SARATOGA SPRINGS – I visited Saratoga for a good part of Wednesday, and was happy to go exploring after giving a presentation in the afternoon about farmworkers.

The American Farm Bureau Federation has a three-day Promotion & Education Conference in Saratoga. I was asked to drive out and talk about my experiences in 2008, working with farmworkers from Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti.

I gave my presentation and headed out for a look around the city. Saratoga is home to a race track, and there is horse-themed stuff everywhere, including horses mounted on top of buildings. Many businesses work horses and horse-related logos into their names.

There are horse images on numerous city signs, including those for public parking (they put a horse logo on that). One of their bike racks utilized part of an cast-iron hitching post. It was mounted in the sidewalk. I thought that was pretty cool.

The city has 34 fiberglass horses sprinkled all over town and all in different themes. Batavia has some of these, too. They look nice, and every one seems to have someone gawking at it, taking a photo.

I think a lot of us associate Saratoga with horses. But I didn’t know the city is home to the National Museum of Dance. The museum wanted some recognition, and didn’t just want people to think horses whenever Saratoga was mentioned. So the museum this year did its own public art project.

There are 5-foot-high fiberglass pointe shoes all over the city, 24 in all and many have a funky painting pattern.

I drove around hoping to see the famous race track but I couldn’t find it and got sick of the traffic. So I wandered around on foot and came across a bronze jockey on a bronze horse. It’s right on the main street in the business district.

I thought that was a smart move putting the sculpture right on the main drag, rather than in front of the race track.

Saratoga also has a history steeped in minerals. They have some nice public displays about their mineral industry. I took photos, trying to get some ideas for how we could better show off our Medina sandstone roots in Orleans County.

There are several Orleans County officials in Saratoga for a few days this week. The New York State Association of Counties has its annual meeting, and the group picked a Saratoga hotel to meet and develop its agenda for the coming year. I happened to see Jay Gsell, the Genesee County manager, out for a walk on Wednesday evening. We chatted in front of the horse hitching post/bike rack.

Photos by Tom Rivers – A monument to Civil War hero General Philip Henry Sheridan was erected next to the state capitol building in Albany.

ALBANY – I don’t have a bucket list of things I must do before I die, but if I did a trip to Albany to see the Million-Dollar Staircase would certainly be on it. Consider that one checked off.

Today I was in Albany with the main mission to see the staircase. It’s awesome. As a Medina sandstone enthusiast, the staircase in the state capitol building has left me in a near state of shock. I will write more on this in a separate “Sandstone Heritage” feature.

But I will give you a couple teaser photos before you get the full treatment. The staircase took more than a decade to build, and required hundreds of stonecutters to carve the faces of famous presidents and Americans in columns throughout this staircase.

What a bold move by the state leaders back then, pushing to tell American history through carvings in stone. I will have more on this, but you’ll have to wait.

I’m not a guy who likes driving in cities, and it took a meandering journey to get to the capitol this morning. My indirect route showed that Albany is loaded with Medina sandstone, and these buildings from the mid to late 1800s seem particularly fancy, reflections of the Empire State when New York was a powerhouse and the state capitol was overflowing with wealth.

That is clear in the state capitol building. The sprawling stone structure took 32 years to build. It was finally done in 1899 and cost $25 million. That would be about a half billion now. The building is designated as a National Historic Landmark.

One of the architects for the state capitol, Henry Hobson Richardson, had already designed the Richardson Complex in Buffalo, a massive building made of Medina sandstone. That building is considered one of the finest architectural marvels in the country. Richardson loved Medina sandstone and I bet he pushed to have so much with the state’s signature staircase. (Click here for a story on the Richardson Complex.)

Before I got to the capitol building, I encountered a statue of “Sheridan” on a horse. General Philip Henry Sheridan was a celebrated Civil War hero. He was also an Albany native and the city wanted to honor its native son.

A commander of the Union Army of the Shenandoah Valley, Sheridan is best remembered for 20-mile gallop on his famous horse Rienze. Sheridan rallied his retreating troops to victory at Cedar Creek, Va. His cavalry also blocked General Lee’s escape at Appomattox.

The monument was dedicated in Capitol Park on October 7, 1916.

Photo by Cheryl Wertman

GASPORT – During Tuesday’s boys soccer game with Medina against Roy-Hart, Orleans Hub photographer Cheryl Wertman captured this ultralight in flight over the field in Gasport.

The lightweight aircraft and its pilot “seemed to be up enjoying the great weather,” Wertman said.