Friday, December 31, 2010
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night. A gift from Marylou to Saratoga.
The Marylou Whitney Rose unveiled (with video)
Published: Friday, December 24, 2010
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Longtime friend Marlene Okby greets Marylou Whitney at her birthday luncheon at the Saratoga Golf and Polo Club Thursday. The Saratoga Springs philanthropist has been honored with the commission of a rose in her name. The first crop of the Marylou Whitney rose is being grown now. (ERICA MILLER, The Saratogian)
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Marylou Whitney, at a birthday luncheon held in her honor Thursday, holds a bouquet of roses similar to the new rose in her name that was commissioned as a gift from her husband, John Hendrickson. Her friends have arranged with the city to donate a Marylou Whitney rose garden outside the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs’ Congress Park. (ERICA MILLER, The Saratogian)
SARATOGA SPRINGS — A rose garden honoring Marylou Whitney will be created in Congress Park near the entrance where the local philanthropist and horse owner traditionally enters the Canfield Casino for her annual black-tie gala celebrating the Whitney Handicap at Saratoga Race Course.
The garden will feature a new specially bred, long-stem pink tea rose named in her honor, an 85th birthday gift from her husband, John Hendrickson, who commissioned it as "an endearing legacy."
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
A great opportunity to meet a Saratoga Icon, Minnie Bolster and buy her wonderful book and great Saratoga vintage photos, Sat.,12/18-10-1,Casino.
Bolster Collection Day and Meet the Authors
December 18, 10-1
'Have you ever been in a home, shop or business in Saratoga Springs that had old time photos of Saratoga Springs displayed and you wondered where they came from? Chances are they are copies of images from the George S. Bolster Collection of the Saratoga Springs History Museum.
On Saturday, December 18 from 10-1, the museum will hold Bolster Collection Day and a local author book signing in the History Museum. If you haven't heard of the Bolster Collection, now is your chance to get acquainted. The Bolster Collection is an archive of over 300,000 negatives of Saratoga Springs, 1855 to the 1980's. This major photographic collection is one of the largest of its type in the country and is filled with striking and important images from Saratoga Springs past.
In this fundraising event, the History Museum will have hundreds of different images copied from the collection on display and available for purchase at discounted rates. Visitors can also check to see if we have an historic image of their own home on the spot with a museum curator.
The Museum will also feature four local authors selling and signing their recent books in the Museum's Holiday Shop. Minnie Clark Bolster will sign her latest book: The Way We Were and What They Said About us 1822 - 1896. This book tells a fascinating story of early Saratoga Springs through the eyes of visitors and the media. Journalist Paul Post's Soldiers of Saratoga County: From Concord to Kabul looks deeply into contributions Saratoga County residents have made in defense of our country. Thomas Wood III's latest book Saratoga is a post card view of the Town of Saratoga. This book includes many rare and recently discovered images of Schuylerville, Victory, and Saratoga Lake. Hollis Palmer's most recent book, See and Be Seen Saratoga in the Victoria Era is a look at Saratoga Springs in the gilded age when grand hotels lined Broadway and visitors came to take the water .
These books and photographs of Saratoga Springs make perfect gifts.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Saturday, December 11, 2010
More money needed to complete main Geyser restoration in Saratoga Spa State Park.
Crosswalk to state park mulled
Thursday, December 9, 2010
By Tatiana Zarnowski (Contact)
Gazette Reporter
Text Size: A | A | A
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Try to walk across Route 50 near Saratoga Spa State Park now and you may risk your life.
But sometime in the future, you may be able to make that crossing from the Railroad Run Trail to the state park without fear.
The city, the Railroad Run Trail Committee and the state park system want to finish the trail connection and build a safe crosswalk after the Route 50 Southern Gateway Study recommended such a crossing just north of the intersection with West Avenue.
The parties plan to meet with the state Department of Transportation soon for guidance, said Alane Ball Chinian, regional director for the Saratoga/Capital District Region of the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
“I think we need to turn to DOT to say, ‘What do we do next?’ ” Chinian said after a meeting of the regional park commission Wednesday.
The city still has some grant money to extend the Railroad Run Trail to Route 50, which was always planned but not finished because crossing the state highway is too unsafe, said Barbara L. Glaser, chairwoman of the trail committee.
“We’ve been waiting and waiting to complete it,” Glaser said.
Officials hope to install a HAWK, or high-intensity activated crosswalk system, which Glaser said may be the first in the state.
