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Chappaqua Supports NWAG’s Art Around Town Exhibition

June 12, 2015 by Janine Crowley Haynes

NWAG Members Kick Off Art Around Town Exhibition (photo by Maria Larramendi)

On June 4th, the Northern Westchester Artists Guild (NWAG) kicked off their month-long Art Around Town exhibition. NWAG members will be displaying their artwork in participating stores in Chappaqua until June 29th. The opening festivities began at 5 p.m. A tent was set up on the corner of King Street and North Greeley Avenue where walking-tour maps and directories were provided to locate specific artists with their respective venues. To add to the festivities, participating merchants offered drinks, appetizers, and desserts to all who entered to view the exhibits.

The nonprofit organization, NWAG, is still in its nine-month infancy yet is growing at a rapid pace with approximately 50 members to date. The idea of forming an artists’ group came to lifelong Chappaqua resident and artist Leslie Weissman while out for a walk one day in the spring of 2014. Weissman shared her vision with fellow artist Peg Sackler, and, by September 2014, a meeting took place around Weissman’s kitchen table along with approximately 15 fellow members. “The energy was amazing….We began to function as a collective; tossing out ideas, suggesting new members, creating opportunities, developing ideas for marketing material, and determining a dues structure,” says Weissman.

Kombers:EyeGallery — Mindy Kombert (center) exhibiting work at Eye Gallery

The spirit of an artist is captured in their work. Artists are creative and bold in their expression. Yet, choosing to exhibit one’s artwork is, perhaps, the boldest thing an artist can do. NWAG is made up of a group of multitalented, multifaceted artists. When you begin to peel back the layers that make up one particular artist, the word artist just doesn’t suffice. On her website, NWAG member Mindy Kombert simply describes herself as a maker, but for Kombert, being a maker encompasses a whole lot–a potter, a painter, a photographer, a scrapbook quilter, a graphic designer, a knitter, just to name a few.

Sacks:Ward:HistoricalSociety — Executive Director Cassie Ward (left) of New Castle Historical Society with artist Cindy Sacks at the Horace Greeley House

Painter Cindy Sacks has a prime spot. Her venue? The Horace Greeley House on King Street. Sacks expresses how grateful she is to the New Castle Historical Society for exhibiting some of her paintings now on display throughout the first floor of the historical site. Sacks’ watercolor and oil paintings appear in regional exhibitions, galleries, and in corporate and private collections.

Another NWAG member exhibiting some of her work is longtime Chappaqua resident and weaver Barbara Lyons Pickel. Her intricate handwoven pieces take many forms: fine linens, blankets, rugs, scarves, and bags. Her studio? Her home. What was once the music room, where her children (now grown) used to practice their violin, viola, and cello, is now her weaving room. In addition to a table loom, a substantially large 39” wide Swedish loom occupies a good portion of the sunlit space and easily stands alone as its own art form. For larger projects, an even wider 54” loom resides in her basement. Pickel took up weaving eight years ago after daughter Molly Pickel, then 14, returned home from a summer arts and craft camp. Molly knew weaving would be something her mother would enjoy. Pickel immediately searched for an adult workshop that would also allow a 14-year-old. She finally found a five-day workshop at Vavstuga Weaving School. The mother-daughter bonding trip instantaneously sparked Pickel’s love of weaving. She was drawn to weaving for its variety of design options as well as the planning aspect. Setting up the loom is a complicated and important part of the design process. “When I begin planning a new project, I have to make decisions regarding the function, the fiber, and the structure before I even begin to consider color choices,” says Pickel. “Every step of the process must be done precisely, or the final process will be unsatisfying,” she adds. Pickel continues to master her craft in the Scandinavian tradition while incorporating new design and textile techniques. In 2012, Pickel took a workshop in Fujino, Japan, exploring several Japanese textile techniques including indigo dyeing, shibori, katazome, and kumihimo.

