Carol has been president of the Palisades Community Center (PCC) for the past two years and has done an impressive job of leading the drive to save the Oak Tree Road building from falling into ruin. She readily recognizes all who have played a part in bringing about the improvements. “We’ve found creative ways of getting things done without spending a lot of money,” she laughingly relates.

Good thing with its limited budget. The building sports a fresh coat of paint and new gutters. The original floors have been refinished and fluorescent lighting has been replaced with hanging lights more appropriate to the building. “There’s still a lot more to be done,” she quickly adds. A handicap ramp and a kitchen are on her “to do” list. “We hope to increase events that support and promote the arts, the environment and healthy living for all age groups. We have this exceptional building and a hamlet filled with all kinds of wonderful talented artists in both the performing and visual arts. I would like to create opportunities for artists to showcase their work. We’re always looking for events the community would find interesting to give the building purpose,” she says.

In October, Carol arranged a tie-in with a weeklong Manhattan Short Film Festival. Last year, she brought a farmers’ market to the PCC and this summer a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where boxes of organic vegetables are delivered weekly to about forty families. There have been yoga classes, flea markets, arts shows, and dinners in conjunction with the farmers’ market and the Pots & Pans cookbook; all developed to help provide needed funding. In the fall pumpkins are decorated and scarecrows built. Then there are meetings that deal with topics that directly affect the quality of life here in Palisades such as traffic and development, not to mention panthers.

Interestingly, this woman of many talents who grew up in Syracuse wanted to be a dancer in the worst way. It was ballet through her younger years and modern dance, her real love, in college where she earned a degree from Brockport College in Rochester in social work, “something to fall back on.” Once she had her diploma in hand, she headed to New York, landing a coveted scholarship with the Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe. “I had six wonderful years traveling round the world with modern dance companies but it didn’t pay the rent so I took classes in tap and voice and headed for Broadway.” She worked in numerous productions and traveled with national tours but at age thirty five, decided it was time to retire.

With a growing concern for the environment, she started My Favorite Planet, a mail order company with environmentally friendly products for babies and children. Meryl Streep founded Mothers and Others for a Livable Planet around this time and Carol became its spokesperson. In 1992, concerned that farmers had begun injecting cows with hormones to increase the production of milk, she rallied the NYC school system to serve rBGH-free milk and pushed for the consumers right to know what “natural” and “genetically engineered” meant on a label. As a freelance writer, her focus was environmental issues.

Carol married and moved in with her husband Loren in Greenwich Village. When her second child Katey, now 15, was born, the couple decided it was time to move out of the city. “My husband who had grown up in Brooklyn said ‘no bridges’ so we first looked in Westchester but it didn’t feel like us. When we came to Palisades we knew we were home.”

Carol founded the Nyack Farmers’ Market fourteen years ago shortly after her arrival. “We started with four vendors; there are now fifteen. For ten years I handled the management, public relations and ran the children’s hour to educate them about how food is grown.”

When daughter Lily, now a college freshman, was in kindergarten, parents were told that there wasn’t going to be a PTA unless someone volunteered to be president of it. Not surprisingly, Carol’s hand went up. Three elementary schools in the South Orangetown school district were included. She brought in art and theatre programs, set up family theatre nights and organized yearly Earth Day festivals with Native American tribes dancing, crafts, an expert discussing dinosaur bones and even a traveling planetarium.

In 2001, Carol was hired by the South Orangetown school district to handle its public relations. “I looked for the positive in the schools to highlight, such as special teachers who taught in novel ways,” she said. In 2004, her job was eliminated.

The next three years were intense. With Lisa Rinehart, Danny Foti and Loren, she pursued her dream to open a farm stand and shop celebrating the Hudson Valley at the Rte. 9W gas station. She was determined to preserve the building and retain the rural and historic charm of this Palisades landmark. “When looking for houses, we would stop for lunch at the gas station, eat at the rickety picnic table and look over at the miniature golf course. I fell instantly in love with both Palisades and this Hopperesque building.” They put up a good fight, but their venture was ultimately defeated because of endless local and state bureaucracy.

These days, you will find Carol in the forefront of myriad community issues from traffic problems to the proposed power station and the sale of the Oak Tree School. Having established an active email list for the PCC, Carol has taken the lead in informing the community about relevant issues like the recent burglaries and the infamous panther’s activities. This girl has danced her way through it all with grace and ingenuity. A special thank you from all of us who have benefited from your outstanding performances, Carol