Vibe Check: Shaken & Stirred
Team Saratoga Living makes its debut at UPH's annual bartender party. PLUS: How to register for a paid parking permit, Overdress to Impress on TV and Mystik Dan's chances in the Preakness.
On Thursday, night, Saratoga Living put the “celebrity” in celebrity bartender party.
Earlier this spring, we signed on to be one of the teams at Shaken & Stirred, a fundraiser for Universal Preservation Hall’s Collaborative School of the Arts that pits eight local businesses against one another in a bartending battle to bring in the most tips. The only problem: Each team is made up of 10 members, and our company doesn’t even have 10 employees. Our solution? Bring in some star power.
Enter Brittany Furman, funeral director by day and the human embodiment of “main character energy” by night—and also probably day. (You may remember her from Overdress to Impress, or the cover of our 2021 track issue.) A founding member of the Saratoga Living Insiders Club, Brittany was the perfect person to bring our theme—paparazzi—to life. After all, what’s a group of photographers wearing sunglasses and baseball caps without a celebrity to photograph?
Brittany understood the assignment, and showed up to Saratoga National dressed in a shimmering bodysuit with a cape and a pink wig. “I had all the VIPs of Saratoga looking up Temu,” she later wrote in an Instagram post about her outfit. When our team made our entrance into the bar area—to “Paparazzi” by Lady Gaga, of course—Brittany strutted out in a silver mask and coat, tore them both off to reveal her identity, and proceeded to shimmy, twirl and drop it low, while the rest of us snapped photos of her. “Finally putting my minor in dance to good use,” she said.
Our team divvied up our forces between the bar, the patio and our red carpet, where we were snapping photos of attendees for the next issue of the magazine in exchange for $20 “tips.” I bounced around a bit, directing potential customers away from Palette’s bar and to our own, starting a dance-off with Palette captain Marcella Hammer, recruiting people to our photo op, and helping hand out $10 “Money Shots"—a vodka lemonade concoction served in oversized syringes. (Sorry to all those personally victimized by my poor administration of said shots.)
While Palette was selling the chance to pitch a podcast idea to Seriously Catherine’s Catherine Hover, Stewart’s had pint pong set up (beer pong, but with empty pints of ice cream); if you landed a shot, you went home with a free coffee or cone coupon. One member of the DeCrescente team caught my ear to explain their activity: Guests could “buy” a horse in a plastic horse race simulator, and if their horse won, they’d go home with a lawn jockey. When he showed me, one of the horses had fallen off its track. “What happened to him?” someone asked. “Did he get too drunk?” (I don’t know about him, but I certainly did.)
Our 30-minute time slot was over in a jiffy, and Team Saratoga Living spent the rest of the evening snapping photos—see them all in our next issue, out early July! At the end of the night, after DJ Trumastr had ventured out from behind the turntables and onto the dance floor, UPH’s Teddy Foster announced the winners of each matchup as well as the winner of the whole evening. We won out over Palette, raising a total of $2,703, but lost big-time to DeCrescente, which brought in a whopping $26,985. (We were in the first time slot, so not everyone had arrived yet, and the people that were there hadn’t drunk enough yet to start tipping big.)
While it was easy to get caught up in the competition, that certainly wasn’t the point of the night. As one woman from the Fingerpaint team reminded me after I told my friends not to buy shots from her, “We’re all in it together.”
—Natalie
Triple (Crown) Threat
Only 36 times in history has a horse won the first two legs of the Triple Crown—but that hasn’t stopped Saratogians from praying for just that this year. If a horse was running for the highest honor in horse racing (completed 13 times) during Saratoga’s first Belmont Stakes, the frenzy would be incredible. (And let’s not forget, *sigh*, those ticket-holders who have whispered about getting more money for re-sale if a Triple Crown were on the line…)
For a hot minute, it didn’t look like this year’s Derby winner, Mystik Dan, would be running in the Triple Crow’s second leg—the Preakness Stakes. But after a “would he or wouldn’t he” nail-biter, trainer Kenny McPeek announced last Saturday that his champion horse would indeed run in the Preakness. Helping his chances? The favorite, Bob Baffert’s Muth, scratched this week after showing a fever. Still a challenge for our Triple Crown contender: Catching Freedom, who just missed being a part of the Derby’s historic three-way photo finish; Baffert’s second horse, Imagination; Chad Brown’s Tuscan Gold; D. Wayne Lukas’ Seize the Grey and Just Steel, who came in a disappointing 17 of 20 in the Derby; and longshots Uncle Heavy and Mugatu. Tune in to NBC today to root for Mystik Dan, Kenny and jockey Brian Hernandez—coverage starts at 4:30pm, and post time is at 6:50pm.
