Westchester County Good Things Happening, 8.3.2015
Nominate your hometown heroes
Trustco Bank Corp NY is accepting nominations for its Home Town Heroes Hall of Fame, which was created to honor individuals who demonstrate strong community involvement and work hard to make a positive change in the community. President and CEO Robert J. McCormick stated, “Ordinary people do extraordinary acts to help their community. These individuals work hard every day to make a difference and ask nothing for themselves. We want to honor these Home Town Heroes who might otherwise go unnoticed.”
The public will be able to make nominations by going to TrustcoBank.com or visiting any Trustco branch. A committee will review all nominations and announce the winners.
The nominating program runs through Aug. 30. Winners will be invited to a special luncheon and receive a plaque to be displayed at Trustco Bank”™s corporate headquarters.
Autism agency visits Congress
The Anderson Center for Autism in Staatsburg became dedicated to autism programs in 2006. The Anderson Family Partners (AFP) is a parent-driven advocacy group bringing many years of experience to the challenges in navigating the educational system, raising awareness around the disorder and identifying appropriate outlets for additional programming and funding.
Earlier this summer, Anderson parent Tondra Lynford spearheaded an advocacy trip to Washington, D.C., to meet with eight members of Congress. As advocacy chairperson of AFP, Lynford said, “We wanted to thank those who were involved in supporting autism causes as well as create awareness around the fact that current legislation supports research and early intervention for children on the spectrum. There is nothing on the federal level that supports adults who are transitioning into adulthood.”
Plans are in the works to host a local legislators”™ breakfast on Anderson”™s campus in October of this year.
For information on the upcoming legislators”™ breakfast or Anderson Center for Autism”™s life long learning model, visit AndersonCenterForAutism.org.
Astorino and partners assist county’s diaper bank
County Executive Robert P. Astorino and the Junior League of Central Westchester joined recently with State Farm Insurance agents to package diapers for the Westchester County Diaper Bank at the JLCW headquarters in Scarsdale. State Farm agents recently conducted a drive that collected more than 4,400 diapers and 2,700 packs of wipes.
“Since we opened the Diaper Bank in November, we”™ve distributed an average of 15,800 diapers each month to families in need,” Astorino said. “That”™s all thanks to the generosity of our community and corporate partners.”
Intended to help get families through tough times, the Diaper Bank serves families through the Department of Social Services. The goal is to expand to serve nonprofit agencies as well.
Health Quest adds to its staff
Pranat Kumar joined Health Quest Medical Practice”™s division of general surgery Aug. 1. He will work at the Poughkeepsie and Rhinebeck offices.
Kumar received his medical degree from the University of Alabama School of Medicine and a master”™s degree of public health in epidemiology from George Washington University.
He completed his general surgery residency at New York University Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital, and also completed a fellowship in colon and rectal surgery at St. Luke”™s-Roosevelt Hospital Center.
Kumar has been in practice in the Hudson Valley since 2012 focusing on robotic and minimally invasive surgery for the treatment of colon cancer, rectal cancer, Crohn”™s disease, ulcerative colitis and diverticulitis.
Manager of Coldwell Banker Katonah office appointed
Yorktown resident Laura Acocella has been named branch office manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut and Westchester County”™s Katonah office.
Prior to her new role, Acocella managed the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage office in Somers. Before joining Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Acocella owned and operated Century 21 Elite Properties in Katonah ”” which was acquired by Coldwell Banker in 2008 ”” for about seven years.
Former NY Rangers highlight executive park event
GHP Office Realty LLC received a big assist from former New York Rangers Ron Duguay and Ron Greschner for its broker party unveiling the completed $6 million renovation of the buildings at 2649 and 2651 Strang Blvd. The 26-acre campus in Yorktown Heights is known as the Northern Westchester Executive Park.
Both Duguay and Greschner spoke of the glory days playing in the NHL with the Rangers in the 1980s and the fun they had as young men coming from small towns. They answered questions, were photographed with the guests and autographed items.
“The event was a huge success and we are grateful to both Ron Duguay and Ron Greschner for assisting us in revealing our $6 million renovation. The renovations include new flooring, wall covering, elevator lobbies, café, fitness center with locker rooms, new monument and building signage, asbestos removal, new windows and an EnergyStar-rated HVAC system that will reduce utility costs for tenants by up to 30 percent,” said Jamie Schwartz, executive vice president of GHP Office Realty.
