Posted on

>Ridgewood News Editorial: Running for council

>Ridgewood News Editorial: Running for council

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The deadline for Ridgewood residents to file nominating packets to run for Village Council is fast approaching.

This year, three seats are open on the council, each for a four-year term.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/140264493_The_work_is_worth_it.html

Posted on

The Legend of St. Valentine

>

ValentinesbyArtChick theridgewoodblog.net

photo by ArtChick.biz


The Legend of St. Valentine
https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

The history of Valentine’s Day–and the story of its patron saint–is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred. One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons, where they were often beaten and tortured. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.

Origins of Valentine’s Day: A Pagan Festival in February
While some believe that Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine’s death or burial–which probably occurred around A.D. 270–others claim that the Christian church may have decided to place St. Valentine’s feast day in the middle of February in an effort to “Christianize” the pagan celebration of Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February, or February 15, Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.

To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman priests, would gather at a sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would sacrifice a goat, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. They would then strip the goat’s hide into strips, dip them into the sacrificial blood and take to the streets, gently slapping both women and crop fields with the goat hide. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed the touch of the hides because it was believed to make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would each choose a name and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

Valentine’s Day: A Day of Romance
Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity and but was outlawed—as it was deemed “un-Christian”–at the end of the 5th century, when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. It was not until much later, however, that the day became definitively associated with love. During the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds’ mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of Valentine’s Day should be a day for romance.

Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages, though written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. (The greeting is now part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England.) Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.

https://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day

Posted on

Ridgewood News Editorial: Time to take a step back

>Ridgewood News Editorial: Time to take a step back

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

When New Jersey lawmakers passed a tough anti-bullying law in response to the suicide of Ridgewood resident Tyler Clementi, it seemed like a good idea. Having a set of policies and procedures in place to handle incidents of harassment, intimidation or bullying (HIB) among children is a good idea — in theory.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/139073099_Time_to_take_a_step_back.html

Posted on

Ridgewood News editorial: Keep voting in April

>Ridgewood News editorial: Keep voting in April
Thursday, January 26, 2012
The Ridgewood News

Governor Christie recently gave local school boards the option to decide whether to move elections to November in a cost-saving effort. The Ridgewood Board of Education made the right decision this week when members voted to keep elections in April.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/138181894_Keep_voting_in_April.html

Posted on

Ridgewood News editorial: Teachers should attend charity basketball game

>Ridgewood News editorial: Teachers should attend charity basketball game

THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 2012
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The Ridgewood Education Association’s decision to pull teachers from a charity basketball game was a disappointing turn in contract negotiations with the school district.

Information from the contract negotiations is not made available to the press, but we can ascertain from the REA’s decision that they are not going well.
https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/137235708_Playing_games.html

Posted on

Ridgewood Patch and Glen Rock Patch Merge

>Ridgewood Patch and Glen Rock Patch Merge
The staff of the Ridgewood blog
Wednesday ,December 14, 2011

(Ridgewood , NJ) Last week AOL’s “hyper local” online news network Patch consolidated 4 of its New Jersey local websites. The Patch in Ridgewood has now merged with Glen Rock and the Franklin Lakes Patch has been merged with Wycoff . Sources claim it was a business decision done to better serve both readers and advertisers.

However  Ad Age reports that Patch spokesperson Janine Iamunno said the decision was “editorially driven,” coming from editors who felt there was too much news overlap in the towns. Previously the Patch also reduced freelance budgets to make the sites more profitable.

AOL the parent company is under pressure from the recent merger with Huffington Post and is still struggling with how hyper local the Patch’s news coverage and and advertising should be.

Southpole Sale at Champssports.com - Save Up To 50%!  Online Only, Some Exclusions May Apply.show?id=mjvuF8ceKoQ&bids=192439

Posted on

Ridgewood News editorial: Hitting the restart button

>Ridgewood News editorial: Hitting the restart button
Thursday, December 1, 2011
The Ridgewood News

The scene at Tuesday night’s Village Council meeting to formalize the governing body’s opposition to The Valley Hospital’s “Renewal” plan was far from the raucous display at last year’s Planning Board meeting, when an amendment to the Master Plan was approved.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/134886393_Hitting_the_restart_button.html

Posted on

Vincent Loncto is sworn in as Ridgewood schools trustee

BOE_theridgewoodblog

Vincent Loncto is sworn in as Ridgewood schools trustee

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2011
BY EVONNE COUTROS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD

RIDGEWOOD – A former chief financial officer for major corporations was sworn in Monday night as the school district’s newest trustee.

Vincent Loncto took his seat as a trustee at Monday’s school board meeting at the district’s Education Center on Cottage Place.

The certified public accountant was one of six candidates interviewed for the trustee post after Charles Reilly resigned earlier this year.

“The school budget is in the process of being developed, so I’m coming in at the right time,” said Loncto, who retired earlier this year from a 40-year career in financial management.

“It has to be done collaboratively,” he said. “What we are talking about here is enhancing the quality of the school system under budgetary constraints. It is detail-intensive work.”

https://www.northjersey.com/news/Ridgewood_school_board_to_swear_in_new_member_tonight.html

Posted on

Letter: Former fire chief James Bombace corrects ‘misleading’ statement

Letter: Former fire chief James Bombace corrects ‘misleading’ statement

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Former chief: Manager should be in charge

To the editor:

At the last council meeting, Deputy Mayor Tom Riche stated: “When the Emergency Operations Center is activated … all command and control immediately goes to the Emergency Operations Center and the director of Emergency Management. So the village manager theoretically at that point is no longer in charge.”

