We hosted a reading of several passages from award-winning writer Anthony Candela's work. It was a very moving evening. Anthony talked about the importance of inclusion of people with disabilities in all our areas of our culture, and we heard passages from his memoir and his novel.

Anthony is semi-retired from a professional career in the field of blindness and visual impairment, specializing in enhancing the employment success of blind persons and spanning more than 45 years. He is a recipient of the Steven Garff Marriott Award for lifetime achievement from the American Foundation for the Blind which honors a blind or visually impaired individual who has served as an extraordinary mentor or who has attained remarkable professional success. Candela is a “retired athlete” (wrestler and long-distance runner).

In addition to his two published books, a memoir, Stand Up or Sit Out: Memories and Musings of a Blind Wrestler, Runner, and All-around Regular Guy, and a science fiction novella, Vision Dreams: A Parable; Candela has also published short pieces in various organizational newsletters and magazines as well as professional articles in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness.
​AnthonyRCandela.com

Thanks so much to filmmaker Nicole Betancourt for sharing with us her documentary in progress, Patterns. Bronx-based documentary filmmaker Susan Kaplan and founder of DocuClub, a works-in-progress screening series, hosted the event. It is critical to the creative process to get feedback as the work continues to develop, and we were very happy to co-host with Susan at our space, 505BX. The film was beautiful and the discussion was very productive. More about the film here, NBetancourt.com.

It was an incredible night of music with Mary Courtney and Morning Star including Patrick Madden on fiddle and Donie Ryan on banjo. Thank you to our amazing community for coming out to support local musicians and be a part in our rich cultural life, and thank you so much to Downey's Bar and Grill for hosting the concert and providing the delicious food. A fantastic time was had by all!

Thank you to all who came out to celebrate International Women's Day! Thank you to all who voted! Thank you to each and every woman on this list and beyond!
The Riverdale Women Recognized: Sara Allen, Giordana Avile, Merritt Claude, Stephanie Coggins, Garone Decossard, Daniela DelGiorano, Susan Fieger, Gerri Gaughan, Mary Ellen Gibbs, Maureen Kelly, Sanjana Khan, Joelle Lynch, Suzanne Mauro, Jesenia Monge, Betsy Knapp, Helen Krim, Virginia Picciano Krompinger, Erin Lockwood, Rachel Radna, Selma Raven, Debbie Richman, Madeline Ritter, Surge Salas, Frances Segan, Tracy Shelton, Shira Silverman, Carol Spivak, Tazaiah Taveras, Sanjya Tidke, Roberta Todd, Nina Seigenfeld Velasquez, Jessica Woolford. and Barbara Zentner