Yonkers Team Image Wins 1st National Synchro Medal

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WPCNR RINKSIDE. February 22, 2008: Team Image Synchronized Skating Team of the Yonkers Figure Skating Club, last team to skate in the 12-team Intermediate Competition at the USFS Synchronized Skating Championships in Providence, Rhode Island today, skated a 58 to secure 4th Place and the Pewter Medal in the tough Intermediate Division. It was Coach Sylvia Muccio’s first national medal in synchronized skating, and capped a splendid season for the teens from Yonkers and Murrays Rink. The 4th Place 58.20 points posted in the 4 minute skate  featured control, splendid pronounced edges, grace and power as they skated to tango themes and their finish was just 5 points away from the first team, the Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Blades, Team Del Sol of San Diego and the Chicago Jazz.  It was a glorious and historic afternoon for the Team Image girls!


 



Medal Land! Team Image performing at the Synchronized Skating National Championships in Providence, Rhode Island today.



The Scores Go Up! Team Image Medals!

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Meanwhile at Camp Chill: Future USFS Champs Work on Axels, Wallys and Ducks

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WPCNR RINKSIDE. February 20, 2008: It’s vacation week for White Plains Schools and Kristen Fuerst’s Camp Chill in perfect skating weather at Ebersole Rink is goin on. Over thirty youngsters from  tots to teens are skating from 8:30 in the morning to 12:30, working on power speed classes, in jump and spin clinics, Choreography and instruction in Moves in the Field the footwork patterns and edges required at the escalating United States Figure Skating levels. The day starts with complimentary donuts and juice, then the ice is theirs — with inside exercises — and plenty of ice time with the professional Ebersole Figure Skating School Staff.



Jump Class in Session, Chillin Out at Ebersole Rink Camp Chill Wednesday morning.


 


 




As the Big Skaters handle the big jumps, the younger skating apprentices practice choreography in side the Warming House. 



Hey Mom! I landed it!  Allison Fuerst, demonstates her new Axel for Ebersole Skating School director, Kristen, her  mom. Allison landed her first clean Axel jump in Jump Class Wednesday – a great moment in a young skater’s life — that she will never forget.


The Camp Chill program complete with T-shirts and plenty of individual one-on-one instruction is much better than watching television, and the concentration on skills over an extended series of classes introduces skaters to the nuances of the sport, corrects, polishes, and moves them to “the next level.”


Chill runs every winter break at Ebersole, and has been going for at least fourteen years.


 



Skating School Director Kirsten Fuerst congratulates her daughter, Allison on landing her first Axel jump.

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Revise State Aid Formula for Cities Towns, DiNapoli Says

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WPCNR ALBANY ROUNDS. From the State Comptroller’s Press Office. February 20, 2008: The 50-year-old formula New York State uses to provide aid to local governments needs a complete overhaul to ensure localities are getting their fair share, according a revenue sharing report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The report found that 279 small “urban” villages would receive millions in additional state aid if the revenue sharing formula took into account characteristics these villages share with small cities, such as population, rather than historical municipal labels.


The 50-year-old formula New York State uses to provide aid to local governments needs a complete overhaul to ensure localities are getting their fair share, according a revenue sharing report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The report found that 279 small “urban” villages would receive millions in additional state aid if the revenue sharing formula took into account characteristics these villages share with small cities, such as population, rather than historical municipal labels.

“The terms ‘city,’ ‘town,’ and ‘village’ have more to do with history than present day governmental functions,” DiNapoli said. “The current formula for state aid ignores the reality that many villages and towns have surpassed cities in size and provide similar services. In the interest of fairness, the state’s decades-old revenue sharing formula needs to change. But increased assistance for villages and towns shouldn’t come at the expense of cities.”

NYCOM Executive Director Peter Baynes said, “This report highlights what NYCOM has been saying for years  that cities and villages are contending with many of the same fiscal challenges and therefore they all, regardless of class, deserve a predictable, equitable and adequate level of state assistance. Furthermore, our 2008 Legislative Program calls for a revenue sharing formula that not only reflects rising costs, but also considers the need demonstrated by each municipality, as well as the types and levels of services provided. We appreciate State Comptroller DiNapoli’s efforts to help bring these issues to light and, in turn, strengthen our case for increased state aid to local governments.”  

