Scarsdale Cub Scouts Pack 440 Revs Up Engines at this year’s Pinewood Derby
- Details
- Written by Midori Im
- Hits: 4577
First graders Dylan and Ayden (with mom Suzanne) experienced their first Pinewood Derby. Photo courtesy of Midori Im.One of the highlights of the year for Cub Scouts is the Pinewood Derby, a tradition in scouting that dates back to the fifties. Scouts are tasked with cutting original designs out of a block of wood, while at the same time making it race-worthy on the track. The scouts have a chance to showcase their imagination, and this year was no exception.
On March 24th Pack 440’s boys and one female scout (you can guess below which car is hers) raced their cool designs by den (grade level group). Each scout that finished first in their den will then be eligible to participate in the race at the district level, to be held next Saturday in Crestwood. The most successful racers will end up at the national race.
More information about the Pinewood Derby and other scouting events hosted by Pack 440 can be obtained by contacting [email protected].
Ben with dad Noah. Ben was the fastest kindergartener this year. Photo courtesy of Midori Im.
9 year old Charlie took home the grand prize for the fastest vehicle in the pack, as well as having the best time in his den. Photo courtesy of Midori Im.
Sleek cars designed by experienced third graders at the gate.
Scouts and parents alike watch to see who crosses the finish line first. Photo courtesy of Midori Im.
Scarsdale Citizens' Non-Partisan Party Triumphs in Village Election
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 6712
Rochelle Waldman, Jonathan Lewis, Seth Ross and Marc Samwick: Photo Credit Lisa Van GundyScarsdale has a new Mayor as well as three newly elected Village trustees. In an uncontested election, the candidates nominated by the Citizens Nominating Committee drew a larger than usual number of voters to the polls which demonstrated support for the candidates and Scarsdale’s non-partisan process.
Marc Samwick, who previously served two terms as Village Trustee was elected to serve a two year term as Mayor, with 434 votes. The three candidates for Village Trustee also received support at the polls with Jonathan Lewis getting 434 votes, Rochelle Waldman 427 votes and returning trustee Seth Ross 421 votes.
Lewis with 434 votes received more votes than any single candidate in an uncontested election in the last 18 years, per Village Clerk Donna Conkling.
A total of 457 votes were cast, with 19 write-in votes.
Commenting on the election, Marc Samwick said, “Seth, Rochelle, Jonathan and I are deeply grateful to the CNC for nominating us, to the campaign volunteers for working so diligently on our behalf, and, most importantly, to the voters of Scarsdale for entrusting us with the responsibility of public service. We look forward to being accessible and listening to our neighbors as we weigh the challenges and opportunities before us.”
One voter who attended the post-election reception at the Scarsdale Woman’s Club said, “There was a lot of excitement at the party this evening. Everyone is truly thrilled with the slate.”
ML Perlman, the Campaign Committee Chair for the Scarsdale Citizens Non Partisan Party said, "Two years ago, I chaired the nonpartisan campaign committee during the most contested election this community has seen in 20 years. It was during that time that I saw first-hand the unwavering value the nonpartisan process places on its commitment to nominating qualified leadership year to year. Both then and now, I was reminded by my mentors and longtime community residents that our campaigns are not about fanfare, political promises, or headlines. Whether in times of contest or in times of relative peace and quiet, we remain steady stewards of the core components of our system’s platform: judicious temperament, exceptional character, and the experience to govern wisely.
You do not hear nonpartisan candidates idealize slogans or disseminate promises of quick fixes because they understand that real challenges are complex and nuanced requiring a combination of sound policy development and implementation over time. The nonpartisan view extends many years ahead in its tireless commitment to a rigorous annual search for individuals to step up to serve on our Village Board with deliberate care and sound judgement. The result is a process that is well designed to service the needs of our community to solve problems and achieve progress.
I would like to extend my thanks to the 28 CNC resident volunteers who approached hundreds of potential candidates and provided invaluable due diligence research to present their endorsement of Marc, Jonathan, Seth, and Rochelle. Thank you to these four candidates who will generously donate their time and impressive capabilities in their respective roles on the Village Board.
