Council Reorganizes As Mayor Lauds Officials and Residents

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Council Reorganizes As MayorLauds Officials and ResidentsBy NANCY CROSTA LANDALE

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader

Recognizing that 2001 will be re-membered “not by weeks or months,but by one day,” Mayor GregoryMcDermott’s State of the Town Ad-dress paid tribute on January 2 tothose who lost their lives in the ter-rorist attacks as well as the Westfieldresidents and law and public safetyprofessionals “who came out to do-nate money, blood, services and mostof all, their compassion, to assistthose in our community who had losta loved one in the tragedy.”

Mayor McDermott continued, “Ihave never been prouder as Mayor ofthis exemplary town as I have beenover these past few months. And, Ihave never been more grateful as aresident to be a part of this extraordi-nary community.”

Addressing a standing-room onlyaudience, which included formerWestfield mayors and council mem-bers, freeholders, and State Assem-bly and Senate members, MayorMcDermott reported on the progressof several town concerns over thepast year.

He pointed to the formation of theSafe Operating Speed Program(SOS), which was implemented toheighten awareness of pedestrian andbiker safety. He also cited the main-tenance of parks, recreation facili-ties and roads, along with approvalof a $1.7 million improvement planfor the Westfield Memorial Pool and

the start of the Mindowaskin PondOverlook reconstruction, “whileholding down an increase in themunicipal share of a resident’s taxbill to less than one percent.”

The Mayor also highlighted a re-

negotiated long-term recycling con-tract and an ordinance restrictinggarbage pick-up during early morn-ing hours.

Focusing on parking capacity, oneof the major issues in 2001, the Mayorrecalled the fulfillment of his cam-paign promise to partner with citi-zens and form the Mayor’s ParkingAdvisory Committee.

He reviewed that, under a planreleased by the committee in No-vember, “the need to create 900 newspaces was identified and a progres-sive construction plan that wouldeventually create three new parkingstructures was proposed. Key to thisconstruction effort is a public-pri-

vate partnership that would ensurethat these structures could be financedat no cost to the taxpayer by enablingdevelopers to incorporate retail spaceinto the parking structures.”

The Mayor urged the town to “em-brace the findings of the parkingcommittee and resolve to move for-ward in 2002 on a plan of action thatwill do more than increase parkingspaces. It will also establish the kindof town we want Westfield to be inthe years to come.”

In a related matter, MayorMcDermott stressed the need to de-termine whether there are areas intown requiring redevelopment, ask-ing the council to support authoriz-ing funds for the planning board toconduct special meetings, retain ser-vices of planning professionals, andprepare a redevelopment report andplan.

Such support, said MayorMcDermott, “will enable the town tomove in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner toward new, tax-payer-friendly development projectsand enhanced parking capabilities.”

In other reorganization business,Town Clerk Bernard Heeney sworeincumbents Peter Echausse, FirstWard, and Matthew Albano, SecondWard, to new terms.

Kevin Walsh was sworn in as thenew Third Ward Councilman byJudge Joel Pisano of New Jersey’sFederal District Court. Mr. Walsh, a

Fred K. Lecomte for The Westfield LeaderPOTS AND PANS…Jeffrey Rust keeps things cooking at his new restaurant, Jeffrey’s on Central Avenue in downtownWestfield this week.


Comcast Customers Continue To Struggle Without Service


Mountainside MayorViglianti Recaps 2001

During Reorg. MeetingBy LAUREN S. PASS


Last Thursday, the Borough ofMountainside conducted its 106thre-organizational meeting, duringwhich Werner Schon, a 19-yearveteran of the council and four-year veteran Glenn Mortimer, whowon re-election this past Novem-ber, were sworn in by Judge BartBarre.

Councilman Keith Turner wasalso unanimously elected as Coun-cil President for 2002.

“Mountainside in 2001 had avery, very banner year,” statedMayor Robert Viglianti during hisannual message to the council andthe citizens of Mountainside. Bor-ough residents saw a 0.008 percenttax increase and the borough tookout $5 million in bonds in 2001.

Mayor Viglianti praised BoroughEngineer Dr. Michael Disko for allof his work with the re-paving ofstreets, repair of drainage problems,new curbing and television inspec-tions of the sewer system. Dr. Diskowas instrumental in applying forand obtaining more than $100,000in grant monies from the New Jer-sey Department of Transportationfor road re-paving.

The borough will be continue tomake road improvements through-out 2002, as well as drainage re-pairs and the repair of sidewalks onRoute 22, in front of Borough Hall.

The Mayor cited many of theimprovements that were madethroughout the borough in 2001.The borough received a $100,000grant from Union County that wasused to improve the facilities in theBorough Hall community room. Anew restroom was installed, as wellas an exercise room with equip-ment for senior citizen residents,and a computer class for seniorswas offered. Mountainside also re-ceived grants for the lighting ofboth the little league field atDeerfield School and the BoroughHall field.

The lights are already in place at

Deerfield School, and the contractshave gone out for bid for the Bor-ough Hall field. A $20,000 com-munity development grant was re-ceived to install automatic doors atBorough Hall.

The Recreation Commission ini-tiated new youth programs in 2001.They began a kung-fu class, a trav-eling under-12 softball league andfield hockey. Assistant RecreationDirector Frank Masella receivedthe New Jersey Recreation Depart-ment Association’s Young Profes-sional of the Year Award in March.

Also in 2001, the MountainsidePolice Department saw a decreasein crime. The department received$169,000 from a forfeiture fund.These monies were received be-cause of a case several years agowhere the department assisted inthe arrest and conviction of a crimi-nal who was in possession of ille-gal money. These monies can onlybe used to enhance the police de-partment, not for regular expendi-tures. The department also pur-chased three new police cars and isawaiting delivery on a motorcycle.

The Mountainside Fire Depart-ment has grown to 30 members.There was one serious house fire in2001 where no one was injured,and firefighters assisted on Septem-ber 11 by going to Staten Islandwith the Union County Task Force.

Mayor Viglianti commented onthe borough’s contract with Atlan-tic Ambulance Corporation by stat-ing, “Our squad is not able to re-spond to calls from 4 a.m. to 6 p.m.,Monday through Friday. This canbe a temporary setback; if enoughresidents join we can go back tohaving a fulltime rescue squad. Letus not lose this Mountainside trea-sure.”

Mayor Viglianti also announcedthat the borough will receive 76 per-cent and Garwood will receive 24percent of the liquid assets from thedissolution of the regional board ofeducation.

“I have never been prouder asMayor of this exemplary town asI have been over these past fewmonths. And, I have never beenmore grateful as a resident to bea part of this extraordinary com-munity.”

Mayor Gregory McDermott

Courtesy of Jennifer BuccinoTORCHBEARER…In Princeton last week, Jennifer Buccino, who has taught physical education at Tamaques Elemen-tary School in Westfield for 11 years, carried the torch for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pictured,above, Ms. Buccino, who coaches spring track, cross country and winter track for Westfield High School, passes the torchlight to another torchbearer. Ms. Buccino was nominated for the honor by former student Heather Dennis.


Westfield Board of Ed. Hears Expert AdviceOn Education for Gifted, Talented Children

By MICHELE J. VACCARISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

The eight members of the WestfieldBoard of Education were present lastTuesday night when the first of threegrant awards from the Westfield Edu-cation Fund was received, prepara-tions for Martin Luther King Daywere reviewed and a presentationwas received on programs for giftedand talented children.

Sara Lampe was hired by the boardto consult on programs currently of-fered within the schools for giftedchildren. She offered suggestions

which she believes would benefit theexceptional child, their teachers,administrators and the parents in-volved.

Ms. Lampe reported on four keyelements of a successful program,including the appointment of a di-rector, assessment of individual learn-ing profiles, development of a re-sponse system and provision forteacher training.

For the program to be valid, boththe school board and Superintendentof Schools Dr. William J. Foley mustbe strongly committed to serving the

gifted and talented students ofWestfield, she said.

The suggestions included desig-nating a Director of Gifted Educa-tion, who can remain on the cuttingedge of teaching methods for thegifted and talented. The appointeewill need to know how to react to theneeds of those children, be able toimplement an Individual Assessment/Learning Profile for students whomay need intervention, and respondto the needs of gifted students byoffering options for gifted children.

Finally, intense training for teach-

ers, counselors and administratorson the nature and needs of the giftedstudent will be required of the personwho fills this position.

“Currently, Westfield provides pro-grams for advanced learners, notgifted kids,” said Ms. Lampe, addingthat “gifted kids need a faster pacewith more in-depth challenges andstimulations and programs offeredto them throughout their educationalexperiences.”

Pointing out the differences be-tween the bright child and the gifted

Council Encouraged to Ask NJ Transit to Run BusTo SP to Relieve Out-of-Town Commuter ParkingBy NANCY CROSTA LANDALE


Tuesday evening’s council meet-ing was significant, not only becauseit was the first such meeting of thenew year, but also because it markedthe first working session with a ma-jority of council members hailingfrom the Democratic party.

Mayor Gregory McDermottopened the meeting by requestingthat the body operate efficiently.

Commenting after the meeting,the Mayor said, “I felt it was a pro-ductive meeting; we’re going to havea good year.”

One of the major issues discussed

was NJ Transit’s recent offering of onlyone jitney bus in response to the town’sinitial grant application for two suchvehicles and ultimate plan for four buses.

Last May, the town began effortsto implement a commuter jitney ser-vice to the train station operated by aprivate firm. Routes on the north andsouth sides of town were envisioned,and it was expected that over 100persons would be served.

According to Town AdministratorJames Gildea, on January 7 NJ Transitcalled to advise that one of the jitneyshad arrived and requested Westfieldtake possession of the vehicle.

Recognizing that having only one

jitney bus would provide inadequateand inequitable service, that the cost tooperate and maintain only one buswould be in excess of $100,000, andthat no money presently is budgeted torun the service, Mr. Gildea urged thecouncil to consider asking NJ Transitto offer the bus to Scotch Plains.

This offer would be made with thehope that Scotch Plains would agreeto utilize the bus to transport its resi-dents to the Westfield train station.

Mr. Gildea stated, “In this way, wecan reduce the number of cars fromScotch Plains parking in Westfield.”

Responding, First Ward Council-man Peter Echausse stated that since

15 to 20 percent of train passengersdeparting from the Westfield stationdo not live in Westfield, Mr. Gildea’ssuggestion was good, since it poten-tially would reduce out-of-town carsparking in Westfield.

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Su-san Jacobson proposed using the onejitney bus being offered now to takeresidents from an off-site location tothe train station.

The Mayor informed that this sug-gestion was entertained in the past, butstill would require multiple buses inorder to work efficiently and properly.

Mr. Gildea added that a surveyCONTINUED ON PAGE 10

By DEBORAH MADISONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

An undetermined number ofComcast Internet customers in NewJersey and in several other stateswere cut off from their Internet ande-mail access for varying lengths oftime over the past several weeks,since Comcast’s network provider,Excite@Home declared bankruptcyin mid-December.

Excite’s bankruptcy left Comcastin a lurch to rapidly transfer hun-dreds of thousands of customers totheir own network in late December,disrupting service and causing a pub-lic relations nightmare for the high-speed Internet provider.

What was publicly hailed byComcast as a simple to install transi-tion process, mushroomed into ma-jor connection problems for an unde-terminable number of Comcast’s205,000 New Jersey customers.

Many Comcast customers reportedto The Westfield Leader and The Timesof Scotch Plains–Fanwood a com-plete inability to access their e-mailor the Internet since December 27,the date upon which customers wereinstructed to install the new CD-ROM software sent to them in themail.

Comcast has not officially admit-ted to the media or to the public thatany network problems occurred ontheir end.

Some reports from users and tech-nicians indicate that all ofComcast’s 205,000 New Jerseycustomers had some connectivityproblems at some point during thetransition process. However, it hasbeen impossible to verify exactnumbers with Comcast officials.

On January 5, Comcast spokesper-son for the Eastern Division, AnneBongiovanni, told The Leader andThe Times that the Central New Jer-sey transition was “going smoothly,”and she said that the percentage of

customers that had transition prob-lems was “very small” in “isolatedpockets.” However, she also admit-ted that the number of customerswith connection problems “was dif-ficult to quantify.”

She stated that by Monday, Janu-ary 7, all of New Jersey’s networkwas up and running and that therewere only a very small number ofindividuals still having connectionproblems due to a variety of indi-vidual reasons. Ms. Bongiovanni

Thursday, January 10, 2002 �� and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION


CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Mayor McDermott Praises Officials,Residents While Council Reorganizes

Democrat, replaces long-time Republi-can Councilman Neil Sullivan after de-feating Mr. Sullivan in last year’s elec-tion.

In his comments to the audience, Mr.Walsh thanked his family and friends forforming “the genesis of my interest, froman early age, in civics, government, andpublic service.”

Quoting Alexis de Tocqueville’s po-litical volume, “Democracy in America,”Mr. Walsh stated, “Local assemblies ofcitizens constitute the strength of freenations. Town meetings are to libertywhat primary schools are to science; theybring it within the people’s reach, theyteach men how to use and how to enjoyit. A nation may establish a system of freegovernment, but without the spirit ofmunicipal institutions it cannot have thespirit of liberty.”

Echoing these sentiments, Mr. Walshobserved, “Westfielders know this morethan any other people I’ve seen. You, thepeople of Westfield, are informed andconcerned with issues both local andnational. Therefore, stay active, stay in-

volved, and continue participating in thisevolving and successful experimentcalled democracy.”

Newly-elected Councilwoman SusanJacobson was also sworn into office.Mrs. Jacobson, a Democrat, will repre-sent the Fourth Ward. In last year’s elec-tion she defeated Republican Council-woman Janis Fried Weinstein.

Emphasizing that her oath as Council-woman was much more than ceremonial,Mrs. Jacobson stated, “Tonight’s oath tellsus to remember whom we were elected toserve — not a political party or campaigncontributor, not just family and friends.Tonight we promise to serve every man,woman and child that lives or works inWestfield. They must be the beneficiariesof our actions and decisions.”

Mrs. Jacobson also called for coopera-tion among the council, stating, “I hopethat together we can promise to recog-nize that every council member has anequal voice and everyone’s opinion hasvalue; learn and practice the art of com-promise, and strive to build and achieveconsensus – consensus among the resi-

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Local Comcast Customers Continue toStruggle Without Service Since Dec. 27


dents and at the council table.”By virtue of mayoral and town council

appointments, Mr. Albano was appointedas Acting Mayor and Fourth Ward Coun-cilman Lawrence Goldman was namedas Alternate Acting Mayor.

Town Attorney Robert Cockren’s termwas renewed for a year, as was that ofLabor Attorney Frederick Danser, 3rd,Municipal Prosecutor Brenda Cuba, andPublic Defender Michael Diamond.

Councilman Echausse will chair theBuilding & Town Property Committee;Councilman Albano will chair the Fi-nance Committee; First Ward Council-man Carl Salisbury will chair the Laws &Rules Committee; Third Ward Council-woman Claire Lazarowitz will chair thePublic Safety Committee; Council-woman Jacobson will chair the SolidWaste Committee; Councilman Goldmanwill chair the Public Works Committee;Second Ward Councilman RafaelBetancourt will chair the Transportation,Parking & Traffic Committee, and Coun-cilman Walsh will chair the PersonnelPolicy Committee.

Five Youths ChargedIn Sex Assault of Girl

SCOTCH PLAINS – Five ScotchPlains teenagers have been chargedwith juvenile delinquency in con-nection with the sexual assault ofa 13-year-old girl in a wooded areanear Park Avenue last week.

Union County Prosecutor Tho-mas V. Manahan and Scotch PlainsPolice Chief Thomas O’Brien saidTuesday that three of the suspectsare being held in the George W.Herlich Detention Center in Eliza-beth on charges of kidnapping andaggravated sexual assault in con-nection with the January 2 incident.

An investigation conducted byDetectives Jeffrey Briel and Ser-geant Brian Mahoney resulted in aseries of juvenile delinquency com-plaints and arrests that were madeover the past weekend, ChiefO’Brien confirmed.

“It is alleged that four of thedefendants took the victim to asecluded area and forced her toengage in sexual activity while theother acted as a lookout,” the pros-ecutor revealed in a statement re-leased Tuesday.

The victim, who lives inFanwood, was allegedly accostedby the teenagers after school endedat about 3 p.m. and taken to a

wooded area near a creek that flowsbehind a football field off of ParkAvenue. Police said the victimknew at least two of the suspects.

Executive Assistant ProsecutorRobert P. O’Leary of the UnionCounty Prosecutor’s Office saidTuesday that the suspects rangedin age from 15 to 17 years old.

She was pushed, slapped andpunched by a 17-year-old male wholed the assault, according to lawenforcement officials. They said thevictim sustained bruises, scratchesand contusions during the attack.

Mr. O’Leary said the victim sub-sequently reported the incident toauthorities. She was examined atMuhlenberg Regional MedicalCenter in Plainfield and released,he acknowledged.

The suspects, all students atScotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool, were charged in delin-quency complaints filed Mondaywith the Family Part, SuperiorCourt in Elizabeth.

They face juvenile court hear-ings this week before SuperiorCourt Judge Rudolph N. HawkinsJr., said Assistant ProsecutorDeborah A. White of the JuvenileJustice Unit.

Courtesy of The Maranz FamilyBABY NEW YEAR…Mr. and Mrs. Matt Maranz of Westfield have announced that their son, Jack Philip Maranz, wasborn on New Year’s Day, January 1, at 5:17 p.m. at Overlook Hospital in Summit. Born one month early and deliveredby Dr. Richard Blum of Westfield, Jack weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured 19 inches at birth. The first childborn to the Maranz Family, Jack is believed to be the first local baby born in 2002.

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learner, Ms. Lampe explained that theprofoundly gifted students are oftenmisunderstood. She said that approxi-mately 1 percent fit into this categoryand need to be given the same attentionspecial needs children receive.

According to Ms. Lampe, the giftedchild often demonstrates characteris-tics that include exceptional vocabu-lary and memory skills, a higher levelof thinking, sense of humor, keen sen-sitivity and a special intensity in every-thing they do.

“The reality is that profoundly giftedchildren do not fit in (the regular class-room) and because of their differenceswe need to help them,” Ms. Lampe toldthe board.

Board President Arlene Gardner waspresented with the first of three grantawards from the Westfield EducationFund. The grant award will go to sev-eral teachers to aid in the costs of theirchosen projects.

“The grant awards enable new cre-ative ideas which we do not have a


budget for,” said Ms. Gardner.The Town of Westfield is preparing

for the observance of Martin LutherKing, Jr. Day, during which a pancakebreakfast will be offered at the WestfieldCommunity Center on Monday, Janu-ary 21, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m.

A procession will follow at noon,starting from Bethel Baptist Church at539 Trinity Place. The Reverend KevinClark will be the keynote speaker. “Peaceon Earth” is the theme of this year’s Art,Poetry and Essay Contest. All are wel-come to attend.

BOE Hears Advice On EducationFor Gifted and Talented Children


MountainsideApproximately $6.9 million will

need to be disbursed between the twotowns. This money will be distributedover a five-year period. There will be ameeting of the council and board ofeducation to discuss the use of themoney.

Mayor Viglianti pledged to improvethe quality of life in Mountainside whilekeeping the tax rate low.

recently conducted revealed that therewere many less residents than anticipatedwho would avail themselves of such aservice.

Fourth Ward Councilman LawrenceGoldman added, “Running a feeder ser-vice is a great idea, but we’re not in the busbusiness.”

In comments after the meeting, MayorMcDermott said, “I’m disappointed thatwe’re not going to be able to do this. Welooked at the jitney idea as a conveniencefor residents and alternate means to get tothe train station, but due to the restrictionsimposed, it is economically unattainable.”

In other business, Mr. Gildea advisedthat the 2002 operating and capital bud-gets will be reviewed next week.

Second Ward Councilman MatthewAlbano, who chairs the Finance Commit-tee, stated, “We welcome any commentsto help streamline the process or regard-ing areas in which we should focus.”

Mayor McDermott added, “It’s stillimportant to talk with the departmentheads. I’d like to take one to two Satur-days to do this. This will give an opportu-nity to talk about where we want to spendmoney versus how to spend it.”

In this regard, the Mayor said he plansto have the department heads as well ascommittee chairpersons appear at councilmeetings on a rotating basis “so that wekeep aware of what’s happening.”

He also is preparing an agenda for aSaturday meeting solely addressing theparking issue.

The council also discussed financialaspects stemming from the recent filing ofa complaint contesting the ward map ap-proved by the Westfield Ward Commis-sion in November.

Third Ward Councilwoman ClaireLazarowitz, Chairwoman of the Public


Safety Committee, advised that she wasasked by the Housing Commission toconsider reinitiating the former Neigh-borhood Improvement Agency.

In the past, the agency received federalfunds to assist local residents who quali-fied under certain financial standards forimprovement and rehabilitation of theirhomes. Though past efforts caused all ofthe qualifying properties to be addressed,the inactivity of the agency in recent yearshas caused a resurgence of propertiesneeding attention.

With the council’s agreement, Mr.Gildea advised that he would research thehistory of the agency’s actions, obtainnecessary information, and report back tothe council by the end of the month.

Also, a draft resolution authorizingmatching funds for the “Field of Dreams”grant was approved. The grant is for theengineering evaluation of seven athletic/playing fields in town and was submittedby the Recreation Department to the UnionCounty Open Space, Recreation & His-toric Preservation Trust Fund in Novem-ber.

Once the resolution is passed at theJanuary 15 town council meeting, offi-cials will be authorized to file an applica-tion with the county for a grant in theamount of $18,350, and matching fundsin the same amount will be appropriatedin 2002 in accordance with grant require-ments.

Two amending ordinances concerningthe creation of a Parking Service DirectorManagement Specialist position also werepreliminarily approved.

Mr. Gildea explained that several can-didates have been interviewed for theposition, and an offer of employmentshould be made shortly so that the posi-tion will be filled in early February.

Demonstrating that the effects of theSeptember 11 tragedies remain, Mr. Gildeaurged the council to approve the volun-tary continuation of a town employee’ssalary while he is called to serve in Af-ghanistan for the next six months.

He observed, “In the scheme of thingsand since this occurs during war time, it isappropriate to consider this.”

The council as a whole expressed ac-ceptance, with Mayor McDermott point-ing out that there will be no loss to thetown since the employee’s hours will becovered by others without any additionalcosts incurred.

In other matters, requests by theWestfield Area Chamber of Commercewere approved to hold the Eighth AnnualSpring Fling Street Fair on Sunday, April28 (rain date May 5); the 13th AnnualWestfield FestiFall Street Fair on Sunday,September 2, (rain date September 29)and the Second Annual Family Fest onSunday, June 9 (rain date June 16).

A draft Resolution also was approvedproclaiming January as School BoardRecognition Month, as urged by theNew Jersey State League of Municipali-ties and New Jersey School Boards As-sociation.

Council Encouraged to Ask NJ Transit to Run BusTo SP to Relieve Out-of-Town Commuter Parking

could not specify what those reasonswere or how Comcast was able todetermine the number of users stillhaving connection problems.

According to reports fielded throughThe Leader and The Times office, aswell as complaints published onInternet sites, after using the CD-ROMas instructed, many Comcast custom-ers experienced a variety of problemsranging from slow Web page down-load speeds to total system crashes.

Web sites such aswww.dslreports.com listed hundredsof complaints logged by Comcast us-ers in recent weeks detailing a plethoraof user-problems, such as softwarecompatibility problems, intermittentservice, creepingly slow web pagespeeds and the inability to reach cus-tomer service telephone representa-tives.

Comcast provides one free Internetconnection to many schools and librar-ies in this area.

Joanne Arvay, Technology Coordi-nator for the Scotch Plains-FanwoodBoard of Education, reported that theirone Comcast Internet computer is stilldown; however, for the most part, theschool system relies on a connectionthrough the Union County InternetConsortium.

Vivian Mareck, Head of TechnicalServices at the Scotch Plains Library,said that their one Comcast connectionwas down for several days, but thencame back up again and has been work-ing fine, with no changes made to thesystem. The Scotch Plains Library re-lies on a Verizon T1 broadband con-

nection for most of their Internet ac-cess.

“We have noticed that more than theusual number of residents have beencoming into the library in the past fewweeks to use our computers saying thatthey couldn’t access their Comcast e-mail at home,” Ms. Mareck said.

Eileen Hague, Head of TechnicalServices at the Westfield MemorialLibrary, reported a similar occurrencein Westfield.

Dan Weiss, Director of the FanwoodMemorial Library reported to TheLeader and The Times that althoughthe Fanwood Library does not useComcast, he had problems with hisconnection at home. Like many othercustomers, he spent many hours onhold, only to be transferred to a levelone technician, who could not solvehis connection problems.

“They underestimated the complex-ity of the problem,” Mr. Weiss re-marked.

Barbara Brennan, Chief FinancialOfficer in Fanwood, told The Leaderand The Times that all of the municipaloffices at Borough Hall were unable toaccess their e-mail or the Internet untilJanuary 7. Since Monday, however, thesystem was back up and running fine,she said. She didn’t know if any changeswere made to the system, which madethat possible.

James Debbie, Mountainside Chiefof Police, reported that the BoroughHall, including several administrativeoffices, Engineering, Recreation andthe police department, have had onlyintermittent service since December

27 and no service since January 7.“Like half of New Jersey, we had no

service (at Borough Hall) from theweek after Christmas until January 2.Then on January 7 we went back downagain,” Chief Debbie remarked.

He said that technicians in Michigantold him a variety of reasons, includingrouter problems, server problems andold modems as the cause. Chief Debbiealso uses Comcast for his home serviceand said that his older modem has beenworking fine since January 1, despitehaving been told that the older modemswould no longer work.

Horace Corbin, Publisher of TheLeader and The Times reported that e-mail traffic from @home.com userscoming into the newspaper has droppedby about two thirds since the transitionprocess began.

“This traffic is only now starting tocome back,” Mr. Corbin said on Tues-day.

Some of the customer service tele-phone recordings admitted thatComcast was being inundated with“heavier than normal” call volumesdue to the transition process.

Ms. Bongiovanni attributed theheavier than normal call volume to themultitude of customers calling to askquestions about their new service andnot necessarily caused by customerswith connectivity problems.

The New Jersey Board of PublicUtilities was inundated with triple theusual number of complaints regardingComcast, despite the fact that ComcastInternet Service is not governed by thatutility or any other agency.

“We have had 2,200 calls since De-cember 27 regarding the Comcast prob-lems,” reported New Jersey’s Board ofPublic Utilities spokesperson, JoseGomez Rivera.

The conflicting accounts of the situ-ation have left many customers feelingthat Comcast has been misrepresent-ing the transition as a success. Someusers were advised by telephone tech-nicians to uninstall all of the softwarethat the CD-ROM loaded on their com-puters, because the software was eithermis-programmed or caused compat-ibility problems.

Ms. Bongiovanni denied the rumorthat the CD-ROMs were mis-pro-grammed or at fault for system crashes.

Peter Billson, President of ElbnetInternet Service, a Westfield-basedcomputer consulting company, told TheLeader and The Times that eight of hisclients were Comcast users and thatthey all had difficulties with the transi-tion process for a variety of reasons. Infact, he had not heard of any Comcastusers that did not have connection prob-lems during the transition process.

“Poor planning coupled with poormanagement decisions to cover up theproblem have made this a badly ex-ecuted transition,” Mr. Billson com-mented. He also suggested that attempt-ing to convert all 205,000 New Jerseyusers at once was a bad idea and thatthe transition should have been stagedin smaller geographic sections overtime.

“The information included with theCD-ROM should have warned that thesoftware may cause compatibility prob-lems,” he added. “Customers shouldhave been given the benefit of the doubtthat they were capable of re-settingtheir browser settings on their own,rather than having the CD-ROM do itfor them.”

Mayor Robert Viglianti ofMountainside, also a Comcast cus-tomer, reported to The Leader andThe Times that he had no access tohis e-mail at home for three to fourdays after installing the disk. Healso heard of several other Comcastusers in Mountainside that had ac-cess difficulties. However, he givesComcast credit for attempting tokeep so many customers up and run-ning after the sudden bankruptcy ofExcite.

These problems, coupled with a re-cent notice from Comcast that monthlysubscription rates will increase in Feb-ruary, have left many customers won-dering why they are paying more thandial-up customers for less access andpoor customer service.

Many of the Comcast users that spokewith The Leader and The Times ex-pressed that they were angered be-cause Comcast was not forthcoming inadmitting that they goofed and re-marked that a simple apology wouldhave appeased many disgruntled cus-tomers.

Westfield PoliceAnnouncement

The Westfield Police Department hasrecovered a Royce Union mountain bike;black, red and silver in color, which wasstolen in the Eaglecroft Road area on orabout the week of December 20. Theowner is urged to contact the detectivebureau at 908.789-4008.

FIFTY CENTS(908) 232-4407OUR 44TH YEAR – ISSUE NO. 02-44 PublishedEvery Thursday

USPS 485200Periodical – Postage Paid at Scotch Plains, N.J. Thursday, January 10, 2002

��A&E...............Page 16Classifieds......Page 15Editorial ........ Page 4

Education........Page 9Obituary ........ Page 8

Religious ....... Page 7Social ............ Page 6Sports ............ Page 11


Redevelopment Plan OrdinanceSet for New Introduction Tonight


By SUZETTE F. STALKERSpecially Written for The Times

Borough officials were expectedto introduce a new ordinance at theirregular meeting tonight for a rede-

velopment plan they hope will serveas a guide for improving a 6.5-acreblock of land in Fanwood’s down-town.

Bordered by South, Martine andLaGrande Avenues and by SecondStreet, the block includes 24 sepa-rate tax lots representing a variety ofcommercial uses. Four of the lotscomprise the long-dormant Dean Oilsite.

The governing body initially in-troduced an ordinance for the plan,which calls for mixed retail and resi-dential development of the block, onNovember 7. It was then referred tothe Fanwood Planning Board for a45-day review.

The Planning Board held a two-part public hearing on the plan, whichit approved 7-2 on December 17,albeit with 14 recommendations forthe council to consider. These itemswere based on landlords’ and ten-ants’ concerns over the potentialimpact of the plan on the local busi-ness community.

The recommendations addresseda broad range of topics, from theneed for adequate parking, to seniorcitizen housing, to ensuring that bothretail and residential elements aredeveloped in a timely fashion, amongother categories.

After receiving the PlanningBoard’s recommendations lastmonth, the council opted to delayfurther action on the redevelopmentplan until after the start of the new

year. However, an ordinance for theplan had to be introduced again sincea new council is in place.

The ordinance will now be di-rected back to the Planning Board,which will have up to 45 days toreview it and report back to the coun-cil with any further recommenda-tions it may have, Borough AttorneyWilfred Coronato confirmed.

He said the governing body willconsider such recommendations anddecide either to accept or reject them,prior to adoption of the redevelop-ment plan ordinance on second read-ing. If introduced tonight, Mr.Coronato anticipated the ordinancewould be adopted by February.

Last Thursday, at the governingbody’s first agenda session of theyear, Mayor Louis Jung and the coun-cil reviewed each of the PlanningBoard’s recommendations with plan-ner Richard Preiss, who crafted theredevelopment plan and whose firmpreviously performed studies of theblock.

Officials determined that whilesome of the recommendations wouldbe incorporated into the plan itself,others were more appropriate for the


Fanwood Council Bids Farewell to Mrs. Schurtz;Gives Green Light to New Sign Ordinance

By REBECCA TOKARZSpecially Written for The Times

Fanwood’s governing body bidfarewell to Councilwoman Karen M.Schurtz during its last official meet-ing of last year, which was held onDecember 27.

Last April, Mrs. Schurtz, a Demo-crat and member of the BoroughCouncil for six years, announced herdecision not to seek reelection for athird term.

She said the conflicting schedulescreated by her responsibilities to themultiple committees she served on,as well as her duties as boroughPolice Commissioner and her familycommitments, helped guide her toher decision.

The council, Police Chief RobertCarboy and Union County FreeholderLinda d. Stender, now a State Assem-blywoman, presented Mrs. Schurtzwith resolutions and other accoladessaluting her efforts during her yearsof service to the borough.

As Councilwoman, Mrs. Schurtz

served as Chairwoman of the LandUse and HistoricPreservation andthe Public SafetyCommittees. Shehas also served onthe Public Worksand the Educa-tion, Health andWelfare commit-tees.

Mrs. Schurtzadditionally wasCouncil Liaisonto the FanwoodPlanning Board,the Shade TreeCommission andthe Senior Citi-zens, as well asserving as Fire Commissioner.

During her time on the governingbody, Mrs. Schurtz was instrumentalin the renovation of Forest Road andLaGrande Parks. As head of theborough’s Pocket Park Committee,she also guided development of Car-

riage House Park, the pocket parkcurrently underwayon Watson Road.

She additionally

took active roles inprojects involving theShade Tree Commis-sion, including the re-

cently approved “Fanwood Memo-rial Tree Program” that will enableindividuals to have a tree planted in

honor of a living or deceased person,and in redevelopment initiatives inthe downtown area.

Republican Councilman ThomasRyan, Jr. spoke highlyof Mrs. Schurtz. “She ishardworking and alwaysused good judgment,” hesaid.

“She always putFanwood first throughthe use of her profoundintegrity, while follow-ing her heart and in-stincts. We are gratefulfor her service,” he

added.Council members said they would

miss more than just Mrs. Schurtz’swork ethic; they would also miss hercompanionship.

Fellow Democratic Councilwoman

Karen M. Schurtz

“You have performed withhonesty and integrity. You havegiven your all for Fanwood andits committees.”

Katherine MitchellFanwood Democratic Councilwoman

Comcast CustomersStill StrugglingWithout Service

By DEBORAH MADISONSpecially Written for The Times

An undetermined number ofComcast Internet customers in NewJersey and in several other stateswere cut off from their Internet ande-mail access for varying lengths oftime over the past several weeks,since Comcast’s network provider,Excite@Home declared bankruptcyin mid-December.

Excite’s bankruptcy left Comcastin a lurch to rapidly transfer hun-dreds of thousands of customers totheir own network in late December,disrupting service and causing a pub-lic relations nightmare for the high-speed Internet provider.

What was publicly hailed byComcast as a simple to install transi-tion process, mushroomed into ma-jor connection problems for an unde-terminable number of Comcast’s205,000 New Jersey customers.

Many Comcast customers reportedto The Westfield Leader and The Timesof Scotch Plains–Fanwood a com-plete inability to access their e-mailor the Internet since December 27,the date upon which customers wereinstructed to install the new CD-

ROM software sent to them in themail.

Comcast has not officially admit-ted to the media or to the public thatany network problems occurred ontheir end.

Some reports from users and tech-nicians indicate that all ofComcast’s 205,000 New Jerseycustomers had some connectivityproblems at some point during thetransition process. However, it hasbeen impossible to verify exactnumbers with Comcast officials.

On January 5, Comcast spokesper-son for the Eastern Division, AnneBongiovanni, told The Leader andThe Times that the Central New Jer-sey transition was “going smoothly,”and she said that the percentage ofcustomers that had transition prob-lems was “very small” in “isolatedpockets.” However, she also admit-ted that the number of customerswith connection problems “was dif-ficult to quantify.”

