Om My Closes

In October 2004, the Katonah Museum of Art commissioned Brooklyn artist Jennifer Zackin to create a site-specific installation in town to celebrate its 50th anniversary. The Om My exhibit ran from
November 4, 2004 to March 1, 2005.

Here are members of Katonah Village Improvement Society
helping to dismantel the exhibit.

Allison Chernow & Mary Beth Kass- Co-Presidents- KVIS

KVIS Volunteer Helping Out

The exhibit was made with the help of many volunteers who gave many hours of their time to bring this exhibit to life. More..

This was the Katonah Museum's first foray into the world of public art.

The goal of public art is:

• To bring people together and engage them in the world they occupy.
  
• To see art in unexpected places.
  
• To stimulate conversation.
  
• To access and enjoy art free of charge in the course of people's daily routine
  

The Om My Project was co-sponsored by
The Katonah Museum of Art and The Katonah Village Improvement Society

It is coincidental that today also marks the closing of the public art exhibit - The Gates - in New York City

NY Lottery Allocation To Katonah-Lewisboro School District

I was looking up my lotto numbers at nylottery.org to see if by chance I was a winner - one can dream!

Since the NY Lottery is all about education, I
was curious as to what allocation was given to the Katonah-Lewisboro School District.

Here is the link.

Even shows the cumulative allocation since 1976.

With the way our school taxes are going up these days, do you think we should be asking our State Senator District: 40 Vincent L. Leibell, III can anything be done to up Katonah-Lewisboro allocation of NY Lottery money for education?

You can write to Senator Leibell here.

The Weather Forecast for Monday is snow. We have been lucky so far this winter. Here is what it was like two years ago around this time. 

Classic Disneyland promo movie from 1956

With the winter blahs upon us and the idea of getting away to a place like Disneyland
here is a retro (almost 50 years ago) link to the 1956 film "People and Places - Disneyland U.S.A.". A Disney made film to promote the less than one year old park!

Part one starts with a flyover of the park

Part 2 starts in Adventurland and has footage of the Jungle Cruise.

Be aware that both videos are over 77MB in size. You must have a broadband connection
to watch these films. I just looked at Part 1 via Windows Media Player. It runs for 20 minutes.

This is an absolute classic.

Link to various media
clips - disneyattracions

Community Board Re-Build

If you have not been by the Katonah Train station of late, there has been
a wonderful re-build done of the Community Board by the Katonah Village Improvement Society.

Community Board Before

Community Board After

Kudos! To Katonah Village Improvement Society

Idea: Gazebo- Katonah Information Center

Some years ago, in the heart of Katonah we had this beautiful Gazebo pictured above.
It was an interesting space in town. Some say too interesting, because it drew a lot
of teenagers and become a "hangout" if you will. I myself enjoyed the space and thought
it a welcome addition to the community.

Unfortunatley, it burned down. I don't recall the year, and yet since that time it stands as vacant unused space
in the heart of Town.

This is the way it looks today.

It struck me that would it not be a great idea to take the concept of the Gazebo,
and enhance it to house an Information Kiosk Center? The information center could be viewed as
a hybrid information and web site center.The Katonah Information Center would
blend Katonah's past, present and future in one central location. Local merchants could advertise
on the Kiosk to help support the operation and maintenance of the Katonah Information Center.

The Kiosk Information Systems, Inc. is a leading producer of kiosk centers in the
country. They have developed oudoor kiosk centers as well, which would more
then likely be the requirement for a Katonah Information Center.

Here are examples of outdoor kiosk currently on the market:

• Slabb 1.5
  
• Slabb 8
  

Here are examples of operational Community Information Center.

• Touch La Habra Commute Information Kiosk
  
• Visitor Center Information Kiosk
  City of Charlottesville
  
• City Access Information Kiosk
  City of Springfield
  
• Long Beach Kiosk Network
  

Informal Poll

Could you take a moment to register your opinion as to whether or not the Gazebo/Katonah Information Center is a good idea for this
unused space in Katonah.

Thanks

Free Web poll for your Web site - freepolls.com

He Called Himself Katonah!

