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Armonk Cover Stories

Frosty Day Parade Preview: Five Fun Facts for Those In the Know

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PHOTOS BY WILLIAM MADDEN

Inside Armonk got the inside scoop on the beloved Frosty Day Parade scheduled to take place this year on Sunday, November 25 in downtown Armonk. We spoke with Armonk resident Robby Morris, the President of Friends of Frosty, Inc., the non-profit organization in charge of planning the day’s events who provided us with helpful information so you can maximize your fun this year.

1. It’s more than just the parade–it’s many hours of fun-filled activities. The event starts at 12:30 pm with three hours of free activities, rides, treats and entertainment until 3:30 pm. Then there is entertainment on Main Street just prior to the 4:00 pm parade of 40+ participants (including three trains, horse & wagon, four marching bands, antique cars and floats). Several local businesses also offer free samples and discounts throughout the day.

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2. All are welcome to participate in this free event. Morris loves how inclusive the parade is and that Frosty is a non-denominational symbol of the holiday season. From the youngest Girl Scouts to senior residents at the Bristal that participate in a festive holiday themed van, Morris enjoys coordinating the 40+ local organizations that march in the parade.  An insider tidbit: Morris is actually no stranger to parade life. Born and bred in New Rochelle, he actually has participated in the New Rochelle Thanksgiving Day Parade for the past 50 years as a clown and his vast experience in parades makes the event here in Armonk run flawlessly.

3. Get there early to partake in events such as Build Your Own Frosty decoration at the Hergenhan Recreation Center. “The kids love making their own Frosty yard stick decorations and holding them up during the parade.” Morris, who is a grandfather himself, understands that young kids need down time, so they have plenty of activities planned for the day if your ‘wee ones are in a need of some R & R. For example, the North Castle Public Library shows Frosty cartoons all day.

4. Hours of preparation make the day one of the most anticipated local events. Morris has a team of about 12 volunteers who meet several times a year prior to the event for this “labor of love”. They assess each year what works and what they can eliminate from the parade. This year look for new businesses such as Tauk to participate. The committee also gets to audition several of the performing acts at the parade. Morris is particularly excited about Manhattan-based band Shinbone Alley Stilt Band. They are musicians on stilts and Morris and his team carefully plan out “how to utilize our entertainment to our best ability so the musicians are stationed at various points in the village throughout the day.”

5. Memories are made here. Morris loves overhearing parents and children in town talk about where they stood during the parade. “I love it when during the summer, kids can pinpoint where they stood. It is a day that provides a warm feeling for the community and puts a smile on everyone’s face.”


This is the town’s ninth Frosty Day Parade. Originally, it was a day when merchants stayed open late and was more of a winter walk. They revamped the day and added several activities nine years ago as a way to pay homage to Steve Nelson, the long-time Armonk resident who was the lyricist of the popular holiday song “Frosty the Snowman”.

The parade culminates when Frosty makes his appearance and invites all the parade spectators to “catch-me-if-you-can” with many of the attendees following him to Wampus Brook Park at 4:30 pm for a Sing-a-long and the Holiday Lighting Ceremony at the gazebo.

“It has literally turned into a five-hour free Winter Festival which would rival any Disney production,” sums up Morris.

North Castle Library Receives State Grant

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The North Castle Public Library has been awarded a $135,000 grant for building improvements to its main branch in Armonk. The grant, part of $24 million in capital funds set aside for public library construction and other infrastructure projects in the 2017–2018 state budget, was announced in August by State Assemblyman David Buchwald (D-Westchester) and State Senator Shelley Mayer (D-Westchester).

The North Castle Library “has put forward innovative plans for improving the infrastructure of their library building,” said Assemblyman Buchwald. “It has been very proactive in making sure they are a 21st century institution.” Buchwald noted that while many libraries apply for grants, the process is very competitive, and not all libraries that apply receive funding. The North Castle library, he said, has successfully positioned itself as an innovator in library spaces and programs.

Additionally, the grants require matching funds from local supporters. “New York State has an interest in supporting libraries where the local community has been part of supporting its library as well; this ensures both state and local dollars go further,” he said.

