Zurlo, who helped coordinate the circa 1985, had your first beer at rehearsals and performance but Bon Jovi circa 2003, or met a shied away from performing himself.

Tinder crush at Matchbox 20 circa “Everybody’s a fan of Luke, and a lot 2014, memories of a SPAC concert of our people are going to go again stick with you. And the thing about to his concert.” growing up on concerts at SPAC? Other locals want more than just You don’t outgrow them. a ticket to a 2022 show—they want “This will be my 25th year going actual face time with the stars. “The to Dave Matthews with my mother,” dream is to interview a member of Piper Boutique owner Alessandra Steely Dan, be it front man Donald Bange-Hall says. “She took me to my sherrif’s shot Members of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department performed Fagen or a member of the touring first Dave show when I was 12—she a choreographed dance and lip sync company,” says Niskayuna native and drove me and my friends. And then performance with Luke Bryan on the SPAC Syracuse resident Michael Held, who every year, even when I could drive, stage in 2019. co-hosts Time Out Of Mind, a podcast my mom always went to the show that’s working its way through The Dan’s entire discography—a with us. My friends, the same friends that I’ve gone with year after whole 50 years’ worth—dedicating each episode to the study of year after year, are like, ‘Is Clare going this year?’ It’s so funny.” a different song. “And you can bet your bottom dollar that we’ll be Of course, perennial Saratoga favorite DMB is just one of recording an episode about their SPAC performance.” (For those 34 pop, rock and country concerts Live Nation is presenting younger SPAC fans who may be unfamiliar with Steely Dan, Held’s at Saratoga’s historic outdoor amphitheater this summer—the co-host, Saratogian Ryan Burke, describes the band’s on-stage most in more than two decades. And, following a concertpresence this way: “Imagine if DaBaby, Slipknot and Hootie and less 2020 and dialed-back 2021, Capital Region music-lovers the Blowfish shared the stage for 90 minutes. It’s a lot like that.”) are here for it. This past spring, when it seemed like a new Latham-based financial planner Tim Graney’s also got his concert was announced every other day—The Lumineers, eye on more than tickets for an upcoming show. His daughter Jason Aldean, Chris Stapleton, Sting—group chats from Glens Erin is getting married at the Hall of Springs on July 2, and is Falls to Glenmont and beyond were blowing up. “Everyone hoping for a special guest appearance at the reception. “We’ve is talking about the SPAC schedule,” Bange-Hall says. “The got to get Josh Groban to sing a song at their wedding,” he lineup is amazing. I think it’s going to knock it out of the park.” says. (The “You Raise Me Up” crooner is playing a show right As is evidenced by Bange-Hall’s quarter-century DMB streak, next door that very night.) “It would be awesome.” for most concert-goers, it doesn’t matter how many times they’ve So whether you’re a longtime deadhead who’s holding on seen an act at SPAC before. Bands like Dead & Company, Goo Goo to that 1985 magic vis-à-vis John Mayer; have recently been Dolls and, until this year, Phish, come to Saratoga as consistently binge-listening to America’s next top bluegrass banjo-er Billy as horse racing’s top trainers, and the crowds don’t stop showing Strings; or are a Morgan Wallen superfan ready to turn it up up to see them. Another favorite act returning to SPAC this down, up down, up down, this summer’s Live Nation season year is country superstar Luke Bryan, who, in 2019, welcomed is going to be one you tell your kids about. Or, if you’re Clare members of the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Department on stage Bange-Hall, one you’ll bring your kid to, once again. to film a CBS special called Lip Sync to the Rescue. The deputies

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Modern Marvel

S PA C I S N ’ T T H E O N LY R E A S O N W O R L D - C L A S S M U S I C I A N S A R E F L O C K I N G T O S A R AT O G A T H I S S U M M E R : M E E T T H E T H I R D A N N U A L M O S T LY M O D E R N F E S T I VA L , W H I C H W I L L TA K E O V E R S K I D M O R E ’ S ARTHUR Z ANKEL MUSIC CENTER FOR 12 PERFORMANCES THIS JUNE.

By Natalie Moore

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ostly Modern Festival (MMF) was born when classical music powerhouses Robert and Victoria Paterson (he’s a composer, she’s a violinist) were looking for a music festival that celebrated living composers with a full orchestra. Not finding any such festival that fit those criteria, the couple decided to create it themselves, and to do it in Saratoga Springs, in part because of its central location between New York City, Boston and Montreal. “Most classical music festivals primarily perform music by dead composers, with a few obligatory pieces by living composers thrown in, maybe,” says Robert. “Mostly Modern Festival flips that model and celebrates modern music, with occasional works from the past.”

The Patersons, who split their time between New York City and Saratoga, launched their first-ever festival in 2018, and returned the following year for round two. Then—you know the story—the pandemic hit, silencing tubas and piccolos from Lincoln Center to the Sydney Opera House. This summer will mark the long-awaited return of MMF, which will present 12 performances throughout the month of June.

Kicking things off is, well, a kick-off event featuring worldclass opera singers and NYC instrumentalists coming together June 8 at Caffè Lena. The rest of the shows, which include three

LISA-MARIE MAZZUCCO

Best of theThreeFests major festivals bringing culture to the Capital Region this summer.

Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival albanysymphony.com/trailblazeny To celebrate the completion of New York’s 750-mile Empire State Trail, Albany Symphony will present a series of free concerts, family activities and immersive adventures called TrailBlaze NY. Kicking off with a week of wall-to-wall music and festivities in Troy on May 30, TrailBlaze will blaze its trail to Schuylerville, Kingston, Hudson, Schenectady and Albany before wrapping things up in Amsterdam on July 3.

modern family “The location is beautiful, the staff at Skidmore are just remarkable to work with, and the concert hall is world-class,” says MMF’s Robert Paterson—seen here with his wife and cofounder, Victoria— of Saratoga’s Arthur Zankel Music Center.

orchestra concerts and more than 30 world premieres, will take place between June 9 and June 24 at the Arthur Zankel Music Center.

Of the 150 world-class musicians who will be featured in the 2022 festival, standouts include Austin Symphony conductor Peter Bay and Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director JoAnn Falletta, who will conduct the American Modern Orchestra in its final concert of the festival on June 24. The program for that not-to-be-missed evening is Aaron Copland’s Dance Symphony, Charles Griffes’ Pleasure Dome of Kublai Khan, MMF’s own Robert Paterson’s Dark Mountains, and Christopher Rouse’s Flute Concerto featuring flutist Henrik Heide.

Speaking of all that classical music, are you one of those people who thinks the genre in general just isn’t for them?

Think again. “Most people love classical music without even realizing it,” says Robert, who serves as MMF’s artistic director (Victoria is its executive director). “If you watch TV shows such as Succession or Downton Abbey, or movies directed by Steven Spielberg, and you like what you’re hearing, you are essentially listening to classical music.”

Lake George Music Festival lakegeorgemusicfestival.com

Opera Saratoga

Come summer, Lake George transforms one of the nation’s foremost classical music artist retreats.

This year’s much-anticipated Lake George Music Festival will kick off on August 10 with a full orchestral program at the Shepard Park Amphitheater, and be followed by nine more performances of both legendary masterworks and new works at the Carriage House at Fort William Henry, culminating in a final symphony orchestra concert on August 18.

