2008-08-20

Memories 100 Years in Cedar Grove

A special supplement to VERONA-CEDAR GROVE

June 26, 2008

2 VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

Kathleen Hivish Publisher Nancy Connelly Advertising Manager Scott Drukker Account Executive Owen Proctor Editor Andrea Bondy, Lynn McLaughlin Pagination Holly Stewart Layout/Cover Design

Memories is a publication of

TIMES VERONA-CEDAR GROVE

Advertising Office

114 Valley Road • Montclair 07042-1802 Tel: 973-233-5007 Fax: 973-233-5030 Editorial Office

1 Garret Mountain Plaza • P.O. Box 471 • West Paterson, NJ 07424-0471 Tel: 973-569-7340 • Fax: 973-569-7344 Web site: www.vcgtimes.com • E-mail: [email protected]

©2008 North Jersey Media Group

On the cover: Cedar Grove residents line the streets to commemorate Memorial Days and celebrate township anniversaries. Photo courtesy of Cedar Grove Historical Society.

Table of Contents Congratulatory letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 News roundup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 Today’s Cedar Grove . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Arts, entertainment, parks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Houses of worship . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Public schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 Police, fire, rescue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 Panther sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Famous people . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 VFW Post 6255 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 Hospital Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 In appreciation: The Times would like to thank Barbara Young, who provided access to articles and photographs maintained by the Cedar Grove Historical Society; Verona Public Library Director Jim Thomas for accommodating our hours at the microfilm machine; Cedar Grove High School Media Specialist Claire Swanson, and Rhoda and Iris Liebowitz, for their help with the schools history research; Tom Wilson for information on the Cedar Grove Fire Department; Doug Giblin for information on the Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad; and Barbara Nolan and John Maher helped on the Meadowbrook and parks, respectively.

THANK YOU YOU CEDAR CEDAR GROVE GROVE THANK FOR 83 83 YEARS! YEARS! FOR

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4 Generations of Service! It would not have been possible without you! Our heartfelt thanks and congratulations on your 100th Anniversary!

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3 THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

Congratulations and well wishes DEAR FRIENDS, This year Cedar Grove celebrates a century of being a great place to live. For almost 30 years with the Verona-Cedar Grove Times, I had the pleasure of chronicling the people, issues, events and controversies of one of the finest communities in the metropolitan area. This centennial year is a time to look back on 100 years of the accomplishment, progress and vitality that make Cedar Grove a place anyone would want to call home. A characteristic of Cedar Grove that strikes me is that it is a microcosm of democracy in action at the local level. I covered my fair share of council and board of education meetings that dealt with emotional, controversial and crucial issues. The people had their say, and the governing body and board of education voted their conscience. Regardless of what side one was on, the goal of everyone was the betterment of a community they considered special. The lifeblood of Cedar Grove is the quality of its municipal services. It is also the kind of community it is because of a solid and irreplaceable spirit of volunteerism. Those who have given of their time at Town Hall, the board of education, in the Cedar Grove fire department and rescue squad, deserve a tremendous thank you from every resident. Cedar Grove would not be Cedar Grove without them. To the old timers and recent arrivals to town, enjoy this once in a lifetime municipal celebration. It is a time to look back on how the community got to where it is with pride and to cast a confident eye towards the future. Happy birthday Cedar Grove.

DEAR FRIENDS, This year’s centennial celebration is an opportunity for our community to come together and remember how we came to be, celebrate our heritage and reflect on where we are going. It also provides us with an opportunity to gather with family and friends and acknowledge the community that has given all of us so many wonderful memories. Cedar Grove was settled by the Dutch in 1667, and the town prior to 1815 was called Peckmantown. The village was situated in the north easterly part of the Township of Caldwell. The first officially recorded use of the name “Cedar Grove” to designate the area, which is now within the boundary of our town, was a request made in 1853 to the County Clerk of Essex County to establish a school district. Unofficially, the name Cedar Grove Center had been used for many years due to a very prominent grove of cedar trees that attracted much attention, and Cedar Grove thus came to displace the old name of Peckmantown. The Township of Cedar Grove was officially incorporated on April 9, 1908, by the New Jersey State Legislature. We are fortunate to have so many historical landmarks in our town today that have been preserved to remind us of our residents who came before us and contributed to the development of our community. These include the Personett house located on Pompton Avenue and the Jacobus house located on Grove Avenue. Another notable landmark is the nationally recognized former

Meadowbrook, located on Pompton Avenue. This historic location, which now serves as the home for the members of the Macedonian Church, hosted the likes of the Dorseys, Glenn Miller and Frank Sinatra throughout the late 1930s and 1940s. It also hosted our township’s 50th anniversary grand ball on Sept. 6, 1958, which featured the crowning of Miss Cedar Grove. More recently, on April 12, the dance floor of the Meadowbrook came alive again when more than 400 of our family, friends and neighbors gathered in this historic location to attend the Centennial Gala and celebrate our community’s 100th anniversary. If it is mere geography that has determined our borders, it is the spirit of volunteerism during the past century that has defined our community. It seems only fitting that this year 2008 finds us also celebrating our volunteer fire department’s 100 years of service to our community. It is hard to believe that our volunteer fire department, which today is looked upon as one of the finest in the state, began as a mere bucket brigade on May 18, 1908. The first fire vehicle that was built in November 1908 was handpulled, had two wheels and carried only ladders and buckets. On behalf of the residents of our community, I would like to thank all of the members of our volunteer fire department, past and present, for 100 years of service to our community. On Sunday Sept. 7, 1958, the weekend celebration of Cedar

ter on the Hilltop will be preserved as parkland instead of being sold to a developer. This significant achievement will provide a benefit to future generations of our community in the years ahead. We also saw, in 2008, for the very first time in our township’s history, a Cedar Grove resident elected to the New Jersey State Senate, our former mayor, Sen. Kevin J. O’Toole. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sen. O’Toole for his instrumental role in obtaining Essex County’s commitment to preserve the Hilltop property as parkland. What will always make Cedar Grove so special is the palpable sense of community we share. It Grove’s 50th anniversary conis this strong sense of community cluded with the burial of a time that continues to draw generacapsule by the Cedar Grove tion after generation back to Rotary Clwub. The capsule was Cedar Grove to raise their famiburied on the grounds of the lies. municipal building at 4 p.m. Like so many of the residents On April 5, 2008, my colin our township, this is the comleagues on the Township Council munity where I was raised, and I were joined by members of attended school, met my wife and the Cedar Grove Rotary Club, decided to raise a family of my the Cedar Grove Centennial own. As a result, Cedar Grove Committee, family and friends to will always hold a special place unearth the time capsule. Among in my heart. the memorable items in the time On behalf of our entire towncapsule was a letter from the ship, I would like to thank all of 1958 governing body to the cur- the members of our Centennial rent council. It was interesting to Committee for their time, dedicalearn that issues that still affect us tion and effort spent in organiztoday, such as growth and devel- ing this year’s celebratory events. opment, affected our township It truly has been a century full of 50 years ago. memories. As we take time to celebrate Happy birthday Cedar Grove. our community’s rich history, we Peter Tanella are also striving to provide a betCedar Grove Mayor, June 2007 ter tomorrow. On Jan. 17, it was announced that the 90-acre campus of the old Essex County Hospital Cen-

Ward Miele Times’ Former Editor

DEAR FRIENDS, Essex County has a rich history, dating back to the 1600s. Through the generations, we have grown into a diverse and vibrant community, with each of our 22 municipalities bringing a special quality to our arts, culture, business and recreation activities. Part of this wonderful mix is the Township of Cedar Grove, and we congratulate its citizens on their 100th anniversary. Life in Cedar Grove today is very different from life in 1702, when settlers purchased 14,000 acres - most of West Essex, including the future Cedar Grove, from the Lenni Lenape Native Americans for $325 - or

even in 1908, when it was incorporated. Today, it is a town filled with new families, and those who have lived there for generations, enjoying a thriving business district, successful schools and busy athletic fields. In fact, Cedar Grove has played an important role in the history of Essex. For more than 100 years, the residents of Overbrook (the Essex County Hospital Center) called the Hilltop section of Cedar Grove home. Today, in a new facility just down the road, our patients are still part of the Cedar Grove community. We wish you 100 more years of pride and progress, and are thankful for all you do to help us

continue “Putting Essex County First.”

DEAR FRIENDS, As you celebrate Cedar Grove’s 100th Anniversary, I would like to extend greetings to all neighbors and residents during this exciting occasion. New Jersey is proud of its long and rich history. I share in the joy of the Cedar Grove community as you celebrate this great achievement. New Jersey is truly fortunate to have such a wonderful community like yours. Again, congratulations and best wishes for a memorable celebration. Jon S. Corzine New Jersey Governor

Joseph N. DiVincenzo Jr. Essex County Executive

VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

4

TOWNSHIP COMMENCES

1908

1931 - COMMITTEE BECOMES COMMISSION

1919 - TOWNSHIP COMMITTEE EXPANDS

1948 - THE TIMES DEBUTS

1946 - VFW POST FORMS

1955 - COUNCIL-MANAGER GOVERNMENT BEGINS

1954 - LIBRARY OPENS

1958 - GOLDEN JUBILEE

News that helped shape the past 100 years

The original draw to the valley between First and Second Mountains was the Peckman River. During Revolutionary times, a number of mills materialized along its banks, including a snuff mill and cotton mill. Earlier settlers included the four Jacobuses from Holland. Between the years of 1771 and 1782, George Personette built what would become the oldest house in Cedar Grove at 727 Pompton Ave. Another convenience to the community was the NewarkPompton Turnpike. Built by Israel “King” Crane of Montclair in 1806, it kept its tollgates open through most of that century. The unincorporated Cedar Grove was a part of the Horse Neck Tract. More than 40 years before the Battle of Lexington, there were the Horse Neck riots. Farmers refused to pay the English for their own property.

The early years

The community became an extension of Caldwell. In the 1890s, Verona (including land within today’s Cedar Grove borders) broke away from Caldwell. Then, in 1908, Cedar Grove broke from Verona Borough. Briefly, the area of Cedar Grove was known as the Township of Verona, before incorporating in 1908. Many years prior, Englishman Thomas Stanley was credited for giving the Cedar Grove area its name. About the time of Cedar Grove’s incorporation, the City of Newark purchased the reservoir, and Essex County Freeholders approved the Essex County Hospital Center to be operated within the new township. The Cedar Grove Improvement Association was formed, as was the Public Hall Association, which hosted a variety of public events at its facility. In 1910, the origins of the Cedar Grove Public Library began, as the Fortnightly Club planned to circulate books. In 1911, officials laid the Town Hall cornerstone. In its earliest years, government operated under a three-person township committee, starting with Lewis G. Bowden, Elias Schoonmaker and Watson Ryno. Bowden later became mayor, and Ryno chief of police. In 1919, the committee grew to five members including Bowden,

Ryno, Jacob W. Gussling, Gustav Meier and William F. Small. In 1931, during an economic crisis, some citizens sought annexation to Montclair. But instead, a commission was formed, with Roger Irving Canfield chosen as mayor. The First National Bank of Cedar Grove opened in 1927, and the Municipal Building began to take the familiar shape it maintains today, in 1929. From 1920 to 1940, the township doubled in size from little more than 1,000 people to little more than 2,000. By 1948, the population was 2,438. In 1948, Thomas Wilberton bought the old sand quarry in Peckman Valley between Pompton Avenue and Little Falls Road. His new Industrial Village was tucked away below the golf driving range, secluded from most Cedar Grove residences and free of smoke, noise and odors. By 1958, it had 26 tenants and generated from $700 to $70,000 more in taxes annually.

1950s, 1960s

The library opened in 1954 with about 3,000 volumes. A council-manager form of government was approved in November 1954, with the first council election taking place the following May. By the time of the 1958 Golden Jubilee, Cedar Grove’s population was about 10,000. The 1958 master plan predicted 22,900 to 28,600 people by 1975. In 1958, the Pompton Avenue School burned down. Approval of construction of a new high school followed. In 1962, bonds were secured for a pool and new library. Voters rejected the $250,000 library project in 1963. Meanwhile, pool construction started in March with a July 4 target completion. In 1964, a new library was approved, and an urban renewal project began. The council’s proposal for a high rise on First Mountain was defeated in 1965. In the late 1960s, for the first time, Cedar Grove got an “A” bond rating from S&P’s rating service. There was strenuous opposition to the state’s widening of Pompton Avenue as well as townhouse and apartment development on 41 acres of First Mountain, known as the Dumont Tract. The council

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

An early Cedar Grove view along Reservoir Road, long before suburbia set in. ultimately rejected the latter.

1970s

Cedar Grove denied a 300-unit manor proposed for the Schuyler Tract in 1971. The same year, after a six-year controversy, the council approved a Texaco station at Pompton and Myrtle avenues. In 1972, Councilman Joseph Butler alleged mismanagement by Town Manager Barry Clark, presenting a list of 38 items as his case. The rest of the council, however, gave a vote of confidence in Clark, and he was later cleared of any charges. In 1973, the council hired Bertraud Kendall as the new manager. The Safety Town program and cable television arrived on the local scene. By the mid-1970s, the town expanded the Municipal Building, and the Water Transmission Project was underway. Plans to restore the Cedar Grove cemetery off Commerce Road were also on the drawing board. The Community Pool was renovated. About the time the state renovated the Rt. 23 bridge over the Peckman River, a severe summer rainstorm washed out the railroad bridge over Little Falls Road. The council passed a parental

responsibility law and curfew for children under 17 years old, to curtail vandalism, in 1977. Townspeople established citizen band radio patrols. In 1978, the battle began over Essex County’s threat to stop its 50 percent county tax rebate to Cedar Grove. It had been in place since the 1920s to compensate the county’s Hospital Center in town. Kinney Corp. applied before the zoning board for patio homes on First Mountain. In 1979, Wesley Towers for senior citizens was proposed, but the application was subsequently withdrawn. The council heard complaints about noise and odor from Arvey Corp. in Industrial Village. Under pressure from residents, including the Committee for Citizens against Discos, the council outlawed discotheques.

