A debate with legs. 📸 Flower & Fruit pics.

🗓️ Memorial Day Weekend events calendar

May 22, 2026

Apologies for the glitch — some of you are getting this twice. Imperfect end to an imperfect week! Here we go:

This week was a blur: Flower & Fruit, Opera Saratoga’s kick-off, SPAC’s (lobster!) Culinary Arts season finale — and Spit & Spat finally shed their winter protective boxes.

Just in time for a rainy Memorial Day Weekend.

Rest up with a book — or scroll through the Dispatch’s special Memorial Day Weekend events calendar. (I would check in with any event before you attend, to make sure it hasn’t been postponed.)

— Abby

Playing catch-up after a busy week. In today’s issue:

Last night’s Planning Review Meeting gets spicy
📰 IN BRIEF news recap
Party pics! 📸 👒 Flower & Fruit Mission
Featured Events: 📸 Cookin’ It Up: Garden to Table and 🎨 the Tang’s free new tours
Memorial Day Weekend 🗓️ events calendar

‘Frustration’ at last night’s Planning Board meeting caps a hot week of debates

Wowie — as I mentioned, I’m playing catch up after a crazy week, and watching the videos of this week’s City Council (5/19), Design Review Board (5/20), and the Planning Board (5/21) meetings all right in a row was … something.

The common thread: proposed UDO amendments.

Debate over the United Development Ordinance dominated all three meetings, specifically the part “regarding the Design Review Board’s (DRB) authority over historic and architectural districts,” says Saratoga Civic Pulse’s City Council recap.

Tuesday: “Residents expressed deep concerns that the changes would weaken protections for historic homes and alter the city’s character. Conversely, the Mayor argued that the current DRB rules are too rigid and create severe financial hardships for middle-class families trying to maintain their homes (citing a specific ‘slate roof’ dispute).”

Wednesday: Board Members and residents warned “the amendments could weaken historic preservation protections” and had concerns about “loosening historic district standards.”

Thursday: “A major debate emerged around a proposal to shift authority for building height bonuses from the Design Review Board (DRB) to the Planning Board” and “Board members also expressed frustration with the amendment process itself, criticizing the lack of transparency around who drafted the changes and describing the City’s summary materials as overly one-sided.”

I’m not going to call anyone out, but there was a definite disconnect from one meeting to the next, with confusion over if there was even a video of the other meetings to watch.

PSA: There always is.

Definitely a story to watch…

Also at last night’s meeting:

Our friends at Union Gables Inn — a stunnnning (and newly renovated) B&B and home to Libby Supper Club, got a Special Use Permit to expand to a hotel/event venue with conditions: max 13 guest rooms, max 54 (!) events a year, and those events must end by 9:30 p.m. and have max 40 guests. More at — yup — Civic Pulse.

And Regeneron had some success moving forward with its expansion project at 56 Duplainville Rd.

Also at the Design Review Board:

A new sidewalk café at Clancy’s was approved.

A new sidewalk cafe at Bears Cup was delayed.

There was an interesting conversation about a proposed change to a Pitney Meadows farmhouse that — in part — boiled down to historic preservation vs energy efficiency.

📰 IN BRIEF

A North Broadway mansion built during the Gilded Age is back on the market for a whopping $7.2 million, says the Albany Business Review.

And to bring it all home — I need some actual centering after all of the above — the Performance Sanctuary has launched Wellness Wednesdays, starting next week. You can drop in or commit to a membership for the lunchtime experiences that include restorative reiki, resting comfortably in restorative poses and sound healing.

Party pics! Flower & Fruit Mission

Pictures by Cathy Duffy

New food (chicken was fantastic), new vendors — loved seeing Petal + Hive — and as always, new fashions. The Flower & Fruit Mission luncheon was a fabulous kick-off to the season. Teddy Foster had quite the fun table; loved seeing both Gail Stein and Deborah Senft. I also caught up with Ally Meyers, Kate Engert, Marlana Barscz and Morgan Campbell. Talked opera with Becca Beers and Eileen Nedoma, and overall was just wowed by my second time at the treasured fundraiser benefiting William J. Hickey Women’s Health Services at Saratoga Hospital.

Congrats on a truly stellar event!

Beyond Saratoga County: For a listing of events across the greater Capital Region, visit our friends at ishbulletin.com.

HEADS UP

👩‍🍳 Cookin’ It Up: Garden to Table with Caitlin Parwana

Cookin’ It Up is put on by Joanne Dittes Yepsen and Darcy Bofils as part of their new Saratoga Experiences, which curates unique events in Saratoga Springs.

Only 7 spots left!

Join vegetarian chef Caitlin Parwana as she shares her secrets for tasty plant-powered recipes during this entertaining cooking demo at Franklin Square Market.

A vegetarian for nearly three decades as well as an accomplished chef and baker, Parwana combines her passion for healthy cooking with her love of all things green! She has shared that passion with patrons for more than a decade, as a chef at Four Seasons Natural Foods, Saratoga’s OG independent health food store.