You just read about Opera Saratoga’s performance of Sweeney Todd at SPAC, but there’s so much more to this year’s summer festival. Opera Saratoga will present shows at seven venues from Albany to Lake George between May 26 and July 10, including modern opera Sky on Swings at The Egg and comic opera The Barber of Seville at Proctors. For more information, including what the company is performing at the Mansion of Saratoga, turn to page 76.

operasaratoga.org

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Mini Magic H OW M O R E A U P H O T O G R A P H E R T E R R Y D E C O R A H B E C A M E A R I S I N G S TA R I N T H E FA S T- G R OW I N G WO R L D O F L E G O P H O T O G R A P H Y.

BY N ATA L I E M O O R E

go figure (top) A minifigure scene that photographer Terry Decorah created by filling a disposable pie plate with sand on her patio table; (left) Decora’s minifigure collection includes robots; (opposite, clockwise from top) a scene at the Moreau State Park kayak launch; a Lego minifigure checks out the Saratoga Spa State Park’s Island Spouter; Decorah says her photo of the scuba diver makes her smile every time she sees it; a Moreau State Park explorer.

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reality check Decorah sometimes uses Photoshop to make her minifigure photos look even more real: In post-production, she removed the wire this “falling” chipmunk was dangling from, and added falling snow around the minisnowmobilers.

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t’s hard not to smile when you look at Terry Decorah’s Lego minifigure photography. There’s just something inexplicably endearing about a ceaselessly smiley, tiny plastic blockhead of a man wading hip-deep through the shallows of Moreau Lake on what is surely a very important scuba diving mission.

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An ultrasound technologist and amateur photographer, Decorah first discovered the wide world of toy photography last summer. “I happened across some images by Shelly Corbett (@ shellycorbettphotography) last summer, and they were just so delightful that I was inspired to give it a try,” says the Moreau resident of this growing trend that uses mature photography techniques

to capture playtime nostalgia with tugat-your-heartstrings results. “I enjoy learning new photographic techniques and especially enjoy seeing what other photographers are creating on Instagram.”

So, Decorah bought some minifigures (her 50-figure collection includes humans, chipmunks and robots, and she plans on adding superheroes soon), went to nearby Moreau State Park, and started teaching herself toy photography.

“I’m still pretty new to it,” Decorah says, “but have found that you need to be very patient and deliberate in your techniques and pay attention to the small details.

When you’re shooting at such a small level, every little detail matters.”

Since last August, Decorah has documented the adventures of her minifigures on her own Instagram account, @moreau.minis. “I got bored, so I bought some Lego,” her bio reads.

(Fun fact: the plural of Lego is in fact, simply, “Lego.”) “I think I’m addicted now.” Exactly what is so alluring about toy photography? “The Lego minifigures are just so darn cute!” Decorah says. “I’m intrigued by the endless possibilities of images that can be created.”

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(HORSE) RACING INTO THE FUTURE

ZED RUN : THE OLD-FASHIONED SPORT OF KINGS GETS A DIGITAL TRACK.  BY RAY ROGERS

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t’s off to the races, one click at a time. Introducing what could be the perfect opportunity for racetrack-loving Saratogians to get in on the Crypto craze: blockchain-based horse racing. Virtually Human Studio’s virtual horse racing platform, Zed Run, allows users to place bets around the clock, and even outright own the horses as “breathable” NFTs (non-fungible tokens, such as the digital art selling for millions that you’ve been reading about), meaning they have attributes

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all in the family All of Zed Run’s NFT horses come from one of four bloodlines—each with its own distinct traits—Nakamoto, Szabo, Finney or Buterin.

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that allow them to change over time.

“A breathing NFT is one that has its own unique DNA,” Roman Tirone, the head of partnerships at Virtually Human Studio (VHS), recently told The New York Times. “It can breed, has a bloodline, has a life of its own.

It races, it has genes it passes on, and it lives on an algorithm, so no two horses are the same.”

Now, hold your horses—just how viable is digital racing, with nary a jockey in sight to boot? Some heavy hitters in the tech space (TCG Capital

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Pilates & Playfulness

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Management, A16Z) are betting on the company; VHS raised some $20 million in investment funding last year.

“It’s one of the world’s oldest sports, and it has remained unchanged since the dawn of time,” co-founder Chris Laurent told The Times when describing the opportunity for innovation in the digital space.

Horse racing fans, too, are betting big on the platform: Inside the brand’s first three years, it’s already amassed more than 125,000 connected users, who pony up anywhere from $130 to $45,000 per digital horse. With that price point, anyone can have a horse in this race. (More than $3 million worth of horses has already been sold.)

While the rush of the race at a physical track is hard to duplicate, Zed Run developers took care to replicate it as closely as they could digitally: “We used real-life Thoroughbreds as reference points and began designing our Zed racehorses so they perfectly encapsulated the behavior and nuances of their real-life counterparts,” the company noted on Medium.

Running on blockchain technology, the platform lets racing enthusiasts breed, sell, and bet on their own virtual horses. Zed Run “moves horse racing from a sport dictated by physical limitations to one unbound and virtual,” VHS co-founder Rob Salha has said. “This means more races, more owners, more spectators, more upside to all that want to be involved. It makes horse racing a 24/7 sport. And we think there’s an opportunity to bring this same concept to many areas of sports and entertainment far beyond horse racing.” Expect a wild ride.

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Real Abner T h e

Doubleday THE BALLSTON SPA NATIVE MAY NOT HAVE—AS LOCAL LORE KEEPS REPEATING— INVENTED BASEBALL, BUT HE DID LEAD A REMARKABLE LIFE.

By Brien Bouyea PHOTOGRAPHY BY

DORI FITZPATRICK PORTRAIT COURTESY OF THE

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

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C

ooperstown is home to only 1,730 people, but more than 300,000 journey to the tiny Otsego County village’s world-famous cultural attraction each year. In fact, “Cooperstown” and “baseball” have become so connected—almost synonymous, in fact—that it’s rare to stop and think, “Why, exactly, is the National Baseball Hall of Fame in a tiny town in Upstate New York?” That’s a shame, because the answer is a whopper of a fairytale involving Ballston Spa native Abner Doubleday, who was inaccurately credited with a legacy more fantastical than he could have ever imagined.

The myth: Abner Doubleday invented the game of baseball, and he did so in Cooperstown.

The reality: There isn’t even a shred of evidence to support the narrative that Doubleday is the founding father of America’s national pastime. But more on that later.

While Doubeday might not be the sports hero he was credited as being, he was still a bonafide local celebrity of sorts in his own right—although his due credit arrived posthumously. Born in Ballston Spa in 1819, he hailed from a family with a proud military field of dreams Despite not having invented baseball, tradition, destined to make history on the Abner Doubleday is still the battlefront. During the American Revolution, namesake of Ballston Spa’s Doubleday’s paternal grandfather fought at baseball fields; (left) Ballston the Battle of Bunker Hill, served at Valley Spa native Doubleday grew up Forge, and fought in the Battle of Stony in the Central New York town of Auburn before launching his Point. His maternal grandfather, meanwhile, military career. was a messenger for George Washington in the early days of the Revolution. Doubleday’s father, Ulysses, fought in the War of 1812, serving at the naval facility at Sacketts Harbor. He went on to publish newspapers and books and served two terms in Congress, scholarly interests he worked to pass on to his son.

“I was brought up in a book store and early imbibed a taste for reading,” the younger Doubleday wrote in a letter that is part of the Baseball Hall of Fame library’s collection. (Yes, despite his not being the founder of baseball, relics from Doubleday’s life can be found in Cooperstown.) “I was fond of poetry and art and much interested in mathematical studies. In my outdoor sports I was addicted to topographical work and even as a boy amused myself by making maps of the country around my father’s residence which was in Auburn, Cayuga County, New York.”

While growing up in Auburn, Doubleday knew at a young age that he would follow his family’s military tradition. He started his studies at the Cooperstown Classical and Military Academy before being appointed to West Point in 1838.

