Simply SARATOGA - Winter 2017

SARATOGA

™

THE PEOPLE • THE PLACES • THE LIFESTYLE

Complimentary

Winter 2017

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ONTENT

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A GOOD READ

HOME & GARDEN

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Meghan Lemery Fritz

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Architecturally Speaking

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The Biglers…

A Saratoga Family

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Entertaining Made Easy with Jodie Fitz

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Artist Spotlight on Lisa David

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Meet the Cook

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Meet...Field Horne

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Peter Bowden

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#LOVEthis

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Save the Date

24 Birdwatching

with Nancy Castillo 25 The Gourmet Wood Guy 26

Post Time Memories with Dennis Hogan

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Our History

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Jordana Turcotte

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Marcie Fraser

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Ayco is Doing the Right Thing

MEET THE NEWS TEAM

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SARATOGA

™

THE PEOPLE • THE PLACES • THE LIFESTYLE

Complimentary

Winter 2017

Cover Photo by BLACKBURN PORTRAIT DESIGN

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SARATOGA

™

THE PEOPLE • THE PLACES • THE LIFESTYLE

Owner/Publisher Chad Beatty

General Manager Robin Mitchell

Managing Editor Chris Vallone Bushee

Graphic Designer Kacie Cotter-Sacala

Advertising Designer Morgan Rook

Advertising Sales Jim Daley Cindy Durfey

Contributing Writers Peter Bowden Nancy Castillo Christa Caimano Alice Corey Dave Delozier Jodie Fitz Marcie Frasier Carol Godette Megan Harrington Dennis G. Hogan Charlie Kuenzel Meghan Lemery fritz Megin Potter Jordana Turcotte Maureen Werther

Photographers Blackburn Portrait Design Peter Bowden Nancy Castillo Alice Corey Photograpghy DGHPhoto The George Bolster Collection MarkBolles.com Randall Perry Photography Andrzej Pilarczyk John Seymour

Published by

Saratoga TODAY Newspaper Five Case Street, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 tel: (518) 581-2480 fax: (518) 581-2487

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Simply Saratoga is brought to you by Saratoga TODAY Newspaper, Saratoga Publishing, LLC. Saratoga Publishing shall make every effort to avoid errors and omissions but disclaims any responsibility should they occur. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without prior written consent of the publisher. Copyright © 2017, Saratoga TODAY Newspaper

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FROM THE EDITOR I’m hoping I didn’t embarrass myself when meeting Phil Bayly… but since we have coffee together every morning, I just felt like we were buds :)

Chris Vallone Bushee Managing Editor Traditionally, our first issue of Simply Saratoga magazine each year, features PEOPLE… As in people who make a difference in our lives.

The people we bring you in this issue, don’t just affect us, they are IN OUR LIVES. Whether you start or end your day with them - they are a part of your daily routine. The news anchors, meteorologists and newspaper people that we feel that we know personally, are humbled and proud to be a part of your day and don’t take that job lightly.

Come along as writer Maureen Werther spends time with some of your local favorites…

Ernie Tetrault, who leads off our section (but, of course!!)

And nine others (listed alphabetically by their first name!) who – chances are – are a part of your life too; Barbara Lombardo, Benita Zahn, Bob Kovachick, Elaine Houston, John Gray, Liz Bishop, Mary Caroline Powers, Phil Bayly and Steve Caporizzo.

It’s my honor to bring this amazing group of people to you and I have to say THANK YOU to all of them for braving the frigid temps the day Susan Blackburn took this cover photo!

(I should’ve expected THAT weather when Bob Kovachick said he wouldn’t be able to make it!!)

And it was so nice to see Barbara and Mary Caroline again… They were some of my first mentors back in the day when I worked for The Saratogian – gosh that was a lifetime ago!

I wish you all a happy, healthy and blessed New Year and THANK YOU for reading and corresponding with me… I LOVE all of your comments!

As always - I have to close with a big THANK YOU to all of our advertisers, without them, Saratoga TODAY couldn’t continue to offer these beautiful publications free of charge to the thousands that read them each issue - Please mention us by name when visiting their businesses.

-Chris

Behind the Scenes of the Winter Issue...

I always wanted a personal chef... can I take Chef Jeff home?!

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...it takes a village! Thanks Diane and Alice for the new headshot.

Maureen, Chris & Susan braving 20˚ Bob Kavochik had the right idea temps to get the perfect cover photo staying home, as it was COLD!

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PETER BOWDEN Peter has been the region's go-to garden guy for over 35 years. His knack for practical and concise explanations has served him well during his 20-year tenure as WRGB’s garden guy. He is an artist and avid photographer whose images have appeared in textbooks, magazines and travel guides. Peter lives with his wife, Sharon and their pets in an old house in the country.

ALICE COREY Alice Corey is a freelance writer and professional photographer located in Saratoga County, specializing in newborns, weddings, and commercial work. After a career as a critical care RN, Alice managed a territory for Pfizer pharmaceuticals for a decade. She is a self proclaimed wine snob, food enthusiast, and loves the Saratoga social scene. Alice resides in Ballston Spa with her husband Michael and her two young daughters. You can find more of her work @ www.alicecoreyphotography.com

CHRISTA CAIMANO Christa Caimano has lived in Saratoga Springs her entire life. She is a competitive dancer at JDC Dance Center, a senior at Saratoga Springs High School and an intern at Saratoga Today. Christa has interests in fashion, design, journalism, and photography. She hopes to major in Fashion Merchandising and minor in Journalism/ Communications in college. Christa is thrilled to be interning at one of Saratoga’s leading magazines.

NANCY CASTILLO Nancy is a co-owner of our local Wild Birds Unlimited Nature Shop, located off Exit 15 of the Northway. She writes The Zen Birdfeeder blog and has had her writing and photography published in BirdWatcher’s Digest and Watching Backyard Birds. You can occasionally hear her answering questions about birds on the WAMC VoxPop callin program. Nancy and her spouse enjoy watching birds at their feeders from their log home west of Saratoga.

DAVE DELOZIER Dave is known as the eco-local guy around town, as he published the "eco-Local Living mag from 2008-13. Dave and his wife Brenda "walk the walk" having converted their small suburban Saratoga Springs residence into a Permaculture homestead, integrating elements such as edible landscaping, PV solar power & micro-farming.

Dave is now a certified Permaculture Design Consultant and looks to help others who are seeking a more healthy, grounded and resilient lifestyle. ecolocal@gmail.com.

JODIE FITZ Jodie Fitz is a wife, working mother of three and the creator of the Price Chopper Kids Cooking Club. She released two cookbooks in 2015; The Chaotic Kitchen; a collection of recipes to help make the lives of busy families just a little bit easier when it comes to mealtime & Cooking Up Fun; designed to get kids taste testing & experimenting with foods.

MARCIE FRASER 20 year veteran journalist, currently working as the Health and Fitness reporter for TWC News. Her published book, WHERE’D MY BUTT GO? is a selfhelp nutrition book that contains the knowledge and experience gained from her work as a Behavioral Eating Specialist. Marcie holds a Master’s in Public Health and is working on her Doctorate. An avid ballroom dancer, tri-athlete and retired bodybuilding champion, Marcie has motivated and counseled thousands of individuals.

She is considered by some, THE FOOD THERAPIST.

CAROL GODETTE Born and raised in Saratoga Springs, Carol Godette’s fascination with neighborhood stores began at age 11 when she frequented Rowland’s. A passionate educator, Godette taught elementary school in the Saratoga School District for 31 years. Carol is a co-owner of the local Ben & Jerry’s franchise. Godette and her husband live in her childhood home where they raised their two children. She welcomes your comments and stories/photos on neighborhood stores via email: saratoganeighborhoodstores@gmail.com

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CONTRIBUTORS MEGAN HARRINGTON Megan is a freelance writer who has written for a variety of publications including national magazines, local newspapers, and websites. When she’s not writing, she enjoys training for marathons and coaching fellow runners.

After spending the previous seven years in New York City, Megan and her husband recently relocated to the Village of Cambridge and are loving their new community at the base of the Adirondacks.

DENNIS G. HOGAN

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Dennis G. Hogan was born in New York City and his story is a common one: his dad took him to Saratoga Race Course as a boy and he’s returned every year since. He is a writer and photographer with an appreciation for Thoroughbreds.

He has previously written for ThoroFan and is a regular contributor to Equicurean Magazine. He lives in Westchester County, NY.

CHARLIE KUENZEL

Charlie Kuenzel is a native Saratogian who spent 36 years as a Science educator in the Saratoga School District before retiring 6 years ago. Charlie, along with Dave Patterson are the coowners of Saratoga Tours LLC who for the past 16 years have educated and entertained thousands of visitors to the city with stories to tell the exciting history of our great city.

MEGHAN LEMERY FRITZ Meghan is a native of the Glens Falls/Saratoga region.

Her passion is to provide her clients and readers with the tools necessary to live a life full of love, acceptance, truth, peace and balance. She is an author and writer for various publications in Upstate NY and State College, PA.She currently resides in State College, PA where she enjoys spending time with her husband and family. To contact Meghan directly email meghanlemery@yahoo.com

MEGIN POTTER Megin is an expressive writer and artist with work published in books, newspapers, corporate communications and online. A resident of the region for over 20 years, she continues to discover anew the interesting people, places and products it has to offer.

As a mother to her active young son, she is inspired to explore even more.

JORDANA TURCOTTE Jordana Turcotte is a lifelong New Yorker and a Saratoga County resident since graduating from RPI. After staying at home for a bit with her children (now 10 and 8), she decided on the “rest of her life job” as Professional Organizer. Starting Simply You in 2008 fulfills a passion for organizing. When she isn’t organizing, you’ll find her volunteering at her kids’ school, being Mommy chauffeur or hanging out with her two rescue dogs.

MAUREEN WERTHER Maureen Werther is the owner of WriteForYou, a professional freelance writing service specializing in business writing, web and blog content, and creative nonfiction. Her articles, essays and white papers appear on the pages of businesses on the web and around the globe.

She is also a regular contributor to numerous newspapers, magazines and journals throughout the Capital Region. She is the author of a soon to be published book, “Them That Has, Gets,” the story of historical 1790’s estate in Schroon Lake and the colorful history of its owners. Currently, she is working on a memoir detailing her roller-coaster adventures as owner of Pie ala Moe, a gourmet pie and tart company she started in 2008, in the midst of the recession.

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FISH AT 30 LAKE Written and Photographed by Alice Corey

Cool blue light

Grilled Octopus

Crisp Apple Salad

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Halibut with Pumpkin Puree

filters over copper-topped tables and illuminates rustic barn wood walls. Multicolored hardwood floors provide a plethora of warmth and character and the show stopper is a larger than life fish painted on the back wall by a local artist. Fish at 30 Lake has the relaxed feel of a hometown eatery, yet all the sophistication of a NYC restaurant.

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Bartender Jason

Frosty Pear Martini

This is the perfect place

to gather a group or to arrange an intimate dinner for a party of 2. From the moment you walk through the door at Fish at 30 Lake you can feel the presence of Angelo Mazzone, whose passion for the hospitality industry make his establishments irresistible to patrons all over the capital region. Fish is no exception. Attention to detail from decor to dessert makes Fish at 30 Lake stand out amongst Saratoga’s finest restaurants.

The bar backlights the bottles of spirits and is adorned by friendly and competent mixologists.

The Cranberry Vanilla Moscow Mule was so refreshing and bright. Made with Stoli Vanilla, cranberry simple syrup, ginger beer and freshly squeezed lime that came together in a presentation that nears art. Simply Saratoga Managing Editor, Chris Bushee and I enjoyed sampling the above mentioned bar offering as well as the frosty pear martini which offered a unique, almost creamy, luxurious twist on this bar staple.

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Cranberry Vanilla Moscow Mule

I consider myself a culinary enthusiast which is just short of a food connoisseur. Food has always been about the entire “experience” for me. Some people eat to live, I live to eat! Which is why it often takes as long as it does to purchase a car for me to order. (Just ask my family, I am ALWAYS the last to decide). Each and every time I dine out I want to give myself THE BEST experience possible. I don't want to miss out on anything. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

With Executive Chef Jeffrey Rayno

in the kitchen, I think it would be impossible to have anything less than the best... as easy on the eyes as he is talented, Jeff has a true passion for food. A native of Averill Park, NY, Jeff grew up in an Italian family that placed a great deal of importance on food. His Grandfather taught him and his family the art of making fresh pasta, homemade bread, and sauce. When he isn’t preparing food for all of us, he can be found at home with his family simmering a pot of true Italian sauce containing meat with the bone in, baking bread, and making that same pasta that his Grandfather lovingly taught him to make from scratch.

Chef Jeff

Clams Bianco

Ahi Tuna Nachos Brussels Sprouts

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Jeff is a 2007 graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, located in Hyde Park. After culinary school, he wanted to travel to expose himself to additional food preparation techniques and to immerse himself in cultures that used different ingredients to enhance the array of natural flavor profiles in typical Western dishes. After working in Hawaii for 10 years, Jeff was the perfect fit for the region’s only true seafood restaurant. "Ocean to table" is a theme that runs through the menu’s diversified options.

With fish selections and oysters delivered daily, and an herb garden grown in-house you can taste “the fresh” in each and every dish.

While the young executive chef says he and his team are proud of every dish that exits the kitchen, he highly recommends the Thai crab cakes, lobster pot stickers, and Ahi tuna nachos (a local favorite!) For entrees, Jeff particularly enjoys making all of the pasta dishes that are made with fresh homemade pasta (of course!)

For us, he prepared Fettuccine and Clams Bianco which showcased the perfect combination of rich buttery garlic and heat from the fresh chilies. The Brussels sprouts, which are deep fried and tossed in Unagi sauce (typically served with sushi), were sweet, earthy and simply divine. A unique combination of flavors that simply dance across your tongue.

I’d be remiss if I did not mention the desserts.

Chocolate coconut mouse paired with homemade toffee (also prepared in-house) was my personal favorite, although we didn't leave a crumb of the pumpkin crème brûlée that was crusted perfectly and topped with pumpkin pie crust crumble.

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Our awesome server Amanda!

While I was touring the kitchen,

another Chef who was visiting from Vermont sent compliments to the Chef on a perfectly prepared fish entree. The pride was palpable behind the roar of the commercial stove and the crew was appreciative of the praise. “We all share a passion for the hospitality industry. From the wait staff to the kitchen crew” says Chef Jeff “that, paired with a strong team and a great group of leaders and we leave our customers with a memorable experience. Exceptional service and great food are our mission.”

And that is exactly what they deliver.

SS

Fish at 30 Lake 30 Lake Avenue Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 (518) 539-FISH • www.Fishat30Lake.com

Mural by Nancy Narcavage

Restaraunt Decor Design

by Valerie DeLaCruz 16

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NEW YEAR NEW INTENTIONS LIVING IN PEACE ALL YEAR LONG

MEGHAN LEMERY FRITZ LCSW-R Meghan Fritz is a psychotherapist practicing in State College, PA. for more information: Email meghanlemery@yahoo.com

ONE OF THE BEST INTENTIONS you can set for yourself is to live in peace. This simple intention will improve all areas of your life and help you meet the goals you set for yourself. If you are constantly stressed out and fighting with your spouse, family members, colleagues or friends... choose peace. Do not engage with anyone or anything that steals your peace.

Practice peace daily and watch the drama in your life melt away. If you have a difficult relationship with your teenager and are always yelling, choose to parent from a place of peace with honest direct communication.

The dynamic will immediately change the dysfunctional pattern.

Practice this simple intention of peace and you will notice you have more energy and motivation.

Another gem of an intention to set for success in the New Year is to recognize that you and you alone are the only person responsible for your happiness. We cannot control other people and we can’t depend on others to make us happy. Do not blame others for your stress level and unhappiness.

It’s up to you to take care of yourself and keep the inner peace in your spirit.

When you make this intention you will notice you are free of the actions and saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Instead of making resolutions to lose weight and clear out clutter, what if you set the intention to live this year in peace and to grow emotionally and spiritually? Changing from the inside out helps us to make long lasting healthy habits and to honor and love ourselves in what we eat, how we move our bodies, connect spiritually, how we take care of our space.

opinions of others. If someone treats you poorly quit trying to change the person’s behavior and take the steps you need to remove yourself from their negativity.

When people treat us poorly it is ALWAYS about their inner junk and unhappiness.

When you stop taking everything personally you are free to pursue peace and happiness for yourself. You stop waiting for the person or circumstance to change and empower yourself to do what it takes to maintain peace. This healthy detachment takes the confusion out of dysfunctional relationships.

One of the healthiest changes we can make beyond peace and taking responsibility for our happiness is to get into the daily habit of self care.

If you live a stressed out chaotic life STOP. Take a deep breath and come up with a daily plan to live a life that works for you.

Be proactive about doing the little things daily that help you feel good. Stock the fridge with good healthy food, move your body, turn off the electronics and rest when you need to. Stop making excuses about why you are unhealthy, unhappy in your marriage or in a dead end job. You are not a victim when you choose to participate in a life that does not work for you.

When we consistently participate in something that causes unhappiness we become an accomplice to the crime, not a victim.

Stop the craziness and come up with a strategy to create peace and happiness in your life.

The good news is - how this New Year goes - is dependent on you. Don’t give away your power and magically hope things get better.

Develop a clear strategy for your goals get the insight you need to make healthy changes.

Come up with a set of simple intentions that you will honor in your life and watch how this practice enhances all aspects of your life. Choose peace, take responsibility for your happiness and get into the habit of daily self -care. These gems will clean up the junk in your life and bring clarity to your spirit and soul.

Clear intentions are what help us succeed in our resolutions. Don’t sit back passively and hope for a better year, take action and know that you are the only person who can make things better and create the life you want.

YOU ARE WORTH IT.

SS

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Saratoga Families...

The Bigler Family WRITTEN BY MEGAN HARRINGTON, PHOTOS PROVIDED

“The people of Saratoga and the town itself are wonderful.

We had planned on moving to a big city, but we settled here.”

