Spa City’s Fourth of July celebration starts on solemn note honoring Pfc. David Taylor Miller

Jul 04, 2010

By: Mareesa Nicosia

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Spa City turned out in red, white and blue Saturday for a parade kicking off the city’s weekend-long Fourth of July celebration.

As usual, there were colorful floats, marching musicians, cheering children and even a harness horse pulling a driver in a sulky.

But this year was different in one major way.

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Latest Headlines

• For Navy wives in Saratoga County, deployments, frequent moves are just part of the lifestyle
  

  Jul 04, 2010

  

  Paola Martin holds down the fort with sons Jaydon, 1, and Landon, 4, as her husband, Petty Officer Brandon Martin, below, prepares for deployment that will keep him away for seven months. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

  SARATOGA SPRINGS — Turning onto Quiet Harbor Road you might be pulling into any cookie-cutter housing development — quiet rows of well-kept homes on tree-lined streets and children laughing in their yards and on playgrounds. The families that live in these houses, however, all have something very distinct in common: at least one member of each family is a member of the U.S. Navy stationed at the nearby Naval Support Unit.

  They are a tight-knit group, despite the fact that families regularly arrive and depart from the neighborhood, based on the whims of the U.S. Navy.

  Jennifer Bennett has lived in Saratoga Springs with her husband, Petty Officer Kristopher Bennett, and their two children, 4-year-old Skyler and 2-year-old Kristopher, for about 15 months. Even though they haven’t received any word that a move is coming, Bennett said she is always in “prepare-to-move mode.”

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• An eye on the past: Ranger Joe Craig a revolutionary sentry at Saratoga battlefield post (with videos)
  

  Jul 04, 2010

  

  Joe Craig, a ranger at Saratoga National Historical Battlefield, mops his brow as he sits, dressed in Revolution-era garb. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

  STILLWATER — Joe Craig was loading Twinkies onto bread trucks when an opportunity came to serve his country and the American people.

  It wasn’t in the military, but another branch of the federal government, the National Park Service. Not long afterward, Craig found himself working at the Statue of Liberty for the 1976 bicentennial celebration, and now he’s a ranger at Saratoga National Historical Park, better known as Saratoga battlefield.

  Today, clad in colonial-era clothing, he’ll be reading the Declaration of Independence where about 20 people from all parts of the world will become new U.S. citizens during naturalization ceremonies scheduled for 10 a.m., at the park.

  “It’s a little reminder of how different the country is from when it was founded,” Craig said. “The Founding Fathers’ ideals are what these people are looking for — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That’s our mission statement when you come down to it.”

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• Saratoga County non-profits find funds through social networking sites
  

  Jul 04, 2010

  

  The reception desk in the lobby of Saratoga Hospital sports a new banner notifying its Facebook and Twitter pages. (ED BURKE/The Saratogian)

  SARATOGA  —  Tweeting, blogging, updating a Facebook status, sharing videos — these social networking actions have become an integral part of the daily routine of professionals in various industries.

  Media outlets are now regularly using free services like Twitter — the microblogging site that allows users to post 140-character “tweets,” or text-based posts, and follow the tweets of other subscribers — to report breaking news and drive traffic to their home sites.

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• Lengthy naturalization process a small price to pay for some Saratoga County residents
  

  Jul 04, 2010

  

  David Hernandez, the head chef at Circus Cafe in Saratoga Springs, proudly became an American citizen for the sake of himself and his three children. (ERICA MILLER/The Saratogian)

  SARATOGA SPRINGS — People rock to the Bruce Springsteen song, “Born in the USA,” while taking the privilege of citizenship for granted.

  Not David Hernandez, the head chef at Circus Café on Broadway.

  Hernandez is a Mexico City native and one of the millions who have gone through the lengthy and somewhat challenging naturalization process to become a U.S. citizen.

  He did it not just for his own benefit, but so that his three children could have a better life, too.

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• Ben Franklin Day at The Saratogian: A ‘Declaration of Independence’ from newsroom software (with video)
  

  Jul 04, 2010

  The Sunday, July 4 print edition of The Saratogian should look the same as always — if all went according to plan.

  But it wasn’t put together in the usual way.

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