Landlord Orders Towing of Cars For Illegal Parking at PNC Lot

Ad Populos, Non Aditus, Pervenimus

OUR 116th YEAR – ISSUE NO. 06-2006 SIXTY CENTS (908) [email protected], February 9, 2006USPS 680020

Periodical – Postage Paid at Westfield, N.J.Published Every Thursday Since September 3, 1890

www.goleader.com

PAGE INDEXRegional ........ 2-3Editorial ........ 4-5Community ... 6-8

Education ...... 9Sports ............ 11-16Real Estate .... 11-19

Classifieds .... 19Obituary ........ 20A&E .............. 21-22

MATH NIGHT...Tamaques students and families spend an evening challengingtheir minds at the Tamaques Elementary School Annual Math Night on Wednes-day, January 18

Landlord Orders Towing of CarsFor Illegal Parking at PNC LotBy PAUL J. PEYTON

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD – Multiple peopledining in downtown Westfield on Fri-day and Saturday nights last weekcame out to find their cars being towedor already gone from the PNC Bankparking lot on North Avenue.

The bulk of the parking lot is cur-rently closed to the public due toongoing construction. The owner ofthe building, A & R Westfield Lin-coln Plaza, LLC, currently is con-verting the second and third floorsfrom business use to residential con-dominiums. The Westfield PlanningBoard approved the project last year.

One of the individuals towed wasDiane Barrasso, owner of BarrassoConsulting on East Broad Street. Shehad just exited Chez Catherine restau-rant on North Avenue when she ob-served a car in the process of beingtowed by Citywide Towing ofHawthorne. Ms. Barrasso’s car alreadyhad been removed to Sevell’s AutoBody Company, Inc. She said about “ahandful” of vehicles were towed.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” shesaid. Ms. Barrasso said the buildingowner should have placed conesaround the parking spaces to stoppersons from parking in the lot.

Two red on white signs state thatparking is only for bank customersand all others would be towed. Alsoposted were blue signs indicating thatthe spaces were for 30-minute park-ing for bank customers only and allothers would “be tagged and towed atowner’s expense.”

Ms. Barrasso said she had to pay$385 in cash to retrieve her car, whichwasn’t available until Saturday.

She said the bank customers-onlyparking has been displayed for years,adding that downtown customers havealways parked in the lot after bankbusiness hours.

“I didn’t park until 6:30. I was

towed by 9:30,” said Ms. Barrasso.“I really find it (being towed) very

mean-spirited,” she said.Irwin Ackerman, the owner of A&R,

released a statement Tuesday throughValerie Horton of his Millburn office.

“The parking is for use by bankcustomers only and not for extendeduse parking before or after banking,”Mr. Ackerman said.

When reached, a receptionist whoanswered the phone stated, “youwould think they (motorists) wouldknow how to read English.”

Another member of Mr. Ackerman’soffice staff said Tuesday morning, “Wedidn’t tow them (cars) for an hour anda half, just for the record.”

Chez Catherine owner DidierJuvenal said he saw a car being towedfrom the PNC lot but did not know ifany of his patrons’ vehicles had beenremoved.

“It’s a customer’s (responsibility)to know better of where to park,” hesaid, noting if a “no parking sign” isdisplayed, the customer should avoidusing the lot.

Westfield Fourth Ward CouncilmanJames Foerst said he felt the landlordshould have provided an initial warn-ing to customers before initiating theaction he took.

“There could have been a little more

Council Discusses NewAffordable Housing Regulations

Planning Bd. Tells Developer:Revise Central Ave. Project

Athletics, Fine Arts ProposeBudgets to School BoardBy GINA LEVINE-LEVY

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD – Director of theWestfield Athletic Department Ed-ward Tranchina and Supervisor of theFine Arts Department, Dr. Linda King,presented their 2006-2007 planningbudgets at Tuesday night’s board ofeducation meeting.

Just before the budgets were intro-duced, Board President Anne Riegelpresented Mr. Tranchina, who is re-tiring as varsity football coach, with acommemorative plaque for 19 yearsof leading the Blue Devils footballprogram.

“It’s not about teams, it’s aboutpeople,” said Mr. Tranchina, who willremain as athletic director. “I’m verymoved by this.”

“I can honestly say I’ve never seenour athletic department in better shapethan it is now,” he added prior to pre-senting a planning budget of $1,197,529for Fiscal Year (FY) 2006-2007.

The athletic budget is 5.58 percenthigher than the 2005-2006 budget of$1,134,273.

The area with the biggest increaseis “supplies and equipment,” whichincreased to $76,000 from last year’s$63,000.

“We get by with this figure,” ex-plained Mr. Tranchina. “It looks like alot of money, but we field and outfit allof the teams with this money.” Specifi-cally, this expenditure includes indi-vidual sports supplies, uniforms, equip-ment and athletic trainer supplies.

Another area with a significant in-crease is “bus transportation,” whichincreased from an allocated $118,000in FY 2005-2006 to a proposed$130,000 in FY 2006-2007.

Business Administrator RobertBerman explained that higher fuelcosts account, in part, for the jump.He said this contract would be placedout to bid.

In the area of “salary,” which in-cludes the athletic director, athletictrainer and secretary, there is a 6.3percent jump from last year due tocontractual obligations for the ath-letic trainer.

Mr. Tranchina did request the addi-tion of a part-time trainer to assist withthe growing demand for treatment.

“I think if there’s one place we canreally use the help it’s in that area,” hesaid, adding that the current trainer is“spread so thin” after school.

School Superintendent Dr. Will-

courtesy (to those who use the lot.)That is not how we do business inWestfield,” Councilman Foerst said.

He said the PNC lot has been usedfor parking for over a decade. He alsosaid the towing fees appeared to beexcessive. The councilman was notsure if there are state laws regulatingtowing fees from parking lots.

Representatives at Citywide Tow-ing and Sevell’s Auto Body Company,Inc., located on Windsor Avenue inWestfield, were not available for com-ment when contacted by The Leader.

Ed Kozmor, a PNC Bank corporatespokesman, released a statementTuesday afternoon.

“PNC is committed to make it easyand convenient for customers to dobanking in Westfield and throughoutNew Jersey. We have been workingwith the landlord who owns the prop-erty, which we lease to keep the parkingspaces available for our customers dur-ing banking hours,” Mr. Kozmor said.

The drive-up window is open Mon-day through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 6p.m., Fridays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.The branch’s hours are Monday, Tues-day and Wednesday from 8 a.m. to 3p.m., Thursday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.,Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. andSaturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

By KIMBERLY A. BROADWELLSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD – Action was delayedby the Westfield Planning Board Mon-day night in considering a major site-plan approval to demolish existinghousing on three Central Avenue lotsand construct a new building. Theboard adjourned its meeting after hoursof testimony and decided to wait untilMarch to give the applicant, RalphRapuano, time to revise his plans.

Testimony on the application beganin January. Mr. Rapuano seeks to de-molish existing housing at 430, 500and 510 Central Avenue and constructa building that will have a basementparking garage, retail or office spaceon the first floor and eight apartmentseach on the second and third floors.

It was noted by Board AttorneyRussell Finestein that Mr. Rapuanohad been granted earlier permissionfor a 14-unit project at the same loca-tion back in 2002.

Multiple planning-board memberscommented that the new building wastoo big and noted that the project ona whole could be as much as 44 park-ing spaces deficient, depending onthe use of the first floor.

Mr. Rapuano testified that the newbuilding was nine feet less in width thanthe building proposed in 2002, but didnote that the new building is deeper.

He also stated that he has renovated525 Central Avenue as a 36-unit build-ing with 13,000 square feet of retailspace. Mr. Rapuano showed picturesof the parking lot associated with thisbuilding and indicated that it was 10percent empty during the day and 50percent empty by the evening.

He said that he has successfully

renovated many other buildings inthe same general area in recent years,dating back to 1988.

Board members commented thatthe building at 525 Central Avenue isnot yet full with tenants on the firstfloor. Mr. Rapuano said that therewas a doctor’s office in the buildingthat has been in full operation for thelast two months.

Planning-board member and TownCouncilman James Foerst said, “Thisboard wants to promote all areas ofour downtown, but we want to do itresponsibly.”

Board Chairman Vince Wilt toldMr. Rapuano that he as well as otherboard members felt the building wasjust “too big.”

Mr. Rapuano, with his attorney,James Flynn, stated that he would bewilling to limit his first-floor tenantsto professionals such as accountantsor psychologists who only tend to seeone client at a time.

Mr. Foerst said, “We want you tosucceed in this project. We don’t wantthe project to fail by being so restric-tive. What if those professionals don’twant to rent there?”

Last month, testimony on the ap-plication was provided by theapplicant’s engineer, Edward Dec. Hestated that the project had beenthrough many revisions. He had notedthat the project was first planned at 26apartments went to 20 apartmentsand now was at 16. He said the projecthad two, one-bedroom apartments and14, two-bedroom apartments and in-cluded 45 parking spaces.

Mr. Rapuano concluded his testi-mony Monday evening by saying, “I

CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

By MICHAEL J. POLLACKSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD — During Tuesday’stown council conference session, thecouncil discussed new affordablehousing procedures, made referralsto the zoning officer in terms ofthrough lots and front porch require-ments, addressed quality of life is-sues pertaining to demolitions andgave an update on the redevelopmentdesignation repeal.

The Code Review and Town Prop-erty Committee discussed two Thurs-days ago the third round of the Coun-cil on Affordable Housing (COAH)regulations. To maintain the town’sobligation to COAH, officials mustabide by the Growth Share policy.According to Fourth Ward Council-man Jim Foerst, the policy “requiresthat for every eight new residentialunits built, we’re required to have oneaffordable (unit). If someone wantsto build a project with units for resi-dential use, one unit on site has to beaffordable. If its mixed use, they canprovide for that somewhere else. Atthe time of approval, they must havea plan to provide for their additionalobligation somewhere in the town orthrough one of the other mechanismsprovided.”

Councilman Foerst said if theproject falls under mixed use, “RCAs(Regional Contribution Agreements)are available, or they may have theability to go to another property intown, to contribute or rehab some-thing. They have to provide someother opportunity for affordable hous-ing.”

Town Attorney Robert Cockren saidthe town must abide by the regula-tions because, as currently consti-

tuted, Westfield is not a COAH com-munity.

Third-Ward Councilman DaveHaas asked what happens in the caseof a subdivision— “does that growour town-wide COAH obligation?”

Councilman Foerst responded that,“There will have to be a philosophi-cal discussion on how we approach it,that specific example where one prop-erty turns into two, that would in-crease our obligation by one eighth.”

Mr. Cockren said under that cir-cumstance, “in a fractional obliga-tion,” the builder would pay.

First-Ward Councilman SalCaruana asked what the fixed amountor formula would be for determiningthat figure because, “hypothetically,we (the town) are going to incur in-cremental responsibilities when thetown has to go out and rehab a unit.We want to know that what we chargealong the way is going to cover ourcosts.”

Mr. Cockren said the money won’tcover the costs and confirmed, “themoney is going to be inadequate forour purposes.” He said the moneyscould be used for other purposes in-stead of building new units “becausewe know the cost won’t pay for thecost of the units.” He said the moneycould be used for accessory apart-ments, assisted living residences andaffordable housing partnership pro-grams.

Also, under the Code Review re-port, Councilman Foerst said his com-mittee addressed quality of life issuesand has suggested replacing orangethree-foot fencing with six-foot-tallchain link fencing, to be secured ev-ery evening at demolition sites toprevent them from being an attractive

nuisance to children.Also, the committee is tackling the

issue of Porto johns and their intru-siveness to the neighborhood. Thecommittee talked about screeningthem by using three-side board-onboard-fence “so you don’t see thePorto john, you see more of a screenso that only the door is open. We’regoing to look at the health regula-tions.”

After Councilman Foerst empha-sized how the committee’s hands aretied by state regulations and stressedthat the town must inspect each demo-lition as a “unique case by case ba-sis,” First-Ward Councilman PeterEchausse said, “For those reading inthe newspaper, it’s not just simplypushing it back 30 feet; there aremuch bigger issues in terms of healthcode issues. Some people just thinkpush it back and that’s the end of theissue.”

Ultimately, after public comment,Councilman Caruana revisited thetopic and proposed limiting Porto-john use only to demolitions whenexisting plumbing would not be ac-



Town Disciplines DetectiveChambers, Keeps Details Private

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD – In a private com-munication to the defendant,Westfield Town Administrator JimGildea implemented disciplinary ac-tions Wednesday against suspendedWestfield Police Detective SandraChambers. She allegedly fixed a park-ing ticket for her son. Mr. Gildeawould not make public the actionsbeing taken.

Detective Chambers was chargedwith trying to have a ticket voided forher son and for lying during an inter-nal investigation by the WestfieldPolice Department.

The official charges against her arefalse swearing, official misconduct,neglect of duty, striking a summonsfrom the record, conduct unbecom-ing an employee and attempt to useauthority to control or modify an-other employee’s action.

During a 15-minute interviewWednesday morning, Mr. Gildea saidthe non-binding recommendation ofhearing officer James Damato was“not releasable” due to the fact it waspart of a departmental disciplinaryhearing. Actions resulting from thosehearings along with employee per-sonnel files are not released to thepublic per town policy. Mr. Gildeasaid he would implement Mr.Damato’s findings and would send aletter by 4 p.m. yesterday to attorneysin the Chambers’ matter.

“Even though this particular hear-ing was done in public, which was atthe request of the defendant in thismatter, which is obviously her rightto do, it is still not a ‘court case.’ It isan interdepartmental hearing, whichis considered an internal discipline

matter. And so the results of the par-ticular matter are basically not re-leasable and also not releasable un-der OPRA (Open Public Records Act)because it is considered a matter ofpart of the personnel record,” Mr.Gildea said.

Mr. Gildea, who received Mr.

Damato’s report last Friday, discussedthe matter with Mayor Andy Skibitskyand members of the town council Tues-day night in executive session. Hesaid, as administrator, it is his respon-sibility to determine the disciplinaryaction against a town employee. Hesaid the mayor and council, while con-sulted, are a policy setting body and donot have responsibility over employeediscipline matters.

He said the town hired a hearingofficer for the proceedings to ensurethat the town had a “very indepen-dent, unbiased and fair process forthis hearing due to the nature of it.Mr. Gildea said Detective Chambers’attorney would have 10 days to de-cide if he will appeal the decision. Anappeal, if filed, would be heard instate Superior Court. Court matters,

he said, are a matter of public record.Mr. Gildea said he opted not to

have former police chief BernardTracy serve as prosecutor during thehearings. He also decided not to at-tend the hearings to avoid “any ap-pearance of conflict.”

“I am going to issue a report todaywith the findings and she will get it.She and her attorney can divulge whatthey want to do,” Mr. Gildea said.

He said Detective Chambers mightwant to divulge the findings to thepress, which he said would be herchoice. He said Detective Chambersremains on paid suspension pendingthe outcome of the hearing.

“We will have to make the changeof her current status depending onwhat her decision is,” he said. Mr.Gildea said the town has not receivedany intent to sue or claims from De-tective Chambers. The town settled adiscrimination lawsuit broughtagainst the town by Ms. Chambers in2001. Mr. Gildea said the lawsuit anddisciplinary hearing are not related.

“As you know, there was a threat ofa civil lawsuit. That has never materi-alized at this point; doesn’t mean itcan’t, but it has not. That is not on thetable at this point. This is strictly aninterdepartmental hearing,” he said.

Depending the outcome of the deci-sion, Mr. Gildea said Police ChiefJohn Parizeau might become involved.

“If she decides to return; if shedecides not to come back. Those areall positions that are obviously con-tingent upon the results here. But hewill be involved obviously with anyof those things,” he said.

When asked whether that meantDetective Chambers was not be ter-

Fred Lecomte for The Westfield LeaderLESS THAN WELCOME...The landlord of 1 Lincoln Plaza ordered multiple vehicles towed from the North Avenue PNCBank parking lot last Friday and Saturday for alleged illegal parking. The owners paid several hundred dollars to retrievetheir vehicles from Seville Towing in Westfield.

Detective Sandra Chambersat her August hearing.


Page 10 Thursday, February 9, 2006 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A Watchung Communications, Inc. Publication

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POLICE BLOTTERWestfield

Monday, January 23, a Catholic churchin town reported the theft of $20,000 incollection funds from a safe inside thehouse of worship.

Tuesday, January 24, Hilary Belsky, 51,of Cranford was arrested in the 1700 blockof Boulevard and charged with drivingwhile intoxicated, operating an unregis-tered vehicle and possession of an opencontainer of alcohol in a motor vehicle.She was issued summonses and released.

Friday, January 27, Jason L. Mungin,25, of Newark was arrested at South Av-enue and Tuttle Parkway on an outstand-ing Union Township criminal warrant for$355. He was released after posting bail.

Friday, January 27, Watrina V.Armstrong, 22, of Newark was arrestedon a Roselle traffic warrant at Central andElizabeth Avenues. Armstrong was re-leased after posting $89 bail.

Friday, January 27, Adewale B. Idowu,61, of Plainfield was arrested on Cross-way Place after leading police on a high-speed chase through several municipali-ties, including Westfield, Scotch Plainsand Mountainside. The suspect was ap-prehended after sideswiping one car andstriking another head-on as he attemptedto flee on Crossway Place. No seriousinjuries were reported.

Idowu was charged with three countsof aggravated assault on a police officerfor allegedly attempting to ram three po-lice vehicles during the pursuit, as well asone count each of eluding police and onecount of resisting arrest.

Once Idowu was in custody, authori-ties learned a criminal warrant had beenissued for him by Bridgewater carrying$2,500 bail. Additionally, a traffic war-rant had been issued by Kenilworth with$750 bail. Superior Court Judge JamesHeimlich set bail at $100,000.

Saturday, January 28, Brian Nevins,Jr., 30, of Garwood was arrested at MichaelDrive and Springfield Avenue and chargedwith possession of less than 50 grams ofsuspected marijuana and possession ofdrug paraphernalia. He was released onhis own recognizance with summonses.

Saturday, January 28, Jack Lipsett, 3rd,21, of Garwood was arrested at CarletonRoad and Park Street on an outstandingtraffic warrant out of Howell Township for$89. He was released after posting bail.

Saturday, January 28, James Fitzgerald,32, of Westfield was arrested at Westfieldpolice headquarters on an outstandingWestfield motor vehicle warrant with $500bail. He posted bail and was released.

Sunday, January 29, AugustoFigueroacerron, 24, of Newark was arrestedat South Avenue and Boulevard and chargedwith driving while intoxicated. He was re-leased to a responsible individual.

Monday, January 30, Dajuan Harris,20, of Pittsfield, Me. was arrested duringa motor vehicle stop at South Avenue andLivingston Street on an outstanding no-bail criminal warrant issued by the UnionCounty Superior Court. Additionally,Harris was charged with possession ofless than 50 grams of suspected mari-juana, for which he was issued a sum-mons. He was turned over to the UnionCounty Sheriff’s Office on the warrant.

Tuesday, January 31, Katrina Cooper,55, of Elizabeth was arrested during amotor vehicle stop at North Avenue andTuttle Parkway on an outstanding Berke-ley Heights motor vehicle warrant for$42, as well as for possession of less than50 grams of suspected marijuana. Shewas released on her own recognizancewith a summons on the marijuana chargeand released on bail on the warrant.

Wednesday, February 1, Juan Melendez,25, of Elizabeth was arrested during amotor vehicle stop at South Avenue andWatterson Street on an outstanding Sea-side Heights motor vehicle warrant for$300. He posted bail and was released.

Thursday, February 2, a resident of aBoynton Avenue apartment reported thetheft of her debit card. Authorities said noactivity has appeared on it since the lasttime it was lawfully used.

Thursday, February 2, Ginger Seaman,27, of Union was arrested at Westfieldpolice headquarters on a traffic warrant for$250 that was issued by Garwood. Seamanwas released on her own recognizance.

Thursday, February 2, Stephen Rizzo,25, of North Brunswick was arrested atthe Westfield Police Department on aNorth Brunswick traffic warrant for $750.Rizzo was held in default of bail.

Thursday, February 2, Danielle Bailey,40, of Newark was arrested at Westfieldpolice headquarters on an outstandingEast Orange traffic warrant for $750. Shewas held in default of bail.

Thursday, February 2, ChristopherBarnes, 46, of Bloomfield was arrested atWestfield police headquarters on out-standing criminal warrants fromMontclair, for $1,000, and Fort Lee, for$275. He was released after posting bail.

Thursday, February 2, Robert Smith,25, of Edison was arrested at the RahwayPolice Department on outstanding trafficwarrants from Westfield, for $540, andElizabeth, for $580. Smith was transportedto the Union County jail in default of bail.

Friday, February 3, Matthew R. Tuck,18, of South Bound Brook was arrestedand charged with third degree aggravatedassault on a security officer at a LambertsMill Road school. Tuck is alleged to havepunched the male officer several times in

the chest before being subdued. The of-ficer complained of pain in his chest butdid not require medical attention. Tuckwas released on his own recognizance.

Friday, February 3, Zachary Rosenberg,19, of Wall and Corey Miller, 18, ofWestfield were arrested following a mo-tor vehicle stop in the 700 block of Cen-tral Avenue. Rosenberg was charged withpossession of less than 50 grams of sus-pected marijuana and possession of drugparaphernalia and was released with sum-monses. Miller was arrested on an out-standing Scotch Plains traffic warrant for$200. He posted bail and was released.

Saturday, February 4, Emilia Laface,21, of Cranford was arrested at CentralAvenue and Clifton Street and chargedwith driving while intoxicated. She wasreleased to a responsible individual.

Saturday, February 4, Frederick Coo-per, Jr., 18, and Kyle Clarke, 18, both ofWestfield, were arrested on Central Av-enue and charged with possession of lessthan 50 grams of suspected marijuana.Both were released with summonses.

MountainsideTuesday, January 31, Kenneth E. Sand-

ers of Irvington was transported from theEssex County jail for outstanding war-rants in the amount of $500.

Scotch PlainsThursday, February 2, a Harding Road

resident reported that her cleaning ladyverbally harassed her after they arguedover the quality of work performed.

Friday, February 3, a resident of WillowAvenue reported that an individual rodepast her on a bicycle and yelled at her. Policesaid there are no suspects at this time.

Saturday, February 4, Alex Paredes, 35,of Plainfield was arrested on Route 22 andcharged with driving while intoxicated.Paredes also was charged with carelessdriving, police said. He was issued a sum-mons and released to a family member.

Saturday, February 4, a resident of Coun-try Club Lane reported being the victim oftheft. The victim said someone removed atire from his motor vehicle, which was infront of his house at the time.

Saturday, February 4, a patron of aRoute 22 restaurant reported being thevictim of theft. The victim stated he parkedhis vehicle in the lot and when he returned,an unknown person had broken a windowon the vehicle and removed a cellulartelephone and charger. The victim reportedthat the value of the items was $300.

FanwoodTuesday, January 31, Beverly D. Miller,

38, of Plainfield was arrested at Martineand North Avenues on outstanding war-rants following a motor vehicle stop.

Tuesday, January 31, Johnetta C.Riddick, 31, of Plainfield was arrested onoutstanding warrants following a motorvehicle stop on Midway Avenue.

Wednesday, February 1, Joseph Hanna,25, of Old Bridge was arrested on SouthAvenue on outstanding warrants follow-ing a motor vehicle stop.

Wednesday, February 1, Carlos O.Iraheta, 30, of Plainfield was arrested andcharged with shoplifting at a South Av-enue grocery store. He also was arrestedon outstanding warrants.

Saturday, February 4, Arlene Capitaz,26, of Elizabeth was arrested on activewarrants following a motor vehicle stopon South Avenue at Terrill Road.

Sunday, February 5, Richard D. Forbes,41, of Shillington, Pa. was arrested onoutstanding warrants following a motorvehicle stop on North Avenue.

Monday, February 6, Stacee Y. Petty,32, of Plainfield was arrested on numer-ous outstanding warrants following amotor vehicle stop on Terrill Road.

Monday, February 6, Steven L. Petty,28, of Hillside was arrested on outstandingwarrants following a field investigation.

Monday, February 6, Derek W. Ship,Jr., 28, of Plainfield was arrested on ac-tive warrants following a motor vehiclestop on South Avenue.

Monday, February 6, Lonnie J. Ward,Jr., 29, of Orange was arrested followinga motor vehicle stop on Terrill Road onoutstanding warrants.

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“Lovers”Etching by Helen Frank

iam Foley said the possibilities wouldbe explored.

The budget for “stipends,” whichincludes interscholastic athletics,intramurals, cheerleading, eighth-grade sports, equipment manager andsite supervisor, increased 3.2 percentto $648,421, from $628,150 in FiscalYear (FY) 2005-2006.

Mr. Tranchina said he is not pro-posing any additional coaches, andthat new coaches he has hired are“coming in with lower salaries” basedon experience.

Since the ratio of coaches to ath-letes in the planning budget was basedon student participation numbers from2004-2005, Ms. Riegel asked for up-dated numbers in order to reassesscoaching needs.

Mr. Tranchina agreed to providethe data. “All of our numbers are up.They’re very high,” he assured.

There was no increase in the por-tion of the budget for “reconditioningof equipment and uniforms.”

Board member Kimberly Rhodescommended the department on get-ting “full use” of the uniforms, whichare recycled year after year.

There also was a decrease of $500for “travel and conferences.”

The fine arts budget increased 4.43percent, from $3,406,736 in FY 2005-2006 to $3,557,807 in FY 2006-2007.

“Transportation” increased from$17,000 in FY 2005-2006 to $19,000in FY 2006-2007.

Dr. King explained that althoughtransportation costs were secured lastsummer for FY 2005-2006, not all ofthe prices were honored due to risingfuel costs.

After voicing concern aboutwhether there is “consistency” interms of which school trips are fundedprivately versus publicly, Ms. Riegelasked that the policy be reviewed.

The budget for “equipment repair”increased from $7,250 to $10,250,due in part to the cost of maintainingthe marching band truck.

Mr. Berman said he is exploringthe possibility of sharing the truckwith the maintenance department inthe off-season.

The cost for “co-curricular ex-penses” increased from $15,787 inFY 2005-2006 to $18,179 in FY 2006-2007, due in part to the addition of asecond jazz band.

“Co-curricular” participants in-clude All-City Band, Orchestra andChorus, fall dramas, spring musicals,

Intermediate Ensembles, MarchingBand, Jazz Bands and Forensics.

Stipends for these activities in-creased 5.5 percent to $145,528, alsodue in part to the additional jazz band.

Dr. King explained that directingactivities, such as marching band, are“huge commitments,” adding thatwhen colleges see marching band in acurriculum, they know these students“have discipline, they have commit-ment and they know how to budgettheir time.”

No monies were allocated for “in-structional equipment” due to lastyear’s budget defeat. Fine arts did,however, receive a combined $14,300from the Coalition for the Arts andthe Education Fund of Westfield forinstruments.

Dr. King did propose a new initia-tive for “technology integration in theelementary schools” that would pro-vide laptops for 20 fine arts teachers.

She explained that with the newprogram, third graders would nolonger learn to read music by playingon recorders. Instead, computer soft-ware would teach “music-note read-ing and art skills.”

Dr. King said that the currentmethod is “taking away from ourinstrumental program” because therecorder is played much differentlythan the musical instruments learnedafter third grade.

She said the laptops would providea much-needed “tool to teach,” add-ing that it is currently difficult forteachers who travel from room toroom with a cart.

While some board members weretroubled by the idea of replacing the“hands on” experience with computersoftware, they agreed to explore thecost of introducing the software ini-tially into just the music program.

“We’ll see what that (cost) comesout to be,” said Dr. Foley.

In other business, Ms. Riegel re-minded the public that petitions torun for a seat on the board are due onMonday, February 27, at 4 p.m. Ms.Rhodes has announced that she willnot seek re-election. Mrs. Riegel saidshe plans to seek another term.

The board will meet Tuesday, Feb-ruary 14, to discuss technology andguidance budgets and Tuesday, Feb-ruary 28, to discuss personnel andgeneral education.

The budget vote and school boardelection is scheduled for Tuesday,April 18.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Westfield BOE

cessible. As Mr. Cockren added, thiswould preclude someone doing aminor addition from using Portojohns. While admitting he didn’t knowfor certain, Mr. Cockren said his “in-stinct is that we probably can (enactsuch a ruling).”

When resident Allen Solomonasked about the status of the redevel-opment repeal, Mr. Cockren said thatone of the lawyers in his office is inthe process of drawing up a draftordinance for referral to the planningboard. The ordinance would repealthe previous distinction, “which isakin to rezoning the land.”

“The redevelopment designationadoption was a rezoning of those twoparcels of land. The redevelopmentstatute does not have any position onrepeal. It is silent. We believe theproper way to treat the issue was arezoning of the parcel by the removalof the redevelopment designation,similar to any time you change thezoning of any parcel in town. It re-quires a referral to the planning board.We are retracing all the actions thatoccurred. Just as we built the bridge,we will take it apart piece by pieceand undo all of the pieces put in placeto create what we created,” Mr.Cockren said.

Homes at 131 Boynton Court and734 Woodland Avenue will be de-molished. According to Town Engi-neer Ken Marsh, the Woodland prop-erty is unique in that it is partially inboth Mountainside and Westfield. Tenfeet of the irregularly shaped struc-ture is in Mountainside domain. Mr.Marsh asked Construction OfficialSteve Freedman if there are jurisdic-tional issues. Mr. Freedman directedhis question to the Mountainside codeofficer, who said it generally goes tothe jurisdiction with the largest por-tion of the lot.

Today, the tree preservation com-mission will meet, allowing for thepossibility that previously deferredhomes would be added to the twoalready on the docket.

Town Administrator Jim Gildea said,when asked about televising planningboard and board of adjustment meet-ings, the new TV-36 advisory boardhad its first meeting last week and willbegin to “change the scope of theresponsibility of the board.” He said


Westfield Town Councilthe town is facing an employmentchange at TV-36 to “allow us to havemore flexibility.” He announced thatthe TV-36 director will resign on March1 to take another job.

“That’s sad for us; he’s workedwell over the last five years. It’s anopportunity to craft that change in thedepartment to work better to encom-pass those things (televising meet-ings) and work better with sharedservices and the board of ed[ucation],”Mr. Gildea said.

have already shrunk it down and nowyou want me to shrink it down more.”

In other business, the board unani-mously granted Dr. Suzanne Offenpermission to convert an existing two-family house at 518 Westfield Av-enue into a professional ophthalmol-ogy practice.

Dr. Offen testified that she is cur-rently practicing at 524 WestfieldAvenue, which is next door. She fur-ther stated that she was not planningon expanding her existing practicebut that she wanted to better serve herexisting clientele. She also stated thatin her existing building, she only hasone floor, where in the new buildingshe would have two floors. She saidthat the second floor would be dedi-cated for children.

She concluded by noting that shehad been at the 524 location for 12years and has been practicing inWestfield for a total of 19 years.

In other business, the planningboard unanimously voted to appointMr. Newell as board vice president.

The next planning board meeting isscheduled for Monday, March 6, at 8p.m.


Planning Bd.


ChambersDisciplined

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minated, Mr. Gildea said he was dis-cussing all the possible options with-out revealing his decision.

During the public hearings, heldJuly, August and September, thetown’s case focused on allegationsthat Detective Chambers had a ticketfixed by her son. Detective Chambersattorney, Hassan Abdellah of Eliza-beth countered by alleging that an-other Detective, Lisa Perrotta, fixed aticket for a friend of hers and that shewas not disciplined.

Mr. Abdellah argued that formerpolice chief Bernard Tracy was in-volved in some sort of “social rela-tionship” with Detective Chambersand that the charges were broughtagainst her as retaliation by the chief.

Mr. Abdellah was unavailable forcomment on Wednesday.25th Anniversary Sale

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SIXTY CENTS(908) [email protected] 47TH YEAR – ISSUE NO. 06-2006 Published Every Thursday Since 1959

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Periodical – Postage Paid at Scotch Plains, N.J.Thursday, February 9, 2006

PAGE INDEXRegional ........ 2-3Editorial ........ 4-5Community ... 6-8

Education ...... 9Sports ............ 11-16Real Estate .... 11-19

Classifieds .... 19Obituary ........ 20A&E .............. 21-22

Zoning Board RejectsBillboard Application

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

SCOTCH PLAINS — More thantwo years after rejecting an applica-tion to replace a billboard on Route 22,the township’s zoning board of adjust-ment last Thursday denied a new ap-plication to replace the same billboard.

CBS Outdoor —formerly ViacomOutdoor and the successor toNextMedia, whose November 2003application had been denied by theboard, sought permission last weekto erect a new 10.5 by 36-foot bill-board on eastbound Route 22 at thecorner of Union Avenue.

Their revised plans called for whatattorney Constantine Stamos termed “asignificantly reduced sized board” thatwould have faced eastbound traffic onthe highway. The 2003 proposal calledfor two 14 by 48-foot boards, a pro-posal that was then reduced to oneboard before the board rejected it.

The seven board members last weekwere unanimous in rejecting the ap-plication. Board member Tim Livolsisaid he felt the latest proposal calledfor a billboard that was “still too bigand too high.” CBS’s plans called forthe billboard to be perched 18 feetabove the ground. In addition, Mr.Livolsi felt that CBS “hasn’t demon-strated to us why [a new billboard] isneeded” to replace the existing, andsmaller, board.

During CBS’s presentation, AlexZebboni, a professional planner andengineer, told the board that a newboard would “help stimulate the localeconomy.”

Mary Hudak, a CBS Outdoor rep-resentative who oversees thecompany’s outdoor signs in New Jer-sey, in response to a question saidrates for advertising on the billboardwere in the $3,000 to $4,000 permonth range. During the board’s dis-cussion of the application, boardmember Mary Thompson questionedhow much a new and larger billboardwould stimulate additional local eco-nomic activity, saying she wonderedwhich local merchants would be ableto afford to pay the rates cited earlierby Ms. Hudak.

Board member Ken Anderson notedthat the township’s new sign ordinance,passed by the township council lastyear, specifically prohibits billboards.

After the zoning board rejected theNovember 2003 application,NextMedia filed suit against the board,but a state superior court decision inlate 2004 upheld the board’s denial.

At the start of its meeting, a repre-sentative from Elizabethtown WaterCo. asked that the company’s subdivi-

sion application for its Jerusalem Roadproperty be postponed because its ex-pert witnesses were unable to appear.The application requested the boardhold a special meeting later this monthto consider the application.

Board Chairman Jim Fawcett notedthat the board has been “up to itseyeballs in special meeting requests,”pointing to a special meeting held inmid-January. Instead, the board de-cided to hear the water utility’s appli-cation at its Thursday, April 6 meeting.

At its next meeting on Thursday,March 2, the board will continue tohear the application of CumberlandFarms to expand its Gulf gasolinestation on Route 22.

Cumberland wants to install addi-tional gas pumps, covering the pump-ing area with a canopy and replacingthree underground storage tanks.

SP-F Teachers Hold ‘Unity Rally’To Protest Contract Negotiations

By MEGHAN GILLSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS — Nearly 300teachers from the Scotch Plains-Fanwood school district turned outfor last Wednesday’s “Unity Rally”at Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool, sporting red hats, coats,shirts and sweaters, and picketingalong Westfield Road. Wednesdaymarked the beginning of their sixthmonth without a new contract. Theprevious contract expired on June30, 2005.

“Red is the color of love. We arewearing red every Friday as a symbolfor our love for our students and ourprofession,” Scotch Plains-FanwoodEducation Association (SPFEA)President Barbara McGuane said.

She said contract negotiations withthe board of education are at a “stand-still,” and teachers are hoping for a

settlement. “Our members are proudof the fact that we have put our stu-dents first by continuing to providethe same high-quality services as ever.We provide an above-average educa-tion. The board should not offer us abelow average contract.”

Ms. McGuane indicated that thesticking point is not that teachershave to contribute to their healthcareinsurance, but the amount that theyare being asked to contribute. “InWestfield, teachers contribute to theirinsurance, but they get more sickdays and time off for family illness.It’s a trade off. Here, it’s just give-backs,” she said.

Teachers were holding signs thatsaid “No contract, still working, Al-ways caring,” “Wanted: $195,000salary, car expense compensated” anddistributing pins that read, “Together,we can make a difference.”

Mrs. Roskin, the district’s human-resources secretary, confirmed withThe Times that Superintendent ofSchools Carol Choye’s salary is$192,554 per year. The median an-nual teacher’s salary in the district is$52,325, according to 2004-2005New Jersey Department of EducationSchool Report card. This amount is$238 less than the state averageteacher’s salary.

Board of Education PresidentLinda Nelson, who was out of townon business for 10 days and did notsee the demonstration, said in a phoneinterview Tuesday that the district’sadministrators salaries are “in themiddle range for districts in our cat-egory.” She said they oversee a bud-get of $50 million and “have a lot ofresponsibility and produce an ex-tremely well-run district.”

Regarding the demonstration, shesaid contract talks have been held up,waiting the arrival of a fact finder.Now that one has been assigned, talksare scheduled to resume on Wednes-day, March 1.

“The board wants the public to beaware that we have not come to anagreement but that the teachers areworking under the terms and condi-tions of the existing contract and thatthe SPFEA members continue to re-ceive all of their salaries and ben-efits. The board also appreciates theexcellent job the SPFEA memberscontinue to do and look forward toworking with the fact finder.

“If the demonstration by the SPFEAmembers indicates that they havesomething more to bring to the table,the board will be happy to meet withthem,” Ms. Nelson said.

Ms. McGuane said that the SPFEAis eager and committed to settling afair contract, in accordance with whatother districts in Union County re-ceive. “The board is offering a salaryproposal below the county average.”

Fanwood Borough Council LooksFor Municipal Budget Savings

Benjamin Corbin for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesWE WANT A CONTRACT…More than 300 members of the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Education Association (SPFEA)demonstrate for a new contract outside Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School last Wednesday afternoon. Representatives ofthe board of education and the SPFEA will meet with a fact finder on March in an effort to reach a settlement.

By TED RITTERSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

FANWOOD — Mayor ColleenMahr and the borough council con-tinued their review of 2006 budgetissues at a special budget meetingMonday night.

The meeting — the third held in asmany weeks — centered on discus-sion of several options for limitingbudget increases and offsetting cer-tain costs where possible.

