A Gala for Good on October 22. You're Invited
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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The Scarsdale Rotary Annual Gala at Scarsdale Golf Club is planned for October 22, 2026 and you’re invited!
The evening promises to be a festive celebration of two Scarsdale honorees and the philanthropy and community service of the Scarsdale Rotary.
The event will recognize Wilson and Son Jewelers who has been giving monthly grants of $3,250 to worthy Scarsdale organizations and Scarsdale10583, who has been delivering local news to Scarsdale residents since 2009. You can buy tickets, raffles and sponsorships here.
Enhancing the experience, a host of Scarsdale restaurants and businesses are donating the food drink. Enjoy a delicious dinner supplied by:
Chat American Grill
Marigold Indian Restaurant
Meritage Restaurant
Moscato
PopoJito
One Rare Italian Steakhouse
Aries Wine and Spirits
A live band will be on hand to lead a dance lesson and there’s a big raffle for amazing big screen televisions from Valueelectronics.com and other prizes.
Better yet, funds raised will go to continuing support an impressive list of worthy organizations including:
Feeding Westchester
White Plains Head Start
Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corps
Scarsdale Edgemont Girl Scouts
Children's Village
Scarsdale PBA
Scarsdale Firefighters Association
SPEAK (Asian American Mental Health)
BSA Scouts
New Immigrant Community Empowerment (NICE)
Along with these groups worldwide:
Dreams from the Slum (school in Nigeria)
The Cookstove Project (clean cookstoves in Africa and Asia)
Medical aid to Ukraine,
Medical scholarships in Liberia
Polio eradication,
Clean water,
Girls' education, and other efforts.
There could not be an easier way to support your community and giving around the glove. Tickets are just $160 each and you can purchase them now. We hope to see you there.
Therapy Dog Brigade Seeks Teams for Training
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- Written by: Heidi Lobel
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Jessica Lola in class.Bettina Klein loves visiting Scarsdale schools with her therapy dog Chester, a cuddly King Charles Spaniel. The team, trained and certified by Therapy Dog Brigade, visits the village’s elementary schools and the high school to assist the district’s counselors in helping kids with emotional and behavioral issues, to help teach acceptance and compassion, and serve as stress relievers for both students and staff. “After more than 30 years in Scarsdale and raising my children here, all of whom went through the Scarsdale schools, it means a lot to me to be able to give back to the community that has been such a big part of our lives,” says Klein. “Watching the students relax, smile, and enjoy petting Chester is incredibly rewarding.”
Klein and Chester are just one of dozens of teams deployed by Therapy Dog Brigade in Scarsdale and throughout Westchester, as well as in Rockland and Fairfield Counties. In addition to schools, the non-profit organization sends teams to rehabilitation centers like Burke in White Plains, to hospitals and other medical facilities like MSK, also in White Plains, to Ronald McDonald House at Westchester Medical Center, to senior living facilities, and to area libraries.
With demand high for their services, Therapy Dog Brigade is rapidly expanding and looking for new teams to train with their experts this fall. The organization is offering pre-course screening appointments on October 4 at the American Red Cross in Greenwich, and October 6 at Raymour and Flanigan in White Plains. This is a chance for dog owners to learn if their pet is a good fit for dog therapy. Fall classes begin in October at the SPCA in Briarcliff Manor and at the Round Hill Community House in Greenwich.
Heidi Penny at Fox Meadow.
“Being part of a therapy dog team is a wonderful opportunity to do meaningful volunteer work that touches many lives,” says Heidi Lobel, Therapy Dog Brigade’s executive director.
And she says for Scarsdale residents and their pets, there are many opportunities to bring comfort and smiles locally in their town and in nearby communities.
Jessica and Lola, a rescued golden doodle, took the training course at the SPCA in Briarcliff Manor this summer and passed their certification test. Jessica says they recently moved from New York City to Westchester, and she decided to enroll in the course because Lola is “amazingly chill and calm, and she’s amazing with kids,” all attributes of a successful therapy dog. Jessica and Lola will be visiting Scarsdale elementary schools this Fall, in addition to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco.
