Hometown 12 April 2022 by My Life Publications..Maljon LLC

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No. 18 Vol. 4

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April 2022

Honoring Late Daughter, Wayne Mom Channels Pain into Passion

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By Jillian Risberg he visual impact of seeing 500+ children’s faces of loved ones lost gazing out from the trailer to scare the heck out of the youth is a powerful wakeup call: ‘this could happen to me’ — Stay Away From Drugs. It was Angels Across America’s ﬁrst Event in Kissimmee, Florida — the camper will travel from state to state to create awareness, vital to save lives— and it meant everything. “We were excited for our ﬁrst rollout. Moms who lost their children wanted to see the picture of their child ‘cause that’s the only memory we have now,” says Susan Schmidt. For Schmidt, the loss of her daughter is crushing torture, as though her soul has been ripped from her body. Alyssa is forever with her heart and always on her mind. It was May 28, 2016, when her world imploded. “I live with the heartache of losing my daughter every

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single day. She was 20 years old and I found her in her bed, she made a choice by snorting heroin and it killed her,” Schmidt says after a year she got on Facebook and learned other moms experienced the same loss. That’s when she knew she needed to do something. “I had to learn about all this because I had no clue and there are a lot of naive families out there,” she says at ﬁrst she was ashamed, ‘I raised her well, she went to

Catholic school, came from a good family,’ how could this happen. Because addiction doesn’t discriminate, and will take the best of anyone. “You just grow with the pain and out of that becomes compassion to help others and keep our loved ones’ memories alive,” says Schmidt. She has precious recollections of her beautiful, caring, charismatic, loving, smart, funny daughter.

“Everything changes when you lose a child,” she says you miss all those little things you experienced together. And a heartbreaking new normal sets in. They’re educating the parents, the public, especially the youth because they’re buying drugs oﬀ Snapchat and social media. “Every drug (crack, cocaine, heroin, Xanax, methadone) is riddled with continued on page 6

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Caring and Serving the local communities dental needs for over 12 years

DEMENTIA

Dementia typically occurs gradually, making it tough for family and friends to notice the signs in a loved one. One of the noticeable side effects is poor oral hygiene, which leads to plaque buildup and gingivitis.

HEART CONDITIONS

Gum disease has a potential link to heart disease, so irritated or infected gums (paired with other other heart disease risk factors) suggest that you should see a cardiologist.

DIABETES

Many symptoms accompanying diabetes actually show up in the mouth. Periodontal disease, bleeding gums, loose-feeling teeth, and other subtle signs point to the possibility of diabetes. Your dentist may recommend you see your doctor, and if you’ve already been diagnosed, these symptoms show that your blood sugar isn’t under control.

OSTEOPOROSIS

Loss of bone tissue can lead to brittleness and changes to the jaw bones, which might show as receding gums or loose teeth.

EATING DISORDERS

If you or a loved one has struggled with an eating disorder, you know how difficult it can be to seek out the care you need. Enamel erodes when exposed to stomach acids or as a result of poor nutrition, and your dentist can help you address this and find a way forward.

HEARTBURN

While heatburn is usually noticeable to the patient, nighttime acid reflux is tougher to diagnose because it occurs during sleep. Your dentist will notice erosion of enamel on the upper back morals and consider whether nighttime heartburn might be the cause.

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Generous Pompton Lakes Area Residents Turn Out For Blood Drive

he Pompton Reformed Church in Pompton Lakes recently hosted a blood drive managed by the nationwide, nonprofit blood collection organization Vitalant (NJ headquarters in Montvale). Conducted in the midst of an ongoing blood shortage, the event was a tremendous success, with 29 pints collected. “We always want to offer the church building for organizations and people in our community to use,” says John Burden, pastor of the Pompton Reformed Church. “We really value our partnership with Vitalant, as we work together to meet such an important need.” Vitalant’s Manager of Donor Recruitment, Robert Hatch, is one of the Pompton Lakes residents

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Mom Channels Pain... continued from front page Fentanyl and these 10, 11, 12, 13-year-old kids are dying,” Schmidt says their life matters. That’s the ‘One Pill Can Kill’ campaign. “They want to get high but they die. Their sudden death is like a traumatic shock to all of us.” According to the CDC, there were an estimated 100,306 drug overdose deaths from opioids in the United States during the 12-month period ending in April 2021. Schmidt noticed slight behavior changes (‘she was a little more angry’) in her daughter but didn’t think much of it. Alyssa assured her it was nothing, ‘mom, just leave me alone.’ “I thought it was growing pains,” says Schmidt. “Never expected to go upstairs and find her gone, never in a million years.” Her pain became passion and Alyssa’s mom dove into Angels Across America, to support every family as much as she can. “I miss her dearly and love comes from what I’m doing now,” Schmidt says it’s for all those moms who found their child dead or got a phone call saying their child is dead. And she has company in her grief, having met MaryBeth Moore Zocco, who started Ryan’s Ride in 2019 after the loss of her 25-year-old son Ryan Moore from fentanyl poisoning on 12/17/2018. Shortly after the first ride, the Orlando mom began The FRoM Project (Forever Ryan’s Mom) to keep his memory alive by sending handmade personalized cards to grieving parents all over the world. They honor and remember loved ones taken too soon by substance use disorder overdose or fentanyl poisoning.

“Alyssa was my whole world, my best friend, we loved to cook together, shop together, did everything together, she’d come home from work, we’d talk for hours… and she’d tell me about her day.” How do you pick up the pieces and move forward — according to Schmidt; honor them ‘and talk about our children as much as we can to whoever will listen.’ She held ‘Celebration of Life for Alyssa’ and joined the Wayne Alliance. This year will be her fifth annual candlelighting on International Overdose Awareness Day. Angels Across America supports all the grieving families and their loved ones, who are deeply loved and missed. They educate the public and youth on the dangers of illicit drugs, every street drug is extremely addictive and using can have dire consequences. Leslie (Billy) Smith owns Angel’s trailer. Smith lost his son, Jeremy, 30, a construction worker who fell off a building. He was put on Oxycodone for the pain. When the prescriptions ceased — he turned to street drugs and it’s what killed him. Schmidt says tell your kids you love them every day and about the inherent risks out there. “The heartache is unbearable some days but we keep pushing forward to honor and love all the angels we lost,” she says. “When I do their pictures, graphics — make a video talking to their moms, I feel like I know each one of them.” Kids are fragile today, COVID has made things worse… and there is much self-medicating going on. Either you die or live this road of recovery every day, they struggle — nothing good comes out of doing any kind of drug. “Alyssa’s dreams were shattered because she made a mistake,” Schmidt says she blamed herself. “How did I not

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know, what if I did this, what if I said that; I beat myself up to this day and friends say stop, she made the choice.” Recalling all their amazing milestones and accomplishments you boasted and bragged about, while also thinking: ’G-d knows what they’re getting into.’ It’s a lonely place to be after losing a child. “I’ll do these events, then it hits you. Becomes so overwhelming where I’m quiet and within myself for days,” she says she can’t function. “Then go, go, go and break down again; it’s horrible. Or go upstairs and lay in my daughter’s bed and just cry.” Her goal is to prevent kids from overdosing. “Be afraid, be very afraid because you can’t come back from dying,” says Schmidt, of getting them to think before making a potentially fatal choice. “I can’t bring back any of our children we lost,” says Schmidt. To learn more, search Angels Across America on Facebook.

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 7

Pequannock Boy’s Basketball Coach, Jeﬀ DeBell, Notches Career Victory #300

By Steve Sears t may not be coincidental that, when contacted for an interview for this article, Pequannock boy’s basketball head coach, Jeff DeBell, apologized, and asked for a call back. He was at that time speaking with one of his players. For the 51-year-old DeBell, in his 16th season at the school, it’s always been about the kids. “It’s an accomplishment to win 300 games, but with all the relationships and the kids I’ve had the opportunity to coach over these numbers of years, that’s the main thing,” DeBell says. “I still keep in touch with a lot of my ex-players, and especially with our run this year, so many ex-players are reaching out to us, and that’s what it’s all about.” Win #300 arrived for DeBell on February 21, when his Golden Panthers won on the road at Mahwah, 62-55. “I was just happy for the team that we were able to win that game,” says DeBell, who first coached for seven seasons at North Haledon’s Eastern Christian School prior to moving on to his alma mater. “Mahwah is a really good team, and just to be fortunate enough to win that game was really more important to me than the 300th win. It was great.” Some of the parents of his players knew that he was

closing in on the milestone, and they came prepared for a post-game celebration. “They had some signs and stuff after we won, and they had me take a picture with the team, but it was more of a team win, and that was the most important thing. Obviously, I knew I was getting close. But again, it wasn’t that important to me. It’s not about me, it’s about the team and the kids, and we had a really successful season.” The Golden Panthers competed in the Independence Conference and finished with a 23 – 4 record. The campaign, however, was perhaps a bittersweet one. Pequannock fell to Ramsey in the North Jersey, Section 1, Group 2 semifinals, 46 – 44, an a 3-point field goal with eight seconds left. The club also went to the Morris County Tournament finals for the first time in 32 years but lost to Delbarton, 62 - 57. Ironically enough, in 1988 DeBell played center for the last Pequannock club that took home the MCT crown. DeBell, who went on to play at William Paterson University, had great coaching role models. The first was the late Jack Moran, DeBell’s coach when he played for the Golden Panthers, as well as his late dad, Frank DeBell, who coached for a brief period at Hawthorne High School. “My dad was a

Photo credit: Ed Leonard.

great role model for me. Unfortunately, eight years ago, he passed away suddenly. My dad was a big influence on me to get into education and to get into coaching. I think he taught me that it’s not all about wins and losses. It’s great to win - everybody wants to win - but coaching sports is really a life lesson. This loss (against Ramsey) on Friday night, it was really hard on the kids and the coaches and everybody, but it’s a life lesson. Not everything in life goes exactly how you want it to go. So hopefully, they can take away some of those life lessons from this season that we had this year.”

“They were all just great kids and they worked so hard,” DeBell says of the 2021 -22 Golden Panthers. He will lose key players to graduation. “They we’re a great group. I’m going miss them all. The seven seniors that that are graduating, they were just a huge part of our program for the last couple of years, and it was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to coach them this year. They really set the bar high here at Pequannock for the future, and we talked about that on Friday night for the younger guys. We need to keep working hard in the offseason and get ready for next year.”

