Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park
President’s Annual Report – December 2025
Introduction
In August 2025, I had the privilege of stepping into the role of Acting President of the Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park alongside a new Vice President. I am grateful for the
dedication of those who have served the Friends group before me, and I look forward to continuing this work together in support of Saratoga Spa State Park.
While this report reflects the full year, recent months have provided an opportunity for the board to come together, reaffirm our shared commitment to the Friends group’s mission, and look ahead with a renewed spirit of collaboration. We remain focused on being a strong and reliable partner to the park and a welcoming community for all who care deeply about Saratoga Spa State Park.
Our Mission and Purpose
The Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park exists to enhance, preserve, and promote the park through volunteer support, advocacy, and community engagement. In 2025, we focused on positioning the organization to fulfill that mission today, while also preparing to thoughtfully revisit it in 2026 so it continues to reflect our purpose moving forward and for generations to come.
2025 Highlights and Accomplishments
The Friends group supported park events this year through volunteer efforts, committee work, and outreach, starting on January 1 with the First Day Hike and continuing with I Love My Park Day, Fish Stocking Day, and the Candlelight Walk.
During this time, we focused on infrastructure and operations that strengthened our organization. We updated our website to improve public visibility and clearly communicate who we are, what we do, and how the community can get involved. We implemented Zeffy as an online membership and volunteer system, making it easier to
join and engage with the Friends group. We also restored and organized our use of Google Workspace and administrative tools, improving internal coordination and professional communications.
Just as important, we reinvigorated our focus on collaboration within the board and with the Saratoga Spa State Park team. We are grateful for the partnership and guidance of park leadership and staff, whose passion and expertise continue to shape our shared success.
In October, the Friends group organized an Invasive Species Removal and Trash Pickup event along the wetland trail, bringing together over a dozen volunteers to collect 10 bags of trash and remove invasive plants. The event brought board members and volunteers together in support of the park and demonstrated the Friends group’s ongoing commitment to stewardship.
In November, the Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park debuted a Holiday Display at the Avenue of the Pines, engaging the community through ornament-making sessions and a tree-lighting ceremony that celebrated the season, honored loved ones, and will contribute lasting live trees to the park landscape. This inaugural event reflects the type of meaningful, community-centered programming the Friends group hopes to expand in the coming year.
Committee Activity
Much of our work continues through dedicated member-led committees that reflect the diverse interests and assets of the park.
The Garden Committee, led by Kathy Dugan, provided consistent stewardship of multiple garden areas within Saratoga Spa State Park throughout the 2025 season through regular volunteer efforts and special events. See below Garden Committee Report for more details.
The History Committee, led by Linda Harvey, directed a tour of Lincoln Park on South Broadway that was co-sponsored with the Saratoga Springs Preservation Foundation. The tour included a discussion on the history of the carbonic gas plants in this area, to the creation and tour of the Washington and Lincoln Bath Houses. The goal of this committee is to advance efforts to preserve and interpret the rich history and architecture of Saratoga Spa State Park.
The Tennis Committee, led by Chip Friends, supported a successful 2025 season of play, donations, and tournaments.
The Golf Committee, our newest committee established in July and led by Director-at- Large Barb Wurz, launched with strong leadership and early engagement. See below Golf Committee Report for more details.
Organizational Development and Priorities
This period was dedicated to strengthening the organizational foundation of the Friends group through leadership stabilization, volunteer re-engagement, and early conversations about governance and long-term planning.
In the near term, our priorities include raising awareness of the Friends group, building our volunteer and membership base, and clearly communicating what members gain when they join. This includes community, camaraderie, a deeper connection to the park, meaningful opportunities to contribute, and special members-only events. We also plan to explore outreach opportunities through closer collaboration with park partners, local organizations, community events, and expanded programming within the park.
We would like to re-establish the Friends Ambassador Program in 2026, creating new opportunities for members to serve as welcoming representatives of the organization. This program will also support broader outreach as we revisit our mission and engage new audiences.
Looking Ahead
Our elected Executive Committee for 2026 is comprised of Allison Andritz, President; Kathy Dugan, Vice President; Peter Desmond, Treasurer; and Linda Harvey, Secretary.
As 2025 winds to a close, we are pleased to be working together as a board to shape future plans that support the park, engage our community, and sustain the Friends group for the long term. Moving into 2026, our focus is on building a framework that will support the Friends for years to come. Planned efforts include recruiting passionate members and Committee/Task Force leads to help us expand our volunteer efforts. Members interested in leading or supporting a committee or project are encouraged to
please reach out to one of us.
The Board will review and update the organization’s bylaws, revisit and refine our mission statement, and continue development of a five-year plan to guide priorities, partnerships, and resource allocation. We will explore grant opportunities, internships to support park projects and Friends operations, and partnerships with local businesses, schools, and cultural organizations.
This work will be collaborative, deliberate, and inclusive, and it reflects our commitment to long-term stewardship of Saratoga Spa State Park.
Appreciation and Call to Action
I would like to thank our committee leaders, volunteers, board members, donors, and our partners at New York State Parks for their continued dedication to Saratoga Spa State Park. Your time, ideas, and energy make this organization possible. I also appreciate the confidence placed in me through the nomination process and look forward to continuing this work together.
Thank you for making 2025 an exciting and productive year for the Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park! To continue our efforts in preservation, maintenance, and support of the park, we invite your generosity and involvement.
