Sunday, Sep 29th

On Thursday May 6 at 7:30 pm, the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale will sponsor a BOE Candidates Forum in the Scott Room at the Scarsdale Public Library. The candidates for the Scarsdale Board of Education will be invited to participate. After the candidates speak briefly, there will be a question and answer period. The public is invited and encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Jane Veron at 472-2933.

Dr. Jennifer Ashton, Medical Correspondent for the CBS News Network, will share her unique perspective on the devastation in Haiti and the challenges that face the Haitian people at a luncheon at Scarsdale Golf Club on May 14. In January, Dr. Ashton traveled with a medical team to Haiti, where she treated victims of the earthquake for eight days. She is a daily contributor to the Early Show and appears regularly on the CBS Evening News.

The luncheon is sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale. All League members are invited to the League’s annual meeting, which will be held before the luncheon at 11 am and will include electing a new board and adopting a budget and program. The luncheon will begin at 11:45 am. To RSVP, call Anne Lyons at 725-9810. The cost is $40 per person ($45 after May 7) and is payable at the door or in advance (make your check payable to League of Women Voters of Scarsdale and mail to Anne Lyons, 82 Greenacres Avenue, Scarsdale 10583).

Suzanne Seiden is running for Scarsdale School Board in the first contested elections in at least 20 years. She was nominated by the Scarsdale School Board Nominating Committee and encourages you to vote on May 18th. Here are Suzanne's credentials:

Suzanne has been a tireless volunteer at all levels of the Scarsdale school system and in our community. In all her activities, including as president of the Middle School and Quaker Ridge PTAs, Ms. Seiden has continuously demonstrated a passion for the critical issues facing the our school district as well as a capacity to work with others to deliver meaningful results.

Over the past nine years, Ms. Seiden has had numerous leadership roles, starting with her efforts for two years as Co-Chair of the PT Council Young Writers’ Conference and as Co-Chair of the Scarsdale Schools Bond Committee in which she helped organize and lead the community’s efforts to pass a bond to support necessary construction on the Quaker Ridge School. She subsequently served the Quaker Ridge PTA president-elect and president where, among other efforts, she worked with the other PTAs to change the funding of elementary school playgrounds.

Following her experience at the elementary school level, Ms. Seiden served as the President-elect and then President of the Middle School PTA where she focused on creating a school of empathy and implemented a new fundraising program for the school. She has also had leadership roles on the Scarsdale Task Force on Drugs and Alcohol where she worked with other parents, school administrators, and Village representatives to create and deliver programs and educational material for youth and adults about drugs and alcohol. She also currently serves as the Publicity Chair for the Scarsdale High School Scholarship Fund.

In addition to her activities with our schools, she has volunteered on a number of community organizations including with the UJA Federation, Scarsdale League of Women Voters, and Temple Israel Center.

Her volunteer activities in Scarsdale build upon professional experience as a labor and employment lawyer at Clifton, Budd and DeMaria and service in the federal government. During the Clinton Administration Ms. Seiden worked as the General Counsel of the Office of Personnel Management, the chief legal officer for the federal government’s human resources agency, and in the Wage and Hour Division of the US Department of Labor where she helped coordinate the Administration’s anti-sweatshop initiative.

Ms. Seiden graduated from Tufts University and Boston University Law School; she is married to Kevin Thurm, and has three children in the Scarsdale Schools: Eric, 12th grade; Jason, 9th grade; and Samantha, 3rd grade.

Learn more about Suzanne Seiden at: http://www.vote4suzanne.webs.com

One out of every 110 children in America today has autism, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. It’s a statistic that members of Team Scarsdale C.H.I.LD. know all too well.

Since 2002, this dedicated group of parents, friends and educators has joined forces and fund-raising talents to walk in the annual Westchester/Fairfield Walk Now for Autism Speaks. Their mission is two-fold: to promote greater awareness of this devastating disorder in our community, and to raise money for desperately needed scientific research. In its nine years as a team, Scarsdale C.H.I.L.D. has raised more than one million dollars for autism research; each year, it wins Autism Speaks’ award for most successful fund raising walk team in the nation. “It’s the best way we know to address this urgent global health crisis that has impacted so many of us personally,” says Scarsdale C.H.I.L.D. team captain Liane Carter.

On Sunday, June 6th, the team will again be walking in the 2010 Walk Now for Autism Speaks on the campus of Manhattanville College in Purchase, New York. A fun-filled, family friendly event, it will feature a petting zoo, bounce castles, face painting, temporary tattoos, music, a stage show, costume characters, kids’ games, refreshments and a Resource Fair featuring special needs service providers and programs. “It’s a wonderful experience to be with so many others who are passionate about this cause,” says Liane. “We pull together as one strong voice for the autism community.”

And it also takes a village. A dedicated group of Scarsdale High School students have organized their own Autism Speaks Student Club that runs fund-raising events throughout the school year. “When I first started the club almost two years ago, I wanted to change the way people looked at and treated individuals with autism spectrum disorders,” says Max Rolison, SHS junior. “I knew raising awareness about autism was an important step to take; however, it wasn't until I had already started the club and it became one of the largest and most successful clubs in the school that I really realized how crucial it was that people better understand autism.”