She stated that by Monday, Janu-ary 7, all of New Jersey’s networkwas up and running and that therewere only a very small number ofindividuals still having connectionproblems due to a variety of indi-vidual reasons. Ms. Bongiovannicould not specify what those reasonswere or how Comcast was able todetermine the number of users stillhaving connection problems.

According to reports fieldedthrough The Leader and The Timesoffice, as well as complaints pub-lished on Internet sites, after usingthe CD-ROM as instructed, manyComcast customers experienced avariety of problems ranging fromslow Web page download speeds tototal system crashes.

Web sites such aswww.dslreports.com listed hundredsof complaints logged by Comcastusers in recent weeks detailing aplethora of user-problems, such assoftware compatibility problems,intermittent service, creepingly slowweb page speeds and the inability toreach customer service telephonerepresentatives.

Comcast provides one free Internetconnection to many schools and li-braries in this area.

Joanne Arvay, Technology Coor-dinator for the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Board of Education, re-ported that their one Comcast Internetcomputer is still down; however, forthe most part, the school system re-lies on a connection through theUnion County Internet Consortium.

Vivian Mareck, Head of TechnicalServices at the Scotch Plains Li-brary, said that their one Comcast


Five Youths ChargedIn Sex Assault of Girl

SCOTCH PLAINS – Five ScotchPlains teenagers have been chargedwith juvenile delinquency in con-nection with the sexual assault ofa 13-year-old girl in a wooded areanear Park Avenue last week.

Union County Prosecutor Tho-mas V. Manahan and Scotch PlainsPolice Chief Thomas O’Brien saidTuesday that three of the suspectsare being held in the George W.Herlich Detention Center in Eliza-beth on charges of kidnapping andaggravated sexual assault in con-nection with the January 2 incident.

An investigation conducted byScotch Plains Detectives Jeffrey Brieland Sergeant Brian Mahoney resultedin a series of juvenile delinquencycomplaints and arrests that were madeover the past weekend, Chief O’Brienconfirmed.

“It is alleged that four of thedefendants took the victim to asecluded area and forced her toengage in sexual activity while theother acted as a lookout,” the pros-ecutor revealed in a statement re-leased Tuesday.

The victim, who lives inFanwood, was allegedly accostedby the teenagers after school endedat about 3 p.m. and taken to a

wooded area near a creek that flowsbehind a football field off of ParkAvenue. Police said the victimknew at least two of the suspects.

She was pushed, slapped andpunched by a 17-year-old male wholed the assault, according to lawenforcement officials. They said thevictim sustained bruises, scratchesand contusions during the attack.

Mr. O’Leary said the victim sub-sequently reported the incident toauthorities. She was examined atMuhlenberg Regional MedicalCenter in Plainfield and released,he acknowledged.

The suspects, all students atScotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool, were charged in delin-quency complaints filed Mondaywith the Family Part, SuperiorCourt in Elizabeth.

Executive Assistant ProsecutorRobert P. O’Leary of the UnionCounty Prosecutor’s Office saidTuesday that the suspects rangedin age from 15 to 17 years old.

They face juvenile court hear-ings this week before SuperiorCourt Judge Rudolph N. HawkinsJr., said Assistant ProsecutorDeborah A. White of the JuvenileJustice Unit.

Amy Horowitz for The TimesNEITHER SNOW, NOR HAIL…Mike Karbowski, a postal worker in Fanwood,didn’t let the snowy weather stop him from bringing bundles of mail to residentson Martine Avenue on Monday.

Courtesy of Jennifer BuccinoTORCHBEARER…In Princeton last week, Jennifer Buccino, who has taught physical education at Tamaques Elemen-tary School in Westfield for 11 years, carried the torch for the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. Pictured,above, Ms. Buccino, who coaches spring track, cross country and winter track for Westfield High School, passes the torchlight to another torchbearer. Ms. Buccino was nominated for the honor by former student Heather Dennis.

Bridge Expansion,Overpass WideningProposed by DOT

By FRED ROSSISpecially Written for The Times

The Scotch Plains Township Coun-cil may consider a resolution, possi-bly at its regular meeting next week,that endorses a state Department ofTransportation (DOT) proposal torevamp the traffic flow in and aroundthe Route 22 bridge linking down-town Scotch Plains with Bonnie Burnand New Providence Roads to thenorth.

During the council’s conferencemeeting on Tuesday evening, Town-ship Manager Thomas E. Atkins dis-cussed a written report from EdwardGottko, an engineering consultantretained by the township, which con-cluded that the state’s bridge refur-bishing proposal, one of several al-ternatives put forth over the past fewyears, would provide the best bal-ance for resolving the concerns ofeveryone in Scotch Plains, includingthe downtown business community,property owners and those with aninterest in seeing an easing of trafficin the area around the bridge.

Mr. Atkins said he expects similarsentiments to be expressed in a forth-coming report from Township PoliceChief Thomas O’Brien.

The DOT’s proposal involves ex-panding the existing bridge, as wellas widening the intersections at thenorthern and southern ends of theoverpass. Originally, the DOT hadput forth a plan to construct an en-tirely new bridge directly connect-ing Park Avenue and Bonnie BurnRoad, but township officials and thebusiness owners in the central busi-ness district were decidedly cool to

the idea.A resolution will be drafted in the

coming days; if it meets the council’sapproval by next Tuesday night, thegoverning body could vote on it thenor wait until its January 29 meetingto act. Mayor Martin L. Marks saidhe also wants language included inthe resolution that, in effect, tellsUnion County officials of thetownship’s desire to maintain exist-ing traffic and parking regulationson Park Avenue.

There has been some speculationthat the county, which has jurisdic-tion over Park Avenue, wants to re-strict on-street parking and eventu-ally widen it to allow for greatertraffic flow through downtown ScotchPlains.

On another topic, the township’s2002 budget is beginning to be puttogether in earnest, and Mr. Atkinstold the council that he will be ana-lyzing all budget requests from localgovernment departments with an eyeon the present economic situation inthe state, as well as nationally.

He added that several departmentshave submitted budget and person-nel requests for 2002 that will bedifficult for him to recommend to thecouncil for its approval.

In addition, Mr. Atkins noted thatthe new Length of Service AwardsProgram, which was approved in areferendum in November, will costabout $90,000, or about one tax point,in its first year of existence. Thecouncil scheduled two budget meet-ings for Wednesday, February 13,and Thursday, February 21, at 7:30p.m.




Request for Qualifications, in whichthe borough will ask developers tosubmit information on their capa-bilities, experience and ideas, todetermine if they are in line withthe municipality’s goals for the site.

During their extensive discussionlast week, Mr. Preiss and membersof the council shared their con-cerns on several of the recommen-dations and discussed what lan-guage should be incorporated intothe redevelopment plan that wouldbest reflect Fanwood’s goals forthe area.

Officials and Mr. Preiss con-curred that adequate parkingmust be provided for all uses onthe block fronting onto SouthAvenue, and that parking shouldbe provided in the rear of theseestablishments. However, Mr.Preiss proffered that existing on-street spaces on South Avenuecould also be utilized for short-term parking.

Council members supported theboard’s recommendation that se-nior housing be considered as partof the housing mix on the block,including it among the general goalsof the redevelopment plan, althoughthe borough will not mandate anage restriction.

Mr. Preiss remarked duringthe meeting that although he an-ticipated senior citizens wouldbe among the prime buyers ofresidential units there, he be-lieved an age restriction wouldlimit the market for housing onthe block.

The council chose not to acceptthe board’s recommendation thatany redevelopment agreement be-tween the borough and a privatedeveloper maintain existing rentlevels for current businesses in theredevelopment area, regardless ofwhether they move from one loca-tion to another.

Mr. Preiss said that while he un-derstood the Planning Board’s de-

Redevelopment Plan OrdinanceSet for New Introduction Tonight

sire to protect existing businessesfrom being squeezed out by higherrents, it would discourage develop-ers’ interest in the block, since theywould not see a financial return ontheir investment after improvingthe properties.

While discussing the board’s rec-ommendation that the plan containa clause requiring residential andcommercial areas of the block to bedeveloped within a reasonable timeperiod to one another, CouncilmanThomas Ryan, Jr. suggested itwould be advantageous to stipulatethat the borough was seeking asingle developer to improve theentire block.

He noted officials could alwayschange the provision in the planlater if it did not produce the de-sired results.

Mr. Preiss countered that the bor-ough could state in its Request forQualifications that one developerwas preferred but that officialswould also entertain proposals frommore than one, to allow for greaterflexibility and not restrict opportu-nities.

Mr. Preiss and council membersconcurred with the PlanningBoard’s recommendation that thetime frame for development of theblock be reduced from 40 years to12 years.

They also favored requiring adeveloper to undertake and pay for afiscal impact study concerning a pro-posal to be reviewed by the borough’sfinancial expert, and to engage inmarketing activities.

Mr. Preiss and elected offi-cials also endorsed the creationof a “Blue Ribbon” panel, to beappointed by the mayor, of land-owners, business owners andother stakeholders to review theborough’s Request for Qualifi-cations once it has been pre-pared by Mr. Coronato, Mr.Preiss and Special Counsel Den-nis Estis.

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Local Comcast Customers Continue toStruggle Without Service Since Dec. 27


Katherine Mitchell, who served withMrs. Schurtz for three years, thankedher for more than her professionalmanner, and noted that the best partof her three years on the council sofar has been the people she has cometo know.

“We (herself and Mrs. Schurtz)have become friends and you havetaught me a lot,” Ms. Mitchell toldher departing colleague.

“You have performed with hon-esty and integrity. You have givenyour all for Fanwood and its commit-tees. The residents of Fanwood willbe at a loss, but your community willbenefit,” Ms. Mitchell added.

Presenting Councilwoman Schurtzwith a dozen roses from the FanwoodDemocratic organization and a reso-lution from the Union County Boardof Chosen Freeholders, Mrs. Stender,a former Fanwood council memberand mayor, urged Mrs. Schurtz toremain a part of her community.

“It has been a wonderful experi-ence and I have enjoyed the chal-lenges,” Mrs. Schurtz said of hertenure on the council. She also citedboth her late father and father-in-law

Fanwood Council BidsFarewell to Mrs. Schurtz


as inspirations for all she does.“My father taught me to have pride

in my country and my communityand in what I do,” Mrs. Schurtz said.“Hank, my father-in-law, taught mehow to use words to express myself.He always said, if you have some-thing to say, speak up and say some-thing, make your opinions known,”she said.

The council also gave its nod forincreased parking fines, from $14 to$20, subject to approval by Assign-ment Judge Edward W. Beglin, Jr. ofthe Union County Superior Court,and effective as of January 1.

Additionally approved that nightwere fines for not having a dog li-cense, as well as for barking dogsand dogs running at large. The finesare $22 for the dog license violationand $22 each for the first offense onthe other two violations. All wereeffective January 1.

An ordinance was also approvedconcerning on-street parking. Underthe new ordinance, no vehicles weigh-ing more than one ton will be al-lowed to park on main roadways.

As expected, the council adopted anew sign ordinance, which becomes apart of the Land Use Ordinance forFanwood. The ordinance came about asa result of concerns that industrial andcommercial signs may interfere withthe well-being of nearby residents.

The ordinance states that no per-son shall alter or erect a sign withoutthe consent of the Planning Boardand the existence of a permit, amongother restrictions and privileges thatexist for business owners.

Upon its passage, Council Presi-dent Joel Whitaker recognized theefforts of the Sign and Façade Com-mittee that did the work that led tothe ordinance.

Since May, the sign committee putin many hours of work, after whichthe ordinance was introduced by thecouncil and reviewed by the Plan-ning Board prior to its adoption at theDecember 27 meeting.

The council also discussed a rede-velopment plan targeting a 6.5-acreblock of downtown commercial landbordered by South, Martine andLaGrande Avenues and SecondStreet.

Elected officials opted to hold offon passing the ordinance due to 14points that the Planning Board hadasked the council to address as partof the board’s 7-2 approval of theplan following the conclusion of apublic hearing December 17.

An ordinance approving the rede-velopment plan is scheduled for in-troduction for the second time at thecouncil’s regular meeting tonight, withadoption anticipated by February.

connection was down for severaldays, but then came back up againand has been working fine, with nochanges made to the system. TheScotch Plains Library relies on aVerizon T1 broadband connectionfor most of their Internet access.

“We have noticed that more thanthe usual number of residents havebeen coming into the library in thepast few weeks to use our comput-ers saying that they couldn’t ac-cess their Comcast e-mail at home,”Ms. Mareck said.

Eileen Hague, Head of Techni-cal Services at the Westfield Me-morial Library, reported a similaroccurrence in Westfield.

Dan Weiss, Director of theFanwood Memorial Library re-ported to The Leader and The Timesthat although the Fanwood Librarydoes not use Comcast, he had prob-lems with his connection at home.Like many other customers, hespent many hours on hold, only tobe transferred to a level one techni-cian, who could not solve his con-nection problems.

“They underestimated the com-plexity of the problem,” Mr. Weissremarked.

Barbara Brennan, Chief Finan-cial Officer in Fanwood, told TheLeader and The Times that all of themunicipal offices at Borough Hallwere unable to access their e-mailor the Internet until January 7. SinceMonday, however, the system wasback up and running fine, she said.She didn’t know if any changeswere made to the system, whichmade that possible.

James Debbie, MountainsideChief of Police, reported that theBorough Hall, including severaladministrative offices, Engineering,Recreation and the police depart-ment, have had only intermittentservice since December 27 and noservice since January 7.

“Like half of New Jersey, we hadno service (at Borough Hall) fromthe week after Christmas until Janu-ary 2. Then on January 7 we wentback down again,” Chief Debbieremarked.

He said that technicians in Michi-gan told him a variety of reasons,including router problems, serverproblems and old modems as thecause. Chief Debbie also usesComcast for his home service andsaid that his older modem has beenworking fine since January 1, de-spite having been told that the oldermodems would no longer work.

Horace Corbin, Publisher of TheLeader and The Times reported thate-mail traffic from @home.com us-ers coming into the newspaper hasdropped by about two thirds sincethe transition process began.

“This traffic is only now startingto come back,” Mr. Corbin said onTuesday.

Some of the customer servicetelephone recordings admitted thatComcast was being inundated with“heavier than normal” call volumesdue to the transition process.

Ms. Bongiovanni attributed theheavier than normal call volume tothe multitude of customers callingto ask questions about their newservice and not necessarily causedby customers with connectivityproblems.

The New Jersey Board of PublicUtilities was inundated with triplethe usual number of complaintsregarding Comcast, despite the factthat Comcast Internet Service isnot governed by that utility or anyother agency.

“We have had 2,200 calls sinceDecember 27 regarding theComcast problems,” reported NewJersey’s Board of Public Utilitiesspokesperson, Jose Gomez Rivera.

The conflicting accounts of thesituation have left many customersfeeling that Comcast has been mis-

representing the transition as a suc-cess. Some users were advised bytelephone technicians to uninstallall of the software that the CD-ROM loaded on their computers,because the software was eithermis-programmed or caused com-patibility problems.

Ms. Bongiovanni denied the ru-mor that the CD-ROMs were mis-programmed or at fault for systemcrashes.

Peter Billson, President of ElbnetInternet Service, a Westfield-basedcomputer consulting company, toldThe Leader and The Times that eightof his clients were Comcast usersand that they all had difficultieswith the transition process for avariety of reasons. In fact, he hadnot heard of any Comcast users thatdid not have connection problemsduring the transition process.

“Poor planning coupled withpoor management decisions tocover up the problem have madethis a badly executed transition,”Mr. Billson commented. He alsosuggested that attempting to con-vert all 205,000 New Jersey us-ers at once was a bad idea andthat the transition should havebeen staged in smaller geo-graphic sections over time.

“The information included withthe CD-ROM should have warnedthat the software may cause com-patibility problems,” he added.“Customers should have been giventhe benefit of the doubt that theywere capable of re-setting theirbrowser settings on their own, ratherthan having the CD-ROM do it forthem.”

Mayor Robert Viglianti ofMountainside, also a Comcast cus-tomer, reported to The Leader andThe Times that he had no access tohis e-mail at home for three to fourdays after installing the disk. Healso heard of several other Comcastusers in Mountainside that had ac-cess difficulties. However, he givesComcast credit for attempting tokeep so many customers up andrunning after the sudden bankruptcyof Excite.

These problems, coupled with arecent notice from Comcast thatmonthly subscription rates will in-crease in February, have left manycustomers wondering why they arepaying more than dial-up custom-ers for less access and poor cus-tomer service.

Many of the Comcast users thatspoke with The Leader and TheTimes expressed that they wereangered because Comcast was notforthcoming in admitting thatthey goofed and remarked that asimple apology would have ap-peased many disgruntled custom-ers.

Courtesy of The Maranz FamilyBABY NEW YEAR…Mr. and Mrs. Matt Maranz of Westfield have announced that their son, Jack Philip Maranz, wasborn on New Year’s Day, January 1, at 5:17 p.m. at Overlook Hospital in Summit. Born one month early and deliveredby Dr. Richard Blum of Westfield, Jack weighed 6 pounds and 6 ounces and measured 19 inches at birth. The first childborn to the Maranz Family, Jack is believed to be the first local baby born in 2002.

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Lindsey Davis EnrollsAt Dartmouth CollegeSCOTCH PLAINS – Lindsey

Davis of Scotch Plains has enrolledas a member of the Class of 2005 atDartmouth College in Hanover, N.H.She is the daughter of Anne Sank andBruce Davis.

CREATIVE SUPPORT…In a continued show of support for the UnitedStates of America and its military troops, the students of BrunnerElementary School in Scotch Plains, along with Art Instructor DeloresPetri, constructed an American flag. Using hand cut-outs of each student,the flag is shown on the school’s web page. Pictured, left to right, are:Mrs. Petri, Karen Bao, Megan Cullinan, Steven Ho and KathrynZawodniak.

Fanwood-Scotch Plains College Club GrantCommittee Makes Applications Available

Marci Beth SteinbergInducted into ChapterOf Phi Theta Kappa

SCOTCH PLAINS – Marci BethSteinberg of Scotch Plains was in-ducted into the Iota Xi Chapter of PhiTheta Kappa at Union County Col-lege on November 16, 2001.

A marketing major, Marci is thedaughter of Mr. and Mrs. MarcSteinberg of Scotch Plains.

SCOTCH PLAINS – The Scholar-ship Committee of the Fanwood-Scotch Plains College Club has an-nounced that the special College Clubapplication is currently available atthe Guidance Offices of ScotchPlains-Fanwood High School.

Young women who are residentsof Fanwood or Scotch Plains, whowill be graduating from high school

in June and are in need of financialassistance to pursue a baccalaureatedegree are eligible to apply.

Female students already attendingcollege or university, who are resi-dents of either community at thetime of graduation from high school,are also invited to apply.

The deadline to return all requiredmaterials, including transcripts and

letters of recommendation, is Fri-day, March 1. Applications must bemailed to Manya S. Ungar, Scholar-ship Chairwoman, at the address in-dicated on the application form.

No applications postmarked afterMarch 1 will be considered.

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THE PASSING OF THE GONG…President of the Mountainside HistoricPreservation Committee Scott Daniels, center, recently presented a plaque toCouncilman Werner Schon, pictured left, fire commissioner and Gary Cantagalo,pictured right, Chief of the Mountainside Volunteer Fire Department, celebrat-ing the return of the old fire gong to the fire department’s facility on NewProvidence Road. In 1999, the gong, which served as a driveway ornament toMr. and Mrs. Lawrence Jacobsen, was presented to the Historic PreservationCommittee to be given back to the Mountainside Fire Department.

New Education, Economic and GreenspaceInitiatives Announced by Freeholder Board

By FRED ROSSISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

ELIZABETH — The UnionCounty Board of Chosen Freehold-ers will put forth five new initiativesthis year in the areas of college edu-cation, summer employment foryouths, small business development,economic development in Linden andthe creation of more greenspace inthe county.

Freeholder Lewis Mingo, Jr., tak-ing the reins of Chairman of theFreeholder Board at its reorganiza-tion meeting on Sunday afternoon atthe Union County Courthouse, told acrowd of more than 100 that the newprograms “will be created with exist-ing resources in Union County and atno additional expense.”

Mr. Mingo, along with Freehold-ers Daniel Sullivan and MaryRuotolo, who was also named ViceChairwoman, were sworn into newthree-year terms at the ceremony,which was attended by Governor-elect James McGreevey, Represen-tative Robert Menendez (D-13) anda handful of Democratic state legis-lators. Union County Sheriff RalphFroehlich was also sworn into hisninth term.

In brief remarks, Mr. McGreeveypromised a partnership between Tren-ton and Union County when he be-comes the state’s chief executive nextweek. He vowed a state governmentthat “lives within its means” and alsoheaped praise on the successes atUnion County College.

Later in the ceremonies, Mr.Mingo, speaking specifically of thenew initiatives, said he wanted thenew year to “give focus to the youthof our county.”

The Youth Employment Strategy(YES) program will see the countyworking with the business commu-nity to expand summer employment

opportunities for youngsters from 14to 18 years old. The program willexpand work experience possibili-ties by providing summer scholar-ships and/or jobs with local busi-nesses involved in every sector of thelocal economy.

A second initiative, called CollegeFor Teens, will broaden UnionCounty College’s summer programby expanding the program to stu-dents living outside Elizabeth andPlainfield, the program’s former pa-rameters. The Freeholder Board willprovide scholarships to students be-tween 13-17 years old in grades 8-12. Five students from each schooldistrict in the county will be selectedto attend the program.

Stating that he wanted to “put alittle pep into our small businesses,”Mr. Mingo announced the UnionCounty Partnership for EconomicProgress, which will assist small

businesses most severely impactedby the September 11 terrorist attacksand the ongoing economic uncer-tainty.

The new initiative will involveexpanding existing financial andbusiness management programs, cre-ation of new immediate and interme-diate financial assistance programsfrom state programs and banks toassist businesses, taking the lead inthe creation of a task force of local,state and federal agencies to designways of delivering quicker and bet-ter services to small businesses, andthe use of customized training fundsto help retrain existing employeesand upgrade their skills.

The county will partner with theCity of Linden to create a GlobalFreight Village on an abandonedpiece of land that, according to Mr.Mingo, will create more than 3,000jobs in the county’s Tremley point

area. With the Turnpike Authorityplanning to build a new roadwayfrom Interchange 12 at Carteret tothe abandoned piece of property,the county sees an opportunity tobuild industrial businesses, officeand conference space, and trainingcenters.

The fifth initiative for this year iscalled Green the Streets, in which thecounty will dedicate $1.75 million fromits open space trust fund and earmark itprimarily for older, urban areas inUnion County. Mr. Mingo said thefunds will be used “to create parks,connect greenways or make much-needed green improvements in urban-ized, congested areas.”

With his swearing-in on Sunday,Mr. Mingo began his second fullterm, while Mrs. Ruotolo also be-gan her second full term and Mr.Sullivan began his third three-yearterm.

The Scotch Plains RecreationDepartment is sponsoring the fol-lowing winter classes this year.

Mommy & Me classes, open forbabies 6 to 24 months old. Classeswill be held on various days. Thecost is $75 for residents and $80 fornon-residents.

Karate — Session 2, Tuesdays,for ages 5 to 15. The class will beoffered at different times, at a costof $30 for residents and $35 fornon-residents.

Arts & Crafts, for children ingrades 3 through 6, Tuesdays atvarious times. The cost is $25 forresidents and $30 for non-residents.

Children’s Bowling Program,Linden Lanes. A $10 registrationfee is included with this program.Also, there is a $6 fee to be paidweekly at the bowling center.Bumper Bowling is available forchildren 5 to 7 years old and regu-lar bowling for those youngsters 5to 14 years old.

Instrument Workshop, variousclasses and instruments will beoffered for this program.

Sketching, for fourth throughsixth graders, Fridays, 4 to 5 p.m.,Brunner Elementary School artroom. The cost is $30 for residentsand $35 for non-residents.

Twirling, open to children aged6 to 10 years. Beginner and inter-mediate classes will be offered at 4and 4:30 p.m. on Thursdays at theTerrill Middle School cafeteria.

Senior Aerobics, offered at theTowne House in Green Forest Parkon Mondays and Fridays from 11:30a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is $5 forresidents and $10 for non-residents.

Gentle Yoga, Mondays and Fri-days, 12:45 to 1:45 p.m., TowneHouse in Green Forest Park. Thecost is $40 for residents and $45 fornon-residents.

Senior Bowling League, Fridays,9:30 a.m. at Linden Lanes. There isa one-time registration fee of $5,paid at the recreation office. Thecost is $1.70 per game or $5.10 forthree games. Shoes are included inthe cost.

Shoestring Players, Saturday,February 9, an introductory work-shop that introduces kids to the joyof performing. The program willbe offered from 10 a.m. to noon forchildren in grades 3 through 5, and1 to 3 p.m. for those in grades 6through 8. The program will beoffered at the Towne House in GreenForest Park at a cost of $25 forresidents and $30 for non-residents.

Windham, Vt. Ski Trip-for teensin Scotch Plains and Fanwood,March 1-3, 2002.

The $375 per person fee includestwo full days of skiing, lift tickets,all meals (except lunch at the lodge)and lodging. Registration is on afirst-come, first-served basis witha maximum of 40 persons acceptedfor the trip. Payment must be madein full at the time of registration.

Joint Trips: Mountainside, NewProvidence and Scotch Plains havejoined forces to sponsor severaltrips in 2002.

Vacation destinations will in-clude Long Island in the spring,Gettysberg in the summer andPigeon Forge, Tenn. in the fall.Look for details after the start ofthe new year.

�� Planning Board Chairman LooksAhead to Further Progress in 2002

By JAMES M. FOERSTSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

“We are making progress,” re-marked Robert Newell, Chairman ofthe Westfield Planning Board, in re-flecting on the past year.

Mr. Newell, the 2001 Chairman ofthe Planning Board and one of its 11members, was reelected Mondaynight by the board to serve as Chair-man for the new year.

“We plan on moving forward tofinish revision of the Master Plan,”Mr. Newell said. He stated the Plan-ning Board would work with theBoard of Adjustment and the Town

Council to “review several of thetown’s land use ordinances,” to bet-ter facilitate long-term developmentas outlined in the town’s Master Plan.

Mr. Newell, a Westfield resident,is the principal of Newell LightingDesign, located on North Avenue inWestfield. He was first appointed tothe Planning Board in 1993 and sub-sequently served as Vice Chairman,prior to being elected Chairman in2001.

He noted that in 2002, the Plan-ning Board would utilize increasedparticipation from Westfield’s advi-sory committees and commissions,

including the Historic PreservationCommission, the Architectural Re-view Committee and the Tree Pres-ervation Commission.

Although these bodies have nobinding authority on the PlanningBoard, in 2001, the board often uti-lized their recommendations to limitdevelopment and impose restrictiveconditions on applications.

Planning Board member Jay Boylewill serve as Vice Chairman, joinedby Town Engineer Kenneth Marsh,who completes the 2002 PlanningBoard slate of officers as Secretary.

Mr. Newell also welcomed CharlesWeidman to the Planning Board. Mr.Weidman, in his first appointment tothe Planning Board, will serve as theMayor’s Designee for the 2002 term.

A Wall Street professional, Mr.Weidman is the current Chairman ofthe Town Council’s Parking Advi-sory Committee. The father of threechildren, he has resided in Westfieldwith his wife for the past eight years.

Martin Robins, a long-standingmember of the Planning Board, wasreappointed to a two-year term as analternate member, while William Ziffwas reappointed to a full, four-yearterm.

William Cariste, after havingserved the last two years as an alter-nate, did not receive a reappoint-ment.

Paul D. Strauchler, of the Roselandlaw firm of Post Polak Goodsell &MacNeill, P.A., was also reappointed,to continue serving in 2002 as Plan-ning Board Attorney.

See it all on the Web!www.goleader.com

A WATCHUNG COMMUNICATIONS, INC. PUBLICATION �� and THE TIMES of Scotch Plains – Fanwood Thursday, January 10, 2002 Page 3


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UNITED FUND NEARS GOAL…Linda Maggio, Executive Director of theUnited Fund of Westfield, left, and Annual Campaign Chair Carolyn Fledercheck the “goal donations thermometer” noticing the need for a paintbrushsince the donations have now increased to 93 percent of goal for a total of$613,189 received thus far. “We are very grateful for the continued generosityand outpouring of support from Westfield,” stated Mrs. Fleder. Mrs. Maggioadded, “We appreciate the efforts of the hundreds of volunteers who make thishappen.” The United Fund of Westfield’s Annual Campaign supports 21agencies that provide services to the community.

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Registration is now being heldfor the winter session.

Kids Club, Tuesdays, 9:30 to11:30 a.m.

Children and their parents willparticipate in sing-a-longs, arts andcrafts, free play, and much more.Kids Club is geared toward pre-school and kindergarten-aged chil-dren. The cost is $50 per child.

Cardio Sculpt & Tone, Mondaysand Wednesdays, 9:30 to 10:15 a.m.

This class is for all adults whowant to get in shape and tone theirbody. Moms can bring their infant(in their infant seat) while theywork out. The cost is $40 per per-son.

Rhythm Social Dancing, Tues-days Beginning the Week of Febru-ary 5.

This program will teach partici-pants the Salsa, Swing, Merengue,Cha-Cha, Hustle and more. The classwill be held from February 5 to March5 from 8 to 9 p.m. at a cost of $65 percouple or $40 per individual.

Arts and Crafts, Tuesdays, 4:30to 5:15 p.m.

The class offers art instructionusing various forms of media tocreate many different projects. Thecost is $30 per person.

Dancercise, Tuesdays and Thurs-days, 6:45 to 7:30 p.m.

This class uses exercise withdance steps. The cost is $50 perperson.

Children’s Instrument Workshop,Offered to Children in Pre-Kinder-garten through Grade 6.

Piano, strings, and a new orches-tra will be offered at a cost of $55.

Events, Tickets, TripsMad Science Workshop, March

25 to 29.This special workshop will be

held during the winter Westfieldpublic schools vacation week from9 a.m. to noon. The fee is $100.

Teen ProgramsTeen Center, Friday Nights, 8

p.m. to Midnight.This program, held in the Com-

munity Room of the MunicipalBuilding on East Broad Street, fea-tures music, movies, pool tables,video games, ping-pong, foosball,air hockey, a big screen TV, re-freshments, a lounge area and spe-cial events.

Night Place, Offered monthly toall intermediate school youths, from7:30 to 9:30 p.m.

Activities for Night Place includedisc jockey, food, games, moviesand dancing. The cost is $2 in ad-vance and $3 at the door. Upcom-ing dates include January 25, Feb-ruary 15, March 22, and May 17.

WESTFIELD PUMPER…On January 8, Platoon C of the Westfield Fire Depart-ment poses in front of the newly received Engine 2, a 2,000-gallon per minutepumping engine that replaces a 26-year old pumper. Pictured left to right are: FireChief John Castellano, Lt. Michael Ridge, Firefighter Rick Jurgens, Capt.Michael Brennan, Firefighter Jim Ryan and Firefighter Matt Periera.

A• Life Insurance• Disability Insurance• Long Term Care• Employee Benefits

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ArtAmmermuller“Helping People”

Power WheelchairsAre Made AvailableTo Seniors, DisabledAREA – The Senior Wheels USA

Program makes available Power (Elec-tric) Wheelchairs to senior citizens age65 and above and the permanentlydisabled, at no cost to the recipient, ifthey qualify.

Power Wheelchairs are provided toindividuals who cannot walk and can-not self-propel a manual wheelchair,and who meet the additional guidelinesof the program. No deposit is required.

If an individual needs the wheel-chair for use in the home, more infor-mation on eligibility requirementsmay be obtained by calling (800)246-6010, toll-free.

Garwood KnightsPlan Blood DriveGARWOOD — The Garwood

Knights of Columbus will hold ablood drive on Saturday, February2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at theirCouncil Hall, located at 37 SouthAvenue in Garwood.

Parking is available behind thebuilding on Willow Avenue. Formore information, please call (908)789-9809, after 4 p.m.

Parade CommitteeTo Hold Fundraiser

AREA — The Union County St.Patrick’s Day Parade Committee hasannounced the date for its CelebrityBartender Fundraiser, featuring daytimetelevision stars and sports celebrities.

It will take place on Saturday, Janu-ary 19, from 6 to 11 p.m. at the Knightsof Columbus hall, 1034 Jeanette Av-enue in Union. Parking is available atthe facility.

Featured will be music by ShannonBreeze Irish-American Band, the St.Columcille Pipers and the UnionCounty Pipers and Drums.

Admission is $5. Proceeds will helpdefray expenses for the Union CountySt. Patrick’s Day Parade. To reach theKnights of Columbus hall, please call(908) 686-4504.

JCC Offers ClassesIn Pilates and Yoga

SCOTCH PLAINS – The JewishCommunity Center (JCC) of CentralNew Jersey, Wilf Jewish CommunityCampus, located at 1391 Martine Av-enue in Scotch Plains, offers yoga andpilates classes.

Debi Price, a certified instructor,will lead class members through aseries of movements designed to de-velop core muscle strength based onthe work of Joseph Pilates.

Yoga is designed to relieve stress andtension while improving muscle tone.

Interested individuals are asked tocall Karen Rosen at (908) 889-8800,extension no. 224, to obtain moreinformation or to register for a class.Classes are open to both JCC mem-bers and non-members.

Westfield ToastmastersDonate To SupportSeptember 11 FundToastmasters of Westfield do-

nated $665 to the United Fund ofWestfield in response to the Sep-tember 11 tragedy. Anne Baker,Club President and CardwellThaxton, Vice President of PublicRelations, presented the check toLinda Maggio, Executive Directorof the United Fund on Tuesday, 27November. The funds were ob-tained by taking collections frommembers at club meetings.

Toastmasters of Westfield is anon-profit organization and pro-vides its members with communi-cation and leadership development.The club is one of more than 8,000Toastmasters clubs around theworld. The Westfield club meetseach 1st, 2nd & 4th Thursday at7:45 p.m. at Sunrise Assisted Liv-ing of Westfield. Meetings are freeand open to the public.



Fred K. LecomteSALES DIRECTOR

��

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ABCDICTIONOPQRSTDECEPTIONUVWXYZ

TM

DDDDDiction Deception

Answers to last week’s arcane words.1. Anenterous – In zoology, without a

stomach or intestine2. Soam – A chain or rope used in

pulling anything, as a plow3. Hircine – Resembling a goat4. Attagen – The common partridge

PERFIDIOUS1. Carefree, happy-go-lucky2. Thorough, painstakingly accurate3. Unfaithful; deceitful4. Porous; leaky

OMMATEUM1. Having a compound eye2. A slaughterhouse for cattle3. Arthritis of the pelvis and lumbar

vertebrae4. The head of the humerus or upper

arm that inserts into the glenoid cavity ofthe scapula or shoulder blade

AULETIC1. Pertaining to pipes or instruments

of the flute family2. Pertaining to gold or the process of

mining for gold3. Excessive staring`4. Smoke filled, hazy

TETRACEROUS1. Pertaining to the four seasons; an-

nually2. Absolute zero; -273.15 degrees

centrigrade3. Having four horns4. Divisible by four into whole numbersAnswers will appear next week.

Below are four arcane words, each withfour definitions – only one is correct. Theothers are made up. Are you sharp enoughto discern this deception of diction?

