July/August

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and we’re most pleased that our B&NC Mag readers spend an average of over an hour reading each issue!

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PUBLISHER: MICHAEL J KAPLAN ART DIRECTION: EMMA ARTHUR

PHOTO BY: SANDRA SZEBENYIK

JULY/AUGUST 2023

PRESIDENT’S LETTER

Summertime! And the livin’ is easy…

And while this Summer’s tunes are all Taylor Swift, I reflect on two verses from James Taylor’s Secret O’ Life which go as follows:

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it, there ain’t nothing to it. Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill. But since we’re on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.

Now the thing about time is that time isn’t really real. It’s just your point of view, how does it feel for you?

Einstein said he could never understand it all. Planets spinning through space, the smile upon your face, welcome to the human race.

Summertime is time to enjoy!

Whether it’s a game of catch in the park, a walk on the beach, a cool drink in the hot sun, or a moonlit barbeque…this Summer, take time to enjoy life.

Take time alone to take stock of life’s splendor. And take time with family and friends, and enjoy.

At Bedford & New Canaan Magazine we are ‘Always Local, Always Positive’. We hope you enjoy our July/August 2023 SUMMERTIME ISSUE…

casey kaplan PRESIDENT

LOCAL NUPTIALS TABLE OF CONTENTS

JULY/AUGUST 2023

OUR COVER FEATURE

LASSE HALLSTRÖM is the most prominent Swedish flm director, and his wife LENA OLIN is the most prominent Swedish flm, stage and screen actress in the world today - and they’re locals - but this B&NC MAG July/August 2023 COVER FEATURE is really about their daughter

TORA HALLSTRÖM, and their new flm HILMA which Lasse wrote and directed, and in which, in her screen debut, Tora plays Hilma up to her late 40s, and Lena takes-on the role of Hilma’s life from 50 on.

P.48

Mike Henrici and Kate Benjamin were wed on June 25, 2022, at St. Patrick’s in Bedford, and that and just about everything else about the wedding was, and about the couple is…pure local!

ROB SECHAN NEWEDGE’S CEO IS PEDAL TO THE METAL

Rob is what Tom Wolfe called a ‘Master of the Universe’. He’s a co-founder and the CEO of NewEdge Wealth and Co-Managing Partner of the NewEdge Capital Group - one of the largest and fastest-growing registered investment advisor frms in the U.S. He’s a regular market expert on CNBC. …And, make no mistake, this New Canaanite is living large!

P.56

BREEZE FROM WESTCHESTER AIRPORT… P.68

Now that Breeze Airways fies non-stop from Westchester Airport (HPN) to Savannah, Georgia (SAV), a visit to Savannah…and the Montage Palmetto Bluf in Blufton, South Carolina…and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina…is a breeze!

Friends of the John Jay Homestead’s annual fundraising event took place in early June with dinner served picnic style at a long community table in a picturesque meadow at the Homestead

V: Ashley Dyke, Jenn Streicher, and Emily Blunt at the opening of Duchess in Bedford

VI: Bill & Hillary Clinton with Tony Goldwyn at Caramoor’s opening night gala

OUT & ABOUT

I: Payson Murray, Brett Cameron, Carolina White II: Friends Executive Director Emily Grand, Trustee Alex Hamer, Katherine Boulud

Nic Stephenson, Keelin McCormack, Ashley Allatt

Char Ryan, Beth Crowell, Payson Murray, Christina Bresani

VII: Elsa Skyes, Ann Curry, Dede Bartlett, and Hannelore Kaplan at the New Canaan Community Foundation Annual Luncheon

VIII: Martha Stewart, Andrew Yu, Casey Kaplan, Susan Magrino at the Glass House Summer party in New Canaan IX: Monte Lipman, Clive Davis, Avery Lipman at the Bedford Playhouse Platinum Party, with Clive as the event’s honoree.

PHOTO: JENNA JONES

John Jay Homestead

PHOTO: GABE PALACIO

I: Event organizers: James Stephenson (owner of oHHo), Michael Kaplan (Publisher of B&NC Mag), and Jordan Vogel (Principal of Benchmark Properties)

II: John Roa, Candice Milano, Kirsten Tegtmeier, Carter Kramer, Lyn Parodneck

III: Ashwin and Uma Seshamani and Wendy Belzberg

IV: The Voute Family with Matt Robinson and Natasha Bedingfeld and their son.

V: Martha Stewart and Cara Gabriella Lucky VIPs got to arrive early for some private time with Martha, learning to make the perfect Mint Julep.

VI: Marcie Manfredonia, Martha Stewart, Casey Kaplan, Andrew Yu, Nicole Steinthal

VII: Frances Wilson, Hannelore Kaplan, Krista Fox, Phyllis Yavner

VIII: Michelle Goldblum, Doug and Caroline Reilly

XII: John Tunas, Josie Samayoa, Lee ManningVogelstein, Bobbe Stultz, Robin Raines, Bob Brown

XIII: Evelyn, Elizabeth, Andrew, and Kimberly Handler, the event honorees and their daughters

XIV: Audra McDonald performs with Andy Einhorn

XV: Michael and Hannelore Kaplan with Bill Clinton

Michael Kelly, Jenn Streicher, and Karyn Kelly

X: Mary Busby, Holly Parmele, Kim Quinn, Anne George, Sarah Easley, Sarah Funk, Maura Marshall

XI: Heather Gaudio, Fred Canaro, Hannelore Kaplan, and Michael Canaro

IX:

PHOTO: JENNA JONES

PHOTO: GABE PALACIO

PHOTOS: BELLA ASSUMMA

Grace Farms hosted Night to Shine, an unforgettable prom night experience celebrating young people with special needs. 160 guests, 250 parents, 155 buddies and 300+ volunteers attended the free event

I: Everybody danced the night away! Sam Baiocco dancing with Luke Oligario, and around them Katheryn Robb, Josh Buckner, Mia Lanzarotto and Ryan Rajkowski

II: Partygoers enjoyed their time in the new indoor arena facility just completed this year to increase Endeavor’s capacity to assist many communities through therapeutic horsemanship

III: Endeavor board members: Robert Nielsen, Ashley Allatt, Jaclene Ginnel, Payson Murray, Cecilia Wolfson, Emily Bushnell, Margot Fooshee, Jef Cox

IV: Lizzi Bickford Meadow, Cara Gabriella, Marisol Morley, Eva Amurri, Kate Freeman

V: Maya Faucher, Tata Harper, Heidi Jessop-Maund

VI: Debra Coughlin, Caroline McCown, John McCown, Mike Henrici, Kate Henrici, Deb Benjamin, and Mary Bailly

VII:The Vaccaro Family of Armonk and Mahan Family of Bedford

VIII:Newell Cotton, Tom Reynolds, Vicky Reynolds, Todd Baker

IX: Emily Fisher, Ricky and Sharon Dahl, Cristi Andrews

X: A gorgeous evening planned by La Maison Fête and hosted by: Dan and Charlene Ryan, Melissa and Gerardo Mendez, Lloyd and Abby Gerry

XI: Camille Carriero, Angela Baldanza, Laura Budd, Stephen Shin

XII: Govind Friedland, Jefrey Muti

XIII: Jonathan and Jen Yanow with Lisa and John Sher

XIV: Suzanne Hogan and David Worby

XV: The evening’s MCs, Matt DelNegro and Sam Hollander

XVI: Jeremy Sisto and David Oliver Cohen

WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST’S ANNUAL BENEFIT

NEW CANAAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE NETWORKING EVENT AT GRACE FARMS

In June, Bedford & New Canaan Magazine was proud to be the Media Sponsor for the frst SewStainable fashion show to beneft Bedford2030 and the Community Center of Northern Westchester, hosted at The Katonah Museum of Art. Behind the concept, was none other than Fashion Designer, Andrew Yu, who had a vision of uplifting young aspiring Designers and women from the Community Center, and to create opportunities and an audience that revolve around sustainability. All of the designs that were shown, utilized completely upcycled materials ranging from real newspaper and grocery bags, to scraps of recycled fabric from thrifted garments.

OUT & ABOUT

I: Casey Kaplan, Melissa Tomlin, Tina Broccole, Nicole Steinthall

II: Special guest, Brandon Maxwell, joined in on the fun

III: The events Judges, top row: Amy Wayne, Julie Testwuide, Anni de Saint Phalle, Lisa Reid, Angelina Lipman, Gianna Palminteri

bottom: Mark Mendelson, Alex Thrane, Arielle Kebbel, Casey Kaplan

IV: The Lipman family

V: Maria Colaco, Sherri Owles, Tami McCarthy

VI: Mark Mendelson, Alex Thrane, Andy Yu, Evan Goldstein and their sons, Phoenix and Sebastian

The models strike a pose in their haute couture

A smile is the frst thing you notce

THE 25TH ANNUAL BARN DANCE

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 23RD 5.00PM - 10.00PM

Individual tickets and sponsorship packages are available on our website h p://johnjayhomestead.org/events-calendar/barn-dance-2023/

MIKE HENRICI KATE BENJAMIN

ARE WED, LOCALLY

WEDDING PLANNER: GREEN APPLE WEDDINGS

PHOTOS: YOU LOOK LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHY

In Spring 2019, Mike Henrici and Kate Benjamin were each living in New York City, and they met, as most couples do these days, on an app. About seven months in, when covid hit, they made the decision to quarantine together - at Kate’s parents house, in Pound Ridge. “We knew we were meant for each other and didn’t want to be apart. I hardly had to talk Mike into it - even if it might have been a little like Meet the Fockers,” Kate explains. …A year later, in August 2021, Kate and Mike were engaged!

“When it came to choosing a location for the wedding,” Kate continues, “coming home seemed only natural!” e couple were married on an unseasonably comfortable June 25, 2022, at St. Patrick’s in Bedford, where Kate’s mom had been a CCD teacher while Kate was growing up. Mike comments, “Kate grew up in Pound Ridge and it’s still her happy place, and we made lots of great new memories together here while we were living at the Benjamins’. We spent a lot of time during quarantine taking long walks in the Ward Pound Reservation and on some of the other great trails around here, and I have to say I fell in love with the area at the same time our relationship was blossoming. We intend to move out of the City and buy our rst house right here in Pound Ridge as soon as we can!”

…And everything about the wedding was local!

Kate started the day in Pound Ridge, with her mom for hair and makeup. ey walked from Eva Scrivo’s salon, where Kate had her makeup done, over to Jacob Allen for hair, with a stop for some iced co ee at Blind Charlie’s in-between.

