May/June 2025 Issue

Explore our homes

Luxury homes, built better

Carbon creates custom, contemporary, luxury homes.

Uncompromisingly innovative, precision crafted –and obsessively better built in every way.

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Grace Farms Vista

TheRidge Playhouseeld Old Salem Farm

Wolf Conservation Center

Marsh Sanctuary

Cross River Reservoir

Katonah Museum of Art

Muscoot Farm

Titicus Reservoir

Ward Pound Ridge Reservation Lake Waccabuc

Leonard Park

Bedford Village Green King Cone

The Glass House

Caramoor

Westmoreland Sanctuary

Jacob Burns Film Center

John Jay Homestead The Bedford Oak

Playhouse

Scott’s Corners

Elevating every moment.

When you step into your kitchen, what do you aspire to do? Master a new cooking technique? Serve food even your pickiest family member will eat with enthusiasm?

Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove appliances are meticulously crafted to achieve a higher standard of performance, dependability, and style—so you can raise the bar on every meal you make.

Your future kitchen starts with Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove, featured at

Heritage Fabrications Inc designs, manufactures, and installs the highest

and steel fenestration. Our team, innovatory technology, and fine materials ensure that we

handcrafted, precision product.

With this May/June 2025 Issue of Bedford & New Canaan Magazine, we mean to inspire you! It’s all about resilience, reinvention, and the power of the human spirit. And it’s full of people who’ve faced down impossible odds, dared to dream big, and turned those dreams into reality.

Our unstoppable cover star, Ali Truwit, is the definition of courage. The week of college graduation, she survived a shark attack that cost her a leg — but, a year later, she was standing on the podium at the 2024 Paris Paralympics with two Silver Medals and American records in swimming. And just as we go to press, she’s gracing the pages of Sports Illustrated’s 2025 Swimsuit Edition. The way she’s turned tragedy into triumph is astoundingly inspirational!

We tell the story of Bob Detmer, the original Forrest Gump. Despite having receptive aphasia and growing up in difficult circumstances, Bob served in the Army, retired on a full pension from IBM, also had a profitable business flipping houses, was one of the first outdoor personalities - known as ‘Wilderness Bob’, and swam across the Hudson River and ran a marathon at the age of 69, among many other dramatic experiences and remarkable successes. His story reminds us that limitations are often just the starting line!

And we introduce you to Greg Johnstone, the tennis coach turned social media comedic sensation, and Mark Thorsheim who bicycled solo across the United States in the Summer of 2024.

In our new Catching-Up With Our Covers feature, we bring you up to speed on how Dr. Angelina Lipman is inspiring others to find happiness with her new wellness process and book, Blocking The Noise A Roadmap to Happiness, and how Arielle Kebbel who’s now starring in Fox’s hot new TV series Rescue: HI-Surf is lending her voice to horse rescue and rehab.

We’re featuring Suzy Welch, who’s teaching a course at NYU called Becoming You to help people find their true and best career path, Ali Galgano, who had the courage to pursue the career of her dreams - and is shining bright like a diamond and Laurie Marcus, who’s cracking the code on corporate success.

…And they’re all B&NC locals! Because we’re… Always Local. Always Positive.

Feel the spark and go get your own version of greatness! We’re rooting for you!

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Outfitted in period with a twinturbocharger kit offered by Dinan Engineering and wears on 32,000 miles. Stunning example of the best of the best when it comes to 90s-era BMW tuning. Available at $60,000. 1991 BMW 850i DINAN TURBOCHARGED

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2025 VINTAGE MODERN CLASSIC

One of the most iconic automotive designs from the Jet-Age, the Coupe DeVille possess everlasting desirability. After all, Cadillac of the 1950s was the “Standard of the World”.

1960 CADILLAC COUPE DEVILLE

LIFE’S CYCLE

MARK THORSHEIM

BECOMING…SUZY!

SUZY WELCH

Suzy Welch—author, professor, media personality, and GE CEO Jack Welch’s widow—teaches NYU Stern’s hit class Becoming You guiding others to lead their most authentic lives.

SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND ALI GALGANO

From Goldman Sachs to Greenwich glitterati, Ali Galgano built Serpentine Jewels from the ground up—no legacy, no connections, just vision and sparkle.

DARLINGTON MANOR

A Georgian manor house on an 83 acre North Salem estate, perched atop a mile-long meandering approach, in North Salem, Darlington Hall is not merely a house, but a declaration of taste, legacy, and an elegant life well-lived.

COVER FEATURE

Last summer, Mark Thorsheim biked solo across America—4,100 miles from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, CT to Oregon—carrying everything he needed on two wheels. 50 78 64 98 38

ABSOLUTELY INSPIRATIONAL ALI TRUWIT

A year after losing her leg in a shark attack, Ali Truwit won two Paralympic silver medals in Paris and launched a foundation supporting girls in need of prosthetics, water safety, and the Paralympic movement. She’s been featured on national TV, at global events—and now in Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue too!

Old

Old Town Barns

ARIELLE KEBBEL

We catch up with Arielle, B&NC Mag’s March/April 2023 Cover Feature - who is starring as Em in the Fox & Hulu TV series Rescue: HI-Surf, and actively engaged as an animal rights activist…and continuing to care for her adopted wild Mustang, Snow White.

SERVING-UP LAUGHS GREGORY JOHNSTONE

Local tennis pro Gregory Johnstone has gone viral for his hilarious, satirical social media takes—earning over 3 million followers and counting.

ON CLIMBING THE CORPORATE LADDER

LAURIE MARCUS

A former CMO and Pepsi exec, and author of the best-selling career advice book: You Should Smile More, Laurie Marcus shares wisdom from decades in leadership—helping women rise through the ranks with real-world strategy.

ANGELINA LIPMAN

Monte and Angelina Lipman were our Nov/ Dec ‘21 Cover Feature… We catch up with Angelina - or should we say Dr. Angelina Lipman - who has founded a wellness program called Blocking The Noise and is now releasing a book, Blocking The Noise: A Roadmap to Happiness.

THE ORIGINAL FORREST GUMP... THE IMPROBABLE BOB DETMER

Bob Detmer’s story is a real-life epic—from overcoming disability and poverty to serving in the Army, flipping homes, starring as Wilderness Bob and swimming the Hudson at 69.

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MOTHER'S DAY Gift Guide

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What better way to give mom some "me-time" than with these captivating summer reads, perfect for lounging at the beach or pool-side.

Last Summer, Mark

Thorsheim

RODE HIS BICYCLE ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

- alone, and with all his equipment on board - cycling 4,100 miles from Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Astoria, Oregon! He dubbed it the ‘Thor Tour’, set up a website at thortour.org, and was successful in raising over $150,000 for the Connecticut-based non-profit Career Resources, Inc.

Mark is 58 and - by the time this feature is published - will have retired from a successful career in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions banking focused in the technology, media, and telecommunications industries, having last been a founding Partner of DH Capital, which was acquired three years ago by Citizens Bank. He lives in New Canaan with his wife of 26 years, Margot, where the couple raised their two sons, Max and Ben, who are now in their twenties. The family are active members of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church.

“Like it was for most kids growing up in the 1970s and 1980s, my bicycle was my primary mode of transportation. My bike gave me my freedom as a kid. I rode everywhere,” Mark recalls. “But biking was never really a sport for me. My family moved from Minnesota to Marlboro, New Jersey, when I was seven, and from as early as I can remember I was playing soccer with my three-year-older brother, Chris. I followed him through the public school system in Marlboro, and then to Susquehanna University, where we were both Finance majors and where we got to play on the Soccer Team together when I was a freshman and he was a senior. I continued playing soccer as an adult, and for years I’d been playing soccer in New Canaan - in a regular twice-a-week ‘pick-up’ game on the Town fields. But I had to get my knee replaced in 2022, and figured I was, as they say, ‘at the twilight of a mediocre career’, and that it was time to hang-up the cleats.”

“I got harassed by my buddy AJ into buying a ‘real’ road bike when I’d turned 50, and had eventually joined an informal crew of casual riders in New Canaan,” Mark explains. “I liked the camaraderie, and after a while I was riding three or four days a week in the summertime and got pretty comfortable doing 25 miles or more in a ride. …And at the same time I started to get into riding on biking trails. Pacific Cycling, on High Ridge Road in Stamford, does a great job of organizing gravel rides all around Bedford and Pound Ridge. And then I started to take my bike with me whenever I went out of town so I could explore new places.”

“Right before the pandemic, I was on a bike trip in the spectacular setting of Deep Creek Lake, Maryland - and it just hit me that I’d really love to ride across the Country! …And I, of course, immediately started to talk with my brother about doing it with me,” Mark recounts.

“...And then, on March 31, 2021, my brother was mountain biking at McDowell Mountain State Park outside Phoenix, Arizona, came down from the ride, and died of a massive coronary at 57. That was the real inspiration for my trip. There was no stone left unturned between us,” Mark says with emotion welling. “I still grieve. In a way it’s how I stay close to Chris. But I knew Chris would be angry if people were just sad and not living their lives to the fullest, so we had a big celebration of his life at a soccer field in New Jersey with hundreds there to help comfort Chris’ wife, Lori, and their adult children, Chelsea, Chris, Jen, and Matt. …For me, the life lesson of losing my brother was carpe diem. Be present for all the people you love while you’re alive, and make life an adventure! That’s exactly how Chris lived - and what drives me today.”

Map

photos to be added to areas of the map where suitable

“Though there was never a question in my mind that I was going to do the ride solo…I really had the feeling the whole time that my brother was with me! The trip was kind of mystical in that way,” Mark proclaims. “I’d had my hip replaced in February 2024, only four months before my target date to depart, but I’d done a lot of cycling as a part of my recovery, and I just knew I could do it…and I relished the opportunity to have two months of uninterrupted time to just be alone - for the first time in my life. And I visited over 50 friends and family, and met a whole lot of new people.”

“In Richardton, North Dakota, I was invited to stay at a Benedictine Monastery and join the 40 or so Brothers for dinner in the Assumption Abbey, located high on a bluff overlooking 60 miles of pristine plains,” Mark recalls.

“The next morning I was up at 5 a.m. and getting ready to leave at 6, as usual, and a Brother - who looked like he could be my brotherapproached me while I was taking in the sunrise and told me that he’d been particularly inspired by my talk at dinner the night before and by what I was doing - and then introduced himself as ‘Brother Christopher’. I was speechless. That was pretty spiritual!”

LIFE'S CYCLE

“I followed well-established routes designed by the Adventure Cycling Association, with some detours to accommodate stops with friends and family.

“61

NIGHTS WITH NO CAMPING, 50 DAYS RIDING ABOUT 80 MILES A DAY

My bike was a carbon fiber, Lauf ‘Seigla’, which means ‘true grit’ in Icelandic, with 42 cm gravel tires, so I could ride on roads, rail trails, gravel, or whatever. I stopped in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, and Bellefonte just above State College, to visit with friends, then rode through Pittsburgh to see family, and continued northwest along Lake Erie following the ‘Northern Tier’ route into the Midwest and up the Mississippi, and eventually to Minnesota. I picked up the ‘Lewis & Clark Trail’ in North Dakota - where I discovered Medora, the Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and the future site of the incredible Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library, being built into the landscape and set to officially open on July 4, 2026,” Mark says looking like he’s got the Library in his view. “…I’ve always been fascinated with everything ‘Lewis & Clark’, so it was compelling for me that this route to the West followed the path and waterways they followed all the way to Pacific Ocean.”

LIFE'S CYCLE

“My parents had been divorced, and my mom passed just prior to the Pandemic in 2020…so I was able to organize a belated family gathering and memorial service in her home town of Cambridge, Minnesota, which Margot and the boys flew-in for, and where we interred her ashes. And my dad passed away in November 2023 at the age of 90, just eight months before the trip. I had originally hoped to visit him when I began planning the trip,” Mark paused, “...so instead I had an emotional but rewarding visit with my stepmother in Stevensville, Montana, located in the Bitterroot Valley, near Missoula,” Mark relates. “Like I said, I’ve had a lot of grieving…but I have great faith.”

“I took-off on June 25th and met my family at the Pacific Ocean on August 24th - 61 nights with no camping, 50 days riding about 80 miles a day, maybe 85% on-road and 15% off-road - one 50 mile ride in the wrong direction…helpfully corrected by a ride in a squad car with Deputy Jason Grey Eagle of Montana’s Prairie County Police,” Mark recounts.

“I used the ride to raise money for Career Resources Inc., the leading workforce development non-profit agency in Connecticut, because I wanted to ride for a purpose outside of my personal motivation. For 30 years, CRI has been providing job skills training, ‘halfway’ living assistance and therapy, and educational programming to those exiting incarceration, along with the unemployed, underemployed, and those who just need help with something as basic as getting a GED,” Mark campaigns.

“I have been a Board Member at CRI since 2020, and knew this ride would be a great way to spread the word of our good work. And Citizens Bank, which acquired my firm and had me under contract, was completely supportive.”

“To answer the questions everyone asks,” Mark says with a smile, “No - I haven’t been training or riding much since the trip - with a 50 mile local ride on a weekend being about the most I’ve done, particularly in the cold weather. Yes - I would do it again, but definitely with other people. And I’d rather plan shorter trips, like maybe through the Badlands, and be able to share the joy and the experience with friends.”

And as for future plans, Mark says, “We’re definitely here in New Canaan for the long haul. We love this community. Margot is an EMT with the New Canaan EMS and is a Co-Founder of Planet New Canaan. We’re both very involved at St. Marks, and I’ll continue to work with Career Resources. …And I intend to learn conversational Spanish.”

…Perhaps a bike ride <passeo en bicicleta> across Spain on the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route?

