Tag: History

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Field Station: Dinosaurs Summer Hours Start June 27th

field station dinosaurs

June 6,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Teaneck NJ, Field Station: Dinosaurs  Summer Hours Start June 27th , Field Station: Dinosaurs is a world-class family attraction that combines cutting-edge science with the creative minds of great artists and teachers to create a one-of-kind experience that’s thrilling, educational and fun.
The Field Station is an oasis of natural wonder just minutes from New York City. Over thirty life-sized, realistic dinosaurs come to life thanks to the brilliant engineering of the world’s leading roboticists and the imagination of our artists.

The story of the dinosaurs is vividly presented on twenty acres of wild, unpredictable woods, mysterious pathways, and mountain trails. Scientists have worked to ensure that the exhibition encompasses the latest theories and discoveries in the fields of paleontology, geology, and environmental studies.

Workshops, games and activities connect the story of the dinosaurs to our world today, giving new relevance to their lives and power to the tale of their extinction.

And at the center of it all is the fun, the joy and the wonder of dinosaurs. Our expedition takes every family on a shared adventure – full of mystery, surprise and a sense of awe.

Walk along our  trail, check out our 32 life-sized dinosaurs and participate in fun activities, which are all included in the Day Pass admission price, with the exception of Walking with Dinosaurs: Prehistoric Planet 3D, which is an additional $5 when purchased at the door. The movie is included in the Explorer’s Pass and Commander’s Pass.

The park is open rain or shine from 10 – 6pm on the following days:
Saturdays and Sundays only from May 27 through June 25.
We are also open Memorial Day, May 29, 10-6pm.

Tuesday through Sunday from June 27 through September 3.
We are also open July 4 and Labor Day, September 4, 10-5pm.

https://fieldstationdinosaurs.com/

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The Dark Origins Of Valentine’s Day

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February 13, 20118:36 AM ET
ARNIE SEIPEL

Valentine’s Day is a time to celebrate romance and love and kissy-face fealty. But the origins of this festival of candy and cupids are actually dark, bloody — and a bit muddled.

A drawing depicts the death of St. Valentine — one of them, anyway. The Romans executed two men by that name on Feb. 14 of different years in the 3rd century A.D.

Though no one has pinpointed the exact origin of the holiday, one good place to start is ancient Rome, where men hit on women by, well, hitting them.

Those Wild And Crazy Romans

From Feb. 13 to 15, the Romans celebrated the feast of Lupercalia. The men sacrificed a goat and a dog, then whipped women with the hides of the animals they had just slain.

The Roman romantics “were drunk. They were naked,” says Noel Lenski, a historian at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Young women would actually line up for the men to hit them, Lenski says. They believed this would make them fertile.

The brutal fete included a matchmaking lottery, in which young men drew the names of women from a jar. The couple would then be, um, coupled up for the duration of the festival — or longer, if the match was right.

https://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day

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American students don’t know history

George Washington

It’s one reason why we can’t rationally discuss things
Devin Foley | December 11, 2015

As we and many others have pointed out, many policy debates these days devolve quickly into emotionalism. Should we be surprised when too many American students lack the tools with which to engage in public discourse?

According to the Nation’s Report Card, produced by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) which is considered the gold-standard for evaluating the job schools are doing educating students, only a paltry percentage of high school seniors know their history.

Yes, only a meager 12% of high school seniors are considered “proficient” in U.S. history. If you’d like to examine the test, you can do so here. We’ll probably do some separate posts on it.

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/american-students-dont-know-history

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WOW! Plato’s ‘Tyranny’ Sounds EXACTLY LIKE America Today!

Outrage In Missouri Town After Police Shooting Of 18-Yr-Old Man

This will give you chills.
Daniel Lattier | September 27, 2016

Philosopher George Santayana’s line has become cliché, but it’s so damn true: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Well, perhaps if more Americans today read Plato (like they used to), then our country wouldn’t be repeating the same mistakes he warned us about 2,400 years ago.

In Book VIII of his Republic, Plato uses a fictitious conversation between his teacher Socrates and Adeimantus to explain howdemocracies—when they become too radical—devolve into tyrannies.