After graduating, our budding war hero was commissioned a brevet second lieutenant in the 3rd Artillery and was sent to Fort Johnson in North Carolina for his first assignment. Doubleday’s initial combat came

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daily doubleday (clockwise from left) Abner Doubleday’s childhood home is now home to The Real McCoy Beer Co.; the sign outside the house; a memorial to Doubleday in Ballston Spa; (opposite) The stretch of Route 50 passing through Downtown Ballston Spa is called Doubleday Avenue.

during the Mexican War, from 1846 to 1848. He was then sent to Texas, and a few years later to Florida. According to the National Archives, Doubleday’s activities involved mapping the Everglades and the areas that became Miami and Fort Lauderdale, including planning for roads and water drainage.

His next posting, to the garrison at Fort Moultrie at Charleston, had a profound influence on his military career. It was the 1850s, when the Army was experiencing a serious, significant split regarding slavery; Doubleday was a supporter of abolition and voted for Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Before the Civil War, Doubleday noted that Charleston was not a pleasant place to be, commenting, “Almost every public assemblage was tinctured with treasonable sentiments and toasts against the flag were always warmly applauded.”

Doubleday’s service against the Confederacy began where the war commenced: at Fort Sumter in Charleston. In the early morning hours of April 12, 1861, forces from the Confederate States of America attacked the United States military garrison

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there. Doubleday actually fired the Union’s first cannon shot, earning him a footnote in history, but less than two days later, the fort surrendered. No one was killed, but the battle began the bloodiest conflict in American history. Under the rules of engagement, the Fort Sumter battalion was allowed to abandon the fortress, and Doubleday was transferred to command the garrison at Fort Hamilton, closer to home here in New York.

Doubleday was promoted to major, and then brigadier general of U.S. Volunteers. He fought at Antietam in Maryland, where more than 22,000 were killed or wounded in a single day of carnage.

Doubleday’s bravery at Antietam earned him a promotion to major general of U.S. Volunteers in the Army of the Potomac.

By the third year of the Civil War, Doubleday had earned acclaim as a dependable general, albeit one with little fanfare.

His biographer, Thomas Barthel, said, “He has never been given credit he deserves for his actions in the Civil War or later because he was not one of the boys. He was not glamorous.

Seen not as a foolhardy soldier but as a steadfast one, many

times in the future Doubleday would be asked to anchor a line and protect the flank of a large body of soldiers.

This reputation was not glamorous. But Doubleday was not a man to worry about his appearance; rather, his concern would be his obligations to the men in his command.”

It was at Gettysburg that Doubleday and his troops participated in the turning point of the Civil War. Some historians make the argument that he kept Cemetery Ridge as part of the Union lines the first day of the infamous battle. In a letter to his wife, Doubleday described the horror: “The most awful battle of the War occurred yesterday. They then attacked near my position, opening with from 100 to 150 pieces of artillery…

I was hit and pitched over my horse’s neck by a piece of shell which struck me in the back of the neck. Luckily, I was hit squarely by the smooth round surface. Had the jagged part struck first it would have killed me.”

Doubleday’s final combat experience was fending off Confederate Gen. Jubal Early during raids in 1864 at Washington, DC. Transitioning out of the Union volunteer service in late August 1865, Doubleday became a colonel in the regular Army and was sent to California, where he helped get a charter for the first cable car railway in San Francisco.

And speaking of making history, by 1871 Doubleday had moved to Texas, where he commanded the all-Black 24th Infantry Regiment— and was connected to baseball for the one and only documented time.

It was there that Doubleday asked his superiors to “purchase baseball implements for the amusement of the men.”

Expensing baseballs? Once?

That’s hardly enough to warrant Doubleday’s being named the founder of the sport. So where on earth does baseball fit into our local war hero’s story? In reality, it doesn’t…but facts don’t always make for the most romantic narrative, and the error is in fact traceable, just not to his well-meaning diversion goals in Texas. It started instead in 1905, when Abraham Mills was appointed by sporting goods mogul Albert G. Spalding to head a commission to determine when and where baseball originated.

Spalding had been engaged in a dispute with Henry Chadwick, a native of Exeter, England who contended that the all-American sport we love today actually evolved from the English game of rounders. But Spalding wasn’t having it. He personified the hyper-American nationalism customary of the time, and was adamant baseball was solely an American creation.

The commission’s report, released in 1908, stated that Doubleday invented baseball at Cooperstown in 1839—

despite the fact that at that time, Doubleday was a 20-year-old plebe at West Point. So how did the Mills Commission come up with this story?

In his report, Mills refers to a “circumstantial statement by a reputable gentleman, according to which the first diagram, indicating positions for players, was drawn by Abner Doubleday in Cooperstown, N.Y. in 1839.” Mills then eulogized Doubleday, whom he had known personally. Finally, he stated succinctly, baseball “had its origins in the United States” and “according to the best evidence obtainable to date” the game “was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, N. Y. in 1839.” That, apparently, was enough to satisfy Spalding.

It wasn’t difficult to poke holes in the report’s conclusions. How odd that Mills and Doubleday were friends for more than a quartercentury, yet it wasn’t until about a dozen years after Doubleday’s death that Mills learned through a “circumstantial statement” that Doubleday had “invented” baseball. Also, after retiring from the Army, Doubleday wrote a number of articles for newspapers and magazines (following in Dad’s footsteps). He never mentioned baseball in any of them, or in the 67 diaries he kept. And again, there’s the bald fact that in 1839, while he was supposedly conceptualizing baseball in Cooperstown, Doubleday was documented to be at West Point, and had been since September 1, 1838. His only leave of absence during his four years there was from June 18 to August 28, 1840.

So, if not Doubleday, then who?

Many believe Chadwick’s theory that the game of baseball was derived from rounders. There is also credible documentation that a player named Alexander Cartwright established the first formal rules of the sport that were used in an 1845 contest in Hoboken.

Cartwright—not Doubleday—was eventually enshrined in the Hall of Fame. Cartwright’s plaque in Cooperstown’s hallowed Hall reads, “FATHER OF MODERN BASE BALL.” So alas, Doubleday was not the creator of baseball, although it’s hard to feel sad about stripping him of the title—he died years before he was erroneously dubbed the pastime’s founder. And even without any connection to baseball, Doubleday secured a rightful spot in history: war hero, instead of sports hero. After retiring from military service in 1873, he moved with his wife, Mary, to Mendham, NJ, where they lived a quiet life. They had no children. Doubleday died in 1893, and his wife died in 1907.

They are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

As for Cooperstown? The tiny village, though it may not have a true connection to baseball, has proven to be a most wonderful steward to the heritage of the great American game.

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off track SA R ATO GA’S H OT T E ST T I C KE TS

Natalie Moore, Abby Tegnelia and Andrea Zappone

Andrea Zappone, Sara McCarthy, Carina Rodriguez and Lauren Ruane

saratoga living’s

Overdress to Impress A P R IL 4 AT SALT & CHAR

Nicole Nicholas

I Adam McNeill

Kennedy Taylor and Hanna Volpe

photography by RACHEL MCNAIR/THE CONTENT AGENCY

f you were driving down Broadway at, oh, about 5:30pm on Monday, April 4 and had to stop so a crowd of women in billowing dresses could cross the street, sorry—that one’s on us. The sea of immaculately dressed ladies was making its way from our Overdress to Impress VIP pre-party, at then-not-yetopened Champagne bar Bocage, to the main event at Salt & Char.

