Vibe Check: Capital Region Gives Back
Honoring 10 local do-gooders, holiday #shoplocal opps, and the Triple Crown heads to the Spa...Officially.
It didn’t take long for Wednesday night’s Capital Region Gives Back fundraiser, presented by Rotor-Matic Plumbing & Drain Solutions and thrown by Saratoga Living and Capital Region Living sister magazines, to turn into an Amsterdam reunion.
“We’re going to get in trouble tonight,” said funeral director Marty Hughes, as he gathered around the bar with a slew of his hometown buddies, including honoree Tom Politi; honoree Ray Gawlak; Capital Region Living designer Steve Teabout; Veterans Time to Thrive founder David Mendez, who I thought was the mayor of Amsterdam; and the actual mayor of Amsterdam, Michael Cinquanti. (I even let David take home one of our giant decorative martini glasses that was filled with Christmas ornaments for him to drink out of on New Year’s Eve because, well, I thought he was the mayor.)
While the Amsterdam contingent congregated at the bar, a squad from Palette and Bright Sighted Media took up residence in front of Hannah Lux Photography’s DIY photo booth. The non-Amsterdam honorees stood with their supporters, including past honorees Ramón Domínguez, Jeff Yule and Rachel Hye Youn Rupright, there for the New York Race Track Chaplaincy, Bring on the Spectrum and the NYOH Community Cancer Fund, respectively. Other guests sipped on BeatBox party punch cocktails from Saratoga Eagle and filled up on dinner by West Ave Pizza and dessert by Bella Napoli.
Marcella Hammer and husband Jean Ducrot looked dashing—and dancing and prancing?—in their matching blue candy cane dress and jacket, outdoing even Kim and Leigh McConchie, who are known for their matching outfits. (I cut Kim and Leigh some slack though—they were late to the party because they were waiting for a refrigerator to be delivered.) Honoree Rayn Boncie also dressed to impress, rocking a dark blue, floor-length gown that she kept hiking up to show off her platform heels, which had a clear compartment on the bottom filled with candy.
Elsewhere, honoree Isabelle Franco was trying to get her mom to stand up for a photo. “C’mon, you’re my date,” she said. “My boyfriend’s not here.”
As her mom stepped into the frame she turned to me and deadpanned: “We’re sisters.”
As emcee Mark Mulholland of NewsChannel 13 prepped for the program, asking Abby and me how to pronounce each of the honorees’ names, he told us a story: When he was growing up, he read in church, and one day asked the priest how to pronounce Ephesians. The priest, who Mark said had a good sense of humor, looked at the word and said, “I’m not sure—just cough. That’s what I do.”
“He did cough a lot,” Mark said, laughing.
As Mark introduced each honoree, they were presented with gorgeous bouquets by Samantha Nass Floral Design and lined up on the Putnam Place stage. Mary Beth McGarrahan from Franklin Community Center ended up raising the most, and will have her funds raised matched by Empire Media Network (our parent company). Before the honorees could rejoin their friends and family, though, honoree Lisa Audi organized and filmed an impromptu on-stage dance party to kick off Bring on the Spectrum’s “Dance in Advance” initiative ahead of their New Year’s Eve “Friend-raiser” event.
DJ Eric took it from there, playing tunes that reminded Christine O’Donnell of Jock Jams. “Do you want to dance?” Saratoga Living’s Terese Russell asked me, hopeful. “I don’t get out much.”
As the party thinned out, the Amsterdam crew remained. “This whole story started in a bar,” Tom said of how he first found out about Veteran’s Time to Thrive. “Let’s keep the story going.”
—Natalie
Thank you to all who helped make the 5th annual Capital Region Gives Back event a success, including Rotor-Matic Plumbing & Drain Solutions, West Ave Pizza and Chicken, Saratoga Eagle, Bella Napoli, Samantha Nass, DeCrescente Distributing, Swifty’s Restaurant and Pub, New York Oncology Hematology, Stuyvesant Plaza, Old Daley, NYRA, Amadore Homes, Alexis Diner and E. Stewart Jones.