I have included M. James Ziccardi’s apt summary of this conversation below. The parallels between the “tyranny” Plato describes and America today are chilling:

https://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/wow-platos-tyranny-sounds-exactly-america-today

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Ridgewood Schoolhouse Museum Fall Events

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September 3,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, In keeping with the theme of the Schoolhouse Museum’s current “Farm and Home” exhibit, the Ridgewood Historical Society, in conjunction with Demarest Farms in Hillsdale, has a number of events planned for the fall months. These events are a great opportunity to learn about, buy, and in some cases, taste, locally grown produce and fruits, and to support not only the Museum, but also Demarest Farms – a local area farm since 1886!

On September 17th we will be setting up a ‘mini-exhibit’ at Demarest Farms. This mini-exhibit, staffed by board members of the Society, will show some of the museum’s farming artifacts, and will display and discuss a variety of items that are currently available and in season. This will range from red, to plum, to heirloom tomatoes; white peaches and yellow peaches; and, of course, apples. Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, Granny Smith, Macintosh to name a few. Demarest Farms also has available a “Pick your own” peaches, apples or pumpkins hay ride. This should be a fun filled day.

On October 15, at the Schoolhouse Museum, we will have samples of baked dishes, with produce supplied by Demarest Farms. Details are still being worked out, but save this date, since there will be a limited number of tickets for sale.

On November 19 at Demarest Farms…and just in time for Thanksgiving, we will be offering a discount coupon to our membership. This coupon gives you the opportunity to save money as you begin your Thanksgiving fruit and produce shopping. And Demarest Farms will donate 10% of the proceeds to the Ridgewood Historical Society.

These events not only support the Museum, but also Demarest Farms – a local producer of produce and fruits, with 130 years of history in our area.

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Ridgewood Elks the Recent Back Ground and History

Ridgewood Elks

June 12,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog with a little help from our friends

Ridgewood NJ, The Elks has been under probation for many years. As with other Elks clubs closing, it is for a lack of memberships. Many are combining.My Elks in Florida has a thriving membership, but as the years went on, it dwindled and was merged with another lodge.Per the bylines of the Elks, they do have the right to take all assets under that Lodge.But, and this is a big but, the leadership in Ridgewood may have the rights to the building. As many know, our town hall was the original Elks. Ridgewood gave the the Elks and one stipulation. I think was that it would not be a private club. I believe the Ridgewood Elks is 1 of only 2 lodges in Jersey that is open for non-members. July 4th was always great there to see the parade.

According to a member, Ridgewood Elks grew membership 43% in the last 3 years and closing the lodge was a “done deal” no matter how well they were doing. The trumped-up charges are being appealed by members in an Elks Grand Forum case and the building ownership is being contested in a Superior Court litigation. The property is owned by a separate Holding Corporation. There is recent legal precedence fighting the Elks Grand Lodge successfully in a similar case – Elks Building Corp. of Norwood vs. BPOE. Austin TX Elks, now “The High Road”, is also successfully suing Grand Lodge for their property.

donate https://www.gofundme.com/28aa6n62

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Ridgewood Schools No longer Closed on Columbus Day

columbus-day

May 28,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Could it be that Ridgewood Schools are NOT closed for Columbus day this year?

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Columbus Day first became an official state holiday in Colorado in 1906, and became a federal holiday in the United States in 1937, though people have celebrated Columbus’s voyage since the colonial period. In 1792, New York City and other U.S. cities celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate Columbus Day on the 400th anniversary of the event. During the four hundredth anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used Columbus Day rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These patriotic rituals took themes such as citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and celebrating social progress.

Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, the first occasion being in New York City on October 12, 1866. Columbus Day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver. The first statewide Columbus Day holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907. In April 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt proclaimed October 12 a federal holiday under the name Columbus Day.

Since 1970 (Oct. 12), the holiday has been fixed to the second Monday in October, coincidentally exactly the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada fixed since 1959. It is generally observed nowadays by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service, other federal agencies, most state government offices, many businesses, and most school districts. Some businesses and some stock exchanges remain open, and some states and municipalities abstain from observing the holiday. The traditional date of the holiday also adjoins the anniversary of the United States Navy (founded October 13, 1775), and thus both occasions are customarily observed by the Navy (and usually the Marine Corps as well) with either a 72- or 96-hour liberty period.

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Ridgewood High School junior has been named a finalist in the Facing History Together Student Essay Contest

RHS_Sign_theridgewoodblog

May 17,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, RHS junior Jamie Lim, has recently been named a finalist in the Facing History Together student essay contest Titled, Jam in a Jar, her essay was picked out of nearly 4,000 other student entries. The contest was based around the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and sponsored by the organization, Facing Our History and Ourselves.

