GLENS FALLS — The Adirondack Thunder opened its training camp today, Oct. 10, at Cool Insuring Arena ahead of the team’s first preseason game on Friday.
Training camp is free to attend. Tickets for the Thunder’s preseason contest against the Reading Royals on Friday are $10.00. This game is included in the package for season ticket holders, according to a press release from the team.
All attendees, including season ticket holders, will be entered to win a four-pack of tickets to the Thunder’s regular-season home opener against the Worcester Railers on Oct. 29.
The team is also offering an ‘Opening Night 4-Pack’ for the home opener, including four tickets, a Thunder hat, and an additional flex ticket for $75.00. Tickets can be purchased at the Thunder front office or by calling 518-480-3355, the release says.
Fridays will also be ‘Labatt Blue Night’ at Cool Insuring Arena. As part of the team’s partnership with Saratoga Eagle, Labatt Blue cans will be sold for $2.00 through the end of the first period of play on Fridays.
Season tickets for the 2022-23 season are on sale, with more information on ticket packages available at www.echlthunder.com/tickets.
Below are ice times for each day of the Thunder’s training camp:
Photo provided by World Awareness Children’s Museum.
GLENS FALLS — The World Awareness Children’s Museum will host their fall fundraiser, ‘Night at the Speakeasy’, Friday, Oct. 14 at the Park Theater in Glens Falls.
The fundraiser will feature live music by the Hot Club of Saratoga, in addition to art displays from the museum collection, a full cash bar with “signature cocktails,” and a raffle with items donated by local businesses. Guests will also be served “elegant hors d’oeuvres and decadent dessert,” according to a press release.
Tickets range from $80 to $90, the release says. The Museum is encouraging guests to dress in era-appropriate clothing, with a prize to be given out to the person with the best 1920s-themed outfit. Tickets are available at wacm.ticketleap.com.
The Museum is also hosting several other events throughout the month, including a ‘Free Day’ this Sunday, Oct. 9, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Free Day provides guests “a chance to explore everything WACM has to offer, thanks to a generous sponsorship from Stewart’s Holiday Match,” the release says.
A ‘Mini Masterpiece’ program will also be held Sunday, Oct. 9, at 1 p.m. The program will be led by local artists Patrice Jarvis-Weber. Recommended for children age 10 and up, the class allows participants to paint “their own masterpiece” on a 4×4 canvas. The Mini Masterpiece program costs $8 per person (with a 10% discount for members), and is limited to nine people.
The following day, Monday, Oct. 10, the Museum will host ‘Celebrate Indigenous People’s Day’ from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. The program will celebrate Indigenous culture, teach guests about beaded wampum belts, and allow participants to make their own beaded bracelets. This program is free with museum admission.
The World Awareness Children’s Museum contains pieces from 140 countries, and over 8,000 artifacts including instruments, dolls, toys, and fashion, as well as over 7,000 pieces of international children’s art. It has been a designated charter museum of New York State since 1995.
To purchase tickets to any of the above events, visit wacm.ticketleap.com.
GLENS FALLS — The Adirondacon Tabletop Gaming Convention returns to Glens Falls this weekend for a fifth year. The event will be held at Charles R. Wood Theater from Oct. 1 to Oct. 2.
“The community has really embraced us,” said co-organizer Veronica Hamilton, noting it is “nice to hold an event and see all the familiar faces come back year after year, and to see new faces come trickling in as well.”
The Convention deals primarily with tabletop games, including role-playing games, board games, and more. Hamilton said they will be introducing Warhammer 40K to this year’s convention.
“Besides Warhammer, we have traditional role-playing games like ‘Dungeons and Dragons’, ‘Call of Cthulhu’, and ‘Pathfinder’,” Hamilton said. “There’s all sorts of stuff. There’s deck-builders, there’s dexterity games.”
Hamilton said that several people are bringing in their own Kickstarter-funded games, naming ‘Flamecraft’ as an example. She also mentioned games such as ‘Dune: Imperium’, ‘Lost Ruins of Arnak’, ‘Wonderland’s War’, and ‘Dungeon Drop’ as others that will be available.
Convention co-organizer John LeMaire will be running a game based on an RPG supplement book he authored, Hamilton said.
Sunday will also host a dedicated block for children’s games from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
“We’re having just kind of a block (where) kids can come over and try different games, and we’ll have GMs available to teach them,” said Hamilton. “Another one of our local game designers has an RPG for kids and families called ‘Adventure Maximus’, so he’s going to run that on Sunday as well.”
