Articles from The Historian, January/February 2005
Judith A. Handelman, Editor

April 2 Spring Benefit Dinner

At this year's Spring Benefit Dinner, on Saturday, April 2, we will honor the New Choral Society of Central Westchester and its conductor, Dr. John T. King, and executive director, Betsy Broyd. In addition, we will present newly-established awards and certificates of civic excellence to Rush Wilson, Mary Dixon and Barbara Shay MacDonald, and will recognize the family of Lynne and Ira Wilson, of Wilson & Son Jewelers, on its 100th anniversary of doing business in Scarsdale.

 

Please make sure to plan to join us on April 2, 7 p.m., at Fenway Golf Club! Event chairs Geralyn and Ralph DellaCava have planned a very special evening. Laura Cavataio, Cindy Krossman and Carolyn Mehta will be Auction co-chairs; Maureen Hart will be Journal Chair and Editor. The invitation is being designed by Barbara Shay MacDonald and Cindy Krossman.

The event will include the traditional Silent Auction, a Dinner Journal, and much more! Proceeds will support Society education programs and maintenance of our historic buildings.

To ensure the success of our 31st Annual Spring Benefit Dinner, we are asking for your help! We are counting on you to:

 

. Attend, and invite your family and friends!

. Purchase a group table!

. Be an underwriter!

. Donate items to the Silent Auction!

. Sell ads for the Journal, or purchase one yourself!

. Solicit donations from the community!

. Help set up for the Dinner and Auction!

Volunteers are also needed for the event. We hope that you will help us to meet our goal in our major fund-raising event of the year. Please call Cindy at the office, 723-1744, to offer your assistance.

 

 

Capital Campaign Aids Restorations

In his December letter to members and contributors, President Bill Doecher asked: "Years from now, wouldn't it be wonderful for your family and friends to stop by the Society, take a stroll along our 'Steps in Time' donor pathway and find your name? As part of our renovation project and to thank our donors for their kind generosity, plans have been made to install a beautiful brick pathway with the names of our supporters. For a donation of $300 or more to our 2004-2005 Capital Campaign, your name(s) will become an everlasting part of history."

Last fall, the roofs of both the 1828 Quaker Meeting House and the Cudner-Hyatt House were replaced with new cedar shingles. The exterior of the Meeting House was painted (in a new gray color); painting of the Cudner-Hyatt House exterior will be done this spring.

In addition to the painting, restoration and repair of our two historic buildings, the Cudner-Hyatt House and the 1828 Quaker Meeting House, funds from the Campaign will enable us to install a much-needed new dry well.

We urge you to give generously to our 2004-2005 Capital Campaign!  Take your place in Scarsdale history by purchasing a "named brick" for our new pathway!

As Bill's letter concludes: "Your participation will not only help us to continue to paint, restore and repair; it will help us enrich our charming Scarsdale community."

 

Meet Our Honorees

The New Choral Society, in its 11th season, will be honored for bringing sophisticated musical entertainment to many in the Village of Scarsdale with its presentations of great choral classics and chamber music.

 

Rush Wilson will receive our first Civic Award for his dedication and loyal support to the Scarsdale Historical Society and other non-profits in the Village. Mary Dixon will be honored with our first Community Service Award for her more than 25-year service to the Society as a volunteer, Membership Chair and Trustee, as well as active involvement with the Women's Exchange and Woman's Club. Barbara Shay MacDonald will receive our first Historic Preservation Award for her service as a volunteer, Trustee, Vice President and Historian, writer and teacher of local history. Special recognition is being given to the family of Lynne and Ira Wilson of Wilson & Son Jewelers on its 100th anniversary of being in business in Scarsdale, and for its longtime support of the Society.

 

Auction/Journal Committees Need Your Help

Historical Society members, the community and its businesses have always been extremely generous with their donations to the Auction and the Dinner Journal.

You can help us!  For the Auction: If you have a vacation home, would you be willing to donate a week or a weekend? If you have season tickets for a sports team or cultural event, please consider donating a pair!  Gift certificates for restaurants, clothing, home, office, baby & kids, travel, specialty services, antiques and art are always welcome. We're also in the process of visiting local businesses, shops and restau­rants to ask for contributions; we'd welcome your help!

 

We've already received two Mets box scat tickets that come with pre-paid parking; two tickets to Fashion Week, a vintage brooch and a beautiful custom painting by a Westchester artist.  Our own Museum Shop, headed by Greta Fisher and Etta Parker, will donate several beautiful items for the home and for children.

 

We hope to have a spectacular Dinner Journal, and need the support of community residents and businesses.  If you would like to purchase an ad for the journal, either for your business or as a tribute to one or more of our honorees, please call Cindy at 723-1744 for ad dimensions and pricing.

