The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

The Inside Press

A Chance to Support the September 18 Raveis Ride + Walk Raising Millions for Cancer Research

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The Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute are the two main recipients of funds raised by the annual Raveis Ride + Walk

The annual Raveis Ride + Walk fundraiser will take place on Sunday, September 18 at Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Conn. It will include a 5K walk, a 12-mile and 25-mile bike ride, and a children’s 100-yard dash, as well as family games and prizes. Raveis is raising money to support two of the most prestigious and innovative cancer organizations in the country: the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Through the William Raveis Charitable Fund, $3.5 million (and counting) has been raised, along with the funding of 24 scientists who are researching eleven different types of cancer at 10 different institutions.

Everyone is affected by cancer in some way – whether it’s yourself, a loved one, a colleague or a friend. “For me, cancer is very personal,” relates Bill Raveis. “When my wife Candy was diagnosed with acute myeloma leukemia, her doctor gave her four months to live. Thanks to the cutting-edge cancer research being done, she benefited from new drugs and treatments on the market. It’s now eight years after her diagnosis, and these crucial new treatments gave us the gift of more time together. Everyone has a story like ours. It is incredibly important to our company that we support cancer scientists like those at Damon Runyon and Dana-Farber, so we can help cancer patients and survivors in our communities. Our fundraising and support have direct results, and I’ve seen it firsthand!”

Agents at Raveis offices countrywide are leading the fundraising charge. At the Chappaqua Raveis office, as one example, Sena Baron as a team captain is playing a leading role raising funds. “As many of you know, cycling is one of my passions, and I have lost friends and family to Cancer.” Please click the link to support Sena: https://www.raveisridewalk.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=5801

This year, longtime Strategic Growth Manager in the Glastonbury office, Micki Gebhardt, a multiple cancer survivor will share her inspiring story at the Ride + Walk. “She has been an avid supporter of the Ride + Walk, and we appreciate everything she’s done to fundraise and spread the word of our mission.”

“Cancer is a terrible disease. As a community, we can make a major impact together. It’s amazing what we can do as a company when we set goals,” said Bill Raveis. “I hope to see so many of you on September 18 in CT! Register today at raveisridewalk.com. 

Rising Senior at Horace Greeley Completes Westchester County Executive’s 2022 Summer Fellowship Program

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Top row (L to R): Isabelle Lahiri (McGill University), Sofia De Chiara (The College of William and Mary), Michael Waxman (Harvard University), Christopher Borst (George Washington University), Brandon Beame (Binghamton University) Devon Seixas (Vassar College) Bottom row (L to R): Ashley Dallos (New Rochelle High School), Stephanie Brooke Kornberg (Temple University), Westchester County Executive George Latimer, Bryan Goodman (Binghamton University), Netra Easwaran (Horace Greeley High School)

 

Netra Easwaran, a rising Senior at Horace Greeley High School, recently completed the 2022 Summer Fellowship Program with Westchester County Executive George Latimer. She and nine other college and high school students interned at the Intergovernmental Relations Department at the Office of the County Executive in White Plains.

Over the course of three months, they had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the daily workings of the office and gain an appreciation for the role played by the county government. The Interns engaged in various research opportunities, authoring briefs on various topics such as infrastructure development, employment trends, gun violence, and clean energy. They were also given the opportunity to tour establishments, such as the Westchester County Records and Archives and the Westchester County Department of Emergency Services. 

The Interns also had a chance to meet with County Executive Latimer in small groups and discuss the responsibilities, challenges, and rewards of the County Executive post. 

In addition to the political aspects, the Interns were also given an overview of how media is utilized in local government. They attended press conferences by County Executive Latimer and inaugural events to announce new initiatives, such as the construction of the Overture at Brookfield Commons, an affordable housing development. As an aside, the Interns were introduced to political campaigning and witnessed canvassing efforts for Legislator MaryJane Shimsky. 

