March 2011
King of
Clubs
The Donald
Fires us (up!)
FORE(!)Play
Swing into action
Bodies in motion
Feel the burn
Diamond do-over
Bling fix
Greenwich Hospital is not only the most highly recommended hospital* by patients in all of Connecticut… but in the Tri-State area, too. That’s just a winning start. Because, over the past few years, Greenwich Hospital has been awarded many prestigious awards and accolades. Some of which include:
The most “highly recommended” acute care general hospital in Connecticut and the Tri-State area, federal government HCAHPS data
The Summit Award from Press Ganey Associates, the top national recognition for patient satisfaction
Accreditation with Outstanding Achievement from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer
Breast Center accreditation by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers
Certification for Hip & Knee Replacement by the Joint Commission
Primary Stroke Center certification from the Joint Commission; State of Connecticut, Dept. of Public Health designation
American Academy of Sleep Medicine accreditation as a Sleep Center
Certification for Spinal Fusion by the Joint Commission
* Acute Care General Hospital
Beyond treating you like a patient at Greenwich Hospital, we treat you like a person.
www.greenwichhospital.org
C e l e b rat i n g 2 5 Y e a r s Celebrating 25 Years
March 2011
THe Club Set 21
Historic Course of Events
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Cards That Suit
Westchester Country Club celebrates its rich history with a new book. The origins of clubs in a deck of cards.
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Fit for a Family
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Burn, Baby, Burn
Club Fit in Briarcliff Manor and Jefferson Valley thrives on sports and socializing. Our gal-about-town Kelly Liyakasa checks out Bodyfit Studio in Scarsdale and Hudson Valley Health and Tennis Club in Hastings-on-Hudson.
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Stroke of Genius
Whether firing would-be apprentices or firing up the electorate, Donald Trump is at the top of his game.
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Trump’s Green Domain
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Fairfield Clubs Swing Into A New Season
Inside Trump National Golf Club-Westchester
An overview of some of Fairfield’s finest.
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Home Away From Home
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Golfer
Brae Burn Country Club’s renovations reveal the classic in the contemporary.
Pound Ridge Golf Club is a public course with a private feel.
Michelle Lichtman
time Weekend browsing
It’s that time of year again. The Bedford Spring Antiques Show will take place the weekend of April 9-10 at Rippowam Cisqua School in Bedford. The spring show has developed quite a following and for all the right reasons. Antiques aficionados can bring along their treasures and meet with an appraiser. And interior designer Kathy Abbott will show you how to freshen up those antiques during a walking tour. General admission is $10. For further information, call (914) 234-9636.
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Time to Laugh
Need to shake off the stress? Gilda’s Club Westchester will celebrate its 13th anniversary at its annual comedy gala Thursday, April 14, from 6 to 9:30 p.m., at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. The event is a celebration of life, honoring all of the people touched by cancer who still manage to live their lives, gain a sense of empowerment and become a part of the community. Tickets start at $300. For further information, call (914) 644-8844.
Night at the Pier
The Children’s Village in Dobbs Ferry will head south to Manhattan on Thursday, April 28, for the Circle of Friends Annual Dinner. Gather up your closest circle and head to the Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers for a night of dinner and dancing that begins at 6 p.m. Tickets start at $500, with proceeds helping society’s most vulnerable children become educationally proficient, economically productive and socially responsible members of their community. For further information, call (914) 693-0600, ext. 1224.
速
MARCH 2011
Features
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well
15
wear
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Ahh, Spahhhs: Stylist Jené Luciani on places that offer more than just pampering. Bling Time: “Refresh” columnist Patricia Espinosa shows you how to renew, embellish and even transform your engagement ring.
wear
Clothes Make This Man: Stylist Sandy Hapoienu interviews Carmen Marc Valvo on his fall collection, his new book and growing up singing in Westchester.
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gadgets
Tools and Toys For the Fairway: Techie Ryan Doran helps you heat up your game.
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way
A Club of Their Own: Jane K. Dove, our “Home of the Month” reporter, takes us inside a Purchase residence with all the club amenities.
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weekend
Greek Isle Feel In the Caribbean: Leandro Peter Rizzuto’s CuisinArt Resort & Spa brings a touch of Mykonos to Anguilla.
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well
The Winning Equation: Dr. Erika T. Schwartz on balanced hormones, a healthy diet and exercise.
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way
Tudors Reign: Our “Hot Block” feature bows with a stroll down Harwood Court in Scarsdale.
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whims
Club Chic: Jené Luciani’s club must-haves for the season.
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well
Pick Your Pockets of Fat the Smart Way: Dr. Michael Rosenberg gives us the skinny on SmartLipo.
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well
The Thrill of Victory: Dr. Katie Vadasdi helps us avoid the agony of da feet.
wise
When It Comes to Your Cash, Investor Beware: In light of the Madoff mess, Ian Yankwitt asks, What does the investor know and when does he know it? Plus, Vita Nelson introduces us to investing.
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wine and dine
Club Cuisine, No Longer An Oxymoron: Geoff Kalish M.D. serves up the chefs, trends and a recipe.
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WAGvertisers Advanced Dentistry of Westchester P.L.L.C. Inside back cover www.adofw.com Alisberg Parker Architects - 49 www.alisbergparker.com Benjamin Steak House - 66 www.benjaminsteakhouse.com The Best Little Hair Salon In Rye - 20 www.thebestlittlehairsaloninrye.com Body by Dr. Newman - 34 www.bodybydrnewman.com Brynwood Golf & Country Club - 29 www.brynwoodclub.com Cappy’s Travel - 10 www.travel-by-net.com Central Eyes Optical - 69 www.centraleyesoptical.com Cherylyn Salon North - 30 www.cherylynsalon.com Clotilde - The Dress Shop - 18 www.kristinclotilde.com CuisinArt Resort & Spa Back Cover www.cuisinartresort.com David Bravo Photographs - 68 www.davidbravo.com D’Errico Log Cabin Jewlers - 6 www.derricojewel.com Eye Designs - 12 www.eyedesignswestchester.com www.eyedesignsarmonk.com Fairway - 64 www.fairwaymarket.com Friedricks Interiors - 23 www.friedricksInteriors.com Greenwich Hospital Inside front cover www.greenwichhospital.org The Greenwich Medical Skincare & Laser Spa - 13 www.greenwichmedicalspa.com Holistic Med Spa & Laser - 27 www.holisticmedicalspa.com Hudson Valley Surgical Group, L.L.P. - 32 www.hudsonvalleysurgeons.com John Gregaros Painting & Hanging - 50 www.johngregoras.com J. R. Cattington Interiors - 40 www.jrcattington.com IAAM Medical wellness Center - 17 www.iaamed.com
Imbiano - Quigley Landscape Architects, P.C. - 45 www.iqlandarch.com JefLyn Construction, Inc. - 45 L3 Couture - 20 www.l3couture.com L’Escale Restaurant - 61 www.lescalerestaurant.com Lux Bond & Green - 31 www.lbgreen.com Lv2bfit & Susan Blake - 14 March Boutique - 12 www.marchboutique.com Marshalls Shoe Shop - 59 www.marshallsonline.com Michele Tarazi - 57 www.youcandobetterthanthat.com Oasis Day Spa - 24 www.oasiswestchester.com ONS - Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery Specialists P.C. - 62 www.onsmd.com Pamela Robbins - 5 Penny Pincher - 19 www.pennypincherconsignment.com Peter Suchy Jewelers - 17 www.petersuchyjewelers.com Pretty Face Medi Spa - 54 www.prettyfacemedispa.com R&M Woodrow Jewelers - 1 www.woodrowjewelers.com Richard C. Garvey, M.D., F.A.C.S. - 47 www.rickgarveymd.com The Royal Closet - 33 www.royalcloset.com R Simantov - 60 www.rsimantov.com Saadia Sullivan Design - 23 www.saadiasullivan.com Saw Mill Club - 9 www.sawmillclub.com Skin Centre - 7 www.myskincentre.com Sleepy Hollow Country Club - 63 www.sleepyhollowcc.org Transform - 3 www.gotransform.com Visiting Nurse Services in Westchester - 54 www.vns.org Warren-Tricomi - 11 www.warrentricomi.com
watch
We’re snapping out and about town.
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wit
Our WAG-savvy sales directors will assist you in optimizing your message to captivate and capture your audience. Contact them at (914) 358-0746.
We wonder: What’s your handicap?
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THe unusual suspects Meet the new waggers Editor’s letter Susan Barbash, Marcia Pflug and Jed Wilson
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Our selective collections are keeping good company with the addition of Helmut Lang, Isabel Marant, Ric Owens, Henry Cuir and others to follow...
pamela robbins 10 Chase Road, • 1 Chase Road 914-472-9033 • 914-472-4033 Scarsdale
PUBLISHER/CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dee DelBello FOUNDING PUBLISHER Mary Ann Liebert EDITOR IN CHIEF Georgette Gouveia ART DIRECTOR Caitlin Nurge DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY David Bravo COPY EDITOR Bob Rozycki SENIOR STAFF EDITOR Kelly Liyakasa STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Ryan Doran • Bob Rozycki MEDICAL SPECIALISTS Dr. Michael Rosenberg • Dr. Erika Schwartz • Dr. Katie Vadasdi FINANCIAL SPECIALISTS Vita Nelson • Ian Post • Ian Yankwitt FEATURES ADVISER David Hochberg STYLISTS Patricia Espinosa • Sandy Hapoienu • Jené Luciani CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jane Dove • Bill Fallon • Geoff Kalish, MD Barbara Nachman • Dana Ramos PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Alison Kouzmanoff RESEARCH DIRECTOR Alissa Frey CIRCULATION DIRECTOR Sylvia Sikoutris ARCHITECTURAL PHOTOGRAPHER Tim Lee DIRECTOR OF SALES AND MARKETING Susan Barbash DIRECTOR OF SALES CONNECTICUT Marcia Pflug SALES REPRESENTATIVE Jed Wilson WAG A division of Westfair Communications Inc. 3 Gannett Drive, White Plains, NY 10604 Telephone: (914) 358-0746 Facsimile: (914) 694-3699 Website: (under reconstruction) Email: ggouveia@westfairinc.com All news, comments, opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations in WAG are those of the authors and do not constitute opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations of the publication, its publisher and its editorial staff. No portion of WAG may be reproduced without permission.WAG is distributed at select locations, mailed directly and is available at $12 a year for home or office delivery. To subscribe, call (914) 694-3600, ext. 3020. All advertising inquiries should be directed to Susan Barbash at (914) 358-0746 or email sbarbash@ westfairinc.com. Advertisements are subject to review by the publisher and acceptance for WAG does not constitute an endorsement of the product or service. WAG (Issn: 1931-6364) is published monthly and is owned and published by Westfair Communications Inc. Dee DelBello, CEO Marie Orser, Chief Financial Officer Barbara Hanlon, Associate Publisher Anne Jordan, Sales Manager Caryn McBride, Executive Editor Bob Rozycki, Editor
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waggers
Bill Fallon
grew up locally and graduated from the University of Virginia. He has written for several newspapers in New York state and served as editor of a national motorcycle magazine in Nevada before moving back to New York in 2007 to work for Westfair Business Publications. He is an avid trail runner and a novelist (“Cruel Town,” AmErica House) as well as kidnapped Irish royalty, or so he likes to say.
Vita Nelson is the founding pub-
lisher and editor of The Moneypaper, a financial newsletter based in Rye. One of the earliest proponents of dividend reinvestment plans (also known as direct investment plans or DRIPs), she is regularly quoted in national publications and is frequently heard and seen on radio and television. Vita is also the publisher of “The Moneypaper’s Guide to Dividend Reinvestment Plans,” and co-author, with Donald J. Korn, of “Create and Manage Your Own Mutual Fund.”
Peter S. Liebert, M.D.
is a specialist in pediatric surgery and author of a textbook on pediatric surgery. He is a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Medical School and practices in Westchester and Fairfield counties. The skills he learned to take things apart, fix them and put them together in better working order have led to a gratifying hobby of collecting, driving, racing and restoring vintage and classic automobiles. Last but certainly not least, he’s also the hubby of WAG founding publisher, Mary Ann Liebert.
Dana Ramos
has lived in Westchester for 14 years. While living in California she obtained a master’s in professional writing from the University of Southern California and wrote screenplays (a requirement for California residency). She loves writing about people, places and events and is working on a book (a requirement for New York state residency).
DAVID BRAVO
RYAN DORAN
JANE K. DOVE
PATRICIA ESPINOSA
SANDY HAPOIENU
GEOFF KALISH
TIM LEE
KELLY LIYAKASA
JENÉ LUCIANI
BARBARA NACHMAN
Katie Vadasdi, M.d.
understands what makes athletes tick. She did her fellowship training in sports medicine and shoulder and elbow surgery at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan and sees thousands of patients/athletes each year. She is also an accomplished triathlete, having completed two Ironman competitions, as well as an alpine climber who has ascended Mounts Kilimanjaro and Rainier. Katie practices at ONS (Orthopaedic and Neurosurgery Specialists) in Greenwich.
ian post and ian yankwitt
MICHAEL ROSENBERG
ERIKA SCHWARTZ
time Saturday, April 2
Fulfilling dreams Enjoy a night of dinner and entertainment at the ninth annual Habitat for Humanity Dream Builders Gala from 6:30 to 11 p.m. at the Matrix Conference Center, 39 Old Ridgebury Road, Danbury. Proceeds from the dinner, as well as live and silent auctions, will go toward funding building in Fairfield and Litchfield counties. For further information, call (203) 744-1392.
‘Viva! Feel the Passion’ Westport Arts Center’s fundraising gala will feature a performance by Latin Grammy Award-winning musicians 8
Pablo Ziegler and Nestor Torres accompanied by world-class tango dancers. A live auction will support year-round programming. 7 p.m. reception; 8 p.m. main event. Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport. Ticket prices are $750, $500, $300, $200. (203) 2227070, viva@westportartscenter.org.
Sunday, April 3
Anti-violence fundraiser A benefit performance of Eve Ensler’s, “The Vagina Monologues,” will be performed by the Center Stage Theatre Company to raise awareness and funds for anti-violence groups serving families
in Fairfield County. 1 to 5 p.m. Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, Westport. Ticket prices are $50, $35, $25. westportplayhouse.org.
10 p.m., Le Chateau Restaurant Francais, 1410 Route 35, South Salem. (914) 7636819, cnssoprano@gmail.com.
World harmony The Society for Universal Sacred Music will be the beneficiary of a special night featuring cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and dinner, as well as a silent auction. Performances by The New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor, and the Roger Davidson and Pablo Aslan Jazz Duo will highlight the event. Proceeds will support the organization’s mission to promote world peace through music. 5 to
Sip and sup Local restaurants, vineyards, and distributors will showcase their respective wines and beers at a special event that will feature a raffle and silent auction to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Connecticut Chapter. 7 to 10 p.m. Stepping Stones Museum for Children, 303 West Ave., Norwalk. $75 per ticket; two for $125; $100 VIP ticket or $175 for two. (203) 665-1400.
