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The Inside Press

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The 45th Chappaqua Antiques Show

By Ronni Diamondstein • Photo by Bill Bramswig

antiquesshowYou never know what you’re going to find when you go to an antique show, but one thing is certain, you are sure to have a great time at the 45th annual Chappaqua Antiques Show the first weekend in November.  Sponsored by the New Castle Historical Society, “There is something for everyone,” says Betsy Guardenier NCHS President. “It’s a wonderful community event that benefits the New Castle Historical Society.” This year’s Honorary Chair is Dr. Kenneth Jackson, longtime Chappaqua resident, historian, author and ultimate New York-ologist.

“No matter what kind of décor you have, you’ll find something,” says Guardenier who has chaired the show three times. With more than 50 quality dealers there is a wide variety of merchandise including decorative posters, home furnishings, fine jewelry, silver, maps and books, folk art and unique collectibles. Don’t miss “Gold in Your Attic” which started as a little table 20 years ago and has grown to a booth.  Filled with eclectic donations from members of the NCHS and others, it is chocked full of treasures. Items include George Jensen silver, Orrefors glassware and vintage handbags. “A big find this year was the donation of 3-foot Green Philadelphia glass vases,” says Fran Osborne who is coordinating the collection this year. Items have been donated to the NCHS or are there on consignment. “You just never know what you’ll discover,” says Osborne, “last year we sold a Louis Vuitton music box and a 35-carat aquamarine and diamond ring.”

You’ll find more much more than Americana.   “From tiny teaspoons and jewelry to large armoires and rugs there is quite a variety from around the world,” say Buffy Haas, who along with Tess Cerra chairs this year’s show. There are Asian Art imports, English Silver, Oriental rugs, French prints, and Japanese jade carvings. “ This fall, a new dealer from Chappaqua, Dan Levitz and his ‘Things Japanese’ will have a spot specializing in wood block prints and Japanese art and antiques,” says Haas.

A big draw is the gourmet café and homemade dessert table with delectable treats.  Other highlights are consultations with certified appraiser, Jon Felz and free advice from interior designer Cami Weinstein. There are door prizes and a raffle. “The Raffle has a wide array of fabulous donations from businesses, restaurants and groups in town,” says Guardenier.

The event is the NCHS’s biggest fundraiser and the proceeds support the society’s programs and outreach to the local schools. Guardenier offers this advice: “Go with an open mind and you’re going to have a fun day—and bring the kids!” The 45th Chappaqua Antique Show takes place on Saturday, November 3 and Sunday, November 4 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Westorchard School, 25 Granite Road, off Route 133 in Chappaqua.  For more information and for a discount admission coupon, go to www.newcastlehs.org/chappaqua-antique-show

Ronni Diamondstein, owner of Maggie Mae Pup Reporter is a Chappaqua based freelance writer, PR consultant, award-winning photographer and a School Library Media Specialist and teacher who has worked in the US and abroad.

Summer Off? Not Quite.

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Teachers Balance Work and Leisure—Here and Abroad!

By Miriam Longobardi

summer-off“Oh, you’re a teacher– you get summers of –how great!”  What teacher has not heard that? The reality is that during the summer most teachers are involved in some type of work, whether it is working a summer job to supplement income or some form of professional development. More than 240 Chappaqua teachers spent many days writing curriculum, developing units of study aligned with the new common core standards, and serving on district committees.  Several more collaborated with administration to create new local assessments mandated by the state.  Still others took graduate and in-service classes but whatever the endeavor once August comes we are right back in the classroom setting up the room and preparing lesson plans for the new school year and an ever-changing curriculum.  When your child walks in on the first day of school, those engaging, neatly labeled displays and thoughtfully organized rooms ready for learning did not happen overnight but took weeks during our “time off”.

Fifteen Chappaqua teachers were accepted into a special cohort called Teacher Action Research Project (TARP).  This intense two-year commitment involves collaborating with colleagues across schools and grade levels using classroom experience to examine student learning and how to ensure that students are thinking deeply and supporting their thinking as they acquire content knowledge.
I participated on the panel consisting of teachers and administrators that interviewed those applicants and evaluated their proposals. They began their work in July and will meet every couple of months to share their progress, submit reports, and revise as needed over the next two years, including more summer work and visiting one another’s classrooms monthly to provide valuable feedback. Colleagues have shared that the influence on their teaching is life-changing.

To Rome with Love
For me, once school let out, rather than hitting the beach, I was off to Harlem to Columbia University Teachers College for a week-long intensive writing institute to help me prepare for a new grade level curriculum.  I was doing homework–required reading, writing papers and lesson plans–and taking part in group presentations.  After that kick-off to summer I was ready for some “me-time” in the form of a three week vacation through Italy and Croatia!

