Bev Sved Selected to Receive Scarsdale Bowl: Says She's "Blown Out of the Water"

Beverley Sved,  a 25-year Scarsdale resident and a dedicated volunteer, will be the 2018 recipient of the community's highest award, the Scarsdale Bowl. The Scarsdale Bowl is awarded annually to "one who has given unselfishly of time, energy, and effort to the civic welfare of the community," according to the Bowl founding documents.

Terri Simon, Chair of the Scarsdale Bowl Committee, said "Bev Sved is a volunteer extraordinaire whose long, broad and deep commitment to our community and calm, smart consensus-building has moved Scarsdale forward and inspired countless other residents." Sved will be honored at the Scarsdale Bowl dinner on Wednesday evening, April 25th, at The Fountainhead in New Rochelle. Simon encourages all members of the community to attend: "The Bowl Dinner is a warm and uplifting opportunity to celebrate the spirit of volunteering that permeates our Village and makes it truly a community." The Bowl Committee will send out invitations in mid-March. However, one need not receive an invitation in order to attend the Dinner, and the Committee encourages all who are interested to sign up for the Dinner on the Scarsdale Foundation website here. 

"The Scarsdale Bowl was initiated in 1943 to recognize an individual's outstanding contributions to the civic life of this community," said Simon. "The Dinner gives us an annual opportunity to honor a stand-out volunteer who exemplifies an approach to which we can all aspire." The Bowl Committee, a diverse group of 16 community volunteers, selects the recipient after reviewing many worthy candidates who are nominated by the community. The annual tradition of awarding the Scarsdale Bowl is maintained by the Scarsdale Foundation. The Foundation engages in a broad range of philanthropy in the Scarsdale community and supports many local institutions. One of its primary functions is funding and distributing need-based scholarships to deserving Scarsdale High School graduates and Scarsdale residents in their sophomore through senior years of college.

Last Sunday evening, the Committee voted to honor Beverley Sved, or as everyone in the Village knows her, Bev. Delegates from the Bowl Committee, including Simon, Scarsdale Foundation President Randy Guggenheimer, Foundation Liaison to the Committee Seth Ross and Committee Secretary/Treasurer Robert Jeremiah arrived at the Sved home to announce their selection. Sved was completely surprised and described getting the news about the honor as "unexpected and incredible." "I'm blown out of the water!" she said. When Simon told her that so many people were and are involved in our community because of her, Sved said, "That's so nice! That's so nice to hear!"

Sved is an engineer and Chartered Financial Analyst by training, and had a long and successful career at IBM in the areas of Corporate Strategy, Business Forecasting and Industry Analysis. At the same time she began taking on volunteer responsibilities—large and small— in Scarsdale, including serving as a Village Trustee from 1998-2002 and as Mayor from 2003-2005. In addition, Sved was a director on the boards of the League of Women Voters of Westchester and the Scarsdale Forum (both organizations in which she continues to be actively involved), a Trustee and then Vice President of the Scarsdale Foundation, a member of the Village Board Finance Committee and the Planning Board, President of the Westchester County Historical Society, a director on the boards of the United Way and Scarsdale & Edgemont Family Counseling, President of the Overhill Neighborhood Association and Chair of Scarsdale Neighborhood Association Presidents.

The community is invited to join the Bowl Committee on April 25th at The Fountainhead in New Rochelle to honor Beverley Sved who embodies Scarsdale's spirit of volunteerism.