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Magazines serving the communities of Northern Westchester

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A Purple Pig Tales Party to Celebrate the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival

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Air-Brushed Tattoos, Balloon-Twisting, Purple Hair Extension “Pigtails,” Book Reading by Jean Van Leeuwen, and the Unveiling of Purple Pig Tales Ice Cream

August 31, 2 – 4pm
hall of scoops cone

Hall of Scoops, 14 South Greeley Avenue, in Chappaqua and the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival (CCBF) are hosting an afternoon of kids’ activities to launch a new custom-crafted ice cream flavor, Purple Pig Tales, to celebrate and raise awareness of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival.

Free activities will include air-brushed tattoos by Kiwi Country Day Camp, balloon-twisting, purple “pigtail” extensions by Cathy’s Hair Room, and a book reading by award-winning children’s book author Jean Van Leeuwen at 3pm. Hall of Scoops will unveil its newest ice cream flavor, Purple Pig Tales – purple and white-swirled cotton-candy ice cream with rainbow confetti – which was created with the permission of and guidance from Oliver and Amanda Pig author Jean Van Leeuwen. A portion of the proceeds from the sales of Purple Pig Tales ice cream will benefit CCBF’s literacy partner, JCY-Westchester Community Partners.

All activities are free. Ice cream is available for purchase.

Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival
The Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival is one of the largest children’s book festivals in the metropolitan region. From princesses to pups, to angst-filled tweens, and every crazy character in between, you’ll find them all at the third annual CCBF, on October 3, 2015. More than 85 popular authors, who bring your favorite characters to life, are expected to participate. Most will be signing their books and reading excerpts. It is a family event with tons of fun, food, kid-friendly activities, entertainment and, of course, books! For more information, visit www.ccbfestival.org or follow the CCBF at www.facebook.com/chappaquachildrensbookfestival.

Hall of Scoops
Frozen yogurt and ice cream shop with everything you could dream of and more – the new innovative way of enjoying your favorite scoops and sweets. With four sections, including a wall of every candy you can imagine, 12 flavors of self-serve frozen yogurts, 16 delicious flavors of Longford’s ice cream and an amazing gift department for kids of all ages!

Esther Miller Turns 100

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Article and Photos By Marianne A. Campolongo

What do Esther Miller and Bill Clinton have in common? They both live in Chappaqua and share a birthday, August 19, although Miller has a few years on the former president. She just turned 100.

Feted by over 100 friends and family at a party at the New Castle Senior Center the weekend before the big day and honored at a New Castle Town Board meeting where she was presented with a Proclamation from the Westchester County Board of Legislators announcing that August 19, 2015 is Esther Lopatin Miller Day in Westchester County, the spry centenarian enjoyed a busy time leading up to the big day.

Esther Miller
Esther Miller

Keeping busy is second nature to Miller. She plays bridge two or three times a week. “I love to commune with nature,” she said. She particularly enjoys bird-watching at the home she shares with her daughter Carol Glassman and son-in-law Morris, who built the many bird feeders and birdhouses that dot their property. On a recent visit, woodpeckers, cardinals, mourning doves, and sparrows were among the flock. “You have to appreciate the wonderful value these birds have to offer,” Miller said. She also enjoys relaxing by the fish pond at the Chappaqua home of her daughter and son-in-law, Roxanne and Ed Socolow.

A champion and captain of the tennis team at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Connecticut, Miller played tennis well into her 80’s. “I still love sports. I spend many hours watching tennis, golf, baseball, and basketball on television,” she said.

Miller raised her two daughters in New Haven, Connecticut and both women attended the same schools as their mother, just as Kevin, HGHS class of 2013 and Katie, HGHS 2016 have attended their father’s alma mater and grown up in the same town. Kevin has followed his grandmother’s footsteps too, teaching as well as playing tennis.

Family and friends came from around the county and around the country to help Esther Miller celebrate her 100th birthday.
Family and friends came from around the county and country to help Esther Miller celebrate her 100th birthday.

Miller was also an avid golfer throughout much of her life, taking up the game so she could play with her late husband, David, who was a champion amateur. The two won many tournaments together as well. She taught her grandsons the game and made many friends on the golf course after moving to town.

Miller moved to Chappaqua from New Haven in 1980. At first, she missed Connecticut, having lived in New Haven her entire life, but soon she fell in love with her new home. “It’s so beautiful here,” she said. Not long after her move, she made an indelible mark on the community when, at age 66, she rescued a gunshot victim.

