The Inside Press

Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

Chappaqua

Celebrating Greeley’s Senior Class in Style: A Car Parade Filled with Community Love

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Horace Greeley High School Seniors (L-R) Charlotte Templeton, Emma Rosh, Georgia Goldstein

On Friday, June 12,  families, residents and visitors to the town of Chappaqua gathered together to show their love and support for Horace Greeley High School’s 2020 graduating class through an early evening car parade.

While the line of cars made its way down Route 117 and King Street and Greeley Avenue, parents and guardians sat behind the wheel as their seniors stuck their heads out the window or through sunroofs to either wave back at all the well wishers or to simply absorb all of the excitement around them.

Caryn Shapiro, parent of Horace Greeley senior Lily Shapiro, said, “the car parade was a silver lining that came out of this pandemic. It was such an amazing event that brought the whole community together to celebrate our seniors who have lost the fun traditions that make the spring of senior year so special.”

According to Horace Greeley PTA Vice Chair Suzanne Lodge, the Chappaqua PTA worked together with the Chappaqua Central School District and in cooperation with the Town of New Castle and its police department to organize the parade in order to replace the traditional celebrations this year’s graduating class is missing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. This led to the senior class car parade.

“We had seen other districts do the same thing but we also wanted to follow New York State guidelines, so I spoke to the New Castle Police Department and they were super supportive,” said Lodge.

Teachers at Horace Greeley High School waving and cheering for the senior class

Lodge managed the event and worked closely with community members, teachers, parents, seniors and the police department to ensure the car parade was well organized and successful.

Seniors and their families slowly began to roll into the Chappaqua train station parking lot around 5 p.m. Students painted the exteriors of the cars to celebrate their accomplishments.

Senior Charlotte Templeton said the car parade was “a great time and fun way to see classmates while celebrating being a senior.”

As more people filed into the parking spots, the noise level and energy built. Once the police officers leading the parade motioned for everyone to head back into their cars, the honking began.

The parade route started at the train station, weaved through town and ended at Horace Greeley High School. Throughout town, members of the community lined the streets with noise-makers, signs and cameras.

Cheers and shouts from community members combined with cars honking created a symphony that brought smiles to seniors’ faces.

When the seniors pulled into the high school, teachers greeted them by honking their horns right back at them and cheering loudly.

Lodge said the PTA advertised the parade in the town superintendent’s note of the week and in the elementary and middle school newsletters this week. The note encouraged community members to come out and cheer for the seniors while wearing masks and following social distancing guidelines.

Community members in town showing their support for the senior class

Senior Lily Shapiro, daughter of Caryn Shapiro, said, “it was so fun to watch the whole town come together for the first time in a while, socially distanced of course, to celebrate the seniors.”

Lisa Kassin, parent of a Horace Greeley junior and college freshman, lined the parade route with her family to cheer on the seniors.

“My family had so much fun watching on Route 117 and cheering for the entire class of 2020. Seeing the smiles on the seniors’ faces while they stood through the sunroofs of their decked out cars was the best part of the parade,” said Kassin.

Before the parade Lodge said, “we are so excited to finally be celebrating these kids, they’ve worked so hard for so long and we were feeling a little disappointed they would not be having their usual accolades but I think Mother Nature agreed that they need a celebration because today is going to be a beautiful day.”

Although “Honk for Seniors” is traditionally held on the first and last days of school at Horace Greeley, this car parade may become a new way of holding the event and celebrating the seniors in the future.

“I think ‘honk for seniors’ may have been more special than ever before, and I think this would be an awesome tradition to have each year,” said Lily Shapiro.

 

Ready to Open Pool Clubs Eager for a Green Light

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Willowbrook, like other county and private pool clubs throughout the county, anticipates opening during Phase 4.

The soundtrack of a pool club consists of the following: wet flip flops, lifeguard whistles, kids asking for snack-bar money, parents saying no, but then giving in after the fifth ask and loud splashes following a cannonball.