Nothing, however, could be further from the truth.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/opinions/134100583_Letter__Former_fire_chief_corrects__misleading__statement.html

Posted on

Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat

BOE_theridgewoodblog

>Ridgewood school board interviews six candidates for open seat

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

The Board of Education (BOE) interviewed six candidates this week for the seat left vacant by trustee Charles Reilly’s departure last month.

Six candidates applied and were each questioned by board members on Monday night regarding their professional backgrounds, reasons for applying for the position, and goals as a potential BOE trustee. The decision on Reilly’s replacement will be announced at a public meeting on Nov. 7.

Among the candidates – James Morgan, Gwen Sullivan, B. Vincent Loncto, Janice Willet, Rei Shinozuka and Eric Gross – several themes were consistent across the six interviews. All expressed a desire to contribute to the reputation of the Ridgewood school district, which was a primary reason behind moving to the village for many of the candidates.

Issues of communication, whether relating to complex technical matters such as yearly budgets or simple instances of parent feedback, were also paramount in candidates’ responses.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/132699643_Ridgewood_school_board_interviews_six_candidates_for_open_seat.html

Posted on

Interviews will be held on Monday, October 24, 2011 for Vacant Board Seat

BOE_theridgewoodblog

>Interviews will be held on Monday, October 24, 2011 for Vacant Board Seat

APPLICATIONS RECEIVED FOR VACANT BOARD MEMBER POSITION
As of Friday, October 21, 2011, 4:00 p.m., the district has received applications for the vacant Board Member position from the following people:

Eric Gross
B. Vincent Loncto
James Morgan
Rei Shinozuka
Gwen Sullivan
Janice Willett

Interviews will be held starting at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, October 24, 2011, at the Regular Public Meeting, in the Board Room on the third floor of the Education Center.

 

Posted on

Citizens Park was acquired by the village through fund-raising efforts in the late 1960s

>Citizens Park was acquired by the village through fund-raising efforts in the late 1960s

citizenspark theridgewoodblog.net

photo and editorial contribution courtesy of Boyd Loving 


PJ, I know this thread is old, and perhaps I’ve missed smtg. I am pretty sure that Citizen’s Park was purchased with a bond issue from the VOR and a Bergen County grant. I do not believe that dime one was donated from any “long time residents” or even any “new arrivals” as 8:35am talks about. Just like Habernickel, we’re all paying for these purchases in one way or anohter (through our taxes). So, would be helpful to clarify, rather that to spread misinformation

There was some discussion at last week’s Village Council meeting about this.  See below.

He noted that other major fund-raising initiatives have been devoted to Ridgewood’s parks in the past. Citizens Park was acquired by the village through fund-raising efforts in the late 1960s, an effort led by current Open Space Committee citizen member Frank Schott.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/history/more_history_news/130366323_Committee__Private_funds_needed_to_develop_Schedler_property_in_Ridgewood.html

Posted on

History of a Village : Exhibit ‘tells the story’ of Civil War era in Ridgewood

History of a Village : Exhibit ‘tells the story’ of Civil War era in Ridgewood

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2011
BY JOSEPH CRAMER
STAFF WRITER
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Two American flags hang in opposite corners of the Schoolhouse Museum, something that may not seem overly strange considering the prevalence of the national symbol in classrooms, municipal buildings and flagpoles throughout Ridgewood. But a closer look reveals that one of these flags has 34 stars; the other, 35. And spread out underneath them is a wealth of materials not likely to appear anywhere else in the village.

Starting on Sunday, Oct. 2, the Schoolhouse Museum will be home to “The Civil War Years: At Home and on the Battlefield,” a new exhibit created by the Ridgewood Historical Society, the local group that operates and maintains the museum on East Glen Avenue.

Coinciding with the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, the exhibit “tells the story of the Civil War through an extraordinary collection of artifacts and ephemera,” said Sheila Brogan, president of the Ridgewood Historical Society.

https://www.northjersey.com/community/events/130801323_Exhibit__tells_the_story__of_Civil_War_era_in_Ridgewood_.html

Posted on

Ridgewood News Jumps on the Bandwagon on Gabbert Pay Raise

>

ridgewood+4th+parade+165



Ridgewood News Jumps on the Bandwagon on Gabbert Pay Raise 

Ridgewood News Editorial: Raising some questions


FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011    
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

Members of the Village Council, with the exception of Paul Aronsohn, voted to increase Village Manager Ken Gabbert’s salary last week – a 12 percent increase over just 14 months. Gabbert now earns $185,000, one of the highest salaries for a municipal manager in Bergen County.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/128055573_Raising_some_questions.html

Posted on

Ridgewood’s firefighters agreed to major mid-contract concessions

>Ridgewood’s firefighters agreed to major mid-contract concessions

Editorial: Kudos on concessions

FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS

What an unfamiliar revelation it was when the details of contract concessions between the Ridgewood Fire Department and the Village of Ridgewood were announced last week.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/126819428_Kudos_on_concessions.html