The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Happenings

Feed Me Fresh to Support MKCCC’s Need-Based Scholarships

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Becki Fleischer with the Shaves at a previous Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening event.

Mount Kisco Child Care Center (MKCCC) 17th Annual Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening event on Saturday, September 25 will benefit MKCCC’s need-based scholarship program. In its 50th year, MKCCC’s Scholarship Initiative, which is a combination of government subsidy, private, family and corporate foundation support, corporate and individual donations, and proceeds from special events, enables MKCCC to fulfill its mission of providing children with access to affordable, safe, high-quality early care and education.

Over the last five decades, MKCCC’s exceptional program has served close to 7,000 area children.The Center is committed to its successful service model–balancing families who can pay the full fee for care with families who require need-based scholarship support to attend. MKCCC is proud of its diversity, which benefits the children, families, and the community, and is committed to creating an environment that fosters the practice of understanding, cooperation, tolerance, and respect.

Feed Me Fresh: An Edible Evening showcases delicious food from local restaurants that subscribe to the same culinary philosophy as MKCCC–serving locally grown and sourced food and supporting local agriculture. Through its Feed Me Fresh seed-to-table nutrition program, MKCCC has created a hands-on curriculum that builds a natural appreciation for fresh, whole food. Tickets are available for $275 per person ($250 each before September 1st). For information about tickets, donations, and sponsorship opportunities, please visit https://mkccc.org/events/17th-annual-feed-me-fresh-an-edible-evening/ or contact Helen Bock, 914.241.2135 or bock@mkccc.org.

Chappaqua Author Suzanne Chazin’s Forthcoming Crime Novel & Launch Event

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Editor’s Note: As we went to press, we received the following news from the Publisher of Suzanne Chazin’s new book The Fragile Edge:

“Suzanne Chazin, an award-winning author based in Chappaqua, has received much acclaim for her Westchester County-set crime fiction novels featuring Puerto Rican police detective Jimmy Vega. Hailed by Lee Child as “first rate and highly recommended,” the first five installments in the series have been praised for their compelling plots and multi-dimensional characters as much as the author’s thoughtful portrayal of the lives of immigrants, both documented and undocumented. The sixth installment in Chazin’s Jimmy Vega Mystery series, The Fragile Edge, will be released by Kensington Publishing on August 30, 2021.

The Fragile Edge is an engrossing mystery with a ripped-from-the-headlines plot, as a sniper attack believed to be organized by a white supremacist group sends Detective Jimmy Vega on a white-knuckled hunt for both the perpetrator and an undocumented Guatemalan girl who is the sole witness of the shooting.

A graduate of Northwestern University, Chazin worked for two decades in journalism, winning several national awards. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, People, Family Circle, Reader’s Digest, and Inside Chappaqua. She’s taught fiction and non-fiction writing at New York University, The New School for Social Research, and Sarah Lawrence College. She was a 2012 writing fellow at the State University of New York at Purchase and is a frequent guest lecturer on writing at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC. Chazin, a first-generation American, also has worked with several immigrant organizations in Westchester County, NY. She was inspired to write the Jimmy Vega series after spending a year and a half interviewing immigrants at an outreach center and compiling their anonymous personal stories.

Suzanne Chazin will be discussing and signing The Fragile Edge at an in-person launch event on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at Scattered Books (29 King St. Chappaqua). To pre-order and RSVP for the event, please email info@scatteredbooks.com. For more information on Suzanne Chazin and The Fragile Edge, visit www.SuzanneChazin.com.

‘SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD’ at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center

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Limelight Theatre Company will present four live performances of SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, featuring the talents of both Westchester and NYC-local professionals at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center at the end of this month on August 27, 28 and 29.

This highly anticipated production marks Westchester’s return to live professional theatre and will premiere on Friday, August 27th at 8pm. The opening night will be followed by performances on Saturday, August 28th at 3pm and 8pm, as well as on Sunday, August 29th at 3pm.

Written by Jason Robert Brown, the production of Songs of a New World is directed by Westchester’s own Richard F. Grasso, with music direction by Stephen Ferri. With lighting design by Adam Lobelson, sound design by Jon Weston and John Millerd, and a spectacular live band with all-new orchestrations, this production’s stellar team kicks off Westchester’s newest professional theatre company’s first mainstage production in a re-opened New World. Featuring incredible professional talent from both Westchester and New York City, Limelight Theatre Company announces its incredible cast: Grant Evan (Man 1), Stephanie Scuderi (Woman 1), James Harris (Man 2), and Raquelle Viteri (Woman 2). 