While Kate’s parents, Bob and Deb Benjamin, still live in Pound Ridge, they moved a few years ago from the picturesque 1850s Pound Ridge farmhouse where Kate grew up. “ at farmhouse is really ‘the house that built me’,” Kate smiles. “I know it sounds cliché, but I have so many happy memories in and around that home, and it’s such a quaint place! e new owners invited us to use the property for some ‘ rst look’ photos that will always be very meaningful to me. It was a really classic Pound Ridge moment, and it was special to bring things full circle with Mike! And as if that wasn’t enough, the new owners gave us a champagne toast…and my old neighbors saw what was going on and stopped over to say ‘hi’ and ‘congratulations’!”

Kate says with a big smile. “ ey shut down the entire place for us and did an amazing job working with our vendors to make everything just the way we wanted. ere’s a huge wraparound back porch that made for a gorgeous scenic space overlooking roaring re pits, We had a small wedding party, with my cousin Maureen as my Maid of Honor, and Mike’s brother, Ryan, as his Best Man. And we were blessed to have both my parents, Deb and Bob, and both Mike’s parents, Carol and Michael, there with us. We wanted the whole night to feel like an intimate and sentimental private dinner party, followed by dancing, and I think we pulled it o !”

“We couldn’t have done it all without the help of our amazing wedding planner, who took all of my Pinterest ideas and turned them into a well-executed reality that looked stunning and owed seamlessly,” Kate exclaimed. e couple worked with Kate Diaz, the owner of wedding planning company Green Apple Weddings, who explained, “My goal is to

help couples cultivate weddings that truly re ect them and their relationship. I help couples to prioritize elements that will be meaningful and impactful, and to be more ecologically and economically friendly in the process!” Some key elements that stood out were bamboo ower holders, paper lanterns, and rattan place settings, which created the garden-like feel Kate wanted.

Kate sourced just about everythingfrom the Cakebox cake to the Brad & Vandy Reh wedding band - from local vendors. Personal touches like custom matches with a meaningful design were scattered throughout the evening, and guests all went home with beautiful bubble candles, handmade by Kate, her mom and grandmother. And every moment of the celebration was captured beautifully by the talented husband and wife duo, Adeline and Erik, at You Look Lovely photography. “We’re so thrilled to have these gorgeous images to hold onto forever, to commemorate our perfect night,” Kate remarks.

e evening ended with a romantic and impressive reworks display, courtesy of the Town’s Fourth of July weekend rework show propitiously going on right nearby, with a perfect view from the Club’s porch!

Mike adds, “We wrote letters to each other that we exchanged that morning, and we wrote a personalized note to each guest at our wedding which everyone opened all at the same time at the ceremony. It made each person there feel particularly wanted and appreciated - and they were! ere was so much love in the room!”

We had a really perfect wedding party at my parent’s country club in Ridge eld,”

I DON ' T JUST SELL HOUSES I SELL POUND RIDGE! PENDING & RECENT

Planning, designing and coordinating special events in New York, Connecticut and beyond since 2008. www.greenappleweddings.com

475-296-3403

CAROLINE SHEPHERD | Associate Real Estate Broker M. 914.393.2795 cshepherd@houlihanlawrence.com carolineshepherd.houlihanlawrence.com

For specialty event rental items please visit our sister company www.elevategreen.events

BEDFORD / POUND RIDGE BROKERAGE VILLAGE GREEN EMPIRE BUILDING, BEDFORD, NY 10506

Now that Breeze Airways™ flies non-stop from Westchester Airport (HPN) to Savannah, Georgia (SAV), a visit to Savannah…and the Montage Palmetto Bluff in Bluffton, South Carolina…and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina …is a breeze!

SAVANNAH Plus PALMETTO BLUFF HILTON HEAD ISLAND

In addition to the quick trip to Savannah, Breeze has established regular non-stop routes from Westchester to Charleston (CHS), Jacksonville, Florida (JAX), Norfolk, Virginia (ORF), and Vero Beach, Florida (VRB), and ‘BreezeThrus’ to places like New Orleans (MSY) where you take a Breeze flight out of Westchester and have one-stop, but don’t have to get off the plane. And Breeze flights are scheduled for real life, with departures and arrivals at times of day that don’t require pre-dawn plans to get to the airport or a midnight mission to get home. As an example, the regular flight from Westchester to Savannah leaves at 5:30pm and arrives a little before 8pm, and from Savannah to Westchester leaves at 2:15 and gets in at 4:30pm.

The availability of these Breeze non-stop and Breeze-through flights from Westchester is a game changer!

Westchester Airport is within a half-hour of every B&NC MAG household, and only a few minutes from any house in Armonk or Bedford. …Whereas it takes about an hour-and-a-half to get to JFK,

and almost as long to LaGuardia, before allowing another hour for a traffic disaster at the Bridge or the always-bumper-to-bumper VanWyck. And Westchester’s advantage of proximity is more than just a time saving convenience - it means being able to plan actual travel during more of the travel day. Westchester Airport is in all respects a far friendlier experience than the challenging city hubs. And the less expensive car service to the airport is nice too.

Westchester Airport is, plain and simple, way better than any other alternative!

And, while the kind of convenience Westchester Airport offers is determinative in and of itself, it’s worth noting that Breeze is flying a fleet of clean new jets, has a team of pilots and crew who are the best of the best, and, maybe least importantly, offers flights starting at below $100!

Breeze adds a whole new level of convenience for B&NC Mag locals to experience Savannah and the South Carolina Lowlands!

Located in the tropical lowland

Savannah

Atlantic, Savannah was

settled by General James Oglethorpe and people from the ship Anne in 1733. British troops occupied the city in 1778, as it had become the southernmost commercial port of the Thirteen Colonies, and a combined Colonial force of ‘American’, French, and Haitian soldiers failed to retake the city in the Siege of Savannah a year later. During the Civil War, the South surrendered Savannah to the Union forces of General Sherman, culminating their so-called ‘March To The Sea’. As Savannah continued to develop as an important commercial port after the Civil War and during the Industrial Revolution, the city became home to a wealthy class of industrialists who preserved the pre-war architecture, and built a well-planned city, featuring parks and squares and wide Oak treelined streets, that manifests all the splendor and charm of the South.

Now, Savannah’s six formally demarcated Historic Districts - filled with architecture that survived the Civil War in Northern hands - are among the largest in the U.S. - and they make Savannah a favorite destination for touring and revelry! Over fifteen million people visit Savannah each year, including a lot of bachelor and bachelorette parties and plenty of families from all walks of life, and the 150,000 or so friendly Savannahans, including tens of thousands employed in the tourism industry, do a lot to make the visitors feel welcome!

Picture Forest

Savannah’s Chippewa Square Park - and you get the idea that the city’s squares and parks serve as community gathering spots, centers of activity, and fun places to visit as a tourist. The city’s Forsyth Park features broad walking paths lined with overhanging Oak trees to provide shade, a giant central fountain, and a cafeall reminiscent of a grand park of Europe.

And then there’s SCAD, the Savannah College of Art and Design, which has a substantial physical and cultural presence in Savannah. The SCAD Museum of Art and SCAD Shop are both located in beautiful historic buildings, and are filled with current student and alumni art. It’s a great way to see interesting artwork, discover up-and-coming artists, and even get the chance to purchase something before the artist hits it big.

A good way to scope things out in Savannah is a twohour, guided trolley ride around the city. Then you’re set to explore Savannah’s neighborhoods - and eat… and drink…all she has to offer!

One way to turn a delicious meal into a delightful experience - and recommended for all age groupsis opting for a cooking class at Chef Darin’s Kitchen Table. The renowned chef Darin Sehnert gives cooking classes that engage every person in the kitchen and culminate in a festive meal in his eponymous culinary school. While the menu changes for each meal, every day, the Deviled Egg Stuffed With Chicken Salad is worth a special request.

The Hostess City Of The South - a sweet sister to New Orleans and Charleston - is sensational!

where the

River meets the

first

Gump sitting on the shaded bench under a canopy of Oak - filmed in front of

Common Thread serves a refined mix of locally-sourced Southern dishes, reconstructed by the restaurant’s team of modern and energetic chefs - all housed in an impressive Southern mansion dating back to 1897, complete with a wraparound porch and grand front staircase. Clean and cool, but warm and homey at the same time, it has the vibe of the new Southern Renaissance.

Local 11ten is a hip and trendy choice, located on a side street just off Forsyth Park. This Daniel Reed restaurant, with Executive Chef Brett Cavanna, may just have the best food in Savannah! The menu features constantly changing dishes in order to incorporate fresh and seasonal ingredients, and one dish after another is bursting with unexpected flavors and flairs.

Little Duck Diner has the look of a classic American diner of the 1950s, and serves all the classic American diner food dishes, buta little curiously - also has a delicious offering of Thai specialties. Think Grilled Cheese from the selection of gourmet Grilled Cheese options, with Bi Bim Bop Bowls, and a Black-and-White Milkshake. Booth or counter, it’s a fun stop.

District Seafood, on the Riverfront, feels like a kind of upscale clam-shack on the bayou. They have a tasty ‘low country boil’ on the menu - which is a giant basket that comes out filled with shrimp, smoked sausage, corn, potatoes, lots of garlic butter, and some Southern seasoning. While the restaurant is bright and clean…the plastic bib is recommended if your clothes are also going to stay bright and clean.

And for desert - or a sweets indulgence unto itself - on the Riverfront, there’s River Street Sweets. This charming old-time candy shop with counters full of toffee and chocolate-coveredeverything still has people mixing giant vats of goodness right in the middle of the room.

Abe’s on Lincoln is a cute dive bar where the ceiling is filled with patron’s sketches of President Lincoln.

Lone Wolf Lounge is a bar inside of an old home that’s been decorated with a mid(20th)-Century look and feel, and drinks with names like ‘Make Duran Duran Again’. Good for a stop in - even if it’s just afternoon!

Mata Hari’s Speakeasy is an old speakeasy, down a steep flight of cobblestone stairs, in the historic part of downtown. At the wooden door you’ll need a password that changes daily - which you’ll have to have secured in advance from your hotel concierge or someone else in the know. The Victorian bar feels like something out of the 1800s and…through a set of wardrobe doors - opening into another ‘secret room’ like in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe…there’s Downtown Delilah’s Burlesque! It’s a racy and raucous show that’s actually good entertainment, and a wonderful night out!

In and around the downtown, there are dozens of boutiques carrying unique clothing, shoes, hats and other accessories, candy shops and stationary stores, some outstanding design stores, a day spa and a movie theater, and lots of cute places to explore and discover. The Paris Market is an adorable home furnishing store that carries modern Paresian-inspired goods, with a cozy French bar and seating area to enjoy teas, coffees and small treats. If you’re looking for an old jukebox, or maybe a leather armchair, or some vintage jewelry, or a political pin from times gone by, there are always some great finds at Picker Joe’s Antique Mall & Vintage Market - and they have a vintage soda pop counter where you can still get a CocaCola in a glass bottle or a fresh scoop of ice cream. And right on East Broughton, there’s Leopold’s Famous Ice Cream Shop, where the line often extends a full block down the street and scoopers still wear 1950s style aprons and paper hats.

