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Frosty Parade Fun 11/26

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LISA THEISSVice President Business Development

FROM THE ARMONK WILLIAM RAVEIS TEAM.

NOVEMBER 2017 | INSIDE ARMONK | 03

NOVEMBER 2017THE MAGAZINE FOR NORTH CASTLE & BEYOND | THEINSIDEPRESS.COM

in the know4 Gratitude for the HelpersBY STACEY PFEFFER

6 Meet the Inside Press Team!GRACE, STACEY, CAROLINE, RYAN, LISA, RICK, ANALIA

features9 Frosty the Snowman HomecomingPHOTOS COURTESY OF STEVE HILLEBRAND AND ROBBY MORRIS

12 The Emergency ShelterPartnershipBY RONNI DIAMONDSTEIN

16 IMPACT…Inspiring GrassrootsActivismBY ILANA SCHWARTZ

25 Local Hospital Volunteers ShareTheir JoyBY JANINE CROWLEY HAYNESPlus: Interview with David Miller, M.D., NWH FoundationBY GRACE BENNETT

29 9/11 Flag of RemembranceBY RONNI DIAMONDSTEIN

community17 Where Is This?BY JOSEPH FLEISHER

18 TRIO TRIUMPH• Cider & Donut Festival• Jamie’s 5k Walk/Run Times• Carnival Fun

gotta have arts14 Byram Hills Music and ArtsExcellence

9| Frosty Homecoming

cover story

25| Spotlight on NWH HOSPITAL VOLUNTEERSBY JANINE CROWLEY HAYNESJo Cherubini, David Miller, M.D., Judy McGrath and Idelle SkrilofPhotographed at Northern Westchester HospitalPHOTO BY CHAD KRAUSVisit chadkraus.com

22 ARMONK OUTDOOR ART SHOWCelebration of the Creative SpiritBY MOLLY ALEXANDER

38 175-Year Armonk CelebrationChoral Music Concert at St. Stephen’sBY STACEY PFEFFER

39 Ani Kavafian at the Music Conservatory

lifestyles32 State of the Art & a Spa Feelat Leone Dental PracticeBY KELLY LEONARD

33 Quality and Customer Firstat DeCicco & SonsBY STACEY PFEFFER

35 35 Reasons to Love GymnasticsBy JODI ROSENWASSER LEVINE

county executive race36 Interview with Rob AstorinoBy JORDAN STUTTS

37 Interview with George LatimerBY ANDREW VITELLI

etcetera40 Learning to Silence the Tiger Roar WithinBY RACHEL BARON

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November 2017Volume 14, Number 5

THE MAGAZINE FOR NORTH CASTLE & BEYOND | THEINSIDEPRESS.C0M

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in the know

Gratitude for the “Helpers” in Our Community

A s this issue was going to press, my Facebook feed was deluged with media coverage about the Las Ve-gas shootings and pleas from friends to help victims of

the many hurricanes that recently struck the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. These days it is so easy to fall into a state of despair every time you turn on the news no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.

When I was a little girl, the television show “Mister Rogers Neighborhood” was a perennial favorite in my house. I loved his calming voice as he took off his shoes and sang the theme song “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?. The hit television show didn’t shy away from current

events of the day. Mr. Rogers used to say whenever you faced a scary or upsetting situation his mother would tell him, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

As a parent, I’m hoping to instill that sense of helping and volunteerism in my young children. Volunteering gives you gratitude (our issue’s theme by the way!) for all that you have and also provides you with a sense of purpose. It also helps to know that you can play an active role in helping someone in the face of tragedy.

That’s one of the reasons why I am so grateful to highlight our cover story on the tremendous work that the volunteers do at Northern Westchester Hospital day in and day out. Volunteer Idelle Skriloff repeats the adage that many volunteers share about their experience –”Volunteering gives me so much more than I give.”

Another wonderful volunteer organization featured in this is-sue is the Emergency Shelter Partnership. A consortium of 17 houses of worship in Northern Westchester band together to help provide a warm meal and a safe place for the homeless to sleep during the harsh winter months. And if you think homelessness is only an urban problem, think again. Many of the homeless who are helped through the program reside in Mount Kisco.

While the victims of the mass shooting and the hurricanes certainly need our help, remember that there are people and local organizations here in our own backyard that need your help too. And what can be more neighborly than that?

Best, Stacey PfefferEditor, Inside Press

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Lisa SamkoffArt Director A year ago I joined the Inside Press team as art director. In my role, I redesigned our com-pany logo complimenting it with a complete re-design of the magazines giving them a more modern look. As an independent graphic de-signer and consultant specializing in branding, logos and signage, I often work on packaging and website design as well. When I’m not working, I’m cooking, planting, crafting, or going to games with my friends and family.

Meet the Inside Press TeamWe have a talented group of writers and artists who contribute on a regular basis but we also have a strong core group of dedicated professionals who ensure that each issue of Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk is chock full of local news that you won’t find in other news outlets. With the growth of online media, we ensure that each issue’s content is available online and we also love to share our sto-ries via social media. All of this though would never happen though without the generous support of our sponsors so we are all grateful for the support. In keeping with this issue’s gratitude theme, please take a moment to ‘meet’ the Inside Press team. We also thank you, dear readers, for the intense interest in our pubs.

Stacey PfefferEditorAfter working in public relations in NYC and London for more than a decade, I decided to switch to freelance writing after the birth of my first child. I have written for a variety of regional media outlets.For the past two years, I have also written numerous articles for Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk, before assuming the role of editor. I love highlighting local stories in our magazines and online that you won’t find anywhere else.

Grace BennettPublisher &Editor-in-Chief Following a career in newspaper and magazine journalism, and also raising two kids (Anna and Ari) to the first and fourth grades, I launched the Inside Press in 2003 and went live in 2009 with theinsidepress.com. I greatly enjoy the role of overseeing the editorial and working closely with so many generous sponsors in this incredi-bly beautiful and happening corner of Westchester. Long walks keep me centered through it all.

Rick WatersWebsite DesignerI am responsible for making sure the articles and ads are neat and tidy for the Inside Press website. I transfer the Inside Press magazines into online articles and provide photo-resizing work. I also post various Inside Press articles throughout the year while optimizing photos and videos. When I’m not in the office, I am an avid cyclist, hiker and swimmer. I also enjoy cocktail parties and going on adventures with my dog.

Caroline RosengardenAdvertising ManagerI’m the Inside Press Advertising Manager, which means that I communicate with advertisers all day long! I liaise with sponsors old and new alike to ensure their ads appear in the magazine ex-actly the way they expect. In the past, I managed national brands at ad agencies in NYC and San Francisco. I enjoy baking, walk-ing with my husband and Ruby (our Golden Doodle) or reading books with my girls, Lucy (10) and Sadie (8).

Analia Boltuch with her son OliverAccount ManagerI am the account manager for the Inside Press handling all bookkeeping needs. When not wearing my bookkeeping cape, I enjoy provid-ing virtual assistant services to small busi-nesses and entrepreneurs ranging from office management to social media. I’m also a wife and mom of three boys (one of them being of the four-legged variety!)

Ryan Smith Website DeveloperI’m the company’s website de-veloper who ensures the articles that go to print are available for consumption on The Inside Press website, theinsidepress.com, as well as in social media. I help keep the site fast, fresh, and secure! I’ve previously served as the IT Director for a worldwide design agency and was in charge of de-velopment for a financial technol-ogy start-up. When I’m not taking things apart to figure out how they work, I enjoy hiking, ballroom dancing, and costume parties.


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Frosty the SnowmanHomecoming 2017

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 26IN ARMONK

The annual homecoming of America’s favorite snowman, Frosty, will be held right here in Armonk on Sunday, November 26, the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. The Frosty Day fun-filled family activities will be downtown Armonk at 12:30 p.m. with the annual Frosty Parade scheduled for 4 p.m. The parade will be followed by the annual holiday lighting ceremony at the gazebo in Wampus Brook Park.

The Frosty Parade is the only holi-day-themed parade in the area and all ac-tivities are free to the public. Almost every business, shop and merchant in Armonk is involved somehow in Frosty Day; there are individual corporate sponsorships available

for events and activities during the day and the parade.

There will be new activities and rides this year including more of the popular animat-ed animals and the creation of an ice sculp-ture in the center of town. Favorites such as the miniature trains and horse-drawn wagons will be back again, along with dancers, singers, marching bands, magi-cians, clowns, elves, Santa and of course, Frosty. Shops and merchants will offer face-painting, frosting cookies, decorating holiday ornaments, refreshments, and mak-ing your own Frosty the Snowman to carry in the parade. A list of the times and places of events and activities are available on the

Frosty website: armonkfrosty.com.Events and activities will be held for three hours around town before the parade which will travel north on Main Street to Maple Avenue and then into Wampus Brook Park. Everyone is part of the parade, joining in at the end to help welcome Frosty home for the holidays.

More than 35 local and county-based groups and organizations will participate in this year’s Frosty Parade with floats, lights, dancing, costumes and music, going past the Historic District in downtown Armonk which was the inspiration for the “Village Square” where Frosty dared the children to “catch me if you can.” Steve Nelson, who



was the lyricist of the classic holi-day song, was a long-time resident of Armonk.

