Family Concert with Rick Recht at WRT
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Rick Recht, the top-touring musician in Jewish music, will perform an all-ages family concert on April 29, 2012 at 2:00 PM. This extraordinary, inspirational, and moving concert experience will be held at the Westchester Reform Temple, located at 255 Mamaroneck Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583.
Rick Recht’s high-energy, interactive family concert will appeal to all ages and feature singing, clapping and jumping from the audience. He will be performing songs from his newly released album Simply Shabbat, as well as selections from his other hit Jewish rock albums. Rick Recht performs more than 125 concerts each year from coast to coast and was recently named as a celebrity spokesperson for The PJ Library®.
This program is presented by The PJ Library @Westchester Reform Temple. For more information about this program visit www.wrtemple.org . For more about Rick Recht, visit www.rickrecht.com .
Mookie Wilson and Bruce Beck Open Scarsdale Little League Spring Season
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Former Mets outfielder Mookie Wilson and NBC sportscaster Bruce Beck kicked off the spring season of the Scarsdale Little League on Saturday, April 14. The teams gathered in their designated spots on the Crossway field, the Boy Scouts raised the American flag, Beck provided words of inspiration, and baseball star Mookie Wilson, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. A notable difference in this year’s program from prior years was the selection of local sponsors to help fund maintenance costs of the playing fields and to underwrite various capital improvements. According to Scarsdale Little League President James Carnicelli, “over $10,000 was raised in this year’s sponsorship program with expectations of a growing number of sponsors in the future.” The complete list of sponsors who chose to help out can be found on the league’s website.
For the second year in a row, the league is using minor league team associations with names like the Savannah Sand Gnats, Midland Rockhounds and Bowling Green Hot Rods versus the old system (where major league team associations were used) in an effort to add a little more fun. From an informal survey of the kids at the Opening Day ceremony, the change has been a big hit!
The theme of fun was consistent in the speeches delivered Saturday morning. Bruce Beck mentioned that even though he was at the Opening Day 
game for the Yankees the previous day, the Scarsdale Little League Opening Day was a bigger event for him and his family (Beck and his sons all played Little League ball). He noted that Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter actually said that “at Opening Day at Yankee Stadium you feel like you’re in Little League”. Beck went on the say, “This is true baseball – this is pure baseball”.
SLL President Carnicelli encouraged players, coaches and parents, to “have fun,” adding, “that’s why we’re out here.” Mayor Miriam Levitt Flisser got right to the point and encouraged the players “to just have fun”. Mookie Wilson closed the ceremony with the reinforcement “above anything else – always have fun”.
Scarsdale Little League is the largest youth athletic program in the Village with over 1,200 registered participants (grades K-8) in the leagues Spring, Summer and Fall programs. The common goal for the board members and parent volunteers is “the desire to promote the development of baseball skills, emotional growth through a team baseball experience and, ultimately, a love of baseball itself.”
Writer Will Heffner played 10 years of Little League, junior league and high school baseball. His brother James is starting his 5th year of Little League ball.
Young Writers Inspired at March 24 Workshop
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The Young Writers’ Workshop drew 439 third through fifth graders to Scarsdale Middle School on Saturday morning March 24th. The talented staff of creative professionals who stepped up to teach the workshops were surely a draw, as kids had the chance to interact with people who are tops in their fields.
According to event co-chair Leesa Chalk Suzman, “The seventeenth annual Scarsdale Young Writers' Workshop was a tremendous success. The 41 workshops for third-to-fifth graders were taught by top children's book authors, poets, playwrights, TV producers, cartoonists, editors, radio personalities, book agents, songwriters and more. About 450 Scarsdale students attended, and learned the many ways that they could be writers. My co-chair Amy Song and I are so grateful to our amazing YWW committee, the 100 plus parent and Scarsdale Middle School and High School volunteers, the Scarsdale Middle School staff, and all the workshop leaders who gave their time and talent to the event. We especially want to thank children's book author and Scholastic editor Lauren Tarshis, who kicked off the morning with a funny, smart, and inspirational keynote address about her journey from being a ninth grader who couldn't read books to a successful author whose books are read by millions. She truly exemplifies the notion that you don't have to be born a great writer to be one some day. I am confident that several future authors heard her message loud and clear.”
We stopped by to meet a few of workshop leaders and here is what learned:
Bonnie Druker, is the editorial producer of the Nancy Grace Show at CNN where she covers crime and justice. A journalist for 20 years she started out as a fashion student at Parsons, but during a summer internship ended up working in the news department at NBC. She began her career as a local news reporter and eventually morphed into a producer. At the workshop, Druker taught the art of the interview and revealed how she gets her subjects to spill their secrets. Commenting on her job she said, ”I learn something new and different everyday.”
Author, and Scarsdale School Board Member Jonathan Lewis was on hand to teach kids what he knows about investigating history. Lewis has written two books on the history of the CIA and taught students how to use photographs, documents, classified materials and interviews to uncover information and craft a story.
Jordana Frankel, author of the forthcoming YA novel “The Ward” worked with students on the elements of short stories, brainstorming characters, constructing plots and adding twists and a resolution. Frankel teaches at Writopia Lab where she leads creative writing groups for kids ages 8 through 18.
DJ Jimmy Fink of 107.1 The Peak and daughter Lucie ran a workshop on writing for the radio, including creating scripts for radio commercials. He covered what to say and how to make it exciting. This was Fink’s debut at the Workshop.
