Recreation Department Proposes to Build Eight Pickleball Courts
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Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the U.S. and with so many racquet enthusiasts in Scarsdale, the Recreation Department would like to give residents a place to play.
At an April 26 work session of the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Recreation Department Superintendent Brian Gray and Assistant Superintendent Bob Kaczmarek presented a proposal to build eight pickleball courts at Crossway Field. They explained that during Covid, permits for tennis, platform tennis and pickleball had skyrocketed and they recognized the need to build more courts to accommodate players.
In order to offer pickleball clinics on the platform courts, the Rec Department considered two temporary solutions to convert the platform courts to pickleball courts. One is to purchase interlocking tile systems to adhere to the platform courts at a cost of $10,000 per surface and another is to use chalk and painter’s tape to draw lines onto the platform courts. Both methods have disadvantages and are time consuming to set up.
Another method is to paint pickleball lines onto tennis courts. Four pickleball courts can be placed on one tennis court. However, that takes a tennis court out of service and the lines can be confusing.
Instead, the Rec Department priced out the construction of eight pickleball courts, about the size of two tennis courts, to be built at Crossway field where a tennis attendant is already in place. The capital request was for $410,000 and it was approved with the 2022-23 Village budget in April.
After receiving some objections from neighbors about the noise of the pickleball, Gray looked into options to quiet the bounce. He suggested purchasing acoustic barriers to be installed on three sides of the courts. Though they would not eliminate the sound of the ball, they would greatly reduce it. He showed a video of the acoustifence sound reduction at the meeting. Watch the video here:
Commenting on the proposal, trustees asked why Gray was proposing to build eight courts rather than four. He said, “We think that if you build it they will come! This is another opportunity for recreation in the Village. If we only put in four we are going to need to put in another four shortly thereafter.”
Trustee Ahuja applauded the proposal. He said, “Pickleball is the fastest growing sport in the US. Racquet sports are part of the Scarsdale culture and I support this. You addressed the objections. Job well done.”
Trustee Brew echoed the compliments and added, “This would be good for empty nesters and older residents who we don’t always address.”
Trustee Gans agreed, saying “We should build them the way they should be done. The acoustic fence demonstration was great.”
Carnival Returns After a Three Year Hiatus
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For the first time since April 2019, the Scarsdale High School Carnival made its much-anticipated return. The town tradition is always a hit, as the two-day event sees thousands of Scarsdalians flooding the Brewster Road parking lots to eat carnival food, make purchases from Scarsdale High School Clubs’ fundraising stands, test their fears on high-thrill rides and try their luck in games to win prizes.
It was hard to fathom that three years had gone by since the 2019 carnival as the scene on Brewster Road felt very familiar.
The carnival functioned as per usual: pre-paid wristbands could be purchased for unlimited rides prior to the carnival’s commencement, or tickets could be bought at a booth on the day of (as well as the wristbands but for a higher price). All of the typical games were on show: giant basketball, whack-a-mole and shooting games. Many hit rides were in attendance, though there were three notable omittances: the Ferris wheel, the drop tower, and the “Zipper.”
The Ferris wheel was always an enjoyable ride for anyone, whether it be two high school sweethearts sharing a gondola, first graders trying to conquer their fear of heights, or even parents who have been dragged to the high school by their children. The drop tower was a hub for brief gut-wrenching excitement, though its absence was not detrimental. The “Zipper” not being on offer was noticed by the majority: there was a common consensus among all Scarsdale students, from Kindergarten to 12th grade, that the “Zipper” was the scariest ride of all. The ride, which has cages loosely hung on a rotating central ovular axis, sends riders flipping in all sorts of directions from multiple different focus points. The “Zipper” was truly the cream of the crop of carnival rides when it came to the fear factor.
Nonetheless, the carnival did not lose any potential visitors: if anything, it was busier than ever. Lines for every ride, whether it be the wild rocking boat ride or zero-gravity-simulating Alien Abduction or even tea-cups, were long. There was a novelty about the carnival, even though there were not necessarily new attractions. Everyone simply just wanted to have fun and feel the rush of adrenaline that was missed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Of course, not everything ran smoothly. Lines were often cacophonous clusters, so people waiting the longest did not always get priority. Perhaps the large turnout, compounded with the absence of three-hit rides, did not help.
Still, people were just glad the carnival could make its long-awaited return, an attraction that signals the beginning of the end of the school year for all.
The Scarsdale High School Carnival had some charitable profits which helped the Trevor Project, the student government, high school clubs, and much more.
Community Read: Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence by Anita Hill
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Scarsdale Family Counseling Service and the Scarsdale Safe Coalition, along with the Scarsdale Public Library and the Friends of the Library are sponsoring a community Book Read and follow up community program. They encourage residents to read Believing: Our Thirty-Year Journey to End Gender Violence by Anita Hill during the April vacation.
On April 19th at 7:30 PM, they will host a Virtual Evening with Anita Hill, with discussion facilitated by Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Nicholas Kristof. The program can be viewed either from home or on the big screen at the Scott Room at the Library. Register here.
The book can be borrowed from the library, or purchased with a 10% discount at the Bronx River Book Store.
