Florie Wachtenheim to Receive 2012 Scarsdale Bowl
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Florie Wachtenheim has been selected by the Scarsdale Bowl Committee to receive the 2012 Scarsdale Bowl, the highest honor for service to Scarsdale. Wachtenheim will be the 75th recipient of the Scarsdale Bowl Award and the 22nd woman selected. Nominators on the Scarsdale Bowl Committee recommended Wachtenheim as “a volunteer leader in Scarsdale who invariably worked cooperatively with neighbors to make the right choices as a group. Her ability to find and solidify a consensus has been exceptional. Her trustworthiness and caring often have carried a group beyond sharp differences and to view changes in a new light.“
Wachtenheim has experienced and led an extensive “tour” of educational service opportunities over her years in Scarsdale from the day she became a resident in 1981 with a husband and one child. Even before her third son was born in 1989, she already had accepted responsibility in the Fox Meadow School PTA.
Her “tour” was marked by growing levels of responsibility from the time in 1994 when she became President of the Fox Meadow PTA. Important roles have been accorded to her at Scarsdale PT Council, School Board Nominating Committee, Middle School PTA, Scarsdale Teen Center, Scarsdale Bowl Committee, Scarsdale Scholarship Fund, Scarsdale Board of Education, League of Women Voters, and Scarsdale Adult School.
Wachtenheim’s sons attended Scarsdale schools, K-12, and now are graduates of colleges and universities. Her business activities included, for twenty years, a role as Administrative Vice President, Merchants Importing, Inc. She is now an Associate at the executive search organization Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates, Ltd. where she conducts executive searches for school districts.
Asked about her reaction to the news, Wachtenheim said, “Quite frankly, I was astonished and actually a little bit unnerved. I’ve always felt tremendous support for the contribution and spirit this award acknowledges, and I did not consider that I came close to meeting the standard that the Scarsdale Bowl represents.”
What were her favorite volunteer posts? Wachtenheim told us that she enjoyed “those connected to education, and most emphatically, those where I’ve been able to feel a direct connection to people in the community including the Fox Meadow PTA Presidency, the Board of Education Presidency, and chairing the Scarsdale Bowl Committee in 2008.
Some of her most memorable volunteer jobs including her work on the founding of the Teen Center, on the steering committee to explore an education foundation for Scarsdale as well as serving as a judge of the Middle School speech contest, as a facilitator at Young Writer’s Conference and as the liaison to the High School government at SHS.
The Scarsdale Bowl Dinner on Wednesday, April 18, celebrates the spirit of volunteerism in Scarsdale and includes the high moment when the Scarsdale Bowl is received. The Scarsdale Bowl Committee was formed initially as an independent entity in Scarsdale. It remains an independent committee of resident citizens, but the Scarsdale Foundation has the duty to maintain the Scarsdale Bowl tradition. For further information, go to www.scarsdalefoundation.org .
Greenburgh Police Release Annual Crime Stats
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Greenburgh Police Chief DeCarlo released statistics for Part I and Part 2 Criminal Offenses for the year 2011. Part I Offenses are considered serious crimes by the United States Department of Justice and included Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Homicide, Larceny, Motor Vehicle Theft, Robbery and Rape.
Greenburgh Overall
During the year 2011, a total of 768 Part I Offenses were reported to the Greenburgh Police department as compared to the 730 reported in 2010 and 932 in 2009. This represents an increase of thirty-eight (38) offenses, or 5% over 2010 . This increase was primarily the result of the slight increase in larcenies from vehicles but on a positive note is the decrease of robberies from 26 in 2010 to 10 in 2011, a 62% decrease.
A total of 1,206 Part 2 offenses, which are considered less serious criminal acts, were reported in 2011. This was an increase of 141 over 2010 or 13%. This increase was driven by an increase in identity theft, criminal mischief and public order complaints.
Edgemont
In Edgemont burglaries decreased from 20 in 2010 to 15 in 2011, however larcenies increased from 90 in 2010 to 108 in 2011. Reports of criminal mischief rose from 43 incidents in 2010 to 52 in 2011.
See more details on Edgemont incidents below:
Three Views of Hitchcock's 99 Years
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To celebrate the centennial of Hitchcock Church, the Perspectives committee will host a special panel discussion and luncheon featuring three experts on the history of the church in Scarsdale. The event, titled “3 Views of Hitchcock’s 99 Years ,”will bring together Scarsdale Village Historian Eric Rothschild, Tom Hughart, a long-term Pastor in the Hudson River Presbytery and Scarsdale Inquirer Editor Linda Leavitt. They will discuss the Scarsdale, Westchester and civic view, the Presbyterian Denominational view, and the personal view of a member who grew up in Scarsdale and Hitchcock.
New area residents and new members of Hitchcock are urged to attend and older members of Hitchcock and the community are invited to participate and contribute their own recollections. All interested historians or active members of the community are welcome.
A buffet luncheon will be provided at noon, at a fee of $10 and will precede the panel. Reservations for the event are required.