LIFE'S CYCLE

ALL OUR DOORS LEAD TO EXPERT CARE

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Northwell.edu/Westchester

SUZY WELCH BECOMING… SUZY!

BY: CASEY KAPLAN PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREA CERASO

I visited with Suzy at her spectacular Honey Hollow estate in Pound Ridge on a brisk winter morning, and we sat for a cup of coffee, with the sun shining brightly through an extensive wall of windows. When I arrived at about 10 a.m., Suzy had just returned from a long walk around the trails on the property with her three dogs, Sir, Audrie, and Pierre…and had already that morning conducted a staff meeting, and recorded a new episode of her podcast Becoming You With Suzy Welch.

Suzy is a multi-hyphenate who traverses the worlds of academia, business, and media. She’s on the faculty of the NYU Stern School of Business, teaching two immensely popular classes, Management with Purpose and Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need and serving as the Director of the NYU | Stern Initiative on Purpose and Flourishing.

She’s an active media presence and serves as a frequent contributor on The Today Show. She’s an op-ed writer for the Wall Street Journal, and has an Instagram following of 140,000.

She’s topped the New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Seller lists three times, and has just released Becoming You, published by HarperBusiness.

Suzy is also, notably, the widow of Jack Welch - the legendary CEO of General Electric and icon of American business. Their lives before he died in 2020 were well chronicled, as the couple built companies together, appeared as co-hosts of the CNBC show It’s Everybody’s Business, and often appeared at charity events in New York and Palm Beach. Jack was also an active partner in raising Suzy’s four children, and the family traveled the world together and summered at their home in Nantucket.

Suzy

is high energy and fast-paced, her conversation peppered with jokes and asides, and there’s rarely a lull. But she’s also immediately warm and authentic. Throughout the morning, two members of her team kept popping in and out to let her know about performance metrics, calls, and scheduling changes, or to check with her on an urgent decision…but Suzy still managed to make us feel that we had her complete attention and focus.

As we began to set up lighting in the eclectically decorated living room, Suzy caught me looking inquisitively at a portrait and explained, “I collect portraits of women from all different eras and cultures. I don’t really care about the provenance… I’m mostly interested in the story behind them…and I especially like it if they have their dog! This particular painting is of a female merchant from the Netherlands in the 1800s. …What’s funny, at least to me, is that if you look across the room, I also acquired the matching portrait of her husband from the same commission…but you’ll notice that the painting of the husband is quite a bit smaller… and size would typically signify importance. So my theory is that she was perhaps more successful or came from a more successful family.” She paused as if to consider the mystery of the painting, and then added, “In the end, it’s just a matter of whether the painting touches me in some way. I want everything in my house to have emotional content that evokes a memory or makes me happy or thoughtful for some reason. Mementos from travels, and lots of art. Jack and I made it a point to visit local artists and artisans everywhere we went.”

“I’m so in the moment when I’m here,” Suzy beamed as we sat down to chat on an impossibly plush sofa. About acquiring the Honey Hollow estate, that’s complete with magnificent landscaped grounds, a pond with an island, and miles of adjacent walking trails, Suzy explains, “Jack died in March 2020, just before the pandemic. Afterward, I headed upstate to Rhinebeck with my four kids and their spouses. In 2021, as I started to step back into my life, I moved back to the City to work again, and wanted to find a weekend place that was closer to Manhattan and that fulfilled that love of nature and spending time outdoors, but was also convenient and spacious for my family and friends to visit and spend time. I fell in love with this place. It wasn’t very hard.” After buying the house, Suzy converted one bay of the garage into a pottery studio, where she and her children often spend Saturday afternoons. “My family is filled with artists and my canvas is my home. I hope to get my hands into the clay with my grandchildren, Lirael and Taran, as soon as they’re old enough,” Suzy smiled. “They’re only two and two months old now, but they are the light of my life.”

Suzy was born in Portland, Oregon, but lived in various parts of the country growing up. “My father was an architect from the Bronx and my mother was an artist from a Sicilian family that had settled in Rochester, New York. Education was definitely valued, but our family was more likely to talk about a new album by Bob Dylan or a fun day fishing than getting into any particular college,” Suzy says. “By the time I was 14, it became clear that I needed more of a challenge than my public school could provide, and a teacher suggested that I might be better off at a rigorous boarding school… With four kids, it definitely wasn’t easy for my parents financially, but they worked hard to make it happen, and sent me to Exeter with their love and high hopes. It changed the course of my life.”

Suzy went on to attend Harvard, where she majored in Fine Arts, and spent much of her free time at the daily newspaper, The Crimson. “As someone who studies and teaches career development, I am certainly amused by the irony of how little thought I’d given to my own career starting out,” Suzy mused. “Intrigued by a pair of recruiters who came to campus my senior year, I took a job as a crime reporter at The Miami Herald. I started off covering crime in 1981 in the middle of two sets of riots and the Mariel boatlift. It was a fantastic place to be a young journalist, and I learned a lot. But a terrible boss, and missing home, brought me back up North a few years later, when I landed at the Associated Press as a Business Reporter. …The only thing was,” Suzy laughs, “I didn’t know anything about business!”

Though I’d found journalism to be profoundly interesting, I felt like I found my true calling in business…

“I did what I think everyone should do when you want to really learn about something… I went back to school,” Suzy relays of her decision to apply to Harvard Business School. “Though I’d found journalism to be profoundly interesting, I felt like I found my true calling in business… I really loved it, but believe me I worked twice as hard as everyone else. I sat in the front row, stayed up late doing all the homework, and I didn’t go to any parties. I had loans to pay, and a car that was falling apart at the seams, and, honestly, I spent a lot of business school completely stressed out. It was not pretty.” Suzy landed an internship at Bain & Co., and then discovered that the firm would be willing to cover the entirety of her education costs if she graduated at the top of her class as a Baker Scholar. That was all she needed to hear. “Good Lord, that put me over the top,” she recalls with a laugh. She did indeed graduate #1 in her class, earning the high honor of Baker Scholar, and joined Bain, where she stayed for seven years, mainly working with industrial clients in the Midwest.

“I loved my years at Bain and really enjoyed consulting, but the constant travel required, with four young children at home, was a difficult combination. In 1995, I was offered to join the Harvard Business Review, and felt that it was the perfect opportunity to combine my love for business with my passion for writing,” Suzy shares. She would go on to become the Editor of the Harvard Business Review one of the most prestigious publications in business. “My job was writing and editing articles on strategy, operations, organizational behavior, leadership, crisis management, and change. It made me more able to think about business conceptually…and in many ways prepared me for my current career,” Suzy recounts. Suzy later attended the University of Bristol in England to obtain her PhD in Management, with a thesis that explored the connection between values, identity, and professional choices.

After marrying Jack in 2001, Suzy transitioned into a career as a public intellectual, and spent much of her two decades of married life writing books, giving speeches, and advising companies. Suzy worked as a columnist for O: The Oprah Magazine, wrote a best-selling book titled 10-10-10, and began hosting two shows on CNBC.com called Get to Work with Suzy Welch and Suzy Welch: Fix my Life.

“In the midst of it all, in 2019, my son, Marcus, and Jack’s grandson, Joe - who are buddies - launched a music streaming service for college musicians, called Quadio. The company’s success was quick and dramatic, and Jack urged that I become Chairman. Suddenly I was running a 55-person start-up - where I was about 40 years older and 100% less cool than everyone else,” Suzy recalls. “I’d always been fascinated by entrepreneurial ventures, and I loved working with Joe and Marcus and the rest of the team, and I learned more in those three years about business than probably the previous three decades. Jack’s health was failing, but he loved watching me get my bearings as a tech executive, and got so much joy out of the family partnership. He cheered us on - wanting to hear about every detail. We had a wild run – and then the pandemic hit. Ultimately,” Suzy says, “the company had to downsize, and we sold it in 2023… In the end we didn’t make a penny, but I don’t regret a minute of the Quadio experience.”

With the pending sale of Quadio, Suzy turned her focus to the creation of a self-discovery and career planning class that would help young people have lives of more intention and career paths with more fulfillment. “It’s an idea that had long been bubbling, and the methodology is adjacent to the career advice I’d been studying and publishing for years,” Suzy says. “I proposed it to the Dean at NYU Stern, who agreed to try it as an experiment. To my delight, the class was extremely well received, and I was asked to join the faculty and take on a full teaching load the following semester.”

At this point in life, I feel like I’ve

fi nally found my purpose as a teacher, Suzy declares.

Iget so much gratification from being in the classroom with young people filled with hope and vision - and not without concerns and challenges. My course helps to answer the question: What should I do with my life? The methodology centers around finding what I call your ‘Area of Transcendence’, which is another way of saying ‘purpose’. And the premise of the course is that it lies at the intersection of your values, aptitudes, and economically viable interests. For most people that makes sense intuitively, but not everyone necessarily has the language to talk about their values or identify what theirs are, and the same is true about aptitudes, and to a lesser extent, interests. These are important pieces of data, and often they are buried and need to be excavated, so to speak.” To that end, Suzy’s class, called Becoming You is filled with exercises, activities, and assessment tools. Suzy also teaches Becoming You as an open-enrollment class on NYU’s campus a few times a year.

Some students who take Becoming You end up using the process to tweak their career paths, but for others, reinvention is the outcome. Suzy recalls a student who took her class sure that he would end up in banking. Before enrolling at Stern as an MBA, he had already spent five years in finance in London. But the class revealed to him that his top value was ‘Beholderism’, a desire to live a life filled with beauty and aesthetic harmony, and that further, he actually held the value of ‘Affluence’ or ‘Wealth Accumulation’ as a very low priority. Further, after testing, the student rediscovered his very strong aptitudes for spatial visualization. Ultimately, the six-week course allowed the student to admit and embrace his deeply held – and long suppressed – dream of becoming a fashion designer. On the last day of Becoming You students present the 40-year narrative of their life going forward, and the student joyfully announced that he intended to leave banking and devote his career to “making the clothing that makes women impossible not to look at”. The class was stunned…and then cheered him on. “Obviously, the Becoming You process does not always have these kinds of big turn-arounds,” Suzy says, “but it almost always helps people come into a fuller understanding of themselves and refine or define their hopes for their future.”

“I’d love you to come to my next workshop,” Suzy invited, before we finished our photography and our coffee…

SUZY WELCH

Iarrived on the first day of the three-day program to find a packed room of over 60 people, buzzing with excitement. The group was wide-ranging in age and backgrounds, with the bulge of people looking like they were in their 30s and 40s… although I met folks from 18 to 70. Many had found out about Suzy on social media - and taken three days off of work, and traveled to New York, to take the course. One person came from Madagascar just to participate, and two sisters had traveled from South Africa.

Suzy - or should I say Professor Welch - was a complete dynamo, lecturing non-stop for three 8-hour days, and always clearly passionate about the material and the impact. Day one was focused on a ‘values excavation’, going over the results of tests we’d taken in preparation of the workshop, and answering on-the-spot questions like ‘What would make you cry from regret at your 85th birthday?’, and ‘What do you want people to say about you when you’re not in the room?’. Day two explored cognitive and emotional aptitudes to better understand what makes you - and those around you - tick. And we took a deep dive into the results of the aptitude tests we’d taken in advance of the workshop. Day Three started with an overview of the fastest-growing industries at the moment, and then an exercise outlining the myriad of industries that are less-travelled or that many of us overlook.

People were clearly impacted by being there. A couple from Utah who were looking for guidance planning their retirement discovered that neither wanted to spend their remaining years working in the construction industry and told me they were now determined to change careers. One young woman’s presentation had the entire class sobbing, as she talked about her dream of building a biotech company producing a

device to help women, based on her own struggles with Endometriosis. Another man outlined his new intended career path through the technology industry - not a change of industry, but a course correction from operations to development. The experience was enlightening, and often rather emotional. Everyone seemed deeply satisfied that they’d found what they came for.

At a party to close out the intensive workshop, I noticed that Suzy asked each person who hadn’t chosen to present about their findings and feelings about how they felt about the course… and seemed to genuinely care about how they were impacted. I know that she’s kept-up with most of the people in the class, and maintains a relationship with many of her former students.

For me, the workshop was a valuable confirmation that I’m right where I need to be, doing something that brings me joy and fulfills my values. I gained some valuable insights into better understanding others who think differently than I do. …And, although I’d left my coffee at Honey Hollow quite impressed with Suzy, I left the workshop quite amazed by Professor Welch and her ability to captivate and motivate so many people.

Remarkably… while she’s teaching three courses this semester, running six workshop intensives, putting out a weekly podcast, continuing to appear as a special correspondent on the Today Show, and maintaining a strong social media presence, Suzy nevertheless finds time every weekend to return to Pound Ridge. In fact, she says she couldn’t do it any other way. “The beauty and peacefulness of this place is what grounds and resets me every week,” she says. “I’m so lucky I found it.”

SUMMERILL & BISHOP

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This like-minded equestrian community includes five Olympian show-jumping riders who call this area home. The layout for these farms is a testament to the vision of renowned Olympic show jumping riders Daniel Bluman and Kent Farrington who both own horse properties in this area. Highly successful trainers and owners have created some of the most elaborate equestrian properties in this locale.

This strategic location provides close proximity to a complete season of Northeastern FEI-rated horse show venues and CSI 2*- 5* events from April through October - the ideal complement to the Wellington/Ocala season. Old Salem Farm, HITS Saugerties, Silo Ridge Masters, the Greenwich Polo Club in Conyer’s Farm, and the Hampton Classic are part of this impressive lineup. The property also has access to an extensive trail system and is home to the Golden’s Bridge Hunt. Highly rated veterinary facilities are nearby.