Chief Financial Officer FredTomkins suggested that the boroughcould save a considerable amount ofmoney on the capital side of the bud-get by tapping into New Jersey’s Envi-ronmental Infrastructure Trust Fund.

Mr. Tomkins explained that this isa perpetual, revolving fund that lendsmoney to local governments to un-derwrite part of the cost of the intereston debt, as long as the money is usedto finance projects or other initiativesaimed at water quality. The fund pro-vides half the cost of financing suchprojects interest free, and providesthe rest at market rate.

“This fund has become huge, withseveral hundred million dollars a yearin financing,” said Mr. Tomkins. “Itused to be limited to financing onlywater-related projects, but it has sincebeen expanded to include sewerprojects because of its relation towater protection,” he said.

Mr. Tomkins said it is possible toapply for funding to cover the costs of

replacing the borough’s aging streetsweeper and, more significantly, fi-nance the borough’s Byron Lanesewer improvements.

“There’s really no downside to it,”said Mr. Tomkins, referring to thestate’s trust fund. “But, it only comesaround once a year, and it’s a longprocess,” he added.

He said that, although this year’sprogram began last fall, there is a“second chance” option that couldenable the borough to apply within thenext few weeks to finance approxi-mately $400,000 in capital expensesand thus reduce the size of the budget.

Agreeing with CouncilmanKatherine Mitchell, who called it “awin-win situation,” Mayor Mahr said:“I think we should move forwardwith it.” The mayor directed Mr.Tomkins to look into what the bor-ough needs to do to apply for fundingbefore the March deadline.

Mr. Tomkins followed up on dis-cussion from previous special budgetmeetings and said the borough is pur-suing options for receiving financingfor the police department and otherdepartments from the Union CountyImprovement Authority (UCIA).

The borough wants to determinethe particulars for collectively ob-taining as much as $157,000 in fund-ing from the UCIA to lease two po-lice cars, purchase needed computerand video-recording equipment forthe police department, pay for a re-peater equipment upgrade for the firedepartment, buy a new snow plow,acquire a portable roadway paintingmachine and finance a constructionvehicle to facilitate code inspections.

Mayor Mahr questioned the needfor a new SUV at a time when theborough is trying to keep costs inline. Mr. Tomkins said that an in-crease in construction code fees re-sulting in more administrative workand site visits is anticipated becauseof the redevelopment taking placealong South and Martine Avenuesand other development in residentialareas. This ultimately has the poten-tial to produce more tax revenue forthe borough.

Councilman Jack Molenaar sug-gested that, if the borough does needa new vehicle for construction codeinspections, money could be savedby buying an economical car, ratherthan a large SUV.

Mayor Mahr said further review ofthis issue is warranted and asked Bor-ough Administrator EleanorMcGovern to arrange for constructiondepartment officials to come to thenext budget meeting for a discussion.

Mayor Mahr said she wants thecouncil to hear from public worksofficials regarding a $50,000 requestto upgrade bathrooms at the LaGrandeand Forest Road parks. She indicatedthe borough is currently doing somepainting, lighting and other improve-ments to the park bathrooms and thatmoney could be saved by deferringother improvements until next year.

Mayor Mahr also directed Ms.McGovern’s office to update all pre-liminary budget figures and depart-mental requests in an effort to get abetter sense of what the capital bud-get looks like at this stage.

“Something’s got to give, and we’regetting very close to that situation,”Mayor Mahr said of the ongoing pro-cess of trying to firm up the budget’sline items.

Councilman Bruce Walsh agreedand pointed out that his informal re-view of some departmental budgetrequests and fixed costs shows thatthe new budget is currently as muchas seven percent larger than theborough’s current spending plan.

Benjamin Corbin for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood TimesMAKING A STATEMENT…This teacher makes a point about the salary ofScotch Plains-Fanwood Superintendent of Schools Carol Choye during lastWednesday’s Scotch Plains-Fanwood Education Association (SPFEA) demon-stration for a new contract outside Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School.

S. Plains Names Charles CeramiNew Public Works Director


SCOTCH PLAINS — CharlesCerami was appointed Tuesday nightas the new director of public propertyin Scotch Plains and will take up hisduties next Monday. He succeedsWalter DiNizo, who retired at the endof January after 13 years of service.

Mr. Cerami has been the director ofpublic works in Clinton Townshipsince 2002. Prior to that, he served aspublic works director in Bellevillefor about seven years. Township Man-ager Thomas Atkins, in announcingthe appointment, noted that Mr.Cerami “has much experience in theprivate sector, since his family was

involved in construction for manyyears,” and the construction compa-nies he worked for did a good deal ofwork in public schools, area collegesand other major facilities.

At its conference meeting on Tues-day evening, the township council metwith health officer Rick Proctor aboutvarious issues. Mr. Proctor, a UnionCounty Freeholder, told the governingbody that a county-sponsored animal-control effort looks likely to be insti-tuted this year. Several county munici-palities, including Scotch Plains, havestrongly urged such a county effort,given the lack of qualified private sec-tor animal control companies. ScotchPlains presently contracts with Asso-ciated Humane Societies of Newark,the sole provider of animal controlservices in the area, at an annual costin excess of $40,000.

Mr. Proctor said county officialsare “aiming at putting together acounty shelter on county property” ina municipality he did not identify,although he said county personnelhave already met with a township

official. He told the council that onceconstruction begins, the facilityshould be ready to open within sixmonths. Mr. Proctor did not provideany details of how the facility wouldoperate or be financed once it opens.

At the beginning of its Tuesdayevening session, the council passed aresolution authorizing the township’sparticipation in the deer reductionprogram in the Watchung Reserva-tion. The resolution is needed so thatUnion County can apply to the stateDivision of Fish and Wildlife for apermit to conduct deer managementactivities in the reservation. The deermanagement program has been inplace for the past decade and hasresulted in the deer population beingreduced from 180 deer per squaremile to about 20 per square mile.

The two-week-long deer hunt inthe Ashbrook Reservation will windup on Saturday, and township offi-cials will continue their effort to con-vince state officials to allow a deermanagement program to take placelater this year or early in 2007.

Brian Levine To BecomeTownship Attorney


SCOTCH PLAINS — After nearlyfive years as municipal court judge,Brian Levine will leave the benchnext week to become township attor-ney, succeeding Douglas Hansen, whodied in December. Assistant Town-ship Attorney Lawrence Woodruffwill remain in his position.

“I’ve enjoyed being a municipalcourt judge,” Mr. Levine told TheScotch Plains-Fanwood Times thisweek. “I believe being township attor-ney will be even more challenging,and rewarding to me and to the town-ship.” He thinks his new position “fitsmy background and experience.”

Mr. Levine is with the Brenner &Levine law firm in Somerville and iscertified by the state supreme court asa civil trial attorney. He said Mr.Woodruff “will continue to deal pri-marily with the issues he’s been han-dling, such as land use and zoning,while I will handle litigation matters.Basically, we’re not changing the re-

spective roles from what Larry andDoug were doing,” Mr. Levine said,referring to the division of responsi-bilities when Mr. Hansen was town-ship attorney.

With Mr. Levine assuming his newpost, the township’s legal team —with the exception of Mr. Woodruff— will have all new faces in newpositions in the two months since Mr.Hansen’s death. Last month, ThomasRusso was named the township’s newpublic defender and Randolph Brausethe new prosecutor.

With Mr. Levine leaving the mu-nicipal court, a new township judgewill need to be appointed. TownshipManager Thomas Atkins said the town-ship council will soon begin inter-viewing candidates to fill that posi-tion, but did not set any timetable.

Mr. Levine was chosen after thecouncil interviewed several individu-als last month. Mr. Atkins noted thenew township attorney’s “well-rounded experience” and called thelegal team of Messrs. Levine andWoodruff “a very balanced one.”

Mr. Levine, who was born andraised in Cranford and received hislaw degree from Boston University,was named municipal judge in April2001. He had served has prosecutorsince January 2000.

“I don’t think anybody — police orthe public —would consider me to beeither pro-police or pro-citizen,” Mr.Levine said. “I pride myself on ad-dressing each issue as it came beforeme.” He said he would “miss thetrials” and “miss the interaction withpeople, since there’s not as muchbeing township attorney.” As he looksforward to his new responsibilities,though, Mr. Levine joked that his twosons, Brian, 13, and Jack, nine, were“disappointed that I’m not going tobe a judge anymore.”

Mr. Levine’s formal swearing in willtake place at next Tuesday’s meeting.




Westfield Disciplines Det.Chambers, Action Private

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

WESTFIELD – In a private com-munication to the defendant,Westfield Town Administrator JimGildea implemented disciplinary ac-tions Wednesday against suspendedWestfield Police Detective SandraChambers. She allegedly fixed a park-ing ticket for her son. Mr. Gildeawould not make public the actionsbeing taken.

Detective Chambers was chargedwith trying to have a ticket voided forher son and for lying during an inter-nal investigation by the WestfieldPolice Department.

The official charges against her arefalse swearing, official misconduct,neglect of duty, striking a summonsfrom the record, conduct unbecom-

ing an employee and attempt to useauthority to control or modify an-other employee’s action.

During a 15-minute interviewWednesday morning, Mr. Gildea saidthe non-binding recommendation ofhearing officer James Damato was“not releasable” due to the fact it waspart of a departmental disciplinaryhearing. Actions resulting from thosehearings along with employee per-sonnel files are not released to thepublic per town policy. Mr. Gildeasaid he would implement Mr.Damato’s findings and would send aletter by 4 p.m. yesterday to attorneys

Page 10 Thursday, February 9, 2006 The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION

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POLICE BLOTTERMountainside

Tuesday, January 31, Kenneth E. Sand-ers of Irvington was transported from theEssex County jail for outstanding war-rants in the amount of $500.

Scotch PlainsThursday, February 2, a Harding Road

resident reported that her cleaning ladyverbally harassed her after they arguedover the quality of work performed.

Friday, February 3, a resident of Wil-low Avenue reported that an individualrode past her on a bicycle and yelled ather. Police said there are no suspects atthis time.

Saturday, February 4, Alex Paredes,35, of Plainfield was arrested on Route 22and charged with driving while intoxi-cated. Paredes also was charged withcareless driving, police said. He was is-sued a summons and released to a familymember.

Saturday, February 4, a resident ofCountry Club Lane reported being thevictim of theft. The victim said someoneremoved a tire from his motor vehicle,which was in front of his house at thetime.

Saturday, February 4, a patron of aRoute 22 restaurant reported being thevictim of theft. The victim stated he parkedhis vehicle in the lot and when he re-turned, an unknown person had broken awindow on the vehicle and removed acellular telephone and charger. The vic-tim reported that the value of the itemswas $300.

FanwoodTuesday, January 31, Beverly D. Miller,

38, of Plainfield was arrested at Martineand North Avenues on outstanding war-rants following a motor vehicle stop.

Tuesday, January 31, Johnetta C.Riddick, 31, of Plainfield was arrested onoutstanding warrants following a motorvehicle stop on Midway Avenue at RussellRoad.

Wednesday, February 1, Joseph Hanna,25, of Old Bridge was arrested on SouthAvenue on outstanding warrants follow-

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hearing on the expansion of a MidwayAvenue home should have reported that aretaining wall was built after Alex Segaldug into Marsha Gelfand’s property.

FW Council DiscussesStaggard Place RezoningBy MEREDITH MANNINO

Specially Written for The Scotch-Plains Fanwood Times

FANWOOD — The rezoning ofStaggard Place was a topic of discussionat this week’s borough council meeting.Planning Board Chairman GregCummings addressed the council aboutthis issue, expressing his view that thearea should be residential; the area iscurrently zoned as a light industrial dis-trict.

Councilman Jack Molenaar disagreedand, stating that changing the zone toresidential would negatively affect theborough.

“I think by changing this to R-75 wouldput the town at a huge risk,” he stated.

In other public works news, BoroughEngineer Joe Pryor presented his monthlyprogress report. According to Mr. Pryor,a proposal has been submitted for theconstruction phase of the Watson andRusssell Roads project, which is beingfunded in part by New Jersey Departmentof Transportation’s (NJDOT) MunicipalAid Program.

Regarding Pleasant Avenue, the bor-ough received a $180,000 grant fromNJDOT’s 2005 Municipal Aid Program,and an additional $220,000 in discretion-ary funding. According to Mr. Pryor’sreport, the entire project “excluding con-tingencies,” is expected to cost $800,000.The borough submitted the plans, specifi-cations, estimate and an engineer’s certi-fication to NJDOT, so the project can goout to bid.

A public meeting was held on Novem-ber 14 to review the project with PleasantAvenue residents. Per the residents’ in-put, it was agreed that sidewalks would bedeleted from the contract. Residents alsorequested traffic calming measures. InDecember, the council approved a pro-posal from Mr. Pryor’s firm, Kupper As-sociates, to review and update the plans.Work has begun, and a second publicmeeting is pending for mid-March.

In land use and historic preservationnews, the council discussed the possibil-ity of storing the borough’s historicaldocuments, which are currently housed atthe library, on the first floor of theFanwood train station. This would coin-cide with the museum-like atmospherethat the borough is planning to createwhen the historical caboose is placed atthe train station.

“The idea is to take the first floor of the

train station and use it for preservation ofdocuments,” explained Mayor ColleenMahr.

Councilwoman Kathy Mitchell dis-cussed the Fanwood Memorial Libraryrenovation project, which is being fundedby grant money. The entire lower level ofthe library will be renovated, as well asthe stairwell, the main entry lobby, thearea surrounding the circulation desk,and the reference area.

The library renovation is expected tobe completed by the end of the month.

Councilwoman Mitchell said she isenthusiastic about the renovation, anddescribed the design and plans of thelibrary’s refurbishment as “very bright.”

The borough council will meet on Tues-day, February 14 at 7:30 p.m.

ing a motor vehicle stop.Wednesday, February 1, Carlos O.

Iraheta, 30, of Plainfield was arrested andcharged with shoplifting at a South Av-enue grocery store. He also was arrestedon outstanding warrants.

Saturday, February 4, Arlene Capitaz,26, of Elizabeth was arrested on activewarrants following a motor vehicle stopon South Avenue at Terrill Road.

Sunday, February 5, Richard D. Forbes,41, of Shillington, Pa. was arrested onoutstanding warrants following a motorvehicle stop on North Avenue.

Sunday, February 5, Vanita Bentley,38, of Scotch Plains was arrested onPatterson Road following a motor vehiclestop, which revealed outstanding war-rants.

Monday, February 6, Stacee Y. Petty,32, of Plainfield was arrested on numer-ous outstanding warrants following amotor vehicle stop on Terrill Road atSeventh Street.

Monday, February 6, Steven L. Petty,28, of Hillside was arrested on outstand-ing warrants following a field investiga-tion.

Monday, February 6, Derek W. Ship,Jr., 28, of Plainfield was arrested on ac-tive warrants following a motor vehiclestop on South Avenue.

Monday, February 6, Lonnie J. Ward,Jr., 29, of Orange was arrested followinga motor vehicle stop on Terrill Road onoutstanding warrants.

Proposed $22 Mil. BudgetHas Higher Mandated Costs

SP-F BOE DeliberatesInstruction, Special Services

By MEGHAN GILLSpecially Written for The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times

SCOTCH PLAINS — The board ofeducation met February 2 to continue itsdeliberation on the 2006-2007 budget.Instruction and special services budgetswere reviewed by the board. The overallproposed budget reflects a 5.48 percentincrease, or $69,823,701.

Total budget expenditure for instruc-tion is projected to be $34,953,147. Thisfigure includes teachers’ salaries, instruc-tional aids, tuition, self-contained class-rooms, speech, basic skills, ESL, co-cur-ricular programs, and athletics.

Board Secretary Anthony Del Sordiexplained that the 2006-2007 total in-structional expenditure would be$2,702,214 higher than last year.

Total projected expenditure for sup-port services for the coming year is markedat $31,162,315, reflecting a $990,633 in-crease over last year. The largest increasein this area falls under custodial and main-tenance services, due to “some new staffand the rise in utilities,” Mr. DelSordisaid. This increase is projected to be$508,189 higher.

The area of transportation also reflectsan increase of $345,496.

Dr. Margaret Hayes, assistant superin-tendent for curriculum, instruction andassessment, presented the curriculumdevelopment portion of the budget to theboard. The expenditure for this portion ofthe budget will be $70,641, which reflectsa $5,236 decrease over last year.

The largest proposed expenditures inthis area are due to course revisions, withthe largest amounts allocated for science,math for grades 6 through 12, and lan-guage arts revision for grades 6 through12.

Dr. Hayes is also responsible for thetextbook budget, which will increase by$12,482 over last year. This increase in-cludes a new social studies grade 6 geog-raphy textbook and grade 8 world cul-tures text.

The grade eleven British literaturebooks need to be replaced because ofwear and tear, as well as the grade 6vocabulary textbooks. Dr. Hayes said shewants to replace the Anatomy, Physiol-ogy, AP Biology, Chemistry and Physicstexts, at a cost of $44,140.

Thomas Beese, Jr., director of specialservices, presented the board with theproposed budget, which reflects 18 per-cent of the entire budget for the district.The total proposed for these programs is$12,417,613, which covers areas such asout of district placements ($4,353,704),speech programs ($1,161,741), resourcecenter ($3,512,432), and aide salary($616,393).

In 2005, the total number of studentsrequiring special services was 894, with96 receiving out-of-district placements.


SCOTCH PLAINS — Township Man-ager Thomas Atkins last week submittedto the township council his recommenda-tions for the 2006 municipal budget, whichincludes a 4.95 percent increase in appro-priations.

Mr. Atkins called his proposal “solidand practical with no luxuries,” but said,“It continues the same levels of service toour residents and taxpayers.”

The $22,037,548 budget that the town-ship manager proposes is $1,040,849 morethan last year, and nearly all of that in-crease is due to higher mandated costs.Sharply higher costs are being experi-enced in several areas including pensioncontributions, sewerage fees, health in-surance for township employees and debtservice.

The council will now spend the nextseveral weeks reviewing the budget, con-sidering revenue levels and setting a mu-nicipal property tax rate before thebudget’s expected introduction in lateMarch or early April. Two budget meet-ings have already been scheduled for Feb-ruary 23 and March 6, with both sessionsstarting at 7 p.m.

Of the $1.04 million in increased ex-penditures for this year, 95 percent of thattotal, or $985,586, are in areas where the

township government states it has little orno control. Mandated contributions to thestate’s police and fire retirement systemthis year will be $374,603 -about doublethe 2005 level. And it’s expected thattownship contributions in 2007 and 2008could be more than $500,000 or $600,000.Contributions to the state’s public em-ployees retirement system will be $83,000this year, an increase of more than $54,000from last year.

The township’s fees paid to the RahwayValley Sewerage Authority will be$965,414 this year, a 25 percent increaseover last year. Mr. Atkins said it is pos-sible that the 2007 contribution could bearound $1.2 million, with the 2008 pay-ment exceeding $1.5 million. Much ofthis increase is due to the utility’s court-ordered capital improvements being madeat its Rahway facility.

Other areas of the municipal budgetfacing large increases include an addi-tional $121,702 in debt service, an addi-tional $235,923 for group health insur-ance premiums and an extra $45,000 forgasoline expenses associated with therecent spike in energy costs.

The council is expected to continuewith its fee-based permit system for con-ducting the annual spring clean-up inJune. The program was instituted lastyear in an effort to save money as pro-gram costs threatened to skyrocket. Mr.Atkins told the council this week that thework to get ready for this year’s programis “moving ahead.”

He said the fall leaf pick-up programthis year “could be quite challenging,”not only because of the new stormwatermanagement regulations enacted last year,but also because the township might nothave a site to store leaves since theJerseyland site that has been used in pastyears might not be available.

Mr. Atkins said it is possible that amore structured collection program on aneighborhood-by-neighborhood basismight be necessary, but he will wait tohear comments and proposals from town-ship public works personnel before anydecisions are made. He did emphasize,though, that mandatory bagging of leaveswould be “an absolute last resort.”

Annual RoundtableScheduled for Feb 16SCOTCH PLAINS – Area residents

are invited to attend the annual roundtablediscussion between the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education and theScotch Plains-Fanwood Parent TeacherAssociation (PTA) Council. Less formalthan a traditional board-of-educationmeeting, this forum offers a valuable op-portunity for the public to ask questionsand to learn more about current topics ofinterest in the school district.

The roundtable discussion will be heldon Thursday, February 16, at 7:30 p.m. inthe media center at Park Middle School,located on Park Avenue in Scotch Plains.For more information, contact PTA Coun-cil Vice President Amy Carow at (908)889-4918.

“We are very hopeful that we can getour contract settled before the budgetreferendum. Regardless if we settle ornot, taxes are going up,” she said.

George Huk, field representative forthe New Jersey Education Associationand negotiations spokesperson for theSPFEA, confirmed that a fact finder, JoelWeisblatt, has been assigned, and will bemeeting with teachers and the BOE onMarch 1. They will go over the majorissues in mediation and hold a formalhearing sometime in April.

Mr. Huk said the latest issue with theSPFEA is that members have involun-tarily been appointed to after-schoolprojects. Confirmed Ms. McGuane, “Theadministration has assigned teachers toparticipate in test-prep classes at all lev-els. Teachers are doing this under duressand without a contract.”

BOE Vice President Thomas Russoalso made a statement on the BOE’s be-half. “There is no one on the board inter-ested in delaying contract negotiations.We have met over a dozen times; we havean interest in resolving contract issues ina fair and reasonable way. The problem issky-rocketing healthcare costs.”

He said that the board has no intentionof taking away health care benefits fromteachers in the district, that they are ask-ing the teachers to choose an alternativehealth-care policy. “All we have heard is‘no’,” Mr. Russo said.

He said parents who are concernedabout the increase in class size shouldremember that if the district lowers costsin all areas, then class sizes will decreaseand more resources can be spent on hiringnew teachers.


SPFEADemonstrates

While that work-in-progress estimatewill surely shrink in the next severalweeks, as the mayor and council, reviewthe budget line-by-line, Mr. Walsh said itis important for the borough to be as cost-effective as possible in determining whatequipment and expenses are really neces-sary to provide basic services to resi-dents.

“Given our town’s budget and size, Idon’t think we can afford everything thatwould be nice to have,” said Mr. Walsh,mentioning the pension, insurance andother fixed-cost budget items discussedduring previous meetings.

Mayor Mahr concurred. “We haven’teven seen the full picture yet, and itmight not be a good one,” she said,noting that the borough still has a lot ofbudget-drafting work to do before get-ting a clearer sense of where the boroughstands.

The mayor and council plan to hold atleast one more special budget meeting inaddition to regular meetings later thismonth, after determining schedules andironing out details.


FW Budget


WF Detective Chambersin the Chambers’ matter.

“Even though this particular hearingwas done in public, which was at therequest of the defendant in this matter,which is obviously her right to do, it is stillnot a ‘court case.’ It is an interdepartmen-tal hearing, which is considered an inter-nal discipline matter. And so the results ofthe particular matter are basically notreleasable and also not releasable underOPRA (Open Public Records Act) be-cause it is considered a matter of part ofthe personnel record,” Mr. Gildea said.

Mr. Gildea received Mr. Damato’s re-port last Friday and discussed it withMayor Andy Skibitsky and council mem-bers of Tuesday night in executive ses-sion. He said, as administrator, it is hisresponsibility to determine the disciplin-ary action against a town employee.

He said the town hired a hearing officerfor the proceedings to ensure that thetown had a “very independent, unbiasedand fair process for this hearing due to thenature of it. Mr. Gildea said DetectiveChambers’ attorney would have 10 daysto decide if he will appeal the decision.An appeal, if filed, would be heard in stateSuperior Court. Court matters, he said,are a matter of public record.

Mr. Gildea said he opted not to have

former police chief Bernard Tracy serveas prosecutor during the hearings. He alsodecided not to attend the hearings to avoid“any appearance of conflict.”

“I am going to issue a report today withthe findings and she will get it. She andher attorney can divulge what they wantto do,” Mr. Gildea explained.

He said Detective Chambers mightwant to divulge the findings to the press,which he said would be her choice. Hesaid Detective Chambers remains on paidsuspension pending the outcome.

“We will have to make the change ofher current status depending on what herdecision is,” he said. Mr. Gildea said thetown has not received any intent to sue orclaims from Detective Chambers. Thetown settled a discrimination lawsuitbrought against the town by Ms. Cham-bers in 2001. Mr. Gildea said the lawsuitand disciplinary hearing are not related.

“As you know, there was a threat of acivil lawsuit. That has never materializedat this point; doesn’t mean it can’t, but ithas not. That is not on the table at thispoint. This is strictly an interdepartmen-tal hearing,” Mr. Gildea said.

When asked whether Detective Cham-bers was to be terminated, Mr. Gildea saidhe was discussing all the possible optionswithout revealing his decision.

During the public hearings, held July,August and September, the town’s casefocused on allegations that DetectiveChambers had a ticket fixed by herson. Detective Chambers attorney,Hassan Abdellah of Elizabeth coun-tered by alleging that another Detec-tive, Lisa Perrotta, fixed a ticket for afriend of hers and that she was notdisciplined.

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4Connections SeeksApproval for WF Streets

By MICHAEL J. POLLACKSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD – At last month’sWestfield Town Council conferencesession, telecommunications com-pany 4Connections presented a pro-posal to put dark fiber technology onexisting poles down North Avenue.

The company’s interest is to even-tually create a hub between the countyengineering building in Scotch Plains,the Ralph Froehlich Public SafetyBuilding in Westfield, Union CountyCollege in Plainfield and, eventually,county buildings in Elizabeth.

4Connections’ Controller ArleneScala told the Westfield Leader thatthe company wants to use a few mu-nicipal streets to finish securing theroute. Ms. Scala said the reason to getoff the main route is that there is a“section of town that has no tele-phone poles, so we have to go to theside streets. It will make a ‘V’ to goback on North Avenue.”

She said the company is lookingfor permission to franchise withWestfield but “most towns don’t askwhere you’re going.”

4Connections is an Elizabeth-basedcompany whose customers includeUnion County College, other countybuildings and Trinitas Hospital inElizabeth. The five-year old companyhas operated in Elizabeth for fouryears and was located in Bernardsvilleprior to that.

Company president Gil Santaliz ex-plained that 4connections didn’t comefully prepared to last week’s meetingwith a town map and wished to hook upwith Kimball and North Euclid Av-enues and Cowperthwaite Place.

Mr. Santaliz said, “The (county)freeholders have approved us to oc-cupy county roads, the state has ap-proved us to occupy state roads. Sincewe wish to go off the county right ofway, we need permission to occupythe public right of way.”

Mr. Santaliz said he misspoke at thatmeeting and that “we do need their(Westfield’s) approval. Technically, wedo need their approval. We do needmunicipal consent, we’re just not sup-posed to be unreasonably withheld.”

In terms of benefits, he said, “Itserves the interest of Union Countyitself,” he added. “It’s a win for thecounty, especially when costs aremanageable.”

Union County has been a customerof 4Connections for two years. Mr.Santaliz expressed that Union Countyis not “usually involved in the indi-vidual franchising.”

Union County Manager GeorgeDevanney, in a written response, said,“To further clarify this matter, there isno contract between Mr. Santaliz, orhis company, 4Connections, and theCounty of Union to do any work inWestfield and Scotch Plains.”

For $500 a month, Mr. Santaliz ex-plained, Westfield can get access toUnion County fibers and have a directfiber connection and access to taxmaps. He said to look at only Westfieldmight be too small a scale to show thebenefits, but rather stressed the countyand state effects of bringing in presti-gious firms to the area.

“By having the opportunity to offerfolks who are well compensated jobsin the area promotes economic devel-opment. You take the CEO out of din-ner in Westfield and the hotels in thelocal area,” he added.

In Scotch Plains, Robert Lacosta ofthe building department, said theScotch Plains township council fouror five months ago passed a resolutionto hook up to UCC and its satellitecolleges in Scotch Plains (VOTech)and UCC in Plainfield.

“It was a recommendation to thecouncil based on the presentation tothe technology committee and wesaid ‘we support the endeavor by thecounty,’” Mr. Lacosta said. “I can’tspeak for Westfield, but whateverquestions we had were satisfied. Itwas very education based and it’shard to fight connectivity with educa-tion,” he added.

“We didn’t get any money out of it;we’re just being a good neighbor,”Mr. Lacosta added.

Air Traffic Noise CommitteeWarns of New FAA Routes

AREA — Residents can expect tosee a lot more aircraft noise and notmuch benefit if new routes proposedby the Federal Aviation Administra-tion (FAA) go into effect, accordingto Jerome Feder of Westfield, ActingChairman of the Union County AirTraffic Noise Advisory Board.

On December 20, 2005, the FAAreleased a Draft Environmental Im-pact Statement (DEIS) outlining al-ternatives for revamping the air-space in the NY/NJ/Philadelphiametropolitan area. Three proposalsare promoted. The first proposalconsists of simple modifications.Two other plans are both called “In-tegrated Airspace,” with the “moreambitious” variant proposing con-solidation of FAA operations in anew Integrated Control Center cost-ing an estimated $2.5 billion, ac-cording to Mr. Feder.

Alarmingly, all three proposals,would discard noise abatement pro-cedures south of Newark Liberty In-ternational Airport (EWR) in favor of“fanning” of aircraft departures im-mediately after take-off.

Current procedures take advan-tage of the large industrialized air-craft south of Newark Airport toallow aircraft to climb before over-flying residential areas. The pro-posed procedures direct aircraft im-mediately over residences.

“Elizabeth, Hillside, Linden,Roselle, Roselle Park, and Union areclosest to EWR (Newark Airport) andwill be hurt the most. The FAA iswithholding most of the noise in-crease data from ‘fanning,’ but ad-mits that approximately 30,000 resi-dents will see more than a three-foldincrease in over-flight noise and thatan additional 35,000 residents willsee more than a two-fold increase,Mr. Feder explained in a press re-lease.

“Close to the airport, an additional5,480 residents living in high noiseareas will see a noticeable increase inair traffic noise, he said. The latter aremostly minorities, raising environ-mental justice concerns. UnionCounty residents further west willsee increased noise due to shorterflight paths and lower altitudes, butthe FAA will not disclose details un-less the noise increases exceeds afactor of 3.2.

“Relatively few residents see noisedecreases, although puzzlingly theindustrialized area south of NewarkAirport receives much less noise.Early in redesign process, the FAApromised to search for better noisemitigation, so it is especially disturb-ing to see it’s proposals movingsharply in the opposite direction,”said Mr. Feder.

More broadly over the tri-statearea, the picture is also bleak, Mr.Feder stated. “The most ambitiousplan increases noise for more than330,000 residents and the other twoaffect almost 200,000. The last air-space redesign, the Expanded EastCoast Plan (EECP), performed in1987, increased noise for 45,000residents, yet caused widespreaduproar, leading to Congressionalintervention, and a bitter 10-yearbattle with the FAA over repairs.The new proposals negatively af-fect four to seven times this num-ber of people, which will yield un-precedented public outcry,” Mr.Feder said.

“The benefits of the FAA propos-als are weak. The FAA cites opera-tional advantages but admits that therewill not be much increase in capacityor reduction in delays. Small capac-ity increases are rapidly taken advan-tage of by the carriers to scheduleadditional flights during traffic peaks,preventing delay reduction,” Mr.Feder said.

A public comment period for theproposed new FAA traffic patternscloses on Thursday, June 1. The FAAwill be holding public meetings in forNew Jersey residents to comment.Residents are urged to attend the pub-lic meetings and comment.

The FAA plans two meetings inUnion County. The first will takeplace from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Thurs-day, February 23, at the George Wash-ington School No. 1 in Elizabeth,located at 250 Broadway. The secondmeeting will be in Springfield from6:30 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, March 21,at the Holiday Inn, 304 Route 22West, Springfield.

For more information, access theFAA website, http://www.faa.gov/nynjphl_airspace_redesign and thewebsite of the New Jersey CoalitionAgainst Aircraft Noise (NJCAAN),www.njcaan.org.

Are Students AwareOf Available Scholarships?

By MICHAEL J. POLLACKSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Every year the nonprofit and phil-anthropic arms of our local area be-stow scholarships on the most de-serving of high-school seniors set-ting their sights on a college career.

We have heard from Westfield clubson how the selection process is under-taken. We welcome Scotch Plains,Fanwood and other towns to help un-cover how the selection process works,who benefits, who doesn’t and whetherthe local schools are doing their part tomake students aware of opportunities.

From our Westfield research, wefound that one such criterion for thescholarships is financial need. How-ever, in a town like Westfield, is theresuch a thing as financial need amongstNew Jersey’s elite, or is it only rela-tive status?

If such a financial need existed,would one want their financial statusknown by others in such a close-knittown? Is it a matter of pride? If suchtrepidation towards revealing one’sstatus exists, does it limit the amountof scholarship hopefuls?

Through asking questions of theclubs who give their time and moneyto further the education of Westfield’syouth, perhaps it is not the fear ofreprisal or embarrassment for admit-ting that help is needed, but ratherthat the local schools are not advertis-ing to their students what is availableand how much.

Jennifer Jaruzelski, president of theCollege Women’s Club (CWC), saidher organization looks for a femalegraduate who has lived in Westfieldfor at least one year. The award willbe based on academics, financial need,character and leadership. Despite thesmaller-than-expected numbers, shesaid, “We can only choose among theapplicants that apply.”

“Since the school has done awaywith class rank, we judge on a basis ofGPA, but there is no minimum GPA.Last year there were 16 applicants,and we awarded eight,” she said. “Theapplications aren’t due until the end ofFebruary. The actual award numbervaries with the candidate pool and theamount of funds available that year.”

Last year, the CWC gave out$28,000 in total, the largest being$8,000 and ranging to $1,000. Shesaid that perhaps with college costing$40,000, students view the scholar-ships as an auxiliary means of sup-port, with the college providing thefoundation.

“I believe the students in great fi-nancial need will get those concernsaddressed from the schools them-selves, who offer a greater financialpackages,” she said.

In terms of guaranteeing anonym-ity, students have to submit a FAFSAform and include tax returns. “Every-thing is kept confidential and sent toan independent auditor, who reviewsand ranks them for our committee,”Ms. Jaruzelski added.

“The financial forms arrive andreturn sealed, and sending to an inde-pendent person should avoid embar-rassment.”

She said that financial need is partof the equation, but the group also

looks at athletics, community involve-ment and groups such as Model UN.“We choose based on track records,personal references. It’s somewhathard but we’ve been in the commu-nity long enough we know the orga-nizations (Hi’s Eye et. al.) and knowwhat’s required and know the extratime and hours.”

Gaile Boothe, a past president ofCWC, did indicate that sometimesthere are instances where someonegets unfairly docked because of thefamily dynamic.

“We have had cases where if you’rethe oldest in the family, it looks asthough you have enough money.”

She remembers a case in the pastwhere the auditor deemed the oldestof six or seven not in financial need.She said that one-parent families areprevalent in town and when parentsdivorce, it looks like there’s greatneed because “it’s not said if thefather will kick in.”

Megan Decker, the chair for theScholarship Committee this year forthe Junior Women’s Club, said theyoffer the scholarship to Westfield resi-dents in six schools (Westfield HighSchool, Oak Knoll, Union Catholic,Mount St. Mary’s, Oratory Prep andMother Seton).

Last year, the club awarded two$1,500 scholarships. Usually getting20 applicants overall, last year theclub received only five applicationsfrom the high school, and more fromthe other institutions.

“I wouldn’t think someone from aprivate school was as needy as some-one from the high school,” Ms. Deckersaid. “Even the guidance counselorwe dealt with at the high school wasn’tsure why there were so few. Perhapsthey needed more money and werelooking for a larger amount elsewhere.”

Still, the junior women’s club posedthe same question – ‘why are so fewapplying?’

“We review the applications as agroup of six,” Ms. Decker said. “Wechoose who we feel based on GPA,involvement, etc. If six people have allthe same thing going for them but onefather’s an attorney and one’s a janitor,that might be the deciding factor.”

She said last year’s recipient wasextremely thankful to have the $1,500,but “we didn’t get as many as youwould think are out there dying tofind assistance for college. We’re al-ways thinking there would be morepeople looking.”

She said the club asks what theannual family income is, profession,total savings and investment, fundsfor college expenses. “These are broadquestions, so I don’t think peoplewould be that concerned.”

If the students are truly in need,these scholarships may be the impe-tus that pushes the student to go awayto college, or simply not go at all iffunds are not available. The Westfieldclubs raise money and give to altruis-tic causes. They want to help Westfieldstudents. Are the high schools, par-ticularly Westfield’s, acting as a hin-drance or a help to the process? As anewspaper, all we can say is if you areinterested in a scholarship, packetsare available in the guidance office.

PACKING CREW…Members of the Troop Support project of Temple EmanuElpose with 65 well-stocked boxes to be sent to our troops in Iraq.

A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION The Westfield Leader and The Scotch Plains – Fanwood TIMES Thursday, February 9, 2006 Page 3

Historical Society to LearnAspects of Colonial Living

WESTFIELD – Hollace Hoffmanwill present a slide/lecture programentitled “Life Before Supermarkets”to the Westfield Historical Society onFriday, February 17, at 7:30 p.m. inthe Community Room of the WestfieldMunicipal Building at 425 East BroadStreet.

Ms. Hoffman, a former director ofthe Trailside Nature and Science Cen-ter in Union County, will discuss lifein Colonial times, long before the

advent of large supermarkets, the va-riety of goods available today and theconvenience of cellular telephones totouch base with home regarding shop-ping lists.

She will tell how there was a timewhen forest and field provided hous-ing, food, medicines, tool handles,dyes and more, and how early farm-ers utilized natural resources tosupplement meals from cultivatedcrops and domestic animals. Manyold-time crafts, machinery and toolsalso will be featured.

Originally from Massachusetts,Ms. Hoffman holds a degree in plantecology. She currently is the coordi-nator of Operation Archaeology forthe County of Union, a program forfifth graders. The public is invited toattend at no charge and light refresh-ments will be served at the end of theprogram. For more information,please call (908) 233-6360.

AT T O R N E Y A T LA W

Thomas C. Jardim, Esq.

Specializing in:

EMPLOYMENT DISPUTES &

SEVERANCE AGREEMENTS

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Ramsey Berman, P.C.

