Saturday, May 21st at 8 p.m. – Wallace Auditorium @ Chappaqua Crossing
Beethoven Symphony No. 4, Coriolan Overture,
and Concerto Competition winner Sakurako Saimaru in the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with full Orchestra
New Castle News
Innovation and “Out of the Box” Experiences Showcased at Chappaqua School Foundation Gala
By Grace Bennett
In the midst of another packed gala for the Chappaqua School Foundation–with a silent auction and a delicious dinner underway–I managed to steal away CSF president David Gefsky to a quiet spot to talk for a few minutes. He spoke proudly, in particular, of the educational showcase in progress too at the gala, where about a dozen kids from the district “displayed projects that were made possible by some of the investments over the last year, inspired by teachers, and driven for the benefit of the students.”
The CSF fosters innovation, Gefsky explained, “working in close partnership and collaboration with teachers and administrators enabling them to recognize their creative capacities.” The CSF then raises the money to make that innovation possible.
“We make possible necessary investments that fall outside the normal school budget,” said Gefsky. A Grant Advisory Committee, comprised of teachers, administrators and technology leaders, “help define educational goals and evaluate and assess investment opportunities.”
In the meantime, CSF actively engages with the community for ideas–planning numerous events in which parents are involved. “We constantly speak with parents as groups and on an individual basis; their feedback is instrumental to us in terms of how we set priorities and how we ultimately invest capital.”
Gefsky, together with his wife Jennifer Gefsky, are parents of three children in the district themselves, in grades 7, 5 and kindergarten. He said that heading into the fall, the programming schedule is primarily designed to raise awareness of CSF goals. These include a Mom’s night event, a Dad’s event, CSF participation at Community Day, and a pre-K event for families new to the district. Notable too is The Harlem Wizards game, the second largest fundraiser for CSF, after the gala.
While the dollars raised was not available just yet, this year’s gala, held again at the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, set a record for ticket sales: over 630 tickets sold. Last year, CSF raised $368,000 at the gala, and a total of $433,000 over the year, and Gefsky said his hope was to surpass those numbers too.
For more information, visit www.chappaquaschoolfoundation.org
Discover the New Castles of the World!
By David Falkner
Did you know that there are more than 100 different “New Castles” or “Newcastles” around the globe, in many different countries and in many different languages? Not only that, but many of them are directly connected through the “Newcastles of the World” network or alliance.
The idea of bringing together places around the world that share the name “New Castle” in the English language came in 1996 from the England-based arts manager John Nicolaou in Newcastle upon Tyne. He created the “Newcastles of the World United” project, which resulted in a book with this title, covering 25 of the Newcastles of the English-speaking world. The aim was to foster links of friendship, culture, education and tourism. 
However, there are also many New Castles in the non-English speaking world and, following a visit to Newcastle-under-Lyme in England, it was the mayor of one of them, in Shinshiro, Japan, who took the initiative to bring the Newcastles together via the Newcastles of the World summit. The first took place in Japan in 1998 with delegates from Newcastle (South Africa), Neuburg-an-der-Donau (Germany), Neuchâtel (Switzerland), New Castle Indiana (USA), New Castle Pennsylvania (USA), Newcastle-under-Lyme (England) and Neufchateâu (France) joining their hosts.
Since then, New Castles have met together every two years and more of them have become involved. The only conference in North America was in 2002 when the co-hosts were the New Castles of Indiana and Pennsylvania. But the gathering returns to North America this year when the alliance will meet in Newcastle, Ontario, Canada (near Toronto) from 19th to 23rd September. And the New Castles or Newcastles of the US are being extended a warm invitation to attend.
That invitation is not only to the mayor and other elected representatives but to tourism agencies, chambers of commerce, community groups and to interested individuals. Our Newcastles of the World alliance is about helping our different communities learn from each other and find areas of common interest which we can pursue together. 
We link schools through our Global Schools project, and soon we will be launching our Newcastles “Passport” scheme that encourages tourism between us all through special offers and hospitality”.
Meanwhile, increasing tourism will be one of the conference themes in Canada, alongside the sharing of experiences about creating “age-friendly” towns and cities and many other topics and study trips.
To find out more about the Newcastles of the World alliance, check out www.newcastlesoftheworld.com and direct your questions to david.faulkner@newcastle.gov.uk. For further information about the conference in Canada, see http://www.newcastlesconferences.com
David Faulkner is a city councilor in Newcastle upon Tyne, England and was Leader of the Council in 2010/11 (and Deputy Leader for the four preceding years). He acts as coordinator of the Newcastles of the World network on behalf of those mayors around the world whose towns and cities are involved in the initiative. He has been involved with an extensive range of charities and projects in his home Newcastle, and was given an award by Her Majesty The Queen in 2000 in recognition of this work.
May 13-15 The Church of St. John and St. Mary’s ‘Spring Festival and Craft Fair’
Dave Mann, World War II Hero/Author, to Speak: MAY 2, NOON
“A VERY special visit to Chappaqua” with honored Vet, Broadcast Personality and Author, “What I Fought For.” All are Welcome!
By Grace Bennett
Dave Mann, a World War II veteran who wears the Purple Heart honor, long time broadcast personality and author, will address our own Rotary Club and guests at Crabtree’s Kittle House on Monday, May 2 at noon. The Rotary is hoping New Castle can show him a hero’s welcome, says the Rotary’s Sandy Bueti.
Born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, Mann attended the University of New Hampshire as a pre-med student. He was drafted into the army in 1943 and spent three years in Europe as a combat engineer, Third Army, under General George Patton.
He was awarded the Purple Heart after action he saw at Normandy and Battle of the Bulge. He is now a “Life Member of Military Order of the Purple Heart.”
In 1946, he returned to Boston and graduated from Emerson College where he studied radio and communications. Since then, his broadcast career has spanned New England, New York, and the Midwest. Mann also does voiceovers and is heard on many regional and national commercials as well as documentaries
Attendance by any group of high school students and/or local vets are especially encouraged. Kindly RSVP to Sandy Bueti: bbuilder95@aol.com> Subject: Dave Mann Talk