For upscale accommodations, the JW Marriott Savannah Plant Riverside District is a recommended place to stay. It’s a complex in and of itself, complete with a rooftop pool, restaurants, bars, boutiques, a Starbucks, and a vendors market, and a Riverfront esplanade. …And, whether staying at the Marriott or not, the main lobby of the hotel is not-to-be-missed! It features a metal cast of a dinosaur hanging from a ceiling embedded with stained glass panels, giant crystals, and large fossils - like the Museum of Natural History on psychedelics.

The Thompson Hotel, on the less developed end of the riverfront esplanade, is an attractive alternative, with a wraparound glass rooftop, called Bar Julian with stunning views of the Savannah River, and a rooftop bar with live music.

And the Perry Lane Hotel is the white-shoe place to stay, with a great pool, and a bright and breezy rooftop, that feels like a mix of French bistro and California modern, with a prime view of the city. …Including the postcard snapshot of the steeple of the Independent Presbyterian Church - the steeple the white feather falls from in Gump.

The magnificent Montage Palmetto Blu , in Blu on, South Carolina, just about a half-hour North of Savannah, is set within a 25,000 acre private community and nature preserve, and is the height of refined relaxation at its Southern finest.

Miles of tree-lined lanes lead through lowlands rich with plants and birds of all varieties - and lots of other wildlife, before the guest is greeted by an attentive bellman at the front of the mansion, called ‘The Inn’, that serves as the main part of the hotel. S’mores are served as guests gather around a nightly campfire, and well-appointed common spaces, with fireplaces roaring, provide a place for comfortable conversation. …And everything about the place is first class! The Montage Palmetto Bluff is one of the South’s, and even one of America’s greatest resorts!

The Montage’s main restaurant, Octagon, features modern interpretations of Carolina cuisine along

For activities, for starters, every guest is equipped with their own cruiser bicycle to explore the miles of trails that crisscross the property. Then the Montage also offers sporting clays, a complete tennis and paddle club, paddleboarding, fishing, scenic yacht cruises, separate adult and childrens’ pools, a world-class spa, and golf on a world-class Jack Nicklaus golf course called May River, with an exceptional practice facility. Oak trees dripping with Spanish Moss, fairways soaked in the Southern sun, expert caddies, and the smokey smell of a roaring fire pit waiting at the clubhouse, are just some of the things that make playing this course like stepping back in time for a round with Bobby Jones.

With capacity for up to 20 guests, 3 separate private primary bedroom suites, a multi-roomed bunk suite, upstairs and downstairs dens, a massive living space and dining area, and an big open gourmet kitchen, plus a couple of thousand feet of outdoor decks and patios, and a private pool and hot-tub overlooking the beachthis property is the perfect vacation spot for whatever group is gathered!

And while Beach Properties specializes in the best - and every one of their rentals has a private pool, and comes with Beach Properties’ special concierge access to various amenities and activities in and around Hilton Head Island - they can access homes and villas ranging in size and price.

…And just another half-hour North of the Montage…Hilton Head Island is heavenly!

With dozens of championship golf courses on Hilton Head Island, including the three jewels at the renowned The Sea Pines Resort, the visit to Hilton Head Island is at the top of the bucket list for every golfer!

Sea Pines is a large resort and residential community on 5,000 private acres on the southeastern end of Hilton Head Island, with an endless wide beach, sandy lanes, and people walking and biking wherever you turn. The resort has its own restaurants and retail, including the all-new Quarterdeck, which offers indoor and outdoor dining with a panoramic view of Calibogue Sound. The yacht club ambience is perfect for everything from the romantic sunset evening for two, to laughs and libations for a couple of foursomes, to the celebration of a family reunion or event. The oyster bar is outstanding and the plentiful seafood menu includes a Firecracker Shrimp that’s noteworthy…and leave room for the ‘Not Your Grandma’s Key Lime Cheesecake’ or the ‘QD’s South Carolina Turtle Brownie’, or at least a taste of both!

While Sea Pines boasts The Inn & Club at Harbour Town a 4-star hotel, the ‘way to stay’ in Hilton Head Island, and maybe in Sea Pines in particular, is to arrange for private accommodations…

Beach Properties arranged the rental of the brandnew 7-bedroom, 9-bathroom maxed-out beachfront mansion pictured in this B&NC Mag feature!

As for golf at Sea Pines, the signature annual host of the PGA TOUR RBC Heritage Presented By Boeing Tournament - is best-of-the-best! …And if the iconic lighthouse in the background of the 18th makes for a great shot of the PGA champion Pros on TV…all golfers should be ‘fore’warned that the approach over the vast bed of seagrass and marsh to the 18th green peninsula will be a real test before their own finishing-hole group selfies! This stunning course, designed by Pete Dye with Jack Nicklaus consulting, winds its way through some of Sea Pine’s over-the-top residential enclaves and finishes dramatically alongside the seashore. The place is kept in tip-top condition and offers a real range of golfing experiences on the different sets of tees available. Though the fairways are ample, there’s not much rough, and trouble lurks nearby in almost all directions. Long par 4s require straight drives, and some sharp doglegs require precision. Almost all greens are protected by frontside traps, botanicals or water, requiring the golfer to elevate short and longer approach shots. And no matter what happens on the golf course, Links an American Grill in the Harbour Town Clubhouse, is a satisfying stop for lunch or dinner. Harbour Town is an all-around ‘Champions-ship’ experience!

Sea Pine’s two other courses, Heron Point by Pete Dye, and Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III, may be less well-known than Harbour Town, but are equally as exceptional and every bit as fun to play. These are ‘shot-maker’ golf courses, filled with risk-reward opportunities, and demanding course management and target accuracy. Cut into the South Carolina marsh and pines, Heron Point features Dye’s classic and ubiquitous mounding and swales, and some astounding greens complexes. Atlantic Dunes is Love III’s seaside recreation of Hilton Head Island’s first golf course, the Ocean Course, and has the distinct feeling of a lowlands beach. The scenery and views on both of these courses - like the 15th hole at Atlantic Dunes, where the green on this par 3 meets the beach - can make it tough for a golfer to keep an eye on the ball.

...And after playing Sea Pine’s big three, the biggest problem being a golfer on Hilton Head Island is…where to play next!?! …But, be assured that the three courses at Dunes are each great choices. The Trent Jones course plays through a lagoon and alongside the ocean. Play away the water on nearly every hole, and take dead aim from Jones’ sweeping fairways at the false front and elevated multitiered greens. Guaranteed to want to have a second shot at this one! …And each of the Arthur Hills and the George Fazio courses at Palmetto Dunes make for a good excuse to tack yet another day onto the Hilton Head Island stay.

…It’s all only as far away as the short ride to Breeze Airways at Westchester Airport!...

Outstanding Teamwork Leads to Extraordinary Results

Just Sold — Buckhorn

Mary Palmerton and Jody Rosen have sold Buckhorn, the iconic, 13.85-acre Pound Ridge estate that includes not only a sprawling 1930s era home but also an art barn, pool house, sparkling pool, separate wine cellars for red and white, and an apple orchard. They found success—and several qualified buyers--by working closely with national and regional media as well as with industry colleagues.

“The listing is elevated far above most other upstate retreats.”

“Sherry and Joel Mallin, two of the world’s top collectors of contemporary art, have listed a Pound Ridge, New York, estate which for years served as a showcase for their thousand-plus piece art collection.”

MARY H. PALMERTON

Associate Real Estate Broker

M: 914 843 4158 mpalmerton@houlihanlawrence.com marypalmerton.houlihanlawrence.com

JODY ROSEN

Real Estate Salesperson M: 914 907 3300 jrosen@houlihanlawrence.com jodyrosen.houlihanlawrence.com

Mary and Jody are uniquely qualified to provide you with accurate, hyperlocal market insights to help you make important decisions with confidence. With their combined 30+ years of experience and local and global connections, working with this team gives you the advantage.

Buying or selling, contact us today for all your real estate needs.

“Jody & Mary worked tirelessly to promote our property to the widest audience and bring in an incredible number of buyers.”

swedish american sensations

LASSE HALLSTRÖM, LENA OLIN, THEIR DAUGHTER TORA, AND THEIR NEW FILM HILMA

When it comes to the Swedish influence on film, there’s Ingmar Bergman (1918-2007), considered one of the greatest filmmakers in the earlier years of the artform, and Ingrid Bergman (1915-1982), most famous for her roles in Casablanca, For Whom The Bell Tolls, and several Hitchcock films - and Ingmar and Ingrid were not related. …And then there’s B&NC’s July/August 2023 Cover Features, who are husband and wife…and who are longtime locals…Lasse Hallström and Lena Olin.

Born in 1946, LASSE HALLSTRÖM grew up in

stockholm,

there attended Adolf Fredrik’s Music School, started his directorial career doing Swedish TV, and emerged as a film director for his work directing music videos for the all-time best selling Swedish music group ABBA. Still in Sweden, in 1985 Hallström wrote and directed My Life As A Dog, and the film won international acclaim, including Hallström being nominated for Academy Awards for Best Writer and Best Director. Whereupon, Hallström moved to Hollywood and has since enjoyed a celebrated career as an Englishspeaking feature film director, including notably What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), The Cider House Rules (1999) - for which Hallström again received a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Director, and Chocolat (2000). As further examples of his continuing work, Hallström’s films The Shipping News (2001), Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (2011), The Hypnotist (2012), and A Dog’s Purpose (2017), have all been highly awarded and critically acclaimed.

LENA OLIN was also born and grew up in Stockholm, and her parents, Britta Holmber and Stig Olin, were both Swedish actors. At 17, Olin was crowned Miss Scandinavia. She studied acting at Sweden’s National Academy of Dramatic Art, and performed for over a decade with Sweden’s Royal Dramatic Theatre ensemble, including playing the

leading part in Strindberg’s A Dream Play Most notably, she was a protege of Ingmar Bergman, who first cast Olin in Face to Face (1976), then, as Cordelia, in his world-tour production of King Lear later in the title role in his rendition of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, and in Olin’s international film debut in his 1984 film After the Rehearsal Olin has a long foreign and English-speaking filmography, including notable performances in what was her first English-speaking major part in The Unbearable Lightness Of Being (1988), and then in Enemies: A Love Story (1989) -for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Sydney Pollack’s Havana (1990), Roman Polanski’s The Ninth Gate (1999), Romeo is Bleeding (1994), and Casanova (2005), among many others.