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SHINE BRIGHT LIKE A DIAMOND

ALI GALGANO & SERPENTINE JEWELS

For Ali Galgano, jewelry has always been art, and never just an accessory. Growing up in Westchester, Ali was influenced early by her stylish Texan mother, who had worked as a jewelry buyer for Neiman Marcus, and who taught her that the right piece could transform not just an outfit, but a mood, a moment, a memory. “She made me understand that jewelry wasn’t just pretty - it was powerful,” Ali recalls. “It was wearable art that could carry meaning, stories, history.”

PHOTOGRAPHY: JIMMY ENNER,JR

But that seed planted in childhood took time to bloom. Ali studied American Studies and Art History at Cornell, intending to pursue a career in business, and started right out of college at Goldman Sachs.

“I was a twenty-something living in Manhattan with everything I thought I was supposed to want—a good job, a nice apartment, a wonderful boyfriend—but I was deeply unfulfilled,” she reflects.

“On a visit with my fabulous Aunt Gail in Dallas, she gave me the best advice I’ve ever received… to get a hobby,” Ali recalls. “She told me to browse the course catalog at the 92nd Street Y, and pick anything that sparked curiositysomething unrelated to my day job.” A jewelrymaking class caught her eye, and she began spending Monday nights learning to solder, metalsmith, and sketch designs. “I was instantly hooked,” Ali grins.

A few months later, while her mother was visiting, the two stopped by a shop on 47th street to look at a piece of jewelry. There, Ali struck up a conversation with the owner - who had also left a corporate career to enter the diamond world.

“She mentioned gemology school—something I’d never heard of,” Ali smiles. “And just like that, everything clicked. I quit my finance job, enrolled to become a Graduate Gemologist at the Gemological Institute of America…and I’ve never looked back.”

“I was the only student in my class who didn’t come from a family in the industry,” Ali says. "Most were fourth- or fifth-generation jewelers or gemstone dealers. I had no connections—no one paving the way. Every relationship had to be built from the ground up. It was challenging, but not being bound by tradition gave me the freedom to forge my own path, led by instinct and creative vision.”

“I graduated from GIA in 2008, just as the financial world was collapsing. Launching a fine jewelry brand during a recession wasn’t exactly in the cards,” Ali says with a laugh. “So I pivoted, and launched Charm & Chain, one of the first curated e-commerce platforms for fashionforward costume jewelry.” Her eye for design, emerging trends, and brand storytelling was magnetic. Charm & Chain was spotlighted by DailyCandy the It-girl newsletter of the Aughts, and Ali soon landed on the cover of USA Today in a feature on young entrepreneurs.

“It was surreal,” she recalls. “I was 25, running this booming business out of my apartment, and suddenly I had employees, and then a Soho office, and press flying in left and right.”

“I loved costume jewelry for the creative freedom it offered—the bold colors, the scale, the playfulness,” Ali says.

“But I missed the permanence, the substance, the meaning of fine jewelry. I missed the stones, the science, the legacy.”

Eventually, a leading jewelry manufacturer approached her with a well-timed acquisition offer, and she sold Charm & Chain—just ahead of welcoming her first child.

“While still running my previous business, I had quietly started consulting for friends and friends-of-friends—helping them navigate the engagement ring process using my industry connections, design sensibility, and gemological expertise,” she explains. “It was entirely word of mouth, but it quickly evolved into a significant business. Engagement rings are often an adult’s first significant purchase, yet the process is notoriously opaque. There’s so little trustworthy information out there,” she says. “I brought transparency to the experience—acting as the couple’s advocate, sourcing stones, offering design guidance, and often helping them come to a decision together while still preserving the element of surprise.”

“What started as a bespoke design service, quickly became its own full-blown luxury brand: Serpentine Jewels,” Ali smiles. “My deep relationships in the diamond world mean I can access stones most people would never otherwise see. And my approach is to be highly personal and totally collaborative. …My clients started coming back for additional purchases–and not just for engagement rings, but for push presents, anniversaries, re-imaginings of gems from a divorce, and just-because splurges. By the summer of 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, my business exploded. People weren’t traveling and they weren’t entertaining. They wanted to invest in something personal and enduring—and jewelry offered both emotional and intrinsic value. In a time of market uncertainty, it became an intentional place to allocate capital: a tangible asset with staying power—one they could enjoy in the meantime!”

In 2022, Ali opened Serpentine’s first brick-and-mortar location - a beautifully restored townhouse in downtown Greenwich that feels more like a chic atelier than a traditional jewelry store. “We wanted it to feel like you're stepping into someone's home,” she says. “Clients sit on velvet couches, sip champagne, play with jewelry, and talk about what matters most to themwhat they want to celebrate, commemorate, or carry with them forever. I want to understand your story before designing something that’s going to live on your body for years to come… and I want you to truly love it! Bringing someone’s dream piece to life - whether it begins with a dusty diamond tucked away in a drawer or a nebulous Pinterest fantasy - and transforming it into something deeply personal, requires more than taste. It takes trust, and it takes heart. I care deeply about every piece, every story, and every person that I have the privilege to create with.”

While Serpentine’s ready-to-wear collection features modern staples like colorful sapphire tennis bracelets, mixed shape eternity bands, and layered diamond necklaces, the brand is rooted in bespoke design, with one-of-a-kind pieces that blur the line between art and heirloom. Alongside diamonds, Ali has also become known for her vibrant use of colored gemstones. As she puts it, “Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend…but every girl needs some multicolored sapphires, emeralds, rubies, or even a meaningful birthstone in her posse! Color brings a burst of joy and a touch of individuality.”

Ali and her team have designed everything from multi-generational rings that weave together family stones, to modular transformer earrings that transition from classic diamond studs to statement chandeliers, to engagement rings with jackets that convert into cocktail rings. She’s also started to focus on sourcing exceptional estate jewelry for her discerning clientele. With her signature 'Jewelry Box Roadmap', Ali helps clients thoughtfully build collections tailored to their lives—pieces they can acquire over time. “It’s not about impulse purchases,” she explains. “It’s about curating a meaningful collection that reflects your lifestyle, your values, and your story.”

Her process is equal parts art and science. Every design begins with a hand-drawn sketch, often tailored precisely to the exact dimensions of a rare stone Ali has sourced.

“Jewelry is emotional, but it’s also highly technical,”

she explains. “I’m obsessive about ensuring my clients receive great value, too. We work with the same diamond suppliers and master craftsmen as the Fifth Avenue jewelry houses—just without the Fifth Avenue markup,” she adds with a smile.

It’s this unique blend of design sensibility and behind-the-scenes savvy that has made Ali and Serpentine Jewels a favorite—not only among Greenwich’s glitterati, but with collectors, creatives, and connoisseurs across the country. As the brand continues to grow, Ali remains driven by the same mission that started it all: to create deeply personal pieces that commemorate life’s moments—big and small—with beauty, intention, and heart. It’s jewelry that tells a story—and she’s only getting started.

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Darlington Manor

No, this Georgian manse isn’t the set of the next season of Bridgerton… but it sure looks like it!

Think Dallas meets Downton Abbey. Cotswolds come to Westchester. Built in 1995, in homage to the famous early-20th Century British architect Sir Edward Lutyens, and specifically after his Salutation grand residence in Sandwich, England, Darlington Manor is an architectural masterpiece, hidden away - on 83 acres - off Hardscrabble Road in North Salem.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GILLIAN GAUGHAN

The mile-long

winding drive

up to the main residence meanders past a private fishing pond, and then the equestrian barns, stables, paddocks, groom’s house, and other facilities, before approaching an appropriately imposing internal set of iron gates. …And, once through the gates, the parking court encircles an intricate parterre de broderie of hedges, shaped in a scrolling, embroidery-like pattern…making any guest feel like they’ve arrived for a weekend at Versailles. Privet hedges frame the four symmetrical courtyards adjacent to each side of the home.

The 10,700+ square foot main residence is large but measured.

On the main floor, there’s a dramatic entrance foyer

with a sweeping bifurcated iron staircase that leads to wraparound interior balconies. The main floor features grand living, dining, and ball rooms, each with floor-to-ceiling windows and all suitable for entertaining on a large scale, and comfortable dens and a wood-panelled study with a celestial mural on the ceiling, and a state-of-the-art kitchen perfect for Sunday morning pancakes or a chef’s catered event - and every room on the main floor has at least one door affording a view and access to the outdoors.

On the second floor, there’s an expansive master suite with dual bathrooms and closets and a fireside private sitting room, two other substantial bedroom suites, and a large library with built-ins and a handpainted ceiling. On the third floor, there’s a remarkable suite of seven individualized and themed bedrooms, each with an adorable niched bay window seat, and four baths. And in the basement, there’s a movie theater, a gym, a game room, and a second full kitchen, dining area, and party area.

On the third floor, there’s a remarkable suite of seven individualized and themed bedrooms

Everything about the home says grandeur and elegance. It is a house that embraces old-world craftsmanship and new-world ease. Curated details, such as the antique oak floors laid in a herringbone pattern, limestone fireplaces, the bespoke millwork, and the hand-plastered walls, abound. And the house is designed, with all the modern conveniences, to be comfortable for the residents, but suitable for large-scale entertaining.

The carriage house

includes a complete two bedroom apartment and some garage space. And the vanishing edge outdoor pool is located amidst formal gardens - a setting for Slim Aarons to be sure!

But the real showstopper is the absolutely stunning

indoor pool pavilion

- that’s connected to the main house through an underground hall! The pavilion, filled with large tropical plants, feels like a sunroom at a lavish spa…or maybe something out of an Esther Williams movie or some other Hollywood fantasy. The pool is massive, and there’s a jacuzzi that’s big enough for the whole team.

D arlingtonManor’s

vast grounds are carefully planned and stewarded,

and have something to surprise and delight around each knoll. Rolling hayfields and endless orchards. Wild meadows framed by stone walls. A spring-fed lake with a foot-bridge that reflects the trees in perfect stillness - creating the most ideal spot for an afternoon paddle in a canoe. The century-old Maples that stand like sentinels around the property.

Darlington Manor is an

enchanted experience

where past meets present and country meets classic elegance.

…There are trails for horseback riding and acres and acres of fenced horse paddocks.

…There are pockets of woodland for wandering, and meadows for meandering.

…There are long lawns that seem to stretch endlessly, that are just perfect for croquet matches, picnics, or simple silence.

…And the immaculate gardens, boasting multiple specimen flowers and plants, have rightfully been the feature of multiple garden tours.

WILL STUART OF BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY IS PROUD TO OFFER THIS ONE-OF-A-KIND PROPERTY, JUST AN HOUR’S DRIVE FROM MANHATTAN, FOR $9,250,000.

Dreams Built Here

Whether

Absolutely Inspirational ALI TRUWIT

Ali Truwit’s story is one of grit, grace, and glory. She’s turned what she calls her ”tremendous misfortune” into purpose and mission. Tragedy into triumph. …She is bright, and brilliant, and beautiful…and a kind of real-life superhero. Her example is absolutely inspirational!

Ali grew up in Darien, attended New Canaan Country School from 6th grade to 10th grade and then St. Luke’s for high school, and swam with the Chelsea Piers Aquatics Club starting when she was 12. During her senior year of high school, Ali began conducting research for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence…and then she was also recruited to compete for the Yale Women’s Swimming and Diving Team. She graduated Yale Class of ‘23, with a B.S., majoring in Cognitive Science with a depth in Behavioral Economics.

The day after her graduation from Yale, Ali headed down to Turks & Caicos for a celebratory vacation, together with her good friend Sophie Pilkinton, who’d been the Captain of the Yale Swim Team and a senior when Ali joined the Yale Swim Team as a freshman, and who had herself just days before graduated from the University of Tennessee Medical School. The next day, the two young ladies jumped off a charter boat to go snorkeling in clear waters in a shallow reef…and a shark attacked!

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREA CERASO

“It was terrifying and everyone’s worst nightmare,” Ali recounts the harrowing details. “We were snorkelling in a common tourist area, that’s not known at all for sharks, in a shallow reef. …I got a glimpse of it swimming up to us, and then in an instant it was underneath me. The shark started bumping, ramming, and attacking us…and then bit my foot off. …I was losing a lot of blood. We made the decision to swim for the boat, which was about 75 yards away. The shark came back during our race back to the boat. When I got back into the boat, Sophie applied a tourniquet that saved my life. …And from there I was rushed to an island hospital where I spent several long, painful hours waiting for a medivac to Miami for life-saving surgeries. …Then, seven days later - on my 23rd Birthday - I underwent a transtibial amputation at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan. ”

“ …The attack was massively painful, but I never lost consciousness.

I

had to, quite literally, recenter myself, and figure out

how I was going to live my life with one foot.”

…When I was laying in the hospital in Turks & Caicos, they handed me a phone to talk to my mom, and I just couldn’t muster the words ‘shark attack’ or explain that ‘I don’t have a foot anymore’. I did my best to reassure myself that everything was going to be O.K. - despite the life changing reality of the situation,” Ali reflects. “I knew I couldn’t lose consciousness so I could be involved in the medical decisions. …And what I tried to focus on was…LUCK and GRATITUDE!

…If both Sophie and I had not stayed calm in the water and made the decision to race to the boat together, we could have both died. If Sophie hadn’t been there to apply the tourniquet on my leg and stop the bleeding, I wouldn’t have made it. I was in so much shock and pain - and so scared - but I was also just grateful to be alive.”

“When I got home…there was plenty of crying,” Ali admits. “My mom and dad, twin brother, and two younger brothers were all in a kind of shock - along with me. …The pain from the amputation and the trauma of the whole experience was intense, but we’re a super-close family - who ordinarily never stop laughing when we’re together. My parents have deeply instilled the value of intrinsic motivation and the idea that we are each the leader of our own goals, and

fostered in each of us a certain plan to achieve our goals with day-to-day work. I’m a big planner. The mantra we all use is ‘Work Works!’. Be adaptive, and the journey will be its own reward. …From the start, my best therapy was to begin to plan some new goals and what the day-to-day work would look like for me. I had to, quite literally, recenter myself, and figure out how I was going to live my life with one foot.”