Overdress to Impress, presented by Tipsy Moose Tap & Tavern, honored Design Issue cover star Andrea Zappone, and saw a sold-out crowd of nearly 100 guests come out to support her in fashion-forward, well, fashion. The evening featured tequila cocktails by Curamia Tequila, passed hors d’oeuvres by Salt & Char, a silent auction and, of course, a fashion show, judged

by Zac Denham and Clark Gale of Bocage, Jen Marcellus of Miss Scarlett Boutique, Megan Druckman of Lola Saratoga, and Buttonista Taylor Rao of Two Buttons Deep. The winner was Saratogian Sara McCarthy, who went home with a grand prize of goodies donated by the five judges. Everyone else went home with a “You nailed it!” nail polish party favor and the promise that, yes, Overdress to Impress will become an annual event.

saratoga living’s Natalie Moore, Annette Quarrier, Tina Galante and Abby Tegnelia

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Taryn Buckley, Abbey Olds and Alexandria Tario, who represented Tipsy Moose, the event’s presenting sponsor.

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Jennifer Skerker, Cassondra Dean and Ellen Scharf

Bocage co-owner Zac Denham

Stephanie Poirier, Jackie Szurek, Tanika Warden and Carrie Zappone enjoying Curamia Tequila cocktails.

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A champagne toast at Bocage, which hosted the event’s VIP pre-party.

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off track SA RATOGA’S HOT T EST T ICKETS

AIM Services’ Carnival AP R I L 2 • VAP O R

Make-A-Wish’s Spark Joy Gala

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t’s safe to say wishes came true at Make-A-Wish Northeast New York’s Spark Joy Gala, the first the orginazation has been able to hold since 2019. Over an elegant sit-down dinner, wish kid Drew of Johnstown was presented with his wish—tickets to Wrestlemania—by two Immortal Championship Wrestling stars in let’s-get-ready-to-rumble fashion. More wish kids were in attendance, including the evening’s 17-year-old cohost, Maria, who used her wish to help families coping with epilepsy, and 6-year-old Finn of Fort Ann, whose mother gave a touching speech about her family’s journey. A MakeA-Wish–inspired performance by American Idol star Madison Vandenburg was played on the big screen, and the winner of a signed Captain America shield was chosen. In total, more than $320,000 was raised for the nonprofit.

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his spring, AIM Services debuted a brand-new fundraising event: Carnival, featuring Latin music, Brazilian street food and dancing. The night, which celebrated some of the individuals with physical and intellectual disabilities that AIM serves, was a huge success, bringing in more than $80,000 for the organization. AIM is currently taking the feedback it received on the event into consideration to make next year’s Carnival, which is already scheduled for April 1, 2023, even better.

(AIM Services Carnival) CATHY DUFFY, DEMICHELE PHOTOGRAPHY

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saratoga living’s Kickoff to Summer 2022!

It may be 200 miles to the nearest beach, but we’re heating things up aloha style to kick off the Saratoga Summer.

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home stretch: fashion

|| food & drink || book nook || haute property

Spoken Has Spoken

T H E C H U R C H ST R E E T B O U T I Q U E DE C LA R E S T H I S SA R ATO GA SU M M E R O N E F O R R E T R O C O U N T RY V I B E S. ph oto g r aph y by DO R I F I T ZPAT R I C K

this summer, it’s all about the ’70s. Country themes are back, and what better place to show off your wild(ly fashionable) side than at a country concert—or, better yet—a ’70s rock ’n’ roll concert? To shop, I headed to Spoken Boutique, which had me covered head to toe. First, I’m living for this Dear John Denim jumpsuit, which hugs your body in all the right places and would be a knockout at this June’s Morgan Wallen show at SPAC. Pair it with dangly earrings, a sparkly clutch and a high pony for the ultimate fun, flirty and, yes, country, look.

For an equally chic-yet-comfy, easy, breezy summer night stunner, splurge on this watercolor geo-diamond Henley ruffled dress. Not quite floor length, it’s casual enough for a Steve Miller Band or Chicago show, but could easily make the jump to an elegant evening at the ballet or orchestra. Simple gold chains and a heeled black bootie complete the ensemble. Summer nights, here we come!

—Heather Thompson

@heathermariethompson DEAR JOHN DENIM VALERIA WIDE LEG WEST COAST JUMPSUIT | $126 HANDCRAFTED FEATHER STATEMENT EARRING WITH SILVER SPARKLE DROP | $59 ASSORTED BRACELETS | $15-$22 ONE OF A KIND BEADED CLUTCH | $111 BACI WATERCOLOR HENLEY RUFFLED DRESS | $266 CLASSIC GOLD PLATED NECKLACES | $64-$114 FACETS POST EARRING | $46

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home stretch: fashion ||

food & drink

|| book nook || haute property

building mussels New Boca Bistro tapas such as the sautéed mussels and sweet potato quinoa cakes (below) are fresh takes on favorite dishes.

BAR TAB

top chef Chef Sang Choi is responsible for The Adelphi’s popular sushi offerings.

ON THE

MENU

Tapas Takeover

if your idea of the perfect Saratoga date night is a table-wide spread of sharable small plates, you’ve surely been to Boca Bistro. But have you tantalized your tastebuds since the Spanish-inspired Broadway mainstay topped off its already-to-die-for tapas menu?

“The big theme this spring and summer is dishes that many would enjoy on a beautiful day, maybe at a cookout or fun outdoor get-together,” says Boca chef Ian Sinda. “There’s lots of fresh citrus and the perfect amount of spice.” In practice, that summer-lovin’ theme is realized in tapas such as sautéed mussels served with blistered cherry tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic, shallot, cayenne and fresh basil; lime- and chili-roasted pork belly served with spicy lime and a jalapeño slaw; and a sauté of chickpeas served with roasted carrots, kale, curry, lime and yogurt.

Oh, and don’t forget the heavenly Jalapeño Bacon Mac entrée (its name says it all).

While all of these dishes aren’t totally new (Boca changes its menu seasonally), they are new iterations of Boca classics. “Our guests are very familiar with them, but the presentation and ingredients being used are brand new,” Sinda says. “We love creating fresh new takes on guest-favorite dishes.”

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fans of the adelphi’s sushi menu now have a more traditional environment in which to enjoy it.

A brand-new sushi bar popped up in Morrissey’s this past March, a stunning modern bar-top that seats up to six people. “We always had plans for a little area just for sushi,” says The Adelphi’s general manager, Helen Watson. “The sushi bar creates more of a flow-through and allows us to do a larger volume of what has become an extremely popular part of our menu.” The bar sits right in the heart of the hotspot restaurant, between the lively lobby bar and the newest dining room, which opened at the same time as the sushi bar and boasts a fireplace and a beautiful stable-like aesthetic. The sushi, including the popular Tower Salad, specialty rolls, nigiri and sashimi, is the creation of sushi master chef Sang Choi, an accomplished chef of highend Japanese cuisine. “When we added his sushi to our menu, it took off like wildfire,” Watson says. “It’s been such a great addition to the Morrissey’s menu.”

