Clockwise from the top, Piper Ackner carries for the Foxes. Fox Lane quarterback Berit Rose fires a pass. Hannah Sorgisson gets set to snap the ball for Fox Lane. Morgan Clinton carries after an interception. Jim MacLean photos By JIM MACLEAN For a team competing in its first season in a new sport, the Fox Lane girls varsity flag football team has come a long way in just a few short weeks. Fox Lane won its second game of the season with a win over Walter Panas, a program that has been around for a couple of years. The Foxes also suffered a loss to undefeated Tappan Zee as Fox Lane now stands at 2-6-1 overall. The schedule has not been an easy one as the Foxes have battled against three tough undefeated veteran teams, but the Foxes continue to compete and prove they belong. “We’re very happy with the progress we’ve made, it’s hard when we play certain opponents, but in practice we really see the progress every single day,” Fox Lane coach Rylan Borror said of his team. “We’ve been thrown into the fire with our schedule, but this will be a great experience for them. We have so many young girls that will be back. We have four ninth graders starting on defense. They’re all getting a ton of experience and it will help them down the line. They’re working hard, doing everything we’ve asked and it’s a credit to them for the progress they have made.” On the road at Walter Panas on April 21, the Foxes came out strong in the first half and pulled off the victory over an established program by a score of 16-6. Fox Lane got on the scoreboard early in the first half as quarterback Berit Rose connected with Morgan Clinton for a touchdown and an extra point conversion for a 7-0 lead. The Foxes then recorded a safety to make it 9-0, and just before halftime Rose struck again completing a touchdown pass to Lily Rosenthal to make it 16-0. Panas was able to get on the scoreboard with a touchdown in the second half to make it 16-6, but the Foxes defense was up to the task and closed out the victory. “We did a really nice job defensively containing them, only one really long run, but besides that they didn’t get much the entire game,” Borror said of the win over Panas. “Offensively, we scored with 15 seconds to go in the half. Lily made a really nice catch on a vertical route down the sideline. Morgan scored the first touchdown, and both her and Lily are having a great year. Berit had a really good game against Panas, over 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing. She’s doing a really nice job, especially for never having played the position, and never played the sport until this year, and playing the toughest position on the field, she’s doing an awesome job for us.” At home on Wednesday, Fox Lane hosted Tappan Zee and the Foxes knew it would be a tough one. Tappan Zee is one of the favorites to win the Section 1 title and the Dutchmen entered the game with a 7-0 undefeated record. Tappan Zee has an explosive offense that has piled up the points this season, but the Foxes were up to the challenge and trailed 21-0 at the half. Fox Lane had to punt on its first possession of the second half, and Tappan Zee returned the punt for a touchdown to make it 28-0. Clinton came up with an interception for Fox Lane and the Foxes put together a drive, but Tappan Zee was able to close out the shutout win. “They are considered to be one of the best teams, their quarterback is phenomenal, their receivers are really good, they pull flags really well, pretty much everything that a good team needs to do, they do it,” Borror said of Tappan Zee. “The first half we did a pretty good job against them and they had to work a little harder for it today. On defense, our two rushers, Bryhana Madrunero-Lozano and Molly Skolnick, are both doing a very nice job and they’re both freshmen.” Fox Lane was set to travel to Eastchester on Friday, April 25. The Foxes then host undefeated Brewster on Saturday, and then Putnam Valley on Monday, April 28.

Will Gilligan wins a face-off for the Foxes. Will Oliverio makes a pass in transition. Owen Baker fires a shot for a goal as he recorded his 100th career point for the Foxes. Declan Connors looks to pass. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS By JIM MACLEAN It was an exciting start for the Fox Lane boys varsity lacrosse team, but it’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish. Fox Lane got off to a good start as the Foxes hosted Blind Brook on April 23, but the second half belonged to the Trojans as they held the Foxes to just one goal in the half and rallied to defeat Fox Lane 7-5. The Foxes led throughout the first half, but Blind Brook kept answering back and it was a one-goal game at halftime with the Foxes clinging to a 4-3 lead. Blind Brook was fired up once the sun went down and the lights came on, and the Trojans took control and closed it out. “They were hungry for it, fired up for a night game,” Fox Lane coach Charlie Rice said of Blind Brook, “Defensively we held them pretty well. If you keep a team to seven goals you’re doing your job on defense. Our offense was not great tonight. Will Gilligan was winning a ton of faceoffs doing a great job getting us possession, but when it got down there on offense we just couldn’t finish and get it done.” Fox Lane got off to a great start on offense as Will Oliverio scored the first goal of the game off an assist from Owen Baker at the 10:28 mark in the first period for a 1-0 