Beauty Editor Jennifer Laing showed students how to evaluate and write about beauty products. A former editor at Allure, Seventeen and Real Simple, Laing helped young writers select their favorite products and create their own magazine beauty page with their descriptions.
Former NY1 News Reporter and Scarsdale mom Sharon Dizenhuz told kids what it takes to be a television reporter. She showed the kids four different treatments of the same news item and asked them to compare the approaches and how the information was presented.
Christina Chiu, author of Troublemaker and Other Saints was on hand to teach kids how to develop characters and a story line and build a comic strip around them. She worked with the kids on creating dialogue and a plot to create compelling comic strips.
The enthusiasm of the students, workshop leaders and volunteers was evident and it looked like the conference was a big success.
(Pictured at top: Event co-chairs Leesa Chalk Suzman and Amy Song)
College Visit: Lehigh in Bethlehem
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Four years of visiting my daughter at Lehigh in Bethlehem, PA gave me an education about this town near Allentown. If Lehigh University is on your list for a college visit, you are in for a pleasant surprise! A trip to this beautifully-situated university in the Lehigh Valley also offers the opportunity to spend a great day just west of Scarsdale amongst rolling hills and fields of green. With the reinvention of the Bethlehem Steel manufacturing plant into the Sands Casino Resort (877) 726-3777, Bethlehem is making itself anew with shops, galleries and restaurants. Lehigh University overlooks neighborhoods and streets that line the Cedar River running through the historic district and downtown. Moravian College is situated on Main Street and is worth a visit as you stroll following your college tour. The Moravian book store is an emporium of books, clothing, housewares, fresh candies and homemade baked goods serving light lunch in their café. Learn about the original settlers of this part of town at a museum housed in a former community building. Museum phone (610) 691-6055.
A 15-minute drive from campus is the ever-popular Promenade, an outdoor mall with movie complex, L.L.Bean, American Eagle Outfitters, amongst other shops and services. Fresh Market offers prepared foods, local packaged snacks and fresh produce. Certainly worth a stop when you are in the area.
How to get there:
George Washington Bridge to I-95S. Take exit 14 to merge onto rte 78W to exit 67 PA-412 towards Bethlehem. Turn right on rte 412N for one mile and then left on East 4th street for 2 1/2 miles and then left on Brodhead Avenue and then right on University Drive to Campus.
Where to stay:
For contemporary style go to the Hyatt Place Bethlehem 45 W. North Street (610) 625-0500. You can walk from main street to this new hotel which offers the latest in hip, comfortable rooms and good breakfast off the well-designed lobby area. Historic hotel accommodations can be had right on main street at the well-known Hotel Bethlehem, right in the midst of the shops and restaurants. The lobby has photos of bygone days showing Lehigh activities and Bethlehem founders.
Where to eat:
Billy’s for breakfast - (610) 867-0105 - Place to eat if you don’t mind the wait!
Bethlehem Brew Works Brewery and Restaurant - for lunch or dinner (610)882-1300… nice for salad and of course a beer!
Edge Restaurant - is the spot to be parent’s weekend! Reserve to avoid disappointment.(610)814-0100.
Starfish Brasserie - also around the corner from Main Street and great menu with a fun crowd! (610)332-8888.
Mama Nina – Great Italian Food and nice outdoor seating. (610) 867-9802.
No trip to Bethlehem is complete without stops at Matz’s roasted peanuts 67 E. Broad Street (610) 868-6894 and granola from the Bethlehem Inn 476 North New Street (610) 868-8100.
Other points of interest:
Steel Stacks
Colonial Industry Quarter
Burnside Plantation
National Museum of Industrial History
Dutch Springs Aqua Park
Christkindlmarket (especially during Christmas time)
The Banana Factory
Saucon Valley Country Club
College tour information: www.lehigh.edu
Happy travels to Bethlehem, Pa!
This article was contributed by Lydia Hassan of Scarsdale.
Young Writers' Conference on Saturday March 24
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The Young Writers’ Workshop for Scarsdale third to fifth graders will take place this Saturday, March 24th, 2012, from 9am until noon at Scarsdale Middle School. Once again, it promises to be a morning with many new and interesting workshops, as well as some favorites from the past.
The morning will begin with a keynote address to the students by Lauren Tarshis. She is the award-winning author of Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and its sequel, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love, as well as the 10-book historical fiction series I Survived, which has sold more than 2 million copies to date. In addition to writing books, Lauren works full-time at Scholastic creating language arts magazines and digital products used in elementary and middle school classrooms.
Ms. Tarshis—a sought-after visiting author to schools—will also be conducting two interactive Master Workshops for students.
The Young Writers’ Workshop will feature 41 classes taught by creative professionals from the New York area. These include journalists from The New York Times, playwrights, magazine editors, a presidential speech writer, renowned children's book authors, cartoonists, television producers, poets, artists, sports writers, song writers, and some of Scarsdale’s most illustrious citizens. View the online workshop guide at http://youngwritersworkshop.eventbrite.com.
Once again The Young Writers’ Workshop also welcomes our two returning cultural partners — The Picture House in Pelham and New York City-based Writopia Lab. Both will provide teaching artists to the event.
All students will also have the opportunity to give back to the community by donating gently used books on March 24th. The goal is to collect 2012 books, which will be given to The Childcare Council of Westchester Inc. for distribution to local kids.