Unfortunately, the sounds have been put on pause. Although summer has arrived and Coronavirus cases have declined, pool clubs in New York are still not open for the season.

We’re all looking for answers, but unfortunately so are those who are in charge of the clubs themselves. Harriet Engel has been a board member at Willowbrook Swim and Tennis Club for four years and is a long time member herself of 16 years. She recently spoke to Westchester County Executive George Latimer on the phone, who is also awaiting answers from the state, to discuss the status of the pool clubs.

“George Latimer said on this call that he strongly feels that the pools can be open safely and they have done that in other states…it’s just a matter of when and what specific restrictions are imposed when they can open.”

The reopening of pool clubs is part of the Phase 4 structure in relation to COVID-19, however it is unclear if that means county pools or private ones. But, county pools are preparing to open, which means so is Willowbrook.

“We are prepared to open…when we are given the green light. We’re ready to go,” Engel said, stating that they’ve had plumbers there and pools being filled and repainted.

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The question of snack bars, playgrounds and swim teams are all currently unanswered and not up to individual pool clubs but rather the state. However, tennis clubs have been open. At Willowbrook, although both pickleball and tennis courts are open for play, you can’t share balls and large clinics are not being held. With that being said, the Pros at the club are available for lessons if you are looking for something to get your kids out of the house.

That’s another thing. Kids have been cooped up for months inside their homes due to quarantine, so the opening of pools would be a great way to let them be outside and get out of the house. And with the cancellation of many sleepaway camps, families are now home with their kids with nothing to do. For those who are worried about social distancing and the travel of germs, no need to fear.

“The benefit of the pool clubs is that they are all open air…they say that being out in an open air environment is much safer because everything can circulate, so it seems like it’s a safe environment and plus we have a lot of deck space. So, we could allow the chairs to be more distanced from one another for people to social distance themselves on the deck,” Engel reassured.

And in terms of the swim team, although there is no concrete plan or set of guidelines to follow that have been provided just yet, there are some possible solutions.  For instance, separating kids into different age groups and capping the number of swimmers allowed in the pool at one time. Even though these potential implementations change one’s normal routine at the pool, it seems as if that might be the only way to get back in the water.

“It’s the price of being able to partake in an activity, safely, to keep yourself and others safe. That’s the name of the game. You want to be able to do all these things, but we’ve taken all these precautions so to do something in an unsafe manner just doesn’t make sense right now,” said Engel. “You would sort of destroy all the work that you’ve put in up until now.”

Greeley Principal: A Preview of Plans to Celebrate a “Mature and Community Minded” Class of 2020

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Students conveyed a simple wish: to be together. 

Photo by Donna Mueller

Editor’s Note: Please scroll to the bottom of the story for the district’s graduation plans as they stand now as conveyed by HGHS’s Andrew Corsilia and Lauralyn Stewart in a letter to parents and students. Graduation Day is June 20th, and will be a car-based ceremony, site not yet confirmed, according to the letter which was forwarded to my attention just this morning after I posted the article below.– Grace Bennett 

In a class of 342 graduating seniors, all yearning for a meaningful and memorable graduation, one thing is for certain: there are many, many throughout the school district and community at large who care about the kids deeply and who are rooting for them to experience just that.

That was a primary message gleaned from an interview with Andrew Corsilia, principal of Horace Greeley High School, who commented on the HGHS Class of 2020 at large and the plans being discussed.

“We have essentially a small town,” said Corsilia. “The seniors have grown up with the same families, the same Main streets, with most in the same schools for 13 years, so what it means to be a Senior, what Senior year means to them: those are questions that have really loomed large in their imaginations, and in their expectations. Some of these events that we have planned for them are not just celebrations. They are milestones-with a ritualized way of getting to leave.”

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“The whole community is feeling for these students and wanting to celebrate them,” Corsilia emphasized. While no official plan has of yet been announced (SEE EDITOR’S NOTE ABOVE), a video message to the entire community, shared Corsilia, is planned for release next week. It will contain information about the multiple celebrations which typically place around the traditional ‘Senior Week’–a much celebrated time leading up to the actual graduation.