222 RIDGEDALE AVENUE, MORRISTOWN, NJ 07962

973.267.9600 FAX: [email protected] www.hrb-nj.com

LUNCHEON SPEAKER…Bob Miller, Program Chairman, and the ReverendVicky Ney of The Presbyterian Church in Westfield, right, join Frances Poranski,who spoke to the Westfield Historical Society February 1 about some of herexperiences as a 33-year volunteer counselor to inmates of the East Jersey StatePrison in Avenel.

CongratulationsTo Marsh-LazarowitzCongratulations to Westfield Town

Engineer Kenneth Marsh and formerWestfield Town CouncilwomanClaire Lazarowitz, who were marriedduring the Christmas weekend. Thecouple resides in Springfield.

Early Renewals UrgedFor Driver Licenses

TRENTON – Local New JerseyMotor Vehicle Commission (MVC)agencies will renew almost 2.05 mil-lion driver licenses in 2006, a recordnumber that represents an increase ofalmost 90-percent over last year, ac-cording to a spokesperson.

A number of factors are influenc-ing this increase including the elimi-nation of non-photo paper licenserenewal by mail, the 2004 introduc-tion of New Jersey’s digital driver’slicense, and the requirement for allNew Jersey motorists to go throughthe state’s six-point identificationverification program.

The MVC encourages individualsto access the agency’s toll-free num-ber or website for transactions notrequiring in-person processing, suchas vehicle registration, addresschanges and surcharge payments.

All motorists renewing a driver’slicense in 2006 should prepare earlyand consider renewing their driverlicense before the last minute, thespokesman said. Learn online aboutID verification program and more atwww.njmvc.gov, or dial, toll-free,(888) 486-3339.

SP Dem Club to Meet,Elect Officers Feb 16.SCOTCH PLAINS — The Scotch

Plains Democratic Club will meet onThursday, February 16, at 8 p.m., atExecutive Suites located at 1812 FrontStreet in Scotch Plains. The entranceto the building is from the rear park-ing lot.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender(LD 22, Fanwood), a candidate for theUnited States Congress from the Sev-enth District, will be the guest speaker.

There will be an election of officersat the meeting. Anyone interested inparticipating in the club’s activities isencouraged to attend.

For further information, please e-mail [email protected] orcall (908) 925-6343.

Freeholders’ Fiscal PanelEyes Program Cuts, Layoffs

By PAUL J. PEYTONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

ELIZABETH – The county free-holders began budget meetings lastnight at the county administrationbuilding in Elizabeth. County Man-ager George Devanney presented a$413-million executive budget lastmonth, which represents a $23-mil-lion increase over the board’s adoptedspending plan last spring.

The county manager and FreeholderChairman Alexander Mirabella havesaid they intend to trim the increase by$6 million. A hiring freeze was issueduntil after this year’s budget is adoptedlate in the spring. The county currentlyemploys 3,000 people.

Westfield property owners pay thesecond-highest county tax among the

21 municipalities in the county with aprojected 2006 tax bill of $2,190, or$22.56 million town-wide, followedby Mountainside at $2,054, or $6.19million borough-wide. Scotch Plainshomeowners will pay $1,593 on aver-age, or $13.02 million township-wide,with neighboring Fanwood paying$3.6 million total, or $1,354 per house-hold. Garwood’s county tax is pro-jected at $2.1 million, or $1,177 perhousehold.

According to Sebastian D’Elia,public information director for thecounty, the freeholders’ fiscal com-mittee is looking to cut $6 million inprograms, develop additional sourcesof revenue and trim the county’s3,000-employee workforce.

The county is also looking at anemployee furlough program wherebydepartment directors and freeholdersthemselves would be asked to taketwo vacation days without pay. Anearly retirement program is also be-ing considered. Such a program mustbe approved through state legisla-tion. The county manager said such aprogram would have to include theelimination of positions if the countyis to realize any “long-lasting finan-cial impact on government.”

“During budget hearings, we willlook at each and every program witha goal of minimizing any potentiallayoffs,” said Mr. Devanney in a letterto the freeholders dated January 17.

Mr. Devanney said the countywould look to explore “the sale ofseveral county-owned properties,sponsorship opportunities involvingour parks, facilities and vehicles, ad-vertising and vending machines.”Officials are looking to sell adver-tisements on Paratransit vehicles togenerate revenue.

Additional budget meetings willbe held Saturday, February 15, at5:30 p.m. and Thursday, February 23,at 5:30 p.m. Meetings will be held inthe board’s conference room on thesixth floor of the administration build-ing, located on Elizabethtown Plazain Elizabeth.

County Dem Party LeadersEndorse Sires for Congress

UNICO NationalApplauds Alito’s

AppointmentAREA — UNICO National, the

largest Italian American Service Or-ganization in the United States, withchapters in 20 states, congratulatesJudge Samuel A. Alito, Jr. of NewJersey on his appointment to theUnited States Supreme Court.

UNICO believes Judge Alito, ashis record has shown, will be a fairand impartial justice and an out-standing role model for the futuregenerations of Italian Americanyouth. UNICO congratulates Presi-dent Bush on his fine choice.

For all the Italian Americansthroughout the United States this isindeed a proud moment for JudgeAlito conducted himself with dig-nity and pride throughout the nomi-nation process and will no doubtbring those attributes with him to theSupreme Court along with his intel-lect and experience.

RAHWAY – On Monday, UnionCounty Democrat Party leaders en-dorsed former Speaker of the StateAssembly Albio Sires for Congressin the 13th Congressional Districtwho is seeking to become elected tothe seat vacated by Robert Menendez(D-Hudson County) who was namedU.S. Senator by newly elected Gov-ernor Jon Corzine to fill his vacatedSenate seat. The 13th CongressionalDistrict is largely in Hudson Countyalthough a portion covers some ofElizabeth and Linden.

Union County Democrat PartyChairwoman Charlotte DeFilliposaid, “Union County Democrats standunited behind Albio Sires and lookforward to having him represent us inthe United States House of Represen-tatives. He has been a leader in theGeneral Assembly on issues like edu-cation, health care and homeland se-curity and he will be a leader on thesame issues in Washington.”

State Senator Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth), Assemblymen Neil Cohen(D-Roselle), Jerry Green (D-Plainfield) and Joseph Cryan (D-Union), Assemblywoman LindaStender (D-Fanwood), SurrogateJames LaCorte (D-Elizabeth) andFreeholder Angel Estrada (D-Eliza-beth) attended the endorsement presssession.

“On behalf of my colleagues in theLegislature and throughout UnionCounty, I am happy to endorse AlbioSires because we have seen firsthand

how much he has accomplished forthe residents of Union County and ofNew Jersey as Speaker,” said SenatorLesniak. “It is because he is so effec-tive as a legislator in Trenton that Ihave every confidence he will be justas effective on our behalf in Washing-ton.”

“I thank Chairwoman DeFillipo andthe Union County Democratic orga-nization for its endorsement,” saidMr. Sires. “Together, we have workedto improve our schools and countycolleges, provide job security andprotect the health and safety of ourneighbors. In Washington, I pledge tocontinue my hard work on behalf ofthe residents of Union County andthe rest of the 13th CongressionalDistrict.”

Leader/Times to OfferSummer Internships

WESTFIELD — The WestfieldLeader and The Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times invite college andhigh school students to apply for sum-mer internships. A few paid internpositions are available.

Interns participate in most aspectsof the newspapers includingcopyediting, proofreading, reporting,and page design. Writing assignmentswill involve news, arts and entertain-

ment, sports, editorial, photographyand meeting reporting.

A letter and résumé should be sub-mitted to The Westfield Leader, Attn:Assignment Editor, P.O. Box 250,Westfield, NJ 07091 or e-mail to:[email protected]. The deadlinefor submissions is Friday, March 3.Please include writing clips if avail-able. For more information, call Mr.Peyton at (908) 232-4407.

Bramnick Street-GangBill Passes CommitteeTRENTON – Assemblyman Jon

Bramnick (R-21), a member of theLaw and Public Safety Committee,has proposed a bill concerning crimi-nal street gangs. Bill A-183 wouldincrease the degree of the crime to thenext highest level if the act was com-mitted during a gang initiation ritual.

According to Asm. Bramnick, streetgangs like the Champagne Posse, theLatin Kings, the Bloods and the Cripshave infiltrated counties that includeEssex, Union and Hudson. State po-lice estimate the number of gangmembers to be in excess of 17,000.

According to an article in The NewYork Times, state authorities estimatethat one in five homicides in NewJersey are gang-related. The StateCommission of Investigation also re-leased a study that concludes thatstreet gangs represent the new face oforganized crime.

Asm. Bramnick, a Republican, hasjoined with Democratic Assembly-man Peter Barnes (D-18), on a bipar-tisan basis to support this new law.Asm. Bramnick believes the growingproblem with gang violence affectsall of the citizens of New Jersey.

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FOR THOSE WITH A TASTE FOR VALUE.


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Accident Victim FamilyExpresses Thanks

Our family wishes to thank theWestfield and Scotch Plains police de-partments, the Westfield Fire Departmentand rescue squad for their response to thecar accident involving our daughter whichoccurred on Lamberts Mill Road on Janu-ary 15. Your prompt professional carewas exemplary and facilitated ourdaughter’s rescue and treatment.

The reassurance we received about hercondition helped us in our time of dis-tress. Our community is truly very fortu-nate to have such competent and compas-sionate emergency responders.

With all our gratitude,

Dr. and Mrs. Constandis and FamilyWestfield

WF School Superintendent DiscussesEdison Intermediate School Report

Congratulations Coach TranchinaOn A Job Well Done at WHS

Support Troops ProjectDeemed Big Success

The Support Our Troops Project ofTemple Emanu-El was a huge success.Sixty-five well-stocked packages weresent to our troops in Iraq. Each box con-tained an international phone card, a dis-posable camera, coffee, books, playingcards, DVDs, CDs, cookies, candy, pop-corn, toiletries and handwritten notes.

We wish to thank the Westfield com-munity for its continued generosity to thetroops. A special thank you goes to: Bar-ons’ Drug Store, Falcon Printing, the Jun-ior League, Kings of Garwood, the LeaderStore, Redeemer Lutheran Church, theSalvation Army, Shop Rite of Garwood,Tiffany Drugs, Trader Joe’s, the WestfieldArmory, the Westfield Cooperative Nurs-ery School, the Westfield Library and theBrownies.

Dianne GorbatySupport Our Troops ProjectTemple Emanu-El, Westfield

Scotch Plains Resident QuestionsSchool System Budget Reality

Crop Walk SupportersThanked for Efforts

The Cranford Clergy Council’s 31stAnnual Crop Walk held on Sunday, Oc-tober 23, 2005 received donations top-ping $16,000. There were 200 walkersfrom houses of worship from Cranford,Garwood, Clark and Westfield. Twenty-five percent of all funds raised are splitevenly between the food pantries ofCranford Family Care, Osceola Presbyte-rian Church in Clark and First Congrega-tional Church in Westfield, with the bal-ance supporting the work of Church WorldService.

The Church World Service is a minis-try of the National Council of ChurchesU.S.A. that works to supply disaster reliefin the United States and address hungerand issues of justice throughout the world.

Thank you to the many individualswho gave so freely of their time andfinancial resources to make this such asuccessful walk.

Robin MarkoGarwood

Reader Suggests Lobbying for AidTo Support Special Ed Spending

Vandalism Is Not a Harmless Prank;It Affects Lives of Town Residents

Resident Believes SP-F Teacher-District Negotiation Process is Broken

Coach Tranchina, I have been aWestfield resident for over 10 years, al-ways following Westfield football. I justwanted to congratulate you on a wonder-ful career – your players as well as coachesalways showed class and respect for thegame – regardless of the outcome, andmost of that credit should be passed on toyou.

I am sure your replacement will bring

the same character to the program as youdid, but being a former New Yorker andbeing familiar with coach Joe Avena andhis long successful career as a head coach– I wouldn’t mind seeing him as the nexthead football coach at Westfield. Onceagain coach – congratulations on a jobwell done.

Peter GiallusiWestfield

Editor’s Note: This letter was sent toSuperintendent of Schools Dr. CarolChoye, the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Boardof Education and the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Teachers Association.

*****Twenty-three years ago, we were at-

tracted by the reputation of the SP-Fschools because we heard it praised by aBergen County school superintendent.We have observed good outcomes fromdistrict education manifested in our twochildren. But the district has a chronicdefect. Sadly broken is the teacher-dis-trict negotiation process.

The result may be that next-generationparents hold the district in less esteem andsettle elsewhere as statewide news cover-age singles out our district.

In all our years, no contract has beensettled within the contract period. This isnot the norm. What are important are thedeferred pay raises for teachers and themarginal tax savings for citizens. Theimportant message is that the board doesnot prioritize esteem for teachers, andthat teachers and administrators seemunable to bring comity to the bargainingtable.

Over the years, we know of good SP-Fteachers who left the district in frustra-tion. Recently we heard a conversationamong master teachers discussing theircareers. This group in a nearby districtsingled out districts where teachers areknown to be, not necessarily paid more,

but treated well. These were districts thatsettle contracts without extended discord,and SP-F was not named.

While our children were in the district,outlays per pupil well exceeded our prop-erty tax payments. Our children enjoyedthe benefits of tax collections from all inthe district, both with and without young-sters in the schools. This community spiritwas a factor in the real estate investmentwe made. As long as we live here, wepledge ourselves to vote for school bud-gets.

The administration and the union shoulddo what is necessary to set aside enmityand hardened stances. The reputation ofthe schools concerns everyone. How manyyears of tax savings are erased when yousell your house for $20,000 less than itmight have commanded in a well-regardeddistrict?

And as you suffer that, how will yousavor the offloading of health care insur-ance costs onto the shoulders of yourgrandchildren’s teachers who make anaverage of $52,000 per year?

Support our children, and support theirteachers. Encourage teachers not to hardenpositions, and demand that the SP-F Boardof Education settle equitably as the twogroups approach the state mediator onMarch 1, 2006.

Suzanne and Blanchard HiattScotch Plains

With the recent release of the SchoolReport Card by the NJ Department ofEducation, it is evident that student per-formance in the Westfield Public Schoolsis high. In addition to School Report Carddata, The Star Ledger’s article on Febru-ary 2 included information that the paperhad reported in August. In August, TheStar Ledger incorrectly reported EdisonIntermediate School as not meeting Ad-equate Yearly Progress for 2004-2005.Unfortunately, the same error was repeated.

Edison Intermediate School inWestfield met all No Child Left Behindrequirements for the 2004-05 school year.The school met all standards for everysub-group and for the entire school. Tomeet Adequate Yearly Progress, a schoolhas to meet proficiency in all 40 sub-

groups, including students who are clas-sified in special education programs, thosestudents with English as a second lan-guage, etc.

Because special education students didnot meet the Adequate Yearly Progressstandard in 2003-2004, but did meet it in2004-05, the entire school is in “HoldStatus.” It is incorrect to say that Edisondid not meet all requirements in 2004-05.

For more information on standardizedtest scores of both Edison and RooseveltIntermediate Schools, you may refer tothe Superintendent’s Message on theWestfield Public Schools website atwww.westfieldnjk12.org.

William Foley, Ed.D.Superintendent of the Westfield

Public Schools

I am writing with regard to two relatedcover stories that appeared in the Febru-ary 2, 2006 issue of The Westfield Leaderdiscussing the board of education budget,specifically as it relates to special educa-tion.

I had the pleasure of attending theboard of education meeting on Tuesday,January 31, where the special educationbudget was discussed. I thank Drs. Kozlikand Foley, as well as Mr. Berman for theirpresentation and commend the board forits thoughtful questions and careful con-sideration of the recommendations fromboth the school administration and thepublic.

The headline about this meeting in TheLeader reads “Special Edu. Accounts for21 Percent of Budget.” I would like to putthis number in perspective. According todocuments provided at the meeting, 20.7percent of the proposed 2006-2007 oper-ating budget is for special education. Al-though the article pointed out that thespecial education expenditure would in-crease by 2.86 percent, it neglected tomention that the overall percentage of theoperating budget for special educationshould decrease from 21.1 percent to 20.7percent. Part of the $16.9 million totalexpenditure for special education is ex-pected to be offset with $1.2 million infederal aid and $4.6 million in state aid –reducing the amount needed from thelocal tax coffers.

Let us also bear in mind that specialeducation student enrollment in 2005-2006 stood at 16.6 percent of districtenrollment. Considering that part of theexpense of providing a free and appropri-ate education to these children is offset bythe state and federal governments, it doesnot seem that these children are receivingan unfair portion of the budget.

The related cover article discussing thepublic information session on the schoolbudget mentioned a public question ask-ing what the penalty would be if thedistrict did not provide special educationservices to pupils. Dr. Foley pointed outthat it is unlawful, but I would also arguethat it would ultimately cost taxpayersmore money.

Let us consider all education, not justthe money we spend for special needsstudents, to be an investment in the future.If we can provide early and appropriateeducation, we can give these special needsstudents the best chance of reaching theirfull potential. For many of them it meanstransitioning to mainstream (less costly)classrooms and ultimately to meaningful,tax-paying careers.

The articles make many references tothe cost of out-of-district placement. Al-though it is a considerable portion of thebudget, we should remember that theschool budget represents real childrenand not just money – the local schooldistrict is not always equipped to handlethe specific challenges of some children.Out-of-district enrollment representsroughly 10 percent of special educationstudents and less than 2 percent of theentire student body. The majority of thespecial-education budget is still spent onin-district programs that support childrenwith a wide range of disabilities.

If we take issue with the amount ofmoney it is costing local taxpayers toeducate our children with cognitive, physi-cal, speech or social disabilities, we shouldlobby our state legislators to allocate alarger portion of the federal “No ChildLeft Behind” dollars to local school dis-tricts, where it can directly help studentsand reduce our local tax burden.

Judi SalvatoWestfield

Being a lifelong Scotch Plains resi-dent, it was very ironic to see in yournewspaper the board of education askingfor its annual budget increase, while inThe Star Ledger there was a fairly lengthyarticle about the teachers’ strike and howthey are underpaid along with poor ben-efits.

Then, also in the Ledger, was theschool’s report card. If this report is anyindicator of our return on investments for

us as taxpayers, neither increase shouldbe granted. If this was the corporate world,Dr. Choye would be asked to step down asthe CEO, and the teachers would be re-aligned to make the grade. If the stockprices of a company do not have a gain,how can you ask the shareholders to in-vest more money in the same stock? Thisis reality.

Bill LymanScotch Plains

I feel the need to add to the recentletters regarding vandalism in what I al-ways consider our rather “small” com-munity.

I live in close proximity to MarieSadowski and have enjoyed her Christ-mas decorations for many years with bothof my children. I was saddened by thevandalism which she (and another resi-dent) reported, and now have experienced,first-hand, a similarly unfortunate experi-ence.

For years, I – like many of my friendsand neighbors, have left items on myfront porch/driveway/yard; never fearingthat they would be taken. Today, thatsense of complacency was shattered whenI discovered that my four-year-old, used-daily, and very, very much relied uponjogging stroller had been taken from myporch. I am praying that the culprit issomeone in need of and desperate for theitem. Realistically, however, I imagine(as did the police officer who took myreport) that it was taken either as a prankor dare by unknown persons.

The stroller was returned last week (Iwas thrilled and overjoyed!). It was left inmy driveway before we awoke.

I hope that all Westfielders who readthis and who have read the other letters

will take a moment to speak to theirchildren about the issue of vandalism andto discuss that funny, harmless pranks dohave an affect on someone else’s life. Ibelieve that family discussions can onlyhelp and that an increased awareness ofthese types of incidents is crucial for thewell being of our neighborhoods and ourcommunity as a whole.

Jo WaynerWestfield

‘Try Nice First’ Has Been the WayIn Our Communities – Is It Still?

Westfield has a way of seeing many firsts, butunannounced towing of parked cars from the PNCBank lot on North Avenue is not one that we think fitsthe modus operandi of the community. Generally,when there is a protocol change required, it is an-nounced with warnings and the public is given timeto adjust. More often than not, the public adjusts andmatters are resolved. “Try nice first” has been theway in Westfield and adjacent towns. We hope thatway is not disappearing.

The developer and now property owner, IrwinAckerman, principal of A & R Westfield LincolnPlaza, LLC, regarding the condominium complexunderway above the PNC Bank building on NorthAvenue, did not employ this style of problem solv-ing. Perhaps it’s understandably in that Mr. Ackermanis from Millburn and accustomed to developing inNew York City, thus not familiar with the moregenteel ways around here.

A small crowd was in awe last Friday night as a flatbed tow truck from Citywide Towing of Hawthorne,Passaic County uploaded a few cars. Off they went.We understand a few more were whist away onSaturday during the day. Unfortunate car ownerslearned the next day that their vehicles were atSeville’s in Westfield and that $385 in cash was theonly option to effect release of the impoundment.

This newspaper does not condone illegal parkingor rebuff rights of landlords. But, we do think thatdevelopers should understand the habits and cultureof communities, and then attempt to work amicablywithin this protocol. For years, when the PNC Bankwas closed at night, people parked in the lot and thiswas condoned. Properly, we think, as the bank hasbeen a good neighbor.

Now that the bank sold the property for develop-

ment, a little effort should be employed to announcechanges of the common practice – that which hasbeen acceptable for several years.

If one were to get tough with the letter-of-the law,then one might get what they wish for. As example,the developer has been constructing well into thenight for several months. At times as late as 1 a.m.,trash has been loudly clanking down the chute intothe trash bins on Prospect Street. Dust billowing intothe streets from the activity has been regularly ob-served. How would the letter-of-the law deal withthis?

One might also remember that the bank was grantedapproval to build the original Lincoln Center com-plex only with the agreement then to add parking inthe lot directly across Broad Street. They did this andit was an acceptable arrangement to all concerned.

However, when the bank sold off the property in2004 to the developer, the development plan pre-sented to the Westfield Planning Board, and whichwas approved, included converting the Broad Streetparking lot into another condominium. What hap-pened to the original agreement requiring the park-ing lot?

So now the bank is still there with two condomini-ums added. Warning, don’t park there unless you’redashing into the bank! The construction dumpstershave been taking up parking spaces in the street. Parkthere when the noise and dust subsides.

We’re trying to find out if there is a law in the statethat controls rates that towing companies can charge.Can they charge any fee they wish, such as the $385charged last week? Suppose they charged $600,what would be the recourse? If they damaged yourvehicle, what would be the recourse?

Avoid all this in our communities – “Try nice first.”

Hiring of New Webmaster Will HelpWestfield Start Over and Advance

The Town of Westfield has procured a new websitewith the name westfieldnj.gov. Mayor Andy Skibitskywants to upgrade the site and making it user-friendly.The mayor said his goal was “to start leveraging thisgreat tool to improve communication and interac-tion” with residents.

There are a number of things a town website coulddo. It could be a working tool for residents andemployees. It should show a sense of community. Itshould be regularly updated with town business andprovide archives for reference. It should portrayWestfield as a great place to live, work and raise afamily.

Westfield has several useful websites that shouldbe cross-linked. There’s no reason to duplicate eachother’s work. If you go to one site, access to othersshould be seamless. These include the library, theschool system, the Downtown Westfield Corpora-tion and the newspaper. Links to neighbors, countyand state should be included.

With all the Internet’s capabilities, residents shouldbe able to use the new site for everything from payingproperty taxes and parking tickets to licensing petsto registering for recreation programs. Building de-partment permits should be available on-line andinclude information such as when and why zoning orplanning-board approval is necessary. Also, all ordi-nances and resolutions should be made available for

easy downloading.A staff page of employees would be a great way of

putting a face with a name for residents – officialscould provide an email address and phone numberunder their picture for easy contact.

Mayor Skibitsky has said he would like to haveresidents voluntarily provide e-mail addresses toreceive Westfield news updates. This is a great wayto remind residents of recycling schedules, roadclosures, special or important meetings and emer-gency procedures.

The mayor and town council hired Mike Bielen asthe town’s new webmaster last week. We believe Mr.Bielen has the skills to make westfieldnj.gov adynamic site based on his other work. He offered alow, fixed price and seems intent on creating a greatsite. We’re looking forward to seeing his work. In thelong term though, town employees must be trained toupdate material on the website.

The current westfieldnj.gov site is merely a pre-purchased shell until content and tools can be in-stalled that residents can use. When it is developed,the website should be unique to Westfield, not just aduplicate of those of other communities utilizing thepre-purchased .govoffice.com software.

There are a myriad of possibilities. After 10 yearswith the Internet, Westfield is starting over and we’relooking forward to see what happens.

Answers to last week’s arcane words.1. Thanatopsis – A view of or medita-

tion on death2. Ridgel – The half castrated male of

any beast3. Peenge – To complain in Scottish4. Intratelluric – Located or occurring

deep inside the earth

Below are four arcane words, eachwith four definitions – only one is correct.The others are made up. Are you sharpenough to discern this deception of dic-tion?

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.

TETRIC1. Balanced; stable2. Out of use3. Distressing; perplexing4. Perverse; harsh

HAJE1. The Egyptian cobra2. A Moslem who has completed his

holy trip to Mecca3. A nocturnal Australian marsupial.

Kangaroo rat4. A street vender; a seller of fruits and

vegetablesSCATOPHAGOUS

1. Tendency to eat clay or dirt2. Flesh eating3. Subsisting on dung4. Having a wavy, floating light

QUEAN1. Strong beer or ale2. A structure that projects over the

side of a ship or boat3. A boat hoist used for raising and

lowering smaller boats4. A bold, immoral woman; a slut

See more Letters on pages 5 & 20

Letters to the Editor


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County’s United Way Has RightTo Inform Westfielders of Its Work

Community Encouraged to AskQuestions During Budget Process

Letters to the Editor

The board of education is now well intoour process for developing the proposed2006-2007 school district budget. Ourgoal is to construct a budget that thecommunity can ultimately support. Thebudget needs to address our educationalpriorities, deal with government man-dates and cope with cost areas that aredifficult to manage. Can we craft a “per-fect” budget that meets all needs andpleases everyone? Wishful, but unlikely.We are committed to creating a reason-able budget that meets many needs at afiscally responsible level of spending.

The board’s role in the process is toreview the proposals made by the admin-istration, judge priorities and continue tolook for ways to maximize the benefitswe get from the resources we have. Sincethe beginning of January, we’ve heldweekly meetings to publicly discuss thefirst draft of the budget. We’ve alreadyheard from administrators about employeebenefits, utilities, capital projects, cur-riculum, special education, athletics andfine arts. Upcoming areas include tech-

nology, guidance and personnel.What is the community’s role in the

process? We want you to ask us questionsand voice your opinions during the devel-opment process so we’ll have the oppor-tunity to consider your requests and ad-dress your concerns before we determinethe final budget. This dialogue will helpus create a budget that meets the needs ofour children while reflecting unavoidablecompromises. By mid March, our budgetprocess will be almost over; we have afinal budget hearing in late March toapprove the actual budget that will gobefore the voters on April 18.

How can you become informed about thebudget? Board meetings are taped and shownon Channel 36, information will be postedon our website at www.westfieldnjk12.organd presentations will be held at schoolmeetings. Contact the board [email protected] or Dr. Foley [email protected] to share yourfeedback or concerns.

Anne RiegelPresident, Westfield Bd. of Ed.

All Towns Should Be RepresentedAt Union County Budget Meetings

I would like to comment on MayorAndrew Skibitsky’s column, which ap-peared in the January 26 edition of TheLeader. In his column the mayor con-tended that the efforts of the WestfieldUnited Way are being diluted by actionfrom a competing United Way.

As 29-year residents of Westfield, mywife and I have always been greatly im-pressed by the effectiveness of theWestfield United Way. It truly makes awonderful contribution to our commu-nity. We have always supported the WUWgenerously, and in the past I have servedas both a campaign volunteer and a mem-ber of the budget review committee.

Some years ago, I became acquaintedwith the work of the United Way of GreaterUnion County, the “competing organiza-tion” cited in the mayor’s column. Thisorganization supports the needs of theentire Union County community, includ-ing contributing to many of the same vitalagencies supported by the WUW. As youare surely aware, many people in ourcounty are in dire need of assistance atthis time. Accordingly, I joined theUWGUC board several years ago, andsupport the organization both financiallyand through volunteer activities.

I believe that there are many compas-sionate people in Westfield who mightsupport the needs of the most vulnerable

citizens of Union County, while at thesame time continuing their support of theWUW. In addition, I believe that many ofus understand that the health and well-being of our surrounding communitiesdirectly impacts our quality of life inWestfield. For these reasons, the UnitedWay of Greater Union County has theright and responsibility to make the peopleof Westfield aware of its activities.

The mayor cites several areas in whichthe Westfield United Way provides car-ing and effective services to our commu-nity. What many Westfielders may notknow is that the WUW has been providedsupport by the UWGUC in many waysand for many years. As an example,UWGUC secured and delivered to theWUW a large grant in support of the 9/11activities mentioned in Mr. Skibitsky’scolumn. In addition, a significant sum ofmoney is “direct designated” to the WUWfrom the annual campaigns conducted bythe United Way of Greater Union Countyand affiliated organizations.

I believe it is very important for thesetwo fine organizations to develop an ami-cable and constructive relationship. Ifthis can be achieved, both Westfield andUnion County will benefit greatly.

Dennis PollerWestfield

Although the county claims approxi-mately one quarter of our property taxbill, the county portion of the property taxis never mentioned when municipal dis-cussions of the “property tax crisis” arise.

At a council meeting in 2003, CranfordTownship Commissioner George Jornstated that the Township of Cranford hasno say in the county’s budget discussions.

I must disagree. Although it’s obviousthat we don’t have a “say” in the budgetprocess, every resident in Union Countyhas a “voice” in the budget process. Espe-cially our local elected officials.

The town council represents the peopleof Cranford and not a political party. Ipropose that it should unanimously ex-press our opposition at the egregious taxincreases that the board of chosen free-holders places on us yearly. The countyhas increased its portion of our propertytaxes over 55 percent over five years,including the Open Space Trust Fund,which is an additional tax. Consider thatCranford sent the county $500,000 in2005 for the Trust Fund alone.

The Township of Cranford sends morethan $13 million a year to the county withno accountability of how it is spent. Our

town council should either insist on a sayin how our taxes are being spent or fightfor a reversal in this pattern of increases,which is taxation without representation.

In a letter to the editor, Cranford MayorDan Ashenbach stated that he doesn’tmind “kissing a few hands” in order to getsome money from the freeholders. I foundthis statement to be outrageous, althoughI appreciated the honesty. Receiving ser-vices from the county is not a favor but aright of the taxpayers. It is our money!Not only should every town council de-mand a return on our tax dollars but theyshould also demand that the wasteful andinappropriate spending be stopped.

This is not only our right as taxpayersbut it is our duty as citizens to hold electedofficials accountable. We elect town coun-cils to do what is in the best interest of theresidents, not to kowtow to their partyleadership.

Every municipality should participatein the county’s budget process. Thereshould be at least 21 people at thesebudget hearings, and they shouldn’t bethere to kiss anything.

Tina RennaCranford

Affordable Housing ImportantTo New Jersey Communities

We’ve all seen large housing develop-ments with a small number of affordablehomes. And we’ve probably been toldthat development was necessary to meetthe town’s Mount Laurel obligation. Butit wasn’t.

Creative towns all over New Jersey aremeeting their affordable housing obliga-tions without large-scale development.Former schools and fire stations havebeen converted into affordable apart-ments. Infill development has helpedtowns meet their obligations withoutbuilding beyond existing neighborhoods.Developments have provided affordablehousing without any market rate housingat all.

Local officials should support appro-priate affordable housing.

Why? Affordable housing is good forthe economy. Businesses need employ-ees at every income level, and affordablehousing helps build an inviting businessclimate.

Affordable housing is good for thecommunity. New Jersey neighborhoodsare stronger when they include our teach-ers, police officers, municipal workers,and young adults who grew up there.Today, these New Jerseyans are pricedout of many towns.

Well-planned affordable housing isgood for the environment. By helpingworkers live closer to their jobs, afford-

able housing can reduce the air pollutioncreated by long commutes.

To create affordable housing withoutlarge-scale market rate development,some towns have partnered with non-profit developers who can access stateand federal funding. Others have workedwith for-profit companies who have dif-ferent financing options available. Andsome towns have created their own non-profits to develop and manage affordablehousing, financed with development fees.

Municipalities can ensure local controlby planning to meet their obligations withaffordable housing that best meet theirown unique circumstances.

On its website (www.cahenj.org), theCoalition for Affordable Housing and theEnvironment discusses ways that townscan provide affordable housing and pro-tect the environment. It includes ques-tions to ask to ensure well-consideredCOAH compliance, examples of creative,environmentally-sensitive projects andfinancial and technical resources.

New Jersey towns can provide afford-able housing, protect the environmentand determine how they will grow. Ittakes a little effort and some ingenuity,but it is worth the effort.

Co-chairs Sydelle Hersh, UnionLouise Ballard, Hillside

Union Cty. League of Women Voters

New Orleans, La. Family ThanksWestfielders for Kindness, Generosity

Fanwood Resident Comments on FactsRegarding Midway Construction

The following letter was recently sentto the McKinley School PTO in apprecia-tion of their efforts in the Katrina DirectRelief Drive held in November of 2005.My family was one of many that directlybenefited from this town-wide effort.Please share this letter with your readers,many of whom contributed generouslyduring this drive.

My family is terribly grateful and wouldlike the entire town to know this. I appre-ciate your cooperation.

Wendy Connolly, WestfieldMcKinley PTO Co-President

* * * * *Words cannot begin to express our

gratitude for your kindness and generos-ity. Some things that your thoughtfulnesshas made happen for our family include:

Helped two college students switchschools and set up housing; replaced flooded

furniture, clothes and kitchen items; boughtChristmas gifts for kids whose parents losttheir job; provided care for uprooted, trau-matized pets; helped pay exorbitant gaso-line and dry-cleaning bills and cleaned yardsof fallen trees and debris.

We hope this gives you an idea of themany ways those gift cards meant somuch to us and made our holidays spe-cial. It is truly amazing the way yourcommunity has reached out to us in thistime of need. Our sister, Wendy, is veryfortunate to be in such a wonderful townsurrounded by people who care. We arecertainly not the “city that care forgot”because of folks like you.

Once again we send our heartfelt love,thanks, appreciation and best wishes forthe New Year.

The Williamson FamilyNew Orleans, La.

In August 2003, my husband and Ireturned from vacation to find the con-struction of the house behind us. We wentto the building inspector and zoning of-ficer all upset with what they were doingbut was told they were within their rightsand the permit. As the building progressed,I constantly called Bruce Helmstetter, thebuilding inspector, all upset and was toldthere was nothing I could do.

Around March or April of 2004, Mr.Segal brought in a backhoe (or some kind oflarge digging machine which barely fit intothe yard) to dig up his backyard and in theprocess they cut into my property line. Atthat point I hired a surveyor to survey myproperty so I could put a fence up anddiscovered he was too close to my propertyline and had cut three feet into my property.In May 2004, I requested a stop work order.

In July 2004, my husband passed away,leaving me to fight this by myself. Fortu-nately, I have a brother who has been themajor contact with Mr. Segal and hislawyer, Mr. DeMasi. Mr. DeMasi origi-

nally wrote the agreement between us,but because there were too many things inthe document that I requested he changeand he didn’t, my brother ended up writ-ing the contract himself.

In October 2005, one of my trees felldown, missing my house by inches, causedby the roots being cut by Mr. Segal. It tookfrom May 2004 until November 2005 forMr. Segal and I to reach an agreement bywhich he would replace the trees he ruinedby cutting into my property line and inexchange I would allow him to anchor thewall into my property. I also requested afence above the wall as a safety issue.

The events as reported in your article(Scotch Plains-Fanwood Times, Febru-ary 2) are inaccurate. The wall was builtway after he dug into my property, and hereplaced my trees because he ruined thosethat were there. He also knew he neededa variance and wanted my positive com-ments in order to get it.

Marsha GelfandFanwood

Bernard Heeney Creative Writing ContestEnter creative writing contest. It is open to anyone and there is nofee. Entries received by February 15 will receive editor’s feedbackand an opportunity to update work prior to the final submittal dateof March 1. Register now and see details at www.goleader.com.

Each spring, This Is Westfield is mailed to every household in

Westfield with the newspaper. Several thousand additional cop-

ies are distributed to others. It is a year-round reference for resi-

dents and a gift for newcomers. This Is Westfield features the

region’s business, education, civic, government and cultural or-

ganizations. A must for business in the region.

This Is Westfield 200634th Annual Edition, coming May 2006

Reserve Your AdSpace Now

See goleader.com/tiw

for details or

call a real person at

(908) 232-4407.


Colin W. Breivogel and Miss Sarah E. Chance

Miss Sarah E. ChanceTo Wed Colin W. Breivogel

Library Patrons Now HaveGreater Borrowing OptionsWESTFIELD – Westfield Memo-

rial Library cardholders may nowborrow books from 43 other librariesin Union and Middlesex counties, thelibrary announced last week.

Recently, the library became amember of the Middlesex, Union Re-ciprocal Area Libraries (M.U.R.A.L.),a consortium of libraries in the twocounties that work with one anotherto share resources.

Participating in M.U.R.A.L. per-mits Westfield cardholders to checkthe online card catalogs of otherM.U.R.A.L. libraries to determine thestatus of a desired item. If it is on theshelf, the person can go directly to theparticipating library to borrow theitem. This bypasses the wait for aninter-library loan. It will still be pos-sible, however, to request materialsvia the state’s inter-library loan pro-gram.

Each participating library sets pa-

rameters on what it permits non-resi-dents to borrow. Before traveling toan out-of-town library, the WestfieldLibrary advises patrons to call andfind out what restrictions apply. Li-braries will not permit someone withfines and other library obligations attheir hometown library to register asa non-resident until those obligationshave been satisfied.

For children, the library will offer“Preschool Story Time: 3½ to 5 YearsOld” on Tuesday, February 14, at 10a.m. or Wednesday, February 15, at1:30 p.m.

“Mother Goose Group,” for walk-ing toddlers up to two-and-a-halfyears old and a caregiver, will beoffered Thursday, February 16, from10 to 10:20 a.m. “Baby Rhyme Time,”for babies not yet walking and acaregiver, will take place Friday, Feb-ruary 17, from 10 to 10:20 a.m.

A book discussion for young read-ers on “The Enormous Crocodile” byRoald Dahl is scheduled for Monday,February 13, at 4:45 p.m.

Children in kindergarten throughthird grade are invited to attend aValentine’s Day party on February 14at 3:30 p.m. featuring stories, an ac-tivity and refreshments.

