YWCA Bergen County Now Offers Ski Lessons for Kids
YWCA Bergen County now offers ski lessons for children ages 4 years and older at Campgaw Mountain located at 200 Campgaw Road, Mahwah, NJ. Beginner & intermediate ski lessons will be held on Mondays or Wednesdays from January 5 through January 26,, 2014.
For ages 4 – 6 years, beginners and intermediate lessons are offered from 4:15 – 5:45 pm on Mondays and Wednesday. Program only fee of $88 is available for current season pass holders. For non-season pass holders, the Program and Daily Pass fee is $150 and Program, Daily Pass, and Rental Fee is $234. Daily Pass and Pass and Rental options allow participant to stay after lesson to ski closing.
For ages 7 years and older, all level lessons are offered from 4:15 – 5:45 pm on Mondays and Wednesday. Program only fee of $126 is available for current season pass holders. For non-season pass holders, the Program and Daily Pass fee is $177 and Program, Daily Pass, and Rental Fee is $234. Daily Pass and Pass and Rental options allow participant to stay after lesson to ski closing.
Beginner and intermediate levels are determined by description of program from Campgaw Mountain. Campgaw Mountain will have a rental fitting date, allowing renters to try on equipment prior to the start of class. Helmets are included in the rentals and are mandatory by NJ Law. Helmets must be Snow Sport Helmets. Bicycle helmets are not acceptable.
YWCA $50 Basic Membership is required. All registration forms and waivers must be submitted by December 15th. For more information or forms, please visit www.ywcabergencounty.org/LckpH or call the Membership Department at 201-444-5600 ext. 400.
Ridgewood is turning into a powerhouse in Taekwondo
Ridgewood is turning into a powerhouse in Taekwondo thanks to Taekwondo All In, an instructional school for the Korean martial art. The most recent case in point: The students of Taekwondo All In made a strong showing at the 2014 Garden State Cup on November 2, earning 47 medals, along with an award for best school and instructor.
The Tournament was segmented into sparring, forms and breaking. The categories are further separated by level (belt) and age. There were close to 500 participants, all New Jersey residents.
The details of the results from the Tournaments are as follows:
Lucas Woods and Alex Han each earned three Gold medals in the categories of breaking, form, and sparring. Tony An earned two Gold medals in form and breaking and a Silver medal in sparring. Brandon Son and Liam Woods each earned Gold medals in sparring and breaking and a Silver medal in form. Lucas Wang and Yeongyu Lee each earned two Gold medals in form and sparring and a Silver medal in breaking. Arjun Narang earned Gold medals in breaking and sparring and one Bronze medal in form. Jimin Kong earned two Gold medals in form and breaking. Connor Park earned a Gold medal in sparring and two Silver medals in form and breaking. Kevin Park earned a Gold medal in form and two Silver medals in sparring and breaking. Justin Wang earned a Gold medal in sparring, Silver medal in form and a Bronze medal in breaking. Connor Rojas earned a Gold medal in sparring, a Silver in breaking, and a Bronze medal in form. Louise Kim and Samuel Kang each earned a Gold medal in form and Bronze medals in breaking. Abhishek Narang earned three Silver medals in form, sparring and breaking. Michelle Chung earned 1 Silver in breaking and one Bronze in form.
The head coach Youngmin Kim commented “The result is a culmination of hours of dedication and sacrifice for our kids and their parents. I am very proud of our team.”
For Taekwondo All In, excelling at tournaments has become a pattern as the team surged at the US Nationals earlier this year (ranked second of all New Jersey based teams) and last year’s NJ Governor’s Cup. Next major test will be the Pan Am Open International Championships, which will take place in December in Oregon, in which six of Taekwondo All In students are scheduled to compete.
Taekwondo is a Korean martial art and since 2000, it has been an Olympic sport. Taekwondo All In, located in downtown Ridgewood, started in 2012 by the head coach Youngmin Kim with the primarily focus of educating children, mostly Ridgewood residents, on the martial art.
Workers from Downes Tree Service place Ridgewood’s Christmas tree at the intersection of East Ridgewood Avenue and South Broad Street.
Ridgewood Christmas tree honors fallen Waldwick police officer
DECEMBER 4, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014, 2:09 PM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Ridgewood’s Christmas tree will be lit this Friday at 8 p.m., as tradition dictates.
Adding to the tradition this year is a particularly special, and seasonally appropriate, gesture.
The tree was taken from the Midland Park home of the uncle and aunt of Waldwick Police Officer Christopher Goodell, who was 32 years old and engaged to be married when he lost his life this past summer in a tragic car accident while he was on the job.
