Garrison, Morrissey Named to Fill Vacancies on Westfield ...

OUR 129th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 09-2019 ONE DOLLAR (908) [email protected], February 28, 2019USPS 680020

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Freeholders OK $325KStudy for Det. Ctr. Property

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

COUNTY — The Union CountyFreeholder Board last Thursday ap-proved a $325,000 memorandum ofunderstanding (MOU) for the UnionCounty Improvement Authority (UCIA)to solicit proposals from companies forboth the lease and sale of the county’sjuvenile detention center in Linden.The board approved an agreement withEssex County last year to send UnionCounty detainees to Essex’s juveniledetention center in Newark.

County officials announced the shut-tering of the facility last September. Thecounty anticipates that shutting the facil-ity will result in a $24.6-million savingsto the county in the first three years. TheLinden detention center opened in April2008 as a “one-story, 70,000-square-foot masonry and steel building” hous-ing “up to 80 residents,” according to a2008 county press release.

Freeholder Chris Hudak said hethinks the closing has been “handled inan efficient and thorough manner...withthe least amount of disruption to ouremployees.”

Noting that, “it’s a tough situationany time you have to lay people off,”Mr. Hudak said the county has beenworking with other counties to findjobs for those employees impacted bythe shuttered facility. In a September2018 press release, the county said 56juvenile detention officers, 12 seniorjuvenile detention officers, seven su-pervisors and seven civilian employeeswere employed at the detention center.

At last September’s freeholder meet-ing, Ron Charles, director of UnionCounty correctional services, said thecounty opted to close the facility inresponse to a “steady decline (of housedoffenders)...over the last six years” froman average daily population of 43 resi-dents in 2012 to 10 in 2017. The facilityhad 76 beds when it opened.

County Counsel Robert Barry saidthe UCIA is the title holder of theproperty. He said the UCIA will con-duct a tax analysis of the outstandingbonds on the facility as well as prepara-tion of requests for proposals (RFPs)for approval by the county. Mr. Barrysaid a review committee will be createdto analyze responses to the RFPs.

“The issue will be to determine thebest approach to this, whether it will bea sale of the facility or lease of thefacility,” Mr. Barry said.

Mr. Barry said the process will besimilar to what the county did forRunnells Specialized Hospital, whichwas sold for $26 million in Decemberof 2014.

Mr. Hudak said, based on its work onthe sale of Runnells, the UCIA “hasdemonstrated an expertise on these typesof projects of transitioning these gov-ernment-owned facilities to another sortof usage.”

The board approved the MOU by aunanimous 9-to-0 vote.

During public comments, GarwoodMayor Sara Todisco thanked Freehold-ers Sergio Granados and Rebecca Wil-liams for attending the borough’s firstDr. Martin Luther King Day of Servicein January.

“It was a really special day inGarwood,” she said, adding that morethan 100 people participated in theevent.

She also said she looks forward toher community being able to applyagain for the county’s infrastructuregrant. “I know Garwood is very, veryeager to put that forward to you,” shestated.

Barbara Krause of Cranford ad-dressed the cell tower proposed for theCranford campus of Union CountyCollege.

“Have all the alternatives been ex-hausted for the locations with less di-

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Paul Lachenauer for The Westfield LeaderREMEMBERING MEGHAN CRILLY...Members of the Mountainside community take part in a candlelight vigil Saturdaynight at Deerfield Elementary School in memory of teacher Meghan Crilly. Ms. Crilly died from injuries she sustained whenshe was struck by a vehicle last month while crossing a street in Linden.

Courtesy of Mountainside Restoration CommitteeDOWNTOWN ABBEY STYLE...Mountainside Restoration Committee mem-bers and guests were very excited to show their fashions and charisma at this pastFriday’s Downton Abbey-style cocktail party.

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RVSA Assessment for WFTo Rise Almost 8 Percent

By WAYNE BAKERSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

RAHWAY — The Rahway ValleySewerage Authority’s (RVSA) annualreorganization meeting was held lastThursday. Two reappointed commis-sioners were sworn in, and new boardofficers were elected. RVSA also ap-proved the 2019 budget.

The budget reflects revenues of$27,184,500 and appropriations of$27,532,500. The differential isplanned usage of $348,000 of priorrevenues. Capital appropriations are$1.65 million.

Assessments for the 11 municipali-ties of the RVSA rose by 4.9 percent,from $25,060,000 to $26,290,500.Because individual municipal assess-ments are based on a five-year rollingaverage, there is significant deviationfrom town to town in the percentagechange in their assessments, RVSA of-ficials said.

Westfield’s assessment rose 7.91percent, or $248,297, to $4,068,672.Scotch Plains’ assessment increased5.67 percent, or $81,091, ending up at$1,511,843. Mountainside ticked up5.41 percent, or $50,155, to $978,076.Garwood’s share grew 7.42 percent, or

$51,805, to $749,523. Cranford’s as-sessment rose 10.81 percent, or$180,636, ending up at $1,852,138.Clark’s share grew 7.59 percent, or$151,489, to $2,148,595.

Springfield saw a 1.84-percent in-crease, or $47,803, to $2,646,409.Kenilworth gets hit with a 15.85 per-cent rise of $144,055, to $1,052,977.Roselle Park sees an 11.47 percentdecrease, or $45,515, dropping to$351,423. Rahway also sees a drop,down 3.22 percent, or $132,706, to$3,991,702. Woodbridge, the largestuser, sees a 6.17 percent rise, or$403,440, so their assessment totalsout at $6,939,142.

Jim Meehan, RVSA executive direc-tor, said the main drivers of the budgetare: debt service, $360,000; capital re-placement funding, $250,000; operat-ing reserve fund, $40,000; residual andbiosolids disposal, $100,000; mainte-nance/energy maintenance, $175,000;salaries and wages, $225,000, and NewJersey Retirement Fund assessment,$65,000.

“Debt service has increased due tothe numerous upgrades throughout thefacility,” Mr. Meehan told The

Wayne Baker for The Westfield LeaderMR. CHAIRMAN...Louis Lambe, pictured, second from left, Cranford's Com-missioner, takes the oath as chairman of Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority’s(RVSA) Board of Commissioners last Thursday while his wife, Beth, and CranfordTownship Commissioner Thomas H. Hannen, Jr. hold the Bible. Swearing in Mr.Lambe is RVSA Board Secretary Joanne Grimes, pictured, left.

Courtesy Westfield Public SchoolsON BOARD...At Tuesday’s board meeting, the Westfield Board of Educationappointed Robert Garrison and Brian Morrissey, pictured, left to right, to fill twovacant seats through December 2019.

Garrison, Morrissey Named toFill Vacancies on Westfield BOE

By SARAH MCGRAILSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD — A familiar facereturned to the board of education atthis week’s meeting. Robert Garri-son, who was narrowly defeated inNovember’s election after serving asingle three-year term, was chosen bythe board of education to fill one oftwo vacant seats on the board.

The two vacancies were created bythe resignations of Charles Ostroffand Lynn Benner. The board inter-viewed 16 applicants to fill the va-cancies and Mr. Garrison was chosento replace Mr. Ostroff.

Brian Morrissey, a long-time inter-nal audit leader, was chosen to re-

place Ms. Benner.Mr. Morrissey has experience

working with commercial and inter-national banks, trust companies andother financial institutions in leadingand executing internal controls andregulatory compliance reviews.

Mr. Garrison has more than twodecades of public administration ex-perience on the federal, state and lo-cal levels, and experience in a widevariety of areas including labor rela-tions, public finance and budgeting,and workforce development.

Both men will be required to run inthe November school election if theywish to continue to serve on the board.The election for a one-year term for

the remainder of Ms. Benner’s seatand a two-year term for Mr. Ostroff’sseat will take place on Tuesday, No-vember 5, 2019.

In other business, a Westfield em-ployee who has helped save the towna significant amount of money sinceshe joined the board of education is toreceive a prestigious service award.

Business Administrator DanaSullivan, who helps manageWestfield’s $106-million educationbudget, is one of just four people inNew Jersey to receive a 2019 Distin-guished Service Award from the NewJersey Association of School Busi-ness Officials (NJASBO).

The NJASBO is professional asso-ciation that promotes the highest stan-dards of ethics and efficiency.

Since Ms. Sullivan took up herposition in 2012, solar panels havebeen installed on five of the district’sschools and are now saving the town$100,000 a year in energy costs.

In addition, the district’s auditorshighlighted the move to self-insur-ance for district employees that hassaved a significant amount of money.

Superintendent of Schools Marga-ret Dolan, Ed.D., said, “I am pleased,but not at all surprised, that Mrs.Sullivan has received this prestigiousrecognition.

“Her fiscal stewardship, sage ad-vice and steady hand have been at theforefront of many of the district’smost successful initiatives,” Ms.Dolan said.

A budget presentation by Ms.Sullivan at Tuesday’s board of educa-tion meeting said the board wouldprobably hear by Monday, March 8,how much state aid the district wouldbe receiving next year.

She had heard informally that thiscould be more than the $3.8 millionthe district received in 2018, but thebudget had been planned around thecurrent figure.

Westfield Fire Dept. ContractSettled Through 2021

By CHRISTINA M. HINKESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD — The Fire Depart-ment has negotiated its contract withthe town and salaries will be retroactiveto March 2018. The town passed aresolution Tuesday to authorize thecollective bargaining agreement withthe FMBA Local No. 30 bargainingunit for the years 2018 through 2021.

Salaries will increase about 2 percentper year. Probationary firefighters wouldearn $41,052, with the highest ranking,or grade 2, battalion chief with an EMTstatus earning $137,166 by 2021. Lieu-

tenants with an EMT status would earnbetween $116,668 and $126,445 by2021. The maximum a firefighter couldearn, with an EMT status, is $110,521by 2021; firefighters have nine gradelevels in the salary step progressionbefore reaching the maximum earn-ings. The resolution also noted thateffective January 1, 2020, the title oflieutenant will be changed to captainper the agreement.

PSE&G is to begin a pole replace-ment that will replace poles in parts ofthe town, starting on Scotch Plains Av-enue, to allow for a higher voltagesystem that will connect substationswithin a specific region, thereby pro-viding a safer and more reliable serviceto customers. Letters will go out toresidents from PSE&G notifying themof the work. Also, trees that are in theway of the electrical lines will either betrimmed or removed. If removed,PSE&G will replace the trees with treesthat are “friendlier” to electrical lines.As estimated, PSE&G said there willbe 45 removals and 38 trimmed pri-vately owned trees, and there will benine removals, and five trimmed ofmunicipal owned trees.

Mike Coyle and Jay Kaplan, repre-sentatives of PSE&G, also said PSE&Gis to build a new substation on the border

of Westfield and Cranford. PSE&G is incurrent negotiations with the propertyowner of 750 Walnut Avenue in Cran-ford to buy land there for a substation.PSE&G hopes to have the substationconstruction started by this summer, Mr.Coyle told The Westfield Leader.

Representatives of the town havemet with the franchise owner of the 7-Eleven on Central Avenue, Council-woman Dawn Mackey said. The townhad notified the owner of additionalsecurity measures it would like theowner to take. Ms. Mackey also saidthe area residents would like to see the7-Eleven not operate overnight. Shesaid the town council hopes that 7-Eleven will be “good neighbors.” Interms of security, should 7-Eleven notmake the required security adjustments,“We are prepared to take whatevermeasures is in our purview,” Ms.Mackey said.

The town council also approved anordinance that would amend the hoursof retail of alcoholic beverages andanother hearing on this ordinance willbe held at the next meeting. The ordi-nance will reflect the state criteria thatsays packaged goods cannot be boughtafter 10 p.m.

An ordinance to amend the codeCONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Page 8 Thursday, February 28, 2019 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A Watchung Communications, Inc. Publication

Westfield Leader only

WESTFIELDREVALUATION

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDINGIt’s the first time in more than three decades that Westfield residents will deal with the uncertainty of tax assessments. And there’s a pressing question on the minds of many Westfield homeowners... Will I be overpaying my taxes when the Westfield Revaluation Process is done?

You can find valuable information and videos about the revaluation and appeal processes at WestfieldRevaluation.com.

rect negative impact for Cranfordhomeowners in one of Cranford’s mostdesirable areas?” Mrs. Krause asked.“No one expects such an ugly intrusioninto a beautiful residential neighbor-hood. Why we have to tolerate this isthe question.”

She asked the board to “use allareas at your disposal to eliminate a130-foot cell tower in a beautifulUnion County area.”

During Freeholder comments, Free-holder Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded ofWestfield announced a free lectureon the life of Virginia Apgar, an anes-thesiologist at New York-Presbyte-rian Hospital, who founded the Apgarscore for newly-born babies in 1952.The lecture will be held on Wednes-day, March 27, at 7 p.m., at theWestfield Memorial Library.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Freeholders

CorrectionsIn a front-page story in last week’s

issue of The Westfield Leader on theproposed Reimagining plan for theCranford Public Schools, CristineGrace’s name was misspelled. Also,the article should have reported thatChristine Bradley, and not CristineGrace, expressed concern over thedistrict moving ahead with full-daykindergarten prematurely. The quotesbelow that paragraph, “Are we shoot-ing ourselves in the foot?” and“Where is the educational proof?”were said by Ms. Bradley. We apolo-gize for the errors.

A front-page story on coverage oflast week’s Cranford Township Com-mittee meeting should have reportedthat resident Barry O’Donovan,owner of The Kilkenny House, saidproposed state legislation would al-low establishments applying for aliquor license that have a hot plate, tobe no less than 800 square feet toobtain a liquor license. Current lawrequires the kitchen alone to be 500square feet in size.

Westfield Leader.In other business, the Authority’s law-

suit against the state’s 2-percent cap onauthority charges has passed the brief-ing stage. The Authority is awaitingword from the judge. Comments alsowere submitted to the New Jersey De-partment of Community Affairs regard-ing the proposed regulations.

Flow rights hearings for three mu-nicipalities, Rahway, Clark and, Spring-field, currently are scheduled for Thurs-day, March 21. These will deal withexcess flows during the year endingSeptember 30, 2018.

Questions regarding the accuracy of ameter designated RV01 serving Spring-field appear to be nearing resolution.The meter had been exhibiting someerratic behavior, which resolved aboutAugust 22. A supplementary meter in-stalled temporarily as a check is readingwithin 2 to 3 percent. Michael Furci,Springfield’s commissioner, asked abouthow the problem could be addressed.

Mr. Meehan, replied, “I and I (inflowsand infiltration) must be addressed.” (Iand I is water from non-sewer sourcesentering the system.) Mr. Furci thenasked about changing the metering time.Dennis Estis, the Authority’s counsel,read a brief segment of the bylaws in-cluding the term “for a period, howeverbrief,” which means the metering periodcannot be changed without a bylawchange. Mr. Furci asked for help fromRVSA to explain what is needed to thetown’s government, to which Mr.Meehan readily agreed.

Mr. Furci mentioned the possibilityof buying flow rights from Garwood.When 500,000 gallons per day wassuggested as the amount required toresolve the issue, Mr. Furci said he didnot think Springfield was talking thathigh.

John Buonocore, the Authority’s in-house engineer, spoke on the issue. Henoted that in most towns, the storminduced peaking factor was about fivetimes (the sewage flow quintupled),while for Springfield the peaking factoris about 2.5 times, so there is probablynot a lot of rain induced inflows andinfiltration. The implication was thatgroundwater infiltration is a major con-tributor to their issue. He said that mostother towns typically use about 30 per-cent of their flow rights, while Spring-field typically uses about 60 percent.

This meeting served as the annualreorganization meeting. Louis Lambe,Cranford’s commissioner, was electedchairman and Loren Harms, RosellePark’s commissioner, was elected vice-chairman. Outgoing Chairman RobertRachlin of Rahway was presented witha plaque in thanks for his service.

At the beginning of the meeting,following elections, Michael Gelin wassworn in as Woodbridge’s commis-sioner and John Tomaine was sworn inas Mountainside’s commissioner.Stephen Greet has been reappointed asGarwood’s commissioner, but his ab-sence from the meeting prevented himfrom being sworn in. All three werereappointments.

Updates to the Authority’s By-Lawsand Code of Ethics also were approved.The changes to both were described asminor.

The next regular meeting of theRVSA’s board will be held on March21, at 7:05 p.m.

Afford.-Housing Issue TopicFor Young Republicans

By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

SCOTCH PLAINS – Scotch PlainsMayor Alexander Smith told a meeting ofthe Union County Young Republicanslast Wednesday night that state legisla-tors are “not interested” in addressing theaffordable-housing numbers that courtsthroughout the state have imposed ontowns.

“The state is broken,” he said, andbuilders are not concerned with the im-pact of large numbers of new housingunits on schools and infrastructure.“There’s a crisis going on in the state,”the mayor added.

A 2018 court settlement with a groupof builders will result in just over 450affordable-housing units, out of a total ofjust under 2,700 total housing units, be-ing built in Scotch Plains by 2025. Sev-eral large properties are slated for the newdevelopments, including the BowcraftAmusement Park on Route 22, the formerParker Gardens property on Terrill Road,the Amberg garden center on LambertsMill Road, several properties in andaround the central business district, atract of land on North Avenue next to theCharlie Brown’s restaurant and severalsmaller lots on Jerusalem Road acrossfrom Scotch Hills Country Club and onBeryllium Road and Waldheim Avenueoff Plainfield Avenue.

Mr. Smith said he hopes his township’snewly-formed affordable-housing advi-sory committee can eventually expand itsefforts to other towns as it seeks to securea legislative solution to the court-im-posed housing obligations many munici-palities are facing.

The mayor briefly reviewed the historyof Scotch Plains’ affordable-housing ob-ligations with the small group gathered atthe Stage House Tavern before the dis-cussion turned to other related issuesincluding property taxes and school fund-ing. The mayor said New Jersey is expen-sive because of high property taxes usedto fund public schools, especially in themore-distressed urban school districtsearmarked for higher state funding bycourt rulings over the past several de-cades.

One attendee at last week’s meeting,Joseph Sarno, a former member of the

Garwood Borough Council who now livesin Scotch Plains, singled out one suchurban district and said that, “as JerseyCity has gotten richer, we’re still subsi-dizing them, and it’s not fair.” Mean-while, the mayor said that Scotch Plainsand Fanwood property owners sent morethan $50 million to the state during thepast several years but had only gottenback a few million dollars in state aid forthe school system.

J.D. Bryden, the chairman of the YoungRepublicans, noted that “the two biggestproblems in New Jersey” — school fund-ing and affordable housing — “are drivenby legal action,” and asked why Demo-crats who have controlled the state Legis-lature for most of the past two decadeshave not done more to address the twinproblems. He called it “laughable” thatDemocratic mayors complain about theirtowns’ housing obligations but do nottalk to local Democratic state legislators.

The Scotch Plains Council created theaffordable-housing advisory committeein December to advise and assist thegoverning body regarding affordablehousing, related regulations and legisla-tion and the township’s affordable-hous-ing obligations. The group’s initial ef-forts will focus on increasing publicawareness of how affordable housing isbeing implemented, educating the publicabout the issue and developing an actionplan that will include contacting and lob-bying state legislators to enact a legisla-tive solution.

Mayor Smith called the committee a“very effective organized group” and saidthat, “as we move forward, we want totake this to other towns” and hopefullyspur movement toward the Legislature— not the courts — taking the lead on thehousing issue and also setting out afford-able-housing obligations on a regional —not a town-by-town — basis. “This is nota Republican or Democratic issue,” hesaid. “It’s a town issue.”

With legislative elections for state As-sembly taking place in November, MayorSmith said it was important for histownship’s affordable-housing commit-tee to “get its act together” by early springso that the issue becomes a topic of dis-cussion during the run up to the JunePrimary elections.


RVSA Assessments

PUBLIC NOTICEMouontainside Board of Education

Schedule of Meetings 2019

All meetings will be held in the BeechwoodSchool Susan O. Collier Media Center located at1497 Woodacres Drive, Mountainside, NJ 07092or in the Deerfield School Media Center locatedat 302 Central Avenue, Mountainside, NJ 07092.

All meetings will be regularly scheduled meet-ings of the Board to begin at 7:00 p.m. unlessotherwise noted. It is anticipated that the Boardwill adjourn to Executive Session immediatelyfollowing the initial roll call to review mattersappropriate for discussion in private under theOpen Public Meetings Act.

The Board will return from Executive Sessionto continue the public portion of the meeting at8:00 p.m., at which time the Board will considerand act upon its public session agenda items.

Tuesday, March 5, 2019 (Executive Session)6:45 p.m.

Thursday, March 7, 2019 (Executive Session)6:15 p.m.

Tuesday, March 12, 2019 (Executive Session)6:45 p.m.

Monday, March 18, 2019 (For purpose of abudget hearing on submission of preliminarybudget)

Tuesday, March 26, 2019Tuesday, April 23, 2019 (tentative Regular

Meeting and Public Hearing on Budget)Tuesday, May 28, 2019Tuesday, June 25, 2019Tuesday, July 23, 2019Tuesday, August 27, 2019Tuesday, September 24, 2019Tuesday, October 22, 2019Tuesday, November 19, 2019Tuesday, December 17, 2019

1T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $33.11

related to construction fencing waspassed that states a construction siteshall have a six-foot-high chain linkfence with a mesh fabric attached andbe set around the perimeter of the con-struction site to protect the health andsafety of the public.

Frank Arena was the sole dissenterregarding two resolutions to authorizethe submittal of grants for SustainableJersey. Two grant applications, one for$2,000 for the Green Team’s Zero SingleUse Plastics initiative, and the secondfor $10,000 to support the Styrofoamrecycling program, which the town ad-ministers.

An amendment to a purchase ap-proval of an aerial lift for the Depart-ment of Public Works (DPW) was madeto increase the cost to $162,893, whichadds about $9,000 for a Through Box.

In the mayor’s update, Mayor ShelleyBrindle noted that Ambeli Greek Res-taurant is to close its doors. Spice Bazaaris to relocate its restaurant from QuimbyStreet to the Ambeli space and then opena Pan Asian restaurant at the Quimbylocation, she said. Ambeli has decided tofocus on its original location in Cran-ford, Mayor Brindle said of the businessowner’s decision to close in Westfield.

Mayor Brindle said the “root of theproblem” regarding vacancies down-town is the “lack of daytime foot traf-fic.” She equated this lack of foot trafficto the reduction of employees in thetown. “We have lost hundreds of em-ployees over the last several years dueto a lack of employee parking and mod-ern office space. If we can improvedaytime foot traffic, the retail problemwill take care of itself, which is some-thing I expect to be addressed in ourMaster Plan,” Mayor Brindle said inher statement.

The town also is looking at a SmartStreets Initiative with a goal to make apedestrian-friendly corridor, MayorBrindle said.

Mayor Brindle recently met withUnion County Freeholder ChairwomanBette Jane Kowalski to discuss

Westfield’s priorities, which include alower county tax rate, support for apeak one-seat ride, new lighted turffields and enhanced traffic and pedes-trian safety measures on county roads.

The town also will begin a newemail initiative where residents canopt-in to receive email updates fromthe town, including the bi-weeklyMayor’s Update provided at everytown council meeting. Mayor Brindlesaid this is to help inform those resi-dents who are not getting informationthrough social media.

To further Mayor Brindle’s initiativeto get the one-seat ride on the RaritanValley Train line, she announced thatthere will be two upcoming meetings intown on this front. On Wednesday, March6, at 5 p.m., NJ Transit and the Depart-ment of Transportation will host a publiclistening session at the South Avenuetrain station. Then on Thursday, March7, a meeting of the Raritan Valley LineMayors Alliance, along with invited leg-islators, will be held to discuss the legis-lative strategy to obtain a Raritan ValleyLine peak one-seat ride.

The public-private contract for theWestfield ice rink is to come to its endfor this year, when on Friday, March 1,the rink will hold its last operationalday. Two public skating sessions will beheld that day, one from 4:40 to 6:10p.m. and another from 7:30 to 9 p.m.,with a family hockey session scheduledin between. The basketball courts willbe restored by Monday, April 1. Thetown has yet to make a decision as towhether it will renegotiate another leasefor the rink at Gumbert Park.

Resident Nancy Carolan during pub-lic comment said the Wilson Elemen-tary School’s ice-skating fundraiser thisyear was held at the Westfield ice rinkand had sold double the amount oftickets than it did last year when it washeld at Warinanco Ice Skating Center.She said she thinks the appeal of havingthe rink in the same town is why moretickets were sold.

Milan Sledge, Community OutreachSpecialist, Housing and CommunityDevelopment Network of New Jersey,spoke in response to an update PlannerDon Sammet provided to the town coun-cil on its current standings with itscompliance with affordable housing.Ms. Sledge had listed a handful ofgroups that provide housing, and saidshe would like the town to reach out tothose organizations. Mr. Sammet hadmentioned that The Arc of Union Countyand another affordable-housing devel-oper have been in contact with the townto work toward providing the addi-tional 20 affordable-housing units thetown is to provide by 2025.


Westfield Council Garwood Residents LearnOf Revaluation Process

By MICHAEL BONACCORSOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

GARWOOD – Realty Appraisal’sproprietor Neil Rubenstein presenteda roadmap to Garwood’s property taxreevaluation process at a town-hallstyle meeting at Lincoln School onMonday evening. The borough hiredReality Appraisal to complete revalu-ation process.

Mr. Rubenstein said Union County’sDivision of Taxation mandatedGarwood and all Union County mu-nicipalities to undergo a tax reassess-ment which will be financially real-ized on tax bills by July 2020. Mr.Rubenstein said the process has beenin effect since the 1950s, but has nottaken place in Garwood for over 30years.

Property reevaluations are not meantto increase every homeowner’s taxes,stated Mr. Rubenstein. Reevaluationsare purposed to update property val-ues to their current values after nearly30 years of change, he said.

“The process is meant to re-balanceor bring everything into equilibrium,”Mr. Rubenstein said.

Some properties will go up in value,some properties will remain the same,and some properties will pay less,stated Mr. Rubenstein.

The notion is the higher propertyassessments are valued, tax rates areadjusted to decrease by percentage,stated Mr. Rubenstein. Any residentsor business owners who feel their as-sessment was inaccurately calculatedcan appeal by May 1, 2020.

The evaluation process considers ahome’s neighborhood, topography,square footage, noise factors, interiorand exterior improvements, and othervariables, which would be recognizedin the sale process as benefiting thesell price or reducing the sell price tocomparable properties, stated Mr.Rubenstein.

A home with an addition since thelast reevaluation would theoreticallybe worth more than a home with simi-lar property dimensions in the sameneighborhood without the addition,

stated Mr. Rubenstein.Mr. Rubenstein said tax assessors

employed by his firm will carry twoforms of identification, will wear yel-low vests, and will enter people’shomes after arranging an appointmentor upon asking when the assessor is“canvassing” the neighborhood. Allassessors can be walked through ahome by the homeowner, stated Mr.Rubenstein.

The interior review is conductedwith a laser to measure the home’sinterior dimensions and is a “rela-tively brief” review, he said.Homeowners who do not allow theassessors in to conduct a review willbe categorized as having improvedtheir interiors, stated Mr. Rubenstein.He said any homeowner who is notpresent when the assessor is in theneighborhood can book an interiorreview appointment at a time which isconvenient for them.

Mr. Rubenstein said the Russo prop-erty is an example of commercialimprovements which need to be rec-ognized in the reevaluation process.As vacant land, the South Avenueproperty is assessed less than if 350units were fully operable and collect-ing income, he explained.

After the South Avenue property isredeveloped, the property’s assess-ment will be changed to account forthe additional income and the intrinsi-cally higher re-sell value. Commer-cial properties which have been de-valued since they were redevelopedbefore the last tax assessment over 30years ago will be reassessed appropri-ately, Mr. Rubenstein explained.

Realty Appraisal oversawWestfield’s reevaluation which wasjust concluded, stated Mr. Rubenstein.Over 10,000 homes in Westfield werereviewed including both exterior andinterior inspections, stated Mr.Rubenstein.

Any residents who have questionscan contact the company directly, ac-cessing information through theborough’s website, or contact bor-ough hall, stated Mr. Rubenstein.

NJ Transit ListeningTour Comes to WF

WESTFIELD — NJ Transit Ex-ecutive Director Kevin Corbett andNew Jersey Department of Trans-portation Commissioner DianeGutierrez-Scaccetti will host a pub-lic listening session about servicetrouble on the Raritan Valley Line atthe Westfield Train Station onWednesday, March 6 at 5 p.m. Thesession is part of what NJ Transit hasbilled as its “Listening Tours.”

Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindleand Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahrand the Raritan Valley Mayors Alli-ance will also be there to advocatefor improved service and one-seatride to New York City.

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Paul Lachenauer for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesWE WON!...Winners celebrate while playing one of the many games during the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club’sannual Casino Night event held Friday evening at the Shackamaxon Country Club in Scotch Plains.

Paul Lachenauer for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesRAFFLE PRIZES...Attendees at the Fanwood-Scotch Plains Rotary Club’s CasinoNight event, held Friday evening at the Shackamaxon Country Club, check out theraffle prizes.

Fred T. Rossi for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesFOCUSING ON FANWOOD...Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, joined by PoliceChief Richard Trigo, pictured right, and Chief Financial Officer Fred Tompkins,pictured left, speak with residents last Saturday about local issues. The CoffeeWith Mayor Mahr event was held at the Fanwood Grille.

Paul Lachenauer for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesREMEMBERING MEGHAN CRILLY...Members of the Mountainside commu-nity take part in a candlelight vigil Saturday night at Deerfield Elementary Schoolin memory of teacher Meghan Crilly. Ms. Crilly died from injuries she sustainedwhen she was struck by a vehicle last month while crossing a street in Linden.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Planning Board OKs NewParking on Westfield Ave.

By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS — The plan-ning board on Monday gave its unani-mous approval to the merger of threeWestfield Avenue lots and the devel-opment of a new parking lot to servea law office located there.

The new parking lot will be locatedat the corner of Westfield Avenue andForest Road — on a square-shapedlot that has been undeveloped foryears — and will serve the adjacentoffice building at 1958 WestfieldRoad. At the board’s hearing, JonBramnick, the owner of the lots andthe building, said there was presently“insufficient” parking behind the of-fice building, with only seven spacesavailable. Professional planner JamesWatson concurred, telling the plan-ning board, “You need parking here.”He recalled that his own office hadonce been located in the same build-ing and that parking for employees,clients and visitors had always beenlimited and problematic.

Engineer Thomas Quinn outlinedfor the board how the parking lot will

be developed, with six-foot-high fenc-ing along the southern property linethat abuts a private residence andfour-foot fencing along the WestfieldAvenue and Forest Road sides. Hesaid the parking lot will be accessiblefrom both streets. Mr. Quinn describedsteps being taken to reduce stormwater runoff, saying the new lot willfeature what he called “porous pave-ment” that, in effect, absorbs waterand drains it underground.

Board members favored keepingany landscaping — shrubs and trees—inside the fences, partly to ensure aclear line of sight for drivers enteringWestfield Avenue from Forest Roadand also to avoid litter and debrisbeing caught in the branches. ZoningOfficer Robert LaCosta pointed outthat the area is a “high-traffic pedes-trian area,” with students walking toand from Scotch Plains-FanwoodHigh School, Park Middle Schooland St. Bartholomew Academy pass-ing by the property and, at times,carelessly dropping papers and wrap-pings.

RVSA Assessments In Region toRise on Average 5 Percent

By WAYNE BAKERSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

RAHWAY — The Rahway ValleySewerage Authority’s (RVSA) annualreorganization meeting was held lastThursday. Two reappointed commis-sioners were sworn in, and new boardofficers were elected. RVSA also ap-proved the 2019 budget.

The budget reflects revenues of$27,184,500 and appropriations of$27,532,500. The differential isplanned usage of $348,000 of priorrevenues. Capital appropriations are$1.65 million.

Assessments for the 11 municipali-ties of the RVSA rose by 4.9 percent,from $25,060,000 to $26,290,500.Because individual municipal assess-

ments are based on a five-year rollingaverage, there is significant deviationfrom town to town in the percentagechange in their assessments, RVSAofficials said.

Westfield’s assessment rose 7.91percent, or $248,297, to $4,068,672.Scotch Plains’ assessment increased5.67 percent, or $81,091, ending upat $1,511,843. Mountainside tickedup 5.41 percent, or $50,155, to$978,076. Garwood’s share grew 7.42percent, or $51,805, to $749,523.Cranford’s assessment rose 10.81percent, or $180,636, ending up at$1,852,138. Clark’s share grew 7.59percent, or $151,489, to $2,148,595.

Springfield saw a 1.84-percent in-crease, or $47,803, to $2,646,409.

Kenilworth gets hit with a 15.85 per-cent rise of $144,055, to $1,052,977.Roselle Park sees an 11.47 percentdecrease, or $45,515, dropping to$351,423. Rahway also sees a drop,down 3.22 percent, or $132,706, to$3,991,702. Woodbridge, the largestuser, sees a 6.17 percent rise, or$403,440, so their assessment totalsout at $6,939,142.

Jim Meehan, RVSA executive di-rector, said the main drivers of thebudget are: debt service, $360,000;capital replacement funding,$250,000; operating reserve fund,$40,000; residual and biosolids dis-posal, $100,000; maintenance/energymaintenance, $175,000; salaries andwages, $225,000, and New JerseyRetirement Fund assessment,$65,000.

“Debt service has increased due tothe numerous upgrades throughoutthe facility,” Mr. Meehan told TheScotch Plains-Fanwood Times.

In other business, the Authority’slawsuit against the state’s 2-percentcap on authority charges has passedthe briefing stage. The Authority isawaiting word from the judge. Com-ments also were submitted to the NewJersey Department of Community Af-fairs regarding the proposed regula-tions.

Flow rights hearings for threemunicipalities, Rahway, Clark and,Springfield, currently are sched-uled for Thursday, March 21. Thesewill deal with excess flows duringthe year ending September 30,2018.

Questions regarding the accuracyof a meter designated RV01 servingSpringfield appear to be nearing reso-lution. The meter had been exhibitingsome erratic behavior, which resolvedabout August 22. A supplementarymeter installed temporarily as a check

BOE Talks About Varsity LettersFor Interscholastic Activities

By KIMBERLY A. BROADWELLSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS — Earning var-sity letters for interscholastic extra-curricular activities was discussed atthe Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board ofEducation agenda setting meetingheld last Thursday evening.

It was noted that under newer statemandates non-athletes can now earnvarsity letters. The lists of criteriawere discussed for such extracurricu-lar letters as those for Moonglowers,

Select Choir, Chamber Choir, Sensa-tions, Las Cantadoras, Men’s Choir,Scotch Plains-Fanwood Jazz Band,Marching Band, Winter Guard, BlueDiamond Step Team, Dance Team,Delta Epsilon Chi, Distributive Edu-cation Clubs of America (DECA) andFuture Business Leaders of America(FBLA). Each activity has its ownrequirement of active membership,varying from one year to three yearsdepending on the activity.

It was noted that students who failto complete a season will not beawarded a letter. In addition, viola-tions of school and club rules maycause a student to be disqualifiedfrom earning a letter. In addition, thetime period used to determine eligi-bility for a letter in each activity isbased on the rigor and time commit-ment associated with each organiza-tion. Furthermore, it was stated thatthe advisor/director of each organi-zation reserves the right to make ex-ceptions to the criteria. The principalor designee will then approve theexceptions.

In other business, three field tripswere approved at Thursday’s meet-ing. The first is a Saturday, March 23trip to see the musical The Prom inNew York City for seven students inthe Sexuality and Gender AcceptanceClub. It was noted that the play touchesupon issues germane to Lesbian, Gay,

Bisexual, Transgender and Queer(LGBTQ+) youth. The plot deals witha lesbian couple denied the right toattend their high-school prom.

The second trip is Terrill MiddleSchool students traveling to TomsRiver High School on Friday, May31, to perform for nationally-rankedjudges and receive feedback to en-hance their performance for the Terrillspring concert.

The last field trip approved in Mayis for 60 Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool Advanced Placement (AP)Environmental Science students totravel to Seeley’s Pond in theWatchung Reservation. These stu-dents are members of the New JerseyTrout in the Classroom Program andwill release their trout into Seeley’sPond. It was noted that the pond is thelocal site designated for fish stockingby the New Jersey Fish and WildlifeService in the Watchung Reserva-tion.

The next board of education meet-ing will be held tonight, February 28,at 7:30 p.m., in the administrationbuilding at Cedar Street and Ever-green Avenue in Scotch Plains.

Presentations regarding updates tothe 2019-2020 proposed school bud-get for special education as well asdistrict enrollment, curriculum andfacilities are scheduled for that meet-ing.

Music and Food Fest toBe Held at LaGrande Park

By LAUREN A. SILVASpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

FANWOOD — Guest speakerElizabeth Chin and her group, SmashKids Cancer, also known as KidsRock for Cure, were the subject of adiscussion at Tuesday night’s recre-ation commission meeting on a fund-raising event they wish to host tosupport finding a cure for pediatriccancer. The commission’s personnelchanges, park repairs and summercamps were heavily-noted topics aswell.

Elizabeth, a Clark resident andUnion County Magnet High Schoolsophomore, spoke to the commissionabout hosting a Music and Food Feston Saturday, May 18, at LaGrandePark to raise money to benefit Memo-rial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.Proceeds from the event will go to-ward pediatric cancer research. Eliza-beth is the founder of the group KidsRock for Cure. She started the groupafter her younger brother, ConnorChin, was diagnosed with bone can-cer and was treated at Memorial SloanKettering.

Connor was 11 in 2016 when hewas diagnosed with bone cancer.Elizabeth told the commission thather brother’s cancer returned and thata clinical trial at Memorial SloanKettering saved his life. Connor isnow healthy and thriving, she said.

Elizabeth attended the meeting withseveral friends and family, includingher mother, Lisa Chin, and her brother.

“Pediatric cancers are rare and it’sone of the leading causes of death inpeople under the age of 15 in theUnited States,” Elizabeth said.

Matt Kleczynski, a member of KidsRock for Cure and a Clark resident,told commission members that thegroup plans to sell tickets for activi-ties and use the pavilion in LaGrandePark. The event will be held rain or

shine. Matt said he is hopeful therewill be a teacher and staff dunk tank,face painting, food vendors, a band orDJ and one tent set up as a tribute forthe group’s loved ones who survivedcancer. Elizabeth mentioned the vari-ous forms of promotion for the Musicand Food Fest, including receivingsupport from Memorial SloanKettering and their media contacts.

Mrs. Chin answered commissionmembers’ questions regarding thisevent, explaining that May is an idealtime because of the weather and thatit’s important to the group to plansomething around Mother’s Day.

“We already secured the insuranceand the board of health approved thefood trucks. We are hoping to makemoney from the rides and entertain-ment. We tried to have this event inClark at one of the schools and therewas no bathroom access,” she said.

Recreation Director BobBudiansky said the Rockin’ for Au-tism event on Sunday, April 28, whichwas launched in 2016, is similar tothe Kids Rock for Cure. He also sug-gested the group’s name is too similarto Rockin’ for Autism and should bechanged. Mr. Budiansky told thegroup that all sporting events willcontinue on Saturday, May 18, atLaGrande Park as usual. ElizabethChin said that the group is changingtheir name to Smash Kids Cancer andthe event will be called Smash KidsMusic and Food Fest.

“If the Fanwood Department ofPublic Works can’t provide help, thisis a dead issue. You have to speak toClint Dixon (Department of PublicWorks director) and there has to be anagreement as to how much moneyyou have to pay the DPW workers.The New Jersey American WaterCompany can provide free water,”

Scotch Plains - Fanwood Times onlyPage 8 Thursday, February 28, 2019 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A Watchung Communications, Inc. Publication

WESTFIELDREVALUATION

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDINGIt’s the first time in more than three decades that Westfield residents will deal with the uncertainty of tax assessments. And there’s a pressing question on the minds of many Westfield homeowners... Will I be overpaying my taxes when the Westfield Revaluation Process is done?

You can find valuable information and videos about the revaluation and appeal processes at WestfieldRevaluation.com.

Afford.-Housing Issue TopicFor Young Republicans

By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS – Scotch PlainsMayor Alexander Smith told a meetingof the Union County Young Republi-cans last Wednesday night that statelegislators are “not interested” in ad-dressing the affordable-housing num-bers that courts throughout the state haveimposed on towns.

“The state is broken,” he said, andbuilders are not concerned with the im-pact of large numbers of new housingunits on schools and infrastructure.“There’s a crisis going on in the state,”the mayor added.

A 2018 court settlement with a groupof builders will result in just over 450affordable-housing units, out of a total ofjust under 2,700 total housing units, be-ing built in Scotch Plains by 2025. Sev-eral large properties are slated for the newdevelopments, including the BowcraftAmusement Park on Route 22, the formerParker Gardens property on Terrill Road,the Amberg garden center on LambertsMill Road, several properties in andaround the central business district, atract of land on North Avenue next to theCharlie Brown’s restaurant and severalsmaller lots on Jerusalem Road acrossfrom Scotch Hills Country Club and onBeryllium Road and Waldheim Avenueoff Plainfield Avenue.

Mr. Smith said he hopes his township’snewly-formed affordable-housing advi-sory committee can eventually expand itsefforts to other towns as it seeks to securea legislative solution to the court-im-posed housing obligations many munici-palities are facing.

