love & forgiveness
harvard or bust ?
Patricia Chadwick on her journey out of a religious cult
How to stay sane during the college admissions process
2019 sheri west
giovanna miller
reed exhibitions, yancy weinrich, c o o
a. rey nolds gord on
tracy m c hale stuart
catalina horak
pam lewis michael parker
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GREENWICH
contents NOVEMBER 2019 vol. 72 | issue 11
features
departments
74
20 EDITOR’S LETTER 22 FROM THE FOUNDERS Of Providence and Politicos
TOGETHER WE RISE
It’s time for some good news in the world. And we’ve got it. For the twelfth year, we celebrate the unsung heroes among us who are affecting change in all corners of our world.
27 STATUS REPORT BUZZ This Place Matters!, Greenwich Historical Society
SHOP Get ready to dazzle everyone on your holiday gift list. GO Infiniti’s new QX50 HOME Decorating with rich, vibrant gem hues DO What’s the point? The advantages of acupuncture EAT Little Beet Table
by ji l l joh n s on
THE GET-A-GRIP GUIDE TO COLLEGE PREP
50 G-MOM
27
Making philanthropy a family affair
54 FINANCE FIX When it comes to asset allocation, it may be time to think beyond stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
Although the Varsity Blues scandal dominated headlines, was it really anything new? We take a look inside the college admissions process but perhaps more important, offer advice on how to stay above the fray.
57 PEOPLE & PLACES Bruce Museum, Art of Design; Greenwich Education Group; Breast Cancer Alliance Golf Outing; CT Against Gun Violence luncheon; Fairfield County’s Community Foundation Giving Day; Family Centers, Center for HOPE luncheon; Parsonage Cottage, Junior Advisory Board event
by rian n sm i th
96
THE TIES THAT BIND
71 VOWS Desrosier–Zhou; Raspé–Gray
Born into a religious cult, Patricia Chadwick knew little of the outside world for eighteen years. Here, she details a life characterized by control and abuse but remarkably also love and forgiveness.
105 CALENDAR 119 INDEX OF ADVERTISERS 120 POSTSCRIPT
by t i mot h y d umas
The long and winding road
on the c over: our 2019 light a fire honorees
/ photo gr aphy by m el a ni lust
GREENWICH MAGAZINE NOVEMBER 2019, VOL. 72, NO. 11. GREENWICH MAGAZINE (USPS 961-500/ISSN 1072-2432) is published monthly by Moffly Media, Inc., 205 Main St, Westport, CT 06880. Periodical postage paid at Westport, CT, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes (Form 3579) to GREENWICH MAGAZINE PO BOX 9309, Big Sandy, TX 75755-9607. greenwichmag.com
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GREENWICHMAG.com CELEBRATING THE SCENE STEALERS OF OUR TOWN
WHAT’S ON OUR EDITORIAL DECK?
WE’VE GOT PLENTY OF GREAT THINGS IN STORE!
DECEMBER Let the Festivities Begin How to celebrate the holidays with flair and style!
OUT & ABOUT
JANUARY All About You Health is a state of mind and body. We talk fitness, beauty and off-the-grid getaways to help you be the best you in 2020.
FEBRUARY Power Play This issue celebrates power in a variety of forms. Meet your neighbors who are leading the way in politics, entertainment, sports and more.
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EVENT PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOFFLY MEDIA’S BIG PICTURE /BOB CAPAZZO; INSET 1 & 2: THOMAS MCGOVERN; INSET3: JULIE BIDWELL
Visit our galleries for all the fun
CAPTURING THE PEOPLE, PLACES AND MOMENTS THAT MAKE GREENWICH EVENTS SO SPECIAL. JOIN OUR ONLINE COMMUNITY TO SEE WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND TOWN.
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This level property is laced with mature trees, stone walls, and an oversized flagstone patio. The 5-bedroom home, with four upstairs and a guest suite on the first floor, has the perfect layout. There is also a lower-level playroom. $1,950,000 | MLS# 106214 | The Magyar Team | 203.869.9263
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STUNNING SHINGLE STYLE | GREENWICH
Spacious 4-bedroom townhome on 2.5 landscaped acres of green space, close to town. Features include architectural detailing, an impressive foyer, gourmet, eat-in kitchen, master suite with fireplace, elevator, and 2-car garage. $1,950,000 | MLS# 105022 | Margriet McGowan | 203.869.9263
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Riverside • Direct waterfront. Simply sensational views to Long Island, NYC skyline and sunsets. Pool. Gideon Fountain • WEB# GM1579512 • $24,950,000
Greenwich • Fabulous brand new six-bedroom Colonial by renowned architect Alex Kaali-Nagy. Kristy de la Sierra • WEB# GM1534144 • $5,999,000
Greenwich • Elegant estate set on .71 acres overlooking the water with 100 foot dock along 155 feet of shoreline. WEB# GM1561738 • Julie Church • $5,450,000
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New Canaan • Iconic 4 acre Stanford White country estate on highest elevation in town. Ellen Mosher • $9,750,000 www. StanfordWhiteNewCanaanClassic.com
Old Greenwich • Sensational, updated five-bedroom waterfront home graces a .53 acre with 80’ dock. Kristy de la Sierra • WEB# GM1578957 • $5,995,000
Greenwich • Complete seclusion close to town & schools, updated five bedroom English country house sits on 1.76 acres. Blake Delany • WEB# GM1581006 • $4,350,000
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Greenwich • Notable home with tennis court, dock, boathouse, pool & carriage house. Ellen Mosher • $7,950,000 www.GreenwichWaterfrontCompound.com
Greenwich • Alex Kaali-Nagy designed Manor on two acres with pool in gated community. $5,495,000 Ellen Mosher • www.OldRoundHill.com
Greenwich • Quiet five-bedroom Colonial at corner of two cul-de-sacs near town, schools. Joanne Mancuso • WEB# GM1581028 • $3,295,000
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Your best life begins with a home that inspires you.
Old Field Farm | Offered at $19,995,000 Amid the pastoral beauty of Greenwich’s great estates, ‘’old field farm’’ is an equestrian estate without peer. Encompassing 18.39 carefully groomed acres, it hosts a classical villa on lush grounds, superior horse facilities with twin barns and a stick and ball field. The property offers a rare combination of seclusion, convenience, timeless elegance, and modern amenities. The residence’s relaxed warmth and elegant floor plan provides privacy for family, guests and staff. Ideal for gracious everyday living and grand-scale entertaining. French doors along the south facade open to terraces, loggias, gardens, swimming pool and tennis court. 160JOHNSTREET.COM Joseph Barbieri | (203) 940-2025 Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered (or unregistered) service marks used with permission. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc.
The most advanced care. Yale Medicine neurologists. Greenwich Hospital touch. Today’s most personalized neurologic care is available right here at Greenwich Hospital. Our team includes Yale Medicine neurologists, neurosurgeons and skilled specialists who use advanced diagnostics to identify and treat specific conditions including stroke, spine disorders, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease. Innovative technologies and techniques mean more customized and effective treatment plans. It’s one of the advantages of being part of one of the country’s best health systems — Yale New Haven Health. Even as our medical capabilities advance, we stay committed to our roots as a caring, compassionate hospital with a singular focus — getting you back to the life you love. Find the right specialist for you: 877-YALE-MDS greenwichhospital.org
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Exceptional value beyond all others. A lifestyle of memories, enjoyment and pleasure. The ultimate in living. Impressive interior with luxurious public rooms. High ceilings, many coffered, detailed millwork, and beautiful hardwood floors. Light and bright chef’s kitchen with breakfast room. Spectacular master suite. The garden level has an exercise room, media room, playroom, and more! Sparkling pool, lush park-like land for entertaining. Quiet cul-de-sac, private but close to all. Courtyard and terraces.
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G R E E N W I C H 2 0 3 . 8 6 9 . 9 2 6 3 • O L D G R E E N W I C H 2 0 3 . 6 3 7. 4 3 2 4
editor’s letter
NOVEMBER 2019 / CRISTIN MARANDINO
WHEN GOOD TRIUMPHS H
greenwichmag.com
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We’re committed to telling these stories because hearing them makes us stronger, makes us want to do better. Hearing them strengthens our collective resolve that, together, we do indeed rise. As we enter this season of giving, please take a moment to sit back in a quiet place and read about these people who so generously give of themselves (page 74). We hope they inspire you, encourage you and comfort you. Can the world be a scary place? It sure can. We just need to part the darkness and let the light in. Please join us to meet our Light a Fire honorees in person at our Celebration of Giving on Thursday, December 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Westport Country Playhouse. Actor James Naughton will once again emcee the evening. Go to lightafireawards.com for tickets. WILLIAM TAUFIC
ow often do you read the headlines, watch the evening news or scroll through your news feed and wonder: Is there anything good going on in the world? Between vicious political battles, billionaire pedophiles, mass shootings, fears of a looming economic crisis and so on, it’s easy to throw up our proverbial hands and go about our lives just hoping for the best. But the thing of it is, there is plenty of good happening and plenty of good people making it happen. That’s the very foundation of our annual Light a Fire awards. This issue marks our twelfth year of honoring the compassionate work of people who help the disenfranchised and empower the seemingly powerless. Among this year’s group are those who fund the college educations of promising young minds, support our active and veteran military, passionately advocate for mental health, and so much more. The areas in which they dedicate their time, skills and money may be varied, but the goal for each is the same—to improve the human condition. A lofty goal to be sure.
41 West e lm s t r eet G r een W ich , ct
tel . 203.622.7000
W W W.Va n der h or n a rchi t ec ts . com
founder’s letter
NOVEMBER 2019 / DONNA MOFFLY
“Don’t worry about it,” Jack told me in the bar where I had headed for another drink. “Every senator needs someone like you.”
t’s November, the month of political triumph or defeat preceded by weeks of bulging mailboxes, email overload and annoying robocalls. Blessedly, Election Day comes early in the month, and the tumult and shouting have died before the family gathers for Thanksgiving. During my lifetime, providence has put me in the path of some memorable politicians. Well, the first one I didn’t actually meet, and he was just a general then. It was Eisenhower in 1943 on a War Bond Drive in Cleveland, waving to the crowds on Euclid Avenue from the back of my father’s yellow Cadillac convertible while my brothers and I threw confetti out the window of the Statler Hotel. (The car was a 1942 model, one of only 500 produced before General Motors had to start making tanks instead.) But before long Ike would become a politician and our thirty-fourth president. After that, I met a few major players up close and personal. One was President George H. W. Bush at the White House in 1989. Through Greenwich friend Joseph Verner Reed, his chief of protocol, I was invited to coffee in the Blue Room after the state dinner for the president of Italy. I felt very smug not having to wear a press pass like Connie Chung did greenwichmag.com
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and got a big laugh out of the Bushes when I offered: “You know, Mr. President, the last time I saw you, I was on stage and you were in the audience!” Then I reminded him of the evening in the seventies when, as ambassador to the United Nations, he attended a Grace Notes concert at the Old Greenwich Civic Center on U.N. Day. In his honor, we sang “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” and Libby Flinn went down into the audience and sat on his lap. Jack and I chatted with President Bush again at the Round Hill Club after his brother Prescott’s memorial service; and, lamenting Rob Simmons’ loss to Linda McMahon in the Republican primary for the Senate, he remarked: “Rob got out-wrestled.” Then there was the impromptu invitation from our neighbors Polly and Hugo Koehler to come for a drink after tennis to meet Hugo’s brother who was in town. “Very informal. Bring the kids.” So still in our whites, we went over to their house and were introduced to a gentleman whose first name I heard as “Clayton.” Clayton Koehler, I assumed. And making polite conversation, I asked him what he did. “Nothing,” he answered and turned away. Oops. Later in the kitchen, Polly apologized for my confusion. He was Hugo’s
VENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY, GREENWICH, CT
OF PROVIDENCE AND POLITICOS I
founder’s letter
2006—Jack (in bow tie) and me at Greenwich Country Club with State Senator Bill Nickerson, CT Attorney General Dick Blumenthal and Congressman Chris Shays when Greenwich Rotary honored us with its Citizens of the Year Award
telling me about it in the elevator, when the only other occupant, an attractive young lady of the press, interjected: “Oh, ya. He’s known for that. We call him ‘Tommy Touch-Tone.’” Then there was the first time I met Chris Murphy. It was at Maggie and Adrian Selby’s house in Old Greenwich in 2012 when he was running for the U.S. Senate. I asked him if he was pro-choice, because it wasn’t mentioned on his website. He said, absolutely. So I offered more motherly advice: He’d better get it up there fast, if he wanted to go home that night. His wife Cathy Holahan was on the board of NARAL Connecticut! While filling us in about his background, Chris allowed that his parents were very conservative Republicans, so by way of rebellion when he got to Williams College, he didn’t drink a lot, do drugs or chase women; “I just became a Democrat!” I could see why this thirty-nine-year-old would become the greenwichmag.com
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youngest senator in the 113th Congress. Chris Murphy would become one of my favorite politicos, along with another Chris— the Honorable Christopher Shays. When teenaged-daughter Audrey and I visited Washington, he personally took us to the Senate and pointed out various notables, then seated us in the House gallery so we could watch him cast a vote. I still have the picture of the three of us on the steps of the Capitol. Also a picture of Chris at the helm of Purple Tiger when we took the Shayses for a sail during his final run for Congress. Blue skies. Blue water. Sunshine. No cell phone (except the one in Betsi’s pocket in case their daughter called). Totally relaxed. It’s a rough business—politics. Not for the faint of heart. And money can’t buy experience or integrity. We can only hope that Americans are smart enough this time to vote in the most capable candidates. G
KATHY DIGIOVANNA
half brother. Claiborne was actually his first name and Pell his last, since their mother had been married twice. He was the selfsame senator from Rhode Island pictured on the cover of TIME magazine at that very moment. “Oh, don’t worry about it,” Jack told me in the bar where I had headed for another drink. “Every senator needs someone like you.” Apparently, I felt that Michael Fedele, Jodi Rell’s lieutenant governor, needed me, too, when he ran for governor of Connecticut in the 2010 Republican primary. Thanks to Natalie and Malcolm Pray, Jack and I were seated at the head table with him at an Eagle Scout dinner, and I asked him if I could give him some motherly advice. He agreed, and I pointed out that he had overused the word “clearly” in a radio broadcast. Driving along, I’d counted something like eighteen clearly-s in one speech, probably when he was accepting the Connecticut Republicans Prescott Bush Award at their annual dinner. “When you say clearly this is whatever,” I told him, “you make listeners feel that if they don’t agree with you, they’re idiots.” He listened politely, and believe it or not, the next I heard him on the radio, he’d almost abandoned the word completely. Fedele lost the primary anyway—to Tom Foley who in turn lost to Dan Malloy. But clearly I’d tried. During the 2004 Republican National Convention at Madison Square Garden, Jack and I attended a Republican Majority for Choice event at the top of the Met-Life building. It drew top guns like Bill Weld, former governor of Massachusetts, who spoke eloquently about women’s rights; and Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector who kept trying to get into the picture our photographer was taking of Greenwich people like Jennifer Stockman and Susan Bevan. Finally, when I left Jack standing by the receptionist’s desk while I went to retrieve my coat, he watched a new arrival make an obvious pass at her. It was Tommy Thompson, “W’s” anti-choice secretary of health, who had stopped by for some reason. Jack was
FINDING A PRIMARY CARE DOCTOR IS EASIER THAN EVER. Stamford Health Medical Group believes primary care is important for keeping you and your loved ones healthy. With more than 130 primary care physicians and specialists across Fairfield County, we make it easy for you to find a doctor close to home. We offer flexible hours that fit your schedule, and we accept most health insurance plans. To make an appointment, visit StamfordHealth.org/PrimaryCare or call 888.898.4876.
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buzz STATUS REPORT
1st PLACE DANA C HA R ET TE Children’s Service, First Presbyterian Church Greenwich
PICTURE THIS
CAPTURING SPECIAL SPOTS IN TOWN
F
or the past three years, the Greenwich Historical Society has invited residents to enter its This Place Matters! photo contest. The organization, which proudly preserves our town’s history for future generations, asked shutterbugs of all ages to snap photos of special places that make Greenwich unique. greenwich magazine Art Director Venera Alexandrova announced the winners at a Founder’s Day reception held at the Innis Arden Cottage. The contest was created as a part of an initiative to encourage preservation. Entries are on display at the Historical Society’s campus at 47 Strickland Road, Cos Cob.
2nd PLACE JAY WILSON
Leave You Cryin’
3rd PLACE
BAR BAR A HEINS
Greenwich Point Barn in Snow
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shop by megan gagnon
Holiday Gift Guide Holiday Gift Guide Give the gift of color (and okay, black and white) with festive finds in seasonal shades
WEST ELM Kraft + glitter silver leaf wreath; $54. Westport; westelm.com
ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
HOLIDAY HUES
Promise lives in...
the listeners The ones who really listen. Ear to the ground, full attention, no distractions, tuned in... listeners. They understand what’s really important. At Nuvance Health, listening is what makes us different. We go beyond hearing what’s the matter, and actually hear what matters to you. We’re helping you feel heard the first time. All the time. Every time. Because when you speak, and we listen… the promise of understanding lives in all of us.
nuvancehealth.org
© Nuvance Health
shop / Holiday Gift Guide
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J.CREW Lodge moccasins in metallic gold; $59.50. Greenwich, New Canaan, Westport; jcrew.com
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CHARLOTTE TILBURY Magic Star highlighter; $45. Sephora, Greenwich; charlottetilbury.com
3 JOIE
Nadeen top; $298. Greenwich, Westport; joie.com
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RICHARD JAMES
24K MAGIC
Classic gold slinky; $150. The Glass House Design Store, New Canaan; theglasshouse.org
Baby, it’s gold outside
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JOHN M. KOSTICK Foldable star sculptures; $245 for set of three. Design Within Reach, Stamford, Westport; dwr.com
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CIRE TRUDON
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Hupo candle; $125. Grayson De Vere, Greenwich; graysondevere.com
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MASTOLONI
Pedal to the (richest) metal
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MARTONE CYCLING CO. Limited Edition Grand Step Thru bike; $1,700. martonecycling.com
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RALPH LAUREN HOME Garrett mixing glass; $195. ralphlauren.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
Pearl spring gold cuff bracelet; $2,940. Henry C. Reid, Fairfield; hcreidjewelers.com
GILTY PLEASURE
TAMAR LURIE GROUP
96DoublingRoad.com
Tamar Lurie . Jen Danzi (203) 836.3332
$5,650,000 Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor agents and are not employees of the Company. The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal . verification. Š2019 Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker, the Coldwell Banker logo, Coldwell Banker Global Luxury and the Coldwell Banker Global Luxury logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.
shop / Holiday Gift Guide
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FACE TIME
It’s French, so it must be good
DIPTYQUE Giant Ambre candle; $350. diptyqueparis.com
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MILÈO NEW YORK Elixir Oud collagen creating facial oil; $295. mileonewyork.com
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VINCE Double breasted long coat; $1,200. Greenwich, Westport; vince.com
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SHREVE, CRUMP & LOW 10.24 C Ruby three stone ring in platinum; price upon request. Greenwich; shrevecrumpandlow.com
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GIORGIO ARMANI Lip Maestro & Rouge D’Armani Matte set; $38. Lord & Taylor, Stamford; lordandtaylor.com
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CHERRY CHRISTMAS Sweet picks in the season’s hottest shade
CANADA GOOSE
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Macmillan parka; $895. Saks Fifth Avenue, Greenwich; saks.com
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HERMÈS 100% Calfskin leather bracelet in fuchsia and silver; $560. Greenwich; hermes.com
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Cubebot ® robot puzzle by David Weeks; $20 Christ Church Books & Gifts, Greenwich; areaware.com
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TORY BURCH Heart statement earrings; $228. Greenwich; toryburch.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
AREAWARE
AMY AIDINIS HIRSCH INTERIOR DESIGN
amyhirsch.com
n
203 661 1266
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SILVER BELLES
TALBOTS Metallic short puffer in silver; $169. Stamford, Westport; talbots.com
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OLIVER THOMAS Wingwoman tote in silver metallic dot; $125. Kirby and Company, Darien; kirbyandcompany.com
Shine brighter than all the holiday lights
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BETTERIDGE Seven diamond chain drop earrings; $3,900. Greenwich; betteridge.com
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JUDITH LEIBER COUTURE Silver crystal heart minaudière; $2,995. Richards, Greenwich; mitchellstores.com
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SAINT LAURENT Small Lou Lou crystal messenger bag; $9,500. saks.com
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Deck your halls with this crisp pine scent
VERONICA BEARD Nila dress; $750. veronicabeard.com
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GROWN ALCHEMIST Hand care kit; $100. grownalchemist.com
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18 K White gold and gray diamond ring; price upon request. mitchellstores.com
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MER-SEA & CO.
