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Caramoor’s Summer Schedule Spans Musical Genres & Delights Audiences

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PHOTO BY GABE PALACIO

While Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in nearby Katonah needn’t be compared to anywhere else, some visitors do see favorable similarities between Caramoor and a certain other renowned site for music in the Berkshires. Does Tanglewood come to mind?

But music aficionados need not battle traffic to the Berkshires. Caramoor, located on an historic estate owned by Walter and Lucie Rosen, is one of northern Westchester’s great cultural treasures.

A look at the summer calendar–available at www.caramoor.org–reveals a tremendously wide selection of musical events.  From Mozart’s The Secret Gardener, which will be performed in Caramoor’s Sunken Garden, to American Songbook, classical and world music and even sound art installations, there’s a summer full of music planned from many eras and genres.

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Family-Friendly Fun

Caramoor’s schedule includes, as always, many events for families that are truly kid-friendly and a perfect introduction to music for little ones. One perennial favorite is Dancing At Dusk. “It’s a really lovely family program,” Barbara Prisament, who handles outreach for Caramoor, said of the program, now in its 10th year. “It’s from late afternoon to early evening and it’s very reasonably priced.” This summer, favorites from other years will be featured. Dancing At Dusk will be held on Wednesdays, June 27, July 18 and July 25 at 5 p.m., and includes music and dancing; tickets are $14 for adults and $7 for children 12 and under.

The Knights, an orchestral collective from Brooklyn, will perform a family concert at 1 p.m. on Sunday, June 17. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children. “That’s going to be great,” Prisament said. The group includes a “steel pan virtuoso.”

On July 1, Caramoor will host a free slate of activities, including, at 4 p.m., a performance of an outdoor percussion work called Inuksuit by prize-winning composer John Luther Adams. The work will include more than 60 percussionists, and promises to be interesting to all ages.

“It’s meant to be performed outside–it has been performed on a mountaintop, and on the border between the US and Mexico,” Prisament explained recently. “You can come and walk through the grounds and hear the sounds of the percussionists mixed with the sounds of nature.” Children can also take advantage of a special percussion activity at 2 p.m. that day.

The event is free with reservations.

July 14 brings another family concert, at 11 a.m.: Bridge to Broadway, a journey from the music of Mozart through today’s Broadway musicals that will include the work of Schubert and Cole Porter, Verdi and Irving Berlin. Tickets are $14 for adults and $7 for children.

New Programming Director This Season

Adams is only one of 22 living composers whose work will be performed at Caramoor this summer under the new head of programming, Kathy Schuman, who is vice president, artistic programming and executive producer.

Schuman has said she intends to take advantage of the beautiful grounds at the 90-acre estate by featuring more “site-specific outdoor work” as well as more early music, world music and new music–as well as continuing to offer opera, jazz (in collaboration with Jazz at Lincoln Center) and also sound art. “It’s her first season and we’re really excited about that,” Prisament said.

The new is well-balanced with the classics, though, and visitors can come for a performance of Handel’s Atalanta by the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra or hear Tchaikovsky performed by the Orchestra of Saint Luke’s.

This season also features an American Roots Music Festival on June 23 and a Jazz Festival on July 21, both of which feature multiple performances. “It’s such a pleasant place to be with ample free parking, and you can bring food for a picnic or order ahead from our caterer,” Prisament said. “It’s a lovely way to spend a summer day or evening.”

How Greeley Athletes Stay Fit Over the Summer

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PHOTO COURTESY OF REBECCA PUTNAM

For most Greeley students, summer is a well-deserved break from the stresses that consume the school year. They no longer spend their days completing piles of homework, waking up at 6:30 a.m., and preparing for exams. During summer, most students can finally relax. But those months off from school can be anything but relaxing for athletes intending to play a fall sport. For these students, every bit of free time that comes with summer is spent training for preseason, which begins in August.

Although running through the heat of summer seems unappealing for many students, Greeley varsity athletes complete ambitious summer training routines over the summer to prepare for their fall sports seasons. Junior Max Notarnicola, a three-season varsity runner, says, “For the first few weeks of the summer, I plan to run about 20-25 miles per week. By the middle of the summer I plan to increase my distance to about 30-35 miles. Leading up to preseason, I plan to run over 45 miles and I will also be doing some speed work on the track. The speed work will most likely include mile repeats at around a five minute pace.” Nortaricola’s demanding summer training will prepare him well for his cross country meets in the fall.

Preparing for the Fall Season

Cross country coach and Spanish teacher Mr. McKenney can attest to the importance of running over the summer to prepare for the upcoming season. “Running and conditioning is our sport. All cross country runners who want to do well need to run over the summer,” McKenney explains. But he admits that not all runners follow as strict of a training regiment as Notarnicola does because “summer commitments and camps make it hard to find the time to run.”

