Village Christmas Tree

This picture could be from any year in the past 50. According to friends it is this year's model. Nice to know some memories of childhood remain the same, even if the town around them has changed in countless ways.

Whither goest Thanksgiving?

Let's be clear about one thing: Thanksgiving as I remember it is long gone. We kissed it goodbye forever when the stores began opening on Thursdays. I'm not sure what we gain by shopping early, if anything. Surely, the loss of a cultural tradition must stand for something, correct?

Yes, my friends still enjoy a game of football in the morning (Annual Turkey Bowl), watching the Macy's Parade, and grazing over large portions of food. Somethings will never be changed by an alteration in our shopping habits.

The concept of working on Thanksgiving used to be nonsensical. It was a typically American holiday that served to reinforce our ethos and way of life. To newcomers to the US, or people just visiting, there was the need for an explanation of why everybody celebrated on the 4th Thursday of the month of November. Even if the explanations were shrouded in myths they were gladly accepted because the celebration was for the same reason.

Thanksgiving for all the hoopla about how many days until Christmas, was still a day for reflection and a time to be grateful for all that had been provided for us. This seems impossible now if stores must be kept open to satisfy our unquenchable need to shop.

The point here is that it takes real people to open the stores on what was once a day that only emergency personnel worked or people who might be doing a public service by being the only shop open where you might get a bottle of milk. Even these stores were closed early so families could be together. Now it seems we regard these lives with little thought as to how they will be affected by taking a holiday away and asking them to work.

Our Sense of Duty To Others

Do our screens and gadgets keep us from noticing what's going on around us? Does our technology keep us from face-to-face situations and the unspoken obligations that go with them? I've asked myself more than once these questions, especially when I see people crossing streets with a phone in their ear and paying no attention to the traffic.

The question of our unspoken obligations to one another has been debated many times before. All I can add is that our smarts phones with their cameras and video recorders have proved very useful in assisting police in times of trouble. Not to mention they can be used to call the police or ambulance.

Though what do you say to people who insist they can drive their car and talk on the phone at the same time? Even with a "hands free" device this is a difficult task. How did we ever survive for so long without being able to drive and talk on the phone? Have we created a society which is so pressed for time that we have to openly disregard the law about driving and using our cell phones? It's obviously worse in our cities and on our highways to engage in this practice, but who's to say you couldn't drive off a back country road and end up in a ditch.

I wish I had a simple solution and could apply it to everyone at every time. It might upset most busy folks to realize they are not as busy as they feel, and could possibly wait until they reach their destination to make a call, or simply pull over and turn off the engine.

I suppose I'm feeling my age because I can still easily recall a time when we weren't presented with such dilemmas. It was a time where pay phones or borrowing the use of a friend's land line phone were all we had if we needed to make a call. Maybe we were less transitory back then but I suspect we are likely more anxious now. Hard to believe we could be more anxious than in a time where two Superpowers had hundreds of nukes pointed at each other and the tension was palpable; a single hotline was all that separated us from a catastrophe.

The case can be made that we do live in a more dangerous and uncivil age. If so, then my hope is that we all remember a time when it wasn't so extreme and lend a hand when asked or when you see someone who needs one. Believe you have a sense of duty to those around you and trust this feeling will make a difference in how everybody feels.

Animals

Our pets keep us honest. If we were lucky enough to grow up with one or two around the house then they likely saw us in some awkward moments. They couldn't judge us and, in particular, our dogs viewed us through rose colored glasses. It always seemed to me they saw our best selves every day, unless they weren't feeling well. Then it was always up to us, if we were smart,  to try to live up to their expectations and repay the kindness by trying to make them feel better.

My current dog is named Angus. We wanted a good Scottish name for him and I immediately was reminded of the wonderful butler in the original PBS series "Upstairs, Downstairs."

In the very first episode he spoke of learning the lesson of humility as a young man, and never having forgotten it. This always struck me as the essence of common sense, but something rarely seen in practice! I suppose by naming a dog after a fictional character who had uttered such a worldly wise bit of advice I hoped it would help remind me to hold my tongue. Unfortunately, Angus is not always around when I need reminding. Though when he is by my side, he induces a feeling of confidence and well being that often times makes we forget what it was that might have tempted me to say something in haste, that I would regret later.



In recent years I made friends with some of the animals at the Central Park. Here are Scooter and April. They are very smart sea lions who know exactly when dinner time is, even if we humans have turned the clock back in the autumn or ahead in the spring.

RHS Ski Weekend 2014

RHS Ski weekend Jan 25th and 26th. 2014 in Stowe, VT.

Contact the resort directly to make your arrangements and mention RHS. Doug Walker, Tara Farrell, Frank Marshall and many others will see you on the slopes.

Contact the Golden Eagle Resort directly at: 

http://www.goldeneagleresort.com/groups/ski-groups

Public Places of Amusement

In our younger days we visited public places of amusement like the Club 300 Bowling Alley, the Warner Theatre, Yankee and Shea Stadiums, Madison Square Garden, and the various carnivals that toured through our area in the summer months. We ate out on special occasions like when we visited a ballpark or a carnival and ate what they sold and it wasn't a big expense. A big expense would have been taking our Mom out for her birthday to a place like Stasny's in Waldwick.

Presently, The Club 300 Bowling Alley is long gone, as are Yankee and Shea Stadiums. Stasny's was replaced in 1989 by Nellie's Place. The Warner Theatre has divided itself in 4 parts, and fewer carnivals tour across the area.

Families eat out more often now and the options are seemingly limitless, with no special occasion necessary, like a mother's birthday, needed to send the family out the door. This is all easily justified by our more hectic lifestyles and the fact that many families have two incomes and no time to shop, let along cook when the work day is over.

Now we all have more entertainment options in our cell phones and tablets than any of us could have ever obtained from our TV sets and their antennas back in the day. It's now wonder places of public amusement have been in a long decline. The sad part is that people with different incomes used to come together and mingle, if only for a short time. If everyone was playing pinball together or rooting for a professional sports team, then we all shared a common struggle and felt a sense of community, albeit a simple and fleeting one.

The new Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Madison Square are now places of exclusivity. Court side seats or box seat behind home plate can cost thousands. Even the $5 and $6 seats up in the nosebleed sections are priced to dearly to be anything more than once a year event or the result of a gift from a corporation.

I am not asking that we return to the days of smokey bowling alleys and limited options for dining out. Nor do I want to tax the richest to the point where they want to hide their money overseas. It's just that it appears all of the talk of the 1% is more than hyperbole, and constitutes a loss of something nameless that we might look back on and regret.

People of all incomes coming together was a educational experience that I am glad I experienced. We used to sit in the rafters of Madison Square Garden in the early 1970s, and listen to the salty conversations of the New York sports writers. The arena was loud with fan noise and the organ playing of Eddie Layton. There was no need to fill the place with ear splitting rock n' roll during timeouts. We created our own atmosphere and urged on our home team Knicks and Rangers by contributing our voices to chants of "Defense" which would certainly distract opponents if not strike fear in their hearts. It doesn't work like this anymore. Just count the empty seats from the comfort of your home TV screen at any sporting event and you will know what I mean.