On September 24, 1982, Rev. Bob Butler, pastor of the Bedford Community Church in Bedford Hills, was writing the final sentence of a sermon about his future being in God’s hands, when, Butler said, a stranger walked into the rectory and shot him three times, once in the head. Blinded and delirious, he managed to make his way out to the street just as Miller was driving home from a round of golf. A man flagged down her car, hustling Miller into the passenger seat before leaving her to drive Butler to Northern Westchester Hospital Center on her own. “I kept telling him, ‘I’m not going to let you die. You’re too young,’” Miller said she told the 34-year-old Butler.

“She was certainly a good Samaritan,” said Butler, “I owe my life to her.” Butler eventually recovered most of his sight, and the two became good friends, going to dinner each September 24 until Butler moved to a parish in the midwest.

Roughly a decade later, in 1991, Miller fulfilled a life-long dream and graduated from Mercy College with a degree in criminal justice. Age 75 at graduation, she is Mercy’s oldest alumna.

Much of her family lives nearby. In addition to her two daughters who live in Chappaqua, her grandson Brian Socolow, his wife Pam and great-grandchildren Kevin and Katie also live in New Castle. In all she has five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, “including a set of triplets” who live in nearby South Salem, and most of whom were on hand to help her celebrate the big day.

“What prolongs my life is the love I have of all the people I have known,” she said. She also credits her longevity to “good luck” and “living close to family,” adding, “finally, the good Lord has control.”

Marianne A. Campolongo is a freelance writer and photographer from Chappaqua, New York. Her website is www.campyphotos.com

Head for Tranquility in Montauk

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Article and Photo By Sherry Amatenstein

Montauk, situated at the tip of Long Island’s South Fork, is a mere six miles from the Hamptons scene but the vibe is more chill than chic. While the last few years have, alas, seen the once sleepy fishing village gentrify, at its core Montauk remains a sea of bait shops, pristine beaches, seafood shacks and rolling farmland. Of course the iconic Montauk Point lighthouse, authorized by George Washington, remains a beacon to locals and visitors.

A 60-foot replica of the lighthouse welcomes guests to Montauk Yacht Club Resort & Marina (MYC), the perfect spot for a tranquil long weekend or midweek sojourn. Opened in 1929 and situated on Star Island in Lake Montauk, the Club is renowned for hosting storied families like the Astors, Vanderbilts and Whitneys. More star power from a bygone era: Charles Lindbergh periodically parked his seaplane here!

Much more recently, MYC was dubbed by Yachting Magazine one of the top 10 marina destinations in North America, Mexico and the Bahamas.
montauk ship
After a multi-million dollar sprucing, the 35-acre property has 104, spacious, blue, nautically accented guestrooms, suites and villas. Throw in three pools (two outdoors), a sailing school, four tennis courts, full service spa (hot stone massage, anyone?), and numerous nooks and crannies to sit and ponder the yacht-filled waterfront, and you have nirvana.

Our first stop was to gather sustenance. The resort’s restaurants include The Gulf Coast Kitchen where new Executive Chef Ron Duprat from Top Chef Las Angeles presides. Chef Duprat’s influence is also felt at what quickly became my new favorite hangout- the indoor/outdoor Hurricane Alley where people- and yacht-watching at the 232-slip marina is on the menu while munching delicacies like a lobster and caviar roll with truffle steak fries.

When you tire of looking at the sparkling azure harbor, get on the water courtesy of the Mon Tiki. Choose between booking spots on this eco-conscious 49-person catamaran’s daytime or sunset cruises or indulge in a private charter. If you choose an evening outing, glory in the moment as you watch amazing colors chase each other across the sky.

Other water-based activities at MYC include soaking up the sun at one of the two outdoor heated pools or the small private beach, group surfing or paddleboard lessons, or chartering a fishing boat. Hook something on the latter, and the kitchen will clean, cook and serve your catch.

Activities on land include lounging on the Great Lawn (where every Sunday the Koch brothers–Derek and Daniel of DMK Entertainment Group host a fabulous lobster bake brunch), playing horseshoes or bocce ball, biking around the grounds, strolling along the ocean, cocktail-ing it at the Barracuda Bar, taking a siesta on your private porch or-my favorite- having a treatment at the spa. In addition to the hot stone massage mentioned earlier, consider the divinely decadent foot treatment with a raw sugar and tangerine-infused jojoba scrub. Your tootsies will thank you!

Your inner child will thank you if you end your evening with a bonfire on the beach or gather ‘round the fire pit and make some s’mores while playing charades or warbling some tunes.

While MYC has an elegant, refined air it’s folksy spirit is exemplified by the slogan on your room’s key card: “Welcome home.”