The show itself is about one moment. It’s about hitting the wall and having to make a choice, to take a stand, or turn around and go back. These are the stories and characters of today. Songs for a New World is the first musical from Tony Award winner Jason Robert Brown (Parade, Bridges of Madison County) and this moving collection of powerful songs examines life, love, and the choices that we make.

“With the last 17 months of COVID-19, the world has been very closed off and people have spent a very long time not socializing in person. We are in a “New World” now,” says Richard F. Grasso, Director of the production, “My hope is for audience members to feel connected to each character in a different way, and by the end of the piece, I hope everyone will have felt transported and lifted through the power of live theatre.”

About Limelight Theatre Company: The Limelight Theatre Company is a nonprofit professional theatre company that strives to provide inclusive, accessible and affordable performing arts to Westchester and Putnam County, NY. Support the return to live theatre as Limelight Theatre Company tells important stories and places incredible artists and creators in the limelight. The Limelight Theatre Company plans to provide an array of events in the future, including mainstage productions, staged readings, and concerts, as they raise the voices and inclusivity of all artists, cultures, and backgrounds in our performing arts community. Join the return to live theatre right in the heart of Westchester and purchase your tickets for SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD today at https://www.limelighttheatrecompany.com/performances. For more information, you can visit their website at www.limelighttheatrecompany.com or email info@limelighttheatrecompany.com.  

Teatown Wildflower Wetland Restoration Reveal

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Ossining, NY – Teatown was proud to “reveal” and celebrate the completion of their Wildflower Woods Wetland Restoration Project on July 15, 2021. This multi-year project was the result of a successful collaboration between Teatown stewardship staff, environmental engineering and landscaping professionals, and funders, including the Land Trust Alliance and a generous anonymous donor from the larger Teatown community.

Joined by Town of Ossining Supervisor Dana Levenberg, Town of Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater, and Mike Weinberg from State Senator Pete Harckham’s staff, Teatown Executive Director Kevin Carter and Director of Science and Stewardship Dr. Danielle Begley-Miller spoke about the importance of the project, and what it meant for Teatown moving forward.

“This was a significant effort that took many years. I love it because it checks a lot of the boxes – it’s a habitat restoration project, but it also elevates the visitors’ experience, the hikers’ experience at Teatown,” Carter said in his remarks.

Town of Ossining Supervisor Dana Levenberg echoed Carter’s sentiment, and spoke about the project’s benefit to the surrounding area.

“The bottom line is, all of our communities benefit from Teatown and the continuation of learning about environmental stewardship” Levenberg said.

The Wildflower Woods demonstration area was created to show the effects of white-tailed deer browsing on local forests. The location of the project allows for increased public visibility, but also increased impacts from its proximity to the road. The project reduces the amount of sediment entering Teatown Lake from the main parking lot, restores the sedimented area back into a wetland, and creates a space for educational opportunities. This type of information is important for the public to understand, and educating them about the restoration was something Town of Yorktown Supervisor Matt Slater commented on.

“Teatown is a wonderful asset for our community here at Yorktown and regionally as well,” Slater said during the event. “The educational components are so important for our children to understand the importance of maintaining this type of environment.”

A sediment catch basin was also installed to collect runoff from the parking lot and filter out dirt and debris. Over 7,000 native plants were planted during the project by Teatown stewardship staff and many wonderful volunteers, who gave their time and energy into seeing this project completed professionally and on-schedule. Teatown is also grateful to Barbara Restaino of Restaino Design Landscape Architecture PC, for helping conceptualize and organize the project. Restaino also attended the reveal event, and said that she looks forward to visiting Teatown often to check on the progress of the plantings and the success of the restoration.

The Wildflower Woods Restoration Project was made possible by a grant from the Land Trust Alliance and a very generous donation from an anonymous donor within the Teatown community.

About Teatown

Teatown is an environmental education organization offering programs to 20,000 adults and children each year. We manage over 15 miles of hiking trails on our 1,000-acre preserve and hold public and education programs for families and schools as well as special events.