Hamilton stressed that experience is not necessary, saying that “the first thing that the GM will do is teach the game.”
“If you sign up for a game, the GM will teach the game and walk you through how to play the game,” Hamilton said. “A lot of people are coming to try games they’ve never played before.”
The convention will also host a ‘Lending Library’, where help will be on hand for “people who want to take on a game at their own pace.” Attendees can also participate in ‘play-to-win’ games.
“How those work is, we will have a table and a signout sheet. Anyone who plays the game will (have) the chance to win the game they played,” said Hamilton. “We reached out to several different gaming companies, and we were lucky enough to have them send us support for the Con. We have, I believe, 13 play-to-win games this year.”
She emphasized that many of the games are “nice and quick.”
“A lot of them can be played in an hour or less, so you’re not spending your whole Con playing one game, and it gives everybody an opportunity to try the games as well,” Hamilton said.
Adirondacon will feature door prize tickets, as well as commemorative dice, for attendees as they enter, while supplies last, Hamilton noted.
People looking to sell or trade old games can also approach the convention’s bargain table. Hamilton said the table began in the event’s first year.
“It’s just a table that we put aside every year for people to help get rid of their gently-used games,” said Hamilton. “They put the price, their phone number on, and people can just come up and purchase the used games. Sometimes, they can strike a deal.”
The convention also features a ‘vendor alley’, with five vendors selling a variety of items. Hamilton named Two Ravens Games, Cooper’s Cave Games, Night Legion Comics, Gamer Gifts by FSP, and The Creative Chameleon as vendors that will be in attendance, selling a variety of items such as games, accessories, comic books, jewelry, and more.
There will also be cats on hand, as the convention will support North Shore Animal League America – Adirondack Region Cat Adoption Center. Hamilton said “it seemed like a good fit,” noting that she and several other organizers have cats of their own.
“North Shore will be with us at the event until 4 p.m. on Saturday. They have a wishlist, and basically anyone who brings an item in off their wishlist, or a donation to the charity, we have a special drawing of a copy of a game called ‘The Isle of Cats’,” Hamilton said, mentioning the game was donated by First Stall Productions.
Now in its fifth year, Hamilton said she hopes Adirondacon sees “a record number of people” at this weekend’s event.
“We’re renting out the entire theater,” said Hamilton. “We’re hoping to raise a good chunk of money for North Shore, and we’re hoping everybody has a good time.”
QUEENSBURY — The Adirondack Balloon Festival made its return for a 49th year over the weekend, offering balloon flights, food, crafts, and more at the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury and Crandall Park in Glens Falls.
“I think we look at it as a huge success, any time you get more than one or two launches off,” said Erin Reid Coker, one of the festival’s organizers. “From a standpoint of size of crowds, it was very impressive, especially Saturday evening.”
Flights on Thursday and Friday were canceled due to wind, but Coker said, “We had a pretty good crowd for what it was.”
“We’re always looking at safety first, which I think most people here are familiar with and are used to and appreciate,” Coker said. “A lot of times, it’s about education. Just letting people know what’s safe, and what’s not safe, in regards to flying and pilots and spectators.”
The main events occurred on Saturday, with an early-morning flight in honor of festival founder Joan Grishkot, an afternoon launch, and a ‘Lighting Up the Night Moonglow’ flight at 8:00 p.m. Coker referred to Saturday as “our really successful day.”
“Conditions were perfect. About half of our balloons launched (in the afternoon), and the other half stayed for the 8 o’clock moonglow,” Coker said. “It’s always nice to be able to pull that Saturday night event off, because it really is the highlight of the event.”
The Moonglow flight saw balloons light up the night sky, synchronized to music.
“Our voice of the festival, Chuck Aiken, did a wonderful job of putting together the music. It’s probably like a 13 minute show where the balloons kind of sync to some different kinds of music,” said Coker. “Specifically, he put together some music that was strictly dedicated to each of the special shapes. There was a snowman balloon, so we had Frosty the Snowman, so we kind of profile that balloon during that particular song.”
Sunday morning saw another tribute to the festival’s founders, with ‘Walter and Joan’s Mass Ascension’ honoring the Joan Grishkot and her husband Walter.
“Sunday mornings are always the quieter morning,” Coker said. “It was another perfect launch, for sure.”
