The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

The Inside Press

Northern Westchester Artists Guild Presents: The First Annual ART AROUND TOWN

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art around town logo

Thursday June 4th, NWAG will kick off the first annual Art Around Town in the Hamlet of Chappaqua. The event will pair NWAG artists with merchants in the hamlet. The opening night kick off, June 4th from 5-8 p.m. will be a lively celebration of art and community including a reception at each participating merchant with wine, food, music, and the artists will be available to discuss their work.  The works will be on display until June 29th. All work is for sale via NWAG and can be picked up from the merchant where the work is displayed.

There is a $35 application fee for NWAG Members and a $90.00 application fee for non-members, which includes a one year membership.  The application fee does not guarantee acceptance and is non-refundable. Applications need to be postmarked by April 17th following which the merchants will select work to display in their own committee meeting.  Artists will be notified of acceptance by email on May 5th and which merchant they are paired with.  The application with submission requirements is available for download at www.nwartistsguild.org

The Northern Westchester Artists Guild supports and encourages artists in their endeavors  The Guild sees all forms of art as a vital expression and voice in our community. NWAG is a member of the Chappaqua/Millwood Chamber of Commerce.

If you would like more information about this event, NWAG, or to schedule an interview, please call Leslie Weissman at 917-282-6416, or email her at lbweissman@optonline.net.

nwag_art around town

March 20th eNewsletter: Chappaqua Improvement Project

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Hamlet of Chappaqua Improvement Project: Preliminary Design Presentation

Hamlet Improvement Project Design Presentation

Click here to see their preliminary design presentation of WSP Sells, the company working on our $6.5M Chappaqua Improvement Project.

New Castle Master Plan Public Information Meeting

On March 12, 2015 the Pace Land Use Law Center presented us with a summary of the existing characteristics of New Castle as provided through the Westchester County Base Studies. The discussion was very informative and provided residents with a greater understanding of the Comprehensive Plan Update Process and its relationship to the Downtown Chappaqua Infrastructure and Streetscape Project, Chappaqua Crossing and other projects throughout the Town. Click here to watch the presentation and question and answer session or check out the My New Castle website for more information and to view the presentation. The powerpoint presentation can also be read directly at this link.

Watch “New Castle Master Plan Public Information Meeting 3/12/15” by New Castle Media Center:

Henriette Granville Suhr 1916 – 2015

Henriette Granville SuhrHenriette Granville Suhr set the Town’s standard for energetic community engagement with more than forty years of gracious persistence and civic leadership in the pursuit of responsible environmental practices.

We and the generations that follow will be greener for her efforts.

May she rest in peace.

Click here to read the obituary on LoHud.com.

New Castle Hopeful State Budget to Include Sewer Funding

ExaminerState and local officials expressed cautious optimism that significant funds would be earmarked in the state’s 2015-16 budget for wastewater treatment and clean water projects that could help pay for New Castle’s sewage diversion project.

New Castle Supervisor Robert Greenstein said he met last Wednesday with state Sen. Terrence Murphy (R-Yorktown) and learned that the Senate has proposed a $1 billion matching grant program for the new fiscal year, which starts Apr. 1, to help pay for projects that would protect the state’s drinking water supply.

Read full story here.

Summer 2015: New Castle Day Camps – Your “Community Camp”

Summer CampLooking for a quality, affordable and convenient day camp to send your kids to this summer?

Why not choose one of the New Castle Recreation & Parks Day Camp programs!

We offer an affordable day camp program filled with opportunities for campers to be active, be creative and be themselves! Our goal is to host a safe, fun and affordable day camp for the residents of New Castle. Our staff are courteous, professional and always looking out for the well being of the campers. The camp administrative staff members have years of experience not only in a camp setting but as educators, counselors, nurses, coaches and parents. Depending on what camp your child attends, campers will have the opportunity to participate in activities such as: swimming, arts and crafts, music, sports, trips, special events, camp carnival and much more!

To access more detailed camp information and a camp registration form, please see our “Summer Day Camp” page by visiting www.ncdaycamps.com

Registration information can be found here.