1980s

Ground was broken on senior citizen housing, and the Kinney Corp. lost its appeal in court for its plans on First Mountain. In 1982, Cedar Grove settled the county tax rebate crisis, agreeing to a five-year phase-out plan. In 1983, the council contracted to obtain health services from

Montclair Township. Faced with noise and unnecessary expenses from 720 false residential and commercial alarms in 1982, the council backed ordinances strictly regulating those systems. Following neighbor opposition, the Cedar Grove Planning Board denies the Cedar Grove Elks’ plan to expand their lodge and off-street parking. The Center School on the county hospital grounds begins to phase out as the adolescent unit goes into its last year of operation. The Cedar Grove Zoning Board approves an application for Canfield Office Park at the corner of Pompton and Fairview avenues. Essex County Executive Peter Shapiro proposes to develop 300 acres on Second Mountain. Later in the year, the county proposes 148 cluster townhouses on 90 acres of county land. The Cedar Ridge senior citizen complex opened off Ridge Road. Acting on a court remand, the council upholds its denial of a gas station expansion at Ridge Road and East Bradford Avenue. The zoning board approved an application for 56 condominiums

SEE NEWS, PAGE 6

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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

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1979 - COUNCIL OUTLAWS DISCOS

1963 - COMMUNITY POOL BUILT

NEWS FROM PAGE 4

for the corner of Pompton Avenue and West Lindsley Road. Leslie Jacobus, lifelong resident and founder of the Cedar Grove Historical Society, is grand marshal of Cedar Grove’s 75th anniversary parade, kicking off a 10-day celebration from late June to early July. The board of education announces asbestos removal in areas of the schools most frequented by students. Zoning hearings began for 16 proposed townhouses and condominiums at the former Taylor’s Diary site on Ridge Road. In 1984, the first payment was

1985 - ‘LAST FARMER’ LEAVES LAND TO TOWN 1983 - HILLTOP DEVELOPMENT PROPOSED

made for the Wanaque South Water Project. The council remanded the Elks’ expansion denial because of transcript difficulties. Essex County presented a preliminary plan to develop 299 acres on Second Mountain, an area to become known as Hilltop. School woods instructor Bob Vendetti helped carry the Olympic torch through the Garden State. The Community Recycling Center opened next to the new tennis courts on Little Falls Road. The council suspended the liquor license of The Baron for allegedly serving alcohol to a minor. Carol Muhaw became the town’s first female firefighter. In September, fire destroyed the

1991 - LEONARD PARKS, RIDGE SCHOOLS CLOSE 1988 - MEMORIAL MIDDLE SCHOOL OPENS

Cedar Grove Teen House in Community Park. In 1985, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld Cedar Grove’s constitutional right to the county tax rebate. The township stood by the phase-down plan. Council designates May for its Clean Sweep Campaign. J. Courtenay Morgan, known as the “last farmer,” died at 86, and left property off Pompton Avenue for passive recreation space. The Cedar Grove Historical Society began restoring Morgan’s Farm for a museum. Essex County purchased the abandoned Erie Lackawanna railroad bed through Cedar Grove, anticipating a bike path. The council approved a blinking

light on Stevens Avenue to reduce speed during the North End commute. In 1986, a battle up to the New Jersey Supreme Court couldn’t stop the state’s proposal for a traffic light at Pompton Avenue and Claridge Drive. The township received a senior citizen bus, but an inspection “deviation” sent it back to the factory. Local officials traveled to Mount Holly for the final inspection, before it hit the road in April. In 1988, the council approved a zoning amendment allowing office construction on 11 acres at Pompton Avenue and Commerce Road, a longtime site of a golf driving range. The council honored four policemen who saved a woman

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6 VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

1961 - PILGRIM PLAZA OPENS

from a burning apartment in December 1987. In April, police seized a cache of weapons and ammunition from a Crestmont Road home. The same month, a refurbished Community Park opened. The New Jersey Supreme Court agreed with Cedar Grove that the Verona Planning Board violated the Open Public Meetings Act, regarding notification procedures for Claridge III, voiding the planning board’s approval. The police changed over from revolvers to semi-automatic pistols. The Memorial Middle School opened in the fall. A total of $6.2 million was awarded for a sewage plant update.

1990s

In 1991, although a record $1.06 million in delinquent municipal taxes had been reduced, there was still a $646,664 shortfall. For the first few months of the year, the Persian Gulf War weighed on everyone’s mind. Resident Russell Brown, who wrote the lyrics to “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” expressed his feelings about ribbons cropping up across the nation, in anticipation of troop returns. Police charged a Clara Place man with attempted murder. At the end of the school year, the doors of Leonard R. Parks and Ridge Road schools were closed for good. In September, Essex County Executive Thomas D’Alessio suspends Cedar Grove Mayor Sam Angelo as director of county roads and bridges, after Angelo allegedly allowed contaminated dirt and construction debris to be dumped on Hilltop property in Verona. Later, the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office dropped charges related to the allegations. The council drafted an ordinance outlawing satellite dishes on rooftops. In December, the council agreed to join the Suburban Essex Municipal Joint Insurance Fund. In 1992, the planning board rejected parking expansion for a shopping plaza at Pompton and Bradford avenues. The council authorized the first major foreclosure action in almost two decades against the Golden Tower in attempt to collect $135,781 in back taxes and penalties. The following year, days before a foreclosure proceeding concluded, the restaurant paid back taxes.

SEE NEWS, PAGE 8

7 THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

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2003 - NORTHEAST BLACKOUT

1999 - TROPICAL STORM BRINGS HAVOC

1994 - POST OFFICE CELEBRATES 120 YEARS

1998 - SUSPECT SHOT AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS

NEWS FROM PAGE 6

Ann Mega became the first woman to serve two terms as mayor. Kevin O’Toole became deputy mayor. Officials suspected the Hospital Center laundry was responsible for a foul-smelling spill into the Peckman River that killed more than 100 fish. The council visited the area along Taylor’s Brook, vowing to address overflow problems, exploring four options. In 1993, there was a lead-paint cleanup at North End and South End elementary schools. Following a court reversal, the zoning board and a developer reached a compromise on a congregate care facility for Pompton Avenue and Commerce Road. In August, Essex County began the demolition of 10 buildings on the Hospital Center grounds. In 1994, the council made Harper Terrace and Overlook Road a four-way stop. The Council Chambers were renovated. As part of a county-wide effort, the police participated in a gun exchange program. During its first week, 13 guns were turned in locally. The council gave conditional approval to a transitional group home on the Hospital Center grounds. The state Bureau of Fire Safety made a surprise spring visit to the school district, citing violations that could have cost it up $100,000. The Cedar Grove Post Office celebrated 120 years, followed by major renovations, and J. Courtenay Morgan Park was dedicated. In September, the acting director of the Department of Public Works was charged with official misconduct and unlawful taking. In 1995, the governing body held an investigation to find out if one of its members violated the Faulkner Act. The planning board approved St. Kiril and Metodi Macedonian Orthodox Church’s move to the Meadowbrook site. A developer before the zoning board wanted to build 80 homes on the Schuyler Tract. A Community Development Block Grant supported a barrierfree playground in Community Park and roadwork in the Ridgewood Acres neighborhood. A stunned board of education reacted sharply to a 145-signature

2001 - SEPT. 11 TERRORIST ATTACKS

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION

2005 - HILLTOP HOMES APPROVED

2008

petition calling for the removal of the superintendent and director of special services, in connection to their alleged mishandling of a sexual assault. For the first time in 36 years, there was a runoff for two seats on the council, resulting in the election of newcomer Romeo Longo and Paul Jacobovitz. Essex County Executive James Treffinger said he and Freeholder President Joseph DiVincenzo reached an agreement to sell Hilltop to combat a deficit. A man was charged with murder after telling officials of a body buried in January on Hilltop. The council accepted the state Department of Transportation’s proposed realignments for Pompton Avenue. The governing body opened bids under a new cooperative pricing system, in hopes of saving money with the purchasing power of five communities. Former Mayor Kevin O’Toole was elected to the State General Assembly. Essex County Executive James Treffinger said Kessler Rehabilitation Corp. would buy the Geriatrics Center on the Hospital Center grounds. In 1996, firefighters battled a blaze at the Hospital Center in August; problems with the hydrant system were reported. Township Manager Joseph DiGiacomo and Municipal Judge Robert Scanlon submitted their resignations in December. Working with a state delegation, the council began efforts to lease the former children’s residential center on Grove Avenue as a meeting place for senior citizens and young people. In 1997, Essex County Executive James Treffinger announced a new Hilltop plan, eliminating a controversial golf course, keeping 85 percent green space. For the second time in as many years, there was a council runoff with a two-vote margin in absentee ballots making the difference. There had been seven candidates for three seats. At first, the disqualification of 12 absentee ballots seemed to eliminate the need for a runoff, but residents went into Superior Court to have a recount verdict overturned and a runoff rescheduled. In July, the court ordered the council newcomers to step down PHOTOS BY ADAM ANIK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER (BOTTOM) AND COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY and the “holdover” members to return, pending a Sept. 9 runoff. Views from the old Erie Lackawanna train track trestle, facing north on Pompton Avenue, also

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THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

Congratulations Cedar Grove on your 100th Anniversary

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NEWS

Voters returned to the polls to elect Eileen Bierals and Ann Mega as well as newcomer Joseph Chiusolo. Essex County Executive James Treffinger applied for Green Acres funding to preserve 226 of the 300 Hilltop acres. Soon, he announced the Hilltop Reservation, preserving 80 percent of the Hilltop property, with the local council’s support. A new five-minute speaking restriction at council meetings drew a silent protest. In 1998, an attempted burglary suspect was shot in police headquarters after allegedly grabbing a detective’s pistol during routine processing. The suspect died a short time later in a hospital. The council backed the police actions. The planning board approved an application, permitting a Staples store off Pompton Avenue. The council overturned a zoning board decision to grant a variance for a medical center on the south end of Pompton Avenue. The governing body authorized a committee to explore using the former pistol range in the north end as a community center. A local Open Space Trust Fund referendum was approved. Police urged caution after two strong-armed robberies occurred at Mills Reservation. In 1999, the planning board continued hearing an application for a CVS Pharmacy at Pompton and Stevens avenues, which was eventually approved. A grand jury indicted a Parsippany developer, charging theft by deception of five families who sought to build homes in the Willow Ridge Estates. The council agreed to allow a two-minute follow-up period to

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Thomas Wilberton bought the old Peckman Valley sand quarry between Pompton Avenue and Little Falls Road in 1948, turning the land into Industrial Village. speakers who had already addressed the governing body under the five-minute speaking limit. The Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders approved moving the Hospital Center to Newark. Cedar Grove issued a summons to Newark for allegedly erecting a fence and cutting trees at the reservoir without permission. A state judge later ordered Newark to go before the Cedar Grove planning board for site-plan approval, in regards to the fence’s erection. Tropical Storm Floyd dumped 11.4 inches of rain, overflowing parts of the Peckman River, damaging several homes and businesses. The council reviewed its ban of the sale of milk and bread after 11 p.m. A major phase of Route 23 reconstruction was completed, with a planned finish of May 2000. FERC approved the Transco gas pipleline through Cedar Grove and other municipalities, but placed

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nearly 100 restrictions on its con- rumors that its South Asian employstruction. The project was eventu- ees celebrated during the attacks. In other news that year, Mary ally halted. Lewis died in a fire at her home on 2000s Catherine Court. On the morning of Sept. 11, A crow infected with the dead2001, hijacked airliners crashed ly West Nile virus was discovered into the World Trade Center, the in Cedar Grove. Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. A representative of VFW Post In the latter case, authorities sus- 6255 offered to the sell the facility pected the passengers fought back, to the township for $800,000, but forcing the hijackers not to reach the proposal wasn’t very appetizan intended ground target. That ing to the council. was United 93 that originated from In 2003, officials and volunteers Newark Airport. opened the Cedar Grove bridge Within a couple of hours, the spanning the Peckman River. The twin towers in New York City col- former railroad trestle serves biklapsed. Two people connected ers, hikers and joggers, utilizing the with Cedar Grove lost their lives. West Essex Trail. Cedar Grove police and fire A state plan to impose a stricter units went to a staging area in the Meadowlands, and the township sent ambulances to Liberty State Park to handle what was expected to be thousands of victims from the trade center. The town’s Dunkin’ Donuts closed for days due to unproven

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 8

purity standard for the Peckman River was shelved following strong opposition. U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell announced the federal government would allocate another $800,000 to study flood control along the Peckman River. Essex County Executive James Treffinger pleaded guilty to one count of fraud and one count of obstruction of justice, after several former aides pleaded guilty to charges and became cooperative witnesses. Among those entangled in the case was Cedar Grove barber Cosmo Carrigone, who admitted having a no-show county haircutting job. A flag disposal ceremony at VFW Post 6255 was cancelled at the last minute after the township’s fire department identified a number of hazards. Most of Cedar Grove went dark during the blackout of 2003, the largest power outage in U.S. history. A Ridge Road apartment building was damaged by fire, while residents and officials reported some of the complex’s smoke alarms were not working. A firefighter also sustained minor injuries during the blaze. In 2004, the state’s Division of Fire Safety cited school officials for not obtaining proper approvals for using a “flash pot” during a play at Cedar Grove High School. The device caused burns to a student. While agreeing PSE&G needed to keep trees away from power

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lines, Cedar Grove officials argued the power company was cutting trees in the town too much, sometimes killing vegetation. Affordable housing advocates in Cedar Grove suffered a setback when the council rejected setting aside three acres for senior housing. The Village Group withdrew from negotiations to take over Essex County’s childcare center in Cedar Grove. The year prior, the county had stopped subsidizing tuition at the center. Catherine Ruf, a former West Caldwell librarian, was named director of the Cedar Grove Public Library. Representatives of athletic and environmental groups met with the township council to discuss building new sports fields on 30 acres of land acquired by the community. Coyotes were seen in woods along Vincent Road, what was believed to be the first sightings of the animals in the area. Officials said they would ask developer K. Hovnanian to come up with a better blueprint than the 325 densely packed townhouses and luxury mansions planned for the grounds of the Essex County

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FROM PAGE 10

sees Cedar Grove health offices, announced vaccinations would be distributed via a lottery available to certain groups. In 2005, the Essex County Improvement Authority announced the sale of 80 Hilltop acres to K. Hovnanian Cos for $18.5 million. It included $12.5 million for 53 acres along Fairview Avenue in Verona and Cedar Grove, where the developer had proposed 51 single-family homes. A tentative agreement between Cedar Grove and Cablevision was set aside after the company’s attorneys asked that language covering senior discounts and other issues be modified. Cedar Grove council members reluctantly approved a fee hike for Community Pool members, a rise needed to pay off a pool reconstruction project completed in 2004. The council also voted to institute a flat fee for garbage collection. Developer K. Hovnanian Cos. PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY announced it planned to demolish the old Hilltop firehouse - built in The Cedar Grove Township Council, including the municipality’s first woman mayor, Hedwig H. 1915 in Cedar Grove to service the Turkenkopf. Essex County Hospital Center and replace it with a new fire facilHospital Center. after the late Cedar Grove envi- secession from Essex County. ity across the street. The council christened a walk ronmental activist. Facing a nationwide shortage of Shawn Stacevicz filed a comalong the Peckman River as the Voters overwhelmingly passed a the flu vaccine, the Montclair SEE NEWS, PAGE 14 Sam Perelli Greenway, named non-binding measure seeking Health Department, which over-

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 12 plaint with the state’s Division on Civil Rights after the Cedar Grove Junior Baseball and Softball League refused to allow his 10year-old daughter to try out for the baseball team. A Superior Court judge ordered a temporary restraining order forcing the league to allow girls to play baseball, after the organization did not comply with the state’s request to amend its policy. The township filed a lawsuit against Essex County, the Essex County Improvement Authority and K. Hovnanian Cos. to overturn the sale of 50 Hilltop acres. The township claimed the land was sold before required planning board approval. Later in the year, the planning board approved K. Hovnanian’s plan to build 23 homes along Fairview Avenue - which threatened to nullify the township’s lawsuit. Superior Court dismissed the lawsuit the following year. Cedar Grove firefighters Joseph Sente and Corey Keepers were two of the rescuers who pulled a North

Caldwell man to safety after he had tried to hang himself from a Hilltop water tower. Township Manager Thomas Tucci asked the county’s Department of Transportation to study Reservoir Drive and install features to make it safer. In the previous five years, there had been 70 accidents on the road, including one fatality. Laura Moscato, a 17-year-old Cedar Grove High School student, died in a single-car accident after losing control of her 1998 Subaru on East Bradford Avenue. Traffic slowed as state road crews replaced concrete decking on Pompton Avenue’s Peckman River Bridge. A State Police operation targeting houses of prostitution - billing themselves as legitimate massage parlors and escort services - yielded 42 arrests at 13 locations, including a nondescript suite at the Canfield office park. The Friar Tuck Inn, a Cedar Grove landmark and destination for well-known and local visitors, closed its doors. A township man died after his car hit a pole along Ridge Road.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SEE NEWS, PAGE 16 Cub Scouts and Color Guard help dedicate the cemetery at Morgan’s Farm on Oct. 16, 1974.