The mayor briefly reviewed the his-tory of Scotch Plains’ affordable-hous-ing obligations with the small groupgathered at the Stage House Tavern be-fore the discussion turned to other re-lated issues including property taxes andschool funding. The mayor said NewJersey is expensive because of high prop-erty taxes used to fund public schools,especially in the more-distressed urbanschool districts earmarked for higherstate funding by court rulings over thepast several decades.

One attendee at last week’s meeting,Joseph Sarno, a former member of theGarwood Borough Council who now lives

in Scotch Plains, singled out one suchurban district and said that, “as JerseyCity has gotten richer, we’re still subsi-dizing them, and it’s not fair.” Mean-while, the mayor said that Scotch Plainsand Fanwood property owners sent morethan $50 million to the state during thepast several years but had only gottenback a few million dollars in state aid forthe school system.

J.D. Bryden, the chairman of theYoung Republicans, noted that “the twobiggest problems in New Jersey” —school funding and affordable housing— “are driven by legal action,” andasked why Democrats who have con-trolled the state Legislature for most ofthe past two decades have not done moreto address the twin problems. He calledit “laughable” that Democratic mayorscomplain about their towns’ housingobligations but do not talk to local Demo-cratic state legislators.

The Scotch Plains Council createdthe affordable-housing advisory com-mittee in December to advise and assistthe governing body regarding afford-able housing, related regulations andlegislation and the township’s afford-able-housing obligations.

The group’s initial efforts will focuson increasing public awareness of howaffordable housing is being imple-mented, educating the public about theissue and developing an action plan thatwill include contacting and lobbyingstate legislators to enact a legislativesolution.

Mayor Smith called the committee a“very effective organized group” andsaid that, “as we move forward, we wantto take this to other towns” and hope-fully spur movement toward the Legis-lature — not the courts — taking thelead on the housing issue and also set-ting out affordable-housing obligationson a regional — not a town-by-town —basis. “This is not a Republican or Demo-cratic issue,” he said. “It’s a town issue.”

With legislative elections for stateAssembly taking place in November,Mayor Smith said it was important forhis township’s affordable-housing com-mittee to “get its act together” by earlyspring so that the issue becomes a topicof discussion during the run up to theJune Primary elections.

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS

NOTICE OF INTENT TOAWARD CONTRACT UNDERTHE HOUSTON GALVESTONAREA COUNCIL COOPERA-TIVE PURCHASING PRO-GRAM

Notice of Intent to Award contractunder the Houston Galveston AreaCouncil Cooperative Purchasing Pro-gram for the purchase of:

* One (1) UN4i UN4i/13-E1/E3: 10 HP,6000 psi, 13 scfm with P2 Securus, 4ASME Storage and Auto Cascade,Bauer Integrated SXCBA Rechargingand RFID system

The Township of Scotch Plains, NewJersey, Fire Department, 430 Park Av-enue, Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076intends to participate in the HoustonGalveston Area Council CooperativePurchasing Program for the purchase of:


Information regarding the contract maybe found at the Township Clerks Office,430 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains, NewJersey 07076 during regular businesshours, as well as on the Township of ScotchPlains website at:(www.scotchplainsnj.gov)

The Township of Scotch Plains joinedthe Houston Galveston Area CouncilCooperative Purchasing Program onJune 3, 2015 as authorized by ResolutionNo. 2015-122.

It is the intent of the Township of ScotchPlains to make an award through BauerCompressors Inc. pursuant to the pro-posal submitted in response to the Town-ship of Scotch Plains for:


The intended award for HGAC Contract#EE08-17 has been established as:

BAUER COMPRESSOR Inc.1328 Azalea Garden Road

Norfolk, Virginia 23504-1904Contract for this purchase may be viewed

online at: (www.scotchplainsnj.gov)Vendors wishing to participate for pur-

poses of competitive pricing must submitproposals no later than 10 days followingthe release of the Public Notice. Submit-tals may be sent to the Township ClerksOffice at 430 Park Avenue, Scotch Plains,New Jersey 07076.

The Township of Scotch Plains is per-mitted to join a national cooperative pur-chasing agreement under the authority of(N.J.S.A. 52:34-6.2 (b) (3)

Comment period ends March 14, 2019.BOZENA LACINA, RMC

Municipal Clerk1 T - 2/28/19, The Times Fee: $59.16

is reading within 2 to 3 percent.Michael Furci, Springfield’s commis-sioner, asked about how the problemcould be addressed.

Mr. Meehan, replied, “I and I (in-flows and infiltration) must be ad-dressed.” (I and I is water from non-sewer sources entering the system.)Mr. Furci then asked about changingthe metering time. Dennis Estis, theAuthority’s counsel, read a brief seg-ment of the bylaws including the term“for a period, however brief,” whichmeans the metering period cannot bechanged without a bylaw change. Mr.Furci asked for help from RVSA toexplain what is needed to the town’sgovernment, to which Mr. Meehanreadily agreed.

Mr. Furci mentioned the possibil-ity of buying flow rights fromGarwood. When 500,000 gallons perday was suggested as the amount re-quired to resolve the issue, Mr. Furcisaid he did not think Springfield wastalking that high.

John Buonocore, the Authority’sin-house engineer, spoke on the is-sue. He noted that in most towns,the storm induced peaking factorwas about five times (the sewageflow quintupled), while for Spring-field the peaking factor is about 2.5times, so there is probably not a lotof rain induced inflows and infiltra-tion. The implication was thatgroundwater infiltration is a majorcontributor to their issue. He saidthat most other towns typically useabout 30 percent of their flow rights,while Springfield typically usesabout 60 percent.

This meeting served as the annualreorganization meeting. Louis Lambe,Cranford’s commissioner, was electedchairman and Loren Harms, RosellePark’s commissioner, was elected

In other business, the board wasbriefed about the redevelopment planfor a nearly three-acre parcel of prop-erty on Jerusalem Road. Last week,the township council introduced anordinance spelling out the plan, whichwill consist of 18 apartment units in athree-story building, two stackedtownhomes and 25 townhouse units.At its Tuesday, March 5 meeting, thecouncil will hold a public hearing onthe ordinance.

The planning board also formallynamed its professional team, withRobert Pansulla again named as boardattorney, Ferriero Engineering con-tinuing as the board’s consulting en-gineer and Harbor Consultants namedas the board’s planner.


Planning Bd.


RVSA Assessmentsvice-chairman. Outgoing ChairmanRobert Rachlin of Rahway was pre-sented with a plaque in thanks for hisservice.

At the beginning of the meeting,following elections, Michael Gelinwas sworn in as Woodbridge’s com-missioner and John Tomaine wassworn in as Mountainside’s com-missioner. Stephen Greet has beenreappointed as Garwood’s commis-sioner, but his absence from themeeting prevented him from beingsworn in. All three were reappoint-ments.

Updates to the Authority’s By-Lawsand Code of Ethics also were ap-proved. The changes to both weredescribed as minor.

The next regular meeting of theRVSA’s board will be held on March21 at 7:05 p.m.

NJ Transit ListeningTour Comes to Westfield

WESTFIELD— NJ Transit Ex-ecutive Director Kevin Corbett andNew Jersey Department of Trans-portation Commissioner DianeGutierrez-Scaccetti will host a pub-lic listening session about servicetrouble on the Raritan Valley Line atthe Westfield Train Station onWednesday, March 6, at 5 p.m. Thesession is part of what NJ Transit hasbilled as its “Listening Tours.”

Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindleand Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahrand the Raritan Valley Mayors Alli-ance also will be there to advocate forimproved service and one-seat ridesto New York City.

Mr. Budiansky said.Fanwood Councilwoman Erin

McElroy-Barker, the council’s liai-son to the recreation commission,told the group, “Good luck, this istough to pull together. Reach out toFanwood Councilman Jeff Banks.”Mr. Banks and his family host theRockin’ for Autism yearly event.

Commission secretary ErynSinclair suggested that the SmashKids Cancer group, “Seek donationsfrom big businesses because you area non-profit. Ask for reduced rates,if possible.”

Commission member JoannaBudries put forth a motion to the sixvoting commission members to al-low the group to host this event. Allthe members approved the motion.

In other business, Mr. Budianskypresented the treasurer’s report sincethe commission’s treasurer, MikeKelly, was not present at the meet-ing. “The balance in both thecommission’s bank accounts totals$96,626.36. We made about $42,000in summer camp registration so farsince we opened up registration inearly February.”

Mr. Budiansky told the commis-sion members that the LaGrande out-field new replacement netting onlylasted about one week. He said, “Ireceived an invoice from StatewideFencing and I’m not paying this. Itstill needs to be fixed.”

He said the ice skating rink atLaGrande and the rink’s tarp cover“was open two days this year andwill not be opened again this year.”

“The rink reopened eight yearsago and the tarp that was purchaseda number of years ago is now shred-ded. The DPW wants to use it for therecycling center. We have to make adecision later on about ordering anew one. The current tarp costs over$1,000,” Mr. Budiansky said.

Neil Pierce, a commission mem-ber, told Mr. Budiansky that the bor-

ough paid about $300 extra severalyears ago for a round liner cut tosize. Commission members allagreed that the DPW can use theexisting tarp cover.

The Forest Road Park Master Planwas briefly discussed. Mr. Budianskysaid, “As of today, February 26, GaryOliva from CME Associates said thepreliminary assessment report, whichincludes the environmental impactstatement, was submitted to the NewJersey Department of Environmen-tal Protection at the borough’s re-quest. This has been caught up inbureaucracy and grant writing foralmost two years now.”

Councilwoman McElroy-Barkersaid, “I think this has dragged on. Ithasn’t moved out of town hall asquickly as it should have.”

Mr. Budiansky announced recentcommission personnel changes. Al-ternate 2, Sara Johnson, resigned onTuesday. Also, Tuesday night’s meet-ing was the last for commission mem-ber Joanna Budries due to an im-pending move.

Ms. Budries joined the commis-sion in 2012. Scott Sinclair, alter-nate 1, has been bumped up to be anunofficial commission member.Himanee Hendree, a third alternateand the first student member of thecommission, is now a first alter-nate.

Mr. Budiansky said there are nowthree vacancies on the commissionmembers. He urged the group toencourage people to attend thecommission’s monthly meetings ifthey are interested in joining thecommission. Ms. McElroy-Barkersaid she mentioned it at theborough’s last council meeting too.

Mr. Budiansky spoke about thesuccess of the borough’s summercamp registration. He said he beganadvertising for the summer park pro-grams and that in the next week orso registration will begin for travelcamps. In about two weeks he willhave brochures in the schools. Mr.Budiansky said both LaGrande andForest Road Parks are used for thecamps and that the price increasedthis year for the first time in 10years. It is now $50 for the a.m.session and $50 for the p.m. ses-sion. The cost is $90 for both ses-sions and there are some new pro-grams such as art programs, enter-tainers and inflatable rides.

Mr. Budiansky said there are 40different summer programs, whichis the most the borough has everhad. Fourteen full-time counselorsare employed and there are aboutthree substitute counselors.

The meeting concluded with dis-cussion about the borough’s EasterEgg Hunt to be held on Saturday,April 13, at 10 a.m. at Forest RoadPark with the rain date on Saturday,April 20.

Freeholders OK $325KStudy for Det. Ctr. Property

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

COUNTY — The Union CountyFreeholder Board last Thursday ap-proved a $325,000 memorandum ofunderstanding (MOU) for the UnionCounty Improvement Authority(UCIA) to solicit proposals from com-panies for both the lease and sale ofthe county’s juvenile detention centerin Linden. The board approved anagreement with Essex County lastyear to send Union County detaineesto Essex’s juvenile detention centerin Newark.

County officials announced theshuttering of the facility last Septem-ber. The county anticipates that shut-ting the facility will result in a $24.6-million savings to the county in thefirst three years. The Linden deten-tion center opened in April 2008 as a“one-story, 70,000-square-foot ma-sonry and steel building” housing “upto 80 residents,” according to a 2008county press release.

Freeholder Chris Hudak said hethinks the closing has been “handledin an efficient and thoroughmanner...with the least amount of dis-ruption to our employees.”

Noting that, “it’s a tough situationany time you have to lay people off,”Mr. Hudak said the county has beenworking with other counties to findjobs for those employees impactedby the shuttered facility. In a Septem-ber 2018 press release, the countysaid 56 juvenile detention officers,12 senior juvenile detention officers,seven supervisors and seven civilianemployees were employed at the de-tention center.

At last September’s freeholdermeeting, Ron Charles, director ofUnion County correctional services,said the county opted to close thefacility in response to a “steady de-cline (of housed offenders)...over thelast six years” from an average dailypopulation of 43 residents in 2012 to10 in 2017. The facility had 76 bedswhen it opened.

County Counsel Robert Barry saidthe UCIA is the title holder of theproperty. He said the UCIA will con-duct a tax analysis of the outstandingbonds on the facility as well as prepa-ration of requests for proposals(RFPs) for approval by the county.Mr. Barry said a review committeewill be created to analyze responsesto the RFPs.

“The issue will be to determine thebest approach to this, whether it willbe a sale of the facility or lease of thefacility,” Mr. Barry said.

Mr. Barry said the process will besimilar to what the county did forRunnells Specialized Hospital, whichwas sold for $26 million in Decemberof 2014.

Mr. Hudak said, based on its workon the sale of Runnells, the UCIA“has demonstrated an expertise onthese types of projects of transitioningthese government-owned facilities toanother sort of usage.”

The board approved the MOU by aunanimous 9-to-0 vote.

During public comments, GarwoodMayor Sara Todisco thanked Free-holders Sergio Granados and RebeccaWilliams for attending the borough’sfirst Dr. Martin Luther King Day ofService in January.

“It was a really special day inGarwood,” she said, adding that morethan 100 people participated in theevent.

She also said she looks forward to hercommunity being able to apply again forthe county’s infrastructure grant. “I knowGarwood is very, very eager to put thatforward to you,” she stated.

Barbara Krause of Cranford addressedthe cell tower proposed for the Cranfordcampus of Union County College.

“Have all the alternatives been ex-hausted for the locations with lessdirect negative impact for Cranfordhomeowners in one of Cranford’smost desirable areas?” Mrs. Krauseasked. “No one expects such an uglyintrusion into a beautiful residentialneighborhood. Why we have to toler-ate this is the question.”

She asked the board to “use allareas at your disposal to eliminate a130-foot cell tower in a beautifulUnion County area.”

During Freeholder comments, Free-holder Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded ofWestfield announced a free lectureon the life of Virginia Apgar, an anes-thesiologist at New York-Presbyte-rian Hospital, who founded the Apgarscore for newly-born babies in 1952.The lecture will be held on Wednes-day, March 27, at 7 p.m., at theWestfield Memorial Library.


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DR. APGAR SUBJECT OF TALK...Inrecognition of Women’s History Month,the Union County Board of ChosenFreeholders is sponsoring “VirginiaApgar, Newborn Babies and the Marchof Dimes” at the Westfield MemorialLibrary on Wednesday, March 27, at 7p.m. David Rose, the National Archi-vist of the March of Dimes, will be thepresenter at this free event. Born inWestfield, Dr. Apgar was an anesthesi-ologist best known for creating theApgar Score, a clinical system for evalu-ating the physical condition of new-borns at birth by measuring their pulse,skin color, reflex, muscle tone and res-piration to determine medical needs.

Jim Lowney/County of UnionFEATURED SPEAKER...Corporate trainer Lena Cohen recently was the fea-tured speaker at the third annual Union County Means Business NetworkingBreakfast, entitled “Building Better Business Relationships,” at Kean Universityin Union. Ms. Cohen is a requested speaker, community activist, executive coachand author. Pictured, from left to right, are: Union County Deputy CountyManager Amy Wagner and Deana Mesaros of the Union County Department ofEconomic Development; Freeholder Kimberly Palmieri-Mouded, Ms. Cohen,Freeholder Chris Hudak, Freeholder Chairwoman Bette Jane Kowalski andFreeholder Vice-Chairman Alexander Mirabella.

Peek at the Week

By Paul Peyton of The Leader/Times

In Politics

Peyton's

Mandelblatt, Gunderman WinCounty Dem Line for AssemblyDemocrats Stacey Gunderman of

New Providence and Lisa Mandelblattof Westfield defeated Jill LaZare ofSummit to garner the Union CountyDemocratic Party line for State As-sembly in the 21st Legislative Districtin this June’s Primary Election, ac-cording to a New Jersey Globe report.A link of the story was posted on theUnion County Democratic website.

Ms. LaZare previously ran for As-sembly in 2013 and 2015 and StateSenate in 2017. Ms. Mandelblatt wasan early candidate for Congress in the7th District in 2018 before droppingout of the race. According to TheGlobe, Ms. Mandelblatt finished firstwith seven votes and Ms. Gundermanwon six. Ms. LaZare received fivevotes, with Carlos Gomez and IleanaMontes each garnering a vote. Eightcandidates ran for the nomination.

Incumbent Republican Senator TomKean, Jr. (R-21st, Westfield) defeatedMs. LaZare, 37,579 to 31,123, in 2017.Ms. LaZare came within 1,674 votesof Mr. Kean in Union County that year.Last year, Democrat Lacey Rzeszowskifinished third behind AssemblymanJon Bramnick (R-21st, Westfield) andAssemblywoman Nancy Munoz (R-21st, Summit), coming within 1,554tallies of Ms. Munoz.

The filing deadline for the Tues-day, June 4 Primary is 4 p.m. onMonday, April 1.

Group Planning RallyAgainst Murphy on March 26“We the People of New Jersey” is

organizing a March in Trenton onTuesday, March 26, in opposition toGovernor Phil Murphy. Among theissues the group lists as reasons forthe march are “taxes are out of con-trol. New Jersey has the highest prop-erty taxes in the nation. Murphy wantsto increase sales tax, gas tax, watertax, and add new tolls,” according towww.wethepeopleofnj.com.

The group also stated that, “Murphyhas declared New Jersey a sanctuarystate, and is pardoning criminals toprevent their deportation. New guncontrol measures stripped law-abid-ing citizens of their property withoutcompensation. Murphy has promisedto sign any and all gun control legisla-tion that hits his desk, even though wehave among the harshest gun controlin the nation,” according to the website.

It also cites New Jersey’s “anti-businessclimate” that is “driving businesses and itsmost prosperous citizens away.”

Assembly Passes Parking TaxFor N.J. Cities of 100,000

Legislation that would allow NewJersey of 100,000 or more in popula-tion to tax parking was approvedMonday by a 41-32 vote in the StateAssembly. The Senate has not votedon the measure.

The bill would allow certain mu-nicipalities to impose a 3.5-percent

parking tax “to fund projects that im-prove pedestrian access to mass tran-sit stations” and to “establish discountsfor municipal residents of up to 8percent against existing parking taxes.”

“Another voting session in Trenton,another new tax on hard-working NewJerseyans. Today it’s another new taxon parking your car. Last month it wasthe rain tax. The Democratic majorityis tone deaf to the financial burdenplaced on average citizens,” said As-sembly Republican Leader JonBramnick (R-21st, Westfield).

The sponsor of the bill, Assembly-woman Shanique Speight (D-29th,Newark) told njbiz.com that the leg-islation will help in communities thatprovide accessibility to mass transit.“We have the airport in our commu-nity, we have theaters, and we havebig corporations. This will help theconstituents in my district,” she said.

Scutari Endorses BookerFor President In 2020

Union County Democratic Chair-man Nicholas Scutari has endorsedU.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) forPresident. “Sen. Booker is a long-time champion for working families,and he is the best candidate to ensureevery American has an opportunity attheir American Dream...I look for-ward to supporting his nominationfor president of the United States,” hesaid in a Facebook post.

CNN Hires Ex-SessionsSpokeswoman as Editor

CNN says it is hiring Sarah IsgurFlores, who served in the Justice De-partment as former Attorney GeneralJeff Sessions' spokeswoman, to be apolitical editor in the Washington Bu-reau. The CNN report said Ms. Floresis a “longtime Republican political op-erative who previously worked for CarlyFiorina, Ted Cruz and Mitt Romney.”

The report stated CNN employeeswere concerned, questioning what Ms.Isgur's role will be and whether her“sudden leap” from the Trump admin-istration to CNN is an “ethical breach.”

GOP Lawmakers Seek toBan Vaping By Minors In N.J.In an effort to address the concerning

and growing popularity of e-cigarettes,also known as vapes, among minors,Republicans, AssemblywomanBettyLou DeCroce (R-26th,Parsippany) and Assemblyman An-thony Bucco (R-25th, Randolph) haveintroduced a bill that would ban thepossession of electronic smoking de-vices by anyone under the age of 21.

New Jersey joined California andHawaii in 2017 to prohibit the sale oftobacco products, including electronicsmoking devices, to anyone under21. However, there is nothing thatprohibits possession by minors.

Under the new legislation, posses-sion of electronic smoking devices bypersons under 21 years of age in NewJersey would be punishable by a fineas a petty disorderly persons offense.

BOE Discusses StudentWellness, HIB PreventionBy ROBYN ORR-GIOFFRE

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

CRANFORD — Concern for stu-dent wellness and prevention of ha-rassment, intimidation and bullying(HIB) incidents were the main focus ofMonday’s Cranford Board of Educa-tion (BOE) meeting.

Superintendent of Schools ScottRubin, Ed.D., gave the BOE an updateon how the first six months of imple-mentation of the strategic plan is go-ing. One of the four goals included inthe strategic plan is to promote con-tinuous improvement, awareness and aculture of student safety and wellness.

Cranford Director of CounselingLisa Burfeindt gave the board high-lights on how this goal is beingachieved in the district. GayleColucci was hired as the districtcoordinator for culture and climateand as the district-wide anti-bully-ing specialist. In this role, Ms.Colucci is responsible for recogniz-ing trends to improve culture andclimate programming, collectingdata about school climate, analyz-ing that data and researching andimplementing the best practices toimprove the overall school climate.

Ms. Burfeindt told the board that hav-ing a district-wide anti-bullying special-ist has allowed the people who were theanti-bullying specialists, like guidance

counselors and social workers, “to goback to what we hired them to do.”

Furthermore, Ms. Burfeindt com-mented that Ms. Colucci is “creating acommon mission” for all of the schoolsin the district in regards to studentwellness.

A student app called STOPit, thatallows anonymous reporting for grades4 through 12, and promotes the idea of“See something, say something,” wasintroduced this year.

The district also is offering a pro-gram called Parent Academy, that in-cludes monthly workshops beginningthis month. Topics include bullyingprevention, character education, sui-cide awareness and prevention, anxi-ety and stress and digital citizenship.

Cranford has been awarded a grantthrough the New Jersey Department ofEducation (NJDOE)/Rutgers grant pro-gram to help build a positive schoolclimate district-wide. This three-yearprogram is called the School ClimateTransformation Project and Ms.Colucci is the facilitator. Through theprogram, a climate survey will be con-ducted and analyzed in order to iden-tify areas that need improvement tocreate an action plan.

Leadership teams have been formedat both Hillside Avenue School andOrange Avenue School to address theacademic, social and emotional life ofstudents. The district also has madeseveral safety upgrades and enhance-ments for the 2018-2019 school year.Safety vestibules with a double-doorentry system will be installed at each ofthe schools, along with security cam-eras and perimeter door alarms. Addi-tionally, new visitor entry protocols cur-rently are being enforced district-wide.

In other board business, the Reporton Harassment, Intimidation and Bul-lying, acquired through a district-wideself assessment and required by theNew Jersey Department of Education,was discussed. According to the bi-annual report, there were 25 HIB re-ports filed in the district, none of whichwas found “substantiated.”

“Our numbers have dropped drasti-cally from last year,” Ms. Burfeindttold the board. Last year there wereover 100 HIB reportings.

Several hires were approved by theboard, including Dennis McCaffery ashead varsity baseball coach, ChristinePemoulie as head varsity softball coachand Michael Dow as head varsity boystrack coach. John Schiano was ap-proved as the head varsity girls trackcoach, Robert Caparruva as the headvarsity tennis coach, William Ray asthe head varsity golf coach, SamanthaBerk as the head varsity girls lacrossecoach and Albert Reinoso as the headvarsity boys lacrosse coach.

Mountainside Board of Ed.Discusses Budget Shortfall

By KATE BROWNESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

MOUNTAINSIDE — The board ofeducation outlined various options toclose a potential $867,005 budget gap atTuesday’s meeting. The proposed budgetanticipates $18,468,813 in expendituresand, assuming the state 2 percent cap ontax increases is not exceeded, approxi-mately $17,619,808 in revenues. Thereare several reasons for the shortfall in-cluding salaries and benefits for severalnew special education teachers, an 11percent increase in the costs of the em-ployee health benefits program, and theanticipated contract settlement with theMountainside Education Association.

Options that are being considered toclose the budget gap include developing an“in house” extended school year programinstead of utilizing the one offered throughBerkeley Heights, reducing the teachingstaff by 1.5 which will save approximately$100,000 in salary and benefits and de-creasing administrative costs and salariesthrough the new organizational structure.

Additional sources of potential rev-enue include approximately $150,000 instate aid, $60,000 from the maintenancereserve fund account, as well as $277,909in projected excess fund balances fromprior years. Several board members ex-pressed reluctance to use the state-autho-rized bank caps or medical benefits waiv-ers as they would require an increase inresidents taxes. Additional budget hear-ings will be conducted over the nextseveral months and the final budget willbe finalized in early spring.

Chief School Administrator (CSA)

Nancy Lubarksy made a detailed presen-tation regarding the district’s goals for2019-2020. According to CSA Lubarsky,the strategic plan for the upcoming yearincludes operationalizing a data drivenprogram, which includes providing teach-ers with additional professional trainingand the continued use of data dashboards.In addition, there will be an assessment ofthe social and emotional well-being of allstudents curriculum, introduced last year.The program is designed to provide stu-dents with the myriad of emotional toolsand skills they need to navigate the chal-lenges of an increasingly complex andacademically rigorous environment.

Furthermore, the district will use thededicated funds, which were raised by theParent-Teacher Organization (PTO), toinstall ceiling mounted projectors in allclassrooms and upgrade the STEM/STEAM labs at Deerfield ElementarySchool. It will also continue to coordinatecurriculum development with BerkeleyHeights to ensure that the schools in eachcommunity have parallel programs so allstudents are equally prepared for the rigorsof Governor Livingston High School.

Richard Noonan, interim Superinten-dent for Berkeley Heights, attended themeeting and updated the public on severalongoing issues. Mr. Noonan advised thatinterviews with candidates for the superin-tendent position were ongoing and the dis-trict was continuing to negotiate the termsof a new contract with the teachers union.

In addition, he provided a detailedoutline of the actions, which have been orwill be taken to increase curriculum coor-dination between Berkeley Heights andMountainside. These include the align-ment of the seventh- and eighth-grademath curriculums, coordinating the Lan-guage Arts programs to support increasedcommonality on the books and authorsstudied, and teachers in the respectiveschools observing each other’s classroomsand collaborating so that they can “takewhat’s best from both communities.” Thecoordination program is presently focusedon the middle schools, but will be ex-panded to grades K-5 this year.

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HEADED TO D.C....The Mayors Council Rahway River Watershed FloodControl heads this week to Washington, D.C., to advocate for moving ahead withthe flood mitigation plan now before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. They willmeet with U.S. Senators Robert Menendez and Cory Booker (both D-NJ) andCongressmen Tom Malinowski (D-7th, Somerville) and Thomas Payne (D-10th,Newark) to urge completion of the evaluation and the start of construction of themitigation projects. The mayors also will visit the Army Corps’ Washington, D.C.headquarters. The 2019 Mayors Council Mayors are: Cranford Mayor PatrickGiblin, Kenilworth Mayor Anthony DeLuca, Millburn Mayor Diane Eglow,Union Mayor Michele Delisfort, Rahway Mayor Raymond Giacobbe, SpringfieldMayor Erica Dubois and Maplewood Mayor Victor DeLuca.

Car Stop Leads to HandgunArrest In Cranford

CRANFORD — The CranfordPolice Department seized marijuana,money and a loaded 9 mm handgunduring the course of a motor vehiclestop on Springfield Avenue last Fri-day, according to a press release is-sued by the department.

According to police, DetectiveWilliam Pietrucha was conductingtraffic enforcement when he noticeda 2017 Mazda being driven care-lessly on Springfield Avenue nearNorth Union Avenue around 1:09 p.m.Det. Pietrucha conducted a motorvehicle stop and, after an investiga-tion on scene, arrested the driver,Shawn Mcleod, 23, of Irvington, forsuspected marijuana and a large sumof cash found in his possession. Dur-ing a search of the vehicle, Det.

Pietrucha then discovered a loaded 9mm handgun with hollow-point am-munition.

Mcleod was subsequently chargedwith unlawful possession of a weapon,possession of hollow-point bullets,possession of under 50 grams of mari-juana and possession of drug para-phernalia. He was processed and re-manded to the Union County jail pend-ing a detention hearing.

“This arrest marks the second gunarrest from a motor vehicle stop we’vehad in the past eight days,” PoliceChief Ryan Greco stated.

Chief Greco went on to praise Det.Pietrucha’s efforts and reiterated,“This is just another example of theeveryday dangers our officers areexposed to.”

UC Means Green GrantsApplications Now Open

COUNTY – The Union CountyBoard of Chosen Freeholders has an-nounced that applications are nowopen for the 2019 Union CountyMeans Green community gardengrants program. The program fostersimproved nutrition as well as newopportunities for education, recre-ation, social activities, communityservice and neighborhood beautifi-cation through the experience of grow-ing fresh produce in local neighbor-hoods.

The Union County Means GreenCommunity Garden Grants programis funded by the Freeholder Board.It was first established in 2016.Since then, it has helped to trans-form bare fields and empty lots intothriving centers for community ac-tivities, with thousands of poundsof fresh produce raised for localconsumption and donated to localfood pantries.

Any Union County municipalityor local nonprofit organization with501(c)3 tax exempt status is wel-come to apply for a grant. Otherlocal civic groups may apply by des-ignating a grant partner. The grantpartner must be a Union Countymunicipality or local 501(c)3 orga-nization. Groups organized as LLCsor other commercial entities are noteligible to apply.

The grant covers a wide variety ofgarden types. In addition to tradi-tional soil-based gardens, eligiblegarden types include, but are not lim-ited to, hydroponic gardens, rooftopgardens, vertical gardens, aeroponic

gardens, mushroom gardens, milkcrate gardens, pollinator gardens(must include food-producing plants),rain gardens (must include both pol-linator-attracting and food-producingplants), hay bale gardens, forest gar-dens and more.

Applications for a 2019 grant aredue by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, April 2.Union County will notify grant recipi-ents on or about Thursday, April 11.

The non-profit organizationGroundwork Elizabeth has beenawarded a contract to administerUnion County Means Green on be-half of the Freeholder Board.

For more details and adownloadable application form, visitucnj.org/garden-grants, or contactGroundwork Elizabeth at (908) 289-0262 [email protected].

County to Present ProgramOn Transgender IndividualsCOUNTY — Parents and com-

munity members are invited to at-tend a free educational presentation,“What Parents Need to Know aboutTransgender Individuals” being heldat 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, atthe John H. Stamler Police Academyon the Union County Vo-Tech Cam-pus, 1776 Raritan Road, ScotchPlains.

The purpose of the presentation isto help parents and other adults betterunderstand gender identity andtransgender issues, and to provide tipson how to speak with children and

adolescents about these sensitive top-ics, as well as addressing any questionsor concerns any attendee may have.

The presenter, Paula C. RodriguezRust of Spectrum Diversity, LLC, isa diversity educator and bullyingprevention consultant servingschools, workplaces and commu-nity and professional groups state-wide.

“Parents want to know what to doif a child’s classmate is transgender,what to do if his/her own child istransgender,” Ms. Rodriguez Rustsaid. “My goal is to help parentsbetter understand what it means tobe a transgender person, and howwe know if a child is transgender.”

“Today’s youth are exploring theirown gender identity in new ways, andit is important to understand theirperspectives to the greatest degreepossible,” added Commission Co-Chairman Mark Spivey, director ofcommunications for the Union CountyProsecutor’s Office.

The program, free and open to thepublic, is co-sponsored by the Office ofthe Union County Superintendent ofSchools and the Union County Officeof LGBTQ. For more information, con-tact Karen Positan, Union County Hu-man Rights Commission, [email protected] or (908) 889-9028.

.

Bill to Prevent Overcharging of E-ZCustomers Passes Assembly

Columbia Bank to Open 50th N.J. Branch;Newark Office Features Full Service

FAIR LAWN — Thomas J. Kemly,President and CEO of ColumbiaBank, is pleased to announce the grandopening of their 50th full-servicebranch location in New Jersey, lo-cated at 905 Broad Street in Newark.The new full-service branch is man-aged by Ivetliz Army.

Official “Grand Opening” festivi-ties will begin at 9 a.m. on Monday,March 4, with special promotions, anexclusive free gift given to the first100 visitors and complimentary pro-motional items, while supplies last.

Columbia’s grand opening promo-tional specials include Free BusinessBanking and Advantage Plus Check-ing, each with the potential for $300account opening bonuses; special highyield Certificates of Deposit (CDs),and a Kid’s Count Savings Accountwith a matching contribution of up to$100. As part of Columbia’s commu-nity support efforts, for each new ac-count opened and meeting certain de-posit requirements through May 6,2019, Columbia Bank will donate $10to one of three Newark-based charitiesor community organizations. In addi-tion to the donations, the three desig-nated organizations will receive addedbonuses of $2,500, $1,000 or $500,depending on the final vote totals.

According to Mr. Kemly, “We lookforward to bringing full-service per-sonal and business banking to New-ark and its surrounding communities.Columbia prides itself on offering animpressive selection of convenient,value-added banking services...fromtraditional consumer passbook,checking and savings accounts...toloans and residential mortgages...toonline and mobile banking with freeapplications that turn your mobile

device into your personal 24/7banker...to commercial and SBAloans, lines of credit and businessbanking services designed to helpany business grow.” The bank alsooffers retirement, health savings,wealth management and title services.

Conveniently located, Columbia’sNewark office has been designedaround an enhanced customer expe-rience featuring the latest in bankingtechnology, including a video mes-sage screen, digital rate display andan “Intelligent ATM,” plus a moderninterior design, low profile serviceunits, private conference areas and acoin counter. Mr. Kemly also notedthat “visitors to our new branch willalways receive quality services, sec-ond to none!”

Serving New Jersey since 1927,Columbia Bank has earned a 5-Star(“Superior”) Rating from Bauer Fi-nancial, Inc., their highest perfor-mance ranking, indicating that thebank is both financially sound andhas the resources to deal with a vari-ety of economic conditions.

About Columbia BankHeadquartered in Fair Lawn, N.J.,

Columbia Bank has an asset base ofmore than $6.6 billion and 50 full-service offices throughout New Jer-sey. Columbia offers a wide range ofconsumer and commercial products,including online and mobile banking,localized lending centers as well astitle, investment and wealth manage-ment services. For more informationabout Columbia Bank’s full line ofproducts and services, visit theirwebsite at columbiabankonline.com.

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RECEIVING U.S., COUNTY FLAGS...Union County Freeholder ChairwomanBette Jane Kowalski joins U.S. Congressman Tom Malinowski, fourth from left,in presenting flags to members of the Model Railroad Club. Rep. Malinowskipresented an American flag that was flown over the U.S. Capitol in Washington,D.C., while Freeholder Kowalski gave the club a Union County flag. The ModelRailroad Club, founded in 1949, is one of the largest model railroad clubs inNorth America. It is located in Lenape Park in Union.

TRENTON – Legislation that callsfor the immediate notification of E-ZPass customers of a toll fee cleared thefull Assembly on Monday by a 71-4vote. Specifically, the bill (A-4971)would require the New Jersey Turn-pike Authority and the South JerseyTransportation Authority to install andoperate, in each lane of every toll plazathat uses E-ZPass, a device that trans-mits immediate notification to a cus-tomer with a system account whenpassing through the toll plaza, to alert

the customer that the system has regis-tered the customer’s account.

The notification may occur by elec-tronic mail, a text message sent directlyto a customer’s mobile device, orthrough a mobile application. The billwould require the installation and op-eration of devices at toll plazas on thestate’s three toll roads, the New JerseyTurnpike, the Garden State Parkwayand the Atlantic City Expressway.

The measure now goes to the Sen-ate for further review.


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Letters to the EditorABCDICTIONOPQRSTDECEPTIONUVWXYZ

TM

DDDDDiction Deception

Letters tothe Editor

Below are four arcane words, eachwith four definitions – only one is cor-rect. The others are made up. Are yousharp enough to discern this deception ofdiction?

If you can guess one correctly – goodguess. If you get two – well-read indi-vidual. If you get three – word expert. Ifyou get all four – You must have a lot offree time!

All words and correct definitionscome from the board game DictionDeception.

Answers to last week’s arcane words.1. Vanglo – The West Indian name for

sesame2. Dicastery – In ancient Athens, a

court of justice3. Vansire – A small, weasel-like ani-

mal of Madagascar4. Rapparee – A plunderer or robber

DEAURATE1. To put on a pedestal; adore2. Having a golden color3. In mining, the process of removing,

filtering or separating gold from its impu-rities

4. To convert or change the characterGOMPHIASIS

1. Looseness of the teeth2. Constant wateriness of the eyes3. Inflammation of a mucous mem-

brane; especially of the nose or throat4. The state of being afflicted with

boilsDAYSMAN

1. A doorman or valet2. An umpire or mediator3. A street vender; a seller of fruits and

vegetables4. A small suitcase

POCOSIN1. A carefree person2. A mountain retreat or resort3. A marsh or swamp4. A tobacco or money pouch

Rezoning Actions By Westfield MayorAnd Council Boggles The Mind

The only thing worse than the planthat the Mayor and Town Councildevised to prevent a builder fromlegally subdividing a lot on New En-gland Drive was Mr. Rossi’s one-sided coverage in his February 14tharticle written for your paper. After arequest for a conforming subdivisionhad been denied due to an incompleteapplication, the Mayor and the coun-cil decided to ram through a rezoningof the block from RS-12 to RS-16 inorder to prevent what would other-wise be a routine subdivision. Thearticle stated that Town Planner DonSammet analyzed the properties thathad “average lot frontage” of 122feet.

Averages can be skewed by a fewproperties that are well above theaverage. In fact, a study by Sammetalso showed that three of the 24 lotsbeing rezoned are corner lots anddon’t even have New England Driveaddresses. The two corner lots withLamberts Mill Road addresses andthe one with a Willow Grove Park-way address are contributing to the“average” width being over 100 feet.

That study by Sammet also showedthat nine of the 24 lots don’t meet the90-foot minimum width requirementsof the new RS-16 zone, nine of the 24don’t meet the 16,000-square-footsize requirements, and 11 of the 24don’t meet the minimum depth re-quirements. It’s bad enough that atleast 11 of the 24 lots won’t meet thenew RS-16 designation. Worse, as anattorney at the meeting pointed out,we don’t even know how many of thelots became non-conforming underthe RS-16 designation since it wasn’tstated whether the 11 that fail to meetthe minimum depth requirement alsoencompass those nine that don’t meeteither the minimum square footageand/or the minimum depth. Despitethese issues, there was absolutely nodiscussion by the mayor and the coun-cil before they voted to approve therezoning.

Based on the number of non-con-forming lots under the re-zoning, it

boggles the mind that any competentreporter wouldn’t challenge MayorBrindle’s comment that the 1991 zon-ing not designating the block as RS-16 was an oversight. Nor did yourreporter bother to ask how many ofthe lots will fail to conform to the RS-16 designation, or how many of thecurrent homes will now fail to adhereto one or more of the new zoningrequirements, including side yard set-backs.

It also boggles the mind that somany of my neighbors think that hav-ing a non-conforming and more re-strictive lot is a good idea and will bea positive for the block and theirhome values.

Louis AckermanWestfield

The $42-Million Tax Westfielders PayTo Union County Is Out Of Control

Good Afternoon FreeholderMouded.

To be clear, I am not asking forUnion County to write Westfield aproperty tax check as I know this goesagainst current tax laws. What I amasking is simply that Union Countycredit us back this amount (or portionthereof) if said Union County proper-ties in Westfield were occupied bycommercial entities (Reducing ourtax burden from $42 million to $41.3million).

However, you are correct when yousay I have a misunderstanding. WhatI don’t understand, like countlessWestfield residents, is our out of con-trol taxes we pay to Union County forvery little value. (Certainly not any-where near $42 million in value.)

But perhaps me and thousands ofother Westfield residents have thiswrong and there is great value.

As a next step, I would ask that theappropriate people from Union

County attend one of our upcomingcouncil meetings and present howthis $42 million is spent/allocated.Because what does not ring true areyour comments that the Union CountyFreeholders “are a team committed toserving all 500,000 plus residents ofthis county” and “Our programs ben-efit all parts of the county, with no oneleft behind.”

Again, maybe we have this wrongand the county coming in will demon-strate otherwise.

I have copied our Town Adminis-trator, Jim Gildea, who will workwith you to schedule time during pre-sentations portion of our councilneetings.

Thanks in advance!Frank Arena

Westfield Councilman

P.S. I’ve also copied Council-woman Neylan who is the Vice-Chairof the Finance Policy Committee.

