Editor’s Note: Life is full of the unexpected. When injury or illness strike, consider our local ambulance corps. part of your family–as they arrive at your home to help. Also, think about volunteering! Please call 914-238-3191 or visit chappaquaambulance.org.
ICD Contemporary Jewelry
At ICD, we can help you cherish old memories plus create new ones with an exquisitely designed ring that originates from a treasured family heirloom. In the ring pictured here, for example, we retained its 18th century charm but gave it a 21st century lift by using an original, European cut very small but elegant diamond. Call for an appointment, 238-3646, to bring in the jewelry you wish for us to transform into something absolutely “perfect!” icdjewelry.com
Real Life
I often wait last minute to write this column, as I’m busy getting the rest of this issue “just so.” As I was getting started yesterday, the phone rang, and it was my 93 year-old dad. “I feel burning in my chest.” A looming deadline be damned, I shot out to Queens. It turned out to be a false alarm within a half hour of my arrival. “I don’t know; I feel 100 percent now.” After some insisting on my part, Poppy has an appointment with his doc. The whole episode was a sure fire reminder to become more proactive about and insistent to him about his care. He has been so stubbornly (and successfully) independent (yes, a true blessing!), it can feel impossible to argue with him. My father has survived the unimaginable; maybe it’s time he allows others in to provide the care he so fully deserves.
So finally–back to finalizing our “Happy Homes and Building Memories” editions… Jodi Baretz’s “Chaotic is the New Happy” column resonates a lot for me. Jodi sets the record straight on what happy is and what happy is not. If only we could bottle happy, sprinkle it on our lives as needed, and poof, we’d be happy. But real life is never so neat. I suspect you are all nodding in agreement.
Chaotic is descriptive too of the last month or so juggling the real life demands of producing local magazines while trying to do ‘my part,’ and ‘living history’ too as I keep up with Hillary Clinton’s extraordinary campaign. I recognize, dear readers, some among you do not support Hillary Clinton. Following years of covering her here and abroad, I chose to be outspoken in my support for her, agreeing that she is the best choice for a “change-maker”…per Bill Clinton’s words, via an editorial that I posted in this space earlier.
I’m grateful I found precious time to visit New Hampshire, twice, and to feel so inspired while she and her staff and volunteers made their case there and in Iowa. The first time I also had a Mom hat on… I was simply picking up Ari from an extraordinary Union College program that gave Ari and a group of his peers a chance to follow all the candidates. Ari clued me in on where the Clintons would appear following one rally, and off I went. Later on, I followed Bill and Chelsea Clinton to New Hampshire towns. 
Of course, being cursed me, I feel what I’m doing is “never enough.” So I was thrilled too to receive “Hillary NOW” co-founder Ann Styles Brachstein’s report from an important fundraiser for Hillary here in the county! As I was going to press, several efforts around town have been underway to support Hillary, and my hat is off to everyone working so hard on her behalf.
Now, if you are ‘not into politics’ at all, please, please enjoy a packed May edition highlighting among other things: our treasure of a music maker, Michael Shapiro; a community outreach effort from Temple Beth El, a visit by Barbara Winton, a ‘farm-to-table’ transformation, all our ‘spotlights,’ and as you know I’m fond of saying…so much more. Now, time and space are running short. Back to ‘real life.’ — Grace Bennett
New Community Leader Voices: Hala Makowska and Jeremy Saland
Editor’s Note: It was a hotly contested election this past November with Jeremy Saland and Hala Makowska winning two Town Board seats. Last election, we featured “Team New Castle,” so I decided to meet with Hala and Jeremy too in December at Chappaqua Station to simply glean their thoughts–at least the way they stood at holiday time–and for some “quick takes” on various hot button topics in town! It was a pleasure getting to know each of them a little better!
Hala Makowska
Since the election, I enjoyed some down time with my family and am ready, excited and looking forward to my role and responsibilities for the town of New Castle. We have everything we need to be a very well-functioning board, and I feel that our diverse perspectives will help us have healthy discussions and ultimately lead to excellent decision making. At this particular point in time, I am focusing on the Master Plan and the downtown revitalization strategies–and making sure that the process ends up being as productive as it can be for the town.
I see Chappaqua Crossing on the top of our priorities, and I would like it to be successful so that our tax base can increase. Also, I think the Roundabout to address the traffic problem on 117 is another good focal point. I think that valid concerns remain about the intersection between the high school and the Whole Foods entrance and the exit from the Saw Mill Parkway coming into the retail zone. The safety concern is for the amount of traffic from retail shoppers, from the high school, and from the parkway.
Regarding Chappaqua Affordable Housing and the Hunts Lane location: As we know, I am not in favor. It is an unsuitable piece of property. That is where a town parking lot could conceivably go, and I am disappointed that no new site has been identified or rezoned, frankly. I think that should have been the first priority. Now this will be more difficult. I have started to take a look at both the original permit and the present specifications. I am hoping that we can help find alternative locations. This is a timely issue since the provision expires next year.
