Sound Shore

The League of Women Voters of Larchmont/Mamaroneck will host a Larchmont Village Candidate Forum at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Larchmont Village Courtroom in Village Hall, 120 Larchmont Avenue.

Even though all the candidates this year are unopposed, the forum will allow voters to get a sense of each candidate’s position on a variety of topics of local concern. The candidates will have an opportunity to make a brief statement, and then the League will ask a number of prepared questions. There will also be an opportunity for questions from the audience.

Running for Larchmont mayor is Anne McAndrews, a former Larchmont trustee. The candidates for two village trustee slots are Marlene Kolbert (incumbent) and Peter Fanelli. All three candidates are running on the Democratic line. Election Day is Tuesday, March 20th from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

I had the honor of meeting Tina Strobos at her apartment at The Osborn in Rye two years ago. She shared stories – as she had done with many children, teachers and others – about her efforts to save Jews in her native Amsterdam during the Holocaust as part of an underground network.

Strobos died Monday night at age 91. In honor of her life, and with the hope that her stories continue to be told, I’m posting some excerpts here of a transcript I made of our conversation. Strobos has also told her story in detail on this website.

Below is our Journal News article from October 2009, followed by more of her own words.

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Oct. 17, 2009

RYE – When you listen to 89-year-old Dr. Tina Strobos, you begin to see the 19-year-old sorority girl who was growing up in Holland during World War II, with bravery beyond her years.

Her personal stories sketch the terror, the courage and defiance that it took to join an underground network that protected Jews from the Nazis. As a medical student, she and her classmates refused to sign a loyalty oath to Adolf Hitler. The university promptly shut down, and Strobos got to work.

Born to a well-off, intellectual family of atheists, Strobos took Jews into her Amsterdam home and led them to other hiding places on nearby farms. She stashed guns stolen from the Germans, carried babies from danger in the ghetto, kept a radio in violation of the law and doctored passports so that Jews might escape the notice of the Gestapo.

She makes clear that these scenes do not play out in her mind like some classic movie.

“Inevitably you have a lot of mixed feelings, that you didn’t behave quite the right way,” Strobos said from her home in Rye this month. “I didn’t betray anyone, but I could have done more.”

Here’s a story that wouldn’t ordinarily make the local news report.

It’s a love story from Larchmont, shared by art gallery owner Kenise Barnes. She helped conspire, with the best of intentions, in her employee’s recent engagement. And this is a good day to pass it along.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Romance lives.  It lives right here in our midst.  Cupid and Eros together could not have come up with a story as good as this.

Leanne is the charming, effusive Gallery Manager at Kenise Barnes Fine Art in Larchmont.  She and Jorge have been a couple since their student days at Stony Brook University.  Friday January 27th marked their six-year “anniversary,” and Jorge, being the romantic type, wanted to give his darling Leanne a surprise she will always remember.  It unfolded like this:

First, it’s important to know:  Leanne and Jorge have endured a lot of time apart.  An ambitious, young professional in the financial field, Jorge has been posted to his company’s Paris office for the last two years. Leanne joined him there for a number of months last summer, but their romance in the past half year has been sustained mostly with Skype and text messages.

The time had come to do something about that.  Leanne and Jorge both knew they were meant to be together, but Leanne had no idea they’d be together on the day of their sixth anniversary.  Or that she would receive a proposal and a diamond and the promise of a many more days together.

To pull this off, Jorge conspired with Leanne’s boss, Kenise Barnes, way back in November, and made her promise that, under no circumstances should Leanne be allowed to take January 27th off.  His worst fear was that she would fly to Paris to surprise him on the exact day he was flying to New York to surprise her.

Kenise, being a romantic type herself, was happy to oblige.  And she recruited Alex, the proprietor of Le Wine Shop on Palmer Avenue, to help.  Alex, as it turned out, was quite a romantic too, and pulled off his role brilliantly.

UPDATE: I’ll be on the 8:43 from White Plains, due in Grand Central at 9:23. If you’re on the same train and going to the parade, let’s talk Giants!

Looks like I’ll be riding a train into NYC tomorrow morning to cover the Giants parade. If you’re among the Giants fanatics who will be doing the same, let me know what train you plan to take (I’m not sure yet whether I’ll take the Harlem or New Haven line) and where you plan to watch the parade. I’ll be looking to talk with folks from the area.