Pedestrians press a button, which starts overhead lights flashing yellow and then red to motorists, at which point the pedestrians are given a walk signal. After pedestrians cross, the signal goes dark and motorists move again.
The HAWK systems are installed away from intersections on busy highways where pedestrians may need to cross.
The system is expected to cost about $100,000, Chinian said. While there’s currently no money budgeted for the crosswalk, she said she is hopeful that the parties involved could collectively come up with that much.
The state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation has applied for a federal recreational trail grant to finish a trail on the park end, past the former railroad building known as the Restoration Building on the northwest end of the park. The new trail would link with sidewalks installed by Springwood Apartments on Ballston Avenue.
Chinian expects grant winners to be announced soon.
Also at the Wednesday meeting, commissioners noted that they don’t have enough money to construct a second pavilion near the spouting geyser at the state park as part of a reconstruction there.
Commission chairwoman Heather Mabee said it would cost somewhere between $25,000 and $35,000 to build a pavilion near the Orenda Spring overlooking Geyser Creek and the mineral deposits built up around the spring.
Wednesday, December 08, 2010
Part of World Trade Center coming to Saratoga for sculpture.
Officials at Saratoga Arts announced today that they plan to commission a large-scale public sculpture made of steel from the World Trade Center.
The piece, to be called Tempered By Memory, is described as a “progressive piece of contemporary art that is reflective of the past, the historical global events of September 11, 2001, yet forward looking.”
Officials said they would like to finish the project by September 2001 and donate the sculpture to the city, which they hope will put it outside the newly expanded Saratoga Springs City Center. Two local sculptors, John Van Alstine and Noah Savett, will put the piece together.
Steel for the project was given to Saratoga Arts by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It comes from both the World Trade Centers’ North and South towers.
The piece, to be called Tempered By Memory, is described as a “progressive piece of contemporary art that is reflective of the past, the historical global events of September 11, 2001, yet forward looking.”
Officials said they would like to finish the project by September 2001 and donate the sculpture to the city, which they hope will put it outside the newly expanded Saratoga Springs City Center. Two local sculptors, John Van Alstine and Noah Savett, will put the piece together.
Steel for the project was given to Saratoga Arts by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. It comes from both the World Trade Centers’ North and South towers.
Monday, December 06, 2010
Wendy Whelan, New York City Ballet, reviews new Black Swan movie. Wendy has been very beloved at SPAC and Saratoga for the past 20 years.
The Ballerina's Curse
by Wendy Whelan Info
At the age of three, Wendy Whelan began taking dance classes in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. She went on to train at the School of American Ballet, the official institute of the New York City Ballet and eventually worked her way up the ranks, from the corps de ballet to principal dancer. Whelan has been featured in many ballets, including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and has toured extensively throughout the world. In 2007, she also received a Dance Magazine Award.
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print TwitterEmailShare A principal dancer at the New York City Ballet reviews Black Swan and Natalie Portman's stunning performance—and says the movie captures the head trips that every great dancer faces.
For the past 20 years, I have been a ballerina with the New York City Ballet, and I was asked to offer my thoughts on the new Darren Aronofsky film, Black Swan. I first heard about the idea for this new ballet film some years ago when Aronofsky contacted me for his research. Some time later, as I began to get wind that it would be based on Swan Lake (not my favorite ballet), my hopes weren't high, but I became enticed again when I heard it would be a psychological thriller. Since that first phone call, the presence of this film in the background of my life has continued to grow as a great many friends and colleagues became involved in the production.
Natalie Portman is fantastic as Nina, a corps dancer struggling to rise to the challenge of dancing the principal role of the Swan Queen. The actress poured herself into serious ballet training to be able to embody the look of a professional dancer and she did a magnificent job of it. No real dancer I can imagine could have portrayed the depth of emotion this role required, it needed a great actress. But without the degree of devotion and discipline that she applied to the dance, Black Swan would never have achieved the heights that it does.
In his film, Aronofsky layers Nina's challenge to break free from her childlike, sheltered world with a parallel story that exists within the ballet itself. Black Swan explores the grueling physical and mental anguish of an aspiring ballerina as she faces the challenges of dancing the most famous dual role in all of ballet, that of Odette/Odile (the swan queen and her evil black twin). While the White Swan comes easily to Nina, the dark mysteries of the Black Swan evade her. This is paralleled in her own life as she struggles to hold her own against a mother (Barbara Hershey) who would keep her a perpetual child, a sexually aggressive boss (Vincent Cassel), and a rival dancer (Mila Kunis) who embodies the sensuality/sexuality, abandonment/freedom, self-confidence and strength that Nina must grasp in order to fully portray Odile, the Black Swan. All of this points to the larger issue of the true self-possession that any artist needs in order to be great and fully realized.
