Sound Shore

This just in: “For Those Who Have Served,” the first inter-hospice countywide program, will commemorate Veterans Recognition Month and honor Westchester County residents who have served in the United States Armed Forces, Thursday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Marriott hotel in Tarrytown. The program will feature a discussion about Medicare and VA benefits; a remembrance and recognition ceremony; and a musical tribute by the Somers High School Chamber Group.

The event is being co-sponsored by Westchester County’s hospice organizations: Hospice & Palliative Care of Westchester; Hospice Care in Westchester & Putnam; Jansen Hospice and Palliative Care; and Phelps Hospice.
Attendance is free, but registration is required due to space limitations. For additional information, or to register, call William Dawe at 914-682-1484, Ext. 148.

Grove Avenue: Someone broke into a multi-family house and damaged a water pipe and boiler in the in the basement. The damaged caused a flood, New Rochelle police said. The burglary was reported at around 1 p.m. Tuesday by the 53-year-old landlord.

Grove Avenue: A 1998 Honda Civic had its passenger side window broken while it was parked on the street and a car radio was removed. The theft happened between Tuesday and Wednesday.

Mayflower Avenue: A 2006 Chrysler Pacifica that was parked in a Mayflower Avenue driveway for several days and had been left unlocked had a computer and global positioning system removed.

Tune in to a LIVE panel discussion on the use of deadly force by police at 2 p.m. Wednesday on LoHud.com. Panelists will include Bennett L. Gershman, Pace Law School professor and a former prosecutor in Manhattan; Tuckahoe Police Chief John Costanzo, president of the Westchester County Chiefs of Police Association; and Maria (Maki) Haberfeld, professor of police science, in the Department of Law, Police Science and Criminal Justice Administration at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

To watch the session, go to www.lohud.com/editorialspotlight. You may submit a question or a comment by using the “CoverItLive” feature on the screen.

Harrison Avenue School music teacher Cris Spinner was inspired to create a companionship program for students with disabilities after watching the television show Barney & Friends.

Her autistic son, Anthony, was a few years old and had trouble speaking and playing with other children his age.

“It dawned on me that Barney had big kids pretending to be little kids, and the little kids would watch and learn,” she recalled. “I said, ‘Hmm. What if I got a bunch of kids to come into my house that were in fifth grade who would play with Anthony?”

Spinner set up regular play dates with the children, who were taught how to talk and interact with Anthony. Children in the fifth grade, she said, worked well because they could understand instructions, but “still had that little kid spirit.”

“The difference in his social and play skills was astounding,” Spinner said.

Anthony is now a sophomore at Harrison High School and plays the clarinet in the marching band.

Last year Spinner launched a test “buddy program” in Harrison Avenue School to welcome the school’s first class of children with disabilities, including autism. Disabled children were previously educated outside the district.

(more…)

As Rye High School celebrates retiring principal Jim Rooney at a rally today, the district announced it has appointed an interim principal.

John J. Smith, a former high school principal in Chappaqua and East Haven, New Canann, and West Hartford. Conn., will take the helm Nov. 1. He was also an interim principal at Southbury/Middlebury and Newtown, Conn. high schools and taught English.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Smith to Rye,” Superintendent of Schools  Edward J. Shine said in a news release today.  “He is fully prepared to support our faculty, students and parents this year and will help make a smooth transition for a new Rye High School principal on July 1, 2011.”

Sister Kathleen Deignan, CNP, Ph.D., professor of religious studies and founder and director of Iona College’s Spirituality Institute, was honored at GreenFaith’s fifth annual awards celebration for her musical and liturgical contribution to the religious-environmental movement.  The event was held Oct. 23 at Temple B’nai Abraham in Livingston, N.J.

“Few artists have done as much as Kathleen Deignan to give voice – in music and writing – to our bond with creation,” said the Rev. Fletcher Harper, GreenFaith’s Executive Director.  “We are thrilled to honor her.”

