What Caught Our Eye 4/20/19

April 20, 2019

The Oklahoma Training Track opens and the first signs of summer
are everywhere in Saratoga Springs.

HAPPY EASTER AND HAPPY PASSOVER. May this be for you a season of renewal, liberation and joy.

FIRST, LET'S CHECK THE NUMBERS:

$1.24 Billion: The astonishing amount wagered at Rivers Casino in Schenectady in 12 months. http://bit.ly/RiversOfBets

1.6 Million Plus: The numbers of people expected to fly out of Albany International Airport in 2019. http://bit.ly/AlbanyFlightNumbers

4.8: The percentage of population growth in Saratoga County in the last 10 years. Forty-six of New York’s counties lost population. http://bit.ly/GrowingSaratogaCounty

150: The number of UFO sightings in Albany County in the last 18 years.   http://bit.ly/AlbanyUFOCount

9500: The number of Upstate New Yorkers awaiting organ donations. Find out here how to lower this number. http://bit.ly/WaitingforOrgans

12.1: The percentage of metered U.S. homes watching Tiger play the 18th hole last Sunday.  http://bit.ly/GolfNumbers

12: Where it all flipped for Tiger Woods. http://bit.ly/TigersTurningPoint

17.4 Million: The number of viewers watching the eighth season premiere of “Game of Thrones,” where Dungeons and Dragons meets “The West Wing.” http://bit.ly/AtopTheRatingsGameThrone

52,700: The number of New York City kids on waiting lists to get into Charter Schools.  http://bit.ly/WaitingOnCharterSchools

KENNY COMPOUND: Frank Dittrich probably would have made a great gym teacher. But computers and finance took him on a different journey, to a successful corporate life. Now, he and his family are The Kennys of Lake George, leading investors and operators of hotels, restaurants and entertainment enterprises and dedicated champions for tourism. http://bit.ly/KennyCompound

NOT THE BRAND WE IMAGINED: HBO is producing a documentary on NXIVM, the sex-slave cult that masqueraded as a self-improvement outfit turned sex cult in the Capital Region. http://bit.ly/NXIVMMovie

NAMIC SALE: NAMIC is a cornerstone of the medical instrument industry in the Glens Falls area.  Its owner, AngioDynamics, announced this week it is selling the NAMIC fluid management business and one of its Glens Falls-area plants to Medline, a privately held Chicago company that plans to keep the Glens Falls plant in operation and grow the business. http://bit.ly/NAMICPropertySale

A RIVER, A WALL AND THE WOOD: Humanizing the polarizing debate over The Wall, a new film featuring Glens Falls native and wildlife biologist Heather Mackey follows five friends on an unforgettable journey along the Rio Grande as they meet landowners, border patrol agents, immigrants, scientists and congressmen living daily what the rest of the country debates. See the exclusive showing of “The River and The Wall” at Glens Falls’ Charles R. Wood Theater. http://bit.ly/RiverWallWood

PAR FOR THE COURSE: New York is considering allowing cash-strapped local governments to tax private golf courses at their highest and best value, likely residential development. Fore! http://bit.ly/ParForTheCourse

MADE IN COHOES: A Cohoes company is building New York’s largest water park, which is just about to open in the Catskills, with 11 water attractions, an all-suite upscale hotel and seven restaurants. http://bit.ly/NYsLargestWaterWorld

SOUNDS OF STONEWALL: A preeminent creative force in jazz, composer and pianist Fred Hersch, is coming to Saratoga Springs, at the invitation of Caffe Lena and SPAC. His memoir, “Good Things Happen Slowly,” recounting his experience as an openly gay, HIV-positive man, was named one of “2017’s Five Best Memoirs” by both The New York Times and The Washington Post.  Two Hersch concerts will commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.  http://bit.ly/StonewallsSound

THE EDDYS: A Standing O for Proctors and The Collaborative for their inaugural Thomas Edison Music Awards honoring Troy Savings Bank Music Hall and Caffe Lena, journalist Mike Hockanadel, promoter/producer Mona Golub, photographer Andrzej Pilarczyk, and local artists Rich Ortiz, Garland Nelson and Soul Session, Albany Symphony, Girl Blue, PJ Duo, Let’s be Leonard, Trumaster, High Peaks Sound, Wild Adriatic, and the McKrells. See who else made the list. http://bit.ly/TheEddys

