WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.

COM THE DAILY GAZETTE THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A1

Summer
FOOD
ANOTHER GAZETTE BIG EDITION SPECIAL 40-PAGE SECTION

Inside
HOW SWEET
summer still is,
especially when
you control
the sundae
toppings! A2

NO KNIVES,
FORKS are
needed for
the perfect
summer
picnic. A3

PUT SOME
SIZZLE
in summer
with great
grilled steak.
A4

JAZZ UP
summer
meals with
something
beautiful:
owers. A9

Evelyn Fisher, 3, tops

her make-your-own
sundae at Stewarts
in Saratoga Springs.
ERICA MILLER/
GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER

SUMMERS WHEN
FLAVOR SIZZLES
Make Market 32 and Price
Prrice
e Chopper
Ch
hopper your
yoour destinations
destinations for
for all
all you
you need
need for
for a fun,
fun,
mmer. Chec
delicious summer. C
Checkck outt TThe
he Big
g Edition food section for exclusive
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o help yoou ssavor
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momentt..
A2 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER FOOD WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

PHOTOS BY ERICA MILLER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER

Kelley Pratt, 5, enjoys a sundae at the Stewarts on Church Street in Saratoga Springs. Make-your-own has been a part of Stewarts since 1948.

In the
BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS
Gazette Reporter
Norman Rockwell never visited a Stewarts ice
cream counter, but if he had he would have found

sundae
inspiration.
The artist of nostalgic Americana might have
seen a small boy struggle manfully to control the
ow of fun chips from their plastic container, while
his grandma holds a cup of ice cream down at his
level or a young girl wide-eyed at the number of
choices, between ice cream avors and toppings.
There is nothing more American than an ice

drivers seat
cream sundae, and few things more associated with
the ubiquitous Stewarts convenience store chain
than its make-your-own sundae.
The chain estimates it sells about 460,000 self-
made sundaes each year.
The make-your-own counter is found in all

Stewarts still letting young 300-plus shops of the Malta-based chain, its shops
spread across eastern New York and even Vermont,
from Ogdensburg to Middletown.
and old be masters It draws on a concept that is maybe most as-
sociated with do-it-yourself kits for barbecues and
of their messy moments birthday parties, but dropped into a convenience
store, without all the inconvenience of buying the
various ingredients yourself.
You stand in front of the ice cream counter and
ponder for a moment, then have a sundae your way,
with two scoops of ice cream and your choice of 10
different toppings, all sitting right there on the ice
cream counter.
Its really giving the customer control, said
Stewarts spokeswoman Maria DAmelia.
By my rough calculation, depending on the a-
vors of ice cream available on any given day, there
are about 4,000 possible combos of ice cream and
toppings to pick from on any given visit. Thats a lot
of choice.
All the ice cream comes from the Stewarts ice
cream plant in Greeneld, Saratoga County, and
is made from milk purchased from Capital Region
farms.
Pile the toppings on however you like, and hand
it back to the counter clerk for the nishing touches.
Were not out of choices yet.
Theres the choice (at least in theory theres a
choice) of whipped cream or no whipped cream,
nuts or no nuts. And cherry or no cherry.
From the top: Fun chips, pineapple and chocolate sprin-
Now were up to 32,000 different possible com- kles are among the topping choices for make-your-own
binations, or enough variety that you could have a sundaes at Stewarts, but those who want a cherry will
different sundae every day for nearly 88 years. have to ask the clerk.
Just sayin.
Most people have their tried-and-true favorite company would use advertising during early televi-
combinations of the sweet and creamy. sion shows like Hopalong Cassidy and Whirly-
Stewarts President Gary Dake has his favorite bird. Sundaes were also promoted during Stew-
combination: mint chocolate chip ice cream topped arts Western Sundays, and DAmelia said there
with marshmallow and nuts. He then asks for hot would be pretty much an immediate response in
fudge (which the clerk has to add) and a cherry. the stores.
Myself, I like a scoop of coffee ice cream and Despite having such offers as Death by Choco-
whatever new avor has chocolate in it, topped late and Birthday Cake, the perennial best-sellers
with chocolate and butterscotch sauce, chocolate remain vanilla and chocolate, and thats likely be-
sprinkles and whipped cream. (No cherry, unless
cause both provide such a rm avor underpinning
Im with my wife, a wanted-list cherry poacher.)
for the avorful toppings.
During my research, I experimented with fun chips.
Dont expect to make the perfect sundae every
For a lot of people, its a little of everything.
Why else would the ingredients be on the counter if time, though. Enthusiastic amateurs quickly dis-
you werent supposed to use them? cover that fun chips and chocolate sprinkles pour
The concept of the make-your-own sundae is out a lot faster than you expect them to, and syrup
nearly as old as the company itself. can ooze over the sides.
The dairy started by the Dake brothers in Green- Fortunately, whipped cream can cover a multi-
eld Center became Stewarts in 1945, when they tude of errors.
bought out the Stewarts Dairy in Ballston Spa, The trial and error, though, is what makes making
which was selling ice cream. your own sundae a fun experience for the whole
The make-your-own concept was in place by family something young and old can do together,
1948, the invention of Philly Dake, wife of the late even if it has its sticky and messy moments. Thats
Charles Dake. what the napkins are for.
The rationing of World War II was passed, and And at $2.99, a make-your-own sundae is a sweet
ice cream was in, with new avors seemingly to be deal in more than one way.
created all the time.
We were discovering how fun ice cream could Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams at 395-3096,
Max Dowling, 13, of Orchard Park, makes a sundae for his be, DAmelia said. swilliams@dailygazette.net or @gazettesteve on
father at a Stewarts in Milton. Television was new, too, and the young ice cream Twitter.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
Above: Maria Perreca Papa, owner of More Perrecas in Schenectady, put together some ideas for the perfect picnic. Pictured are muffaletta sandwiches, almond biscotti,
proscuitto, taralle sticks and a bottle of wine or spring water. Top right: Many picnickers choose pre-made salads like these options at the Putnam Martket in Saratoga
Springs. Above right: Assorted cheeses, like these at the Putnam Market, pair well with a baguette or crackers for an easy-to-eat picnic treat.
For the perfect picnic, leave
the knife and fork at home
BY TATIANA ZARNOWSKI
For The Daily Gazette
No matter where youre plan-
ning to picnic this summer, its
OK to take the easy way out.
Forget slaving in the kitchen to
make that perfect batch of fried
chicken. Let someone else do the
cooking, or better yet, keep the
meal so simple that preparation
is minimal, said Chef Michael
Stamets, an assistant professor at
Schenectady County Community
College.
For me, Id rather just go out
and enjoy the day, Stamets said.
PACK FOR SPAC
Most of the picnic basket
contents will depend on what
kind of event youre having. For
a pre-show dinner at Saratoga
Performing Arts Center, Cathy
Hamilton prefers cold cuts to
make sandwiches or a baguette
and cheese as easy entrees.
Fresh vegetables, chips, pret-
zels and dips do well for side
dishes.
I nd it easier to not have to
get out a knife and fork, said
Hamilton, who co-owns Putnam
Market in downtown Saratoga
Springs, where many picnickers
stop before SPAC shows to pick
up pre-made salads and sand-
wiches.
For many adults, a SPAC picnic
is only complete with a bottle
of wine, and Hamilton suggests
something with a low alcohol
content and a light avor such as
a ros. Glass bottles are prohib-
ited at the outdoor amphitheater,
so most picnickers bring wines
that are packaged in paper car-
tons.
For wine-lovers who would
rather pour wine from a bottle,
Putnam Market has also started
carrying a $16 ros called Jean-
Michel Sorbe from Reuilly that
comes in a plastic bottle.
OUT AND ABOUT
For a picnic that includes a
hike or active outdoor activities,
wine and a lot of bread may not
be desirable.
Fresh cold-cut offerings, like this
turkey sandwich, are still easy
and delicious picnic options.
For Stamets, salads made from
pickled vegetables, including
red onions and cucumbers, are a
draw because theyre shelf-stable,
easy to transport and light in the
belly. Shelf-stable meats such as
prosciutto, cheeses and crackers
also make nice picnic foods, he
said.
Trail mix with nuts, dried fruit
and candy-coated chocolate
serves as both snack and dessert
and is easy to carry, Stamets said.
And of course, lots of water is
necessary to stay hydrated on a
hot day or when doing physical
activity. Stamets suggests fruit-
infused water, which can be as
simple as a few lemon slices in a
bottle of water, for some avor
without added sugar.
HOLD THE MAYO?
Including mayonnaise-contain-
ing foods in a picnic is up for
debate.
Stamets advises avoiding mayo
because of the risk of bacterial
growth, but Hamilton said it is
OK as long as youve practiced
safe preparation techniques.
Youve got to be really careful
when youre mixing things that
you dont cross contaminate,
Hamilton said. That includes
cleaning cutting boards and
knives in between tasks, and
washing your hands.
Its also necessary to eat the
food within two hours of remov-
ing it from the refrigerator. So
whether you bring your favorite
potato or macaroni salad de-
pends largely on how much ice
you want to bring and how long
SUMMER FOOD
youll wait to eat it.
Hamilton says bringing ice to a
picnic is important to keep food
safe, especially for the car ride,
while Stamets favors shelf-stable
foods that allow for a lighter
picnic basket. If you do bring
ice, Stamets suggests making it
perform double duty as drinking
water after it melts.
Besides food and beverages,
other things to pack for your
picnic include a trash bag, a chair
or blanket to sit on, sunblock and
bug spray.
POOCH PICNIC
If youre bringing your dog to
the picnic, you want to con-
sider packing a few extra things
besides food, water, toys and
plastic baggies for waste. Jill
Rodriguez, owner of Bella &
Lindy Saratogas Pet Boutique in
Saratoga Springs, recommends
BugOv, an all-natural insect
repellent that is safe for humans
and dogs. It is made in Saranac
Lake and is designed to repel
For wine-lovers who would rather pour from a bottle than a
box, plastic options, like this ros at Putnam Market in Saratoga
Springs, are available.
PHOTOS BY MARC SCHULTZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER
eas, ticks, gnats and mosqui-
toes.
Humans rarely think about the
potential for doggie sunburns, but
for dogs with thin, short fur, its
a painful possibility, Rodriguez
said. Spray-on sunblock for dogs
and sunshield T-shirts that block
ultraviolet rays can help.
Any dog where you can
see the pink of their skin, they
really should be wearing the
sunscreen, she said.
Rodriguez personally likes
going to Moreau Lake State Park
with her water-loving pups.
Though pooches are not permit-
ted on the main beach, they are
allowed on the smaller beaches
and in the picnic area. Most parks
have signs to say where dogs are
prohibited.
Whether your picnic includes
an afternoon Frisbee session with
the dog, an evening watching the
ballet or time spent exploring the
woods, a simple meal and a little
preparation can make the day fun
and safe for everyone.
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A3
Know your
venue
Before you go, know
the rules of the place
youre planning to visit;
park rules vary. Some
allow alcoholic bever-
ages and some dont;
some prohibit glass
bottles; and some dont
allow dogs. Some parks
are carry in/carry out
and dont have trash
cans for the public.
Most state parks charge
a fee for entry during
the summer, while most
city parks allow free
entry. For example:
Saratoga Spa State
Park and Moreau Lake
State Park charge an
$8 vehicle use fee daily
from now through La-
bor Day.
Peebles Island State
Park charges $6 entry
on weekends and
holidays.
Thacher State Park
does not charge at its
main lot, but those
who drive to the beach
at Thompsons Lake
pay $7.
State parks in the
Saratoga/Capital
Region area require a
permit to drink alcohol.
Group picnic pavil-
ions at the state parks
require reservations
and a rental fee, but
the smaller sites that
have grills and picnic
tables are up for grabs
for free.
Saratoga Spa State
Park is carry in/carry
out.
Smoking is prohib-
ited in certain spots at
many state parks but
allowed in other picnic
areas.
Visit nysparks.com
for more information
about each state park.
A4 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Patience in grilling is a virtue. Once you
start moving it around, the juices start owing
from one side to the other and they can leak
out. So its best to leave it and just force
yourself to be patient.
TOM ALICANDRO
Assistant professor, SCCC school of Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism
Above: Assistant culinary arts professor Thomas Alicandro checks to make sure a steak is through cooking on the bottom side, and is ready to be ipped, at Schenectady
County Community College. Top: Alicandro shows off the nished product.
Grilling a great
steak is easy
if you follow
these tips
BY JEFF WILKIN
Gazette Reporter
Some people look for summer sizzle at
the beach.
Guys like Tom Alicandro look for sizzle
on the grill.
Warmer weather has arrived, and people
are cooking outside with ames fueled by
propane and charcoal.
Hamburgers, hot dogs and Italian sau-
sage are ne fare but King Steak is the
boss of the grill. Porterhouse, Delmonico,
ribeye, llet and T-bone hit the heat every
weekend.
Alicandro, an assistant professor in
Schenectady County Community Colleges
school of Hotel, Culinary Arts and Tourism,
said success is possible for all amateur chefs
working with re.
I dont think its really hard to cook a
good steak, but there are a few things you
should really do and think about beforehand
and your success will be much greater, said
Alicandro, also a certied executive chef,
as he prepared to cook four New York strip
steaks in an SCCC cooking labs.
Alicandro watched steaks sizzle on the
grill, with 400 degrees worth of ame for
company.
Here are 10 parts of his plan:
SELECTION
One is to pick out a steak that has mar-
bling in it which is little lines of fat on the
inside of the steak. They melt as the steak
is cooked, giving it extra juice. Thats one
thing you should always look for.
THICK AND HEARTY
Everyone loves a thick steak. Sometimes
they can be difcult to cook on the grill. The
outside gets very dark before the inside is
cooked and in the restaurants, usually when
that happens theyll mark the outside on
the grill and nish it in the oven. If youre
just grilling outside, I would go for a nice
medium thickness and I think youll have
more success.
FLAME ON
New York strips steaks are medium cuts,
just right for grilling. Seven minutes per side
for medium, medium rare. It will be more
like 10 minutes a side if you want to have
SUMMER FOOD
Summer
dailygazette.com
See a video report on
grilling the perfect steak at
dailygazette.com
more well done.
And remember not to move your steak
all around. Put it on, let it sit, be patient
before you move it and let the steak get a re-
ally good sear before you move it around.
Patience in grilling is a virtue. Once you
start moving it around, the juices start ow-
ing from one side to the other and they can
leak out. So its best to leave it and just force
yourself to be patient.
CRIMES AGAINST STEAK
Two things to never do: Never cook with
cold steak. Sit it out for 20 minutes before
cooking. And never cut into it to see how
done it is. You have to train yourself to use
your ngers (kitchen gloves preferred). A
rare steak will be very spongy when you
touch it.
A medium steak will be rmer, but still a
little sponge to it. And a well-done steak will
not give at all when you touch it.
Rest your steaks once they are off the
grill. Never cut into your steak when you
rst take it off the grill, the juices are still
moving around in the steak very much and
if you cut it they all ow out onto your
plate, and you will get a dry steak with a lot
of juice on your plate.
So let it rest about seven minutes before
you cut it.
MASTER OF MARINADES
Marinades add avors. Im more tradi-
tional, I like olive oil and salt and pepper,
but you can do teriyaki, theres Southwest-
erns and there are dry rubs also dry rubs
stick to meat and give avor as its cooking,
theyre very sticky on the meat.
sizzle
Patience is a
virtue in grilling
steak. Once
youve placed
the meat on
the grill, let the
ame do its
work before
ipping it over.
STEAK TREK
For grilling, the best I nd are sirloin
and Porterhouse, T-bone, you can grill llet
also, those are more tender cuts of meat,
anything other than that should really be
braised and cooked for a long period of
time.
CHARCOAL VS. GAS
Gas is ne. I stay with charcoal because
you get a avor you cant get with gas.
Wood chips are ne, just make you soak
them rst or theyll burn up on you very
quickly and not give any avor whatsoever.
STEAK SAUCE? KETCHUP?
It changes the taste of the meat, and
many people really like that. I like a little
pat of butter, but a lot of people soften their
butter and put things in their butter like
parsley, basil, herbs, garlic, different things
like that, and then they put a pat of that on
the steak and as it melts, all those avors go
onto the steak and its really nice.
NO FOIL!
I would really stay from that. When you
wrap something in foil, you create steam,
so all youre doing is steaming your steak
instead of charring it on your outside. So it
will be more of a boiled taste and not really
what youre after.
SERVING SUGGESTION
Grilled veggies are a great side dish.
You get fresh zucchini, yellow squash, red
pepper, red onion, if you grill them and eat
them with your steak, its a colorful, health-
ful way to grill.
Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at 395-3124
or at wilkin@dailygazette.com or @jeffwilkin1
on Twitter. His blog is at www.dailygazette.
com/weblogs/wilkin.
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
RYAN ZIDEK/FOR THE DAILY GAZETTE
Expand
your
grilling
range
Steaks might be the big star of the
summer grill, but there are plenty of
players to ll other rolls.
Schenectady County Community
Colleges Tom Alicandro said shrimp,
chicken, pork and ham are other
foods for the re.
For shrimp, a lot of times they
can fall through the slats on a grill,
Alicandro said. You should put foil
on the grill to keep them from falling
through. Shrimp cooks very, very
quickly. You must really watch them,
you cant overcook them.
For chicken, Alicandro suggests
partially cooking legs, breasts and
thighs inside the house, to ensure
poultry cuts are cooked all the way
through. Then the pieces can be
nished on the grill. Chicken should
be cooked to 165 degrees, to be safe,
Alicandro said.
Pork can be cooked with extra a-
voring. Pork loins are great marinat-
ed, Alicandro said. Thats one time
marinades are great for grilling.
Any time people cook steaks and
then follow up with other foods,
Alicandro suggests scraping the grill
to ensure a clean cooking surface. He
also said ham steaks are options for
summer lunches or dinners on the
grill.
You can denitely put ham steaks
on the grill, Alicandro said. Ham
steaks are already cooked, so what
youre basically doing is putting
pretty marks on them and heating
them up.
And while pineapple or fruit salsa
would not be great choices for steaks,
ham steaks will benet from the fruit
assists. It adds moisture and bright
avors to liven them up, Alicandro
said.
Jeff Wilkin
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
Iced tea made even
better when you stir
in something extra
BY M. CARRIE ALLAN
The Washington Post
A glance at the calendar would
indicate its the beginning of
iced tea season. And in the rst
dreary stretch of May, I started
testing iced tea cocktails, trying
to magical-drink the weather into
collaboratingto tea up spring.
I could claim to have grown up
with tea, but its more truthful to
say that, thanks to my dads job
in the Foreign Service, I grew up
around it without ever managing
to pick up the habit. America is
still catching up on tea, although,
like the metric system, tea is a big
deal almost everywhere else. In
Karachi, Pakistan, where I was
born, its masala chai, a black tea
enhanced with cinnamon and car-
damom. Taiwan, where my sister
came along, produces delicate,
complex oolongs. In Australia,
our last overseas post, tea was a
common quaff, but I was too busy
sneaking out to drink beer.
It wasnt until college, when I
spent a year in the U.K. where
a cuppa is offered as a soothing
remedy for everything including
a stressful commute and a death
in the family that I drank tea at
all. Even then, the main attraction
was its chubby wingman: a scone
smeared with strawberry jam and
clotted cream.
Through cocktails, Ive come
to be an appreciator of tea. It falls
right under bitters on my list of
ways to add avor without add-
ing much alcohol or sugar. And
it doesnt always mean adding
caffeine; although many true teas
contain it, lots of green teas have
a low caffeine content, and some
of the herbal teas and fruit infu-
sions have none at all.
(A point of denition: Although
some blends travel under the tea
name, unless they contain leaves
of Camellia sinensis, theyre not
technically real tea. Im using the
term tea slightly unscientically
here, to refer to botanical blends
that you brew with hot water and
arent coffee.) I like how prepar-
ing teas is both similar to and
different from making cocktails.
Like a good drink, a good cup of
tea requires precision. The proper
extraction of avors in tea is a
matter of careful measurement of
time and temperatures. Over-
steep a nicky leaf and you can
wind up with a cup of bitter, ag-
gressively vegetal unpleasantness,
barely recognizable.
But unlike cocktails, tea is made
via a process thats inherently slo-
thy, especially when youre chilling
it afterward. As a home cocktailer,
Im not serving a bar three deep
with howling patrons. But I am
always trying to make drinks
faster, and speed is something you
cannot apply to teas: They take
the time they take, and in the case
of some herbal teas and infusions,
the steeping may stretch beyond
10 minutes. Yet isnt that a lovely
thing in itself? We live such busy
lives, and this small pause that tea
creates provides an opportunity to
do yoga poses, practice mindful-
ness or stare frantically at your
cellphone while sending mental
admonitions to the tea to just steep
already, you no-good lazy leaves.
Juste; High Tea; Summer Suzie.
Im always ashamed of my
impatience when I spend time
around Chantal Tseng, who
either radiates calm graciousness
from the core of her being or has,
over many years of dealing with
tipsy people, become very good
at faking it. As a bartender at the
Reading Room in D.C., Tseng has
been running a weekly series of
cocktail events featuring drinks
inspired by various authors.
Many of them involve tea, and
many are ideal for our recent ir-
ritating stretch of weather, in that
you can serve them cold or hot.
Tea is something I drink every
single day, Tseng says, noting that
she probably rst started playing
with teas when working with old
punch recipes and making batch
cocktails for large events. (Another
benet of tea: Along with not add-
ing alcohol or sugar, it also doesnt
add a huge amount of expense.)
She thinks of it almost like cooking:
You have your base spirits, and
you can kind of imagine those a-
vors ... your garlic, your celery and
then you add spices via teas and
other modiers, she says.
Black teas are generally great
with darker spirits such as aged
rums, bourbon and rye, Tseng
says. Pu-erh always reminds
me of camping. The rst time I
tasted it, I was like, Wow, thats
interesting. It tastes like earth, but
like warm earth. She nds that
green tea and herbal teas such as
chamomile often work well with
gin; chamomile, she points out, is
a common avoring in vermouth.
Her e.e. cummings-inspired
drink, I Love Humanity, is a
seasonal avor bridge incorporat-
ing bourbon, apple brandy and
spice with roasted barley tea and
lemon. The barley tea is a grain
infusion that tastes like toast
smells: roasty, bready, comforting
at any temperature. The drink of
her specications is deliciously
boozy; if you want something a
little lighter and more tea-for-
ward, increasing the amount of
barley brew does no harm.
Slipstream, the coffee-to-cock-
tails nook in D.C., almost always
has a tea cocktail on the menu,
says bar manager Chris Jakubows-
ki. He likes how jasmine teas pair
with tequila and mezcal: The
strong earthiness of agave spirits
kind of grounds the Bath & Body
Works aspect of jasmine tea. In
his High Tea cocktail, soft oral
notes in the oolong tea balance
out the richness of apple brandy.
Maybe its odd that my primary
sense memory of tea is from my
parents roots in the Deep South,
where you cant throw a grit
without hitting iced tea, most of
it so sweet itll make your teeth
itch. I remember spots where a
request for unsweetened tea met
with a dose of clearly-a-Yankee
stink-eye from the waitress.
Those sweet teas were on
my mind when I developed the
accompanying Porchard recipe,
adding other fruits of the South
specically, bourbon and peaches.
I was aiming for the kind of brew
youd want to set in a pitcher on
the porch while you sip from it for
hours, wearing light linen clothes
and glistening in a Tennessee
Williams sort of way that might
bring gentleman callers to the
yard, callers youd then have to
From left: The Porchard; I
Love Humanity; La Bergamote
PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY
FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
SUMMER FOOD
chase off lest they want to steal
your pitcher of Porchard. It tastes
like a Southern summer. The
lemon adds a nice, fresh note, but
I like the cleanness of the tea and
bourbon without it, too.
Surely once we all start drink-
ing things like the Porchard, the
weather has got to take the hint.
THE PORCHARD
4 servings
This Southern-inected sipper
will be best when you can use
fresh, ripe peaches. But even
unripe peaches with a good
fragrance will work. The lemon
juice brings brightness; omit it
if youre looking for a drink that
more closely echoes a classic
Southern sweet tea.
MAKE AHEAD: The bourbon
needs to infuse for a day or two
in advance; the infused bourbon
can be refrigerated for up to a
few weeks.
3 cups chilled black tea
1
1 2 cups peach-infused bour-
bon (see NOTES)
6 ounces fresh lemon juice
(from 2 lemons; optional)
6-12 ounces Demerara syrup
(see NOTES)
Ice
Mint sprigs, for garnish
Combine the tea, peach-infused
bourbon and lemon juice, if using,
in a large pitcher. Add 6 ounces
of the Demerara syrup, then taste;
add some or all of the remaining
syrup as needed. Refrigerate until
well chilled.
When ready to serve, ll 4
glasses with ice. Take sprigs of
mint, slap each one between your
palms (to release the herbs oils)
and add one sprig to each glass.
Pour the drink over the ice to ll.
NOTES: To make the peach-
infused bourbon, place 12 ounces
of peeled, sliced fresh peaches in
11
a bowl and cover with 2 cups of
bourbon. Allow to infuse for 24
to 48 hours, then strain, pressing
on the peaches to release any
remaining liquids. Discard the
solids.
To make the Demerara syrup,
1
combine 1 2 cups of Demerara or
turbinado sugar and 112 cups of
water in a small saucepan over
medium heat, stirring until the
sugar has dissolved. Cook for a
few minutes, then turn off the
heat. Cool completely before us-
ing or storing (for up to 2 weeks
in the refrigerator).
Nutrition, per serving: 330
calories, 0 g protein, 28 g carbo-
hydrates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat,
0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0
g dietary ber, 26 g sugar
SUMMER SUZIE
4 servings
Subtle, oral and lightly bit-
tersweet, this drink incorporates
chamomile tea with the sun-hued,
gentian-based aperitif Suze.
1 cup chilled chamomile tea
4 ounces Old Tom Gin
2 ounces Suze brand aperitif
liqueur
2 ounces dry curacao
Ice
4 twists of lemon peel, for
garnish
Combine the tea, gin, Suze and
curaao in a pitcher, then stir.
Fill 4 highball glasses with ice
and divide the
drink among them. Express a
piece of lemon peel over the sur-
face of each drink, then drop the
peel in; or roll the peels, skewer
them with cocktail picks and rest
one across the rim of each glass.
Nutrition per serving: 120
calories, 0 g protein, 4 g carbohy-
drates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0
mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0 g
dietary ber, 3 g sugar
LA BERGAMOTE JUSTE
1 serving
Gin and Earl Grey tea go beau-
tifully together. The bergamot
bergamote in France in the
tea complements the botanicals
of the gin in this crisp, refreshing
drink.
Ice
3 ounces chilled Earl Grey tea
1
1 2 ounces citrusy gin, such as
Tanqueray 10 or Malfy
3
4 ounce honey syrup (see
NOTE)
1
2 ounce fresh lemon juice
1-2 ounces tonic water
Twist of grapefruit or orange
peel, for garnish
Fill a highball glass with ice.
Add the chilled Earl Grey tea,
gin, honey syrup and lemon juice,
then stir. Top with the tonic
water as needed.
Twist/express the citrus peel
over the top of the drink, then
drop it in.
NOTE: To make the honey
1
syrup, dissolve 4 cup of honey in
1
4 cup of boiling water, stirring
until the honey has dissolved.
Cool completely before using.
Nutrition per serving: 170
calories, 0 g protein, 17 g carbohy-
drates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0
mg cholesterol, 5 mg sodium, 0 g
dietary ber, 16 g sugar
HIGH TEA
1 serving
This simple, delicious concoc-
tion highlights oolong tea. To
make a crowd-size batch, mul-
tiply the ingredient amounts by
the number of servings you want,
mix in a pitcher and refrigerate
until ready to serve, then pour
over ice.
MAKE AHEAD: The rich
simple syrup can be refrigerated
indenitely in an airtight con-
tainer.
Adapted from Chris Jakubows-
ki, bar manager at Slipstream in
Washington.
Ice
2 ounces
brewed, chilled
oolong tea
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A5
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
1
1 2 ounces Lairds Apple-
jack
1
2 ounce chilled rich simple
syrup (see NOTE)
2 dashes orange bitters
Fill a highball glass with
ice. Combine the chilled tea,
applejack, rich simple syrup and
orange bitters in a mixing glass,
stirring to incorporate. Pour into
the highball glass.
NOTE: To make a rich simple
syrup, combine 1 cup of sugar and
1
2 cup of water in a small sauce-
pan over medium heat, stirring
until the sugar dissolves. Bring
to a low boil, then cool. Transfer
to a heatproof container. Once it
has cooled to room temperature,
cover tightly and refrigerate until
chilled through; store indenitely.
Nutrition per serving: 140
calories, 0 g protein, 12 g carbohy-
drates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0
mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0 g
dietary ber, 12 g sugar
I LOVE HUMANITY
(Inspired by e.e. cummings)
1 serving
This is from bartender Chantal
Tsengs weekly series of cocktail
events at the Reading Room in
D.C., featuring drinks inspired by
various authors. The roastiness of
the barley tea and the richness of
apple brandy and bourbon bring
depth to the drink.
Barley tea is caffeine-free. It is
available in Asian markets and at
some specialty tea shops. Allspice
dram is an allspice-avored
liqueur, available in D.C. at Ace
Beverage, MacArthur Beverages
and Batch 13. Maraschino liqueur
is not the juice from maraschino
cherries.
Adapted from Chantal Tseng,
bartender at the Reading Room.
Ice
1 ounce brewed chilled bar-
ley tea (see headnote)
3
4 ounce apple brandy (such
as Copper & Kings or
Lairds)
3
4 ounce bourbon
1
4 ounce allspice dram (see
headnote)
1
4 ounce maraschino liqueur
1
4 ounce fresh lemon juice
Whole nutmeg, for garnish
Fill a mixing glass with ice, then
add the barley tea, apple brandy,
bourbon, allspice dram, maraschi-
no liqueur and lemon juice; stir
until well chilled. Strain and pour
into a chilled rocks glass.
Use a Microplane zester to
grate a little fresh nutmeg over
the top.
Nutrition per serving: 190 calo-
ries, 0 g protein, 13 g carbohy-
drates, 0 g fat, 0 g saturated fat,
0 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0
g dietary ber, 9 g sugar
A6 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER FOOD WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

Take it
outside
Be sure to enjoy fresh-air
dining while you can
it wont be here for long

PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

Jumpin Jacks Drive-In is a popular summer destination for burgers and onion rings. Be sure to leave room for soft ice cream.

