Facts of Life

Harpers Ferry is part of the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit and is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations in support of naval operations to ensure maritime stability and security in the Central Region, connecting the Mediterranean and the Pacific through the Western Indian Ocean and three strategic choke points.

RE/MAX Distinguished Home & Properties has announced that Licensed Real Estate Broker Todd Gessow has joined the Tuckahoe office located at 273 Columbus Ave. Gessow, a Rye Brook resident, has two decades of experience in the real estate field and will focus on serving residential property sellers and buyers in Westchester.

“I am well acquainted with the Westchester marketplace,” he said. “I plan to continue specializing in rehabilitating and flipping houses, always working to create win-win situations for all involved in the transactions I handle.”

Prior to joining RE/MAX Distinguished Homes & Properties, Gessow was a Real Estate Broker at Todd David Realty, LLC in Mamaroneck.

Happy birthday to Allison Low of Rye Brook who will be 11 on Aug. 4. Love from Grandma and Grandpa.

Happy birthday to Peggyann Munnick of Port Chester who celebrates Aug. 7.

Happy birthday to former Rye Brook Mayor Joan Feinstein who celebrates Aug. 5.

Happy anniversary on July 29 to my wonderful husband Sean Powers of Port Chester. I love you more every day. Cheers to another 24 years! Kristen.

Honey can be ordered for Rosh Hashanah or year-round use for yourself or as a gift. The use of honey is traditional on Rosh Hashanah for a sweet new year. An 8 oz. jar of kosher honey, decorated with a festive label and a personalized card, lets gift recipients know a donation was made in their honor to Congregation K.T.I. The cost is $12 per jar including shipping and handling within the U.S. if ordered by Aug. 5. After that date there is a $5 shipping fee per jar. The deadline to order in time for Rosh Hashanah is Sept. 4. Honey can be ordered after that date, but delivery by the holiday (Sept. 29) will not be guaranteed. To order, go to www.honeyfromtheheart.org/kti or www.orthoney.com/kti. Your order form should include the group code KTI. For questions or additional information contact Leslie Bloom at 914/937-5857 or [email protected].

The legendary Steinway & Sons Model D Horowitz Piano, CD 503 will continue its ongoing tour of North America with a stop at Steinway & Sons in Greenwich, 72 Greenwich Ave., thru Sun., Aug. 4. The iconic Horowitz piano that has inspired countless musicians, teachers, students and Horowitz fans around the world, is the piano that accompanied classical titan Vladimir Horowitz on tours.

For the 2019 season, Playland Park is welcoming many new, exciting events and promotions, including Town Days to promote community and 11 new musical acts. Town Days began June 25 with Ardsley Day and will continue thru Aug. 30. Port Chester Day will be Tues., Aug. 13; Rye Brook Day will be Fri., Aug. 16. With proof of ID, each resident will receive discount coupons when they arrive at the park by going to the Fountain Plaza Administration Building. Discounts include one free mini golf entry, two for one ride admission, one free beach or pool admission, $1 off one food value meal and a $5 discount for parking on a return visit to the park. Municipalities will also have a chance to display booths of information and display what makes them unique. Vendors should call Playland for more information at (914) 813-7016.

Center orchestra tickets to see “Come From Away” Sun., Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 W. 45^th St., NYC are available from KTI at the discounted price of $139. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis. The deadline to order tickets is Thurs., Aug. 15. 914/939-1004.

This summer, the Performing Arts Center at Purchase College is embarking on a major construction project to update and improve their lobby, box office and main entrance area. Due to the construction, the box office windows are closed for the duration of the project, which is expected to last into the early fall. The box office number remains the same—914/251-6200.

For the first time since 2010, Westchester County has announced $4.1 million in federal funding to conduct healthy home assessments and help low-income homeowners remediate lead-based paint in their homes. Applications are now available to property owners and rental building owners who qualify for lead-based paint remediation through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Lead Hazard Demonstration Grant Funds and Healthy Homes Supplemental Funds. The grant will allow for approximately 240 properties to be rehabilitated over the course of three years. For additional information go to https://homes.westchestergov.com/lead-paint.

Playland’s new ride and some of its first riders.

After 405 submissions from the public, County Executive George Latimer was joined by 1^st-6^th graders attending the County’s Nature Camp at Cranberry Lake Preserve to choose the name for Playland Park’s first new ride in more than a decade. From the five finalists, the campers overwhelmingly chose “Dragonator” for this exciting new attraction that opened to the public July 30. Dragonator holds 24 riders and is designed with a back restraint that leaves both arms and legs free to move as riders are spun around and travel along a “U” shaped track. The ride is part roller coaster and part spinning ride.