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 14

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Cedar Grove’s Decoration Day in 1976, including F. Leslie Jacobus and Norma Heinz.

Turning Point, a short-term residential addiction treatment center on Hilltop, announced it would close its doors after 30 years, due to the impending sale of the land for development. In 2006, U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th) presented the Cedar Grove Township with a $150,000 grant to help spruce up Pompton Avenue through the center of town. Cedar Grove was among a dozen sites considered for an NY Jets training facility, but did not make the list of five finalists. Authorities arrested Victor Cannestro of Cedar Grove for his alleged role in a multi-million dollar sports gambling ring. He was the manager of Satin Dolls in Lodi at the time of the arrest. The council passed an ordinance requiring a permit and limited time for garage and yard sales. The township joined the West Paterson-Cedar Grove-Little Falls Flood Control Board, to address flooding concerns, particularly along the Passaic and Peckman rivers.

A violent storm struck the area toppling trees and power lines in its wake, costing Cedar Grove Township $11,000. Taking the cost of microburst into consideration, the state awarded the township $170,000 in extraordinary aid later in the year. The unresponsiveness to calls forced the township to sever ties with its longtime animal service provider, the Pound Animal Welfare Society, or PAWS. In a housing downturn, Kara Homes filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy while K. Hovnanian Cos. announced layoffs. A K. Hovnanian spokesman said the layoffs would not affect the company’s Hilltop projects. Meanwhile, residents of The Summit turned to the township for help with unfinished improvements to their Kara development on the north side of town. The board of education discussed moving the annual Thanksgiving football game against Verona to earlier in the season. New maps by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers showed ecosystem degradation from development had caused the Peckman River

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NEWS

VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 16

ADAM ANIK/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo wishes Cedar Grove Councilman Robert O’Toole a happy birthday this past January, with the announcement that the Board of Chosen Freeholders plans to turn the former Hospital Center grounds into a 90-acre county park.

flood zone to spread by thousands of feet. The maps indicated that whole streets in Cedar Grove would be part of the 100-year flood zone. In Essex County elections, Democratic incumbents Joseph DiVincenzo and Armando Fontoura defeated Cedar Grove residents Joseph Chiusolo and Rich Mastrangelo in the executive and sheriff races, respectively. After Superior Court ruled the law invalid, the council amended the municipal tree ordinance for review. While rejecting a Shade Tree Commission, the governing body put more teeth in the law, better outlining its administration and permit fees. The new Essex County Hospital Center opened on Grove Avenue. In 2007, Cedar Grove held a Centennial Kickoff reception in October at Il Tulipano. A large fire engulfed a two-story Montclair Avenue home, taking the life of Margery Fierro. Renovations began to make Town Hall more handicappedaccessible, including replacement

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of a 30-year-old elevator. An administrative law judge removed Vice President Philip Tully from the Cedar Grove Board of Education, due to a tort claim he made against the board for a fall at school. Permanent lights were installed on Cedar Grove High School’s main field, as part of a $1.2 million project to improve recreation facilities. Township officials received numerous complaints from residents who switched to Verizon because the service did not offer the local public channels. The township announced a $200,000 federal grant for reconstruction of the Rt. 23/Pompton Avenue Bridge, which crossed the Peckman River. Repairs were scheduled to begin this October. Citizens picked “A Century of Memories” as Cedar Grove’s 100th anniversary theme. The runner-up choice was “A Place to Call Home.” The council agreed to change the name of Community Park Road to Slattery Drive, in honor of the late recreation director and her family. Madeline Slattery worked for the township for 30 years in various positions. Republican Kevin O’Toole defeated John Zunic in the New Jersey Senate race for the district serving Cedar Grove. Both candidates were township residents at the time. Voters narrowly approved a half cent increase per $100 assessment for Essex County open space funding. The council made final approvals for the demolition of the old Essex County sewage plant off West Bradford Avenue. Entering its centennial year, 2008, Cedar Grove came the closest ever to preserving the former Essex County Hospital Center grounds for open space. The county executive and Board of Chosen Freeholders pledged to convert the land into a 90-acre park, but K. Hovnanian Cos., which had planned to build homes there, sued the county for breach of contract. After he alerted police that his grandfather had fallen, police charged Stanton Popewiny Jr. with murdering Eugene Hrabarchuck, a retired physician living in Cedar Grove. Later, authorities accused him of attempting to hire a fellow Essex County Jail inmate to kill his wife and one of the officers investigating the murder. The Meadowbrook Ballroom, a nationally recognized big-band destination during the World War II era, came alive again as the location of the township’s Centennial Ball. The current owners of the building, St. Kiril and Metodi Macedonian Orthodox Church, hosted the event free of charge. Compiled by Times editor Owen Proctor.

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Scenes from today’s Cedar Grove

As part of the centennial celebration, the Cedar Grove April at the Centennial Gala and an open house at Acu- nized the contest. Sponsors included Columbia Bank, Historical Society had a photo contest, capturing present- Source Healing. Sovereign Bank, Valley National Bank, Bank of America, day Cedar Grove. The winning entries were displayed in AcuSource Healing and Cedar Grove Chiropractic orga- Talium, UPS Printing and PNC Bank.

Historic Landscape, Angela Sgourdas’ photo from the Jenkins Brush Co.’s property on Pompton Avenue.

Historic Landscape, Dorothy Muhaw’s photo of the old Hilltop Firehouse on Fairview Avenue. Historic Landscape, Madison Williams’ picture of the arched bridge crossing over Little Falls Road.

Nature, a deer in Joseph Lombardi’s backyard off Lakewood Avenue.

Nature, Julie Steckel’s picture of the Peckman River, which runs through town.

Community Event, Joe Lombardi’s captures this year’s Unico Easter Egg Hunt.

Nature, Kelsey Coull’s view from her drive on Briarhill Road.

Nature, Nydia Isabel’s photo of chestnut trees on the former Essex County Hospital Center grounds.

Community Event, Joseph Lombardi photographs a Devils’ signing at a Cedar Grove street party.

One of Cedar Grove’s most enduring contributions to arts and entertainment is the Meadowbrook Ballroom. The venue hosted weekly radio programs that broadcast into thousands of homes. It hosted famous celebrities in its many incarnations, from a supper club, to restaurants, a nightclub and even a dinner theater. The Meadowbrook was built in 1923 and began as a Prohibitionera supper club called the Castle Terrace. Next, it was a Chinese restaurant named the Royal Pavilion. The ballroom could hold 1,400 and accommodate dancing on its 4,000-square-foot dance floor. At the height of its popularity, the Meadowbrook hosted such Big-Band era greats as Tommy Dorsey, Louis Prima, Perry Como, Mel Torme, Duke Ellington and Desi Arnez. Fellow stars included Woody Herman, Jimmy Dorsey, Sammy Kaye, Johnny Long, Henry James, Elliot Lawrence, Freddie Slach, Glen Grey, Frankie Carle and Tex Beneke. It also welcomed Vaughn Monroe, Tommy Tucker, Charlie Spivak, Gene Krupa, Les Elgart, Ray McKinley, Eddy Howard, Stan Kenton, Sam Donahue and Ray Eberle. The Meadowbrook offered dinners and drinks. A June 1940 menu boasts a broiled filet mignon for $2. By the 1950s, Dailey declared bankruptcy and Bloomfield National Bank bought the property. In 1959, Gary McHugh and restaurateur John Thurmann reopened the Meadowbrook as a dinner theater. The former booked shows and the latter handled the restaurant aspect. David Deigan signed on as its publicity director. It became a theater-in-the-round. Tables were set up all around a stage, where the shows took place. Its first production was “Guys and Dolls.” The theater also attracted its share of big stars: Mamie Van Doren, Imogene Coca, Jane Russell, Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Dorothy Collins, Bill Bixby and Howard Keel. Thurmann died in 1966. His wife Margarethe ran the business. Her son-in-law, Edward Lutzkow, later became general manager. Control of the theater turned over to John Beaumont, Marvin Sprague and Meadowbrook Productions around 1970. The venue held its 50th anniversary on June 4, 1973. It closed in 1984 after what was

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

Meadowbrook

21

Residents gathered to play and relax

termed a “disastrous opening” of “Harvey.” It was reported that a “job action” by the Local 158 AFLCIO, representing the wait-staff, an energy crisis, and higher food prices and cost of services led to its downfall. By the 1990s, the place had fallen into considerable disrepair, with the “roof, drain pipes, walls and floors” falling apart, the Times had stated. Sts. Kiril and Metodij Macedonian Orthodox Church bought the property in 1994 for approximately $475,000 after its Passaic church, established in 1973, burnt down in 1991. Despite exterior renovations, the inside has stayed mostly the same. The church is a non-profit organization and not allowed to make a profit on its facilities. At one time, there was a controversy about whether the church benefited from concerts held on the site. The Glenn Miller Orchestra performed there in August 2003. The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra played the church ballroom in November 2004 to raise money for family assistance centers. PHOTO COURTESY OF BARBARA NOLAN In 2008, Cedar Grove celebrated its centennial by holding a gala A performance of “Can-Can” in the round at the Meadowbrook dinner theater. in the famed ballroom.

Verona-Cedar Grove Chorus

On Jan. 23, 1949, 16 members of the Verona Parent Teacher Association, who were interested in starting a community chorus, met in the old red schoolhouse that stood until 1969 in front of H. B. Whitehorne Middle School for their first rehearsal. “It proved to be an enjoyable evening and so the following weeks it grew and grew and now we have 50 registered members…. Our first concert was held on March 18, 1949, in the F. N. Brown School in conjunction with a joint PTA meeting.” That, according to the handwritten account of the chorus, preserved along with programs of every concert and an assortment of photos and documents, by Frances Frey, a founding member of the chorus and an officer and member of the alto section for more than 50 years. She died several years ago but her documented records trace the activities of the group over its first 58 years of existence. Two months later, the Verona Choral Society, as it was known at its founding, offered its second concert, this time in the auditorium of H. B. Whitehorne, which was then the high school. A third concert followed in November at a Laning PTA meeting and a fourth at the sanitarium in Caldwell, which acted as a dress rehearsal for the group’s first holi-

day family concert in the Verona Public Library a week later. The chorus schedule since that busy first year became somewhat more relaxed in later years, focusing on a holiday concert in December and a spring concert in April or May. In addition, the group performs once or twice a year at a hospital, nursing home or retirement home. In 1952, the chorus joined forces with a Verona High School school chorus in a music festival. During the years, it has been accompanied by orchestras, has presented a number of vocal and instrumental soloists, even offered playlets with costumes, scenery and dancers. For the past 10 years, Denise Bastanza of Verona has led the chorus as music director. For 14 years before that, William Sempier, also of Verona, led the group. Incidentially, those old programs indicate that Sempier had been a vocal soloist with the group on several occasions in its early years. Before Sempier, Basia Jaworski directed the chorus for five years. The group welcomes new singers in all voice categories, preferably those who have some choral experience in school or with a house of worship. No audition is required. Interested newcomers simply join the group for a rehearsal or two to see if they are interested in joining full time.

Although members are drawn primarily from Verona and Cedar Grove, members have come from West Orange to Wayne and Lake Hiawatha to Little Falls. Before each concert, the group’s governing board discusses the music recommendations of conductor Bastanza. The board, in addition to Liebelt, includes Jan Harder, Donna DelGuidice, Fred Casteluccia and Hamilton Carson. There are usually some popular pieces and medleys from Broadway shows, along with some more challenging semi-classical numbers. The chorus has shown some uncertainty over the years, as to its name. From Choral Society, it went to the Verona-Cedar Grove Chorus, to a few years as the Mastersingers, and then back to the Verona-Cedar Grove Chorus.

Parkland

Any discussion of Cedar Grove parkland begins with the Community Park and the Community Pool. Community Park was developed in the early 1960s and has continued to evolve to suit the town’s recreational needs. The township moved the location of its ball fields and installed lights. The township began showing outdoor movies at Community Park in the early 1980s, but it was discontinued after the resident who volunteered to run the films

moved away. A second resident revived it, but also later moved away. In 1989, groups and organizations began celebrating Clean Sweep Day by cleaning up local parks to raise awareness about a clean environment. June was later declared Clean Sweep month. The park has hosted numerous holiday picnics and sporting events as the township’s Recreation Department has grown. Since 1998, National Night Out events have taken place there. It is an effort between the community and local law enforcement to strengthen ties between the two groups, discourage and raise awareness of drug and criminal activity, and for entertainment purposes. In April 2006, two juveniles were charged with vandalizing the concession stand and playground equipment. The township’s Community Pool was built in 1963 and has undergone two major renovations, one in 1975 and one in the last few years. The pool received defibrillators from the Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad in 2001. The two properties are the main sites of the Recreation Department’s programs, which include baseball, softball, soccer, tennis and basketball. It participates in suburban leagues for wrestling.