Autumn in the NorthEastern US

When I lived away from the northeast and didn't have autumn leaves to ponder, I often felt a sense of loss. It was autumn's sweet melancholy that I was missing. The notion implied is that people from the northeast can physically leave their surroundings but will always wonder, no matter where they live, how the leaves are looking back home.

This week on my block in Forest Hills the autumn color fest, which brings countless people here to gawk, is approaching its peak. The turning of the leaves is something that binds us to simpler times when we pressed the leaves in books and brought them to school, or when we used to pile the leaves on our lawns and then jump into the center. No thought was given for broken bones as our young bodies protected us and in our innocence we always seemed to find the soft center of the pile.

Hope you get a chance to see the leaves, and/or at least consider their everlasting effect on our lives.
Here is a photo taken today by our classmate Carol Nelson:

RHS Class of 1978 35th Reunion

If you ever wondered why people go to high school reunions, all you have to do is look at this picture and you will find your answer:

Photo of Kathie Mortimer and John Melley from Jennifer Gilroy's post in Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978.

The Catcher in the Rye

It was in Alan Bennett's 10th grade English class that I first encountered Holden Caufield. We have been reintroduced over the years many times, especially in October when the days grow shorter and the melancholy of Winter becomes all too apparent to me.

The New Yorker described it as "a brilliant, funny, and moving story." The Catcher In The Rye has sold more than 65 million copies since it ws first published in 1951, and annually sells 250,000 copies. I have bought a few over the years, but currently haven't a single copy on my bookshelf.

By the time I was 26 I had read all of J. D. Salinger's published works, not including the original stories published in The New Yorker. No Internet in those days so I relied on a couple of small town libraries. I continued to annually re-read The Catcher in the Rye until I was in my late thirties.

This remembrance of all things Catcher has been prompted by a new documentary entitled Salinger. Hope you have a chance to view it. I don't want to spoil it for those who haven't considered Holden Caufield in a while. Though I will say my opinion of this work of fiction didn't change because of any revelations contained in the documentary and book. I like to try and separate the artist from their work, even when this is not possible or practical. J. D. Salinger was not perfect but I know of no crimes he committed. Please judge for yourself.

Joe Antonacci's Parents

Joe Antonacci, Class of 1978

 

 

Congratulations to my parents who celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary last week. Forever Young !!

Dave Espel

Dave Espel wrote over his picture in my Yearbook. He said, "Paul, Good luck! Keep up the spirit. Remember all the good times. David" Nice to know he was looking ahead with an optimistic attitude.

If anyone wants to send their condolences to Dave's family, here is the link. 

 http://www.cavin-cook.com/obituary/guestbook/slug/david-jonothan-espel/mode/sign

Obituaries

www.cavin-cook.com

 I have a fine memory of Dave, one that has never seen the light of day. My guess is Dave won't mind if I share it now.

Dave was assigned to a Special Education class at Willard School when I was in fourth grade. This was a class of children with needs which went far beyond the call of one teacher to handle. Maybe they thought Dave could help. Nobody ever explained to us why he had been brought to Willard.

My classroom was next door and we could hear the shouts and cries of these kids on a daily basis. Dave was obviously out of place to us so they would from time to time put him in our "Regular" classroom without any explanation, for a few hours at a time. He was always mild mannered and a fun guy with a smile on his face. We never talked about why he was next door or the fact he lived in another school district.

This arrangement went on for a few months and then he was gone. I next saw him at RHS and on the first occasion of our meeting he gave me a knowing smile. It was a smile which didn't ask for sympathy, only my acceptance. This was easy for me, as I remember in hindsight, and was always how we kept it. Luckily, I didn't feel the need to taunt him for having been in a Special Education class many years before. I thank my parents for teaching me the difference between right and wrong. Hope Dave is looking upon us now and smiling the same knowing smile.

 

 

Tim Daly on Parent's Day 1980

One of my favorite pictures and stories from our class website.
https://rhs1977reunion.info/

According to TimDaly:

"This may be the only photo I have of me with my parents in one shot. I remember the guy who took the photo so well because he gave it to me at the end of the school year during graduation in May of 1981. The photo was taken during pre-game ceremonies on Parents Day, October 1980. All seniors escorted their parents onto the field facing the home crowd. It was such a nice surprise to receive this photo and I have managed to save it over all of these years. Marie L. Daly(09/1930-04/1996). Robert C. "Pops" Daly(11/1924-06/2004). We were a classic Ridgewood family growing up in that time period. Six kids born over the course of 11 years. As we got older we all liked to refer to our parents by their first names and our family was no different. They were "Bob and Marie" to everybody. I have some great memories of that time at Widener(Chester, Pa.) as the parents of my roommates also came to watch the games and we would all party together in our on-campus apartment after the game(s)."

Heermance Place Parking Spots Eliminated

From the Ridgewood/Glen Rock Patch:

http://ridgewood.patch.com/groups/back-to-school/p/student-parking-banned-on-heermance

It was a hard thing to park on Heermance Place when you went to RHS. The hard part was getting up earlier enough to gain a spot. For a while there was a pecking order of cars with drivers who got up early to secure the prized spot.

I don't blame anyone for banning parking. It is not a right of passage for students attending RHS so I feel nothing has been lost. On the contrary, the bus lanes are now more devoid of congestion.

Yes, times have changed. I can't imagine how difficult it must be for some students without a stay-at-home Mom to make it to and from school without a car. In some cases these students have to work and need their car to commute.

I had a stay-at-home Mom, and so did most kids at RHS. We might have complained about their questions but we never missed a meal and could always count on them for a ride on a rainy day.

Sue Kenyon

Miss her already.

"Memorial Service for Suzanne Kenyon Allsopp, Thursday, September 12, 5:00 pm, Wang Center, Stony Brook. We will post information on calling in or Skyping as soon as we have it."

Derek Jeter and Mickey Mantle

I saw the longtime New York Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter today. His body had betrayed him at the age of 39,  in a similar way to how the Hall of Fame Yankee Mickey Mantle's body betrayed him in his early 30's. Both of these crowd favorites have had to confront the same options most weekend athletes have to consider every time they attempt a game best played by boys: "Is this the last time I play before calling it quits?"

For me the last game came when I was 30. I was playing on the Mall in Washington, DC on a beautiful June afternoon. The game was meaningless and I was a substitute for a team that was losing in the 5th inning. When I jogged out to right field I saw the Washington Memorial on one side and the Capital on the other. It occurred to me that if this were the last time I ever tried to be a baseball player that I couldn't have picked a more picturesque location.