The state’s revenue sharing program was once a stable revenue source for local governments, providing them with a predictable, flexible source of unrestricted state aid. But after the state’s fiscal crisis in the early 1990’s, local aid was dramatically cut and then future increases were primarily directed to cities. By 2005, more than half of all revenue sharing funds went to cities.

There are 553 villages and 61 cities (excluding New York City) in the state. There are 279 villages that are similar in structure, demography and financial condition to 52 cities. These smaller “urban” villages provide many of the same services as cities such as police, fire, libraries, water, sewer and garbage collection. In 2006, revenue sharing constituted 9.3 percent of total revenues for downstate cities and 5.4 percent for upstate cities. Revenue sharing for these villages on the other hand made up only one percent of their total revenue.  

The report provides two scenarios of what state revenue sharing for these villages would look like if they had received more equitable aid distributions. Under one scenario, if aid had been distributed based on similar municipal characteristics rather than municipal labels they would have received $109 million in state funding in the 2007-08 fiscal year, compared to the $16.9 million they actually received. Under another model, these villages would have received $27.6 million as compared to $16.9 million had they benefited from similar increases in aid as cities over the past decade. While the report primarily focused on villages, a similar situation would apply to many urban towns.

To view the report, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/researchbrief.pdf

For a copy of the 2006 report examining New York’s outdated classifications of local governments, visit: http://www.osc.state.ny.us/localgov/pubs/research/munistructures.pdf

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A 6.0 Year: Team Image, Skyliners Contend for Nation Titles in New England

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WPCNR RINKSIDE. February 20, 2008:  Team Image of Yonkers Intermediate Team, the  2-time Intermediate Champions in Syncronized Skating this year, and The Skyliners, last year’s Eastern Regional Junior Team Champions and 2nd Place in the Easterns last week will be competing with teams from coast to coast and border to border at the United States Figure Skating Synchronized Skating Championship in Providence Rhode Island beginning today. No matter how they skate, the two teams have pioneered syncrhonized skating in the Tri-State area to be competitive with New England and the “Valley of Synchro — The Middle West.”



Team Image Intermediate — the Darlings of Murray’s Rink — Winners of Two Golds in a Row! Going for a National Title this Weekend! Coach Sylvia Muccio’s team is showing their flawless block at the Dr. Porter Classic in Ann Arbor Michigan December 1 where they finished first of 12 teams in their first skate of the 07-08 season. They showed that was no fluke, finishing 1st again in the Eastern Regional Synchro Regionals in Richmond Virginia last week.





Skyliners Juniors. Skating Their Long Program at Fraser Michigan in January at the Synchro World Qualifier Competition.The Junior performance of this Long program won the Free Skate last week in Richmond, but the Lexettes held on for the Junior First Place Medal.



Synchronized skating is growing as fast as fast-pitch softball for young women across the country, despite little or no coverage by national and local media (except for the CitizeNetReporter and the Nashville Tennessean). The Ann Arbor Figure Skating Club Dr. Porter Competition in December showed this when it attracted an astounding record 163 teams (of 16 to 20 Girls each) to its traditional first synchro competition of the year in December.



Skyliners Juniors in their extremely cool Spread Eagle Wheel Finish of Proud Mary at the MidAmericas in Michigan.


Locally, Team Image of Yonkers E. J. Murray Rink, and The Skyliners sponsored by the Figure Skating Club of New York and the Windy Hill Skating Club, who skate out of Westchester Skating Academy, the Dorothy Hamill Rink in Greenwich, Playland and The Ice Hutch are providing the most team experience you can get and building the East’s reputation  in synchro as accomplished skaters who can skate together baby. Each club program has divisions by age from Preliminary up through Intermediate (Junior for Skyliners) and is always looking for a few great skaters from 6 to 19 — male or female.



Team Image Perfect Circle at Ann Arbor Porter December 2007


Team Image’s Intermediate Team coached by Sylvia Muccio, a Yonkers resident has had a dream skate this season. They have finished first twice – against 12 teams in the Dr. Porter Classic in Ann Arbor Michigan December 2, and again at the Eastern Regionals last week – two Golds in one season. Ms. Muccio’s girls many of whom have skated with her for years through many heartbreaks – are flying this season with a precise style showing their Mohawks, twizzlers and rockers and edges with enough speed and elan to achieve two first place finishes in synchro’s most competitive division. No matter what happens at the Nationals – they are to be admired and saluted!



