Join
Us at April 2 Dinner-Dance!
Much excitement abounds at the Historical Society as preparations for the 2005 Dinner
Dance are taking place.
The event will be held
on April 2, at 7 p.m. at Fenway Golf Club. 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.
We need your help!! --there is a lot left to be done. We need
the
support of the Society to make this event truly successful!!!
There are lots of
things you can do:
. Please attend and
invite friends and family!
. Be an underwriter! Take a table, purchase a
table, organize a table!
. Take an ad for yourself, or your business!
. Sell an ad or give
us leads on advertisers!
. Donate items for the Silent and Live Auctions!
. Solicit donations from the community!
Event chairs Geralyn and Ralph
Delia Cava have planned a very special evening. Laura Cavataio,
Cindy Krossman and Carolyn Mehta are
Auction co-chairs; Maureen Hart is Journal Chair and Editor. The unique
invitation was designed by Barbara Shay MacDonald and Cindy Krossman.
David Oestriecher to give Spring Lecture April 28
We are delighted to announce that our Spring Lecture, on Thursday April
28, will be presented by Dr. David Oestreicher, a leading authority
on the Lenape Indians. His topic will be "The Lenape Indian Heritage: Scarsdale's Original Inhabitants".
It will
be presented at 8p.m. at the Scarsdale Library.
David's exhibition, "In Search of the Lenape:
The Delaware
Indians Past
and Present", debuted at our Museum
in 1995. He returns to the Society as the well-known curator of a much-traveled
exhibition, which is currently on display at the Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum through June, to mark the occasion
of Thomas Pell's purchase of much of
what is now the Bronx and
Westchester County from the Lenape 350 years ago. Over the past several years, the exhibition has
appeared at the Rockland County Historical Society, Saint Paul's National
Historic Site and Seton Hall
University.
Dr. Oestreicher is recognized as a leading
authority on the Lenape (Delaware) and
related tribes. His research began in his seventeenth
year when he first met Nora Thompson Dean, "Touching Leaves Woman,"
of Dewey, Oklahoma, one of the last speakers of the Unami
dialect of the Delaware language and
one of the last people fully raised in the traditions of her ancestors. Oestreicher worked closely with Dean from 1977 until
her death in 1984. Since then he has done linguistic and
ethnographic research with most of the remaining traditional Lenape and Mahican ciders in
Oklahoma, Wisconsin, and Ontario, Canada.
Based upon his years of living and working among the few
remaining Lenape and Mahican traditionalists, as well as upon the early documents,
his talk will explore the
fascinating life ways of the Lenape in particular and of their neighbors in general:
their languages, their cultures, and their religious traditions. It will include
a slide program featuring Lenape artifacts (both prehistoric and historic), maps,
illustrations and photographs of
various life activities then and now, including portraits
of some of the most important tribal traditionalists of recent years — those who were the last repositories of their
culture.
The lecture will begin with
a brief overview of the prehistory of the Mid-Atlantic region, and of the emergence of the Lenape in the lower Hudson and Delaware Valleys. It
describes how the Lenape and their neighbors
subsisted at the time of European contact, why they ultimately left their
traditional homelands, and where they are living today. It touches
upon the major historic events that look place involving the
Lenape, and relates how the Lenape
language, ceremonies, religious beliefs, and life-ways were impacted by removal.
In conclusion, David will tell about
efforts today by the Lenape to reclaim their
ancient heritage and revive long-abandoned traditions.
The "Lenape" exhibition and
its accompanying catalogue, published by the Scarsdale Historical
Society, was initially funded in part by a
grant from the New York State
Council on the Arts and by the Westchester Arts Council, won the 1995 Historical Services Award for Excellence of the Lower Hudson Conference of Historical
Agencies and Museums, and was
described by T^he New York Times as
"an extended reverie" which
captures "the vitality and
poignancy of the Lenape saga".
Dr. Oestreicher holds a B.A. in Anthropology
from SUNY Purchase (1981); an M.A. in Hebraic Studies from New York University
(1985); an M.A. in Anthropology from Rutgers University (1992) and a
doctorate in Anthropology from
Rutgers in 1995.
He has published extensively on the Lenapes and other anthropological topics, has taught government-sponsored Title IV (Native American
Indian Education) programs, and
conducted seminars for New York City,
training teachers about how to present Native American culture. He has been a speaker at various Delaware Indian Symposiums
and programs at many colleges,
universities, museums and historic
sites. His work with the Delaware Indians has been featured in The New York Times, The New York
Daily News, The Trenton Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Star Ledger of New Jersey and other newspapers. Currently, he serves as a speaker for the New York State Council for the Humanities.
Honoree
gets WAC Award
We are delighted to congratulate our honoree, The New Choral Society of Central
Westchester, which won a Westchester Arts Council "Arts Alive" award last month.
These awards,
funded by NYSCA, provide financial and technical support for county organizations
and artists for projects to make cultural programs accessible to underserved populations. The Choral Society's
award was for support of a concert of Carl Orff's
"Carmina Burana".