Ocko:DonnaHair — NWAG Artist Helene Ocko at Donna Hair

Guild member Helene Ocko’s abstracts and florals are as colorful and whimsical as she is. Her studio? Her kitchen…and backyard for larger pieces. For Ocko, painting is a joyful process. “I don’t like to explore the dark places of my emotions in my artwork,” says Ocko. “If I want to do that, I’ll talk about it…not paint it,” she adds. Ocko works in acrylics and experiments with various textures and uses unconventional techniques. Her sense of humor comes out when describing what went into making a particular piece. It’s not unusual for her to use random tools like a fork, a comb, a dog brush, or some crinkled plastic wrap to create texture and movement in her work. In addition to exhibiting in town, some of Ocko’s larger pieces are on display at Northern Westchester Hospital.

To view all NWAG artists and their profiles, click here: nwartistsguild.org/#!artists/c1sqx

To download the list of all NWAG artists exhibiting work and their respective venues, click here: artist_merchant_location list (2)

By Janine Crowley Haynes, Chappaqua resident and freelance writer

Photos by Michelle Hecht

Drink Up! to New Castle’s “Second to None” Water Quality

June 4, 2015 by Inside Press

A Tour of Millwood’s Water Treatment Plant Reveals the Vast Improvements Made

By Matt Smith

When you walk to your kitchen sink after a long, hot day and fill up a glass with water, do you ever think about where the water’s coming from? And the arduous process it took to clean and filter the water, to make it look the way it does as it gushes out of your faucet?

Well, If you’re a New Castle resident, your water comes from the Millwood Water Treatment Plant and Pumping Station, located just off of Route 100, on Campfire Road. The prime Millwood location was selected because of its close proximity to both New York City’s Catskill Aqueduct, the primary supplier of New Castle’s water, and the Croton Aqueduct, chosen as the standby water source.

These two sources have jointly supplied New Castle’s water since the late 1950’s (Catskill Aqueduct since the ’30’s), though prior to April 1992, the water, while disinfected, was unfiltered. The call for filtration came with the enacting of Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments in 1986.

Shortly after, in 1989, the US Environmental Protection Agency legalized the Surface Water Treatment Rule, requiring filtration on all surface supplies. With the help of Hazen and Sawyer, the town’s engineering consultant since 1950, the rigorous planning, construction, administration, and operator training began, and in August of 1993, the new filtered water pumping station officially began circulation.

Since that day, the facility has produced around 7.5 million gallons per day of excellent finished water, through a complex — though easy to understand — filtration process. First, the raw water is drawn by gravity from the Catskill Aqueduct into the treatment plant, through a syphon connection. It undergoes a process of “rapid mixing,” which disperses cleansing chemicals through the raw water.

After this process, machines called flocculators thoroughly mix the water in three stages, to separate out impurities, such as viruses and bacteria, into large masses known as floc. The next step involves the injection of ozone for disinfection. The application of ozone after clarification, but before filtration, reduces the chance of heavy chlorination, which can produce harmful byproducts.

And then, of course, we’re onto the main event, wherein remaining floc particles and matter still in the water are filtered out. Some water treatment plants use this filtration process alone, whereas this plant combines it with dissolved air filtration and ozonation. In fact, the treatment plant holds the distinction of being the first facility in the United States to incorporate dissolved air flotation for clarification and ozonation for primary disinfection. Because of this very distinction, the plant was, in 1994, awarded First Prize in the New York Association of Consulting Engineers Engineering Excellence Competition and named Project of the Year by the Westchester/Putnam Chapter of the New York State Society of Professional Engineers.

The water leaving the filters at this stage is virtually free of turbidity, pollutants, and chemical residue. The filtered water is then treated with a low dose of chlorine to prevent the regrowth of any organisms in the water, before being pumped out to homes and businesses all throughout the New Castle area.

And that’s it. Sounds simple, no? Fortunately, the process is made easier with a state-of-the-art computer control system that monitors pumps, chemical feed systems, and water quality throughout the plant–“like a giant video game,” adds Gerry Moerschell, Deputy Commissioner of Public Works at the Town of New Castle. With this system, plant managers and employees can track the state of the plant and the distribution of the water at any New Castle location, at any time of day.

And it’s lucky for us that they do. With their hard work, the quality of New Castle’s water is “now second to none,” meeting or exceeding present US government standards, and anticipating those that should be in effect well into the next century.

Comments Senior Operator Paul Steier, with the switch to a filtered pumping station, “the water quality literally changed overnight.” The increased capacity of the new pumping station has also alleviated past water supply problems that had disturbed the town in the past — and it has not gone unnoticed!