The grants allow libraries to “expand the critical services they provide for the community,” said State Senator Mayer. “They are centerpieces of our communities in Westchester and throughout the state providing programming for children, seniors, and families.»

(L-R): Sean Ryan, Assemblyman David Buchwald and Marilyn Heimerdinger at the opening of the Friends Gallery at the North Castle Public Library.
PHOTO COURTESY OF OFFICE OF
ASSEMBLYMAN DAVID BUCHWALD

Sean Ryan, president of the North Castle Public Library Board, said the funds have been put toward an improvement initiative that was established in 2013 and implemented in 2014. At that time, the library trustees assessed the needs of the community, and put together a wish list of improvement projects totaling more than $1.5 million. This is the fifth grant the library has received from the state, and according to Ryan, the library’s current ‘to do’ list has projects extending into 2020 for both its main Armonk branch and satellite North White Plains branch.

Ryan noted that infrastructure improvements were critical for libraries to maintain the type of programming that is relevant in today’s fast-paced world of new media.

“Libraries are reinventing themselves,” he said. “Just ten years ago they were books on shelves. Now, they are social centers for educational and cultural activities.”

“The North Castle Public Library is thrilled to receive this library construction grant which enables us to renovate spaces dedicated to support our library’s programs for children, young adults and adults,” he added. This support “allows libraries to transform to meet current and future needs of our patrons.”

The North Castle Public Library has seen a dramatic increase in attendance since the improvement projects began. Last year, more than 163,000 people visited the library, and more than 35,000 attended its programs, which is twice as many as attendees recorded in 2012. The library currently runs more than 2,000 programs a year, and ranks third in the county for program participants.

The most recent grant has already been put to good use. A Friends’ Gallery, which will be used for adult programming and as a gallery space, has already been completed. In June, the room was dedicated to the Friends of the North Castle Public Library in appreciation for their contributions to the library. The gallery’s first exhibit featured a historical retrospective of the group, who in 1961 established the Armonk Outdoor Art Show as a way to raise funds for the library. The exhibit chronicled how the show, originally held in a small churchyard, grew to more than 185 artists from around the world. Other gallery shows will feature the artists Natalya Aikens and Doris Mady, woven and pottery art, and local photographers.

The grant also covers the creation of a New Young Adult room that will provide more space for teens to use the library facilities, and a new café offering drinks, light snacks, and a relaxing environment for everyone in the community. The final project covered by this grant is the expansion of the children’s room, where 600 square feet of dedicated program space will be added.

“These grants support library programs that equip children and young adults with lifelong learning and literacy skills,” said Assemblyman Buchwald. “I’m pleased our libraries continue to develop new facilities and programs that enrich our communities.”

For more information on upcoming programs and exhibits, visit www.northcastlelibrary.org.

A Table to be Thankful For

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PHOTO COURTESY Georgia Frasch

The art of arranging stunning tablescapes has risen to new levels with the advent of social media. It’s only natural that America’s most celebrated holiday, Thanksgiving, raises the bar in the table setting game. This holiday stands apart as the tales of each family are woven within the artful arrangements of flowers, candles, found objects and china. Customs and nostalgia become infused within the beauty of the decor, serving up family traditions as the centerpiece.

A Flavorful Welcome

Notoriously the busiest travel time of the year, Thanksgiving officially commences with the arrival of road-weary travelers. Georgia Frasch of Chappaqua hosts approximately 25-30 people who journey from New England each year for what the family affectionately refers to as “Frasch-giving.” Though dinner is not served until the evening, Frasch’s home is decorated by noon with the fireplaces lit and the football game on. Champagne, shrimp cocktail and a three-foot custom-built charcuterie board awaits guests. Sharing her welcome strategy she says, “I put a lot of thought into the charcuterie board, which features a very well-curated selection of fresh, hand-cut vegetables, cheese and crackers, dips and more. The provisions are displayed in a very architectural, symmetrical way and have offerings for each of my guests’ unique palates.”