Green Team
On Thursday morning, SoBro Conservancy celebrated the completion of phase one of the new nonprofit’s mission—the planting of some 600 native, pollinator-friendly plants, and the arrival of a new shed built by students at Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES. SoBro founder Tom Denny was joined by board members, volunteers and donors—plus the students who’d built the shed—at SoBro’s plot of land at the five-way intersection near Dunkin’. SoBro’s goal is to transform vacant South Broadway lots into pollinator-friendly green spaces, and in turn boost foot traffic and business in that area of the city. “We’re at a noisy, busy intersection,” Tom said over the sound of cars and trucks passing. “But that’s the point. There’s a lot of visibility at this intersection. Where better to do it than in a place people pass every day?” After cutting the ribbon on the new shed, the students visited Saratoga Joinery, the Canfield Casino and Ben & Jerry’s.
Save the Date
Sick of dumping money into your NYRA Bets app and never seeing it again? Therapeutic Horses of Saratoga has put together a team of horse racing and betting experts to give you a leg up when it comes time to place your bets on the Belmont Stakes. Join NBC Sports reporter Donna Brothers, NYRA analysts Acacia Clement and Maggie Wolfendale, and Capital OTB Host Seth Merrow at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame on June 4 to get up to date on what happened in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, preview the field for the Belmont, and learn the basics of handicapping. Get your tickets now—they’re expected to sell out!
Park Place
It’s happening, people. Paid parking in the city’s parking garages and surface lots goes into effect on Memorial Day, and this week, the City opened registration for permits for Saratoga residents. Library patrons and employees of downtown businesses will register through a different process that has yet to be released.
Glow Up
After saving 65 Phila Street from demolition, purchasing the blighted building, and renovating it to its former glory, Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation has placed the historic 1851 home on the market. “It is so exciting to see the transformation and see the for-sale sign placed out in front of the house,” says SSPF Executive Director Samantha Bosshart. “I honestly can’t believe it’s happening. The foundation advocated for preserving this building and its neighbor since 1998, and at times I was not optimistic that they would be preserved.” The home is currently listed by Sheila Sperling at Julie & Co. Realty for $629,000.
The Amazing Race
Today is your last day to get $15 early bird pricing for the Cantina Kids Fun Run, returning to Congress Park on June 2. (After today, pre-registration pricing goes up to $20 until May 29, and day-of registration is $25.) To date, the 16th annual Fun Run has raised more than $828,000 for pediatric care at Saratoga Hospital’s emergency department and regularly welcomes some 1,000 participants ages 12 and under. Runners have the option to run a quarter mile or a full mile, and their parents are welcome to join them for free. Register your future track star here.
Open for Biz
Franklin Square Market’s new table service restaurant, the Market Bar and Cafe, is now officially open. Stop by from 3-5pm daily for oysters, pizza or small bites, or go at dinner time for entrées including swordfish puttanesca, fried quail and mushroom ramen. Check out the full menu here.
On Air
Remember Heidi Rotter, the vivacious red carpet interviewer at last month’s Overdress to Impress event? She was there filming a segment for The American Dream, a TV show that highlights culture, lifestyle and real estate in local communities. Well, that segment is complete, and premiered last week. Click the YouTube video above to watch it, or stream the full episode on Amazon Fire, Apple TV or Roku.
ICYMI
The hype is real. Belmont is just around the corner, and to get locals even more excited, we released our first-ever Belmont issue, starring 2023 Belmont-winning trainer Jena Antonucci, who last year became the first woman to ever win a Triple Crown race. Pick up a magazine around town, or head to our website to read the digital version.
From the Issue:
Jena Antonucci: The 2023 Belmont Winner on Breaking Boundaries and All Things Belatoga
The Belmont Stakes: What a Long, Strange Trip it’s Been
Opera Saratoga’s Summer Season Promises High-Stakes Fun
Other Stories From This Week:
The Filly That Won the First Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park
What’s the Tea on Whistling Kettle?
All the 2024 Food & Drink Bestie Winners