While sports that revolve around running require rigorous training, the workouts that other varsity athletes complete over the summer to prepare for the fall sports season are equally as demanding. Captain of the Greeley Girls Varsity Soccer Team and junior Rebecca Putnam says that she stays active during the summer to stay in “soccer shape,” and tries to vary her workouts to avoid injury, as she works on different parts of her game.

She states, “Two or three mornings a week, I go to my SPARQ (speed, power, agility, reaction, quickness) trainer Andrew Abt in New Rochelle, and three nights a week, I work on technique in a co-ed soccer clinic for serious high school players and college athletes home for the summer. I also practice on my own to improve specific skills like shooting.” As captain, she will also be holding kickarounds for girls who plan to try out for the varsity team.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MAX NOTARNICOLA

Younger Athletes Train Just as Hard

Although upperclassmen complete rigorous training schedules to prepare for preseason, younger varsity athletes are just as committed to maintaining their fitness over the summer. A member of the Greeley girls varsity field hockey and lacrosse teams, freshman Grace Arrese explains that she plays on a club lacrosse team four times a week, and also finds time to play on her club field hockey team, which the varsity field hockey coach runs.

Arrese’s training doesn’t stop at team practices and games. “During quiet weeks,” she says, “I go on runs with my sisters and grab a field hockey or lacrosse stick and head to the turf at Greeley.” For a varsity athlete, training for preseason is a time consuming, summer-long commitment. While many non-athletes get discouraged from exercising as the temperature rises, how do Greeley athletes stay committed to their training, especially during summer? Putnam says that she is able to stick to her training plan because she knows that “in the long run, [she] is not only improving [herself], but [she] is also benefiting [her] school and club teams.” She also explains that “improving should always make an athlete excited!”

Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize

Other athletes echo Putnam’s sentiment. “Having a decisive schedule for working out helps me stay committed,” says Notarnicola. Making a plan is the first step to sticking to summer training. He also states that “a strong work ethic is the most important characteristic to staying in shape.” Athletes must be willing to run through 80 degree temperatures, knowing that their preparation will benefit their teams in the fall.

Ultimately, though the training that Greeley varsity athletes complete over the summer is strenuous and time consuming, their hard work to maintain fitness is well worth the effort, because as Grace Arrese explains, “It is the best feeling when I arrive prepared for preseason.”

Stella Schwartz’s Rigorous Training for Division 1 at UMass

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Stella Schwartz

As Greeley athletes work on their summer fitness routines, graduating senior Stella Schwartz is prepping to play Division 1 soccer in the Atlantic 10 Conference at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. The UMass Women’s Soccer pre-season starts July 31st. That’s when the team moves onto campus and starts to train and practice together. To prepare for pre-season, the coach sends all players a Summer Fitness Packet. The packet includes Strength Training which is lifting weights, Agility Training which is doing small running drills to work on speed and change of direction, Aerobic Training, which is running longer distances like 2 miles or 3 miles, usually within a certain timeframe and a Mobility Circuit, which is a stretching program. The Fitness Packet also includes a calendar that starts in May and goes through pre-season. Each day has a different drill.

Besides working on the UMass Fitness Packet every day, Schwartz trains with a technical coach (who she’s been working with for 4 years) who works with her on all aspects of the technical side of soccer, such as first touch, heading, shooting and body position. “Even though I just received the fitness packet in May, I had already started more serious training on my own last summer, to prepare for college soccer.  Starting a training program a few weeks before pre-season camp will not prepare a player to be at their best,” notes Schwartz.

“The biggest difference in playing Division 1 soccer and club soccer is the speed of play and the physicality of the players,” explains Schwartz. “It’s a huge adjustment and can be overwhelming as a freshman.” So another way Schwartz is preparing for Division 1 level soccer this summer is to play with college players on the New York Surf U23 team. They’re a member in the United Women’s Soccer (UWS) summer league. The league is a place where current college players (and graduated college players) can stay on the ball and compete while on summer break. It’s also a place for players to be seen by college coaches if they want to transfer schools or to play at the national level. The team is made up of college players, International players and National players. “It’s a great environment for me to be in because it pushes me to work on areas I need to improve.” Schwartz’s goal is to go into pre-season camp fit, strong and prepared. And it sounds like she’ll be doing just that!

Area Parking Challenges…and Ways to Alleviate them

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If you have had difficulty finding a parking spot in Armonk or Chappaqua, you are not alone. As both towns have grown, so too have parking problems. Add in the popularity of larger vehicles and SUVs, and parking space is at a premium.

