The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Adrianna Cmiel-Walsh

Willowbrook Swim & Tennis Club: A Fun-Filled, Memory-Making Place for Families

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Mount Kisco, NY — Looking for plenty of summertime fun for the whole family? You’ve come to the right place when you enter Willowbrook Swim & Tennis Club. With its deep connection to the community at large, the club offers a wide range of compelling summer recreation programming to its members.

Willowbrook opened in 1965 as a solution for a community lacking a public pool. At the time, a vote was conducted to build a public pool in town but the decision was not approved. As a result, multiple swim and tennis clubs were constructed and put into operation around the Chappaqua area — including Willowbrook Swim & Tennis.     

Since 1965, Willowbrook has offered a family-friendly place where kids of all ages can disconnect from their devices, kick back, play, swim and engage outdoors.

Volunteers Mary Dempsey (left) and Verena Dunniganat at a June Ice Cream Social at Willowbrook Swim and Tennis     Inside Press Photo

And the adults love it too. Harriet Engel, President of the Board of Directors at Willowbrook, described the varied offerings, from monthly ice cream socials, regular wine and beer tastings to board games and bingo days. There’s even a book club!

At a post 4th of July event on July 6, members can enjoy a bounce house, a waterslide with treats like popcorn, snow cones, and cotton candy.

Along with its pool, Har-tru tennis courts, and the addition of two new pickleball courts, Willowbrook members also have access to Somers National Golf Club due to a reciprocity agreement between the two clubs.

Perhaps the most exciting feature of Willowbrook is its very successful swim team: every child has an opportunity to participate.  Engel mentioned, “Our swim team is the ‘winningest’ swim team in Northern Westchester.  A lot of the competitive swimmers around town got their start here; this was their very first swim team.”

Engel’s own three children started swimming at Willowbrook. “This was their very first swim team and now they all swim in college; that’s the case for many competitive swimmers in the area.”

In fact, the Horace Greeley High School Swim team was featured in this very press last year to acknowledge their achievement of being the first Horace Greeley team to win state championships three years in a row. Engel said, “Several of those boys got their start swimming here and still swim on the team here.”

The swimming success stories might well be attributed to the great staff and swim coaching Willowbrook offers.

One coach who has become positively legendary is Kelly Blacker. Blacker is the head coach at Willowbrook and a year-round USA Swimming Team swim coach with Storm Aquatics. Engel added, “Of the Chappaqua pool clubs, we’re the only one that has a USA Swimming swim coach who expertly teaches the strokes to the kids.”

Kelly Blacker, head coach at Willowbrook Swim and Tennis, and year-round USA Swimming Team Coach with Storm Aquatics   Inside Press Photo

Several kids, as young as five years old, got their start in the kiddie pool. They joined the swim team, and grew to be competitive college swimmers like Eric Engel, Oliver Engel, and Connor McHugh. Willowbrook members can take advantage of certified swim instruction lessons, tennis camps and clinics with coaches and staff  who are experienced and care deeply about the people and community.

Ultimately, Willowbrook is about family bonding and memory making. Engel said,” My family has been a member here for 20 years; my kids have grown up here, I think it’s a great family environment.”

Visit willowbrookswimtennis.com for more info.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pleasantville Music Festival: A Great Family Experience

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When given the opportunity to visit the 17th annual Pleasantville Music Festival on behalf of the Inside Press, I had to take it! For years, my family has been invited but scheduling issues always arise, and bummer after bummer, for one reason or another, it just didn’t work out! So that I was excited is an understatement given what I already knew about the Festival’s diverse offerings. When I entered, I noted the three performance stages, countless food tents where friends and families gathered for both shade (yes, it was a hot summer’s day) and a really good meal, in coolers from home or purchased. The total picture for me shouted “great family experience”!

But let’s face it, first and foremost, the Festival is about appreciating and enjoying the musical artists, of local, regional and even national significance. You can be certain I sprinted to the main performing stage for the first live performance of the day! It was hard to miss not only because of the sound of the instruments but also on account of the audible anticipation I picked up in comments among festival goers. It was the first show* and the musicians set the tone for a great day!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a special shoutout to the food and beverage vendors, who offered something for almost everyone. For kids, there were many inflatable games and attractions! Even if you do not have children don’t fret, the 21+ beer and wine corner is a great time for any adult. Prepare to be carded! I heard about the downpour later in the day and wondered how everyone fared. I was relieved to hear that everyone recouped, and the shows did go on!

Bottom line: The Pleasantville Music Festival will always be a superb opportunity to enjoy live music alongside favorite festival foods and activities! And you will be anything but bored!