 

“Ghosts of Post Road" continues through Spring

Our wonderful exhibition, "Ghosts of the Post Road", curated by Susan Kaufman, continues through Spring 2005. Below are prints from two distinct eras and cultures depicted in the exhibition:

 

New Education Dept. Program with Greenacres 1st-graders

First grade students at the Greenacres School have begun a four-part program in conjunction with The Society that was implemented with the help of Amy Kenney, Social Studies Coordinator for the Scarsdale Schools. The program makes great use of the current exhibition "Ghosts of the Post Road", which looks at the lives of the previous inhabitants of the area we know as the White Plains Post Road from the lime of The Lenape to the early 20th century.

The core social studies curriculum for first-graders is "the Family". The students will visit four times, with each visit focusing on a dif­ferent period of time described in the exhibition. Students will learn about family life during the time of the earliest inhabitants, the matrilineal Lenape, then examine Colonial life, early 19th-century life and finally late 19th to early 20th-century life. The culmination of the program will be a mural on the theme of "Family" that will be created by the students and painted at Greenacres school under the supervision of Education Director Susan Kaufman.

 

February Recess Programs for Kids

Education Director Susan Kaufman has announced some great programs tor children during February 21-25 vacation. For registra­tion or additional information, phone the office, 723-1744. 10a.m.-12:30: fee for each workshop $15 per child: $60 for the week. Materials and snacks provided.

Mon.. Feb. 21 - President's Day - Learn which Hag design was waving when your favorite president was in office. Then make your own flag out of paper.

Tues.. Feb. 22 - Create a watercolor bouquet!  Look at Currier &~ Ives prints for inspiration.  

Wed.. Feb. 23    Doll-making. Stitch a doll, using pipecleancrs and fabric. When it is complete, you will be able to position it.

Thurs.. Feb. 24 - We will make furniture for our dolls to sit on!

Fri.. Feb. 25 - Silhouette pictures. Using black cloth or paper, make beautiful designs, then glue them onto colored backgrounds.

 

Society Participates in Public Outreach Programs

Society staff members Cindy Krossman, Susan Kaufman and Laura Cavataio and Trustee Carolyn Mehta used their artistic talents to help make the holiday season brighter for many area residents. In November, they created Thanksgiving "tablescapes" for the Fox Meadow School's multi-cultural luncheon at Wayside Cottage and for the American Home Section of the Scarsdale Woman's Club.  In December, they helped to install a doll exhibition in the hallways of the Maria Fareri Children's Hospital at Westchester Medical Center, and created a "White Christmas" display for the Scarsdale Woman's Club Garden Section's Dec. 8 holiday open house and flower show.

 

Society Grateful for 2004 Grants

Grants from many arts and government organizations, friends, supporters and businesses have aided the Society's programs. The Board of Education, through theoffice of Assistant Superintendent of Schools Paul Folkemer, under­ wrote the costs of bringing Scarsdale public school 1st- through 4th- graders to participate in our education programs. We have applied for a $5000 grant from The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through the office of Assemblyman Gary Pretlow, to allow more than 200 first-graders from five Mt. Vernon public schools to participate in our education programs, and to tour our exhibitions and the Cudner-Hyatt House.

 

The Westchester Arts Council has been of great assistance, with a $3000 basic support grant. A $6000 grant from the James A. Macdonald Foundation underwrote the mounting of the "Ghosts of the Post Road" exhibition. The Leon Lowenstein Foundation, the McCreery Family Foundation and the Robert H. Lorsch Family Foundation Trust are among the private foundations that help fund programs and exhibitions. The Society always seeks private foundations and individuals to help finance its education programs and restoration projects.

 

Congratulations!

Barbara Jaffe has been chosen to receive the 2005 Scarsdale Bowl (April 27 at Lake Isle)

Margaret Vetare, who served as our Education Director in the early 1990's, has been named Director of Interpretation for Historic Hudson Valley. For the past several years, she has been Director of Special Projects at Philipsburg Manor, where she headed a reinterpretation of the site to include the days of slavery.

Dates to Remember

Winter Recess Workshops for Children

Monday, Feb. 21 - Friday, Feb. 25, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Spring Benefit Dinner,

Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m. Fenway Golf Club

Spring Lecture

Thursday, April 28, 8 p.m., Scarsdale Public Library

Condolences

The Society mourns the recent passing of five of our very special members: Nat Myers Jr., who served for many years as our Treasurer; John LaWare, one of our earliest members and supporters; John Laughlin, a long-time member of our Quaker Meeting House Committee; former Village Manager Lowell Tooley, and Eloise Dibble, long-time member, Advisor and contibutor to many auctions, with her late husband Earl, of "Dibblelog" travelogs. We send heartfelt condolences to their families.