The Hudson Independent: News for Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, NY

Giving Thanks at the Table

Linda Viertel
For The Hudson Independent

It’s time, once again, to celebrate the harvest and give thanks for our farmers’ bounty as well as the gift of family and friends. And, it’s time to enjoy traditional recipes handed down from generation to generation, or be daring and try a new recipe or two. While some family members want the same recipe year after year, and look forward to that tradition, other cooks and guests may yearn for a surprise.

Since our farmers’ markets are brimming with freshly harvested vegetables of all kinds, you can do no better than to visit them at Thanksgiving time, and you’ll taste the difference.

Culinary Adventures in November

On Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, organic turkey at Eileen Bedell’s Blu will be accompanied by sage stuffing, garlic mashed potatoes, creamed onions, brussel sprouts and maple-roasted acorn squash, livened with giblet gravy, priced at $29. Special desserts will include pumpkin cheesecake and pecan pie, manager Jessica Grecco said. The restaurant, located on the second floor of the Hudson Valley Health and Tennis Complex in Hastings on Hudson, is handicapped-accessible by elevator. Call 478-4481.

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Equus at the Castle-on-the Hudson in Tarrytown will serve Thanksgiving Day roast barnyard turkey with white button turnips, timbale carrots and petite onions, sweet potato puree, sweet sausage and herb stuffing; alternate selections will satisfy non-turkey lovers.

Darts: A Game Played Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Morey Storck
For The Hudson Independent

Their excitement is contagious. This group of top players at Gryphon’s darts bar in White Plains answer questions, speaking over one another, exhibiting a spirited passion for their game and their sport: darts.

There are millions of darts players in the United States, a good number of whom play in neighborhood bars, clubs and pubs which are, and always have been, the most popular spots. “I set this place up expressly as a dart bar, and business has been very good,” said Kenny Giuliano (in photo by Morey Storck), owner of Gryphon’s, who has five boards open most of the time. “People start coming in after work to meet friends, have a few laughs, a couple of beers and throw some darts. It’s a very friendly, happy crowd and like the old TV show, everyone knows your name.” 

Rip Van Winkle’s Winter WonderLights

The same Historic Hudson Valley creative team that produces the Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in October is launching a brand-new holiday event in December: Winter WonderLights, which takes its inspiration from the famous Washington Irving tale of Rip Van Winkle (in illustration by Michael Natiello).

Designed to be an artistic, larger-than-life dreamscape of Rip’s visions during his 20 winters of sleep, Winter WonderLights is a walk through a holiday lights display that will take place in the woodlands of Sunnyside, Irving’s Tarrytown homestead. It will feature state-of-the-art LED lighting, special effects and handmade sculptures large and small.

Advance tickets are essential and are available online at www.hudsonvalley.org. Event dates are Dec. 11-14, 18-23, 26-30, and Jan. 2-3.

A Serial Painter’s Portraits of the First Ladies

Marcy Gray

To paraphrase some debating candidates, there she goes again.

Laurie Munn, Tarrytown resident, artist and self-described serial painter, has been busy for the better part of the year with another series of paintings. Her last series was of all the seniors from New Jersey’s Emerson High School, Class of 1965 (Glory Days from a 1965 Yearbook, The Hudson Independent, May 2006).

Money in Your Safe or is It Safe in the Bank?

Sol Skolnick
For The Hudson Independent

You have doubtless seen the omnipresent logo of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in your bank or savings association. And perhaps in less tense times you didn’t pay much attention to it. However, in the wake of the recent economic sea change, and the reports of banks failing or being taken over, the FDIC has been in the news.

The FDIC insures and protects you against the loss of your money in checking, NOW and savings accounts, money market deposit accounts — not money market mutual funds — and certificates of deposit in member institutions. Credit Unions adhere to the same guidelines through the National Credit Union Association, which is also a U.S. government institution.

Child Care Center to Celebrate 40th Anniversary

The Elizabeth Mascia Child Care Center of Tarrytown will hold its fifth annual autumn gala this month in celebration of the center’s 40th anniversary. The gala event will honor Tarrytown residents Rebecca (Becky) and Raymond (Skip) McGovern, and there will also be a special presentation for one of “the center’s pioneers,” 40-year veteran teacher Lisa Tolbert.

The parents of three, Becky and Skip McGovern were chosen due to their roles as “major contributors to the well-being of Tarrytown and neighboring communities.”

An Uneasy Future

In these uncertain economic times, villages, schools face tighter credit and shrinking revenue

Robert Kimmel

While Washington struggles to jump-start an ailing economy, the river villages and school districts are looking to cut expenditures.

Officials predict a continuing decline in revenues from mortgage and sales taxes, essential sources of operating funds, and borrowing in a constricted credit market is getting tougher.

“We are concerned and we are looking for ways to cut costs to deal with revenue decreases,” Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell said, adding, “We are asking our department heads to search for reductions in expenditures.”

The Corporate Conscience of Hitachi

Sherry Saturno
For The Hudson Independent

Hitachi America Ltd., in Tarrytown is a new breed of corporation, deftly executing a balance of technological advancement with community-based work. Hitachi Ltd., a global electronics company with revenues totaling $112.2 billion last fiscal year, will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2010.

First-graders from John Paulding School in Tarrytown visit Hitachi.

Hitachi America Ltd., its subsidiary, manufactures and markets electronics, computer systems and products, and provides industrial services and equipment in North America. Ranging from high-definition plasma TVs to power tools, Hitachi also adapts equipment to defuse land mines and develops technology to treat cancer patients.

Tarrytown Police on Board with Community Advocacy Group

Rick Pezzullo
For The Hudson Independent

The Tarrytown Police Department supports the formation of a local police advisory board as part of an ongoing effort to improve relations with the community.

In fact, Tarrytown Police Chief Scott Brown recently offered to host the first meeting of the board during a meeting with members of the Community Activists Committee of the Tarrytowns.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Brown said at the Community Opportunity Center, where he was joined by Mayor Drew Fixell and Village Administrator Michael Blau (in photo by Rick Pezzullo). “It’s got to be a joint effort. We all have to be on the same page and hear the same message.”

Donald Whitely, who invited Tarrytown officials to meet separately with the committee after they were unable to attend a larger forum in August with Sleepy Hollow Police Chief Jimmy Warren and Greenburgh Police Chief John Kapica (“Community Activists Seek More Positive Interaction with Police Departments,” The Hudson Independent, September 2008), envisions the police advisory board to be made up of police, a few village trustees and six youth members, including four Hispanic and African American youngsters.