Volunteer Profile: Tim Foley, “Ut Prosim --That I May Serve”
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Continuing our series of interviews with volunteers who give so much of themselves to Scarsdale, this week we profile Tim Foley, the current President of the Scarsdale Forum, along with many other roles. He only moved to town six years ago -- and has developed a remarkable volunteer resume in a very short time. Here is his story:
How did you first become interested in civic engagement? What in your background and experience led you on this path?
The notion that being part of a community meant investing your time, your energy, and your talents into it to help it grow, make it better for your neighbors and for future generations influenced my outlook and my sense of self from my earliest days. Community engagement and public service are my family’s motto – quite literally! The Foley coat of arms has the inscription, “Ut Prosim,” meaning “That I May Serve.” I was fortunate enough to attend a Catholic high school in Massachusetts that also drilled into us that we were charged not just to excel in faith and reason, but to “Give what you’ve been given.” My parents reflected that in their career paths: my dad is a retired Boston Police Office and my stepmom recently retired as a public school teacher in Boston.
Living on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, I was constantly finding new ways to be of service, from a few years as an Auxiliary Police Officer in the 24 Precinct to serving on the Parish Council for my neighborhood Catholic Church. Since 2005, my career focused more and more – and ultimately exclusively – on politics and government, so I’ve been fortunate enough to dovetail the mission of my work and the motivation of my volunteer activities around a common theme of making progress on behalf of my neighbors and our community.
How long have you lived in Scarsdale? Why did you decide to move here and what are some of the reasons you like to live in town?
My family moved to Scarsdale 6 and a half years ago. I had never lived outside of a city, but my wife had grown up in Hartsdale and was far more familiar with the area than I was. I had spent a lot of time over a number of years presenting at educational forums and living room gatherings throughout Westchester County as a subject matter expert on the issue of health care reform. Ironically, Scarsdale was one of the locations I’d never come to, but I knew great volunteers and activists here, like Myra Saul and Jeff Levin, and that gave me some hope that I’d fall in with a good crowd.
Like most families that continue to move to Scarsdale year after year, we came for the schools. The quality of education certainly has not disappointed. I have thrilled to see my son’s academic progress under superb teachers each and every year. With multiple teachers in my family, and with some personal experience dealing with the complex policy issues of financially struggling municipal governments and school districts, I have even more appreciation for the wealth of resources and the incredible inspiration, creativity, and love of learning the teachers and the school district work so hard to impart.
Scarsdale’s nickname of “A Village in a Park” is also very well deserved. On a crisp autumn afternoon, driving around town continues to be a breathtaking experience, and there’s nothing my daughter loves more than to spend some free time at the playground at Hyatt Field.
But by far my favorite part of living here are the people I’ve met. Scarsdalians are likely to be highly educated with very high standards for themselves and their community. But I’ve also found that most are very warm, people who put their families first, and have a real sense of pride in how our community continues to grow and change. I have friends whose families go back multiple generations in Scarsdale, friends who made their own journey here from New York City or elsewhere less than a year ago, and neighbors who have only been in the United States for a few months, but the common sense of purpose among all of them is palpable.
What were some of your initial volunteer activities here? Did anyone you met encourage you to get involved?
I knew I wanted to join the Scarsdale Democratic Town Committee (which I did and was ultimately voted in as Third Vice Chair) but was unsure how else to navigate Scarsdale’s very busy volunteer scene. At the time I moved here from the Upper West Side, I had been elected twice as President of the local Democratic Club which counted Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal among its members. When she found out I was moving here, she was only too happy to connect me to her good friend and colleague, Scarsdale’s own Assemblymember Amy Paulin. Amy, in turn, was very generous in meeting me for coffee. She recommended either joining the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale, which is how she got started in her own community service here, or the Scarsdale Forum. It was difficult for me to make the League’s scheduled meetings, so I walked into the very next Forum meeting. This wound up being superb advice, as years later, I’m now serving as the President of the Scarsdale Forum!
(And in a similar vein, listening to Amy continues to be among the smartest things I do nearly every day, as she ultimately hired me as the Communications Director in her office.)
What have been some of your biggest volunteer commitments?
