Using bicycles to paint pictures is not some crazy new workout regime, but a fun activity people can do at this year’s First Night Saratoga.
The festival, throughout much of downtown Saratoga Springs, is just one of the many ways the Capital Region celebrates New Year’s Eve.

Ask for help decorating a beautiful old home for the holidays and there’s a good chance you’ll be overrun with volunteers.
At county historical societies throughout the Capital Region this time of year, the appeal for assistance is always heard and heeded, and as a result a wonderful 19th- or 18th-century piece of architecture always looks its finest during the month of December.

Beautifully decorated Christmas trees will be on display this holiday season at festival events throughout the Capital Region.

The Christmas Eve dinner in many Italian-American households receives more attention than any other holiday dinner, even Christmas dinner itself.

On the 25th day of Kislev, Jews around the world will light a candle to rededicate their faith in God and in themselves, symbolically relighting their souls as well.
The observance lasts eight days and is known as Hanukkah, or the Festival of Lights. It commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BC. The holiday follows the lunar calendar and begins on Dec. 1 this year.

In spite of a volatile economic climate and unprecedented instability in employment nationwide, a spirit of charitable giving and goodwill is alive and well again this holiday season in the Capital Region.

Children growing up in the Adirondacks during the 1930s could always count on snow, wind and cold air.

When my daughter Margot was tiny, we got a CD of “The Nutcracker Suite” by Ilyich Pyotr Tchaikovsky, with a storybook to go with it.
The book followed along with the music (Now Clara and her family join in Grandfather’s favorite dance. Now Fritz grabs the nutcracker and breaks it. Now Clara and her nutcracker prince enter the Land of Sweets) and soon we all had the story and music ingrained in our brains.