The tree is meant to honor the beloved police officer, ringing in the true meaning of the season.
In the same spirit, the Goodell family has been invited by the village to help light the tree on Friday night.
DECEMBER 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
BY LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER |
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Shopping local and shopping online aren’t the enemies they once were perceived to be during the holidays.
Not since village mom-and-pop stores have harvested the power of online social media, in addition to their tried-and-true, customizable in-person service.
In Ridgewood and beyond, a Facebook page is now considered almost a basic necessity for owning a small business, in addition to or instead of a website. “Friends,” plus “followers” on Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest have become the year-round best friends of many of the village’s small shops.
And they are naturally expected to help out during the winter shopping season, too.
“Absolutely,” said Marcia’s Attic salesperson Dana Miller, when asked whether the shop – which has been in Ridgewood for about 20 years, and is also in Englewood – was using social media.
Mysterious Statue Hidden for Decades Set to make Reappearance at Village Hall
December 4,2014
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Ridgewood NJ, Authorize Expenditure of Funds for and Placement of Federrici
Sculpture at Village Hall ( $2,500.) plus.
Where did this come from?Where is this statue now? How long have we owned it? What is the statue of? Where is it going to place in or on Village Hall grounds? Is Village Hall going to be the surrogate Arts Center that our Mayor
promised during his re election?
After several decades of being hidden from public view a Village owned Federrici Sculpture will be placed on front lawn near flag pole at Village Hall (secured in place there).
Sources tell the Ridgewood blog that the statue has been in storage at a location that is being kept under wraps to prevent item from being vandalized or stolen (reportedly it’s worth a fortune).
Sources also tell us that the Village has owned it for over 50 years and it was formerly installed at the old fire house on Hudson Street. The statue was taken down when building was demolished in 1990’s and placed in storage.
We know a photo was held up at the Council meeting last night, but I was too far away to see it.
We also know that the Ridgewood News attempted to get a photo today but was unable to.
The council does not want anyone to know where it is because they think it will be vandalized or stolen to which a tax payer has suggested it be moved inside somewhere, but so far the council has not heeded this lowly taxpayer.
Sources say the Library’s Ridgewood History room has a photo when it was mounted on the old Village Hall.
Federici, Gaetano
b. 1880
d. 1964
By Joseph D. McCaffrey
Star-Ledger Staff
March 14, 1997
In front of St. John’s Cathedral in Paterson stands a statue of Irish priest Dean William McNulty, comforting a barefoot orphan boy. The statue, completed in 1923, has come to symbolize nationally the pastoral role of priests in a working-class city like Paterson. It is also one of the best-known works of sculptor Gaetano Federici, whose outdoor sculptures abound in Paterson and other parts of North Jersey.
Federici died in 1964, at the age of 84, leaving a legacy of hundreds of public works.
Shortly after Federici died, his studio collection was sold by his family to an old friend and admirer, Clifton contractor John Saveriana. The studio collection includes models for some of Federici’s more famous statues, including Father McNulty, and for a World War I memorial in Paterson.
In 1978 Saveriana sold the items to Joseph Randazzo, a collector. Four years ago, Randazzo decided to sell all 215 pieces, and got in touch with an art auctioneer. A group of Paterson residents formed the Federici Collection Inc. in the hope of acquiring the collection. The Martini Foundation bought it on their behalf.
Federici, Paterson’s unofficial “sculptor laureate,” was one of New Jersey’s few native sculptors, according to one expert, and an extraordinarily prolific one. The Encyclopedia of American Biography in 1966 called Federici “an outstanding American sculptor . . . who won international acclaim for his work.”
According to Meredith Bzdak, New Jersey coordinator for a project called Save Outdoor Sculpture, Federici’s Collection is well worth saving. His works, she said, “are of great significance to us as a state in understanding our historical past.”
At least 40 of Federici’s major statues are within two miles of Paterson’s City Hall. Federici’s sculptures also are found in Cuba, New York, Hollywood, and in churches and cemeteries throughout the region. Bzdak said the studio collection represents the majority of Federici’s life work. “I feel the studio collection should remain intact – because it is one of the only collections of its kind. And because of the significance of Federici to us,” she said.
Fiorina said she remembered her grandfather as always at work in his studio. She has family snapshots of him, a short, sprightly man with a carefully trimmed goatee and a beret. The pictures are of a grandfatherly figure smiling warmly into the camera while working on huge figures in his studio.
Gaetano Federici was born in Castelgrande, Italy, in 1880. In 1887, he and his mother left their mountainous village to join his father, Antonio, in Paterson. Antonio Federici was a stone mason who had become a successful contractor in the booming industrial city.