As it so happened I had the opportunity to bat first in the top of the 6th inning. The starting pitcher had been sent to the showers with a 15 run lead so my opponent was a relief pitcher simply trying to end the game quickly. He tossed me a beautiful high arc pitch which I watched cross the plate. He seemed puzzled as to why I hadn't swung at this thing of beauty and proceeded to toss me another in exactly the same manner. This time I swung as though it was my last time at bat on this earth. The ball traveled high and far over the head of the center fielder. I sped around the base paths just as I had done as a youth and was safe at home plate. I had scored one last time.

After the game was over the manager called me and asked if I wanted to continue playing for his team. I gave it some thought and said no. It was too pretty a memory for me to have and nobody would ever truly understand it anyhow.

I had stopped playing the boys game. It's exactly what I would have wished for Mickey Mantle when I watched his final games and the ball no longer carried into the seats as it once had. It is also how I felt for Derek Jeter when I watch him labor today, and hit into two double plays. If only he could see himself in hindsight then he might just imagine that his best days are behind him and that anything else he might do on the ball field would be less than memorable.

In some ways I was luckier than both Derek and Mickey, and for that I am eternally grateful.

August BBQs

When the days start growing shorter and the nights have an autumn crispness about them, I am often  reminded of the BBQs we used to have on our backyard patio. The kids would drink soda and eat hamburgers and hotdogs on the run. The adults would have more contemplative beverages and sit around our picnic table eating salad along with their charcoal cooked entrees.

It was only many years later that I grew to understand how they could sit and just talk for hours on end. We would innocently come up to the table from time to time and ask what they were doing and if they wanted to catch fireflies or investigate something but their response was always the same: you kids go on and play, we are having a nice time just talking.

My parents and their friends were happy to watch us play and be with one another. It's only in hindsight do you see the wisdom inherent in these simple pleasures from another era. A time where no cell phones were around to interrupt the conversation or computer games to distract the kids. We were all outside where it was cooler than in the house. Bedtimes were only enforced when we had run out of energy and the adults felt compelled to go home. Nobody wanted the night to end but we all knew there was only so much one could have of a good thing. Whether it was a rapid sequence of children's games or the more the more sedate pace of adult's conversation; we all knew these nights had to eventually come to an end.

August BBQs were times we reluctantly gave up when school began just after Labor Day. We could have done one or two more in September but the days would have been even shorter and the nights might be too cool for extended conversations. It was easier in August to hold a BBQ with our neighbors, and if it rained we could laugh it off and move under the cover offered by our garage. In September the pace seemed quicker and we were less tolerant for inconsistencies in the weather. While the waning days of August had us feeling more capable of handling the elements. We knew the summer was almost over and the time for BBQs accompanied by long conversations around the picnic table was fleeting. These particular occasions come racing back to mind whenever the August nights begin to feel relaxed and the summer's heat only a mild distraction. I realize now that my preference is for the picnic table and the adult conversation. Though an August BBQ will also make me a little envious of the children who can run till they are exhausted, and from time to time ask the adults if we want to stop our talking and join them in their discovery of the neighborhood.

What Has Happened To August

It used to be a truism that the month of August felt long, hot, and dull. Then Labor Day would come and after that we would go back to school. This was a good thing as our K-12 schools, even my college dorm, were not air conditioned.

Now I see posts on FaceBook of my friends taking their kids to college. The fact that they are taking them to school is not indicative of anything or surprising, but the fact it is the middle of August suggests something has changed in our way of life.

I realize school being in recess in the summer months is a remnant of our agrarian economy and that children at one time had to work to bring in the crops. Then we grew into an industrial economy and children were eventually outlawed from working in factories so the summer months were free for them to grow up and discover things on their own. August in particular was a time for family vacations and if you weren't on vacation or had already been, the month of August could seem quiet in the neighborhood. You had to look around hard for things to do and leave your comfort zone, maybe talk and play with kids you usually wouldn't associate with.

As I like to tell my nephews when I make these sort of observations, my childhood was not better or worse than what they are going through. It is only different, and change is something we all have to accept and deal with.

This August I have already taking my vacation at the Jersey Shore so I am looking around hard for things to do, just as I sometimes had to do as a kid. Thank goodness for air conditioning and that I can read about the changes going on in our society on the Internet. Otherwise, I would be outside trying to experience things for myself. This wouldn't be a bad thing, only different for what currently passes as living and growing up.

Lawrence Welk

It would be difficult to exclude The Lawrence Welk Show from any collection of remembrances from the 60s and 70s. His show was a stalwart on Saturday nights and in our house when my Dad's mother was visiting the set was invariably tuned to the show come 7:30 PM.

I would be lying if I said I enjoyed watching the show in those days but through the wonder of reruns I can now say I do appreciate the professionalism which the show exhibited. Lawrence Welk conducted the orchestra and no doubt had a hand in every aspect of the show which bore his name. Yes, the clothing was loud but they started broadcasting in color in 1967 so they had to give people who had spent the big bucks on a color TV something for their money, right?

The music was tame but it had a well-rehearsed look and the shots of the audience always confirmed these were the tunes they came to hear and sometimes get up and dance to. Accroding to our pals at Wikipedia: In 1996, Welk was ranked #43 on TV Guide's 50 Greatest TV Stars of All Time. the show was on the air from 1955 to 1982. His "Champagne Music" has never gone out of style for some folks and probably never will.

RHS 1977 Picnic at Dunkerhook Park

Doug Walker, Tara Farrell, and Steve Tenney did a wonderful job organizing of the picnic.

RHS Class of 1978 35th Reunion

Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978 35th Reunion Details


Tell your friends!! It is time to get tickets to the RHS Class of 78 35th Year Reunion!.
Go to the Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978 Facebook Page to connect with friends, view updates to this document and see who is coming to reunion!

When: 7 to 11PM, Saturday October 12, 2013 Where: Biagio's Ristorante, 299 Paramus Rd, Paramus,
http://www.biagios.com/

What: Buffet Dinner, Cash bar
Cost: $50/per person*

Deadline; Limited number of tickets, so to assure your spot, sign up early! Deadline September 30th. (After September 30th, contact Pam Eilers Smith directly, at PamSmith416@yahoo.com.

No tickets are planned to be sold at the door.)

How to Pay: Go to www.paypal.com and send the money to rhsreunion1978@gmail.com.

See bottom of page for more detailed payment instructions.
Accommodations:
Hotel-
If you need accommodations, rooms have been set aside at the:
Hyatt Place Fair lawn/Paramus
41-01 Broadway (Route 208 North)
Fair Lawn, New Jersey, USA, 07410
Tel: +1 201 475 3888—
Ask for Kim Klapper and the RHS Class of 78 block of rooms to get the $129/night rate.

http://fairlawnparamus.place.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html
Private Home-
Alternately, we are soliciting volunteers in the area who would like to host out-of-towners.

Contact Pam Eilers Smith at PamSmith416@yahoo.com for more details.