Netra’s most poignant experience came from being able to attend a Board of Legislators Meeting on June 27th, in which the Board passed the Reproductive Health Care Facilities Access Act. She reflects on the experience: “As a young woman myself, it was incredibly empowering to watch, as a bill protecting safe access to reproductive healthcare facilities, was signed into law.” 

The Fellowship Program was led by Copernicus Crane, Assistant Director of Intergovernmental Relations, who mentored the Interns throughout the experience and coordinated the various opportunities described above. 

 

Bret Stephens to Offer Keynote on October 27 at the HHREC Annual Benefit Honoring Dennis Mehiel

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Survivor Hannah Deutsch, Millie Jasper, Survivor Alan Moskin, Christa Moskin

The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) will honor Westchester County Business Executive Dennis Mehiel and feature Pulitzer-Prize Winning Journalist Bret Stephens as Keynote Speaker at their annual Benefit on Thursday, October 27th starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York.

Dennis Mehiel

Dennis Mehiel, formerly a twenty-year Westchester County resident, is the Managing Member of Four M Investments, LLC, headquartered in White Plains.  Four M is a Private Investment Firm that manages only family funds, focused on early-stage technology, food service and corrugated packaging.  He is the Chairman and CEO of Delmarva Corrugated Packaging, Inc. 

Mr. Mehiel is the former Chairman, CEO and Principal Shareholder of Box USA, which he founded in 1966. When sold to International Paper Box USA was then the Nation’s largest independent producer of corrugated shipping containers operating 22 corrugated packaging facilities and two containerboard mills, all located within the continental United States.   Mr. Mehiel is also the former Chairman, CEO, and Principal Shareholder of Sweetheart Cup Company, which was then North America’s largest producer of disposable tabletop products for the away-from-home dining market.  Sweetheart was rescued from insolvency when acquired by Mr. Mehiel in 1998, and was divested to its principal competitor, Solo Cup Company in 2004.  More recently, Mr. Mehiel has begun development of a small number of large capacity capital intensive “Alpha” Corrugated Manufacturing Facilities, the first of which began operations in late 2021 at Dover, Delaware.  

Mr. Mehiel has long been active in New York State political and civic life.  He served for 12 years as a member of the Democratic National Committee, is a former Chairman of the Westchester County Democratic Committee, was an Officer and Director of the New York League of Conservation Voters. He was the Democratic Nominee for Lt. Governor in 2002 and was the New York State Chair of the Kerry Presidential Campaign in 2004.  From 2012 until 2017 Mr. Mehiel served as Chairman and C.E.O. of The Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), which operates a 92 Acre property at the south end of Manhattan created when the World Trade Center was constructed 40 years ago.  

Mr. Mehiel is a former Member of the Board of The Milano School for Management and Urban Policy at the New School, a Member of Business Executives for National Security and a former Trustee of the Westchester Medical Center.   From 1989 until 1993 he was a Trustee of the Windward School in White Plains, one of the region’s premier providers of education for learning disabled children.  He also served for ten years as a Trustee of the Purnell School in Pottersville, N.J., an independent high school for girls who have not succeeded in a traditional competitive academic setting.  Mr. Mehiel was the first person not of the Jewish faith ever elected to the Board of Governors of Yeshiva University’s Wurzweiler School of Social Work where he served from 1989 until 1996. 

Mr. Mehiel is a member of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in New York City.  Until recently he served as the Chairman of Friends of St. Nicholas, charged with managing the construction of The Saint Nicholas National Shrine, which replaces the only House of Worship lost during the attack on September 11, 2001.  The Shrine was Consecrated July 4, 2022.   He is a former member of the Archdiocesan Council, the Lay Leadership of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Americas.  He is an Archon of The Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle, the world’s oldest Lay Religious Organization and a recipient of the Medal of St. Paul, the Highest Honor a lay person may receive from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. 

Mr. Mehiel Resides in New York City with his wife Karen.