“After 25 years of throwing away a solid, brown water filter every two weeks, it’s absolutely delightful to see the same filter now snow white after three months of clean, clear water flowing through it!” states an anonymous New Castle resident. Adds another, “I don’t know about you, but this [water now] is the kind of water I want in my home.”

And thanks to the accuracy and precision of everyone involved at the Millwood Water Treatment Plant and Pumping Station, that is the water we’re all enjoying in our homes.

For more information on the treatment plant, or to arrange your own plant tour, please contact the New Castle Department of Public Works at 914-238-4771.

Matt Smith, a graduate of Skidmore College, is a regular contributor to The Inside Press, Inc.

315 Supporters Laced Up to Run Miles for Miles

June 2, 2015 by The Inside Press

Team Daniel Runs for Recovery from Mental Illness
By Janine Crowley Haynes

The Laitman family with marathon great, Bill Rodgers & Shari Applebaum, Miles Applebaum's mother (From left) Abbey Laitman, Hannah Laitman, Rachel Laitman, Rob Laitman, Bill Rodgers, Shari Applebaum, Daniel Laitman, Ann Laitman — The Laitman family with marathon great, Bill Rodgers & Shari Applebaum, Miles Applebaum’s mother (From left) Abbey Laitman, Hannah Laitman, Rachel Laitman, Rob Laitman, Bill Rodgers, Shari Applebaum, Daniel Laitman, Ann Laitman

Last Sunday in Armonk, nonprofit organization, Team Daniel, held a 5K fundraising event, Miles for Miles, at Byram Hills High School in memory of Miles Applebaum, 21, who was lost to suicide last October. The high school was a fitting venue. “There’s no better place to hold an event in memory of my son,” says Shari Applebaum. Miles Applebaum attended Byram Hills High School and was a cross-country runner who ran the course behind the high school many times over. When approached with the idea of holding the event at the high school, Principal Chris Borsari quickly mobilized support from the Student Wellness Advisory Committee (SWAC), teachers, students, community volunteers, friends, and family. “Everyone came out to make a difference,” says Shari Applebaum who is truly grateful for the overwhelming love and support from the Armonk and surrounding communities.

Bill Rodgers signs copies of his book, Marathon Man

Dr. Rob Laitman, Bedford resident and co-founder of Team Daniel, opened with introductions. Tables were set up for mental health representatives from NAMI of Westchester, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.* Singers Bianca and Jacqueline Muniz sang an emotional rendition of Hallelujah. Bianca Muniz and Miles Applebaum met at Lagond Music School and quickly became close friends. Lagond’s band, County All Stars, played for the close to 400 supporters in attendance, with 315 of them lacing up to hit the cross-country trail as well as the track. Running alongside them was four-time winner of the Boston and New York City marathons, Bill Rodgers, who later signed copies of his book, Marathon Man, for his enthusiastic fans. In his 40 years of running, Rodgers participated in approximately 1,500 races–all for different causes. Rodgers noted, however, Miles for Miles was his first run for mental health.

Daniel Laitman of Team Daniel (on left) runs regularly as part of his mental health regimen after being diagnosed with schizophrenia. — Daniel Laitman of Team Daniel (on left) runs regularly
as part of his mental health regimen after being
diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Given that Dr. Laitman is a runner as well and has run in 68 marathons, it’s no surprise his fundraising events focus on running. He likens the cross-country terrain at Byram Hills High School with its sometimes rocky twists and turns to the long, rough road back to recovery from mental illness. “It’s hard, but you can’t give up. You have to run the course. You have to do the work,” says Dr. Laitman. Raising awareness to help dismantle the stigma surrounding mental health issues is an important undertaking for the Laitman family. Their son, Daniel Laitman, was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 15. Over the years, the family has raised between $150,000 to $200,000 for various mental health organizations. In 2014, Rob and Ann Laitman officially formed their nonprofit organization, Team Daniel Running for Recovery from Mental Illness, and have held four 5Ks, including Miles for Miles where they raised $17,000. “We have a long way to go to reach our goals, but slow and steady wins the race,” says Ann Laitman.

