By John A. Corry

Jan. 13, 2016:  Residents Oppose New Proposals.  The month's events would have disabused anyone assuming that community residents would calmly accept proposals that might directly affect them. Over the holidays a stream of commuters buttonholed the village trustees and any other village officials who might have any influence on the disposition of the planning board's proposal to move commuter parking from Kraft Avenue to the new Kensington facility. They jammed into the village hall trustees meeting, where they expressed themselves along the lines of 24-year resident Valerie Wilson's statement that since commuters pay the largest amount of village taxes, they "should not be inconvenienced in favor of shoppers and merchants." Trustee Nancy Hand, anticipating the opposition, proposed an alternative under which only half the commuter spaces would be moved. Discussion of the subject was indefinitely postpone.

Playground on Sagamore Road.  Meanwhile, some Sagamore Road residents were up in arms over a Junior League proposal to turn the park on the street's east side into a playground, complete with swings, bridges, a ten-tire "bouncer," and a refurbished basketball court. Angry residents who had enjoyed the park as a quiet place to sit in fine weather turned out in a meeting of the design review committee. They were headed by Dorothy Brennan, who said that the proposal made the area look like an amusement park and argued that "we were betrayed." The Junior League immediately retreated by saying that the proposal was only a draft.

Trustee Election.  Democrat Donald Sharp announced that he would not be running for reelection in March. This left Republican William Primps as the only announced candidate for the seat. The Democrats announced that they were studying their options. 

Holiday Sales.  Christmas shopping in Bronxville was down only slightly from the previous year, if at all. Indeed, La Gravinese estimated that when the final results were recorded, it might have done slightly better. Merchants generally concluded that it could have been much worse. 

Fordal Road Robbery.  In late morning two men, one carrying a large bamboo stick, forced their way into a Fordal Road home. They pushed the owner's wife, who had been on the phone with her husband, to the floor while they took several pieces of jewelry and a Rolex watch. Neither the address of the residence nor the names of its owners were announced by the police. 

Reformed Church. The church held a celebration for Dick Jones, who was retiring as its youth minister after 27 years of service beginning as a volunteer Sunday school teacher. Among other things, he had been instrumental in beginning the annual White Gifts Service, in which children present Christmas gifts wrapped in white paper for children at Harlem's Elmendorf Church and the Mount Vernon Reformed Church. A special fund was established in his honor for use in church youth projects.

New Board Chair. Saint Christopher's Jennie Clarkson Child Care Services announced that its board had selected Bronxville resident Cherry Lawrence to become its new chair. The organization, established in 1881 with facilities in Manhattan and Westchester, provided a variety of services for children from infancy to early adulthood, including home care for teenagers, foster boarding, and adoption. Mrs. Lawrence, a Vassar graduate, also served on the boards of the Bronxville Adult School and the Friends of the Sarah Lawrence Library.