Transportation: Free shuttle service will be available to transport people to the Hotel at the end of the night.
Volunteers!
1) Volunteer Housing hosts—Do you have an extra room and want to share? Host classmates for the night or weekend! Contact Pam Eilers Smith at PamSmith416@yahoo.com
2) Party Host(s) Do you live in the area and want to organize a party for Friday night or a get together during the day Saturday? Send a message to Susan Hersperger Bernegger on Facebook to post it on the Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978 Facebook page or contact Pam Eilers Smith at PamSmith416@yahoo.com.

3) Photos- Start gathering digital photos to be part of a slide show. Stay tuned for details.

4) Other ideas welcome! Know teachers who may want to come? Have other ideas? Feel free to go to the Facebook page Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978 to post ideas and reconnect with friends. If you have ideas for the facebook page- please send a FB message with suggestions to Susan Hersperger Bernegger.

Contacts: Contact Pam Eilers Smith at PamSmith416@yahoo.com. Or send a message on facebook to Pam Eilers Smith, Alison Deetz Taylor or Susan Hersperger Bernegger.

Payment Instructions for Ridgewood NJ Class of 1978 Reunion 1. Go to www.paypal.com
2. Click on “Buy”
3. Click on “Make a Payment”
4. Put in your email address in the “from” field 5. Put rhsreunion1978@gmail.com in the “to field”
6. Put $50* for one ticket or $100 if two tickets in the dollar field
7. Hit continue
8. Then log into your account or create a new one if you need to and follow the instructions.
9. Before you hit send- in the “message area” put your name and if you are bringing a guest, your guest’s name.
10. Hit send
The message will say that the money has been sent to Alison (Deetz) Taylor at the rhsreunion1978@gmail.com address.

We will be eventually posting your name on the site when paid!
If you don’t have a paypal account it is very easy to set one up.
It makes it easier for us if you use paypal, but If you can’t we still want you to come! Contact Pam Eilers Smith directly at PamSmith416@yahoo.com.
*Note- If you are anybody you know needs a reduced rate, contact Pam at the above address.

Boys of Summer

It was 40 years ago that we were boys playing the game of Baseball. The year before we had swept aside all opponents in the Village Summer Recreation League. As we began the summer of 1973 our hopes were sky high for a repeat. We had good reason to be confident as our manager was returning for one last hurrah and we had five 14 year old starters in our lineup. After the age of 14 you were deemed to be too old to compete at this level.

There are no known photos from this season, not even an instamatic shot. There are no movies either. We did keep meticulous statistics and these are posted on the FaceBook for posterity. If our statistics were any indication of our seriousness then you wouldn't be surprised that we would rake the infield before home games, put lime down on the foul lines, and plant an American flag in deep Center Field. We didn't go as far as playing the national anthem but that was our only omission.

This was a group of serious Baseball fans. We watched what games that were available, on our mostly black and white TVs, and could imitate most of the well-known batting stances and pitching styles of the era. We also kept up with our favorite teams by reading the box scores in the newspapers and such prized magazines as the Sporting News.

When the dust had settled on our last season together, we had done as we had hoped and expected: swept the league again! The celebration after the last game was short and sweet. The art of pouring champagne on each other was in its early stages and only for World Series winners. We were simply the winners of a small league in a small town. Though on that last day some 40 years ago we felt good none the less. It's probably true that our small accomplishments in life can be among the most memorable and that these help shape our future outlooks and actions, just as much as marriages, graduations, and deaths. Please don't try and tell any of us Boys of Summer any different as we all know you had to be there to appreciate the moment.

RHS 1977 Picnic List

Picnic list:
This is what has been anonymously provided so far.
Park Permit and clean up deposit
1 Weber charcoal grill w/utensils
Package of 64 burgers w/buns
Package of hot dogs w/buns
Rock and roll mystery band
$150 worth of Wilkes deli salads and party platter.

This is a great start. What else can someone provide? Please feel free to email me directly at dcwvt1@gmail.com

2013 RHS Music Picnic: 10 August

2013 RHS Music Picnic: August 10th, 2013 at 2 pm till whatever at Dunkerhook Park.

 I'm bringing 2 acoustic guitars. 6 and 12 strings. Steven Tenney is bringing something to drum. If there is no power it will be RHS Un-plugged.

The organizers: Doug Walker and Tara Farrell

It would be worth going just to see their smiles.

Advertising in the Ridgewood Railroad Underpass

Nice article in The Ridgewood Patch about the proposed placement of advertisements in the railroad underpass. The funniest line was from the mayor who felt it might make the underpass look like a subway platform.

By the looks of this recent photo he has nothing to worry about as this looks worse than a subway platform.

It's been projected that the town might earn $65,000 annually from ads. This is not chump change and would facilitate much needed repairs like asbestos removal and water damage repairs.

I can remember that this underpass has always had a dank feel and mildewy smell. How will advertisements make it any worse? The Village might even create a new revenue stream. It's time to start thinking again and reminding ourselves that schools and Village services do not pay for themselves. Let's take the lesson of the Detroit bankruptcy to heart and realize that it could happen anywhere.

Palisades Amusement Park

How can you reminisce about the 1960s and 1970s and omit Palisades Amusement Park? It swang all day and after dark, as the old theme sang went. 

From Wikipedia:

Palisades Amusement Park was a thirty-acre amusement park located in Bergen County, New Jersey, across the Hudson River from New York City. It was situated atop the New Jersey Palisades lying partly in Cliffside Park and partly in Fort Lee. The park operated from 1898 until 1971, remaining one of the most visited amusement parks in the country until the end of its existence. After the park closed in 1971, a high-rise luxury apartment complex was built on its site.

Site dedicated to preserving the memories of Palisades Amusement Park

I remember the park and the incredible hot ride home in the car before air-conditioning was ubiquitous and cooled your car instantly. If you were in the back seat like I was it would feel like an eternity before the cool would start to overcome our station wagon.

Our visits to Palisades Amusement Park were always fun times and even included a bit of freedom to roam around by ourselves. Though not too far from our parents and the cash they had for cotton candy, sodas, and tickets for rides.

These trips and those we made to State and local fairs were a close up look at a more desperate side of life. There were never too many smiles among the people working these events in the heat for long hours at a stretch. In retrospect you have to wonder if they chose this life consciously or had it thrust upon them. We never stopped to ask.

Laura Fleming

Courtesy of Tom Thurston who had a son graduate this past week from RHS. This is from the RHS Weekly View:

Laura Fleming has been teaching at Ridgewood High School for thirty years as a member of the History/Social Studies Department. She holds a Bachelor of the Arts in History, and a Master of the Arts in Social Studies Education. She is also currently continuing her education in the field of history.

One of Your Favorite Memories of Your Time at RHS:
One of my favorite memories was judging the pie-eating contest at a pep rally two years ago. I tried to give the seniors a chance to win, but the freshmen were too quick for them!

What Advice Would You Give Every Student:

My advice to students is to remember that nobody is perfect, but every one of us is perfect.