-Dave 18 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

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Winston & McKenzie

Christmas Tree outing at Ellms Family Farm

When Dave and his wife Cilicia moved to the area a few years ago, they assumed it would be temporary. Cilicia was enrolled in a nurse anesthetist program at Albany Medical Center, so the plan was to reside in the Capital District while she completed the program. Dave, originally from Seattle, was already an established photographer. “I started up my business on the west coast back in 2006 with a focus on wedding photography and videography,” he explains. Dave continues, “I just fell in love with Saratoga. We originally planned on living here for 2 years, but my business exploded and so we decided to stay.”

Dave now owns Bigler Photos & Films as well as the Saratoga Portrait Studio. He and Cilicia live very close to the studio on Broadway and Phila Street and they love being downtown in the center of everything. And they’re the proud dog parents to two Bernese Mountain Dogs, Winston and McKenzie. Both dogs regularly accompany Dave to the studio. “They love it,” he says.

And if you’re out and about downtown, you’ll probably see Dave walking his two buddies in Congress Park. Besides his four-legged co-workers, Dave employs four core staff members - Amal, Andrew, Jerel, and Juan. “I have such a great team,” Dave says.

In addition to his booming photography business, Dave has teamed up with Saratoga County Supervisor Matt Veitch to create a saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Dave after Batenkill bike race

Dave and Cilicia

photography book of Saratoga Springs. “It’s called Saratoga Springs Yesterday and Today,” Dave explains. The duo bought the rights to use The Bolster Collection, which features photos from the late 1800s, and for the past two years, Dave has been photographing those same locations as they appear today. Meanwhile, Matt has been writing the book’s text. They hope to wrap things up by this summer, but in the meantime you can read more about their project at SaratogaPhotoBook.com When they’re not logging hours in the studio or hospital, Dave and Cilicia both enjoy cycling competitively. Dave cycled for the University of Colorado’s bike team and will often ride a fat bike on snowy winter trails. Cilicia is currently training for the 2017 Lake Placid Ironman and is spending a lot of time at the Saratoga Springs YMCA training to swim, bike, and run 140.6 miles. The couple also attends Grace Fellowship Church in Saratoga.

Now that they are fully enmeshed in the community, the Biglers have no plans to leave. Dave says, “The people of Saratoga and the town itself are wonderful. We had planned on moving to a big city, but we settled here.” Like many transplants, after getting a taste of all that the Spa City has to offer, they just couldn’t imagine living anywhere else! SS

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Artist Spotlight:

Lisa David

WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER, PHOTOS BY MARKBOLLES.COM

When light transitions into shadow, texture can be seen.

Looking back, memory lends a smoothness and grace to the texture of our lives.

We remember the people that brought us joy, but also the things that did. In her oil paintings, artist and teacher Lisa David is exploring the items that excited her as a child in an era shaped by its ever-expanding consumption of goods.

“I’m totally a product of that mass consumerism, it’s packaging, and everything related to commercials and T.V.,” she said.

Simple Pleasures of the Past Using pop art’s vivid colors, this contemporary American realist painter shows the positive impact that even the smallest luxuries had on her. As one of four kids in her family’s “typical” suburban home in Clifton Park, she appreciated the pleasure of warm summer days, bike rides, playing in the park, and digging in the dirt with a spoon. Adventures came in the form of trips to the library, camping in their pop-up trailer, and opening a brand new box of crayons for school.

“We didn’t have a lot compared to other kids, but what we had was special,” she said.

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Shaping the Future Leaning on the attributes she inherited from her father, who David describes as very precise and analytical, and blending them with her mother’s playful and fun-loving spirit, David became the successful owner of Picket Pottery. At its peak, she was throwing 500 pounds of clay and making several hundred items each week.

“Pottery is like oil painting. I like shaping wet media and moving it to create shape,” said David.

As an art teacher, she is shaping her Shenendehowa High School students to do as she has done, and incorporate their personal experiences into their work.

Another way she teaches students to elevate their skill is to begin by blurring their vision. David does this by squinting or wearing several pairs of glasses at once. This technique blocks out lines and allows her to examine just how light hits an object.

When she is ready to focus on the details, she takes a picture with her phone and zooms in.

David’s ability to straddle realism with looseness is particularly noticeable in her skillful depiction of liquids. From glistening orange Tang, to that refreshing drink of water spraying from the hose, her summer series of 6”x6” and 10”x10” originals are capturing a timelessness that is easily relatable.

Imaging What Tomorrow Will Bring Methodical and disciplined, her calendar is full of what she plans to paint next. With hundreds of photos in the queue, she is forever on the hunt for items from the past, whether it’s a Hess truck or a jump rope. She plans to incorporate handles, knobs and fabrics in her upcoming pieces, as well as a series depicting the barns of Saratoga.

“I just want to make people smile,” she said.

SS

If you have an object to add to her collection or to see Lisa David’s work, stop in at the AMP Galleries on Broadway in Saratoga Springs or visit her website at www.LisaDavidArt.com

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MEET

Field Horne

By Marueen Werther, Photo Provided

A Saratoga Springs Renaissance Man

Since his arrival in Saratoga Springs in the 1970s, Field Horne has become something of an intellectual, historical and cultural icon. Born in New York City and raised on his family’s ancestral manor farm in Westchester County, Field has long been a student and writer of history.

And it is no wonder. His family lineage dates to the 1630s when the initial settlement known today as Westchester County was first formed.

Field’s family have lived in Westchester County continuously since that time, and he describes the 1868 home and farm on which he was raised as a “magical and beautiful place.”

Field is a graduate of Williams College and Cooperstown Graduate Program and his accomplishments include a position as Director of the Saratoga County Historical Society and Curator of the National Museum of Racing. In both capacities, Field developed programs and raised the level of exhibitions and collections to a new level of excellence.

The author and editor of several books, including “The Saratoga Reader: Writing About an American Village, 1749-1900,”

“Saratoga Springs: A Centennial History,” and “Saratoga Springs: The Complete Visitor’s Guide,” which is in its 6th edition, Field Horne is recognized as one of the foremost experts on the history of Saratoga Springs.

Some may know Field Horne as a curator; others may know him as an author and editor; while still others are familiar with his work in building authentic homes that reflect the rich architectural history of past traditions.

The building and construction phase of Field’s career came about in 2004. For Field, it was a real departure, in one sense, from his lifetime of cerebral pursuits. He wanted to experience working with his hands, and he found it both enjoyable and rewarding. However, in building, first his own home – a Carpenter Gothic cottage – followed by the construction of a Greek Revival home across the street – he, in fact, incorporated his deep knowledge of history into the work on these homes.

As word of his latest accomplishment got out, clients began approaching him with requests to build their homes and Field Horne Classic Houses was born.

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Field is also known as a writer for and one of the owners of Saratoga Living Magazine, in which he has written historical pieces, as well as articles that depict both past and current culture in our city. It is not always easy for a scholarly writer to also appeal to the popular audience. But, Field has been consistently successful in these endeavors as well.

Field also runs a soccer club for men over 40. “At age 46, I finally discovered sports.”

As a child, Field was small for his age and lagged behind in the arena of athletic pursuit. However, when a friend suggested he try soccer, he fell in love with the sport and has been playing ever since. He plays twice a week, something that has become a ritual for the last 20 years and at age 65, he doesn’t plan to stop any time soon.

From writing history to curating exhibitions, to wielding a hammer and kicking a soccer ball, Field Horne embodies the definition of a true “renaissance” person and he continues to cultivate his many spheres intellectual, artistic, physical and aesthetic pursuits, to the benefit of us all. SS

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# Chris & Diane

Being in Saratoga...

We have the best stylists, products and services available to us and when Diane Palma at Blended Hair Studio asked me to test this (possible!) new product line - I jumped at the chance!

It offered something for everybody…

I have what you would call “over-processed color treated hair” (but well maintained!) my daughter has excessively thick hair and my coworker Norra and her daughter have unruly, naturally curly hair (what I would do for those curls!!)

My daughter was able to finger comb her hair after using this and my hair has never had so much body! My hair feels shinier, silkier and “substantial” - and the scent is wonderful!! Even Norra commented that it gave her “soft, manageable curls that weren’t crunchy or sticky.”

this I was the only one to try the Root Touch Up Powder Stick by Euphora and LOVED it… it not only made my roots blonde, it added that much loved “root lift.”

It took a while to get used to the concept of the powder coming down through the brush, but I now use it not only as a color touch up, but as a styling product to give my hair some lift. #LOVEthis I can honestly say that I LOVE these products and what they did for my hair… so much so - that I updated my headshot! (Thank you Alice Corey for the great photo!)

Ask your stylist if they carry it – you may love it too!

Free of gluten, parabens, phthalates, iron oxides, nut ingredients, palm oil, 100% Vegan.

AND Cruelty free.

# saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

SS

this

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Bickering Blue Jays Photo by Nancy Castillo

Photo by Nancy Castillo

Birdwatching with Nancy Castillo

Blue Jay and Bark Butter Photo by Nancy Castillo

BLUE JAYS ROYALTY OR RUFFIANS? Blue Jays just seem to be one of those backyard birds that some birdwatching enthusiasts love to hate.

Their appearance is befitting of avian royalty: a topaz cape covering their back with a matching crested crown, sapphire, onyx and opal bejeweled wings, and a pearl body embellished with a black tourmaline necklace.

Yet they swoop into the yard and belly up to the birdfeeder like a gang of bird bikers, stuffing their mouths and eating like there's no tomorrow, throwing peanuts on the ground, picking fights and belching jay obscenities.

Just how do you deal with that?

TO KNOW THEM IS TO LOVE THEM Like a bully on the playground, getting to know the Blue Jay can help you understand them and gain an appreciation for them.

Photo by Nancy Castillo Blue Jay at Suet Log Feeder Photo by Nancy Castillo

• Did you know that Blue Jays help plant trees? Jays store food like acorns by caching them. The acorns they don't recover can grow to be a mighty oak. This behavior has even helped expand the range of some species of oak tree.

• When you see jays eating seed after seed, nut after nut, they are filling a pouch in their throat known as a crop. A Blue Jay was once observed packing over 100 sunflower seeds into its crop during just one visit to a birdfeeder!

• After filling their crop, jays will fly off to either eat the contents or to store them away for future meals.

Research studies have recorded Blue Jays making over 1,000 trips per day when hiding food and amazingly, they generally remember where most of it is stored.

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• Blue Jays serve as yard sentries and help protect all the other birds in your yard from predators. When jays spot danger, they use loud warning calls, letting all the other jays (and all the other birds in the area) know that there is potential danger. It might be a hawk or perhaps a marauding outdoor cat, but this warning call causes other birds to flee to safety or to freeze until the danger has passed.

• The Blue Jay is a talented mimic; its version of a Broad-winged Hawk’s call can fool even the most experienced birder. Or you might hear one sounding like a rusty gate.

• An old folktale says that the Blue Jay was yoked to a plow by a sparrow and the mark it left behind is still visible today on the Blue Jay’s neck and chest.

• The longevity record for banded Blue Jays in the wild is over 17 years.

HOSTING A ROYAL BLUE JAY FEAST Here's how to set your birdfeeding stations to host the ultimate Blue Jay feast: • Offer shelled peanuts or peanuts in the shell.

Blue Jays absolutely love them. Just make sure they are unsalted.

• Serve suet containing peanuts. Whether in cake, plug or cylinder form, look for suet with peanuts.

They love Bark Butter and Bark Butter Bits too.

• Make sure your birdseed blend contains peanuts too!

• Put out birdfeeders with larger perching areas.

Jays are fairly big birds and need space to perch.

Hopper feeders and tray feeders are especially suitable for jays.

• Make sure water is available. With big jay appetites comes big jay thirst. Jays use birdbaths often, both for drinking and for bathing. During the winter, make sure an open water source is available, like a heated birdbath.

• Put out a birdfood buffet with multiple feeding stations. Sometimes jays seem to dominate, so offer multiple feeding stations where smaller birds can eat while jays are around. Just like having a kid's table. Feeders with smaller perches are perfect for these other locations; ideal for the small birds, not so easy for the jays.

So don't be fearful when the Blue Jay biker gang rolls into town - appreciate them as they are.

And they won't make any trouble when you offer them a birdfood feast fit for a king and queen! SS saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

The gourmet Wood Guy

By Megin Potter, Photos Provided Hearing the word “gourmet” brings to mind sophisticated tastes to please even the most discerning consumer. Most often, it describes food, but “gourmet” is also the word Lou Faraone uses to describe the hardwoods he provides.

Fun formed from function

Refilling the wood rack at the motel Faraone owned in Malta started out as a chore for his then 3-year-old son, Maxx, to earn extra spending money.

There are two giant axes displayed under a bright red roof towering above oversized pencil-shaped fence posts and animals constructed from wood piles. This lumberjack playground is also home to wood sculptures and whimsical gnome cottages.

“It’s grown from that little genesis to what it is now,” said Faraone.

Today, 21-years-later, he’s proudly known simply as “The Wood Guy.” His wood lot on Route 50 in Wilton provides cooking grade, fireplace hardwoods and kindling to 4,000 delivery and drop-in customers.

They serve 33 area restaurants including Forno Bistro, the Henry Street Taproom, Druthers Brewing Company, Harvey’s Restaurant & Bar, the Gideon Putnam, and the Hall of Springs, among others.

“There’s a huge appetite in this area for quality wood,” said Faraone.

When a tree falls, it does make a sound When chunks of dry, high quality hardwoods are knocked together, they ring like a bell chiming, explained Faraone. Hand-sorting the wood that arrives daily, from his excursions as well as from numerous regional suppliers, makes a difference that can be heard, seen, and felt.

Once selected, the wood is stored off the ground and covered for a minimum of one year. A meter is then used to measure moisture content.

Spotting this standout woodlot is easy thanks to all the interesting ways the wood is stacked.

Kids are instructed not to climb the structures, but do have nearly two miles of zig-zagging trails to run around on. Open 24/7, rope lights accent the area, making an amazing backdrop for magical moments.

One such occasion took place on Thanksgiving when a man who was down on his luck came to the woodlot needing help. The father of four children, he’d lost his job and didn’t have money for food or heat. Faraone had him load up his vehicle with free wood. He also went up to his house, opened up his refrigerator and pulled out an extra turkey, some ham steaks, and eggs he had stored there.

“All the years I’ve been in business, giving those things to him…it was something I never felt. It was a joyful moment that made my day,” he said.

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Seasoned Gourmet Firewood is $25/trunk load. Cord and kindling prices, delivery and stacking costs can be found by going to www.seasonedgourmetfirewood.com

“Water is the enemy that causes smoke and creosote build-up leading to chimney fires”, he continued.

This natural drying process results in a product that burns up to four times longer than the fast-baked wood purchased off a convenience store cart, he said.

It’s because of this kind of care that the sounds of beeping horns can be heard when happy customers drive past.

“It’s applause, it’s like a thumbs up,” he said.

Aerial shot of the wood lot.

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Post Time Memories

with Dennis G. Hogan NYRA Outrider Natalie Rutigliano and her charge KC. Photos By DGHPhoto

Leader of the Pack

The new year has arrived; a time for crisp calendars, bold resolutions and the molasses-like anticipation of yet another season of racing at historic Saratoga Racecourse - but let’s not let go of the past too eagerly. Last year was filled with excitement, spectacle and several choice memories: Arrogate’s fastest Travers in history, the phenomenal Ortiz brothers’ one-two finish in the jockey standings, and the appearance of Songbird, the best 3-year-old filly in America, who took the Coaching Club American Oaks and the Alabama, and made it look easy.

“There was definitely something special about her. Just the way she moved and how professional she looked,” said NYRA outrider Natalie Rutigliano.

“At first I didn’t know who she was when they asked ‘would you mind escorting this filly that’s gonna’ run here.’ I said ‘sure,’ I then saw her come out; there were cameras all around and I realized who she was. It was really exciting.”

Natalie’s been around Thoroughbreds since she was just a young girl so when the 33-year-old Queens, New York native uses the term exciting, it’s to be noted.

“I began when I was about nine or ten. I would go to the races with my grandfather and I’d bring carrots and candy and

apples for the pony horses. I became good friends with the pony riders and soon started to come on my days off from school. I would clean the stalls and they’d let me ride their ponies.

“I then started hot walking for trainer PG Johnson. I would hot walk in the morning and when I was done I’d get on their stable pony and ride him around the barn.

Once I got comfortable they let me go to the pony track, and from there I worked my way up to the training track.

“I got good at ponying and would really hustle in the mornings, escorting about 11 or 12 horses each day; I ponied in the afternoons at the races as well. In 2005, I got a job offer to outride at Palm Meadows training track in Florida. I next learned they needed an outrider for Saratoga, so I flew up to New York and got the job with NYRA, working from April to November.

They then asked me to go full time and come to Belmont for the winter.”

So what is the difference between a pony rider and an outrider?

“The pony crew escorts horses back and forth to the track, while outriders sit out in the morning and watch the horses train.

If there’s a horse that’s in trouble or a rider that’s having a hard time we help them out. We get them started or help them stop if they can’t stop alone, or if a horse gets injured we attend to the horse. We’re out there for safety and we police the racetrack.

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In the afternoons we lead the parade of horses onto the track for each race and watch for any problems that may occur.

“You have to be a pretty good rider but most of it is your horse; without a good horse you’re not much help.”

Natalie’s ride is a Thoroughbred/Quarter Horse mix named KC. “He still loves the track. I’ve put him on the farm and he does not like it one bit.

He wants to work.”

Natalie’s duties at the track begin before dawn. Once work is done she spends the remainder of her day caring for her two young boys Augustus and Maximus. She still splits her time between Saratoga and the tracks downstate but she remarks that there’s no place like the Spa. “Everybody is so friendly and happy, and lots of families get together for a day out.

Things are just so warm and cozy there.

All my family is in Queens but I’ve made Saratoga my home. I’m in the process of purchasing a house and I want to raise my family there.”

So when you’re at the track this coming year, whether out alone or with the family, remember to listen for the call to the post.

And look for Natalie and KC, as they lead the horses out of the paddock and lead us to a new season of racing and more great memories at Saratoga. SS

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HISTORY

Our

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PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE GEORGE BOLSTER COLLECTION

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THE REASONS THEY CAME

to Saratoga Springs

WRITTEN BY CHARLIE KUENZEL, PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE GEORGE BOLSTER COLLECTION

I

n the 1800’s Saratoga Springs was the number one summer tourist destination in America. A guide book in 1845 wrote, “Saratoga was the most celebrated watering place on the globe.”