lead. It was the 100th career point for Baker as the senior star continues to make his mark at Fox Lane. Baker then ripped a shot for a goal just a couple of minutes later and the Foxes were up 2-0. However, Blind Brook scored to close out the first quarter and gain some momentum. The Trojans then started the second quarter with a goal to tie it up at 2-2. The momentum then went right back to the Foxes just 15 seconds later as Gilligan won the face off and passed it to Baker, who then fed John Mains in front for a goal to reclaim the lead at 3-2. Mains then scored his second goal of the game off an assist from Declan Connors to make it 4-2. Once again Blind Brook was able to answer scoring with two minutes left in the half to cut the lead down to 4-3. And then the second half was all Blind Brook as the Trojans scored a pair of goals to take a 5-4 lead. Oliverio answered for Fox Lane as he ripped a long shot for his second goal of the game to tie it up at 5-5 with 1:08 left in the third period. “Owen Baker got his 100th career point, he’s been great these past two years having a huge impact on our offense,” added Rice. “Our offense comes and goes as Baker does, and we need some other guys to step up. Will Oliverio has been great all over the field. In between the boxes he dominates, he can push transitions, take the ball away, score a goal, he can do everything from end line to end line.” Fox Lane was unable to gain the momentum though as the Foxes took a pair of penalties and Blind Brook capitalized on the two-man advantage with a goal to reclaim the lead. The Trojans then closed it out as time was running down with a minute left to play for the 7-5 win. The Foxes had scored a big win on the road at Brewster just two days earlier on April 21, as Baker had a big game with four goals and an assist. Connors scored a goal and had two assists, while Mains also had two assists. John Hamilton came up big in goal for the Foxes with 21 saves to record the win. With the loss to Blind Brook, Fox Lane now stands at 3-6 overall on the season. The Foxes were set to host Hen Hud on Saturday, April 26.

Clockwise from top left, Mitch Hammer throws a complete game for John Jay in 4-1 win over Somers. Will Rickel delivered a big hit for John Jay. Eliot Arbogast slides in safe at second with a stolen base. Mitch Hammer celebrates after the final pitch in win over Somers. Jim Mac Lean Photos By JIM MACLEAN It was a celebration more than a year in the making. John Jay pitcher Mitch Hammer delivered a strike for the final out on the final pitch to wrap up a complete game 4-1 win over Somers, and he let out a yell to start the celebration with his teammates. The Wolves knew what it meant to their ace lefty, and what it means to their team overall: the Hammer is back. After helping the Wolves advance to the Section 1 finals as a sophomore, Hammer missed all of last season after having surgery, and he has been working his way back into form. The win over Somers at home on April 21, was his first victory on the mound since he hurled a gem as a sophomore to lift the Wolves into the championship game. The arm felt fine after going the distance for the complete game win, allowing just three hits. “I could have thrown another 100 pitches, I wasn’t getting tired at all, I feel great,” Hammer said after the victory. “We’re confident, the bats are hot and the energy in the dugout today against a league rival was amazing and I fed off of that. We’re rolling.” It was the fifth win in six games for the Wolves as John jay improved to 5-5 overall after starting the season 0-3. The win over Somers was a league victory, and John Jay coach Ted Lawrence hopes the Wolves are getting hot at the right time heading into the heart of the league schedule before the playoffs. Having Hammer healthy and heating up is also a good sign for the team heading down the stretch. “It’s exactly like his sophomore year, he got better with each outing and we’re seeing that now,” Lawrence said of Hammer. “We’re playing well, especially after that slow start, so we’re pretty excited. The bats are hot. We’re getting contributions 1-9 and that’s big. We’re not relying on 1-4, they’re hitting, but so is 5-9 and that’s good to see. Early on we weren’t hitting. Now, we seem to have all found it together.” In the win over Somers, Will Rickel came through with a double to drive in one run for the Wolves. Steve Carozo had a sacrifice fly for another run, and Eliot Arbogast came through with a clutch two-out single to drive in a run. That was plenty of run support for Hammer as he got stronger as the game went on and kept the Tuskers off the base paths. The win over Somers was a bounce back game for the Wolves after having their winning streak halted in a 10-1 loss on the road at Suffern on April 19. It was also a big league victory as the Wolves improved to 3-0 in the hunt for another league title. “We’ve got a busy week, two more league games and then Jay Fest,” added Lawrence. “We have to take care of business one game at a time.” John Jay was scheduled to be right back at it against Somers on the road Wednesday. The Wolves then have another big league match up on the road Friday, April 25, at Mahopac, before returning home Saturday to host Horace Greeley for Jay Fest. The Wolves then host Mahopac on Tuesday, April 29, and travel to Harrison the next day to finish off a busy stretch in the season with six games in nine days.

