Scarsdale's First Responders Honored at Public Safety Awards Ceremony
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Twenty-two first responders were recognized at the Public Safety Awards Ceremony on September 13 at Crossway Firehouse. David Raizen, President of the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps was the Master of Ceremonies with remarks from Village Manage Al Gatta, Scarsdale Mayor Bob Steve, Scarsdale Trustee Kay Eisenman and Scarsdale Police Chief John Brogan.
Below are remarks from David Raizen as he announced the awards with photos courtesy of EMT Scott Rubins.
Good morning to Mayor Steves, the Board of Trustees, Village Manager Gatta, Chief Brogan, Deacon Gaskin, and distinguished guests.
Chief Brogan, I am proud of the 43 yearlong relationship between the finest police department in Westchester and our Volunteer Ambulance Corps. It is you and your excellent officers that keep us safe while we do our job and I want to publicly thank you for the great work your department performs for the well-being and security of our first responders and the Scarsdale community.
Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps was dispatched to more than 1,300 calls this year and transported 796 patients to nearby hospitals. SVAC handles 99.9% of its 
calls without going mutual aid.
Last year 7% of our calls were handled by a second crew, predominantly by a dedicated group of five pager-wearing members who leave work, family functions and half-eaten meals to generate a response time that continually beats the national average of first due ambulances.
In 2012, 11% of our calls were mutual aid requests. We responded as far west to Hastings, as far east into Rye, and most frequently to Greenburg and New Rochelle. These calls to help our neighboring towns included heart attacks, unresponsives, choking victims, major traumas, and more.
Most of what SVAC does in a year goes unnoticed by the general public. And, because of HIPAA laws, we have nobody to share our war stories with. There are many moments of stress, some moments of grief, and even a few moments of laughter.
When we were in our planning phase for Super Storm Sandy working with the Police, Fire, Public Works and town officials we had no idea as to the level of destruction the village infrastructure would face. So we stationed our 3 ambulances throughout the village. One at our headquarters, one at Station 1 and the third ambulance was stationed at the city garage. This advanced planning by our community leaders paid off.
During the first 28 hours of activity for Super Storm Sandy we received 13 dispatches for medical calls and some of the calls were at the height of the storm with transport times exceeding one hour to get to White Plains Hospital since so many roads were blocked.
I would like to recognize the many individuals that were the first responders on these calls and ask that you come forward when I read your name.
Paramedic, Robert Cinquemani
Paramedic, Scott Glaessgen
Paramedic, Robert Rizzo
Paramedic, Will Pendleton
EMT, Rachel Chalchinsky
EMT, James Gross
EMT, Drew Hahn
EMT, David Lawless
EMT, Andre Mercado
EMT, Kathy Pascale
EMT, David Raizen
EMT, Genevieve Ronan-Schechter
EMT, Scott Rubins
Crew: Cash Jones
On behalf of the village and residents of Scarsdale I thank you all.
During the High School Graduation on June 22, 2012 the air temperature reached 91° with the humidity at 96%. As the graduation was concluding suddenly 12 people needed to be carried off the field and be treated for serious heat related illness. Another dozen or so walked into our triage tent seeking medical attention or escape from the heat and humidity.
The following individuals are receiving special recognition for their work in treating so many patients with expediency and care under these extreme heat conditions. Will the following join me.
1. Paramedic, Jeff Ferrara
2. Paramedic, Al Garavito
3. EMT, James Gross
4. EMT, Marc Guthartz
5. EMT, Drew Hahn
6. EMT, David Lawless
7. EMT, David Raizen and crew members
8. Debbie Fuchs and
9. Jon Thaler
Congratulations to you all!
Will Paramedic, Robert Rizzo and EMT, Drew Hahn please come forward.
On August 24, 2012 just before 6 am Paramedic Rizzo and EMT Hahn were dispatched by the Scarsdale Police Dept. to the Hutchinson River Parkway and delivered a healthy 5lb baby girl named Savannah.
Would EMT, James Gross please come up!