Just like today - a top destination needed attractions, ease of travel and pleasant surroundings. Saratoga Springs had it all!

They first came for their health, and what was called the “kur”. They came seeking cures for ailments with the use of our mineral baths and drinking the healing waters that bubbled from the earth. In the early 1800s a work ethic prevented people from saying they were taking a vacation. The wealthy realized they could get around that problem by saying that they needed to restore their health, not take a vacation. What better location to restore one’s health than Saratoga Springs. Saratoga Springs continued to add events and attractions to entertain the guests of the city. For a city filled with visitors seeking better health, there also was a lot of alcohol consumption, gambling, dancing and nightly cavorting.

In the early 1800s it was hard to travel to Saratoga. Visitors used sailing ships, steamships on the Hudson, as well as horse drawn coaches to make the trip - which was long and very tiring. In 1832 the second rail line in New York State came from Schenectady to Saratoga Springs.

The railroad shortened travel time and lowered the cost of travel significantly. The railroad changed visitor travel and helped the city explode with summer guests. Before 1832 it is estimated that no less than 6,000 people came during that summer. In 1833 it jumped to 8,000 and by 1835 it was estimated to be 2,000 per week. In 1850 a publication reported that Saratoga Springs had received over 35,000

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guests that summer. The number of guests in 1850 is significant since our year round population at the time was only 4,650.

Thoroughbred racing was added in August of 1863 even though there was a shortage of horses since most were being used in the Civil War, and yet that short race meet drew a crowd of 5,000 for that inaugural event. John Morrissey adds his Saratoga Clubhouse in the summer of 1870 when he built what is today called the Canfield Casino. Now horse racing and elegant casino gambling was an option for those quiet times when summer guests were not consuming the healing waters. In 1894, 40,000 people visited the Canfield Casino.

Those summer visitors came to relax, gamble and also to see and be seen. We sometimes concentrate our attention on the rich and famous that came to Saratoga, but common people were here also.

The common people found the money for short visits that would include seeing the famous during their stay. Many hotels reported that dinner menus were always disappearing, usually as free souvenirs of their brief summer visit to the Spa. James Buckingham commented on the use of Saratoga by the common visitor when he said, “By the modest payment of $2 per day, they may be seated at the same table, and often side by side with the finest families of the country”.

The famous also came. In the early days Joseph Bonaparte (exiled king of Spain/ Napoleon’s brother) and Marquis de Lafayette were here in the summer. Later lists included United States Presidents Martin Van Buren, James Buchanan, Millard Fillmore, Ulysses S. Grant, John Tyler and politicians John Calhoun, Henry Clay, Daniel

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Webster, Aaron Burr and William Marcy. Musicians, writers, actors and notable military leaders all came to Saratoga.

To accommodate the large crowds the hotels grew in size and number and for a while both the United States and Grand Union hotels were listed as the largest in the world. To make the experience memorable for guests, only the best in food, music and entertainment was made available in Saratoga. Victor Herbert and John Phillip Sousa both were music directors at hotels in Saratoga during the summer. Shopping was a way to pass the time. There was a Tiffany’s that opened on the lower level of the Grand Union Hotel that in three summer months would outperform sales in the New York City store. Many guests were seen shopping during the day only to display their new finds at nightly social events. Many found carriage rides to Saratoga Lake and walks down Broadway a way to spend their summer days.

The city of Saratoga always tried to improve the look of the city and in 1827 it passed a law to reduce a person’s highway tax by 62 ½ cents for each tree that was planted. Countless trees were planted and grew to produce very beautiful and highly shaded walkways for summer visitors. The telegraph was added in 1846 and gas lighting for the streets in 1853. Local laws regulated vendors from selling in the streets and in open spaces to preserve spaces used to stroll and enjoy the city. Washington Irving had written, “He had not seen a watering place on either side of the Atlantic where things were on a better footing.” The city was wonderful in all respects.

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A little known event in the summer of Saratoga was to try to have your children meet and marry people of the same social station. Our city was a magnet for the rich and famous. Saratoga was a place to have young people meet and hopefully fall in love. It is written that Mrs. Lucy Wooster, while in Saratoga one summer, insisted that her daughter from Virginia visit her in Saratoga to find an acceptable man to escort her. A part of today’s High Rock Avenue was originally called Willow Walk, and was the best place for a chaperoned carriage ride at night for young people. Those chaperoned rides resulted in many proposals of marriage.

My good friend, Bob Baker, recalls his favorite marriage proposal…

It was the summer of 1877 and the proposal involved a Western Union Clerk, Hamilton Twombly to Florence Vanderbilt, daughter of William H. Vanderbilt. When Twombly approached Vanderbilt to ask permission to marry his daughter, Twombly’s income was a mere $1,800 per year. William H. deferred his final approval to his wife who did grant their blessings and the couple was married in November of 1877 in NYC. This was probably not the yearly income that the Vanderbilts had in mind for their daughter, but soon Twombly became V.P. of Western Union at an annual salary of $15,000 per year and Florence inherited $10 million upon her father’s death.

In the 1800s they may have come for their health, they may have come to gamble, dance, shop and propose marriage. They may have come just to stroll and see the famous visitors of the day, but luckily, it’s still a wonderful destination to visit …or live in! SS

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Rarely Seen Photos of OLD SARATOGA Springs WRITTEN BY CHARLIE KUENZEL, PERMISSION FROM SARATOGA SPRINGS HISTORY MUSEUM SPECIAL THANKS TO CURATOR JOHN CONNERS, IMAGES FROM THE GEORGE S. BOLSTER COLLECTION

HALL OF SPRINGS C. 1937 The Hall of Springs was originally built as a place for people to sample mineral water. Part of the Spa State Park, it was originally built in 1935 and had three round dispenser areas in the main room to serve three different waters.

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HIGH ROCK BATH HOUSE C.1915 Located across the street from High Rock Park, the High Rock bath house was originally the Magnetic Bath House just remodeled. It was condemned in 1918 and work to build the Washington Bath House started.

WHITE SULFUR BATH HOUSE IN EUREKA PARK This bath house was supplied at a rate of 20,000 gallons/day, by the White Sulfur Spring which was tubed in 1868. The bath house had 50 rooms that offered hot and cold baths as well as mud baths.

FRANKLIN SQUARE/ RAILROAD Franklin Square houses can be seen in the distance with the rail lines at the corner of Railroad Place and Division Street. The rail station was located to the right of the image and was moved to it's current location on West Avenue in the mid 1900s.

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“BROADWAY WAS BLEAK,” WRITTEN BY CAROL GODETTE, PHOTOS PROVIDED

states Nelson Avenue resident Bill Finlay. With 22 vacant downtown storefronts in 1973, the odds of ever achieving an award winning Main Street were slim. But Saratoga Springs, being a gambling town, doubled down on multiple fronts and eventually beat those odds.

Downtown Saratoga Springs faced many challenges.

In fact Ken Jones’ loan application for local AM station WKAJ was turned down by Glens Falls National Bank. At the time, the bank felt “Saratoga was a dying city.” Newman Wait of The Adirondack Trust Company instead financed the operation.

The October 1973 opening of Saratoga’s Pyramid Mall lured a few Broadway businesses such as Erlanger’s Fashions to relocate to the advertised “1 Fun Place to be.” Initially downtown merchants were hopeful the mall would bring more people to the area that would first shop at the mall and then head downtown. However, that did not happen.

“The impact was fairly drastic. The mall hurt our business a lot,” recalls David Carr Jr. whose parents owned Starbuck’s Department Store.

“Fear is the greatest catalyst in the world,” believes Charles Wait, CEO and chairman of the board of The Adirondack Trust Company. Wait was referencing the October 1973 opening of Pyramid Mall as being the catalyst that got mom and pop merchants to band together and fight against the competition. The Saratoga Downtown Merchant Association joined the Adirondack Trust Company and the Chamber of Commerce to create the 1974 “Plan of Action. “Led

by Bob Bristol of Saratoga Associates, the plan had three stages. First was to rally public opinion to put

money into downtown and build a political climate for infrastructure improvement. Skidmore students created a 6 by 18 foot scale model of downtown.

Local residents were invited to a vacant downtown Broadway storefront to manipulate the model and create an ideal downtown. Nothing can be accomplished without funding. Three sources raised 1.2 million dollars: the creation a special assessment district; a one percent increase in sales tax; and $400,000 in Federal Community Development funds.

Two public parking lots were developed, and the Saratoga Preservation Foundation led by Julie Stokes was established. Buildings facades were restored, street trees planted and benches were installed.

“Mom and Pops” are the heart of small communities. Clearly our local “Mom and Pop” bank was integral to downtown’s revitalization. The Adirondack Trust Company bought and leveled a row of dilapidated brick buildings along Church Street and hired Bob Bristol of Saratoga Associates to design an addition to the back of the original marble structure. The three arched brick addition came at a time when several downtown banks such as Mechanics Exchange had moved to Pyramid Mall. The Adirondack Trust’s 1974 decision to invest in downtown gave merchants hope.

Another overlooked factor in Saratoga’s success was Urban Renewal. “Even though it’s often criticized, Urban Renewal did a lot for Saratoga Springs.

Pre- 1974, Lee Roohan headed Urban Renewal.

The money we got from the federal government helped clear out run down, dilapidated wooden buildings and created open space lots for Saratoga Springs future development,” reflects Charles Wait.

In addition approximately 2.7 million dollars of Urban Renewal money was spent in widening several streets, including the section of Broadway from Lake Avenue running north to the arterial.

Another major factor in our success was the establishment of an anchor at the north end of Broadway. The parcel of land once occupied by the Brooklyn Hotel was closely examined and debated about. The Zoning Board considered several options- a large supermarket, a sports arena, and a convention center to replace our former Convention Hall, destroyed by fire in 1965. The goal was to attract people to our downtown to spend money at locally owned “mom and pops.” Twenty- five years later, many Broadway business owners appreciate the choice of a City/Convention Center.

All of these efforts would have fallen short of today’s award winning downtown if we did not have hardworking, innovative “Mom and Pop” retail owners. Norman Fox, founder of N.Fox- the oldest surviving store on Broadway, David Carr (Starbuck’s Department store), Edward Lenz (Megnes & Curtis), Harry Covkin (Covkin’s Little Folks Shop), Alfred Gardner (Globe Supply), E. W. Heckman (Saratoga Men’s and Boy’s Shop), Jerry Albert (Glickman’s), (Mr. Jack’s) Nate Berkowitz (BerKowitz Jewelers), Bernie Serotta (Farmers’ Hardware), Vito Suave (Suave Faire) and Mark Strauss (Mabou) are examples of small business owners who gambled their livelihood in the 1970s.

One could speculate that they are the heroes of Saratoga Springs’ downtown. SS

West Side Broadway

Panoramic representation of Broadway circa 1976 by Skidmore student Patti Croop.

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East Side Broadway

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Photo provided by David Carr Jr. when the store transitioned from a department store to a furniture store.

STARBUCK'S department store WRITTEN BY CAROL GODETTE

For many Saratogians today, a downtown stop at Starbucks means a coffee and a chance to catch up with friends, but for 98 years a Broadway trip to “Starbuck's” represented something entirely different. The Starbuck's many longtime locals remember was akin to a “Mom and Pop” Walmart.

It was a three-story, full service department store that sold everything from greeting cards to gloves, cosmetics to curtains, linens to lingerie, and scouting uniforms to sofas. Specialized services such as custom-made slipcovers and floor covering installation were also available. And of course free gift-wrapping was always included with any purchase.

manager and eventual owner. Great grandson David Carr Jr. remembers spending his evenings during the holiday season in front of a hand bow-making machine cranking out as many as 100 bows a night for the store’s gift wrapping.

Few local retail establishments represent changes in our personal shopping habits more than E. D. Starbuck and Company. “Now we go online to shop, but you could go to Starbucks and get pretty much everything you needed,” reflects David Carr Jr. As shopping trends changed, Starbucks tried to keep up with them.

The store’s success revolved around loyalty to its employees, customers and the community of Saratoga Springs. The Even though the store owners were loyal to their employed as many as 50 employees and the 50 people, it was truly employees were loyal back. a family operation.

“There was no turnover,” Edgar Starbuck Sr. states Carr. Nancie Garland began the mom and Tyler manned cosmetics pop retail operation and cards near the store’s with a cash only, dry entrance for 25 years, Lillian goods store at 464 Waite worked downstairs in Broadway in 1885. furniture and draperies most The single floor store, of her life, and Elsa Emery dimly lit by kerosene ran the men’s department lamps, had 6 clerks. for 50 years. They acted as Nine years later he personal shoppers and hand acquired the buildings wrapped purchases for free. at 408-412 Broadway Nancie remembers a local and expanded. Upon Newspaper ads that ran when Starbuck’s reopened after woman who phoned her the January 1957 fire that burnt the original store down. purchasing the every Christmas to describe property he incorporated his operations to four the people on her list. Based on the conversation, floors. After his death, his son Edgar Starbuck Nancie would select each person a gift, wrap it, and daughter Kathyrn Starbuck were the majority and have the store deliver the gifts for free. stockholders.

The clerks were experts in the name brands they The Carr family was also involved in the store sold and in recognizing their customers as they from nearly the beginning. Three generations of walked in the door. “The most important thing the family were integral in the operations and anyone wants to hear is their own name,” former success of the store. George Carr began working owner David R. Carr once quoted. at Starbucks in 1889 as the treasurer. His son The owners loved Saratoga Springs and were Rowland followed in his footsteps and in the very civic minded. They generously gave to the 1950s grandson David R. Carr, Sr. became the 34 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017

April, 1930.

Photo provided by the George S. Bolster Collection

community. Nothing speaks more to their loyalty to our community than Edgar Starbuck’s resolve to rebuild the store as he watched it burn down in the infamous Broadway fire of 1957. Seven Broadway buildings were destroyed in the early morning hours of January 27, 1957. As Edgar Starbuck watched the flames destroy his store and its $100,000 inventory, his first concern was for the 50 employees that would be left jobless. He began rebuilding plans the next morning and two weeks later he submitted drawings to the Saratoga planning board for approval.

The new building was on the lot of 408 Broadway, leaving the lot to the north vacant for parking.

(Today it is the site of The Washington Building).

The community was thrilled to have a full service department store once again and most local businesses took out ads in the Saratogian thanking Starbuck for reopening. The Rotary even had a special ceremony in Starbuck’s honor dubbing him “Mr. Saratoga.”

Customers in turn were loyal. As a result of the fire, all the paper records went with it. In these pre-credit card days, Starbucks extended store credit to locals. The management did not know who owed what. “Fortunately, a good portion of people who owed money came to my father and said, ‘This is what I owe,’ and Starbucks was able to continue to operate,” reports Carr.

The October 1973 opening of Pyramid Mall greatly reduced foot traffic on Broadway. Five years later, the Carrs decided to become a furniture store. On January 6, 1978 they began a storewide clearance sale of all their non-furniture merchandise. And as they stated in a full-page ad to the community, “Due to changing times …. and the reluctance of many manufacturers to supply the needs of smaller stores on a timely basis, we feel that a change in operation is essential.”

In 1983, the Carrs closed the store and sold the building to Ray Morris who relocated his restaurant Lillians to the once beloved department store location. The irony of another kind of “Starbucks” downtown is lost on all but lifelong Saratogians. SS saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Planning your winter get-away?

Let’s Get

PACKING I know vacation is meant to mean relaxation; rest and freedom from the everyday race we run of life. But, with every vacation comes the task of packing, and then multiple that by each member of the family. And that means stress!

How do we remember it all?

How can we simplify this process for ourselves?

You’ll find options out in the market for packing lists but I like to make a list tailored to the person. One that you print out or copy for each trip and fill in and check off as you load items. Right before you walk out the door you should see a list full of checked off items, reassuring yourself nothing was forgotten!

This list should be done without the pressure of a trip. Make it up now so you can have it ready to go for the next trip. If you tend to lose your lists, make sure to put it on a clipboard!

Here are the things you should have on the list (be very specific if you need to)

1. Number of Days: 2. Number of Nights (for PJs): 3. Special Events (requiring special items): have a space to list out everything…outfit, shoes, jewelry, purse, make-up, etc.

4. Schedule clothing for X days: 5. Accessories: (shoes, jewelry, scarves, etc.)

6. Sleep Accessories: (ear plugs, sleep mask, pillow, etc.)

7. Medicines: 8. Vitamins: 9. Toiletries: 10. Electronics and Charges: 11. Reading Material: 12. Toys/special sleep items (for children): 13. Snacks/special food you may need: 14. Anything else that is a Must-Have:

By: Jordana Turcotte I’ve created and filled-in a sample packing list as an example.

Again, if you are not computer savvy, just grab a plain sheet of paper and make yours and then make copies from that.

On toiletries, if you can buy small sizes of each item you will need and keep preloaded in your travel bag, all you will be doing is checking levels and adding the ones you don’t have. Even having an extra brush and hairdryer left in the bag takes out the hassle of remembering every trip.

Two days before, lay out the bag each person will use in their room.

Give them their list so they can check off as they add each item. Do all the laundry you will need from the hamper as well and then place right into the open bag when done.

You should be doing the bulk of the packing – the day BEFORE you leave. Add all the clothes and accessories. Bag up all toiletries you can. Package up all pill/vitamin organizers or baggies for each day/ time. If you are flying, make sure you are up to date on all the travel requirements for pills/liquids in your carry-on. Pack all dry snacks and food. Charge all electronics and pack up their chargers. For portable DVD players, pick out the movies and place in a multi-disc holder.

If you are the kind of person that wants all in order before you leave, make a quick list to remember it all and weave it in throughout the day and while you are packing. For example vacuuming, cleaning out fridge, emptying all the garbage cans though out the home, you get the idea.

For the paper aspect of travel, I recommend one sturdy folder with or without dividers you will always use to place trip-specific papers in. If flying, print out itineraries, boarding passes. If driving, fill up the tank. Staying at a hotel? Have your address and confirmation info together as well as the hotel phone number for a multitude of issues that may come up.

Don’t forget house and/or dog sitting notes (number of times out, food quantity and when, treats, which lights on/off, garbage day, etc.) I type this up and just update and reprint for each trip. This again saves from having to rethink everything for every trip.

