Front porch music fest at 6. Adirondackers: It's not the southern pine beetle eating your trees.
Events: Fun runs, fun eats.
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In this edition:
Top: Front Porch Music Fest draws crowd
Mid: Events you won’t want to miss
Bottom: Seeing brown pines? It’s not the southern red pine beetle
Hello everyone: Substack had issues this morning, and so we did not get a “Lunch Break!” email out the door. We apologize, but this one was out of our hands. Thank you for understanding. — Steve Thurston and Abby Tegnelia, co-editors
Lifestyle
Front Porch Music Fest draws hundreds
Great day for the sixth annual show!
By: Stephen Thurston
The weather was perfect for Saturday’s Front Porch Music Festival on Spring Street. Started on porches and in backyards during the COVID pandemic as a way for locals to put some money in the out-of-work-because-of-COVID musicians, the 6th annual event drew a nice crowd of about 600 people, said organizer and Bar People music news aficionado John Griffith.
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His was among the first porches to host the event with other friends on the block between Court Street and Nelson Avenue.
The day raised money for Caffè Lena’s educational classes and for Lena’s Matt McCabe Scholarship Fund. McCabe was a well-loved guitar player and music store owner in Saratoga Springs before he died during the COVID pandemic.
The afternoon was one of camaraderie and friends. Every other porch along the block became the main stage for the event’s musicians, who rotated on and off the stages.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said guitar player Marty Brown. Musicians, of course, go to see each other’s shows at venues around town, but this draws them all together.
“It’s great to see everybody here all at the same time,” he said. “Not a lot of places you can hear 22 musicians in one sitting.”
Events
Three races in one packed day at Pitney Meadows
Oct. 4: Runners of all ages and fitness levels, mark your calendars now for this packed, can’t-miss day for fitness fanatics at Pitney Meadows Community Farm. First up is the beloved Michael J. Pitney Farm Run, which sets off at 9 a.m. Celebrating its fifth year, the 1.7-mile trail loop honors the memory of founding donor Pitney and offers a mixed-surface route — think grass and stone dust that wind through open fields with zero road crossings. An hour later, the Youth ½ Mile Fun Run kicks off at 10 a.m., welcoming all ages. Still not done with running hoopla? The Saratoga Springs High School cross country team’s Saratoga XC Invitational is later that day. Sign up or become a sponsor, here. Information about Saratoga XC Invitational here.
Annual Corks & Cuisine with new beer
Oct. 19, 1-3 p.m.: The annual Corks & Cuisine Wine & Food Tasting event returns this fall, inviting guests to enjoy an afternoon of wine, food and giving back. (Admission is a suggested donation of $40 per person.) This year’s event will take place at downtown’s Forno Bistro and will showcase a curated selection of wines, spirits and craft beers for guests to sample, plus delicious bites from Forno Bistro, Chianti Ristorante and Boca Bistro. The event also marks DZ Restaurants’ launch of Helping HanDZ’ “Richar’DZ Brew,” a West Coast IPA crafted in collaboration with Wolf Hollow Brewing Co. A portion of each beer sold from October through May will go directly to The Richard Bambara Memorial Fund. The beer that gives back will be available at all three DZ Restaurants — the aforementioned Boca Bistro, Chianti il Ristorante and Forno Bistro. Last year’s event raised $12,000, with all proceeds benefiting The Richard Bambara Memorial Fund, which supports Uro-Oncology resident education and research at Albany Medical Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. Pre-register online here.
News
Adirondackers: It’s not the southern pine beetle
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) identified red pine scale in several red pine stands around southern Lake George, they told the Dispatch. The Dispatch reached out after we noticed some browning in various sections of the woods in the Lake George Basin. Pictures on the Lake George NY Boaters Facebook group were discussing it about two weeks ago.
Online chatter said it might have been the red pine beetle, or the southern pine beetle, but the DEC set us straight.
Red pine scale causes flagging (orange to red discoloration) of individual branches until eventually the entire canopy
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