We have a Commitment Award for this SVAC volunteer who continues to serve well beyond what is expected from him. EMT Gross is receiving recognition for dedicating over 1,500 hours of service to this community in 2012. Thank you Jim for your above and beyond effort.
Jim please stay here... and would EMT, Drew Hahn please come up!
We have a Special Recognition Award for these two SVAC volunteers who helped us move into the age of electronic data collection. Both Drew and Jim worked for over a 
year and successfully implemented a system for the electronic patient care record in order to comply with recent state regulations. Drew... Jim... thank you and congratulations.
I would like to ask EMT, Marc Guthartz and EMT, Karen Sheer Carpenter to please come forward for our final recognition award.
This Special Recognition Award is not for their longstanding service to the community as the Emergency Medical Technicians they are, but for their work in community outreach.
EMT, Guthartz and EMT, Sheer-Carpenter have each trained over 500 citizens in CPR, the use of an AED and Choking Rescue. The classes they conduct are 4 hours long and held several times a month at the ambulance headquarters. On behalf of Scarsdale and its neighboring communities we thank you for your work in training others to help save lives.
In closing ... I would again like to thank the Village for inviting us here today and thank Village Manager Gatta, and the Board of Trustees for their unwavering support.
Let's have a final round of applause for all of our award recipients and for all the first responders here today.
Kids' B.A.S.E. and The Little School Appoints Assistant Director
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Kids' B.A.S.E. and The Little School (K.B.L.S.) is thrilled to announce the appointment of Carmelita Bota as Assistant Director effective for the 2013-2014 school year. Ms. Bota has been an Early Childhood Director for over 20 years managing profit and non-for-profit Early Childhood Education (ECE) programs. Most recently, Ms. Bota served as the Director of St. James the Less Nursery School. Among her accomplishments, Ms. Bota established the first on-site intergenerational program in Westchester County called the Caring Connection that received numerous awards. She also helped establish the EastRidge Enrichment Center, the first corporate sponsored center through the American Business Collaboration for employees of EastRidge Properties, IBM, PepsiCo, Texaco, Bell Atlantic and MasterCard, and was awarded the Parent Partnership Award by Corporate Family Solutions for her accomplishments in work family issues.
"Carmelita brings a wealth of knowledge to our school and I look forward to working with her over the upcoming years," says Executive Director Deborah Fine.
Ms. Bota holds BA and MS degrees in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, a Montessori Pre-Primary credential, a New York State Early Childhood Trainer's credential, is a recognized ECE trainer by the Office of Children and Family Services, a training coordinator for the Child Care Council of Westchester, and has instructed ECE college level courses in collaboration with Empire State College.
Board President David Liebewitz states that: "Ms. Bota is already a part of the Scarsdale community and we look forward to having her at K.B.L.S., where we know she will be a great asset to the school!"
Ms. Bota is the mother of two sons. She says, "they have been an enormous inspiration to me, as a working mother, to provide the best quality programs for children". When not working, Carmelita enjoys photography and cooking.
K.B.L.S. offers the highest quality of educational, social, and care experiences possible for resident Scarsdale children from age 3 through Grade 6 under the leadership of Executive Director Deborah Fine and a Board of Trustees comprised of community residents. Kids' B.A.S.E. and The Little School are accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, chartered by the NYS Board of Regents, and licensed by the NYS Office of Children and Family Services. K.B.L.S. offers year-round extended hours of operation to accommodate children and families through a range of programs including:
• The Little School: Scarsdale's premier preschool program with classes for 3s and 4s.
• Kids' B.A.S.E.: Before- and after-school enrichment and care programs for children in grades K-6.
• The Little School Summer Enrichment Camp: Full of fun learning experiences, swim instruction, crafts, sports, and daily swim.
• Summer Set Before-and-After Camp Enrichment: Summer enrichment programming for children in grades K-5.
Click here to visit their website.
Scarsdale Bar-Mitzvah Boy Uses Gift Money to Help Establish Basketball Team for Ethiopian Children in Israel
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The northern Israeli city of Safed, known for its beauty and as an historic center of Jewish mysticism, has welcomed a new basketball team to town care of a bar-mitzvah boy from New York. Basketball fan Josh Wasserman of Scarsdale decided to donate his bar-mitzvah gifts to establish the team and renovate a new court for children who live in a center for new Ethiopian immigrants in Safed.