(Boca) KURTIS OKOSKY

How We Roll

RESIDENTIAL COMMERCIAL

39 Red Fox Ln, Hague $4,250,000 | 5 Bed | 4.5 Bath Erin Steinbach Lic. Assoc. RE Broker c: 518.222.6031

142 Henry St, Saratoga Springs $1,999,999 | 4 Bed | 3.5 Bath Lisa A. McTygue, ABR, GRI Lic. RE Salesperson c: 518.598.4098

121 Chelsea Dr, Saratoga Springs $724,900 | 5 Bed | 3.5 Bath Monika Patrycja Cronin, SRS,

1490 State Rt. 50, Ballston Spa $2,850,000 | 10,000 SF Amy Farchione Sgromo Lic. RE Salesperson c: 315.863.2777

170 Carey Rd, Ste 102, Queensbury $19.50/SF + NNN | 4,325 SF Amy Farchione Sgromo Lic. RE Salesperson c: 315.863.2777

14 Mountain Ledge Dr, Ste 2 Wilton $15.50/SF | 2,000 SF JoAnn Potrzuski Cassidy Lic. Assoc. RE Broker c: 518.470.3281

RENE, C-Rets | Monika Cronin Team

Lic. Assoc. RE Broker c: 518.577.1712

54 State St, Saratoga Springs $650,000 | 2-Family Apt. Harold W. Reiser, III Lic. Assoc. RE Broker c: 518.588.5224

L12.11 Trieble Ave, Ballston Spa $4,595,000 | 28 Acres JoAnn Potrzuski Cassidy Lic. Assoc. RE Broker c: 518.470.3281

18 Division St, Suite 314, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 | o: 518.350.7653 | JulieCoRealty.com

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after henry street opened up for outside dining post lockdown, it became an Instagram-able hot spot, thanks in part to the gorgeous cocktails (think Fruit Loop toppings and other pops of color) being served by both Henry Street Tap Room and its sister restaurant, Flatbread Social.

And this season’s class of “pretty” cocktails carries the torch—both in taste and Insta-worthy potential.

“I love reading cocktail books and then putting my own twist on things,” says Henry Street Taproom’s Jessica Contompasis, who created the restaurant’s spring cocktail list that debuted mid-April. “I love surprising people and seeing them really enjoying what I have created.”

Contompasis’ concoctions are all delicious nods to the end of wintertime hibernation. Her “Self-Care” mixes Ketel One vodka with cucumber purée and lime juice. “Think being at the spa with cucumber slices over your eyes,” she says. “Take a sip, close your eyes and think, ‘I deserve this.’” The purée, she says, is key: “I could have used cucumber vodka, but I wanted that freshness.”

Another new craft cocktail that expertly screams spring is the lilac “Fit for a Queen.” The pastel-colored martini has the trendy purple (yes, the gin itself is purple) Empress Gin as its base. Vegans, don’t be put off by the foamy froth on top—instead of egg white, Contompasis uses aquafaba ‘tis the season Mixologist Jessica (the liquid that chickpeas are cooked in).

Contompasis creates cocktails using seasonal ingredients such as cucumber purée (left) This particular egg white–loving cocktail connoisseur and chickpea aquafaba liquid (right), which took one for the team (hey, somebody’s gotta do it) and required HST to add hummus to the summer tried it out: The aquafaba is as frothy and creamy as menu so no food goes to waste. promised, topping one exquisite dream of a drink.

MIXING IT UP

Seasonal Sips

Farrier Tale

in 2016, a former motor lodge overlooking Saratoga Race Course was reimagined as the Brentwood, an elegant, equestrian-inspired boutique hotel featuring 12 carefully appointed rooms and an onsite bar. And now, that bar has been rebranded as a destination in and of itself. This past February, Farrier Bar, boasting “funky wines and good times,” made its Spa City debut with a menu of natural reds, whites, pinks, oranges and bubbles, plus assorted regional beers and ciders. Specialty cocktails include the 15 Gridley (gin, Campari, grapefruit liqueur and lime), Smoke The Hive (mezcal, dry curaçao, lemon and local

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REBRAND

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NEW

perfect pair Farrier Bar offers a rotating selection of Nightwork Bread’s focaccia to complement its list of low-intervention wines.

wildflower honey) and three types of old fashioneds.

“I can’t tell you the number of locals that have told me, ‘You have a bar there?’ or ‘I’ve always wanted to stop by, but thought it was just for hotel guests!’” says GM Marcus Severin.

“I’m here to tell Saratoga that Farrier is open to all!”

At press time, Farrier Bar was open Thursdays from 4-10pm, Fridays and Saturdays from 3-11pm and Sundays from 2-8pm, but hours were expected to extend as the weather warms.

French Pearl

Ingredients Serving: 1

2 ounces gin (Purdy’s picks: The Botanist Gin, Springbrook Sly Fox Gin, Black Button Lilac Gin) ¼ ounce pastis (Purdy’s picks: Ramazzotti Sambuca Liqueur, Anisette di Calabria Liqueur, Pernod Pastis Aniseed Liqueur) ¾ ounce lime juice ¾ ounce simple syrup 6 mint sprigs

Directions

In a shaker tin, add the lime juice, simple syrup and mint, then muddle.

Add the gin, pastis and ice and shake until chilled.

Fine strain into a coupe.

PURDY’S Discount Wine & Liquor

70–72 Congress Plaza

Saratoga Springs

518.584.5400

Start with Quality...

Saratoga Quality Hardware 110 Excelsior Avenue Saratoga Springs 518-584-9180 SaratogaQualityHardware.com

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|| book nook || haute property

fries with that The Brick at 2 West’s California Grilled Chicken sandwich, which comes on a toasted brioche bun with homemade guacamole, shredded jack cheese, homemade pico de gallo and pickled red onion.

TRANSPLANT LIST

hot takeout Longtime Saratoga chef Gregory Parnell went full-time with his takeout-only Jamaican restaurant Yeh Mon in March.

Southern Comfort

saratoga’s dependable landscape of chicken parm and pizza is at last spreading its culinary (and now TOUR jerk-marinated) wings.

Sure, we still have more than our fair share of Italian joints around town (not that that’s a bad thing!), but local foodies can now enjoy the tropical flavors of Jamaican food and drink in the Spa City, too.

That’s thanks to Chef Gregory Parnell, who has previously worked at Chianti, Mouzon House and, most recently, 534 Bistro at the Saratoga Hilton. This spring, the Jamaica native set out on his own full time with Yeh Mon Jamaican Restaurant, a to-

WORLD

The Brick’s New House

longtime clifton park tavern The Brick recently up-and-moved to the former site of Saratoga’s 2 West Bar & Grille, where it’s been slinging Italian and pub favorites such as eggplant parm, burgers, pizza and mac and cheese since its soft opening at the start of 2022. It wasn’t until March, though, that The Brick at 2 West celebrated its official ribbon cutting ceremony with the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, just in time for the rescheduled Chowderfest. Now Saratogians can get their foodie fix at the joint every day of the week; the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner every day (11am-8pm on Monday-Wednesday and 11am-10pm on Thursday-Sunday).

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Love Your New Home Comfort / Convenience / Luxury Amenities One & Two-Bedroom Luxury Apartments in Queensbury

NOW PRELEASING FOR MARCH 2022

719 BAY ROAD, QUEENSBURY, NY, 12084 ✮ KITCHENS w/ STAINLESS STEEL APPLIANCES & QUARTZ COUNTERS ✮ WASHER & DRYER IN EACH UNIT ✮ STATE OF THE ART SECURITY SYSTEM ✮ ELEVATORS TO EACH FLOOR ✮ 24 HOUR FITNESS ROOM ✮ CLUBHOUSE ✮ PATIO AREA WITH FIREPIT & BBQ ✮ HEATED PARKING GARAGES ✮ EV CHARGING STATIONS

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Chelle Carlisle 518.903.2103 fowlersq@rosettiproperties.com

ox and you shall receive Yeh Mon serves Jamaican classics such as oxtails, curry goat and jerk chicken alongside steamed cabbage and white rice.

go operation serving all sorts of Caribbean favorites from the Knights of Columbus kitchen on the corner of Pine Road and Washington Street.

