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North Castle Public Library

“Chefs are the New Rock Stars” Series Continues at North Castle Public Library

October 21, 2016 by The Inside Press

Le Bernardin’s Eric Ripert to Speak at North Castle Public Library, Nov. 15

Eric Ripert, chef and co-owner of the renowned restaurant Le Bernardin will be speaking about his new book, “32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line” at North Castle Public Library’s Whippoorwill Hall as part of the Chefs are the New Rock Stars Series on Tuesday, November 15.

The program will be moderated by Stephen Mancini of Restaurant North. A book signing will follow the event. Tickets are $30 and can be purchased at the Friend’s website at www.fncpl.org

chef-series

Filed Under: Happenings Tagged With: Boook Signing, chef, Chefs are the New Rock Stars, Friends of the North Castle, North Castle Public Library, Whipporrwill Hall

It’s All Happening at the North Castle Public Library

August 25, 2016 by The Inside Press

nc library

By Deborah Raider Notis

The North Castle Public Library is much more than a place to borrow books. It is a hub of exciting, innovative programming. It is a community center filled with opportunity to grow, flourish, meet new people, and to feel an even greater connection to this community.

“We aim to offer totally comprehensive programming with the whole interests in mind,” notes North Castle Public Library Director Edie Martimucci. Martimucci, who has worked in the library system for more than 18 years, has been director of the North Castle Public Library since April 2016. She helps to bring the highest quality of free programming to both the Armonk and North White Plains branches of the library.

The creative, intellectual, and community-enhancing programming at The North Castle Public Library has one other added benefit. Nearly all of these programs are free to the public. For the past 70 years, the funding for many of these free programs can be attributed to the Friends of the North Castle Library. The Friends of the North Castle Library funds special programming that makes the library a greater draw for residents of both North Castle and the greater Westchester area.

They are responsible for the Sunday Music Concert Series, teen programs including a songwriting program, family programs like Family Chess, and various health and wellness programs. The Friends of the North Castle Library also sponsors bi-annual productions of The Armonk Players, a community theater group. Additionally, the Friends of the North Castle Library provided funding for the original library building, Whippoorwill Hall, and various other building renovations. The Friends of the North Castle Library’s annual Art Show, one of the most prestigious art shows in the United States and their largest fundraiser, helps to support many of these programs.

Over the past year, attendance at library programs went up astronomically, but Martimucci is hoping to spur even greater community participation in library events going forward. She has helped to bring diverse programs into the library, including weekly Tai Chi, art history, and Italian language and culture programs, all of which are exceptionally well-attended. This year, the North Castle Public Library also added weekly Bridge lessons.

North Castle Public Library Director Edie Martimucci
North Castle Public Library Director Edie Martimucci

For the younger set, the North Castle Public Library offers everything from yoga for mothers with children ages one to four to sewing to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) programs. According to Megan Dean, Director of Youth Services for the North Castle Public Library, “We are looking at the future of libraries. Thus far libraries have been all about circulating books.

Now we are looking at different programming and circulating other materials that allow for exploration and trial and error. We want to find new things and ways that the library can contribute to the community.” To that end, the library has added maker programs, science labs, Photoshop and print-making programs for middle schoolers, and 3-D printing workshops for middle and high school students. These programs meet once a week and typically have between 10 and 20 participants.

Dean has also started a program through which maker kits are circulated for two weeks to library members. With so many options, Dean hopes to encourage more members of North Castle’s younger community to become active at the library.

Knowledgeable instructors, including Pace University professor Val Franco and Alka Kaminer, who runs a weekly Chair Yoga class, give these programs even greater appeal.

“We have quite a few independent teachers who love to teach and enjoy our library community,” states Martimucci. Unique programming, like cooking classes sponsored by the White Plains Hospital in conjunction with the library and the Sunday Music Concert Series, has been a significant draw, and both the “A Taste of Sinatra” and “Love Songs of World War II” concerts packed the house with approximately 175 attendees each.

Martimucci has great aspirations for the library for the coming year. She hopes to build the library’s academic reputation, making it an educational hub for the North Castle community. Adding four-week continuing education classes, on any topic from history to science, is a high priority for Martimucci.

“The library should open up endless possibilities. I want to help to incite people’s desire to learn.”

She would also like to implement an annual community spelling bee. Structurally, she wants to reconfigure the rooms throughout the Armonk branch to allow for programming. “If we create more dedicated spaces, programming won’t interfere with studying,” notes Martimucci. She hopes that this will encourage even greater participation in programming.