Josh decided he wanted to do something to help economically disadvantaged children in Israel after hearing stories about how little some kids there have from his father David Wasserman, who had just returned from a UJA-Federation of New York mission to the country.
Together with UJA-Federation's "Give a Mitzvah-Do a Mitzvah" program, Josh and his family — also big lovers of basketball — thought it would be a great idea to bring something they are passionate about to the Ethiopian children in Safed. He decided to donate gifts from his bar mitzvah to make the new team a reality. Josh's siblings also wanted to take part in the project and donated from their own savings as well.
Josh's bar mitzvah gift covers the renovation of the court, the hiring of a new coach for a year-long training program, and buying special uniforms with the name "Team Wasserman" printed in both English and Hebrew.
Josh plays on several basketball teams in New York, including an American Athletic Union (AAU) basketball team called the Riverhawks, the Temple Israel Center of White Plains team, and beginning this fall he will play for the Scarsdale High School team. His older brother, Daniel, 16, also plays basketball for Temple Israel in White Plains (he represented the United States on the Juniors soccer team in the 19th Maccabiah Games in Israel last month), and younger brother Adam, 10, is also on an AAU basketball team. His sister Hannah, 6, is just starting to play sports. David, their father, played basketball at Amherst College, and their mother, Carolyn, participated on the Maccabiah Track and Field team several times.
"I was looking for a way to do something special and meaningful in connection with my bar mitzvah. Since my family and I are passionate about the sport of basketball, we were thrilled to find a way to allow Israeli kids to experience the sport that we love so much. I'm so fortunate that I'm able to give the kids in Safed the chance to play competitive basketball on a real team with their own coach and new court," said Josh Wasserman.
"Give a Mitzvah–Do a Mitzvah program of the UJA-Federation of New York enables bar and bat mitzvah students to create their own unique mitzvah project that connects their interests and hobbies," said Brittany Wayne of UJA-Federation of New York. "Josh's project is truly amazing. Not only does it provide other young kids with a great example of how to become more involved in philanthropy, it also helps to strengthen the relationship between the Jewish community in New York and in Israel."
A special dedication ceremony took place today at the Ethiopian Absorption Center in Safed. Josh Wasserman and his family joined the kids there to officially open the new basketball court. Speakers at the ceremony included Ilan Halperin, representative of UJA-Federation in Israel.
Photos from Ceremony:
Top Photo: The Wasserman family with the new team.
Photo credit: Ilan Halperin
SSTTE Names New Director of Youth Engagement
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Maura Koenig has joined the professional staff of Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El (SSTTE) as its new Director of Youth Engagement, it was announced by Ellen Baken, president of this leading Westchester Reform Jewish congregation.
Ms. Koenig comes to Scarsdale Synagogue from Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City, where she worked with that Reform Jewish congregation's Director of Informal Learning on an exchange program with Israeli teens, as well as planning for, and chaperoning at, a variety of social action and religion-oriented teen activities. A 2011 graduate of SUNY Oswego, she spent her own teen years deeply involved in temple youth group activities in Syracuse, NY, including leading a National Federation of Temple Youth trip to Israel. In her new position, Ms. Koenig succeeds Ivy Cohen, who is moving to Louisiana, where she will oversee and coordinate youth engagement efforts among several Reform synagogues in New Orleans area.
"As I begin my second year at Scarsdale Synagogue," said Rabbi Jeffrey C. Brown, "I feel blessed to be teamed with Cantor Becker on the pulpit, with Rabbi Pein newly heading our religious school, with Jody Glassman in our well-regarded Mazel Tots® early childhood program and, now, Maura to work with the kids who represent the next generation of committed Jewish adults."
