The Mount Kisco Memorial Day marched off at 2:00 under sunny skies on a warm day. The Mount Kisco parade is unique as it stops twice to remember the lost veterans. The first stop is the memorial at Oakwood Cemetery off Lexington Avenue. After laying the wreaths, gun salute and the playing of taps, the parade moves down to the veteran’s memorial in front of Village Hall.
After recognizing the veterans, especially those who have fallen, wreaths are placed in front of the memorial to remember those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. The Village owes thanks to the Memorial Day Parade Committee and the American Legion for its work in putting together another memorable Memorial Day parade.
(clockwise from upper left: Father Steven Clark of Saint Francis of Assisi gives a blessing; members of the Mount Kisco Fire Department Ancient Fife & Drum Corps; Lieutenant Louis Terlizzi with Officer James Whalen, Comander of the Moses Taylor American Legion post)
On Thursday, May 27, 2010, the Fox Lane Girls Lacrosse team defeated Yorktown 17-11 to win the Section 1 Class B title. The Foxes were seeded second in the sectional tournament and the Yorktown Huskers were seeded fifth. Despite the seedings, Yorktown was considered the favorite to win their fourth straight Section 1 championship.
Fox Lane took a quick lead after Lindsay Toppe scored in the first minute. The Foxes then took a 4-1 lead that they would never relinquish. Fox Lane played with an intensity that Yorktown could not seem to match. Fox Lane maintained a 10-7 lead at halfime on their way to the 17-11 win. The Foxes seventeen goals was just under their average for the season but was eight goals over the per game average allowed by Yorktown this season.
Fox Lane’s goal scoring has been led by Lindsay Toppe and Sammy Jo Ryan. Other players, however, have stepped up all year when teams shift their defenses to Toppe and Ryan. Fox Lane has also received outstanding goaltending from Jenn Pollock. Fox Lane is a young team with only four seniors: goalie Jenn Pollock, attacker Lauren DiChiara and defender Cari Bretti, along with midfielder Melissa Terlizzi.
Fox Lane will now go on, after earning a first round bye, to play in the state quarterfinals against Niskayuna, a team from the Albany area, at SUNY Albany on June 5 at 6:00 pm.
After a 16-12 defeat of Scarsdale, the Fox Lane Girls Lacrosse team will play Yorktown at 3:00 at Fox Lane High School for the Section 1 championship. Fox Lane is 16-2 on the year. Win or lose, the Bedford Central School District should be proud of this lacrosse team and their players.
As announced by The Examiner, the Mount Kisco Democratic Committee nominated two residents to run for Trustees of the Village of Mount Kisco. One of the nominations is to replace Trustee Peter Grunthal who is retiring from service after 7 years. The other nomination is to replace Deputy Mayor Peter DiChiara who has ten years of service as a Trustee in Mount Kisco.
The Mount Kisco Democratic Committee selected Joseph Morreale, 65, a long-time member of the Mount Kisco Planning Board and Jean Farber, 61, a resident of Mount Kisco for four years.
Deputy Mayor DiChiara provided the following statement to The Examiner:
“I am not seeking the endorsement of the Mount Kisco Democratic Committee but may seek the endorsement of the Mount Kisco voters. I am considering all of my options from running on an independent line and/or collecting my own signatures and running in a Democratic primary. I would prefer being elected by voters than being appointed by a committee.
As of last July, registered Democrats made up over 43% of the voters in Mount Kisco and the Democratic Committee nominee, selected by a handful of people, always wins the election. While I supported and still support village elections in November, I think Mount Kisco and other local municipalities would be best served by non-partisan elections where local candidates appear on a ballot without titles.
I have been on the Village Board for ten years. If I am unable to win a general election without the endorsement of the Mount Kisco Democratic Committee then I will retire from my service on the board.”
The Fox Lane Lacrosse teams split their playoff games from Saturday with the Boys team losing to Horace Greeley by a score of 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Despite the sting of the loss, the future looks bright because team returns many underclassmen.