Friday, April 8
From the editor
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Here at WAG I keep a photo on my desk of a birthday party I had some years ago at Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich. To me, it’s a reminder of what a club is all about – family, both the individual ones that make up any club and the larger family of the club itself, our March theme. Perhaps no one’s family is larger than that of our coverboy – The Donald himself. Trump’s brood extends far beyond his five children – the oldest three of whom work with him – to the millions who can’t get enough of NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” and the scores who savor his golf clubs around the world. It’s not by accident that we’ve dubbed him the “King of Clubs.” In the traditional deck of cards, the King of Clubs was thought to represent Alexander the Great, for whom Trump named a $10,000-a-night suite when he opened the Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City in 1990. As I discovered when I interviewed Trump for a story on leadership – and as Kelly Liyakasa notes in her profile on pages 35-37 – part of what makes Trump a leader is his connoisseurship of talent. David Swope is another real mentor. The co-owner of Club Fit in Briarcliff Manor and Jefferson Valley is happy to preside over multiple generations of staffers, athletes and exercisers, just as he once oversaw a legal aid project as a Peace Corps volunteer in India. He’s a large part of the fitness club’s familial atmosphere. In this month’s WAG, you’ll meet many such families and family guys. Leandro Peter Rizzuto, owner of Conair Corp. in Stamford, so wanted his family to enjoy the Caribbean beauty of Anguilla that he built the Mykonos-flavored CuisinArt Resort & Spa for hotel guests as well. Vincent Giagni, spotlighted in our Home of the Month, turned his Purchase abode into a kind of club where family and friends are honored members. And then there are the members of Westchester Country Club, whose rich history, documented in a new book, chronicles how they’ve come together to celebrate The Westchester Classic, roll up their sleeves in wartime and mourn the members lost on Sept. 11. As you read through WAG, you’ll notice that we’ve added eight pages of new features. Among them is Hot Block, which explores some of the special streets that make up Westchester and Fairfield
BOB ROZYCKI
Georgette Gouveia
counties. First up is Harwood Court, a touch of Europe in the heart of Scarsdale that I have loved since childhood. Another new feature is WAGwheels, introduced by Dr. Peter S. Liebert – hubby of our founding publisher, Mary Ann Liebert, and, as you’ll see, a pediatric surgeon who suffers from auto-philia – a pleasant malady for which car-club enthusiasts hope there is no cure. Liebert was already an honorary member of the WAG family. Others are new to the WAGger team. Bill Fallon, our resident maverick, searches for his hidden Tiger Woods amid the environmentally friendly undulations of the Pound Ridge Golf Club. Dana Ramos wrestles with the Herculean task of rounding up some of Fairfield County’s premier clubs. Vita Nelson of The Moneypaper explores the little-known joys of direct investing in our WAGwise section, in which Ian Yankwitt, writing with colleague Owen McClellan, considers the Fred Wilpon fallout from the Madoff mess and then asks the all-important questions: What does the investor know and when does s/he know it? Orthopedic surgeon Katie Vadasdi joins our medical staff to help us cope with and prevent sports injuries, while Dr. Michael Rosenberg and Dr. Erika T. Schwartz take different paths to getting us swimwear sleek. Alissa Frey takes over WAGwit as a kind of Inquiring Photographer for the digital age. And since we know this is how Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis got her start, we think that Frey is in good company. This month, Frey asks: What’s your handicap? Next month, she invites readers to ponder: What makes you a rebel with a cause? Email her at afrey@wagonline.com Speaking of WAG and wit, our readers have been wondering what “WAG” means. It’s not an anagram. A “wag” is a wit or a gossip. One Peekskill reader hoped , though, that it stands for “Women Are Great.” It doesn’t. But still, we like to think so.
Ahh, spahhhs
By Jené Luciani If any industry is recession-proof these days, it seems to be one that counteracts the effects of stress. In fact, given the new crop of spas popping up in our area of late, one could deduce that the business of back-rubs is booming. I for one could always use a little pampering. While the spas I’ve highlighted certainly offered me that, they’re about more than just R and R.
NAJIA’S ESTHETIC SKIN AND LASER CENTER 157 Mamaroneck Ave., Mamaroneck, (914) 630-1118, najskincare.com Specialty: Best-known for her “facial boot camp,” Najia Rohlf, formerly of Neiman Marcus, evaluates her clients individually and then recommends what they need to get their skin in shape. Note that this is not for the easily offended: Najia is always brutally
honest, and her clients love her for it. For me, it was a treatment with the IPL (intense pulsed light) laser, followed by an eyelash tinting. A quick makeup touch-up and you’re out the door. When it comes to facial care, this spot is truly a one-stop shop.
Mention this ad for a $100 savings on a complete pair of prescription eyewear
eye designs Manhattan Styles, Westchester Convenience Eye Designs of Armonk Armonk Town Center 575 Main Street Armonk, NY 273-7337
Eye Designs of Westchester 747 White Plains Road Scarsdale, NY 723-5800
Eye Exams and Contacts Fittings By Appt.
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O2 Living Spa
O2 LIVING 6 Yellow Monkey Village, Cross River, (914) 763-6320, O2living.me Specialty: Situated in the rustic and quaint Yellow Monkey Village, this spa blends holistic services – think oxygen inhalation therapy and vinyasa yoga – with traditional ones (massage, facial, etc.), using only eco-friendly products. After you spend 60 minutes of bliss on the massage table with Juan, you may forget to stop by its café. Don’t though: Even if you’re a carnivore like me, you’ll enjoy its delicious menu of vegan and raw foods. Oh, and try a juice cleanse, if you dare! MASSAGE ENVY 777 White Plains Road, Scarsdale, (914) 902-9200, massageenvy.com Specialty: The largest chain of spas in the country has opened up its newest outpost in our area. The proverbial Starbucks of the spa world, this new Scarsdale spot is perfect for a quick and inexpensive massage or facial. Knowledgeable skin-care director Lisa Vaccarielli comes from a medical background and will prescribe a maintenance regimen that’s right for you. O DAY SPA 434 White Plains Road, Eastchester, (914) 652-7111, odayspa.com Specialty: It seems everyone is going green lately and spas are no exception. This eclectic, all-organic spa offers everything from botanical hair removal to belly facials and castings (a keepsake cast made in the shape of a pregnant woman’s belly.)
LOUIS DE CHIARRO SALON AND SPA 82 Lake Ave, Tuckahoe, (914) 337-7881, louisdechiarro.com Specialty: A spa with a Brazilian spin. Owner Antonio Ary Da Silveira stays true to his roots by specializing in treatments inspired by his native country, like the quickie men’s facial called His Break. This spa covers everything from highlights to facials and pedicures, all under one roof. THE LODGE AT WOODLOCH SPA AND RESORT 109 River Birch Lane, Hawley, Pa. (866) 953-8500, thelodgeatwoodloch.com Specialty: I discovered this hidden health-and-wellness gem — less than a two-hour drive from Westchester — when I attended the International Spa Association Event in Manhattan. The inn and spa’s marketing director, Nancy Kiesendahl, is a Westchester resident. This also happens to be her family’s business. While the lodge’s sister property caters to families, this brand new resort is strictly for couples. It’s nestled in the Pocono Mountains on a gorgeous piece of property – the perfect little spot for a weekend retreat. Daily spa treatments like the wine-inspired Essence of the Vine are included in most packages and encouraged. While you’re there, you can also enjoy cooking demos, wine tastings and Pilates’ classes. The atmosphere is so relaxed: Most guests even dine in their spa robes. n
Come in for a face lift. Leave without a stitch. Introducing the new ThermaFrax Face lift! Come to the only destination in Fairfield County that offers the combination treatment of the NEW Fraxel Dual and Thermage CPT. Now you can erase signs of aging such as skin imperfections, sun damage, saggy skin, lines and wrinkles using a combination of the NEW Fraxel Dual and the NEW comfortable Thermage that allows greater tightening and more comfort than the previous Thermage systems. You can achieve dramatic results with just one Fraxel Dual treatment.
You may also want to visit Greenwich Medical Skincare & Laser Spa Only Spa in Fairfield County offering new Fraxel Dual and Thermage CPT. Expect dramatic results with just one Fraxel Dual treatment. 1345 E. Putnam Ave., Old Greenwich. (203) 637-0662; greenwichmedicalspa.com.
Oasis Day Spa National Diamond Award-winning day spa, specializing in skincare, massage therapy, hydrotherapy, nails, waxing and more. Saw Mill River Parkway, Exit 16, 50 Livingstone Ave., Dobbs Ferry. (914) 409-1900.
Halcyon Days Spa Offers anti-aging solutions, massage, skin care, hydrotherapy, waxing and manicures and pedicures. 151 Greenwich Ave., Greenwich. (203) 622-7424; halcyondaysspa.com.
Pretty Face MediSpa Northeast leader in permanent cosmetics, physician-administered Alma Advanced laser technology, facial-filler specialists, massage and reflexology. 2081 Albany Post Road, Montrose. (914) 7889790; prettyfacemedispa.com.
Holistic Med Spa and Laser Physicians offering holistic anti-aging treatments, laser services, Thermage and nutritional counseling. 495 E. Main St., Mount Kisco. (914) 242-8844; holisticmedicalspa.com.
Skin Centre Advanced Medical Aesthetics Experienced physicians specializing in the latest quality cosmetic enhancements for the skin, face and body for both men and women. 220 S. Central Ave., Hartsdale. (914) 949-6200; myskincentre.com.
1345 E. Putnam Ave. • Old Greenwich, CT 203-637-0662 • GreenwichMedicalSpa.com
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Lv2bfit 480 Main Street, Armonk | (914) 765-0555
wear
BlingTime “
By Patricia Espinosa
It was 1982 and Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like The Wolf ” was blasting in the background. He got down on one knee, and you were so excited you thought your heart would explode when BOOM, out comes the marquise-cut, one-carat diamond in a gold chunky setting. That feeling of excitement turned into a pit in your stomach. You loved him and wanted to be his bride. You said “yes” of course and somehow knew in the back of your swirling mind that one day, you would refresh this ring.... Perhaps the ring belonged to his great-grandmother. It’s possible that’s all he could afford at the time. While lovely, the Victorian setting didn’t quite match your sporty lifestyle. Quickly, you wondered if there was a way to say, “yes” to the proposal but “no” to the ring. Ok, so hubby meant well all of those years ago. But now you want to upgrade the ring for more bling but feel badly about offending the man in your life. Surprisingly, the journey to more shimmer is not such a slippery slope after all. Consider resetting or adding to it to give your baubles more sparkle. Some women may feel absolutely no qualms about upgrading their stone and replacing it with the jaw-dropping jewel they’ve always dreamed of. In that case, rather than abandoning the ring entirely, one option would be to turn the diamond from the old ring into a breathtaking pendant necklace or exquisite earrings. This way you can still feel good about wearing the diamond he proposed to you with. Win win! So instead of suffering from ring envy as you sit across the table from your girlfriends at a ladies’ lunch, take action. You don’t always need an excuse like a milestone birthday or anniversary: It just simply may be time to add a little more shine to your life. Take a look at the many ways you can spruce up your ring.
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Adding Bling
For me, the proposal came first. My wise husband popped the question, handed me an empty jewelry box and then sent me shopping. In the end, I decided to design my own ring – three rows of staggered baguettes set in platinum. Luckily, 18 years later, I still love my ring, but the idea of creating another look with even more bling appealed to me, too. Because of the wideness of the ring, D’Errico Log Cabin Jewelers in Scarsdale recommended I choose two delicate bands. The contrast of the large baguette stones with the delicate round diamonds gives the ring an alternate look with more textured glimmer. I love it!
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Tracy Grossman’s hair is by Paulo Lanfredi and make-up by Heather Roth, both of Frederic Fekkai of Greenwich. She is relaxing in her newly renovated home designed by Edward Parker of Alisberg Parker Architects L.L.C., and built by Jeffrey Jetras Construction Inc., all of Greenwich. The crystal compote is from the Juliska flagship store in Stamford.
a tale of two tracys
Resetting your ring
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Peter Suchy Jewelers in Stamford has a passion and knowledge of antique jewelry that has made the company the largest seller of estate jewelry in Connecticut. Its specialty is finding unique pieces, from diamonds to distinctive settings, on the estate market. See example 4.
Transforming bling
NAGI Jewelers in Stamford took an original diamond, surrounded it with smaller diamonds and set it in an 18-karat white gold pendant necklace. The bride then selected a gorgeous new ring, a significant natural intense yellow diamond, surrounded by yellow diamonds set in 18-karat 7 yellow gold and platinum.
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Rye resident Tracy Eck had been holding on to the engagement ring her ex-husband gave her, not knowing exactly what to do with it. She considered keeping it for her teenage daughter but in the end decided that it probably
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1. Patricia Espinosa’s ring with two delicate diamond bands. 2. Patricia Espinosa’s ring alone. 3. The original yellow diamond eternity band framed by white diamond bands set in platinum. 4. A solitaire ring with baguettes was reset in a handmade Art Deco platinum ring with 10 transitional cut diamonds from Suchy’s estate collection. 5. Tracy Grossman’s Asscher-cut diamond ring made from her diamond ring and earrings. 6. Tracy Grossman’s round diamond ring and diamond earrings. 7. Tracy Eck’s gold diamond amethyst flower cocktail ring made from her diamond ring. 8. Tracy Eck’s original simple round diamond.
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Prudential real estate agent Tracy Grossman’s husband, Keith, proposed to her with a beautiful round diamond ring with two pear-shaped baguettes set in platinum. At the time, she was delighted with the ring and even happier to have the love of her life propose to her. Many years later, Tracy noticed a woman wearing an Asschercut diamond and instantly fell in love with it. She confessed to her husband that she’d seen her dream engagement ring. Shortly thereafter, Keith contacted Betteridge Jewelers in Greenwich. Over the years, the couple had developed a friendly relationship with Warren Lagerloef, a long-time Betteridge sales associate. Keith let Warren know that he was in the market for an Asscher-cut diamond. Meanwhile, the original round diamond was reset into a simple, but oh-so-dazzling diamond stud earring. Betteridge took good care to match the diamond, completing the pair of earrings. After many months of waiting for the perfect Asscher diamond, Warren called Keith one day to deliver the news that he had finally found it. The groom presented his bride with the ring of her dreams on their 18th wedding anniversary. Tracy lamented to Warren that the ring might be too big for her petite frame. Warren replied, “Don’t worry, it gets smaller in the wash.” Tracy laughed and quickly settled into her jewel. Here, Tracy is featured in her Old Greenwich home modeling her “new” diamond stud earrings and drop-dead-gorgeous Asscher-cut diamond.