Federici showed artistic promise as a Paterson High School student. By that time, his father could afford to allow the boy to get artistic training. As a young man Federici was apprenticed to some of the leading sculptors of his time. He studied in New York with the Art Students League.
According to Bzdak, Federici was trained in the academic tradition and would never stray far from it. Experts called him a conservative sculptor: While European sculptors were doing avant-garde work, Federici stayed with classical themes. He was painstaking in his attention to detail, yet always attempted to capture the personality of the subject.
DECEMBER 5, 2014 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2014, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Enclave developer to hold open house
The development team proposing the Enclave upscale apartment building on Maple Avenue between East Ridgewood and Franklin avenues will host an open house beginning at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 9 at 257 E. Ridgewood Ave.
The meeting is open to all village residents.
Developers for the 52-unit Enclave complex, as well as those proposing the Chestnut Village and the Dayton luxury housing projects, are seeking an amendment to the Ridgewood master plan that would permit high-density, multifamily housing in and around the Central Business District.
The master plan application is currently in the public hearing process before the Planning Board.
Jack Lorenz, former Ridgewood principal, remembered as ‘agent of change’
December 4, 2014 Last updated: Thursday, December 4, 2014, 1:40 PM
By By Jodi Weinberger
Staff Writer |
The Ridgewood News
At the celebration of the Learning Commons last month, when the lengthy project to upgrade the high school’s library was deemed complete, Jack Lorenz was smiling from his home in Alabama.
“It was his vision and his dream,” said Tina Telesco, a parent involved with the Home and School Association (HSA). “When we called him for the ribbon cutting, he actually cried on the phone. He was pretty sick at the time and he said ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’
“So many other principals and leaders are so worried about their image and the politics and everything,” Telesco continued. “Jack’s only care in the world was about the students.”
Lorenz, the beloved principal who served Ridgewood High School from 2006-2011, died Saturday. He was 69. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and sons, Jake and Matthew.
To say that students and parents in Ridgewood loved Lorenz would only be telling half the story; Lorenz was an educator who truly loved the community back.
David Zrike first met Lorenz about four years ago when he was driving by a high school Sweet 16 party where many teens were being arrested for drinking.
“It was sickening, so I decided to call him to see if there was something we could do to stop that trend,” Zrike recalled. “Within 10 minutes he called me back, he asked for me to come meet him, and from there we established Backwoods.”
In 2 Charts: Why the ‘War on Poverty’ Should Be Renamed the ‘War on Marriage’
Kelsey Harris / @KelsRenHar / December 03, 2014
“First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.” Sort of.
I grew up singing the “K-I-S-S-I-N-G” jingle with my elementary school friends during recess. Now many of those same friends have the baby in the baby carriage and a boyfriend. They aren’t alone.
>>>REPORT: How Welfare Undermines Marriage
According to research by Robert Rector, an expert in welfare at the Heritage Foundation, more than 40 percent of all children born in the U.S. were born outside of marriage in 2013, and the number of single-parent families with children has skyrocketed by nearly 10 million.
Rector explains how the War on Poverty undermined marriage:
It is no accident that the collapse of marriage in America largely began with the War on Poverty and the proliferation of means-tested welfare programs that it fostered. When the War on Poverty began, only a single welfare program—Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC)—assisted single parents. Today, dozens of programs provide benefits to families with children, including the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), food stamps, child nutrition programs, public housing and Section 8 housing, and Medicaid. Although married couples with children can also receive aid through these programs, the overwhelming majority of assistance to families with children goes to single-parent households.
These charts breakdown exactly how much marriage and childbearing has changed since 1964.
Garrett bill on SEC disclosure rules sails through House Streamlining Paperwork for Startup Companies
DECEMBER 3, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 12:02 AM
BY HERB JACKSON
WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT |
NORTHJERSEY.COM
The Securities and Exchange Commission would be required to simplify some of the disclosures that public companies must make under a bill sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett that won unanimous approval in the House.
Garrett, R-Wantage, was one of the sponsors of a 2012 law intended to make it easier for startups to raise funds through financial markets, and the law included a section directing the SEC to study disclosure simplification.
On the House floor Tuesday, Garrett said the SEC produced a study in December 2013 that did not call for any changes but did call for more study.
“I believe we need to stop studying and start taking action,” Garrett said. “Simplifying and streamlining disclosure requirements will enable companies to divert fewer resources to compliance, freeing up additional capital to create American jobs.”
The Disclosure Modernization and Simplification Act, which was approved in a voice vote on Tuesday, directs the SEC to allow public companies to submit a summary page of annual reports on Form 10-K that cross references the contents of the report, Garrett said.