Law firm brightens summer for campers
Brian Mittman, managing partner of Markhoff & Mittman PC in White Plains closed his office July 23 from noon to 2:30 p.m. to bring the entire staff to volunteer at the Carnival Day of Lifting Up Westchester”™s Summer Camp for homeless and at-risk children. A summer highlight for the 90 campers who range in age from 5-13 years, the carnival took place at the Ridgeway Elementary School in White Plains. The law firm employees assisted by painting faces, running game booths, handing out prizes and serving refreshments.
“We began our partnership with Lifting Up Westchester by organizing a communitywide food drive called ”˜Hope for the Holidays”™ this past December. Afterwards, we served a meal at Grace”™s Kitchen where we felt an immediate connection with the agency”™s soup kitchen”™s guests, many of whom live in our neighborhoods. We wanted to do more. Lifting Up Westchester”™s Development Director, Chris Schwartz, told us about Brighter Futures, the agency”™s summer day camp for homeless children and their need for 25 volunteers to manage their carnival. Before she finished her sentence, I said, yes,” said Mittman.
For 36 years, Lifting Up Westchester (formerly known as Grace Church Community Center) has provided a four-week summer day camp program for homeless and disadvantaged children from all over Westchester County.
Walkway offers summer volunteer training
Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie is offering workshops for those interested in volunteering at the park.
The trained volunteers enhance the visitor experience in numerous ways and allow for a diversity of programming that would be otherwise unavailable at the Walkway, according to a press release. To become a Walkway Ambassador participants complete three required volunteer and education trainings and commit to 50 volunteer hours per year.
The new ambassadors will join a team of more than 145 volunteers. Additional volunteers are needed to assist with greeting visitors, providing historical tours and managing large crowds safely.
Walkway is offering the next general volunteer trainings Aug. 12 and Aug. 19.
For more information, contact Susanne O”™Neil at 845-454-9649, soneil@walkway.org, or visit walkway.org.
Vassar names libraries director
Following a national search Andrew Ashton has been named the director of the libraries at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie to provide leadership and strategically important partnership in the academic enterprise.
Ashton will oversee all library operations, including approximately 40 professional and paraprofessional staff members and more than 150,000 square feet of space. The libraries at Vassar consist of the Thompson Memorial Library, Lockwood and Ingram libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Van Ingen Art Library, George Sherman Dickinson Music Library and the Digital Library. Together they house more than 1 million print volumes and each year welcome upward of 300,000 in-person visitors and loan roughly 20,000 items to other institutions.
Most recently Ashton was associate university librarian for digital technologies and co-head of the Center for Digital Scholarship at Brown University. Prior to that he served as systems librarian at Skidmore College and music librarian for Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C. He earned his undergraduate degree in music at Cornell University and master”™s degrees in American history and library science at the State University of New York at Albany.
“I am honored and excited to join the Vassar community and I see enormous opportunities in aligning Vassar”™s libraries with the dynamic and multidisciplinary curriculum,” Ashton said. “I look forward to working with students and faculty to build partnerships that both reaffirm and expand the libraries”™ critical role in the college”™s academic mission.”
Five elected to Phelps board
Five new members were recently elected to the board of directors of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center in Sleepy Hollow.
The new directors are:
Patricia Armstrong of Irvington, a 30-year veteran of the cable television industry, primarily in corporate finance roles as senior vice president of investor relations.
Tobe Banc of Briarcliff Manor is assistant medical director at Phelps, where she is also director of palliative care services and director of senior health and internal medicine. In addition, she is medical director of Kendal on Hudson, a continuing care retirement community on the Phelps campus.
David Swope of Ossining is founder of Club Fit, the multisport and recreational facility in Briarcliff Manor and Jefferson Valley. He is president of County Homes LLC, a real estate investment company, and owner of Tappan Hill, a catering facility in Tarrytown.
Kenneth Taber of Tarrytown is a partner in the New York City office of the national law firm Pillsbury, Winthrop, Shaw, Pittman LLP. He is co-leader of the firm”™s 200-attorney litigation section, and has represented the city of New York in what The New York Times called “landmark” litigation brought by the city to stem the flow of illegal guns.
Craig Zalvan, medical director of the Institute for Voice and Swallowing Disorders at Phelps Memorial Hospital Center, is a laryngologist specializing in voice, swallowing and cough disorders. He is also a partner in the otolaryngology group ENT Faculty Practice LLP, a member of the Medical Executive Committee at Westchester Medical Center, and serves as a faculty senator for the Senate at New York Medical College.
Information for these features has been submitted by the subjects or their delegates.