Bronxville and Scarsdale region

The Eastchester Town Board will hold its regular meeting tomorrow, May 1, in Town Hall at 8 p.m.

Among the items on the agenda:

• Tax cert settlements for Wilmar Properties, Bonura, D&F and Chem-X-Realty.

• Resolutions for bond issues to replace sidewalks and curbs, resurface streets; to buy a dump truck and pick-up truck; to purchase equipment for the parks and building departments; and to buy and install a parking meter kiosk.

• A special presentation for the town’s 10th annual Traffic Expo Kids Safety Day. Tags: Barnes & Noble, Bonura, Chem-X-Realty, D&F, Town Supervisor Anthony Colavita, Wilmar Properties

The Friends of the Tuckahoe Library will hold a book sale during the upcoming Crestwood Street Fair, set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. this Sunday, April 29.

Funds raised will help support library programs.

All day today, Lord & Taylor will be hosting an all-day shopping event that will give non-profit organizations a chance to raise thousands of dollars in o day.

According to store officials, customers can buy $5 tickets that include a 25% bonus coupon to be used toward one item in ladies’ sportswear, dresses, suits, a 25% off on us coupon to be used on one item in the men’s department, a 20% bonus coupon on an additional special item and a 15% savings pass for all over the store, all day long on everything including cosmetics and fragrances with the fewest exclusions of any Lord & Taylor savings pass. Customers get an additional 10% off your purchases if they use a Lord & Taylor card.

Other offers include free monogramming on home purchases, a live broadcast with Lisa Wexler from local radio station AM 1230 WFAS and an autograph signing from New York football champion Antrel Rolle. Customer giveaways include prizes such as cosmetics, a new iPad and $500 toward a Lord & Taylor wardrobe.

This just in from the folks who are organizing Eastchester’s celebration of 350 years as a community in 2014:

A committee of local historians is looking for volunteers to help put together a book to mark this milestone.

Possible topics include the Eastchester Covenant of 1665 and its role as a founding American document, the industrial and commercial development in the area in the 1850s, how Anne Hutchinson came to settle on land that eventually became part of Eastchester, separating fact from fiction about Eastchester’s relationship to the Bill of Rights, or Eastchester’s volunteers in the Civil War.

Eastchester Town Historian Richard Forliano intends to write about the ethnic and racial makeup of the community in the early 1900s—including the Italians and African Americans who moved to Tuckahoe, the artists and professionals who settled Lawrence Park, and the Irish who were the largest and most politically active group—a topic that he has been researching for some time.  Bronxville Village Historian Eloise L. Morgan will explore why and where the town borders grew and shrank over the centuries, beginning with purchases from Native Americans and British land grants in the 1600s and continuing through later losses of territory as Mount Vernon incorporated separately, New York City absorbed southern Eastchester into the Bronx, and Bronxville and Tuckahoe each formed separate villages within the larger town.

Other volunteers have expressed interest in researching and writing about why the community came to have three separate public school systems, what happened in Eastchester during the American Revolution, the role of African-Americans in Eastchester before 1900, and the work of private and public charitable organizations in early 20^th century Eastchester. Suggestions for other topics are welcome. The publication committee plans to avoid merely repeating what has already been published and to footnote citations to source materials.

Anyone interested in participating in the preparation of the publication—writing, research, fact checking, editing, collecting illustrations, creating graphics, and the like—is urged to contact Richard Forliano, clancy5@optonline.net or Eloise Morgan, rcmelm@aol.com. The committee will help volunteers identify primary and secondary source materials and provide other assistance. With a publication target of 2014, the group hopes to have drafts of the various articles by mid-2013. “It sounds like a long time,” said Morgan, “but given the amount of work to do, it feels like tomorrow.”

The book is only one of many activities and events planned for the community’s anniversary celebration in 2014, under the auspices of a 350^th Anniversary Committee chaired by Eastchester Town Clerk Linda Doherty and former Bronxville Trustee Robert Riggs. Volunteers interested in participating in, or getting information about, other aspects of the overall festivities may contact the Anniversary Committee at 350thanniversary@eastchester.org. 

Tuckahoe author David Carraturo will be signing copies of his latest book, “Columbus Avenue Boys,” at Lord & Taylor in Eastchester starting at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 27.

The book signing is part of the store’s “Shop Smart” charity shopping fundraiser. The first 75 shoppers will receive a signed copy of the book, which was released last week.

Carraturo’s first book, “Cameron Nation,” was published in May.

The Westchester Italian Cultural Center will host a wine tasting and discussion called “Undiscovered Italy: Ascoli Piceno” on Tuesday, April 24 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Ascoli Piceno is a province in the le Marche region of Italy, which the New York Times recently named as The New Tuscany. The area has ancient Roman ruins, medieval towns, and Renaissance art, mountains, beaches, culture and other amenities.

Guests will go on a virtual tour of the area and sample food and several of Ascoli Piceno’s best white, red and dessert wines, presented by the Piceno Wine Consortium

Tickets are $10 for members and $20 for nonmembers. RSVPs are required. For tickets and more information, go to  http://wiccny.org/ or call Patrizia Calce at (914) 771-8700, ext. 109.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. today, the northbound travel lane on Scarsdale Avenue will be closed to traffic from Grand Boulevard to Popham Road. The  right turn lane on Scarsdale Avenue at the intersection of Popham Road will be closed during those times as well.

Con Edison will be doing underground electrical work connected to the Popham Road Bridge replacement project.

Scarsdale Avenue northbound traffic will be detoured east onto Grand Boulevard, north onto Post Road and west onto Popham Road.

We just got confirmation that Judah Holstein, who was running for one of three seats on the Eastchester Board of Education on the May 15 ballot, has withdrawn his petition. That leaves the field uncontested.

Candidates for the seats are the current incumbents, David Carforo, John Curcio and Michelle Kissel

No specific reason was given for the withdrawal, which was made by email.

Eastchester Firefighters Local 916 are inviting the public to join them in a dinner dance fundraiser starting at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 4.

The event,  at the Leewood Golf Club, will honor 20-year fire union members Quinton Baker, Brian Tween and William Addesso.

Tickets are $100 per person. RSVP by calling Jimmy Van Slyck at 914-224-6343 or John Howard at 917-297-6762.

The Eastchester Town Board will meet at 8 p.m. April 18 at Town Hall, 40 Mill Road.

On the agenda: presentation of the town Beautification Committee’s  Yellow Rose awards; setting recreation fees; a special agreement to dispose of confiscated drugs; proclamation of Arbor Day.

Board meetings are open to the public.