The festival’s closing flight at Crandall Park on Sunday evening was canceled due to rain in the area. But despite the cancellation, and the lack of flights on Thursday and Friday, Coker said the reception of the community was strong.
“We did get a lot of response from people that are just happy to get things back to normal, or getting back to normal,” said Coker. “Everyone was friendly, and happy, and just having a great time. That’s what it’s all about.”
Coker also mentioned that several audience members were even willing to help out, assisting with inflation of the ‘special shapes’ balloons.
“The community really stepped up. We had to grab people out of the crowd and say, ‘Would you help get this balloon inflated, and do this job, and this job?’ And everybody stepped up,” Coker said. “It wasn’t like, ‘No, we’re just here to watch.’ I didn’t hear that once. You’re always finding somebody that’s excited about that experience.”
The festival had 65 total balloons on hand, food vendors, a craft fair, and a large crowd over the weekend, but Coker said that the Balloon Festival still has not gotten back to “100%,” noting that the festival has seen nearly 100 balloons in past years.
“We’re not quite there yet, but I think maybe it was, in some weird way, a nice omen to transition from 15 balloons to 60 balloons, and now with the 50th anniversary next year, to get those 100 balloons back and make the event even more special,” said Coker.
The Adirondack Balloon Festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary from Sept. 21 to 24, 2023, Coker said.
“The 50th anniversary, we have a lot of work to do, and hopefully make it something super special for people,” Coker said. “We have some ideas in mind as far as events other than actual launches to celebrate, but those are in pretty early stages.”
GLENS FALLS — The Glens Falls Symphony will return to the Glens Falls High School Auditorium for the 2022-23 season, kicking off with Brahms Violin Concerto and Symphony No. 9 by Dimitri Shostakovich on Oct. 9.
“To return to our home, to be together onstage, to be one with our audience? That is the best,” said Symphony music director Charles Peltz in a press release.
The Glens Falls Symphony will also perform a piece co-commissioned with the New Music for America Consortium, ‘Cold Mountain Suite.’ It is based on an opera and novel of the same name by Pulitzer and Grammy-winning composer Jennifer Higdon, who will be in residency during the performances, according to the release.
Three local students will perform solos with the orchestra on Dec. 18, during the ‘Shining Lights’ Holiday Pops concert. Paige Eaton of Warrensburg High School, Carter Sano of Queensbury High School, and Madison Gaiser of Queensbury High will all perform solos during the Dec. 18 performance.
The Symphony will perform with local students again on March 19, with students from Saratoga Springs, Guilderland, Hudson Falls, Queensbury, and Glens Falls High Schools joining the Symphony in playing Gustav Mahler’s string orchestra transcription of Franz Schubert’s String Quarter 14 ‘Death and Maiden’.
The final performance of the season will take place on May 7, ‘An Evening of Classic Broadway.’ It will include music by Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Rodgers and Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, and more, according to the release. Lindsay Roberts, currently performing in the Broadway company production of ‘The Phantom of the Opera’, will join the Symphony for this performance.
“Our season is designed for everyone in our community: the lover of classics will be thrilled with the Brahms concerto, the new music aficionados will thrill with the Higdon premiere, those inspired by our youth will delight in the young voices at holiday time and our side by side in March, and everyone loves Broadway – America’s music loved around the world,” Peltz said in the release.
“Let’s all get out of the house and rekindle the special experience that makes a Glens Falls Symphony concert a ‘must-do’ event.”
Visit theglensfallssymphony.org or call the Symphony office at (518) 793-1348 for information on ticket prices and seating.
Nov. 13: Claudio Monteverdi – L’Orfeo – Toccata and Intermezzi / Jennifer Higden – Cold Mountain Suite / Georges Bizet Suite from L’Arlesienne / Benjamin Britten – Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
QUEENSBURY — The Adirondack Balloon Festival returns this week for its 49th year, running from Sept. 22-25 at the Floyd Bennett Memorial Airport in Queensbury and Crandall Park in Glens Falls.
“I think everyone’s happy to have it back,” said Erin Reid Coker, a member of the Festival’s board of directors and one of the event’s organizers. “From a fan or general public standpoint, we just have nonstop messages on social media, and emails, with people excited to come up from all parts of the country, really.”
Opening ceremonies will take place at 5 p.m. on Thursday at Crandall Park in Glens Falls, with an initial flight of 10+ balloons, according to the festival schedule.