I traveled alone, booked all my hotels, flights and train travel online in advance after months of research and planning (and saving money!).  I landed in Rome and instantly fell in love with the entire city and all its history, art and local personalities!  From Rome I traveled to Venice and was swept away by its beauty. Its tiny streets make it more difficult to navigate and unlike Rome it was not as conducive to traveling alone. My first evening there, I met a great group of  people that live just outside Venice and were there to spend the evening much like we would go into New York.  They instantly befriended me and took me along as we walked the city stopping at fun places all along the way that I never would have discovered on my own.  In Florence, I saw amazing works of art and made more friends. I hiked along a mountain in Cinque Terre and then headed to Croatia for some relaxation on the beach.

The entire trip was great for the soul and brought me in contact with ancient history, incredible works of art, and many new lifelong friends.  Once back in the US I unpacked, repacked, and went to a week-long leadership conference in Baltimore to prepare for my newly elected officer position within the Chappaqua Congress of Teachers and then–you guessed it–my classroom beckoned.

Training in Bhutan
Not all travel is for leisure, and Ellen Moskowitz, a colleague of mine at Roaring Brook, spent her summer in Bhutan training teachers how to educate students with special needs in a general education setting.

Until four years ago, Bhutan did not educate those students and, after the government recognized the need to do so, reached out to the US Special Education Advisory and began efforts to train teachers.  Moskowitz was one of three teachers selected from many nominated candidates to be a specialist in their school.

She showed teachers how to identify student needs and support them in a pull-out program and what small group instruction is and looks like. She introduced them to language used, such as IEP (individualized education program) and helped them develop IEP’s. In addition to the teachers, principals, and special education coordinators who came from all over Bhutan, she trained instructors at the university level how to incorporate this information into their curriculum to better prepare new teachers to meet diverse student needs.

The Bhutan Foundation behind this initiative also planned weekend excursions to different parts of the country.  She had the opportunity to hike through mountains, sometimes at cloud level, as well as through rice paddies. Her hotel faced the Himalayan Mountains and she enjoyed waking up and facing that beautiful view each day before school.

She found the teachers very receptive and eager to learn new teaching methods and remains in touch with them via email, answering questions and engaging in ongoing discussions.

As teachers we are fortunate to find time to reinvigorate for the coming school year, but it is a balance.  I am proud to be part of democracy’s greatest legacy and that for which Chappaqua is renowned –excellence in public education.

Miriam Longobardi is a freelance writer, first grade teacher and single mother of two daughters living in Westchester.  A breast cancer survivor, she also volunteers for the American Cancer Society and has completed four marathons.  Also, check out her weekly New York Modern Love column  at Examiner.com.

Testing, One, Two, Three…Can You Hear Me?

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By Rick Reynolds

Great teachers–and Chappaqua has a ton of them–trigger the creativity lurking in each and every one of their students, and gives it permission to surface.

Blemishes and all, creativity may perk out–or flood out, but the older I get, the more I see that it’s always present (if not accounted for) in every single kid. And it may be so unique, so original, so imaginative, so ingenious, so inventive, or so visionary, it’s not recognized as such.

Hidden in a sea of mistakes, creative ideas gestate, for mistakes are the growth medium for anything that’s truly new. Not permitting mistakes is the end of creativity. Unfortunately, tests go looking for mistakes to disqualify students. In the new world of digital citizenry, mistakes will be mined.

So now I’ll get off my soapbox and admit I don’t want my airline pilot misjudging our altitude by a factor of 10: “Ladies and gentlemen, we should have been flying over the Rockies, but as those of you in the window seats can plainly see….ARUGA, ARUGA, PULL UP, PULL UP!”

And I don’t want my cardiologist accidentally doing a 4-way bypass on my bladder. Thanks, I really don’t want to be a fountain. I’m sorry, but students destined for these positions cannot make mistakes. Either agree to be tested three times a week or get weekend detention. Don’t get me worked up.

I don’t even want the aforementioned professionals to have a sense of humor. No joking please, doc; not in the operating room. Cracking a joke during a Sigmoidoscopy should lead to a prison term–unless it’s the patient doing the stand-up (not my fault, I was disoriented).

No. Bridge designers, bungee jump instructors, and Congressional candidates, all need to be tested. I’m thinking plumbers too. Test them. Especially ones working on the floor above me. But the rest of us, maybe not.

My profession isn’t life or death. In my day job, I’m a marketing director, and I keep on the front burner of prospects and customers through email-based marketing. On one such recent eBlast, my self-proclaimed, perfect (SAT) scoring database manager (formerly of Goldman Sachs) asked me if I wanted him to filter out the dead people from our email distribution list. That momentarily set me back on my heels. Hell no, I replied. Not as long as their email accounts are active. Hey, you never know. Payment could be a problem (they say you can’t take it with you) but with PayPal, it might be doable. I mean, really! Some things you just can’t test for–like REALITY.