“Six weeks into recovery - before I could walk on my initial prosthesis - I had a huge desire to exercise and move, and felt like I wanted to at least try to get back in the pool. Swimming, and just being in the water, is something I’ve always loved - and I didn't want to lose that too,” Ali recalls. “I’ve been swimming competitively since I was 7, and my specialty since high school has been in the 500 yard, 1,000 yard, and mile long-distance events. Athletics, sports, and exercise have always been a big part of my life. Swimming has always been my primary sport, but I also played lacrosse and basketball and ran crosscountry in high school. I actually ran the Copenhagen Marathon with my mom on Mother’s Day just 10 days before my college graduation and less than two weeks prior to the attack.”

PHOTO: KIM HARGROVE

Getting back in the pool was physically and emotionally excruciating, and filled with fear from flashbacks,”

“The last time I’d been in water - I was fighting for my life! So I crutched out to the pool and carefully got in just a tiny bit with my shoulders and head out of the water. The cold water sent what felt like shooting electric shocks into the still-raw nerve endings in my leg. From there, I continued getting more and more comfortable in the water one day at a time, starting to swim a little again, and gradually facing the fear and reclaiming my love of the water. I had to relearn my balance in the water just like I was starting to do on land. I started a daily rehab routine that pretty quickly turned into a regular exercise regimen. I began to regain my strength and confidence. I was doing three physical therapy sessions a day. My parents and my brothers would get into the water with me and goad me to race…and there was no way I was letting them win!”

“Hearing that I was back in the pool, a friend of my mom’s from when they were both on the Yale Swim Team together called and encouraged me to think about para swimming, and informed me that there was a ‘Path to Paris 2024’ of required competitions in and out of the country to be eligible to attend the Paralympic Trials the following June - which would be just

a year turnaround time from the attack and amputation. The first required meet was in Georgia, just a month later, and just three-and-ahalf months after my amputation,” Ali recounts.

“The times to make Paris were going to be fast - like Division 1 fast - and though I was daunted at how fast I would have to swim to ‘punch my ticket to Paris’ - and so soon after my traumathe thought of trying to make the Paralympics sparked a real hope in me! My old high school coach came out of his coaching retirement and we got to work… All the planning and hard work and dedication it took qualifying for Team USA and then going to the Paralympic Games turned out to be my best path to recovery!”

Ali remembers.

PHOTO: ISABELLA ASSUMA

ALI TRUWIT

TWO SILVER MEDALS,

…In August 2024 - just 15 months after the shark attack - Ali arrived at the Paris Paralympics and won one in the women's 400m freestyle S10 with an American record of 4:31.39, and another in the 100m backstroke with another American record of 1:08:59!

…Fast forward to the present, and… Ali is currently featured in Sports Illustrated’s 2025 Swimsuit Edition!

And Ali is also the subject of an Impakt Partners documentary called Stronger Than You Think, that’s just been completed and is now being entered into film festivals.

“If you’d asked me when it happened where I’d be one year later…I would have said the couch,” Ali admits. “The Paralympics gave me a goal to help me overcome adversity and reach for something bigger than I imagined - proving that I was stronger than I thought. I chose to document my comeback in real-time, starting about eight months post attack, allowing crews to follow my journey of self-discovery - learning to adapt as an amputee, pushing through setbacks, and setting the bold goal of giving everything I had to make Team USA and compete in the Paris 2024 Paralympics. The challenges were unimaginable, but I fought to heal, hold onto my love for the water, and find meaning in it all. I’m excited to share this journey and hope to inspire others to realize that we are all stronger than we think.”

“My swimming, and my success at the Paralympic Games, has given me a platform to help others,” Ali proclaims. “I read the other day that you have a better chance of dying by getting hit in the

head by

coconut than by a shark. What happened to me doesn’t make a lot of sense. But helping other people always makes sense. So the opportunity to spread messages around turning hardship or trauma into hope, and raising awareness around the Paralympics, and showing the world what people with disabilities can do, is empowering and healing for me. …And that’s why I founded my charity, called Stronger Than You Think, and formed a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit foundation called StrongerThanYouThink.Org - focused on the three pillars that saved my life and helped me rebuild: access to prosthetics for women and girls, support for the Paralympic movement, and support for water safety programs. I donated my earnings from my two Paralympic Silver medals, and donate the speaking fees I earn to Stronger Than You Think.”

I got into baking as a part of my recovery.

“I also got into baking as a part of my recovery. My goal was to find hope and happiness wherever I could, because recovery and losing a limb was so hard. At first it was just something that I could do that made me feel good, that forced me to stand longer and longer on my new prosthesis as the doctors ordered, and that gave me a way to thank all the doctors and nurses and physical therapists I was seeing every day with some tasty cookies and cakes. But soon we had too many baked goods around the house for anyone to eat, or to give away, so I launched my own little business called TruwitsTreats and began selling my baked goods to benefit Stronger Than You Think.”

“I was shocked at how much even a basic prosthesis costs, and more sophisticated prosthetics - with all the fittings and customizations that are involved - can be Forty Thousand Dollars or more,” Ali details. “Insurance often only covers a portion, and just doesn’t keep pace. Especially with how fast kids grow out of their prostheses. Some insurance only covers one. …I, for example, have three different prostheses: a running blade, so that I can go out for a jog and try to reclaim my love of running; a high activity lightweight prosthetic for everyday use, and; a cosmetic, realistic-looking prosthetic that I can wear with high heeled shoes. …I want to remove barriers to access to recovery and to living a full life for those women and girls who can’t afford it. We’ve already given a prosthesis to an energetic and incredible 7-year-old girl named Talia, and we are providing prosthetic support to an amazingly resilient and wonderful 25-year-old woman name Celeste, who's a pediatric speech pathologist and who recently became a quadruple amputee after going into septic and toxic shock following a routine medical procedure. And we’re excited to be providing two teenage girls with their first high-heel prosthetic foot - for prom & graduation - that they’ll be able to use into their adult lives!”

I like doing things that make other people feel good! What happened to me is so rare and very unlucky, but it heals me that sharing my story can help other people.

I’m happiest when I’m positively impacting the people around me. I’ve lost a lot more than just my leg, but I’m determined to turn trauma into purpose. Adjusting to my prosthesis and learning to walk with it was an agonizing process, but I’ve gotten good at celebrating small wins. And I’m getting better at running on my blade,” Ali says… when the truth is that she ran the Darien Turkey Trot on her walking prosthesis in 2023 - only six months after the shark attack - and ran it again in 2024, on her prosthetic running blade, and holding to a pretty amazing 7:39 per mile pace!

“I’m grateful to be alive, but I’m still healing, and learning life with a prosthetic, and in a phase of trying to recover life’s joys,” she reveals. “I’ve regained my love of the water. Reclaiming my love of running is next on my list. …And some things I love, I don’t know, things like if I can get comfortable with the kind of beach vacations we’ve always enjoyed…right now I have no plans to ever get into the ocean again, so we’ll just have to see how my healing unfolds. For now, I’m focused on reclaiming life’s passions, and on increasing representation for people with disabilities. I want to show the world what people with disabilities can do. And I want to use my foundation Stronger Than You Think to help others through hardship.

PHOTO: KATHERINE CALDERWOOD

InspirationalAbsolutely

Ali shared that, “I continue to work hard at radically accepting what has happened, but I’m proud of the progress I’ve made with self-acceptance. In the beginning, I was really selfconscious about how my prosthesis looked, and I didn’t want people to see it. I was a 23-year-old girl struck with the idea I would never wear short skirts or dresses again. But, over time, I realized that I was only making life harder on myself by hiding my prosthetic.

…If people stare - and they do - I tell myself I’m helping them acclimate to seeing someone with a prosthetic. That they will stare less at the next person with a prosthetic they see. …Acceptance is a journey.

…I had to take my prosthetic leg off on international TV at the Paralympics! It was impossibly hard…but I did it! It shows me I’m stronger than I think I am …and I think we’re all stronger than we think!”

In November 2024, Ali started working as a Business Analyst at the top-tier international business consulting firm McKinsey & Co., and simultaneously continues with speaking engagements, including most recently as a keynote speaker at Lincoln Center and The Tate Museum in London. She’s also recently made appearances on The Today Show, CBS Evening News and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Ali has also started writing her memoir, which will be published in 2027 by St. Martin’s Press, entitled A Million Little Miracles.

…And, in 2026, Ali is slated to start earning her MBA at Harvard Business School.

There is nothing this young lady can’t do if she sets her mind to it! …She’s absolutely inspirational!

PHOTO: SHANE HANDLER

HANNELORE KAPLAN

Each year William Raveis Real Estate and I together contribute to support local charities and causes important to our community.

We are absolutely inspired by Ali Truwit! Just hearing her story of resilience, courage, and strength… makes each one of us want to strive to be a better person!

In Ali’s honor, and to support her great work furnishing prosthesis for girls and women in need, William Raveis Real Estate and I have presented Ali’s charitable foundation, Stronger Than You Think, with a contribution of Ten Thousand Dollars.

We were thrilled to learn that these funds have been immediately put to work …and that a girl’s dreams have come true!

Ali Truwit

2x Silver Medalist at Paris 2024 Paralympics Founder - Stronger Than You Think

CHOOSE THE RIGHT CLUB

CATCHING-UP WITH OUR COVERS

In every issue of Bedford & New Canaan Magazine, we shine a spotlight on extraordinary locals doing remarkable things — and sometimes, the story is just getting started! In our new feature, CatchingUp With Our Covers, we revisit two women who’ve continued to grow, evolve, and inspire since they last graced our pages.

Catching-Up With Our Covers

Catching-Up With Our Covers

ARIELLE KEBBEL

ARIELLE KEBBEL was our March/April 2023

B&NC MAG Cover Feature - and the full feature is available on the BedfordNewCanaanMag website.

She’s probably been most well-known for her role playing Lexi Branson in Vampire Diaries, and boasts a long list of film and TV credits. On the silver screen, she’s had big parts in Fifty Shades of Grey John Tucker Must Die, Aquamarine, and other popular movies, and roles in The Uninvited, Grudge2, and other box office hits. On TV, she started out as Dean’s wife, Lindsey, in Gilmore Girls, has had leading roles in the Ballers series on HBO, Midnight Texas, and Lincoln Rhyme: Hunt for the Bone Collector, and has had parts on CSI, Law & Order: SVU, Entourage, Life Unexpected, and 90210, among other hot shows.

As we wrote about her in our March/April 2023 Cover Feature:

Arielle Kebbel is precocious and thoughtful, giggly, and charming. She gives off girlnext-door vibes and could certainly pass for a twenty-something, but is also perfectly cast in an array of more serious, sophisticated or sexy roles. She is always poised, and is consistently well prepared, but manages to give off an easy-going and care-free air. Arielle’s seemingly neverending tank of energy is palpable, and she’s always smiling. She’s strikingly beautiful, like Charlize Theron, and yet also seems friendly and approachable, like Jennifer Aniston. And she’s a star on film and TV.

…and none of that has changed!

PHOTO: ANDREA CERASO

PHOTOGRAPHY: ISABELLA ASSUMMA

Catching-Up With Our Covers

What's new

is Arielle’s starring role as Em in the Fox & Hulu TV series Rescue: HI-Surf. Arielle plays the first female Lieutenant in Ocean Safety in this Baywatch-meets-Grey’s Anatomy series, that’s filmed on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

Created by Matt Kester and produced by John Wells, the first season of Rescue: HI-Surf made waves as a show that highlights the adrenaline seeking lifeguards risking their lives on the seven-mile stretch of some of the most dangerous beaches in the world…alongside the locals.

“We’re 90% local hires. For example, my stunt double, Katie Pere, was a real female lifeguard on the North Shore,” Arielle relays. “The production supports small businesses and features some of the North Shore’s favorite local hangs. Sometimes our sets were so reallike teenagers jumping off the Haleiwa bridge - I couldn’t tell if the teens were actual locals or local extras hired for the show! We did not film anything on a studio lot. We were either in the ocean, in a lifeguard tower, in the elements, or filming at one of the local spots. It’s important that our audience knows that what they’re watching is authentic, and that the rescues are based on real life events and real locations. And I think we’re the only film or TV production shooting on the North Shore right now, and it’s really important we help get productions moving again in Hawaii.”

“Em has taught me so much,” Arielle declares. “I’m now educated as an open water lifeguard, an ATV driver, scuba diver, free diver, Jet Ski operator, and my personal fav… rock runner. That’s where you carry a heavy boulder to the bottom of the ocean floor and run. For fun! Lol! And training. It’s a great

exercise for endurance, strength, breath holds, and mind set. Learning to be calm in the waves is key. Some days I would be going from land unit filming to water unit filming and spend eight hours or more getting tossed in waves or doing jet ski rescues. It pushed my mind, body, and spirit to new limits.”

“One of the biggest take aways for me was how strong the women on this island are,” Arielle continues. “I’m talking, deep core and inner-soul strength. Living on the North Shore is naturally a very active lifestyle. People run on the beach, surf, swim, boogie board, paddle board, kite surf, and the list goes on. I didn’t hear a lot of talk about dieting or getting into shape. The main focus was about how to level up your body in a way where you’re prepared for anything. In fact, the only two people that ever asked me about dieting and being in a bathing suit on set were two Directors from Los Angeles. “Although this is the most physically demanding role I’ve ever done, the role has also been good for me artistically, as I’m getting to play a very real person. John Wells, who directed our first two episodes, said to us on Day 1- ‘it’s important you are these characters. Live this.’, and I’ve tried to live up to that challenge.”

