Inside Press

Suburbia Roller Derby does not need a Jimmy Dugan to dissertate on the incompatibility of skating and crying. But when it’s more than hurt feelings at stake, a salty discharge is certainly tolerated in the “league” Yonkers calls its “own.” One need only look to Chappaqua Mom and Suburban Brawl Jammer, Jane “Lesley E. Visserate” McManus, for the answer.

“Cry,” she said of breaking her tailbone in 2008, “I got back up and continued to jam because I didn’t want to be a baby about it.”The bravado is more a function of competitiveness than the theatrics of the past. The WWE component is gone, says the ESPNNY columnist, and bouts now consist of skill, strategy and endurance.

The objective is for each teams’ two jammers to pass the opposition’s four blockers, getting one point per pass. Otherwise, blockers play offense and defense simultaneously. “You’re trying to assist your jammers, and at the same time, block the other jammers,” she says.

Likening it to controlling the football line of scrimmage, it’s about positioning, as legal contact is limited between the shoulders and thighs. An elbow to the head is a major penalty that you want to avoid, she says. Her introduction came doing a story for The Journal News in 2006 on a Connecticut Roller Derby league. As a lifelong athlete, it appealed, but she had reservations about the contact–until considering her past playing pickup basketball with men. “I figured it would be about the same,” she says. Signing on when this skater owned league came to the rink on Tuckahoe Road in 2007, she regained the outlet lost to pregnancy and parenthood.

Roller Derby is an outlet she recommends to any woman who wants to escape the fitness paradigm at the gym. “It’s an awful experience where you listen to loud music and will yourself into losing a pound,” she says.That’s replaced with a competitive determination in which athletes practice two to four times a week for two hours each. Bouts consist of two 30-minute halves, which have skaters on for fifteen, twominute shifts. Either way, the centrifugal forces expended do not put as big a dent in the effort as it might seem.

“It’s exhausting,” she says, and having “puke” buckets handy is a comfort (even though she’s never needed one). Although, she doesn’t want to scare off women with fewer miles on their sports’ resume. There are women who have never played Lesley E. Visserate aka Jane McManus, getting ready to jam against Hammer City at ECE on June 27. Photo by Manish Gosalia September/October 2010 Inside Chappaqua 27 any sport, and after training for a while, they become incredible skaters, she says. Additionally, there’s room to learn on the “B” team with the Backyard Bullies. It’s a way for us to get our younger players competition, she says. Of course, the difference separating the A-team, which will be competing in the Eastern Regional Tournament in September at The County Center, is vast. If you’re an “A” player, you have a keener awareness of pack movement and a better understanding of how the action will unfold, she says.

The same goes for contact. Hitting isn’t as effective if you take yourself out of the play and get passed. “It’s contact but with more purpose,” she says. Regardless, skill level doesn’t mean less competitiveness. “Why would you be doing this, if you don’t want to be as good as you can be,” she asks. So an injured “A” player can create a welcome opening. Someone’s noticed you, she says, “and that’s the moment to shine.” But the dark side of black and blues is lightened by the support found on the rink and a camaraderie that’s not at a loss afterwards at the pub.

“It’s just completely wonderful,” she says. It’s a also a venue in which moms can model themselves in a role exhibiting strength. “Kids love watching their mothers do something powerful,” she says.

Nonetheless, kids know all about the constraints on crying in case mommy is knocked off her bearings. “They know it’s part of the game,” she says. As for her husband, he plays tennis and her belief is that singular pursuits make for stronger relationships when both partners have them.

Otherwise, new fishnets (which are worn so the skin does not get stuck to the surface in falls) can add a little something to the intramurals, she jokes. How’s that sit with fans attracted to the sexy power of Roller Derby? Not sure, she concludes, you have to ask them. The Derby in the Burbs at The County Center is Sept 24-26.

Rich Monetti has been a freelancer since 2003. He is just fine with the contact he gets with slow pitch softball and rarely cries.

By Marianne A. Campolongo

“It used to be, ‘Wow, Johnny’s on TV.’ Now everyone is there with their flips recording everything and putting their kids on YouTube,” said Barbara Kornreich, New Castle Community Television (NCCTV)Board President.

In such an environment, how does community television, whose mission is to provide an outlet for the community to produce and broadcast their own content, stay relevant?

By embracing new media, becoming more visible, and reaching out to community members–whether they want training in sophisticated video equipment and editing techniques, or simple movie software to fine-tune their home videos.