I’ve been extremely fortunate to be part of several successful group efforts with other engaged volunteers that have not only were fun and intellectually rewarding, but beneficial to Scarsdale and its traditions. Lena Crandall nudged me toward chairing the Scarsdale Electoral Policy Committee of the Scarsdale Forum when she was President, and the experience of working with that committee gave me an excuse for an intensive deep dive on the traditions and intentions of Scarsdale’s somewhat unique non-partisan system for selecting candidates for village office. The thoughtful discussions we had about ways to improve the system to make it more democratic, more self-governing, and remove some old and questionable reliance on support from outside organizations like the Town and Village Civic Club that might seem odd to newcomers helped pave the way for me to serve under Chair Madelaine Eppenstein of the Procedure Committee in an effort to amend the Non-Partisan Resolution to put those reforms into action.
For the past 18 months I’ve served on the Planning Board, which has been a huge educational experience for me, as my knowledge of land use issues had been somewhat perfunctory before. Inspired by the “no stone unturned” approach of fellow Planning Board members like Linda Doucette-Ashman, I’ve rolled up my sleeves to truly understand the village’s comprehensive plan, the need to give both homeowners and potentially impacted neighbors an honest hearing, the responsibility of civic oversight by volunteer boards, and the need to constantly be questioning whether the Village Code and regulations are continuing to yield the kind of community we want to live in.
But of course, the Scarsdale Forum has been the bedrock of my volunteer commitment, with its well-balanced mix of committees that overflow with reasoned research and debate around the public policy questions that most directly affect life in the village, well organized programs with interesting speakers designed to better inform and engage the community on all aspects of civic life, and a surprisingly fun and social environment. I’ve learned so much from my fellow Forum members throughout the years that it’s been hard – indeed impossible – when asked to take on more responsibility as a Board of Directors member, committee chair, last year’s Vice President and this year’s President. I’ve found that the Forum is perhaps the best group of volunteers in town at shining a spotlight on an issue that’s of growing importance to our community and its way of life, from the discussions and frustrations that gave rise to the Downtown Revitalization Committee, to the ongoing work of the Municipal Services Committee around traffic safety, to the many successful village initiates that took a number of insistent reports, advocacy and elbow grease from the Sustainabilty Committee to get off the ground. I’m hopeful that this year’s Special Committee on Climate Resilience will be similarly successful and help focus the minds of decision makers and residents on what we practical steps we can take to reduce our own greenhouse gas emissions and prepare our community for the increased number of extreme weather events, neighborhood disruption, and public health concerns that we can anticipate over the next few decades.
Did you ever bite off more than you could chew - or meet unexpected obstacles in your volunteer assignments?
Oh, you better believe it! My family motto is much closer to “How else can I help” than it is to “Know your limits.”
It had been recommended to me that I ought to find a way to be more involved in my neighborhood association. Unfortunately, the Bramlee Heights Neighborhood Association had more or less been in neutral for a few years. I soon realized this wouldn’t just be a “turnkey” move into a new community role; it would be a true fixer-upper to rebuild the organization. Honestly, recruiting some neighbors to help rebuild the association has languished on my to-do list. (If anyone’s reading this on Brown Rd, Brambach Rd, Lee Rd, or Potter Place – email me! Let’s talk!)
I’ve also been a volunteer basketball coach for Fox Meadow through the Rec Department, to the endless shock, surprise, and bemusement of anyone who saw me play sports in middle school or high school. To say that’s been a stretch for me personally – sometimes physically so! – would be an understatement! Thankfully I’ve had a secret weapon. My sister is an elementary school physical education teacher in Massachusetts, and she’s been sending sage advice, helpful tips, and do’s and don’t from across the miles.
What do you say to newcomers you meet about getting acclimated and volunterring?
First and foremost, do what you love and you’re interested in. We all lead such busy lives these days that your ability to give back consistently will have some natural limits – particularly when it comes to time and energy. Whether you care about the PTA and the school system, or the parks and conservation, local questions of politics and policy, or national questions like gun violence prevention or social justice, guaranteed there’s an organization in Scarsdale itself or Westchester County working on it, and they’d all benefit from another pair of hands! Find the thing that you’re most passionate about, or that will connect you to the kinds of people you find most interesting or easy which which to work, since that will help keep you motivated to find that extra time to make a connection or make a difference.
And always feel like you can ask questions about how else you can get involved!