Sherry Amatenstein, LCSW, is an author, therapist, journalist, writing professor and lover of travel and, of course, friendship! Her website is marriedfq.com

Autism and Animation: A Natural Career Fit

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Anonymous donor provides seed money for new animation addition at Exceptional Minds Studio.

Sherman Oaks, California–Autism and animation fit together like a hand in glove. For 21-year-old Michael Yochim, who was diagnosed with autism as a toddler, growing up with cartoons taught him just about everything he needed to know about life. “I was very much fond of watching anime and cartoons,” says Michael, who enrolled in an art class in high school where he was known for his bandana-wearing cat sketches. “I enjoyed (animation) so much, that I wanted to somehow bring that work to life,” he says.autism pic

Soon after high school, Michael decided to become an animation artist and enrolled in Exceptional Minds vocational school for young adults with autism.
Now, thanks to seed money put up by an anonymous donor for a new animation addition to the Exceptional Minds Studio (EMS)–a flourishing visual effects studio–Michael is not only able to bring his characters to life, but he could very well get paid to do so.

“I’m very grateful to them for realizing the level of animation talent here at Exceptional Minds,” says Exceptional Minds Animation Director and Instructor Howie Hoffman, who has a wide variety of experience in creating animated content for Nickelodeon, Warner Bros, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network, among others. The donor is an animation studio that chose to remain anonymous. “They understand the unique talents of artists with ‘cartoon souls.’ Their generous investment in EM animators echoes the philosophy of Exceptional Minds to place this population of young animators with autism into jobs that fit them, rather than put round pegs into square holes.”

Exceptional Minds Studio (EMS) is a nonprofit, working studio staffed by Exceptional Minds graduates, who have completed the vocational school’s three year program preparing young adults with autism for careers in visual effects, animation and other digital arts fields. EMS has a close working relationship with the visual effects industry and is well-known for its visual effects and title work on movies such as “Ant-Man,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” and “American Hustle.”

Now, with this generous donation, EMS artists will be able to take in paid contract work as well as develop content in the field of character animation. The money gift will help accommodate this new animation division that is part of Exceptional Minds Studio’s recent expansion into a new 1,100-square-foot facility located in the same building as Exceptional Minds. The nonprofit is accepting donations at this time to continue its expansion.

Currently, the majority of the nation’s 3.5 million people with autism are unemployed or underemployed, according to government statistics. More than 500,000 U.S. children impacted by autism will enter adulthood during this decade, with one in 68 children to follow.

Exceptional Minds is the only vocational school and working studio to prepare and successfully place young men and women with autism in careers in the fields of animation and visual effects. “I believe that there are no boundaries to what can be said or done in animation. Unlike other forms of entertainment, animation can also be a very personal experience,” says Michael.

Michael Yochim is expected to complete his final year at Exceptional Minds school next spring, at which time he will go on to pursue a career in animation either through direct employment or through EMS.

About Exceptional Minds (http://www.exceptionalmindsstudio.org): Exceptional Minds is a non-profit vocational center and working production studio for young adults on the autism spectrum. It was chartered in 2011 to provide the training necessary for creatively gifted individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who may not otherwise be able to make the transition from high school to careers. Exceptional Minds offers technical proficiency and work readiness training that prepares students for careers in graphic arts, animation, web design, visual effects and rotoscoping. Located in Sherman Oaks, California, Exceptional Minds is both an instructional learning facility and a working studio with hands-on student involvement in production projects, many for the film industry.

Editor’s Note: This story was provided by Exceptional Minds as a courtesy to The Inside Press.

Chappaqua’s Marianne Campolongo Photos at “Upstream Gallery” Exhibit in Hastings

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One of the most wonderful aspects of being a publisher is the opportunity to meet and get to know and be friends with talented journalists, photographers and illustrators around town. I have had the privilege of publishing photos by Marianne Campolongo many times over a 12-year period of publishing. That includes different cover photos including ones of Hillary Clinton, when she was running for her second Senate term, and of Bal Agrawal, owner of LifeWorx in Chappaqua. Marianne is also a fine and sensitive writer.

Summer Meditation
Summer Meditation

I was thrilled to learn that her photos were being included as part of an exhibit of members of the Red Circle PhotoArts Cooperative. Marianne’s and her fellow artists’ photos may be viewed (and or purchased!) at the Upstream Gallery in Hastings Thursday-Sunday, from 12:30-5:30 p.m. until August 30th. Below, Marianne (on the right) and myself in front of her photos, along with my personal favorite, Summer Meditation.

Marianne and Grace