Crandall Park will also have food vendors and live music on Thursday, and a ‘Downtown Block Party’ begins at 6 p.m. The block party will feature balloon baskets on display, activities for kids, and a car show.
“Crandall Park’s been a tradition for a long time,” said Coker. “We’ll have balloon baskets down there for people to check out. Glens Falls has always been a big supporter of the event, so it’s a pretty easy transition for people to come to the park and check out the balloons, then go downtown and support the local restaurants and businesses.”
The festival has “close to 60” balloons in total, Coker said, adding that the Crandall Park ceremonies will be between 12-15 balloons.
The Balloon Festival did not have vendors last year, Coker mentioned, as a result of uncertainty during the planning period due to COVID-19. This year, however, the Festival appears to be back in full force. Coker said the festival team has been “blown away” with support from local businesses.
“It’s just been amazing, how much support we’ve had from them,” said Coker.
On top of food and drink vendors, the Zonta Club will be running a craft fair at the festival. Coker said there will also be several sponsorship vendors.
A flight of up to 50 balloons, including ‘special shapes’, will begin at 5 p.m. on Friday. A similar flight will take place at the same time on Saturday, and will be followed by ‘Lighting Up the Night’, a flight of glow-in-the-dark balloons at 8 p.m.
“When it gets dark, the balloons will inflate, and from the propane burners you can kind of see the glow of the balloon shapes and the colors,” Coker said. “It’s synced to music. We’ll have some music on hand, where at certain points during a song, different balloons will hit their propane burners.”
Coker noted that the flights are weather-permitting, saying “that’s always the biggest factor.”
“The pilots want to fly as much as anybody else wants to see them, so we hope for good weather,” Coker said.
There will be live music on hand at the festival, with performances by bands such as Beatin’ the Odds and Across the Pond.
The festival will also pay tribute to its founders. ‘Celebrating Joan’ will begin at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, honoring Joan Grishkot, who passed away last year. ‘Walter and Joan’s Mass Ascension’ will take place at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday.
Coker referred to Grishkot as “the face of the festival.”
“Joan and Walter, her husband, started the festival 49 years ago,” Coker said. “She’s going to be missed, and we’ll have that special launch for her.”
The closing flight of the festival will be at 5 p.m. on Sunday in Crandall Park.
Coker emphasized the community aspect of the festival, saying that it has “kind of turned into a tradition for my family.”
“I think that’s what it is for a majority of people that come,” said Coker. “Their kids came when they were young, and then they grew up, got married, and their kids come. So it’s really important for me to create these memories for my wife and daughter. That’s pretty much why I do it.”
The Adirondack Balloon Festival is free to attend. For more information and a full schedule of events, visit adirondackballoonfest.org.
GLENS FALLS — The Capital Region APA Pool League has announced a new nine-ball division for the upcoming season, scheduled to begin in Glens Falls this Sunday, Sept. 25.
“We want to get another format out there,” said Ryan Gilligan, League Operator of the Capital Region APA Pool League. “We do have a Wednesday division that we just started up (in Glens Falls), and that’s eight-ball. The players up there were like, ‘Hey, could we also get the nine-ball format up there as well?’”
The league plays at Downtown Social in Glens Falls at 6 p.m. on Sunday nights over a period of 12 weeks, according to a post on the league’s Facebook page.
“Our league supports local business, so the Downtown Social, they love having it there, because they’re just hanging out,” Gilligan said. “Just drinking, eating, having a good time.”
There will be 5-8 players per team, with a maximum of 5 players per team participating in a match each week. Gilligan said this means players “don’t have to give up every Sunday,” instead having the option to rotate with other team members.
The nine-ball format sees nine balls on the table, with players starting with the lowest ball. Each ball is worth 1 point, while the nine-ball itself is worth 2 points.
“Depending what your skill level is will depend on how many balls you make,” said Gilligan. “It’s a fun, social league. Anyone can play. If you’re a lesser player, you have to make less balls to win the match. If you’re a higher skill level player, you have to make more.”
Each team requires a mix of skill levels, with Gilligan saying that the league has a “team skill-level limit.”
Gilligan said that several teams have signed up for the league already, which begins this Sunday.
The first-place team in the league will automatically qualify for Tri-Annuals, while division and playoff winners will also qualify. Tri-Annuals will see these teams compete against other winners from the Capital Region, according to the league’s Facebook page.