For adults, “Puzzled by the InternetI” will be held at 10 a.m. on February14. The first of a two-part session,this beginners’ class will cover basicskills such as how to use a browser,Internet addresses, selecting a searchengine and printing from the Internet.“Puzzled by the Internet II” will meetTuesday, February 21, at 10 a.m.

Additionally on February 14, thelibrary’s Sundance Film Festival willfeature Ruby in Paradise at 7 p.m.

The TGIF program on February 17will be “Made of Wood: Edgar Bergenand Charlie McCarthy” at 1:30 p.m.

The Westfield Memorial Library islocated at 550 East Broad Street. Formore information, please call (908)789-4090, visit www.wmlnj.org orstop by the library for a copy of itsquarterly newsletter.

Wilson Cub Scouts RevealResults of Pinewood Derby

WESTFIELD – Cub Scout PackNo. 171 of Wilson Elementary Schoolin Westfield conducted its AnnualPinewood Derby on January 21, withmore than 70 scouts participating.

Awards were presented for designand for the fastest cars. The designawards were based on a vote by thescouts and were given as follows:

Pack Favorite, Best Design – FirstPlace, Benjamin Verchick; second place,

Dakota Williams and Nick Sanders.Craziest Car – Blake Taylor.Best Classic Design – Daniel

Schoenfeld.The parents voted on the design

award for craftsmanship, which waswon by Kendall Reid.

The race results were as follows:Tiger – First Place Overall, Quinn

Clarke-Magrab, Den 1; Den 1, Sec-ond Place, Jonah Schieber; Den 2,First Place, Jake Triarsi; Den 2, Sec-ond Place, John Sanders.

Wolf – First Place Overall, ConnorHaviland, Den 1; Den 1, Second Place,Blake Taylor; Den 2, First Place,Daniel Schoenfeld; Den 2, SecondPlace, Christopher Sabatino; Den 3,First Place, Matthew Busardo; Den 3,Second Place, Dakota Williams.

Bear – First Place Overall, Timo-thy Plump, Den 1; Den 1, SecondPlace, Casey Haviland; Den 2, FirstPlace, Jack McKinley; Den 2, Sec-ond Place, David Parker.

Webelo Fourth Grade – First PlaceOverall, Brian Moum, Den 2; Den 1,First Place, Aaron Wenta; Den 1, Sec-ond Place, Benjamin Verchick; Den2, Second Place, Christopher Wright.

Webelo Fifth Grade – First PlaceOverall, Kendall Reid, Den 1; Den 1,Second Place, Connor Swingle; Den2, First Place, Alex Breakstone; Den2, Second Place, Andrew Bogin.

Parents from the pack helped toorchestrate the day’s events, whichtook place at Wilson School. MarkSwingle and Glenn Verchick wereco-masters of ceremony. Dean Sand-ers and Brendan Magrab were thestarters and official timers.

Steve Reid, Scott Breakstone andDavid Wright also helped with set-up,check-in and organization. Paul Moumran a clinic for newcomers to learnabout car design and construction.

Mr. and Mrs. Terry Chance ofWestfield have announced the en-gagement of their daughter, MissSarah Elizabeth Chance of Hoboken,to Colin William Breivogel, also ofHoboken. He is the son of Mrs. SharonLeonard of Oneida, N.Y. and the lateFrank Breivogel. Miss Chance is thegranddaughter of Mrs. MarjorieChance of Wooster, Ohio.

A 1998 graduate of Westfield HighSchool, the bride-to-be was awardeda Bachelor of Arts degree in Englishand History from Bucknell Univer-sity in Lewisburg, Pa. in May 2002.

While attending the university, MissChance was a member of the Pi BetaPhi sorority. She currently is pursu-ing her master’s degree in Organiza-tional Leadership and is employed asa publicist at Random House in NewYork City.

Her fiancé, a 1997 graduate ofCornwall Central High School inCornwall, N.Y., earned a Bachelor ofScience degree in Education from

Bucknell University in May 2001. Hewas a member of the Chi Phi frater-nity while attending the university.

Mr. Breivogel just received his Mas-ter of Arts degree in Teaching and Learn-ing and is employed as a middle schoolmathematics teacher in Summit.

A wedding is planned for August2006.

Blood Drive ScheduledAt Westfield Area ‘Y’WESTFIELD – New Jersey Blood

Services (NJBS) will conduct a blooddrive on Sunday, February 19, from11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Westfield Area“Y” in Westfield.

An NJBS van will be parked out-side the “Y” on Ferris Place. Dona-tions will be made inside the van. Noappointment is necessary.

There currently is a blood short-age. For more information, pleasecall the Westfield Area “Y” at (908)233-2700, extension no. 251.

Baptist Women to HoldFundraiser For CWSWESTFIELD – The American Bap-

tist Women of the First Baptist Churchof Westfield, located at 170 Elm Street,will sponsor “Tools and Blankets Sun-day” on February 12 to raise moneyfor Church World Services’ (CWS)supply of emergency equipment.

CWS is a relief and refugee assis-tance ministry of 35 religious de-nominations in the United States. In-formation on the work it does will beshared during the 10:30 a.m. worshipservice. Those who wish may make adonation as they exit the sanctuary. Formore information, please call the churchoffice at (908) 233-2278 or [email protected].

WNC to Hold BrunchHonoring Mrs. LarkWESTFIELD – The Westfield

Neighborhood Council (WNC) willhold a brunch honoring longtimeemployee/volunteer Natalie Lark onMonday, February 20, from 10:30a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the council head-quarters, located at 127 Cacciola Placein Westfield. Reservations are re-quested by Wednesday, February 15.

The cost is $7 for senior adults, $10for adults and $3.50 for children un-der age eight. To make a reservation,please call (908) 233-2772.

Mrs. Lark was employed by theWNC for several years as senior co-ordinator. Due to a loss in fundingdating from January 2005, she as wellas other employees was dropped fromthe payroll. Since then, Mrs. Lark hascontinued to work as senior coordi-nator on a volunteer basis.

The WNC has expressed apprecia-tion to all who continue to support itswork, notably teenagers from PANDAfor their volunteer services, theWestfield Fire Department, St. Paul’sEpiscopal Church, the Bethel BaptistChurch and the Town of Westfield.Any donations are welcome and maybe sent to: Westfield NeighborhoodCouncil, 127 Cacciola Place,Westfield, N.J. 07090.

Grace Church to HoldProgram on Narnia

WESTFIELD – Grace Church ofWestfield will present “The DeeperMeaning of the Chronicles of Narnia:The Lion, the Witch and the Ward-robe” on Friday, February 24, from7:30 to 9 p.m. at the church, located at1100 Boulevard.

Attendees will have an opportunityto delve more deeply into the Chris-tian meaning of The Chronicles ofNarnia: The Lion, the Witch and theWardrobe, a film that currently isplaying in theaters.

All men and women, as well asyoungsters age 12 and up, are invitedto attend. Gradie Frederick willpresent a brief biography of C.S.Lewis, an overview of the story andconnections to Biblical themes. Ad-ditionally, excerpts will be shownfrom the 1988 BBC production of thesame name. There also will be dis-cussion time and refreshments.

The church building is handicapaccessible. For more details about theevent, please call (908) 222-0322,email [email protected] or visithttp://gracewaves.net/ online. For moreinformation about church programs,please access the church website athttp://www.westfieldnj.com/gopc.

We reserve the right to limit quantities while quantities last. Not responsible for typographical errors. All prices do not include state sales tax.

HOURS: Monday - Saturday: 9am to 9:30pm • Sunday: 12pm to 8pm

1120 South Avenue West, Westfield NJ • 908-232-5341

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DERBY WINNERS…Cub Scout Pack No. 171 of Wilson Elementary School inWestfield held its Annual Pinewood Derby on January 21. Pictured, from left toright, are: Co-Master of Ceremony Mark Swingle; Jonah Schieber, QuinnClarke-Magrab, John Sanders and Jake Triarsi.


Willow Grove PresbyterianPlans Series on Ephesians

SCOTCH PLAINS – The WillowGrove Presbyterian Church’s Spiri-tual Growth Team has invited mem-bers of the community to attend aBible study series exploring the bookof Ephesians.

Each week, group members willstudy a different passage and focuson understanding the meaning of theBible verse and how it can be appliedto their lives today.

The group will meet on Wednes-day, February 15, from 7:30 to 9 p.m.or Thursday, February 16, from 9:30to 11 a.m. The Reverend Diane Curtis,Interim Pastor of Willow Grove, willlead the Bible study beginning withEphesians 1:1-23.

Week one will introduce partici-pants to the book of Ephesians, aswell as to God’s role as the “boss” ofall creation. This Bible study pro-gram will run every Wednesday andThursday through April 5 and 6.

Babysitting will be available in theChildren’s Ark if requested in ad-vance. Individuals are asked to in-form the church if they will needchildcare and the ages of the childrenso appropriate activities can beplanned for them.

The Willow Grove PresbyterianChurch is located at 1961 RaritanRoad in Scotch Plains. Anyone in-terested in attending the workshopis asked to call the church officeduring morning hours, Mondaythrough Friday, at (908) 232-5678,e-mail [email protected] or

visit the church website atwww.scotchplains.com/wgpc.

RAINBOWS Program HelpsYoungsters Deal With Loss

WESTFIELD – The Holy TrinityRoman Catholic Church of Westfieldis hosting another session of RAIN-BOWS. Registration for the program,which began last evening, will beaccepted through Wednesday, Febru-ary 15.

This six-week program is offeredto youngsters ages five to 18, withspecial exceptions for four-year-oldsbased on maturity. SPECTRUM, aprogram targeting young adults inhigh school, and PRISM, a parents’group, are being offered concurrentlywith the RAINBOWS program.

An international, non-profit pro-gram, RAINBOWS fosters emotionalhealing among children grieving aloss from a life-altering crisis due todeath, divorce, separation, illness,incarceration or other painful familytransitions. Created in 1983, RAIN-BOWS has grown to include pro-grams in 49 states and 16 foreigncountries.

The program is based on childrenproviding peer support to each other.Small groups meet to discuss topics

ranging from anger and guilt to for-giveness. It is not counseling ortherapy, but a nurturing environmentthat allows youngsters to share theirexperiences and to support one an-other. Adult volunteers are trained as“loving listeners” to facilitate thegroups.

The sessions run from 30 minutesto an hour, depending on the age ofthe children. In addition to the dis-cussion time, the children play games,do art projects, sing and write in theirjournals.

The RAINBOWS program is of-fered free of charge, regardless ofschool enrollment, religious affilia-tion or town of residence. It consistsof six, one-hour sessions held onWednesdays from 6:15 to 7:30 p.m.at the Holy Trinity InterparochialSchool, located at 336 First Street inWestfield.

Information is available online atwww.rainbows.org. To register a childfor this program, please send an emailto [email protected] call Lee Taylor at (908) 654-6396.For more information, please call Dea-con Tom Pluta at Holy Trinity Parish at(908) 232-8137.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB…The Woman’s Club of Westfield recently wel-comed its first new member of 2006, Maryfran Annese of Westfield. Pictured,from left to right, are: Dr. Anita Smith, Club President; Mrs. Annese and DoloresGeisow, Membership Chairwoman.

For Reservations: (908) 233-2822

Music by The David Aaron Trio

Complimentary glass ofWine or Champagne

B.Y.O.B.

Dinners starting at $15.95 per person(Children’s Menu Available)

Serving 4pm to 10pm

SHEFFIELD’S RESTAURANT & CATERING HOUSE

(Across from Lowe’s Movie Theater)1050 Route 22 West, Mountainside NJ

‘Y’ Youth to Take PartIn Bake Sale Tomorrow

WESTFIELD – The Westfield Area“Y”’s Club Mid After School pro-gram will participate in the GreatAmerican Bake Sale to help end child-hood hunger in America. It will beheld from 4 to 6 p.m. tomorrow, Fri-day, February 10 in the lobby of the“Y”’s main facility at 220 Clark Streetin Westfield.

Co-presented by Parade Magazineand Share Our Strength, one of thenation’s leading anti-hunger organi-zations, the Great American BakeSale encourages Americans to take apowerful stand against childhoodhunger by hosting bake sales in theircommunities. Proceeds are submit-ted to Share Our Strength and distrib-uted to the nation’s most effectivechildhood hunger organizations an-nually.

The Club Mid program, for sixth-to eighth-graders, meets Mondaythrough Friday from 2:45 to 6 p.m.for various activities. Today and to-morrow, February 9 and 10, the youthwill bake various items for the sale.Several “Y” staff members will bakeitems as well. For more details, pleasecall Chrissy Krasovsky at (908) 233-2700, extension no. 270, or [email protected].

Mothers to Hear TalkOn Fitness For FamilyFANWOOD – During its Wednes-

day, February 15 meeting, the UnionCounty Chapter of Mothers & Morewill host Len Glassman, a CertifiedPersonal Trainer, who will speak onexercise and nutrition for the wholefamily.

Mr. Glassman, the owner of Per-sonal Best Fitness Center inGarwood, will offer tips on how toincorporate fitness into a busylifestyle and how to make exercisefun.

The meeting is open to the publicand will be held at 8 p.m. at theFanwood Recreation Center, locatedat Forest Road Park in Fanwood.Refreshments will be provided.

The meeting also will be an op-portunity for interested persons inthe area to find out more about thechapter’s activities, which includemom-and-tot outings, mom’s nightout, playgroups, a book club and acraft club, among other programs.

A national, non-profit organiza-tion, Mothers & More championsthe value and necessity of all moth-ers’ work to society, paid and un-paid, within and outside of the home.

For more information about thismeeting or Mothers & More, pleasecall Stacy at (908) 928-9841 orMarilyn at (908) 568-2633 or accessmothersandmore.org.

FCC Youth to HoldDinner-Talent Show

WESTFIELD – The youth of theFirst Congregational Church (FCC) ofWestfield will host a spaghetti supperand talent show fundraiser this Satur-day, February 11, at 6 p.m. in thechurch’s auditorium at 125 Elmer Street.All proceeds will benefit outreachprojects involving the church’s youth.

The Reverend Dr. Mark Boyea willserve as emcee for the show, whichwill showcase youth and adult talent.Featured acts will include singing,comedy, Irish step dancing, a TaeKwan Do demonstration and a per-formance by FCC’s own cabaret pia-nist Joe Regan.

Two-thirds of the evening’s pro-ceeds will help send a group of seniorstudents and adults to Camp Sun-shine, a summer camp for families ofchildren with terminal illnesses inMaine. The remainder of the funds willbe used to adopt a Compassion Interna-tional child. Compassion Internationalhelps children in developing nations withsupport for education and clothing.

Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 forchildren age six to 12, $3 for childrenages four and five and free for thoseunder age four. They may be pur-chased at the door. For more informa-tion, please call the church office at(908) 233-2494.

Miller-Cory Museum PlansValentine Program Sunday

WESTFIELD – The Miller-CoryHouse Museum, located at 614Mountain Avenue in Westfield, willcelebrate Valentine’s Day this Sun-day, February 12, with a special pro-gram from 2 to 4 p.m.

Using techniques of the period,Evelyn Kennelly will demonstratehow early Americans made valen-tines. A variety of valentines will beon display, and children will be ableto make two valentine crafts to takehome and give to someone special.Light refreshments will be served.The fee is $3 per child and adultsmay attend for free.

Valentine’s Day was named inhonor of St. Valentine, a Roman priestof the third century who was knownas the patron saint of lovers.

Docents dedicated to bringingthe past to life staff the 18th-cen-tury farmhouse. Visitors are invitedto stop by the museum’s gift shop,which carries a wide variety ofColonial reproductions, toys,

crafts, cookbooks and educationalmaterials.

Upcoming Sunday programs in-clude “A Spot of Tea – A Talk onTea” on February 26 and “MapleSugar Sunday” on March 5. For in-formation about the museum, its cal-endar of events or volunteer oppor-tunities, please call the office at (908)232-1776.

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African Violet GroupTo Meet Next WeekSCOTCH PLAINS – The Union

County Chapter of the African Vio-let Society will hold its monthlymeeting on Thursday, February 16,at 1 p.m. in the Scotch Plains Pub-lic Library, located at 1927 BartleAvenue.

Jan Riemer will present “Get-ting Ready,” a hands-on workshopon show preparation. Anyone in-terested in African Violets is in-vited to attend.


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Local Cadet AchievesAcademic ExcellenceWESTFIELD – Cadet Sean

Callahan of Westfield was recentlyhonored for outstanding academicachievement at The Citadel, The Mili-tary College of South Carolina, dur-ing the fall semester of the 2005-2006 academic year.

Sean achieved Dean’s List recog-nition, which is given to those cadetsand active duty military students reg-istered for 12 or more semester hourswhose grade point ratio is 3.2 or higherwith no grade below a C for the pre-vious semester’s work.

In addition, Sean earned a GoldStar for achieving a 3.7 grade pointaverage or higher. He is the son of Mr.and Mrs. Richard Callahan.

‘Super Sunday’ FundraiserSet This Weekend at JCC

SCOTCH PLAINS – More than 400volunteers are expected to participate inthe Jewish Federation of Central NewJersey’s annual Super Sunday event onSunday, February 12, at the Wilf JewishCommunity Campus in Scotch Plains.

The purpose of the event, which willfeature the theme “Planting the Seedsfor Tomorrow. Growing Our Commu-nity Together,” is to build communitysupport and raise funds for the federa-

tion and the myriad causes and projectsit supports. Among these programsare home healthcare for local seniorcitizens; flu shots for the needy andcounseling for families in crisis.

People of all ages will take part ina phone-a-thon to secure pledges ofsupport for the federation. Others willhelp organize community-wideprojects such as a blood drive, a fooddrive to collect cans for a local foodpantry and a non-prescription medi-cine drive to benefit needy Jewishcommunities in Eastern Europe.

There also will be a swim-a-thon, acampaign to write letters to Americanand Israeli soldiers, musical entertain-ment for the entire family and a com-munity-wide lecture on innovationsIsraelis have brought to the world.

Governor Jon Corzine and Sena-tors Frank Lautenberg and RobertMenendez are among elected offi-cials expected to attend.

The Wilf Jewish Community Cam-pus is located at 1391 Martine Av-enue. For more information, pleasecall (908) 889-5335.

Jumble Store Sale to IncludeJewelry and Housewares

CRANFORD – The Jumble Store,operated by the Junior League ofElizabeth-Plainfield (JLEP), will holdits Valentine’s Day Jewelry andHousewares Sale on Saturday, Feb-ruary 11.

Costume jewelry, perfumes, smallhousewares and other gift items will beavailable for purchase at thrift store priceson the ground floor of the store, locatedat 110 Walnut Avenue in Cranford.

A thrift and consignment shopwholly-owned and operated by theJLEP, the Jumble Store carries a vari-ety of new or gently-used householditems and clothing for the entire fam-ily. Proceeds from the sale of thesedonated items fund community ser-vice projects staffed by the league’smore than 110 volunteer members tohelp families in crisis throughoutgreater Union County.

The Jumble Store is open Mondaythrough Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 5p.m. (Thursday until 8 p.m.) and Sat-urday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For moreinformation about the store or thissale, please call the Jumble Store at(908) 276-0222.

The JLEP is a non-profit organiza-tion of women committed to promot-ing voluntarism, developing the po-tential of women and improving thecommunity through effective actionand leadership of trained volunteers.

Through its members, the JLEPserves individuals and organizationsin need throughout greater UnionCounty; its current focus is on fami-lies in crisis, addressing both preven-tion and intervention. For more infor-mation, or to find out how to join theJLEP, please visit www.jlepnj.org orcall (908) 709-1177.

WF Greek Club HoldsFlamingo FundraiserWESTFIELD – The Greek Club, a

group of eighth-grade Westfield stu-dents, is fundraising for its upcomingspring trip to Greece.

In addition to some traditional meth-ods of raising capital like bake salesand holiday candy-grams, the groupwill enable area residents to “flock”friends and neighbors for a price.

For a donation of $20 and up, theywill place a flock of flamingos (mini-mum or 10) on the designated person’sfront yard. Additional services pro-vided include signage proclaiming aspecial birthday, the birth of a baby,anniversary, job promotion or a bigupcoming sports event for someone.

Individuals can even reserve theflock on a first-come basis for a spe-cific date, or buy insurance to keeptheir house flock-free.

Interested persons are asked to con-tact Mary O’Donnell or Tom Pickertat [email protected] foran order form and detailed informa-tion. This fundraiser will be going onthrough Saturday, April 1.

IN THE PINK…As a fundraiser for their spring trip to Greece, eighth-gradestudents in the Greek Club in Westfield are holding a fundraiser through whicharea residents can arrange to “flock” family, friends and neighbors, by havingtheir front lawns decorated with pink flamingos.

Astronomers to Hear TalkOn ‘Light’ February 17

CRANFORD – On Friday, Febru-ary 17, Amateur Astronomers, Inc.(AAI) will conduct its monthly mem-bership meeting at 8 p.m. in the Lec-ture Hall of the Nomehegan Buildingat Union County College, located at1033 Springfield Avenue in Cranford.

Immediately following the busi-ness meeting at approximately 9 p.m.,the club will present a lecture on“Light.” Dr. Ivan Strom, a Professorof Astronomy at Union County Col-lege and a member of AAI, will dis-cuss how light is generated and howknowledge of astronomy is gainedvia spectra. Images of various objectsin different spectral regions will befeatured.

Following the lecture, attendeeswill be invited to the William MillerSperry Observatory, located nearbyon campus, where they will have an

opportunity to speak with club mem-bers and tour the facility. Refresh-ments will be served. If the weatherpermits, a celestial viewing focusingon Saturn and the Orion Nebula willbe conducted using the club’s twolarge telescopes.

In addition to the monthly meet-ings held on the third Friday of eachmonth from September through May,more informal meetings take placeon the remaining Fridays at the SperryObservatory. At 7:30 p.m., a programfor younger audiences is held, featur-ing topics that include “Constella-tions” and “Phases of the Moon.”Arrangements can be made for groupsto attend at 7:30 p.m. by [email protected].

At 8:30 p.m., programs for the gen-eral public are presented. Programscurrently scheduled are “NSN ‘Tele-scopes’ Toolkit” by Ray Shapp onFebruary 24; “How Did We Get OurCrazy Time Scales?” by Dr. LewisThomas on March 3, and “Astronomi-cal Themes in Currency” by GordonBond on March 10.

If weather permits, there will be acelestial viewing throughout theevening. All meetings and lecturesare free and open to the public. Freeparking is provided. For more infor-mation on AAI and directions, pleasecall (908) 276-STAR or visitwww.asterism.org.

Book Club to Discuss‘Life of Pi’ on Feb. 18WESTFIELD – The Women’s

Book Club of the First Baptist Churchof Westfield, located at 170 ElmStreet, will meet in the church loungeat 10 a.m. on Saturday, February 18,to discuss “Life of Pi” by Yann Martel.

All women are welcome and it isnot necessary to have read the book.Light refreshments will follow thediscussion. For more information,please call Bette Savage at (908) 575-8637 or email her [email protected].

Susan M. Dougherty for The Westfield Leader and The TimesWARDLAW ASSIST…Courtney Flint of Highland Park, Ellis Lieberman ofScotch Plains, center, and Will Vogt of Plainfield, Upper School teenagers fromThe Wardlaw-Hartridge School’s Club Interact, visit with residents of ChelseaAssisted Living facility in Fanwood. During the brief morning visit at the end ofJanuary, 20 students from the Edison Independent School’s club sang camp songsand patriotic songs and chatted with the senior citizens.

Carolyn White NamedTo Albright Dean’s List

WESTFIELD – Carolyn White ofWestfield, a senior majoring in His-tory, Early Childhood Education andElementary Education, has beennamed to the Dean’s List for aca-demic achievement during the 2005-2006 fall semester at Albright Col-lege in Reading, Pa. Carolyn is agraduate of Westfield High School.

Arboretum AnnouncesKids Nature ProgramsSUMMIT – The Reeves-Reed Ar-

boretum has revealed a new lineup offamily fun workshop programs forthe winter/early spring session. Chil-dren age three to seven are given anopportunity to learn about local ani-mals or natural habitats through thisseries, which will feature a hands-onactivity and time spent exploring thegrounds.

The sessions will include “CocoaCorrections” (February), “BeginningBegonias” (March) and “The GoodEarth” (April). Caregivers will be re-quired to stay for children in the pre-kindergarten classes.

Classes will be offered on Mondaysand Fridays from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.The fee per workshop is $15 for mem-bers and $20 for non-members. TheReeves-Reed Arboretum is located at165 Hobart Avenue in Summit. Formore information, please call (908)273-8787, extensions no. 14 or 25.

Holy Trinity SeniorsTo Meet on Monday

WESTFIELD – The next meetingof the Holy Trinity Senior Social Clubwill be on Monday, February 13, at1:30 p.m. in the school gymnasium.

Guest speaker Eileen Fox, who headsthe Helping Hands volunteer group atthe Holy Trinity Roman Catholic Churchin Westfield, will explain how the grouphelps seniors by supplying rides, run-ning errands or helping with small choresaround the home. This service is avail-able to Holy Trinity parishioners only.

Refreshments will be served fol-lowing the general meeting. Theclub’s next trip will be to Doolan’s inSpring Lake for a celebration of theFeast of St. Joseph.

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Why Condone ‘Idol’s’Promotion Of Ridicule?

By JESSICA RIEGELSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

We live in an age when pop cultureis often to blame for our problems:Marilyn Manson is responsible forschool shootings and Britney Spearsfor pre-teens in belly shirts. Muchimportance is placed on protectingour youth from damaging values andideas, fearing that they will emulatewhat they see in the media.

The Motion Picture Association ofAmerica (MPAA) now assigns moredetailed ratings so parents can bewary of exposing their children to“pervasive sexual content” or “somescary moments.” Complex Internetfilters scrutinize keywords to preventchildren from stumbling across dis-turbing websites. But if we are soworried that the women in rap videosteach girls to devalue themselves andcartoon characters teach homosexu-ality to preschoolers, then why are wenot concerned with the values taughtby “American Idol?”

Fox’s popular talent competitioncalls for young adults to compete forrecording deals and pop star status.Though the audience ultimately votesfor the winner, the focal point of theshow is the panel of three celebrityjudges headed by the notoriouslycaustic Simon Cowell. After perfor-mances, the judges make blunt, usu-ally demeaning and cruel observa-tions of the vulnerable contestants.

At a recent Chicago audition,Cowell suggested a bigger stage foran overweight woman and advised aman with a high-pitched voice to shavehis beard and put on a dress. Over thepast few seasons, the stabs at con-tenders have shifted from perfor-mance critiques to offensive attackson physical appearance, sexuality andmental competence. The cameras fol-low the disheartened contestants off-stage, zooming in as crestfallen tearsroll down their cheeks. This, appar-ently, is the state of wholesome fam-ily entertainment.

With record high rankings, “Ameri-can Idol” is one of the most watchedshows on television and it attractsviewers of all ages. The Parents Tele-

WHS Model UN AttendConference In Hershey

WESTFIELD – One hundred andforty students from Westfield HighSchool’s Model United Nations Clubrecently attended the Model UnitedNations Conference in Hershey, Pa.,bringing home top honors in severalcategories of competition. Approxi-mately 1,200 students from highschools in New Jersey, Delaware,Pennsylvania and Maryland partici-pated in United Nations activities atthe annual conference.

Daniel Farabaugh, who co-advisesthe club and teaches Social Studies atWHS, said, “The Westfield studentsdemonstrated drive, intellect and in-sight. Our school delegation won thePremier Delegation honor, which goesto the schools that complete all oftheir work on time and perform wellat the conference with both skill andclass. The students’ outstanding per-formances earned them considerablerecognition at this year’s conference.”

The Westfield delegation from theUnited Kingdom, made up of JesseGarfinkel, Lucke Ricci, Julie Tiedrich,Ojus Patil, Jessica Sheft-Aston, NikkiBirdsey, Will Schwartz, PatrickMcCabe, Samantha Coulson, JuneLee, Ryan Kuppersmith, NehaLimaye and Rachel Tucker, receivedthe Delegation Award. This honor isreserved for only three of the over160 countries represented at the con-ference. The Premier Delegate Awardsfor individual performance in debatewere handed out to Ben Zakarin, WillSchwartz, Matt Carville, Luke Ricciand Jesse Garfinkel.

Other top awards went to LindseyGoldberg, Amanda Gross, DavidShottland and Ayn Wisler who wereselected to participate this summeras National Affairs Delegates in thenational Model United Nations con-ference in North Carolina. SamMiller, Jennifer Metz, Matt Harris,Amanda McQuade, Jessica Sheft-Aston, Julie Tiedrich and Luke Ricciwere also chosen as National AffairsAlternate Delegates. The Outstand-ing Position Paper Awards were pre-sented to the committee led by Jes-sica Riegel, Caitlyn Oster, BrittaGreene, Benny Maimon, and Lauren

Brachman.In addition to participating in this

year’s Model U.N. activities at theconference, the following 13 WHSstudents were elected to serve as pre-siding officers at next year’s ModelU.N. conference: Amanda Hayden,Matt Harris, Ben Zakarin, MattCarville, Ayn Wisler, PatrickMcCabee, Amanda McQuade, WillSchwartz, Emily Kieczykowski,Rachel Feeney, Lindsey Goldberg,Emily Bregman and Julie Tiedrich.

Under the direction of faculty ad-visors Mr. Farabaugh and David DellaFera and with the support of theWestfield YMCA, this year’s ModelUnited Nations Club members con-tinue Westfield High School’s recordof achievement in the Model U.N.program.

“The Model U.N. Club is a forumfor students to not only learn aboutthe dynamics and politics of ourworld, but also the value of collabora-tion,” commented WHS Principal Dr.Robert Petix. “We are proud of whatthese students have accomplished.”

WF Cadet EarnsDean’s List Status

WESTFIELD – James Donovan ofWestfield was among the 444 cadetsrecently named to the Deans’ List forthe first semester at the Virginia Mili-tary Institute.

James, a senior from Westfield, ismajoring in Biology.

To be eligible for the Dean’s List, acadet must have a grade point aver-age of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and no gradebelow C.

Cadet Donovan is the son of Drs.James and Mary Donovan.

COOKIE SALE SUPPORT…Girl Scouts from the Westfield community of theGirl Scouts of Washington Rock Council (GSWRC) visit with Jerry Lipchutz, leftin back row, and Ryan Mann of Hershey’s Deli in Westfield as part of GSWRC’s2006 Cookie Sale. Girls from all 24 communities the council serves will bereaching out to area businesses and residences through Sunday, February 5,peddling the renowned treats. For more information on how to purchase GirlScout cookies, please contact the council offices at (908) 232-3236 or accesswww.westfieldnj.com/girlscouts.

vision Council (PTC) continually in-cludes “American Idol” in its Top TenBest Network TV Shows for FamilyViewing and gives it a “green light”for promoting “responsible themesand traditional values.”

Understandably, the PTC warnsagainst many primetime shows thatfeature sexual content, offensive lan-guage or violence. The themes ofsuch programs may very well relayobjectionable messages to youngviewers. But the lack of concern over“Idol’s” mean streak suggests that‘being mean’ is perfectly acceptablein today’s society. “Idol” glorifiesmaking fun of others, portraying ver-bal harassment as exciting and enter-taining. Won’t impressionable chil-dren learn from the “Idol” judges thatit’s okay to be mean in the same waythat young viewers might swap theirt-shirts for tube tops after too muchMTV?

Whether the show’s producers areupping the cruel quotient to attractpublicity or participants are becom-ing more deluded and disillusionedin their quest for fame, the messagesent by “American Idol” is clear:there’s nothing wrong with beingmean. For a country seemingly ob-sessed with teaching good, moralvalues, it’s curious that we so happilyapprove a program that promotes ridi-cule and humiliation.

Jessica is a junior at Westfield HighSchool.

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UC AnnouncesScholarship Awards

SCOTCH PLAINS –Union Catho-lic High School in Scotch Plains an-nounced the recipients of scholar-ships for 2006. The results were basedon a scholarship exam, which wasgiven at Union Catholic on January 7.

In celebration of all the winners, aPrinciples Reception was hosted atUnion Catholic on January 26.

A full tuition scholarship wasawarded to John Cierpial, who is cur-rently an eighth grade student at St.John the Apostle School in Clark. Aone-half tuition scholarship wasawarded to Jamie Ciocon who is cur-rently an eighth grade student at St.Francis Cathedral School inMetuchen.

The following students were alsoawarded monetary scholarships fortheir excellence in academics.Alex Bricki Thomas KaluznyMegan Carr Robert MagellaAlexandra D’Aluisio Samantha MarquesAaron Knowlson Jessica MondonJaclyn Ferrie Jordan MorriseyKathleen Franklin Catherine MunkittrickMegan Furlong Stephanie OliveiraStephen Gaspar Aaron PinkardGregory Gedman Holly Anne RebovichArielle Gonzalez Kelly TimmesElizabeth Jones Alexander Tran

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WF Students AttainDean’s List Status

WESTFIELD –Muhlenberg Col-lege has announced its Dean’s Listfor the fall semester of 2005. Stu-dents must earn a minimum of a 3.5grade point average (4.0) scale toattain Dean’s List status.

Anna Tabachnik, a junior, is ma-joring in Math and Accounting. Sheis the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.Eugene Tabachnick and is a gradu-ate of Westfield High School(WHS).

Joseph DeCampo, a sophomore, ismajoring in History. He is the son ofMr. and Mrs. Joseph DeCampo and isa graduate of Leonia High School.

Katherine Nicol, a sophomore, ismajoring in Psychology. She is thedaughter of Mr. and Mrs. WilliamNicol and is a graduate of WHS.

Jenna Zorn, a sophomore, is major-ing in Psychology. She is the daugh-ter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Zorn andis a graduate of WHS.

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Ragtime Audition To TakePlace Earlier Than Others

AREA – The New Jersey Perform-ing Arts Center (NJPAC) and theWestfield Young Artists’ CooperativeTheatre (WYACT), who collaborateeach year on a summer musical pro-duction, have announced that audi-tions for the role of Coalhouse WalkerJr. in this summer’s production ofRagtime will be earlier than the restof the auditions that take place atNJPAC’s Fifth Annual Young ArtistTalent Search on March 25 and 26.

The early auditions will take placeon Saturday, February 11, from 10 a.m.to 1 p.m. at NJPAC’s Lucent Center forArts Education at 24 Rector Street inNewark. There will be callbacks todance, read and play piano on February11, 3 p.m. at the Lucent Center.

Auditionees should prepare a songfrom Ragtime for the auditions.

Auditionees for the role ofCoalhouse Walker Jr. must bring aphoto of themselves and their résumé.If the auditionee is not singing a songfrom Ragtime, he or she is asked tobring sheet music from a Broadwaymusical in the correct key. They shouldalso be prepared to play a piano piece,preferably a song that Coalhouse plays

in Ragtime, such as “New Music.”The role of Coalhouse Walker is an

African-American Baritone I whomust play piano, move well and is acharismatic leading man.

The WYACT/NJPAC revival willfeature a multi-cultural cast of ap-proximately 45 to 50 New Jerseyyouth between the ages of 14 and 23.Twenty musicians from New Jerseystate youth orchestras and five sea-soned professionals will comprise the25-member pit orchestra. Settings,props and wardrobe operations,onstage and backstage, will be in thehands of professionals assisted byfive to eight young technical interns.

The young performers, musiciansand technical interns will come fromat least 10 of New Jersey’s 21 coun-ties and will participate free of chargein this project. NJPAC will presentthe fully-staged production for nineperformances in July 2006, and thenthe show will travel to AlgonquinArts Theatre in Manasquan for anadditional seven performances.Nearly 7,800 people from across NewJersey are expected to attend the per-formances.

ARRIBA…Franklin School kindergarteners Isaiah Reese and Hayley Luerssenshow off the vests they created during their Mexican fiesta.

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February 2006 Events at the Westfield Memorial Library The Library will be closed on February 20, 2006

ADULT PROGRAMS

Feb 1 7:00 PM East Lynne Theater Company presents: Robeson through his Words and Music Feb 3 1:30 PM TGIF: A Rose Is a Rose: Gertrude Stein Feb 7 7:00 PM Sundance Film Fest:: Girlfight Feb 8 10:00 AM Computer Training: Your Library 24/7 Feb10 1:30 PM TGIF: Lincoln’s Birthday Remembered Feb 14 10:00 AM Computer Training: Puzzled by the Internet I Feb 14 7:00 PM Sundance Film Fest:: Ruby in Paradise Feb 17 1:30 PM TGIF: Edgar Bergen Feb 21 10:00 AM Computer Training: Puzzled by the Internet II Feb 21 7:00 PM Sundance Film Fest:: Blood Simple Feb 24 1:30 PM TGIF: Mardi Gras Feb 28 7:00 PM Sundance Film Fest: Brothers McMullen

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS Ongoing Programs Feb 1, 8, 15, 22 10:00 AM Preschool Storytime OR Feb 7, 14, 21 1:30 PM Preschool Storytime Feb 2, 9,16, 23 10:00 AM Mother Goose Group Feb 3, 10, 17, 24 10:00 AM Baby Rhyme Time

Special Events Feb 2 3:30 PM Intro to Money (by Commerce Bank) Feb 11 10:30 AM Queen Nur’s Sweet Potato Tales Feb 13 4:45 PM Movie: The Enormous Crocodile Feb 14 3:30 PM Valentine’s Day Party Feb 17 3:30 PM Book Reading: The Iron Giant Feb 25 10:30 AM Tucker’s Tales: Aesop’s Fables All programs are free to Westfield Memorial Library cardholders. Pre-registration or age

restrictions may apply to some programs. Call the library for further information.

550 East Broad Street, Westfield, NJ 07090

908-789-4090 www.wmlnj.org

THE STUDENT VIEWTHE STUDENT VIEWTHE STUDENT VIEWTHE STUDENT VIEWTHE STUDENT VIEWThe weekly column written by local high school students


THE WEEK IN SPORTSSee it all in color at!www.goleader.com

Sports Section Pages 11-16

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MINEO GETS ‘OW’, SECOND TITLE; GIANNACI WINS; MACKAY SECOND

Raiders Claim 2 Champions, BrearleyGets Team Title at UC Mat Tournament

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

Bears are definitely not an endan-gered species when considering whois dominant in Union County wres-tling. The Brearley High School Bearsclaimed four individual championsand totaled 227 points to grab theirfirst Union County (UC) crown, beat-ing out Roselle Park (RP) (208.5) andRahway (R) (205) in Union on Febru-ary 4. Scotch Plains-Fanwood claimedtwo champions and finished fifth with154 points and Westfield positionedone wrestler in the finals and finished

ninth with a total of 70.Westfield High School coach Glen

Kurz received the UC “Coach of theYear Award” for bringing his teamfrom an 0-16 record last year to an 11-2 record to date. Kurz also won theaward in 2001.