Almost everyone now agrees that testing is bad. We just can’t agree on whom, if anyone needs to be tested–or when. As a cross-borderline paranoiac, I’ve come to the conclusion that only I should be exempted from testing. After all, there’s a limit to how much damage I can do. If I adversely twist a few thousand brains, it’s not the end of the world. As for the rest of you who refuse to read my column, let the testing begin!

But seriously folks, those students who will eventually get us out of the mess we’ve made of this planet–or failing that, help us cope with the consequences, could well be those flying well under the academic radar. Relentless testing will likely only unearth yesterday’s unsuccessful solutions while screening the un-thought-of ones. In the end, enduring knowledge is self-learned, usually by those whose creative minds were triggered by great teachers. With global problems reaching critical mass, this world is going to need every kind of intelligence.

Chappaqua alumnus and 35-year resident of Chappaqua, humorist Rick Reynolds resides in southern New Hampshire with his wife, daughter,
 and two dogs.

It’s A Small World for Dogs in Chappaqua

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By Maggie Mae…with Ronni Diamondstein

When my editor and publisher Grace Bennett was off on her adventure in Africa with Secretary of State Clinton, I started to think that most of the dogs I meet on the streets of Chappaqua are not native American breeds.  I, for one, am a Poodle.  Most people think poodles are French, but we really came from Germany.  Secretary of State Clinton has a Toy Parti Poodle, Tally, just like me. She and President Clinton also have a Labrador Retriever named Seamus.  Labs are the most popular dogs in America, and their ancestors came from Canada.  On my daily walks, I meet lots of them; some are chocolate, others are black or yellow.

Walking around Chappaqua, I have met dogs from all around the world. One of the first dogs I met when I was a puppy was Gizmo, a Tri-Color Australian Shepherd. Though he was about ten times my size, Gizmo seemed shy at first.  When I got to know him, he was gentle and friendly.  He was like the mayor of Greeley Avenue and made me feel right at home on the street.

Out of Egypt comes my friend Jester, the sleek and speedy Greyhound. “We are one of the oldest breeds known to man,” Jester, a former racing dog, told me, “ and came to America in the 1500’s with the Spanish explorers.”

I’ve met lots of dogs from Europe: the very friendly and low-key Puffy, a Black and Gold English Spaniel and Oliver, the exuberant Yorkshire Terrier, and Milo, the very affectionate cream-colored French Bulldog.  Another handsome dog is Finnegan Patrick O’Keefe, the Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier whose name lives up to his breed’s Irish roots. Don’t be surprised when Finnegan gives you his Wheaten greeting, playfully prancing on his hind legs and showing off.  Wheatens are very outgoing and self-confident that way.

Maybe you’ve seen “Q,” the Golden Retriever, romping in Gedney Park.  He collects tennis balls, which are about the only thing this Scottish lad retrieves.  Or Harry Houdini, the Wire Hair Terrier who also hails from the British Isles, springing into action at Gedney and around town.

And there are all the “Doodles” and “Poos”.  Goldendoodles  and Labradoodles were first bred in Australia. Although he is not a service dog, my friend Blue, a Goldendoodle told me that his ancestors were Golden Retrievers bred with Poodles to create hypoallergenic dogs for visually impaired people with allergies. Taz, a Labradoodle, actually flew over from Victoria, Australia via pet jet 11 years ago, when he was only 4 months old.  He was picked up at JFK cargo by his owners. And I mustn’t forget Cody the Malti-Poo, who is a mix of the aristocratic Maltese with the intelligent Poodle.

My neighborhood is like the United Nations. We have French Papillons with butterfly-shaped ears, Chinese Shih Tzus and a Hungarian Vizsla, to name a few. There are two All American dogs on our block, MJ and Lucky, who are Boston Terriers. I did some research and found out that their breed began when Bostonians combined two British breeds: English Terriers and English Bulldogs.

And so as I stroll around town greeting dogs from all over the world, I realized we have some things in common.  No matter what our size, color or country of origin, we are and always will be man’s best friend and feel right at home in Chappaqua.

My owner says there are lots of other breeds from abroad in Chappaqua so you can let me know who you are.  Contact Maggie Mae Pup Reporter at maggiemae10514@gmail.com.

Maggie Mae lives in Chappaqua with her adoring owner Ronni Diamondstein, who, when she isn’t walking Maggie is a freelance writer, PR consultant, award-winning photographer and a School Library Media Specialist and teacher who has worked in the US and abroad.

Bridging the Cultural Divide

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Creating a Win-Win for You and Your Nannie or Au Pair

By Vicki de Vries

What began on a happy note with your new au pair has suddenly turned sour. So, what went wrong?
 