Bret Stephens is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist with the New York Times, and the honoree is Dennis Mehiel, Principal Shareholder and Chairman of U.S. Corrugated, Inc.  Stephens joined The New York Times as an Op-Ed columnist in April 2017. Mr. Stephens came to The Times after a long career with The Wall Street Journal, where he was most recently deputy editorial page editor in charge of international opinion and, for 11 years, the paper’s principal foreign-affairs columnist. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post. At The Post he oversaw the paper’s news, editorial, digital and international operations, and also wrote a weekly column. He has reported from around the world and interviewed scores of world leaders.

Bret Stephens

Mr. Stephens is the author of “America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder,” released in November 2014. He is the recipient of numerous awards and distinctions, including three honorary doctorates, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, and the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for commentary. In 2022, the government of Russia banned him for life from visiting that country. He was raised in Mexico City and holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago and an MSc. from the London School of Economics. He and his wife, Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, a music critic and entrepreneur, live near New York City and have three children.

To register for this event, or for more information including sponsorship opportunities visit the HHREC website hhrecny.org, email benefit@hhrecny.org or call 914.696.0738.

The Holocaust & Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) will hold their annual Benefit on Thursday evening, October 27 starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Westchester Country Club in Rye, New York. The Keynote Speaker is Bret Stephens, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist with the New York Times, and the honoree is Dennis Mehiel, Principal Shareholder and Chairman of U.S. Corrugated, Inc.

To reserve your place or for more information, including sponsorship opportunities visit the events page at hhrecny.org, or email benefit@hhrecny.org or call 914.696.0738.

Survivor Betty Knoop with Ruth Nyavira
Liberator Alan Moskin and Survivor Sami Steigmann

Cookie Cutter Doesn’t Cut it at Harvey

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Rugby match at the Harvey School on April 5, 2022. (photo by Gabe PalacioOpen House at Harvey this year is Saturday, October 22, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Open House: Saturday, October 22, 2022 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

https://www.harveyschool.org/admissions/upcoming-events/2022openhouse

The Harvey School will hold its annual Fall Open House Saturday, Oct. 22 featuring a special panel discussion on “How to Find the Right Independent School for Your Child.”

The open house, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at noon, will offer campus visitors opportunities to take student-led tours, speak to current school parents, and meet faculty and administrators who will be on hand to answer questions about such topics as the academics, athletics and student life at Harvey, an independent college-preparatory school for students in grades 6-12.

Tours will traverse Harvey’s bucolic hilltop 125-acre campus on Route 22 in Katonah which features multi-sports athletic fields, the iconic Evarts Ice Rink, the state-of-the-art Walker Center for the Arts and Fenstermacher Athletic Center, the Upper School complex, and the middle school housed separately on the lower campus.

The special panel discussion will be held from 11 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. The school leaders on the panel will include Harvey’s Head of School William Knauer, Head of Middle School Dr. Brendan Byrne, Director of the Performing Arts, Vinny Alexander, Director of Athletics Ray Lacen, English Department Chair Virginia Holmes, and School Counselor Jacquie Butera. Among the topics to be discussed will be how to find a school that fits the needs of your child, how to help your child find their voice, and the importance of understanding your child’s learning profile – recognizing their strengths and interests and what their optimum learning environment would be.

The Harvey School personalizes an educational journey for students in grades 6-12 to be as unique as each individual student. Students don’t conform to a singular “portrait of a graduate.” They have unlimited opportunity to unlock their potential and chase what fulfills them, instilling a desire for greater knowledge, broader perspectives, and cultural awareness. At Harvey, helping students become their best self has everything to do with trust. When students connect with their teachers, they dream big, try new things, and move out of their comfort zone. The result: extraordinary personal and intellectual growth. Harvey equips students with everything they need to live meaningfully, happily, and successfully. Because joy matters.

“The opportunities we get at Harvey are just so diverse. In the fall, you can do the musical, and be a baseball player in the spring. You’re not stuck with one sort of stereotypical group. You don’t have to just be an athlete, or the theater kid, or in robotics. You can do all of them.” – Amanda ‘22

Harvey’s diverse, inclusive, and welcoming community includes students from over 100 communities in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and international students from seven countries including Sweden, Japan, Germany, Spain, China, and Lithuania.