The Bears (B) had four championsin Ken Knapp (103-lbs), JoeLospinoso (119-lbs), Anthony Evans(152-lbs) and sophomore JesseBoyden (215-lbs) who won his sec-ond title. Rahway claimed three indi-vidual titles, junior Ryan Wilson (130-lbs), Darrion Caldwell (160-lbs) andheavyweight Andre Neblett. RaidersPat Mineo (140-lbs), who won thelower weight Outstanding WrestlerAward, and Nick Giannaci (189-lbs)claimed individual titles. New Provi-dence (NP) also had two champions,Wade Baldwin (125-lbs) and LarryPeotter (145-lbs).

Mineo, seeded first, began his climbto his second UC title with a 32 sec-ond fall over Kevin More of Gover-nor Livingston (GL). Next, he ad-vanced to the finals by pinning KevinFedison (NP) with a Turk to a cradlecombination in 3:56. In the finals,Mineo, donning a “blast-from-the-past” uniform, recorded a takedownand a double back arm bar near-falland another takedown before extin-guishing RP’s Mike Montgomery in4:43 with a headlock, sit through setup by a smooth duck under takedown.

“This is a throwback uniform. Thecoach let me use it in the finals,” saidMineo. “I went out there to do my job.The last time I beat him 9-4. He wasstalling a little. I wanted to pin himthis time. He was trying a roll throughand I went off on his mistakes and

caught him a few times. The duckunder is one of my favorite movesand I caught him in that headlock.”

Giannaci received the top seed andkept it beginning with a 1:37 fall overGL’s Joe Kline. In the semifinals,after recording a takedown, he stuckRP Panther Kevin Nemick in 3:44.

“I worked on the (arm) bars a lot inpractice and I figured to take it andrun with it,” Giannaci said of his bout

with Nemick. “I work in practice,always moving, always moving.”

In the finals, having defeatedElizabeth’s (E) Rich Tabor, 6-3, onJanuary 25, Giannaci knew what hehad to do and did with three takedownsand an escape to grab a 7-4 victoryand the 189-lb crown.

“I have respect for that kid. He haspowerful shots. My father always

Devils Edge Raiders, 206-199For County Girls Swim Title

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Considering how evenly matchedthe Westfield and Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School girls swimteams have been of late — the teamssplit their last two dual meets, andshared the county title a year ago —it wasn’t that much of a surprise thatlast Saturday’s Union County Swim-ming Championships at Elizabethcame down to the final relay, withtop-seeded Scotch Plains-Fanwoodin lane 3 and No. 2 seed Westfieldright next door in lane 4.

After 10 events, including two fi-nal heats — the 200-freestyle and100-backstroke — that featured onlyWHS and SP-F girls, three each,Westfield had a slim 174-173 lead.With the final relay worth 32 points tothe winner and 26 to the runnerup, itwas winner-take-all.

Westfield took a quick 2.49-sec-ond lead when sophomore AlexiKuska split a 55.87. Juniors DarrellAnn Smith (56.69) and Kylie Fraser(56.26) expanded the lead to 5.38seconds for junior anchor Brittany

Reyes (56.62), who brought up thewin in 3:45.47. That was the sixthfastest 400-freestyle relay in WHShistory.

That Kuska was even swimmingSaturday was a small miracle, con-sidering she had surgery on Novem-ber 19 in New York City’s MountSinai Hospital to remove nine tumorsfrom her left leg.

“They cut my leg from just underthe knee down to just above the ankle.And when they got in there they foundthere were 22 tumors, not just nine,”Kuska said. “They inserted a tita-nium rod into the bone and put bonechips from a cadaver in there. It’skind of like a bone burrito. They saidthat in four to five years, I should havemy own bone back.”

Kuska rolls around the deck in awheelchair and uses crutches to getaround shorter distances. Teammateshave to help her onto the startingblocks. Needless to say, the missedtraining time has had an affect on herkicking, and her turns are difficultbecause she can’t push off with her

left leg.“I’d say my upper body strength is

about what it was before the surgery,but my kick is only about 50 percent,and my turns and start are kinda flat,but that will come back once I get myleg going,” she said. “Half my (left)leg isn’t there. It’s just numb.”

Westfield got off to a great startSaturday when its medley relay ofFraser, Katie Morgan, Reyes andKuska won by a touchout, 1:55.28 to1:55.65 over Scotch Plains’ MaryHenkels, Becca Fox, Melissa Helockand Jillian Murphy.

The wild 200 saw Scotch Plainsfinish 1-2 with Brittany Larkin(2:05.27) and freshman Kim Rizzo(2:06.96), but Westfield got 3-4-5 withLauren McCurdy and freshmenStephanie Albright and CatherineMaguire to only be outscored by theRaiders 34-33 in the event.

Blue Devil Swim Boys GrabSeventh Straight UC Crown

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Senior Pat Daurio and junior P.J.Harley each won two events Fridaynight as the Westfield High Schoolboys swim team rolled to a convinc-ing victory at the Union County Swim-ming Championships at ElizabethHigh School.

Westfield piled up 304 Points, wellahead of runnerup Oratory Prep (184)and third-place Scotch Plains-Fanwood (180). It was the seventhstraight county title for the Blue Dev-ils, and the 49th in the last 50 years.

The town of Westfield actually ac-counted for all 11 victories. In addi-tion to Daurio and Harley, WHS gotwins from freshman ChrisDeLaFuente in the butterfly and jun-

ior Luke Baran in the backstroke.Baran, Daurio, Matt Blutfield andBrandon Cuba captured the medleyrelay, giving the Blue Devils sevenfirsts. The other four were accountedfor by Westfield resident GrantMoryan, a senior at Oratory in Sum-mit. Moryan won the 50 and 100-freestyle (giving him four careercounty titles), and pulled out firstplaces for Oratory in both freestylerelays with superior anchor legs.

“We swam very well. After thetough month of January we had, los-ing all five dual meets despite swim-ming very well, it was good to see ourgood swims rewarded with the teamtitle,” said WHS coach Bruce Johnson,winning the county title for the 11th

time in his 12 years. “All the firstplaces Friday night were the top seeds,but there were some really nice swims.P.J.’s 200 free (1:48.77) and Chris’butterfly (54.44) put both of them onthe WHS Top 15 All-Time List inthose events. P.J. passed guys likeSteve Schmitt, Chris Heinen, TimmyRomano and Scott Kaslusky. Chriswent ahead of guys like Sam Gurdus,Pat (Daurio), Steve Schmitt, AustinBurkett and Tom Hartye. That’s somebig names in WHS swim history.”

Daurio’s win in the 200 IM was asolid 1:59.62, just off the meet recordset by Darren Hertell. Ironically,Daurio’s time (1:57.99) in a closeloss to Lawrenceville would’ve set



CONTINUED ON PAGE 15Alex Cena ([email protected]) for The Westfield Leader and The Times

KNOWING THAT EVERY POINT COUNTS…Blue Devil Lauren McCurdyfinished third in the 200-freestyle with a time of 2:07.33. The Blue Devils edged theRaiders in the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, to capture the UnionCounty crown.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesON HIS WAY TO THE OUTSTANDING WRESTLER AWARD…Raider Pat Mineo prepares to slip in a Turk ride on PioneerKevin Fedison in the 140-lb quarterfinals. Mineo won his second county title and won the Outstanding Wrestler Award.

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Devil’s Den

By BRUCE JOHNSONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

It was one of the winters of my ado-lescence, 1963 or 1964, maybe even1965 or 1966, and I was sitting on mybed at 712 Embree Crescent, fiddlingwith the dial on my little AM radio (inthe long-ago days prior to FM), trying tofind some faraway rock-and-roll sta-tion. All of a sudden I came upon abasketball game, a college game. It wasKentucky against some long-forgottenopponent. But the announcer was awe-some. Although I was already an Ala-bama fanatic, it didn’t take long to real-ize that listening to Cawood Ledfordannounce Wildcat hoops was a treat.

Though now known as Mr. Swim-ming, basketball was by far my sport ofchoice “back in the day.” And the wayLedford brought the game to life wasenough to get me to buy a scorebook andactually keep score of the games.

This all comes back to me after goingSunday to see the movie “Glory Road,”about the Texas Western team, with fiveblack starters, that stunned lily-whiteKentucky in the 1966 NCAA Tourna-ment final.

Anyhow, Kentucky was coached bythe legendary Adolph Rupp, the Baron ofthe Bluegrass (and a known-racist). Andthose Kentucky teams are etched into mybrain, 40 years later, thanks to Ledford,who was an “old-time” announcer, justgiving you the facts, telling you whathappened, and not screaming andhollering over every last-second shot. Heprobably wouldn’t be hired these days,because he wasn’t much of a showman.But for 39 years (his first broadcast wasa 1953 UK football game when the ’Catswere coached by Bear Bryant), Ledfordwas the voice of UK hoops. His last gamewas the legendary Duke-Kentucky gameat the Meadowlands, decided on Chris-tian Laettner’s miracle shot. Ledford diedon Sept. 1, 2001.

His signoff after that historic game,ironically, included the title of the newmovie. “For those of you who have gonedown the glory road with me, my eternalthanks. This is Cawood Ledford sayinggoodbye, God bless, and goodnight ev-erybody.”

How good was Ledford? Actress AshleyJudd, a Kentucky graduate, has said thather family used to watch the Kentuckygames on TV, but turn the volume downand listen to Ledford do the announcing.In 1994, he was inducted into the NaismithBasketball Hall of Fame as the fifth win-ner of the Curt Gowdy Award. The firstfour winners were Gowdy, MartyGlickman, Chick Hearn and Johnny Most.Since Ledford, inductees have been DickEnberg, Billy Packer, Marv Albert, DickVitale, Bob Costas, Hubie Brown, DickStockton, Jim Nantz, Rod Hundley andMax Falkenstien.

Sorry, let’s get back to those Ken-tucky teams. At point guard was LouieDampier, who went on to a long profes-sional career. Tommy Kron was a 6-foot-5 guard, Cotton Nash was the bigman in the middle (and a future probasketball and major league baseballplayer), and one of the forwards was aguy named Pat Riley, who you mighthave heard about as a coach, of theLakers, Knicks and now the Heat. AndI can remember other names, like ThadJaracz, Steve Clevenger, Larry Conleyand Jim Lemaster.

‘Glory Road’ Brings Back MemoriesOf the Late, Great Cawood Ledford

I’m sure not many of my classmateswere spending the weekends of theirlast year in high school listening toCawood Ledford describe the Wildcats’1-3-1 zone or the beauty of a pick-and-roll or backdoor layup. But for me, myscorebook and my can of Fresca, it wasa slice of heaven. Would it ever be anybetter than that?

WELL DESERVEDCongratulations to WHS wrestling

coach Glen Kurz on being named theUnion County Coach of the Year by hisfellow coaches. When you bring a teamback from 0-16, and eight forfeits amatch, to a team that’s 11-2, with usu-ally no forfeits per match, that’s coach-ing. And not just coaching during theseason. Kurz, a former regional champat WHS, puts in the time year-round,constantly trying to return the BlueDevils to the elite level.WHAT WAS COACH THINKING?

Did you read about the New York Cityhigh school girl who scored 113 pointsthe other day? My first thought was, Isure hope the score was like 139-134 infour overtimes.

But no, it turns out Epiphanny Princeof a Murry Bergtraum High Schoolscored her 113 in a 137-32 victory overhopelessly outgirled Brandeis.Bergtraum is currently ranked No. 2 inthe country. At one point, Bergtraum led74-11.

Prince, a 5-foot-9 recruit for Rutgers,got a national record, hitting somethinglike 54 out of 60 shots from the floor.She was on “Good Morning America.”She has gotten her face in the city papersand big headlines, too. Why do somemembers of the media, both electronicand print, think that is something thatshould be played up? Instead, theyshould be asking why somebody wouldroll up the score or an inferior oppo-nent? Why would a player even want arecord set against a weak sister, so tospeak? And what, exactly, was the coachthinking?

“I felt she had a chance for a recordand I didn’t want to deny her that,”Bergtraum coach Ed Grezinsky told aNew York newspaper. Prince broke therecord previously set by Cheryl Miller.

As a coach, I’d love to know how orwhy a coach would do that to his ownplayer? This girl has to know that this isgoing to follow her around, like an alba-tross on her back. When she gets toRutgers and is getting four points a gameas a junior, she’ll hear the “Isn’t that thegirl who scored 113 points one game?Did she lose it?” comments. (Anybodyknow where Dajuan Wagner is thesedays? He’s the Camden High guard whopoured in 100 points in a 157-67 win overGloucester Tech back in 2001.)

Prince is obviously a great player, asevidenced by her 39 points in a 65-63loss to nationally No. 1 Christ the Kingat Madison Square Garden. That’s awe-some. But nobody should pay attentionto the 113-point game.

A FIRST FOR BOYD?It remains to be seen if Mark Boyd

will be the starting quarterback for theWHS football team next fall when theseason opens at Cranford. But Boyd isthe only quarterback with any gameexperience, and he is a steady, depend-able player. In fact, he’d have probably

been an excellent quarterback in formerWHS coach Gary Kehler’s run-orientedsystem.

And that brings up an interesting point.There have been many outstanding wres-tlers since Kehler restarted the programin 1958 — 11 state champions, 37 re-gional champions and 168 district cham-pions. And there have been some finewrestlers who were also football play-ers in the fall — two-time state cham-pion Dave Morash, Marty Howarth, JayIsbrecht, Leroy Gallman, state cham-pion Joe Wiendl, Ron Hall, Jon Gordon,Pete and Rick Adelaar, state championFrank Jackson, Bob Harvey, Jim Zitch,state champion Kurt Stiefken, John Kerr,John Williams, Jim Howard, John Iglar,Mike and Mark Giacone, Jay Factor,Mike Stagaard, Seth Coren, Ken Marsh,and many, many others.

But how many WHS quarterbackswere also varsity wrestlers? – None.

Here’s a look at all the WHS T-forma-tion quarterbacks (not including thesingle wing years prior to 1961 and in1994 and ’95), and their other varsitysports.

Bud Mueller (1961-62): none; olderbrother Bob was a wrestler.

Dwight Davies (1963): baseball; butwould’ve been a tremendous wrestler.

Dick Stotler (1964-65): basketball,baseball.

Bob Brewster (1966-67): baseball;younger brother Daryl got the family’swrestling genes.

Pat McCabe (1968): baseball.Joe Monninger (1969-70): baseball;

older brother Mike was a wrestler.Alan Deombeleg (1971): none.John Brown (1972): golf.Bobby Davis (1973): basketball, base-

ball.John Davis (1974): none.Dean Boylan (1975-76): none.Matt McDonough (1977): none;

younger brother Paul was a wrestler.Steve Bodmer (1978): none.Dave Kahn (1979): none; younger

brother Bill was a wrestler.Mike Lasher (1980): none.Kevin Morris (1981): baseball.Roger Brewster (1982): baseball;

older brother Daryl was a wrestler.Dan Mulholland (1983): none.Jeff Monninger (1984): none.Todd Graf (1985): baseball.Dave Brown (1986-87): basketball,

lacrosse.Lou Rettino (1988-89): lacrosse.Jeff Suto (1990): basketball.Mike Catenacci (1991): lacrosse.Chris Infantino (1992): baseball.Steve Cheek (1993): baseballKevin Dowling (1996): none.Bob Baykowski (1997): baseball.Brandon Doerr (1998): baseball.Chris Giacone (1999): baseball, track;

older brothers Mario, Mike and Markwrestled.

Ryan MacDonald (2000): lacrosse.Louis Mercer (2001): basketball.Jan Cocozziello (2002-03): basket-

ball, baseball.Mike Patella (2004): lacrosse.Nick DeRosa (2005): lacrosse.The Devil’s Den appears Thursday in

The Westfield Leader during the scho-lastic sports season. Contact us withcomments, suggestions or trivia ques-tions at [email protected]. Go Devils!

HENDRICKS SCORES 15 POINTS, HARRIS PUTS IN 12

Lady Vikings Rally, OverrunComet Basketballers, 39-33

By FRED LECOMTESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Union Catholic High Schoolgirls’ basketball team rallied in thesecond half to defeat the HillsideComets, 39-33, in Scotch Plains onFebruary 3 and qualified for theNJSIAA state tournament for the 30thstraight season.

Senior guard Leslie Hendricksscored a game-high 15 points, in-cluding two 3-pointers. She also hadfour rebounds, three assists and onesteal. Guard Courtney Harris pouredin 12 points, pulled down 13 rebounds,had two assists and stole one ball.Sophomore Jess Riddick hauled in 17rebounds and netted eight points.Hassanah Oliver led the 8-12 Cometcharge with 14 points.

“Our kids stepped up big tonight.They knew what was at stake and theyknew it would have been the first timein thirty years that we did not get to the

state tournament,” said Viking HeadCoach Kathy Matthews. “Now our jobis to play like this on a regular basis.Over the last two weeks we had kids outwith illness and played without three ofour top eight. We started out a littlecomatose. I called a time-out, spokewith them about our reaction and theypicked it up after that. They did not letthe lid on the basket effect them. Theyplayed through that, got some goodshots and they started falling. Weshowed persistence and toughness andI want to see that the rest of the way.”

The 7-7 Vikings fell short in theirshooting as the Comets drew firstblood with a 9-0 run. Oliver nettedseven points to put Hillside ahead 10-5 in the first quarter. Hendricksswished a 3-pointer and Harris rolledin a lay-up off a feed from Ally Walls.

In the second quarter, Hendricksswished a two-point jumper and Har-ris babied in a lay-up to lead the

Vikings to an 8-6 edge. From the freethrow line, the Vikings, however, hita miserable 2-of-10.

Trailing 16-13 entering the secondhalf, the Vikings went full-court man-to-man, trapped the ball, made somesteals and scored. Defensively, the Vi-kings doused the Comets’ fire by takingOliver out of the equation. Hendrickssmoked the net with a 3-pointer, Harrishit three straight baskets off feeds fromBelk and Riddick and rolled in a lay-upto tie the game, 26-26.

Hustle and the clever use of insideshooting tactics knocked the Cometsout of their defensive game plan in thefourth quarter. As the Comets went tothe zone, the Vikings looked to themiddle. Hendricks hit from the rightside and Meghan Dyckman (two re-bounds) slicked in a lay-up. Riddick’smastery of the boards continued as shegrabbed six rebounds and convertedthem to five points. Hendricks con-verted 6-of-6 from the stripe.

“The first half we came out flat. Werealized what we had to do was takenumber one (Oliver) out of the gameand we did. Coach gave us a goodtalking to and we came out with adifferent attitude in the second half.We needed to attack and we needed towin in order to make it to states. Wegot the job done. We had Belk feedingHarris at the high post and that wasthe spark we needed,” said Hendricks.

“Usually a lot of people depend onLeslie to score the points; however,they double teamed her, so everyonestarted shooting and it began work-ing. They then had to spread out theirdefense and it gave us scoring oppor-tunities,” added Harris.

Hillside 10 6 10 7 33Union Catholic 5 8 13 13 39

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Fred K. Lecomte for The Westfield Leader and The TimesUP AGAINST A TOUGH DEFENSE…Union Catholic senior guard Leslie Hendricks, No. 25, and her defenders halt aComet from penetrating the zone. Strong defense and Hendricks’ 15 points defeated Hillside, 39-33.

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LEWIS SINKS 11; YOUNG HITS 8, PULLS 9 REBOUNDS

No. 5 Tiger Cagers Hold OffRaider Boys’ Rally, 49-39


Facing a 16-0 first-quarter deficitagainst the No. 5 ranked team in NewJersey, the Scotch Plains-FanwoodHigh School boys basketball team keptits cool, rallied in the second and thirdquarters but came up short, 49-39, tothe hosting Linden Tigers on Ground-hog Day, February 2. Tiger L.J.McGhee cast the most frequent shadowover the net, bucketing 18 points, whileRob Lewis shaded the net with 11points for the 13-7 Raiders.

Lewis also grabbed seven reboundsbut senior forward Sean Young, whoscored eight points, led the team withnine rebounds. Sophomore BrianDougher sank 10 points and DarnellDortch scored four while D.J Garrett(4 rebounds) and Greg Bayard eachnetted three points. MohammedWilkerson and Ahmad Harris scoredeight points each and Desmond Wadesank six for the Tigers.

Due to the Tigers’ notorious full-court press, the Raiders were caughtoff-guard in the first quarter, surren-dered several turnovers and barely gotoff a shot in the first seven minutes and

40 seconds. In the meantime, McGheeput in six points and Wilkerson, whoalso scored six points, was pulling oneoffensive rebound after another dur-ing that 16-0 offensive frenzy. Fromthat point, after calling a timeout, theRaiders adjusted and successfullymanaged to box out Wilkerson’s domi-nance under the boards. The quarterended 18-4.

“He (Wilkerson) was tough underthe boards. I thought everyone wasboxing out pretty well but he justhappened to come up with a couple of

loose balls. We came out like wedidn’t want to play. We didn’t comeout with any intensity. This is one ofthe best defensive teams in the stateand we are at their place, so you reallyhave to bring it,” said Young.

The adjustment confused the Ti-gers and the Raiders took advantageoffensively in the second quarter witha 16-10 run narrowing the gap to 28-20 at the half. When confronted witha one-on-one situation, Dougher ma-neuvered around the defender andpumped in six points. Meanwhile,Lewis drove to the net and added sixpoints via a lay-up and four free

throws. Young added a lay-up andDortch hit two free throws.

Midway through the third quarter,the Raiders tightened the score to 30-26 with respective 2-pointers fromYoung, Lewis and Bayard; however,the Tigers breathed a sigh of reliefwhen O’Neill Thomas answered witha 3-pointer and McGhee followedwith two 2-pointers. From that point,the Raiders went on a 7-2 run to winthe quarter 13-11 and to begin thefinal quarter down 39-33.

“We definitely picked it up a notch,especially in the second quarter. Wewere boxing out hard. The ball startedcoming in our place and we startedpicking up the rebounding,” notedYoung.

Nursing a lead, the Tigers slowedthe pace. Realizing the urgency astime ticked away, the Raiders had tocommit fouls. The primary recipientof the free passes to the line, McGhee,at first, had trouble finding the markbut, toward the end, he sank three offour and Harris added 2-for-2 to givethe Tigers a 10-6 edge in the quarterto secure the victory.

“They full-court pressure you thewhole game. I thought we handledthe ball well sometimes but, at othertimes, we turned it over. We can’t dothat if we expect to compete againstthese teams,” commented Young.Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 4 16 13 6 39Linden 18 10 11 10 49

ESPERON SINKS 16 POINTS, NWIZUBO PUMPS IN 14

UC Viking Hoopmen ToppleMorris Catholic Boys, 69-63

By FRED LECOMTESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Union Catholic High Schoolboys’ basketball team persisted witha dogged inside offensive attackcoupled with strong rebounding inthe third quarter to emerge with a 69-63 victory against a very good 10-8Morris Catholic team in Scotch Plainson February 3.

Viking senior forward Chris Esperonled the offensive attack with 16 pointsand dominated the glass with 10 re-bounds. Senior guard Obi Nwizubotossed in 14 points, pulled down tworebounds and created foursteals. Senior guard MikeSeamon (11 assists, one steal)and senior forward KristianCortizo each bucketed 12points. Senior forward MattPeters finished with sevenpoints and three rebounds.Omar Keti paced MorrisCatholic with 17 points.

“I think we really improvednow that we’re full strengthand we’re playing some prettygood basketball now,” saidViking Head Coach JimReagan, Jr. “Offensively,when we do score, we’repretty balanced. The seniorsdid a nice job tonight. Theystepped up, that’s the homestretch for us here and we’replaying for some pride. De-fensively, we wanted to pressthem the entire game, get themout of their game and tire themout a little bit. Some sloppyturnovers for them allowedus to score.”

The 7-10 Vikings were atthe right place at the right time, gath-ered most of the rebounds and sprintedto a 10-4 lead in the opening quarter.Esperon and Nwizubo scorched thenet with six points each. Morris Catho-lic, however, showed its flare with aneight-point run to tie the game 14-14.

In the second quarter, Esperon andNwizubo stepped up and pushed in12 points as the Vikings gained theupper hand to carry a narrow 29-27lead into the locker room.

“Offensively, we knew that we weregoing to run them up and down thecourt,” said Esperon. “Once we broketheir point press, we knew we had alay-up clinic.”

Nwizubo, who complemented hisdogged man-to-man defense withthree steals and four points was partof a balanced effort that gave the

Vikings the spark they needed with a17-10 scoring burst in the third totake a 46-37 lead. Seamon came tolife with two base-line jumpers andCortezo swished in a 3-pointer.

The first three minutes of the fourthquarter appeared to be the “SeamonShow” as Seamon shelled the basketwith back-to-back 3-pointers. MorrisCatholic called a timeout to regroupand kept the Vikes alert by sinkingfour 2-pointers in a three minute span,but Union Catholic continued insidepenetration, which resulted in two-pointers by Esperon, Nwizubo and

Todd Larkin, respectively.With four minutes remaining, Mor-

ris Catholic shelled the basket with abalanced attack seven times, includ-ing two 3-pointers and outscored theVikings 26-23.

“The first half, we had a hard timeas a team but we kept it close and wewent up two,” said Seamon. “In thesecond half, we came out focused,strong, made our adjustments andplayed very well as a team and landedon top.”Morris Catholic 14 13 10 26 63Union Catholic 14 15 17 23 69

Lady Blue Devils BagTiger Cagers, 56-44

Erin Miller, Gab O’Leary andDanielle Infantino all hit for doublefigures as the Westfield High Schoolgirls basketball team bagged the 7-9Linden Tigers, 56-44, in Westfield onJanuary 31. Miller (9 assists, 3 steals,3 rebounds) scored 23 points whileO’Leary (5 assists, 6 rebounds) andInfantino (6 rebounds, 3 assists) eachscored 10 points.

Casey El Koury had seven pointsand four rebounds, LeAnne Skorgehad three points and five reboundsand Katie Cronen had three reboundsand a point for the 13-5 Blue Devils.Tiger Deonna Overton had 23 points.Linden 4 11 13 16 44Westfield 11 21 10 14 56

Photos on the Web!www.goleader.com

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesDRIVING TOWARD THE BASKET…Raider Sean Young drives toward thebasket in the game against the Linden Tigers.

Fred K. Lecomte for The Westfield Leader and The TimesCRUISING AROUND A DEFENDER…Viking forward Mike Seamon netted 10 points inthe second half against Morris Catholic. See another picture on page 16.

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Blue Devil Girls Edge Lady Raiders, 206-199For Union County Swimming Championship


Helock edged New Providence’sVictoria Kalevich 2:16.35-2:16.87 towin the 200-IM (Kalevich wouldavenge that loss in the 100-fly), butFraser and Smith went 3-4 to keepWestfield close.

Raider Murphy won the 50-free in25.19 and Mary Henkels was fourth,ahead of WHS’s 5-6 by Liz Hawkinsand Morgan.

Things continued to seesaw in the100-fly, with Helock, Kate Kosenickand Allison Haggan finishing 2-6-7,to Fraser, Reyes and Chrissy

Isabella’s 3-4-8.The 100-free was more of the same,

with Murphy again winning in 55.16,with Kristen Henkels and KateJohnson 7-9.

But Kuska then delivered 28 hugepoints by finishing third in the 100-freestyle and winning the 500-free in aseason-best 5:20.55. Back-to-backevents aren’t usually swum in dualmeets, but in a championship meet,when there are four or five heats of the500-free, it becomes more doable.

“We train at Berkeley (Aquatic

Club) to swim hard in situations likethat. We do interval work that pre-pares to be able to do that, so I wasn’ttoo worried,” Kuska said. “I knew thegirl next to me (Caroline Walsh ofKent Place) in the 500, and she’smore a breaststroker. I thought I couldwin that race.”

Scotch Plains then came back towin the 200-free relay with BrittanyLarkin, Mary and Kristen Henkelsand Murphy, winning by anothertouch over WHS’s Lauren McCurdy,Morgan, Liz Hawkins and Reyes.

The Raiders then appeared to takecontrol with a 39-point 100-back-stroke, led by first place MaryHenkels, and a 3-4 by Kosenick andJohnson. But Westfield came rightback in the breaststroke to regain thelead behind Morgan, first in 1:10.70,freshman Catherine Maguire (fourthin 1:13.08) and senior Callie Meserole(sixth in 1:14.96).

The depth of the Westfield teamwas shown in the final event. Origi-nally coach Jaime Ruszala hadplanned on using Hawkins for one ofthe legs. But the talented juniorsmashed her foot on the wall on herturn at the 75 in the backstroke, andso Ruszala turned to Smith, who ear-lier had taken a couple of fourths.

As the team bus headed off into thebrisk afternoon, Ruszala opened a win-dow and shouted from the giddy bus,“We Won! And don’t misquote me!”

TOP 10 TEAM TOTALS:1. Westfield 306, 2. Scotch Plains-

Fanwood 299, 3. Governor Livingston139, 4. New Providence 129, 5. KentPlace 113, 6. Summit 98, 7. Oak Knoll69, 8. Union Catholic 52, 9. Union 36, 10.Linden 16

the county meet mark. It was his thirdcounty IM title, while the breaststrokewas his first.

As usual, the 50-freestyle was avery close race, with Cuba andMoryan battling stroke for stroke theentire way. Cuba had a slight lead atthe turn and appeared to lead withless than 10 yards left when Moryancaught him at the wall.

“That’s probably the difference

between a 12-month swimmer(Moryan) and a seasonal high school-only swimmer (Cuba), knowing howto finish off a race,” Johnson said.“But Brandon is a tough kid. He hadfour solid swims Friday night. And Ilook forward to seeing what he doeswhen he tapers this year, because he’sworked harder than ever. Last year hewent 21.8 at Individual States, sowho knows?”

Harley’s two wins came in the 200-and 500-freestyles, and avengedtouchout losses to Oratory’s BillHaley in both. Harley and Haley aregood friends and teammates at theBerkeley Aquatic Club, but the friend-ship was dropped for about six-and-one-half minutes while they dueledin the water. The 200 is a better racefor Haley, but Harley took the leadearly and held him off. The 500 wasall-P.J. all-the-way.

“P.J.’s been talking about winningthe county title since he got out of thewater last February,” Johnson said.“It was something he definitelywanted badly.”

DeLaFuente had perhaps the mostimpressive swims of all for Westfield.The freshman swam a lifetime best2:05.00 while finishing second toDaurio in the 200 IM. Then he domi-nated the field in capturing the butter-fly in 54.44, another lifetime best. Hecapped the performance with a 50.87anchor leg on the final relay.

Baran out to battle top-seeded AlexMorrison and Scotch Plains-Fanwoodfreshman phenom Zach Peart in thebackstroke, and it was a wild race.Baran had a slim lead at the 50 and aslim lead into his final turn, which henailed and then brought home the win.

The 200-freestyle relay lived up toits reputation as swimming’s mostexciting event, with Oratory edgingWestfield. Matt Green, Harley andDaurio gave Cuba a slim lead, and heanchored in 22.34, which is a goodsplit, but Moryan’s was 21.66 andOratory had the victory.

The same thing happened in the400-free relay. Morrison got a three-second lead over Green on the leadoffleg, but Harley and Baran broughtWestfield just about even into theanchor legs. DeLaFuente’s solid 50.87was overshadowed by Moryan’s47.35!

“(Moryan) is some kind of swim-mer. It would’ve been great if he’dcome to Westfield, but that’s how itgoes sometimes,” Johnson said.“We’re very happy with who we haveand how they’re swimming right now.”

Westfield, which has won 20 statechampionships, was to find out yes-terday who it would be facing whenthe state tournament opens next week.The first round (unless there is a bye)would be Tuesday, February 14, athome (2:45 p.m.), with the sectionalsemifinal Thursday, February 16, athome (2:45 p.m.). The sectional fi-nal, likely against powerfulBridgewater-Raritan, would be Mon-day, February 20, at Lincoln School,Bayonne.

Bulldog Cagers TopRaiders in OT, 81-76Scotch Plains-Fanwood High

School junior guard Greg Bayardscored a career-high 34 points in an81-76, overtime loss to the hostingMalcolm X. Shabazz basketball teamon January 31. Raider Sean Young,who finished with 16 points, tied thescore with two second remaining inregulation.

Brian Dougher scored 15 pointswhile D.J. Garrett and Darnell Dortcheach scored four for the Raiders.Da’Shon Barrino scored 22 pointsfor the Bulldogs.Sc. Pl.-Fnwd 13 15 18 18 12 76MX Shabazz 22 12 15 15 17 81

Blue Devil Bowlers TakeThird in UC Tournament


The Westfield High School bowl-ing team finished third with a teamtotal of 2,969 in the Union CountyTournament held at Jersey Lanes inLinden on February 2. Cranford tooktop honors with a team total of 3,073followed by Linden at 2,932. UnionCatholic placed fourth at 2,708.

Senior Chris Hedges fired the highseries of 725 with respective gamesof 245, 245, 235 to lead the Cougarsto their first title since 2001. Team-mates Kyle Russamanno turned in a658 series and Rockey Poszyler fin-ished at 601.

Westfield, ranked 10th in the stateat the time, had trouble getting theball rolling and according to HeadCoach Mike Tirone, “It’s one of thosetimes where we just had a bad day.”

Despite their bad day, the BlueDevils have plenty of depth and talentwithin their varsity and junior varsityplayers.

“This is the best team we have everhad top to bottom. With our top 12kids, there is only a nine-point aver-age difference among them,” saidTirone.

The varsity starters are junior AlexWronski, sophomores Eric Curialleand Arley Rojas, and junior Co-Cap-tains Bryan Elsasser and HarrisonMercado. Other important contribu-tors to the varsity have been sopho-more Brett Ettinger and freshmenMatt Marcus and Kevin Murphy.

As of February 3, the varsity owneda 14-6 record and has had impressiveperformances in tournament play. TheBlue Devils started the year comingin 10th out of 48 teams in the BishopAhr tournament and defeated thenNo. 1-ranked Brick Memorial, 7-0.

Next, at the Westfield Tournament,they placed fifth. Then, the Blue Dev-ils placed ninth out of 60 varsity teams

in the Brick Tournament that was wonby the host, Brick Memorial. In theprestigious Mid-Winter Classic, theyplaced third out of a field of the top 60teams in the state at Carolier Lanes inNorth Brunswick on January 14.

The junior varsity team has had itsfirst-ever undefeated season. Therecord stands at 17-0 and has a 25-game winning streak dating back tolast season. Besides Ettinger, Marcusand Murphy, Trevor Yee, TristanBellotti, Patrick Clancy, JustinFrasier-Wright, Matt Printz, GregMucci and Jesse Embry have beeninstrumental in keeping the winningstreak alive.

“We did have an underachievingday. I hope that will motivate us tostep it up for the sectional tournamentwhich will be held at Eagle RockLanes on Saturday,” said Tirone ofthe county tournament.

Westfield Blue Devil Boys Swimmers CaptureSeventh Straight Union County Championship


Raider Matmen BuryUnion Farmers, 71-6The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High

School wrestling team upped itsrecord to 13-7 with a 71-6 victoryover host Union on February 1.

WEIGHT SEQUENCE:160: — Joe Bachi (S) md Josh Nazario, 9-1171: — Mike O’Neil (S) p Steve Olivesia, 3:42189: — Billy Jacobs (S) p VinnyKowalski, 5:05215: — Keith Baker (S) won forfeitHwt: — John Loomis (S) p SolomonOkereke, 0:13103: — Gary Schardien (S) won forfeit112: — Mike Ferrara (S) d CalvinLematty, 6-5119: — Sal Gano (S) p John Simpson, 1:22125: — Brian Gomes (U) won forfeit130: — Ricky Olsson (S) p Randy Halal, 4:32135: — Rob Desiato (S) p John Lodato, 1:15140: — Pat Mineo (S) tf Tim Loessel, 20-5, 6:00145: — Joe Sette (S) p GiovanniWatkins, 1:06152: — Dave DeNichilo (S) p JeffHomere, 1:15

Photos on the Web!www.goleader.com

Alex Cena ([email protected]) for The Westfield Leader and The TimesEN ROUTE TO VICTORY…Raider Melissa Helock strokes her way to victoryin the 200-IM with a time of 2:16.35.

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SP-F Raiders Claim 2 Champions, Brearley Bears GetTeam Championship at Union County Mat Tournament


tapes my matches. I was studyingwhat he does and just used it againsthim,” said Giannaci, whose New Jer-sey record is 21-1.

Blue Devil Colin MacKay may havehad an identity crisis when he beganthe tournament but his trip to the 125-lb finals, where he placed second,served notice that he was a contender.MacKay reached deep inside to graspa 9-5, overtime decision over JonSantoni (R) in the quarterfinals.

“I said, ‘Hey! This is the UnionCounty Tournament. If I win this, I’min the semis. I need to do this now orit’s not going to happen.’ I reached asdeep as I could and that is how I wonthe match,” explained MacKay.

In the semis, MacKay recorded atakedown then clamped second-seeded Mike Williams of Plainfieldin 3:05.

“Last time I wrestled him I spentmost of the time on bottom. I knew Iwas better on my feet. I saw his legsand went for it. I kept my hips downand saw his shoulders on the mat,”MacKay described.

In the finals, MacKay was takendown by top-seeded Baldwin (NP)then tied the score with a third-periodtakedown before yielding a reversalto fall just short, 4-2.

Rahway’s Ryan Wilson, last year’s112 state champ, won his third UCtitle with a 5-2 decision over MikeBoccellari (NP). Caldwell, a two-timereturning state champ, cruised to hisfourth UC title and fourth OW Award– this time for the upper weights – bypinning all three of his opponentsswiftly in the first period. Caldwell isnow within 10 pins of breaking theall-time career record of 101 set by

Pat Lynch of Ocean City. Neblett,ranked fifth in New Jersey, settledPanther Anthony Weiland in 3:27 toclaim the heavyweight crown.