What do you think are some of the biggest challenges Scarsdale faces today?
So much of our civic infrastructure comes from volunteerism and an expectation of community engagement, but volunteerism across the board has been on a downward slope for decades in many communities, not just Scarsdale. Some of this is driven by demographics, the changing demands of the workforce, the increasingly challenging environment for raising children in the modern world, and how incredibly busy we’ve all become. That’s not even mentioning that most of us carry a perpetual distraction machine in our pockets at all hours of the day. Luckily, many of the opportunities for community engagement and service in the village recognize that volunteers have become harder and harder to come by and are experimenting with new ways to make their organizations relevant and mission-driven.
The good news is that, no matter whether we’re facing economic headwinds or real estate uncertainty, year after year, families are always trying to find a way to make their home here in Scarsdale. That means our community is always renewing itself with new faces, new talent, new ideas, new enthusiasm, and new opportunity. In my short time here, I’ve found so many fiercely intelligent and kind-hearted people who have been willing to roll up their sleeves and be as willing to do what it takes to improve the community’s values as much as they would their own property values. As long as we rise to the challenge of giving these talented volunteers a reason to invest their time and energy in Scarsdale, our future will always be bright.
Photo Opps from the UJA, Bronx River Books and the Cub Scouts
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Scarsdale resident Jennifer Galeon received the Martha K. Selig Young Leadership Award for her leadership and dedicated service to the community at UJA-Federation of New York's NY Lions Lunch on October 31, 2019, at The Ziegfeld Ballroom in New York City.
The event, attended by 450 women, also recognized Stacy Hoffman of Great Neck, Vicki Feldman Portman of Holmdel, New Jersey, and Lauren Feldman of New York City.
Pulitzer Prize winning journalists and She Said co-authors Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey were the guest speakers.
At the event, each guest signed a petition to pass the NO HATE Act, which will enable the FBI to better track, assess, and ultimately reduce hate crimes — including acts of anti-Semitism — across the U.S.
In New York, a woman who gives a gift of $6,000 or more, individually or as a family, to UJA-Federation's annual campaign is recognized as a Lion.
Reading at Bronx River Books
Author Brian T. Brown read from his new book, “Someone is Out to Get Us: A Not So Brief History of Cold War Paranoia and Madness” at Bronx River Books in Scarsdale on Wednesday night November 6. The 512-page book discusses the Cold War, Soviet espionage and covert mischief, and how these helped shape the course of American pop culture. It is published by Twelve Books and also available on Hachette Audio.
Great Carve Out
Scarsdale Cub Scouts Pack 440 was once again knee deep in pumpkins at its annual Great Carve Out on Sunday October 27. In addition to honing their knife skills, under the watchful eyes of their parents, scouts and siblings also played Halloween-themed games, heard spooky stories and topped the afternoon off with tons of sweet but scary treats. Placing first in the spooky treat contest was the Reindels, who contributed brain-topped cupcakes with “blood”-filled syringes plunged into the cupcakes.
Fire: Kids and Parents Learn What to Do in Case of a Fire
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On Saturday elementary school children were called into action when a house went up in flames at Crossway. The kids used the fire extinguishers to put out the blaze – but thankfully it was only a drill.
The fire was one activity at the Scarsdale Fire Department’s Fire Fair which was attended by over 250 people. Those who attended enjoyed a day of good weather with many activities to teach kids how to avoid fires and what to do when one occurs.
In addition to the house on fire and the “Stop, Drop and Roll” demo there was a bouncy house and a fire engine to explore. For the adults, there was a live demonstration on how to put out a grease fire on your stovetop and an oven fire. A lucky volunteer from the audience donned fire department gear and was able to demonstrate how to use a fire extinguisher on an oven fire.
New this year was the realistic kitchen cabinet prop, which showed how the grease fire, when improperly put out with water, would spread to the upper and lower cabinets. This kitchen prop was designed and built by Ashley George, a local resident and daughter to Volunteer Company # One firefighter Cordes George, as part of her Girl Scout project. Firefighter Cordes George demonstrated the improper way of putting out a grease fire on the kitchen prop. He said, “This was a great addition to our demonstration this year … it makes it more realistic.” The Scarsdale Fire Department thanks Ashley George for her work on this project.