Cookin’ It Up is put on by Joanne Dittes Yepsen and Darcy Bonfils as part of their new Saratoga Experiences, which curates unique events here in Saratoga.

Buy your tickets now for this 1 p.m. event on May 31. To grab one of the last spots, visit eventbrite.com.

THIS WEEK

☂️ Rainy day activity: Tang’s free new tours start Sunday

Visitors explore ceramic sculptures in *Kathy Butterly: Assume* at the Tang Museum, Skidmore College. The exhibition is on view through July 26. (Photo by Shawn LaChapelle.)

Rainy day activity alert!

The Tang Museum at Skidmore College kicks off its summer tour season on Sunday (forecast: 100% chance of rain) with a free Tang Guide Tour led by Anne Lowenthal.

After this holiday weekend debut, Tang Guide Tours continue Sundays at 2 p.m. through July 26. The tours are led by Tang Guides, many of whom are Skidmore College students trained as gallery ambassadors and tour leaders.

More info, visit tang.skidmore.edu.

🗓️ Saratoga Springs Events Calendar, May 22 - May 25

Tonight, May 22

🎶 Live Music: Jeff Brisbin — Henry’s Irish Tavern | 5 p.m.

A local legend at a Saratoga institution.

🎶 Live Music featuring Margo Macero — Artisanal Brew Works | 6:30 p.m.

Local musicians to help kick off this holiday weekend.

Saturday, May 23

Garage Sale — 23 Spa Drive | 8-4

From Nextdoor: “HUGE Garage/Estate sale — if we are there we are selling!!! Everything is negotiable in price!”

🇺🇸 Ballston Spa Memorial Day Parade — Ballston Spa | 9 a.m.

Also a non-perishable food drive — collections taken from the VFW Airplane Float and in Wiswall Park.

🇺🇸 Gerald B. H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery’s Memorial Day Ceremony — 10 a.m.

Flags In: 10 a.m. Ceremony: 11 a.m.

Flow on the Farm Yoga — Pitney Meadows Community Farm | 10:30 a.m., Recurring

The Saturday edition of the farm yoga series. An unhurried way to start a weekend.

🧸 Family Story Time — Saratoga Springs Public Library | 10:30 a.m.

Recommended for children ages 0-5 with a caregiver.

🇺🇸 Lake George Memorial Day Parade — 11:30 a.m.

Parade route: Westbrook Road to Lake George Old Courthouse.

🎶 Grillin’ and Chillin’ 2026, Saratoga’s Ultimate Summer Kickoff — Artisanal Brew Works | 12 p.m.

Live music and BBQ.

Teen Dungeons & Dragons — Saratoga Springs Public Library | 1:30 p.m.

An experienced Dungeon Master leads teen participants in the role-playing game of Dungeons & Dragons.

🧸 Grand Opening Celebration: Wilton Mall Studio — Paint and Drip | 6 p.m.

Official (all-ages!) celebration for Paint and Drip’s Wilton Mall studio — including a brand-new Splatter Room and enhanced party zones.

Sunday, May 23

Garage Sale — 23 Spa Drive | 8-4

From Nextdoor: “HUGE Garage/Estate sale — if we are there we are selling!!! Everything is negotiable in price!”

Miles on the Mohawk — Mabee Farm | 8:30 a.m.

Start: Mabee Farm. Finish: Mohawk Harbor.

Nature BINGO — Saratoga Springs Public Library | 9 a.m.

Head to the Children's Room to pick up a Nature BINGO Scavenger Hunt Card. When completed, return for a small prize. No registration required.

🇺🇸 Ezra Trim: Survivor & Patriot - Memorial Day Weekend Program — Grant Cottage Historical Site | 1 p.m.

Discover the amazing tale of Ezra Trim (portrayed by relative Steve Trimm).

🎶 Live Music: Triple Trouble & Special Guests — Artisanal Brew Works | 4 p.m.

A recurring Sunday booking. April 19 features Triple Trouble wsg Selah Daigneault.

🎶 The Wallies — Carson’s Woodside Tavern | 6 p.m.

Live entertainment.

🎶 Live music: Matt Ryan — The Thirsty Owl | 6 p.m.

Live music right in the tasting room.

Galactic Bowling — Saratoga Strike Zone | 11:30 p.m.

Calling all night owls!

Monday, May 25

Goat Yoga — Into the Woods Farm | 10 a.m.

Good for beginners.

🇺🇸 Memorial Day Ceremony — Battlefield Park | 11 a.m.*

*Check the time before you go. Lake George Battlefield Park Alliance’s Memorial Day Remembrance of the four unknown soldiers.

Crawfish Festival — Hattie’s | 11 a.m.

Crawfish by the pound!

🎶 The Ultimates— Carson’s Woodside Tavern | 6 p.m.