This week you can choose between some great Martin Luther King, Jr. Day programs, Salsa on Sunday, hitting up a great local spot to help raise money for a fantastic local organization and more! Find yourself a sitter through Sittertoga over at Mamatoga and make your plans!
1. The Saratoga Springs Public Library is offering some great programs to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. First, they have their Volunteer MLK Day of Service: 9:30am – 10am in the H. Dutcher Community Room. Volunteers will gather to participate in the MLK Day of Service. Local agencies will be offering volunteers the opportunity to spend a few hours putting their hands to work painting, repairing, transporting, and other tasks. Volunteers are then invited to return to the H. Dutcher Community Room at 1pm for a complimentary lunch provided by local businesses and the League of Women Voters. To sign-up for a Day of Service volunteer project, e-mail Rabbi Jonathan Rubenstein, jrubenst@nycap.rr.com or call Temple Sinai, 518-584-8730.
2. Secondly, their MLK Jr. Day program will include music, films, discussions, and readings from Dr. King’s speeches and writings. The special guest presenter will be civil rights activist Jim Kates, who volunteered for the Mississippi Summer Project in 1964 and later became a public school teacher, a nonviolence trainer for interpersonal and political movements, a poet, and a literary translator. Since 1997, he has co-directed the non-profit literary publishing house Zephyr Press, publishers of Letters from Mississippi: Reports from Civil Rights Volunteers & Poetry of the 1964 Freedom Summer. Participants in the program will also include musician Garland Nelson of Soul Session; Rev. Linda Hoddy of the Saratoga Unitarian-Universalist Society; Pat Nugent, President of the Saratoga County Chapter of the League of Women Voters; Native American storytellers and musicians Joe and Jesse Bruchac; and Saratoga Springs Supervisor Joanne Yepsen and Mayor Scott Johnson. From 2-4pm in the H. Dutcher Community Room.
3. Head to Cantina in Saratoga Springs on Wednesday, Jan. 18th to have a great meal and help raise funds for the Franklin Community Center. Get a sitter and head out to Cantina for a date night or a girls night and 30 percent of your bill will be donated to Franklin Community Center!
4. On Saturday, Jan. 21st at 11am Forno Bistro in Saratoga Springs is offering their Passport to a Country of Flavors, a Three-Class Cultural and Culinary Odyssey. An educational series focusing on the Food, Wine, Culture & History of the regions of Northern, Central & Southern Italy. Cost is $50.
5. If you love to dance or just want to try something new and fun, check out Salsa Sunday at the National Museum of Dance this Sunday, Jan. 22nd from 2-5pm. Come Salsa the afternoon away! This fun event co-sponsored with Tango Fusion Dance Company will feature Salsa classes for adults and children, general dancing, and a performance by Tango Fusion Company. Cost is $15 per person, $25 per couple, and $30 for families (2 adults with children under 15).