Westfield’s Kim Mouded – NewFreeholder, Same Result

The editorial exchange betweenCouncilman Frank Arena of Westfieldand newly-elected county freeholder,Kim Mouded, has been a must readfor concerned Union County taxpay-ers. My take away so far is that Coun-cilman Arena understands the ridicu-lous tax burden the county freeholderboard imposes on us residents. KimMouded on the other hand is sadlynot the breath of fresh air people hadhoped for, but appears to be just thelatest replacement gear in the 9-0Democrat Freeholder tax-and-spendmachine that has controlled the countyfrom Elizabeth since the late 90’s.

Frank Arena is doing his best toplay David against the tone-deafGoliath that is the freeholder board,attempting to restore power to thepeople of his town by refusing to givethe county the money they’ve de-manded. Meanwhile, Kim Moudeddoesn’t see any issue with the $42-million levy imposed on her Town ofWestfield. In her first few weeks inoffice, I guess she doesn’t see thevalue in reducing the overlapping andlikely redundant duties carried out byboth the Sheriff’s Department andCounty Police or investigating waysthe county Department of PublicWorks can do a better job of workingwith municipal DPW’s to reduce du-plicate services or to better leverageeach other.

It’s also clear that Kim isn’t inter-ested in the value of bringing in privateenterprise, and how much of a pivotal

an impact that would have on the localeconomy. In New York, local Demo-crats scared away billions of dollarsand tons of jobs when they ran Ama-zon out of town. Here in Union County,Kim and the Democrats don’t seem tobe faring much better to bring in newbusinesses that could help balance ourcounty checkbook. In a town reelingfrom the loss of Lerner David, theaddition of a new corporate residentwould mean a lot to the taxpayers ofWestfield, but with the county tax bur-den as it is, we just aren’t that attractiveto new business.

Freeholder Mouded lauds the di-versity of the freeholder board com-ing from different towns, ethnicities,races, religious backgrounds, etc. andthat’s a great thing reflective of UnionCounty. Unfortunately, that’s wherethe diversity ends with this board, asthe approach to running county gov-ernment is the same among all ninemembers – no challenge or differ-ence of opinion to the usual order ofbusiness and burgeoning taxes. Ithought there could be a chance thatKim Mouded might break the moldof Chairman “Nick Scutari’s” wingof the Democratic Party, but after herlast editorial, she’s proven herself asmore of the same, and that sucks forthe rest of us county residents.

Joe SarnoScotch Plains

Former Garwood Councilman2018 Candidate for Union County

Freeholder

I Decline To Take TheAnnual Stipend

I read with great interest your edi-torial last week about state legislationto prohibit local elected officials fromreceiving retroactive pay raises. Iagree that no elected official shouldbe able to give themselves retroactiveraises and that raises should be lim-ited to percentage caps. Politicsshould be about service, not self-enrichment.

When comparing the salaries oflocal elected officials, the editorialstated that “the five members of theScotch Plains Township Council, in-cluding the mayor, each receive a$6,000 annual stipend.” While it istrue that I am entitled to the $6,000annual stipend, I want to remind The[SP-F] Times and our residents that Ivoluntarily decline to take the annualstipend. I don’t even cash the manda-tory $1 check that the township mustsend me each year. I believe that aslong as Scotch Plains operates underits current form of government withpart-time elected officials, we shouldchange our salary ordinance to matchneighboring towns like Westfield andFanwood where elected officials re-ceive $1 annually.

At a recent event, a resident ap-proached me and thanked me for be-ing a part-time mayor who serves fulltime. I appreciated the recognition,and it makes me want to work harderfor the people of Scotch Plains. ScotchPlains is at a pivotal junction withimplementing downtown redevelop-ment and affordable housing, and Iwill continue to serve the people ofScotch Plains with 100 percent dedi-cation at no cost to taxpayers.

Al SmithMayor of Scotch Plains

Cranford Residents Should FeelFree to Comment on ‘Reimagining’

State Legislators Need to AddressAffordable-Housing Issues

The old saying, “you can’t fight city hall” appar-ently seems to be running true in Cranford when itcomes to residents expressing their views on thecontroversial “Reimagining” plan being proposedby Superintendent of Schools Scott Rubin, Ed.D.Over the past few months we have received a num-ber of emails on this topic. Some have accused thisnewspaper of somehow being in cahoots with oppo-nents of the proposal. Nothing could be further fromthe truth. We have not taken a position onReimagining.

The main purpose for the Reimagining proposal,according to school officials, is to create a tuition-free full-day kindergarten in the township. The dis-trict currently offers a fee-based kindergarten pro-gram at a cost of $680 per month per child. Cranfordcurrently has eight schools: Cranford High School,Bloomingdale Avenue School (kindergarten to grade2), Brookside Place School (kindergarten to grade5), Livingston Avenue School (grades 3 to 5), Or-ange Avenue School (grades 3 to 8), Walnut AvenueSchool (kindergarten to grade 2), Hillside AvenueSchool (kindergarten to grade 8) and Lincoln School(home to the district’s achievement programs.)

The latest proposal includes 10 different plans.The original proposal would create four kindergar-ten to grade 2 schools, one school for grades 3 to 5,and one middle school for grades 6 to 8.

Reimagining would do away with neighborhoodschools for grades 3 to 8 and would cost the averageassessed home $267 in taxes per year. Plan 10,which provides full-day kindergarten and additionalspaces at each elementary school, would cost $362in annual taxes. Plans 2 through 9 would range from$415 to $518 in annual taxes. Each total cost with all10 plans includes a $170 annual tax for a capitalimprovement bond for facility upgrades that havebeen deferred.

Members of the community who either oppose orsupport the plan are nervous about being quoted onthis story. Of the nine residents we reached out to fora story published in our February 21 issue, only fourwould talk to us. Why is that? Also, what is the boardof education’s position on this plan?

We welcome comments from Cranford Board ofEducation members as well as residents stating theirposition on Reimagining Cranford Public Schools.Do residents without kids differ on the issue?

The wide-ranging and complex issues surround-ing affordable housing in New Jersey remained inthe spotlight locally last week, as elected municipalofficials discussed petitioning state legislators toaddress current mandates regarding towns’ afford-able-housing obligations.

Since 2015 the courts have set forth guidelines forNew Jersey municipalities regarding affordable-hous-ing quotas, compelling towns to accept higher-densityresidential developments than they might otherwisehave permitted or else face builder’s remedy lawsuits.

In multiple communities within our readershiparea, such developments already have been pro-posed, are pending or completed. Among them arelarge-scale residential projects in Westfield, ScotchPlains, Cranford, Garwood and Mountainside, witha portion of the units within these developmentsdesignated as affordable.

While acknowledging that the need for affordablehousing in New Jersey is a valid one, municipalgovernment leaders and taxpayers alike are deeplyconcerned about the scope of the developmentscoming to their communities and their potentialimpact upon traffic, school districts, infrastructureand emergency services.

In Scotch Plains, an affordable-housing advisorycommittee was formed two months ago to advise thetownship governing body on affordable-housingmatters. As its inaugural goals, the committee hopesto raise public awareness about how the townshipwill fulfill its obligation, educate residents on the

process and formulate a plan to lobby state lawmak-ers to come up with a solution that better enablescommunities to manage their affordable-housingresponsibilities.

During his address to the Union County YoungRepublicans last week, Scotch Plains MayorAlexander Smith, who chairs his township’s afford-able-housing advisory committee, advocated for abipartisan effort among municipalities to have thestate Legislature — rather than the courts — overseetowns’ affordable-housing obligations.

Both Mayor Smith and Deputy Mayor JoshuaLosardo, who is vice-chairman of the advisory panel,expressed these sentiments at the February 13 meet-ing of the committee. Mayor Smith said that whilethe township government supports affordable hous-ing, there needs to be a “reasonable process” formeeting this need. Mr. Losardo said the committeehopes state legislators will come up with a solutionto affordable-housing obligations that is more “town-specific” instead of what he characterized as a “one-size-fits-all” philosophy being applied by the courts.

We concur that a bipartisan effort is needed to dealwith affordable housing in New Jersey, and also thatstate legislators need to actively address issues thatcan potentially create hardships for municipalitiesas they struggle to meet their obligations now and infuture years. Affordable housing is a necessity anda responsibility that communities share, but one thatshould be achievable without sacrificing quality oflife.

Report on the Impacts of a PartialShutdown of the Trans-Hudson Tunnel

NEW YORK -- The Regional PlanAssociation leadership is heading toWashington, D.C. this week to presentits findings on Capitol Hill and callfor Gateway Tunnel funding.

A shutdown without a new tunnelwould cost the national economy $16billion, reduce home values by $22 bil-lion, and lead to decreased economicproductivity, job losses, increased con-gestion and crashes across the north-eastern United States.

Shutting down the Hudson River tun-nels to repair the damage caused bySuperstorm Sandy without having newtunnels already built would have far-reaching consequences across many sec-tors of our regional and nationaleconomy, according to a new report re-leased by civic organization RegionalPlan Association and Arup, a multina-tional professional services firm.

The report, entitled A Preventable Cri-sis: The Economic and Human Costs ofa Hudson River Rail Tunnel Shutdown,details the human and economic toll of apartial Hudson River tunnel shutdownwithout the alternative that a new, fully-funded Gateway project would provide.

The report’s findings are bleak, and amongthe most robust research on the implicationsof not fully funding Gateway to date:

A partial shutdown of the tunnelswould mean dramatically expanded com-mute and travel times and increased con-gestion on public transportation and al-ready stressed roadways and airports,leading to increased business and con-sumer costs, job loss, home devaluation,and health risks.

Effects of a four-year shutdown wouldcost the national economy $16 billion,$1.5 billion in federal tax revenue, and$1 billion in state tax revenue outside of

New York and Jersey.“This report is the most definitive

wakeup call about what we could face ifeven just one existing tunnel is taken outof service and the dire implications of notmoving forward immediately on the Gate-way project,” stated Fanwood MayorColleen Mahr, president of the New Jer-sey League of Municipalities. “Every mu-nicipality, whether a large urban area orsmall suburban town, will suffer steepdeclines in home values, revenue, andability to attract businesses and invest-ments. Thousands of new transit-orientedresidential units will lose their appeal,further devastating communities anddowntown business districts. The poten-tial to devastate our region and millionsof residents, workers and visitors is fright-ening and very real. The existing tunnelsare on borrowed time.”About Regional Plan Association:The Regional Plan Association is an

independent, not-for-profit civic orga-nization that develops and promotesideas to improve the economic health,environmental resiliency and quality oflife of the New York metropolitan area.We conduct research on transportation,land use, housing, good governance andthe environment. We advise cities, com-munities and public agencies. And weadvocate for change that will contributeto the prosperity of all residents of theregion. Since the 1920s, RPA has pro-duced four landmark plans for the re-gion, the most recent was released inNovember 2017. For more information,please visit www.rpa.org orfourthplan.org.

Raritan Valley LineMayor Robert Fazen, Bound Brook

Mayor Colleen Mahr, FanwoodMayor Shelley Brindle, Westfield

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To Defend Our Nation Against AllEnemies Foreign And/Or Domestic

Mobile Meals Of Westfield AreNeighbors Helping Neighbors

As the newly elected board presi-dent of the Mobile Meals of Westfield,I’d like to thank Mr. Corbin for hisshout out to our service in the Febru-ary 7, 2019 Leader editorial. UnlikeMeals on Wheels, which is a federalprogram for which one must qualify,our daily meal delivery service is alocal, community-based service avail-able to any of our neighbors inWestfield, Clark, Cranford, Fanwood,Garwood, Mountainside and ScotchPlains.

If your readers know anyone whowould benefit from having hot mealsdelivered, please call us at (908) 233-6146.

With only two employees, our or-ganization is run primarily by volun-teers like myself. We are always look-ing for new drivers. The routes start at10:45 a.m. and usually take a littleover an hour. Even one day a monthwould be helpful as we have six dailyroutes requiring volunteer drivers. Ifyou have that time available and wouldlike to check out this community ser-vice, please email us [email protected].

I have been driving for MobileMeals for almost 20 years and findmy visits with my clients both fulfill-ing and enjoyable. We also currently

have a board position available as ourfundraising chairperson; if interested,readers should contact me at the samemobile meals email address above.

Finally, while our clients do pay forour service, the fees cover just shy of60 percent of our costs. We do re-ceive several generous grants, how-ever donations are what keep us aliveand allow us to keep our meal feeslow for our clients. If you can’t offertime as a driver, perhaps a donationcould be your way of contributing tothis small, local community service.Donations payable to Mobile Mealsof Westfield may be sent to MobileMeals, 170 Elm St, Westfield, N.J.07090.

We are neighbors helping neigh-bors, as Mr. Corbin noted, and wel-come any and all participation — anhour a month, a small donation —every effort matters to our houseboundfriends. Thanks again to The Leaderfor shedding light on our organiza-tion.

Ruth MaloneyWestfield

To the Atheist Scientist WithStardust In His Eyes

To certain readers the subject mat-ter of atheism versus Godism doesnot make for leisure reading. An athe-ist and scientist, who justifiably claimsto have come from stardust, respondedto my previous letter in which I pro-posed that teachers have an obliga-tion to broaden the subject matterregarding science and evolution alongwith their profound accompanyingmysteries where the scientific method,that truth can only be known by quan-titative methods, cannot remotely takeus. It was as simple as that.

An atheistic scientist, instead, withclassic sophomoric and faulty rea-soning, delivered a group-think, boilerplate atheistic defense of the gloriesof the scientific method. He may havecome from stardust, but somehow itgot into his eyes.

He also stated that he has a moralobligation to encourage his childrento be atheists and not, instead, to havean open mind. I’m curious to knowabout their mother? Does she agree?

In order to counter the growinginfluence of atheism in our educa-tional and media systems, I wrote thebook, Maybe-Ism: The Emoji Brainin Search of a Personal God, in which,emphasizing an empirical approach,I attempt to persuasively counter theclever, emotion-based arguments ofatheists. I would suggest that thestardust man read it, if he is so in-clined.

If not, I was impressed by his lackof vituperative language common tohis species. He seems like a nice guywho merits salvation. Some believethat Dante’s Purgatory may existwhere good, but misguided folks,including well – meaning atheists,can spend many years there untilprayers by their loved ones will, ledby the great Roman poet, Virgil, de-liver them through the pearly gatesof heaven where Beatrice will takeover and introduce them to a per-sonal God.

Many distinguished scientists, suchas Francis Collins, the director of the

National Institutes of Health, who isalso a physician, fervently believe ina personal God. Also, David Hume,the great atheistic philosopher whoranks as the number one favoriteamong Western philosophers fol-lowed by my favorite, Aristotle, in amoment of clarity wrote, “Certitudeis for fools.”

Parents must be aware that athe-ists, now largely unopposed andspurred by rapidly expanding desta-bilizing technology in all walks oflife, are increasingly cleverly infect-ing and undermining the minds ofthe young. The parents must gathertogether, as many advocate groupsare doing in our country with a myriadof objectives and step to the plate todisrobe the hormonal, undisciplinedatheistic arguments. And the goodnews is that it’s not difficult to do.All that is required is the will to enterthe battle.

Stephen DeFelice, M.D.Westfield

Democratic Representative TomaszP. Malinowski has made a public spec-tacle of himself just like the “GreatBrain” Alexandria Ocasio Cortez byciting the U.S. Constitution in hisopposition of President Donald J.Trump’s building of a wall to safe-guard our nation against the humansewage aka the alleged refugeecaravan’s attempting to invade oursouthern border.

Malinowski forgets that PresidentTrump as Commander in Chief has aduty to defend our sovereign nationagainst all enemies, foreign and/ordomestic.

Even Malinowski’s homeland ofPoland has enacted a strict immigra-tion and border defense policy whichresulted in a peaceful environmentand holiday season for its citizenswhile all across Europe there wereriots, terrorist incidents, and mayhem

from the human sewage posing asrefugees in their respective nations.All of our ancestors including mine,from the Ukraine and Sicily, camehere to seek a better life, learn thelanguage, and contribute to our na-tion through hard work andassimiltiation. The human sewage thatMalinowski and his liberal Demo-cratic carpetbaggers want to welcomein are nothing more than a permanentunderclass dependent uponMalinowski and co.’s mess of pottagein exchange for votes.

In closing, Malinowski’s and co.’slogic can be summed up by what writerRobert A. Heinlein opined as “Zeroplus Zero equals Zero. It’s all veryfunny if only one knew how to laugh.”

James KurdylaClark

Letters to the Editor

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PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

UNION COUNTY, NEW JERSEYBOARD OF EDUCATION

NOTICE OF REBID

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that theWestfield Board of Education will receivebids for Interior Door Replacement andRelated Work at Three District Schools,together with all work incidental hereto, inaccordance with the requirements of thedrawings and specifications prepared byFraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie, P.C. (FVHD)Architects-Planners, FVHD Project No.5073B,G,J.

BIDS WILL BE RECEIVED FOR:SINGLE OVERALL CONTRACT

(C008 OR C009 WITH C047)

Sealed bids are due by March 19,2019, 2:00 PM to the Westfield Board ofEducation, attention of Ms. Dana Sullivan,Business Administrator, Room 101, 302Elm Street, Westfield, New Jersey 07090,and will be publicly opened and read im-mediately thereafter.

Bid Documents for the proposed Workare on file at the office of the Architect,FVHD, 1515 Lower Ferry Road, Trenton,New Jersey 08618, www.fvhdpc.com, andmay be inspected by prospective biddersduring regular business hours. Any biddershould contact the Architect’s Office at(609) 883-7101 to confirm availability ofdocuments. Bid Documents will be avail-able from the Architect for a non-refund-able fee of $100.00 for disk or upon de-posit of $150.00 for each paper set, checkspayable to Fraytak Veisz Hopkins Duthie,P.C. If contractor requests shipping, a di-rect shipping account number must beprovided to the Architect and for papersets, a separate non-refundable handlingfee of $25.00 per set payable in advance.Deposits will be refunded only if the biddocuments are returned in whole in goodcondition, bound in proper order, un-marked and returned within ten (10) daysafter the opening of bids, by a Biddersubmitting a bona fide bid. Bidders shouldonly rely on original digital and paper ver-sions of the bidding contract documentsobtained directly from the Architect’s of-fice. All questions must be sent only viamail or facsimile at (609) 883-2694 withthe job number referenced.

Bid Proposal shall be submitted in du-plicate (one original and one copy) in aseparate sealed envelope addressed tothe owner; bearing the name and addressof the bidder written on the face of theenvelope; and clearly marked “BID” withthe contract title and/or bid number on theoutside of the envelope and must be ac-companied by a Certified Check, Cashier’sCheck or Bid Bond drawn to the order ofthe Owner for not less than ten percent(10%) of the amount of the bid, but in nocase in excess of $20,000.00; and must bedelivered to the above place on or beforethe hour named. The Board of Education

and the Architect assume no responsibilityfor bids mailed or misdirected in delivery.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18A:18A-26, thebidder must be pre-qualified by the NewJersey Division of Property Managementand Construction (DPMC) prior to the datethat bids are received if the cost of the workexceeds $20,000. Any bid submitted un-der the terms of New Jersey statutes notincluding a copy of a valid and active Pre-qualification/Classification Certificate maybe rejected as being non-responsible tobid requirements.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 18:18A-25, eachproposal shall be accompanied by a Con-sent of Surety from a Surety Companystating it will provide each bidder with aseparate Performance and PaymentBonds, each in the amount of 100% of thecontract sum. Also, Surety agrees to fur-nish Bidder with a Maintenance Bond inrequired form. The Consent of Surety shallbe executed by an approved surety com-pany authorized to do business in theState of New Jersey and in accordancewith N.J.S.A. 2A-44-143, and 2A:44-144and with the three highest rating catego-ries of rating companies nationally recog-nized and listed as per Appendix A (go towww.nj.gov/dobi/surety.htm).

Bidding shall be in conformance with theapplicable requirements of N.J.S.A.18A:18A-1 et seq. the “Public SchoolsContracts Law.”

This project is subject to the New JerseyPrevailing Wage Act, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.27et seq.

Per N.J.S.A. 52:32-44(b) all contractorsand subcontractors must provide a Busi-ness Registration Certificate prior to con-tract award.

“The Public Works Contractor Registra-tion Act”, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.48 et seq. (P.L.199, c.238) requires bidders and their sub-contractors to be registered with the NewJersey Department of Labor and WorkforceDevelopment and to possess a currentcertificate by said Department indicatingcompliance with the Act prior to the timeand date that bids are received.

All bidders must comply with the require-ments Laws Against DiscriminationN.J.S.A. 10:5-1 et seq., Affirmative ActionRegulations, N.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et seq. (P.L.1975, c.127), N.J.S.A. 17:27-1.1 et seq.and N.J.A.C. 6A:7-1.8. An Initial ProjectWorkforce Report will be required from thesuccessful bidder (Form AA-201).

No bid may be withdrawn for a period of60 days after the date set for the openingthereof. The right is reserved to reject allbids or to waive any minor informalities inthe bidding in accordance with applicablelaw.

BY ORDER OF THE WESTFIELDBOARD OF EDUCATION, UNIONCOUNTY, NEW JERSEY

Dana Sullivan,Business Administrator

Board Secretary1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $115.77

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICEBOROUGH OF GARWOOD

PLANNING BOARD

CASE # PB19-02

In accordance with the ordinances of theBorough of Garwood, and the statutes ofthe State of New Jersey, NOTICE is herebygiven that 345 South Avenue, LLC, Appli-cant, has filed a request for waiver of SitePlan application (Case #PB19-2) pursu-ant to Borough of Garwood Land UseCode §16-73. The Applicant seeks tochange the use of the second and thirdfloors from office to residential/apartment,a permitted use. The application does notchange the foot print of the existing struc-ture. The property is designated Block404, Lot 3, and in the General BusinessDistrict as shown on the Borough ofGarwood Tax Map. The property has anaddress of 345 South Avenue, Garwood,New Jersey.

The Planning Board will conduct a publichearing on this application on March 13,2019 at 7:30 P.M. in the Council Chambersof the Municipal Building, 403 South Av-enue, Garwood, New Jersey. Any personor persons affected by this application willhave an opportunity to present any objec-tions to the application. The Board does,however, have the right to exclude repeti-tious testimony.

All documents relating to this applicationmay be inspected by the public, Mondaythrough Friday, between the hours of 9:00AM to 4:00 PM in the office of the MunicipalClerk, 403 South Avenue, Garwood, NewJersey.

Applicant:345 South Avenue, LLC

1515 East Elizabeth AvenueLinden, New Jersey 07036

Attorney for Applicant:Richard J. Brightman, Esq.23 North Avenue, EastCranford New Jersey 070161 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $39.27

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF CRANFORDCRANFORD, NEW JERSEY

NOTICE OF CONTRACTEXTENSION AWARD

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:11-15, theTownship of Cranford has been autho-rized to enter into an extension of a con-tract agreement between the Township ofCranford and Bagel Giant Café & Cater-ing. Such Contract and Resolution No.2019-130 are available for public inspec-tion at the office of the Municipal Clerk:

Awarded to: Bagel Giant Café & Cater-ing

Property Address: 31 Newark Bay Court,Bayonne, New Jersey 07002

Period: One Year Extension for the 2019Season

Date: February 19, 2019Patricia Donahue, RMC

Township Clerk1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $20.40

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF CRANFORDCRANFORD, NEW JERSEY

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

The Township Clerk will receive propos-als for the concession rights for the CranfordCanoe Club in the Township of Cranfordon March 14th, 2019 at 10:00 am, in Room108, in the Municipal Building, 8 Spring-field Avenue, Cranford, New Jersey.

Specifications and proposal forms maybe obtained in the Office of the TownshipClerk, 8 Springfield Avenue, Cranford, NewJersey between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

All proposals shall be submitted in anopaque sealed envelope clearly marked,“Concession Rights for the Cranford Ca-noe Club”, with the applicant’s name, ad-dress and telephone number.

Proposals must be accompanied by acertified check or cashier’s check payableto the Township of Cranford in the amountof $1,000.00.

Applicants are required to comply withthe Affirmative Action requirements ofN.J.S.A. 10:5-31 et seq. and N.J.A.C. 17:27.

The Township of Cranford reserves theright to reject any or all proposals as in itsjudgment may be deemed to be in thebest interest of the Township of Cranford.The Township of Cranford also reservesthe right to waive any minor irregularity ortechnicality.

Patricia DonahueTownship Clerk

1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $31.62


ORDINANCE NO. 19-02

ORDINANCE OF THE BOR-OUGH COUNCIL OF THEBOROUGH OF GARWOOD,COUNTY OF UNION, NEWJERSEY ADOPTING ANAMENDMENT TO CERTAINPROVISIONS OF THE LANDUSE ORDINANCE TO REVISEZONING REGULATIONSPERTAINING TO EATINGAND DRINKING ESTABLISH-MENTS.

STATEMENT

TAKE NOTICE THAT ORDINANCE NO.19-02, WAS PASSED ON THE FINALREADING AFTER PUBLIC HEARING ATA MEETING OF THE MAYOR AND COUN-CIL OF THE BOROUGH OF GARWOODON, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019.

ATTEST:Christina Ariemma

Municipal Clerk1 T - 02/28/19, The Leader Fee: $23.46


BOND ORDINANCESTATEMENT AND SUMMARY

The bond ordinance, the summary termsof which are included herein, has beenfinally adopted by the Borough Council ofthe Borough of Garwood, in the County ofUnion, State of New Jersey on February14, 2019 and the 20-day period of limita-tion within which a suit, action or proceed-ing questioning the validity of such ordi-nance can be commenced, as provided inthe Local Bond Law, has begun to run fromthe date of the first publication of thisstatement. Copies of the full ordinance areavailable at no cost and during regularbusiness hours, at the Clerk’s office formembers of the general public who re-quest the same. The summary of the termsof such bond ordinance follows:

BOND ORDINANCE NO. 19-01

TITLE: BOND ORDINANCETO AUTHORIZE THE ACQUI-SITION OF A NEW STREETSWEEPER IN, BY AND FORTHE BOROUGH OFGARWOOD, IN THE COUNTYOF UNION, STATE OF NEWJERSEY, TO APPROPRIATETHE SUM OF $280,000 TOPAY THE COST THEREOF,TO MAKE A DOWN PAY-MENT, TO AUTHORIZE THEISSUANCE OF BONDS TOFINANCE SUCH APPROPRIA-TION AND TO PROVIDE FORTHE ISSUANCE OF BONDANTICIPATION NOTES INANTICIPATION OF THE IS-SUANCE OF SUCH BONDS.

Purpose(s): Acquisition of a new streetsweeper for the use of the Department ofPublic Works in, by and for the Borough.

Appropriation: $280,000Bonds/Notes Authorized: $266,600Grants (if any) Appropriated: $-0-Section 20 Costs: $5,000Useful Life: 15 years

Christina M. Ariemma, RMCMunicipal Clerk

Borough of GarwoodCounty of Union

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Legal AdvertisingMORE IN BACK SECTION


BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

The Board of Adjustment of the Townof Westfield, New Jersey will meet onMarch 11, 2019, in the Council Chambersat the Municipal Building, 425 East BroadStreet, Westfield, New Jersey at 7:30 p.m.to hear and consider the following appealsfor bulk (c) and/or (d) variance relief fromrequirements of the Westfield Land UseOrdinance.

George Rizk, 370 Orenda Circle. Ap-plicant is seeking approval to install roof-top solar panels contrary to Section13.07E4a of the Land Use Ordinance.Ordinance does not allow solar panels tobe located on street facing roof planes orstreet facing facades. Proposed are solarpanels on the street facing roof plane.

Variances, waivers or exceptions fromcertain site plan details or relief from re-quirements may be sought as appropriate.Plans and application are on file in theoffice of the Town Engineer, 959 NorthAvenue West, Westfield, New Jersey andmay be seen Monday through Friday from8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Linda JacusBoard Secretary

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WESTFIELD, NEW JERSEY

GENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 2125

AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDGENERAL ORDINANCE NO.2011 ENTITLED “AN ORDI-NANCE FIXING THE SALA-RIES OF CERTAIN EMPLOY-EES OF THE POLICE ANDFIRE DEPARTMENTS IN THETOWN OF WESTFIELD ANDVARIOUS AMENDMENTSTHERETO.”

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the foregoingordinance was approved for final adoptionby the Town Council of the Town ofWestfield at a Regular Meeting held onFebruary 26, 2019.

Tara Rowley, RMCTown Clerk

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PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF AWARD OF CONTRACT

FOR THE TOWN OF WESTFIELD

CONTRACTOR: Timmerman Equip-ment Company, P.O. Box 71, Whitehouse,New Jersey 08888

NATURE OF SERVICES: Amend con-tract for purchase Altec Industries ModelLR-7-60-E70 Aerial Lift with Forestry Bodyto include T-66 Through Box

DURATION: 2018AMOUNT: Original award amount:

$153,499.53 charged to S.O. 2215, underPurchase Order #03727 and EducationalServices Commission Cooperative Pric-ing System, ESCNJ Co-Op#65MCESCCPS, Bid #ESCNJ 17/18-30.

Amendment to contract to include T-66Through Box: $9,394.45 to be charged toCapital Account C-07-18-221-5A3, underPurchase Order PO #18-03727.

Total cost: $162,893.98THE RESOLUTION AND CONTRACT

FOR SAME ARE ON FILE IN THE OFFICEOF THE TOWN CLERK.


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AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDCERTAIN PROVISIONS OFTHE CODE OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD RELATED TOCONSTRUCTION FENCING

NOTICE

Notice is hereby given that the foregoingordinance was approved for final adoptionby the Town Council of the Town ofWestfield at a Regular Meeting held onFebruary 26, 2019.


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PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF CRANFORD

PLANNING BOARD

TAKE NOTICE that due to inclementweather on February 20, 2019, the appli-cation on the request to rezone 750 Wal-nut Avenue, by Hartz Mountain, Inc., un-der PBA 17-00004 will be carried to thenext regularly scheduled meeting of thePlanning Board on March 6th 2019.

The workshop portion of the meeting willbe held at 7:30 p.m. in the Municipal Build-ing, Room 108 with the public meetingcommencing at 8 p.m. in Room 107.

Donna PeddeSecretary

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– Obituaries –Dennis Anthony Pedicini, 79,Active Community Member

Dennis A. Pedicini

Dennis Anthony Pedicini, 79,passed away peacefully, with familyby his side, on Saturday, February16, 2019. Born in Trenton, N.J., tothe late Anthony and Elizabeth“Betty” Pedicini, he re-sided in Scotch Plainsfor almost 50 years, be-fore moving to LakeLorelei in Fayetteville,Ohio, and more recentlyCoconut Creek, Fla.

Dennis graduatedfrom Scotch Plains-Fanwood High Schoolin 1957 and attendedSeton Hall University.For over 30 years, heand his wife, Judy,owned and operatedthe Scotch Plainschildren’s clothingstore “Stork Fair.” Helater worked at Tire Associates inGreen Brook and Chester, N.J. Den-nis was very involved in his com-munities, serving in numerous waysfor many years: Scotch PlainsBusinessmen’s Association (Cor-responding/Public Relations Sec-retary 1965), 30-year memberScotch Plains Lions Club (Presi-dent 1971-72), Scotch PlainsMidget League Basketball Direc-tor (1975), Scotch Plains Commu-nity Fund In-Town Business Chair-man (1977), Scotch Plains Inde-pendent Men’s Softball League(President 1979; League Director1986-1990), Scotch Plains PoliceDepartment Juvenile DiversionProgram (Sentencing Panel) ,SPFHS DECA (Business Mentor),YMCA (Board Member 1979-1980and Organizing Member, PlatformTennis Travel Club 1985), ScotchPlains Recreation Commission(Chairman 1983-1984), and as anaccredited high school and youth

soccer referee and men’s slow pitchsoftball umpire. In Ohio, he volun-teered for 15 years as a Marshallfor the Western & Southern TennisOpen (13-year Captain) and was a

member of the LakeLorelei AdvisoryBoard. In Florida, hewas an enthusiastic par-ticipant in the WymoorCommunity PickleballAssociation and greatlyenjoyed playing golfwith his buddies.

He is survived by hisloving wife of 57 years,Judith “Judy” (Miller);his devoted children,Diane Pedicini Duvalland her husband, Marty,and Jeff Pedicini andhis wife, Patricia, andhis four cherished

grandchildren, Cameron, Carly,Megan and Nicole. He is also sur-vived by his dear brother, RichardPedicini of Berkeley Heights, N.J.;several brother and sister-in-laws;numerous cousins, nieces and neph-ews, and a treasure-trove of won-derful friends, including a very spe-cial waddle of Penguins.

A remembrance visitation willbe held on Saturday, March 2, 2019,from 2 to 5 p.m., at Memorial Fu-neral Home in Fanwood, N.J., witha separate service to follow thisspring in Ohio.

The family would like to give aspecial thanks to their Lake Loreleifriends who provided Dennis muchsupport, companionship and con-tinued good humor this winter andwould suggest any memorial dona-tions for Dennis be directed to theV Foundation for Cancer Research,www.jimmyv.org, or Hospice ofCincinnati in Blue Ash, Ohio.

February 28, 2019

Seniors to Be Given Tips OnGetting Good Night’s SleepWESTFIELD — An informa-

tional program entitled “StillDreaming of a Good Night’s Sleep”for senior citizens will take placeon Tuesday, March 5, at 11:30 a.m.It will be held at The Senior Re-source Center at The Lavy House,located at 748 East Broad Street,Westfield.

The program will be presentedby Jewish Family Service (JFS) ofCentral New Jersey nurse KathleenMcMahon, Ed.M. A light lunch willbe served during this event anddietary laws will be observed.

Many older adults develop sleepproblems as they age. They maybegin to have a harder time fallingasleep, and start waking up moreoften during the night and earlierin the morning. There is lots oftime in bed tossing and turning,resulting in daytime exhaustion. Arestful night may become a thing ofthe past.

In this presentation, Ms.McMahon will discuss strategiesthat individuals can employ towardachieving that longed-for goodnight’s sleep.

Ms. McMahon is a seasoned reg-istered nurse who has experienceworking in both hospital and com-munity health nurse settings. Shewas instrumental in implementingthe JFS Care Transitions programwith Trinitas Regional MedicalCenter and Holy Redeemer.

The Senior Resource Center atThe Lavy House is a joint venturebetween Jewish Family Service ofCentral New Jersey and TempleEmanu-El of Westfield. Programsare free of charge and open to theentire community.

Registration is recommended ifplanning to attend this program. In-terested persons are asked to [email protected] or call (908)352-8375.

Westfield Hall of Fame Committee Announces 2019 Inductees

HONORING SOME OF WESTFIELD’S BEST...Members of the 2019 Hall ofFame Committee of the Westfield Historical Society ponder their selectiondecisions during a recent committee meeting held at the Reeve History andCultural Resource Center. Pictured, from left to right, are: Joan L. Smith,chairperson; Gail Stock, Barbara Hale, Sherry Cronin, Ginny Leiz, DonMokrauer, Ginny Rorden and Carol Tener.

By JOAN LOWELL SMITH

WESTFIELD — The WestfieldHall of Fame Committee has an-nounced the 12 2019 Hall of Famehonorees to be inducted during agala ceremony in September. Can-didates were chosen by the 11-mem-ber Hall of Fame Selection Com-mittee, in conjunction withWestfield Historical Society mem-bers and the general public. JoanLowell Smith, chairperson of theHall of Fame Committee, said thatthis is the largest number of newentrants into the Hall of Fame sincethe Westfield Hall of Fame incep-tion in 2008. Of the 71 individualsconsidered this year, those who didnot earn enough points for induc-tion will still be eligible for the nextHall of Fame Awards.

Candidates, representing a widespectrum of occupations, must becurrent or previous residents ofWestfield who have made signifi-cant impacts on the town, state and,often, the nation, through their ac-complishments. The committee re-views all submitted contenders be-fore all votes are tallied to arrive atthe 12 inductees, listed with briefdescriptions of their achievementswhich will be expanded at theawards ceremony. Details of the spe-cial guest presenters, ticket prices,location and program will be re-leased in the months ahead.

Rabbi Charles Kroloff servedTemple Emanu-El for 59 years, 36as senior rabbi, transforming it intothe largest Reform congregation inNew Jersey. In addition to leadingseveral major Jewish organizations,he was president of the WestfieldFoundation and remains active inTemple Emanu-El.

Bill Shepherd has served as chair-man of Chemical Bank NJ and presi-dent/CEO of Horizon Bancorp. Hewas president of the Chamber ofCommerce and has served on boardsof the United Fund, Fairview Cem-etery and Westfield Foundation.

Gail Cassidy, author of numerousmotivational books, taught high

school English, was an instructor/manager for IBM, and an instructorfor Dale Carnegie before serving aspresident of seven Westfield orga-nizations, including the Board ofEducation, the Westfield Founda-tion and Rotary. She was creatorand instructor of mentoring and anti-bullying programs locally and ininner-city schools. She co-writes amonthly electronic newsletter, Re-tired-Next Phase.com.

Betty List (1926-2017) servedthree terms as a councilwoman. AtThe Presbyterian Church inWestfield, she was a deacon, trustee,usher, Sunday school teacher andon the worship committee. Shechaired Westfield’s Public SafetyCouncil and served on boards of thetown Republican Committee,Women’s Republican Club, UnionCounty Republican Committee andLeague of Women Voters.

Robert Brewster (1929-2010), astar athlete named UNICO Man ofthe Year, was recognized twice as a“model citizen” by the New JerseySenate and Assembly. He foundedand managed the Westfield Basket-ball Clinic and served on the TownRecreation board for 10 years.

Saul Drittel, owner of Milady’sstore for 40 years, has been in com-mercial real estate with ColdwellBanker for many years. He was Vol-unteer Promotions chairman of theDowntown Westfield Corporation.He has devoted 30 years to theGreater Westfield Area Chamber ofCommerce as a board member, re-tail chair and president.

The Farley Family:Katherine Farley is board chair-

woman of Lincoln Center for thePerforming Arts. She was namedthe “12th Most Powerful Woman inNew York” by Crain’s New YorkBusiness. She also has served onthe board of the New York Philhar-monic. Currently she is senior man-aging director of Tishman Speyer.

Dr. Thomas Farley, a pediatri-cian, was Health Commissioner ofNew York City. Prior to that post, he

served with the Centers for DiseaseControl’s Epidemic IntelligenceService. His articles on Legion-naires’ disease, prevention of HIV/STDs, infant mortality and obesityhave been published widely.

Three additional Farleys willshare the award.

Charles H. Darsh (1869-1939)was an architect who designed theWestfield Firehouse andMindowaskin Park. He gained in-ternational prominence for design-ing the Montreal railway station,the Frontenac hotel and elaborateprivate homes.

Paul Robeson (1898-1976), anathlete, singer, lawyer, actor andactivist, lived his formative years inWestfield, attending McKinleySchool. His father was pastor of St.Luke A.M.E. Zion Church beforethe family moved to Somerville,where Paul graduated from highschool. He earned a full scholarshipto Rutgers, where he became an AllAmerican in both football and track,graduating as valedictorian. Thisyear Rutgers celebrates the 100thanniversary of his graduation.

George and Joan (Jody) Melloan:Joan (Jody) Melloan (1926-2017)

wrote for the magazines Horizon,Americana and American Way andnewspapers including the San Fran-cisco Chronicle, Miami Herald andThe New York Times. She also taughtmanagement training at Kean Uni-versity. She was a master gardener aswell.

George Melloan, editor and col-umnist for The Wall Street Journalfor 54 years, served as deputy editor,covered international events and waseditor of the editorial page, where hisweekly column, “Global View,” ap-peared. He continues to write op-edpieces for the Journal. He and hiswife co-authored “The CarterEconomy.” Mr. Melloan also authored“The Great Money Binge,” “Advan-tage of Supply Side Economics” andlast year, “Free People, Free Mar-kets.” Mr. Melloan has earned nu-merous writing awards.

Lawrence G. Foster (1925-2013)was a reporter for the Newark News,then bureau chief and night editorbefore heading public relations forJohnson & Johnson, retiring 33 yearslater as corporate Vice President ofPublic Relations. His expert han-dling of the infamous Tylenol trag-edy in 1982 set the “gold standard”in crisis management. Mr. Foster wasnamed one of the “Ten Most Influen-tial Public Relations Executives ofthe 20th Century” by PR Week.

Betty Pate (1926-1983) was di-rector of the Union County Culturaland Heritage Advisory Board. Shechaired Westfield’s BicentennialCommittee and was active in theMiller-Cory House Museum resto-ration. She won the New Jersey His-torical Commission’s 1981 awardfor distinguished service to statehistory. She also was known forsharing “ghost” tales of allegedhaunted houses in the area.

Inductees receive a framed cer-tificate and are permanently hon-

ored at the Reeve History and Cul-tural Resource Center with an en-graved Westfield Hall of Fameplaque listing major achievementsand a photo image.

The 2019 Westfield Hall of FameSelection Committee includesSherry Cronin, Donald Mokrauer,Virginia Rorden, Gail Stock, Bar-bara Hale, Ginny Leiz, LowellSchantz, Carol Tener, Glen Dumont,Nancy Humphrey and Joan LowellSmith (chairperson).