“There’s nothing like this around here,” Parnell said after his busy first week in biz. “People have been saying I should do it, so I finally took the leap. The response has been great. People come from as far as Queensbury, Ballston Spa—all over.”

Down the road, Parnell hopes to open a standalone restaurant, but until then, Saratogians can feast on jerk chicken, oxtail, curry goat and a delicious Jamaican soda called Ting from the comfort of their own homes.

Which is fitting, actually, because Jamaican food is, according to Parnell, “Caribbean comfort food.”

Historic Photographs of Saratoga Springs The George S. Bolster Collection

Thousands of historic images of Saratoga Springs are available for purchase Custom sizes and finishes available Fast turnaround on special orders

The Canfield Casino in Congress Park www.saratogahistory.org 518.584.6920

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|| haute property

guide as an invitation to mothers to push back against any parenting norm that goes against their instincts.

The book arose from Type A Ballston Lake resident Laura Rafferty’s experience raising a child during the pandemic, when she changed from rule-follower and spreadsheetorganizer to “rebel mama,” all before her son, Jack, turned 1.

Novel

Myste ry

De a dly R e pu tat i o n

By David K. Wilson Author David K. Wilson has just released the fourth installment in his Sam Lawson series.

Part mystery, part comedy, the series follows the eponymous Sam Lawson, a detective in a fictional town in Texas, the state in which 20-year Capital Region resident Wilson grew up. In Deadly Reputation, Lawson agrees to help an old friend solve an abduction case, but winds up being framed for the very crime he’s investigating.

WH AT’ S H E AT I N G U P T H I S SP R I N G AND SU M M E R I N T H E CAPITA L R E GI O N ’S WO R LD O F B O O KS.

BY N ATA LI E M O O R E

Bet w een T wo Kingdo ms

By Suleika Jaouad New York Times bestselling memoir Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted spent a considerable amount of time at the top of elite nonfiction lists when it was published by Saratoga native Suleika Jaouad in January 2021. And now it’s back in the public eye for two reasons: At the end of 2021, Jaouad announced that her leukemia had, devastatingly, returned, and in March, her memoir was released as a paperback, landing it once again on bestselling charts.

C h i ldren ’ s Li t

F u t u re- fi c t i on

By H.R. Bellicosa

Sel f- He lp

R e b e l M am a

By Laura Rafferty Rebel Mama: Breaking Free From Motherhood Norms and Parenting From Within isn’t so much a parenting

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Happenings

T h e Pun ishin gs

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book will be donated to the ACLU, an organization dedicated to fighting for reproductive rights.

⁄ SUMMER 2022

This past February, Albany author H.R. Bellicosa published The Punishings, her timely debut novel that showcases a futuristic world without reproductive rights. The story follows orphanage worker Jane Dupre, who covertly assists women with unwanted pregnancies and eventually finds herself in even more peril than the women she’s helping. A portion of the proceeds from Bellicosa’s

T he G host ly Ta l es o f Sa r ato ga

By Kate Byrne

Local history comes to life in the latest installment of the national bestselling Haunted America series, available May 2. Written for readers ages 8-12, The Ghostly Tales of Saratoga tells the fantastical stories of the Spa City’s mineral spring spirits that glow in the night, shapeshifters that linger in the forests that surround the town, and the woman in the green dress that roams freely through the Olde Bryan Inn’s walls.

Introducing our new podcast series…

Voices of Saratoga Hospital Our community has so many stories to tell.

The Voices of Saratoga Hospital is a series of stories. A collection of shared moments and insights to help us all understand a little bit more about health — and care — close to home. You can find this first episode of Voices of Saratoga Hospital on our website, SaratogaHospital.org/voices.

Sar atogaHos pital.or g

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haute property

Attention to Detail THI S BE AU TIFU L NEW OA K R IDGE HO M E EXPERTLY U SE S S U BTLE TIE S—TH INK G R AY ACCE N TS , CUSTOM FI N I SHE S A N D M IXED M E TALS —TO S HOW OFF TH E B R I LLIA N CE OF I TS M I N IM A LIST DE SI GN.

BY A BBY TE G N E L I A p h oto g r aphy by MEREDI TH COONS/MERI LI GH T P H OTO GR A P H Y

no detail was left unturned when it came to creating the elevated minimalist look of this stunning new Oak Ridge home by Trojanski Builders. The house, at 24 Beacon Hill Drive, displays everything from mixed metals and gray accents for a textured monotone interior design, to a hidden bar that is neatly slid away when not in use to avoid clutter.

The four-bedroom house with three full baths and two half-baths was originally slated for last fall’s Showcase of Homes, but it wasn’t finished in time.

Instead, Jon and Michele Tellstone and daughter Abby, 13, happily moved in just in time for Christmas and are now looking forward to their first summer in their new custom-built home, which sits on two acres of wooded property and

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boasts a stunning porch and pool.

“Our dream,” says Michele, “was to have a home and outdoor living space with a pool and basketball court that would allow us to host get-togethers with our family and friends.”

Michele worked closely with designer Emily Baker, of Eye on Decor and Eye on Closets, to design her dream kitchen and bathrooms with KBC Design Studio, featuring the Dura Supreme Line of cabinetry. To get the look Michele had her heart set on, the team created a spacious maple island with a smoke finish, giving the kitchen a two-tone look with a rich, stand-out centerpiece featuring a beautiful silver hammered bar sink and plenty of surface space for entertaining. The countertop is a

blues clues The owners’ minimalist aesthetic uses pops of greys and blues to bring together its look, as seen in the home’s (clockwise from top) entryway, with standout metallic sidelite and transom windows setting the front door; bedrooms (there are four); open living room; and kitchen, which boasts GE Café appliances and plenty of surface space for entertaining.

brushed granite in Fantasy Brown for a subtle hint of natural color.

The kitchen is open to the dining and living area, both of which were done in subtle blues and grays with an occasional pop of color. Upstairs, all four bedrooms were individually designed with modern lighting and plush bedding.

CRONIN’S GOLF RESORT HAS PROUDLY BEEN SERVING NEW YORK’S NORTH COUNTRY FOR MORE THAN 75 YEARS. FIVE GENERATIONS of Cronins have operated the resort, which, located on the Hudson River, is known for its breathtaking views of the Adirondacks.

SPEND AN AFTERNOON playing Cronin’s 18-hole, par 70 course, or STAY FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND in one of the resort’s motel units or cottages.

white house The home’s kitchen features white upper cabinetry and a custom hood with steel strapping, a spacious hidden pantry featuring lots of storage and a coffee bar, and a hidden bar with cabinet doors that open for entertaining,

Golf Course Rd, Warrensburg

518.623.9336 | croninsgolfresort.com

summer

festival

2022

Reimagining Classics the

“I enjoyed mixing metals in this soft and subtle palette,” Baker says. “The door knobs are glass with a silver square rose, and the front door has a custom textured finish in gray with beautiful metal diamonds set in the double glass of the surrounding sidelite and transom windows. I love a black feature in any home space, so I decided to do the staircase in black and white, making it really stand out, along with two beautiful matching black and crystal chandeliers that Michele picked out for the foyer and staircase.”

The finished basement is a nod to the family’s love of movies, and features a home theater decorated with framed posters of their favorite flicks. The large lower level even had room left over for tons of storage, a gym, and the second half-bath (the first being in the mud room on the main floor).

Outside? This summer, you’ll find Abby and her dad—he’s a coach for one of her teams—playing basketball on their home court. Plus, the front porch is large and pillared with a beautiful wood ceiling and stone base to match the screened-in back porch overlooking a stunning landscaped pool by Concord Pools.