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Sea Pines ornament candle; $28. Beehive, Fairfield; thebeehivefairfield.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
SYLVA & CIE
Who Will Paint Your Portrait?
Representing the nation’s most distinguished portrait artists and sculptors available for commission. Portraits, Inc. offers a number of benefits and services at no cost to you and manages all aspects of the portrait commission. “For those looking to have a portrait done, the most central resource is Portraits, Inc.” - The Wall Street Journal
By Appointment
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theobrit@aol.com @JeanieduPont
W W W. P O R T R A I T S I N C . C O M
shop /Holiday Gift Guide TWINKLE TWINKLE
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The stars of any holiday ensemble
JONATHAN ADLER Ornaments; $24 each. Bloomingdales, The SoNo Collection; bloomingdales.com
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ASHA Paris chandelier earrings; $295. Greenwich; ashabyadm.com
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JUNIPER BOOKS
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Curated by color books by the foot; $150. juniperbooks.com
ILLY
Y3.2 Espresso and coffee machine; $149. Illy.com
LET IT SNOW
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EBERJEY
All is calm, all is white
Alpine Chic, the Aspen robe; $189. Darien Sport Shop, dariensport.com
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BACCARAT Mille Nuits Flutissimo; $520 for set of two. Greenwich; baccarat.com
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PUSH PRESENT
HUNTER
Because every doll needs a proper pram
Women’s refined slim fit tall rain boots; $165. hunterboots.com
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OLLI ELLA Strolley in white; $135. Wee Mondine, Darien; weemondine.com
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WATERWORKS Arno pedestal bowl; $131.25. Greenwich; waterworks.com greenwichmag.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
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QUIMBY LANE FARM | GREENWICH For the buyer with vision, class and who wants only the very best, this impressive 2019 equestrian estate in Conyers Farm offers luxury, privacy and a great lifestyle. $7,250,000 | MLS# 101111 | Janet Milligan Associates | 203.253.1770
STONE HOLLOW FARM | GREENWICH This 6.35-acre estate on a private association cul-de-sac along the Greenwich Riding Trail, is an equestrian’s dream. Includes stalls, paddocks and riding arena. $3,995,000 | MLS# 104473 | Janet Milligan Associates | 203.253.1770
Recognized as the
The #1 Family-Owned Real Estate Company in the Northeast
130 Offices Over 4,000 Sales Associates
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Over $11 Billion Residential Sales 9 States - CT, FL, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT
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STUART WEITZMAN
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Jessie boot; $750. Greenwich; stuartweitzman.com
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ANTHROPOLOGIE Farmstead round cheese board; $30. anthropologie.com
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SELF-PORTRAIT Lace trim cable knit sweater; $360. Nordstrom, The SoNo Collection; nordstrom.com
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PERFECT TIME
All I want for Christmas is you
HENRY’S Notebook; $35. Greenwich; henrysleather.com
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HAT ATTACK Glam Black XL Felt Hat; $120. The Perfect Provenance, Greenwich; theperfect provenance.com
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HERMÈS
BLACK LIST
Cape Cod watch; $15,400. Manfredi Jewels, Greenwich, New Canaan; manfredijewels.com
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Being naughty never looked so good
PYRO PET Dreki candle; $35. Eleish Van Breems Home, Westport; evbantiques.com
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SKYLINE CHESS
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Premium metal New York edition; $483. skylinechess.com
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ASSOULINE Chanel: The Impossible Collection; $895. assouline.com G greenwichmag.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
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WORLD LEADER IN ORTHOPEDICS. LOCAL ADDRESS. HSS Orthopedics and Stamford Health have teamed up in Connecticut. The same expertise that earned HSS U.S. News & World Report’s
New patients welcome.
#1 ranking for orthopedics in the nation can be found locally
To learn more or make an appointment with an HSS
through its unique collaboration with Stamford Health. As a U.S.
specialist, please call 877-589-8545 or visit
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HSS.edu/StamfordHealth
Stamford Health attracts world-leading specialists, including HSS for orthopedics. HSS Orthopedic specialists see patients at HSS Stamford at Chelsea Piers. If surgery is necessary, the HSS surgeons operate at the award-winning Stamford Hospital and Stamford Health Tully Health Center. We’re here for you because how you move is who you are, how you are and how you live. Most major insurance plans accepted.
HSS Stamford 1 Blachley Rd Stamford, CT 06902
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by chris hodenfield
THE SWEET SPOT TAKING MEASURE OF INFINITI’S NEW QX50
the snowdrifts. Price for a wellequipped version undercuts much of the European competition. The revolutionary engine, being a “variable compression” turbo, provides a pleasant thrust. All I noticed was that it had pep enough for frisky moves on the Fairfield County back roads and returned acceptable fuel mileage. Vehicle dashboards these days go all over the place, and any serious shopper needs to spend time working the controls of the QX50 to see if it fits their sensibilities. Adapting to the Infiniti’s dash came quickly for
The exterior lines are also refreshingly modern without any silly grills. This vehicle looks like it’s going somewhere. And it will likely hold its looks for a long time. Infiniti also sells a more compact model, the spritely QX30, and bigger, beefier brothers, the QX60 and QX80. But our tester had plenty of hauling space and a refined poise and balance. While a basic version of the QX50 with front-wheel-drive can be had in the mid-30s, the luxe version with all wheel drive is the one to get. The drive system was utterly unobtrusive and will navigate
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me. But those discrete buttons won’t be handled by anyone wearing heavy work gloves. Still, the QX50 had a dashing sense about it with just enough luxury to feel good and plenty of room in back for all the dogs. It’s well worth a look.
STATS INFINITI QX50 Base price: $41,000 (luxe model) Drivetrain: 268-hp, 2.0-liter four AWD EPA mileage ratings: 24/31 mpg
CONTRIBUTED
T
he car market will take care of your primal needs. There are those solemn, portentous SUVs that make you feel regal. And there are the shifty, ultra-sporty crossovers that will positively shred your driver’s license. Then there are the few that hit the sweet spot exactly. Infiniti’s newly designed QX50 is such a beauty. For one, the QX50 provides superb visibility. In an age of cocoon-like interiors, you get a feeling of light and space. The materials are impressive and the passenger space plentiful.
What impact do you want to make? It’s time for a financial partner who understands you. At J.P. Morgan Private Bank, we believe that finances planned and managed with intent can help you realize your goals. Let’s connect. 100 West Putnam Avenue, 4th Floor Greenwich, CT 06830
jpmorgan.com/connecticut
“ J.P. Morgan Private Bank” is a brand name for private banking business conducted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its subsidiaries worldwide. INVESTMENT PRODUCTS: • NOT FDIC INSURED • NO BANK GUARANTEE • MAY LOSE VALUE
do by julee kapl an
What can acupuncture treat?
The most common issues people see an acupuncturist for are anxiety, insomnia, headaches, digestive issues, fertility and hormonal issues, and pain. While acupuncture can help reduce pain and inflammation after an injury, it is always wise to have an evaluation done by a medical doctor to rule out fractures and structural damage before trying acupuncture.
Sarah Swanberg in her office at Indigo Acupuncture + Wellness
GET TO THE POINT
Does it hurt?
Acupuncture needles are hair-thin filiform needles (meaning solid, single-strand needles, not syringes used for injections or drawing blood, which are hollow), and their insertion is virtually painless. Points on the hands and feet can sometimes feel a little sharp, but the sensation is brief. It is not uncommon to feel warmth or a dull ache around the point after the needle is inserted, and you might even feel a slight pulling sensation. Once the insertion of the needles, or needling, is finished, most people feel a sense of deep calm and relaxation— similar to a daydream state. (I call this the acu-nap!)
FROM STRESS TO WRINKLES AND INFERTILITY— ACUPUNCTURE CAN HELP
W
alking into SARAH SWANBERG ’s sunny
Stamford office on Morgan Street, the feeling of Zen almost immediately happens—this is clearly the place for wellness. The scent of lavender diffuses through the air, soft music plays in the background, and a prominent wall fixture is filled with the latest balms, tonics, candles, supplements and jade rollers. This is INDIGO ACUPUNCTURE + WELLNESS, the practice Swanberg founded in 2018 in hopes of achieving just that for her patients: a place that combines ancient Chinese medicine with modern wellness practices. “Anything that your body can heal from, acupuncture can help,”
explains Swanberg, a licensed acupuncturist and board-certified diplomate in Oriental medicine. “We help to figure out where chi is stuck in order to balance the body.” In simpler terms, Swanberg says that while acupuncture can help you to manage stress (among other issues), “it doesn’t change the stress that’s coming at us. It lowers the baseline. It takes you out of that fight-or-flight feeling and puts you into a rest and digest mode, where you feel less stressed and more balanced.” Swanberg’s mission from the start has been to offer a range of wellness services including LED light therapy, acufacials which help target antiaging concerns, and cupping, a miracle cure for
effects are very small. The most common side effects are minor bleeding and bruising at the needle site or dizziness after a treatment. Acupuncture may not be suitable for people on blood-thinner medications, with pacemakers, or with a history of fainting and seizures. Stephanie Zaccario and Ana-Maria Lemming
Is it expensive?
Private acupuncture can run anywhere from $70 to $150 per session. Several health insurance plans now cover acupuncture, so I always recommend checking with your insurer to see if you have acupuncture benefits. How many sessions will I need?
The more chronic the issue, the longer the course of treatment. Because your acupuncturist is working to restore balance and promote your body’s own healing mechanisms, it can take some time to see results. I typically recommend weekly treatments for four to six weeks before judging if acupuncture is helping your issue.
What are the risks?
Licensed acupuncturists receive thorough training in needling technique and safety, which means that risks of serious side
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Hair-thin needles target points to help the body manage a huge range of issues including stress and headaches.
PHOTOS BY JULIA D’AGOSTINO
sore and tight muscles. She’s also on a mission to educate patients about the benefits of Chinese medicine. That said, her new book, A Patient’s Guide to Acupuncture, explains it all. It’s for sale at her office as well as on Amazon. Here (and in her book), Swanberg answers her five most-asked questions about acupuncture:
Come For Our Holiday Mix. Before Your Holiday Mixer. BOTOX® And Juvederm® The holidays are not far off. Now’s the time to schedule an appointment at Greenwich Medical Spa for our special Holiday Mix. Before the holiday mixers. Mixing treatments of BOTOX and Juvederm works like magic to rejuvenate your skin, smoothing and flattening wrinkles, while lifting and replacing lost volume. The result is a fresher, more youthful appearance. We can schedule both injectable treatments during one appointment. Don’t wait. Schedules will begin filling up soon. Look your holiday best. Come in now for our Holiday Mix. Before the holiday mixers.
e s t. 2 0 0 5
Greenwich • Westport • Scarsdale greenwichmedicalspa.com • 203.637.0662
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Medical Director: Mitchell Ross, MD, Board Certified Dermatologist Catherine Curtin, APRN • Amanda Pucci, APRN • Shilpa Desai, PA
home by megan gagnon
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INDUSTRY WEST Benzin tall vase; $40. New York, industrywest.com
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VERNER PANTON Flowerpot pendant; price upon request. Suite NY; suiteny.com
jewel t ones bring a l ayer of richness t o any ro om. when light hits the emer ald green or sapphire blue t ones, they shine just like the gemst ones themselves.
SABA
New York Sedia velvet dining chair; $692. ABC Carpet & Home; abchome.com
STONE BOLD
—linda ruderman, linda ruderman interiors inc.
JEWEL TONES MAKE FOR THE BEST KIND OF DRAMA
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JAYSON HOME
Campbell table; $2,795. jaysonhome.com
CRATE & BARREL Pieced velvet pillow; $69.95. Westport; crateandbarrel.com
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THOMAS O’BRIEN FOR CIRCA LIGHTING
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STUDIO ASAI Sigmund daybed; price upon request. Property Furniture; propertyfurniture.com
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ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF DESIGNERS/BRANDS
Bibi large table lamp;$935. Greenwich; circalighting.com
eat by mary k ate ho gan
PLANT MANAGERS
O
ur restaurant landscape is rich: In a ten-mile radius you can find places to sample just about any cuisine under the sun. Though we’ll always have our cravings, on an average day many people are simply looking for a spot that blends healthy and delicious. Little Beet Table (LBT) fills that niche with a menu creative enough that you’ll never find yourself saying, “Not that again.” The plant-forward menu dabbles in fish and meat, and there’s not a trace of gluten in any dish; so those who need to avoid it can dine with confidence, sans special requests. » greenwichmag.com
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VENERA ALEXANDROVA
IF YOU’VE GOT RESERVATIONS ABOUT GLUTEN-FREE DINING, YOU NEED TO MAKE ONE HERE
Cavawinebar.com New Canaan
Scenawinebar.com Darien
harvestwinebar.com Greenwich Westport New Haven West Hartford New Haven,
55winebar.com Fairfield
southbayct.com Greenwich New Haven
eat
Located in the space that was previously The National, the design makes LBT worthy of a Saturday night out. The modern décor with a mix of tables and booths, lots of blonde wood and gold accents includes a striking marbletopped bar, backlit shelves lined with plants and preserved fruits, and gold mesh screens dividing the front and back of the restaurant. The chic space tends to get noisy (our tween daughter even commented on it), so go front of the house for bigger groups and people watching or request a table toward the back if you prefer a quieter spot—the grass cloth wallpaper absorbs sounds and there are fewer people. We’ve eaten here for three dinners so far, and on a recent Thursday night reservation we headed for a back booth. While the menu skews healthy, the portions are mostly satisfying. After trying a number of small plates and dishes from the greens and grains section, I’ve decided my perfect meal here is a combination of apps. Salmon crudo is a must-order if you’re a fan: This Insta-worthy greenwichmag.com
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version involves pieces of fresh raw fish and avocado in a bright pink beet-lime aquachile (chile water) with pretty nasturtium leaves floating in the bowl; it’s a feast to the eyes that’s tasty, too. Chef Rich has a way with seafood, as the chiliglazed octopus is well-seasoned and tender, resting in a salsa verde and paired with lightly charred yellow beans. The chef deftly incorporates extra vegetables into almost every dish. When one of us requested an alternative to the sweet potatoes that come with the burger, she was offered a salad substitute. At some restaurants that would mean a few greens tossed onto the plate, but here the salad was a highlight, layered with tomatoes, carrots, radishes and late-summer corn off the cob in a lemony vinaigrette. From the greens and grains options, my favorite is the crispy spirulina rice bowl. (It also happens to be Chef Rich’s fave.) The thin brown rice cake that lines the bowl fulfills its “crispy” promise—that texture really balances the dish— topped with sautéed shiitakes and peppers and
FOOD BY FRONT OF HOUSE ; INTERIOR BY VENERA ALEXANDROVA
left: Roasted corn and maitake tacos with grilled tomatillo, red cabbage and cilantro right: Chili-glazed octopus with salsa verde, Meyer lemon and summer beans
above left: Cavatelli with roasted corn, cherry tomato, basil pistou and Parmesan above right: Grilled NY strip with artichoke, tomato jam and lemon below left: Berry bowl with whipped coconut-lime cream, hibiscus and almonds
Fall Picks From the new menu this season, Chef Rich’s favorite dishes are the seared diver sea scallops with roasted pumpkin, quinoa two ways and seaweed gremolata, and the grilled grass-fed strip steak with caramelized Treviso and walnut agrodolce with Spanish anchovies.
Fave Dishes
LITTLE BEET TABLE 376 Greenwich Avenue, 203-405-5787; thelittlebeettable.com
FRONT OF HOUSE
HOURS
Monday –Thursday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., Friday: 11 a.m. – 10:30 p.m., Saturday: 10 a.m. – 10:30 p.m., Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
The most ordered items at the moment are the fish tacos with mahi mahi and pickled cabbage and the sunflower hummus served with pita bread.
a fried egg all drizzled with a smoked paprikachile sauce called mojo rojo, a fresh mix. Even if you don’t typically order chicken in restaurants, this roasted chicken is worth it, with well-seasoned skin, juicy meat and a plate piled high with colorful roasted carrots. Another entrée we liked was the crispy salmon served on a bed of mixed seasonal veggies with a hint of saffron. For a vegetarian main, try the roasted corn and maitake tacos, which get
Salud! Drink to your health with the popular LBT margarita, which is watermelon based with cayenne and agave and a lime-chile rim, and the kale and cucumber, mixed with tequila, ginger and a kick of jalapeno.
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extra flavor from green tomatoes and cilantro; this portion is smaller so may be best coupled with a salad or starter. Those who follow a strict gluten-free diet may miss pasta, and the cavatelli can help that void. The pasta itself is decent— we almost forgot it’s gluten-free—however, the tomato-corn-basil sauce tasted bland, not living up to its cheesy comfort-food looks. If you’re searching for a drinks-and-bites spot, LBT can accommodate with a solid cocktail lineup, and all drinks are mixed with fresh juices; a happy hour is coming soon. For those who prefer mocktails, the “natural refreshers” are on point with a range of flavored lemonades, a kombucha bev, a matcha-cocomango mix and more. Desserts? Yes, please. There are daily homemade sorbets and ice creams as well as a chocolate cake with strawberry jam. But the best was the simplest, too: the bowl of mixed fresh berries with coconut-lime whipped cream, just a touch of sweet. LBT’s site says the restaurant aims to “indulge your well G being.” We say, mission accomplished.
g–mom THE FAMILY THAT GIVES TOGETHER… OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE PHILANTHROPY A FAMILY AFFAIR
T
his being our philanthropy issue, it’s a perfect time to explore opportunities for family volunteering. It only takes a few hours to show your children how simple it is to make a difference in the world. Creating a family volunteer day can become a tradition, whether it’s annual, seasonal or monthly. Here are a few organizations in town that would welcome your help.