Ms. Baken commented, "Our Synagogue's search teams have now completed an impressive multi-year process of adding high-energy experienced professionals to connect with our congregation and the Westchester Jewish community at all levels. We look forward to Maura spearheading our busy and exciting youth engagement initiatives, and making the new youth lounge, which we completely renovated and dedicated last March, even more of a hub for relaxed but productive times for our teens and pre-teens."
About Scarsdale Synagogue
Scarsdale Synagogue Temples Tremont and Emanu-El is a Reform Jewish congregation committed to creating, with and for its 500 member families, a covenant community of shared lives and real relationships. Founded in 1961, the Synagogue was joined by the memberships of Tremont Temple of the Bronx in 1976 and Temple Emanu-El of Southern Westchester in 2008. For further information, contact Gary Katz at GaryKatz@sstte.org or 914-725-5175.
Scarsdale Swimmers Make Waves at The Counties
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Scarsdale swimmers are making waves at "The Counties," the Westchester County Swimming Association 88th Annual Championship swim meet, at the Rye Playland Pool from July 29 to August 1. Scarsdale swimmers representing teams at Wykagyl Country Club and the Scarsdale Municipal Pool are excelling in the meet. Five Scarsdale families are swimming for Wykagyl Country Club and many of these swimmers are qualifying for finals each night – a great accomplishment for these young athletes.
The Scarsdale children who swim for Wykagyl are: Michael and Justin DiSanto; Emmeline and Scotty Berridge; Aidan, Megan, Brendan and Ryan Lee; Sophie and Mia Carroll; Claire, Joseph and Elizabeth Scarcella.
On Monday July 29, the first night of The Counties, the relay team of Ryan and Brendan Lee (Scarsdale) along with Austin Graham (Larchmont) and Steven Amato (Eastchester) won the boys 13u 200 medley relay breaking a record that had been set in 2002. Megan Lee placed 6th in the girls 10u 50 breast, Justin DiSanto placed 1st in the boys 10u 50 breast and Brendan Lee placed seventh in the boys 12u 50 backstroke.
On Tuesday, July 30 the relay team of Justin DiSanto and Aidan Lee (Scarsdale) along with Jason Amato (Eastchester) and Ian Steffensen (New Rochelle) placed first in the 10u boys 200 medley relay; Megan Lee placed sixth in the girls 10u 50 free, Justin DiSanto placed first in the 10u boys 50 free; Ryan Lee placed first in the boys 13u 200 IM and Brendan Lee placed seventh in the boys 12u 50 butterfly.
On Wednesday July 31, the Wykagyl 10u boys relay team of Justin DiSanto, Aidan Lee, Jason Amato and Ian Steffensen again took first place – this time in the 200 freestyle relay. Additionally, Justin DiSanto finished second in the 10u boys 50 back and Brendan Lee finished fifth in the boys 12u 50 breast. The 17u girls 200 medley relay team consisting of Scottie Berridge (Scarsdale), Madeline Simone (Larchmont), Dulcie DelPriore and Ellie Provenzano (New Rochelle) placed fourth. The meet continues Thursday at Playland Pool. All results can be found on www.wcsa.usswim.net.
Swimmers from the Scarsdale Municipal Pool also placed in many of the races this week. Here are their results:
- On Monday, Joy Jiang came in fourth in the girls 10u 50 breaststroke race. Daniel Needham came in eighth in the Boys 17u 100 fly.
- On Tuesday, the Scarsdale girls 10u relay team took fifth place in the 200 medley relay with Danielle Eforo, Joy Jiang, Arden Costello and Helena Leroy. The boys 10u relay team placed sixth with Rowan Haffner, Thomas Peckett, Ivan Sinyarin and Sam Denison. Also, Graham Novitch placed seventh in the boys 14u 50 back.
- On Wednesday, Joy Jiang took first in the girls 10u 50 back, breaking a record set in 1994. Graham Novitch took fifth in the boys 14u 100 fly and the 10u boys 200 freestyle relay team of Ivan Sinyavin, Dylan Jansky, Rowan Haffner and Thomas Peckett placed fifth.
Next week is the Westchester Conference Championship meet with prelims Monday through Wednesday at various pools and the finals on Thursday at Westchester Country Club.
