Tic Toc

     I'm convinced to this day that my love of the theater began in Ridgewood upon first attending a performance given by Tic Toc. They have been entertaining children for almost 50 years. This is from their website: TIC TOC Theatre & Art is a volunteer organization which was established in 1960 and presents fine and performing arts experiences to students in Ridgewood, Glen Rock, Midland Park, Radburn in Fair Lawn and Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, USA.

$355,500 for Bathrooms at Veterans Field

      These bathrooms probably sounded like a good idea before the recent turmoil in the financial markets. "BE IT ORDAINED by the Village Council of the Village of Ridgewood, in the County of Bergen, New Jersey that the sum of $47,000.00 is hereby appropriated from the Capital Fund Balance to supplement ordinance 2828 in the amount of $197,000, and ordinance 3014 in the amount of $111,500 for the construction of restrooms at the Kasschau Memorial Shell." I guess the fields at Vets are used so much these days that using the bathrooms in the library and the police station are no longer options. Too bad when they were recently expanding both of these facilities they couldn't have made allowance for some extra bathrooms. If I might pontificate for a moment: these new bathrooms are just a symptom of our current economic malaise, and will be seen in quite a different light when the inevitable budget cuts occur in the village budget. People on the council don't seem to realize that layoffs are the order of the day on Wall Street and that many Ridgewood residents are going to lose their jobs. Tax receipts from Real Estate levies will invariably be less than planned. I remember the recession of 1973-74 which coincided with the first Oil price shocks. In my family we were all warned not to ask for too much as times were going to be tight for a while. There were no real cutbacks in our household expenses, but there was a renewed sense of the need to watch our pennies. Hopefully, the same spirit exists today and the cutbacks won't be too deep. Though I can't imagine how anybody 35 years ago would have thought these bathrooms were a good idea. Just my 2 cents.

A Room With A View

     Our old house on Glenwood Road was adjacent to Willard School. From my bedroom I could see the school yard and tell what sort of sporting events were taking place. Whether this was sledding in the Winter, baseball or stickball in the Summer, football or basketball in the fall, I could glance out and decide whether to get involved. If it was summer this was a no-brainer as we didn't have air conditioning installed until I was in high school. 

     The rest of the year I would usually just go out even if I wasn't old enough to play with who was competing. I liked to watch and learn from the older kids. When it was time to come home for dinner my Mom would invariably stand on our back porch and bellow out our names. She likes to tell this story on herself, and throw in the part about the kids in the school yard who would bellow back if we weren't anywhere on the field. I guess this sort of thing is done now with cell phones and GPS devices. Those electronic devices would have just slowed us down in my day, or gotten lost or stolen. I tell this story because I revel in the implied idea of community which it reveals. People in the neighborhood were looking out for one another. I prefer to believe this was a better idea than the current situation where it requires two wage earners in many cases to pay the mortgage for a home in Ridgewood which is largely empty Monday through Friday. 

      It seems to me that something is missing now in everyone's lives in suburbia, not just Ridgewood. This has happened as a matter of course and can't be reversed. Nobody wants to go back, or can afford to go back, to a simpler time and a less complicated existence. It was an era when school teachers and postal carriers could afford to live in Ridgewood. Their proximity provided an extra level of security to our neighborhoods, and made it that much harder to get away with childish shenanigans. Don' get me wrong, the time I recall had its own disadvantages, too. My Dad wouldn't wish his old 3 hour roundtrip commute to Wall Street on anybody, even if it did allow him to send 3 sons to college and graduate school. All I'm pointing out is that things are different these days, and I believe less inviting for people considering a move to Ridgewood. The tree lined streets remain largely the same but the people inside the houses appear to be strangers to one another, and not as cognizant of what is happening right next store to them.

