President Vice President Vice President Treasurer Secretary

Stacy Simmons Sandy Hassfurter Kelly Ostrander Christine Kernochan Kathi Leigh

Resident Berkshire Hathaway Home Services Contour Mortgage Corp. Saratoga National Bank Ballston Area Comm. Ctr.

July 2020 Ellen Mottola, Editor info@ballston.org

Welcome Back to Ballston Spa!

Downtown Ballston Spa is Back! On June 19, to cele-brate the return of in-person dining and shopping to the downtown area, BSBPA board members Sandy Hassfurter, Christine Kernochan, Kelly Ostrander, Kathi Leigh, Donna Martin, Bernadette VanDein-se and executive administrator Ellen Mottola were joined by Mayor Larry Woolbright, Milton Supervi-sor Benny Zlotnick, NYS Senator Jim Tedisco, Vil-lage Trustees Christine Fitzpatrick and Liz Kormos

(also a BSBPA board member), Todd Shimkus and representatives of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce, the owners of Ballston Spa restaurants Next Door Kitchen & Bar, The

Front Street Social Club, Sunset Grill and downtown retail businesses A Bead Just So and Corina Contemporary Jew-elry. The ribbon cutting also heralded the closing of Front Street in the village to traffic on Thursday, Friday and Sat-urday evenings between 4-10 pm to allow for expanded outdoor dining. Earlier that day, we took part in the Sara-toga County Chamber’s countywide ribbon cutting event. (Learn more about the Front Street road closure initiative on Page 7).

Thank you to our 2020 Community Events Sponsors

DOMINIC GARRANT

Financial Advisor Your Support is So Greatly Appreciated!

Friends

The Candle Collective

Rae & David Whitehead

Supporter

The Hansen Family

Burlingame Orthodontics Rebuilding Together Saratoga

County Community Emergency Corps

Pizza Works

Friends of the farmers

patron DONORs

From Our Members and Neighbors

Thank you to the following for their donations to the Adopt A Plot pro-gram: Alison Bodle, WAM Com-mercial Associates, Corina Con-temporary Jewelry, Mann Wireless, Jere Blackwelder, Meg & Larry Woolbright. You help to make our village more beau-tiful! From Community Emergency Corps: As you can imagine, these have been some very rough times for our agency since this whole COVID 19 pandemic has been around. We have been diligent in following the guidelines set forth for us to keep you safe as well as ensuring the well being of our crews. We just want to reiterate what you've heard before- (1) Observe Social Distancing whenever possible (2) When not possible, wear a mask to help you and PROTECT OTHERS (3) Get tested (4) Don't give in to the "It's a con-

spiracy, a political or government plot, just another way to control us, it's my right, etc.” This is a very real problem and we must look at the science and take all the precautions we can to make sure we don't fall backwards and have to start this all over. Be smart, think of others, and don't be selfish. Be Safe. Ballston Spa Rotary News Ballston Spa fifth grade students were recently recognized at the an-nual 5th Grade Moving-Up ceremo-nies at their elementary schools be-fore the summer break. One student at each school was presented with the Maurice “Christopher” Morley Literacy Award. This award was created in Mr. Morley’s name and is awarded to four students moving up from the elementary schools in the Ballston Spa Central School District to the Middle School who have demonstrated exceptional determi-nation and perseverance on the road to reading. The award includes a certificate embossed with the Rotary seal along with a gift certificate to a

local bookstore. The initiative honors the legacy of Village History Consult-ant Morley who was born in April of 1922 and how he struggled his entire life due to dyslexia. To his credit, Mr. Morley proudly donned a cap and gown to receive his Ballston Spa High School diploma some 60 years after his peers. The 2020 award re-cipients include Emma Newman from Milton Terrace Elementary School, Chloe Hart from Gordon Creek Elementary School, Reagan Buhler from Wood Road Elemen-tary School, and Ruby Haskell from Malta Avenue Elementary School. The award is supported by the Rotary Club of Ballston Spa and presented annually by each elemen-tary school principal. We are Open! The Ballston Spa United Methodist Church will be open for services effective Sunday, June 28 at 10 am. Entrance of the church will be through the south door with the ramp, where you will be greeted by someone to take your temperature and seat you in the

Renewing members this month: Abbas Acres; Alison Bodle, Voice Actor; Ballston Spa Central School District; Boho Chic Boutique; Carpenter Landscaping & Farm; Corina Contemporary Jewelry; Jacob’s Farm; Mangino Chevrolet; Mann Wireless; My Other Garden; Prolific Marketing; Ropitzky Family Farm; Saratoga National Bank; Science Street Labs/Name Bubbles, LLC; WAM Commercial Associates, LLC; Adirondack Health Institute, Inc.; American Diabetes Association; Ballston Spa Lions Club; Ballston Spa House & Garden Club; Ballston Spa United Methodist Church; Saratoga Bridges/Creative Endeavors; Veterans & Community Housing Coalition, Inc.; Jere Blackwelder, Jade Litchfield; Rae & David White-head; Meg & Larry Woolbright. Thank you for your continued support!

