Sound Shore

Looking for a unique holiday gift? Of course. Craft-Tastic launches Friday night at Pelham Art Center with a free opening reception and all-ages art workshop from 6:30 to 8 p.m. There will be ceramics, artwork, jewelry, glass and furniture to browse. Members get a 15 percent discount on all gallery purchases made through Dec. 10. The gallery exhibit runs through Jan. 7 of 2012.

Click here for more information or call (914) 738-2525.

School budget season is coming and the Pelham Board of Education wants to hear from its constituents. The district has scheduled four public meetings over the next few weeks at which board members will discuss the budget process, talk about the newly imposed 2-percent property tax cap and take suggestions from the public.

The meetings will be held at the following times and places:

Tuesday, Nov. 22, at 7:30 p.m. at the Town House;

Monday, Nov. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hutchinson School Library;

Saturday, Dec. 10, at 10:15 a.m. at the Pelham Library Community Room;

and Wednesday, Dec. 14, at 7 p.m. at the M.A.D. Cafe.

With 90 percent of the vote tallied by midnight, it appeared Republicans swept the race for the two town justice positions.

Incumbent Stephen Huff was elected for another term, with John DeChiaro, an attorney, poised to join him on the bench.

The two men defeated Democratic challengers Mercedes Maldonado and George Bischof. Conservative Stephen Ruffino finished last.

Looking for a fright? Pelham Memorial High School’s senior class is giving part of the school the haunted house makeover, decorating 10 rooms in themes inspired by horror(-ish) movies like “The Shining” and “Sweeny Todd.”

The (temporarily) scary school will be open Thursday from 7 to 10 p.m. A source tells us the themed rooms will be appropriate for kids 10 years of age and older. For younger kids who aren’t quite ready to handle the ol’ murderous barber (that’s Mr. Todd) routine, there’s the game room, where they will find games, snacks and refreshments.

The event is $5 and open to the public.

There’s a free mosaic workshop at the Pelham Art Center this Saturday, Oct. 1. People of all ages are invited to participate in what the Art Center describes as “an underwater-themed group mosaic.” It’s intended to celebrate the organization’s current exhibition, “The Ocean Reglitterized.”

Mosaic-ers will use tiles and bits of broken ceramics to help bring to fruition a large mural designed by artist and Pelham Art Center faculty member Lisa Vassolatti.

No need to register; tools and protective wear will be provided. Bring in old pottery to break up and use in the mural if you like.

For more information, contact the Pelham Art Center at info@pelhamcenter.org or 914.738.2525.

Hard to believe that Pelham, like many Hudson Valley communities, home to many smart, able and handsome people had not, until now, produced a single candidate for the Miss New York competition. But here comes Patricia Jeanne Schwab, a 21-year-old Iona College student and a life-long Pelham resident who is aiming for the title. The big event will be held Jan. 13, 2012.

Schwab, at work on a marketing degree, describes herself as a “bright, conscientious, quick-thinking, creative go-getter.” She says she has “dedicated herself to health and fitness” but finds time to work a pair of part-time jobs and volunteer throughout the community. She organized a team, the Pink Crowns, for the Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on Oct. 16 at Manhattanville College and she’s holding a bake sale in front of a local supermarket on Sept. 8 to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

For more information about her efforts, or to support her cause, look up Schwab on Facebook under the name Tricia Jeanne Miss New York.

The Pelham Picture House will temporarily close for six weeks of renovations beginning July 13.

The 1921 theater was largely restored last year, but planners postponed the task of replacing the stage in front of the main screen until they had more money.

Now that the organization that runs the theater has raised an additional $55,000, the work will go on.

The media classroom will remain open for educational programs, including “Hollywood Masterpieces of the 1940s.”

The new stage will be 12 feet deep and 40 feet wide and wheelchair-accessible.

“This is an exciting time for the Picture House,” Executive Director Jennifer Christman said. “A proper stage provides us with great opportunity and flexibility with regard to our programs.”

Construction is expected to last five or six weeks.

It’s not every school assignment that invokes a higher power and results in a letter from the President. But over the winter, a group of sixth-graders in the Religious Education Program at St. Catharine’s Church in Pelham imagined themselves as world leaders and wrote a series prayers from that perspective. Their teacher, Mary Valenti, then got the idea to present them to President Barack Obama as thoughts and hopes he could share with foreign officials. Valenti sent them off to the president and waited. Time passed, snow melted and then, in the spring, a letter on White House letterhead dated April 27 arrived in the mail.

“Young people like you inspire me and give me tremendous hope for the future,” the president wrote.

His letter and the students’ prayers appear in full after the jump.

Cheers to Richard Limato, supervisor of elementary education at Pelham Union Free School District, who recently earned “Administrator of the Year” honors from the Westchester County School Music Association.

Maria Abeshouse, a teacher and music coordinator at the district, said the elementary music faculty nominated Limato for the award “because of his constant support for the programs at the elementary level.”

(Photo of Limato receiving the award from the Westchester School Music Association provided.)

If you’re among the folks who leave a movie theater thinking, They just don’t make movies how they used to, you’re in luck. The Pelham Picture House will offer a six-week course called “Hollywood Masterpieces of the 1940s” beginning June 15. Led by Wesleyan film professor Scott Higgins, the course, which will meet on Wednesday evenings, will include screenings of classic films and discussions about the stars, genres and filmmakers of the studio era. Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Meet Me in St. Louis, Double Indemnity, My Darling Clementine and The Best Years of Our Lives will all be shown. A six-class subscription is $150; individual classes are $30 each. Register and learn more about the course at www.thepicturehouse.org.