Sound Shore

Back in August, sports reporter Sharieka Breeden brought you the story of Rye Neck golf and tennis coach Mark Canno and friend Scott Levine, who were planning a charity trip to Kenya. Canno recently sent us an update; if you want to read the earlier story, it’s after the break. Here’s what Mark wrote to us:

Adventure of a lifetime!!! That is how we sum it up. Scott and I had a wonderful time visiting with the children of Shelters Children’s Home and going on Safari in Kenya.  We accompanied  Linda Wilson the founder of Caring for Kids of Kenya, Inc.  This nonprofit organization sponsors orphans in Kenya to go to school.  The trip is something we will both cherish and never forget. Through all the generous donations we were able to bring over 200 pounds of medical supplies, balls, shoes, sports wear, jewelry and much more to give to the children and the home.  We also raised over $9000.00 to buy a cow  (we named Rye Neck), lawn mower and personal items the kids needed for school.  We also sponsored 3 more children, Rueben, Joy and Charles who’s pictures are below.  Once we saw all the needs of the home we wanted to help as much as possible.

During the trip we also visited a slum where we  met Caroline’s mother.  Caroline is one of the children Caring for Kids  of Kenya rescued and now is in boarding school.  We brought food and  supplies for her and her 8 children.   She told us  how proud she was of her daughter who will graduate next year and has  flourished since she was rescued.  She only makes a few shilling per  month cleaning houses and doing laundry.

Upon our return we met with the Rye Neck  Superintendant and Principal and they loved the idea of raising money for  Caring Kids of Kenya. The Rye Neck Key Club is going to doing a Fashion Show  Event in December and some of the proceeds will go directly to sponsoring kids  at the orphanage.

On Monday, October 3rd teachers from the Rye Neck elementary school met at Harbor Island Park to create a walking wall. Cars  honked their horns in support and children cheered as the teachers kicked off Walk to School Week. The event was organized by Rye Neck PTSA Safe Routes to School Chair, Marla Schneider and the Rye YMCA.

The Heard in Rye Speaker series continues this month with “Childhood Unbound: Saving Our Kids’ Best Selves – Authoritative Parenting for the 21st Century.”

The topic will be explored by Ron Taffel 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Rye Middle School Multipurpose Room, 3 Parsons St. Admission is free.

Taffel will offer techniques parents can use to handling challenging behaviors they face today from their 21st century kids. He will focus on how parents can encourage the good while steering children and teens away from the bad, and will discuss methods that can be used to:

•Stop depending on outmoded techniques and learn to establish effective limits

•Balance consequences and rewards and teach 21st century kids your values

•Learn the ways 21st century kids register parental love

•Hold 21st century kids’ fast-moving attention

•Engage 21st century children of all ages in meaningful conversation

•Build community again in the 21st century style today’s parents need and kids love

A child-rearing expert and father of two children, Taffel founded the Family Therapy Division at the Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy in New York City, and serves as chairman of the Institute’s Board of Directors. He was also the first psychologist to become director of treatment at the Child and Adolescent Treatment Division of Downstate Medical Center.

He has authored books, magazine columns, and articles for professional journals, and has conducted consultations and workshops in 25 states across the country. Signed copies of his book will be available for purchase during the Heard in Rye event.

Heard in Rye is sponsored by the parents’ organizations and PTA’s of public and independent schools in Rye, Mamaroneck, Rye Brook and Greenwich, as well as the Rye YMCA, the Rye PBA and the Rye Youth Council. More information is available on the Heard in Rye web site: www.heardinrye.org.

On Friday, Rye Neck High School students will hear from a filmmaker who’s chronicled the stories of Sept. 11 victims and a former NYPD cop who was on the ground during the attacks.

During a special assembly, Paige Panzner-Kozek of the nonprofit Project Rebirth will speak about her organization’s work creating “Rebirth,” a documentary about the years-long journey of five people whose lives were shattered on Sept. 11. An abbreviated, 30-minute version will be shown after her remarks. (The full documentary will be broadcast Sunday on Showtime.)

Then, retired police investigator Steven Mona will speak about his experiences on Sept. 11. Mona, who led an elite anti-graffiti unit for the NYPD, personally knew more than a dozen officers killed in the attacks, including two members of his bureau. He and his unit spent the next nine months helping find “as many people as possible” at Ground Zero, organizers said.

The beachfront pavilions at Rye Town Park, overlooking Long Island Sound, will be the site of a 9/11 Memorial Ceremony on Sunday morning.

The town ceremony begins at 8 a.m. American Legion Post 93 will present a wreath along with a Rifle Honor Guard and Bugler.

For other memorial events in Westchester at the 10th anniversary, click here.

Also on LoHud.com is a September 11 “Changed Forever” commemorative site and a profile of Rye resident Lynn McGuinn, whose husband, Frank, died in the World Trade Center attack.

In the aftermath of Irene, this might be a good time for a reminder about how to dispose of branches, bulk trash and the like. Rye Brook put out this briefing on local trash services and pump-out procedures.

Meanwhile, any tips to share with your Sound Shore neighbors? Let us know how the cleanup is going.

(Photo: Kristin Ohnmacht cleans a sign from her garden apartment on Purchase Street in Rye Monday after Tropical Storm Irene hit the region. Tania Savayan / The Journal News )

Want to learn more about the future of Rye Town — and whether it has one?

A state-funded study on the feasibility of dissolving the town and merging services with other municipalities will be the topic of a public forum Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Senior Community Center at 222 Grace Church St.

The town of Rye is the tax-collecting entity for its incorporated villages of Port Chester and Rye Brook as well as the Rye Neck section of nearby Mamaroneck village. But state officials say the town provides no essential services, and argue that doing away with it would ease the tax burden.

The study, funded by a $50,000 state grant, will consider possibilities such as turning Port Chester and Rye Brook into tax-collecting town-villages, and annexing Rye Neck into Mamaroneck. It will also look at sharing services between Rye town and the villages of Port Chester, Rye Brook and Mamaroneck.

The forum will include a brief overview of the study, meetings with project leaders and opportunities for public comment.

The Rye Neck Booster Club will host an inaugural golf outing to raise money for athletics, scholarships and other programs in the Rye Neck school district on Monday, Sept. 26 at Rye Golf Club, 330 Boston Post Road.

The event is open to anyone. There will be a lunch at noon, followed by a 1 p.m. shotgun start. Afterwards, the club will host a cocktail party with a dinner and a silent auction.

To register, call Mary Jane Pipolo at (914) 698-0017 or email her at mjpsitter@aol.com.

For more information, contact Penny Yellen: (914) 698-9013 or aypy717@aol.com.

United Water has asked customers to conserve water during the current heat wave and refrain from all outdoor usage for the next several days, as it is experiencing “unusually high demand levels” on its system.

The utility services Bedford, the city of Rye, Cortlandt, Croton-on-Hudson, Kent, Lewisboro, Mount Kisco, New Castle, New Rochelle, Ossining, Pleasantville, Somers and West Nyack.

Wearing red, white and blue clothes, kindergartners and first graders at Daniel Warren School sang patriotic songs for parents and staff in an annual Flag Day Concert June 14. The first graders are pictured with, from left, Daniel Warren music teacher Craig Peterson, Principal Joan Babcock and Superintendent of Schools Peter Mustich.

— photo courtesy of Nicole Kujawski