Section: Sports & Recreation

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Schmidt, Brennan Opposed Ballfield Deal with Westchester County

In a split vote of 3-2, the Democratic team of Trustees Gallelli, Kane and Wiegman resolved to give Manager Rick Herbek the go-ahead to enter into an Intermunicipal agreement (IMA) beginning on August 14, 2006, with Westchester County to operate two ballfields at Croton Point Park (view slideshow) for another season (see: “County Issues Interim Permit to Village for Croton Point Ballfields”).

The vote, taken on July 10, 2006, during a board meeting, comes after expiration of a temporary agreement with Westchester County that gave the village managerial control of the facility for the fall 2005 playing season. The county-owned facility, which includes a baseball diamond and a separate field suitable for field hockey, football, lacrosse and soccer, will soon also have permanent restrooms on site. The renovations at the facility—when complete—are expected to have cost Westchester County between eight hundred thousand and one million dollars.

Before the vote was taken, Mayor Dr. Gregory Schmidt—noting that discussions had previously gone on “long and long and round and round”—made it clear that he was predisposed to not support the agreement with the County. Schmidt reasoned his opposition to a lack of interest from sports groups last year and a fear that the village would not recoup its management costs thus causing a tax burden while subsidizing outside groups.

Trustee Thomas Brennan, a very enthusiastic supporter of Croton Harmon athletic programs, when given the opportunity to speak by fellow Republican Mayor Dr. Gregory Schmidt also balked at the resolution.

Trustee Brennan started by affirming his position by quoting Recreation Supervisor Sue Menz when he said, “I took the opportunity today to call Sue Menz, our recreation supervisor up and follow up on some questions about the Intermunicipal agreement on the field, the need for the usage of the field and she kinda basically told me that she is absolutely against an Intermunicipal agreement with the village for these fields. She feels that it is a waste of taxpayer money. They were under utilized last year. We’re going to be responsible for a lot of additional expenses down there including utility costs, portable bathrooms til the new bathrooms are ready, insurance policy, garbage removal, maintenance of the field, maintenance of the new bathroom, any vandalism and she feels that it’s a waste of taxpayer’s money because anyone that lives in Westchester County is going to be able to go down and use those fields and even though they may have to get permits from us, any vandalism, anything that goes on after the lights are shut down, we’re going to be responsible. So, I like to listen to the, the, the staff’s supervisors and take the recommendations of the people that we hire to do our recreation and she is adamantly opposed to this and I happen to agree with her.” Therefore, he saw no reason for the board to embark on further expenditures and consequently voted “opposed.”

However, Trustee Charlie Kane disagreed with all of the assertions made by both Mayor Dr. Gregory Schmidt and Trustee Thomas Brennan. To demonstrate, Trustee Kane presented a list of over 15 athletic groups that have expressed an interest in regularly using the fields countering the mayor’s previous claims. Additionally, Kane noted that since the village had entered into its temporary agreement late into the Fall season last year, many groups had already committed to fields elsewhere, hence the low participation.

Further offsetting costs of maintaining the fields are an agreement that was put in place with the Croton Harmon school district to share 50% of the maintenance costs. The school district, also in need of additional field space will have priority in setting its schedule before the Recreation Department opens the calendar for reservations to any other group—on a first-come first-served basis. Usage fees have been set at $50.00 per hour for the first two hours and $25.00 per hour for each additional concurrent hour.

Trustee Leo Wiegman, a long-time instructional trainer and referee for Croton AYSO, estimated that the village should recoup 75% of its costs this season with the proposed fee structure having been approved by Manager Herbek.

Despite his own objections and after passage of the resolution, Trustee Thomas Brennan encouraged accountability of the measure by saying, “I think what we should is next year look at all these groups that were mentioned tonight and see which ones actually used it and benefit from it and how much revenue we took in and let’s compare next year on how, how well this program made out.”

To which Trustee Ann Gallelli replied, “We’ll do that Tom.”

For more information, see the village website where the fee structure, terms of use and application are available for download or call the Recreation Office during office hours, weekdays from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM at 914-271-3006.

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Sand Castle Construction Market in Croton-on-Hudson Booming

July 30, 2006

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The Village of Croton-on-Hudson Department of Recreation held its annual “Sand Castle Building Contest” on Wednesday, July 26, 2006, at Silver Lake Park.

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Sand builders were allowed the entire day—starting at 11:00 AM—to work on their creations with a panel of judges set to evaluate the entries at 5:00 PM and declare winners from four different age groups.

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Unfortunately, at around 4:00 PM, severe thunderstorms and heavy rains closed the beach causing the castle designers to “call it a day.”

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Though the work day ended early for the contestants, the judges were able to cull a list of winners and make it available the next day at Silver Lake Park where prize medals were also distributed to the top builders.

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Sunday Heat Drives Silver Lake Bathing Crowd to Capacity

July 17, 2006

Both the 90 degree heat and high humidty drove crowds of Croton-on-Hudson residents and their guests to the Silver Lake Park beach to cool off in the wonderfully clean and refreshing waters of the 80 degree Croton River on Sunday, July 16, 2006.

In fact, the notion of swimming at Silver Lake Park was such a popular idea among locals that by 1:00 PM, the swimming area had reached its bathing capacity of 125. Subsequently, would-be bathers placed their names on a list and found a shady spot for about a 15 to 30 minute wait before getting a chance to take a dip.