BY CAROLINE LEE
For The Daily Gazette
In Switzerland, eece blankets are
draped over bistro chairs for cold-weath-
er dining. In Paris, husband Eric and I
drank red wine in winter under a heater
at an outdoor cafe on Ile Saint-Louis.
Capital Region residents dont engage
in fresh-air dining in winter, so we have
to make the most of the short season we
have.
In Saratoga Springs, sidewalk cafes
have long been part of the downtown
experience. In Schenectady, a number of
outdoor dining spots have popped up on
lower Union Street and in other down-
town locations.
Here are some good choices for al
fresco dining, in no particular order. Get
yourself out and enjoy the brief season.
And bring a sweater.

The Waters Edge Lighthouse, 2

Freemans Bridge Road, Glenville,
370-5300, www.thewatersedge
lighthouse.com
Enjoy appetizers, sandwiches and pizza
on an abbreviated menu while dining at
the Cabana Bar overlooking the Mohawk
River. If youre cruising, tie up at the dock.

Lanies Cafe, 471 Albany Shaker

Road, Loudonville, 438-5005, www.
laniescafe.com
It doesnt matter that the patio at this
incredibly popular restaurant overlooks
a parking lot. Lanies has a well-earned
reputation for good food with a wide-
ranging menu that leans Italian. Have a
burger, chicken piccatta, a steak. Its all Above: Diners enjoy the
good, thats why its always crowded. view from the double
patio at the Waters Edge
Jumpin Jacks Drive-In, 5 Schonow- Lighthouse on Freemans
ee Ave., Scotia, 393-6101, www.jump- Bridge Road in Glenville.
injacksdrivein.com Left: Teresa Varano, left,
Grab a sunny picnic table and watch and Patti Paniccia look over
out for little leaguers as you make your the menu on the patio at
way the Charcoal Pit for a burger and The Mill on Round Lake.
some onion rings. Leave room for soft ice RYAN ZIDEK/FOR THE DAILY GAZETTE
cream or cotton candy from the Twin-
Freeze. Outdoor dining doesnt get any
more family-friendly than this.

Johnnys, 433 State St, Schenectady,

982-5657, www.johnnysdowntown.
com
Theres no better place to soak in our
revitalized downtown Schenectady than
the patio at Johnnys. The restaurant
features classic Italian food, homemade
pasta and some of the best desserts youll
ever taste.

Nicos Rooftop Tavern, 441 State

St., Schenectady, 372-6024, www.
nicosrooftoptavern.com
Located above Nicos Pizzeria in
downtown Schenectady, its convenient
to entertainment and has a view of the
gleaming golden City Hall dome. In addi-
tion to the full pizzeria menu, the Roof-
top has appetizers, salads and entrees.
The Buffalo mac and cheese is preposter-
ously fattening and delicious.
Lanzis on the Lake, 1751 Route 30,
Mayeld, 661 7711, www.lanzis
onthelake.net
From Lanzis outdoor deck, you can see
enjoy a spectacular view of the spectacu-
lar Great Sacandaga Lake. The restaurant,
which includes a marina, has become a
tradition for both permanent residents
and seasonal visitors.
Mill on Round Lake, 2121 Route 9,
Round Lake, 899-5253, www.
myfavoritetaverns.com/the-mill
Casual food you want to eat, not
should eat. Enjoy sandwiches, burgers,
wings, quesadillas on the large patio.
Umbrella tables for day, a re pit for
night. Convivial atmosphere.
Prime at Saratoga National Golf
Club, 458 Union Ave., Saratoga
Springs, 583-4653, www.golfsaratoga.
com
This is a swanky joint but you dont have
to be a member, and its classic Angelo
Mazzone so everyone is made to feel wel-
come. Enjoy matchless steaks and faultless
service. Theres a covered patio in case of
rain but its gorgeous inside as well as out.
You dont even have to like golf.
Circus Cafe, 392 Broadway, Sarato-
ga Springs, 583-1106, www.circuscafe.
com
You can get both a Mojito and cotton
candy here but you probably dont want
them together. Burgers are famous and
kids are welcome. Centrally located on
Broadway for excellent people-watching
all hours of the day and night.
The Brick, 54 Clifton Country
Road, Clifton Park, 383-2222,
brickhousepizzany.com
Easily the best outdoor dining location
in Clifton Park, The Brick has a sprawling
deck and outdoor bar that overlooks a
charming pond. The white pizza is out of
this world, prices are friendly, and if you
dont want to go outside theres plenty of
screens to watch sports.
Browns Brewing Companys Troy
Taproom, 417 River St., Troy,
273-2337, brownsbrewing.com
Browns was a brewpub before
brewpubs were cool. Dependable wings,
salads, burgers, and a few entrees with a
view of the Hudson River. When it gets
too crowded its a short walk to patios at
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and the new Wolfs
Biergarten.
Your local ice cream stand
or drive-in
Im talking about the Country Drive-in
in Halfmoon, Cappies Drive-In in Amster-
dam, Snowman in Troy, Poppys in Rot-
terdam, Kurver Kreme in Albany and too
many others to list. Make an excuse to visit
your favorite joint soon. Support locally
made ice cream. Stewarts counts, too.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER FOOD THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A7

DEB LINDSEY/ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

Clockwise from above: A ring of smolder beef brisket; smoked rotisserie chicken;
and grilled antipasti.

Expert tips can help one grill do it all

BY JIM SHAHIN
The Washington Post
For many years, I owned an
offset smoker, and as a hard-core
barbecue enthusiast I insisted on
it as an absolute necessity for low-
and-slow cooking. Having a rebox
to the side, not under, the meats
means you can more easily keep
the heat gentle and replace coals
and wood as needed.
Then a couple of years ago, I
gave it to a neighbor. It was still
usable, but Id grown weary of its
frailties, its leakiness and its creep-
ing Soviet-like empire-building
rust. I had intended to replace it
with a much better one, but after a
road trip to various custom smoker
manufacturers, I returned home
mired in indecision. Meanwhile, I
found myself doing more and more
of those big smokes, such as ribs,
beef brisket and pork shoulder, on
my simple 22-inch Weber kettle
instead.
These days, I cook nearly every-
thing on it. And I use almost noth-
ing else. Very little gadgetry. Few
accessories. Thats because I know
that the key to good barbecue is re
management and that has very little
to do with the equipment.
I do use a hinged cooking grate,
because it makes adding charcoal
and wood to an existing re easy.
On rare occasions, I set up a rotis-
serie. And of course I employ a grill
pan, long-handled tongs and a good
pair of gloves.
If I wanted to, I could buy all
sorts of items, including special
heavy-duty searing grates, rib
grates and entire barbecue sys-
tems, which, as it happens, en-
courage you to buy yet more stuff.
But the more I barbecue, the less
equipment I seem to need.
Kettles have long been frowned
upon by the cue-noscenti as little
more than the workhorse of holi-
day burgers and wieners and the
occasional birthday steak. But they
can do so much more once you
know how to set them up.
The rst step is imagining what
youd like to do. Think of the kettle
as both stove top and oven. You
want to cook something quickly, you
can. You want to roast something
over time, you can do that as well.
Were not just talking meat, either.
Think vegetables and fruit, too.
Dont get me wrong: As much
as I like it, there are downsides to
using a kettle for everything. One,
volume. You can cant t as much
food on a kettle as you can an offset
or even a bullet smoker. Two,
level of stress. You can smoke big
food items in a kettle, but using a
smoker, which is made specically
for low-and-slow cooking, allows
you to feed the re more easily if
needed and will generally turn out
more consistent results.
Still, theres something appealing,
in a minimalistic sort of way, about
an all-in-one piece of gear, and
when you know how to manage the
re, your kettle can be exactly that.
Here are some techniques for vary-
ing the placement of coals, wood
and more to get the most out of it.
DIRECT FIRE
The old-school style of cooking,
hot and fast. Distribute the charcoal
in a layer across the entire bottom
of the grill.
Pros: Great for cooking a lot of
quick-grilling items, such as those
burgers and wieners for that birth-
day party. Its the preferred method
for searing, as well. Thick, rm
items, such as pineapple slices, take
well to this method. So do sliced
vegetables, such as eggplant, onions
and zucchini, which when dressed
in olive oil, vinegar and herbs make
for a fantastic antipasto.
Cons: You have to be super-or-
ganized, because the food is going
on and coming off pretty fast. You
have nowhere to put items that
may need more cooking, but less
heat.
Tips: When the re is hot, you
can sear meat and get terric grill
marks on vegetables, fruit and
some denser sh, like swordsh.
It also does wonders for opening
the shells of oysters, mussels and
clams. A medium re allows you to
thoroughly cook such semi-dense
foods as mangoes and salmon and,
yes, even burgers (although you
wont get the char you may seek).
INDIRECT FIRE
The standard-bearer of the mod-
ern grillmeister. Distribute coals on
one side and leave the other side
empty.
Pros: Allows maximum exibil-
ity to grill and yet, by moving the
food over to the cool side, you can
cook it all the way through with
control, or even smoke it. Excellent
for thicker steaks, when you want a
good char but you also seek a medi-
um-rare or medium piece of meat.
Good, really, for anything that you
want charred, then smoked.
Con: Reduces the actual cooking
area by about half.
Tips: To add smoke, distribute
some wood chips or wood chunks
onto the coals. Allow to catch, then
put the lid on, with the top vents
open anywhere from a sliver (for a
very low but dense smoke) to about
half (for a quicker, lighter smoke).
THREE-ZONE FIRE
This is unconventional and not
as useful as a basic indirect method,
but fun to experiment with. After
the coals are ready, distribute a
large pile of them on one side, slope
a smaller pile next to it, and leave
the last third of the grill empty.
Pros: Allows you to sear, cook
and smoke. It also lets you cook
over different temperatures at the
same time. Say, sear a steak over
the hot coals and grill fruit over the
medium-hot coals.
Cons: The three temperature
zones can limit more than expand
what you cook because of the tight
space. Plus, it can be challenging to
cook over multiple zones at once.
Tips: This one is all about tim-
ing. A slice of eggplant over me-
dium heat will take about the same
amount of time as a thick burger
over a hot re. Plan accordingly.
Use the empty zone as a warmer or
as a fail-safe if something is cook-
ing too quickly.
RING OF SMOLDER
For cooking at low temperature
for a long time, aka low-and-slow.
Distribute the charcoal in a ring
around the perimeter of the kettle,
about three coals wide. Add anoth-
er layer of coals on top. Top with
wood chunks every few inches.
Pros: The re will burn from
six to 10 hours, or even more,
depending on the depth and length
of the charcoal ring. Ideal for big
meats, such as ribs and pork butt.
What some consider the summit
of barbecue, brisket, comes out
incredibly juicy, with a nice crusty
exterior.
Con: The entire grill is pretty
much devoted to that one item.
Tips: Check the re about four
hours into your cook. There should
be spent coals approximately two-
thirds of the way around. If you
feel you need to add coals to get
to the number of desired hours, do
so sparingly, only about six coals.
Youll may not need to add any, but
if you do, youll almost certainly
need to add only one time. Be
careful not to add too many during
the cook because you can cause
the edges of the meat to sizzle and
burn.
ROTISSERIE
For even cooking of substantial
meats that will cook for an hour or
two. An electric rotisserie (about
$150) ts perfectly inside a 22-inch
Weber kettle. The coals should
be distributed on both sides of the
meat, and the space directly be-
neath the meat should be lled with
an aluminum foil drip pan.
Pros: Great for roasts and whole
chickens. A nice crust forms on the
roast, and the skin on the chicken
crisps up beautifully. Also, rotis-
serie cooking is effortless. Set it and
forget it.
Cons: You must have an electri-
cal outlet handy. It is a minor hassle
to set up and, afterward, clean.
Tips: Place some vegetables,
such as potatoes, carrots and
onions, beneath the meat to avor
them with the drippings.
Jim Shahin is an associate professor
of journalism at Syracuse University.

For the ultimate cookout, try these must-have tools

BY LINDSEY M. ROBERTS a cabana-like structure over a These acacia-wood
The Washington Post kitchen, dining room and living and stainless-steel
room in one. Clients are even corn holders by
Used to be, cookouts meant burg- German makers
ers and dogs. Ketchup and mustard. It asking for outdoor TVs, bar Schmidt Brothers
was a tradition about as summery and seating and re pits, as alfresco are a big
American as fresh-cut green lawns and entertaining becomes the activ- step up from
ity of summer. plastic holders.
baseball. CRATE & BARREL
Today, with the rise of the foodie, These corn Maybe you dont know how to GRACIOUS HOME
A good pair of
the millennial and the median house- salt and get started, though. First decide
tongs is a grilling
hold income, grilling is decidedly pepper whether youre a gas or charcoal essential. OXOs
shakers are griller. 12-inch tongs are
something more.
a wink at For taste and convenience, Karmel the perfect size
Its a legitimate hobby, says Eliz- a favorite New from Coyote
says, gas cannot be beat. But char- Outdoor Living is the any longer and
abeth Karmel, owner of Carolina Cue American you lose control.
grilled treat, coal is a lot of fun when you have Asado freestanding
To-Go and former executive chef at
corn on more time to be hands-on. ceramic grill, a kamado- CREDIT: OXO
Hill Country Barbecue Market in the style smoker
District and New York. Its probably the cob. Then, what to eat? thats a
the most talked-about indigenous Heed Karmels mantra: If you can centuries-old Grilling can get pretty
American way of cooking. eat it, then you can grill it. Put the Japanese design. The messy. Find an apron
Household chefs are experimenting with food on, and as entertaining expert Susan Asado burns wood with pockets and plenty
Spungen says, When the party starts, be in it. chips or charcoal, of fabric for wiping,
the types of food they grill watermelon, has a grate with wide
eggplant, even oysters and mussels. Theyre The only real mistake you can make is call- such as Picnic Fashions
openings for direct-heat buffalo check red apron.
developing spice rubs and buying more than ing hot dogs barbecue, because, as South- cooking and searing,
one type of grill. Die-hards are even designing erners are quick to tell you, its only barbecue and includes a cart with PICNIC FASHION

outdoor kitchens. For one Northern Virginia if its cooked low and slow. Anything else is fold-down shelves.
project, Charlene Kennerknecht and her simply grilling out. Not that theres anything BBQ GUYS
partner, Arch Williams, created a grotto, wrong with that.
A8 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER FOOD WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

Homemade
desserts add love
to summer meals
BY MARY CIRINCIONE
For The Daily Gazette
Theres one thing a warm summer
evening deserves: A cool and refresh-
ingly delicious dessert.
But know what tastes even better?
Something made with love, by hand.
Two local culinary experts offer up
their take on a great frozen dessert,
worthy of sharing with friends and
family.
In fact, you can even take one and
magic it into the other.
But rst, a bit of science.
Making frozen desserts requires
some special considerations to
achieve the right consistency, ac-
cording to Paul Krebs, a certied
culinary educator and professor at
Schenectady County Community Col-
lege. Milk, cream and sugar simply
placed in the freezer will freeze into
a brick-like block. To keep the ice
cream soft, it is essential to add air to
the mixture.
There are two ways to do this,
Krebs said: Prior to freezing, which
results in a still-frozen dessert, such
as an Italian semifreddo, frozen
mousse or French parfait, or during
the freezing process, as is the case
with ice creams and sorbets, known
as churn-frozen desserts.
Weve got two recipes one for
each type of frosty goodness guar-
anteed to earn you rave reviews from
loved ones. Read on to learn more.
SEMIFREDDO TORTELUCCI
Created by Luca Brunelle CEC,
Cornells
Serves 8. Preparation time (exclusive
of freezing time): less than 10 minutes.
An Italian semifreddo remains soft
despite freezing thanks to the addition
of folded whipped cream. Air added
to cream, creates whipped cream, and
the air in this dessert prevents it from
freezing solid.
Hence its semi-frozen name.
Chefs notes: A nice slice with
whipped cream and a cherry will
quench your [frozen] sweet tooth
this summer. Its easy, simple and
delicious, and has some great Italian
air.
1 quart vanilla ice cream (home-
made or store-bought)
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1
4 cup amaretto
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1
2 cup roasted pistachios
1
2 cup mini chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate sauce, divided
1 cup ground biscotti
2 biscotti, quartered
8 maraschino cherries HOMEMADE VANILLA BEAN heating it. Candies or toasted nuts can Chef Luca
be folded in at the end of the freezing Brunelle of
ICE CREAM
Line a 6-by-9-inch bread pan with process. Cornells says
Recipe by Paul Krebs CCE, Sche- his Italian
plastic wrap, to make sliding the
nectady County Community College semifreddo
nished semifreddo out a breeze. 1
1 2 cups whole milk
Yield: 1.25 quarts. can help
Sprinkle the bottom of the pan with
Serves 10. 112 cups heavy cream quench your
1
ground biscotti, then drizzle 4 cup 3
[frozen] sweet
Preparation time (exclusive of freez- 4 cup granulated sugar
chocolate sauce. Set aside remainder. tooth this
ing time): 15 minutes. 1 vanilla bean (or 1 tablespoon
Combine heavy cream, powdered summer.
Classic vanilla ice cream, a tradi- vanilla extract)
sugar and vanilla extract in a mixing PHOTO
bowl, and whip until stiff peaks form. tional American favorite, is made easy COURTESY
with the aid of an ice cream maker. Scrape the vanilla bean by splitting CHEF LUCA
Refrigerate. BRUNELLE
Kitchen Aid mixer fans will be it lengthwise, using the edge of a knife
Using a mixer or electric beaters,
1 pleased to learn that theres an ice to scrape the pulp out of the interior.
combine ice cream, amaretto, 2 cup
cream attachment which includes Retain the pod.
chocolate sauce, pistachios and mini
chocolate chips, working quickly to a dasher (to mix and scrape the ice Combine the milk, cream, sugar and
keep the mixture as cold as possible. cream) and freeze bowl, meaning vanilla (pulp and pod) in a heavy-bot-
1
After reserving 1 2 cups of whipped theres no need to purchase and store tomed saucepan and heat just until
cream to use for garnish, fold remain- a separate machine, if you dont al- steaming, stirring constantly.
der into ice cream mixture and place ready have one. Let cool for about 20 minutes.
into bread pan. Freeze at least 6 hours Chefs notes: Fresh berries and Remove the pod, then chill in a con-
or overnight. sliced peaches work as delicious top- tainer in the refrigerator overnight.
Unmold and cut the semifreddo pings, because simple, rich vanilla If you opt for the vanilla extract, it
loaf into eight slices. Garnish gener- ice cream lets the fruit avors shine. should be added just prior to refriger-
ously with remaining chocolate sauce However, if you crave variety, you can ating the mixture.
and whipped cream, a maraschino use this recipe as a base for your own The mixture will be ready to freeze
cherry and a chunk of biscotti, as creations. Chocolate or instant coffee in your ice cream machine the next
desired. Serve and enjoy! granules can be added while you are day.