Teatown Lake Reservation is located at 1600 Spring Valley Road, Ossining, NY 10562. Visit our website at www.teatown.org or call 914-762-2912 for more information.

Story via News courtesy of Teatown

A New Dance Work by Skyla Schreter on August 1 in Beacon

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[loculamentum]
August 1st, 7:30 p.m. on the Elks Lodge Lawn
900 Wolcott Avenue, Beacon NY
Presented by LotusWorks and A-Y/dancers
With Dancers of New York City Ballet

[loculamentum] is the first work by choreographer Skyla Schreter for Hudson Valley repertory dance company A-Y/dancers. Presented in collaboration with Beacon’s own LotusWorks Gallery & Workshop, this full-evening length dance work will feature a cast of nine dancers including A-Y/dancers guest artists, and dancers from New York City Ballet and Kansas City Ballet. With an original set designed by Aaron Loray, and original costumes by Lauren Carmen, the piece will use music by Claude Debussy and Miles Davis to explore the process of coping with and ‘compartmentalizing’ personal trauma.

The performance will take place outdoors, on an open-air stage, in two acts. The total running time will be 95 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission. Free parking is available on-site. Ticket prices are on a sliding scale. Higher priced tickets include a donation to the artists. All ticket sales go directly toward supporting the artists and production expenses involved.
Tickets are on sale now at: https://loculamentum.bpt.me

[loculamentum] will be performed by Preston Chamblee, Claire Deane, Kristina Diaz, Skyla Schreter, Jessica Smith, Mimi, Staker, Hannah Straney, Emma Von Enck and Craig Wasserman.

Skyla Schreter is a New York based independent choreographer, formerly a dancer with San Francisco Ballet. Originally from New York City, she received her formal dance training at the School of American Ballet in Manhattan, and went on to dance professionally with Boston Ballet, and for six seasons with San Francisco Ballet. She has created live and filmed dance works with dancers from San Francisco Ballet, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Los Angeles Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet, among others.

Schreter’s dance works have been presented on both coasts, as well as internationally. Her 2019 dance film “A Flower” was chosen as an Official Selection for the 2019 San Francisco Dance Festival and the 2020 Virtual Pathways Dance Festival, and won the ‘Audience Choice Award’ at the 2020 Utah Dance Film Festival. As a dancer with San Francisco Ballet, Schreter created featured roles in new works by William Forysthe, David Dawson and Cathy Marston, in addition to performing an extensive array of classical and contemporary ballet repertory, including works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky and Christopher Wheeldon. Following her retirement from San Francisco Ballet in Spring 2020, Skyla relocated back to her New York roots to continue developing her body of choreographic work. She has since been creating dance in New York City as well as from her creative headquarters in Beacon, NY; newly founded art space LotusWorks Gallery & Workshop.

LotusWorks is a multi-disciplinary gallery and creative workshop in Beacon, NY, founded by Visual Artist Aaron Loray and Choreographer Skyla Schreter. Originally conceived as a space dedicated to cross-pollination of diverse mediums, its focus is to offer the community a space to connect, learn, and grow. Through innovative gallery exhibitions, workshop offerings and event
programming that facilitate communication and connection within the community, LotusWorks encourages the individual to gain deeper insight into both personal and collective creative experiences.

A-Y/dancers was founded in 2017 by Claire Deane, Sienna Blaw, and Erin Landers, graduates of SUNY Purchase’s prestigious Conservatory of Dance. During their first season, A-Y performed repertory by Merce Cunningham, Doug Varone, and Hannah Garner. A-Y has been presented by Central Park’s SummerStage (as part of the Cunningham Centennial Celebration); Judson Memorial Church; Ethan Cohen’s KUBE Gallery in Beacon, NY; the Howland Cultural Center in Beacon, NY; the Newburgh Illuminated Festival in Newburgh, NY; and the Trust Performing Arts Center in Lancaster, PA, among others. Current and past company members have danced for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, Limon Dance Company, Pam Tanowitz, Sleep No More, and many others. A-Y/dancers was awarded NYSCA’s Decentralization Grant in 2018 and 2020, and the Dutchess Partners in the Arts Grant in 2020.

Story via news courtesy of Skyla Schreter. For more information, visit
https://www.lotusworksgallery.com/events-loculamentum