Around Town

Details: Published: 08 February 2012; Created: 08 February 2012; Last Updated: 08 February 2012; Hits: 2926

halfthesky Scarsdale resident and Pulitzer prize winner Sheryl WuDunn will accept the "Open Door Award" at this year's Gourmet Galaxy, in honor of women and girls everywhere. WuDunn will be recognized for her extraordinary efforts worldwide and Scarsdale and Edgemont Family Counseling will highlight local efforts to empower girls “to listen to their own voice and act on it”.

The Gourmet Galaxy is the annual Fundraising event for the Scarsdale Family Counseling Service and will be held on May 2 at the Westchester Country Club.

Ms. WuDunn's latest book, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, was co-authored with her husband, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and focuses on the challenges facing women around the globe and the struggle for gender equality. The Kristof's are long-time residents of Scarsdale and their children have attended the Scarsdale Public Schools.

Marie Posthumus, president of SFCS, has noted that Sheryl WuDunn brings critical awareness to the struggles and inequities faced by women all over the world, and SFCS strives to echo the message through specific programs to empower adolescent girls at Scarsdale schools, and bring this awareness right to our doorstep. One such existing program is "Young Women in Leadership". Another is "The Girl's Center", a new pilot program which will launch on March 1 at the Scarsdale Women's Club and run for ten weeks.

This newest program includes a creative writing component, expressive movement, and culminates in sharing of thoughts and ideas to shape, sharpen and begin to appreciate each individual's strengths. It will be offered at no cost to the first 20 girls who sign up, and is made possible through the generosity of a group of private donations.

SFCS recognizes the need for emotional support young adolescent girls. Today’s emerging teen is assaulted by the social pressures of a popular youth culture. The launching of the SFCS Girl’s Center Project in March is designed to help girls feel good about themselves in a uniquely grounded, creative and nurturing environment where they can pursue authentic self expression.

Details: Published: 30 January 2012; Created: 30 January 2012; Last Updated: 01 March 2012; Hits: 5638

The Bronx River Cup, the last dual meet of the year for the Scarsdale and Edgemont wrestling teams, took place on Friday 1/27 with the Scarsdale Raiders securing a 46-30 win against the Edgemont Panthers. The rivalry between the two teams is fierce, and the tension between the two teams was palpable. Historically, the two have been well matched, with the Bronx River Cup exchanging hands for the last four years. The teams met recently at last week’s Edgemont Invitational, with Edgemont taking first place and Scarsdale taking second.

For the senior-heavy Raiders, this last meet carried with it a certain sentimental significance.

“It’s the last time I’m going to be able to represent my team” said captain John Tambunting before the match. “I want to be able to take home one more win for Scarsdale before I graduate.”

The Raiders got off to a rocky start, with Robert Keltz, Daniel Kestenbaum, Mike Hodges, and Daniel Kestenbaum falling to pins in tough matches. Senior bronxrivercup1 Daniel Jureller answered back in the fourth match, scoring several takedowns, and slamming his opponent to the mat to earn a 12-3 victory, and 4 points for the Raiders. Captain John Tambunting, coming off a recent back injury, managed to take his match as well, bringing the team score to 18-7. The Panthers answered back with two 7-1 victories, widening the gap between the two teams to 24-7. Things were starting to look bleak for the Raiders.

It was at this point that Chen Shen stepped into the ring. After a hard fought three minutes, it looked as though senior might be beat. Panther wrestler Ross Kantor had Shen on his back, with his right shoulder blade no more than a half-inch off of the mat. With less than a minute to go, Shen performed a reversal, got his opponent in a half nelson, then pinned him for a Raider win.

“I always get tired when I wrestle, and I thought I might have been done for when he had me against the mat, but during this match, I kept hearing the shouts of my team and the fans. I kept telling myself I gotta stick this one out for all those people cheering for me.”

bronxrivercup2 Captain Brian Hackel followed up Shen’s win with a pin of his own, defeating his opponent in three and a half minutes. Captains Jack Braun, and Jacob Berkowitz received forfeit wins in the 182 and 195 weight classes respectively, and sophomore George Bobalakis won by default in the 285 pound weight class as well, bringing the final match score to 46-30 for Scarsdale.

So what’s next for the Raiders? Divisionals and sectionals are in a few weeks, and everyone on the team is getting ready to ramp up their training schedules.

“At this point, it’s all about the individual”, said Coach Barney Foltman. “It’s time for our wrestlers to prove themselves at the sectional level and beyond”.

The Raiders are in a good position to do just that in the post season. Captains John Tambunting, Jack Braun and Jacob Berkowitz are favorites for the upcoming sectional tournament. Tambunting is projected to finish second at sectionals, Braun is projected to finish fourth, and Berkowitz is projected to finish first in their respective weight classes. bronxrivercup3

(Pictured at top: Scarsdale Wrestling Team: Photo Courtesy of Leslie Berkowitz )

Contributor Will Heffner is a senior at Scarsdale High School and has been a lifelong resident of Scarsdale. In his free time, he enjoys acting, and playing music. If you would like to contact Will for any questions or comments, he can be reached at willheffner@gmail.com.