The cake that taught me a berry good lesson

BY DORIE GREENSPAN
Special to The Washington Post
Youd have thought that some-
one of my age, which would be a
certain age, would have learned
long ago never to say never.
Given that Im not particularly as-
sertive (can you hear my husband
stage-whispering shes a marsh-
mallow?) and that I like to think
of myself as exible, its surprising
that Ive made several rash culi-
nary statements.
There was the one about
chocolate and blueberries being a
horrible combinationand ugly, to
boot; another about how oysters
should never, ever be eaten with
red wine; and, the most recent, my
dictum that strawberries arent
good to bake withtoo watery, was
my reason.
Remember the cliche declaring
that theres an exception to every
rule? Well, I made chocolate-blue-
berry ice cream, I loved it and it
looked great (not at all like the
chocolate ice cream that melted
over my high-school boyfriends
slice of blueberry pie and looked
so unappetizing that I stopped go-
ing out with him).
I listened to the advice of a Paris
sommelier and drank red wine
with oysterstwice. Honestly, I
dont see a third time in my future.
And then theres the straw-
berry statement. Turns out I was
rightat least with this cake.
At its simplest, it falls into the
category of favorites in my
house.
Its the substantial kind often
called a tea or coffee cake, but it
would take to any beverage and
be right at any time, breakfast to
dessert.
Its sweetness comes as much
from the cornmeal as from sugar,
and its tang comes from butter-
milk, an ingredient that reliably
delivers avor, moistness and a
touch of tenderness.
Because Ive always liked
corn and strawberries together,
I thought theyd be great baked
together.
I made the cornmeal cake, stud-
ded the top with berries and slid
the pan into the oven. Failure. I
wouldnt say it was an epic one,
but it certainly wasnt a success:
The berries sank to the bottom,
even though the batter was thick;
they turned the cake around them
mushy.
The batter couldnt bake prop-
erly with all that oozing straw-
berry juice, and the berries baked
to a paler version of themselves,
losing their vibrant color and their
bright, fresh avor.
OK, maybe it was an epic fail.
It was back to square one for
me: great cornmeal cake, wedges
cut in half, lled with whipped
cream and lots of brightly colored,
fresh, fragrant strawberries. And it
was back to deliciousness.
The cake comes together
quicklyno power tools needed
and bakes beautifully in a cast-
iron skillet, just as corn bread, its
savory cousin, does.
With the skillet, you get a light
crust with a smidge of crunch on
the bottom and sides of the cake
and the pleasure of serving the
sweet straight from the good-look-
ing pan, but youll get a nice cake
if you bake it in a springform.
TAKEAWAY TIPS
You can use yellow or white
cornmeal, but I think yellow
makes a prettier cake. Choose
a cornmeal thats not too gritty.
Stay away from polenta; ne- to
medium-grain is best.
Rub the lemon zest into the
sugar until the mix is fragrant. You
get more avor out of zest when
you infuse the sugar this way.
Stir half of the dry ingredients
into the egg-and-sugar mixture,
add all the buttermilk, stir, and
then stir in the rest of the dry stuff.
This is a thick batter, so its easier
to blend, and youre less likely to
beat it too vigorously if you work
in batches. Its the same with the
melted butter, which is the last
ingredient to go into the batter.
While Im still saying never
to baking with strawberrieswell,
mostly never, as I do make and
love rhubarb tart with a few ber-
ries baked inIll never say never
to putting strawberries on top of
this cake.
Cornmeal and strawberries
forever.
DORIE GREENSPANS
CORNMEAL SKILLET CAKE
WITH STRAWBERRIES
8 servings
You can use a 9-inch springform
pan instead of a cast-iron skillet;
Cornmeal
skillet
cake with
strawberries
THE WASHINGTON
POST
adjust the baking time to about 40
minutes. This cake tastes best just
after its made.
From cookbook author Dorie
Greenspan.
8 tablespoons (1 stick) un-
salted butter, melted and
cooled, plus more for the
skillet
114 cups our
1 teaspoon baking powder
1
4 teaspoon baking soda
1
4 teaspoon ne sea salt
1
2 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup sugar, plus more for the
berries
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 large eggs, at room tempera-
ture
2 teaspoons pure vanilla ex-
tract
1
2 cup regular or low-fat but-
termilk, at room tempera-
ture
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
(optional)
1 quart fresh strawberries,
hulled, for serving
1
1 2 cups heavy cream, whipped
(sweetened or not), for serv-
ing
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a 10-inch cast-iron skillet
with butter or bakers spray.
Whisk together the our, baking
powder, baking soda and salt in a
medium bowl, then whisk in the
cornmeal.
Put the sugar in a mixing bowl
and drop in the lemon zest. Use
your clean ngertips to work in
the zest until the sugar is fragrant.
One at a time, whisk the eggs
into the sugar, beating until well
incorporated. Stir in the vanilla ex-
tract. Still working with the whisk,
or switching to a exible spatula,
blend in half of the our-cornmeal
mixture.
Add all the buttermilk, stirring
until the batter is homogenous.
Add the rest of the our-cornmeal
mixture, stirring until it disappears
into the batter, which will be thick.
Stir the melted butter into the
batter in three additions, wait-
ing for each new addition to be
incorporated before adding the
next. Scrape the batter into the
skillet and use a spatula to spread
it evenly. Sprinkle the batter with
sanding sugar, if youd like.
Bake (middle rack) for 30 to 33
minutes or until golden brown,
particularly around the edges;
the cake will have begun to pull
away from the sides of the skil-
let; a toothpick inserted into the
center of the cake should come
out clean.
Transfer the cake (in the skillet)
to a rack to cool for at least 30
minutes before serving. Cut the
strawberries in half lengthwise;
sprinkle lightly with sugar and toss
to coat.
To serve, cut the cake into
wedges and slice each wedge in
half horizontally.
Pile the bottom slice with
whipped cream and berries; lean
the top slice against the cream and
fruit.
Nutrition per serving (using
low-fat buttermilk): 500 calories, 6
g protein, 54 g carbohydrates, 30 g
fat, 18 g saturated fat, 140 mg cho-
lesterol, 170 mg sodium, 3 g dietary
ber, 31 g sugar
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
Work edible
owers into
salads, drinks,
desserts
BY MICHELLE STARK
Tampa Bay Times Food Editor
As the visual component of what we eat be-
comes more important, it doesnt hurt to jazz
up our meals with something beautiful. Edible
owers are an easy way to add a pop of color
and a slight herbal, oral avor to every- of dishes is the nasturtium. Here is a recipe
thing from salads to cocktails to cupcakes.
Marvin Wilhite of Cahaba Clubs Herbal
Outpost in Odessa said edible owers tend
to crop up more on restaurant menus these
days, and its because of the emphasis on
plate presentation.
Its denitely catching on, he said.
[Flowers are] becoming a culinary art form,
a beautiful way to set the plate. As the food
scene becomes more competitive, people are
looking for ways to set themselves apart. And
more and more, we eat with our eyes.
Wilhite grows edible owers on his farm,
which is a good place to look for owers that
are safe to eat if you want to work them into
your cooking at home. Some grocery stores
sell prepackaged food-safe blooms or petals;
so do local markets. (Certain owers, like
oleander, are poisonous, so its important to
know what youre eating. See box below.)
Cahaba Clubs Herbal Outpost also grows
microgreens, another plant currently popular
on restaurant menus, including some with
specic avor proles, like wasabi greens.
Mostly, Wilhites edible owers come in
the form of chef blends that mix petals with
things like chervil, fennel, red cabbage, cel-
ery, arugula and pea tendrils.
These kind of mixes sell better when they
have owers in them, because they are so
attractive, he said.
So which varieties can you actually eat?
Wilhite is quick to point out that you can
eat most owers, but that doesnt mean you
should. Some of them dont taste like much,
while others are actively unpleasant. The
ones worth seeking out offer a mild, pleasant,
earthy avor. Youre probably already very
familiar with many of those, which may even
be growing in your front yard: marigolds,
pansies, dandelions. The blossoms of com-
mon kitchen staples like garlic and chives
are edible, as are the blooms of herbs like
oregano, thyme, cilantro and basil.
Nasturtiums are one of the most popular
edible ower varieties, along with pansies,
which have a peppery radish avor, and
marigolds, which offer a bright pop and a
taste similar to arugula. In the wildower
variety, dandelions lend themselves well to
being turned into tea and being candied for
use with desserts. The allium family (those
chives and garlic, plus leeks) contains a num-
ber of avorful blooms that taste faintly like
the food youre used to chopping up.
Marigolds and especially nasturtiums
have a good avor prole, Wilhite said. It a little for a garnish.
starts sweet and ends with pepper.
Here are ve ways to work owers into
savory foods, spirits and sweets.
COOK WITH THEM
Most of us use fresh chives; their long,
bright green stems snipped into anything
savory add both color and avor more mild
than their allium relatives, onions and garlic.
When you buy them in plastic sleeves at the
store, you might sometimes notice little buds
at the ends of them. Theyre the nascent ow-
ers that will never open. But if you grow yours
in a pot, they do! And they are lovely lavender
blossoms that make a ne little nosegay.
Take them one step further and eat them.
Spring and early summer are the seasons
chives begin to bloom, along with some of
our favorite vegetables. The most obvious
use is as a garnish, either whole or separated
into petals and strewn across a salad. Like
the green stems, chive owers have an onion
taste though its even milder. Because of that,
they dont do much for heavy sauces but
are great infused in lighter ones. Asparagus
blanketed with a little melted butter, infused
with fresh lemon juice and topped with chive
petals makes an elegant presentation. Stir
them into cream cheese or goat cheese for
a dip and into sour cream or yogurt for a
SUMMER FOOD
Plant experts say many owers are more than just eye candy and not only are edible, but can also contribute to our
nutritional health.
dollop on top of anything you dollop. A mix
of blanched spring vegetables, pureed with
stock, is well-served visually by one of those
chive-petal dollops on top.
NASTURTIUM BLOSSOM SALAD
A popular ower to work into all manner
for a very simple way to use the pops of
color: a salad.
For the salad:
3 cups ruby lettuce
1 cup arugula, loosely packed
1 ounce or 8 nasturtium blossoms
For the vinaigrette:
1 garlic clove, pressed
1
2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3
4 teaspoon salt
2 grindings of black pepper
1
4 teaspoon sugar
4 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or a
fruit vinegar)
1 tablespoon fresh dill, minced
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
1 tablespoon fresh basil, minced
10 tablespoons olive oil
In salad bowl, put ruby lettuce on bottom,
then arugula and nally nasturtium blossoms,
carefully arranged to set off the color of the
owers.
With whisk, whip together all ingredients
for vinaigrette. There should be about 6
ounces.
Dress salad with vinaigrette.
Serves 4.
Source: New York Times
TOMATO AND MARIGOLD SALAD
The petals from a variety of owers can be
used to make salads more colorful. Here is
a recipe for one utilizing a common garden
ower: marigolds.
3-4 large lettuce leaves, washed and dried
1 inch of a cucumber, cut into thin slices
1 large hard-boiled egg, peeled and quar-
tered
1 large tomato, washed and cut into
wedges
4 fresh chives, snipped
1 or 112 tablespoons creamy salad
dressing of your choice
5-6 fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
Petals of 1 marigold ower
1 chive ower
Salt and pepper, to taste
Arrange the lettuce leaves in a bowl, shred-
ding them if they are very large.
Place the sliced cucumber in and among
the lettuce leaves and then add the quartered
hard-boiled eggs and tomato wedges.
Scatter the chives over the salad, reserving
Spoon the salad dressing over the salad
in small dollops and then scatter the mint
leaves over the top.
Finally, scatter the marigold petals over the
salad along with the small purple petals from
the chive ower and nish with some more
snipped chives to serve. Allow diners to add
salt and pepper to taste.
Serves 1.
Source: Adapted from lavenderandlovage.
com
MAKE A COCKTAIL
They are said to be back in style, though
it isnt clear when, or even if, they went out
of style as a garnish in cocktails and other
drinks. Growing up in the 1960s, when it was
common for magazines to feature ways to
dress up drinks and dishes with edible ow-
ers, Ive always thought they added a bit of
avor and texture.
And mostly, they are pretty.
Take champagne. A hibiscus ower at the
bottom of the ute brings a pop of color, not to
mention a tart, sweet spring treat. The ower
is also popular in margaritas and sangria.
Turn cocktails into art with the beauty of
roses, orchids and other owers. According
to Maddocks Farm Organics in the United
Kingdom, More than 3,000 of our edible
JEFF WILKIN/GAZETTE REPORTER
A busy bee on a marigold.
owers were used to garnish the cocktails
at the premiere of the James Bond movie
Spectre. We like to think that if they are good
enough for James Bonds martini then they
are pretty spot on.
Thus, a delicate ower topping a martini
also screams class.
If you prefer an afternoon cup of tea,
spruce it up with the sweet, oral fragrance
of a jasmine or lavender ower.
And who doesnt love sweet little violets,
or delicate daisies? Ive recently seen several
sources recommending that violets and daisies,
or rose petals, can be frozen inside ice balls and
cubes to jazz up any number of drinks. Sounds
just perfect in a Hendricks and tonic.
Jeanne Grinstead, Times staff writer
ROSE MARTINI
112 ounces vodka
1 ounce white creme de cacao
1
4 ounce rose water
1 drop rose food color
Rose petals
Place the liquids in a cocktail shaker with
ice, and shake to chill. Pour into a martini
glass and oat one or more rose petals.
Makes 1 drink.
Source: designsponge.com
HIBISCUS MARGARITA
Lime wheels, for salt rims and for garnish
Kosher salt
3 ounces hibiscus-infused tequila, such as
Gran Centenario Rosangel
2 ounces lime juice
1 ounce lemon juice
1 ounce orange juice
1 ounce orange liqueur, such as triple sec
or Cointreau
1
2 ounce agave nectar
2 hibiscus owers, for garnish
Rub a lime wheel around the rims of two
martini glasses to moisten. Spread a layer of
salt in a saucer. Press the rims of the glasses
into the salt to form salt rims.
In a cocktail shaker lled with ice, combine
the tequila, lime juice, lemon juice, orange
1
juice, orange liqueur, agave and 2 ounce wa-
ter. Shake for 10 seconds, then strain into the
martini glasses. Garnish each with a hibiscus
ower and a lime wheel. Serve.
Makes 2 drinks.
Source: Guy Fieri, foodnetwork.com
DRESS UP BAKED GOODS
As my ance and I search for wedding
cakes for our upcoming wedding, weve been
bombarded with questions: Which avors?
Fillings? What design? How many tiers? Do
you want this kind of icing pattern or this one?
And: Fresh owers or fondant? We eventually
managed to come up with preferences for all
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A9
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
of the above, but the one thing that appealed
to us from the start was decorating the cake
with some bright, fresh owers.
Edible owers are used often to decorate
baked goods. Liz Brawley, the head cake
decorator at Locale Market, says she has used
a variety of mini pansies, lavender and rose
petals to adorn special-occasion cakes.
I just simply brush the petals with egg
whites and coated them in sugar if theyre
going to be used as a garnish, she said. Ive
also seen them just raw on pastries and such.
They work either way. If they are used raw
the natural avor comes through a bit more.
Other common dessert options are bean
blossoms, nasturtiums and violets.
She has also baked them directly into
cookies before, a popular and beautiful way
to work edible owers into a sweet treat. On
Mothers Day, celebrity chef Curtis Stone
shared a recipe his mom Lozza is known for:
pansy cookies, as he calls them.
Michelle Stark, Times food editor
MUMS CANDIED FLOWER SUGAR
COOKIES
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room
temperature
2
3 cup granulated sugar, plus more for
dusting
234 cups all-purpose our
1
8 teaspoon kosher salt
36 small edible pansies or other edible
owers
1 large egg white
The cookie dough can be made up to 2
days ahead, wrapped tightly and refrigerated,
or frozen up to 1 week. The cookies can be
stored in an airtight container at room tem-
perature for up to 2 days.
Using an electric stand mixer tted with
the paddle attachment, beat the butter and
sugar in the bowl on medium speed for about
2 minutes, or until light and creamy. Reduce
the speed to low, add the our and salt,
and mix for about 1 minute, or just until the
dough comes together. Divide the dough in
half, form each half into a disc and wrap the
discs separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate
for about 1 hour, or until the dough is rm.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Position
the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the
oven. Line two baking sheets with parchment
paper and set aside.
Let the dough stand at room temperature for
about 5 minutes, or until pliable. Working with
one disc at a time, roll out the dough between 2
1
sheets of parchment paper to a 4 inch thick-
3
ness. If the owers are small, use a 1 4-inch
round cookie cutter. If the owers are a little
1
larger, use a 2 4-inch round cookie cutter. Keep
in mind that the cookies will expand about
1
4 inch throughout baking. Cut the rounds as
closely together as possible. Repeat to roll
and punch the other half of dough. Gather the
dough scraps and reroll to form more cutouts.
Arrange the cookies 2 inches apart on the
prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate the cookies
for about 10 minutes or until chilled.
Bake, switching positions of the sheets
from top to bottom and front to back halfway
through baking, for 12 to 14 minutes, or until
a pale golden color. Lower the oven to 325
degrees. Transfer the cookies to wire racks to
cool completely.
Meanwhile, gently wash the owers in cool
water and drain well. Place the owers stem
side up on clean paper towels for about 15
minutes. Using scissors, cut the stems off. Be
careful not to cut too far down so the ower
wont break apart. Turn the owers over to
nish drying.
In a small bowl, whisk the egg white and 1
tablespoon of water until well blended. Light-
ly brush the tops of each cookie with the egg
mixture. Place 1 ower on each cookie and
lightly brush the owers all over with the egg
wash. Sprinkle the cookies with sugar and
return to the baking sheets. Bake the cookies
for an additional 5 minutes, or until the ow-
ers have dried onto the cookies. Transfer the
cookies to the cooling rack.
Makes 36.
Source: Curtis Stone
A10 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Tried and true? How about
different and delicious
We know its all too easy to rely on old
standards for the appetizers, sides and desserts
in your summer plans. After all, why risk a op
Fresh fruit
with celery
seed dressing
PHOTOS BY DEB LINDSEY FOR THE WASHINGTON POST
FRESH FRUIT WITH
CELERY SEED DRESSING
10 servings
Julia Reed says she copied this recipe a
mainstay at gatherings when she was growing
up in Mississippi from her mothers hand-
written les and has made it since she was in
college. Feel free to change the combination of
fruits to suit your liking.
MAKE AHEAD: The dressing and prepped
fruit can be refrigerated, separately, a day in
advance.
Adapted from Julia Reeds South: Spirited
Entertaining and High-Style Fun All Year
Long, by Julia Reed (Rizzoli, 2016).
For the dressing:
1
2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon celery seed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon powdered mustard
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1
4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup vegetable oil or neutral-avored oil,
such as canola
For the fruit:
1 ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cut into
1
1 2-inch chunks
1
1 pineapple, peeled, cored and cut into 1 2-
inch chunks
1 bunch green seedless grapes (1 pound)
1 bunch red seedless grapes (11 ounces)
1 pound strawberries, hulled and cut into
halves or quarters, as needed (2 gener-
ous cups)
For the dressing, combine the sugar, celery
seed, salt, powdered mustard and paprika in
the bowl of a stand mixer tted with the bal-
loon-whisk attachment or a handheld elec-
tric mixer. Beat on medium-high speed for a
minute or two, then pour in the vinegar. On
medium-high speed, gradually drizzle in the
oil, beating until thick and emulsied, to form a
2
shiny dressing. The yield is a scant 1 3 cups.
For the fruit, Combine the cantaloupe, pine-
apple, green and red grapes and strawberries
in a large serving bowl. Toss the fruit with the
dressing, or serve it on the side.
Nutrition per serving: 350 calories, 2 g pro-
tein, 40 g carbohydrates, 23 g fat, 4 g saturated
fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 250 mg sodium, 3 g di-
etary ber, 34 g sugar
SUMMER FOOD
BY BONNIE S. BENWICK
The Washington Post
when youre feeding a crowd?
So were ofcially vouching for these sea-
sonal recipes, culled from an assortment of
WARM PARMESAN POUND CAKE WITH
WHIPPED MASCARPONE, RASPBERRIES
AND BASIL SUGAR
12 to 15 servings
Cheese does wonderful things to the avor
and texture of this buttery, not-too-sweet cake;
be sure to serve it warm, with the toppings put
on at the last minute.
The original recipe called for saba, a syrup
made from grape must; a good aged balsamic
vinegar works just as well here.
MAKE AHEAD: The basil sugar can be
stored in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
The whipped mascarpone can be assembled,
covered and refrigerated up to overnight; whisk
to recombine before serving. The cake can be
baked a day in advance, wrapped in plastic
wrap and stored at room temperature; for best
avor, warm cut slices briey and gently in a
microwave oven on LOW before serving.
Adapted from Around the Fire: Recipes for
Inspired Grilling and Seasonal Feasting From
Ox Restaurant, by Greg Denton and Gabrielle
Quinonez Denton with Stacy Adimando (Ten
Speed, 2016).
For the basil sugar:
1
2 cup granulated sugar
1
4 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves
For the whipped mascarpone:
214 cups mascarpone cheese
3
4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons confectioners sugar
For the cake:
2 cups our
2 teaspoons baking powder
1
2 teaspoon ne sea salt
5 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese,
nely grated, preferably with a Micro-
plane grater
16 tablespoons (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at
room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup mascarpone cheese
1 cup sour cream
2 pints (24 ounces) fresh raspberries
1
4 cup good-quality aged balsamic vinegar
(see headnote)
For the basil sugar, Combine half of the
sugar and half of the basil in a spice grinder or
mini food processor; pulse until the basil leaves
are chopped nely and the sugar has taken on
the color and scent of the herb. Repeat with the
remaining sugar and basil. Store in an airtight
container for up to 3 days.
For the whipped mascarpone: Whisk togeth-
er the mascarpone, sour cream and confection-
ers sugar until well combined. Cover and keep
chilled until ready to serve.
For the cake, Preheat the oven to 350
degrees. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-
by-13-inch cake pan and line the bottom with
parchment paper. Lightly our the sides of the
pan, tapping out any excess our.
Sift the our, baking powder and salt into a
large bowl. Whisk in the grated Parmigiano-
Reggiano cheese.
Combine the butter and granulated sugar in
the bowl of a stand mixer tted with the paddle
attachment; beat briey on low speed, then
on high speed for about 5 minutes, stopping to
scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula
as needed. Reduce the speed to medium
and slowly drizzle in the beaten eggs. Add
the mascarpone and continue to beat until
incorporated. Reduce the speed to low and
alternate adding one-third of the our mixture
and one-third of the sour cream until both are
nearly incorporated. Stop the machine and use
a rubber spatula to nish combining the ingre-
dients to avoid overmixing. Transfer the batter
to the prepared cake pan, spreading it evenly
and smoothing the surface.
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
new spring and summer cookbooks.
Theyre a little different and thoroughly
delicious.
Warm parmesan
pound cake
with whipped
mascarpone,
raspberries and
basil sugar.
Bake (middle rack) until a toothpick inserted
into the center of the cake comes out clean, 35
to 45 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to
cool for a few minutes.
Serve warm, topped with whipped mascar-
pone and fresh berries. Sprinkle some of the basil
sugar over everything, then drizzle the berries
and/or the plate with the balsamic vinegar.
Nutrition per serving (based on 15, using 2
tablespoons whipped mascarpone per serving):
600 calories, 9 g protein, 55 g carbohydrates, 37
g fat, 18 g saturated fat, 180 mg cholesterol, 270
mg sodium, 3 g dietary ber, 38 g sugar
DILLED POTATO SALAD
WITH SMOKED TROUT
4 to 6 servings
Smoked sh and dill are ne complements
for tender ngerling potatoes dressed with a
garlicky sour-cream-and-vinegar mixture. Look
for skin-on trout; youll use the skin to help
avor the potatoes as they cook.
MAKE AHEAD: The potato salad can be
refrigerated a day in advance; bring it to a cool
room temperature before serving.
Adapted from Two If by Sea: Delicious Sus-
tainable Seafood, by Barton Seaver (Sterling
Epicure, 2016).
6 ounce piece skin-on smoked trout
1pound ngerling potatoes
2 cloves garlic Kosher salt
1
2cup regular or low-fat sour cream
1
4cup red wine vinegar
3
4ounces fresh dill, chopped (1/3 cup), plus
a few fronds for garnish
1 head radicchio or endive, leaves sepa-
rated
Carefully remove the trout skin; place it in
a medium pot along with the potatoes, garlic
and a generous amount of salt. Cover with
cold water. Bring to a boil over medium-high
heat; cook until the potatoes are tender but not
falling apart, 10 to 13 minutes (depending on
the size of the potatoes). Drain, reserving the
garlic. Discard the trout skin.
Whisk together the sour cream, vinegar,
chopped dill and boiled garlic in a large bowl,
mashing the garlic to incorporate it into the
dressing.
While the potatoes are still warm, cut any
thick ones in half lengthwise as needed. Add
all the potatoes to the dressing and gently toss
until well coated.
To serve, arrange the radicchio or endive leaves
on a platter and spoon the potato salad over the
top. Use your hands to break the trout llet into
small akes, letting them fall into the salad.
Garnish with the dill fronds.
Nutrition per serving (based on 6, using low-fat
sour cream): 130 calories, 9 g protein, 16 g carbohy-
drates, 3 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 20 mg cholesterol,
310 mg sodium, 2 g dietary ber, 2 g sugar
Dilled potato salad with smoked trout
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER FOOD THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 A11

Burgers: Cheesy, The Basic

Beef
PornBurger
is the basis

and then some of elaborate

BY MAURA JUDKIS
The Washington Post
The day Mathew Ramsey
went viral was nearly his
last. It was March 8, 2014,
and trafc to his over-the-
top blog, PornBurger, had Ramsey
just gone through the roof
after a mention on the technology
website Gizmodo.com. And as he
was sitting at his kitchen table,
watching it all happen, he took a
bite of a ham sandwich and began
to choke.
I was like, I am dead, and
everything is about to happen right
now, he says. He was about to
self-Heimlich on the back of a chair because I couldnt eat it. My brain
when he nally coughed the ham
out of his windpipe. I was like,
Oh my God, my life just ashed
[before my eyes] over a stupid ham I could taste these things that I was
sandwich.
If Ramsey had bitten the dust, he
wouldnt have gone on to invent a
burger-infused whiskey, or a mari-
juana-infused burger, or a Cheetos-
infused tequila. And he certainly
wouldnt have gone on to write his
pun-infused cookbook, PornBurg-
er: Hot Buns and Juicy Beefcakes,
released this week.
The 36-year-old calls himself a
burger pervert. He has a full mus-
tache and a home decorated like a
Southwestern ranch. His burgers,
photographed in lascivious detail,
have cheeky names: the Full Mounty, writing. A 2009 review he wrote of
topped with bone marrow poutine
sauce; A Fish Called Hitachi Wanda,
a trout burger named after a vibrator; Keller takes the classic hamburger,
Calicornication, which he describes
as some serious hard-core soft-core
porn; and unprintable others. He
is the Larry Flynt of burgers. His
motto: Lets get weird.
The catalyst for all this is a word
Ramsey made up: slurst.
Its a combination of slutty and
thirst, he said. Its so carnal, and
your thirst will never be satised.
Thats how it is with burgers some-
times. Like, I dont care how messy
my hands get. I just need this in my
face.
Sexy, gorgeous food
Ramseys rst job was at
National Geographic, where
he worked as an assistant for
reporter-host Lisa Ling and
later as a producer for TV
shows including Hogzilla,
about an enormous wild
hog. Thats when he learned the
true meaning of slurst: He partici-
pated in the Slog, a 10-day, 200-mile
charity walk with his colleagues
to raise money for Sudan, during
which participants were not al-
lowed to eat.
I was able to perceive food in a
way Ive never ever encountered it,
was just hyperactive; thats all I was
thinking about, he said. I could
smell granola bars from distances,
thinking of. It was really wild.
He had already been tooling
around in the kitchen for hours each
weekend. But the 10 days of culinary
hallucinations provided the nal
push: He quit his job and moved
to San Francisco, enrolling in a 15-
month program at Le Cordon Bleu.
During culinary school, he ap-
prenticed at a few restaurants and
interned for the food section of the
San Francisco Chronicle, where he
tested recipes, took photos, styled
foodhe had studied photography
in collegeand even did a little bit of
Hubert Kellers Burger Bar cook-
book now reads like a premonition:
explodes it and meticulously recon-
structs it, Ramsey wrote.
A video production job at Liv-
ingSocial brought Ramsey back to
Washington. All the while, he was
itching to use his culinary degree.
In January 2014, he had friends
over for dinner and served them a
venison burger topped with Spam,
Taleggio cheese and quick-pickled
beets. They were like, What are
you going to call this burger? And I
said, I dont know, the Bambi?
A blog was born. Ramsey de-
cided to make one burger a week as brazenly heteromasculine: Some
a creative challengeinitially, just for women might be disinclined to make,
friends. He called it PornBurger as a for example, a peanut- butter-and-
nod to the love-it-or-hate-it term in jelly-themed burger called the Lolita.
the food world for an especially desir- Theres a lot of machismo in the
able (and well-photographed) dish. cooking world, he acknowledges.
I think food is very sensual, he Often, hed draw the burgers in a
said. Its one of my biggest driving sketchbook. Then, late at night and
factors in the kitchen: creating over a glass of fernet, hed cook his
sexy, gorgeous food. Food porn, burgers, style them and photograph
for me personally, its drippy, its them in a particular lighting that
saucy, its also obtainable and real. gives them a sexy glisten.
Initially, he said, the name posed Late-night stoner food, he calls
a problem for his parents, who live it. Well, some of its early-morning
in Caledonia, Texas stoner food. It could be as highbrow
Theyd tell people at church that as a foie gras gougre burger or as
their son has this [web] site called lowbrow as a bacon-wrapped burger
PornBurger, he said. But theyd in a doughnut (the Waken Bacon).
forget that his URL is PornBurger. Hes able to make masterworks
me and send people by mistake to on his ... electric stove, and on a
the .com version, which is just a hot plate and a toaster oven, said
straight-up porn site. artist Martin Swift, a collaborator
on Ramseys book. And thats what
SKETCH TO MASTERWORKS makes him great, is that these beau-
Ramsey creates each burger in tiful, picturesque dishes come out of
his basement man-cave of an apart- a very small basement apartment.
ment in Bloomingdale, lled with It wasnt long before other blogs
kitchen gadgetry and watched over took notice. Ramseys photos were
by Fred, a mounted antelope head, picked up by Gizmodo, BuzzFeed
and Daniel Day-Lewis, a taxider- and Grub Street, and the opportuni-
mied squirrel paddling a tiny canoe. ties began pouring in. He was con-
(Its just us boys down here, he tacted by reporters from Norway,
said.) He likes to name things: His Japan and Australia. He got an offer
chefs knife is John Wayne. to collaborate on a womens under- he said. But thats the fun of it. You
Many of the burgers are also wear line. He began workshopping
creations
such as the
Slumberjack.
THE WASHINGTON
POST
a television concept that he says
may or may not happen, in which
he would travel around the world
to discover new ingredients, then
make burgers out of them. It was his
rst chance to make money from
the blog; he had resisted advertis-
ing because he thought it would
muddy the creative waters.
And he got the book deal. Be-
cause he had been making burgers
for fun and photographs, hed never
written down many of his reci-
pes, so he had to retrace his steps.
There were a few burgers he was
never able to replicate.
It can be hard to replicate a viral
success, too. Jon Chonko, the blog-
ger behind Scanwiches, another
viral food-photo site, made a book
of his work and said it has been
more of a passion project than a
windfall: His annual book prot
covers roughly what I would pay
for sandwiches to put them on the
site. (He eats a lot of sandwiches.)
I hope he does better.
The phrase food porn comes
and goes out of style, too, which
is the kind of thing that can date a
book. But that doesnt faze Ramsey.
In a few years, this book will be
dated, and all of my puns with it,
get to keep creating.

Veggie version is one meaty meatless burger

The Washington Post
VEGGIE PORNBURGERS
6 servings
This could be the meatiest-looking meatless
burger youve ever tried. Beets lend earthiness
and color; chickpeas and wheat berries provide
texture and bulk. Pan-frying gives them a nice,
crisp exterior.
Their creator, Mathew Ramsey, packs these
patties thick; we found that smashing them
down provided for more crispy surface area.
We also found the original recipe very lemon-
forward, so we reduced the amount of zest by
half.
Youll need an instant-read thermometer for
monitoring the frying oil.
Serve with the condiments of your choice.
MAKE AHEAD: The uncooked mixture
needs to be refrigerated for at least 30 minutes
and up to overnight.
Adapted from Ramseys PornBurger: Hot
Buns and Juicy Beefcakes (Ecco/HarperCol-
lins, 2016).
1 cup cooked, no-salt-added chickpeas
1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 cup peeled, shredded beets (raw or
cooked)
1 large egg
3 scallions (white and green parts), coarsely
chopped
1
4 cup minced cilantro
1
4 cup minced at-leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic
1 rise from 1 to 3 hours (until it doubles in size);
Finely grated zest of 2 lemon
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as need-
ed
1
2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1
2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1
2 cup plain panko (dried bread crumbs)
Canola oil, for frying
Brioche Buns, for serving (see accompany-
ing recipe)
Use your clean hands to combine the chick-
peas, wheat berries, beets, egg, scallions, ci-
lantro, parsley, garlic, lemon zest, ground co-
riander, the teaspoon of salt and the black and
cayenne peppers in a large mixing bowl. Add
the olive oil, cornstarch and panko, mixing until
well incorporated.
(Alternatively, you can combine the ingredi-
ents in a food processor and pulse to the desired
consistency.)
Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
(and up to overnight); the mixture will be a little
loose but should hold together when pressed.
Form the mixture into 6 patties of equal size
(at your desired degree of thickness) while you
heat an inch or two of the canola oil in a wide
skillet over medium heat to 350 degrees. Line
THE WASHINGTON POST
The Veggie PornBurger
a platter with paper towels.
Working in batches as needed, fry the pat-
ties for 6 to 8 minutes, turning them halfway
through, until crisped and browned on all sides.
The centers should not be mushy. Transfer to
the platter to drain; serve warm on buns.
Ingredients are too variable for a meaning-
ful analysis.
BRIOCHE BUNS
8 servings
These bake up soft and tear-apart tender, yet
once theyve cooled, their texture turns out to
be just right for soaking up burger juices.
A kitchen scale is useful for creating buns
of equal size.
MAKE AHEAD: The dough needs a rst
once the buns have been shaped, they need to
rise for 1 hour.
Adapted from Mathew Ramseys PornBurg-
er: Hot Buns and Juicy Beefcakes (Ecco/Harp-
erCollins, 2016).
412 teaspoons active dry yeast (from two 14-
ounce packets)
1
2 cup warm water (105 to 110 degrees), plus
a splash of tap water for the egg wash
3 tablespoons warm milk (105 to 110 de-
grees)
3 tablespoons sugar
4 large eggs, plus 1 more for the egg wash
3 cups plus
3 tablespoons bread our, plus more for
the work surface
2 teaspoons kosher salt
10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons)
unsalted butter, at room temperature
Canola oil, for greasing the bowl
1
3 cup sesame seeds, for garnish (option-
al)
Whisk together the yeast, warm water, warm
milk and sugar in a medium bowl. Let it sit for 5
minutes. (If the yeast doesnt foam up, it might
be dead. So dump it out and start over with
fresh yeast.) Lightly beat the 4 eggs in a separate
bowl until they are well blended.
Combine the bread our, salt and butter in
the bowl of a stand mixer; beat (paddle attach-
ment) on medium speed just long enough for
the mixture to look crumbly, then stop to add
the eggs and the yeast mixture. Beat on low
speed for about 10 minutes to form a loose,
soft dough.
Lightly our a work surface. Generously
grease a large mixing bowl with oil.
Turn the dough out onto the work surface;
gently and lightly shape it into a ball, then place
the dough in the greased bowl. Cover with plas-
tic wrap and let it sit in a warm, draft-free spot
for 1 to 3 hours or until the dough has about
doubled in size. (Start checking after 112 hours.)
Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dust your hands with our. Uncover the dough
and lightly punch it down. Use a bench scraper
or sharp knife to divide the dough into 8 equal
portions (weighing them helps).
You dont need to re-our the work surface
for the next step: Flatten each portion of dough
into a disk. Imagine that the disk has 4 corners;
fold each one in toward the center, then turn
the dough over so the seam side is down. Gently
shape and smooth each dough piece into a ball,
placing it on a baking sheet as you work and
spacing the balls a few inches apart. Loosely
cover with plastic wrap; let them sit in a warm,
draft-free spot for about 1 hour or until nicely
puffed.
Meanwhile, position upper and lower oven
racks; preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Whisk together the remaining egg and a
splash of water to form an egg wash.
Uncover the buns; brush them with the egg
wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds, if desired.
Bake (upper and lower racks) for 12 minutes,
then rotate top to bottom and front to back;
bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown
on top. Let cool completely before serving or
storing.
Nutrition per serving: 350 calories, 11 g pro-
tein, 41 g carbohydrates, 17 g fat, 10 g saturated
fat, 130 mg cholesterol, 330 mg sodium, 2 g di-
etary ber, 5 g sugar
Basic Beef PornBurgers
12 servings PornBurger author Mathew
Ramsey considers this to be the perfect blend
for juicy, well-rounded beef burgers, with notes
of buttery richness, nuttiness, and even a
subtle kiss of grass. Its pictured here in a re-
creation of the Slumberjack from his cookbook,
built with a crispy potato pancake, sausage and
mushroom gravy, a fried egg and scallion on a
cheddar buttermilk biscuit.
In the book, Ramsey offers several ways to
cook a beef burger; we used his skillet/pan-
fried technique. He follows a ratio of 1 part
1
sirloin to 1 2 parts short rib to 2 parts chuck. To
cook the burgers on an outdoor grill, see the
VARIATION, below.
Youll need a kitchen scale, an instant-read
thermometer and a meat grinder or a meat-
grinder attachment for a stand mixer. Youll use
large (3/8-inch) and small (1/4-inch) grinder
dies.
MAKE AHEAD: The parts of your meat
grinder and the meat itself need to be chilled
in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes before using.
You may have ground meat left over; it can be
frozen (in separate cuts) for up to 3 months.
Adapted from PornBurger: Hot Buns and
Juicy Beefcakes (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2016), by
Mathew Ramsey (Ecco/HarperCollins, 2016).
1 pound sirloin steak, preferably aged, cut
into 1-inch-wide strips
1 12 pounds boneless short ribs, cut into 1-
inch-wide pieces
2 pounds boneless chuck roast, cut into 1-
inch-wide strips
1 tablespoon canola oil, or as needed
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Place the strips and pieces of sirloin, short rib
and chuck on a rimmed baking sheet (or other
at pan that will t in your freezer). Place the
meat grinder parts in the freezer, too. Freeze
the meat and metal for 20 to 30 minutes.
Grind each cut of meat separately, using the
large die on a low speed; reserve any remain-
ing beef for another use. If the meat is not still
quite cold, return it to the freezer for 10 min-
utes or so.
Combine the grinds and grind them together
one more time, using the small die. Try not to
compact or press the combined ground beef.
Gently form the mixture into 4 balls of equal
size, keeping your touch light to further form
them into patties. Place them in the refrigerator
while the pan heats.
Heat a large cast-iron skillet or grill pan over
medium-high heat. Once its quite hot, add the
oil and swirl to coat.
Season the patties generously all over with
salt and pepper. Working in batches as needed,
cook the burgers until their internal tempera-
ture taken at the center registers 125 to 130 de-
grees (medium-rare), turning them every 45
seconds or so to help develop a nice crust.
VARIATION: To grill the burgers outdoors,
preheat a gas grill to high for at least 15 minutes
before cooking. For a charcoal grill, make sure
the coals are glowing orange and ashed over.
Brush each seasoned patty with canola oil and
use your thumb or nger to make a slight indent
at the center of each one. Feel free to ip the
burgers often in this arrangement as well.
Nutrition per serving: 330 calories, 33 g pro-
tein, 0 g carbohydrates, 22 g fat, 9 g saturated fat,
120 mg cholesterol, 410 mg sodium, 0 g dietary
ber, 0 g sugar
A12 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER FOOD WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

PREPARE SUMMER MEALS TO REMEMBER

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WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 B1

Summer
KIDS
ANOTHER GAZETTE BIG EDITION SPECIAL 40-PAGE SECTION

Inside
GREAT ESCAPE
remains
a summer
tradition for
young and old
alike. B4

WILTON
WILDLIFE
preserve
has lots to
see and do.
B5

SUMMER IS
the perfect
season to
relax with
a good book.
B6

SUMMER
CAMPS:
From
animals to
astrophysics.
B7

Lake George High School

students Zeke Reynolds,
left, and Nick King
take a spin on Greezed
Lightnin, the newest ride
at the Great Escape.
RYAN ZIDEK/
FOR THE DAILY GAZETTE

Compassion.
Commitment.
Community. Quality health coverage.
Its Our Mission.