Blue Devil Andrew Shaffer, seededfirst at 145-lbs, tallied a 10-3 victoryover Bear Steve Margolin but wasstunned, 10-6, in the semis by NP’sPeotter, who also stunned PantherMark Mross, 10-7, in the finals andreceived a strong applause from thecrowd when his victory clinched theteam title for Brearley. Shaffer, re-grouped to seize a 22-10, majoritydecision over Anthony Davis (E) thenpancaked Cranford Cougar Jeb Den-nis in 5:09 to take third place.

“It was very disappointing. Com-ing out, I didn’t wrestle very well andwrestled his match,” Shaffer said ofhis bout with Peotter. “My nextmatches, I knew I had to pick it upand went with what I do best,snapdowns and high-C’s to score mypoints and ended up placing third.It’s time to start working harder dur-ing practice.”

Raider Sal Gano (119-lbs) pinnedBlue Devil Sam Reichbach in 1:01then was locked in a 1-1 tie with BearLospinoso who recorded a takedownin the final second to win 3-1.

Lospinoso went on to defeat Johnson’sAnthony Priore, 3-1, for the title.Gano then pinned Muath Aljaludi (R)with a double grapevine in 3:49 andplaced third by decking Panther BrianSkiff with a cradle in 1:09.

“He took a shot. I cross-faced himand I like the cradle,” commentedGano.

Raider sophomore Keith Bakercontinued improving his skills andplaced third at 215-lbs after defeatingPanther Mike Lefano, 3-2. Earlier, hedefeated Cougar Dave Veca, 3-2, andpinned Jon Veras (R) with a lateralthrow in 3:18.

“This is only my second year ofwrestling. I’m finally learning a littlebit more. Coach has been teachingme an arm drag, to a single leg to adouble. It’s helping out a lot,” saidBaker.

Raider Ricky Olsson lost his sec-ond, 2-1, triple overtime bout of theseason in his third-place match withPanther Jorge Branco, whom hepinned earlier in the tournament.Olsson also won a 10-0, majoritydecision over Johnson’s Matt Rusin.Raider heavyweight John Loomisrecorded three falls to place fifth andteammate Mike Ferrara (112-lbs) wona majority decision and a 6-4 deci-sion to grab fifth. Blue Devil ColinWillard won three bouts to take fifthat 171-lbs.

Raider Dave DeNichilo recorded afall in his first bout then took apartPanther Burim Kadrijaj, who had de-feated Raider Joe Bachi in a recent dualmeet, with a 12-4, majority decision.

“I saw what he did against Bachi,one of my best friends. He gave mesome good tips on him. It was a great

win,” said DeNichilo.He then pinned Cougar Chris Cook

with a power half, chest on chestcombination in 1:13 to place fifth.

TEAM TOTALS:1. Brearley (B) 227, 2. Roselle Park (RP)208.5, 3. Rahway (R) 205, 4. New Provi-dence (NP) 166, 5. Scotch Plains-Fanwood (S) 154, 6. Cranford (C) 139.5,7. Elizabeth (E) 106, 8. GovernorLivingston (GL) 87.5, 9. Westfield (W)70, 10. Plainfield (P) 39, 11. Johnson (J)38, 12. Union (U) 33, 13. Linden (L) 2

CHAMPIONSHIPS:103: — Knapp (B) p Juan Herrera (R), 3:46112: — Rahman Fuquan (E) d CraigMontgomery (RP), 4-3119: — Lospinoso (B) d Priore (J), 3-1125: — Baldwin (NP) d MacKay (W), 4-2130: — Wilson (R) d Boccellari (NP), 5-2135: — Rob Coughlin (GL) d RossSoares (RP), 4-2140: — Mineo (S) p Montgomery (RP), 4:43145: — Peotter (NP) d Mross (RP), 10-7152: — Evans (B) d Nicasio (R), 3-2160: — Caldwell (R) p Hany ElShiekh(B), 1:26171: — Pat Hogan (C) p ShedrickGoodridge (R), 3:05189: — Giannaci (S) d Tabor (E), 7-4215: — Boyden (B) p Trevor Martin (NP), :46Hwt: — Neblett (R) p Weiland (RP), 3:27

THIRD PLACE:103: — Peter Terrezza (NP) p AnthonyZangari (RP), 5:18112: — Dan Conroy (B) d Matt Nobbs, 4-3119: — Gano (S) p Skiff (RP), 1:09125: — Williams (P) d Santoni (R), 6-4130: — Branco (RP) d Olsson (S), 2-1, 3 OT135: — Chris Ridente (C) d Oscar Zuniga(R), 3-1140: — Erick Ogada (E) d Kevin Fedison(NP), 10-7145: — Shaffer (W) p Dennis (C), 5:09152: — Granados (NP) d Matt Fullowan(GL), 9-3160: — Jeff Norville (E) p Scott Mack(GL), 3:53171: — Kurant (RP) d Dilts, 2-1, 3 OT189: — Conor Shannon (B) p Nemick(RP), 4:57215: — Baker (S) d Lefano (RP), 3-2Hwt: — Williams (E) p Eric Dubeau, 2:43

Blue Devil Icemen Tie Summit,Fall to No. 13 Montgomery, 3-1

By ANDREW GOLDMANSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

With the February 13 deadline forstate tournament qualification ap-proaching rapidly, each game for theWestfield High School Blue Devils icehockey team is growing in importance.

The Blue Devils opened their weekwith a match up against division rivalSummit, which ended in a 2-2 tie.Coming into the game, the two teamshad played twice with Westfield win-ning the first game 7-4 and tying thesecond 3-3.

In the third game against theHilltoppers, the Blue Devils producedvery little offense, tallying around 15shots in the game, but found them-selves with a 2-1 lead late in the firstperiod as a result of goals from SalEsposito and Jimmy Bender. Summitmanaged to tie the game at two justbefore the end of the second period.

The third period was played veryconservatively by both teams. The

Blue Devils were called for a penaltywith 2:35 remaining but goalie EricZagorski was up to the task to stop theHilltoppers’ tenacious attack duringthe games closing minutes. Zagorskifinished with 23 saves.

Division leader and 13th-rankedMontgomery, the Blue Devils’ nextopponent, jumped out to an early 2-0lead, but Westfield showed determi-nation and refused to allow them torun away with the game. Benderstruck to pull Westfield within one inthe second period.

Although controlling the tempomost of the third period, the BlueDevils could not penetrate the Mont-gomery goal. Montgomery added anempty net goal for the 3-1 win.Zagorski had another strong gamewith 38 saves.

After the loss, the Blue Devils wereone game below the .500 record re-quired for states with the deadlinedrawing near.

County WrestlingPhotos on Website

Over 140 pictures of the UnionCounty Wrestling Tournament willbe available by this weekend onThe Westfield Leader website.

Visit www.goleader.com clickphotos and scroll to 06feb04-UC-Wrestling

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesSETTING UP A TILT…Raider Nick Giannaci, top, works a tilt on Panther KevinNemick in the 189-lb semis. Giannaci went on to win the 189-lb title.

Fred Lecomte for The Westfield Leader and The TimesWORKING A SINGLE LEG…Blue Devil Andrew Shaffer, left, tries to get asingle leg takedown on Pioneer Larry Peotter in the 145-lb semifinals.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesGETTING THE TAKEDOWN…Blue Devil Colin MacKay, left, works a takedownon Plainfield’s Mike Williams and records a pin in 3:05 in the 125-lb semis.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesCOUNTY COACH OF THE YEAR…Westfield Head Coach Glen Kurz, left,accepts the Union County “Coach of the Year” Award from Brearley Head CoachBrian Luciani whose young team won the tournament.

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Very spacious Colonial Cape on nearly a half acre tranquil wooded lot features 7rooms and includes 4 Bedrooms, 2 baths & newer Kitchen with dining area,fireplace, oak floors, 1st floor laundry & so much more.

Perfection plus! Exceptional “Wychwood” Colonial brimming with charm &quiet sophistication. Completely updated in 2005. Offers 10 rooms, 4 Bed-rooms, 3.5 stunning baths, 3 fireplaces, gourmet Kitchen and so much more!


This resplendent “turn of the century” Center Hall Colonial is a romantic vision brimming with Old World opulence. The interior is infused with a rich color palette illuminated by exceptional architec-tural details. Reminiscent of the art of living a century ago with a nod to the luxuries of today: crown molding, columns, French doors & a beamed ceiling mingle with beautifully updated baths & updated kitchen. Rich artistry is etched in the living room with handsome fireplace and formal din-ing room with window seat. More relaxed settings include a family room & tree top great room that exude warmth. Other highlights include a marvelous master suite, generously sized bedrooms, wrap around porch, new 2-car garage, new windows and a vast backyard. Presented for $1,550,000.


Sherrie Natko, Sales Associate 908-233-3014, Direct Dial President’s Club


St. Helen’s HS Boy Cagers TopSt. James, 76-58, MMOG, 82-63

The St. Helen’s boys high-schoolbasketball team upped its record to 6-0 with a 76-58 triumph over St. Jamesof Basking Ridge on January 31 andan 82-63 win over the Hillsboro

MMOG Raiders on February 5.St Helen’s hit 34-62 from the floor

against St. James. Woody Handzasank 31 points (14-21 from the floor).Tad Walsh had 15 points, whileswingman Scott Dyer netted 13.

St. Helen’s found the open manrepeatedly, while deploying a re-bounding advantage that translatedto frequent fast breaks. Unselfish shotdistribution enabled 10 players to findthe scoring column with EricScrudato, Mike Manders, ColinCallahan, Mike Janeway, BobbyFitzpatrick, Mike Amjady and DanMelillo combining for 17 points.

St. Helen’s trailed the Raiders, 11-2, but turned up the speed to lead byeight points at halftime. St. Helen’sstruggled from the line in third quar-ter and had trouble pulling away. Play-ing without Walsh, the front line ofManders (16 rebounds), Dyer andMeliello, had to control the boardsand deliver the ball to Handza,Janeway and Bobby Molson.

St. Helen’s finally broke away inthe middle of the forth quarter to sealthe victory punctuated by a two-handdunk by Handza on a breakaway steal.The victors shot 57 percent (35-61)from the floor. Handza hit for 40points, followed by Dyer and Janewaywith 13 apiece, and Manders, Melielloand Molson scored 16 points, collec-tively.

WF Area Y Boys’ A ClinchesUndefeated Swim Season

The Westfield Y Devilfish Boys’ ATeam clinched an undefeated seasonby beating the Greater Bergen Y Tide,106-102.

8Us: Andre Benz (25-breast) placedfirst and took second in 50-free, JackRose got first in 25-back and secondin 25-fly, Ryan Daniel achieved sec-ond in 25-breast and 25-back andAngelo Dente and Jordan Hickmantied for third in 50-free.

9-10s: Matt Daniel won the 50-

breast and 50-fly, Anthony Gurrieriplaced first in 100-free and second in50-breast, Luke McGrory earned firstin 50-back and second in 50-fly, TylerLessner placed first in 100-IM andthird in 50-back, Aram Barmakiangarnered second in 50-back and thirdin 100-IM, Max Shin achieved thirdin 100-free and 50-fly, and GarrettWilliamson placed third in 50-breast.McGrory, Shin, Daniel and Gurrieriwon the 200-medley relay.

11-12s: Michael Rizzo achievedsecond in 50-breast, Ryan Hobsonearned second in 50-back and third in200-IM, Kevin Oster achieved thirdin 100-free and Brennan Haley placedthird in 50-fly.

13-14s: Matt Meserole won 200-free and 100-fly, Mike Oster placedfirst in 100-back and tied Larry Zhangfor third in 200-IM. Zhang earnedsecond in 100-breast, Jon Kosenickgarnered second in 100-fly and An-drew Cordeiro achieved second in200-free. Meserole, Zhang, Kosenickand Oster won the 200-medley relay.

15-18s: Kevin Smith won the 100-breast and 200-fly, Matt Miller earnedfirst in 200-free and third in 100-back, Mike Fragna placed second in200-IM and 100-back, and BrianPesin garnered second in 100-breastand third in 200-IM. Fragna, Pesin,Miller and Smith won the 200-med-ley relay. St. Helen’s 4th Defeat

St. Mary’s Boys, 30-10St. Helen’s fourth-grade boys bas-

ketball team remained undefeated,with a 30-10 victory over St. Mary’sand Elizabeth of Linden. St. Helen’sare off to a solid 4-0 start and willhave its first big test against St Tho-mas on February 10.

Neilan Dolan and TommyMcDonald each scored eight points.Jack Douglass chipped in four points.Defensively, St. Helen’s was led bythe hustle of Joe Santry and MichaelHeffron.

SP-F Icemen DefeatHudson Catholic, 3-1The Scotch Plains-Fanwood High

School JV hockey team avenged anearlier-season loss to the HudsonCatholic Hawks varsity, defeatingthem 3-1, although being out-shot34-13, in a non-league on January 27.Just five years ago, the Jersey Citybased Hawks were New Jersey statechampions.

Junior center Nick Ryskasenopened the scoring in the second pe-riod with an assist from Eric Kaufman.Later in the period, Rich Kickenwiczwent end to end to score the Raiders’second goal.

The Raiders relied again on thehardworking goaltending of BrianJascur and Chris Bauer to keep thelead. By the end of the second period,the Raiders went into the locker roomwith a one-goal lead.

Partway through the third period,Ryskasen lit the lamp again to makethe score 3-1. The game then shiftedto solid defense, especially from MaxJones and Todd Weiner, where theRaiders held off the Hawks’ on-slaught.

Lady Bulldogs DefeatRaider Cagers, 58-34Jackie Law and Allie Zazzali each

scored nine points in a 58-34 ScotchPlains-Fanwood High School girlsbasketball team loss to No. 1 MalcolmX. Shabazz in Scotch Plains on Janu-ary 31. Lauren Mains scored six pointswhile Lauren Benovengo and LoniKaye each netted four points for theRaiders. Iasia Hemingway poured in28 points for the 16-0 Bulldogs.MX Shabazz 21 12 10 15 58Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 11 8 9 6 34

Alex Cena ([email protected]) for The Westfield Leader and The TimesCHEERING THE TEAM ON…The Union Catholic cheerleaders show their stuffduring the boys basketball game with Morris Catholic.

FRANK D. ISOLDIBroker / Sales Associate

NJAR Circle of Excellence Sales Award: 1993-2005Platinum Level: 2003-2005Direct Dial: 908-301-2038


#1 Listing Agent - Westfield Office 2004-2005


WESTFIELD OFFICE • 209 CENTRAL AVENUE • 908-233-5555

Westfield$639,900

Immaculate 4 Bedroom 2 ½ bathhome located on a quiet horseshoestreet convenient to schools and parkfeaturing a Living Room & FormalDining Room w/gleaming hardwoodfloors; EIK; Family Room w/slidersleading to patio; plus a basement and2 car Garage.

Scotch Plains$550,000

Wonderful expanded Cape onbeautifully landscaped groundsfeaturing an enclosed 3 season Porchleading to a Living Room; DiningRoom; fabulous Kitchen w/centerisland w/cooktop; 3 Bedrooms; 2 fullbaths; Recreation Room; large deck forentertaining; CAC; undergroundsprinkler system and more!

Devil Matmen RoutHudson Cath., 63-16The Westfield High School wres-

tling team elevated its record to 11-2with a 63-16 rout of Hudson Catholicin Jersey City on February 1. TheBlue Devils recorded seven pins, adecision and three forfeits.

WEIGHT SEQUENCE:103: — Nick DeFreitas (W) won forfeit112: — John Barnes (W) won forfeit119: — Jason Perdomo (H) p SamReichbach, 3:29125: — Colin MacKay (W) p AngelSantos, 0:59130: — Matt Kamel (W) p GabrielMcCaughly, 0:48135: — Matt Shaffer (W) p DanielNiezrasz, 3:19140: — John Falzon (W) p AndrewBruitton, 0:38145: — Joe Corea (W) p Brian Procel,0:52152: — Andrew Shaffer (W) p Juel Nuez,3:47160: — Mark Boyd (W) p Mike Loureiro,0:56171: — Colin Willard (W) won forfeit189: — Ray Morales (H) won forfeit215: — Steve Cruikshank (W) d BlaineRobinson, 7-4Hwt: — Anthony Lucci (H) md ZachBullek, 8-0

FSPY Swim B Girls OutlastWestern Monmouth YMCAWhen the Fanwood-Scotch Plains

Y (FSPY) girls swim against WesternMonmouth, there are two things youcan rely on: it will be an exciting meetand the score will not be determineduntil the final relays. The January 21meet was no exception. Though FSPYheld a narrow lead throughout themeet, the 105-102 win was not as-sured until the 13-14 medley relay.

In the Individual Medley, 9-10sMia Rossi and Jody Thompson and13-14s Melissa Desnoyers andAmanda Gianni touched 1-2. 11-12sKirsten Carbone and Jessica Croninfinished 1-3, while Bianca Pachecowas first in the 15-18 race.

In Freestyle, 8-and-under KellyBracuto touched first, as did 11-12Martha Slomczewski. 9-10s CarolineLesce and Emma Sherry finished 1-3, while 13-14s Katie Gartner andKim Many and 15-18s Megan Gartnerand Brittany Cole placed 2-3.

In Breaststroke, 8-and-under KellyBracuto finished third, as did 11-12Kirsten Carbone and 15-18 JoannaLuzny. 9-10s Jody Thompson andJanine Cadet touched 1-2; 13-14sEllen Tomljanovic and AmandaGianni placed 2-3.

In Backstroke, 8-and-under CamiSullivan took third, as did 11-12Melissa Keiser. 9-10s Caroline Lesceand Mia Rossi were 2-3, while 13-14s Kim Many and Melissa Desnoyersfinished 1-2.

In Butterfly, 8-and-under MayaDunchus and 9-10 Emma Sherry tookthird. 11-12s Martha Slomczewskiand Jessica Cronin and 13-14s EllenTomljanovic and Cheryl Monteirofinished 2-3; 15-18 Brittany Cole wonher race.

First place finishes in the relayswere achieved by 9-10s CarolineRoss, Jody Thompson, Sara Hoerrnerand Emma Sherry and 13-14s KimMany, Julia Ross, Amada Gianni andMelissa Desnoyers.PUBLICNOTICE

TOWN OF WESTFIELDBOARD OF EDUCATION

NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Sealed proposals will be received by theBoard of Education of the Westfield SchoolDistrict, Union County, New Jersey, at theBoard of Education, 302 Elm Street,Westfield, New Jersey, for the followingsupplies, equipment or services:

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL:RFP 6-1 AUDITORIUM ANDCAFETERIA DRAPES ATWESTFIELD HIGH SCHOOL

PROPOSAL DUE:MARCH 9, 2006 AT 2:00 PM

The bids will be received at the Admin-istration Building, 302 Elm Street,Westfield, New Jersey 07090, on the dateand at the time indicated, and then publiclyopened and read aloud.

Bids must be in strict compliance withspecifications. Specifications may be se-cured from, Purchasing Office 302 ElmStreet, Westfield, New Jersey 07090 (908)789-4407. Bids must be made on theproposal forms in the manner designated.Proposals must be endorsed on the out-side of the sealed envelope, with the nameof the bidder, the bidder’s address andthe name of the supplies, equipment, orservices for which the bid is submitted. It isunderstood and agreed that proposals maybe delivered before the time or at the placespecified for opening. The Board of Edu-cation assumes no responsibility for bidsmailed or misdirected in delivery.

The Board of Education of the Town ofWestfield, in Union County, New Jersey,reserves the right to accept or reject anyand/or all bids for the whole or any part andwaive any informalities in the interest ofthe Board of Education. No bid may bewithdrawn for a period of sixty (60) daysafter the date set for the opening thereof.

Bidding shall be in conformance with theapplicable requirements ofN.J.S.A.18A:18A-1 et.seq., pertaining tothe “Public School Contracts Law”.

Bidders are required to comply with therequirements of Affirmative Action Regu-lations of P.L. 1975, C.127, (NJAC 17:27).

BIDDERS NOTE: BIDDERS NOTE: Bidsecurity is waived for this bid proposal

By order of the Town of Westfield Boardof Education, Union County, New Jersey.

Robert A. BermanBoard Secretary

1 T - 2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $49.98


FANWOOD….Beautiful Setting! This three bedroom, 1 ½ bath

expanded cape sits on a lovely rise. There is a spacious eat-in

kitchen with center island, a formal Dining room, spacious Living

room with fireplace, two Bedrooms on the first floor and a full bath.

Upstairs is an additional bedroom with a half bath. The lower level

has an expansive recreation room, laundry room and plenty of

storage. 100 x 120 lot. Convenient to schools.

Offered for $489,900

For additional information or a private tour, please call:

Cathy Splinter Sales Associate

Direct Dial: (908) 233-5508 [email protected]

600 North Avenue West Westfield, NJ 07090 (908) 233-0065

Owned and operated by NRT Incorporated

HYE-YOUNG CHOI LEADSWESTFIELD HOME SALES

Coldwell Banker Home Loans888-317-5416Concierge Services 800-353-9949Global Relocation Services 877-384-0033Previews International Estates Division 800-575-0952

Mobility Broker Network

www.ColdwellBankerMoves.com

Westfield 908-233-5555209 Central Avenue

Some people think just any real estate company will do.Others expect more.

© 2006 Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT Incorporated.

For the 11th time in her illustrious career,Hye-Young Choi has been named the #1Sales Associate in the Westfield ColdwellBanker office. Ms. Choi earned thisprestigious award by having the highestlevel of sales success in 2005. Hye-Younghas also received high top honors from theNew Jersey Association of Realtors byachieving the Platinum designation for2005 and from Coldwell Banker Nationalfor being named a Premier Agent. This putsHye-Young Choi within the Top 1% of allagents throughout the country. According to the Garden State MultipleListing Service, there were 405 Westfieldhomes sold through the service in 2005.

The average sale price was $781,507 andthe average home was on the market for52 days. Remarkably, the homeownerswho selected Hye-Young to market theirproperties in Westfield realized an averagesale price of $1,217,937! “Hye-Young Choi completelyoutperformed one of the best real estatemarkets ever recorded” stated MichaelScott, the office manager. “Her approachis so professional and so caring that shehas made clients for life”, he added. You can contact Hye-Young Choi at the#1 Westfield Office or log onto www.Hye-YoungChoi.comHye-Young Choi

Recent Home SalesWESTFIELD:

Yossi Arbitsman to Peter and GinLee, 136 Madison Avenue, West,$942,500.

Ronald H. and Amy H. Posyton toJohn and Luci Apostolos, 1166Lawrence Avenue, $1,055,000.

William R. and Patricia L. Forbesto Richard D. and Anne O. Martinson,610 Prospect Street, $1,200,000.

Guido Ferraresi to Oleg andYekaterina Kashtanov, 362 FirstStreet, $365,000.

Colleen and Christopher Coyle toAlun and Kristin Williams, 740Stevens Avenue, $682,500.

Chana S. Meyer to John J. andRosa H. Kim, 932 Harding Street,$537,500.

Wayne B. and Carolyn Krause toRonald and Marijo Labin, 676 Sum-mit Avenue, $599,900.

Ronald A. and Betty C. Louis toTodd W. Manning and Caroline M.Barna Manning, 851 Nancy Way,$729,000.

Walter and Carolyn P. Gergich toEugene and Linda Skowronski, 145Tudor Oval, $625,000.

Messercola Bros. Building Co., Inc.to Aleksandr and Roza Gelman, 8Mohawk Trail, $800,000.

Joseph J. and Kristie Svetics toPrimacy Closing Corporation, 128Boynton Court, $490,000.

Primacy Closing Corporation toGeorge H. Cristina Malgeri, 128Boynton Court, $490,000.

The Schadle Family Partnership toCBK Realty, LLC, 220 Elmer Street,$950,000.

Michael G. and Liana R. Ericksonto John C. Wiley, 822 East BroadStreet, $500,000.

Thomas J. and Jennifer B.Hoblitzell to Michael and MaureenNorris, 853 Fairacres Avenue,$1,150,000.

Carlos and Mary Santana to MarioVicuna, 136 Windsor Avenue,$283,250.

James and Tamara Markham toCharles M. and Donna Dunn, Jr., 237Myrtle Avenue, $429,000.

Dennis Koutras to Neal B. Snitow,Trustee, 221 Myrtle Avenue,$359,000.

Carl and Beverly Figueroa to AmanWilkerson and Martha Friend, 620Ripley Place, $327,500.

Philip A. and Megan T. Leary toRobert and Caryn Mignemi, 411Everson Place, $595,000.

Blake L. and Kerry A. Tucker toBrian Bianchi and Lorice Wegnew,1002 Columbus Avenue, $505,000.

Michael A. and Nancy B. Fischetteto Claus Ertel, 111 Tudor Oval,

$642,000.Richard and Barbara Cantor to John

T. Dannevig and Carol FerrettiDannevig and Kenneth Dannevig, 29Faulkner Drive, $555,000.

John A. Georgeann Volino to Jayand Jodi Klausner, 17 Kaulkner Drive,$550,000.

Frank and Mabelle K. Strader, Jr.to Matthew J. Devaney, 46 Moss Av-enue, $500,000.

John D. Kelly and Diane Linnaneto Henry and Monica Stokes, 105Summit Court, $552,000.

Marc DiBartolomeo and Grace C.Cannistra to John T. Dannevig andCarol Ferretti Dannevig and KennethDannevig, 1730 Boulevard, $490,000.

Patrick Murray Hayden and DeniseMurray Hayden to Joseph E. and MaryAnn Reilly, 209 Ayliff Avenue,$550,000.

Mary E. Driscoll to D&T RealtyAssociates, LLC, 114 MassachusettsStreet, $400,000.

John R. H. and Elizabeth N.Gilmour to Roy J. Moffett, 229 Mas-sachusetts Street, $515,000.

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

Public Notice is hereby given that theordinances as follows were passed andadopted by the Town Council of the Townof Westfield at a meeting thereof held onJanuary 31, 2006.

Claire J. GrayTown Clerk

GENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 1861AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDTHE CODE OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD, CHAPTER 16,“PARKS AND RECREATION”ARTICLE IV WESTFIELD ME-MORIAL POOL, “DEFINI-TIONS”. BY ESTABLISHINGCERTAIN NEW MEMBER-SHIP CATEGORIES.

GENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 1862AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDTHE CODE OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD, CHAPTER 16,“PARKS AND RECREATION”BY CHANGING CERTAINFEES FOR MEMBERSHIP INTHE MEMORIAL POOL ANDBY ESTABLISHING CERTAINNEW MEMBERSHIP CAT-EGORIES.

GENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 1863AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDTHE CODE OF THE TOWN OFWESTFIELD, CHAPTER 29A

(An ordinance to amend the TreePreservation Ordinance)

1 T - 2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $32.64

FANWOOD:David C. and Gail H. Kellogg to

Christopher T. and KimberlyMcAlindin, 99 North Martine Av-enue, $700,000.

Gabriele and Cornelia Braco toEric and Arlaina Sokolsky, 55 ForestRoad, $620,000.

Prudential Relocation, Inc toMichael A. and Elizabeth B.Marranca, 379 Midway Avenue,$349,000.

James and Brenda Dater to Pru-dential Relocation, Inc., 379 Mid-way Avenue, $349,000.

Robert MacFarlane, Jr.and JanetMacFarlane to Richard D. andStephanie R. Alber, 25 Linda Place,$440,000.

Guy E. and Kathleen M. Gebler toVanessa Singh, 66 Woodland Avenue,$315,000.

Gregory L. and Michele L. Youngto Joseph M. and Nina Valente, 78Woodland Avenue, $565,000.

Constance Durante to Cynda C.Smith a/k/a Cynda C. Tamase, 130Pleasant Avenue, $379,900.

Roberta and William G. Jackson toSalvatore Perillo, 45 Oakwood Court,$370,000.

Loretta M. Ostro to Richard andChristine Baylor, 17 Deborah Way,$480,000.

Martin J. and Lori A. Downs toThomas C. and Michele Liss, 25Birchwood Terrace, $488,000.

Scott A. and Linda Vanderwiel toMathew T. and Joanne Fountain, 45Walden Road, $486,000.

William L. and Kimberlee Bonsteinto Thomas and Jennifer Fazio, 6Birchwood Terrace, $530,000.

Robert and Phyllis Thiesing toGlenn S. and Denise M. Scialdoni, 10Birchwood Terrace, $525,000.

Estate of Edwin W. Lyons to An-drea j. Camfield, 188 Tillotson Road,$414,900.

Salvatore Sangiorgi, JosephBattaglia and Anthony Carrubba toMichael K. Sawyer, 43 GlenwoodRoad, $420,000.

Theodore and Sandra Shpunder toAshutosh P. and Vaishali A. Anjaria,53 Glenwood Road, $499,000.

Robert and Lucinda Young to RajMukherji, 125 Westfield Road,$515,000.

David and Linda G. Kreps toRandall and Melisa Pfifer, 22 StewartPlace, $370,000.

Martin and Lieselotte C. Schmiedeto Margaret and Richard Trigo, 25Elm Avenue, $195,000.

Richard S. Rinnell to Michael andLisa DeGaetano, 15 Watson Road,$525,000.

Susan Phillips to Michael Ross, 28Hunter Avenue, $541,950.

Raj Mukherji to Janet Bolante, 32ASecond Street, $280,000.

George Kirschner to KathyRekoon, 3 LaGrande Square,$390,000.

Mukherji Holdings, LLC to Tho-mas Iaione, Jr., 38 South MartineAvenue, $355,000.

Fanwood Equities to MukherjiHoldings, LLC, 38 South MartineAvenue, $250,000.

Sugar-Roc Properties, LLC toWarren and Alice C. Mateychak, 49First Street, $460,000.

Fanwood Equities to 31 MartineInvestors, LLC, 31 South MartineAvenue, $845,000.

Whitaker Properties, LLC toFanwood Plaza Partners, LLC, 313South Avenue, $185,000.

Michael J. Costello to Angel H.Ramos and Maribel Albarra, 53 Lo-cust Avenue, $413,000.

Raoul J. and Iris A. Larrinaga toJavier and Jhany Cruz, 473 SouthAvenue, $375,000.

Yefim and Svetlana Faygold toMary Ann Stypa, 32 Old South Av-enue, $275,000.

Lois W. Fey to Guy and KathleenGebler, 34 Forest Road, $445,000.

Joseph Egan and Jeanne Burkhardto Joseph and Molly Bochenek, 399North Avenue, $444,000.

Joanne Gibson to Yevgen Mishuraand Yuliya Vangorodska, 425 Mid-way Avenue, $389,900.

John P. and Marie Curtin to StevenPace, Sr., 26 Rainier Road, $420,000.

Frederick A. and Maria J.Schacknies to Binayak B. and AnupaShrestha, 9 Rainier Road, $465,000.

Theodore J. Peters, Nancy Petersand Carol Peters to Richard andHellen Hoffman, 1040 Hetfield Av-enue, $302,850.

Theodore J. Peters to Richard andHelen Hoffman, 1034 Hetfield Av-enue, $75,150.

Scott and Rachel Vierschilling toJason and Lauren Scott, 2 BrohmPlace, $405,500.

Paul A. and Christine M. Walker toMark A. and Allison Pryce, 50 HelenStreet, $499,900.

Edward N. and Margaret Sweeneyto Stephen K. and Laura G. Whalen,91 Cray terrace, $545,000.

Wilfred P. and Darlene P. Coronatoto Kurt and Teresa Seefeldt, 71 CrayTerrace, $540,000.

Estate of Eugenia C. Smillie toRobert J. Magnan, 177 Vinton Circle,$449,900.

Bradley A. and Keri Anne Mowryto Glenn and Grace Stuart, 118LaGrande Avenue, $540,000.

John M. Bandola to Sharon A.Forrest, 136 Vinton Circle, $419,000.

John J. and Debra H. Byrne toDonald J. and Dawn Baliko, 17 HelenStreet, $620,000.

Richard and Sandra Stanton toMichael L. Cox, 145 Herbert Avenue,$530,000.

Carmelo and Patricia C. Tartivitato Ronald I. and Dawn M. John, 79Helen Street, $489,000.

Estate of Walter J. Schultz toStanley and Margaret Biner, 180Herbert Avenue, $435,000.

Joel and Donna Whitaker to Evanand Kathleen Kayne, 205 MarianAvenue, $400,000.

Michael A. and Christine V. Dill toGrant and Barbara Babbit, 120 SouthMartine Avenue, $525,000.

Edna T. Smith to Michael V. andPamela A. Bonaccolto, 225 BurnsWay, $430,000.

Children’s specialized Hospital toFanwood Plaza Partners, LLC, 314South Avenue, $848,000.

Rudolph P. and Natalie E. Scheerto David Collins, 441 South Avenue,$449,000.

Valjean J. Henningsen to Thomasand Melisa DiNapoli, 433 South Av-enue, $330,000.

William K. and Donna B. Peart toJohn Michael Gibson, 88 Cray Ter-race, $552,500.

Charles J. and Patricia A. McGuireto William P. Burnett, III, 82Kempshall Terrace, $503,000.

Theresa Zappulla to Neil andJacqueline Goldberg, 97 Coriell Av-enue, $575,000.

Thomas and Jennifer Cotter to Jeff

and Catherine Silk, 131 King Street,$560,000.

Kathleen P. Earley and Robert J.Earley to Richard and Kerri B. Villane,170 Second Street, $225,000.

Anthony N. and Alicia J. DiFabioto Vincent O. and Kersten M. Small,158 Belvidere Avenue, $555,000.

Dorothy J. West to William S. andElizabeth M. Henderson, 7 CrestLane, $465,000.

Christopher T. and Kimberly B.McAlindin to Roger and AnneMcDevitt Cummins, 214 BelvidereAvenue, $500,000.

Belvidere Avenue, LLC to AnthonyC. and Jessica F. Cerino, 218Belvidere Avenue, $600,000.

Linda L. Brennan to James Mitchelland Beth Rubel, 206 Burns Way,$410,000.

Ericj and Alicia Barnett to BarbaraVorrius, 9 Shady Lane, $443,000.

Wolfgang O. and Susan L. Reznicekto Daniel J. and Diana L. Winigrad, 5Poplar Place, $465,000.

Michael J. and Lisa M. Luisi toWade M. and Amy Morehead, 322LaGrande Avenue, $435,000.

Michael H. Kershner to Jason H.and Karen A. Brodsky, 5 ClementPlace, $455,000.

Doris B. Pettebone to John J.Czaplicki, Jr. and Lisa M. Garrison,31 Poplar Place, $440,000.

Felix and Barbara Zelikman andMaria Zelikman to Joel R. and ErynM. Friedman, 8 Shady Lane,$390,000.

Robert J. and Ivette Miller toMonica Zihal, 64 Shady Lane,$469,000.

John A. and Pamela M. Mason toSteven L. and Gina M. Allenm 12Saville Row, $394,000.

See it all on the Web!www.goleader.com


Radiating the charm and exuberance of a gracious age, this exquisite residence, situated in prestigious Wychwood, beauti-fully portrays the splendor of Tudor architecture enlivened by the rays of the sun. Romantic colors and textures mingle amid diamond paned lead glass windows, superb woodwork, random width pegged oak flooring, high ceilings and archways to compose an enchanting interior. Perfect for formal and relaxed living this home blends magnificent entertainment settings, intimate sitting areas and cozy casual spaces to craft an unrivaled venue. The zenith is a stately living room with warmed by an impressive marble fireplace and sun lit alcove. The handsomely appointed family room, delightfully updated granite ac-cented kitchen and two enclosed porches take full advantage of the surrounding scenery. The master suite, a private haven, is accompanied by nicely sized bedrooms and updated baths. A separate bedroom wing, formal dining room, basement rec room and a superbly landscaped yard all serve to craft a setting this is unsurpassed for elegance, comfort and tranquility. Presented for $2,350,000.


Joyce Taylor, Sales Associate 908-233-6417, Direct Dial NJAR Circle of Excellence 1977—2004


Coldwell Banker 908.301.2004 - Direct Line [email protected] www.KimHaley.com

Business 908.233.5555 209 Central Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090


Kimberley Aslanian Haley

Redefining Real Estate

NJAR CIRCLE OF EXCELLENCE PLATINUM LEVEL 2002, 2004 & 2005

Charming Westfield Colonial ideal for entertaining. Formal Dining Room and Living Room with wood burning fireplace, sun filled Den, spacious & updated Eat-in Kitchen, hardwood floors and new windows, Recroom and wine cellar in basement, new deck overlooking rear yard. Walk to town and Wilson elementary school.

Offered for $650,000.

© 2005 Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. Coldwell Banker® is a registered trademark licensed to Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corporation. An Equal Opportunity Company. Equal Housing Opportunity. Owned and Operated by NRT Incorporated.

Immaculate and charming is this spacious Colonial situated in a quiet neighborhood offering 5 Bedrooms, 2.5 baths, an updated Kitchen with breakfast bar, formal Dining Room & Living Room with fireplace and built-ins, Den, Mudroom and Laundry Room, hardwood

floors, close to downtown Westfield and NYC transportation. Offered for $649,900.

SPACIOUS FIVE BEDROOM COLONIAL GRACIOUSLY

SET ON A TREE-LINED STREET

OPEN HOUSE EVENT THIS SUNDAY 1~4PM

438 NORTH CHESTNUT STREET


NOTICE TO BIDDERS

Notice is hereby given that sealed bidswill be received by the Town of Westfield,New Jersey for the furnishing of a foodconcession for the 2006 season at theWestfield Memorial Pool. Bids will beopened and read in public at the MunicipalBuilding, 425 East Broad Street, Westfield,New Jersey on Thursday March 9, 2006 at10:00 a.m. prevailing time.

Specifications and Bid Forms are on filein the Recreation Office, 425 East BroadStreet, Westfield, New Jersey and may beobtained by prospective bidders duringregular business hours.

Bids must be on the Town of Westfield’sstandard proposal form in the mannerdesignated herein, and must be enclosedin a sealed envelope marked “WestfieldMemorial Pool Food Concession”, bear-ing the name and address of the bidder,addressed to the Town of Westfield, 425East Broad Street, Westfield, New Jersey07090, and must be in the office of theTown Clerk on or before the hour named.

The bid must be accompanied by aproposal guarantee in the form of a certi-fied check in the amount of 10% of the totalbid, payable to the Town of Westfield. Thesuccessful bidder will be required to sup-ply a performance bond, cash or certifiedcheck in the full amount of the awardedcontract. Each bidder must be preparedon demand to prove to the satisfaction ofthe Town of Westfield that it has the skill,experience and financial resources to op-erate in a satisfactory manner within theterms of the contract specifications.