On October 9th, Therapy Dog Brigade will send human-dog teams to Scarsdale High School for World Mental Health Day, just one example of a variety of special events throughout Westchester in which teams are able to participate.
Bettina and Chester at Greenacres.Residents of Scarsdale and neighboring communities who think their dogs might be a good fit for this kid of volunteer work and are interested in teaming up with Therapy Dog Brigade should check out the organization’s website @ https://www.therapydogbrigade.org/ and consider applying and making an appointment for a screening.
Lobel hopes her team of experts can train a whole new crop of therapy teams this fall so they can be ready to roll in the new year. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see our volunteers share the healing presence of their dogs throughout a community that means so much to us all.”
A Blue Mass at IHM to Commemorate First Responders at 9/11
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- Written by: Camille Roche
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On Friday, September 18, Immaculate Heart of Mary School came together for a special Blue Mass commemorating the 25th anniversary of September 11th and honoring the courage, sacrifice, and service of first responders.
Police officers, firefighters, first responders, parents, parishioners, and members of the community joined IHM students for this special celebration. Fr. Stephen Ries celebrated the Mass, joined by two concelebrating priests. The altar was draped in blue, and the priests wore blue vestments in recognition of the occasion.
As part of the commemoration, IHM students and families also raised over $4,000 for Answer the Call, an organization that provides financial assistance and support to the families of New York City police officers and firefighters who have been killed in the line of duty.
The initiative gave students an opportunity not only to learn about and remember the events of September 11th, but also to put that remembrance into action through service to others.
Twenty-five years later, the IHM community continues to remember those who were lost, honor the heroes who answered the call, and teach the next generation the importance of service, sacrifice, gratitude, and community.
IHM was honored to welcome so many first responders and community members for this meaningful celebration.
Scarsdale Honors Memory and Continuity on the 25th Anniversary of 9-11
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Scarsdale officials marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks with a solemn ceremony at the Public Safety Building at 8:30 am on 9-11-26. Reminiscent of the day of the event, it was a warm, clear September morning, Police, firefighters, religious leaders, members of the Village Board, School Board and Village staff all participated in a moving tribute to the almost 3,000 people who lost their lives on that day – and to more who suffered from 9-11 related illness in the subsequent years.
The event opened with music from the bag pipes, followed by a drill by the Scarsdale Color Guard. The ceremony was led by Fire Captain Francis Sheehan with remarks from Reverend Kelly Rogers, Rabbi Jonathan Blake and Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest. Scarsdale High School vocalists Abigail Loeser sang The Star Spangled Banner and God Bless America, wreaths were presented and Sheila Gorham ended the ceremony with a mournful rendition of Danny Boy, accompanied by the guitar.
Here are remarks from Reverend Kelly Rogers, Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest and Fire Captain Francis Sheehan.
Reverend Rogers
A Prayer of Remembrance
Eternal God, Source and Creator of Life, Compassionate One —
From the depths we have called to You, and we call to You again, together with people all over the world, for courage, strength, and wisdom on this 25th anniversary of our nation's tragedy. We come together in faith, in hope, in Your infinite love — remembering that we are all made from the same divine breath, all made in Your image.
We commend to Your mercy and grace all who died in the attacks of that day, and all who have died since in laboring to end terrorism: in New York City, in Arlington, in Shanksville — family members, friends, co-workers, neighbors, heroes, from over seventy countries. We remember the rescue workers who did not come home that day, and the many more who have died since from what that day left in their bodies. In the face of all this loss, we claim Your grace, Your faithfulness, and Your power to bring good out of evil.
Bring wholeness to every broken place — to broken bodies, broken hearts, and broken spirits; to broken relationships, broken systems, and broken faith. Accept with mercy our prayers of healing on behalf of the families of the victims, and on behalf of the responders who became ill in the aftermath.
Despite the horror and the grief, May we all work to ensure that our country remains a shelter of peace, a symbol of freedom, a beacon of compassion and justice to the downtrodden and oppressed of the world. Strengthen the hands of our people to defend what is good, and our common values of freedom and justice.