Olin collaborated with Hallström on Chocolat (2000) - for which she received five Academy Award nominations, and in 2008 Olin played both a Jewish survivor of Auschwitz and her twenty-year-younger daughter in the Academy Award nominated The Reader Olin has also been successful on TV, including most notably her roles as Irina Derevko in the series Alias - for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, and most recently as Eva Braun in the series Hunters (2020-2023).

PHOTO: LACY KIERNAN

But, notwithstanding Lasse’s and Lena’s fame, this story is really about their soon to be famous 28-year-old daughter, Tora…and the movie Hilma (2022), which Lasse wrote and directed, and in which, in her screen debut, Tora plays Hilma up to her late 40s, and Lena takes-on the role of Hilma’s life from 50 on.

Lasse and Lena met in 1990, and were married in 1992. About meeting Lena, Lasse says, “We were just about the only two Swedes working in film in North America. Lena’s manager was a producer on a film I worked on, so I sent messages through him for a half-a-year or so. Eventually, she caved in.” Tora was born in Sweden in 1995, and Lasse and Lena brought her to America in 1997. Lasse explains, “Lena was working with the Director Sidney Lumet on the film Night Falls in Manhattan and the Producer on the film, John Starke, who was Glenn Close’s husband and who lived with Glenn in Bedford, recommended living in the area. We rented two different houses, then in 2000 we purchased the house in Bedford Hills we still call ‘home’ - at least when we’re not back a month or two each year enjoying the house in the Swedish archipelago that my grandfather purchased in 1904.” From prior relationships, Lasse has a son, Johan, now in his forties, and Lena has a son, August, now in his late thirties, and August lived with the family in Bedford Hills until he went off to film school in Paris. The family speaks Swedish at home, and had a Swedish au pere who had a lot of time with Tora when Lasse and Lena were traveling to make films. Tora went to Rippowam Cisqua, then Deerfield Academy, and then Princeton University. She started her intended career in finance at Goldman Sachs in 2017, but quit one year later, just before she was about to get her bonus, and moved to San Francisco - mostly for a guy she no longer sees - and took another job in finance, with Uber.

With a big smile, Tora explains her decision to leave finance and become an actress saying, “I was Beauty in Beauty And The Beast, and I was Gertrude McFuzz in Seussical The Musical and I was Ti Moune in Once

On This Island in middle school at Rippowam Cisqua, worked in a theater in North Carolina during the summer between my junior and senior years at Deerfield, got a few small parts in movies my dad was directing including one called Safe Haven and I took Screenwriting and Dance at Princeton, but I grew up being good in math and science, majored in Economics, and always thought I’d be in Finance. I was always a little scared of theater kids because they

“Getting Tora to come into what is really the family business of film and theater is certainly the best thing I’ve ever done,” Lasse remarks. “Tora grew up seeing us in action doing creative stuff and I think she wanted to do something that was more safe. She’s always had a talent for numbers. I encouraged her to pursue writing, but she went to Wall Street. I thought she was really wasting her time, even though she’d made it to Goldman Sachs. Everyone working 24/7, focused on money money money, never taking any time to focus on the arts or enjoy life. With Hilma

were so dramatic. And, growing up, it seemed like a career in film translated into an emotionally erratic life. But I’d come back home to Bedford from San Francisco because of covid, and my father came to me with the idea of sharing the role of Hilma with my mom, and I thought ‘Yeah, why not!’ I remembered that I liked being the lead in the plays in middle school, and the rush I’d felt when I was performing on a hot, sweaty night in that play in North Carolina. I looked back at an essay I’d written back in high school on wanting to be an Actress. I’m a pretty good singer. And I’ve secretly always felt the camera could see ‘something in me’...and that ‘something in me’ was screaming out to do it! Now I’m all in!”

And Lasse is effusive about Hilmaboth the film, which was produced by Viaplay as an English-speaking ‘streamer’ and is now being screened in Sweden, and which has debuted in America, including three screenings at the Bedford Playhouse, and the subject Hilma af Klint. “I’m a believer in spiritual mysteries, and my involvement with Hilma has only deepened my search for deeper truths. I first heard about Hilma from Lena, who’d heard mention of an artist named Hilma referenced in an unrelated movie while on a flight to film The Artist’s Wife in 2018…only to have the Director of the movie mention Hilma to Lena later that same day. Lena was struck by the coincidence and mentioned it, and Hilma, to me. A Google search had me entranced, and the more I researched, the more of a mystical connection I felt. Hilma was born in 1862 and died in 1944, relatively unknown in the art world. She began painting abstract art in 1906, laying enormous canvases on the floor and experimenting with her application of paint, and produced a body of art eerily similar to the work of, but predating, Vasily Kandinsky. Finding little acceptance of or understanding for her work, she instructed that, upon her death, all her paintings be stored away in an attic in Stockholm for a period of 20 years! … And then I discovered that the location where her paintings were stored was right across the street from where Lena and I used to have an apartment!” Lasse continues, “Once discovered, Hilma was immediately recognized as a master, and her work was first exhibited in Stockholm in 1967. Hilma had imagined that her work would someday be exhibited in a grand ‘spiral temple’ and drew pictures of a building that looks substantially similar to the Guggenheim Museum - but she did so a half-Century before Frank Lloyd Wright designed the building - and in 2019 the Guggenheim held the first major exhibit in the United States of Hilma’s work, called Hilma af Klint :

Painting for the Future And Hilma was special and ahead of her times in a lot of ways besides her artwork. From a family of admirals and sea captains, including a grandfather who first measured the depths of the seas in many of the world’s waters, she was a black sheep. She was a medium, and a healer who said her work laying hands was guided by spirits, and she believed in other life in the universe and UFOs.

Tora moved right into being a leading lady!”

The movie is an epic story that covers almost all of Hilma’s life.”

about

making the movie,

Lena comments, “Lasse became obsessed with Hilma, and Tora and I immediately embraced the idea of playing Hilma together. I have to say everything about making a movie about Hilma’s life seemed perfect for us. We studied Hilma and, although we are or were a bit more skeptical than Lasse, we went to a medium in order to talk through the medium with Hilma - and the medium gave us some insights. We saw Hilma as a strong woman in an age when that was seldom permitted, and believed she should be portrayed as ‘the boss’, but that she was and should also be portrayed as having human flaws and being quite complicated. Tora may have believed in the medium a little more than I did, but Tora and I were aligned on who we wanted Hilma to be, and we influenced Lasse’s writing accordingly. Lasse directed us to bring out our inherent similarities, like the way we walk and certain gestures we both have, but was light on instruction or suggestions on how to be Hilma. And Tora really inhabited the part. Acting is all about being emotionally involved with the person you’re playing, and Hilma was the ideal role for both Tora and me.”

Lasse reflects, “Hilma has changed my life! You can say it’s the first script I’ve ever written, as my prior work writing has been interpreting books I didn’t author. I’ve always been interested in the unknown. I believe in reincarnation and UFOs, and that we might be visited by future incarnations of humans. But as I’ve come to accept Hilma’s ideas, I’m spending more and more of my time and focus on gaining a deeper understanding of human consciousness. I have a medium who I trust completely, who says I’ve been with Lena in different incarnations since Roman times, and who’s connected me with my father and mother. Hilma was channeling spirits in her drawings and I’d like to take on big questions of the

universe in my work in the same way, but things like the power of thought and the origins of the universe are hard to make films about. I like to make films about real people and follow characters as truthfully as possible. To do it with Lena and Tora is certainly a wonderful and romantic family affair, and I’m grateful to have gotten to know Tora better and for how close we’ve become.”

Hilma is likely to win a bunch of the important Best Foreign Film awards. It’s a portrait of a woman way ahead of her time, and it’s a happy middleground between documentary and a romantic biography complete with life’s nuance, subtleties and intrigue. The combined performances of Lena and Tora in playing Hilma are seamless, insightful, and complete. And the film is a cinematic work of art.

But for now the family is back home in Bedford Hills. Lasse is promoting Hilma taking meetings as always about the next film he’ll direct, and constantly searching for the answer to the big questions and looking to the heavens to meet visitors known and unknown. Lena continues to be the biggest movie star in the B&NC Mag area who might not be immediately recognized in the supermarket. Tora is looking to do whatever comes next. “I have agents in Sweden and America. I’d love to be in a comedy series. I’ve been collecting notes on funny moments my whole life in my phone, and maybe I’ll write something, maybe somewhere between Curb and Girls. Tora remarks. And though Tora may yet just be known in the area by the kids in her class at Ripp…she’s about to become, well, the next Lena Olin!”

My mom has taught me how I have to have an open heart and an open mind for every new role,”

EAST MEETS WEST-CHESTER

Sabbath McLean Silver Spring Wellness in Pound Ridge

Sabbath McLean is the doctor of Chinese medicine who’s opened Silver Spring Wellness at 72 Westchester Avenue in Pound Ridge. …The thing is, the attractive retail storefront, and even the name of the business, do not begin to reveal Sabbath’s credentials or experience, or the quality and scope of treatment and benefits that may be found within.

Sabbath is especially serene, and is gifted in the art of reading another person. She can immediately take a measure of posture, gate, hair and skin, breath, visual clarity, and a myriad of other clues, as a key part of informing her diagnosis and treatment. But she’s just as quick to explain she’s practicing medicine, and that her Eastern or Chinese methods and practices are just as scientific as, and can often be a valuable alternative to, Western medicine. “I was born in Houston, and moved all around the South with my mom until I headed out on my own at 17. My mom worked for FedEx and got a raise each time we relocated, so we lived in about 15 different places and in almost every Southern State. I was new all the time and I got very good at observing people. Kids are adaptable, and I developed a real curiosity about people, and learned how to communicate and get along.” Sabbath explains.

“I got interested in sustainable development, and went to Appalachian State because they were one of only a couple of undergraduate schools offering a degree with that

focus. During college, I worked for an organization involved in installing solar panels in underdeveloped parts of the world. I liked the feeling of helping people, but was dismayed with the way organizational short-term thinking could actually do long-term harm, and my own inability to make organizational change. I like having my own agency,” Sabbath continues. “I had a constant desire to move around, meet new people, and experience different languages and cultures and environments. I lived in New Orleans for a while, and I lived in Morocco for a bit - where I got to meet, and was influenced by, the ethnomusicologist composer Paul Bowles. Along the way I did a variety of things to make a living…I built toys for an architecture firm in Seattle, I sold sculpture and did antique repair, I even worked in a hair and makeup place that specialized in drag. …At some point I realized I wanted to go into medicine, but the way Western doctors are forced to practice in the United States seemed impersonal and transactional, and extreme and unhealthy for the practitioner. I wanted to help people in a more personal and holistic way, and have a practice that also allowed me to live a healthy lifestyle.”