The Day Camp Registration Form is required to enroll your child in camp. The form must be completed in full…no partial paperwork will be accepted!

Make a Wish Easter Egg Hunt

A Beautiful Day In Our Neighborhood

Beautiful Day in our Neighborhood eventWe are very excited to announce the Chamber’s first big spring event: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, a Special Saturday for our Kids.

Date: Saturday, April 11, 2015
Time: 11:00AM-4:00PM

This day is an opportunity for our kids to gain a sense of community and neighborhood. Kids (ages preschool through elementary and up) and their parents will take self-guided tours of our downtown with stop-off points to meet key town officials. They will also have an opportunity to learn more about the local businesses and meet YOU, the owners.

To be listed on our map, please send payment via link below. Businesses without downtown storefronts will be provided a table in a location downtown and will be shown on the map we are creating. We will notify you of location by April 6th.

It is important that we receive your payment by March 25th in order to meet printing deadlines.

Click here to sign up.

Please remember this is not the downtown trick or treating event or Community Day; this is purely educational and fun. It is a way for our residents to meet YOU and learn about YOUR BUSINESS. This is a great chance for you to promote your business, so we encourage you to come up with additional creative ideas to make your business standout.

We are so excited about this event, and we need your help to ensure it’s success. If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to us at dgreenx@yahoo.com.

Thank you very much!

The Chappaqua-Millwood Chamber of Commerce

Call or email: Dawn Greenberg, dgreenx@yahoo.com, cell: 914-263-5566

Mondays Matter at Quaker Hill Tavern

Mondays Matter

On each of the following Mondays, Quaker Hill Tavern will be donating 10% of sales to 10 local charities.

  • March 23- Evan’s Team in Honor of Evan Lieberman
  • March 30- The Billy Mac Foundation in Honor of Billy McGuire
  • April 6- Senior Musica Horace Greeley Scholarship Fund
  • April 13- Mt.Kisco Child Care Center
  • April 20- Friends of Greeley Theater
  • April 27- Dawns Ray of Hope- in honor of Dawn Re
  • May 4- Chappaqua Youth Football

Think Fit for Kids Family Fun & Fitness Festival

Think Fit for Kids Charity Event Flyer

Chappaqua School Foundation Spring Benefit

Save the date: Chappaqua School Foundation Spring Benefit April 24th

To join our Benefit Committee or to purchase tickets please go to this website.

Local Action, Global Outreach

Local Action, Global OutreachA Different Sort of March Madness is a town-wide effort this month to reach out and help others in little and big ways. Let your imagination be your guide. Sponsored by the Chappaqua Interfaith Council and the Chappaqua Library, you might bring lunch to a sick neighbor, volunteer to help a non-profit or surprise someone with cookies or freshly baked bread. Maybe shovel a neighbor’s walkway after a recent snowfall. Or pay for coffee for the next person in line… something to help others every day.

Our goal is a caring community!

Here’s an idea, consider volunteering at a local school. Dr. Lyn McKay, Superintendent of the Chappaqua School, says: “Our residents continually and enthusiastically donate their time, talents and expertise to partner with Chappaqua Schools in preparing students to be caring, active, productive, and responsible citizens in a 21st-century democratic society. This partnership is essential to students’ success.”

Volunteers Needed – Family Services of Westchester

Volunteers Needed for RideConnect

Chorus Members Needed for the Flying Dutchman

Chappaqua orchestra imageThe Chappaqua Orchestra is seeking choristers from Westchester and nearby communities to join us in a concert of excerpts from Richard Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman on Sunday, May 17, 2015. All inquiries are welcome (minimal time commitment, flexible rehearsal schedule starting late March, 2015, and no dues).

All interested singers should contact Michael Shapiro at info@michaelshapiro.com or at 212 417 9191.

Kindergarten Registration for September 2015 – Chappaqua Central School District

School BusRegistration for children (5 yrs. old by 12/31/15) planning to attend kindergarten this September within the Chappaqua Central School District is coming soon.