Clockwise from the top left, Sadie Walworth carries after an interception for the Wolves. John Jay quarterback Jaime Bartley-Cohen breaks free for a first down. John Jay’s Maya Koronowski splits a pair of Yorktown defenders. JIM MACLEAN PHOTOS By JIM MACLEAN Another opportunity to take the next step, to prove they belong, and in the end it was another close loss against a good team for the John Jay girls varsity flag football team. In just its second season as a varsity program, John Jay has shown a lot of improvement as the Wolves are now 5-4 overall after winning just one game last spring. However, John Jay would like to knock off one of the established programs to prove they are among the title contenders, and the Wolves have come close. Three of the four losses come against undefeated teams, including a close 6-0 loss on the road to undefeated Yorktown. John Jay was hoping to turn the tables as the Wolves hosted Yorktown on April 21, but once again the Huskers were up to the challenge as they handed the Wolves a 20-13 setback. “A close game against a very good Yorktown team; they’ve been one of the top teams for a few years, a veteran group, and I thought our girls played a tough game against them,” said John Jay coach Jimmy Clark. “Yorktown did a good job of making us miss flags, extending drives and keeping our defense on the field and that hurt us. They made the big plays in big situations and that’s what a good team does, but our girls kept battling the whole game.” After falling behind 6-0 early in the first half, John Jay answered back and took the lead. Sadie Walworth got the Wolves started as she came up with an interception on defense. John Jay then drove up the field as quarterback Jaime Bartley-Cohen completed a pair of passes to Gianna Pelosi to give the Wolves a first down inside the Yorktown 10-yard line. Three plays later Bartley-Cohen connected with Noni Whelan in the end zone for a touchdown pass, and Bartley-Cohen connected with Maya Koronowski on the extra point to give the Wolves a 7-6 lead with 10:56 left in the first half. John Jay thought it had held the Huskers on the ensuing drive, but Yorktown converted with a long fourth-down touchdown pass to reclaim the lead at 12-7 and that’s the way it stood at halftime. Yorktown put together a drive on its first possession of the second half that John Jay was able to stop at the one-yard line, but on the Wolves first play from scrimmage the Huskers came up with an interception at the John Jay 25-yard line. The Huskers took advantage of the opportunity and scored a touchdown and converted a two-point conversion to make the score 20-7. John Jay put together one last drive as Bartley-Cohen connected with Koronowski for a first down, and then converted with a first-down pass to Pelosi at the Yorktown 15-yard line. Bartley-Cohen was able to cap off the drive with a touchdown carry to make it 20-13, but it was too little too late as Yorktown held on for the victory. It was a good game overall for John Jay as the Wolves stayed close with the undefeated Huskers, and it didn’t help that the Wolves had not played a game in 10 days due to the spring break. Prior to the loss to Yorktown, John Jay met another undefeated team and suffered a loss to Tappan Zee. Despite the losses, Clark knows his team is competing strong against some of the best teams in the Section and he hopes the Wolves can turn it around to get the victory when it counts the most in the upcoming playoffs. “We were in it with all the best teams in Section 1, we’re progressing and we’re in the mix,” explained Clark. “We have a lot of games this week with the playoffs right behind, and we just have to keep working and getting better.” John Jay was set to host Putnam Valley on Saturday, April 26, for Jay Fest, and the Wolves then host Mahopac Monday, April 28, before going on the road to face Byram Hills Friday, May 2.

Clockwise from top left, Jojo Degl controls off the draw for John Jay. Micayla DeVeau fires a shot for a goal. Amelia Inglis winds up for a shot and a goal in win over Somers. Molly Gallagher makes a save. Jim MacLean Photos By JIM MACLEAN John Jay senior Jojo Degl has been a part of some pretty exciting lacrosse games against Somers. Two quality programs often competing in tense games with playoff hopes on the line. That was the scenario as John Jay hosted Somers on Tuesday, for a night game, and the Wolves and Tuskers delivered another intense game with big plays all around. Jojo Degl certainly did her part as the All-American scored a hat trick to lead the Wolves with three goals, but she also knows this was a team effort that made the difference as seven different players scored for the Wolves as John Jay pulled away for a convincing 10-6 victory. “Definitely a rivalry game, we all have a fire lit up for this one, they always show up and give us their best, a good challenge and a good win for us,” Degl said of the win over Somers. “Everyone fought so hard for this as a team. From Molly in the goal, the defense, all the way up to the offense, we worked together and came out with the win and I’m so proud of this team.” John Jay coach Jessica McDonough agreed, it was a complete effort all around the field for the Wolves. And it wasn’t just the seniors as the younger Wolves are getting involved on offense making it more difficult for opponents to stop them. “Somers always brings their best and makes us bring our best; a fun, competitive game,” said McDonough. “It was a whole team win, the offense really stepped up and put the ball away, the defense played as a unit, in between the 30s everyone was hustling. We were really happy with the whole effort across the field. A great team win, everybody was involved and it was great to see the teamwork.” In the first quarter it was the senior captains leading the way as Jojo Degl and Jordan Kauftheil each scored a goal to give the Wolves a 2-1 lead. Finja Degl then scored to make it 3-1, but the Tuskers kept fighting back and closed out the quarter with a goal to make it 3-2. The Tuskers carried the momentum into the second quarter and tried to put the pressure on hoping to score the equalizer, but Molly Gallagher made a big save in goal for John Jay. The Wolves then struck in transition down the other end of the field as Amelia Inglis scored to make it 4-2. A minute later, Jojo Degl scored her second goal to make it 5-2 at the half. Jordan Kauftheil scored her second goal of the game to start the second half as the Wolves built a 6-2 lead, but Somers would not go away without a fight and the Tuskers answered to make it 6-3. Micayla DeVeau then scored for John Jay to make it 7-3, and the Tuskers answered again with a goal to cut the lead down to 7-4. The Wolves came out strong to start the fourth period and put to rest any thoughts of a Somers comeback as Jojo Degl scored her third goal of the game at 11:25 to make it 8-4. John Jay then came up with a clutch goal as the shot clock was running out down to two seconds when Dillon Hall scored off an assist from Coco Inglis to make it 9-4. Coco Inglis then scored the final goal of the game for John Jay as the Wolves closed out the 10-6 victory with seven different goal scorers. With the victory, John Jay improved to 4-3 overall on the season.  The Wolves also suffered a tough 9-8 loss in Denver against the Colorado Academy coached by former John Jay star Casey Bocklet. John Jay will face another tough rivalry game against Horace Greeley on Saturday, April 26, as the Wolves host the Quakers for Jay Fest.