Friends of Frosty Inc., a non-profit group of local volunteers formed to oversee the day’s events, encour-ages visitors to Armonk to contrib-ute to its “Help Frosty Help Others” campaign, with donations either in Frosty jars during the event, or with contributions to the Winter Warmth Project that collects outdoor jackets and gear for those in need. People can make clothing donations during a one-time drop-off of clothing items at North Castle Town Hall on Saturday, November 4th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The group’s president, Robby Morris, reminds us that “Frosty Day is an event that the town looks forward to every year. It’s a great time for everyone to come together and have some fun.”

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BY RONNI DIAMONDSTEIN

In the winter it’s hard to imagine not coming home to a warm dinner, a cozy bed to sleep in, and a nutritious break-

fast in the morning. But even in our affluent Westchester neighborhoods, that is not the case for everyone. There are homeless people right in our own backyard.

“My first awareness of homeless in our community was knowing that people lived in parked cars in different locations and in semi-abandoned buildings in the commu-nity,” says Rev. Dr. Paul Alcorn, longtime Pastor of the Bedford Presbyterian Church and member of the Northern Westchester Interfaith Clergy Association.

Mount Kisco pharmacist Melvin Berger, Chairman of The Mount Kisco Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention Council often wondered what hap-pened to the immi-grants he saw in the courts. Then in 2004 he had learned that a homeless immigrant had frozen to death in the woods nearby. So through this confluence of events, Berger went to Alcorn with his concerns and the seeds for the Emergency Shelter Partnership (‘ESP’) were sewn.

The two joined forces with the Northern Westchester Interfaith Clergy Association and the Town of Mount Kisco and developed a plan to launch an emergency shelter by mid-Janu-

ary. Berger also brought in Carola Bracco, Executive Director of Neighbors Link. “I trusted her opinions and judgments when it came to making ESP happen.” Berger val-ues her and Neighbors Link as a resource, and relies on her knowledge of their guests and their culture.

The partnership’s simple concept consisted of houses of worship opening their doors to offer a safe place to sleep to those in need of shelter. Alcorn says that his congregation had been very involved with the homeless in New York City so ESP was a natural next step for them. On January 24, 2005 the Bedford Presbyterian Church in Bedford Village opened its doors to provide shelter for four men. Volunteers from the orga-nizing group provided the coverage each night of that first week. The American Red Cross provided the cots and bedding for the shelter. There are now 17 participating congregations in Northern Westchester.

From November through the end of March, between 10 and 30 shelter guests are picked up by a bus at the court house in Mount Kisco. “The program runs like clockwork,” says Noah Sorkin of Chap-paqua who has been the coordinator of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester’s participation for the past ten years. Arriving around 9 p.m., they eat a buffet dinner and it is lights out by 10 p.m. A paid staffer and congregational volunteer remain with them overnight. Up around 6 a.m. for coffee and something light, they leave with a breakfast/lunch bag by 6:30 a.m.

Twice a week they shower at the Boys and Girls Club of Northern Westchester in Mount Kisco before they arrive for their eve-ning meal. Each congregation adds their personal touch to the experience for the shelter guests from storytelling to musical experiences. Girl Scout Troops or Little League teams sometimes serve dinner,

as this is a great opportunity for community service. “The congregants put a lot of love into this. It’s a credit to our congregation that we have a lot of repeat families. It has brought the best out of our congregation,” says Sorkin.

Berger says that the majority of the shelter guests are from Guatemala. “So many come from Chiquimula that the Mount Kis-co Library named their Wednesday afternoon film festi-val for the home-less after that city.”

Helping the Homeless:

The Emergency Shelter Partnership

Mel Berger and ESP President Phyllis Ruppert PHOTO BY RONNI DIAMONDSTEIN


There is a lot of prep work that goes into this well-oiled machine. Berger has a good relationship with law enforcement. Prior to each congregation hosting the shelter, Berger reaches out to the fire and police departments in those neighborhoods so that they are aware that the house of wor-ship has overnight guests.

Phyllis Ruppert of Mount Kisco had been on the team providing meals at St. Francis of Assisi Parish for at least five years when a year and a half ago she was asked to join the Board of Directors and now serves as President. “ESP is a group of compas-sionate people who care deeply about serving people in need and who are willing to mobilize their congregations to support homeless people.”

While ESP does so much for those in need, it is also so valuable to those who support the program. “All of a sudden, over the course of a winter we have hundreds of people volunteer and get to know and interact with some of the people who are struggling to survive. Some of the stereo-types are broken down,” says Alcorn.

One of the biggest challenges for ESP is financial support. Each member congrega-tion makes a financial commitment as well as providing shelter. “We have one grant, a couple of holiday fundraisers and a list of loyal donors,” says Ruppert. They have ex-panded their fundraising activities this year and held an informational and fundraising event on October 15 to commemorate World Homeless Day. The driving forces of the ESP and volunteers spoke about their different experiences at the event that took place at Saint Francis of Assisi Parish Hall in Mount Kisco.

And there are other challenges. “Severe winter weather causes us to move the hosting location to a congregation loca-tion closer to where we pick people up to minimize the need to drive,” says Ruppert who would also like to see that the accom-modations are more sensitive to women’s needs, although their shelter guests are primarily and sometimes exclusively male.

The ESP has developed into more than just a traveling homeless shelter. With the educational programs they provide such as ones that teach them how to manage mon-ey, they have high hopes for their shelter guests. “My goal is to have all our shelter guests in a position to move up the ladder,” says Berger. He is very proud of what he calls his “success story.” One of their documented shelter guests got a place of his own, went back to school and now has a job as a chef.

EMERGENCY SHELTER PARTNERSHIP COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Antioch Baptist Church – Bedford HillsBedford Community Church – Bedford Hills

Bedford Presbyterian Church – Bedford VillageBet Torah Synagogue– Mt. Kisco

First Congregational Church – ChappaquaKatonah United Methodist Church – Katonah

Katonah Presbyterian Church – KatonahLutheran Church of the Resurrection – Mt. Kisco

Pleasantville United Methodist Church – PleasantvilleThe Presbyterian Church of Mt. Kisco – Mt. Kisco

St. Francis of Assisi Parish – Mt. KiscoSt. Luke’s Episcopal Church – KatonahSt. Mark’s Episcopal Church – Mt. Kisco

Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester– ChappaquaTemple Shaaray Tefila – Bedford Corners

Unitarian Universalist Fellowship – Mt. KiscoUnited Methodist Church of Mt. Kisco – Mt. Kisco

For more information:www.emergencyshelterpartnership.org

“Our program is very successful and has been a model for other commu-nities,” says Berger. The partnership has consulted with other towns to set up sister programs in the County.

“In the future I hope to expand the number of congregations hosting ESP and to mobilize the broader community to provide financial support,” says Ruppert. She would also like to see more unaffiliated people help this faith-based organization. “There is a lot of talent out there. We want to tap more members of the community to get involved. Everyone has some faith in something.”

Ronni Diamondstein is a Chappaqua based freelance writer, PR consultant, award-winning photographer and Chappaqua Library Board Trustee.


Byram Students Shine in Music & Art

The Byram Hills school district has many good reasons to tout the ac-complishments of its

music and art students.

BHHS senior John Skiera was recently invited to play the cello as a member of the All-National Symphony Orchestra. “It is an honor to be selected for this group and I understand it is somewhat rare. I am looking forward to playing in the orchestra and with other students from around the country. It will be quite an experience,” he said recently.

The All-National Honor Ensembles performers represent collaboration and creativity in its highest musical form. The All-Na-tional Honor Ensembles consist of a concert band, symphony orchestra, mixed choir and jazz ensem-ble. Students were chosen through an audition process. Three BHHS students have also been selected to participate in New York State School Music Association All-State En-sembles. They will perform in concerts to be held at the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York and work with renowned conduc-tors and educators during the annual Winter Conference of the NYSSMA to be held from December 1-4. Students were selected based on their All-State solo performances which were adjudicat-ed by music professionals from throughout New York State. This year’s students (L-R) are Shea Gordon (Mixed Chorus), Dominique

Karanfilian (Treble Chorus), and Brent Perlman (Symphonic Band).

Finally, adjudicators from the Armonk Outdoor Art Show, a juried show of artists, selected 22 BHHS students to display their artwork at the popular annual event, which was held Sept. 23 & 24 in

All of the students selected by the AOASH are listed here: Abby Kaiser, Angelique Sarro, Kyra Aronne, Gillian Banaszek, Ben Matza, Cameron Bremner, Carley Hershaft, Chloe Perline, Sofia Corpina, Farran Horowitz, Taylor Kirkwood, Jason Knoop, Lily Moss, Michaela Milano, Olivia Johnson, Jason Roden, Rachel Ruscigno, Sarah Huang, Dina Sokol, Danielle Stein, Sydney Chilewich, Danielle Fliegel.

Some of the selected art students are shown above

Gotta Have Arts

DONNA GORDONLicensed Real Estate Salesperson914.424.5596 | [email protected] Main Street, Armonk, NY 10504

YOUR TOWN...YOUR HOME...YOUR AGENT


Grassroots ActivismTakes Shape in Armonk

IMPACT raising money at a bake sale for the Union of Concerned ScientistsL-R: Gemma Rosner, Natalie Grodin, Juliette Rosner, Stella Guarino, Lilah Polak, Jocelyn Polak

BY ILANA SCHWARTZ

On the morning of November 9, 2016, every person in the United States woke up and

realized that the election of the prior day made history, but not how most people expected. Pollsters, reporters and even America’s chil-dren thought they’d wake up to the news that the first woman had been elected president. Instead, everyone woke up to find out that the first reality star was elected into office. To many, this was cause for excitement while for others, this was the start of a day of disap-pointment, anger and even hopelessness.