If you are new to the District, or if you did not receive a registration packet, please print out a Student Registration Form to get the process started. Submit your completed form and all required documentation to:

Liisa Elsner, Registrar
Business Office/Chappaqua Central School District
P.O. Box 21
Chappaqua, NY 10514
Fax: (914) 238-7231

Email: lielsner@ccsd.ws

If you have any questions or need more information, please call Liisa Elsner at 914-238-7200 x1007 or send her an email.

And please spread the word to your neighbors and friends who might not know about this year’s Kindergarten registration.

Email Your Town Council and Town Administrator

You may contact your town board members and town administrator by using the links below, or as a group. For a full list of town contacts, click here.

Rob Greenstein – RGreenstein@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-7281

Lisa Katz – LKatz@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-7299

Elise K. Mottel – EKMottel@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-4785

Jason Chapin – JChapin@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-4778

Adam Brodsky – ABrodsky@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-7262

All – TownBoard@MyNewCastle.org

Jill Shapiro – JShapiro@MyNewCastle.org 914-238-7269-4742

Mitzvah Project Makes a Ripple; Topic: Mental Health

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By Janine Crowley Haynes

Top L-R: Ethan Resnik, Jake Wild, Isabella Yallof, Bella Gizzi, Sara Unger, Ellie Hooker, Rianna Rabinowitz Bottom L-R: Jesse Schmalholz, Abby Yallof, Arianna Tedesco (Students not pictured but participated: Claudia Greenspan, Sami Wurm, Laura LoBello)
Top L-R: Ethan Resnik, Jake Wild, Isabella Yallof, Bella Gizzi, Sara Unger, Ellie Hooker, Rianna Rabinowitz
Bottom L-R: Jesse Schmalholz, Abby Yallof, Arianna Tedesco (Students not pictured but participated: Claudia Greenspan, Sami Wurm, Laura LoBello)
A crowd gathered at Congregation B’nai Yisrael in Armonk on Wednesday to attend a mental health awareness multimedia program put together by Isabella Yallof (12). It also happened to be her Mitzvah project. Isabella decided to focus on mental health because she experienced depression at the young age of 8. She was also moved by the recent losses to suicide, Miles Applebaum and Madison Holleran. Isabella decided to honor their memory with her project. Miles’ mother, Shari Applebaum, happens to be Isabella’s JID teacher at Congregation B’nai Yisrael.

No doubt, it’s been a difficult road for the Applebaum family, but Shari Applebaum fully supported her students’s Mitzvah project, knowing how vital it is to address mental health concerns in the community. “I felt honored to be part of Isabella’s Mitzvah project….I have to believe there’s a silver lining with a new life purpose,” says Shari Applebaum. “I can’t bring Miles back, but I am determined to share openly and through my own experience shed light on what parents can do to stay fully informed and actively involved in their child’s treatment.”

The program mainly focused on educating the audience on the topic of depression in children and teens. Yet, Isabella chose to do it in a unique way. In between snippets of helpful information on mental health concerns, she kept it uplifting with creative performances by other talented, young people in the community. From a keyboard rendition of Rustles of Spring, to guitar solos and duos, to gymnastic and interpretive dance performances, Isabella managed to keep the attention of the audience, mainly made up of young teens and parents.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Jennifer Powell-Ludner, spoke directly to the importance of opening up the discussion, not just between parents and children, but between friends. “If you see something, say something,” states Dr. Powell-Ludner. “However difficult it might be because you think you might be betraying a trust, if you feel a friend is in trouble, talk to an adult.” Dr. Powell-Lunder also noted that changes in behavior or a drop in grades could be a red flag. In addition, symptoms of mental illness can be exhibited differently in teens than in adults. “The No. 1 symptom is irritability,” says Dr. Powell-Ludner.

So what makes this Mitzvah project worthy of attention? Quite simply, we’ve got teens talking to other teens about a hush, hush topic without shame or embarrassment. Equally impressive was the collaborative efforts from Isabella’s peers who participated in the program. Communication is the first step in raising awareness and dismantling the stigma surrounding mental illness. Equipping our children with information on mental health issues will help to break down the wall of silence and create more compassionate, supportive relationships between parents, children, and their friends.