With new businesses coming into the towns and ongoing construction (such as on lower King Street in Chappaqua), finding a spot can be tricky. This is especially true by the train station and in merchant spacing in Chappaqua and on Main Street and at the DeCicco’s lot in Armonk.

The parking limitations make it necessary for the towns to be vigilant about enforcing parking regulations. Community Service Worker Manny Antoniou, who is in charge of parking and traffic in Chappaqua, says the primary reason he issues tickets is for being in a spot too long. He is often stopped by people searching for a spot and suggests that they try the back of the commuter lot where you can pay by plate. He knows that adding more spaces would be the obvious solution but recognized that improving the parking situation needed to be done by “research and survey,” a process which could take a while.

Popular Parking Violations

Other parking violations for which he tickets include parking in two spaces, parking too far from the curb, or in a handicapped spot or fire zone. When asked about whether people who park in two spaces do purposely or not, Antoniou responded that, “Sometimes the offender is simply in a rush but sometimes they do it intentionally to protect a new car from dings.” Antoniou said he can “usually tell” the intentions a parking spot hog has and uses his discretion to ticket. He also urged people to stay off their phones and to “not ignore officers when they are directing traffic.”

In Armonk, the parking situation is not much better. During the midday hours, you may find yourself circling the DeCicco’s lot or scanning Main Street as you drive by in hopes of finding a vacant spot. One store owner in town, who wished to remain anonymous, said, “The biggest problem we have in Armonk is employees parking on Main Street. It’s an issue that needs to be addressed.” If you are willing to walk a bit to your destination (especially now that the weather has finally improved), there are often spots available in the CVS lot or the library parking lot.

New Spots Planned for Armonk

There is some good news on the horizon though; the town is in the process of adding approximately 80 spots behind and next to the Hergenhan Recreation Center, which should help alleviate the parking situation.

Sergeant Huffnagle of the Town of North Castle Police Department said that although parking is definitely a concern, he has found that most people in town are respectful of the handicapped spots. He also noted that with all the restaurants in town, Armonk has become a “culinary hub” and that means more cars parked for longer periods of time.

The North Castle officer in charge of parking marks tires on Main Street, which has a one-hour time limit during the hours between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m. The parking officer is also the animal control officer, so if he has to leave Main Street to deal with a situation with a coyote, raccoon, deer or other animal, you may get lucky and avoid a ticket if you are in a spot for more than an hour. (It is not recommended that you count on him being away, however.)

Parking Lot Etiquette 101

There are things you can do to help the parking situation. As a resident of Armonk for 20 years and a self-proclaimed parking lot maven, below are some helpful tips:

Pull out of your spot in a timely fashion. We all have the urge to check our phones and I know I am not alone in having replied to a text or two while sitting in my car. However, when I have to respond to a text (like when my son asks me to pick him up at school), I try to keep it brief. Composing a 2,000-word e-mail, flat ironing your hair, putting on make-up, or reading a book while someone is waiting for your spot is not cool and will not earn you the Citizen of the Year award.

Leave enough space between your car and the car next to you. Not being as thin as I used to be, when someone parks too close to my car I have had to slither in to the driver’s seat, as well as enter my car through the passenger side, which requires a level of flexibility I do not really possess.

Give cars spaces to parallel park. You can make fun of how badly someone parallel parks, but only after you give them enough room to get into a spot.

In Addition…

To avoid accidents Sergeant Huffnagle wants to remind citizens to “use their signals” when they are planning to park so other drivers are aware of their intentions.

Allow pedestrians to cross the street. We are small friendly towns; Armonk is Frosty the Snowman’s birthplace, for goodness sake. You won’t melt in the ten seconds it takes for someone to cross from the Post Office to Hickory & Tweed.

Huffnagle stated that he thinks people typically do not intend to be discourteous and that most problems arise because, “People are in their own little world and can be oblivious to other peoples’ concerns and time constraints.” I agree and believe that we can each do our part to make the parking and traffic situations in our towns much better.

Chappaqua School Foundation: Inspiring a Generation through Innovation

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CSF Board Members
PHOTO BY CAROLYN SIMPSON, DOUBLEVISION PHOTOGRAPHERS

In a town known for its top-notch school district, excellence in education is the expectation amongst Chappaqua residents. Any variations in school rankings are analyzed, dissected and actively discussed. The Chappaqua Central School District (CCSD) is characterized by its challenging curriculum, a committed faculty and an impressive array of innovative programming at every level.