It also directs the SEC to revise Regulation S-K “to better scale disclosure rules for emerging growth companies and smaller issuers.”
Rep. Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., said the SEC’s 2013 report showed that the commission had studied ways to streamline disclosure in 1969, 1977, 1992, 1996 and 2007.
“What this history demonstrates is that the process of scaling and streamlining the reporting requirements for smaller companies is something that we all need to focus on in order to keep pace with the ever-evolving marketplace,” she said.
Average US 30-year loan rate falls to 3.89 percent
DECEMBER 4, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014, 10:25 AM
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS |
WIRE SERVICE
WASHINGTON – Average U.S. long-term mortgage rates fell for the fourth straight week, a continuing boon for potential homebuyers.
Mortgage company Freddie Mac says the nationwide average for a 30-year mortgage declined to 3.89 percent this week from 3.97 percent last week. It is now at its lowest level since May 2013.
High-performing N.J. school districts will no longer have intensive state monitoring
DECEMBER 3, 2014, 1:42 PM LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2014, 9:04 PM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Print
TRENTON — High-performing school districts will no longer have to participate in an intensive state monitoring and evaluation system used to measure schools, education officials said Wednesday.
Districts can now request waivers from the commissioner of the state Department of Education if they meet certain benchmarks, Acting Education Commissioner David Hespe announced Wednesday. The move will allow schools to focus more time and resources on students and instruction and free up the department’s time and staff so they can work more closely with struggling schools, he said.
To get a waiver, schools must score 80 percent or higher in all areas of review under the system, known as the Quality Single Accountability Continuum. The areas are instruction and program, fiscal management, governance, operations and personnel.
The exempt districts will have to submit proof that they remain high-performing, in lieu of receiving a full review every three years.
Hespe said that about half of all districts could be exempt, but that it will remain a critical method to assess struggling districts.
The changes will help ease the burden on school districts, which have complained about the time and paperwork associated with the review. The typical performance review takes several months to complete and consumes large amounts of time for district and county staff to complete.
Richard Bozza, executive director of the New Jersey Association of School Board Administrators, welcomed the decision.
“This effort to streamline the process, increase efficiency, and provide flexibility for educators are educational reforms that the NJASA supports and changes that will benefit New Jersey’s students,” he said.
DECEMBER 3, 2014, 12:16 PM LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2014, 9:28 AM
BY HANNAN ADELY
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
A small arts-themed high school in Paterson and a large Bergen County magnet school had perfect graduation rates in 2014 and were the only schools in their counties to achieve that distinction in a year when graduation rates went up across North Jersey, reflecting a statewide trend, according to state data released on Wednesday.
Across New Jersey, 88.6 percent of students who entered high school in 2010 graduated last spring, up about one percentage point from the year before. Throughout the state, minorities and low-income students had larger gains than the average student, but the achievement gaps remained wide.
The largest gains were in places like Paterson, Garfield, Cliffside Park and Passaic that are lower-income, urban and home to many immigrants. Those districts have made targeted efforts to help more students graduate by creating smaller schools, using more support staff and allowing failing students to make up credit via online classes, among other methods. Graduation rates at many smaller suburban districts stayed mostly steady, with only tiny gains or dips, largely because they have had strong graduation rates for years.
In Bergen and Passaic counties, a 100 percent graduation rate was achieved at two high-performing, but very different high schools.
Mayor and Village Manager hold Meet Ups for Residents
MAYOR’S OFFICE HOURS FOR RESIDENTS -Saturday, December 6th from 9 AM to Noon
Mayor Paul Aronsohn holds office hours for Ridgewood residents the first Saturday of every month. Mayor Aronsohn will meet with residents on Saturday, December 6th from 9AM to Noon in the Council Chambers (Sydney V. Stoldt, Jr. Court Room) on the fourth floor of Ridgewood Village Hall.
For an appointment to meet with the Mayor, please call the Village Clerk’s Office at 201-670-5500 ext. 206. You may come to the Mayor’s office hours without an appointment, but those with appointments will be given priority.
Meet the Manager – Monday, December 15th 5:30 to 7:30pm
Village Manager Roberta Sonenfeld will hold office hours for Ridgewood residents and business owners on Monday, December 15th between the hours of 5:30pm to 7:30pm. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts and provide input to Roberta. These sessions will be scheduled at 15 minute intervals and will be held in the Council Chambers on the 4th Floor of Ridgewood Village Hall. Please contact Beth Spinato at 201-670-5500, ext. 203 to make an appointment. Walk-ins are welcome but should realize that the schedule may already be booked. We will announce the schedule for these meetings on a monthly basis.