“I got better with the support of my parents, friends, and therapy. Now I’m back to the crazy, happy girl that everyone knows me to be,” Isabella says with a smile and without the slightest bit of shame. Although Isabella is only turning 13 next month, she said that she’d like to help other children in a mental health capacity when she gets older. For now, she is doing her part to send a ripple into the community to get young people talking about it in a productive, positive way.

Isabella with her parents, Matt & Amy Yallof, and her JID teacher, Shari Applebaum
Isabella with her parents, Matt & Amy Yallof, and her JID teacher, Shari Applebaum

Janine Crowley Haynes, Chappaqua resident and author of My Kind of Crazy: Living in a Bipolar World


I see you left the sky sitting there like a love lost in the crowd.
I want you all but I just can’t tell you.
I’m afraid.
I’m ashamed.
I’m a malformation on the brink of extinction
and evolution into the eye of the beholder which beauty stems from.
Beauty all around me.
But I can’t touch it.
I can’t hold it in my arms.
I’m a bystander.
–Excerpt from a poem written Miles Applebaum

Presentation about the Kuba People and Traditions at Neuberger Museum of Art Draws more than 200

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More than 200 people attended the opening reception for “Kuba Textiles: Geometry in Form, Space, and Time at the Neuberger Museum of Art, Purchase College, SUNY, on February 28. In the present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Kuba peoples are renowned for their cut-pile raffia cloths. Characterized by resplendent surface elaboration, these garments are detailed and complex like other Kuba decorative arts, a feature found in no other African kingdom. Remarkable not only for their beauty but also for their large scale, they are worn on special occasions by men and women, and display the status of the wearer. Marie-Therese Brincard, curator, presented a talk on the Kuba people and the extraordinary textiles they’ve produced, that are now on view in this historic exhibition, organized by the Museum, through June 28, 2015.

Johanna Cooper, Pleasantville; Ava Zukowsky of Armonk.
Johanna Cooper, Pleasantville; Ava Zukowsky of Armonk.
Ava Zukowsky of Armonk; Helen Neuberger, Cortlandt Manor; Aileen Ganz of Rye; Carol Gillette of White Plains
Ava Zukowsky of Armonk; Helen Neuberger, Cortlandt Manor; Aileen Ganz of Rye; Carol Gillette of White Plains

Amazing Grace in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility

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Amazing GraceAmazing Grace, a documentary about the making of the first and only musical ever staged inside Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, will be shown on April 16 at the Congregation B’nai Yisrael in Armonk under the auspices of the Katonah-based non-profit organization Rehabilitation Through The Arts (RTA).

The musical grew out of a writing class for inmates led by RTA facilitators Phyllis Ross and Anne Twomey Lloyd, the Tony-nominated actress. Asked to write autobiographical pieces, the women turned in such eloquent and poignant stories that composer-songwriter Michael Minard, also an RTA facilitator, was inspired to add original melodies in the favorite styles of the authors—rock, salsa, rap–and turn those words into more than a dozen songs. The resulting musical, in July 2013 in the prison gymnasium, drew roof-raising applause from other inmates and invited guests.

The April 16 showing of the documentary, which includes over six months of rehearsals and interviews with cast members, will begin at 7 p.m.. There is no admission charge, but donations to RTA are welcomed.

RTA was founded by Katherine Vockins in 1996 as a small theatre group in Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Today, RTA’s volunteer facilitators teach dance, creative writing, music, visual arts and theater in five New York State correctional facilities in the Hudson Valley.

As the Amazing Grace film demonstrates, RTA is a transformative program that uses the arts to teach critical life skills to men and women behind prison walls. RTA changes the lives of its incarcerated participants, their families and the communities to which they return.

Where: Congregation B’nai Yisrael, 2 Banksville Road, Armonk

When: Thursday: April 16, 7 p.m.-8:30 p.m.