Sherwood is Honored at the 2011 Scarsdale Bowl Dinner

The atmosphere was warm and festive at the 2011 annual Scarsdale Bowl Dinner at Lake Isle Country Club on April 6. This year’s honoree, Emily Sherwood, is a beloved member of the community and her wide network of friends and supporters came out in force to celebrate her service to Scarsdale.

The room overflowed with present and former Mayors, Village Trustees, School Board members, and participants in the many activities, causes and committees on Emily’s lengthy resume. Also on hand were three of the Sherwood’s four children, her husband, mother, and family friends. The 2011 Bowl Committee should be credited with identifying an honoree who has touched so many lives in a meaningful way.

The 2011 Chair of the Bowl, former School Board member Rita Golden, offered welcoming remarks and Rabbi Rick Jacobs gave the invocation. He told the group

that Emily is “in perpetual motion” and said “how blessed we are to have neighbors who give of themselves for the common good." He credited Sherwood with “lending her heart and her mind to making the community better.” Calling forth a Passover message he advised, “Rather than sit and wait for Elijah, we should make our community a more noble and enlightened place.”

2010 Bowl Winner Jackie Irwin briefed the room on the work of the Scarsdale Foundation and asked the community to be generous with college scholarship support for Scarsdale students. The Foundation provides need-based scholarships to those entering their sophomore, junior and senior years, and last year awarded $76,000 to 24 students. Sherwood serves on the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. Irwin recognized Nancy Michaels who has served as the secretary/treasurer of the Bowl for three years and presented her with a gift.

Sherwood’s two sons captivated everyone with their moving and humorous speeches about their energetic mom. Her second born, Rich Sherwood, told the group how his Mom’s volunteer career followed his progress through the Scarsdale Schools, and stifled his social life every step of the way. When he was at Heathcote Elementary School she was the President of the PTA; when he was in the Middle School, she judged the speech contest; at the opening of the Teen Center, she cut the ribbon. Even worse, as a teen at SHS his mother co-chaired the Scarsdale Drug and Alcohol Task Force, putting the police on his tail. Finally at his high school graduation, his mother was serving on the School Board and handed him his diploma.

All kidding aside, he told the group how thankful he was to have her as a role model and marveled out how many friendships she maintained while juggling a dizzying array of commitments. He ended by telling the group that "my Mom has more Facebook friends than I do!"

Her first-born son Matt continued a family tradition and wrote a poem about the honoree. Speaking in verse he called Sherwood a real life superhero with rippling

biceps like Michelle Obama. Several times he was so funny that he stopped to laugh at his own clever lines. Referring to her work on the renovation of the Quaker Ridge School foundation he said,

“She has a Penn education and a phd,
But she could have used an engineering degree”

And ended with,

“You’ll continue to strive higher.
This won’t be the last time we see your face in the Scarsdale Inquirer.”

Next, she was given a humorous and heartfelt toast by three colleagues from the Board of Education; Florie Wachtenheim, Terri Simon, and Bob Steves.

They called her “discreet and modest” about her many accomplishments and Steves said, “The Bowl is not about the length of the resume – but the consistent value-added.” They credited her for initiating the Young Writers’ Workshop in Scarsdale and laughed about her crawling around the foundation of the Quaker Ridge School in a hard hat. They noted that she is a strong advocate for her point of view, but also a team player who is respectful of others. They noted her ability, sense of humor, her character and her heart and said they were enriched by the opportunity to work with someone that they each call a friend.

Rita Golden then presented Sherwood with the Scarsdale Bowl, and Emily took the podium. She said she was “totally overwhelmed” and thanked Rabbi Jacobs, her sons, her family, her fellow Board members, the Bowl Committee and Rita Golden. Sharing the limelight with the audience she said, “There are dozens and dozens of individuals who qualify for this Bowl award because of your tireless activities to make our village and schools better -- and indeed – this is an evening that celebrates the accomplishments of our entire volunteer community."

She said that “collaborative decision-making” is done well in Scarsdale, and that the non-partisan system is the ultimate model of collaboration. Referring to the

recent election, she said, “The fact that this year’s village election was more rancorous than usual does not mean that the system is broken. In the Scarsdale tradition we need to reinvigorate a healthy conversation among folks on both sides of the debate to insure that our time-honored system continues to serve Scarsdale well.”

Sherwood encouraged all to give their time and told the group that she had “received so much more in return for volunteering in Scarsdale than I could possibly have given.”

The evening was a wonderful celebration of Sherwood, Scarsdale and all the volunteers that work endless hours for the community.

The 2011 Scarsdale Bowl Committee

Rita Golden, Chair
Jane Buck
Matthew Callaghan
Marc Carter
Jonathan Drescher
Malula Gonzalez
Liz Gruber
Joyce Hirsch
Carolyn Mehta
Laurence Mintzer
Anne Moretti
William Natbony
Robert November
Seth Ross
Tara Smith Tyberg

Non-voting
Jacqueline E. Irwin, Ex Officio

Nancy Michaels, Secretary/Treasurer