The Westfield Historical Societyestablished the Westfield Hall ofFame in 2008. Since 1968, the501(c)(3) non-profit Westfield His-torical Society has worked to pre-serve, interpret and encourage inter-est in history, Westfield and its resi-dents through educational efforts andcommunity outreach programs.

For more information on theWestfield Hall of Fame, the WestfieldHistorical Society and its events, visitwestfieldhistoricalsociety.org and theorganization on Facebook.

Health Screenings OpenTo Cranford Residents

CRANFORD — Adult healthscreenings for residents served bythe Madison Health Department willbe held in March. Those 18 years ofage and older are invited to “knowtheir numbers” for cholesterol, trig-lycerides, glucose and several othervalues measured in the CompleteMetabolic Profile (CMP) offered toresidents of Madison, ChathamTownship, Springfield and Cranford.This blood analysis is a fasting testand appointments are required. Indi-vidual blood pressure and additionalhealth information will be availableat the screening. There is no fee for

this community service.For additional information or to

make an appointment, call the Madi-son Health Department at (973) 593-3079, extension no. 1. Participantsshould have their provider’s nameand contact information when call-ing for an appointment.

Screenings will take place as fol-lows:

Thursday, March 7, 8 to 10 a.m., atthe Chisholm Community Center, 100South Springfield Avenue, Springfield.

Thursday, March 14, 8 to 10 a.m.,Madison Civic Center, 28 WalnutStreet, Madison.

College Club to OfferMusic of PhilippinesFANWOOD — The College Club

of Fanwood-Scotch Plains will wel-come University of the PhilippinesAlumni and Friends Rondalla(UPAFR) for a musical performanceat its Monday, March 18 meeting.

UPAFR is a nonprofit traditionalstring ensemble based in New Jer-sey. Since 1992, the UPAFR hasbeen promoting Filipino culturethrough music using native instru-ments such as the bandurria, laudand octavina. The group performseducational concerts that integratePhilippine history, customs and tra-ditions in key cities in the UnitedStates and abroad.

The UPAFR performs regularlyat cultural heritage festivals, the-aters and schools, as well as com-munity, government and socialevents. Free weekly lessons are of-fered by the group for all age groupsinterested in learning to play arondalla instrument. For more in-formation, visit upafrondalla.org.

This program is open to the public,is free of charge and will be held at theFanwood Presbyterian Church, locatedat 74 South Martine Avenue. Visitorsare asked to use the McDermott Placeentrance. The program will begin at7:30 p.m. after a brief refreshmentperiod that begins at 7:15 p.m.

Nelson C. Wolf, 80, Longtime Attorney;Active With Jewish Family Service

Nelson Charles Wolf, 80, died onSaturday morning, February 23, 2019,at Clark Nursing and RehabilitationCenter in Clark, of congestive heartfailure. He was cogni-zant to the end, fre-quently face-timing onhis iPhone with childrenand grandchildren. Along-time resident ofWestfield, where theyraised their three chil-dren, he and his wife,Carole, moved to ScotchPlains in 2017.

He was born Septem-ber 4, 1938 in Elizabeth,N.J., to the late Harryand Molly (Holzberg)Wolf. He graduatedfrom Thomas JeffersonHigh School in Eliza-beth and earned a Bach-elor of Arts degree in History fromOhio State University in 1960. Afterreceiving his J.D. degree fromRutgers University School of Law,he practiced law for over 50 years, atfirst with his father in Elizabeth, andthen as a sole practitioner inKenilworth. Although semi-retired,he still kept busy with a handful ofclients.

Nelson was a board member andpast-president of the Jewish Fam-ily Service of Central New Jersey.An avid sports enthusiast, he rootedfor the New York Yankees, the NewYork Giants and the New Jersey

Devils. He also was something of afood connoisseur, eagerly await-ing the start of the “Mallomars”season each year. Never afraid to

embrace new technol-ogy, Nelson was adeptat surfing the Internet,and welcoming newapps on his smart phone.His sense of humor andunique perspective onlife will be missed byall who knew him.

Nelson met his wife,Carole Barefoot, at OhioState University, and re-cently celebrated 56years of marriage. Sur-vivors, besides his wife,include sons Mark andGregory (Beverly) anddaughter Lisa (Brian)Stern; five grandchil-

dren, Andrew, William, Jessica,Samantha and Parker; a brother,David Wolf of California; threenieces and a nephew.

Services were held at Higgins andBonner Echo Lake Funeral Home inWestfield on Tuesday, February 26,2019. Burial was private. Memorialdonations may be made to JewishFamily Service of Central New Jer-sey, https://www.jfscentralnj.org/. Thefamily observed Shiva on Tuesday,February 26, 2019, at the home ofBrian and Lisa Stern, 680 WestfieldAvenue, Westfield.

February 28, 2019

Thomas E. Forgash, Business Owner;Devoted Husband and Father

On Wednesday, February 20, 2019,Thomas E. Forgash, loving and de-voted husband and father of two,passed away at the age of 81.

Tom was born on November 12,1937 in New York City to Samuel andRebecca (Liebowitz) Forgash. Hereceived his Bachelor of Arts in 1961from Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-tute in Troy, N.Y., his MBA in 1970from Rutgers University in Newark,N.J., and was a small business owner.On June 24, 1962, he married BonnieCarole Zients. They raised two sons,Adam and Benjamin.

Tom spent his lifetime learning.He was a classically trained clarinet-ist who taught himself many othermusical instruments. He also had apassion for languages including Yid-dish, Hebrew, French and Italian.Among his many hobbies were math-ematics, photography, gardening,tennis, golf, sailing, magic, wine,dance, travel and history.

He volunteered at the NewarkMuseum, and as a teacher of English

as a Second Language and Math forhigh school GED candidates inPlainfield, N.J. He was both an of-ficer of the Jewish Federation of Cen-tral New Jersey and a founder of theJCC of Central New Jersey.

He was known for his humility, hiswit, his keen intelligence and his kindand compassionate spirit.

Tom was preceded in death by hisfather, Samuel, and his mother,Rebecca. He is survived by his wife,Bonnie; his two children, Adam(Cathy) and Ben (Keira), and hisgrandchildren, Olive and Charlie.

In lieu of flowers, donations inTom’s memory may be made toTemple Emanu-El, 756 East BroadStreet, Westfield, N.J. 07090,www.tewnj.org; Jewish Family Ser-vice of Central New Jersey, 655Westfield Avenue, Elizabeth, N.J.07208, www.jfscentralnj.org, andNewark Museum, 49 WashingtonStreet, Newark, N.J. 07102,www.newarkmuseum.org.

February 28, 2019

Nelson C. Wolf

Westfield Stamp Club ShowOn Tap This Saturday

WESTFIELD — The WestfieldStamp Club will hold its annualstamp show this Saturday, March 2,in the Community Room of theWestfield Municipal Building, lo-cated at 425 East Broad Street. Theshow will be open from 10 a.m.until 4 p.m. Admission and parkingare free. This will be the 57th an-nual show the club has held.

The show will include a six dealerbourse plus the U.S. Postal Serviceand the annual exhibit competitionamong club members. More than400 pages of stamps and postal his-tory items from around the worldwill be on display. The exhibits to be

shown are the work of those who arenew to the field as well as from thosewho have shown their work at theinternational level. The exhibits willbe evaluated by American PhilatelicSociety accredited judges and at-tendees are invited to vote for themost popular exhibit.

The theme of the show will be the150th anniversary of professionalbaseball. The postal service will havea special cancellation for the eventand there will be a specially-designedenvelope about baseball.

For additional information, call(908) 232-0539 or visit the clubwebsite, westfieldstampclub.org.

Scotch Plains Library PostsBook Group Offerings

SCOTCH PLAINS — TheScotch Plains Public Library willhost Bagels & Books, where booklovers share their recent readingexperiences with other bibliophilesand pick up suggestions for futurereading, on Monday, March 4, at

10 a.m. Registration is required.The library’s Evening Book Club

will meet on Monday, March 18, at7 p.m., to discuss “The OrchidThief” by Susan Orlean. This storyfollows plant dealer John Larochein his unsuccessful attempt to steal,clone, and sell rare orchids from aSouth Florida swamp, and de-scribes the world of Florida’s or-chid collectors and smugglers asthey execute plant crimes.

The Afternoon Book Club willmeet on Tuesday, March 19, at 1p.m., to discuss “To Kill a Mock-ingbird” by Harper Lee, which wasselected as the number one book inThe Great American Read.

For more information or to reg-ister for Bagels & Books, go toscotl ib.org, [email protected], call (908)322-5007, extension no. 204, orstop by the Reference Desk. TheScotch Plains Public Library is lo-cated at 1927 Bartle Avenue, oneblock from Park Avenue in the cen-ter of the township.

Garwood Library HighlightsEvents For Early March

GARWOOD — The Garwood Pub-lic Library has revealed its calendarof events for the first half of March,along with ongoing activities.

The Knitting Club meets on Mon-days and Thursdays at 10:30 a.m. Noregistration is required. Participantslearn how to knit or show others howit is done while enjoying fun conver-sation. Needles and yarn are pro-vided to newcomers.

Kid’s Chess, an informal chessgame for children of all ages, is heldon Mondays at 3 p.m. No registrationis required but sessions are limited to12 players. This is a non-instructionalprogram with six boards provided.

Explore It is presented on Tues-days, at 3 p.m., in the Lincoln SchoolArt Room. This program providesafter-school STEM (Science, Tech-nology, Engineering and Mathemat-ics) fun for kids in fourth grade andolder. Registration is required andlimited to 16 participants.

The Thursday Night Book Clubwill meet March 7, at 7 p.m., for alively discussion of the month’s book.No registration is required. Interestedpersons are advised to check with thelibrary for its latest book selection bycalling (908) 789-1670.

Adult Craft will be featured onTuesday, March 12, at 6 p.m. Attend-ees will be able to make a craft tobring home. Participation is limitedto 10 and registration is required.

Toddler Story Time, for infants

Garwood Library Bd.Sets Meeting Date

GARWOOD — The Garwood Pub-lic Library board will meet onWednesday, March 6, at 8 p.m. Thismeeting is open to the public and willtake place at the library, located at411 Third Avenue, Garwood.

through age 4, is offered on Wednes-days at 10:30 a.m. No registration isrequired. This program includes sto-ries, songs, bubbles and more. ThePipsqueak Players will visit Storytimeon March 13.

Kid’s Craft also will take place onMarch 13, at 3 p.m. Youngsters insecond grade and up can make a funcraft. Registration is required andparticipation is limited to 20.

Lego will be available on Thurs-days, March 14 and 28, at 3 p.m.Children ages 4 to 12 are invited tofind inspiration through the month’stheme and build whatever they wish,then share their creations with others.Some will be displayed in the library’sshowcase. Registration is required andparticipation is limited to 15.

Additional programs will be an-nounced for later in the month. TheGarwood Public Library is located at411 Third Avenue. For more informa-tion and to register for programs, call(908) 789-1670. Further informationalso may be found atyouseemore.com/garwood.


Charu Gupta

Library to Feature Politics,Indian Cuisine and Music

WESTFIELD — The WestfieldMemorial Library will kick off themonth of March with programs onpolitics, Indian cookingand music. The libraryis located at 550 EastBroad Street.

John Celock, presi-dent of Celock MediaGroup and launch editorof the Westfield Patch,will present “Why doyoung people run for of-fice?” on Monday,March 4, at 7 p.m. Moremillennials are seekingand attaining elected of-fice, helping to changethe course of Americanpolitics. What propelsyoung people to run for office? Whatchallenges do they face? How doestheir age impact how they view pub-lic policy?

Also author of “The Next Gen-eration: Young Elected Officials andtheir Impact on American Politics,”Mr. Celock will explore these ques-tions during his talk. He interviewedmore than 90 current and formeryoung elected officials nationwidefor his book.

Charu Gupta will lead a programentitled “Indian Cooking with the In-stant Pot” on Thursday, March 7, at 7p.m. The Instant Pot, which is anelectric pressure cooker, is particu-larly well-suited to many Indiandishes. Ms. Gupta will make CholeCurry, a chickpea curry dish, whiledemonstrating how the electric pres-sure cooker can cut down the cooktime of this and other dishes.

This program will be a demonstra-

tion, rather than a hands-on activity.However, attendees will be able totaste the finished product and will

receive a printed copyof the recipe so they canadd the dish to their rep-ertoire.

Hit the Roof Band willreturn to the library onSaturday, March 9, at 2p.m. With a taste of someof the 20th century’smost important musicalmovements, Hit theRoof Band reinvigoratesold songs with a newtwist. The duet ofkeyboardist and drum-mer will start off with abit of ragtime-stride, and

then move into the era of swing andboogie-woogie. Next they will em-bark on a journey of rock and rollfrenzy, all the while explaining thehistory and icons behind the move-ment. Hit the Roof will continue theperformance in the style of the bluesand New Orleans piano, both of whichhave roots steeped in boogie-woogie,gospel, classical and funk.

These programs are free and open toWestfield Memorial Library andMURAL cardholders. MURALcardholders belong to the 40-plus li-braries that are part of the MiddlesexUnion Reciprocal Agreement Librar-ies. Interested persons are advised tocheck the Westfield MemorialLibrary’s website, wmlnj.org, to see iftheir library is a MURAL participant.To register for any or all of the threeupcoming programs, visit wmlnj.organd click on the Online Calendar, orcall (908) 789-4090, option 0.

FCC ‘Souper Sunday’ ToFocus on Environment

WESTFIELD — The First Con-gregational Church of Westfield,located at 125 Elmer Street, willsponsor its annual “Souper Sun-day” event on Sunday, March 10,for its congregation and the public.“Souper Sunday” will follow themorning’s worship service.

As a way to educate the commu-nity about the environment, theFirst Congregational Church willsponsor a presentation by MarianGlenn, Ph.D., president of theRahway River Watershed Associa-tion. She will discuss the overallmission of Rahway River Water-shed, its history and the recreationaland educational activities availablethere; specific environmental chal-lenges such as pollution and flood-ing; the impact of lawn chemicalsthat wash into the river duringstorms, and the positive impact ofplanting native trees and shrubs,among other topics.

The purpose of the Rahway River

Watershed Association is to pro-tect and restore the Rahway Riverand its ecosystem. The Associa-tion fulfills its purpose by promot-ing cooperation between public andprivate entities to preserve andenhance the river’s ecological func-tions and benefits. Working withcommunities and other organiza-tions, the Association provides edu-cational programs, monitors waterquality, and works to raise aware-ness of what it means to reside in awatershed.

“Souper Sunday” will begin atapproximately 11:30 a.m. in thePatton Auditorium at the First Con-gregational Church. This event isfree, and soup and refreshmentswill be served. Interested personsare asked to RSVP to the churchoffice at (908) 233-2494 or [email protected].

For more information on all up-coming events and programs at thechurch, visit fccofwestfield.org.

Family Genealogy to BeEvent Topic Sunday

FANWOOD — The Fanwood His-toric Preservation Commission willpresent a talk on “Beginning YourFamily History” this Sunday, March3, between 2 and 4 p.m. It will takeplace at the Fanwood Museum, lo-cated on the lower level of theFanwood Railroad Station at Northand North Martine Avenues.

“Beginning Your Family History”will provide an introduction to whatgenealogy can be and what kinds ofinformation can be discovered. Thepresentation will focus on basics forUnited States research and will in-clude real-life examples.

The lecture will be given by JaneThoner, a librarian at the PlainfieldPublic Library, who works in thelibrary’s Local History Department.Her work there involves helpingpeople doing family history researchand investigating through the library’sonline resources.

Caregivers MeetingIs Monday Evening

WESTFIELD — A support groupfor those caring for elderly or chroni-cally ill loved ones meets on the firstnon-holiday Monday of each month,at 7:30 p.m., in the parish center of St.Helen’s Roman Catholic Church, lo-cated on Lamberts Mill Road inWestfield. The next meeting will takeplace on March 4. These are informa-tion and sharing sessions. For moreinformation, call Marilyn Ryan at(908) 233-8757.

Mountainside Library ListsEvents Happening In MarchMOUNTAINSIDE — The

Mountainside Public Library hasannounced its schedule of eventsfor the first half of March, as well asprograms taking place throughoutthe month.

Tuesday Night Movies include TheBookshop (2018, PG) on March 5;Little Women (2018, PG-13) onMarch 12, and Mission Impossible –Fallout (2018, PG-13) on March 19.Show time is 6:30 p.m. except forMission Impossible, when the moviewill start at 6 p.m. due to its length.Because of the Friends Book Sale,there will be no movie on March 26.

Brown Bag Academy will con-tinue on Mondays, except for March25 due to the Book Sale, at 1:15p.m. The Great Courses series cur-rently is offering lectures by Pro-fessor Allen C. Guelzo, Ph.D., ofGettysburg College, on “America’sFounding Fathers.” A new course,

to be selected, will begin in earlyApril. Participants are invited tobring their lunch; coffee, tea andcookies will be served for dessert.Interested persons are encouragedto come early to ensure a seat.

“Pipsqueak Players” will visit thelibrary on Thursdays, March 7 and14, at 3:45 p.m. The Mountainside-based Pipsqueak Players provide ayouth literacy enrichment programdesigned to boost fluency, compre-hension and confidence by integrat-ing theatrical concepts in a support-ive and fun workshop-style envi-ronment. Each weekly session willexplore a different picture book cul-minating in a performance at theend of class. Classes are designedfor 5- to 7-year-olds and are open toMountainside residents only. Pre-registration is required.

The Friday Operas on Film se-ries, presented by Mena Clemson,will feature Pagliacci by RuggeroLeoncavallo on March 8 at 1 p.m.Jonas Kaufmann (Canio) and MariaAgresta (Nedda) star in this filmrecorded during the 2015 SalzburgEaster Festival. The StaatkapelleDresden Orchestra is conducted byChristian Thielemann.

“Come Read to Kalee” also willtake place on March 8, at 3:45 p.m.Youngsters are invited to cuddle upand read to therapy dog Kalee forfive to 10 minutes. Participants areasked to bring two favorite bookswith them to read when they come.This program is especially designedfor emergent and beginning readersin kindergarten and first grade. In-terested persons must reserve a spotfor this program. Kalee will be atthe library monthly through June.

Additional programs will be postedfor later in the month. To register forprograms requiring it, stop into thelibrary or call (908) 233-0115. TheMountainside Public Library is lo-cated at 1 Constitution Plaza.

Calvary Lutheran InvitesAll For Ash Wednesday

CRANFORD — The CalvaryLutheran Church invites the com-munity to its Ash Wednesday ser-vices on March 6, at 1:15 p.m. or7:30 p.m., as Christians mark thebeginning of Lent and their 40-dayjourney to Easter. Both the after-noon and evening services will in-clude Holy Communion and theImposition of Ashes.

At Calvary, the theme this yearfor the Season of Lent is “Reclaim-ing Sabbath.” Pastor Carol Lind-say noted, “Living 24/7 might behow folks are wired right now butit’s not how we were created. TheBible basically says, ‘No to theCulture of Now,’ to borrow a WalterBrueggeman phrase. We are hop-ing to learn some healthy bound-aries that give us the permission torest in this reflective season of theyear. Sabbath isn’t about rules —it’s about wholeness.”

On Ash Wednesday, Christiansgather to prepare their hearts andminds for the renewal of faith given tothem through the life, death and res-urrection of Jesus Christ. “We inviteothers who are weary and stressed tojoin our worship on Ash Wednesday,as we introduce this theme, andthroughout the upcoming Lenten sea-son,” said Pastor Lindsay.

Calvary Lutheran Church offersworship every Sunday at 10:15 a.m.in the sanctuary. Everyone is wel-

come in the church, everyone be-longs — no matter what their jour-ney with God has been. Calvary islocated at 108 Eastman Street,Cranford. For more informationabout the congregation and addi-tional opportunities to worship, callthe church office at (908) 276-2418or go to calvarycranford.com.

HOLY SEASON...The Reverend Andy Kruger, Priest-in-Charge, celebratesMass during Lent at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranford. Trinity invites theentire community to join its congregation for Ash Wednesday services at noon and7 p.m. on March 6. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season.

Trinity Church to HoldAsh Wednesday Services

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119 ForestAvenue, Cranford, invites everyoneto come for Ash Wednesday services,at noon and 7 p.m., on Wednesday,March 6.

Ash Wednesday is the first day ofLent. The name comes from the prac-tice of placing (or imposing) a crossof ashes on the forehead of Christiansas a sign of their mortality and peni-tence. Lent is the liturgical season of40 days of penitence and fasting. Sun-days, the Sabbath day, are not part ofthe Lenten fasting days.

Christians are invited “to observe aHoly Lent by self-examination andrepentance by prayer, fasting and self-denial, and by reading and meditatingon God’s Holy Word.” Historically,Lent was a time converts were pre-pared for Holy Baptism or for recon-ciling those who had been separatedfrom the church through penitence andforgiveness. It serves as a reminder toall Christians of the need to continu-ally renew their faith and repentance.

Trinity Episcopal Church, foundedin 1872, is a faith-based family churchthat welcomes all people and strivesto “know Christ and to make the Lordknown through faith, fellowship, andservice.”

Sunday services, celebrated by theReverend Andy Kruger, Trinity’sPriest-in-Charge, are at 8 a.m. and 10a.m. Reverend Kruger also leads theDaily Offices of Morning and EveningPrayer, at 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Tues-days through Fridays, in WitheringtonChapel in the church undercroft,which is accessible by the outsidestairs at the right rear corner of thechurch. For more information aboutTrinity, call (908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

AARP to Meet OnMonday Afternoon

WESTFIELD AREA — TheWestfield Area AARP Chapter 4137will meet on Monday, March 4, at 1p.m., at the Scotch Hills CountryClub, located at Jerusalem Road andPlainfield Avenue in Scotch Plains.

At this meeting, members willhold wide-ranging discussions onseveral topics including future pro-grams, benefits of belonging to theAARP, the future direction of thechapter and other subjects that maybe brought up by attendees.

Additionally, because this is thechapter’s main charitable endeavor,members are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to the meet-ing, which will be donated to theWestfield Food Pantry housed atHoly Trinity School.

Refreshments will be available fol-lowing the meeting. For more infor-mation, call Ilse at (908) 322-1788.

Lenten Programs to BeginAt Fanwood Presbyterian

FANWOOD — The Fanwood Pres-byterian Church invites everyone toits Ash Wednesday Service and LentenSoup and Devotions program.

The Ash Wednesday service willbe held on Wednesday, March 6, inthe sanctuary at 7:30 p.m. It willinclude a brief message from theReverend David Jahnke, choral mu-sic, communion and the impositionof ashes.

The Soup and Devotions programwill take place in the church diningroom. Participants are asked to enterfrom McDermott Place. The commu-nity is invited to join congregationmembers on Wednesday evenings,March 13 through April 10, at 6:30

p.m., for a simple meal of soup, saladand bread followed by a 7 p.m. studyof how to be “Simply Christian.”

There are many daily devotionalsfor Lent. For an online version, visitPittsburgh Seminary, www.pts.edu/devotional.

Sunday worship throughout Lentwill be filled with sacred music atboth the traditional 9:30 a.m. serviceand the contemporary 11:15 a.m. ser-vice between March 10 and April 7.

The Fanwood Presbyterian Church,located at 74 S. Martine Avenue,welcomes all. For more information,call the church office at (908) 889-8891, email [email protected] visit the website fanwoodpc.org.

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Edward Jones Named One of 2019 Fortune100 Best Companies to Work For®

Financial services firm EdwardJones ranks No. 7 on the 2019 For-tune “100 Best Companies to WorkFor” list, according to global re-search and consulting firm GreatPlace to Work and Fortune maga-zine. This year marks the firm’s 20thyear on the list.

Edward Jones, a Fortune 500 com-pany headquartered in St. Louis, pro-vides financial services in the U.S.and, through its affiliate, in Canada.Every aspect of the firm’s business,from the investments its financialadvisors offer to the location of itsbranch offices, caters to individualinvestors. The firm’s 17,000-plus fi-nancial advisors serve more than

seven million clients and care for $1trillion in assets under management.Visit the firm’s website atedwardjones.com and recruitingwebsite at careers.edwardjones.com.Member SIPC.

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Mus. Ministry Plans Mardi Gras EventSPRINGFIELD — The Music

Ministry of Saint James the ApostleChurch in Springfield will hold afundraiser on Tuesday, March 5, atthe Stage House Tavern, located at1099 Route 22, Mountainside.

This Mardi Gras-themed event willfeature a buffet dinner and a live perfor-mance by Ross Griswold & The Sec-ond Line playing a mix of New Orleansjazz, soul, funk and rhythm and blues.

Free beads and masks will be available.Adult tickets (includes one free

beverage from the bar) are $35 andchildren age 10 and under can eat forfree. The buffet will open at 6:30 p.m.and the music starts at 7:30 p.m. Topurchase a ticket, contact MatthewWilson, director of music ministry, [email protected].

Tickets also will be available at thedoor on the night of the event.

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Courtesy of Borough of FanwoodGO RED FOR WOMEN...Bruce Padulsky, Little Hearts Big World CPRinstructor, who, with his wife, Melissa, organizes the annual Go Red forWomen Heart Health fair held this year at the JCC in Scotch Plains, addressesattendees at the February 19 meeting of the mayor and borough council inFanwood. Mr. Padulsky also is a Fanwood volunteer firefighter and Mrs.Padulsky is a Fanwood Rescue Squad EMT. Pictured behind Mr. Padulsky isPeter Carey of the regional chapter of the American Heart Association,originator of the Go Red campaign, who told the governing body that Go Redhas directly contributed to saving the lives of countless women. Joining themat left is Mayor Colleen Mahr.


THE WEEK IN SPORTSSports Section

Pages 9-15

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BLUE DEVILS MILLER, GIMBLETTE; COUGARS BENCIVENGA, HALPIN; RAIDER BOWLES PUNCH TICKETS TO AC

Composto, Hoerle Win Crowns, at Region 4 Mat TournamentBy DAVID B. CORBIN


Westfield High School (WHS) jun-iors Luke Hoerle (120-lbs) and CJComposto (126-lbs) each added anindividual title to their trophy cases atthe Region 4 Wrestling Tournamentin Union on February 23. In doing so,both Blue Devil matmen also becamethe first juniors in WHS history toearn 100 career victories. Addition-ally, it was Composto’s third regiontitle and Hoerle’s second region title.

The top-4 wrestlers in all 14 weightclasses qualified for the NJSIAA Tour-nament to be held at Boardwalk Hallin Atlantic City (AC) beginning to-day, February 28, through March 2.Blue Devils Tim Miller placed sec-ond at 182-lbs and Quinn Gimblette

finished fourth at 113-lbs. CranfordCougars AJ Bencivenga placed thirdat 152-lbs and Conor Halpin placedfourth at 145-lbs. Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raider Brandon Bowlesplaced third at 113-lbs.

After receiving a bye, Hoerleclaimed a pair of major decisionsthen gathered his 100th victory whenhe defeated Patrick Adams (St. Peter’sPrep — SPP), 9-4, for the title.

“It’s a cool experience to do it infront of a crowd like this. It’s anawesome experience to be a part of.Going into the states and getting onthe podium is one of my goals and Ithink this is the year I am going to doit,” Hoerle expressed.

Hoerle began with a pair of his“routine” takedowns in the first pe-

riod, added an escape and a slickstanding forward roll reversal in thesecond and capped it all off withanother shrug-by takedown.

On his reversal and shrug takedown,Hoerle described, “The guy had a legin on top. I kick my leg up and he endsup flipping out and I end up reversinghim. He took a bad shot, so I tookadvantage of the arm and got behindhim.”

Composto picked up his 100th vic-tory in his first bout when he won by17-2 tech fall in 3:02 over DevonCapato (Ridge). In the semis with SeanRendeiro (SPP) after a long scramble,Composto earned a takedown, addedan escape then secured a 5-2 victorywith a two-point tilt.

“In that situation I was hoping thatthe ref didn’t call a stalemate becauseI knew that I’m better there scram-bling. If I kept on working, I wasgoing to get two eventually. I just hadto keep on moving,” describedComposto, who added, “I went to mytight waist tilt and got the two count.”

On achieving his 100th win,Composto expressed, “It’s cool, es-pecially to do it for Westfield and myhometown, everyone supporting me.”

Composto would face EddieHummel (Roselle Park — RP) for thetitle. Composto had beaten Hummelearly in the season but became thevictim of a fall in the Union CountyTournament. After a scoreless firstperiod, Hummel escaped in the sec-ond period. Composto escaped in thethird and added a double-legtakedown.

“In my first couple of matches, Ihad trouble finishing my singles, so Iwent with a double and scored,”Composto explained.

Composto may have been thrownoff his game plan a little bit when hereceived a warning then Hummel es-caped before the buzzer but Compostograbbed his third region title with a 3-2 decision.

“It was just a warning. You get twoof them. Once I got the takedown, Iwas going to try to get a tough ride butonce I got that stall, I didn’t want torisk another stall, so I let him go. Iknew my attacks were better on neu-tral. If I feel him go for a throw,there’s no need for me to be there. Iwasn’t going to let a Roselle Park guytake one of us down,” Composto said.

Miller began his journey by pin-ning Jacob Quandt (GovernorLivingston) in 3:22. After beatingPhillipsburg’s (P-b) Jacob Wicks, 3-1, in the quarterfinals Miller had arematch with Brett MacMath(Bridgewater-Raritan - BrH2O), whohad nipped him, 5-4, in the districtfinals. Miller learned well from theexperience and made adjustments.MacMath scored first with an escapein the second period but Miller an-swered with an escape and a throw-bytakedown to win 3-2.

“In the district final, I thought heoutwrestled me in the first minute, so Ifigured I had to keep him on edge thatfirst minute and break down his of-fense because he doesn’t have the gastank that I do. I think he wore himselfout, which allowed me to score thattakedown late in the match and al-lowed me to stop most of his shots. Ithink he has been practicing front head-lock defense all week and I knew Iwould have to change it up on him if Iwanted to get behind him. I don’t thinkhe saw it coming,” Miller explained.

Miller’s next challenge would be a

very big one with NJSIAA No.-2ranked John Poznanski (Colonia —Col).

“It’s going to be a tough final. I amtrying to go in there with the rightmindset,” Miller said.

Poznanski caught Miller with aperfect ankle pick takedown-to-backmove to record a 1:36 pin.

Cougar Bencivenga, seeded sec-ond at 152-lbs, pinned Blue DevilLuke Scanlan in 1:37 to advance tothe semis to face Jack Wilt (SetonHall Prep — SHP). Bencivenga be-gan with a pair of takedowns butappeared to be idling low. Wilt tookadvantage and won 10-7. Bencivengarecovered somewhat to grab a 14-6

major decision over Carlos Ugaldi(Bound Brook - BB) in thewrestleback. But in the bout for thirdagainst Tom Kellner (SPP),Bencivenga got into high gear. Be-ginning with a Russian pry takedown,Bencivenga followed with aFireman’s-to-back five-point movethen just kept adding more takedownsto seize a 17-4 major decision and hissecond trip to AC.

“That upset I wrestled not good atall. I have the stomach bug right now.I was out of school for a week, so mybody is healing itself. After fourmatches, that match did it. It was thebest match I wrestled,” explained

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times

SECOND REGION TITLE AND 100TH WIN..Blue Devil junior Luke Hoerle,top, defeated Patrick Adams (St. Peter’s Prep), 9-4, in the 120-lb final to claim hissecond Region 4 title. Hoerle also reaped his 100th career win in the process.


THIRD REGION CROWN...Blue Devil junior CJ Composto, top, defeated SeanRendeiro (St. Peter’s Prep), 5-2, in the 126-lb semifinal then went on to defeatEddie Hummel (Roselle Park), 3-2, to claim his third Region 4 title. Composto alsoreaped his 102nd career victory with the win over Hummel.

more photos at goleader.comBallyhoo Sports

See Devils DenOn Page 15


Composto, Hoerle Win Region 4 Mat CrownsCONTINUED FROM PAGE 9

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CROWLEY 22 PT, FERRERO 14 PT; PETGRAVE 14 PT, 9 RB

Blue Devils Outflank CougarsIn Boys Hoops Sr. Night, 68-49

By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Deceptive moves on the part ofsenior Matt Crowley and numerousassists on slick cuts put the WestfieldHigh School boys basketball team onthe top side of a 68-49 victory overthe hosting Cranford Cougars on “Se-nior Night” the regular-season finalefor both teams on February 22. TheBlue Devils improved to 10-14, whilethe Cougars evened to 11-11 headinginto the state sectionals.

Crowley finished with a game-high

21 points but he set up several of hisshots by lulling the Cougars’ defenseinto a momentary false sense of relax-ation. At that moment, Crowley took astep forward and would sink his shot.

“I put a lot of hours in the gym andchange my speed. That’s something Iwork on a lot. Being able to use it ina game gives me an advantage. Andbeing able to use it helps us play welland helps me get into a rhythm,”Crowley revealed.

The assists worked well with thosegreat cuts resulting in the Blue Dev-ils’ success. Crowley dished out fourassists and junior Andrew Echausse

led the team with five assists. JuniorColin Freer (10 points, including trip3-pointers, assist) and senior SebastianFerrero, who finished with 14 points,including trip 3-pointers, were theprimary recipients of those assists.

“I have been playing with Matt fora long time. I think we have beenplaying since around fourth grade.We have that chemistry on the courtand I think that helps a lot. I also thinkas a team, we have been playing reallywell together recently, moving theball really well. I think that’s opened

up shots for us inside and outside thepaint,” Ferrero said.

The Cougars had three players hitdouble figures and one player beingjust a point shy. Sophomore ArjunPetgrave (block, steal, assist) led theteam with nine rebounds and 14 points,which included eight from the freethrow line. Joe Carrea sank 10 points,including eight free throws, and seniorHunter Goff scored 10 points, includ-ing a 3-pointer. Senior Jeremy Rukasank trip 3-pointers for nine points.The Cougars finished hitting 21-for-31 from the line and the Blue Devilssank just eight of 18 from the line.

With seven points from Goff, fivefrom Petgrave and a 3-pointer fromRuka, the Cougars took a 15-12 leadafter the first quarter. Freer sank sixpoints, Crowley hit four and MikeKane (5 points) put in two points. Butthe tide changed in the second quar-ter. Crowley and Ferrero both scoredseven points, while Declan McCauleyand Griffin Rooney (6 points) sanklay-ups to give the Blue Devils an 18-11 advantage and a 30-26 lead at thehalf. Eight of the Cougars’ points camefrom the line and Ruka hit a 3-pointer.

Three major acts of thievery on thepart of Crowley ignited a 21-10 BlueDevil run in the third quarter to securea 51-36 lead. Crowley converted hisfirst two steals to lay-ups then set upJake Walsh, who also had three steals,for a lay-up. Crowley finished withnine points in the quarter, while Rukanailed his third 3-pointer, andPetgrave, Dennis DeMarino (4 points)and Carrea each put in two points.Goff sank a free throw.

“The kid was kind of telegraphinghis passes a little bit too much andcoach [Jim] McKeon pulled me aside

LISANTI 20 PT; KLAG 12 RB, 14 PT; STRAVACH 8 PT, 6 RB

Blue Devils Oust Roselle Cath.From UCT Hoops Semi, 60-46

By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Four quarters took on four differentpersonalities in the Union CountyTournament (UCT) semifinal gamebetween the second-seeded WestfieldHigh School girls basketball teamand the third-seeded Roselle CatholicLady Lions held at AL Johnson HighSchool in Clark on February 21. How-ever the result was the same as the 16-7 Blue Devils, who had beaten the 14-9 Lions twice, 49-38 and 50-47 on abuzzer beater, during the regular sea-son, made it No. 3 with a 60-46 thrash-ing to advance to the UCT champion-ship game to face The Patrick Schoolon February 23.

Showing up heavily on the statssheet was junior Ali Lisanti, who ledthe Blue Devils with 20 points, in-cluding four 3-pointers, all from thesecond quarter onward. FreshmanGrace Klag (2 steals, assist, block)had double figures in scoring with 14points and in rebounds with 12.

“When I made my first basket, I got

out of my head again. I have beenhaving trouble with the last game. Ididn’t perform like I wish I did, so Ineeded my first shot to go in, see it gothrough then I got it back,” Klag said.

On a few occasions, Klag was hav-ing some difficulty with her footworkunderneath the basket and got calledfor traveling but she has been in theprocess of correcting her movements.

“Boo [Bowers] has been helpingme out a lot keeping the ball high.That’s what my assistant coach hasbeen telling me and coach [Liz]McKeon,” she said.

Senior Sam Stravach (8 points, 2assists, steal) made herself very bigunder the boards boxing out and pre-venting her opponents from gettingposition

“It’s all about fight. I want to get theball. If we miss a basket, I want theopportunity to get the ball back again.It’s all heart. If I’m out there, I want togive 100 percent,” Stravach, who hadsix rebounds, emphasized.

The first quarter was of a feeling

out mode with the Blue Devils easingto a modest 7-6 lead. Chloe Kreusser(6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, block,steal) scored four points and FaithDobosiewicz (2 steals, 3 rebounds,assist), on an assist from Stravach,sank a 3-pointer. A rarity did occur,however, when Klag, usually deadlyfrom the line, missed both of her freethrows.

The Blue Devils hit the jackpot inthe second quarter, overwhelming theLady Lions with a 22-6 run thanks toa number of assists, and included 10points from Lisanti, who hit her firsttwo 3-pointers. Klag put in six pointsas did Stravach, who went to the linetwice and hit both free throws. JenEncarnacion, who would lead all scor-ers with 22 points, scored all six of theLions’ points.

“We all play for each other and theyknew that once I missed a couple ofshots I was going to keep shootingand they kept giving me the ball. Alsoour defense really covered our of-


Bencivenga, who added, “This time Iam going on the podium [at AC]. Allway to the top!”

Scanlan lost his bid for AC when helost to Kellner in the wrestlebacks.

Raider Bowles, a sophomore, wonby 10-1 major decision over CougarWill Fernandez then lost, 11-6, in the113-lb semis to Gabe Leo (RP), whowould go on to claim the title with a 3-2 decision over Pat Phillips (Brearley- Br). After winning his firstwrestleback, 5-4, Bowles defeatedBlue Devil Gimblette, 8-1, for thirdplace, getting bonus points with anarm bar tilt.

“I’m a little sick today. I just pushedthrough it. I worked on everything inpractice and wrestled hard. I like todo tilts, bars and keep wrist control. Igot the bar, just ran it and he wentover,” described Bowles, who added,”It’s my first year going [to AC]. Iworked hard for it. I’m excited to go.”

Gimblette won his first bout, 11-3,then after losing 9-0 to Phillips in thesemis, he edged James Day (P-b), 7-5, to face Bowles.

Cougar Halpin began his trip at 145-lbs with an 8-0 major decision overBlue Devil Theo Dardia. He edgedJulian Todd (SPP), 5-3, then lost 3-0 toMatt Sacco (BrH2O), who went on thebeat Rhise Royster (Rahway - Rah), 4-3, for the title. Halpin beat Conner Vill(GL), 5-1, in the wrestleback then lost4-2 to Elvin Guerrero (RP) in the boutfor third place.

Blue Devil Jordan Simpson (160-lbs) lost to Alex Dorce (Rah), 8-6, in

the quarterfinals, recorded a 50 sec-ond pin in his first wrestleback thenlost his bid to AC with a 10-8 over-time sudden victory setback to FrankMedina (WH). Simpson did finishfifth.

Blue Devil Brandon Loder (195-lbs) pinned Nour Sayed (Elizabeth)in 2:42 then lost 11-5 to John Dusza(WH) in the quarterfinal. Loder beatRaider Zach Zimmerman, 13-7, in thewrestleback then lost his bid to ACwith a 6-2 loss to Andrew Diadato(Somerville). Loder placed fifth whenhe beat Dusza, 1-0.

Blue Devil sophomore Jon Heard(285) made the top-8 when he nippedJordan Belle (WH) 1-0, before losingto top-seeded Lewis Fernandes(Voorhees), who was selected MostOutstanding Wrestler. Cougars JustinAlpaugh-McLean (182-lbs) won hiselimination bout, as did Pat Kalnins(120-lbs), Dean Smith (132-lbs) andMatt Doran (220-lbs).

Cougar Evan Kanterman (170-lbs)won three bouts and placed fifth, andJack Korzeneski (138) won two bouts.

Other Union County champs were:Mark Montgomery (RP - 132-lbs)and Joe Delia (New Providence - 160-lbs).