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Homeowner Alert! Review Your Tax Forms New Tax Rules are Creating Confusion

ome-related tax rules changing over the past few years have caught some taxpayers by surprise. When your mortgage company reports tax-related information to you and the IRS using Form 1098, it no longer means all the interest and points reported on these statements are tax deductible. Here’s what you need to know. • Mortgage interest deductions have new loan amount limits. For new mortgages starting on or after Dec. 15, 2017, you can deduct interest on up to $750,000 of the loan (down from $1 million for mortgages initiated before Dec. 15, 2017). If your original mortgage is above the threshold, a calculation will be done to determine the deductible amount of interest. You can’t simply deduct the full amount of interest being reported on your Form 1098. • Proceeds not used to buy a home add complexity. Proceeds from home equity debt that are not used to build, buy or substantially improve a qualified home are not tax deductible. This includes mortgage or home equity proceeds used to pay for

college expenses, debt consolidation or other purposes. Mortgage companies issuing these loans will still send you a Form 1098, but it’s up to you to prove how you use the funds during the current year and any prior year. • Mortgage points requires review of settlement statements. Points are paid as a way to obtain a lower interest rate. Generally, points are deductible in the year they are paid, but they have more restrictions than mortgage interest. Points paid to refinance an existing mortgage, for example, may need to be deducted over the life of the loan. If you bought or refinanced a home in 2021, a review of your mortgage settlement statement may be required to ensure proper tax treatment of the cost of your points. • Mortgage insurance premiums are still deductible. Congress extended the deductibility of mortgage insurance premiums through the end of the 2021 tax year. You will need to itemize deductions to take advantage of this extended tax law. With all the buying and selling homes

in the past year, being aware of the tax consequences is more important than ever. For each Form 1098 you receive, make a note on the form to explain what the loan is for to ensure a proper deduction. Shah & Sokoloff , CPA’s, is a year round full service CPA firm providing a wide range of Accounting and Tax services to both

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 9

Lincoln Park Man Pens Honest Memoir of Tumultuous Youth

By Alexander Rivero, Staff Writer e had never before tried writing anything longer than a term paper, and yet here was Doug Bell of Lincoln Park,—following three identical suggestions by three separate neurologists, none of whom had ever met each other— writing the first words of what would be a 400-plus page, self-published memoir titled That Can’t be Good. The book is more than merely a documenting of a traumatic childhood. Although make no mistake about it; it is partly that. From cover to cover, the memoir is a fullhearted attempt at a Dickensian odyssey, with all the trimmings one might come to expect of a sooty, 19th century coming-ofage journey in industrial London. Replace the tenements and factories of London’s East End with the lawns, lakes and singlefamily blocks of Lincoln Park and voila, everything else falls into place rather neatly. There is the brooding, abandoned child-protagonist, the unstable parents too lost in their own private torments to raise their children, the tyrannical teachers that taunt more than teach, the bullies, the competitive and often malevolent siblings,

the feelings of abject loss, the glimmers of hope. There is also—most importantly— the protagonist’s transcendence of all these challenges enroute to his own selfdiscovery. Without question, Doug Bell is a success entirely because he triumphed over and transcended his bleak circumstances. But to read his memoir is not only to see and relish who he became. It is to recognize— again and again and again—the importance of remaining attentive to our children, whether as parents, siblings, coaches, or teachers. It teaches us to always be on the lookout when kids are in need of our help, because they too often cannot articulate what it is they need help with. For Bell, the realization that he had to sit and write came some time after a cocktail party he attended, where he noticed that the faces of those standing around the room began, he recalls, to “stretch out like Gumby.” He ignored the symptoms until they manifested a second time at a later date, this time also rendering him incapable of controlling his arms which were moving, it seemed, at their own will. Trips to three separate

neurologists revealed poorly formed left and right frontal lobes (responsible for much of the higher level functioning of the brain), a case of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), poor blood-flow to the hippocampus (resulting from oxygen starvation or hypoxia), and a cyst in the back of his brain “about the size of a golf ball.” Fast-forwarding a bit, Bell beat the prognosis of having about eleven months to live, and never looked back. Holding tight to his belief in God, He organized his thoughts and got to work on the memoir, large swaths of which he says were fed directly to him by a higher power. Considering the question of what were some of the greatest lessons he managed to extract from his tumultuous upbringing, Bell pauses to acknowledge the importance of the people who did manage to be there for him in the roughest times, saying of his true friends—and of friends in general— that they are “like islands in the middle of the ocean. They can bail you out, you can share things with them that you simply can’t share with your family.” More gems from a life filled with them: “If someone says ‘God bless you’ in a financial transaction, more than likely you’re getting screwed. God doesn’t care about money.” Asked whether he had an ideal reader in mind while writing his book, Bell responds that his ideal readers are those in positions where they can educate children who may lack the capacity to express themselves fully or honestly. At one point, needless to say, he was one of those children. “This book explains what it’s like to deal with learning disabilities,” Bell says. Indeed, the book serves as a guide for educators to spot students who may need to be spotted by professionals, because they may themselves lack the ability to

request the assistance they really need. “An educator can change someone’s life with compassion, an act of kindness,” Bell says, recalling the times when teachers openly mocked him in front of a laughing classroom for being unable to read the words on the page. “And it works in reverse too. A rude, humiliating comment can absolutely ruin a child’s life. A teacher having a bad morning, starting his or her day off on the wrong foot, should not lead to someone else paying the brunt of that.” In the end, though, Bell says that the greatest lessons we can extract from his memoir are: “Don’t let anyone break your spirit. Don’t let anyone talk down to you because no one has the right to do so. And don’t be afraid to push the envelope of life. Take a risk.” He pauses, and adds one more: “And don’t be impressed by the accomplishments of others. The only ones that matter are your own. We take no prisoners.” If interested in a copy of That Can’t be Good, visit www.readthatcantbegood. com/the-book.

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Brought to you by Dr. Matthew Krupnick, the owner of Pequannock Animal Hospital

Get Your Dog in Shape

umans are not the only animals that may get a bit pudgy around the middle and tip the scale in the wrong direction. Man’s best friend can also pack on some extra pounds, necessitating a workout plan to get back into shape. According to the Association for Pet Obesity Prevention, fifty-three percent of adult dogs in the United States are classified as overweight or obese by their veterinarians. Yet, pet owners are sometimes unaware that their prized pooches are overweight. Overweight dogs and cats face some of the same health risks as overweight men and women. Musculoskeletal problems, such as degenerative joint diseases, and back problems have been linked to obesity, as have heart disease and respiratory problems. Diabetes and heat or exercise intolerance are other side effects of being overweight. But a pet’s weight is not the lone indicator of how healthy the animal is, and the ideal weight can vary from dog to dog. A body condition score is helpful in determining a pet’s ideal body weight. Some indications a dog may not be at a healthy weight include: • a belly that hangs below the rib cage area • a belly that moves when the dog moves, unless the

• a less active lifestyle, including avoiding exercise and play • excessive panting Keeping a dog in shape is one of the best things an owner can do for its’ pet. But what if the dog already has packed on a few unnecessary pounds? It’s time to start a canine fitness routine and follow some other guidelines. Talk to the pet’s veterinarian. Obesity could be the result of eating too much or inactivity, but it also can be a sign of a serious condition. If a routine exam and blood work come up normal, then a plan can be started for helping Fido shed the weight. Consider a new food. There are many different types of foods on the market, including low-calorie options. Some foods contain extra fiber to help the dog feel fuller without having eaten as much. Also, look for foods with lean prodog is pregnant or has just given birth • inability of the owner or vet to feel the dog’s ribs in tein sources without grains and other fillers. Break up the feeding schedule. Instead of one large the rib cage meal a day, feed the dog two or three smaller portions of • a waddle of skin on the neck of the dog, where excess food, which will help keep the dog’s metabolism going all skin isn’t indicative of the breed day long. • no visual indication of the dog’s waist Become joint joggers. Jogging with a dog can become • inability of the owner or vet to feel the bones near the continued on page 11 base of the tail

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 11

Kiwimbi Annual 5K Coming in June Get Your Dog in Shape...

he Third Annual Walk for Thought and 5K race is June 4, 2022 at 9:00 am at Duke Island Park in Bridgewater. Sure to be a great early warm-up to summer, the event is hosted by Kiwimbi International, a U.S.-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing educational opportunities to underprivileged children and their families in Sub- Saharan Africa. It is both a virtual and in-person event. Prizes for in-person age group winners and special Kiwimbi 10th Anniversary categories will be awarded.

Registration is available at https:// raceroster.com/events/2022/57495/ kiwimbi-5k-and-walk-forthought or https://kiwimbi.org Students in rural Kenya typically walk 45 minutes one way to school each day, so the Walk for Thought invites you to do the same, while the 5K offers a more competitive opportunity. To sponsor/partner with Kiwimbi or learn more about the event, please click info@kiwimbi.org.

continued from page 10 an enjoyable pastime that enables the owner and pet to get exercise and stay in shape. Take up swimming. Many dogs are natural lovers of water, and swimming is an effective, low-impact exercise. Teach the dog tricks. Physical tricks, like fetching a ball or rolling over, can keep dogs active. Go for long walks. Take the dog with you wherever you go. The more he or she is up and moving, the less chance there is

to sleep and be lazy. Dr. Matthew Krupnick is the owner of the Pequannock Animal Hospital. He grew up in Kinnelon and is happy to be home – with his wife, three cats, and two dogs – to provide quality and compassionate care for pets in the community. The Pequannock Animal Hospital is located at 591 Newark Pompton Turnpike in Pompton Plains. You can reach the hospital by calling 973-6160400.

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Page 12 • April 2022 • Hometown Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

RHA’s Giant Stream Cleanup Event Returns on April 23

s New Jersey’s Covid-19 cases continue to drop, the nonprofit Raritan Headwaters Association (RHA) is bringing back its massive Stream Cleanup event without restrictions on Saturday, April 23, from 9 a.m. to noon. “This year we’re essentially returning to normal,” said Zak Kircher, RHA’s Stream Cleanup coordinator and land steward. “This is our 32nd annual cleanup, and we are hoping to get a lot of local volunteers signed up to improve the health of the watershed.” In recent years, over 1,600 volunteers have signed up for the Stream Cleanup, which is timed to coincide with Earth Week. Volunteers included individuals, families, scout troops, churches, businesses, civic groups, schools, and environmental commissions. “The Stream Cleanup honors the spirit of Earth Day, bringing people together

to help the environment,” said Cindy Ehrenclou, RHA’s executive director. “Not only does it beautify local stream corridors, but it also protects drinking water supplies and prevents litter from washing downstream to the Raritan Bay and Atlantic Ocean, where it becomes a hazard to marine life.” In 2020, as New Jersey went into coronavirus lockdown, the Stream Cleanup was cancelled – although some local residents individually cleaned up areas in their neighborhoods. The Stream Cleanup resumed last year, but with a limited number of volunteers at each site and masking requirements. This year, RHA is looking for volunteers to pick up trash and recyclables at over 40 stream sites in the upper Raritan River watershed, which covers 470 square miles in Hunterdon, Somerset, and Morris counties. Masks are not required for this

fun, important, outdoor event. Already, Kircher has been contacted by many longtime cleanup volunteers who are eager to come back. “We’ve heard from a lot of local Boy Scout and Girl Scout groups, and some church groups,” he said. “There are some site leaders who have been coming for over 20 years and they’re very dedicated.” To register, go to www. raritanheadwaters.org /stream-

cleanup/ and choose from a list of available stream sites. All volunteers will receive gloves, trash and recycling bags, hand sanitizer, and data information sheets. The cleanup will be held rain or shine. While advance registration is required at most sites, walk-ins will be allowed at two sites with large parking areas, the Spruce Run and Round Valley reservoirs. For more information, contact Zak Kircher at zkircher@raritanheadwaters.org.

