Vibe Check: PLAN for the Future
Saratoga PLAN's annual fundraiser is the Spa City at its best.
As much as I love track season and all the high-energy shenanigans that come with it, there’s something about these first few weeks of September that I might love even more. While it surely has something to do with my job finally slowing back down a bit, I think it has more to do with the fact that when the track closes and the out-of-towners go home, we locals seem to band together in some sort of unspoken agreement: We’re still here, and we love Saratoga, no matter the season.
Nowhere do I feel that energy more than at the annual fundraiser for Saratoga PLAN, an organization that’s local to its core. When I walked into the historic Mansion of Saratoga this past Thursday for the event, I locked eyes with an old friend. “I’d better be in SLAH tomorrow,” he said. (Shoutout to Tom, one of Saratoga Living After Hours’ most dedicated readers.)
Out back, everyone else seemed to know each other, too. I ran into my old Girl Scout troop leader, my childhood friend’s parents, photographer Megan Mumford, artist Betsy Olmsted, conservationist Ethan Winter and three of the women I play tennis with on Tuesday mornings (one of whom just so happens to be married to Ethan). I caught up with PLAN Communications Director Anna Gómez Domenech, who recently became an Adirondack 46er and now has her sights set on the Northeast 111. The antique bottles used in the cocktail hour’s floral centerpieces were from Anna’s personal bottle collection, and she reluctantly admitted that she’s a “bottle digger,” someone who searches for old bottles in former trash dumps. “I don’t usually tell people that,” she said.
“Oh, you don’t have to be embarrassed,” I said. “I make crossword puzzles.”
We both looked at my boyfriend, Pete, waiting for him to share his cringe-worthy hobby. “I mean, I bowl,” he said.
“How many bowling balls do you have?” I asked.
“Four,” he said, looking down.
When it came time for dinner, Pete and I found seats at a table with Marci Robinson and John Witt of Witt Construction; Bruce Klion, the steward of PLAN’s Rowland Hollow Creek Preserve, and his wife, Linda; and auctioneer Tom Stebbins. While John shared tales of his Saratoga Springs High School days (including how he’d show up for first period and then leave to go out to breakfast, therefore maintaining his perfect attendance record without actually having to be in school), Bruce told us about his trail work at Rowland Hollow, and how he has to pick up beer bottles left in there by the Saratoga Springs high schoolers of today. The fact that they were littering in the first place seemed of little concern to Bruce compared with another matter. “Why are kids drinking Bud Light, of all things?” he asked.
During the short program, Board Chair Peter Olmsted highlighted all that PLAN has accomplished in the last year, including protecting a third-generation farm, establishing Graphite Range Community Forest, hosting the first-ever Saratoga County Farm Showcase, elevating an intern to a full-time stewardship coordinator position, and preserving Snake Hill, an undeveloped, 30-acre, wooded dome on the shoreline of Saratoga Lake. When Executive Director Rob Davies took the mic, he focused on all that PLAN has left to do, including helping an elderly Fulton County farmer conserve his land (Fulton County doesn’t have a land trust of its own), encouraging the towns in Saratoga County to develop their own conservation vision, and finalizing PLAN’s strategic plan, which will inform the next five years of the organization’s conservation efforts.
Then it was time for the highly anticipated paddle raise, hosted by our table-mate, Tom. “I’m looking for $2,500—the price of a dinner at Hamlet & Ghost,” he announced, jokingly. (In my opinion, Hamlet’s prices are reasonable for the quality you get.) Later on, it was, “How about $250—the cost of a tank of gas.” (That exaggeration feels more accurate.) When he got down to the $100 donation level, he brought out his signature gimmick—“what’s known in conservation terms as a big-ass bottle of wine.” The last person to donate, he said, would leave with the magnum bottle. So the donating went on for quite a while.
After calling out a woman who raised her paddle to donate three separate times in an attempt to win the wine bottle, Tom handed her the mic. “I have a toddler and a 5-year-old,” she explained. “So I really need this.”
And with that, no one raised another paddle.
Remember what I said about us locals banding together? No matter how much we wanted that big-ass bottle of wine, we knew that one of our own needed it more.
—Natalie
Some bonus pics of the evening by Ironglass Productions, because Jake Ritz is a far better photographer than me:
A great night, and now a great Saturday morning when you get to see yourself in SLAH.
Let me know when you and Peter are up north and want to ride 🤘