Above, Brisket sandwich from Br'ers BBQ; Below. Alexa FitzGerald, executive chef and general manager; and cutting the brisket. Amy Sowder Photos By AMY SOWDER When a dish is simple, each ingredient is more noticeable. Quality matters even more. There’s no masking it.  That’s the beauty of the original brisket sandwich at Br’ers BBQ in Bedford Hills, where rich, earthy Angus brisket nestles into crunchy cabbage slaw on a crusty-yet-squishy focaccia wedge slathered with Br’ers barbecue sauce. “Everything is good by itself, but when composed, they all talk and are even better together,” says Alexa FitzGerald, executive chef and general manager.  In this sammy, you’re sinking your teeth into a smoky brisket that surrenders to the most tender touch. Then your tastebuds tango with the tangy, crisp cabbage slaw, before slow-dancing with the sweet and slightly spicy barbecue sauce.  “For a simple sandwich like this with only three components, the texture goes a long way,” FitzGerald says. The attention to detail doesn’t come with a side of formalities at Br’ers. Perched on the eastern point of a wonky triangular block just east of the Bedford Hills Library, this award-winning restaurant has only three small high-top dining tables, so it’s mostly for takeout — breakfast, lunch and dinner. FitzGerald, 24, discovered the joys of barbecue from the in-house butcher at Mill House Brewing Company in Poughkeepsie while attending the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park. Upon graduation, she leaped at the opportunity to helm Br’ers BBQ and spent nearly nine months perfecting recipes before the eatery opened in May 2023. The succulent, creamy, crunchy, meaty mound known as the “original brisket sandwich” comes in a close second to the “burnt end burrito” as the most ordered sandwich, but it’s the perfect place to start before veering off the classics, FitzGerald says.  “We’ve changed our menu two or three times since we opened, but this sandwich has remained. It’s been there since day one,” FitzGerald says.  Your sandwich’s magic was conjured the day before you ordered it, when the brisket entered the pellet smoker. “Her name is Eddie,” FitzGerald says about the silver box shaped like a refrigerator. The fire-safe and effective smoker can do its thing all night long until FitzGerald or her staff slide the meat out in the morning. The tough brisket cut comes from the cow’s chest, or pectoral muscle, so a low-and-slow cooking method is the way to go to break it down to create fork-tender meat. Fat plays a key role in a breathtaking brisket. When 20-pound briskets are delivered to Br’ers, FitzGerald or the kitchen staff trim off the fat until it’s 15 to 17 pounds. “We like about 1/4-inch of fat on top of the meat, which is what people here are comfortable with. We understand that it’s not like brisket in the South, where they’d leave more fat. It’s just enough to flavor the meat but not too overwhelming,” FitzGerald says.  Throughout the variable 15-hour cooking process, the brisket loses 40 to 50 percent of its weight, coming in at about 8 pounds because so much moisture evaporates, a bit of protein exits the situation, and fat liquifies and drips off and through the meat — all of which only intensifies the flavor. Actually, the process begins even earlier. Before the meat greets the smoker filled with 100 percent natural hickory and mesquite wood pellets, it gets Br’ers’ signature rub-down. The dry rub contains salt, pepper, ancho chiles, “and some other stuff to zhuzh it up,” FitzGerald says, keeping mum about their proprietary blend. At the beginning of the smoking process, the chef or her staff shower the rubbed meat several times in a “meat spray,” made of mostly vinegar, barbecue sauce, and “some other liquids,” which FitzGerald also kept vague to protect this palatable prize. Some pitmasters “mop” the meat, she says, some brush it, and some spray it. Then the brisket smokes overnight undisturbed. “We want the bark to form,” FitzGerald says about the crusty edges. When returning in the morning, they spray the brisket every half hour until it’s done. The exact smoking time adjusts to that particular brisket’s needs. Once FitzGerald pulls the brisket out of the smoker, she grabs her foot-long serrated brisket knife and slices the meat in half crosswise, separating the thicker, fattier point side from the thinner, leaner flat side. She turns the meat’s center toward her and massages the top, causing the juices to gush out. “It’s still incredibly juicy,” she says. Placing a few slices on the scale, FitzGerald weighs out a half-pound worth of brisket and then builds the sandwich layers. She’d already sliced the focaccia wedge — delivered fresh daily — and moved it back and forth over the butter-spreader wheel before placing the buttered sides down on the flat-top grill, which responded with a satisfying sizzle. The result was a rich, buttery bread with toasty leoparding inside, which creates a sogginess barrier against the meat juices and barbecue sauce. “So on the outer edge, you still get that crunch, plus the squish of the middle,” she says. “This is a sturdier bread for heavier, fattier meats and heavier sauces.”  Then comes the Br’ers classic barbecue sauce that balances sugar, acid and heat from cayenne, chili pepper and jalapeño. It’s not as sweet and sour as the “swine sauce” for pulled pork, which has more vinegar in it plus mustard — more Carolina style.  