Sloan Guarino, an Armonk resident and mother of two, was one of the many who de-scribed feeling depressed on Nov. 9. Guarino could not wait to wake up and celebrate the first female president with her daughter, Stella. However, when she learned of the outcome, she realized she would have to confront the daunting task of breaking the news to her nine-year-old. Stella was equally as excited for Clinton to win the election, even going to watch her vote at Douglas G. Grafflin Elemen-tary School in Chappaqua, NY. Stella said that when she saw Clinton vote, “everyone was cheering for her and I felt inspired.” According to Guarino, “as a parent, that was the worst part of the election. Having to look at her and say, ‘well what we were all excited about didn’t happen.’”

Guarino was determined, though, to show Stella that the election loss did not have to mean defeat. Although she felt angry at Pres-ident Trump’s proposed policies, she wanted to “take that energy and channel it into some-thing positive” by becoming part of the solu-

tion. That was when she and several friends came up with the idea for IMPACT, or Inspiring Meaningful Policy and Change Together, a political action group that would work to make a difference during this incredibly contentious time. The group does not strictly align with either democratic or republican ideologies. Instead, it focuses on “inspiring change that is positive for the community,” Guarino explained. Brooke Rosner, co-founder of IMPACT, wanted to “take action because we are fortunate that we have the right to speak out” in our country.

IMPACT is comprised of 15 like-minded mothers from Armonk, and they are working on expanding membership. The first chal-lenge that the members wanted to tackle was proving to their children that they do not have to give up on what they believe in just because the election did not end as they had hoped. To do this, the members decided to host a bake sale at Armonk’s Third Thursday on July 20, 2017. This was the perfect way to get their daughters involved because the children could bake, make signs and donate the proceeds to a meaningful cause.

IMPACT chose the Union of Concerned Sci-entists (UCS) as the beneficiary of what would become the group’s first fundraiser. The UCS is focused on combining independent “tech-nical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe, and sustainable future,” according to the mission statement on the organization’s website.

The women chose UCS for several reasons. First, the bake sale was at a community event

and they wanted to pick an organization that nearly everyone could agree is a good cause, rather than one that is based on democratic versus republican ideology. Second, it is one that the children could understand and sup-port since much of their education focuses on the environment. Stella explained “it is important to give them money because they don’t get any money from the government.” After nearly two hours of sales, the group raised $530, which Stella said made her and her friends “proud and happy.”

IMPACT has several goals for the upcom-ing months. First, the members are looking forward to getting involved in the Byram Hills Central School District PTSA by creating a new group called The Inclusion and Aware-ness Committee. Guarino will be in charge of the committee and she plans to implement programs that emphasize acceptance of others who may be different from you. The main goal of this committee is to raise children who treat everyone with respect. She hopes to implement age-appropriate programs for each grade level so everyone gets a basic set of guidelines for respect to live by as they grow up. On Sept. 19, the lower school had the first PTSA meeting where parents signed up for committees. 26 people signed up for Guarino’s new committee and she plans to get even more participation when it becomes district-wide.

Another goal on IMPACT’s agenda is volun-teering in local elections. Guarino is deter-mined to help George Latimer’s democratic campaign for County Executive of Westches-ter and Daren Tolz’s democratic campaign for Westchester County Legislature. She believes that these hyper-local elections are a great way to incite change within our country’s po-litical system. Guarino hopes to help increase voter turnout rates by helping people get to the polls through ride shares and providing possible childcare services on Nov. 7.

Each day, Guarino, Rosner and their IMPACT colleagues are working to make a difference at a grassroots level. Stella said that it “makes [her] feel proud because [she has] never really seen her [mother] do something really import-ant like this before.”

Ilana Schwartz graduated from Hamil-ton College in May 2017 and is pursuing her dreams of becoming a journalist. Aside from writing for Inside Armonk, she works at ABC News, enjoys reading mystery novels and loves spending time with her friends and family.


Whereis This?

PHOTOS AND ANSWER KEYBY JOSEPH FLEISHER

Editor’s Note: Think you know the nooks and crannies of your town? See how many of these images you can identify. Joseph Fleisher, a rising sophomore at Horace Greeley High School, who has a passion for photography, set out to find interesting objects and places unique to New Castle. The answers and descriptions can be found on page 39.

1

32


Records Broken for Trio of Events

‘Twas a fun and mega successful day at Wampus Brook Park bringing together

350 walkers/runners for Jamie’s 5K Run and a record-breaking crowd on September 17, according to Stacy Wilder of the Armonk Chamber of Commerce. Some 1600 donuts were sold “with plenty of apple cider to wash them down with,” she added as families turned up with good cheer to enjoy old fashioned fun at the Chamber-spon-sored Cider and Donut Festival which included the Jamie’s 5K Run for Love, and the Byram Hills Preschool Association’s carnival rides and activities too. All the activities took place at beautiful Wam-pus Brook Park. An array of merchant sponsors made the day possible. Visit armonkchamberof-commerce.com for more info.

From the start of the races ‘till the very last one, supportive cheers and waving banners encour-aged the runners braving warm, humid temps. At the race, the male winner was: Kevin Harvey from Fairfield, CT, with a time of 16 minutes. The women’s overall winner was Sydney Durand from Brighton, Massachusetts, with atime of 19 minutes and 26 seconds. – Grace

PHOTOS BY GRACE BENNETT

Benefitting the North Castle Public Library Sunday, September 17, 2017

Timing By SuperRaceSystems.com5K Team Awards

1. 1:00:12 Byram Hills XC Team 2 (20:04)======================================= 1 20:04 Grayson Kaminer 591 2 20:04 Michael Gertz 568 3 20:04 Matthew Turk 658

2. 1:00:43 Byram Hills XC Team 1 (20:15)======================================= 1 20:04 John Duarte 552 2 20:04 Jonathan Mui 616 3 20:35 Cameron Bremner 525

3. 1:20:19 Byram Hills XC Team 6 (26:47)======================================= 1 23:54 Tyler Kaminer 592 2 28:12 Henry Livingston 604 3 28:13 Wolfie Mesh 611

4. 1:31:39 The Four Stooges (30:33)======================================= 1 29:26 Michael Calenda 534 2 31:06 Phillip Calenda 535 3 31:07 Carolyn Calenda 533

5. 1:39:33 Byram Hills Varsity Field Hockey (33:11)======================================= 1 30:44 Sarah Ilany 588 2 34:21 Olivia Johnson 589 3 34:28 Olivia Gordon 572

6. 1:42:21 Grand Lux Realty Team (34:07)======================================= 1 30:26 Ben Levy 598 2 35:11 Jodi Levy 600 3 36:44 Michael Levy 602

7. 1:51:43 Loveland Bachmanns (37:15)======================================= 1 34:27 Jason Bachmann 506 2 34:29 Kylie Bachmann 511 3 42:47 Mia Bachmann 514

Chart Courtesy of the Armonk Chamber of Commerce

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Sculpture by Valerie Bunnell

Volunteers for Friends of the North Castle Public Library

Woven Aluminum by James Mosier

BY MOLLY ALEXANDER

On Business Park Drive, the sun shonebrightly and visitors either strolled or

boarded a complimentary shuttle bus all eagerto arrive at the North Castle CommunityPark for the 56th Annual Armonk OutdoorArt Show (AOAS). With over 300 volunteers,more than 185 artists and excited attendeesfrom near and far, this award-winning fineart and fine crafts show served as a warmand welcoming family attraction.

Corporate sponsors including Equinox,Houlihan Lawrence, Northern WestchesterHospital, and White Plains Hospital Medicaland Wellness offered info and demonstra-tions. Family Activities sponsors includedthe Harvey School, First Five Learn and Playand the Neuberger Museum of Art providedwonderful activities for children of all ages.Silver corporate sponsors included William

Raveis, Burke Reha-bilitation Hospital and Framings. For a full listing of sponsors, visit armonkout-doorartshow.org.

Show-goers mean-dered through rowsand rows of art ranging from crafts, sculptures, paintings,photography, jewelry, handbags and cloth-ing. “It’s very interest-ing how all the artists

are from everywhere; all around the country,” an attendee commented. “Every piece of art is different.”

Awards were also presented to artists inseven categories and two additional specialawards had $1,000 prizes.

The Alan C. Solomon Best of Show Prize went to honor the artist who “exemplifies creativity, artistic talent and mastery in his/her artwork across all artistic categories.”It was awarded to Bounkhong Signavong, the founder of Lao Design.

In addition, The Sylvia Rogers Best New ArtistPrize “to attract new artists to the AOAS and recognize the talent and imagination of up and coming artists,” was awarded to Cuban-born Enrique Miralles, who exhibited a powerful collection of dry point etchings.

The weather on both days was absolutely gorgeous, if a bit toasty, and kept guests sip-ping on iced drinks to keep cool and partak-ing in delicious foods from area vendors and restauranteurs. It offered a day of exploration for all with many visitors picking up original pieces of art wear, paintings, and sculptures created in a variety of mediums to treasure for many years to come. If you missed this event, come next year when the 57th annual AOAS will be held on September 29 and 30.

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Being Grateful & Giving BackThe Wonderful Volunteers of

Northern Westchester HospitalBY JANINE CROWLEY HAYNES

In the spirit of giving thanks and giving back, it’s only appropriate to shine a spot-

light on volunteers who give their time, per-sonal experience, and expertise. We turned to Northern Westchester Hospital (NWH) and their volunteer programs and met with six of these inspirational volunteers serving NWH and our community.