But most importantly, Martimucci wants input from the community. She encourages people to provide the powers that be at the library with their ideas and feedback.

Go onto the library’s website and submit suggestions to the virtual suggestion box. And show up. The North Castle Public Library is a phenomenal resource that is open to the whole community.

Whether you’re interested in nutrition, cooking, physical well-being, music, academics, science, youth programming, or the arts, the North Castle Public Library has something for you.

Deborah Raider Notis lives in Westchester with her husband, four boys, and her dog. She is the co-owner of gamechangernow, LLC (gamechangernow.com), a free referral service connecting Westchester families to instructors. You can find Deborah’s writing for the Inside Press and on suburbanmisfitmom.com.

Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: Armonk, community, library, North Castle Public Library

55th Annual Armonk Outdoor Art Show: Coming Soon!

July 22, 2016 by Inside Press

To Benefit the North Castle Public Library

Saturday & Sunday, September 24 & September 25, 2016 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Rain or Shine.

Ranked one of “The Top 50” Fine Art and Fine Craft Fairs in the US by Art Fair Sourcebook and named among the top “Fine Art and Design Shows” in the New York Metro Area by Sunshine Artist Magazine, the 55th annual Armonk Outdoor Art Show will continue its long tradition of showcasing a fresh and diverse array of art.

Over 185 juried artists from 33 states, Israel and Canada, will be featured, with 46 new artists added to the show this year. A broad spectrum of mediums to suit every taste and budget will be on display, including painting, mixed mediums, printmaking, drawing, pastels, sculpture, photography/digital art, wearable art, and fine crafts.

Above and below water view of an American alligator.
Above and below water view of an American alligator.

This year’s show will feature free guided tours, emerging artists, and fun-filled, kid-friendly activities. We will once again offer free personal consultants, trained in fine art and home design, who will help visitors find and select art that best fits their taste and decor.

There is ample free parking on site, as well as a diverse food court.

 

Hunnicut Joel wood
Hunnicut Joel wood

The North Castle Public Library presents free events for the public to enjoy at
Whippoorwill Hall, 19 Whippoorwill Road East, Armonk:
– Thursday, September 22 at 6:30 p.m.: Classical pianist Janine Knox de Nigris.
– Friday, September 23 at 7 p.m.: Film titled “Beltracchi: The Art of the Forger” with
commentary by LIU professor Valerie Franco.
– Saturday, September 24 at 8 p.m.: Jazz legend Charlie Lagond & Friends.

The Art Show is sponsored by Friends of the North Castle Public Library, Inc., and net proceeds benefit the town’s libraries. Admission price: $12.00, $10.00 for seniors or with coupon, children under 18 free. Sorry, no dogs allowed. For further information, as well as discount coupons, visit www.armonkoutdoorartshow.org. Day of show call: 914-806-6307

205 Business Park Drive, Armonk, N.Y. (Exits 3/3S off Route I-684). Ten miles north of I-287 and I-95, 5 miles from Merritt and Hutchinson Parkways, 20 minutes from the Tappan Zee Bridge.

Rasko, Wesley glass
Rasko, Wesley glass

 

 

 

Filed Under: North Castle Releases Tagged With: Armonk, Armonk Outdoor Art Show, North Castle Public Library

Ruth Reichl Shares her Dining Adventures at the North Castle Public Library

June 3, 2016 by The Inside Press

Reichl-book_MyKitchenYear-1By Grace Bennett

Ruth Reichl generously shared her adventures, insights and wisdom about dining out–and about life, in general–with an audience hungry to learn as much about Reichl and her career as possible during a sold out, early May event at the North Castle Public Library.

The celebrated restaurant critic, former Gourmet magazine Editor-in-Chief, Food Network host, restaurant owner, and of course, best-selling author regaled the audience with an array of anecdotes–particularly those surrounding her legendary disguises/characters as ‘beautiful Chloe,’ or “wild Brenda” or “Stella, the raunchy blonde who wore too tight clothes.” The goal, of course, was to never be detected as a critic and to capture the restaurant experience honestly–the good, the bad, and the ugly.

“I liked to take her (Stella) out to the fancy Upper East Side restaurants,” Reichl related, conveying her elf-like mischief but also her basic mission to serve the reader, not the restaurant–two key elements of a signature style over decades as a restaurant critic.

“Is it wild or is it boned,” Stella asked the (snooty) waiter about the salmon that arrived.

“It’s wild,” he answered her. “It comes from about where you come from: Coney Island.”