New Media and a New Location
There is “a two-fold transition going on” at NCCTV, explains Kornreich: a growing emphasis on new media/ digital and the launch of a leading-edge public access center, the New Castle Community Media Center (NCCMC) where community members, businesses, and organizations can learn to shoot and produce video for the Internet, mobile devices, video sharing sites, and television, right in town.

Most viewers are already watching NCCTV’s traditional programming on demand on the web rather than on their television, according to Kornreich. The emphasis on new media recognizes the value in alternative programming. “People should not be intimidated. You don’t have to come in and do a half-hour show every week,” says Kornreich. “We’ll help you turn your four-minute video into something we can show on our website, on facebook, and on TV.”

“The website will be like YouTube except super local and relevant to New Castle,” said Executive Director Carrie Krams. Although it won an award from the Alliance for Community Media in 2008, Treasurer Lyle Anderson says he is already redesigning the site to make it more of a “community portal” where in addition to uploading video and photos, “people can comment, add suggestions, and create their own channels to personalize their experience.”

The new studio, which began limited operations in mid- July with a grand opening slated for September, provides everything from a traditional TV studio set-up with greenscreen, teleprompter, lights, and multi-directional robotic cameras that one person can operate from a high-tech console, to iMacs equipped with both simple movie-editing software and the more sophisticated Final Cut Pro.

Community members can learn to edit videos they take with their own cameras or with a variety of cameras available at the studio—from large professional models to easier-to-operate “prosumer” video cameras that fit easily in one hand. The current studio at Horace Greeley High School will remain intact, as will NCCTV’s traditional programming, which can now be shot at either location. The studio at Greeley was off-limits to the New Media Keeps an Old Medium Relevant Article and Photo by Marianne A. Campolongo Barbara Kornreich (standing) and Carrie Krams (seated) at the New Castle Community Media Center. The console controls multiple cameras in the studio. The top monitor shows one of the many virtual backgrounds that can be substitued for the plain green screen and table in the studio. September/October 2010 Inside Chappaqua 25 rest of the community during school hours. The new location at 400 King Street, Suite 2, in the shopping center at the intersection of Route 120 and Route 117, is open 9 am to 6 pm weekdays, and by appointment on Saturday, to make it easier to schedule shooting and editing sessions, workshops, and community meetings throughout the day, increasing accessibility.

“The kid’s stuff is so great. It’s quirky, fun and reflective of the community, which is really what it should be,” said Kornreich.

All ages are welcome but an important goal of the new media center is to make it easier for adults to get involved in filmmaking, so more of them can share their creativity with the community too, tapping into the town’s “vibrant, engaged, talented community,” said Krams. NCCTV has only two full-time staff members and several volunteers. Often, community members request someone to film their event, unaware that the station often does not have the manpower. They do, however, have the expertise to teach more residents how to film their own events, and equipment to lend those who need it. Krams and Kornreich said they hope the new media center will encourage more people to take advantage of what they have to offer.

Tap Into Your Inner Artist
Much is still in the planning stages as they prepare upcoming workshops. NCCTV has been an incubator for the career of many Greeley students who have gone on to top film schools and they plan to offer internship opportunities to further encourage students but you need not have serious aspirations to get involved.

The new media center is aimed at aspiring filmmakers of all ages who want to follow their artistic vision as well as at community members who simply want to learn how to record a town or group event. For more information you can check out the website www.ncctv.org, follow them on Facebook (New Castle Media Center) or contact info@nccmc.com to receive news of upcoming workshops.

Marianne A. Campolongo, a freelance writer and photographer (www.campyphotos.com) based in Chappaqua, has been dreaming about learning video. She cannot wait to take her first NCCMC workshop at a studio within walking distance of her home.

By Vicki de Vries

Readers may or may not recall the details surrounding the 9/11 Memorial project, which Inside Chappaqua covered in a 2004 issue. Now is a good time to review a bit of history. After the tragic events of September 11, 2001, many citizens thought about the need for a memorial, but not everyone had the determination of Michael Wolfensohn, a Chappaqua resident. In December 2001, he had contacted the City of New York for steel from Ground Zero to build a 9/11 Memorial. Nine months and scores of phone calls later, he was elated to receive two 18-inch eye beams.

A company in New Jersey donated their services to galvanize the metal, which thus would be preserved for at least 75 years. Wolfensohn and several friends then started Steel Beams, Inc., a not-for-profit organization to raise money for a suitable memorial. In February 2003, Wolfensohn met with the Town Board, and after several months of deliberation, the Board voted in favor of building a memorial at Duck Pond.

