[dropcap]I[/dropcap] recently had the pleasure of attending the Westchester County Association’s annual breakfast at the Westchester Marriot where Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino discussed his economic vision for 2016. He illustrated economic trends for the year ahead and unveiled a five-point program that includes job training programs for health care workers, a technology competition for students who are interested in designing mobile device applications and a website redesign effort that will make the county’s site more user-friendly, to name a few.
Start 2016 with Magic Box and Harrison Public Library’s hands-on media arts programs. Create beautiful Valentine’s Day gifts by joining the library staff at the “Make a Memory: Family Photo Books” workshop series. Meetings will be held on Saturdays, Jan. 23, Jan. 30, Feb. 6 and Feb. 13 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Learn how to combine photographs to create original and unique photo books to give or to treasure. Secure your spot, as limited space is available. To register for the workshops, please call the library at 835-0324 or visit harrisonpl.org.
Please make note of the following sanitation schedule change for the week of Jan. 18: Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and is a holiday. Town offices will be closed. Garbage and recycling normally collected on Monday will be collected on Tuesday, Jan. 19. Garbage and recycling normally collected on Tuesday will be collected on Wednesday, Jan. 20. There will be no bulk trash pickup on Jan. 20. The normal collection schedule for household trash and recycling will resume on Thursday, Jan. 21.
I am very happy to bring your attention to a new and exciting culinary event, hosted by one of our local merchants. Nora’s Oven Works is hosting a “Visiting Chef” at the bakery on select Friday nights. The chef of the evening will be teaching a class on how to make their favorite dish. Instruction is limited to adults or to parent-child teams. In this class, you will learn how to make a meal and how to make a dessert that complements the meal. Upon completion, guests will enjoy the dinner. The class begins at 6 p.m. and fees range from $25 to $30 per person or couple.
Many local Harrison business owners and residents have been receptive to this idea and it is a great way to encourage our community to eat and shop locally. Upcoming events include three very popular selections. Chef Anthony, from Delfino’s, will be on hand on Jan. 15 and will be preparing traditional pasta sauce. For desert, Chef Nora will be making her wonderful red velvet cake. Chef Bill Powell, from Powell’s, will be featured on Jan. 29 and will be preparing burgers, beers and peach cobbler. Chef Chai-Li, resident chef, will be teaching the group on Feb. 5 and will showcase traditional Chinese dumplings and lemon meringue pie. I encourage all residents to sign up and take advantage of one of these fantastic offerings at Nora’s Oven Works.
In closing, I would like to congratulate the Harrison High School debate team. To date, the team has earned four wins, three second-place finishes, two third places, qualified four students to the year-end Tournament of Champions, TOC, and racked up 12 TOC bids. This makes Harrison the third-highest ranked team in the country. Congratulations to the entire team on this very prestigious accomplishment.