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Tracy Eck’s hair is by Mariella Licari and make-up by Piret Aava, both of Warren-Tricomi Salon in Greenwich. She’s pictured at L’escale restaurant in Greenwich with a bottle of Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, courtesy of Gregory White PR, for her enjoyment.
was not a good idea to pass along a wedding ring that ended in divorce. After talking it over, I convinced Tracy that it would be a great idea if she took her old ring and redesigned it. We enlisted the help of D’Errico Jewelers in Scarsdale where, with the
guidance of Rich D’Errico and one of their talented designers, we were able to create an entirely different piece by adding Tracy’s birthstone to the original diamond. The final product is a stunning gold amethyst diamond flower ring. n
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17 Peter Suchy WAG HP March 2011 Thursday, February 10, 2011 5:23:42 PM
wear
Clothes Make This Man By Sandy Hapoienu
C
armen Marc Valvo’s designs conjure thoughts of timeless glamour, elegance and sophistication. I have always admired the way his collection fits a woman’s body and how it makes her feel. As a stylist, the Port Chester native is one of my go-to designers for a special-occasion dress. So I felt privileged to get a behind-thescenes peek at his fall couture collection during New York’s Fashion Week. The lavish presentation highlighted the extraordinary craftsmanship and painstaking handiwork that place Carmen Marc Valvo Couture in a league of its own. But Carmen is not only a master of his craft. He’s a humanitarian dedicated to the awareness of colon cancer through his support for the National Colorectal
in u o y See gtime! n i r p S
Cancer Research Alliance. The launch of his new book, “Dressed to Perfection: The Art of Dressing For Your Red Carpet Moments” (Rizzoli), followed the fashion show, and I got the chance to speak to him on an informal basis. All I can say is I don’t know what is more beautiful, the clothes or the man. Carmen’s charming personality made me feel like I was the only person in the room: How do you get ready for Fashion Week? “Even though I exercise regularly, about a month before Fashion Week, I go on a serious exercise regime, often biking 40 miles a day. This helps me stay focused.” What advice do you have for aspiring fashion designers? “The best advice for aspiring fashion designers is to also have a sound understanding of math. Also, very important
OPENING Spring
2011 is to really concentrate in areas regarding art history and architecture as well. These are the building blocks to create fabulous designs.” Where did you get your inspiration for the fall collection? “My inspiration for fall 2011 came from the legendary ballerina (Anna) Pavlova. I wanted the collection to be light and airy with lots of movement.”
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What are your major trends for fall? “Transparency, lace, chiffon, and fabulous furs.” You grew up in Westchester. What are your fondest memories of living in the county? “I lived there until I was 19 and moved down to New York City. We lived in Port
Chester and Rye. I loved the Westchester Country Club and Beach Club. My fondest memories where the times I spent at the Westchester Country Club. I sang a solo when I was 8 years old in the Big Little Show. Now in my spare time, I love to garden, meditate and do The New York Times crossword puzzles.” You have a new book called “Dressed to Perfection.” What inspired you to write it? “Over the course of my career, I spent many occasions meeting with my customers across the country. I was always very surprised to see how intimidating preparing for a special occasion could be for many. I wanted to write a book to empower women and to assist them in making better choices for their red-carpet moments, whether it’s a wedding, bar mitzvah or a divorce party.”
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Club Chic
Lauren on the links
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Making waves
The new swim cover-up looks like a dress that goes from pool to lunch to cocktails, like this mod print from Trina Turk ($149) at Tahiti Street in Greenwich or tahitistreet. com. Perfect under that swimsuit cover is this one-shoulder creation by Magicsuit ($158) at Bloomingdale’s in White Plains or bloomingdales.com.
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Westchester Country Club
Historic course of events Not just classic matches but turtle races, too recounted at Westchester CC Opening day 1922
By Georgette Gouveia
Joe DiMaggio played there,
clobbering a garter snake in the process. Knut Rockne – the Gipper himself – stayed there with his Notre Dame team before their 1928 game against Army. And Shirley Temple, the biggest child star of the Depression, savored the horse show there. The “there” that has been a mecca for notables and sportsmen alike is Westchester Country Club in Harrison, whose rich history as a residential club with strong family ties is recounted in the new book “The Westchester Country Club 1929-2009,” written by avocational golf historian William L. Quirin, a professor of mathematics at Adelphi University, and published by the club itself. “It’s been a long time coming,” Nick Cammarano Jr., the club’s president, said with a laugh. Initially, the idea was to publish the book in time for the club’s 80th birthday in 2009. But, Cammarano said, “It became an even larger project. We have so much memorabilia, articles, awards and pictures that we decided to take the time to make some sanity out of it and get it right. And we did. I’m very pleased with it.” The result is a book that is at once chronological and thematic and chock-full of archival photographs and anecdotes that tell the story not only of the club itself – one of the nation’s most prestigious – but of 20th- and
early 21st-century America. Westchester Country Club had its seed in The Westchester-Biltmore Country Club. It was the dream of hotelier John McEntee Bowman, president of the Bowman-Biltmore Corp., to create a kind of utopia for sporting millionaires on 688 acres in Rye and Harrison. In 1919, Bowman paid $2,500 an acre for 583 acres – almost $31,000 an acre or about $18 million total
Westchester Country Club Today by the Numbers 985 voting members (Membership is full, with a waiting list.) Acreage – Between 350 and 400 at the Main Club site; between 50 and 60 at the Beach Club. Accommodations at the Clubhouse – 52 apartments, 70 rooms. in today’s money. As the 50th anniversary edition of Westchester Country Club Magazine observed: “Members would live in the hotel and in homes on the grounds. …As for sporting facilities, the Club would offer the finest golf, tennis, polo, horseback riding, swimming, boating, squash, tobogganing, skating, shooting, skiing … everything. It was going to be the most beautiful, most luxurious hotel-clubcommunity anywhere. And, of course, no expense
was to be spared.” To that end, Bowman hired the architectural firm of Warren and Wetmore to create an eight-story brick and white-stucco clubhouse/hotel in Harrison in the style of a 19th-century Italian villa, complete with balustrades, vases, columns, statues and an entrance loggia and gallery. Around the same time, 1920-21, construction began on the Beach Club on Manursing Island in Rye. Bowman also brought in the dapper Walter J. Travis, who knew golf in his bones as a course architect, sports journalist and one of the most dominant players of the early 20th century, to create three courses at Westchester – an 18-hole championship course; a less-challenging 18-hole test course; and a 9-hole, par-3 course for beginners and practice. The Main Club opened May 25, 1922, with an exhibition golf match featuring Walter Hagen and “Long Jim” Barnes against Cuthbert Butchart, the club’s pro, and Tommy Armour, its golf secretary. The home team prevailed, winning the match 2-up. There was also a lawn reception as the Seventh Regiment Military Band played and a stag dinner for various Harrimans, Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. The Beach Club opened two weeks later, a harbinger of more good times to come. The heady ’20s were particularly fizzy at The Westchester-Biltmore, with 1,000 members and guests like Sherlock Holmes creator Arthur Conan Doyle and the polo-playing Maharajah of Ratham enjoying everything from putting greens to the steeplechases that 21
Bob Rozycki Robert C. James, executive director of Westchester Country Club, strides through the front foyer.
The Biltmore Room
Caryatids reflect the building’s Italianate style.
22
delighted the equestrian Bowman. It’s a measure of just how frothy the Jazz Age was that the great craze at the club involved turtle races conducted on the dance floor, in the indoor pool and on the beach. It could not last. An aesthetic, athletic and social triumph, the club was bleeding money, threatening Bowman’s business. The concerned membership bought out Bowman for $5.8 million, as reported in The New York Times on May 25, 1929 – seven years to the day the club opened. That same month, the club celebrated its seventh birthday with an electrically lit 3-foot cake. But it would turn out to be the spring before the long financial winter. Few moments in the book move Cammarano more than its account of what was now known as Westchester Country Club in the Great Depression: “The members pulled together and kept the club alive. They made it through those years and flourished afterward.” Indeed, if there is a theme that runs through the book – beyond the club as a microcosm of a kaleidoscopic America – it is, Cammarano said, the idea of family, as in the families that have made up the club’s impermeable social fabric and the larger family of the club itself. During World War II, Westchester Country Club women sewed, knitted and boxed clothing for the Red Cross, while the Beach Club became a training ground for the National Guard. The club’s members would be tested again on 9/11 as they endured the loss of Thomas D. Burke, Peter G. Gelinas, Francis N. McGuinn, George W. Morell and Thomas A. Palazzo. “That was a tough time for everyone,” Cammarano recalled. “You walked into the men’s locker room, and there was an American flag on every locker.” The five members who perished at the World Trade Center in the prime of life were remembered with a plaque at the base of the club’s flagpole and honorary memberships and scholarship money for their families. “We’re very cognizant that we’re a family club,” Cammarano said. Those bonds extend to guests and to the players who have graced The Westchester Classic, from Jack Nicklaus, who won in 1967, to Steve Stricker, the 2007 champion. No doubt many past champs will be returning to the club when it plays host to the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship Aug. 18-21. Cammarano is also looking forward to spearheading major renovations at the Beach Club and perhaps adding some indoor tennis courts. “We try to keep the facilities first-class at all times,” he says. Who knows? Maybe the club will even bring back turtle races. n
Westchester Country Club Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio at a member-guest event.
A long view of the sixth hole.
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Images from “Cézanne’s Card Players,” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan through May 8. All images courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Cards that suit Among the clubs you’ll find at any country club are the kind you don’t keep in a golf bag. Clubs are, of course, one of the four suits in a traditional deck of cards. But how did they get there? Spades, hearts, diamonds and clubs first made their appearance in Renaissance France around the time that playing cards were being mass produced through the use
24
of woodcuts. The four suits correspond to the four castes in the feudal system – spades/nobility; hearts/clergy; diamonds/merchants; clubs/peasants. They also relate to the four cardinal elements – fire (spades), water (hearts), earth (diamonds) and air (clubs). Clubs are also associated with flowers, clovers and creativity.
Perhaps the peasant association accounts for the fact that in some card games like bridge, clubs hold the lowest rank. But in the German game of Skat, where clubs are acorns, they outrank the other suits. Proving that what’s high or low in life depends on what suits you. — Georgette Gouveia
David Bravo
An innovative exercise David Swope relaxes among the Indian
sculptures that grace his Ossining home. Swope first encountered India as a Peace Corps volunteer, overseeing a legal-aid project. Recently, he returned from a trip to the subcontinent that saw the fruits of that project. Swope’s passion for continuity and mentoring carries over to his Club Fit locations in Briarcliff Manor and Jefferson Valley, where he presides over multiple generations of staffers, athletes and exercisers.
David Bravo From left, David Swope, Beth Beck, Bill Beck and Ellen Koelsch — the quartet behind Club Fit’s success.
Fit for a family Bucking current trends, club finds success in a community atmosphere By Georgette Gouveia
A
t Club Fit, the club aspect is as important as the fit. “Because we’re not a chain, we’re not a storefront, people hang around,” said David Swope, who owns the business with Beth Beck. “It’s true,” said Bill Beck, president of Club Fit and Beth’s son. “Two-thirds of it is community.”
26
That was apparent at the Briarcliff Manor locale – the other is in Jefferson Valley – on a recent morning. The parking lot looked like Home Depot’s right before a hurricane. A valet directed me to a rare spot while women in exercise gear toted purple yoga mats to and from the blue-and-white, 140,000-squarefoot building. Inside, seniors kibitzed in the café. A Westchester matron took a private tennis
lesson on one of nine courts – two indoors and seven under a bubble. As some exercisers worked the elliptical machines and treadmills, a taut young woman looped around the indoor track. At the pools, a lifeguard watched swimmers do laps while an instructor put boomers through their water-aerobic paces. Toddlers splashed in the zero-entry pool as their mothers chatted. Tiny Jack LaLannes can also let off steam in the En-
ergy Center while mom and dad hit the racquetball courts or take in a Body Pump class for muscular strength and endurance. In many ways, Club Fit is the modern, athletic equivalent of the medieval town, in which myriad activities were centered in and around the cathedral. It is a multigenerational enterprise – both as a health club and as a business. And in that respect, Club Fit takes its cue from Swope. “Relationships are very important to David,” said Club Fit vice president Ellen Koelsch, who is Beth Beck’s daughter and Bill’s sister. “There are people who come here who remember him as a kid. That continuity carries over to every part of his life.” Indeed, as Swope talked, it was clear that he takes enormous satisfaction in nurturing younger generations. He spoke with pride about working with Koelsch and Bill Beck – who live in Yorktown – and seeing the fruits of a legal aid project he undertook years ago in Bombay (Mumbai) as a Peace Corps volunteer. Swope was just back from a month-long visit to India, whose influence can be seen in the sensuous textiles, miniature paintings and sculptures that grace his Ossining home. It was a particularly important relation-
ship – father and son – that set Swope on his life’s work. “My father (also David Swope) in his 60s took up tennis, which was harmless,” Swope remembered. “Then he decided to build a tennis club (in Jefferson Valley), which was not so harmless.” As a young man with an Ivy League pedigree, (Harvard undergrad, Columbia Law) Swope practiced law – a profession with which he was never enamored. When his father became sick, Swope took over the tennis club and ultimately brought in Beth Beck, a former IBM-er, as his partner. Together they shifted the club’s focus in the early 1980s from individual fees to a membership model and added racquetball, free weights, aerobics, cycling, yoga, and water activities – which continue to be hot. Today Club Fit offers 130 classes a week in Briarcliff and 110 in Jefferson Valley to a total 15,000 members. “One of the tricks is figuring out what is going to last,” Swope said. Out with slide, Bill Beck said, in with spinning (purposeful cycling to music) and dance- and-funk.
Whatever the class, the key is the person leading it, Swope said. Maintenance is also important. Club Fit spends between $1 million and $2 million each year on the Briarcliff facility and the 90,000-squarefoot Jefferson Valley site combined. But perhaps the single thing that has made Club Fit a $20 million-a-year success is its willingness to go against the grain. At a time when fitness clubs are all business – exercise and leave – Club Fit is an invitation to linger. There are Chillin’ and Grillin’ events throughout the year, a wintry Camp Bash that reunites participants in Club Fit’s huge summer camp program, and fundraisers like one for Open Door Family Medical Centers, which serve Westchester’s underinsured. “In a way, clubs have gotten cheap,” Bill Beck said. “They don’t have the square footage for socializing. But we believe the social element is what makes you a success.” “The hardest thing is to get people in the door,” Swope added. “They’re scared. They’re intimidated. They don’t have the time. But after they’ve been here, they can’t get enough.” n
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David Bravo
Burn baby, burn Gyms turn up the heat on workouts Jolene Matthews and Eileen Bedell
theONswitch
By Kelly Liyakasa
28
Michelle Lichtman cools down.
I challenge you to find a place where kickboxing boot camp and Vermont-cheddar mac-n-cheese are served up on the same menu. Hard-pressed as you may be, I found just such a place at the newly revamped Hudson Valley Health and Tennis Club in Hastings-on-Hudson. A United States Tennis Association (USTA) training facility for more than 20 years, Hudson Valley Health and Tennis has seen its share of renovations. Owner Eileen Bedell, who bought the property in April 1998, had the tennis courts reconstructed and the waterfront deck resurfaced. But now there are other new features to go along with the spectacular river view and easy walk from the Metro-North train station. For one thing, The Clubhouse Grille provides players and public alike with everything from grilled chicken paninis to crab cake sandwiches amid the firelit glow of the sleek, mahogany décor. Before all the eating, though, comes all the exertion. This season, Bedell introduced a series of daily fitness classes. “It’s always good to reinvent yourself, and I wanted to expand based on what the community wanted,” she said. “We learned that there wasn’t a prominent provider of fitness and wellness services in this particular river town, especially during the daytime, which is what we’re geared toward here.” It’s all about rejuvenation, she said. From the Har-Tru surfaces, which are rumored to be friendliest to the leg muscles, to the natural light streaming in through the studio’s wall of windows, the club has a relaxed air to it. For the physically brave, there is core-body sculpt. And if you want to slow things down, there is always yoga.
Redefining the Country Club Experience.
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David Bravo
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Michelle Lichtman leads a Tread-X class.