HELP A FURRY FRIEND
Adopt-A-Dog offers a number of ways your family can make a difference in the life of our four-legged friends. Although volunteers at the shelter must
be eighteen years old and trained as a volunteer, families can help out with specific projects such as a property clean up or painting. Sponsoring a Donation Drive is another way to help homeless dogs. Families collect items from the AdoptA-Dog wish list to support dogs as they await their forever home. Another option is to sponsor a specific dog in need. Contact AdoptA-Dog to select a dog to sponsor, find out what bedding,
toys and food he or she likes, then collect the items for your sponsored pooch. Take it a step further and create a flyer or social media campaign to help your sponsored dog find a home. adopt-a-dog.org
HELP THE ENVIRONMENT
Greenwich Green & Clean sponsors town-wide cleanups in the spring and fall at a variety of locations. Working at our local parks and beaches is a great
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outdoor volunteer activity for all ages. No need to sign up ahead of time; just check the website for dates and locations and show up ready to work. The payoff is a
sense of pride all year long when you visit these family spots and celebrate the difference you made in keeping our town beautiful. greenwich greenandclean.org
PAPER FIGURES BY ©NEW AFRICA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM; DOG BY ©MDOROTTYA - STOCK.ADOBE.COM; VOLUNTEERS BY ©SYDA PRODUCTIONS - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
by eileen bartels
An independent, college preparatory day school, providing character-based education for boys in Pre-Kindergarten through Grade 12.
Preparing boys for life since 1902.
VISIT
BrunswickSchool.
org
to learn more and register for our fal l Open House
The Volunteer Service is a new site that matches families, as well as adults and seniors, with hands-on volunteer experiences in Greenwich, Darien, New Canaan, Stamford, Norwalk and other parts of Fairfield County. Its user-friendly online platform allows families to match their time availability and interests with volunteer opportunities in specific areas of interest. A family membership to TVS costs $199 a year or $20 per month, giving members access to sign up online, track volunteer hours and generate proof of volunteer letters for schools and honor societies. thevolunteerservice.com
Letter writing and creating care packages for active military, veterans or first responders is a fun way to take on a family project at home and say thank you to those who keep us safe. Operation Gratitude collects letters and sends care packages to deployed military, veterans, new recruits who have just completed bootcamp, and first responders. Letters are mailed to the Operation Gratitude headquarters in California, where they are then sent on with care packages. This is a way to include kids of all ages. Those who can’t write yet can dictate what they would like to say to a parent or older sibling. Drawings and doodles are welcome. Looking for some guidance? Operation Gratitude has information on how to write your letters and tips on hosting Halloween Candy Give Back Drives, Beanie Baby and Plush Toy Drives (for the troops to hand out) or other supply drives to collect items included in all active military care packages. Every care package sent to military personnel includes handwritten thank you letters and items such as decks of cards, lip balm and gum. operationgratitude .com/expressyour-thanks/ write-letters/
HELP LOCAL FAMILIES
Neighbor to Neighbor provides food and clothing to families right here in Greenwich. Operations Coordinator Duncan Lawson welcomes families to contact him to schedule a volunteer opportunity that’s just right for you. Whether sorting items from a clothing drive, restocking the food pantry shelves or sponsoring your own local food or clothing drive, through Neighbor to Neighbor you’ll find options to improve the lives of our neighbors in need. ntngreenwich.org/ how-you-can-help/ volunteer/
HELP A YOUTH
Serving more than 1,700 of our community’s most struggling youth, Domus in Stamford works with young people who’ve had challenges, whether living in poverty, involved in the criminal justice
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system, experiencing homelessness, abuse or neglect. The goal is to create the right conditions to get students on a path toward a healthy life filled with opportunity. Greenwich families can help in a number of ways. One is to a host a food drive for the school’s holiday food market. Held the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Thanksgiving and again on the Saturday before Christmas, the market allows needy families to come and “shop” the market for essentials to carry them through the holidays. The items needed are listed on the school’s website Another option is to become a holiday Angel Family. Many families find the holidays anything but joyful, as they are often forced to choose between paying bills or buying presents. Each year, Domus adopts dozens of struggling families and matches them with an Angel Family who receives a detailed description
of the family including a list of wants and needs. Domus supplements over 400 local families’ holiday food budgets. domuskids.org/ volunteer
HELP THE ELDERLY
Nathaniel Witherell is a nonprofit short-term rehab and skilled nursing center owned and operated by the town of Greenwich. It offers a number of ways families can engage with an aging resident. Visitors are a window to the world for the residents and truly brighten their day. Showcasing a special family talent like singing or playing instruments, bringing a well-mannered pet to visit, or escorting residents to religious services are just a few of the ways you can help. Contact volunteer coordinator MaryTate to discuss the options. thenathanielwitherell .org/volunteer/
ELDERLY WOMAN BY ©PHOTOGRAPHEE.EU - STOCK.ADOBE.COM; VOLUNTEERS BY ©AFRICA STUDIO - STOCK.ADOBE.COM; FOOD KITCHEN BY ©KUARMUNGADD - STOCK.ADOBE.COM
NOT SURE WHO TO HELP?
HELP A VETERAN OR FIRST RESPONDER
“We believe you deserve to feel beautiful, confident, and ready to live your best life today and everyday.” Dr. Kim Nichols is a board-certified dermatologist. She is also a lead physician trainer for Allergan; the makers of Botox-Cosmetic®
KIM NICHOLS, MD, FAAD Board-Certified Dermatologist www.KimNicholsMD.com 203.862.4000
Graduated from Harvard University
1997 Received Doctor of Medicine degree from NYU School of Medicine
Named Chief Resident for the Division of Dermatology at King/ Drew-Harbor/UCLA Medical Centers in Los Angeles
Associate Dermatologist at Skin Specialty Dermatology, Upper East Side, NYC
Founded NicholsMD of Greenwich, a boutique dermatology in Greenwich, CT
2006
2007
2013
2002
The NicholsMD Difference: Boutique Care for Beautiful Skin. 50 OLD FIELD POINT ROAD, THIRD FLOOR, GREENWICH CT 06830
Named “Expert Injector” by New Beauty Magazine
2015
Awarded as one of the top cosmetic dermatology offices in the natiaon by SkinCeuticals.
Founded the first ever Non-Surgical Greenwich Mommy Makeover, featuring EMSCULPT®
2017
2019
fınance fıx
BY CAROL LEONETTI DANNHAUSER
WHAT-IF MONEY
THINKING BEYOND STOCKS, BONDS AND MUTUAL FUNDS IN A FINANCIAL PLAN
I
f there’s one thing that a championship quarterback knows, it’s that it takes more than one player to carry the load. And when it comes to building wealth, the same holds true for investment vehicles. Peter Graham Jr. led the University of Notre Dame to a national football championship in 1988, then worked on Wall Street for twenty-five years, all the while ignoring requests from his dad to join Navesink Wealth Management, the financial advisory business that his father founded. At home in Darien, the younger Graham set up endowments for local nonprofit groups (he helped raise close to $10 million for the Darien Athletic Foundation), leading to hundreds of meetings with prospective donors. In the process, he discovered this: “In the area we live in, many people have the impression that we are sophisticated investors. Maybe a little ego comes into play—you have the fancy car and the big house. Maybe you’re afraid to ask questions.”
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THE BACKDOOR ROTH OPTION FOR HIGH-INCOME EARNERS
It’s great to be able to invest your before-tax money into a 401(k), and to let your returns compound tax-free until you take them out, but there’s a limit to how much you can stash in there. A Roth IRA lets you contribute your after-tax money into a retirement account, where your investments grow tax-free without a minimum distribution requirement. If, like many earners in lower Fairfield County, though, you earn too much to invest in a Roth IRA (more than $203,000 for a couple filing jointly), the Grahams suggest exploring a backdoor Roth, in which you contribute to an IRA, then in short order convert it to a Roth. There are some important caveats, so be sure to talk about the details with your financial adviser.
CONTRIBUTED
Peter Graham Sr. and Jr.
lifestyle at least for the short-term if there’s a catastrophe. A milliondollar policy for a twenty-year term might cost a healthy fortyyear-old about $1,000 a year. Consider a nonqualified annuity. Annuities get a bad rap, because historically they’ve come attached with high and hidden fees. But greater transparency has led to more competitive products. If you’ve maxed out on your 401(k) contributions and you’re looking for a way to invest cash in excess of those limits, a nonqualified annuity (which is funded with after-tax dollars) allows your nest egg to grow tax-deferred. Ask your adviser to explain the fees and commissions. Buy and hold real estate. Where else can you secure a $500,000 investment, for example, using $100,000 down? The investment can generate rental income or long-term appreciation. “I had a client who bought a house for rental for every child born, with the intention of selling the house when each child goes to college,” Peter Sr. says. “It’s a great avenue to appreciate money.” Explore a franchise. Lots of folks around here are buying into franchises, reports Peter Jr. One client opened Pilates studios, another opened car washes. Says Peter Sr., “These individuals are looking for nonpassive investments,” because they are still in their earningpower prime. G
Says his dad, “So many people are moving forward making all that money—maybe they’re fixated on whether or not they are beating the S&P or the Dow— but there is a lack of planning for other things, like insurance, taxes, legal documents. We work with the what-ifs.” Father and son joined forces in 2015. Together they’ve discovered that while many folks here fund their 401(k)s and their 529 college plans with stocks, bonds and mutual funds, they miss the big picture. Asset allocation goes beyond figuring out which stocks and bonds to put in which basket, the elder Graham says. “We do a financial plan based on where they want to be and how to get there. Then we do an asset allocation.” Here’s what they suggest: Start early. Stop procrastinating. A few years’ delay in investing can mean a sixfigure difference down the road. A firm like Navesink can manage your assets for a fee, or, if you’re a do-it-yourselfer, provide a financial checkup and plan that costs about $2,500 (a reasonable outlay, considering the consequences). Buy term life insurance. The Grahams were working with the young parents of two little girls when the father developed colon cancer and died. “When you lose that income, it’s devastating,” says Peter Sr. Make sure you have a hedge—in this case, a term-life insurance policy—that can support your
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Contact Elizabeth Hastings at ehastings@fairfield.edu | 203-254-4000, ext. 2688
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Get Your Photo Published in Greenwich Magazine! We are looking for fantastic photos of Greenwich and Greenwich people to feature every month on our new back page. If you would like a chance to be published in Greenwich magazine and win $100 here’s what you should know: • Photos can be whimsical, historical, serene, funny or beautiful but they all must be taken in Greenwich. • Photos must be submitted digitally to editor@mofflymedia.com and be 300 dpi and 7 inches high or larger. • We will need: 1) Photographer’s name, address, phone number and e-mail 2) Subject of the photograph (identify people in the photo) 3) Location of the photograph 4) Inspiration behind the photograph 5) Any interesting anecdote about the photograph or featured subject
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people&PLACES by alison nichols gr ay
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BRUCE MUSEUM / Greenwich Country Club
Show & Tell
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ounded in 2014 as a forum to provide fresh insight into the ever-evolving intersection of art and design, this year’s Bruce Museum Art of Design luncheon united American designer Dennis Basso in a fashion-focused conversation with his friend Stellene Volandes, editor in chief of Town & Country magazine. Held at Greenwich Country Club, the luncheon featured a fashion show with sweet beats by DJ April Larken. Felicity Kostakis and Kamie Lightburn cochaired the uber chic afternoon. brucemuseum.org » 1 A runway look from the Dennis Basso collection 2 Kamie Lightburn, Stellene Volandes, Dennis Basso, Felicity Kostakis 3 Erin Gaudreau, Melissa Rwambuya 4 Pam Sanders, Erin Glasebrook, Felicity Kostakis, Lee White, Olivia Langston, Grace Djuranovic 5 April Larken, Riann Smith 6 Aphrodite Skeadas, Stacey Zarakiotis 7 Chelsea Staniar, Claire Salvatore NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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10 Shaheen Choonavala, Donna Amaro, Robyn Jones, Patricia Feinberg, Alka Thukral 11 Geoff Aquino, Russell Pagliughi, PJ Pasqual 12 Mary Ann Henry, Christine Calzolano 13 Jilian Aufderheide 14 Stellene Volandes and Dennis Basso having a chat 15 Patricia Chadwick, Heidi Smith 16 Jan Kniffen, Sachiko Goodman, Robert Wolterstorff 17 Patricia Feinberg, Felicity Kostakis, Alka Thukral 18 Paige Rustum, Jenny Price, Shannon Henderson 19 Dennis Basso, Scott Currie 20 Pat Hamilton, Jennifer Freitag, Susan Mahoney, Shondu Pande Âť NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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GREENWICH EDUCATION GROUP / Eastern Greenwich Civic Center
A Smart Start
1 Cheryl Plummer, Keith Radcliff 2 The Lilly Family 3 Sara Lynn Leavenworth, Peggy Hersam 4 Ayesha Qureshi-Amin, Zainn Amin 5 Coleman and Harry Church, Jamie Funnell 6 Donna and Jonathan Moffly 7 Making connections at the event 8 Darien Espinao, Eva Cruz , Maya Cruz 9 Dana Thomas, Henry Lazareth
H
undreds of students and parents from Fairfield County and beyond attended Greenwich Education Group’s Private Day & Boarding School Fair at Eastern Greenwich Civic Center in Old Greenwich. Representatives from more than 100 schools were on hand to meet prospective students and their families and to discuss the opportunities. The fair helps to educate families about top-ranked independent day and boarding schools from throughout the U.S. and Canada. greenwichedgroup.com »
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOFFLY MEDIA’S BIG PICTURE/MARILYN ROOS PHOTOGRAPHY
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LIFE
Shared. Instilling in our boys an active and lifelong commitment to giving back, to serving others, and to participation in a diverse, welcoming, and joyful community is central to the work we do every day, and it has been for more than a century.
Preparing boys for life since 1902.
VISIT
BrunswickSchool.
org
to learn more and register for our fal l Open House
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1 Diane Zarrilli, Crystal Stoute, Yonni Wattenmaker, Sue Delepine 2 Joe Schlim, Scott Appleby, Berk Nowak, Mark Haranzo 3 Louise Vanderlip, Tim and Suzanne Sennatt, Henrik Vanderlip 4 Ann Quick, Megan Foley, Nancy Mara, Tricia O'Callaghan 5 Audrey McNiff, Carolyn Mercy, Pam Goergen, Mary Bell Case 6 Chip Skinner, Rob Salem, Conor Kelly, John Jackopsic 7 Lisa Skinner, Joy Lautenbach, Susan O'Leary, Mary Helen Holzschuh 8 Lile Gibbons, Amanda Baer, Lindsey Wheat, Flo Miller 9 Mary Quick, Jim Daras, Margaret and Chris Sinclair 10 Alain and Leah Lebec, Kathy and Harry Clark 11 Libbet Regan, Jean Scannell, Valerie Wilpon, Catherine Marcus, Joy Kaye, Nancy Risman
BREAST CANCER ALLIANCE / The Golf Club of Purchase 11
All About Support
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t was a picture-perfect day for the annual Breast Cancer Alliance (BCA) golf outing at The Golf Club of Purchase. The fun-filled sold-out day raised over $150,000 for breast cancer research. It was cochaired by Suzanne and Tim Sennatt, Lisa and Chip Skinner, Mary Quick and Jim Daras. Guests enjoyed a longdrive contest, a shot at an Alfa Romeo from Miller Motor Cars for a hole in one, a buffet lunch, cocktails, dinner and prizes. breastcanceralliance.org » greenwichmag.com
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ELAINE UBIÑA/FAIRFIELDCOUNTYLOOK.COM
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Our Mission The mission of
Nurturing the spirit of giving
Breast Cancer Alliance is to improve survival rates and quality of life for those impacted by breast cancer through better prevention,
connection to others, a habit of kindness, the willingness to work together, a belief that we can solve complex problems
early detection, treatment and cure. To promote these goals, we invest in innovative research, breast surgery fellowships, regional education, dignified support and screening for the underserved.
If you would like to learn more about BCA, please visit breastcanceralliance.org
Contact us! Breast Cancer Alliance 48 Maple Avenue Greenwich, CT 06830 P 203.861.0014 F 203.861.1940 Yonni Wattenmaker Executive Director
www.facebook.com/ breastcanceralliance
@BCAllianceCT
203.329.8815 / www.childrensschool.org Serving ages 3 to 8
@breastcanceralliance
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CT AGAINST GUN VIOLENCE / The Greenwich Hyatt
1 Gina Lucas, Julie Cannon, Toni Subramaniam, Kim Miller 2 Gail Khosla, Kathy Markby, Pat Caffray, Jean Marie Jamieson 3 Robin Druckman, Will Joseph, Shira Tarantino 4 Margo Cole, Melissa Nisenson, Sen. Alex Bergstein, Alexandra Friedman, Erin Glasebrook 5 Pat Caffray, Daisy Sanders, Mary Scott Himes, Nicole Heath, Amy Pines, Amy Ford Keohane 6 Donna Moffly, Erica Buchsbaum 7 Sara Keller, Kate Balanoff 8 Nancy Better, Mary Ellen Markowitz 9 Lisa Cunningham, Tasha Nagler, Aundrea Amine 10 Cynthia Blumenthal, Melissa Kane, Sarah Meindl, Nicole Heath, Donna Hascher
Crucial Conversations
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very year the Connecticut Against Gun Violence organization hosts an annual luncheon bringing together hundreds of supporters to hear from experts in the movement against gun violence. It is the largest fundraiser in Connecticut for gun violence prevention. The Hyatt in Old Greenwich was a packed house, with guests hoping to make a change in gun safety laws. cagv.org »
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MOFFLY MEDIA’S BIG PICTURE / BOB CAPAZZO
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NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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WHAT’S IN YOUR YARD?
DREW KLOTZ
KINETIC SCULPTURE DREWKLOTZ.COM
203 221 0563
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1 Kevin Begley 2 Bill Tommins with members of Fairfield Center Stage 3 Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim 4 Brenda Schoolfield, Elancy Cromwell, Robie Spector, Carolyn Vermont 5 Doran Wright, John Heyder 6 Carol Heller, Juanita James, Stamford Mayor David Martin, Doreen Madden, Senator Tony Hwang, Bill Tommins, Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Gamin and Newtown First Selectman Dan Rosenthal 7 RYASAP Exec. Director Marc Donald and Kristy Jelenik 8 Brynne Bartiromo, Jonathan Moffly, Beth DeMarte and Rebecca Mandell
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARILYN ROOS PHOTOGRAPHY
FAIRFIELD COUNTY’S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION / Fairfield County Giving Day
Give Way
T
he sixth annual Fairfield County Giving Day raised $1,719,686 from 11,742 donors across 415 nonprofits in just twenty-four hours. The event, powered by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, brought dozens of supporters to The Klein Memorial Auditorium in Bridgeport to raise funds in twenty-four hours online for participating organizations across multiple towns. The nonprofits covered several areas of support, including the arts, human services, environmental causes, mental health and women issues. Guests enjoyed drinks and light bites on the main stage, cheered the presentation of prizes and mingled with sponsors. Curtain Call in Stamford was the leading donor for the sixth straight year, and Moffly Media was Giving Day’s premier regional magazine sponsor. » NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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providing sanctuary for more than 20 years
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LEARN MORE at www.elephants.com
1 Nancy Axthelm, Leigh Carpenter 2 Leigh Teixeira, Tammy O'Sullivan, Abby Ritman, Kate Clark, Ginge Cabrera 3 Ashley Reid, Hilary Haroche 4 Jan Dilenschneider 5 Christine Young, Christel Truglia 6 Joy Hoffman, Mary Cregan, Anne Goodnow 7 Susan Yonce, Tia Mahaffy
Hope & Faith
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amily Centers recently hosted its annual Center for HOPE Luncheon at Wee Burn Beach Club. The lovely afternoon celebrated the philanthropic contributions of longtime board member Jan Dilenschneider by presenting her with the 2019 Ray of HOPE Award. The event also featured a moving keynote address from author Mary Cregan, who referred to passages in her new book, The Scar: A Personal History of Depression and Recovery, to illustrate how she overcame mental illness and rebuilt her life from the ground up. familycenters.org
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHI CHI UBIĂ‘A/FAIRFIELD COUNTY LOOK
FAMILY CENTERS / Wee Burn Beach Club
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NURSERY & GREENHOUSES, LLC EST. 1930
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Full Service Garden Center • Landscape Design & Installation Premier Garden Care • Delivery Services Available 437 North St. • Greenwich, CT 06830 • (203) 869-3418
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1 Back row: Dana Santry, Thomas Fouts, Brian Leonard, Jojo McCurdy, Henry Dale; front row: Julia Welsh, Erin O'Connor, Penny Lore (executive director), Cameron Calcano, Nick Spizzirri 2 Kevin Draughon, Tamara Smith, Penny and William Lore 3 Kristen March, Zoe March, Allison Sterling 4 Mimi Santry 5 Johnny Rose, Peter Keigher, Beau Getz, Connor Santry, Matt Davey
The Westy Experience…
PARSONAGE COTTAGE / The grounds of Parsonage Cottage & Nathaniel Witherell
A Tee Party
“We used this storage facility between two moves and can honestly say we were thoroughly satisfied with all aspects. It is clean, easily accessible and safe.”
