• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
    • Subscribe to Inside Press Magazines
    • Issue Archives
    • Site Map
  • Cover Stories
    • Chappaqua Cover Stories
    • Armonk Cover Stories
  • Happenings
    • Westchester
  • Inside My New Castle
  • Just Between Us
    • Chappaqua Just Between Us
    • Armonk Just Between Us
    • From the Editor
    • Letters to the Editor
  • Health & Fitness
  • Single & Smart
  • Et Cetera
    • Worth a Thousand Words

The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

  • New Castle News
    • New Castle Releases
  • North Castle News
    • North Castle Releases
  • Subscribe/Donate
  • Gotta Have Arts
    • Book Excerpts
  • Lifestyles with our Sponsors
    • Sponsor News!
    • Words & Wisdoms From Our Sponsors
  • Advertise
    • Answers to Your Questions, or Contact Us!
    • Subscribe to Inside Press Magazines
    • Online Advertising

Malcolm Pray Achievement Center Inspires Youth

August 29, 2018 by Ella Ilan

Housed within three nondescript white clapboard buildings resembling an old country church at the end of a long driveway at 16 Bedford Banksville Road is a magnificent collection of vintage cars at the Malcolm Pray Achievement Center. This is more than a car museum and serves a greater purpose that was both envisioned and executed by its entrepreneurial founder Malcolm Pray. It is both a celebration of success and an opportunity to visualize oneself reaching one’s dreams.

The Malcolm Pray Achievement Center is a non-profit organization that offers programs that inspire visitors towards success through a tour of an impressive automobile collection and the story of Malcolm Pray.

Malcolm Pray was an entrepreneur in automotive sales. He started as a car salesman in 1955 in Greenwich, Connecticut and eventually bought his own dealership and grew the business to six dealerships. After an amazing career, he sold his business in 1999 and conceptualized a place to showcase his collection to motivate kids to work hard just as he was motivated as a child when he first saw his dream car at the 1939 World’s Fair, a 1937 Delahaye, a car he later purchased. He passed away in 2013. The Pray Family Foundation continues running the center.

Inside the main building, besides the 1960 MG Model A Roadster just beyond the entryway, it feels as if you have stepped into someone’s grand living room. There are couches, a fireplace, a library off to the right, console tables and walls adorned with civic and humanitarian honors, “Best in Class” awards from car shows such as Concours d’Elegance, photos of Mr. Pray with ex-US presidents and well-known politicians, and framed family photos.

The Armonk Chamber’s Neal Schwartz inside the Malcolm Pray Achievment Center which recently hosted a Chamber meeting and included a fun tour.

Owning Your Handshake

Over seven thousand visitors have come to the center and each is personally greeted at the door with a handshake. As a former car salesman, Mr. Pray recognized the importance of a welcoming handshake and this was his first lesson to his guests. He taught them to own their handshake so that they would be treated seriously.

After visitors are welcomed into the center, they watch a two-minute video about Mr. Pray that talks about his passion for cars, his imperfect school record, and about his road to success after serving in the Air Force.

“My message is clear,” he says in the video, “There is nothing in life that you cannot achieve. No matter what you do you will be in the people business…and never forget–your reputation is the greatest asset that you have.”

That message is just one of the different steps to success that Mr. Pray hoped to teach his visitors. Some other steps include consider a career, educate yourself, respect your body, learn the value of money, and be organized.

Success Despite Struggles

The circumstances of his life lend special weight to his tips for success. A child of the Great Depression, he struggled in school and had a mild dyslexia, undiagnosed in his youth. Most tragically, he lost one of his four children, his 17-year old son, in a car accident in 1986. Achieving success despite these challenges makes an impression on young visitors, particularly those with their own struggles.

Executive Director Marikay Satryano tells visiting teens that have trouble relating to Mr. Pray’s ultimate success and wealth that his life only appears to look linear if you look at him working his way up from being a car salesman. “What you don’t see between those milestones are tough decisions, hard work, personal tragedy, and struggles. Not every path is linear. You have to make the moment and take that first step,” she says.

While Mr. Pray’s original intent was to inspire youngsters, his achievement center has hosted families, senior citizens and veterans. The life principles offered are relevant to anyone going through transition.  Seniors grappling with what they will do in retirement, veterans trying to find their way after active duty, and adults seeking good advice to pass on to their children can benefit from a visit here.

After spending time in the main building, watching the video and discussing the steps to success, guests are led into the first garage where they experience their “aha” moment. In that first garage, they are met with some of the most significant American, British and German cars ever built. Ms. Satryano takes visitors through a fascinating twentieth century history lesson intertwined with a history of cars. Her props just happen to be rare world class automobiles.

Visits to the Malcolm Pray Achievement Center are free and by appointment only.  “It’s a resource,” says Ms. Satryano, “and we want the community to know that we are here for them.”

Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: Achiement, cars, Classic Cars, hidden gem, history, Malcolm Pray, Malcolm Pray Achievment Center, showcase

About Ella Ilan

Ella Ilan resides in Pleasantville and has written several articles for The Inside Press.

Primary Sidebar

Support The Inside Press

Visit Our Sponsors

Northern Westchester Hospital
William Raveis – Chappaqua
William Raveis – Armonk
Future Stars Summer Camps
Houlihan Lawrence – Armonk
Houlihan Lawrence – Chappaqua
Compass Real Estate: Chappaqua
Compass: Miller-Goldenberg Team
World Cup Gymnastics
Douglas Elliman Chappaqua
Douglas Elliman Armonk
Eye Designs of Armonk
Generac
Leaf Filter
Kitchen Magic
Play Nice Together
Mount Kisco Child Care Center
Beecher Flooks Funeral Home
Houlihan: Joan O’Meara
Wallauer
Compass: Usha Subramaniam
Houlihan Lawrence: Harriet Libov
Dr. Briones Medical Weight Loss Center
New Castle Physical Therapy

Follow our Social Media

The Inside Press

Instagram

Our Latest Issues

For a full reading of our current edition, or to obtain a copy or subscription, please contact us.

Inside Chappaqua Inside Armonk

Join Our Mailing List


Search Inside Press

Links

  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe

Footer

Recent Posts

  • New Board Members Ziporah Janowski and Debby Ziering Join the Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center
  • ENOUGH & Town of New Castle Holocaust Remembrance Day Commemoration – Thursday, April 15th, 2021
  • New Castle Reflecting On Environmental Justice as Part of Earth Month
  • For the Best Summer Ever, Sign Your Child Up for Dance Camp at Logrea Dance Academy!
  • Remembering Lawrence Otis Graham
  • A Conversation with Congressman Mondaire Jones

Categories

Archives

Subscribe

Did you know you can subscribe anytime for the print editions of either Inside Chappaqua, Inside Armonk–or both?

Voluntary subscriptions are most welcome, if you've moved outside the area, or a subscription is a great present idea for an elderly parent, for a neighbor who is moving or for your graduating high school student or any college student who may enjoy keeping up with hometown stories.

Subscribe Today

Copyright © 2021 The Inside Press, Inc. · Log in