What’s happening in your school or organization? Celebrating a special birthday, anniversary, graduation? Have a human interest story or something you would like to share? Email us at editor@mylifepublications.com

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 13

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PCTI Grad Enjoying “Hamilton” Stage Experience

By Steve Sears or many, it is a dream role: to be on stage as a member of the cast of Hamilton. Therefore, welcome to Damani Van Rensalier’s wonderful life. The 2015 Passaic County Technical Institute graduate has been since last summer an ensemble member, playing the role of “The Bullet” for the Angelica Touring Company cast. “When I graduated from Mason Gross School of the Arts in 2019, that summer I joined an agency, so I had an agent,” Van Rensalier says. “She basically just sent me on a bunch of auditions because I was new, I was fresh out of school. Every day of every week, I was auditioning two to four times a week, and Hamilton was one of them. I would go in and do a big group call.” Broadway and all other theaters were shut down from spring 2020 to the summer of 2021, and when they started reopening, auditions were not yet being held in person, so the Hamilton producers referred to a roster of people who had already auditioned. Van Rensalier’s number was called. “Emotional,” Van Rensalier says when she got the call. “I was very emotional for many reasons, but mainly because we

Damani Van Rensalier Photos courtesy of Damani Van Rensalier.

Damani Van Rensalier doing what she loves

had seen theater kind of just get pushed under the rug. Institutions started opening as early as the end of 2020, but theater was still put on hold for a year. So, it was emotional because I was excited to do what I love again, it had been so long. But this show - it’s a historic piece. It’s about things

that have actually happened in history, but it has its amazing way of not only blending black culture into it - which is something that I really enjoy being part of, with the hip hop background and the jazz background - but also just telling a story that in a way that can be relatable to everyone. And I still

continue to see that as I perform in eight shows a week.” Prior to her role in Hamilton, another part came calling. With Hadestown, Van Rensalier joined a Tony Award-winning cast which also performed in the 93rd continued on page 15

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 15

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continued from page 14 Annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. “A very small cast, a very legendary cast,” she says. “I was there when they needed me basically, which became very often at some point. So having that, I was able to perform with them at the Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was an amazing experience and a very cold, freezing day. But it was all worth it, from the 5 a.m. call up through the performance.” Van Rensalier, 25, attended Rutgers University and the Mason Gross School of the Arts. “I wanted to be closer to home,” she says of her college choice. “I also wanted to be close to the city, because I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in the city after I graduated. But the program within the university was something that I was looking for. It was a conservatory style program that would allow me to work on dance every single day inside of the university, and that let me do the football games and do the extracurriculars as well. It was a nice balance of both.” Van Rensalier also gives back to the city of Paterson, where she grew up. Always a person who wanted to provide an arts event for her city, she acted during the pandemic. She and two other 2013 PCTI grads, Nyasia Fraser and Diana Julcapoma, formed an alliance and held an arts festival

at the Great Falls National Historic Site. “We had so many people come out, it was beyond what we could have imagined,” Van Rensalier says. “We were like, ‘We can’t stop here!’ So, we formed a nonprofit (“Fall Into Art”) based off of that festival. From there, we did some community giveaways, community cleanups, and we’ve done two festivals. Now we’re gearing up for our third one this year. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do, and now that I had the time to and more of the drive to do it, I was able to get it done, and it’s something that just brings me so much joy and happiness.” For her future, Van Rensalier would like to be part of an original Broadway production. “I definitely want to be a part of an original Broadway cast. That’s a huge deal to me. I’ve joined the casts that have already been established, but I’d love to build a musical from the bottom with the creative team, and be a part of that original cast.” Television and film are other avenues she’d like to experience. “I’ve been on a show as a background dancer, but I would love to get into acting and more into film.” For more information about Damani Van Rensalier, visit her website at www. damanivanrensalier.com. Additional information about “Fall Into Art” can be found at www.fallintoartnj.org.

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Boonton Wrestler Brings Home First State Title After 30 Years

By Evan Wechman oe Fongaro is not a household name across the country. However, the senior Boonton High School wrestler is certainly well known in his hometown. He is also gaining recognition in the state as a top wrestler in all of New Jersey. As for opposing wrestlers, they know him now if they had not previously. This past March in Atlantic City, Fongaro overcame all odds and beat heavily favored Ty Whalen of Clearview Regional High School to capture the 144-pound state championship. This victory not only made the wrestler a state champion, but he became the first state wrestling champion for Boonton in 30 years. Fongaro, who will be wrestling for Rutgers University in the fall is proud of bringing the state championship back to Boonton. He said “it means everything to me. All the support is special.” Fongaro has indeed been making a name for himself and putting the spotlight on both his teammates and the school. Recently, there have been a lot of celebrations throughout the town and a long parade was thrown immediately after the victory. The state champion however has remained humble as he knows there is more work involved in the future. He wants to continue to excel at Rutgers where he will be facing stiff competition in the Big Ten Conference. Fongaro is not taking anything for granted. He said, “I’m just trying to get better every day and see where that puts me.” To excel as a collegiate wrestler, Fongaro is going to have

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to lean on the lessons he learned while wrestling at Boonton. Besides his never-ending work attitude, the mental part of his game is tremendous, and should propel him forward. At the state championships, even more experienced athletes may have gotten cold feet from the intensity of the moment. Fongaro said he felt a few butterflies when the state tournament began, but with each match he “gained momentum.” Before the finals, many on-goers thought he would be overmatched by the returning champion, but Fongaro did not break a sweat. The moment was perfect for this Boonton Bomber. He said, “I wasn’t really that nervous, but I was just excited to put on a great show.” Fongaro understands he must keep his mind focused on the task at hand. Back in eighth grade, Fongaro was also a member of the football team, but believed his future was to be a competitive wrestler. To reach this level, he has stuck to wrestling at school and at various club contests throughout the state. According to Boonton Athletic Director and Wrestling Coach David Hughen, he is not a bit surprised at the success the young athlete has attained. “Joe is a really good kid and I could tell from day one, he had something special.” The coach has been impressed with the young grappler’s drive, work ethic, and his mental focus. “The mental part is huge,” Hughen said. Fongaro loves the sport and has been involved in wrestling for much of his young life. It also seems this sport runs

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in his family. His older brother Dan was a high school wrestler who finished fifth in the state tournament in 2018. He is now competing at Columbia University. The younger Fongaro said that when he watched his older brother compete continued on page 17

Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 17

Boonton Wrestler...

continued from page 16 years ago, he “wanted to be just like him.” His younger sister Julia also made a name for herself this year as she had a promising finish at the states’ tournament as a freshman for Boonton. Joe Fongaro may cause his family’s last name to be more popular if he continues to beat opponents next year at Rutgers University. He intends on wrestling at roughly the same weight level that he is at now. He knows he must stay fit when he wrestles champions from the likes of Indiana and Michigan. He has a big repertoire of moves on

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the mat to take down the competition but said his two favorite moves are single leg takedowns and tilts. He uses the former to attack either of his opponent’s legs while tilts are his way of turning his competitor around. This leaves the opponents back exposed leading to another exciting victory by the state champion. This Boonton Bomber may very well have a promising future at the collegiate level if he continues to practice hard and keep his mental edge. The whole town will be rooting for him to excel at the next level in New Brunswick, but as Fongaro said “nothing is guaranteed.”

tive relationships between physical activity and mental health outcomes. General physical activity, a broad descriptor referring to the amount of daily or weekly physical activity people engage in irrespective of type, had the greatest number of positive studies of any type of physical activity, followed by cardiovascular and aerobic activity and yoga. Authors of the review concluded that their findings illustrate that exercise and movement can now be considered mainstream elements of mental health care.

Page 18 • April 2022 • Hometown Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

Hearty, Wholesome Dishes to Support Immune Systems

f feeding your family wholesome meals is a daily goal, keep in mind you can serve up tasty foods that also feed your immune system by including ingredients like mushrooms. With their earthy flavor, mushrooms – like many other fruits and vegetables – can also play a positive role in supporting a healthy immune system. Studies at Oregon State University concluded there are a variety of micronutrients important for supporting a healthy immune system. Consider that three of these nutrients (vitamin D, selenium and B vitamins) can be found in mushrooms, meaning these family-friendly recipes for Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies with Mushroom Orzo Risotto; Grilled Portobello Gyros with Yogurt Dill Sauce; Creamy Spinach, Mushroom and Lasagna Soup; and Asian Barbecue Sesame Salmon with Noodles and Veggies can help you add all-important nutrients to your family’s menu. Find more ways to add mushrooms to family meals at mushroomcouncil.com. Grilled Portobello Gyros with Yogurt Dill Sauce

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salt and dill. Stir to combine. To serve, place mushrooms and peppers in middle of pita bread. Top with tomatoes, onion, lettuce, feta, if desired, and big dollop of yogurt dill sauce. Creamy Spinach, Mushroom and Lasagna Soup Recipe courtesy of Emily Weeks of “Zen and Spice” Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 40 minutes Servings: 4 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 2 cloves garlic, minced continued on page 19

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 19

Hearty, Wholesome Dishes...

pepper, bay leaf and broth. Bring to boil over high heat then reduce heat to low and simmer. Add lasagna noodles and cook, stirring often, until softened, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and remove bay leaf. Stir in heavy cream and spinach until wilted, 2-3 minutes. Divide between bowls and top with dollop of ricotta and sprinkle of mozzarella. Roasted Chicken Thighs and Veggies with Mushroom Orzo Risotto Recipe courtesy of Emily Weeks of “Zen and Spice” Cook time: 50 minutes Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes Servings: 4 Chicken: 8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs salt & pepper, to taste 6 tablespoons unsalted butter 16 ounces crimini mushrooms, quartered 3 zucchini, sliced in half moons 3 large carrots, thinly sliced 4 sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves removed and roughly chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced

continued from page 18 1 medium onion, small diced 8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced 1 jar (24 ounces) marinara sauce 1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes 2 tablespoons tomato paste 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar 1 teaspoon granulated sugar 1 tablespoon dried basil 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 bay leaf 3 cups vegetable broth 6 lasagna noodles, broken into pieces 1/2 cup heavy cream 5 ounces fresh baby spinach 1 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, for topping Heat large pot over medium heat. Add olive oil, garlic, onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions and mushrooms soften, 4-5 minutes. Add marinara, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, basil, salt, oregano,