PHOTOGRAPHS BY CHERYL MOSS PHOTOGRAPHY
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en local teenagers from Brunswick School and Greenwich Academy recently joined forces to help raise funds for Parsonage Cottage, a senior residence in Greenwich. Parsonage provides a full spectrum of services and activities. The newly formed Junior Advisory Board’s mission was to create an event that would bring awareness to the critical services provided to the elderly at Parsonage Cottage. Using the grounds of the cottage and Nathaniel Witherell next door, guests enjoyed eighteen holes of miniature golf, music by DJ Dave, a Gophers Ice Cream stand and lunch catered by Walter’s Hot Dog Truck. Over 130 Greenwich residents and twenty-seven corporate/family sponsors gathered for the afternoon. Golfing foursomes kept each other chuckling with team names like The Silver Foxes and The Hot Flashes. parsonagecottage.org G
— KD, Greenwich
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celebrat ing
10
years
awards
we give this celebration a TEN! SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL OF OUR 2019 SPONSORS PRESENTING SPONSOR LEVEL 1
PRESENTING SPONSORS LEVEL 2
PRESENTING SPONSOR LEVEL 3
GRAND PRIZE SPONSOR
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vows by alison nichols gr ay
JENNIFER KATHERINE DESROSIER & FAN ZHOU 1
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n their first class at Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Jenny and Fan were assigned seats next to each other. Jenny was the first student called on in the class and managed a reasonably coherent answer; Fan followed up with a highly structured, perceptive and in-depth analytical comment. Needless to say, Jenny was a bit turned off. However, the pair found themselves deep in conversation during a class trip to Costa Rica later that semester. After three years and several hikes, runs and trips, they realized life together would be a wonderful adventure. On the day of the proposal, Fan was in New York on business; he took a late afternoon flight home to Boston to surprise Jenny. He found his soon-to-be bride curled up on their couch wearing an ugly Christmas sweater and tube socks. A formal proposal was not meant to be. He pulled out the ring and asked her to marry him. She said yes, ditched the ugly sweater and socks, and they stepped out on the town for an elegant dinner. Justice of the Peace Omar Abdelsamad and Joe Mustich officiated at the ceremony at Winvian Farm, where the reception followed. The bride, daughter of John and Diane Desrosier of Greenwich, graduated from Groton School, Brown University and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Jenny is a strategy manager for Convoy in Seattle. The groom, son of Jian (Peter) Zhou and Xing (Jenny) Chen of Lexington, Kentucky, graduated from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School, the University of Pennsylvania and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Fan works for Bain & Company in Seattle. The newlyweds honeymooned in Paris, Bordeaux and Champagne, France, before returning home to Seattle. 
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1 Peter, Jenny and Fan Zhou, Jenny, Diane, John, Peter and Nick Desrosier 2 Sealed with a kiss 3 The reception 4 Kiersten Cohen, Emily Lamb, Louisa Smith, Jenny Desrosier, Fan Zhou, Chelsea Macco, Wynne Evans, Victoria Done 5 The tent for the ceremony 6 The wedding cake 7 Jenny and Fan leaving the ceremony NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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ALIX CHRISTINE MAUD RASPÉ & ERIK DANIEL GRAY
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1 Erik and Alix exit Dorset Church in a sea of pink peony petals 2 Dorset Church 3 Herman Raspé escorts his daughter Alix down the aisle 4 The newlyweds making music together 5 The wedding party 6 Benjamin Parkhurst, J. Alexander Gray, James, Esther and Erik Gray, Alix, Herman, Adele and Peter Raspé, Nina and Kyle Gray 7 Stealing one more kiss greenwichmag.com
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY ANDY DUBACK AT DUBACK PHOTOGRAPHY
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et in an idyllic, Thornton Wilder-esque town in Vermont, the love story of Alix and Erik is a classic boy-meets-girl tale. On a snowy evening, Alix attended her parents’ holiday party where she met and fell in love with a minister’s son. The pair had actually met many years earlier but had not seen each other since—on that night, at that party, in that town, the stars aligned. Two years later, Erik proposed to Alix at the Liberty Hotel in Boston. He had commissioned a painting from his artist brother that depicted the exact moment they met at the party. The groom’s father, Rev. Dr. James H. Gray, officiated at the ceremony in a church situated in between the families’ homes. Alix and Erik’s miniature Australian shepherd, Ollie, also blessed the union. The reception was held at the Hildene, the historic home of President Abraham Lincoln’s son Robert and wife Mary Eunice, in Manchester, Vermont. The bride, daughter of Herman and Adele Raspé of Greenwich, graduated from Greenwich High School, Juilliard Pre-College, New York University and the New England Conservatory. Alix is a professional harpist in Columbus, Ohio. The groom, son of James and Esther Gray, graduated from Burr and Burton Academy, Drew University and the University of New Hampshire. Erik is a marriage and family therapist in Columbus. The Grays honeymooned in St. Lucia. They call Columbus, Ohio, home. G
SPECIAL MEMORIES LAST FOREVER WE HELP create THEM C O N NECTICUT: 203.324.6222
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Happy Holidays! From the DiMare family
BOB CAPAZZO PHOTOGRAPHY (203) 273-0139 NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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meet our 2019 light a fire honorees
TOGETHER WE RISE Their causes are varied, their goals are not—change lives and leave your corner of the world better than when you found it by jill johnson | phot o gr aphs by mel ani lust giovanna miller
A
s the year comes to a close and we reflect on the ups and downs in our lives, we here at Moffly Media would like to take a moment to celebrate the people and organizations that make it their mission to bring others up. Year after year our Light a Fire honorees prove that the desire to help others burns brightly. The class of 2019 continues the tradition: They engage kids with disabilities through animals; empower teenage girls; fund scholarships and mentor students; provide supplies to those wounded in combat; spend Sundays teaching peers coding; help immigrants integrate into the community; connect those in poverty with businesses that can guide them; give those with mental health issues a safe haven. One of these organizations touches 134 million lives each year. Another gives every one of its 32,000 employees two days off annually for volunteering. We have also partnered with Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, an organization that promotes philanthropy as a means to create lasting change. We invited FCCF to highlight two groups that are closing the opportunity gap for the underserved of Fairfield County. This year’s honorees, Connect-Us and Building One Community, will each receive a $2,500 grant from FCCF. Our other honorees were chosen through nominations submitted by readers who were touched by their fortitude and compassion—as we know you will be as well. » greenwichmag.com
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a. reynolds gord on
reed ex h ibition s, yancy we inrich, c o o
catalina horak
purab angreji
pam lewis
michael parker
tracy mchale stuart
sheri west
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dr. nol an zeide & dr. steven zeide
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
a. reynolds gordon
organizations: Myron L. and Claire B. Gordon Foundation, Princeton, Yale, the Fugees (an immigrant soccer team), among numerous others
inspiration “My father founded our family’s foundation, so part of my inspiration is simply continuing in his footsteps,” says Renn Gordon, an Easton resident. “Part of it is that I consider myself very lucky. I was born from bright parents and I was able to go to the very best schools from grade school through law school.” The foundation’s focus is education, and Gordon, who attended Princeton and Yale Law School, actually funds half of the scholarship donations himself. Mary Kay Frost, V.P. of Scholarships for the High School Scholarship Foundation of Fairfield, applauds Gordon’s generosity, humility and dedication to helping students “with substantial financial need attend college. Mr. Gordon shares with our graduating seniors the rules for a successful life that he inherited from his father—namely, work hard, be kind and do a good deed each day.”
courage into action The Myron L. and Claire B. Gordon Foundation has donated over $500,000 to Fairfield, Bridgeport and Easton schools. Gordon credits his father with funding the foundation, but he has added to the fund for the past decade and his commitment goes beyond finances. “He shines light through the interest he exhibits in the students and the advice he so willingly gives,” says Frost. “He meets with the proposed recipients, asks them about their interests and their goals, makes a connection with them and then offers advice that will be helpful in their individual situations. He has attended every award ceremony at both Fairfield Warde and Fairfield Ludlowe.” greenwichmag.com
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In addition, Renn and Janet, his bride of twenty-five years, have been mentors for Princeton students interning in Connecticut, through Project 55, a Princeton class of ’55 project. Gordon has donated to Princeton annually for sixtyfour straight years and to Yale Law School for sixty-one years. The Gordons also have established a charitable remainder trust. “Upon our death, the money is Princeton’s, to be used for a series of lectures on the Rule of Law,” explains Gordon. Always humble, he’s quiet about the fact that the remainder trust reaches seven figures. Gordon sat on the Board of Directors of Park City Hospital in Bridgeport for over twenty years, and enjoyed being a Junior Achievement advisor in Bridgeport in the past. “I also had fun playing Santa Claus at Mercy Learning Center and handing out gifts to the poor at Christmas parties,” he says. Gordon is active in the Democratic Town Committee in Easton and is a recipient of their Neary Award for community service. He has served on both the Pension and Benefits Committee and the Tax Relief for the Aging Committee for two decades.
hopes & dreams Grateful for the educational doors that have opened to him in his life, Gordon says, “I would love for other people to have the same opportunities I’ve had—as much and as many as possible.”
OUTSTANDING LEADER
giovanna miller organizations: American Red Cross, Greenwich United Way, YWCA, Stanwich School, Greenwich Country Day School, Greenwich Hospital, Breast Cancer Alliance, Junior League of Greenwich
inspiration “Inspiration came very early on,” says Greenwich resident Giovanna Miller. “My parents were both immigrants. They worked very hard. My grandmother always said no matter what you have, you have the capacity to give something. I was a Girl Scout. I volunteered at food banks. I learned that no matter what our financial responsibilities are, we have the responsibility to give back, and that’s what I try to teach my kids.” Miller put her career on hold to raise her boys and expected to return to work. “I started volunteering and was so moved, I never looked back,” she says. Once she learned the scope of the work of the Red Cross and that of every dollar, ninety-one cents goes to programs and services, she was hooked.
courage into action “Giovanna is the current Board Chair of the Metro NY North Chapter of the American Red Cross. Under her leadership over the past six years, she has grown the size of the board to forty members. It is now considered one of the most active and engaged American Red Cross boards in the country,” says Mary Young, CEO of the Metro NY North Chapter. “She also motivates a 700-plus volunteer workforce with her enthusiasm. Giovanna leads by example—you can often see her donating blood, installing free smoke alarms, participating in CPR training, compiling medevac bags for wounded military members at
Walter Reed Medical Center, writing Holiday Mail for Heroes cards at Greenwich Hospital, or encouraging others to join our mission.” Miller says: “It’s easy to write a check, and I’m always happy to do that; but what is most rewarding is being on the ground, helping the actual wounded and their families, walking the halls at Kids in Crisis or the YWCA, doing smoke alarm installations. We knock on doors in lower income housing, where often residents don’t have smoke alarms. That $10 alarm really may save lives.” Miller reflects on her first visit to Walter Reed Medical Center: “It was so eye-opening seeing the patients there on crutches and in wheelchairs. We now put together medevac bags for them: basic hygiene items, snacks, water, blankets. We are Skyping with installations overseas to see what supplies we can send. We are constantly taking on these projects that no other board in the U.S. has taken on. The enthusiasm and passion among our board is infectious.”
hopes & dreams “I hope that more people get involved. Think of something you are passionate about. You are never too busy. In every area, there are people who have a need and don’t have the opportunities many of us have. I hope my kids will follow in my footsteps, and it will continue for generations and generations.” »
BEST FRIENDS TO ANIMALS
dr. nolan zeide & dr. steven zeide
organizations: Stamford Animal Shelter Alliance, Project Precious, Save a Lab, Stamford Regional Agriscience & Technology Center, Stamford Dog Park (founder), Stamford Arboretum, St. Paul’s Day School, AVID Program and more
inspiration “It starts with the kids,” says Dr. Steven Zeide, who runs Bull’s Head Pet Hospital in Stamford with his son, Dr. Nolan Zeide. “Pets and kids are so similar. They’re honest, sincere and, in their own way, extremely appreciative. I’ve had a few people guide me along the way, and I feel we are on this earth to help, whether two-legged or four-legged creatures.” The Zeides enjoy educating young people about pets and career options in veterinary medicine and animal science. “Encouraging them to reach for their dreams is rewarding. In some cases, kids don’t have direction, and we help them get back on track,” explains Steve. “I think our enthusiasm is contagious; we love what we do!” Nolan adds, “When I was five or six, my dad would take my brother, me and our dogs to a senior home. This is what my dad had us doing when we were little kids. It has been a lifestyle for him and for us our entire lives.” Nolan was born and raised in Stamford. “I love this city and our schools,” he says. “I want to give back to the community that gives to me.”
courage into action For the forty years that Bull’s Head Pet Hospital has been open, the Zeides have spread kindness throughout the community: caring for the schools’ pets, teaching students of all ages about animals, speaking at events, promoting the dog park, improving the animal shelter. The Zeides also
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extend a 50 percent discount to nonprofit rescue organizations and mentor student volunteers. “I’ll brag that five out of five [students] we’ve written recommendations for have gotten into vet school,” says Steve. The heartwarming anecdotes are abundant. “I remember going to Stillmeadows School and speaking to some kids who had significant disabilities,” says Steve. “A month later I was at a cancer walk with my dog, and this girl in a wheelchair who could not speak indicated she recognized me and the dog. I had a similar experience at the Jewish Center, with a kid in the pool with an aide. When they remember you and they smile, you know you’ve touched them. It’s nice to feel you have made a mark.” Nolan recounts coming full circle at an Earth Day Festival: “I spoke to 300 kids in the auditorium at Cloonan Middle School; I used to sit in those seats!”
hopes & dreams Nolan: “I want to inspire my kids so they inspire others. I want them to take it to another level in spreading love and positivity.” Steve: “For me, the future is now! It’s also important to look back, improve on who I am and the role our family plays in making this city a better place. I hope to continue helping pets and teaching people how to care for them.”
BEST FRIEND TO GIRLS
organization: LiveGirl
sheri west inspiration “I grew up in a small town in Michigan, and giving back was something we always did as a family,” says New Canaan resident Sheri West. “Working in corporate finance at GE, I had great success, but I also encountered obstacles that are unique to women. When I had kids, I began thinking more about this issue. About six years ago, we hosted a middle school girl through Fresh Air Fund. She was the same age as our middle child, and it really struck us that she had all the smarts our daughter has but none of the access to opportunities or mentors. At that moment, we sat down as a family and discussed starting LiveGirl.”
courage into action Since founding LiveGirl in 2014, West says she “spends every moment, even in my dreams, thinking about how to close the female leadership gap and how to achieve gender parity.” In 2018, LiveGirl enrolled over 1,200 girls in its free leadership and mentoring programs in Bridgeport, Greenwich, New Canaan, Norwalk, Ridgefield, Stamford, Waterbury, Westport and Wilton. This year, LiveGirl partnered with the Connecticut Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs to expand its middle school program statewide, and last summer 200 girls attended LiveGirl’s annual summer camp in New Canaan, with transportation provided from as far away as Waterbury. Kate Reeves, LiveGirl Youth Advisory Board president and recent high school graduate, comments: “LiveGirl taught me to advocate for myself. For many of NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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my friends, LiveGirl allowed them to aim for goals or roles they had never pictured themselves in. For many middle-schoolers, LiveGirl is a community of kindness and support in a time when girls are so often taught to judge and compete. Sheri has mastered the art of empowering girls to empower each other. This work is more vital than ever. Middle school girls face quickly decreasing rates of selfconfidence, which often continue into adulthood, manifesting in workforce trends where women are less likely to ask for a raise or less likely to speak highly of themselves in interviews. Sheri has identified this crisis and created an organization that teaches girls how to support each other, shows them the success they can achieve, and inspires them to advocate for themselves and one another.” West is now established as an expert in girls’ leadership. “It’s really rewarding to have organizations coming to us and asking us to run workshops,” she says, adding, “What we do resonates with parents now more than ever. The world we live in is challenging for girls, especially girls of color. We need to build up girls’ self-esteem and social and emotional intelligence.” She has a practical outlook regarding social media and the ills it feeds: “Teens aren’t going to give it up, so we have to teach them how to curate a positive experience.”
hopes & dreams “I have many: I dream of gender parity, of a female president, of more young women having the confidence to raise their hands and to step up into leadership positions.” »
inspiration “I believe it’s really important to give back,” says Michael Parker of Greenwich. “I started with Laurel House because I wanted to help people who were completely underserved. The stigma around mental health made it unpopular. I liked that we were working with people who had no champions.” Parker had no relatives plagued by mental illness but was aware of the scope of the problem. “Seventy to eighty percent of the homeless were suffering from mental illness,” he explains.
OUTSTANDING HEALTH ADVOCATE
michael parker organizations: Laurel House, St. Barnabas Episcopal Church, Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University, Americares, Baker Institute at Cornell University
courage into action “It’s rewarding making a difference at a hands-on level, greenwichmag.com
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which is what Laurel House does,” says Parker, who became involved when he joined its board in 1994. “I’m very proud of the progress we’ve made, especially over the last ten years.” Linda Autore, Laurel House president and CEO, says: “During its thirty-five-year history, Laurel House has been served by many talented board directors, but none have devoted more time or energy or been more dedicated to mental health recovery than Michael. He has served an unprecedented two terms as chairman of the board. In his early years, Michael played a key role in the Capital Campaign Committee, which raised the funds for Laurel House to purchase the building it currently occupies in Stamford. During his second term, he led a strategic planning process and search for a president and CEO. In 2014 Michael participated in the planning of two key initiatives: the Thinking Well program, addressing cognitive impairment associated with mental illness, and rtor.org, a website for those seeking help for mental health.” Parker has overseen Laurel House’s transition to an organization with metrics showing outcomes. “We maximize services across a much broader age range than before. Mental illness is now manifesting younger, unfortunately,” he says. Over the decades with Laurel House, Parker’s children have taken notice. “They understand how good it feels to give back. That legacy is the tremendous gift of this whole process.”
hopes & dreams “That Laurel House will continue to do what it’s doing and evolve to meet needs. I’ll continue to support Americares—I love the mission and that it’s local. We all need to look for the greater good. There’s nothing better than giving back.”