For another layer of texture and flavor, the shredded green cabbage slaw arrives packed with lemon juice, celery seed, sugar, and a blend of dahi Indian yogurt and sour cream instead of mayonnaise, which FitzGerald prefers. “You get the crunch, tang, and creamy in this cabbage slaw,” she says. FitzGerald’s talent with barbecue classics and twists on tradition have garnered the label of pitmaster, but the chef says she doesn’t have the years of experience for that title — yet.  Like FitzGerald, this unassuming barbecue joint has grown quite a fan base in its two short years. Br’ers won Best New Barbecue Restaurant in Best of Westchester 2024 Awards, and the chili took first place in the Katonah Chili Cook-off. Br’ers BBQ is located at 52 Church St., Bedford Hills.  Did you know? The eatery’s name, “Br’ers,” is an abbreviation for the brothers who run two restaurant groups, Purdy’s Farmer & the Fish in North Salem, and Hudson Farmer & the Fish in Sleepy Hollow, as well as Bistro de Ville in Scarsdale.

The Katonah Spring Art Walk is coming up this Saturday, April 26, from 3 to 7 p.m. Sponsored by the Katonah Chamber of Commerce, the Art Walk will feature live music, local artists, a pet adoption event hosted by Coldwell Banker, and the Bona Bona Ice Cream truck. The Art Walk takes place primarily along Katonah Avenue, from Edgemont Road down to Allen Place, with some locations on adjacent streets. Music by Camper Jam will be at the Gazebo from 4 to 7 p.m., and the Miles Gilbert Trio will perform near Squires from 3 to 7 p.m. There will also be live music by Will Culver. Look for pop-ups, not only by artists, but by Rock n’ Rescue, and the KindheARTs Coalition. There will be free admission to the Katonah Museum of Art during Art Walk hours. In addition, Caramoor will be having tours of the Rosen House from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, visit katonahchamber.org .

Mark Cosgrove and Good Medicine will perform on April 27. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Mike Burns is the co-founder of  the Westchester Bluegrass Club in Purdys. JAMES F. KAPLAN PHOTO Greg Cahill and Special Consensus performing at the club earlier this month. JAMES F. KAPLAN PHOTO By BRIAN KLUEPFEL The story begins in a darkened workshop in New Jersey. The apprentice, Mark Cosgrove, sanding and scraping musical instruments for an aging, Geppetto-like mentor, Augustino LoPrinzi. Emerging from the whorls of wood-dust comes a particular instrument — a Brazilian rosewood, six-string dreadnought — which nobody but the apprentice wants. He offers to buy it at a discount price. Grudgingly, the mentor accepts. The apprentice readies for battle, and enters in one of the nation’s prestige competitions, the National Flat-Picking Guitar Championships in Winfield, Kan. He does not place; realizing he is not ready, he woodsheds for seven long years before working up the gumption to enter the 1994 Doc & Rosa Lee Watson MusicFest competition in North Carolina. He wins. “It was a complete surprise,” he admits.  The next year, eight years after his first trip to Winfield, he returns to the plains of Kansas and wins that competition. Cosgrove is on his way, and since that 1995 trophy has gone on to play with folk legend David Bromberg and a host of other music legends and semi-legends. Inspired by flatpickers like Doc Watson (of the aforementioned competition) and Clarence White, he also draws on electrical influences, borrowing licks from Lowell George and Telecaster master Albert Lee.  Cosgrove brings that heady mixture with his band, Good Medicine, to the Westchester Bluegrass Club in Purdys on Sunday, April 27. Included in his posse are other alumni of the Bromberg band, like fiddler Nate Grower, as well as guest player and Baltimore-based legend Mike Munford, known colloquially as “Mr. Banjo.” Cosgrove’s recorded eight albums under his own name and his latest, “Unencumbered,” features tasteful instrumentals like “Ricketts hornpipe,” “Clinch Mountain backstep” and “Remington ride,” indicative of the quick-pickin’ that might be expected in Purdys on April 27.  The wood-paneled clubhouse on the lake shares its origins, nearly, with the birth of bluegrass music in America — both got their start in the 1940s. Much like the music, there’s little pretension here, just a tray of cookies and cupcakes, and an old bottle of Seagram’s whiskey behind the bar, framed by black and white photos of days gone by, opposite two dartboards. The clientele favor plaid and baseball or knit caps, and many of the heads are white with age.  Yet the tradition remains young at heart, and often, onstage. A recent Sunday featured Nate Sabat and Mike Daves, 20-somethings who are already veterans of the bluegrass circuit. Their sets included classics from the Stanley Brothers, Norman Blake, Hazel Dickens and Dolly Parton as well as originals. They spoke of the WBC as a community force. “People come to play and for the camaraderie and inspiration,” said Sabat. Since many of the audience bring their own axes for the preshow jam and open mic, “it’s an educated audience.”  Daves said, “This is a go-to gig for me and my band. It’s all about community and people of all (playing) levels and backgrounds getting together.”   The musicians appreciate the building, Bose sound system, and the warm, woody vibrations. Overheard near the coffee pot at a recent gig, a guitarist whispered, “I love the way this room sounds.” The bluegrass club’s association with Lake Purdys goes back 17 years, when club founder, Mike Burns, a lakeside resident, decided to promote shows, rather than play them. He and WBC co-founder Ben Freed began the tradition at St. Luke’s Church in Somers but soon relocated to Purdys, where the center has held for nearly two decades.  No longer a traveling musician, Burns still opens the preshow open mic with a song or two: at Westchester Bluegrass Club, the circle remains unbroken.  The April 27 program begins with an open jam at 3 p.m., followed by open mic at 3:30 p.m., followed by Mark Cosgrove and Special Medicine at 4 p.m.  For more information, visit westchesterbluegrassclub.com . The Westchester Bluegrass Club is located at 33 Lake Way, Purdys.

