‘Starr’ volunteer honored at Foundation’s centennial gala

At the lively cocktail hour, old friends greeted one another and listened to music by Scarsdale High School Classified Musicians Evan Lee, Andre Tsou, Elan Tsou and Mia Roberts. Later in the evening, diners were serenaded by the high school’s a cappella group For Good Measure.

Taking the podium, Rublin thanked Suzanne Seiden, president of the Scarsdale Foundation, Bowl liaison Elyse Klayman and the Bowl Committee. “We have hundreds of other community volunteers here tonight,” she said. “As much as the Bowl dinner is about honoring a particular volunteer, it is also about celebrating and honoring all of the community volunteers who work so hard. The Bowl dinner is the one time in the year that ALL of Scarsdale comes together. I want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank all of you! Scarsdale is a special place because of its heart — all of you — the volunteers who give back so much to our community.”

Svitlana Artamonova, a Ukrainian refugee, expressed her gratitude to the foundation for enabling her daughter to attend the Scarsdale rec camp, where she made friends and improved her English. The foundation has long provided “camperships” for children outside Scarsdale in addition to needs-based college scholarships for Scarsdale residents.

Seiden said that for a variety of reasons — serious illness, death, divorce, job loss — some Scarsdale parents find themselves unable to pay college tuition. This year, the foundation gave $145,000 in scholarships to aid 33 students in their second, third and fourth years of college.

The Bowl Committee decided to establish a new award in honor of the foundation’s centennial. Rublin presented the award to SVAC president Raizen “in recognition of the work you all did for Scarsdale during the pandemic.” She congratulated him and his whole team. “I remember the chaotic time of 2020,” she said. “Kids were home from school, choices of food were limited, I was afraid to go anywhere and we were isolated at home. But SVAC was there — one of our health care heroes — never missing a call. And they went above and beyond — not just responding to emergency calls, but they also provided essential testing and vaccines for our community at a time when it was really, really hard to get those services. SVAC was all over Scarsdale Buzz — when the question of where can I get a COVID test or where can I get a vaccine was posted, the answer was SVAC.”

Raizen thanked the foundation for the award. “Prior to the pandemic, our mission was to provide emergency medical service to the community,” he said. But suddenly in 2020, “We found ourselves wearing hazmat suits, masks and respirators.” One of only two volunteer corps in the county to offer services during the pandemic, SVAC tested 17,000 people for COVID and gave 3,000 vaccinations. The Scarsdale corps “set up to help the entire county in what was probably the worst plague that has happened in our lifetime,“ Raizen said. “This small, but crazy group of volunteers and career personnel never missed a 911 call. We continue to add to our community outreach, through joint training with the police and fire departments, and are doing home visits to patients through our community paramedicine program in conjunction with White Plains Hospital.”

Raizen said the ambulance corps needs volunteers and offers in-house training, including CPR and EMT classes. There will be community CPR classes at Scarsdale High School Sunday, May 7 in two two-hour sessions. Sign up is at www.scarsdalevac.com.

He concluded: “This award is an enormous thank you to our membership who went above and beyond the call of duty during the COVID outbreak. Thank you to the Scarsdale Foundation for acknowledging our hard work over the last 52 years.”

In a series of videotaped interviews, community members expressed their appreciation for the foundation, the ambulance corps and Starr.

Village historian Jordan Copeland noted that the foundation was established in 1923 to aid the family of a Scarsdale policeman who was shot and killed by a car thief. The Scarsdale Woman’s Club mobilized the community to help, mailing some 1,600 requests for donations and setting up an apparatus to handle the money. They decided to create a permanent organization to serve other needs that might arise.

Former mayor Jane Veron said the foundation has endured because of the “wonderful nature of the people of Scarsdale and their commitment to helping others.”

“The centennial offers an opportunity to recognize and applaud” what the foundation has accomplished, said Evelyn Stock, a past Bowl winner.