With all your lists checked off, the day of travel should just be grabbing the “morning of ” items and getting out the door. The key to a great trip is in the PLANNING of it. Making this a formal process that you use each time, lessens the stress and helps you remember everything you will need throughout the trip.

HAPPY TRAILS!

SS

(hearing aid batteries, shoe horn, etc.)

15. “Morning Of” List: This is where you re-list the items you have to remember to grab the morning of, after you use them, this is immensely helpful!

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 35

A NEW YEAR &

A New Way of Eating: HEALTH MATTERS WITH MARCIE FRASER

Have you made a New Year’s resolution? Vowed to make changes in your health? To lose weight, join a gym, to eat better? We’re a few weeks into the New Year… how is it going? Haven’t had a great start or perhaps you haven’t started yet? You are not alone… many people don’t get off to a great start. The most popular New Year’s resolution is to lose weight and it’s not uncommon for dieters to begin slipping within the first month. Why? The expectations are too high, not enough weight has dropped off and, the diet you are on is not intuitive.

Here’s what I mean…

EXPECTATIONS: Most dieters want to see the scale drop an unrealistic five to ten pounds after the first few weeks. When the scale is disappointing and doesn’t dip enough, those favorite foods often sneak in. The saying usually goes; “why bother giving up foods I love if I’m not going to lose weight eating healthy!” It’s a fact, most people pack on a few pounds during the holidays. It’s easy to rationalize the extra holiday cookies when you’re planning to begin the diet on January 1st. The first week of dieting is often a honeymoon; you feel encouraged because you see a weight loss thanks to the loss of water weight, however, soon the water weight returns. The weight loss slows down which effects motivation, you begin getting cranky and well… you know the rest.

THE DIET: The biggest mistake many people make is cutting back on foods too fast. A restrictive, pre-programmed diet right out of the gate, will back fire. Diets disengage you… from YOU. Diets are programed regimes and designed for the masses. No two people lose weight at the same pace so why would one diet work for everyone. Men and women do not lose weight the same way, women lose weight at a slower pace than men. Not only does the speed of weight loss differ between genders so does WHERE on the body the weight comes off. Men will see results from all areas of the body where women struggle to lose the weight in the belly and butt area. Older woman will struggle a bit more than a younger woman. A muscular body will lose faster than a less toned body. Unless an eating program (not diet) is tailored for you and only you, will you succeed.

Diets are not individualized but your eating style is. Eating styles are as unique as your DNA. Eating patterns vary. For example, some people don’t eat breakfast (me), some people eat one large meal a day while others may graze all day long. Your eating style (pattern) is established when you were a kid. As a kid I never ate in the morning and I still hate eating in the morning. Most experts will say breakfast in the most important meal of the day and they are probably right however, if I ate breakfast I’d be nauseous. My body works best when I eat a few hours after I wake up. I feed my body when it’s hungry. Obviously my eating style may not be scientifically perfect but most aren’t... simply put; your eating style has to be perfect for YOU. In addition to your eating style - life events also influence your eating patterns. Life evolves with a rainbow of events - some good, some bad.

You will not eat the same when you are stressed, when you travel, when

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Intuitively you are happy or when you are depressed. Some people eat more when they are angry. No matter what life event hits you, you need to learn how to eat using intuitive behaviors. How do you create this new way of eating?

By NOT starting a diet but by listening intuitively to your body.

INTUITIVE EATING: This is a method of eating that for most adults, needs to be learned and practiced. It’s all about listening to your body and learning what your eating style is. If you can go back to when you were a kid, how did you eat? Determining what your eating pattern is, isn’t hard; just listen to your gut and take an inventory of your eating behavior. Are you are binging? Eating standing up? Eating in the middle of the night or hiding when you are eating? If you are doing any of those behaviors you know you are on the wrong track and not eating intuitively. Intuitive eating involves understanding what your body requires, what it feels and what your true hunger and fullness cues are.

When is the last time you felt hungry? Many people don’t even know what hunger is. I am talking true hunger, not appetite. Hunger is a physiological growl in your gut, appetite is an emotional or cognitive desire for food. If you have true hunger you will know if you are on the right track.

TIPS ON FINDING TRUE HUNGER: it is essential to keep track of how often you are hungry. Unless you feel a pang of hunger, don’t eat.

Concentrate on your gut and feel physiological hunger several times a day. How can you tell you are ready to eat? If you salivate for a salad or a piece of fruit, you’re ready!

When is the last time you felt full, not stuffed, but satiated?

TIPS ON FINDING TRUE FULLNESS: watch how much you eat. Your gut will physically fit a certain amount of food in it (but you can stretch it out just like a muscle if you over-stuff it, so don’t!). Your stomach is about the size of your hands clenched together. Eye ball your plate of food and compare it to the size of your hands; if the burrito is bigger than your hands then you are over eating. Keep meals small! Track your fullness, listen to a bell that goes off which indicates you’ve had enough. Don’t hear the bell? Keep listening. If you are unsure if you are full, take one more bite and wrap or toss the rest.

When eating intuitively and learning how to determine if you are hungry or full, you may need a lot of practice. To learn how to do this, reduce stimuli and eat alone a few times. You can’t begin to feel hunger and fullness unless you concentrate. When you feed your body when it’s hungry and to the point where it is full, your weight will normalize. Get started today, this process teaches you how to connect with your body physiologically.

WHAT TO EAT: Eat dirty foods; foods that come out of the ground that you have to wash (fruits and veggies) and eat at least five servings a day. Aim for the watery fruits; melons, oranges, grapes. Look for cruciferous veggies; broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage. Dirty foods are nature’s candy and the natural sugar will not give you the same sugar highs and lows processed sugar does.

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Okay, now it’s time to take a rinse. Rinsing the body of excess salt, carbs and processed foods will jump start the process of intuitive eating. This rinse-out will help your body feel fresh, natural and the cues of true hunger will surface. For four days only try not to eat food made from flour. Keep up on the salads and protein. Eat plenty of fish, white chicken, turkey and avoid red meats. FOCUS on when you are hungry. Increase water based soups to keep you full, watch the salt. Increase the amount of bran in your diet. Try a small amount of Kellogg's All-Bran. Keep in mind it can taste like tree bark, too bad - it’s awesome for you! Bran is a panacea for many ailments including leveling out blood sugar and constipation. Buy the Bran Buds, they are even better than the Bran Flakes! You can add bran to unsweetened applesauce, yogurt or eat it out of the box. It will fill you up and keep things moving! Along with fiber, increase fluids. Drink at least 1 ½ quarts of non-caloric beverages a day.

Personally, I don't like water. I drink diet iced tea. Limit the caffeine if you can. Absolutely no sugar added to anything. If you need candy for a treat go sugar-free. This rinse-out is done for four days. You will drop a lot of fluid weight and you will feel skinny! Booze you ask? Ok, this is where I get a little wishy washy. It’s ok to drink after the first four days, but limit it! I consider alcohol liquid bread and it all turns into sugar. You may think I am contradicting myself but I am also a realist and know a cocktail is something most people enjoy. As a realist I believe booze is something that is enjoyable and can be factored in to a person’s menu.

Keep in mind the less you imbibe the sooner you will be an expert in intuitive eating. PLUS be warned: alcohol will hit you much harder without a lot of carbs in your gut. After the first four days add in whole grains, no more than two slices of bread OR 1 cup of pasta/rice. ALWAYS track your hunger and don’t eat unless your gut signals a hunger cue. After the first four days continue to introduce healthy foods but eat only intuitively.

Repeat the rinse-out in a week or two if needed.

SWEAT. I don’t care if you join a gym or dance in your closet, do cardio for 40 minutes at least 5 days a week. If you have time, throw down some push-ups and sit-up but if you are limited on time, cardio is the priority.

Exercise is not an option it’s a MUST if you want to reach your goals.

DITCH THE SCALE FOR A MONTH. Your goal shouldn’t be a number of pounds lost on the scale. Your goal should learning how to focus on how your body is feeling. The scale is often a ‘barometer’ for success BUT it is also a ‘set-up’ for failure. If you weigh in every day (or for some several times a day) you give your scale too much control over your success.

Your weight fluctuates and when it goes up (even if it’s water weight) your mood will go down and so will your motivation. Weight loss is not a continuous downward trend. Body weight fluctuates for a number of reasons; menstrual cycle, water retention, constipation, medication, or perhaps you drank a 16 ounce bottle of water earlier. Go buy yourself a nice pair of pants, try them on daily and feel your success.

Beginning a new program can take time and you need patience. Always check with your doctor before you start any new eating or exercise regime. When changing patterns, it takes at least 21 days until it imprints automatically to your brain. It’s important to concentrate less on the short term behaviors and think lifelong patterns. Adapt the attitude of “Can Do Spirit" and a "Get it Done Body!" Remember nothing taste as good as fit feels!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

SS

If you have any fitness or health questions that you would like answered in our next issue, email Marcie at Health@SaratogaPublishing.com

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 37

Doing the right thing… by g n i s i a r d n putting u F in the

FUN RMHC event

Santa’s arrival at the RMHC event Ayco volunteers at Saratoga WarHorse

Ayco’s Kyle Kinowski in the dunk tank to raise funds for local charities

Gifts displayed in the North Pole room at the Ronald McDonald House Charities holiday event

Written by MEGIN POTTER • Photos PROVIDED There’s nothing unusual about a senior associate wearing a suit jacket in a financial planning office. Pairing a jacket with swim trunks and flippers? That’s pretty unexpected. Encouraging co-workers to take shots at sinking him in the dunk tank? That’s the kind of creative fundraising people can get excited about.

“It’s pretty funny to see, and people just loved it,” said Michele O’Brien, Vice President of Corporate Engagement at Ayco, a Goldman Sachs Company that’s making a big impact with their charitable giving.

Ayco Gives, formed in 2012, is a program through which employees can earn a company match to help support the causes that are meaningful to them. Since its inception, the funds raised have been distributed to 200 organizations, 110 of which are in the Capital District. In 2016, they contributed to 32 Capital District charities that focus on health and wellness, services for individuals with disabilities, veterans and their families, hunger, homelessness, and educational initiatives. The Ayco Diversity Network was also formed to support causes such as the Special Olympics, among others.

TOP PHOTO: The pink lanyard Ayco associates purchased and wore the month of October to raise funds for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Wearing their Hearts on their Sleeves Investing in the community is a principle Ayco wears with pride. To raise money, employees have worn jockey uniforms, red to support the American Heart Association, pink lanyards to support Breast Cancer Awareness, and paid $5 to dress casually during their Wear-Jeans-to-Work and Wear-Sneakers-to-Work days.

Saratoga county charities including Operation Adopt-A-Soldier, Saratoga WarHorse, the Saratoga Hospital Foundation, Saratoga Bridges, schools, arts, and recreation programs, among others, have all been recipients of Ayco grants.

Friendly Competition Drives Action An important tool in Ayco’s ability to attract donor dollars is through the encouragement of friendly competition. Games of skill including miniature golf tournaments and ping pong ball shoot-offs reward donors with entertainment value while supporting the causes they believe in.

When an event is going to take place, the word is spread with direction from community champions within each department through a number of different communication channels including an internal online network.

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“It generates excitement and creates a very good culture that really gets people to come out,” said O’Brien.

Volunteerism for a Vibrant Community Getting out on the grounds of the Double H Ranch or the Shelters of Saratoga, and packing up boxes of food donations are just a few of the ways volunteers from the company have donated more than 7,000 hours of their time through Community TeamWorks, a community outreach program, in the past year.

Strengthening relationships within the community, volunteers host events for families including the Ronald McDonald House Charities Party, and holiday shops at the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center, and the Franklin Community Center.

With so many fun and unusual ways that Ayco is making a meaningful difference in the community, their commitment to building a better tomorrow can be clearly seen today.

“We feel really strongly about our mission to make an impact and create connection. So far, it’s been a great success,” said O’Brien. SS saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Staying Power an inside look at some of the people who have brought you the news ... year after year

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Ernie Tetrault – A Storied Career

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided It’s been said that Ernie Tetrault was on television longer than most people of a generation owned their TV’s. For more than 40 years, he entered the living rooms of loyal fans throughout the Capital Region, becoming the “professor emeritus” of news in the Capital Region and beyond.

Ernie has interviewed presidents, first ladies, ambassadors, dictators and celebrities.

He reported the local news in an era of journalistic giants such as Eric Severeid, Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and Huntley and Brinkley. Newspaper stories written about him, with headlines like, “The Importance of Being Ernie,” said the name “Tetrault” was synonymous with news coverage in the region.

Ernie began his career when television was in its infancy. Everything was new and exciting, and he and his colleagues were creating the roadmap for future journalists to follow and expand upon. His own professional journey took him to places like Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, Paris and Israel, reporting the news in the midst of wars, as well as celebrations.

Ernie was also involved in several less far-reaching, but equally memorable, news programs. Very early in his career, he worked as the official news announcer for oil company, Esso. He also hosted a morning show called “Variety Time” on WRGB. His “co-anchors” were a pair of exotic birds.

“The stations were desperate at the time for programming,” he recalls with a grin.

Ernie loved the fast pace and the excitement of being a reporter on the street, and he had an honesty and sincerity that people loved and trusted. One newspaper article described Ernie

arriving on the scene of a murder and how readily the neighbors agreed to be interviewed by Ernie because they knew he was a fair and honest person.

Ernie also has fond recollections of coanchoring with a young, “up and coming reporter” named Liz Bishop. In a 1988 newspaper interview, he remarked that one thing he was very positive about was the tremendous change in attitude about the role of women in broadcasting.

“Ernie made me feel like I belonged there. He was a combination of best buddy, father figure, fun uncle and best friend all rolled into one. I was a kid seated alongside a legend,” recalls Liz Bishop.

But not everyone was as welcoming to women in the newsroom as Ernie was.

While both Liz Bishop and her colleague, former news anchor Mary Caroline Powers, recall the many wonderful men they worked with – people like Don Decker, John McLaughlin, and many others – there were some who made no pretense about their feelings regarding women in their workplace.

Mary Caroline recalls a newsroom where the air was blue from cigarette smoke and from the “colorful” language coming from seasoned reporters. It was often a struggle for a woman to fit in, let alone be respected and allowed to pursue her career goals.

Mary Caroline Powers also remembers the disrespect and disdain with which some of her male co-workers treated her. She recalled one occasion when a well-known member of the media walked into the room and told her that women had no place in the news and that she should leave.

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Ernie was a breath of fresh air for the women who were courageous enough to meet the challenges of fitting in and who mustered the mettle necessary to demonstrate that they deserved a seat at the news table.

Ernie’s scrapbooks are a veritable “Who’s Who” of local, national and world figures, and behind each picture is a wonderful story. Anne Tetrault, Ernie’s wife of 63 years, is rightfully proud of her husband’s accomplishments and she loves to hear him talk about his news stories that impacted the community in important ways.

She is particularly proud of a story Ernie did on the plight of the homeless in Albany. In an effort to bring the harsh realities of the homeless into the consciousness of his viewers, Ernie dressed as a homeless man himself, and spent time on the street.

“When I got out there, I met a guy who was an alcoholic and he showed me the ropes of being on the street,” says Ernie.

The story resulted in a new awareness of the problem of homelessness in Albany, prompting local government and private citizens to take action. Ernie went on to help the alcoholic who had taken Ernie under his wing. The man entered a rehabilitation facility and got his life back on track. Ernie and Anne still hear from that man and his family today.

“It was a ‘first,’” said Anne proudly, adding that it made an incredible impression on local viewers.

One of Ernie’s most memorable interviews was with Dan O’Connell, known as the architect of the Democratic political machine in Albany. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

O’Connell rarely gave interviews to reporters and had never given an interview to a television news station.

Ernie recalls that his boss told him to drive up to O’Connell’s summer retreat in the Helderbergs with his cameraman and do the interview.

“I thought the station had arranged the interview ahead of time, but they hadn’t,” says Ernie. “So, I rang the doorbell.”

Needless to say, O’Connell was surprised and taken off guard to see a reporter standing at his door.

“But he let me in. We talked for a while and I said, ‘Look, I’ve got a cameraman outside – can I bring him in and we can do an interview?’”

O’Connell agreed and Ernie got the first interview for TV that was ever done about the notorious political boss.

One of Ernie’s overseas stories took him to Vietnam in 1966. He was there to interview troops from the Capital Region. He remembers one day early in the trip, he was walking down a road with a group of soldiers when there was an explosion ahead of them. The soldier in front had stepped on a land mine. After the medics evacuated the wounded man in a helicopter, the group continued walking along the road.

Feeling vulnerable and exposed, Ernie asked the soldiers why they were continuing to walk on the road, out in the open. He wanted to get off the road and into some cover.

The soldiers explained that, if they got off the road, there were trip wires strung along the sides of the road that would detonate a mine.

“All I had was my tape recorder,” says Ernie, adding that he would have felt a little better if he had been able to carry a weapon.

Ernie also spent two weeks in Saudi Arabia covering the Iraq Conflict in 1990, and he sent reports home from Israel soon after the end of the six-day war.

He has interviewed Ronald Reagan, Henry Cabot Lodge, Fidel Castro and Mario Cuomo, to name just a few.

Ernie is especially proud of the fact that he could interview Eleanor Roosevelt. That memory triggers a recollection of his meeting with Hillary Clinton when she was a NYS senator.

“I remember telling her that she was the second First Lady that I’d interviewed. She got a kick out of that,” he says with a smile.

Ernie’s other passion throughout his entire life was flying. He entered the naval air corps as a young man, hoping to receive his flight training and fly during World War II. However, the war ended before he could complete his training. But that didn’t end Ernie’s passion for all things aviation. He continued to take flying lessons, earning the money to pay for them from a paper route and working at a shoe store.

There are probably as many articles written about Ernie winning trophies for building airplane models as there are about his career in television. He was instrumental in the opening of the aviation museum at the Schenectady County Airport.