After the long battle to stabilize their son on the right medication, it became abundantly clear to the Laitmans that their main goals were for “Daniel to have a robust recovery and lead a full life.” No doubt, the Laitmans have realized their goals. Daniel Laitman, now 24, recently graduated from SUNY Purchase with a 3.41 GPA. He majored in screenwriting and playwriting and is currently pursuing his passion for stand-up comedy. “Robust recovery should be the norm, not the exception, for those struggling with mental health challenges,” states Rob Laitman.

It’s interesting to note that Ann Laitman is a general internist and Rob Laitman is a general internist, nephrologist, and gerontologist, but after their son developed schizophrenia, Rob Laitman read voraciously and has expanded his medical practice to include psychiatric internal medicine. Over the past six years, Rob Laitman has become expert in the medical management of clozapine. On their website, Rob Laitman writes passionately about seeing the person/patient as a whole, even when it comes to mental health challenges. The Laitmans found that along with internal medicine, integrating behavioral health (regular exercise, healthy diet, etc.) was an important component that factored into their son’s mental health equation. To read more about the Laitmans and Team Daniel, please visit their website, teamdanielrunningforrecovery.org.

Janine Crowley Haynes of Chappaqua is a freelance writer & author of My Kind of Crazy: Living in a Bipolar World.

* Mental health organizations present at Miles for Miles:

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention www.afsp.org, AFSP funds research, creates educational programs, advocates for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-TALK (8255)) suicidepreventionlifeline.org provides free, confidential support to individuals and/or family members in crisis or emotional distress. Lifeline provides a list of warning signs for someone at risk for suicide. However, if somone is in immediate danger of attempting suicide, call 911.

NAMI of Westchester namiwestchester.org, whose latest mental health initiative involves setting up programs in middle schools and high schools throughout Westchester County.

Brain & Behavior Research Foundation bbrfoundation.org raises funds for research and awards grants to leading scientists around the world. 100 percent of funds raised for research are invested in grants leading to advances and breakthoughs in brain and behavior research.

Musical Minds

June 1, 2015 by The Inside Press

Sasha Warm performing at our recital at MTK Tavern

By Kaila Allison

Kids these days are bombarded by activities. After school, the To-Do list seems endless! So how is it possible to prioritize? What activities are most effective for a child’s development?

Music lessons can be an answer. Music has been proven to help promote the growth of a child’s intellectual, emotional, and physical capacities, while also being a great source of expression and fun.

Among the many benefits that music provides, one is social intelligence. It is an aspect of intelligence encompassing emotional and cultural processing, characterized in children by their sensitivity and sympathy. Music is not only an individual pursuit, but is a timeless cultural practice. Music comes from all over the world, and not only requires discipline for personal practice, but respect for the past and the bigger picture of human development.

Music lessons also demand focus. Because kids are constantly inundated with stimuli, it is increasingly challenging to capture their attention. Music is a way to take a break from the virtual world for a while and “recharge.” It gives them a chance to make something organically with their hands or voices.

Music is also a natural de-stressor. For example, listening to and playing music releases the same endorphins in our brains released when we exercise or eat chocolate. It actually produces calming waves in our brains that positively influence our mood.

But how can we compare the minds of musical children with those of non-musical children? One way is in the classroom. Test scores show a positive correlation between students who play music and their performance on assessments. Kids that take music lessons use more of their brains than kids who do not take music lessons. Musical children’s brains are involved in more neuron activity, and as each new motor skill is acquired, both muscle memory and new connections are made that can stay with a child throughout their lives.

Music lessons are really the gift that keeps on giving. The more musicians there are out there now, the more there will likely be in the future. Let’s keep our minds musical! For more information, visit www.musicinchappaqua.com

Service Dogs Charm at ECAD’S  Denim Heels Boots Tails Event

May 31, 2015 by The Inside Press

It was hard not to catch the cowboy vibe, but also the intense volunteer dedication to ECAD, during this May event at the Brynwood Golf & Country Club in Armonk. Most of all, it was a chance to hug and pet and feel an ever growing respect for every Service Dog ECAD trains–and understand the difference these dogs have made in so many people’s lives for so many years. All that and more at ECAD’s fifth Denim Heels Boots Tails event which raised funds for its programs of training Service Dogs for People with Disabilities. For more information about ECAD, visit: www.ecad1.org Photos by Grace Bennett/The Inside Press