MOST DEDICATED BOARD MEMBER
tracy mchale stuart organization: Save the Children
inspiration “I’ve always felt a deep commitment to helping people, particularly those who are most vulnerable,” says Tracy McHale Stuart of Fairfield, who is a member of the Board of Trustees at Save the Children. “Save the Children focuses on the most vulnerable populations in the world and delivers amazing work on a huge, huge scale. I’ve gone to see its work in several locations and each time I’m more impressed by the commitment and talent of its people. I’m very business oriented, and these people could work wherever they want and they choose to commit their time to this organization. It’s really humbling.” Stuart, who is managing partner and CEO at New York City-based investment firm Corbin Capital Partners, supports more than a dozen local charities and has gotten her children involved in giving back through Southport Congregational Church. But despite running a business and having young kids, she’s eager to contribute on a larger scale. “Save the Children is going to places where people are in desperate situations and dire conditions, and they are making an incredible impact. They get involved in the communities and just make things happen.”
courage into action Stuart was making things happen at Save the Children long before joining the board last February. “For three years Tracy cochaired the Illumination Gala, our biggest
fundraiser of the year,” says Ann Marie Miles, senior director of Individual Philanthropy. “She has visited our programs around the world and taken the time to understand and support our mission to reach every last child.” Save the Children has touched the lives of 134 million children in 120 countries this year alone. “That’s a mind-boggling number,” notes Stuart, who took her family to Indonesia to see the work Save the Children is doing there. “Save the Children is so important to their community. It was fantastic to have our kids get a sense of what’s happening around the world outside their bubble.”
hopes & dreams “I’m on several committees, diving headfirst into the board, and going out to see the programs as much as I can. There is a lot going on at the organization regarding effectiveness: how to take the best ideas and best practices from any given location and apply them and scale up. The businessperson in me is interested in how to operate more effectively and more efficiently over time. But for now I have to earn my stripes.” »
high school at Greenwich’s India Cultural Center (ICC). Perhaps Angreji’s pressing urge to give back developed in Scouts. “I started scouting in kindergarten,” he says, now an Eagle Scout. As a child of immigrants from India and a new kid in town, Angreji found it difficult to meet kids. “Scouting was a great way to get involved in the community, and it blossomed into meeting a group of people who were engaged and had a shared goal of creating a better future for people around us.”
courage into action
inspiration “When I was younger, I thought a lot about how I could amplify the impact I have on the world,” says Purab Angreji. “It was kind of like a midlife crisis but in eighth grade. How do I benefit others rather than living in a bubble?” When his sister asked for help with her Girl Scouts Gold Award, Angreji started brainstorming. “I gave her ideas on how to benefit the community longterm,” he explains. “With the current global state, a lot of professions will become our future, and the most important is technology. Tech coding classes for youth would help the next generation be prosperous.” The result was a coding curriculum he created and taught throughout
MOST DEDICATED TEEN
purab angreji
organizations: India Cultural Center, Scouts (Eagle Scout), Wilton High School Model Congress, WHS Debate Team, WHS International Club, WHS Band
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“Since he was a freshman, Purab traveled from Wilton to Greenwich twenty-four Sunday mornings a year to teach coding to grade-school students at ICC,” says Margie French, executive director. “Purab’s impact on ICC and on his students has been enormous,” she continues. “He is motivated to do good and do well. He is a role model to ICC children and admired by parents.” Angreji recalls a highlight of teaching: “A group of kids decided to take what I was teaching them out of the context of making a game and think about how it could be applied in other fields, like medicine. That was rewarding, watching these kids who are just ten years old, applying what I was teaching them to better the world.”
hopes & dreams “I’m young still, so I tend to be quite optimistic,” says Angreji, who is a freshman at NYU’s Stern School, studying business and political economy. “Business I think holds the most versatility for an individual to have the biggest impact.” When he graduates, Angreji hopes to move up the corporate ladder in a larger firm so that he can implement programs for social good. “I’m interested in how to use business and capitalist benefits to directly benefit the social flow,” he says.
CORPORATE GOOD NEIGHBOR
organizations: Kids in Crisis, Bridgeport Rescue Mission, Norwalk Mentor Program, Connecticut Food Bank, Homes for the Brave, Ronald McDonald House, Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary, Habitat for Humanity, Ludlow Senior Center
reed exhibitions inspiration “Giving back is very important to our company,” says Yancy Weinrich, COO of Reed Exhibitions. The 32,000 employees at the U.K.-based company, with North American headquarters in Norwalk, are given two paid days off each year for charity work. “We encourage volunteering, and this goes from the top down across all our business units,” says Weinrich. In the past few years, Reed Exhibitions employees have started volunteering together— forming teams, choosing a project and working together. “For example, building a house for Habitat for Humanity,” she explains. “They spend a day together and feel good about what they’ve accomplished. It really builds morale.”
courage into action
“Employees at Reed Exhibitions are some of Kids In Crisis’ most dedicated and passionate volunteers,” says Beth Jabick, Corporate Partnerships Manager at Kids in Crisis. “Many volunteer on their own time, in addition to using their RE Cares time [their paid days off for volunteering].” Beyond helping at the shelter, a holiday gift drive and monthly pizza dinners for Lighthouse meetings (for LGBTQ youth), Reed Exhibitions’ parent company, RELX, has helped fund the Kids in Crisis Teen Talk Program through an annual grant. Reed Exhibitions has raised more than $64,000 for Bridgeport Rescue Mission, and employees help distribute Thanksgiving food to the needy. During and after school, NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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employees mentor children in Norwalk schools through the Norwalk Mentor Program. Reed Exhibitions also donates to Connecticut Food Bank throughout the year; and employees did seven projects with the Food Bank in 2018 alone. They also volunteer to create, serve and share a dinner with the homeless veterans served by Homes for the Brave. “Our company has a number of veterans on staff, and this project is very close to their hearts,” comments Weinrich. Other partners include Ludlow Senior Center, where Reed volunteers host a Christmas party annually; Ronald McDonald House, where volunteers create healthy lunches and give their time to help with Trees of Hope, the annual fundraiser; and the Catherine Violet Hubbard Animal Sanctuary in Newtown, being built in honor of a first-grader killed at Sandy Hook in 2012.
hopes & dreams “We hope that even more employees will get involved in volunteering,” says Weinrich. “We hope to broaden our partnerships and footprint in the community. We are also moving to a new location where we are focused on creating a company culture our employees want to tell their friends about. We want to be known as a place that really cares.” »
FAIRFIELD COUNTY’S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD q&a with executive director of connect-us
pam lewis
to twenty-five, come together to take responsibility for supporting the growth of other young people. They watch a lot of documentaries to understand what’s going on in the world and become critical thinkers. They invite others to participate in our programs. Since 2014, over 2,400 young people and their families have been engaged with Connect-Us.
What’s the mission of Connect-Us?
We bring together suburban and urban neighbors to improve the quality of outcomes for young people living in communities of concentrated poverty. How does your mission fit with Fairfield County Community Foundation’s values?
One of the programs FCCF supports is our Connect-Us Academy. The academy is for young people, ages sixteen to twenty-one, who want to cultivate skills and learn to work in a professional business setting. For fourteen weeks students attend after-school workshops at companies throughout Fairfield County. It helps all involved—not just the kids—to better navigate this increasingly complex world. We have corporate partners in various fields: finance, law, marketing, energy, interior design, fashion design, health administration. The graduates are placed in paid summer internships. We placed twenty-four interns last summer, working for $14 an hour. FCCF actually had two interns. State officials complain that it’s hard to attract businesses to Connecticut. I’ve spoken up about working to impact the culture. Businesses should
What does the future hold for Connect-Us?
I’m excited about the growth of our business partnerships. I think we could place twice as many interns next year. We are finding ways to tap into resources to support the growth of our kids. We have twenty-five partners, including Bridgewater, which leads résumé writing workshops. JPMorgan Chase is coming up to lead workshops. We are getting traction, and I’m excited about that. Words of Praise
invest in the kids of Bridgeport. Millennials want to work for companies that are socially responsible. We are that bridge— between the kids and the community/businesses. Our goal is to continue to find ways to bring people together who don’t normally come together. There’s no reason Connecticut couldn’t
be a good model for the country, given the level of inequality that exists in Fairfield County. What is your organization’s biggest accomplishment?
I think it’s our youth leadership team. The team meets every Tuesday, September through May. These young people, ages fifteen
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Jill Egan, event planner at Bridgewater Associates, comments: “Pam’s after-school program adds huge value to the underprivileged population. Connect-Us teaches important social skills, gives academic resources and really captures the essence of what it is to develop young leaders for society.”
FAIRFIELD COUNTY’S COMMUNITY FOUNDATION COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD q&a with executive director of building one community
catalina horak we understand that fear and we address it and work with local elected officials, our partners and the community at large to provide the stable environment that everyone needs, that kids need. We are committed to advocacy and applying our knowledge to shape immigration policies. We are a new organization—we are only eight years old—so also making sure people know who we are, build our brand, and be the go-to place for area immigrants.
What is the mission of Building One Community?
To support local immigrants on their journey toward being successful members of the community—what we call their integration journey. Our goal is to advance successful integration of all immigrants and their families regardless of where they are on that journey. Some have been here working for ten years, with a basic level of education, and they still are not speaking English. Others, from the Middle East for example, have been exposed to English and a higher level of education and learn English rapidly. Each has different needs on their path to becoming contributing members of the community.
Words of Praise
How does your mission fit with Fairfield County Community Foundation’s values?
Immigration is one of FCCF’s core issues. They are all about closing the opportunity gap, serving the community, making sure everyone has a fair chance. It’s exactly what we do. Ethnic diversity and inclusion— 80 percent of our staff are people of color, so we represent the people we are serving. We are about equity and collaboration.
the solutions many times are at the local level. We are part of the local solution.
What is your organization’s biggest accomplishment?
Making sure that we stay true to our values and mission during a time of very rapid growth and that we continue to facilitate the programs based on real needs and not our perception. Immigration is such a national issue but also a local issue, and
What does the future hold for Building One Community?
These are very challenging times for many of the people we serve. It’s a time of uncertainty and fear, so we need to make sure that
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Robert Wells, program coordinator of MAV Foundation (an organization dedicated to eradicating hunger) comments, “Through its Workforce Development Program, B1C offers an underserved immigrant population a chance to participate in certificate-based training in culinary and catering, home health aide, and construction and landscaping at no cost. B1C offers English language learning instruction for all ages. True to its name, B1C collaborates with over fifty organizations to provide access to education, healthcare, childcare, legal advice and more. These collaborations are vital for the holistic, wraparound services that B1C supplies to over 3,300 community members a year.” G
Attention Best of Winners! M O F F LY M E D I A
GOLD COAST C O N N E C T I C U T • 2019
You asked for it and we listened! We received hundreds of requests on how you can get additional marketing materials and signs to announce YOUR BEST OF WIN! We’re proud to announce Moffly Media’s official Best Of The Gold Coast & Best Of Town ONLINE STORE!
Proudly display your win to the community with:
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ORDER NOW at bestofgoldcoastct.com These special keepsakes provide yearlong in-store marketing for your business! CONGRATULATIONS again on being a 2019 winner!
SAVE THE DATE
Thursday, December 5, 6 :30 – 9:30 p.m .
2019
Photos by Melani Lust
Please join us as we honor the extraordinary work of our community heroes. Plus: Community Impact Awards, honoring two outstanding nonprofits Presented by Fairfield County’s Community Foundation
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Moffly Media’s 12th Annual Light a Fire awards reception and cocktail party at the Westport Country Playhouse
the get-a-grip guide to
est.
college prep by riann smith
2019
WE LIVE IN A TOWN OF OVERACHIEVERS , and many of them don’t even have a driver’s license yet. But now that the college application season is well underway, where do parents draw the line between being supporters and saboteurs? The ripple effect of Operation Varsity Blues runs deep: How did we get here? Who’s pulling the strings? And when the stakes are so high, with so few spots in the “admit” pile, how do we remember what really matters?
alpha ambition It played out like a Greek tragedy: The scrappy, sexy moguls who never went to college but hit it big, who doctored their daughters’ applications in an effort to best their own lackluster educations with designer diplomas, wind up ruining their children’s lives (and Sephora careers!) and bringing down their own empire. We’ve all read the stories of high-profile parents like Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, who were willing to break the law to engineer their
already privileged kids into elite schools. It’s an admissions scandal scarlet letter A they will wear their entire lives, and for many of the children involved, whether complicit or not, a shadowy source of shame. It’s easy to gawk at those who have fallen from grace in an attempt to game the system, bug-eyed at their blatantly unethical behavior. What’s harder is wrapping our heads around the bigger picture: How these Page Six pariahs are symptomatic of a subtler, more fundamental and universal pressure to which millions of well-meaning parents are prone. It looks something like this: FOMO, or Fear of Missing Opportunities. “We’ve actually NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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had an uptick in calls since Operation Varsity Blues,” says Anne-Marie Hesser, a college consultant with Greenwich Education Group (GEG). “A lot of people out there didn’t even know that college consulting services existed. To be clear, unlike the unaccredited ringleader at the nexus of the scandal, our consultants have professional credentials, such as the IECA [Independent Educational Consultants Association], and our students get in through the front door.” The demand for high quality college counseling services like GEG is stronger than ever in affluent communities such as ours, particularly among families of students who attend large
public high schools where advisors’ caseloads are too heavy to offer individualized attention. “College is a massive financial investment, so you can’t just go on gut,” says Hesser. “It has to be a more thorough, data-driven process. Helping parents and students get honest with themselves about identifying strengths and weaknesses is part of that process, because you don’t want to set a kid up for failure in college.” Some parents aren’t getting the memo. GEG recently fielded a call from a father who crassly asked them to “make calls” on behalf of his child; he was promptly turned away. Inappropriate asks like this one often stem from an entitled “shortcut me” mentality, an obsession with keeping up with the Joneses and a narcissistic need for validation via their child’s name-brand accomplishments. “It’s the parents who often have a harder time stomaching the news that their child may be eighth or ninth on the list of fifteen applicants from their class who are applying to the same first-choice school,” says one tristate area admissions advisor at a top prep school, who prefers not to be named. He remembers getting reamed out by an Ivy League dad who blew up when his kid didn’t make the cut at his alma mater, despite the fact that the advisor discouraged the son from applying for early decision after factoring his chances of getting in. “There’s a transactional element among parents who have put their children in elite schools for X amount of years and come sophomore year, they’re thinking, Okay, what are we going to get out of this?” says the advisor, who was pressured (unsuccessfully) by the same dad to call a handful of other college admissions offices to promise each was his son’s first choice, so he’d get bumped off the wait list at one of them. Unfortunately, these stories are as ubiquitous
as pizza in a freshman dorm. That’s precisely why colleges are banning the concept of an advocate in the admissions process. It has become a pushy parent’s last attempt at leverage, and it goes something like this: I’d like you to advocate for my son at X and Y and Z school, because we’re disappointed he didn’t get into A or B, school and we’ve earned the right, through our tuition dollars, for you to fix the problem. “Not only does it lower the credibility of the college counselor with universities by asking him or her to lobby multiple schools simultaneously,” says the advisor, “it becomes more about the parent than the student’s own initiative.”
pleaser pressure For those parents who think they haven’t gone off the rails (yet), be warned. A well-meaning, “Why aren’t you looking at Duke?” from Mom or Dad can set off an avalanche of stress in a teen who already feels little agency in an already daunting admissions process. Even those innocent visits to your alma mater for football games, complete with branded swag and chanting pride, can turn into an unspoken, follow-in-my-footsteps indoctrination. One mother of a sophomore called up GEG, eager to jumpstart the college advising process a year early. “She kept saying, ‘When I apply him to college…’ This is when you know it’s trouble, when they refer to the process in the royal ‘we,’” says Hesser. “I get it. When you’re writing the check you should have a say in this, but this has to be their choice because if it’s not their choice, painfully, it will be their failure.” “I challenge parents to take their own wants out of the equation,” says Andy Ramirez, greenwichmag.com
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director of college counseling at the Greenwich Country Day School, who has formerly served as director of college counseling at the Dalton School, associate director of college counseling at Princeton Day School, assistant dean of admissions at Princeton University and associate dean of admissions at Bowdoin College. Ramirez requires all of his student advisees to fill out a questionnaire at the start of their junior year. Once teens put pen to paper, he often finds that their ideas drastically diverge from their parents’. It also gives them an opportunity to be challenged beyond where they think they “must” go and consider where else they may be just as happy. “If you tell me you want Columbia because you want to be in a big city and attend a mid-size school with a strong research department, I’ll challenge you to consider a handful of other excellent institutions that fit the same criteria,” Ramirez says. “If Columbia is still at the top of your list at the end, go for it, but you’ll be armed with a list of places that may be just as good a fit but more realistic.” Given the fact that seemingly every year, colleges break record application numbers while average class sizes haven’t budged over the last three decades (with the exception of Yale, which has been increasing its class size by 15 percent over the past three years), casting a wider net is the norm. “Where students may have applied to three or four colleges in the past, they sometimes are putting seventeen, eighteen on their list,” says Ramirez. The problem is that all too often, students believe that there are only twenty-five schools that matter, which can have poor outcomes. “I see many kids who are dead set on swinging for the fences, many times against what the college counselors suggest,” says Ramirez. More often than not, those students wind up in the deferred pile. Those who do make the
cut may even find themselves struggling with a fit that doesn’t, well, fit. “Not everyone is cut out for the hyper-competitive academic environment of, say, Princeton,” says Ramirez. “When I worked there, we would tell students during admissions talks that we understand if the school isn’t right for them.” Sure, with a dauntingly low admission rate, a school like Princeton can afford to turn away highly qualified kids in droves, but the takeaway is that there isn’t one be-all, end-all school. Ramirez says it over and over because he sees it over and over: There is not one path to greatness, and it doesn’t boil down to the bumper sticker on your car. “I will tell you that a kid who positively engages with his or her environment at a less selective school, who becomes the darling of his or her department, who is thriving and making connections on campus, is going to get into the competitive law school, the business school over the kid at an ultra-selective school who just cruised through and didn’t take advantage of his or her opportunities.”
fishing for hooks In our social media-saturated society, teens subconsciously know that self-packaging can lead to success. By extension, to get “likes” from an admissions committee, they better outshine their peers. “The kids, instead of approaching this as, ‘I am going to represent myself and hope that the college sees some worth and value in me,’ it’s ‘Let me represent myself in a way that’s going to give me some sort of leg up on others,’” says Bobby Walker Jr., CEO of the Boys and
SATs, ACTs, OMG Whether or not the SAT or ACT should carry such disproportionate weight on applications in our post-scandal world is up for debate. The reality is, standardized tests still count, and according to college advisors, colleges often see (and expect) higher scores coming out of communities like ours, where test prep is readily available. Many college counselors suggest getting your feet wet with a practice test the summer after sophomore year, rather than waiting for junior year when stress levels are higher and workloads are heavier. For students who struggle with standardized tests, the good news is that more competitive schools are becoming testoptional, from the University of Chicago to Wesleyan, joining Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Wake Forest and others. Rumor has it the entire University of California system may go testoptional. For a list of all of the test-optional schools to date, go to fairtest.org.