SEE AMUSEMENTS, PAGE 22

22

AMUSEMENTS

VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 21 The township has been interested in recreation since its founding. The township operated a Public Hall for concerts from 1912 until a fire destroyed it in 1957. In 1915, an opera entitled “The Cruise of the Cedar Belle” was performed at the hall. Cedar Grove residents have enjoyed fishing and skating in the township for years. Skaters flocked to many local frozen ponds, including one at the Bowdon Cotton Mill on Little Falls Road. The Lenape Trail, the longest trail in Essex County, travels through Cedar Grove. It was created in the 1980s through the assistance of the Essex County Department of Parks and Cultural Affairs, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions, PSE&G, and many civil and municipal bodies. Bird watching is popular at Mills Reservation, a 157.15-acre park run by Essex County that features many trails. “In 1954, the Park Commission received a gift of 118.9 acres from the Davella Mills Foundation,” according to the county’s Web site.

“Additional acreage was acquired through a land-swap. . . . Acreage purchased in 1962 and 1967 completed the reservation.” The Recreation Department and Morgan’s Farm began showing movies in 1996. Courtenay Morgan donated the farm to the township in 1985. Historic architect John Bruce Dodd said the farmhouse itself likely dates to 1845-1850, with the eastern portion dating earlier. James and Edith Morgan purchased the farm from the Canfield family in 1910 and moved there to “enjoy the open space, the fresh air and to get away from the bad influence of the movies,” according to the township’s Web site. Edith and her six children planted an apple orchard following James’ death in 1920. Edith died in 1961. Courtenay Morgan continued selling pumpkins and apples at the property. The Ceadr Grove Historical Society now hosts an annual Pumpkin and Apple Sale. Cedar Grove Historical Society member Barbara Young was among those who spearheaded efforts to preserve a piece of the township’s disappearing agrarian history. The house was restored to highlight its 1915-1920 “estate” days,

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Cedar Grove Musical Association, circa 1925. but some areas hark back to earlier times. Renovation was said to cost $200,000, the township’s Web site states. The New Jersey Historic Trust and Courtenay’s estate provided funds. In 1999, the farm and house became a museum, operated by the historical society. The site is on the National and State Register of His-

toric Places. There have been recent efforts to repair the farmhouse. The society used a Green Acres grant to build a skating rink, bathrooms and a gazebo in the mid1990s. In 2008, Essex County officials announced it would seek to preserve a 90.2-acre parcel of the Hill-

top as open space and passive recreation parkland. The area was the site of the former Essex County Hospital Center grounds. It is a piece of the entire Hilltop Reservation, a 284.16-acre space spanning several towns. Compiled by Times managing editor Joe Olivieri.

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Old First Church

Prior to Cedar Grove’s first church, residents traveled to other nearby towns for worship services. These included Verona, Montclair, Caldwell and Little Falls. Eventually, the Union Congregational Church - Cedar Grove’s first - was built on Pompton Avenue opposite the Municipal Building. The first church meetings were held in one of the town’s school buildings. Regular preaching began on Aug. 5, 1888, with the help of the Rev. Benjamin B. Bradford. Later, Bradford Avenue was named in honor of the Montclair resident.

The church gave its first Communion Service on Dec. 30, 1888. At that time, church membership consisted of 34 people. On March 15, 1889, the newly formed Cedar Grove Congregational Church Society held its first meeting, having incorporated earlier that spring. That fall, the church society purchased its church site for $250; the church was erected in 1901. With funding from the legacy of John Martens, and under the pastorate of the Rev. Arthur Grant Lewis, the parsonage was built in 1909. During the ministry of the Rev. Herbert C. Kimmel in 1924, the Bradford Parish House was built.

Later, under the Rev. Walter C. Jent, the church withdrew from the Congregational denomination. In 1947, the church became an independent entity and assumed the name of The Old First Church of Cedar Grove. In 1964, the church purchased the Buelah Baldwin property on Ridge Road and constructed a sanctuary and educational facilities.

Community Church

In the early winter of 1947, a small group of Cedar Grove residents met one Sunday morning at the home of Mary Mitchell MacEvoy to hold a worship ser-

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vice. As a result of this first meeting, the Cedar Grove Community Church was formed. The church organized on Nov. 2, 1947, and charter membership closed on Nov. 7, 1948, when 173 people became members of the Congregational Christian denomination. The church was built on property at the rear of the “Old Dusenberry House” at 65 Bowden Road, where the congregation has met since its organization three years ago. The building was designed by Adams and Woodbridge of New York City. The church was designed with simple lines. The rectangular edifice has an exterior of brick and facing stone. Laminated beams and arches are unusual architectural features of the interior. The first church services were held in the chambers of the Municipal Building until a house and land on the present site were purchased. The house was subsequently moved to the rear of the property, where church services and activities were held until the present sanctuary was built and dedicated on Nov. 2, 1952. In 1958, Frazier Hall was completed. The United Church of Christ was formed by a merger of the Congregational Christian Church and the Evangelical and Reformed Church. Community Church is an

open parish proceeding out of the reformed wing of the Protestant Reformation. The church has a history of community service and welcomes all to its 10 a.m. Sunday service. The present membership of this church is 347. The church is a member of the New Jersey Association and the Central Atlantic Conference of the United Church of Christ. The Sunday School welcomes all children, from babies through the eighth grade. They meet during the 10 a.m. service in Frazier Hall and its surrounding classrooms. The teachers provide a mixed curriculum of music, art and fellowship. They close each school year with a Church School Sunday and Confirmation of the eighth-grade class, so that adults can learn what their children studied throughout the year. The church’s worship and activities are open to those who desire to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.

St. Catherine of Siena Church

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PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

A group of Cedar Grove Catholics used to walk three miles to Mass at St. Cassian in Upper Montclair before St. Catherine of Siena, above, was founded 57 years ago. physical plant and meaningful parish outreach to the greater community. Most importantly, it has witnessed significant enrichment of parishioners’ faith lives and their embrace of considerable responsibility for parish life with 52 flourishing ministries. St. Catherine’s advocates a “Life of Stewardship” - a life of discipleship in Jesus Christ - with parishioners sharing their time, talent and treasure in grateful recognition that all is a gift from God, bestowed as a sacred trust for the benefit of all. St. Catherine’s pastors have included: the Rev. Raymond Quinn, 1952-1967; the Rev. Msgr. William Noe Field, 1967-1972; the Rev. Daniel F. Mahoney, 19721978; the Rev. Robert G. Gibney, 1978-1985; the Most Rev. Michael A. Saltarelli, 1985-1990; the Rev. Msgr. Charles Gusmer, 1990-present.

United Presbyterian Church

Celebrating 33 years!

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

the 20th century, in a small group of Cedar Grove Catholics who walked three miles to Mass at St. Cassian in Upper Montclair. By 1949, the faithful had grown into a 250-family Mission of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Verona. The church celebrated its first Mass, attended by 300 people, on Pentecost at The Towers Restaurant on Pompton Avenue. In Spring 1950, armed with the signatures of 334 families, William Bradshaw and the Catholic Club of Cedar Grove petitioned Archbishop Thomas J. Walsh, Archdiocese of Newark, for a Catholic church in Cedar Grove. The proposed site was the Grissing Family Farm on the southeast corner of Bradford and Pompton Avenues. Reflecting the town’s transformation from a rural to suburban community, the farm was for sale. On Sept. 12, 1951, the archbishop issued a certificate of incorporation, creating the parish of St. Catherine of Siena. Construction of the church began on the site of the former farm. Bishop James McNulty dedicated St. Catherine of Siena Church on Dec. 6, 1952. The next day, Father Raymond Quinn, the parish’s first pastor, sung its first Solemn High Mass. The parish started with 1,100 communicants. Rosary and Altar and Holy Name Societies were formed to assist the pastor, plan

spiritual programs and organize social functions. In the fall of 1957, with more than 300 St. Catherine’s children being bused to Our Lady of the Lake School in Verona, Quinn broke ground for a parish school. Staffed by sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell and lay faculty, St. Catherine of Siena School opened its doors to 424 students in September 1958. Since then, the parish had grown to 875 families. St. Catherine’s was booming, and by 1961, a burgeoning congregation and staff prompted Quinn to build a new rectory and convent. By 1965, parish school enrollment grew to 620, with CCD attendance at 450. As a result, the school building was expanded. CYO and Bingo became enormously popular. Vatican II ushered in greater participation of the laity in Mass, and a parish council was formed to advise the pastor. Quinn passed away in 1967 and was laid to rest on his beloved parish grounds. Shepherded by outstanding pastors, staff and parishioners, St. Catherine’s continued to grow and develop as a faith family. The parish mission statement was proclaimed in the 1980s and the new model of church inspired hundreds of parishioners to serve their church, town and country. In 1990, Msgr. Charles Gusmer, St. Catherine’s current pastor, was appointed. His 18-year tenure has overseen upgrades to the parish’s

25

WORSHIP

Fifty years ago, a small group of people had a dream of establishing a Presbyterian Church in Cedar Grove. In June 1959, the Newark Presbytery approved a petition of charter, and the United Presbyterian Church of Cedar Grove was born. It was the first new church organized by the Newark Presbytery in more than a quarter of a century. The first worship service was held on Sept. 20, 1959, in the Memorial School auditorium. The Rev. John Murray led the service, which 71 adults and 45 children attended. A Board of Elder/Trustees and a Board of Deacons were later formed, and under the direction of Tom Davis, a choir was established.

As the church continued to grow and thrive, a permanent home was needed. In 1961, a portion of the Morgan Farm property was purchased and construction was begun on the present church building. The Rev. Fred Gibson was installed as pastor. On Nov. 7, 1965, the first service was held in the new church building. Membership continued to grow, and new member classes were conducted, as well as weddings, baptisms and communicants’ classes. A youth fellowship, a couple’s club, and a Presbyterian Women’s Association were formed. A small group of women from the church founded a day nursery, a free, once-a-week, nondenominational school that served the community for many years. In 1969, the Rev. George French became pastor. He was followed by the Rev. Richard Moore in 1974, the Rev. John Blewitt in 1981 and the Rev. Pamela Szurek in 1999. Several interim/stated supply pastors have also served the church, including the present pastor, the Rev. Paul Boger. Several major events marked the progress of the growing church. In 1982, a Shanz pipe organ was installed, decorative banners and stained-glass windows were designed and fashioned by church members, and the sanctuary was refurnished. Dedication of the enhanced sanctuary took place in 1991. Missions and social outreach have always been a major focus of the church. Over the years, outreach programs have included the sponsorship of a Vietnamese family in town, the collection and distribution of food and clothing to the homeless in New York City

and help for needy families in our area. Volunteers from the church work at a local food bank, and at Christmas, gifts are supplied to a family in need. Donations are given regularly for blankets, tools and other aid to third-world countries. The church is a diverse, inclusive, multi-cultural, multi-racial and handicapped accessible congregation, and welcomes all of God’s children to worship. It is located at the corner of Pompton Avenue and Commerce Road.

Tzu Chi Foundation

The Tzu Chi Foundation USA, Mid-Atlantic Region, is one of the eight U.S. regions of the Tzu Chi Foundation USA, which was established in California in 1983. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Office in Cedar Grove also has branch offices in central New Jersey, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, with more than 1,000 volunteers. The New Jersey chapter began in 1995, with 150 volunteers meeting in the Wyckoff home of Executive Director Debbie Chen. To accommodate the increasing numbers of volunteers, the office was moved to a rented building in Boonton in 1996, and the next year, the Tzu Chi Academy was established to offer Chinese language, cultural, art and music lessons. In 2000, Tzu Chi purchased and moved to a new office at 150 Commerce Road. The office underwent two years of renovation in 2004, during which time the Tzu Chi Academy was temporarily housed at Verona High School on Fairview Avenue. When the renovation was completed in 2005, the office had been redesigned and

SEE WORSHIP, PAGE 26

26

WORSHIP

VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 25 expanded to house an altar hall, lecture hall, several offices, and 18 classrooms accommodating over 200 students. Tzu Chi’s major areas of mission and service are charity, medical, educational and cultural. It also actively supports efforts in environmental protection, bone marrow donation, international relief and community volunteering. Volunteers from the New Jersey office regularly visit nursing homes, hospitals and shelters, and participate in other community services such as street cleaning and recycling. The office also offers medical consultations and disaster-relief training to its members. Tzu Chi also makes annual scholarships available for high school graduates and donates books to local libraries. The name “Tzu Chi” means “serving with compassion” and is based on Buddhist principles of kindness, compassion and joyful giving. Jye S. Fang, a Cedar Grove resident and former elder of Taiwan Union Christian Church in Astoria, N.Y., became the president of the Tzu Chi University in Hualien from 2004 to 2006.

Macedonian Orthodox Church

The Macedonian Orthodox Church is one of many Eastern Christian churches - others include Greek, Russian and Ukrainian Orthodox - that formed in the centuries after Christ’s death. Sts. Kiril and Metodij is named for the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet used throughout Eastern Europe. The church was first founded in 1974 in Passaic, after the Macedonian congregation took over a church that had been used by a Greek Orthodox congregation, according to church’s current priest, the Very Rev. Slobodan Petkovski. As more Macedonians came to the United States in those years, fleeing Communist Yugoslavia for a better life, there was an increasing call for a church the community could call its own. The quest to build what is now the church’s Cedar Grove home started with a tragedy almost a decade ago, when the Passaic church burned down. The Sts. Kiril and Metodij Macedonian Orthodox Church bought the Meadowbrook Ballroom property in 1994. The church did extensive exterior renovations but left the inside essentially unchanged. In 2003, the church opened the hall for a benefit for World War II veterans. In the interim, between the destruction of the old church and the rebuilding in Cedar Grove,