“I guess you could say I ‘found myself’ in the Strand Book Store at 828 Broadway in Manhattan. They have what amounts to a library of old books and everyone is welcome to spend as long as they like reading inside the store. I was in there reading books about alternative medicine, and was

impressed with the Eastern ways of taking little risk while being effective.

I’d experienced acupuncture when I was 7, when I was suffering from a nervous stomach, and the treatment had worked - but I’d never really thought about that again. I found a book called The Web That Has No Weaver : Understanding Chinese Medicine, by Ted Kaptchuk, and got really excited learning about what and how much Chinese medicine could treat. Chinese medicine has been developed and passed down in writing over thousands of years, and takes advantage of herbs, acupuncture, cupping, massage, moxibustion, meditation, breathing, and diet, among other treatments. I fell in love with the holistic philosophy and practices in Chinese medicine,” Sabbath recalls.

“I went back to school to study Chinese medicine. First at Emporer’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica, and then, because they had an even better Chinese medicine department, at Pacific College of Health and Science in New York City. I started practicing as a Masters level Licensed Acupuncturist or LAC in 2007, and got my Doctorate of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine or DAOM in 2016, also from Pacific College. I’m licensed as a Doctor of Chinese Medicine in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. After 16 years of practice, I have a powerful working knowledge of a lot of disease patterns and treat a wide range of medical conditions,” Sabbath says with confidence.

“I met my husband, Carter Powers McLean, who grew up in New Canaan, through an app,” Sabbath’s smile begins to beam. “He was my third try on the app. From his profile he might have been a ‘starving musician’, and he’s 7 years younger than I am, and that gave me pause, but Carter was and is a very interesting and dynamic person, who’s a Drummer for The Lion King on Broadway and quite successful in his field. I was really intrigued by him by the end of the first date, and when he said he’d ‘like to see me again’ I figured he meant ‘he’d call between sometime and never’...but then he said ‘tomorrow’! We were engaged in a year, he convinced me to move to Ridgefield in 2011, and we were married in 2012. Although I have to admit that, at first, the quiet up here was a bit overwhelming, I’ve grown to love life in the country - or at least our version of it. We have a recording studio in the house, and a 90 pound Lab and Golden Retriever mix, named Watson, and the pleasant routine of taking Mondays alone together for sleeping late and coffee in bed, and some gardening, and some quiet time together, and pretty much shutting-out everything else. But when

Covid hit and Broadway shut down I started to rethink things, refocused on the idea that time is our most precious commodity, and decided to cut the two-plus hours of commuting out of my daily schedule and to open a new practice here. When friends brought me to 72 Westchester Avenue, I just knew it was the right place. I’d been hanging out in Pound Ridge - reading at Booksy - and really liked the vibe of the town. And in response to my concern about finding a new clientele, my husband gave me the support that ‘they only have to meet you once’! …I opened in October 2022, and I’m still working on transitioning my Manhattan practice. I’ve had a very successful practice in New York for quite a long time now, as I was lucky enough to fall in with the Broadway community years before I ever met my husband, and things grew by word-of-mouth from there. But there’s a pressure to see up to 16 or even 20 patients a day and the commute is too much. So my goal is to work 4 days a week, exclusively at Silver Spring Wellness in Pound Ridge, and see a max of 10 patients a day. This is my happy place!”

The intake visit, for which Sabbath presently charges the ridiculously low fee of $175, is comprehensive - and immediately different from the intake process with any Western doctor. In advance of the initial meeting if possible, the patient completes a health profile and furnishes Sabbath with any and all test results and as much of the patient’s Western medical record as possible. Sabbath explains, “The length of the intake visit depends on what’s happening. I’m trying to take into account the entire universe of you. Specializing is a Western idea. I want your blood and stool tests, but I also need to understand everything about your digestion, how you sleep, move, work. I try to learn as much as I can from everything I can sense about a patient. Do you blink a lot, are you thirsty, tired, hot or cold?Different symptoms usually relate to a root problem that requires treatment. If you have an immune related issue, then I need to focus on your digestion, because there’s likely some connection. If you’re struggling with your weight, we have to

understand what these challenges stem from, and address all the related issues. We may find an addiction to sugarand come up with some alternatives, treatments, and changes in your pattern that are meant to address what’s driving the problem. There are several different kinds of arthritis and each requires its own treatment. The length of treatment for acute problems will depend on the extent of the ailment, and the sooner a patient comes to me following an injury, or the removal of a cast, the quicker and more effective I can be. But if I’m not making a difference in 4 to 6 sessions I’m going to refer you to someone else, and in most events there should be significant improvement, in pain reduction, increasing range of motion, improving digestion, and other acute issues, within 10 visits. For chronic problems I’ll see a patient as needed, and will monitor a patient’s herbal remedies on an ongoing basis. I will address anything that feels out of sorts and am happy to see patients of all ages.

“This is my happy place!”

◊ We use hundreds of different herbs and compounds, still sourcing many direct from China, to treat all kinds of ailments and just to improve general wellness. There’s a mystical aspect to these herbs and compounds as many are used for a purpose that mimics their appearance or purpose in nature. As one example, we use fiber from the underside of bark on a certain tree to strengthen muscles and tendons in the body. But make no mistake, each and every herb and compound has been tested over thousands of years - and proven effective! It’s got a mystical aspect, but I’m no mystic. It’s tried and true science.

◊ I use acupuncture - the insertion of antiseptic solid hairthin filiform needles - to break down restrictions in the fascia and stimulate organs, nerves, skin, and the flow of energy in the body we call ‘Qi’. The body is wired like a spider web, with connecting pathways called meridians, which direct the flow of qi throughout the body. By stimulating certain meridians we can reduce inflammation, increase blood flow and mobility, decrease tension, increase energy and strength, and achieve numerous other benefits. Acupuncture puts the body into a theta brainwave state, when it can rest and heal.

◊ Cupping is the ancient practice of suctioning, in order to bring blood to stimulate the skin and break-down subdural adhesions. I use cups that are heated by a flame in order to control the amount of suction in the cup. I use a technique called ‘sliding’ where the cup is continually moved and ‘still’ cups for a variety of health concerns, including asthma, bronchitis and the common cold. The practice is safe, and can have tremendous regenerative effects.

◊ Moxibustion is the burning of the herb mugwort either on a needle, directly on the skin, in a Moxa box, or in a rolled cigarlike fashion. The heat from the herb can reduce swelling, warm the area of concern, increase circulation of Qi and blood, reduce cold and stagnation, help turn a breech baby, reduce swelling and bruising of an injury, relieve menstrual cramps, and increase overall circulation.

◊ Tui Na or Chinese medical massage is a therapeutic massage used for a myriad of health problems.

◊ Diet is critical. And while calories are often critical, there are a myriad of other aspects of each person’s nutrition and digestion which require attention. Things like what each person eats, when each person eats, how much water they drink, and how much soda, must all be taken into consideration. I do not believe in any extreme diets and, personally, choose to eat everything, in moderation.

◊ Other Eastern Practices include meditation, yoga, pilates, and breathing exercises. While I make each a part of every day, I’m not an instructor of any. I do incorporate these practices in my wellness plans…and doing them, like changing one’s diet, is a part of the equation that’s up to the patient!

I work in conjunction with a patient’s Western medical treatment, not in opposition to it. I can not provide an alternative to chemotherapy or a cast for a broken bone. However, if the issue is pain management, digestion, tension, immune-related, or any and all things women’s health, I’ll be looking for holistic treatment solutions. I do a lot of work with Western doctors and I’ve been invited to join several Western medical groups and, although I’ve not chosen to go that route, I believe that the integration of Eastern and Western medicine is profoundly beneficial for patients and for preventative medicine.”

“When I can make the time, I love to write. I write fiction, with no intention of ever publishing a novel or anything like that. I like the process, and it gives me a chance to consider the kaleidoscope of human experience that I encounter in my practice and in my daily life. I love to cook…and eat…and I’m good at both! If I taste something in a restaurant I can recreate it at home. We love to garden, and watch movies, and hike with our pup. And we love to travel. I still love meeting new and interesting and different people. …And, yes, I check out everyone’s posture, clarity, breath, and other characteristics when I first meet…I can’t help it!”

“I have quite a few tools in the Chinese medicine toolbox.

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AMa er of ab raction

MASTER ARTIST -

MEET YOUR NEW NEIGHBOR IN GUTZON BORGLUM’S STUDIO…Stuart Yanke

His timeless art is rooted in classical sensibilities, but his very ‘be here now’ artistic philosophy is to celebrate the energy of life, often with themes of dance, music and nightlife. His work has earned a place in the vanguard of contemporary figurative painting and has been exhibited in museums and galleries throughout the world. He has the manner of a master - driven by his talent, but also focused on fame, fortune, and legacy. …And, most recently, he and his wife, MaryEllen Velahos, bought the local propertycomplete with giant studio - built and occupied by Gutzon Borglum, famous sculptor of the early 20th Century and best known for Mt. Rushmore, and owned by several other prominent American artists, including Beetle Bailey cartoonist, Mort Walker, who lived and worked in the house for the last 40 yearswhich property Yankell is now using to create and to exhibit his own work.

Yankell was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey while his father, Sam, was completing his PhD at Rutgers University. It was at this time that Sam met and befriended the extraordinary artist Leon Bibel. “Leon had a profound influence on my dad and, in turn, on me,” Stuart recalls. While his father went on to be a celebrated scientist in industry and at the University of Pennsylvania, his dad has also had a lifelong passion as a painter and sculptor. Stuart recalls. “Bibel was like a second father to me. He instilled the first seeds of my artistic life and passion. Then, when I was in 10th grade, my parents gave me a large DaVinci coffee table book…which was like a treasure chest opening in my life. I found a natural ability to copy the drawings, and dove deeply into this world.”

“Somehow, deep down, I’ve always felt like an artist. …But because I was strong in math and science in high school, I had the plan to go into reconstructive surgery, and chose the University of Pennsylvania for undergraduate,” Stuart recounts his life’s journey.