1-888-FIDELIS
This is what were made of. fideliscare.org
B2 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
The sun sets over Lake Ontario.
Final camping season:
Bring on the smores
BY VANESSA LANGDON
For The Daily Gazette
As a 21-year-old entering
my last summer before I have
to get a big-kid job, the pro-
cess of looking back at how
Ive spent each summer of my
childhood is bittersweet. My
summers can be summed up
in one word: camp.
My family has camped for
as long as I can remember.
My mom convinced my dad
to sell his motorcycle when
my younger brother was born
and we spent his rst birthday
christening the camper at
Wellesley Island State Park.
Since then, we camped
around the Lake Ontario area
before getting a seasonal site
at Brennan Beach camp-
ground in Pulaski, N.Y., over
ve years ago.
Camping has been the
simple life. Even with an
RV that has cable,
air conditioning,
and a microwave
theres no wi and
we always seemed
to be able to pry
ourselves away
from our electronic
devices long enough
to play hours of
board games and
read in comfortable
silence.
I had a built-in
best friend at the
campground our
mothers worked
together since before
we were born and
were friends. We
lived in different
towns and never saw each other much dur-
ing the school year.
Summer was our haven. Wed see each
other every weekend. We would swing on
the playground even after wed aged out of
it. Wed sit on the beach and play cards. We
even sang our favorite songs to each other
while swimming in the lake, an embarrassing
but treasured memory. This is my nal sum-
mer before Im a grown up in the real world
and Becca, that treasured friend, wont be
there. Her family sold their camp a handful of
weeks ago.
The camper stays at the campground year
round. With my dad working nights, my
mom and I were able to go out there anytime
without worrying about towing it some-
thing she never did. Being able to escape the
hustle and bustle with just her each weekend
has allowed us to grow much closer. She and
I are beach bums and wed trek to the beach
in the morning, books in tow, and then not
leave until after sunset her favorite part.
We learned how to be grill-masters together,
wed have Boggle tournaments and wed rent
movies to watch in the evening.
SUMMER KIDS
PHOTOS PROVIDED
Above: Summer beach days are the best
days. Top: Friendship growing over the
summers.
Now that shes retired, my mom is all
tricked out with a bike featuring a basket
and this summer my nal summer Im
not working as much so were planning on
spending as much time as possible at camp.
I want to bookend my camp experience.
The rst year we had the seasonal camp and
we stayed out there most weeks. Thats what
I plan to do this year, but with a little more
experience. That rst summer I got burnt to
a crisp on the beach, which led to the best
tan Ive ever had in my life. This summer Ill
need to be more vigilant with the sunscreen
and forgo the tan. The rst summer I was
still in school junior high to be exact so
I would sit on the swing we had on our site
and do my homework while school was still
in session. This time around, I can start my
summer reading list earlier rst on the list
is Me Before You by Jojo Moyes so I can
see the movie version.
The campres are going to be plentiful and
Ill gorge on smores surrounded by family.
Plenty of must-sees
at miSci this summer
BY MARY CIRINCIONE
For The Daily Gazette
The dinosaurs may have died off 65 mil-
lion years ago, but their robotic counter-
parts have made a grand return to Schenect-
adys Museum of Innovation and Science
just in time for summer break. Plan an epic
day out to miSci to see them in action, and
catch some other cool, kid-friendly exhibits
at the same time.
As miSci president Mac Sudduth put it:
Come for a couple of hours or stay all af-
ternoon. Either way, he promises that kids
and adults alike will learn something new.
RETURN OF THE DINOSAURS
Since a trip to Jurassic World isnt pos-
sible over school break, head over to miSci
for the next best thing: giant animatronic
dinosaurs.
Although built at half size, these dino-
saurs are big. But lets not forget that they
also come to life with movements and roars.
Constructed by Kokoro Exhibits of Japan,
each one has been built with science in
mind, as well as fossil evidence.
Several of historys biggest names will
be on view, including a 12-foot-tall, nearly
23-foot-long Tyrannosaurus Rex, ready to
hunt down its dinner. Visitors will get to
watch as a pack of Deinonychus feed on a
22-foot-long Tenontosaurus, then glimpse a
Triceratops family while a Pteranodon with
a 23-foot wing span hovers nearby. A Stego-
saurus, Pachycephalosaurus and Elasmosau-
rus will also be on display.
Since no one can resist a baby and dino
babies are no exception visitors both
young and old will get to ooh and aah over
hatching eggs, as a female Maisaurus stands
guard.
For kids looking to play paleontologist for
the day, there will also be hands-on discov-
ery activities, including fossil rubbing and
a dig station, as well as photo opportunities
with some prehistoric favorites.
TINKERING
Open-ended exploration is the inspiration
behind miScis newest exhibit, opening June
18, meant to spark an interest in budding
engineers. With the understanding that
invention requires the right tools, the right
environment and focused activity, Tinker-
ing provides just enough to get minds think-
ing, and hands working.
Guests can create animated movies us-
ing clay and movable objects, or assemble
a simple circuit using wire and batteries.
They can make their own pulleys, play
a simple tune on a PinBell machine, or
launch paper airplanes from a motorized
platform, testing form and design to opti-
mize airlift. They can even try their hand at
nding the right tack to race small sailboats
against a strong breeze.
Its not just a way to pass time, Sudduth
said. Tinkering grows critical thinking skills
and encourages scientic exploration, while
exposing children to STEM concepts.
Tinkering will bring out the engineer in
everyone, he said. Its very hands-on.
GE: A HISTORY OF INNOVATION
Schenectady has long been a hotbed for
invention and technology and not just
in terms of generators and turbines. The
rst television broadcast was relayed from
WRGB (formerly W2XB) in Schenectady to
New York City, and a better, more accurate
MRI was designed here.
With that spirit in mind, miScis GE: A
History of Innovation exhibit (opening
June 18) will explore this areas love for
solving problems through invention, and
more specically the role of the General
Electric company and its team of engineers.
A new decade will be featured every eight
weeks, starting with the 1910s on June 18.
Display highlights will include early
Edison generators and lights, a 10,000-watt
light bulb from 1920, an X-ray machine from
1897 and get this Charles Steinmetzs
pet alligator (stuffed, of course).
It just ts in really well with Tinkering,
Sudduth said. Especially the hands-on
part.
KEVA! DESIGN, BUILD, CREATE
Like giant Lincoln Logs, these planks can
become nearly anything your mind can
dream up from a castle, to a bridge, to a
spaceship.
Its really all about your imagination, and
what you can think up, Sudduth said. Its
something families can do together, or kids
Kids can get a taste of a NASA space mission inside mission control at miScis
Challenger Learning Center.
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
can do it on their own while mom hangs out
and watches.
MAKER GARAGE
Slated to open sometime this July, miScis
Maker Garage will feature a creative design
and build space for innovators of all ages.
Under the guidance of a lead engineer,
youll be able to download or design your
own invention and watch it become reality
with the assistance of a 3D printer and all
the supplies and tools youll need. Open
at specied times, there will be no extra
charge to participate. Check out miSci.org
for more information.
PLAY SPACE
Kids can play, explore and learn here by
building mazes, waterfalls and dams for
rubber duckies and toys at a water table,
or by making magical bubbles at a bubble
table. Braver kids can even stand inside a
giant bubble, until a friend on the outside
pops it. A build-your-own molecule station
offers a quick hands-on science class on
chemistry basics.
Smaller tots can set up shop in what
Sudduth calls the worlds smallest Price
Chopper, and take on the roles of customer
and cashier, to shop for produce, ring and
cash out. Creative play is very important
to young children, he said. Its their work
Its how they learn.
SCIENCE ZONE
Watch scientic concepts come to life,
thanks to hands-on experiments, experi-
entials and explainers offered periodically
throughout the day like building a circuit,
or learning how electricity works.
PLANETARIUM
No visit to miSci is complete without a
detour into the dark at the Suits-Bueche
Planetarium. A series of 45-minute shows
explore everything from the invention of
the telescope to life on the moon and the
constellations, and conclude with a short,
but completely accurate look at the night
sky, as well as a brief overview of some
familiar stars.
The best part, according to volunteer host
and amateur astronomer, Jim Lawrence:
This planetarium is a wonderful resource
for anyone who looks up at the night sky
and wonders whats going on up there,
without the downsides of an outside obser-
vatory, like the cold or bugs.
MiScis newest show, Dinosaur Proph-
ecy, will open June 24. Shows rotate daily,
so visit miSci.org for details.
CHALLENGER
The closest thing to outer space in the
Capital Region, the Challenger Learning
Center is a team-based program where kids
or adults join together to complete a NASA-
inspired mission. Cadets ll out job applica-
tions and are sorted into pairs to complete
mission-oriented tasks.
Theres room for 30, sometimes 32 kids
and they get briefed just like they would
at NASA, Sudduth said. Half of them go
into mission control to solve problems, take
measurements and the others go into space.
Its great for team-building for Cub
Scouts, even corporate events.
Missions like Rendezvous with a Comet
and Earth Odyssey are designed to intro-
duce science concepts, and get participants
excited about the possibilities of space
over the course of two and a half hours.
Those chosen for take-off, must buckle up
for the ride and watch as Earth gets left
behind, then proceed through airlock before
boarding a space station, all the while being
guided by a commander.
Once inside the station, each pair of crew
members has set responsibilities. Some will
maintain life support, changing air lters
and monitoring air quality, while others will
test water quality, or work with simulated
hazardous materials using a glovebox.
Theres even the opportunity to remotely
care for a greenhouse using robotic arms.
Group reservations are required, but for
those looking for a quick exploration, miSci
offers two one-hour versions on Saturdays
for a small fee.
Want to save on admission? Head to
miSci.org for a printable coupon.
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER KIDS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 B3
B4 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Swingers on the Great Escapes
Extreme Super Nova scream and survive
the large ride near the back of the park.
Great Escape
still summer
tradition
Thrill rides, water attractions make
amusement park a cool destination
BY JEFF WILKIN
Gazette Reporter
Joshua Bensalah had nally
passed the test.
At 49 inches tall, the 9-year-
old from Delmar was now
allowed on the monster rides at
the Great Escape and Splashwa-
ter Kingdom.
That meant Sasquatch.
That meant Greezed
Lightnin. That
meant Flashback
all rides where
the minimum
height require-
ment is 48 inches.
I dont go on the
baby rides any more! said an
amped and animated Joshua,
seconds after completing a 200-
foot controlled free fall on Sas-
quatch, the Queensbury parks
tallest and most imposing ride.
I was up all the way.
The daredevil and other
mostly young people sat in
a large ring that was quickly
lifted to the top of a green steel
tower. Then, with a hydraulic
whoosh, the ring of riders
quickly dropped toward the
ground oor.
Summer means people are
screaming for ice cream, and
screaming as they celebrate
acceleration and exhilara-
tion at the Capital Regions
most famous amusement park.
Thirty-ve rides for adults and
kids are now in operation, and
people who bring their swim
suits have can also consider
From left, Amsterdam residents Marlee Ottati, 13, Mackenzie Makarowsky, 14, and Jackie Stanarich,
13, take a little time out for a relaxing, chatty tour of the park on the Sky Ride.
aquatic challenges.
The park has been a desti-
nation for locals and tourists
since 1954, when businessman
Charley Wood opened his
Storytown USA. The park
changed its name to the Great
Escape in 1983; it is now owned
by amusement park giant Six
Flags.
On a busy day, there will
be lines for the big shots
like the Sky
Ride, a leisure-
ly-paced diver-
sion that takes
visitors on an
aerial tour of the park,
and the Comet, the parks
famous wooden roller coaster.
The Comet has a story all
its own.
Originally the star at Crystal
Beach near Niagara Falls, the
coasters future looked bleak
when Crystal closed after the
1988 season.
Wood bought the ride, stored
it in Grand Island for a few
years and opened the ride in
Queensbury in 1994.
Some people go for the zip
and zooms, like the gas-pow-
ered go karts, the miniature
cars in Thunder Alley, the
in-the-dark scrambler called
the Blizzard. Other people
go to watch people go for the
rides. Adults will walk, teens
will stroll and just about every
small child will run from ride
to ride.
Shannon Bensalah leaves
SUMMER KIDS
Charlene Burlett of Queensbury rides Oakleys Honey Swings with her daughter, Lexi Monroe, 2, at the
Great Escape. For Burlett, a visit to the amusement park is a summer tradition.
the more daring rides to her
nephew.
I go on the train and the
swan ride, thats all, she
said. I walk around and hold
drinks.
Other visitors say they come
for the tradition. They came
with their parents, and now
theyre showing their children
around the park. Grandparents
do the same with grandchil-
dren.
Charlene Burlett, 32, of
Queensbury, is one of the
traditionalists. She remembers
her childhood days at the Great
Escape, and is taking daughter
Lexi Monroe, 2, on her rst
adventures.
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
PHOTOS BY JEFF WILKIN/GAZETTE REPORTER
We have a gold season
pass, Burlett said, as she
and Lexi left Oakleys Honey
Swings, which lets parents and
kids swing by a giant bee hive.
Were hoping to use it every
week. We keep the tradition.
Its in our own backyard. Its
something we can do.
Kiera Regan, 12, of Platts-
burgh, cant visit as often. But
she likes the menu.
Its all the great rides,
she said, after trying the new
Greezed Lightnin, a loop-
ing coaster. It scares you,
she said. But its so fun, It gets
your stomach going.
Elaine Mahoney, 71, Kieras
grandmother, is content to
watch the rockers and rollers. Tom Ouimet, 17, of Corinth,
and Deanna Clark, 16, of Fort
Its seeing the fun the kids Ann, stand with a spaced-
have, she said. Its an uplifting out new friend at the Great
place, and it brings you back, Escape.
with all the old songs. It makes
you feel young again. were hanging out, anyway
Patty and Keith Pliszka of on the Sky Ride. Macken-
Eneld, Conn., agreed with zie liked the slower pace of the
Mahoney. They were happy gondola-style cruiser. Without
enough walking the park, and
the hydraulic-powered hisses
watching brave hearts strap in
and constant screams on other
and soar up. Youve got to be
rides, the quiet ride actually
nuts to do something like that,
gave kids a chance to talk for a
said a bemused Keith, 55, as
people prepared for the swing- few minutes.
ing, spinning Extreme Super The park has shows and
Nova. stunts, and carnival-style tests
Were used to Six Flags of skill. The latter attraction
New England, said Patty, also attracted Tom Ouimet, 17, of
55, of the chains oldest park in Corinth, who won a tall, inat-
Agawam, Massachusetts. This able purple spaceman for his
place is a little more calm, its a girlfriend, Deanna Clark, 16,
little more kid-friendly. of Fort Ann. Ouimet rang up
Catrina and Shawn Fredette 99 pounds on the strongman
of Stratford, New Hampshire, swing.
spent their second wedding He could be my next boy-
anniversary at Great Escape friend, Clark said, lugging the
on a recent Saturday. Catrina, purple man for the rest of the
23, believes amusement park day.
visits are important every sum- I have some competition,
mer. It just reminds you of said Ouimet.
when you were a kid, spending
summer hanging out with your Reach Gazette reporter Jeff
friends, she said. Wilkin at 395-3124 or at
Amsterdam pals Marlee Ot- wilkin@dailygazette.com or
tati, 13, Mackenzie Makarowsky, @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter. His blog
14, and Jackie Stanaric, 13, were is at www.dailygazette.com/
all hanging out their feet weblogs/wilkin.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER KIDS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 B5

A wild way
to spend a day
The Wilton Wildlife
Preserve and Park covers
about 1,500 acres in the
Saratoga County town of
Wilton.
It is managed to pro-
vide habitat for the rare
Karner blue buttery, but
has other wildlife and
many hiking trails.
The headquarters and
main entrance are on
Scout Road, but buttery
habitat is found around
a second entrance on
Route 50.

Wilton Wildlife Preserve educator Renee Dufek tells children

from the Wilton YMCA preschool to close their eyes and listen to
the birds as the kids explore the preserve on a recent eld trip.
PHOTOS BY MARC SCHULTZ/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER

Clockwise, from above left:

Preserve educator Renee
Dufek shows children from
the Wilton YMCA preschool
some of the snails and
tadpoles that are caught
with nets from the Delegan
Pond in the preserve; a
girl looks at some of the
blue lupine in the preserve;
Preschooler Leo Boyd is
excited with his pine cone
nd; Aiden MacNaughton
looks over the craysh
he netted from the pond;
Children use nets to catch
assorted bugs, craysh
and insects in the pond.
B6 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER KIDS WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

Local libraries promote summer reading

BY SIOBHAN CONNALLY
For The Daily Gazette
As the 2016 Olympic games get
underway in Brazil, children of all
ages in the Capital Region are en-
couraged to rev up their own sum-
mer with a good book, and many
local libraries arent just standing
by, cheering at the sidelines. They
are ready to jump in and coach.
The New York State Library is
promoting Ready, Set, Read, tying
in the summer Olympic games
to promote the idea that you can
read anytime, anywhere, said
Serena Butch, assistant director and
director of youth services at the
Schenectady County Library.
Libraries across the state are tak-
ing part in this program, which is
intended to foster a love of reading
and libraries. Theres more infor-
mation about the program at www.
tailored for their communities.
In addition to our regular pro-
graming, this year were having and
all-ages summer BINGO Game,
said Butch, noting that starting June
20, folks can go to their local librar-
ies and pick up a summer reading
packet that includes a sheet where
ssummerreadingnys.org.
they can keep track of their reading
In Schenectady, Butch oversees
activities, earning them prizes.
various youth services offered by
This is really our big reading
the countys main library and its
program that we promote through
eight branches, which serve the in-
the schools. Although we do offer
ner city and suburban communities
incentives, its a non-competitive
as well as a brand new library and program that is free to every one in
literacy center on State Street. the community.
Butch says that while the state Other programs offered at the
Library sets the stage for the six- library this summer will include
week summer reading program, puppet theater, magicians, live ani-
which begins in June and runs mals, arts and crafts, story telling
through mid August and serves for toddlers and families.
nearly 2 million New Yorkers, The library is also a summer lunch
most libraries add their own events site that offers book giveaways.
We have so many programs
for all ages. A really popular one
is Paws for Reading, in which computers, fax and printing and a
therapy dogs come into our librar-
ies and just plop down in our story
rooms to listen as children read to
them. Its been a really successful
program and has grown by word-
of-mouth.
But what Butch is most excited
about is the librarys newest loca-
tion, The Phyllis Bornt Branch
Library, which opened in February
on State Street.
The Bornt Branch offers offers
and array of programming for
all ages including adult learning,
classes for English as a Second
Language, and child care. Library
staff are also taking steps to
become a Family Place Library, a
designation that helps it become a
crucial link between their fami-
lies and other local resources. It
offers two large meeting rooms, 16
self-check-out.
We see the library as another
community resource where parents
can come and learn about health
and nutrition, or where they can
play with their kids, or they can
mix and match services they need.
The library itself is set up a little
differently to optimize user experi-
ence. Items are grouped by theme
instead of by call numbers to help
parents and children be more self
sufcient.
So far its been a gigantic hit
with the community, said Butch,
noting new rst-time card issu-
ances have surged at the site. Two
hundred people have library cards
for the rst time.

Looking for a good

book? Weve got
plenty of suggestions
When we asked Daily Gazette staffers to recommend a good book for young
readers, some of the results were predictable (history buff Bill Buell selected
Liberty or Death: The American Revolution) and some were surprising
(who knew Steve Williams would love the sentimental Charlottes Web?).
If youve got a house lled with kids looking for things to do this summer, the
books on this list could be a good starting point. Here they are, in no particular
order:

Where the Wild Things Are by Mau-
rice Sendak. Timeless tale of adventure
and forgiveness. Plus theres sailing.
Mark McGuire,
executive sports editor
Moduc: The True Story of the Great-
est Elephant That Ever Lived by Ralph
Helfer
Marc Schultz, photographer
The Sword in the Stone by Terence
White. Game of Thrones lite.
Jeff Wilkin, reporter
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill
Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. Great
for young kids.
Brian Zarelli, director
of audience development
Guinea Dog by Patrick Jennings. Good
for children in grades 2-5. It is an imagina-
tive and whimsical story that many children
that own a dog or desire to get one can re-
ally relate to. Very funny. Great summer
reading.
Kristin Morris,
events coordinator
Frog and Toad series by Arnold
Lobel. The Prophecy of the Stones by
Flavia Bujor. A Series of Unfortunate
Events by Lemony Snicket. The Tale of
Despereaux by Kate Dicamillo. And the
Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer.
Indiana Nash, reporter
The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S.
Lewis. So good!!
Alison Cooke, business ofce

The B.F.G. by Roald Dahl. Bunnicula, the rst in a good series

Cady Kuzmich, reporter
The Cay by Theodore Taylor is one
of my favorites.
Dallas Birch,
multimedia/digital expert
Liberty or Death: The American
Revolution: 1763-1783 (American Story)
by Betsy Maestro, and Make Way for
Ducklings by Robert McCloskey.
Bill Buell, reporter
Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney.
Elizabeth Hume Lind, president,
Daily Gazette board of directors
Wonder by RJ Palacio. Tales of
a 4th Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
(The entire Super Fudge series is great).
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson
Rawls. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen (if youve
read anything by Carl Hiaasen meant for
adults this might be hard to believe, but
this is a decent kids book). Harry Pot-
ter books by J.K. Rowling. The Hobbit
by JRR Tolkien. The Lion, the Witch,
and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. And
The Lightning Thief by Rick Rior-
dan (or any of the Percy Jackson series
books).
Lance Geda, treasurer
The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
and Amelia Bedelia, Cub Reporter by
Herman Parish.
Tom McBride, copy editor
A Long Way From Chicago by Rich-
ard Peck.
Misi Crehan, multimedia
advertising specialist
For young children, Id recommend the
Berenstein Bear book series. Amusing,
and full of lessons about life and sibling
relations. For older children, Charlottes
Web by E.B. White. Could the Great
American Novel have been written for
10-year-olds? Discuss.
Steve Williams, reporter
Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. Kid learns
to survive alone in the wilderness with
nothing but a hatchet. Nuff said.
Michael Fucilli,
web administrator
for kids.
Brett Samuels, reporter
The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery
Williams. The Monster at the End of This
Book by Smollen/Stone. Love You For-
ever by Robert Munsch. Goodnight Moon
by Margaret Wise Brown. And Thomass
Snow Suit by Robert Munsch.
Geri Ratigan,
customer service representative
Illusions by Richard Bach. My
favorite when I was about 12. Still
reread it occasionally.
Mark Mahoney,
editorial page editor
Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl
and The Westing Game by Ellen
Raskin.
Sara Foss, columnist
Clara Barton: Founder of the Amer-
ican Red Cross by Augusta Steven-
son. My love for nonction, especially
biographies, began with Clara.
Judy Patrick, editor
Super Fudge by Judy Blume and
Ramona and Beezus by Beverly
Cleary.
Heather Graham,
digital director
The Martian Chronicles by Ray Brad-
bury.
John Cropley, business editor
For older kids (teens, 15 or so) Jona-
than Strange and Mr Norell, by Susanna
Clarke. English history set during the
Napoleonic wars, only with magic and
faeries.
Its a BBC series now. Better to read the
book rst. Plus its very long (800+ pages):
Great for a summer read.
Margaret Hartley,
content editor
I loved From the Mixed-up Files of
Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigs-
burg. And Harriet the Spy by Louise
Fitzhugh.
Erin ONeill, web editor
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER KIDS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 B7

Local
camps
let kids
explore,
learn,
let loose
BY MARY CIRINCIONE
For The Daily Gazette
If summer break seems more daunting
than exciting because youre not sure how
youll occupy your kids for 10 whole weeks,
weve got the answer: Send em to day camp!
You get some quiet, and they get to
explore everything from farm animals to
astrophysics, and make new friends at the
same time. Even better? The sheer variety,
with half-day and full-day options as well
as before and after care, means theres
bound to be something in the Capital
Region that will t your kid, and your
schedule. just right. There are dozens of
camps to choose from in the area this sum-
mer. Here is just a sampling:
YMCA Adventure Camp!
Day campers are bussed from Sche-
nectady High School to a facility in
Guilderland, where they can enjoy the
great outdoors swimming, zip lining,
paddle-boating, shing and rock climb-
ing, and even try their hand at tennis and
archery.
WHO: Kids entering Grades K through 8
WHEN: Weekly starting June 27 and run-
ning through Sept. 2; Monday through
Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed July 4)
COST: $195 a week for members, $220
for non-members
BONUS: Sibling discounts. Early care,
starting at 7 a.m., and after care until
6 p.m. are offered at no extra charge.
Financial aid is also available.
MORE INFO: cdymca.org
Barn Schoolers Indian
Ladder Farms, Altamont
Kids will learn the ins and outs of
farm life through hands-on, team-based
experience including how to care for
barnyard animals, gardens and orchards.
WHO: Kids and teens ages 6 to 14
WHEN: July 5-8, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
COST: $120 for the four-day program
MORE INFO: email
mcs@indianladderfarms.com
Camp Maple Maple
Ski Ridge, Rotterdam
Get ready for classic camp activities,
like capture the ag, arts and crafts,
scavenger hunts, nature walksand even
frogging adventures!
WHO: Kids entering Grades 1 through 8
WHEN: Weekly themed camps, June 27
through Sept. 2; Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (closed July 4)
COST: $150 per week, extra $30 for lunch
BONUS: Early drop off and late pickup
available for an extra $15 each per week.
MORE INFO: mapleskiridge.com
Childrens Museum
of Science & Technology,
Troy
Science, technology, engineering and
Boys try out
their walking
sticks before
lunch at
Camp Maple
at Maple Ski
Ridge last
summer.
MARC SCHULTZ/
GAZETTE FILE
PHOTO
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Campers try on gear during National
Grids visit to the Greater Glenville
YMCA Summer Camp last July.
math concepts take center stage as
campers conduct hands-on science ex-
periments to make their own discoveries.
WHO: Kids entering Grades K through 8
WHEN: Weekly options vary, but camps
run from June 27 through Sept. 2; week-
days, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. for Kindertist
camp; All others discovery/explorer
camps, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
COST: $100-$200 a week for members,
up to $225 for non-members
BONUS: Save 10 percent when register-
ing multiple kids/camps. Before and
after available for an additional $30 per
camper, per week.
MORE INFO: cmost.org
Siena College
Academic Summer Camps,
Loudonville
Courses cover everything from game
design and app development, to shooting
and editing digital videoeven Mine-
craft and robotics.
WHO: Kids ages 9 to 18, depending on
the course
WHEN: Weeklong camps start June 27
and close Aug. 5; Monday through Fri-
day, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
COST: $250-$300 per week
MORE INFO: siena.edu
Siena Athletics Camps
and Clinics, Loudonville
Kids and teens spend the week drill-
ing and practicing under expert instruc-
tion in a series of intensive camps,
gaining new confidence in baseball,
dance, lacrosse, softball, soccer, vol-
leyball and field hockey.
WHO: Athletes ages 6 to 17, depending
on the sport and level
WHEN: Varies by sport, but weeklong
camps offered June, July and August;
Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m.
COST: $330 per week for day camp
BONUS: Lunch at the Siena cafeteria is
includedand campers can dine on ev-
erything from salad to pizza, to frozen
yogurt.
MORE INFO: sienasaints.com
Girls Inc. Summer Fun
Camp, Schenectady
Weekly themes include Baking with
Chemistry and Are We There Yet?
a weeklong adventure with daily eld
trips to museums and parks, as well as a
wilderness scavenger hunt.
WHO: Girls entering Grades K through 8
WHEN: Weekly, June 27 through July 22;
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
COST: $115 per week, $210 for two
weeks
BONUS: Scholarships available.
MORE INFO: girlsinccapitalregion.org
MISCI Summer Science
Classes, Schenectady
Classes on dinos and rockets for the
younger set, and rocket science and
astrophysics for preteens and teens.
Students can even man and y a mock
NASA Challenger mission as part of the
Space Academy.
WHO: Kids entering Grades K through
12, depending on the course
WHEN: Weekly, July 11 through Sept. 2;
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 3:30
p.m.
COST: Most courses are $220; Space
Academy is $250
BONUS: Before and after care available
for $10 an hour.
MORE INFO: misci.org
Piano Camp The Music
Studio, Albany
Junior pianists receive expert instruc-
tion on music theory, improvisation, sight
reading and keyboard harmony, and
practice as duets and trios.
WHO: Pianists entering grades 4
through 9
WHEN: July 5-8, August 1-5, August 8-12;
daily, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
COST: $300 for a four-day week, $375 for
ve days
BONUS: Two private lessons included
each week.
MORE INFO: themusicstudio.com
Dance Me! Schenectady
Prima Ballerina, Dance and Tum-
ble and Welcome to the Circus camps
for tiny, junior and teen dancers.
WHO: Dancers ages 3 to 14
WHEN: July and August
COST: Three-day camps, $75 for 2.5
hours per day and $90 for 3.5 hours per
day; ve-day camps, $130 for 3.5 hours
per day
MORE INFO: dancemeschool.com
Union College Summer
Sports Academies,
Schenectady
Kids and teens can sharpen their skills
in state-of-the-art Union facilities, during
clinics for basketball, cross-country, eld
hockey, football, ice hockey, soccer, vol-
leyball and swimming.
WHO: Athletes ages 6 to 18
WHEN: Three- and ve-day camps of-
fered June through August; day camps
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., evening camps start at
5:30 or 6 p.m.
COST: Starting at $50, up to $395
MORE INFO: unionathletics.com
Twist N Flip
Gymnastics Summer
Camp, Colonie
Weekly themes like the circus, where
campers design their own big top-in-
spired routines, and Wet & Wild War-
riors, complete with an obstacle course,
keep things interesting for budding
gymnasts.
WHO: Kids and teens ages 3 to 14
WHEN: Weekly, late June through Au-
gust; 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for half-day
camps, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for full-day
COST: Weeklong half-day courses start
at $125, full-day starts at $229
BONUS: Enroll for two weeks or more,
save anywhere form 10-40 percent; save
half with 10-week enrollment.
MORE INFO: twistnip.com/colonie