Corsilia said he had heard from many students and families and by and large, he said, “No one wants a virtual celebration; they made it clear that it would be anticlimactic to be sitting on your couch watching your own graduation; it’s not interactive.”

“They are clear that they want to be together,” he said. “It was a no to individual ceremonies.”

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Corsilia said HGHS was “holding out for a social distancing graduation similar to that held by the U.S. Air Force; we are scouting locations and coming up with back up plans.” 

Nothing is set in stone, given the coronavirus challenges. “We are grappling with a new set of circumstances every week,” as the schools receive news of any updates to rules and regulations from the County and State. “Our first choice if allowed by county and state would be to create something as close to the real thing as we can make it.”

The location of the Greeley graduation has traditionally been under the big white tent on the athletic fields.  “A tent is out this year because it compacts everyone into a very small area,” Corsilia explained, but the the fields and its vast space is the likely choice for any social distancing graduation for the class. (SEE EDITOR’S NOTE ABOVE)

Corsilia emphasized his and the district’s intention to “do right” on behalf of the seniors who he commended.

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“This class is incredibly mature.  They are community minded.  They are a pleasure to work with.  They give off a wonderful positive energy when they are together.  They distinguish themselves academically and creatively.”  He spoke of how they excel in science. He expressed his joy for them that they were able to produce a beloved senior production in the nick of time. This year, it was High School Musical, and “it was a ton of fun,” he said.

In the meantime, he has kept in touch with student progress since the pandemic took hold.  He shared his impressions of the 290 students who are participating in internships and independent projects.  Typically most of the students would be in internships from a workplace supervised in a traditional professional settings and 20-30 percent would be engaging in independent projects.

This year, those figures were ‘flipped,’ he said.

  “70 to 80 percent have had to abandon showing up at a workplace although some of the kids transitioned into a remote internship for these workplaces; the vast majority transitioned to engaging in independent projects, in which “their creativity has really come out!”

They have included: students creating a podcast as to how the pandemic has impacted small businesses in Chappaqua; students designing and producing fashionable masks being sold in Chappaqua; and those “diving into literature” whether by recent Pulitzer Prize winning authors, or classic literature. Others have worked on something deeply personal, whether learning to play guitar or building and creating cookbooks containing traditional family recipes by their parents and grandparents.

The support and warm feelings toward these seniors has been felt throughout the community. “I’ve had older people call me, those who have no students in this school, asking me what they can do for these seniors. They’ve seen the graduation signs around town that the PTA surprised parents with in the middle of the night. Everyone’s feeling for them… We’re just incredibly proud and want to do right by them.”

Is there anything else you would like the class to know, I asked. “They are really an amazing class,” said Corsilia. “We miss them.” 

 

May 28th Letter to the Class of 2020  

Dear Class of 2020,

We hope that you and your families are well.

As we head into June, we are happy to share our plans for a full schedule of senior-week activities, culminating in graduation. We want to thank your class leadership, PTA, administrators, and town, for planning and organizing these senior week events.

Video Message

June 10th – Senior Awards

We will hold a virtual awards ceremony, including a personalized presentation for each senior receiving an award. Those students receiving awards will receive an invitation to the ceremony.

June 11th – Post Greeley 101

Our PTA has organized a series of Zoom seminars about life after Greeley, hosted by returning graduates, parents, school staff, and community members. Historically, our seniors comment on how valuable this experience is, as they prepare to leave Greeley.

June 12th – Honk for Seniors Parade

Our PTA and New Castle Police have organized a driving parade (parent drivers), starting at the train station in the early evening and ending with a drive through the Greeley campus to celebrate the final day of classes for seniors. Expect a more detailed communication from our PTA.

June 15th – Color Wars

Your class leadership is sponsoring a digital version of our traditional color wars, where you will get to show your elementary school pride and compete against your classmates. Let’s see which elementary school wins!