"on the train ride up i was fascinated to pass through the town of Katonah,
where my first love lived and made his namesake. the one who i later found
out commit suicide. he called himself Katonah! (with an explanation point)
for his last name. of course i couldn't see much from the train station.
i imagined walking around that town just to see where he lived, just to
see a glimpse of his life that by rights i should never know, a stray
ragment puzzle piece to his past. i guess i wanted to see the town,
to walk its streets in order to feel superhuman - to see and experience
what was immediately personal to his life but what he can never experience again.

it's like i would get to recreate him, or reinvoke him in myself, but a part of
him i never knew. the thrill would be any number of these things. but in
actuality, all i could see was the train station sign "Katonah" and
a few non-descript buildings and a street just behind the train station
called Katonah avenue.

how odd that he chose to call himself the name of the discarded town of his past,
a past which he renounced and refused to discuss beyond a few repeated words of scorn.

but it is a cool name. Katonah! i can even see why he liked the exclamation
point.

it's an American Indian name, i'm sure. i wonder if it means something. maybe
he actually liked the town. maybe he just knew that no one else in the U.S.
would have heard of it, so he could borrow it for his name. i remember how
i discovered his real name on one of his prescription bottles and how upset
he was when i saw it, as if his cover were blown. i think i can still remember
his real last name. i feel sorry for his parents though i don't know what kind
of people they were since i never met them. i wonder if they still live in that
town and mourn him."

Source: excerpt from Dear World blog.

A New Year Greeting

KatonahBlog Wishes You A Prosperous & Healthy 2005

How To Help Earthquake-Tsunami Survivors

An injured Acehnese girl who also lost her entire family when a tsunami hit the region last week, wipes her face as she takes a rest at a hospital in Banda Aceh, Aceh province, Indonesia. (AP/Binsar Bakkara)

Groups Aiding Disaster Survivors

• American Friends Service Committee
  
• American Jewish World Services
  
• American Red Cross
  
• Care
  
• Catholic Relief Services
  
• Doctors Without Borders
  
• International Medical Corps
  
• International Orthodox Christian Charties
  
• World Vision
  

Concerned about donating to trusted charities? Guidestar can verify whether an organization is a registered non-profit in the U.S.

One of the long term needs of the survivors is shelter.

The philosophy guiding many groups involved in housing
relief is that homes are the foundation for restoring
a destroyed community.

The Architecture for Humanity, a five year-old nonprofit
organization with members in over 100 countries is one
such group.

Here is a Blog by Andy Carvin, basically a Tsunami information clearinghouse

A Katonah Christmas Card

Wishing You and Your Family
A Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

St.Luke's Episcopal Church
Bedford Road And Katonah Avenue
Katonah, New York

Note: This Katonah Christmas card requires that your browser support Java applet.

Village Gallery Of Katonah Annual Holiday Show and Sale

The art work above is entitled "Downtown Katonah Scene" , Watercolor by Margaret Johnson, Village Gallery Artist

The Village Gallery of Katonah is
a cooperative art gallery featuring local contemporary artists
and they are having their Annual Holiday Show and Sale going on now thru January 16, 2005.
They have an online gallery. The online gallery has a feature that
allows you to send an email postcard of the artist's work. That's cool!

You can find out more about this local art gallery here.
 

Katonah Keyword Stuff Selling On eBay

You can find anything on eBay or so they say. Well
you can find stuff on eBay that includes items
that relate to Katonah in some fashion.
Here is the latest stuff selling on eBay with
the keyword Katonah.

Discover Katonah

Here is a link to
an interactive piece on discovering Katonah. Enjoy.

Wanted - KatonahBlog Team Members

Opportunity:

Became a team member of KatonahBlog - post to KatonahBlog and publish
instantly!

Why:

Looking for team members to share their Katonah experience via

• Text
  
• Photos
  
• Video (A future feature)
  
• Audio (A future feature)
  

Have visitors to KatonahBlog comment on your experience and
commence a dialogue that could go, who knows where.

Experience the next big thing on the Internet - blogging!

Blogs work when they are based on the following principles:

• Candor
  
• Urgency
  
• Timeliness
  
• Pithiness
  
• Controversy
  

These principles come from Seth Godin's piece Beware the CEO blog.

If you are interested on finding blog posts about Katonah,
go here and enter the word Katonah in the Search Blog Posts field.

How:

Send me an email. I will send you an invite to become
a non-admin team member of KatonahBlog. i.e. you can only
post to the blog.

Unless you are a member of blogger.com already,
you must register at blogger.com. to become a team member of
KatonahBlog. That's It!

Oh by the way, it is FREE to join as a team
member of KatonahBlog.

Happy Blogging @ KatonahBlog

Katonah Albums

Interestingly, there are two albums entitled Katonah out there. Both have a song title "Katonah". Apollo Sunshine's "Katonah" genre is Rock & Pop. Steve Grossman's "Katonah" genre is Jazz. Presently, both are available on
eBay.

Not everyday you come across two songs about a hamlet.

A Neat Take On Our Public Art Exhibit

I was at the Bedford Town Hall today and notice that some creative soul had done one better on this cartoon. How neat!

Katonah Green Public Art Photo 7 

Katonah Green Public Art Photo 6 

Katonah Green Public Art Photo 5 

Katonah Green Public Art Photo 4