ArtsWestchester invites artists, cultural groups and community organizations to apply for 2019 Arts Alive Grants. These grants help to ensure that residents throughout Westchester and Rockland counties have access to the arts in their communities, particularly in areas where access may be limited. Pre-application workshops in Westchester will take place Thurs., Aug. 8 at the Pelham Art Center, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham, 10-11:30 a.m. and Thurs., Aug. 22 at the Mt. Kisco Arts Council ArtsSpace, 41 S. Moger Ave., Mt. Kisco, 5-6:30 p.m. There are three types of grants—Arts Alive Project Grant ($1,000-$5,000) that supports community-based arts and cultural projects developed by arts organizations, groups, collectives, individual artists and a limited number of other non-profits that offer open-to-the-public arts activities; Arts Alive Artist Grant ($2,500) that supports the creation and presentation of new work by professional artists and Arts Alive Arts Education Grant ($1,000-$2,500 that supports lifelong learning in the arts through partnerships between individual artists or arts organizations and Westchester or Rockland public schools.

The deadline to apply for Arts Alive Grants in Westchester County is Wed., Sept. 18. Applications and program guidelines are available online at https://artswestchester.org/grants/arts-alive-grant-program.

State Sen. Shelley Mayer and Cindy Kanusher, executive director of the Pace Women’s Justice Center, have announced a $24,000 grant for the non-profit that provides free legal services to victims and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse. The funding will support a part-time attorney to provide direct civil legal services for victims of domestic violence in PWJC’s Family Law Unit.

Iona College is offering a Master of Business Administration degree fully online. The new program, which begins in Nov. 2019 at Iona’s accredited LaPenta School of Business, offers what its traditional MBA program does, yet classes are designed to be taken 100% online. The degree can be completed in as little as 20 months and the program enables students to take classes from anywhere, allowing busy professionals to manage their careers, personal lives and coursework in a way that works best for them. For information, go to www.Iona.edu or call 800/-231-IONA.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators recently approved financing for the restoration of two of Playland’s most famous rides, the Derby Racer and the Grand Carousel. The approved work includes a complete overhaul of the 104-year-old Carousel, the roof of which was damaged in a fire in 2017, and the reconstruction of the building that houses the Derby Racer, which was built in 1927. The County expects to recover a significant part of the cost of the Carousel work from insurance. In addition, the County will receive around $465,000 in Historic Preservation Grant money for the Carousel project from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Board has approved funding of $5.57 million for the Carousel reconstruction and $5 million for the Derby Racer.

County Executive George Latimer has announced that Westchester County Parks’ Inclusive Playground at Saxon Woods Park in White Plains recently received the prestigious Austin Welch Pierre Award from the Westchester Recreation and Parks Society, Inc. The award acclaims and recognizes not only those in recreation, parks conservation and allied professions, but also those who interpret the public in general excellence of effort in the field of recreation and parks. The brightly colored orange, red and green open space has an area for children ages 2-5 and an inclusive playground for ages 5-12, while its swing set accommodates all age levels and abilities. The play space takes up ¾ of an acre in the 700-acre park.

Greenwich Hospital has earned the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval for the management of diabetes in hospitalized patients and educating these patients and their caregivers in the management of this potentially deadly disease once they leave the hospital. The hospital’s program was cited for continuously demonstrating high performance standards and providing clinical services across the continuum of care for diabetes.

The Westchester Parks Foundation, the only organization dedicated exclusively to promoting and supporting Westchester County Parks, recently unveiled new informational trail kiosks at Edith G. Read Wildlife Sanctuary in Rye and Croton Point Park. This was made possible by a $20,000 grant from Con Edison toward Westchester Parks Foundation’s Trail Promotion and Environmental Awareness Program.

Maple Moor Golf Course in White Plains reopened July 4 following renovations with all 18 holes open. Improvements include: complete renovation of the 1^st, 8^th, 9^th & 18^th fairways, re-contoured to provide better pitch for stormwater runoff; partial renovations to the 3^rd & 5^th fairways; new tees on the 9^th & 18^th holes and all par 3 holes; new drainage system that includes capturing stormwater in a holding pond for reuse and to decrease the amount of runoff into the Hutchinson River; new irrigation system fed by the holding pond enabling reuse of stormwater; new cart paths and curbing throughout the course; all new bunkers and sand traps and beautification including new landscape plantings. Golf carts will be restricted to cart paths only in most areas until further notice.