Over the years, Ernie has been the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree from The College of St. Rose, he has been inducted into the NYS Broadcaster’s Hall of Fame and he has received numerous other honors, accolades and awards. But, his best rewards are his treasure trove of memories and the continuing love, admiration and respect of his colleagues, family and still-loyal fans. A common man with an uncommon talent for telling stories that mattered, Ernie Tetrault has led a storied life of his own. SS Photo by MarkBolles.com saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

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Barbara Lombardo –

From Club Reporter to Executive Editor

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided In June 1977, the Watergate scandal was still fresh in the minds of most Americans. The field of journalism was experiencing a heyday of sorts, with reporters and investigative journalists understanding the actual might of their pens. And a young woman named Barbara Shrager (she married college sweetheart Jim Lombardo a year later) had just received her master’s degree in journalism from Ohio State University and accepted her first job as a reporter at The Saratogian newspaper in downtown Saratoga Springs. She was excited about the possibility of doing good for people as a journalist.

Thirty-eight years later, in 2015, Barbara retired from her career at the same daily newspaper where she began as a neophyte reporter. At the time she left, Barbara had been managing editor of the paper for more than 30 years and for the last two years was executive editor of both The Saratogian and Troy’s daily newspaper, The Record.

One of the many things she learned early on was how mad people can get at you while you’re doing your job. She also learned that she really could make a positive difference in the lives of the people in her community.

During her tenure with The Saratogian, Barbara worked under thirteen different publishers, starting with Linda Toohey, one of the few female publishers in the country at the time and, at 29 years old, certainly one of the youngest. Not all the publishers Barbara worked under had the same long-term commitment to the community or the same set of values or management styles. But all of them, in their own ways, taught Barbara valuable lessons that she now teaches to her journalism students at the University at Albany.

For Barbara, moral integrity and steadfast commitment to unbiased news was and continues to be something she values above all else and something she works to nurture

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in other journalists. While so much about our culture and the nature of media have undergone such remarkable – and not always positive – changes, Barbara notes that throughout her career, the journalists she has worked with put their hearts and souls into honest, balanced reporting.

Along with Linda Toohey, another publisher who made a big impact on Barbara was Monte Trammer, one of the few black publishers in the country at the time. Barbara attributes then-owner Gannett Co. Inc.’s commitment to diversity in race and gender as one reason why two of her most important mentors were a young woman and a black man.

She remembers a speech Trammer gave to his new team soon after his arrival in Saratoga Springs. It went something like, “Work hard and you can move out of this area and to a bigger news market. You don’t want to stay around here forever!” saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Ironically, Trammer remained with The Saratogian for 12 years and was, for Barbara, one of its best publishers. She recalled several stories about Trammer at a recent speaking event she gave at the Saratoga Springs Public Library.

“There was a meeting of Capital Region business people with various newspapers present. Somebody asked, ‘If we buy an ad in your paper, what do we get?’ One of the other publishers there answered that in addition to the ad they would get a story in the paper,” Barbara said.

“Monte’s answer was, ‘Our news columns are not for sale.’”

On another occasion, Barbara recalled they were doing a story about housing, and a local businessman, who also happened to be a big advertiser, had objections to a photo of a prominent home he owned being printed in the paper.

“He told Monte, if the photo was printed, he would pull his advertising from the paper. Monte replied, ‘Then, I must run it.’ I admired him so much for his integrity and his ethical standards,” Barbara said.

It was only after Trammer left the paper that the businessman began placing ads once more.

Barbara also recalled another publisher who didn’t remain for long at The Saratogian – or, in the industry, for that matter.

“In his first day on the job, The Associated Press wrote a story about one of the area’s biggest department stores discriminating against its workers. They also happened to be one of our biggest advertisers. He said to me, ‘Do you really have to run that story?’

I said, ‘Yes, and on the front page, because we are a newspaper.’ He ended up leaving the company and is now in strictly a sales position, which is a better fit for him.”

Barbara notes that the biggest challenge faced by papers today is how to make money by the way people get their news now – which is on their phones, 24/7 – and having to constantly “feed the beast.” As newspapers’ profitability has shrunk, so too have their budgets. With fewer resources available, Barbara says that covering local news has become more of a challenge for news organizations everywhere, and Saratoga is no exception.

For journalists, everything is a story. “It’s just in their blood,” she said. But, she added, “Editors must be more selective in what they choose to cover. Our readers naturally want more of the local news, especially about issues that matter to them and have an impact on their lives.”

She said that local reporters and editors are “pedaling as fast as they can in a news environment that is still competitive and no longer stops at a press deadline. The mission of doing in-depth local coverage hasn’t been abandoned by the people in the newsroom.”

One example was how, with the help of a citizen journalist, The Saratogian exposed mismanagement and overspending by the city’s public housing authority, sparking a turnover of leadership. Barbara received state and national awards for editorials and columns on this topic, but most gratifying, she said, were the changes that resulted, to saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

the benefit of taxpayers and public housing residents.

Another example of making a difference is the story of how the homeless shelter Code Blue came into being.

“I had a scrappy young reporter, Caitlin Morris, covering the city police and crime beat. One of her jobs was to regularly check the police log of service. It’s often hard to know if things on the list are news stories. After her weekend off, in frigid weather, Caitlin came into work, looked over the log and noticed an unusual ‘unattended death.’ She began investigating it and discovered that a local woman who was homeless had frozen to death on the loading dock behind the Senior Center,” Barbara said.

It became a front page story, not only about a woman who died needlessly and alone, but also about what could happen to others in a city that offered no free, no-questions-asked emergency housing. People stepped up to the plate, and Code Blue was created.

For Barbara, Code Blue remains a symbol of her fulfillment to the commitment of doing something that can make a difference in people’s lives.

“This wouldn’t have been a story at all if Caitlin hadn’t taken the initiative to investigate it. The woman’s death would’ve disappeared under the radar,” Barbara said. “That’s the answer I give when people say, ‘Why bother to have a local newspaper?’” SS

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Benita Zahn – Sharing Her Love of Screen & Stage... and Science Too!

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided

Take a healthy dose of science, mix it with a dollop of performance art and blend it together with a degree in communications and you’ve got the ingredients for the perfect career. Not for you, you say? Well, for Benita Zahn, it’s been a winning combo.

Benita originally hailed from Long Island, making her way to upstate New York as a student at SUNY Oswego. Growing up, she had a lively intellectual curiosity about science, peppered with a passion for theater and song.

So, it made perfect sense that she would major in biology, while also taking courses in theater.

However, when a college buddy suggested they take a communications class together, it peaked Benita’s insatiable curiosity and she thought, “Why not?”

“I remember it clearly. It was a lecture class and it met Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:05 a.m. My friend and I figured, ‘What the heck!’ If the class was no good, we could just sit in the back and drink coffee,” she says with a broad smile and bright, intelligent eyes.

Benita is fond of telling people – especially young people just starting out – that life doesn’t always happen in a straight line, and sometimes you may end up walking through some doors you didn’t expect to, in order to get where you were meant to be.

Communications turned out to require the kind of intellectual curiosity that was part of Benita’s scientific side, plus the performance skills she enjoyed honing in theater class. As an Honors English student in high school, her ability to articulate information in writing was also a necessary skill for success. She ended up

graduating with a degree in communications/ broadcasting and theater arts as a double major.

As her advice to others indicates, Benita’s career zigged and zagged before arriving in Albany and eventually becoming a local news “staple,” respected and admired by peers and viewers alike.

After spending a few years at Cablevision, Benita took a job in Syracuse as a news reporter. When her mother unexpectedly became ill and died a short time later, Benita moved to Albany to be closer to her family.

Benita’s first job here was Assignment Editor and, soon after, she started doing the noontime news, which she reported, produced and anchored. Wearing many hats is something that seems to come easily to Benita. But, she confided to me – borrowing from author J. K. Rowling – “During the day, I’m a Muggle and at night I’m a wizard!”

This has been especially true for Benita over the last ten years when, in addition to her considerable duties as a reporter, producer and evening anchor, she returned to school and completed both her Masters and her Doctorate. She now has a doctorate in Bio Ethics, a subject she has been fascinated by her entire life. Her special focus is on end-of-life issues and palliative care.

“It’s kind of like going to Hogwarts and putting the ‘Sorting Hat’ on your head,” she explains, borrowing from Rowling again. “The subject just kind of picks you.”

When Benita was first approached about becoming News Channel 13’s health reporter, she embraced the opportunity with both arms.

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She recalls there weren’t a whole lot of health reporters around at the time – and even fewer of them were women.

“There were some male doctors who, initially, tried to give me a pat on the head and send me on my way” she says with a twinkle in her eye.

“But, I’m not one to be pushed along. It took them a while to realize that I was here to stay.”

After muttering what she refers to as “some internal aarghs,” she went about resolutely searching for answers to her questions.

“I’m like a dog with a bone when it comes to ferreting out information,” she laughs. “I wouldn’t leave until I got the answers.”

Benita says that the nurses became her allies. They realized early on the benefits of a relationship between the fields of health and journalism and its positive impact on the television viewers.

“And they held my feet to the fire,” she adds.

“Those nurses would let me know right away if I got a medical term wrong on the air!”

Over the years, Benita has coped with many awkward, uncomfortable or downright embarrassing situations while on the air.

“There are no such things as ‘bodily functions’ while you’re doing the news live. I remember one time, I had what you might call a ‘productive’ sneeze in the midst of doing the news.”

When I asked how she handled it, she replied, “I just smiled and said ‘Let’s go to a commercial.’”

Another time, early in her career, she was filling in for the noon-time anchor in Syracuse. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

Now, if you’re like me, you’ve always thought that pile of paper the newscasters keep on the desk in front of them is just for show.

The reality is, they’re there to keep the reporter on track and reporting the news in the correct order. Somehow, Benita got her weather report mixed in with the papers as she shuffled them around. When the cue came to do the weather, she had absolutely no idea what had happened to it.

Instead of losing her cool, she just looked up from her papers and, smiling at the camera, she calmly told her audience, “I seem to have lost the forecast.”

That unflappable composure and sense of humor has also helped Benita in the pursuit of her other passions: theater and running.

Benita has appeared on numerous local and regional stages in theater productions, musical revues and, most recently, a one-woman show.

And, when she’s not “treading the boards,” she is running short and long-distance road races.

Perhaps for Benita, channeling her considerable amount of energy into things like theater and running are an effective way of coping with those times when the job of a reporter becomes one of the toughest jobs around.

September 11, 2001 was one of those moments. As with all of us who lived through the tragic events of that day, Benita remembers that time as if it was yesterday.

“On our second full day down there – Sept. 12 – we went to the armory where people were looking for loved ones. People were coming up to us with hairbrushes and toothbrushes, hoping the DNA on them would help locate their missing family members.”

“That was so immeasurably heartbreaking… you knew they were never going to hold their loved ones again.”

Despite how hard it can be to witness pain, anguish and human suffering, the importance of conveying the news in a clear, objective and impartial manner is always the most important objective. Benita calls it her compact with the audience.

“You are always a conduit of information and you try to do it with the least amount of impedances and without bias. The audience expects and deserves to hear the story as clearly as possible. My charge every day is to ask the questions the viewer wants to know – to distill it down and present the facts. I have to make sure to cross all the T’s and dot every I.” SS saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 45

The Forecast for Bob Kovachick –

Cool, Calm and Always Pleasant

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided

It’s a cloudy, cold and overcast morning as I grab by my notepad and purse from my car and hurry through the doors of the Saratoga Springs Public Library. I’m meeting Bob Kovachick in the small café inside and I don’t want to be late.

I’ve arrived first and I see that all the tables are taken. There’s a group here from Saratoga Bridges having a lively conversation. When Bob enters, one of the ladies immediately comes over, starting up a conversation with him. It’s almost as if they are resuming a chat that was interrupted earlier.

Not missing a beat, Bob responds to the woman’s questions with a playful banter and relaxed good humor. After a few minutes, we say goodbye to the lady and wander through the library in search of a quiet place for our interview. Once seated comfortably in some leather arm chairs in the Fiction section, we begin a conversation of our own.

“This may sound corny, but I was interested in weather since I was a kid, probably starting in 7th or 8th grade. I don’t know what triggered it, but I used to write down the weather every day- the high and low temperatures, whether it rained or snowed. So, in junior high school, I just began studying it. I spent a lot of time in the library.

This was long before the internet, don’t forget.”

Listening to Bob, I think to myself how funny it is that some people just seem to know what they are meant to do from the time they are young; while others spend their whole lives searching for work that has meaning for them.

I can’t help but be reminded of my recent conversation with Benita Zahn, talking about

the “sorting hat” from the Harry Potter books.

The subject just seems to choose the person. For so many of these people who have made news, weather – a public life in media – their careers, the sorting hat seems to have chosen well for them.

When it came time for Bob to enter college, He chose Linden State College in VT, where he majored in meteorology and atmospheric science. Following graduation, Bob got a job working in aviation weather from 1972 to 1977, forecasting for pilots.

“But I used to watch TV weather all the time growing up in Westchester County and I thought, ‘I’d like to try that someday.’”

So, in the late 70’s, the young aviation weather forecaster – with absolutely no TV or media experience – sent a resume and tape to Channel 10 in Albany. And, lo and behold, he got the job.

“I didn’t know the front end from the back end of a TV camera,” he says, with a good-natured smile.

Bob remained with Channel 10 for the next seven or eight years, leaving the Albany area for a two-year stint on the news in Pittsburgh before returning here.

“My wife and I both really liked the Northeast, so we came back here in 1988, and I’ve been with News Channel 13 ever since.”

“And I’m still trying to figure out Mother Nature,” he adds.

Sitting with Bob in the library, chatting about life, family, and careers, I am struck by the fact that, with this man, what you see is exactly what you get – whether he’s in front of a camera or in the middle of the quietly bustling library on a cloudy

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Wednesday morning. There is no pretense, no ego, no exaggerated sense of self-importance or impatience. Bob has a smile, a nod or a friendly hello for everyone who passes by.

As if sensing my thoughts, Bob talks about being in the media.

“I learned early on to just be yourself. Don’t try to be somebody else. People can tell when you’re not being authentic.”

He goes on to talk about his first time in front of the camera.

“I was scared to death,” he says, laughing that laugh we are all so familiar with from listening to him on the evening news for so many years.

“I remember it like it was yesterday – it was May 9, 1977 – my first day on TV in Albany --- and it was snowing! I remember saying to myself, ‘Why the heck is it snowing in Albany in May??’”

“But, like anything in life you get used to it,” he adds, referring, not to snow in May, but to being in front of a camera.

“You get more comfortable and, after a while, it becomes second nature.”

I start to think about the weather and what an important topic of conversation it is for people.

We invariably use it as a fall back when making small talk with others. Perhaps the same is true for people everywhere, but it seems to be especially important to people living in the Northeast. Whether people are complaining about shoveling snow, or they’re wondering when the streak of humidity is ever going to break, it seems that, no matter what the weather, you just can’t please everyone.

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For Bob Kovachick and his colleagues in the weather business, their job every day is to make predictions. It’s inevitable that someone, somewhere isn’t going to be happy with the way the weather works out, and I ask if people often blame him for the weather.

“Oh boy, I could tell you some stories!”

And he does, with great humor and amusement.

“People will call sometimes in March or April, and they’ll say, ‘Our daughter’s getting married on June 16th – in Latham – What are the chances of rain?’”

“They’ll ask questions it’s impossible to answer with any accuracy.”

He gives more examples.

“They’ll call on a Monday morning, saying, ‘My son has a ballgame on Sunday at 2 pm in Saratoga.’ That’s six days away! You can’t possibly predict stuff like that.”

I ask him how he responds politely to those kinds of questions.

“I tell them, ‘There’s a 40 percent chance of rain, 40 percent chance of sunshine, and 40 percent chance of clouds!’” he laughs again. “I give them my best guess – that’s all I can do.”

We talk about past winters and the one coming up.

“This time of year, they’ll ask, ‘What kind of winter will we have?’ I’ll say, ‘Well, sometimes it’ll snow and sometimes it’ll rain. Sometimes it will get cold and sometimes it will warm up!” he says, laughing good-naturedly.

He adds that, for the most part, people are generally nice. However, occasionally, he will run into someone who’s angry about the fact that it rained on their family picnic.

His honest answer in that situation is, “Sorry, I don’t control it – I just try to figure it out.”

Fortunately for Bob, that doesn’t happen very often. And, after spending even a short amount of time with him, you can see why it wouldn’t. He is both engaging, humble and has a great sense of humor, with a generous helping of patience sprinkled in.

One of the things Bob is very proud of is his ability to motivate and encourage young people who share his interest in and love for meteorology.

He speaks at a lot of junior high and senior high school career days, and he gives talks in high school science classes throughout the year.

“I’m happy to say I’ve helped guide maybe a half dozen kids who had an interest in meteorology in high school, who’ve gone on to study atmospheric science in college.”

“That makes me feel very good. Although, who knows? They may not be saying good things about me now,” he says with a smile and a shrug, referring to the heavy math and science workload involved in earning a degree in meteorology.

Bob goes on to talk about the way technology has exploded in his field and the challenges and benefits it has created.

“Years ago, when I started – and that was many years ago” – he adds with a wry grin, “we used to have magic markers and we’d draw on the local and national maps. We also wrote in the temperatures. It was very rudimentary. Then, we advanced to having stick-on clouds with Velcro on the back – sometimes they’d fall off while we were giving the forecast.”

While he admits that technology has made it more enjoyable for the viewer, he says it doesn’t necessarily make it any easier to forecast to weather.

“It’s still Mother Nature and you can’t always figure out what she’s going to do next.”

Despite the unpredictable nature of his job, Bob wouldn’t have things any other way.

“I know I probably sound corny again, but I love what I’m doing. I’ve enjoyed it since junior high. So, I’m doing my hobby as well as my job.

And I don’t think there are a lot of people who can say that.”

Just as we are finishing up our conversation, the lady from Saratoga Bridges comes back over to ask Bob, “Where’s the sun?” He answers good naturedly, “It’s behind the clouds!”

She chuckles and heads back to her group, and Bob and I head outside into the cold, gray day. I look up, thinking it’s going to rain. But, I think Bob Kovachick sees a silver lining. SS saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 47

Elaine Houston –

Finding Stories That Need To Be Told

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided Unlike many of her colleagues in the local news industry, Elaine Houston wasn’t born or raised here. When she moved to Albany from a news station in Peoria, IL in 1990, she figured – like most people in her business – she’d probably be sent to another location after a couple of years.