“All of the outside lighting was carefully selected,” Baker says, “featuring a cage pendant light over the front door, lantern lighting, and LED time-sensitive goose neck lights over each garage bay.”

LIVE PERFORMANCES AND MUSEUM

Tickets Available Now! TheSembrich.org • 518.644.2431 • Bolton Landing, NY “Music and Passion” by Marlina Vera ©

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SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

osteria danny

R

un by chef Danny Petrosino and his wife, Patti, osteria danny specializes in Italian-American cuisine with an emphasis on simplicity and creative development. As such, the menu is updated frequently to encompass new culinary concepts and locally sourced ingredients whenever they are available. Although the menu is continuously evolving via Danny’s creative will, the original recipes remain a pivotal influence on the dishes that osteria danny produces.

Open 4-9pm SundayThursday; 4-10pm Friday and Saturday.

26 HENRY ST, SARATOGA SPRINGS osteriadanny.com 518.423.7022

The Hideaway

I

t may be called “The Hideaway,” but it’s no secret that Saratoga Lake Golf Club’s onsite restaurant is one of the best places to enjoy drinks or dinner all year long. Whether you’re looking to enjoy a light snack and a cocktail al fresco (The Hideaway boasts an expansive deck) or a full-fledged feast following a day on the links (try the surf & turf or jalapeño popper chicken), The Hideaway has you covered. Follow the restaurant on Facebook for up-to-date info on food and drink specials, special events and more.

Open 11am-9pm MondayFriday; 9am-9pm Saturday and Sunday.

35 GR ACE M O O R E R D , SAR ATO G A S P R I NGS hideawaysaratoga.com 518 .30 6 .1 9 00

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Dunning Street Station

L

ocated less than 10 minutes from Downtown Saratoga Springs just off Exit 13S, Dunning Street Station is known for its laid-back environment and front-of-mind customer service. Chef Bruce Jacobson, formerly of sister restaurant Lake Ridge (stop by the Round Lake hot spot to ask Maureen about daily specials), has curated an impressive menu, featuring many Italian-inspired classics with a twist, which are available for dine-in or takeout. Add in plenty of parking, ample space at the bar and a daily happy hour from 3-6pm, and Dunning Street Station is a winning option for a night out.

Open 3-9pm Tuesday-Saturday.

2853 STATE HWY 9, MALTA dunningstreetstation.com 518.587.2000

Henry Street Taproom

G

ood food, lots of beer and an atmosphere that’s the perfect mix of relaxed, cozy and chic? That’s what you can expect at Henry Street Taproom, which has been serving local craft beers and ciders, classic cocktails and locally sourced, made-fromscratch food since 2012. After dinner, tune in to Back on the Table, a podcast on beer, movies, music, food and local businesses, hosted by Henry Street owner Ryan McFadden.

Open 4-10pm TuesdayFriday; 2-10pm Saturday; 2-9pm Sunday.

86 HENRY ST, SARATOGA SPRINGS henrystreettaproom.com 518.886.8938

⁄ SUMMER 2022

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION

Rivers Casino & Resort

R

ivers Casino & Resort is located in the heart of Downtown Schenectady and offers a multitude of restaurants that appeal to a wide variety of taste buds. Rivers Casino is the Capital Region’s ultimate entertainment destination filled with action-packed gaming opportunities and diverse dining options. There is something for everyone!

Rivers features some of the best restaurants, offering everything from a high-end steak dinner and traditional Asian cuisines, to all-American classics including burgers and chicken tenders, pizza slices to go, and so much more!

LATIN NIGHTS Rivers’ summer schedule is filling up with live weekly entertainment, food specials and drink options.

Join them on Thursdays for Latin Nights at Van Slyck’s! Live entertainment starts at 8pm and winds down at midnight.

Pair one of their specialty cocktails with a night of fun. Try a Cuba Libre, Margarita or Mojito at the Van Slyck’s bar.

SUNSET SIPS If you prefer to spend your evenings outdoors, check out Sunset Sips. The Landing Hotel patio hosts live music every Friday and Saturday! Sit at tables on couches and chairs to enjoy an evening of live music. The Landing Hotel bar has drink specials and charcuterie boards from Grazing518.

DUKES SIP & SAVOR Experience a superior wine-pairing event with Dukes Sip & Savor. Join Rivers on June 9 for this intimate evening to enjoy a curated four-course dinner experience with specialty wine pairings from E. & J. Gallo Winery.

Guests can enjoy a menu featuring Thai chicken, Wagyu burgers, shrimp and artichoke salad, rice pudding and a variety of sides. Make sure to buy tickets via RiversCasino.com/Schenectady.

FATHER’S DAY DINNER AT DUKES Treat your father to a special dinner for Father’s Day! Known for its high-end dining experience, Dukes Chophouse is hosting Father’s Day dinner all weekend, June 17–19. Get a feel for the restaurant’s comfortable atmosphere just steps from the gaming floor. Guests can enjoy a 22-ounce porterhouse steak served with a loaded baked potato and fresh sweet white corn on the cob.

Rivers Casino & Resort offers options that everyone can enjoy, all just steps away from the casino floor and The Landing Hotel. Raise the stakes and treat yourself to a winning dining experience at Rivers Casino & Resort.

Restaurants open 7 days a week.

1 RUSH ST, SCH E NE CTA DY 518 . 57 9. 8 8 00

rive rsca sin o .c om

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†¢

July 19–24 2022 †¢ 162 Prospect Street Ballston Spa, NY 12020 saratogacountyfair.org

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{ horseplay }

Switch Back

BY N ATA L I E M O O R E ACROSS 1. Commonly injured ligaments, for short 5. Trudge 9. Railroad Place coffee shop 13. Coffee-brewing method 14. Suspect’s salvation 15. Velcroed sandal brand 16. Syracuse’s Carrier, for one 17. Mssg. alert 18. Son of Zeus 19. Propelling our hometown cultural institution forward?

22. Down Under airport code 23. Suffix for Japan or legal 24. GF or BF 27. Special ed. plan 29. Common master’s program req.

30. What an STD starts as 33. Chipmunk of live-action films 35. Double reed instrument 37. Close to 38. Assessing the lawn of our hometown cultural institution?

41. It comes in pods and to-go sticks 42. Or ___ 43. Song from a bygone era 44. Cincinnati to NYC dir.

45. Neurologists and others, for short 46. Campaigned, as for mayor 48. From Jan. 1 to now 49. Cavity enclosed by a membrane 50. ___ protein 52. Mode of winter transport around our hometown cultural institution?

61. ___.com (babysitter website) 62. Absolutely love 63. Type of flatbread 64. “___ further review…”

65. Novelist Morrison and singer Braxton 66. Sch. for grades K-5 67. Caused 68. Kiss, at Hogwarts 69. Iditarod’s end DOWN 1. Computes 2+2, say 2. Corn or cotton 3. World capital that, pronounced differently, is a bean 4. Details, as for a print ad 5. Put points on a line graph 6. Type of photographic film that rhymes with lords of film 7. Off-Broadway theater award 8. Was unlike 9. Georgia or Virginia 10. 3-Down’s country

“in my opinion, the constitution is too far gone.”