Located on a beautiful 125-acre hilltop campus in Katonah, New York, Harvey provides a college-preparatory program that cultivates academic excellence, artistic exploration, athletic achievement, and service to others, with 5-day boarding in grades 9-12. There’s nothing more powerful than a student who believes they can make a difference.

 

Have you Heard? The BURNS is 20!

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Editor’s Note: An ongoing ‘Celebrating 20 Years Together’ at the Jacob Burns Film Center features a local favorite of many, including moi, the Jewish Film Festival. A peek into its screenings and more of what the remarkable staff of the Burns say theater goers can look forward to at their favorite Westchester destination theater, next door. Do consider a membership to help support programming at the Burns Center. – Grace Bennett

This year’s Jewish Film Festival will feature over 20 films, several with Q&As, and even a Film to Table program boasting a tasting menu inspired by Israeli television series The Chef. Opening night kicks off with Karaoke, a charming dramedy filled with suburban ennui, and the series continues with heartwarming flicks like iMordecai – starring Judd Hirsch and Carol Kane ‐ as well as More Than I Deserve, a poignant coming-of-age story. With lighthearted fare such as “Fellini-esque gangster comedy of Jewish despair” The Plot Against Harry, plus documentaries covering everything from the little-known history of the Wild West’s Jewish cowboys to breaking the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s glass ceiling, this year’s festival truly has something for everyone.

Two of the filmmakers featured in this year’s festival are Westchester natives! Most notably, Ethan Fuirst is a former employee of the Jacob Burns Film Center! Originally hailing from Chappaqua, Ethan worked at the JBFC Theater’s box office as a teen. His short film The Victorias, which made the rounds on the festival circuit before being selected as a Vimeo Staff Pick, will screen as part of JFF. Filmmaker Sophie Parens is also a local, originally hailing from Sleepy Hollow!

More about the Film Shorts

The Victorias


At NYC’s Tenement Museum, a diverse group of costumed interpreters took turns performing as 14-year-old Sephardic immigrant Victoria Confino in 1916. After being laid off during the pandemic, the “Vickies” reflect on the experience of telling another’s story. Filmmaker Ethan Fuirst’s quirky short packs a surprising emotional punch.

2022. 15 m. Ethan Fuirst. US. English. NR.

Zaida

Sophie Parens tells the story of her grandfather Henri Parens, who escaped the Holocaust at the age of 12 and went on to become a globally recognized psychoanalyst dedicated to the prevention of prejudice. Sophie was moved to make this film in the wake of the 2017 Charlottesville riot.

2020. 32 m. Sophie Parens. US. English. NR.

On October 11 at 6:30 p.m., you can also join a Q&A with filmmakers Sophie Parens and Ethan Fuirst with festival curator Bruni Burres, followed by a reception in the Jane Peck Gallery.

100 Years of Nosferatu

Additionally, this year marks the 100th anniversary of Nosferatu! Nosferatu will screen October 25, 7 p.m., with live musical accompaniment from Ben Model.

An unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Nosferatu is the quintessential silent vampire film, crafted by legendary German director F. W. Murnau (Sunrise, Faust, The Last Laugh). Rather than depicting Dracula as a shape-shifting monster or debonair gentleman, Murnau’s Graf Orlok (as portrayed by Max Schreck) is a nightmarish, spidery creature of bulbous head and taloned
claws–perhaps the most genuinely disturbing incarnation of vampirism yet envisioned. Nosferatu was an atypical expressionist film in that much of it was shot on location. While directors such as Lang and Lubitsch built vast forests and entire towns within the studio, Nosferatu’s landscapes, villages and castle were actual locations in the Carpathian mountains. Murnau was thus able to infuse the story with the subtle tones of nature: both pure and fresh as well as twisted and sinister.

To confirm dates and times, and to follow all that’s happening at the Burns, please visit burnsfilmcenter.org