Bidders must comply will all provisionsof P.L. 1975, c.127 (NJAC 17:27) supple-ment to the law against discrimination(affirmative action)

All bidders must submit with their bid acopy of their New Jersey Business Regis-tration Certificate. Failure to submit proofof registration will disqualify the bid.

The Town of Westfield reserves the rightto reject any and/or all bids and to waiveunsubstantial or minor defects or irregu-larities in bid proposals, if in the interest ofthe Town of Westfield it is deemed advis-able to do so.

Bidders Statement of Ownership, asrequired by Chapter 33 of the Public Lawsof 1977, must be submitted with all bids.

Bruce KaufmannRecreation Director

1 T - 2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $49.47

Westfield Recreation Department Eventsby: Traci Kastner

[email protected](908) 789-4080

Doodler Art Classes This class, forchildren 18 to 36 months, will be heldfrom 9:15 to 10 a.m on Wednesdaysfrom January 18 until March 8. TheMini-Doodlers class, for ages threeto five, will be offered from 10:15 to11 a.m. on those same days. The feeis $98 per person.

Karate (Ages 5-7): Held for 10weeks on Thursdays from 5:30 to6:30 p.m starting on February 2 andending on April 6, or on Saturdaysfrom 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. starting onFebruary 4 and running until April 8.The cost is $55.

Field Hockey Indoor Clinics: (5th-8th Grade) Held on Mondays Febuary27 to March 20 from 3:30-4:30 p.m.for seventh and eighth grades and4:30-5:30 p.m. for fifth and sixthgrades. The cost is $20.

Golf Clinics: Held at Oak RidgeGolf Course for ages 8-14. Class willbe held on Tuesdays April 25 to May15 from 4 to 6 p.m. Limited spots areavailable. Fee: $88.

Etiquette & Afternoon Tea: (Ages6-12) Learn about the centuries-oldafternoon tea ceremony while enjoy-ing an afternoon tea. This “hands-on” learning experience includes in-structional material, tea and otherscrumptious goodies. Held February9 from 4:15 to p.m. Fee: $18.

Bowling League (Ages Pre K-Teens): This 12-week program willbe held on Mondays beginning Janu-ary 16 at 3:50 p.m. at Linden Lanes forall children ages five to 14. Childrenages five to seven will bowl in a spe-cial bumper division. An additional

bumper program is available to kin-dergarten and pre-kindergarten chil-dren and mothers on Wednesdays at9:30 a.m. or 12:30 p.m. This programbegan Wednesday, January 11.

Lift Tickets: Purchase lift tickets atdiscount prices to many of the areasmost popular ski slopes. Call for de-tails.

Daddy-Daughter Dance (first tofifth grades) Mark your calendar forour annual dance to be held on Friday,March 10 at L’Affaire from 6:30-9:30 p.m. The cost is $40/per person.Register now.

Manners Class (Ages 4-7): Thisprogram teaches children about eti-quette and how it should be practicedin today’s world in a fun, interactivemanner. Hosted by Patty Manning of“Mannerations.” Offered 3:45 to 4:30p.m. on Wednesdays, February 15through March 8. The cost is $83. Itwill be held in the Municipal Build-ing Community Room.

Mommy & Me Fitness/Play Class:(Ages two to five) Children alongwith their parent or caretaker will beintroduced to yoga, movement, danc-ing, and musical play on Fridays fromJanuary 20 until March 10 from 9:30-10:30 a.m. The fee is $55.

Soccer Squirts: (Ages 3-6) Will be

by: Allison [email protected](908) 322-6700 ext. 221

Scotch Plains RecreationDepartment Events Calendar

Girls Softball League (3rd to 8thgrades). This is a basic instructionalleague based on teaching skills anddrills in a non-competitive format.Teams will be formed and practicesand games will be played on town-ship ballfields twice a week. Leagueswill depend upon registration num-bers. Parent volunteers are needed tocoach. Umpires are w anted. Pleaseno requests for team placement. Theseason runs from April 15 to June 10.Early registration is January 12 toFebruary 9 and costs $55. Regularregistration runs from February 10until March 16 and costs $65.

Maracas:Maracas I (Ages 3-5). Intro to Span-

ish is held Tuesdays 9:30-10:15 a.m.and Wednesdays from12:30-1:15 p.m.at the Towne House.

Cuentos (Ages 6-8). This new storybased class is designed for studentswho can already read. Listen to sto-ries, act it out, learn ideas. Cuentostakes place Tuesdays from 4-4:45 pmat the Scotch Hills CC.

Maracas Aventuras (ages 3-5). Thisflexible class for ages three to fivewill be held Thursdays from 1:30 to2:25 p.m. at the Towne House.

Maracas Todo Sobre Mi (Ages 4-7). Students will create their ownbooks about themselves in this classto be held Thursdays from 4 to 4:45p.m. at the Scotch Hills Country Club.

All classes begin the week of Janu-ary 23 and run for six weeks. The costis $115 per person and $17 per personper flex class.

Egyptian Dig (ages 6-11). Studentswill Chip away at the clay to unearthfour timeless Egyptian treasures. Thedig will be held at the Scotch HillsCountry Club from 9 to 4 p.m. onFriday, February 17. Registration at$80 per child will be taken fromWednesday, January 4, through Fri-day, February 10.

Theater For Kids (K-5th). Each

participant is assigned a role, learnlines, and work on basic acting tech-niques in this class. The final class isshow time. Parents are invited toattend. Classes will held at the TowneHouse on Saturdays, January 28through April 8. There will be noclass on March 11.

Classes for 3rd to 5th graders willbe held from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.and 1 to 1:45 p.m. for k-2nd grade.Registration is January 4 to Febru-ary 24. The fee is $50 per person and$55 per person for the K-2nd class.

Senior Aerobics. Session 1 will beheld Febuary 9, 14, 16, 23, 28 andMarch 2, 7, 9, 14, 16, 21, 23. Classesare held Tuesdays and Thursdaysfrom 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the TowneHouse in Green Forest Park. Classsize is limited. The fee is $5 forresidents and $10 for non-residents.Registration begins January 4.

Line Dancing. Sandy and LouSmehil teach this class. The linedance class will now take place onMondays from 10 to 11 a.m.Classes are at the Towne House inGreen Forest Park and run fromJanuary 23 to March 27. There isno class on Monday, February 20.Fees are $15 for residents and $20for non-residents. Registration be-gins January 4.

Adult Self Defense taught by SenseiAlan. Learn basic self-defense tech-niques in this class. A minimum of10 people are needed for the class.Classes are on Tuesdays from 6 to 7p.m. from January 24 to March 28 atthe Towne House. Registration is$50 and begins January 4.

Jazzercize-There is a special offerof eight weeks for $88 and morningclasses are now offered. Each 60-minute class offers a blend of jazzdance and exercise science choreo-graphed to today’s hottest music, in-cluding Top 40, jazz, country, funkand classics. You can choose fromany of the following:

Mondays at 9:30-10:30 a.m. and 7-8 p.m., Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m.,Wednesdays from 9:30-10:30 a.m.and 6-7 p.m., Thursdays from 7-8p.m. , Saturdays from 8:30-9:30a.m. Please register with Bernadetteat Scotch Hills.

Blood Drive ScheduledAt Union Catholic

WESTFIELD – The Blood Centerof New Jersey has revealed that ablood drive will be held on Sunday,February 12, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.at Union Catholic High School, 1600Martine Avenue in Scotch Plains.

Donors must be at least 17 yearsold. There is no upper age limit. Do-nors should know their social secu-rity number and bring a signed orpicture form of identification.

All community blood drives arelisted online at www.bloodnj.org, orpeople may call (800) BLOODNJ fora convenient location. For more in-formation or to sign up for a blooddrive, please call the blood center at(800) 652-5663, extension no. 140.

held on Tuesdays starting April 25and ending June 6. Class times: 10-11a.m. or 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Fee: $99.

Sports Squirts: (Ages 3-5) Mon-days starting April 24 until June 5from from 9:45-10:45 a.m. or 12-1p.m. The fee is $99.

Strollersize/Fitness: (For mom andbaby) Held in Tamaques Park Wednes-days from 9:30-10:30 a.m. startingon April 26 until June 28. The cost is$55.

Multi-Sports Spring Break IndoorCamp: (Ages 5-14) Is held from April10 until April 13 from 9 a.m.-1p.m.The fee is $125.

Total Body-Works: This 60-minuteclass involves an invigorating warm upto get hearts pumping, then moves intotoning exercises using light weights.All levels are welcome. Classes will beheld Tuesdays from 9:20 to 10:20 a.m.,January 3 through March 7. The cost is$65 and the program will be offered inthe Community Room.

Tennis: (Ages 3-Adult) This courseis a five-week spring tennis programfrom May 9 until June 8 for begineerto intermediate levels. A separate reg-istration form is required.

The Teen Center is open on mostFriday evenings during the schoolyear between 7 and 11 p.m. for all

Westfield High School students. Thecenter features pool tables, ping-pongtables, air hockey, video games, largeTV, VCR, stereo system, vendingmachines and more. Student I.D. isrequired.

The Night Place program is heldthroughout the school year on selectFriday evenings and is open to allsixth, seventh and eighth gradeWestfield residents for a nominal fee.The program is held from 7:30 to9:30 p.m. at Edison IntermediateSchool. Featured activities include alive DJ with dancing, movies, passivegames, basketball, refreshments andmore. The cost is $2 in advance and$3 at the door. The remaining datesare March 31 and May 12.

FUMC to Screen FilmOn Food Tomorrow

WESTFIELD – A free screening ofThe Future of Food, an award-win-ning documentary by Deborah KoonsGarcia, will take place tomorrow, Fri-day, February 10, at 7:30 p.m. at theFirst United Methodist Church(FUMC) of Westfield, located at OneEast Broad Street.

The film investigates what is de-scribed as the proliferation of unla-beled, patented and largely untested,genetically-engineered foods beingsent to groceries nationwide.

A discussion and refreshments willfollow. The parking lot is accessiblefrom Ferris Place, off of ProspectStreet. Attendees may enter throughthe side door. The Union County PeaceCouncil, FUMC of Westfield and WordOut! will sponsor the event. More detailsare available by calling Diane at (908)233-7344 or sending an e-mail to:[email protected].

WF Resident MakesPingry’s Honor Roll

WESTFIELD – Pingry Headmas-ter Nat Conard and Assistant Head-master and Lower School DirectorTed Corvino has announced thatWestfield’s Julia Fisher, sixth grade,was appointed to the Lower School’sfirst quarter honor roll for the pe-riod beginning in September andending on November 14, 2005. Thehonor roll recognizes students forachieving a B+ average or betterwith no individual grade lower thana B-.

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Open House: Sun. 2/12 12-4pm

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WESTFIELD . . . Notable four bedroom classic Colonial on a tranquiltree-lined street. Spectacular gourmet kitchen includes custom maplecabinetry, granite countertops, tumbled marble accents, Viking cook-top. Multi purpose bonus room in basement. Deep lot. Located withinmoments of schools, Mindowaskin Park, NY transportation & picturesquedowntown Westfield. $679,000 (052000NEW)




WESTFIELD OFFICE • 209 CENTRAL AVENUE • 908-233-5555

FRANK D. ISOLDIBroker / Sales Associate

908-301-2038

Westfield . . . Tennis anyone? Located in the heart of Westfield, this hilltop colonial offers its own private tenniscourt that is set on more than three-quarters of an acre. Nine foot beamed ceilings and hardwood floors accent theLiving Room and formal Dining Room. The eat-in Kitchen leads to the Family Room, which boasts a vaulted ceilingand skylights. The convenient first floor Bedroom and Bath compliments the additional three Bedrooms, main Bathand spacious sky-lit loft on the second floor. Partially finished basement offers a full bath, laundry and lots of storagespace. Full attic also offers extra storage space. Entertain on the large rear deck amongst the multitude of perennialgardens, while you host your very own tennis match. A must see at $950,000.

STEPHANIE SMITHSales Associate908-397-7923

CLASSIFIEDS

SOFA AND LOVESEAT

Multi-striped sofa and goldloveseat...MOVING...best offer

Call (908) 917-6426

ORIENTAL RUG

9 X 12 RugGood Condition

Grey / Rose / Cream$250

Call (908) 232-2045

TITLE INSURANCE

Title Examiner/Reader (F/T) neededfor Green Brook based co. Musthave license & a min of 5 yrs exp. TitleExpress a +. Great work envrnmnt.Email resume w/sal req’s [email protected]. EOE

APARTMENT FOR RENT

LINDEN - Luxury Apt, 5 Rms,2 bdrms, 2 baths, laundry, balcony,separate entrance, 5 mins to train.For 1 or 2 persons, No smoking orpets, $1,400 plus 1-1/2 mossecurity. (917) 930-3095

HELP WANTED

Real Estate: Thinking of making achange? Prudential NJ Propertiesis now interviewing for full timereal estate agent positions,Westfield Office. Call Margie

(908) 232-5664, ext. 103.DINING ROOM

Beautiful double pedestal table, 8chairs and Hutch/Buffet still in box.

List $2900 sell $1475.Call (732) 259-6690

BED

A King mattress setnew in plastic w/warranty

sell $215(732) 259-6690

MATTRESS SET

Queen pillow topNew in plastic w/warranty.

Can deliver.Sell $165

Call (732) 259-6690

FREELANCERS WANTEDStrong, detail-oriented writerswith professional demeanorneeded to cover localgovernment meetings. Alsoneeded: copy editor. Must beable to meet deadlines, knowhow to write a lead, and takean active interest in their beatsin order to develop newsstories. Please emailresume and clips to:edi tor@goleader .com .

OFFICE BUILDING FOR RENT

Insurance Agents, LawyersAccountants.

2400 sqft Office BuildingFurnished, Utlities, Internet,

Kitchen, Conf. Room, ParkingMountainside (908) 337-7200

BEDROOM SET

7 pcs., Cherry sleigh bed, dresser/mirror and 2 nite stands. New stillin box. Value $4000. sell $1550

Call (732) 259-6690

SUMMER RENTAL

North Beach, LBI - Single Family,4 Bedrooms, ocean side sundeck& screened-in porch, garden,100 ft to beach, $2900/wk in July,$3200/wk in Aug. Call(908) 233-6751 after 6:00pm.

ONE BEDROOM APT FOR RENT

WESTFIELDVery Clean 2nd Fl apt, new

stove, walk to town, veryprivate, on-street prkg, elderlysingle woman only, $800+gas.(908) 233-3069 ask for Vinnie

HOT TUB / SPA

Never used, still in wrapper,factory warranty, 6 person

w/lounger, loaded,delivery available

Cost $8000 Sell $3895Call (973) 902-8306

TEACHER - ASSISTANT

THINKING ABOUT GOINGINTO OR RETURNING TOTEACHING? Unusual opportunityas full time (8:00 am to 3:30 pm) orpart time (morning) KindergartenAssistant Teacher at a highlyregarded, small independentShort Hills school, known for itsinnovative curriculum. Qualitiesdesired include quick intelligence,creativity, flexibility, resource-fulness, enthusiasm for hands-onactivities, ability to relate well tofive-and six-year olds. Send coverletter and resume to:Paula Levin, Head of LowerSchool, Far Brook School, 52Great Hills Rd., Short Hills, NJ07078; [email protected] (973) 379-9237.

HOME FOR SALE

Garwood - Mother/Daughter306 Spruce - 4BR 2BA M/D

24 HR Recorded Info Call 1-800-724-8134 Ext 8032

Must See!! $459,900www.lenshomes.com

OFFICE FOR RENT

Second Floor OfficeOne Room $750/mthAll Utilities IncludedShared ReceptionParking Included

WESTFIELD (908) 723-1234

BABYSITTER NEEDED

Part time after school helper for3 school aged children. Must

drive and speak fluent English.Call Jen at (908) 233-8128.

INTERIOR DECORATING

Spectacular & AffordableWindow TreatmentInterior Decorating

by professional designer.Free consultation - Local references

(732) 726-0241

CONTRACTOR / HANDYMAN

The Portuguese CraftsmenFor all Home maintenance

repair and improvement needs!~ Any job large or small !

~ (908) 647-7672 ~& check: www.portcraftmen.com

OFFICE/STUDIO FOR RENT

Westfield-Northside center of town,Beautiful, Landmark Building. 800sq ft, 6 windows, corner property,Furnished, includes all utilities,Available immediately, per diemor monthly. (908) 301-0301

PT SECRETARY

Mountainside law office. WindowsXP & MS Word required, 2nd floorwalk-up, friendly environment. Faxor email resume: (908) 317-8027email [email protected]

COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

F/T position with premier girlserving organization. Reqd: workw/volunteers, comp skills. BA/BSpref. Flex. hrs, occas. eves/weekends. Bilingual a plus. ValidDL/car reqd. Send resume:GSWRC, 201 Grove St. E,Westfield, NJ 07090 ATTN: HRMSor [email protected]

LATIN TUTOR NEEDED

For a first yearFreshman Latin student.

Call Donna (908) 755-3032

SUMMER CAMP STAFF

JCC Summer Camp is looking for:Preschool Lead Teachers & Assts.Cooking Specialist. DanceSpecialist. Lifeguards & SwimInstructors. Indoor/outdoor facility,competitive salaries & benefits.E-mail: [email protected] send a resume or for moreinformation.

NANNY NEEDED

Looking for a responsible andtrustworthy person to care for ourson who is 2 and our daughter whois 1. Must own their own car. Hoursare from 7am to 6:30pm at least 2days/wk and some additional hourson the remaining days. Up to 33 hrswk. Can be flexible on the days.email: [email protected]

LUCY’S HOUSE CLEANING

Portuguese house cleaningservices. Family owned &

operated. Honest & Reliable.Reasonable prices.

Please call (201) 835-0601

MUSIC LESSONS

Music lessons in your home!Voice, All Levels

Piano, Beginning - IntermediateCall (609) 933-5159

Hypertension ClinicOn Tap February 14SCOTCH PLAINS – The Scotch

Plains Health Department will presenta hypertension clinic on Tuesday,February 14, from 10 a.m. to noon inthe Community Room of the ScotchPlains Public Library, located at 1927Bartle Avenue.

Individuals who are over age 30and smoke or are overweight, or whohave a family history of heart diseaseor diabetes, and have not had theirblood pressure checked recently areparticularly urged to attend.

AUTO REPAIR

ELM STREET

SERVICE CENTER

138 Elm St • Westfield

908-232-1937

Complete Auto RepairForeign & Domestic

NJ State Inspection

AutoCare

Center

• Emission Repair Facility• Tune-ups & Batteries

• A/C Service• Tires & Brakes

• Road Service

Annual Contracts for Start-Ups & Shut-Offs • Guaranteed Immediate Response • Fully Licensed & Insured

908-791-1820

Drip Systems • Lawn Sprinklers • Planting Beds

Landscape Design

Year Long Plantings

Lawn Maintenance

Patio • Walks • Masonry

Retaining Walls

Custom & UniqueLandscape For Your Home

Designing & Building AllYour Walkway & Patio Needs

Goods & Services You Need! email PDF to:[email protected]

Single Size: 10 Weeks $275Double Size: 10 Weeks $425

~Air Conditioning ~Alignment~Batteries~Brakes~Computer Diagnostic~Electrical~Engine Repairs~Lube & Oil Change~Collision Repair

~Exhaust~Cooling System~Suspension~Tires~Towing ~Transmission ~Tune-Up~Windshield Chip Repair~Glass Replacement

Direct Billing To Insurance Companies, Warranty, GSA & National Fleets

PERFECT

908-272-4456Residential • Commercial

PAINTING&

POWER WASHING

You’ll Love Coming Home To a Clean HouseWe provide “top to bottom” thorough cleaning

Free in-home consultation and customized estimatesWe offer weekly, alternate weekly, monthly or occasional service

We are fully bonded & insured www.mollymaid.com

908-322-9989

R O M A NHome

Improvements

(732) 680-9626

All Types of Carpentry

Free Estimates Fully Insured

Kitchens • BathroomsBedrooms • Living Rooms

Basements • Decks • Stairs

HEATINGScott Seib

Serving Westfield & vicinity for 24 years

Specializing in replacing,

rebuilding & repairing steam

& hot water heating systems.

Lic. #6548908-654-1818

Plumbing &Heating, Inc.

ABS Drywall

• Sheet Rock

• Spackling

• Light Framing

• Drop Ceiling

• Metal Stud Framing

973-818-1366

“Big Enough to Cope,Small Enough to Care”

(908) 418 2611Free Estimates Fully Insured

Crystal Clear

908-245-3650

Aquarium &Pond Services

Animals, Reptiles, Birds

Home Or Office

Pet Sitting

Pet Consultation

EMPLOYMENT

Drivers: CDL-A/BOwner Operators

Local/OTR Round TripLease/Purchase Available.

Excellent Pay!(800) 366-3685

Jewish Singles SlateJade Dynasty LunchCOUNTY – The Circle of

Single Jewish Friends 49+ willhold a Meet and Eat lunch onSunday, February 26, at noon atJade Dynasty Chinese Restau-rant, 925 Amboy Avenue inEdison. The cost is $3 plus theprice of a meal/tip off the menu.To respond, please call Robertaat (908) 668-8450.


– Obituaries –

Dooley Funeral Service, Inc.Caring & Courteous Service to the

Cranford / Westfield Area Since 1913

Westfield556 Westfield Avenue233-0255John L. DooleyManagerNJ License # 4100

Cranford218 North Avenue

276-0255Charles V. Dooley

ManagerNJ License # 3703

Hillside Cemetery Scotch Plains

908.756.1729

www.hillsidecemetery.com

Jane Bauman-Hurst, 92, Had BeenOffice Manager For Westfield Doctor

Newborn Julius LantzJulius Jacob-Adam Lantz was born

and died on Saturday, January 28, atSt. Peter’s University Hospital in NewBrunswick.

Surviving are his parents, CrisolHoward of Plainfield and KennethLantz, Jr. of Westfield, and his grand-parents, Jacque and Lidia Howard ofPlainfield and Gail and Kenneth Lantzof Westfield.

Graveside services were held onFriday, February 3, at Fairview Cem-etery in Westfield.

Arrangements were by the DooleyColonial Home, 556 Westfield Av-enue in Westfield.

February 9, 2006

George Ross, 87, Awarded Bronze Star;Longtime Member of F&AM Lodges

George L. Woods, 75, Sales Director;Was Awarded Three Purple Hearts

Lucille Ross, 87Lucille Worthington Ross, 87, a

resident of Rolling Green Village inGreenville, S.C. and wife of the lateRobert E. Ross, died on Sunday, Janu-ary 29, at her home.

Born on September 10, 1918 inTrenton, she was the daughter of thelate Ira and Marjorie Van KeurenWorthington. She had lived inWestfield and graduated fromWestfield High School in 1936, mov-ing to Greenville in 1995.

Mrs. Ross was a graduate of theUniversity of Pennsylvania, an avidreader, a devoted member of theKappa Alpha Theta Sorority and aloving mother.

She was a member of the FirstChurch of Christ, Scientist inWestfield.

Surviving are a daughter, MargarieR. Snipes of Greenville, S.C.; twosons, Robert W. Ross of Amelia Is-land, Fla. and R. David Ross ofRandolph; nine grandchildren and agreat-grandchild.

A memorial service was held onSaturday, February 4, at Rolling GreenVillage with Chaplain Joel Jenkinsofficiating.

Arrangements were by the MackeyMortuary in Greenville.

Memorial donations may be madeto Hospice Care of South Carolina,600 East Washington Street,Greenville, S.C. 29601.

February 9, 2006

Else Larsen Snyder, 92Else Larsen Snyder, 92, of

Landgrove, Vt. died on Tuesday,January 31, at her home.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y. on March13, 1913, the daughter of Henry andEsther Larsen, she had lived inScotch Plains for many years be-fore moving to Landgrove.

Mrs. Snyder was a former mem-ber of the Music Club of Westfieldand a former member of theFanwood Presbyterian Church.

In Landgrove, she served as theofficial greeter and receptionist atthe family-owned ski lodge, TheVillage Inn, now known as TheLandgrove Inn.

She was predeceased by a sister,Norma Quinn, and a brother, PaulLarsen.

Surviving are her husband,Donald M. Snyder, whom she mar-ried on June 9, 1934 in Garwood;four sons and daughters-in-law,Daniel R. and Patricia Snyder ofDoylestown, Pa., D. Jay and KathySnyder of Landgrove, Vt., DouglasP. and Miriam Snyder of Raphine,Va. and Thomas H. and KarenSnyder of Cornelius, N.C.; ninegrandchildren; six step-grandchil-dren; 14 great-grandchildren andfour great-great grandchildren.

At the request of the family, me-morial services will be announcedat a later date. Memorial gifts maybe made to the Mountain ValleyHealth Center, in care of BrewsterFuneral Service, P.O. Box 885,Manchester Center, Vt. 05255. Tosend e-mail condolences, pleasevisit www.sheafuneralhomes.com.

February 9, 2006

George L. Woods, 75, of Easton,Pa. died on Monday, February 6, athis home.

Born on February 28, 1930 inGarwood, he was the son of LaurentineCroteau Woods of Tucson, Ariz. andthe late George S. Woods.

Mr. Woods had been employed as asales director for Dravo Corporationfor many years. Prior to that, he hadworked for Ingersoll-Rand inPhillipsburg.

He served in the United States Armyduring the Korean Conflict and re-ceived three Purple Hearts.

Surviving, in addition to his mother,are his wife, Margaret Brauer Woods,to whom he was married 54 years inJuly; a sister, Cheryl W. Barta ofArizona, and a brother, Lee D. Woodsof Maryland.

A memorial service will be an-nounced by the Ashton Funeral Homeof Easton, Pa.

Memorial contributions may be

made to the American Heart Associa-tion, 212 East Broad Street,Bethlehem, Pa. 18018 or to ForksTownship Emergency Squad, P.O.Box 284, Easton, Pa. 18044.

February 9, 2006

Jane Bauman-Hurst, 92, of FortMyers, Fla. died on Tuesday, Janu-ary 31, at St. Peter’s Hospital inNew Brunswick.

Born in Hammond, Ind., she hadlived in Newark and then in Westfieldfor many years before relocating toFort Myers 28 years ago.

Mrs. Bauman-Hurst had workedas an office manager for Dr. W.Liebesman in Westfield from 1960until 1975 and was a member of theNewcomers Club of Westfield.

She was predeceased by her firsthusband, Frederic A. Bauman,whom she was married to for 46years; her second husband, ThomasHurst, and a sister, Nora Hewson.

Surviving are three sons, FrankBauman of Sayreville, F. TerryBauman of Sevierville, Tenn. andRonald D. Bauman of Oldsmar, Fla.;a sister, Dorothea Knight of Colo-rado; 10 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held onThursday, February 2, at the GrayFuneral Home, 318 East BroadStreet in Westfield. Interment fol-lowed at Fairview Cemetery inWestfield.

Memorial donations may be madeto the St. Stans School EndowmentFund, 225 MacArthur Avenue,Sayreville, N.J. 08872.

February 9, 2006

George J. Ross, 87, of Westfielddied on Sunday, February 5, at

Muhlenberg Regional Medical Cen-ter in Plainfield.

Born in Elizabeth, he lived the last51 years in Westfield.

Mr. Ross had been the assistantplant manager for Kentile Flooring,Inc. in South Plainfield for 30 yearsbefore retiring in 1983.

A United States Army Air Forceveteran of World War II, he wasawarded the Bronze Star while serv-ing as a staff sergeant with the 9thAir Force in England, France and theRhineland.

He was a member for 55 years ofLoyalty Lodge Free and AcceptedMasons in Union and a long-timemember of Azure Masada LodgeFree and Accepted Masons ofCranford.

He was predeceased by a grand-son, Darrin.

Surviving are his wife of 64 years,Ann Kilburg Ross; two daughters,Noreen Saunders of Miami, Fla. andElaine Malayter of Cheshire, Conn.;a brother, Charles Ross of Elizabeth,and four grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 11a.m. tomorrow, Friday, February 10,at the Dooley Colonial Home, 556Westfield Avenue in Westfield. Visi-tation will take place from 2 to 4 and7 to 9 p.m. today, Thursday, Febru-ary 9, at the funeral home.

February 9, 2006

PUBLIC NOTICESUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

CHANCERY DIVISIONUNION COUNTY

DOCKET NO. F-4034-05CAP File No. 8858-05A

NOTICE TO REDEEM

CAROL SEGAL VS. LUCYDEVITO A/K/A LUCIADEVITO, HER HEIRS, DEVI-SEES, AND PERSONAL REP-RESENTATIVES AND THEIROR ANY OF THEIR SUCCES-SORS IN RIGHT, TITLE, ANDINTEREST; CASPIO CAPRIO,INDIVIDUALLY; CASPIOCAPRIO, AS ADMINISTRA-TOR OF THE ESTATE OFLUCY DEVITO A/K/A LUCIADEVITO; MRS. CASPIOCAPRIO, WIFE OF CASPIOCAPRIO; JOANNE DEVITO;JOHN DOE, HUSBAND OFJOANNE DEVITO, SAIDNAME JOHN DOE BEING FIC-TITIOUS; R.R.K. ASSOCI-ATES; NICHOLAS E. CAPRIO;STATE OF NEW JERSEY

TO: LUCY DEVITO A/K/A LUCIADEVITO, HER HEIRS, DEVISEES ANDPERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES ANDTHEIR OR ANY OF THEIR SUCCES-SORS IN RIGHT, TITLE AND INTER-EST; R.R.K. ASSOCIATES

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that an ordermade on JANUARY 23, 2006, the Supe-rior Court Fixed MARCH 9, 2006 betweenthe hours of nine o’clock in the forenoonand four o’clock in the afternoon, prevail-ing time, at the office of the Tax Collectorof UNION, located at 1976 MORRIS AV-ENUE, UNION, NEW JERSEY 07083, asthe time and place when and where youmay pay to the plaintiff the amount sofound due for principal and interest on itscertificate of tax sale as follows:

TAX SALE CERTIFICATE #980054 andTAX SALE CERTIFICATE #99-053 bothcovering LOT 12 BLOCK 1608 on the taxduplicate of the UNION. Total amountrequired to redeem is $57,005.50, togetherwith interest from NOVEMBER 10, 2005and costs.

And that unless, at the same time andplace, you or one of you redeem by payingthe aforesaid sum so found due to plaintiff,then you, and each of you shall be de-barred and foreclosed of and from all rightand equity of redemption of, in and to thelands and premises above set out anddescribed in the complaint and every partthereof, and that the plaintiff be vestedwith an absolute and indefeasible estateof inheritance in fee simple in said landsand premises.

Anything to the contrary notwithstand-ing, redemption shall be permitted up untilthe entry of final judgment including thewhole of the last date upon which judg-ment is entered.

MICHAEL G. PELLEGRINO, ESQ.Attorney for Plaintiff

PELLEGRINO & FELDSTEIN, L.L.C.Denville Law Center290 Route 46 WestDenville, New Jersey 078341 T -2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $63.24

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS

ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at themeeting of the Zoning Board of Adjust-ment of the Township of Scotch Plainsheld on February 2, 2006, the followingdecision of the Board was memorialized:

Granted a Use Variance, side-yard set-back Variance, requested design waiversand Site Plan Approval with conditions toRWJ Fitness and Wellness Center, LLCto convert the existing building located at2120 Lamberts Mill Road (Block 12601,Lot 01), Scotch Plains, into a fitness andwellness center.

Linda M. LiesBoard Secretary

1 T - 2/9/06, The Times Fee: $16.83


Public Notice is hereby given that anordinance of which the following is a copywas introduced, read and passed on firstreading by the Council of the Town ofWestfield at a meeting held January 31,2006, and that the said Council will furtherconsider the same for final passage on the14th day of February, at 8:00 p.m., or assoon thereafter as said matter can bereached, in the Council Chambers, Mu-nicipal Building, 425 East Broad Street,Westfield, New Jersey, at which time andplace any person who may be interestedtherein will be given an opportunity to beheard concerning said ordinance.

Claire J. GrayTown Clerk

GENERAL ORDINANCE NO. 1864AN ORDINANCE TO AMENDTHE TOWN CODE OF THETOWN OF WESTFIELDCHAPTER 13 “MOTOR VE-HICLES AND TRAFFIC” BYAMENDING CERTAIN PRO-VISIONS THEREOF

BE IT ORDAINED by the Town Councilof the Town of Westfield in the County ofUnion that the Code of the Town ofWestfield, Chapter 13 “Motor Vehicles andTraffic” be amended in the following par-ticulars:

SECTION I. That Section 13-21.5“Handicapped Parking Space-On Street”be amended by adding the following par-ticulars:

Pursuant to the authority granted to thismunicipality by N.J.S.A. 39:4-197, the fol-lowing locations are hereby designated asrestricted parking spaces for use by per-sons who have been issued special ve-hicle identification cards by the Division ofMotor Vehicles. No other persons shall bepermitted to park in these spaces.

901 Harding Streetnorthwesterly side, beginning at the point

of intersection of the northeasterly side ofSherman Street and extending to a point67.5 feet northeasterly thereof.

649 Cumberland Streetsoutheasterly side, beginning at a point

43.75 feet northeast of the northeasterlyside of North Scotch Plains Avenue andextending to a point 43.75 feet northeast-erly thereof.

SECTION II. In the event that any sec-tion, part or provision of this ordinanceshall be held to be unconstitutional orinvalid by any Court, such holdings shallnot affect the validity of this Ordinance asa whole, or any part thereof, other than thepart so held unconstitutional or invalid.

SECTION III. This ordinance shall takeeffect after passage and publication assoon as, and in the manner provided bylaw.1 T - 2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $56.10

PUBLIC NOTICEBOROUGH OF FANWOOD

PLANNING BOARD

Please take notice that on February 22,2006 at 7:30 p.m. at the Fanwood Bor-ough Hall, located at 75 North MartineAvenue, Fanwood, New Jersey, the Plan-ning Board will hold a hearing on theapplication of the undersigned. The prop-erty in question is located at: 184 MarianAvenue, Fanwood, New Jersey, alsoknown as Block 84 Lot 13, as shown on theFanwood Tax Map, owned by Ann MarieRyan and Thomas P. Ryan, Jr.

The applicant requests that the resi-dential addition/renovation, which is in vio-lation of Section 184-110E(5) of theFanwood Land Use Code. Variance Re-quested: Side yard setback, west; Re-quired: 10/15 feet; Present: 10.2 feet; Pro-posed: 8 feet.

The applicant requests that the resi-dential addition/renovation, which is in vio-lation of Section 184-110E(5) of theFanwood Land Use Code. Variance Re-quested: Side yard setback, east; Re-quired: 10/15 feet; Present: 5 feet; Pro-posed: 5 feet.

The applicant requests that the resi-dential addition/renovation, which is in vio-lation of Section 184-110E(9) of theFanwood Land Use Code. Variance Re-quested: Structural Coverage; Required:25 %; Present: 23.7%; Proposed: 31.6%.

The applicant requests that the resi-dential addition/renovation, which is in vio-lation of Section 184-110E(4) of theFanwood Land Use Code. Variance Re-quested: Front yard setback; Required: 30feet; Present: 30.4 feet; Proposed: 24.3feet.

The applicant will also seek such otherrelief as may be determined necessary atthe public hearing based upon review ofthe application or amendment(s) to theapplication.

The file pertaining to this applicationis available for public inspection duringnormal business hours (9 AM - 2 PM) fromthe Secretary of the Planning Board at theAdministration Office of the Borough ofFanwood at 75 North Martine Avenue,Fanwood, New Jersey.

Any interested party may appear atsaid hearing and participate therein inaccordance with the rules of the FanwoodPlanning Board.

Applicant:Ann Marie and Thomas P. Ryan, Jr.

184 Marian AvenueFanwood, New Jersey 07023

1 T - 2/9/06, The Times Fee: $50.49

PUBLIC NOTICE PUBLIC NOTICENEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

DIVISION OF PROCUREMENT, BUREAU OF CONSTRUCTION SERVICES1035 PARKWAY AVENUE, PO BOX 605

TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08625

SEALED BIDS will be received from bidders classified under N.J.S.A. 27:7-35.1 etseq.; in the NJDOT MULTIPURPOSE ROOM, New Jersey Department of Transporta-tion, 1035 Parkway Avenue, Trenton, New Jersey 08625; until 10:00 A.M. on 3/2/06 andopened and read for:

Route 82/County Route 629 (Morris Avenue), Cont. No: 001950174, Streetscapeand Intersection Improvements; From Lousons Road to Orchard Street,

Township of Union & City of Elizabeth, Union CountyFederal Project No: STP-7528

DP NO: 05161

Bidders are required to comply with the requirements of P.L. 1975, C.127 N.J.A.C.17:27.

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:32-44, For Federal aided projects; bidders must register withthe New Jersey Department of Treasury, Division of Revenue, prior to the time of contractexecution. Appropriate proof of registration should be provided to NJDOT as soon aspossible after receipt of the Notice of Award.

Pursuant to the “Public Works Contractor Registration Act”, N.J.S.A. 34:11-56.48 etseq. (P.L. 2003, c. 91), bidders must register with the New Jersey Department of Labor,Division of Wage and Hour Compliance.

The Department, in accordance with Title VI Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 252U.S.C., 49 C.F.R., Parts 21 and 23 issued pursuant to such Act, and Section 504 of theRehabilitation Act of 1973 will afford minority business enterprises full opportunity tosubmit bids in response to this invitation and will not discriminate against any bidder onthe grounds of race, color, sex, national origin, or handicap in the contract award.

Drawings and specifications for the proposed work are available at Bid Expresswebsite www.bidx.com. You must subscribe to use this service. To subscribe follow theinstructions on the website. The fee is $35.00 per month for unlimited access to view anddownload the documents and additional $95.00 per month for unlimited access todownload the plans, directly payable to Bid Express.