Social Networking

     To say I had an end result in mind when I created this blog would be a stretch. It was created out of my interest in Social Networking and for the use I thought the blog might oneday add to our lives. In other words, the blog just is and has no ulterior motives like trying to steal identities or bombard people with spam. I thought since the capability for interaction existed, people might find this a convenient way to reconnect with their old pals. I also hope this becomes a repository for our memories and photos. There were good times that we should dwell upon and recount to one another, if only to keep us from dwelling too much on the embarrassing moments we all had. Those should only be recounted in person, and at Reunions, and only after the proper restoratives have been consumed. ;-) In any event, there are other avenues for Social Networking. The latest one I have been investigating is LinkedIn. There is even a group for people who graduated from Ridgewood High School. It may not mean much right now, sorta like this blog, but I do believe it will pay dividends in the future in terms of helping with the planning of Reunions. I can only imagine how hard it must be to plan a reunion. Our 25th was a smashing success because of some very dedicated people. My hope is that the next time a reunion for the class of 1977 is being planned that they will use the Internet even more than they did last time. By this I mean using a blog, a web site, and conference calling with a digital whiteboard. This last one is basically a conference bridge with the capability for people to share a computer screen as well as speak to each other in a group setting. We use them all the time in my consulting practice and I think they could be put to good use by a reunion committee. When the time comes I hope to have opportunity to demonstrate.

Election Day

 

 

      I subscribe to the Willard School News, a regular email list which provides news and information regarding my old elementary school. It sometimes provides fodder for this blog, so it came as no surprise when I received the news that Willard would do all it could to maintain the safety of students on Election Day. This is all good. Though I don't believe for a moment that the children are any less safe than I was some 40 years ago. Back then they also had concerns and told us not to accept candy or rides from strangers. 

     The Willard News went on to say that, "there would be parent volunteers monitoring the hallways, as we usually do any time voters are in the building." We used to call these volunteers stay-at-home Moms. They were usually on-hand anyhow because they had to deliver their contributions to the bake sale. The big difference between now and then was the news that there would be a police officer in the building for the entire day. This I don't remember ever happening, though I could be mistaken. Is the presence of the Police unnecessary? No, I think it's a good thing since there isn't a Safety Patrol to cross students during what will be a very heavy polling day. Please don't misunderstand me, I like the paid crossing guards! Though in terms of learning about Civics, I just prefer the large number of patrol men (I used to lead 14-16 classmates), as we called them, who were at their stations before and after school (rain or shine). They may not be as professional as the seniors who patrol the streets these days but they did do a huge service to the community. 

      Lest we forget, in those days, children went home for lunch so the safety patrol also crossed students at those times, too. Please indulge me as I tell my all-time favorite safety patrol story. It was Spring 1970, and I remember my 5th grade class being asked to lead a safety patrol for an entire week while all 4 classes of 6th graders went to Science Camp. You see, there had been a freak spring storm and two of the classes had their week at camp canceled. The principal of Willard School, Dan Daly, then asked my 5th grade class to fill-in for an entire week while all 4 6th grade classes attended camp. They usually went two classes at a time. To make a long reminiscence short, it rained most of that week and we had to do 4 shifts a day. Please tell me how many students these days would do the same? What's more, how many parents would let their children do this sort of work? Back then it was just accepted as normal civic duty. As an FYI, I still have the Honor Squad pin they gave me for being the Captain of this patrol and one the following year. I also still champion to this day the use of Safety Patrols. There is a web site and a tradition dating aback to 1920, which you are kindly asked to check out.

Schweinfurth Florist

      When I was planning my wedding in 2001, I went and visited The Upper Ridgewood Community Church where I had been confirmed, as a possible venue. They told me that former members of the church, as a rite of passage, invariably came back to get married. I was quite pleased at this coincidence and proceeded to book my forthcoming marriage and reception at my old church. Much to my delight when I asked who they recommended to do the flowers, they suggested an old classmate of ours who owned Schweinfurth Florist, Chet Douglas. When my wife and I went to visit him to plan the floral arraignments he couldn't have been more charming and professional. He even went as far as to suggest that the flowers for my Saturday wedding could be used at the next day's services, and that he would credit the church for these flowers. Chet is a very cool guy and an astute businessman. I hope this serves as a long overdue thank-you.

RHS Class of 1976

 

I always liked the RHS Class of 1976. They had their flaws like every class, but I always respected the genuine way they went about making their mistakes. It wasn't an easy time with the Vietnam War winding down the year before and a bad recession in 1974. They exhibited a raucous comradeship none the less and gave people in the class following them some things to wonder about. Please visit their reunion website and marvel at all the pictures they have collected. Truth by known, a member of the class of 1977 helped them with their site. 

Jack O'Neill 

  Jane Bitzer

 

 

  

 

A tribute to Jackson Browne. Notice RHS 1977 members Sam Cermack and Mile Connolly. 

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Sandy Chapman.              Blythe Reis