Great Auction Gifts Donated!
The 2005 Auction Committee, headed by Laura Cavataio,
Cindy Krossman and Carolyn Mehta, is busy collecting
donations to make this auction the best ever!! Among the fabulous gifts donated
so far are a sheared mink "stroller" from Georgeou
Furs, 4 subscriptions to the New Choral Society concert season, golf for 3 at
Scarsdale Golf Club, a Burberry handbag, a 3-month membership at Equinox
Fitness Club, 4 NY Giants football tickets and 2 box seat tickets for a NY Mets game, with
pre-paid parking included.
Everyone is encouraged to donate items: objects from
personal collections, a weekend in a vacation home, or season tickets to a
sporting or cultural event. Antiques and artwork are always in demand. If you have something you would like lo
donate, call Cindy at the office, 723-1744 or Carolyn at
723-4739. We would be happy to pick
up the
item from
you, just give us a call!
The Journal Advertising Solicitation Committee is working
energetically. Don't forget — you can have a personal ad to salute our
honorees, or your own business,
or to wish us well. Call
Cindy Krossman at the office, 723-1744.
'Channel One' Band Returns!
You "Fred and Gingers" out there, get your dancing shoes
polished for another fabulous Society
Dance! Last year, many folks were
burning the calories late into the
evening dancing to the popular and fantastic sounds of Channel One. Join us to dance, dine and honor the New Choral Society!
Led by the fabulous vocals of Marie Menna and
John Mastronardi, Channel One features some of the
most versatile talents in the music industry.
Both Marie and John are extremely talented lead singers whose
versatility delighted those of us who attended the Dinner Dance for the past
two years.
The Channel One Band is guaranteed to make
your feet wiggle and get the party going. Don't miss this spectacular
evening and bring your friends. Channel One and you will
make the Historical Society Dinner Dance
the event of the season.
Busy month for Education
Dept. by Susan Kaufman
In February, the Society hosted many groups of adults and youngsters.
A visit by the
Scarsdale Womans Club featured a slide presentation of "old" Scarsdale.
Included were images of the Victory
Garden planted at Wayside Cottage during
the years of World War I, students posing in
front of School #1 (what is now the
Post Road firehouse) and people
boarding the Scarsdale Trolley, which ran along Post Road.
Brownies from IHM created puppets and paper dolls on their way to earning
doll-making badges. Senior . Cadet scouts worked towards a
Heritage badge, creating panoramic pictures of 19th-century life and comparing life in
the Hyatt household with the way the girls live today. Most thought-provoking
was a room-by-room analysis of tools
and utensils, such as the stereoptican and its
replacements, the TV and DVD player.
How different evenings must have been then!
A series of well-received workshops were held during Winter Recess
week. Although the Monday President's Day activities were unfortunately cancelled
because of snow, Tuesday's watercolor workshop was a great success. The busiest day was Wednesday's doll-making
workshop. Participants stitched their material and twisted pipe-cleaners into shape
as skeletons, then stuffed their
creations with batting, to create bendable dolls. Then they sewed dresses for
the dolls and glued on yarn for
hair. The following day we created furniture for our dolls; some of the girls made
entire rooms 'with cardboard and
glue, and filled the rooms with doll-size
beds, TV's, tables and chairs. We had so much fun that nobody wanted to leave!
The Doll Workshop was such a success that we will definitely offer it
again. The Education Department was assisted greatly by Caitlin Monaco, a
student at IHM who has volunteered at activities for the past
two years.
Finally, we are once again fortunate to have been selected to host an intern from Scarsdale High
School for the month of May. Lena
Goto chose the Historical Society as the site for
her internship; she will be assisting
in the Education Department.
Education
Dept. "Wish List"
The Education Department would be very grateful for the donation of Gift
Certificates from:
- Dover Press for educational materials;
- A.I. Friedman
S&S Art & Craft Supply for art materials.
If you'd like to donate any of these, or anything else, please call the office, 723-1744.
WAC Awards Society Basic
Support Grant
The Society is delighted that the Westchester Arts Council has extended
our 2004 Basic Support Grant. What is more, the grant has been raised to $3,345
for 2005, because the Westchester County Board of Legislators voted for increased
funding for the Arts in the 2005 County Budget.
In his letter notifying the Society of the
grant. County
legislator George
Oros wrote: "I would like to thank you and your organization for your part in creating and maintaining a vibrant Westchester arts community that enriches
the quality of life for so many".
CONGRATULATIONS!
To our new Mayor, Peter Strauss, and Village Board electees: Mary
Beth Gose and Carolyn Stevens, for their second
terms as Trustees, and Kenneth Rilander, for
his first term on the Village Board.
Dates to Remember
Spring Benefit
Dinner-Dance. Fenway Golf Club Saturday, April 2, 7 p.m.
Annual Spring Lecture by Dr. David Oestreicher "The Lenape Indian Heritage: Scarsdale's Original Inhabitants"
Thursday, April 28, 8 p.m., Scarsdale Public Library