Head start can help combat the sleep-away homesick blues

BY CHRISTOPHER WILLARD
Special to The Washington Post
Like that rst day of kindergar-
ten, it can be hard to know whom
sleep-away camp drop off is most
difcult for us parents, or our
quivering offspring, suddenly
thrust into independence and all
that comes with it. And these days,
the disconnection is even more
abrupt. Our phones allow us stay
in touch during the regular school
year, making even a few hours
without contact tough. When I was
young, it wasnt unusual to spend a
day without seeing or talking to my
parents, and if a parent was away,
we had to settle for a long-distance
phone call every few days. These
days we are blessed (or cursed)
with the ability to keep in almost
constant contact.
At camp, traditions die hard, and
the connections to home physi-
cal and digital are meant to
be severed, if temporarily. That
digital umbilical cord known as a
cellphone is suddenly and uncer-
emoniously cut, leaving kids feeling
homesick, and more often than not
leaving us a bit kid-sick. Research
shows that homesick kids fall into
two groups. Eighty percent of kids
have a constant low-level home-
sickness, while the remaining 20
percent start with high levels that
then increase. Even for those chil-
dren, though, the pangs appear to
get better a few days before pickup.
The good news is that home-
sickness of all kinds is normal. It
is a sign of a strong bond and
love between parent and child.
In fact, research suggests up to
95 percent of even the happiest
campers nd themselves homesick
from time to time, so it can help to
prepare your children to remember
that. And of course, just because
other kids dont look homesick or
say they are, doesnt mean they
arent. Dont compare your insides
to other peoples outsides can
be wise words for kids to keep in
mind for a summer, or even a week,
away.
Here are four separation strate-
gies that can help your child this
summer:
Prepare and pack. Make
the preparation exciting. Work
together to pick out sleeping bags,
write name tags for clothes and
look at the camp website to get a
sense of what it is like. Then pack
together. Create an adventure by
sleeping outside together one night,
or letting them sleep in their sleep-
ing bags in their beds. Consider
packing a favorite comforting book
or pillow to take along, if a stuffed
animal is too babyish at your childs
age.
Practice. Schedule some short
trips for your child. The kids might
spend a few nights with grand-
parents or friends if they havent
already. This lets them practice
being away and coping, and offers a
reference point for managing their
anxiety. Then it will be more cred-
ible when you say, I know you can time to get homesick or anxious.
do it, because you were homesick
but got through it at Grandmas.
These nights away also might be a
good opportunity to practice being
less digitally connected to your
child.
Plan. Together, make a plan for
what can help once they actually
get to camp. Have them make a
list of advice they would offer a
homesick friend, and keep it for
themselves in their journals. It
gives kids a sense of mastery to feel
like they could help a friend who is
homesick (and gives them a ready-
made excuse if someone nds their
coping list).
Stay busy. I asked a few kids in
my practice for their advice. Most
reported the hardest and loneliest
parts of the day are the quiet times
in the afternoon and before bed.
Suggest some activities that can
help them ll the idle time. One
boy I work with who just got back
from a school trip was relieved at
how busy they were all day, so that
he could fall right asleep without
and breathing out through your
And being with other kids can help
a lot, even when they would prefer
to be alone. I try to remind kids
that spending time with the other,
unfamiliar kids may not sound like
fun when you are feeling homesick,
but it is like taking medicine: It will
help you feel better for the rest of
the day.
Some other ways to ll down-
time are to reread an encouraging
letter from home, or review a list
you made lled with memories of
times they stuck things out and
got through challenges. Making a
gratitude list, or writing a letter of
what they are enjoying that day or
what they look forward to next, is a
good way to pass the time posi-
tively. And some kids nd a short
mindfulness practice, such as deep
breaths or listening to sounds, can
help them get through challenging
moments. A kid-friendly mind-
ful calming breath breathing
in through your nose like you are
smelling a mug of hot chocolate,
mouth as if you are gently blow-
ing to cool it off for ve or 10
breaths until the anxiety passes can
also help.
B8 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 KIDS WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

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WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C1

Summer
DAY TRIPS
ANOTHER GAZETTE BIG EDITION SPECIAL 40-PAGE SECTION

Inside
LAKE PLACID,
known for
winter sports,
has lots to do
in summer, too.
C2

THERES
MORE to
Manchester,
Vermont,
than just the
outlets. C6

HIT THE
back roads
to discover
Montgomery
County
treasures. C7

BERKSHIRES
OFFER
world-class
music,
theater, arts.
C10

Two bicyclists make their

way up the Whiteface
Veterans Memorial
Highway near Lake
Placid. The toll road
offers stunning views
of the High Peaks and
Lake Placid both the
village and the lake
itself (shown here).
PHOTO COURTESY ORDA/
WHITEFACE LAKE PLACID

with a First New York Home Equity Line of Credit!

www.rstnewyork.org 518-393-1326
C2 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER DAY TRIPS WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

A young hiker

Lake
admires the view
from the top of an
Adirondack peak
near Lake Placid.

LAKE PLACID
CONVENTION
AND VISITORS
BUREAU

Placid
New Yorks
winter-sports
place to be also
offers plenty
of options for
summer fun

BY MILES REED
Gazette Managing Editor
Its 5 oclock on a warm Sunday after-
noon. The frosty pint of Ubu Ale is going
down easy. Real easy. From your seat on
the patio of the Lake Placid Pub & Brew-
ery, you can see your kids canoeing in
Mirror Lake across the street, their laugh-
ter skipping across the placid water. On
Mirror Lake Drive, bicyclists and runners
are zipping back and forth, many of them
training for the upcoming Ironman race.
Ahhh, summertime in Lake Placid!
To the uninitiated, Lake Placid is mostly
a winter-sports town. After all, the small
Adirondack village hosted the 1932 and
1980 Winter Olympic Games. And the
region still boasts several world-class win-
ter-sports venues: Whiteface Mountain,
Mount Van Hoevenberg and the Olym- GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
pic Center (think Herb Brooks Arena), to Skipping stones at the edge of Mirror Lake.
name a few.
On winter weekends, the town lls with a short drive from the village, dozens of ban on motorboats, Mirror Lake is the per- Highway to heaven: If hikings not
visitors in minivans and SUVs packed hikes of varying difculty can be done in fect spot to try SUP. Rentals are available your thing but youd still like to make it
with skis, snowboards and ice skates. Its a day or less. For a quick trip with nice at several stores on the lake. While youre to the top an Adirondack High Peak, take
the winter place to be in upstate New views of the village and the High Peaks, working on your balance, the rest of the a drive up the Whiteface Veterans
York. try Cobble Hill. The trailhead (next to family can enjoy a walk around the lake (2 Memorial Highway. The toll road rises
But come summertime, the options for Northwood School, just off the road that miles) or a swim at the sandy village beach 2,300 feet over 5 miles up the back side
outdoor fun are even more numerous, a circles Mirror Lake) is within walking dis- (free) on Mirror Lake. of Whiteface. The fresh air and sweeping
fact that helps to make Lake Placid one of views are well worth the price ($15 per
tance of most hotels in town. If youre feel- Do you still believe in miracles?
the best mountain towns this side of the vehicle + driver, $8 per additional passen-
ing more ambitious, drive south 5 miles If youre not familiar with Lake Placids
Rockies. ger).
and into the High Peaks Wilderness Area. storied past, one of your rst stops in town
So load up the car and head up the Tee time: Theres only one drawback
Northway. Dont forget the sunscreen In addition to the states 46 highest peaks, should be the Lake Placid Olympic Mu- to golng in Lake Placid: The scenery is
(and maybe a little bug spray, too). youll nd scores of smaller mountains seum (2634 Main St.). The highlight of the so killer that it could mess with your head.
with fabulous hiking trails and views. museum, of course, is the 1980 Miracle on But if you can overcome the mountainous
WHAT TO DO Go for a paddle: Stand-up paddling Ice hockey game but theres lots of addi- distractions, the golng is spectacular. The
Take a hike: Lake Placid is the epicen- is the hip thing to do in most mountain tional information about Olympic legends rolling terrain and big-mountain vistas
ter of Adirondack hiking country. Within towns, Lake Placid included. Thanks to a Eric Heiden, Sonja Henie and others. make for an unforgettable outing. Take
your pick from the areas three fantastic
courses: The Lake Placid Club;
the Whiteface Club &
Resort; and the Town
of North Elba-owned
Craig Wood Golf
Course.

WHERE TO EAT
Breakfast: Ever had
pie for breakfast? No?
Heres your chance. About
25 minutes outside Lake Placid,
stop in Keene Valley for breakfast at the
Noon Mark Diner. Named after a peak
that overlooks the valley, NMD is legend-
ary among High Peak hikers. The home-
made pies have been a best-seller since the
diner opened in 1981. Dont miss out.
Lunch: The Big Mountain Deli &
Crperie, also known as 46 Sandwiches,
offers 46 sandwiches named after the High
Peaks. And if you cant nd something to
your liking, theyll make whatever you
want. With a smile. Whats not to like?
Dinner: After a long day outdoors,
locals and visitors alike ock to the Lake
Placid Pub & Brewery on Mirror Lake
Drive. The pub menu, were happy to
report, is extensive and impressive. But
the real treat comes when you try one of
the various microbrewed ales and lagers.
Our favorites are the 46er Pale Ale and
the famous Ubu Ale, but dont take our
word for it.
Head on up to Lake Placid to try one
yourself.
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Yes its summer, but take the time to reacquaint yourself with one of the Winter Olympics greatest moments, the U.S. mens
hockey teams 1980 win over the Soviet Union.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER DAY TRIPS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C3

Lake
George
Summer fun,
glorious setting
GAZETTE FILE PHOTOS

BY WENDY LIBERATORE CRUISES

For the Daily Gazette Setting out on the lake on one of the old cruisers
LAKE GEORGE Thomas Jefferson called is a must-do. Leaving from the southern tip of the
Lake George the most beautiful water I ever lake, three cruise ships offers brunch, lunch and
saw. Others have simply dubbed it the Queen dinner voyages as well evening rework cruises.
of American Lakes. Cruisers can choose long journeys or short.
And for good reason. No matter where one
DINING
stands along its shores, Lake George shimmers
pristine. The waters are clear, letting the eye eas- The list of restaurants along the shore is long,
ily penetrate to the lakes bottom. And surpris- but the best ones offer a sweeping view of the
ingly, the water is still potable, a fact few lakes lake, its islands and its mountainous rim. Menus
anywhere can boast. range from basic burgers to gourmet, so all tastes
But its not just the water. There is also the should be satised.
sweep of the mountains that
FESTIVALS
More online ring its 32-mile length. Dotted Lake George loves its festivals. In June alone,
To help you with more than 165 islands,
the Adirondack lake and its visitors can enjoy the Elvis Festival, a weekend of
sort out all that Elvis look-a-likes in concert; Americade, where
Lake George has environs are a treasure trove of
outdoor fun for summer day- thousands of motorcyclists from around North
to offer, try these
helpful websites: trippers and vacationers. America commune; and the Adirondack Wine and
The lake is beautiful, said Food Festival, where local specialties like craft
www.lake
Lake George Mayor Robert beers, cheese and chardonnay can be savored.
george.com
www.visit Blais. Some have said its
lakegeorge.com one of the most beautiful in
www.lake the world. The great thing is
georgechamber. people of all ages and all means
com can come and enjoy the entire
region around Lake George.
There is so much to do here.
Certainly, the list of things to do in Lake
George is long. Boating, camping, shing, hik-
ing, swimming, along with shopping, mini-golf,
exploring history and dining on its shores are
mainstays to the summer economy in Lake
George. The combination of variety and beauty
has lured vacationers to the region for decades.
It all started in the early 1800s with the D&H
railroad that ran from New York City to Lake
George. Soon, the Lake George Steamboat Com-
pany was established and the rst hotel, Fort
William Henry Hotel, was built. Among its early
visitors were governors and presidents, artists
and actors, intellectuals and inventors.
After World War II, all of America discovered
vacation. As a result, Lake George exploded as a
popular destination with vacationers who return
year after year.
People have made Lake George a tradition for
years, said Amanda Metzger, marketing coordi-
nator of the Lake George Regional Chamber of
Commerce. People have an emotional, nostalgic
tie to Lake George. And its a unique destination
because there are so many different attractions Battleeld Park where battles unfold in the What to do in Lake
many of them are free. French and Indian and Revolutionary wars. The George? You could,
Certainly, enjoying nature is on the top of the communities around the lake, including Bolton from top, take a boat out
list. So too is mini-golf, which was essentially in- Landing and the village of Lake George, are also for some shing; take
vented in Lake George. There is also the must-do home to historical societies and museums. in a concert at the Lake
steamboat ride up the lake with the Lake George George Music Festival;
SHOPPING see history come to life
Steamboat Company, which will give visitors a
full view of the lakes breadth and beauty. A shopaholic will nd Lake George a paradise. at a reenactment;
But that just skims the surfaces. Below is a list There are the outlets that include everything from or take a thrill ride
of some of the things to see and do up and down Banana Republic, Brooks Brothers, the Gap, Levis, at the Great Escape.
the shores of Lake George. L.L. Bean, Timberland and Yankee Candle, just
to name a few. Then are also dozens of shops in
AMUSEMENT PARKS villages up and down the lake that sell everything
Great Escape and Splash Water Kingdom as from t-shirts and beach balls to high-end jewelry.
well as Magic Forest are the best known. But SWIMMING
families can enjoy Funarama Fun Park with its FISHING Lake George maintains well-groomed public
carousel and bumper boats as well as Water Slide
Fishing is special as the lake is home to both beaches including Million Dollar Beach in the
World with its wave pool and toddler pirate ship.
cold-water and warm-water sh. Anglers can village of Lake George, Rogers Park in Bolton
The old west can be discovered at Wild West
nd trout, landlocked salmon, perch, pike and Landing and Hague Town Beach on the north
Ranch, which has an 1860s Main Street and cow-
smallmouth bass. There are charter boats and end of the lake. Nearly every resort along the
boy arcade. There are also an abundance of mini
guides available too. Catch and release is encour- lake has its own private beaches that guests can
golf parks throughout the region including the aged as it preserves the sh population. And enjoy too. The water is always Adirondack cool.
areas rst in Lake George village. remember, you must purchase a shing license
before you cast a line. WATER SPORTS
BOATING
Swimming, shing and boating are not the
Whether you own a boat or want to rent one, HIKING only lake activities. There is also canoeing,
there are plenty of places to launch from on Hiking is certainly a favorite pastime in Lake kayaking, parasailing, sailing, snorkeling, tubing,
Lake George. However, all motorboats must be George especially since the mountains run wakeboarding and waterskiing. Equipment is
registered with the Lake George Park Commis- from easy to moderate, making a trek a perfect easy to rent and you can also hire a guide.
sion. The commissions oversight keeps the lake family activity. Prospect Mountain Trail is in Lake George also offers bike trails, bird watches,
in tip-top health. Lake George proper. But there is also French carriage rides, free weekly concerts, golf courses,
Mountain, Shelving Rock Mountain, Pilot Knob riding stables, a wax museum and enough hotels,
CAMPING motels and cottages to sleep thousands.
among others. Better still, hiking is always free.
More than 40 campgrounds dot Lake George As Mayor Blais puts it, Where can you go
region. Campers can pitch a tent for a woodland HISTORY where you can take a cruise ship, sit on a beauti-
experience or go RVing to parks that offer free The biggest draw is the Fort William Henry ful beach, ride in a carriage, play miniature golf,
wi, hook-ups and heated swimming pools. For Museum where visitors can step back to the shop until you drop and go parasailing? And
those who really want to escape into the wilder- 1750s, a time when Lake George was an outpost thats just on Beach Road in the Village of Lake
ness, there are state-owed camp sites on 100 of for the British who were ghting the French for George. You would be hard-pressed for nd
the Lake George islands. land. History buffs can also explore Lake George another vacation spot with more things to do.
C4 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Horses break out of the starting gate for the fth race of the day at Saratoga Race Course on July 31 last summer.
BY MIKE MACADAM
Gazette Sportswriter
SARATOGA SPRINGS Dont drink
the water.
Well, do drink the water. Just dont do it
again, unless you feel really strongly about
it. Unless limply zzy oversalted liquid
rust is your thing.
One of the many landmarks on the
Saratoga Race Course grounds is the Big
Red Spring, whose name jointly honors
Man o War and Secretariat, two immortal
racehorses who both were nicknamed Big
Red and both ran at Saratoga (and lost!).
Its one of 17 natural mineral springs that
give the city half its name and is a natural
attraction to anyone who goes to the race-
track, since it gushes history as much as it
does that yucky water.
Still, take a drink. Take a drink from the
Big Red Spring because its healthy,
because the myth says that it will bring
you racing luck, whatever then drink in
everything a day at the races has to offer at
my favorite place on the planet Earth.
Besides that, following, in no particu-
lar order, are some tips on how to enjoy
Saratoga and its racing from someone who
has been going there in a working capacity
since 1987, but quickly also became a fan
and loves nothing better than to spend a
day off at the ofce.
1. Morning stuff. Gates open at 7.
The races begin at 1 in the afternoon, but
theres plenty to do and see in the morn-
ings, when the horses are training and the
bustling backstretch is accessible to the
public via the 45-minute guided walking
tours that run every 15 minutes from 7:30-9.
The tour is a fun and easy way to get a
rst-hand look at everyday life at a racing
stable as well as learn the history of the
track, which was built in 1864, a year after
the racing meet itself was inaugurated on
the other side of Union Avenue.
The trackside breakfast deal is a nice
little touch, too. You can sit wherever
you like, including Gov. Andrew Cuomos
clubhouse box seat (he likely wont be us-
ing it) and watch the horses train.
Another option is the Oklahoma train-
ing track across Union, where the lovely
Whitney viewing stand greets visitors and
offers another spot to watch workouts.
In the quiet moments after sunrise, it all
gives you a greater appreciation for what
happens in the afternoons.
2. This seems like a small thing, a
simple thing, but be on the lookout for
the architectural details and touches
that complement the elegant sweep of
the grandstand roof and its spires.
The people who built this place cared
deeply about what it looks like and what
it means, so they incorporated subtle
ornamentation and design even into the
Dont forget to bring money. Theres
nothing worse than the Walk of Shame
to the on-track ATM after blowing your
bankroll right out of the gate.
SUMMER DAY TRIPS
Saratoga
Race Course
Start here to make the most
of your trip to the Spa track
most utilitarian buildings and structures,
including the barns on the backstretch.
They didnt have to mold iron railings
outside the clubhouse in the shape of
horses, for instance, but they did. Theres
stuff like this everywhere you turn.
3. Bring money.
Betting is fun, whether youre dropping
a buck on a hunch play or have made a
budgetary commitment to bet with both
sts all afternoon.
If you go that route, stick to said budget.
Nothing ruins a day at the Spa more com-
pletely than exhausting your fund early
and making the Walk of Shame to the on-
track ATM (I believe the processing fee is
$3.75, last I checked).
There is no shame in betting something
silly that is based on anything but an at-
tempt at true handicapping. For instance, I
drop $2 to win on Joes Blazing Aaron every
time he runs because the rst name sort
of resembles my sisters, and she has a son
named Aaron who is a really fast person.
Joes Blazing Aaron won at Saratoga two
years ago and paid $3.80. So there.
4. Attempt true handicapping.
The past performance lines in the pro-
gram can be as inscrutable as the Dead Sea
Scrolls, but the thrill of picking a winner
based on your own homework cannot be
denied.
There are other tools and resources, too.
Listen to Maggie Wolfendale and
Richard Migliore, who give TV paddock
and on-track reports while the horses are
being saddled and warming up. Maggie is
the daughter of a well-respected trainer in
Maryland and works in the mornings as an
exercise rider, and The Mig was a long-
time jockey on the New York circuit.
Whether they direct you to a winning
ticket or not, its interesting to listen to the
observations and insight of people who
know what theyre looking at in terms of
the athletic build of horses and their cur-
rent disposition shortly before post-time.
On the handicapping front, Ill shame-
lessly shill for the Gazettes own Bill
Heller, an Eclipse Award-winning author
who has been touting horses for decades
and has nished on top of the heap among
the highly competitive Saratoga pressbox
An exercise rider works a horse
at dawn on the main track.
While afternoon racing is the
main event, theres lots to see
in the morning at the race course.
corps for meet-long honors picking the
most winners.
What you get from a professional public
handicapper like Bill is not a winner every
time, but the trust factor that, while you
were downtown the night before handi-
capping the action on Caroline Street, he
had built an informed opinion on each
race for you to consider the next after-
noon.
5. Or dont bring money.
It does cost a few bucks to get in for
the races, but you can have a great time
horse-watching and people-watching in
the picnic area, clubhouse and grandstand
without really spending much more than
the cost of a Shake Shack burger and an
overpriced cold beer.
Check out the horses. Theyre incred-
ible works of art and architecture in their
own right, and you can get a close view as
they walk through the picnic area to the
paddock and in the saddling ring.
Watch a race on the rail. Watch a race
at the top of the stretch, well past the end
of the grandstand. There, you cant really
hear track announcer Larry Collmus call,
but you can hear the jockeys smooching
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
GAZETTE FILE PHOTOS
Dont forget
to soak in
the sights,
or sounds,
of it all, like
the Upstate
Bluegrass
Band
performing
on opening
day last
season.
encouragement to their mounts, the crack
of the riding crop, the hufng exertion of
the racehorses and the deep thumping of
their hooves in the ground.
6. Soak it in.
Its not a giant, shiny new sports mega-
plex like those housing the major pro
sports teams these days and seem to be
deemed inadequate by the powers that be
before theyre barely 15 years old.
Those hooves that just blew by you are
treading the same ground as did Man o
War in 1919, Secretariat in 1972 and 1973,
Rachel Alexandra in 2009 and 2010 (she
lost!) and Triple Crown winner American
Pharoah in 2015 (he lost!).
This place has been here since 1864
(1863 if you count across Union Avenue,
which you should).
Appreciate that.
Explore it.
7. Dont drink the water.
Again.
Reach Gazette Sportswriter
Mike MacAdam at 395-3146 or
mikemac@dailygazette.com. Follow on
Twitter @Mike_MacAdam.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER DAY TRIPS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C5

24 buildings over
121 acres offer plenty
to explore in Blue
Mountain Lake

Adirondack
Museum GAZETTE FILE PHOTOS
Feeding sh might be part of your day trip to the Adirondack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake.