Following Reichl’s talk at the North Castle Public Library, an animated audience question and answer period was moderated by Chef Eric Gabrynowicz of Restaurant North
Following Reichl’s talk at the North Castle Public Library, an animated audience question and answer period was moderated by Chef Eric Gabrynowicz of Restaurant North

The waiter’s remarks ended up in her review.

“There’s an unwritten contract between the restaurant and the dining customer,” Reichl explained. “You agree to pay for a meal and they agree to give you great food and make you feel like a special, privileged person–regardless of where you are from.”

By her talk’s end, and in answers to audience questions after, Reichl continued to depict a remarkable career now in full blossom with her newest title, 136 Recipes that Saved my Life. Reichl was also introduced by Nori Fromm, board member of the Friends of the North Castle Public Library, as “the most important woman in the world of food in the last 50 years.” To which she immediately offered: “My 25-year-old self would have laughed hysterically at that. My husband and I lived on a commune in Berkeley,” she related, eliciting just the first round of hearty laughter in the filled-to-capacity library auditorium.

Her first break was with San Francisco’s New West magazine, whose editor she had both cooked and written for. He told her, “You are a much better writer than you are a cook, but you know food.” He asked her to try her first restaurant review. “My first thought was: free food!” said Reichl. “The idea that they’d give me money for a meal was real exciting.”

Ruth went on her first assignment accompanied by several members of her commune. “I quickly learned that as a critic the worst thing that can happen is to have your friends trying to help you,” she giggled, poking fun (kindly) at some of the absurd comments friends make. She played around with the experience, however, and described an ‘epiphany’ which led her to write the review as a kind of ‘film noire script.’ “It was not a restaurant review in the classic sense,” Reichl said.

After she handed it in, she said she panicked. “I went into a tailspin, and called the editor to tell him to disregard it and that the real review was coming. There was silence on the phone. ‘I already read it, Ruth,’ he told me, ‘and it’s fantastic. You have the job–but I want you to continue to stretch the form.”

And truly, that’s just what Ruth has been doing ever since with her unique wit and with what would strike anyone familiar with her writing as undeniable confidence.

The lesson she shared: “When in doubt, take a chance.” Her fans are glad she did.

Grace Bennett is the Publisher and Editor of Inside Armonk and Inside Chappaqua who remembers thoroughly enjoying Ruth Reichl reviews over the years. For Reichl’s full bio, visit ruthreichl.com

A Chance to Dine with a Culinary Icon

(L-R) Nori Fromm, Hilary Chavkin, Debbie Heidecorn, Ruth Reichl and Gloria Meisel
(L-R) Nori Fromm, Hilary Chavkin, Debbie Heidecorn, Ruth Reichl and Gloria Meisel

Members of the Friends of the North Castle Public Library’s Speaker’s Committee had a wonderful opportunity to enjoy some light appetizers with Ruth Reichl at Restaurant North, prior to her appearance at the Library, related Speaker Committee Chair Debbie Heidecorn. “Her warmth radiated with all of us and she was totally engaging, candid and gracious,” said Heidecorn. “It felt like any casual dinner with one of your best girlfriends!

“While expressing her delight over the squid pasta she showed us some great pictures she had taken with her phone of beautifully plated food; she is truly down-to-earth… it was a meal to remember for us.”

Committee member Hilary Chavkin related that Ruth spoke of her childhood to them, “how she loved to cook as a young child with her aunt, and how her mother was not the best of cooks, as well as her stint in a cooperative restaurant in Berkeley. She also lived in a commune in San Francisco and learned to “dumpster dive!” She has had an amazing career and has always been able to recreate herself.”

Board member Nori Fromm on stage with Reichl at the Friends of the North Castle Public Library May 4 event.
Board member Nori Fromm on stage with Reichl at the Friends of the North Castle Public Library May 4 event.

Board member Nori Fromm, who had introduced both Reichl and North’s Chef Eric Gabrynowicz at the event, said they learned from Reichl that her life had taken a “different turn” after studying Art History in college. “She said that although she has written extensively about food she does like to cook and often cooks for her husband after a day of writing at their home in upstate New York.”

Reichl also has a keen interest in food sustainability, Fromm added. “I was impressed during the Q&A period when she spoke about food, sustainability and how people can bring about change in food preparation, as was the case with McDonalds.”

And finally: “She was so gracious after the event and signed the cookbooks that were not sold,” said Fromm. “They are on sale at the Village Book Store in Pleasantville.”

For upcoming programming for the Friends of the North Castle Public Library, visit: friendsncpl.org.

–Grace Bennett

Filed Under: Armonk Cover Stories Tagged With: North Castle Public Library, Ruth Reichl

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