Also new this year, the children were entertained by a reading of “The Story of Sparky the Fire Dog” by Captain Stephen Mulcahy. Each child who attended the story time received a copy of the book and had their book signed by a firefighter. Kids also enjoyed hot dogs, popcorn and cotton candy.
Steve Rossi, of AAA Emergency in North White Plains, was on hand to educate the public on the selection of a proper fire extinguisher.
Photos by Jon Thaler. See more here:
Expert Panelists Answer Sensitive Issues About Womens' Health
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“Many things get better as we get older – but many get worse,” admitted Dr. Kay Lovig, with a laugh. But then the endocrinologist from White Plains Hospital went on to offer numerous valuable suggestions and solutions for women confronting health issues as they age. This was the topic at a panel discussion on Thursday October 24th at Sunningdale Country Club that featured four physicians and a family nurse practitioner, all ready to address women’s concerns about “What the Heck is Happening to My Body?!” Sponsored by White Plains Hospital, the breakfast event drew a crowd of almost 200 women. The panelists demystified many problems that women experience and are often hesitant to discuss whether it is with their friends or their doctors.
The discussion was hosted by Dara Gruenberg, a member of the White Plains Hospital Foundation Board, whose idea it was to create this safe forum for dialogue. Gruenberg opened the discussion by saying that “the impetus for the event is that I feel women deserve to have conversations about what is happening to our bodies as we age out in the open, in the light of day.” She organized questions by topic, eliciting frank answers from the experts by allowing attendees to submit their queries anonymously before the event. As the discussion went on, audience members could ask direct questions themselves or send up a card with a written questions too. The audience was on the edge of their seats, eager to hear real answers to questions that many never had the courage to ask. Gruenberg did a great job of keeping the conversation going and focusing on information the audience wanted to hear. One attendee said, “At times, a doctor would speak scientifically, but Dara gently interjected, asking her to repeat her answer using less technical language. I got so much out of this.”
Topics included hormonal health, sleep issues, changes in aging skin, preventive care, breast health, sexual health and myth busting. No topic was off limits, including those that got a laugh, like hair growth in new places and hair loss in others; to those met with knowing concern, like facing treatment for breast cancer. The message from all the panel members was one of empathy, empowerment and self-advocacy. Melissa Ferrara, a family nurse practitioner from Maze Women’s Sexual Health, suggested, “If one option doesn’t work for you, go back. Ask for another approach.”
Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, breast cancer was top of mind. Breast surgeon, Dr. Ananthakrishnan, was asked what women could do to prevent breast cancer and if there was any link between breast cancer and soy consumption. She said, “There’s no magic to preventing breast cancer. Eat green leafy vegetables, whole grains and food in its natural state. Stay away from fatty fried foods. Limit drinks to 4-7 per week, take vitamin D and get 40 minutes of exercise at least three times a week.” About soy, she said, “soy is okay in moderation…. It would be hard to eat enough soy to bump your estrogen level.”
Preventative health was top of mind for all of the panelists, who all considered lifestyle choices an important part of health management. Of course, no one offered a magic fountain of youth, not even dermatologist, Dr. Athena Kaporis, who made some welcome suggestions for reducing the effects of aging on the skin. When asked about the value of Collagen powder she debunked the myth that its actually effective because the powder gets broken down through the digestive system.
What else happened? Well, as the saying goes, what happens at a women’s health panel discussion stays at a women’s health panel discussion! But I can share that the main take away from the event was to seek help from a doctor if issues arise and to know that resources are available. This was stressed several times throughout event, including providing follow up information for all of the panelists. After the event, an attendee offered, “It's good to know I am not alone.”
Kudos to the panelists and White Plains Hospital for presenting so many manageable options to treat the often ignored effects of aging for women.
Scarsdale's WeRun Team Supports the Annual Westchester Run
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The Scarsdale WeRun team participated the Westchester Healing Half and 10K charity runs on Sunday October 6 on the Bronx River Parkway. There were a total of 28 runners, the biggest team in this race. They took the overall first place (Shuangyuan Luo), overall third place (Nick Chien) in Men's 10K; second place (Shenghua Hu) in Men's 50-59 Half Marathon and third place (Lei Zhang) in Men's 40-49 Half Marathon.