IN THE SPOTLIGHT
C- SPAN crews film Spa City sites for December programs
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y .» The Spa City’s most famous landmarks will be featured in nationally-broadcast C- SPAN programs.
Mayor Joanne Yepsen welcomed production personnel to Saratoga Springs during a Friday press conference at Canfield Casino, one of many sites scheduled for inclusion in a “Cities Tour” series that will air the weekend of Dec. 16- 17 on CSPAN’s Book- TV and American History- TV channels.
Diverse Spa City attractions such as its mineral springs, the Yaddo, Saratoga Race Course and the thriving downtown business district will be highlighted along with places such as Saratoga National Historical Park and Grant Cottage State Historic Site. Film crews are visiting the sites over the next few days.
“We look for small- to midsize cities that have a rich history, a rich community and literary history, too,” said Tiffany Rocque, producer and video journalist.
For example, Grant Cottage is where President Ulysses S. Grant finished his memoirs with help from Mark Twain, and Yaddo artists- in- residence have included 66 Pulitzer Prize winners and a Nobel Prize laureate for literature. Also, Saratoga Springs had a prominent role in Solomon Northup’s book, “Twelve Years a Slave,” which was recently made into an Oscarwinning movie.
Yepsen presented C- SPAN representative Ashley Hill with a copy of the book, “Saratoga Springs: A Centennial History,” which was produced in conjunction with the city’s 100th anniversary in 2015. The book’s editor, Field Horne, will be interviewed extensively for the C- SPAN program.
“We couldn’t ask for a better time to be here with the leaves turning,” Hill said. “I can’t wait to go up on Broadway and try out some of the restaurants.”
C- SPAN, based in Washington, D. C. near Capitol Hill, was founded in 1979 by the cable industry. Its mission is giving the public commercial- free, nonpartisan access to elected officials. C- SPAN 2 and C- SPAN 3 were created in the years since then.
The Cities Tour series was launched in May 2011. Capital Region cable provider Spectrum recommended Saratoga Springs for it.
“It’s terrific that the rest of America can learn what we know so well, that Saratoga Springs is a special place,” said state Sen. Kathleen Marchione, R- Halfmoon. “People care for their community and each other.”
Hill said film crews hope to teach people in other parts of the country not only about Saratoga’s local history, but its place in national and world events, too.
T he Battles of Saratoga, fought 240 years ago this autumn, are considered the Turning Point of the Revolutionary War. The British defeat at Saratoga is what prompted France to ally with America, which helped determined the war’s outcome.
To many people from the Deep South to West Coast, the name New York means one thing – New York City.
“There’s somuchmore to this state and so much specifically right here in Saratoga Springs,” Hill said.
Producers also try to uncover little- known historic tidbits that local residents might not be familiar with, she said.
Saratoga Springs History Museum, Saratoga Springs Public Library’s Saratoga Room, the National Museum of Racing and Saratoga Performing Arts Center will be visited, too. Crews will be in the area through Wednesday.
Literary- themed programming will be on Book TV ( CSPAN2, Spectrumc hannel 226). History programming will be on American History TV ( C- SPAN3, Spectrum channel 227).