Drawings, special provisions, and bid documents may be inspected (BUT NOTOBTAINED) by contracting organizations at our various Design Field Offices at thefollowing locations:

200 Stierli Court Route 79 and Daniels Way 1 Executive Campus Rt 70Mt. Arlington, NJ Freehold, NJ Cherry Hill, NJ973-770-5141 732-308-4025 856-486-6624

3 T - 1/26/06, 2/2/06 and 2/9/06, The Leader Fee: $205.02

New County Manager’s SUV Doesn’tProvide Sufficient MPG Savings

The Star-Ledger reported this weekthat Union County Manager GeorgeDevanney was swapping his gas guz-zling 2004 Chevy Suburban for some-thing a little more economical in an ef-fort to save the taxpayers money. Mr.Devanney’s new wheels are reported tobe a 2005 Dodge Durango with four-wheel drive like his former vehicle. He isamong the 70 or so employees who havecounty-owned vehicles available to themunder the heading of “portal to portal,”which translates into commuting to theirjobs.

Employees also shown having countycars at their disposal “portal to portal”are Assemblymen Joe Cryan and GerryGreen. I wonder if they “commute” totheir part-time assembly jobs in Trentonon the county taxpayers’ dime.

“Car and Driver” magazine releasedthe results of their “Long-Term Test” onthe 2005 Dodge Durango with 4WD inthe January 2006 issue. The article speaksof the amenities the vehicle has to offer.What caught my eye was the fuel con-sumption. It said fuel economy, anoxymoronic phrase in connection withSUVs in this class, was lamentable.

The Durango averaged 14 miles pergallon (MPG) over the course of this test.If you want performance in a vehicle thatweighs over 2.5 tons, your gonna pay atthe pump. By all indications the test lastedin excess of 10 months with the vehicledriven for short and long-cross countrytrips in all types of weather.

This past fall Mr. Devanney, in anotherStar-Ledger article about the county fleetand the increasing cost of gasoline, hadstated that he would be getting rid of hisSuburban, which got about 17 miles to thegallon, and replacing it in January withsomething more fuel efficient and per-haps it could be a hybrid (gas/electriccombo). Hybrid SUVs have reportedlygotten as high as 36 MPG city and 31MPG on the highway.

Findings for the ’04 Chevy SuburbanAWD: MPG city – 14, MPG highway – 18and combined 16 MPG. Findings for the’05 Durango 4WD: MPG city – 13, MPGhighway – 18 and combined 15 MPG.

Well, it appears that the county didn’tdo much in the line of cutting Mr.

Devanney’s gasoline usage; in fact theyperhaps unknowingly upped it a tad. Iunderstand the 20-MPG figure attributedto Mr. Davanney’s new Durango comesfrom people at Dodge/Chrysler. How-ever, I could not locate an independentstudy to support the claims. Too bad, as Iwould have liked to have seen a savingsrather than more of the same.

The www.Fueleconomy.gov websitelists the most and least fuel-efficient ve-hicles grouped by EPA size classes andranked by city MPG. The Ford EscapeFWD Hybrid is a winner at 36 MPG cityand 31 hwy, followed by the Escape modelwhich runs solely on gasoline, with 24MPG city and 29 highways. These arefour-cylinder engines as opposed to theDurango’s six or eight (I don’t knowwhich Mr. Devanney has). My daughter’s2005 Ford Escape gets her up the moun-tain from Garwood to Summit daily inrain, snow, sleet and hail quite nicely.

Looks like someone at the county didn’tdo his homework very well, and thatsomeone reports ultimately to Mr.Devanney, the county manager, who hasthe final call over who gets what vehiclesand when. It appears that the only thingthat this switcheroo of vehicles is going tosave the county taxpayers is a few feet ofspace in the county garage.

Patricia QuattrocchiGarwood

Other Letters to the EditorCONTINUED FROM PAGE 4

Charles Crow, Was PSE&G Engineer;Active In Church and OrganizationsCharles Crow of Newtown, Pa.

died on Monday, February 6, at hishome.

Born in New Brunswick, he grewup in Highland Park. He had lived inWestfield for 38 years before mov-ing to Jefferson, Me. upon his retire-ment. He and his wife relocated toPennswood Village in Newtown inMay 2004.

Mr. Crow had been an engineerand manager with the Public ServiceElectric and Gas Company in Eliza-beth and Newark for 39 years, alicensed Professional Engineer in theState of New Jersey and a member ofthe Plainfield Engineers Club.

He graduated with honors fromRutgers University with a Bachelorof Science degree in Electrical Engi-neering in 1949 and received amaster’s degree in Electrical Engi-neering, cum laude, from NewarkCollege of Engineering in 1957.

He served in the United States ArmyAir Corps during World War II.

Mr. Crow was a member of theRedeemer Lutheran Church inWestfield. In Maine, he was active atthe Prince of Peace Lutheran Church,was a volunteer for the AARP TAX-AIDE program, served on the boardof directors of the Sheepscott ValleyHealth Center and was involved inseveral capacities with the ClaryLake Association of Jefferson, Me.He also was a member of the MaineState Museum and the Round TopSociety for the Arts.

He was predeceased by a son,Donald A. Crow, in 1983.

Surviving are his wife of 57 years,Alice Henne Crow; a son, CharlesS. Crow, 3rd of Princeton; twodaughters, Patricia C. Koch of Roch-ester, N.Y. and Heidi C. Crow ofBuffalo, N.Y.; a sister, Eleanor CrowHouyeux of Marianna, Fla., and sixgrandchildren.

Services will be held at 10:30 a.m.tomorrow, Friday, February 10, atthe Redeemer Lutheran Church. In-terment will take place at FairviewCemetery in Westfield.

Arrangements are by the DooleyColonial Home, 556 Westfield Av-enue in Westfield.

In lieu of flowers, memorial dona-tions may be made to the Make AWish Foundation, 1034 Salem Road,Union, N.J. 07083 or to the WestfieldRescue Squad, P.O. Box 356,Westfield, N.J. 07091.

February 9, 2006

Americo Pace, 83Americo Pace, 83, of Flemington

died on Thursday, February 2, at theHunterdon Care Center inFlemington.

Born in Red Bank, he had lived inElizabeth before moving to ScotchPlains in 1958. He lived there untilsettling in Flemington in 2002.

Mr. Pace had been a tool and dyemaker for more than 25 years with theThomas & Betts Co. in Elizabethprior to retiring in 1987.

He was the beloved husband of 59years to Margaret (nee Raskulinecz)Pace; the loving father of BeverlyKuchar and Matthew Pace; caringgrandfather of Michael and DebbieKuchar and Melissa and Mark Hamp-ton, and great-grandfather of KylieHampton. Also surviving is a sister,Linda Caruso.

The funeral service was held onTuesday, February 7, at the RossiFuneral Home in Scotch Plains. AFuneral Mass followed at the Im-maculate Heart of Mary RomanCatholic Church in Scotch Plains.Interment took place at St. GertrudeCemetery in Colonia. Letters of con-dolence also will be accepted [email protected].

February 9, 2006

Social Club AnnouncesValentine Pizza SocialCOUNTY – The St. Mark’s Social

Club, a club for unmarried matureadults, will hold a Valentine PizzaParty Social at 7 p.m. on Friday, Feb-ruary 17. The event will take place atSt. Mark’s Church, located at 287Hamilton Street in Rahway. The costis $3. Interested persons are asked tocall Nina at (732) 381-1298 or Anneat (908) 272-8796.

WF Firefighters ThankFood Drive Supporters

On behalf of the Westfield F.M.B.A.Local No. 30, we (firefighters) would liketo thank the public for their once againongoing support for our 2005 holidayfood drive; it was a complete success. Wewere able to help a lot of needy peoplewith this food drive. In addition our an-nual F.M.B.A. fundraising campaignhelps raise money for a lot of organiza-tions. Thank you for the overflowing gen-erosity of the public.

Robert TarantinoPresident Westfield F.M.B.A. Local

No. 30


By MICHELLE H. LePOIDEVINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Cuisine can be as complex or ascarefree as you choose. There’s noth-ing wrong with preparing somethingas simple as a tangy Reuben Casse-role, sumptuous as Stilton Cheese-cake, or as gourmet as crispy RisottoBalls with Warm Mozzarella Cen-ters. Three featured cookbooks leadthe way.

“Blue Plate Specials” (GooseberryPatch, 2001, $16.95) takes readers ona trip coast to coast to six diners thatboast some of the easiest epicureandelights you’ve ever tasted. Some fa-vorites include Lobster Louie’s NewEngland Blue Berry Coffee Cake (per-fect for your next book club gather-ing), the Fried Potato Chowder fromLiberty’s Diner, or the Cherry-FilledOatmeal Cookies from Beefy Stu’s.

Other winning “Blue Plate Spe-cials” include the piquant CajunStuffed Roast from the Whistlin’ DixieDiner, the ultimate Tex-Mex treat –Baked Cowboy Dip — from CactusSlim’s, or the rockin’ Rhubarb Tortefrom Salmon Patty’s.

Perhaps you’re longing for somestrictly New England fare. LoraBrody’s “The New England Table”(Chronicle Books, 2005, $35), anexquisitely photographed cookbookfilled with challenging recipes, willkeep your guests satisfied.

Recipes are divided into the NewEngland states, leading with Massa-chusetts and a tempting recipe forApplejack Baked Apples with RicottaCream. Don’t forget the Boston BakedBeans. Moving on to Connecticut,we are invited to sup Cold PoachedChicken Breasts with ChampagneSauce and spicy Nutmeg Cookies fordessert. Rhode Island delicacies in-clude the savory Stilton Cheesecakeand Poached Salmon with SorrelSauce.

Jaunting through NewHampshire’s pages we find lessunique recipes, but stop and takenotice of the Cheddar-StuffedBurgers on Roasted Garlic Bread.Vermont serves up a sweet Pear andCandied Ginger Clafouti, but Mainemakes this cookbook stand out withrecipes for Kathy Gunst’s LobsterStew and a lip-smacking Bacon Bat-ter Bread.

Food TV chef Michael Chiarellomakes his female audience drool withhis good looks and simple approachto entertaining, especially in “AtHome with Michael Chiarello”(Chronicle Books, 2005, $40).

Encouraging cooks to entertainoutside of the kitchen in other uniqueoutdoor or indoor niches, Chiarello’sbook helps you plan your parties withtasks outlined days ahead of sched-ule. You’ll actually have the chance tosit with your guests and friends in-

Q uQ uQ uQ uQ ueeeeeen ofen ofen ofen ofen of ArArArArArtttttsssssBlue Plate Specials, Do-It-Yourself Photo

Albums And Kids Can Knit With A Kit

One Man Star WarsComes To Kean Univ.UNION – One Man Star Wars

comes to Kean University’s LittleTheatre on Thursday, March 2 at 7and 9 p.m. One Man Star Wars is aone-hour, high energy, nonstop blastthrough the first three Star Wars films.The catch is, there’s only one castmember.

Charles Ross, the writer and soloperformer, spent too much of his child-hood in a galaxy far, far away – adult-hood has been similar.

The Little Theatre is located at 1000Morris Avenue in Union. Tickets are$20 for the general public; $15 forseniors and $10 for children. For moreinformation or to reserve tickets, call(908) 737-SHOW (7469).

stead of feverishly preparing up-to-the-minute in the kitchen.

Do not miss Crispy Sausage-Stuffed Olives served in martiniglasses which make ideal appetizers,the savory Napa Niçoise Salad withcrispy asparagus, luscious PumpkinRisotto, or the 30-Minute Prime Rib.Top it all off with rich ChocolateMousse Cannoli.

If there’s a young lady in yourhousehold who would like to try herhand at knitting, “The Knit-It Kit forKids: 10 Fun Beginning KnittingProjects” by Jennifer Traig (ChronicleBooks, 205, $16.95) is the perfectspringboard.

An instruction book, 10 patterncards, 1 circular needle, and someskeins of yarn will get her started.Once she spots the simple directionsfor the dreamy and delicate CinderellaShawl, perky and playful Pippi Hat,or the flashy Cell Phone Jacket, shewon’t be able to put those needlesdown. Best of all, she’ll be proud thatshe made each creation on her owninstead of buying it in a store.

Finally, a small, home-based busi-ness in Lakeville, MN, Albums &Answers, Inc. offers diverse themedphoto album kits for scrapbookersentitled, “Assemble-Ables™.”

Taking the “guess work out of co-ordinating the album’s colors andproducts,” each kit includes an accor-dion album, pre-cut papers, themedembellishments and instructions.There are 14 different themes, in-cluding “Dogs,” “Cats,” “Sizzlin’Summer,” “Making the Grade,”“Graduation,” and two albums wel-coming baby boys and girls into theworld.

“Ringwood Manor,” by Westfield’s Linda Kolar, oil

Breathe Fitness StudioHolds Grand OpeningMOUNTAINSIDE –Breathe Fit-

ness Studio, located at 1055 Route 22East (next to Loews Mountainside)celebrated its grand opening on Fri-day, January 27. Mountainside TownCouncilman Glen Mortimer andWestfield Area Chamber of CommercePresident Allison O’Hara joined own-ers Gina Berta and Ben Caiola in aribbon-cutting ceremony attended byclients, friends and family members.

Breathe Fitness is owned and oper-ated by Ms. Berta, a fitness profes-sional with 23 years of experience,and Mr. Caiola, a longtimeMountainside resident. For more in-formation, contact Ms. Berta at thestudio at (908) 301-0123 or visitwww.BreatheFitnessStudio.com.Breathe Fitness Studio is a memberof the Westfield Area Chamber ofCommerce.

Jesus Christ SuperstarOpens At CDC Theatre

Diversity Art GalleryPresents ‘Mixed Media’

AREA – The Diversity Art Galleryin Clark will present its 16th exhibit,with diverse and inspiring work ofselected members of the Contempo-rary Art Group, on February 19, witha reception from 1 to 4 p.m. Forvisitors, it will be an opportunity tomeet many local artists and see someof their recent works. There will be awide variety of media and subjectmatter to appeal to everyone – 70pieces in all – and the artists will bepresent for discussion regarding theircreations.

Sheilia Lenga, Milicent Brody,Michal Barkai, Miguel Urosa andBarbara McPartland-Bohmer have allsubmitted photographs; CynthiaWeiss will present monotype and oil/soft pastels; Rosalia Verdun, LindaKolar and Linnea Rhodes will showtheir oils; Diana Taliaferro and Bar-bara Uhr share their pastels; MonicaSchraiber-Otero brings her talent withIndia Ink; Gladys Reimers exhibitssculpture, alabaster and marble;Althea Scheller will display her wa-tercolor and pastel piece; Marie Gerushas ink, mixed-media and acrylic;Brooke Gardiner will display herblown glass, steatite and alabaster,and Maxine King presents her etch-ing work.

Come and see how much talentexists in Union County: Ms. Brody,Ms. Taliaferro, Ms. Kolar, Ms.

Reimers, Ms. Uhr and Ms. Rhodesare all of Westfield; Mr. Barkai isfrom Livingston and Ms. Gardinerand Ms. Weiss are from Mountainside;

The public is invited to enjoy thisexhibit, which will be open Sundaysfrom 1 to 3 p.m., and by appointmentthrough April 23. Community groupsare invited to call for group meetings.The gallery is located in the historic1840s chapel building of UnionCounty Baptist Church, 4 ValleyRoad, Clark, (right on the Clark Circle,adjacent to the Garden State Park-way, Exit 135). For more informationor to schedule an appointment, call(732) 574-1479.

Cenci To Perform AtMuhlenberg CollegeWESTFIELD – Muhlenberg Col-

lege will host the works of interna-tionally recognized choreographersCharlotte Boye-Christensen and Tif-fany Mills in Master Choreographers.Performances are scheduled fromFebruary 9 to 11.

Erica Cenci, a senior at Muhlenbergfrom Westfield, will be performing intwo pieces, titled “Sources of Light”and “Bodies and Souls.”

ing Italian, Hebrew, Spanish, French,German and even Japanese) is of in-ternational acclaim. However, fameand fortune rarely come without astruggle. Battling bipolar disordernearly her entire life and suffering abrutal rape attack in 1974, Francishas overcome equal proportions ofhardship. Ms. Harris-Hauser, alongwith two other back up vocalists, ac-companied Francis during her “come-back” period in the mid ‘80s.

But Mountainside is a long, longway from the music industry mogul’soffice in L.A. Married late in life andbecoming pregnant at 42 with herfirst child, Ms. Harris-Hauser put hercareer on hold to follow her husband’sadvancing medical career.

Ms. Harris-Hauser told theWestfield Leader “After leaving LosAngeles, we lived in Mississippi forthree years before coming to NewJersey, where I settled in ‘just being amom.’ We had a small band and whenthe baby got older, we’d occasionallysing in coffee houses, sometimes withour daughter, just having fun.”

A few years later, on a whim, Ms.Harris-Hauser looked up Francis onthe Internet. “It had been a long timesince we had worked together, I didn’teven know if she was still singing.”

Ms. Harris-Hauser heard back fromFrancis’ manager almost immediately.“He gave me a call and said, ‘Where haveyou been? We’ve been looking for you forthe last ten years!’” She admitted that shehadn’t really been aggressive pursingwork and was busy settling into a newplace, raising a child and battling a chronicillness – fibromyaliga. (The affliction is awidespread musculoskeletal pain and fa-tigue disorder for which the cause is stillunknown.)

Ms. Harris-Hauser added, “It’s al-ways a battle with [fibromyaliga].You have good and bad days. You trycertain diets eliminating additives andsugars – that sort of thing, vitamins,exercise, massage and so on. I just dothe best I can. And I work when Ican.”


Joann Harris-Hauser

Taking things to task to rekindleher career, Ms. Harris-Hauser wassoon “on the road again” with Francis,playing limited engagements in At-lantic City, Philadelphia, NJPAC,Toronto, the Bahamas and Las Vegas.Next up is a session at the FortMcDowell Casino in Scottsdale, Ariz.before heading off to Asia, wherethey’ll play at the Hong Kong Con-vention and Exhibition Centre inWanchai.

“Connie has a very large followingin Asia. I do all her duets and I’vebeen her sole back-up singer for thepast three years.” She told the WestfieldLeader that she considers Asia prob-ably one of the most memorableplaces she’s ever been.

Recalling a trip to Singapore withRita Coolidge, Ms. Harris had to makea discreet and swift departure duringa performance to use the rest room.“Public bathrooms in Asia are rarelymore than anything but a hole in theground. This one had a pull chainhanging above it, which I assumedwas the flusher. It turned out to be theshower – and half of me got soaked.I ended up going back on stage withone side of me half drenched.”

The Westfield Leader asked if shehad ever felt in danger going to suchremote areas of the world. “Well,maybe with the food sometimes,” shesaid, recalling a time when a bigrecord promoter was hosting a dinnerwith nothing but “authentic” food.“There was a large Lazy Susan withsea slug, seaweed and things thatlooked like they were moving.”

Any worries or fears, going all theway to Hong Kong, 20 years later? “Ithink I’ll be sticking to the Kobebeef,” Ms. Harris-Hauser said with asmile.

Whether its circling the globe withConnie Francis, doing a local gig orteaching vocals in her in-home studioto aspiring singers, this is one “mar-velous Mountainside mom” who canstill boogie – even in the frozen-foodsaisle at the Stop ‘n Shop.

lot drawings in the woods developedfrom a stay as a visiting artist at the J.Alden Weir farm in Connecticut. Shesaid working at the Weir Farm al-lowed her to form a “consistent” groupof artwork with which she used tohelp bolster the work she entered tothe fellowship contest.

At the Weir Farm, she developed abody of work based on staying at thefarm, viewing historic photos andexploring the entire trust. She saidthat visiting the farm focused herideas and allowed her to think aboutWeir and the American impressionistmovement that took place there in thelate 19th and early 20th century. “Theywere doing innovative things for theirtime…I could feel their spirit.”

“It’s preserved, the only nationaltrust dedicated to artists,” she noted,as Connecticut’s National Park Sys-tem manages the farms.

Ms. Brentano, a self-proclaimednaturalist, enjoyed spending time outin the woods.

“You think ‘this is how it (nature)looked before you got hold of it,” shesaid. She said there’s no civilization,no structure – “it’s a sense of what theworld is really about. We’re in a hurrywith consuming and building. We


Westfield’s Pat Brentanodon’t take a walk.”

She said that coming from Indiana,she’s always been tied to the rurallandscape. She made eight visits andspent them drawing, taking notes,viewing the trust and historic photos,creating sculpture from moss andleaves in the woods and exploring.

Winning the fellowship award, shesaid, affirmed to her “there was deepmeaning (in her artwork). Someoneelse got it.”

“I’m happy too because it wasanonymous, I used my maiden name,”she added.

She did note that because of herpassion for the arts and nature, shewill counsel her husband, a state as-semblyman, from time to time onenvironmental matters.

Asked if the artwork is agendadriven, she said she’s always beeninterested in the country, trees andcanoe rides and asked herself as shegot older and matured, “How can Isolidify this and express somethingmore than ‘I love it?’”

“You mature as you age and havekids and see the next generation,” shesaid. “The agenda came a little later;the work was always there. The vi-sion has to mature.”

CRANFORD – Jesus Christ Su-perstar, the Tony Award-winningBroadway musical by composer An-drew Lloyd Webber and lyricist TimRice, opens this Friday, February 10at the CDC Community Theatre inCranford for a three-weekend run.The two-act rock opera features high-powered choreography and an ener-getic score, including several hit songssuch as “I Don’t Know How to LoveHim,” “Everything’s Alright” and thetitle song.

The show was the first collabora-tion for Lloyd Webber and Rice, wholater worked together on Evita andJoseph and the Amazing TechnicolorDreamcoat. The musical tells the storyof the last days in the life of Christ.

CDC’s production team has up-dated the setting of the musical toplace it in a modern urban environ-ment. Veteran CDC producer Eliza-beth Howard heads up a team stockedwith talent from all over the area. Ms.Howard herself has many award-win-ning productions under her belt; shehas produced almost every musical atCDC over the last several years.

Director Jeffrey Fiorello has ex-tensive directorial experience at areatheaters and is a veteran performerwho has been seen at CDC in SmokeyJoe’s Café and Kiss Me Kate. Musicdirector Joe Elefante also is wellknown throughout New Jersey andthe New York City area, having servedas musical director for dozens of areatheatres, high schools and colleges,as well as heading up the Joe ElefanteBig Band, a 17-piece jazz orchestrawhich performs at Cecil’s Jazz Clubin West Orange. He is also on facultyat the Paper Mill Theater School andthe NJPAC Jazz for Teens program.

The show’s choreographer, Q, stud-ied with the Princeton Ballet and theAlvin Ailey American Dance Theatreand has performed in and choreo-graphed countless highly regarded

area productions.The 30-person cast blends CDC

regulars with a large group of per-formers who are newcomers to CDCbut have an impressive list of creden-tials elsewhere in the area. ScotchPlains resident Juan Pascual, whoportrays Jesus, has performed exten-sively in New York City and interna-tionally, and is on the voice staff ofthe New Jersey Workshop for theArts, where he heads up the musicaltheater department. He is a co-founderof the Little Opera Company inWestfield.

Husband and wife Jeffrey Jacksonand Kathleen Campbell Jackson takethe roles of Judas and MaryMagdalene. Area theatre patrons mayrecognize this talented duo from theirmany area appearances at locales suchas Plays in the Park in Edison.

In addition to local and nationalstage performances, Ms. Jacksonoriginated the role of Sybil Vane onboth the cast recording and stagedreading of the Dorian Gray-based TheFlowering Thorn and has appearedon film in the musical Frankenstein.Mr. Jackson, an award-winning writerand director, was one of three co-authors of the Frankenstein musical.

Playing other lead roles are areaveterans Frank Andrews, Bobby Selig,Jeffrey Dopson, Brian Merrill, Leoda Silva, Melissa Loderstedt andAimee (Andrews) Mitacchione.

Jesus Christ Superstar will be pre-sented on Friday and Saturday nightsat 8 p.m. from February 10 to 25.Tickets are $20 on a reserved-seatbasis and can be obtained by callingthe box office at (908) 276-7611 orthrough the theater’s website atwww.cdctheatre.org.

The CDC Community Theatre islocated at 78 Winans Avenue inCranford, off of Centennial Avenuenear Exit 136 of the Garden StateParkway.

WOLF GANG…Franklin Elementary School students in Westfield enjoyed a livemusical performance and character portrayal of Mozart by Dennis Kobray ofMillburn.

Franklin Students GetTo Know Mozart

WESTFIELD – Students atFranklin Elementary School inWestfield enjoyed a musical perfor-mance and dramatized character por-trayal of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozartby Dennis Kobray of Meet the Musi-cians in Millburn.

Donning his powdered wig andperiod costume, Mr. Kobray broughtthe story of the child prodigy to life.He not only shared the history of thefamous classical musician but alsostressed important values such as con-tinued hard work, practice and deter-mination to achieve success as Mozartdid.

After enjoying Kobray’s live pianoperformances as well as recorded ex-cerpts of Mozart’s famous sympho-nies and concertos, students sang“Happy Birthday” and presented“Mozart” with balloons to mark the250th anniversary of his birth (Janu-ary 27, 1756). The Franklin PTOCultural Arts Committee sponsoredthis event.

Mountainside LibraryTo Host Art Show, Sale

MOUNTAINSIDE – The Friendsof the Mountainside Public Librarywill sponsor an Art Show and Sale onSunday, February 12 from noon to 4p.m. Admission is free and light re-freshments will be served. A silentauction will also be held displayingthe works of local artists, includingformer librarian Ann Defuria, CynthiaWise and Celeste Chute-Wright ofMountainside. Members of theWestfield Art Association will alsobe featured, with pieces by BobYurochko of Mountainside and LinniaRodes of Westfield. Many other art-ists’ works from surrounding com-munities will be available for sale.

The Friends of the MountainsideLibrary is a non-profit entity consist-ing of volunteers working to raisemoney to provide programs for bothchildren and adults. In addition tofunding special events, the Friendsdonate furniture, books and media tothe library every year. Theirfundraising efforts have been usedfor unabridged books on CD and tape,DVDs, technology upgrades and com-puters, just to name a few. All pro-ceeds of the art show will help con-tinue the Friends’ endeavors.

The public is invited to attend thisfirst annual event. The Mountainside

Public Library is located on Consti-tution Plaza. The phone number is(908) 233-0115.

By MICHAEL S. GOLDBERGER2 & ½ popcorns

With Looking for Comedy in theMuslim World, funnyman Albert Brooksattempts nothing less than to save hu-mankind from destruction. Admittedly,it’s a noble cause. Understandably, it’llbe a while before we know if his laborstruly bear the fruits of internationalpeace. We can only hope.

His secondary goal, on the otherhand, which is to make us laugh, ismuch more easily evaluated. And inthis respect the outcome is, well, so-so.A lot depends on what you think of theoffbeat comic in the first place. If you’vecome to appreciate his zany shtick,such as the ventriloquist who doesn’teven think to keep his mouth closed,and in fact has the dummy drink theproverbial glass of water, that gives hima kind of brand name recognition.

Hence, each familiar frown or gri-mace from this perennially put-uponclown could do it for you, in much thesame way that the slightest mentionof money brought an anticipatorysmile to Jack Benny fans. Devoteescan figure on an extra dozen and ahalf laughs, easy. The premise alonewill bring them a knowing chuckle.

Playing himself and currently be-tween jobs, Brooks at first demurs whenthe State Department offers him anassignment. Journeying to India andPakistan, he will discover what indeedmakes Muslims and Hindus laugh.Then, he’ll write a 500 page report, thecontents of which will be used to fostergreater understanding between Americaand the Muslim world.

The task is daunting. Brooks balks,offering that he wasn’t very good atbook reports in high school. Gosh,he’s never even read a book that was500 pages long. They must have thewrong guy. Surely there are other com-ics who far better possess the where-withal to complete said mission

Yes, they inform, but their first fewchoices were working. That hits home.But it isn’t until Brooks broaches thesubject of money that they convincehim. The cash is only a stipend, anhonorarium, informs Fred DaltonThomas, actor-turned-senator andnow again an actor heading the com-mittee. But, he slyly allows, there’sno overestimating what the Medal ofFreedom could do for one’s career.

“Medal of Freedom,” the come-

One Popcorn, Poor • Two Popcorns, Fair • Three Popcorns, Good • Four Popcorns, Excellent

POPCORN™

Looking For Comedy: LeavesYou Searching For Laughs

NJWA Concert BandTo Perform In UnionWESTFIELD – The YM-YWHA of

Union at Green Lane has announcedthat the New Jersey Workshop for theArts Concert Band will perform a con-cert on Sunday, February 12, at 2 p.m.The concert will be held at 501 GreenLane, Union. Howard Toplansky, au-thor of the book “Essentials of BassoonTechnique,” which is still in print after40 years, directs the NJWA, known asthe Green Lane “House Band.”

The NJWA Band is also slated toplay at the Green Lane Y in Marchand April with new repertoires foreach concert.

For more information about theNJWA Concert Band, or if you are aninstrumentalist who would like toplay, call (908) 964-1793 or e-mailthe band at [email protected].

dian murmurs to himself. “Imagine.”We know where this is going. Thereisn’t a Pagliacci worth his fright wigwho wouldn’t jump at the chance ofsuch heroic glory. The deal is sealed.

Those less enamored of the heady,usually experimental and often intro-spective way that Brooks sees him-self and the world he lives in will inall likelihood find the project fallsshort of its lesser, laugh-minded ob-jective. Even at its funniest, Lookingfor Comedy in the Muslim World israrely guffaw inspiring.

More correctly, it is occasionally witty,momentarily astute and peppered withbright ideas that only half work. Thewriting leaves quite a bit to be desired.

In Looking for Comedy in the MuslimWorld, Brooks illustrates the completemisunderstanding among nations, theutter ineptitude of diplomatic relationsand the uncanny self interest of thoseentrusted to mend some pretty badlydamaged fences. And then he attemptsto overcome it all anyway. Not withsome great statesman or a grand plan,mind you, but through the efforts of aclueless, well-meaning schnook. Cer-tainly, it’s to laugh. Just not a whole lot.

* * * * * * *Looking for Comedy in the Muslim

World, rated PG-13, is a Warner Bros.release directed by Albert Brooks andstars Albert Brooks, Sheetal Shethand John Carroll Lynch. Runningtime: 98 minutes

* * * * * * *All three cookbooks are available at

www.bn.com or www.amazon.com. “TheKnit-It Kit for Kids” can be ordered fromwww.chroniclebooks.com. Finally, visitwww.albumsandanswers.com to obtainthose custom ingredients for the do-it-yourself photo treasures.


Ani Kavafian Carter Breyand Friends

Edgar Meyer, bassIda Kavafian, violin

Gilbert Kalish, piano~

BEETHOVEN: Archduke TrioBACH: Sonata for Violin, Cello & BassMEYER: Two Duets for Cello & Bass,

First and Fourth Movements fromConcert Duo for Violin and Bass

Sunday, February 12, 2006MAPLEWOOD ~ MORROW CHURCH

600 Ridgewood Road at 2:30 p.m.

WESTFIELD ~ TEMPLE EMANU-EL756 East Broad Street at 7:30 p.m.Admission: $25 ($22 for seniors)

Westfield only: Students 10-21 – $1

CALL US AT 973.762.0108www.mostlymusic.org

LIVE! ON STAGE!Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice’slegendary musical

Fridays, Feb. 10, 17, 24Saturdays, Feb. 11, 18, 25 All shows at 8:00 PM Tickets $20Reserve now: 908-276-7611

CDC COMMUNITY THEATRE78 Winans Avenue, Cranford, NJwww.cdctheatre.org

By CAROL F. DAVISSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Gardens Near & Far is the themeof the Fourth Annual Flower, Gardenand Outdoor Living Show at the NewJersey Convention Center in Edison,Thursday through Sunday, February16 through 19. If you copy this linkinto your web browser, there will bea coupon for $1 off, and that couldadd up if you bring the family. Theonly catch is that you may be asked tosign up for a newsletter, but you don’thave to do it to get the coupons.Regular admission is $14. Directionsand everything else are available there,too. http://www.macevents.com/njflower.cfm?serial=135&catname=flower.

* * * * * * *On Friday, February 10 at 8 p.m., the

Watchung Arts Center (on the Circle inWatchung) will open its doors to jazzlovers, as the Beacon Hill Swing Bandperforms once again. This concert willfocus on tunes from the Great Ameri-can Song Book by some of the world’sbest arrangers, like Andre Previn, JohnWilliams, Marty Paitch, Bill Holman,Harry Betts, Bob Florence and ShortyRogers. For information and ticket avail-ability, call (908) 753-0190, or logonto: http://www.watchungarts.org/.

* * * * * * *The Westfield Symphony Orches-

tra will present a special musicalValentine’s Day celebration on Satur-day, February 11, with two romanti-cally inspired classics for the orches-tral repertoire: Candide, Berstein’sexplosive overture to his classic oper-etta, and Prokofiev’s enduring favor-ite Romeo and Juliet. The perfor-mance will take place at 8 p.m. at thePresbyterian Church in Westfield.Tickets are between $25 and $60. Forinformation, call (908) 232 9400, or e-mail: [email protected].

* * * * * * *The Union County Peace Council

and Word Out! invite the public toattend The Future of Food, a freefilm by Deborah Koons Garcia, onFriday, February 10 at 7:30 p.m.Refreshments and chatting are avail-able after the film at the First UnitedMethodist Church on Broad Streetin Westfield. Learn about the revolu-tion that is transforming the verynature of the food on your table.

* * * * * * *Pianist Christopher Johnson will

have a recital at the Crescent AvenuePresbyterian Church in Plainfield onSunday, February 12, at 4 p.m. Theperformance will feature Mozart,Liszt, Chopin, Brahams and Stuart.Tickets are available at the door, whichis at the corner of Watchung andSeventh Avenues, and will run $25 to$45, and $15 for students. For moreinformation, call (908) 561-5240, orvisit www.plainfieldsymphony.org.

Get Outta’The House

Linda B. Condrillo for The Westfield Leader and The TimesAT THE MIC…Reunited with members of the cast of Hair, Joann Harris-Hauserwas busy raising funds for the recent earthquake victims in India and Pakistan.Singing a duet with Ms. Harris-Hauser is Joe Butler, who played the lead role ofClaude in the original Broadway run and is also a former member of theinfluential band The Lovin Spoonful.

From Dylan to Connie, MtsideMom Is ‘On the Road Again’

By LINDA B. CONDRILLOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

MOUNTAINSIDE —Sitting on hersofa dressed in a warm-up suit and nomake up, Joann Harris-Hauser lookslike any other suburban mom. TheWestfield Leader was recently theguest in her Mountainside home,which houses a makeshift recordingstudio in the basement, to interviewthe seemingly ordinary woman whohas sung with some extraordinarypeople.

Originally from Seattle, Ms. Har-ris-Hauser got her big break singingwith the cast of HAIR, playing thelead role of Sheila for two years,including a week run on Broadway.Next was another front liner – JesusChrist Superstar.

And then, after “a lot of network-ing and word of mouth,” the song-stress landed a two-year assignmentas a back-up vocalist touring withBob Dylan. Ms. Harris-Hauser’svoice, which resembles a smoothcombination of Bonnie Raitt andAretha Franklin, can be found on twoof Dylan’s platinum records – “StreetLegal” and “Live at Budokan.”

Before getting the boost in her ca-reer working with Dylan, Ms. Harris-Hauser made her living doing com-mercial work, singing jingles, work-ing in nightclubs and doingvoiceovers. Her résumé is impres-sive, listing television credits (vocalson camera) on shows such as JohnnyCarson, Merv Griffin and Arsino Hallwith the likes of Bette Midler, ArethaFranklin and Rita Coolidge.

The Westfield Leader asked what itwas like to work with a legend likeBob Dylan. “I worked with him rightaround the time he was just gettinginterested in Christianity and makingthe transition into the gospel phase ofhis career. He’s a complicated indi-vidual. When he’s approachable, he’snice, friendly and we could talk aboutanything. But if you catch him on abad day, there’s no way to reach him.”

Globetrotting on a private jet withDylan, Ms. Harris-Hauser admitted,at times wasn’t all that glamorous.“I’d get off the stage, onto the privatejet and fly to the next city. We’d get tobed at 4 a.m., try to get some sleepbefore getting up the next day forrehearsal. It was tough, but I have no

regrets. We were treated like royalty,especially overseas. Working withBob was a big shot to my career.”

Dylan isn’t the only headliner Ms.Harris-Hauser has shared the stage orrecording studio with. Among themany are Burt Bacharach, StevenStills, Kenny Loggins, Al Green,Jimmy Buffet, Ringo Starr, LutherVandross, Boz Skaggs and TodRundgren. Ms. Harris-Hauser hascredits on Bette Midler’s gold record“Some People’s Lives.” She has alsotoured on and off with the legendaryConnie Francis, and for the last fewyears, it’s been a regular gig.

Francis, the ‘60s teenage starletwith countless hit records, coupledwith amazing versatility (she has re-cordings in several languages includ-


“Tag” graphite 38"50"

WF’s Pat Brentano Receives NewJersey Council On Arts Fellowship

By MICHAEL J POLLACKSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD –Westfield artist PatBrentano won a New Jersey CouncilOn The Arts Fellowship Award for$9,000 in the category of Works onPaper. The only local or Union Countyrecipient, she earned the award basedon work developed from a stay atWeir Farms in Connecticut. Some ofthe drawings will now be seen in theArts Guild of Rahway’s Landscopeexhibition.

“It’s thrilling,” she said. “It’s thebest thing that’s ever happened to mebesides having children and meetingmy husband. It’s my third time; I’vebeen trying for a while. It’s excellent,I’m thrilled, and especially that it’sanonymous and judged by yourpeers.”

According to the council, 321 art-ists applied in five different catego-ries this year. The council works inconjunction with the Mid AtlanticFund for the Arts in Baltimore, whichprovides service for Pennsylvania,Maryland and Delaware. They selectprofessional artists and curators fromthe country to serve as panelists toreview the artists’ work and give ascore.

Their selection is based on ananonymous process where the

judges are looking just at the worksamples (10 slides). There are noquotas for categories – the only cri-terion is artistic excellence. Thereare 14 categories of awards thatalternate over the course of twoyears, seven categories one year andseven the next. This year there wereonly awards given in five of theseven categories.

The council takes an average of thefour panelists scores. Artists with thehighest scores receive the fellowships.

There are two different cycles ofawards that rotate. Once an artist re-ceives a fellowship, he or she sits outfive years to give others an opportu-nity. Because there are no quotas,sometimes a category will have norecipients. Ms. Brentano’s work waschosen from among 84 applicants.

“You apply a year ahead (July2005), go to workshops. It’s intense,”she said.

Fortunately, she was able to use aCONTINUED ON PAGE 21

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