First Presbyterian Church Annual Rummage Sale

The First Presbyterian Church of Katonah annual rummage sale starts Monday.

You cangoto the Katonah Presbyterian Church web site to learn more about this annual event.

Momentary Respite From The Day

My daughter-in law passed this on to me yesterday. It's
pretty neat! A visual "get away for a quiet moment" kind of thing. Enjoy!

National Poetry Month April 2005

April is National Poetry Month. Learn more at this poet site.

Also, there are a number of poetry books up for auction on eBay from the 1920s thru 1970s from a local book collector. The Auction ends
next Sunday.

Spring Is In The Air!

Sunday was a beautiful Spring Day. We are finally coming out of the winter doldrums.

This is a shot of the daffodils blooming on the lawn of the Town of Bedford Offie Building in Bedford Hills.

How To Become An Instant Painter With Your Digital Camera

I took this photo with a Sony DSC-S75 Digital Camera

on Maple Avenue last Thursday morning and I wondered if there was a piece of software out on the Internet that could turn the photo into a painting!.

Well sure enough I found such a tool and here is the one of the 16 Direct Paint options you can use. In this particular instance I used air brush.



The software is call Virtual Painter and you can download it here for a free demo.

If you like it,pay up the $55 for the stand alone version and that next digital photo you take may end up a great work of art!

I found VirtualPainter to be a lot of fun.

I am not associated with Virtual Painter in any way. Just sharing info about, what I think is a nice piece of fun software to use with your digital camera.

Join The Bedford-Katonah Tsunami Relief Fund

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It takes a town to Rebuild a village
Rebuilding Denuwala

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The relief fund's goal is that the people of Bedford-Katonah will "adopt" Denuwala, a small fishing village in Sri Lanka. The fund hopes to raise $250,000 to help rebuild
or repair homes, a school and a Buddhist temple is this village. Those interested in donating funds to the relief effort or traveling to Denuwala in late summer to work on the rebuilding effort can obtained more information at the fund's Web site.

We Can't Live Without Westchester Medical Center

Over the past ten years I have had three heart related procedures done at the Westchester Medical Center and I can personally attest to the fact that we can't live without the ONLY comprehensive 24-hour Heart Center in the region as well as the ONLY: Burn Center betweeen NYC and Canada, 24-hour Level 1 adult and pediatric Trauma Center between NYC and Albany, and Children's hospital in the region. Tell NY State Governor George Pataki and state legislators to act now to help this vital regional healthcare resource. Go to WORLDCLASSMEDICINE.COM to e-mail your support for quality advanced care in the Hudson Valley.

The Martha Stewart Media Frenzy

Here is a link to my "pictorial reporting" on the Martha Stewart Media Frenzy.

Current References To Katonah In the Blog World

Technorati (a real cool tool)is in one way a search engine for blog sites. Here is a link to bloggers that mention Katonah in their blogs.

Of course, today there is a lot of comments about Martha Stewart's release from prison and house confinement on her beautiful estate here in Katonah.

Why in my opinion, is Technorati such a cool tool? You can get a sense
of what people are collectively commenting on Martha Stewart in the context of Katonah (or any other topic for that matter) in one place.

I view Technorati as a comments/ideas synthesizer for the blog world.

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.