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS:182: — John Poznanski (Col) p TimMiller (W) 1:36195: — Austin Roth (P-b) d SebastianIakouchevitch (ALJ) 9-2220: — Nico Colucci (SPP) d JoshDarisme (Rahway) 7-1285: — Lewis Fernandes (V) p JerveySistrunk (BB) 1:40106: — Logan Maczko (P-b) d NicoCalello (WH) 2-1113: — Gabe Leo (RP) d Patrick Phillips(Br) 3-2120: — Luke Hoerle (W) d PatrickAdams (SPP) 9-4126: — CJ Composto (W) d EddieHummel (RP) 3-2132: — Mark Montgomery (RP) d TravisJones (P-b) 12-5138: — Kyle Tino (P-b) p Troy O’Connor(Mx) 6:12 OT145: — Matt Sacco (BrH2O) d RhiseRoister (Rah) 4-3152: — Cody Harrison (P-b) d Jack Wilt(SHP) 4-2160: — Joe Delia (NProv) p Jacob Vega(Cart) 3:46170: — James Cruz (SPP) p VinceMattaliano (WH) 2:13



SLIGHT PAuSE IN THE ACTION..Blue Devil senior Tim Miller, left, andColonia’s John Poznanski go out of the circle in their 182-lb championship bout.Poznanski took first and Miller was second to qualify for Atlantic City.


BATTLE FOR THIRD AT 113-LBS..Raider Brandon Bowles takes Blue DevilQuinn Gimblette to the mat in the bout for third place at 113-lbs. Bowles won 8-1 to take third. Both wrestlers qualified for the NJSIAA Tournament at AC.


KEEPING CLOSE TABS ON A LION...Blue Devil Charlotte Dursee, No. 5, sticks close to Roselle Catholic Lion JenEncarnacion, No. 14, in the UCT semifinal at AL Johnson. The Blue Devils prevailed, 60-46, to advance to the title game.


MAKING HIS MOVE TO THE BASKET...Cougar Kevin Donovan, No. 24, attempts to drive past Blue Devil Matt Crowley,No. 11, in the regular-season finale for both teams at Cranford on February 22. The Blue Devils topped the Cougars, 68-49.




Area stores that carry The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES

King's Supermarket300 South Ave. (Leader)

Shoprite Supermarket563 North Ave. (Leader)

7-11 of Mountainside921 Mountain Ave. (Leader)

Westfield Tobacco & News108 Elm St. (Leader)

Baron's Drug Store243 E. Broad St. (Leader)

Krauszer's727 Central Ave. (Leader)

Westfield Mini Mart301 South Ave., W. (Leader)

7-11 of Westfield1200 South Ave., W. (Leader/Times)

Kwick Mart Food Store190 South Ave. (Times)

Scotch Hills Pharmacy1819 East 2nd St. (Times)

Mountain Deli2385 Mountain Ave. (Times)

Wallis Stationery441 Park Ave. (Leader/Times)

7-11 of Garwood309 North Ave. (Leader)

7-11 on Central Ave800 Central Ave. (Leader)

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DeVIZIO HITS WINNER, NETS 10 PTS, LYGHT NETS 7 PTS

Raiders’ Buzzer Beater SilencesTigers in Hoops Finale, 33-32

By ALEX LOWESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Senior guard Stefanie DeVizio fol-lowed her own missed shot and scoredthe game-winning basket on a put backwith :01 remaining as the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School girls basketballteam rallied for a thrilling 33-32 vic-tory over South Plainfield on February19 in Scotch Plains. The Raiders trailedby as many as 14 points midwaythrough the third quarter and wouldnot regain the lead from the Tigersuntil Devizio’s bucket just before thebuzzer. The victory came as the Raid-ers celebrated “Senior Day” and im-proved the season record to 6-16.

“It was really fun for me becausethis was my last game on this court, soI will be able to remember this whenI’m older,” said DeVizio, who scored10 points to lead her team.

After a slow first half which saw thetwo teams enter the locker room tied10-10, the Tigers took charge in thethird quarter. The Tigers outscoredthe Raiders, 15-1, over the first fourminutes to grab a healthy, 25-11 lead.South Plainfield (10-14) was forcingturnovers and scoring easy baskets intransition during the stretch.

“They brought the energy that wewere looking to have at the start of thethird quarter,” said Raider Head CoachRyan McKenna. “Both teams were ina malaise in the first quarter if not theentire first half. It was just slow. Theycame out and pressed a little bit, theyhit some shots. They followed that upwith a quick steal and a lay-up andthey ended up scoring five pointsreally quickly, so we had to comeback and match that energy if we weregoing to get back into the game.”

McKenna knew he needed to gethis team back into the game mentallyand physically, so he decided to upthe pressure on defense.

“We went to a run-and-jump pressand we mixed that with our regular zonepress to keep them off balance,” saidMcKenna. “We were able to get a bunchof steals which created more opportuni-ties for us. We missed a ton of lay-upsand close range shots early on.”

The Raider defensive slowly got

them back into the game. It disruptedthe South Plainfield offense which nowstruggled to get the ball up the court.

“They came out with a lot of inten-sity at the beginning of the secondhalf where we didn’t match it,” saidRaider junior Corinne Lyght who tal-lied seven points. “We were able tocome back and find our rhythm by thefourth quarter and that helped us fin-ish the game strong.”

It also served to minimize the im-pact of Mackenzie O’Brien (14points), who had been torching theRaiders with inside baskets early inthe third quarter.

“She is a junior and a thousand-point scorer, so she can really fill itup,” said McKenna. “We knew wewould have to key in and focus on herto slow her down but sometimes thereis nothing you can do to stop a scorerfrom scoring.”

By the end of the third quarter, theRaiders had cut the deficit in half at27-20. They continued to grind awaypulling to within three at 29-26 afterLyght found DeVizio with a pass asthe senior cut through the lane for alay-up. The Raiders pulled to within apoint at 32-31 after senior HannahLyman scored on a steal and a lay-upwith 1:24 to play.

“It was great to be able to contrib-ute to a win in our final game on thisfloor,” said Lyman who scored fivepoints and grabbed five rebounds.

But this one was still very much upfor grabs. South Plainfield had achance to extend the lead with :26remaining but O’Brien could not con-vert free throws and the Raiders con-trolled the rebound. As the Raiderscrossed half court with the ball and achance to take the lead, McKennacalled for a timeout with :16 left onthe clock to set up a play.

“We had Corinne and Stef on apick-and-roll and we had Abby on the

opposite block, so we were hoping toget it to Corinne,” said McKenna ofthe final play. “They slipped the screenbut we got it to Corinne anyway.Abby’s defender came over to help sowe got it to her. We didn’t get a shotbut as the ball came around, we got itback to Stef. Because we had goodball movement we were able to score.She scored off of her own rebound.”

DeVizio missed on a short jumperas the clock ticked down under :05but the ball came back to her and shegathered herself and scored from inclose just before the buzzer soundedfor the 33-32 victory.

“Stef scored our first basket andour last basket in her final homegame,” said McKenna. “I don’t knowif she’ll admit to it but she didn’tknow she hit the winning shot whenshe did. She must have thought that itwas tied because when the hornsounded our bench was excited butshe didn’t realize what had happeneduntil she looked up at the scoreboardand saw that we had won.”

DeVizio confirmed that specula-tion. “I thought we were tied so I wasreally confused when everyone on thesideline came running out at me,” shesaid. “It was supposed to be a pick-and-roll with Corinne, and Corinnewas supposed to get it and make a lay-up but they were playing good de-fense on Corinne, so we kind of justdid whatever and it ended up workingin our favor.”

The timely put back served as re-demption for DeVizio, who had missedtwo earlier shots in the final minutethat would have put her team ahead.

“I try not to think about missedshots,” said DeVizio. “You have toforget about it right after it happensbecause you never know when yournext opportunity will come.”So. Plainfield 7 3 17 5 32Sc Pl-Fanwood 4 6 10 13 33

WILLIAMS PUMPS IN 20 PTS., PORTER SCORES 17 PTS.

Raiders Halt Crusaders, 61-55In Boys Hoops Season Finale

By ALEX LOWESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Junior guard Jayson Williamsscored a game high 20 points to leadthe Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool boys basketball team to a 61-55 victory over Johnson (7-15) onFebruary 21 in Scotch Plains. Thegame was played on “Senior Night”and the Raiders were able to send offfive departing players with a seasonand career ending victory. Head CoachSteve Siracusa played his seniors,Anthony Porter, Nick Merkel, Jon

Ramos, Miles Owens and DannyWright together to start the game andthe quintet did not disappoint.

“It is just so surreal,” said seniorforward Owens. “I’ve been playingsince I was a freshman and to comeout and end on a win is just great. Ididn’t score because I didn’t get anyreal good looks. I was just focusingon playing defense and reboundingand trying to help the team that way.”

With the seniors playing togetherin the first quarter, Scotch Plains-Fanwood got off to a 13-10 lead be-

fore Siracusa began filtering hisyounger players. The two teamsbattled back and forth throughout thesecond quarter before Raider juniorDean Johnston buried a three-pointbasket from the corner as the buzzersound to give the home team a 30-25advantage heading into halftime.

In the third quarter, junior JaysonWilliams got hot and fueled the Raid-ers to a commanding lead. Williamsscored nine straight points in littleover a minute, taking the Raiders from

The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification.Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage are independent contractor agents and are not employees of the Company. ©2019 Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the EqualOpportunity Act. Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

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Blue Devil Icemen EliminateManalapan in Group Tourney

It was not easy but the WestfieldHigh School boys varsity ice hockeyteam advanced to the New Jerseystate high school Group Bquarterfinals with a 3-1 victory overthe Manalapan Braves. The game wasplayed at the historic Warinanco Skat-ing Center in Roselle. As with all win-or-go-home tournament play, the BlueDevils subscribe to the old sportsadage, “just win, baby”.

Following on their dramaticMcInnis Cup victory, the Blue Dev-ils, ranked No. 3 in the NJ group Bflight, seemed to have a bit of a cham-pionship hangover. Westfield was abit off kilter early in the game to starttheir state title pursuit. However, likea great baseball pitcher working with-out his best fastball, Westfield wasable to grit and grind its way to sur-vive and advance.

An early highlight for the BlueDevils was a beauty of a play to openthe scoring in the first period. JuniorNick Forno worked a gorgeous cen-tering pass from below the goal line tosophomore Brendan Kotiga (akaBrotiga) who was able to find theback of the net.

The Blue Devils would continue tocontrol the play but could not solvethe defense and netminder for the 14seeded boys from just off Route 9 insouth/central New Jersey. Predictably,midway through the second period

the Braves cashed in on an odd-manrush to score the equalizer. SuddenlyWestfield found themselves in a dogfight against the Braves. After twoperiods the score was tied at one.

A much-needed break between thesecond and third period seemed toenergize the Blue Devils. Enteringthe third and final stanza, Westfielddid what it has done all year andstarted to wear down their opponent.Led by the line of senior AnthonyOliveri and alternate captain Alex Parkand sophomore Dan MacDonald, theBlue Devils presented a relentlessforecheck that hemmed Manalapanin their own zone.

The pressure led to opportunitiesand Westfield was finally able to capi-talize. Once again it was Kotiga in themiddle of the action. The salty sopho-more was knocked to the ice by aManalapan check, but remained com-posed. From his knees Kotiga deliv-ered the puck to junior alternate cap-tain Trevor Tanella in the high slot.Tanella stepped up from his outpost

on the blue line and buried the biscuitin the basket for a 2-1 lead.

Once they had the lead the BlueDevils squeezed time off the clocklike a boa constrictor. Key minuteswere provided by the line of Fornoand seniors Timmy Rosa and TommyDuffy.

Later in the third Tanella sealed thedeal by going coast-to-coast and fin-ishing with a nifty backhander past theManalapan goalie. Blue Devil seniorcaptain goalie CJ Duffy was solid innet all night and earned the win.

Westfield’s record stands at 16-5-3. The Princeton High School Tigerswill be the next opponent for the BlueDevils as they continue their statechampionship quest. Follow the WHSboys ice hockey teams on Twitter@westfieldpuck for an informativeand entertaining take on the season’sactivities. Fans can also visitWHSpuck on FaceBook andInstagram. See the website for up todate team schedules atwww.westfieldhockey.com.

PUBLIC NOTICESTATE OF NEW JERSEY

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL

WINERY SALESROOM

Take Notice that Tomasello Winery hasapplied to the Director of the Division ofAlcoholic Beverage Control for a WinerySalesroom to be situated at 109 WalnutAvenue, Retail Unit #2, Cranford, NewJersey 07016.

Objections, if any, should be made im-mediately in writing to the Director of theDivision of Alcoholic Beverage Control,PO Box 087, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0087.

Tomasello Winery225 North White Horse Pike

Hammonton, New Jersey 080372 T - 2/28/19& 3/7/19, The Leader Fee: $35.70

PUBLIC NOTICEBOROUGH OF GARWOODBOARD OF EDUCATION

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that theGarwood Public Schools will hold a meet-ing on March 4, 2019. The board will openthe meeting at 7:00 pm and go immedi-ately into executive session to discusspersonnel matters.

Debi LeBrunSBA/BS

1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $11.22

Alex Lowe for The Westfield Leader and The Times

RAIDER SENIORS AND CHEERLEADERS...From left to right in uniforms, Raider seniors Miles Owen, Nick Merkel,Anthony Porter, Jonathan Ramos and Danny Wright pose with the cheerleaders and coaches on “Senior Night”.

Photo by Varsity Vantage

MAKING A PASS..Blue Devil Tom Duffy makes a pass during a recent game.

Cougars Speer, Goff Named Athletes of the WeekOlivia Speer, a senior on the varsity basketball team had 19 points, fourrebounds and three assists to help lead the Cranford Cougars to a 51-35 victoryover Montclair last week in their “Senior Night”. Hunter Goff, a senior guardon the basketball team, is averaging 19 points and has helped the Cougarsqualify for the state tournament.


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SHERIFF’S SALESHERIFF’S FILE NO.: CH-19000142

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEYCHANCERY DIVISION

UNION COUNTYDOCKET NO. F-011877-10

Plaintiff: U.S. BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIA-TION, AS TRUSTEE, SUCCESSOR ININTERTEST TO WACHOVIA BANK, NATIONALASSOCIATION, AS TRUSTEE FOR BANK OFAMERICA FUNDING CORPORATION MORT-GAGE PASS-THROUGH CERTIFICATES, SE-RIES 2005-H

VS.Defendant: ROBERTO SIA; FELICITAS L. SIA,

H/WSale Date: 03/20/2019Writ of Execution: 08/22/2018By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution

to me directed I shall expose for sale by publicvendue, at the Union County Administration Build-ing, 1st Floor, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Eliza-beth, New Jersey on Wednesday, at two o’clockin the afternoon of said day. All successful bid-ders must have 20% of their bid available in cashor certified check at the conclusion of the sales.

The judgment amount is: ***Eight HundredTwelve Thousand Two Hundred Seventeen and29/100*** $812,217.29.

The property to be sold is located in Town ofWestfield in the County of Union, and State ofNew Jersey.

Commonly known as 39 Carol Road, Westfield,New Jersey 07090.

Tax Lot No. 26, Block 1904.Dimensions of Lot: (Approximately) 100 feet

by 120 feet.Nearest Cross Street: Sunset Avenue.Total Upset: ***Eight Hundred Forty-One Thou-

sand Three Hundred Seventy-Six and 19/100***$841,376.19 together with lawful interest andcosts.

Surplus Money: If after the sale and satisfac-tion of the mortgage debt, including costs andexpenses, there remains any surplus money, themoney will be deposited into the Superior CourtTrust Fund and any person claiming the surplus,or any part thereof, may file a motion pursuant toCourt Rules 4:64-3 and 4:57-2 stating the natureand extent of that person’s claim and asking foran order directing payment of the surplus money.The Sheriff or other person conducting the salewill have information regarding the surplus, ifany.

There is a full legal description on file in theUnion County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff reserves the right to adjourn thissale for any length of time without further adver-tisement.

Peter CorvelliSheriff

Attorney:KML LAW GROUP, P.C.216 HADDON AVENUESUITE 406WESTMONT NEW JERSEY 08108(215) 627-13224 T - 02/21, 02/28, 03/07& 03/14/19 Fee: $169.32




Plaintiff: DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONALTRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE, FOR THEWAMU MORTGAGE PASS-THROUGH CER-TIFICATES, SERIES 2004-AR10

VS.Defendant: TIMOTHY J. SCHETELICH AND

LAURA E. SCHETELICH, HUSBAND AND WIFE;UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; STATE OFNEW JERSEY

Sale Date: 03/06/2019Writ of Execution: 10/05/2018By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution


The judgment amount is: ***Six Hundred Sev-enty-Seven Thousand Seven Hundred Thirtyand 10/100*** $677,730.10.

The property to be sold is located in SCOTCHPLAINS TOWNSHIP, County of UNION andState of New Jersey.

Commonly known as: 2426 HILL ROAD,SCOTCH PLAINS, NEW JERSEY 07076.

Tax Lot No. 4, in Block No. 7703.Dimension of Lot Approximately: 0.233.Nearest Cross Street: MARLBORO ROAD.BEGINNING AT A POINT marked by an iron

pipe found in the southeasterly sideline of HillRoad, said point being 254.60 feet in a northeast-erly direction from a point of curve in the south-easterly sideline of Hill Road, said curve leadinginto the northerly sideline of Marlboro Road:

PRIOR LIENS/ENCUMBRANCESTaxes Open with Penalty: $5,215.00.Sewer Open with Penalty: $522.24.TOTAL AS OF November 29, 2018: $5,737.24.Total Upset: ***Six Hundred Ninety-Nine Thou-

sand Nine Hundred Eighty-Seven and 13/100***$699,987.13 together with lawful interest andcosts.





Attorney:FEIN, SUCH, KAHN & SHEPARD, PC7 CENTURY DRIVESUITE 201PARSIPPANY, NEW JERSEY 07054(973) 538-47004 T - 02/07, 02/14, 02/21& 02/28/19 Fee: $189.72




Plaintiff: CHRISTIANA TRUST A DIVISIONOF WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY,FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT INDI-VIDUALLY BUT AS TRUSTEE FOR PRETIUMMORTGAGE ACQUISITION TRUST

VS.Defendant: BRUCE M. MORAN; DANIELLE

H. MORAN; WELLS FARGO BANK, N.A., ASTRUSTEE FOR IRWIN HOME EQUITY LOANTRUST 2007-1

Sale Date: 03/13/2019Writ of Execution: 11/27/2018By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution


The judgment amount is: ***Four HundredFifty-Six Thousand One Hundred Six and 30/100*** $456,106.30.

PROPERTY TO BE SOLD IS LOCATED [N:Township of Scotch Plains, County of Union, inthe State of New Jersey

PREMISES COMMONLY KNOWN AS: 2338Redwood Road, Scotch Plains, New Jersey07076.

TAX LOT # 16, BLOCK # 6901.APPROXIMATE DIMENSIONS: 000.315 AC.NEAREST CROSS STREET: Muir Terrace.*Also subject to subsequent taxes, water and

sewer plus interest through date of payoff.Total Upset: ***Four Hundred Seventy-Four

Thousand Two Hundred Thirty and 76/100***$474,230.76 together with lawful interest andcosts.





Attorney:PARKER MC CAYPO BOX 50549000 MIDATLANTIC DRIVESUITE 300MOUNT LAUREL, NEW JERSEY 08054(856) 810-58154 T - 02/14, 02/21, 02/28& 03/07/19 Fee: $177.48




Plaintiff: NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC D/B/A CHAMPION MORTGAGE COMPANY

VS.Defendant: JOHN A. FUSCO, AND UNITED

STATES OF AMERICASale Date: 03/20/2019Writ of Execution: 04/10/2017By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution


The judgment amount is: ***Three HundredEighty-Eight Thousand Ninety-Six and 49/100***$388,096.49.

The property to be sold is located in the Bor-ough of Mountainside.

In the County of Union and the State of NewJersey.

Premises commonly known as: 222 CentralAvenue.

Block: 5.20 (f/k/a 5.T), Lot: 62.Dimensions of Lot (approximately): 000.973

ACNearest Cross Street: Poplar Avenue.Subject to: Taxes current as of 3/30/2018.Sale subject to subsequent taxes, utilities,

liens and interest since 3/30/2018Total Upset: ***Four Hundred Fifteen Thou-

sand Six Hundred Twenty-Nine and 34/100***$415,629.34 together with lawful interest andcosts.





Attorney:MCCABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, P.C.216 HADDON AVENUESUITE 201WESTMONT NEW JERSEY 08108(856) 858-70804 T - 02/21, 02/28, 03/07& 03/14/19 Fee: $167.28




Plaintiff: DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONALTRUST COMPANY, AS TRUSTEE FOR HOMEEQUITY MORTGAGE LOAN ASSET-BACKEDTRUST SERIES INABS 2006-E, HOME EQ-UITY MORTGAGE LOAN ASSET-BACKEDCERTIFICATES SERIES INABS 2006-E

VS.Defendant: SUZANNE FEDORCZYK; PJM

TRADING CO.; STATE OF NEW JERSEYSale Date: 03/27/2019Writ of Execution: 12/10/2018By virtue of the above-stated writ of execution


The judgment amount is: ***Seven HundredSeventy-Eight Thousand Twenty-Eight and 13/100*** $778,028.13.

The property to be sold is located in the munici-pality of SCOTCH PLAINS in the County ofUNION and State of New Jersey.

Commonly known as 1410 RARITAN ROAD,SCOTCH PLAINS, NEW JERSEY 07076.

Tax LOT 26, BLOCK 14301.Dimensions of Lot: 000.822 AC.Nearest Cross Street: ALTON WAY.Subject to any unpaid taxes, municipal liens or

other charges, and any such taxes, charges,liens, insurance premiums or other advancesmade by plaintiff prior to this sale. All interestedparties are to conduct and rely upon their ownindependent investigation to ascertain whetheror not any outstanding interest remain of recordand/or have priority over the lien being fore-closed and, if so the current amount due thereon.

• 2019 Qtr 1 Due: 02/01/2019 $5,471.00 OPEN• Sewer: Acet: 07/01/2018 - 12/31/2018

$271.12 OPEN PLUS PENALTY Sewer chargesare based on prior water consumption.

Total Upset: ***Seven Hundred Ninety-EightThousand Four Hundred Eighty-Five and 84/100*** $798,485.84 together with lawful interestand costs.





Attorney:RAS CITRON LAW OFFICES130 CLINTON ROADSUITE 202FAIRFIELD NEW JERSEY 07004(973) 575-07074 T - 02/28, 03/07, 03/14& 03/21/19 Fee: $195.84

CLASSIFIEDS

PUBLIC NOTICEUNION COUNTY BOARD

OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERSNOTICE OF CONTRACT AWARD

Date Adopted: 2/21/19Public Notice is hereby given that the

Union County Board of Chosen Freehold-ers has awarded a contract without com-petitive bidding as an Professionalservicepursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i). This contract and the resolution autho-rizing it is available for public inspection inthe Office of the Clerk of the Board.

RESOLUTION NO: 2019-171AWARDED TO: Kologi & Simitz of

Linden, New JerseySERVICES TO: as special counsel to

represent John Kaminskas in the matterentitled Emmanuel Mervilus v. UC, et als

COSTS: in an amount not to exceed $20,000.00

James E. Pellettiere, RMC, QPA, Clerkof the Board Chosen Freeholders

1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $20.91




Union County Board of Chosen Freehold-ers has awarded a contract without com-petitive bidding as an Professionalservicepursuant to N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a)(i). This contract and the resolution autho-rizing it is available for public inspection inthe Office of the Clerk of the Board.

RESOLUTION NO: 2019-161AWARDED TO: Maser Consulting of

Red Bank, New JerseySERVICES TO: to provide design and

inspection services related to thestormwater system upgrades in compli-ance with NJDEP for drainage improve-ments at eastbound C.R. 622, MP. 035(Mountain Avenue) Berkeley Heights, NewJersey

COSTS: in an amount not to exceed $19,600.00


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $23.97




Union County Board of Chosen Freehold-ers has awarded a contract without com-petitive bidding as an extraordinaryunspecifiable service pursuant to N.J.S.A.40A:11-5(1)(a) (11). This contract and theresolution authorizing it is available forpublic inspection in the Office of the Clerkof the Board.

RESOLUTION NO: 2019-145AWARDED TO: Sage Eldercare, Sum-

mit, New JerseySERVICE: for the provision of transpor-

tation services through the Union CountyParatransit System for Adult Day Careclients

PERIOD: February 1, 2019-December31, 2019

COSTS: reimbursement in the amountof $4.00 per one way trip to the County ofUnion.


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $24.99





RESOLUTION NO: 2019-173amending (Resolution No. 2019-133)AWARDED TO: Groundwork Eliza-

bethSERVICE: to include for the Administra-

tion of the UC Kids Dig In! a school GardenGrant program in the amount of $50,000.00combined with the already authorized$50,000.00 towards the administration ofthe Union County Means Green Commu-nity Garden Grants

COSTS: in the amount not to exceed$100,000.00


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $25.50





RESOLUTION NO: 2019-146AWARDED TO: Various Agencies

Jewish Family Service $122,000.00Sage, Eldercare Inc $100,003Inpatient Care Services $20,000.00Gracious Home Care, LLC $17,544.00The Gateway Family/YMCA-WISE AdultDay Services $22,552.00JFK Adult Medical Day Program

$17,414.00Alzheimer’ Assn NJ Chapter Caregiver$5,000.00

SERVICE: for respite care services toassist unpaid caregiver, 18 years or older

PERIOD: January 1, 2019-December31, 2019

COSTS: in the total amount not to ex-ceed $304,513.00


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $29.58





RESOLUTION NO: 2019-147AWARDED TO: Various Agencies

Jewish Family Service $45,000.00Sage, Eldercare $15,000.00Community Access Unlimited$15,000.00Visiting Nurse and Health Services

$25,000.00SERVICE: to provide Home Care and

Nursing services to Union County resi-dents

PERIOD: January 1, 2019-December31, 2019

COSTS: in the total amount not toexceed $100,000.00


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $26.01




AN ORDINANCE AMENDINGCHAPTER 4 OF THE TOWNCODE OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD AS IT RELATESTO THE HOURS FOR THERETAIL SALE OF ALCO-HOLIC BEVERAGES FORCONSUMPTION ON AND OFFPREMISES

WHEREAS, under State law (N.J.S.A.33:1-40), the governing body of each mu-nicipality may regulate the hours betweenwhich the sale of alcoholic beverages atretail may be made; and

WHEREAS, currently, the Town permitsthe retail sale of alcoholic beverages thatare to be consumed off premises to occurseven days per week, but varies thosehours depending on the type of alcoholicbeverages being sold, such that beer andwine retail sales for off premises consump-tion is permitted between 6:30 a.m. and1:00 a.m. Mondays through Saturdays,and 12:00 p.m. through 1:00 a.m. on Sun-days; and liquor or hard spirits retail salesfor off premises consumption is permittedfrom 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Mondaysthrough Saturdays, and 12:00 p.m. through10:00 p.m. Sundays; and

WHEREAS, currently the Town also dif-ferentiates the hours of the on-premisessale of alcohol between Sundays and allother days of the week;

WHEREAS, the Mayor and Town Coun-cil have determined that the differentialtreatment of hours based upon the type ofalcoholic beverage and the day of theweek is unnecessarily complicated, andthe varied and staggered hours of saleserve no important public purpose, andfurther that the public may benefit from theconvenience of extending the hours onSundays during which the sale of alcoholicbeverages for consumption off premisescan occur, without any detrimental effectsfrom such an extension on the public healthand safety;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINEDby the Mayor and Town Council of theTown of Westfield:

SECTION I.Chapter 4, Alcoholic Beverages, of the

Town Code of the Town of Westfield is

amended by adding as follows:Sec. 4-6. Hours of Operation.No plenary retail consumption licensee

or club licensee shall sell, serve, deliver orallow, permit or suffer the sale, service ordelivery of any alcoholic beverage or per-mit the consumption of any alcoholic bev-erage on the licensed premises betweenthe hours of 1:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M.;provided, that on the first day of Januarysuch sales may be made up to 3:00 A.M.

No licensee shall sell or deliver, or allow,permit or suffer the sale or delivery of anyalcoholic beverage at retail in its originalcontainer for consumption off the licensedpremises or allow, permit or suffer theremoval of any alcoholic beverage in itsoriginal or opened container from retaillicensed premises, before 9:00 A.M. orafter 10:00 P.M.

SECTION II. Severability.If any section, subsection, paragraph,

sentence, clause or phrase of this Ordi-nance shall be declared invalid for anyreason whatsoever, such decision shallnot affect the remaining portions of thisOrdinance, which shall continue in full forceand effect, and to this end, the provisionsof this Ordinance are hereby declared tobe severable.

SECTION III. Effective Date.This ordinance shall take effect upon

final passage and publication in accor-dance with law.

NOTICE

The foregoing ordinance was introducedas amended at a Regular Meeting of theTown Council of the Town of Westfieldheld on February 26, 2019 and will befurther considered for final passage bysaid Town Council at the Westfield Munici-pal Building, Council Chambers, 425 EastBroad Street, Westfield, New Jersey 07090at a meeting beginning at 8:00 PM to beheld on March 12, 2019 or at any time andplace to which such meeting may be ad-journed. All persons interested will be giventhe opportunity to be heard concerningsuch ordinance. Copies of this ordinanceare available at the Office of the TownClerk, Westfield Municipal Building, 425East Broad Street, Westfield, New Jersey07090.


1 T - 2/28/19, The Leader Fee: $93.33

PUBLIC NOTICE

WESTFIELDSunday, February 17, Yazan M.

Tarkhan, 35, of Clifton was arrestedon warrants out of Montvale, for$1,000, and Passaic, for $750, pur-suant to a motor vehicle stop onSouth Avenue near Jersey Avenue inScotch Plains. He was transported topolice headquarters, where he wasprocessed and released on his ownrecognizance with future court datesto be set.

Sunday, February 17, a resident ofthe 800 block of Forest Avenue re-ported the theft of a license plate fromthe rear of a motor vehicle. There wereno suspects at the time of the report.

Monday, February 18, ChristopherDutan, 26, of Elizabeth was arrestedand charged with driving while intoxi-cated (DWI) pursuant to an accidentinvestigation on the 300 block of EastSouth Avenue. He was processed andreleased to a responsible adult.

Tuesday, February 19, PollyPowasnik, 28, of Cranford was ar-rested on two active confirmed traf-fic warrants, totaling $1,500, fromWestfield and Clark. Powasnik wasturned over to Westfield authoritiesby the Somerset County jail. Shewas transported to the Union Countyjail in lieu of bail.

Tuesday, February 19, EdgardoBarcenas, 3rd, 20, of Rahway wasarrested and charged with possessionof less than 50 grams of suspectedmarijuana and Ashton Barthelus, 23,of Linden was arrested on an activetraffic warrant out of Rahway Mu-nicipal Court, in the amount of$1,000, pursuant to a motor vehiclestop in the area of East South Avenueand Sussex Street. Both individualswere transported to police headquar-ters for processing. At headquarters,Barcenas was released with a sum-mons and Barthelus was released af-ter posting full bail.

Wednesday, February 20, HeatherM. Kilkenny, 20, of Brick was ar-rested on charges of possession ofless than 50 grams of suspected mari-juana and possession of drug para-phernalia pursuant to a motor vehiclestop in the area of Central Avenuenear Vernon Terrace. She was trans-ported to police headquarters, pro-cessed and released with a summons.

Thursday, February 21, a series ofmotor vehicle burglaries was re-ported on the 800 block of KimballAvenue, in which unknown suspectsgained entry to the vehicles. In onecase, two unsecured vehicles wereentered while they were parked inthe driveway of the residence. Thevictim reported that a credit cardwas taken from one of the vehicles.In a second case, $15 in U.S. cur-rency was taken from an unsecuredvehicle parked in front of a resi-

dence. Nothing was reported takenin the third incident, during whichthe vehicle was parked in the drive-way of the home.

Thursday, February 21, a residentof the 600 block of Tremont Avenuereported that one or more unknownsuspects gained entry into her un-locked motor vehicle between 9 a.m.on February 20 and 5:08 a.m. onFebruary 21. Nothing was deter-mined to be missing at the time ofthe report.

Thursday, February 21, a resident ofthe 200 block of Baker Avenue re-ported that her unsecured motor ve-hicle, parked in her driveway, wasburglarized. It did not appear at thetime of the report that anything hadbeen taken. The time frame for theincident was between 3 p.m. on Feb-ruary 20 and 8:33 a.m. on February 21.

FANWOODThursday, February 21, an officer

was investigating a suspicious-per-son call on the 190 block of SouthAvenue. The officer located this per-son and a check showed an activewarrant out of Millburn. The indi-vidual was arrested, processed andreleased by Millburn MunicipalCourt. He was identified as WillieMartin, Jr., 56, of Plainfield.

Saturday, February 23, an officermade a motor vehicle stop at TerrillRoad and La Grande Avenue for amotor vehicle violation. A check of thedriver showed an active warrant out ofthe Morris County Sheriff’s Office.The driver was arrested, processed andturned over to the Morris CountySheriff’s Office. He was identified asWilliams Jean-Charles, 51, of Fords.

CRANFORDWednesday, February 13, Elaine

Kwiatek, 26, of Linden was arrestedand charged with possession of un-der 50 grams of marijuana and pos-session of drug paraphernalia fol-lowing a motor vehicle stop onRaritan Road for a brake light out.Kwiatek was processed and providedwith a municipal court appearancedate. In addition, she was issuedmotor vehicle summonses for main-tenance of lamps, having an ob-structed view and possession of acontrolled dangerous substance in amotor vehicle.

Thursday, February 14, NathanielLouis, 21, of Hillside was arrestedand charged with unlawful posses-sion of a weapon, possession of un-der 50 grams of marijuana and pos-session of drug paraphernalia after a2001 Honda was stopped on NorthAvenue East for an expired inspec-tion decal. Following an investiga-tion at the scene, police arrested apassenger in the vehicle, identifiedas Louis, for suspected marijuanafound in his possession. In addition,police recovered a loaded .45ACPhandgun in Louis’ possession. Hewas processed and turned over to theUnion County jail pending a deten-tion hearing. The driver was issued

motor vehicle summonses for an in-spection violation and for being anunlicensed/suspended driver.

Friday, February 15, Charles Osei,20, of Union was arrested and chargedwith eluding police following a mo-tor vehicle stop at North Union Av-enue and Claremont Place for erraticdriving. Following an investigationon scene, the driver, Osei, was ar-rested after he initially failed to stopfor police units. He was processedand provided with a state SuperiorCourt appearance date. In addition,he was issued motor vehicle sum-monses for reckless driving, speed-ing, failure to keep right, an unsafelane change, failure to signal a turn,failure to stop, improper use of a hornand maintenance of lamps.

Friday, February 15, AnthonyQuimi, 22, of Bloomfield was ar-rested and charged with possessionof under 50 grams of marijuana andpossession of drug paraphernalia fol-lowing a motor vehicle stop atRaritan Road and Centennial Av-enue for a taillight out. Quimi wasprocessed and provided with a mu-nicipal court appearance date. In ad-dition, he was issued motor vehiclesummonses for unclear plates, notwearing a seatbelt and possession ofa controlled dangerous substance ina motor vehicle.

Saturday, February 16, GeorgeHaley, 22, of Roselle was arrestedand charged with possession of under50 grams of marijuana and posses-sion of drug paraphernalia followinga motor vehicle stop at North AvenueEast and Carpenter Place for drivingwithout headlights on. Following aninvestigation on scene, police arrestedHaley for suspected marijuana foundinside the vehicle. He was processedand provided with a municipal courtappearance date. In addition, he wasissued motor vehicle summonses fordriving without headlights on andpossession of a controlled dangeroussubstance in a motor vehicle.

Sunday, February 17, JoshuaAnderson, 31, of Morristown wasarrested and charged with posses-sion of under 50 grams of marijuanaand possession of drug parapherna-lia following a motor vehicle stop atCentennial and Winans Avenues fora brake lamp out. Anderson, a pas-senger in the vehicle, was processedand provided with a municipal court

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BABY SITTERS NEEDED

Do you love children? ThePresbyterian Church in Westfield,140 Mountain Avenue, needs childcare baby sitters on Sunday's from9-11:15 a.m. Some extendedtimes for meetings and lunchesmay be included. The rate is $15.per hour. A substantial backgroundcheck will be done at the church’sexpense. For information and aninterview, call Christine Treger at

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SCOTCH PLAINSWednesday, February 20, a resi-

dent on Tillinghast Turn reportedthe theft of a package delivered tohis house. The matter is under inves-tigation.

Thursday, February 21, the man-agement at a Route 22 gas stationreported a theft. A customer left thelocation without paying for gas. Thematter is under investigation.

Saturday, February 23, Sekdu T.Harris, 24, of Plainfield was arrestedand charged with possession of mari-juana during a motor vehicle stop.Harris was transported to policeheadquarters and processed.

Sunday, February 24, Althea S.Riley, 38, of Plainfield was arrestedand charged with driving under theinfluence during a motor vehiclestop. Riley was transported to policeheadquarters and processed.

Sunday, February 24, Melvin C.Overbey, 42, of Linden was arrestedon an active warrant out of the EssexCounty Sheriff’s Department during amotor vehicle stop. Additional war-rants out of Orange, Paramus, EastOrange, Paterson and Linden also werelocated. Overbey was transported topolice headquarters and processed.

Sunday, February 24, JamesMcCoy, 58, of Scotch Plains wasarrested on an active warrant out ofBurlington City during a field inves-tigation. He was transported to po-lice headquarters and processed.

appearance date. In addition, thedriver was issued a motor vehiclesummons for a seatbelt violation.

Monday, February 18, SharonMarosi, 44, of Rahway was arrestedand charged with possession of acontrolled dangerous substance(CDS), possession of prescriptionlegend drugs, possession of drugparaphernalia, under the influenceof a CDS and driving while intoxi-cated (DWI) after she was involvedin a one-car motor vehicle crash onthe 200 block of Centennial Avenue.Marosi also was charged with pre-scription legend drugs and suspectedcrack-cocaine found inside the ve-hicle. She was processed and pro-vided with a state Superior Courtappearance date. In addition, she wasissued motor vehicle summonses forreckless driving, careless driving,failure to keep right, obstructing traf-fic, speeding on a sidewalk, delay-ing traffic and possession of a con-trolled dangerous substance in a mo-tor vehicle.


Blue Devils Oust Roselle Catholic in UCT SemiCONTINUED FROM PAGE 10

Raiders Halt Crusaders, 61-55In Boys Hoops Season Finale


Blue Devils Outflank CougarsOn Boys Hoops ‘Sr. Night’


In our current wacky world, peopleget their news as often from their cellphone as from television and radio.And, sadly, newspapers come in adistant fourth. And we’re constantlytold that what we see and hear andknow is actually unreality, fake news;what we know to be false we are toldis real.(Thankfully I’m old and won’thave to deal with it much longer.)

So it’s never a bad thing to spendsome time on microfilm machines atyour local library. You can look backto the time when newspapers reallymattered, and when really good news-papers and really good writers didsome really good things.

The two things that I remembermost from the last 60 or so years wereboth high school-oriented projects thatinvolved a lot of research by two ofthe state’s premier sports sections oftheir day.

One was The Newark Star-Ledger’sTeam of the Century series that startedon Sept. 26, 1999, and ran every Sun-day until June 4, 2000. They pickedall-time all-star teams for 27 sports, aPlayer of the Century, and all-decadeteams for each decade that the sportexisted in the 20th century.

The massive project of course had aWestfield touch. Paul Robeson, theDefensive Player of the Century, at-tended Westfield schools from 1906-10 before moving to Somerville; ChuckGantner Jr., the Boys Swimmer of theCentury, trained at the Westfield “Y”.Michele Mollard, Dave Perkowski,Rob Schmalz, Kim Schmidt, CliffSheehan, and Westfield nativeTamecka Dixon were all named totheir respective Team of the Century.And many WHS athletes were namedto assorted teams of the decade.

BY SPORT:Football: Paul Robeson, Defensive

Player of the Century. Others named tothe all-decade teams were: Lee War-ing (1930s), Peter Braun (1950s), GlenKehler, Butch Woolfolk, Jim Zitch andcoach Gary Kehler (1970s).

Field hockey: Jen Schwarzenbek(1990s).

Girls tennis: Kim Schmidt, Team ofthe Century; Avis Fromer (1970s),Kathy Federici (1980s).

Boys cross-country: Cliff Sheehan,Team of the Century; Edgar Hoos(1940s), Rob Bonnetti, TomZimmerman (Holy Trinity, Westfieldnative) (1950s), Matt Elmuccio (1990s).

Boys soccer: Chris Wojcik (1990s).Girls soccer: Michele Mollard, Team

of the Century; Sally Parizeau (1980s).Wrestling: Dave Morash (1960s).Boys bowling: Evan Baum and Brett

Rosenblatt (1990s).Boys swimming: Chuck Gantner Jr.,

Swimmer of the Century (Piscataway,Westfield YMCA); Dave Perkowski,Team of the Century; Bob Clotworthy(1940s), Roger Anderson, Dick Schmal(1950s), Gordon Clark, John Ketcham,Doug McOwen, Steve Schmitt, DonMutz and coach Joe Della Badia(1960s).

Girls swimming: Lora Masters andDana Zonnevylle (1970s), coachMerilyn Diamond (1980s).

Girls basketball: Tamecka Dixon(Linden, Westfield native) (Team ofthe Century).

Boys tennis: David Robinson(1970s).

Boys golf: Bill Jeremiah (1980s),Rich Jeremiah (1990s).

Boys track: Bob McCoy (1930s),Butch Woolfolk (1970s), MattElmuccio(1990s).