It’s the common perception that Chappaqua’s high property taxes are responsible for such programming. In fact, over 75% of the school district’s budget is allocated to fixed costs, with little leftover to support programs that do not fit into the category of core academics. Therefore, funding is supplemented privately by organizations such as the Chappaqua School Foundation (CSF). CSF fills the void, enhancing the students’ education by fostering innovation and funding meaningful initiatives beyond the scope of the school budget.

Making the Grade

Marjorie Troob, President of CSF, was unfamiliar with the foundation’s significant role in the district until she attended the CSF Spring Benefit eight years ago. “During the president’s speech, my ears perked up,” Troob recalls. “She was discussing a district-wide initiative to raise $75k for SMART boards for incoming 3rd graders, the grade my son was entering. It immediately impressed upon me how enriching this addition would be to the classroom. I thought that by reaching out to my network within the community, together, we could make this happen quickly.” Her efforts were fruitful and Troob, realizing the influence of CSF, joined the board two years later and became a fixture in the organization.

Since its inception in 1993, CSF has raised over $3.8 million, funding over 300 educational grants and innovative projects. The Board of Directors is comprised of approximately 30 parent volunteers. “Our Board members represent each of Chappaqua’s schools and come with diverse backgrounds and skill-sets, providing us with broad insight into the heartbeat of the community. They are highly collaborative, committed and dynamic, not to mention that we have some of the nicest people you will ever meet.”

Fundraising efforts are conducted throughout the year with events including Mom’s Night Out, the Harlem Wizards basketball game, a Beginning of School event for preschoolers and their largest fundraiser, the Annual Spring Benefit. “It truly never gets boring,” Troob adds. CSF also hosts the Janet L. Wells Faculty Innovator of the Year Award and CSF Grant Recipient Ceremony that recognizes faculty who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to delivering educational innovation to their students.

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Granting Wishes

The foundation works alongside CCSD, teachers, parents and students to identify significant strategic initiatives for the schools that are innovative and meaningful. “The school budget is so tight and set six months in advance. CSF funds projects that wouldn’t otherwise be covered,” explains Troob. CSF ensures that teachers can realize their educational aspirations by applying for two types of grants known as Instagrants and traditional grants. Instagrants are smaller grants that are under $2,500 and experience a quicker approval process. These are ideal for teachers who require grants for projects they wish to implement during the school year. Traditional grants are awarded through a more vetted process for programs that tie into the curriculum and take longer to develop.

When discussing just some of the recent grants, Troob enthusiastically lists a wide range of projects including an indoor hydroponic garden, LEGO robots, 3D printers, coding blocks, digital telescopes, kindergarten book-packs and robotics equipment saying, “Many are innovative, while some are more functional, yet all make a meaningful impact on the students who are the recipients. The ideas truly get better every year.”

The Horace Greeley High School iLab is an example of a grant that left a monumental impression on the entire district. CSF was instrumental in developing this space approximately six years ago. Reminiscent of a sleek, startup office, the lab was designed using the latest technology and features furniture that encourages collaboration and project-based learning. This installation ultimately transformed the district’s curriculum.

Troob explains, “This project went beyond simply upgrading furniture. The concept of taking a fresh look at how we can integrate innovations into a learning space was cutting-edge.  Since then, CSF has partnered with the district to create innovative learning spaces and classrooms in all six schools. This is not the case in many neighboring districts.”

Giving Students a Voice

CSF encourages students to weigh in through the Student Advisory Council (SAC), a student-run, CSF Board-supported, advisory group at Horace Greeley High School. Formed in 2015, the council began with only eight members and has evolved into a major branch of the foundation, boasting 65 members. Nona Ullman, Vice President of Innovation, describes just how valuable the students’ contributions are saying, “They play the role of management consultants, interviewing teachers and analyzing data on how our grants are improving education.

This year, they piloted a new concept, ‘Grant Sharktanks,’ where students brainstormed ideas with the goal of increasing student-written grants. As a result, three new student-written grants have been funded including Yogibos, a rainy-day activity cart and an outdoor classroom at Bell.” She adds, “Through the SAC, we are providing students with an authentic learning experience that empowers them to make a major contribution to their school community.”

New Beginnings

As Troob begins wrapping up her term as president, she reflects upon the previous year, saying, “Its been a time of new beginnings as we welcomed new administrators including a new superintendent and identified a magnificent new venue for the Spring Benefit at the Sleepy Hollow Country Club featuring a host of new auction items. As we look to the future, it continues to be an exciting time as we begin collaborating with the district to launch a targeted grant that seeks to provide a digital one-to-one learning environment in our schools.”

Throughout changing budgets, administrators and even weather, it is certain that CSF is committed to harnessing the power of the Chappaqua community to maintain the highest standard of excellence for all of its students