Early Decision 2 Think of it as a hybrid of a first-choice and a safety. ED2 has the same binding commitment as Early Decision 1, but with a January application deadline and a February decision. If you get deferred or rejected from your ED 1 school, applying to another college ED 2 can boost your odds of admission. Here are schools currently offering ED 2. American University Bates College Bennington College Boston University Bowdoin College Brandeis University Bryant University Bryn Mawr College Bucknell University Carleton College Case Western Reserve Claremont McKenna Colleges Colby College Colgate University College of the Atlantic College of Wooster Colorado College Connecticut College Davidson College Denison College Dickinson College Emory Franklin & Marshall College George Washington University Gettysburg College Grinnell College Hamilton College Hampshire College Harvey Mudd College Haverford College Hobart and William Smith Colleges Juniata College Kenyon College Lafayette College
Lehigh University Macalester College Middlebury College Mount Holyoke College New York University Northeastern University Oberlin College Occidental College Pitzer College Pomona College Reed College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhodes College Saint Olaf College Sarah Lawrence College Sewanee Skidmore College Smith College Swarthmore College Trinity College Trinity University Tufts University Union College University of Chicago University of Miami University of Richmond Vanderbilt University Vassar College Wake Forest University Washington and Lee University Wellesley College Wesleyan University Whitman College
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Girls Club of Greenwich. That’s what he sees as the crux of the problem, which isn’t unlike the darker side of, say, Instagram. “You’re more worried about what other people are doing as opposed to simply presenting yourself.” Walker remembers a conversation he had with one of his teen members two years ago. “She’s a good student, she’s not going to be top in her class in anything, but she’s a really good student who’s worked hard. She approached this whole college process and said, ‘You know, Bobby, I have no hooks.’ I said, ‘What do you mean?’ She said, ‘We all know that the college process is about who you know. All we ever talk about is this person has a family member who went here or their father works with this person who went there.’ She knew those weren’t guarantees. But she knew they were introductions. And so she asked me, this girl is seventeen, and she asks me, ‘So Bobby, what’s my hook? What’s gonna get me in? I grew up in Armstrong Court.’” Walker goes on to say, “This young lady is thriving right now at the University of New Haven, loving it. But look at how she approached the whole process, feeling as if there was a system that already wasn’t necessarily going to benefit her in the end and that she would 100 percent have to stand completely on her own as a first-gen, low-income girl who is going to have to fight the system by herself. She felt a lot of her classmates already had people down in the trenches for them, or at least knew how to navigate this complicated world of college admissions, and what are the gains?” Quite understandably, this paradigm can create a chip-on-my-shoulder resentment for kids weighing who has more of an advantage. Skewed perceptions create a hall of mirrors of finger pointing. “The poor kids think the rich kids have an advantage, the rich kids think the uber rich have more of one, and the rich kids feel the affirmative action kids have one over
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them, too,” says Walker. A hierarchy has even emerged regarding what hooks are most and least tolerable. According to the tristate advisor, people are most likely to accept bias toward recruited athletes, legacies and development (aka Daddy donated a building) acceptances, the underlying factor being that the public processes it as University Agenda. “The times that I see the most aggression is the complaint from the parents of the white male who can’t get into his top choices, that women or people of color are taking the spot he deserved,” the advisor says. “I worry about the message some parents are sending to their kids when they voice these beliefs. Their words are going to stick with their kids and may unfortunately shape who they become, long after college.”
gap kids
Another piece of the parent-child problem is a generational disconnect: Admissions isn’t the same ball game for Millennials and Gen Z-ers as it was for their well-rounded Gen X parents, who may have sailed into top-tier schools back in the ’90s but would sink in today’s more competitive pool. For starters, being a Renaissance man or woman means little in the admissions world at the most selective colleges, unless you’ve spent the last four years crushing it as a classics virtuoso. The point? Pointy is in. It’s a term used to express students who deep dive into an area of interest that is so laser-focused, it vaults them above the rest, as opposed to simply being the proverbial wellrounded applicant who’s “pretty good” at a lot of things. What if you’re a student who hasn’t found your passion yet? Hurry up, because everyone else is passionately pursuing theirs until 10 p.m. each night—and that’s before tackling
those AP classes. It’s this kind of pressure that is causing students to take gap years in record numbers—and we’re not talking about bro trips to Australia. “These are therapeutic gap years,” says Ramirez. “I’ve spent many hours with colleagues who are college counselors, and we are all seeing the same thing. These kids felt such pressure just to get into these prestigious schools, and are reluctant to quickly jump back into pressure mode again, when the stakes are even higher.” Then there are the kids who matriculate right away, but crash and burn. Says a sophomore at Harvard who asked to remain anonymous, “I remember a guy in my dorm, a football player, he flew home first semester freshman year and never came back. A lot of people on campus have trouble coping with the pressure.” How can students safeguard themselves from self-combustion during and after the admissions process? “I think it’s sitting down and doing a meaningful cost-benefit analysis of how you’re spending your time and making sure you’ve got the things that bring you enjoyment, and then figuring out the things that are going to benefit you the most academically in terms of what you would like to study moving forward,” says Hesser. “Ninety percent of the kids who come in here say they want to study business.
Ramirez says it over and over because he sees it over and over: there is not one path to greatness, and it doesn’t boil down to the bumper sticker on your car.
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When we dig deeper, many say they hate math but ‘want to make a lot of money.’ I think for them it’s just a reality that they know when they get out of college they need to get a job. Especially in the Fairfield County area, where 99 percent of the grown-ups work in finance.” Hesser helps families by saying when necessary, “Listen, this is not a natural strength, not to say it couldn’t become a strength, but you need to be at a college where you’re going to have options if the business piece doesn’t work out.” And while most Millennials are beginning to grasp the fact that statistically, they may not be as well off as their parents, they still want to rise to the top, says Hesser. “We’ve been seeing a trend of students seeking out schools with strong internship and co-op programs during the school year, like American and Northeastern. But every student’s needs are different.” Some want access to fencing facilities; others are looking for robust learning support programs. Students who have gone to large and impersonal high schools may thrive in a warm and fuzzy rural environment, and vice-versa. Bottom line: The way parents can prep their teens for four happy, productive years is by preaching less and listening more. Ramirez urges parents to “use the college application process as an opportunity to get to know your children more deeply. Go on road trips with them, see what’s driving them, what’s standing out, what isn’t. Sit back and let your kids react to their college visits.” Colleges are providing more information than ever about their offerings through virtual tours, departmental tours and overnights called yield programs for accepted students, so each student can really engage with the campus. “Kids are extremely intuitive and they’re going to make the right decision, if parents can get out of the way,” says Ramirez. “I always remind students that they have a lot more power than they think they do, so let’s G exercise that.”
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Patricia’s parents shortly after she was born
the ties that bind
CONTRIBUTED
Patricia Chadwick spent the first eighteen years of her life cut off from society and entrapped in a world of religious fanaticism, iron-fisted control and abuse. In her memoir, Little Sister, she shares her journey of being raised in—and subsequently cast out of—a cult, the only life she knew by timothy dumas • portrait photograph by kyle norton
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T
he financial consultant Patricia Walsh Chadwick has been married for nearly thirty-five years; she and her husband, John, are the parents of adult twins, Caroline and Jim, and they live in a large, lovely house in Greenwich—a white-clapboard Georgian Revival adorned with topiary bushes and a formal garden. These facts may seem unremarkable. But if you have read Patricia’s recently published memoir, Little Sister, and if you then pull up to the house to interview her, it may be the following passage that you recall: “For years, I had kept to myself my dreams of being married, having children and living in an elegant house surrounded by rose-filled gardens. I dared not share those dreams with anyone, not even my parents, because I knew such longings were delusional.”
early years, growing up in a cult. A Catholic cult, based in Massachusetts, isolated from the outside world and innocent of such corrupting forces as movies and magazines, Elvis and The Beatles. “In the Boston area, we were known as Feeneyites,” Patricia says, enunciating the word crisply. “And to be a Feeneyite was possibly the lowest of the low.” Patricia first considered telling her harrowing story about fifteen years ago. “I said to my parents at that time, ‘Fifty years from now, there’ll be no more eyewitnesses to what happened,’ because it’s changed. That whole upbringing we had no longer exists there.” But when it came to writing it, she hesitated. “I didn’t want to be in a rush to tell the story for a couple of reasons,” she says. “One, I needed to learn the craft of writing, and I wanted to do it well.” This is typical Patricia—smart, patient, disciplined, wholly unlike the legions of eager and untested
only bits of her not militantly managed.” The other reason Patricia delayed writing her memoir had to do with a highly developed sense of tact, a careful regard for older cult members still living. “I knew that my story, told from the standpoint of a child, would be a very different story from the one that any one of them might tell, and I didn’t want to upset them,” she says. “I really wasn’t anxious to do it while a lot of them were alive. And, in fact, by the time the book came out, all but a tiny handful had died.” Patricia was encouraged by her parents, despite their complex roles in the story. Her father, Jim Walsh, died in 2007, but lived long enough to approve of the project; her mother, Betsy Walsh, read every word before she died in September 2018. “Parts of it made her sad, but she said, ‘It’s all true, and you need to publish it.’ And so to have that blessing from her was far
Why should such normal aspirations be “delusional”? And how did these once-forbidden longings come to be bedrock facts of her life? What happened? The front door swings open, and Patricia appears with a cautious smile. She is youthfully elegant, with her bright blue eyes, light auburn hair, pastel blazer and pearl necklace. She leads the way to a sun-filled living room, and begins to tell you all about her
memoirists out in America. Her approach paid off. Here, for example, is her vivid description of the cult’s formidable founder: “Sister Catherine, seated tall in the straightbacked chair at her desk, swiveled to face me, her strong rectangular body softened by fine wisps of reddish blonde hair that danced like flickering candles around her flawless white complexion. Those wayward strands were the greenwichmag.com
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more important than worrying about whether some of the people who were still up there, in Still River, would be offended by the book.” It’s also fair to say that it took time for Patricia herself to fully come to terms with her material—to see it with ruthless clarity. “It was my daughter who came home from college one weekend and said, ‘I want to tell you two things. First, stop everything until you finish this book.
CONTRIBUTED
Patricia’s parents’ wedding day in 1947 • Catherine Clarke and her husband, Hank • Patricia with her parents, sister Cathy and brother David
And second, you have to accept the fact that you grew up in a cult.’” The word hit Patricia with force, but she knew that it was right.
BENEATH THE SURFACE
The cult began innocently enough. In 1940 Catherine Clarke, a married Catholic laywoman, founded the Saint Benedict Center in Cambridge as a gathering place for Catholic students at Harvard and Radcliffe. Especially after the Second World War, the center teemed with young intellectuals who were intensely serious about Catholic life. This postwar energy coincided with the arrival of Father Leonard Feeney as the center’s spiritual director. Feeney was a Jesuit priest widely admired for his oratory, poetry and essays. But in middle age his rhetoric grew strident and his bigotry uninhibited. The
What earned Feeney outlaw status, however, was his rigid view of the Catholic dogma “extra Ecclesiam nulla salus”—outside the Catholic Church there is no salvation. Feeney held that if you were a Protestant or a Jew or a nothingin-particular, you were doomed to roast in hell for all eternity. The eight-year-old Patricia, meanwhile, sensibly deemed the “no salvation” dogma absurd. When she asked a cult elder how people who lived on distant islands with no chance of converting to Catholicism could be damned, his reply was, “If they were of good faith, God would have sent them a missionary.” Rome could not deny the dogma’s authentic Catholic pedigree. But, at a time when religions were moving toward peaceful coexistence, Rome could, and did, take issue with Feeney’s severe interpretation. Instead, Church authorities interpreted the dogma to mean that Patricia’s distant islanders could indeed
1949), expelled from the Jesuit Order (October 1949), and finally, excommunicated from the Catholic Church (February 1953). But Feeney and his flock, “The Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” continued undaunted in Cambridge. The fifty-one adult members pledged “blind allegiance” to Feeney, an act so defiant that Patricia’s readers experience a chill of foreboding: Clearly we are not dealing with a wholesome religious order. The peculiar name of the sect was supposed to denote spiritual freedom through “slavery” to the Virgin Mary, but it manages instead to strike an Orwellian note (“Freedom is Slavery” is, in fact, a slogan from Orwell’s 1984). “For me personally as a child, the notion of ‘slave’ anywhere was abhorrent,” Patricia says, traces of her Boston accent still evident. “I didn’t want to think of my parents as slaves, and I didn’t want to think of myself as a slave. I
CONTRIBUTED
Patricia at two months of age with her mother • Patricia with her grandmother, father, sister and brother • The Walsh siblings Peggy, Patricia, David, Cathy and Veronica
British novelist Evelyn Waugh visited Feeney in Boston and pronounced him “stark, raving mad.” A journal Feeney edited, The Point, published articles sporting grotesque titles like “The Jewish Invasion of Our Country: Our Culture Under Siege”—this after the Holocaust. In another article Feeney accuses Jews, led by Pablo Picasso, of ruining art—nevermind that Picasso was a Catholic.
be saved—that anyone with an “implicit desire” to be saved could be saved, the phrase vague enough to embrace anyone who had not actively rejected the Church and had “a good disposition of the soul.” Feeney, like a nervy private countermanding his generals, disagreed, and would not be brought to heel. For this and other acts of disobedience he was stripped of his priest’s rank (April NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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hated the name ‘Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.’ I was embarrassed by it.” The married adults and their thirty-nine children lived commune-style in seven houses behind a tall red fence off Putnam Avenue, not far from Harvard Square. At first life behind the red fence, in Patricia’s lively telling, seems almost idyllic. The adults are “Big Brothers” and “Big Sisters,” the children are “Little
Brothers” and “Little Sisters,” and together they comprise a tight-knit family united in their devotion to “orthodox” Catholicism. “My earliest memories are filled with the sounds of laughter,” Patricia writes. “The men and women of the center became an array of ‘uncles and aunts,’ with someone ready at any time of the day to play games with me, read to me, or take me for a walk.” Soon the tone darkens. Patricia notices Father (Feeney is always simply “Father”) holding court like a lord, reclining in his red leather armchair as the women sit at his feet or kneel at his side. She notices Father and Sister Catherine using fine china, crystal goblets and silver cutlery at their white linen-bedecked dinner table, while the rest sit at long wooden tables with their stainless steel utensils and cheap melamine dishes. She notices the Slaves discarding their colorful “worldly” clothing in favor of austere
Slave—foiling Patricia’s innate curiosity about people and their stories. Father also inhibits the Slaves from associating with family members who live “out in the world” beyond the red fence. So ends Patricia’s trips to see her beloved Grandmother Walsh: We are now unambiguously in cult territory. Father, naturally, is a hypocrite: He takes the children to visit his parents’ house, where Patricia notices, in the crepuscular gloom of the front hall, a vase of dead hydrangeas—a portent of things to come. Things grow darker still. In 1953, when Patricia is not yet five, Father decrees that the adults should shed their worldly names and assume Catholic ones of his choosing: Patricia’s parents, Jim and Betsy Walsh, are henceforth Brother James Aloysius and Sister Elizabeth Ann. “Only in the privacy of our apartment could I still call them Mama and Daddy.” Father soon starts in on the children’s names.
banks of the Charles River to pick flowers. One day Patricia realizes Betty is nowhere evident, and that night she quizzes her mother. “She’s gone, darling,” comes the unsatisfactory reply. But why? “Because she wasn’t a good girl.”
The quite Catholic “Mary Patricia” would seem to be safe from change, but one morning Father intercepts her: “How would you like to be called Anastasia?” he asks. Patricia knows she must hold her tongue. She is Anastasia now. Are there signs of dissension in the ranks? Yes, but they’re quickly smoothed over. Patricia’s favorite “Angel,” or babysitter, is Betty Sullivan, the woman who had taken her on walks to the
Brothers come to remove her parents’ bed and armchair from the family apartment; so it goes at the other children’s apartments. “In stunned silence, we watched as the furniture from our homes was carried off, piece by piece,” Patricia writes. “What did it mean?” It meant the families were being split apart. From that day forward, children three and older were all housed together like orphans
DIVIDE TO CONQUER Nothing, though, prepares Patricia for the cataclysmic “glorious day” that Father proclaims in November 1954. As a prelude, he gives a sermon recounting how the Virgin Mary’s parents relinquished her, at age three, to the care of the priests at the Temple of Jerusalem. (The story does not appear in the Bible proper, but rather in the apocryphal Gospel of James.) Later that day, as Patricia climbs a willow tree out in the yard, Big
black and white uniforms. She notices the world outside fading away (the walks cease), since it’s populated by “bad people,” Jews and Protestants and “pious frauds”—Irish Catholics who sided not with Father, but with Boston Archbishop Richard J. Cushing. Events take a creepy turn when Father hands down an edict forbidding discussion of one’s “past life”—the life one led before becoming a
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CONTRIBUTED
The members Members of the Center center (1953) - 1953
in a dormitory. Patricia still remembers the day as the worst day of her life: she, her fouryear-old sister, Mary Catherine, and her threeyear-old brother, David, are essentially cast out of the family bosom (the two youngest Walsh children remain with their parents). And what of her parents? Where do they stand in all of this? In 1947 Jim was a twenty-eight-year-old budding philosophy teacher at Boston College (he would be fired in 1949 for his continued devotion to Feeney), and Betsy was an eighteenyear-old beauty with brains to match. They met at the center in March of ’47, and Father married them six months later. Patricia renders her parents with love and sympathy, but their story, at least in the early stages, is distressing. It’s one thing to believe in old-school Catholicism, and quite another to submit to the nonsensical rules of a cult. Readers find themselves urging Jim and Betsy
baths and the bedtime stories, the “Good night, my little princess,” that Jim bestows tenderly on Patricia—and now we witness its abrupt end. Worse, parental love is replaced by the cold, regimental ways of Patricia’s new house mother, Sister Matilda. She seems a character out of The Handmaid’s Tale. “From now on,” Matilda announces, “you may no longer hold the hands of the younger children.” It has been Patricia’s practice to hold hands with her own baby sister, Veronica, during brief recreation periods in the yard. One evening when she thinks Matilda is not present, Patricia can’t resist breaking the new rule: “As I led [Veronica] across the yard, her tiny feet making progress with my guidance, I glanced up and caught sight of Sister Matilda watching me from the second-floor window…” A paddling with a shoe brush ensues. There is hope when the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary pick up and move to
meetings” on Sundays). Children can no longer talk to children of the opposite sex. There are no more birthday celebrations. Married couples must take vows of celibacy. Finally, husbands and wives are physically separated—marking the total dismantling of the Saint Benedict Center families. These last edicts do rouse the Walshes’ ire (perhaps especially since Sister Catherine spent three nights a week with her husband at their house in Waltham), which Patricia overhears in the form of her father’s angry voice emanating from the office of Father Feeney. “You had no right…” she hears him saying, only to be countered by the raised voices of Father and Sister Catherine. Jim Walsh—Brother James Aloysius—believed in the mission of the center, but it becomes clear that his faith in its directives is thin. “The Walsh family, the five of us children, were enormously benefited by the fact that our dad always
CONTRIBUTED
Jim Walsh (third from left) onon the day hehe was fired from Boston College. • The Little Sisters (1963) Themy Walsh family (1972) My father (third from left) the day was fired from Boston College. - 1963. •With siblings and parents at their 25th wedding anniversary - 1972
to shake off Feeney’s terrible spell as if they’re trapped in a Stephen King novel, oblivious to the dark forces gathering. Even the family separation they seem to accept with passivity. “You and Mary Catherine and David are big girls and boys now,” Betsy explains to Patricia in a tone that somehow is the worse for its gentleness. We have seen the nightly happiness of the Walsh family—the
a bucolic eighteen-acre property in Still River, thirty miles west of Boston. It is 1958, and Patricia is nine years old. In Still River there will be gardens to tend, animals to raise, and fields and woods to explore. “This was surely the beginning of a new and wonderful life,” Patricia writes. But the decrees fall faster and stranger. Children can no longer talk to adults, not even their own parents (except in “community NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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let us know that he loved us,” Patricia says. “So did our mother—but he did it by breaking the rules.” He did so in small but important ways— wishing Patricia happy birthday, or giving her an affectionate wave of his little finger when she passed by the center’s garage, where he worked as a mechanic. “Those things were the glue that held me together through those long periods of silence from them.” »
Sister Catherine is the memoir’s most unnerving character, chiefly for her capriciousness. The girls never know which side of her they were going to get. Here she covertly brings them dolls to play with; there she devises a brutal new form of abuse she calls “the Big Punisher.” “It will be unlike you have ever experienced before,” she tells the girls, her green eyes aglint. “It’s for the good of your souls.” The Big Punisher was a section of garden hose kept in a black leather bag, the better to preserve its aura of secrecy and terror. When it’s used on Patricia, she has no idea what her offense was, though the grave accusation is that she laughed “with” a boy during a games period, when it appears she might simply have laughed at the same time. “The first shock of pain practically brought me to the floor,” Patricia writes of the Big Punisher’s initial blow. Patricia says that Saint Benedict parents were “truly, truly, oblivious to the abuse” visited upon their children. “I will tell you, many of the kids suffered from PTSD, and many of them have been in therapy. I did not suffer from PTSD. I think I’m a very lucky person that way. Even within my own family, among my siblings, there are those who have much harsher feelings toward the center, toward people there.” It’s a measure of Still River’s gravitational pull that the “children,” Patricia included, still meet there each summer. “We had a reunion just this past Saturday,” she says, the first since Little Sister’s publication. Those who had read the book, to Patricia’s surprise, applauded its honesty and thanked her for writing it. The official reaction? “They were not happy,” Patricia says of the Saint Benedict community, still extant but in somewhat splintered form. “They have their own belief system about Sister Catherine and about Father Feeney. That’s their prerogative. And so they have chosen not to comment officially on the book—in fact, they have chosen to remain silent—but their silence has informed me.”