Jolene Matthews and Kelly Liyakasa
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After multiple bicep curls and plank poses (for core ab strength), I emerged from Hudson Valley Health and Tennis intact – albeit a bit more sore than I was before. Call me adventurous – or just plain crazy – but I wanted to work up a sweat along with the rest of the club-goers. So when I heard Jolene Matthews, a fitness model and one of Bedell’s top trainers, was teaching Zumba Fitness one Friday morning, my risk-taking alter ego got the best of me. The fitness craze known as Zumba is a Latin-inspired regimen that turns a traditional workout into a dance party. The day’s playlist ranged from “Mambo Number Five” to Miley Cyrus. Kesha got our heart rates up and Outlandish’s “Aicha” cooled us down. One of the most unusual aspects of Zumba is that it encourages the participant to let go and improvise. It seems the philosophy is that as long as you’re moving, you’re burning calories. For a trainer who once worked in corporate America at ABC Sports, Matthews said her new role at the club is dually rewarding: “What I love about this place is you combine a beautiful atmosphere with great trainers and instructors, and you have the best of both worlds. You get out of commercial fitness and into something that really connects your mind, body and
spirit. Just being here when you’re working out, you really feel like you’re actually uplifted.”
Just like Spidey
The Tread-X fitness class at Bodyfit Studio in Scarsdale is like something straight out of Spider-Man. Three-dimensional suspension training is interwoven with floor cardio and time on the treadmill for a carb-blasting, multilayered workout. Class creator and studio owner Michelle Lichtman of Greenwich noted, “The class is designed for every single person at every single fitness level.” Besides boasting heated toilet seats and valet parking steps away from the Scarsdale train station, the 10-year-old boutique Bodyfit Studio allowed Lichtman, a former dancer and fitness fiend, to transcend herself as an instructor. “It’s high-intensity interval training,” she said. “I have you do a spurt of energy and then you recover. You do it for an hour and you push yourself at one or twominute intervals.” Tread-X comes complete with steel beams and TRX-suspension, used in Navy Seal training. It’s a high-energy hour that won’t bulk you up. “I have men coming who are volunteer firefighters and the tiniest women, too,” Lichtman said. “Everyone leaves completely sopping wet.” n
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gadget Tools and Toys for the Fairways By Ryan Doran
Tune and smash
Past are the days when drivers the size of barn-sides were the surest way of clobbering a golf ball on the tee. The TaylorMade R11 ($399) driver is a finely tuned answer to the Goliaths of the past. The first-of-itskind wood has weighted screws that enable you to finely tune the club to match your style, technique and swing phys- TaylorMade R11 ics, or lack thereof. In a matter of a few twists of the fingers, you can find the right club for the most foul or fine conditions.
Heat stroke
The Coleman Golf Cat cart heater will keep you warm during those chilly days on the links. Conveniently fitting inside most cup holders, the unit’s ignition starts with the push of a button for quick and easy matchless lighting. Once running, the club-shaped heater pumps out 3,000 BTUs and operates up to seven hours from one 16.4 oz. propane cylinder. Coleman Golf Cat
Green games
As the sport of the corporate world, golf intrinsically has its fair share of sharks. The GolfMoolah application ($19), made by a private application developer in Westport, helps keep your wagers in line, so you can keep your ball on the fairway without having to worry about the questionable quarter of your foursome. The application includes 10 games for the links and is available for download through Apple’s iTunes.
GolfMoolah
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On the golf course, traditional manners and attire receive the respect of an honored patriarch. But that doesn’t mean you can’t mix in a little new technology. The Nike Lunar Control spikes are the Jordans of the rough and fair. Made of waterproof full-grain saddle leather and featuring Nike’s patented Lunarlon cushioning in the heel, these spikes will push you to go 36 holes and beyond.
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Stroke ofGenius By Kelly Liyakasa
Ryan Doran
A
At Trump Tower, the uncommon is Trump is the kind of man who, withpractically commonplace. out a second thought, will conference in A dapper Tommy Hilfiger breezes past the executive vice-president of Trump you and is quickly enveloped by the mar- National Golf Club-Westchester when he ble and granite-laden lobby’s golden aura. hears you’ve done business together in the Diamonds glitter behind a Cartier coun- past. ter. A sky-lit waterfall, accompanied by a “Dan’s a great guy,” he says. “He started crisp scent, offers a soothing soundtrack. off as a caddy, went to college and now If you’re lucky enough to get past the he’s running… get me Dan Scavino, guard and the red-velvet rope, you enter please!” he shouts mid-sentence. “I’m goan elevator – an alchemy of brass, glass ing to tell him you’re here.” and class – that silently sweeps you up to Minutes later, Trump National’s young the sky. general manager is on the line. When it drops you off on the hallowed Greetings and light conversation turn 26th floor – home to Donald J. Trump to talk of how often the green is cut at the and The Trump Organization – you’re Briarcliff Manor course. greeted by Scottish deerhound Hickory You get the sense that Trump brings to and her entire entourage, fresh from their his golf clubs the same philosophy that triumph at The Westminster Kennel Club show. Hickory’s on a victory lap, meeting the captains and the kings of “You’ve got to have a certain the city. And in New York, it something. Unless you get very, doesn’t get more kingly than The Donald himself. very lucky – and there is a But here’s the thing about word called luck – it takes a lot Trump: For all the headlines and pompadoured swagof hard work and a lot of study. ger, for all the talk of firing And you need a certain level of would-be celebrity apprentices on his NBC hit and intelligence.” firing up the electorate as a presidential candidate, he continues to display the down-to-earth, matter-offact pragmatism and appreciation for tal- he’s brought to real estate and TV. ent that have made him an international “You’ve got to have a certain somebrand. That connoisseurship of ability thing,” he says. “Unless you get very, very and character – which drives “The Celeb- lucky – and there is a word called luck – it rity Apprentice” – extends even to four- takes a lot of hard work and a lot of study. legged performers. And you need a certain level of intelli“(Hickory’s) a great dog, so it was an gence.” honor for me,” he says, engaging you in He speaks fondly of the former Branton conversation the moment you’re invited Woods Golf Course in Hopewell Juncinto his corner office atop his signature tion, which he had had his eye on for five building. years. It’s a real working office – teeming, alOn Christmas Eve 2009, he signed on beit neatly, with piles of papers, awards, the dotted line and bought what is now family photographs, paintings, prints and Trump National Golf Club-Hudson Valsports memorabilia – the artifacts of a life ley. larger than life itself. A bank of windows “We had 150 members and now we offers a commanding view from Manhat- have 301 members,” he said. “The Hudtan’s Fifth Avenue of The Plaza Hotel and son Valley is a very vibrant area. But the Central Park beyond. problem was you have this great course “It’s a little different, right?” he asks but people didn’t know it. And frankly, if I you, his famed strawberry-blond coif off- were to fix it – and I spent a lot of money set by a periwinkle tie and silver cufflinks. (about $1 million each) on the clubhouse Where else, he wonders, could you run and the course – but if I did that withinto Westminster’s Best in Show? out the name ‘Trump,’ it would probably His eyes flash with amusement. have no extra new members. “I love beautiful dogs….But I don’t “It’s just a spectacular place.” have time for it.” He is equally proud of his Briarcliff
bob rozycki
Donald Trump is expressive, congenial, warm and genuine. He has a ready smile. When we mention his recent appearance on “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon,” he asks what our opinion is of the comic actor turned talk show host. He’s great, we say. The Donald nods in agreement. As for those “Trump for President” posters in the corner of his office, he says that a friend had sent them. Would he use his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach as the summer White House? “It’s too hot there during the summer, ” he says, seemingly wondering which residence would be best.
Manor property, Trump National Golf Club-Westchester, the former Briar Hall Country Club. “It was a small, but a very good location. And then I bought 50 acres around the course, hired (Jim) Fazio, and we blew up the course. We blew it up. It’s a brand-new course. “And we built what is considered by many to be the best course in Westchester County.” Adds Trump: “I have vision, I understand luxury, and I understand what people want.” That know-how, combined with perspiration equity, is well-regarded: Golf Inc. made Trump its winter coverboy, deeming him the most profitable man in the sport. At his Westchester club, he’s particularly fond of the 13th hole, easily identifiable by what he calls the largest man-made waterfall in the world, which throws off 5,000- gallons of water per minute. “That hole was $7 million to build,” he says. “I’ll let you know in a couple of years if it was worth it.” His latest course is Trump International Golf Links, among the dunes of the Scottish Aberdeen coastline – slated to open next summer. For him, it’s personal. “My mother was a great woman,” he says. “She came from Scotland. She came here at 19 years old. She met my father the first week, and they got married and they
were married for 62 years….It’s a wonderful thing.” Then there’s the new Trump Ocean Club International Hotel and Tower in Panama and Trump International Hotel and Tower in Toronto. “I have a lot to keep me busy and on top of it, this whole thing came up recently with the presidential race, and ‘The Apprentice’ is on, and then they’re talking about, ‘Is Trump going to buy the Mets?’” So is the Queens native going to purchase the pride of that borough? “We’re looking at them,” he says. “Fred Wilpon is a friend of mine.” A question of what he does in his downtime is met with a straight-faced “There is no such thing as leisure.” He laughs. “Look, I have a great family,” he says. “I have five children and three of them (Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric) who
are now in business with me… I enjoy doing what I do. I have many, many clubs throughout the world and I go to those clubs as my vacation because I figure I might as well take a vacation and at the same time, I might as well get work done.” When he plays golf, he says he plays at his own clubs. Trump National Golf Club-Westchester naturally makes the list, as does Trump National in Bedminster, N.J. But he isn’t afraid to speak of his membership at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, which he calls a “great place.” And occasionally he will tee-off with former President Bill Clinton. “Clinton’s a good golfer.” But does Trump let him win? “No,” he says. “But he’s an excellent golfer.” n
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Trump’s green domain If you think that’s former Yankees skipper Joe Torre playing the back nine at Trump National Golf Club-Westchester, you’re probably right. And your eyes wouldn’t be deceiving you if you also spotted former President Bill Clinton playing with the owner himself, Donald Trump. Or perhaps, golf legend Arnold Palmer. Where else in Westchester can you find a 101-foot-high waterfall, let alone on a golf course? That would be the 13th hole, which Trump calls a personal favorite; and why wouldn’t he? It came with a staggering price tag of $7 million. The 18-hole, 7,261-yard course in Briarcliff Manor also comes with a stunning, 75,000-square-foot clubhouse. You wouldn’t expect anything less with the golden Trump name attached. The name not only has a cachet, but the draw of a super magnet. The golf club has 298 members, just 52 short of the 350-max. “Not bad for a club that has been around for 10 years,” said Dan Scavino, the club’s executive vice president and general manager.
Yogi Berra, former President Bill Clinton and Arnold Palmer have all played with Donald Trump.
Aerial view
“It takes many, many clubs decades-upon-decades to reach that status.” There are myriad levels of membership, ranging from golf membership, which includes golf, clubhouse amenities, dining, fitness center, spa, tennis and swimming to a social membership, which offers full dining privileges and use of the spa, fitness center and golf simulators. Though it goes without saying that Trump National-Westchester (trumpnationalwestchester.com) is our personal pick, you can follow the Trump mark of excellence across the country and beyond. Visit Trump on the green at these other fine golfportfolio properties: • Trump National Golf Club-Bedminster, N.J. • Trump National Golf Club-Colts Neck, N.J. • Trump National Golf Club-Hudson Valley, Hopewell Junction, N.Y. • Trump National Golf Club-Los Angeles, Calif. • Trump National Golf Club-Philadelphia, Pa. • Trump National Golf Club-Washington, D.C. • Trump International Golf Club-Rio Grande, Puerto Rico • Trump International Golf Club-West Palm Beach, Fla. • Trump International Golf Links-Aberdeen, Scotland (under development). — Kelly Liyakasa The spectacular 13th hole.
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J. R. Cattington Interiors
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way
C lub of their own A
Purchase home welcomes guests as honored members
Presented by Houlihan Lawrence
Grand entrance hall
The main kitchen
By Jane K. Dove
“What’s the point of
having success if you don’t share it with others?” asks Vincent Giagni of Purchase. “I have worked hard in business and created a beautiful home that’s very much like a personal country club. I want all of my friends, colleagues and extended family to come here and enjoy it as often as possible.” The result is a majestic 23-room, 14,000-square-foot neoclassical residence that could well be called “Club Vincent.” Located at 5 Windsor Court on a fenced and gated two-acre parcel with exquisite landscaping, “Club Vincent” contains many of the amenities of a fine country club. Giagni bought and completely renovated the home 13 years ago with entertaining in mind. He and his wife of 47 years, Leonora, host an array of events over the course of the year, especially during the warm-weather months. In addition to a luxurious traditional living space, the home, shaped along the lines of a gentle crescent, contains a lower level that is entirely club-like.
Lower-level game room
The best for guests
Once only a barren concrete block, the lower level has been completely transformed. It now features a game room with cherry floors and upholstered walls; a 12seat home theater with an adjacent lounge area; a sports bar with a fireplace; a winetasting room with an adjacent wine cellar and liquor room; a spa area featuring a large Jacuzzi and ladies’ and men’s dressing rooms; a sauna and massage room; and a well-equipped, mirrored exercise room with resilient flooring. A full kitchen with access to the upstairs veranda and a guest room and full bath finish the lower level. Outside, guests can enjoy 2.2 acres of meticulously landscaped grounds that include a 62-by-31-square-foot heated pool; a separate children’s pool; and a pool house containing a 20-by-20-foot kitchen with commercial-caliber appliances.
5 Windsor Court At A Glance • Purchase • Square footage: 13,831 • Acres: 2.14 • Rooms : 23 • Bedrooms: Seven •B athrooms: Eight full, three half • Amenities: Lower-level game room, sports bar, home theater, exercise room, Jacuzzi, sauna, massage room • Pools: One adult, one “kiddie” • Price: $8.9 million
Vincent Giagni and one his favorite members, grandson Nicholas Giagni.
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The stone veranda, gardens and pool
A large and gracious stone veranda that can accommodate 150 guests opens off the rear of the house and overlooks the pool and gardens. Surrounded by a balustrade, it is partially covered with a cedar ceiling. Amenities on the veranda include a full bar, two refrigerators, a wine cooler and two wall-mounted TVs. The picture-perfect grounds showcase $1 million of landscaping on both flat and terraced levels. Family and guests can enjoy a rose garden, cutting gardens, a fruit orchard, a vegetable garden, fountains, outdoor sculpture, a waterfall and a pond. Beautifully maintained, mature specimen trees are up-lit at night and provide shade during the day. Ample parking for guests is provided in two lots — one in front and the other behind the home.
That’s entertainment
Giagni said he has always loved to entertain, starting when he was a young man living in the Bronx. “I have been doing it all my life. Back in the old neighborhood, we had a group of friends that formed a social club – the Edenwald Social Club. We met every Monday and paid dues of 25 cents a week. When it came time to have a party, we charged $5 per person. We would hire a band, I would play the accordion and we would dance until 5 a.m. It was great.” Today’s parties at 5 Windsor Court are a bit different, thanks to Giagni’s success. “I started out as a shipping clerk in 1951, working at a manufacturing company that produced mechanical and electrical equipment,” he said. “At 28, I became the chief officer of the 300-employee operation. I left that company after 13 years and joined a public company, purchasing a stake in it. Twenty-two years later, I bought the entire company, kept it for a few more years and then sold it.” Today, Giagni, an outgoing and energetic individual, is involved in the daily operations of a company owned by one of his two sons. “It’s called SECS Inc., and we do manufacturing for the aerospace industry and large aircraft companies,” he said. “These days, my wife and I do major entertaining throughout the year, peaking during the good-weather months. We have large events from 12 to 18 times per year and lots of smaller get-togethers. It’s common to have 30 people to the smaller parties and up to 150 for the larger ones.” When he and his wife give a party, they make sure everything is “done perfectly.” “I use a trusted staff and great caterers. The smaller, casual parties around the pool and veranda are open to the children of my friends, and the kids have a great time, including my three grandsons. Sometimes I will bring in a pony. For the more formal events, we will put down a dance floor and have a band. Some of my friends from 44
the old Edenwald Social Club are still on hand.”