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For Smeeta Khetarpaul of Armonk, hospitality is also a major focus. “My husband and I grew up in India,” she says, “so Thanksgiving was very new to us, yet similar to Diwali, a festival that takes place in India at a similar time of year and also focuses on celebrating thankfulness. Thanksgiving quickly became important to us and each year it becomes bigger and more special.” The family and friends that sit around Khetarpaul’s holiday table represents a melting pot of cultures as she explains, “My guest list is very diverse, so my Thanksgiving table represents a diversity of flavors. I do make traditional turkey and sides, but I add my own special twist to each dish and depending on who’s joining us, I try to prepare meals with a nod to their preferences. Everything is fresh, flavorful and personally made in my home.”

Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily glamorous. It’s more about being together. My kids are now older, but we still use the turkey hands they made in preschool as seating cards, which prompts conversation. We share old family traditions and make new ones. – Leslie Gustafson

An Organic Approach to Decorating

The typical Thanksgiving scene, which evokes images of Pilgrims and Native Americans sharing their bounty amidst a forest, inspires the décor scheme of many. Chappaqua resident, Leslie Gustafson, explains, “Thanksgiving just feels more earthy and nature-inspired than any other holiday. We love to bring nature inside to take the place of the typical centerpiece. My kids collect the greenery, which we intersperse with pumpkins, gourds and fresh flowers.” Frasch has a similar sensibility, adding, “Here in Chappaqua, we have no shortage of trees. My tablescapes are always very natural and organic incorporating the beauty of the greenery from outside, which I wash thoroughly, like boxwood, pine tree boughs and red berries. Tucked within those branches are leaves and acorns that my children gather.” Khetarpaul also looks to her own backyard for inspiration, gathering leaves and acorns to create handmaid wreaths that adorn her door and staircase. Of her creations, she says, “I may stain the acorns with food coloring or pick leaves from the garden and tie them together for placement on the tables.”

Each of these hosts passionately agree that Thanksgiving décor should set a blank canvas to accentuate the intoxicating smells and colors of the meal. Frasch emphatically describes her strategy, “I use a lot of white from the serving ware and napkins to the white candles of varying sizes that dot the tables. I believe in a monochromatic color scheme.” Gustafson shares that philosophy saying, “I use a white tablecloth so that everything on the table pops and white unscented candles that don’t take overpower the delicious smells of the food.” Khetarpaul sensibly adds, “White will always match everything and I’ll never have to stress about whether I have the right colors.”

Focusing on Family

A lens into each window on Thanksgiving will reveal variations in rituals, décor and menu, but the commonality is a focus on family. As Gustafson says, “Thanksgiving isn’t necessarily glamorous. It’s more about being together. My kids are now older, but we still use the turkey hands they made in preschool as seating cards, which prompts conversation. We share old family traditions and make new ones.” The Fraschs traditionally play the card game, “Hearts,” a ritual begun by the family’s matriarch who recently passed away at the age of 96. Frasch laughingly explains, “They play two ways–Hearts or ‘Hearts with Cheating.’ More often than not they choose with cheating!” For Khetarpaul, it’s about beginning new traditions for a holiday they are learning to love. She says, “I’ve made a conscious effort to write handwritten notes to people telling them why I’m thankful for them. It’s a tradition I’ll begin doing with my children as well.”

How to Prevent Pet Loss: Local Experts Weigh In

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Laura Hill-Sulli, her husband Andre and dog Piper.

When Pleasantville resident Laura Hill-Sulli’s four-legged friend, Piper, went missing nearly four years ago she felt like she was living in her own personal nightmare.

Hill-Sulli’s story is like most who have had the unfortunate and agonizing experience of losing their pet. As Piper was playing in the yard, a neighbor walked by with their new puppy and Piper ran after it. When the neighbor went to grab Piper to bring her home, Piper panicked and ran off.

“We never had the need to have our yard fenced in because Piper always listened to us,” Hill-Sulli said. “I couldn’t understand why she would take off.”