Orzo: 4 cups chicken or vegetable broth 1 tablespoon unsalted butter 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 1 small yellow onion, diced 2 garlic cloves, minced 16 ounces crimini mushrooms, finely chopped 1 cup uncooked orzo pasta 1/8 teaspoon black pepper 1/3 cup white wine 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese To make chicken: Preheat oven to 450 F. Pat chicken dry. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In large skillet over medium-high heat, melt butter. Sear chicken

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until browned, 4-5 minutes on each side. In large bowl, toss mushrooms, zucchini, carrots, garlic and rosemary. On large baking sheet, spread vegetables. Nestle chicken into vegetables. Drizzle with butter and juices from pan. Bake 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender. To make orzo: In small pot over medium-low heat, warm broth. Using skillet from chicken, add butter and olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and mushrooms. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions soften, 3-4 minutes. Add orzo and black pepper. Stir and cook 2 minutes. Add white wine and cook until evaporated, about 1 minute. Add warm broth to orzo 2/3 cup at a time, stirring until liquid is absorbed. Repeat with remaining broth, waiting until last batch is absorbed before adding more. Remove from heat and stir in Parmesan. Serve in individual bowls with chicken and roasted vegetables atop mushroom orzo risotto.

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5 Steps for Mastering Family Meal Planning

s you and your family embark on a mission to create delicious, nutritious meals all while saving money, it’s key to remember meal planning is essential for success. From tracking a list of ingredients you’ll need to noting your loved ones’ favorite foods, there are some easy steps you can take to make dinners at home enjoyable and budget friendly. Getting on track with your own plan can start with these tips from Healthy Family Project’s Mission for Nutrition, which aims to help families find weekly meal success with an internationally inspired e-cookbook including grocery lists, recipe ideas and cooking hacks. Work together. Before heading to the store or heating up the oven, sit down with your loved ones and make a list of easy-tomake recipes you all enjoy. Each time you discover a new favorite, add it to the list so you’ll have a reference guide when it’s time to plan a week’s worth of meals. Stick to a schedule. Set a day and time each week your family can meet and plan out dinners. This also offers an opportunity to bring to light any newfound favorites or fresh ideas while bringing everyone to the

same room for quality time together. Plan time-saving processes. Think ahead while planning meals and consider the equipment you’ll need. Saving time while cooking can be as easy as sticking to recipes that call for hands-off appliances like a slow cooker or pressure cooker and using a food processor rather than a knife and cutting board. Schedule a “leftovers night.” When you prep dinners that call for crossover ingredients, it’s easier to turn one meal into two. For example, buying sweet onions and chicken breast to make Chicken Apple Enchiladas means you’ll have those ingredients on hand for Greek Chicken Bowls later in the week. Make a list. Once you’ve decided on recipes for the week, create a list of all the ingredients you’ll need. While you’re at the store, stick to your plan and avoid impulse buys to help stay on track while getting in and out quicker. Find more recipes and meal planning tips by downloading the free e-cookbook at healthyfamilyproject.com/mission-fornutrition and join the conversation by following #missionfornutrition on social

media. Chicken Apple Enchiladas Recipe courtesy of Healthy Family Project’s Mission for Nutrition 1/2 sweet onion, diced 1 jalapeno, diced 1 Envy or Jazz apple, diced 2 cups cooked shredded chicken 8 flour tortillas 6 ounces shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided 1 can red enchilada sauce cilantro (optional) Heat oven to 350 F. In skillet, cook onions until translucent. Add jalapeno and apple; saute 2-3 minutes. Add cooked chicken and mix well. Remove from heat. Lay out tortillas and sprinkle cheese on each. Add chicken mixture and roll. Place in baking dish and cover with enchilada sauce. Bake 20 minutes, or until heated throughout. Greek Chicken Bowls Recipe courtesy of Healthy Family Project’s Mission for Nutrition 1 cup cooked white or brown rice 1 grilled chicken breast, sliced

Asian Barbecue Sesame Salmon with Noodles and Veggies Recipe courtesy of Emily Weeks of “Zen and Spice” Cook time: 30 minutes Total time: 40 minutes Servings: 4 Sauce: 1/2 cup soy sauce 2 tablespoons brown sugar 1 tablespoon rice vinegar 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce (optional) 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce 2 tablespoons water 2 teaspoons cornstarch 1 1/2 pounds salmon (4 filets) 12 ounces stir-fry (pad thai) rice noodles 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil 1 pound white mushrooms, sliced 1 cup sugar snap peas 1 large broccoli head, cut into bite-size florets 2-3 green onions, thinly sliced, for garnish sesame seeds, for garnish Preheat oven to 400 F.

In small saucepan, whisk soy sauce; brown sugar; rice vinegar; garlic; ginger; chili garlic sauce, if desired; sesame oil; and barbecue sauce. Bring to boil over high heat then reduce heat to simmer. In small bowl, whisk water and cornstarch. Pour into pan and cook on low, whisking often, until sauce thickens, 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Pour 3 tablespoons sauce into small bowl. Brush salmon filets with reserved sauce and place on baking sheet. Bake 15 minutes, or until salmon is flaky. Discard small bowl sauce if any remains. Cook stir-fry noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse and set aside. Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add sesame oil. Add mushrooms, snap peas and broccoli. Cook, stirring often, until veggies are tender-crisp, 7-8 minutes. Add noodles and remaining sauce from pan; toss to combine. To serve, divide noodles, veggies and salmon between plates. Top with sliced green onions and sesame seeds. (Family Features)

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I Remember Mom: The Cross Road

By Richard Mabey Jr. n the midst of the cold winds of January of 1984, I found myself fighting a sore throat that led to a strep throat. And, sadly, the strep throat led to my second bout of Rheumatic Fever. And at the age of 30, the fate that had called me to fight the deadly strep infection at 12, had rebounded and gnarled itself to the inner chambers and valves of my heart. It was a year-long battle with two longstay hospital visits. But, I came out of it with a greater inner strength and a furious determination to leave my mark upon the world. It was in the Spring of 1985, that I landed a writing job at a big daily newspaper. I wrote engagement notices, wedding announcements, obituaries, scout news, church news, and news of various non-profit organizations. By the Summer of 1986, I was worn, weary, and feeling that my wheels were just spinning in sand, going nowhere. And, to top it all off, I had a boss who was anything but kind. In all honesty, she was a bit of a heartless tyrant. I was frayed, my inner self was torn, I lived on Pepto-Bismal tablets. The unrealistic deadlines, the long hours, the harsh voice of my boss, was taking a toll on me. And, as if that wasn’t enough, my girlfriend at the time, was insistent that I leave the comfort and warmth of the little Reformed Church that I grew up in, to take classes to become a Catholic. And, Anna’s parents were putting the pressure on

me, to the nth degree. I have no conflict with the Catholic faith. But, I do have a problem with being pressured to do anything, just to please someone else. It wasn’t so much that Anna was a devoted Catholic, rather it was that her father had given me the ultimatum to convert to being a Catholic. I felt such inner turmoil. Sadly, Anna gave in to her father’s dislike of me and broke up with me. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, my boss was becoming meaner and meaner with the passing of each and every day. I felt like I was holding onto the end of a rope, at a cliff ’s edge, and the rope I was clinging to was rapidly fraying. A thousand and one times my mom, Janet Kemmerer Mabey, encouraged me to start my own newspaper, a small-town weekly. I was filled with self doubts. I didn’t have all that much money in my savings account. And, a certain fear and insecurity was clinging to the core of my inner self. But, Mom would not give up on me. She wouldn’t let me give into my inner fears and insecurities. Mom continually told me that I had the right stuff, the fortitude, the dedication, the intelligence, and the deep drive to start my own small-town weekly newspaper. But, I still doubted my abilities. Finally, Mom told me to pray about it. It was about a week before Thanksgiving Day, of 1986, that the good Lord had the hammer fall upon me and awaken me to

the fact that I needed to leave that big daily newspaper and step out on my own. It was a Monday morning. I remember it all so well. It was just before lunch time. My boss came over to my cubicle and just ripped and tore me apart, for not having met a most unrealistic writing deadline. I was overwhelmed with little articles to write about engagement notices, wedding announcements, and events of non-profit organizations. High noon came. Lunch break. I remember going out to my car to eat my lunch. I had always brought a bag lunch to work. Once inside my care, the tears flowed down my cheeks like Niagara Falls. I knew I couldn’t take much more of it all. The shadow of Anna haunted me. The pain of losing her love, the mean-spirited shouting of my boss, it all had taken a toll on me. There in my car, eating my peanut butter and jelly sandwich, I took the time to earnestly pray. Mom was right. I needed to pray about it all. Somehow and someway, I got the courage to type up my resignation that very afternoon. At the end of the day, I gave my official twoweeks’ notice to my boss. At that moment in time, it was like a big, heavy, anchor was lifted from my heart. By early 1987, I began publishing the Lincoln Park Journal weekly newspaper. My dear mother was a constant source of encouragement to me. A new dawn was rising in my life. A new chapter of my life had

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begun. If it were not for the encouragement of my beloved mother, I would have never found the courage to leave the big daily paper and take the bold step to start my own small-town weekly newspaper. Encouragement is one of the single most precious gifts that a parent can give to their child. Encouragement holds a greater value than silver or gold. For it can be the seed upon which the great tree of success springs forth. Please, never underestimate the positive power of encouragement. The result of encouragement knows no limitations, no bounds, no walls. Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@ hotmail.com. Please put on the subject line: I Remember Mom.