Director of Volunteer Services Ellen Muen-tener oversees approximately 250 volun-

teers at the hospital. From high school and college students to senior citizens, NWH volunteers are passionate about what they do. Volunteers enhance the lives of others without the need for fanfare. Yet with each individual I met, the overwhelming consen-sus was that volunteering gives them much more than they give. However, volunteering is not for the faint of heart. You have to be tough while being kind, emotionally strong while being compassionate, and tireless while being tested.

Aside from the obvious benefits, what makes an individual want to volunteer?

In an article in Psychology Today, Dawn Carr, MGS, PhD, lists five benefits to vol-unteering. One benefit, in particular, stands out–volunteering gives you a sense of pur-pose. Volunteers live longer too. Volunteer-ing also helps you to step outside yourself and your own life challenges and gives you a fresh, new perspective.

Judy McGrath

Judy McGrath, is a 12-year volunteer and former president of Twigs-Thriftree Shop located at 449 Lexington Avenue in Mt. Kis-co. Judy is a Chappaqua resident and an active member in the community including being involved with the New Castle Histori-cal Society, the Chappaqua SchoolFoundation, the PTA, and the Girl Scouts.“I believe it’s so important to give back to the community,” says Judy.

Twigs of NWH was formed in 1945 and, currently, has 160 members split up into nine groups. However, its humble roots date back to 1887, where a small group would get together to hem hospital table napkins for Rochester City Hospital. The group started to grow, and Twigs groups began to crop up in hospitals all around the country.

Twigs is a not-for-profit organization set up exclusively to support Northern West-chester Hospital. “We are so fortunate to have such a great hospital right here in our community,” says Judy. Over the last 12 months, Twigs donated 78,500 volunteer hours. It’s impressive that a little thrift shop in Mt. Kisco could make such an impact benefiting the hospital. To date, Twigs has donated $3,300,000 to NWH. The shop offers a variety of items for sale like cloth-ing, books, jewelry, household items, etc. In addition, Twigs volunteers put together layettes for the Prenatal Care Clinic that provides comprehensive care to underin-sured and uninsured pregnant women in Westchester and Putnam Counties, helping to ensure healthy pregnancies and healthy babies. Twigs also provides unique items such as cough pillows and tray favors to patients during the holidays.

This year, Twigs presented a check to NWH for $100,000. Each of the following NWH programs will receive $25,000: The Ken Hamilton Caregivers Center (KHCC), where family caregivers find respite and support; The Bruce and Andrea Yablon Cancer Health and Wellness Program, created to empower patients diagnosed with can-cer to live a healthy lifestyle in ways that powerfully touch mind, body and spirit; the Community Health Education and Outreach Program, which partners with schools and local groups to build a healthier communi-ty; and the Integrative Medicine Program, dedicated to enhancing patients’ health and wellness.

You can find a Twigs Serenity Garden inside the Cancer Health and Wellness Center and the Twigs Healing Garden outside the Emergency Department.

Each year, Twigs members get together and decide which areas and/or programs Twigs would like to support. Whether you volunteer, donate items to the shop, or shop at Twigs-Thriftree, you will be making your own generous contribution to NWH.

Let’s meet just a few of these impressive NWH volunteers:

PHOTO BY CHAD KRAUS


Jo Cherubini

Jo Cherubini, at 83 years old and a 50-year Mt. Kisco resident, is a vibrant, tireless volunteer in the Westchester community. In addi-tion to being a 20-year volunteer at NWH, Jo volunteers twice a week at the Rosary Hill Home, an end-of-life facility based in Hawthorne. She is

Idelle Skriloff

Idelle Skriloff volunteers at the Ken Hamilton Caregivers Center (KHCC) located in the Wallace Pavilion of the hospital. KHCC was founded by Armonk resident Marian Hamilton in loving memory of her husband, Ken Hamilton. Marian was the primary caregiver to her husband when he was sick. The experience was stressful and, at times, isolating. After her husband passed away,

BY GRACE BENNETT

The volunteer effort at Northern Westchester Hospital “dovetails perfectly with our focus which is patient-centered care. We don’t just say that here, we practice it,” says David Miller, M.D., chair of the De-partment of Anesthesiology at NWH. He stresses the key role volunteers serve at NWH and the vital impact they have every single day on patient care. “In the area of surgical services alone, we have a full time ‘navigator’ who arrives to help in the process of ambulatory care; there are many volunteers who show patients where to go and who, by the way, also help staff at different locations.”

It’s not too surprising then that Dr. Miller generously extends his own hand at the hospital wearing three vital volunteer hats. For over four years, he has been an active member of the Northern Westchester Hospital Foundation. He is also a member of the board of trustees and of the hospital’s medical board.

Playing a leadership role in critical, volunteer fundraising efforts for the hospital comes naturally for Dr. Miller.An Armonk resident for the last 30 years, Dr. Miller has two children, 31 and 28, both born at NWH. “Both my grandchildren were born here too. My wife had surgery here. Assuring great patient care here for everyone is personal for me and for many of us.” Other doctors who sit on the foun-dation board include plastic surgeon David Palaia, M.D., and obstetrician/gynecologist, Anita Grover, M.D., neurosurgeon Omar Syed, MD, and pediatrician Margaret Collins, MD.

The foundation’s success, he maintains, would not be possible without an extensive volunteer effort. “Our entire objective is to develop and maintain a strong relationship with our surrounding communities. Foundation Board members need to remain informed, and our volunteers act as Ambassadors to the commu-

How Volunteering Enhances ‘Patient

Centered Care’

nity.” He called a recent presentation by Twigs volunteers to the board of trust-ees “tremendous” and “eye opening.” “They perfectly illustrated what volun-teering really means to this hospital. The fundraising they do is phenomenal through their gift shop which has been in existence for almost 75 years.”

The foundation board plans a com-bination of educational programs and fundraising through hospital or community-based events, such as a walk benefiting cancer patients, golf outings, concerts with local bands, to the all-important annual gala. “It is our largest vehicle,” he explained, and this year, hopes are high to surpass the $1.4 million raised last year. This year, the ‘Imagine What’s Next’ gala date is November 18th. To attend or make a donation to the hospital, please visit www.nwhconnect.org/2017Gala.

Ultimately, said Dr. Miller, the foundation and all the hospital volunteers “send a very strong message to patients that our hospital is a community that takes a huge interest in the welfare of our patients and their families.”

Grace Bennett is Publisher and Ed-itor-in-Chief of Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk Magazines.

David Miller, M.D.

PHOTO BY CHAD KRAUS

PHOTO BY CHAD KRAUS

PHOTO BY CHAD KRAUS


Joanna Cirasella

Joanna Cirasella, Briarcliff resident and owner of the Chappaqua Wellness Center, volunteers her time at NWH twice a week. She and her 10-year-old pet therapy Norfolk terrier, Mandy, make their rounds at the hospital. For Joanna, her mission is personal. She is a 15-year breast cancer survivor. Joanna wanted to give back to the hospital that took great care of her. “They’re like family to me,” says Joanna. Mandy and Joanna typ-ically visit the Cancer Center, the Breast Institute, and the Women’s Imaging Center. They also make visits to the oncology inpatient units. “Mandy opens the door. Once you say to a patient ‘I sat in that same chair,’ a whole other dialogue happens.”

For her service, Joanna received the prestigious International Pet Therapy Team Planetree Award. In addition to visiting patients, Joan-na is on the Cancer Patient Advi-sory Council, designed to be the voice of the patient by providing ongoing insight into actual patient and family experiences.

Joanna is also involved with NWH’s Living with Cancer Support Group. She’s held fundraising events at Le Jardin du Roi with proceeds going to the NWH Can-cer Health & Wellness Program. Joanna is also an accomplished photographer. You can also find several of her photographs hang-ing in the Cancer Center.

also involved with the Mount Kisco Interfaith Food Pantry.

At NWH, you can usually find her on Wednesdays at the front desk of the Wallace Pavilion, but she also takes on other roles. “I feel a volunteer should go where they are needed,” says Jo. Whether it’s helping with blood drives, stuffing envelopes, delivering greeting cards to patients, or making sure wheelchairs are accessible at the front entrance–Jo is on it. Working at the front desk is not without its challenges. “Typically when people walk into the hospital, it’s not on the best of circumstanc-es…unless they’re visiting the mater-nity ward,” says Jo. “They need to be received and guided with patience,” she adds.

Jo is the recipient of the 2017 Mary B. Robbins Beacon of Light Award which is given by NWH to the vol-unteer of the year. In lieu of the per-sonal gifts she would have received

from NWH, Jo asked if it could be in the form of a monetary donation to be split up between two of her charities—Rosary Hill Home and the Mount Kisco Food Pantry.

“I love this hospital and its mission to provide quality care to the com-munity,” says Jo. “The people who work here are open and receptive. It’s a family atmosphere and that makes for a pleasant experience,” she adds.

In addition to all of her volunteer activities, Jo finds the time to knit and crochet blankets for children with cancer. She’s made over 1,000 blankets so far. Jo has also made hundreds of hats for infants that have been born at NWH.

If you would like to donate some yarn for her projects, please feel free to leave it at the front desk of the Wallace Pavilion. She would greatly appreciate it.

