Brotherton Foundation

This is from 2006 and speaks to Bert Harmon's generosity of his time.


Brotherton Foundation Treats RHS Students to Opera

Through a generous grant from the Fred J. Brotherton Charitable Foundation and the development of a new program with the Metropolitan Opera Guild Education Department, Dr. Edward Schmiedecke, District Supervisor of Music and Dance for the Ridgewood Public Schools, took 150 Ridgewood High School students to experience grand opera at its most grand. Besides attending the performance, the students received two extended preparation sessions with Guild Teaching Artist Alan Johnson. On an extensive backstage tour of the MET, they saw dressing rooms, a costume shop, sets and props being built, painted and dressed; the amazing hydraulics of the MET’s five stage sections; and sets being placed for that evening’s performance of “Aida” or “Louisa Miller.” They met famous opera stars rehearsing, managed to get some autographs, and heard Rosemary Summers, music librarian at the MET, talk about her role in the production. This was followed by dinner and orchestra seats for the opera.

The Brotherton Foundation is supported by Dr. William Brotherton, a former student of Ridgewood Schools’ music teacher C. Bertram Harmon for whom the Harmon Music Center at GWMS was named. Mr. Harmon would regularly take groups of students to the Metropolitan Opera. Dr. Brotheron was among a group of students present at the opening performance of the MET in its present home at Lincoln Center. He was so impressed by the experience that he became an avid opera goer and patron and is now, through his generosity, making that same grand experience available to a whole new generation of students.

Cell Phone Towers in Ridgewood

First it was the installation of solar panels on utility poles and now it is cell phone towers which are making headlines in Ridgewood. Both are technological advances designed to make our lives more sustainable and convenient so on first glance why are residents making such a fuss?

Of course, it is easy for me to judge as I live in Forest Hills, NY and have towers all around me, as well as jets from La Guardia airport passing overhead on a regular basis. You could say this makes me immune to the beauty of nature and the tranquility of a quiet day. Though I knew what I was getting into when I moved here and scenic beauty and quiet afternoons were not part of the bargain of living in the Big Apple.

My hunch is that residents of Ridgewood are up in arms because the rules of the Village are seemingly being changed. I'm not here to argue about Master Plans or the particulars of zoning laws. I'll just point out that if you asked a resident whether they ever thought there would be solar panels in their southern facing front yards or cell phone towers on empty lots, they probable would have said no. It's not part of the idyllic image which Ridgewood cultivates so carefully.

It will be interesting to see how this works out, especially in an era where sources of new tax revenue are few and far between. These cell phone towers do bring in rental money and once you put up one for T-Mobile the other Telco Carriers will come with their checkbooks open. I could see this as being hard for a cash-strapped village government to turn down.