May we teach our children to learn and to think, to consider and to reason, to be courageous in thought and in deed — and nurture in them hearts of wisdom, that they may do battle against fear, hatred, and bigotry using the weapons of the spirit and a loving heart.
Help us love and pray for those who profit from hate and destruction, and help us stop the injustice that feeds it. Save us from revenge, from false teaching, from blind suspicion. Help us recognize our own contributions to conflict, and understand the hurt that feeds the hate. Change the hearts of all who seek their way by evil and violent means — by coercion, corruption, and privilege — including our own. Create in us clean hearts that beat with Your unconditional compassion.
Mayor Justin Arest
Twenty-five years ago today, 2,977 people went to work, boarded airplanes, reported for duty, kissed their families goodbye, and never came home.
We gather first and foremost to remember them. We remember the lives that were taken, the families that were forever changed, and the countless empty places at dinner tables, birthdays, weddings and graduations that followed. And we remember the extraordinary courage of those who ran toward danger.
Firefighters climbed stairwells as others came down. Police officers, EMTs and ordinary citizens stayed behind to help strangers. Many knew the danger and went anyway.
And we remember those who survived that day but whose service and exposure ultimately cost them their lives in the years that followed.
To the first responders with us today, and to all those who serve our community: thank you.
What you are willing to do for people you may never have met represents something fundamental about who we are as a country.
For so many of us, September 11 is deeply personal. We remember where we were, what we saw, who we worried about, and the stories of that day that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
But twenty-five years is a long time. Every child in our schools today was born after September 11, 2001.For them, September 11 is history rather than memory.
For us, that creates a solemn responsibility.
We must make sure they know what happened. We must tell them about the people we lost and the people who showed extraordinary courage. But we must also teach them something larger.
Freedom is not free.
The ability to live openly, to worship as we choose, to speak our minds, to disagree with one another, and still to remain one people is not guaranteed simply because we inherited it.
It can be lost.
The terrorists who attacked us twenty-five years ago sought not only to take innocent lives, but to attack our country, our freedoms, and our way of life.
So when we hear voices today that traffic in hatred and extremism, as we do, we cannot become accustomed to them, and we cannot be silent in the face of them.
September 11 showed us the terrible consequences of hatred and extremism. But it also reminded us why this country is worth defending: because in one of our darkest moments, we saw the extraordinary courage and decency of the American people.
On that terrible morning, people did not stop to ask one another about religion, politics, race or where their families came from. They helped one another. They carried strangers. They stayed behind.
Some gave their lives for people they did not know.
That is the America we inherited. And that is the America we must leave to those who come after us.
So today, we honor the dead. We honor those who ran toward danger. And we make a promise: that twenty-five years from now, and for generations after that, our children and their children will still remember those we lost, still know what happened, and still understand that the freedoms they inherited must never be taken for granted.
May we never forget.
Fire Captain Francis Sheehan
Twenty‑five years have passed since the attacks of September 11, 2001, a full quarter century. It is long enough for time to create distance, yet not long enough for the grief to loosen its hold. Many of us can still recall, with absolute clarity, where we were the moment the towers were struck. Those memories remain vivid, immediate, and unshakable.
But this milestone also reminds us how quickly generations turn. Last year, our department welcomed a firefighter born after 9/11. His presence is not a novelty; it is a marker of time. It signals that the responsibility to remember is shifting from those who lived through the day to those who know it only through the stories we preserve, through the vigils we hold.
Today, I reflect on the passing of time and on grief itself. What becomes of collective memory when it is carried not by experience, but by inheritance? Although a quarter century sounds distant, the visceral weight of grief and longing remains for many Americans.
Two years ago, at the Westchester County 9/11 service, I listened to families speak about loved ones lost on that day and loved ones lost in the years since to 9/11‑related illnesses. That very same week, I lost my wife and my mother in a separate tragedy. In an instant, I was no longer standing at the edge of others’ grief, I was living inside it.
Two years later, I know that time does not gradually purge grief. It silently shouts in the background, breaking into the foreground when you least expect it. An empathetic observer of grief remembers on anniversaries, on days like today. A bearer of grief carries it with them day in and day out, until their last breath.