Boys lacrosse: Rob Schmalz (Teamof the Century); Dan Gilday, GreggSchmalz (1980s), Chris Wojcik (1990s).

Softball: Jackie Booth and ChrisDiemer (1980s).

Baseball: Jeff Torborg (1950s).A little more than 20 years before

that, in July 1988, the Asbury ParkPress took on an equally laboriousproject: “WINNERS: A championshiptown.” The Press took 11 sports andpicked 11 different towns/schools thatwere most representative of each sport,and then sent a reporter and photogra-pher there.

Starting on Sunday, July 17, withAsbury Park track and field and run-ning through Thursday, July 28, withCamden boys basketball, the Press’swriters tracked down athletes, coachesand fans from years, sometimes de-cades ago, visited local bars and bar-ber shops and delis and got someamazing stories.

BY SPORT:Track: Asbury ParkSwimming: WestfieldTennis: Cherry Hill EastSoccer: KearnyCross country: BernardsWrestling: PhillipsburgFootball: BrickField hockey: ShoreBaseball: Memorial (West New

York)Girls basketball: Hoffman (South

Amboy)Boys basketball: Camden

WILD WEEKENDTrack: There was no school record

at the Meet of Champions Saturday inToms River, but there was somethingeven better – a historic first-place fin-ish in the 4x400 relay. Seniors AjayOlson, Matt McIntyre, Steve Zuckerand Jake Saltzer (49.4) edged Eliza-beth by .13 of a second, 3:24.29 to3:24.42, and Christian Brothers(3:24.48) by .19. The Devils now have11 indoor MOC champions; the first10 were all individual.(Note: TheGrand Championships were first heldin 1969. The name was changed toAll-Groups in 1981 and then to Meetof Champions in 1996.)

Earlier last week, on Feb. 19, the4x200 team of McIntyre (23.1), Olson(22.4), Zucker (22.9) and Saltzer (22.2)set an indoor school record 1:30.52,winning the Eastern States champion-ship at New York’s 168th Street Ar-mory.

That was the quartet’s second schoolrecord relay in four days, having wonthe state Group 4 mile relay title onFeb. 16, again edging Elizabeth. Their

Devil’s Den

By BRUCE JOHNSONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Paul Robeson lived in Westfield from1906-10. He was named New Jersey’sDefensive Player of the Century by anewspaper.

last indoor mile relay state title was 85years ago, in 1934!

Wrestling: Juniors Luke Hoerle andCJ Composto captured Region 4 titles,senior Tim Miller was second andjunior Quinn Gimblette was fourth onSaturday at Union. All four earnedtrips to Atlantic City for this weekend’sstate championships.

Hoerle (120 pounds) won three re-gional matches to give him 100 for hiscareer. Composto (126) avenged hisonly loss of the season with a 3-2victory in the 126 final. He had notchedhis 100th career win on Friday night,so he’ll take 102 career Ws to A.C.

WHS has had 45 regional champi-ons. Composto joins Cory Posey as athree-time winner, while Hoerle be-came the sixth two-time champ, alongwith Dave Morash, Bill Kenny, MarkDennis, Dave Brown and OnurTezucar.

Girls basketball: WHS fell toPatrick School, 45-35, in the UnionCounty Tournament final. But the BlueDevils came back from an early 12-0deficit to make it a 30-27 game goinginto the final quarter. It was the thirdtime in coach Liz McKeon’s five yearsthat her team lost to the Celtics in theUCT final, and the fourth time theywere eliminated by them.

Ali Lisanti has quietly moved intothe No. 2 spot for single-season 3-point baskets. The junior bomber has49 treys this winter, breaking a tie withErin Miller (2007) and Molly Ryan(2018), and trailing only Hall of FamerKrissy Jeremiah, who made 66 in 1988,the first year of 3-pointers.

KNAPP: 1,000 PLUSSenior Jackie Knapp, who scored

1,370 points at WHS, surpassed 1,000

career points at Tufts University onSunday, with 25 during the Jumbo’s75-69 win over previously unbeatenBowdoin in the NESCAC tournamentfinal. Knapp, who nailed four freethrows in the final half-minute, nowhas 1,005 points.

Freshman Molly Ryan, who scored902 points at WHS, had nine pointsSunday and has 191 this winter.

Tufts (25-2) avenged its two regu-lar-season losses this weekend, beat-ing Bowdoin and two-time defendingnational champion Amherst, 47-46,and advanced to the Division 3 tour-nament.

IN PASSINGShawn McMiller (‘77) passed on

Feb. 4 at age 59. The outstandingsprinter was on the 1977 track teamthat won WHS’s first state Group 4championship. Earlier that spring atPenn Relays, he ran the leadoff leg –followed by Butch Woolfolk, GlennMiller and Frank Kelly – on a 4x110team that won WHS’s first medal atPenn Relays in over 35 years. Theirtime was a school record 42.0; thenext year WHS won the Champion-ship of America 4x110 in 42.1.

Don Newcombe, who won Rookie ofthe Year, Cy Young and Most ValuablePlayer awards with the Brooklyn Dodg-ers during a 10-year major league pitch-ing career, passed on Feb. 19 at age 92.Newcombe, a 16-year-old from Eliza-beth, played for the Westfield ColoredBombers in the summer of 1942.

Peter Tork, the bass guitarist for theMonkees, passed on Feb. 21 at age 77.

ON THIS DATE1959: Ray Bailey and Bob Haines

controlled the backboards as the WHSbasketball team defeated Cranford, 54-46, at the Elizabeth Armory to win itsfirst Union County Tournament title.The victory came three weeks after theCougars beat the Blue Devils, 74-49.

AROUND THIS DATEFeb. 26, 1965: WHS divers Steve

McCoy, Terry Gass, Mike Ward andJeff Schaub finished 1-2-3-4 at theEastern Interscholastic SwimmingChampionships.

Feb. 26, 2008: Senior Adam Bergosoared 7 feet to set a school high jumprecord in the Eastern States Champi-onships at New York’s 168th StreetArmory.

Feb. 27, 1965: Bob Felter and SteveWright had 17 points each but it wasJerry Richards’ monster game – 12points, 9 rebounds, 5 steals while de-fending against star Wayne Huckel –that sparked sixth-seeded WHS to a61-52 victory over top-seededCranford in the Union County Tour-nament final.

March 1, 1947: Sophomore BobClotworthy won the first of his threestate diving titles, becoming WHS’sfirst aquatic state champion.

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fense and that’s what kept us going.Once we did well on defense, ouroffense started doing really well too,”answered Lisanti, who added, “Wealways spread the floor and that’swhen we find each other.”

The third quarter began with theLions drawing the Blue Devils intofoul trouble but it ended with theLions plunging deeply into foultrouble, especially with Taniya Hannerneeding to take a seat. The result waseach team scoring 20 points, with theBlue Devils carrying a 49-32 leadinto the fourth quarter. Lisanti hit twomore threes and a 2-pointer. Dwyerhit a 3-pointer and Kreusser sank apair of free throws. Klag put in sevenpoints and began to redeem herself atthe line, hitting two of three.

“I had a little trouble. I kind of letthe heat of the game get to me. I justhad to realize that I had to keep doingwhat I was doing all season long be-cause I was shooting well from theline. I just had to get it out of myhead,” Klag confessed.

The fourth quarter turned out to bea “free throw mania” with the BlueDevils sinking nine of 16 attemptsand the Lions hitting six of nine. Dwyersank four of six from the line andStravach hit both of hers to finish 4-for-4 on the evening.

“Our assistant coach Marcy talkedto us all week about envisioning beat-ing them, envisioning making the freethrows. And every time I got to theline, I thought about making them.Also I copied Grace. I’m sticking to aroutine now and I am just trying tomake them every time,” Stravach said.

Lisanti also proved she was effec-tive from the line also, going 2-for-2.

“We always practice free throwsevery day. We just got to relax and wealways tell each other to relax whenwe are shooting our free throws,”Lisanti said.

The semifinal victory became thefirst time that the Blue Devils hadbeaten Roselle Catholic three timesin one season.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had. The

mentality coming in today was thatwe needed to play like this was ourfirst time seeing them. They weregoing to have a chip on their shoulderfrom losing that buzzer beater. It wassuper close and you know that theyhad to think they should have wonthat game, so we had to prove to themthat we were the better team,” Stravachsaid.

“That’s just amazing! We knewcoming into the game that it was go-ing to be tough. They wanted to beatus so bad. We played our game, werelaxed, we took them down, we gottheir big player out of the game. Ourmain focus was Hanner and that’show we beat them,” Lisanti explained.

“It feels great being a part of thisteam. I have been coming to the gamesin the past years and watched themplay Roselle Catholic. It feels good to

be a part of a team to beat them,” Klagadded.

Next on the list would be The PatrickSchool for the championship at KeanUniversity.

“We have to know the personnel.They do have shooters. They haveinside players too, so we just have torecognize the personnel in the gameduring the play and readjust,” Klagsaid.

“I’ve never beaten The PatrickSchool. I feel like it’s personal. Sopho-more year I remember winning thesemifinals going into The PatrickSchool game and we didn’t have ashot all game. It was terrible. I want togo back and I want to beat them atKean. I want to win a county final,”Stravach expressed.Roselle Catholic 6 6 20 14 46Westfield 7 22 20 11 60

and told me to be aggressive on de-fense, especially at halftime in thelocker room, I was playing lackadai-sical on defense in the first half. So hetold me to jump the passing lanes alittle bit more, create steals. Thenafter that, it would lead to more pointsand more energy. Luckily we wereable to do that,” Crowley said.

With the intensity of the rivalryheating up, a lot of time was spent atthe line in the fourth quarter. Nine ofthe Cougars’ 13 points came from theline, while the Blue Devils, who were4-for-8 from the line continued to findthe mark from additional areas on thecourt. Ferrero pumped in anotherseven points.

“Prior to yesterday, I didn’t know itwas a rivalry. Coach McKeon reallystressed that to us after practice. Ithink that got us ready for today morethan anything. We were ready to comeand play. We really wanted to beat

Cranford and get our tenth win of theseason, which is important to us. Ithink we came out and did that very,very well,” Ferrero said.

“It was a big win for us, especiallybefore the state tournament. It givesus a lot of confidence going into it,especially the way we played in thesecond half. We played well together.We moved the ball well together. Thatgives us an extra boost and a lot ofconfidence going into the state tour-nament,” Crowley expressed.

The 13th-seeded Blue Devils wereto face the fourth-seeded WatchungHills Warriors in the first round of theNorth Jersey, Section 2, Group 4 Tour-nament on February 25 and the 13th-seeded Cougars traveled to face thefourth-seeded Colonia Patriots onFebruary 26 in the North Jersey, Sec-tion 2, Group 3 Tournament.Westfield 12 18 21 17 68Cranford 15 11 10 13 49

a 32-27 lead to a 41-27 advantagewith just under four minutes remain-ing in the quarter. Williams scored inmultiple ways during the criticalstretch. He hit on a baseline three-point basket at the 4:41 mark thenfollowed that with a three-point playafter getting fouled on a successfuljump shot. Then Williams buried an-other 3-pointer from the corner togive the Raiders a nice 14-point cush-ion. The Scotch Plains-Fanwood leadgrew to as many as 15 points after aJustin Guy dunk made it 43-28 with2:17 left in the third period.

But Johnson did not come into theScotch Plains gym to take a nap. TheCrusaders made a spirited run at thehome team and got to do their own bitof celebrating when senior guard Bran-don Hund scored the 1,000th point ofhis career late in the contest. Trailing48-36 early in the final period, Johnsonwent on a 13-2 run that cut the Raiderlead to 49-46 with three and a halfminutes still to play in the game.

Porter came up with a big 3-pointerfrom the top to stop the bleeding andgive the Raiders a 52-46 lead with3:12 left on the clock.

“We were just running our screensdown and we worked the ball aroundand the defense got a little lazy and Iwas able to get an open look. It put usup by six, which at that point in thegame was a pretty important spread,”said Porter, a point guard who scored17 points.

Fittingly, the seniors would playlarge role in deciding the game in thefinal moments.

“It was really nice to be able tocome out and play alongside all of theseniors together in this final game,”said Merkel, whose 3-point basketwith just under two minutes to playgave the Raiders a 55-47 lead. “You

don’t get a lot of opportunities to dothat during the course of the season,so it was a fun experience to be able todo that and play well together.”

After a three-point basket byJohnson cut it to 55-50, Williamssank a pair of free throws to make it57-50 with 1:14 remaining. Momentslater Porter converted a pair of freethrow attempts to make it 59-52 with:47 remaining.

Johnson had one last push left inthem and it came when Hund sank athree-point bomb from the top thatpulled the Crusaders to within four at59-55 with :30 on the clock. Thebasket put Hund over the 1,000 pointmark and the game was stopped brieflyto honor his milestone achievement.When it resumed, Williams kept thegame safely in the win column for theRaiders when he sank a pair of freethrows for the final margin of victory.

“It was a total team effort,” saidCoach Siracusa. “We played our heartsout and played for one another. Webattled through adversity and cameout of it with a win. It is really nice tobe able to send the seniors out on ahigh note.”

The victory gave the Raiders a finalseason record of 6-15, their first los-ing mark in three years.

“We just wanted to end the seasonon the right note and come out and geta win on our home floor,” said seniorguard Jon Ramos. “It is special to beable to finish out your career on yourhome floor with a win.”

Fellow senior Danny Wright agreed.“I was happy,” said Wright. “I was

able to score a couple of times andplay good defense. That is what I’vebeen working towards and it was areally fun experience.”AL Johnson 10 15 11 19 55Sc Pl-Fanwood 13 17 16 15 61

Blue Devil Boys Win 4x4 at MOC;All–UC Indoor Track Selections:Westfield High School Blue Devils

Ajay Olson, Steve Zucker, MattMcIntyre and Jake Saltzer finishedfirst in the 4x400 meters with a timeof 3:24.29 at the Meet of Championsat the Bennett Center in Toms Riveron February 23-24. Scotch Plains-Fanwood Raiders Myles Singletary,Justin Williams, Kyle Estivene andJacob Leigh finished seventh in theevent at 3:28.31.

Leigh finished fourth in the 200 at

22.69 and Saltzer finished fifth in the400 at 50.45. Leigh also finished sixthin the 55 meter dash at 6.53 andEstivene finished ninth in the prelimi-nary round of the 55 hurdles at 7.78.Raider Ben Fleischer finished 17th inthe 3,200 at 9:34.66.

For the girls, Blue Devil KatieHamilton crossed third in the 800with a time of 2:16,29 behind UnionCatholic Viking Leena Morant at2:13.08, while Blue Devil IsabelBoufarah finished 13th at 2:19.56.Blue Devil Erica Lawrence placedfourth in the shot put with a shove of39-10.5. Viking Jerika Lufrano wonthe 1,600 in 4:59.26. The Vikings alsofinished first in the 4x400 at 3:53.84and second in the 4x800 at 9:30.45.Vikings Sydney Tucker at 7.16 andChidumga Nkolume at 7.23 finished3-4 in the 55 dash. AL Johnson’s CarlyTarentino placed sixth in the high jumpwith a clearance of 5-4.

ALL UNION COUNTY:For the boys, Blue Devils Ajay

Olson, Steve Zucker, Matt McIntyreand Jake Saltzer were selected All-UC First Team in the 4x400. RaiderJacob Leigh was selected All-UC FirstTeam in the 55 dash. Kyle Estivenewas All-UC Second Team in the 55hurdles. Raiders Brandon Garcia andBen Fleischman were selected All-UC First Team in the 1,600 and 3,200,respectively.

For the girls, Blue Devil EricaLawrence was selected All-UC FirstTeam in the shot put. Katie Hamiltonin the 800, Lauren Triarsi in the 55hurdles, Caroline Collins in the 1,600,Sarah Hacker in the 3,200 and LeahNorton in the pole vault were selectedAll-UC Third Team.

Pat School Tops Blue Devils for UCT Title, 45-35The top-seeded Patrick School girls basketball team defeated the second-

seeded Westfield Blue Devils, 45-35, for the Union County Tournament titleat Kean University in Union on February 23. Lashae Dwyer led the Celtics with17 points, while Quanaijah McDowell netted 12 points and Asonah Alexanderscored six points.

Faith Dobosiewicz led the Blue Devils with 13 points, including a 3-pointerand six free throws, and added 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and twoblocks. Ali Lisanti hit a pair of 3-pointers and had two assists. Caroline Dwyerhad seven points, including a 3-pointer, with two steals and an assist. CharlotteDursee had four points, two assists and three steals. Sam Stravach had fourpoints, four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal. Grace Klag had fourrebounds, two assists and a free throw.

Blue Devil BowlersBlank Dayton Bulldogs

The Westfield High School bowl-ing team increased it record to 17-1with a 7-0 shutout of the JonathanDayton Bulldogs on February 21.The Blue Devils had a 2,761 pincount to the Bulldogs’ 1,690.

Dylan Kurstedt rolled the highseries of 605 with games of 147, 236and 222. Dante Morales rolled onlyone game and came up with the highgame of 248. Will Shepard rolledgames of 211, 143 and 145 for a 499total. David Orenberg rolled gamesof 145, 158 and 159 for a 462 totaland Austin Peterson rolled games of179 and 210. Trey Rabinowitz rolleda 210, Jon Grossman rolled a 180and Tyler Devitt rolled a 168.


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53rd Annual Westfield Rotary

Breakfast With The Bands

Saturday, March 2nd, 8am - NoonWestfield High School

Admission: $10Proceeds to support Rotary’s

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David Chango NamedTo Dean’s List AtLoyola University

FANWOOD — David Chango, amember of the class of 2022 fromFanwood, has been named to the fall2018 Dean’s List at Loyola Univer-sity Maryland.

In order to qualify for the Dean’s Listat Loyola, a student must achieve aminimum QPA of at least 3.500 for theterm, provided that, in the term theyhave successfully completed coursestotaling a minimum of 15 credits.

MAGIC OF SCIENCE...Students enjoy learning the science behind The Statue ofLiberty’s color, during J.A. Coles School annual Science Fair on February 6. TheScience Fair is a non-competitive PTA-sponsored event that gives the opportunityfor Coles students in grades 1 to 4 to showcase various scientific interests andexplorations. A total of 160 students participated in the fair, of which 35 were firstgraders, 38 second graders, 45 third graders and 52 fourth graders. There wereindividual, as well as team presentations of 77 projects. Students presented onvarious topics including volcanoes, magnets, correlation between propeller sizeand thrust, gravity, alternative ways to inflate balloons, elephant toothpaste,crystals, hydraulics and environmental studies.

POSTCARD RACE...Franklin third graders are participating in the Great Ameri-can Postcard Race with the goal to acquire postcards from every state. The cardsmust be addressed to Franklin School, include three facts about the state and bepostmarked from that state. “Many students contact friends, relatives, and evengovernment officials for information,” said teacher Penny O’Donnell. “It’s a greatway to learn about the regions of the United States. The students love it!” Pictured,from left, are: Hunter Burns, Kurt Cederqvist, Holly Dalgliesh and Khadeeja Khan.

SP-F Schools Receive 2018UC STEM Scholars GrantsSCOTCH PLAINS — Scotch Plains-

Fanwood K-12 Science Supervisor,Guida Faria, shared the news that Parkand Terrill Middle Schools wereawarded grants from Union CountySTEM totaling $1,800. Park MiddleSchool seventh grade Tech Ed teacher,Erica Toto, and Principal JocelynDumaresq, Ed.D., will be receiving$800 for Afterschool STEM, whichwill help fund the purchase of a 3Dprinter for Park’s S.T.E.A.M. Club. Thisprinter will enable students to see theirprototype designs come to life as it 3Dprints and then allows the students tocompare its success relative to the firsttwo prototypes.

Peggy Brown and John Scholtz, sixthgrade science teachers at Park MiddleSchool, were awarded a Union CountySTEM grant for Project Based Learn-ing totaling $500. The goal of this grantis to purchase fossils and other materi-als needed to create a simulated fossildig in the classroom. Students will prac-tice fossil preparation skills using realtools and techniques to remove realfossils from an artificial mix. The sec-ond goal is to expose students to vari-ous STEM related careers, in particu-lar, paleontology and archeology.

Terrill Middle School seventh grade

teacher, Michael Wolenter and princi-pal Kevin Holloway, Ed.D., wereawarded a Union County STEM Grantfor project-based learning totaling $500.This project-based learning unit iscalled, “Aquaponics: Looking for theBest Solution to a Growing Problem”and is designed to have students look ata possible solution to the growing prob-lem of feeding an increasing worldpopulation. The goal of this grant is topurchase various aquaponic and hy-droponic systems to determine idealconditions for optimal plant growth.

Faces of Reality PresentationOn Drunk Driving at SPFHS

SCOTCH PLAINS — On January30, the Grim Reaper visited the stu-dents of Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool (SPFHS) as part of the Facesof Reality presentation. During theday, students that agreed to partici-pate left their classes escorted by theGrim Reaper. They then received asign and a dark purple t-shirt. Thiswas to represent their “death.” Thisnumber signifies the number of peoplethat will die in an alcohol relatedautomobile crash. According to Moth-ers Against Drunk Driving (MADD),one person dies every 51 minutes dueto an alcohol related automobile ac-cident in our country daily. Addition-ally, there were 48 students that agreedto participate by wearing bandagesaround their heads or on their non-dominant arm. This represented thenumber of people who are injureddaily due to an alcohol related auto-mobile accident. One person is in-jured every two minutes according toMADD. There were approximately80 students that participated in theprogram during the day.

The presentation started with theGrim Reaper removing students from

classes. The students then returned toclass wearing either light purple ordark purple shirts representing eitherdeath or injury due to a drugged,drunk or distracted driver.

At the end of the day, juniors andseniors attended an assembly thathighlighted the consequences of mak-ing a poor decision while driving.Speakers included: Officer ElliottBernard from the Fanwood PoliceDepartment, Detective Chris Aversa,School Resource Officer (SRO), BillMariani from Rossi’s Funeral Home,and Health and Physical Educationteacher Ashleigh Boyce. Officer Ber-nard and Detective Aversa spokeabout the immediate aftermath of amotor vehicle crash. Mr. Marianispoke about what it is like to plan thefuneral of a young adult. Ms. Boycespoke about her experience duringher senior year of college when herboyfriend was struck and killed by adrunk driver.

The program was sponsored by theMunicipal Alliance, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood PTA, SPFHS, DECA andDistrict Student Assistance Coordi-nator Knodel-Gordon.

FACES OF REALITY...On January 30, the Grim Reaper visited the students ofScotch Plains-Fanwood High School (SPFHS) as part of the Faces of Realitypresentation to educate students about the consequences of drunk driving.

Yu to Perform in All-State Orchestra

SCOTCH PLAINS -- Jonathan Yu,an eleventh-grade student at ScotchPlains-Fanwood High School(SPFHS), has been accepted into theNew Jersey All-State Orchestra for2019 as a result of his successfulclarinet audition at the All-State level.Jonathan will now represent theSPFHS music program and performwith the State’s most talented highschool musicians in November at theBoardwalk Hall in Atlantic City andat the New Jersey Performing ArtsCenter in Newark.

Wardlaw+Hartridge ModelUN Team Earns RecognitionAREA — The Wardlaw+Hartridge

(W+H) School Model United Na-tions team competed at the AMUNconference during the second week-end of February alongside highschools from throughout New Jerseyand performed extremely well.

W+H delegates represented theWHO (World Health Organization),NATO, FIFA, Saudi Arabia, Norway,Australia, and several other interna-tional bodies in an attempt to solvecrises in a collaborative way. Del-egates tackled infant mortality,cybersecurity, the economic impactof military interventions, the host cityof the World Cup, and other globalproblems.

Wardlaw+Hartridge studentsearned several team and individualhonors including Outstanding Small

Delegation, a Verbal Commendationfor Camila Fang, Honorable Mentionfor Pooja Nandhyala, and Outstand-ing Delegate for Neil Shah, all ofEdison.

“The conference was a resoundingsuccess and the team looks forward tomore memories and achievements inthe months and years ahead,” saidCristian Fernandez, W+H facultyadvisor.

GROWING KIND KIDS...Caretaking of the classroom plants is part of buildinga peaceful and respectful environment at Christopher Academy. The Maple Roomchildren at the Westfield Campus took the opportunity to spread peace andkindness by replanting young spider plant shoots and donating them to theWestfield Senior Center Housing Complex. Residents were thrilled to have theseplants beautify their home and common room.

Seminar for Parents onKids’ Phone Use

FANWOOD — Members are in-vited to attend a two-and-a-half-hourclass designed to help get parents moreinformed for and comfortable with thedecisions they make about the tech-nology in their kids’ hands. Topicscovered include phone readiness,choosing/setting up phones, makingphones less addictive, phone use andchild health, monitoring and manage-ment, choosing/setting up social me-dia, responsible phone use, parent-child contracts, and more.

The cost is $20 per registrant. Theseminar will take place at the La GrandePark Building on Saturday, March 2and March 16. For details and regis-tration, visit fanwoodrecreation.org.

MERIT FINALISTS...Wardlaw+Hartridge seniors Ayush Menon of ScotchPlains, pictured, right, and Sanjna Patel of Edison received their National MeritScholarship Program Finalist certificates from Susan Swenson of Plainfield,Director of College Counseling, on February 14. The selection of some 7,500 MeritScholarship winners from the group of Finalists will be announced this spring.

CWC Presents CollegeAdmissions Panel, March 7WESTFIELD – The College

Woman’s Club of Westfield (CWC)will host a panel discussion for parentstitled “The Ins & Outs of the CollegeAdmissions Process” on Thursday,March 7, at 7:30 p.m. in the WestfieldCommunity Room at 425 E. BroadStreet. Parents of high school studentswho are beginning the college searchare encouraged to attend.

The panel will feature four guestspeakers experienced in various fac-ets of the admissions process, includ-ing touring schools, writing admis-sions essays, interviewing and more.They include Maureen Mazzarese,Director of Counseling Services K-12 for the Westfield School District,and Peggy Oster, President of theWestfield Board Education andmother of five current and formercollege students. The panel will alsopresent perspectives from two inde-pendent education consultants: BethCassie of College Bound Mentor andSusana MacLean of MacClean Col-lege Counseling.

Space is limited and online regis-tration is requested by March 3 atcwclubwestfield.org/events.

The College Woman’s Club ofWestfield was founded in 1917 topromote educational opportunities forwomen. Their primary focus is onawarding college scholarships toyoung women in Westfield on thebasis of academics, leadership andfinancial need. The club maintains anactive calendar of social and network-ing events in support of a worthwhilecause. For more on membership ordonations, please visitwww.cwclubwestfield.org.

Recycling Forum Led byRutgers at WHS Mar. 7

WESTFIELD -- The director ofRutgers University’s nationally rec-ognized EcoComplex, a center of in-novation that moves clean energy in-ventions from the lab to the market-place, will speak on how to develop azero-waste economy at an environ-mental forum to be held at WestfieldHigh School (WHS), Cafeteria B, 550Dorian Road, on Thursday, March 7.

Serpil Guran, Ph.D., director of theEcoComplex, and Matthew Civello,a member of the Manhattan SolidWaste Advisory Board, will speak atthe forum. Amanda Nesheiwat, envi-ronmental director and recycling co-ordinator for the town of Secaucus,will serve as moderator.

The forum is open free to the publicand is cosponsored by WHS and theNetwork for Responsible PublicPolicy. The suggested donation is $10(tax-deductible). Registration for theevent can be done at www.nfrpp.org.

For further information on the pro-

gram, contact the Network throughits website, www.nfrpp.org.

Go online to Ballyhooto View and Print

Honor Rollswww.goleader.com


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Organist Trent Johnson toAccompany Silent Film

WESTFIELD — Converting thesound of a church organ into that of atheater organ is no easy task. But fororganist Trent Johnson, the art seems tocome easily. Mr. Johnson, well knownorganist and music director of the Ora-torio Singers of Westfield, has thrilledWestfield area residents on several oc-casions when he has provided the“sound track” for various silent filmssuch as Safety Last with Harold Lloydand The Phantom of The Opera.

At 7:30 p.m., on Friday, March 1, atthe First United Methodist Church, OneEast Broad Street in Westfield, Mr.Johnson willagain approachthe keys of theh i s t o r i cAeolian-Skin-ner pipe organwith his ownversion of or-gan music tobring alive the1927 film Sun-rise, a Song ofTwo Humans.Directed by thelegendary F. W.Murnau, thisromantic com-edy drama is amasterpiecefrom the latterdays of the si-lent cinema. Itwon threeA c a d e m yAwards: BestActress for Janet Gaynor, Best Cin-ematography and for the Best Uniqueand Artistic Picture.

This film is a milestone in the Ger-man Expressionistic artistic movementby Director Murnau who is also widelyknown for his highly regarded filmsNosferatu, Faust and The Last Laugh.Sunrise is full of cinematic innova-tions, double exposures, cross fades,wide angle spectacular scenery and anemotional context not often associatedby modern audiences with silent films.Some consider Sunrise to be one of thebest films ever made. Movie buffs will

surely enjoy this one!Trent Johnson is an award-winning

composer and active organist who fre-quently performs in the major churchesof New York City, Washington, D.C.,Boston, Northern New Jersey and inEurope and Asia. He is also an organistat the Radio City Music Hall in NewYork City where he plays for the Christ-mas Show Spectacular. As a composer,recent premiers include his opera“Kenyatta” at NJPAC; “Wittenberg-The story of Martin Luther” (2018) forchorus, soloists and orchestra; “TheWisdom of Solomon” (2015) -- a work

for chorus, brassensemble, or-gan, timpani andp e r c u s s i o n ;Saint August-ine” (2014) -- acantata for so-loists, chorusand orchestra;and his“Concertantefor Organ andString Quartet”(2011) commis-sioned by theAmerican Guildof Organists.

This event isa benefit concertfor the OratorioSingers ofWestfield. A$10 donationfor adults and $5for children will

be taken at the door.The Oratorio Singers next concert

will be “A Sonic Spectacular” -- musicfor chorus, brass ensemble, percussionand organ -- to be performed at 3 p.m.on Sunday, March 31, in the sanctuaryof the First United Methodist Church.Included in this program will be themusic of Mendelssohn, Mozart, Elgar,Stephen Adams, John Ireland, CharlesWood and John Rutter. These concertsare made possible by funds from theUnion County Office of Cultural AndHeritage Affairs, a partner of the NewJersey State Council on the Arts.

NJWA Announces UpcomingEvents in Westfield Locale

WESTFIELD — New JerseyWorkshop for the Arts (NJWA) Ex-ecutive Director Theodore K.Schlosberg has announced events atthe NJWA Westfield location. TheMusic Connection program, theWorkshop’s master donor list and theirsummer programs are all current andupcoming events.

Founded by Executive DirectorSchlosberg in 1972, the NJWA helpschildren, adults and senior citizens ex-plore and participate in the arts through-out the year with private and groupinstruction, performing ensembles,summer camps and more. The faculty iscomposed of professional artists, musi-cians and educators.

Mr. Schlosberg holds a BA and aMM from Trenton State College andan Ed.D. in Creative Arts from RutgersUniversity. He began his career teach-ing music in the Plainfield PublicSchool District in 1960. In 1967, Mr.Schlosberg joined the Westfield Pub-lic Schools, where he remained until1996, when he retired to devote histime to the NJWA.

The Music Connection, an instru-mental music program for specialneeds families, is currently interview-ing and placing students in their pro-gram. A recent addition to the pro-gram is the foundation in MusicTherapy. Prior to regular lessons, a

certified music therapist guides stu-dents in developing the skills neces-sary to succeed in a private instru-mental and vocal session. Uponcompletion of this phase, studentswill be assisted in choosing vocallessons or an instrument to study pri-vately, or in a small group setting,with a NJWA faculty member.

The NJWA is in the process of cre-ating a master donor list with contactinformation for past and present stu-dents and their families, organizations,and alumni to seek monetary dona-tions. The money raised will supportall the programs the music studio hasto offer, including its Music FunTimePreschool program, music productionwith Malcolm Joseph, music theoryclasses, local school programs, fenc-ing clubs, Alexander Technique les-sons, alphorn workshops, variousmusical ensembles, private vocal andinstrumental lessons, summer campsand classes and summer symphonyorchestra for children. Donations willalso go toward office supplies andbuilding maintenence. The music stu-dio is already anticipating its 50thanniversary in 2022.

Anyone interested in the NJWA’sprograms should log on to https://www.njworkshopforthearts.com, call(908) 789-9696, and follow onFacebook and Instagram, @njwa152.

SEUSS FOR ALL AGES...Middle School students at The Wardlaw+HartridgeSchool in Edison entertained two large audiences with a wonderful production ofSeussical Jr. on February 15 in the Berry Performing Arts Center. Talented andenergetic actors, singers and dancers performed in colorful costumes and put ontwo shows that delighted students of all ages, parents, faculty, staff and friends.Leading players included David Ezra Flatau-Jones of Scotch Plains, Tre Peart ofMorganville, Charlie Silver of Rahway, Julia Machado of Edison, Giselle Lee ofEdison, Sydney Racine of Piscataway, Matthew Piccoli of Somerset and NelaghMatthews of Metuchen.

NJIO 25th AnniversaryConcert and Gala, March 3RAHWAY - New Jersey

Intergenerational Orchestra (NJIO)will celebrate its 25th Anniversarywith a concert on Sunday, March 3, at3 p.m. at Union County PerformingArts Center (UCPAC). The music willbe followed by a celebratory gala thatincludes more music, food, drinks, asilent auction, and tricky tray raffle.

NJIO’s Intermezzo Ensemble (con-ducted by Brian McGowan) will per-form Haydn’s Symphony No. 104,third movement and Percy Grainger’sCountry Gardens. NJIO’s SymphonyOrchestra (conducted by WarrenCohen) will perform AleksandrBorodin’s Polovtsian Dances (PrinceIgor) Jean Sibelius’ Karelia Over-ture, and Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Pi-ano Concerto #2 performed by solo-ist Allison Brewster Franzetti, piano.

Ms. Franzetti is a multiple GrammyNominee and 2008 Grammy Nomineefor Best Instrumental Soloist withoutOrchestra, and has received interna-tional acclaim from critics and audi-ences alike for her stunning virtuosityand musicality, both as a soloist andchamber musician. She was most re-cently invited to perform at the GrammyAwards Classical Music Tribute to Earl

Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt DisneyConcert Hall in Los Angeles. An ac-complished accompanist and chambermusician, Ms. Franzetti has collabo-rated with some of the finest performersand composers in the world, includingSir James Galway, John Corigliano,Stephen Paulus, Lowell Liebermann,Robert Aldridge, Ransom Wilson,Eugenia Zukerman, Julius Baker, Rob-ert White, and members of major U.S.and international symphony orchestras.She has performed at Carnegie Hall,Lincoln Center, festivals in the UnitedStates, Mexico, and Europe, and onradio and television.

The concert will be preceded byNJIO’s Prelude Ensemble conductedby Robert Anderson and the flute choirconducted by Alyssa Delgado will playduring intermission. Additional en-sembles pulled from the orchestra mem-bers will also play during the gala event.

UCPAC is located at 1601 IrvingAvenue, Rahway. Concert tickets are$15. The concert and gala is $55 andincludes food, one drink, auction,tricky tray, and five free raffle tickets.

For tickets, call the UCPAC boxoffice at (732) 499-8226 or visit theUCPAC website at ucpac.org/events.

Ghost the Musical OpensMarch 1 at Hamilton Stage

RAHWAY — This March, Ghost theMusical will be opening at UnionCounty Performing Arts Center’sHamilton Stage. Ghost the Musical is atimeless fantasy about the power oflove. Longtime couple Sam and Mollyare happily in love and living togetherin Brooklyn. One night, while walkingback to their apartment, they are muggedat gunpoint, leaving Sam murdered ona dark street. Sam is trapped betweenworlds as a ghost and unable to leaveMolly – who he quickly learns is ingrave danger. With the help of a store-front psychic named Oda Mae Brown,Sam tries to communicate with Mollyin the hope of protecting her. The showfeatures popular songs including “WithYou” and the Righteous Brothers’ clas-

sic, “Unchained Melody.”Performances of the musical will take

place Friday, March 1, at 8 p.m., Satur-day, March 2, at 8 p.m., Sunday, March3, at 2 p.m., Friday, March 8, at 8 p.m.,Saturday, March 9, at 8 p.m., Sunday,March 10, at 2 p.m.

General admission tickets are avail-able for purchase for $25 atwww.ucpac.org/events. Tickets mayalso be purchased by visiting the MainStage Box Office located at 1601 Irv-ing Street in Rahway. The Box Officecan be reached via email [email protected] or by calling(732) 499-8226. The Hamilton Stage islocated at 360 Hamilton Street inRahway and both locations are easilyaccessible.

Westfield Students AcceptedTo Regional Band, Orchestra

WESTFIELD — Twelve studentmusicians from Edison andRoosevelt Intermediate Schools au-ditioned and gained acceptance tothe highly selective Central JerseyMusic Educators Association(CJMEA) Intermediate Region IIBand and Orchestra.

Selected to perform on Sunday,March 3, with the CJMEA Region IIBand are Edison eighth graders EricBuecklers (Bass Clarinet), Will Crall(Tuba), Yusuf Lee (Trumpet) and

seventh graders Nolan Daily (Trum-pet) and Charlie Hu (Oboe).

Selected for the CJMEA Region IIOrchestra are Edison eighth gradersKevin Chen (Viola), Youhao SteveWang (Violin), Felix Yu (Violin) andsixth grader Claire Qin (Violin) andRoosevelt eighth graders JulianHamilton (Viola) and Tristan Wroe(Cello).

Roosevelt eighth grader LiamMaurillo was accepted to the CJMEAWind Ensemble on Percussion.

CROSSING LINES...The Watchung Arts Center will host Paul Edward Pinkman:“Crossing Lines.” This is the first solo exhibition of the artist’s paintings,drawings and monotypes from 1984 until today. The works on exhibit featurePinkman at his best, at times provocative, confrontational, vulnerable and whim-sical. The exhibit will be on view at the Center, located at 18 Stirling Road,Watchung, from March 2 to 31. An opening reception will be held on March 3 from1 to 4 p.m. The reception and exhibition are free and open to the public. Above:“Where are we going? Where have we been?,” 1992, by Paul Edward Pinkman.

Trent Johnson

subject’s eyes to her own.The chief of police, Scarpia, (the

amazing Todd Thomas) is sin incar-nate. He and his henchmen, who areled by a man named Spoletta (JohnEaslerlin), pursue Attavanti. At ActI’s end, Scarpia powerfully sings ofhis lustful attraction to Tosca as acolorful, red-robed children’s choir,the Kent Place Hummingbirds, di-rected by Dr. Lori Brown Mirabal,and eight professional vocalists singthe “Te Deum.”

Act II sees Scarpia trying to seduceTosca in exchange for her capturedlover’s life. Ms. Schuler sings one ofthe evening’s highlights -- “Vissid’arte” -- with precision and poi-gnancy. Tosca, by agreeing to submitto Scarpia, can get a letter of safepassage out of Rome for herself andCavaradossi. She is a religious womanand the plan, even though it will saveboth lives, horrifies her. But submitshe does and in a flash stabs Scarpiarepeatedly, killing him. In a gesturebefitting her religious beliefs, sheplaces a lit candle next to the bodyand tears a crucifix from her neck toplace on the corrupt police chief’schest.

The following morning,Cavaradossi writes his last letter toTosca, the famous aria, “E lucevan lestele” (And the stars were shining).Mr. Dougherty handled the piece with

command mingled with finesse. Later,with safe-conduct letter in hand, Toscasees her jailed lover and tells him tofeign death when the firing squadshoots him with blanks. Of course,things go wrong and Cavaradossi dies.Tosca is restrained for killing Scarpia,but has the final say by pulling out agun to kill herself. It’s melodrama atits height and musicality at its best.

The audience on Saturday nightleapt to its feet in appreciation duringthe curtain calls that included the fullproduction team.

Bravo to team Tosca for bringingthe lights, costumes and professionalmusical talent to the Westfield audi-ence through a performance that willbe long remembered.

NJFO’s Tosca Thrills Audiences~continued from Page 18~

WHS Alum William CortPublishes Finding Ridley

WESTFIELD — Author andWestfield High School alum WilliamCort has published a novel FindingRidley.

Millionaires, a mini dachshund, anddreams of old Manhattan inspire awriter to leave monotony behind andfollow a 1930s murder mystery thatleads him to love instead in Mr. Cort’sbook. Rick Gordon is accustomed tolosing. He decides it is time for achange after finding himself singleand out of work again with no one formoral support but his two meddlingfriends and a precocious dachshund. Abox of old family photos reveals anodd mystery his deceased uncle hadtucked away for him. When Rick makesthe unsolved Ridley murders the focus

of his first novel, he has no idea howclose it will take him to the edge beforebringing him back to the love andhappiness he’s always been seeking.

Mr. Cort is a long-time newspaper,magazine, and digital copywriter whohas covered everything from concreteto colon health. A 1987 graduate ofWestfield High School, he lived inFanwood for many years. He splitshis time between New York City andLebanon Township with his wife,Debbie, and their dachshunds, Lucy,Ricky and Ethel.