Sadly, a firestorm ensued when a dozen or so neighbors protested, and by August, sued the Town. Objections varied from if a memorial were built, “it would be as if Osama bin Laden had won.” Duck Pond would become a “tourist trap” or cause annoying traffic jams.

A Rocky Road
“I went through six years of craziness to convince people that building the 9/11 Memorial was a good thing,” Wolfensohn said. To his credit, he took the objections in stride. “I never took things personally,” he said, when people got very emotional and someacted rudely toward him. “You’re entitled to your opinion. I just disagree with it,” he would tell them. Instead of arguing, he tried to build consensus. Studying what other communities had done in building memorials proved helpful in making his case for the local memorial.

Part of the resistance, as Wolfensohn sees it, was based on a lack of understanding about the true purpose of the 9/11 Memorial: “to help people reflect on the day [9/11] and to focus on the warm feelings of community and unity that had surfaced during the days and weeks after the event. People had been more patient and friendly toward each other.” In January 2004, the lawsuit against the Town was dismissed, and a month later, the Town Board reopened the site selection process. For some odd reason, the Board chose Duck Pond as the site once again, but then decided to drop it altogether and search for a new location. In October, the Board began looking for a landscape designer and in February 2005, hired StevenYarbeck of Hudson & Pacific Designs.

A Time To Build
As the weeks and months dragged by, no suitable site for the 9/11 Memorial could be found. Until one day, while stopped in traffic on Route 133 near Gedney Park in Millwood, Town Supervisor Barbara Gar- How The 9/11 Memorial Finally Found its Home Making Michael Wolfensohn’s Dream Come True By Vicki de Vries • Photos by Sylvain Côté September/October 2010 Inside Chappaqua 23 rard “just happened” to glance at the empty caretaker’s house scheduled for demolition. “It struck me that the spot would be ideal since it would resolve the main problems which had plagued the Duck Pond site, including parking.” Things again seemed to be moving in the right direction. The Town Board approved the spot at Gedney Park, and Yarbeck continued working on the design. Then suddenly in December, the Board voted 3 to 2 to build the 9/11 Memorial without using the steel beams. Wolfensohn felt crushed. “I told the Board if they built the Memorial without the steel beams, then Steel Beams, Inc. would not be able to give them the $26,000.”

How could there be a 9/11 Memorial without the authentic steel beams from Ground Zero? Eventually, the Board came around, but precious time already had been lost. After the Groundbreaking Ceremony on September 11, 2007, Wolfensohn spent hours going over every detail of the design with Yarbeck.

The final design included the two eye beams mounted on gray granite platforms, a waterfall, fountain, and benches. Trees, bushes, and flowers would be added to enhance the peaceful setting. The construction was coming along through the dog days of summer. Just before its completion, another resident, Robert G. Coulombe, then chair of the Town Board’s Memorial Committee, suggested adding a plaque with the names of the 179 volunteers who been part of the massive relief effort from New Castle. “Every volunteer organization in New Castle had assembled trucks, blankets, water and other supplies. People had traveled back and forth to the epicenter of the tragedy to provide whatever help they could,” said Barbara Gerrard. Coulombe himself had been one among several residents who had helped to organize the volunteers.

Not surprisingly, the Town Board readily approved the plaque. Wolfensohn said: “It fit in perfectly with the whole purpose of the memorial or to bring to mind the sense of community and unity that had made friends of utterstrangers.” A plaque was also appropriate, said Gerrard, because the effortsof those dedicated people “should never be forgotten.”

A Special Dedication
On September 11, 2008, amid much fanfare and press, close to 400 people attended the Dedication of the newly constructed 9/11 Memorial. Everyone who had worked hard to make the dream a reality must have felt great satisfaction. Especially Michael Wolfenson, who always would remember what can be accomplished when people work together for the common good. Now, if anyone asks whether New Castle has a 9/11 Memorial, residents can point with pride to the one built for the “entire community” in Gedney Park. This year, September 11 falls on a Saturday. Why not plan to visit the beautiful spot and pause for a moment of silence?

[Note: The total cost of the 9/11 Memorial turned out to be exactly $250,060, and is being paid through a bond that will extend until 2014. Steel Beams, Inc., which raised $26,500, gave it to the Town Board to help defray costs.]

Vicki de Vries is a freelance writer/ editor who also teaches writing. The opportunity to write an historical drama for the sesquicentennial of a town in the Midwest has helped her more fully to appreciate the importance of local history and the need to preserve it.