parishioners have held religious services at a monastery in Randolph. The church was consecrated in May 2004 in an all-day celebration that about 400 people attended. On April 12 this year, the church hosted - free of charge - the Cedar Grove Centennial Gala. Petkovski, was born on Feb. 17, 1955 in Bogomila, Macedonia. In 1985, the bishop called Petkovski to serve at St. Dimitrij Church in Rochester, N.Y. On Nov. 1, 2002, he was called to serve at the St. Kiril and Metodij Church. On July 12, 1984, Archbishop Angelarij awarded Petkovski the rank of very reverend. In November 2005, MPC’s Holy Bishops Synod awarded him with a Pectoral Cross. Petkovski was granted the Pectoral Cross on May 6, 2006, by Archbishop Stefan at St. Georgij monastery in Randolph. Petkovski has published a bilingual Book of Needs in Macedonian and English, a bi-lingual Services Book in Macedonian and PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICDAL SOCIETY English with Matins, Vespers, Liturgy, Blessing of Five Breads Cedar Grove’s congregational church, where the Sovereign Bank stands today. and Troparia, as well as many other educational brochures for tural, civic and religious interests of In 1973, a five-day per week became rabbi emeritus. parishioners. the Jewish residents of the com- nursery school was opened under Today, the membership, reliChapel on the Hill munity. the congregation’s sponsorship. gious school and Early Childhood The Rev. William C. BreckenMay 1954 saw the official birth The year 1988 saw the comple- Center continues to grow as the ridge was born and raised in Balti- of the “Jewish Community of tion of renovations of the sanctu- temple welcomes families of more. He trusted Jesus Christ as Cedar Grove.” ary, social hall and kitchen. diverse backgrounds into its sancpersonal savior at age 13 and made The first Jewish religious services In 2004, Temple Sholom of tuary. a commitment to serve when he were held on June 12, 1954, in bor- West Essex commemorated its was 26. He joined Chapel on the rowed space in the Community 50th anniversary. Compiled by Times reporter Hill in 1992 and was ordained that Church. After careful research and In 2006, Rabbi Laurence Groff- Eric Kiefer. same year. His formal education intensive debate, the group decid- man was named rabbi, while Patz includes a bachelor’s degree in ed to identify itself as a reform conchurch ministries from Liberty gregation. University and also a master’s In September 1954, teachers degree in biblical studies. were hired and the first Sunday The Rev. Paul F. Anderson has School classes began. Later that been the senior pastor at the fall, the group voted to affiliate church for more than 20 years. He with the Union of American was raised in New Jersey and Hebrew Congregations. Student worked in the Garden State and Rabbi Joel Goor conducted Friday Maryland prior to coming to evening services in the South End Chapel on the Hill. He also serves Firehouse from January to May a dual role as the director of the 1959, when Rabbi Max Hausen chapel choir. Anderson is a gradu- succeeded him as spiritual leader. ate of Northeastern Bible College In May 1956, a plot of land and was once named its alumnus fronting on Pompton Avenue was of the year. purchased, and after enormous Donna-Jean A. Breckenridge is effort, a building consisting of an the director of ministries at the all-purpose room (now the temchurch. She was born in New Jer- ple’s social hall), kitchen, office and sey and has been active in ministry classrooms was erected; it was for her entire adult life. She is a dedicated in 1957. graduate of Northeastern Bible In 1960, the congregation chose College with a bachelor’s degree in Temple Sholom of Cedar Grove as Biblical literature. the name for its new synagogue. In 2005, the congregation was In 1968, the name of the coninvolved in humanitarian efforts gregation was again changed, this for several Gulf of Mexico states, time to Temple Sholom of West which were decimated by a Cate- Essex, reflecting the multi-commugory 3 storm. nity composition of the synaThe church is located at 560 gogue’s membership. Ridge Road. Rabbi Norman R. Patz was named rabbi of Temple Sholom of We Deliver Local and Nationwide Temple Sholom of West Essex West Essex in 1969. In November of 1953, a group In May 1972, the permanent of 35 Jewish families in Cedar sanctuary and expanded social Grove formed a social club in hall, office and library facilities order to promote the social, cul- were dedicated.

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Early history

Educating the leaders of tomorrow

Cedar Grove’s first schoolhouse was built in 1770. In 1820, that schoolhouse burnt down. That fall, a second schoolhouse with a wooden clapboard building was built. Franklin C. Courter, a Cedar Grove resident and artist (and former student) once drew a charcoal and chalk rendering of this building from memory. On April 11, 1853, Cedar Grove took a big step and an act establishing the Cedar Grove school district was passed. An additional school building was built in 1868, containing four rooms. The building’s second story was also used for other town functions, such as Sunday church services. Alfred Beauclerk was the first principal of this school. He was followed as principal by Mr. Fretz, Mr. Bissell, Mr. Adams, Mr. Bortic, Mr. Hutchison, Mr. Satchell, Mr. Cameron and Mr. Lewis. In 1902, a fourth school - a red brick building called Pompton Avenue School - was attached to the older school. In 1916, the old-

er section was removed and replaced by a brick addition. Pompton Avenue School initially had classes for kindergarten through eighth grade. For its special curricular needs such as music and art, Cedar Grove looked to other nearby West Essex townships. The Board of Education met in the basement of the first Pompton Avenue School. Beginning in 1908, Cedar Grove had high school classes for three grades at the Pompton Avenue School. There were nine boys and nine girls in high school at that time. The staff consisted of seven teachers, one who doubled as the school’s principal. Subjects taught included English, Latin, German, algebra, history, geography and physics. Some activities that first graduating class participated in that no longer exist included: symphonette, Cherri-aides, Chansonettes, girls’ handcraft, the Girls’ Athletic Association and the future draftsmen.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE 29 A classroom from what was known as the No. 3 School.

From Elvis to Reagan

As Cedar Grove grew in popu-

became the high school when the elementary grades were transferred to the neighborhood schools. First, the ninth and 10th graders moved into the school in 1961. Grade 11 was included in 1962, and grade 12 was included in 1963. Two additions were made to the building to accommodate the high school students, which enlarged the original building by four times. The original main office of the Memorial School is now the present-day high school nurse’s office. Taylor’s dairy farm previously occupied the land where Memorial High School was built. Memorial High School was dedicated at 3 p.m. on Nov. 11, 1962. Richard E. Harris, president of the board of education, presided. Superintendent Leonard R. Parks also spoke.

In June 1965, the Pompton Avenue School was renamed Leonard R. Parks School in his honor. That year, Parks retired and Kenneth Bechtold became superintendent. Leonard R. Parks School was later expanded on property purchased from the County of Essex. In 1963, the board of education helped to establish a school for resident patients at the Essex County Hospital Center. George F. Wildman was the first principal of Memorial High School. He later left the district to work in higher education. William D. O’Toole was the next principal, serving from the 1964-65 school year until June 1983. The Class of 1964 was the first

SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE 30

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Later, Cedar Grove sent high school students to schools in other towns: Verona, Bloomfield, and Passaic Valley High School in Little Falls. In 1908, there were a total of 244 elementary and high school students. That year, the school budget was $8,426. In February 1910, upon the advice of the New Jersey Department of Education, the school was reduced to a two-year high school. The following year, the 11th and 12th grades were sent to Bloomfield. The two-year high school was finally closed in June 1917. For years, Cedar Grove sent its high school students by bus to towns in the surrounding area. First, they went to Verona, then to Bloomfield, and then Passaic Valley high schools. In September 1918, Bloomfield became the official receiving district. When Cedar Grove’s high school class went to Bloomfield in 1920, there was only one student from Cedar Grove: Elmer Taylor. Theodore A. Sutton served as principal of Pompton Avenue School from 1921 to 1932. Robert R. Blunt was the principal from 1932 to 1937. In 1937, Leonard R. Parks, an industrial arts teacher, became principal.

as Memorial Middle School - was purchased from the City of Newark. On June 5, 1959, the Pompton Avenue School burned down. Many residents and students remained unaware of the fire until they arrived for school the next morning. Classes were held temporarily throughout the town at sites such as the Old First Church, St. Catherine of Siena School, Temple Sholom, the Community Church and even the Municipal Building. The board of education met at Memorial School and near the Municipal Building after the fire, later moving to a building at North End School. In April 1961, the new Pompton Avenue School opened. The Memorial School gradually

W393078-01

FROM PAGE 28

lation, the need for new schools became apparent. Between 1907 and 1975, student enrollment leaped exponentially from 153 to 2,309. The Memorial School, which served grades 5 through 8, was opened in January 1951. The original building is the current south half of the e-wing. The northern half of the e-wing was added in 1952. Students chose the name “Memorial” in memory of all the citizens of Cedar Grove who have given their lives in military service. In 1951, Leonard R. Parks became supervising principal of Pompton Ave. School. Then, in 1952, Parks became Cedar Grove’s first schools superintendent. In 1956, both North and South End schools opened. North End was originally part of the Smith farm. South End was built on undeveloped township land. In 1957, the Pompton Avenue Parent Teacher Association decided to spilt into four separate PTA organizations for each of the four schools at the time. One of these groups, the South End PTA, was instrumental in turning Harper Terrace into a one-way street with no parking during school hours. By 1958, there were 2,205 elementary and high school students. During this time, students were expected to abide by the Cedar Grove Teenage Behavior Code. The Ridge Road School opened in 1959, creating a system of neighborhood schools. The land for the Ridge Road School - now known

29

SCHOOLS

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SCHOOLS

VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 29 to graduate from Memorial High School, having completed their freshmen year at Bloomfield South Junior High School. The graduating class included 149 members. In 1968, the peak enrollment totaled 1,011 students. John L. DeCesare became superintendent in 1986, serving in this position until 2000. In the fall 1988, Memorial High School changed its name to Cedar Grove High School to eliminate the confusion with the many other Memorial High Schools in the state.

To the millennium

By the late 1980s and early 1990s, the school population had dropped so dramatically that the board of education discussed redistricting. In December 1990, the board presented a plan to consolidate the four elementary schools into two. The two schools to be closed were Leonard R. Parks and Ridge Road; their students were moved to North End and South End schools. The two schools, which would not be used by the township, would be rented out and the income used to offset taxes. The LRP school is currently rented to Washington Academy. Earlier in the year, a slightly dif-

ferent plan was presented which involved the closing of just Ridge Road School. The remaining three schools would be set up so one housed grades 5 and 6 while the other two had grades kindergarten to 4. Some parents protested that they wanted neighborhood schools, and formed a group called Save Our Schools that collected 1,900 signatures. When they picketed the home of Board President Ronald San Fillipo he resigned in anger. Meanwhile, the board also toyed with merging the district with Verona. In April 1991, the Verona and Cedar Grove boards of education hired an educational consultant to study merging the two school districts. By January 1992, the study regarding merging the school districts came up with a negative benefit for Cedar Grove. By the end of the month, the plan was officially rejected. In the end, the board approved the plan to close two schools and keep North End and South End open. The board also started to consider busing for the affected students. Heading into March 1991, parents continued to oppose the school consolidation and formed Parents for a Quality Education. In April, the state agreed to review the school closings. Later that month, the state board

19

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Cedar Grove teacher Jean Jaeger, today’s board of education president, and Carlo, Artie and John Carlotti, admire a large sedimentary rock the boys found on the hillside property of Bradford Arms Apartments. The specimen, believed to be more than 300 million years old, contains fossilized remains of plant and animal life of early inland seas approved the closings. However, it cautioned the board that classes could not exceed 25 students in a class. In 1991, the Ridge Road School was closed because of declining school enrollment. Elementary school students in kindergarten through sixth grade attended either North End or South End school. Seventh- and eighth-grade students were sent to a wing of Cedar Grove High School. That year, the board of education moved to the second floor of the Leonard R. Parks School; the Essex Junior Academy used the first floor. When the township started to renovate Ridge Road School for use as the new home of the middle school, the Essex Junior Academy moved out of LRP School, and the Glenview Academy (formerly at Ridge Road School) took over that space. After years of using Nov. 30 as the cutoff date for enrollment in a grade, the board was challenged in September 1993, when parents of a child born on Dec. 1 tried to register him for school. A judge in Newark agreed with the board of education that the child not make the cut. However, the board quickly revised its kindergarten cutoff date. A child must now be 5 years old on or before Oct. 1 to be admitted to kindergarten. In December 1993, two media centers at North and South End schools were opened.

The 2,800-square-foot media centers were expected to “prepare the schools for the next century,” according to a newspaper article. The centers were going to be more than twice the size of the original libraries in the school, and they were expected to focus not only on books, but on new technology. The original libraries in the elementary schools were located in regular classrooms, and were staffed by volunteer parents who were members of the school’s PTA (which later morphed into the Family and School Association). Isabelle Portugal was one of the prime movers who helped to start the library, coordinating the staffing for each class. Even then, many parents volunteered during their children’s classes, checking out, preparing and shelving the books. By 1997, the district’s enrollment had risen to 1,300 students. By 2000, the board of education proposed building a separate middle school for grades 5 though 8. Under the plan, North End and South End would become kindergarten through fourth-grade schools. The plan was voted down the first time it appeared on the ballot as a bond referendum. In the spring 2001, the board tried again with a project that was scaled back from the original request. It was put to the voters in April 2001 and failed again. Finally, in 2002, the bond referendum was put on the ballot and

this passed. Judith Merz, assistant superintendent under DeCesare, became the district’s superintendent in July 2000. On Jan. 26, 2004, the new Cedar Grove Memorial Middle School (grades 5 through 8) opened in the former Ridge Road building, which was renovated and expanded to approximately 70,000 square feet, triple the size of the older school. North End and South End schools switched to serve only preschool through fourth grade. Later that year, Cedar Grove voters voted against the tax levy, spurring the town council to cut $360,000 from the school budget. The year 2004 also saw the state reclassify Cedar Grove as a wealthier category “I” school for its district factor group ranking. The Cedar Grove High School Alumni Association was started in 2005. Alumni of Memorial/Cedar Grove High School can visit www.cedargrovealumni.com. The Cedar Grove Education Foundation announced that it would start an adult education program, the first of its kind in the district. Inaugural classes were given at Memorial Middle School and included: wreath making, computer skills, feng shui empowerment, self-defense, college funding strategies and financial planning for retirement. The board of education reinstat-

SEE SCHOOLS, PAGE 32

31 THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

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SCHOOLS

ed freshman sports for the 2005-06 school year. In 2005, the district hired Gene Polles as its superintendent. That year, the board approved the Cedar Grove Field Restoration Foundation’s plan to renovate the high school sports facility. One year later, the foundation received a $300,000 grant from Gov. Richard Codey’s contingency fund. Also that year, the district began to use teacher Web sites to reinforce classroom material. The district also introduced its Digital Portfolio Initiative, which replaced all writing folders with an electronic portfolio assessment. In a dispute that lasted until

minor injuries suffered when he fell from the bleachers at the high school football field. An administrative law judge later removed Tully from the board because of conflict-of-interest regulations. In 2007, voters defeated the tax levy again. This time, the council cut $555,000 from the school budget. The board responded by making $175,000 in line item cuts and increasing budgeted revenue by $380,000. In response to the budget defeat, that May the board cut 22 staff positions in the district. District voters shot down a ballot question that would have kept the cut positions for an additional tax levy. One month later, the local teacher’s union issued a vote of no confidence in Superintendent Gene Polles. The board followed

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with a resolution in support of Polles. That March, a Cedar Grove special education parent filed a complaint with the state Department of Education, accusing the district of violating state special education laws. The DOE later conducted an investigation that recommended that the district change certain policies to comply with state laws. The middle school adopted a block schedule as part of the district’s five-year curriculum plan. District-wide, the curriculum was realigned to reflect the recent budget cuts and the state’s redesign of public schools. Harold Scott was principal at the high school from 1983-84 to June 1993. Robert Reis was principal from 1993-94 to June 1996. Frances Sills was principal from 1996-97 to June 1999. Judith Nappi was principal from 1999-2000 to December 2006. Roy Corso was interim principal from December 2006 to June 2007.

and world languages. The school also has a media center, which allows students to log on to a number of databases from home using a password. Cedar Grove High School offers a comprehensive curriculum selected from offerings in: business, computers, English, fine arts, health, mathematics, music, physical education, driver education, science, social studies and technology education. Advanced placement programs are offered in English, U.S. history, biology, chemistry, physics, world languages, calculus, studio art and European history. Courses are offered based on student enrollment. High-level courses are offered in: English, mathematics, science, world languages, social studies and art. Shared-time programs are available in conjunction with the Essex County Vocational/Technical High School. Distance Learning courses are also offered. CGHS has fully networked computer capabilities. All students and faculty have e-mail accounts. The district Web site - www.cedargrove.k12.nj.us - and educational television station are hosted from a broadcast/network hub in the high school building. CGHS has 28 athletic teams that compete in 15 sports in the NJSIAA. The high school started a modified block schedule during the 2006-07 school year. Current activities and clubs include: Mosaic (school newspaper), NHS, Interact Club, Key Club, Drama Club, Yearbook, Tech Crew, Math Club, Cheerleaders, Literary Magazine, Science Club, All School Council, Choir and Field Band. The high schools’ staff includes 40 faculty members, a child study team, a school nurse, a media specialist and a student assistance counselor. CGHS students have been accepted to universities and colleges such as: James Madison University, Syracuse University, New York University, Brown University, Carnegie Mellon, Drew University, Fordham, Boston College, Tulane, Cornell, Georgetown, Lehigh, Villanova, Penn State, Rutgers, Marist College, Stevens Institute, Bucknell, Princeton, Rowan, Ramapo, College of New Jersey and Montclair State University. CGHS is accredited by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and New Jersey Monthly has listed the high school as one of the top 75 schools in the state three times. The current mayor and police chief are both graduates of the high school.