Team Image — a Perfect Block at Porter.


The Skyliners – the tri-state Synchronized Skating team made up of skaters from Westchester, New York City, Connecticut and New Jersey will be sending three teams to compete in Junior, Novice and Juvenile Divisions. Team Image with its distinguished performances in the Intermediate Division – two First Places against the best Intermediate Synchro has to offer have set the standard for the Intermediate Division.


 



Josh Babb, Skyliner Coach warming up the Junior Team Warming Up Prior to Skating at MidAmericas in Fraser in January. You have to love the Skyliners haberdashery. And performing the same sequence on ice below in their Proud Mary Skate.



 



Skyliner Juniors in their spectacular Spread Eagle Fan in their Long Program at Frasier Michigan.



The Skyliners Junior Silver Medalists, Richmond Virginia, Eastern Regional Synchronized Skating Championship. Photo, Courtesy, The Skyliners by Lawrence H. Cooke II.


Larry Rosen, Owner of The Athlete’s Foot at The Galleria in White Plains, who is also President of the Skyliners, said the Skyliners have had a strong year in all divisions. The Junior Team, skating to Proud Mary at the Eastern Regionals last week won Second Place with their highest point total in a Short Program to date, then finished First in the Long Program, finishing second overall to the Hadyenette team, The Lexettes.  They’ve stayed in elegant hotels, performed in Bryant Park in New York City, and on the Rachel Ray television show at The Central Park rink. They’ve been through good times, not so good skates and great skates. They skate together and live for the next skate.


 



Skyliners Novice Team — Skating to Queen for a Silver at the Richmond Eastern Regional last week. Photo, Courtesy, The Skyliners By Lawrence H. Cooke II



The Skyliners Novice Team, skating to the music of Bon Jovi won Silver (second place), in the Eastern Regional scoring their highest point total of the year. Photo, Courtesey, The Skyliners, By Lawrence Cooke II



The Skyliners Juvenile Team, performing to Hanna Montana won Silver in a very close competition in what Rosen called their best performance of the year. Photo, Courtesy, The Skyliners, By Lawrence Cooke II.


Rosen said, “All three Skyliners’ qualifying lines will be looking forward to competing at Nationals. Overall the Eastern Regional Competition was a very successful competition for the Skyliners.”


The Skyliners will be having a reunion with former teammates  Nikki Wylan and  Juliana Bailey in Providence, and also when The Skyliners compete in Zagreb, Croatia in March at the Zagreb Snowflakes Competition. They have been chosen with the University of Michigan to represent USFS in that competition.


Synchronized Skating is the most team you can be on. The reason I say this is because in order to be scored at the highest levels in synchronized skating, all skaters have to be skating the same move simultaneously. Everybody has to perform perfectly, otherwise you lose credit for the entire element: circle, double line, spread eagle splice.


No team member  is less important than any other member.  Perhaps the most unsung skaters are the alternates who must be able to “skate in” and know any spot if a skater goes down. And they do. Hats are off to the cross-skaters who because they are age-eligible for two classes of teams, skate on two teams with different practices, different teammates and 4 sets of programs to know, not just 2.


Synchronized Skating teaches dedication and the elusive ability to perform the best you have ever performed under pressure before judges. You may skate your program or programs, Short or Long maybe 5 times during the synchronized skating circuit competitions. You invest hours of repetition and dedication. Synchro teaches its practioners how to live with unfairness, judging you may not agree with,  and how to accept it.


When you fall or fail to connect a line or mess a circle, you learn how to live with personal failure and overcome it.


The synchronized skater gets  satisfaction beyond understanding when you skate great and finish high and higher and higher and closer to the top each time you skate. You skate for yourself and for each other. There is no limit to where you can go in synchro, and it provides infinite preparation and confidence for the challenges to come in a young woman and young man’s life.



The Skyliner Preliminary Team — Where the love affair between you and the ice begins and will always be with you — just a lace up and a pair of blade away.

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P.R. Person Nixed. Mamaroneck Ave. School Contracts Approved.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. From Michele Schoenfeld. (EDITED) February 19, 2008: The regular Board of Education met last week and approved contracts for the renovation of Mamaroneck Avenue School totaling $4.4 Million. The Board also heard recommendations from Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors on the implementation of the first parts of the Strategic Plan, in which Mr. Connors recommended not hiring a full-time professional public relations person for the district, one of the recommendations of the Action Committees regarding communications.



