20th Annual Judaica Craft Show Comes to White Plains November 16-17
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A dazzling array of Judaic crafts and jewelry will be shown and sold at the annual Bet Am Shalom Synagogue Judaica Craft Show, now celebrating its 20th year. The show begins on Saturday, November 16, at 8 p.m. and continues on Sunday, November 17, 10:00 a.m.-–5:30 p.m.
The juried show features hundreds of unique works in all price ranges, created by 50 artists – nearly half from Israel, the rest from the U.S. and Canada; they include many well-loved favorites along with a dozen entirely new to the show. Featured are one-of-a-kind items representing the finest in handcrafted Judaica ritual items and stunning jewelry, in original designs ranging from the contemporary to the traditional. Visitors will also discover beautiful objects in ceramic, silver, fabric, wood, paper and other media, created for ritual, decorative and practical use in the home and synagogue. A sampling of the work can be seen at betamshalom.org/judaica_craft_show.
The artists, who will be present to talk with visitors about their work, were selected from a large pool of applicants by a jury of Judaica art curators. Local artists exhibiting include Rachel Heisler Sheinfeld and Diane Cherr, both of Scarsdale.
Ann Schaffer, show chairperson, said, "Jewish tradition encourages us to create, beautify and celebrate all aspects of Jewish ritual and practice. It is a joy to see how the show's artists creatively imbue even functional objects with meaning, in work that is always fresh and original."
She added, "Many Judaica collectors visit the show year after year to keep current with new developments in the field, because this is the only juried show of its kind and caliber in the Northeast."
Funds from the show support the artists and Bet Am Shalom Synagogue and its vibrant role in the Westchester Jewish and wider community. Approximately 200 volunteers help with the logistics of this annual event.
Admission to the Judaica Craft Show is $8 per person (Sunday re-entry free if paid Saturday night), or $7 with an invitation card or online voucher.
Bet Am Shalom Synagogue is located at 295 Soundview Avenue in White Plains. For additional information and directions please call 914-946-8851 Mon.-Fri. or visit www.betamshalom.org.
(Photo at Right) Sail Candlesticks, by Amy Reichert, Chicago, IL (satin nickel silver and mahogany)
(Photo at Top) Tree of Life pendant, by Idit Jewelry, Israel (18 karat yellow gold and 0.10 karat diamonds)
Car Show and Window Painting: Both in Scarsdale Village on Sunday
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For the first time in history, the Scarsdale Concours d'Elegance, an antique and exoric car show in Scarsdale Village will coincide with Halloween Window Painting on Sunday October 20. So whether you're an auto buff, or the parent of a budding artist, you may find yourself admiring a vintage auto and some spooky artwork at the same time.
Window painting is on from 9 am to 4 pm and the car show takes place from 10:30 am to 4 pm. The Scarsdale Recreation Department is aware that these events will be held at the same time and according to Seniore Recreation Leader Dan Walczewki, "To alleviate some traffic in the village and make windows more easily accessible, we will be using many less windows in the "downtown" area of the village this year, and more in other locations."
One event that will not take place on Sunday is the Halloween Costume Parade. The parade will take place on Halloween Day, after school on Thursday October 31.
Now in its tenth year, the Scarsdale Concours d'Elegance will feature over 120 vintage, classic, and super-exotic automobiles, including
dozens of marques such as Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Cadillac, Chrysler, Cisitalia, Cord, Corvette, Delahaye, Duesenberg, Facel-Vega, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, LaSalle, Lincoln, Lotus, Maserati, McLaren, Mercedes Benz, Packard, Pagani, Porsche, Rolls-Royce.
Proceeds from the Concours d'Elegance will support Scarsdale & Edgemont Family Counseling Service, White Plains Hospital, and the Warrior & Family Assistance Fund.
Con Edison Reviews Improvements To Reduce Widespread Outages
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If another storm with the caliber of Hurricane Sandy comes through Scarsdale, will power outages be as extensive? That was the subject of a meeting with the Scarsdale Board of Trustees, Village Managers and representatives from Con Edison on Tuesday night October 8 at Village Hall.
Last January, the trustees met with Con Edison to review measures that could be taken to decrease widespread power outages and to get help here sooner if outages do occur.
At the meeting on October 8, Con Edison reviewed steps they have taken since that time and ongoing work that is being done to improve emergency service. On hand were Tony Suozzo, who is the General Manager of Con Edison for the Bronx and Westchester, Steven Parisi, Richard Boscarino and Jane Solnick.