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April Fools’ Day 2015 Facts, Trivia, Myths, History: Why We Celebrate This International Day Of Pranks And Jokes

Rum Truck

file photo by Boyd Loving

By  Elizabeth Whitman @elizabethwhitty e.whitman@ibtimes.com onMarch 31 2015 10:46 AM EDT

April Fools’ Day began in the year 1582, according to one legend, when Pope Gregory XIII (after whom the Gregorian calendar is named) moved the start of the new year from the end of March to the beginning of January. The change was made public, but not everyone got the memo, and those who didn’t and thus continued to celebrate New Year’s Day on April 1 were laughed at. “Because they were seen as foolish, [they were] called April Fools,” medieval historian Ginger Smoak has explained, according to the Huffington Post.

Another myth is based on the same idea but suggests the change in the New Year happened at a slightly different time and place. It attributes the calendar change to France in 1564 — rather than to the pope — and when people celebrated the wrong New Year, others would paste paper fish on their backs, which explains why in France, the day is known as April Fish.

https://www.ibtimes.com/april-fools-day-2015-facts-trivia-myths-history-why-we-celebrate-international-day-1864126

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RHS Teams Make National History Bee/Bowl Playoffs

NHBB

NHBB

RHS Teams Make National History Bee/Bowl Playoffs
January 26,2015

Ridgewood NJ, Four RHS teams made the playoffs for the National History Bee and Bowl (NHBB), which took place on January 17 at the high school. The Ridgewood A team made it to the quarter-finals, scoring in the top eight of 80 teams. Seniors Ben Bechtold and Thomas Cleary made the playoffs for the Individual Bee Tournament.

The NHBB is a nationwide history quiz competition for high school, middle school, and elementary students. Students first compete at regional qualifying tournaments, from which the top students advance to the National Championships in the spring.

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NJ State Championships for the National History Bee and Bowl hosted by Ridgewood High School

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jtoc_madden

David Madden, a 19-time champion on the TV quiz show “Jeopardy!” and alumnus of Ridgewood High

NJ State Championships for the National History Bee and Bowl hosted by Ridgewood High School

JANUARY 18, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY NICHOLAS PUGLIESE
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

About 300 students representing more than 30 schools from New Jersey and New York competed in the NJ State Championships for the National History Bee and Bowl at Ridgewood High School on Saturday.

The event included both team buzzer-style competitions and written quizzes in history and geography that pushed students to think critically not just about dates and battles and treaties but also about the history of art, music, entertainment and much more.

David Madden, a 19-time champion on the TV quiz show “Jeopardy!” and alumnus of Ridgewood High, started the National History Bee and Bowl in 2010 and has since expanded the competition to more than 20 countries.

“It’s really just so much fun that you don’t realize you’re studying so hard when you’re doing it,” Madden said.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/history-students-put-skills-to-test-1.1215239

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Back in the Day Harding Pharmacy and Liquors!

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Harding Pharmacy and Liquors! : Bolger Heritage Center, Ridgewood Public Library

Check out this awesome picture recently donated by Myron Lesh of Harding Pharmacy and Liquors! Ridgewood Commercial Company, selling carriages, farming implements, etc. was established ca. 1904. The building has changed little over the years and is now the site of Harding Pharmacy and Liquors.

Our collection grows by donations, enabling us to share more of Ridgewood’s history.

We’re open whenever the library is – set up an appointment and stop by and say hi!

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The Name-Dropper: Franklin Turnpike

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William Frenklin not Ben ( Actor Barry Stevens)

The Name-Dropper: Franklin Turnpike

November 27, 2014    Last updated: Thursday, November 27, 2014, 1:21 AM
By JEFFREY PAGE
SPECIAL TO THE RECORD |
The Recor

Who was Lee of Fort Lee, Votee of Votee Park and Merritt of Camp Merritt? The Name-Dropper gives you the lowdown on some of the people whose names you see on public statues, memorial plaques, park signs, highways and even some local streets around North Jersey. Have suggestions? Email them to features@northjersey.com and put Name-Dropper in the subject field.

Everybody knows that Franklin Turnpike was named for the grand old man of the American Revolution, Benjamin Franklin, right?