“While I was in college I discovered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and fell forever in love with the breadth and beauty of the history of art. …And, by the good fortune that her locker at the Academy was next to mine - at the end of the alphabet - it’s also where I fell forever in love with my wife, MaryEllen.” Yankell completed his degree at the Academy, earned a Bachelors and Masters in Painting from the University of Pennsylvania, and studied in Italy, as well as at two sculpture academies. He went on to teach painting and art history at the university level, but for the last 35 years Yankell has been a professional artist. “Initially, I had a taste of being a ‘starving artist’ - when I was working 80 hours a week doing lots of commissions, showing at any exhibit that I could find, and then waiting tables at La Terrasse in Philadelphia to make ends meet. But I’m thankful to say, now, that being an artist has afforded us a strong middle-class lifestyle. I’m also grateful to live in a country and in a time when you can do this for a living, and do well. The economy and the residential building boom in the States has enabled an explosion in American art, just as it did in Italy, Holland and Spain in the Renaissance and the Baroque.” Stuart goes on, “And then we’ve done pretty well with real estate as well. We started out with a duplex near Penn, then bought a house in the Philadelphia Main Line suburbs, and have now traded those properties to buy the Borglum estate. We also own a winter home and a studio-gallery facility in North Scottsdale, Arizona.”

“Somehow, deep down, I’ve always felt like an artist.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREA CERASO

Stuart Yankell is a master in our midst.

starting with his process and technique. While Yankell continues to do more traditional work, like oil portraits on canvas and bronze sculptures of the human figure, he has embraced ground breaking progressive media and techniques as well. He paints on canvas, metal, wood and paper, and has also innovated a technique working on clear acrylic sheets and painting on both sides of the surface. His application of paint is dynamic and generous, his colors are blended, emotional, and bold, and he works with large bamboo poles attached to his brushes to employ a gestural and kinetic approach.

Yankell explains, “I start by painting the broad understructure with fluid acrylics on the back of the panel, and this layer organically rises through the clear surface as the image evolves. Then I paint the front of the painting in oil. The fusion creates a distinct luminosity and depth in my paintings.”

Yankell has also embraced technology, and has spent decades developing digital art used in his painting composition process and exhibited in its own right. Additionally, he has painted on location for months at a time in more than a dozen countries.

Yankell continues,

“The camera has made our perception too mechanical. Our natural vision has a beautiful fusion of focus and periphery, a brilliant balance of detail and abstraction.

I started as a real Classicist in my early years in school and actually thought that Modern art was an aberration. I believe that it is the role of the artist, or for anyone for that matter, to understand our roots while seeking evolution. I draw deeply from the whole history of art, up through Impressionism, 20th Century Abstraction, and the multitude of new forms available to us today.”

Everything about Yankell’s work is masterful,

“The single most important aspect of my work is to celebrate this life My themes of music and dance and dining and sports and travel are all a platform to explore this fascinating and infinite language. My paintings are about letting go and creating a transcendent function,” Yankell declares.

Yankell’s command of the history of art is evidenced in his work. He suggests, “I pay homage to the predecessors who have influenced me the most, from DaVinci, Caravaggio, and Rembrandt, to Cezanne, Turner, and Sargent, and onward through Picasso, deKooning, Fischl, and Richter.” And at the suggestion that the earthy light and energy in his paintings hints of Velasquez, Yankell says with a broad smile, “I’m thrilled that you see the Spanish influence, and flattered that you would mention Velasquez. If I had to choose one artist at the top of my list it might be the Spanish painter Joaquin Sorolla.”

Stuart Yanke 

Still, Yankell seems somehow more like a workingman’s artist than an erudite - kind of like the Bruce Springsteen of painting. …They both grew up in south Jersey; Yankell has Springsteen’s strong-featured man-in-the-mountain profile, and they’re both average-sized guys who have chest-out posture and pretty pumped physiques resulting from a long-term commitment to martial arts; And they’re both using their art to celebrate the common aspects of life. …And a best choice for the actor to play Yankell - and maybe Springsteen as well? - in a movie would be Sean Penn.

Yankell says with the right mix of pride, authenticity, and modesty. …And as for now stepping into the giant shoes - or more literally the giant artist’s studio - of Gutzon Borglum, Yankell remarks, “It’s like my Field of Dreams! The world class studio with granite walls, soaring oak beams, and huge skylights, is set amongst lovely pathways and gardens on the river. That I’ve come to be the artist-in-residence of this storied place is simply magical! It’s a deeply inspiring setting, and has become an international destination for me to showcase my work!”

Milton’s Home, Garden, and Patio have been proudly serving the Westchester and Fair eld counties for nearly two decades, established in 2004.

631-633-4900www.miltonshomegarden.com

THE FINE ART OF LANDSCAPING AND INTERIOR RENOVATIONS

“I’m grateful for the collectors who live with my work, and happy to be living my life in the rich tradition of a professional artist,”

MASONRY WORK CARPENTRY WORK LANDSCAPING & OUTDOOR LIVING RENOVATIONS

THIS SUMMER’S must haves

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PACKABLE RAFFIA BUCKET HAT FROM HAT ATTACK $159 AT DARIEN SPORT SHOP

KREWE CHARTRES SUNGLASSES $375, AVAILABLE AT DARIEN SPORT SHOP

SUMMER DRESS FROM OIPHANT, PERFECT FOR A HOT SUMMER DAY AS A DRESS OR A SKIRT, AVAILABLE AT TONEY TONI & THE GANG IN POUND RIDGE $314

HANDMADE EARRINGS FROM THE CARA COLLECTION $222

TATA HARPER RESURFACING MASK, TO KEEP THAT CONSTANT PERFECT GLOW $68

MADELINE TOTE FROM CLASSIC PREP MONOGRAM $195

SAFE, CLEAN SUNSCREEN THAT’S CERTIFIED REEF SAFE AND HAS A WONDERFUL FEEL ON THE SKIN; BASK IS $24 A BOTTLE AND IS AVAILABLE AT DUCHESS IN BEDFORD THIS

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SUMMER’S

189 BALDWIN ROAD in BEDFORD LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION …AND MUCH MORE!

This Brian Stoner stone and clapboard masterpiece includes 18th Century Pine paneling, antique mantels, custom millwork, and materials reclaimed from Rockefeller and Vanderbilt estates. This 5 bedroom, 4.5 bath, 7,500 square foot house features stately living and dining rooms, a wood-paneled library, a first-floor primary bedroom suite, a French Country kitchen, pantry and eating area, a pair of second floor bedroom suites that share a large private balcony, a 3-car attached garage, over 2,000 square feet of stone terraces and covered porches, and…the walk-out lower ‘spa’ level, which includes a billiards room, a full gym complete with sauna, a media room with fireplace, and an indoor lap pool that’s straight out of a James Bond flick!

f it’s all about ‘Location, Location, Location’, then 189 Baldwin Road is it!

There simply is no better address than these 4+ hilltop acres, located on the Bedford Riding Lanes Association’s earthen section of Baldwin Road, in the most coveted Guard Hill area in Bedford. The farmlike property sits across and amongst some of the most spectacular equestrian estates in the region, and is a most bucolic setting for this one-of-a-kind residence.

Built in 2007 - to look like an English Carriage House resting on the property for a century or more - 189 Baldwin is truly the best of all worlds and the perfect marriage of old and new!

189 Baldwin Road

is all about imagination gone wild and a dream come true! The Carriage House style is ever present, without being overwhelming. Inside is like roaming through an old manor home, but with a clean and modern feel. Arched doors, vaulted arch passageways between rooms, and wide hallways are just a few of the architectural details that serve the historical purpose. The bathrooms are noticeably all oversized and configured as they would be in a converted old barn, and all decorated in a similar days-gone-by style. And the period kitchen is a stunner! Ideal for the intimate Sunday morning coffee or entertaining a dozen or more for brunch, this kitchen turns any meal into an experience.

FANTASTIC FINISHES

…And comfort abounds! The first-floor primary bedroom suite is big and elegant, and has a large porch off the bedroom and another more private porch off the bathroom. The living areas around the house are all stately and enjoy stunning views of the property. The decks and patios all around the house offer a myriad of covered and open-air seating. …And, again…the indoor lap pool!

In Bedford’s 2023 post-covid high-end residential real estate market, there’s a scarcity of houses available for sale, good houses attract multiple bidders and are selling above ask, and more than a few of the best properties are sold in off-market transactions. …At $4,950,000, 189 Baldwin Road is the best buy in Bedford - and won’t be available for long!

189 Baldwin Road

This spectacular estate is currently for sale with Angela Kessel at Houlihan: 914.841.1919

FLORALS BY: DIANE JAMES

BREWSTER SUBARU is the Proud Recipient of THE 2023 DealerRater DEALER OF THE YEAR AWARD for Subaru in the State of New York for the 6th Year in a Row!

The program recognizes a select number of car dealerships throughout the United States and Canada for Outstanding customer satisfaction as expressed through customer’s online reviews posted on DealerRater.

ROBFRYERswift

Just a jog down the long driveway on Rob Fryer’s leafy Ponus Ridge property in New Canaan could be daunting for many…but Rob is one swift septuagenarian. At 76, he’s still logging 30 miles a week, and more when he’s training for a race. And with a steady 90-minute pace over 10 miles, he’s still taking the winner’s trophy in distance competitions for seniors. He’s been running for almost a half-century…and now, with Running For Your Life (Palmetto Publishing 2023), he’s preaching all about ‘the amazing benefits of regular exercise’. Running around New Canaan, often with a running mate, or a group of runners in tow, Rob has become the new Johnny Appleseed of get-up-and-go. He’s a modern-day missionary for exercise with a lot of the old-school earnest energy and square style of a Jack LaLanne. He’s today’s reincarnation of running guru Jim Fixx.

Running For Your Life is equal parts instruction and inspiration.

With a youthful enthusiasm, and as if he’s found the Fountain of Youth and has to tell the world about it, Rob explains “At this point the scientific evidence is clear that regular cardiovascular exercise pushes back heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and some cancers, and I wanted to put all that conclusive information together in one place. …And the studies now show that, while it’s best to start in early adulthood and run forever, it’s really never too late to start! That’s all in Chapter 3, called Running and Aging, that’s really the heart of my book. It’s all about getting your heart rate up! Walking is OK, but you need to spend about twice as much time to get the health benefits of running. Either way, as long as you don’t stop for any prolonged period, the benefits of regular exercise continue, and may even increase, as you get older. I want to spread the message that if you’re already running - don’t stop, and if you’re not - get up off your butt and get started!”

At only 142 pages of easy-to-read-sized print it’s a pretty quick read, but Rob has nevertheless gone beyond touting the benefits of running and also packed Running For Your Life with all kinds of practical info about equipment, safety, and training. It’s mostly a how-to, but it’s written with firstperson experience and expertise. And beyond Rob’s pure altruistic purpose, the reader also learns that Rob has, among other ‘milestones’, completed 120 marathons - including a finish just minutes before the fateful end of the 2013 Boston Marathon, has a dozen significant winning titles since turning 60 in running series that involve races of increasing length that take place over a period of weeks including the 2021 Norwalk Series and the 2022 Westport Series, and in the 70+ category of the now-nationally-known Pound Ridge Leatherman’s Loop!