Marian founded the KHCC, the first in-hospital facility of its kind in the entire New York Metropolitan region. Named in memory of her husband and inspired by her experience caring for her husband through his illness, while juggling her role as a mother to two teenage daughters, gave her a firsthand understanding that hospitals are often not equipped to help caregivers in a meaningful way. With a vision to support family caregivers, Marian approached Northern Westchester Hospital. Since its inception, the KHCC has had over 60,000 family interactions, demonstrating the vast need for caregiver support.

For ten years, Idelle Skriloff has been one of over 30 volunteers at KHCC. “I wanted to do something meaning-ful to give back to the community,” she says. “At times, my husband and I have been patients at NWH, and we received such great care.” What makes Idelle well-suited for this particular type of volunteer work is her kind, compassionate spirit that comes along with being a retired special education teacher from Fox

Lane. Idelle volunteers once a week seeking caregivers on the floor to engage in conversation and offer appropriate support as needed. “We let them know we are there for them if they have any questions or need informa-tion, and we invite them to the center to relax and unwind,” says Idelle. “Sometimes caregivers just need emotional support. Some-times they need information and resources.” KHCC’s volunteer training is intensive. Trainees will shadow a seasoned volunteer for three to six months and are also expected to make a long-term commitment to the center.

KHCC has extended their services with a ‘Stay in Touch’ program where volunteers reach out to caregivers after discharge via telephone. Idelle describes her volunteer experience as uniquely rewarding: “I am so grateful to have a hospital like NWH in our community. Volunteering gives me so much more than I give.”

PHOTO BY JANINE CROWLEY HAYNES


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Sophie Peterfreund

Sophie Peterfreund, a Bedford Hills resident, has been volunteer-ing in the Emergency Department at NWH for six years and was a member of the NWH President’s Junior Leadership Council during her sophomore, junior and senior years at Fox Lane. The President’s

If you’re interested in volunteering at NWH, please

contact Ellen Muentener, Director, Volunteer Services [email protected].

Janine Crowley Haynes is a Chappaqua resident, free-lance writer and author of My Kind of Crazy: Living in a Bipolar World.


Junior Leadership Council is made up of high school students in North-ern Westchester. PJLC members develop projects that are meaningful to them about health issues affect-ing their peers.

Whenever she is home, you can find her in the Emergency Department helping out at the security desk at NWH helping out at the security desk and checking in patients. She is passionate about the hospital and loves tapping into its spirit and energy.

The fast-paced atmosphere of ur-gent care is well-suited to her partic-ular skill set. “It may sound strange, but ever since I was young, I loved going to the doctor,” says Sophie.

Sophie is a junior at Stony Brook University and hopes to attend phy-sician’s assistant school after she graduates. Sophie is also an EMT in her town.

Jo with Ellen Muentener



BY RONNI DIAMONDSTEIN

Overwhelmed by the unfathomable loss of September 11, 2001, Mindy Kombert began to sketch boxes to

represent each life lost. The sketch became a blueprint for the Flag of Remembrance that has found a permanent home at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City, where it is currently on exhibit. The 20-foot-by-27-foot masterpiece created by Kombert and Sherry Kronenfeld, both Chappaqua residents was a labor of love that gave these women a way to process the events of that fateful day.

“I really felt the need, being a visual person, to visualize the scale of the loss,” says Kombert, a multi-talented artist. She had 12 pages and went to Kronenfeld with her first sketch. “I wanted to learn all about them and what had brought them all together on that day.”

Since the two women had been working together at a local design firm before they started this project, Kronenfeld knew it would be seamless. “Mindy and I have perfectly matched–that is, complementary– skills and talents, so our roles easily fell into place. She came up with the concept and

9/11 Flag of RemembranceFinds a Home

handled the visuals, the graphics, the mate-rials–ink and fabric, etc., and I did more of the organization and the communication.”

They suspended their business and formed a committee that grew into a not-for-profit. “It was very difficult initially, we met at my kitchen table,” says Kombert. “We had no idea what it would cost. “They found an

anonymous donor to fund the project and received donations of materials and printing services.

“I took the skills I had, quilting and graphic design, and it evolved into a monument two stories high,” says Kombert. Kronenfeld did the press releases, the media outreach, the contacts and relationships with companies.

Installation at Chappaqua Library in 2004PHOTO BY JONATHAN C. HYMAN

9/11 Memorial & Museum installation team working

with the piece in the museumPHOTO BY JIN LEE


She contacted all the World Trade Center companies who lost large numbers of employees and the city agencies (FDNY, NYPD, etc.) who lost first responders–to make sure as many people as possible knew about the project.

CNN correspondent Jeanne Moos caught wind of the project and highlighted it in one of her segments on 9/11 victims. Following that special, Kombert and Kronenfeld set up an 800 number to provide a convenient and quick way for people to contact them if they had any questions about the Flag or to send in photos for inclusion. However it also turned out to be a way for family mem-bers to tell them about the person they lost. “I had one woman, a widow, who called me several times just to talk about her daugh-ter, who was living with her at the time of the attacks. She talked about what a wonderful daughter she was, how dedicat-ed to her mother and to her job, and how much she was going to miss her,” says Kronenfeld. “In this and many other cases, it seemed to be therapeutic for the family members to talk, for them to communicate everything they could about the special person they had lost. Others were just as heart-wrenching, including several who asked if instead of one close-up photo–as we had indicated was optimum–they could have two in a photo, because they had lost two or more family members.”

The Flag was made by transferring victims’ photographs to individual pieces of fabric. The blue field with white stars was dedi-cated to uniformed first responders while

the stripes of white and red were reserved for civilians. Each victim’s name and age were includ-ed. An image of a memorial candle accounted for those whom photographs were unavailable.

Deeded to the Museum in 2007, the Flag is now part of the museum’s permanent collec-tion. Kombert kept it folded under her bed in Chappaqua for many years until it was transferred to the Museum’s conservation facility to ready it for the Museum. The Flag will hang for one year and then fall into a rotation schedule with other large works in the collection. “My hope is that it will be loaned or travel,” says Kombert. In addition to its debut at the Chappaqua Library in 2004, the red, white and blue muted-toned flag has been on display at the Kensico Dam memorial The Rising, the Liberty Plaza Marriott, John Jay College of Criminal Justice and the Doral Arrowwood Westchester.

RIGHT: 9/11 Memorial & Museum

Flag on display at the museum

PHOTO BY JIN LEE

ABOVE: Close-ups of the flagPHOTO BY JONATHAN C. HYMAN

BELOW: Close-ups of the flagPHOTO BY JONATHAN C. HYMAN

“The project itself was gratifying, as we felt all along that we were doing everything we could to pay tribute and forever remember the victims of 9/11,” says Kronenfeld.“The Flag is a reminder of the scale of the loss we suffered,” says Kombert. “I am so happy that it is where it belongs.”

For more information, please visit www.911memorial.org.

Ronni Diamondstein is a Chappaqua based freelance writer, PR consultant, award-winning photographer and Chappaqua Library Board Trustee.

“For ten years I photographed memorials and art-work–large and small–across the country made in response to the 9/11 attacks. The Flag of Re-membrance is one of only a handful of objects or artworks I consider to be truly remarkable. Stag-gering in its scale, detail, and craftsmanship, this flag speaks powerfully to the zeal, compassion, and need to memorialize and speak publicly that was evident across the culture in the aftermath of the attacks. Though generically resembling an American flag, I stood before it the day it was hung the first time, humbled by its ability to be both deeply personal and speak viscerally about our nation’s grief. Indeed, it is a monument unto itself.” – JONATHAN C. HYMAN


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LIFESTYLES

BY KELLY LEONARD

A cool, elegant marble reception area and warm, smiling faces welcome patients and visitors to Leone Dental

Group at their new flagship location in Armonk Square. Creating a soothing and relaxed atmosphere that integrates the most advanced, state of the art medical and den-tal technology, Leone Dental Group aims to change a patient’s perspective of what going to the dentist means.

Dr. Frank and Dr. Lucy, who have been in practice for over 30 years and trained at New York University College of Dentistry, recently opened their new Armonk office designed by Frank, Lucy and their son Raphael.

“The integration of each practitioners equip-ment and work style influenced how we designed the facility. One key attribute that never changed throughout the design/build-ing process was the importance of patient comfort,” noted Raphael.

Dr. Frank is one of only 426 Diplomates of the American Board of Oral Implantology in the nation and a Fellow of the American Academy of Implant Dentistry. The ABOI/ID Diplomate designation symbolizes the high-est level of competence in implant dentistry.

Many dentists try their hand at implant dentistry due to the way the procedure is marketed to dentists by implant companies. Frequently, Dr. Frank is called upon to reme-dy mistakes or issues arising from com-plications due to practitioners not formally trained in the advanced science behind implantology. Because implant dentistry is a true dental specialty, only a trained and knowledgeable professional should practice it. Leone stocks a large variety of implant sizes, brands and types because simply put, one size does not fit all.

“If you have been told that it can’t be done or you are not a candidate for dental im-plants such as having a bone deficiency, it is time you scheduled a consultation with Dr. Frank,” Raphael recommended.

Leone Dental Group:A Dentist Visit ThatFeels Like a Day Spa

Dr. Lucy, an advanced general and cosmet-ic dentist and member of both the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry and Facial Esthetics, combines artistry and dentistry to give her patients a true smile makeover. This combination of treatments, unique in a dental practice, offers advanced cosmetic dental and facial esthetics (botox and Juve-derm fillers). The result is a complete smile makeover that will help patients look years younger in just a few visits.