Family living
Giagni has done well by his friends, but has not cut back on the traditional family living areas of the home, which also offer opportunities for winter entertaining. The first floor features a large, white marble entrance hall that can double as a dance floor. A sunken living room is directly ahead, capped by a 12-foot ceiling, centered by a fireplace and looking out over the rear veranda and gardens. The dining room, accented by a fireplace, contains inlaid white birch and walnut furniture designed by Giagni. A family room features burled mahogany cabinetry, a wet bar and a wall of French doors. A spacious library with cherry cabinetry and a music room with a grand piano, full bar and access to the veranda are next to the living room. The enormous kitchen is fitted with an array of stateof-the art appliances, complemented by a large butler’s pantry and a breakfast room opening to the veranda. A bedroom with a full bath, a powder room, a laundry and a mud room with access to the four-car garage complete this part of the home. Set aside for privacy, the first-floor master wing features a spacious, view-filled bedroom with a fireplace, a sitting room with a wet bar, large walk-in closets and his and her marble baths with steam showers and Jacuzzis. Two bedrooms and two full baths round out the main level. The second floor features two large bedrooms and two full baths designed for guests to enjoy total privacy and lovely views. Throughout the home, the Giagnis display their exten-
sive collection of fine art, sculpture and other treasures. Giagni himself has a special love of antique light fixtures and the home is fitted with many of them in different styles and sizes, from magnificent Baccarat chandeliers to vintage wall sconces. Gold leaf graces moldings in several rooms. White, cream and tones of beige accented by colorfilled murals, faux-painted walls and silk wall paper help frame the home’s décor. Gleaming wood floors feature a large collection of fine Oriental rugs.
The next project
While Giagni has enjoyed his years of living and entertaining at 5 Windsor Court, he says the time has come to downsize: “I thoroughly enjoyed renovating this house, the third one I have done over in Purchase. We are looking for something smaller – about 5,000 square feet – also in Purchase, a community we both love because of its beauty, location close to New York City, the nearby airport and all of the other things it offers.” Giagni said he will probably put a lot of work into his new house, too. “I guess renovation, like entertaining, is in my blood. I will continue to do both and look forward to my next move.” For more information, contact Billie Prizio (914) 5892401. n
Fairfield clubs swing into a new season By Dana Ramos
W
ith the possible exception of those who plow snow or sell North Face gear for a living, it’s safe to say that just about all of us are eager for spring this year. Longer days, green lawns, drinks outside as you watch the sun set, floral prints, and a dip in the pool – it’s all coming back, not a moment too soon. Fairfield County’s country clubs are eager for the soft season, too. And while many are so adamantly private that they strictly follow the vieux riche mandate of avoiding publicity or attracting attention, WAG managed to get the skinny on some of the most prominent in the area:
Greenwich Country Club
(Doubling Road, Greenwich)
Greenwich Country Club
When Greenwich Country Club was founded nearly 120 years ago, it was one of the first in the country. It now has 650 members. In addition to a roster of local, national and international members,
the club has been host to leaders in business, finance and government. Originally a golf club, it is now the second largest full-service country club in the Northeast, spreading out over 165 acres of undulat-
ing land. In 1960, the club had a devastating fire that destroyed the clubhouse and historical artifacts. But it was rebuilt with expanded amenities that include bowling. Among the renovations in the past
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Milbrook Club
Milbrook Club
(Woodside Drive, Greenwich)
Lake Milbrook
few years are a new squash building and state-of-the-art fitness facilities. Current renovations involve the ballroom and 19 guest rooms that will echo the top-of-theline accommodations in luxury hotels. The tennis courts (indoor and outdoor) are being converted into hydro Har-Tru courts. The club’s chef, Keith Armstrong, is currently one of only five who have been nominated by the American Culinary Federation for Chef of the Year.
Innis Arden Golf Club
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Milbrook Club was established in 1923, in the gated Greenwich community that gives it its name. Although there are members who live outside the immediate area, this is a true community-based club and usually the first place for members to visit for food and leisure. There is a relaxed club atmosphere that is very family centric: There are 220 children under age 10, many of whom enjoy a booming camp each summer. Children are also welcome to frolic on the putting green adjacent to an outside patio and outdoor kitchen/ bar after golfing hours. Patio dining is a summer favorite and the heart of social activity. Among the spaces that have been renovated are the Lakeview Room (with views of Lake Milbrook).
Tamarack Country Club
(Locust Road, Greenwich)
Named after indigenous trees, Tamarack Country Club was originally organized as Port Chester Country Club in 1909, and the fairways were actually maintained by a flock of sheep. Twenty years later, the club bought the Griffen Farm in the back country sec-
tion of Greenwich where it now enjoys a setting of rolling hills and open land – perfect for country club life – as well as an Olympic-size pool and several all-weather tennis courts. In July 2007, Tamarack launched its completely rebuilt clubhouse. Its fitness facilities feature class instruction and a massage room. The roughly 400 members also enjoy a great course that has been updated over the past few years.
Stanwich Country Club
(North Street, Greenwich)
The Stanwich was founded in the early 1960s when the business and individual exodus from New York City and subsequent population growth of Stamford and Greenwich presented an increasing need for recreational activities and new private clubs. It is situated on 186 acres of what was known as the Hekma Estate (it was also known as Semloh Farm) that encompasses several lakes. The former pastures are now the club’s fairways. They feature a well-known, challenging championship golf course – a regular U.S. Open qualifying site. On the travel website 10Best. com, the course is rated a 10 and listed as “editors’ favorite.”
Innis Arden Golf Club
(Tomac Avenue, Old Greenwich)
Originally founded by J. Kennedy Tod on his private estate (today’s Greenwich Point), the present-day Innis Arden moved to Tomac Avenue in 1908. Innis Arden has a long history with golf in the area: The club was one of the founding members of the Connecticut Golf Association. Now, however, the club has diverse offerings, with tennis courts (four covered for winter play), winter paddle tennis courts and swimming facilities. The club’s junior sports programs in golf, tennis and aquatics have helped it maintain the family friendly image it is known for. Golf is still a top priority, though, with a recently renovated golf course and the building of a state-of-the-art golf education facility. There are multiple dining rooms for members and à la carte dining, with the patio being a popular place in summer for members and guests to enjoy a relaxing dinner and views of the golf course. The culinary program, overseen by Executive Chef Kevin Sullivan and Clubhouse Manager Bonnie Bocchino, provides the membership with a world-class dining experience. n The course at Innis Arden Golf Club
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Bob Rozycki Brae Burn Country Club’s wood and stone lobby – at once cozy and modern.
Home away from home Brae Burn’s renovations reveal the classic in the contemporary
By Georgette Gouveia “The country club is an extension of their homes to the members here,” said Steven Vando, chief operating officer and general manager of Brae Burn Country Club. “They use it frequently.” So it should come as no surprise that the months and millions spent renovating 95 percent of the 50,000-square-foot facility saw Brae Burn officials put the emphasis on the “house” in “clubhouse.” With its earth-toned palette – which underscores the interior’s blend of wood and stone – and floor-length windows that allow members to commune with the voluptuous golf course just beyond, Brae Burn has the enveloping feel of the neighboring Purchase homes. Which is just what officials want to greet members when the club reopens for the season March 18. “When I interviewed architects, I actually had them go around and look at houses in the neighborhood,” Vando said. The team selected – architects James G. Rogers and Christopher M. McCagg and interior designer Ellen Glenn Golden of James G. Rogers Architects in South Norwalk – have taken Brae Burn from the Modernism of the 1960s, when the club was born, to a classic traditionalism that is nonetheless entirely contemporary. “It’s the homebuilding of today and the club building of today,” Vando said. Gone is the clapboard exterior in favor of a shingle style that fits into the landscape. Two cupolas now grace the exterior, one on the main roof and one atop the porte cochere that shelters arrivals. Meanwhile, an additional 16 feet of patio afford members and guests a greater view of the 18-hole golf course’s challenging undulations. Inside, Golden has created a feel that is at once cozy and imposing, with floor-length window treatments in the green and beige ladies’ card room and glittering beaded chandeliers in the ballroom. Nowhere, however, is the triumph of traditionalism more complete than in the ladies’ locker room, with its panoply of patterns – stripes, plaids, florals and leopard-spots – in blues, golds, yellows and greens. Who would want to leave? The men’s locker room plays off the ladies’ palette with slateblue walls and brown leather. The men also have three flat-screen TVs to the ladies’ one. But there is no sexism here, Vando said, 48
just a reflection on the women spending less time with the tube. There can be no doubt of parity in one area: Both the men’s and ladies’ locker rooms have seen their shower facilities totally reconfigured. Indeed, the changes at Brae Burn aren’t merely aesthetic. They’re also technological and environmental, with upgrades to the kitchen as well as the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems; thermal windows; and green electricity. Equally up-to-date is the use of artwork. During our recent visit, Janet Schwartz-O’Leary of JSO Art Associates in Westport, considered some selections from a number of abstract canvases – a trend in clubhouses. “It seems that even if the country clubs are going more traditional, the art is more abstract,” Schwartz-O’Leary said. “Even the landscapes are more abstracted. I think (the clubs) want to be more contemporary.” The melding of the state-of-the-art with the domestic required effort – seven months’ worth to be exact. Originally, the renovations were to be done last winter. But by the time all the permits, players and materials were in place – “Nothing is on the shelf,” Vando noted. “Everything had to be custom made” – it was Feb. 1, 2010. That meant that the clubhouse would be off limits during its busiest seasons, spring and summer. Vando, however, made sure that the 350 members, who hail from around the metropolitan area, wanted for nothing. He pitched a 40-by-20-foot air-conditioned tent outside and rented a 32-foot kitchen trailer as well as portable restrooms with faux granite, beautiful woodwork and CD players. Fortunately, many of the club’s 155 acres – including the pool, snack bar, tennis facility and golf course – were unaffected. Still, he said, “we obviously didn’t provide all the social services we usually do – galas and some dinner-dances.” By the time the renovations were completed Sept. 1, it was almost time for Brae Burn to close for the season. Now, though, all that’s left to do is to put the finishing touches on what’s sure to be even more of a homestead for members. And while Vando may be too busy to savor it all, he said he couldn’t be more delighted: “I’m fortunate to be able to come to a beautiful club like this every day.”
Bob Rozycki Janet Schwartz-O’Leary of JSO Art Associates in Westport considers placement of a piece of artwork.
A newly renovated hallway off the main entrance.
The vanity area of the ladies’ locker room.
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Crouching Tiger, Hidden Golfer Pound Ridge Golf Club – a course for all, but with a private feel
The original 1923 course had already been hacked at for housing when it was remade for $35 million. The overhaul began in 1997 with a seven-year planning and permitting process, followed by two years of hard-core construction and finally a reopening in July 2008.
the course for the entire year.” Water management was key to Dye’s design when he transformed the smaller iteration of the course into a 7,177-yard championship-caliber course with five different levels of play built in. When the snow leaves, the sun will shine on nearly three miles of stone walls that Dye installed using rock from the course excavation. “We feel it’s a very special course, because it does maintain the feel of other Westchester courses,” Ekaireb said. “But it’s not like other Westchester courses, which have more of an old-style rhythm to them – at least the famous ones. This is completely modern, state-of-the-art. We minimize chemical use and there is no runoff onto other properties: Everything stays on site.” The scheme shone through in fine form when 2008 rains had club members from even the county’s best-known courses signing up at Pound Ridge, because it remained drained and playable.
To Dye for
A course for all
Jim Krajicek
By Bill Fallon
T
he Pound Ridge Golf Club is as close to golf perfection as you are likely to find – challenging to single-digit handicappers and inviting to the person eyeing 100 for the first time. In a region full of courses that come via exclusive memberships or that can feature crowds on the county tees, the Pound Ridge Golf Club offers a privately owned public course that runs and feels like a country club. It also teams environmental sustainability with a golf philosophy that stresses strategy over power. No wonder Golf Links and Golfweek magazines named Pound Ridge Golf Club one of America’s best new courses in 2008 and Golf Digest followed suit a year later. Credit owner Kenneth Wang – son of the late C.C. Wang, who was also his business partner, and brother of designer Vera. The Wangs bought the property in 1980 when it was 11 holes of golf and 65 acres on the side. “From 1981 to 2004, they ran it as a nice, nine-hole golf course,” said Jason Ekaireb, director of sales and marketing.
The 17th hole in season.
“But their dream was to make a public course that was as good as, or better than, the great country club courses in the area. And you have to remember, in Westchester County and across the border into Fairfield County, you have some of the finest private golf courses in the world.” He ticked off half a dozen legendary 18s, adding, “The Wangs’ dream was to create a high-end golf experience for the public that would match those golf courses.”
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To create the new course, the Wangs brought in über-architect Pete Dye. While walking the terrain to lay it out, Dye happened upon a boulder in the woods. Where others might have seen a problem, Dye saw an opportunity. “God put that rock there,” Ekaireb quoted Dye as saying. “It stays.” The boulder is now a fixture on the 13th hole. “The earlier course was mostly open,” Ekaireb said. “When most courses expand into the woods, you are left with a stark difference between the older holes and the holes cut from the woods. Here, Pete mixed them up. You play an open hole and then you are flanked by the woods.” While Dye designed the course so that Tiger Woods would enjoy a championship challenge, the golfer struggling to break 100 for the first time will enjoy the round as well. “This is the Dye concept,” Ekaireb said. “The whole philosophy of the sport as he sees it is that golf is a strategic game, not a power game. From the back tees, it’s very difficult. As you move up through the tees, your landing areas become more generous. He knows how to create this.” The tees are designated with handicaps. “So if you’re a four-handicap player, you can play the back tees. Twelve to 20 handicap, you should be at the middle tee; 30 to 34 handicap, the front tee.” The course is par 72. The only water to enter the course does so from the sky. All other water and runoff is kept on site in four manmade lakes holding 23 million gallons of water, or, in the words of Ekaireb, “Enough water for
While it is public, Pound Ridge is not a county course. At government-run golf facilities, the spacing of rounds can be tight. By design, foursomes have more leisure between tee times at Pound Ridge. On busy Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, Ekaireb said, “We get 140 to 160 golfers and we don’t really want more than that because we extend the rounds. Typical tee-time intervals on a public course are eight minutes. Here they’re 10 to 12 minutes. We want you to feel that when you’re out there, nobody’s rushing you.” Rounds range from $50 to $250 per player. Caddies are available by a reservation. “They don’t read the greens. But they carry your bags and follow your shots,” Ekaireb said. There are also 72 all-electric golf carts. “You don’t have to stomp on the brake with these carts,” he added, warming to one of the course’s many details. “With these, you step on the brake once, and it’s locked. Even on a steep hill. They’re really fun.”