It’s interesting to note that Rob didn’t start running until he was 27, and coincidentally that it was the same year he met his wife, Margaret, at the wedding of a mutual friend. About the relationship - with running - Rob explains, “I played cricket and rugby in school and I’ve always played tennis and been comfortable swimming long distance, but after working as a young accountant for a while I’d become too sedentary and was starting to put on a few pounds. A friend from work announced that he was going to start running, and suggested in the nicest way that maybe I should join him. Although I’d never really been a runner before then, I was quite taken by Frank Shorter, whose grace and style in taking the Gold in the Marathon at the tragedy-stained 1972 Munich Olympics only a couple of years earlier made quite an impression on me. So I committed, and my colleague and I began running 7 days a week, 2 miles a day. The first time we went for 5 miles we took a circular route as I had a worry that when we were halfway out we might not be

able to make it back. I started out doing it with the singular purpose of getting fit, and figured I could get through it by just putting one foot in front of the other. But, in no time, I began to thoroughly enjoy the activity - and the social aspects of running with other people is vastly underrated. I started feeling the ‘Runners’ High’ from getting an increased oxygen level in the bloodstream, and the feeling was and is quite addictive. I feel a kind of withdrawal if I don’t run for a few days. And, you know I still run about the same amount of time that I did twenty and thirty years ago, I just don’t go as far!

My personal best of 61 minutes for 10 miles is in the rear view mirror. Of the major marathons in the world, I’ve yet to run the Chicago, Berlin or Tokyo Marathons, and I now have the measured hope and goal to run at least one of them while I still can. It takes too long for me to train and I can get stale afterwards. Nowadays I run 4 or 5 times a week, and focus mostly on preparing for half-marathons and 10 milers. I try to stay off the roads as much as possible and do a lot of my running in Waveny and on the fabulous trails in the Ward Pound Reservation. When I’m running I work through problems and think about big and little picture things going on in my life - and then I’m off into a kind of meditative state, where I can concentrate on the running and hardly be paying attention at the same time, and when I feel particularly present and alive. I also swim a lot, I still play a lot of tennis, and we love to ski. And, although the best I’ve ever been was about a 16 and I’m currently about a 22, I play a little golf.”

Summarizing his life story,

Rob explains, “I was born in 1947 in what was then called part of the County of Kent and is now a part of the City of London. Things were tough after the War and my father, who was an accountant, moved the family to South Africa seeking opportunity there when I was just a young boy. I went to the prominent private allboys prep school called St. Stithians College, and then the University of Witwatersrand, in Johannesburg, where I earned a degree in Accounting. And, years later, because I was interested, I went back to school to earn a degree in Sociology and Psychology from the University of South Africa in Pretoria.” Rob continues, “I went to work for Deloitte as an accountant right out of school, worked my way up to being a Partner, and enjoyed a 45 year career with the firm. I started out in South Africa, but got a taste of and for the United States when I was assigned in Detroit for a couple of years in the ‘70s. Years later, in 1988, when I needed to relocate to the company’s Manhattan headquarters and the offices they were then planning in Wilton, we moved to our first house in New Canaan. …This is our fifth New Canaan residence!... Our children, Ann and Stephen, now in their forties, were both born in South Africa, both went to West School for the few years we first lived in New Canaan, both finished high school where I was next assigned in Luxembourg…and both chose to come back home for college - both at Hamilton. Over the course of my career with Deloitte, which included doing quality control checks on our offices around the world, I worked in over 60 countries and had at least a dozen different residences. We kept a residence in New Canaan through most of the ‘90s and Aughts, but we moved back to New Canaan for good in 2013, when I retired.”

RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE

…Though

Rob maintains a consulting practice focused on accounting, finance and budgeting concerns, and serves on the Board of two London Stock Exchange listed mining companies. And, locally, Rob has a lead role in ‘running’ New Canaan. He was a long-term Board Member and former Treasurer of the New Canaan Community Foundation, and he’s the immediate past-President of the Rotary Club. He also continues as a long-term Trustee and now the Vice President of the New Canaan Land Trust, and serves as a Member of the New Canaan Town Audit Committee, alongside fellow retired-Deloitte dedicated do gooders Ed Kangas, a former Global Chair and CEO of Deloitte, and Bill Parrett, another former Deloitte CEO. in the local community and even at a national or international level. I’m not on Instagram yet, I did a podcast last week, and we’re thinking about doing a TikTok video. For a hundred bucks or less you can get a good pair of running shoes, and there’s plenty of good coaching on technique and routine easily available on the internet. Maybe, somehow, my message goes, as they say today, ‘viral’,” Rob smiles. And responding to the idea that he should make a movie as a media for getting the message out, Rob jokes, “Well it would definitely have Vangelis playing the Chariots of Fire music in the background throughout the entire film, and I guess I’d take Tom Hanks playing me…or maybe Michael Caine, if he’d get in shape for the role.”

‘retired’ should certainly not be taken to mean sitting around idle!

“I’m hoping Running For Your Life will help to get the word out on all the benefits of running,

LightNight up the

THE BEDFORD OAK VOLUME IV OF VI

BY KATIE SISE SWEENEY

The following fictional story is Vol IV of VI in a fantastical mystery set in Bedford. Vol I, II, and III introduced us to twenty-seven-year-old Claire, who has just tragically lost her fiancé, James. On the night of James’ funeral, Claire goes to the end of Hook Road, and follows the instructions of an old Bedford prophecy, circling the Bedford Oak nine times in the hopes of setting free James’ spirit. But instead of James, Claire calls forth a young ghost named Beatrice who lived in Katonah in the late 1800s. Beatrice takes Claire on an adventure into the dark night. They retrieve an old locket that holds a picture of Beatrice, her best friend, Christine, and Christine’s brother, Arthur, who was the love of Beatrice’s life back in the 1890s. The photo was taken in front of an old Victorian in Katonah, when all three of them were trying to save their family home from the fate of being destroyed to make way for New York City’s new water system. Beatrice asks Claire for her help taking the locket to Katonah, where the soul of Christine is alive and well, living a new lifetime as a young woman named Chrissie who works at LMNOP bakery on Katonah Avenue. Beatrice needs Claire to warn Chrissie, because Chrissie is involved with the wrong man and about to make the same tragic mistake she made back in 1893.

Beatrice explains to Claire the concept of souls having the chance to live new lifetimes on Earth, and she confesses to Claire that she’s never been able to reconnect with her beloved Arthur’s soul, even though she’s been searching for him for over one hundred years. At the end of Installment III, Claire awakens alone in her bedroom, certain she’s just seen a shimmering silver outline of something or someone flying across the floor of her bedroom toward the window. And the locket she stashed on her nightside table has vanished.

Moonlight ltered into my bedroom, and I scanned the oak oors, my eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness. e neon numbers on my alarm clock read 2:34.

End of a journey, but the start of a lifetime…

The following is a list of the secondary schools that our graduating ninth graders and departing eighth graders will be attending in September 2023.

Berkshire School

Brunswick School

Canterbury School

Deerfeld Academy

Episcopal High School

Fox Lane High School

Greens Farms Academy

Greenwich Academy

Greenwich Country Day School

Hackley School

Hopkins School King School

Loomis Chafee School

Sacred Heart Greenwich

School of the Holy Child

Sleepy Hollow High School

Somers High School

St. Andrew’s School

St. Luke’s School

St. Paul’s School

Westminster School

I was sure I’d just seen a ghost. I ung my legs out of bed and crossed the oor, trying to pry my subconscious from the dream I’d been having about James, trying to forget how good it had felt to be in his arms, even though it wasn’t real. I needed to focus, to live in the reality that my ancé was dead and gone. I was here now, in my childhood bedroom, alone with ghosts and regrets.

I icked a switch, and buttery yellow light bathed the room. I could feel a familiar stillness in the air, just like when the ghosts used to visit me in this very room when I was a little girl. I glanced over to the glass tray upon which Beatrice’s ghostly ngers had set the golden locket hours before. It was de nitely gone.

“Claire,” said a gravelly voice from behind me.

I spun around, heart pounding. “Who’s there?” I called.

“Don’t you remember me?”

Goosebumps prickled my skin. I narrowed my eyes on Gloria, the grandmotherly ghost from my childhood who used to rearrange my doll collection.

THE BEDFORD OAK

“Gloria,” I said, breathless. “Is it really you?” I hadn’t seen her in a decade and a half, but I’d know her anywhere. She was see-through like a proper ghost, and unchanged from when I last saw her: tiny gray buns paraded across her head, and dark, serious eyes stared into mine. It was like seeing a hologram of someone from long ago.

“Of course, it’s me,” Gloria said, as if we saw each other all the time in the middle of the night. “And where have all your dolls gone, Claire?”

I looked around my room. Glossy hardcovers and paperbacks lined the shelves where my Madame Alexander dolls once perched on their white metal stands. “Oh,” I said. “Well, I’m twenty-seven now.”

“Are you really?” she asked. “My word, time really seems to warp and y now that I’m dead. But what about the dolls?”

I shrugged, and then said the wrong thing. “I suppose I outgrew them.”

Gloria gaped like I’d o ended her. “Dolls aren’t a thing to outgrow, Claire.”

I took a small step closer. After spending the night with Beatrice, being with another ghost didn’t feel that strange. But Gloria wasn’t the ghost I wanted, and I wondered if she knew it. “Gloria,” I said carefully, “there’s something I’d like to ask you. Just last week, my ancé, James, was killed in an attack outside a bar in New York City…” My voice caught. I’d never had to say it so plainly before; everyone at the funeral had already known. I cleared my throat and tried to get back on track. “I’m wondering if you’ve possibly seen him up there where you and the other ghosts travel, wandering around, maybe. He would have just arrived last week.”

Gloria’s mouth made a little O. “Claire, I’m so sorry.”

“Me too. You have no idea how sorry I am. It’s my fault, really…I…”

Gloria’s dark eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

I opened my mouth to try to explain, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not tonight. When I said nothing, she let it go, waving a luminescent hand through the air. “I haven’t seen your love, the poor dear,” she said.

When I was a child, Gloria was always so busy inside my room, tidying it or arranging the dolls in alphabetical order by the names I’d given them. She seemed to be paying plenty of attention to my things and me, but she never said much. So many of the ghosts were enigmatic in that way. Maybe it was because I was a child, and they worried I wouldn’t understand. But now that Gloria was talking with me, I caught an Irish brogue on her words.