A DOOR OPENS There is much more to Patricia’s story. We see the great changes of the sixties roll in—Father
even plays a snippet of The Beatles to show the children what “the music of the devil” sounds like. We see the first glimmer of Patricia’s sexual awareness, for lack of a better term, since life has not prepared her to comprehend why she’s drawn to boys and men. She develops a crush on a Big Brother, thinking it’s a secret, but apparently it’s all too obvious. “Brother Sebastian has complained about you,” Sister Catherine informs her. “He says that you’re chasing him.” Patricia is all of twelve years old. The long-range intent for the children of the Saint Benedict Center is for them to become priests and nuns, holy people who carry forth the “no salvation” doctrine. But Patricia is not cutting it. Her infatuation with worldly things, her (principled) disobedient streak, and her next big crush (on the married Brother Basil), are all duly noticed by the hawk-eyed Sister Catherine and her spies, and make her a poor candidate to be a “bride of Christ.” On the very day she graduates from high school, in 1966, she is exiled from the Saint Benedict Center. And so she is saved… right? Because this is a complicated story, we see a young woman whose dreamed-of freedom is simultaneously a nightmare, separated as she is from everyone she knows and loves and forced to make her way in the swamp of evil that is “the outside world.” We see that life in the cult was not all negative: Patricia emerged with a fine education, a robust greenwichmag.com
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work ethic and a strong moral compass. And we see people she meets out in the world sometimes behaving as wickedly as Sister Catherine had promised they would. But we also see Patricia enjoying the stuff of freedom, from the black leather miniskirt she wears to parties (she had worn nineteenth-century-style blouses and skirts in Still River) to “Crimson and Clover” playing on her phonograph. In the end, Patricia’s story possesses a sense of cosmic justice. The Saint Benedict Center devolves into unseemly squabbling after Sister Catherine dies in 1968. Patricia takes her first hesitant steps toward fulfilling her dreams— the once-impossible “delusions” of her girlhood. Jim and Betsy Walsh leave the cult and settle in Watertown, where their house becomes a happy refuge for the kids of Still River. Patricia never presses them to explain how they came to be swept up in cult life, but Jim does mention the “snowball” effect of incremental change: By the time you realize what’s happened, you’re in too deep. “My father said they didn’t want to live the life that was ultimately imposed on them,” Patricia says. Decades of family happiness follow Jim and Betsy’s departure from Still River. This return to wholeness is why Patricia stresses that her book is not in the vein of Mommie Dearest, the memoir of abuse written about Joan Crawford by her daughter Christina. “It is a love story. It is a love story about a family that could not be broken.” Neither could Patricia’s faith be broken. She remains a devout Catholic, but not a dogmatic one. She tells a story to explain her faithful uncertainty. “My son, when he was thirteen or fourteen, said to me, ‘Mom, I have something to tell you. I think you should know that I’m an atheist.’ He’s very scientifically oriented. Space, the planets, the age of Earth—all of those things are things that he’s always loved. And I said, ‘You know what, sweetie? It’s all a mystery.’ And I think that it is all a mystery. That is why we have these religions. They’re only man’s or woman’s interpretations, maybe for their own benefit, and that starts to get into the rules, the regulations. I am free of all that, fortunately. It took a long time, but I am completely free.” G
CONTRIBUTED
Patricia in Haiti in 1978
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A N T I QUA R I U S
T H E G R E E N W I C H H I STO R I C A L S O C I E T Y P R E S E N T S
ANIMAL INSTINCTS OPENING NIGHT FOR THE GREENWICH WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW Celebrating Honorary Design Chair Bronson Van Wyck
December 6, 2019, 6:00 to 9:00 pm Eastern Greenwich Civic Center
HOLIDAY BOUTIQUE November 6, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm November 7, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Christ Church
GREENWICH WINTER ANTIQUES SHOW Fine Art, Jewelry and Antiques
December 7, 10:00 am to 6:00 pm December 8, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm Eastern Greenwich Civic Center Produced by Frank Gaglio, Inc.
HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR December 11, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm
Reservations required (rain or shine) Generously sponsored by David Ogilvy & Associates
HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR LUNCHEON
December 11, 11:30 am to 1:30 pm Milbrook Country Club Reservations required
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
greenwichhistory.org/antiquarius Advance ticket purchase required for all events with the exception of the Holiday Boutique.
calendar NOVEMBER 2019
ART & ANTIQUES ALDRICH MUSEUM, 258 Main St., Ridgefield, 438-0198. Tues.-Sun. noon5 p.m.; Fri. until 8 p.m. AMY SIMON FINE ART, 1869 Post Rd. East, Westport, 259-1500. Tues.-Sat., 11 a.m.5:30 p.m., or by appt. BRUCE MUSEUM, 1 Museum Dr., 869-0376. Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., 1-5 p.m. Free for members, $8 general admission. CANFIN GALLERY, 39 Main St.,Tarrytown, NY, 914-3324554. Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.5 p.m. or by appt. Fine paintings and sculptures by established and emerging contemporary artists from all over the world. CAVALIER GALLERIES, 405 Greenwich Ave., 8693664. Mon.-Sat., 10:30 a.m.6 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. and by appt. A showcase of a select group of established and emerging artists who represent the finest in modern painting, sculpture and photography. CENTER FOR CONTEMPORARY PRINTMAKING, 299 West Ave., Norwalk, 899-7999. Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun., noon-5 p.m. CLAY ART CENTER, 40 Beech St., Port Chester, NY, 914-937-2047. Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. or by appt.
Operation Smile Smile all night long knowing that you are helping to change lives at the Belle Haven Club on Saturday, November 16 at the annual benefit for Operation Smile. The Grammy Award-nominated, multiplatinum R & B/Pop recording artist and actress Deborah Cox will rock the house. The intimate evening will also include cocktails, dinner, dessert, silent and live auctions. The cochairs are Lisa Lori, Trisha Dalton, Dr. Stacy Zarakiotis and CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota. Proceeds will support the life-changing surgeries performed around the world by Operation Smile volunteer doctors. For additional information and tickets visit operationsmile.org/SmileGreenwich
( for more events visit greenwichmag.com )
NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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DISCOVERY MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM, 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport, 372-3521. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m. Permanent exhibits include Energy Exhibit, Sound and Light Galleries, Preschool Power, Sports Science and Solar Legos. FAIRFIELD MUSEUM AND HISTORY CENTER,
370 Beach Rd., Fairfield, 259-1598. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-4 p.m. FLINN GALLERY, 101 W. Putnam Ave., 622-7947. Mon.Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs. 10 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. GERTRUDE G. WHITE GALLERY, YWCA, 259 E. Putnam Ave., 869-6501. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. GREENWICH ARTS COUNCIL, 299 Greenwich Ave., 862-6750. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-4 p.m. The Bendheim Gallery hosts major exhibitions every six weeks; visit greenwicharts.org to learn about upcoming exhibits. GREENWICH HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 39 Strickland Rd., 869-6899. Wed.-Sun. noon-4 p.m. J. RUSSELL JINISHIAN GALLERY, 1657 Post Rd., Fairfield, 259-8753. Tues.-Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. A large selection of original marine and sporting art by Arguimbau, Blossom, Demers, Kramer, McGurl, Mecray, Mizerek, Prosek, Shilstone, Stobart and Thompson. KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART, Rte. 22 at Jay St., Katonah, NY, 914-232-9555. Tues.-Fri. and Sun. 1-5 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. KENISE BARNES FINE ART, 1955 Palmer Ave., Larchmont, NY, 914-834-8077, Tues.Sat., 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., or by appt. Visit kbfa.com for show information. LOCKWOOD-MATHEWS MANSION MUSEUM, 295 West Ave., Norwalk, 838-9799. Wed.-Sun., noon-4 p.m. Visit lockwoodmathewsmansion .com for program information.
The Best is yet to Come!
2019
M O F F LY M E D I A
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calendar LOFT ARTISTS ASSOCIATION, 575 Pacific St., Stamford, 247-2027 or loftartists.com. Fri., 6-9 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-5 p.m.
SILVERMINE GUILD ARTS CENTER, 1037 Silvermine Rd., New Canaan, 966-9700. Wed.-Sat., noon-5 p.m.; Sun., 1-5 p.m.
MARITIME AQUARIUM, 10 N. Water St., S. Norwalk, 852-0700. Daily, 10 a.m.5 p.m.
SM HOME GALLERY, 70 Arch Street, Greenwich, 629-8121, Mon.-Fri. 10 a.m.5 p.m., Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. or by appointment. Featuring award-winning regional and national contemporary artists. Visit sandramorganinteriors.com for exhibit information.
MICHAEL FLORIO GALLERY, 135 Mason Street, 858-5743. Specializing in established and emerging contemporary artists, marine art and curiosities. Open most days by chance or by appointment, Michaelflorio.com. NEUBERGER MUSEUM OF ART, Purchase College, 735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase, NY, 914-251-6100. Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 11 a.m.-5 p.m. NEW YORK BOTANICAL GARDEN, Bronx River Pkwy. and Fordham Rd., 718-8178616. Tues.-Fri., 10 a.m.6 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 10 a.m.7 p.m. Sat. 23-Jan. 26, 2020, Holiday Train Show: Marvel at model trains zipping around New York landmark replicas in the warm Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. This year’s show features 3,000 square feet of additional exhibition space, making room for dozens of new trains, bridges and tracks. Stroll the spectacular grounds, enjoy hands-on holiday fun for the entire family, and enjoy holiday shopping. PELHAM ART CENTER, 155 Fifth Ave., Pelham, NY, 914-738-2525 ext. 113. Tues.Fri. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat. noon-4 p.m. ROWAYTON ARTS CENTER, 145 Rowayton Ave., Rowayton, 866-2744. Tues.-Sat., noon5 p.m.; Sun., 1-4 p.m. SAMUEL OWEN GALLERY, 382 Greenwich Ave., 325-1924. Mon.-Sat., 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.3 p.m. The gallery is committed to exhibiting the work of emerging to midcareer artists, as well as a variety of strong secondary market works.
STAMFORD ART ASSOCIATION, 39 Franklin St., Stamford, 325-1139. Thurs.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-3 p.m. THOMAS J. WALSH GALLERY, Fairfield University, 1073 N. Benson Rd., Fairfield, 254-4000, ext. 2969. Tues.Sat. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. noon-4 p.m. UCONN STAMFORD ART GALLERY, One University Pl., Stamford, 251-8400. Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m.-7 p.m.; Fri. 9 a.m.5 p.m.; Sat. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. WESTPORT ARTS CENTER, 51 Riverside Ave., Westport, 226-7070. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-4 p.m. YALE CENTER FOR BRITISH ART, 1080 Chapel St., New Haven, 432-2800. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m. Permanent collection on view. YALE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE GALLERY, 180 York St., New Haven, 432-2288. Mon.-Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat., 10 a.m.5 p.m. YALE UNIVERSITY ART GALLERY, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven, 432-0611. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thurs. until 8 p.m.; Sun. 1-6 p.m. Permanent collection includes African art, American decorative art, American paintings and sculpture, ancient art, Asian art, coins and medals, and modern and contemporary art.
Red, Yellow, and Pink Bird by Federico Uribe (bullet shells, 18 x 12 x 8 inches)
Cavalier Ebanks Galleries Pop into Cavalier Ebanks Galleries for a one-man show by artist Federico Uribe running through Sunday, November 10. This special exhibition will transform the gallery into a mesmerizing world of Uribe’s creations, with ordinary objects taking on a new life as extraordinary sculptures. The artist assembles thousands of items such as colored pencils, erasers, books and even bullet shells to create intricate and lively renderings of animals, nature and abstract forms. 405 Greenwich Ave. » NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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6TH ANNUAL
RESTAURANT WEEK SAVE THE DATE
OPening Night Party @JHouse March 4 2020 6:00 – 8:30 •
•
Hungry for Business? We’re serving up Sponsorships! To be a participating restaurant or for sponsorship opportunities please contact Trish Kirsch 203.571.1644 • trish.kirsch@moffly.com
Greenwich Restaurant Week 2020 Runs March 7th-14th greenwichrestaurantweek.com
Greenwich
Reindeer Festival
& Santa’s Village TM November 29-December 24, 2019 A TMK & TLMN EVENT ©2019
&
Greenwich
Byram . Cos Cob . Glenville . Riverside
Holiday Stroll WeekendTM December 7-8, 2019 A TMK & TLMN EVENT ©2019
Holiday Stroll
Reindeer Festival
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KICK-OFF PARTY to benefit KidsSponsors In Crisis
Thursday, December 5, 6pm–8pm REINDEER FESTIVAL VINEYARD VINES HOSTED BY: 145 Greenwich Avenue, Greenwich, CT ................................................................................................................................. Shop to Support Kids In Crisis REINDEER FESTIVAL WINE AND HORS D’OEUVRES PRESENTING SPONSOR: .................................................................................................................................
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We’re Back Party
Friday, November 29, 12pm–6pm SAM BRIDGE NURSERY & GREENHOUSES 437 North Street, Greenwich, CT Santa Arrives at 12pm . Photos with Santa . Reindeer Arrive Carousel & Train Rides . Face Painting . Balloon Art Planet Pizza . Food Trucks
SANTA’S WORKSHOP SPONSOR:
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November 29–December 24 SAM BRIDGE NURSERY & GREENHOUSES 437 North Street, Greenwich, CT Sponsors
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. PHOTOS WITH SANTA VISIT LIVE REINDEER REINDEER FESTIVAL HOSTED BY: Monday–Friday, 12pm–6pm, Saturday, 9am–6pm CAROUSEL & TRAIN RIDES REINDEER FESTIVAL Thursday and Friday, 12pm–6pm . Saturday, 9am–6pm PRESENTING SPONSOR: .................................................................................................................................
NURSERY & GREENHOUSES, LLC EST. 1930
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................................................................................................................................. SHOP . DINE . BE MERRY! LIVE MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT TENT SPONSOR: Saturday, 10am–6pm . Sunday, 12pm–5pm .................................................................................................................................
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calendar hear an in-depth spectrum of music in one of the country’s legendary outdoor settings. Visit caramoor.org for details. THE CHAMBER PLAYERS OF THE GREENWICH SYMPHONY, Concerts are held at the newly constructed Performing Arts Center at Greenwich High School, 10 Hillside Road. Tickets $30. Sun. 23 and Mon. 24. CURTAIN CALL, The Sterling Farms Theatre Complex, 1349 Newfield Ave., Stamford, 3298207. Visit curtaincallinc.com for dates and show times. DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE, 263 Golden Hill St., Bridgeport, 576-1636. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat coming in December.
Artist: Claudia Mengel
Firing Circuits Artists Shop works by award-winning local artists straight from the studio at Firing Circuits Artists annual open studios and gallery show. Visit this arts destination, a hidden gem in Norwalk, and meet the thirty artists exhibiting paintings, sculpture, photography and jewelry while touring their individual studios in this historic loft space. An opening reception will be held on Friday, November 8 from 5 to 8 p.m and Sat., November 9 and 10 from noon to 5 p.m. 30 Muller Avenue, Building 10, Norwalk. For more information visit firingcircuitsartists.com.
CONCERTS, FILM & THEATER
AVON THEATRE FILM CENTER, 272 Bedford St., Stamford, 661-0321. Visit avontheatre.org for special events and guest speakers.
ARENA AT HARBOR YARD, 600 Main St., Bridgeport, 345-2300. Visit websterbankarena.com for show times.
CARAMOOR, Girdle Ridge Rd., Katonah, NY, 914232-1252. Caramoor is a renowned oasis for musical inspiration that offers audiences the opportunity to
RIDGEFIELD THEATER BARN, 37 Halpin Ln., Ridgefield, 914-431-9850. The Marvelous Wonderettes coming in December. SHUBERT THEATER, 247 College St., New Haven, 800-228-6622. Visit shubert.com for shows and times. STAMFORD CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford, 325-4466. Visit stamfordcenterforthearts.org for shows, dates and times. STAMFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, The Palace
Theatre. Sat. 7:30 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m. Sat. 16 and 17. WESTPORT COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE, 25 Powers Ct., Westport, 227-4177. Tues. 5-23, Don Juan.
LECTURES, TOURS & WORKSHOPS ALDRICH MUSEUM, 258 Main St., Ridgefield, 438-0198. Tues.-Sun. noon5 p.m.; Fri. until 8 p.m. Fri. 1, First Fridays: A Contemporary
FAIRFIELD THEATRE COMPANY, on StageOne, 70 Sanford St., Fairfield, 2591036. Visit fairfieldtheatre.org for dates, shows and times. GOODSPEED OPERA HOUSE, 6 Main St., East Haddam, 860-873-8668. Fri. 1-24, Billy Elliot. GREENWICH LIBRARY, 101 W. Putnam Ave., 6227900. No Friends Friday Films. JACOB BURNS FILM CENTER, 364 Manville Rd., Pleasantville, NY, 914-7737663. Visit website for titles and times burnsfilmcenter.org. LEVITT PAVILION, Jesup Green, Westport, 226-7600. Visit levittpavilion .com for concerts and show times. LONG WHARF THEATRE, 222 Sargent Dr., New Haven, 787-4282. Tues. 7 p.m.; Wed. 2 and 7 p.m.; Thurs-Fri. 8 p.m.; Sat. 3 and 8 p.m.; Sun. 2 and 7 p.m. For more information on the 2019 season or to purchase tickets visit longwharf.com. RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, 438-9269. For shows and times visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.