Moving Forward: Timothy Connors, Superintendent of Schools  presents Strategic Plan last week.


 



 The Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors recommended implementation of recommendations of the District Action Teams in each off the five areas derived from Strategies developed by the Core Planning  Committee, as follows:


 



  • Insuring that every employee understands the vision, goals and implications of the mission and strategic objectives. This will be coordinated by Mr. Connors with Teresa Niss.
  • Implementing a systematic process to insure that all programs and projects reflect the mission  and are cost effective.  Assistant Superintendent Fred Seiler will direct this activity.
  • Achieving the goal that at least 90% of all students are reading on grade level by the end of second grade.  This will be led by Assistant Superintendent Margaret Dwyer and Board President Donna McLaughlin, who will focus on the community commitment to the importance of  reading.

In discussion of this goal, WPCNR noted that Ms. Dwyer said that 81% of White Plains Kindergarten Students leaving Kindergarten in June are performing at grade level, and that 68% of White Plains First and Second Graders as of June 2007 were performing at Grade Level.


 


Superintendent of Connors emphasized that there were no increased costs expected from this goal since programs are already in place to address this issue


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  • Developing proficiency in the essential characteristics of effective leadership in all district admin- istrators.  Assistant Superintendent Lenora Boehlert and others will be responsible for this.
  • Instituting a process for a coordinated and integrated approach to disseminate information about the district.  Mr. Connors plans to convene a steering committee to provide direction. He recommended against hiring a full-time public relations person, because he expected such a person would cost the district at least $100,000 a year and that it would not be good public relations for the district to do this at this time.

 CAPITAL PROJECT ON MAMARONECK AVENUE SCHOOL FORGES AHEAD


 


 


     Contracts totaling about $4.4 million were awarded for the renovation and construction work at Mamaroneck Avenue School. This is the third set of bids for capital projects that has come in under budget — this one by 20%.   Bids for the new Post Road School will follow in a  few weeks and the tracks (at Highlands Parker Stadium and the High School Loucks Field)  should be completed once the warmer weather arrives.


 


            Board Member Bill Pollak commented that because the Wicks Law is still in effect, separate contractors are required, at a greater cost to the district. 


 


The contracts, Russell Davidson of Keyer Garment & Davidson, the architects overseeing the project went to contractors that KG & D has worked with on prior projects, all of whom were low bidders on the Mamaroneck Avenue School.. Construction Services, LLC was designated the General Contractor on the project for $2,459,000.


 


The HVAC contractor is Mengler Mechanical with a bid of $767,000; the Plumber is Beneway Incorporated for $169,148, and the Electrical Contractor is Talt Electric on a bid of $607,000.


 



 


 


     RECOGNITION OF INTEL SEMIFINALIST:  Timothy Selg, teacher of the High School’s Science Research Program, proudly presented Adam Lanman, (above) White Plains High School’s 14th Semifinalist in the prestigious National Intel Science Talent Search. 


 



 


Mr. Lanham’s study observing video tapes of White Plains High School Hall activity (made with permission), showed that the denseness of WPHS hall traffic did not result in bottlenecks created by students grouping to converse. He said the opposite was true, that though two students might stop to talk, groups of 2 or more did not linger long due to being pulled in opposite directions by their classroom destinations. This was contrary to preconceived perceptions. There were no comparative studies available conducted on street encounters.


 


 



 


 One of only 300 students chosen nationwide,  Adam made a presentation on his topic entitled:  “A Physical Model for the Grouping Behavior of Adolescent Pedestrians.”   The program is in its tenth anniversary year and Mr. Selg expressed appreciation to everyone who has provided support — the Board, administration, Principal Ivan Toper, Science Coordinator Margaret Doty, mentors of the students and particularly the parents. 