As of June 5, the board of education includes: Jean Jaeger, president; Anthony Palma, vice-president; Frank Mandala, Joseph Rcaniello and Michael Grabas. The district’s current administration includes: Gene Polles, superintendent; Thomas Altonjy, administrative assistant to the superintendent; Alan Chadrjian, board secretary and business administrator; Nicholas Norcia, supervisor of special services; Joanne Cooney, language arts district supervisor. The current school principals are: Charles Sampson, CGHS; Lawrence Neugebauer, MMS; John Murray, North End; Richard Norman, South End. The district has a FSA at each of its four schools. The current FSA presidents are: Kathy Keepers, CGHS; Kim Siragusa, MMS; Cheri Di Prenda, South End; Brenda Periera, North End. Memorial Middle School’s Web site says that the school’s goal is to provide each student with a sound academic curriculum in a nurturing and civilized environment. Last year, the school surpassed its benchmarks in language arts and mathematics. This year, the school’s focus continues to be in mathematics and language arts, as defined by the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards. This will be accomplished by tightening the curriculum alignment with the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards, and will be assessed by student performance on the New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge Grade 7 and Grade 8. The middle school has departments in art, computers, future plans, history, health, language arts, math, music, physical educa- Compiled by Times reporter tion, science, technology education Eric Kiefer.

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 30

2008, APS - the contractor assigned to build the field at the middle school - sued the board of education for more than $500,000, which APS claimed the board owed them for the project. The board has maintained that APS did not perform satisfactory work, and has since began to look for another contractor to finish the field. In August 2006, the district’s teacher’s aides won salary increases and single coverage health benefits, in addition to optional 50 percent family member coverage. The board accepted a $225,000 donation from the Cedar Grove Field Restoration Foundation to revitalize the district’s athletic fields. Board member Phillip Tully filed a personal tort claim against the district in 2006, stemming from

end of Pompton Avenue. Officials decided to place no parking signs on permanent poles instead of trees, where they had been displayed. Bogan retired in 1929, and Alfred Linder became the new Cedar Grove police chief. Arthur J. Krueck and future Chief Charles Schneider joined the force as junior patrolmen in late December 1930. Schneider had previously been a special policeman for a short time. The early 1930s saw slight pay increases for the fledgling department. The police chief made $2,400 a year, senior patrolmen took home $2,000 and junior officers earned $1,800. The department’s budget reached $10,000 and it had to dispel rumors that it cost $6,000 to operate the two motorcycles and a police car. Traffic violations on Pompton Turnpike comprised the majority of their enforcement. In 1935, John High was named a special officer to oversee activity at the Meadowbrook. Linder was active in promoting youth and recreational activities and known by the nickname “Uncle Al” to local children. He also began to improve the department’s equipment. By January 1951, he had applied for disability retirement after having been on sick leave. Charles Schneider became chief the following May and was appointed by Commissioner William C. Maloid in May 1951. A 20-year veteran of the force, Schneider had been a sergeant since 1940. Maloid also named George Haller captain and future chief George E. Fox sergeant. In 1955, Haller decided he would retire by applying for a year’s sick leave, thus vacating the captaincy. Under Schneider’s direction, improvements in police techniques and modernization of the force instituted by Linder have continued. Fifty years after its founding, the department had three patrol cars equipped with short wave radio, cl-2 fire extinguishers, inhalators and other first aid equipment. The department headquarters itself was also upgraded. The facilities included a remodeled dark room and identification room, an improved filing system and a desk “capable of transmitting and receiving emergency and fire calls.” There was also a radio monitor, which permitted inter-town communication on similar frequencies while calls were being held, and a police teletype. The force began participating in

police training courses at the Essex County Police Chief’s Association. Officers used their own pistol range, built with township funds, and collected many prizes in the Essex County Police Revolver League. Fifty years on, the department had grown into a chief, lieutenant, three sergeants and 11 patrolmen. Twenty-two special patrolmen organized under civil defense and disaster control. When Schneider retired in 1961, George Fox became the chief. His leadership of the department lasted a decade, and he was succeeded by Donald Schneider in 1971.

In the 1970s, the Drug Abuse and Narcotics Advisory Committee came into existence. The Safety Town program came to Cedar Grove in 1973. There was also a drug phone-in service. In 1980, Parents Asking to Help, known as Operation PATH, was formed. The group, a citizen task force promoted by the police, was charged with probing “the effective use of school facilities.” In 1999, the department used a Law Enforcement Development Block Grant to purchase a speedmonitoring trailer. It also has a computerized traffic counter. In Cedar Grove’s centennial year, Chief Jeffrey Rowe leads the

Cedar Grove Police Department. Its efforts include the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program, school resource officer and crime prevention. The DARE program visits kindergarten through fourth-grade classes on several occasions. The department also meets with fifth and seventh graders to discuss ways to avoid tobacco, drug and alcohol abuse. In addition, the department’s narcotics and patrol units are active in law enforcement. The department reinstated its motorcycle unit four years ago.

SEE PROTECT, PAGE 34

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The Cedar Grove Police Department formed soon after the township’s split with Verona in 1908. Township committeemen hired the first department, which consisted of two future chiefs: Watson Ryno and William “Big Bill” Bogan. For 22 years, they were paid as marshals. Ryno was the first chief and was paid $2,000. When Ryno retired in 1924, Bogan succeeded him. Bogan cultivated a reputation as a “Wild West” figure. He had lived “beyond the Missouri” and is said to have worn a 10-gallon hat and cowboy boots. He also wore a blue “cambrie shirt with badge prominent on his left breast,” Levi’s and a low slung holster, which held his Colt .45. Bogan began his tenure with a police budget of $500. That year, he purchased a record book and two sets of handcuffs. Future high-ranking members Alfred Linder and George Haller joined the force in its early days. The chief took over dog warrant duties in September. The next year, Bogan’s budget was $1,500. Bogan raided the Clark Restaurant and Marietta Matches. Liquor had been found at both locations. A dog-muzzling ordinance was established after the chief was bitten by a rabid dog. The department purchased a Ford sedan for $634.17. The commission passed a resolution that recognized Bogan and his wife for action that resulted in the capture of Montclair resident Harrison Ford, who was charged in Montclair with double homicide. The next year, Bogan was authorized to buy a speedometer for the sedan. Traffic ordinances became law, including a 15-minute parking limit on Pompton Avenue, and no parking on any street between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. By 1927, the sedan was declared unsafe, and the following year, a Tudor Ford sedan was purchased for department use. The chief received a pension commission to provide pensions, and a telephone was installed in George Haller’s home. Haller was the town’s sole patrolman. The Cedar Grove Police Department first started using motorcycles in 1929 and continued their use until 1950 when a second patrol car was purchased. The department also approved purchasing a spotlight for the car. In those days, Bogan’s salary was $2,100, with a new patrolman earning $1,800. The department posted signs informing motorists of the township’s speed laws at either

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

Police Department

33

Those who have protected and served us

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 33 Two Harley Davidsons are replaced annually at no cost to the township.

Fire Department

In the beginning, if a homeowner’s residence caught fire, he would have to ask his neighbors for help. Civil War veteran Andrew Jackson Taylor suggested the formation of a bucket brigade. In 1908, 30 residents gathered in Sam Brower’s barbershop and decided to form a fire department in town. On May 18, 1908, the Cedar Grove Fire Company was officially formed with 35 members. It operated privately for several years. Louis Captain Sr., a former blacksmith, was named chief. The department’s first home was a church basement. The new department selected a simple, low-tech solution to informing its members of a fire. Overbrook Hospital, later known as the Essex County Hospital Center, was protected through a mutual aid agreement between existing departments. When a fire broke out, someone would pull a rope attached to the Union Congregational Church tower’s bell on Pompton Avenue. The first person to hear the bell would telephone Overbrook, where someone would blow the fire whistle. Later, a more ambitious plan

was devised to run an electric wire between members’ houses. That wire would set off a buzzer that would sound when a fire began. The system incorporated two miles of wire, six alarm boxes, a few bells and some batteries. The wires only worked when the weather cooperated and fell at the first sign of ice. The company returned to the church bell, which was the predominant fire alarm system for some time. In August 1908, the department began purchasing equipment. It bought 36 dozen quart-sized leather buckets, two axes, a 30-foot extension ladder and some fire hoses for a grand total of $28. Next, it needed a vehicle. John Vreeland lent the department a horse and cart to transport equipment on occasion, but the department had no permanent transportation. Firefighters purchased a twowheeled, hand-pulled cart for $25 from the gasoline station at Ridge Road and Bradford Avenue. Charter member A. G. Orr devised the first mobile unit - Ladder Truck No. 5 - a two-wheeled cart with ropes attached and drawn by the firemen. In September, the township was divided into 13 fire districts, and a committee was appointed to find the best available water supplies of each of these districts. There was no city water in those days, and all supplies came from wells. Fires were fought with members forming a bucket line from the well

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Fire-fighting equipment has come a long way since the cart first purchased by the Cedar Grove Fire Department. to the fire, passing buckets back and forth. Those early days saw their share of large-scale fires. Among the most noteworthy were the Jenkins Brush Factory in December 1909, the DeBaun residence and the Fuerst Bakery, both on Pompton Avenue, and the Van Orden Corset Factory on Little Falls Road. Cedar Grove Township helped to pay for a pump and wagon in 1911. It was a four-wheel, handpulled hard operating pump operated by eight men, and used 300 feet of hose. On May 12, 1911, the Cedar Grove Fire Company No. 1 was incorporated. The department moved into Town Hall in 1912. Fire chiefs from Montclair attended the open house. That same year, the Cedar Grove Firemen’s Relief Association was organized. In 1914, the department received its first piece of mechanized equipment, a used Thomas Passenger car donated by John McArthur. The engine was sent to Newark to be rebuilt and modified to carry a hose. It contained a hose, ladder and hand pump. It ran on nine gallons of gas, which filled for $1.35. After numerous repairs, the vehicle lasted until 1920. In 1919, the department secured a Howe-Ford Model T power operated water pump for $3,075. It would be the only such piece of equipment in operation for 20 years. The township devised a fire hydrant system. Previously, Cedar Grove had used Verona’s water system as far south as Ozone Avenue. Public water became available in 1927. The department

got rid of the pumper and began utilizing hydrants. In 1929, Cedar Grove bought three Mack pump engines. In 1922, the Exempt Fireman’s Association was organized, with J. Alexander Crowie as its president. Also a committee was formed to find a replacement fire alarm system and retire using the Union Congregational Church’s bell. Two years later, a signal was in place. It was a 40-foot tower on the Olcutt property on Pompton Avenue near the present-day Municipal Building. The tower contained a siren run by a threehorsepower electric motor. Two push buttons on light poles set off the siren, which would sound until enough firefighters could work the rig. In 1924, a REO hose was purchased. On Sept. 28, 1928, 10 men started the North End Fire Company No. 2 in the room above Dittig’s store, located at the corner of Stevens Avenue and East Lindsey Road. Its president was William W. Myers Jr., and there were 11 charter members. On Aug. 18, 1929, the Cedar Knoll section of town required its own fire support, and members started the South End Fire Company in the real estate office of Joseph R. Hughes. The third company incorporated on Aug. 29. Volunteers rented a property for $8 a month and constructed a garage that served as its headquarters. Twenty years later, the company purchased the land for $800. Its leaders were: President Francis Barry, Vice President William Spahn, Treasurer Frank Corbett, Secretary George Irving Jacobus, and trustees James Cavanaugh,

John H. Vance Smith and Percey Chestnut. There were 16 charter members. The company purchased a used Pierce Arrow Fire Truck in 1930 for use until 1939. The members built a new fire house and improved as time went on. Fire Company No. 1 moved from the Public Hall to the new Municipal Building in 1928. In 1929, a Pierce Arrow hose and ladder truck was purchased. A brick firehouse was constructed in 1931, and a Lincoln Sedan hose cart replaced the older Locomobile. In 1954, a Mack pumper and diesel engine was purchased. And American LaFrance pumper capable of dispensing 1,000 gallons per minute was bought in 1974. Fire Company No. 1 was renamed Center Co. No. 1 and operates out of the Municipal Building on Pompton Avenue. Its 32 members help maintain Ladder Truck 74, Engine 71 and Brush Truck 75. Michael Tower is the company’s chief, its captain is Dan Donovan captain and lieutenant is Tim Donlon lieutenant. Fire Company No. 2 operates out of East Lindsley Road. Its 28 members help maintain Engines 72 and 76. Its leadership includes Chief John Bannon, Capt. J. Smigelskiy and Lt. Joe Lipari. Fire Company No. 3’s headquarters is located on 148 Pompton Ave. Its 28 members help maintain Engine 73. Its leadership includes Chief Alex Spinella, Capt. James Zaccaria and Lt. Steven Lynch.