BY JEFF WILKIN
Gazette Reporter
Not every Adirondack adventure
means rocketing on a roller coaster or
rafting through river rapids.
Paige Doerner believes exploration is
another option, and not just in the woods.
Theres plenty to explore at the Adiron-
dack Museum in Blue Mountain Lake,
Hamilton County.
The museum, located about two hours
north of the Capital Region, gives visitors
the chance to walk through the past.
We have indoor and outdoor exhi-
bitions, we have historical structures
that have been moved from all over
the Adirondack park and we have daily
programs and activities for families,
said Doerner, the museums marketing
manager. We also offer traditional work-
shops for people interested in weaving
a picnic basket or carving a traditional
paddle or building a rustic table.
The museum is located on the site of
the old Blue Mountain House, a summer
resort hotel built above Blue Mountain
Lake in 1876. The hotel remained open
through the late 1940s, and the last
owner, William L. Wessels, had a vision
for the future.
In June 1948, Wessels called together
a bunch of Adirondack historians and
preservationists. The group became the
Adirondack Historical Association, and The view of Blue Mountain Lake from the museums Lakeview Deck hasnt changed in 100 years. Its the ultimate sele location,
made plans to build a museum in Blue says one museum ofcial.
Mountain Lake. In 1954, the new associa-
tion purchased the Blue Mountain House
from Wessels, and began construction on We have indoor and outdoor exhibitions, we have
a new museum building.
The Adirondack Museum opened on historical structures that have been moved from all over
August 4, 1957, after two years of con- the Adirondack park and we have daily programs and
struction and collecting. The rst objects activities for families.
collected were from the Blue Mountain
Lake area; exhibits featured the Marion PAIGE DOERNER
River Carry Railroad engine and passen- Adirondack Museum marketing manager
ger car, the steamboat Osprey, a stage-
coach, several horse-drawn vehicles, a
birch bark canoe and dioramas depicting has about 30,000 objects, more than And the museum is still collecting.
various aspects of life in the Adirondacks. 70,000 photographs, 9,500 books, and 800 The museum opened for the season in
Theres a lot more now. The museum pages of original manuscript materials. late May. It is open daily from 10 a.m. until
5 p.m. through mid-October. Museum Weaving a Legacy: Mohawk Basketry Trad-
Monday Nights during the summer mean itions, an exhibit on Mohawk baskets and
the basket makers who create them, is new
longer hours 10 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. to the museum this year.
The space now holds 24 buildings
spread over 121 acres. Theres 40,000 Doerner said the museum averages
square feet of exhibition space, and exhi- about 60,000 visitors every summer.
bitions are big deals. New this year are: She said theres plenty for children to
Feathered Friends: Birders Byway, explore, like the museums Adirondack
which explores birds and birding in the playground, one-room school house and
Adirondacks. miniature log cabin. Kids have chances
Weaving a Legacy: Mohawk Basket- to play old-fashioned games, make crafts
ry Traditions, all about Mohawk baskets and every day at 12:30 p.m. feed
and the basket makers who create them. rainbow and brook trout in the museum
A Sense of Place: Ellen Phelans pond.
Kenjockety, contemporary prints by art- Doerner said a trip to Blue Mountain
ist Ellen Phelan that showcase landscapes Lake and the museum comes with extras.
and gardens from her Lake Champlain The ride up Route 30 is one of them. Its
estate. like rolling through a painting, Doerner
Museum staffers are also looking for- said.
ward to next summer, when the complex And people love the view of Blue
celebrates its 60th year of operation. A Mountain Lake from the museums
sneak peak at The Adirondack Experi- Lakeview Deck, a scene that hasnt
ence will open in May 2017. changed in 100 years. You cant leave
People will also visit and make Blue Mountain Lake without seeing that
view, Doerner said. Its the ultimate
return visits for permanent exhibits.
sele location.
Boats and boating in the Adirondacks; ho-
tels camps and Adirondack clubs; logging Reach Gazette reporter Jeff Wilkin at
in the Adirondacks; Adirondack rustic 395-3124 or at wilkin@dailygazette.com or
The Marion River Carry Pavilion is home to demonstrations and activities as well as furniture; and Adirondack hunting camps @jeffwilkin1 on Twitter. His blog is at www.
a 1901 H.K. Porter Company steam engine and passenger car. are all represented. dailygazette.com/weblogs/wilkin.
C6 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
The front porch of the Wayside General Store in Arlington, Vermont, on the way to Manchester.
BY CADY KUZMICH
Gazette Reporter
MANCHESTER Theres a winding
dirt road on the way to Manchester, Ver-
mont, that has a secure hold on a corner
of my heart. It may look like any other
dirt road, but often its those unassuming
places that tug at you to return time and
time again.
Ive been running that road, often as a
Sunday morning ritual with family, for
about a decade. Miles
upon miles, whether
during blazing summer
days or bitterly cold
winter mornings the
pebbly road has been
a constant source of
solace as it twists and
turns in concert with
the Battenkill River.
This story is about
Manchester, but really,
its about some of the
special places you
might miss if youre
making a beeline to the
outlets.
For instance, as
Pancakes and Eggs Benedict and ends from years past.
you drive toward the
at one of Manchesters best Old postcards, ancient
Welcome to Ver- breakfast spots, Up For Break- keys, door knobs and
mont sign, look to fast.
your right. Youll see
what was once the Stateline Diner being
slowly encroached upon by wildowers,
weeds and tall grasses. If you step onto
the cracked cement steps, and peer in
the dusty window, youll see coffee pots
on the table and frying pans still on the
stovetop as if time has stood still.
The next stop is the covered bridge
which leads to a simple white church and
the aforementioned dirt road a great
spot for a long run, a picnic and a dip in
the river.
The Wayside General Store is the
next stop for anyone seeking a caffeine
x. The store stocks more than booze,
organic goods and fresh deli sandwiches
its also a primo spot to nd vintage
jewelry with price tags that wont make
you cringe. Mounted deer heads gaze
down from above the beer cooler.
After the General Store, youll reach
a T in the road and youll need to take
a left to get to Manchester, but if you
take a right rst, youll drive by an old
church that has been turned into an
art gallery. What makes this art gallery
A peek in the dusty windows of the former Stateline Diner reveals coffee pots on the table and frying pans still on the stovetop
as if time has stood still.
SUMMER DAY TRIPS
Manchester,
Vermont
A closer, quieter look shows
the charms begin at the border
noteworthy is the fact that its devoted
solely to roosters. A sign reading Wick-
ed chickens lay DEVELD eggs rests out
front the studio, named Once Upon A
Rooster. Paintings of roosters grow on
the old church like vines.
BREAKFAST, BROWSING
Once you actually make it to Manches-
ter, home of dozens of designer outlet
stores, you might want to check out the
best breakfast spot in
town, Up for Breakfast,
before it closes for the
day. This second-oor
breakfast nook offers a
standout eggs benedict
and mighty stacks of
blueberry pancakes with
real Vermont maple
syrup. Its a great place to
peer down at the tour-
ists walking below while
enjoying a cup of joe
under one of the restau-
rants stained-glass light
xtures.
Right next door sits a
treasure trove of odds
animal skulls from far
and wide have found
an unlikely home together inside Green
Peak Elements in Manchester. Brad An-
dres, the stores owner, moved up north
after working in New York City for many
years.
I havent been back once, he said.
Andres said he travels all over the place
to nd these treasures though sometimes
they nd him. Andres also repurposes
old jars, drum symbols and colanders to
make unique light xtures.
You havent visited Manchester prop-
erly until youve perused the famous
Northshire Bookstore and the sculptures
outside the store. The multilevel book
store houses used books as well as new
books and a great selection of childrens
literature. Its also a great place to go gift-
hunting for any occasion. Besides books,
Northshire sells all sorts of jewelry,
incense, clothing, candles, gag gifts and
knick knacks.
Those who are interested in the arts
might want to drop by the Southern
Vermont Arts, which hosts exhibits like
Modern Alchemy: The art of glass and
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
PHOTOS BY CADY KUZMICH/GAZETTE REPORTER
A scene from the drive from New York into Vermont, headed toward Manchester.
art classes such as Capturing people in
motion. The Arts Center also hosts the-
atre camps throughout the summer.
Manchester is home to Hildene, a
Georgian Revival mansion built in 1905
by Abraham Lincolns son, Robert Todd
Lincoln. History buffs are welcome to
visit the Lincoln family home for a tour,
though general admission is a somewhat
steep $20 for adults.
HIT THE TRAILS
If youre beginning to catch the Man- A sign at Once Upon A Rooster, an art
chester Center fatigue, it might be time gallery devoted to roosters, in Arlington,
just a short drive from Manchester.
for a hike. The trailhead to the 3,855 foot
Mount Equinox, the highest point in the
Taconic Range, is just a short drive away.
If and when you make it to the top, youll
see giant slabs of marble resting in front
of a view of the surrounding mountains.
For those less inclined to such great
heights, there are plenty of trails that
loop around the base of the mountain
around ponds and up to Lye Brook Falls.
Manchester is one of the regions near-
est junctions with the Appalachian Trail,
which stretches from Mount Katahdin in
central Maine to Springer Mountain in A section of the Appalachian Trail leads
Georgia. This time last year, I was ready- into Manchester.
ing to set off on my attempted thru-hike
with my ance after graduating from Maine to West Virginia, a stretch of the
SUNY Oneonta. We only made it from leg that totalled over 1,000 miles and
brought us through 10 states. So, this
summer, if you see a mud-stained hairy
person with an oversized backpack
strapped on, have mercy and give em
a ride.
My dear mother would often make
the trek from our home in Greenwich
to act as a trail mom or trail angel
for those who needed a pick-me-up,
sometimes quite literally. Trail angels
sometimes leave cases of ice-covered
soda, apples and watermelon on the
trail for hungry hikers. A kind few even
offer hikers rides in and out of town
to restock their calories, get a shower
or charge their phones. If you decide
to take this habit up, my mom would
likely recommend rolling your windows
down rst.
The trail is speckled with unraveling
ddleheads, burbling streams and white
blazes on the trees to guide wayward
hikers to the next town.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
Montgomery
County
Get off the
Thruway, hit the
back roads to
discover history,
concerts, outdoor
activities
Old Fort Johnson is one of many historic sites to see in Montgomery County.
BY KAREN BJORNLAND
Gazette Reporter
You can take the Thruway to Mont-
gomery County, but to really see this
scenic, history-laden region, hop off the
highway and roam about on its two-lane
roads.
Start your summer day trip on Route
5 or Route 5S along the Mohawk River,
a silvery ribbon that slices through the
county with miles of
unspoiled shoreline
that looks much like it
did a century ago.
This is the heart of
the Mohawk Valley,
and at every turn, there
are scenic vistas of roll-
ing hills, farmland and
old churches.
Montgomery County
is home to two muse-
ums, a major bike path
and 36 historic sites.
More than 100
homes and build- Circus Circus is the summer boating in the area, you
ings are listed on the exhibit at the Arkell Museum
National Register of in Canajoharie.
Historic Places.
Our historic sites range from Colo-
nial and Revolutionary War time to the
Erie Canal, says Gina DaBiere-Gibbs,
director of tourism for the Fulton-Mont-
gomery Regional Chamber of Com-
merce.
The village of Canajoharie is popular
day-trip destination.
Canajoharie is our best little town
for parking and walking, says DaBiere-
Gibbs. You could spend the day and do
a little antique shopping, lunch, go to the
Arkell Museum. You could go down to
the riverfront.
For information about Montgomery
County, go to visitmontgomery.org.
You can also visit the Riverfront
Center in Amsterdam (725-0641) or the
Regional Visitors Center in Canajoharie
at 89 Church St. (993-5506).
Here are 10 things to do this summer in FONDA FAIR
Montgomery County:
BASEBALL
The Amsterdam Mohawks take on the
Albany Dutchmen, Utica Blue Sox, Glens
Falls Dragons and other teams in the
Perfect Game Collegiate Baseball League
at Shuttleworth Park, 85 Crescent Ave.,
Amsterdam.
Boaters can dock at Riverlink Park in Amsterdam, where concerts are held throughout
the summer.
SUMMER DAY TRIPS
Its a fun, family atmosphere, says
DaBiere-Gibbs.
OUTDOOR CONCERTS
Bring your blankets and folding chairs
and listen to Latin, folk, country, rock and
pop music.
We have four concert series through-
out the summer. They are all free. They
are on four different days so you can do all
of them, DaBiere-Gibbs says.
They are in Amster-
dam, at Riverlink Park
(www.riverlinkconcerts.
com); Music on Main-
street in Canajoharie
(www.musiconmain-
streetcanjo.com); Fort
Plain, Willett Park
(villageoffortplain.com);
and the St. Johnsville
Marina. Two are located
on the water and the
other two are in our
MITCH WOJNAROWICZ parks not far from the
PHOTOGRAPHER
water. So if you were
could get to all of them.
Concerts are also
listed on the events cal-
endar at visitmontgomery.org.
MUSEUMS
The Arkell Museum (www.arkell.org)
in Canajoharie is known for its American
art collection, including 21 paintings by
Winslow Homer, and historical exhibits
about the history of the Mohawk River
Valley and the Beech-Nut babyfood
company.
This summers exhibit is Circus Cir-
cus, with circus-themed paintings and
advertisements from the 1920s and 1930s.
In Amsterdam, the Walter Elwood
Museum (www.walterelwoodmuseum.
org) features 25,000 artifacts collected
by Mr. Elwood, an educator who traveled
around the world before his death in the
1950s.
Fonda is the county seat and every
summer it hosts the fair on South Bridge
Street. This year its scheduled from Aug.
30 to Sept. 5. www.fondafair.com
BIKE PATH
The Erie Canalway Trail spans 360
miles, from Albany to Buffalo, but bicy-
clists of any age or aptitude can ride a
MITCH WOJNAROWICZ PHOTOGRAPHER
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C7
MITCH WOJNAROWICZ PHOTOGRAPHER
MITCH WOJNAROWICZ PHOTOGRAPHER
Amish buggies are a common sight along Route 5 in Montgomery County.
Amish are here, and so are their wares
Looking for products and produce made goods, furniture, vegetables, pickles and
and grown by Amish farmers? jams are sold.
Montgomery County is home to many You can also buy Amish goods at
Amish families who have migrated here Treasure Hill Orchard, 479 State Highway
from Pennsylvania, and if you travel on 162, in Sprakers. Treasure Hill, a farm, gift
Route 5, youre sure to see a horse-and- shop and market, has a Facebook page or
buggy clip-clopping along the road. call 231-7719.
For Amish goods, take rides through Amish farmers bring their crops to the
our country roads in the areas of Glen, Mohawk Valley Produce Auction, 840
Nelliston and Palatine and look for hand- Fordsbush Road, Fort Plain every Tuesday
painted signs, says Gina DaBiere-Gibbs, at 10 a.m.
director of tourism for Fulton and Mont- Anyone can go to the auction, says
gomery counties. DaBiere-Gibbs.
The signs, usually black letters on a New York state has the fastest-grow-
white background, advertise stands or ing Amish population in the country, with
farms where maple syrup, quilts, baked more than 12,000 as the latest estimate.
few miles away from the cars and noise.
Plan your trip with a map and informa-
tion at www.ptny.org.
FONDA SPEEDWAY
Car races on a half-mile dirt track,
www.fondaspeedway.com and Facebook.
OLD FORT JOHNSON
Old Fort Johnson is a two-story lime-
stone house built along the Mohawk
River in 1749.
A National Historic Landmark, it is
now a museum operated by the Mont-
gomery County Historical Society. www.
oldfortjohnson.org.
FARMERS MARKETS
There are three farmers markets: 10
a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the Walter
Elwood Museum parking lot, 100 Church
St.; 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday in Canajoha-
rie at the Arkell Museum parking lot; 10
a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and
Saturday in Fort Plain, 12 Willet Street.
ERIE CANAL HISTORY
Schoharie Crossing State Historic HALLDOR K. SIGURDSSON PHOTO
Site, also known as Erie Canal National At Schoharie Crossing, Erie Canalway bi-
Historic Landmark, is a historic district cyclists can stop for a rest and a history
in Fort Hunter that includes the ruins of lesson.
the Erie Canal aqueduct over Schoharie
Creek. On Route 5 in Fonda, youll nd the
Theres a visitor center with exhibits. Saint Kateri Tekawitha Shrine, the site
www.nysparks.com of the village where a young Mohawk
woman, now a Roman Catholic saint,
SHRINES lived most of her life.
The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs, Theres a small chapel and a path to
a Roman Catholic shrine on Route 5S the spring where she was baptized. www.
in Auriesville, honors the three Jesuit katerishrine.com
missionaries who were martyred at the
Mohawk Indian village of Ossernenon Reach Gazette reporter Karen Bjornland at
in 1642 and 1646. www.auriesvilleshrine. 395-3197, kbjornland@dailygazette.net or
com. on Twitter @bjorngazette.
C8 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Nature preserves
Schenectady County has options for a scenic summer hike
The Plotter Kill Preserve covers 632 acres along the Plotter Kill in the Rotterdam hills.
BY STEPHEN WILLIAMS
Gazette Reporter
Geographically, Schenectady County
may be the smallest county in New York
state, but it is huge in scenic places to take
a summer hike.
From the tip of Lawrence the Indians
nose, its only a 10- or 15-minute drive to
reach nature preserves where visitors can
put the paved world behind them for awhile,
amid tumbling waterfalls and deep ravines,
if thats your preference, or along quiet trout
brooks hidden in old-growth forest.
Whatever your preference, youll get
exposed to healthy sunlight, fresh air, bird
song, and exercise that is as high- or low-
impact as you care to make it. By all means,
go to the Adirondacks or Catskills for scenic
and natural places, but you dont have to.
Schenectady Countys nature preserves
there are big ones and small ones are
places of escape from civilization, whether
for a half-hour or a full day. Like classic
record albuns, they offer new rewards
with repeated visits.
Here are quick descriptions of the
best-known and most popular county
preserves:
THE PLOTTER KILL PRESERVE
The Almy Coggeshall Plotter Kill
Preserve is the crown jewel: It covers 632
acres along the Plotter Kill in the Rot-
terdam hills, as it drops hundreds of feet
down a hidden gorge from Rynex Corners
to the Mohawk River.
The name memorializes a General Elec-
tric researcher and wilderness advocate
who pushed for creation of the county-
owned preserve, which opened in 1977 and
has only become more popular year-by-
year. Its easy to see why.
The preserve runs along both sides of
a deep ravine cut through rock over the
The upper
falls at the
Plotter Kill
Preserve in
Rotterdam
drops 60 feet.
STEPHEN
WILLIAMS/
GAZETTE
REPORTER
SUMMER DAY TRIPS
The Indian Kill meanders through the Indian Kill Preserve in Glenville.
eons. Highlights include the 60-foot upper
falls and 40-foot lower falls, both located
near the Route 159 trailhead.
The preserves main trails follow the top
of the gorge, but side trails drop down into
through the ravine, a trip back through
geological time. Theres lots of exposed
slate and sandstone walls.
But fair warning: To say the preserve is
an easy walk would be wrong. The trails
are often steep, muddy and eroded, with
exposed tree roots to trip the unwary. But
leaving the trail carries real risks: A teen-
age girl fell to her death at the falls last
year, and others have been hurt.
Safety improvements are in the works,
but nothing will totally eliminate the risks.
Theres another 40-foot waterfall, the
preserves third, on Rynex Creek, partway
down the gorge that tumbles down the
side of the ravine into the Plotter Kill.
There are small waterfalls, as well.
During a recent visit, I saw squirrels,
chipmunks and a variety of birds. The
occasion distant train horn the primary
reminder of surrounding civilization.
Fully exploring the preserve could take
all day. Those making the commitment
should plan are bringing plenty of water
and snacks good advice, actually, for
any hike.
Theres also lower section of the
preserve on the Rotterdam Flats, but it
is temporarily closed due to tree damage
from a storm this spring.
Preserve entrances are found on state
Route 159 and Coplon Road.
THE INDIAN KILL PRESERVE
The Indian Kill Preserve, also owned
by Schenectady County, encompasses 100
acres along the Indian Kill in Glenville.
The starting point is a small unpaved
parking lot on Hetcheltown Road, near its
Maple Avenue intersection. Opposite the
countys solar installation, if you need a
further landmark.
From that point, hikers take wooden
steps built into the bank down into a small
valley where the stream is dammed. From
there, they can climb a hill that leads to
remoter sections of the stream. Upstream,
the Indian Kill is lled with pools and
rifes.
Theres enough remoteness upstream
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
STEPHEN WILLIAMS/GAZETTE REPORTER
that should you slide in the mud, there are
unlikely to be witnesses. I know this.
There are wooden steps built into most
of the steep sections of trail, to assist
hikers and prevent erosion. In the spring,
keep an eye peeled for wildowers along
the sides of the trails.
The small dam and foot bridge near the
preserve entrance are a popular shing
spot.
THE LISHA KILL PRESERVE
The Lisha Kill Preserve on Rosendale
Road in Niskayuna is owned by The
Nature Conservancy and open to the
public. The entrance is found just west of
Rosendales intersection with River Road.
The 108-acre property includes about a
mile of the Lisha Kill. Prominent features
include its valley and surrounding high
ground. Parts of the higher grounds are an
old-growth hemlock forest, one of the few
such forests to be found.
The old growth character makes for a
more open forest oor than is found in
most nature areas, because less sunlight
lters down to promote the undergrowth.
The property includes the Lisha Kills
conuence with the Fly Kill, and that is a
good place to look for ferns, wildowers
and other plants.
But those are just the Big Three pre-
serves.
Other notable places to hike, also
within a new minutes of General Electrics
glowing Erie Boulevard sign, include the
Hudson-Mohawk Bike-Hike Trail, which
follows the old Erie Canal Towpath, and
the Sanders Preserve, 350 acres of brushy
elds and forest in the hills of West Glen-
ville.
All the preserves in the county are
for day-use only, with camping and res
prohibited.
Reach Gazette reporter Stephen Williams
at 395-3086, swilliams@dailygazette.net or
@gazettesteve on Twitter.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER DAY TRIPS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C9

Get off the

beaten path in
nearby forests

PHOTOS BY BILL BUELL/GAZETTE REPORTER

The sun shines through deep forests in the town of Charleston Forest Preserve in Montgomery County.

BY BILL BUELL County Forest is the property of the

Gazette Reporter
If youre looking for some peace and
solitude, walking in the woods through
some of the Mohawk Valleys most remote
forests is an easy way to nd it. Especially
at 1,500 feet.
Theres no great aha moment, no
climatic reward like you get atop Vromans
Nose in Schoharie County or the Helder-
berg Escarpment in Albany County. But
when you explore the hiking trails of the
Schenectady County Forest Preserve in the
town of Duanesburg or the town of Charles-
ton State Forest in Montgomery County,
the rewards are just as satisfactory, if not as
dramatic, as anything the most scenic land-
scape in the Capital Region might offer.
According to Gary Fallesens 2000 book,
Peak Experiences: Hiking the Highest Sum-
mits in New York, County by County, the
Schenectady County Forest and the town of
Charleston State Forest each offer a quiet,
spiritual outdoor experience with some real
elevation. From downtown Schenectady to
the northwestern region of Duanesburg, a
traveller climbs more than 1,200 feet. Leave
the Schenectady County Forest and head
west out Lake Road for a quick 15-minute
trip to Charleston just across the Montgom-
ery County line and youre up another 100
feet or so. Theyre not the highest points in
their respective counties, but theyre real
close, and theyre on public land.
The Charleston State Forest is overseen
by the states Department of Environmen-
tal Conservation, while the Schenectady
county. Adjacent to the County Forest is
the Featherstonhaugh State Forest, which
is another DEC entity just off of Route 159
in Mariaville.
All three forests are within what the
DEC calls the Charleston Management
Unit. According to DEC literature, the
Charleston Unit is located at the conu-
ence of the northernmost portion of the
Catskill highlands, the easternmost portion
of the Central Alleghany plateau, and the
southern portion of the Mohawk Valley.
Were in between the Mohawk and Scho-
harie Valley, and the geology in my mind is
spectacular, said Lorraine Whiting, the town
of Charleston historian and a retired DEC
employee. If you strip away all the trees
youll see a lot of rocks, so while I think its
wonderful, youre not going to convince a lot
of farmers. My grandfather was a farmer, and
when you asked him what the best crop he
ever raised was, he would tell you, rock.
The drive alone to Duanesburg and then
through Braman Corners to Charleston A sign along Lake Road in Duanesburg signals to visitors that they have entered the
is something to enjoy, and youve barely Schenectady County Forest.
been on the road a half hour. That sense of
feeling off the beaten path is unmistakable, popping up just before World War II after The DEC estimates that up to 91 percent
but dont suggest to Whiting she lives in a the New York legislature passed the State of the woodlands in New York were
remote area. Reforestation Law of 1929 and the Hewitt cleared for cultivation and forage fol-
You might think it is, but it isnt really,
Amendment of 1931. Those two actions lowing European settlement. The trees,
she said. Were close to the Thruway,
authorized the Conservation Department however, have made a comeback. Today
were close to I-88. From where I live Im
only 18 to 20 miles from Albany. So were to acquire land by gift or purchase for re- there are over 750,000 acres of protected
a country town, but I dont feel like were forestation purposes. In 1933, the Civilian state forest throughout New York. Along
a remote town. All the goods and services Conservation Corps put thousands of men with the typical outdoor activities avail-
you could imagine are not at all far away. to work planting millions of trees in these able to people, the forests are also a source
Land designated as state forests began newly-acquired state lands. of timber for rewood and construction.

In Duanesburg, the highest point in the county

BY BILL BUELL
Gazette Reporter
When she was a young girl grow-
ing up in the western hinterland of
Schenectady County, Shirley Clark
would always wonder why some-
one would want to steal a geodetic
marker.
People seemed to think they
could come to our farm and start
digging things up, said Clark, who
grew up on Herrick Road in the
town of Duanesburg, precisely
where the National Geodetic Sur-
vey had determined was the high
point in Schenectady County, 1,456
feet above sea level. Its not easy
to do. There were a few markers
on our place. My brother saw a guy
once working hard to get one out of
the ground. I dont know what they
wanted to do with it.
While Clark and her husband
now live in Schenectady, most of
the land continues to be owned by
members of her family. She was a
Hawes, and six generations of that
family have lived there, including
Karen Hawes, Clarks sister-in-law.
The high point in Schenectady
County thing has always been part
of the family conversation.
I think it was a real source of
pride with my husbands fam-
ily, said Hawes, who grew up in
Voorheesville, married Raymond
Hawes, now deceased, and taught
The Hawes family still has the
original deed for the rights to its
land, signed by James Duane, who
founded the town of Duanesburg
in 1767.
at Duanesburg for 11 years before
becoming a stay-at-home mom and
starting a family business with her
husband. I moved here with Ray
in 1974 and we would often get visi-
tors. We came back from vacation
once and somebody had stolen a
marker that had been embedded in
rock in the ground. It had to be real
hard work to get it out of there.
The exact location of the marker
indicating the high point in the
county is hidden in a bush in the
woods a few hundred feet in back
of the Hawes home. The family still
occasionally gets visitors interested
in taking a look, but two golden re-
trievers, who typically chase away
the coyotes, also discourage any
other unwelcome visitors.
The Hawes property was origi-
nally rented by William Hiscock
from James Duane, the man who
founded the town of Duanesburg in
1767. Clark thinks there was another
farmer after Hiscock, and then her
clan took over sometime early in the
19th century. It is one of the original
100-acre lots sold off by Duane,
who at time held the rights to as
many as 40,000 acres in the town.
In the Hawes family possession is
the original deed signed by Duane,
giving Hiscock the rights to farm the
land and build a home there.
Duane lived from 1732-1797,
passing away in Schenectady long
before the demise of the patroon
system, which allowed a few
wealthy individuals such as James
Livington, Stephen Van Rensselaer
and Duane to control large tracts of
property and rent the land to tenant
farmers.
They got the property for the
rst ve years for nothing, so
it gave people with nothing the
ability to bootstrap their way to
something, said David Vincent, a
resident of Duanesburg who has High points
researched the Duane family ex-
Schenectady
tensively and lives in what was the
County: Herrick Road,
North Mansion, owned by Duanes
Duanesburg, 1,456
son-in-law, William North. Then, feet.
the cost was minimal. Its not like
Montgomery County:
the wealthy individual was taking
Quinn Road, Minden,
advantage of the farmer. At that
1,640 feet.
time, people seemed very willing to
Albany County:
enter into that kind of relationship.
Pine Hill Road,
The Hawes 100-acre lot was ac- Rensselaerville,
tually broken up in the legal sense 2,160 feet.
when Clarks brother gave her and
Fulton County:
her husband a small plot of land to
Pigeon Mountain,
build their own home in 1973.
Caroga Lake, 2,780.
We got 6.73 acres through an
Rensselaer County:
agreement with my brother, and
Berlin Mountain,
he got the rest of the 93 acres, said Berlin, 2,818.
Clark. We built our home down by
Saratoga County:
the pond because its a little more
Tenant Mountain,
sheltered there.
Harrisburg, 2,777 feet.
Checking the weather was always
Schoharie County:
a part of the family routine.
Hunterseld
It was always 10 degrees colder
Mountain, Prattsville,
on top of the hill then it was at the 3,423 feet.
Albany Airport, said Hawes. We
Washington County:
had the weather instruments, and
Black Mountain,
we had wind gusts hit 70 miles an
Whitehall, 2,646.
hour. There hasnt been that much
snow this year, but usually it stays
for quite a while. Thered be no
snow right down the road in Bra-
man Corners, and up at the house
wed still have snow.
Reach Gazette reporter Bill Buell at
395-3190 or bbuell@dailygazette.
com.
C10 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
The
Berkshires
World-class music, theater, art
await Western Mass. visitors
Andris Nelsons conducts cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the Philadelphia Orchestra last August at Tanglewood.
BY CAROLINE LEE
For The Daily Gazette
With so much to do, the Berkshires can
keep you busy all summer. But you can
tailor a visit to your tastes and make a very
satisfying trip in one day.
A concert at Tanglewood Music Center
in Lenox, summer home of the Boston
Symphony Orchestra, or a play at the
Williamstown Theatre Festival are each a
worth a trip on their own.
Dolly Parton makes her Tanglewood
debut as the season opener. Brian Wilson
will perform a 50th anniversary tribute to
the Beach Boys album Pet Sounds, and
Garrison Keillor, the Boston Pops Orches-
tra, James Taylor and Jackson Browne all
return this season.
One caveat: Trafc can back up all the
way into Lenox, so leave yourself plenty of
extra time to get there. Ive sat in my car
listening to the start of A Prairie Home
Companion on the radio even though we
got there early.
The Tony Award-winning William-
stown Theatre Festival offers big-city
theater on the Williams College campus
each summer with a mix of classic plays
and new works on two stages. Ive seen
such top talent as Audra McDonald, Chita
Rivera, Sigourney Weaver and Gwyneth
Paltrow, all without traveling to New York
City and at reasonable prices.
Im delighted that Marisa Tomei is back,
Gateway to Vermont
more than just history
BY BILL BUELL
Gazette Reporter
Covered bridges and history arent all
Bennington has to offer, but it is impossible
to visit the Green Mountain State without
hearing plenty of stories about its rich past.
People come to Vermont for covered
bridges, and we have a lot of them in our
area, said Matt Harrington, director of the
Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce.
But history is very big here, and obvious-
ly that means the Bennington Monument
and then the Bennington Museum. History
is very important to us, but I think were
also seeing growth in our arts and culture
district. There are a lot of different things
you can do and see in Bennington.
The Bennington Monument, the top
attraction in the town, commemorates the
Battle of Bennington in August of 1777. A
key victory for the colonists, the con-
frontation also produced one of the more
memorable quotes in American Revo-
lutionary War history when John Stark
told his New Hampshire militia, There
are your enemies, the Red Coats and the
Tories. They are ours, or this night Molly
Stark sleeps a widow.
Maybe its not quite up there with Give
Me Liberty or Give Me Death, and Dont
Fire Until You See the White of Their
Eyes, but it was still quite compelling.
The monument, built in 1887 to mark
the 100th anniversary of the battle, is a
306-foot obelisk with a stairway and eleva-
tor to the top offering great views of the
area, including a panoramic view of the
SUMMER DAY TRIPS
PHOTO PROVIDED
Norman Rockwells 1961 painting, The
Connoisseur, at the Norman Rockwell
museum in Stockbridge.
starring in Tennessee Williams The
Rose Tattoo on the main stage June 28 to
July 17. Two shows Ive seen at the more
experimental and intimate Nicos Stage
have gone to Off-Broadway, and this sum-
mer it hosts three world premieres and an
American premiere.
Would you like a day of art? You can
get a $30 pass to the Clark Art Institute
and the Williams College Art Gallery in
Williamstown, and Mass MoCA in North
Berkshire Mountains in Massachusetts,
the Taconic Mountains in New York and
the Green Mountains in Vermont. It is a
popular attraction throughout the year,
particularly in September and October
when the fall foliage is at its peak.
A small visitor center and gift shop are
also at the site, only a few hundred yards
from the Bennington Museum where visi-
tors get plenty of more history and some
wonderful art to look at. Most notably is
the permanent and extensive Grandma
Moses collection, as well as Clyde du
Vernet Hunt Frederics statue of Abraham
Lincoln just outside the main entrance.
On tap this summer at the museum is a
new exhibition of paintings by Grandma
Moses, including a selection from The
Night Before Christmas series, while
beginning July 2 there will be an exhibit
presenting the works of Milton Avery, one
of the great American modernist painters
who created much of his art while vaca-
tioning in southern Vermont during the
late 1930s and early 1940s. Avery, a native
of Oswego County in central New York,
was known for both his commitment to
the abstract qualities of art as well as im-
ages drawn from his daily encounters with
people and places in southern Vermont.
When those two stops are out of the
way, the Bennington Center for the Arts
is another ne attraction, boasting its own
large collection of paintings as well as the
Vermont Covered Bridge Museum. In
North Bennington, the Park-McCullough
House is another must-see location, of-
Adams. Theres even a shuttle bus to take
you between them.
This summer, the Clark offers an exclu-
sive exhibition of Old Master paintings
called Splendor, Myth, and Vision: Nudes
from the Museo Nacional del Prado in Ma-
drid, including 24 that have never been
shown in the U.S.
The Williams College Museum of
Art has a small but robust permanent
collection and several ongoing exhibi-
tions, including a history of activism and
resistance in African art-making called
African Art Against The State.
Mass MoCA, a contemporary art mu-
seum in a complex of 19th-century mill
buildings, is for my money on par with
Tate Modern in London, if not in depth of
exhibits, at least in spirit and square foot-
age. Explode Every Day: An Inquiry Into
The Phenomenon Of Wonder features
existing and new works by 23 international
artists, all touching on facets of wonder.
Its on my list.
Do those in any order you like, and Id
lunch at the Purple Pub on Spring Street.
Another day trip might start with a
visit to the Norman Rockwell museum in
Stockbridge, with its engaging permanent
exhibit of Saturday Evening Post cov-
ers and one starting in June contrasting
Rockwells realistic style with then-popu-
lar Abstraction featuring Rockwells 1961
painting, The Connoisseur. You can see
The Bennington Monument is
easily the towns top attraction,
but its arts and culture district
has seen growth in recent years.
fering intriguing insight into 19th century
elegance, or at least how it might have
looked in Vermont at the home of Trenor
W. Park (18231882).
For professional theater, Bennington
can offer up top-quality shows produced
by Oldcastle Theatre Company at 331
Main St.
We also have a community theater,
we have a lot of mom and pop shops and
galleries, and were close to Cambridge
and its theater community and the Clark
[Art Institute] in Williamstown [Massa-
chusetts], said Harrington. We also have
arts and crafts festivals, and in August
were having a Brew Festival in which
40 home-grown beers will be competing
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
HILARY SCOTT PHOTO
the whole museum in just a few hours.
Stop at The Red Lion Inn and have
lunch in one of its three restaurants or
outside in The Courtyard, with its cheer-
ful red umbrellas, then stroll down Main
Street.
If its a nice day, head to nearby Berk-
shire Botanical Gardens, one of the oldest
in the U.S., and at 15 acres, doable in an
hour or two, depending on how much you
like gardening.
There are two house museums in
Stockbridge, Naumkeag, a 44-room Stan-
ford White-designed country house and
extensive gardens on the U.S. Register
of Historic Places and a well-preserved
example of a Gilded Age country estate.
Chesterwood, a National Trust Historic
Site, is the country home, studio and gar-
dens of sculptor Daniel Chester French,
best known for his Lincoln sculpture in
Washington, D.C.
Ive only scratched the surface here.
Edith Whartons home in Lenox, The
Mount, is a study in symmetry with terric
gardens. I havent been to the Berkshire
Museum of art, history and natural science
in Pittseld, but its triceratops out front
beckons.
Check out the ofcial Berkshires of
Western Massachusetts travel and vaca-
tion resource at berkshires.org and start to
plan your day.
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
against each other.
In September, Bennington will host its
own Garlic and Herb Festival, which Har-
rington said attracted 15,000 people last
year. In October, the Lions Club sponsors
an October Fest.
Everything seems to be growing each
year, said Harrington. Thats great to
see, and while we have a lot to offer, we
also like to think of Bennington as the
gateway to Vermont for people coming
from the Capital Region and Massachu-
setts. All those day-trippers stop in our
town on their way into the state.
Reach Gazette reporter Bill Buell at 395-
3190 or bbuell@dailygazette.com.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM SUMMER DAY TRIPS THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 C11