If you can guess one correctly – goodguess. If you get two – well-read indi-vidual. If you get three – word expert. Ifyou get all four – You must have a lot offree time!

All words and correct definitionscome from the board game DictionDeception.

Citizen Donald DiFrancesco Leaves Office;Will He Also Leave The Township?

Republican leaders in Trenton sure found a classyway to thank a colleague for 25 years of service —giving him the cold shoulder.

Acting Gov. Donald T. DiFrancesco of ScotchPlains finished up his 11-month term on Tuesday, thesame day his tenure in the State Senate ended. Mr.DiFrancesco was first elected to the State Assemblyin 1975 before moving up to the Senate in 1979.Since 1992, he had served as Senate President, aposition that thrust him into the governorship lastFebruary after Governor Christine Todd Whitman’sresignation.

Surely, someone with Mr. DiFrancesco’s statureand long record of service should have gotten a bettersend-off than the one crafted by State Senator JohnO. Bennett, the new Senate President and now ActingGovernor, and Jack Collins, the Assembly Speaker,whose term ended on Tuesday.

Mr. DiFrancesco had wanted to deliver the annualState of the State address, but Mr. Bennett decidedthat he would do it himself, in his new and verytemporary role as Acting Governor. The plan wasthen for Mr. DiFrancesco, on his last full day asActing Governor, to deliver closing remarks to theLegislature in the Assembly chambers. But Mr.Collins apparently begged out, claiming the lame-duck legislative body would be too busy to hear Mr.

DiFrancesco.Mr. Bennett and Mr. Collins should feel foolish.

Whatever their political and personal differenceswith Mr. DiFrancesco, the fact remains that he wasActing Governor for close to a year and should havebeen given the opportunity to deliver the governor’sannual address. Surely, he is more deserving thanMr. Bennett, whose term as Acting Governor willlast for about 100 hours. Furthermore, it would havebeen classy for Mr. Collins to have found a little timeearlier this week for the legislature to honor a long-time colleague.

Mr. DiFrancesco’s time in the governor’s officemay be subject to some debate, but there should beno question that the recent behavior of SenatorBennett and Speaker Collins towards DonaldDiFrancesco was in very poor taste.

The pressure of the limelight has been very hardfor now citizen DiFrancesco. Before all this expo-sure, it was nice to meet Mr. DiFrancesco walkingaround in Scotch Plains as our neighbor – doing whatall of us do on a daily basis – such as buying meat fordinner at John’s Meat Market or just having a cup ofcoffee at the Highlander. Too bad that he is planningto leave Scotch Plains where grew up and raised hisfamily. As we understand, the DiFrancesco familywill be relocating to Hunterdon County.

Local Access Channels Are InformativeTools for Residents in Our Communities

In case you haven’t noticed lately, exciting devel-opments are happening in local access television. Wesuggest you tune in.

There are three local access television stationsavailable in the Westfield cable region – TV-34 ofScotch Plains, TV-35 of Fanwood and TV-36 ofWestfield. There also is Community Access TV-57,which covers the broader region.

Generally, each station divides broadcast time andoperation between the public school system and therespective municipal volunteer group. In the past, theorganizations operated separately. This necessitatedduplication of equipment, expenditures, facilitiesand people.

For TV-36 in Westfield, the town volunteer organi-zation and the school system have entered intosharing arrangements, making many more thingspossible. Located on the second floor of the munici-pal building, the town station is equipped with thelatest digital technology. Programs, previously broad-cast only from the high school, can now be broadcastfrom both the municipal building and from the highschool. Thus, both can share programming contentand time. By working together, enhanced program-ming and educational opportunities are happening.

This was one of the goals of last year’s TV-36station Advisory Board Chairman, Phil Falcone.This year’s Chairwoman, Eileen O’Donnell, prom-ises to build on the initiative along with DirectorDoug Black.

William McMeekan, Jr. serves as the Studio Fa-cilitator for Westfield High School TV-36. He hascontributed to the TV-36 advancements. One ex-ample is the production of “Catching Fire,” whichchronicles the bravery of theWestfield Fire Department. Filmedin August, the documentary gainedparticular relevance following theevents of September 11. The pro-duction, assisted by a crew of tele-vision production students fromWestfield High School, followsalong with Fire Platoon “D” asthey work, train and respond toemergencies throughout the Townof Westfield.

There are many others doing good work at ourlocal stations such as John Wyatt for TV-34 at theScotch Plains-Fanwood High School, Robert Merklefor Scotch Plains TV-34 and George Weiss forFanwood TV-35.

Since the sharing of efforts and resources seems tobe resulting in success, we think that there are evengreater opportunities for gain if TV-34, TV-35 andTV-36 work together. By looking at the big picturefrom the viewing audience perspective, these televi-sion organizations could come up with a coordinatedeffort and an even more creative and useful broad-casting network. We suggest they get together anddiscuss the possibilities.

Since most of the developments are the result ofvolunteers, if you’re interested, we suggest you getinvolved. You will be welcome.

Unfortunately, Westfielders cannot view its otherneighbors a few blocks away, such as in Mountainside,Cranford, Clark, Summit, Springfield and BerkeleyHeights. Nor can they view what’s happening inWestfield.

We believe that this viewing limitation should beimproved. The cable company points out that thereare not enough channel slots available to make thishappen. But, there are about 70 channels on thenetwork, and they are flooded with infomercials. Tous, there is considerable room for improvement ofthe telecast arrangement. Understandably, the cablecompany needs to make a profit, but shouldn’t therebe a higher standard applied?

In our view, local stations show promise for con-tributing to this higher standard through sharing ofresources, management and creative talent.

Long-Time Resident of WestfieldOffended by Claim of Anti-SemitismI am really surprised and, quite frankly,

offended by the tone and message of a letterfrom Mr. Leonard Rosenblatt which ap-pears in the 1/3/02 issue of The WestfieldLeader. As a self-described “outsider”, aresident of Elizabeth, Mr. Rosenblatt hashis so-called facts all wrong.

First of all, it offends me that hesuggests that there has been a surge ofanti-Jewish sentiment in our town. Ihave lived in town for the most part since1963, went through the public schoolsystem (as my children are now doing).In my opinion Westfield is an “all inclu-sive”, family style town. We are cogni-zant and respectful of all family valuesand that’s why we choose to live here.

Throughout the years, the people ofWestfield have created and maintained abeautiful community in terms of bothcultural and physical amenities. We areproud of this!

Mr. Rosenblatt implies that our mayorinitially refused to allow the placement of aMenorah on town property. Well, guesswhat, he also refused to allow the place-ment of a crèche. The problem was createdby a very small, but very vocal minoritygroup citing certain legal challenges. Theissue was debated and, at the end of the day,all religious and holiday oriented displayswere not only permitted, but welcomed andappreciated by all of us.

I am really shocked that Mr. Rosenblattimplies that “residents of Westfield areuncomfortable with Jewish issues” because,in his words, “Westfield remains a beauti-ful New England style town dominated bystunningly well maintained church archi-tecture”. Is this shallow, or what?

Mr. Rosenblatt takes issue with thedebate surrounding the Temple’s pro-posed acquisition of a residential prop-erty with its subsequent conversion to a

parking lot in the middle of a residentialneighborhood. He insinuates that thebasis of the opposition is anti-Semitic.Mr. Rosenblatt clearly does not under-stand or appreciate the various smallneighborhoods which exist and thrive inour town. I understand this because I livehere and he doesn’t.

For better or worse, there is alwaysheated debate whenever there is an at-tempt by any developer, organization,sports group, or school to take over andpave our green-acre.

Various ideas have been proposed inthe past, such as adding extra parkingspaces in Tamaques park, convertingBrightwood park to athletic use, install-ing lights at the Westfield football field,installing a paved running track at Clarkpark, numerous homeowner construc-tion variances, building parking decks intown and more.

Many of these proposals have beenturned down or significantly scaled back.As a result of conservative zoning prin-ciples, Westfield continues to be a verydesirable place to live and work.

Mr. Rosenblatt continues to attempt topaint Westfield as anti-Jewish because theclosest Jewish bookstore is in Maplewood.Furthermore, only 2 of 3 local Jewish housesof worship are listed on the Westfieldwebsite as opposed to 15 Christian localhouses of worship (out of almost 50 aslisted in the local phone book!). I fail to seethe connection!

Mr. Rosenblatt concludes his letterwith what amounts to be a thinly veiledthreat of economic retaliation againstour merchants! All this from someonewho doesn’t live here or apparently evenunderstand us. That’s Chutzpah!

William RisbergWestfield

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Reader Disagrees With LetterClaiming Anti-Semitism in Town

As one of the most vocal proponentsof the Menorah and the person who“outed” the Mayor’s initial ill-conceiveddecision to ban it, I believe that I amqualified to respond to Leonard R.Rosenblatt’s assertion that there has been“a surge of anti-Jewish sentiment inWestfield.” His letter of January 3 setsforth a number of purported examples tosupport his conclusion.

I must disagree with both Mr.Rosenblatt’s reasoning and the validity ofthe examples he cited. While I respect hisopinion and his right to express it, heseems to have failed to differentiate be-tween bias, which stems from insensitiv-ity and acts, which evince actual animus.

Certainly, there have been past in-stances of insensitivity. They includethe lack of ethnic balance in the town’sapproach to the December holidays, adecision to hold school makeup days onthe Jewish Sabbath and a local church’sfailure to recognize that presenting aspeaker to discuss efforts to convertJews to Christianity amounted to pro-viding a forum for hate speech.

While I don’t imagine that a great dealof deep thought characterized any ofthese situations, it would be inaccurate,disingenuous and dangerous to attributethem to actual anti-Semitism. Let’s lookat some of the examples cited by Mr.Rosenblatt:

Although I was outraged at MayorMcDermott’s first impulse to ban theMenorah, I never believed for a momentthat it was prompted by anything morethan a lack understanding of its meaningwhich was compounded by questionablelegal advice and exacerbated by an un-fortunate choice of words in his letter toRabbi Block.

It is important to note that the Mayorsubsequently made an affirmative effortto make amends by reversing his firstdecision.

While I’m somewhat less comfort-able with the opposition that has beenexpressed by a few residents towardexpansion of Temple Emanu-El’s park-ing facilities, perhaps we should con-sider the possibility that, despite theTemple having been an exemplary neigh-bor, those opponents may feel someactual concerns regarding potential in-convenience during the constructionphase.

“Not in my backyard” sentiments arenot necessarily confined to expansion ofhouses of worship and should not bemistaken for religious bigotry.

The closest Jewish bookstore is not inMaplewood. In fact, both the TempleEmanu-El Judaica shop and CBL FineArt on Elm Street carry an excellentselection of religious items. The Templealso sells Jewish books. The fact thatthere are no kosher restaurants inWestfield is primarily a function of eco-nomics, demographics and competitionfrom nearby Larry’s and Deli-King.Shop-Rite maintains a large kosher sec-tion. The availability of additional reli-gious amenities would obviously bedriven by greater demand, which has notyet materialized.

It is quite true that the Jewish commu-nity plays a strong and integral role inthe economic, cultural and educationallife of this town. Certainly, the businesscommunity has been slow to react to thisfact. Yet, suggesting what could only beconstrued, as a boycott of Westfieldmerchants is hardly likely to win many

supporters or result in positive change.In America, we don’t fear cultural

diversity. We honor and defend it.Westfield has made great strides in thatregard. While there is yet much to ac-complish, raising the specter of anti-Semitism when there is little evidence ofits existence is simply not constructiveand may, in the long run, be counterpro-ductive.

Robert J. RatnerWestfield

Belief That Town is Anti-JewishIs Offensive to Westfield Resident

I must say that I take offense to the letterwritten by Mr. Rosenblatt printed in lastweek’s Leader. As a resident of Westfieldfor the past 10 years, I find it insulting thatMr. Rosenblatt would say that the townsentiment is becoming anti-Jewish.

Why is it that every time non-Jewishpeople have an issue with somethingthat involves the Jewish population weare called anti-Jewish? We are allWestfielders first.

Our town is filled with residents thatare very vocal about their opinions andextremely protective of their neighbor-hoods and downtown. This is evident inevery aspect of our town, from the con-struction of a new pool complex, to theparking deck, to the PresbyterianChurch’s potential building of a parkinglot in front of the church, to Shop-Riteand finally to Temple Emmanu-El.

Each resident purchased their home inthis town because it is the type of townwe wanted to live in; quiet, safe neigh-borhoods, great schools and a beautifuldowntown. Why should we apologizefor wanting to keep it that way?

The neighbors (some of whom hap-pen to be Jewish) that are opposing thetemple’s parking lot expansion and po-tential temple expansion are not doingso because of any religious bias. Theyare doing so because they want to pre-serve their property values as well as thequiet, safe neighborhood that they boughttheir house in.

I know for a fact that they would have thesame issues if it were a Catholic Church, aPresbyterian Church, a doctor’s office or astore. Again, this is not due to religious biasbut to sheer property value issues.

No one entity in our town shouldreceive special consideration for any-thing. We have a council, planning boardand zoning board as well as processesthat all must be adhered to in order tokeep our town as beautiful as it is.

As far as Mr. Rosenblatt’s commenton the lack of Jewish amenities in town,to my knowledge no one is stoppinganyone from opening up a Jewish deli,shop or restaurant. I do not understandMr. Rosenblatt’s comment about theWestfield Website. We can only listwhat is in our town. In any case I wouldsuggest that Mr. Rosenblatt contact ourtown administrator (Mr. Gildea) to dis-cuss the issue.

On to the menorah issue, the onlything I have to say about this is that if weare going to erect a menorah on townproperty then we must also erect a nativ-ity scene. Both are religious symbolsand what is wrong with being inclusiveinstead of divisive. The Westfield popu-lation must remember that this wholeissue was started many years ago by aman who wanted to stop the Christmaspageant from being performed. I wonderat that time did anyone call this mananti-Christian or claim that there was ananti-Christian sentiment in town? Allreligions should be able to celebratetheir holidays.

Lastly, Mr. Rosenblatt’s veiled threatto bring down the commerce andeconomy of our town is just that, a

threat. The only thing I can say aboutthat is that I love German hotdogs andtravel to Elmora Avenue in Union topurchase them because there is not aGerman butcher in Westfield. I also loveItalian sausage and I travel to five pointsin Union to purchase them. After all, atown can’t offer everything.

Karen MascialeWestfield

Conflicts Over Holiday TraditionsDetract From American Spirit

What has happened to our poor coun-try? What has happened to us? Much tomy sadness this holiday season has foundme asking these hopeless questions.

Our mayor’s recently-reversed deci-sion to remove the menorah from thecenter of town seems to have ruined thisholy season for all of us, and moreimportantly, has overshadowed the veryreal issue: World Peace.

Our wonderful country and quite pos-sibly our world are at war. I wonder if wecould all see fit to remove the focus fromourselves and whether or not our holi-days are getting equal play in the class-room, and put it back where it belongs –on living together in harmony, and teach-ing our children how to do so. After all,they are our living future.

These days, so many beautiful Ameri-can flags are proudly flying – from nearlyevery home and on nearly every car. It’squite awe inspiring. We may as wellcollect them all and burn them publiclyright in front of the town menorah andthe “holiday tree.” We can’t even getthrough this most joyous season withoutarguing over crèches, dreidels, candycanes and how they are being handled inthe schools. Where is the American spiritthat we all display on our windows andhouses?

If our nation is ever to recover from

the criminal acts of September 11, we asa community must set an example. Wehave no choice but to heed the advice ofsuch fine Americans as President Bushand Rudolph Giuliani. To go through themotions is not good enough.

As for our schools, we all know of andpay dearly for their outstanding qualityand reputation. Let’s let the educationsystem do its job. We can only improvean already great situation by supportingthe efforts at home. It shouldn’t be for-gotten that the very freedom that allowsus, as parents, into the classroom and tohave a say in the curriculum, is in dan-ger.

As we celebrate our respective holi-days during this blessed season, let usgive thanks for what we have – that wewere fortunate to survive a horrific trag-edy. Let us pray for those who did notand their families. Let us pray for themen and women who are now fightingfor justice and that they return homesafely and victorious. I, personally, willpray for all of us, that we can forget ourdifferences and remember that our ulti-mate goal is the same.

I wish you all peace and hope in thenew year.

Larisa DePalmaWestfield

Family Thanks TerrillFor Being There

During Difficult TimeOur family wanted to publicly thank

Terrill Middle School for its generous$10,000 donation to the Jim Walsh Fam-ily Trust. Jim lived in Scotch Plains withhis wife, Kate, and 2-year-old daughter,Caroline. He was killed on September11 in the terrorist bombing of the WorldTrade Center.

Since this nightmarish event, our fam-ily has been deeply touched by the ex-traordinary kindness and compassion ofothers. On November 7, we were invitedto a very moving assembly produced bythe Terrill students. We were enthralledby the students’ performance and wantedto commend the Principal, John Foulks;the community outreach coordinator,Susan Laffey, and all the students andtheir families who contributed so muchtime and talent to the effort.

The Walsh FamilyScotch Plains



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Annual Fall Horse ShowHeld in Mountainside

MOUNTAINSIDE — The UnionCounty Board of Chosen Freehold-ers presented the 68th Annual FallTroop Horse Show, a three-day eventat the Watchung Stable inMountainside.

Children from ages nine to 17, aswell as adults of all ages partici-pated in the competition.

During the show, the WatchungRiding and Driving Club, a groupthat has been a part of the ridingclub since its early days, runs thehorse show, and conductsfundraising events which supportthe stable, were acknowledged fortheir donation of a drag rake. Therake will be used for maintenancework on the riding rings.

During the ceremony, time wastaken out to honor the late Git Ander,one of Union County’s outstanding

K-9 Unit dogs. Mr. Ander, who re-cently died while in the line of duty,was the partner of Sergeant JohnGillespie.

Sheriff Ralph Froehlich accepteda check for $500 from the WatchungRiding and Driving Club for theSheriff’s K-9 Unit. The money willgo to part of a fund that will enableUnion County to buy Arno, a three-year-old German Shepherd who isin the process of being trained toserve as Sergeant Gillespie’s newpartner. The money will also gotoward a monument honoring theK-9 Unit dogs who serve the public.

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Group Opposed to ExpansionOf Temple Consults Attorney

By DEBORAH MADISONSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD — The members ofthe community-based group UNITE,United Neighbors InvestigatingTemple Expansion, as well as sev-eral other town residents from otherneighborhoods, met for the third timelast Sunday to discuss the strategyfor their group’s opposition to TempleEmanu-El’s expansion onto an adja-cent East Broad Street property.

Spokesperson for the group, Sec-ond Ward Councilman MatthewAlbano, who also lives near thetemple, reported at the meeting thatmembers of UNITE met with ArthurAttenasio of the Westfield law firmButtermore and Attenasio, who spe-cializes in land use law, to discusstheir legal options and to determinethe potential cost of hiring him torepresent their opposition to the pro-posed land deal.

According to Mr. Albano, thetemple is currently engaged in nego-tiations with real estate developerand owner of the property, MichaelMahoney, for the purchase of theproperty, which is approximately46,700 square feet, or roughly 1.1acres.

A petition being circulated byUNITE states that the proposed pur-chase will have a significant impacton the economic values of the sur-rounding properties and on the qual-ity of life in the predominantly resi-dential neighborhood. The petitiongoes on to state that those signing thepetition are opposed to the “unre-stricted expansion” of the temple.

UNITE members expressed theirconcerns that the temple had thus farnot clarified whether the land wouldbe used to expand the parking lotonly or to expand the existing facil-ity, which they fear would increasetraffic and membership.

Temple representatives have pre-viously stated publicly that thetemple’s goal in purchasing the landis to expand its parking lot in order toimprove traffic safety in the neigh-borhood and only to accommodateits existing membership.

However, Temple spokeswomanand Executive Director, CarolynShane, told members of UNITE at aprevious meeting that she could notcommit to how the temple intendedon using the land because the templehad not made a decision on thatissue.

Mr. Mahoney’s attorney, CharlesBrandt, admitted to Mr. Albano thatnegotiations between the temple andhis client were being held up overhow the land will be used and thetype of variances required.

According to Mr. Albano, thetemple wanted broader usage lan-guage in the contract, while Mr.Mahoney was opting for restrictingusage to a parking lot only. Thecontract will hinge on whether thetemple can acquire the necessaryvariances from the Planning Boardor Board of Adjustment for its in-tended uses.

Some neighbors are opposed tothe temple’s purchase of the prop-erty in either case, claiming thatadding 130 parking spaces will notalleviate the overwhelming trafficand parking problems that impactthat neighborhood during major

temple events.Other neighbors are opposed to

the proposed purchase on the groundsthat the temple has not yet met Plan-ning Board conditions imposed afterthe last temple facility expansionwas approved in 1999. Ms. Shanehas told UNITE members that thetemple is diligently working to meetthose conditions.

UNITE members have requested ameeting with temple representativesin hopes of getting the temple toclarify its intentions regarding use ofthe land. That meeting will take placesometime in February and will bewidely publicized, according toUNITE members, in order to insurethat the entire community has anopportunity to make their concernsknown to the town.

According to UNITE memberMichele Albano, the late IsaacThorne, the previous owner of theproperty, made it clear to her, beforehe died, that he did not want to sellhis property to the temple. He toldMrs. Albano that he did not want tosee the quality of the residentialneighborhood deteriorate due totemple expansion.

UNITE members discussed howthe property was sold to Mr. Mahoneyfor $190,000, with a verbal agree-ment that the property would not besold to the temple and that onlyresidential housing would be devel-oped, as confirmed by Mr. Thorne’sson, Lawrence Thorne.

The members of UNITE questionwhether Mr. Thorne’s wishes wereproperly represented in the final writ-ten contract between Mr. Mahoneyand Mr. Thorne’s estate.

It was also discussed that the pro-posed purchase price to the temple of$1.2 million would net Mr. Mahoneya profit of $1 million. UNITE mem-ber James Hays said, “the attorney(Mr. Attenasio) said he was not pes-simistic about their legal options.”

Several letters to the editor re-cently published in local papers al-luded to the notion that the neighborswere opposed to temple expansionbecause of anti-Semitic sentiments.UNITE group member Patricia Hayscalled this accusation “outrageous”and said she was “very insulted andangry” that anyone could perceivethat this issue had anything at all todo with religion.

Other group members also ex-pressed their position that they wouldbe opposed to this expansion nomatter what type of facility was in-volved. Temple Emanu-El is the larg-est temple in New Jersey, with amembership of 1,200 families.

Mr. Albano reported that shouldother arbitration options fail, Mr.Attenasio suggested the group hiretraffic and engineering experts aswell as an attorney to represent themduring the Planning Board applica-tion phase.

UNITE members discussed thecost per person of hiring these ex-perts, which, according to Mr.Attenasio, would total approximately$10,000 to $20,000 for the first phaseof representation before the townboards.

UNITE will meet again on Sun-day, January 27, at 7:30 p.m. in theAdministrator’s Conference Roomof the Municipal Building.

PINK RIBBON WINNER…Union County Freeholder Angel Estrada pre-sented Mila Heneck of Westfield, age 11, with a pink ribbon for a fifth-placefinish on her mount, Kelly, against riders her age at the Watchung Stable’s68th Annual Fall Troop Horse Show, presented by the Union County Board ofChosen Freeholders.

More Letters to the Editor

Donor of Crèche Extends ThanksTo Town Officials and Supporters

On behalf of the numerous citizenswho supported displaying the crèche atthe Westfield train station during theChristmas season, I would like to extendour thanks to the Town Council for ac-cepting our gift.

We would also like to thank TownAttorney, Bob Cochren, who providedthe Town Council with his expertise asthis decision was reached.

I wish Mayor McDermott’s Blue Rib-bon Committee all the best as they deter-mine the most appropriate display that is

reflective and inclusive of the manyfaiths practiced by the citizens ofWestfield.

I will always remember the number ofindividuals and families who commentedas the crèche was being put up, how niceit was that Westfield was respectful andinclusive in the display.

Finally, I would like to acknowledgeand thank those who contributed to thepurchase of the crèche.

Tom MadarasWestfield

Westfield Calendar, Published in Ohio,Proves to Be A Good Idea Gone Bad

I received a very interesting item inthe mail today, Friday, December 28. Itwas “Your Community CalendarWestfield! How super, terrific, Ithought!

Then I looked through it. There werelistings for the New Jersey Devils’ homegames, the New Jersey Nets’ homegames, the phases of the moon, andwhatever specialties pertained to thelocal advertisers.

Incidentally, this was published inCleveland, Ohio.

Now, it did contain telephone numbersone would need, living in Westfield,But, nowhere were there any listings ofthe high school sports, the schoolcalendars, the Westfield planning board

meetings, or anything else that pertainedto Westfield.

It seems to me that some local entity— the College Women’s Club, theWestfield Library, the Women’s Club,the Westfield Service League, or evenone of the high school clubs couldprepare and sell a calendar which wouldbe of use to the residents.

And, I would hope, that the localmerchants would be happy to advertise,and even subsidize (initially) somethinglike this. I, for one, would be happy topurchase one. I think this is an idea longoverdue.

Marguerite S. NewsonWestfield

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Alexis PaigeBorn to Cohens

Dr. Steven and Kate Cohen ofMillburn have announced the birthof a daughter, Alexis Paige Cohen,on Tuesday, December 11, at SaintBarnabas Medical Center inLivingston.

Alexis weighed 7 pounds and 5ounces and measured 21½ inches inlength at birth.

She joins her two-year-old sister,Emily Sarah.

The baby’s father grew up inWestfield.

Alexis’ maternal grandmother isPriscilla Alexander of Manhattan.

Her paternal grandparents areCarol I. Cohen of Westfield and Bur-ton Cohen of Scotch Plains.

Miss Jennifer Vaiana and Ian A. Becker

Miss Jennifer VaianaTo Marry Ian A. Becker

Miss Jennifer Dunlop and Scott Wahlers

Miss Jennifer DunlopEngaged to Scott Wahlers

Mr. and Mrs. Edward Dunlop ofSummit have announced the engage-ment of their daughter, Miss JenniferDunlop, to Scott Wahlers. He is theson of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Wahlers ofScotch Plains.

The bride-to-be is a graduate ofSummit High School and SusquehannaUniversity in Selinsgrove, Pa. Cur-rently pursuing her master’s degree inSupervision and Administration in

Education at Kean University in Union,she teaches English at KawameehMiddle School in Union.

Her fiancé graduated from ScotchPlains-Fanwood High School andalso from Susquehanna University.He is a Certified Public Accountantemployed by Arthur Andersen in NewYork City.

The couple is planning a Junewedding.

Dr. and Mrs. Paul Vaiana ofWestfield have announced the en-gagement of their daughter, MissJennifer Vaiana, to Ian A. Beckerof Fishkill, N.Y. He is the son ofMr. and Mrs. Alan Becker ofWantagh, N.Y.

The bride-elect graduated fromMount Saint Mary Academy inWatchung and received her Bach-elor of Science Degree in Biologyfrom Marist College inPoughkeepsie, N.Y. She is employedat ClinSearch Inc. in Kenilworth asa Clinical Research Coordinator.

Her fiancé graduated fromMacArthur High School inWantagh and earned his Bachelorof Science Degree in InformationSystems from Marist College. Heis employed at Marist College as aDesktop Administrator and is cur-rently pursuing his master’s de-gree at the college.

The couple has planned a fallwedding for this year.

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Super Bowl PartyPlanned for AdultsWith Special Needs

WESTFIELD – The WestfieldChapter of UNICO National willsponsor the first annual Super BowlParty for developmentally challengedadults in the Community AccessUnlimited (CAU) program.

Manny Carlino, Mental HealthChairman for Westfield UNICO, hasdonated funds toward the event,which will be held on Sunday, Feb-ruary 3, at CAU headquarters onGrand Street in Elizabeth.

For further information, please callCharles Grillo at (908) 654-3717 orsend an e-mail [email protected].

Author to Tell of Jersey’sExperiences in Civil War

SHU Professor to GivePresentation on Rome

To Woman’s ClubWESTFIELD – Frank J. Korn,

Assistant Professor of ClassicalStudies at Seton Hall University inSouth Orange, will be the guestspeaker at the Monday, January 14General Meeting of the Woman’sClub of Westfield.

The meeting will be held at 12:30p.m. at the First CongregationalChurch of Westfield, located at 125Elmer Street. Mr. Korn’s talk willfollow the club’s business meeting.

He will discuss “Rome – TheEternal City,” illustrated with slidesthat he took there.

In addition to spending a year inRome at the American Academy asa Fulbright Scholar, Mr. Korn andhis wife lead small group tours toItaly twice a year. He is the authorof seven books, the most recent ofwhich is “A Catholic’s Guide toRome,” from the Paulist Press.

Hostesses for the tea followingMr. Korn’s address will be mem-bers of the Woman’s Club’s Recre-ation Department. Guests are in-vited to attend the lecture and areasked to call (908) 654-3946 forfurther information.

WESTFIELD – Author Alan A.Siegel will discuss his book, “Be-neath the Starry Flag: New Jersey’sCivil War Experience,” at the gen-eral meeting of the Westfield His-torical Society on Friday, January18, at 7:30 p.m. in the CommunityRoom of the Westfield MunicipalBuilding, 425 East Broad Street inWestfield.

Mr. Siegel’s book chronologicallylists the events in New Jersey from

the beginning of the Civil War, withthe secession of each southern state,through the final Union victory atAppomattox and Lincoln’s funeralprocession through New Jersey.

He tells of the divided sympathiesand tension many from New Jerseyfelt between the North and the Southat the outbreak of the war.

Drawing from letters, journals,regimental histories and eyewitnesstestimony, Mr. Siegel presents first-hand accounts from the war fromenlisted men and officers, politiciansand ordinary citizens, patriots andconspirators.

A Warren Township resident andan attorney in Chatham, Mr. Siegel isthe author of several books on his-tory, including “Smile: A PictureHistory of Olympic Park, 1887-1965”and “For the Glory of the Union:Myth, Reality and the Media in CivilWar New Jersey.”

The program is free and open tothe public. Light refreshments willbe served at the conclusion of theprogram.

REASON FOR THE SEASON…A group of men from St. Helen’s RomanCatholic Church in Westfield met on Wednesdays throughout the Adventseason, focusing on “the reason for the season.” Women parishioners alsoparticipated in the activities by meeting on Thursday mornings during Adventfor an hour of prayer and reflection. Pictured, left to right, are: standing, EdFrey, Dan Flynn, Joe Chizmar and Ted Wirkowski, and seated, Brian Salisbury,Anthony Polinis, Paul Nazzaro and Jerry Farley.

Library Friends to SponsorProgram On Identity Theft

SCOTCH PLAINS – The Friendsof the Scotch Plains Public Librarywill sponsor a free program entitled“Identity Theft…A Growing Con-cern,” this Saturday, January 12, at 1p.m. at the library.

Lieutenant Patricia Leonard, Com-mander of the Special ProsecutionsUnit in the Union CountyProsecutor’s Office, will be the fea-tured speaker. She will discuss theprevalence and prevention of iden-tity theft.

“Identity theft is a growing con-cern for just about everyone thesedays, and we felt it would be animportant subject for one of our pro-grams,” explained Ted Czarnomski,Friends President.

A resident of Scotch Plains, Lieu-tenant Leonard has built a decades-long career as a detective, includinginvestigations of homicide, sex crimes,economic crimes and other crimes.

She has been presented with nu-merous commendations and awards,including the Union CountyProsecutor’s Office DistinguishedService Award, which she has re-ceived twice.

In 1992, she was honored by theUnion County Commission on theStatus of Women for her contribu-tions to law enforcement.

Anyone interested in joining theFriends of the Scotch Plains PublicLibrary may pick up an applicationat the library or call Mr. Czarnomskiat (908) 232-5524. The library islocated at 1927 Bartle Avenue.

Disciplining ToddlersTo be Program Topic

AREA – The Union County Chap-ter of Mothers & More will present“Disciplining Your Toddler” onWednesday, January 16, at 7:30 p.m.at the Hanson House, located at 38Springfield Avenue in Cranford.

The informal lecture will be pre-sented by Dr. Maria Whiteside, apediatric development specialist whopractices at Morristown Hospital inMorristown and who is a motherherself.

Free and open to the public, the45-minute talk will be followed by aquestion-and-answer period duringwhich listeners will have an opportu-nity to discuss personal concerns orsituations they may have regardingdisciplining their toddler.

The Union County Chapter ofMothers & More always welcomespotential new members to attend anyof its bi-monthly meetings, whichare held on the first and third Wednes-day of each month.

The organization provides socialopportunities for mothers and theirchildren, including weeklyplaygroups, mother and child out-ings, mom’s night out and a varietyof special interest clubs.

For further information on the Janu-ary 16 meeting or the chapter itselfmay call Heidi at (908) 810-7165 orJan at (732) 381-3199.

Holy Trinity To HostRock & Roll EventWESTFIELD - The Parish Life

Committee of Holy Trinity CatholicChurch in Westfield will present anevening of Rock & Roll on Saturday,February 2 from 8 p.m. to midnightin the Holy Trinity School Gym. Allmembers of the community are in-vited to attend.

Live music for dancing will beprovided by The Troupe, a rock bandcomprised of alumni of the formerHoly Trinity High School. The bandperformed last May at the school’sreunion and received rave reviews byall in attendance.

Light refreshments, beer and winewill be served. A raffle and silentauction will be held with the pro-ceeds going to benefit Mary andJohn Ryan, who are active parishio-ners with the church.

Tickets for the evening are avail-able in advance for $30 and $40 atthe door. Groups can reserve tables,which will seat from 6 to 12 people.Call Julia DeSantis at (908) 389-1970 for tickets and information.

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An Enrichment Program for children attendingafternoon Kindergarten in Public Schools

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OPEN HOUSE EVENTS PLANNED…St. Paul’s Day School, located at 414East Broad Street in Westfield, will conduct three open houses, two for NurserySchool on Monday, January 14, and Thursday, February 28, at 9:30 a.m. andone for kindergarten on Thursday, January 24, at 9:30 a.m. Children turning2, 3, 4 or 5 by Tuesday, October 1, are eligible to enroll for the 2002 school year.Kindergarten registration for youngsters new to the school will be held onFriday, February 1. Registration for new Nursery School children will beFriday, Monday and Tuesday, March 1, 4 and 5.

Evil Forces Failed to ExtinguishJoy of the Recent Holy Season

By REV. ANDREW HAMERSLEY

We, who are native to the greatermetropolitan area, cannot help buthave mixed feelings as this Christ-mas season concludes. This year, thedarker realities of our world havelaid many of our senses bare and thisturns out to be both good and not sogreat.

The holidays are always poignanttimes of worship. On any givenChristmas Eve, the rooms in oursanctuaries are always crowded inmore ways than one. Attendance isalways up as people respond to aninner urge to connect with God andtheir neighbors in holy prayer.

But the room is also filled by thememories we all carry of years goneby and people gone before us. Glancefor a second at the long list of memo-rial contributions we make for flow-ers at Christmas and you get a smallsense of all those others who are withus as we pray. Of course, in additionthis year, our hearts are heavier thanusual. This year, we carry some threethousand more.

Two weeks ago, I paused in midsip of tea one morning when thenewscaster reported that the under-ground fires beneath the rubble inlower Manhattan had finally burnedout.