Leone Dental Group believes in a dynamic process of dental care, each treatment tailored to patient needs, as each individ-ual has her or his own unique set of health concerns. Leone doesn’t have a cookie cutter process or time limits for patients and emphasizes the importance of practicing a higher form of healthcare.

For patients who are apprehensive, the Leone Dental Group offers different modal-ities of sedation to ease anxiety throughout treatment. Nitrous oxide and IV sedation are available. 3D and 2D high-definition x-rays with minimal radiation are among the array of advanced tech they utilize.

A fee-for-sevice provider, Leone Dental works with patients’ insurance providers to get patients reimbursed for the maximum amount their plans allow. Family owned and operated, Leone Dental Group is not affiliated with any corporate dental chain so has the ability to service clients based on patients’ needs and not an umbrella corporate policy.

Leone Dental Group aims to give their patients smiles that radiate confidence, brilliance and distinction.To learn more, visit leonedentalgroup.com, follow face-book.com/leonedentalgroup and insta-gram.com/leonedentalgroup.To schedule a complimentary consultation, call 273-2333.

Kelly Leonard is Founder & Principal Consultant of KLO Associates LLC, a digital marketing boutique. A frequent contributor to the Inside Press, Kelly has lived in Chappaqua since 2004.

Dr. Frank

Dr. Lucy

BY STACEY PFEFFER

Before you even enter the DeCicco & Sons supermarket in Armonk Square, you’ll notice that things

are done differently at this four-year old grocery store. The shopping carts are lined up orderly, each one gleaming with wheels that glide smoothly along the immaculate floors. The outside display features sea-sonal mums attractively lined up. As soon as you step inside, you can see fresh-cut flower bouquets and a beautiful bounty of the freshest produce with many products purchased in partnerships with local farms. It’s an attention to detail and an emphasis on quality first that puts this beloved super-market at the heart of the community.

It all began with John DeCicco Sr. who started his career working in the food industry as a12-year old immigrant from Calabria, Italy. As a part-time employee in a fruit store on Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village, John Sr. honed an appreciation for quality products and customer service. When the opportunity came up to purchase a bankrupt supermarket in the Woodlawn section of the Bronx in 1972, he jumped at that prospect and began purchasing other supermarkets with family members. Today

there are currently seven DeCicco & Sons store in Westchester and his sons John Jr. and Chris play an integral role in the man-agement and operations of all locations.

A Commitment to Health

The family cares deeply not only about the quality of the products available but also about improving their customer’s health. They have re-vamped all of their prepared items and are eliminating vegetable oil and corn oil re-placing it with olive oil. They use sea salt instead of regular salt without compromis-ing on taste and that’s just the beginning. All of their meats (chicken, pork and beef)

in their prepared items are antibiotic and hormone-free and purchased from local farms. They try to source wild fish and fresh fish (not frozen or farmed). They also have relationships with local farms to secure in-season produce.

Customer Service is King

The DeCicco family places a premium on customer service, which is evident to any shopper that enters the store. The cashiers are friendly and courteous and the staff goes out of their way to help customers looking for products.

“We only take 15-20% of employees that apply for jobs and we have an intensive

training process where we emphasize customer service. We are on top of customer service ev-ery day. It’s not some-thing you can let go,” explained John Jr. The family is also dedicated to improving employee satisfaction

and regularly conducts surveys and meet-ings to ensure that any staff concerns are addressed.

The DeCicco family celebrates Chris DeCicco’s knighthood at Belgian Beer Weekend 2017 (L-R): John DeCicco Sr., Chris DeCicco, John DeCicco Jr. and Marie DeCiccoPHOTO COURTESY OF CHRIS DECICCO

Exterior shot of DeCicco’s in Armonk Square PHOTO BY STACEY PFEFFERSpotlight on

DeCicco & Sons Super-markets: Where Quality

and the CustomerAlways Come First


LIFESTYLES

holding craft beer tastings in their gas-tropub and food demos in their kitchen. The upstairs seating area is popular with customers and the bocce courts are a hit with families. The store has held parties ranging from first birthdays to small-scale 40th birthday bashes. In addition they offer full-service catering which is helpful for the upcoming holiday season.

With the holiday season arriving shortly, the Inside Press had to inquire about what Thanksgiving is like at the DeCicco family’s celebration. “Thanksgiving in our home features a 25-30 pound turkey, stuffed artichokes, Italian antipasto, and an insane amount of pies and desserts. We make a traditional American Thanksgiving with an Italian flair,” said John DeCicco Jr. Envision all the traditional Thanksgiving items com-bined with scrumptious Italian delicacies such as roasted peppers with mozzarella, stuffed artichokes and antipasti. And to top it off a dessert table to envy with pies and cakes galore. Customers can replicate a DeCicco Thanksgiving feast simply by call-ing their catering department and placing an order. For more information, please visit www.deciccoandsons.com.

Stacey Pfeffer is the editor of Inside Armonk and Inside Chappaqua.

Giving Back to the Community

“We live in these communities ourselves so we always want to do the right thing,” explains John DeCicco Jr. And indeed they do by supporting many philanthropic causes over the years. The stores have a community school rebate program, which donates 1% of pre-taxed sales to local PTAs and allows them to allocate funds appropriately. Over the years, it has raised millions of dollars for schools. Customers simply drop their store receipts in the collection bins upon exiting the store. They also supported a breast cancer walk at Manhattanville last month and the Ar-monk Outdoor Art Show. In addition, they donate 250 Thanksgiving meals to local families in need annually.

Heaven for Beer Lovers

“Everyone in the Hudson Valley knows if you want good beer, you go to DeCiccos,” exclaims Chris. The family got into craft beers early in the 1990s before it was a trend. “The industry has grown as we have grown. We have the biggest selection,” Chris continues. The family imports a lot of European beers and they have great rela-tionships with brewers. They are so well-known and knowledgeable about the beer

industry that Chris was recently inducted as an honorary knight in Belgium in a 13th century tradition called the Knighthood of the Brewers’ Mash Staff that took place at the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula in Brussels. The hour- long ceremony in-

cludes two priests and a bishop consecrat-ing a cask of beer. The DeCicco family was all in attendance to watch this great honor.

Thanksgiving Offerings

Although there are several DeCicco & Sons supermarkets throughout Westchester each supermarket has distinct features and the Armonk location is well-known for

PHOTO COURTESY OF“Belgian Brewers-Lander Loeckx”

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Where is This? 1. Lockheed T-33 located at the entrance to Westchester County Airport, has been in this location since December 1996. This jet known as the “plane on a stick” is considered a monument to the New York Air National Guard. 2. Facade and hanging porch lantern at St. Stephen’s Epis-copal Church on Bedford Road, originally built in the 1850s. 3. This chair, named “Roadsmary’s Baby,” was a gift from Two Roads Brewing Co., donated in 2014, to promote their seasonal pumpkin ale. It resides on the mezzanine of DeCic-co & Sons supermarket in Armonk.

Answers: from page 17


13. The thrill of a new skill after months of hard work.

14. Teaches children that hard work is necessary to reach goals. Not everything happens in an instant.

15. Improves motor skill development.

16. Improves motor planning.

17. Builds strong bones.

18. Introduces fitness at an early age which will lead to healthy habits that last a lifetime.

19. Every field or stretch of sand turns into a place to tumble. Every tree branch turns into a bar. Every curb turns in to a balance beam.

20. It is the sport for all sports! Start with Gymnastics and go anywhere. Best physical foundation.

21. Increases upper body strength while swinging and supporting oneself on the bars.

22. Teaches the value of repetition.

23. Children work toward their personal best, and support their classmates in theirs.

24. Increases reading readiness.

25. Balancing and achieving skills on a 4” beam that at one point seemed intimidating, makes almost anything seem possible.

26. Improves hand/eye coordination as well as foot/eye coordination.

27. Increases attention span.

28. More and more research supports gymnastics as extremely beneficial to brain development.

29. Improves focus.

30. Children of all abilities can participate and benefit. Wonder-ful for children with special needs and different learning styles.

31. Persistence is encouraged and necessary. Children must repeat skills to accomplish them, a reminder that you must work hard to find success.

32. Increases flexibility.

33. Increases bone strength with weight bearing exercise.

34. Being upside down can actually make one feel happier and calmer.

35. It’s soooo much FUN! The best rea-son of all!

Jodi Rosenwasser Levine is the found-er and CEO of Jodi’s Gym. She is a leader and expert in children’s fitness and has been sharing the joy of gym-nastics to kids since 1982.

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1. Builds strength.

2. Mastering a skill feels empowering…and proves that hard work pays off.

3. Kids love to cartwheel! Being able to cartwheel is like riding a bike–once you’ve got it...you’ve got it. Forever!

4. Teaches courage. Children encoun-ter things that will push them out of their comfort zone. Making a decision to trust themselves (and their coach) is a skill that will carry over to all areas of their lives.

5. Develops grit…a child choosing to keep trying a skill repeatedly. Teaches how to fall down, regroup and get back.

6. Increases balance.

7. Offers opportunity to be social outside of school in a small, fun group setting. En-courages friendships by working together.

8. Builds confidence. Confidence spreads quickly to all areas of life. On and off the mat.

9. Enjoying the excitement of jumping off of high mats, on bouncy trampolines and over challenging objects in a safe setting. Simply fun!

