By Susan Elise Campbell

People who lose car keys on the golf course or at the beach or campgrounds that are miles from home can now get help from BG Auto Keys in Queensbury.

The company operates a mobile van that serves the North Creek area and Adirondacks down to Saratoga Springs, bringing the right equipment to copy keys or reprogram fobs, according to the company’s founder Brian Granger. 

“We’re not only faster but also cheaper than going to a dealership,” he said.

Granger is a lifelong resident of Queensbury who has two other businesses based in the community. More than 21 years ago he founded BG Lender Services, an automobile repossession company that serves 500 to 600 clients per month. He sells some of the repossessed cars though BG Auto Auction and others online, he said.

His son Quinn is running, managing and growing the business for BG Auto Keys, Granger said, 

“He has been making keys since he was 13 years old,” he said

By Paul Post

Some people are fascinated by notorious underworld figures such as Lucky Luciano who hung out at the casino nightclub where world-famous entertainer Bing Crosby performed.

Others simply like to hang out with friends, take a swim or experience the thrill of being towed behind a powerful boat on an oversized fun tube.

 These are some of the options Daleys Adventure Boat Tours offers with a new service on Saratoga Lake.

 “I grew up on this lake,” said Mechanicville native and company owner Don Daley. “When I was 14 or 15, my uncle had a camp right down the road … We spent our summers here on Saratoga Lake.”

 In 2016, three years into retirement, Daley founded Lake George Island Boat Tours, telling guests about the lake’s history. 

“Eventually people wanted to go swimming, cliff jumping or tubing so we turned it into an adventure,” he said. “Out of 45 tours on Lake George, we’ve been the number-one tour on TripAdvisor for four of the past eight years. The difference between us and other operators is that we customize tours. We let people do whatever they want.”

This year, Daley expanded his company to Saratoga Lake. 

By Paul Post

Ice Castles is planning major changes to its Lake George operation in response to mild, climate-change conditions that pose a major challenge to every winter sports and tourism-related business.

 Officials said more than 60,000 people visited the frosty attraction during its inaugural run two years ago at Charles R. Wood Park’s Festival Commons. But attendance declined during last year’s shortened season, caused by warm, rainy weather that hit 60 degrees in February.

 Instead of a large castle, with up to 35-foot high walls, crawl spaces and icy slides, plans call for a large glycol-cooled skating rink surrounded by colorful light installations, a Polar Pub ice bar and a variety of  ice sculptures.

 The newly designed attraction will be called Winter Realm.

 “Mother Nature hasn’t been very kind to us the past two winters in Lake George, but we’re willing to return because of the overwhelming support from the community, the county, the village of Lake George and all the citizens in the area as well,” said Brad Buehlhorn, Ice Castles East Coast operations manager. “We’ve always received a very warm welcome. That’s the primary reason we’re returning to Lake George this season with a revamped concept. We have experienced more cooperation and collaboration with local officials and businesses than we’ve had in almost any destination we’ve worked with.”

The Hyde Collection has received funding from a long-time supporters of the arts community and museums—Stewart’s Shops and The Dake Family. 

Representatives from Stewart’s Shops recently visited The Hyde in Glens Falls to present a donation of $25,000 that will fund the 2023 educational offerings.

As lead education sponsors for the season, Stewart’s Shops and The Dake Family are the signature underwriters of the overall programming calendar for 2023, which is designed to offer enriching opportunities to all guests, from children and families to art enthusiasts of all interests.

Kate Wilkins, director of development at The Hyde Collection said, “Our educational programs affirm The Hyde’s commitment to enriching the lives of children of all ages and backgrounds throughout our region, and we are thrilled to celebrate Stewart’s Shops and The Dake Family as champions of these efforts.”

“Stewart’s Shops is committed to supporting and giving back to all our Shops’ communities,” said Susan Dake, president of Stewart’s Foundation. “We are proud to be supporting the educational programs at the Hyde Collection which provide opportunities for local children and families to participate in painting and performing arts classes. At Stewart’s, we like to say the arts are an important part of all of us.”

By Christine Graf

Less than one year after Glens Falls native Mike Gerarde established PSG Golf, he and partner Jeff Boss have opened an indoor golf facility at 615 Maple Ave., Suite 2, in Saratoga Springs.

PSG Golf offers golf lessons to students of all ages and skill levels, and their new facility features two golf simulators, a TopGolf simulator, an indoor putting and chipping green, and a bar. 

Before opening his own facility, Gerarde taught lessons at the Luxury Box in Queensbury.

Gerarde began playing golf about 10 years ago while a student at Syracuse University. After graduating and joining his family’s payroll company, Keena Staffing, he found himself entertaining clients on the golf course.

 “The connections you create through the golf course are invaluable, and that’s how I got the idea to start a golf lessons business,” said Gerarde. “A lot of people that I worked with or that I knew didn’t want to get out on the golf course because they thought they weren’t good enough.”

After becoming certified as a golf teacher, he established PSG Golf in July 2022. The business is named in honor of his father, Paul Stephen Gerarde, who passed away when Gerarde was 10.  

Gerarde also previously taught lessons at   Tarks Indoor Golf Center Saratoga. He then partnered with Jeff Boss, a Capital Region native who has been golfing since he was 10.

“Jeff is a tremendous golfer,” said Gerarde. “He was an accountant in Albany, and when I started the lessons business, he wanted to join.”

The Veterans Business Network (VBN) of the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC) is again hosting the Veteran Suicide Awareness & Prevention Walk in downtown Glens Falls on Wednesday, Sept. 13, beginning in downtown Glens Falls City Park.

The event will be held rain or shine.

Veteran resource booths open at 3:30 p.m.  Walk participants will convene at 4 p.m. at the City Park gazebo for a brief greeting. The walk will begin promptly at 4:22 p.m. and end at 4:46 p.m. at the starting point. Each registered participant must donate a minimum $1 per person at the time of event.

After brief greeting remarks, participants will walk a circuit around Downtown Glens Falls for 22 minutes in remembrance of those lost and to raise awareness of the need for prevention. 

In 2021, the VBN partnered with the VFW Post 2475 to organize what was then known as the Stop 22 Walk, an initiative, started in 2018 between the Department of NY Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and the health care company  Humana, to increase awareness of Veterans committing suicide.