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Pompton Lakes Musician and His Piano are Inseparable

By Steve Sears ompton Lakes resident and pianist, Kyle Walker, describes a piano. “The thing about the piano that I really like is that it can adapt very easily to all genres,” Walker says. “And, really, it can be a full orchestra. It has 88 keys, and it has on average 235 strings inside the piano. Every piano has its own personality. I think every piano really you can make sing. When I play the piano in my house, for example, you can’t hear it all throughout the house, but in the room that it’s in, you certainly feel like you’re sort of immersed in the sound. And it can, in no way, feel like background music, especially when the piano is open. It’s really something you can feel.” Walker, 31, who received his Masters of Music from New York City’s Mannes School of Music, put his fingers to the keys at a very young age. And although he’s dabbled in various professions and has played other instruments, he is always drawn back. “I love being the one at the piano.” Walker, originally from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, started studying with Joyce Perry, a local piano teacher in Clemens, North Carolina. “I eventually was admitted into the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for high school,” he says, “which is a high school program that they have which is part of this music conservatory that trains college and graduate students. It was amazing because I was immersed with people that were way more talented than me, that were way better than me, and were just playing miles ahead of me.” However, it was all beneficial. “I definitely knew that I had my work cut out for me, and

that was really important. That was really crucial for me, to at least be exposed to that sort of level.” After that, Walker headed to East Carolina University to study both music (his teacher was Henry Doskey), and broadcast journalism. For the latter, he had internships with a local television station, while he also studied music at the University of North School of the Arts with Clifton Matthews. “He’s had a lot of students that have gone on to do big things,” Walker says of Matthews. “He was really, really, really important for me, and I didn’t realize it so much at the time.” Walker eventually hired a new piano teacher, Benjamin Hochman, and this led him up the east coast. “He’s really who I guess put me on more of a trajectory to think about this seriously as a professional. He exposed me to some music festivals in New York and things like that, which got me interested in the whole New York scene. I ended up moving to New York and going to grad school at Mannes College (which is the New School for Music) under Thomas Sauer. He was wonderful. He really put my thought process of technique on a whole new level.” Walker a few years back founded an organization called “The Dream Unfinished” towards the end of his grad school years. “The point of art, the point of artists - living artists is to talk about issues and bring awareness to things that people might have a hard time actually talking about,” Walker says. “The timing was kind of perfect. I kind of already had an idea of what I really wanted to do. I was really aching to get out of school so that I could just like do the real thing. And it was amazing, because, all of a sudden, I was exposed to all of this music from working with all of

Kyle Walker. Photo courtesy of Kyle Walker.

these other musicians that I hadn’t been exposed to before. Some of the composers I’m playing a lot now are Margaret Bonds, Florence Price, and Le Chevalier De Saint-Georges (The Black Mozart). The way “The Dream Unfinished” works is it’s really a collective of artists and musicians. The way that we function is that every concert has sort of a different setup, sometimes a different orchestra. Other times it continued on page 25

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Pompton Lakes Musician... continued from page 24 might just be a piano and violin recital, or it might be a vocalist, or it might be a string quartet. Every setup for our concerts is different and that’s partially because every venue we play in is different.” Walker, who now teaches at the Kaufmann Music Center in Manhattan and is working on two album projects, is married to violinist Katherine Dennis, and they are proud parents of Khloe, who will soon be two-years-old. He and his wife often perform together, and even practice melodiously as a duo at home. “I think it’s a dynamic thing,” Walker says

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of performing. “That’s part of the fun about it, it’s not always the same feeling. Sometimes it’s peace, and I would say by default, whenever I’m about to step onto the stage - and I think it’s when I’m playing with Katherine or with anybody else, or as well just by myself - my first feeling is I hope I can bring peace to somebody’s day. And then I can take them out of the world that they’ve been living in today or yesterday or this week, and just help them sort of be in the moment.” More information about Kyle Walker, his music, and upcoming projects, can be found on his website, www.kylewalkerpiano.com.

Did You Know?

he National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute notes that body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women. Though BMI can be a useful tool in helping individuals determine their overall health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that BMI does not diagnose the body fatness or health of an individual. Rather, BMI’s usefulness rests in its usage as a screening tool. Doctors

may measure an individual’s BMI and then use that to determine if any further assessments are necessary, and what those assessments might be. Parents should know that BMI is interpreted differently for children and teens even though the same formula is used to calculate it. That’s because the amount of body fat changes with age and it differs between girls and boys. Factors such as age and sex do not affect BMI ranges for adults.

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New Jersey’s Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum Celebrating 50 Years of Flight

By Henry M. Holden n the first decades of aviation, Teterboro Airport, in Bergen County, was the center of development and record setting flights. Teterboro Airport is the oldest operating airport in the Tri-State Region. In the 1920s and 1930s, record-setting flights became a national obsession, and many of the flights originated or terminated at Teterboro Airport. Many famous pilots flew out of Teterboro including Charles and Ann Morrow Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, and Clarence Chamberlain, the second man to fly non-stop across the Atlantic were early users of the airport. Later, they were followed by former navy pilot Arthur Godfrey, and astronauts Buzz Aldrin (the second man to walk on the Moon), Walter Schirra, and Kathryn Sullivan, the first woman to walk in space, and Janis Blackburn, the first woman in the world to be a flying crew member on the Airbus A-300, along with others became the modern-day aviation pioneers. The museum displays historic aircraft, space equipment, artifacts, photographs, fine art and an aircraft model collection. The library has more than 4,000 volumes and a collection of aviation videos. A party held on August 14, 1970, commemorated the 50th anniversary of the first landing at Teterboro Airport. Donald Borg, publisher of New Jersey’s largest evening newspaper, The Bergen Evening Record, and others nostalgically discussed events that had taken place at the airport. It was soon evident that the airport held exclusive historical

importance. The group agreed to preserve the history, and the seeds of the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum (AHOF) were planted. Ten New Jersey aviators were selected to be the first inductees with H. V. “Pat” Reilly becoming the executive vice president and director. By Laws, restricted inductee selections to be limited to four per year. This has been waived only occasionally. The first induction dinner saw 600 guests attending. Television personality Arthur Godfrey was the guest speaker. In 1939, the Goodyear blimp Mayflower made daily sightseeing flights over the New York City World’s Fair. In 1952, Arthur Godfrey buzzed the control tower while taking off in his DC-3. As a result, his pilot’s license was suspended for a time. The museum contains a number of unique exhibits including the rocket engine that propelled the X-15 to a blistering speed of Mach 6.7 (4,520 mph), a record that still stands for winged aircraft. An X-15 also topped the altitude goal of 250,000 feet by nearly 19 miles. “The airplanes on display include a Martin 2-0-2 airliner, which is open to the public, a Bell-47, and the only known Lockheed 402-2 Bushmaster in existence, which stands at the entrance to the museum,” said Ralph Villecca, Executive Director of the museum. “We also have a Bell AH-1S ‘Cobra’ attack helicopter, a Coast Guard CH-53 helicopter, and a number of other aircraft.” The Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum was originally

The late Pat Reilly surrounded by inductee’s plaques. Reilly was a key figure in the formation and creation of the AHOF. (Credit Henry M. Holden)

located in the first control tower that opened in 1948. When the tower was retired in 1975, it became the first home of the Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum in New Jersey. It was the first state aviation museum in the country, and it was incorporated as a nonprofit educational organization on April 6, 1972. There were one hundred steps from the field level to the top of the tower. The hall of fame occupied the top three continued on page 27

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The author’s grandchildren in Bell AH-1S ‘Cobra’ attack helicopter during an Open Cockpit Day. (Credit Henry M. Holden)

Aviation Hall of Fame... continued from page 26 floors. This author remembers the climb to the top. For those who wanted to go slowly, there were aviation photos on the walls that visitors could enjoy during their hike to the top. Some of the electronics were disabled and left in place for the youngsters to simulate a controller. The radio exchanges between pilots and controllers remained active and broadcast for the visitors.

The first museum reached capacity when it held about 1,000 artifacts. “People came to give me all kinds of aviation memorabilia,” said the late Pat Reilly. “But I had no place left to put them. I ran out of room.” The museum has been cited as One of the 10 Best Museums in the state of New Jersey,” and there are several one-of-a kind or last of a kind aircraft. “We have the last Martin 2-02, in world, and the cockpit and one row of

first class seats of a TWA 880,” said Villecca. “We have flight simulators, and relics of illfated flights such as the Hindenburg dirigible that was destroyed by fire in Lakehurst in 1937.” Artifacts of the Hindenburg, can be found on display. The newsreel film does not do justice to the size of the Hindenburg. The display documents the tragedy, and illustrations show that this massive airship was almost the size of the Queen Mary ocean liner. “Many adults are fascinated by the piece of airframe we have on display,” said Villecca “People go up to it and touch it.” “We have the cockpit of an F-111 fighter jet and many people are fascinated by its appearance. We also have the first American hovercraft invented by Charles Fletcher on display. The Sikorsky HH-52 Coast Guard 1455 rescue helicopter which was instrumental in the Marial Cuban boatlift, now stands at the entrance to the museum. One of our most popular exhibits among the children and parents is the ‘Little Cut Up.’ We took parts from several airplanes and put them together for the youngsters to operate the manual controls.” When the new Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum opened in 1983, there was room for the museum’s collection, but it was soon overloaded with memorabilia, and artifacts. Plans were made for a building extension. However, the extension was delayed by the

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Department of Environmental Protection for three years until they determined the extension would not do damage to nearby wetlands. “The focus of the AHOF is on events and people who contributed to New Jersey’s aviation heritage,” said Villecca. “Today, there are 192 men and women inductees in the hall of fame, including six New Jerseyborn astronauts, and fifteen war aces.” Air Force Colonel Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin Jr., a resident of Montclair, and AHOF inductee was a Korean War fighter pilot, and Lunar Module Pilot for Apollo XI. He followed Neil Armstrong onto the surface of the moon in 1969. Navy Captain Walter M. Schirra, Jr, of Hackensack, was one of the nation’s original seven astronauts, and the only person to have flown in each of the three generations of U.S. spacecraft – Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. To qualify for induction, the candidate must be from New Jersey or must have significant aviation ties to New Jersey. The achievements of the candidate must be followed by an ongoing commitment to advance aviation. The museum has been designated as an educational center so there is probably something for everyone to enjoy and learn about. For more information see www. njahof.org or phone 201-288-6344.