Write me at erauch@lohud.com if you’re interested in connecting. You can follow me on Twitter, too: @NPRauch.

Anderson’s Book Shop in Larchmont will host a book signing with author William Broad, a science journalist and senior writer at The New York Times, on Saturday, Feb. 11th between 2 and 4 p.m. Broad will be signing copies of his most recent book, The Science of Yoga.

Broad will host two other local signings the following month: March 4 at the JCC of Mid-Westchester at 1 p.m. and March 25 at the Larchmont Library at 4 p.m.

Here’s the description of the book, from the event announcement: “The Science of Yoga takes us on a riveting tour of unknown yoga that goes from old archives in Calcutta to the world capitals of medical research, from storied ashrams to spotless laboratories, from sweaty yoga studios with master teachers to the cozy offices of yoga healers. Broad unveils a burgeoning global industry that attracts not only curious scientists but true believers and charismatic hustlers. In the end, he shatters myths, lays out unexpected benefits, and offers a compelling vision of how the ancient practice can be improved.”

In response to a number of resident requests for information about crime prevention, the Town of Mamaroneck and the Larchmont Gardens Civic Association are jointly sponsoring a Crime Prevention Workshop at the VFW/Senior Center located at 1288 Boston Post Road on Wednesday at 7 p.m. A similar seminar was offered three years ago at the Weaver Street Firehouse.

Representatives of the Town’s Police Department will be on hand to answer questions as will Town Supervisor Nancy Seligson and Town Administrator Steve Altieri. For more information please contact Supervisor Nancy Seligson at 381-7805.

Larchmont Mayor Josh Mandell is the featured speaker at the next Issues Breakfast of The League of Women Voters of Larchmont/Mamaroneck, set for Friday at 8:15 a.m. at The Nautilus Diner on Boston Post Road in Mamaroneck. The cost is $8, payable at the door.

Want to be freezin’ for a reason? The South East Consortium for Special Services Inc. will be the beneficiary of a “Leprechaun Leap” into Long Island Sound on March 10 at noon in Mamaroneck. The festivities are set for Harbor Island Park; registration begins at 10 a.m. and there will also be refreshments and entertainment.

The consortium is a not-for-profit group dedicated to providing therapeutic recreation services, leisure-related programs and respite opportunities to over 350 children and adults with special needs who reside in southeast Westchester County.

For more information, contact Jerry Peters at 698-5232, by email at jpeters@secrec.org or go to http://www.secrec.org.

The Mamaroneck Artists Guild in Larchmont is featuring 75 pieces by students from Mamaroneck High School, New Rochelle High School and the French American School in its “Young Artists on the Rise” exhibit, which opened Tuesday.  A special opening reception and awards ceremony will be held at the gallery next Wednesday from 5-7 p.m. The public is invited to attend.

The work runs the gamut of media, including photography, ceramics, sculpture, drawing and painting. Juried members of the Larchmont-based Guild will judge and select one Best of Show piece, along with 1st , 2nd  and Honorable Mention winners in various categories.

The exhibit continues through Feb. 11. MAG Gallery is a not-for-profit space located in Larchmont, and is open five days a week.

At right, artwork by Mamaroneck senior Julia Rosenfeld that will be on exhibit.

Via press release:”The Michelle LeBlanc Trio will perform at the Larchmont Woman’s Club meeting on Feb. 17 in an original stage show designed to celebrate classic jazz as a reflection of America’s story.The show was created and produced by LeBlanc, a vocalist who has appeared at the Rainbow Room, the Friars Club, Riverside Chapel and at clubs, concerts, festivals and fundraisers throughout the area. She will be joined by Bill Crow, a legendary jazz string bass player, and Tom Kohl, pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger.

Crow has performed with Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Marian McPartland, Mose Allison, Gerry Mulligan, and Milt Jackson. His first book on jazz, “Jazz Anecdotes,” was voted Best Jazz Book in the 1991 Jazz Times Reader’s Poll. Tom Kohl has worked with Quincy Jones, Clark Terry and many other jazz lions in the metropolitan area.

LeBlanc’s series of shows “Jazz: The American Story” have been developed and produced with support from 10 annual grants by the New York State Council for the Arts.

The public is invited without charge to the concert at 1:30 p.m., which follows the Club’s meeting at the Larchmont Avenue Church, 60 Forest Park Avenue. For more information call 834-0192.