*For a full lineup of who played, and to anticipate what you might expect next year, visit pleasantvillemusicfestival.com

From Spain to Briarcliff… and into your Living Spaces: How Terra Tile & Marble Beautifies Homes Throughout the Region

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Terra Tile and Marble had its humble beginnings in the town of Alcora, Spain, in the province of Castellon.  Castellon is the heart of ceramic art and tile in Spain where Manuel Gasch, founder of Terra Tile and Marble was born and raised. There he learned the tile trade and met many people who would later assist him in the tile industry. His family was always involved with tile production and the love of tile and marble runs deep in the roots of the Gasch family. 

Manuel came to the New York area in the mid-seventies as a young man, bringing his love of tile with him. It was the post-Franco era and Spanish tile factories were eager to expand to this new market. The U.S. home improvement market was happy to oblige.    

Manuel was soon representing more than a dozen manufacturers and travelling the U.S. selling to importers and distributors. Americans were changing their use of tile from just a few square feet on the bathroom floor to throughout the entire home. There was product demand. 

Establishing in Westchester

He opened a warehouse in Ossining in 1989 for the wholesale trade but soon discovered that there was a retail market here waiting to be served. Establishment of a larger warehouse and showroom soon followed in Briarcliff Manor, and in 2000, another showroom in Fishkill and a stone fabrication plant for countertops in Millwood. The business has grown to the point where Terra Tile is one of the largest sources of imported tile and marble in all of Westchester and Duchess Counties. 

The company caters to architects, builders, interior designers, and homeowners considering home improvement projects. These range from kitchens, home offices, bathrooms. and foyer upgrades to entire new home construction. Clients come direct to the showrooms and meet with a design consultant, or they can preview first the many products on the company website. Products are available from all over the world now–mainly Spain, Italy and American artisans. 

Manuel’s son, David Gasch, also joined the family tradition 25 years ago by working summers in Castellon tile factories in his teenage years and then at Terra Tile during the school year. Dave says he “always feels blessed” that his dad chose Briarcliff to be the location for their first store. He says it’s a great area filled with wonderful people who really care about their homes. Dave takes pleasure in knowing that his neighbors are also his customers. That sensibility is very much in line with the very strong community Terra Tile fosters and supports. 

Today, David is President of Terra Tile, succeeding his late father. From his experience of regularly attending tile trade shows in Italy, Spain and the US, he predicts that bold and bright colored tile is the new wave in home design. Perfect timing since Terra has just unveiled a new spring line “Fado” which exemplifies this trend–one you may wish to check out. 

On the fabrication front, Terra expects large format porcelain slab installations to be an exciting part of their future projects. With this in mind, Terra just acquired new state of the art machinery to make single piece, groutless shower wall installations as well as intricate fireplace and countertop designs an amazing reality for our clients. 

Proudly serving their local retail customers and over 175 tile and wholesale dealers, Terra Tile and Marble has an amazing selection of in-stock tile, marble, and accessories. For more information, visit TerraTileandMarble.com or call the store directly at (914) 923-4295.

Root2Rise, a Pleasantville Newcomer, Offers Delicious Vegan, Gluten-Free Options

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Root2RiseNY Chef Mike Kagan, Jyoti Tewani and Raj Tewani.
Photo by Adrianna Cmiel-Walsh

Raj and Jyoti Tewani are a married couple who manage Root2Rise. A gluten-free, vegan, 100% plant-based, locally sourced, and organic restaurant. Their foods are made with no processed ingredients, no preservatives, no refined sugar, and all their items are made fresh every day. Their inspiration for the restaurant came from Jyoti’s passion for cooking healthy meals. She believes your body is a temple and you should always be mindful as to what you put into it. 

After their kids had grown and Jyoti had practiced healthy and gluten-free cooking for years, she thought the next step in her life had to be culinary school. Since she’d always liked helping people through food, she also thought she could expand even more with the proper training. 

After culinary school, Jyoti continued her mission by preparing meals and diet plans for people in her community. She helped so many people lose weight and adapt to a healthier diet. When asked how she was able to help so many people her husband Raj Tweni stated, “She has the knowledge to help heal.” Even after helping lots of people, her mission was still not over. 

Jyoti and Raj wanted to open a cafe that met their dietary goals. Unfortunately, their opening got delayed because of the March 2020 pandemic and again a year later when the news broke that the delta variant had come to the United States. Even though they had these setbacks, they managed to open their cafe Root2Rise in February of 2021.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Family on a Mission

 Jyoti and Chef Mike Kagan made it their mission to create a delicious vegan and gluten-free menu. For months they went to multiple restaurants and cafes tasting their vegan and gluten-free options. They did this to not only perfect their menu but make sure it was the best. 

 Chef Kagan worked relentlessly until he perfected their gluten-free bagel and naan bread.