Something You Don’t Know About Me:

I was raised in Ridgewood, went through the entire school system, and was one of the first 1st grade students to attend Hawes School when it was built. I even had the chance to meet Henrietta B. Hawes.

Summer Days

If there was a summer time novel/movie for me it would be The Great Gatsby. It takes place during a lazy summer during the 1920s and is filled with observations about summer. A couple of examples:

And so with the sunshine and the great bursts of leaves growing on the trees, just as things grow in fast movies, I had that familiar conviction that life was beginning over again with the summer.”
― Nick Carraway

“Do you ever wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always wait for the longest day of the year and then miss it!” 
― Daisy Buchanan

The Daisy Buchanan quote always sticks with me because I usually miss acknowledging the longest day of the year and someone has to remind me or I think of it after the fact.

Though this year was different.

The summer of 2013 began for me returning from a short vacation at the Jersey Shore. Most times it would be the other way around and I would be planning a trip or wishing for a trip, once summer began.

This year we visited Atlantic City and I was able to feast my eyes on two of the remaining hotels from the Gatsby era: The Claridge and The Ritz.

Both of these gems have seen better days. The Claridge is part of Bally's and has a connection not depicted in this photo. The Ritz is now a condo. Neither of these facts takes anything away from my imagining them in their prime or wanting to stay at each for a night. This yearning would be for no other reason than to say I had stayed in a once magnificent hotel on what was once a premier vacation and honeymooning spot. I realize this makes me a throwback to another era but I don't mind that distinction, especially since we all know it's just in my mind and little else.

Yes, I have completed my summer sojourn to the Jersey Shore and feel the optimism of what the rest of the summer may bring. Hope you are able to do whatever it is that makes you feel like summer is here. Though don't wait for the longest day of the year as you have missed it!

What's Up With the July Jam?

After we captured lighting in a bottle at last year's reunion by forming a band of musical all-stars from the local area, we thought what a great idea it would be to do it again this summer. One super storm later and much contemplation of how much time, money, and energy this would require, the idea hasn't had much traction. That is until this week when it was brought up on FaceBook on our Class of 1977 page.

Now I realize not everyone uses FaceBook for social networking and I am fine with it. Though as a technologist and network engineer I find it curious that people would have such strong feeling about it and never participate. We have all seen in the news the wonders of "Big Data" and how governments use it to draw conclusions, whether it's the IRS or the NSA. FaceBook has been depicted as another organization which uses the information it collects, and no doubt it does. I simply accept this a fact and realize that both good and bad will result from the gathering of data of the findings which this sort of activity generates.

Anyhow, the July Jam is seeking volunteers to help organize and coordinate a smaller get together this summer. The band is raring to go according to JV and needs help with finding a location to play. If you are interested in helping contact JV by any means you feel comfortable: email, phone, or FaceBook. Hope to see you!

RHS Girls Volleyball Team 1976

RHS Volleyball Team Fall 1976.

Memorable Commencement Speaker

Borrowed these words from our classmate, Bob Rahm, who posted them on FaceBook:

Drew Houston, cofounder of Dropbox, MIT'06, was Phoebe's commencement speaker. He said his cheat sheet for life would have 3 things on it, a tennis ball, a circle, and the number 30,000.

The tennis ball reminds him that you have to find that idea that you will run through anything to capture, like a dog after a tennis ball. A problem that you will work on solving because you have to, not for money, not because someone tells you to, but because you have to for self satisfaction.

The circle is to remind himself that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. Choose people that inspire you to achieve.

And 30,000, the number of days, roughly, in a lifetime. Use your days like the limited consumable resource they are. All of them.

He went on to say that the goal should be to make life interesting.

I would agree, the only thing we have to spend, that we can't get back, is time. The only thing we can get for it is memories. Choose wisely.

Definition of Home

The place from which we originated and the place which we return, occasionally. Much like this blog and the nether reaches of my mind where memories of growing up are stored. I go there from time to time when something or nothing at all prompts a recollection of a simpler time long since past.

My ability to recall may fade but the number of events is a constant. Hopefully I can continue to do them justice. Thank you!

The Sting-Ray Bicycle Turns 50

Good article in today's Wall Street Journal about the trendsetting Sting-Ray bike which turns 50 this week.



As you may recall this bicycle had butterfly handlebars, a banana seat, and optional sissy bar. I rode Tyler McCray's a few times around the neighborhood and loved it. It could do wheelies, patch out, and come to a fish-tail stop.

As the article points out, it was designed for show-offs and kids who desired an outlaw image. Looking back on it, it's easy to connect the dots and see it as the predecessor to the next big thing--all-terrain biking.

Camp Green

"It's funny how something that was part of our life for 5 short days can hold such great memories."

From the Glen School Class of 1967 blog

CAMP GREEN TODAY

In the Spring of 1973, Cooper Union's 1,000 acre Green Camp - affectionately known to Ridgewood, NJ 6th graders as "Camp Green" - was broken up and sold to the State of New Jersey. All but 173 acres were used by the state's Juvenile Justice Commission for a reform school called "Green Residential Community Home" - the center serves a maximum of 32 teens. The remaining 173 acres was designated as part of the park it is today I believe.

At the time in 1973, Cooper Union expected a windfall of $10,000,000 from the sale. While citing upkeep of the camp which was relatively small ($150,000 annually) - for school that was tuition-free and depended heavily on donations the sale would give them unprecedented cash for use at Cooper Union in the city.

Cooper Union actually attempted to sell the property in 1971 but was met with strong student and alumni opposition and resulted in the board holding off temporarily. But despite a $20,000 study of the camp the board was pre-disposed to the idea of the sale and the vote - 11 board members - would vote unanimously in 1973 to sell it and on June 28, 1973 it was shut it down. I like to think that the last ones to use the camp were 6th graders from New Jersey who experienced for the last time the benefits of Camp Green.

Words on a Distant Prospect of Ridgewood High School

With all apologies to Thomas Grey who wrote some wonderful poetry, including one that someone who considers himself or herself an educated person will be familiar with: "Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College."

A pal recently wrote to me that it would be wonderful to be aware that you are living in the good old days when you are in them. This I believe is possible as you grow older and more than half of your life has passed. But don't try to tell a teenager a bromide like this or else they'll think you lost, or worse, old and in the way.

Thomas Grey does offer some solace:

To each his sufferings: all are men,

Condemned alike to groan;

The tender for another's pain,

The unfeeling for his own.

Yet ah! why should they know their fate?

Since sorrow never comes too late,

And happiness too swiftly flies.

Thought would destroy their paradise.

No more; where ignorance is bliss,

'Tis folly to be wise.

With flocks of new graduates heading off to college or the job market it is hard not to want to offer your perceived wisdom gained through long toil and hopefully some somber self-reckoning. I feel this every day for my two nephews who each has a decision to make, one about prep school and the other about college.