As a ballerina, to embody the duality of the Swan Queen and the black swan can be a fiendishly difficult task. It's a role that requires the true balance of opposition in a dancer; both technical command and poetic lyricism need to be cultivated. It requires a full spectrum of artistry. I have played the dual roles and understand firsthand the intense physical drain and the nervous energy that gets stirred up in both body and mind while preparing for it. When the body gets exhausted the mind can become fragile. It requires a particular strength and confidence in one's emotional core unlike anything else in classical ballet. As Nina engages in these intense (and intensely linked) personal, professional, and artistic struggles, she begins to hallucinate and become obsessive and paranoid. At one level, one could look at this film as a portrayal of the beginnings of full-blown neurosis and mental illness. But this would, of course, miss the larger truth that dancers learn to take on these subtle head-trips every day. Going to those depths is a unique part of our job as performing artists. Sometimes these head-trips are empowering at other times, terrifying and debilitating, but there is no question that they are part of the game, part of our art, and those that cannot learn to live with them, and work with their power, will be weeded out weaker artists.
Dancers learn to take on these subtle head-trips every day. Going to those depths is a unique part of our job as performing artists.
by Wendy Whelan Info
At the age of three, Wendy Whelan began taking dance classes in her hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. She went on to train at the School of American Ballet, the official institute of the New York City Ballet and eventually worked her way up the ranks, from the corps de ballet to principal dancer. Whelan has been featured in many ballets, including The Nutcracker and Swan Lake, and has toured extensively throughout the world. In 2007, she also received a Dance Magazine Award.
X Close
- +
print TwitterEmailShare A principal dancer at the New York City Ballet reviews Black Swan and Natalie Portman's stunning performance—and says the movie captures the head trips that every great dancer faces.
For the past 20 years, I have been a ballerina with the New York City Ballet, and I was asked to offer my thoughts on the new Darren Aronofsky film, Black Swan. I first heard about the idea for this new ballet film some years ago when Aronofsky contacted me for his research. Some time later, as I began to get wind that it would be based on Swan Lake (not my favorite ballet), my hopes weren't high, but I became enticed again when I heard it would be a psychological thriller. Since that first phone call, the presence of this film in the background of my life has continued to grow as a great many friends and colleagues became involved in the production.
Natalie Portman is fantastic as Nina, a corps dancer struggling to rise to the challenge of dancing the principal role of the Swan Queen. The actress poured herself into serious ballet training to be able to embody the look of a professional dancer and she did a magnificent job of it. No real dancer I can imagine could have portrayed the depth of emotion this role required, it needed a great actress. But without the degree of devotion and discipline that she applied to the dance, Black Swan would never have achieved the heights that it does.
In his film, Aronofsky layers Nina's challenge to break free from her childlike, sheltered world with a parallel story that exists within the ballet itself. Black Swan explores the grueling physical and mental anguish of an aspiring ballerina as she faces the challenges of dancing the most famous dual role in all of ballet, that of Odette/Odile (the swan queen and her evil black twin). While the White Swan comes easily to Nina, the dark mysteries of the Black Swan evade her. This is paralleled in her own life as she struggles to hold her own against a mother (Barbara Hershey) who would keep her a perpetual child, a sexually aggressive boss (Vincent Cassel), and a rival dancer (Mila Kunis) who embodies the sensuality/sexuality, abandonment/freedom, self-confidence and strength that Nina must grasp in order to fully portray Odile, the Black Swan. All of this points to the larger issue of the true self-possession that any artist needs in order to be great and fully realized.
As a ballerina, to embody the duality of the Swan Queen and the black swan can be a fiendishly difficult task. It's a role that requires the true balance of opposition in a dancer; both technical command and poetic lyricism need to be cultivated. It requires a full spectrum of artistry. I have played the dual roles and understand firsthand the intense physical drain and the nervous energy that gets stirred up in both body and mind while preparing for it. When the body gets exhausted the mind can become fragile. It requires a particular strength and confidence in one's emotional core unlike anything else in classical ballet. As Nina engages in these intense (and intensely linked) personal, professional, and artistic struggles, she begins to hallucinate and become obsessive and paranoid. At one level, one could look at this film as a portrayal of the beginnings of full-blown neurosis and mental illness. But this would, of course, miss the larger truth that dancers learn to take on these subtle head-trips every day. Going to those depths is a unique part of our job as performing artists. Sometimes these head-trips are empowering at other times, terrifying and debilitating, but there is no question that they are part of the game, part of our art, and those that cannot learn to live with them, and work with their power, will be weeded out weaker artists.
