SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -– For 23 years, the New York State Summer Writers Institute at Skidmore College has provided credit and non-credit courses in fiction, non-fiction prose, and poetry writing with a distinguished faculty of acclaimed writers, under the direction of Robert Boyers, professor of English at Skidmore.

Scheduled this year from June 29 to July 24, the Summer Writers Institute also offers a rich schedule of free readings and discussions by participating and guest writers. Boyers noted that the list of participants for this summer features three recent poet laureates of the United States (Robert Pinsky, Louise Glück, and Charles Simic), Pulitzer Prize-winners Richard Howard and Carl Dennis, MacArthur Foundation “genius” award-winner Campbell McGrath, and Lamont Poetry Prize-winner Carolyn Forché.

In addition, the following participating novelists have won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award in fiction: Marilynne Robinson (Gilead), William Kennedy (Ironweed), [...]

Join us at for an informative talk entitled “Think Well,” on Wednesday, July 15th at 7:00 PM.

You will learn how our physical bodies are affected by our emotional and mental state; how happiness and our emotional state is a choice, and you will learn concrete steps you can take to increase your emotional and mental well-being!

Visit our website for pricing and more information: AACfamilywellness.com.

BALLSTON SPA NY — A new business offering a unique, healthy eating alternative for busy households and time-starved people – Dish Personal Chef Service is providing service in the Saratoga County Region.

Dish Personal Chef Service will come to your home and prepare, healthy, delicious and preservative-free dinners. The service includes customized menu planning, grocery shopping, cooking, labeling and storing, and cleaning up. Dish also specializes in dinner party services.

Luxury or necessity? If your first thought is that this service would be an unaffordable luxury, think again. Just what is your time worth? Do you really want to have the “What’s for dinner” dilemma every day?

Dish offers a free consultation and food preference interview to help you decide if a Personal Chef Service meets your needs. The cost of the service varies, depending on the type of service selected [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS NY — Black Diamond Caterers of Saratoga Springs welcomes new staff to the leadership team.

Becky Harbour has been hired as the newest member of Black Diamond Caterers’ leadership team. Her position as Assistant Catering Manager is based on her management expertise following her employment with a popular local hotel and restaurant. Becky’s experience in food service and staff related operations proves to be a valuable part of the organization.

Black Diamond Caterers also promoted Jenny Ordon to Captain of Service, part of the company’s new support staff team. Ordon has been with the company since 2006, beginning as a member of the service staff. Her performance has proven her ability to excel and led to her promotion to assist in leading their team of catering staff.

Black Diamond Caterers created an Event Support Coordinator position, and Pam TenEyck has [...]

The Only radio show devoted entirely to Original music created by North Country and Capital Region Singer-songwriters & Bands, is Moving up the Radio dial. Starting June 7th, the Community Cafe Music Hour will air every Sunday morning at 9:00 AM on WNYQ, 101.7 FM. A rebroadcast occurs Sunday evenings at 10:00 at night. This move increases the potential audience to 9 counties in NY & 2 in Vermont.
The hour long, commercial free show, made its debut in March of 2008 on WCQL, 95.9FM & has featured over 55 different Artists, including: the Stony Creek Band; Chris Shaw; Joe Momma Band, Michael Jerling; Roy Hurd; Michael Eck; Bob Warren; Sarah Pedinotti Band and Capital Zen, to name a few. The new time slots of 9 AM & 10 PM have been sought after by the show’s Founder & Producer, Dennis Towers.
“Airing at 9:00 in the morning & 10:00 at night, combined with the expanded [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (June 3, 2009) – 2007 Harness Racing Hall of Fame inductee and well respected horsemen, Wally Hennessey, has returned to race at Saratoga Raceway.

Coming from a family rich in harness racing tradition, Hennessey is one of nine children and a third generation horseman. A native of Prince Edward Island, Hennessey moved south to Pompano Park, FL in 1986. For years, he spent the winters in Pompano and traveled north to New York for summertime driving at Saratoga as well as across the state in the stakes circuit.

Spanning four decades, Hennessey’s racing career includes many milestones including being the regular driver for Moni Maker, the 1998 and 1999 National Horse of the Year, who retired in 2000 as harness racing’s top money earner. Hennessey was at the controls for almost all of her record breaking $5.589 million in career earnings.

After the summer of 2004, [...]

SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY (June 4, 2009) – Saratoga Gaming and Raceway, The Mildred Williams Lady Driving Series and the Northeastern New York Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure® have once again joined forces for The Third Annual Mildred Williams Lady Driving Series Breast Cancer Benefit on June 18, 2009. Event proceeds will fund breast cancer education, screening and treatment programs in local communities.

The Mildred Williams Lady Driving Series consists exclusively of fully licensed harness racing women drivers and is named for Mildred Williams, a winner of over 500 races and a pioneer in getting the United States and Canadian Trotting Associations to license women drivers. This unique racing event is being hosted at Saratoga Gaming and Raceway in conjunction with a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness, treatments and research.

The female drivers will compete in two of the live harness races on June 18th. Post time [...]

Glens Falls, NY — The Lower Adirondack Regional Arts Council will be holding its 38th Annual Arts Festival on Saturday June 13th and Sunday June 14th in Glens Falls City Park, centrally located in downtown Glens Falls, between Bay and Ridge Streets. The festival consists of a juried art and craft show, food concessions, live musical performances, artist demonstrations, and children’s activities near the bandstand. Admission is free and open to the public 10am-5pm each day.

As the first major summer event in the Glens Falls region, LARAC has always drawn thousands of people to the downtown area to shop from special artisans in City Park. The June Art Festival is a juried art and craft show: artists selected to exhibit are judged on originality, quality, execution, presentation and overall fit with the LARAC festival as a community event.

New to the Festival [...]

LAKE GEORGE, NY (JUNE 2, 2009): Adirondack Winery, Warren County’s first winery, is proud to announce that it’s Chardonnay won a Bronze Medal at the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, which was held recently in Rochester, NY. This wine competition was the first that Adirondack Winery ever entered; therefore, it was very pleased to win a medal, considering it only entered a few wines.

Adirondack Winery opened its doors on April 17, 2008 as the region’s first micro-winery. Winemaker and co-owner, Michael Pardy, sources grape must from various vineyards to create the more than 30 wine varietals on Adirondack Winery’s wine list.

Adirondack Winery’s award-winning Chardonnay is made from grape must sourced from the Woodbridge, California area. Mr. Pardy lightly oaks this white wine and ages in stainless steel drums, which brings out the natural flavors of the Chardonnay grape (similar to a ripe [...]

Nearly 100 events and activities to be held throughout Saratoga Springs

SARATOGA SPRINGS NY — SaratogaArtsFest 2009 will bring nearly 100 performances and events to 54 venues throughout Saratoga Springs, N.Y., for this third annual citywide celebration of the arts, June 11-14.

The four-day festival will feature local, regional, and national artists spanning music, dance, visual art, film, theater, and literary art. The line-up includes the legendary Paul Taylor Dance Company; Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy; saxophonist Eric Alexander, named musician of the year by JazzWeek in 2003; Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble ACJW; the Stefanie Batten Bland dance company; the SITI Company theater group; and the Trilaterus Trio, featuring Ron Wasserman from the NYC Ballet Orchestra.

A celebration of local talent
SaratogaArtsFest 2009 will also celebrate a wide range of local talent, from acclaimed artists to young performers from area schools. Among the visual artists [...]