I guess the best advice I can conjure up would be to not fear failure as it will find you from time to time despite all efforts to the contrary. I would also say that you ought to dare to be good at something and to try on a number of hats to see which one fits you best. Lastly, I would offer a purely practical piece of advice: learn to code. Being familiar with the lingua franca of our society will open many doors and one of these just might be the right one at the right time. If nothing else you will have something useful to bring to the table and it might even allow you an opportunity to speak your mind.

The Great Gatsby and Shea Stadium

A friend from my Ridgewood days penned this wonderful article tying together F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby and Shea Stadium. Judy Johnson presented this paper at 

The 50th Anniversary of the New York Mets

Hofstra University ~  April 28, 2012

http://watchingthegame.typepad.com/files/literature-the-ny-mets-and-the-tug-of-baseball

On My Mind

Today's Inspirational Quote:

"As I grow older,  I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."

-- Andrew Carnegie

I could have left this blog post with only these words of Andrew Carnegie but something I just read about E.B. White and dogs in The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) Saturday edition has compelled me expand upon this entry.

First of all, the (WSJ) Saturday edition has come a long way in a short time. It has sections of general interest that rival my long time favorite, The New York Times Sunday edition. I don't want to start a polemic debate here, only offer up the news that this isn't my father's WSJ.

My Dad's WSJ, which I began reading in High School while taking a brand new course on the Stock Market, was filled with pages of stock prices. Today, nobody would think to look at the WSJ for the prices of any stocks they own as that is what the Internet is all about.

The old WSJ my Dad read in the morning on the train to New York and his corner office at 40 Wall Street. He would bring it home each night and my class would discuss it the next day. We were just newbies so the timeliness of the stock quotes were of little interest.

Today's WSJ had an article about E.B White and his affection for dogs. You know his work but maybe not his name. Here is the Wikipadia on him:

Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985),[1] usually known as E. B. White, was an American writer. He was a contributor to The New Yorker magazine and a co-author of the English language style guide, The Elements of Style, which is commonly known as "Strunk & White." He also wrote books for children, including Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little and The Trumpet of the Swan.

E.B. White owned dogs all his life. He wrote:

"A really companionable and indispensable dog is an accident of nature. You can't get it by breeding for it, and you can't buy it with money. It just happens along."

This is the truth as I have seen it play out all my life. 

Roger Sweeney Inducted into RHS Athletic Hall of Fame 2012

Mr Sweeney was always a favorite of mine. He taught Rob Lane and I the finer points of driving. One lesson he hoped we would always remember was about the "blind spot" in our rear view mirrors. I remember his words every time I back into the parking space in our garage. That along made him a good teacher, if his lessons are still being practiced more than 35 years later.

Thanks to Tom Thurston and his RHS Athletic Hall of Fame committee for paying tribute to a fine gentleman. See the other 2012 inductees here:RHS 2012 Hall of Fame Inductees

Roger Sweeney - Coach Head Football Coach 1959-1975 Growing up in the town of Ewing, New Jersey, Roger Sweeney attended and graduated from Trenton Central High School with the class of 1948. An outstanding athlete, Roger played both varsity football and baseball for the Red and Black. A two way player in high school football, Roger was a down lineman playing a guard position on the offensive side of the ball and an inside linebacker on defense. A steady infielder playing third base and shortstop on the baseball team, Roger hit for an average over .300 in each of his high school seasons.

Before moving on to college Roger did a year of post graduate work at Pennington Preparatory School in Pennington, New Jersey in 1948-49 where he was also a member of their varsity football and baseball teams. He was a center linebacker on the football team and starting shortstop on the baseball team, again having a .300 plus batting average at the end of his prep playing experience.

Roger enrolled at Trenton State College (Now The College of New Jersey) in the fall of 1949.After his sophomore year in 1951 Roger was called to active duty for two years as a member of the United States Air Force National Guard.

In 1949 through 1951 Roger started on both the varsity football and baseball teams at Trenten State.In football he was playing at the onset of the new thinking towards platooning players.On some occasions he would play on both sides of the ball as a down offensive lineman and interior linebacker, but when platooning was in effect he stayed on the defensive side specializing as a defensive interior linebacker.

In baseball Roger was the starting right fielder on his college team and stayed in that position for the duration of his collegiate career.

Upon returning from the service Roger also returned to Trenton State to continue his education and varsity athletic career playing both football and baseball again.

Roger was a lifetime .300 hitter at the collegiate level hitting .320 his junior year and .345 his senior season.He recalls one outstanding 6 for 6 day at East Stoudsburg University adding “days like that can do wonders for your batting average”.

Roger was the winner of the prestigious “Emonds Award” from Trenton State in 1954 designating him as the outstanding athlete for his class.

Upon graduation from Trenton State in the spring of that same year, Roger took a position for the fall as an elementary school physical education teacher in Wanaque,New Jersey. It was a job he would hold until his arrival at Ridgewood High school in the fall of 1957.Upon arriving at RHS, Roger began his teaching career in the health and physical education department as well as becoming an asst. varsity football coach under the tutelage of legendary Head Football Coach Frank Mozeleski (RHS HOF inductee class of 2006).Roger remained in his assistants position until the fall of 1959 when he was appointed the new Head Football Coach at Ridgewood High School

“So many memories,” Roger Sweeney said mentally recapping his 17- year career (1959 to 1975) as a winning football coach, the hand-picked successor to the late legendary Frank Mozeleski. Among his fondest are of his first sophomore team (6-0) led by Eddy Collins and Butch Heatherington, and in 1966, snapping highly regarded Fair Lawn’s 19-game winning streak sparked by the passing of Cliff Hendry to George Lewis on a memorable Thanksgiving Day. It was one of four instances when Sweeney’s Maroons stunned highly favored opponents, ending long winning streaks.

Quarterback Jeff Lockhart succinctly summed up Sweeney’s philosophy while accepting the Jack Stroker Award from the Junior Football Association a couple of decades ago. “It’s been great playing football here because Mr. Sweeney makes playing football fun,” Lockhart said. It should still be fun at the high school level.

Roger, who taught at Ridgewood High School for 34 years, truly cared for his kids. Caring was his inspiration to his football players. But he refused to take credit for motivating them. “The players psyched themselves,” he would say. “It boils down to being able to execute what you have to do.” He told them “they had to do on the practice field what they were going to do on Saturday.”

Lockhart, who became a doctor, shared quarterback duties on the 1972 squad that lost only to Hackensack in eight outings, 14-13, and captured the school’s first NNJIL title. The 1960 team featured All-County guard, Tom Dusel, and end Mike Henderson and earned Ridgewood’s first Group 4 state crown. In 1969 in its first foray into rugged Hudson County football, Ridgewood snipped North Bergen’s 21-game skein.