Anne Lyons, who worked with Starr on the League of Women Voters, said “Janice is like a lightning bolt — she walks into a room and fills it with energy. People gravitate toward her because of that energy.” In particular, Lyons said, Starr quickly grasps complex subjects like the village budget and sums up data in “a most concise way. Her brain is like a computer.”

“She seemed to be everywhere,” said Linda Dietz of the honoree, “creating a sense of community all around her. People want to work with her. She makes them feel welcome.”

David Lee recalled how Starr led the Strategic Planning Committee of Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service, identifying challenges posed by the pandemic and presenting ideas on how to overcome them.

For her part, Starr said, “I saw how many talented people lived in Scarsdale and I wanted to be able to organize and lead people to achieve wonderful things.”

Janice Starr

Janice Starr has been actively involved in community service since she moved to Fox Meadow with her husband Ira and three sons, Eric, Matt and Andrew, in 1993.

The first in her family to attend college, Starr received a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She pursued a career in consulting with Booz, Allen and Hamilton until moving to Scarsdale and dedicating her life to being a full-time mother and community volunteer. 

Starr is vice president of the Executive Committee of the Board of Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Service, co-president of the Fox Meadow Neighborhood Association, a member of the Hoff-Barthelson Music School Board of Trustees, and of the Executive Board of Steve’s Camp at Horizon Farms.

In the past, she served as president of both the League of Women Voters of Scarsdale and the Junior League of Central Westchester. She co-chaired the Administrative Committee of the School Board Nominating Committee, was an officer of the Friends of Music and Arts in the Scarsdale Schools, a member of the Scarsdale Bowl Committee, and held many leadership positions in the PTAs. She has served on the Friends of White Plains Hospital, and of the Einstein School of Medicine/Montefiore, the Westchester Interracial Women’s Council, the Alumni Association of the University of Pennsylvania and the Scarsdale Advisory Arts Council.

Starr was honored at the Junior League of Central Westchester Gala in 2017 for her contributions to the Junior League and to the community at large. She was also honored for her contributions by Steve’s Camp at Horizon Farms at its annual gala.

The evening culminated in the presentation of the engraved silver bowl to Starr. “Janice, you truly live up to your name,” said Rublin. “You light up a room and are a true star! You are open and warm and humble and you graciously pull everyone around you in.

“You have been involved in, and a leader in, pretty much every organization in Scarsdale and even beyond — your keen mind and spot-on instincts leaves these institutions better for having your leadership and input. But, really, Janice, what sets you apart is your generosity, your kindness and your caring. You have a unique ability to encourage others to get involved, to step out of their comfort zone and do things they might not normally do. You are a connector — you promote cooperation and consensus among different people. And as was noted by every person we interviewed for your tribute, you invite Scarsdale into your home. Scarsdale is lucky to have you as a leader and volunteer.”

In her acceptance speech, Starr said that many others in the room were “as worthy of receiving this award as I am and I accept this for all of you. It takes a village, and there are not many villages as dedicated to volunteerism as Scarsdale.”

Starr grew up in Syracuse, where she lived as the only child with seven adults in a house above a small grocery store owned by her grandfather. Starting at age 3, she learned to read labels, add up the bills, and make change for a “salary” of a penny candy a day. She learned how to interact with people and how people in a community help each other. During the Depression, her grandfather extended credit to many people in the small Polish community. Her family helped people with personal services like legal assistance and translation.

When Starr arrived in Scarsdale she found a community she could embrace. “I have always marveled at the way our village comes together to support our triumphs and tragedies, to achieve so much more than we could achieve acting alone,” she said.

In conclusion Starr said, “I don’t regard this as a lifetime achievement award signaling the end — or even the slowing down — of my volunteerism in Scarsdale. Scarsdale is truly our home. I am grateful to all of you for all you do to make Scarsdale and the broader community better for everyone.”

The evening ended with a rollicking rendition of “Starr Bright” with lyrics by Dara Gruenberg and Randi Culang.