Saturday, Nov 23rd

carly1Two SHS seniors were recognized for their sportsmanship and academic achievements with the Scarsdale High School Scholar Athlete Honor Society Award. One female athlete and one male athlete are chosen each year. Elliot Graham and Carly Glickenhaus received the awards, and their names were engraved on plaques which will be hung on the wall outside the main gym.

The student-athletes who are selected must have a GPA higher than 3.5 and demonstrate sportsmanship, dedication to a sport and to academics, leadership, honor, integrity- not only for talent on the field but also for character. Deans Thompson and Gibbs, both gave speeches at a ceremony on Friday morning June 17 in the gyms, presented by Ray Pappalardi who directs athletics. Elliot lead his team in goals and assists, and gained everyone's respect as a quiet leader. Glickehaus recorded over a hundred saves in net for the Raiders Soccer team this year and was All-League and All-Section.

Congratulations to Carly and Elliot.

nushoesScarsdale High School Senior Zoe Frishberg is now creating custom made sneakers that make great gifts for everyone on your list. She started to paint the shoes as gifts when her friends were admitted to college during the school year. "My friends were really excited about getting into their dream schools and I wanted to give them something to celebrate", explained Zoe. They were thrilled to receive custom made sneakers adorned with their school's logos and colors. She quickly realized that the idea could extend beyond just college logos, however. Little kids love them too. When her 3 year old cousin, Maddie, visited her house and saw the colorful painted sneakers on Zoe's desk, she wanted a pair for herself. "She was fascinated by all the colors and designs on each shoe", she explained. Zoe created a personalized pair to include Maddie's name, her favorite hobby, ballet, and her love for NYC. She even painted a picture of Maddie's dog on the shoe (pictured below).

Zoe now paints shoes for kids, grads, and grown ups, with sizes ranging from infant to adult and would be happy to create a pair for you. "I really enjoy designing shoes that people will love" she explained. Your shoes can be adorned with college logos, sports teams, camp logos, emojis, symbols, favorite characters and any other personal attribute or interest all in your favorite colors. Local buyers can provide their own shoes or she can purchase them for you. Designs can be painted on any canvas shoe, like vans or converse. The shoes are a great present for graduation season. To order your pair, email shoesbyzoe@gmail.com and describe the shoes desired.

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kensicoreservoirWhile some Scarsdale residents are alarmed enough about our water supply to drink only bottled water, one Scarsdale man is taking his concerns much further.

Steven Blau, an attorney for Jeffrey Levin of Scarsdale, has filed a federal complaint charging that Westchester's Water District #1 violated a 2006 EPA ruling requiring them to treat this area's water supply with ultra-violet light by 2012. The treatment would prevent contamination of the water supply by cryptosporidium. He also claims that the water district misled customers by failing to disclose the full terms of a 2015 consent order with the EPA over its failure to meet federal drinking water standards. According to Blau his client may have gotten sick from the water when he "experienced symptoms consistent with these organisms."

Since the county failed to build the plant, the EPA settlement now requires the water district to include notifications in water bills advising users that the water supply could contain high levels of cryptosporidium that may cause a threat to the elderly, children and those with compromised immune systems.

There's no question that the county failed to comply with the EPA order. However, there is also no proof that the water supply is dangerous. According to the Scarsdale Village website, the Annual Drinking Water Quality Report for 2015 shows that, "Importantly, although the water supply is not presently subject to ultra-violet treatment, ongoing routine testing has not detected any Cryptosporidium exceedance in Scarsdale drinking water. Such testing will continue through completion of the necessary treatment facility upgrades."

Westchester County has implemented a Cryptosporidium action plan, which includes weekly monitoring of water taken from the Kensico Reservoir for the presence of cryptosporidium. The results are posted on the County's website weekly, and can be found here:

In addition, the EPA settlement requires notification in water bills, so all affected customers should be aware of the issue.

We spoke to Blau to ask what he hoped to accomplish with the lawsuit and he said, "Several things ... Avoid another Flint Michigan or Milwaukee, achieve recognition of the problem and try to get relief in the water bill while the water is not in compliance. We want to get a discount to the consumer."

However, it should be noted that one of the reasons that the County failed to comply with the original order was that they claimed that they did not have the funds.