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Team USA Eliminated from Soccer’s World Cup by Ghana, 2-1

June 22, 2006

The United States Soccer Team (W-D-L 0-1-2) was eliminated earlier this afternoon from the 2006 FIFA Soccer World Cup with a 2-1 loss to Ghana (2-0-1). The difference in the game was a controversial penalty on Team USA just before halftime that resulted in Ghana’s 2nd goal. After a thrilling run into the Quarterfinal Round in the 2002 World Cup; the US fails to make it into the Round of 16 this year. Ghana, who is appearing in its first World Cup, will move on to most likely face reigning World Cup Champion Brazil (2-0-0) on June 27th in Dortmund, Germany. Brazil plays Japan (0-1-1) this afternoon in Dortmund at 3 PM EDT. Like the USA entering today’s match against Ghana; Japan needs a win against powerful Brazil to stay alive in the tournament.

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"Fat Tire" Mountain Bike Festival Returns to Blue Mountain Reservation

May 30, 2006

A bike limbo and “poker” rally, a “clunker” toss and guided trail rides, raffles, music and races will all be part of the fun during the 11th annual Fat Tire Festival this Sunday, June 4, at Blue Mountain Reservation in Peekskill.

The event runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and admission and parking are free. Food and refreshments will be available for purchase throughout the event. The event will be held rain or shine. For more information, log on to www.wmba.org, www.westchestergov.com/parks or call (914) 864-PARK.

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Opening Day at Croton's Silver Lake Park

May 27, 2006

Saturday, May 27, 2006 marks the opening day of Silver Lake Park for beach-going residents of Croton-on-Hudson. The weather forecast even looks pretty good!

Photo: Swimmers at Silver Lake Park, Croton-on-Hudson, New York on August 14, 2005, taken with a Canon Powershot SD500 7.1MP Digital Elph Camera with 3x Optical Zoom.

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A Sun-Splashed Opening Day for Croton Little League

May 3, 2006

After a weekend of heavy rain caused a postponement of Croton Little League’s annual Opening Day Parade and Ceremonies (view photo gallery) by one week to April 29th, the festivities were welcomed with cheering spectators, eager players, and an abundance of sunshine. With the sunny warm weather it certainly felt like baseball season had arrived!

The parade started at Croton-Harmon High School with a police escort and proceeded up Old Post Road to Grand Street to Dobbs Field where ceremonies were presided over by “retiring” Little League President Terri Lukin. Croton Recreation Department Superintendent Susan Menz threw out the ceremonial first pitch to officially kick off the 2006 season.

Baseball is played nightly at 6:00 PM and Saturdays at 9:00 & 11:00 AM and 2:00 PM at fields—Dobbs, Firemen’s, Duck Pond, PVC Middle School, and Vasallo—all over town; so stop by and see some of our 600+ kids in action.

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Croton Recreation Activity Schedule for Middle School Students for May

April 29, 2006

• Friday, May 5, 2006: Multiplex movie theater. The bus leaves at 6:20 PM and returns at 10:15 PM. Pay for your own movie, bus fee is 3.00

• Friday, May 12, 2006: Last ice skating party of school year at the Westchester Skating Academy in Elmsford. The bus leaves at 6:45 PM and returns at 10:40 PM. There is a program fee of $13.00 which includes transportation and skate rentals.

• Saturday, May 13, 2006: Lunch, movies and Mother’s Day shopping at the Jefferson Valley Mall. The bus leaves from the Municipal Building at 12:00 PM and returns at 5:00 PM (there is a fee of $3.00 for bus transportation).

• Friday, May 19, 2006: “Jeopardy” night at PVC

• Friday, May 26, 2006: “Fright night” drop in—screaming permitted during a screening of “When a stranger calls”, rated pg-13. Doors open 7:30. The movie runs from 8:20 PM to 10:00 PM. Enjoy free scary popcorn with refreshments on sale too.

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Croton Recreation Activity Schedule for Grades 3 and Up for May

• Saturday, May 13, 2006: Lunch, movies and Mother’s Day shopping at the Jefferson Valley Mall. The bus leaves from the Municipal Building at 12:00 PM and returns at 5:00 PM (there is a fee of $3.00 for bus transportation).

Reservations for this trip are required, so please sign up ASAP to help the Recreation Department plan for chaperones and transportation needs. To make your reservation(s), call 914-271-8562 and leave the participant’s phone number, followed by the participant’s name, age, grade and event name(s). You will not be called back to confirm as a reservation will automatically be made for you. There is a $5.00 fee for no-shows, so please be sure to cancel a reservation if your plans change.

All events begin and end at the Municipal Building and they are fully chaperoned. Event fees are payable in cash on the day of the trip.

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Two Pack 28 Scouts Recognized as Top Fundraisers by Westchester-Putnam Council

April 28, 2006

Croton-on-Hudson’s Cub Scout Pack 28 had two of its scouts, Brian (center in picture next to brother Kevin) and Daniel (right in picture), recognized this past Wednesday night at the beautiful Durland Scout Center in Rye, NY for their outstanding efforts in raising money for the Westchester-Putnam Council’s 2006 William E. Kelly Bowl-O-Ree.

Brian and Daniel were 2 of the top 30 scouts in money raised for the Bowl-O-Ree. Brian, who raised $366, and Daniel, who raised $306, should be congratulated for their outstanding efforts when considering that the W-P Council has more than 10,000 scouts. Brian raised the 11th highest amount of money and Daniel raised the 16th highest amount of money district-wide! The 30 scouts at the event on Wednesday received prizes to recognize their achievement.

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