Tri-Annual winning teams will receive a cash prize of $600, and advance to the Capital Region APA World Qualifiers in June 2023. The World Qualifiers will take place at the Albany Capital Center.
Winners at the World Qualifiers will advance to the World’s Largest Pool Tournament, held in Las Vegas in August 2023. The grand prize for the World’s Largest Pool Tournament is $30,000.
Gilligan said participation in the league has grown in recent years, emphasizing the social aspect of the league.
“After the pandemic, I feel like people are itching to get out of the house and do something new,” said Gilligan. “Our league has been growing significantly after the pandemic. We actually grew coming out of the pandemic, where we had more teams coming out than we had starting.
“It’s like a social thing, that’s what our league is. We bring people together.”
The entry fee is $50 per team, plus an annual APA membership fee of $25. To join or register a team, visit the Capital Region APA Pool League page on Facebook, or call (518) 630-5664.
GLENS FALLS — Due to the Adirondack Balloon Festival, there will be no parking allowed on Glen Street after 3 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 22, according to a release from the City.
Glen Street will be closed from the traffic circle to South Street, the release states. The Balloon Festival will be holding a “Downtown Block Party” from 5 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., kicking off a weekend of fun and balloons.
The Block Party will have balloon baskets on display, in addition to a car show and activities for kids, according to a release from the City.
In addition to the downtown party, festivities at Crandall Park will kick off at 4 p.m. on Thursday with the opening of food vendors. At 4:30 p.m., Beatin’ the Odds, a southern rock band from Clifton Park, will perform.
Opening ceremonies for the Balloon Festival will be at 5 p.m. at Crandall Park on Thursday, with a flight of “10+ balloons” to follow at 5:30 p.m., according to a release from the city.
CAMBRIDGE — The Ahimsa Yoga and Music Festival is set to make its return on Oct. 1, offering a welcoming environment and good vibes for local community members.
The festival will be held at Lakota Farms in Cambridge. It is the first edition of the festival since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and the first under new ownership.
Kristen Zorda, Grace Bishop, and Sonia Shultis became co-owners and co-producers of the festival in 2019, but it was unable to be held in each of the last two years. Zorda said the team is “excited” to host this year.
“We’re off to a great start with our first official year of planning things together,” said Zorda, the owner of Yoga Mandali in downtown Saratoga Springs. “We’re really excited to be able to offer this to the community again.”
Zorda said the goal of the festival is to help people connect.
“We want to bring people together through yoga, and the music, and the sound and the feeling,” said Zorda. “We want to just provide a space for everybody to get together and feel good.”
That space will be at Lakota Farms, with Zorda saying the site is “a really good fit.”
“Our property lends itself to such an unbelievable location for something like this,” said Lakota Farms co-owner Kimberly Finney. “Me and my team love what we do, we’re super excited about the yoga festival. We’re ecstatic they chose our farm this year to do it at.”
The farm is over 200 years old, and consists of 36 acres, Finney said.
“We have outdoor facilities available, indoor facilities available. It’s a gorgeous setting, very quiet and serene,” said Finney. “The main facility is just under 11,000 square feet. They’re going to have classes throughout the building itself.”
The festival will offer many types of yoga, with Zorda mentioning “all levels” of vinyasa yoga, as well as yin, aerial, and bhakti yoga. However, she also said, “Yoga is one part of it, but another huge draw for us is the music.”
“Many of the presenters will have classic Indian instruments that they’re playing and chanting to. It’s called kirtan,” said Zorda. The musical performances will be highlighted by Wah!, a kirtan singer.
The music will be separate from the yoga, Zorda said.
“There are people that will come and they don’t care about the music part at all, they just want to the yoga,” said Zorda. “And then there’s people that don’t care at all about the yoga, and they want the music.”
The festival will also feature a silent disco with a DJ, and host a vendor village with 30-40 vendors offering food, crafts, and more. Zorda also made note of a bonfire ceremony, and a “zen den,” which she described as “a place where you hang out and just chill.”
The festival, which had lasted three days in previous years, will be held solely on Oct. 1 this year. Zorda said the group is “easing back into it with a one-day festival,” with plans of returning to the three-day format in 2023.
“Our goal is just to bring people together in good energy,” said Zorda. “We want to bring people together so that they feel good, and that collective vibe ripples out. People can feel rejuvenated, they can fill their well back up.”