In order to pay for the treatment plant and extensive upgrades to Scarsdale's sanitary sewer lines, the Village of Scarsdale now bills residents a sewer rent fee on their water bills. These funds, along with the fees for water usage are being used to fund the new treatment plant. According to Scarsdale's Deputy Village Manager Robert Cole, "Fees collected by Scarsdale fund both local and county infrastructure needs. Whenever the county pays a penalty associated with compliance or facility construction, the fee/penalty is passed on to water users through rates or taxes."

So even if Blau and Levin were successful with their lawsuit, the cost of the penalty would, in the end, be paid by these same water customers.

lawn-clippingsThe Scarsdale Board of Trustees will consider a resolution to stop the pick-up of grass clippings at their meeting on June 14th. See below for the rationale behind the move as well as venues to comment. You can either attend the meeting and speak or email your comments to: clerk@scarsdale.com.

The resolution was suggested by the Village's Sustainability Committee who favors grasscycling. Read more about grasscyclycing here and read the note from Scarsdale Village below: 

Potential Discontinuation of Grass Clipping Pick-up Scarsdale's Commitment to the Environment: Grasscycling

The Village of Scarsdale is supportive of lawn care maintenance and improvement strategies that benefit residents and the environment. Grasscycling, also known as grass mulching, is the process of leaving grass clippings on the lawn during and after mowing instead of the practice of bagging and removal. This organic lawn material quickly decomposes, improving soil structure and providing fertilizer and moisture for turf. Grass clippings are a valuable natural resource that provide numerous benefits to the environment. In addition to leaving clippings on the lawn, they can also be used in plant beds as a mulch layer or in home compost piles.

In order to encourage grasscycling throughout the community, the Scarsdale Village Board will be considering local law amendments to exclude grass clippings from the organic yard waste materials eligible for curbside pick-up by Scarsdale Sanitation staff. With discontinuation of curbside grass clipping pick-up, residents could then elect to either grasscycle or transport their grass clippings to the Recycling Center at 110 Secor Road, where they can deposit up to 200 pounds per day at no charge. Any contractor working for a resident would be charged $125 per ton to deposit grass clippings at our facility, which is the same rate they are presently charged.

Public Discussion Opportunities
The Scarsdale Village Board's June 14, 2016, agenda will include a Resolution Calling for a Public Hearing on June 28, 2016, for purposes of discussing approval of a local law amendment to exclude grass clippings from the organic waste eligible for curbside pick-up by Scarsdale Sanitation Department staff.

If you wish to comment at the June 14th Village Board meeting, which will be held at 8:00 p.m. in Rutherford Hall, 1001 Post Road, Scarsdale, NY, you may do so during the public comment segment of the meeting, which takes place near the beginning of the meeting. You may also send written comments by email to the Village Clerk at clerk@scarsdale.com.

If you are unable to attend the June 14th meeting, you will have another opportunity to voice your comments when the Public Hearing is held on June 28th, 2016. Again, you may also submit written comments at any time ahead of the public hearing by email to the Village Clerk at clerk@scarsdale.com.

Please contact Robert Cole, Deputy Village Manager, at (914) 722-1100 with any questions.

MrRightstein"All things pass...Perhaps the passage of time is a kind of healing, or a kind of salvation granted equally to all people." ― Mizuki Nomura, Book Girl and the Suicidal Mime

The theme for the Third Scarsdale Literary Salon is Time! You are invited to an evening of books, authors, music and wine at the Scott Room at The Scarsdale Library on May 26th, 2016 from 7.30 pm to 9.00 pm.

Finding Mr Rightstein by Nancy Kelton is a memoir of her journey - with all the love, hope, sadness and loss that life brings with it, and that time may heal.

The prolific Steve Lewis will read a few of his 'Time' related poems..including Floaters and others on turning 70.

In On the Rocks by Rebecca Marks, Dana Cohen retires from her twenty-two year career as a NYPD detective, and increasingly relies on her drinking as her life becomes more complicated. Then her estranged husband comes back into her life - with flowers, promises and a murder he claims he did not commit.
In Will's War by Lynn Lowin, one ordinary April morning, Will Bradford leaves his unhappy Connecticut home in the 21st century and finds himself in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. The year is 1861 when talk of Civil War is everywhere.

One of the endeavors of The Scarsdale Salon is also to encourage young artists. This Salon will feature Roshita Anandani, a 13 year-old at the Scarsdale Middle School, who will play some well-known favorites on her guitar.