Mouzon House's supper club. Galarneau Builders at 45
School notes and a bit more about the horse industry.
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TOP: School starts Sept. 4. More about the horse industry.
BELOW: Labor of Love: Galarneau Builders celebrates 45 years.
BOTTOM: Mouzon House’s supper club — get it before summer is gone.
First Day of School Sept 4
The Saratoga Springs City School District is getting ready to welcome back students. Their website has been updated with new information, links and more.
First day of school is Thursday Sept. 4.
Elementary teacher placement letters will be sent on Monday, Aug. 18, the site says.
Middle and high school student schedules will be live in SchoolTool, on Saturday, Aug. 23. The site says SchoolTool is a student management system for parents and guardians to access their children’s grades, attendance, schedule, and other data.
As we reported earlier, letters to parents of Kindergartners were sent last month telling them which school their child would attend (and how the school chooses schools).
School lunch and busing information along with Student ID can be found there.
The schools’ website has a plethora of information. They also have posted these spiffy family welcome packets for parents and students alike: Family Welcome Packet in English; Family Welcome Packet in Spanish. Find the helpdesk here.
Keep Reading about schools!
City Schools: Debate on school cell phone ban heats up
Participatory budgeting: What schools need to do differently than the city
A bit more on the horse industry
A bit too late for Tuesday’s deadline, an email came in from Karin Bump with the SaddleUP NY! initiative. From a report Bump had provided, we took some data — e.g. nearly 20,000 jobs are tied to the horse industry in the state — for our story about Carrie Woerner leading a tour of the horse industry. We asked about industry trends, and here is what she wrote:
“Beyond standard economic growth change percentages across all industries, I am unaware of any major shifts or changes…that would be anticipated to have any major impact on the overall numbers as reported,” she wrote. “Keep in mind that the report pulls data from two years back to analyze. We had wondered what impact Covid would have had on industry numbers nationwide and the industry continued to grow overall during that time period. True to form, the horse industry remains strong and growing with shifts in sector numbers and involvement over time.”
Labor of Love: Galarneau Builders celebrates 45 years
Positively Saratoga
This exciting Positively Saratoga news is brought to you by our friends at the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce.
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By: Lauren Halligan, Saratoga Chamber
Nearly half a century isn’t enough for Lucien “Lou” Galarneau to get his fill of doing work that he loves.
Luckily, his company Galarneau Builders is thriving, and the entrepreneur is still busy enjoying every minute of it.
The Saratoga Springs-based business is currently celebrating its 45th anniversary, but Galarneau actually wishes that number were smaller. Why? So he’d have more time ahead of him doing what he loves. The secret? “Showing up every day,” Galarneau said. “It’s just being there and enjoying what you do.”
Meeting clients and designing projects for them is undoubtedly his livelihood. Admittedly, this work can keep him up in the middle of the night.
“The design process is always what wakes me up at 2 o’clock in the morning,” he said, noting that this hour is nice and quiet for focusing on design work when living in a home with three children running around.
While luxury homes and subdivisions have been the bread and butter of the company’s portfolio for many years, most recently Galarneau Builders has created a lot of lake houses - on Galway Lake, Lake George and Saratoga Lake. “And they’re not so much vacation homes anymore as [they are] primary residences,” he shared.
While Galarneau personally prefers living closer to the city of Saratoga Springs, he’s happy to design and build wherever his clients choose.
To mark its anniversary milestone, Galarneau Builders was recently presented with a plaque by Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce president Todd Shimkus, who congratulated Galarneau on a dream come true and wished him continued longevity for his company.
“For decades, Galarneau Builders has been proud to create and shape spaces that make our community stronger, and it’s an honor to be part of such a supportive business network,” the company posted on social media. “Here’s to many more years of growth, collaboration, and success!”
Dish Saratoga
The dish on Mouzon House’s supper club–only shift
You’re almost out of chances to savor Mouzon House’s summer flavors — here’s the scoop on its intimate, often sold-out supper clubs.
By: Abby Tegnelia
When the beloved Mouzon House became supper club-only this past winter, it took a little while for word to get around. Now? You’re lucky if you can grab a seat. Tomorrow night is completely sold out, and there are only a very few openings left for Saturday. (Make sure to book as early as possible tomorrow — to reduce waste created by imprecise shopping, last-minute reservations aren’t allowed.)
“People were a little shocked at first because they weren't used to it,” says Kaitlyn Pedinotti, one third of the family business. “But after they experience it, we get rave reviews. The supper club format creates something for people to really look forward to — an experience — instead of just going out to dinner at a restaurant and the night being all about the food.”
The Pedinottis got the idea of forgoing regular restaurant hours in lieu of supper clubs on select weekends after seeing how happy people were during their one-off prix fixe dinners and private events, such as bridal showers and birthday parties. They started doing supper clubs twice a month after a winter break and Valentine’s Day special, before ramping up to three times a month for the summer. They’ve had between about 30 and 50 (their max) come out per night.
Hungry for more Dish on the Saratoga scene? Support coverage of local restaurants with a paid subscription to this independent, reader-supported Substack.
Even though Becca and Kaitlyn grew up working the restaurant life — Mom Dianne and Dad David founded One Caroline in the ‘90s, when Kaitlyn was 7 — they decided that they didn’t want
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