Twenty-seven years later, Elaine has learned how to cope with the weather, contrary to the teasing she endures from her colleague, Bob Kovachick. More importantly, she continues to make a difference in the lives of viewers by her dedication to telling the stories that don’t always get told.

Elaine didn’t think about becoming a journalist until she was in high school. However, she says that she’s been reporting the news ever since she was a young girl.

“When I look back, I see that it was always in me to do this. I would report everything I saw that was going on around me. If there was a fire down the street, I’d run in the house and

tell my mother all the details. I was probably eight at the time. But, I still had no idea yet that I would pursue journalism. And my mom thought I was just a talkative kid!”

It wasn’t until her senior year in high school that she realized her true calling.

“I graduated six months early and was looking for things to do with my time before heading off to college. I heard about a writing contest and I decided to enter it. And I won! That’s what got me going.”

Elaine got an associate’s degree in communications, followed by a bachelor’s degree in journalism. Afterwards, she went back to her home town of St. Louis and couldn’t find a job anywhere. She explains that St. Louis is a very large and very competitive market, unlike Albany, which is a smaller market and is more willing to take on reporters with little or no experience.

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She went back to school and earned another degree in broadcasting, getting jobs in Missouri, followed by Peoria and, finally, Albany.

Those of us who have followed Elaine’s career knew her first as the noon-time anchor, and now as the 5:30 p.m. news anchor. She is also a reporter, doing outstanding work in Education.

Her most recent series, “Today’s Woman,” has earned her numerous accolades and awards.

Her own story of how she became so interested in telling stories about women is a “Today’s Woman” story all its own.

It goes back to 2000, when Elaine happened to catch a weeklong series on Nightline titled, “Heart of Darkness.” It told the story of people struggling to survive amid the protracted civil war that was raging in eastern Democratic of Congo.

In that series, Elaine saw the heartbreaking stories of young girls and women being kidnapped and raped. She was particularly moved by the story of one woman – a porter saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

– whose job it was to carry people’s belongings from town to town in a tarp. Her story resonated with Elaine, and she emailed Nightline to find out how she could contact this woman.

“They said I wouldn’t be able to find her.

So, I ended up writing a book called “The Friendships Between Women” and I sent the proceeds from its sale to help women in Congo.”

Elaine is a firm believer that, when you keep seeing something, you need to start paying attention and questioning why it keeps appearing in your consciousness.

“God wants you to see and learn about things for a reason – and all of these things I’ve seen and learned about women around the world made me realize it was time to go back to school.”

She wanted to learn more about how she could continue to help women and highlight their plights, their challenges, and their accomplishments around the world.

“That Nightline series got me really interested in what’s happening to women, on both a global and a local level.”

She received a master’s degree in International Women’s Studies from the State University of New York’s Empire State College in 2009. It took her two years to complete and, during that time, she started her own production company called, Daddy’s Little Girl, travelled to Africa and produced her first documentary called “Women of Africa,” all the while working full-time as an anchor and reporter for Channel 13.

Since that time, “Today’s Woman” has become a Channel 13 news staple, airing every Thursday and spotlighting women doing amazing things throughout the region.

For Elaine, it’s a way to call attention to everything women do that is both positive and inspiring.

“How many times do we see stories about a woman whose boyfriend killed her children while she wasn’t there? Or, about a woman working as a drug mule?”

Elaine felt it was long overdue to give people an entirely different perspective on women and what they can and do achieve on a daily basis, often despite huge challenges and adversity. “’Today’s Woman” has been on the news for four years now, and I have never had a problem finding a story to cover,” says Elaine.

“These kinds of stories have always been around. They just weren’t being covered!”

She’s done stories about a woman in the Adirondacks who is a chainsaw carver. Or, there’s the story of the local hair salon that’s inspiring a national trend in dying hair called the “mermaid” phenomenon. And the woman in Schenectady who’s working to open a grocery market for lower income people who have no easy access to healthy and affordable food in their neighborhoods.

The stories run the gamut and Elaine has no intention of stopping what’s she’s doing.

Elaine embodies the adage, the more you do, the more you can do. And she doesn’t believe in waiting around for an invitation. If she wants to accomplish something, she just learns how to do it.

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Whether it’s learning videography for her documentaries – which she produces every couple of years – or building her website, www.

SheSpeaksToMe.com, which she launched in 2014, Elaine doesn’t allow herself to be limited by an inability to get things done or a lack of knowledge.

“I’ve learned how to put up pictures and I shoot my own videos – I just figured out how to do it. I sort of feel like, if you’re waiting for people to do things or you really wish there were more women in a certain field, then you’ve just got to do it yourself – you just cannot wait for someone else.”

“The more we do these things and see stories about other women, the more we chip away at the old, ingrained biases about women and the limits of their abilities. We need to start by

letting girls know when they are young. We have to show them they can write code and do other things that men typically do – because that’s how you change society.”

For Elaine, one of the best feelings is when people write to her, telling her that they loved a recent story.

“Seeing what so many women have achieved – you can’t not be overwhelmed by their accomplishments. They’re not the top news stories. But, you can have stories like this and people will like them. I have found my niche – telling the stories of other people’s lives – I’m good at that and that’s what propels me forward.”

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 49

John Gray – A Story of a Lifelong Storyteller

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided

As early as the fourth grade, John Gray knew he wanted to do something that involved writing.

Having grown up in a small neighborhood in Troy, John started writing about the local news as a young boy, and he understands the importance of giving accurate, fair and unbiased news to the community he has lived in and served for his entire career. Writing and telling stories about the people and places that are so important to him is, for John Gray, akin to walking around each day with a winning lottery ticket in his pocket.

As a high school student at LaSalle Academy, John wrote for the school paper and began honing his journalistic skills even then. From there, he attended Hudson Valley Community College for two years and was editor of its newspaper.

“During my time at Hudson Valley, I mostly focused on the journalism side of things. When I transferred to SUNY Oswego, I became totally immersed in the TV side,” says John.

Bottom line for John is, he loves telling stories and he particularly loves spotlighting the kind of everyday heroes that give people hope, joy, comfort and inspiration.

Of course, John is the first one to tell you that it’s not a glamorous job.

“When I first got out of college, I went into radio. I worked for several local stations over a four-year period, including PYX106, WGNA, and WTRY. During that time, I wasn’t making enough money to live on my own, and I went back home to live with my parents for a while.”

“But, I like to tell young people that, when I was in college, I used to think to myself, ‘If I could get paid anything for doing this kind of work, it would feel as if I’d won a Super Bowl!’”

Super Bowls and winning lottery tickets aside, John is quick to point out that you’ve got to have a real passion for this kind of work, because, in most cases, it’s not the path to fame and fortune that many young people may think.

“Lots of young people who consider entering this profession think that television will be glamorous and they’ll end up being a star,” he says with a smile.

“That gets beat out of them after about a year, when they’ve had to stand for hours outside in the pouring rain, waiting to cover a story, or they’ve sat through a meeting of the town landfill until 9 o’clock at night.”

“When they realize it’s not exactly what they thought it would be, it scares them off.”

Thirty-one years later, John has yet to be “scared off,” and he still has the same passion for writing the news and telling stories. While a lot of things about the business have changed during that time – some, drastically – what hasn’t changed is his commitment to integrity, fairness and accuracy that is the hallmark of the dedicated news professional.

As with many of the news people I interviewed for this feature, John agrees that the “waters have become muddied,” in the world of media, particularly over the last ten years or so. People have unlimited access to a 24/7 news feed, some of which is more commentary than news. And some of it is outright false.

The challenge for the news media is to remain fair, impartial and objective, and John says the consumer has a right to be skeptical of many people in today’s media. Inevitably, our conversation turns to the bruising presidential campaign and election season the entire country has recently endured.

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“There is now, I believe, too much ‘advocacy’ and not enough ‘reporting.’ There are people in the media who believe that it’s their job to decide what’s right and what’s wrong and try to act as a champion of a cause or some kind of social warrior.”

“That’s really not our job. Our job is to shine a spotlight and to be fair both ways.”

He also talks about the importance of differentiating between “journalism” and “commentary.”

When people come up to me or call me to tell me about something they heard or read, the first question I ask them is, ‘What’s your source?’”

“If it’s www.ihatedonaldtrump.com or www. lockhillaryup.com, maybe that’s not a source you should rely on.”

John continues, saying “We go to school for journalism to learn the rules that we should be playing by. There’s a lot of people out there today who don’t follow those rules. Then, people watch them on TV and say, ‘Well that’s a journalist.’ But it’s not – it’s a commentator.”

I asked John what responsible professional journalists can do to improve people’s perception of the media and guide them to understand the difference between real, verifiable news and fake news.

“The best thing you can do is set a good example.”

He goes on to talk about the recent attack on students at Ohio State University.

“There is always news that initially comes out when these situations occur that end up being wrong. When that attack happened, I would only post information and details that I could confirm.”

“I think most sensible people will appreciate saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

that – even if they don’t necessarily agree with the information that you’re giving them.

They’ll say, ‘At least he’s fair.’ You must always be fair. We are always going to have preconceived notions and inherent biases. It’s our job to be conscious of those biases that we know we have and not let them intrude on our ability to tell both sides of a story.”

Like all the other journalists and professional news people I interviewed for this story, John calls it a privilege, an honor and a huge responsibility to do his job.

He recalls being in the room when Donald Trump entered to accept the outcome of the presidential election.

“It didn’t matter whether I was at the Clinton or the Trump event that night,” he said. “What

“I had to go to the mountain, just to see the joy on his face,” he recalls.

Or, the story he did about a young guy with cerebral palsy.

“He can’t speak, so he types using his nose.

Or, there’s the story of an autistic child, whom everyone had basically written off because of the severity of his autism. One thing he could do was fold boxes. After the story came out, he got a job folding pizza boxes at an Albany pizza joint. It was something that he could do.

I love those stories,” he adds with a smile.

With a passion like his, it’s hard to imagine John Gray ever doing anything else. When I asked

him what he thought he’d be doing if he hadn’t had his career in the news, he immediately answered, “I’d probably be teaching, and I’d definitely be teaching writing.”

“Eventually, they’ll get tired of me around here and throw me out the door,” he jokes. But, regardless of where he is, John Gray will never stop writing or telling the stories people love to hear, as well as the ones they need to hear. SS

was so awesome was the fact that I was in that room, witnessing history taking place. That is something that my children can tell their grandchildren. ‘Your grandfather was in the room the night a person was elected President of the United States.’”

The thing that John enjoys most about his job is telling stories that make people happy, give them joy or inspire them. He recalls a story he told about a young man who was paralyzed in an accident, who is skiing again.

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 51

Liz Bishop –

Albany's Girl Next Door Opens Doors for Women

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided “I never even considered that doing the news or being on TV was a possibility growing up.”

It’s hard to believe, but Liz Bishop has come into our homes over the air waves for more than 40 years. She describes herself as the quintessential Albany girl. For those of us who’ve grown up with her, that’s exactly who she is.

But she’s also a trailblazer, although you’d never get her to admit that. While Liz understands full well that she was one of the first women in the country to become a television sportscaster, she is very humble and she never loses sight of the opportunities and good fortune she has had along the way.

“It was all timing, really. My whole life has been about good timing. I always want to give credit to all the things that made it possible for me to have this incredible life.”

“I grew up at a time when women were pushing for their place in the world and, because of that, somebody found a place for me. That’s the important thing. I fully credit luck, timing and a lot of determination for having lasted this long – or, for even having the chance.”

Of course, combined with that luck and timing is a generous amount of intelligence, gutsiness and a true passion for her work.

In 1973, Liz, known back then as Elizabeth, needed to make some money while attending UAlbany. As a self-confessed “tomboy,” sports enthusiast, and editor of her high school paper’s sports page, she was intrigued when she spotted

an ad in the Times Union newspaper for clerical help in its sports department.

“I applied, even though it was the early 1970s and no women anywhere in the country were doing sports. But, when you’re an 18-year-old girl, you don’t really think about things like that.”

Of course, she got the job, and part of the reason was because she was a woman. Within a few months, she was given her own column to write.

“I walked into the office one day and I had become Liz! My editor said that Elizabeth was too long. He named my column, “A Lib Look at Sports!” The move was an opportunity for the Times Union to “make some hay” by taking advantage of the novelty of a female sports writer.

The sports column was perfect for her. She always loved writing and considered herself to be good at it. Apparently, she was right because, within a few months, Liz was given an even better opportunity to write a Sunday sports column. This was a big deal in the news industry. Especially when you’re a woman.

And you’re a freshman in college.

After a few months, Liz’s column caught the attention of the news director at Channel 6, who approached her about a job. He also thought it would be a great idea to have a woman on staff doing sports. She was called in for an audition.

“I did a terrible job!” she says.

She didn’t do as badly as she thought, because she was called back for a second audition and, at the ripe old age of 19, Liz was offered a gig

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as weekend sportscaster. She went on to do the job for more than 8 years, when she was offered the position as 11pm news anchor.

After spending years convincing a lot of nonbelievers that she really did know something about sports, Liz was now faced with the challenge of convincing those same people that she knew all about the news.

While all of Liz’s mentors were males – there were few women in the industry and no women in sports broadcasting, don’t forget – she still had to cope with her fair share of sexism and opposition from both viewers and colleagues.

Liz credits those challenges and the path she chose with making her the person she is today.

“When I started out, there were probably five women in the whole country doing the sports on TV and I was one of them – there was no path! We had to create it. And, women’s liberation, in its own way, had created a tension to begin with. So, men looked at me as one more abridgment of their place in the world and they battled me. I was challenged constantly.

People wrote letters – guys saying, “Get her off the TV…what does she know about sports!’”

“I obviously had all the requisite knowledge. I just presented a real threat. But I was also just a kid, trying to build my confidence.”

For all the rivalries, challenges and put downs, Liz also had great male mentors who supported her.

“I had some of the greatest minds in local TV anywhere. They taught me everything saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

about writing, accuracy, all the fundamentals.

People like Bill Duffy, Don Decker, Ernie Tetrault and Bob McNamara – who taught me what it meant to involve yourself in the local community and be a part of that.”

She also had the unconditional love and support of her family.

“When things were really crazy and I thought I wouldn’t make it, my family was my greatest support system.”

During the mid-1970s, Liz Bishop, along with Mary Caroline Powers, Linda Jackson, Sharon Smith and Martha Ingerson became what is thought to be the first all-woman newscast in the country. The ladies had it all covered, from producing and directing to reporting and anchoring.

“Of course, the news stations put women on during the weekends, because the guys covered everything during the week,” she says with a grin.

Over the years, Liz has undoubtedly earned the trust, respect and loyalty of her viewers, peers and colleagues. And she’s managed to have a great time in the process.

“From the moment I walked into that TV studio, there was nothing else for me. And there has never been anything else since. All these years later, I look back and there was never a moment when I wanted to walk away – this is my mission, my purpose, my life.”

That doesn’t mean there haven’t been extremely hard times and difficult stories. When I asked her to talk about her most difficult or challenging story, Liz had the same reply as her counterparts from other news stations.

“There can only be one answer to that. On 9/11, I went down to the World Trade Center with the Capital District Urban Search and Rescue team. These men and women were going to help with what they thought was a rescue mission. Everything about it was so horrible. It was very hard to be a journalist and not just a person in those moments. All I wanted to do was be a person and just feel this terrible loss.”

Events like 9/11 illuminate for Liz and her fellow journalists the awesome responsibility they have to serve as the eyes and ears – to act as witness – to events that have such deep impact and consequences on everyone’s lives.

Liz also sees it as a distinct privilege to be able to bring the important stories to people and to tell them fairly, honestly and accurately.

There have also been a lot of light-hearted stories. One event stands out for her.

“It was about 15 years ago, and we had a crazier than usual winter, with freezing cold temperatures, punctuated by thaws.”

“A lot of people were falling through the ice at an alarming rate,” she continues.

She and her crew decided to do a story about it. Working with a local diving team, the plan was for Liz to walk out onto the thin ice at Lake George. When Liz invariably fell through, the team would be there to rescue her. The goal was to demonstrate to viewers how quickly a person becomes incapacitated in freezing water.

“If I’d thought about it carefully, I might not have done it!” she says laughing at the memory.

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“There I was, being filmed on camera in a full body wetsuit – not my best look to begin with.”

Gingerly stepping onto the ice, she was suddenly terrified of what was sure to happen next. And as she fell through, "that's when I started yelling for help as the cold water started to seep into my bones!"

“It was the coldest I have ever been in my whole life. Within seconds, I almost couldn’t talk, I was so cold. They’re throwing me the rope – I mean, nothing was going to happen to me- because they were all right there, But I’m yelling, ‘Get me out of here!’ I totally forgot about the camera being there.”

When I asked if her crew were kind enough to edit it for her, she responded with a resounding “No! I guess I have no shame.”

One of the things Liz is certainly not ashamed

of is her long association with Melodies of Christmas. She estimates that she has participated in the annual event, which benefits the Melodies Center for Childhood Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Medical Center, for nearly 30 years.

For Liz, having the opportunity to give back is one more thing that makes her job so special.

“Who else gets these kinds of chances? You always get so much more out of those moments than you put into them. I can’t tell you how much it means to me to stand up there with those beautiful young children, who have all fought cancer and other diseases. If nothing else makes you walk away feeling re-affirmed about life and about your purpose, this is it. What a gift! And I think, ‘Oh my God, how lucky am I that they're letting me do this?!” SS

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Mary Caroline Powers –

From Weather Girl to Woman of Distinction

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided “Oh, goodness no, there was no such thing as women in broadcasting when I first started out!”

That was Mary Caroline Powers’ rather amused response to what I immediately realized was, in fact, a very dumb question. So much for impressing a broadcasting pioneer! I would have to chalk it up to nerves. After all, here I was, interviewing a woman who helped pave the way for all the women who are in broadcasting today, some of whom take it as a “given” that they have a place on the air or in the newsroom.

Mary Caroline Powers is probably not very well known to members of generation X, who were either in diapers or heading off to the classroom when she was on TV. And millennials will undoubtedly stare blankly at you if you mention her name as a well-known local news broadcaster in the Capital Region.

But for baby boomers, who were either witness to – or part of – the struggle to carve out a niche in workplaces that were historically male-only territory, you know exactly who Mary Caroline Powers is.