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Autumn Trees by Robert Emmett
Flinn Gallery The Flinn Gallery will reopen on Thursday, November 21 after being closed for several months due to the library’s second floor renovation. The exhibit, In Plain Sight: The Library Art Collection-Part 1 will feature historical works and landscape paintings gifted to the library through the years. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, November 21 from 6 to 8 p.m. 101 W. Putnam Ave. flinngallery.com »
Join us for the 60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner of the Junior League of Greenwich
An Evening with
Barbara Pierce Bush
a moderated conversation with Joan Lunden Monday Evening, December 2, 2019, 6:30 p.m. Hyatt Regency Greenwich
1800 East Putnam Avenue, Greenwich, CT Barbara Pierce Bush is a passionate activist, Co-Founder and Board Chair of the non-profit, Global Health Corps, providing opportunities for young professionals from diverse backgrounds to work on the fight for global health equity. Since 2009, GHC has placed nearly 1,000 young leaders on the front lines of health equity across Africa and in the United States. Barbara and her fraternal twin sister, Jenna Bush Hager, are daughters of President George W. and Laura Bush and co-authors of their new second book, "Sisters First," a children's book.
Joan Lunden exemplifies today's modern working woman. A host on Good Morning America for nearly 20 years, she is a mother of seven, an awardwinning journalist, bestselling author, motivational speaker, and a women's health and wellness advocate. A breast cancer survivor, she currently hosts the CBS series, Your Health, is a special correspondent for The Today Show on NBC and interacts with her followers on JoanLunden.com. Lunden has served as National Spokesperson for The American Heart Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, The American Lung Association and more, and has authored ten books.
Photo: Andrew Eccles
Tickets: www.jlgreenwich.org
Questions? Call the Junior League of Greenwich (203) 869-1979
The Junior League of Greenwich is an organization of women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving the community through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: BOB CAPAZZO, KRISTIN HYNES, MELANI LUST & MARSIN MOGIELSKI
PHOTOGRAPHY
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Moffly Media is one of the leading providers of professional event photography and marketing services in Fairfield County. We capture compelling, high-quality images of individuals and groups at meaningful events. With our wide range of capabilities from video to social media, Moffly will customize a marketing program that’s just right for you.
LEARN MORE! CONTACT KATHLEEN GODBOLD AT KATHLEEN.GODBOLD@MOFFLY.COM OR 203.571.1654
calendar
The Maritime Aquarium
Naturalist Dean Bernal befriends a lonely dolphin he named JoJo in a scene from Dolphins, an Academy Award-nominated IMAX movie playing daily throughout November at The Maritime Aquarium at Norwalk. Times, tickets and more details are available at maritimeaquarium.org.
THE MARITIME AQUARIUM PHOTOGRAPH BY MACGILLIVRAY FREEMAN FILMS
Cocktail Hour, 7-9 p.m.; visit aldrichart.org for more information. AUDUBON GREENWICH, 613 Riversville Rd., 869-5272. Sun. 3, First Sunday Bird Walk at Greenwich point, 9 a.m.; visit greenwich. audubon.org for more events. AUX DÉLICES, 23 Acosta St., Stamford, 326-4540, ext. 108. Visit auxdelicesfoods .com for menu, dates and times. BOWMAN OBSERVATORY PUBLIC NIGHT, NE of Milbank/East Elm St. rotary on the grounds of Julian Curtiss School, 869-6786, ext. 338. Wed. 6 and 20, Observatory
Greenwich Symphony Orchestra
open to the public free of charge, 8-10 p.m., weather permitting. Sponsored by the Astronomical Society of Greenwich. BRUCE MUSEUM, 1 Museum Dr., 869-0376. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. Docent, Audio, School and Group tours available. CLAY ART CENTER, 40 Beech St., Port Chester, NY, 914-937-2047. Clay Art Center’s mission is to offer a stimulating space for studio practice, exhibition and educational opportunities to better serve the community. FAIRFIELD MUSEUM AND HISTORY CENTER, 370 Beach Rd., Fairfield, 259-
Patrick Taylor
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On Saturday, November 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, November 24 at 4 p.m., Greenwich Symphony Orchestra will perform with Greenwich High School Select Choirs, directed by Patrick Taylor, at Greenwich High School. A lecture is held one hour before each performance. Adult tickets are $40, students $10. Call 869-2664 or visit greenwichsymphony.org.»
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2019 Belle Haven Club - 7 PM Buffet, Smiles and Dancing A SPECIAL EVENING TO BENEFIT
Announcing Special Guest Entertainer
Deborah Cox EVENT CHAIRS
Alisyn Camerota Trisha Dalton Lisa Lori Stacy Zarakiotis
SMILE CLUB CHAIRS Esme Merrill Marcella Winget
TICKETS AND INFORMATION operationsmile.org/smilegreenwich | (757) 644-1991
328,676
Ownership Statement Greenwich Magazine U.S. Postal Service. Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation. (Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685)1. Publication Title: Greenwich. 2. Publication No.: 961-500. 3. Filing Date: October 1, 2019. 4. Issue Frequency: 12 times. 5. Number of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $35.00. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: 205 Main Street, Westport, CT 06880. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Trish Kirsch, Publisher, 205 Main Street, Westport, CT 06880. Cristin Marandino, Editor, 205 Main Street, Westport, CT 06880. Amy Vischio, Managing Editor, 205 Main Street, Westport, CT 06880. 10. Owner: Moffly Media. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or Other Securities: None. 12. For Completion by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to Mail at Special Rates: Not applicable to Greenwich Magazine. 13. Publication Title: Greenwich. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data Below: October 2019. 15. Extent and Nature of Circulation: a. Total Number of Copies (net press run): *12,082 **12,214;b(1). Paid/Requested Outside-County Mail Subscription Stated on Form 3541: *1,268 **1,286; b(2). Paid In-County Subscriptions: *4,173 **4,234; b(3). Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, Counter Sales, and Other Non-USPS Paid Distribution: *896 **900; b(4). Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS: *0 **0; c. Total Paid and/or Requested Circulation (Sum of 15b (1), (2), (3), (4): *6,337 **6,420; d. Free Distribution by Mail (Samples, Complimentary, and Other Free): d(1). Outside-County as Stated on Form 3541: *0 **0; d(2). In-County as Stated on Form 3541: *2,859 **2,849; d(3). Other Classes Mailed Through the USPS *0 **0; d(4). Free Distribution Outside the Mail (Carriers or Other Means): *1,782 **1,845; e. Total Free or Nominal Rate Distribution (Sum of 15d (1), (2), (3), (4): *4,641 **4,694; f. Total Distribution (Sum of 15c and 15e): *10,978 **11,114; g. Copies Not Distributed: *1,104 **1,100; h. Total (Sum of 15f, 15g): *12,082 **12,214; i. Percent Paid and/ or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15f. times 100): *57.7 percent **57.8 percent. 17. This Statement of Ownership will be printed in the November 2019 issue of this Publication. 18. I certify that all information furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this form or who omits material or information requested on this form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including multiple damages and civil penalties). Elena V. Moffly, Business Manager/Treasurer, October 1, 2019. *Average No. Copies Each Issue During Proceeding 12 Months. **Actual No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest to Filing Date
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We would like to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to our Sponsors, Patrons, Supporters & Benefit Committee for making BGCG IN CONCERT a platinum success! SPONSORS
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To view more photos and to learn more about the Club, please visit
BGCG.org
B -Train Films DJ Christopher Sealey DJ M3 Dance to the Music Entertainment Genevieve Howe Design Graphic Management Partners Hollywood Banners Just Audio Visual Northeast Tent Productions Pless Productions Rubix Kube Rudy’s Limousine Smith Party Rentals LLC Spectrum Event Lighting & Decor, Inc. taylor creative inc. Watson’s Catering & Events
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PEARL JAM
GUNS N’ ROSES
NIRVANA
METALLICA
YWCA Greenwich SUBLIME
DEF LEPPARD
FOO FIGHTERS
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
GREEN DAY
BEASTIE BOYS
SOUNDGARDEN
STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
959THEFOX.COM
Tucked within the YWCA Greenwich is the Gertrude White Gallery. For the month of November, the gallery will feature a photography exhibit by Sally and Mike Harris. The show, The Irish Travellers: A Revealing Look at an Irish Minority, will have an opening reception on Friday, November 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
1598. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon4 p.m. Visit fairfieldhistory.org for tours.
Chappaqua, NY, 914-2329555. Guided tours are Tuesday through Sunday at 2:30 p.m.
GREENWICH BOTANICAL CENTER, 130 Bible St., 869-9242. Visit greenwichbotanicalcenter.org for programs and events.
STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER, 39 Scofieldtown Rd., Stamford, 977-6521 or stamfordmuseum.org. Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 2 and 3, Harvest Festival, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sun. 17 and 24, Sunday Explorers, 1-4 p.m.; Fri. 8, Fall Astronomy Nights, 7 p.m.
GREENWICH LIBRARY, 101 W. Putnam Ave., 622-7900. The library offers a variety of programs: Blood Pressure Screenings, Drop-In Computer Lab, Chess Club, Volunteer Tax Assistance, Foreign Affairs Book Discussion Group; for dates and times visit greenwichlibrary.org. KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART, 26 Bedford Rd.,
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WORLD AFFAIRS FORUM, Stamford Yacht Club, 97 Ocean Drive West, Stamford, 356-0340. For more information visit worldaffairsforum.org.
OTHER EVENTS & BENEFITS LIGHT A FIRE 2019, Westport Country Playhouse, Dec. 5, An inspiring evening of food and philanthropy with Moffly Media, hosted by James Naughton, 6:30-9:30 p.m. THE WOMAN’S CLUB OF GREENWICH, Holiday Boutique, 89 Maple Avenue, Fri. 8 and Sat. 9, Get your holiday shopping done early and come to the WCOG Holiday Boutique, admission is free, two floors of vendors, raffle prizes and more, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m.4 p.m. Saturday. »
6 SPECTACULAR HOMES 1 UNFORGETTABLE TOUR
ALL FOR CHARITY
© Jane Beiles Photography
The Newcomers Club of New Canaan cordially invites you to the 2019 HOLIDAY HOUSE TOUR
Friday & Saturday December 6th and 7th
10am - 2pm
Purchase tickets in advance at newcanaannewcomers.com/purchase-tickets Standard Tickets $95 ($85 for Senior Citizens) Car Experience Ticket $50 (Saturday Only) $125 Standard Tickets may be purchased on days of tour at Carriage Barn Arts Center, Waveny Park 681 South Avenue, New Canaan
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KIDS’ STUFF / NOVEMBER 2019
exhibit galleries, a 124-seat planetarium, Challenger Learning Center, an 80-seat auditorium and five multipurpose classrooms where hands-on science classes are conducted for schools, groups and the general public. discoverymuseum.org. DOWNTOWN CABARET THEATRE, 263 Golden Hill St., Bridgeport, 576-1636. Sat. 16-Dec. 29, Rudolph. EARTHPLACE, 10 Woodside Lane, Westport, 227-7253. Loads of fun activities with children. The mission of Earthplace is to build a passion within the community for nature and the environment through education, experience and action, earthplace.org. FAIRFIELD MUSEUM AND HISTORY CENTER, 370 Beach Rd., Fairfield, 259-1598. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., noon-4 p.m.
Greenwich Reindeer Festival & Santa’s Village
GREENWICH BOTANICAL CENTER, 130 Bible St., 869-9242. Visit greenwichbotanicalcenter .org for youth programs.
Santa and his reindeer are coming back to town for the eleventh annual Greenwich Reindeer Festival & Santa’s Village at “the North Pole on North Street,” at Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses from Friday, November 29 to Tuesday, December 24. Children, adults, corporate groups and even pets can have their photo taken with Santa. For more information visit greenwichreindeerfestival.com.
GREENWICH LIBRARY, 101 W. Putnam Ave., 6227900. The library offers many programs for children: Wee Ones, Tales for Tots, Baby Lapsit, Mother Goose Story Time. Call or visit greenwichlibrary.org for dates and times.
ALDRICH MUSEUM, 258 Main St., Ridgefield, 438-4519. Tues.-Sun. noon5 p.m.; Fri. until 8 p.m. Sat. 16, Family Workshops, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
BRUCE MUSEUM, 1 Museum Dr., 869-0376. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 1-5 p.m. Sun. 3, First Sunday Science at the Seaside Center, 1:304 p.m.
IMAX THEATER AT MARITIME AQUARIUM, 10 N. Water St., S. Norwalk, 852-0700. Visit website for films and times; also showing: Hollywood films on IMAX, maritimeaquarium .org. See highlight on page 113.
DISCOVERY MUSEUM AND PLANETARIUM, 4450 Park Ave., Bridgeport, 372-3521. Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m.5 p.m.; Sun. noon-5 p.m. The Discovery Museum’s 20,000-square-foot facility includes changing and permanent interactive
KATONAH MUSEUM OF ART, Rte. 22 at Jay St., Katonah, NY, 914-2329555. Tues.-Fri. and Sun. 1-5 p.m.; Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesdays for Tots, 1 p.m; Picture This! Saturday Story Time, select Saturdays, 10:30 a.m.
AUDUBON GREENWICH, 613 Riversville Rd., 869-5272. Sun. 3, First Sunday Walk at Tod’s Point, 9 a.m. AUX DÉLICES, 23 Acosta St., Stamford, 326-4540 ext. 108. Sun. 3, Savory Cooking; Sun. 10, Thankful for Pies, 4-6 p.m. BEARDSLEY ZOO, 1875 Noble Ave., Bridgeport,
394-6565. One of Connecticut’s top family attractions. See more than 300 animals representing primarily North and South American species and learn about their endangered and threatened species, which include the Amur (Siberian) tiger, Andean condor, Ocelot, Red wolf, Maned wolf, Giant Anteater and Golden lion tamarin. Then grab a bite at the Peacock Café and take a ride on the carousel. BOYS & GIRLS CLUB OF GREENWICH, 4 Horseneck Lane, 869-3224.
Visit bgcg.org for events and programs at the club.
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MARITIME AQUARIUM, 10 N. Water St., S. Norwalk, 852-0700. Daily 10 a.m.5 p.m. The Maritime Aquarium inspires people of all ages to appreciate and protect the Long Island Sound ecosystem and the global environment through living exhibits, marine science, and environmental education, visit maritimeaquarium.org for classes and times. NEW CANAAN NATURE CENTER, 144 Oenoke Ridge, New Canaan, 966-9577. Sat. 30, Thanksgiving Weekend Waddle, 10-noon. RIDGEFIELD PLAYHOUSE, 80 East Ridge, Ridgefield, 438-5795. The Nutcracker coming in December. STAMFORD CENTER FOR THE ARTS, Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic St., Stamford, 325-4466. Sat. 9 & 10, Paw Patrol Live!, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. STAMFORD MUSEUM & NATURE CENTER, 39 Scofieldtown Rd., Stamford, 977-6521 or stamfordmuseum. org. Mon.-Sat. 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sun. 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. 2 and 3, Harvest Festival, 11 a.m.3 p.m.; Sun. 17 and 24, Sunday Explorers, 1-4 p.m.; Fri. 8, Fall Astronomy Nights, 7 p.m. STEPPING STONES MUSEUM FOR CHILDREN, 303 West Ave., Mathews Park, Norwalk, 899-0606. Every day 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Ongoing exhibits: Energy Lab, Tot Town, build it!, colorcoaster, light gallery, Ongoing events: Storytelling Yoga, Zelda the Zany Owl, Game On!, Ceramic Studio, Creative Dramatics, Open Studio, Dash’s Puppet Show, Sing-a-long, Mutt-i-grees, Toddler Tales, Resource Center Roads! Story Time; visit steppingstonesmuseum.org for daily classes and times. WESTPORT ARTS CENTER, 51 Riverside Ave., Westport, 222-7070. Visit westportartscenter.org to sign up for workshops. G
advertisers index ART & ANTIQUES
Dental Oral Surgery Turkey Trot . . . . . 95
JEWELRY
Drew Klotz Kinetic Sculpture . . . . . . 66
Greenwich Historical Society
Betteridge . . . . . . . . . . . . .23, Cover 4
Antiquarius . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
Cartier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 4
BUILDING & HOME IMPROVEMENT
Greenwich Restaurant Week . . . . . . 108
Graff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
California Closets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Light a Fire 2019 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Indoxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Douglas VanderHorn Architects . . . . . 21
Newcomers Club of New Canaan
Manfredi Jewels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Granoff Architects . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Private Staff Group . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Holiday House Tour . . . . . . . . . . 117 Smile Greenwich: A Special Evening to Benefit Operation Smile . . . . . . 114
BUSINESS & FINANCE Cummings & Lockwood LLC . . . . . . . 14 First Republic Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 J.P. Morgan Private Bank . . . . . . . . . 41
DECORATING & HOME FURNISHINGS Amy Aidinis Hirsch . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
EDUCATION & CHILDREN Brunswick School . . . . . . . . . 51, 61, 93 Fairfield University's College of Arts and Science . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Children's School . . . . . . . . . . . 63
ENTERTAINMENT 95.9, The Fox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .116 Stamford Tent & Event Services . . . . 73
& Santa's Village . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
LANDSCAPING, NURSERY & FLORISTS Sam Bridge Nursery & Greenhouses, LLC . . . . . . . . . . 69
FASHION Henry's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cover 3 Mitchells/Richards . . . . . . . . . . . . 2, 3 Roundabout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
NONPROFIT Breast Cancer Alliance . . . . . . . . . . 63 The Elephant Sanctuary . . . . . . . . . 68 Planned Parenthood of Southern
FOOD, CATERING & LODGING
New England . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Cava . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
PHOTOGRAPHY
DiMare Pastry Shop . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Bob Capazzo Photography . . . . . . . . 73
Great Horse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Portraits, Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Harvest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Inspirato Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
REAL ESTATE
Marcia Selden Catering . . . . . . . . . . 11
Coldwell Banker Global Luxury/
Naked Fig Catering . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Scena . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 South Bay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
EVENTS 11th Annual Reindeer Festival
Marco Bicego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
HEALTH & BEAUTY Greenwich Medical Spa . . . . . . . . . 43
Tamar Lurie Group . . . . . . . . . . . 31 David Ogilvy/Sotheby's International Realty . . . . . . . Cover 2 Houlihan Lawrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Sotheby's International Realty . . . . . 4, 5 Sotheby's International Realty/ Joseph Barbieri . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
60th Anniversary Celebration Dinner
Hospital for Special Surgery . . . . . . . 39
of the Junior League of Greewich/
The Nathaniel Witherell . . . . . . . . . . 26
An Evening with Barbara
NicholsMD of Greenwich . . . . . . . . . 53
Pierce Bush . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Nuvance Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
SPORTS & FITNESS
A-list Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Park Avenue Vein Laser Center . . . . . 65
Greenwich Barre Studio . . . . . . . . . . 95
Best of Greenwich . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Rye Vein Laser Center . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Best of the Gold Coast Online Store . . 86
Stamford Health . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
MISCELLANEOUS
Boys & Girls Club of Greenwich
Yale New Haven Health/
Big Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Thank You . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Greenwich Hospital . . . . . . . . . . . 17 NOVEMBER 2019 GREENWICH
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William Raveis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 William Raveis/Janet Milligan . . . . 19, 37
Westy Self Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
postscript photog raph by garvin burke
Slowing Down G
iven that it’s the season for giving thanks, we thought we’d take a moment to appreciate the simple beauty of a Sunday drive in autumn. Our art director Garvin Burke snapped this photo while making his way through Glenville. There really is beauty everywhere we look, it’s just a matter of taking the time to stop and notice it. G
Have a photo that captures a moment in Greenwich? Send it to us at editor@greenwichmag.com for a chance to win $100. Please write photo submission in the subject line. greenwichmag.com
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Henry’s #7 Leather Sneaker Designed in Norwalk, Connecticut and meticulously hand-crafted in Portugal using only the finest French calfskin and Italian soles. Made to be comfortable from the first minute you put them on.
Henry’s Leather Goods • 5 Lewis Street, Greenwich, CT • henrysleather.com • 203-340-9273