Becoming a regular
For avid golfers in the metro area and individuals and corporations making the region a second home, Pound Ridge Golf Club offers an alternative to private club memberships and municipal courses, featuring flexible playing options, an assortment of benefits and varying price points, starting at $4,000. (914) 764-5771, poundridgegolf.com
Greek isle feel in the Caribbean By Georgette Gouveia
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Along with beautiful appointments and lovely scenery, the resort also grows its own produce.
ooking for a hotel that offers an unusual experience? Then look no further than the CuisinArt Resort & Spa in Anguilla. For one thing, it’s a touch of the Greek island of Mykonos in the Caribbean, with light-dappled, white stucco buildings – topped by blue domes and laced with magenta and fuchsia bougainvillea – rivaling the warm, crystalline sand in gleaming intensity. For another, it was built by a man who spends a lot of time traveling and knew what he didn’t want. “It’s not a cookie-cutter hotel,” said Leandro Peter Rizzuto, owner of the Conair Corp. in Stamford, a more than $2.5 billion company whose hair-care products and Cuisinart appliances are sold in 104 countries. Being a hotelier was certainly the last thing on Rizzuto’s mind when, some 30 years ago, he decided to take a boat ride across Rendezvous Bay to Anguilla from St. Martin, where he was vacationing. Anguilla is one of the few Caribbean islands with limestone rock formations, which act like a water-purification system. “The sand is crystal-white with very fine particles that don’t retain the heat,” Rizzuto said. It was a far cry from the hot Jones Beach of his childhood. Rizzuto liked what he saw well enough to buy 25 acres of land. But when he went to apply for a building permit to create a vacation home for his tight-knit family – Rizzuto also has a spread in Sheridan, Wyo. – he discovered that he had to be either a local Anguillan or a commercial developer to build on waterfront property. “I thought, ‘I’m not in the hotel business’,” he recalls. “But I didn’t sell the property either.” Perhaps he had an inkling: Ultimately, he decided to create a resort and spa that would not only echo the brilliant architecture he so admired on Mykonos but would eschew the pitfalls of the hotel experience that the peripa-
Santorini Restaurant
tetic Rizzuto often encountered. Fresh produce a problem? Rizzuto developed a hydroponic farm to yield everything from bok choy to the sweetest cherry tomatoes and brought in French chef Paul Bocuse to oversee the menu, which he continues to do. Rooms too tiny? The smallest of CuisinArt’s 99 rooms and suites – which are being renovated – is 950 square feet. Furnishings too pedestrian? CuisinArt’s vibrant Caribbean décor boasts furnishings from around the world and Italian marble baths. Spa amenities ho-hum? CuisinArt is building a Japanese restaurant, Tokyo Bay, atop its Venus Spa. No wonder more than half of the guests are returning visitors and that Hollywood itself recently checked in: The CuisinArt Resort & Spa played host to an installment of ABC’s “The Bachelor,” in which Brad Womack found himself drawn to Emily. But then he also had a good time with Chantal. But then…. While Rizzuto was gratified to see the resort looking so romantic on camera – Ah, those moonlit strolls on the beach! – he said he found it hard to understand how one man could date all those women at once. “I like simplicity,” he said. A visit to CuisinArt for him means Mass at the white stone St. Gerard’s Church, where he contributed the chapel dedicated to Mother Teresa, and a walk on the beach. But while Mass is a must, the walk on the crystalline sand is sometimes a dream. “They kill me,” he said of the hotel staff. “They save all the problems for me.” Now if he could just arrange a staff meeting on the beach. Rates for rooms and suites range from $815 to $4,050 per day through April 2, but drop considerably during the warm-weather months. For more information, log on to cuisinartresort.com or call (800) 943-3210, (212) 9720880 or (264) 498-2000. n The Venus Spa lounge
well
A Winning Equation Hormonal balance + exercise = eternal youth By Erika T. Schwartz, M.D.
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2/21 Pretty Face #74900
When Meredith (not her real name) came to see me, she was 45 and the blush of youth had burnished into the beauty of an adult woman with a significantly pear-shaped figure. Meredith had won Proof Release many pageants in her teens and had been TC- 767322 march-april 2011 a runner-up in Miss Universe at age 20. 00372 - Westchester-Suburban, NY (7A) Then she became a lawyer, having decided to make better use of her brain. PLEASEThe SIGN YOUR PROOF AND 25 COMPLETE THEproved FOLLOWING a INFORMATION following years mixed ❑ Ad is approved ❑ Ad is approved with changes ❑ Ad is not approved make changes indicated bag for Meredith. Work was hard, and success in the business world required her to place much of her true self on the back burner. Still, she was among those lucky women able to juggle career and family You now have the option to proof your ads online! Please contact your ASC for more information. successfully. Three wonderful children, a COUPON PLACEMENT MAY CHANGE PRIOR TO PUBLICATION gloriously successful husband, a mansion in Westchester – all in all, a life to envy. Despite her many blessings, however,
Meredith’s focus became her oversized body. The erstwhile fashion plate found herself relegated to extra-large sizes and her image in the mirror often made her cry. Convinced her problem could be solved with a serious dietary makeover, she visited the best and most famous nutritionists in TEAM 7A town. rigid diets, acquiesced ContactShe Yourfollowed Account Services Coordinator, to weeklyDimitris, IVs of mysterious potions and Deann (x4052) At 717-509-9464 swallowed dozens of supplements at all EMAIL: 7A@cmag.com times of day. Spas became her sole vacation FAX: 717-358-2550 Office Use Only destinations, and weight loss her Waterloo. SC4248 A 3 She did lose weight, but somehow it 2/16 off. And 3930ML stayed n/a while Y the Image(s) never glow of LINDA NICOLA Please deliver asap to: _____________________________________________ hope made her run out and buy entire LINNICK277@AOL.COM EMAIL: ___________________________________________________________ 914-788-9790 914-788-9776 PHONE: __________________________ __________________________ new wardrobes everyFAX:time she lost 10 00372-02-11 pounds, the aftermath was always a disappointing gain of yet another 10 pounds. Conscious of her options, she saw endocrinologists and bariatric surgeons. She wanted the weight gone before her 45th DISK SUPPLIED
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birthday and every time she ate a morsel of chocolate or a sliver of cake, she secretly swore to herself this was the last time. But alas, it never was. Her will power seemed to betray her along with her body. As she turned 45, she despairingly thought her future held decades of physical decline and more weight gain. Not so. When she came to see me on an early March morning five years ago, her future changed. As her last-resort doctor, I made it my mission to be the one who would finally help her find her peace, losing the weight – and the weight obsession. Checking her hormones, I discovered that her thyroid was a bit underactive; her estrogen, testosterone and progesterone, a tad low; her adrenal glands, tender and drained. With the proper hormones and supplements, balance was quickly restored.
With that accomplished, we pushed the door ajar for Meredith’s most important transformation, the one that helped her shed the pounds permanently – exercise. She started working out consistently – doing the treadmill or elliptical machine four times a week; Pilates, yoga or stretching three times a week; and weights once a week, for a total of five hours. Meredith just celebrated her 50th birthday last month. And she weighs 45 pounds less than when she turned 45. She is gorgeous! Not just inside – as we all are – but now outside as well. Together we took over the task of restoring her life to its perfect and whole beauty. Each piece fell into its proper place – the beauty-queen career, legal feats, child rearing and marriage, sleep and exercise, diet and lifestyles, friends and, the largest piece of all, the wisdom women share.
wheels
Auto eroticism: Hot for cars By Peter S. Liebert, M.D. “EVERYONE is a car person – SOME just don’t know it” was the bold headline of a recent full-page newspaper ad by an American car manufacturer. Many of us do know it, however, and avidly pursue that interest. Famous car people include Bedford resident Ralph Lauren and New Rochelle native Jay Leno, who have extensive collections of exotic cars, and the late Westport resident Paul Newman, who was a successful professional racer. For the rest of us, there may be one, or several special cars that we show, drive, race and/or tinker with. They may include one type, such as sports cars; one era, such as pre-war (World War II); or one make, such as Packard or Porsche. For almost every car interest, there is a club of like-minded “car nuts.” I myself belong to the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Rolls-Royce Owners’ Club. The clubs hold meets, contests for originality and perfection (concours), tech sessions and rallies and races while also publishing newsletters about the cars and their owners. Like many young boys, I was interested in cars at an early age and could spot and name almost every make and model. They
had distinctive grilles, body styles and ornaments – unlike today’s cars that all look alike. My first car purchase was a four-seat Morgan – the epitome of an English sports car with a wooden chassis, molded fenders, clip-on side windows, a spare in the back and a leather bonnet-strap on the hood. While stopped at a red light, it was destroyed – with me in it – by an old lady in a Chevy. The replacement was a 356 Porsche, then a 911 Porsche, in which my 10-year-old son learned to shift gears from the passenger seat while I worked the clutch. Despite my love affair with sports cars, I was also attracted to the sculptured elegance of many pre-war cars, especially those by classic coach-builders. Over the years, I managed to acquire, by deliberate purchase or by impulseresponse at auctions, a car for almost every car activity; coach-built pre-war cars for meets and shows, more modern sports cars for rallying, pre-1959 ones for vintage racing and a “project” car for restoration. One problem with being a car person is finding garage space. My wife (WAG founding publisher Mary Ann Liebert) in-
sists that our two-car garage is for our own everyday cars. My “collection” is therefore distributed among numerous garages around Westchester and Connecticut. The other concern is finding reliable mechanics. We are fortunate in this area to have highly competent mechanics and restorers for a wide variety of collector cars – even exotic cars. For those interested in finding a special or unusual car, there is the bible of car-collecting – Hemmings Motor News. What started as a mim-
eographed buy-and-sell car sheet is now a monthly volume of hundreds of cars, car parts, trucks, motorcycles and even boats for sale. One need not be in the market for a car to enjoy thumbing through this treasure trove of ads and automobilia. But beware: The car that you lusted for when in high school may now be on sale in the pages of Hemmings and you may need to find garage space for a new occupant!
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GEORGETTE GOUVEIA A corner of The Dark Horse.
Golf-themed boxes at The Dark Horse.
Tudors reign
Scarsdale’s Harwood Court offers visitors a touch of Europe By Georgette Gouveia Ask merchants what they love about being on Harwood Court in the heart of Scarsdale and they’ll undoubtedly respond with one overriding sentiment. “It feels like a European street to me,” says David Boyd, proprietor – with Sharon Williams – of The Dark
blossoms in the spring. Whatever it is, there is an air of mystery to the street. Something about the shops, too, suggests the textures of time, the layering of locales. Step into the 11-year-old Dark Horse and you’re thrust into a kaleidoscope of cultures: statues of Ganesh and the Buddha; shimmering froggy paperweights; purses with black-and-white photos of New
Details of Bell Arte.
Horse, a home design and gift emporium at the corner of Harwood and Chase Road. “We feel it’s very European,” says Christine Lehr, who owns Sam Lehr Designer Jewelry with her designing hubby, maker of one-of-a-kind pieces. “It’s very quaint, safe and quiet. … There are a lot of nice shops here.” “It’s like a little English village with all the Tudor-style buildings,” says Doreen Goldsmith, manager of the 80-year-old Scarsdale Woman’s Exchange, a service organization that is the oldest shop in the village. Goldsmith ought to know: She hails from Regence Park in London. Indeed, there is something about Harwood Court that suggests another time, another place. Maybe it’s the way the short street curves to meet Chase Road, the alleyway that shoots off to encounter Popham Road or the courtyard outside the Woman’s Exchange that carries you through an arcade to East Parkway and bursts with cherry 56
York City; and paper, animal-print jackets wrapped in tigerstriped belts. They vie for your attention as Helen O’Connell sings “Tangerine” and takes you back to the Big Band era. While O’Connell warbles, Susan Brandes of Irvington waits patiently for co-owners Boyd and Williams to place her family wedding pictures in the new frames she’s purchased – wedding gifts for her son and his bride. “I don’t get over here often,” she says. “But I come here to get the best frames. They cut the pictures themselves to fit the frames. They spend a very long time on them.” The ’40s vibe echoing from the CD player spills over to the neighboring Harwood Building, home of The Scarsdale Inquirer and other businesses. The building boasts brass-embellished elevators and office doors of translucent glass with black lettering: You almost expect Mary Astor or Barbara Stanwyck to come sashaying through to entice Humphrey Bogart or Fred MacMurray into some
romantic intrigue. On the street level of the Harwood Building, you can tour sunny Italy even on the wintriest of days. Owned by Linda Lucadamo and Rinaldo DeSantis, the Bell’Arte gallery contains small frescoes based on Renaissance masterworks such as Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus;” Murano glass goblets; Florentine stationery, with its gilded arabesques; Expressionist landscapes by contemporary artist Antonio Altieri; and native foodstuffs, including amaretto Magic d’Amour cookies by Marie Ange DiCosta that are so melt-in-your-mouth flavorful, they should be one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Elsewhere the street is sleekly modern. At Space. NK.apothecary, the best of the best beauty products – selected by London cosmetics specialist Nicky Kinnaird – stand at spic-and-span attention. The 22-year-old Sam Lehr Designer Jewelry has a similar airy, white atmosphere, the better to appreciate Lehr’s unusual designs, including an 18-karat gold necklace of smoky topazes surrounded by tiny diamonds. Many of Lehr’s creations, which are also sold in Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, range from $1,000 to $30,000, although Christine Lehr said she just sold an aquamarine necklace for $110,000. For considerably less, you can enjoy a chocolate nonfat yogurt with crushed walnuts at Yogo Joy, the yogurt bar that’s a must-stop for villagers, even on a blustery day. Its cheery neon lime, yellow and orange décor stands in sharp contrast to the cozy pleasures of the Woman’s Exchange across the street. There you’ll find homemade jams and jellies, tangy lemon bars and rich brownies, little girls’ smocks and other needlework, the proceeds from which benefit needy women nationwide through The Federation of Woman’s Exchanges, begun during the Depression. There are also teacups, handbags and scarves that support such organizations as Gilda’s Club, My Sister’s Place, the Scarsdale Ambulance Corp. and the Scarsdale and Edgemont public schools’ scholarship funds. Having a shop like the Woman’s Exchange on the street, says Christine Lehr, is part of what makes Harwood Court “a special place.”
You can do BETTER than THAT! With some professional help you can achieve your best look.
Allow me to work with you to cull and refresh your closet and put together your most flattering wardrobe. Sales associate Anna Ersoy and owner Christine Lehr of Sam Lehr Designer Jewelry.
Visit me at my website, www.youcandobetterthanthat.com, contact me at (917) 804-0093 or email michele@tarazi.net for a complimentary consultation.
MICHELE TARAZI I’m pleased to help put together your best look.
Doreen Goldsmith, manager, and Susan Bonsignore, president, the Scarsdale Woman’s Exchange.
“Michele has a brilliant eye for fit and fashion, which she turned on my overstuffed closet…. I highly recommend her services to anyone who knows deep down that they can look better.”
Tracey, Pelham, NY
“I needed to rebuild my wardrobe from the ground up and Michele proved to be a decisive professional with a deep knowledge of fit, fabric, function, style and comfort….”
Holly, Pelham, NY
Customer Susan Brandes of Irvington with The Dark Horse co-owner David Boyd.