SEE PROTECT, PAGE 35

FROM PAGE 34

Rescue Squad

This year, the Cedar Grove Rescue Squad celebrates its 70th anniversary. It was formed with the purpose of providing first aid and rescue services to the township’s citizens. Residents had discussed forming a rescue squad, but the sudden illness of Mrs. Smith of Overlook Road in early 1938 brought the issue to the forefront. Soon after, Verona Rescue Squad Director Frank Duffy addressed Cedar Grove police and fire personnel, some of whom would later become rescue squad members. At this meeting, residents decided to seriously explore forming the squad. The Verona director gave a first aid course and taught rescue operations to all police and firefighter volunteers. By April of that year, the squad was well into its planning stages. The Cedar Grove Rescue Squad was started on May 8, 1939, when it received its Certificate of Incorporation for the New Jersey Secretary of State. In June 1938, the nascent squad held its first fund drive towards purchasing a rescue truck and equipment. The following February, VernerCadb, Inc. of Verona delivered the squad’s first rescue truck to Cedar

Grove. Prior to that, the squad used Cedar Grove Fire Company No. 1’s engine to respond to emergencies. The squad spent the first 25 years of existence in the Central Company Fire Headquarters. In 1963, the squad purchased property on Pompton Avenue, where it would construct its own building. The ground-breaking ceremonies took place in 1964, and the building was completed in January 1965. By the early 1980s, the squad operated two rescue vehicles, the larger of which is designed handled heavy rescue operations such as auto extrication. The vehicle can also deal with rescues from great heights and multi-victim situations. Purchased in 1981, the second vehicle handled smaller medical situations, such as personal injuries and illnesses. It could also be used as an ambulance. The squad had more than 40 male and female members that PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY answered more than 750 calls in 1982. Thirty-five members formed the Cedar Grove Fire Company in May 1908, shortly after the

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

The township purchased a new 105-foot aerial ladder truck in 2004. The department has developed a technical rescue team to deal with confined space and trench rescues. It acquired a new trailer with tools for rescue operations. Today’s firefighters enjoy more extensive training than their forerunners. Membership numbers remain between 80 to 85 percent. Each company can only have a certain number of members - 32 for Company 1 and 28 for companies 2 and 3. Company 1 has a larger enrollment because it must maintain the ladder truck. The department sees more false alarms and fewer structural fires than it had in the 1980s because of widespread smoke detector usage and better early detection systems. There are still major fires, such as a Eileen Drive blaze caused by a heating appliance, but that the majority of those are caused by a failure of some kind of primary safety measure. Wilson saw few changes for the department’s future unless the township grew, in which case the department would grow with it. The department responds to between 260 and 280 calls annually, with more mutual aid assistance than in years’ past.

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Ambulance Unit

In 1951, a group of eight auxiliary policemen and eight residents formed the Cedar Grove Ambulance Unit in response to the township’s rapid growth following World War II. The unit began serving the township in November 1951 and used a garage space behind the municipal building as its first base of operations. The unit’s first rig was a 1937 Packard purchased from Verona. Members at that time were called by telephone when an emergency took place. In its first year, the unit responded to 78 calls. One of the early leaders of that time was Edward Lentz, who held ranks of president, captain and duty lieutenant. By the township’s Golden Jubilee in November 1958, the unit had 18 members. It had a two-way radio donated by the Rotary Club, an inhalator given by the Embers and an emergency cardiac kit provided by the Essex County Heart Association. The Women’s Club provided rescuitation equipment. The unit updated its equipment in 1960 to include a Plectron radio system for notifying members. Its headquarters at the corner of Ridge Road and Cedar Street was dedicated in 1962. The unit welcomed its first female member in 1965 and purchased a new rig in 1966. EKG Telemetry equipment became available in 1978, and the ambulance could then link with the hospital. More property on Cedar Street was purchased that next year in order to have future expansion and more off-street parking. Thirty two years after its found-

township’s incorporation. Louis Captain Sr. was named chief of the organization, which operated privately for several years.

ing, the unit used its two ambulances to answer 1,174 calls. It accomplished this through 5,834 man-hours and by logging 15,994 miles. It could offer emergency first aid and transportation 24 hours a day through its 25 members. Eight members handled day emergencies, while the rest respond to night and weekend situations. The unit’s members were either certified emergency medical technicians or certified by the New Jersey First Aid Council’s five-point program. They were schooled in advanced first aid, emergency childbirth, CPR and defensive driving. In addition to its primary services, the unit held community CPR training seminars, including training for Boy Scouts. It was on hand to provide first aid at community functions such as the Fourth of July celebrations. The unit was a member of the West Essex Captain’s Council and the New Jersey First Aid Council. One of the biggest developments in the unit’s history began in 1981, when the unit entered talks to merge with the Cedar Grove Rescue Squad. The merger was official on July 1, 1983. Since then, enrollment has grown to 65 members, ranging from 16 to 70 years old. The group has long-serving members, some dating back 30 to 40 years. In 1984, the newly formed Cedar Grove Ambulance and Rescue Squad added onto the original building, creating three ambulance bays, a kitchen and dormitories.

The heavy rescue equipment was stored at a separate location. In 2008, CGARS operates three ambulances and a heavy rescue unit. The ambulances respond to household medical emergencies. The heavy rescue unit responds to fire calls and motor vehicle extrication, as well as other towns’ calls.

The officers include: Doug Giblin, president; Jim Loose, vice-president; Mary Ann Niemiec, recording secretary; Chris Stanecki, treasurer; Joyce Haine, corresponding secretary. Compiled by Times managing editor Joe Olivieri.

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36 VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

Who were the best Panther teams? BY MIKE GESARIO

From the gridiron, to the courts, to the diamonds, Memorial/Cedar Grove High School has fielded some great teams. As part of the centennial celebration, the Times spotlights some of the best Panther teams. Which ones were the “best of the best?” You decide.

Football: 2000 vs. 1983

PHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HIGH SCHOOL

The Memorial High School softball Panthers were county, conference, sectional and group champions, finishing with a 26-0 record.

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It may seem hard to believe given the team’s success over the past 20 years, but the CGHS football team went just 1-6-2 during its first varsity season in 1962 and enjoyed just one winning season during its first eight years. Now the program boasts five sectional championships – 1978, 1983, 2000, 2004 and 2007. Plus there were some great teams that fell just short of the final prize (the 1992, 1993 and 2001 teams come to mind). The 2000 version of the Black and Gold gave current Head Coach Ed Sadloch his first sectional championship and also won the Colonial Hills Conference Hills Division title. The team went 11-1, setting a mark for most wins that was tied by the 2001 team the following year and again in 2004 and 2007. The team averaged 33.6 points per game and allowed only 7.2 The team had the best passing offense the Grove has ever seen. Rob Gogerty led the way, throwing a school-record 22 touchdown passes and a school-record 1,941 yards during the season. Kyle Messineo, the speedy running back who became the primary offensive weapon on the 2001 team, caught eight of those touchdown throws. Keith Locascio caught a schoolrecord 45 passes for a school-best 862 yards. As a team, the Panthers racked up 4,238 yards of total offense. Andy Hanenberg led the defense with 11 sacks, while Mark Zambrano, the defensive star on the 2001 team that blanked its first eight opponents, registered 66 solo tackles. The super-athletic Panthers posted five shutouts, including a 12-0 blanking of New Providence in the sectional championship game. Gogerty, Locascio, Zambrano and kicker/punter Mike Weber all landed on the all-county and allgroup teams after the season. Could the 1983 Panthers coached by Jack McCormick upset this powerful team? In the 1983, Cedar Grove went 9-2, defeating New Providence, 30, for the sectional trophy. Chris Scholz quarterbacked the team and threw five touchdown passes. The defensive unit was certainly no slouch. It posted seven shutouts,

and allowed only 4.7 points per game. Scholz, running back Ed Cerato, defensive end Zick Zecchino and offensive tackle Rob Lay earned all-county and all-group honors after the season. The squad, McCormick told the Times in 1983, was a “good, physical team with solid discipline who executed well . . .. They knew what was supposed to be done to win a football game.” Maybe this mythical battle would come down to the kickers. The 1983 team featured Scott Gallion. He hit five field goals in his career, including the game-winning kick in the second overtime to give CGHS the crown in 1983. The 2000 team included Weber, who also kicked five field goals in his career and booted 40 extra points in 2000.

Boys soccer: 1981 vs. 1994

Since a winless first varsity season under Coach Gary Podens in the fall of 1963, only two teams in the history of the CGHS boys soccer program have qualified for the state tournament. With a 3-1 win over Bernards, the 1981 boys soccer team coached by Bernie Massari became the first soccer team from CGHS to qualify for the states. Ernie Seubert was the driving force behind the Panthers’ success. In a two-week span, he racked up nine goals. He finished the season with 14 goals. Judge Tanella led the team with six assists. Goalkeeper Keith Scaglione posted six shutouts. The eight-win season included wins over Whippany Park, Glen Ridge and Kinnelon. It ended with a 3-0 loss to Verona in the first round of the state tournament (Verona was Essex County cochampion, Group I champ and Suburban Conference champ and finished the season with a 22-2-3 record). The Panthers remained shut out of the state tourney until the 1994 squad coached by Bob Dunn battled its way into the postseason. All-county player Nino Intilli, Aaron Stanecki and George Mundanthanam helped make the team go while Dan Wolff protected the goal. The Panthers, who won six games during the season, were seeded eighth for the sectional tournament and dropped a 3-0 decision to top-seeded Madison.

Boys basketball: 1990-91 vs. 1970-71

The first varsity team won only one game during the 1962-63 season, but there is no shortage of

SEE SPORTS, PAGE 37

FROM PAGE 36

Baseball: 1974 vs. 1988

Former Times editor Ward Miele, after the 1974 season, wrote that “the varsity baseball season which has just been inked in the MHS sports books will be a lofty goal for future squads to follow.” The 1974 Panthers beat Gloucester High, 5-4, at Mercer County Park in the Group I state championship game and finished their season with 18 wins. They remain the only CGHS baseball

State first team, and, of course, the first-team all-group and all-county teams. Cedar Grove, which lost to state fifth-ranked Brearley, 18-7, in the state playoffs, finished the year with a 19-6 record. “The ’88 team was very talented,” recalled Lynch. “I always thought they were tough kids, which is another way for saying they were competitive,” said Lynch, looking back on the players he coached throughout his tenure. “They would compete. They would work hard. I always felt extremely lucky to be in that situation.”

Softball: 1979 vs. 2003

The most successful program in CGHS sports history? At the very least, the softball team – with its numerous sectional titles and its six appearances in the Group I championship game – belongs in the debate.

And the 1979 team is one of, if not the, most decorated team in the school’s athletic history. The 1979 softball team pulled off the trifecta of sports championships – winning the conference, county and state championships. As far as we know, no other team in school history has done that. The team went 26-0 and was ranked No. 1 in New Jersey. All teams are special in some way, but “that ’79 team was the best team of all,” former Panther Head Coach Ray Vander May told the Times for an article celebrating the 25th anniversary of the team. “That team was without a doubt the best we ever had…. It was just made up of a tremendous amount of good athletes. That was a special, special team. That was a oncein-a-lifetime thing.” The Panthers defeated Hammonton, 6-0, in Mercer County Park for the Group I title, in what the Times described as a “perfect

ending to a perfect season.” Junior pitcher Laurel Vander May was a perfect 13-0. Second baseman Loren Peterson, shortstop/pitcher Suzie Wallace and catcher Mary Wallace all hit above .400 on the season. In 2000, when The Star-Ledger celebrated New Jersey’s top high school athletes of the 20th century, Laurel Vander May and Coach Ray Vander May secured spots on the softball team of the 1970s, while Mary Wallace was named one of the top players of the 1980s. “They were something to see,” former Times editor Ward Miele recalled in 2004. “I don’t think anyone touched Cedar Grove then. They were the Rolls Royce of softball.” What team could possibly give this powerful squad a run for its money? Maybe it’s a team that didn’t

THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008 • MEMORIES • VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES

splendid basketball history at CGHS. Maybe a mini-tournament would best settle the debate over which is the best of the best. The 1966-67 team captured one of the school’s first sectional crowns in any sport. The 1974-75 team finished with an 18-5 record and won the Colonial Hills Conference championship for the second straight season. The 1978-79 team went 16-10 and won a sectional title by posting a quadruple – yes, quadruple – overtime victory over Mountain Lakes. The 2002-03 team went 20-4, won the CHC Hills Division title and nearly shocked powerful Bloomfield Tech in the section final. And let’s not forget the most recent installment of the Panthers, which won a sectional title this year. But there’s a good chance two teams that didn’t win a sectional crown would be standing at the end of this mini-tourney. The 1990-91 team, coached by Frank Giovannucci, won a schoolrecord 14 games to start the season and still holds the mark for most wins in a season with 25. The team went 25-3 and captured the CHC title. Led by players like Billy Scuorzo and David Wolff, the Panthers advanced to the sectional final before bowing out of the playoffs. While its record – 15-7 – may not sparkle like other years in the CGHS history book, the 1970-71 team featured several of the program’s top players. Only six CGHS players have reached 1,000 points in their career, and two played on the 1970-71 team. It’s a team that Coach Jack Lynch said can stack up with any Cedar Grove has ever had. Senior center Pete LaCorte led the way. He injured his wrist in late January, but came back for the postseason and scored 29 points in a 63-35 playoff win over Clifford Scott. He finished his career with more than 1,000 points. Guard Paul Palek, a junior in 1970-71, also joined the 1,000-point club before his career was out. Senior guard Charlie Hill and senior forward Al Newell were also top contributors for the Panthers. The 1970-71 season ended with a one-point loss to Mountain Lakes in the playoffs.

team to win the group championship. But there have been some other tremendous teams throughout the history of the program. One that comes to mind immediately is the 1988 team, which won the program’s second GNT title (the first came in 1985). What would happen if these two teams collided in their prime? “If ’73 or ’74 played ’88, you’d have one heck of a baseball game,” said Jack Lynch, the legendary coach who skippered both clubs. The 1974 team featured left-hander Gary Vicaro. He went 10-2 that season. He pitched into the fifth inning of the championship game, was relieved in the fifth, but then came back and pitched the sixth and the seventh. The team also included Pat Caggiano, an AllState player. He had a two-out single in the second inning to plate the first run of the Panthers’ group championship game victory. Bob Sferrazza, Keith Murray and Caggiano also turned a big double play in the bottom of the seventh of the game (the team was very strong defensively). The 1988 team featured another of the Grove’s best pitchers, Rob Linfante, and also had an All-State player, Kerry Rickert, on its roster. Linfante was dominant on the road to the GNT title game. First the sophomore right-hander pitched a no-hitter for a 1-0 win over Verona in the first round. He struck out nine and walked one. The Panthers scored on outfielder Scott Illiano’s RBI double. Next came a four-hitter and a 50 win over Belleville. Linfante struck out seven and walked one. He also singled, doubled and hit a two-run homer. Linfante limited previously unbeaten and state fourth-ranked Glen Ridge to four hits in the Grove’s 7-1 win in the semifinals. He struck out two and walked two as the Panthers avenged a pair of regular-season losses to the Ridgers. Jim Kennedy and Bob Barraco had RBI singles in the win. Finally, Rickert starred in the championship game, a 5-3 win over Livingston in Verona. Rickert drilled his eighth homer of the season, breaking the school record set by Caggiano, and also doubled and finished with two RBI. Linfante allowed eight hits, struck out five and walked one. Senior shortstop Verick Northrup had three singles in the game. Linfante went 10-0 during his sophomore season. He fanned 81 batters, while issuing 26 walks, in 70 innings. He was named firstteam All-Essex and first-team AllGroup I. He would eventually leave CGHS with 29 career wins, a school best. Rickert batted .506 during his senior season. He mixed power (eight homers, 39 RBIs) with speed (31 stolen bases). He scored 34 runs. He was named to the All-

37

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VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

FROM PAGE 37 even win a sectional championship. The 2003 team doesn’t have a trophy case that can match the one the 1979 team can show off to its friends and family. But it certainly had its share of outstanding players. Shortstop Holly Calcagno, a two-time All-State player, batted .539 with a school-record 56 hits and 45 RBIs during her senior season of 2003. She finished her career with a school-record 203 hits. Pitcher Kaitlyn Sweeney, like Calcagno a first-team All-Group I and first-team All-Essex pick in 2003, threw 16 shutouts and posted an ERA of 0.32 during her senior season. She finished her career with 83 wins and an ERA of 0.69. The team also included secondteam All-Group I and second-team All-Essex players Lauren Goldberg at second and Stephanie Porter behind the plate. The Panthers went 24-7, but for the second straight season suffered a loss to Roselle Park in the sectional championship game. This

BY MIKE GESARIO

Track & field: 1973

PHOTO COURESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Baseball was an early pastime in town as evidenced by this Cedar Grove team, circa 1910. time, Roselle Park scratched across The writer is a former Times’ a run in the 10th inning to post a sports editor. 1-0 win.