Hill-Sulli immediately took to social media posting photos of Piper, a seven-year-old Merle Shetland Sheepdog, on several forums devoted to finding missing pets. She also left clothing outside her home to entice Piper with a familiar scent, made thousands of fliers and posted them throughout the community, contacted local rescue organizations, shelters and animal hospitals, and enlisted a pet communicator with the hope her family and Piper would be reunited.

“Every day we would receive what we would consider a valid sighting. So, at all hours of the day and night we would go to where the sighting was,” Hill-Sulli said. “The hardest part for me was we would get a phone call from someone who was so positive that they saw Piper. We would scour the area of where they claimed the sighting to be and we came up with nothing. It was like chasing the wind.”

When Piper was discovered in a gated community in Mount Kisco following her two-month adventure, Hill-Sulli took steps to ensure Piper would never go missing again. Along with erecting a metal spindle fence along their property, Piper is now microchipped and is always accompanied outside.

“I always had hope that we would get her back,” Hill-Sulli said. “Piper came running right over to me and I promptly picked her up and burst into tears.”

While Piper was found by someone who saw a posting on Facebook forum, Lost Pets of the Hudson Valley, Lisa Bonanno-Spence, of the SPCA of Westchester in Briarcliff Manor, said Facebook is a great resource to swiftly spread the word when a pet goes missing, but stressed the importance of contacting the police department, animal control and local shelters immediately.

“If no one knows your dog is missing in your neighborhood, they can’t help you,” said SPCA dog trainer Lisa Ricker. “The most important thing is getting the information to your local shelters because you want them to know right away that your dog is missing.”

Ricker added that having your dog microchipped enables shelters and animal control officers to reunite owners with their pets much faster. Off the roughly 200 stray or lost dogs the shelter gets a year, Ricker said many of them aren’t microchipped. It would make the search process go faster if the pet was microchipped and the microchip was registered, she said.

With dogs often running of their leash or out the door, jumping fences, bolting through an invisible fence, or digging holes under fencing, Ricker and Bonanno-Spence suggested pet owners train their dogs and attach a GPS tracker on their collar to pinpoint their exact location if they run off.

“You have to find what works for you,” Ricker said. “It’s an important resource because it can track your dog.”

Candy Higgins, who is on the board of directors for A New Chance Animal Rescue in Bedford Hills, advised pet owners use both a collar and a harness when walking their dog, especially on the Fourth of July or during thunderstorms when loud noises can often startle pets and cause them to run away.

She recommended pet owners not chase after their dog if they do get loose, citing that dogs have a flight instinct and will go into survival mode. Higgins also advised community members to contact their local authorities if they spot a missing dog. She stressed how vital it is to ensure a lost dog stays in an area to increase recovery, adding that approaching an already skittish animal may propel them to run off expanding the search zone.

“Call the number on the poster, call animal control, call the local veterinarian,” Higgins said. “The best possible thing you can do is report the dog, remember everything about the dog and what direction it was going in, and not approach or chase them.”

While there are no foolproof tactics to prevent your dog from getting loose, animal experts emphasized keeping all equipment, including microchips, GPS trackers, fences, and leashes in good working condition.

With the SPCA reuniting at least 120 dogs with their families annually, Ricker said it’s gratifying knowing the pet has a home to return to and the family is happy.

“It’s much nicer to know the dog is sleeping in their home at night instead of a shelter,” Bonanno-Spence added.

(914) Cares Opens New Headquarters

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Dedicated volunteers and Westchester County elected officials gathered together for a grand opening ceremony on September 20th to celebrate the new brick and mortar location of non-profit (914) Cares and hail its adoption of Kids’ Kloset. County Executive George Latimer cut the ribbon, marking the official opening of the new site at 901 North Broadway in North White Plains.

(914) Cares, formerly Chappaqua Cares, supports local non-profits that focus on basic human needs, including food, clothing, shelter, medical care and education. The organization was founded in 2014 by Chappaqua residents CEO Jessica Reinmann and Vice Chairman Dawn Greenberg. The two founders believed that there were many people interested in helping others and there were a myriad of charities in need but the missing piece was someone to put them together. They began working with four local organizations and have expanded to partnering with over thirty non-profit groups. (914) Cares places volunteers, coordinates donation drives, and helps local non-profits with fundraising.