Your new nanny seems comfortable with your child, but her eyes often fill up with tears. Now what should you do?
 
Your family always celebrates the holidays a certain way. But would your au pair feel comfortable celebrating with you?

cultural-divideWith some exceptions, nannies and au pairs tend to hail from overseas.  And knowing how to head off a crisis with a new au pair or a nanny can help to ensure domestic tranquility and better childcare.

Bal Agrawal of LifeWorx.com, and Jennifer Yamuder and Barbara Buxbaum, both of whom work for Cultural Care Au Pair in various areas of Westchester County, shared their insights with Inside Chappaqua on bridging the cultural divide.

Communication is the Key
Agrawal pointed out two types of people that come to the USA to work: (1) Younger people in their 20s and 30s who are willing to take risks and who are assertive; (2) People in their 40s and 50s who tend to work just as hard but may be less assertive in their personal style.

The younger group tends to be au pairs, while the older group tends to be nannies, although exceptions abound. Regardless of which age group your nanny or au pair falls into, learning how to communicate with her or him is essential. Even though s/he might speak English, keep in mind that a language barrier still exists. Basically, the advice that works for au pairs applies to nannies. The foundation for a good relationship is communication. That first step to understanding starts when you are interviewing prospective nannies or au pairs. “Be very candid and transparent about your expectations,” said Yamuder, whose family hosted five different au pairs for five years before becoming the Mid-Westchester childcare coordinator for Cultural Care Au Pairs, the largest au pair company in the U.S.

As the host family for an au pair, keep in mind that the U.S. Department of State requires au pairs to take six educational credits while staying in the country.  Guess who needs to make sure yours gets to her weekly class and also attends monthly meetings such as those that Cultural Care Au Pair holds to help au pairs socialize with each other and get updated on pertinent issues?  You!

If you have a nanny, you as the homeowner also need to be sensitive and clear in communicating expectations. Either way, you need to set the tone for your nanny or au pair.  Make her or him (yes, there are male au pairs on occasion) feel comfortable.  With an au pair, “provide a room to live in that’s warm and inviting,” said Buxbaum, and spend time getting to know your nanny or au pair, who may be homesick at first.

Bear in mind that host families also need to follow Department of State guidelines for work schedules and time off from work for their au pairs.  Agrawal, who specializes in placing nannies and housekeepers, focused on the economic gap issues: “They tend to live week to week, so remember to pay them every Friday.”

You Say, “Potato,” and I Say, “Pomme de Terre”
Several areas can easily become sources of irritation at best and hurt feelings at worst.  It pays to “recognize that some cultures encourage sharing of personal matters, while others shy away from such discussion,” explained Agrawal.

The bottom line: Expectations need to be clarified and sometimes finessed. Let’s take your expectations for the ongoing aspects of the childcare itself. Buxbaum pointed out several important areas:

1. Discipline: Are you strict or more relaxed when it comes to disciplining your children? Let your childcare helper know, since s/he might be used to a completely different level of discipline.

2. Entertainment: How much TV or computer use do you want your children to have? Be sure to explain that to your childcare helper.

3. Use of Appliances and Other Equipment: Give your childcare helper orientation on the correct use of equipment she might use.

4. Curfew: Cultures differ when it comes to curfew. Determine your au pair’s curfew, and clearly communicate that to her.

5. Driving a Car: What limitations do you have on the use of your car beyond transporting the children back and forth? Clearly explain them.

6. Phone Calling: Does your childcare worker have a limit on the number of calls s/he makes when working with your children? Clearly spell out your expectations.

7. Drinking: Keep in mind that cultures have different rules about alcohol. Expect your underage au pair or nanny to abide by the drinking laws of the United States.

8. Washing clothes: Different cultures have different expectations about clothing. Make sure you explain yours, and show your au pair how to use the washing machine properly.

9. Hygiene: Not all cultures have the same bathing habits as you and your family. (If you feel uncomfortable broaching the topic, companies like CCAP and LifeWorx can step in and handle it.)

The enrichment that comes when cultures intersect is priceless, and the memories are forever.  Former au pairs still keep in touch with Yamuder and her family, for example.

Does having an au pair or a nanny sound like too much work or responsibility? Not if you realize the impact you and your family can have on your au pair or nanny.  Host families have “a unique opportunity to spread goodwill between different cultures,” said Yamuder, whose two sons enjoyed learning about the various cultures represented by their au pairs over the years.

In fact, “at the end of the year with your au pair, open your heart to your new au pair. And try not to compare the old with the new since they will obviously be different,” said Yamuder. Vive la difference!

Vicki de Vries is a freelance writer/editor/educator living in what she calls “Westchester country.”