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In the earliest days of Memorial High School sports, the track and field program was one of the school’s most outstanding athletic ventures. The team won sectional titles in 1969, 1970 and 1973. The 1973 team might have been the most balanced of the successful teams. Coached by George Jenkins, the squad went undefeated in dual meets, the last victory coming over Nutley, 80-51. The team finished second at the Colonial Hills Conference Championships (behind Whippany Park) and placed second at the Essex County Championships. It won the North Jersey Section II, Group I Championship. Mike Remus, one of a string of great vaulters at MHS, seemed to set a new record every time he participated in the pole vault at a big meet. He set what was at the time the county mark at 14 feet, 1 inch (and also finished first in the low hurdles) at the Essex County Championships. He set what was then a state mark of 14 feet, 8 inches (and won both the high and low hurdles) at the CHC Championships. He was first in the pole vault, high hurdles and low hurdles at the sectional championships. His vault of 14 feet, 3-1/4 inches remains the North Jersey Section II, Group I meet record. Also at the sectional championships, Don Rodie was second in the low hurdles, Ken Quazza was second in the long jump and Mike Goosman was third in the mile. Remus went on to win the AllGroup State Championship with a meet record vault of 14 feet, 6-1/2 inches.

Boys tennis: 1993

Paced by third-singles player Stephen Campbell, the 1993 CGHS boys tennis team set a school record with 17 wins in one season. Included in those 17 wins was a 3-2 win over Chatham. The Panthers advanced to the sectional final with a 3-2 win over Dayton in the semifinals, before dropping the championship match to Mountain Lakes. Campbell finished the season with more than 20 wins and was a third-team All-Group I selection. Other key players included Guarav Mathur and John and Jason Lee.

Girls tennis: 1994

career with more than 40 wins in doubles play. Alison Kramer and Devika Mathur finished with a 201 record at second doubles and were named to the All-Group I second-team after the season. Marina Selepouchin was the team’s top singles player, while Danielle Dahlinger was at second singles and Kelly Flynn played third singles. Jim Lawler served as head coach.

Girls basketball: 1995-96

The 1997-98 girls basketball team, led by Tara Nattini, won Cedar Grove’s first and only Colonial Hills Conference Hills Division title, but the 1995-1996 team set the mark for winningest team in the program’s history. That squad went 17-4. It topped Science in the first round of the state playoffs, before bowing out with a loss to Mountain Lakes. Marina Selepouchin and Susan McNamara were among the team’s top scorers.

Girls soccer: 2000

The Cedar Grove girls soccer team played its first varsity season in 1995, so it is the youngest of the active varsity sports at CGHS. But it still has four state tournament berths on its resume. The Panthers qualified in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000. The 2000 team featured junior Sian Liebenberg, who netted a team-record 16 goals that season. It also included goalkeeper Bridget Amir, co-captains Kellie Sinisi and Kristin Nebus and all-around tremendous athlete Holly Calcagno. The team went 7-9-1, falling to New Providence by a 2-0 score in the state tourney.

Golf: 2001

The golfers from The Grove enjoyed terrific success in the early years of this century. The 2001 season was especially impressive. That was the season the Panthers qualified for the Tournament of Champions for the first time in program history. The Black and Gold went 18-7 in head-to-head competition. They finished fourth at the Essex County Championships and then finished second at the North Jersey Sections I & II, Group I qualifier with a team score of 341. The Panthers carded a 362, finishing 21st out of 24 teams at the Tournament of Champions. Tom Myers and Tom McCarthy each shot an 83 to pace the Panthers at the North I & II qualifier. Myers shot a 76, good for a tie for third place, at the county match and shot an 85 at the Tournament of Champions.

The 1994 CGHS girls tennis team, which advanced to the Essex County Tournament consolation final and finished the season with 12 wins, was bolstered by its doubles teams. Jill Warning, paired with Kristi Tchir during the 1994 The writer is a former Times’ season, finished her four-year sports editor.

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As Honored in New Jersey Monthly’s

Judging by the diversity of Cedar Grove’s notable residents, there’s lots of ways to get famous around these parts. Some residents, like Arthur Wynne, the inventor of the crossword puzzle, have used their brains to propel them to fame. Others, like Tommy James of the 1960s rock group Tommy James and the Shondells, used their musical talent to make it big. And some, like WPLJ radio personality Todd Pettengill, just needed to be really loud. Rhoda Portugal Leibowitz of the Cedar Grove Scrapbook Committee said there’s been many other stars that have passed through Cedar Grove. Victor Castelli, a soloist with the New York City Ballet, was raised in Cedar Grove, according to LeiPHOTO COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY bowitz. And after he broke a fourDonna Onsdorff with a portrait of President Abraham Lincoln. Artist Franklin C. Courter, known minute mile as a high-school athlete, Marty Liquori became the for his Lincoln portraits and landscape scenes, had a home and studio on Little Falls Road. youngest person to ever run in the 1,500-meter finals at the 1968 Olympics. Barbara Young of the Cedar Grove Historical Society mentioned a number of illustrious personalities that have connections within the town: Franklin Courter, Michael Uslan and CNN commentator Jack Cafferty, to name a few. Landscape and portrait painter Franklin Courter was born in 1854 in Caldwell Township, which

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would later become Cedar Grove. His paintings can be seen at the Municipal Building and the Community Church of Cedar Grove, among other places in town. Michael Uslan, a Cedar Grove resident, is mainly known for his role as executive producer for the Batman movie franchise. But in some circles, he’s just as famous for teaching the first comic book-folklore class at an accredited university. Marilyn Faden, a Cedar Grove resident, recalled one other actor/director that cut his chops in town: Dustin Hoffman. “The Showcase Players were running an acting workshop,” recalled Faden, referencing the 1960s community theater group that included members from Cedar Grove and Verona. “At the time, ‘Dusty’ was an aspiring actor, appearing in offBroadway shows. We paid him $20 and bus fair for each acting session he taught. We liked him so much that we offered him $300 to direct the spring play at Memorial High School.” The play, “Death of a Salesman,” must have been a Hoffman favorite. He actually produced another version for television in 1985 and won an Emmy for his portrayal of Willy Loman.

Compiled by Times reporter Eric Kiefer.

VFW Post started in 1946

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Today’s membership is around 400. Membership is open to any veteran who served in a combat zone during wartime. The VFW also has a ladies’ auxiliary, which is active in a number of projects in the community. The post provides assistance to its members, as well as their spouses, widows and widowers, and dependants. – Eric Kiefer

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42 VERONA-CEDAR GROVE TIMES • MEMORIES • THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 2008

From Overbrook to the new Hospital Center

BY GERALD CAPRIO

the gently flowing Peckman River, and right from its establishment as The building - an impressive the 19th century ended, it acquired modern design - is all shining mar- the name which it was to bear for ble, steel and glass as it sits on its many a decade: Overbrook. new site on Cedar Grove’s historic In the early 1890s, the Erie RailGrove Avenue. It has only been road pushed through its Caldwell open for a few years, and its Branch from Great Notch to Caldsparkling and orderly interior now well (and eventually Essex Fells). houses about 150 or so patients Straddling this welcome artery of with brain disorders and the staff progress and commerce, the that treats, feeds and houses them. fledgling hospital soon emerged as The institution is airy, pleasant, workmen erected its earliest buildand built to the highest standards ings. The Star Building was compossible for such a hospital. It is a pleted not far from the brand new treatment facility for those citizens Overbrook Station, in what was of Essex County suffering the rav- then Verona. ages of mental illness. It is everyWhen the structures were thing such an institution should be: deemed habitable for patients, the clean, safe, well staffed and Erie Railroad transported the humane. But it has not always inmates of the soon-to-close been so. Newark asylum by special trains, The Essex County Hospital to their new quarters in rustic and Center can trace its historic roots rural Overbrook. To greet them as back over a century and a half to the puffing engines ground to a the City of Newark. Where West halt was a brass band. Side High School now stands on And so, on that long gone day, South Orange Avenue in the old the so-called “lunatics” followed town’s West Ward, the City Lunatic the musicians up the newly laid out Asylum stood for many years. paths to their spanking new wards. Established in the mid-19th cen- It was a proud day for all contury just east of historic Fairmount cerned - politicians, line staff, Cemetery, this institution was, in its patients and the local folks - as this time, a progressive one built just shuffling mass of humanity entered after our state’s “lunatic asylum” in for the very first time the Essex Trenton. The famous Dorothea County Hospital at Overbrook. Dix was a dynamic medical Little did anyone realize that this reformer whose crusade for newly constructed institution humane treatment of the insane would harbor and treat thousands made our state a upon thousands pioneer in the of persons with field. brain disorders After many in the next 100 decades of operor so years. ation, the In 1908, Newark asylum Cedar Grove was taken over separated from by the County of Verona and Essex. The became a brand Board of Freenew township. holders in 1896 Within a mile or sought another so of the Overlocation for this brook location, crowded hospithere flourished tal, with room the Newark City for expansion Home (site of and away from today’s Verona the already overHigh School), crowded and the Essex Councongested City ty Penitentiary Patients exhibit industrial of Newark. (lastly the Essex These far- school items, circa 1917 County Jail sighted gentleAnnex) and the men knew well of the Newark City world famous Essex County Home on Fairview Avenue in what Mountain Sanitorium (an early was then the quiet little hamlet of pioneer in the effective treatment Verona. Purchasing 325 farm acres of the deadly tuberculosis scourge). just north of the City Home, they All of these county and city instimade plans to move the Essex tutions were thriving in the rustic County Asylum for the Insane and healthy little towns between northwest to the foot of Second First and Second mountains in Mountain, where the air was clean those long ago times. Little did and pure and there was a huge anyone then realize that Overtract of land to erect what they brook would outlast them all. named the Essex County Hospital During the century or so of at Overbrook. Overbrook’s operation, the hospi“Over the brook” meant over tal grew by leaps and bounds and

PHOTOS COURTESY OF CEDAR GROVE HISTORICAL SOCIETY

The Essex County Hospital Center’s auditorium. With replacement of the old hospital with a newer facility, Essex County hopes to convert the former grounds to parkland. eventually included several dozen structures. Besides the patient wards, there were special buildings such as storage areas, a pathology lab, a powerhouse, a fire station, and structures to support the facility’s agricultural and dairy operations, to name but a few. The sprawling grounds of the hospital hosted the growth of hundreds of beautiful trees and shrubs, some native species, others planted by patients on work therapy details. As the flora grew , so the patient population grew. Eventually, the complex housed more than 3,000 patients, who for decades were treated for their illnesses by institutionalization before the so-called “wonder drugs” of the 1950s and 1960s were widely used to address the patients’ psychiatric conditions. All during the long decades of the 20th century, Overbrook became in effect a self-contained “city” on lovely Fairview Avenue. Besides the many unfortunate souls who were confined there (often for many, many years), numerous residents of our two towns were employed at the hospital in any of several dozen jobs and departments. The last 20 or so years of the last century saw many gradual changes up on that hill: a name change from Overbrook to the Essex County Hospital Center, a dramatic decrease in population (due to de-institutionalization), and a crumbling and poorly maintained infrastructure of deteriorating and obsolete buildings. Yours truly served as an activities therapy volunteer at the center

from 1983 to 1995 on a half dozen or so wards. I saw the population shrink and the crumbling of so many ancient wards and outbuildings. While serving in this capacity, I joined a group called Concerned Parents for Improved Mental Health Services. Concerned Parents became the Essex County chapter of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill about 15 years ago. Having had my grandfather Pasquale Caprio die at Overbrook in 1929 (he suffered from dementia in his last years, God rest him) and having been a volunteer for so long, I was proud to have served on the board of trustees of NAMI New Jersey for seven years and to have served in the same capacity for the Essex County chapter for the last decade. NAMI is the nation’s largest advocacy group regarding mental illness and the myriad problems associated with this disorder. When county officials sought to relocate the Hospital Center to Newark’s West Ward a decade or so ago, our NAMI Essex chapter fought this foolish and politically motivated plan on behalf of the center’s patients and staff. Fortunately, our battle was one where success crowned our efforts, and the then-newly elected County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. backed our efforts. With the cooperation of our Board of Freeholders, the county went forward with the construction of the recently opened Essex County Hospital Center on 204 Grove Ave. (right next to the Essex County College

Police Academy). Ironically, yours truly also worked at this location for more 12 years when the New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services operated a residential treatment center for disturbed youngsters from 1975 to 1995. This was the mirror-image mission of the former Newark City Home, which for several decades tackled the problem of juvenile delinquency in two different centuries. And I attended four years at good old Verona High School, which sits now where the good folks and wild kids of yesteryear once were housed. How strange how the ebbing and flowing of life takes us as we ride like chips on the tides of time. And so in the Year of Our Lord 2008 ends my thumbnail sketch of the wonderful and colorful City Asylum, Overbrook, and Essex County Hospital Center. We are one of only six of our state’s 21 counties to have a psychiatric hospital. In this we should be especially proud, for ours is the newest and most modern. And what a wonderful legacy it has, ranging from old Newark to the suburban hills of Cedar Grove; from the pioneering days of Miss Dix to the enlightened patient care practices of today; from confinement and torturous “therapies” of the dark past to the liberating and exciting mental health interventions of this brave new century. The author writes the Between Two Mountains column for the Times.

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