“I’ve absolutely loved my time in Hawaii…but Bedford is still my base…

and I’m really looking forward to spending as much of the summer as I can enjoying my time at home. I’ve created a little paradiseand my dream is to eventually build out a farm and a menagerie of rescue animals.”

PHOTOS: PROVIDED BY FOX

…Back home on the range

- or actually at a nearby private farm…Arielle continues to care for her adopted wild Mustang, Snow White, or ‘Snow’ for short.

As we detailed in our March/April 2023 Cover Feature on Arielle, she is an animal rights activist and quite involved in the mission of saving America’s wild horses and burros. In particular, she’s a Board Member on SkyDog Sanctuary, which assisted in Arielle adopting Snow a night before she was being shipped out to slaughter.

SKYDOG RANCH has saved hundreds of horses from slaughter and is a forever home for wild mustangs and burros who have ended up in horrible and dangerous situations - at kill pens, at auctions, or in unloving homes, where they have often been starved and neglected.

SkyDog is also home to several wild horse families that have been reunited after being separated during roundups by the Bureau of Land Management.

Most recently, SkyDog & The American Wild Horse Conservation made headlines by getting a Federal Court to overturn the BLM's Controversial Cash Incentive Adoption Program. As Clare Staples, the Founder of SkyDog and a plaintiff in the case, commented:

“This ruling is a powerful affirmation that the Adoption Incentive Program was a betrayal of these iconic animals, pushing them from

Catching-Up With Our Covers

public lands to slaughter auctions under the false promise of care. The AIP opened the floodgates and allowed thousands of wild horses and burros to enter the slaughter pipeline.”

“I’ve been caring for Snow for two years now,” Arielle chronicles. “She is so smart and sassy and she now follows me around like a dog. I’m obsessed with her, and she trusts me now as momma. Her weight is up to where it should be, and she looks great! Sometimes it still takes my breath away that I get to partner with her. She is a strong spirit and she teaches me so much about instincts, environment, trust and boundaries. I’m planning on backing her this summer and I’m excited because I feel she’s ready. We hand walk the Bedford Riding Lanes Association trails and she loves them. One of the big lessons I learned with her is if you hold on too tight, she freezes up. If you give her space to relax, she’s up for anything. She’s still got her wild in her - and I’m not looking to do anything about it!”

Catching-Up With Our Covers

Catching-Up With Our Covers

Dr. ANGELINA LIPMAN

We had fun for the Holidays featuring Monte and Angelina Lipman on our November/December 2021 B&NC MAG Cover. The full feature is available at bedfordnewcanaanmag.com.

As we wrote in the 2021 Holiday Issue:

Angelina (Davis) was born in Brooklyn, to British parents of Jamaican descent, who had come to New York for her dad to work as a doctor. Similar to Monte, Angelina’s parents also divorced when she was ten. She relocated to Miami with her mom, attended Gulliver Prep, and spent summers and vacations in London and the UAE, visiting with her dad. She achieved a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Columbia University, a Master’s Degree in Psychology from New York University, and a dual-PHD in Social Personality and Industrial Organizational Psychology from New York University. She went on to work in the fields of management consulting and applied research and also worked as an assistant professor at the Business School of Columbia University, conducting research, mentoring graduate students, and teaching the MBA negotiation course.

Monte is the Founder and Chairman of Republic Records, with a well-established reputation as a leader and a good guy in the music industry and a roster of artists including Ariana Grande, John Mellencamp, Jonas Brothers, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Pearl Jam, Post Malone, Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Stevie Wonder, and many, many more.

…And, as we noted, Monte and Angelina, who have a spectacular estate in Katonah, “are at once the epitome of the power couple, and still totally relatable, grounded, warm, earnest, and friendly.” They are the proud parents of Remy, who is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania, and Juliet and Cameron, who both go to the Fieldston School.

PHOTOGRAPHY: GILLIAN GAUGHAN

After 15 years of being a full-time mom…Dr. Angelina Lipman has founded a wellness program called Blocking The Noise and is now releasing the easy-to-read how-to book, Blocking The Noise: A Roadmap to Happiness.

Back in the 2021 Holiday Issue, Angelina had commented, “I’m a research psychologist by trade, and I’m interested in the psychology of management and how teams and people work. …This concept has continually evolved for me. When I decided to leave academia to become a fulltime mom, it was hard to switch that part off. I’ve become more and more focused on discovering ways for society to make quality mental health more accessible.”

Catching-Up With Our Covers

…BlockingTheNoise:ARoadmap toHappiness is exactly that - totally accessible, quality mental health guidance.

And while it’s written in Angelina’s voice and will resonate directly with every other mom out there, it’s highly relatable for everyone - male or female, young or old. Angelina has taken a research psychologist’s look at how people work…and has some powerful advice to make life better!

Angelina defines noise as: “anything that detracts from happiness; a roadblock to happiness manifesting in social, emotional, or physical form; a state of chaos, and; a reversible circumstance that can be blocked to achieve happiness.” She points out that, “If we’re not aware, noise has the potential to derail our day from the moment we open our eyes in the morning.” And she has the generally positive and self-fulfilling philosophy that, “Our minds are way more powerful than we give them credit for. Thoughts are like magnets, attracting circumstances and responses to themselves. After all, like attracts like, thought attracts thought, and noise attracts noise. This means that what we fixate on does, in fact, become our reality. If you constantly think things aren’t working out, they’ll continue to go wrong.

The deeper you fall down this negative rabbit hole, the less aware of other possibilities you become.”

But more than just an outline to happiness, Blocking The Noise includes practical easy-to-understand and easy-todo exercises to identify the sources of your own noise…and plans to help ‘blocking the noise’ once you’ve got it identified. Central to the process, Angelina preaches that the ‘art of acceptance’ and ‘becoming fearless’ are fundamental to drowning noise and finding happiness, and warns against such things as all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and emotional reasoning, amongst other pitfalls. And she offers the salvation that, “It all comes down to emphasizing the aspects of yourself that serve your happiness and allowing the rest to fall away. It really is that simple. The hard part is letting go and allowing it to be simple.”

Ha ine is a choice!

Angelina summarizes: “Just Be. Don’t Overthink Every Mistake Or Bad Day. Just Be. Don’t Relive the Past Or Wish For A Time Machine. Just Be. Don’t Focus On Every Tiny Flaw You Perceive In Yourself And Others. Just Be. …Life Is For Enjoying And Not Enduring.”

…More than just words to live by, Angelina offers a path to happiness which each person can, quite fundamentally, choose!

While Angelina has written scholarly features for the Annual Review of Psychology, the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Social Justice Research, and received numerous awards, including the Columbia University Psychology Research Award, the New York University Henry Mitchell MacCracken Fellowship, and the super-prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship Award…Blocking The Noise represents a new, fresh, practical, and supereffective method for providing good and solid advice to a mass audience. To learn more about Dr. Angelina’s new book visit blockingthenoise.com.

the Columbia University Psychology Research

Doctor Angelina is back!

…She has a message that’s liberating, and a focus on making wellness accessible for everyone. …Blocking The Noise sets forth a method and a path to happiness. Angelina is out on a book tour announcing the release. And, though Angelina is not at all finished being a mom, she’s already getting calls to speak on TV and for conferences and seminars as an expert in all things psychology and wellness.

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Savor the Flavors of Summer

The delights of Summer are almost here. Sizzling backyard barbecues. Cold beers on a hot afternoon. Gathering with friends and family for a picnic. The Market can help make it all happen.

Start with grill-ready cuts of chicken, beef, pork, or fresh seafood fillets, then add the freshest local vegetables and fruits, and a sumptuous, just-baked dessert from our Bakery. Stock your cooler from our wide selection of craft beers, locally-produced microbrews and sparkling hard seltzers. Don’t want to cook? Take it easy and order from our Catering Menu – for a graduation celebration or a Memorial Day Clam Bake, great food from The Market will make the meal memorable! Whenever you crave great summer food, start with a trip to The Market!

Yellow Studio is an art gallery,

Tina Scepanovic

633 OLD POST ROAD. BEDFORD. NY

Serving-Up Laughs @Johnstone.Gregory

BY: NICOLE RIEMMA

Around town, Gregory Johnstone is the beloved Director of Tennis at the New Canaan Racquet Club, known for his expertise and his hilarious spirit. But to his over 3 million social media followers, Greg is a viral comedy sensation, whose blend of satirical humor, political acumen, and infectious charm makes him their source for daily social media news updates.

“Tennis has been a major part of my life for as long as I can remember,” Greg recounts. “I grew up in St.Albans, England. I started playing tennis when I was 5, when a neighbor took me to their club and recognized my natural ability. I’ve been hooked since that day! As a kid, I would practice before and after school. I would finish school at 3:30 p.m. and go straight to the tennis club and stay until 8 p.m. or 9 p.m. I was a top junior in Europe and came to the United States to play college, first at Morehead State and then at the University of Kentucky. I was nationally ranked in singles and I’m proud to say I was recently honored by being named to the Ohio Valley Conference All-Time 75th Anniversary Team. …After college, I began teaching and coaching tennis professionally, and quickly became the Director of Tennis at the prestigious Armonk International Tennis Academy in New York. In 2014, I also became the Director of Tennis at Old Oaks Country Club in Purchase, and in order to start developing players of my own, I also established my own Johnstone Tennis Academy. In 2022, I relocated my base of operations entirely, to become the Director of Tennis at the New Canaan Racquet Club.”

“I attribute whatever success I’ve had in life to the strong work ethic I developed with tennis. I think you have to be the hardest worker in the room. It’s why and how I do all the things I do. Like, how to deal with adversity, how to work hard, how to stay positive, how to be on my own, how to time manage, how to deal with setbacks. Tennis is a microcosm of life,” Greg says. “The challenge with many tennis players is not how to swing the racquet, it’s more psychological and personal. Within the mind of the athlete, you have to frequently face self-doubt, nervousness, lapses in concentration, and even gaps in motivation. To achieve peak performance levels, learning to trust your intuitive wisdom is the key, but many still struggle with it. The most important lesson I’ve learned thus far is to be consistent. If you work hard at anything, eventually you can succeed.”

GregJohnstone

I've wanted to make people laugh for as long as I can remember.

My brother Dom and sister Xanthe were always the loudest and funniest people in the room - so I had to figure out how to be funny in order to be seen and heard. Even on the tennis court, I’m always thinking about how I can be entertaining. How am I going to keep everybody happy? All day, every day…What’s funny? That’s how I enjoy life. If I’m making you laugh…I’m happy!” Greg reveals.

…Five years into his second career as a comic, Greg is prolific with what’s considered short-form content, at 60 to 90 seconds per video, and his ‘Followers’ continue to grow by thousands daily. He has a sharp wit, does hilarious impressions, and has a down-toearth style. His ability to apply comedic satire, global awareness, and understanding of politics to difficult concepts, illustrates his innate humor, emotional intelligence, and sensitivity, and resonates with an audience looking to laugh and be educated at the same time. “It’s all about the ability to connect…with my players…and with my audience, and I think the ability to connect is based on the power of authenticity. Being yourself allows for much deeper and more genuine connections,” Greg declares.

at 60 to 90 seconds per video, and his ‘Followers’

idiosyncrasies or making silly jokes, frequently related to my newly married life with Farah,” Greg explains. “I’d done about ten of these videos when a friend suggested I try TikTok…and within two days I had hundreds of thousands of views and thousands of followers! …Two months later, I posted a video that kind of changed everything. I realized people were watching me, so I started making comedy sketches. One of my first sketches got almost 40 million views in two days and yielded 350,000 followers! I realized that I had something!”

idiosyncrasies or making silly jokes, frequently related to my newly married life with Farah,” Greg explains. “I’d done about ten of these videos when a thousands of views and thousands of followers! …Two months later, I posted a video that kind of changed everything. I realized people were watching me, so I started making comedy sketches. One

I try to point out hypocrisy. Like, hang on, just because the left hand is waving up here, what’s the right hand doing down here? That’s what you should be looking for in politics,” Greg explains.

“The fragmented media landscape plays a huge role in why independent social media content creators have become so valuable. Audiences are now dispersed across a wide variety of platforms and channels, making it difficult for advertisers or anyone to reach a large, unified audience. Currently, sixty-two percent of adults get their news from social media platforms and that number is increasing. Having your own audience not only allows for genuine relationship building and consistent messaging but also provides a path to maintaining authenticity and not sacrificing to feed the algorithm. This is the new norm.”

I try to point out hypocrisy. right hand doing down landscape plays a huge valuable. Audiences are or anyone to reach a large,

is clever. I try to be educational about stuff that challenging situations.

“I sometimes know when a video is going to do really well because it makes me laugh while I’m writing it. There’s two different parts of gaining engagement on social media. There’s trying to make content for the algorithm that’s going to get views. And then there’s trying to make content that I’m proud of - that I think is funny and that I think is clever. I try to be educational about stuff that people might not think about, and comedy is often about finding humor in challenging situations.

On a follower-to-views percentage basis Greg’s content outperforms traditional news outlets, his reliable and hilariously entertaining coverage of current events means his videos often go viral –gaining millions of views, and in the five years he’s been producing comedy he has over 1 billion total views and 150 million likes! Greg elucidates, “This is actually how people consume information - so I don’t just see being a content creator as just a step to something…it’s the destination. The evolving role of comedy in addressing tough or taboo topics in a digestible way might just be the solution to combating the oversaturation of everything going on in the world today. …At first I thought social media platforms would morph into another form of entertainment and, like a lot of people, I doubted the longevity of this fickle environment. But now - although I might be borderline delusional - I’ve embraced being a social media comic as a full and sustaining part of my life! I don’t know if everything is going to work out - but I have the attitude that I’ll figure it out. I always have. …As long as everyone around me is smiling and happy, it’ll all be okay!”