Details: Published: 14 January 2012; Created: 14 January 2012; Last Updated: 18 January 2012; Hits: 10760

beyonce2 It turns out that Beyonce and Jay-Z have not moved to Scarsdale. A story posted on both PopCrush and the Huffington Post claimed that Beyonce, Jay-Z and Baby Blue Ivy Carter were ensconced in a home on Heathcote Road. However, several readers noted that the photos shown on PopCrush.com of a large house under construction on Heathcote Road did not belong to the couple - and in fact, according to the Scarsdale tax assessement role, 10A Heathcote Road is owned by another Scarsdale family. News of the Carter's arrival in town spread like wildfire on the internet but turned out to be unfounded.

Possibly the celebrity couple has plans to relocate to a different location in Scarsdale. We certainly hope so -- but for now, there are no confirmed reports of where that might be.

Details: Published: 25 January 2012; Created: 25 January 2012; Last Updated: 25 January 2012; Hits: 6951

edgewrestle5 Edgemont placed first and Scarsdale second in the 30th Annual Edgemont Wrestling Invitational that took place on Sunday January 22nd. The tournament, one of Section 1’s largest was originally planned for Saturday January 21, and was delayed one day due to the snow. Seventeen teams competed from public, private and Catholic schools, including Collegiate, Eastchester, Edgemont, Hackley, Horace Mann, Mamaroneck, Monticello, Mount Vernon, Pawling, Pearl River, Rye, Salesian, Scarsdale, Tuxedo, Westlake, Woodlands, and Yonkers.

Edgemont cam out on top with 228 points and had 10 of its 15 wrestlers place in the top 6 of their respective weight classes (9 in the top 4). They had 5 finalists and 4 individual champions. Here are their names and weight classes: Tyler Aslanian (sophomore, 99 lbs); Sky Korek (junior, 106 lbs); Trey Aslanian (junior, 113 lbs); Danny Kornberg (senior, 220 lbs). Kornberg won a thrilling sudden death overtime victory in his finals match.

The Most Outstanding Wrestlers of the tournament (as voted by all the coaches) were Jacob Berkowitz (Scarsdale, 182 lbs) and Trey Aslanian edgewrest2 (Edgemont, 113 lbs).

According to Edgemont’s Head Coach Peter Jacobson, "This was a great tournament for our team. Our guys all wrestled hard and it shows in the results. To have 10 out of 15 wrestlers place at their respective weight classes says a lot about how much of a team effort this was. Our goal is to keep working hard and keep this momentum rolling into Sectionals and States."

Scarsdale coach Barney Foltman was also pleased with the team’s second place finish on Sunday when Scarsdale wrestler’s place in many events. Here is how they fared:

1st Jacob Berkowitz 182 lbs
1st Jack Braun 170 lbs
2nd Daniel Jureller 126 lbs
2nd Joe Koshakow138 lbs
3rd Mike Hodges 113 lbs
5th Chen Shen 145 lbs
6th George Bobilakis lbs

According to Foltman, “it’s been a great season so far, the kids have worked hard and many of the boys are looking to place at sectionals.” The team is looking forward to the Divisional Tournament on February 4th at Horace Greeley and to the Sectionals on 2/11 and 2/12 at Pace University.

The final team standings and points were:

1. Edgemont 228
2. Scarsdale 179.5
3. Horace Mann 178.5
4. Pearl River 142
5. Yonkers 121
6. Mamaroneck 120.5
7. Pawling 97
8. Monticello 78
9. Collegiate 65
10. Rye 59
T-11. Eastchester 53
T-11. Tuxedo 53
13. Westlake 50.5
T-14. Hackley
T-14. Mount Vernon
16. Salesian 45
17. Woodlands 34

This Friday night, January 27th, see Scarsdale meet Edgemont when Edgemont hosts the Bronx River Cup at 6 pm.

All photos courtesy of Leslie Berkowitz. See more at Leslierberkowitz.smugmug.com

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Details: Published: 12 January 2012; Created: 12 January 2012; Last Updated: 12 January 2012; Hits: 4730

15heathcoteRoad The word is out! Beyonce and Jay-Z have left Lenox Hill Hospital and brought newborn Baby Blue Ivy Carter home to their manse on Heathcote Road. Unconfirmed rumors that the couple purchased a house here have circulated since their 2008 nuptials at Scarsdale Village Hall ... and now several sources have confirmed that the the Carters and their new baby have moved their official residence to their home in Scarsdale. The house is reported to be 15,000 square feet on 2 acres on Heathcote Road and includes a tennis court, basketball court and guest house.