“But I’ll look for your James, won’t I?” she purred, tapping a bony foot against the oor. A soft knocking sound lled the air between us, and I thought of my parents—lying in bed beside each other only a few doors down the hall from my bedroom—and I worried they might hear us. I thought of them weathering the death of James together, and I wondered if I’d ever have what they did, true love that could withstand the test of time. I thought I’d found that with James, and now he was gone.

THE BEDFORD OAK

“Why are you here, Gloria?” I asked carefully. “Why now, after all these years?”

“Hmm,” Gloria said. “Well, last night when you started up this madness with your new ghost Beatrice, I realized I’d better keep an eye on you. You had quite an adventure, from what I saw.”

“You were watching us?”

It startled me, it really did, but the more I thought about it, I realized I should have already assumed that Beatrice and I would have been a newsworthy item to the other ghosts.

“I was,” Gloria said, a note of pride and protection in her voice. “Many of us were watching you.”

“Why couldn’t I see you?”

Gloria glanced around my room, her eyes settling on a stack of magazines on my bedside table. She shrugged. “Same as all those years ago, I suppose you’d become bored with me, ready to grow up and out of seeing.”

“I don’t remember feeling that way,” I said. “I just remember suddenly, in middle school, you and the rest of the ghosts stopped visiting.”

Gloria met my gaze. “Sometimes it’s time for us to move on, or time for you to move on. And we can make ourselves visible to you in some instances, like I’m doing now, because you and I already have a connection from when you were a small child. I can’t do this with everyone, I don’t have that kind of magic.” She let go of a raspy breath. “You should be careful with Beatrice, Claire,” she said. “She’s a powerful ghost, that one.”

My ears pricked up at this. Maybe that’s exactly what I needed to nd James: a powerful ghost.

“ ank you, Gloria,” I said. And then, more gently, I added, “But I’m going to need the locket back. Did you take it?”

Gloria considered me. “Suit yourself. I can’t stop you, that’s for sure. You’ve always been a stubborn little thing.” She said it with love, not malice. And then she wordlessly moved aside one of the books on the shelf, revealing the shiny gold locket. She grasped it in her tiny ngers and set it gently onto my palm.

“Just be careful, Claire,” she said. “Promise me.”

“I promise,” I said, suddenly struck with a wish that she’d stay a little longer with me. But she didn’t. Gloria ickered and faded into nothingness, and I was alone.

Hours later I stood outside LMNOP Bakery and waited for Beatrice. e orange haze of early morning winter sunlight ltered through downtown Katonah, and the Metro-North train whistled as it rattled into the station. I was freezing, even in my wool coat and gloves, and I couldn’t see Beatrice anywhere. My eyes traveled past a quaint home store, a barber shop, and a dog groomer. Empty ower boxes waiting for spring, but the town held its charm even in the dead of winter. I scanned the sidewalks, searching for a tiny ghost among Katonah visitors and shoppers lining the sidewalks. A woman in a khaki trench hurried across the street to catch a train; a teenager

THE BEDFORD OAK

held the hand of a small, strawberry-blond child. ere was a man carrying a tray of co ees and two college-aged kids laughing over something on one of their phones, and then nally: Beatrice. I couldn’t help but smile when I saw her translucent gure navigating the streets of present-day Katonah in her old-fashioned night dress, a ghost among esh and bone Katonah residents. She was unseen by everyone except me, but just as much a part of this town and its history as they were.

Beatrice stared at her slender feet navigating the sidewalk as if she needed to carefully watch her step. When she nally arrived at the bakery, she locked eyes with me. “Are you ready, Claire?” she asked, no greeting, all business.

Together, we looked up at the wrought iron sign perched above the door, and then I glanced back down at the vacant wooden bench outside the bakery, imagining customers lining the outdoor seating as soon as the weather warmed. James had loved bakeries and co ee shops like this one; in the city we always brought books and newspapers to our neighborhood café. James was old-school in that way, always reading a paper version of anything he could when he had the choice. Tears burned my eyes when I thought of his ngertips stained with ink.

“I’m ready,” I said, tracing the hard outline of the golden locket in my pocket.

In one quick motion Beatrice shoved open the door to the bakery.

“Wait, let me,” I hissed, frantically getting a hand on the glass so that no one would see the door moving by itself. I didn’t want anything looking paranormal to onlookers, but Beatrice didn’t seem very concerned. She marched inside with her head held high, her wild white-blonde hair trailing behind her like tentacles.

I took a breath and followed. Honeycomb tiles blurred beneath my feet as we crossed the café. A menu unfurled on a vertical scroll trailing the wall next to the counter, and warm oak and stainless steel mixed to give the bakery a feel so beautiful and special that I couldn’t help but be consumed by it, even under the circumstances. ere had been moments like this since James’ death when time seemed to still, and when I interpreted what I saw in relation to how I knew James would have seen it, and what he would have felt or remarked upon.

“ at’s him, that customer,” Beatrice said. She pointed to a tall, raven-haired man scrolling an iPad on a marble-top table in the corner by the window. “ at’s Christine’s boyfriend, to use your word.” e man wore a dark red scarf, and his large frame hunched over the iPad, his eyes absorbed by whatever was on its screen. “He’s dangerous, Claire. And we must stop Christine from dating him, or tragedy will ensue.”

I steeled myself. No matter how nervous I was, this was the last part of what I’d promised Beatrice. If I did my part, she had to do what she swore she would: she had to help me nd James. And if what Beatrice said was true, if tragedy was about to ensue, then why wouldn’t I want to help someone avoid a fate like the one that had befallen James and me?

Beatrice spied a young woman behind the counter. “And that’s her,” she whispered. “New Christine. Chrissie, I guess we should call her.” Beatrice stared hard at the woman, taking her in. “My goodness,” she said, “every time I see her, she reminds me more and more of old Christine. You see those timid, bird-like movements she makes? Classic Christine, always moving, always helping someone.”

THE BEDFORD OAK

New Christine—Chrissie—was somewhere in her late twenties with long blonde hair and light blue eyes the color of pool water, a ush high on her cheeks. She cranked the dial for espresso and held a silver tin of milk beneath the frothier, and then carefully adjusted a plastic top onto the steamy cup of co ee she’d made. She smiled and said something softly to one of her customers as she passed the co ee over the counter. She collected cash and gathered change from the register, her movements delicate and dancer-like.

“Get on the line,” Beatrice said, shoving me forward. I did as I was told, folding obediently into the line of customers. What other choice did I have?

A teenager wearing a John Jay High School Tennis sweatshirt paid in cash, and then it was my turn. “Hi,” Chrissie said to me with a small smile, and I could see something sad in her light eyes. I was so much more attuned to sadness ever since James had died, as though my grief could recognize itself in others. “May I help you?” Chrissie asked.

“Yes, you can,” I said, my voice trembling. My hands shook as I retrieved the locket and put it on the counter between us. “You’re Chrissie, right?”

She nodded, her lashes uttering as she tried to place me. I could feel Beatrice beside me, arched forward with anticipation.

“ is is going to sound crazy,” I said, “but I met someone who knows you very well. She wanted you to have this locket, and she also wanted me to give you a message.” I hushed my voice to say the rest of it. “She wanted me to tell you that that man right there in the corner—your, um, boyfriend—that he’s dangerous and very, very wrong for you.”

Chrissie glanced furtively around her like she needed help, and she barely looked at the locket. Trying to get her attention, I pried open the locket. “Here, look,” I said, not sure what I was hoping for. Did Beatrice seriously expect Chrissie to recognize herself from a past lifetime? Was I supposed to try to explain to her that she was once a woman called Christine living in Katonah in 1893? If I pulled something like that, she’d probably have me escorted out of the café.

Beatrice held very still beside me, watching Chrissie as she glanced over the photo. For an insane moment I thought Chrissie recognized the three people pictured, but then she pushed the locket back to me. “It’s very beautiful,” she said, “but this doesn’t belong to me. I don’t recognize these people. You must be mistaking me for someone else.”

“Perhaps if you spend some time with the photo later,” I said, “when you’re done working…”

“Can I make you a co ee?” Chrissie asked. She glanced over to her boyfriend still locked on his iPad. Her face was drawn, like she was nervous.

“Try harder, Claire,” Beatrice commanded. But I didn’t know what to do, or how to keep Chrissie talking. I almost wished Beatrice could just make herself visible to Chrissie. at would get her attention. “Tell Chrissie you know what he did with the documents.”

I whirled around to face Beatrice. Hadn’t we gone far enough?

Desperately, I turned back to Chrissie. “ e documents,” I started, trying to hold her glance.

“I know what your boyfriend did with the documents.” I felt ridiculous. What was Beatrice even talking about?

Chrissie’s light eyes widened, and she looked afraid, but I couldn’t tell if she was scared of me, or scared of her boyfriend overhearing us.

“ is man isn’t the right one for you,” I said. “He’s maybe even bad. And something terrible is going to happen if you stay with him.”

“Excuse me?” asked a customer behind me. “Do you have gluten-free mu ns?”

“Just keep the locket,” I begged Chrissie. “At least do that for me.”

With careful hands, and never breaking eye contact with me, Chrissie scooped up the locket and placed it in the pocket of her jeans. I was about to back away from the counter when a man emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron and holding a clipboard, talking with another employee. It was George, one of James’ friends. He’d been at the bar with us on the night James died; he was the one who walked James outside, and they’d parted ways right before James was attacked. George was the last person to see him alive.

“George,” I blurted, startled by the sight of him. I had no idea he worked here—I didn’t know him as well as some of James’ other friends. I only I knew that George was an artist and lived somewhere north of New York City, and that he’d been dating one of James’ closest friends from college. I raised my hand in a small wave, and then I heard Beatrice behind me. “Oh my god, Claire,” she said with a gasp. “I cannot believe my eyes.”

I turned to her. I could feel George coming closer to us, and I didn’t want him to see me talking to Beatrice, because he couldn’t see her, and to him it would look like I was talking to myself.

“What is it, Beatrice?” I asked through a tight jaw, like a ventriloquist.

Beatrice was staring hard at George. She started to shake, and then her legs seemed to melt beneath her. All at once her ghostly form began splintering and disintegrating into sparks and fragments, and when her legs gave out, she reached out a hand as if I were the only one who could help her. I dove to catch her, not caring who was watching me. “Beatrice!” I cried. Beatrice’s glowing eyes were on George, who was frozen now, staring as I cradled a ghost he couldn’t see. Beatrice pointed a bony nger in his direction. “ at man, your friend George, is my Arthur,” she said. “I’d recognize him anywhere.”

And then she passed out cold, and I was left holding the shivering, invisible body of a ghost. I stared up from the cold tiled oor to meet George’s dark, curious eyes.

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