Mary Caroline is as erudite as they come and, at the same time, she is as warm, open and kind as a dear friend. Starting out as an

English teacher back in the 1960’s, she had no idea her career would take such interesting – and rewarding – twists and turns. It seems like a combination of being in the right place at the right time, combined with a sharp mind, a quick wit and, in her words, the Irish ability to tell a good story. It all started soon after she returned from a trip to South America.

“I had the opportunity to travel to Peru early in my teaching career, as part of the Saratoga County Community Ambassador program,” says Mary Caroline. “One of my obligations, in return for the opportunity to travel there, was to speak about my experiences at schools and other groups.”

One of those requests came from WMHT radio, who asked her to do an on-air interview for them.

Soon after that interview, Mary Caroline received a call to do an educational TV program for local schools.

“Back in the late 60’s and early 70’s, educational television programs were being piped into the schools,” she explains. “The woman who had been doing them became pregnant and the TV station needed a replacement for her.”

“You have to remember, these were the days when Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke

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slept in separate beds. You couldn’t have a pregnant woman on TV!” Mary Caroline got the job, balancing her workload as a full-time teacher and going to school for her master’s in communication theory, while learning a great deal about scriptwriting and performing on camera.

Soon after, she received another call – this time from the woman who was her director for the educational TV program.

“Martha Ingerson was one of only three female directors in the U.S. at the time,” said Mary Caroline. “She was working as weekend news director at WRGB, and she heard they were looking for a weekend ‘weather girl.’”

If you’re thinking what I’m thinking at this point in Mary Caroline’s story, you’re probably picturing the Today Show anchor Savannah Guthrie and her colleague, Dylan Dryer, who both stayed on the air this past year until, quite literally, days before giving birth. And incidentally, Dylan isn’t the Today Show “weather girl.” She’s a meteorologist.

In addition to the title, most “weather girls” were also “tall, lovely, model-like statuesque women,” recalls Mary Caroline.

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“And here I come in for my audition, kinda short and certainly not modellike!” she says with a laugh.

She had concocted a great story for the audition, about the Mohawk River flooding and evacuations taking place in Schenectady’s Stockade area. Apparently, she and her story made an impression on the powers that be.

“I still shake my head when I remember it. They called and asked if I wanted the job.”

One of Mary Caroline’s most remarkable and poignant memories is the time she and her female colleagues made television history.

“WRGB had just hired a female reporter named Sharon Smith and there was an emergency. We didn’t have our regular weekend anchor, who was – of course – a male. They called Sharon to fill in. We also had a young intern from U Albany named Liz Bishop, and I was the weather girl. Martha was the weekend director. And the four of us took the show on the air.”

“It was the first time in the history of American broadcasting that an all-female crew had taken a show on the air!” says Mary Caroline, with a triumphant smile that I’m still seeing as I write this piece.

This may not sound like a big deal to our daughters or our granddaughters, but, in the 1960’s and 1970’s, it was huge.

The all-female team’s photo appeared on the cover of “Broadcasting” magazine and, of course, WRGB knew it had hit pay dirt.

Mary Caroline ultimately went on to Channel 10 to become a news reporter, once again defying the status quo. She had been told that viewers would never accept her as a legitimate news person, after she had been the “weather girl” for so long.

She proved her naysayers wrong and, with her long-time co-anchor and colleague, Ralph Vartigian, they went on to become one of the most highly ranked news broadcasts in the northeast. Mary Caroline continued in broadcast journalism until her mid-forties, when, in her words, she and Ralph were replaced by a “Ken and Barbie” team.

Since then, Mary Caroline Powers has gone on to be a force to be reckoned with in every position she has held. She worked for several years at The Saratogian with Barbara Lombardo, where she learned newspaper journalism and editing. From there, she was lured away by a big magazine company and oversaw the publication of three magazines.

“During my time there, I learned how to get a magazine out the door.” she says with a smile.

One of her fondest roles was as editor of a highly regarded and popular bi-partisan political magazine, the “Empire State Report.” After always being under the gun to get news reports and articles in under short deadlines, here was an opportunity for Mary Caroline to work with some of the best political writers in the state and to really delve into her topics. Now, she had the “luxury” of an entire month to do in-depth research, writing, and fine-tuning. It was this job that Mary Caroline credits with honing her critical editorial eye.

Today, Mary Caroline smiles serenely back at me from across her desk at Empire State College on Union Avenue. As Vice President of Communications and Government Relations, she is back where she began – in the field of education. But, her path has taken her through four different careers.

When I comment that she has, perhaps, reinvented herself more than pop icon Madonna, she gets a big laugh out of my little quip, responding, “I do not claim to have any knowledge of music!”

During her 16 years with Empire State College, Mary Caroline has been instrumental in facilitating the college’s growth, both academically and physically. Her work with the NYS legislature has helped the college expand its footprint throughout the region and become a leader in advanced education.

She is part of a team whom she loves and respects, and she feels so fortunate that she can make a difference in people’s lives.

“I am so lucky. At the end of the day, I can go home and say that my work helped move a person’s dream of a college degree forward. And when that degree is achieved, the quality of that person’s life, the quality of their family’s life, the quality of the community in which she or he lives, are all going to be better, and wow, you take that responsibility very seriously.” SS

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Phil Bayly – Talks About Life, Work and Play

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided “I came to Albany for a cup of coffee and I ended up loving the area.”

That’s how veteran reporter and long-time News Channel 13 early morning anchor, Phil Bayly, jokingly described to me how he ended up as a highly respected – and one of the most wellliked – media figures in Capital Region television.

Originally from Chicago, Phil’s journey as a newsman began during his college days at Colorado State University. A lifelong “snow hound” with a passion for skiing, it was only natural that Phil would choose a place like Denver when it came time to attend college.

Phil describes himself as a self-taught skier. He never had a lesson or belonged on a ski team growing up. Once he got to Colorado State, he decided to try out for the school’s racing team as a walk-on. And he made the team.

Looking back on it, Phil remembers that he didn’t always have confidence in his own ability. He describes his style as a “ski racer with a football mentality.”

Despite his lapses of confidence, he forged ahead, doing what he loves and continuing to improve his skills and expanding his terrain from slalom to excelling in the “bumps,” otherwise known as mogul skiing.

In the process, he has suffered some serious crashes and undergone four knee surgeries and one shoulder surgery. But he continues to ski and has a strong reputation in the region as one of the best skiers around. After looking at the many medals, ribbons and trophies lining the walls of his den, it’s easy to understand the passion Phil has for his sport and the energy he brings to it.

“I just didn’t feel alive if I wasn’t skiing,” he

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reminisces. We sip coffee in his “man” den, surrounded by memorabilia from his days as a reporter, as well as some “vintage” ski racing apparel. With its Adirondack feel and coziness, the room serves as Phil’s sanctuary– somewhere he comes to relax after rising in the wee hours of the morning and putting in eight or more hours of work, long before many of us have even finished our first cup of coffee and read our emails.

Phil’s passion for skiing and for excellence in general, is something that carries over to his day job – or, for Phil, it’s more like his late night/early morning job.

“You never get used to the routine,” he says.

“What I do is a ‘lifestyle.’ And, I have a saint for a wife,” he adds smiling.

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to work with some of the best people around, and the responsibility to come into people’s homes each day and give them a fair and unbiased account of what’s going on in their world.

When Phil first arrived in Albany as a young reporter covering Mario Cuomo, he assumed this would be just another of many assignment stops along his career path. That’s the nature of the news industry, with reporters going from one market to another, often ping-ponging all over the country in the process.

Phil began covering politics in Colorado, following the mercurial career of Senator Gary Hart, before being transferred to Pennsylvania.

From there, it was on to Albany and covering the elder Governor Cuomo. After being here for a while, Phil realized he was getting tired of saying goodbye to good friends.

He says that Albany was – and still is – one of the best places to cover politics, outside of Washington, D.C. “Everyone follows our lead here in Albany,” he says. “And some of the best political reporters in the state are here,” he adds.

Phil loved everything about being a reporter covering his beat, and he continued doing it in the Albany market for 13 years, resisting talk – when it came up – about becoming an anchor.

Then, when his colleague, Ed Dague, became ill, Phil began to do what he calls “some temporary shuffling around.”

He began filling in as the News Channel 13 morning anchor, and he and meteorologist Paul Caiano really hit it off very well. When Ed Dague retired after years of dedicated service,

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Phil decided to take the anchor position.

Today, he talks about the early morning team with a huge amount of respect and affection.

“Our AM shift is unlike any other,” says Phil.

One of the things he appreciates most is the level of involvement the anchor has in the whole production.

“We (he, Paul Caiano and Subrina Dhammi), look for the news we’re going to report, we write and format it ourselves. We have the privilege of working with a blank canvas every day.”

More importantly says Phil, the team all share the same fascination with news, data and information, and they also share a deep mutual respect for one another’s opinions.

“We have a real rapport,” he says. The viewers can see Phil is certainly right on that score.

Phil adds that, when he did take over the anchor position, his colleague Paul Caiano was so generous, and the camaraderie the two developed quickly led to re-formatting the entire show.

“Our producer knew that Paul and I liked to talk. But the way the show was designed, we were distanced from each other on the set.

So, they literally re-designed the set for our conversational interplay.”

When Subrina Dhammi came aboard, she brought to the program a very important female perspective. Phil says that adding Subrina to the show, “has been the best decision.”

There’s also a humility and a sense of humor that Phil and his co-anchors bring to their jobs that make their morning program such a success.

“Of course, we are here to do the news. But, there’s a point when a little levity is a welcome addition,” he says. “God bless our viewers for allowing us this time.”

Phil says he can imagine doing his job for the rest of his life, and he jokes that he’s a little shocked management has kept him around for so long.

However, he can also imagine “holing up” in his cozy den and perhaps writing a book – something he hasn’t had a lot of spare time for, between family, career and skiing.

His advice to young people just starting out in the industry, is simple, straightforward and honest – just like Phil is.

“Go to college. Don’t forget to have a great time in life, but leave the world a little better than you found it. Be fair every day and always remember who the victim is when you’re doing your job. Be kind to people. They want to tell you their story. Listen to them. Take the time to sit down with someone and talk for five minutes. Never forget the human element.”

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Steve Caporizzo –

I’m Just a Big Kid, Doing All the Things I’ve Always Loved to Do

By Maureen Werther, Photos Provided Some people search their entire lives for a defining passion. Steve Caporizzo considers himself extremely lucky because he has four passions that are an integral part of his life every day: his wife and family, his pets, going fishing and his job as meteorologist.

“I always say I am truly blessed and one of the luckiest people alive because everything I wanted to do as a child – and did as a child – I’m doing today. So, I’m really just like a big kid!”

LET’S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER. “A lot of the other meteorologists I’ve met also say their passion for the weather started very early on. For me, I was about 8 or 9 years old when I got the weather bug.”

Steve remembers the big blizzard of 1969 that buried a large part of the country, including, where he lived with his family in Massachusetts.

“I remember the snow was deeper than I was

tall. I look back on that storm, and I remember the joke was that nobody predicted it.”

That blizzard marked the start of Steve’s intrigue with storms and why they were so difficult to predict. Steve says he has always been an inquisitive person – always asking, “Why?” For him, the weather was perfect because there were always questions to be answered. “Why did it snow? What caused it to snow so much? Why do we get thunderstorms or tornadoes?”

He started borrowing books about weather from the local library. His parents were always very supportive. Of course, nobody knew where it would lead, but it became an important childhood hobby, along with the family pets – and going fishing.

CATS, DOGS …AND FISH. Steve describes his large Italian family as very close-knit. Steve’s father worked two jobs, so, the kids didn’t see a lot of him. But,

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on Saturday mornings, Steve and his dad would get up bright and early and head out with their fishing poles. It was one of the rare opportunities Steve had to spend time with his father, and he loved the camaraderie, as well as the challenge of casting a line into the water to see what he could catch.

He also loved the family pets.

“My mother was an amazing woman and she treated our pets like family. We weren’t allowed to have dogs where we lived, so we had several cats, which were showered with love and attention.”

Steve says that, while it may sound corny, the idea for Pet Connection came from watching his mother.

“We didn’t have much money. But, my mother would always do her best to help homeless pets. I remember being 9 or 10 years old, sitting at our kitchen table, watching her clean out her pocketbook. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

“Of course, it was stuffed with all kinds of things and weighed about 25 pounds,” he jokes. “But she’d be counting quarters, nickels, and I’d say, ‘Mom, what are you doing?’ Her answer was, ‘Seeing how much money I have left over at the end of the month.’ If it was a dollar, she’d put a dollar in an envelope and send it to the local humane society.”

“You don’t think much about it when you’re 9 years old. But, as you get older, you realize what she was doing. I always wonder – I don’t know if I started Pet Connection for my mom – or if I wanted to do it anyway. It was probably a combination of both. I do believe that the genesis for Pet Connection was growing up in a household that taught compassion for pets, especially for pets that are homeless.”

PREDICTING THE WEATHER. By the end of high school, Steve knew he wanted to pursue a career in meteorology. He was accepted at Linden State College in VT, who’s meteorology department is highly regarded. He knew he wanted to forecast the weather, but he didn’t know it would lead to a career on TV. “That was something that just kind of happened in college. I tried it and liked it, but I wasn’t very good at it!”

Steve explains that there are so many jobs in the field of meteorology – forecasting for the military, in aviation, the private sector, the National Weather Service.

“TV is just one small part of it, which becomes the most visible part of the weather. But, believe me, what I do is insignificant, compared to the geniuses who research weather and develop the forecasting models that people like me use in our own forecasting. The difference between those people and I is that I have the ability to communicate it to viewers. And I get to talk about something I love.”

It took a while for Steve to get good enough at communicating the weather before a TV station would hire him.

“The only reason I got to do the TV weather during college was because nobody else wanted to stay there during the summer. So, I got the job by default.”

But, with some perseverance and much-needed practice doing the weather on local radio stations, Steve finally landed his first paying job on TV in Bangor, Maine, followed by a stint in Springfield Massachusetts.

“I’m a New Englander at heart and I always wanted to stay close to my family. When you live in a big Italian family, it’s everything to you. So, Springfield was a good location, only 90 miles from my parents.”

He stayed there for four years, and the precursor to Pet Connection – Pet Corner – was started at the Springfield TV station. After finally convincing his boss that it was a good idea, he began having a pet on the news once a week.

“I believe we were the first station in the country to do a pet segment.

Today, there are about 200 of them nationwide. But, I think putting pets on TV started in Springfield.”

After four years in Springfield, it was time for a change, and Steve relocated to Albany in 1989. He celebrated his 27th anniversary here just this past year.

“Lots of good things have happened in those 27 years beside the weather. Weather is just a part of it,” he adds.

One of those “good things” is Pet Connection, which has blossomed into one of the most influential and successful regional programs for raising awareness of the plight of homeless pets and helping other organizations find good homes for abused, neglected and homeless animals.

The other “good thing” is Steve’s wife of 15 years, Lisa, who is even more passionate about homeless animals than Steve.

“She’s tireless and her passion for animals is unbelievable. She takes the animals that nobody else wants – the sick ones, the injured ones. That’s how we got involved in rescue. We take the puppy mill dogs – the ones the breeders are going to throw away.”

Steve and Lisa also have 60,000 followers on their Pet Connection Facebook page.

“Facebook is having an even bigger impact than TV these days. I can reach so many more people. I posted information about an animal I had on the show last night, and by morning it had 3,000 views and 25 applications to adopt the dog. And because of that dog, there will probably be another 8-10 dogs adopted.”

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Facebook and TV have given Steve an avenue to accomplish things that would otherwise be physically impossible, all the while, doing a job that he loves.

“Whether this job paid $10,000 or $110,000 I would do it.”

While Steve can’t imagine retiring from doing the weather, he also feels there’s another chapter that has yet to be written, which involves becoming more of a voice for animals.

“That’s my ultimate goal, to be able to focus on that.”

GONE FISHIN’.

In the meantime, Steve still relies on his passion for fishing as his outlet for relaxation.

“I love being out in nature. Even to this day, I go fishing and nothing else matters, except casting that fly. Trying to fool that fish into biting, then reeling him in, getting a picture of it and releasing them so they’re ok.”

“Now, if I could only get paid for fishing too!” SS

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cturally

SPEAKING

Follow us as we explore some of the area's unique spaces...

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WRITTEN BY DAVID DELOZIER, PHOTOS BY RANDALL PERRY

Contemporary Serendipity

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Many of us have an idea of what the “perfect house” would be to fit our lifestyles and tastes. We peruse real estate magazines, search online for availability in the locales we are interested in, and perhaps even drive around looking for that ideal match of address and style. All too often, however, this search can lead to disappointment; what is currently on the market does not match our criteria, and the search goes on, or, we find “the one” home that fits the bill, but it is not for sale. Being that it is the perfect home, why would the current occupants ever want to move? Waiting for those people to decide to sell may take years. “Arghh! It’s our house, and somebody else lives in it!” you exclaim in exasperation.

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SUCH WAS THE DILEMMA for Ralph Vincent and Steven Galime, partners who wanted to share a life together in their perfect home. They had an image in their minds of what it would look like, and how the interior would complement and accentuate their personalities and tastes. It’s a contemporary design; it would be modern, spacious, funky and glamorous.

And this perfect house would of course be in their zip code of preference, that being the 12866.

The problem was, the Contemporary style home is a rare type in Saratoga Springs. The city is well known for its stately Victorians and Colonials, but Contemporaries? It would be like finding a needle in a haystack. To their luck, Ralph and Steven did find their needle – in fact a cluster of needles, while on the Saratoga Soroptomist Garden Tour a few years back.

A HOUSE FINDS ITS NEW OWNERS Their travels took the couple to the east of the city, where the Knoll Spring Park neighborhood happened to have several Contemporary style homes within.

Built in the 1980s by Robusto Construction, this neighborhood was cutting edge at the time, and the Contemporary style was all the rage. And there in the center of the neighborhood, tucked within the forested grounds, was IT. The perfect house! It had the “H” style split, shed roof line with contrasting perpendicular center section that Ralph and Steven had etched into their minds as their favorite. It was the one. But, it was not for sale.

