I was planning a personal reminisce about 15 years of publishing for this 15-year anniversary edition.* Instead, my mind has been squarely focused on the massacre that took 17 precious lives at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Valentine’s Day. I’ll save going down memory lane for some other day.
In the week that followed, I visited a rally in White Plains quickly organized by Indivisible Westchester, Up2Us and Million Mom March, northern Westchester chapter. Erin Fuller, a 30-year-old survivor of the Oct. 1, 2017 Las Vegas massacre which killed 58 people, and injured nearly 500 more, spoke to hundreds gathered. Our story about the rally can be found online here.
More recently, I attended a roundtable of local teens (including ones from Greeley, Pleasantville, White Plains, among others) who joined several police officers to meet with Congresswoman Nita Lowey. To hear our kids grappling over what can be done was both heartening and heartbreaking.
Heartening–in that we are giving our kids a platform to voice their concerns and ideas.
Heartbreaking–in that it was a poignant reminder that it is KIDS who are on the front-lines, and too often, the victims of these shootings.
I asked a reporter to contact a group of area Superintendents for statements about campus safety and to speak with some of our students too; our story will be here at theinsidepress.com too as I try to stay current and share info into social media.
On March 14, high school students throughout the County will have an opportunity to express themselves–for 17 minutes to honor 17 lives. On March 24, many more will be advocating for overdue change too all around the county. Please visit marchforourlives.org for more info.
15 years ago, before Sandy Hook, before Las Vegas–before the reportedly 18 school shootings just this year–I was not, I must confess, preoccupied with these issues. I am now, however. So many are, including many who have not ‘stepped up’ before. A dear friend noted recently, “The winds are changing.” I believe that’s true, too.
The weather is turning soon. With more sun, comes more brightness and reason for optimism, too. Enjoy the edition! So much hard work went into it, and always appreciative of that.
P.S. A special congrats to our newly sworn-in town officials! At a historic and packed ceremony at the Chappaqua Performing Arts Center, President Bill Clinton presided, speaking of ‘A New Beginning,’ and the positive aspects of that.
*Fortunately, we have a terrific compilation of 15 major milestones in the community since 2003 on page 24 of this edition already, so do take a glance! The story is on our home page, and you can always download the entire magazine edition from there too.
If you have been living in Chappaqua for any length of time, you have likely already heard of Dawn Greenberg! Dawn wears multiple hats around town, spearheads all kinds of charitable undertakings (often via her “Chappaqua Cares, Chappaqua Shares”), directs our Chamber, and to my delight, agreed to guest edit this “Back to Cool” themed issue. I wanted to bring the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival “to life,” and Dawn, its founder, rose to the occasion–together with her talented team.