Month: July 2025

By Rod Bacon

During the Golden Age of Golf, which is typically referred to as the period from the early 1900s to the 1930s, the sport experienced a significant surge in popularity and golf course design by renowned architects flourished.

A local course that was created during this period is the Ballston Spa Country Club. It was founded in July 1925 by a group of golf enthusiasts who purchased 116 acres of the John Gilman farm that was located a mile west of the village of Ballston Spa.

This year the club celebrated its centennial with a series of events June 20-22. 

According to Jake DeVito, a member of the board of directors and the driving force behind the celebration, the weekend started with a ceremonial ribbon cutting attended by local officials that included Sen. James Tedisco, Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh, Town of Milton council members, Village of Ballston Spa trustees, and representatives of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce and the Capital Region Chamber.

That night there was a hickory cocktail scramble in which 72 players used the old fashioned wooden sticks from the era of the club’s founding. 

By Paul Post

Looking for a fun day at the track?

There’s plenty of exciting activity and entertainment in store.

Five premium giveaways are still on tap including a Hawaiian shirt (July 20), blanket (July 25), pennant (Aug. 8), tote bag (Aug. 22) and sweatshirt (Aug. 31).

The 40-day meet got under way July 10 with paid attendance of 24,418 and on-track handle of more than $2.6 million, and continues through Labor Day Monday (Sept. 1) with racing five days per week, Wednesday to Sunday.

For handicappers, two huge dates are upcoming on the racing calendar, starting with Whitney Day (Saturday, Aug. 2) that will include four Grade 1s and six total stakes headlined by the Grade 1, $1 million Whitney. New this year, the Grade 1, $750,000 FanDuel Fourstardave has been added to the card.

The annual Best in Pink fashion photo contest is also scheduled that day from 1-3 p.m. at the Jockey Silks Porch. 

By Susan Elise Campbell

On June 30th The Putnam Market, a prominent fixture on Broadway for decades, held a well-attended ribbon cutting ceremony for its latest addition to Saratoga’s offerings of exceptional eateries. The new Café at Putnam Market has taken over the space that was the market’s popular Wine Shop for more than 25 years.

“This is a food town with a ton of seriously good restaurants,” said co-owner Cathy Hamilton. “We have to keep changing to keep up.”  

Hamilton’s husband, William Roach, ran the wine shop since its inception. When he announced his retirement last fall, Hamilton announced the Wine Shop would retire with him. There would be a bistro in its place to make up for the contribution wine sales made to the company’s bot-tom line, she said.

“From strictly a business standpoint, we needed $250,000 in sales at a 50 percent gross mar-gin to replace the earnings from wine,” Hamilton said. “There aren’t many things that can ac-complish that.”

Hamilton is one-half of the sister duo who founded and owns The Putnam Market. Hamilton describes herself as “the big picture person” on their team who “makes sure we can make payroll.” Her sister, Gloria Griskowitz, “is extremely good at planning and execution.”

It was Hamilton’s idea to have a café and offer specialty coffees, teas, chai, and lattes in the morning and wine and beer by the glass in the afternoon “to keep our customers here longer,” she said.

“Sometimes I come up with a new idea and staff just look at me,” she said. “When I sprung on them last autumn what was going to happen this year, one long-term employee burst into tears. But that was because she didn’t want William to go.”

There were no new hires to staff The Café. “We just re-deployed one full-time and one part-time employee who worked in the Wine Shop,” said Hamilton.

The Café provides plenty of room to sit and enjoy beverages with baked goods like scones, muffins, and rugelach. Any hot or cold signature sandwich, homemade soup, or specialty salad purchased in the main store can also be consumed at a table or window stool in the Café.

Hamilton said, “There is so much more light now that the space is very open.”

By Susan Elise Campbell

Frameology is reaching its one-year milestone as an optical shop for “people who love eyewear and want to stand out,” said co-owner and on-site optician Amanda Twohig, LDO. 

Twohig has been in the business of fitting clients with frames or contact lenses for 25 years. Her father was an ophthalmologist in Utica and she worked in his office growing up, she said.

“I met Stacey Daniel through the industry,” said Twohig. “Daniel owns two Frameology shops in Syracuse where I worked before relocating to Saratoga about a year ago.”

Her family still resides in western New York and her husband’s is in Massachusetts. She said, “Saratoga is in between, and we have always loved it here.”

Soon she told Daniel, “we need Frameology in this community.” A new partnership was formed.

“Frameology sells high quality, high fashion brands of eyeglass frames that have unique DNA as to bold colors and distinctive shapes,” Twohig said. 

She shopped for space on Broadway among its boutiques and special shops but settled on 426 Maple Avenue for the store’s location. The ample parking, extra interior space, and beautiful natural lighting at Maple Avenue influenced the business co-owner’s final decision, she said. 

“When purchasing this kind of eyewear, it may take two to four visits,” she said. “Often clients want their family members of friends to come in and we give them the space and time to see their selection before committing.” 

By Susan Elise Campbell

Sometimes a group of businesspeople gets together and comes up with a novel idea for a product they can have fun developing and bring to market successfully. 

In the case of Sidecap, the brainstormers were three neighbors and dads whose kids play together. Their think tank was a swimming pool. And the idea was a coffee cocktail that comes in a can. 

The first round of product is being sold at Purdy’s liquor stores in Saratoga. The flagship Sidecap Hard Cold Brew is a 250ml can of a coffee and vodka blend with 6.9 percent alcohol.

“Three years ago we were throwing out crazy ideas for drinks and many of the ideas died out,” said Adam Feldman, one of the three and a consultant to local small businesses. “But this one had staying power.”

It took a while from that summer afternoon for Feldman, Dave Dolinsky, and Case Fell to do research and development and produce their first cases. R&D entailed mixing different blends of Kru brand cold brew, store bought vodka, and a dash of sugar into a flavor profile they could settle on. 

Feldman said he is good friends with the owners of Kru, a coffee shop at The Fresh Market plaza featuring fair trade beans and teas. 

“It’s my office away from home,” he said. “The baristas kid me that I spend more time there than they do.”

Kru was “a natural fit in the world of coffee,” so Feldman asked if they wanted to develop the research together, he said.

Most coffee drinks on the market are coffee flavored beer or liquor infused with coffee. But according to Feldman, Sidecap is a new concept in alcoholic beverages.

Leadership Saratoga, a program of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, recently completed four community service projects and is now accepting proposals from nonprofit organizations for its Class of 2026.

Nonprofits serving Saratoga County are invited to submit project ideas by Aug. 15. Selected organizations will work with a team of professionals in the upcoming class to enhance programs, develop strategies, or improve operations.

The Class of 2025 completed the following projects:

American Cancer Society – Capital Region: A team helped expand the Road to Recovery program in Saratoga County, which connects cancer patients with trained volunteer drivers who provide free transportation to medical appointments. The project focused on volunteer recruitment and program awareness.

Ballston Area Community Center: The team developed a strategic growth plan, created community engagement strategies, and evaluated opportunities to expand BACC’s programs to meet growing community demand.

Pitney Meadows Community Farm: A group evaluated and researched options to expand the farm’s trail systems, including cost analysis and stakeholder input to support future fundraising.

Wilton Fire District: Addressing regional volunteer shortages, a project team created a recruitment toolkit for the Wilton Volunteer Fire Department. The toolkit included public awareness materials, incentive strategies, and community engagement plans.