Vibe Check: Night at the Brewseum
The Lions Club's yearly fundraiser, plus two more vibe checks, a bike build and the announcement of a history buff's ultimate date night.
There’s no better way to fully appreciate the passing of time than to attend the same annual Saratoga event year after year. Last Friday, I found myself at the Canfield Casino for my third Night at the Brewseum fundraiser for the Saratoga Springs Lions Club and thought to myself, “I’ve been doing this for three years?!” (“This,” I suppose, being checking vibes at organized drinking events.) I certainly wasn’t the only return customer. Since last year’s event, Dave Lundgren has upgraded his Nycap email to Gmail, and one attendee upgraded his Siena Ultimate Frisbee bucket hat to a fuzzy Avatar: The Last Airbender bucket hat. Éamonn O’Donnell, son of Celtic Treasures’ Paul O’Donnell, on the other hand, came to his first Night at the Brewseum on his 21st birthday 10 years ago. “The prodigal son returns!” Paul said.
“Yeah, with more debt and more kids,” Éamonn added.
While at previous Brewseums, fashion statements have ranged from pretzel necklaces and Irish button-ups to brewery T-shirts and beer horns, this year attendees really stepped it up, though styles differed markedly from those seen at our Overdress to Impress event two nights prior. I met one man who was rocking two baseball caps (yes, one on top of the other), because he’d come wearing the Artisanal Brew Works one but ended up buying a Higher Ground Distilling one. Another guy was wearing an Irish flat cap adorned with pins from all the different countries in which he’d gotten drunk. He was at the event with a bearded bloke in a T-shirt, kilt, fanny pack and hiking boots. And Bill Beitzel (“Look up his name—it’ll probably be on the police blotter,” his friend, Scott, told me) was sporting a coat from Germany adorned with buttons made out of antlers. “I’m expecting to be in the Belmont issue with this coat,” he told me as I snapped his picture, possibly for the print mag. He went on to complain that non-Bavarians were appropriating antler buttons these days but, as Scott pointed out, Bill was wearing cowboy boots.
When I wasn’t talking to fashionably challenged men about God knows what, I was sampling beers from 26 participating breweries, including an IPA from Artisanal Brew Works that had been canned just the day before, Northway Brewing’s tea-infused Spa City Earl IPA, and Speckled Pig’s Restitution, a beer one attendee was drinking exclusively, unabashedly returning to the table every few minutes. When I went to try it, the Speckled Pig employees asked if I’d ever heard of their brewery. By that point, I’d had my fair share of 4-ounce pours (“you have to take part in the event to be able to report on it accurately,” someone told me) and admitted, unprompted, that I’d gone on four first dates there in four weeks. “Are we the problem?!” the worker asked when I said none of them had worked out.
Luckily, there was plenty of food available to soak up all the beer, and I had more than a few eggplant “meatballs” from Henry Street Taproom. “You’re a vegetarian?” someone asked me. “I had an avocado once.”
Others indulged in pulled pork sandwiches from PJ’s BBQ-S-A, Druthers mac and cheese, Harvey’s signature shepherd’s pie and treats from Saratoga Gluten Free Goods, which was set up near the ladies room. “You went to the bathroom?” one of the workers asked my friends. “You deserve a cupcake.” One gentleman had the next morning’s breakfast on his mind. Seeing me taking notes in my notebook, he asked, “Will you write down that I need coffee creamer and eggs?”
It may be a new year, but put a crowd of Saratogians in a giant room with an essentially unlimited supply of booze and you’ll quickly realize: Some things never change.
—Natalie
Quote of the Week
“Matt with one finger? That’s my dad!”
—Overheard at Night at the Brewseum
Vibe Check: Mocktail Mommy Club
When I said hi to Saratoga Living singles night regular Mary Tipton at the bar at Kindred on Wednesday evening, she looked at me, surprised. “I didn’t know you were sober!”
“What?” I replied. (I honestly hadn’t heard her.)
“SOBER,” she said slowly.
“Oh, I’m not.”
And yet, the second installment of Mocktail Mommy Club, the event at which I found Mary, made sobriety seem not half bad. The brainchild of Ashley Salvadore and Kyle Posson, Mocktail Mommy Club started in Albany in January as a chance for women (being a mom is not required!) to have a fun night out with friends, without the hangover. The Kindred event was the second iteration, and a third is already on the books for May 22 at Fix Wellness in Latham.
