Chamber honors the city's 'women of excellence'

DIANA SCHOLL
FOR THE STANDARD STAR
(Original publication: October 14, 2004)

The New Rochelle Chamber of Commerce selected six residents for its annual Women of Excellence Awards. All of the honorees have made important contributions to various facets of life in New Rochelle, according to Denise Lally, director of the chamber.

The following women will be honored at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 21 at the Surf Club in New Rochelle.

Ruth Kitchen learned as she went along during her 10 years on the New Rochelle City Council.

"It takes a while to learn how to be a legislator, that's why I don't believe in term limits," Kitchen said. "You do have term limits — they're called elections. You build on experience."

Kitchen is being honored for 42 years of experience that she has devoted to New Rochelle. In addition to her years on City Council, Kitchen has served on numerous boards in the city and is president of the New Rochelle Inter-religious Council.

"It is important to promote peace among religions and to promote understanding and acceptance of difference," Kitchen said.

Eileen Songer McCarthy is vice president of the New Rochelle Bar Association and a lawyer with the New Rochelle firm Muldoon, Horgan & Loughman. Under her watch, the local bar association has tripled its membership and has become more involved with the community.

"We want local lawyers to invest in the community," McCarthy said.

A College of New Rochelle graduate, she mentors law students there.

"It is critical that women in the legal profession mentor other students," she said.

McCarthy said that while she has not encountered many barriers in the legal profession because of her gender, she has faced challenges as a working mother to her two children, Daniel, 12 and Hope, 8.

"Every once in a while I have to be a mom first and a lawyer second," she said. "But my kids have gotten very good at stuffing envelopes and licking stamps."

Phyliss G. Ross is a longtime volunteer in New Rochelle and is the only person to serve on all three of the city's land use boards.

Ross connected New Rochelle to its sister city when she organized a trip to La Rochelle, France.

"New Rochelle was founded by French Huguenots who founded La Rochelle, so we've tried to have one trip every 10 years or so," Ross said. "When I found out there had not been a trip in over that time, I planned one."

During the community's battle over the budget for the library in 2002, Ross was disheartened at the negative publicity and to see the community so divided. Ross helped develop "New Rochelle City Soundings," an e-mail newsletter reporting the good news of New Rochelle.

"We thought 'How can we get out positive news of New Rochelle?' " Ross said. "We wanted to bring people together, the north end and the south end, who are traditionally very divided." The newsletter became a monthly endeavor and now reaches about 1,000 people.

Sister Beth Dowd is founder and director of Songcatchers, Inc., a 10-year-old nonprofit organization committed to the music education of children. The organization has grown to include 150 disadvantaged New Rochelle students who take music lessons with about 40 high school and college students who teach them to play instruments.

"What better way can they use their musical gifts then by helping those who can't afford to pay to develop the gifts that they did," Dowd said. "The children they teach have as much ability as others. Their talents just need to be nurtured."

Dowd said her organization is under-financed, yet she continues to expand the program. Two years ago Dowd started Kindermusik, a song and movement program for the younger siblings of those who take music lessons. Dowd, who is the sole director of Songcatchers, Inc., hopes to expand it even further by appointing co-directors.

As New Rochelle Superintendent, Linda Kelly jokes that she has 11,000 children. Kelly started in an internship with the New Rochelle School District and has spent her entire career in New Rochelle as social studies teacher, principal, assistant superintendent and, since 1991, superintendent. During her tenure as superintendent, Kelly has enhanced the educational opportunities for all students.

"Being superintendent is a job that's very gratifying, to be able to work with people to make sure children have the very best education," Kelly said. "New Rochelle is wonderful because there is a tremendous value placed on education by the community."

Jessica Magnoli, honored as a Young Leader of Tomorrow, is a senior at the Ursuline School. She hopes to become a pediatrician.

"I like to work with little kids," she said.

Magnoli volunteers as a peer counselor and is a member of the social action club at her school.

"I like volunteering. It is something that I like to take my time out to do," Magnoli said. "I think I serve as a positive role model to my peers."

Songcatchers performs a spring concert to raise money for kids to participate in a weeklong choir camp.