The Girls team won their quarterfinal playoff game with a 17-4 victory over Brewster. The Girls will play in the semifinals on Tuesday against Scarsdale.
Chief Kisco, the statue that stands in Jeff Feigl Square in front of the American Legion, is not an original statue or a statue of a real person. The statue is one of many identical statues had been cast at the turn of the century by the J. L. Mott Ironworks, of New York City. The statues was originally mounted on a large pubic fountain for horses with an inscription “God’s only beverage for man and beast.” Now, the statue, affectionaely known as Chief Kisco is stationed on a traffic island staring across the street at the statue of Christopher Columbus.
The real live Chief Kisco is of Chief Kisco Liswani III of the Masubia Tribal Authority in Namibia. Apparently Chief Kisco of Namibia is in the middle of a dispute that could lead to a tribal war. Let’s hope that Chief Kisco does the right thing for Namibia and upholds the Kisco name.
Both the Fox Lane Girls and Boys lacrosse teams have playoff games on Saturday.
The No. 2 seed Girls lacrosse team plays No. 7 seed Brewster at 11:00. The No. 5 seed Boys team plays rival No. 12 seed Horace Greeley at 1:30.
Good luck Fox Lane.
On August 20, 2009, this blog wrote about unresolved court cases in Mount Kisco, especially one stalled case from 2007 where PCBs were illegally dumped near a residential neighborhood.
On November 30, another entry discussed how this case has remained buried like the alleged PCBs and other contaminants on the property for nearly three years.
As previously opined, three years seems like a long time to adjudicate an illegal dumping case but, according to Mount Kisco Town Court Judge John Donohue, it is part of the process. In a November 1, 2009 article in The Journal News, Judge Donohue denied dragging out cases and was quoted as saying “the village prosecutor and defense attorneys make the recommendations for adjournments.” Judge Donohue cannot have forgotten about this property, it is directly across the street from his law office.
Opinions are welcome on why Mount Kisco is not pursuing substantial fines for illegal dumping or zoning violations. Does anyone care?
Fox Lane Girls Lacrosse Received the second seed in the Section 1 Class B tournament. While they still have to defeat Brewster and a tough Scarsdale team to reach the finals, Fox Lane will not have to play perennial powers Yorktown or John Jay until the finals, if they reach them.
The following is the schedule for the Class B tournament:
Quarterfinals - all games on Saturday at 11:00 am.
No. 1 John Jay at Tappan Zee-Mamaroneck winner
No. 2 Fox Lane at No. 7 Brewster
No. 3 Scarsdale at No. 6 Ursuline
No. 4 Ossining at No. 5 Yorktown
Semifinals - all games on Tuesday. May 25, at 4:00 at the location of the higher seed.
Finals - Thursday, May 27, at Fox Lane High School at 5:00.
This year, all Section 1 finals will be at Fox Lane High School on Thursday, May 27. The Class A finals will be at 3:00 and the Class C finals will be at 7:00.
At the May 3, 2010 meeting of the Mount Kisco Village Board, Mayor Michael Cindrich honor two individuals that were instrumental in protecting Mount Kisco residents’ safety by detecting and entering into a burning building on Maple Avenue.
EMS paramedic and Yorktown volunteer fireman Jeff Slotoroff detected smoke coming from a building on Maple Avenue, called for help and then entered the building several times to wake residents and help them out of the building. Mount Kisco police officer James Whalen arrived quickly on the scene and entered the building to help close doors to contain the fire. Officer Whalen also used his knowledge of the building to identify apartments where residents may be sleeping in this existing non-conforming four family house.
As Mayor Cindrich aptly described, these two rescuers ran towards danger and took action when human instinct is to move away from danger.
Missing from the presentation was the Mount Kisco Fire Department who reacted quickly, entered the burning building and extinguished the fire on a windy day before it spread to neighboring homes.
Mount Kisco thanks Jeff Slotoroff, James Whalen and the Mount Kisco Fire Department for their service to the community.