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The History Behind April Fool’s Day

By Henry M. Holden can your favorite newspaper or news website this April 1, and chances are you will see some headlines that look doubtful. Read further, and you will find that some of those stories are complete hoaxes, because it’s April Fools’ Day. There have been several April Fool’s Day pranks that have caught the public’s eye through the years. One famous prank became known as The Great Spaghetti Harvest. In 1957, a BBC broadcaster announced that Switzerland had a heavy spaghetti crop for the year and even showed footage of people harvesting spaghetti off trees. At the time, spaghetti was relatively unknown in the UK. Several viewers afterwards contacted the BBC for advice on growing their own spaghetti trees. CNN called this broadcast “the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled.” But where do we get the strange custom of playing pranks on April 1? Well, nobody knows for sure. All we know is that the custom was known in Renaissance Europe but has roots much older than that. Traditional theory places the origin of April Fools Day in the Roman Empire and dates it to the reign of Emperor Constantine. According to the story, a group of court jesters convinced Constantine to make one of them “king for a day.” Constantine obliged, and made one king for a day. He decreed that it would be a day of cheerfulness, and thus created what came April Fools Day. The only problem with that story was it was a hoax. It

was an April Fools Day prank, pulled by Boston University professor Joseph Boskin, on Associated Press reporter Fred Bayles, in 1983. Bayles reported the story, and the AP ran it, only to retract it days later. There is a good lesson here: Do not take as fact everything you read about April Fools Day. (But no worries, you can totally trust me!) Many think the idea of April Fools Day goes back to Roman times, when a joyful festival called Hilaria, originally probably a spring equinox celebration, came to be celebrated on March 25. In Roman terms, March 25 was “the eighth of the Calends of April,” which associates the festival strongly with April 1, the Calends of April. However, there is no hard evidence to connect Hilaria with April Fools Day, so this is just another speculation by curious people. People have hypothesized about the origins of this holiday, suggesting that it was part of the Roman Saturnalia, a Druid rite in Britain, with a carnival-like medieval celebration of the Feast of Fools. But despite attempts to establish an earlier origin for the day, clear references to a tradition of fooling in April do not begin until the late Middle Ages. It is possible that there is a glimpse of April Fools Day in Chaucer’s “Nun’s Priest’s Tale” (ca. 1390), which shows the rooster being fooled by, and in turn fooling, a fox. This occurs “Syn March bigan, thritty dayes and two,” or 32 days after March began, i.e., April 1. This would be an early, clear reference to the date, but scholars think the

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A Laughing Fool. Netherlandish oil painting (possibly Jacob Cornelisz. van Oostsanen) ca. 1500. (LoC Public Domain Image.)

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 29

An April Story

By Richard Mabey Jr. hat spiritual connections lie dormant between man and beast? What lost communication, from a bygone era, still remains intact deep within the inner fiber of both man and beast? Could it be that we are guided and molded by forces so innately natural, that they gently call to the deepest core of our subconscious minds? Could it be that in early April, the calling of the majestic buck deer graced the inner fiber of a 13-yearold boy, marking him with a calling that remained fixed in the deepest chambers of his heart? My grandfather, Watson Mabey, often told the story of the great, glorious, majestic buck deer that walked the woods at the end of Mabey Lane. Grandpa also had told me that the great buck could also be seen, from time to time, walking the path of the old Morris Canal. Grandpa had worked the canal, from

his youth, and eventually became the Chief Engineer of Incline Plane Ten East. My sister Patti, my cousins and I would often sit at the feet of Grandpa Mabey, as he sat upon his chair in the living room of the old Mabey Homestead. Grandpa was a most wonderful and enchanting story teller. He often told the family legends of the majestic buck deer. Grandpa always ended every tale about the magnificent deer, by telling us that whoever looked into the eyes of the majestic buck would be marked for a special calling for the rest of their life. In early April of 1967, I was in the eighth grade, 13 years old, and I decided to take a walk down the forest path to the old Morris Canal, all by myself. It was a sunny, Saturday morning. The wild flowers were blooming along the forest path, that began at the end of Mabey Lane. I had no idea that magical morning, that my

life was about to change forever. As I walked the forest path, squirrels scurried about, jumping from tree limb to limb. Birds sang and chirped melodies to shame even the world’s greatest musical composers. Thistle stalks abounded between the maple, the oak and the elm. There was a certain peace that filled the air in those magical wooded acres. As I walked down the wooded path, I could not believe my eyes. There to the right of the narrow forest path, proudly stood the majestic buck. It was a most surreal moment in time, it all seemed like a dream. Slowly and steadfastly, the old, tall buck came walking toward me. It was as frightening as any horror film I had ever seen at the old State Theater in the nearby town of Boonton. The antlers of the powerful deer seemed to reach out three or four feet from the majestic buck’s

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skull. As the deer came ever so close to me, I shuttered. I stood my ground. It was not so much that I was being brave and fearless, it was actually quite the opposite. I remember being so taken and overcome with fear that my legs would not move an inch. You read about such moments in time, you dream about such moments in time, but this was a moment that was all so real, as frightening as it was. My heart began beating like a big bass drum. Sweat filled the crevices of my hands, like little pools of water that clung to my palms. The carotid sinuses in my neck pounded in a fastpaced rhythm. As the deer, ever so slowly, ascended closer to me, I remembered the very words of Grandpa Mabey. The Great Majestic Buck was the central character of a family legend. It was at least a dozen times that Grandpa told me the legend of the Great Majestic Buck. The Mabey legend was that whoever looked the stately deer in the eye, directly in the eye, was a marked man. That from that point on, the person who stood steadfast to the great deer and looked him square in the eye would be so marked for a special calling, that his or her life would never, ever be the same. The deer was now only about 10 feet from me, when the grand beast stopped and threw his head back, as if he was about to attack me. Something kept me from running down the forest path. I felt the presence of my grandfather, standing beside me, saying to me, “stand your ground, Richie, stand your ground.” And then the Great Majestic Deer lowered his head and slowly, steadfastly began once again to walk toward me. My body shook like the last leaf hanging upon a twig of a maple tree, in the midst of an April breeze. I thought that my heart was going to burst, it was beating so hard and all

A photo from 1932 of my grandfather, Watson Mabey, proudly standing in his backyard, of the home he built at the end of Mabey Lane.

so fast. The Great Majestic Deer was now about four feet from me. I was frozen. I could not move. And, with all the courage that I could dig deeply from within the core of my soul, I looked the huge beast deep in its eyes. The grand deer looked back at me and flung its head back in a fury. Then lowered his head, turned around and ran into the thick of the April forest. I felt a deep blessing succumb my heart, mind, and soul. I had looked the Great Majestic Buck deep into his eyes and he looked deep into mine. From that point on, I would never be the same. I walked down the forest path. As I stood within eye’s view of the old Morris Canal, l could see the foundation of my great grandfather’s icehouse. William Mabey had built the icehouse with the help of my grandfather and Grandpa’s brother, Earl. Sadly, Earl was killed in battle, in France during World War I. When I came upon the

foundation to the old Mabey Ice House, I sat upon the stone foundation and looked at the still, murky waters of the old Morris Canal, that lied just a few feet north of the old foundation. The memory of the Great Majestic Buck was engraved upon the deepest chambers of my heart. Perhaps Grandpa’s legend was not a fairy tale, perhaps there was a great depth of truth to the old Mabey Legend. At the age of 13, in early April of 1967, I felt my grandfather’s gift of story telling fill my heart. I had looked the Great Majestic Buck Deer in the eye. I was now marked with the gift of a special calling. I knew deep in the chambers of my heart, that the great buck had blessed me with the calling of story telling. There was no doubt in my heart. None at all. Richard Mabey Jr. is a freelance writer. He can be reached at richardmabeyjr@ hotmail.com. Please put on the subject line: An April Story.

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Century 21 Crest Real Estate Names Its NJ Realtors® 2021 Circle Of Excellence Award® Winners

1® Crest Real Estate is pleased to announce that 11 of its agents have achieved the NJ Realtors® 2021 Circle of Excellence Award®. These awards recognize the top producing agents in New Jersey. To earn the award, recipients must achieve designated sales levels and be in good standing. Danielle Fiorina, ranked 6th in the top CENTURY 21 Real Estate Agents in New Jersey, has been named a New Jersey Realtors Circle of Excellence 2021 (COE) Platinum Level achiever and is also a CENTURY 21 DOUBLE CENTURION® Producer with sales volume in excess of $29,000,000.00, as well as a President’s Producer and Quality Service Pinnacle Award winner. Colleen A. McMahon has earned the New Jersey Realtors Circle of Excellence 2021 (COE) Gold Level Award and is also a 2021 CENTURY 21 CENTURION® Producer with sales volume in excess of $15,000,000.00, President’s Producer and Quality Service Pinnacle Producer award winner. The Silver Level COE Award designation for 2021 was earned by Regina Petry with sales volume in excess of $9,500,000.00. Regina is also a CENTURY 21 Masters Emerald and Quality Service Producer award winner. Bronze Level COE recognition has been awarded to Anthony Cheff, Marie Episale, Tere Episale, Maria Fazliu,

Cathy Lawton, Suzanne Parisi, Nicole Ruggiero and John Tierney. Cheff, M. Episale, T. Episale, Ruggiero and Tierney have also been named CENTURY 21 Quality Service Pinnacle award winners. Fazliu and Parisi have been named as CENTURY 21 Quality Service Producers. Lawton is honored this year as a CENTURY 21 Distinguished Sales recipient. “At CENTURY 21® Crest Real Estate, we are pleased to commend our agents who were named NJ Realtors® 2021 Circle of Excellence Award® winners. I am so very proud of our agents not only for their production, but most of all, for their dedication to superior customer service,” says Patricia R. Wojtyszyn, CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate Broker/Owner, adding, “I applaud their efforts in 2021, and look forward to helping them achieve their sales goals in 2022.” Servicing the Northern New Jersey area since 1981, CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. enjoys a fine reputation specializing in residential, commercial and rental properties. CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. is an award-winning, full service real estate agency located at 142 Professional Center on Route 23 North in Pompton Plains. Achievements for 2021 include the CENTURY 21 CENTURION Award, President’s Award and Quality Service

History Behind April Fool’s Day... continued from page 28 word “bigan” is a scribal error, and that the intended date was May 2, thirty-two days after March was over. Even if this is true, the existence of such a scribal error could suggest that medieval scribes expected hoaxes to occur on April 1. But still, this does not qualify as hard evidence of an April Fools custom. In France, “poisson d’avril,” or “April fish,” is the name for a person duped on April Fools Day. The first reference to “poisson d’avril” is from a 1508 poem by Eloy D’Amerval called Le Livre de la Diablerie, or The Book of Deviltry. However, from the context we can’t be sure if the author was referring to April 1 or to fools in general. The idea of the “April fish” seems to be the fact that fish were plentiful and hungry in the spring, and easy to catch. An “April fish” was more gullible than a fish at other times of the year. Thus, a mere reference to an “April fish” does not itself prove there was a holiday on April 1. Some sources, such as Charles Panati’s Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things, cite another 16th-century French origin: 1564, when the celebration of the New Year officially moved to January 1 by Charles IX’s Edict of Roussillon. According

to Panati, the New Year had the celebration on March 25 because of the arrival of spring, with a week-long observance ending on April 1. Panati further claims: “Frenchmen who resisted the change, and others who forgot about it, continued partying and exchanging gifts during the week ending April 1.” The real history of New Year’s observances in France is more complex, with different regions celebrating at various times. As early as 1507, books printed in France indicated that people were beginning the year on January 1. Besides, Panati does not provide any concrete evidence of any of his claims in the form of modern-day accounts or surviving invitations–not even for the claim of a week-long celebration, which is necessary to involve April 1 in the New Year change. In all, we will have to consider his story to be real, or a hoax on all of us. The first certain reference to April Fools Day comes from a 1561 Flemish poem by Eduard De Dene. In the poem, a noble person sends his servant on crazy, fruitless errands. The servant recognizes that he is running on “fool’s errands” because it is April 1.

