WHITE PLAINS CITIZENETREPORTER SETS RECORD VISITS FOR YEAR 7,017,658 VISITS! 2,098,003 VISITORS MADE 6 VISITS A DAY EVERY DAY. 63,330 UNIQUE VISITORS MADE 133,730 VISITS IN DECEMBER. WPCNR AVERAGED 17,284 VISITORS A WEEK, VISITING 31,270 TIMES.

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WPCNR PRESSROOM. By John F. Bailey. March 4, 2004: The White Plains Watch is coming back, White Plains. Susan Chang, Publisher of the White Plains Watch, who suspended publication for three months, when her paid subscription drive did not meet expectations, has almost achieved her goal, with citizens flocking to her support thanks to stalwart community effort.

Ms. Chang says she needs 335 subscriptions to meet her goal of 2,000 subscriptions to publish.

WPCNR has learned that Ms. Chang will celebrate the resurrection of The Watch at a “Count Down to Publish Meeting” to be held at Memorial Methodist Church at 7:30 P.M., March 11. At that time, the publisher promises to detail what she describes as “long-term development plans for the paper.”

She is also promoting a slide show for Watch subscribers that is available at http://205.181.16.75/wpwatch/

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WPCNR CITY HALL CIRCUIT. Special to WPCNR.  March 4, 2004, UPDATED 10 A.M. E.S.T.: At a meeting in City Hall Wednesday evening,  a community contingent of 40 persons, including representatives of the White Plains African-American community, the Common Council, civic and religious leaders decided on creating a recognition day for Black American heritage  in 2005 which will have as its theme the celebration of June 19, the date which recognizes the freeing of the last slave in America, an occasion that Black Americans know as “Juneteenth.”

A Steering Committee was formed to be headed by Charlie Booth, Director of the Thomas A. Slater Center to plan the parade that will be part of the White Plains Juneteenth Celebration, and to create significant other events to make the day the start of a festive and solemn tradition in White Plains.  According to Glen Hockley, speaking to WPCNR Thursday morning,  this was a wonderful harmonious meeting and it was agreed to plan the event to take place in June, 2005, because of there not being enough time to organize the event for this year.

The first meeting of the Steering Committee will take place on March  24 at 7 P.M. back in City Hall, and the entire group will return for a planning meeting on April 28 at 7 P.M.

For more on June 19, go to http://www.elecvillage.com/juneteen.htm

Mr. Hockley, speaking to WPCNR Thursday morning said he was overwhelmed at the participation of so many Black leaders from the community and the support of the Mayor and Common Council. He described the spirit of the meeting and the vibrations in the room as “warm and solid.”

Hockley said Mayor Joseph Delfino opened the meeting in a “most gracious and understanding manner,” and that the meeting proceeded with Charlie Booth of the Slater Center directing traffic, listening to all who participated. Hockley noted that many Black leaders were there from all walks of life, including Mack Carter, Ted Lee, Bill Alexander, Monique Farrell, Michelle Tratoros, Bob Tuck, Bill Brown, Bill Campbell, Darrell Jenkins, four young persons and every member of the Common Council.

Hockley said he was very impressed with the way Mr. Booth ran the meeting and kept the discussion moving.

He noted that Reverend Jacob Stukes and Councilman Arnold Bernstein brought in the concept that the event being planned should be more than just a parade, but should also be one that benefits the community, with workshops dealing with various issues, working for progress.

He said a steering committee was formed to sort out ideas, and that the general theme of the special day would celebrate Juneteenth, the African-American Emancipation Day.

Juneteenth first took place in 1865 in Galveston, Texas, to celebrate the observance of African American Emancipation Day, June 19, 1865 and is the oldest known celebration of the ending of slavery.

Around the country, Juneteenth not only keynotes African American freedom, but salutes the education and the acievement of Black Americans in this country. Celebrations of the holiday across the country feature speeches, picnics, gatherings.

The Emancipation Proclamation of Abraham Lincoln legally freed slaves in the Confederacy, but those in Delaware and Maryland were not freed until the Manumission Statutes. In Missouri and Kentucky, slaves were not set free until the 13th Amendment was passed in December, 1865. 