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whims
Members-only style By Jené Luciani
Whatever your club, there are always a few must-haves to keep you in style. From the perfect polo, to a dainty basket that’s fit for a picnic, whatever your whim, here are some of our picks: Tennis, anyone?
Every woman knows you can’t hit the courts without looking fab. Ruffles are a huge trend for spring and make an adorable accent to this tennis tank by 4all. Pair it with the plaid ruffle-bottom skirt for an outfit that’s a perfect match. $56 each, available at Ardsley Country Club, (914) 591-8403 and 4allbyjofit. com
Pretty for a picnic
Pack up some gourmet treats in this dainty Design House Stockholm picnic basket. It’s perfect for enjoying a leisurely lunch on the lawn, or wherever you choose! $79, available at Gifted of Larchmont, (914) 834-2888, Designhousestockholmusa.com
The mod nautical-inspired print will pop against a crisp white tunic or white pants, and is perfect for toting all your essentials to the beach or the pool. Don’t forget the sunscreen! Knots and Dots Tote, $135, available at Vineyard Vines, Greenwich, (203) 661-1803, Vineyardvines.com
Trendy tote
For a chic tote that’s also water-resistant, try this one by Vineyard Vines.
Ahoy, matey!
No preppy look would be complete without a pair of the original boat shoes – Sperry Top-Siders – a seafarer’s favorite since 1935. Now, you can shop its collection in the company’s new store in The Westchester. This flower-print is a fun take on an old classic, and it comes in metallics, too! Women’s Original Boat Shoe, $85, available at Sperry, The Westchester, White Plains, (914) 824-1503, Sperrytopsider.com
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Perfect polo
A classic polo shirt is a necessity for the country-club set. But this one, from Burberry, has a twist: The ruched collar adds a fashionforward touch. Burberry Brit Polo, $125, available at Bloomingdale’s, White Plains, (914) 6846300, Bloomingdales.com
YOUR FEET WILL BE HEAD OVER HEELS. don’t miss the top designers for up to 50% off dept. store prices.
ladies’ • men’s • kids’ • accessories
BEDFORD HILLS 711 bedford road Styles vary by store. Call 1-800-Marshalls for a store near you or visit us at www.MarshallsOnline.com. ©2011 Marshalls.
well Pick your pockets of fat the Smart way By Michael Rosenberg, M.D.
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s the “Great Thaw of 2011” proceeds, our thoughts turn to springtime, golf and tennis, and shedding some of those extra layers accumulated over the long winter. For those of us plagued by localized fat deposits and bulges, liposuction can offer some relief. One of the more exciting recent developments in the field of liposuction has been combining medical lasers with traditional liposuction in what is called laser-assisted lipolysis. In my own practice, SmartLipo has been a tremendous boon to many patients. Traditional liposuction works by using a cannula, or small hollow tube, to disrupt the fat in specific areas of the body. Fat cells are then aspirated, or removed, with suction. The body then responds with gradual skin tightening over the suc-
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tioned area, giving the desired smoothness of contour. Unlike dieting, which shrinks the body’s fat cells but leaves them in place, liposuction actually decreases the total
Because the fat cells are removed, and adults do not reproduce fat cells, results can be long lasting … and enviable in tennis shorts. number of fat cells present. Although multiple areas of the body can be treated with liposuction, the result depends on the skin’s tone and ability to tighten after the fat is removed. Using laser technology internally along with liposuction to help tighten the
skin is the breakthrough provided by the SmartLipo system. In the SmartLipo Triplex system, a laser fiber is passed through a small cannula, which is inserted through a narrow incision a few millimeters long. The laser uses three separate wavelengths of light that target and disrupt fat cells, which can then be suctioned and removed. After the fat has been removed, the laser is then passed along the undersurface of the skin, stimulating additional tightening by disrupting the collagen in the skin. (See last month’s column.) The entire procedure can be performed using tumescent anesthesia, a type of local anesthesia that keeps patients comfortable during the procedure and can provide continued pain relief up to 12 hours after the procedure. If desired, oral or intravenous sedation can be added for comfort. The ideal candidate for this procedure is active, in generally good shape, has local-
ized fat deposits that he or she would like removed and wants to limit downtime away from work and other activities. Areas that can be treated include the abdomen, thighs, face, neck, arms, flanks or male breasts (gynecomastia). The procedure should be performed in an accredited facility by an experienced cosmetic surgeon, and most patients can resume normal activities in two to three days. The device itself has computer-controlled safety enhancements, including SmartSense, which prevents the laser from emitting energy if the cannula is stopped and ThermaGuide, which continually monitors the temperature under the skin and will also prevent the laser from working if the temperature drifts above designed parameters. The cost typically runs about $2,000 to $2,500 per treated area. Because the fat cells are removed, and adults do not reproduce fat cells, results can be long lasting … and enviable in tennis shorts.
well
The and thrill of victory… the agony of the feet, elbows, shoulders By Katie Vadasdi, M.D.
S
pending a day at the club can be like taking a mini vacation. The gains for body, mind and spirit are many. However, along with the benefits come risks for injuries. We’ve all experienced aches and pains after swinging a racket or playing a round of golf. But it’s not always easy to tell whether what you feel is a minor strain or something more. Many common injuries may get better on their own, while others require medical treatment. The repetitive motions of any sport can take a toll over time, and if your technique isn’t always picture-perfect, you can be creating unintended stress on joints and ligaments. Shoulder injuries are particularly common in racket sports and swimming. Injuries to the rotator cuff, a group
of tendons within the shoulder joint, can range from inflammation (tendinitis) to a tear. Tendinitis can often be treated with rest and physical therapy, whereas a rotator cuff tear that can impact normal range of motion often requires surgery to resolve. Persistent shoulder pain warrants an evaluation by a physician, ideally an orthopedic surgeon or sports-medicine specialist. Injuries to the elbow are common in both racket sports and golf. Tennis elbow is an injury to tendons on the outside of the elbow, while golfer’s elbow is an injury to the tendons on the inside. Both are common overuse injuries and are often caused by repetitive activities other than their names imply. They may improve with rest, but often require bracing, physical therapy and anti-inflammatory medications. Less often, the problem persists and may require surgery.
A knee injury can be the result of a missed step on the court or golf course. The meniscus is a cushion of cartilage within the knee – one on the inside and one on the outside. They can easily be torn even without major trauma. In some cases, just kneeling down to tie a shoe can cause a tear, so you might not recall a precipitating event. Many knee injuries improve with rest and therapy, but sometimes an arthroscopic procedure is needed to fix or clean up the damage. The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is an important stabilizer in the knee. A tear or rupture of the ACL is usually caused by significant trauma or landing and twisting motions, such as from skiing or jumping in basketball. If you experience both pain and swelling in your knee, it’s important to have it evaluated by a doctor. The Achilles tendon is also commonly
injured with fast-cutting moves, as in tennis, squash and paddle tennis. These injuries range from inflammation to a complete rupture of the tendon. Some patients feel a dull pain in the Achilles just before a rupture. But generally they describe it as a single moment. You’ll often hear people say they thought someone kicked them in the back of the calf when actually it was the tendon giving way. Can these injuries be avoided without giving up your club ranking? Maybe not completely, but it is possible to minimize the wear and tear on your body by implementing a proper conditioning and stretching program that is specific to your activities. In general people sustain an injury when they don’t take the time to prepare their bodies properly, and when they don’t listen to their bodies and stop at the first sign of pain.
Is your spine as enlightened as you are? For expertise in orthopedics, sports medicine and spine surgery call ons at 203.869.1145.
OrthOpaedic and neurOsurgery specialists, pc 6 Greenwich Office Park, 10 valley dr. (Off US1), Greenwich, ct
203-869-1145 www.Onsmd.cOm
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wise When it comes to your cash, investor beware By Ian Yankwitt with Owen McClellan
W
hat did he know, and when did he know it? For anyone of a certain age, those questions resonate – originally from Watergate – and now from the lawsuits that Bernie Madoff victims’ trustee Irving Picard recently filed against both Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets, and JPMorgan Chase. As most have heard by now, Picard sued the partners of Sterling Equities (including Wilpon), seeking to reclaim not only the $300 million of fictitious profits Sterling received from the Madoff scheme, but also $700 million of investments made by Sterling with Madoff. Essentially, the lawsuit claims that Sterling, as a sophisticated investor, should have recognized that Madoff’s returns were “too good to be true.” Similarly, Picard’s suit against JPMorgan alleges that the bank dismissed warning signs of Madoff’s fraud, as it was earning hundreds of millions from its relationship with Madoff. Regardless of the outcome of these specif-
ic lawsuits, about which much will be written, the broader question is: What should all investors know to protect themselves from both Ponzi schemes and lesser fiascos? First and foremost if an investment seems too good to be true, it is. This, of course, begs the question: What is too good to be true? That depends upon the amount of risk you are taking with your investments. If you expect to earn more than the rate of return for short-term Treasury bills (the risk-free rate of return), those expected earnings are compensation for taking risk. There is nothing inherently wrong with taking risk. You simply need to understand how much risk you are taking, the types of risk, and whether you can handle the potential losses associated with those risks. The risk amount and type must be appropriate for your circumstances. Remember always, if an investment is being marketed as high return, it also has a high degree of risk, regardless of what you are, or are not, being told. Second, having an independent thirdparty custodian is simply a nonnegotiable must. Investors should receive statements of their holdings directly from that custo-
dian in addition to anything they receive from their advisers. The custodian verifies what you have and what it is worth. Madoff’s firm was its own custodian. Third, the word “guarantee” should always prompt the questions: By whom? and Under what circumstances? A guarantee is only as strong as the entity providing it. Many investors own “guaranteed” investments that are now worth pennies on the dollar because they were guaranteed by Lehman Brothers. We’re not picking on Lehman. But guaranteed by any company is not the same as guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury. Fourth, investors should understand how their advisers get paid. Are they paid only by the client (fee-only)? Do they receive a fee from the client in addition to other fees, depending on the products and/or strategies used (fee-based)? Do they get paid based on commissions or other transactions such as insurance sales? We can argue until the cows come home about the pros and cons of different methods, and we certainly believe that fee-only is in the investor’s best interest, but whatever the method, knowledge of it by the investor is imperative.
Finally, investors should understand the essence of the strategy being implemented by their brokers, advisers or themselves. Is there a coherent strategy or is the broker/ adviser making it up as he goes along? As Denzel Washington said in the movie “Philadelphia,” “Explain it to me like I’m a 6-year-old” (OK, maybe a 10- year-old). Not necessarily every detail, but what are we trying to accomplish and how will we go about doing it. If the broker/adviser can’t explain the essence of the strategy so that you can understand it, that is a warning sign that the strategy might not be appropriate for you. The foregoing doesn’t guarantee success. It doesn’t guarantee that you won’t be victimized by outright chicanery, or lesser evils. But it certainly improves your odds. You owe it to yourself at least to ask the right questions. Ian Yankwitt is the founder of Tortoise Investment Management in White Plains. Prior to joining Tortoise as an associate, Owen McClellan graduated from Dickinson College with a degree in political science and a minor in economics.
The Independent Investor Self-determination through direct investing
By Vita Nelson When I first published The Moneypaper in 1980, it was a call to arms for women who had been content to leave control of their finances to the men in their lives. The fact is, you can’t be in control of your life if you know nothing about your finances. The best news of all is that managing your finances is not as complicated as it may seem. One of the most useful strategies I’ve come across in the 40 years that I’ve been in publishing is a little-known strategy called “direct investing.” Direct Investment Plans have been around since the early 1960s. They are offered by more than 1,000 companies and make it possible for individual investors to invest in stock without going through a broker.
When “dividend reinvestment plans” (DRIPS) were approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the companies that offered them were prohibited from advertising the plans, and usage was limited to people who already had shares registered in their own names. (When investors buy shares through a broker, the shares are typically held in the name of the broker.) In 1984, I discovered that such plans were available and quickly recognized that DRIPs made it possible for small investors to take advantage of risk-reducing strategies (namely, dollar-cost averaging and wide diversification of assets) that are commonly used by wealthy investors. Since then, The Moneypaper has focused on these plans and popularized their use as a way for small investors to participate in
the market without excessive risk. With DRIPs, it’s easy to establish a portfolio of companies that you like in a wide variety of industries. But instead of buying 100 shares of each company (and praying that the price moves up), you get started by buying a single share, which qualifies you to join the DRIP. After that, you can invest a certain amount (anywhere from $10 to $100,000) on a regular (or irregular) basis – the essence of dollar-cost averaging. When the price is relatively low, your investment buys more shares, and it buys fewer shares when the price is higher. That’s why your average cost will be less than the average price during the period you invested. To learn more about direct investment plans and get specific plan information gleaned from the company prospectuses,
visit my website, directinvesting.com. There you’ll discover such featured stocks as Raytheon, a major provider of groundbased air defense systems and other military systems, as well as commercial aerospace systems and general aircraft. Foreign sales account for more than 20 percent of the $25 billion in annual revenues. The quarterly dividend provides a current yield of 3 percent. Ongoing buybacks have reduced the number of shares outstanding from 453 million in 2004 to about 364 million now. Raytheon (RTN) offers a DRIP that permits you to invest as little as $25 or as much as $25,000 each quarter. You can use the service I provide at directinvesting. com to become enrolled. You can also enter your favorite stock to find out whether it offers the direct investing option. 65
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wine&dine Club cuisine no longer an oxymoron
a
By Geoff Kalish, M.D. discussion of “country club fare” usually evokes visions of droopy greens coated in gloppy dressing, overcooked or undercooked burgers accompanied by too salty fries, flavorless fish, not-so-prime steaks and chops, and excessively sweet, one-dimensional desserts. Moreover, few equate exquisite presentation and spiffy professional service with club cuisine. Nevertheless, dining revenue is an important source of income for many clubs, and the competition for new members (and retaining old members) remains quite keen at Westchester country clubs. So a great number have broken the mold and now offer modern, sophisticated, cutting-edge dining options, rivaling what’s available at the most au-courant, top-rated local restaurants. To gain insight into this movement, we interviewed two of its leading proponents. Now serving his second two-year stint as president of the education-oriented Club Chefs of Westchester, Leonard Phillips, executive chef at the Shenorock Shore
Club in Rye, says that definitive progress toward more refined fare at area clubs began about 15 years ago. “Improvement started once country clubs realized that because of work schedules and other time restraints of members, a social commitment to a two-hour dinner was becoming increasingly important as a four- to five-hour golf game,” Phillips said. “So to better meet the needs of their constituencies, clubs had to compete with restaurants in the quality of their offerings. And it’s about that time that our group got off the ground with the prime purpose of educating our member chefs – now representing over 60 percent of Westchester clubs – on how to enhance their offerings.” Education takes a number of forms, he said. “We have monthly meetings at which we usually invite outside experts and/or purveyors to make presentations and we conduct an annual trip at which we delve deeply into the food and cooking techniques of some culinary region of the world. For example, at our January monthly meeting, people from gourmet fare purveyor D’Artagnan gave our group an in-depth look at their wares. And last
The Club Chefs of Westchester in Portugal after a cooking class and meal at the D.O.P. Restaurant in Porto with chef Rui Paula.