10. Children naturally love to move in all different ways. Gymnastics is all about movement.

11. Patience is practiced daily…whether waiting for a turn or working to achieve a desired skill.

12. Students learn how to fall now so that they can safely fall later both in and out of the gym.

35 Reasons toLove Gymnastics

PHOTO BY JULIA LUBARSKY


in, which is making it attractive for people to come to Westchester to start a family, to start a career,” he explained.

Putting assets to work

Lower taxes means Astorino has had to manage the county in a way that finds new revenue and cuts inefficiencies.

He’s cut the government workforce by 16 per-cent, either through buyouts or “reorganization.” For example, Astorino said a contract he ended for the Planning Department to work on section 8 housing saved the county $1 million a year and put the workers under the state’s purview.

“You’ve got a smaller but more efficient county government,” Astorino told The Inside Press.

He has also hunted for new revenue streams, looking for county assets that can generate a profit with new development. For example, Westchester is allowing the construction of a “biotech village” on 60 acres of vacant land at the Westchester Medical Center campus that Astorino said will create high-tech jobs.

“You can’t sit idly by,” he said. “This is part of our philosophy: if we’re not going to ask taxpayers to pony up more, we still need new revenue to come in. So we’re going to use the assets that the county has and put them to work.”

This strategy led Astorino to announce in No-vember 2016 plans to enter into a public-private partnership for Westchester Airport. Astorino wants to hand control of the airport to a private company for a $130 million upfront payment and a 40-year revenue-sharing lease.

Astorino is marketing the plan as a way to put the airport’s value to use without fully selling it to the private sector. “That’s how you pay for

BY JORDAN STUTTS

In his third and final campaign for Westchester County Executive, Rob Astorino sat down with The Inside Press to explain how his administration has held firm on the conservative fiscal policies he brought to office eight years ago. Every year since 2010, the two-term Republican has requested a county budget of around $1.8 billion, the same amount last requested by his Democratic predecessor Andrew Spano that also came with a 2.9 percent tax levy increase.

Astorino has instead reduced the tax levy by2 percent. He’s also frozen the county property tax levy, something he’s quick to point out as a major accomplishment for his administration’s goal to “stop the tax madness.” All of this is so middle-class people have a “fighting chance” to live in Westchester and small businesses have a “chance to survive and thrive,” Astorino explained in our interview. He’s now betting his low-tax platform that won the 2009 election will translate into a positive message that says his administra-tion can govern efficiently and effectively without big spending.

“We’ve just showed that you can do it better without having to be wasteful and having to go to the taxpayer every year saying we need more,” Astorino said in the interview. But State Senator George Latimer, the Demo-cratic challenger for county executive, said there’s more to Astorino’s tax relief record. “He is arguing that he has kept taxes at zero when in fact they levy is not the only thing the county does,” Latim-er said. (For a deeper look at Latimer’s policies and platforms, see the accompanying article onthe other page).

Sewer and refuse district taxes have ticked up during Astorino’s administration, Latimer notes, adding “all of a sudden it may not be that you actually paid less.” Astorino counters that the county’s property tax levy has fallen from $560 million to $548 million under his watch. “Any increases in refuse or sew-er district taxes Astorino continued, have paid for the expansion of necessary government services, like the launch of a household material recovery facility at Rye Playland.

The tax-friendly environment Astorino created helped insulate Westchester from New York’s first population decline in a decade, he said, with the county being one of the few to grow last year. It’s also helped 44,000 private-sector jobs in Westchester since he took office, Astorino said in the interview. “We’re inviting businesses to come

parks and police, daycare and all these other services that people want,” he explained during the interview.

The criticism his plan has faced, including from Latimer, is that the county will receive a one-off payment but lose out on revenue down the road, as well as losing control of airport management.

Another concern is that a private company will want to expand Westchester Airport for greater profit, disrupting the Armonk-North Castle area where it’s located. Astorino insists that no company can “build any major structure without county approval.”

“We want a better not bigger airport,” he said.

One question remaining

Astorino won’t say for certain he’s going to run again for New York Governor. In 2014, he tried to unseat Andrew Cuomo for the position and lost by 14 points. “My thoughts and everything is on election day to run for county executive,” he said. One caveat: “nobody should ever close the door on anything in their future.”

He is feeling confident about the election at hand as well. Throughout his two terms, Astorino has navigated the politics of a Democrat-leaning county. His conservative policies have been in action for seven years now and applied to a range of issues.

What seemed like the defining issue of his administration early on, the HUD housing lawsuit, is now fully in the rearview mirror. The disagreement was never about if Westchester should build more affordable housing, Astorino explained, adding the county has exceeded the federal requirement by building 900 units. “When it was evident that the central planners in Washington were going to try to dictate who lives where in this county and what gets built, that was all out of bounds. That’s what we fought on,” he added.

He said he’s not worried if Latimer tries to tie him to the social policies of President Donald Trump. In the election four years ago, he pointed out, Democrats tried to use Barack Obama’s popu-larity, winning Westchester by 25 points in 2012, by making the campaign about national issues.

Astorino said voters won’t fall for it this time either. “People are smart enough to realize that neither Obama in 2013 or Trump in 2017 are on the ballot,” he said.

The vision for Westchester Astorino’s bringing to his final campaign for county executive is an “extension” of what got him elected the first time. He said he is confident his version of “fiscal common sense” coupled with the experience of two terms in office will carry him over the finish line once again.

The only question remaining is if voters still want the same thing.

Jordan Stutts is a journalist based in New York City and a contributing writer for the Inside Press.

Spotlight on Republican Incumbent Rob Astorino’s Final Bid for County Executive


BY ANDREW VITELLI

It has been 13 years since State Senator George Latimer left county government to serve

in Albany. Latimer spent 13 years on the county’s Board of Legislators before his 2004 election to the New York State Assembly, including two terms as board chairman. Now the Democratic nominee for Westchester county executive, Latimer calls a return to White Plains, and to a leadership position, a “natural fit.”

“It is the opportunity of an executive job not just to, as legislators do, advocate for ideas and sponsor ideas,” Latimer tells Inside Press. “But to actually administer a government and to try to shape it in a direction that you think is positive.”

Latimer, a Mount Vernon native who has lived in Rye for 30 years, worked as a marketing executive for companies including subsidiaries of Nestle and ITT before entering politics. He was elected to the Rye City Council in 1987, then to the Board of Legislators in 1991. After four terms in the Assembly, he was elected to the Senate in 2012.

Latimer announced his candidacy for county executive in April, winning the backing of the Democratic committee and in September, defeating county legislator Ken Jenkins in the party’s primary. Now, he looks to unseat County Executive Rob Astorino, a Republican who has convincingly won two elections in a Demo-crat-heavy county. While Astorino has highlighted his administration’s record of keeping the tax rate down, Latimer believes the incumbent’s overall fiscal record is flawed.

“What I am going to promise to do is to get an honest set of eyes to look at our fiscal situa-tion,” Latimer says. He plans to ask the state comptroller to do a full audit of the county, he elaborates, and will then create a blue-ribbon commission comprising members of the busi-ness community, academia and others to chart a responsible path forward.

“If you think that we can run the county forever and never raise a tax because politically people don’t like taxes,” Latimer says, “then you are going to have to make some decisions about cutting everything and having no services.”

While the tax levy has held steady–even drop-ping slightly during Astorino’s term–Latimer claims the headline numbers do not paint a full picture. For example, the county has been too reliant on borrowing for recurring expenses, Latimer says, and may now be overestimating projected sales tax revenue in order to avoid a budget gap. Naturally, Astorino disagrees. “I

Up Close & Personal with Democratic Nominee for County Executive George Latimer

think George has been in Albany so long he now has Albany math,” Astorino quips (for a deeper look at Astorino’s policies and platforms, see the accompanying article on the other page).

Favors Consolidating Services

Latimer says he will look to generate alternative revenue sources or to save money by consoli-dating services before raising property taxes.

He does not promise to keep taxes flat, saying that he will need to see the 2018 budget and get a deeper look into the county’s finances, but notes that he has no intention of breaking the tax cap. “If we can deliver another 0 [percent increase] that would be good, but I don’t marry myself to any commitment until I know the spe-cifics,” he says.

Similarly, Latimer acknowledges that bringing back every position cut by Astorino is unrealistic. “On merit, you probably need to restore a ton of it. But the money isn’t going to be there,” he says. His priorities, he adds, are to strengthen the Department of Public Works, police services and the planning department. “Some of the downsizing that [Astorino] has done is probably sensible,” Latimer admits. “The question when you [make cuts] across the board is, are you throwing out the bathwater and the baby?”

In November 2016, Astorino announced plans to enter into a public-private partnership for Westchester Airport. The deal would have seen Oaktree Capital Management pay the county $130 million upfront for a 40-year revenue-shar-ing lease. Though that plan was stopped by the legislature, the county is now considering several competing plans to privatize the airport, which is located partially in North Castle.

Latimer sees privatization of the airport as more or less a nonstarter. Giving up control of the air-port not only cedes a source of revenue, Latimer

explains, but gives the county less control over decisions with environmental and quality of life implications.

“I don’t want those decisions on that asset being made by a private sector entity unless there is a reason for it,” Latimer says. “And there is no reason for it except that [Astorino] wants to fill a budget gap.”

Optimism in the Last Stretch

This race, Astorino tells Inside Press, will be his last run for the office he has held since shocking Andrew Spano in 2009. This means, in all likeli-hood, it will be the party’s last chance to knock off the incumbent, perhaps before he takes another shot at the governor’s mansion.