“At 40, my life is pretty crazy,” Greg admits. “On a typical day, I get up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the gym and I’m at work at New Canaan Racquet Club at 6. I run lessons and clinics until 3 or 5 p.m., before I head home to work on creating content…and spending time with my wife, Farah, and my 3 year old son, Jack. Being a Dad has been the greatest gift in my life…and I’ll alter my daily schedule whenever necessary if it means I get to do something, or just have some extra time with him. …It doesn’t feel like a challenge balancing everything - because none of it feels like actual work. I love what I’m doing with tennis and with comedy. And if I’m feeling laggard one day, I just look at myself in the mirror and say ‘Get on with it, Old Boy’! …And then maybe I’ll blast some music to help me get fired up.”

“Ultimately, I define success on a very personal spectrum,” Greg says. “Too many people think success is compared to other people. I remember when I first started on TikTok, my goal was to get 10,000 views per video - and when I got 10,000 views I thought I was the most famous person in the world! Now, I can get 10 million views on a video… and it doesn’t even register! So it’s all relativeand very personal. I’m not competing against anybody. It’s me against me. Like, did I do the best I could today? If I did - then all is good.”

I thought I was the most famous person in the

“Without a doubt, the proudest moments in my professional tennis career and my career as a social media have been those centered around emotional connection and building community,” Greg declares. “In tennis, I’ve been fortunate enough to have had long-term life-changing relationships mentoring my student athletes - in what is otherwise usually a rather transactional profession. And with comedy, there’s the total satisfaction of knowing that I’m having a positive impact in a lot of people’s lives. I even get messages saying ‘We’re grateful for what you’re doing!’ or things like ‘I used to watch your videos when I was sad and you would make me feel less alone - my life would have gone a very different way without you’. For me, success is having had a personal, emotional, even life-altering impact on my student athletes and with my social media audience."

I’m a happy guygetting to make others happy!”

-

DeMelo, General

“The whole feeling of ‘Home Sweet Home’ is really dependent on your home being warmed and cooled to the temperature that makes you comfortable. System efficiency is about getting optimal performance at the lowest possible cost. After spending a career in the heating oil business I have personal relationships with hundreds of heating oil consumers, I know this is the right solution.” — David Singer

See the Sept/Oct 2024 issue of BNCM for more info!

Premier Comfort's David Singer & Victor Tonndorf

THE IMPROBABLE

Robert J. Detmer is a real life Forrest Gump… BOB DETMER

He was born in Fort George Wright, Washington, where his dad was serving in the Air Force, on March 17,1947, the second of seven Detmer siblings. Shortly after he was born his family moved to Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas, then to Goose Bay Air Force Base in remote Labrador, Canada in 1956, and then to Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, New York in 1958, and, when his dad retired from the military in 1961, back to his parents hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York. “During the rest of my teens, we moved around from one house to another,” Bob recalls. “First with different relatives…but then once we shared a house with strangers mom met at the grocery store - 13 of us all together in their old three bedroom farmhouse. I ate Cheerios for breakfast and dinner - with water, as milk was scarce. I would go days at a time without eating - which is when I started the eat-once-a-day fasting routine I keep to this day. In high school I was 6’2” and weighed 135 pounds. My dad had to leave high school in the tenth grade to support his family but he was a really brilliant man, and my mom was an amazing and loving mother. They were the best parents…totally devoted to the family and sacrificing everything just to make ends meet.”

Although no one understood it when Bob was a kid, he had and has a neurological condition called Receptive Aphasia, also known as Wernicke’s Aphasia, which affects the ability to understand spoken and written language. “All the kids thought I was stupid and called me ‘retarded’, and after the results of an IQ test got into the

hands of some students it was publicly confirmed that I had the lowest IQ in the school,” Bob remembers. “In my senior year, I had the comprehension level of a 4th grader, and a terribly limited ability to recall names and data. The school would move me up a grade after I flunked a course three times, which turned out to be the case with almost all my courses. And I was bullied terribly. Two guys named Lefty and Randy would chase me down after school and punch me or put me in a headlock. …Still, I have many wonderful memories of my childhood, including some good friends, great birthday parties, my First Communion, Halloween candy, Easter baskets, Christmas mornings, being a Boy Scout and an altar boy, playing all sorts of games, and learning how to ride a bike, roller-skate, and swim.”

“And just so you know, I learned years later that Lefty became a delinquent adult and died in prison under mysterious circumstances, and that Randy died in Vietnam, rumored to have been shot in the back by ‘friendly fire’,” Bob adds.

In addition to the Receptive Aphasia and his poor circumstances…at the age of 3, Bob was diagnosed with a congenital and uncorrectable eye affliction which causes permanently deteriorating vision…and living life through an ever-blurry lens as a kid and into his adult years. …But when the condition resulted in Bob being unable to drive, at the age of 45…Bob underwent seven risky experimental laser eye surgeries and 20/20 vision was eventually restored!

PHOTOGRAPHY: CARTER FISH

“I was drafted in 1966 when the Army lowered its standards to meet recruitment quotas,” Bob remarks. …In Army Basic Training, out of 170 recruits, Bob was given the Commander’s Evaluation Award recognizing outstanding enthusiasm, comradeship, promptness, skills proficiency, neatness, discipline, Esprit de Corp, and achieving the Expert Marksmanship medal. “It was the first time I succeeded at anything! And there was plenty of food, so I beefed-up to 175 pounds!” Bob declares.

“…But, serving in the Army turned out to be the most horrific experience of my life. After Basic, I was assigned to the Medical Corps and my first assignment was working in a hospital at Fort Gordon, Georgia. It was gruesome. Just like in the movie Born On The Fourth Of July. Thirty wounded

Vets to a ward, gruesomely dreadful with menmostly teenagers - dying almost every day. Long nightmarish days and nights, comforting suffering patients, and devastated parents. Because I was the only staff member who would attend to a particular patient known as ‘The Spitter’ for his ability to accurately target anyone coming within ten yards - and it turned-out ‘The Spitter’ had Tuberculosis - I also contracted TB. …I was whisked-off to a remote MASH unit in Germany to quarantine for the remainder of my service. …I consider myself very lucky to have survived! Memories of all the trauma are the source of my frequent nighttime horrors. I suffer from the life-long debilitating effects of PTSD, and although I appreciate the veterans disability and health coverage I receive from the VA - it’s not worth it! …I lost my faith!”

Bob continues, “When I got out of the Army in 1968, I moved back to Poughkeepsie and got a job working at IBM on the night-shift assembly line. I moved to Highland, New York in 1972. To Hyde Park, New York in 1974 - where my wife, Lynn, gave birth to our son, Eric. To Franklin Lakes, New Jersey in 1978 - where our daughter Kristina was born. And then to Armonk - where we lived from 1983 to 2013 and where our kids went to school. I retired from IBM in 1996, after 28 years, at the age of only 49 - and retired with a full pension! …In 2013, we moved to the house we’re in now in Bedford, which I always refer to as ‘The Town of My Dreams’! …And I guess Lynn and I did something right, as Eric, who retired from the Coast Guard Reserves, is now a successful Engineer with a wife and four kids - who pilots family and friends around in his own plane, and Kristina is an attorney and altruistically focused on animal welfare. I’m so proud of them both!”

…In 2013, we moved to the house we’re in now in Bedford, which I always refer to as ‘The Town of My Dreams’!

“I learned handyman skills by necessity, as the only houses we could afford needed a lot of work!,” Bob laughs. “Using my newly acquired skills - and long before it was the thing it is today - I began to buy, fix-up, and flip houses. I didn’t know what I was doing at first, but would just tackle one task after another until the job was done. I’ve flipped a dozen homes…and made a nice profit doing it!”

“As another ‘second job’, I decided to learn how to produce videos and soon had a successful business doing that - mostly making videos for non-profits to help them raise money for their cause. It was fun and I won lots of awards for my work. One of my videos took First Place at the Annual International Video Awards in Birmingham, England in 1992.”

And then Bob reveals that, “Starting when I was working pushing carts and stocking shelves at ShopRite for $40 a week when I was 18, and all along the way while I was receiving my veterans disability, working at IBM and collecting a pension from them, flipping houses, and producing videos, I invested every dollar I could save! Mostly in IBM and then also Apple - and I still have almost all the shares I’ve ever accumulated!”

…And. like with Gump, there’s still a long list of Bob’s additional exploits and achievements that go way beyond his careers in the Army, at IBM, flipping houses, as a videographer, and as an investor:

• Despite his learning disability, Bob was determined to attend college, and after being denied admission a couple of times he started with two years at Dutchess Community College and then earned SUNY New Paltz’s first ever Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Broadcasting in 1974, and graduated cum laude at that!

• While at Dutchess Community College, Bob’s Public Speaking professor convinced him to take on the role of Charlie in a production of Death of a Salesman. Bob worked hard to memorize his lines and, much to his own surprise, he was a star of the play! The cast then performed at numerous locations around New York, including even a prison, and the production won numerous awards at the annual New York State Theater Awards Festival held in Corning, New York, and Best Play at the Eastern Regional Theater Competition held at Marist College - with Bob winning an Outstanding Actor award! Given the success, the cast and crew decided to renovate an old theater in town, called The Vassar Institute, in order to

perform the play - thus founding The Valley Theater Company, which went on to produce many plays over the following 25 years. “After that, I performed in numerous other plays,” Bob says, “including a children’s touring play that was seen by thousands of students. And I’ve been in over 100 TV commercials, and I wrote and produced a dozen plays for radio for a company I created and called Radio Theater Presents.”

• Maybe most ironically, for one semester in 1977, Bob taught a course on Public Speaking at Dutchess Community College. “Witnessing my energetic, animated, and humorous teaching style, the department head offered me a full-time position, but I knew I couldn’t achieve my goals there…and I’d already gotten my revenge,” Bob grins.

• As ‘Wilderness Bob’, a character Bob created to teach outdoor safety to families, Bob became one of the first nationally recognized outdoor-survival experts, producing a DVD that was sold at REI and through Outdoor Life magazine, marketing various related products, and appearing on CNN, MSNBC, and CBS among other media. Bob even co-authored a children’s book called The Curse of Ruby Mountain - Tales of Wilderness Bob, to teach stories of safety and survival.

• When Bob was 39, he adopted 40 cats and kittens about to be euthanized, beginning a lifetime passion -shared with his wife and daughter - for animal rescue and animal rights advocacy. Bob has more than a few rescues living in his house at any given time… and another everchanging number more living in Kristina’s apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

• One day in 1992, as Bob was driving by a historic church in Bedford, he noticed smoke coming out of the building. Without hesitation, Bob jumped out of his car and ran to a back door - where he confronted a man who turned out to be a serial arsonist as he was exiting the building…and kept the fiend at bay until the police arrived.

• Following a fantasy from childhood of being a comedian, when Bob was about 60 he appeared at a local comedy club. His standup routine was a success, so Bob went on to perform at more open mic nights, and even performed on cruise ships. “Covid cut this bucket list adventure short, but my selection of humorous real life anecdotes was a real crowd pleaser. And after a while I made sure to be scheduled as the last act of the evening, as I learned that after the audience had a few drinks my stories were even more entertaining,” Bob jokes.

• A poor swimmer, and against all advice, at the age of 69 Bob swam 3.2 miles across the Hudson River, from Highland to Poughkeepsie, to honor his father and mother, who met near where Bob got into the water.

• Months later, Bob ran ‘The Eye of the Dragon’ marathon in Florida - while friends cheered ‘Run Forrest Run’ from the sidelines. “I just imagined a bully’s punch and headlock were steps behind and just kept running,” Bob admits. "I came in second."

…And the list goes on and on…including living through a tornado in Springfield, Missouri, and escaping a hotel fire at The Rocking Horse Ranch in Highland, New York.

…As a six year old boy, Bob witnessed the fatal crash of a small plane in Texas in 1953 and visited the crash site, where he collected lead, and then Bob used that lead to mold figurines of Native Americans. …Many years later a Westchester magazine serendipitously wrote an article about the 1953 plane crash - and Bob saw the article, got in touch with the author of the article, and provided the molded Native American figurines that Bob still has to be pictured in public interest follow-up stories about the incident.

Bob’s story is so fantastic, The New York Times - a paper Bob used to deliver as a boy - published a feature on him in 1994, and he’s been interviewed by Nancy Grace, Paula Zahn, and others for several national TV broadcasts.

“But I’ve never read a book from cover-to-cover, I can’t follow a movie if it has a plot, and I have trouble learning just about anything until I do or experience it for myself,” Bob reveals.

Despite his circumstances and challenges, Bob is nevertheless pretty happy and, by most standards, quite successful. He lives in a house in Bedford, and is starting to build a second home on the property which he hopes will serve as an assisted living facility for him and Lynn for years to come.

Perhaps most fascinating, Bob comes off as an intelligent, affable, articulate, well-informed, and worldly kind of guy. Though there is a very slight hint in conversation of something being different about him, his true brilliance is in his genuine and positive approach to everything in life. A lot like Forrest Gump explaining his exploits on the bench at the bus stop.

To explain himself, Bob wrote a short book called Improbable Me. He says, “I wrote it for my four grandchildren and someday their children. I want them to know and remember ’Grandbob’. Who I was and what kind of a person. I don’t believe in heaven, and I’m bothered by the notion that a couple of generations from now no one will remember that I existed. I wanted to pass down my story…and all the lessons I’ve learned…”

Commenting that,

Success and happiness are two different things, although they are often synonymous….but I believe people can make their own luck, good or bad,” Bob outlines his life-lessons with a neat list of what he feels are the keys to success:

Delayed Gratification - which Bob calls “probably the most effective personal trait of highly successful people”; Live Beneath Means; Be Nice to People, Original, Passionate, Perseverant, Perpetual, Punctual, Particular, Positive, Creative, Enthusiastic, Patient, and a Leader Not A Follower; Work Hard, Always Look Neat and Well-Kept, Never Use Foul Language, Never Use the Word ‘Like’, and Never Procrastinate; Set Goals and Exhibit Self-Control, but always Be Compassionate, Adaptable, Compromising, and Courteous; Be Penny Wise, Take Advantage of the Miracle of Compounding, and Be Careful Who You Trust When Money Is Involved; Bring Humor Whenever Possible, and; Never Lose Your Childlike Inner Self, or as Bob puts it, “Embrace the Whoopee Cushion!”