Page 2

Balet Flowers & Design LLC

Suzanne Haight

5041 Nelson Avenue Ext.

Malta, NY

518 584-8555

baletflowers.com

Wildhaven Bakery & Wildhaven Farm

Megan James

51 Vines Road

Charlton, NY 12019

518 275-8394

Facebook.com/wildhavenbakery

2020 Farmers’ Market Vendor

Sunoco Doubleday Avenue

Dimple Singh

2135 Doubleday Avenue

Ballston Spa, NY

845 633-1665

Gift Certificate Participant

Welcome to Our New Members

Page 3

BSBPA Members: Do you have upcoming events or news that you would like to share in our next issue? Contact Ellen Mottola, in-fo@ballston.org, 518 885-2772 or mail to BSBPA, PO Box 386, Ballston Spa, NY 12020. The deadline for the August 2020 issue is July 28, 2020. Promptness is always appreciated, questions answered with a smile!

sanctuary. A mask is required, cover-ing your nose and mouth, during en-trance and exit of the church. Exiting the church will be through the north door with the stairs unless there are mobility issues. Safe distancing prac-tice will be in effect at all times. It is suggested that anyone over the age of 60, or anyone with compromised im-mune issues please consider viewing the service on our website at ballstonspaumchurch.org or Face-book page at https://www.facebook.com/bsumcny/ Dunning Street Station, 2853 Route 9, is reopened for indoor din-ing for dinner only, Wed.-Saturday, 4-9 pm, Sunday, 3-8 pm. Take out/curbside pick up still available 3-8 pm, phone in only. Please call 518 587-2000. Ballston Spa National Bank (BSNB) recently presented a $5,000 donation to the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York. The donation brings the bank’s financial support to $10,000 during the pandemic and more than fulfills the bank’s promise to match funds donated by the community to support the food bank’s services. In addition to the financial support, BSNB volun-teers recently hosted two drive-thru food pantries resulting in food assis-tance for more than 1,300 people benefitting from the events.

Ballston Spa High School Senior An-drew O’Connor was this year’s re-cipient of the $500 BSBPA Scholar-ship, which each year recognizes a student who shows initiative and re-sponsibility both in school and in his/

her place of employment. Congratula-tions to Andrew and the entire BSHS class of 2020! Ropitzky Family Farm’s vegetable stand is open at 24 Durham Road in Stillwater, serving their seasonal sweet corn, tomatoes, squash and pumpkins. Produce is all grown on the farm and picked fresh on a daily basis. Sweet corn should be available beginning the third week in July. Quantity discounts for parties and barbeques can be provided, depend-ing on the quantities. Contact Steve Ropitzky at 518 461-0790 for more information and ordering quantities. Kelly and Randy Elliott of Elliott Property Services recently pur-chased the old brown storage building on Washington Street and are in the process of renovating it for office and retail. The Medbery Day Spa, 48 Front Street, is under new ownership. Car-olyn Barter welcomes new and re-turning customers. Our sincere thanks to the office of Assemblywoman Mary Beth Walsh for supplying Ballston Spa businesses and organizations with much requested hand sanitizer. With everyone re-opening to in-person shopping/service/gathering and re-quired to follow health and safety guidelines, hand sanitizer is like liquid gold! Likewise, thank you to the Ballston Spa Public Li-brary who had a surplus supply and helped fill the need until the supply from the assembly-woman’s office came through. Finally, our friends at the Saratoga County Chamber and their partners

Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association

created Small Business Recovery Kits containing sanitizer, disinfectant cleaner, face masks and signage. We were happy to help distribute them to some of our local businesses. We are so saddened by the passing of Lucas DeFabio on June 5 from Menkes Disease. Son of Daniel and Tina and big brother to Alex, Luke

brightened the lives of all who knew him and inspired us with his pure and joyful heart. We were so lucky to have him as the grand marshal of the Ballston Spa Holiday Parade in 2013—what a memorable evening! Daniel is a former BSBPA board member and founder of the Ballston Spa Film Festival. He has gone on to create films about Menkes and organize the Rare Disease Film Fes-tival. He works tirelessly to bring Luke’s story and others to greater public awareness. You can learn more about Menkes: https://themenkesfoundation.org and the Rare Disease Film Festival: https://www.rarediseasefilmfestival.com. We send our love and support to the DeFabios. The National Bottle Museum, 76 Milton Avenue, will be reopening on July 7, 2020. We are excit-ed to wel-come visitors again and to share the changes made during the clo-sure. Our hours will Tuesday-Saturday, 10 am-4 pm.

Page 4

Because of the current social distancing criteria, the July Networking Breakfast has been cancelled.

We hope to resume networking breakfasts in August.

The next BSBPA Board of Directors Meeting is Monday, July 20, 6:30 pm

Outside Brookside Museum, 6 Charlton Street Socially safe-distanced

Bring-your-own-lawn-chair You are welcome to attend.

COVID-19 Impact: Resources and Information—Going Through the Phases Saratoga County and the Capital Region have been working through the phased reopening under New York State metrics. The Capital Region expects to enter Phase 4 about the time this newsletter comes out on July 1.

thOn Bae llston.org COVID-19 Resource page, businesses can find the latest guidelines on re-opening, what they need to do to prepare their workspaces, staff and customers, guidance on sanitizing, COVID testing and more. The page is a one-stop location for links to state, county and local sites regarding health, regulation and sup-port services, as well as financial guidance for small businesses and non-profits. The BSBPA continues to work with our partners at the Saratoga County Chamber, Capital Region Chamber and Saratoga County Prosperity Part-nership to update content as we receive it.

BSBPA Board News We are pleased to welcome Tracy DeRagon as a new member of the BSBPA board of direc-tors. Tracy is a recently retired Ballston Spa High School music teacher who is passionate about the community of Ballston Spa. She has organized and led many music ensembles, in-cluding the Ballston Spa Community Band, which is a BSBPA member organization and a regular Concerts in the Park performance group. Additionally, she has led her students to play at First Fridays and at the Holiday Parade. Community Service is central to her way of living and she has tried to instill the same in her children and students over the years. Tracy has expressed interest in many areas of the BSBPA, but in particular, Concerts in the Park. She has extensive experience in organizing events, working with volunteers, and fundraising. With her experience and back-ground, she is a very welcome addition to our board.

On First Friday, July 3, please join us all day as our shops welcome back in-person shopping and many restaurants resume limited dine in service, along with a special BBQ takeout event at Brookside Museum. We also invite the community to join in posting their own messages of posi-tivity to our local small businesses and services on the First Friday Facebook Event Page. We look forward to return-ing to our regular in-person First Friday activities in Au-gust!

Ribbon Cutting The BSBPA was pleased to lend our support--and our ribbon and scissors--to celebrate the opening of Sunmark Credit Union's new branch at 24 Trie-ble Avenue. Having moved from its previous Milton branch at 202 North-line Road, the brand new building is bright and sunny and includes the latest customer service technology, while keeping the friendly human cus-tomer service they are known for. The "virtual" event was streamed on Fa-cebook, with Sunmark CEO Frank Degraw cutting the ribbon, joined by branch manager Alicia Delafrange and fellow Sunmark personnel. Sun-mark Credit Union has been a longtime BSBPA member and generous sup-porter of community events. Congratulations!

Page 5 Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association

BSBPA Marketing: Group Ad: Southern Saratoga Magazine’s Summer issue was published June 26 as an insert in the Dai-ly Gazette and as a stand alone publication distribut-ed throughout the Capital Region. The two page group ad spread includes a feature article about Ballston Spa’s summer season and how the village’s shops, restaurants and residents are resilient and preparing to re-open and celebrate small town life. The BSBPA also runs a monthly display ad in the Hill Country Observer, reminding the public about our great shops and restaurants and thanking those who have supported them over the past couple of months. 2020 Map Guides: The COVID situation had compli-cated the process of getting the map guide produced, but we do expect to have 10,000 of them printed and ready distribute by July 10. If you would like to have a supply at your business for

your customers, please contact Ellen at the BSBPA office with the amount you’d like and we’ll be sure to have someone drop them off. This is a great guide to Ballston Spa, in-cluding a complete mem-ber directory of all BSBPA member businesses and community organizations (as of June 2020), a schedule of events, a downtown map and points of interest. Be-sides our local businesses, the map guides are placed in high-traffic areas, such as Saratoga Visitor’s Center, Empire State Pla-za in Albany, Northway Exit 9 Rest Area, Albany Airport, Amtrak stations in Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga, plus hotels from Exit 9 to Exit 15. All downtown directo-ry boards are stocked with map guides through the year. Thank you once again to our map guide advertisers for their support—map guides will be delivered to you automatically. Your business ad will now be seen by thousands of folks over the next year!

Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association

2020-21 Officers Stacy Simmons, President (Resident) stacy@ballston.org

Sandy Hassfurter, Vice President (Berkshire Hathaway Home Services) sandy@ballston.org

Kelly Ostrander, Vice President (Contour Mortgage Corp.) kelly@ballston.org

Christine Kernochan, Treasurer (Saratoga National Bank) christine@ballston.org

Kathi Leigh, Secretary (Ballston Area Community Center) kathi@ballston.org

2020-21 Board of Directors Jason Armer (Armer Funeral Home, Inc.) jason@ballston.org

Michelle Burlingame (Burlingame Orthodontics) michelle@ballston.org Donna Dardaris (Resident) donna@ballston.org Tracy DeRagon (Resident) tracy@ballston.org

Krystle Nowhitney Hernandez (Saratoga County EOC) krystle@ballston.org

Liz Kormos (Kormos & Company) liz@ballston.org Lisa McCoy (Saratoga’s Community Federal Credit Union)

lisam@ballston.org Donna Martin (Village Photo, LLC) donnam@ballston.org

Nora Osuchowski (Ballston Area Rec. Commission) nora@ballston.org Nate Thompson (Hope Church) nate@ballston.org

Ashley Tyler (Jumper Bean Day Care) ashley@ballston.org Bernadette VanDeinse (Resident) bernadette@ballston.org

Dave Womer (Adirondack Cabling & Security) dave@ballston.org Executive Administrator for the Association

Ellen Mottola ellen@ballston.org; info@ballston.org;

Page 6

Ballston Spa Farmers Market The Ballston Spa Farmers Market runs from June 13 through September 26. The markets are on Thursdays 3-6:30 pm and Saturdays 9 am to 1 pm(no market on July 4) in Wiswall Park,at the corner of Front Street and Low Street in the Village ofBallston Spa. The markets have been serving the local com-munity since 2003. Our mission is to bring together produc-ers and consumers and to promote locally created products.

We will be following the Guidelines set by New York State Ag & Markets for Farmers’ Markets . Vendors will be properly spaced. Like grocery stores, masks will be required for vendors and customers and social distancing will be im-plemented. Hand sanitizer will be available for customers and vendors. Customers are encouraged to shop individual-ly. Current market vendors include: Abbas Acres (Saturdays): eggs, poultry, honey, maple syrup, jam, produce; Carpenter Farm (Thursdays): vegetables, fruit, honey, jams, herbs; Jacob’s Farm (both days): vegetables, greens, potted vegeta-ble plants; My Other Garden (both days): fruit, vegetables, flowers; Paper Dragon Farm (both days): organic produce and eggs; Perogi, Pierogi, Pyroogie (Saturdays): pierogis, breads, jams, sweet treats; Sacred Journey Ceramics (Saturdays): pottery mugs, bowls, wall art; Touareuna Farm (Thursday): shiitake mushrooms, produce, flowers, herbs; Wildhaven Bakery & Farm (Thursdays): baked goods, fruit and vegetables. For more information on the market, contact us at farmersmarket@ballston.org.

BSBPA business and non-profit members: The BSBPA table is set up on both market days. We are happy to display your promotional material at the BSBPA table. We welcome

brochures, sample menus, rack cards, business cards, flyers, etc.—it is one of the benefits of your BSBPA membership. We get lots of visitors who want to know more about our village and what it has to offer! Contact Ellen at the BSBPA office to find out how to include your items on our table.

Coming in August

Outdoor Movie in the Park “Abominable”

Friday, August 7 at dusk Wiswall Park

Concerts in the Park Thursdays 6-8

Lions Music Park at Iron Spring Park August 6

Union Fire Company Band August 13

The Lustre Kings August 20

The Bluebillies August 27

Ballston Spa Community Band Events are free thanks to our generous

Community Events sponsors.