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Sometimes in life, if the stars align the right way, we can get what we want. For Ralph and Steven, that improbable alignment did occur a mere two days later, when Ralph got a surprise while looking at the real estate listings on his tablet. “Steve, the house we like is up for sale,” he exclaimed. First there was disbelief, then a burst of joy. A call to their realtor got them in to see it the next day. The normally chatty couple was silent throughout the walkthrough. The realtor, a bit taken aback said, “you two haven’t said a thing,” wondering if something was wrong. “Of course we have to buy it!” Ralph burst out. Steven, not one to act impulsively, suggested they at least think about it for bit. Five days later, the deal was done.

A 1980’S MODERN DESIGN BECOMES A CLASSIC FOR THE NEW MILLENNIA So what were the characteristics that made this home perfect for Ralph and Steven? The pair loves the contemporary clean vibe going on in every part of the house.

The main entrance opens up to the great room, effectively splitting the house in half, bedrooms to right, dining room, kitchen and garage to the left. For visitors who have traveled in from afar, the very roomy convenient half-bath near the entrance provides relief and a visual introduction

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of what’s to come – a vessel sink atop a floating granite vanity shouts “modern chic.” The term “great room” aptly applies to what comes next. The ascending ceiling framed with rustic barn beams leads the eye to the massive floor to ceiling stone fireplace. The “sunken” living room seating area in front of the fireplace welcomes conversation and cocktails. The opposite side of the stone fireplace is the more informal family room – the massive fireplace acting as the wall between the two spaces. This is also the connector room for kitchen and the master suite. Large windows and a sliding glass door provide a direct connection to the parklike backyard.

cabinets and countertop are narrow windows, so that when sitting at the island, one can see directly outdoors.

The built-in pantry cabinetry and Sub Zero refrigerator form seamless lines around the perimeter lending to the tight, clean look and feel. A hallway leads to a half bath and the garage, creating a nice functional flow for the daily entry and exit patterns. The dining room just off the foyer boasts the original custom chandelier installed by the original owners. Its novel descending “S” curved flow of hanging crystal glass was custom designed for the home by an artisan in Venice, Italy. The heavy fixture required extra reinforcement in the ceiling to support its weight.

The open kitchen design has a unique angled island with glass cooktop and two seating areas at the ends, which makes an ideal social foodie hangout. Between the wall

To the right of the great room, a steel-banistered open tread staircase leads to the guest quarters. An open loft provides access to two bedrooms, and delivers an

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elevated view out onto the sunken living room and massive stone fireplace. The sense of depth and breadth from this perch is quite dramatic.

Below the guest quarters are the secluded private office and master suite. These are the more intimate spaces in the home, yet still spacious and warm.

The master bath, updated in the mid-2000s, has modern room fixtures, complete with full glass shower and a bidet reminiscent of the 1980’s modern style. The master bedroom has glass door access to the back deck and yard, and a doorway leads into the family room which connects to the kitchen, making for a very functional flow pattern for daily life and an easy navigation for the men’s cherished King Charles Cavalier pups.

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A PLACE TO ENJOY, SHARE, AND ADMIRE For Ralph and Steven, the home is a constant pleasure.

The pair enjoy throwing parties, and their lucky guests fall in love with the place too. A frequent comment is that the home is not overwhelming, but welcoming and intimate. The party flows from space to space, yet is never fractured. Sometimes on a long summer’s eve, Ralph and Steven will go out into a corner of the yard with a cocktail to sit and just look at the house and the forested canopy that it sets within, marveling at the design from different angles.

CONJOINING THE PAST THE PRESENT When serendipity strikes, it can bring additional surprises.

That certainly rings true for Ralph and Steven upon finding their perfect home. As it turns out, the pair was able to reach out to the original owners of the home, Richard and Elsie Pilarski, so as to get a better feel for its history. With such a unique home as this, there is bound to be common ground, and the original and present owners have become virtual friends through their mutual love of the place. The Pilarskis are thrilled to have someone else appreciate the home as much as they did, and to breathe new life and energy into it. SS

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ENTERTAINING Made Easy!

WARM, WINTER, MAKE AHEAD MEALS...

Jambalaya with Turkey Sausage • 1 pound of hot turkey sausage

• 1 tablespoon paprika

• 1 pound of chicken breasts, boneless/skinless

• 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

• 1 pound of cooked, frozen shrimp, thawed

• 3/4 teaspoon cumin • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

• 1 large green bell pepper

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

• 1 sweet onion, small

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 16 oz. chicken broth

• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

• 1 – 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes

• Rice

1. Remove the casings from the turkey sausage, break it up and 2.

3.

4.

5.

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7.

8.

cook it in a large sauce pan until it is fully cooked. Continue to stir and break up the pieces throughout the cooking process.

While the sausage is cooking, cut the chicken into small bite size pieces and add them into the pan with the sausage and cook.

Wash, remove the seeds and dice the pepper into small pieces.

Remove the outer layer of the skin of the onion and finely chop it.

Add the peppers & onions to the chicken and begin to cook them, but not all of the way; they should still have a little natural crispness to them, as they will finish cooking in the juices of the jambalaya.

Add the thawed shrimp to the mixture (make sure the shell & tail are removed).

Add the diced tomatoes and chicken broth. Stir everything together. Add the paprika, cumin, cayenne pepper, black pepper, salt, garlic powder & onion powder. Again, stir everything together.

Cover and bring the entire dish to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for at least a half an hour.

Optional: Kick up the heat with a pinch of cayenne pepper!

Double the Mix: I make this in duplicate, serve half over rice for dinner. Let it cool & freeze the remaining tomato base part of the jambalaya for another quick meal that can be thawed & warmed.

But, don't freeze it with the rice...it's always better with fresh rice.

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HI, I’M JODIE FITZ! I’m so excited to be sharing some of our family favorites with the readers of Simply Saratoga magazine!

I have spent the last six years traveling in SIX (!) states cooking with kids & families…

I can relate to the BUSY COOK : ) As my recipe collection continues to grow, I am starting to share some of the recipes that you will find at our house for meals…

Enjoyed by both family… and friends!

I am always experimenting & creating tasty bites, finding the simplest way to do it & love sharing great flavor and time saving finds along the way.

Chicken Soup to Warm the Soul • • • • • • • • • • • • •

3 1/2 pounds of boneless chicken thighs 1 pound fresh carrots 1 cup of sliced celery 1/2 sweet onion Chicken broth (if needed) 1 tablespoon parsley 1 1/2 teaspoons salt 1 teaspoon onion powder 3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder Water 8 oz. pasta (I use the rings) or brown rice

1. Place the chicken in a large sauce pan and fill it with water 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

so that it's approximately one inch above the meat.

Bring the water to a boil, cover and cook the chicken fully.

Remove the chicken and let it rest for about 15 minutes before dicing it and returning it to the liquid.

Peel & slice the carrots. Add them to the broth.

Remove the skin & finely dice the onions.

Add the onions to the broth.

Chop up the celery & add it to the broth.

Add the parsley, salt, onion powder, poultry seasoning, pepper & garlic powder to the soup. Bring the soup back to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer on medium-to-low for approximately 30 minutes. Stir occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Add chicken broth as needed to the soup.

Note: Depending on the amount of broth needed, you may need to adjust the spices slightly. While the soup is simmering, the veggies are cooking in it & the spices are releasing their flavors, cook the pasta separately until al dente, drain and cool. Add the pasta just before serving.

Or, pre-cook the rice if you are using that, before adding it.

Note: If you want to freeze this recipe, I recommend making it without the pasta (or rice) and freezing it and then cooking and adding the pasta -fresh -when you are ready to thaw, heat & serve.

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WRITTEN BY MEGIN POTTER, PHOTOS BY ALICE COREY PHOTOGRAPHY

Meet the Cook Who Uses

this Kitchen

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JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2017 | SIMPLY SARATOGA | 75

...in the

kitchen

with Alice Corey

“

People are the lifeblood pumping into the heart of Alice Corey’s home.

Her modern farmhouse kitchen, with a large island at its center, is the nucleus at which her social, family, and work lives all rotate.

We eat here every night, play, and do homework here.

Everything happens here,” she said.

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Family Togetherness Learning early-on that one of the best ways to bring people together is with food, when she was a teenager, Corey began cooking and serving her parents elaborate dinners.

Today, she captures the strong bonds of family life in her photography and charity work, while maintaining her degree as a N.Y.S. Registered Nurse.

“One of my favorite things to do is to bring people together. I’m just a people person,” she said.

Five years ago, Corey worked with Curtis Lumber to design her family’s rural Ballston Spa home. Transforming the formal dining room space into an at-home office lets her work while also watching her two daughters, Madeline Colleen, 7, and Amelia Ives, 4. In addition to teaching her kids how to cook, there are also items, such as art supplies and playdoh, quickly available within the traditional dark cherry cabinets, to keep them happily entertained.

“There are lots of special little nooks and crannies,” said Corey about the organizational aspects within the space. The cabinetry incorporates space for cookie sheets, simplified pots and pans storage, and spice racks.

Spreading the Warmth Organization is important because finding exactly what she’s looking for easily is vital when there is a lot going on.

In addition to the traditional ovens, there is also a speed cook oven, and a dual fuel range offering the even heat of electric without sacrificing the precision control of gas.

“It gets very messy in here when I cook, it looks like a bomb went off,” she laughs. Her husband Mike helps with the cleanup, but his real passion is in wine-making, she said.

Importing grapes from all over the world for his hobby, they have an impressive 600 labeled bottles stored in their cellar.

In addition to pairing meals to go with the wine selection, during the winter, Corey shares the warmth by serving comfort foods including beef stew, and Italian dishes. One of the family’s favorites is jambalaya made with fresh herbs, but Corey also likes to add variety to the menu with recipes from her Better Homes & Gardens Cookbook, and Food Network Chef Bobby Flay.

“I love cooking. I love to mix it up,” she said.

When walking onto the hickory hardwood floors of Corey’s kitchen, she wants people to feel like they are not a guest.

“I want them to feel really at home. Anyone is welcome to open up the fridge. Our house is your house,” she said. SS

For more information about Corey’s Photography, including the Angel Project, her free infant bereavement photography, go to www.AliceCoreyPhotography.com . saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

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Cardinal

Winter Visitors

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY

PETER BOWDEN

DURING THE GREY DAYS OF WINTER,

we spend a lot of time hunkered down indoors. For the gardener, there are seed catalogs arriving in the mail to help us dream of and plan for the season ahead. We enjoy our houseplants and lavish attention on them thankful for their quiet, green comfort. Signs of life are precious when the days are short and cold.

Nothing brings more joy on a winter day than watching the wild birds flitting and darting to and from your now abandoned flower beds. The brave little birds that stay with us through winter are sure to lift your spirits with their lively ways. Chickadees, titmice, juncos, blue jays, nuthatches, woodpeckers and the beautiful red cardinals are all welcome and regular visitors To get the most enjoyment out of your winter visitors make sure you invest in a good bird feeder. It is better to buy a good one that the squirrels can't destroy than to keep replacing cheaper ones...in the long run a good feeder is less expensive.

To endure winter’s unrelenting cold, winter birds need to stay active.

Calories and protein fuel this activity. The trick to attracting birds is to provide calories and protein in forms that they prefer. Black oil sunflower is grown almost exclusively for wild bird feeding. I’ve found that the smaller black oil sunflower kernels are more easily handled by chickadees and other small birds. The second most important food for wild birds is fine cracked corn. Cracked corn appeals to ground and platform feeding birds like cardinals, doves and juncos. When you shop for cracked corn, be sure you get FINE cracked corn. Medium or coarse cracked corn is too large to be beneficial to small wild birds. White millet is also a good source of protein and adds variety to the birds’ diet.

Chickadee

Tufted Titmouse

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Red-Bellied Woodpecker

Birdseed is most often purchased in a blend. There are dozens of blends on the market. Usually the one with the cutest name or prettiest bag is the most popular. Be aware that many blends contain “filler” seeds that no birds eat. The most common “filler” seeds are red millet and milo. Their red color increases their “eye appeal” to the humans that buy it. Learn to ignore fancy bags and cute names.

It’s more important that the blend appeals to the birds than to you.

I like to mix the premium seed blends with an equal amount of Black Oil Sunflower since birds will pick through even the best blend to get the extra sunflower seed (which is their favorite by far).

Suet, or rendered animal fat, is always available at my feeding station. It is VERY high in calories. Best of all, it attracts creeping birds like nuthatches, woodpeckers and flickers. During the coldest days the suet disappears quickly as the other birds take advantage of the quick calories suet provides. I like to keep a few cakes in the freezer as a backup.

Make sure you clean your bird feeders regularly and place your feeding stations where you can see them. Since you are buying all the seed and faithfully filing the feeders, you deserve to enjoy the show! It is also nice to have a tree or shrubbery nearby. After the birds visit the feeder, they’ll flick to the nearest branch to peck away at their treat. This keeps them in close viewing range, making the show that much better. Sometimes when I approach the window slowly, I can catch a view of wild turkeys that come to take advantage of any seed that drops to the ground... What a treat!

THANKS FOR THE READ.

SS

White Throated Sparrow

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2017

Save the

Date JANUARY - FEB R UARY

Compiled by Christa Caimano Winterfest...

is a popular annual event in Saratoga Springs, bringing the spirit of winter to the Spa City with a week full of live music, special events, great entertainment–and, of course, Chowderfest!

Winterfest runs the week of February 3 - February 12, 2017 Each year the festival draws crowds of people excited to attend the annual festival and the great events it brings to the Spa City. The week includes a beer sampling, Chowderfest and much more! There will be all kinds of fun and entertainment going on throughout the Spa City all week long.

For more information: www.Saratoga.com

SATURDAY, JANUARY 21ST 2017 Cabin Fever Luncheon

Saratoga National Golf Club, Saratoga Springs The annual Cabin Fever luncheon put on by the Soroptomist International of Saratoga County (SISC) is the winter event not-to-miss! The money raised from these events helps fund the lives of women and children locally, nationally and internationally. This year’s keynote speaker is Mrs. Kasey Mathews. Mrs. Mathews is a writer, teacher and US Congress Advisor. For more information, call 518.581.1201 ext. 4184 or E-mail cabinfeverinfo@gmail.com

SATURDAY, JANUARY 28TH 22nd Annual Frost Faire

Saratoga National Historic Park, 11am-3pm 648 Route 32, Stillwater Snow, or no snow…come enjoy the 22st annual Frost Faire.

If there’s snow, bring your snow tube or plastic sled for spectacular rides on the “Big Hill.” If there’s no snow, you can still enjoy wagon rides, a winter nature trek, guided snow shoeing, winter tracking, Native American storytelling, games, plus hot chocolate and cookies by the bonfire.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 4TH Chowderfest

Downtown Saratoga Springs 11am-4pm Come enjoy samples of Chowder from 50 restaurants in Saratoga.

Once you taste them all, you can vote for your favorite. Bring your Photo by John Seymour furry friend for a bowl of chowder just for them.

For more information, visit www.discoversaratoga.org. saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com

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Photo by Andrze j Pilarczyk

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 5TH 18th Winterfest 5K Snowshoe Race Saratoga Spa State Park, 12pm

Come one, come all, to Saratoga’s Annual 5K snowshoe race! Have fun while getting exercise with your friends and family during this race. If no snow is on the ground, it may be turned into a trail race. Lunch and t-shirts are provided for those who register. Loaner snowshoes are available.

For more information, email lclark@sals.edu.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10TH Saratoga Frozen Springs Classic Pond Hockey Tournament Saratoga Spa State Park

Games begin on Friday and continue to Sunday. 60 teams will compete in 4-on-4 round robin style games all weekend long. In addition to the hockey action, downtown Saratoga Springs will play host to a variety of events at various bars and restaurants for hockey fans to enjoy.

For more information, visit www.saratogafrozenspringsclassic.com

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 11TH Annual Moonlight Ski and Snowshoe at Camp Saratoga Camp Saratoga, 6pm-9pm Scout Rd., Wilton

Join us at the popular and highly anticipated Annual Moonlight Ski and Snowshoe at Camp Saratoga on Scout Road. Luminaries will glow along 2.5 miles of groomed trails. Along the way you will find fields and forests, warming bonfires and plenty of hot chocolate. The terrain is suitable for all levels and ages and includes a smaller 1 mile loop. Participants can drop-in anytime during the evening, no registration is needed. Snowshoes and crosscountry skis will be available on a first-come first-serve basis and rentals cost $5.. This event is weather permitting.

For more information call: 518-450-0321

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20th Annual Bartender’s Ball

Saratoga Springs City Center, 6:30-Midnight The Bartender’s Ball is a premier social event of the season. Including dinner, dancing and non-stop musical entertainment provided by the Grand Central Station Band, it is the party to be at! This year’s theme is Anchors Away, dress to impress as a sailer… For information and reservations - call 518-583- 0280

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 17TH The Flurry Festival

Saratoga Springs City Center Friday 7pm-1am, Saturday 9am-1am, Sunday 9am-9pm The Flurry is well known as the best winter weekend ever for dancers and music lovers of all ages, featuring more than 300 performers.. Events this year will include a huge lineup of programs for families with young children, many new and exciting programs, and all ages fun with international music and dance events, non-stop swing and contra dancing, jamming and music instruction, storytelling and more. For more information, call (518)384-3275 or visit www.flurryfestival.org

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21ST- 25TH Saratoga Beer Week Downtown Saratoga

Join us as we celebrate BEER. Purchase a passport to get you into every event over the five day period or just a one day ticket to the Saratoga Beer Summit at the City Center. Many events and dinner tastings to take place over the five days!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 1ST- 12TH Wicked

Proctors Schenectady This Broadway sensation tells the story of what happened in The Land of Oz before Dorothy arrived. Wicked is a remarkable musical that brings the audience into an unlikely friendship between the “good” and “bad” witches of Oz. For more information, please visit www.proctors.org.

SATURDAY, MARCH 4TH SPAC Winter Ball

Hall of Springs, 108 Avenue of the Pines, Saratoga Springs An elegant cocktail party where the Hall of Springs is transformed based upon the annual theme, featuring live music, themed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails. Now in its 6th year, this fabulous event has quickly become a must attend winter event in the capital region. For tickets or more information, visit www.spac.org or call (518)584-9330.

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looking for some family fun?

go tubing!

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