 If their bread options are not for you, their 100% plant-based meat substitutes are definitely worth trying alongside their “addictive” mulligatawny soup. If you are interested in eating healthy and delicious foods from a local business, it is worth paying a visit to Root2Rise. Visit root2riseny.com

Chappaqua’s Jared Saiontz Recognized for Advocating for Children with Food Allergies

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Photos courtesy of Jared’s mom, Stacey Saiontz

Jared Saiontz is only 14 years-old and entering his first year of high school yet he has done so much as an advocate for Food Allergy Awareness. He has suffered from severe food allergies his whole life.

His allergies include dairy, egg, oat, rye, cats, dogs, sesame, and many more. Instead of accepting the difficulties that come with living with allergies, he decided to take action to help improve the lives of all those living with food allergies.

His most recent accomplishment was advocating for the passage of a Westchester County Food Allergy Restaurant Safety law that will allow restaurants to properly serve people with allergies. Every restaurant in Westchester County will now have on-site personnel who are trained in food allergy safety. Additionally, signs will be posted identifying the top nine major allergens (note Jared was part of the successful advocacy effort at the federal level to add sesame as the 9th allergen companies must label for) along with symptoms of an allergic reaction and steps to take to treat it. This new law will not only help so many people suffering from allergies, but it is only one of the great things Jared has accomplished.

Jared has always been passionate about helping other children with food allergies. Most recently he successfully advocated for placement of allergy awareness signs at the Town of New Castle playgrounds. When he was younger his parents couldn’t risk letting him ride the school bus because at that time school bus drivers were not allowed to administer epinephrine. This potentially meant that if Jared or any other child at the time accidentally consumed something they should not, the bus driver was not allowed to administer epinephrine even if it meant saving the child’s life. Jared asked his mom if they could meet with their State Senator Terrance Murphy and Assembly Member David Buchwald to change this.

Jared explained that every May since the age of 4, he, his mother and older brother Elliott would drive hours to attend meetings in Albany so he could be an advocate for not only himself but all the other children that had allergies. Thanks to Jared and other allergy advocates, a law was passed in 2017 to change this rule and now all school bus drivers in New York State can legally administer epinephrine in the event of an emergency. Jared, alongside other advocates testified for and helped pass the following New York State laws: a law that allow schools to stock non patient specific epinephrine; a law that allows students to self carry their life saving epinephrine; a law that requires all preschools to have allergy awareness training; and a law that allows park rangers to carry and administer epinephrine.

Helping Keep Food Pantries Stocked with Safe Food Options

Jared has always been passionate about helping other children and adults with easy accessibility to allergy safe food options. In the midst of the 2020 pandemic, the food shortage made it harder for Jared and his family to find allergy safe food options that worked for him. One day at the dinner table Jared asked, “How are people who cannot afford allergy safe food handling this? Do food pantries provide allergy safe food?”

He and his mom Stacey Saiontz reached out to the Mt. Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry and asked them how they handle clientele with food allergies. The Food Pantry did not yet have food allergy protocols. Roberta Horowitz at the Food Pantry asked Jared if he wanted to partner with her to help create food allergy protocols for the Pantry and he did! He created innovative posters in Spanish and English to be displayed at the food pantry. These signs not only had writing but symbols to indicate to clientele to advise an employee about their food allergies.

But this is not the only way Jared helped the food pantry. The food pantry surveyed its clientele and asked what allergies they had. Using this information, Jared’s former middle school and other local schools conducted an allergy friendly food drive so guests at the food pantries could have options that worked for them. Now every year during Food Allergy Awareness month (May) those schools annually conduct food drives for the pantry. This year with the help from the PTA and the Seven Bridges Share Jr. Club, the Chappaqua schools collected and donated 734 pounds of allergy friendly food.

Next on the Horizon

Although he’s achieved so much already, he is still not done! Jared hopes to help pass a bill that will require all New York State teachers to be trained to recognize if a child is experiencing anaphylaxis and understand how to administer an epinephrine auto injector. Jared noted that “1 in every 13 children suffer from food allergies. This bill would allow teachers who spend most of their time with children to recognize if a child is having an allergic reaction and save their life. A lot of kids try foods for the first time at school and could experience their first reaction at school.” Jared has testified for this bill annually for 10 years now and he will not give up until it is passed into law.

When asked if there was anything he would like the readers to know Jared said, “Even though I have all these allergies I am still able to do all the same things as everyone else… I just can’t eat the same foods.” After an interview with Jared, it’s clear that he can not only do what anyone else can but beyond that. At such a young age he has helped countless people with food allergies and raised so much awareness. Let it be known that Jared has a very bright future ahead!