SARATOGA SPRINGS — Midway through its season, the Spa Catholic Saints basketball team is finding creative ways to overcome a serious disadvantage: height. 

“We’ve played everybody in the league now and we are the smallest team height-wise, and it’s not really close,” said Coach Shea Bromirski. “We basically start five guards.” 

The Saints’ strategy has been to speed up the pace of its games, and force opponents to play faster than they’d like. “To do that, you have to take care of the basketball,” Bromirski said. “If you play fast and turn it over all the time, that’s a recipe for disaster.” 

The squad is also focused on grabbing more rebounds despite missed shots sometimes sailing over their heads. “We have to just swarm to the ball,” Bromirski said. “That’s a challenge for us but we’re getting better.” 

On offense, the Saints use speed to their advantage by getting open looks from beyond the arc. The team has had multiple games with more than 10 three-pointers. All those threes have resulted in the Saints averaging nearly 62 points per game. “We’re a fun watch,” Bromirski said. “This has been one of my favorite seasons I’ve ever had.” 

Less fun was guard Hunter Fales’ recent injury. The junior averaging 8 points per game broke his wrist at the end of December and will be out of action for 5 to 6 weeks. 

Last year, the Saints finished 12-8 in the regular season and were the third seed in the Class C sectionals. Midway through this season, their record stood at 7-4.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The Hannaford supermarket on Weibel Avenue is raising funds throughout January for the Saratoga Lake Protection and Improvement District (SLPID). The SLPID will receive a $1 donation from every purchase of a $2.50 Hannaford Community Bag.

“SLPID is very grateful to be recognized and have the community’s support,” said Cristina Connolly, Executive Director of the organization. “This Program and its contribution will assist in our vital environmental programs and community outreach for the future protection of Saratoga Lake.” 

To learn more about the SLPID, visit www.SLPIDny.gov.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Chad Kiesow, the Chief Operating Officer of Stewart’s Shops, has been elected this year’s Chair of the Board of Directors of the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce. He’ll take over the position from Amy Smith, owner of the Saratoga Arms Hotel. Smith will now become the Immediate Past Chair.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead the Saratoga County Chamber’s Board of Directors in 2024, a year that will undoubtedly be historic as our community prepares to host the Belmont Stakes this coming June,” Kiesow said in a statement. “While Saratoga’s economy has outperformed many other communities in Upstate New York, we realize that the number one challenge facing local employers across every sector is our historic labor shortage and that is why the Chamber will focus much of its time and resources in 2024 on talent recruitment via our online Job Zone and expansion of our Live Like You’re On Vacation talent recruitment campaign.”

The Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors has 27 members. The Chamber has an annual budget of approximately $1.8 million.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Joseph Grillo cut his teeth working at trendy Brooklyn wine shops, and now he’s brought his experience and sensibilities to By the Bottle, a wine store located in downtown Saratoga.

The shop was previously owned by Annmarie Guglielmo, who now works at the Kindred wine bar on Henry Street. Grillow took over By the Bottle in July of 2023. His goal is to create an unpretentious neighborhood shop where customers don’t feel intimidated by wine.

“I just want people to be at ease in the shop and ask questions,” Grillo said. “I’m more concerned with people and building a sense of community.”

By the Bottle offers a large selection of orange wines, as well as biodynamic and organic wines. The shop tends to favor smaller production bottles, hoping to offer customers a unique selection. “There are tens of thousands of wines in the world and I’m happy to represent different things, maybe things people don’t see every day,” Grillo said.

“Everything I have, other than maybe two wines, is between $12 and $40,” Grillo said. “I don’t have a lot of expensive stuff because I think that there’s so much wonderful stuff out there that you don’t have to break the bank to try.”

Grillo previously ran Northside Discount Liquors & Wine in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He still goes there regularly to check in, but is now managing By the Bottle full time. Prior to owning Northside, he worked at Trojanowski Liquor in Williamsburg. “That’s where I learned about wine,” Grillo said.

Grillo and his wife were married in the Spa City twelve years ago, and when the pandemic hit, they decided to move their kids to Saratoga in search of a safer, gentler city. “It has a cinema, it has a beautiful book store, it has Caffe Lena, it has all these great things,” Grillo said. “I do like it up here.”

By the Bottle is located at 11 Spring Street in downtown Saratoga Springs.

SARATOGA SPRINGS — The U.S. State Department estimates that, at any given time, there are 27.6 million victims of human trafficking across the globe. There are even victims right here in Saratoga County. Susana Lehan, the Salvation Army’s Eastern Territory Anti-Human Trafficking Director, knows some of them personally. “This is everywhere,” Lehan said. “This is happening in everyone’s backyard.”

Human trafficking is defined as the use of force, fraud, or coercion to compel a person into commercial sex acts or labor services against his or her will.

To raise awareness of this issue, the Salvation Army is hosting an event on January 11 from 12pm to 3pm at 27 Woodlawn Ave in Saratoga Springs. “There’s not a lot of awareness in the communities and all the counties in this area,” Lehan said.

The Human Trafficking Awareness Day event includes a free lunch and a presentation by Julie Chapus, LMSW. Chapus is from Rochester, New York and works with both hair and nail salons, where trafficking victims often interact with workers. “Those are people that have intimate connections with victims,” Lehan said. Traffickers often bring their victims to salons, where workers can see scars and other signs of physical violence.