The Town Book Store, located at270 East Broad Street in Westfield,will be hosting a meet and greet withthe author on Saturday, March 2, from2 to 4 p.m.

Met Orchestra of NJWinter Concert Mar. 3

CHATHAM — The MetropolitanOrchestra of New Jersey will presenta winter concert featuring Ludwig vanBeethoven’s Symphony No. 7, GeorgeFrideric Handel’s “Harp Concerto inBb,” and Franz Schubert’s SymphonyNo. 8 “Unfinished Symphony” on Sun-day, March 3, at Chatham High Schoollocated at 255 Lafayette Avenue. Thereis a suggested $20 donation. Visitwww.MetropolitanOrchestraNJ.org orcall (862) 571-5270 for more infor-mation.

WESTFIELD MEMORIAL LIBRARY EVENTS MARCH 2019

550 East Broad Street, Westfield 908.789.4090 www.wmlnj.org Hours: Mon-Thurs 9:30 am-9:00 pm Fri & Sat 9:30 am-5:00 pm Sun 1-5:00 pm

PROGRAMS FOR ADULTS SEE WEBSITE FOR SIGN UP INFO

PROGRAMS FOR KIDS AND TEENS: SEE WEBSITE FOR SIGN UP INFO & ELIGIBILITY

3/1 1:30 pm TGIF! The Post starring Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks

3/2 2:00 pm Electric violinist Deni Bonet and guitarist Chris Flynn

3/4 7:00 pm Why do young people run for office? By John Celock

3/7 7:00 pm Indian Cooking with the Instapot by Charu Gupta

3/8 1:30 pm TGIF! Travel England through to Wales

3/9 2:00 pm Hit the Roof Band

3/13 7:00 pm Mark Kilianski & Deb Shebish-Irish music

3/15 1:30 pm TGIF! From Mao to Mozart-Isaac Stern in China

3/16 2:00 pm Ken Lelen presents Kingston Trio music

3/22 12:30-3:30 pm Makers Day: Drop in to experiment with fun crafts

3/27 7:00 pm Virginia Apgar: Newborn Babies & the March of Dimes

3/28 1:00 pm Hedy Lamarr-Bombshell–A Documentary

3/29 1:30 pm TGIF! Classic Movie Week: Brooklyn

3/30 2:00 pm Waging War in Westfield-Redcoats and Rebels

3/1, 8, 15, 22, 19 10:00 am Playgroup for Babies 0-23 months

3/4, 18, 25 10:00 am Yoga Storytime 2-5 years

3/12 6:30 pm Evening LEGO Club 5+years

3/12, 19, 26 10:30 am 2’s on Tuesday Storytime

3/12, 19, 26 1:00 pm Crafternoon Storytime 3½-5 yrs

3/14, 21, 28 10:30 am 3’s on Thursday Storytime

3/14, 21, 28 7:30 pm Tween & Teen Yoga 11-16 years

3/18 6:30 pm Explore Coding 7-9 years

3/23 10:00 am -1 pm Makers Day 2019-Drop in! 4+yrs

3/30 10:00 am Paws to Read-for new readers


World Premiere of PsychodramaProbes with Laughter

By SUSAN MYRILL DOUGHERTYSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

SUMMIT -- The venue for the worldpremiere of Psychodrama couldn’t bemore appropriate — being that is heldin Summit’s Oakes Center, a formerchurch. Phoebe Farber’s new play is setin the basement of a Unitarian Churchthat houses weekly meetings of a sup-port group for divorcees. The requisitecoffee urn sits on one side of the room,but once the play begins, we see that’sthe only thing that seems like a tradi-tional support group.

Neil Sedaka’s 1960s song “Breakin’Up is Hard to Do” followed by Gotye’s“Somebody That I Used to Know” playironically in the pre-show moments.We think we know what’s going tohappen in the group sessions, but withthis show fun and games are around thecorner.

The support group has just lost theirsocial worker leader, but a replacementcomes breezing in and with it more thanjust a breath of fresh air. The group hasbeen meeting for a month, creating anatmosphere of trust. With Barb (HarriettTrangucci) on board, it’s been inter-rupted. They have been pouring outtheir frustration and anger about theirdivorces during their group sessions.Barb’s approach with pillows and cush-ions for everyone has a different ap-proach – psychodrama. She’s obnox-iously upbeat -- a cross between an overanxious cheerleader and a New Ageyoga teacher. (And Ms. Trangucci isdelightful in this role).

With her basket of colorful scarves,

noise makers and other paraphernalia,she is determined to get the group toembrace the acting out of childhoodmemories that will help unlock uncon-scious elements lurking in their psyche.Psychodrama, an actual form of grouppsychotherapy, was developed by JacobLevy Moreno, who coined the phrase“group therapy.”

As the play unfolds, we meet eachindividual in the group and hear theirbackstories. Dave (Harry Patrick Chris-tian), Syl (Laura Ekstrand), Chuck(Julian Blake Gordon) and Mel (BeccaL. McLarty) are all well cast by directorBetsy True, a Westfield resident. Mel,seemingly, always looks on the brightside. It’s a conscious choice for her, shesays. By the play’s end it’s revealed,thrillingly, how she really feels under-neath. Ms. McLarty is spectacular inthe delivery of her revelatory mono-logue.

Barb has the group do an “Inventory”game and explains they need to be in themoment of where they are emotionally.During one exercise she tells the groupto “Move like you are made of Jell-O”and Chuck makes his skepticism obvi-ous to her new technique. He huffs andpuffs in disgust at what he clearly thinksis a waste of time. “Just say yes tothings,” Barb urges as they then play thename game. At the end of that scene, themusic “Name Game” is played. Andbetween several scenes, clever use ofsongs carries into the time change.

Halfway through the 90-minute show,Dave gets to do some wonderful fan-tasy moments in preparation to becom-

ing stronger in handling his relation-ship with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Theempty chair exercise helps to revealhurtful past experiences.

If this play sounds technical or dull,don’t be deceived. It’s awfully funny.Dave has a Tom Jones “It’s Not Un-usual” singing fantasy that’s hilarious.Mr. Christian is adorable in this gloryfantasy.

Syl says the experience with Barb asa leader is likened to a snow globe, theperfect metaphor for what has hap-pened in the group therapy. The scenein the globe is so very different after ithas been shaken. Ms. Ekstand’s charac-ter Syl is abrasively angry for most ofthe play, but shows immeasurablegrowth and insight by the end.

The story rings true since the play-wright herself is a practicing psycho-therapist with a specialty in adolescentand young adults. The actors in the playdon’t fit the category of teens but faceEveryman’s problems of communica-tion, confrontation and connection.

The show’s surprising reveal three-quarters of the way through is sad, butthis snapshot of human nature presentsunderstanding as to how strugglingthrough life’s problems can be a unify-ing factor for all.

Psychodrama plays through theweekend, with performances on Fri-day, March 1, and Saturday, March 2, at8 p.m. and Sunday, March 3, at 2 p.m.

Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre islocated at Oakes Center, 120 MorrisAvenue, Summit. For more informa-tion, visit www.dreamcatcherrep.org.

Susan M. Dougherty for The Westfield Leader and The TimesEVIL PERSONIFIED...Baritone Todd Thomas plays Scarpia in the New Jersey Festival Orchestra’s thrilling productionof Tosca by Puccini performed Saturday night at The Presbyterian Church in Westfield. The colorfully clad children’schorus, the Hummingbirds, from Kent Place School were directed by Dr. Lori Brown Mirabal.

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New Jersey Festival Orchestra’sTosca Thrills Audiences

By SUSAN MYRILL DOUGHERTYSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD – With professionalleads and chorus, plus a well-trainedchildren’s chorus, the New Jersey Fes-tival Orchestra (NJFO) last Saturdaynight outdid itself in presenting athrilling version of Puccini’s 1900opera, Tosca.

A pre-show talk featured NJFO mu-sic historian Michael Rosin, who ex-pounded on the storyline. Mr. Rosinpacked a mountain of information andinsight into 50 minutes prior to the 7o’clock curtain at the PresbyterianChurch in Westfield venue.

He suggested what to look for inmusical themes, especially in Act II.He played snippets of various arias onhis iPhone and the 50 or so audienceattendees at the pre-show event nod-ded in recognition of the music. It wasclear Mr. Rosin knows the Pucciniopera inside out. “This is straight for-

ward sadism, torture, murder and sui-cide onstage,” he explained. The audi-ences at the time Puccini wrote it werenot used to that vulgarity on the stage,yet they loved the shock and gore. Hefurther mentioned that critics of theday viewed it lukewarmly. But, notunlike today’s thriller movies withblood, gore and shock value, “It putbottoms in the seats,” Mr. Rosin said.

For this production, the NJFO, un-der the masterful direction of DavidWroe, needed to be pared down to 18members to fit in the limited spacebecause of the platform stage thatwas assembled just for the presenta-tion. That did not diminish the lushsound. The balance between the or-chestra and the mic-less soloists wassuperb. Maestro David Wroe caressedeach note from the orchestra from themost delicate pianissimo to powerfuldouble forte. What can be said aboutthese stellar performers to capture the

electricity of their voices that was feltby the audience? It was a memorablehigh note of musical experience.

Stage Director Maria Todaro hadSacristan (Adelmo Guidarelli) comi-cally enter from the auditorium’s bal-cony and make his way noisily down tothe front of the stage that was set like achapel with an impressive portrait ofthe Madonna. Painter Cavaradossi (KirkDougherty) entered the chapel to workon his painting of Mary Magdalene. Ahiding escaped convict, Angelotti (Mat-thew Ciuffitelli), reveals himself to hisold friend Cavaradossi, who offers tohide him at his nearby villa.

Tosca (Jenny Schuler) makes herway down the center aisle to the chapelwhere she sees her lover, Cavaradossi.When his painting is unveiled, her jeal-ousy explodes as she recognizes theface of another woman. She demandsthat her lover change the color of the


Photo by Joseph SbarroTHE NAME GAME...Becca L. McLarty, Julian Blake Gordon, Laura Ekstrand, Harry Patrick Christian and HarriettTrangucci, pictured, left to right, star in the World Premiere of Psychodrama by Phoebe Farber now playing through theweekend at Dreamcatcher Repertory Theatre in Summit.

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WF’S MILLER, GIMBLETTE; COUGARS BENCIVENGA, HALPIN; RAIDER BOWLES PUNCH TICKETS TO AC

Composto, Hoerle Win Titles, at Region 4 Mat TournamentBy DAVID B. CORBIN


Westfield High School (WHS)juniors Luke Hoerle (120-lbs) andCJ Composto (126-lbs) eachadded an individual title to theirtrophy cases at the Region 4Wrestling Tournament in Union

on February 23. In doing so, bothBlue Devil matmen also becamethe first juniors in WHS history toearn 100 career victories. Addi-tionally, it was Composto’s thirdregion title and Hoerle’s secondregion title.

The top-4 wrestlers in all 14

weight classes qualified for theNJSIAA Tournament to be held atBoardwalk Hall in Atlantic City(AC) beginning today, February28, through March 2. Blue DevilsTim Miller placed second at 182-lbs and Quinn Gimblette finishedfourth at 113-lbs. Cranford Cou-gars AJ Bencivenga placed thirdat 152-lbs and Conor Halpinplaced fourth at 145-lbs. ScotchPlains-Fanwood Raider BrandonBowles placed third at 113-lbs.

After receiving a bye, Hoerleclaimed a pair of major decisionsthen gathered his 100th victorywhen he defeated Patrick Adams(St. Peter’s Prep — SPP), 9-4, forthe title.

“It’s a cool experience to do it infront of a crowd like this. It’s anawesome experience to be a partof. Going into the states andgetting on the podium is one ofmy goals and I think this is theyear I am going to do it,” Hoerleexpressed.

Hoerle began with a pair of his

“routine” takedowns in the firstperiod, added an escape and aslick standing forward roll rever-sal in the second and capped it alloff with another shrug-bytakedown.

On his reversal and shrugtakedown, Hoerle described, “Theguy had a leg in on top. I kick myleg up and he ends up flippingout and I end up reversing him.He took a bad shot, so I tookadvantage of the arm and gotbehind him.”

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Story on page 9

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Composto picked up his 100thvictory in his first bout when hewon by 17-2 tech fall in 3:02 overDevon Capato (Ridge). In thesemis with Sean Rendeiro (SPP)after a long scramble, Compostoearned a takedown, added anescape then secured a 5-2 vic-tory with a two-point tilt.

“In that situation I was hopingthat the ref didn’t call a stale-mate because I knew that I’mbetter there scrambling. If I kepton working, I was going to gettwo eventually. I just had to keepon moving,” described Composto,who added, “I went to my tightwaist tilt and got the two count.”

On achieving his 100th win,Composto expressed, “It’s cool,especially to do it for Westfieldand my hometown, everyonesupporting me.”

Composto would face EddieHummel (Roselle Park — RP) forthe title. Composto had beatenHummel early in the season butbecame the victim of a fall in theUnion County Tournament. Aftera scoreless first period, Hummelescaped in the second period.Composto escaped in the thirdand added a double-legtakedown.

“In my first couple of matches,I had trouble finishing my singles,so I went with a double andscored,” Composto explained.

Composto may have beenthrown off his game plan a littlebit when he received a warningthen Hummel escaped before thebuzzer but Composto grabbedhis third region title with a 3-2decision.

“It was just a warning. You get

two of them. Once I got thetakedown, I was going to try toget a tough ride but once I gotthat stall, I didn’t want to riskanother stall, so I let him go. Iknew my attacks were better onneutral. If I feel him go for athrow, there’s no need for me tobe there. I wasn’t going to let aRoselle Park guy take one of usdown,” Composto said.

Miller began his journey by pin-ning Jacob Quandt (GovernorLivingston) in 3:22. After beat-ing Phillipsburg’s (P-b) JacobWicks, 3-1, in the quarterfinalsMiller had a rematch with BrettMacMath (Bridgewater-Raritan -BrH2O), who had nipped him, 5-4, in the district finals. Millerlearned well from the experienceand made adjustments. MacMathscored first with an escape in the

second period but Miller answeredwith an escape and a throw-bytakedown to win 3-2.

“In the district final, I thoughthe outwrestled me in the firstminute, so I figured I had to keephim on edge that first minute andbreak down his offense becausehe doesn’t have the gas tank thatI do. I think he wore himself out,which allowed me to score thattakedown late in the match andallowed me to stop most of hisshots. I think he has been prac-ticing front headlock defense allweek and I knew I would have tochange it up on him if I wanted toget behind him. I don’t think hesaw it coming,” Miller explained.

Miller’s next challenge wouldbe a very big one with NJSIAANo.-2 ranked John Poznanski(Colonia — Col).

“It’s going to be a tough final. Iam trying to go in there with theright mindset,” Miller said.

Poznanski caught Miller with aperfect ankle pick takedown-to-back move to record a 1:36 pin.

Cougar Bencivenga, seededsecond at 152-lbs, pinned BlueDevil Luke Scanlan in 1:37 toadvance to the semis to face JackWilt (Seton Hall Prep — SHP).Bencivenga began with a pair oftakedowns but appeared to beidling low. Wilt took advantageand won 10-7. Bencivenga re-covered somewhat to grab a 14-6 major decision over CarlosUgaldi (Bound Brook - BB) in thewrestleback. But in the bout forthird against Tom Kellner (SPP),Bencivenga got into high gear.Beginning with a Russian pry


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takedown, Bencivenga followedwith a Fireman’s-to-back five-point move then just kept addingmore takedowns to seize a 17-4major decision and his secondtrip to AC.

“That upset I wrestled not goodat all. I have the stomach bugright now. I was out of school fora week, so my body is healingitself. After four matches, thatmatch did it. It was the bestmatch I wrestled,” explainedBencivenga, who added, “Thistime I am going on the podium[at AC]. All way to the top!”

Scanlan lost his bid for AC whenhe lost to Kellner in thewrestlebacks.

Raider Bowles, a sophomore,won by 10-1 major decision overCougar Will Fernandez then lost,11-6, in the 113-lb semis to GabeLeo (RP), who would go on toclaim the title with a 3-2 decision

over Pat Phillips (Brearley - Br).After winning his firstwrestleback, 5-4, Bowles de-feated Blue Devil Gimblette, 8-1,

for third place, getting bonuspoints with an arm bar tilt.

“I’m a little sick today. I justpushed through it. I worked on

everything in practice andwrestled hard. I like to do tilts,bars and keep wrist control. I gotthe bar, just ran it and he wentover,” described Bowles, whoadded,” It’s my first year going[to AC]. I worked hard for it. I’mexcited to go.”

Gimblette won his first bout,11-3, then after losing 9-0 toPhillips in the semis, he edgedJames Day (P-b), 7-5, to faceBowles.

Cougar Halpin began his trip at145-lbs with an 8-0 major deci-sion over Blue Devil Theo Dardia.He edged Julian Todd (SPP), 5-3,then lost 3-0 to Matt Sacco(BrH2O), who went on the beatRhise Royster (Rahway - Rah),4-3, for the title. Halpin beatConner Vill (GL), 5-1, in thewrestleback then lost 4-2 to ElvinGuerrero (RP) in the bout forthird place.

Blue Devil Jordan Simpson(160-lbs) lost to Alex Dorce(Rah), 8-6, in the quarterfinals,recorded a 50 second pin in hisfirst wrestleback then lost his bidto AC with a 10-8 overtime sud-den victory setback to FrankMedina (WH). Simpson did finishfifth.

Blue Devil Brandon Loder (195-


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lbs) pinned Nour Sayed (Eliza-beth) in 2:42 then lost 11-5 toJohn Dusza (WH) in thequarterfinal. Loder beat RaiderZach Zimmerman, 13-7, in thewrestleback then lost his bid to ACwith a 6-2 loss to Andrew Diadato(Somerville). Loder placed fifthwhen he beat Dusza, 1-0.

Blue Devil sophomore Jon Heard(285) made the top-8 when henipped Jordan Belle (WH) 1-0,before losing to top-seeded LewisFernandes (Voorhees), who wasselected Most Outstanding Wres-tler. Cougars Justin Alpaugh-McLean (182-lbs) won his elimi-nation bout, as did Pat Kalnins(120-lbs), Dean Smith (132-lbs)and Matt Doran (220-lbs).

Cougar Evan Kanterman (170-lbs) won three bouts and placedfifth, and Jack Korzeneski (138)won two bouts.

Other Union County champswere: Mark Montgomery (RP -132-lbs) and Joe Delia (NewProvidence - 160-lbs).

CHAMPIONSHIP BOUTS:182: — John Poznanski (Col) p TimMiller (W) 1:36

195: — Austin Roth (P-b) d SebastianIakouchevitch (ALJ) 9-2220: — Nico Colucci (SPP) d JoshDarisme (Rahway) 7-1285: — Lewis Fernandes (V) p JerveySistrunk (BB) 1:40106: — Logan Maczko (P-b) d NicoCalello (WH) 2-1113: — Gabe Leo (RP) d Patrick Phillips(Br) 3-2120: — Luke Hoerle (W) d PatrickAdams (SPP) 9-4126: — CJ Composto (W) d EddieHummel (RP) 3-2132: — Mark Montgomery (RP) d TravisJones (P-b) 12-5138: — Kyle Tino (P-b) p Troy O’Connor(Mx) 6:12 OT145: — Matt Sacco (BrH2O) d RhiseRoister (Rah) 4-3152: — Cody Harrison (P-b) d Jack Wilt(SHP) 4-2160: — Joe Delia (NProv) p JacobVega (Cart) 3:46170: — James Cruz (SPP) p VinceMattaliano (WH) 2:13


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Wayne Baker for The Westfield LeaderMR. CHAIRMAN...Louis Lambe, pictured, second from left, Cranford's Com-missioner, takes the oath as chairman of Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority’s(RVSA) Board of Commissioners last Thursday while his wife, Beth, andCranford Township Commissioner Thomas H. Hannen, Jr. hold the Bible.Swearing in Mr. Lambe is RVSA Board Secretary Joanne Grimes, pictured, left.

By MICHAEL BONACCORSOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

GARWOOD – Realty Appraisal’sproprietor Neil Rubenstein pre-sented a roadmap to Garwood’sproperty tax reevaluation pro-cess at a town-hall style meetingat Lincoln School on Mondayevening. The borough hired Re-ality Appraisal to complete re-valuation process.

Mr. Rubenstein said UnionCounty’s Division of Taxationmandated Garwood and all UnionCounty municipalities to undergoa tax reassessment which will befinancially realized on tax bills byJuly 2020. Mr. Rubenstein saidthe process has been in effectsince the 1950s, but has nottaken place in Garwood for over30 years.

Property reevaluations are notmeant to increase everyhomeowner’s taxes, stated Mr.Rubenstein. Reevaluations arepurposed to update property val-ues to their current values afternearly 30 years of change, hesaid.

“The process is meant to re-balance or bring everything intoequilibrium,” Mr. Rubenstein said.

Some properties will go up invalue, some properties will re-main the same, and some prop-erties will pay less, stated Mr.Rubenstein.

The notion is the higher propertyassessments are valued, tax ratesare adjusted to decrease by per-centage, stated Mr. Rubenstein.Any residents or business ownerswho feel their assessment was

inaccurately calculated can ap-peal by May 1, 2020.

The evaluation process consid-ers a home’s neighborhood, to-pography, square footage, noisefactors, interior and exterior im-provements, and other variables,which would be recognized in thesale process as benefiting thesell price or reducing the sellprice to comparable properties,stated Mr. Rubenstein.

A home with an addition sincethe last reevaluation would theo-retically be worth more than ahome with similar property di-mensions in the same neighbor-hood without the addition, statedMr. Rubenstein.

Mr. Rubenstein said tax asses-sors employed by his firm willcarry two forms of identification,will wear yellow vests, and willenter people’s homes after ar-ranging an appointment or uponasking when the assessor is “can-vassing” the neighborhood. Allassessors can be walked througha home by the homeowner,stated Mr. Rubenstein.

The interior review is conductedwith a laser to measure the home’sinterior dimensions and is a “rela-tively brief” review, he said.Homeowners who do not allowthe assessors in to conduct areview will be categorized as hav-ing improved their interiors,stated Mr. Rubenstein. He saidany homeowner who is notpresent when the assessor is inthe neighborhood can book aninterior review appointment at atime which is convenient for them.

BOE Discusses StudentWellness, HIB Prevention

By ROBYN ORR-GIOFFRESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

CRANFORD — Concern for stu-dent wellness and prevention ofharassment, intimidation and bul-lying (HIB) incidents were the mainfocus of Monday’s Cranford Boardof Education (BOE) meeting.

Superintendent of Schools ScottRubin, Ed.D., gave the BOE anupdate on how the first six monthsof implementation of the strategicplan is going. One of the four goalsincluded in the strategic plan is topromote continuous improvement,awareness and a culture of stu-dent safety and wellness.

Cranford Director of Counsel-ing Lisa Burfeindt gave the

board highlights on how thisgoal is being achieved in thedistrict. Gayle Colucci was hiredas the district coordinator forculture and climate and as thedistrict-wide anti-bullying spe-cialist. In this role, Ms. Colucciis responsible for recognizingtrends to improve culture andclimate programming, collect-ing data about school climate,analyzing that data and re-searching and implementingthe best practices to improvethe overall school climate.

Ms. Burfeindt told the board thathaving a district-wide anti-bully-ing specialist has allowed the

Mr. Rubenstein said the Russoproperty is an example of com-mercial improvements whichneed to be recognized in thereevaluation process. As vacantland, the South Avenue propertyis assessed less than if 350 units

Garwood Residents LearnOf Property Tax Revaluation Process


CorrectionsIn a front-page story in last

week’s issue of The WestfieldLeader on the proposedReimagining plan for theCranford Public Schools,Cristine Grace’s name wasmisspelled. Also, the articleshould have reported thatChristine Bradley, and notCristine Grace, expressed con-cern over the district movingahead with full-day kindergar-ten prematurely. The quotesbelow that paragraph, “Are weshooting ourselves in the foot?”and “Where is the educationalproof?” were said by Ms. Bra-dley. We apologize for the er-rors.

A front-page story on cover-age of last week’s CranfordTownship Committee meetingshould have reported that resi-dent Barry O’Donovan, ownerof The Kilkenny House, saidproposed state legislationwould allow establishmentsapplying for a liquor licensethat have a hot plate, to be noless than 800 square feet toobtain a liquor license. Currentlaw requires the kitchen aloneto be 500 square feet in size.


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people who were the anti-bullyingspecialists, like guidance counse-lors and social workers, “to goback to what we hired them to do.”

Furthermore, Ms. Burfeindtcommented that Ms. Colucci is“creating a common mission” forall of the schools in the district inregards to student wellness.

A student app called STOPit,that allows anonymous report-ing for grades 4 through 12, andpromotes the idea of “See some-thing, say something,” was in-troduced this year.

The district also is offering aprogram called Parent Academy,that includes monthly workshopsbeginning this month. Topics in-

clude bullying prevention, char-acter education, suicide aware-ness and prevention, anxiety andstress and digital citizenship.

Cranford has been awarded agrant through the New JerseyDepartment of Education(NJDOE)/Rutgers grant programto help build a positive schoolclimate district-wide. This three-year program is called the SchoolClimate Transformation Projectand Ms. Colucci is the facilitator.Through the program, a climatesurvey will be conducted andanalyzed in order to identify ar-eas that need improvement tocreate an action plan.

Leadership teams have been

formed at both Hillside AvenueSchool and Orange AvenueSchool to address the academic,social and emotional life of stu-dents. The district also has madeseveral safety upgrades and en-hancements for the 2018-2019school year. Safety vestibuleswith a double-door entry systemwill be installed at each of theschools, along with security cam-eras and perimeter door alarms.Additionally, new visitor entryprotocols currently are beingenforced district-wide.

In other board business, theReport on Harassment, Intimi-dation and Bullying, acquiredthrough a district-wide self as-sessment and required by theNew Jersey Department of Edu-cation, was discussed. Accordingto the bi-annual report, therewere 25 HIB reports filed in thedistrict, none of which was found“substantiated.”

“Our numbers have droppeddrastically from last year,” Ms.Burfeindt told the board. Lastyear there were over 100 HIBreportings.

Several hires were approvedby the board, including DennisMcCaffery as head varsity base-ball coach, Christine Pemoulie ashead varsity softball coach andMichael Dow as head varsity boystrack coach. John Schiano wasapproved as the head varsitygirls track coach, RobertCaparruva as the head varsitytennis coach, William Ray as thehead varsity golf coach,Samantha Berk as the head var-sity girls lacrosse coach and AlbertReinoso as the head varsity boyslacrosse coach.

were fully operable and collect-ing income, he explained.

After the South Avenue prop-erty is redeveloped, theproperty’s assessment will bechanged to account for the addi-tional income and the intrinsi-cally higher re-sell value. Com-mercial properties which havebeen devalued since they wereredeveloped before the last taxassessment over 30 years agowill be reassessed appropriately,Mr. Rubenstein explained.

Realty Appraisal oversawWestfield’s reevaluation whichwas just concluded, stated Mr.Rubenstein. Over 10,000 homesin Westfield were reviewed in-cluding both exterior and interiorinspections, stated Mr.Rubenstein.

Any residents who have ques-tions can contact the companydirectly, accessing informationthrough the borough’s website,or contact borough hall, statedMr. Rubenstein.

Car Stop Leads to HandgunArrest In Cranford

Pietrucha then discovered aloaded 9 mm handgun with hol-low-point ammunition.

Mcleod was subsequentlycharged with unlawful posses-sion of a weapon, possession ofhollow-point bullets, possessionof under 50 grams of marijuanaand possession of drug para-phernalia. He was processed andremanded to the Union Countyjail pending a detention hearing.

“This arrest marks the secondgun arrest from a motor vehiclestop we’ve had in the past eightdays,” Police Chief Ryan Grecostated.

Chief Greco went on to praiseDet. Pietrucha’s efforts and reit-erated, “This is just another ex-ample of the everyday dangersour officers are exposed to.”

BOE Discusses Student Wellness, HIB Prevention

CRANFORD — The Cranford Po-lice Department seized marijuana,money and a loaded 9 mm hand-gun during the course of a motorvehicle stop on Springfield Avenuelast Friday, according to a pressrelease issued by the department.

According to police, DetectiveWilliam Pietrucha was conduct-ing traffic enforcement when henoticed a 2017 Mazda beingdriven carelessly on SpringfieldAvenue near North Union Av-enue around 1:09 p.m. Det.Pietrucha conducted a motorvehicle stop and, after an inves-tigation on scene, arrested thedriver, Shawn Mcleod, 23, ofIrvington, for suspected mari-juana and a large sum of cashfound in his possession. During asearch of the vehicle, Det.

Garwood Library HighlightsEvents For Early March

GARWOOD — The GarwoodPublic Library has revealed itscalendar of events for the firsthalf of March, along with ongoingactivities.

The Knitting Club meets on Mon-days and Thursdays at 10:30a.m. No registration is required.Participants learn how to knit orshow others how it is done whileenjoying fun conversation.Needles and yarn are provided tonewcomers.

Kid’s Chess, an informal chessgame for children of all ages, isheld on Mondays at 3 p.m. Noregistration is required but ses-sions are limited to 12 players.This is a non-instructional pro-gram with six boards provided.

Explore It is presented on Tues-days, at 3 p.m., in the LincolnSchool Art Room. This programprovides after-school STEM (Sci-ence, Technology, Engineeringand Mathematics) fun for kids in

fourth grade and older. Registra-tion is required and limited to 16participants.

The Thursday Night Book Clubwill meet March 7, at 7 p.m., fora lively discussion of the month’sbook. No registration is required.Interested persons are advisedto check with the library for itslatest book selection by calling(908) 789-1670.

Adult Craft will be featured onTuesday, March 12, at 6 p.m.Attendees will be able to make acraft to bring home. Participa-tion is limited to 10 and registra-tion is required.

Toddler Story Time, for infantsthrough age 4, is offered onWednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Noregistration is required. This pro-gram includes stories, songs,bubbles and more. The PipsqueakPlayers will visit Storytime onMarch 13.


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HOLY SEASON...The Reverend Andy Kruger, Priest-in-Charge, celebratesMass during Lent at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Cranford. Trinity invites theentire community to join its congregation for Ash Wednesday services at noon and7 p.m. on March 6. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season.

CRANFORD — The Trinity Epis-copal Church, located at 119 For-est Avenue, Cranford, inviteseveryone to come for AshWednesday services, at noon and7 p.m., on Wednesday, March 6.

Ash Wednesday is the first dayof Lent. The name comes fromthe practice of placing (or impos-ing) a cross of ashes on the fore-head of Christians as a sign oftheir mortality and penitence. Lentis the liturgical season of 40 daysof penitence and fasting. Sun-days, the Sabbath day, are notpart of the Lenten fasting days.

Christians are invited “to ob-

serve a Holy Lent by self-exami-nation and repentance by prayer,fasting and self-denial, and byreading and meditating on God’sHoly Word.” Historically, Lent wasa time converts were preparedfor Holy Baptism or for reconcil-ing those who had been sepa-rated from the church throughpenitence and forgiveness. Itserves as a reminder to all Chris-tians of the need to continuallyrenew their faith and repentance.

Trinity Episcopal Church, foundedin 1872, is a faith-based familychurch that welcomes all peopleand strives to “know Christ and to

make the Lord known throughfaith, fellowship, and service.”

Sunday services, celebrated bythe Reverend Andy Kruger,Trinity’s Priest-in-Charge, are at8 a.m. and 10 a.m. ReverendKruger also leads the Daily Of-fices of Morning and EveningPrayer, at 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.,Tuesdays through Fridays, inWitherington Chapel in the churchundercroft, which is accessibleby the outside stairs at the rightrear corner of the church. Formore information about Trinity,call (908) 276-4047 or visittrinitycranford.org/.

Trinity Episcopal Church to HoldAsh Wednesday Services on March 6

Kid’s Craft also will take placeon March 13, at 3 p.m. Young-sters in second grade and up canmake a fun craft. Registration isrequired and participation is lim-ited to 20.

Lego will be available on Thurs-days, March 14 and 28, at 3 p.m.Children ages 4 to 12 are invitedto find inspiration through themonth’s theme and build what-ever they wish, then share theircreations with others. Some willbe displayed in the library’s show-case. Registration is required andparticipation is limited to 15.

Additional programs will be an-nounced for later in the month.The Garwood Public Library islocated at 411 Third Avenue. Formore information and to registerfor programs, call (908) 789-1670. Further information visityouseemore.com/garwood.

GW Library Events

The editorial exchange betweenCouncilman Frank Arena ofWestfield and newly-electedcounty freeholder, Kim Mouded,has been a must read for con-cerned Union County taxpayers.My take away so far is that Coun-cilman Arena understands theridiculous tax burden the countyfreeholder board imposes on usresidents. Kim Mouded on theother hand is sadly not the breathof fresh air people had hoped for,but appears to be just the latestreplacement gear in the 9-0Democrat Freeholder tax-and-spend machine that has con-trolled the county from Elizabethsince the late 90’s.

Frank Arena is doing his best toplay David against the tone-deafGoliath that is the freeholderboard, attempting to restorepower to the people of his townby refusing to give the countythe money they’ve demanded.Meanwhile, Kim Mouded doesn’tsee any issue with the $42- mil-lion levy imposed on her Town ofWestfield. In her first few weeksin office, I guess she doesn’t seethe value in reducing the over-lapping and likely redundant du-ties carried out by both theSheriff’s Department and CountyPolice or investigating ways thecounty Department of PublicWorks can do a better job ofworking with municipal DPW’s toreduce duplicate services or tobetter leverage each other.

It’s also clear that Kim isn’tinterested in the value of bring-

ing in private enterprise, andhow much of a pivotal an impactthat would have on the localeconomy. In New York, localDemocrats scared away billionsof dollars and tons of jobs whenthey ran Amazon out of town.Here in Union County, Kim andthe Democrats don’t seem to befaring much better to bring innew businesses that could helpbalance our county checkbook.In a town reeling from the loss ofLerner David, the addition of anew corporate resident wouldmean a lot to the taxpayers ofWestfield, but with the countytax burden as it is, we just aren’tthat attractive to new business.

Freeholder Mouded lauds thediversity of the freeholder boardcoming from different towns,ethnicities, races, religious back-grounds, etc. and that’s a greatthing reflective of Union County.Unfortunately, that’s where thediversity ends with this board, asthe approach to running countygovernment is the same amongall nine members – no challengeor difference of opinion to theusual order of business and bur-geoning taxes. I thought therecould be a chance that KimMouded might break the mold ofChairman “Nick Scutari’s” wingof the Democratic Party, but af-ter her last editorial, she’s provenherself as more of the same, andthat sucks for the rest of uscounty residents.

Joe SarnoScotch Plains

Former Garwood Councilman2018 Candidate for Union County

Freeholder

Westfield’s Kim Mouded – NewFreeholder, Same Result

Letter to the Editor

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on scene, the driver, Osei, wasarrested after he initially failedto stop for police units. He wasprocessed and provided with astate Superior Court appearancedate. In addition, he was issuedmotor vehicle summonses forreckless driving, speeding, fail-ure to keep right, an unsafe lanechange, failure to signal a turn,failure to stop, improper use of ahorn and maintenance of lamps.

Friday, February 15, AnthonyQuimi, 22, of Bloomfield was ar-rested and charged with posses-sion of under 50 grams of mari-juana and possession of drugparaphernalia following a motorvehicle stop at Raritan Road andCentennial Avenue for a taillightout. Quimi was processed andprovided with a municipal courtappearance date. In addition, hewas issued motor vehicle sum-monses for unclear plates, notwearing a seatbelt and posses-sion of a controlled dangeroussubstance in a motor vehicle.

Saturday, February 16, GeorgeHaley, 22, of Roselle was ar-rested and charged with posses-sion of under 50 grams of mari-juana and possession of drugparaphernalia following a motorvehicle stop at North Avenue Eastand Carpenter Place for drivingwithout headlights on. Followingan investigation on scene, policearrested Haley for suspectedmarijuana found inside the ve-hicle. He was processed and pro-vided with a municipal court ap-pearance date. In addition, hewas issued motor vehicle sum-monses for driving without head-lights on and possession of acontrolled dangerous substancein a motor vehicle.

Sunday, February 17, JoshuaAnderson, 31, of Morristown wasarrested and charged with pos-


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CRANFORDWednesday, February 13,

Elaine Kwiatek, 26, of Lindenwas arrested and charged withpossession of under 50 grams ofmarijuana and possession of drugparaphernalia following a motorvehicle stop on Raritan Road fora brake light out. Kwiatek wasprocessed and provided with amunicipal court appearance date.In addition, she was issued mo-tor vehicle summonses for main-tenance of lamps, having an ob-structed view and possession ofa controlled dangerous substancein a motor vehicle.

Thursday, February 14,Nathaniel Louis, 21, of Hillsidewas arrested and charged withunlawful possession of a weapon,possession of under 50 grams of

marijuana and possession of drugparaphernalia after a 2001 Hondawas stopped on North AvenueEast for an expired inspectiondecal. Following an investigationat the scene, police arrested apassenger in the vehicle, identi-fied as Louis, for suspected mari-juana found in his possession. Inaddition, police recovered aloaded .45ACP handgun in Louis’possession. He was processedand turned over to the UnionCounty jail pending a detentionhearing. The driver was issuedmotor vehicle summonses for aninspection violation and for be-ing an unlicensed/suspendeddriver.

Friday, February 15, CharlesOsei, 20, of Union was arrestedand charged with eluding policefollowing a motor vehicle stop atNorth Union Avenue andClaremont Place for erratic driv-ing. Following an investigation

session of under 50 grams ofmarijuana and possession of drugparaphernalia following a motorvehicle stop at Centennial andWinans Avenues for a brake lampout. Anderson, a passenger inthe vehicle, was processed andprovided with a municipal courtappearance date. In addition, thedriver was issued a motor ve-hicle summons for a seatbelt vio-lation.

Monday, February 18, SharonMarosi, 44, of Rahway was ar-rested and charged with posses-sion of a controlled dangeroussubstance (CDS), possession ofprescription legend drugs, pos-session of drug paraphernalia,

under the influence of a CDS anddriving while intoxicated (DWI)after she was involved in a one-car motor vehicle crash on the200 block of Centennial Avenue.Marosi also was charged withprescription legend drugs andsuspected crack-cocaine foundinside the vehicle. She was pro-cessed and provided with a stateSuperior Court appearance date.In addition, she was issued mo-tor vehicle summonses for reck-less driving, careless driving, fail-ure to keep right, obstructingtraffic, speeding on a sidewalk,delaying traffic and possessionof a controlled dangerous sub-stance in a motor vehicle.

Health Screenings OpenTo Cranford Residents

CRANFORD — Adult healthscreenings for residents servedby the Madison Health Depart-ment will be held in March. Those18 years of age and older areinvited to “know their numbers”for cholesterol, triglycerides, glu-cose and several other valuesmeasured in the Complete Meta-bolic Profile (CMP) offered to resi-dents of Madison, Chatham Town-ship, Springfield and Cranford.This blood analysis is a fastingtest and appointments are re-quired. Individual blood pressureand additional health informa-tion will be available at thescreening. There is no fee for this

community service.For additional information or to

make an appointment, call theMadison Health Department at(973) 593-3079, extension no.1. Participants should have theirprovider’s name and contact in-formation when calling for anappointment.

Screenings will take place asfollows:

Thursday, March 7, 8 to 10a.m., at the Chisholm Commu-nity Center, 100 South Spring-field Avenue, Springfield.

Thursday, March 14, 8 to 10a.m., Madison Civic Center, 28Walnut Street, Madison.

Calvary Lutheran InvitesAll For Ash Wednesday

CRANFORD — The CalvaryLutheran Church invites the com-munity to its Ash Wednesdayservices on March 6, at 1:15p.m. or 7:30 p.m., as Christiansmark the beginning of Lent andtheir 40-day journey to Easter.Both the afternoon and eveningservices will include Holy Com-munion and the Imposition ofAshes.

At Calvary, the theme this yearfor the Season of Lent is “Reclaim-ing Sabbath.” Pastor Carol Lind-say noted, “Living 24/7 might behow folks are wired right now butit’s not how we were created. TheBible basically says, ‘No to theCulture of Now,’ to borrow a WalterBrueggeman phrase. We are hop-ing to learn some healthy bound-aries that give us the permissionto rest in this reflective season ofthe year. Sabbath isn’t about rules— it’s about wholeness.”

On Ash Wednesday, Christiansgather to prepare their heartsand minds for the renewal offaith given to them through thelife, death and resurrection ofJesus Christ. “We invite otherswho are weary and stressed tojoin our worship on Ash Wednes-day, as we introduce this theme,and throughout the upcomingLenten season,” said Pastor Lind-say.

Calvary Lutheran Church offersworship every Sunday at 10:15a.m. in the sanctuary. Everyoneis welcome in the church, every-one belongs — no matter whattheir journey with God has been.Calvary is located at 108 EastmanStreet, Cranford. For more infor-mation about the congregationand additional opportunities toworship, call the church office at(908) 276-2418 or go tocalvarycranford.com.