June 15th – Athletic Awards

Mr. Semo and Greeley Sports Boosters have organized a virtual ceremony to honor our senior athletes. Students will receive commemorative booklets prior to the virtual event which will begin at 7:00 p.m.

June 17th – Cap and Gown Drop Off

We will deliver to your home, via school bus, a care package, including your cap and gown and Senior Beach Day towel.

June 18th – Senior Montage

Our PTA will release the senior montage video to commemorate your senior year.

Prom

Your class leadership and PTA have reserved Trump National Golf Course and are working to schedule your prom at a future date, when it is safe to do so.

Yearbooks

Your yearbooks are looking great, but due to printing delays, they will not be available until August, at which time, we will schedule a process for picking up your yearbook.

June 20th – Graduation

We have heard from our students and our community that you want to be together for graduation, and we know that your first choice would be to have an in-person, socially-distanced graduation on our fields. The New York State Executive Orders, at this time, do not permit such a ceremony. Unless these guidelines change, we will hold a car-based graduation on June 20th in Chappaqua. We are currently confirming the site, and you will hear additional details about location and logistics, as we move closer to the date. In this way, we can keep our original date, bring the class together, and send you off to an amazing summer.

As we move closer to these dates, you will receive additional communication, specific to each event.

Class of 2020, we look forward to celebrating you in style.

Best, Mr. Corsilia and Ms. Stewart

 

Memorial Day 2020: a Virtual Ceremony & Inside Press Coverage, 2017-2020

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Just Between Us: The Inside Press and its various contributors over the years have rarely missed covering the Town of New Castle’s always moving and most memorable Memorial Day parades, so we were heartened to learn there will be at least a virtual commemoration working with the New Castle Community Media Center. Here’s the town’s news of what’s planned; what follows are just the past three years of Inside Press coverage, which I hope offers a small glimpse into what a future parade might look like here again, once we are on the other side of the coronavirus crisis.  To all who have served our country: eternal gratitude from everyone at the Inside Press, too. — Grace Bennett

The Town of New Castle has announced in its Community e-letter “that due to the current health crisis, it will be unable to hold the town’s traditional Memorial Day parade. “However, working with the Memorial Day Committee and New Castle Community Media Center, we have planned a virtual Memorial Day celebration that will honor the soldiers from New Castle who lost their lives in service to their country and celebrate our community and its enduring spirit. On Monday, May 25th at 11AM, please join honorable local veterans, your friends and neighbors, and some special guests for a one-of-a-kind virtual commemoration and celebration.”

Available on: 

 

To further relay the beauty of the day and to honor those who served the country,  we revisit a past few years of Inside Press coverage in New Castle. 

More Than A Parade

Reflecting on Chappaqua’s 2018 Memorial Day Parade…

In Two Key Ceremonies, Vets Honored During Chappaqua’s Memorial Day Parade

When Bill Clinton Sightings & Selfies Were Part of Life, Pre-Pandemic

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Earlier this month, President Bill Clinton and his daughter Chelsea virtually convened top government, public health and philanthropic leaders as part of the Clinton Foundation’s 12th annual Clinton Global Initiative University (CGIU) where university students from around the globe tackle the most pressing issues facing society. Obviously with COVID-19’s rampant growth as a global pandemic, the CGIU focused solely on this issue and even included President Clinton interviewing Governors Andrew Cuomo and Gavin Newsom.

At the end of the interview, in a touching moment, Governor Cuomo told Bill Clinton that he missed him.

I understand the Governor’s sentiment! I’ve missed President Clinton too, so  I was glad to hear that he had been busy preparing for this important initiative. Admittedly,  I was starting to wonder and even worry a little about what he was doing to keep himself occupied at home during COVID-19.

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Up until COVID-19 reared its ugly head, I had a pretty good idea of what he was up to thanks to the Chappaqua Moms Facebook page which has always offered a bevy of Clinton sightings and updates. But lately there was hardly any news about him besides a recent pizza delivery from the Clintons to several Westchester-based hospitals.