You remember Ben, the heavyset guy who flew that kite in the electrical storm, who invented bifocals and the concept of the lending library. Ben, who told us: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

Caution: Don’t bet on Ben. Truth is that the turnpike, an important north-south route through parts of Bergen County, was not named for Ben, not for Aretha, not for FDR and certainly not for Moe, who played 61 games for the Detroit Tigers in the early 1940s.

The Franklin in question was Ben’s illegitimate son, William, whose politics were far removed from his dad’s. Ben was part of the Colonial revolution. William was a staunch loyalist and, in fact, the Colonial governor of New Jersey for 13 years, appointed in 1762 by no less than King George III. It was during this period that the turnpike was developed and named for William. Franklin Lakes is also named for the former governor.

William made no secret of his loyalist leanings and his devotion to the king. And in William, King George clearly had a man he could trust. In William’s appointment, the king granted remarkable authority to his new governor: “We do hereby give and grant unto you full power and authority to suspend any of the members of our said council from sitting, voting and assisting therein if you shall find just cause for so doing.”

Later in the appointment document George said: “And you shall and may likewise from time to time as you shall judge it necessary adjourn, prorogue [discontinue] and dissolve all general assemblies as aforesaid.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/education/ben-franklin-turnpike-not-so-fast-it-s-named-for-his-illegitimate-son-1.1142587

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RHS Latin Team takes First Place n a test of Latin, Roman life, history and mythology

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RHS Latin Team takes First Place n a test of Latin, Roman life, history and mythology

November 24,2014
Ridgewood NJ, For the third consecutive year the RHS Advanced Latin Academic Team took first place in a test of Latin, Roman life, history and mythology with 13 New Jersey schools.  The team members arePoyani Bavishi, Ben Bechtold, Charlotte Kahan, Sophie Simpson, Peter Psathas andAnthony Tokarz.

On November 8 all RHS teams spent the day at Yale University for a national competition.  The Advanced team made it to the semi-final rounds but was defeated by the country’s top-ranked team, AMSA.   TheIntermediate Team made a promising start in its first tournament.   The Intermediate players were Sophie Simpson, Matthew Zachem, Audrey Gao and Vanita Sharma.   The Advanced players were Henry Seifert, Elizabeth O’Keefe, James Psathas, Poyani Bavishi, Ben Bechtold, Charlotte Kahan, Sophie Simpson, Peter Psathas and Anthony Tokarz.

Microsoft Store

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Ridgewood presentation recounts history of discrimination

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Ridgewood presentation recounts history of discrimination

September 19, 2014    Last updated: Friday, September 19, 2014, 12:31 AM
By Jodi Weinberger
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

It wasn’t so long ago in the history of Ridgewood, and all of northwest Bergen County, that racial restrictions in deeds kept many from owning or renting property.

This violation of the 14th Amendment was hard to contest in court because house sales are private contracts, explained Joe Garbas, a land title expert and historian.

Grabas presented a history of deed restrictions at the library on Sept. 13 as part of a panel of speakers on housing discrimination in suburbia. The group, curated by reference librarian Peggy Norris, also included Joseph Suplicki, Ridgewood historian; Lee Porter, director of the Fair Housing Council of Northern New Jersey; Tom Dunn, archivist for the Mahwah Museum Society; and Carlos Martinez, an intern minister of the Unitarian Society of Ridgewood.

Norris said the idea came to her to put together this presentation when she was asked to look into the deed restrictions and saw how pervasive the racism was.

In other words, spoken by Suplicki, “These bucolic little towns … had a darker side.”

In the 1920s, racism went beyond black and white though. Suplicki presented a history of the Ku Klux Klan in Bergen County, who also targeted Jews and Italians, from research by Kay Yeomans, curator of the Upper Saddle River Historical Society. Yeomans’ paper included stories of Klan marches down Main Street in Ramsey and burning crosses in Mahwah, and Suplicki showed images on a projector of houses with “KKK” spray-painted on the side.

Another relic, an article from The Ridgewood Herald in 1927 described a Klan gathering in Glen Rock: “It was a picturesque gathering of Klansmen and curiosity seekers to the number of over 300, but who were Klansmen and who were not was difficult to tell. There was no doubt whatever about the half dozen hooded men, robed in white whose eyes and noses alone were visible through holes in their white hoods.”

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/speakers-recount-history-of-discrimination-1.1091692#sthash.CYdewzUJ.dpuf