While Ashley and Kyle met through Instagram (“What the enemy intended for evil I’ve used for good,” Ashley told me about her use of the app), the duo wanted to create a way for women in meet in real life. So far it’s been a success; about 50 women gathered on Wednesday to indulge in Kindred’s special menu of featured cocktails, sans booze. I had the Dirty Chai—a nonalcoholic take on an espresso martini. And, who knew? It tastes better without the vodka.
Vibe Check: Networking at Night’s Wellspring Fundraiser
After agreeing with Bailey’s owner/bartender Matt Beecher that we don’t like small talk and much prefer “big talk” (i.e. conversations centered around whether your hobbies would be considered red flags to potential suitors and/or the proper way to dap someone up based on their age and body language), I set out into the sea of people at Bailey’s to chat some people up. There were about 70 people gathered for Networking at Night’s 2nd annual fundraising event—this one to benefit Wellspring.
While there were all the hallmarks of a good party—namely, an impressive raffle table, taco bar and roaming caricature artist—networking was the main attraction, as it is at all Networking at Night mixer events founders Shelagh Conley and Andrea Gorgen have hosted since the fall of 2022. Most of their events are smaller, networking-specific meet-ups, but once a year they host a fundraiser for an area nonprofit. (Last year’s event was for Saratoga Center for the Family.) I chatted with BurgerFi owner Kevin Cleveland, who donated a gift card for the raffle; Brad Colacino about the daily annoyance that is social media (before he heroically went to talk to someone who looked lost); Jordan McLagan about Saratoga’s Men and Where to Find Them; and Kristen Suraci of @saucysuraci, her online presence that recently blew up and has her “flying by the seat of her pants always.”
Some of the talk was certainly small, but it was for a good cause. And that’s big.
Save the Date
If you’re feeling a bit of FOMO after the recaps of those three Saratoga events, pull out your calendars: Double H Ranch is hosting a brand-new event you won’t want to miss. Breaking Bubbles (a play on “breaking boundaries”) is a celebration of women and women-owned businesses in our community going on at Franklin Square Market on Tuesday, May 14 from 5-8pm. On the agenda: a keynote speech by former Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Kate White, a Prosecco and chocolate tasting, a make-your-own flower bouquet station, and the chance to be one of the first to check out The Market Bar & Cafe, the new restaurant opening in the market in early May. Attendees will also have the chance to hear from former Double H camper parent Maureen O’Brien about the work the camp does. Come wearing shades of rosé, blush and Champagne! Get tickets here.
Build-A-Bike Workshop
In other news, this week marked the much-anticipated launch of Saratoga Shredders’ Bikes in Schools program, an initiative designed to enhance the physical education curriculum at Saratoga Springs schools by integrating cycling into the daily activities of students across the district’s six elementary schools. On Monday, members of Saratoga Shredders and the school district’s physical education staff came together at East Side Rec to assemble 30 bikes for use in grades 2-5. In addition to the bikes themselves, the Bikes in Schools program also encompasses a specialized cycling curriculum and professional development for teaching staff. “We are thrilled to bring this exciting program to life," says Anna Laloë, executive director of Saratoga Shredders. "Our goal is to not only teach kids how to ride but also to instill a passion for the outdoors and physical fitness that will last a lifetime."
Racing’s Roots
This week, three Saratoga entities announced they’d be teaming up to create a Saratoga history buff’s dream date night. The National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame is partnering with The Adelphi Hotel and the Saratoga Springs History Museum on the John Morrissey Trifecta Tour, a one-night-only event going on May 23 that centers around the founder of Saratoga Race Course.
The evening includes trolley transportation from the Racing Museum to the Adelphi (where Morrissey died) for hors d’oeuvres, a specialty cocktail and a talk by historian Charles Kuenzel about Morrissey’s political legacy, impact on Saratoga and final days. The tour continues at the Canfield Casino, which Morrissey opened in 1870 as the Club House, where attendees will learn about one of America’s premier gambling destinations of the late 19th century from History Museum Director James Parillo.
Back at the Racing Museum, a brief video will be shown about Morrissey’s life, followed by a talk about Morrissey’s reign as the bare-knuckled boxing champion of America and how he organized Thoroughbred racing in Saratoga during the Civil war. Saratoga Living’s own Brien Bouyea, the Museum’s communications director, will lead the program.
This event is expected to sell out, so get your tickets now.
ICYMI
Party Pics: Overdress to Impress