It seemed a momentous andweighty announcement. The fires thatevil bore have returned to the dark-ness that spawned them and we areleft knowing only intuitively thatsome turn has been made as we gatherto pray in this subdued light.

Whether it is from the impact offoreign attack, related economic dis-tress or the very real pastoral chal-lenges each worshipping commu-nity must face as we live and as wedie, it has been a tender Christmasseason this year. We hold our lovedones closer if we can, and if wecannot, we feel the distance moredistinctly.

It is with fragile souls then, that wehear the prophecy of the comingSavior, “…the people who walked indarkness have seen a great light;those who lived in a land of deepdarkness – on them the light hasshined.”

Oh, how we need to hear boththings confirmed! Yes, there is dark-ness; we have lived in a land of deep

darkness. As the fires of the terrorhave finally gone out, it is as if theterrible event has just now officiallyended. The darkness that has de-scended where those flames onceburned is felt in every heart that beatsfor freedom. And so we can identifywith Isaiah’s prophecy of a peoplewho have walked in darkness.

As true as that is, we can also hearwith a heightened need and a clearerperception of the reality that hasalways been at the heart of Christ-mas:

“In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God, and theWord was God…All things cameinto being through Him, and withouthim not one thing came into being.What has come into being was life,and the life was the light of all people.The light shines in the darkness, andthe darkness did not overcome it.”

Several months ago, hateful, eviland/or mad people sought to dis-mantle our very way of life. With adespicable blow that reached deepinto the heart of our communities,these people thought that they couldblow out our candle-lit services, thatthey could freeze our hands in spaceas we reached with our ornaments todecorate our trees, that they couldsilence our instruments and ourchoirs, that they could render mean-ingless the breaking of bread. Theyhoped that we would turn againsteach other across religious and eth-nic lines.

But, as a Christian, I would saythat it was for this kind of evil and forthis kind of moment that God sentHis Son into the world, to be born ofa virgin, in a stable, lowly and poor.Christmas is the season which cel-ebrates the birth of the Savior.Epiphany is the moment which ac-knowledges that He is the Light ofthe World. As John’s Gospel says,“The light shines in the darkness,and the darkness did not overcomeit.” Even though it tried. Even if ittries again.

* * * * *Reverend Hamersley is the Rector

at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, lo-cated at 414 East Broad Street inWestfield.

PUBLIC NOTICESUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY

CHANCERY DIVISIONUNION COUNTY DOCKET NO.

F-20334-01

NOTICE TO ABSENT DEFENDANTS

(L.S.) STATE OF NEW JERSEY TO:ISMAEL ACEVADO, HIS HEIRS,

DEVISEES AND PERSONAL REPRE-SENTATIVES, AND HIS, THEIRS OR

ANY OF THEIR SUCCESSORS INRIGHT TITLE AND INTEREST

YOU ARE HEREBY summoned and re-quired to serve upon FRANK J. MARTONE,P.C., Plaintiff’s Attorney, whose address is4 Brighton Road, Clifton, New Jersey, 07012,an answer to the complaint (and amend-ment to complaint, if any) filed in a civilaction in which NATIONAL CITY MORT-GAGE CO. is Plaintiff and IRMA E.ACEVEDO, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS AD-MINISTRATRIX OF THE ESTATE OFISMAEL ACEVEDO; SAMUEL RAIMONDIAND MRS. SAMUEL RAIMONDI, HISWIFE;, et als. are Defendants, pending inthe Superior Court of New Jersey ChanceryDivision, UNION County and bearing DocketNumber F-20334-01 within Thirty-five (35)days after January 10, 2002 exclusive ofsuch date. If you fail to do so, judgment bydefault may be rendered against you for therelief demanded in the complaint (andamendment to complaint, if any). You shallfile your answer and proof of service induplicate with the Clerk of the SuperiorCourt of New Jersey, Hughes Justice Com-plex, 25 Market Street, CN-971, Trenton,New Jersey, 08625, in accordance with theRules of Civil Practice and Procedure.

This action has been instituted for thepurpose of (1) foreclosing a mortgage datedFebruary 27, 1999, made by ISMAELACEVADO, UNMARRIED AND SAMUELRAIMONDI, UNMARRIED, asMortgagor(s), to NATIONAL CITY MORT-GAGE CO. DBA COMMONWEALTHUNITED MORTGAGE COMPANY, re-corded on May 17, 1999, in Book 7215 ofMortgages for UNION County, Page 0241,and subsequently assigned to the plaintiff;and (2) to recover possession of and con-cerns premises commonly known as 2129FAY AVENUE, LINDEN, NEW JERSEY07036.

If you are unable to obtain an attorney, youmay communicate with the New Jersey StateBar Association by calling (908) 249-5000.You may also contact the lawyer referralservice of UNION the county of Venue bycalling 909-353-4715. If you cannot affordan attorney, you may communicate with theLegal Services Office of the County of Venueby calling 908-354-4340.

You, ISMAEL ACEVADO, HIS HEIRS,DEVISEES AND PERSONAL REPRE-SENTATIVES, AND HIS, THEIRS OR ANYOF THEIR SUCCESSORS IN RIGHTTITLE AND INTEREST are made a partydefendant to this foreclosure action becauseyou are the heirs of the deceased mort-gagor, COX, and as such may have aninterest in the mortgaged premises, and youhave a right to Notice of this action for anyright, title, claim or interest you may have in,to, or against the said mortgaged premises.

DONALD F. PHELANCLERK OF THE SUPERIOR COURT

OF NEW JERSEYFRANK J. MARTONE, P.C.4 Brighton RoadClifton, New Jersey 070121 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $67.83

PUBLIC NOTICESHERIFF’S SALE

SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY,CHANCERY DIVISION, UNION COUNTY,DOCKET NO. F-8587-98

EMC MORTGAGE, PLAINTIFF vs. THO-MAS C. CHAMBERS, DECEASED, HISHEIRS, ET ALS., DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED AUGUST 29, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.

By virtue of the above-stated writ of ex-ecution to me directed I shall expose for saleby public vendue, at the Union County Ad-ministration Building, 1st Floor, 10Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, New Jer-sey on WEDNESDAY THE 23RD DAY OFJANUARY A.D., 2002 at two o’clock in theafternoon of said day. All successful bid-ders must have 20% of their bid available incash or certified check at the conclusion ofthe sales.

The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDFIFTY SEVEN THOUSAND SIX-HUN-DRED TWENTY EIGHT & 03/100($157,628.03).

CONCISE DESCRIPTIONMunicipality: ElizabethStreet Address: 457 Walnut Street, Eliza-

beth, New Jersey 07201Tax Lot: 1363 W12Tax Block: 12Approximate dimensions: 187.22 feet X

50.59 feet X 194.92 feet X 50.00 feetNearest cross street: Mary StreetThere is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED SIXTY SEVEN THOU-SAND SIX-HUNDRED SEVENTY FIVE& 03/100 ($167,675.03) together withlawful interest and costs.

There is a full legal description on file inthe Union County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff reserves the right to adjournthis sale.

RALPH FROEHLICHSHERIFF

PLUESE, ETTIN, BECKER &SALTZMANA DIV. OF KATZ, ETTIN, LEVINE,905 North Kings HighwayCherry Hill, New Jersey 08034CH-756301 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $177.48

PUBLIC NOTICETOWNSHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require the services of a Town-ship Attorney during 2002; and

WHEREAS, the funds are available forthis purpose; and

WHEREAS, the Local Public ContractsLaw (N.J.S.A. 40A:11-1, et seq.) requiresthat the resolution authorizing the award ofa contract for professional services withoutcompetitive bids must be publicly adver-tised;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that Douglas W. Hansen, Esq., 1824 FrontStreet, Scotch Plains, New Jersey be ap-pointed as Township Attorney from January1, 2002 to December 31, 2002.

This contract is awarded without competi-tive bidding as a "professional service" un-der the provisions of said Local Public Con-tracts Law because said services are ren-dered or performed by persons authorizedby law to practice a recognized profession,which practice is regulated by law, andwhich practice requires the knowledge of anadvanced type in a field of learning acquiredby a prolonged, formal course of specifiededucation and instruction, and because it isimpossible at this time to know the exactdimensions of the services to be performedand the exact nature of the various tasks tobe performed, and accordingly, the servicesto be rendered cannot reasonably be de-scribed by written specifications, and addi-tionally, because the said services are ofsuch a qualitative nature as will not permitthe receipt of competitive bids due to thesubjective difference in the work product ofsuch persons and the fact that the ethicalrequirements of such profession will notpermit such bidding.

A copy of this resolution shall be pub-lished in The Times as required by lawwithin ten (10) days of its passage.

Barbara RiepeTownship Clerk

1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $42.33

Westfield Newcomers PostUpcoming Social Events

WESTFIELD – The Westfield New-comers Club has announced the datesfor several upcoming activities.

The Social Committee’s couples’dinner, open to members and spouses,will take place on Friday, January25, at 8 p.m. at the MezzogiornoRestaurant, located at 450 Park Av-enue in Scotch Plains.

Other planned couples’ events in-clude a Beer and Wine Tasting inFebruary and the Annual ProgressiveDinner in March.

The Children’s Committee willmeet for a story hour every Saturdayduring January at 11 a.m. atChristopher’s Books & Gifts, locatedat 338 Springfield Avenue in Summit.

The Children’s Committee willalso meet on Tuesday, January 15, at10:30 a.m. at the Barnes & Noblestore on Route 22, West, in Spring-field for a musical performance byCandy Nelson, known for her upbeatrenditions of popular tunes.

The Activities Committee hasscheduled a complimentary circuitclass and massage on Thursday, Janu-ary 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Personal Best,located at the corner of South Av-enue and Center Street in Garwood.

A nutritionist will be on hand tooffer tips on healthy eating. The eventis limited to 10 people, so interestedindividuals are urged to register early.

The Newcomers Club, founded in1944, is open to women over age 21

who are new residents to Westfieldor established residents who haveexperienced a lifestyle change, suchas the birth or adoption of a baby, amarriage, job change or move withinthe town.

Among the current monthly ac-tivities offered by the club are bookgroups; children’s playgroups andactivities; women’s social activitiesand dinners at local restaurants;couples’ events; International Clubevents and Community Serviceprojects.

For more information about theNewcomers Club of Westfield, orany of its events, please call CarrieVotta at (908) 389-9248 or ReneeCox at (908) 233-5605.

Mr. Slabe Named PresidentOf YFCS Board of Trustees

James F. Slabe

WESTFIELD — James F. Slabe, aresident of Mountainside, has beennamed as President of the Board ofTrustees of Youth and Family Coun-seling Service, located at 233 Pros-pect Street in Westfield.

Mr. Slabe was first elected to theboard in 1999 and in the past hasserved on the Outreach Committeeand as Vice President of the board.

A corporate executive with a back-ground in planning, budgeting, di-rect marketing and operational sys-tems and procedures, he has beenPresident of Sabor & Co. Inc., aninvestment company, since 1994.

For 15 years, Mr. Slabe was Presi-dent and Chief Operating Officer ofExecutive Enterprises, a conferenceand publishing company. His careerbegan with Pfizer Inc., and includedstints with McGraw-Hill Inc. andParade Publications.

He earned a Bachelor of Arts De-gree, magna cum laude, from Wash-ington and Jefferson College. Mr.Slabe completed course work for adoctorate in economics and statisticsat the University of Maryland, be-fore two years of active military ser-vice in Korea. He was honorablydischarged from the United StatesArmy with the rank of Captain.

He has served on the Washingtonand Jefferson College Board of Trust-ees and on the Board of Directors ofEEI Holdings, L.P., 21 BuildingCorporation and the National Asso-ciation for the Visually Handicapped.

“I plan to build on the strong foun-dation put in place by my predeces-sor, Austin Sayre,” said Mr. Slabe.

“During the coming year, the en-tire Board of Trustees is committedto broadening public awareness ofthe agency’s benefits provided to theeight communities served, meetingthe ever-changing family and mentalhealth needs of the communitiesserved — especially in light of the

September 11 tragedy — and in-creasing the agency’s resources, bothin terms of counseling and dollars, toprovide services to those in need.After all, we are ‘peoplehelping people’,” he added.

Youth and Family Counseling Ser-vice may be reached at (908) 233-2042.

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFEILD

This is to certify that the within resolutionis a true and exact copy of the Resolutionadopted on 1/2/02 by the Town Council ofthe Town of Westfield.

Bernard A. HeeneyTown Clerk

RESOLUTION

FINANCE COMMITTEEJANUARY 2, 2002

WHEREAS, a need exists for the Town ofWestfield to retain the professional legalservices of a consultant and negotiator inconnection with collective bargaining be-tween the Town and its employee represen-tation organizations, and

WHEREAS, the Local Public ContractsLaw (NJSA 40A:11-1 et seq) authorizes theletting of contracts for professional serviceswithout competitive bidding;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDthat:

1. Frederick T Danser III, Esq be en-gaged to represent the Town ofWestfield in labor negotiations withemployee representation organiza-tions for the year ending December31, 2002 at an annual fee of $16,000.

2. This contract is awarded withoutcompetitive bidding as a “Profes-sional Service” under the provisionsof the Local Public Contracts Law,NJSA 40A: 11-5(1) (a) because theservice is legal in nature.

3. A copy of this resolution shall bepublished in THE WESTFIELDLEADER as public notice of theaction in accordance with NJSA40A:11-5.

1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $35.19

Senior Social ClubTo Meet January 14WESTFIELD – The first meeting

of the new year of the Senior SocialClub of the Holy Trinity RomanCatholic Church in Westfield willtake place on Monday, January 14, inthe gymnasium/auditorium of theelementary school. The entrance ison First Street.

The program will feature “TheGolden Lights,” a choral group fromthe Evangel Church in Scotch Plains.Refreshments will be served.

No trips for January and Februaryhave been planned.

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF AWARD OF CONTRACTFOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES BY

THE BOROUGH OF FANWOOD

RESOLUTION 02-01-09

CONTRACTOR: Commerce NationalInsurance Services 231 Main Street CN2017 Toms River, New Jersey 08754

NATURE OF SERVICE: Consulting Ser-vices for Health insurance.

DURATION: For a period ending no laterthan December 31, 2002

AMOUNT: Fees paid by Horizon BlueCross Blue Shield; Delta Dental Insurance

A copy of the Resolution and Contractrelating to the services are on file and avail-able for public inspection in the office of theBorough Clerk.

Eleanor McGovernBorough Clerk

1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $18.87



RESOLUTION 02-01-07

CONTRACTOR: Suplee, Clooney &Company 308 East Broad Street Westfield,New Jersey 07090

NATURE OF SERVICE: Auditing ser-vices and other financial consultation ser-vices.

DURATION: For a period ending no laterthan December 31, 2002.

AMOUNT: Not to Exceed $20,675.00A copy of the Resolution and Contract

relating to the services are on file and avail-able for public inspection in the office of theBorough Clerk.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $18.87

PUBLIC NOTICEBOROUGH OF FANWOOD

NOTICE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGECONTROL

Take notice that application has beenmade to the Borough of Fanwood for aChange of Corporate Structure of YadizCorporation to Piyush Parikh located at 61South Avenue, Fanwood, New Jersey 07076the Plenary Retail Distribution License No:2005-44-001-002.

The name and address of the Stockhold-ers, Officers and Directors of the Licenseeafter the change in corporate structure areas follows:

Joseph Yabut, Jr. - President, Directorand Stockholder20 Yarmouth Court, Southwyck VillageScotch Plains, New Jersey 07076

Gloria D. Yabut - Director, Stockholder20 Yarmouth Court, Southwyck VillageScotch Plains, New Jersey 07076

Piyush Parikh - Vice-President,Secretary, Treasurer, Director, Man-ager and Stockholder207 Egnor DriveAbsecon, New Jersey 08201

Objections, if any, should be made imme-diately in writing to Eleanor McGovern, Clerkfor the Borough of Fanwood at FanwoodBorough, Union County, 75 N. Martine Av-enue, Fanwood, New Jersey 07023-1397.

Yadiz CorporationJose Yabut, Jr., President

1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $30.60


PLANNING BOARDNotice is hereby given that on January 23,

2002, at 8:00 p.m. in the Borough Hall of theBorough of Fanwood at 75 North MartineAvenue, Fanwood, New Jersey, theFanwood Planning Board will hold a publichearing to consider the appeal of Andrew G.Calamaras to construct a deck on the prop-erty at 232 North Martine Avenue, Fanwood,New Jersey, also known at Bock 13 Lot 18on the Fanwood Tax Map. The followingbulk variance is requested from the LandUse Ordinance of the Borough of Fanwood:

14.01C.1 - VARIANCE RE-QUESTED : DECK ON SIDEYARD PERMITTED: REARYARD PRESENT: N/A PRO-POSED SIDE YARD AND SUCHOTHER RELIEF THAT THEBOARD MAY DEEM APPRO-PRIATE.

All interested persons may be presentand heard.

The file pertaining to this application isavailable for public inspection during normalbusiness hours from the Secretary of theBoard at the Administration Offices of theBorough of Fanwood at 75 North MartineAvenue, Fanwood, New Jersey.

Andrew G. Calamaras232 North Martine Avenue

Fanwood, New Jersey 07023(908) 322-2350

1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $30.09



ACCUBANC MORTGAGE CORPORA-TION, PLAINTIFF vs. CLAUDIA CURY N/K/A CLAUDIA AFONSO, ET AL, DEFEN-DANT.



The judgment amount is TWO-HUN-DRED THIRTY ONE THOUSAND EIGHT-HUNDRED THIRTY THREE & 33/100($231,833.33).

CONCISE DESCRIPTIONMunicipality: ElizabethStreet Address: 594 Madison Avenue,

Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208Tax Lot: 642Tax Block: 12Approximate dimensions: 33.00 feet X

110.00 feet X 33.00 feet X 110.00 feetNearest cross street: Fairmont AvenueThere is due approximately the sum of

TWO-HUNDRED FIFTY TWO THOU-SAND EIGHT-HUNDRED EIGHTY NINE& 29/100 ($252,889.29) together withlawful interest and costs.




PLUESE, ETTIN, BECKER &SALTZMANA DIV. OF KATZ, ETTIN, LEVINE,905 North Kings HighwayCherry Hill, New Jersey 08034CH-756298 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $181.56

PUBLIC NOTICEUNION COUNTY BOARD

OF CHOSEN FREEHOLDERSNOTICE OF CONTRACT AWARDDate Adopted: January 6, 2002

Public Notice is hereby given that theUnion County Board of Chosen Freehold-ers has awarded a contract without com-petitive bidding as a professional service orextraordinary, unspecifiable service pursu-ant to N.J.S.A. 40A:11-5(1)(a). This con-tract and the resolution authorizing it isavailable for public inspection in the Officeof the Clerk of the Board.

RESOLUTION NO. 16-2002AWARDED TO: Waters, McPherson,

McNeil Esqs., 300 Lighting Way, Secaucus,New Jersey

SERVICES: To provide Special CounselServices for labor negotiations.

PERIOD: 2002COST: $150,000

M. Elizabeth GenievichClerk of the Board

1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $20.91

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF MEETINGS

WESTFIELD HISTORIC PRESERVATIONCOMMISSION

Be advised that the Historic PreservationCommission of the Town of Westfield willmeet at the Westfield Town Hall, 425 EastBroad Street, Westfield at 8:00 p.m. for thepurpose of acting on items before the com-mission on the following days in the year2002:

January 28February 25March 25April 29May 20June 24July 22

August 26September 23

October 28November 25December 16

Claire J. Gray, SecretaryHistoric Preservation Commission

1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $22.95

Legal AdvertisingMORE IN BACK SECTION



RESOLUTION 02-01-10

CONTRACTOR: John D. Draikiwicz, Esq.Gibbons, DelDeo, Dolan, Griffinger &Vecchione One River Front Plaza Newark,New Jersey 07102-5497

NATURE OF SERVICE: Bond CounselDURATION: Period ending December

31, 2001 or until his successor is appointedAMOUNT: Bond Sale and review of Offi-

cial Statement $4,500 plus $1.00 per $1,000bonds Preparation of Bond Ordinance:$350.00

A Copy of the Resolution and Contractrelating to the services are on file and avail-able for public inspection in the office of theBorough Clerk.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $20.40


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require the services of a transi-tional Assistant Township Attorney during2002; and

WHEREAS, the funds are available forthis purpose; and


NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that Andrew M. Baron, Esq., 403 Lake Av-enue, Colonia, New Jersey, be appointed astransitional Assistant Township Attorneyfrom January 1, 2002 to February 28, 2002.




1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $42.84

PUBLIC NOTICENOTICE OF AWARD OF CONTRACT

FOR EXTRAORDINARYUNSPECIFIABLE SERVICES BY THE

TOWNSHIP OF SCOTCH PLAINS

CONTRACTOR: Commerce National In-surance Services, PO Box 1058 ForkedRiver, New Jersey

NATURE OF SERVICE: Services of aRisk Management Consultant

DURATION: 1/1/02 - 12/31/02AMOUNT: $28,243.02THE RESOLUTION AND CONTRACT

FOR SAME ARE ON FILE IN THE OF-FICE OF THE TOWNSHIP CLERK.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $15.81



RESOLUTION 02-01-08

CONTRACTOR: Business & Govern-mental Insurance Agency Plaza Nine 900Route 9 South P.O. Box 39 Woodbridge,New Jersey 07095

NATURE OF SERVICE: Consulting Ser-vices for general liability insurance.

DURATION: For a period ending no laterthan December 31, 2002

AMOUNT: Not to exceed $2,000.00 forgeneral liability insurance.

A copy of the Resolution and Contractrelating to the services are on file and avail-able for public inspection in the office of theBorough Clerk.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $19.38

PUBLIC NOTICETOWN OF WESTFIELD

BOARD OF ADJUSTMENTMEETING DATES

In compliance with N.J.S.A. 10:4-8D(Open Public Meetings Act), the Board ofAdjustment wishes to advise the public of itsmeeting dates. Meetings are held on thesecond Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m.unless otherwise stipulated, and are held inthe Municipal Building, 425 East BroadStreet, Westfield, New Jersey in the Coun-cil Chambers. The Board will also meet at7:00 p.m. on those same dates in the Mayor’sConference Room for a work session inwhich the public may attend but may notparticipate in. Meeting dates are as follows:

January 14, 2002 August 12, 2002February 11, 2002 September 9, 2002March 11, 2002 October 21, 2002April 8, 2002 November 18, 2002May 13, 2002 December 9, 2002June 10, 2002 January 13, 2003July 8, 2002 February 10, 2003

Colleen Mayer, SecretaryBoard of Adjustment

1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $23.46




RESOLUTION NO. 14-2002AWARDED TO: Suplee, Clooney & Co.,

308 East Broad Street, Westfield, New Jer-sey

SERVICES: To provide statutory auditsof accounts of the County of Union and itsagencies.

PERIOD: 2002M. Elizabeth Genievich

Clerk of the Board1 T – 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $21.42



Charles W. Smith, 72, Loan Officer;Had Served In Both Army and Navy

Edith H. Smith, 77Edith H. Smith, 77, of Westfield

died on Tuesday, January 1, at theWayne View Convalescent Center inWayne.

Born in Quincy, Mass., she was aresident of Westfield for most of herlife.

Mrs. Smith graduated from theCollege of William and Mary inWilliamsburg, Va., with a degree inchemistry. She was also a member ofthe school’s Chi Omega Sorority.

She was a member of the OverlookTwigs and the High Bridge Method-ist Church in High Bridge.

She was predeceased by her hus-band, Richard Kent Smith, in 1982.

Surviving are a daughter, WendyL. Warwick of Scotch Plains; a son,Harwood Kent Smith ofCockeysville, Md.; a brother, RobertLee Harwood of Naples, Fla., andtwo grandchildren.

The funeral service was held at 10a.m. on Saturday, January 5, at theGray Funeral Home, 318 East BroadStreet in Westfield. Interment wasprivate.

Memorial donations may be madeto the High Bridge Methodist Church,36 Church Street, High Bridge 08829-1509.

January 10, 2002

Ruth C. Packard, 104Ruth C. Packard, 104, died on Thurs-

day, December 27, at Normandy FarmsEstates Medical Facility in Blue Bell, Pa.

Born in Jermyn, Lackawanna County,Pa., the daughter of the late Barnabas andBertha Daniels Carter, she had lived inMetuchen and in Westfield for more than40 years before moving to NormandyFarms Estates in 1985.

Mrs. Packard graduated from JermynHigh School in 1914 and from EastStroudsburg Normal School in 1916. Shetaught school in Greenfield TownshipSchool for five years prior to her mar-riage in 1923.

She was a member of St. Paul’s Epis-copal Church in Westfield and active inthe Monthly Church Circle.

She was predeceased by her husbandof more than 71 years, Preston K. Packard,in 1994, and by a son, David C. Packard,in April of 2001.

Surviving are two daughters, Doris P.Meadors of Baton Rouge, La. and DianeP. Williams of Clearwater, Fla.; eight grand-children and 14 great-grandchildren.

Private arrangements were under thedirection of the Huff & Lakjer FuneralHome in Lansdale, Pa.

Memorial contributions may be madeto St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 414 EastBroad Street, Westfield 07090 or to afavorite charity.

January 10, 2002

Eugene A. Kaplan, 68, Had Been Manager;CCD Teacher and CYO Basketball Coach

Charles W. Smith, 72, of Westfielddied on Thursday, December 27, athis home.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, helived in Westfield since 1964.

Mr. Smith was employed as a loanofficer at the Clark branch of Sum-mit Bank for the past 10 years. Ear-lier, he was President of the Under-writers Bank and Trust Company inNew York City.

He graduated from City College ofNew York in 1956 with a businessdegree and had done work towards amaster’s degree from New York Uni-versity.

He served in the United StatesNavy from 1947 to 1951, and in theUnited States Army as a Sergeant

during the Korean Conflict from 1951to 1953.

Surviving are his wife, JessieRobertson Smith; two daughters,Mary Nuber and Cheryl Smith; ason, Steven Smith, and four grand-sons.

A Mass of Christian Burial wasoffered on Monday, December 31, atthe Holy Trinity Roman CatholicChurch, following the funeral fromthe Dooley Colonial Home, 556Westfield Avenue in Westfield. In-terment was at General Doyle Veter-ans Cemetery in Arneytown.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the Westfield Volunteer Res-cue Squad, 335 Watterson Street,P.O. Box 356, Westfield 07090.

January 10, 2002

Eugene A. Kaplan, 68, of Westfielddied on Saturday, December 29, athis home.

Born in Jersey City, he relocated toWestfield in 1968.

Mr. Kaplan had been employed asInside Sales and Export Manager forthe B. Manischewitz Company inJersey City for 12 years before retir-ing in January of 1999.

Prior to that, he had worked as anengineer for General Electric Com-pany in Connecticut and for theSinger Company in Finderne.

A 1960 graduate of the NewarkCollege of Engineering, now the NewJersey Institute of Technology, heearned a Bachelor of Science Degreein Mechanical Engineering. He re-ceived his Master of Business Ad-ministration Degree from FairleighDickinson University in 1978.

Mr. Kaplan was a Past Presidentand former Regional Governor ofToastmasters of Westfield.

He was a former Confraternity ofChristian Doctrine teacher andCatholic Youth Organization basket-ball coach at St. Helen’s RomanCatholic Church in Westfield, wherehe was one of the original communi-cants.

Surviving are his wife, BarbaraKaplan; two sons, Kevin Kaplan ofWestfield and Keith Kaplan of

Chester Springs, Pa.; a daughter,Mary Addeo of Gardena, Calif.; twobrothers, Joseph Kaplan of TarponSprings, Fla. and Michael Kaplan ofElizabeth, and a grandson.

A Mass of Christian Burial wasoffered yesterday, Wednesday, Janu-ary 2, at St. Helen’s Church. Inter-ment took place at St. Gertrude’sCemetery in Colonia.

Arrangements were under the di-rection of the Dooley Colonial Home,556 Westfield Avenue in Westfield.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the American Heart Asso-ciation.

January 10, 2002

Sophie Hartvigsen, 98Sophie S. Hartvigsen, 98, of Oak

Ridge died on Wednesday, January2, at Chilton Memorial Hospital inPompton Plains.

Born in Brooklyn, she had for-merly lived in Scotch Plains for 50years, residing in Oak Ridge since1970.

She attended School One in ScotchPlains and graduated from WestfieldHigh School in 1921.

Mrs. Hartvigsen was very involvedduring the 1940s and 1950s with theScotch Plains Girl Scouts, serving asboth a leader and a member of theWashington Rock Girl Scout Council.

She was active in the Oak RidgePresbyterian Church and the GoldenAge Club, both of West Milford andJefferson.

She was predeceased by her hus-band, Harman Hartvigsen, in 1958,and by her son, Harman Hartvigsen,Jr., in 1996.

Surviving are her daughter, LoisH. Wells of Butler; a brother, LarryNielson of North Carolina; five grand-children and six great-grandchildren.

A graveside service was held onSaturday, January 5, at Fairview Cem-etery in Westfield.

Arrangements were under the di-rection of the Gray Funeral Home,318 East Broad Street in Westfield.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the Oak Ridge PresbyterianChurch, 342 Oak Ridge Road, OakRidge 07438.

January 10, 2002

John J. Bucuk, Jr., 84John Julius Bucuk, Jr., 84, of

Middlesex died on Thursday, De-cember 27, at his residence.

Born on April 12, 1917 inBloomfield, he had previously livedin Scotch Plains and Bloomfield.

Mr. Bucuk had been employed for55 years as a truck driver forShallcross Express in Kenilworthprior to retiring in 1996.

He was a member of TeamstersLocal No. 478 in Union.

Surviving are his wife, EdithCarrona Bucuk; a son, Garrett Bucuk;two daughters, Janice Harding ofSpringfield and Carol Kukola ofBlackwood, and six grandchildren.

A religious service was held onMonday, December 31, at theSheenan Funeral Home in Dunellen.

January 10, 2002

Nickolas Mitilenes, Laboratory Founder;Army Veteran Received Purple Heart

Edgar Reeve, 100, Cared for Family;Lifelong Resident Married Last Year

Robert E. List, 76, Company President;Was Echo Lake Country Club Trustee

Robert E. List, 76, of Westfielddied on Wednesday, January 2, atOverlook Hospital in Summit.

Born in Pittsburgh, Pa., he hadlived in Manhattan prior to movingto Westfield since 1954.

Mr. List was President and ChiefExecutive Officer of Henry G. Rich-ter Inc. of Westfield, an engineeringmanufacturers representative andelectronic components design firmwith which he was affiliated since1952. He also served as thecompany’s Vice-President from 1963to 1989.

He received a Bachelor of ScienceDegree in Mechanical Engineeringfrom Bucknell University inLewisburg, Pa., in 1948, and servedon the university’s Board of Trusteesfrom 1982 to 1987.

He was a member of the Bison’sClub Executive Committee from1970 until his death and had beenPresident of the committee from 1980to 1988.

Mr. List was also a Past Presidentof the Northern New Jersey BucknellUniversity Alumni Club and servedon the board of the Sigma Chi Frater-nity.

A graduate of the Officer TrainingProgram at Notre Dame Universityin South Bend, Ind., Mr. List servedas an Ensign in the United StatesNavy in the Pacific theater duringWorld War II.

He was a member of the EchoLake Country Club in Westfield, serv-ing on its Board of Trustees from1972 to 1978, and also helped orga-nize the platform tennis program atthe club.

He was additionally a member ofthe New Jersey Senior Golf Associa-tion; the Corinthian Yacht Club ofCape May, and the InternationalEngineering Executives and the Elec-tronic Representatives Associations.Mr. List was also a volunteer for theUnited Fund of Westfield.

Surviving are his wife, ElizabethList; a son, Robert E. List, 2nd ofFair Haven; a daughter, Karen E.List of New York City; a brother,Thomas F. List of Palm Beach, Fla.,and five grandchildren.

A memorial service was held onSaturday, January 5, at The Presby-

terian Church in Westfield.Funeral arrangements were under

the direction of the Higgins andBonner Echo Lake Funeral Home inWestfield.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the Heart Failure CenterFund at New York Presbyterian Hos-pital, 177 Fort Washington Avenue,New York 10032.

January 10, 2002

Edgar Reeve, 100, of Westfielddied on Friday, December 28, at thefour-acre estate in Westfield wherehe had lived all his life.

After working for two years as aninsurance salesman for New York

Life more than 70 years ago, Mr.Reeve left the firm to take care of hisparents. His father, William Edgar

Reeve, was instrumental in the cre-ation of the Westfield YMCA.

He was a member of the FirstCongregational Church in Westfield.

In 1985, he and his brother, Ralph,ceded the Reeve homestead on Moun-tain Avenue, which bordersMindowaskin Park, to The Town ofWestfield, reserving a life estate inMr. Reeve. The property was givenas an eventual home for the WestfieldHistorical Society.

Last year, he married ChristineBackhaus, who had previously beenhis housekeeper for 16 years.

In addition to his parents, Mr.Reeve was predeceased by his brotherin 1988.

Besides his wife, he is survived byhis brother-in-law, Martin Schmiedeof Fanwood, and a cousin, Helen T.Martin of Westfield.

Services were held on Sunday,December 30, at the Bruce C. VanArsdale Funeral Home in Somerville.Interment was at Fairview Cemeteryin Westfield.

Memorial donations may be madeto the Westfield Historical Society,P.O. Box 613, Westfield 07091-0613.

January 10, 2002

Nickolas G. Mitilenes of WallTownship died on Thursday, Decem-ber 27, at his home.

Born in Newark, he had lived inWest Orange before moving to WallTownship.

Mr. Mitilenes founded the Medi-cal Laboratory Diagnostics in New-ark in 1951, serving as its Co-Direc-tor until his semi-retirement sevenyears ago. He established the facilityafter working in the field of bio-analytical medicine.

Although he remained active inthe technical operations of the labo-ratory, he also worked in the Pulmo-nary Department of the PresbyterianHospital in Newark through the 1960sand 1970s.

A United States Army veteran ofWorld War II, he participated in theNormandy invasion of France in Juneof 1944. He saw action in variousbattles in Europe and was woundedduring the Battle of the Bulge. Mr.Mitilenes received the Purple Heartand was honorably discharged fromthe Army in 1945.

He graduated from Seton HallUniversity in South Orange in 1948with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in

Philosophy and Biology and pursuedgraduate studies at the University ofMaryland.

At age 60, he earned a Master ofScience Degree in Bacteriology andPublic Health from Wagner Collegein Staten Island. He and his songraduated from the college at thesame time and with the same degree,a first for the school.

After taking a course, Mr. Mitilenesbecame responsible for institutingthe monitoring and reporting of thepollen count for local radio stationsin the New York and New Jerseyarea.

He was a member of the AmericanAssociation of Bioanalysts and theAmerican Chemical Society and wasboard certified by the AmericanBoard of Bioanalysts.

Surviving are his wife of 53 years,Carolyn J. Mitilenes; a daughter,Georgene Bonard of Westfield; a son,Dr. George Mitilenes of Far Hills; asister, Marika Critticos of Miami,Fla., and five grandchildren.

A Funeral Liturgy was offered onMonday, December 31, at the HolyTrinity Greek Orthodox Church inWestfield. Interment took place atFairview Cemetery in Westfield.