Dancers learn to take on these subtle head-trips every day. Going to those depths is a unique part of our job as performing artists.
Sunday, December 05, 2010
Friday, December 03, 2010
Ah, summer, SPAC announces dates for 2011.
Several program dates were announced for 2011, including a June 9 performance by Lar Lubovitch Dance Company and an Aug. 16 show featuring the Trish Brown Dance Company; the Freihofer's Saratoga Jazz Festival on June 25 and 26; the New York City Ballet, July 5 -- 16; the Philadelphia Orchestra, July 27 -- Aug. 13; the Saratoga Chamber Music Festival, July 26 -- August 9; and the first cabaret-style program in the Little Theatre from Aug. 18 -- Aug. 27.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
Downtown Saratoga Victorian Stroll tonight, 12/2/10.
Celebrate the magic of an old-fashioned Victorian Streetwalk and Christmas in Saratoga Springs on Thursday, December 2, 2010!
Photo Credit: Stacy Lynn Baum
Downtown Saratoga closes to traffic and all of Broadway is blanketed in Victorian holiday magic each year the Thursday after Thanksgiving for the annual Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk. Witness the fun this year as the Spa City is transformed into a Victorian winter wonderland on December 2nd, from 6-10 pm.
Photo Credit: Stacy Lynn Baum
Downtown Saratoga closes to traffic and all of Broadway is blanketed in Victorian holiday magic each year the Thursday after Thanksgiving for the annual Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk. Witness the fun this year as the Spa City is transformed into a Victorian winter wonderland on December 2nd, from 6-10 pm.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tree Nursery next to Saratoga Spa State Park under the gun again!
The Saratoga Tree Nursery could find its staff cut nearly in half as lawmakers look to close a gaping budget gap by paring the state workforce.
The nursery, run by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, is a perennial punching bag when it comes time to cut the state budget; state officials have on more than one occasion suggested closing it outright.
Now, in the face of a gaping budget deficit, state leaders say they need to cut 900 workers, including 140 staff members at the DEC, to help control costs. A list of positions targeted for elimination, obtained by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, includes four laborers from the Saratoga region due to be fired by Dec. 31.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Saratoga is hopping. Victorian Streetwalk on Thursday, 12/2/10. Restaurant Week starts Friday, 12/3-12/9.
Celebrate the magic of an old-fashioned Victorian Streetwalk and Christmas in Saratoga Springs on Thursday, December 2,2010.
Downtown Saratoga closes to traffic and all of Broadway is blanketed in Victorian holiday magic each year the Thursday after Thanksgiving for the annual Saratoga Springs Victorian Streetwalk. Witness the fun this year as the Spa City is transformed into a Victorian winter wonderland on December 2nd, from 6-10 pm.
There will be all types of entertainers working the crowds at the Victorian Streetwalk in downtown Saratoga Springs. Musicians, singers, magicians, and other performances will delight young and old alike. Santa will welcome visits from children at his very special cottage outside 435 Broadway, then kids can get up close and personal with his real-life team of reindeer right down the street! Free hot beverages and treats will be served at numerous locations around downtown.
Carolers will stroll the sidewalks dressed in elegant period costumes, gaily colored hats and scarves, delighting listeners with music and song.
Saratoga Restaurant Week
Saratoga Restaurant Week
3 Course Menus For Just $18.19!
Participating local restaurants offer 3-course dinner specials for just $18.19 during Saratoga County Restaurant Week
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — Enjoy the 6th Annual Saratoga Restaurant Week from December 3 - 9, 2010.
Get a 3-Course dinner for just $18.19 at participating Saratoga County restaurants during Saratoga Restaurant Week! Start off with your choice of an appetizer or salad, then choose from a menu of sumptuous entrees, and top it off with a decadent dessert! All for just $18.19!
Plus some participating restaurants are offering lunch specials for just $9.09. Saratoga Restaurant Week is the perfect time to get out and try new restaurants in the Spa City!
And we're giving away the chance to win gift a Saratoga Restaurant Week Prize Pack! Find out the details and enter to win here!
Reservations are strongly suggested during Saratoga Restaurant Week and can be made by calling the restaurant of your choice.