I believe that the enjoyment we all share in the success and many virtues of our community certainly reflects the excellence in leadership of the countless individuals who volunteer throughout Scarsdale; past, present, and in the many years to come."
The new Board of Trustees with outgoing Mayor Dan Hochvert: Photo Credit: Lisa Van Gundy
Samwick addresses the crowd: Photo Credit Lisa Van Gundy
Friends in Support of the Scarsdale Public Library
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 5814
Friends of the Scarsdale Library colored our night lucky– and lovely -- at their 2nd Casino Night fund raiser held last week at Fenway Golf Club. The event was another success as over 250 library-lovers showed their support and enjoyed games, auctions, dancing and dining with friends.
Event co-chair, Gabrielle Wise, noted, “The atmosphere was energized by such a diverse and multigenerational crowd. I am always impressed by the generosity of this community.” Co-chair Wendy Kleinman agreed and added, “and we are so grateful to the incredible sponsors and donors who stepped up and helped make this event a success. We are so lucky to have such a supportive community.” Third co-chair Anne George nodded, “we have a fantastic Friends Board who all shared the workload, which makes it a pleasure to serve. It really is an enthusiastic group!”
Friends of the Scarsdale Library is the organization dedicated to enhancing the Library. Funds raised from this event go to support current and future programs, including some of the most popular offerings, such as museum passes, chess, the SPL Writers Center and Petite Concerts. “After the last 2 years of fundraising for the capital campaign, which far exceeded all of our goals, it is wonderful to find the community still so passionate about our Library and lifelong learning.” said FOSL President, Dara Gruenberg. Diane Greenwald, Library Board President noted her gratitude on behalf of the Library Board saying, “we, as a board, feel so fortunate that we have such strong partners in ensuring the excellence of our library’s programming for years to come.” And the library's future certainly is bright and almost here! Gruenberg announced at the event that "construction is going well, and the library is on schedule to open in the summer of 2020!"
For those who were unable to attend but would like to support the Friends of the Library, click here to contribute.
Photo credit - Liflander Photography
Letter from Candidate for Scarsdale Mayor Marc Samwick
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 4827
The Village election is Tuesday March 19 from 6 am to 9 pm at Scarsdale Village Hall. Marc Samwick was selected by the Scarsdale Citizens Non-Partisan Party as their candidate for Mayor. Here is a letter to you about why he wants to serve:
It is an honor and a privilege to seek the approval of Scarsdale’s voters in tomorrow’s election to serve as Mayor in our village of over 18,000 residents. After serving four years as Trustee, from 2014 to 2018, and serving two of them as appointed Deputy Mayor, I humbly believe that I possess the experience, qualifications and leadership to be Mayor and successfully lead our outstanding community over the next two years.
My wife Cynthia and I have lived in Scarsdale for over 21 years. We have raised our three sons, Jason, Oliver and George, and built a full and meaningful life within the Scarsdale community. From youth sports to Heathcote PTA to after-school jobs scooping ice cream in the Golden Horseshoe to serving as Village Trustee, my family and I have been immersed in this wonderful community and rewarded with great friends and neighbors.
I was born in New Jersey and grew up in Westport, CT. I graduated from Union College in 1986, and received an MBA from Columbia Business School in 1997.
I have spent my professional career in the business world, eventually founding my own firm in White Plains where I am a real estate investor and developer throughout the tri-state area. Working with many different levels of municipal governments has provided me the opportunity to understand the roles, responsibilities and interests of staff, elected officials and the community at large. These experiences will greatly assist me in my role representing Scarsdale.
My volunteer positions outside of Village government include serving on the Scarsdale Little League Board (where I coached over 20 baseball teams), the Building Committee of the Scarsdale Public Library, the Finance Committee of Westchester Reform Temple, the Young Leadership Committee of United Jewish Federation, and president of a 72-unit homeowner association in Connecticut.
