Yorktown and Cortlandt region

Daisy Girl Scout Troop 2428 from the Lincoln Titus Elementary School in Crompond wrapped up a food drive recently. They collected a large supply of groceries and delivered the goods to Cortlandt Town Hall on Nov. 17.
Pictured from left to right are:
Victoria Randazzo, Julia Prestigiacomo, Anthony Prestigiacomo, Vaishali Miriyagalla, Tessa Gentilin, Jenna Barone, Caitlin McGimpsey. Standing: Mr. Grexa, Samantha Streton, Kelly Lambert, Eleni Parpounas, Olivia Bordenaro, Kirsten Yager, Amaavi Miriyagalla

The wet weather doesn’t seem to dampen Teayannie Moran’s (cq) mood as the four-year-old skips while holding an umbrella. She and her babysitter Gail A. Fox were running errands on a rainy afternoon in Peekskill Nov. 30, 2009.

Weather forecasters are calling for colder temperatures tomorrow. To see more photographs from our area, click here to be linked to the daily photo gallery at Lohud.com. ( Joe Larese / The Journal News )

Gary Leonardo, chairman of the Knights of Columbus of Peekskill Council #462, shared news of a Thanksgiving tradition he started 18 years ago.

Leonardo said in 1991, as a new member of the organization, he came upon an idea to distribute food baskets to help local families during the Thanksgiving holiday.

This year, the Knights of Columbus distributed baskets to 30 needy families. The program works on donations received from the Knights of Columbus Council and individuals.

Baskets include a complete Thanksgiving meal, along with additional food items for breakfast and lunch. All the items are placed in a laundry basket, wrapped in clear cellophane wrap. The Knights of Columbus then delivers the goods to local parishes who, in turn, distribute the baskets to the families. Leonardo said:

While we are happy to be able to help so many families we are saddened by the number of families that are in need.

Just in time for the holidays. The Peekskill Student Council is holding a live auction this Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Peekskill High School cafeteria. Items will be on display starting at 3 p.m. that day.

Some items up for grabs include a Marc Jacobs handbag, an autographed poster of Eli Manning, a man’s golf bag, jewelry, watches, and gift certificates to local restaurants, pizzerias, beauty salons and dry cleaners and more.

Members of the student council have been collecting donations from local businesses over the last month. Proceeds are used toward awarding college scholarships for graduating seniors.

Suggested starting bids start at $5. For a complete list of items, e-mail Allison Risoli at arisoli@peekskillcsd.org or Paul Coster at pcoster@peekskillcsd.org

The Alliance for Safe Kids will present a panel of Lakeland and Yorktown high school students along with substance abuse experts to discuss drug and underage alcohol use in the community.

Teen Speak starts at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, ath the John C. Hart Memorial Library in  Shrub Oak and runs until 8 p.m.

On tap for discussion are:

• Accessibility to alcohol and other drugs in our town;


• Where does most teen drinking and other drug use take place? and


• How can parents and the community at large work together to protect our youth?

The panel will include representatives from the Yorktown Police Department, Student Assistance Services and a Project Rewind Emergency Room Nurse

For information please call Alliance for Safe Kids at 914-736-1450.

Eileen Modesta of Garrison shops at the Hallmark Gold Crown store at the Jefferson Valley Mall on Black Friday Nov. 27, 2009.

She said she was shopping with coupons and being careful how much she was spending by paying with cash. Click here to see more photographs from Black Friday on our daily gallery at Lohud.com. ( Joe Larese / The Journal News )

Ninety parents and local residents attended a recent forum at Croton-Harmon High School about teen-age drinking, drugs and sexual behavior.
A panel of experts from medicine, law enforcement and the social sciences went through a range of topics regarding risky behavior among teens—including warning signs of drug use, medical problems from alcohol consumption, the legal consequences of drinking party in an adult’s home.
The forum is part of a larger effort put together by the Croton Community Coalition to combat drug and alcohol abuse among young people.
“It was a very valuable dialogue,” said Assistant Superintendent Kusum Sinha. “Students and parents were engaged and a lot of great sharing and, most important, listening took place.” The forum was held Nov. 18.
The panel was comprised of Cliff Gabrielson, Youth Officer for the Croton Police Department; Kim Filuaro, Nurse Manager of Phelps Memorial Hospital Center ER; Paul Scharf, Westchester County Assistant District Attorney and Chief, Criminal Courts and Grand Jury Division; and Sam Watkins, Jr., Village Justice for Croton-on-Hudson. Beverly Pierce, a social worker with Student Assistance Services of Tarrytown, N.Y., was the facilitator.

Buchanan-Verplanck 4th grader Morgan Davis, 9, poses with the model of his school that took 2 1/2 months to build from over 5, 000 Lego pieces.” I love my school and I thought it would be a challenge for me,” he said when asked why he chose the Buchanan-Verplanck Elementary School building.

Completed when he was still in the third grade, the replica was featured at a Lego sponsored show at the Lyndhurst Mansion this past April. It is currently on permanent display at the Buchanan-Verplanck Elementary School. More photographs of Morgan’s creation will be featured in an upcoming Yorktown-Cortlandt Express. ( Joe Larese / The Journal News )

I am blogging live from the exhibition floor of the Westchester County Center as cheerleading teams from Westchester, Rockland and Putnam compete for the Grand Championship.

The competition is running a few minutes behind schedule. As soon as the awards are announced for the preliminary round of the large varsity division, the final round will get underway as the top teams strut their stuff.

Click here for a photo gallery from the event.

Rosalind Morrissey of Croton sits with a photograph of her son Evan, who died in 1969 at the age of fifteen.

I met and photographed the long-time Croton resident earlier today. Since the 1970’s, Morrissey and her husband have been organizing a bi-annual blood drive in honor of their son. The next blood drive will be held this weekend at Croton High School. Look for Robert Marchant’s story in an upcoming edition of The Journal News.