Howe Caverns

After all these years,

journey deep underground
is still as fun as ever
ERICA MILLER/GAZETTE PHOTOGRAPHER

BY ZACHARY MATSON
Gazette Reporter
Each morning at work, Sparky Spauld-
ing makes his way 15 stories underground
and speed-walks the length of Howe
Caverns, checking to make sure the ap-
proximately 600 lights are working and
everything is in place for the hundreds of
students and other visitors on their way.
Im in and out in 15 minutes, he said of
his early morning rounds.
Sparky whose given name is Mark
oversees the maintenance and guide
forces at Howe Caverns. He has worked at
the Schoharie County cave attraction for
more than 30 years, not the long in life of a
geological phenomenon.
I still love the cave, there is no doubt
about it, he said. Even after 33 years, I go
down there and nd something new.
During a recent tour, Sparky pointed out
dozens of unique formations: stalactites
that hang from the ceiling like hang-
ing mice, headless turkeys and so many
ngers piercing the limestone ceiling; and
stalagmites that build from the ground
up a massive turtle in the creek bed, a
series of pipe organs that amplify hums
and whistles from across the cave.
Sparky is just the most recent in many
generations of cave stewards that have
walked, climbed, waded, slid and crawled
through parts of the miles-long hole in the
ground, a hole etched by millions of years
slowly dripping waters, rushing streams,
falling rocks and massive glaciers.
Natural forces carved the underground
masterpiece just over 150 feet beneath the
surface as humans rst landed in what
is now upstate New York, as Americans
settled the Eastern seaboard, as farmers
turned the region into the breadbasket of
the Revolutionary War.
Native Americans knew of the cave
rumored to be a blowing rock and
a white man in the 1770s reportedly
stowed away in the caves entrance to hide
from attackers. But not until a curious
dairy farmer stumbled across his cows
favorite spot to cool off would the cave be
introduced to the world.
At the start of each tour, visitors are
greeted by a lifelike animatronic Lester
Howe, the farmer who discovered the
cave in 1842 and eventually opened it up
for tours after buying it from his neighbor
for a cool 100 dollars cash.
Twas the blowing rock for sure. I
peered in and saw how deep the opening
was it was 100 feet if it was anything,
the Howes voice says. This was no
ordinary place, it was something truly
amazing. I was purely smitten.
Visitors are promised a journey youll
never forget and a boat ride.
Yes! a kid standing in the back of a
group said at the mention of the boat ride.
Howes tours lasted as long as 10 hours
as 19th century adventurers traversed the
length of the mile-long cave. Modern tours
cover about one-third the distance, by
torchlight.
Todays tours are largely geared to
students aiming for a day out of the class-
room and cool-down in the early sum-
mostly high school and college students,
and 200 people total during the peak sum-
mer season.
Many visitors come back as parents and
as grandparents.
We expect to see you three times
once as a student, once as a parent and
again as a grandparent, Sparky said.
The traditional tour is a mile-and-a-
quarter stroll through the cave, down the
same path constructed in the late-1920s
when the cave reopened for tourists. A
stream runs beneath and beside the raised
walkway before the path comes down
toward water level.
But the caverns offer longer adventures
as well. An extended tour lets young spe-
lunkers crawl on hands and knees through
a narrow passage. A new tour takes more
serious adventurers past the dam at the
end of the lake and into an undeveloped
cave, where they wade through shallow
streams guided only by headlamp.
At the cave, the outdoors offers fun too.
Howe High Adventure sports a zipline,
climbing wall, a water ball-slide course and
more. The four-tower zipline, with runs
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
of 150 feet, 250 feet, 200 feet and 300 feet,
A ropes course and other attractions are
encircles a 28-element ropes course and
now part of the fun at Howe Caverns.
climbing wall with eight different climbs.
Its not extreme by any means; its per-
mer months. In May and June, as school
fect for rst-timers, Sparky said.
winds to an end, as many as 600 students
come through the cave a day. Students But its the cave that keeps bringing
them back.
from New York City and Connecticut, the
Southern Tier and the Capital Region all Reach Gazette reporter Zachary Matson
make the pilgrimage to Howes cave. at 395-3120, zmatson@dailygazette.net or
The cave employs around 40 guides, @zacharydmatson on Twitter.

Vt. forest Places to stop on your way

offers hiking,
cabins and
a friendly cat
BY INDIANA NASH
Gazette Reporter
Merck Forest and Farmland Center
is a site for sustainable forestry
management education programs
and a perfect spot for a quiet walk in
the woods just off Vermont Route
315 in Rupert. Merck offers 36 miles
of wooded trails for hikers, runners,
cross-country skiers and even horse-
back riders to explore. Trailblazers
who wish to stay overnight can rent
out one of Mercks many cabins.
To test out the trails of Merck Forest,
my friend and colleague Cady Kuzmich
and I spent an early-May day hiking
what seemed like every inch of the for-
est. On the way back to The Daily Ga-
zette ofce in Schenectady, we stopped
in Salem, N.Y., about 15 minutes away,
where we revisited well-loved restau-
rants and discovered a few new gems
unique to the border town.
When the day began, the tempera-
ture was a cool 45 degrees. I threw on
pants and a sweatshirt even though I
knew the forecast was for a high of 75.
Its always better to be overdressed
than under, right?
Getting to the parking lot of Merck
was a bit like being in a video game.
The road is the width of your typical
New York City one-way, but supposed-
ly accommodates two vehicles at once.
I spent most of the drive up crossing
my ngers in the hopes that another car
wouldnt pop over the approaching hill.
After parking, we made sure to give
A scene from a walk around Merck Forest in Rupert, Vermont.
the map a quick perusal and spend
a bit of time with the tabby cat that
greeted us.
We began our hike passing through
farmland and cutting into the woods
by the Discovery Trail. We quickly
popped off the trail to have a look at
some of the cabins available for rent.
The cabins front wall of large
windows juts out at an obtuse angle
that makes you feel like youre stand-
ing over a small cliff ledge. There are
a variety of bunks in each one, with
wood stoves, tables and decades-old
names carved into the wood.
Around the cabins, there are places
where it looks like guests had gath-
ered for campres, but everything is
clean and even a trip to the outhouse
doesnt derail that sense.
For the rest of the day, we mean-
dered through the Discovery Trail,
the Wildlife Trail, and some other
trails that Im not quite sure are
actually meant to be trails. Kuzmich at
one point quoted Robert Frost saying,
Take the road less travelled, right?
Despite my initial doubt, the path
took us right to the top of this steep
hill where we could overlook a stream
CADY KUZMICH/GAZETTE REPORTER
and a few small waterfalls.
From there, we soon found our way
back to the Discovery Trail (although
we had to turn around a few times to
keep on the path). After about three
hours of hiking, the trail dumped us
out right where we began.
The hike wasnt as strenuous as a
high peak the majority of trails we
walked were relatively easy. No mat-
ter what your physical tness level
may be, my advice for this hike is to
bring a map and dress for the after-
noon weather, not the morning chill.
After coming out of the woods, we
made our way to the visitors center
where we found an air conditioned
oversized cabin, a very friendly sheep
dog, and our tabby cat friend.
There were also maps and locally
made sodas, maple syrup and candy.
Although they were all tempting, the
sheepdog held more sway over my
attention as he shyly nudged me to
play fetch.
But Kuzmich and I had other ad-
ventures to go on. After a few minutes
of entertaining Mercks sheep dog and
being entertained by him, we headed
back towards the Empire State.
to, or from, Merck Forest
1. Steiningers: A quiet
spot in Salem, perfect for
sandwiches on flaky crois-
sants, creamy soups and deca-
dent desserts.
Steiningers is famous for
the chocolate made on site,
which they use to make hay-
stacks, bark and other choco-
late treats. Though fairly af-
fordable, a trip to Steiningers
is often reserved for special
occasions in our family. A
meal there could make even
the most ordinary day feel
quite special. Call early to
make a reservation at 854-3830.
Those interested in learning
more about the restaurants
offerings and history can visit
www.steinengers.com.
2. The Historic Salem
Courthouse: You cant miss
the courthouse on your way
through Salem to Rupert, es-
pecially since there are larg-
er-than-life, brightly colored
sculptures out front. If you
wander around the building,
youll come across a commu-
nity garden. Youll also see
The Battenkill Kitchen, an
educational facility for grow-
ing food businesses and a
community thrift shop called
the Shoppe off Broadway. You
can learn more about the his-
toric courthouse by calling
854-7053 or by visiting www.
salemcourthouse.org
3. Tim Shea Jewelry: Just a
short walk from the courthouse,
youll nd a sign for Tim Shea
Jewelry. Shea has been work-
ing out of his Victorian home
in Salem, crafting ne jewelry
from sterling silver and gold,
for over 20 years.
Shea can make just about
anything out of silver whether
its a seagull, a snowshoe, a
hedgehog, knots, snowakes
or a moose. According to his
website hes open to working
with clients on custom de-
signs as well. To schedule an
appointment with Shea, call
854-3237 or visit his website,
www.timsheajewelry.com.
4. Faerydale: A consign-
ment shop in Salem on the main
drag, close to Steiningers.
Along with your typical
consignment shop stock,
Faerydale features goods re-
lating to, you guessed it, fair-
ies and other mystical things.
Faerydale offers a broader
range and bigger inventory
than the other thrift shop in
town by the courthouse. Learn
more about Faerydale at www.
sweetpeafairymail.wix.com or
by calling 683-5027.
Signs in
Salem, New
York, on
the way to
Merck Forest
in Rupert,
Vermont.
C12 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER DAY TRIPS WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

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WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 D1