My track record as a Trustee offers clear examples of my work, my contemplative approach, and my dedication to listening and consensus building within the community, Village Board and staff. During my involvement in the expansion and renovation of our Library I spent a lot of time in the library to assess how it was being used and its physical limitations and opportunities. I worked closely with the Library Board, staff and Campaign Committee to encourage an appropriate scale that balanced budgetary realities with the recognition that this would be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meaningfully enhance our library. I worked on numerous iterative scenarios proposed by the Library Board until there was confidence that we achieved minimum cost while maintaining a “build once” strategy. Once I was comfortable that the right balance had been struck, I became a forceful advocate and helped marshal support for the proposal within the community and the Board of Trustees.
I was very fortunate to play a modest role in the library project – a project that has clearly taken a village to accomplish. The results are a very exciting, right-sized project that is under construction. When completed, the new facility will be a model of community involvement and record-breaking resident generosity that will yield a twenty-first century modern library and community hub that will benefit our village for decades.
I’ve also been involved in the potential redevelopment of the Freightway Parking Garage. I worked closely with the Village Board and staff to form an ad hoc steering committee comprised of various village stakeholders, and to engage a consultant to solicit extensive community input and evaluate alternatives for the Freightway property. Freightway was built in 1972 and is in need of a major renovation, estimated to cost $2.3 million.
There are a number of factors that provide a real opportunity to utilize this critical village-owned site to bring vitality, parking flexibility and tax revenues into the village. First, there is a finite window of time before we have to invest meaningful funds to maintain the existing, aging structure. Second, we had a very successful transit-oriented development in Christie Place to use as a model – a site that was nearly built as a parking lot at a cost to taxpayers of millions of dollars, but was instead developed into a tax-paying residential, retail and parking structure that adds vitality to our village center. Third, we had the ability to meaningfully engage the community via a well thought-out collaborative process. In other words, the stars were aligning to take a project that had been talked about for decades and provide a thoughtful basis for a potential redevelopment that could bring the community tangible benefits over a long period of time.
While we are still in the very early stages of a potential redevelopment of the Freightway site, we recognized an opportunity to benefit our village and to develop an open and inclusive process to evaluate this critical village asset. If elected tomorrow, I will foster a transparent process that will consider community concerns, such as parking and school impacts, while seeking to maximize value to our community.
As I have shown repeatedly over the four years I served as a Trustee, I recognize and embrace a spirit of active listening, consensus building and teamwork. I believe that one of the most important things we can do as Mayor and Trustees is to listen. To that end, I plan to roll out a less formal way for the community to communicate with our elected officials. I will hold casual meetings open to all residents in less formal settings than our semi-monthly meetings at Village Hall. The intent is to provide more open and accessible communication so our elected officials can do a better job representing our residents to improve our outstanding community.
I welcome the opportunity to serve as Scarsdale’s Mayor and to continue to uphold the high standards of our community if elected on March 19.
8,000 Children’s Books to Travel 8,000 Miles
- Details
- Written by Joanne Wallenstein
- Hits: 3932
You never know how a trip abroad can impact a student. During a summer volunteer trip to South Africa, SHS Senior Zach Hoexter witnessed firsthand the poor living conditions and the absence of any books or school libraries. Inspired to help, when he returned home he used social media to organize an ambitious book drive and his efforts yielded thousands of books. In fact he amassed over 8,000 books in his Scarsdale garage.
How to ship these books overseas?
In the past few month he secured donated boxes, packed up the books and coordinated with Safmarine, its agent DAMCO and EcoChildren (the South African non profit), On Wednesday March 6 at 6:45 am he helped pack up the truck and sent over 8,000 donated children’s books officially on their 8,000 mile journey to South Africa.
In the coming days, the books will be loaded from the New Jersey warehouse into the shipping container. Safmarine, which is part of Maersk, the big international shipping firm, will ship them out March 14th from Port Newark to Port Durban, SA where the books are expected to arrive in Johannesburg on April 16.. The family is now looking into the possibility of traveling to South Africa so that Zach can be there for the books’ arrival and help to set them up in the primary schools where libraries are so desperately needed.
His mom Elizabeth Hoexter said, “So many in our community so generously donated - large and small - to his effort. It is so moving.”