Bob Detmer calls his life story Improbable. And - like with Gump - Bob’s list of exploits, achievements, and accomplishments can even seem impossible or unbelievable. …No matter the odds, Bob Detmer’s story proves that anything and everything is accomplishable…and that - following a neat list of disciplined rules of behavior - dreams really can come true!

Run Bob Run!!!

ON CLIMBING THE CORPORATE LADDER

LORI TAUBER MARCUS

Lori Marcus is an Executive Coach and Advisor whose lessons from a lifetime of real-life corporate experience are a gameplan for women climbing the corporate ladder.

She’s measured, rehearsed, deliberate, and particularly articulate. She’s clearly the person in class that knew the answer to every question the teacher asked - because she’d read every page of the textbook. She’s casually poised, calmly perspicacious, and quite sweet, charming, and affable.

She specializes in taking consumer products and brands and elevating the awareness into the everyday consciousness of its target consumer. She rose to Senior Vice President in Pepsi’s heyday - working closely with famed CEO Indra Nooyi, has been the Chief Marketing Officer of The Children’s Place, Keurig, and Peloton, and holds Board seats at several public and private companies.

In the fall of 2022, Lori collaborated with six other powerful and accomplished female business executives to write a book called You Should Smile More, that’s mostly about what it’s like to be a woman in the corporate world - and how to get ahead. “So the quick story is that a group of women who had all worked together at Pepsi and mostly overlapped for at least a decade, were invited to dinner by Indra after she'd retired as CEO in 2019. At one point in the conversation this women’s resource group that I had co-founded in 1993 somehow came up, and it sparked a conversation about our common experiences at work - not just at Pepsi, but all over,” Lori explains. “We were invited to speak as a group at adWeek in 2019, and we couldn't get off the stage afterwards as there was endless interest in what we had to say. We were gearing up to start keynote speaking at different companies and conferences… when covid hit…and we decided writing a book would be a better idea than public speaking. We did hundreds of interviews with younger women

to validate that our experiences navigating the corporate ladder as a woman were still common to women today, and also to get their advice on modernizing the advice around the digital age. We called ourselves the Band of Sisters!”

“What’s powerful about You Should Smile More is that, when you write a book with six women, there's no one right answer. It's not Sheryl Sandberg telling you to ‘lean in’, or Ariana Huffington telling you to sleep more. It's six points of view, so it's a little bit of choose your own adventure. Sometimes you might agree with what Katie says, what Mitzi says, or what Dawn says, and you also have to pick what works for you in the moment based on your level of psychological safety and all of that. So actually having six points of view, and then plus all the people we interviewed, makes for a strong product.”

Now, I often talk about the value in having a first job that allows you to experience everything immediately and gain a wide skillset”

Growing up in Bergen County, New Jersey, then Lori Tauber she describes what she calls a blessed upbringing with a close-knit nuclear family and lots of friends, saying “I grew up on a very leave-it-to-Beaver kind of a little street. Me and my sister. And two very present and involved parents. We certainly weren’t privileged - we were middle class at best and both of my parents worked - but there was a sense of privilege in growing up with two involved and loving parents with all of the things we needed. I still feel very lucky.”

“My dad was definitely a feminist. I think it might have been out of practicality more than anything else. I'm a very practical person too. And his whole thing about raising two daughters was that he didn’t want us to be reliant on anybody else to support ourselves. We were taught the value of hard work, earning a living, and being able to take care of yourself. Not that he didn’t ever want us to get married or anything - but he wanted that to be a choice, not a necessity,” Lori shares. “He and my mother both grew up poor, and I think they were both very conscious, not of acquiring wealth, but being able to live a lifestyle with financial safety and security.”

enough, she did get a job right out of college, at Chubb - where she had a successful 40+ career, and where her son works today.”

“Though there’s a part of me that wishes I’d had the chance to be a liberal arts major and really have time to partake in the joy of learning to write papers, and critical thinking, and general renaissance knowledge - because I think all of that is really important…I got to Penn and transferred into Wharton Business School as soon as I could!” Lori recounts. “I quickly landed on marketing and advertising as my focus, gravitating toward the tactile nature of that kind of business…versus, say, macroeconomics or something like that where you never get to see a product. I really fell in love with the storytelling of it all, and was really fascinated by everything I was learning. So when it came time to get a job, I went to the career planning office where you’d put your resume - your paper resume - in these little boxes for each company, and then the companies, GE, Macy’s, whoever, would do interview days on campus. I was pretty fixated on retail and wanted a big company with a renowned training program to launch my career. One of the guys I was friends with had already gotten a job with a company called Majers - a small private company that would ultimately become part of Nielsen, the giant marketing research company. I popped my resume in the box, and ended up taking a job there, at their office in Atlanta, right out of school.”

“When it came time for college I thought I’d go to Rutgers - which was, and is, a great state school. But my sister’s friend was at Penn - which was the only reason I really had any awareness of it, or the Ivy League more generally - and so I had applied… and got in. My parents helped with whatever they could, and I took out loans. My sister, Shelley, was already at Brandeis - the Captain of the Tennis Team, I should add! She was majoring in Economics and I remember my dad saying, ‘I don’t think you’re going to be able to open up the New York Times and find a job advertisement that says: looking for an economics major’,” Lori recalls. “But, funny

“Now, I often talk about the value in having a first job that allows you to experience everything immediately and gain a wide skillset,” Lori relays.

“I really had three jobs in one. I was doing the analytics I’d taken the job because of, and then I was packaging and presenting my findings to boardrooms full of executives at companies like Coca-cola and Tropicana, and then everyone had to do outbound cold-call sales too! I got to learn what I was good at and what I liked to do - and the key from there is to take that information and figure out how to move forward with it.”

“I had a great boss at my first job, Dave. He is actually the one that hired me right off the Penn campus. He was a really humble middle class kid from Minnesota who kind of reminds me of Tim Walls. On our first recruiting trip together I told him that I didn’t know how to recruit or what to look for… and he said: ‘You hire people that are smarter, more clever, more creative, and harder working than you are - and then we'll all do really well and we'll make a bunch of money!’ … And I was like, ‘That's it?’ … and he said: ‘Yup, that’s it!’ …It taught me almost everything I needed to know about hiring. You can’t be successful without a great team.”

“He also demonstrated how to uplift people in the organization, and the importance of proper praise - something I carried forward into my career and my own leadership,” Lori chronicles. “I’d secured my first client, Dr. Scholl’s. I sold them a $90,000 contract - which was a really big deal in the early 80s. He reached out to both the Atlanta office and our Omaha HQ and - instead of telling them that I’d had this big win, which would have resulted in me getting a big W while everyone else around felt like they were getting an L - he announced, ‘this is a great win for the Atlanta office and helps us all get closer to our overall goals’. Sharing praise broadly and exuding positivity definitely gave me something to emulate later on.”

I think a good basic formula is working hard, head-down about 90% of the time, and using the other 10% to play the political game of climbing the corporate ladder.

“Dave

was my first mentor and was instrumental to my career and my early success. And I’d be remiss not to dive a bit deeper into mentorshipespecially for women,” Lori continues. “Mentorship is incredibly important, but I will also say that women tend to be over-mentored and undersponsored. Mentors and coaches are people that speak with you, help with building leadership skills, teach you, give a curbside debrief after a meeting, or help to navigate the company. But if mentors are people that speak to you, sponsors are the people that speak for you. They are the people that use their power to advocate for you when you aren’t in the room. You can’t ask for someone to be your sponsor exactly, but you can ask for their commitment in supporting you for something specific, or to bring up your name when the opportunity arises. And always ask ‘What else can I say or do in advance of that to put myself in the strongest position?’, ‘Is there anyone else that you would suggest that I meet with ahead of time?’, and ‘Are there any naysayers?’ …You can’t be afraid to advocate for yourself, and be clear about what you want. The tricky part is being squeaky without being obnoxious. I think a good basic formula is working hard, head-down about 90% of the time, and using the other 10% to play the political game of climbing the corporate ladder. You need to let what you want be known, and then you need to find a way to work on projects with the people who are the gatekeepers for those roles, so that when your name comes up they're happy to say: ‘I would love to have Lori on my team’.”

Strikingly, though she continues to provide detailed and well-thought out examples of challenges for women trying to get ahead in business that continue to persist, Lori’s optimism shines through in each tale.

“This stuff isn’t insurmountable! We just need to collectively acknowledge how we can be better and do better. Having the roadmap to overcome an obstacle puts the proven playbook in the hands of women that are coming up in their careers today - and helping other women to succeed is one of the great joys of my life,” Lori smiles.

Photos: Advanced Photographix

Out & About Out & About

Grace

Farms

Design

For Freedom Summit

550 leaders across sectors joined together in the fourth annual Grace Farms Design for Freedom Summit with the goal of eliminating forced labor in the building materials supply chain, creating true market transformation, and building a more equitable future.

PHOTOGRAPHY: MELANI LUST

1. Grace Forrest, Baroness Young and Sharon Prince

2. Hugh Evans

Goldens Bridge Hounds Final Season Meet

A great day was had by all at the final meet of the Goldens Bridge Hounds Season. Teresa and Bruce Colley held a wonderful hunt breakfast at their Windswept Farm in North Salem. PHOTOGRAPHY:

Katonah

Guests gathered for a lively evening of dinner, an auction and dancing at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. The evening honored the iconic Patti Smith - who even gave an impromptu performance upon accepting her award.

1. Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe, Patti Smith, Erika Pierce

2. Amy Parsons, Patti Smith, Paul Bird

3. Cecilia Wolfson and Caroline Black

4. Lauren Bender, Andrea Miller, and Rona Muntner

5. Lori Cohen and Christopher Rothko

6. Nick Williams, Alyson Williams, Peter Mavrovitis, Samantha Braunstein, Jackie Hucke, Chris Hucke, Michelle Ungberg, Andrew Ungberg, Emily Wallach, Andrew Cilley

Museum of Art Gala and Auction

PHOTOGRAPHY: GABE PALACIO

3. Will Stuart and Barbara Gatfield

4. JB and Clare Champon

5. Teresa Colley, Bruce Colley, Peter Kamenstein

6. Ed Taylor, Bruce Colley, Adam Feureisen, Ed Kelly, David Feureisen

Out & About

the

honored

a cystic fibrosis and rare disease patient leader, who has been a leader on early-stage drug development, patient empowerment and health policy, with the 2025 Building Bridges Award and featured an intimate conversation moderated by ESPN’s Jeremy

1. Frank Fetchet, Amanda Fetchet, Wes Fetchet, Chris Fetchet, Mary Fetchet, Sarah Fetchet

2. Mary Tennant, Jeremy Schaap, Gunnar Esiason, Andy Tennant

3. Sara Hong Robert, Mary Fetchet

4. Linda Twombly, Mary Staples, Elena Schlegel, Lisa Ferrante, Lizzie Davis, Sara Hong Robert, Kate McGee

5. Top Row: Molly Scott, Pam Randon, Patti Bradley, Caroline Garrity, Adele Higgins, Rollin Tod.

Bottom Row: Jeannie Lawson, Bonnie McEneany McNamara, Diana Ferguson, Kimberly Higgins

6. Linda Twombly, David Checketts Voices Center For Resilience Building Bridges Luncheon

Held at

Country Club of New Canaan, the luncheon

Gunner Esiason,

Schaap.

Cultivating Curiosity

The difference is in the detail.

Out & About

Independent thinkers

Confident communicators

Engaged leaders

Independent school for PreK through Grade 9

Rippowam Cisqua School

www.rcsny.org | (914) 244-1205

admissions@rcsny.org 439 Cantitoe Street, Bedford, NY 10506

1. Joby Harold, Georgina Chapman

2. Tracey and Mark Yurko

3. Luke Parker Bowles, Traci Hanlon, Scott Hanlon

4. Meghan O’brien, Joby Harold, Matt O’brien, Tory Tunnell

Novocaine Showing at the New Canaan Playhouse

Producers (and Sept/Oct '23 B&NC Mag cover stars) Tory Tunnell and Joby Harold joined guests at New Canaan’s The Playhouse for a Q&A followed by a special screening of their new movie, Novocaine, and a reception.

5. Nedim Aruz, Kevin Jean, and Harrison Boyce

6. Michaela Babuskova, Michaela Beitzel, Jennifer Indig, Pam Conte

7. Cristi and Penelope Cohen

Aprés Ski Popup at OHHO Figtny, Hickory & Tweed, and oHHo brought the best of aprés fashion to OHHO in Bedford.

1. Chris and Caroline Skelton with their girls Mary-Kate and Grace

2. Natalia Schaffer, Lillie Caligiuri, Nisha Sankaran 3. Amanda Burt and Olive Campbell

Cammie and Cora Kanter

5. Roger Vincent, Sam Green, Shirley Weld, Jim Evans Chris Lacovara and kiddos

6. Jen & John Bennis and Michelle Brier on horseback

7. Sam Polk, Murray Fisher, Roger Vincent, Lara LeBrun

8. Kevin Konrad, Owen O’Reilly, Hannes Fernquist

Out & About

1. Tricia Caracappa, Jen Mullowney, Rebecca Rivard, Alissa Leigh Cahillane, Tina Villaveces Opening Reception of "From Within" at Yellow Studio

Art lovers joined for the opening recption of Rebecca Rivard’s solo exhibition.