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Grade 12High Honor Roll

Angela Arvizzigno, Katyana Avila,Aubrey Bagdonas, JamesBagdonas, Julia Barnes, PatriciaBolivar, Laura Brady, ThomasBrown, Drew Burfeindt, Kyle Bur-ton, Kara Bush, MichelleCagnassola, Gianna Calligy, Pe-ter Canevari, Gianni CaroEsposito, Matthew Carrascoso,Anna Ciarrocca, Sarah Citarella,Madison Coleman, NoahCostanzo, Jessica DeBellis,Lilliana Dec, Patrick Dembiec,Stefanie DeVizio, Ashley Dia-mond, Christina DiBella, GabrielleDickstein, Michael Dieu, AngeloDiNizo, Nicholas Dionisio, CarlyDvorin, Tyler Dvorin, JessicaEdelman, Hope Edwards, ZacharyEvangelista, Alex Ferrara,Cristabella Fortna, MaryFossaceca, Benjamin Fox, ColetteFranciscus, Madison Gal, WilliamGale, Pedro Garcia, Julianne Gar-ner, Luke Gelling, Isaiah Goff,Sarah Gorman, Brandon Green,Vanessa Handy, Cassidy Haugh,Madison Haugh, Jaclyn Horre,Payton Howell, Jannine Huby,Sophia Iacona, Raina Jablon,Kaitlyn Jackmin, Ryan Johnson,John Kayser, GabriellaKowalczyk, Ben Kuperschmid,Alexandra Lahetta, JuliannaLamagna, Dominick Lamastra,Jeffrey Lapidus, ThomasLarmore, Ava Leichtling,Sandraann Leporiere Cordone,Melanie Litwin, Carina Lopac,Ricardo Lopez, Amy Magrino,Reina Makimura, IsabelleMalaussena, Casandra Martoccia,Dorian Mayo, Graham McAlindin,Angelica Mencia, Rae Mikula,Daniel Mitchell, Massimo Modica,

Kaylee Moniz, Nicole Muenzen,Jake Murphy, Jude Musano,Caroline Nguyen, Colin O’Brien,Victoria O’Connor, Alex Oslislo,Laura Pansulla, Ariana Picart,Julia Poeschl, Jonathan Ramos,Daniel Resnicoff, JelaniRichardson, Justin Rizzi, MargotRizzi, Amanda Robbins, ZoeRouder, Rachel Rowen, MollyRyan, Thomas Ryan, JessicaSadel, Sadie Salgado, AbigailSaperstein, Kara Schramm, JacobSchulman, Maya Schwartzman,Max Seefeldt, Christopher Sekiya,Shalini Shah, Joshua Sklarin,Audrey Smith, Nicholas Smith,Emily Smulewitz, OliviaSperanza, Max Steele, JessicaSzulc, Nicole Tavares, MarcoToupence, Maggie Traina, An-thony Triwahjudi, Joshua Venick,Isabella Verga, Dakota Verrico,Justin Walsh, Caroline Warren,Adam Weiner, Elizabeth Weinreb,Jovi Williams, Elena Wollman,Saiyanna Womack, Isaac Wong,Lucy Zhang, Julia Zucosky

Grade 12Honor Roll

Ryan Ackerman, Grace Ahlin,Hamza Ali, Alexa Anselmo, PersisBaah, Christopher Bagdonas,Josiah Baik, Amanda Ball,Zachary Barash, Ashley Barros,Sara Barshap, Lauren Barth,Christian Blanco, EmiliaBoissonneault, Freya NatashaBuison, Tierra Buissereth, KevinCalabria, Joshua Canavan,Rachella Carlino, Gianna Cassara,Giancarlo Castro, ChristopherCatuogno, Alan Chen, Kevin Chin,Ryan Cleary, Elizabeth Daniskas,Eboni Davis, Anita Dazzo, AnnaDecker, Riley DeProspero, An-

thony DeShields, AlyssaDeSimone, Daniel Donaldson,Meghan Duthie, Kelsey Fay, Mat-thew Fazzino, Casey Ferguson,Miguel Fontora, Jessica Friebely,Justin Giaimo, TheodoreGiandana, Samuel Goetz, VadimGorbaty, Sara Greene, ShaneHernandez, Jake Hogan, JackHosmer, John Huby, Kier Hunt,Suzanne Jackson, Stenli Kanu,Dimitrios Kastanos, ThomasLaucik, Justin Lo, Julia Lomonte,Hannah Lyman, Brent Mankin,Jared Mascioli, ShannonMcCreesh, Brenna McNamara,Ethan Melville, Ryan Metzger,Sophia Mineo-Pankiewitz, Mat-thew Monroy, Niyah Nathaniel,Chloe Nelson, James Oakes-Garcia, Stephen Oduro, JuliaPankiewitz, Jack Pedersen, ConorPeterson, Taylor Phifer-Fitch,Carter Pomponio, Anthony Por-ter, Ryan Puri, Maryam Ramjohn,Eric Refinski, Kayla Reisberg,Timothy Roden, Alex Rodriguez,Martin Rogoff, Daniela Russo,Nicole Scarano, Cheryl Schneider,Rachel Schuman, Kevin Sheil,Edward Smith, Jacob Steinberg,Jacqueline Stovall, Rachel Tang,Kyle Tannenbaum, Juliet Trifiro,Anthony Vallejo, Mateo Velez,Steven Verrastro, Maria Villeda,James Walsh, George Waweru,Charles Widder, Morgan Wilson,Daniel Wright, Abigail Yarbenet,Imran Zubair


Amir Abdelmalak, Nicholas Alber,Connor Alchus, Dylan Allen,Gabrielle Aloe, Kaitlyn Amato,Taylor Arrogante, Delaney Baliko,Marissa Bamrick, Joseph Barge,Sydney Blacker, Julianna Blanco,Josephine Blundo, PatrickBourke, Alexandra Boylan,Michael Braun, Morgan Brown,Nicole Brozak, Charles Bunin,Catherine Buren, Kristen Buro,Remy Cardarelli, Lucas Carinhas,Summer Carver, JosephineCerino, Jonathan Chaillet, AlexaChan, Antoinette Chango,

Katherine Chouinard, JulieCiccarino, Garret Clausen, Jor-dan Clement, GuadalupeCoahuilas, Michael Couso, DanielCoyle, Mia Craven, Sabrina Cruz,Nicole DeFrancesco, CarinaDelCore, Juliana Denning,Michael DiFrancesco, ChristopherDowney, Sophie Drapkin, Mat-thew Dreyfus, Colin Dwyer, SeanFanning, Colin Fitzgerald, JustinFletcher, Ryan Flynn, AlexForman, Abigail Friedman,Lauren G, Nicholas Giamella,Kayla Giuffi, Liam Giuliani, Ma-son Glod, Jada Gomillion, MaryJane Gonzales, ChristinaGubernat, Akhil Gundra, JakeHahn, Samantha Hall, Sarah Hall,Savannah Hall, Emma Hastrup,Emily Herman, Olivia Hobbs,Sarah Horn, Mia Hunter, ChristosIoannidis, Nicholas Januszanis,Vikram Kalsi, Tara Kenoff, LaurenKieltyka, Jacqueline Kirian,Gabrielle Klausner, JordanKleinbaum, Brooke Klurman,Miriam Kother, AnaKurdovanidze, MariamiKurdovanidze, NicholasLaFerrera, Ashleigh Lancaster,Hannah Lancaster, MargaretLapolla, Erin Lay, Elizabeth Ley,Neena Lomuscio, Joy Lytch,Valeria Macchini, AleezahMadraswalla, Ian McCormack,James McNichol, Harrison Mills,Jessica Mongold, Ryan Montagna,Ethan Morrobel, ChristinaMouckas, Matthew Mouckas,Christopher Muskus, CassidyNovello, John O’Connor, AlyssaPankiewitz, Evan Paul, JadiePearl, Katelyn Perez, PhilleshiaPershay-Spearman, LindseyPorchetta, Athena Postlewait,Sophie Pritchett, Esteban Quino-nes, Sarah Rata, Hiren Reddy,Isabella Richardson, DanaRicketts, Cassie Robinson, FelipeRodrigues, Sarai Romero, Rob-ert Root, Alexander Rossi, MalloryRothweiler, Irina Ruzina, HenrySaltzman, Jake Samitt,Samantha Samuelian, JuliaSassoon, Frederick Saunders,Victoria Savoca, Maria Schmidt,Rachel Schoss, David Schulman,Olivia Shih, Amari Singley,Madilynne Slifer, Julia Solsky,

Skylar Stagaard, Brett Strug,Emma Thumann, Madison Toll,Gabriella Tomon, Yunus Tozlu,Andres Trujillo, ChristopherTsuchiya, Caroline Vivanco,Kaitlyn Walsh, Brian Weideli,Brandon Weinberg, Grace White,Kaelah Wiggins, Sophia Wilkins,Lexa Winigrad, HarrisonWustefeld, Keri Yang, SamanthaYip, Jonathan Yu, Julia Yu, AlleyZakarin, Kelly Zimmerman,Rachel Zucker

Grade 11Honor Roll

Sandra Abdelmalak, KatinaAckerman, Olivia Adams, AmiraAliane, Mia Alvarez, Taylor An-thony, Jared Arkin, JakeArrogante, Lauren Azzarello,Mallory Banks, Michael Besante,Jacob Bottomly, William Brady,Declan Byrne, Catherine Carter,Sofia Casimiro, Lea Cerini, RyanCiarrocca, James Cirillo, JustinClark, Aliyah Daniel, DevonDanielovich, John Deitch, RobertDencker, Madison Diamond,Gabriel Donatelli, KayleighDowney, Jessica Eggert, SamuelFeinberg, Isabella Fiore, JenniferFleck, Alvaro Furfaro-Rodriguez,Lucia Furfaro-Rodriguez, MaritzaGarcia, Michaela Genty, EmilyGrill, Ryan Gumpel, Keli Hayes,Lily Higgins, Patrick Howard,Brian Huang, Brigit Jacob,Emelyne Johns, Emily Jones,Malcolm Kahora, Nicole Kenny,Gabrielle Khan, Prabvir Kukreja,Jessica Lancaster, CharlesLevine, Alex Levy, AntonioLomonte, Jordan Lowrey, RaionMagallanes, Samantha Mahmet,Jordan Margolis, Caden Mari,Clara Masback, DanasiaMcDonald, Carys McDowell, KaylaNitti, Emma O’Brien, ChristinaPham, Grace Ponterio, EthanRafal, Christian Ramalho,Gabriella Ramos, Aadith Ratish,Samuel Reeson, Patrick Ritter,William Robertson, Lucas Route,Carolina Samuelian, DamianSantos, Julianna Scarcella, GraceSchiller, Laura Schmidt, Megan

Honor RollScotch Plains-Fanwood High School - 2nd Marking Period

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Sheehy, Gwendolyn Sleat, CarterSlifer, Carly Spellman, AnneStuart, Maya Sutterlin, MichaelTardi, Meghan Taylor, DerickVega, Kaylah Webb, RyanWidman, Jayson Williams-Johnson, Eli Wolman, TaraWolman, Olivia Zambrio


Ezri Abraham, OluwaseunAdekunle, Kotey Ashie, KaylaAvila, Tracy Bagdonas, ElenaBalecha, Lindsey Bartley,Eshaan Basu, Julia Blaschak,Lauren Brenner, Nicole Britt,Marissa Burton, AnthonyCammarano, Anthony Castelli,Keiara Chapman-Cole, LukeChecchio, Emma Chichester,Kaelie Chung, Haley Cino,Abigail Colao, Charles Coolidge,Dante Corsaro, John MichaelCristobal, Eric Cunningham,John Dazzo, Matthew Dembiec,Amit Deshpande, DylanDombrowski, Ryan Duthie, RyanEng, Gabriella Essenfeld, DavidFarin, Conor Feeney, OwenFerrone, Joshua Fox, BenjaminFreedman, Dylan Fuimo, AvaGelling, Erika Mae Gonzales,Jackeline Guallpa, Ava Hausle,Elisa Herstatt, Taylor Hopkins,Meredith Hough, Victor Johnson,Luke Jones, Ishwari Katdare,Jordan Katz, Joseph Kern, EmilyKessler, Ibraheem Khan, HaileyKinard, Benjamin Krauss,Shelby Kumpf, Sean Lage,Gabrielle Lancaster, RebeccaLancaster, Joseph Larmore,Evelyn Liang, Joseph Linder,Matthew London, Jolie Lubalin,Corinne Lyght, Alexa Mach,Lucas Mackey, Jack Manville,

Michael Marino, EmilyannMcNeill, Jordan McQuoid, MaeMerkle, Sean Merkle, JamesMiddleton, Brendan Mullany,Natalia Nervi, Sabrina Ngu, MaxNiessen, Jayden Nyamiaka,Faith Price, Ralph Ramos,Kaitlyn Reilly, Sarai Reuben,Julian Rijo, Juan Diego RojasCamargo, Miles Roper, NicolasRuggiero, Abigai l Ryan,Katherine Ryan, Marcus Sandy,Paul Schiumo, Erica Schug,Alexa Seefeldt, AlessandraSerio, Christopher Shapiro,Daniel Sicinski, Rachel Small,Daniel Soler, SydneySprechman, Madison-AnneStaRosa, Alexandra Swiatek,Nicholas Tittanegro, Justin Tran,Benjamin Tucker, AriannaUrsino, Alexa Vierschilling, MayaWaldman, Allison Weisser,Alexander Werkheiser, ZoeWernsing, Jonathan Wiener,Quinn Wil l iamson, TaylorWinslow, Jamie Wirth, ZackeryWong, Ciara Worthey

Grade 10Honor Roll

Sohaila Abdelkader, GraceAbdy, Andrew Acosta, KierenAdams, Chloe Alce, Jesse Artz,Tobias Bachman, Anjila Banks,Sofia Beardsley, JakeBensulock, Ethan Berkman,Dylan Bordman, Erika Bretz,Olivia Calcaterra, JanAndreCastro, Justin Chan, JulietteCiullo, Abigail Conklin, DevinCooke, Meredith Czurlanis, EricDe Maria, Joseph Decker,Katherine DeFouw, MichaelDePaola, Rhythm Desai, SofiaDietze, Jonathan Dionisio, Mat-thew Drubulis, Melissa Falk,

Colin Fanning, Maura Farrell,Alexander Fazzino, MaryFazzino, Lenore Ferguson,Besnik Ferizi, Daniel Ferrone,Hannah Filler, Olivia Fiore, ClaireFisher, Jacob Fleischer, OliviaFletcher, Justyanna Fortna,Jamie Frank, Joseph Gale,Joshua Garcia, Emma Guan,Chloe Hahn, Paul Harris, LilyHolston, Marlena Holston, Jack-son Hopkins, Zachary Jachera,Ryan Jones, Shruti Khandelwal,Paul Koizumi, Hannah Kriney,Cynthia Liang, Julia Liberto,Amelia Lieberman, Li Hong Lin,Dallas Lorenzetti, Megan Lozito,Rachel Lubeck, Zachary Lubeck,Wil l iam Mauer, LaurenMcGovern, Connor Midwinter,Natalie Mikula, Rachel Miller,Hadley Moran, Emily Muench,Holly Nelson, Julianne O’Brien,Maxwell Oross, Samuel Oross,Nicole Oslislo, Ethan Pawelec,Thomas Peeney, Roman Perrelli,Derek Porter, Hadley Rose,Emma Route, Gianna Salgado,William Schetelich, JessicaSchramm, Rohan Shah, MichaelShapiro, Serena Sirchio, Chris-topher Skwirut, ChristopherSmith, Lucy Spitzer, NathanielSta Rosa, Nicholas Susino,Isabel la Sutton, DanielVil lacreses-Montoya, CarlyWalker, Ryann Wall, Eric Watt,David Wernsing, Aidan Young


Mary Adekunle, Aliyah Adkins,Alice Bachman, RachelBarattucci, Thomas Baylock,Moumit Bhattacharjee, MourikBhattacharjee, Kai Bobrow, JuliaBonhote, Meagan Bourke, MarinBrace, Luke Brencsons,Stephanie Brown, Ariel Burman,Avery Burman, Camila Cabrera,Jodi Carmant, Anthony Cerino,Kelly Chesky, Ava Chin, CarterChin, Victoria Cirillo, HannahCitarella, Benjamin Cohen,Amelia Collins, Sofia Corsaro,Ethan Costanzo, Gabriella Crona,

Isabella Cukrow, KaelinCunningham, Lila Dasi, RyanDebenham, Ashley DeFrancesco,Jake DeGaetano, FrancescaDiLollo, Lily Dimon, GraceDowney, Terence Downey, RileyDwyer, Samantha Edelman,Bridget Ennis, Amanda Filipski,Lauren Fitzgerald, OliviaFleischer, Alessandro Frias,Joshua Friedson, Emily Friscia,Audrey Gabbai, Joshua Gabbai,Sophia Gallahue, Patricia Gillen,Alexa Gingold, Evan Gomillion,Catherine Grandmaison,Zachary Harmer, ThomasHaverlock, Aidan Heifetz,Amanda Hill, Megan Hillyer, Rob-ert Hochstaedt, Seifeldin Hosny,Chloe Howell, Lily Hughes, JacobJablon, Julia Jackson, QuinnJackson, Julia John, NinaJohnson, Sherin Kachroo, JacobKanterman, Joseph Kaplan,Francesca Kastanos, GraceKennedy, Riya Kishen, AlyonaKladova, Taylor Klein, RyanKoehler, Richa Kulkarni, EricaLee, Jenna Lee, Sophia Lerner,Matthew Levine, Noah Levy,Annette Liang, Olivia Linderman,Nithyaraajitha Lokesh, RicaBriana Lopez, Melanie Lowell,Jackson Lubalin, Lauren Magrino,Rachel Manette, MarlainaMartucci, Caitlin Maughan,Gianna Mavilla, Zachary Mawby,Marin McAlindin, Sarah McCall,Connor McCreesh, EamonnMcGovern, Ava McKenzie,Gabriel Melville, Kaitlyn Mohabir,Aislinn Mooney, Gavin Morrobel,Kayla Morrow, Rory Moser,Shyana Nanshah, IsaiahNathaniel, Jazlyn NavarroJimenez, Kenneth Nelson,Therese Nitro, Kyle Nolan,Vanessa Ossy, Elizabeth Parvin,Aditya Phatak, Elle Priesing, ElinaPuri, Grace Rehrer, Conor Reilly,Gianna Riefler, Lucia Robertiello,Aidan Robertson, BrodieRobertson, Jessica Rojek, Ben-jamin Root, Peri Roper, EmiliaSaccento, Sydney Sadler,Naome Samuel-Will iams,Isabela Segarra, Evan Sena,Amelia Sherman, Anna Sicoli,Emily Sicoli, Natalie Skolar,

Alexander Smith, VictoriaSolsky, John Stellakis, DianaStinkova, Rebecca Strug, BrennaSull ivan, Anna Szczuka,Hadassah Tabak, EleniTheocharopoulu, JasonTrivisonno, Marcos Trujillo, LucasVega, Johnathan Vu, MeganWalsh, Jamie Weinberg, Dor-othy Wilson, Kerrin Wojcik,Eliyah Wong, Emily Wyrwa, EmilyYang, Julia Yick, Julia Zambrio,Naiomi Ziekert

Grade 9Honor Roll

Robert Alber, Dana Ascolesi, RyanAu, Vincent Augello, Jayden Ball,Ryan Beauregard, MatthewBender, Ava Berry, Joseph Berry,Aiden Birnbaum, BrookeBoissonneault, John Burke, RyanChaillet Grande, ZoeChrisostomides, Sofia Ciullo,Colin Clarke, Camille Cooke, EveDelaney, Brenna DeProspero,Isabella DiLollo, Jack Eckstine,Lindsay Edelman, Isabel Elimu,Jeffrey Fezza, Katelyn Gaulin,Alicia Goff, David Green, MichaelHagopian, Lauren Hahn, MichaelHayeck, Jodi Hayes, KatherineHochman, Madeline Joe, AmirJohnson, Briajohnae Jones,Maeve Kahora, BrendanKaryczak, Adam Kiell, AndrewKipp, Leah Klurman, ViktoriaKozak, John Leonardo, RobertLerner, Noa Levine, Julian Mar-tin, Wilbur May, BrandonMelnitsky, Jake Monroy, AydenMullins, Ava Musano, Igor Nikolin,Lea Oduro, Sara Pham, CharlottePollack, Matthew Power, GabriellaPugliese, Mariam Ramazashvili,Thomas Ricci, Kayleigh Robinson,Tucker Rose, Samuel Rouder,Noah Sadler, Anna Saltzman,Dante Silva, Nicholas Solimeno,Jessica Steinberg, GiovanniSullivan-Massa, Morgan Switsky,Jason Tannenbaum, AidanTrenery, Morgan Tsin, JohnVangeli, Samantha Walden, EmilyWalsh, Alyssa Warbeck, JuliannaWarren, Stella Whitefield

Honor RollScotch Plains-Fanwood High School - 2nd Marking Period

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Honor RollEdison Intermediate School - 2nd Marking Period

Grade 7Distinguished Honor Roll

Attia, Sarah; Bach, Olivia;Balakumaran, Maya; Bartlett,Nicholas; Behrens, Aaron;Behrens, Eve; Bonn, Karolina;Bromberg, Lauren; Cabrales,Caitlin; Cadigan, Ella; Cadigan,Patrick; Chen, Sophia; Cho,Maxwell; Czarnecki, Kaitlynn;Daly, Nolan; Delforte, Ethan;Donofrio, Isabella; Dudkiewicz,Justine; Edwards, Stephen;Eisman, Rebecca; Engel,Casey; Fajardo, Josue;Fleming, Adrian; Frantzeskakis,Zoe; Gee, Victoria; Gil, Sofia;Gonzalez, Christopher; Greco,Collin; Hoch, Morgan; Hollosi,Hannah; Hu, Alexander; Hu,Charlie; Hu, Yenjay; Iyer,Anusha; J iao, Jonathan;Johnson-Mi lstein, James;Keith, Avery; Kengeri, Kathryn;Kermanshahi, Katherine; Kim,Grace; Klingelhofer, Jessica;Labin, Nicholas; Leavitt ,Lindsey; Lincoln, Sarah; Lisci,Gabrie le; Logan, Clare;Manescu, Monica; Marceau,Zachary; Marcus, Zachary;Mehta, Tage; Meisinger, Rob-ert; Meis inger, Zachary;Mendel, Edward; Nematadzira,Benedict; Norwood, Illyria;O’Brien, Jillian; O’Connell,Marisa; Owens, Clarabelle;Patel, Devan; Patel, Deven;Petrassi, Noah; Pinkowski,Chloe; Puglisi, Gianna; Reed,Makenna; Reynders, Nathan;Richards, Aidan; Roitman,Ethan; Rotter, Maxwel l;Sanford, Christian; Scheiner,Darcy; Scipioni, Isabella; Sclar,

Avital; Shih, Isabelle; Singh,Michael; Spirn, Emily; Tsarsi,Sofia; Virmani, Grace; Walker,Ri ley; Waqar, Al ishba;Weinstein, Cate; Wi lner,Emory; Xiong, Rebecca; Zhao,Derrick

Grade 7Honor Roll

Ackerman, Benjamin; Agar,Ol iver; Andreottola, Ava;Andretta, Gavin; Anyaele,Obinna; Bal l ingal l , Tyler;Beinhaker, Aylinn; Berger,Olivia; Beriont, Christopher;Biedermann, Ava; Blaustein,Jacob; Braganza, Leon;Brennan, Gabrielle; Bryson,Rachel; Cestero, Tomas;Chalke, Aditya; Chelak,Alexander; Chermak, Nina;Clark, Emma; Clark, Samuel;Cogan, Cara; Collins, Allison;Colon, Ricardo; Crane, Aidan;Cruz, Jeremy; Cruz, Leilani;Csorba, Steven; Del Monico,Gabrielle; Del Re, Pietro; DellaRocco, Sofia; Delos Reyes, Aiel;Doblas-Mart in, Miqueas;Doherty, Erin; Dowden, Jack-son; Dragan, Natalie; Dunham,Evan; Dunham, Owen; Dunn,James; Eisenman, Max; Evans,Carys; Farabaugh, Braedan;Finn, Kate; Foley, Col in;Frantzeskakis, Aris; Gallo,Giul iana; Garg, Akshit;Gauthier, Genevieve; Gibbs,Shannon; Goldfeld, Nikita;Goldstein, Sigal; Gordon, Madi-son; Gunzberg, Lucas;Guzman, Cesar; Haar,Alexandra; Heinze, Caroline;Hickey, John; Hurford, Gre-

gory; Jean, Matthew; Jeckell,Charles; Jepsen, Wil l iam;Jimenez, Lena; Kaplun,Samantha; Karaban, Brienna;Karamete, Mel issa; Katz,Amelia; Kiefer, Alexander;Klemm, Rachel; Kobin,Caroline; Kobori, Michael;Koellhoffer, Ryan; Koetje,Cassidy; Korr, Zachary; Lam,Cody; Landry, Paige; Lehman,Andie; L in, Yumin; L ink,Jacqueline; Lisnock, Grace;Logozzo, Michael; LopezGutierrez, Samuel; Ma, Dillon;McSweeney, El le; Might,Daniel le; Miranda, Jul ia;Miranda, Pedro; Mirrione, Jor-dan; Moreland, David; Morrelli,Caroline; Murphy, Julia; Natt,Jaden; Ng, Bryan; O’Brien,Sean; O’Connor, Ava; Orgel,Rachel; Paris, John; Pearson,Christian; Perialis, Athena;Pinho, Elena; Pinto, Sofia; Prip,Heather; Rau, Davis; Reilly,Anne; Reyes, Nalyssa;Robertson, Anna; Rodrigues,Nicolas; Rodriguez, Ximena;Russo, Mario; Schroppe, Keira;Serme, Yusuf; Sewald, Evan;Shepherd, Logan; Singman,Owen; Spirn, Philip; Swiat,Evan; Tanemori, Ryuichi; Tay-lor, Aaron; Varhley, Jackson;Victorino, Maxwell; Vitorino,Rebecca; Vo, Andrew; VonBoch, Madeleine; Wal ler,Naomi; Ward, Evan; Weber,William; Wellnitz, Christopher;Wil lson, Rebecca; Wilson,Zechari; Witten, Ethan; Yang,Chen; Young, Ethan; Yu, Ian;Zemsky, Madison


Alexander, Evan; Bautista,Eric; Bebel, Abigail; Becker,Leah; Br i l lantes, Carter;Butera, Mattia; Butler, Klara;Chang, Max; Chen, Matthew;Collins, Catherine; Consales,Julia; Craig, Owen; Crall, Wil-l iam; Davenport, Edward;Davies, Rohan; Deignan,Elaine; Dianda, Jessica; Dias,

Maya; DuHaime, Natal ie;Edekar, Sayee; Everett ,Hannah; Ferguson, Kaelin;Gagliardi, Jackson; Gamba, Jo-seph; Gil, Gabriela; Guerrero,Sophia; Gugl ielmo, Jane;Hobbie, Luke; Howland, Mor-gan; Hunt, Logan; Isaacman,Jil l ian; Jairam, Sharanya;Janaczek, Olivia; Jyotishi,N ikh i l ; Ke i th, Ar iana;Kelesoglu, Emma; Kobin,Timothy; Korotka, Sofiia; Lara,Juan-Diego; Lee, Jessica; Lee,Yusuf; Liebermann, Michael;Mangiamele, Leo; Matus, An-drew; Mauryshchau, Sofia;Mishra, Aashi; Mul ler ,Alessandra; Palles, Peter;Panora, Isabella; Rothfleisch,Jack; Rubenstein, Alyssa;Schupak, Samuel; Seiden,Seth; Sugrue, Julia; Sun,Kevin; Tananbaum, Carolyn;Vaccaro, Luke; Vesuna,Annika; Waibe l , Sophie;Waldman, Ryan; Wang,Youhao; Weinstein, Emily;Welsh, Nathan; Wernes,Kendall; Wright, Madison;Xing, Sophia; Yu, Clara; Yu,Felix

Grade 8Honor Roll

Abdala, Vanessa; AlbertHalevy, Zachary; Andersen,Sophia; Angel, Catherine;Arabatzis, Aidan; Ash, Avi;Audino, Michel le; Azeem,Maya; Bass, Nathan; Beutel,Julian; Bongiovanni, Anna;Bongiovanni, Michael; Bradley,Kyle; Braun, Sophia;Broaddus, Isabella; Buecklers,Er ic; Buonopane, Lucas;Cabrera, Sergio; Cardoso,Ju l iana; Cerro, Paul;Chakravarty, Aprameyo; Chen,Kevin; Christian, Matthew;Composto, Ethan; Cosenza,Chiara; Cosenza, Valentina;Cozewith, Hale; Cuccaro, Im-per io; Curr ie , Jess ica;D’Agosta, Jessica; Dalessio,Nicholas; Datwani, Kieran;Dayon, Gabr ie l ; Desai ,

Anushka; DiFalco, Allison;Doyle, Lindsay; Dudkiewicz,Alexa; Dudzinski, Jeremy; Epp,Matthew; Falletta, Olivia;Gasson,Ryan; Gauth ier ,Michael; Givand, Cait l in;Glasco, Senu; Gonzalez, Daisy;Gr ipp, Adr ian;Hal loran,Thomas; Harper,Aidan; He, Kyle; Healey, Nicho-las; Henderson, Sean;Henriques, Gabriella; Hickey,Donovan; Hill, Isabella; Hynes,Chelsea; Jackson, Gabriel;Kahney, William; Karter, Theo;Kelly, Grace; Kelly, Joshua;Klemm, Sarah; Koonce,Dedrick; Kornfeld, Andrew;Kos lowsky, Ava; Kr ihak,Hannah; Laitman, Samuel;Lam, Derek; Lanza, Patrick;Le Warn, Ian; Lechner,Madeline; Levine, Abbey; Lin,Christopher; Linsen, Jack;Luka, Audrey; LunaSantamar ia, Br igham;Marquet, Christian; Matt, Tho-mas; McGovern, Joseph; Metz,Joshua; Michael , A lbert;Mindak, Phineas; Mirtagavi,Iskandar; Mokrzycki, Luke;Morrison, Bridgett; Narciso,Sophia; Nematadz i ra,Alexander; North, F iona;O’Connor, Katherine; Pacifico,Alessandra; Pantow, Imanuel;Pastore, Gabriel; Perafan,Camila; Pinto, Ariana; Pinto,Sofia; Popa, Andrew; Raphael,Genesis; Restivo, Brennan;Ribeiro, Brandon; Richman,Aaron; Rios, Josefina; Ripper,Juliana; Rodrigues, Carly;Rosario, Olivia; Rosenthal,Amanda; Ruiz, Olivia; Rusek,Damian; Saint-Denis, Lucie;Samet, Chloe; Schifando,Flannery; Schreiber, Jolie;Sexton, Johanna; Silecchia,James; Silva, Alan; Sinocchi,Evan; Snyder, Devon; Stavin,Hannah; Sturchio, Matthew;Tang, Vicky; Tarleton, Perry;Thorburn, Grace; Tieri, Nancie;Waibel, Grace; Weinberg,Jenna; White, Jess ica;Whitman, Georgia; Williams,Brooke; Wilson, Mackenzie;Witzel, Rachel; Zinnie, Taylor

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Honor RollTerrill Middle School - 2nd Marking Period


Benjamin Abrams, Olivia Aiere,Emma Alchus, Alana Beardsley,Elizabeth Bedatsky, Eric Botney,Chloe Burfeindt, Isabel laCalamusa, Yaritza Catalan-Ledezma, Alec Choi, BridgetDavis, Isabel la DeCrosta,Nishaan Desai, Kate Eng, MarcoFacao, Lindsay Fefferman, DylanFei, Neve Ferreira, Emily Filipski,Ethan Filler, Weston Fischer,Bradley Frank, JessicaGallagher, Sophie Gannon, An-drew Giul iani, SophieGotliboym, Charlotte Gumpel,Diego Gutierrez, BridgetHernandez, Avery Higinbotham,Dara Hsu, Jacob Jones, MeredithKenoff, Alexis Kern, MorganKinard, Samantha Klausner,Alisa Lamastra, Catherine Lavin,Samuel Leibowitz, MirandaLemansky, Michael Levin,Shawn Lyght, Anthony Malta,Emma Margolis, Ryan Matulonis,Sophie Meinke, Giul iannaMilano, Lauren Mirenda, Eliza-beth Moose, StephanieMuenzen, Matthew Nervi, AlexisO’Brien, Sophia Paleski, AaronPerrotta, Owen Pickel, BrigittePriel, Haley Richardson, JordanaRomero Jimenez, NikitaSahasrabudhe, Abbie Sapira,Nicholas Schmidt, Niyati Shah,Madeleine Smith, GabrielleSmulewitz, Luke Talty, ChelseyTang, Shaan Trehan, Kelsey Tse,Natasha Vega, Haley Warren,Patrick Watt, Danielle Wester,William Wheatley, Kelvin Will-iams, Kiley Wirth, Andrew Wolff,Bennet Xia

Grade 8Regular Honor Roll

Samuel Anger, Matthew Angulo,Caitlin Applebee, Diego Arcila,Cara Argila, Jack Barnett, KylaBonet, Kyle Brainard, ShaynaBraunstein, Lucy Burke, DavidAnthony Candari, MatthewCastucci, Joseph Catalano, BrodyChin, Ryan Cichocki, BenjaminCohn, Victoria Daszyk, MeredithDeFouw, Kayla DeSimone, SofiaDi Iorio, Angelina Diaco,Raymond Dickscheid, WilliamDietrich, Joseph Domingues,Stefini Drivas, Mia Erath, DariusEvans, Emmet Feeney, SaraFeeney, Stephen Folkart, KathrynGerminder, Pari Gill, KatarinaGindel, Jessica Glander, TessaGoing, Bartosz Gorski, EtienneGroom, Maya Handler, EvanHanvey, Owen Higinbotham,Aniket Iyer, Tyler Jachera, EthanJaffe, Rebecca Kessler, MayaKhan, Joseph Kowalczyk, TianLiao, Ava Losardo, AmandaMagee, Kyle Minall, SalmaMohammed, Paul Mullarkey,Calum Murray, Emma Noriega,Diego Otero, Ria Paranjape, Sa-rah Paul, Harrison Potocek,Kathryn Power, Reese Priel,Parker Raham, MatthewReynolds, Nicholas Sanchez, FinnSautner, Arnav Saxena, NicolasSbordi, Jion Shim, ElizabethSleat, Anna Soifer, Sarah Sorkin,Olivia Stahley, Sean Stuart,Paarth Sutar, Shmuel Tabak,Matthew Teevan, Rylee Tighe,Kaelin Tricoche, Ryan VanOstenbridge, Ava Van Tassel, GuyVarela, Charles Vayda, NatalieWalch, Sydney Williams, Elijah

Wu, Garrett Yarnall, Thomas Yick,Jeremy Zimmerman


Chioma Agwu, Lucas Ali, MadelineBeauregard, Laura Benko, HayleyBlacker, Cameron Bloodgood,James Blundo, Saidy Bober,Sripriya Challa, JuliannaCompierchio, David Cooper,Mackenzie Crimmins, Luke Doyle,Parthiena Ebrahim, KatherineEchols, Ryan Enayati, JosephEntin, Kayla Fiore, LaurenFleckenstein, Eden Gabbai, JaneHarrison, Lily Jayinski, JoshuaJenkelowitz, Rachel Lacerda, AvaLerner, Layne Levine, Ava Levy,Rachel Levy, Shaina Li, RachelLipsky, Ahana Majumdar, KellyMarques, Colin McAuliffe, JulianMeinke, Lindsey Midrano, Mat-thew Mihansky, Diti Nainwal, DiyaNainwal, Shreya Nara, BenjaminNathan, Saverio Paradiso, EmilyPark, Pari Patel, Lily Peskin,Kaitlyn Phillips, Jayant Rai,Gabriella Rijo, Noah Rotondo,Daivya Sadhvani, AlyssaSapienza, Sarah Sicoli, GabrielSilver, Rubina Singh, CatherineSkwirut, Dhruv Thakare, AnthonyVeglia, Jack Wall, Owen Wasik,Daniel Wong, Gia Ziekert


Jude Albert, Sofie Altman, BriannaAlvarez, Matthew Arnold, NathanArnold, Riley Atkins, OliviaAugello, Rishav Bagchi, ThomasBarnes, Nyla Bartholomew, CarysBrowne, Luis Calderon, IsabellaCampanile, Emily Colasanti, SaraConiglio, Alexander Crona,Graeme Daniskas, Jason DelCore,Jake DeRienzo, Mauro Derosa,Nikhil Desai, Jeffery Dietrich,Tristan Doll, Quinn Donahue,Michael Donofrio, Evan Doyle,Javier Esteban, Bianca Evans,Aidan Fairweather, Benjamin Fei,

Samantha Fischer, KatherineFitzgerald, Aidan Franciscus, EvanGauthier, Ava Goldberg, MiaGonyou, Matthew Greisman,Aubrey Gulbin, Tyler Gulbin,Ashley Hoberman, Keira Kelly,Irene Kim, Ella Kleinbaum,Nathaniel Krauss, Parth Krishna,Emma Kuchar, Isabel LaHuta,Katelyn Lester, Artemis LevyCollins, Benjamin Liang, JonathanLinderman, Maya Marcassoli,Hanna McCann, Jack Merkel, LouisMessano, Charlotte Middleton,Brendan Miller, Kourtney Most,Tyler Mundorff, Ethan Murray,Jack Nolan, Kelly O’Donnell, HaleyOliver, John Paino, John Pearce,Lauren Peeney, Ryan Pierson,Eliana Rafal, Jaden Reynolds,Noah Ricca, Joelle Russo,Alexander Salameh, AshleySekiya, Molli Semel, Billie RoseSherratt, Rebecca Sohmer,Jonathan Soler, Hannah Solomon,Ashley Steer, Leah Stevens,Emma Szabo, Emersyn Teicher,Veronica Thompson, JuliaTiedemann, Jake Timchak, DanielUrbina, Anthony Virone, RyanVolpone, Dylan Weiner


Elizabeth Agnello, ShanaAmsellem, Shail Bardolia, Tho-mas Bastable, Emma Blair,Annalise Brencsons, GraceBurke, Emerson Carton, AmalaChandra, Samantha Cohn,Madeline Coyle, Atharv Dwivedi,Justin Ellazar, Antonio Ficazzola,Caitlin Gannon, Sophie Gingold,Maia Gonzalez, CarolineGrandmaison, Anthony Guan,Sabrina Hackett, Sophie Hughes,Ava Khan, Olivia LaPorta,Caroline Lemansky, AmandaLeung, Xavier Levy, Edward Li,Caroline Lowder, Caitlyn Mad-den, Jack Masterson, CadenMatulonis, Sophia Mekbeb, Eliza-beth Messano, Kyle Miller, ElyonaMolina, Samantha Nadel, TanviPawar, Marin Pecarsky, SophiaPoeschl, Annabella Pugliese,Maria Sao Jose, Olivia

Scarpignato, Jonathan Schwartz,Lilah Seiden, Aliece Sena,Jordana Sheiowitz, Maya-LiSneor, Emily Sobolewski, Rob-ert Sorkin, Claire Swensen, Tay-lor Syvertsen, Dominique Tabug,Antonios Theocharopoulos,Jaralin Truselo, Lindsay Tse,Alyssa Verducci, Arjun Vora, KateWolff, Sarah Wong, Elaina Yick


Dylan Anger, Vedant Arora, AveryAuyeung, Matthew Benedetto,Francesca Benedicto, EvanBenfatti, Anabelle Bernard,Samantha Blaschak, John Boyle,Jackson Briamonte, Nadia Buck,Reese Carberry, Caitlin Carter,Joshua Chaillet, AlexanderChecchio, Andrew Ciampa, Ben-jamin Ciampa, Elise Clifton,Alexandra Compierchio, DylanCondell, William Consoli, AudreyCoyne, Christian DeGennaro,Salvatore Diaco, Riley Dupuis,Brooke Fefferman, BenjaminFiller, William Folger, KashviFuria, Brayden Gal, Tyler George,Tessa Giordano, Eboni Goodmen,Ryan Gorski, McKenna Jeans,Gabrielle Johnson, OliviaKanterman, Sarah Kaplan, JackKendall, Zayd Khurram, NoahKornfeld, Damien Lariviere, EricLevin, Samuel Lindell, GriffinMack, Giovanni Marrese, ConnorMatulonis, Isabella McCarthy,Logan McDonald, ShannonMcGuinness, Margaret McNulty,Jeremy Montgomery, MalissaMorabito, Alexis Moser, NamNguyen, Dominic Olivito, PrinceOssy, Kevin Paredes, KennethPaul, Devin Pedrero, Joseph Pope,Ella Porcaro, Maclaine Priesing,Aarin Quijada, David Ruiz,Brienne Russo, Ava Salameh,Rohan Sangal, Gabrielle Schiff,Tyler Sklarin, Keira St John, Coo-per Stahley, Drew Stines, AmberSwensen, Ellie Szopinski, LeviTabak, Emma Teevan, LucaTortorella, Michael Violante,Alanna Weisel, Alyssa Wimer,Mary Clare Worthey