December we visited Portugal to hone in on the country’s robust flavors.” Rather than devote most of his off-time to attending meetings and traveling the world, Daniel Magill – the CIA-trained, critically acclaimed executive chef at the year-round Ardsley Country Club – said he stays abreast of the latest culinary trends primarily by reading food and wine publications and eating out, especially at top-tier local and Manhattan establishments. “For the most part, what I’m doing here is the same type of a la carte cooking that I did at restaurant One in Irvington
and to keep up to date requires studying what the best are doing. So, when I visit top-caliber restaurants, I do so to become inspired and to see culinary trends that I can apply in my kitchen at the club. And what I’m finding and trying to promote is that in addition to the high level of ingredients, preparation and presentation, the overall quality of the dining experience is very much dependent on the relationship between the kitchen staff and the servers. Also listening to the membership is very important, so that I continue to meet their dining needs.”
Recipe from Chef Daniel Magill “Nantucket Bay scallops are only in season from November through March. From April to October, it becomes very difficult to find fresh, wild and domestic bay scallops around. From a chef’s standpoint, those seven months between seem like an eternity, as I yearn for the opening day of the new season. When the scallops are in season, I try to run them every night as a special at the club, usually changing the preparation a couple of times a week. One of the ways I like to prepare them, which also happens to be a favorite of the Ardsley Country Club’s president, is with bananas and vanilla. Now I know at first this might seem like an odd pairing, but both the bananas and the vanilla bring out the sweetness of each tiny scallop. The macadamia nuts keep up with the theme of the dish and also impart texture. The preparation below would be for one order as I would prepare it if you were to order in the restaurant.” 12-15 Nantucket Bay scallops, (cleaned, adductor muscle removed) 1 1/2 tablespoons of grapeseed or canola oil ½ cup white wine (Chablis) 1/3 stick of unsalted butter, cut into smaller cubes
1/8 teaspoon pure Tahitian vanilla extract 1 tablespoon of heavy cream ½ ripe banana, peeled, quartered, then cut into ¼-inch pieces 1 teaspoon minced chives (Optional) 1 tablespoon macadamia nuts, toasted and crumbled or toasted sliced almonds Sea salt, if available, otherwise Kosher salt White pepper, finely ground
1. Season scallops with salt and white pepper. In a small sauté pan, add the oil and turn to high. Just as the oil begins to lightly smoke, slide it away from the burner and add the scallops. (The reason you remove the pan from the flame is that if you are cooking with gas, the moisture vapor of the scallops will cause the hot oil to ignite, thus flaming the pan and giving the scallops a very unpleasant flavor.) 2. Return the pan with the scallops to the flame, allowing the scallops to caramelize and lightly brown. After the scallops have a nice golden color (fresher scallops and fish will always caramelize and brown faster than older ones), again quickly remove pan from burner, pour off any remaining oil and add the white wine. 3. Put back on flame. As the wine is reducing, add the butter. As it is melting, add the heavy cream and vanilla, then the banana. Check the seasoning, then add the chives. 4. Plate, garnish with the nuts and eat immediately. Note: This whole procedure happens very quickly, otherwise the tiny scallops will overcook. That is also why you must eat them right away, because even though they are removed from the heat, they are still very hot and will continue to cook if not consumed right away. 67
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watch John Vecchiolla
Cast Party
The Purchase College Repertory Theatre recently celebrated the production of “Durang Durang” at The Emelin Theatre with a cast party. Some of the partygoers included Greg Taylor, director of the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Purchase College, left, and actor Jay O. Sanders and Thomas Schwarz, president of Purchase College. Dr. Christopher F.X. Riegler and his wife Lori of West Harrison, with Mr. and Mrs. Francis Riegler of Holmdel, N.J.
Deconstructive Dazzle
Founder’s gala
New York Medical College in Valhalla recently hosted its 2011 Founder’s Dinner, a gala fundraiser at Cipriani 42nd Street in Manhattan. The event drew some 330 guests and honored several individuals for their contributions to health care through education, leadership and service to the community. To date, the event has raised more than $300,000.
White Plains resident Ronald F. Poe, NYMC’s board Helaine Posner of Manhattan, chief curator and exhibit chairman, with Jennifer Thomas and Paul Sylvester of co-curator, Neuberger Museum of Art; Art Historian Washington, D.C. Linda Nochlin and Nancy Princentha, co-curator of the exhibition.
The Neuberger Museum of Art recently presented a dazzling cocktail reception to celebrate the opening of “The Deconstructive Impulse: Women Artists Reconfigure the Signs of Power, 1973-1991.” The reception drew more than 400 people from Westchester, Manhattan, Greenwich and Brooklyn.
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watch A night at the museum
Hudson River Museum in Yonkers hosted the second annual Hudson Valley Bounty benefit Jan. 27, a celebration of food and wine, treating 120 guests to a delectable six-course tasting menu prepared by some of the region’s best chefs, including Peter Kelly of X2O Xaviars on the Hudson; Vincent Barcelona, Harvest on Hudson; Eric Gabrynowicz, Restaurant North; Ethan Kostbar, Moderne Barn; Mark Kramer, Susan Lawrence and Maarten Steenman, La Tulipe Desserts. Moët Hennessy, leading importer and distributor of luxury wines and spirits, provided the wine for the evening’s libations in special pairings with the evening fare. — Kelly Liyakasa
Judith Giangoia and Bonnie Bell-Curran
Kay Amicone and husband, Philip A. Amicone, mayor of Yonkers
Art Thompson, right, chats with Susan and Len Gersten
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Preparing the sumptuous tasting menu.
Bruce Bernacchia, Carol Bernacchia, Matthew Lifflander and Sandra Isaacs
Deborah Hudson-Jenkins, Kenneth W. Jenkins and Steven Halliwell
Chef Peter Kelly
Michael Botwinick, executive director, Hudson River Museum
Jeff Pogash, left, chats with Caroline and Jim Crowley
dances with wolves
What happens when two stars come together at an iconic country inn in Bedford to help save an endangered species? Magic happens. And that’s what it was on a cold winter evening, Jan. 27, at the Bedford Post Inn – a magical evening with Helene Grimaud, internationally famed concert pianist and founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, and Richard Gere, actor, Pound Ridge resident, co-owner of the inn and organization member and supporter. Hosted by Martha Handler, board president, the gala featured Ambassador Arctic Grey Wolf Atka, a presentation by Maggie Howell, managing director, followed by a recital with Grimaud that enraptured more than 100 guests who then dined with the stars at the inn.
Ryan Doran
Ambassador Atka
Maggie Howell and Demis Foster, community partnership director, New Mexico Wilderness Alliance
Janet Harckham, Ingrid Pergament and Richard Salter
Ruth Belding Nardini and Tom Nardini
Brian Hewitt
Renate Setten and Patrick Daigle
Richard Gere, Helene Grimaud and Al DelBello
Mat Hennek, European photographer, and Martha Handler
John and Kathy Herman
Brigitte Baron, Redwood Publishing, Richard Gere and Stephen Sander, managing director, Jefferies
Priscilla Thors
John Holland, board member, and Michael McGuire
Tripp Killin of New Canaan, Conn., executive director, Jeniam Foundation, and Deborah Heineman, Wolf Conservation Center executive director
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wit wonders:What’s your handicap? “My biggest handicap is keeping up with all the reality shows. At night, it’s ‘Real Housewives,’ ‘Celebrity Apprentices,’ ‘Biggest Losers,’ ‘Bachelors,’ ‘Bachelorettes’ and fist pumping with The Situation on the ‘Jersey Shore.’ And that’s after I have spent all day ‘Dancing With the County Board of Legislators.’” — Robert P. Astorino, Westchester County Executive, Mount Pleasant resident “Probably a 27. With three kids and 56 nieces and nephews, time is a precious commodity. But I do hope to break 100 someday.” — Mary Calvi, news anchor, WCBS-TV, Yonkers resident
“My greatest handicap in golf, as it is in life, and as it is for most people, is myself.” — John Connolly, president and CEO, Castle Connolly Medical Ltd., Waccabuc resident “I can’t head home to Yorktown without stopping in Murphy’s Tavern for the best martini in Westchester.” — Charlie Gasparino, senior correspondent, FOX Business Network “I would say my handicap is paying too much attention to emails. I surprise many of the college staff and administrators with my post-midnight responses.” — Joseph N. Hankin, president, Westchester Community College, Purchase resident
“Why do I love golf so much?...Don’t you find trying to hit that little white ball frustrating? I hear that all the time. … With an embarrassing handicap of 23, maybe I should think of changing to a little pink ball? Spring is coming soon. Can’t wait to try it out!” — Louann Hutchby, vice president, Aligned Right Lock & Door, Carmel resident “Zoe... a 7.7-pound Yorkipoo is my absolute H/C ... total love and devotion. When it comes to the golf course, those 28 strokes are something to struggle with.” — Argie Kazazis, principal, Kazazis Realty L.L.C., Waccabuc resident
“My handicap is my husband.” — Cynthia Lippolis, principal broker, Prudential River Towns Real Estate, Croton-on-Hudson resident “Not being able to resist, after a fivecourse Italian feast, having a cannoli for dessert.” — Billy Losapio, retired owner after 35 years, Gregory’s Restaurant, Valhalla resident “My inability to help around the house is just one of my many.” — Chris O’Callaghan, senior director, Cushman & Wakefield Inc., Rye resident
Compiled by Alissa Frey
worthy (Some of the region’s fabulous country clubs.) The Apawamis Club 2 Club Road, Rye, NY 10580 (914) 967-2100 apawamis.org Ardsley Country Club North Mountain Drive Ardsley-on-Hudson, NY 10503 (914) 591-8150 ardsleycc.org Aspetuck Valley Country Club 67 Old Redding Road Weston, CT 06883 (203) 226-4701 aspetuckvalley.com Belle Haven Club 100 Harbor Drive Greenwich, CT 06830 (203) 861-5353 bellehavenclub.com Brae Burn Country Club 39 Brae Burn Drive Purchase, NY 10577 (914) 761-8300 braeburncc.org Brooklawn Country Club 500 Algonquin Road Fairfield, CT 06825 (203) 334-5116 brooklawncc.com
(203) 869-9004 burningtreecc.org Century Country Club 233 Anderson Hill Road Purchase, NY 10577 (914) 761-0400 centurycc.org Country Club of Darien 300 Mansfield Ave. Darien, CT 06820 (203) 655-9726 ccdarien.org Country Club of Fairfield 936 Sasco Hill Road Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 259-1601 ccfairfield.com Doral Arrowwood 975 Anderson Hill Road Rye Brook, NY 10573 (914) 939-5500 doralarrowwood.com Elmwood Country Club 850 Dobbs Ferry Road White Plains, NY 10601 (914) 592-6600 elmwoodcountryclub.com
The Field Club of Greenwich 276 Lake Ave. Brynwood Golf & Country Club Greenwich, CT 06830 568 Bedford Road (203) 869-1300 Armonk, NY 10504 fcofgreenwich.com (914) 273-9300 brynwoodclub.com Greentree Country Club 538 Davenport Ave. Burning Tree Country Club New Rochelle, NY 10805 120 Perkins Road (914) 636-8500 Greenwich, CT 06830 greentreeclub.com
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Greenwich Country Club 19 Doubling Road Greenwich, CT 06830 (203) 869-1000 greenwichcountryclub.org Hampshire Country Club 1025 Cove Road Mamaroneck, NY 10543 (914) 698-4610 hampshireclub.com Innis Arden Golf Club 120 Tomac Ave. Old Greenwich, CT 06870 (203) 637-6900 innisardengolfclub.com Knollwood Country Club 200 Knollwood Road Elmsford, NY 10523 (914) 592-7411 kccclub.org
(914) 683-6000 oldoakscc.org The Patterson Club 1118 Cross Highway Fairfield, CT 06824 (203) 259-5244 thepattersonclub.com Pleasantville Country Club 110 Nannahagan Road Pleasantville, NY 10570 (914) 769-2809 pleasantvillecountryclub.com Pound Ridge Golf Club 18 High Ridge Road Pound Ridge, NY10576 (914) 764-5771 poundridgegolf.com
The Redding Country Club 109 Lonetown Road West Redding, CT 06896 Manursing Island Club (203) 938-2567 1 S. Manursing Way, Rye, NY 10580 reddingcc.org (914) 967-6400 manursing.com Rock Ridge Country Club 214 Sugar St. Metropolis Country Club Newtown, CT 06470 289 Dobbs Ferry Road (203) 426-2106 White Plains, NY 10607 rockridgecc.com (914) 949-4840 metropoliscc.org Rockrimmon Country Club 2949 Long Ridge Road Milbrook Club Stamford, CT 06903 61 Woodside Drive (203) 322-3408 Greenwich, CT 06830 rockrimmoncc.org (203) 869-4540 millbrookclub.com Rolling Hills Country Club 333 Hurlbutt St. Old Oaks Country Club Wilton, CT 06897 3100 Purchase St. (203) 762-4600 Purchase, NY 10577 rhcconline.com
Round Hill Club 33 Round Hill Club Road Greenwich, CT 06831 (203) 869-2350 rhclub.org Scarsdale Golf Club 1 Clubway, Hartsdale, NY 10530 (914) 723-2840 scarsdalegolfclub.org Shorehaven Golf Club 14 Canfield Ave. East Norwalk, CT 06855 (203) 866-5528 shorehavengc.org Silver Spring Country Club 439 Silver Spring Road Ridgefield, CT 06877 (203) 438-2671 silverspringcc.org Sleepy Hollow Country Club 777 Albany Post Road Scarborough, NY 10510 (914) 941-8070 sleepyhollowcc.org The Stanwich Club 888 North St. Greenwich, CT 06831 (203) 869-0555 stanwich.com Tamarack Country Club 55 Locust Road Greenwich, CT 06831 (203) 531-7300 tamarackcountryclub.com
Trump National Golf Club Westchester 100 Shadow Tree Lane Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510 (914) 944-0900 trumpnationalwestchester.com Waccabuc Country Club 90 Mead St. Waccabuc , NY 10597 (914) 763-3144 waccabuccc.com Westchester Country Club 99 Biltmore Ave. Rye, NY 10580 (914) 967-6000 wccclub.org Westchester Hills Golf Club 401 Ridgeway White Plains, NY10605 (914) 948-5020 westchesterhills.org Winged Foot Golf Club 851 Fenimore Road Mamaroneck, NY 10543 (914) 698-8400 wfgc.org Woodway Country Club 540 Hoyt St. Darien, CT 06820 (203) 322-1661 woodway.org Wykagyl Country Club 1195 North Ave. New Rochelle, NY 10804 (914) 636-8700 wykagylcc.org
“
Wow, what can I say,
Dr. Kenneth Magid and Dr. Sabrina Magid and his office staff have all helped me to no longer have a dental phobia and changed my smile forever! I now have a complete set of teeth that are bright and white. I can be proud to smile. Thanks so much for giving that back to me.”
©Michael Polito Photography
—Lisa Battaglia-Ross, WAG’s 2009 Makeover contest winner
SPONSOR
The WAG’s 2010 Makeover
Dr. Kenneth Magid is part of the da Vinci Dental “Extreme Makeover” team as seen on ABC-TV and as Associate Professor of Esthetics teaches dentists from around the world the techniques and artistry of cosmetic dentistry. Along with Dr. Sabrina Magid they offer the latest technology in dental care including the ability to see what you would look like with a cosmetic makeover with just a photo. Lisa’s teeth before the transition
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