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31. Understood 32. Irritated 34. It’s often found in soda 36. The Magic School ___ 37. Org. for the Bruins 39. American Revolution–era British soldiers 40. ___ Island (NYC neighborhood) 45. Cosmetics titan 47. French word often paired with “ski” 49. Part of an act 51. A ski town or a tree found there

52. Layer of muck on a pond 53. “___ Don’t Preach” 54. Retired Yankee shortstop, to fans 55. Japanese noodle 56. Something off limits 57. Subj. that uses sines, cosines and tangents 58. 1,000 grams, for short 59. What J-Lo and 54-Down used to be 60. “Me too” ANSWERS ON saratogaliving.com SEARCH: CROSSWORD

overheard g that “ever ythin y mouth of m comes out published.” e can b NORTH –SINGLECUT P ROOM TA E AG ST SIDE

“I’d rather go “he would to Italy than do acrobatics the moon.” with his —EDDIE F’S hamster, bro.”

–LUCY’S BAR

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Celebrity Endorsement

taproom where it happened SLAH interviewer Natalie Moore with SLAH interviewee Dan Graham, owner of website development company SM2 Dev, at Henry Street Taproom.

Shot interview will ever be up until about my senior able to top our very first year of college, I had an AN ODE TO C E LE B SH OT, SLA H ’S one—my epic, unfiltered irrational fear of talking on UNFI LTER E D I N T E RV I E W SE R I E S. two-parter with Saratoga’s the phone. We’re talking a Broadway Deli owner and couldn’t-call-to-order-pizzaoutspoken social media guru Daniel Chessare—but since that if-my-life-depended-on-it fear, and it was at times crippling. interview we’ve come awfully close. Head to saratogaliving.

It took entering the workforce to eventually get over it, thanks substack.com to read our Celeb Shot Q&As with retired NFL in no small part to former saratoga living editor Maria player Bob Reed (who says traumatic brain injury is a result Bucciferro, who, on my first day as an intern, instructed me to of people tackling incorrectly), Celtic Treasures owner Paul CALL THE MAYOR’S OFFICE to ask permission to use a photo O’Donnell (who once ate potato chips in his store with Sinéad on their website. Unreal. Or at least it seemed it at the time.

O’Connor), Scoop Saratoga founder Ally Meyers (patron Luckily I’ve come a long way, but there’s still a part of me saint of Saratoga’s small businesses), Piper Boutique owner that dreads talking on the phone, for very different reasons Alessandra Bange-Hall (who had a lot of juicy stories to share… than the blind fear of my youth. Now I worry that during a off the record), and SM2 Dev owner Dan Graham (who could “phoner” interview I might miss something important, since singlehandedly keep Henry Street Taproom in business). reading body language is so much a part of the process, at To me, Celeb Shot is the epitome of what we imagined least for me. That’s why, coming out of COVID, when phone Saratoga Living After Hours could be when we launched it interviews were all we could do, I have a new-found love back in November. Saratoga is a thriving community, but that for the long-lost art of in-person interviews. And at Saratoga community is made up of interesting, inspiring individuals Living After Hours, we’ve been going all in on them. who are much more than the businesses they own or the If you’re not already reading, let me introduce you to jobs they do. Have a local celeb you’d like to see featured?

Celeb Shot, SLAH’s interview series that may or may not be Email us at editorial@saratogaliving.com...Don’t call. named for a beer pong term and may or may not take place exclusively at bars. We ask the local celebs—essentially people well known around town—all sorts of questions that extend beyond the details of their day job and into their thoughts on the state of Saratoga, their industry as a whole, –Natalie Moore and their outside-of-work persona. I’m not sure any Celeb Interviewer to the Stars

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S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S EC T I O N

pera fans may remember that last year, due to concerns about performing indoors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Opera Saratoga took its 60th Anniversary Season on the road, performing al fresco at SPAC, Pitney Meadows and Columbia Pavilion in the Spa State Park. This year, as the Spa Little Theater is undergoing renovations, the multi-venue model is back again—and now reaching a summer audience beyond the borders of Saratoga.

“Our education and community programs have always had a wide geographic footprint, serving people in seven different counties across Upstate New York,” says Lawrence Edelson, Artistic and General Director of Opera Saratoga. “The closure of our home theater got us thinking about how we could serve the region more robustly during the summer, and the answer was to bring our performances to more people in different cities, rather than always asking them to come to us.”

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productions, Venues: INTRODUCING OPERA S A R AT O G A ’ S R E G I O N -W I D E 2 0 2 2 F E S T I VA L F O R M AT.

So, a brand-new Festival model emerged.

Opera Saratoga will present staged performances of The Barber of Seville, a hilarious comic opera

by Gioachino Rossini, at Proctors in Schenectady; Sky on Swings, a contemporary opera that explores life with Alzheimer’s Disease, at The Egg in Albany; and the Tony Award-winning musical Sweeney Todd, widely acknowledged as the late Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece, at SPAC in Saratoga. Festival concerts including Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle at the Round Lake Auditorium, “Stars of Tomorrow” at The Charles R. Wood Theater in Glens Falls, “A Broadway Cabaret” at The Mansion of Saratoga in Rock City Falls, and “A Juneteenth Celebration” at Proctors GE Theatre will round out the 2022 season.

This Festival model also allowed Edelson to expertly mold this summer’s performance schedule to fit each of the various venues and audiences, flexing Opera Saratoga’s diverse repertoire. “For SPAC, it was clear after last summer’s performances of Man of La Mancha that there is a passionate audience for Broadway musicals during the summer,” he says

COURTESY OF PACIFIC OPERA VICTORIA

Opera Saratoga’s New Groove

of the decision to perform Sweeney Todd there.

The Egg, Edelson continues, “is truly a unique venue, and it felt like an ideal place to present our contemporary offering this summer, Sky on Swings. It is an intimate space, but also has a sophisticated sound system that is allowing us to present the opera in a rather unique way, with ‘surround sound’, which we’ve never done before. The sound of memory is portrayed in this opera, and the production will be musically immersive in a rather spectacular way.”

There’s certainly much to be excited about leading into Opera Saratoga’s 2022 Festival, not the least of which is Broadway royalty and Albany native Carolee Carmello, who will be returning to the area to star as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd. But, when asked what he’s most excited about, Edelson says this: “To be bringing audiences back together in the theater—period. The past two years have been a real emotional roller coaster. While online performances can be very enjoyable, there is nothing like being at a live performance, and sharing that experience with others.”

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This summer, Opera Saratoga is offering a first-of-its-kind Festival Pass that allows patrons to attend each of the 2022 season’s performances for a discounted rate. Visit operasaratoga.org for tickets and more information!

Turn the page to see where Opera Saratoga will be this summer

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78 saratoga living

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at T H E M A NS I O N O F S A RAT O GA June 12

Rock City Falls A B R OADWAY CAB AR E T

at SPAC June 29 + 30

SW E E N E Y TOD D

Saratoga Springs

Ill ustration by Je nny C Desig n

G E T YO U R M US I C + T HEAT ER FI X U P A N D D O W N T H E N O R T H WAY THIS SUMMER!

Opera Saratoga Hits the Road!

S P EC I A L P R O M OT I O N A L S EC T I O N

at TH E C H A RLES R. WO O D TH EATER May 26

Glens Falls STA RS OF TOMORROW

at TH E BA RN AT FRENC H M O U NTA IN J une 5

Lake George Village OPERA UNDER THE STARS

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Fo r ticket s and mo re info rmatio n abo ut Opera Saratoga’s 2022 S umme r Festiva l, visit operasaratoga.o rg .

at PR O CTORS J u ly 8 + 1 0

THE BARBER O F SEV I LLE

at P RO CT ORS J une 1 9

Schenectady A J UN ET EENT H CE LE B R AT I ON

at TH E EGG J ul y 7 + 9

SK Y ON SWIN G S

Albany

at TH E RO U ND LA K E AU D ITO RIU M J une 2 + 3

PET IT E ME SSE SOLEN N ELLE

Round Lake Village