The traditional date of celebrating Juneteenth dates back to June 19, 1865  when Union General Gordon Granger and his troops landed in Texas at Galveston to wrest Texas from the Confederacy was ordered to inform Texans that their slaves were then free. Texas had been the last Confederate State to refuse to free its slaves, waiting 2-1/2 years past the Emancipation Proclamation. 

In 2004, 150 cities in 30 States recognize “Juneteenth Independence Day” and rejoice in it through community recognition of their African-American heritage.

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WPCNR STAGE DOOR. By Sunset Boulevard . March 3, 2004: Dressed to Thrill, the one time only benefit fashion show raised over $32,000 for the White Plains Performing Arts Center Monday evening.  Four captivating leading ladies of White Plains teamed with ten cool and seductive fashion icons of Manhattan to present a fashion show to remember featuring gowns costing thousands of dollars.

 

 

A PRETTY GIRL IS LIKE A MELODY: “Candy” from Fashion Avenue models a Valentino pale lemon jersey dress from the Mary Jane Denzer collection Monday evening as Fashion Avenue took over “The Center.” Photo by WPCNR FashionCam.

 

Angels of the White Plains Performing Arts Center threw their  dollar support solidly behind the theatre ingénue again Monday evening  as WPPAC raised the curtain on its first spring lineup of productions. The WPPAC  Spring season launches with three prominent Westchester community group performances this week, followed by two WPPAC-mounted productions of their own the next two weeks: It Had to Be You and Fashion, the musical by  WPPAC’s own Tony Stimac, Broadway legend  Don Pippin, and Steve Brown.

 

Fashionistas Turn Out.

 

 Paying $100 a ducat  for champagne reception and show, theatre and girl watchers of White Plains sipped champagne in fluted glasses, sampled the visually appealing salmon and liver pate hors d’oeuvres and succulent goodies catered by Blue restaurant and their creator of  simple elegance, Chef Pat Kelly in the curtain raiser on the balcony.  

 

 

WHITE PLAINS FINEST: About 150-200  professionally attired women and sharp, cleanly pressed suits  could be seen chatting each other up on the theatre concourse of the City Center Monday imbibing, ingesting, and ingratiating. They networked, politicked, and were impressed by models displaying fine jewelry from Fortunoff during the champagne warmup. Photo by WPCNR FashionCam

 

Models on Madison Ave Step Out.

 

Dressed to Thrill  began with one-man piano man, Henry Aronson at the keyboard doing a springtime riff, who introduced  local Westchester resident, Rupert Holmes, the Pina Colada  Song and dance man,  to emcee the show.

 

Mr. Holmes welcomed the 200 patrons (seats were filled up the middle with the last 6 rows and far and near sides vacant) and introduced White Plains avant gard favorite William Michals, star of The Scarlet Pimpernel, and bigtime favorite at the Broadway Stars extravaganza produced at the WPPAC last fall. Michals will lend his leading man voice to the WPPAC stage in two weeks, starring in Fashion beginning March 20.

 

Gaston Returns

 

Michals in cutaway black tails and open-necked white shirt, was a little Tom Jones, a little Robert Goulet, a little Steve Lawrence, but in that unmistakably winning Michals style he warmed his edgy emotional mellow  tones into getting the audience in the mood for style rendering  Where Is the Girl?  From The Pimpernel. Michals played Gaston and The Beast in the Broadway production of Disney’s Beauty and The Beast.

 

The Michals Broadway charisma whet enthusiasts’ appetite for looking at beautiful women.  The queens of fashion from Madison Ave made their individual turns with panache and presence, long, long legs in spike heeled pumps, their graceful body lines articulating White Plains’ Mary Jane Denzer’s luscious gowns, making splendid statements with pulchritude to music.

 

Just Like Bryant Park Fashion Week

 

Leading off in pairs walking in opposite directions in an X-shaped, spotlit path stately sashaying in the dual spotlights, duplicated  in closeup in live video screens,  was the cool and statuesque Aussie Blonde, Kylie Cappelli, (Mrs. Louis),  in a Roberto Cavalli black jersey halter with open-laced sides, and “Cammy”  in Valentino white linen corset dress with chiffon capelet sleeve.  