A sister of the Congregation of Notre Dame, Kathleen Deignan has written extensively on classical and contemporary Christian spirituality, including her  books: When the Trees Say Nothing: Thomas Merton’s Writings on Nature and Thomas Merton: A Book of Hours.  She is composer in residence at the Benedictine Grange in West Redding, Connecticut where for more than 30 years she has led the sung prayer of that community.

She is also artist-in-residence at Schola Ministries, which has published 12 recordings of her original sacred songs and psalms.  One of the first GreenFaith Fellows, Sister Kathleen has dedicated her teaching ministry to promoting the wisdom legacies of Thomas Merton and of mentor and geologian, Fr. Thomas Berry, in whose honor she has recently inaugurated The Berry Forum for Ecological Dialogue at Iona College in New Rochelle.

Founded in 1992, GreenFaith is an inter-faith environmental coalition which educates, inspires, equips and mobilizes people of diverse spiritual backgrounds as environmental leaders.

For more information about Iona College’s Spirituality Institute, visit www.scholaministries.org

Chop’t, the choose-as-you-go salad restaurant, will open in the Rye Ridge Shopping Center in the spring. (The information, and photos, are from a press release I received from Win Ridge Realty LLC, the manager for the Rye Ridge Shopping Center.)

It’s the first location outside of New York or Washington D.C.

(more…)

Next time you head for the Rye Post Office, you can impress your friends by saying you’re going to the Caroline O’Day Post Office Building, which is the official new name.

“Who is Caroline O’Day?” they might ask. Here is your answer, from the Postal Service:

Caroline O’Day was a long time resident of Rye and a member of the Westchester League of Women Voters. With her friend Eleanor Roosevelt, O’Day helped establish the Women’s Division of the New York State Democratic committee. O’Day became active in both the suffrage and pacifist movements including the National Consumers League and the Women’s Trade Union League. O’Day was elected to Congress in 1934 as a representative-at-large from New York and went on to serve 4 terms. She advocated essential causes including employment opportunities for the disabled and child labor protection.

A dedication ceremony with Rep. Nita Lowey took place Saturday.

Another noteworthy feature of the building at 41 Purdy Ave., of course, is the striking mural to the left as you go in.

MAMARONECK — A new committee of residents and local officials will look at possible changes to village rules on dogs-walking in public parks, Mayor Norm Rosenblum announced Monday night.

The village currently allows residents to walk their dogs on a leash in only one park, Harbor Island Park, and limits that to the off-season: Dec. 1 through March 31 each year.

About a dozen residents turned out at a Board of Trustees meeting earlier this month to lobby village officials to open up more parks to leashed dogs year-round. Several opponents spoke out against the idea.

“This is a very emotional subject,” Rosenblum said during a Monday board meeting at village hall. “It’s a questions that needs to be reviewed, so we can decide what’s best for the village on an overall basis.”

Supporters of loosening the rules say it would better accommodate local pet-owners, noting that an estimated four in 10 families own a dog. They also believe expanding dog access to Harbor Island Park would help reduce the number of geese that they say have become a nuisance there.

Opponents cite concerns about un-scooped poop, limited parking and child safety, if dogs are permitted on or off leash in more village parks.

The public will have a chance to comment on any proposals the committee puts forth. A specific timeline has yet to be set for the body’s work.

MAMARONECK—Five village police officers were honored with their department’s “Command Recognition” award during a Board of Trustees meeting Monday night at village hall.

The award recognizes officers who display “alertness, efficiency and dedication to duty,” said Mayor Norm Rosenblum, who announced the awards yesterday.

Officers Christopher McLeod, Mark Ballantyne and Tyron Davis were credited with helping save a resident’s life earlier this year by working with emergency responders to resuscitate the person.

Officers Maria Rojas and Plinio Trujillo were recognized for their police work leading to the 2009 arrest of a burglary suspect and the subsequent return of the stolen items to their rightful owners.

“It is my personal and firm belief that the democracy we live in, and many of the freedoms we take for granted, are a result of uniformed services,” the mayor said. “They stand between us and the bad guys.”