Democrats were optimistic four years ago when Astorino saw a challenge from New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. Obama won the county by 25 points the previous year, and Bramson looked to keep Democratic voters engaged with a focus on national issues such as guns and abortion. Astorino, focusing on taxes, won with 56 percent of the vote.

Latimer points to a handful of differences between his race and Bramson’s. Bramson, as the mayor of a city, was less well-known than Latimer, who represents a third of the county in Albany. And he notes, around 45 minutes into an hour-long interview, that so far in the conversa-tion he’s spoken only about local issues. But, he continues, “there is the Donald Trump factor.”

Trump received just 31 percent of the vote, five points worse than Mitt Romney’s 2012 showing, in the county. Latimer has looked to tie Astorino to the president–a picture of the two Republicans together features on at least one of Latimer’s campaign mailers, while Astorino’s veto of a bill limiting the county’s cooperation with immigra-tion enforcement was dubbed “Trump-like.”

“Donald Trump, as every day passes by, is giving more people doubt into what it is that he is all about,” Latimer continues. “I don’t know about Wisconsin, but he is definitely less popular in Westchester than he was a year ago, and I don’t see Rob distancing himself at all from Trump.”

Latimer does not seem to be going all-in on the Trump card. His campaign has centered on chal-lenging the incumbent’s fiscal record. But he also does not hesitate to oppose, for example, the county executive’s decision to bring gun shows back to the Westchester County Center.

Latimer recognizes the challenge in taking on Astorino, whom he calls “a very sharp guy” and “a great communicator.” He points out, though, that he has been in tough races before. His 2012 election over Bob Cohen for the Senate seat vacated by Suzi Oppenheimer came two years after Cohen nearly knocked off Oppenheimer, a 14-term incumbent.

His contest in November will be his toughest yet.

Andrew Vitelli is a Westchester native and the former editor of Inside Armonk.


BY STACEY PFEFFER

North Castle residents are in for a treat at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church on Sunday, October 29 at 4 p.m. A concert of choral and instrumental music featuring Viv-aldi’s Gloria and additional works by Handel and Parry will be included in the concert to celebrate the founding of the church and the town of Armonk 175 years ago. The concert will also introduce a world premier commissioned by St. Stephen’s from ac-claimed British composer Paul Mealor titled “How Lovely Is Your Dwelling Place.”

Mealor rose to fame in the U.K. after com-posing and performing Ubi Caritas et Amor at the wedding of Prince William and Cath-erine Middleton in 2011. His song “Wherev-er You Are” performed by the Military Wives Choir became a #1 single in the U.K. and he has worked with choirs and orchestras all over the world.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, located in the historic Mile Square center of Armonk, is celebrating 175th year, with a year-long series of special events and concerts. Rev. Nils Chittenden stated “In 1842, a small

Choral Music Concert To Celebrate175th Anniversary of St. Stephens Church and Founding of Armonk

group of Episcopalian Christians founded a parish in the town of North Castle, built a beautiful sanctuary in the Greek Revival style and, in so doing, established a com-munity that led to the founding of mod-ern-day Armonk.” Armonk, which means “the fishing place between the hills” derived its name from the word Armonck, the name used by the Native Americans known as the Siwanoys who were based on the Byram River.

The piece by Mealor is an adaptation of the New International Version translation

of Psalm 84. “A psalm was chosen so as to be as inclusive as possible to all of Armonk’s faith communities: both Christian and Jewish. We invite everyone to join us as we celebrate all of the good that St. Stephen’s has brought to Armonk,” noted Rev. Chittenden.

Tickets for Vivaldi’s ‘Gloria’ are $15/$10 online at www.ststephensarmonk.org or $20/$15 at the door. The concert will take place in the church from 4 p.m.-6 p.m. A reception follows the concert and is included in the ticket price.

Britain’s favorite composer Paul MealorPHOTO BY CHRIS O’DONOVAN

Gotta Have Arts


Internationally renowned violinist Ani Kavafian will be the featured artist in An Autumn Afternoon of Music, a benefit concert on Sunday, November 12 at the Music Con-servatory of Westchester. String players from the Yale School of Music will join Ms. Kavafian in a per-formance of Mozart’s C Major Viola Quintet, as well as other selections from the string quartet repertoire. Also on the program will be two works by composer and Conserva-tory board member Mary Lynn Marx Bianco, who grew up in Westches-ter and studied at the Conservatory. The afternoon will begin with a concert at 3 p.m. in the Conserva-tory’s Helen Demetrios and Michael Stadther Recital Hall, followed by a reception with the artists. Ticket prices are $150 for a Premium tick-et, and $100 for an Individual ticket. Proceeds from the benefit will support the Conservatory’s Scholar-ship, Music Therapy, and Healing Our Heroes programs. Ani Kavafian, a Goldens Bridge resident, is Full Professor of Violin at Yale University, and has taught at Mannes the New School for Music, Manhattan School of Music, Queens College, McGill University, and Stony Brook University. Orches-tral appearances include the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia and

Cleveland orchestras, and the Los Angeles and Saint Paul chamber orchestras. A member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center since 1972, she continues to tour with them in North America, Europe and Asia. Ms. Kavafian was a 1979 recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize and has appeared at the White House on three occasions. She has recorded for Nonesuch, RCA, Columbia, Arabesque, Delos, Kleos Classics and Artek. Her instrument is the 1736 “Muir-McKenzie” Stradivarius. Kavafian’s son has studied at the Conservatory.

For more information on this event, please contactAishling Quinn, [email protected] or

visit, http://www.musicconservatory.org/autumn-afternoon-of-music

Classical Music on an Autumn Afternoonwith Ani Kavafian

Gotta Have Arts

BY RACHEL BARON

Let’s play a short game of “Never Have I Ever.”

• Bought the “My Baby Can Read!” Program?• Enrolled your two year old in Mandarin lessons?

• Prepped your four-year-old for a pre-school entrance exam?

It’s been ten years since I was pregnant with my son. Due to a severe and unan-nounced complication, Jesse became my only child. All of those proverbial eggs went into this one basket. My husband and I, ignoring our collective DNA, believed our seven-pound,12-ounce baby would one day be a boy of grit and determination.

Why on earth did we think a child born from our creative chromosomes would express an interest in perfect penmanship, homework done without a hint of procras-tination, or a sincere desire to conform to school and suburban societal standards? Both of us were boundless daydreamers, not “good students.” Neither of us went to an Ivy League school. It took me 12 years to get a Bachelor’s Degree. Who was I as a parent to have such unrealistic expecta-tions of an infant?

I decided to ignore genetics, and turned to nurture and instead of nature. From before that soft spot closed on his not-so-hairy head, I read to Jesse for hours: Sandra Boynton board books, The Old Man and the Sea. By the time he was two I’d bought a small chalkboard, where I would write out the alphabet every day, singing along with an actual pointing stick. Of course he knew the whole song by 26 months and four days but who’s counting?

Right before Jesse turned three in February of 2011, a bestselling book was released. You know the one. The Tiger Mom. Her Battle Hymn. With children practicing instruments on vacation. This tome was sweet validation for my maniacal child rear-ing practices. Immediately after reading the book, I began teaching him to sound out three letter words:

Bat, cat, hat, pat, sat. Bet, jet, let, met. Bit, fit, hit. Cot, dot. But, cut.

By the time Pre-K rolled around, he was more than ready for real kindergarten. Imagine my elation at my four-year-olds parent teacher conference upon hearing, “What a smart boy. Such language skills!” That sound you hear? My inner tiger roaring across the Okavango Delta.

September 2013 arrived, and sadly, Kinder-garten started with a whimper. Jesse cried on the bus every. Single. Day. I thought to myself, “If he’s so sad, he can’t concen-trate. But it’s ok, I’ve already taught him so much.” (In hindsight, I should have been thinking about his feelings, but I was a tiger, not a kitten.)

Fallen crimson leaves replaced fallen tears, and by Thanksgiving, I was most thankful that Jesse was doing better. Plus! The most wonderful time of the year was soon upon us: his very first report card. The day ar-rived and I tore open the envelope. A grade of “4” was the best. A “1” was the worst.

And there it was, in the right hand column, not under reading or writing or “rithmetic.”

There was a one.

I never realized there was an “emotional” side to a report card.

At his parent/teacher conference, Mrs. Crusher of Dreams tells my husband and I, “Jesse takes no pride in his work. He thinks he knows everything already.”

Of course my son felt this way and it was all my fault. It was time to accept a few truths. My parenting was much like my cooking: overdone. Children should learn things in their own time. And my son was no tiger cub. More like a sloth – cute as could be, moving at his own pace.

Every year since Pre-K I’ve made my son hold up a sign on the first day of school. You know the one. “Jesse’s first day of…” and the date. I always added the line, “When I grow up I want to be a…” First grade it was policeman. Second grade I winced as I wrote “garbage collector.” Last year my heart swelled when he wanted to run Apple. This year, fourth grade, I have done away with asking the question. Be-cause I have finally learned – the only right answer is HAPPY.

Rachel Baron is a former advertising copywriter and current freelancer/SAHM. She lives in Armonk with her only child, husband and Luke the black lab. Rachel still tells everyone she’s from Brooklyn.

The author’s son Jesse and his first day of school sign for fourth grade

(L-R) Rachel with her son Jesse and husband, Brandon

NOW I MEOW: Learning to Silencethe Tiger Roar Within

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