The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Gillian Hand

Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival Returns Bigger and Even Better: New and Exciting Guests, Panels & Activities On Tap

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A new story for your bookshelf. A photograph with your favorite author. A signed copy of a book you love. On October 5th, the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (“CCBF”) returns to Robert E. Bell Middle School, offering area children and their parents the opportunity to meet the writers behind the most popular children’s stories and find or foster a love for reading. With a record 145 authors scheduled to attend and a wide selection of special events and activities, the 7th annual Festival is primed to build on prior years’ great success, expected to attract over 8,000 visitors.

Voted the Best Annual Festival by Westchester Magazine, the CCBF is proud to host a variety of esteemed authors in October, including big names in children’s literature such as Kate Messner, Dan Gutman, David Kirk, Padma Venkatraman, and Tiffany Jackson. A number of these authors will participate in themed panels throughout the day, offering visitors a chance to hear the voices behind their favorite stories and learn about the writing process at large. Kicking off the author panel will be a keynote address from New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka, whose more than 30 published books include the Platypus Police Squad middle school series as well as his popular graphic novel collection titled Lunch Lady.

Exciting New Panel Presentations

While visitors will have ample opportunity to meet writers and purchase books at the individual author tables, new panels will offer a deeper look into the values and objectives behind the creation of children’s literature, exploring a variety of themes and topics intended to engage both young readers and their parents. Author participants on the “Keeping it Real” panel will discuss their experiences with nonfiction writing, while those on “All the Feels” will examine how their books help children make sense of their feelings and emotions. “Girls in the World” contributors will explore how their books depict the empowerment and growth of young girls throughout the complex issues faced during their developmental years.

Additionally, this year’s panel series will welcome Project LIT Community, described by founder Jarred Amato as a “national, grassroots literacy movement” through which dedicated authors empower young people “as readers, writers, and leaders” by sharing books that “make them feel seen, heard, affirmed, and valued”. Project LIT unites educators and students through books that teach youth about current events and culture, helping them become leaders who can make their voices heard.

Growing Every Year

The Chappaqua’s Children’s Book Festival has become one of Westchester County’s signature and largest events, garnering national attention and growing immensely in size and scope to accommodate larger numbers of both visitors and authors. Outreach efforts extend to schools and libraries in Westchester, Connecticut and New York City, welcoming families from well beyond the Chappaqua community and making this year’s festival likely the largest yet.

To ensure the safety of the growing number of visitors, CCBF organizers have arranged for the town to close off lower Greeley Avenue during the event, creating an easier path for families arriving by train or parking in the train station lot. The closed road, as well as the Bell soccer field, will allow more space for sponsors and food trucks, accommodating the anticipated attendees as well as abundant activities and refreshments.

Also appearing at the Festival will be KidLit TV, a website that connects parents and educators with authors, illustrators, and their work. The station will be broadcasting from the Festival with live interviews from the many visiting authors taking part in the event. Author readings, always an integral part of the CCBF, will now take place in the gazebo on the Recreation Field, and various activities involving art and music will add to the festivities. With a dedication to the principles of community and literacy, a portion of book sale proceeds will go to local literacy programs, encouraging area schools to invest in their reading programs and ensuring that the values of CCBF reach far beyond the Festival itself.

As a community-based event, CCBF is proud to engage both local organizations and families for this highly anticipated day that connects writers and readers in a shared love of literature.

Financial Asset Management of Chappaqua (FAM), one of the festival’s sponsors will be supporting a variety of lead-up events throughout the month of September, including window decorations of local businesses, an art show by author and illustrator Mara Van Fleet and a Storywalk created by the Chappaqua Public Library.

So clear your calendar for October 5th to attend the 7th Annual Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival. ccbfestival.org for more information or to sign up as a volunteer at the event or become a sponsor.

One Last Lap: Saying Goodbye to 13 Years of Chappaqua Sports

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Walking through Chappaqua on a Saturday morning, you see bright green specks spread out across the Recreation Field. It is a team of AYSO kindergarteners, featuring miniature players with uniforms down to their ankles and stubby shin guards strapped to tiny legs. Among the mass of little athletes, you spot a girl standing off to the side.

She sprouts curly pigtails from the sides of her head, sports her very first pair of cleats, and holds a bright pink soccer ball in her small hands, although she has no idea what to do with it yet. Right now, all she can think about is her own excitement. She has no idea how busy, crazy, and extraordinary her life will become after these very first moments of her Chappaqua sports career.

That girl is me. Thirteen years later, I am not much different, even after a whirlwind of sports, teams, practices, games, coaches, teammates, schools, and memories.

For as long as I can remember, I have been playing sports in Chappaqua. I have hit almost all of them–soccer, track, basketball, lacrosse, softball, swimming, tennis–and have proudly worn the names of Chappaqua and Greeley across my uniforms.

I always wanted to be doing something, and luckily for me, I always had a home on a Chappaqua team.

Things changed, naturally; these past few years, it became less likely to find me on the upper soccer field at Gedney Park, but much easier to catch me warming up on the Greeley track or out on a run around town. Even so, Chappaqua sports are among the most defining aspects of my 18 years in this town. In this ode to the crazy schedules, amazing memories, and incredible friendships that went along with these many years of sports, I can finally say thank you.

As I near the end of my ninth and final season running for Greeley, I find myself struggling to describe just what track did for me. Despite being an individual sport, track is united, supportive, and team-centered; the friendship I feel for and from my teammates is unparalleled, and it is this camaraderie that has kept me coming back each season.

We train and compete together, and we savor all that the experience has given us, championing each personal athletic achievement and celebrating the relationships that got us there. Looking back, these connections were there every step of the way, from the track to the field and beyond.

Of course, my athletic experience was not perfect. There were injuries. There were bad moments. There were times when I lost my confidence, and others when I questioned my participation altogether. Really, I was never the best at what I did. I was never the athlete you noticed, the girl who stood out amongst her teammates and competitors.

But on the eve of my graduation from Greeley, everything looks different. As the things that I thought would last forever become “lasts” themselves, I choose not to remember the negatives. How could I? I have so much to be thankful for. It was a wild ride, and I would not change a thing.

For me, the ending is perfect. Greeley track and field won the League Championship, and I am coming full circle with one last season of soccer on the coed high school AYSO team. However, it is bittersweet. It is certainly not easy to walk away from 13 years of Chappaqua sports. Somehow, the fields at Gedney Park will always belong to me. The Greeley track will always feel like home, even when it is being reconstructed.

And when I walk through town on a Saturday morning and see young athletes running around in front of their cheering parents, I will think about the incredible years they have ahead of them. It is their turn now.

While I am excited for what lies ahead, part of me will always be here, in a green uniform three sizes too large, kicking my pink soccer ball around the field next to Town Hall. And who knows? Over college breaks, you just might catch me on a run around Chappaqua. Some things never change.