 


     RETIREMENTS:  The Board accepted resignations for the purpose of retirement from 12 staff


     members and Mr. Connors and Board members thanked them for their services and wished them


     well.  Retirees are:  Joan Kass, Coordinator of LOTE and ESOL, 6-12; Allyson Alfano, Teaching


     Assistant at George Washington School; Mary Jane Hoag, Teaching Assistant at New York Hos-


     pital; Joseph Thigpen, Custodian, High School; William DeFeo, English Teacher High School;


     Catherine Gruder, Reading Teacher, Middle School-Highlands; Karen Jenkins, Reading Teacher,   Middle School-Eastview; Lidia Lyman, School Counselor, High School; Elaine Norelli, Mathe matics Teacher, High School; Thomas O’Connell, Special Education Teacher, High School; Susan Rosenzweig, Speech Teacher, Middle School-Eastview & High School; and Marian Steinberg, Special Education Teacher, New York Presbyterian Hospital Program.


            Mrs. Kass was thanked for her many initiatives, the special programs she has led, and for


     establishing a strong foundation for the district in the area of languages.


 


 


     PERSONNEL:  Eva Cieloszyk was given a probationary appointment as a Latin Teacher at the


     Highlands Middle School and the High School.


            Two Teaching Assistants were awarded tenure:  Michele Bellantoni at Post Road School, and


     Henry Burford at the Middle School-Highlands.


 


     DONATIONS:  The Board accepted the following donations:  $100 from Laurie Bass and David Fine for High School Orchestra instruments and for the High School Choir trip to the Penn State University Choral Festival; $500 from Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hollahan for the High School Choir Penn State trip; $2,000 from an anonymous donor for the High School Choir Penn State trip; Sample fabric books from Joyce Duffy for use by the High School Art Department; and $600 from the Hitchcock Presbyterian Church for the Manhattanville/Centro Hispano Hispanic Outreach Tutorial Program.   Mr. Connors thanked these donors for their generosity.



 


MEETINGS:                             


 


March 3:         Special Meeting, Education House 7:30 P.M. (Expected to include discussion on the 2008-2009 School Budget — is described as being a “Budget Workshop.”


                                                  


March 5:         Second Meeting with Annual Budget Committee, Education House, 7:30 P.M. to include presentation of a potentially lower Preliminary  School Budget Presentation


                                                  


March 10:       Regular Meeting, High School, 7:30 P.M.


                                                                                    Scholar-Athlete Recognition


 


     MOMENT OF SILENCE:  Superintendent of Schools Timothy Connors asked for a moment of


     silence in memory of Bernice Banker, an elementary Music Teacher who had been with the district


     for 32 years prior to her retirement.  

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Local Girls Skate for their Colleges at Synchro Nationals in Little Rhodey

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WPCNR RINKSIDE. February 18, 2008: The best “teams” in the country, the synchronized skating elite are coming together from all over the country in Providence, Rhode Island this week.  Five  college teams feature skaters from Westchester County, four from White Plains’ Good Ol’ Ebersole Rink. Juliana Bailey, Amy Reinthaler and  Aly Salonger of White Plains who all learned to skate at Ebersole, Mary  Halling of Yonkers  and Nikki Wylan of Valhalla  skated with The Skyliners and Team Image, two local synchronized skating club teams with national reputations  will be competing for their collegiate synchronized skating teams at the United States Figure Skating Synchronized Skating Championship at the big time vene, the Dunkin Donuts Arena. All girls have fitted in nicely with their college synchronized skating teams.



The University of Michigan Senior Synchronized Skating Team performing and winning the Gold Medal at the MidWestern Synchronized Skating Regionals in Nashville last week.  They’re performing a rotating lift on skates their folks at medium speed! (And No pads or helmets)



Juliana Bailey Graduate of White Plains High, left and Nikki Wylan, Graduate of Valhalla High School after Michigan eased past the spirited and talented Western Michigan Broncos for the Midwest Synchronized Skating Championship and a very close and tension taut finale Free Skate. The two freshman have fit right in with a group of young and talented freshman, sophomores and juniors and steadying senior leaders as synchronized skating grows at U of M.



Irish on Ice: Amy Reinthaler, a Senior at Notre Dame has pioneered synchronized skating at the Golden Dome for the last four years. She is the last skater on the left. She choreographs the team’s routines and this year the Irish skated the best we have seen them skate over the four years.



Two for the Ice: Juliana Bailey, left with White Plains’ Amy Reinthaler, right, pioneer of Synchronized Skating at the University of Notre Dame in Nashville last week. Ms. Reinthaler was a mentor whom Ms. Bailey looked up to for leadership and guidance at Ebersole Rink when they both skated there. Once you skate together, you’re friends for life — and you get all those great college skating warmup jackets, too! 