Arrangements are under the direc-tion of the Gray Funeral Home, 318East Broad Street in Westfield.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the American Cancer Soci-ety, P.O. Box 102454, Atlanta, Ga.30368-2454.

January 10, 2002

Fred H. Lippert, 86, Active In Church;Was Recipient of Four Bronze Stars

Charles Schadle, 71, Elm Radio Owner;Was Past District Governor For Lions

Fred H. Lippert, 86, of Fanwooddied on Wednesday, December 26, atMuhlenberg Regional Medical Cen-ter in Plainfield.

Born in Chicago, he had lived inMariemont, Ohio and Chicago be-fore moving to Fanwood 40 yearsago.

Mr. Lippert had worked as amanufacturer’s representative forRonan and Kunzl, Inc. in Marshall,Mich., prior to retiring in 1989.

A United States Navy veteran ofWorld War II, he served aboard theaircraft carrier USS Santee and re-ceived four bronze stars.

He was a member, deacon andusher, and a member of the session,at the Fanwood Presbyterian Churchin Fanwood.

Surviving are his wife, Lucille D.Lippert; a son, Vice Admiral Keith

Lippert, United States Navy, ofMechanicsburg, Pa.; a daughter,Sandra Meyers of Levittown, Pa.,and six grandchildren.

A memorial service was held onSaturday,s December 29, at the Me-morial Funeral Home, 155 SouthAvenue in Fanwood.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the Memorial Fund of theFanwood Presbyterian Church, 74Martine Avenue South, Fanwood07023.

January 10, 2002

Charles F. Schadle, 71, of Fanwooddied on Monday, December 24, athis residence.

Born in Rahway, he had lived inSayreville before relocating toFanwood 38 years ago.

Mr. Schadle was the owner of ElmRadio and TV in Westfield, where hehad worked since 1942.

A veteran of the Korean Conflict,he served in the United States AirForce from 1951 to 1955.

Mr. Schadle was a longtime mem-ber of the Fanwood Lions Club, hav-ing held the offices of both Secretaryand President. He was Deputy Dis-trict Governor, then District Gover-nor of District 16 E of the Lions from1993 to 1994; served on the Mem-bership Committee and the Rulesand Regulations Committee and wasalso a member of the Past DistrictGovernor Council of Lions. He addi-tionally was Chairman of the LionsEyemobile for many years.

He was a life member of the NewJersey Jaycees and a member of no.7778 of the Junior Chamber Interna-tional and of the New Jersey JayceeInternational Senate. Mr. Schadle wasalso instrumental in the establish-ment of Fanwood’s Channel 35.

He was predeceased by his wife,Dorothy M. Schadle, in 1988.

Surviving are two daughters, JeanSchadle Fenner of Edison and CyndiSchadle of Deltona, Fla.; three grand-children and two great-grandchil-dren.

The funeral was held on Monday,December 31, at the Memorial Fu-neral Home, 155 South Avenue inFanwood.

Memorial contributions may bemade to the Fanwood Lions Founda-tion, to benefit the Eyemobile, P.O.Box 266, Fanwood 07023, or to theDeborah Hospital, P.O. Box 820,Browns Mills 08015.

January 10, 2002

Grace J. Schneider, 91Grace J. Preston Schneider, 91, of

Scotch Plains died on Sunday, De-cember 23, at Overlook Hospital inSummit.

Born in Chicago, she lived inScotch Plains for most of her life.

Mrs. Schneider, who was fluent inmultiple languages, had worked forNew Jersey as a social worker formore than 20 years.

She was predeceased by her hus-band, Philip B. Schneider, in 1993.

Surviving are a brother, PaulPreston of Salem, N.H.

Services were held on Friday, De-cember 28, at the Higgins Home forFunerals in Plainfield. Interment tookplace in Hillside Cemetery of ScotchPlains.

January 10, 2002

Mary Bori Leiss, 92Mary Bori Leiss, 92, of Scotch

Plains died on Monday, December24, at JFK Hartwyck at Oak Tree inEdison.

Born in South Plainfield, she hadlived there before moving to ScotchPlains in 1976.

Mrs. Leiss had been employed as aclerk by New Jersey Bell Telephonefor 40 years.

She was a member of the SacredHeart Roman Catholic Church inSouth Plainfield and the TelephonePioneers of America.

She was predeceased by her hus-band, Bernard Leiss, in 1973.

Surviving are a niece, Joanne Zelekof South Plainfield; a great-nephewand a great-niece.

A Funeral Mass was held on Satur-day, December 29, at the SacredHeart Church. Interment took placeat the Holy Redeemer Cemetery inSouth Plainfield.

Arrangements were handled by theHiggins Home for Funerals inPlainfield.

January 10, 2002

Dooley Funeral Service, Inc.Caring & Courteous Service to theCranford/Westfield Area Since 1913

Westfield556 Westfield Avenue233-0255John L. DooleyManager

Cranford218 North Avenue

276-0255Charles V. Dooley

Manager

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Memorial Service SetFor Robert Jones, Jr.A memorial service will be held

at 1 p.m. on Saturday, January 12,for Robert Stephen Jones, Jr., inthe Chapel of The PresbyterianChurch in Westfield.

Mr. Jones, 34, who grew up inWestfield, died suddenly on Tues-day, December 18, in Minneapo-lis, Minn., where he lived.

A graduate of Westfield HighSchool and Earlham College inRichmond, Ind., he was employedas a Senior Account Executive withHousehold Finance Corporationin Minneapolis. He had also had asales career involving sailboats,rowing shells and antiques.

Surviving are his father, RobertS. Jones; his mother, Carol JonesCushman, and two brothers,Russell M. Jones and Lowell H.Jones.

Leonard Fenton, 73Leonard “Red” Fenton, 73, of Los

Angeles died on Sunday, December23, in the Temple City ConvalescentHome in Temple City, Calif.

Born in Westfield, he had lived inRahway before relocating to LosAngeles 15 years ago.

Mr. Fenton had been employed byMerck & Co. in Rahway for 35 yearsprior to retiring.

He served in the United StatesArmy during the Korean Conflict.

Mr. Fenton was a Past Commanderand life member of Post No. 681 ofVeterans of Foreign Wars and Ameri-can Legion Post No. 5, both ofRahway.

Surviving are his wife, DoloresFenton; three stepsons, MichaelDonahue, James Donahue and Will-iam Donahue; two stepdaughters,Sharon Styler and Chris Moreno;two sisters, Margaret DeMayo andDorothy Archer, and six grandchil-dren.

Memorial services were to be heldat St. Ignatius Church in HighlandPark, Los Angeles.

January 10, 2002

Doris Kaplow, 77Doris Hartman Kaplow, 77, of

Westfield died on Thursday, Decem-ber 27, at her home.

Born in Newark, she lived inWestfield since 1956.

Mrs. Kaplow had been a legal sec-retary for various attorneys in UnionCounty for 25 years before retiring in1991.

She was a member of Hadassah ofWestfield.

She was predeceased by a daugh-ter, Terry Kaplow.

Surviving are her husband, JeromeKaplow of Westfield; two sons, Ri-chard Kaplow of Westfield and Rob-ert Kaplow of Metuchen; a sister,Beatrice Weber of London, England,and three grandchildren.

Graveside services were held onFriday, December 28, at Mount Leba-non Cemetery in Iselin.

Arrangements were handled by theMenorah Chapels at Millburn inUnion.

January 10, 2002

GLADYS S. CROW, 1905-2001CROW, GLADYS, Gladys S. Crow,

who was born in Westfield February 6,1905, and lived most of her life here,died December 30, 2001 at her NewJersey home at Leisure Village at age96. She graduated from Westfield HighSchool, and was Executive Secretaryat Westfield Ford, before marryingE.R.Crow, President of the Forddealership. He died in 1982. Theyraised their three children, Ray, Janand Stephen, in Westfield. Gladys wasa lifelong member of The PresbyterianChurch in Westfield and was an activesupporter of Children’s SpecializedHospital in Mountainside. Gladys wasmulti-talented. She was anaccomplished artist and musician,piloted their cruising boat Crowflite,and taught navigation to PowerSquadron members. She will bemissed by her stepson, E. Ray Crow,Jr. of Williston, Vermont, her daughter,Janice Crow Morris of Oakland, N.J.,and her son, J. Stephen Crow, ofPunta Gorda, Florida. She also leaveseight grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren. They are Chera Finkand daughter Erin, Steve Crow andchildren Tara and Jason, Russell Crow,Lori Morris-Nantz and children Chelseaand Derek, Christopher Morris, MarilynAllison and children Scatha, Esther,and Laurel, Bill Crow, and Carol Crow-Clark and children Daniel andElizabeth. A family service was heldon Sunday and burial is at FairviewCemetery in Westfield with her belovedhusband Eldred.

Edgar Reeve



BEAR AMBASSADORS…Washington Elementary School in Westfield spon-sored a Bears and Blankets Drive for the families of World Trade Center disastervictims. Fourth grade Student Ambassadors made posters, distributed flyers, andattached poems to over 100 donations from students. Contributors were given ahug and a chocolate kiss for their hard work. The collection was brought to LillianCorsi, the Westfield Salvation Army representative, at the Office of HumanServices, for delivery to the distribution center at Liberty State Park.

GENEROUS ACT…Student members of the Early ACT Board at McKinleyElementary School in Westfield were invited to participate in the dedication ofa Habitat for Humanity home in Plainfield on December 9, during which thestudents presented the new residents with a student-made bookcase and apackage of books for each family member. An additional case is planned for ahome to be dedicated at the end of January. Pictured, left to right, are: HeatherCallahan, Sally Bregman, Keith Hurtt, Ben Colvin, Chiara Sabino, EthanHendrix, Steven Obiajulu, Melissa Wong, and Samantha Cruz.

Franklin Elementary NamesVictors in Spelling Bee

WESTFIELD – Franklin Elemen-tary School in Westfield recently re-vealed the names of the winners ofthe school-level competition of the14th Annual National GeographicBee on December 21.

Michael Eilbacher, a fourth graderat Franklin School, won the bee,with a chance at a $25,000 collegescholarship.

Jonathan Erman, also a fourthgrade student at Franklin School,came in second place at the bee,where students answered oral geog-raphy questions in the first round ofthe bee.

The kickoff for this year’s bee wasthe week of November 26. Thou-sands of schools around the countryand in the five United States territo-ries participated in the contest.

The school winners, including

Michael, will now take the writtentest. Up to the top 100 scorers in eachstate and territory will be eligible tocompete in their state bee on Friday,April 5.

The National Geographic Societywill provide an all-expense paid tripto Washington, D.C. for the statechampions and their teacher-escortsto participate in the National Geo-graphic Bee National Championshipon Tuesday and Wednesday, May 21and 22.

The first place national winnerwill receive a $25,000 college schol-arship and a lifetime membership inthe society.

“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek willmoderate the national finals on May22. The program will air on the Na-tional Geographic Channel, and lateron PBS stations.

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Rehearsals Now UnderwayFor Washington School Show

WESTFIELD – Parents and facultymembers from Washington Elemen-tary School in Westfield are preparingfor their annual 54th annual schoolproduction, How We Totter.

The show, which is loosely based onthe popular “Harry Potter” series, isappropriate for all audiences.

Performance dates are scheduled forFriday, February 1, at 8 p.m. and Sat-urday, February 2, at 2 and 8 p.m. atRoosevelt Intermediate School.

Tickets for How We Totter are avail-able on a reserved seating basis, andare available by calling the Virtual BoxOffice at (908) 789-9373. Ticket pricesare $6 for the afternoon performanceand $8 for the evening performances.

Written by Jackie Costello, DaveShulman and Maryann Waxtel, HowWe Totter will be directed by JoeMaterek and Cynthia Weinberg. An-gela Darchi, Marci Fisher and AmyHerrington are the producers. Musicaldirection is provided by Rich Bucci.

Parents and teachers are in the midstof rehearsals for various song and dancenumbers including, “Elegance,”“Brotherhood of Man,” and “Be Our

Guest.”The Washington School Show, which

dates back to 1949, began as a smalltalent show. It has evolved into a full-scale musical production, involvingover 150 parents and faculty members.The show is the school’s primaryfundraiser.

Earl Tankard Steps In AsMcKinley Acting Principal

Earl Tankard

WESTFIELD – During the De-cember 18 meeting of the WestfieldBoard of Education, Earl Tankardwas unanimously approved as actingprincipal of McKinley ElementarySchool for the 2001-2002 academicyear.

Mr. Tankard replaces ChicHansen, who accepted a posi-tion as principal of a schooldistrict closer to his home.

Formerly a fourth and fifthgrade teacher at Tamaques El-ementary School in Westfieldsince 1996, Mr. Tankard be-gan his teaching career in 1992in the Plainfield PublicSchools.

Mr. Tankard holds aMaster’s Degree in Adminis-tration and Supervision fromKean University. He receivedhis teacher’s certification anda Bachelor of Science Degree inAccounting from Rutgers Univer-sity.

As Administrative Intern atTamaques School from September2000 to January of 2001, Mr. Tan-kard assisted the principal in schoolbudgeting, interviewing and sched-uling. He also served on theSuperintendent’s Advisory Commit-tee in the selection of the currentTamaques School Principal, was amember of the Math Curriculum Re-vision Committee, and served as aMentor Teacher.

In accepting his assignment asActing Principal of McKinleySchool, Mr. Tankard stated,“McKinley has a reputation for ex-cellent teachers, great students andvery supportive parents.”

He continued, “I am excited tojoin a McKinley staff that views theacademic and social development ofthe students as a top priority. Myprimary goal is to provide a seamlesstransition that will allow me to de-velop positive relationships with allof our students, maintain high aca-demic standards, and be available toassist parents in any way I can.”

McKinley School enrolls 282 stu-dents from kindergarten through fifthgrades.

Mr. Tankard’s appointment waseffective January 2.

Rotary Scholarship GrantApplications Available

WESTFIELD – Jane Sentivan,President of the Rotary Club ofWestfield, has announced that ap-plications for the Rotary Scholar-ship Grant Program are now avail-able at the Westfield High SchoolGuidance Office.

This is the 36th year during whichthe Rotary Club will conduct itsscholarship program. In that periodof time, grants totaling in excess of$1 million have been awarded.

One of the principal sources offunds for this program is the club’sPancake Day, which will be held ona Saturday in March at WestfieldHigh School. All of the proceeds ofPancake Day will be used to fundscholarship grants.

Scholarship aid, which is prima-rily, but not solely, based on need isoffered to Westfield residents whoare graduates of Westfield HighSchool or of any other accreditedsecondary school.

Grants are awarded to assist withundergraduate college expenses andare allotted in two payments, one inOctober and the second in January.Westfield residents currently attend-ing college are also eligible to ap-ply.

In awarding grants consideration,in addition to financial need, is givento the following:

An academic record disclosingthe student’s ability to successfullycomplete his or her proposed col-lege program.

The ability of each applicant to

articulate his or her reasons for pur-suing a college education.

The availability of a supportivefamily, guardian or mentor to assistthem while they are in college.

The personal contribution of theapplicant to their financial needsthrough savings from part-time orsummer employment.

Demonstration of their compli-ance with the Rotary’s motto, “Ser-vice Above Self,” through their par-ticipation in school and/or commu-nity services.

Applications must be completedand returned to the Guidance Officeof the Westfield High School priorto Sunday, March 31. The Scholar-ship Committee of the Rotary Clubof Westfield will meet with andinterview all applicants in the spring.Scholarship Day is held each year ata Rotary luncheon in June at whichtime the club announces its awards.

Westfield’s Kelsey IllStudies in Germany

WESTFIELD – Denison Univer-sity in Granville, Ohio has announcedthat junior Kelsey Ill of Westfield isstudying in Freiburg, Germany, underthe auspices of the Institute for theInternational Education of Studentsfor the spring semester.

Kelsey, the daughter of Mr. andMrs. Robert Ill of Westfield, is a 1999graduate of Westfield High School.She is a German major at Denison.

Headmaster’s List PostedAt Delbarton School

WESTFIELD – Westfield residentsand recipients of Highest Honorsand High Honors for the Fall 2001term at Delbarton School inMorristown were announced re-cently.

Ninth graders James Wade andMatthew Delaney received Highest

Honors. Bryan McDermott, an 11thgrader, also earned Highest Hon-ors.

High Honors recipients includedseventh grader Robert Delaney, 10thgraders Brendan Gorman, TylerDeieso, and Mark Gately, 11th grad-ers Peter Gately and Wade Anthony.

GIFTS OF GRATEFULNESS…In response to the September 11 attack on theWorld Trade Center, McKinley Elementary School students in MissKvalkauskas’ fourth grade class and Miss Greenwald’s second grade classdesigned their own t-shirts and cards for volunteers at Ground Zero. The shirtsand cards were delivered and distributed to volunteers working at the site.

VICTORY AT THE BEE...Franklin Elementary School recently announcedthe names of the winners of the school-level competition of the 14th AnnualNational Geographic Bee on December 21. Michael Eilbacher took first place,while Jonathan Erman was the second place winner. Pictured, left to right, are:fifth grade teacher Barbara Woerz, Michael, Jonathan, and Principal ofFranklin School Dr. Mary Fleck.



THE WEEK IN SPORTSSports Section Pages 11-14

See it all in color at!www.goleader.com

KLIMOWICZ NETS 14; PENNELLA, 11 WITH 9 BOARDS

6-1 Lady Raiders ExtinguishLinden Tiger Cagers, 54-39

‘MONTY’ HITS 14-14 FOUL SHOTS, TOTALS 33 POINTS

Raider Hoopster Boys MuzzleM. X. Shabazz Bulldogs, 74-61

By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Control of the boards combinedwith effective inside shooting earnedthe 6-1 Scotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool girls’ basketball team an easy54-39 victory over hosting 3-4 Lin-den on January 5. Freshman centerHillary Klimowicz led the Raidersoffensively with 14 points and juniorforward Lindsay Pennella, who net-

ted 11 points, grabbed the most re-bounds with nine.

The Raiders totaled 34 reboundsand also got seven each fromKlimowicz and sophomore JenRussell, and six from senior forwardErin Gillooly. Klimowicz and ErinGillooly were also wicked in reject-ing Tiger shots as they had four andthree blocks, respectively. SeniorKellie LaForge had two steals that

she converted to lay ups.Freshman point guard Jen Burke,

who finished with six points, con-tributed four assists but also func-tioned quite well at her position.

“Our young kids have been play-ing with each other for a long time.Jim Burke (Jen’s father) has done anice job coaching them in AAU ball,”Raider Head Coach Brian Hommpointed out. “Jen does a nice job forus on the point.”

The Tigers were rocked back ontheir heels when the Raiders beganthe game with a 9-0 run and finishedthe quarter with a 20-8 lead.Klimowicz effectively got under-neath and scored 10 points whilePennella put in eight with three shortjumpers and two free throws.

“The kids played well. We got offto a nice start, scoring 20 in the firstquarter. That was big,” said Homm.

In a very defense-minded secondquarter where the Raiders onlyoutscored the Tigers, 7-5, Russellcame in for Klimowicz, who drewtwo fouls, and rolled in two lay upsand sank a free throw. Tiger pointguard Victoria Berardi, who finishedwith seven points, sank a three-pointer.

“I did not want to put Hillary in topick up her third foul in the firsthalf,” explained Homm. “But they(Linden) stepped it up defensively,


It’s not wise to foul Raider seniorguard Anwar Montgomery. On De-cember 26, he sank 15 of 16 freethrows to lead the Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School boys’ basket-ball team to a 65-62 victory overRahway, and on January 3 in ScotchPlains, he nailed all 14 of his freethrows to help the Raiders muzzlethe Malcolm X. Shabazz Bulldogs,74-61.

Montgomery, who finished with a

game-high 33 points, scored 16 pointsin the final quarter, including 12-12from the foul line.

“Over the summer, I had a lot offree throw drills. The repetition makesmuscle memory. I was just morerelaxed, more concentrated,” ex-plained Montgomey of his free throwproficiency.

However, he was not the onlyRaider who was deadly at the line.Senior forward Mike Brennan hit 10-11 free throws and netted 25 totalpoints. Brennan also controlled the

boards with nine rebounds.“Mike has been playing a lot

rougher under the boards. He waseffective, especially against a physi-cal team like Shabazz,” expressedRaider Head Coach Dan Doherty.

Senior forward Steve Williams,who consistently works well in as-sisting Montgomery, finished withseven points and senior Adam Bendikfinished with five points, including athree-pointer, and had four assists.Mike Hughes and Kyle Adams eachscored two points.

“Steve (Williams) and I have beenplaying together since we were little,since fifth grade,” Montgomerypointed out. “We know each other.We know how each other play. Iknow where he is going to be everysecond and he knows where I’m go-ing to be.”

Playing a settled ball-control game,the 3-3 Raiders jumped to a 38-23half time lead. “We knew they weregoing to come after us but we knewour guards were better,” said Doherty.“We were able to finish. We couldrun our sets against them.”

Dominating the boards, the Raid-

Advertising supplied by SAS

Westfield / Mountainside Chapter

DENICHILO TOPS SOMERSET COUNTY CHAMPION

Injury Default Proves Costly;Canucks Stop Raiders, 40-30


Misfortune in the 130-lb. bout be-tween Raider Pat Romeo and CanuckBill Fonseca gave a strong NorthPlainfield High School wrestlingteam, headed by coach Jim Miller,the margin it needed to stop thepreviously undefeated Scotch Plains-Fanwood squad, 40-30, in ScotchPlains on January 4. However, addi-tionally, the Raiders neededto minimize the degree oftheir losses in their weakerweight classes and win bigin their strong ones.

Raider senior MattDeNichilo did come up bigwith an 8-5 victory overSomerset County Tourna-ment (SCT) 145-lb. cham-pion Jim Keane. DeNichiloslicked Keane with threetakedowns and added a re-versal in the third period toseal the bout.

“Matt wrestled an amaz-ing match. He rose to theoccasion,” exclaimedRaider Head Coach DaveBello.

The match began at the171-lb. class and theCanucks won via fall. Un-derstanding the strength ofthe Canucks’ upper weightclasses, Bello movedsophomore Andrew Silberup to the 189-lb. class to face BrianMcFarlane, who placed second inthe SCT. McFarlane scored atakedown late in the third period toedge Silber, 4-3.

“McFarlane is tough. It was a dif-ference of nine (team) points or 12points and by moving Andy up, wewould have a chance to beat him andwe almost did,” Bello pointed out.

At 215, junior Matt Loomis yieldeda takedown to Canuck Manny Kakas– second in the SCT – but added two

escapes to tie the bout before allow-ing Kakas to scoot underneath himfor a seemingly apparent takedownearly in the second period. However,Loomis shoved his hip into Kakas’face, hooked his head and steppedover his leg to clamp him to the matin 2:46.

“Matt is a strange wrestler. Hebaits you,” chuckled Bello. “Nomatter where the match is at, you

can’t count him out. He beat agood kid.”

Raider Derek Francavilla crunched103-lb. Quashon Brooks in 2:53 witha headlock and Steve Mineo cranked112-lb. Ed Walaski in 3:56 with anarm bar. Eric Connolly followed at119 with a 13-7 win over Pat Potok togive the Raiders a 21-13 lead.

After the Canucks won via fall at

DESERIO FIRES IN 21 POINTS, GRABS 20 REBOUNDS

Westfield Boys Tame Tigers;Defeat Linden Cagers, 61-56

By STEVEN KRAKAUERSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

In a flashback to January 25, 2001,the Linden High School boys’ bas-ketball team fell to Westfield for thefirst time in 16 years. The Tigerswere good then, but this season theirsquad was ranked number 11 in thestate going into the contest with theBlue Devils.

The Blue Devils played extremelytough this season, again, andoutlasted their opponents to a 61-56win on January 3 in Westfield.

With nearly 100 Westfield fans inthe bleachers, a rarity in years pastfor a Thursday game, the Blue Devilsbroke apart the Linden offense bydiligently unsettling the Tigers ondefense and forcing hordes of turn-overs.

Led by Co-Captain Dan DeSerio,

who scored 21 points and grabbed 20rebounds, as well as amassing fourblocks, Westfield began the gamewith a 6-0 lead. Additionally, theBlue Devils were sharpshooters, hit-ting 2-for-2 from three-point land.

Linden phenom and last season’sFirst Team All-County forward DonBusby hit a late three-pointer to cutWestfield’s lead to only three, 16-13,at the end of the first period. Busbyfinished with 18 points and six re-bounds.

As usual for Westfield, free throwshooting was an issue in the game.DeSerio finished the game shooting3-5 from the line, including a secondquarter miss that could have giventhe Blue Devils a four-point lead.

That miss, however, didn’t seem tomatter, as Co-Captain Jim McKeonplayed tough on both ends of the

court to keep Westfield in a comfort-able lead. McKeon finished with 11points and two steals in the game.

The Westfield crowd was in hys-terics as junior Billy Schultz tossedthe ball up from the opponent’s three-point line as time expired in thesecond quarter, swooshing it threwthe hoop. The long-range three-pointer was called off by the refer-ees, however, who stated that timehad already run out. Schultz finishedthe game with three rebounds andtwo steals.

The third quarter started withphysical play by Busby, grabbingthree of his own rebounds on onepossession and finally popping abucket to put Linden within three.That would be the closest they’d getthe rest of the game.


POWELL PINS, TOMASSO TECHS, DECAMPO WINS

Unblemished Canucks RockBlue Devil Matmen, 53-21By FRED LECOMTE

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Westfield High School wres-tling team found the road rocky inNorth Plainfield as a strong unblem-ished, 5-0 Canuck team dominated53-21 on January 5.

Prior to rumble time, WestfieldHead Coach Glen Kurz commented,“I know North Plainfield Head CoachMiller has done a great job with hisprogram. He’s got some good kidsthat I’ve seen wrestle over the sum-mer on our Garden State Games team.They go very hard for six minutes.They’re focused and have very solidtechniques, so this match is going tobe a very good measuring stick forus. I think if our kids go out there andaren’t intimidated, ready to wrestle,and build off the momentum of lastnight’s match, I think we will be ingood shape. If nothing else, I wantthem go on the attack and wrestle forsix minutes.”

Blue Devil 103-lb Sam Kramerdemonstrated where one could seethe lights as he decked Dave

Phimpsamason in 3:09.“The kid had a rough start, “said

Kramer. “I took advantage of hislack of stamina and poor stance. Butwhat Westfield does best is finishingstrong while keeping with it the wholetime and that’s exactly what I did. Igot on the offensive and I stuck him.”

At 119, Blue Devil Joe DeCampowon a 15-4, majority decision overPat Potok. DeCampo utilized nu-merous takedowns and reversals,along with a few other slick moves.

“I’ve been working on both mysingles and doubles, then took ad-vantage as to what my opponent waswilling to give up”, noted DeCamponow 7-2. “I felt good. My shots wereworking, but I’m still looking to worka little better from the bottom, tryingto get up as soon as possible, thenworking some moves off of that.”

Ethan Powell rocked 135-lb. AlbertMelendez to sleep in just 0:43. Sopho-more Lee Tomaso followed at 140 bymauling Tom Heteji 15-0 in a techni-cal fall at 3:40. Tomaso built an 8-0cushion in the first period, then added

seven in period two for the victory.“I was really looking for the pin. I

knew we could use it,” said Tomaso.“He was really tough particularly offof his back. I was working my armbars, got him over a couple of times,but I just couldn’t find the move thatI could use to stick him. I still need toimprove a little on my mental condi-tioning and confidence because thereare times that I still tend to secondguess myself, but I’ll be fine.”

The Blue Devils will travel toIrvington tomorrow.

WEIGHT BREAKDOWN103: - Kramer (W) p. Phimpsamason,3:09112: - Walaski (NP) p. Hewitt, 1:08119: - DeCampo (W) md. Potok, 15-4125: - Guild (NP) won forfeit130: - Fonseca (NP) d. Delduca, 8-2135: - Powell (W) p. Melendez, 0:43140: - Tomaso (W) TF 15-0 Heteji, 3:21145: - Keane (NP) p. MacDonald, 2:50152: - Miller (NP) d. Arbitsman, 9-2160: - Strasko (NP) p. Saggio, :26171: - Valasquez (NP) p. C. Gismondi,2:50189: - Mc Farlane (NP) p. Barbiere. 1:16215: - Kakas (NP) p. N. Gismondi, 1:57Hwt: - Wells (NP) won forfeit




David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesBRENNAN WINNING THE TIP...Raider center Mike Brennan, right, wins thetip to begin the game with the Shabazz Bulldogs. The Raiders also won the gameimpressively, 74-61.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesON HIS WAY TO A BIG WIN...Raider senior Matt DeNichilo defeated Canuck Jim Keane,the 145-lb. Somerset County Champion, 8-5.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesHUGE INFLUENCE UNDERNEATH...Freshman center Hillary Klimowicz,No. 34, led the Raiders with 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds againstthe Tigers.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesBATTLE BETWEEN BLUE DEVIL AND TIGER TITANS...Blue Devil senior Dan DeSerio, left, and Tiger Don Busbybattle for control of the ball in the first quarter. Westfield defeated Linden, 61-56.

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Saturday January 12, 2002 • 9 a.m. to 12 noonRoosevelt Intermediate School Cafeteria

• Kindergarten thru 11th Grade

Registration Forms Available at:

Westfield Recreation Office, Kehler’s Athletic

Balance & The Westfield Leader Store

Cost: Grades K - 3: $50 • Grades 4 - Up: $75

Questions or Additional Information:Visit Our Website, www.westfieldnj.com/wbl or

call the WBL Message Center at (908) 233 - 4767





BANKERS TRUST COMPANY OFCALIFORNIA, N.A., AS TRUSTEE UN-DER THEPOOLING AND SERVICINGAGREEMENT, DATED AS OF JUNE 29,1998, DELTA FUNDING HOME EQUITYLOAN AND TRUST 1998-2 C/O DELTAFUNDING CORPORATION AS SERVIC-ING AGENT, PLAINTIFF vs. DEBORAHBLOW; FRANCES LESTER A/K/A MARYLESTER, DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED DECEMBER 01, 2000 FOR SALEOF MORTGAGED PREMISES.

By virtue of the above-stated writ of ex-ecution to me directed I shall expose for saleby public vendue, at the Union County Ad-ministration Building, 1st Floor, 10Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, New Jer-sey on WEDNESDAY THE 16TH DAY OFJANUARY A.D., 2002 at two o’clock in theafternoon of said day. All successful bid-ders must have 20% of their bid available incash or certified check at the conclusion ofthe sales.

The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTHIRTY SEVEN THOUSAND FIFTY ONE& 30/100 ($137,051.30).

The property to be sold is located in theCity of Elizabeth, County of Union and Stateof New Jersey.

It is commonly known as 1076LAFAYETTE STREET, ELIZABETH, NEWJERSEY.

It is known and designated as Block 9, Lot928.

The dimensions are 30 feet wide by 126.50feet long.

Nearest cross street: Situate on the south-westerly line of Lafayette Street, 441.65 feetfrom the northwesterly line of CatherineStreet.

Prior lien(s): The total amount due as of11/10/00 for property taxes and unpaid wa-ter/sewer charges is in the aggregate sumof $2,965.07. Subject to unpaid taxes andother municipal liens. Amount due is avail-able in the Sheriff’s office or from plaintiff’sattorneys upon written request to plaintiff sattorneys.

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED FIFTY THREE THOU-SAND THREE-HUNDRED NINTYSEVEN & 67/100 ($153,397.67) togetherwith lawful interest and costs.




STERN, LAVINTHAL, FRANKENBERG,NORGAARD & KAPNICK, LLPSUITE 300293 Eisenhower ParkwayLivingston, New Jersey 07039-1711CH-756292 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $238.68



MIDFIRST BANK, STATE SAVINGSBANK, PLAINTIFF vs. LEWIS V. PALMER,DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDFORTY EIGHT THOUSAND THREE-HUNDRED FORTY NINE & 53/100($148,349.53).

The property to be sold is located in theCity of Elizabeth in the County of Union, andthe State of New Jersey.

Commonly known as: 913 Emma Street,Elizabeth, New Jersey

Tax Lot No. 549 in Block No. 8.Dimensions of Lot: (Approximately) 100.00

feet wide by 33.33 feet long.Nearest Cross Street: Situate at a point in

the northeasterly line of Emma Street, 150.00feet northwesterly from its intersection withthe northwesterly line of Henry Street.

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED FIFTY SEVEN THOU-SAND ONE-HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE& 32/100 ($157,185.32) together withlawful interest and costs.




CARKHUFF & RADMIN, PC - ESQS.598-600 Somerset StreetNorth Plainfield, New Jersey 07060CH-756290 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $181.56



CITICORP MORTGAGE, INC., PLAIN-TIFF vs. HUGO PADILLA & PILARPADILLA, HIS WIFE; JOSE I. CABRERA,ET ALS., DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED MARCH 07, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDNINTY EIGHT THOUSAND TWENTY SIX& 64/100 ($198,026.64).

All that certain tract or parcel of land andpremises situate, lying and being in theCITY of ELIZABETH, County of UNIONand State of New Jersey.

Also known as Tax Lot 1008 W07 in Block7 on the Tax Assessment map of the CITYof ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY 07202.

More commonly known as 29 PALMERSTREET, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY07202.

BEGINNING at a point in the northerlyside of Palmer Street distant along the sameeasterly 100 feet from the corner formed bythe intersection of the said northerly side ofPalmer Street with the easterly side of Sec-ond Avenue; thence (1) North 14 degrees48 minutes West and parallel with SecondAvenue 92.75 feet; thence (2) North 73degrees 50 minutes East 27 feet; thence (3)South 14 degrees 48 minutes East andparallel with the first course 93.39 feet to apoint in the said northerly side of PalmerStreet; thence (4) along the said northerlyline of Palmer Street, South 75 degrees 12minutes West 27 feet to the point and placeof BEGINNING.

BEING also known as 29 Palmer Street,Elizabeth, New Jersey and Tax Account No.07-1008, on the Tax Rolls of the City ofElizabeth, New Jersey.

BEING so much of Lot 17 and 2 feet offthe Westerly side of Lot 16 as laid down onthe “Map of Block “A” of lots late of JohnPeters in the City of Elizabeth”, and re-corded in Book 11 of Deeds for Union County,page 550, as is embraced in the abovedescription, with a gore on Palmer Street,directly in front of said lots.

THE above description is drawn in accor-dance with a survey made by Victor Vinegra,dated September 8, 1987.

There is due approximately the sum ofTWO-HUNDRED THIRTY SEVENTHOUSAND FIVE-HUNDRED EIGHTY& 13/100 ($237,580.13) together withlawful interest and costs.




FEIN, SUCH, KAHN & SHEPARD, P.C.SUITE 2017 Century DriveParsippany, New Jersey 07054CH-755922 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $275.40



SOVREIGN BANK, FSB, PLAINTIFF vs.ARNULFO RODRIGUEZ AND AIDA L.RODRIGUEZ, HIS WIFE; STATE OF NEWJERSEY, DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED OCTOBER 10, 2001 FOR SALEOF MORTGAGED PREMISES.

By virtue of the above-stated writ of ex-ecution to me directed I shall expose for saleby public vendue, at the Union County Ad-ministration Building, 1st Floor, 10Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, New Jer-sey on WEDNESDAY THE 6TH DAY OFFEBRUARY A.D., 2002 at two o’clock in theafternoon of said day. All successful bid-ders must have 20% of their bid available incash or certified check at the conclusion ofthe sales.

