Sound Shore

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says he will not be employing the security detail used by his predecessor Andy Spano. That detail included three bodyguards who shadowed Spano, even for travel, and racked up hotel and meal expenses beyond the thousands in payroll and benefits.

Find out how much he proposes to save taxpayers in a special report from Jorge Fitz-Gibbon exclusively in print editions of The Journal News on Sunday.

The Harrison Marching Band and Color Guard recently competed at the Philadelphia Heritage Festival, with the percussion ensemble, marching band and jazz ensemble winning gold ratings. The wind ensemble and chorus and color guard received silver ratings.

Before the color guard competed, members dedicated their performance to Marissa Pagli, a 2009 Harrison High School graduate and member of the color guard, who was killed in February.

(Gary Morgen Photography)

Editor’s note: This is the latest post from Lynda LaMonte Garmong, our guest blogger from Larchmont and the Sound Shore’s Express “Unofficial Mayor.”

Friday Special

At Turquoise, the Turkish and Mediterranean Restaurant on Palmer Avenue in Larchmont, lamb rules! Lamb fans can choose among several dishes: Beytl, Grilled Kofte, Shish Kebabs, Mousaka, and the very popular Lamb Swarma. For those who don’t like lamb like myself, here’s a little secret. Every Friday for lunch, Turquoise makes a Chicken Swarma Special. For this Special Dish, thinly sliced chicken is prepared turkish-style over sliced warm pita bread with a touch of tomato sauce and yogurt on the side. It’s delish! But you better get their early! They only make one batch and it runs out fast!

Groove Performing Arts in Larchmont, a place teaching fun and quirky music lessons to kids and adults,  celebrated its fifth anniversary this month (picture is from the celebration). After the jump are details on some upcoming classes they have.

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I recently wrote about the Good HeART Club at New Rochelle High School. Art teacher Anne Marie Funigiello and students Chrissy Conroy, Nicole Freeman, Katy Stillwagon, and Josh Ackerman started the club in 2007 to offer art lessons to special education students at the school, who did not have it in their curriculum. The students give up two lunch periods a week, one for lesson planning and the other for teaching the students.  The club has imparted lessons in art, compassion and friendship, say those involved. The founding students are now graduating seniors. One of them, Conroy, said this about the experience: “When we walked out of that first class, we felt so empowered and good about ourselves. That feeling was so much better than having a lunch period.” Get the full story here: At New Rochelle High School, students teach art and compassion

Check out a gallery of photos here.

School board interviews
Candidates in select contested school board races are invited to discuss the issues in interviews webcast LIVE on LoHud.com. The schedule follows. Because of the vast number of races — and the impossibility of crafting a schedule that meets everyone’s family, work and campaign needs — we appreciate efforts by candidates to make their scheduled hour. Westchester candidates are asked to confirm their attendance by contacting editorial assistant Brenda Ross, 914-694-5030 or bross@lohud.com; Rockland candidates are asked to contact Rockland Opinion editor Nancy Cutler, 845-578-2403 or ncutler@lohud.com.

Candidate questionnaires
If you are running for school board in Westchester, Rockland or Putnam, we want to hear from you. Please send your full name, home address, daytime phone numbers and e-mail address to elections@lohud.com. In both the subject line and body of the e-mail, be sure to indicate your school district. The information will be used by our news and editorial staffs to contact and correspond with candidates. Additionally, the e-mail address will be used to send candidates a username and password for a questionnaire; responses will form the basis of our online election guide for voters.

How voters can participate
Watch the interviews at www.Lo­Hud.com/editorialspotlight; to ask a question during a live session, engage the “cover it live” feature. Video of completed interviews — including Eastchester, Chappaqua, Scarsdale and East Ramapo — may be found in the “on demand” menu at www.LoHud.com/editorialspotlight. Only candidates may attend interviews.

Westchester
May 3
Bedford, 1:30 p.m.
Katonah-Lewisboro, 2:30 p.m.

May 4
Lakeland, 1:30 p.m.
Port Chester, 2:30 p.m.

May 5
Ossining, 1:30 p.m.
Briarcliff Manor, 2:30 p.m.

May 6
Byram Hills, 1:30 p.m.
Hendrick Hudson, 2:30 p.m.

May 10
Peekskill, 2:30 p.m.
Harrison, 4 p.m.

May 11
New Rochelle, 2:30 p.m.
Mount Vernon, 3:30 p.m.

Rockland
May 1
Nanuet, 10 a.m.
Clarkstown, 11 a.m.

May 4
Nyack, 10 a.m.
May 5
Pearl River, 10 a.m.

Directions are available here.

The New Rochelle Humane Society, 70 Portman Road in New Rochelle NY is hosting an open house with workshops and presentations on micro-chipping, pet CPR and first aid, and fostering, Sunday May 2 from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. The event is for two-footers, only, so leave your pets at home.
If you go, take a tour and visit the animals waiting for adoption. Maybe you’ll take one home.
Here’s the schedule:
• Micro-chipping Presentation, 11 a.m.
• Pet CPR and First Aid Workshop, 12:30 p.m.
• Fostering Workshop, 2 p.m.

Here’s one the pups looking for a good home:

MaryAnne is Shepherd/hound mix who is a total sweetheart. She is a 1-year-old former momma Shepherd who is looking for a home after being found with a litter of eight pups, who look like a Labrador retriever might have been their daddy. Maryanne has amazed everyone at the New Rochelle Humane Society with her gentle, friendly personality. Her adoption fee of $152.50 includes spay surgery, vaccines, heartworm test, micro-chip and a free vet exam.

On May 4, Salesian High School in New Rochelle will be inducting 21 students into the National Honor Society – St. John Bosco Chapter #12007. The students are 10th and 11th graders who excel in the classroom and demonstrate attributes such as leadership and service. They are:

Joseph Buonocore                   Daniel Khemraj                       George Ocampo
Nicholas Camacho                  Christian Kelin                        Jerry Reyes
Michael Capozzi                     David Lanza                           David Rivera
Matthew Cherian                    Charles Lupo Jr.                      Robert Scott
Alexander DeLalla                  Jesus Mendez                          Pranav Singla
Kenneth Durkin                      Anteneh Moges                       Tevin Smith
Paul Francisco                         Fiorentin Nacaj                       Michael Yee

I recently wrote about artists moving into lofts downtown that had been converted to work studios with support from the Business Improvement District. While reporting the story, artists shared their thoughts about the city’s new artist community. One of them, Larchmont painter Lara Ivanovic, opened her studio so I could look at the space and the work she does there.

Ivanovic was inspired to paint during a trip through Australia. From her Web site: “Traveling through outback Australia, I was struck by abandoned buildings,jumbled clusters of rusty vintage cars and the eerie, ghostly quality of the barren terrain. It seemed evocative of the lost romance of a bygone era – yet set in a desolate landscape which gave few clues to its history. I tried to convey this ethereal feeling by using impressionistic, feathery brushstrokes and blurred edges, to create a sensation of movement and an aura of mystery.”

To learn more about her, visit www.laraivanovic.com.

Also, take a look at the work of painter Faith Goldstein, who lives in Yorktown Heights and has a work studio in New Rochelle. Visit her blog at www.faithgoldstein.blogspot.com.

The Future Business Leaders of America chapter at Mamaroneck High School announced this week they have won their third consecutive state title for “Chapter of the Year.

The club won the title at the state FBLA conference in Rochester last week alongside 14 other individual and team awards. Eight of those awards were first place titles meaning many Mamaroneck students will compete at the National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tenn. in July. The list of all the high school winners from last week’s state conference is after the jump.