Siro’s for 💸 $100 please
PLUS 3 great reasons to leave your 🥶 house this frigid snow squall of a weekend.
Hey, Dispatchers!
Sorry about skipping yesterday — anyone else having a rough time ✈️ with travel right now?
After my last debacle watching a first-time dad pace the aisle as his wife waited at the hospital, this week, my trials were more Hollywood, less Hallmark.
Think jungle airport 🔥 fire, a mad dash to Miami, customs avoidance and then making it to safety in Atlanta — which is still kinda far from home.
I’m exhausted, tan and adjusted to 85-degree weather.
And yet — not even a ❄️ pre-polar vortex snow squall could keep me from this weekend’s activities. See you out there, Saratoga!
—Abby
🎥 Siro’s for $100 please
‘The whole town was rooting for us,’ says director/star Miranda Rae Hart of shooting her film ‘Off to the Races’ in Saratoga.
When Albany Academy graduate Miranda Rae Hart decided to make her first feature film, she didn’t wait for a studio, a grant or anyone’s permission. She came home to Saratoga Springs, called in every favor she could think of, and built a production out of friends, locals and the kind of community support you only get in a place that genuinely wants you to succeed.
“We’re in the waiting game now,” she says — the limbo between finishing a film and waiting to hear from festivals. The movie, titled Off to the Races, already carries the fingerprints of the region that raised her.
Hart shot most of the film — a rom-com homage to 1940s screwball comedies — in her parents’ Saratoga home, a Victorian that required little more than a few trash bags taped over the windows to transform into a set. She expected neighbors to complain; instead, they asked questions and offered help. “Everyone was pleasantly curious,” she says. “It felt like the whole town was rooting for us.” That support extended far beyond the block.
The director/star actor/writer is vocal about wanting to show a version of upstate New York that rarely makes it onscreen — one that’s intellectual, artistic and culturally alive. “People think of upstate and picture farms,” she says, and sometimes forget that this area is also a center for the arts.
Hart calls herself a “history snob,” and it shows. The film leans into Saratoga’s Victorian character, manicured gardens and old‑world charm. In other words, she didn’t need to build sets; Saratoga already had them. “Saratogians take pride in their houses and their gardens,” she says. “Everything we needed was already here.”
Off to the Races centers on a woman who does exactly what she wants — a sleuth‑journalist type who inserts herself into the drama she’s supposed to be observing. Hart describes the tone as “fast, witty and a little old‑timey,” with dialogue that nods to Gilmore Girls.
The cast includes fellow Capital Region native Lucas Aurelio, who was featured on Season 3 of Bridgerton. Hart remembers hearing about him years ago — her cousin was dating someone who knew him — and thinking he’d be famous one day. Bringing him into the project felt like a full‑circle moment.
Now that the film is finished and the festival submissions are out, Hart is back to waiting. But she’s clear on one thing: the movie couldn’t have been made anywhere else.
“This is a story of human positivity,” she says. And Saratoga gave her every reason to believe in that.
While we wait…
See you at the 🎥 Saratoga Film Showcase, beginning tomorrow!
Here are all the details:
📰 IN BRIEF
New unit targets drugs, trafficking and illegal guns
A new investigative unit targets narcotics, sex and human trafficking, and illegal handguns in Saratoga County, reports Channel 6’s Sam Israel. The new initiative was needed due to the drag landscape’s shift over the past decade. “Local health experts say the growing presence of dangerous substances, particularly fentanyl and methamphetamine, underscores the need for a coordinated law enforcement response,” says the outlet.
Saratogian at Sundance
Documentary filmmaker — and native Saratogian — Sharon Liese is premiering her film Seized this Sunday, at the very last Sundance Film Festival taking place in Park City, Utah (oh the memories!), reports the Times Union. “I just started crying when I got the call,” Liese told the outlet’s Paul Grondahl. “It is a thrilling moment for a filmmaker.”
Phinney wins award
Saratoga’s own Phinney Design Group won a coveted Best in Building Award from the Capital Region Builders & Remodelers Association, reports the Times Union. The group won for Turtle Rose, a custom Lake George residence. Congrats.
For a more exhaustive aggregate of Saratoga news, please subscribe to my partner Saratoga Report for a morning run-down that’s emailed daily!
🎰 RSVP by tomorrow for this night of mobster fun
Former police chief Greg Veitch will reveal Saratoga’s salacious mobster past this Monday night, at a meeting of the Saratoga Torch Club. (Reserve your spot by tomorrow.) It all started when Veitch was “stopped cold,” when he found a cold case file from 1936, writes the Smartacus Substack. “Inside,” they continue, “was a story that echoed something Veitch had heard growing up: a half-whispered family tale about a relative who may have been riding with gangsters on the night of a killing.”
Dinner is served starting at 5:30; Veitch goes on at 7, Monday, Jan. 26 at the Saratoga Springs Holiday Inn. Grab your spot by tomorrow, by contacting Richard Lynch at torchman999@gmail.com.
🧊 Ice Ice Baby
Funky Ice Fest turns 10 this weekend – with an icy homage to the legendary Studio 54. The Adirondack Pub & Brewery’s disco-themed party runs for two weekends, beginning tomorrow. On January 23–24 and January 30–31, drink to “a decade of ice sculptures, music, cocktails, and unforgettable winter vibes.” Insider tip: disco attire is encouraged, but dress warmly — although inside will be nice and toasty.
Admission and parking are free. The Pub will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., with the outdoor ice bar and dance party running 4–9 p.m. each day.
📌 ICYMI…
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Glad to hear about these filmmakers and their projects