Documentary On the History of Quaker Ridge to be Shown on April 19
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The one room school house on Griffin Avenue is where children from Quaker Ridge went until the Quaker Ridge Elementary School was built and expanded in the fifties. It is now the caddy headquarters at Quaker Ridge Golf Course. Credit: Scarsdale Public Library Collection.The Scarsdale Historical Society is pleased to announce its newest documentary titled, ‘Scarsdale's Quaker Ridge: Its Heritage and History.’ The film traces the untapped history of Quaker Ridge’s Quaker legacy, leading abolitionists, hidden stories and transformation to a modern community. The screening will be at the Quaker Ridge Elementary School Auditorium on Tuesday, April 19th at 7:00 PM.
The 35-minute film explores this section of Scarsdale through archival photography, documents and present-day footage. There is also expert commentary from Westchester historians Barbara Shay MacDonald, Jordan Copeland, Barbara Davis and Patrick Raftery. The film is directed by Lesley Topping, an award-winning editor and filmmaker who grew up in Scarsdale.
“In this documentary, we are pleased to feature the unique history of Quaker Ridge and shine a light on its important past,” said Randy Guggenheimer, President of the Scarsdale Historical Society. “This is the latest in a series of films about Scarsdale’s neighborhoods, and we hope the community will join us to discover the rich history that led to the establishment of Quaker Ridge.”
Following the 35-minute film, there will be a Q&A session with Topping and special guests. Admission is free. The event is co-sponsored by the Scarsdale Historical Society and the Scarsdale Public Library.
Register for the premiere here:
Joseph Carpenter with an orphaned child. He was an influential abolitionist originally from Scarsale who advocated an end to slavery and sheltered fugitives and runaways prior to the Civil War.
The crew filmed at the historic Colonial Acres Cemetery -- John Sears camera, Jordan Copeland with Iphone. Nicolai Gorden holding screen is the Narrator of some of our films and helped on the crew that day.
First Print Issue of Scientific Scarsdalian Shows Professionalism and Direction
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After months of researching, writing, editing, designing, printing, and much more, Cindy DeDianous, Matthew Barotz, Simone Glajchen, and other members of the Scientific Scarsdalian STEM publication finally got the opportunity to distribute their first in-print issue. The science focus, literary aspect and artistic appeal made the magazine the talk of the school. The relatively-young club has a fruitful future ahead of them, as shown by the present progress.
DeDianous, Barotz, and Glajchen are scientists and journalists who might be mistaken for professionals, though they are still in high school.
At the beginning of March, when members of the Scientific Scarsdalian club stood at the entrances handing out copies of their first issue, people were in for a pleasant surprise. Rather than receiving a nice-looking magazine student publication, they were handed a scientific magazine of a special quality. This issue, centered on psychology, discussing topics such as illusions, dreams, seasonal depression, optogenetics, the bystander effect, and much more. The complex crossword puzzle cannot be forgotten either.
Editor-in-chief DeDianous was proud of how the first edition came out and has high aspirations for the future of the club/STEM-based magazine.
“One thing that was really important,” explained DeDianous, “is that the articles are engaging and accessible because a lot of times, people don’t read about science; it can be super dense and hard to get into if you don’t have background knowledge. We wanted to make sure everyone, no matter what knowledge they had, could gain something from it and find it interesting and want to come back to it.”
The result was a publication that was accessible but at the same time sophisticated enough to provide readers with new information to learn. DeDianous said, “People who like both humanities and STEM and art can join the club and have the chance to write about interesting topics, both on the more technical side and more interesting curiosity about the world around us. It’s a really great place for people of different interests to mix. We have a graphics team, writing team, and all of that.”
The club as it is known today was only founded last year, with a website as the sole hub for their articles, and the goal of producing an issue in print so that it “can be shared with the entire Scarsdale community.” There have been previous attempts to create a “Scientific Scarsdalians,” club, but these were unsuccessful. This new club hosts the website which you can see here, (https://scientificscarsdalian.org/), and is gaining traction through the print edition and articles online.
The next magazine is already in progress, “We are thinking of doing an environmental theme for the next issue. For example, something that is Scarsdale-related is our compost system. There are lots of interesting details behind it, but most people don’t know how it really works,” shared DeDianous.
This ties into the greater them of what makes the Scientific Scarsdalian truly the official STEM magazine of Scarsdale, rather than just another generic science magazine. The club aims to introduce as many local elements as possible to their issues. There are some student-led studies that do not tie back to Scarsdale necessarily, but all of the articles either mention ties to the community or are conducted by the young scientists within the community.
DeDianous describes the club community as a welcoming, interesting place, saying, “I think our teamwork is a really important aspect of encouraging people to work together on articles or peer edit, get feedback from both the officers as well as other writers to really get multiple eyes on something and take different perspectives into account. At meetings, we brainstorm, outline, write, edit, and other times we mix in fun events, such as Kahoots to change things up and test people on their scientific knowledge.”
The budding club will only continue to grow as the years pass and their magazine could soon become the main “resource for Scarsdalians to get scientific information that they might not be able to get otherwise.”
Scientific Scarsdalian Club Officer list:
Editors-in-Chief: Simone Glajchen and Cindy DeDianous
News Editors: Jaden Tepper and Rose Kinoshita
Opinion Editor: Matthew Barotz
Feature Editor: Irene Li
Creative Director: Olivia Liu