By ELLEN BEST If staring at soil could affect growth rate, my seeds would quickly burst into sprouts and rocket skyward. I frequently check my seed-starting setup (pots planted under lights) — observing and watering, captivated by any glimpse of progress. The miracle of seed — some no bigger than the head of a pin — is that each one contains everything it needs to grow into a huge fruit-bearing plant or a tree. Mind-boggling. In my eagerness to start each growing season, I have often planted too many seeds in tiny pots, even though I know that they grow much better alone, letting their roots spread. When a bunch of sprouts appear, I struggle with pinching some out, trying instead to separate them and plant into separate pots. “Thin it!” my farmer friend always reminds me. This year, I’m trying to respect seeds by giving them space. Each stronger plant will be my reward. Not wasting and respecting potential is a theme in our kitchen, too. What’s for dinner? Well, that depends on what leftovers are in the fridge to reimagine. My family is used to it by now, though I’m waiting for their tolerance to stretch thin. I guess I’m banking on the fact that they appreciate getting fed. Our basement is where the credo of potential and usefulness ends. When will my husband, James and I learn that nobody will want things that only have memories for us? If I run across something that seems like it could have marketplace value, I turn to the professional for advice: Lisa Miller.  Lisa runs The Cottage Vintage Goods & Gifts store in Pound Ridge. She said her interest in vintage began as a child, wondering in her grandma’s attic, “looking at old stuff.” When Lisa got her driver’s license at age 16, her first independent drive was to a tag sale. She still has that wicker vanity with a heavy wooden base, dated from the early 1900s. As a teenager, vintage gave way to varsity as she became a soccer, basketball, and softball high school athlete. After that, fashion took over — first in college and then in her professional career. Lisa designed clothing for top designers, including Calvin Klein, drawing on her affinity for color and print design.  Lisa considers The Cottage her “business card” for her estate sales business, Zach and Alix Ltd., which began before the retail shop, back in 1999, soon after she had retired “to be a mom.” The seed was planted when her realtor, impressed with Lisa’s antique collection, asked for her help with an estate for sale. Her first store was in South Salem in 2001, moving it to Pound Ridge in 2016. Lisa has even bought and resold the entire contents of a house when the owner didn’t want to have an on-site sale.  On a larger scale, Lisa promotes all the businesses in Pound Ridge as the president of the Pound Ridge Business Association. She has used her expertise to expand the Artisan & Vintage Market in town on Labor Day into a well-attended event that connects carefully selected vendors with the community. Thinking about my basement dilemma, I wondered about Lisa’s home situation with her personal collections.  “My husband is a minimalist,” she reports, “but he’s OK with it.” What about her kids? Is there something they’d want? “Both of my kids would love my cream pottery collection … when I die,” Lisa laughs. According to her, vintage is trending with the new generation because they are anti-waste and go for anything pre-owned, including the healthy market for pre-owned baby clothes. In the store, she expresses this “re-use” mantra in creative pairings; combining her love of plants with vintage pots, filling used vessels with candles.  As much as she loves color, prints, and vintage, Lisa’s greatest love is just being in the store. She treasures the stories behind objects and their connections to people. “Older people keep those stories, take care of their stuff, and use it,” just like her grandma used to. She notes that people often buy things because of the memories they hold, like the ongoing popularity of milk glass collections. “I love talking to customers and always learn something.” Lisa laments that the new generation, always on their phones, misses so much. “We are losing that personalization and connection.” “The Cottage,” she says, “is a gathering place where people share information, trade telephone numbers and join in conversations with strangers.” Her personal goal is simple: to smile at people and have everyone feel some joy. Lisa loves doing it here, saying, “Pound Ridge is so great!” Each seed we plant, every dated treasure we hold onto, contains a life story, finding a place in our garden, our home, and in our hearts … empowering us to put our best foot forward each day. Ellen Best is a longtime Pound Ridge resident and cheerleader. In her monthly column, “Best Foot Forward,” she explores the many aspects of life and living in Pound Ridge. If you have questions or suggestions for future topics, email her at esbest8@gmail.com .

