| Marian Bigelow moved up from New York City 25 years ago for a job as a pastry chef at Mrs. London's Bake Shop
in Saratoga Springs.
During her five years there, Bigelow created -~ then-Gov. Hugh Carey's Grand Marnier wedding cake with her co-worker, Tim Hangarter. "Boy, was that a big cake," Bigelow recalled. Now 51, the graduate of the Culinary Institute of America is still baking wedding cakes, but she's doing so much more - as a volunteer. "I really believe in volunteering for your community. There's so many things people can do. It makes the community better. That's how you become part of the community. "It's a very important part of life," Bigelow said. - Her son Adam, now 19, was in first grade at Schuylerville Elementary School when Bigelow helped plan, design and construct two new playgrounds - one for grades K-3 and one for 4-6. Then she joined forces with Sue Joki to Create the Arts in Education Program at Schuylerville, which brings artists into the school to enrich the curriculum with music, plays, authors and painters. "It's grown; it's a huge program now. I've retired," Bigelow said. She has taught other schools to set up similar programs, and she served on the BOLES advisory board for arts in education as well as the Saratoga Arts Council committee that gives arts-in-education grants. Today, she's still involved in the school, serving on the advisory committee for Schuylerville Junior-Senior High School, where her son Robin, 15, is in 10th grade. But now Bigelow has a new pursuit: She can be found with a hammer or paint brush helping to renovate homes and nonprofit agencies as a board member and public relations chairperson of the newly-formed Rebuilding Together Saratoga County. |
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