The “The Way We Were” Car Show is a long running tradition and the BSBPA’s main fundraiser for the year. Because of the COVID-19 situation, large crowd events

all over the Capital Region have been post-poned or cancelled. However, the car show commit-tee is working on plans to continue that tradition in a way that will allow for the showcasing and judging of cars in a virtual format to keep our participants and car aficionados safe. Look

for more information soon.

Page 7 Ballston Spa Business & Professional Association

Support Local Businesses and Restaurants

Thank you for continuing to support Ballston Spa businesses and restaurants as they work within the

reopening phases.

Click here for a list of BSBPA member restaurants offering limited inside and/or outdoor dining, take-

out and delivery: https://www.ballston.org/2020/03/18/bspatakeou

t-restaurants-offering-take-out-and-delivery/

Click here for a list of BSBPA member businesses starting in-person shopping and services and offer-

ing online sales and curbside pickup: https://www.ballston.org/2020/04/01/bspabusine

ss-support-our-local-businesses/

Check out the BSBPA Member News & Deals

Facebook Group

Restaurant Bingo! Print out the bingo card on our website with our member restau-rant and beverage businesses. Mark off each one you dine in, receive takeout and/or delivery from, save your receipts. The first five people to get five in a row and submit their card and receipts to the BSBPA by email to info@ballston.org will each win a $20 gift card to the restaurant/beverage business of their choice on the card (gift cards will be purchased by the BSBPA). Even if you are not one of the five winners, it’s a great reminder to spread the support among these locally owned establishments as they begin to reopen and get back to busi-ness! Limit one bingo card per family, 18 years and older to partici-pate. Receipts from each restaurant marked as patronized on the win-ning bingo line must be submitted along with the bingo card as proof of money spent there.

PUBLIC NOTICE OF FRONT STREET CLOSING AND NEW TRAFFIC PATTERN The Ballston Spa Village Board has approved the temporary closing of Front Street between Bath Street and Low Street in order to allow Village businesses in that block to expand their operations across the sidewalk and into the parking spaces on the edges of Front Street. This is especially important for our restaurants which will be limited to the number of tables they can have inside, however other businesses are welcome to expand outside if they wish. We also waived minimum parking space regulations for restaurants with their own parking lots so that owners can decide to place tables there if they wish. The closing will take place between the hours of 4-10 pm on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings as of Thursday, June 18, and continuing weekly until either COVID-19 restrictions are lifted or the Board modifies or ends the plan.

The street closing will mean that traffic on Front Street from Route 50 to Low Street will be one-way only during these times, with all traffic coming from Route 50 required to turn left and exit by Low Street. To make up for the parking spaces lost by this street closing, the Village has reached an agreement with EOC for the use of their two parking lots on Front Street west of Bath Street to be open for public parking after 5 pm. Saratoga County has also given permission to use the coun-ty complex lot on West High Street after 5 pm. Businesses not on Front Street that might want to take advantage of the street closure space to do an outdoor “pop up” shop are also wel-come to do so. No permit needed unless serving alcohol. Contact the village office at 518 885-5711. Please join us in supporting our downtown businesses as they recover from their recent forced closures. Also please help spread the word of this street closing and change in traffic flow.

Page 8

Village Board meetings are held the second and fourth Mondays of each month at 7 pm. This month’s meetings are July 13 and 27. Due to the COVID-19 restrictions, all villagemeeting will be held online. You can still attendmeetings via Zoom. This platform will allow publiccomment by either the chat function or by raisingyour hand at the appropriate time in the meeting(public comment). Zoom meeting numbers will beposted on the village website and Facebook page assoon as the meetings are scheduled. For more infor-mation on village meetings, 518-885-5711 or in-fo@villageofballstonspa.org.

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2020 Census now online, by phone, or by mail. It’s quick, and confidential. Visit 2020Census.gov now to be counted. #shapeyourfuture

Opening Special

P.O. Box 386

Ballston Spa, NY 12020

July 2,9,16,23,30 Ballston Spa Farmers’ Market, 3-6:30 pm, Wiswall Park

July 3 Take Out Chicken BBQ, 2-6 pm, Brookside Museum

July 11,18,25 Ballston Spa Farmers’ Market, 9 am-1 pm, Wiswall Park (No Market on July 4)

July 13 & 27 Village of Ballston Spa Board Meetings, 7 pm, Zoom

July 20 BSBPA Board of Directors Meeting, 6:30 pm, Brookside Museum—outside

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays this month Front Street closed to traffic from 4-10 pm