2. Haley Dudek, Angelique Barrerio, Jennifer Ward and Lily Massimo

3. Ceci Cost, Eugenia Solache, George Manesiotis and Anton Kochin

4. Michelle Winthrop, Gabriella Markopoulos, Kacie Rooney and Mikayla Neave

Night To Shine

Sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation and hosted by Grace Community Church, this unforgettable prom-themed night celebrates individuals with special needs.

5. Emily Forbes, Jenna Wise, Valerie Nelson, Anne Benefico, Bob Bellhouse Pound Ridge Library Sensory Room Opening The Pound Ridge Library unveiled its new sensory room and refurbished Children’s Room, celebrating with a ribbon cutting and special storytimes.

Out & About

4.

Grateful Gathering with Flower Power

SOAR Together and Lounsbury House joined for a beautiful afternoon, blooming with joyful community connections - making flower arrangements to bring to people that could use an uplift.

Mentor & A Movie: LiveGirl Presents Empire Waist

LiveGirl enjoyed a private screening of the

film Empire Waist, written and produced by New Canaanite Claire Ayoub. The night ended with a special talk exploring the film’s important themes of

It was a full house! PHOTOGRAPHY:

6.

1. Shelly Fisher, Tina Malhotra, Suzanne Brennan

2. Christie Thompson, Tina Malhotra

3. Rudy Marconi, Karen Eisenberg, Pat Daigle

Stephanie Campbell, Scott Shulte, Ginger Smith

PHOTOGRAPHY: DEBORAH O’BRIEN

5. Mia Campbell, Farrell Lindeman, Hannah Jean Pierre, Sheri West, Kala Malvaso, Selena Huertas, Maria Ogundolani

Wendy, Noelle, and Sophia Mendes

7. Shaz and Zoe Kahng

The New Canaan Library hosted an evening of high-fashion during an intimate discussion between Emilie Rubinfeld, Global President of Carolina Herrera, and Bob Mitchell, Co-CEO of Mitchells Stores. The evening was complete with

Women Architects at Work - an Event at the Mather Homestead

Guests joined for an evening celebrating female architects, with a wine and cheese reception at Mather Barn and an inspiring panel discussion.

and

5. Ania Janis, Alex Lopatynsky, Lani Kemp, Kate Perez, Mary Burr, Kate Polselli

6. Susan Lockwood, Mary Burr, Kate Perez, Amanda Martocchio

7. Jayme Stevenson

Kelly Stewart

1. Anna Maria Leeming, Christie Hahn, Maura Sieghart

2. Models in Carolina Herrera

3. Emilie Rubinfeld, Ellen Crovatto

4. Holly Parmelee, Cat O’Neal Mountford Allison Rees, Jill Connick, Mary Busby

A smile is the first thing you notice

Out & About

New Canaan Color Drop

Spectators gathered in Waveny Park in hopes to win one of the many great prizes as a helicopter dropped 2,000 golf balls onto a bullseye! 100% of proceeds were donated to need-based college scholarships for NCHS graduates.

3. Jennifer Essigs, Kristin O’Connor

4. Lucky color drop winners

2 years in a row: Budd and Julie Williamson

5. Lance, Christina and Wesley Munger

6.

Front:

7. Jen Burns, Marnie Miller, Elizabeth Ker, Lisa Ferrante

8. Pam, Caleb, Lucy, Charlie, and Ollie Dorsey

Bedford Books Signing Bedford Books welcomed Sarah Gormley, author of The Order of Things She was joined in conversation by Nancy Steiner, television producer, career and life coach.

9. Fran

Sarah

Alissa

1. Ashley Rose, Maxie, Coco and Robert Maisano

2. Evi Skyriotis & Hannelore Kaplan with the Rams mascot

Back Row: Corinna & Jim Taubner, Katie & Colin Sheen.

Franny Chastain-Chapman, Lucy Taubner, Londyn Sheen, Brooke Sheen and Simba

Hauser,

Gormley, Jennifer Bennis,

Cahillane

Out & About

BA Skin Lab 10th Anniversary Party

Celebrating 10 years in New Canaan and a major expansion and grand re-opening, BA Skin Lab hosted a gathering to bring together beautiful faces, delicious treats and great music. The evening unveiled the three newly renovated treatment rooms and a retail boutique.

1. Brendan & Monica Healy, Martha & Fred Reimer

2. Martha Reimer, Monica Healy

3. Blake Eger, Virginia Plumb, Jen Vellano, Chrissie Irwin

. Andrea Eigel, Janine O’Dowd, Kelly Glotzer

5. Denis Leary, John Kenney, Ann Leary 6. Margaret Ables, Katie Sise

7. Fran Hauser, Susie Danziger, Anne Curran, Linda Kreisberg

Books Author Talk with John Kenney

Ables.

1. Barbara Aquino, Eva Amurri, Helena Glosnicka

2. Laura Christie, Beatriz Meenagh, Barbara Aquino, Indira Monies, Luis Aquino

3. Ros Leach, Laura Klarman, Jennifer Roth

4. Urszula Wandzel, Barbara Aquino, Indira Monies, Beatriz Meenagh, Albania Barragan, Amela Uzicanin

PHOTOGRAPHY: ANDREA CERASO

“There’s a real sense of community at Meadow Ridge. The amenities are amazing, and the food is fantastic. There’s quality care here; should my mom need it, that gives us great peace of mind.”

— Greg Z., son of resident Ingrid Z.

Distinctive Independent Living at Meadow Ridge.

Meadow Ridge residents enjoy a refined, maintenance-free lifestyle enriched with impeccable service, locally sourced cuisine and a holistic approach to health. From swimming laps in the indoor saltwater pool to relaxing in the atrium or enjoying our state-of-the-art golf simulator, there’s an abundance of ways to engage and connect with neighbors.

To learn more or schedule a tour, call 203-408-1260 or visit

Savoring refreshments in the stunning three-story atrium.

Taking a relaxing stroll along the many walking paths on campus.

Spending quality time visiting mom’s spacious apartment home.

May 1 @ 6:30-9pm

MIANUS RIVER GORGE SPRING WINGDING

Mianus River Gorge

May 3 @ 5:30pm KENTUCKY DERBY PARTY

The New Canaan Inn

May 4 @ 4:00-5:00pm DUO PIANO CONCERT

Darien Community Association

May 6-11

OLD SALEM FARM HORSE SHOW, Old Salem Farm

A sampling of what can be found online at: www.BedfordNewCanaanMag.com

... the largest amalgamated calendar in the region - and your free resource for all things local! Be sure to subscribe for free to our emails as well to receive regular highlights in your inbox on what’s happening in the community that you don’t want to miss!

May 6 @ 11-1pm / 1-3pm CHERRY BLOSSON TEA New Canaan Playhouse

May 7 @ 8:00pm OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW Ridgefield Playhouse

May 9 @ 9:00am ANNUAL PLANT SALE AND MEADOWLANDS MARKET

The Darien Community Association

May 9 @ 7:00pm BENEFIT TO CELEBRATE AND SUPPORT THE BEDFORD PLAYHOUSE Bedford

May 5/9/25 @ 5-10pm 5/10/25 @ 9:00am-6:00pm NEW CANAAN MAY FAIR CARNIVAL

St Mark's Church, New Canaan

May 9 @ 6:30pm COOKS & BOOKS COCKTAIL PARTY

Ruth Keeler Library, North Salem

May 10 @ 10:00 am-3:00pm RUTH KEELER LIBRARY FAIR North Salem

May 10 @ 6:30pm UNDER THE SEA GALA FOR THE SUMMER THEATRE OF NEW CANAAN

Maritime Aquarium

May 10 @ 4-7pm WESTMORELAND SANCTUARY FAMILY PARTY

Mt. Kisco

May 10 @ 5-6:30pm ARTISTS IN CONVERSATION

Katonah Museum of Art

May 12 @ 12:00pm

CITIZEN & ORGANIZATION OF THE YEAR, GOLF OUTING AND DINNER

Mount Kisco Country Club

May 13 - 18

ST. PATRICK'S CARNIVAL Bedford

CALENDAR of LOCAL EVENTS

May 13 @ 7:30pm THE WAILERS 30TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR

The Ridgefield Playhouse

May 13-18

OLD SALEM FARM HORSE SHOW, PREMIER / CSI 4

Old Salem Farm

May 14 @ 11:00 AM SPRING AUTHOR TALK & LUNCH

New Canaan Library

May 15 & 16 NEW CANAAN CHAMBER MUSIC PERFORMANCES

First Pres. Church

May 15 @ 6:30pm DINNER WITH A PURPOSE FEATURING INDRÉ ROCKEFELLER

Grace Farms

May 15-16-17 @ 7:30pm CONTINUUM: EAST COAST CONTEMPORARY BALLET'S SPRING SEASON

Darien Arts Center

May 15-18

RIDGEFIELD INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL

The Prospector Theater

May 15 @ 6:30pm-8pm

AUTHOR TALK: NICOLA KRAUS

Bedford Books

May 15 @ 6:30-8:30pm ROSES, ROSÉ & PEONIES TOO! Carriage Barn Arts Center

May 17 @ 6:30pm ABC OF NEW CANAAN SPRING FETE

New Canaan Country Club

May 18 @ 8:30am SPRING HUNTER PACE Coker Farm, 69 Stone Hill Rd, Bedford

May 18 @ 3:00pm THE CHILDREN AND FAMILIES CONCERT

New Canaan Library

May 20 @ 6:00-8:00pm FILM + Q&A WITH GEORGE STEVENS JR.: A FILMMAKER’S JOURNEY Bedford Playhouse

May 22 @ 11:30am MATHER HOMESTEAD GARDEN TEA LUNCHEON

Darien

May 25 @ 1:00pm-4:00pm RIDGEFIELD HISTORICAL SOCIETY CHILDREN'S EVENT

Peter Parley Schoolhouse

May 29 - June 22

WAITRESS THE MUSICAL ACT of Connecticut

May 30 @6.30pm CELEBRATION OF NEW CANAAN

New Canaan Historical Society

May 31 @ 11:30am-12:30pm ALBANO'S KIDS COOKING CLASS

Pound Ridge

CONTINUED ON THE NEXT PAGE

May 31 @ 6:30pm

JOHN JAY'S ON THE FARM DINNER

Purdy's Farmer & The Fish, North Salem

May 31- June 1

FINE DAY FAIR

Onatru Farm Park, South Salem

A sampling of what can be found online at: www.BedfordNewCanaanMag.com ... the largest amalgamated calendar in the region - and your free resource for all things local! Be sure to subscribe for free to our emails as well to receive regular highlights in your inbox on what’s happening in the community that you don’t want to miss!

June 3 @ 10:00am NEW CANAAN COMMUNITY FOUNDATION GRANT AWARDS New Canaan Library

June 5

BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB SPRING GALA

Brae Burn Country Club, Purchase

June 6 @ 6pm-10pm A.C.T. SEASON

ANNOUNCEMENT GALA

ACT of Connecticut, Ridgefield

June 7-8

RIDGEFIELD GARDEN

CLUB SPRING SOIREE AND GARDEN TOUR

Ridgefield

June 9 @ 10:00am VOICES 11TH ANNUAL GOLF OUTING

Quaker Ridge Golf Club

June 7

WESTCHESTER LAND

TRUST ANNUAL BENEFIT

Ivanna Farm, Mount Kisco

June 5 @ 6-8:30pm ENDEAVOR SPRING CELEBRATION Bedford

June 2

RIDGEFIELD

CHAMBER ANNUAL GOLF TOURNAMENT

BENEFITTING ROAR

Salem Golf Club

June 5 @ 5-7:30pm STAYING PUT IN NEW CANAAN SPRING GALA Waveny House

June 5-8 @ 6:00pm ARMONK LIONS CLUB

FOL-DE-ROL FESTIVAL Wampus Brook Park

June 10 @ 7:00pm DOCUMENTARY + Q&A –PAUL ANKA: HIS WAY

Bedford Playhouse

June 14 @ 12-4:00pm GLASS HOUSE SUMMER PARTY

New Canaan

CALENDAR of LOCAL EVENTS

June 15 @ 4:00pm CELEBRATING

JUNETEENTH: THE LEGENDARY INGRAMETTES Caramoor

June 18

WAVENY SUMMER

CONCERT SERIES: THE TOM DUFFY BAND- 80'S MUSIC TO TODAY Waveny Park

June 15 @ 10am-11:30am

BRLA SURVIVORS HIKE

Bedford

June 18 @ 6:30pm

AUTHOR TALK:

HEATHER CLARK Bedford Books

June 20 @ 6:30pm

BRLA TAVERN ON THE TRAILS

Bedford

June 21 @ 7:00pm

CARAMOOR SUMMER GALA & OPENING NIGHT Caramoor

June 21 @ 8:00pm JEFFERSON STARSHIP 50TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR Ridgefield Playhouse

June 22 @ 8:00-11:00am CAFFEINE & CARBURETORS Downtown New Canaan

June 25

WAVENY SUMMER CONCERT SERIES:

GUNSMOKE-COUNTRY WESTERN Waveny Park

June 25 @ 7:00pm

AUTHOR TALK: NEXT TO

HEAVEN WITH JAMES FREY Bedford Playhouse

June 27 @ 7:30pm

DANIIL TRIFONOV, PIANO Caramoor

June 28 @ 12:30pm AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC FESTIVAL Caramoor

June 28 @ 6:00pm SUMMER CONCERT AT THE GAZEBO Wampus Brook Park, Armonk

CREATING HOMES TO FALL

ELITE CONCIERGE SERVICES

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Stephanie Loda R.E. Photography