A cerebral coach, Roger at first walked in Mozeleski’s shadow. Then he carved his own niche in the annals of Bergen County football compiling a 91-56-4 record, including a 39-14 stretch 1970-75.He eschewed going for the nine wins he needed for membership in Bergen County’s prestigious Century Club. His son Peter was coming up and Roger didn’t think the boy needed his father for a coach. Roger taught him to placekick and Peter entered the school’s record book in that specialty under Dave Vanderbush.

Easter Egg Hunts

I'm not sure when we stopped having Easter Egg Hunts in our home. It probably was near the time I was about to turn eight and my brother six. We always knew there wasn't an Easter Bunny but searching for chocolate was fun all the same. Later we were simple given a chocolate Easter Bunny and told not to eat it all at one time or else we would spoil our dinner.

We would have an Easter dinner around 1PM and it was usually a ham laced with cloves and sometimes pineapple. Later in life I would learn the wonders of spiral sliced smoked hams when I worked as a retail manager in a Heavenly Ham store. Our Easter hams were much simpler affairs and my Dad would have to slice them. They were always a favorite as they made excellent sandwiches for days afterwards.

This all reminds me of something Phillip Roth, the American novelist once said:

"American writers leave where they came from then write about it the rest of their lives."

While I am hardly a writer of any degree, I am an American blogger and I do write about a time and place I only rarely see in person.

I can't say I have ever read anything of Roth. According to Wikipedia, he first gained attention with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of American-Jewish life for which he received the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Roth's fiction, was regularly set in Newark, New Jersey. Though I do believe he is going on my bucket list of writers to spend time with.

To me, any writer who can make an observation that hits home with you is somebody to read. I'll probably start at the beginning and see how it goes. He is a very prolific writer, spanning more than five decades, so maybe I will have to investigate him via Amazon and the Kindle Fire I was given by my employers to evaluate. As an apartment dweller I really don't have the space for books, even though I love them dearly. The tablet is, despite my initial misgivings, a good idea for space deprived city dwellers. Nothing wrong with collecting books and I admire any household which has the room to display all they have read or hope to read. My wife and I have made the decision to live in the city so it's either books or cooking gadgets. From the looks of things the gadgets have won!

Walking Around Town

I used to do quite a bit of walking around town, as well as riding and driving. Who knows how many miles, we didn't go in for the pedometers back then, and today's Fitbit and Jawbone Up had not been invented. Some of us had odometers on our bicycles and in our cars but it was rare that we looked at them to see how far we had gone around town.



At first walking was difficult and even a block or two seemed like a big effort when you were young. Then the strength of youth grows inside of you as well as the impatience and the walk isn't such an effort as it is a use of time.



It wasn't until I getting ready to go off to college and we were readying our home for sale so my parents could move back into Manhattan that I slowed my gait down enough to truly look around at my surroundings and circumstances. Though by this time it was too late to savor the safety and tranquility of our upper Ridgewood neighborhood. It all went away too fast, which was ironic as earlier in my life I couldn't cover the ground fast enough.

Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance,
plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity,
good speech, good silence and nothing too much." 
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Now on those rare occasions when I stroll about town I search my memory banks for why I was in such a hurry. Then it usually comes back to me in a saying I made up:

You can go home again, but only for as long as it takes you to remember why you left in the first place.

.

New Jersey is a Peninsula

You may have seen this already on the Internet by James Stiles:

"New Jersey is a peninsula.

New Jersey has the highest elevation along the entire eastern seaboard, from Maine to Florida.

New Jersey is the only state where all of its counties are classified as metropolitan areas.

New Jersey has more race horses than Kentucky.

New Jersey has more Cubans in Union City (1 sq mi .) than Havana, Cuba.

New Jersey has the densest system of highways and railroads in the US.

New Jersey has the highest cost of living.

New Jersey has the highest cost of auto insurance.

New Jersey has the highest property taxes in the nation.

New Jersey has the most diners in the world and is sometimes referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."

New Jersey is home to the original Mystery Pork Parts Club (no, not Spam ): Taylor Ham or Pork Roll. Home to the less mysterious but the best Italian hot dogs and Italian sausage w /peppers and onions.

North Jersey has the most shopping malls in one area in the world, with seven major shopping malls in a 25 square mile radius.

New Jersey is home to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The Passaic River was the site of the first submarine ride by inventor John P. Holland.

New Jersey has 50+ resort cities & towns; some of the nation's most famous: Asbury Park, Wildwood, Atlantic City, Seaside Heights, Long Branch, Cape May.

New Jersey has the most stringent testing along our coastline for water quality control than any other seaboard state in the entire country.

New Jersey is a leading technology & industrial state and is the largest chemical producing state in the nation when you include pharmaceuticals.

Jersey tomatoes are known the world over as being the best you can buy.

New Jersey is the world leader in blueberry and cranberry production (and here you thought Massachusetts?)

Here's to New Jersey - the toast of the country! In 1642, the first brewery in America, opened in Hoboken.

New Jersey rocks! The famous Les Paul invented the first solid body electric guitar in Mahwah, in 1940.

New Jersey is a major seaport state with the largest seaport in the US,located in Elizabeth. Nearly 80 percent of what our nation imports comes through Elizabeth Seaport first.

New Jersey is home to one of the nation's busiest airports(in Newark ), Liberty International.

George Washington slept here.

Several important Revolutionary War battles were fought on New Jersey soil, led by General George Washington.

The light bulb, phonograph (record player), and motion picture projector were invented by Thomas Edison in his Menlo Park, NJ, laboratory.

We also boast the first town ever lit by incandescent bulbs.

The first seaplane was built in Keyport, NJ.

The first airmail (to Chicago ) was started from Keyport , NJ.

The first phonograph records were made in Camden , NJ New Jersey was home to the Miss America Pageant held in Atlantic City.

The game Monopoly, played all over the world, named the streets on its playing board after the actual streets in Atlantic City. And, Atlantic City has the longest boardwalk in the world, not to mention salt water taffy.

New Jersey has the largest petroleum containment area outside of the Middle East countries.

The first Indian reservation was in New Jersey, in the Watchung Mountains.

New Jersey has the tallest water-tower in the world (Union, NJ!!!)

New Jersey had the first medical center, in Jersey City.

The Pulaski SkyWay, from Jersey City to Newark, was the first skyway highway.

NJ built the first tunnel under a river, the Hudson (Holland Tunnel).

The first baseball game was played in Hoboken, NJ, which is also the birthplace of Frank Sinatra.

The first intercollegiate football game was played in New Brunswick in 1889 ( Rutgers College played Princeton ).

The first drive-in movie theater was opened in Camden , NJ, (but they're all gone now!) except there is still one in Vineland!

New Jersey is home to both of "NEW YORK'S" pro football teams!

The first radio station and broadcast was in Paterson, NJ.

The first FM radio broadcast was made from Alpine, NJ, by Major Thomas Armstrong.