This circa 1908 Belcher Hyde map of Lewisboro shows the route of the proposed railroad that would have greatly changed the landscape of the southeastern section of Lewisboro. Cross Pond is now Lake Kitchawan. COURTESY OF MAUREEN KOEHL This collection of artifacts from the Lost Village were donated to the town historian’s office by Ron Egloff, a lifelong resident of Lake Kitchawan. By MAUREEN KOEHL It’s hard to imagine the changes in the land that can take place over decades, and maybe centuries. During that time, abandoned pastures grow up to become forestland, streams change course and ponds morph into swampland. About all that remains constant are the rock outcroppings and general topography. Our wonderful stone fences stand testament to our forebears; houses collapse or burn, but their stone foundations remain and these remnants of a century ago are what I set out to explore with lifelong Lake Kitchawan resident and history buff, Ron Egloff, on a decade-ago spring day. We were in search of the “Lost Village.” Located between Lake Kitchawan in Lewisboro and Trinity Lake in Pound Ridge is an area called the Lost Village, populated during the second half of the 19th century. Once a settlement of at least four families, it is said the area was decimated by illness close to the turn of the 20th century. The homes of the families of basket maker Matthew Austin, farmer Harry Austin, Stephen Bouton, seller of wild huckleberries, all of Pound Ridge, and the DeForest family of Lewisboro dotted the hills and valleys of what is now part of the Stamford Watershed property. As we walked along what used to be a farm road, Egloff pointed out several of the foundations that he used to explore as a kid growing up in Lake Kitchawan. Back then, artifact hunters dug up pottery shards, broken window glass, and other detritus left when homes were abandoned.  That day, we didn’t dig deep enough through the leaves to find charred wood or melted glass, but in an article circa 1979, Lewisboro Ledger editor William Lynch III reported finding such items and spotted a log roof covering one of the foundations. Jay Harris, in her book of Pound Ridge history, “God’s Country” (Pequot Press, 1971), describes the Lost Village, also referred to as “The Regions.” The reason for the abandonment of the settlement, Harris wrote, was likely illness, probably tuberculosis, dysentery or typhus, maladies that were rampant in those times. Were the houses torched to combat the spread of disease? Was there a devastating fire caused by a lightning strike? We will never know, but this history mystery has been left for current generations to solve. Where there were once lilacs and fruit trees and huckleberry bushes, invasive barberry now rules the land. The family names associated with the Lost Village were once a strong presence in our two towns. DeForest is still on the maps as DeForest Trail at the southern end of the Lake Kitchawan community, and DeForest was the owner of the lakeside store that became Lake Kitchawan Casino. Curious to know if our town records showed any large outbreaks of disease in the area, I tried a very limited search and found little concentrated disease contemporary with the supposed end of the settlement. I did find one note about 40-year-old Mariah DeForest, a housewife and pauper, who was committed to the Westchester County Poor House in 1875. The woman apparently suffered from St. Vitus’ dance [​​Sydenham’s chorea]. The prognosis was not good. However, there was no address given, so we really can’t place poor Mariah in the Lost Village, but we can continue to wonder about this mysterious place.  During that same time period, railroads were all the rage and an ambitious plan to run a line from Port Chester to Danbury, Conn. was proposed. Farmers bought stock or were eager to sell their land to the project, but a downturn in the economy brought an end to the project by 1890 — and lucky that it did. The railroad tracks would have replaced Mill River Road and the eastern part of what is now the Leon Levy Preserve on their way to Ridgefield, Conn. The berm that was engineered can still be seen along the eastern bank of the Mill River as it approaches Smith Ridge Road. Lake Kitchawan has had other secrets to reveal over the decades. In the early 1970s a college student at the State University of New York at Purchase saw a bone sticking out of an area where work was being done on one of the canals leading from the lake. An official archaeological dig revealed 10,000-year-old mastodon bones. A jawbone, teeth and other bones are now housed at the Trailside Nature Museum in the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation and the Pound Ridge Historical Society Museum.  There is one last mystery to be solved before we leave Lake Kitchawan. Egloff told me about three large, probably flat-bottomed boats sunk in the lake. As near as can be determined, the boats are about 30-feet long with a 10-foot beam. Where did they come from? What was their purpose in the small lake with no access to a larger body of water? Do they date as far back as the early 19th century, as Ron thinks they might, and if so, might they have been used for transporting logs down the lake from a hillside logging operation? One thing we do know is this area of the town was always well-used. Long before the steep hillsides were developed as summer places and then after World War II became the sites of permanent residences, Native Americans roamed in search of game and foraged for nuts and berries. Stephen Bouton wasn’t the first one to exploit the huckleberry crop! Over time, area residents turn up spear points and arrowheads when preparing their gardens in the spring. With the discovery of the mastodon bones, we know that large game was present. Where there is one mastodon, there must have been a companion.  For more information about Lake Kitchawan, read Egloff’s chapter in “A History of Lewisboro” available to read or purchase at the Lewisboro Library. Maureen Koehl is the Lewisboro town historian.