Pinnacle Award. Members of CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate’s awardwinning sales team can be reached at (973) 686-1500. Our office is proud to have achieved the CENTURY 21 CENTURION, President’s Award and Quality Service Pinnacle Awards for 2021 CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate is an independently owned and operated franchise affiliate of CENTURY 21 Real Estate, the iconic brand and franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, comprised of approximately 6,800 independently owned and operated franchised broker offices in 78 countries and territories worldwide with more than 100,000 independent sales professionals. The CENTURY 21® System provides brand marks, marketing, communications and innovative technology solutions that help enable its franchisees and their independent agents to attract and engage prospects, nurture customers, and deliver a positive real estate transaction experience. ©2022 CENTURY 21 All Rights Reserved. CENTURY 21® and the CENTURY 21 Logo are registered service marks owned by Century 21 Real Estate LLC. Each office is independently owned and operated.

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CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate 142 Route 23 North

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If you’re ready to move, we’re ready to work for you! Call Us Today! 973-686-1500

$599,900 Bloomingdale $1450/MTH Clifton NEWLY LISTED! RENTAL! 1 BR, 1BA Comfy & Cozy 2nd floor Apartment. 1 BR with WIC, LR/DR combo, kitchen and FBA with stall shower. Freshly painted & newer flooring. Located in a quiet residential area and close to all highways, shopping & public transport. Tenant pays all utilities. No Smoking/ no pets.

4 BR, 2.1 BA Split Level in Montclair Heights section! Many updates throughout. Fenced yard. Basement. Wood floors. MBR Suite w/ WI Closet & FBA. Kitchen with granite, breakfast bar, tile, newer ss appliances. Large mud room area, finished basement and tons of storage. 1 car gar.

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Kinnelon $999,900 Kinnelon $719,900 NEWLY LISTED! NEWLY LISTED!

4 BR, 4.2 BA Custom Home in private setting! Open floor plan, LL WO living suite w/priv 2 BR, LR, KIT & 1.1 BA. Marble entry foyer w/stone water feature. EIK w/center island & breakfast bar, Dining Area, Family Rm w/WB stove. Floor to ceiling marble FP. 1 st flr MBR Suite. 3 car gar.

4 BR, 2.1 BA Custom Bi-Level! 3,000 sq. ft. Priv backyard w/ IG gunite pool & spa. Open floor plan, FLR, FDR, floor to ceiling WB FP, KIT w/ plenty of cabs, ss appls, sep dining area & slider to deck. MBR Suite w/FBA & WI Closet. LL Family Rm, WB stove, rec area, slider to patio, office, BR, BA & laundry. 2 car gar.

2 BR, 2 BA Ranch! Renovated 2019. Wood floors, high ceilings, heating/CA 2019. One level living with living rm, den, leisure rm, dining rm & kitchen which opens to dining room and has access to covered deck and yard. WO basement has BR, FBA, rec area & store. 2 car det gar.

3 BR, 2 BA Expanded Ranch! Steps to elementary school. Many updates: HVAC 2016, roof,siding, windows, electrical panel 2007. Newer septic, driveway, walkway, steps & chimney. Fenced rear yard w/ IG Pool. Wood flrs, MBR Suite, WI closet, Great Rm w/vaulted ceiling and slider to yard. WB FP in LR. Fin basement. 2 car gar.

3 BR, 2 BA Zoned Professional/Residential! Bonus rear lot possible subdivision. Architect drawings incl. Potential for professional building. Multiple options for expansion. Current colonial offers LR, FDR, Den/Office, Kitchen, Family Rm, outside access to patio and yard. Half BA off KIT. Newer flooring, updated kitchen & bath, updated electric. 1 car det gar.

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Paterson $549,900 Pompton Lakes $399,900 NEWLY LISTED! NEWLY LISTED! 6 BR, 3 BA Unique Colonial! LR with WB FP, stained glass window in entry & LR, large DR & galley kitchen with separate eating area. Second floor has 3 BRs. Third floor has 2BRs and offers storage. Full finished basement. Convenient to shopping & major highways. 1 car detached gar.

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4 BR, 3 BA Bi-Level Renovated in 2017! Hardwood floors throughout upper level. LL Family Rm, home office/den and laundry room. 3 BRs on upper level, including primary with ensuite FBA. Renovated KIT, LR & DR w/sliders to deck. Over 1/4 acre. 1 car gar.

2 BR, 3 BA End Unit Townhome! 6 years young and ready to move in. Granite countertop Kitchen with ss appliances, Living Rm, Dining Rm, laundry room and hardwood floors throughout. Oversized 1 car gar and patio.

West Milford $309,900 Woodcliff Lake $749,800 NEWLY LISTED! NEWLY LISTED!

2 BR, 1.1 BA Home Rebuilt and Reframed! 2012 new walls, windows, doors, BAs, roof, framing, electric, plumbing, septic & Large EIK! WB stove in the FDR, BA and office on 1st flr. The 2nd MBR with WO balcony, BA w/dbl sinks, computer rm & PD stairs to attic. Paver patio, hot tub w/gazebo, new fencing, blacktop drive, well pump and tank. Extra lot included!

4 BR, 2.1 BA Expanded Ranch! Wood floors throughout, 2 WB FPs, LR, DR,updated KT, fin basement with Family Rm & Office, perfect for home business or possible 5 th BR. C/A, BB heat. Just under 3/4 acre. Close to all highways and shopping.

©2021 CENTURY 21 REAL ESTATE LLC. CENTURY 21® is a trademark licensed to Century 21 Real Estate LLC. An Equal Opportunity Company. | Equal Housing Opportunity. Each office is independently owned and operated. All information deemed relible but not guaranteed. Prices subject to change. If your poperty is currently listed with a real estate broker please disregard this offer.

Page 32 • April 2022 • Hometown Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

Terrie O’Connor Realtors Recognizes Outstanding Accomplishments

errie O’Connor Realtors, Kinnelon is pleased to announce our 2021 Award Recipients. “What a great professional and successful group of the finest agents in the area. Well deserved recognition for so many! During this very difficult year they excelled once again to meet the needs of all their clients!” said Terrie O’Connor, President/Owner Terrie O’Connor Realtors. Barbara Pagella is the recipient of the Gold level NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Award which requires a minimum of $12 million and 25 units in production. She was also awarded the Terrie O’Connor Realtors prestigious President’s Circle, Kinnelon Office Top Agent and the Above 10 Million Dollar Production Award. Barbara was also named a 5 Star Agent and recognized as a Best of Morris County agent. Debra Zyskowski is the recipient of the Bronze level NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Award which requires a minimum of $2.5 million and 15 units in production. She is also the recipient of the Terrie O’Connor Realtors 2.5-5 Million Dollar Production Award and recognized as a Best of Morris County agent.. Karen Hoffman and Robert “Rob” Nieto are the recipients of the Terrie O’Connor

Realtors Above 5 Million Dollar Production Award. The recipients of the Terrie O’Connor Realtors 2.5-5 Million Dollar Production Award are Beth Califano, Jane DeVincentis, Allison Kirchdoerffer, Arlette Scialla and Mavourneen Slufik. “A huge Congratulations to all our award recipients and I would like to recognize each and every one of our affiliated agents in our Kinnelon Group–thrilled to work with all of you! This year we are celebrating our TENTH year and could only do it with our Loyal Clients and our Outstanding Agents!” Founded in 1991, Terrie O’Connor Realtors, still Independently owned and operated, has nine locations that service Northern New Jersey and Southern New York. providing top-of-the-line support, tools and systems, and is a regional leader with a reputation for excellence and customer commitment. As a member of Leading Real Estate Companies of the World--Local and Luxury Portfolio our over 460 affiliated associates can assist you locally and globally. For more information regarding Our Signature Real Estate Services please contact us at the office 973-838-0100 or stop in at 1483 NJ Route 23 South, Kinnelon, NJ 07405 located in the Meadtown Shopping Center.

3 Tips for Selecting the Perfect Home

or those beginning the process of home buying, there are many factors to consider. Keep these ideas in mind as you conduct your search – whether it’s online or at a series of open houses. Consider future needs Because life is always evolving, it’s important to move into a home that has enough space for your family’s anticipated changes. While features and space are always prime considerations, don’t forget to, look into the area schools, day care options, parks and other kid-friendly amenities if you plan to grow your family in your next home. Look for flexible spaces Seek homes that offer rooms with multiple functions. For example, an office area may be suitable for a small child’s room, or a sunroom may be converted

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.

to a laundry area down the road. Unfinished basements are also blank canvases that can be customized to meet your family’s wants and needs. Get to know the area The purchase of a home goes well beyond the property line. Be sure to examine the neighborhood in which the house is situated. From the condition

of the neighbors’ houses to highway access and the proximity of necessities like grocery stores and gas stations, be sure to take every factor into account to help ensure you’re selecting the right location. Find more tips to aid you in your home search at eLivingtoday.com. (Family Features)

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Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 33

Danielle Fiorina Awarded the Platinum Level of the 2021 NJ Realtors® Circle Of Excellence Sales Award

entury 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. is pleased to announce that Danielle Fiorina has been awarded the NJ REALTORS® Circle of Excellence Sales Award Platinum Level for 2021. This is Danielle’s 2nd consecutive year obtaining this award level by having an annual minimum of $20 million in sales. Prior to 2020 she had obtained the Gold Level award for 8 consecutive years, having an annual minimum of $12 million in sales. Danielle is also the recipient of the Century 21 President’s Producer Award, DOUBLE CENTURION® Award, and Quality Service Pinnacle Producer Award, and Top Office Producer for 2021. Danielle is a member of the NJ REALTORS® Distinguished Sales Club for achieving the Circle of Excellence Sales Award for a minimum of 10 years and is also a member of the CENTURION® Honor Society. “We are thrilled to acknowledge Danielle’s accomplishments. Her hard

work and dedication to her real estate business is evidenced by the many awards Danielle has received throughout the years,” said Patricia Wojtyszyn, Broker/ Owner Century 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. “My clients always come first. Understanding their personal goals and needs is at the heart of my real estate business, and I believe it is the foundation for an effective client/realtor relationship. I am very grateful to my clients for putting their trust in me and thrilled to be acknowledged by NJ REALTORS® for this distinguished award.” says Fiorina. Danielle Fiorina has built her reputation on professionalism and honesty. As a former business owner and accountant/ controller, she is very innovative and promotes her client’s needs to successfully reach their goal. Fiorina has been a professional realtor and top producer in the industry since 2006 and provides oneon-one personal expertise to each and every client from start to finish.