 





Monday Ms. Bailey and Ms. Wylan of the University of Michigan flew to Providence  to take part with the University of Michigan Synchronized Skating team Senior and Collegiate teams in skates Thursday and Saturday at the U.S. Synchronized Skating National Championship. The two have joined a group of talented veteran skaters and freshman and sophomore skaters to help elevate University of Michigan Synchro to the first Collegiate medal finish  and a first place in the Midwest Regional Senior Division in Nashville Tennessee last week.



Michigan Coach, Brooke Sloan, right, shown here coaching in one of the six practices held in Nashville prior to their three performances, said  had great admiration and respect for her skaters’ abilities to balance their fearsome academic schedules with their commitment and love for synchronized skating. 


 Sloan’s two teams improved significantly in each succeeding competition this season ( the Porter in Ann Arbor, the Fraser Qualifier Outside of Detroit, and the Midwestern Regional in Nashville). The team practices five times a week two hours at a time at The Ice Cube outside Ann Arbor and Yost Arena.)


Sloan adapts a very upbeat  “expect to be the leaders and best” coaching style in her practices consistently massaging the Wolverine programs, expecting her edgers to step up and execute the subtleties demanded by today’s exquisite balance of grace, technicality and showmanship rewarded by synchro’s  International Judging System to move on up.   The Woverines have responded to Sloane’s expectations of excellence.  Sloan has coached six National Championship Teams and two Junior World Qualifying Teams. She has 19 years experience in synchronized skating coaching, including coaching on Preliminary through Juvenile Levels for Team Elan.


The team’s belief in their coach and the coach’s approach to and their ability to execute the Sloan way and the heart of the team to skate strong with poise in a big spot,  has brought the skating Wolverines to their greatest achievements in synchronized skating to date.



The College Team Skates to a 4th Place Pewter Medal in the 9-team Collegiate Competition in Nashville.


 



The Michigan College Division Team Skating to their first medal  ever in December at the Ann Arbor Dr. Porter where they finished third.


The College Team earned their first Fourth Place medal in the Collegiate Midwestern skate this year and the Michigan Senior Team captured their First Place medal in the Senior Division, where their best skate of ‘Stairway to Heaven” to Led Zeppelin, skated in competition for only the second time, nosed out the strong, stylish and athletic Western Michigan Broncos for First Place.  


 



Champs! The University of Michigan Senior Midwest Regional Champions 2008 pose for their official portrait.


 



Michigan Senior Team Elegance performing Stairway to Heaven in Nashville



The Leaders: Seniors Hillary Dauffenbach-Tabb of Green Bay, Wiconsin left, President of Michigan’s Synchronized Skating Teams and  Jennifer Cleary, Treasurer, of Ogdenagen, Michigan, who cross-skates on both Collegeiate and Senior teams celebrate the team’s first Midwest Synchronized Skating Championship. Hillary has skated with the Wolverine Synchronized Skating team for her four years at U of M, and this year is the first time the team has medaled. This year has been very meaningful to her.  


The U of M team is a Club, meaning they are not a Varsity Sport. They are run entirely by the students, led by Hillary and Jennifer  who organize the plane flights to their farflung rinks; arrange the hotels; purchase the dresses, and pay the coaches, and the team practice dresses and coveted warmup jackets. The team’s communication, run entirely by the students is infinitely better than any other travel-team organization we have experienced.


The significance of the  Michigan Senior win is their skate was equal to that of the 4th place national finalist last year,  California Gold who skated just before them. The Wolverines summoning the will, skated Stairway to Heaven elegantly outskating the Gold by less than half a point.  It was a landmark skate for the team.


The Senior Team and Collegiate Team and their other competitors in the two Divisions are stronger, skating greater, and closing the gap on the perennial leaders, The Haydenettes, Miami University, Chicago Jazz, The Colonials, and the elegant Team Braemar and California Gold. In collegiate the U of M, Michigan State (which has an immaculate, sophisticated sensational program to the James Bond Theme), Western Michigan, Wisconsin, University of Ilinois, and Indiana have raised their skating levels superbly in just a year.


 



 


White Plains Ally Salonger (center, foreground), spinning for the University of Delaware Synchronized Skating Team at the Dr. Porter Classic in Ann Arbor in December. Ally,  like Juliana Bailey and Amy Reinthaler is a former member of the White Plains Figure Skating Club at Ebersole Rink. She tried out for the University of Delaware Synchro team and has been a stalwart anchor of the synchro program there. Her team will be competing with the University of Michigan Collegiate team this week. 