All New Jersey natives: Sal Martorano, Jack Nicholson, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Jason Alexander, Queen Latifah, Susan Sarandon, Connie Francis, Shaq, Judy Blume, Aaron Burr, Joan Robertson, Ken Kross, Dionne Warwick, Sarah Vaughn, Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Alan Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Marilynn McCoo, Flip Wilson, Alexander Hamilton, Zack Braff, Whitney Houston, Eddie Money, Linda McElroy, Eileen Donnelly, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, Walt Whitman, Jerry Lewis, Tom Cruise, Joyce Kilmer, Bruce Willis, Caesar Romero, Lauryn Hill, Ice-T, Nick Adams, Nathan Lane, Sandra Dee, Danny DeVito, Richard Conti, Joe Pesci, Joe Piscopo, Joe DePasquale, Robert Blake, John Forsythe, Meryl Streep, Loretta Swit, Norman Lloyd, Paul Simon, Bill Muehleisen, Jerry Herman, Gorden McCrae, Kevin Spacey, John Travolta, Phyllis Newman, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Eva Marie Saint, Elisabeth Shue, Zebulon Pike, Natalie Muehleisen, James Fennimore Cooper, Admiral Wm. Halsey Jr., Norman Schwarzkopf, Dave Thomas ( Wendy's ), William Carlos Williams, Ray Liotta, Robert Wuhl, Bob Reyers, Paul Robeson, Ernie Kovacs, Joseph Macchia, Kelly Ripa, and, of course, Francis Albert Sinatra and "Uncle Floyd " Vivino, and of course the great Irene Taras.

The Great Falls in Paterson, on the Passaic River, is the 2nd highest waterfall on the East Coast of the US.

You know you're from Jersey when . . You don't think of fruit when people mention "The Oranges."

You know that it's called Great Adventure, not Six Flags.

A good, quick breakfast is a hard roll with butter.

You've known the way to Seaside Heights since you were seven.

You've eaten at a diner, when you were stoned or drunk, at 3 A.M.

You know that the state isn't one big oil refinery.

At least three people in your family still love Bruce Springsteen, and you know the town Jon Bon Jovi is from.

You know what a "jug handle" is.

You know that WaWa is a convenience store.

You know that the state isn't all farmland.

You know that there are no "beaches" in New Jersey--there's the shore--and you don't go "to the shore," you go "down the shore." And when you are there, you're not "at the shore"; you are "down the shore."

You know how to properly negotiate a circle. You knew that the last sentence had to do with driving.

You know that this is the only "New" state that doesn't require "New" to identify it (try . . Mexico, . . York ...! . . Hampshire -- doesn't work, does it?).

You know that a "White Castle" is the name of BOTH a fast food chain AND a fast food sandwich.

You consider putting mayo on a corned beef sandwich a sacrilege.

You don't think "What exit?" is very funny. You know that people from the 609 area code are "a little different." Yes they are!

You know that no respectable New Jerseyan goes to Princeton --that's for out-of- staters.

The Jets-Giants game has started fights at your school or local bar."

Then and Now

THEN

Gas was pumped for you, your windshields were cleaned and you went inside the station to get maps.

NOW

You pump your own gas, clean your own windows and maps are on your phone. Of course, in New Jersey they still pump your gas but they rarely do the windows.

Steve Callanan

Tim Daly:

I thought I would share one memory I have that has to do with Steve. He was a member of the offensive line that had the first ever running back to rush for 1000 yards (Paul Ferraro) at RHS. The line was left to right I believe, Brian McKinley, Rob McKinley, John Frazza, Steve and Rob Brierley. I was the tight end. I know there was much more to his life than this but I did not stay in touch with Steve over the years and this might be something that many of his friends or family don't know or simply forgot about. We were very proud of this accomplishment that was finally achieved on Thanksgiving Day 1976 @ Fair Lawn HS. RIP Steve.

Andy Cahill

A farewell tribute from David Rorty:

"I have too many great times spent with Andy Cahill to mention....for too many reasons. My first sushi experience was with Andy at Tawarwa in Ramsey. The first and only time I was forced to make egg nog at 2am Christmas Eve with real eggs was with Andy. The first and only time I made egg rolls from scratch was with Andy. The first and only time I was pulled over by a cop and admitted I was drunk and the cop let me drive away...was with Andy. The first and only time I hauled a 1/2 keg of beer up to Pine Meadow Lake was with Andy. The first and only time Leyden's Father Jack yelled at us to keep off his dune was with Andy. The first and only time the same Jack Leyden served us beer, wine, sangria and sandwiches was with Andy. My first camping "trip" as owner of Pork Island was with Andy. Many of the best Turkey Bowls were with Andy. I would never had helped jam entire Christmas trees in Leyden's lit basement fire place if it were'nt for Andy. I will never miss some one so much that I have'nt seen for so long if it were'nt for Andy. Thank you for so much fun and so many great times Andy. Love- Dave

Parking Meters, Telephone Booths, and Mailboxes

It cost me $0.25 to park in Ridgewood for 15 minutes this morning. The Bank (HSBC) I was hoping to deposit a check at via the ATM had been moved to Ramsey. What do we do about the parking meters? Already we have a scandal in Ridgewood where someone in charge of counting the money has lost their job. If we rip them out then the local shopkeepers will park for free and the parking situation might grow worse. If we rip them out and install devices for paying on every block or so then the upfront costs might prove too daunting for the idea to pass. Folks, this is just about parking meters! The village reportedly faces projected deficits as a result of salaries, benefits, and pensions that will raise property taxes 40% over the coming years. I realize the days when teachers and policmen living in Ridgewood are long gone, but how about anyone making under $250,000 a year? The telephone booths in the village are a minor problem, these could be removed or fitted for cellular connections, if they aren't already transporting cellular data. Mailboxes have been going away for over 35 years and I understand this trend will not change. The village needs to figure out ways to raise money and not taxes. The consequences are too dire to contemplate. Peace.

RHS Class of 1963 50th Reunion

Best of Luck!

Ridgewood N. J. Class of 1963 Fiftieth High School Reunion

Our reunion is scheduled for:

October 18, 19 and 20, 2013

RHS Class of 1963 50th Reunion

RHS Learning Commons

Take a peak at what the plan is for the RHS library: RHS Learning Commons

Bicycle Inspection Day

It was usually a Saturday morning in the early autumn when we would line up our bicycles at Willard School and have them inspected under the watchful eye of the Police and a few local Dads. As my father was a lawyer, the Principal, Dan Daley, would often ask for his assistance. My Dad would give each bicycle a sturdy twist of the handle bars, then check the chain and the condition of the tires. If the passed these cursory tests then the bike was given a license.

One year when I was in the 6th grade and was the current Safety Patrol Captain for our class, I was asked to join the inspection team. I mostly kept the kids in line and looked to see that they knew where the serial number was on their bicycle so they could complete the license application form.

In latter years I can remember riding down to the Police Station on a prescribed day and having an officer complete the same type inspection. I can't remember ever having anyone question me as to whether I had a license but I do know that it made me feel official and law-abiding when I knew that my bike was officially licensed.