Lehan said that evidence of trafficking can be hard to spot, even among trained professionals and police officers. “I’ve been in the field for thirty years and I even was not aware of the nuances until I started working with the clients,” she said. 

Lehan’s Anti-Human Trafficking program at the Salvation Army helps to stabilize victims’ lives with housing, employment, clothing, food, and other basic needs. Since she first began working on this program four months ago, Lehan has already acquired at least twenty clients.

According to Lehan, only about 1% of victims report trafficking to anyone, and reports to law enforcement occur even less frequently. While trafficking can be organized by criminal groups, it can also happen in intimate partner relationships. “Individuals are coercing people to enter these situations that they can’t get out of, and it’s by use of force, coercion, or fraud,” Lehan said. The Polaris Project, a nonprofit that aims to combat human trafficking, estimates that in 2020, 39% of victims were recruited via an intimate partner or marriage proposal. 

The objective of the Human Trafficking Awareness Day event in Saratoga is to bring awareness of this ongoing issue to community members and leaders.

“We’re not asking people to intervene or anything in any kind of situation because it’s dangerous,” Lehan said. “However, we’re asking people to just be aware and to be able to pass on a phone number, and if the client feels safe enough to come to us, they can.”

To contact Susana Lehan, call 518-584-1640 or send her an email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BALLSTON SPA — Stewart’s Shops’ annual Holiday Match program raised $2 million for local children’s charities this year. Customers donated $1 million, with Stewart’s contributing the rest. The money will be distributed over the next few months across New York and Vermont.

“Even during uncertain economic times, our customers continue to amaze me with their generosity,” said Stewart’s COO Chad Kiesow.

Stewart’s Holiday Match fundraiser began in 1986, and has raised more than $38 million since then. According to Stewart’s, the company does not charge any administrative fees, meaning that all of the funds are re-distributed into the community. 

Stewart’s is currently accepting applications for Holiday Match funds until the end of the month. Local 501c3 charitable groups that benefit children can apply online at stewartsshops.com. The funds will be distributed by the end of March.

MALTA — The Ballston Spa Central School District received $16,000 in grant awards from the GLOBALFOUNDRIES-Town of Malta Foundation. The bulk of the funds ($10,000 to be exact) will support the Robotics Team and Competitions. $5,000 will be devoted to Senior Class activities and the annual After Prom event. The final $1,000 will help fund a digital safety program for students and parents.

“We are thrilled to receive the support of the GLOBALFOUNDRIES-Town of Malta Foundation to enhance our programs throughout the district,” said Superintendent Dr. Gianleo Duca in a statement. “We appreciate their ongoing investment in providing the best learning experiences and opportunities for students.”

The GLOBALFOUNDRIES -Town of Malta Foundation funds organizations, programs, and projects that benefit Malta residents. For more information, visit sites.google.com/site/gfmaltafoundationorg/home.

BALLSTON SPA — A Broadway veteran who has appeared in productions of “Wicked” and “Newsies” visited Ballston Spa last month to offer students some pointers on nailing their auditions.

The Ballston Spa High School’s Troupe Booster Club hosted performer Danny Quadrino for an audition workshop that helped students improve their musical talents. Pianist Jesse Cohen-Greenberg accompanied Quadrino.

The Troupe Booster Club sponsored the event with partial funding provided by the Ballston Spa Partnership for Innovation in Education Fund. For additional information on the fund, visit www.bscsd.org/CRPS.

ROUND LAKE — Guilderland grad and Saratoga resident Dylan Collett played baseball at the high school, college, and professional levels. A few weeks ago, he opened the Collett Baseball training facility in Round Lake so that he can pass on his experience to future generations of ball players.

The 8,000-square-foot, all-turf warehouse features some high tech gadgets. “We have the TrackMan sensor, which is a high-end sensor that MLB uses now,” Collett said. “It gives you a tremendous amount of data on every hit and every pitch.” TrackMan allows Collett to analyze and track the development of every player. 

The facility also houses a pitching lab with Plyo Ball throwing, which improves arm strengthening and conditioning. “The beauty of pitching is you’ve got to know a lot about hitting to be a good pitcher,” Collett said. “So I actually give just as much hitting instruction as pitching.”

The bulk of Collett’s playing experience was on the mound, where the southpaw was a starter in college, before coming out of the bullpen in the pros. After three years at Saint Leo University near Tampa, Florida, Collett transferred to UMass Dartmouth, where he finished with a 4-1 record and 4.30 ERA. 

Collett expected to be drafted, but an injury during his senior year put those plans on hold. He took a year off before playing two years of independent pro ball for the Birmingham-Bloomfield Beavers outside Detroit, Michigan. As a reliever, Collett pitched 47.2 innings, earning an impressive ERA of 2.45.

“I ended up going to spring training with the Boston Red Sox the first year of COVID,” Collett said. But when he didn’t receive an invitation from the Sox to return, he decided to retire as a player. “I was kind of old for baseball at that point, for the level I was at,” he said.

Nowadays, Collett instructs all levels of players, from five-year-olds to professionals. He also leads group clinics.“Teams will actually give me five or six pitchers at a time, or five or six hitters at a time,” he said.

By his estimate, Collett has coached at least 100 players so far, with more on the horizon.

The Collett Baseball training facility is located at 17 Wood Road in Round Lake. For more information, visit www.collettbaseball.com.