Arthur “Artie” Robert Harrison III, died Dec. 19, 2024, in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. He was 49. Harrison grew up in South Salem and worked at Sal’s Servicenter in Cross River. Harrison was born in Mount Kisco on Nov. 5, 1975, and grew up in South Salem. He later moved to Danbury, Conn., until relocating to Palm Beach Gardens.  He is survived by his mother, Anne Marie (née Soderlund) Weirether of Palm Beach Gardens; his father, Arthur R. Harrison Jr. of Hoschton, Ga.; and his daughter, Caitlyn Gasperino of Brewster. He is also survived by aunts, uncles, cousins and many friends who will miss him.  A celebration of his life is planned for Saturday, May 10, at Gallo Restaurant, located at 5 Grove St., Ridgefield, Conn.

By THANE GRAUEL A tree in front of the firehouse thought to be an American elm — the vast majority of which were wiped out beginning about a century ago by Dutch elm disease — was unceremoniously cut down Tuesday. Pound Ridge Fire District officials have said the tree had to go to make way for an upcoming $11 million firehouse upgrade and expansion. The tree’s fate had been discussed as the project wended its way through the town’s approval process, but no protection was put in place. The tree, with a classic fluted canopy, was just a few feet from the town’s main thoroughfare in Scotts Corners, Westchester Avenue. Few people might have known how rare it might have been — an estimated 100 million elms were killed by the fungus over the last century — and evidently even fewer worried about its future. Ellen Kearns was one of the people concerned. She advocated finding a way to save the tree, and floated an alternative firehouse plan that would have moved the facility across the road. She said that would give the fire department more space on more level terrain, while sparing the tree. Kearns tried to discuss her plan at an April 6 information session about the firehouse plan, but said her comments were not well received.  “At the Sunday, April 6, public hearing Commissioner (Peter) Gallagher mentioned my name early on and said my idea would not work without saying what the idea was,” Kearns wrote in a Letter to the Editor published in the April 18 issue of The Recorder. . “When two ladies in the front interrupted, I raised my hand to speak and when recognized stood to quickly introduce myself and explain the idea. I was cut off by Commissioner Gallagher and shut down before I could explain much at all. The two ladies yelled at me that it would cost $20-$25 million, and a fellow commuter told me to shut up.” With the felling of the tree came the end of any debate. “They took it down on Earth Day,” Kearns said Thursday. She noted that just a short distance away is a signpost with two signs reading “Firehouse Ahead” and “Tree City USA,” a designation from the Arbor Day Foundation.  Fire District Commission Chairman Peter Gallagher did not return calls for comment. Kearns said someone had suggested gathering seeds from the tree later in the season to plant elsewhere. “They’ve cut it down, so that’s not going to happen,” she said. Likewise for having an arborist verify whether it was indeed an elm. American elms were the preferred trees planted by towns throughout much of the U.S. to line main roads and town greens. Their fluted canopies would connect over roadways creating a majestic cathedral effect. These days, that can only be seen in old films, antique postcards and other vintage media. Kearns wasn’t pleased with the process. “One of the things that seems to not be working in this town is ... I would have thought a public hearing means the public comes and has some time to give input, and the input is considered and possibly plans are changed based on what people have said,” Kearns said. “But in this town, whether it’s the fire commission or whoever, sometimes it seems like there isn’t even a public hearing but if there is one, what it is is a presentation of a final plan and you as a citizen are allowed to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and you have no other way to input anything.” The firehouse project includes a two-bay addition on the front of the existing building and upgrades to the infrastructure and site work to improve parking. It also includes replacement of the HVAC system, water treatment, a generator and the information technology network, as well as vehicle exhaust management and fuel/heating oil storage.