Vibe Check: Baller Dream Foundation's Midsummer Night Party
Plus: Three more Thursday evening happenings, how Saratoga Race Course attendance compares to other New York sporting events and more.
Usually, a party in a backyard is more of a casual event, to which you’d wear shorts and a T-shirt, expect to eat hot dogs and maybe even BYOB. But in the case of the Baller Dream Foundation’s annual Midsummer Night Party, which was held for the second year in the backyard of Augie’s owner Augie Vitiello’s Saratoga home, the private locale actually elevated the affair. And everyone came dressed accordingly.
I arrived unfashionably right on time to an empty yet gorgeous backyard, festively decorated in blue and yellow balloons. Arthur Gonick was, obviously, there, as were reps from One With Life Tequila and Pick Six Vodka. The first non-media/non-working guests to arrive were Nicole Wilson and Jennifer Hendricks-Fogg of the Logan Strong Foundation, another local childhood cancer charity. Jennifer, the organization’s president, recently published a book titled Tiny Miracles about her son Logan’s brain cancer diagnosis.
Following them was a small but mighty crowd of BDF supporters, some of whom were in town for this weekend’s Dave concerts, and others who were friends/family of Alessandra Bange-Hall, the chair of the event, owner of Piper Boutique and a cancer survivor herself. Downtown business owners Heidi Owen West of Lifestyles, Caroline & Main and Union Hall; Natalie Sillery of Saratoga Trunk; Lisa DiCarlo of Posh Brows and Beauty; and Sandra Fox of Sensory Six were there, as were Tom and Kristie Roohan and social media personalities Danielle Riley, Daniel Bower and Ashley Salvadore, who I count in this category because I followed her on Instagram before meeting her in person. (She is responsible for the design of the Barbie Dream House greenhouse at The Yard.) You can weigh in on whether you think the dress she wore to the party is covered in flowers or eggs on Instagram. “It’s a breakfast bonanza,” she said after explaining that her boyfriend saw eggs where she had seen white and yellow flowers.
Given this week’s Live Nation lineup and the fact that Baller Dream Foundation literally grew out of a Dave Matthews Band pregame—the annual Ballsfest tailgate is happening today from 2-6pm at the Spa State Park’s Columbia Pavilion—concerts were on the mind. “That lawn is going to be filled with 19-year-old girls in boots,” someone said about Thursday evening’s sold-out Morgan Wallen show, which had backed up Route 50 all the way to the south end of Ballston Spa. “What?” Oswego-based pipe fitter Terry Deary said, not understanding the hype surrounding the mulleted country star. “He’s singing about smoking cigarettes and kissing his sister.” Alessandra’s mom, Clare, got on the topic of a Luke Bryan concert her daughter had brought her to previously. “I don’t know the words to the songs,” she said. “He looks great in his jeans, but this concert is lost on me.” When I asked Danielle and Daniel, who live in Rochester and Thousand Islands, respectively, if they were “Dave people,” they looked at me like I was crazy. “That’s like asking if Frank is a Dave person,” Daniel said.
For those who don’t get that reference, Daniel was talking about Baller Dream Foundation founder Frank DeBlasi, who, as I mentioned, started the nonprofit at Dave Matthews concerts at SPAC. Frank is a testicular cancer survivor himself—hence the name Ballsfest—and served as the program’s host, interviewing two “Ballers” who were honored that evening. “I had my parents, I had resources, I had friends—I had everything going for me when I was sick,” Frank said when welcoming the crowd. “But there are so many young adults and children that didn’t have what I had. So I said, ‘Frank, if you get through this, you’ve got to do something for young adults and children battling all forms of cancer.’ And I decided to create a nonprofit foundation. But instead of calling them patients, we’re going to call them Ballers.”
The honored Ballers were 6-year-old Amelia Manetta, who lost her right arm in after doctors found a growth last year, and 21-year-old RPI student Haibo Ma, who spent a full half of 2021 in the hospital. (BDF serves young adults under the age of 30; Frank was 29 when he got his diagnosis.) Frank brought each Baller up for a “roast,” sharing fun facts about them, both good and bad. Amelia likes her mom’s chicken alfredo without the broccoli; wants to be a ballerina, painter or horseback rider; and has a very messy bedroom. She was gifted a three-level play set for her Catskill backyard. Haibo, on the other hand, came to the US from China when he was 15, without his parents. He’s studying to be an aviation engineer, doesn’t know who Marilyn Monroe is, and is unimpressed with both Uber Eats and USPS. At the end of his roast, which was considerably roastier than young Amelia’s, he got a choice in gifts: a trip to Disney, or a trip to the Boeing headquarters. He chose Boeing—'“Why am I even thinking about this?” he said—before Frank decided he deserved both. “I need $2,000,” Frank said to the crowd. Not a second later, a hand in the back shot up.
“Someone smarter than me once said, ‘Those who reach down to help someone stand tallest,’” Augie said to the crowd. “And I’m looking at a room”—a.k.a. backyard—”full of giants.”
—Natalie
Quote of the Week
“I like their pizza but I hate their guts.”
—Overheard at Cantina
Three More Thursday Happenings
1. The aforementioned sold-out Morgan Wallen show
2. Kathleen Maeve’s Sip & Shop event at The Adelphi
3. Boca Bistro’s Dreaming Tree wine dinner
It was a packed house at Boca Bistro, which pulled off a dreamy Dreaming Tree wine dinner in honor of Dave Matthews weekend (Dave owns the winery). Admittedly, I went because I’m a sucker for a good theme party and thought this one was so impressive that I wished I thought of it myself. Afterwards, was I glad I went? Heck yeah! The five courses kicked off with a bright ceviche and roasted pork belly with…oh, who cares—it was roasted pork belly. There was also melt-in-your-mouth buttermilk fried chicken topped with jalapeño, steak accompanied by a perfectly charred poblano pepper that screamed “summer,” and a perfect panna cotta, which happens to be my favorite dessert. Michael Nowicki did a great job introducing the wines—including being a good sport about all of the Dave jokes yelled out by the jovial crowd. Guess they love a good theme party, too. Or they just love Dave. To them, the delicious and decadent five-course meal was perhaps sweet like candy to their soul, the wine pairings like drinking a hope to happy years. (Make it stop!) Eat, drink and be merry, Saratoga…OK, I’m done. For real.
—Abby
Opening Week Musings
Saratoga County Chamber shared this post comparing the Saratoga racing season to the home games of New York’s most popular pro sports teams. The infographic speaks for itself.
Save the Date
Join Saratoga Living and jockey John Velazquez for an after-races party at The Horseshoe on Wednesday, July 20 from 6-9pm! There will be complimentary dinner provided by the Shoe, beer tastings, cash bar, lawn games, raffles and a meet-and-greet with Johnny V, the cover star of our soon-to-be released “The Races!” Issue. Get your tickets here.
This Week in Saratoga Living After Hours:
On Monday, we asked readers to find three missing Fourth of July links.
On Wednesday, we explored what goes into the naming of local craft beers.
And on Friday, in a special paid-subscribers only bonus post, we took SLAH’s most ardent fans on a journey to Shakedown Street, the traveling pre–jam band vendor fair that continued on in full force, despite Dead & Co cancelling their Saratoga show.
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