The judgment amount is EIGHTY TWOTHOUSAND NINE-HUNDRED THIRTY &56/100 ($82,930.56).

The property to be sold is located in theCity of ELIZABETH, County of Union andState of New Jersey.

It is commonly known as 139 CATHERINESTREET, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY.

It is known and designated as Block 9, Lot114 W09.

The dimensions are approximately 30 feetwide by 100 feet long (irregular).

Nearest cross street: Situate on the east-erly line of Catherine Street, 60,00 feet fromthe southerly line of Lafayette Street.

Prior lien(s): PD-004702-90 entered on 1/18/90 in favor of the Office of the PublicDefender in the sum of $621.50. Plaintiffalleges that the judgement has been satis-fied. The total amount due as of 9/30/01 forunpaid taxes/water/sewer is in the aggre-gate sum of $3,671.16. SUBJECT TOUNPAID TAXES AND OTHER MUNICI-PAL LIENS. AMOUNT DUE IS AVAIL-ABLE IN THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE ORFROM PLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEYS UPONWRITTEN REQUEST TO PLAINTIFF’SATTORNEYS.

There is due approximately the sum ofEIGHTY EIGHT THOUSAND 19/100($88,000.19) together with lawful interestand costs.




STERN, LAVINTHAL, FRANKENBERG,NORGAARD & KAPNICK, LLPSuite 300293 Eisenhower ParkwayLivingston, New Jersey 07039-1711CH-756338 - (WL)4 T - 1/10, 1/17, 1/24& 1/31/02 Fee: $226.44



SOVEREIGN BANK, PLAINTIFF vs.HARRY ISAKSEN, DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is TWO-HUN-DRED THIRTY NINE THOUSAND EIGHT-HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT & 63/100($239,828.63).

All that certain lot, piece or parcel of land,with the building and improvements thereonerected, situate, lying and being in the Cityof Elizabeth, County of Union, State of NewJersey:

BEGINNING at a point in the Easterlysideline of Westminster Avenue distant285.65 feet Northerly from the intersectionof the same with the Northerly sideline ofParker Road and running; thence

1. Along the Easterly sideline ofWestminster Avenue North 15 degrees 50minutes East 62.5 feet to a point in same;thence

2. South 56 degrees 39 minutes East157.0 feet to a point; thence

3. South 15 degrees 50 minutes West62.5 feet to a point; thence

4. North 56 degrees 39 minutes West157.0 feet to a point in the Easterly sidelineof Westminster Avenue, the point and placeof BEGINNING.

This description was drawn in accordancewith a survey made by Gregory Prochoren,L.S., dated November 18, 1987.

KNOWN AS Lot 1804 in Block 11 on theTax Map of the City of Elizabeth, UnionCounty, New Jersey.

COMMONLY KNOWN AS 525Westminster Avenue, Elizabeth, New Jer-sey.

BEING the same premises conveyed tothe mortgagors herein by deed from EdnaM. Nicolini, unmarried dated January 14,1988, recorded January 26, 1988 in theUnion County Clerk’s Office in Deed Book3538 page 0749.

There is due approximately the sum ofTWO-HUNDRED FIFTY SIX THOU-SAND TWO-HUNDRED THIRTY & 54/100 ($256,230.54) together with lawfulinterest and costs.




MCOMBER & MCOMBERCOUNSELLORS AT LAW54 Shrewsbury AvenueRed Bank, New Jersey 07701CH-756289 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $261.12



M & T MORTGAGE CORPORATION,PLAINTIFF vs. JORGE G. SUAREZ, DE-FENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED SEPTEMBER 21, 2001 FOR SALEOF MORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTWENTY THOUSAND TWO-HUNDREDSEVENTY EIGHT & 02/100 ($120,278.02).

LOCATED IN THE CITY OF ELIZA-BETH, COUNTY OF UNION AND STATEOF NEW JERSEY

PROPERTY ADDRESS: 1018 FLORASTREET, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY07207

TAX LOT NO. 727 BLOCK NO. 8DIMENSIONS: 100.00 FEET X 25.00

FEET X 100.00 FEET X 25.00 FEETNEAREST CROSS STREET: NEW

JERSEY STATE HIGHWAY ROUTE 25There is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED TWENTY SEVENTHOUSAND FOUR-HUNDREDEIGHTY ONE & 53/100 ($127,481.53)together with lawful interest and costs.




SPEAR AND HOFFMAN, P.A.LAW OFFICESSuite 2101020 North Kings HighwayCherry Hill, New Jersey 08034CH-756307 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $181.56


SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY,CHANCERY DIVISION, UNION COUNTY,DOCKET NO. L-005890-91

CAROLE MILROAD, PLAINTIFF vs.STANLEY SEFCIK, SR., ET ALS., DE-FENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED JULY 10, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTHREE THOUSAND FOUR-HUNDREDSIXTY THREE & 22/100 ($103,463.22).

Eric A. Arnold and Karen ArnoldKnow as 522 Magnolia Avenue Elizabeth,

New Jersey 07201 Tax map reference NJSA46 15-2-1 Municipality of Elizabeth, NewJersey Lot 751 Block no. 3

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED ELEVEN THOUSANDTHREE-HUNDRED SEVENTY & 91/100($111,370.91) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




MICHALE A. TOTOATTORNEY AT LAW317 Rues LaneEast Brunswick, New Jersey 08816CH-756323 - (WL)4 T - 1/03, 1/10, 1/17& 1/24/02 Fee: $159.12



ALTEGRA CREDIT COMPANY, PLAIN-TIFF vs. OSCAR N. NAJARRO; ET ALS.,DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is SEVENTYSEVEN THOUSAND SIX-HUNDREDNINTY EIGHT & 79/100 ($77,698.79).

Property Description: City of Elizabeth,County of Union, State of New Jersey

Premises Known As: 809 East JerseyAvenue

Lot: 283 Block: 7Dimensions: Approximately 100 feet x 41

feetNearest Cross Street: Division StreetA full legal description of the property may

be found in the office of the Sheriff and officeof the Clerk of Union.

There is due approximately the sum ofEIGHTY TWO THOUSAND SIX-HUN-DRED THIRTY ONE & 91/100($82,631.91) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




TOLL, SULLIVAN & LUTHMANLAW OFFICESSuite 400800 North Kings HighwayCherry Hill, New Jersey 08034CH-756320 - (WL)4 T - 1/03, 1/10, 1/17& 1/24/02 Fee: $181.56

man-to-man, and put more pressureon us. They got us out of our offenseand we weren’t setting up very well.But Jen (Russell) is a good athlete.She did a nice job coming in andhitting the boards for us.”

In a fast-paced and relativelysloppy third quarter, 37 points werescored – 19 for the Raiders and 18 forLinden. Midway through the quar-ter, coach Homm brought in the subsand rested the starters. Tiger JazminNorman, who finished with 14 points,netted eight points, including threesteals converted to lay ups. Raider

freshman Maura Gillooly buried athree-pointer and a jumper in thequarter.

With the game well in hand, coachHomm continued to play his subs inthe fourth quarter and had good re-sults with each team adding eightpoints.

“We tried to get a lot of people intoday. We have a little more depththan in other years, so I want to getthem in to get more experience,” saidHomm.Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 20 7 19 8 54Linden 8 5 18 8 39

Lady Raider s ExtinguishLinden Tiger Cagers, 54-39


ers orchestrated a nine-point run to-ward the end of the first quarter andadded an 11-point run early in thesecond. Montgomery initiated bothscoring runs.

“Our team, I think, really startsand finishes with him,” said Dohertyof Montgomery. “He is our heart andsoul. He’s always there. He has beenout of the game only three minutesall year.”

The Bulldogs were effective witha full-court press in the second half,especially in the third quarter whenthey outscored the Raiders, 20-15.Senior Jabril Stokes, who finishedwith 15 points, jeopardized the Raid-ers’ offensive with five steals andAmir Pinnix, who had six points,stole three.

“He is a great athlete,” said Doherty

of Stokes. “He is probably a Division1 football player. But they did thesame thing that they did in the firsthalf but, all of the sudden, our guardsgot a little rattled. This is a toughconference. You can’t do that. If youget a lead, you’ve got to build on it.”

“We were very sloppy,” opinedMontgomery. “We should have putthem away when we were up by 15.”

Regaining their wits, the Raidersmatched the Bulldogs point-for-pointin the final quarter and forced them tofoul. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs,the target was Montgomery, who madethem pay dearly as the Raiders pre-vailed in the quarter, 21-18.

“At least, we held onto the lead,”commented Doherty. “When we gotin trouble we got the ball back toAnwar. Our guys could not get open.I knew Anwar could because that’swhat he does. He got open and, oncehe got the ball, he was getting to theline.”Shabazz 14 9 20 18 61Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 20 18 15 21 74

Raider Hoopster Boys MuzzleM. X. Shabazz Bulldogs, 74-61


Union County High SchoolBoys Basketball Results:

JANUARY 3:Roselle Catholic 52, GovernorLivingston 40

Doug Caruso netted 16 points andJason Gionta sank 11 for the 3-3Highlanders. Jamaal Hilliard put in21 for the 5-1 Lions.Roselle Catholic 16 10 7 19 52Gov. Livingston 13 2 14 11 40

Elizabeth 79, Plainfield 56Rashad Robinson and Ibrahim

Jaaber had 20 and 18 points, respec-tively, for the 14th-ranked Minute-men. Jihad Muhammad scored 20for the 2-2 Cardinals.Plainfield 13 9 15 19 56Elizabeth 22 22 16 19 79

Union Catholic 51, A. L. Johnson49

Brandon Banks fired in 27 pointsand netted the game winner for theVikings. Joe Azydzik scored 15.Union Catholic 14 4 15 18 51A. L. Johnson 15 4 9 21 49

Union 60, Kearny 40Kevin Porter netted 12 points for

the 3-3 Farmers.Union 7 19 5 19 60Kearny (3-3) 11 7 3 19 40

Cranford 54, Morristown Beard 50

Kasim Rajahn and Jon Brownscored 21 and 16 points, respectively,for the 4-1 Cougars.Cranford 13 10 19 12 54Morristown-Beard 20 1 11 18 50

JANUARY 5:Linden 55, Scotch Plains-Fanwood 51

Anwar Montgomery led the Raid-ers with 23 points, Adam Bendiksank 10, Mike Brennan scored nineand Steve Williams put in six. DonBusby scored 18 and Jason Thomasnetted 14 for the 5-2 Tigers.Linden 10 19 12 14 55Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 17 9 7 18 51

Elizabeth 86, Kearny 50Rashad Robinson scored 24 points

for the No. 14 Minutemen.Elizabeth (6-1) 23 23 19 21 86Kearny (3-4) 22 3 7 18 50

Cranford 71, M. X. Shabazz 68Kasim Rajahn sank 22 points and

Jon Brown scored 15 for the 5-1Cougars.Shabazz (3-4) 14 17 12 25 68Cranford 15 9 21 26 71

Newark East Side 90, Plainfield 43The sixth-ranked Red Raiders

scored 33 points in the first quarter.Jared Wormley fired in 15 points forthe Cardinals.East Side (7-1) 33 14 25 18 90Plainfield 8 10 16 9 43

Highlander Girls GrabMVC Track Crown

By FRED LECOMTESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The victory was oh so sweet as theGovernor Livingston High SchoolLady Highlanders captured their firstWinter Track Mountain Valley Con-ference Championship on January 5at Drew University by just a quarterpoint.With slight leads of 42.25-39 over A.L. Johnson and 42.25-36 over Ridge,Highlander Head Coach Bill Gorskiwent through perhaps one of his long-est moments as track coach. In thefinal event, the 4x400 relay, leadoffrunner, Jackie Schichting fell 20meters from the exchange zone butgot up and handed off to Meg O’Neillwhile the field built a sizable lead.O’Neill, Chrissy McCurdy and MegsDiDario cranked it up big time andfinished fourth in their head just be-hind A. L. Johnson.A. L. Johnson could steal the titlewith a third-place overall finish but

New Providence, running in the sec-ond heat, recorded a better time andbounced the Johnson Crusaders tofourth. The Highlanders finished witha team total of 44.25, Ridge tooksecond at 44, and A. L. Johnson wasthird with 43 points.Big guns for the Highlanders werestandouts, Dana McCurdy and MegsDiDario. McCurdy placed fifth inthe 55m, second in the 55m hurdlesand won the 400 meters with a newmeet record of 1:00.97. McCurdyaccounted for 24 individual points,setting yet another meet record.DiDario set a new meet record in the800 at 2:27.07, eclipsing her ownmark one year ago. In perhaps thebest race of the day, DiDario wasedged by Union Catholic’s KatieMarshall in the 1600.Daria Szkwarko, the Highlanders acepole vaulter, provided the margin ofvictory by tying for sixth in the highjump, gaining a quarter of a point.

Union County High SchoolGirls Basketball Results:

JANUARY 3:Elizabeth 57, Plainfield 28

Pertrina Drayton and Gezel Virellaeach scored 16 points for the 6-1Lady Minutemen.Elizabeth 12 16 20 9 57Plainfield 6 6 9 7 28

Union Catholic 45, A. L. Johnson18

Lauren Huber, who had five re-bounds, scored nine points andKenyall Johnson sank seven for the5-2 Vikings. Melinda Rosado andStephanie Green, who grabbed sixrebounds, added six points each. AmySnyder and Kaitlyn Murray eachnetted four points and Hope Loefflerhad three points. Pam Tavalaro scoredseven for the Crusaders.Johnson (1-5) 3 4 6 5 18Union Catholic 12 12 13 8 45

Roselle Catholic 48, GovernorLivingston 33

Crystal Hammonds scored eight

points for the Highlanders andMeagan Butler, Catherine Dotto andRebecca Ringwood netted fiveapiece. Tiana Cherry sank 13 pointsfor the Lions.Gov. Livingston 4 12 6 11 33Roselle Cath. (6-0) 6 11 18 13 48

Cranford 51, Summit 37Gillian Murray and Melissa

Montalvo scored 14 and 11 points,respectively, for the 4-0 Cougars.Summit 8 13 6 10 37Cranford 18 10 7 16 51

JANUARY 5:M. X. Shabazz 68, Cranford 40

The No. 4 Lady Bulldogs were ledby Shahida Williams with 16 points.Gillian Murray led the 4-1 Cougarswith 17 points.Cranford 8 6 4 22 40Shabazz 10 24 23 11 68

Elizabeth 78, Kearny 42Natasha Eleazor and Petrina

Drayton scored 19 and 17 points,respectively, for the 7-1 Lady Min-utemen.Kearny 4 16 6 16 42Elizabeth 25 27 18 8 78




RESOLUTION NO. 20-2002AWARDED TO: American Professional

Consultants, 56 Princeton Road, Elizabeth,New Jersey

SERVICES: For computer and manage-ment information systems.

PERIOD: 2002COST: $97,500


1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $20.91




RESOLUTION NO. 19-2002AWARDED TO: Rogut & McCarthy, 37

Alden Street, Cranford, New JerseySERVICES: To provide specialized legal

services in connection with the issuance ofbonds and/or by the County of Union.

PERIOD: 2002M. Elizabeth Genievich

Clerk of the Board1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $20.91

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesQUITE AN OBSTACLE...Raider forward Erin Gillooly, No. 45, and juniorLindsay Pennella, right, make it very difficult for a Tiger to get to the basket.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesTRYING TO MUZZLE A BULLDOG...Raiders Anwar Montgomery, No. 32,and Steve Williams, No. 23, attempt to block a shot while Raider Mike Brennan,No. 5, awaits the outcome.





COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.,PLAINTIFF vs. WILLIAM P. BARBA &MILUSKA BARBA, H/W; GLADYS NIEVES& MR. NIEVES, DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED JANUARY 10, 2001 FOR SALEOF MORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDSEVENTEEN THOUSAND TWO-HUN-DRED SEVENTY FIVE & 32/100($117,275.32).

ALL THAT CERTAIN tract or parcel ofland and premises situate, lying and being inthe City of Elizabeth, County of Union andState of New Jersey, being more particularlydescribed as follows:

BEGINNING at a point in the westerlysideline of Grier Avenue therein distant162.92 feet from the corner formed by theintersection of the westerly sideline of GrierAvenue with the northerly sideline of Sum-mer Street; thence

1) North 79 degrees 41 minutes West,200 feet to a point; thence

2) North 10 degrees 19 minutes East, 40feet to a point; thence

3) South 79 degrees 41 minutes East,200 feet to a point in the westerly line of GrierAvenue; thence

4) Along the same 10 degrees 19 minutesWest, 40 feet to the point and place ofBEGINNING.

Known and designated as Block 4 Lot 742on the Official Tax Map of the City of Eliza-beth, Union County, New Jersey

Commonly known as 551 Grier Avenue,Elizabeth, New Jersey 07202

THIS IS A PURCHASE MONEY FIRSTMORTGAGE

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED THIRTY NINE THOU-SAND NINE-HUNDRED EIGHTY ONE& 37/100 ($139,981.37) together withlawful interest and costs.




STERN, LAVINTHAL, FRANKENBERG,NORGAARD & KAPNICK, LLPSuite 300293 Eisenhower ParkwayLivingston, New Jersey 07039-1711CH-755792 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $240.72



NEW JERSEY HOUSING AND MORT-GAGE FINANCE AGENCY, PLAINTIFFvs. NELSON ORTEGON AND ALIDAORTEGON, HUSBAND/WIFE; ET ALS.,DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTWELVE THOUSAND NINE-HUNDREDSIXTY SIX & 25/100 ($112,966.25).

Being known and designated as lot num-ber 4 on a certain map entitled “ProposedSubdivision of 268-276 First Street, City ofElizabeth, Union County, New Jersey andfiled in Union County Register’s Office onApril 8, 1991 as Map #786-C.

Also known as Lot #138C, Block 1 on TaxMap of Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The above premises are further describedin accordance with a survey made by Paul J.Rinaldi dated March 3, 1995 as follows:

Beginning at a point on the northwesterlyline of First Street distant southerly 25 feetfrom the corner formed by the intersection ofthe southerly line of Inslee Place with thenorthwesterly line of First Street, thencerunning

1. Along First Street, South 54 degrees 20minutes West 31.25 feet to a point, thence

2. North 35 degrees 40 minutes West 100feet to a point, thence

3. North 54 degrees 20 minutes East31.25 feet to a point , thence

4. South 35 degrees 40 minutes East 100feet to the northwesterly line of First Streetand the point and place of BEGINNING.

Being commonly known as #276 FirstStreet, Elizabeth, New Jersey.

PREMISES are commonly known as276 1st Street, Elizabeth, New Jersey07206.

THIS is a Purchase Money MortgageThere is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED EIGHTEEN THOU-SAND EIGHT-HUNDRED TWENTYEIGHT & 34/100 ($118,828.34) togetherwith lawful interest and costs.




FREEMAN & GERTNER, P.C.ATTORNEYS AT LAWSuite 10476 South Orange AvenueSouth Orange, New Jersey 07079CH-756336 - (WL)4 T - 1/10, 1/17, 1/24& 1/31/02 Fee: $252.96



BENEFICIAL NEW JERSEY, INC. D/B/ABENEFICIAL MORTGAGE CO., PLAIN-TIFF vs. HORACE THOMPSON, ET ALS.,DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED JUNE 01, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is TWENTYTHOUSAND FOUR-HUNDRED NINE-TEEN & 67/100 ($20,419.67).

All that certain tract of land, including anyimprovements, lying and being in UnionCounty, New Jersey being commonly knownas 215 Catherine Street, Elizabeth, NewJersey and described as Lot 381 Ward 8 ofthe Tax Map of Elizabeth City, being moreparticularly described as follows:

BEGINNING at a point in the easterly lineof Catherine Street distant northerly 185feet from the corner formed by intersectionof Catherine Street with the nonherly line ofEast Grand Street; thence running alongsaid line of Catherine Street North 48 de-grees 32.25 feet; thence easterly at rightangles with said line of Catherine Street 123feet; thence southerly parallel with said lineof Catherine Street 31.10 feet; thence North42 degrees 13 minutes West 123 feet to theplace of beginning.

Being lot nmnber 12 and a strip of land2.25 feet in width front and rear off thesoutherly side of lot number 13 in block H assaid lots and block are laid down and desig-nated on “A Map of the Real Estate late ofthe Stephen P. Brittan, deceased”. now onfile in the office of the Registers of UnionCounty.

There is due approximately the sum ofTWENTY TWO THOUSAND TWO-HUNDRED SEVENTY FOUR & 70/100($22,274.70) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




MC CABE, WEISBERG & CONWAY, P.C.LAW OFFICESSUITE 600216 Haddon AvenueWestmont, New Jersey 08108CH-756293 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $234.60



SOVEREIGN BANK OF NEW JERSEY,FSB, PLAINTIFF vs. HARRY ISAKSENAND JOSEF HUDAK, DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is TWO-HUN-DRED SEVENTY SIX THOUSAND FIVE-HUNDRED TWENTY EIGHT & 95/100($276,528.95).

Beginning at the point of intersection ofthe easterly sideline of Chilton Street withthe northerly sideline of Westfield Avenue,and running; thence

1. North 12 degrees 59 minutes West,along the easterly sideline of Chilton Street,a distance of 111.98 feet to a point; thence

2. North 73 degrees 12 minutes 45 sec-onds East, a distance of 54.11 feet to apoint; thence

3. North 88 degrees 01 minutes East, adistance of 70.52 feet to a point; thence

4. South 02 degrees 00 minutes East, adistance of 123.71 feet to a point on thenortherly sideline of Westfield Avenue;thence

5. South 88 degrees 01 minutes West,along the northerly sideline of WestfieldAvenue, a distance of 101.50 feet to thepoint and place of Beginning.

Being known as Block 13 in Lot 1574 onthe tax map of the City of Elizabeth.

Being also known as 157-165 WestfieldAvenue, Elizabeth, New Jersey.

The above description was drawn in ac-cordance with a survey prepared by WilliamN. Fritzinger, 888P.L.S. dated June 16,1990.

There is due approximately the sum ofTWO-HUNDRED NINTY THOUSANDONE-HUNDRED FORTY & 96/100($290,140.96) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




MCOMBER & MCOMBERCOUNSELLORS AT LAW54 Shrewsbury AvenueRed Bank, New Jersey 07701CH-756291 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $234.60



WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE,INC., PLAINTIFF vs. MARQUINA MARVIN,ET AL., DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is THIRTY EIGHTTHOUSAND SIX-HUNDRED THREE &62/100 ($38,603.62).

Property to be sold is located in the Cityof Elizabeth, County of Union and Stateof New Jersey

Premises commonly known as 306 CourtStreet, Elizabeth New Jersey 07206

BEING KNOWN as LOT 66, BLOCK 3,on the official Tax Map of the City of Eliza-beth

Dimensions: 100.00 feet x 25.00 feet x100.00 feet x 25.00 feet

Nearest Cross Street: 3rd AvenueThe Sheriff reserves the right to ad-

journ this sale without further notice bypublication.

Subject to unpaid taxes, assessments,water and sewer liens

There is due approximately the sum ofTHIRTY NINE THOUSAND NINE-HUN-DRED NINTY ONE & 22/100($39,991.22) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




FEDERMAN AND PHELAN, P.C.Suite 505 Sentry Office Plaza216 Haddon AvenueWestmont, New Jersey 08108CH-756311 - (WL)4 T - 1/03, 1/10, 1/17& 1/24/02 Fee: $198.80


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require the services of the Town-ship Assistant Attorney during 2002; and

WHEREAS, the funds are available forthe purpose; and

WHEREAS, the Local Public ContractsLaw (N.J.S.A. 40:11-1, et seq.) requiresthat the resolution authorizing the award ofa contract for professional services withoutcompetitive bids must be publicly adver-tised;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that Lawrence A. Woodruff, 201 South Ave.,East Westfield, New Jersey be appointedas Assistant Township Attorney from Janu-ary 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002.

This contract is awarded without competi-tive bidding as a "professional service" un-der the provision of said Local Public Con-tracts Law because said services are ren-dered or performed by persons authorizedby law to practice a recognized profession,which practice is regulated by law, andwhich practice required the knowledge of anadvanced type in a field of learning acquiredby a prolonged, formal course of specifiededucation and instruction, and instruction,and because it is impossible at this time toknow the exact dimensions of the servicesto be performed and the nature of the vari-ous tasks to be performed, and accordingly,the services to be rendered cannot reason-ably be described by written specifications,and additionally, because the said serviceare such a qualitative nature as will notpermit the receipt of competitive bids due tothe subjective difference in the work productof such persons and the fact that the ethicalrequirements of such profession will notpermit such bidding.



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $42.33


RESOLUTION 02-01-01BE IT RESOLVED the following meet-

ings of the Mayor and Council will be heldduring Year 2002 at 8:00 P.M. at BoroughHall, Mayor and Council Chambers, 75 NorthMartine Avenue, Fanwood, New Jersey.

AGENDA MEETINGS REGULAR MEETINGS* January 3 * January 10

February 5 February 12March 5 March 12April 2 April 9May 7 May 14

* June 5 June 11July 2 July 9August 6 August 13September 3 September 10October 1 October 8

* November 6 November 12December 3 December 10

The Agenda and Regular Meetings will beheld on Tuesdays except for those datesmarked with an * above.

Official action may be taken at either theAgenda or the Regular Meetings of theMayor and Council.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $26.01


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township Council ofScotch Plains will require the services of aMunicipal Prosecutor during 2002; and

WHEREAS, funds are available for thispurpose; and


NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that Michael Blacker, Esq., 1824 FrontStreet, Scotch Plains, New Jersey, be ap-pointed as Municipal Prosecutor from Janu-ary 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002.


A copy of this resolution shall be pub-lished in The Times as required by lawwithin (10) days of its passage.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $42.33

125, Romeo wasted no time takingBill Fonseca to the mat and clampinghim flat on his back, using a face-to-face double grapevine early in thefirst period. Unfortunately, beforethe ref could slap his hand on themat, Romeo screamed in pain, hold-ing his knee and could not continue.Instead of gaining a possible six,team points, the Raiders ceded six,team points, giving the Canucks a25-21 lead.

“My biggest concern is Pat’s knee.It could be a cartilage or ligamentproblem. I’m not only concernedabout how long he’s going to be outbut he’s got the Coast Guard to thinkabout,” stressed Bello.

Five bouts remained and the Raid-ers salvaged only two victories.

“In spite of Pat’s loss, we still hadan opportunity to beat them. Obvi-ously, it hurt us but we had fiveweight classes remaining. We hadopportunities in those classes and wedidn’t convert,” said Bello.

One of those critical bouts came at135, where Raider Chris Spragueheld a rock-and-tumble 6-3 lead overTom Hetiji at the end of the firstperiod but fell victim to a pick-and-twist pinning maneuver late in thesecond period, increasing theCanucks’ lead to 31-21.

“That was one of those matchesthat if they wrestle each other 10times, five of the 10 times one or theother will get pinned,” commentedBello.

Undefeated Lucas Francavillamaintained his status by suffocatingCanuck Jose Nunez with a tight waistand an arm bar in 1:01 in the 140-lb.class. Following DeNichilo’s win andan unsportsmanlike conduct penalty,deducting one-team point from NorthPlainfield, the score was deadlocked30-30.

Unfortunately for the Raiders, theCanucks won by fall at 152 and bymajority decision at 160 to claimvictory.

“Jim Miller has done an amazingjob with that program. Those kidsare good and they took it to us,” saidBello.

WEIGHT BREAKDOWN:103: — D. Francavilla (SPF) p. Brooks,2:53112: — Mineo (SPF) p. Walaski, 3:56119: — Connolly (SPF) d. Potok, 13-7125: — Andy Guild (NP) p. AnthonyFerrante, 1:24130: — Fonseca (NP) won by injury de-fault over Romeo135: — Hetiji (NP) p. Sprague, 3:42140: — L. Francavilla (SPF) p. Nunez,1:01145: — DeNichilo (SPF) d. Keane, 8-5152: — Dave Miller (NP) p. Tyler Stender,3:14160: — Ryan Strasko (NP) md. CharlieBachi, 20-7171: — Matt Velasquez (NP) p. CharlieLaskowski, 1:26189: — McFarlane (NP) d. Silber, 4-3215: — Matt Loomis (SPF) p. Kakas, 2:46Hwt: — John Wells (NP) md. AndrewLoomis, 8-0

Injury Default Proves Costly;Canucks Stop Raiders. 40-30


The three-point crusade byWestfield continued into the thirdquarter, as Eric Turner knocked twostraight 3-balls through the hoop. Hefinished the game with 10 points, sixrebounds and three assists.

Both teams ran into foul penaltytrouble early in the fourth quarter, sofree throw shooting ran rampant.Busby sank an amazing 11 freethrows, on 13 opportunities. Also,Tiger Rajeh Sandeh made 4-6 freethrows, and finished the game with11 points and five rebounds.

Also shooting well from the linewas Blue Devil Louis Mercer, whotallied 4-5 FT, and eight total points.

Mercer especially controlled the

offense valiantly in the fourth quar-ter, including many three-point playopportunities off two point buckets.

McKeon said, “We passed the ballmore and took the open shots we had.We also stepped up our defense.”

They certainly did pass the ballmore, as they out-assisted Linden12-9. On the defensive end, led byfour blocks each by Jay Cook andDeSerio, Westfield was able to holdthe Tigers to the lowest score al-lowed by Westfield this season.

Also playing well for the Tigerswere junior Tony Wilson, with 12points and three steals, and ShaneGullette, who tallied seven pointsand five assists.

The win upped Westfield’s recordto an impressive 5-1. They face rivalScotch Plains-Fanwood today inWestfield.

Co-captain McKeon said, “We candefinitely take [Scotch Plains-Fanwood]. We still have to play ourgame, because they’re not a bad team,but we can definitely beat them.”Linden (3-2) 13 11 14 18 56Westfield (5-1) 16 13 16 16 61

Westfield Boys Tame Tigers;Defeat Linden Cagers, 61-56


REGENYE REMAINS UNDEFEATED

Panther Matmen ClawHighlanders, 56-18

By FRED LECOMTESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The 3-1 Roselle Park High Schoolwrestling team unleashed its wrathby clawing through 11 GovernorLivingston Highlander weight classesto record a 56-18 victory on January5 in Roselle Park. The Panthers’ domi-nance was indeed demonstrated asthey won every weight class from103-lb to 145-lb.

A disappointed Head Coach RickIocono summarized, “They still don’tknow what they are doing. There hasbeen some improvement by somepeople, little by others. They are stillstruggling to break old habits, stillreverting to the past. You just can’t be

putting yourself in a poor position,and that’s what is still happening, allas a result of the past. So, I’m notpleased and happy with some of them.Although I feel they’ll be fine, it isgoing to take some time. They are

great kids, willing to learn, so I’mnot worried”

The match began at the 160-lbweight class, where G.L’s MattSharkey fell to Bob Appello in a fall.Sophomore, Skarkey has shown somevast improvement early in the season.

171-lb junior Marcello Cavalleroentered his match against JasonMcGrady with one simple thought inmind, “Be focused, use good tech-nique and put him away as quickly aspossible.”

That’s exactly what happened in amatter of 2:17, when Cavallarosnatched McGrady off his feet with aGramby, then proceeded using anearside cradle for the victory.

At 215, Shawn Coughlin crumbledChris Lott at 5:32, after a push-and-shove first and second period.Coughlin scored on an escape to endperiod two, then proceeded to deckLott with 28 seconds remaining inthe match.

The Panthers responded with a fallat heavyweight by Chris Bouthoutsosthen ran off victories until the finalbout (152) to command a 56-12 lead.

Highlander senior Jon Regenyetook to the mat and upped his recordto 8-0 when he pinned sophomoreJohn Wright with a pancake at 3:59.Regenye built a narrow 4-2 edgewith a takedown and a reverse to endperiod one, then extended his lead to9-2 with a takedown and a three-point near fall with just :01 remain-ing in period two.

The 3-2 Highlanders will hostRoselle Catholic on January 9.

WEIGHT BREAKDOWN103:- Swick (RP) won forfeit112:- Mac Dermott (RP) p. M.Vanderveer,5:07119:- Gura (RP) p. Lecomte, 2:50125:- Panetta (RP) d. T.Vanderveer, 10-3130:- D.Appello (RP) d. Fullowan, 22-8(TF 6:00)135:- Zangari (RP) d. DiStefano, 15-0 (TF5:15)140:- Gent ( RP) d. E.Serrano, 4-3145:- Garrison (RP) d. G.Granholm, 10-2152:- J.Regenye (GL) p. Wright, 3:59160:- B.Appello (RP) –p. M.Sharkey, 3:19171:- M.Cavallaro (GL) p. McGrady, 2:17189:- Kachnowski (RP) p. Price, 5:38215:- S.Coughlin (GL) p. Lott, 5:32Hwt:- Boutoutsos (RP) p. Hernandez, :37

Lady Tigers WhipDevil Cagers, 57-40

The Westfield High School girls’basketball team fell to Linden, 57-40, in Linden on January 3. LadyTiger Quiana Brewington poured ina game-high 18 points and Blue Devilsenior Jackie Cusimano netted 13points.

Cusimano scored seven points,including a three-pointer, and DanaPassananti scored four as the BlueDevils equaled the Tigers, 13-13, inthe first quarter. Brewington burnedthe net for eight of her points as theTigers outscored the Blue Devils,19-15, in the second quarter. BlueDevil sophomore Ali McMahon, whofinished with eight points, scored sixand Suann Hutchinson scored all fourof her points in the quarter.

Westfield’s shooting turned coldin the second half as the Tigersoutscored them 25-12. NicoleInfantino was the only Blue Devilwith a hot hand as she sank all sevenof her points in the final quarter.Tiger Jen Henderson, who finishedwith 10 points, scored eight in thesecond half.Westfield (2-4) 13 15 5 7 40Linden (3-3) 13 19 10 15 57

Devil Girls TakeSixth at Pirate

Invitational SwimThe Westfield High School girls’

swimming team placed sixth at thePirate Invitational at West Windsor-Plainsboro South on January 5.Bridgewater-Raritan won the eventwith a total of 249 and Pennsbury,Pa. took second at 232. The BlueDevils had a total of 99 points andScotch Plains-Fanwood came in10th with 39 points.

Blue Devil freshman KirstenSelert had a busy day by placingfourth in the 100 breaststroke,eighth in the 50 freestyle, teamingwith Kelli Layton, Neda Simaikaand Suzanna Fowler to touch thirdin the 200 freestyle relay and byteaming with Chrissy Romano, LisaZhang and Layton to finish sixth inthe 400 freestyle relay.

SP-F Raider Amanda Camerontouched sixth in the 200 IM with atime of 2:27.8. Raiders Cameron,Julia Sheffield, Meral Akyuz andMorgan Larkin combined to finishsixth in the 200 freestyle relay witha time of 1:51.5.

Lady ‘Dogs’ StaggerRaider Cagers, 55-35

The fourth-ranked Malcolm X.Shabazz High School girls’ basket-ball team handed the Scotch Plains-Fanwood girls their first loss of theseason with a 55-35 staggering inNewark on January 3. The stagger-ing came in the second quarter whenthe Lady Bulldogs, trailing 12-11,outscored the 5-1 Raiders, 12-0, inthe second quarter.

