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HI 110351 10300 12 CHAPPAGUA LIBRARY 195 S GREELEY AVE CHAPPAQUA F NY 10514 RUCS MailtagPei-Mit No. 4 Carrier Sorted Coaooaqwi. N.Y. I»SI4 Chappaqua Journal Serving the Town of New Castle VOLUME 1, Number 17 Chappaqua, N.Y., Thursday, December 18,1980 25 Cents A Copy, $10.00 A Year Called 'ideal'school bus driver No more candy under the seat or bunny at the wheel; Fran Ford retiring For hundreds of Chappaqua students, bus rides; just won't be the. same-after^hristmas. No mote^caiftly boxes -filled with treats under the driver's seat. No more birthday greetings or get-well cards in the hospital. And, saddest of all, no more Easter bunnies, Halloween hobos or Santas behind the wheel of their bus on special holidays. That's because Fran Ford, described by her boss as \the ideal driver,\ will retire after her last run to the Chappaqua Bus Company garage, on December 23. Fran has been driving for the bus company, which services the Chappaqua schools, for nine years. Her only absence was during a bout of pneumonia. \She's always there, very dependable,\ says Joan Corwin, who runs the bus company with her husband, Seth. \And she takes such good care of her bus that it looks brand new.\ Dresses for the parts Fran's \beat\ includes the high school run toKiscoPark, as well as several routes for Roaring Brook and Westorchard elementary schools. On every major holiday she dons an appropriate costume, including a valentine on February 14. Holidays also mean a \goody box\ filled with candy for her passengers and she probably treats them at times I'm not .even aware of,\ says Mrs. Corwin. \She's just like another mother to them.\ Fran makes a point of learning kindergartners' names and sending them cards on their birthdays. Prolonged absences bring Inquiries and get well wishes to the ailing. Says Mrs. Corwin, \I don't know what she lives on because she spends her paycheck on the kids.\ Fran's special qualitites have brought her to the attention of the National School Bus Fleet Magazine, which has published an article about her creative approach to her job. Her fans include Chappaqua's adults especially parents of please turn to page 11 Mr. and Mrs. William Gill of Ar- monk and their children Aaron and Amy tie up their purchase from the First Congregational Church of Chappaqua's Christ mas Tree sale. The sale is run by the church's Youth Group and continues until Christmas Eve.: Weekdays, 3-5:30 p.m.. Sat. 8:30 a.m ,-5,\3© p.m., Sun. 11 a.m. -5:30 p.m. Photo by Virginia-Baltay. Commuters get a (very) little relief While the standees on rush-hour trains have not yet all been seated, some Upper Harlem Line Commuters got a chance to sit down on the hour-plus train ride into New York City last week. Ronnie Ackman, co-chairman of the Upper Harlem Line Com muter Council (UHLCC), said Conrail had leased six cars from Amtrak for service on the Upper please turn to page 4 'Try to be understanding* dwarf urges 8th graders of handicapped by Jaclde Frledlander A circus performer. A medieval lady's companion. Snow White. These were the images that came to mind for three well- educated, well-Informed profes sional people, when asked, \What do you think of, when someone mentions a dwarf?\ Busing problem in Chappaqua? two consultants give reports by Marianne Acito The district's two consultants on school bus operations discussed their findings at the Chappaqua Board of Education meeting, Monday, Dec. 15. The firm of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell, & Co. had been hired to analyze the efficiency of services provided by the private Chappaqua Bus Company and the district's own fleet of 14 vans and 2 busses used to transport handicapped and private 1 school children. John Pyne/ Dir. of Finance and Administration at the in to Rippowam-Cisqua School Bedford, had been chosen investigate the district -run system's efficiency, and also to consider a wholly district -run transportation system. Before the consultants related their findings, Deputy Superintendent of School, Dr. Richard Schilling told the audience of 20 that transportation now accounts for 4.8 percent of the almost $19 million school budget. This year transportation cost $915,853 and please tarn to page It To correct those impressions, Richard Manley, a dwarf who, at 30, Is Director of the Westchester County Office for the Disabled, came to visit Jay Cohen's eighth grade health education class at the Robert E. Bell Middle School on Monday morning, Dec. 15. He wanted the students to learn that, \We are people who have the same interests you do, although we happen to be disabled.\ You'll probably never find that out, though, he warned the stu dents, if you treat the handi capped as many people do, with \avoidance\ - on the basis that, \If I stay away from them, I won't hurt their feelings and I won't do the wrong thing and look stupid.\ Stuck in the snow To overcome that feeling, he got the students laughing at his mis adventures • while he acquainted them with a handicapped per son's problems. \I would never let people help me,\ he recalled. \When I went to Temple University I insisted please turn to page 5 Two college students robbed of car at knifepoint, stranded in woods by Marianne Acito Two Sarah Lawrence College students were stranded in the woods in Chappaqua early Fri day morning, Dec. 12, after a man they met at a disco stole their car at knifepoint. Diana Fortinberry, 23, and Paul Jeromack, 20, told police they were at a disco in southern Westchester where they met the alleged car thief. The three decided to drive to Connecticut 'Vacant' homes occupied and got lost in Chappaqua, where the students say they pulled over to the side of the road and the suspect menaced them with a knife. The man pulled away in Ms. Fortinberry's 1971 red Ford Maverick, with Maine license plates, they claimed. The suspect is about six feet tall, 150 lbs., with long blond hair. He is believed to be about 21 years old. He was wearing blue please turn to page 11 Town protests low census count Trying to get Bureau to make recount at its own expense rather than the Town's... by Marianne Acito The homes of Town Board members Patrice Mahon and Erik Nicolaysen were both listed as \vacant\ by U.S. census- takers this summer, Mrs, Mahon says. Town authorities believe this kind of oversight accounts for the inaccurate population figures in the preliminary cen sus report released this month. Statistics released in December show New Castle's population is 15,358, up 4.6 per cent from 14,685 in 1970. Housing units numbered 4,750, up 18 per cent from 4,003 in 1970, and down 65 homes from earlier census figures released in September. According to Westchester County estimates, the population of New Castle is approximately 16,300. While Town ^uihorities say that the number of housing units is in line with their predictions, a growth rate of roughly 60 homes per year over the past decade, they have challenged the popula tion count. Town Board member Patrice please turn to page 3 Millwood mail delivery debated again as V.I.P.'s get into the act..... by Marianne Acito Mail delivery in Millwood and the west end of New Castle was discussed at the Thursday, Dec. 11 meeting of the Millwood Task Force. Councilwoman Patrice Mahon, representing the Town Board, read a memo from Town Supervisor Charles Banks out lining a discussion he had earlier this month with members of the Postal Service about mail deliv ery in Millwood and the west end. Most Millwood residents now must pick up their mail at the Millwood Post Office, and many have pressed for home delivery. ' Supervisor Banks and Neil Dorman of the Millwood Area Residents Association met in Congressman Richard Ottin- ger's office on Dec. 4 with three members of the Postal Service, the Congressman, and his local project assistant, Margaret O'Brien. The postal service representa tives agreed to study the feasibil ity of three options for home delivery. The most likely possi bility, according to Mr. Banks, is the option to extend Chappaqua service to include the presently unservlced portion of Millwood (principally Hidden Hollow). These addresses would then have a Chappaqua postmark, please turn to page 12 YOKO ONO'S call for a \Silent Vigil\ in honor of her slain husband John Lennon at 2 p.m., Swiay, Dec. 14, wan honored ait th« New Caatle Community Center by a groan of yoaag people teclndhif Tracy Dene, Betty Winn and Beth Koatraan.