 

Leading Ladies of White Plains standing up highly favorably to the supermodels onstage were  Kylie Cappelli, Felicia Finley and Monica Meadows, the actresses, and well-known betterhalf of Westchester’s acting couple, Paulette Scholtman.

 

They were joined by supermodels: Cammy, Candy, Dori, Krista, Margie, Melissa, Michelle, Liz, Lonna and Sherry.

 

High fashion comes to White Plains.  

 

Mrs. Cappelli and her ethereal entourage marched with indulgence and confidence  across  stage, up aisles among the patrons to display the “Denzer daring” up close and personal, complimented by Mr. Holmes’ engaging patter.

 

LONG COOL WOMAN IN THE RED DRESS HAS IT ALL: “Melissa” in a red crepe-back-satin halter dress from John Galliano on the runway at WPPAC with Henry Aronson working  keyboards. Photo by WPCNR FashionCam.

 

 

Midway in the one-of-a-kind program,  two ladies, Monica Meadows (star of the upcoming Fashion), and Felicia Finley, star of Aida at the Helen Hayes Theatre Company, graced the audience with two songs giving the “credit cards” in the audience a break.

 

Kathleen Gunn, Executive Director of the White Plains Downtown Business Improvement District, said of the show, “I loved it, and thought the show was great. It was a high caliber event. I thought I was in Manhattan at a Bryant Park Fashion Show.”

 

A striking universe of 48 outfits you do not want to know the prices of were showcased by the striking Monday night  “chorus line,” the average cost of the outfits being $4,000 and up. Ms. Gunn’s favorite was Cammy modeling  the Valentino yellow print jersey side-slit gown.

 

Tony Stimac, director of the show, an expert at pulling together these one-of-a-kind events, said the show had sold 320 tickets as of Monday, and Wednesday morning said it had raised $30,000 for the theatre.  Tony knows everybody, and has the persuasive ability to pick up the phone and, say, “we’re doing a show, we’d love to have you, you want to be in it?” and the stars come out. White Plains citizens should watch for the next one. They are something else.

 

Mingling with the Newsmakers

 

 

Yours truly, Sunset B., working the crowd  got the word from a mingling Louis Cappelli that he has signed Office Max to occupy a portion of the City Center, to join coming signed partners, the  Atlanta Bread Factory, Applebee’s,  Barnes & Noble, Circuit City, Filene’s Basement, Legal Seafood, Target and Zanaro’s  to augment his City Center showplace on Main Street.

 

The Super Developer said he only had 25,000 more square feet of space to sell at the City Center, and said ”suitors are lined up.”

 

 

THE SUPER DEVELOPER AND THE SUPER MODELS:  The Super Developer, City Center impressario, Louis Cappelli, right, was on the scene at showtime.  He is chatting with Gary Blum, left, President and Chief Creative Officerof The Laurus Group of Harrison, who told WPCNR his company has been appointed the advertising agency for the White Plains Performing Arts Center. Photo by WPCNR FashionCam

 

Blum said he was commissioned at the end of last week to prepare posters, marketing materials, identify markets, and handle direct response and possible direct mail campaigns for promoting attendance at the theater. Presently, he said the assignments are being executed on a project-by-project basis. He pointed to the new posters hanging in the lobby as some of his first efforts. He said local television and print ads were a possibility.

 

 Asked if he would be handling Helen Hayes Theatre Company and Queens Theater in the Park, two of the White Plains Performaing Arts Center partner-theatres, Mr. Blum, said that was “under discussion.”

 

Local movers and shakers who sponsored the event were of course, Mary Jane Denzer, Fortunoff, Shalz Cadillac, Papa-Razzi, Blue, and Trotters.

 

Local Musical Groups test the City Center this week. A Busy Month.

Three outstanding local organizations present classic contemporary movie music, including  a classical performance by young musicians and local Arab-American musicians presenting  performances that will demonstrate the full acoustical range of the White Plains Performing Arts Center.