Please visit friendsofsaratogaspastatepark.org or email
[email protected] for more information, to donate, or to become a member.
We wish you and yours health and happiness and look forward to a bright and
collaborative 2026.
Committee reports are included on the following pages.
Respectfully submitted,
Allison Andritz
President, Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park
Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park
Garden Committee Annual Report
April 2, 2025 – October 27, 2025
Garden volunteers maintained the following gardens in the park this season:
Pollinator – surrounding the playground next to the Peerless Pool building
Creekside Classroom Building – front and back
Garden in front of Hayes Spring, affectionately called the Spouter garden
Coesa – enter through the SPAC parking lot and continue to the fence at the far right
Bruno – pavilion in front of the Par 29 golf course building, across from the Automobile Museum
Work began in the pollinator garden on April 2nd with Valerie and Jeff Robinson and I pruning the Ninebarks and Red Twig Dogwoods. These plants had never had a hard prune and were in desperate need of attention. This took one, three hour session and a second, one hour session (12 hours) to complete.
On April 15, 2025, a meeting was held with the garden volunteers and park staff to discuss the goals for the season. Dan Lynch, long time lead of the group, announced he was stepping down as lead and asked who would like to take over. It was later decided that Valerie Robinson and I would share the role as leads, with me being responsible for all communication with the park staff.
Weekly work officially started on I Love My Park Day, May 3, 2025, with several volunteers working in the pollinator garden raking, including two Girl Scout troops (who contributed a total of 32 volunteer hours during the season), and clean up and planting Pansies at Bruno. The park provided 50 garden debris bags and the Pansies, 30 bags were used that day with the remaining being used by the end of May. The park provided 25 more bags at this time and the
Friends purchased 50 more in July, 27 of which remain for next season.
During the season we had a total of 16 regular volunteers who spent time helping maintain the gardens for a total of 465 hours. We worked one day a week in the pollinator garden and a second day a week in the Creekside, Spouter and Bruno gardens. Dan Lynch led a group at Bruno each week while Val and I led a group in the other gardens.
Work at the Coesa garden was done occasionally beginning in June. This garden was heavily infested with Poison Ivy and many of the original plants did not survive from the initial planting in April, 2024. Many invasive plants have moved in and will need to be addressed in the upcoming season. In August, eight (8) Black Eyed Susan plants were added to the original garden and nineteen (19) more were added to a new area on the south side of the building in memory of Susan Fassett, with funds received by the Friends for that purpose. I worked with Susan’s family members to put the memorial plan together.
Mulch was used in the Bruno and Creekside gardens. A total of three bags were used, two (2) being purchased by the Friends at a cost of $189.00 each, and one (1) being donated by the vendor, Saratoga Sod. This amount will be needed again next season. Additional annual flowers, mostly Zinnias, were purchased by the Friends for the Bruno garden costing about $76.00 in late May to replace the spent Pansies. More Zinnias and five (5) annual
grasses were donated by Dan, Rochelle, and Phil Wheeler. These were maintained by us and continued to look beautiful until the end of the season.
The gardens and our volunteers were featured in the MG Spotlight section of the June issue of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners newsletter. On June 11, 2025, seventeen (17) new plants were purchased by the park and added to the pollinator garden as discussed the season before. We had fifteen (15) high school students and two (2) adults help us spread
compost and mulch purchased by the park over the many garden beds later the same day as part of their Senior Give Back Day for a total of 38 volunteer hours. They were a huge help.
In August, the eighteen (18) of the Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners toured our gardens for their monthly staff meeting. Final clean up, which included removing or cutting down the annuals and cutting down some perennials took place on October 27, 2025.
In sum, the 2025 season was a great success with 41 volunteers in total, 61 work days and 536 hours spent in the gardens. I am looking forward to another great season next year.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Kathy Dugan on December 7, 2025
Friends of Saratoga Spa State Park
Golf Committee Annual Report
June of 2025 I attended my first Friends’ meeting, received a very warm welcome and decided that I wanted to become involved. At the July 15th meeting I was appointed to the board as a Director at Large for Golf.
I spent the next few weeks introducing myself to Jonathan and creating communication between him, Alan, and myself. They both were very receptive to suggestions for improvements to the Par 29 course. Through discussions and emails, I learned that there were projects that were to be done by the park staff, and others that were the responsibility of the golf course General manager.
There was no meeting in August, it was concert season, and activities in the park and golf courses were at full capacity.
The conclusion of the season resulted in a discussion of what we would like to accomplish next year.
To sum up what was done in my short time span of 2025 was getting to know the Park staff, and the General Manager of the Championship Golf course. We are looking ahead and planning for the 2026 golf season. See our goals below.
*Install a handrail on the steps of hole one for safety.
*Make wooden boxes for broken tees and place them by the tee boxes of all holes.
*Preserve the starters’ station by repairing the siding and painting it. It has been suggested that we could seek out Friends volunteers to assist with the sanding and painting.
*Repair broken benches, trim around those that need it and move those, if possible, closer to the tee boxes. Purchase new benches and seek possible donations from golf leagues.
*Have ball washers at every odd numbered hole.
*Continue the conversation regarding updating of the locker room facilities.
*Seek funding for continuing improvements by pursuing possible grants that may be available.
*Help to increase Friends membership by reaching out to league golfers.
*Get signage for the Par 29 Starter’s Station
Submitted by Barb Wurz on December 15, 2025