In that grief, victims of 9/11 still walk among us twenty‑five years later. Their grief has not expired; it continues through them, and through all of us who gather here.
On this twenty‑fifth anniversary, we honor both memory and continuity. We honor those who remember, and those who carry the memory forward. We stand together, observers of grief, bearers of grief, and those who have inherited its lessons, united in ensuring that the meaning of this day endures.
Twenty‑five years later, the distance may grow, but the responsibility does not. We gather here to affirm that the lives lost, the sacrifices made, and the grief carried across generations will never be allowed to fade. Not while we are here to remember. Not while we are here to bear witness.
As we conclude today’s observance, we turn to a musical reflection that has long accompanied moments of remembrance. Danny Boy carries both sorrow and love in its melody, and today it honors the families who continue to bear their grief, and all who hold the memory of September 11th close. Please welcome our vocalist, Sheila Gorham, who will close our ceremony with Danny Boy.
Remembering Shep Shapiro
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Melvin (Shep) Shapiro
December 14, 1928 – September 18, 2025
Melvin Shapiro, a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, passed away on September 18, 2025, at the age of 97. To his family, he was affectionately known as Shep.
A longtime resident of Scarsdale, New York, Shep lived a full and meaningful life centered on family, devotion, hard work, and an appreciation for the many pleasures life had to offer.
Shep was the devoted husband of Linda for 52 years. Their marriage was a lasting testament to love, companionship, and commitment. Linda was at the center of his world, and together they built a family and a lifetime of cherished memories.
Melvin proudly served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1950 to 1956 in the Quartermaster Corps, the branch responsible for logistics and supplies. The work suited his natural strengths in organization, responsibility, and business making sure people had what they needed, when they needed it. He maintained active reserve status during those years but was never called to extended active duty. He received an Honorable Discharge and remained proud of his service to his country.
Shep loved food. Good food was one of life’s great pleasures for him, but food was also one of the ways he showed his love. He remembered what the people he cared about enjoyed and found a way to make them happy. When his daughter Steffie took especially good care of him, Shep would show his appreciation in his own unmistakable way: “Steffie, let me take you to Gus’s for lobster.” Gus’s was their favorite, and Shep knew how much Steffie loved lobster. For him, taking someone out for a favorite meal was more than dinner, it was an expression of gratitude, affection, and love.
Shep also had a wonderfully dry sense of humor. His jokes were often simple, perfectly timed, and delivered with a completely straight face. As the grandchildren headed toward the pool to swim, he might call out, “Don’t get wet.”
Classic Shep.
It was the kind of joke that was unmistakably dry, unexpected, and somehow hilarious. Those little moments became the family stories that will keep his spirit alive.
Shep adored his grandchildren Brittany, Laura, Alex, Ryan, Georgia, Shane, and Zoe and took enormous pride and joy in each of them. His great-grandchildren, Sophia, Jacob and Ella brought him another generation of love and happiness.
One of the family’s favorite memories from his final year was a game of blackjack with Steffie. It was another perfect Shep moment: a little competition, good company, and time spent together. He loved being with his family and knew that the ordinary moments often became the ones everyone remembered most.
Shep’s life was defined by his devotion to Linda and his deep love for his family. He brought a sense of steadiness, humor, warmth, and generosity to those around him. He appreciated good food, good tennis, a good game, and, above all, the people he shared them with.
He is survived by his beloved wife, Linda; his daughters, Steffie and Karen; his grandchildren, Brittany, Laura, Alex, Ryan, Georgia, Shane, and Zoe; his great-grandchildren, Sophia, Jacob, and Ella; and extended family and friends who loved him dearly.
Shep’s life was long and full, and his family will miss his presence, his humor, and those perfectly timed “Shep-isms” that could turn an ordinary moment into a lasting memory.
They will remember a man who loved family, laughed often, enjoyed a great meal, and showed his love in his own special way sometimes with a joke, sometimes with a game of blackjack, and sometimes with an invitation for lobster at Gusses.
Classic Shep. Always.
The family will honor him privately one more time: September 17, 2026
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