Raider freshman HillaryKlimowicz scored a game-high 20points. Lindsay Pennella netted sevenpoints while Kellie LaForge and ErinGillooly each sank four.Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 12 0 14 9 35Shabazz (6-0) 11 12 17 15 55

Fred Lecomte for The Westfield Leader and The TimesA PANTHER IN DIRE STRAITS...Highlander Marcello Cavallero, top, isabout a hand-slap away from pinning 171-lb. Panther Jason McGrady.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesLOOKING TO SET UP THE PLAY...Blue Devil Adam Turner looks to set upa play against the Tiger defense as Billy Schultz, No. 31, prepares to make hismove.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesABOUT TO PUT HIM TO SLEEP...Raider 103-lb. Derek Francavilla, top, hasQuashon Brooks in a tight headlock and puts him to sleep in 2:53.



The Westfield Blue DevilBoosters Honor Roll

THE HEISMAN SPONSORSAllied Abrasives & Tools, Prudential Securities,

Century 21 Taylor & Love, Ricasoli & Satin Con-tracting Co., The Charmatz Family, Rich Bagger,The Ciemniecki Family, R.W. Wheaton, The ConnellCompany, Salomon Smith Barney, Elm Street Texaco,Jeff Schundler, Fiorino Committee, Speranza Brick-work, Inc., First Union Securities Private ClientGroup, State Farm, Green Tree Construction Inc.,Sun Tavern, Greetree Consulting, Tom Kean,Hershey’s Subs Deli & Catering, Town & CountryFine Wine & Spirits, IMAGE One Hour Photo Lab,UBS/Paine Webber, Island Ford, Unlimited Com-munications, Lessner Electric, The Verriers, LouisKessler Scholarship, Wakefern Foods/Shop-Rite,Martino Studio of Photography, Westfield Blue DevilsIce Hockey, Merrion Group, Westfield Center Gen-esis Elder Care Network, Plainfield Blue Devils,Westfield Leader, Portasoft, Westfield RepublicanCommittee, PrintTech, Westfield United Way, ProAgents, Inc. Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer, Westwood

ALL-AMERICAN SPONSORSAllied Fire & Safety Equipment, Material Dis-

tributors, Bruce McLane & Family, McDonough &Stullata & The Met Agency, Carpentry by Paul,Mojave Grille, Ciufalo & Blumenthal Inc., Papp IronWorks, C.J. Hesse Therera’s, Theresa’s, DON-TREDriving School, True & Associates, Finne Buildingand Investment Inc., Vogel Bus Company,Fotoquintero.com, The Walsh Family, JMK BMW &JMK SAAB, Weldon Materials, The Leader Store,Westfield Athletic Club, Linde-Griffith Construc-tion Co., Westfield Basketball Association, The Li-quor Basket of Westfield, Westfield Police AthleticLeague, The Ludlum Family, Woodbridge Hilton

ALL-STATE SPONSORSRobert Algarin AIA Architect, J. Belford Tire &

Auto Service, Bally Sports Clubs-Clark, Kehler’sAthletic Balance, Bonsall Chiropractic, LindaburyMcCormick & Estabrook, Linda Brinkman, TheManville Family, The Capone Family, Marano &Sons Auto Sales, Inc., Celtic Imports Ltd, MetroOffice Suites & Business Center, Chelsea Realty, TheMorrissey Family, Ciarrocca Chiropractic Center,New Jersey Tool & Die, Ciarrocca & Ciarrocca, NewJersey Workshop for the Arts, Inc., Coldwell BankerResidential Mortgage, Pagano Connolly & Com-pany, P.C., Crown Trophy, The Party Stop CostumeCorner, The Elliott Family, Bruce Regenstreich, Esq,FCG Advisors, Somerset Savings Bank, FromkinBrothers, Inc., Stewart Consulting, LLC, FusconEnterprises Inc., Bill and Kim Taylor, The GismondiFamily, The Town Bank of Westfield, GuardianFence Company, Inc., Uptown Realty, Hoboken CityReal Estate, V. DiIorio & Son Inc., The InfantinoFamily, Westfield Soccer Association, Infineum USA,Williams Nursery & The Gift House, IntegratedSolutions & Technologies

ALL-COUNTY SPONSORSAllied Abrasives & Tools Inc., J.A.Christman

Inc., Antonino Pafumi Contractors LLC, Jersey Me-chanical Contractors Inc., Arnold Steel Co, Inc.,Johnson, Skok, Loughlin & Lane, Atlantic HardChromium, KDL Electric Company Inc., Bear IslandResources, Inc., Tom Kemps, Blocker, LaCasa, BuonaPizza, The Lau Family, Jon M. Bramnick Attorney,Lindeman Buick, Brick Masonary Inc., M&SArmistead, Inc. Mechanical Contractors, Brummer’s,The MacDonanld Family, Center for OrthopedicSurgery & Sports Medicine, The Mansfield Family,C.J.’s Extra Innings, Merrill Lynch, Clyne & Murphy,Michael Korn Jewelers, Complete Care – UrgentCare Medical Center, New Jersey Tool & Die, CrisdelGroup, Inc., Park Steel & Iron Company, David

Friedland Painting Company, Inc., The Ponzio Fam-ily, Diamondhead Construction and Maintenance,Reel-Strong Fuel Company, Echoqua, Robert TreatDelicatessen & Catering, Environmental ClimateControl, The Schwarzenbek Family, Falasca Me-chanical, Schwalm & Fasolt, Inc., First Horizon HomeLoan Corporation, Scott Seib Plumbing & Heating,Fitzpatrick & Associates, Inc., Sloan & Company,Inc, Frederic A. Schulaner, Solutions Head to Toe, G.Cotter Enterprises, Thomas D. Cherin Designer/Gold-smith, Kathleen M. Gialanella Attorney, T & MInc.Molds, Halpern & Sons Inc., Townsquare Elec-tric, Haven Savings Bank, Weaver Electric, TheHedden Family, Harvey Weisslitz, Infantino Broth-ers Disposal, Westfield Tire & Auto Service, Interna-tional Wines and Liquors Inc., Westfield Video,Island International Industries, Inc.

THE COMMUNITYAnthony James Construction, Gregory S. Gallick

M.C., Arena Sport Inc., Richard J. Kaplow P.A.,Rubin Baum, Attorney, Komar Roofing & Siding,Burdgoff Realtors ERA, Panera Bread, Cappio Land-scaping, Pisano, Triarsi & Betancourt, Central Car-pet, Progressive Financial Investmetns, Clark Ba-gels, STS Tire & Auto Center, Robert Cockren Attor-ney, Tarantella’s Ristorante, Copies Now, TheWestfield Inee, The Corbet Group, Thomashaw &Associates, David Nathanson/Swan Hotel, ThomasLincoln Mercury, Devonshire Corporation, TowneDelicatessen & Catering, Dog Patch, Vicki’s Diner,Eastern Carpet Care, Westfield Amoco Service Cen-ter, Family Investors Corporation, Westfield AutoWash Inc, Felice, Westfield FMBA Local #30,Ferraro’s, Westfield “Y”, F. Kevin Lynch, Zemsky &Piskum M.D.

DENTAL COMMUNITYKenneth W. Arida, Stanley Gersch, Joseph D.

DeMaio, Lawrence R. Gibson, Dental Group ofWestfield, Seymour Koslowsky, David A. Dersh,Jeff Thaller

THE 12TH MANThe Albino Family, Juxtapose Gallery, American

Tire & Auto Care, Edward J. Hobbie,, The AndzelFamily, Jen Kemps, Artisans Showcase of Tile, Peter& Kathy Maher, Jeffrey & Tobi Becker, ManchesterTitle Agency, Inc.,, Bovella’s Pastry Shop, Nichols,Thomson, Peek & Phelan, Bliwise Liquors, MichaelE. Panagos, Edward A. Camillo, Patterson Interiors,Bill & Martha Canata, PNC Bank, The CiacciarelliFamily, Rotech Tool & Mold, The Ciliotta Family,The Rowe Family,, City/Newark Glass Company,Snelling and SnellingPersonnel,, RichardCocozziello, Elaine M. Swingle, D.M.D., DeirdreShea School of Irish Dance, Bill and Joyce Taylor,Dooley Colonial Home, Donald D. Vanarelli Esq.,The Driscoll Family, Valairco, The Fusco Family,Weather Shield, The Goldweitz Family, WestfieldDental Associates, P.A, Lee & Anne Hale, The Wil-liams Family, Interiors, Window Treats

THE PATRONSAdvanced Physical Therapy Associates, Hansel’s

Carpets, Anthony Michael Haircutters, J & M Mar-kets, Inc., The Anzalone Family, John Robert Cus-tom Shirts & Suits, Baci Hair Studio, William &Mona Kenny, Bagel Chateau, Kotobuki JapaneseRestaurant,, Ken and Susan Bigelow, KlingelhoferCorporation, Jay and Colette Boyle, Master Memori-als, Inc., Robert & Marge Brewster, The McGeeFamily, Ken Brown, Mears & McCullough CPA,Brunner Opticians, Jennifer & Brad Melvin, GaryChecchio & Family, Michael’s Hair Stylists,Christoffers Inc., Ralph & Carol Miller, ConstructionSpecialties Inc., Morlot Construction Corp., MelCoren, John Monaghan, Crafty Kitchen, Jim & Su-san Montemurro, Tom & Debbie Cusimano, RonNobile & Family, Fred and Susan DeFazio,Prospector’s Deli, Denton Management, SherwoodChiropractic, Tim and Sally Doer, STS Limited Inc.,Evalyn Dunn Gallery, Inc., Tullios, Kirk and DianeFleming, Vincent’s Hair Cutting, Joe & MarcellaFreisen, Westfield Lumber & Home Center, TheGiresi Family, Westfield Wash & Dry, Neil Granstrand& Suzanne St. Dizier



CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGECORPORATION, PLAINTIFF vs. LENINJUNIOR RAMIREZ MOREL & MRS. LENINJR. RAMIREZ MORAL, H/W, DEFEN-DANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED JULY 31, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTWENTY ONE THOUSAND FIVE-HUN-DRED ELEVEN & 48/100 ($121,511.48).

REAL ESTATE TAX DISCLOSUREIf designated below, there are liens in the

estimated sum as specified below. Plaintiffadvises that the municipal tax office shouldbe contacted to obtain any additional taxamounts that may be due.

1. Taxes: Current2. Water & Sewer: $4,965.66 plus inter-

estCONCISE DESCRIPTION1. The property to be sold is commonly

known as: 520 E. Jersey Street Elizabeth,New Jersey 07206.

2. Tax Block No.: Ward: 3 Lot No.: Acct#:323.A

3. Dimensions of lot: 1.19 x 6.00 x 1.50 x63.30 x 22.59

4. Nearest cross street: 5th StreetThere is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED THIRTY TWO THOU-SAND SIX-HUNDRED FORTY FIVE &94/100 ($132,645.94) together with law-ful interest and costs.




HUBSCHMAN & ROMANATTORNEYS AT LAW318 Bergen BoulevardPalisades Park, New Jersey 07650CH-756299 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $206.04



EQUICREDIT CORPORATION, PLAIN-TIFF vs. MARILYN J. LONEKER; ET ALS.,DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is TWO-HUN-DRED SIXTY THOUSAND SIX-HUN-DRED THIRTY FOUR & 90/100($260,634.90).

The property to be sold is located in theCITY OF ELIZABETH, County of Unionand State of New Jersey.

It is commonly known as 1451 LEXING-TON PLACE, ELIZABETH, NEW JER-SEY.

It is known and designated as Block 11,Lot 595.

The dimensions are approximately 35 feetwide by 100 feet long (irregular).

Nearest cross street: Situate on the north-erly line of Lexington Place, 136.13 feetfrom the easterly line of North Broad Street.

Prior lien(s): The total amount as of 4/30/01 for property taxes and unpaid water/sewer charges is in the aggregate sum of$13,331.18. SUBJECT TO UNPAIDTAXES AND OTHER MUNICIPAL LIENS.AMOUNT DUE IS AVAILABLE IN THESHERIFF’S OFFICE OR FROMPLAINTIFF’S ATTORNEYS UPON WRIT-TEN REQUEST TO PLAINTIFF’S ATTOR-NEYS.

There is due approximately the sum ofTWO-HUNDRED EIGHTY THREETHOUSAND TWO-HUNDRED EIGHTYSEVEN & 66/100 ($283,287.66) togetherwith lawful interest and costs.




STERN, LAVINTHAL, FRANKENBERG,NORGAARD & KAPNICK, LLPSuite 300293 Eisenhower ParkwayLivingston, New Jersey 07039-1711CH-756312 - (WL)4 T - 1/03, 1/10, 1/17& 1/24/02 Fee: $222.36


This is to certify that the within resolutionis a true and exact copy of the Resolutionadopted on 1/2/02 by the Town Council ofthe Town of Westfield.

Bernard A HeeneyTown Clerk

RESOLUTION

LAWS AND RULES COMMITTEEJANUARY 2, 2002

TAKE NOTICE that the Town Council ofthe Town of Westfield will meet in Confer-ence Session, at which meeting the publicmay attend but in which the public will notparticipate except by consent of Council, todiscuss and consider matters of public busi-ness, upon which no formal action will thenbe taken but which may subsequently beacted upon in a regular Council Meeting, onthe following dates in 2002 in the Adminis-trative Conference Room in the MunicipalBuilding, 425 East Broad Street, Westfield,New Jersey, at 8:00 p.m., the said datesbeing the following Tuesdays, unless other-wise noted:

January 8 and 22February 5 and 19March 5 and 19April 9 and 30May 14 and 28June 11 and 25July 30August NoneSeptember 3 and 17October 8 and 22November 6 (Wednesday) and 26December 10

TAKE FURTHER NOTICE that the TownCouncil of the Town of Westfield will meet inregular public meeting, at which the publicmay attend and participate, in the CouncilChambers of the Municipal Building, 425East Broad Street, Westfield, New Jersey,at 8:00 p.m., with a preliminary meeting at7:45 p.m. in the adjacent Council Confer-ence Room which the public may also at-tend, the said meeting dates being the fol-lowing Tuesdays, unless otherwise noted:

January 15 and 29February 13 (Wednesday) and 26March 12April 2 and 16May 7 and 21June 4 and 18July 2August 6September 10October 1, 15, and 29November 12December 3 and 17

The agenda for all of said meetings is notyet known. The aforementioned notice hasbeen prepared and will be posted, mailedand filed in accordance with the provisionsof the Open Public Meetings Act.1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $57.12


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township Council ofScotch Plains will require the services of aPublic Defender during 2002; and



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that Randolph Brause, Brause, Brause &Ventrice, L.L.C., 276 Main Street, CN 4001,Metuchen, New Jersey 08840 be appointedas Public Defender from January 1, 2002 toDecember 31, 2002.

This contract is awarded without competi-tive bidding as a "professional service" un-der the provisions of said Local Public Con-tracts Law because said services are ren-dered or performed by persons authorizedto practice a recognized profession, whichpractice is regulated by law, and whichpractice requires the knowledge of an ad-vanced type in a field of learning acquired bya prolonged, formal course of specified edu-cation and instruction, and because it isimpossible at this time to know the exactdimensions of the services to be performedand the exact nature of the various tasks tobe performed, and accordingly, the servicesto be rendered cannot reasonably be de-scribed by written specifications, and addi-tionally, because the said services are ofsuch a qualitative nature as will not permitthe receipt of competitive bids due to thesubjective difference in the work product ofsuch persons and the fact that the ethicalrequirements of such profession will notpermit such bidding.



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $42.84


TAKE NOTICE that the DowntownWestfield Corporation will meet on the fol-lowing dates in 2002 on Monday evenings at7:30 PM in the Downtown Westfield Corpo-ration Offices at 105 Elm Street 2nd Floor.

January 21, 2002February 25, 2002

March 18, 2002April 22, 2002May 20, 2002June 17, 2002July 22, 2002

August 19, 2002September 23, 2002

October 21, 2002November 18, 2002December 16, 2002

The agenda for all of said meetings is notyet known. The aforementioned notice hasbeen prepared and will be posted, mailedand filed in accordance with the provisionsof the Open Public Meetings Act.

Bernard A. HeeneyTown Clerk

1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $23.97

JANUARY 2:Scotch Plains-Fanwood 51,Irvington 16

WEIGHT BREAKDOWN:103: — Ken McNeil (I) p. Dakim Gaines,3:34112: — Derek Francavilla (SPF) p. LouisGonzalez, 3:05119: — Steve Mineo (SPF) d. RicardoGonzalez, 10-4125: — Eric Connelly (SPF) p. JeffBeckette, 1:57130: — Mikail Millaro (I) p. RonnieFerrara, 1:40135: — Pat Romeo (SPF) p. ShakimClark, 0:58140: — Jim Loverlo (I) md. ChrisSprague, 9-0145: — Lucas Francavilla (SPF) p. KevinScottland, 0:40152: — Matt DeNichilo (SPF) p. DaquanYarbought, 1:12160: — Charlie Bachi (SPF) d. FrancoIssvana, 2-1171: — Andrew Silber (SPF) p. OsbertEdwards, 1:24189: — Marc Fabiano (SPF) d. Ben Brito, 9-2215: — Matt Loomis (SPF) p. BlarendeRodulette, 0:54Hwt: — Andrew Loomis (SPF) won forfeit

New Providence (5-1) 54,Morristown (0-3) 24

KEY BOUTS:119: — Jon Reedy (NP) p. Sil Higgins,4:41135: — Cody Hunter (NP) p. MikeFlynn, 2:19160: — Jeff Merrill (NP) p Kristoft Mor-gan, 3:42171: — Alex Pavlinov (NP) p. BobConway, 0:17

Brearley (7-2) 42, Bound Brook 21KEY BOUTS:

112: — Ryan Yospin (B) d. DaveSchubick, 8-2135: — Andrew Flanagan (BB) md.Stefano Serracino, 16-6160: — Dan Zika (B) p. Jason Huzinek,3:09

Westfield 58, M. X. Shabazz 21 (12forfeits)

KEY BOUTS:160: — Dan MacDonald (W) md. DarrylWilliamson, 21-10

JANUARY 4:Westfield 41, Kearny 33

WEIGHT BREAKDOWN:103: — Sam Kramer (W) won forfeit112: — Craig Hewit (W) p. SteveMartinez, 1:53119: — Brian McDonnell (K) p. JoeDeCampo, 3:51125: — Angel LaPorte (K) p. Eric Gale, 3:50130: — Tom DelDuca (W) d. KevinGehman, 3-1135: — Ethan Powell (W) md. JoseGonzalez, 18-7140: — Greg Kivetz (W) won forfeit145: — Dwayne Amos (K) p. LeeTomasso, 2:45152: — Dan MacDonald (W) md. AustinWright, 13-4160: — Chad Pereira (K) d. Gil Arbitsman,11-5171: — Chris Gismondi (W) p. StevePlummer, 2:47189: — Vin Abbott (K) p. Joe McCabe, 4:28215: — Mike Barbiere (W) p. KevinKane, 0:52Hwt: — Dan Manley (K) p. NickGismondi, 3:15Ridge 37, A. L. Johnson 34

KEY BOUTS:119: — Jim Coler (J) md. Kyle Sevits, 14-4171: — Steve Kammerer (R) d. ChrisWinter, 12-11New Providence 59, Manville 14

KEY BOUTS:119: — Jon Reedy (NP) md. LuisMartinez, 14-1171: — Alex Pavlinov (NP) p. ChesterHiggins, 0:54189: — Shane Mallory (NP) md. JoeZuza, 14-2

Union County High SchoolWrestling Results:

A FRIEND TO MANY…Members of the Shackamaxon Country Club in ScotchPlains honor Marvin Stith, second from left, for his long service to the club. Theclub will name its Youth Tournament after him in 2002. Joining Mr. Stith,pictured left to right, are: Larry Tuck, Warren Victor and Ralph Burpee.

Shackamaxon Country ClubSalutes Golfer Marvin Stith

SCOTCH PLAINS — The entiremembership of the ShackamaxonCountry Club in Scotch Plains gavea standing ovation to Marvin Stith onSeptember 30, as he was presentedwith a plaque for his long and dedi-cated service to the club, which willname its Youth Tournament after himin 2002.

After a long history of golf compe-tition, Mr. Stith received his Profes-sional Golf Association card and hadlooked forward to retiring from hisposition with the Town of Westfield,which he did two years ago afterdecades of service to the town. How-ever, at almost the same time, hebegan experiencing the first symp-toms of Parkinson’s Disease.

Mr. Stith’s feats on the golf coursehave included moments such as hisdrive over the green ofShackamaxon’s 350-yard 18th hole.

While he has been unable to playthe game during his retirement dueto his condition, he “will be remem-

bered for his tireless and unselfishefforts to teach and encourage youngpeople good sportsmanship, kind-ness and mastery of the game, andthe importance of being a lady orgentleman,” according to WarrenVictor of Westfield, who was amongthose on hand when Mr. Stith washonored by the club.


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require additional medical ser-vices in 2002 regarding workers compensa-tion injuries, physical therapy and someother general services as requested by theMunicipal Manager; and



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that RICHARD J. SCHALLER, M.D., ofComplete Care, Inc., 1814 East SecondStreet, Scotch Plains, New Jersey, be ap-pointed by the Township Manager as Town-ship Physician for the period effective fromJanuary 1, 2002 to December 31, 2002.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that theMayor and Township Clerk are hereby au-thorized to sign an Agreement, a copy ofwhich is annexed hereto, with Dr. Richard J.Schaller.



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $49.98

JCC White StopsJCC Blue, 23-18Led by Michael Riesenberg with

nine points and Zach Flanzman withsix, the “JCC White” third and fourthgrade basketball team of ScotchPlains kicked off their season with anexciting, 23-18, victory over “JCCBlue”.

Flanzman also had some key as-sists, including hitting SpencerMerman for two quick lay-ups late inthe first quarter. Greg Stein addedanother couple of baskets that helpedWhite pull away in the first half.However in the second half, Bluemade a run, thanks to six consecutivepoints by Steven Forgash, but it wastoo little to late, as White hung on,helped by two big rebounds late inthe game by Zach Cohen.

Leonardis MakesMAC 2nd TeamIn Field HockeyWestfield High School graduate

Kristen Leonardis, a sophomore atFairleigh Dickinson UniversityMadison (FDUM), has been se-lected to the Middle Atlantic Con-ference Freedom Conference Sec-ond Team in field hockey.Leonardis, a forward, was one offour FDUM athletes to receive Firstor Second Team All-Star honors.

CALACOM COMPUTERS

“Computing Solutions for Home and Business”

Sales • Service • Repair

37 Elm Street Suite 9Westfield, NJ 07090

(908) 389-1005

Email: [email protected]://www.calacom.net

Store Hours: Monday - Friday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.



CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGECORPORATION, PLAINTIFF vs. JOSEM. DAVILA, SINGLE; MRS. JOSE M.DAVILA, HIS WIFE, DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED JULY, 17, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDNINETEEN THOUSAND THREE-HUN-DRED FORTY NINE & 12/100($119,349.12).

REAL ESTATE TAX DISCLOSUREIf designated below, there are liens in the

estimated sum as specified below. Plaintiffadvises that the municipal tax offices shouldbe contacted to obtain any additional taxamounts that may be due.

1. Taxes: $531.20 - 4th quarter, year 20012. Water & Sewer: $2,339.994. Liens: $2,470.07 - water, Taxes and

sewerCONCISE DESCRIPTION1. The property to be sold is commonly

known as: 230 PINE STREET, ELIZABETHNEW JERSEY 07206.

2. Tax Block No.: 1 Lot No.: 4563. Dimentions of lot: 100.00 x 25.004. Nearest cross street: Second StreetThere is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED THIRTY THOUSANDEIGHT-HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO & 98/100 ($130,882.98) together with lawful in-terest and costs.




HUBSCHMAN & ROMANATTORNEYS AT LAW318 Bergen BoulevardPalisades Park, New Jersey 07650CH-756329 - (WL)4 T - 1/10, 1/17, 1/24& 1/31/02 Fee: $204.00

www.goleader.com



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SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND UR-BAN DEVELOPMENT OF WASHING-TON, DC, PLAINTIFF vs. ALBERTOMORANTE, ET AL., DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTEN THOUSAND SEVEN-HUNDREDTHIRTY NINE & 19/100 ($110,739.19).

CONCISE STATEMENT OF DESCRIP-TION OF REAL PROPERTY TO BE SOLD

MUNICIPALITY: ElizabethCOUNTY: UNION STATE OF NEW

JERSEYSTREET & STREET NO: 622 Madison

AvenueTAX BLOCK AND LOT:BLOCK: 12 LOT: 647DIMENSIONS OF LOT: 25 feet x 145

feetNEAREST CROSS STREET: 250 feet

from Fairmount Avenue.There is due approximately the sum of

ONE-HUNDRED SIXTEEN THOUSANDTHREE-HUNDRED THIRTY EIGHT &66/100 ($116,338.66) together with law-ful interest and costs.




WILLIAM M. E. POWERS JR.CHARTERED737 Stokes RoadPO Box 1088Medford, New Jersey 08055-9962CH-756286 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $191.76



WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE,INC., PLAINTIFF vs. CARLOS ZACARIAS,ET ALS., DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDFIFTY ONE THOUSAND FOUR-HUN-DRED EIGHTEEN & 03/100 ($151,418.03).

The property to be sold is located in thecity of Elizabeth in the County of Union, NewJersey.

Commonly known as: 534 RichmondStreet, Elizabeth, New Jersey 07202

Tax Lot No. 1298 in Block 4Dimensions of Lot: (Approximately) 38

feet wide by 155 feet longNearest Cross Street: Situate on the south-

westerly sideline of Richmond Street 174.30feet from the northwesterly sideline ofMckinley Street.

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED SIXTY THOUSANDEIGHT-HUNDRED THIRTY SIX & 84/100($160,836.84) together with lawful interestand costs.




ZUCKER, GOLDBERG & ACKERMANATTORNEYS1139 Spruce DrivePO Box 1024Mountainside, New Jersey 07092-00241-908-233-8500File: XFZ L 43211CH-756335 - (WL)4 T - 1/10, 1/17, 1/24& 1/31/02 Fee: $191.76



CHASE MANHATTAN MORTGAGECORPORATION, PLAINTIFF vs. MELVINSILVA, ET ALS., DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED FEBRUARY 28, 2001 FOR SALEOF MORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDNINTY THOUSAND TWO-HUNDREDFIVE & 01/100 ($190,205.01).

Property to be sold is located in the Cityof Elizabeth, County of Union and Stateof New Jersey.

Premises commonly known as 1025Louisa Street, Elizabeth NJ 07207

BEING KNOWN as LOT #8-1154,BLOCK 8, on the official Tax Map of theCity of Elizabeth

Dimensions: 100. 00 feet x 30.00 feet x100.00 feet x 30.00 feet.

Nearest Cross Street: Jackson AvenueThe Sheriff hereby reserves the right

to adjourn this sale without further no-tice by publication.

Subject to unpaid taxes, assessments,water and sewer liens

There is due approximately the sum ofTWO-HUNDRED NINE THOUSANDSIX-HUNDRED FORTY TWO & 57/100($209,642.57) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




FEDERMAN AND PHELAN, P.C.SUITE 505 SENTRY OFFICE PLAZA216 Haddon AvenueWestmont, New Jersey 08108CH-755881 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $193.80


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require the services of a Town-ship Physician during 2002; and



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that NICHOLAS YATRAKIS, M.D., 261Orchard Street, Westfield, New Jersey, beappointed by the Township Manager asTownship Physician for the period effectivefrom January 1, 2002 to December 31,2002.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that theMayor and Township Clerk are hereby au-thorized to sign an Agreement, a copy ofwhich is annexed hereto, with Dr. NicholasYatrakis.

A copy of this resolution shall be pub-lished in The Times as required by lawwithin (10) days of its passage.


1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $47.94


RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Township of ScotchPlains will require the services of a Town-ship Auditor during 2002; and



NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVEDby the Township Council of the Township ofScotch Plains, Union County, New Jersey,that the firm of Suplee, Clooney & Com-pany, 308 East Broad Street, Westfield,New Jersey be appointed by the TownshipManager as Township Auditor for the periodeffective from January 1, 2002 to December31, 2002.


BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that theMayor and Township Council are herebyauthorized to sign the Agreement, a copy ofwhich is annexed hereto, with Suplee,Clooney & Company.



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $47.94

CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP…Westfield Mayor Gregory S. McDermott,right, issued a Proclamation naming PNC Bank an Exemplary CorporateCitizen of the town. In attendance, pictured left to right, are: Arnold Alston ofPNC; Lou Francz, President of the Westfield Symphony Orchestra; MichaelPompian of PNC and Daria Placitella, also of PNC.

PNC Bank Named ExemplaryCorporate Citizen of WestfieldWESTFIELD Mayor Gregory S.

McDermott at Westfield Town Hallon December 20 proclaimed PNCBank an Exemplary Corporate Citi-zen of the town.

PNC Bank employees have beenstrong supporters of local organiza-tions and since 1995, PNC Bank hasdonated more than $150,000 to areapublic service, charitable and non-profit organizations, including FirstNight Westfield, the United Fund ofWestfield, the Westfield Area Cham-ber of Commerce and the WestfieldSymphony Orchestra.

“We are pleased to recognize PNCBank as an Exemplary CorporateCitizen of the Town of Westfield,”said Mayor McDermott. “For pro-viding superior financial services tothe businesses and residents ofWestfield and for its generous andrepeated support of various local or-ganizations, PNC has proven itself tobe a valuable asset and welcomecorporate member of our commu-nity.”

Daria Placitella of PNC Advisorssaid, “We are proud to accept thishonor on behalf of the employees ofPNC Bank who work extremely hardto provide a superior level of cus-tomer service to the businesses and

people of Westfield.“We will continue to do our ut-

most to provide the highest qualityfinancial products and services andto support organizations that makeWestfield a wonderful place to liveand conduct business,” she added.

KIDS HELPING KIDS…Kate Edmondson and Morgan Stone, four-year-oldsenrolled at the Presbyterian Nursery School, present checks to Detectives JimMcCullough and Sandra Chambers representing funds raised through aproject entitled “Preschoolers Helping Preschoolers.” Organized and carriedout by Anne Edmondson at the Presbyterian Nursery School, Kate Blatz at St.Paul’s Day School and Eileen Rooney at the Westfield Y Pre-school, along withO’Neil Software, Inc., it enabled preschoolers to help the eight Westfieldfamilies who were affected by the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Thechildren created drawings that were transformed into note cards and laterpurchased by families and friends. The funds of more than $3,800 were givento the Westfield Police Department to be delivered to the families in time forthe holidays.

Ask us about No Downpayment Financing

Westfield Office185 Elm Street, Westfield, NJ 07090

Call 908-654-7777

For purchase prices up to $343,750 monthly mortgage payments (principal+interest) quoted in our ads are to qualified buyers, based upon a 20% downpayment and aconventional 30-year fixed rate loan at 6.00% with 3 points, A.P.R. 6.34%. As an example, a $100,000 loan would mean 360 monthly payments of $599.55. For pur-chase prices from $343,751 to $812,500, the monthly payments are to qualified buyers based upon a 20% downpayment and calculated at 6.375% with 3 points on a“Jumbo” 30-year fixed rate mortgage with an A.P.R. of 6.679%. An example of a $500,000 loan would mean 360 monthly payments of $3,119.35. Figures herein areapproximate and do not include property taxes, hazard insurance, or homeowners association dues for a condominium purchase. Interest rates quoted are as ofNovember 1, 2001, and subject to change. Not responsible for typographical errors. Weichert Financial Services, executive offices 225 Littleton Road in Morris Plains,NJ 07950. 1-800-829-CASH. Licensed by the NJ Dept of Banking and Insurance. Licensed Mortgage Banker with the State Dept of Banking in NY, CT, and PA. LicensedLender in DE, MD, VA, D.C., GA, AK, TX, IN. Licensed Mortgage Lender in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. License #ML1713, Certificate #43155. Equal housinglender. Weichert Financial Services is an affiliate of Weichert, Realtors.

Monthly payments are for 30-year conventional fixed rate mortgages as detailed below.Ask about: Lower Downpayments • Lower Monthly Payments • Other Options.

See more Open Houses on www.weichert.com

For your benefit, consider a career in real estate.Call 1-800-301-3000 today!

Ask AboutWeichert Gold Services

Mortgage: 1-800-829-CASH

Insurance: 1-800-255-1869

Home Warranty: 1-800-829-CASH

Title Insurance: 1-800-528-8853

1-800-WEICHERT

Another first from some of the best

trained agents in real estate.

“We guarantee you’ll meetyour closing date or you’ll

get $1,000 credit.”

Effective August 2001, Weichert Financial Services will provide individuals who elect to participate in the Weichert Gold Services program a credit decision on their loan request within 24-hours of receipt of complete applications. This decision is available on the majority of mortgage products offered through Weichert Financial Services. Certain loan products require independent investor approval, which may exceed the 24-hour time frame. Your Financial Services Consultant will advise you whether the product you choose qualifies for the 24-hour decision offer. The Gold Services program also guarantees to meet the closing date established with your Realtor as indicated in your original contract of sale. The Gold Services guarantee requires that mortgage financing, homeowner’s insurance, and title insurance be obtained through the corresponding Weichert affiliated or licensed companies, Weichert Financial Services, Weichert Insurance Agency, Weichert Title Agency (except in NJ where Title Services Management, Inc. is licensed to utilize the Weichert name) or in Pennsylvania and Delaware Southeastern Abstract Co. d/b/a Weichert Closing Services Co., and is not conditioned upon doing business with, that is, listing with or purchasing through a Weichert, Realtors office. In the event the applicable Weichert Gold Services provider is unable to meet your closing date we will credit $1,000 to you at the time of your closing/settlement. Program subject to change without notice at any time. Final loan

Call now for details!