See the rest of Hannah Kuznia’s photos from the evening here.
Photo of the Week
This horse wreath caused quite a stir on Facebook Group What’s Going on Saratoga? this week. Where to get one for your Saratoga home? Commenters suggested Olde Saratoga Home & Garden, Dehn’s Flowers, Fogg Hollow Farm and Facebook Marketplace.
Triple Crown Comes to Town
Undoubtedly, this week’s biggest Saratoga news came when Governor Kathy Hochul officially confirmed that the 2024 Belmont Stakes would be run at the Spa on June 8 while Belmont Park undergoes construction (that will likely continue through the 2025 Belmont Stakes). In addition to the change of venue, the race will be run at a distance of 1 1/4 miles instead of the usual 1 1/2, and the purse will increase from $1.5 million to $2 million. The third leg of the Triple Crown will be part of four days of racing that will include a total of 23 stakes races; the rest of the Belmont meet will be held at Aqueduct Racetrack. The Capital Region’s hospitality industry is already feeling the heat: “My friends are already dealing with hotel costs rising,” Delmar’s Tracy Momrow says. “They’re trying to book for the Siena reunion the same weekend.”
To Do Today
This weekend, Saratoga Arts is hosting a winter wonderland vendor fair featuring the work of 30 local artists and artisans who will be selling their wares at the downtown arts hub. The art fair runs from 10am-4pm today and and 10am-2pm tomorrow and will include a winter mural painting kids activity, warm beverages and sweet treats.
Across town, the Beekman Street Art District is also hosting a #shoplocal event: a holiday open house that will feature refreshments and festivities in shops and studios all down the street.
Spin City
One local seventh-grader is on a mission to bring mountain biking to Maple Ave Middle School. Havah Doyle, who has been a member of Saratoga Shredders for four years, has chosen as her Bat Mitzvah project the initiative to raise $25,000 to bring a cycling program to the physical education department of Maple Ave. Saratoga Shredders has successfully brought learn-to-bike programs and balance bikes to the six Saratoga elementary schools so that all kindergarteners will learn to ride a bike, but the new initiative will allow even more students the chance to experience the advantages of cycling, regardless of equipment, transportation or cost restraints.
To kickstart her fundraising efforts, Havah is putting on a Snowman Spin-a-thon, a 20-minute stationary bike race for teams of two or three, at the Saratoga Springs YMCA on December 17 from 2-4pm. The competition is open to riders with a height of 4’ 11” and up, and will feature prizes from local businesses. Register for the Spin-a-thon—or make a donation—here.
Enjoy the Ride
Speaking of mountain biking, at long last, Saratoga County riders have a new trail system to explore. This week, Graphite Range Community Forest, a 222-acre multi-use, recreational trail system in Wilton, officially opened to the public. For more information on the project, which is part of the larger Sarah B. Faulke Friendship Trails system, read our recap from the project’s September fundraiser.
100 Years Later…
Earlier this year, when the Philip Schuyler statue was removed from outside Albany’s City Hall, a time capsule was found in its base containing artifacts dating back to the 1920s. This week, those artifacts, including an American flag with 48 stars, a 10-volume set of the annals of Albany, and photographs, were put on display in an exhibit entitled The Time Capsule at the Albany Institute of History & Art. The museum is open Wednesday-Saturday from 10am-5pm and Sunday from noon-5pm.
Book Nook
Need a gift idea for the animal-loving kid in your life? This week marked the release of Animal Menagerie, a rhyming A-to-Z picture book that introduces kids ages 4-7 not only to new vocabulary words but also to friends from the animal kingdom. Written by local author Fran Dingeman and illustrated by Marta Maszkiewics, Animal Menagerie is available at Celtic Treasures, G. Willikers Toys & Games and Saratoga Outdoors, as well as francinedingeman.com. If you act now, you can catch a reading of the book by Fran at the Saratoga library’s Crawshaw Story Room at 10am today.
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