(L- R): Stephanie Roth, Jessica Reinmann and Dawn Greenberg
(L-R): Dawn Greenberg, North Castle Town Supervisor Michael Schiliro, Deputy Supervior Stephen D’Angelo and Jessica Reinmann
(L- R): Dawn Greenberg, County Executive George Latimer and Jessica Reinmann

“Twenty-five percent of Westchester residents live at or below the poverty line,” says Reinmann. “There are families that cannot feed their children and although they get breakfast and lunch in school through government subsidy, these kids don’t get dinner or anything on the weekends and during school breaks.”

Through their Empty Bowls project, they have raised over $300,000 to fight hunger in Westchester County. At an Empty Bowls event, volunteers create hand-painted bowls. Guests are invited to a simple meal of soup and bread. In exchange for a monetary donation, guests keep the bowl as a reminder of all the empty bowls in the world.

“It’s hard to wrap your arms around the fact that so many local children may not have dinner tonight. It could be the opposing soccer team of your kid.  I think when people get it, they are generous,” says Mary Rosewater, (914) Cares board member and Kids’ Kloset volunteer.

PHOTO COURTESY OF 914(CARES)

The Kids’ Kloset program, founded by Executive Director Stephanie Roth, provides underprivileged local children with donated clothing and related items.  Since its inception in 2011, Kids’ Kloset has provided over 16,000 bags of clothing, footwear, diapers and more to local children. Volunteers sort donated clothing and pack “bags of love” with appropriate items that are not ripped or stained. They fill orders received from referring partners on the front line that can identify children in need, such as social workers, teachers, or houses of worship. Bags contain about a week’s worth of clothing and are packed based on the child’s size and when possible, color and style preferences.

“We pride ourselves as being somewhat of a first responder to these schools and organizations,” says Volunteer Coordinator Sandee Levinson.

“The mission is not just: here’s a bag of clothing because you’re in need, but rather: here’s a bag of clothing that’s going to make you feel good and give you a greater sense of self- esteem,” explains Roth.

“While we have specific operating hours, there’s not one single one of us who if we got an emergency call that a child is now homeless and needs clothes for school due to a catastrophic fire, who would not jump out of bed to make that happen,” says Rosewater.

“We have so many underserved kids here,“ says Westchester Chairman of the Board of Legislators Benjamin Boykin. “This is a wonderful organization.  If you have clothes that your kids have outgrown and you no longer need, bring it in,” he urges.

The adoption of Kids’ Kloset was the impetus to open the current space. Kids’ Kloset had lost its previous location in White Plains. Friends of the organization worked together to locate a new space that was centrally located. White Plains Attorney Seth Mandelbaum, a land use and zoning specialist, provided pro bono services to shepherd them through the approval process in the Town of North Castle.

North Castle Town Supervisor Mike Schirilo and Deputy Supervisor Stephen D’Angelo were both instrumental in the town approval and glad to have been involved. “It’s an incredible organization and it speaks volumes about the people who are behind this and gives you continued faith in society. With all that noise around us, there are still great people like this doing great things and it reaffirms the goodness in our culture,” says Schirilo.

“This coming together represents what makes Westchester great, not the government of Westchester, but the people of Westchester… who are willing to give their time with no compensation or glory,” says Latimer.

The Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry, which is supported by thirteen different congregations, is one of (914) Cares’ partners. “The values that we all hold so deeply from every religious organization, regardless of the brand name, are truly living out their faith in this and it’s extraordinary,” says Mount Kisco Mayor Gina Picinich.

“Often Westchester can be characterized as a place that doesn’t need help but the reality is that there are folks struggling here just like everywhere else and we want them to be part of the fabric of our communities and so we have to make sure we have services available for them,” says State Assemblyman David Buchwald.

“For someone who wants to help but doesn’t know how, (914) Cares is one-stop shopping,” says board member Haley Ferraro.

For more information on how you can get involved, go to www.914cares.org