By MARCELA ROJAS
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: May 17, 2004)

At the conclusion of the Songcatchers spring concert yesterday, community members presented Sister Beth Dowd, the choir director, with a new six-string guitar, a token of their appreciation for bringing music to children for more than 25 years.

"Thank you for all you give to the community," said Jim Russo, as he handed her the guitar. "You are truly His instrument."

Dowd, who humbly accepted the gift and pointed to the choir, had just finished leading more than 50 choral and ensemble members in spiritual and traditional songs before a full house at the College of New Rochelle chapel. Many songs, including "Rattlin' Bog" and "Father Abraham," had the choir clapping and raising their arms and legs.

The hourlong concert gave listeners a flavor for the kinds of songs the group sings in summer camp, a weeklong musical retreat that Dowd founded in 1979. The concert is also a means of raising money to give 65 campers and 30 volunteers the opportunity to participate in the choral camp that will be held at the Wisdom House in Litchfield, Conn., in July. The fee is $260, and more than 40 percent of participants receive scholarships raised through private donations, said Dowd.

"Camp is so much fun," said Carlos Quispe, 13, a seventh-grader at Isaac Young Middle School in New Rochelle. "We play games, learn about instruments, sing. It's much better than playing outside on the street."

Carlos and his sister, Veralucia, 8, joined Songcatchers two years ago, just after they moved to New Rochelle from Peru.

In addition to choir camp, Songcatchers offers an after-school music program and a recently established Kindermusik program at St. Gabriel Church in New Rochelle. The combined programs reach more than 180 children, many of whom are underprivileged and who range in age from 18 months old to 13, Dowd said. More than 50 volunteers, mostly high school students, teach the children how to play a variety of instruments.

"My son has always loved to sing and dance," said Guillermo Torres, who sang along with his son, Christian, 11, to all the songs during the performance. "He's learning how to play the drums. It's wonderful. Sister Beth pulls them all together. I can't thank her enough for giving him a place to go and learn music."

Dowd, who started teaching choir at a Catholic elementary school in New Rochelle in the 1970s, decided to start the camp as a way of bringing people together in song and spreading peace, she said.

"I have a passion for bringing people of all ages together. It's a way of handing on the spirit one to the other," said Dowd. "It's about family and community."

Dowd's passion for music and communal commitment has spread, as many of her students have stuck with Songcatchers.

"It's the family orientation that keeps us together," said Elizabeth Frenz, 23, who joined Songcatchers in third grade and has attended the camp for 16 years. "Sister Beth is so wonderful. What is admirable about her is that she's not about making money. She just wants kids to learn music."
 

Westchester Arts Council awards Songcatchers
BY JAMES WITHERS

(Original publication: April 10, 2003)

New Rochelle's own Songcatchers was one of the recipients of the Westchester Arts Council 2003 Arts award.

The ceremony, held on April 9, has been a Westchester mainstay for the past 27 years and pays homage to individuals and institutions who have been a part of the cultural scene in Westchester County. Past honorees have included Nelson Rockefeller, Rubie Dee, Ossie Davis and the Westchester Philharmonic.

"We have a wealth of organizations and individuals in Westchester County who are committed to nurturing the arts," said Westchester County Executive Andrew J. Spano.

For 25 years Songcatchers has offered a one-week sleepaway camp for intensive study in music and drama. The program is run by Sister Beth Dowd, OSU, who in a previous interview, said the program works because it takes the words 'art' and 'community' seriously.

"The arts have a tremendous capacity for creating community. The arts are a healing opportunity to work together in a community setting where everyone is taken seriously," said Dowd.

Camp members are from the surrounding metropolitan area and spend a long day, that starts at 7:30 a.m., on chorus and drama.

All of this work and fun leads to a two-hour concert performed at the conclusion of the camp.

The camp is also concerned with helping students gain leadership skills. Songcatchers gives its campers an opportunity to gain more and more responsibility as they get older. There is the CIT (Counselor in Training) program that lasts for two years and provides campers with an opportunity to be part of the staff.

Songcatchers also provides musical instruction to students who want it in the academic year. Children are taught everything in the musical spectrum from singing to musical composition.

Thirteen-year-old trumpet player Jonathan Vergara summed up, in a press release, what Songcatchers has meant to the people involved in the project.

"Choir camp was one of the best times of my life," he said.