When you choose Danielle, you work directly, and only with Danielle. Call Danielle to put her experience to work for you and for all your real estate needs. Danielle can be reached at 973-460-4352. Century 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. has serviced the Northern New Jersey area since 1981, CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. has enjoyed a fine reputation specializing in residential, commercial and rental properties. CENTURY 21 Crest Real Estate, Inc. is an award-winning, full service real estate agency. They are an independently owned and operated franchise affiliate of Century 21 Real Estate LLC, the iconic brand and franchisor of the world’s largest residential real estate sales organization, comprised of 14,250 franchised broker offices in 86 countries and territories worldwide with more than 145,000 independent sales professionals. The Century 21® System provides brand marks, marketing, communications and innovative technology solutions that

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Page 34 • April 2022 • Hometown Life • Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com

Celebrated Chefs Support Project Self-Suﬃciency

orthwestern New Jersey’s premier culinary fundraising event, A Taste of Talent, will be held at Perona Farms on behalf of local non-profit agency Project Self-Sufficiency on Monday, May 2nd, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Patrons are invited to mingle with chefs from approximately 50 celebrated area restaurants while feasting on appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The epicurean event raises funds for the non-profit agency which specializes in services for low-income families in Sussex, Morris, Hunterdon and Warren. Sponsorships for A Taste of Talent range from $500 - $25,000. The event will take place indoors and outside at the venue. Volunteer musicians will perform throughout the facility. Some of the many fine restaurants which have participated in the past, and many of which are expected to return, include 403 Broad, Andre’s Lakeside Dining, Black Forest Inn, Bobolink Dairy & Bakehouse, Café Pierrot, Caffe NaVona, Chocolate Goat Gift Shoppe, The Circle, Clay Oven, Cliff ’s Ice Cream, Fossil Farms, Front Porch Organics, George’s Wine & Gourmet Gallery/Fran’s Farmhouse Kitchen, Gourmet Gallery, Green Cart Catering, Hayek’s Market, il Porto, Chef Jesse James, Krave Café + Caterer, L’Amico NYC, Lorraine’s Cake Shop & Tea Room, Mama’s Café Baci, North Shore House, Pattycakes Bake Shop, Perona Farms, Portofino Ristorante, Ryland Inn, Chef Tim Schafer, Slamwich Scratch Kitchen, Springhouse Creamery, St. Moritz Bar & Grill, Stone Water, Tanti Baci Caffe, White Birch, and Windy Brow Farms. “A Taste of Talent is our signature fundraising event and the cornerstone of our annual campaign,” noted Deborah

Chefs from approximately 50 restaurants are expected to participate in A Taste of Talent at Perona Farms on behalf of Project SelfSufficiency.

Berry-Toon, Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency. “Funds raised by A Taste of Talent make it possible for Project Self-Sufficiency to provide the programs and services necessary for families in northwestern New Jersey to attain economic self-sufficiency. We continue to be humbled by the support we are receiving from the restaurateurs in our area, and we are looking forward to a delightful event.” Select donation categories are available for A Taste of

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Talent, ranging from $500 - $25,000. A limited number of tickets for individual donations are available at a cost of $300. Perona Farms is located at 350 Andover-Sparta Road, Andover. To make a contribution to Project Self-Sufficiency, to obtain tickets to A Taste of Talent, or to find out more information about the programs and services available at the agency, visit www.projectselfsufficiency.org or call 973940-3500.

NJStarz

Like us on facebook www.facebook.com/mypaperonline.com • Hometown Life • April 2022 • Page 35

NJ Starz: Jennifer JonesHometown: Randolph, NJ

ennifer Jones recalls the night vividly. “Sue Simmons came on the 11 o’clock news, and she said, ‘Radio City Music Hall has just hired their first African American dancer to be a Rockette.” I said to myself, ‘I wonder who that is?’ And it was me! They didn’t tell me that I was the first one.” The year was 1987, and Jones was invited to be on field during the Super Bowl XXII halftime show. The game, a Washington Redskins 42 – 10 win over the Denver Broncos, was somewhat forgettable, but Jones taking part in the intermission was news, and it led to, in her words, “15 years with the Rockettes, and then I did Broadway after that, so it was a beautiful 20 year professional dancing experience.” “I was mostly raised in Randolph,” says Jones, who was born in Newark on August 1, 1967. “I went to sixth grade there, but we moved there a year before, when I attended The Pingry School in Basking Ridge for one year, and then I went to Randolph schools, from where I graduated high school and then eventually attended CCM (County College of Morris).” Jones was a trailblazer, and she followed in her parents’ footsteps. “I’m biracial; my mother (Linda Lourie, originally from Rockaway) is white, my father (Booker T. Jones, born in Saint Louis, Missouri) is black, and they got together in the 1960s when that wasn’t fondly looked upon, an interracial relationship.” Jones is the middle child of three sisters. Her older sibling is Kara, and the younger is Patricia. “But we call her ‘Peaches,’” Jones says. Jones enjoyed her time in Randolph. “Of course, it’s a great educational system that they have there, which is one of the reasons why my parents moved there, but there was some racial tension. My sister and I were in the minority group. There were some hard times, but I have a great core friends. We actually just went to St. Augustine last September, just the five of us, after we hadn’t seen each other in over 20 years, and it was like we picked up from yesterday, like we never left off.” After high school, Jones went to CCM and originally applied to be a business major with the notion that she would open up a dance studio. However, the urge

was there to be a dancer, so she changed her major to dance. The love of that art had been instilled in her at a young age. “My parents started me dancing when I was around five or six,” Jones says. “They had combined dance classes; it was like tap with gymnastics. All I can remember is that I loved the way the sound the tap made against the linoleum floor. There was something about that sound that I loved, so much so that my parents got linoleum flooring in the basement, just a piece of it. My father’s office was down in the basement, and whenever he was down there working from home, I would go down with my tap shoes on and just tap-taptap. He never complained once, if you can imagine that.” While at CCM, Jones was very busy. In addition to her studies, she was part of a modern dance company called “Beyond the New Jersey Turnpike”, which was eventually shortened years later to just “Beyond”, and she was also trekking to the Broadway Dance Center in New York City, where Frank Hatchett was her mentor. “I was really big into jazz because I was going to be a Broadway star,” she says. Again, it was her parents that opened her and her sisters’ world up to the beauty of performance. “Our parents took us to Broadway all the time, and I saw The Wiz five times. And then we would wait backstage after the show at the stage door and get autographs, and I knew one day I wanted to walk out of that backstage door. I didn’t know how or anything, but all I knew is I wanted to be the one walking out. So my goal was to be on Broadway. And to me, I equated Broadway with jazz dancing, and so I took ballet for the technique, which is the core of any type of dancing, and I took some tap classes. So I was going back and forth between CCM and New York, taking classes, learning the art of auditioning and how to find an audition. I also started making friends in the city, and I had one friend who knew a lot of Broadway people, and I started meeting people.” Then in 1987, when searching through an industry publication for dance roles, Jones bypassed a printed mention of an open audition for the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes. A friend encouraged her to attend that audition, telling her she’d be

a perfect Rockette. Jones, not envisioning being chosen and a bit hesitant, eventually convinced herself to go. “I wasn’t even going to go to the audition. I was always nervous at auditions. So I thought I would go and try to clean up some of the cobwebs, get better at auditioning.” When she arrived, the line was wrapped around Radio City Music Hall, and she thought, ‘Maybe I should just go take my Frank Hatchett class.’ Instead she remained, and was taken with a group to a rehearsal hall. “They put us in a line. I was stretching, and it was very intimidating. Everyone was beautiful and had long legs, and I thought, ‘Just let me get through this audition.’” After being measured for the approved Rockette height, she made the cut and headed to the floor for a tap routine – in character shoes. “When it was over, I was going to the back of the room to get my bag, and the stage manager came up to me, and he said, ‘Jennifer, we’re going to give you a call back. Bring your tap shoes and bring your picture and resume.” She went to the call back, and sealed the deal. Jones recalls, “I think it was just maybe a few months later that Violet Holmes, the choreographer at the time, called me and she asked me if I wanted to do the Super Bowl halftime show. That’s when I accepted the her offer.”

Photos courtesy of Jennifer Jones

And then the NBC News broadcast with Sue Simmons. “My mother called me and she said, ‘Jennifer is that you?!’ and I said, ‘I don’t know.’ Nobody said anything, only later to find out that it was me.” Jones was then put through media training, given mock interviews to get used to the real interviews that she would eventually do as the first official African American Radio City Rockette. Another one of Jones’s proudest Rockette moments is when she performed at the Tony Awards in the Broadway revival of 42nd Street in 2001. The ensemble won the Tony Award that same night for Best Revival of a Musical. Jones was also the first African American Miss Morris County (1989), owned and operated the Jennifer Jones Dance and Fitness Studio in Rockaway from 1990 – 1993, and was the first to kick off CCM’s “I Got It Right” billboard campaign. Jones, who retired in 2002 and is a member of the Rockette Alumnae Association as well as the Rockettes of Color Alumnae, is currently married to husband Jeffrey DeBarbieri, and has two children, Zachary and Isabella. She is a happy and grateful woman, and has funneled that gratitude towards awareness in a worthwhile initiative that for her hits continued on page 36

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NJ Starz...

continued from page 35 very close to home. She explains. “I wake up grateful every morning. In 2018 I was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer. I was healthy my entire life: I had a professional dancing career, and I was vegetarian for over 20 years. And when I was diagnosed it was, first of all, a surprise.” Jones went through eight rounds of chemotherapy, and then had surgery the end of 2018. “In 2019 I was deemed cancer free, and I’ve been cancer free ever since. I went to Memorial Sloan Kettering and had an almost all-female team, which makes it very comfortable for me to speak about it, and I do a lot of work with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance. I do speaking engagements about colorectal cancer and awareness, and try to spread the word that the colonoscopy age has lowered to 45 instead of 50. So, I wake up grateful every morning, first of all for my health, for having a roof over my head, for having food on the table, for my family, for my children, for my parents, and for my job.” Her colorectal cancer battle and survival has redirected how she wants to live her life – a life that continues to be filled with good things. “I have a children’s book coming out the end of the year,” Jones says, “and I have my memoir that will be coming out in 2023, and various other projects that I’m working on. I’m able to shift focus to things that will benefit me and hopefully benefit others.” For more information about the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, visit www.ccalliance.org. To learn more about Jones, visit www.rockettejenn.com.

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