 



Mary Halling, of Yonkers, another Skyliner, and Mollie Barr of last year’s Skyliners and Team Image Synchro Teams Alumna who were teammates of Ms. Bailey and Ms. Wylan,  won a slot as  Freshmen on the magnificent University of Miami Synchronized Skating Team. (Mary Halling is the first skater on the first line on the right, in the foreground.) The local synchro teams in the Tri-State Area — including the New Jersey Superettes are producing skaters who are growing the sport. Mary and the RedHawks are shown skating in the Junior Qualifier at Fraser Michigan in January.

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How to Be a Better Sports Parent

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WPCNR VIEW FROM THE UPPER DECK. From John Vorperian February 18, 2008: On Monday, March 3, 2008 at 7:00 PM, the Center for Ethics in Sports at Manhattanville (CESAM) will hold a lively panel discussion with a question and answer session, “ABCs of Better Sports Parenting” in Reid Castle. Manhattanville College is located at 2900 Purchase Street, Purchase, NY and CESAM is housed as a function of the Sport Business Management program.

      CESAM’s 2ND Annual Best Practices in the Sports World event . Panelists include WFANs Rick Wolff, Host, The Sports Edge and author of numerous articles about Youth and Sports; Rod Mergardt, Manhattanville Professor and past Interscholastic Athletics Director; and Fred Cambria, 1970 Pittsburgh Pirate and youth baseball coach. CESAM director, John Vorperian said, “In the tri-state area, youth sports play an important role in our children’s lives. Parents, coaches, school administrators, and all interested persons will enjoy this free event.”

      This is a free event and open to the public. RSVP to Program Director Dave Torromeo at 914.323.5301, torromeod@mville.edu or CESAM director John Vorperian at 914.523-6951, jvorperian@yahoo.com.




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Chinese Usher In The Year of the Rat at Aberdeen’s

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WPCNR SNAPSHOTS. FEBRUARY 18, 2008: The Chinese New Year was celebrated at Aberdeen’s Chinese Restaurant Saturday, commemorating The Year of the Rat. The rat is revered because, as Councilman Glen Hockley told WPCNR, “the Rat is relentless in its need to sustain itself.”


Mr. Hockley is a tireless supporter of causes in White Plains promoting respect for all cultures. He has supported efforts to do away with hunger in Westchester. He has worked quietly to keep the memory of The Holocaust and what it represents in the conciences of today.  He has lead the ongoing White Plains effort to supply the homeless flood victims of the Dominican Republic this year and has distinguished himself as an organizer for good in the city. More than any other city official, Glen Hockley can be counted on to help.



The event was hosted as it is every year by Aberdeen’s proprietor and host Ricky Ho. A martial arts school entertained all patrons with the traditional dragon dance. Children of all ages, and White Plains Councilman Glen Hockley fed the dragon for good luck.Dummers below create the music for the Dragon Dance.


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The Outside Steak Beats The Inside Steak Even When its Cold Outside.

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WPCNR SOUTHEND LIFE. By The Grillin Gourmet. February 18, 2008: It was a holiday weekend in White Plains and the temperature was in the 20s, but thanks to the chimney charcoal starter and its glowing orange coals, the backyard American barbeque DNA macho in the amateur chef proved once again the equal of the overpriced steak cooked indoors. Steak was raised outside, it was born to be cooked outside, and the barbequed steak puts the Cartier priced Steakhouse in its place!  In this griller’s opinion, ourdoor grilling proves once again to be the equal and superior to the overpriced artificial-tasting steak that sleek decor and atmosphere cannot duplicate backyard orgins. To do real steak right , you have to do it outside on charcoal.


 



Grillin in the 20s: The instinct of generations of the American backyard barbeque tradition passed up from  the cave, enjoyed at Valley Forge, sunk into around chuck wagons on the prairie and up from the Southland  barbeque inbred and passed on from American father to American son – cutting across nationality and station – gives you real steak – not $100 technology enhanced cuts. Flaming charcoal makes steak a living thing in your mouth!



Why pay $100 for a  steak dinner unless your company is paying for it, when you can tap your inner griller and say I can cook steak better?  The difference is the air, the smoke, the way marinade just drips down into the coals and gets into the meat. It’s chemistry! 