Reservations for available seats and servings can be made by telephone or email no later than Wednesday, January 25. Earlier reservations are strongly encouraged. Call or email, Merrell Clark at 914-472-6238 or merrellclark@gmail.com. (Leave your phone number and email address on the message.)
Special “Perspectives” Panel Luncheon
Hitchcock Presbyterian Church
January 27, 2012 at Noon
Lower Children’s House
6 Greenacres Avenue
Scarsdale, NY
“Perspectives” is a subcommittee of Presbyterian Women of Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, Liz Perrone, Chair; Jensina Olson, Chef.
Woman Drives Mercedes Into Burger King
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On the afternoon of 1/20 a 73 year-old woman, ironically named Thressiama Panicker, of Dalewood Drive in Hartsdale, backed her car into the Burger King at 556 South Central Avenue, Scarsdale. Driving a 1985 Mercedes, Panicker was attempting to exit a parking space and had the car in reverse when she struck the front of the restaurant instead, breaking through the glass doors and stopping 3-4 feet into the lobby of Burger King against a support column. In the process, she also hit a 1998 Honda that was parked outside. Fortunately, no one was injured. The owner of the Honda is 91 year-old Irving Sprinsky of 60 Morrow Avenue, Scarsdale, who was eating inside Burger King at the time of the accident. A tech rescue team, the detective division, the building department and the Greenville Fire Department were all called to secure the restaurant. Everyone was evacuated while the building department assessed the structural damage to the building. It was determined to be safe and the two cars were towed to Glenn’s Towing.
On the afternoon of 1/17 police responded to Walgreens on Central Avenue on a report of two males attempting to have a forged prescription filled. The two men became irate when they were told the prescription could not be filled. Both were recorded on the video camera, leaving Walgreens in a white BMW 2D with a black roof.
Threatening Posts: During the week of January 12, several members of the Edgemont community reported receiving anonymous letters that were threatening and insulting.
Feuding Neighbors: On Elizabeth Street in Scarsdale, neighbors continued to feud, with on reporting that her neighbor drove over her garbage can on the night of 1/18. The two homes share a driveway. Police went to the house and spoke to the man who hit the cans who claimed he had not seen them, and that the cans were placed on his property without his permission. Officers are unable to determine the location of the property line.
District Narrows Budget Gap for 2012-13
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The Scarsdale School district appears to have avoided a feared budget crisis posed by the 2% tax cap imposed by NYS State. At the first of two community budget forums on the night of January 11, Assistant School Superintendent Linda Purvis presented a preliminary look at the 2012-13 school budget and the feared $8 million gap has now shrunk to $1.5 million.
The projected $8 million gap for 2012-13 was the difference between what it will cost to run the schools and the taxes that could be levied to support the budget. Under the cap, the district can only raise the tax levy by 2% over the 2011-12 levy, without receiving any relief from state mandated costs that are rising at double-digit percentage rates. To comply with the cap, the Board and Administration feared that draconian cuts would be necessary.
However, new projections show that the district has contained expenses this year and expects lower costs next year that together will cut $6.500,000 from the $8,000,000 gap. The district will realize an unanticipated surplus in the 2011-12 budget due to personnel related savings, and surpluses from reduced utility and health insurance expenses totaling $3,100,000. Purvis explained that many senior staff members have retired and been replaced with new teachers at lower salaries, decreasing the district’s personnel expenses. In addition, the district has reduced the staff by 13 full time positions and 7 support staffers since 2008-9. The $3.1 million savings from the 2011-12 budget, coupled with an estimated $3.4 million reduction in the 2012-13 budget will yield $6.5 million, thereby reducing the $8 million gap to $1.5 million.
Under an override provision of the tax cap law, the Board can decide to present a budget to the community that exceeds the 2% gap in the hope that residents will approve the budget with 60% or more of the vote. In the next few months they will seek community input and weigh community values versus economic necessity to make this decision.
After presentations from Purvis and Superintendent McGill on the enhanced education offered in Scarsdale, the Board asked for public comment. Though attendance at the meeting was strong, the group was relatively quiet. Statements in support of the budget were made by representatives from the PT Council Executive Committee and the Coalition for Scarsdale Schools. Speaking for the PT Council Executive Committee, Suzanne Glaser said, "while it is obviously necessary to be fiscally responsible in these difficult economic times, we feel that it is critical that the administration and Board of Ed create a budget that continues to provide the outstanding education that is the primary reason many of us moved here."
Miriam Popp Seely of the Coalition called the tax cap “an arbitrary number waived around by politicians in Albany that could undermine the program,” and said that the “community has demonstrated support for quality and unique programs.” She urged the Board to “consider core community values before coming up with a budget that complies with the cap.”
Several residents questioned the Board’s budgeting, with one resident posing questions about the funds the Board holds in reserve and another asking for a long term plan that could ease the budgeting process year over year. The meeting, which had been planned to last two hours ended early as a subdued group digested the news that big cuts would likely be averted.
A second community budget forum is planned for Wednesday January 18 at 10 am at the Girl Scout House on Wayside Lane. Community members are encouraged to attend. This was just the first conversation in the budget process that will continue until the vote in May. Stay tuned.