2010 Participating Restaurants:
Both Dinner & Lunch:
Circus Cafe :: (518) 583-1106
Menu
Gaffney's Restaurant :: (518) 587-7359
Grey Gelding :: (518) 584-0957
Jacob & Anthony's American Grille :: (518) 871-1600
Karavalli Regional Cuisine of India :: (518) 580-1144
Lillian's Restaurant :: (518) 587-7766
Local Pub & Teahouse :: (5180 587-7256
Maestro's Restaurant :: (518) 580-0312
Menu
Max London's Restaurant & Bar :: (518) 587-3535
Pacific Grill :: (518) 583-0008
Menu
Phila Fusion :: (518) 226-0400
Putnam's at the Gideon Putnam Resort :: (518) 584-3000
Ravenous :: (518) 581-0560
Scallions Restaurant :: (518) 584-0192
Sushi Thai Garden Restaurant :: (518) 580-0900
Wheatfields Bistro & Wine Bar Clifton Park :: (518) 383-4444
Wheatfields Restaurant & Bar :: (518) 587-0534
$18.19 Dinner Only:
Bookmaker's at Holiday Inn :: (518) 584-4550
Menu
Brindisi's Restaurant & Bar :: (518) 587-6262
Catina :: (518) 587-5577
Chianti II Ristorante :: (518) 580-0025
Dine :: (518) 587-9463
End Zone Sports Pub :: (518) 584-6460
Forno Bistro :: (518) 581-2401
Menu
Fortunes at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway :: (518) 584-2110
Menu
Hattie's Restaurant :: (518) 584-4790
Horseshoe Inn Bar & Gill :: (518) 587-4909
Irish Times Pub & Restaurant :: (518) 583-0003
Limoncello Ristorante :: (518) 580-8700
Longfellows Restaurant :: (518) 587-0108
Menu
Mexican Connection :: (518) 584-4466
Mouzon House :: (518) 226-0014
Olde Bryan Inn :: (518) 587-2990
Menu
One Caroline Street Bistro :: (518) 587-2026
Pasta Pane :: (518) 371-5762
Menu
Prime at Saratoga National Golf Club :: (518) 583-4653
Primo's at The Inn at Saratoga :: (518) 583-1890
Sabina's Wood Fired Restaurant :: (518) 583-3333
Menu
Sperry's Restaurant :: (518) 584-9618
Menu
Springwater Inn :: (518) 584-5051
Tiznow Restaurant :: (518) 226-0655
Menu
Wishing Well Restaurant :: (518) 584-7640
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Dr. Hoge pictured here was a very handsome lifeguard early on at Victoria Pool which opened 7/26/35.
Go to Saratogian.com to read about Dr. Hoge today at 95, a proud WWII veteran and Saratoga icon.At 95, World War II veteran thankful to be an American: D-Day survivor part of a group of multi-generational veterans with video
Published: Thursday, November 25, 2010
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Dr. Hoge holds a picture of his late wife, Sheila, which he keeps in his wallet. The two were married for 43 years. “Strong, stalwart, gentle. “She was a great gal, a real straight shooter.” Hoge recalled. “On June 1, 1946 we got married at my parents’ house on Church Street in Saratoga.” (ED BURKE, The Saratogian)
A multi-generational group of U.S. veterans meets regularly at Saratoga-Wilton Elks Club for camaraderie and storytelling. Seated, left to right, are World War II veterans Myron Bazar, Dr. Leo Hoge and Philip Myers. In back, left to right, are Ken Tubbs, Joe Lohman and Bill Pettigrew. (PAUL POST, The Saratogian)
By PAUL POST, The Saratogian
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Dr. Leo Hoge talks about serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II at a luncheon at the Olde Bryan Inn honoring his 95th birthday. (ED BURKE, The Saratogian)
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Counting his blessings comes easy to Dr. Leo Hoge, who survived D-Day and extensive action in the Pacific during World War II.
Above all else, however, the U.S. Navy veteran is most thankful to be an American.
Hoge, who celebrated his 95th birthday on Tuesday, is part of small group of veterans that meets each Thursday morning at the Saratoga-Wilton Elks Club to swap stories and simply enjoy each others’ company. With amazing clarity, he recalls D-Day — June 6, 1944 — like it was yesterday.
"Five-thirty in the morning the sun was just coming up," he said. "We would take guys in to hit the beach, Omaha Beach. Then we came back to pick up casualties. When we got them stabilized we’d take them back to Engl
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
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