 What is it about the American Grillman that’s so special that his or hers backyard cuts beat the insider  professionals’ inflation-friendly ostentatious steaks?


It’s the unique chemistry of being American and charcoal flame. There’s just something about the searing intensity of glowing charcoal combining mystically with the testosterone and instinctual synergy between red meat and the dedicated outdoor griller —  it beats in taste, juiciness and texture the contrived technology of the most expensive restaurant equipment.


No matter how tasty the megabuck meat is in the swank sticker shock steak palaces, there’s always that articificialness packaged taste that marks the indoor steak. The butteryness. The soft crust of the black topped surface of the indoor steak just does not have the nubile grizzled roughhewn flamed yield of the outdoor one-on-one grilled steak.


Only one whose money is easily parted would pay $50 and up for a buttery indoor steak dinner when you can do it yourself in the backyard even in 20 degree weather – the steaks done to perfection with the juices sealed  in.



The chimney starter – the secret to the hot start. No more charcoal fluid needed. Take a copy of The Journal News and scrunch up the news section or the sports section in the bottom of the Chimney Starter. (Experience shows that copies of the Journal News — any Gannett paper — burn better than the New York Times which is very slow-starting)


Pour in a helping of those ultimate black beauties, Kingsford charcoal briquettes into the chimney top. Fifteen minutes before the wife has the sides ready, take a wooden match to the aperatures in the base of the starter and light up the edges of the newsprint. Within 10-15 minutes you’ve got coals a firey orange red. You’re ready to outcook the pros.


 



Eat Your Heart Out, Mr. or Ms. Professional Food Designer!  After the Griller’s wife has marinated the meat –  these Stop and Shop trimmed New York Strips sizzling in the caressing deep searing heat of glowing orange briquettes – 3 minutes a side and deft turning and surgical rareness checks – the seasoned grillista simply has a feel for the meat – passed genetically down from generations of American grillers. The combination of cauldron, flavored steel grill rods and pefect flames creates the branded grillmarks that deliver the natural taste of the backyard steak – impossible to achieve for any price in the tehnologically nuanced, high tech steam tables of today.  No one can do a great cut like you can!


As any redblooded American Grillman will tell you when doing a steak – you can’t deliver a steak by manual or instructions. You have to feel the meat. Feel it cook. You just know its time.


 Every cut is not the same. The American Grilman becomes one with the meat. With eye and knowledge of the hue of red – you just  know  by instinct when she’s done. Cooking is slowed down by moving the meats to the side off the heat to keep the American beauties warm 


With the wife’s deft presentation, sweet potato fries, corn pudding, fresh beans and mushrooms without the sog of infrared glare, the Grillman’s natural art relegates the indoor steak out of the taste sweepstakes.


So next time its cold — keep that grill handy and ready to fire up to get that taste of summer you cannot get in any indoor steakhouse no matter how much you pay.

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Candidates for School Board Sought. Two Seats Up for Election.

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WPCNR SCHOOL DAYS. February 17, 2008: The Annual White Plains Board of Education Budget Vote and Election will take place on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008, Noon to 9 P.M., at six voting districts.  Two Board seats will be up for  election, each with a three-year term of office, beginning July 1, 2008. The terms of Bill Pollak and Rosemarie Eller are expiring. It is not known at this time whether Mr. Pollak, a Board member since 2002, and Ms. Eller a member since 2005 will be seeking third and second terms respectively.


 



Rosemarie Eller, left, and Bill Pollak, Board Members at their election in 2005 with Superintendent of Schools, Timothy Connors.



 


Candidates must be United States citizens, 18 years of age or more and residents of White


 


Plains for at least one year.  Petitions are available from Michele Schoenfeld, District Clerk, at


 


5 Homeside Lane.  They must be signed by 100 qualified voters and returned by April 30th.


 


Registration, for qualified voters new to the City, or those who are not registered to vote in


 


general elections, will take place on Saturday, May 3rd, Noon to 5 P.M., at Mamaroneck Avenue


 


School, Nosband Avenue.  A resident who has moved within White Plains during the last year may


 


also change his/her voting address at that time.


 


Absentee ballots are available by application to the District Clerk, for any voter who will not be


 


in White Plains during the time of the election.


 


For further information, please call 422-2071.

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