Tomorrow evening,  Westchester’s  Philharmonia Virtuosi will perform music from “Master and Commander”  March 4 at 7:30 P.M. Philharmonia Virtuosi will feature Mela Tenenbaum on violin; Alexandr Tenenbaum on violin; Dortothy Lawson, cello; Robert Igliss, oboe; and Richard Kapp on piano. For tickets, priced from $30, children under 18, free, may be purchased at 914-693-5595.

Philarmonia Virtuosi will be followed into City Center stage by the Music Conservatory of Westchester Mentoring Orchestra, under direction of Anthony Aibel on Friday night for an O-T-O performance at 8 P.M. Tickets are $5, and my be purchased at 914-761-3900.

Ali Hamideh, a long-time member of the Arab community in Westchester will perform with his Arab-American musicians on Saturday, March 6 at 8 P.M. They will present classical and contemporary Middle Eastern music. Mr. Hamideh was recently featured in Salaam: An Arab-American Portrait, a photography exhibition of Westchester‘s Arab community. Tickets are $10, and may be purchased by calling 1-888-977-2250.

 

Comedy and Song and Dance Return.

Next Tuesday evening, bigtime Broadway entertainment returns with Joseph Bologna and Renee Taylor starring in the comedy, It Had to Be You, beginning March 9 at 7 PM, and playing the 10^th, 11^th, 12^th, and 13^th at 8 PM with Matinees on Thursday the11^th and  Sunday the 14^th at 2.

 

It Had to Be You is followed by the Stimac-Pippin-Brown musical, Fashion, debuting Saturday, March 20 at 8, followed by  a Sunday Matinee at 2 on the 21^st. Fashion  runs at “The Center” on March 23 at 7, then March 24, 25, 26,27, and April 1,2,3 at 8 P.M, with matinees at 2 on March 28, 31, and April 4.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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           WPCNR CLUBHOUSE. From Westchester County Department of Communications. March 3, 2004:  Saying golf on public courses should be both affordable and accessible, County Executive Andy Spano has announced changes to the county’s E-Z Reserve Golf at the five county-owned golf courses, including Maple Moor Golf Course in White Plains.

             Using the E-Z Reserve system, Westchester residents with a valid park pass can reserve a regular tee time for their foursome on Saturdays and Sundays for a 25 week golf season, from April 17 through October 3, by paying a flat non-refundable fee of $250 per person in advance for each foursome.

 

 

Applications for limited E-Z Reserve times will be accepted at each county golf course on Saturday, March 13, for Saturday tee times, and on Sunday, March 14, for Sunday tee times, beginning at 8 a.m. each day.

            “We created the E-Z Reserve System to make golfing more convenient, but we also wanted to make sure that it remained affordable to the general public,’’ said Spano. “That’s why we’ve adapted the system so that golfers don’t have to pay upfront.’’

            Spano said when the county started E-Z Reserve last year golfers were happy at being able to reserve tee times for the season, but some had concerns about paying for those times up front. 

            “Now they have the best of both worlds: A reserve system so they don’t have to call every week, and a pay-as-you-go system for those who can’t afford to pay all at once,’’ he said.

 

Under the revised policy, when a golfer cancels a weekly reservation at least 36 hours in advance, a greens fee is not required. If the golfer does not cancel the reservation and fails to show up, the golfer will be charged the $27 greens fee unless the county can re-sell the time slot.

           

            The E-Z Reserve program is available only to Westchester residents with a valid Park Pass. Only one tee-time will be allotted per group per day.  At least one member of the group must sign up in person. Park passes can be renewed at that time. All golfers must have a valid park pass by the first date of play.

                                                          

            The five Westchester County-owned golf courses are Mohansic in Yorktown Heights; Maple Moor in White Plains; Saxon Woods in Scarsdale; and Dunwoodie and Sprain Lake, both in Yonkers.  As Dunwoodie is scheduled for construction at the end of the summer, its E-Z reserve program will be prorated for 20 weeks with a reservation fee of $200.

            For more information about method of purchase and specific program details on the E-Z Reserve program or to download an application, log on to www.westchestergov.com/parks, or call the County Parks Department at (914) 864-7011.