Here's some of what has been done to help:
Personnel : Con Edison is working on ways to train and use "underground resources" or other Con Edison personnel who do not usually work on the wires to back up teams during the storm. Retirees will also be tapped to come back to work in the event of a storm, provided they remain qualified.
Mutual Aid: They have streamlined the process to recruit "mutual assistance" from other utilities around the country so that these teams can come to our area more quickly when needed. New "business rules" are in place to insure coverage from other teams in the event of widespread outages.
Liaisons: Three municipal liaisons have been assigned to Scarsdale who are familiar with our roads, public 
buildings and infrastructure. These same liaisons will remain here during a storm.
Power Grid: Con Edison has supplied a map of the power grid to Village managers.
Utility Poles: All of the utility poles have been tested and those that were found to be damaged have been replaced with sturdier aluminum poles. When poles are hit by car, Con Edison replaces those damaged poles with the new poles.
Between January and April 2013 outside contractors worked in Scarsdale to repair the temporary fixes made to the wires during the storm and to install new utility poles where needed. There were about 40 extra overhead crews here doing storm "hardening " work.
From April through June, 2013 fuses were installed to limit the extent of outages. About 84 new fuses were installed in Scarsdale. Switches and isolating devices were installed to interrupt long stretches of feeder lines and prevent widespread power outages.
Con Ed is also doing extensive tree work, and said that following the storm residents were more willing to have trees that overhang power lines trimmed or removed.
Gas Lines: Trustees asked Con Edison about the wait time to have a new gas line installed in a home. Con Ed reported a backlog and says it now takes 4 -6 months to have a gas line installed – which many need to install a home generator. They reported they are getting 50-60 requests a week from County customers and are completing 20-30 per week. They are trying to reduce the wait time to 60 days.
Both the Village Managers and the Trustees seemed generally pleased with the progress made by the utility company – with one exception. Trustee Jon Mark ended the meeting by saying, "My one disappointment is the speed at which you are training this back-up team. We need to move this along."
Grandparenting Group at Congregation Kol Ami
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Attention first-time grandparents: If you're adjusting to new realities and redefined relationships here's a workshop to help you transition smoothly into your new role. Sometimes the child's parents consult you, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they want your opinion, sometimes not. How do you become—and stay--connected, involved, and fully participating grandparents?
A group of new and experienced grandparents at Congregation Kol Ami in White Plains meets monthly to discuss the challenges and opportunities of grandparenting.
Grandparents learn communication strategies from each other and feel comforted to learn that problems they face are shared by others. Participants remind each other of how much impact they have on the lives of their grandchildren and how important their grandparenting can be. Grandparents in the group will grow to trust each other and share their feelings. "We know how lucky we are to be grandparents," says one previous group member, "and it's good to be reminded that the small problems we encounter do not overshadow the joy and exhilaration of grandparenting."
The new group will meet the first Monday of each month, from 9:15 to 10:45 a.m. Group leader Susan Davis, LCSW, a social work psychotherapist, grandmother, and long time member of Congregation Kol Ami, has been running parenting groups for over 30 years. This program is free, and open to the community.
The grandparenting group is one of the many community groups at Kol Ami. Information about this and other programs or about Kol Ami is available at www.kolami.org or by calling the Ilene Miller, Program Manager at Kol Ami 914-949-4717, extension 111. For further information or with questions, contact Susan Davis at 914-683-3928 or email her at susanhopedavis@hotmail.com.
Young Artists Perform at the Edgewood Classical Café
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On Thursday October 3rd Edgewood students performed at the first Classical Cafe of the 2013-14 school year. The second graders were all smiles when they entered their lunchroom where the tables were covered with tablecloths and centerpieces and cups overflowing with popcorn. Fifth graders Ashley George and Danielle Eforo introduced the performers Grace Scott and Claire Scott, who played the piano, Andre Tsou and Karl Li, who played the violin, and Arden Costello and Megan Lee, who entertained the students with a dance routine. While eating their lunch, the second graders listened to music from composers Nancy Faber, Arcangelo Corelli, Jon George, and Antonin Dvorak. At the end the Teacher in Charge Mrs. Anders presented the performers with red roses and the student waiters and waitresses served popsicles to all of the students and guests.