In support of Autism Awareness Month in April, club members enlisted the help of Leah’s Hair Salon to offer free blue hair extensions for a $10 donation, have run a trunk show at LF, and will be hosting an hors d’oeuvres and silent auction benefit April 24th. Club officer Toby Millstein, a senior, says that for her, the walk in June is particularly significant: “It's a day where I am reminded of just how important my work for SHS Autism Speaks really is. ”Last year, the club received the 2009 Top Autism Speaks student club recognition award. Christie Godowski, Greater Hudson Valley, Westchester & Fairfield County Regional Walk Director for Autism Speaks, noted, “Scarsdale High School is the standard to which we hope all of our clubs across the country will strive.”

SHS Club members and Team Scarsdale C.H.I.L.D. also work closely with Walk Chair Ellen Cohen, another Scarsdale resident. A tireless and longtime community activist on behalf of children with special needs, Ellen has been responsible for several years for recruiting and organizing the 200 volunteers who participate on walk day; this will be her second year chairing the event. “I so admire the strength, courage and unswerving optimism of our families,” Ellen says. “That dedication and sense of community is what I cherish every year at our walk. It stays with me and lifts me up for the rest of the year.”

Autism Speaks is the nation’s leading advocacy organization for the complex neurobiological brain disorder, which inhibits a person’s ability to communicate and develop social relationships, and is often accompanied by behavioral challenges. Walk Now for Autism Speaks is their signature event, taking place in communities across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

“Our kids deserve our commitment and hope,” says Liane. “We won’t stop walking until there’s a cure.”

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Ellen Cohen at elco428@hotmail.com. All teen volunteers will receive an individual certificate of community service for their efforts. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit the team page at: www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/westchesterfairfield/scarsdalechild

Where: 2900 Purchase St, Purchase, NY 10577 (Manhattanville College)
Date: June 6, 2010
Time: 9:30am–2:00pm
Phone: 914-934-5138

Email: westchesterfairfield@autismspeaks.org http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/westchesterfairfield

For more information, contact Liane Carter at lcarter@cloud9.net

Scarsdale High School’s Mock Trial team finished first in Westchester County this year, in a tournament sponsored by the Westchester County Bar Association. The team, in its ninth year of competition, also won the county championship in its first year of existence.

This year’s case imagined a Ponzi scheme concocted by Shawn Miller, a stand-in for real life schemer Bernard Madoff. In six rounds of trial – sometimes prosecuting Mr. Miller, and sometimes defending him – Scarsdale emerged victorious.

“We've been practicing hard since early December when the New York State Bar Association released this year's case,” said Ethan Gottlieb, a defense attorney for the team. Since “trial season,” which started in February, Gottlieb said the team has been practicing more frequently and fervently. The team faculty advisor and coach is SHS Social Studies teacher Daivd Heyman.

Team members pictured here are:

Curan Mehra - Defense/Prosecution Attorney
Ethan Gottlieb - Defense Attorney
Vidya Venkatakrishnan - Defense Attorney/Defense Witness
Callie Gilbert - Defense/Prosecution Attorney
Morgan Hecht - Prosecution Witness
Brian Guggenheimer - Defense Witness
Lisle Winston - Defense Witness
Peter Herman - Prosecution Witness
Harrison Shapiro - Prosecution Witness

The 41st annual Scarsdale 15K and 4-mile run took place on a Sunday April 11. The race is conducted by the Scarsdale Recreation Department and co-sponsored by the Scarsdale Antiques Running Club. It is the longest running race in Westchester County, and the course winds through Greenacres and Fox Meadow. The weather was crisp and clear and runners came out in force. Free coffee was provided by Lange’s Deli. A list of the top finishers can be found below and all the results are on the village website.

Scarsdale resident Alan Lowenfels and his son Ted ran the 4 mile race, both wearing “barefoot” Vibram 5 fingers running shoes that look more like latex gloves for the feet than shoes. Lowenfels said, “I’ve run this race many times, even in the 70s with Abe Simon and the Scarsdale Antiques Running Club, but this year was a totally different experience. Not only was I joined by the next generation, my son Teddy made his debut, but we both ran in our new “barefoot” shoes… the Vibram 5 Fingers. What a great experience.... you feel the road and it's great for your body.”

Lowenfels added, “the 4-mile race starts at Scarsdale High School, heads north through Greenacres and then turns left up the Kingston hill, that always seems steeper when you're running. Then we head back through Fox Meadow. With all the trees coming into bloom and the feeling of exhilaration in my new running shoes it couldn't have been a better day. 178 runners finished the 4-mile run and 129 completed the 15K. My son Ted led in the 20-29 age group. Family and friends came to cheer at the finish line and we all felt like winners.”

15K Overall Winners:

Jonathan Sumpter: 55:37
Emmy Stocker: 1:08:06

15K Scarsdale First Finishers:
Justin Harris: 56:17
Elizabeth Thompson: 1:10:57

4-Mile Run Winners:
Matthew Morel: 23:52
Cara Roberts: 27:12