The ChapLine is another hot topic. (The ChapLine is a functional recreation path which could connect downtown Chappaqua to Horace Greeley High School and to Chappaqua Crossing.) I think we need to closely weigh how the $1.5 million contribution from Summit Greenfield would be spent before it is committed to the ChapLine. And, I think that a more inclusive process to discuss how the available money could best be invested to make Chappaqua an even better place to shop, eat, and socialize, etc. I believe it’s local government that has the greatest impact on the quality of our everyday lives and the value of our property. I look forward to working with my colleagues on the Town Board to protect and improve both for all New Castle residents and business owners.
Hala Makowska can be reached at hmakowska@mynewcastle.org
Jeremy Saland
I am very excited to get to work on behalf of New Castle to move the town forward. I am grateful our community had the confidence in me to do so. There are a lot of things going on now and I expect there will be many more things happening during my term and in the years to come. I believe we all benefit when each one of us tries to do our part.
Conifer and affordable housing is one issue that demands immediate attention. It is simply a horrendous location. Living between the Saw Mill Parkway, an exit ramp and the train tracks is not the most welcoming place even though we, as a community, are open and inclusive. It is incumbent upon the Town Board to find a solution, and make sure any development of this type is a safe, inviting and a healthy place to reside.
Whether you support Chappaqua Crossing or not, it is here to stay. Of grave concern is that Chappaqua Crossing created a new hamlet and business district. This development will have a significant traffic impact and change our quiet community as we know it. We need to concentrate on downtown Chappaqua’s development and revitalization to offset this third hamlet. The same is true for Millwood. It is critical that we examine how we can better develop and utilize our existing hamlets while building their infrastructure and making them more attractive destinations.
Another important issue is the proposed ChapLine. On an island it is a good idea, but residents, not just Summit Greenfield and the Town Board, should be involved in this discussion. It’s not often a municipality can potentially access $1.5 million dollars. This opportunity should not be squandered. If the developer wants the best for a community that they are vastly changing and profiting from, then this process should be an open one. Whether it is giving matching funds to businesses, purchasing property, or some other idea, a common good can be reached if all of us are engaged.
Whatever issue New Castle faces, I am confident that with an ethical government, we can work alongside our neighbors and businesses to reach our true potential. Jeremy Saland can be reached at jsaland@mynewcastle.org
A Snow Day to Remember … with Distinguished author Barbara Winton
By Stacey Saiontz
During the blizzard, my family was snowed in with our very special house guest, Barbara Winton. Barbara Winton is the daughter of humanitarian Sir Nicholas Winton and Author of the book about his life titled If it is not Impossible. Ms. Winton was in New York, as she was one of the speakers at the United Nations Annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony.
Winton and I had been in touch a few years prior. As the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, I serve as the Co-Chair of the Museum of Jewish Heritage’s Annual Spring Ladies Luncheon. Each year we honor a female Holocaust Survivor. A couple years ago, the honoree, Hanna Slome, attributed her story of survival to being one of “Nicky’s children” and explained that she was saved from the Nazis by being put on the Kindertransport from Prague to England that was set up by Sir Nicholas Winton.
In 1938, Sir Nicholas Winton, a stock broker in London, England responded to a request from his friend Martin Blake to join him in Prague. Blake had gone to Prague to help the Jewish refugees who had fled to Prague after Germany annexed the Sudetenland. After viewing the situation in Prague, Winton decided he needed to find a way to help the children. At the time, Kindertransports were helping children leave Germany and Austria to travel to safety in England. However, no one had set up a way to help the Czech children. Winton convinced the Home Office in England to agree to allow Czech children to be evacuated to England. The Home Office required a foster family to look after the children and a monetary amount to assist with repatriation at the end of the war.
Winton successfully organized eight trainloads of children, saving 669 children. The last train, the largest yet, was cancelled right before its departure as Germany invaded Poland resulting in the Czech border being closed. Unfortunately the majority of these children are thought to have died in concentration camps.
Although, Winton knew about her father’s work to save the Czech refugees, the mass public found out about his deeds in 1988, when a TV presenter in England discussed Winton’s rescue and announced on live TV that most of the audience in the studio were saved by Sir Nicholas Winton. It is estimated that there are approximately 6,000 people in this world who owe their existence to Sir Nicholas Winton.
While staying at our home, we organized a dinner honoring Ms. Winton. Three of her father’s “children” along with several Ambassadors joined us. It was so moving to see the “children” interact with Ms. Winton. Winton explained that while her father decided to organize the rescue mission because it was the right thing to do, he did not realize at the time the impact he would have on the childrens’ lives. It was not until meeting the “children” as adults that he realized how important his actions were on the “children’s” lives. May we all be inspired by the Sir Nicholas Wintons of the world to act ethically and try to make a difference in the lives of others.
Stacey Saiontz, a lawyer living in Chappaqua with her husband and two sons, is the co-chair of the Associates Board of the Museum of Jewish Heritage-A Living Memorial to the Holocaust; a board member of the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation; and a member of the Next Generation Board of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. She is also a Committee member of the Chappaqua Cure in our Lifetime and serves on the Advocacy board of FARE, the Food Allergy non-profit.