Pre-COVID-19, I knew that he liked to take a pre-dinner stroll up and down our many hills which can rival San Francisco’s. He had a regular route which is often documented in photos on Facebook and selfies with town residents meeting him on his walk. Everyone had a chance for a photo from merchants to eager Girl Scouts to construction workers – he believes in equal opportunity for all as long as you ask politely and chat with him. That’s what he likes best.

I know he hasn’t frequented one of his favorite local restaurants, Le Jardin du Roi, lately where he usually holds court on one of the first warm days of spring when the dining turns al fresco on their terrace as soon as it hits 70 degrees. There are tons of photos taken with other customers and wait staff anytime he goes there. He’s always willing to oblige and take photos with everyone from crying babies to garrulous bartenders and he makes it a point of taking the time to connect with each person. He’s the ultimate non-social distancer.

Perhaps he’s taking advantage of their take out menu but I do hope he sends someone else out to get it since his age makes him high-risk. I’m willing and able if he’d like. All he has to do is send me a Facebook messenger post.

He hasn’t stopped by our Starbucks lately which has its doors downtown shuttered. This is probably his number one photo backdrop in town as my Facebook feed attests. Everyone from high school athletes to septuagenarians has photos of him here. When there was a Dunkin Donuts in town, I almost wanted to abandon my loyalty to the brand just so I could get a photo of myself with him there. I even plotted my drink order- skinny hot chocolate as I wouldn’t be caught dead drinking their (in my opinion) bitter coffee.

Miracle of Miracles: My Photo Op

President Bill Clinton with Delilah, Samuel and Abigail Pfeffer

But then one day it happened. There’s a sense in my town that you know you are a true Chappaqua resident when you’ve snapped a photo with him. It was a Sunday night around 6:30 pm in May and I had bathed and fed my three young kids, bribing them with Carvel if they cooperated. It was an odd time to be driving in downtown Chappaqua which in totality is probably less than a mile but then I spotted him with his unmistakable thick white mane walking by the Citibank on my right. Excitedly I rolled down the window and with all my Queens moxie shouted, “President Clinton, I’ve lived here five years and I have been dying to take a photo with you.” He stopped in his tracks as I pulled closer to the curb and he looked closer at my car.

Unbeknownst to me there were Secret Service cars across the street but I guess my big SUV with various camp and sports team magnets looked harmless enough. “Sure, let’s do this,” he replied.

My heart was beating fast. “Well, I have three young kids with me,” I said and some were still strapped in their infant car seats. “I can take them out,” I said.

“No need for all that trouble,” he said. “I’ll just open the door and stick my head in,” he said. Dear God, he’s going to see all the Cheerios splayed out on the car floor, I thought to myself. Oh well and he swung open the door but before we took the photo, he conversed with my kids. My son was wearing a dinosaur pajama top and he asked him about his favorite dinosaurs. My daughter and him had an animated conversation about Elmo and my infant baby remained oblivious to all of the hoopla. He asked how long I had lived in town and where we were going.

I had finally gotten our selfie. I thanked him profusely and he told us all to enjoy our ice cream. We did and as I finished my cone, I posted the pic to Facebook which has been one of my most well liked photos. Once we got that first photo, my luck changed and I’ve since been able to capture photos of him and my kids  in town and at my husband’s town baseball team playoffs.

Abigail Pfeffer, President Bill Clinton and Delilah Pfeffer

After the 2016 election, Bill and Hillary took several walks on our town’s beautiful hiking trails that are normally filled with solitude. Reporters came out in full force though trying to track them down on one of their woodsy walks to see if they could get an interview or photograph. I often wonder if that’s where Bill is spending his time now that CGIU is over – walking in the woods but then I have second thoughts. He craves human connection like most of us and if he runs into someone, well a photo op or selfie just may be too tempting. Maybe now that CGIU finished, he’ll have time to binge watch “Tiger King” like the rest of us regular folks stuck at home. Or not….