BLUE SKIES AT THE BLUE NOTE: Vinyl’s back and Albany’s magical Blue Note record shop is rocking, swaying, bee-bopping and gettin’ down with every hit since the 40s. http://bit.ly/BlueNotesBlueSkies

Woodstock, Vt. (seen here) — along with Stockbridge, Mass., and Cold Spring, N.Y. —
made House Beautiful's list of the "most beautiful small towns in America" (FreeFoto.com)
 

BEAUTIFUL BURGS: Stockbridge, Mass., home of the Red Lion Inn and the Norman Rockwell Museum; Woodstock, Vt., home of the Woodstock Inn, Suicide Six and the Billings Farm, and Cold Spring, N.Y., home of Bannerman Castle and the Hudson Highlands, make the list of Most Beautiful Small Towns in America. http://bit.ly/SmallTownAccollades

WELCOME TO THE CAMPTONS: Borscht Belt? Baloney. The Hudson Valley is the new Hamptons. Where do you hail the Jitney? http://bit.ly/TheCamptons

SAME GREAT TASTE: The oldest brewer in New York pops the top on a new look for its oldest coldies. http://bit.ly/SameGreatTaste

SELL NO WINE…: It must be time. Constellation Brands got its start in the Finger Lakes. Now, it’s selling one of the wineries where it all began. http://bit.ly/WineCutoff

BETTER LATE: James McCord died two years ago. The obit is just now appearing.  http://bit.ly/JustNowLearning

PRICE OF NICE: Culture eats strategy for lunch, they say. But sometimes culture can be too nice, thank you. http://bit.ly/SlowedByNiceness

MORE THAN THE BOWLING SCORES: When local newspapers disappear, fewer people run for elective office.  http://bit.ly/FewerPapersFewerCandidates

LEAVE COLD HARD CASH: The 10 family treasures your kids don’t want. http://bit.ly/SkipTheSilver

'THIS IS BIGGER THAN ME:' Jessica Mendoza isn’t the first woman in baseball, but she is making history. The first female broadcaster in the booth for ESPN’s College World Series coverage, the first female commentator for a Major League Baseball game on ESPN, and the first female commentator in MLB postseason history. http://bit.ly/AMajorListofFirsts

YOUR NAME AGAIN? Why do some people have a knack for remembering names, dates, and drinks? http://bit.ly/DontForgetTheseTips

IT AIN’T GOOD LIVIN’? If there’s one thing they’ve learned in 100 years, it’s how to keep their own counsel. http://bit.ly/LongLivesLastingSecrets

CHECK YOUR MATH

Doubting Thomas, a regular reader from Vermont, spied our over-zealous description of the size of the Adirondack Park in our April 6 issue. The Blue Line encompasses a massive area, but it's not larger than Death Valley, Yellowstone and Smoky Mountain National Park combined. When combined, those three are a couple of hundred square miles larger than the Adirondack Park. But only when they team up.

THE SIGNOFF

FIRST THING MONDAY: Is there a better day of the week to fill your tank. USA Today and Gasbuddy think so. http://bit.ly/FillUpOnMondays

PLEASE SHARE: Feel free to pass this along to your friends and colleagues.

THANK YOU to our content contributors John Brodt, Bill Callen, Lisa Fenwick, Colleen Potter, Tina Suhocki and Bill Richmond.

FACING OUT: FACING OUT is what we do. We help companies, organizations and individuals work effectively with their most important external audiences – their customers, their shareholders, their communities, the government and the news media.  www.behancommunications.com

Facing Out features news and other nuggets that caught our eye, and that we thought might be of value to you, our friends and business associates. Some items are good news about our clients and friends, others are stories that we hope will leave you a bit more informed or entertained than you were five minutes ago. As always, we welcome your ideas and feedback. 

Let’s make it a conversation: mark.behan@behancom.com

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