New Castle C.A.R.E.S. Ends After 15 Years

CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. - New Castle C.A.R.E.S. (Coalition for Awareness, Responsibility, Education and Safety) is calling it quits after 15 years with the feeling it is leaving the community in more than capable hands.

"They feel good about this end," said school board member Victoria Tipp. "New Castle C.A.R.E.S. is finished, but the group has accomplished its mission, and there are other groups in town to take over."

The community organization began in 1997 following a joint Town Board and Board of Education meeting. It was made up of a variety of community members including school guidance counselors, nurses, the Chappaqua PTA, school board members, Town Board members, the youth officer from New Castle Police, and more.

The coalition decided to disband following the departure of one its most passionate members, Lyndall Boal. Boal, a social worker at Robert E. Bell Middle School and Seven Bridges Middle School, is retiring from the district effective June 30 and will be moving to Vermont.

"I know that when thinking about New Castle C.A.R.E.S. her primary thought was about the students," Tipp said. "I’ve seen her go to meetings where maybe not everybody showed up, where maybe it looked like things were not going to happen, and somehow something happened because Lyndall didn’t give up."

Projects pushed by New Castle C.A.R.E.S. included the skate park in the Chappaqua Train Station parking lot, which was completed in 2010.

Attempting to fill the role of the organization will be C.O.G.S. (Community Organization Group) and the New Castle Teen Alliance.

"You have big shoes to fill," Tipp said. "What I can suggest to other people is you not try to replace Lyndall, I don’t think that’s really possible, but that you bring your own special brand of magic to what you have to offer."

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