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SPAC
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D2 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
The Saratoga Performing Arts Center celebrates its golden anniversary this season. It all begins on June 11 with country music band the Dixie Chicks.
Lookin
good at 50 On golden anniversary, SPAC
still our summer place for the arts
BY WENDY LIBERATORE
For the Daily Gazette
SARATOGA SPRINGS Fifty
years ago, New York City Ballets
glittering A Midsummer Nights
Dream parted Saratoga Perform-
ing Arts Centers curtain for the
rst time.
Its audience could not have an-
ticipated that it was sitting in what
would become one of the nations
most beloved outdoor amphithe-
aters for music and dance.
Today, SPAC, as it is known,
attracts more than 300,000 each
summer to its 5,200-seat auditori-
um and sloping lawn. And for good
reason. The music is incredibly
varied and satises the tastes of the
most discriminating listeners. Lov-
ers of jazz can delve into two full
days of music on two stages at the
Freihofers Saratoga Jazz Festival.
Classical music fans quench their
thirst for symphonies and concerti
Saratoga Performing
Arts Center
108 Avenue of the Pines,
Saratoga Springs
584-9330, www.spac.org
Box ofce: 584-9330
with the Philadelphia Orchestra
and the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center. And then there
are the rock, rap, country and pop
concerts that often draw capacity
crowds.
And, a SPAC season is incom-
plete without the ballet. Like the
Philadelphia Orchestra, New York
City Ballet has called SPAC its
summer home since the outdoor
theater opened in 1966. During
its tenure, the company has and
continues to unfurl ballets of the
highest caliber, performed by
some of the worlds most talented
dancers.
Add to that the special events
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
like the annual Rock and Run and
the Wine and Food Festival, and
one can push through a SPAC turn-
stile nearly every night for a taste
of something different.
This year will be special, how-
ever, as SPAC will be celebrating
its golden anniversary. As part of
the festivities, the center will honor
its history and renew its commit-
ment to sustaining its vitality for
future generations.
At the start of every season, PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
we seek to present vibrant and The New York City Ballet, like the Philadelphia Orchestra (below),
diverse programs that we hope will has called SPAC its summer home since the outdoor theater opened
in 1966.
energize and enrich the commu-
nity, said Marcia White, president
and executive director of SPAC.
But because this is our 50th year,
we wanted to create a season that
reects our past and also looks to
our future with new innovative
programs. So its a mix of tried and
true with bold and new.
See SPAC, page D3
SPAC welcomes perennial favorite Dave Matthews Band back
July 15-16. The group asked to return for two nights, as its the
bands favorite venue.
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
Phish returns to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center for three shows this summer, July 1-3.
SPAC
Continued from page D2
It all begins on June 11 with the
Dixie Chicks, the diamond divas
of country music, and ends with
singer and songwriter extraordi-
naire Bryan Adams on Sept. 11. In
between, the SPAC stage will be
swept up with a slew of returning
acts and classical artists, part of
SPACs design to defer to the heart
of its history.
Of course to truly honor its past,
SPAC must return to its earliest
days when its resident companies
New York City Ballet and the
Philadelphia Orchestra were the
sole performers on its stage. Not
only was it their summer home,
but their artistic directors had a
hand in building the theater and its
reputation.
George Balanchine, co-founder
and artistic genius of New York
City Ballet, and Eugene Ormandy,
conductor of the Philadelphia Or-
chestra, designed the theaters ex-
ceptional acoustics, its broad sight
lines and its pliable sprung-oor.
And before the June calendar
dates were lled with rock, jazz
and modern dance, the season
always opened in July with New
York City Ballet. Appropriately, the
ballet company will return this July
with its A Midsummer Nights
Dream, the rst ballet ever seen
at SPAC and indisputably the most
tting one for its bucolic setting.
In truth, every Balanchine ballet
notes SPACs early days. Others
that will return to this summers
repertory include Serenade,
Concerto Barocco and Jewels,
always favorites with SPAC audi-
ences.
The Chamber Music Society of
Jazz lovers can enjoy two full days of music on two stages at the Freihofers Saratoga Jazz Festival,
June 25-26. Here, the lawn is full for last years festival.
Lincoln Center, a series of six con-
certs, will pay homage to SPACs
premier performance by playing
Mendelssohns overture from A
Midsummer Nights Dream.
Other inaugural performances will
be recreated too. The rst ever
Philadelphia Orchestra concert
featured Beethovens Ninth Sym-
phony, which will be played again
this season. Classical superstars,
who have relished SPACs appre-
ciative audiences, will also return.
They include pianist Andre Watts
and violinists Joshua Bell and
Sarah Chang, the latter who was a
mere child when she rst played at
SPAC.
We feel Sarah Chang grew up
here, said White.
Of course, there will also be
the orchestras closing concert,
Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture,
which is an annual SPAC/sym-
phony extravaganza that ends with
a thundering reworks display.
The jazz festival will also go back
to its rst run with an appearance
this season by Chick Corea. The
keyboard virtuoso performed at
the rst festival in 1978. This years
arrival with Trilogy will make his
ninth.
The biggest show in SPACs
history was the Grateful Deads
1985 concert, attracting more than
40,000 people. Nightmarish trafc
and complaints from residents who
endured a long night of partying
fans prompted SPAC to cap its con-
certs at 25,000. That wild night too
will be remembered during SPACs
golden anniversary, with Dead and
Company, which includes Mickey
Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, John Mayer,
Bob Weir with Oteil Burbridge and
Jeff Chimenti.
White is also happy to welcome
back Dave Matthews Band, which
asked to return for two nights as
its the bands favorite venue. Other
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT
SPACs annual Rock and Run offers a 5K, 10K and kids 1K through the Saratoga Spa State Park as local
bands provide entertainment.
highlights include three shows by
Phish and an evening with Journey,
which White pushed for because
the band wrote its hit Faithfully
backstage in a rehearsal room at
SPAC.
White also pointed to all the new
acts, ballets and compositions that
will have their rst airings at SPAC.
Mumford & Sons concert is among
them, selling out in minutes of the
release of its tickets.
Also new will be a world pre-
miere by New York City Ballets
resident choreographer, Justin
Peck, who will unveil his Scher-
zo, a piece inspired by Stravin- plays selections from the dramatic
skys Scherzo fantastique, at the
ballet Gala. That same evening
will also showcase new works by
ERICA MILLER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 D3
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
ERICA MILLER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Robert Binet, Troy Schumacher,
Myles Thatcher and Christopher
Wheeldon.
Twyla Tharp Dance also will
present a world premiere, a work
Tharp is developing during her
six-week residency in the Capital
Region. It is set to Beethovens
Opus 130.
Yet another world premiere
by composer Michael Torke will
be brought to life at SPAC. On
the same Philadelphia Orchestra
program, New York City Ballet
members will perform excerpts
from Swan Lake as the orchestra
Our 50th
anniversary is a
Tchaikovsky score.
The orchestra will also present
milestone. It is the
a Thursday matinee, an unusual if best time to reect
not singular gesture, showcasing
Stravinskys The Firebird with
on our history. There
puppets designed by the same cre- were obstacles, but
ative geniuses behind Broadways
War Horse. Singer Renee Flem-
our founders had
ing will also make her SPAC debut a vision and they
this summer, performing music
from Tchaikovsky and Verdi.
never gave up. They
The Chamber Music Society will created the magic
also bring something new its
rendering of Aaron Coplands
of SPAC and its
iconic Appalachian Spring. stronger than ever.
Lastly, SPAC will honor some of
its visionaries with new stars on its MARCIA WHITE
Walk of Fame. Sidewalk stars will President, executive
be laid down for Balanchine, Corea director of SPAC
and Ormandy as well as New York
City Ballets co-founder Lincoln
Kirstein; Gov. Nelson Rockefeller,
who played a vital role in the -
nancing and creation of SPAC; and
the late Ed Lewi, a marketing man
who is credited for making SPAC
and Saratoga Springs the tourist
destination it is today.
Our 50th anniversary is a
milestone, said White. It is the
best time to reect on our his-
tory. There were obstacles, but
our founders had a vision and they
never gave up. They created the
magic of SPAC and its stronger
than ever.
D4 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Music lls our summer nights
and much of it is free!
Theres no time of the year bet-
ter than summer for enjoying live
music. From sidewalk buskers to
special event festivals, music is as
much a part of summer as sunshine.
And much of it is free.
Heres an abbreviated calendar
of some of the bigger free shows in
the region.
FREEDOM PARK
In Scotia, the Freedom Park con-
cert series is a much-loved and well-
attended concert series held on the
Mohawk River shore.
All shows begin at 7 p.m., except for
the July 1 show, which starts at 8 p.m.
and will be followed by reworks.
For information visit www.Freedom-
ParkScotia.com.
Wednesday, June 22: SIRSY, alt
rock
Saturday, June 25: Stockade Kids,
fusion rock
Sunday, June 26: The Zucchini
Brothers, kids rock
Wednesday, June 29: Scotia-Glen-
ville Pipe Band, pipe & drum
Friday, July 1: Rattail Jimmy fea-
turing Alan Payette, rock, then Fire-
works at dark
Sunday, July 3: The Legendary
Characters
Wednesday, July 6: The Lustre
Kings, rockabilly
Saturday, July 9: Diva & the Dirty
Boys, 60s rock & blues
Sunday, July 10: Music Company
Orchestra, classical
Wednesday, July 13: Screaming
Orphans, Celtic rock/pop
Thursday, July 14: Scotia-Glen-
ville Community Band & Jazz Band
Saturday, July 16: Wheres Alex?,
classic rock
Sunday, July 17: Brian Patneaude
Quintet, jazz
Wednesday, July 20: The Joey
Thomas Big Band
Saturday, July 23: Triskele, tradi-
tional & modern Celtic/Irish
Sunday, July 24: Maria Z &
Alegria, amenco/classical
Wednesday, July 27: The Refrig-
erators, party rock
Thursday, July 28: Scotia-Glen-
ville Community Band & Jazz Band
Saturday, July 30: Moriah For-
mica, classic rock
Sunday, July 31: Hot Club of Sara-
toga, gypsy jazz/swing
Wednesday, Aug. 3: Grand Cen-
tral Station, party rock
Saturday, Aug. 6: Alex Torres &
His Latin Orchestra
Sunday, Aug. 7: The Wister Quar-
tet, classical
Wednesday, Aug. 10: Funk Evolu-
tion, party R&B
Saturday, Aug. 13: Betsy and the
ByeGons, 60s
Sunday, Aug. 14: The Route Fifty
5, brass quintet
Wednesday, Aug. 17: The Audio-
Stars, party rock
Saturday, Aug. 20: Up All Night,
rock Freedom Park Members
Sunday, Aug. 21: Mia Scirocco
Trio, new & old acoustic pop
Wednesday, Aug. 24: Skeeter
Creek, country
Saturday, Aug. 27: Black Mountain
Symphony, Motown/blues/jazz
ALIVE AT FIVE
In Albany, Alive at Five is a free
downtown music series that cre-
ates a festive, convivial atmosphere
during the summer months. This
years series will be on the block on
Broadway between Columbia and
Pine streets, a move necessitated by
a big construction project at its tra-
ditional home, the Corning Preserve.
For more information, call 434-2032,
www.albanyevents.org.
Heres this years schedule:
June 9: Dr. John & the Nite Trip-
pers, and Jocamo
June 16: The Joy Formidable, and
Good Fiction
June 23: Tony! Toni! Tone!, and
Tameka Amar
June 30: The Chronicles (Earth
Wind & Fire tribute), and Thump
Gospel (Michael Jackson tribute)
July 14: Enter the Haggis and Hair
of the Dog
July 21: Bloc Party, and Titanics
July 28: Locash, and Skeeter
Creek
Aug. 4: Molly Hatchet, and Tum-
bleweed Highway
FRIDAYS AT THE LAKE
4 p.m., Shepard Park, Lake George
www.fridaysatthelake.com
June 24: The Georgie Wonders
Orchestra, and Red Shift
Free outdoor concerts are part of the summer scene. Here, Tantric performs in Scotias Freedom Park last August.
The Lustre Kings bring their rockabilly sound to Scotias Freedom Park on July 6.
Tony! Toni! Tone! is at Albanys Alive at Five on June 23.
July 1: The New York Players, and
Rich Ortiz
July 8: The Audiostars, and the
Jonathan Newell Band
July 22: The Refrigerators, and
AfterFab (Beatles tribute)
July 29: Emerald City, and Tum-
bling Dice (Rolling Stones tribute)
Aug. 5: Grand Central Station,
and Meet the Mockers
Aug. 12: Spiritual Rez, and Rich
Ortiz
Aug. 26: The Funky Dawgz Brass
Band, and the Jonathan Newell Band
Sept. 2: Skeeter Creek, and Red
Shift
GUILDERLAND
CONCERT SERIES
Guilderland Performing Arts Cen-
ter
Guilderland
www.townofguilderland.org
June 17: Nervosity Concert (battle
of high school bands)
June 23, July 14, Aug. 4: Guilder-
land Town Band
June 30: Big Sky Country
July 21: Hey Jude (Beatles trib-
ute)
July 28: Bluz House Rockers
Aug. 11: New York Players
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT
PHOTO PROVIDED
MADE IN THE SHADE
OF THE EGG
Empire State Plaza
473-1845, www.theegg.org
June 1: The Debrulators
June 15: Upstate Rubdown
June 22: Erin Harpe & the Delta
Swingers
July 6: The Blind Spots
July 13: The Gather Rounders
July 27: Ten Strings and a Goat
Skin
Aug. 3: The Dustbowl Revival
Aug. 17: Heard
Aug. 31: Belas Bartok
MUSIC HAVEN SERIES
Music Haven Stage
Central Park
Schenectady
musichavenstage.org
July 10: Pape Diouf et La Gnra-
tion Consciente, and Umoja African
Dance & Drumming
July 17: Jerry Douglas presents
The Earls of Leicester, and Jim Gaud-
et & the Railroad Boys
July 24: Gary Nunez y Plena Libre
Aug. 7: DakhaBrakha, and Tavche
Gravche
Aug. 14: Dervish, and Matt &
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Shannon Heaton (season gala/fi-
nale)
RIVERLINK CONCERT SERIES
Riverlink Park
Amsterdam
www.riverlinkconcerts.com
July 2: The Revelers
July 9: Jocelyn & Chris Arndt
July 16: The Lustre Kings
July 23: Roomful of Blues
July 30: Caleb Klauder Country
Band
Aug. 6: Tumbleweed Highway
Aug. 13: Alex Torres & His Latin
Orchestra
Aug. 20: Mariachi Flor de To-
loache
Aug. 27: Robin & Linda Wil-
liams
ROCK THE BLOCK
Canal Square
Cohoes
www.cohoesldc.org
June 9: B-Street Band
June 16: The Refrigerators
June 23: Bronte Roman
June 30: E.B. Jeb
July 8: Back 40 Band
July 15: Switch Band
July 22: White Ford Bronco
July 29: Back Beat & Marc Mac-
ri
Aug. 5: All Paul Band
Aug. 12: Harmony Rocks
Aug. 19: River Junction Band
Aug. 26: Rymanowski Brothers
ROCKIN ON THE RIVER
Downtown Troy
270-4401, www.visittroy.org
June 15: Start Making Sense (Talk-
ing Heads tribute), and the Troy Mu-
sic Academy All-Stars
June 22: Skeeter Creek, and
Maryleigh Roohan
June 29: The So So Glos, and Stel-
lar Young
July 6: Almost Queen (Queen
tribute)
July 13: Eastbound Jesus, and the
North & South Dakotas
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
July 20: The Felice Brothers, and
the Parlor
July 27: Blues for Breakfast
Aug. 3: Caroline Rose, and Rabbit
in the Rye
UPBEAT ON THE ROOF
Tang Museum
Saratoga Springs
580-8080, www.skidmore.edu
July 1: Olivia Quillio
July 8: Dust Bowl Faeries
July 15: Decoda
July 22: Terry Gordon Quintet
July 29: Swap Baby
Aug. 5: Red Haired Strangers
Aug. 12: Hot Club of Saratoga
Aug. 19: Heavenly Echoes
Aug. 26: Random 33
WEDNESDAY NIGHT
CONCERT SERIES
Lake George
www.lakegeorgearts.org
July 6: Driftwood
July 13: Professor Louie & the
Crowmatix
July 20: The California Honey-
drops
Aug. 3: Dustbowl Revival
Aug. 10: The Galactic Cowboy
Orchestra featuring Lisi Wright
Aug. 17: The Alex Meixner
Band
Aug. 24: Mako with the Lake
George Music Festival Orchestra
Aug. 31: Koehler & Kelly
BALLSTON SPA
CONCERT SERIES
Wiswall Park
Ballston Spa
www.ballstonspa.org
June 23: Big Fez & the Surfmat-
ics
June 30 Ballston Spa Community
Band
July 7: The North & South Da-
kotas
July 14: The Road Kings
July 21: Deena Chappell & the
Crazy Sages
July 28: Emily Teller Music
Aug. 4: The Union Fire Co., and
No. 2 Marching Band
Aug. 11: Aged in the Hills
Aug. 18: Lucky Jukebox Brigade
Aug. 25: Sirsy
CAPITAL CONCERT SERIES
Empire State Plaza
June 15, 5 p.m., Jazz Night, Fea-
turing Rachelle Ferrell and Cyrus
Chestnut
June 29, 5 p.m., Legendary Sons
Night, featuring Shooter Jennings and
Devon Allman
July 6, 5 9 p.m., Reggae Night,
featuring Beres Hammond
July 13, 5 p.m., Classic Rock Night,
featuring Blood, Sweat and Tears fea-
turing Bo Bice & Dylan Elise
July 20, 5 p.m., Rhythm & Blues
Night, featuring Black Joe Lewis and
the Honeybears
SUMMER AT THE PLAZA
2016 FESTIVAL
July 4, 310 p.m.
New York State 4th of July Cel-
ebration starring the Boogie Wonder
Band.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
10
ways
night owls
enjoy the
Capital
Region in
summer
BY DAN FITZSIMMONS
Gazette Reporter
The Capital Region doesnt fold
up the sidewalks at 9 oclock and
call it a night. Theres plenty of
summertime fun to have after the
sun sets. Here are some of our
favorites.
Perseids Meteor Shower
(Aug. 12-13): From telescopes.
com: The Perseids Meteor Shower
is one of the main celestial events
of the summer. This year, skies
will be dark after the moon sets
around midnight, leaving the sky
ready for peak meteor viewing,
up to 60 per hour. This showers
timing is perfect for a summer
camping trip to your favorite dark
sky site. Heres to eating smores
by the campre and seeing smore
meteors overhead!
Cosmic bowling: Get over
to the East Greenbush Bowling
Center on any Friday or Saturday
night for a psychedelic round
of Cosmic Bowling from 11 p.m.
to 1:30 a.m. The night features a
live DJ who also plays the role of
emcee, and a light show for $15
per person. More information at
egbowl.com/cosmic-bowling.
Karaoke at J.T. Maxies: J.T.
Maxies Bar and Grill on Wolf
Road in Colonie features karaoke
every Tuesday through Satur-
day, but the weekend installment
of this late-night favorite goes
from 9 p.m. until 3 a.m., plenty of
time to see real talent as well as
a few would-be-Whitneys. More
information at www.jtmaxies.
com/home.aspx.
Play Manhunt: This is the
grown-up equivalent of hide-and-
seek. The game is simple: You and
a group of friends divide into two
teams, one team hides, the other
team counts to 100 and goes on
the hunt. The round is over when
all members of the hiding team
have been found. Manhunt is best
played at night, ideally in a park
that affords many hiding spots like
playground equipment, shrubbery
and trees.
The drive-in: Many things have
changed since the 1950s, but one
thing that remains the same is
how fun it is to take in a late-night
Patrons enjoy the patio and late hours of service at the
Manhattan Exchange on Union Street in Schenectady.
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 D5
TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
The Perseid Meteor Shower on Aug. 12-13 is perfect entertainment for campers by the re.
experience at Speakeasy 518, the past time worth it at least once a
Prohibition Era watering hole summer.
beneath City Beer Hall, open until Area campgrounds include
2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Autumn Moon Campground in
The speakeasy is cash-only and Saratoga County just south of the
features an array of specialty cock- Adirondack Mountains and Frosty
tails and light fare. Just dont show Acres Campgrounds in Schenecta-
up dressed like a schlub or let the dy County.
staff see you using a cell phone.
Make a reservation at speak- Late-night diner run: Some-
easy518.com. times in life youre up after mid-
night a down-to-the-wire work
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
Cosmic Bowling runs from 11 pm.-1:30 a .m. and features a live DJ
Camping: Theres something project ran late or you just cant
and light show. about getting a group of friends sleep. Those are the best times for
or family together, packing up the a late-night diner run. Whether
show at the drive-in. Whether its Go for nightcap at Speakeasy car, and driving into the woods for youre in the mood for a short-
with your sweetheart or a group 518: On Howard Street in Albany a weekend of camping. You can stack, eggs and bacon or are just
of friends, theres just something youll nd a door with a red light even turn it into a digital detox by looking for a slice of pie, a diner is
about watching a movie on a gi- over it. Knock on the door, and turning off the devices or leav- often the only place around serv-
gantic screen from the comfort of a hostess will say, Can we help ing them home. Cooking over a ing food and occasionally con-
your car, with the sound coming you? If you have a reservation re, listening to the sounds of versation well into the night.
through the radio. Several Capital simply state your name. If not, ask nature and star gazing at a brilliant Area favorites include the
District drive-ins have late-night if theres room at the bar. Maybe midnight sky absent of any light Latham 76 Diner, open 24 hours,
options, including the Malta Drive youll get in, maybe you wont. Its pollution are just some of the and Gateway Diner in Albany,
In, which was built in 1949 and has all part of the faux-underground activities that make this favorite open 24 hours on Saturdays.
been in continuous operation for
over 50 years. More information at
www.maltadrivein.com.
Or just watch a movie outdoors.
In Albany, the Capitol Park After
Dark Movie Series returns in
August to West Capitol Park. The
lineup: Big Hero 6, Wednes-
day, August 17, 8 p.m.; Gaslight,
Wednesday, August 24, 8 p.m.; and
The Wizard of Oz, Wednesday,
August 31, 8 p.m.
Late-night billiards at Dia-
mond Eight: Diamond Eight has
long been regarded as a premier
spot for billiards in the Capital
District. This pool hall has a clean
atomsphere as well as food and a
full bar, perfect for a late night of
knocking the balls with the gang.
More information at diamon-
deight.com.
Chase reies: AKA lightning
bugs. Grab and empty jar and tap
into your childhood with a few
laps around the backyard chasing
these beautiful winged bugs. In
addition to being a lot of fun, the
pursuit also will get your mind ERICA MILLER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
off all the mosquitoes that will be A late-night double feature at the drive-in wont hurt them just this once. Theyll surely sleep late
chasing you. tomorrow, right?
Drinks and food at Man-
hattan Exchange: Manhattan
Exchange in Schenectady, a place
known for serving the service
industry, is one of the only places
around thats open late late - 4 a.m.
seven nights a week. The early-
morning watering hole offers cold
beer on tap and a cocktail menu, as
well as a food menu with standard
pub fare. Manhattan Exchange, 607
Union Street, Schenectady.
D6 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016
Patrons at the Malta Drive-in on Route 9 in Malta watch Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation last August.
Silver screens under twinkling stars
BY JEFF WILKIN
Gazette Reporter
Come summer, Darci Wemple
waits for the purple dusk of twilight
time.
Evening gloom means lights and
color at the Ozoner 29 and El Ran-
cho Drive-in theaters, the business-
es Wemple runs with her husband
Bill. Pick-up trucks, cars and sports
utility vehicles have been rolling in
for weekend shows since mid-April.
Warmer temperatures are coming,
and so are more kids, once schools
close for the year.
Drive-ins remain cool summer
diversions for people who prefer
movies under the stars. Wemple,
whose Ozoner 29 is located on Route
29 in Broadalbin in Fulton County
and whose El Rancho is on Route 5
in Palatine Bridge in Montgomery
County, loves the family atmosphere.
Its one of her major selling points.
I always use the word whole-
some, she said. The expectation
is met. They think this is going to be
a nice, fun family social experience
and we meet that. Its always what
you expect it to be.
The grounds start to ll an hour
or so before dusk, as movie fans
grab their favorite parking spots. In
some places, larger vehicles are not
allowed in the rst several rows.
People come with lawn chairs,
blankets and bug spray. Creative
kids lounge on mattresses placed in
the beds of pick up trucks or stretch
out on the roofs of SUVs. Part of the
fun is countdown to movie time.
Wemple said people like being
outside on summer nights, but she
also believes drive-in prices will
not drive people into nancial ruin.
At the Ozoner 29 and El Rancho,
admission is $8 for adults and $4 for
kids age 11 and under.
We give two movies for the price
of one, that appeals to everyone,
she said. Families can afford it bet-
ter, teens who are dating can afford
it, even older people who like the
nostalgia of it appreciate the deal.
Wemple believes drive-ins and
their owners are a resilient
A magical night: theater outdoors
BY BILL BUELL
Gazette Reporter
Theater is magical, but a free,
outdoor stage production of some
classic human story is often even
more. How about life-changing?
When I think of the quintes-
sential Park Playhouse experience,
I think of a group of kids, unaccom-
panied, running through the park
on their own and they come upon
our theater, said Owen Smith, di-
rector of Albanys Park Playhouse,
which offers free, outdoor theater
every summer at the Lakehouse in
Washington Park. They have no
idea whats going on, but then they
sit down and get lost in the show. It
really is magical, and it can even be
life-changing.
David Girard, associate artistic
director of Saratoga Shakespeare,
which offers free outdoor theater in
Congress Park in Saratoga Springs
each summer, said the history of the-
ater goes back to an outdoor venue.
Performances were meant to be
seen outdoors, from the Greeks and
the Romans, to the medieval pag-
eant plays, to Elizabethan theater
and Shakespeares Globe Theatre,
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT
bunch. There have been challenges
since the rst modern drive-in
opened in Camden, New Jersey in
1933. There have been boom times,
too by the late 1950s and early
60s, there were 4,000 outdoor the-
aters across the U.S.
The popularity of television during
the 50s and 60s didnt help outdoor
screens. And Wemple said many
theaters screened B movies from
the horror genres during the 1970s.
During that period, X-rated movies
became staples at some places.
In the 1980s, it was the video
stores and home entertainment, in
the 90s it was the computer genera-
tion, Wemple said. Now, weve
had to not only face the Netix and
Redbox venues, weve had to go
digital or go out of business.
The Ozoner and El Rancho made
the conversions. The Wemples
made the signicant nancial
upgrades themselves, and did not
ask their customers for any con-
tributions. Thats one reason the
Wemples ask visitors to buy hot
dogs, hamburgers, popcorn and the
usual assortment of candy bars from
their snack bars, and not bring food
in with them.
We simple ask them to support
all sides of our business, Wemple
said.
In 2014, there were 393 drive-ins
currently in operation around the
country, according to the United
Drive-in Theatre Owners As-
sociation in Middle River, Mary-
land. Those theaters had 656 total
screens.
In the association survey, New
York had the most sites and screens,
with 29 and 50, respectively. Ohio
and Pennsylvania both had 28 the-
aters, with 47 screens in Ohio and
48 screens in Pennsylvania.
D. Edward Vogel, administra-
tive secretary for the association
and owner of the Bengis Drive-in
in Baltimore, Maryland, said there
is plenty of product available for
drive-in owners.
The real attraction to drive-ins is,
its the last of diversity in America,
Vogel said. You dont have Mom
said Girard. The community gath-
ered en masse to participate in a
live performance. And what better
way to bring a person or a commu-
nity back to the theater and in the
informality of an outdoor setting.
A Stillwater native, Girard fondly
recalls his younger days when sum-
mer outings to Lake George and
Albany resulted in fun, outdoor
entertainment.
I can remember going to Sto-
rytown and other places in Lake
George to be entertained, and
also to the Park Playhouse, he
said. Going to those places would
always get me jazzed up.
Smith, a Delmar native, has been
directing Park Playhouse since
2010, but his association with the
troupe goes back much further.
This is my 20th year in the
park, said Smith. I was in high
school at the time when I rst got
involved, and I can remember my
rst performance. I felt like there
were a million people watching me.
I have so many memories.
Smith is hopeful that some of
those young children enchanted by
watching a Park Playhouse produc-
Drivers check in at the Ozoner 29 in Broadalbin.
and Pop grocery stores, you have
Wal-Marts and Targets and most
shopping centers look alike with all
the same stuff in them. Were the
little guys, the drive-in theaters.
While older people might go
for the nostalgia angle, Vogel said,
drive-ins are also attracting school-
age kids. Even with their high-tech
cell phones and tablets, Vogel said,
They really love these places.
Same thing goes at the Malta Drive-
in. Ed Caro, who owns the Ballston
Spa drive-in with his brother Tom,
said hes always making improve-
ments like putting new LED lights
in the theaters roadside marquee.
I wouldnt be doing that unless
I thought things were going good,
Caro said.
Prime time is the Memorial Day
through Labor Day weekends. The
family scene will be around the en-
tire summer, Caro said, with movies
like Angry Birds, Finding Dory,
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out
of the Shadows and Ice Age: Colli-
sion Course all coming.
Its a communal experience,
Caro said. Youre sitting outside
with other people, the weathers
nice, its a different experience.
Frank Fisher has spent most of
his life at the Hollywood Drive-in
in Averill Park, a theater his father
tion, will do more than just show
up and be part of the audience. Hes
hoping they join a production.
We want them back night after
night, and we want to create a the-
atergoer for life, said Smith. And,
if theyre really into it we want
them to get involved with Park
Playhouse II, our kids program. If
we can do that, then were really
doing our job.
At Park Playhouse, the mission
statement includes: By providing
free admission at our productions,
we make theatre an all-inclusive art
form, accessible to people from all
walks of life and socio-economic
backgrounds.
The Saratoga Shakespeares
mission statement in part is to
enrich the summer cultural life for
the residents and visitors of New
Yorks Capital Region through the
presentation of free, accessible,
professional Shakespeare produc-
tions.
Park Playhouse opens its 2016
summer season with previews
of the smash Broadway musical,
Chicago, on July 1. The ofcial
opening is July 5, and the show
WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE
PETER R. BARBER/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
JEFF WILKIN/GAZETTE FILE PHOTO
James opened in 1952.
Frank Fisher said the theater still
gets crowds, as long as rainy weather
stays away. He said his challenges
have been the digital conversion
Ive been digital for ve years now,
rst one in New York State and
running a single screen theater.
Fisher has to hope the lms he
chooses have legs, and will keep
people coming for a week or two.
Theaters with double screens can
make more frequent changes when
they change lms.
Like Wemple, Fisher said people
just like watching movies outdoors.
Its the experience of a drive-in,
he said. They can come out, bring
the kids, play, run around, listen to
their cell phones, smoke cigarettes.
Its a whole different experience.
Theres a sign outside the Hol-
lywood that asks customers not
to bring in their own food. But
Fisher said it is not enforced even
though concession cash is the
theaters main support.
My feeling is pretty simple, he
said. A lot of families cant afford it.
Extra money is raised by extra
viewings.
We had one guy who was here
Friday who came back Saturday,
Fisher said. He said the movie was
that good.
Albanys Park Playhouse.
runs Tuesdays through Saturdays
at 8 p.m. through July 30. While
the troupe transitions to its second
performance of the season, the
Park Playhouse Kids program will
be performing Seussical the Musi-
cal at the Palace Theatre in Albany
Aug. 5-7. Then the Park Playhouse
2 program will present Disneys
Little Mermaid back at Washing-
ton Park Aug. 9-27.
In Congress Park this summer,
Girards company will present
Cyrano de Bergerac July 19-July
Where to watch
Some local drive-ins, listed
alphabetically:
EL RANCHO
6070 Route 5, Palatine Bridge
Admission: Adults, $8;
children 3-11, $4
And action! Built in 1951,
the El Rancho has been in
business continuously since it
opened in 1952. The theaters
60-by-90 screen is the rst and
only screen the drive-in has
ever had.
GLEN DRIVE-IN
983 Route 9, Queensbury
Admission: Adults $9;
children $5
And action! Began
showing movies in 1958
GREENVILLE DRIVE-IN
10700 Route 32, Greenville
Admission: $5 for ages 5 and
up.
And action! Shows
popular classic lms. The
opening night on May 6 fea-
tured oysters, shrimp cock-
tail, champagne and a screen-
ing of Breakfast at Tiffanys.
A licensed biergarten is new
this year.
HATHAWAYS
DRIVE-IN THEATRE
4762 New York 67, North
Hoosick
Admission: Adults, $9;
children 3-11, $5; children
under 3 are free
And action! Built in 1948,
Hathaways is one of the two
oldest drive-ins in New York
State.
HI-WAY DRIVE-IN
10699 Route 9W, Coxsackie
Admission: Adults, $9; chil-
dren 3-11, $5; kids under 3 free
And action! The Hi-Way
offers 4 movie screens.
HOLLYWOOD
DRIVE-IN THEATRE
9270 Route 66, Averill Park
Admission: Adults, $10;
children 5-10, $5
And action! The Holly-
wood was built in 1952 by the
late James Fisher. He and his
family kept the theater open
year-round, weekends only
from September through May.
For cold weather, free car
heaters were available. James
son Frank is still on the job.
JERICHO DRIVE-IN THEATRE
21 Jericho Road, Glenmont
Admission: Adults, $9;
children 11 and under, $5
And action! Open since
1967, the Jericho attracts
some movie fans with a
full-service ice cream parlor.
MALTA DRIVE-IN THEATRE
2785 Route 9, Malta
Admission: Adults 12 and
over, $9; children under 12, $5
And action! The Malta was
built in 1949 and has been in
continuous operation for more
than 50 years.
OZONER 29
837 Route 29, Broadalbin
Admission: Adults, $8;
children 3-11, $4
And action! The word
ozoner was invented by
Variety Magazine during the
1950s to describe an outdoor
theater. This Ozoner opened
on Route 29 in 2003, and the
route number became part
of the name.
PHOTO PROVIDED
30 along with Romeo and Juliet
Aug. 2-7. Show times are 6 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday and 3
p.m. Sunday.
Another local theater group
offering free entertainment is the
Classic Theater Guild, which hosts
the Helderberg Theater Festival
each summer at Indian Ladder
Farms in Guilderland, July 22-24
and 28-31. Treasure Island will be
performed each day at 4 p.m., fol-
lowed by a production of Romeo
and Juliet at 7:30 p.m.
THE DAILY GAZETTE WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM
12 new books were reading this
summer (and 6 not so new)
New York Times Service
Knowing you have something good to read before bed,
Vladimir Nabokov wrote, is among the most pleasurable of
sensations.
Its easy to feel similarly about summer. Knowing youve got
FROM DWIGHT GARNER
The Girls by Emma Cline (Random
House).
Heres the debut novel that the publish-
ing world cant stop talking about. Its
a coming-of-age story, set in Northern
California in the late 1960s, that involves
a thoughtful teenage girl who drifts into a
Charles Manson-like cult. This promises
to be a perceptive page-turner, a volume
to haunt summers warm nights. (June 14)
Diane Arbus: Portrait of a Photog-
rapher by Arthur Lubow (Ecco).
Diane Arbus is one of the most impor-
tant and unsettling gures in the history
of photography, known for her pictures of
people on the margins dwarfs, cross-
dressers, giants, sideshow freaks. Lubows
biography of this pioneering artist, the
subject of an expansive show at the Met
Breuer opening on July 12, is the rst
since Patricia Bosworths in 1984, and it
looks serious, sensitive and wide-ranging.
(June 7)
From the Bookshelf: Absolutely
Nothing to Get Alarmed About: The
Complete Novels of Charles Wright.
The books in Wrights New York City
trilogy The Messenger, The Wig works as a bounty hunter who tracks
and Absolutely Nothing to Get Alarmed
About were published from 1963 to
1973. Theyre about a young, working-
class black intellectual, and they are said
to be (by a friend I trust) brutal, pessi-
mistic and scaldingly funny. Ive found a
beat-up old copy online, and I cant wait
to read Wright for the rst time.
FROM JENNIFER SCHUESSLER
Heroes of the Frontier by Dave
Eggers (Alfred A. Knopf).
After ctional forays to Silicon Valley
(The Circle) and Saudi Arabia (A
Hologram for the King), Eggers takes
his dark vision of 21st-century American
confusion to the wilds of Alaska. In this
adventure-novel-meets-moral-inquiry, a
Midwestern single mother at the end of
her rope cruises the scenic byways in a
rickety RV with her two children, dodg-
ing raging wildres, tourist traps, per-
sonal demons and epically bad weather,
ultimately digging deep to nd something
close to old-fashioned courage. (July 26)
Being a Beast by Charles Foster
(Metropolitan Books).
Foster is a British veterinarian, but
dont come to Being a Beast: Adventures
on the Species Divide expecting James
Herriot. In an effort to truly understand
animals, Foster spent weeks burrowing
like a badger on a Welsh hillside (earth-
worms for dinner, anyone?); swimming
with river otters (catching sh with your
teeth is harder than it looks); and skulking
in alleyways with Londons urban foxes,
among other escapades. Its a sort of lit-
erary shamanism, he writes in this wildly
eccentric and chatty book, and its been
fantastic fun. (June 21)
From the Bookshelf: The Master and
Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov.
Im not usually big on rereading
there are far too many new books to get
to but this year Im planning to go back
to Bulgakovs darkly fantastical novel,
which describes what happened when the
devil himself strolled into Moscow one
summer day in the 1930s. Richard Pevear
and Larissa Volokhonsky have revised
their translation for the 50th anniversary
of the novel that, as Boris Fishman puts it
in an introduction, has proved its bitter
prescience about the way of the world
again and again.
SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT
a few ne books tucked away for beach or lawn is akin to bliss.
The Times book critics and staff members are here with
some recommendations. They have each chosen three books:
two that will be published this summer (publications dates
in parentheses) and one older title that theyve set aside for
longer and warmer days.
FROM ALEXANDRA ALTER
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Alfred
A. Knopf).
This ambitious debut novel opens in
18th-century Ghana and follows seven
generations of a family that descends
from two half sisters who never knew
each other: Efa, who marries an English
colonial ofcer and lives in a coastal
palace; and Esi, who is captured and sold
into slavery. The novel spans more than
250 years and several continents as the
sisters and their descendants wrestle with
the physical and psychic scars of slavery
and colonialism. (June 7)
Underground Airlines by Ben H.
Winters (Mulholland Books).
In this alternate history, Winters
imagines a horric modern-day America
where the Civil War never happened,
and slavery still exists. The persistence of
American slavery is a popular alternate-
history plotline, along with the Nazis
winning World War II, but Winters
carves out fresh territory by blending
genres, adding elements of detective c-
tion. His weary and haunted protagonist,
a former slave who calls himself Victor,
read Proust. Now is the time. A few of us
down escaped slaves for the U.S. Mar-
shals Service. Hes on the trail of a man
named Jackdaw when his mission, and the
painful bargain hes made with his mind-
ers and himself, begin to unravel. (July 5)
From the Bookshelf: Carlo Rovellis
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
(Riverhead Books). Ive wanted to read
Rovellis surprise best-seller ever since a
reviewer said his breezy tone would give
Brian Cox a run for his quarks. In just 88
pages, he explores mind-bending topics
in physics, like gravitational waves, the
heat of black holes and quantum gravity.
It sounds like the rare book about physics
that can be ingested in a single sitting,
which I hope to do sometime this summer.
FROM JOHN WILLIAMS
Youll Grow Out of It by Jessi
Klein (Grand Central Publishing).
Earlier in the 2000s, I occasionally
caught Kleins sharply nerdy stand-up
comedy in New York. Shes since built
a formidable career mostly behind
comedys scenes, including her current
role as the head writer for Inside Amy
Schumer. Now shes publishing a book
of autobiographical essays, and her brain
seems particularly well suited to make the
transition from stage to page. (July 12)
Ninety-nine Stories of God by Joy
Williams (Tin House Books).
Williams deservedly expanded her fan
base last year with a collection of new
and selected stories, The Visiting Privi-
lege. This bite-size follow-up is a stunt of
sorts, 99 very short pieces some just a
sentence or two directly or indirectly
about the divine. I imagine the subject
and Williams mordancy will make a good
match. (July 12)
From the Bookshelf: Jane Eyre by
Charlotte Bronte. Theres a blurry place
in my memory where books I was never
assigned overlap with books I was as-
signed but neglected to read. Im already
200 pages in, so this is a seasonal aspira-
tion very likely to be fullled. I might
follow it up with Emily Brontes Wuther-
ing Heights. Opinions seem to vary, and
in interesting ways, about which book is
superior. Id like to join the jury.
FROM SARAH LYALL
I Am No One by Patrick Flanery
(Tim Duggan Books).
Summer is a great time for creepiness
and paranoia, and so Im looking forward
to I Am No One. In this novel, strange
things are happening to a New York
University professor who has recently
returned from abroad. He seems to be
under surveillance of the most insidious
and unnerving kind. Its a terrible predica-
ment to be in, but is he hiding something?
(July 5)
Modern Lovers by Emma Straub
(Riverhead Books).
While youre lazing around on the
beach, three college friends and former
bandmates, now in the throes of middle
age, are spending their summer con-
fronting hard truths about their pasts
while dealing with their suddenly sexu-
ally active teenagers. Secrets unravel,
and revelations are made, not just about
them but about a fourth band member
who became famous on her own. (May
31)
From the Bookshelf: In Search of
Lost Time by Marcel Proust. Ive never
from various parts of the country (and
Canada) have decided to read In Search
of Lost Time together and record our
spur-of-the-moment thoughts in a group
Google document. Weve just started. Our
reactions are all over the place. So far so
good.
FROM JENNIFER SENIOR
The Innocent Have Nothing to been lavishly praised by
Fear by Stuart Stevens (Alfred A.
Knopf).
Face it: Youre going to hear about
the 2016 presidential race all summer
long, unless you spend your vacation in
a missile silo. You may as well milk it for
laughs, as Stevens Republican political
strategist, former television writer, all-
around nonction guy appears to have
done in this novel, his rst.
The main character is a populist,
anti-immigrant Republican presidential
candidate. Whatever gave him that idea?
(June 28)
Here Comes The Sun by Nicole
Dennis-Benn (Liveright).
This novel may take place in Jamaica,
but do not mistake it for a traditional
beach read. Its for readers who want to
know whats really behind the lacquered
smile of the desk clerk at that lovely re-
sort in Montego Bay, and what the pleas-
ant woman at the market is really thinking
when she sells tourists her jewelry and
trinkets. The answers are often far less
pretty than the scenery, but all evidence
suggests that this debut deserves its bal-
lyhoo. (July 19)
From the Bookshelf: Something
Fresh by P.G. Wodehouse.
Whenever a friend is down in the
dumps, I purchase a stack of Bertie and
Jeeves novels and pop them in the mail,
on the theory that there is no blight of the
soul that cant be healed by their com-
pany. Yet I have never read a single one
of Wodehouses Blandings novels, which
seems like both a literary sin and a crime
against my own mood. So heres to the
rst of the lot, which Im guessing wont
just be something fresh, but something
marvelous.
Hot days, cool books:
summer must-reads
BY ALEXANDRA ALTER
New York Times
For a while, it seemed as if
slapping the word girl on
a title virtually guaranteed
best-seller status. There was,
of course, Stieg Larssons
The Girl With the Dragon
Tattoo, which kicked off
his blockbuster crime series.
Then came Gillian Flynns
twisted domestic thriller,
Gone Girl, which featured
a charming sociopath named
Amy and sold nearly 9 mil-
lion copies in the United
States alone, thoroughly
debunking the notion that
readers prefer likable
female characters. Last year,
the mantle was passed to
The Girl on the Train, by
Paula Hawkins, an addictive-
ly paced suspense novel that
has sold more than 11 million
copies worldwide.
But this year, not a single
girl title has captivated
millions of readers in the
same way. Sure, there were
Kate Hamers suspense
novel, The Girl in the Red
Coat, about an 8-year-olds
disappearance, and Monica
Hesses historical thriller,
Girl in the Blue Coat,
about a teenagers disap-
pearance in Nazi-occupied
Amsterdam. Both novels
pulled in stellar reviews,
but neither broke out in a
major way, certainly not
enough to knock The Girl
on the Train off its throne.
Now it looks as if the
seasonal drought is over.
Girl books seem destined
to be big this summer, with
several juicy and suspense-
ful novels arriving during
the next few months. And
while their titles may seem
formulaic at this point,
their plots and prose often
wreak havoc on the tired
trope of girls in peril.
In her debut novel, The
Girls, Emma Cline ex-
plores the uncanny appeal
of a religious cult for girls
seeking refuge from moral
uncertainty. Set in Northern
California in the late 1960s,
the narrative unfolds as an
unhappy teenager, Evie,
is sucked into a Charles
Manson-like cult, seduced
by the blissed-out, feral girls
in the commune leaders
entourage. Lonely and inse-
cure, Evie follows them like
a stray to the farm, where
they live in squalor, and tries
to ignore undercurrents of
violence and sexual abuse.
Cline was all of 25 when
the manuscript set off a
bidding war among 12 pub-
lishers in the fall of 2014.
Random House bought it
in a three-book, seven-g-
ure deal, and the producer
Scott Rudin optioned the
lm rights. The novel has
crime or a murderer herself.
writers like Jennifer Egan,
who called Cline a thrill-
ing new voice in American
ction, and Richard Ford.
With all the hype, Clines
book, out June 14, seems to
have a good shot at becom-
ing the must-read novel of
the summer. But summer is
a crowded publishing sea-
son, and The Girls faces
competition from a number
of other compelling novels
with partly overlapping
titles and themes, including
Girl books seem destined to be big this summer,
with several juicy and suspenseful novels arriving
during the next few months.
THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 D7
Robin Wassermans Girls
on Fire, Megan Mirandas
All the Missing Girls, Da-
vid Swinsons The Second
Girl and Kate Horsleys
The American Girl.
Its hardly a spoiler to
note that in each of these
novels, bad things happen to
girls. Occasionally, and re-
freshingly, girls also do bad
things to other people. In
Girls on Fire (Harper, May
17), Wasserman explores
the line where close female
friendships can blur into ob-
session and self-obliteration.
The novel opens in small-
town Pennsylvania in 1991,
when a popular high school
basketball players body is
found in the woods with a
bullet in his head, stirring
panic about satanic wor-
ship. At the heart of the dark
story is an intoxicating and
all-consuming friendship be-
tween two teenage girls, the
lonely Hannah Dexter and
a magnetic new girl, Lacey,
a rebellious, Nirvana-loving
grunge groupie who irts
with Satanism.
Female friendship is
also a central theme of
Mirandas intricately plot-
ted thriller All the Missing
Girls (Simon & Schuster,
June 28). The novel opens
as a young woman named
Nic returns to her home-
town, a decade after her
best friend disappeared. Nic
has been back in town only
a few days when another
young woman goes missing.
Miranda brings heightened
suspense and a twist to this
familiar scenario by telling
the story, which unfolds
over 15 days, in reverse
chronological order.
More girls go missing in
The Second Girl (Mul-
holland Books, June 7), a
hotly anticipated thriller by
David Swinson, a retired
Washington police detec-
tive. The novel, which
kicks off a new detective
series, features an inves-
tigator who becomes a
hero when he happens
upon a kidnapped teenage
girl during a stakeout of a
drug dealers house. Hes
recruited to nd another
missing girl and worries
that the high-prole as-
signment will expose his
cocaine addiction.
In Horsleys novel The
American Girl (William
Morrow, Aug. 2), a teen-
age girl reappears (nally)
rather than disappearing at
the outset. She staggers out
of the woods, bloody and
disoriented, with no recol-
lection of what has hap-
pened to her. As a journalist
investigates, questions swirl
over whether the girl, an
American exchange student
in France, is the victim of a
With the proliferation of
girl titles, there are signs
that the trend may have
peaked; it already seems
ripe for parody. Comedian
Amy Schumer is leading
the charge with her much-
hyped memoir, out Aug. 16
from Gallery Books, which
explores her childhood, her
family relationships, femi-
nism and how she broke
into comedy. Shes titled it
The Girl With the Lower
Back Tattoo.
NEW YORK TIMES
D8 THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2016 SUMMER ENTERTAINMENT WWW.DAILYGAZETTE.COM THE DAILY GAZETTE

([
Everything For Your Pet
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Be a part of the areas largest full scale pet expo

September 10th at the Saratoga City Center

9 am- 6 pm
Featuring everything from pet food and supplies
to grooming and training.
Demonstrations, seminars and guest speakers

3,000+ expected attendance

Leashed pets welcome
Take this unique opportunity to showcase your products and services
to thousands of Capital District pet lovers.
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Contact Fran Dingeman (518) 365-3459 or fran@networksaratoga.com

for additional information on becoming a vendor
Check out our Pet Ex page on capregionpets.com
for exciting updates on the event

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