BUY FOR $2096

ELEGANCE ABOUNDSClark- This all brick Ranch, Living Room withfireplace, Dining Room, Family Room, 3 Bed-rooms, 3 full Baths, 2 Eat- In Kitchens, granite& marble galore, hardwood floors. Must see!Home Warrantly. $419,900. (052-7873)

LIGHT-BRIGHT SKY-TOP RETREATMountainside- Custom Col w/ walls of windows, openfloor plan, quality appts, 10 rms, 4 Brs each with priv.Bths, 1st flr Fam Rm, walkout ground flr living lvl w/9’ ceilings, cedar & groove paneled ceil. & walls, sauna,steam bath & therapeutic spa. Small town life w/ 21stcentury amenities. $859,000. (052-7881)

BUY FOR $2291

HOME OF DISTINCTIONScotch Plains- Pristine & tastefully decorated,3 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, New Kitchen, banquetsize Dining Room, fabulous finished lower level& more. $459,000. (052-7959)

BUY FOR $1846

WONDERFUL CUSTOM HOMEUnion- This house has it all- Living Room withfireplace, Dining Room, Eat- In Kitchen, 4Bedrooms, 2 Full Baths, Family Room, Play-room, Central Air Conditioning, central vac &more. $369,900. (052-7908)

BUY FOR $1554

EXPANDED RANCHWestfield- 4 Bedrooms, 2 Baths, walk to park& schools, house & deck powerwashed, inter& garage painted, new kitchen floor.$324,000. (052-7804)

BUY FOR $2490

COLONIAL- 99% NEWWestfield- 4 Bedrooms, 3.5 Baths, supersizedclosets + finished Basement, expert craftsman-ship throughout, tranquil tree lined street.$499,000. (052-7815)

2 BLOCKS TO TOWNWestfield- Stunning Colonial residence withimpeccable charm & upgrades throughout, 3fireplaces, 2 car garage, 1st floor FamilyRoom. 4 blocks to NYC transportation.$509,000. (052-7913)

PATRICIA O’CONNOROUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT - DECEMBER

NJAR MILLION DOLLAR SALES CLUBBRONZE LEVEL 1999, 2000

WEICHERT MILLION DOLLAR SALES CLUBWEICHERT MILLION DOLLAR MARKETED CLUB

BRENDA PUTZERTOP PRODUCER - DECEMBER

NJAR MILLION DOLLAR SALES CLUB 1998,SILVER LEVEL, 2000

HISTORIC HOMES REPRESENTATIVEBUYER & MARKETING SPECIALIST

Westfield Welcome Club HostsNew Member Coffee

WESTFIELD – The WestfieldWelcome Club has invited prospec-tive members to attend a New Mem-ber Coffee, taking place on Wednes-day, January 30, at 8 p.m. The gath-ering will take place at the home ofa member. Please call Lynn at (908)233-5850 to receive an invitation orto request a club brochure.

The Westfield Welcome Club, for-merly known as the Welcome WagonClub of the Westfield Area, offers avariety of activities to women andtheir families new to the area or whohave experienced a lifestyle change,such as a new baby, divorce, leavingthe workforce, or experiencing anempty nest. The club offers women achance to make new friends and learnabout the community. Members areresidents of Westfield and surround-ing towns including Cranford, Clark,Garwood, Scotch Plains andFanwood. The Westfield Welcome

Club is a non-profit organization.The club sponsors playgroups and

other children’s activities, “LadiesNight Out,” monthly dinners, couplesevents, family outings and providesstaff to the Westfield Food Pantryand Mobile Meals.

Community AccessSeeks People to Give

Computer InstructionAREA – Community Access Un-

limited (CAU) and the Retired andSenior Volunteer Program of UnionCounty (RSVP) are looking for indi-viduals who can provide basic com-puter training to CAU’s members.

Instructors will be asked to helpimpart the skills necessary for basicword processing, communicationthrough e-mail and possibly surfingthe Internet.

CAU’s mission is to provide a rangeof opportunities that could help dis-abled adults and at-risk youth leadproductive lives as fully integratedmembers of the community.

Interested individuals are asked toLaurie at (908) 354-3040, extensionno. 319.





FIRST UNION NATIONAL BANK, ETALS., PLAINTIFF vs. IGNACIO RAMOSAND MRS. IGNACIO RAMOS, H/W, DE-FENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDTEN THOUSAND THREE-HUNDREDFOURTEEN & 80/100 ($110,314.80).

The property to be sold is located in theCITY of ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY07206, County of UNION and Sate of NewJersey.

Commonly known as: 148 MAGNOLIAAVENUE, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY07206

Tax Lot No. 336 in Block No. 1Dimension of Lot: approximately 25.00

feet wide by 100.00 feet longNearest Cross Street: Second StreetSituated at a point on the southwesterly

sideline of Magnolia Avenue distance ap-proximately 175.00 feet southeasterly fromits intersection with the southeasterly side-line of Second Street.

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED SEVENTEEN THOU-SAND SEVEN-HUNDRED TWENTYFIVE & 94/100 ($117,725.94) togetherwith lawful interest and costs.




FEIN, SUCH, KAHN & SHEPARD, P.C.Suite 2017 Century DriveParsippany, New Jersey 07054CH-756296 - (WL)4 T - 12/27/01, 1/3/02,1/10/02&1/17/02 Fee: $197.88

CLASSIFIED ADSHELP WANTED

MAIL ROOMMACHINE OPERATORS

Merrill Lynch, the nation’s biggestretail brokerage, seeks MachineOperators for our mailing facilityin Piscataway. Successful candi-dates must be able to operatemail-processing equipment (i.e.inserting, folding, ink-jet, etc.);carry out job instructions; accu-rately complete required paper-work and possess the understand-ing of integrated technology. We’relooking for team players withstrong communication skills whocan lift 40 lbs. High School gradu-ate preferred. Knowledge of PitneyBowes, Bell & Howell mail equip-ment and technology beneficial.Full time day and evening posi-tions available. Flexible workschedules with required OT. Ex-cellent starting salary and ben-efits package. For immediate con-sideration, please fax your resumeto (732) 878-9855. Visit ourwebsite at ml.com/careers. MerrillLynch is an equal opportunityemployer.

Merrill Lynch

HOUSE FOR RENT

Westfield -- north side. 3 BR, LR,EIK, 2 full baths. Laundry room,Available Immediately. $1,550 mo.+ Utilities, 1+1/2 mo. security.

call 908-754-6373

AUTO FOR SALE

95' Honda Accord 127,000 miles4 door auto power windows/locks/sunroof, AM/FM/CAS, A/C, VeryGood Cond. $5,800.

908-301-0466

HELP WANTED

Dental Hygienist, small pleasantprivate office in Mountainside,looking for personable individualwith excellent dental skills.

908-789-2777

HELP WANTED

Import/ExportInternational Freight Forwarderlocated in Fanwood, NJ seeksindividuals for import and exportdocumentation and customer ser-vice. Must have good telephonemanner, computer experience andability to work independently.Please forward resume and sal-ary requirements to: IFT, Inc. 88South Ave. Fanwood, NJ 07023Fax #: 908-490-1040 Attn: John

HOUSE CLEANING

Polish Lady, Good EnglishExcellent References,Own Transportation

908-241-3236

APARTMENT FOR RENT

Westfield - 1 Bedroom, No pets,Walk to train.

Available Immediately!$1,125 + Heat + Utils + Sec.

Call 908-232-6477

OFFICE SUITES AVAILABLEWestfield. Prime location, centerof town, in modern elevator build-ing. High ceilings, palladian win-dows. Adj parking and NY trains.4,200 sq. ft. to divide.email: [email protected]

ph: (908) 561-3583

HELP WANTED

VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDWestfield Volunteer RescueSquad seeks persons willing totrain as Emergency MedicalTechnicians. No prior exp.needed. Valid NJ Driv. Lic., req.,min. 4 hrs/wk. We offer 24 hr.coverage. Wkday 9am - 1 pm or1-5pm slots are perfect for par-ents of school children. Childcarereimbursement available!Seeks trainees as Dispatchers. Min.2 hrs./wk. All training provided.

Call the Recruiting Team at(908) 233-2500 for details

HOME FOR SALE

BERKSHIRES: 5 Bedroom house,2 1/2 Baths in Lenox, MA. Near toskiing, lake, Tanglewood,Shakespear. Vacation or yearround home. Call Barbara. Cen-tury 21 Broker.

800-570-0597

APARTMENT FOR RENT

Westfield CBD, 2nd Floor, 5Rooms, 2 Bed & Deck, CompletelyRemodeled W/D, Dishwasher.

$1695 mo.908-232-2232 Ask for Dave



RESOLUTION 02-01-06

CONTRACTOR: Dennis Estis, Esq.Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith, Ravin & DavisP.O. Box 5600 Woodbridge, New Jersey07095

NATURE OF SERVICE: Legal Repre-sentation, Special Counsel

DURATION: Period ending December31, 2002

AMOUNT: $120.00A Copy of the Resolution and Contract



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $18.87



WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK, FA,PLAINTIFF vs. JANET TUDOR; ROBERTTUDOR; SOVREIGN BANK, DEFEN-DANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDSIXTY SIX THOUSAND FOUR-HUN-DRED SEVEN & 20/100 ($166,407.20).

LOCATED IN THE CITY OF ELIZA-BETH, COUNTY OF UNION AND STATEOF NEW JERSEY

PROPERTY ADDRESS: 21 DEWITTROAD, ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY 07208

TAX LOT NO. 271.A W11 BLOCK NO.11

DIMENSIONS: 85.53 FEET 20.15 FEETX 67.49 FEET X 55.00 FEET X 151.50FEET X 85.00 FEET

NEAREST CROSS STREET: NORTHBROAD STREET

There is due approximately the sum ofONE-HUNDRED EIGHTY TWO THOU-SAND EIGHT-HUNDRED EIGHTY FIVE& 21/100 ($182,885.21) together with lawfulinterest and costs.




SPEAR AND HOFFMAN, P.A.LAW OFFICESSuite 2101020 North Kings HighwayCherry Hill, New Jersey 08034CH-756330 - (WL)4 T - 1/10, 1/17, 1/24& 1/31/02 Fee: $187.68



COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.,PLAINTIFF vs. JOSE E. ZIMMERER ANDABIGAIL ZIMMERER, H/W, DEFENDANT.



The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDNINTY TWO THOUSAND EIGHT-HUN-DRED FORTEEN & 66/100 ($192,814.66).

The property to be sold is located in theCity of Elizabeth in the County of Union,and State of New Jersey Commonly knownas 451 New York Avenue; Elizabeth,New Jersey 07201; Tax Lot No. 749 inBlock No. 6.

Dimensions of Lot: (Approximately) 36feet wide by 110 feet long.

Nearest Cross Street: Elmora AvenueThere is due approximately the sum of

TWO-HUNDRED FOUR THOUSANDTWO-HUNDRED FORTY & 54/100($204,240.54) together with lawful inter-est and costs.




GOLDBECK, MC CAFFERTY & MC KEEVERATTORNEYSSENTRY OFFICE PLAZA, SUITE 420216 Haddon AvenueWestmont, New Jersey 08108CH-756284 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $175.44



COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS, INC.,PLAINTIFF vs. KEIR BROOKS, ET AL.,DEFENDANT.

CIVIL ACTION, WRIT OF EXECUTION,DATED MARCH 02, 2001 FOR SALE OFMORTGAGED PREMISES.


The judgment amount is ONE-HUNDREDEIGHTY SIX THOUSAND TWO-HUN-DRED SIXTEEN & 51/100 ($186,216.51).

CONCISE STATEMENT OF DESCRIP-TION OF REAL PROPERTY TO BE SOLD

MUNICIPALITY: ElizabethCOUNTY: UNION STATE OF NEW

JERSEYSTREET & STREET NO: 571 Walnut

StreetTAX BLOCK AND LOT:BLOCK: 12 LOT: 1390DIMENTIONS OF LOT: 140 feet X 28.33

feet.NEAREST CROSS STREET: 352.17

feet from Fairmount Avenue.There is due approximately the sum of

TWO-HUNDRED THREE THOUSANDSEVEN-HUNDRED FORTY SEVEN &43/100 ($203,747.43) together with law-ful interest and costs.




WILLIAM M. E. POWERS JR.CHARTERED737 Stokes RoadPO Box 1088Medford, New Jersey 08055-9962CH-755863 - (WL)4 T - 12/20/01, 12/27/01, 01/03/02& 01/10/02 Fee: $187.68




RESOLUTION NO. 21-2002AWARDED TO: Ruderman & Glickman,

Esqs., 75 Morris Avenue, Suite 100, Spring-field, New Jersey

SERVICES: To provide Special CounselServices for Personnel Affairs

PERIOD: 2002COST: $100,000


1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $20.91




RESOLUTION NO. 15-2002AWARDED TO: Schenck, Price, Smith

& King, LLP, 10 Washington Street,Morristown, New Jersey

SERVICES: Special Counsel Servicesfor labor Negotiations.

PERIOD: 2002COST: $150,000


1 T - 1/10/02, The Leader Fee: $20.91

OUTSTANDING PARISHIONERS…Bob and Joanne Gurske of Scotch Plainsshared this year’s Family of the Year Award from the St. Bartholomew’s HolyName Society with Jack and Eileen Lynch of Fanwood, presented during theHoly Name Society’s November 11 Communion Breakfast at The Westwood inGarwood. The Family of the Year award honors families for their outstandingcontributions to the parish over many years and their new and continuingefforts in the rigors of the Archdiocesan Deacon Program. Pictured, left to right,are: Communion Breakfast Chairperson Dick Bonner; Joanne Gurske; thecouple’s daughters, Mary Beth Gurske and Kate Gurske; Bob Gurske; Mr.Gurske’s father, Charles Gurske, and Peter Chemidlin, President of the HolyName Society.

Expect The BestExpect The BestExpect The Best

Westfield Office ��209 Central Avenue ��(908) 233 - 5555

FRANK D. ISOLDIBroker / Sales Associate

NJAR Million Dollar Sales Club 1993-2000Gold Level 1999 - 2000

(908) 301-2038 Direct Line

Scotch Plains $479,900Just Listed! Custom built 5 Bedroom 2 1/2 BathColonial / Split meticulously maintained by the cur-rent owner. Featuring a Living Room with fireplace,Formal Dining Room, Eat- In Kitchen, Sunporch /Den with slate floor, Recreation Room, 2 car at-tached garage and more. Beautifully nestled on justunder an acre of property on a quiet tree lined cul-de-sac. WSF6007

WESTFIELD- Stunning brand-new gourmetKitchen opens to Family Room addition withsliders to huge deck off the private backyard.Kitchen: Blonde maple cabinets, granitecounters. Living Room: Marble fireplace withcherry bookshelves, Central Air Conditioning,and completely updated electrical service forcomputers. $429,000.

Coldwell Banker is a registered trademark of Coldwell Banker Corporation. An Equal Opportunity Company.Equal Housing Opportunity. Each office independently owned and operated by NRT.

John WileyRealtor908-553-7221 (cell)

COLDWELL BANKERRESIDENTIAL BROKERAGEWestfield Office • 209 Central Avenue

(908) 233-5555www.realtor.com



RESOLUTION 02-01-05

CONTRACTOR: Wilfred P. Coronato,Esq. McDonough, Korn & Eichhorn 959South Springfield Avenue Springfield, NewJersey 07081-0712

NATURE OF SERVICE: Legal Repre-sentation

DURATION: Period ending December31, 2002 or until his successor is appointed

AMOUNT: $120.00/hr.A Copy of the Resolution and Contract



1 T - 1/10/02, The Times Fee: $18.87

St. John’s to PresentKing Service SundaySCOTCH PLAINS — The public is

invited to attend the Martin LutherKing Memorial Service on Sunday,January 13, at 7 p.m. at St. John’sBaptist Church, located at 2387 MorseAvenue in Scotch Plains.

The Reverend D. Keith Owens, whostarted his ministry under the tutorageof Pastor Kelmo C. Porter, Jr. of St.John’s Church, will be the guest speaker.He is presently Pastor of the SalemBaptist Church in Jersey City. St. John’sMass Choir will provide the music.

For more information, please call(908) 232-6972.

Exploring GenealogyThrough Internet UseTo be Program TopicWESTFIELD – Finding contacts

and other ways to succeed in using theInternet for tracking family historieswill be discussed at 10 a.m. on Satur-day, January 12, at the WestfieldMemorial Library during an openmeeting of the Genealogical Societyof the West Fields.

The featured speaker, John W.Konvalinka, has explored the effec-tive use of computers in genealogicalwork for more than 25 years. He hasworked extensively in the British Li-brary, as well as major libraries andgenealogical resources in the UnitedStates and other countries.

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Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Kimberley A. Haley (908) 301-2004 - business [email protected] - email

THE SIP MANOR This unique historic Westfield treasure has been extensively renovated and now stands renewed to meet the demands of today's lifestyle. It has been preserved with attention to the finest detail in all its essential character to maintain the elegance of yesteryear. Rembrandt was completing his last paintings when this gem was built. In Jersey City in 1664, Jan Andrianse Sip engaged Native Americans to help him build this manor home using indigenous stone mortared with clay and straw, along with timbers from the farm on which it was set. It was the center of social life in old Bergen and its gambrel roof has sheltered many distinguished historical characters. Six generations of Sips were born here and nine generations have owned and lived in the Sip Manor. Even with all of its ancient glamour, there is a simplicity about it. Contact Kim for more information.



Get OuttaThe House

PLANNING THE GALA…Members and friends of the Westfield SymphonyOrchestra (WSO) recently gathered to discuss plans for the WSO’s upcoming“GALA 2002” on Saturday, April 20. Pictured, left to right, are: WSO PresidentLouis Francz, Music Director and Conductor David Wroe, Westfield MayorGregory McDermott, Trustee John Azzara, and, seated, Francesca Azzara,designer of the Gala’s artwork.

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SCOTCH PLAINS – The ScotchPlains-Fanwood Arts Association’s(SPFAA) first program in 2002 willfeature David de Moss at Wednes-day, January 16, at 8 p.m. at theFanwood Community Center, locatedin the railway station at the corner ofNorth and Martine Avenues inFanwood.

“My focus has always been on thepoetic potential of the local land-scape, using realism and creating thesense of place through form, colorand design,” said Mr. de Moss.

He continued, “My central me-dium is watercolor. I like the wayyou can play the medium, gettinglost in its rhythms like music, whichshares many of its metaphors withpainting. Using color harmonies orcreating a counterpoint using disso-nance or complements, the paintingis always in a dynamic balance.”

“Unlike most watercolorists, I workall over, often allowing a painting togo into a colorful chaos before relat-ing colors on the fly,” he added,“bringing it to a final balance that isunanticipated.”

Mr. de Moss credits John SingerSargent, Charles Reid, Lee Hughes,Robert Sakson and Frank Zuccarellias his main influences.

A member of the New Jersey Wa-tercolor Society, he received awardsfrom the Society in 1995 and 1997.In addition, the Garden State Water-color Society presented him withawards in 2000 and 2001, as did theEssex Watercolor Club in 1992, 1999,and 2000.

The public is encouraged to attendthis free demonstration sponsoredby the SPFAA. For more informa-tion, please call Tom Yeager at (908)322-5438.

�� WESTFIELD – Annette Adrian

Hanna, Master Pastelist and award-winning Painter in Pastels and Oils,featured in numerous art publica-tions, will offer a demonstration ofpastel figure painting at theWestfield Art Association’s (WAA)meeting on Sunday, January 13.

The meeting will be held in thewheelchair accessible CommunityRoom of the Westfield MunicipalBuilding at 425 Broad Street from2 to 4 p.m.

The artist will create a pastelfigure painting from a live, clothedmodel.

Ms. Hanna studied privately withBurton Silverman and JohnHoward Sanden. She attendedworkshops in Massachusetts andItaly, as well as under DanielGreene at the Art Students Leaguein New York City. She earned herBachelor of Fine Arts Degree fromCentenary College inHackettstown.

Having exhibited in numeroussolo and group shows in New Jer-sey, Massachusetts, New York, Con-necticut and Zhejiang, China, Ms.Hanna’s awards have ranged fromportrait and figure awards in oil

and pastel at the American Profes-sional League in New Jersey andNew York to First Prize for herportrait in the American Society ofPortrait Artists Festival in Mont-gomery, Ala.

Ms. Hanna has won the WinsorNewton National Painting compe-tition and has earned many awardsfor her pastel works in other com-petitions in Connecticut, New Yorkand New Jersey.

She is the recipient of the Medalof Honor for her pastel work fromthe Catherine Lorillard Wolfe Club,the Grumbacher Gold Medal forOils from the Hudson Valley ArtAssociation and an Oils, Excel-lence in Painting award from theNavy Cooperation and Liaison ArtCommittee in New York.

Ms. Hanna has been a featuredartist in the American Artist maga-zine, New York, Best of Pastels 11,Rockport Massachusetts, WinsorNewton Art Materials calendar,Secaucus, and “How to Paint Por-traits in Oil.

The meeting is free and open tothe public.

For more information, please callTobia Meyers at (908) 687-2945.

Patterns in Pastel by Annette Hanna of Boonton

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Home Fires:Prose, Art, Essays on Operation Enduring Freedom

By MARYLOU MORANOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

The Christmas Eve celebrationwasn’t quite the same at GrandmaMadeline’s in Jamesburg thisyear.

The family started arrivingaround the same time as theyalways do. We ate the same foods– the Italian and Polish dishes,followed by mountains of Christ-mas cookies piled high on theholiday plates.

And, the gift exchange was ascrazy as ever as 17 people repre-senting five branches and fourgenerations of the family gave,received, unwrapped and dis-played their gifts and unwrappedand displayed even more presents.

But, something was differentthis Christmas Eve. Someonewasn’t with us this year. For thefirst time in his 22 years, DennyBrizak, our son and brother,grandson, cousin and nephew,wasn’t part of the celebration.

Lance Corporal Dennis J.Brizak is a United States Marine,stationed in Afghanistan, servingon the USS Bataan. A recent backinjury has thankfully kept him onlight duty on the ship. Most of hisMarine shipmates were on shore,

working at the airport inKandahar on December 24.

Denny wasn’t physically withus in Jamesburg on ChristmasEve, but he was by no meansforgotten. Family members tookturns at the computer e-mailinghim holiday messages, destinedto be received on Christmasmorning.

And, at 8 p.m. our time, 5a.m. on Christmas morning inAfghanistan, Denny called us.We passed the phone around,repeating over and over againthe same message, each in ourown words and in our own way:“We love you, we miss you, weare proud of you, be safe, comehome soon.”

Barring anything unforeseen,Denny is due to come home onleave in March. The family isplanning to celebrate ChristmasEve again when he returns. TheChristmas tree will sparkle, theChristmas carols will be playedand the traditional Christmas Evemenu will be served.

Reunited once more, the fam-ily will celebrate the birth of theSavior with an even greater joyin our hearts — Denny will behome.

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One Popcorn, Poor • Two Popcorns, Fair • Three Popcorns, Good • Four Popcorns, Excellent

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The Royal Tenenbaums:Funniest Film in the Kingdom

By MICHAEL S. GOLDBERGER

3 ½ popcornsIt’s one thing for a movie to be funny.

It’s another thing for a film to be profound.But it’s truly something to behold whenthe two qualities are magically coalescedto make a picture profoundly funny.

Thus behold The Royal Tenenbaums,as dark as it is hilarious, as broad as itis intelligent. If you didn’t know thatdirector Wes Anderson (Rushmore) co-wrote this delightfully disturbing gemwith Owen Wilson (who also stars as aTenenbaum wannabe), you’d swear thiswas the latest sociological trumpet blastfrom author John Irving.

It’s that bright, insightful andembracingly quirky. And natch, it’sabout America’s favorite obsession: thedysfunctional family.

But be warned. The Tenenbaums areno run-of-the-mill wackos. No sir.These are world-famous neurotics. Thecover of Time magazine and all that.

Boasting no less than three childprodigies, the renowned family whim-sically perpetuates the myth that ge-nius is inevitably accompanied by ec-centricity and maladjustment. The en-tertaining notion is a tried and truedramatic mechanism, and theTenenbaums are a textbook case.

Yet were it not for Mr. RoyalTenenbaum’s indiscretions and gener-ally madcap ways, we might never knowthe insanity that resides in the big oldhouse on Archer Avenue. So first beapprised that Royal, portrayed withaward-worthy magnificence by GeneHackman, hasn’t lived in the abode forquite some time.

A reckless ne’er-do-well despite hisintelligence and apparent breeding,years ago the once successful litigatorabandoned his equally lettered wifeEtheline (Anjelica Huston) in favor ofa devil-may-care existence. He hassince honed that lifestyle to a fine art.Mrs. Tenenbaum was left to raise thethree geniuses herself.

However, now having been disbarredand subsequently falling on hard times,the opportunistic Royal deems it propi-tious to revisit the scene of his fecklessyouth and seek redemption, not tomention a roof over his head and someeats.

Of course the wily cad knows itwon’t be easy gaining access to thehearth and home he abandoned sometwenty-five years ago — at least notwithout an awfully good story. Butbear in mind, this scoundrel has spentpractically a lifetime on the fringes ofdecency and morality. So feigning aterminal illness is hardly a stretch forMr. Royal Tenenbaum.

Hence, amidst all the familiar comictrappings that generally accompany thisvenerable ploy for pity (i.e.-fake doc-tors, bogus medical equipment, Tic-Tacsin prescription bottles), the prodigalpatriarch gains reentrance to the manse.

Yet, while charitable Etheline greetsthe arrival with no small amount ofcircumspection, Royal’s timing reallycouldn’t be better. For one, he’s just intime to try and break up her first roman-tic attraction in over two decades. Itseems financial advisor HenrySherman, a white-haired, bow tie-at-tired egghead sweetly conceived byDanny Glover, has finally mustered thecourage to suggest matrimony. Andquarter-century separation or no, Royalis threatened by the scholar’s incur-sion. That’s one subtext.

But in a plot conceit harboring al-most as much chutzpah as RoyalTenenbaum himself, the filmmakerspropound the notion that, though they’dnever admit it, the kids need him. Onlythey’re not kids anymore. You see, that’sjust the point. Alas, they are formerchild prodigies trying to find their way.

In most any other dramatic circum-stance, venturing so obvious a storystratagem would be fraught with peril.But because the writing is so convul-sively intelligent and the acting sowholeheartedly engrossing, itworks...and rather wonderfully at that.

Complementing Hackman’s tour deforce, Gwyneth Paltrow is splendidlymiffing as the seriocomically complexMargot Helen Tenenbaum. Middlechild, Pulitzer Prize-winning play-wright, wife of psychiatrist-author Ra-leigh St. Clair (Bill Murray) and closetsmoker, Margot is the Tenenbaums’only adopted child.

Searching her childhood memories,what she recalls most about dear oldDad is him perennially introducing heras “my adopted daughter.”

Equally sensational is Ben Stiller asChas Tenenbaum, the recently wid-owed father of two boys (Ari and Uzi).He kicked off his career as a financialtycoon before his thirteenth birthdayby breeding Dalmatian mice and sell-ing them to the Japanese.

Later, having discovered that Dadwas dipping into his trust fund till, itwas precociously litigious Chas whohad his father disbarred. Now, facedwith raising his sons following the tragicairline death of his wife (practicallyeveryone else survived, including thefamily dog), he has become obsessedwith safety.

That leaves Richie, known as “TheBaumer,” who won every major tennistitle and then shocked the sports worldin his last tournament by taking off hisshoe, lying down and shamelessly sob-bing.

Evinced nicely by Luke Wilson, hehasn’t picked up a racket since the stillunexplained event that signaled theend of his playing career. Of late, he’sjust been circling the globe via plea-sure ship.

But that’s all about to end. Becauseat just about the same time that Dadensconces himself back in the homethat he forsook, for one reason or an-other all three washed-up prodigiesfind a reason to return to the nest.

Oh, sure, director Anderson is hav-ing his way with us when he makes the

zany family reunion look like one bigserendipitous coincidence. One sus-pects he might also be as equally adeptat pulling the table cloth from under aservice for six without disturbing somuch as a saucer or a spoon.

We don’t mind the manipulation ifthat’s the sort of cinematic prestidigita-tion it takes to put the screwball RoyalTenenbaums on their well-deservedthrone. For theirs is a reign of laughter.

* * * * *The Royal Tenenbaums, rated R, is a

Touchstone Pictures release directedby Wes Anderson and stars Gene Hack-man, Anjelica Huston and GwynethPaltrow. Running time: 108 minutes.

By CAROL F. DAVISSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

A free lecture, “Primal Visions:Albert Bierstadt ‘Discovers’America,” will be presented atMuhlenberg Regional MedicalCenter’s Centennial Hall on Sun-day, January 13, at 1:30 p.m. Thelecturers are both from theMontclair Art Museum: Diane P.Fischer, Associate Curator, andTwig Johnson, Curator of NativeAmerican Art. See the concurrentexhibit of Bierstadt’s works - afamous 19th century Americanartist - at the Montclair Art Mu-seum through February 3. Formore information, please call theHistorical Society of Plainfield at(908) 755-5831.

* * * * *The Union Public Library’s Les

Malamut Art Gallery will show-case the works of Marcel Truppaof Rahway. “The Perceptive Eye”will open on Saturday, January12, with a reception from 2-4 p.m.Truppa’s works include a series ofcollages, paintings, and construc-tions. He has exhibited hisdeconstructed and reassembledpieces in the Metropolitan area,and his works are in private col-lections all over the world. Theshow runs until Wednesday, Feb-ruary 13, and the library is locatedat 1980 Morris Avenue. You cansee it on Thursday evenings until9 p.m., and it’s always free.

* * * * *Did you know that New Jersey

had its very own “tea party” in1774, when residents of Green-wich burned a British shipment oftea destined for Philadelphia? “ASpot of Tea - The History of Tea”will be the feature program atWestfield’s Miller-Cory HouseMuseum beginning on Sunday,January 13, from 2-4 p.m. Youwill learn more than that about thehistory of tea in this country, withknowledgeable museum guideswho take you back in time to theColonial days of life in America.Take advantage of the patrioticmood these days, and support yourlocal museum — it’s at 614 Moun-tain Avenue.

* * * * *See the pianist who performed

at Bush’s Inaugural Gala, as hepresents a special matinee recitalsponsored by the Plainfield Sym-phony on Sunday, January 13, at 4p.m. New Jersey native Christo-pher Johnson has been bringingthe house down since September11 with his patriotic sounds. Theincredible Crescent Avenue Pres-byterian Church will be the set-ting for Johnson’s performance ofBeethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, aswell as works by Liszt andBrahms. Tickets are just $15-$45,and you can get them at the door.

ELIZABETH – The UnionCounty Teen Arts Festival, sponsoredby the Union County Board of Cho-sen Freeholders and the Division ofCultural and Heritage Affairs, De-partment of Economic Development,is in search of volunteers.

The two-day celebration of thearts is held annually at the UnionCounty College in Cranford. Theevent is scheduled for Wednesdayand Thursday, March 13 and 14,and it is open to all students frompublic, private and parochial middleand high schools in Union County.

Approximately 3,000 students par-ticipate in performances. Seminars,critiques, master classes and work-shops are offered from a staff of 50professional artists in every disci-pline.

Volunteers are sought to aid artistswith workshops, manage perfor-mance sites and staff informationstations.

To volunteer, please call theUnion County Division of Cul-tural and Heritage Affairs, 633Pearl Street, Elizabeth, 07202,(908) 558-2550. Relay users

should call (800) 852-7899. Pro-spective volunteers may also e-mail [email protected].

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that might depict a half-dressed ac-tress or bare-chested actor?

There are some books and cer-tainly a few magazines at the librarythat this group would probably findto be a threat to children. There is somuch in downtown Westfield thatneeds to be purified, and I’m confi-dent that this group is up to the task.

They took on a national retailerand won, so why not march on? But,the in the meantime, who will repre-sent the remaining 99.2 percent ofWestfielders who find nothing wrongwith the window displays?

* * * * *Fred Rossi is a freelance reporter,

covering Scotch Plains governmentand the Union County Board of Cho-sen Freeholders, contributing oftento the Arts & Entertainment section.

) �� CONTINUED FROM PAGE 18

(ABC):Dharma & Greg – Wait, I’m

having one of those wavy gravyflashbacks: this show wasgood…once. There’s nothing leftto see here.

(NBC):ER – (and many of you will dis-

agree) but the lead characters aredropping like flies and the reappear-ing ones (like Sherry Stringfield) aren’tkeeping audiences up past 10:05 p.m.Can somebody say Flatliners?

One More ThingOne More ThingOne More ThingOne More ThingOne More ThingBefore I GBefore I GBefore I GBefore I GBefore I Go:o:o:o:o:

NBC has quite a cloning labora-tory on its hands with “Law &Order,” “Law & Order – SVU” and“Law & Order – Criminal Intent.” Ihave a few more show titles NBC

might consider for the future: “Out-law & Disorder – The Osama Story,”“Law & Order – Best of Intentions,”or “Law & Order – Reckless SUVDriving in a Suburban Town.”

Bewildered” from Pal Joey, “ShallWe Dance” from The King and I,and “Do-Re-Mi” from The Soundof Music. Her superb voice, high-lighting agility and accuracy oftone, combined with her naturalacting ability, most assuredly cul-minated in “What’s The Use ofWond’rin?” from Carousel.

The ultimate charmer of theevening was the young Olivia Ryan,with her wonderful “Mister Snow”from Carousel. Not much morethan a decade old, Olivia dazzledthe crowd with her lyrical voice,her stamina and general enduranceto make it successfully through thelong solo piece.

The evening’s program was madepossible through the WestfieldFoundation, the PNC Bank Foun-dation and in part by a 2001 HEARTGrant from the Union County Boardof Chosen Freeholders.



Artist ofArtist ofArtist ofArtist ofArtist ofthe Wthe Wthe Wthe Wthe Weekeekeekeekeek

Felix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnFelix MendelssohnFelix Mendelssohn(1809-1847)(1809-1847)(1809-1847)(1809-1847)(1809-1847)

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By MICHELLE H. Le POIDEVINSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

Scanning the obituary pages,most of us would feel pity for some-one who only lived to see 38. But,Felix Mendelssohn, born JakobLudwig Felix-MendelssohnBartholdy in 1809 in Hamburg,Germany, spun pure genius out ofa short life, as a composer, painter,pianist, conductor, violinist andorganist.

Well-mannered and cultured,Mendelssohn came from a wealthyJewish family that surrounded it-self with music. A child prodigy,much like Wolfgang AmadeusMozart, Mendelssohn had memo-rized nine Beethoven symphoniesas a youngster. As Mozart said inAmadeus, when asked why hedidn’t write down every bit of musicas it came to him, “It’s already inmy noodle!”

Also as a child, Mendelssohn de-cided to convert with his family toProtestantism. At 9, he played pi-ano in public for the first time,performing his first compositionsonly two years later. At 17,Mendelssohn composed the grandoverture to Shakespeare’s A Mid-summer Night’s Dream and 17 yearslater he gave audiences the “Wed-ding March.”

Tirelessly, Mendelssohn laboredat his compositions, unceasinglyperfecting every note – a trait whichhas won over some critics and madeothers yearn for a more revolu-tionary approach to classical com-posing technique. His impressiveresume includes Musical Directorfor Düsseldorf, Conductor of theGweandhaus Orchestra in Leipzigand Musical Director to KingFrederick William, IV of Prussia.

Mendelssohn’s muse was oftenfound in the landscapes of placeshe visited, such as Scotland andItaly (Symphony no. 3 ‘Scottish’and Symphony no. 4 ‘Italian.)

When his sister, Fanny died sud-denly in May of 1847, Mendelssohnfell into a depression and was leftpartially paralyzed by a slightstroke. He passed away in Novem-ber of that same year.

In a letter from London to hisfamily in 1829, Mendelssohncaptured the essence of aconductor’s true aim and pride:“It is exalting when you feelthat you succeed and give oth-ers pleasure.”

A short life, maybe. But, what alifetime of genius.

The TThe TThe TThe TThe Tube: Best, Wube: Best, Wube: Best, Wube: Best, Wube: Best, Worst & Ready to Gorst & Ready to Gorst & Ready to Gorst & Ready to Gorst & Ready to GoooooBy MICHELLE H. Le POIDEVIN

Specially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

For the past few years, reality television has swept couch potatoes offtheir lazy thrones, with shows like “Survivor” (CBS) and “Fear Factor”(NBC) cloning themselves on almost every network. Donny Osmond isengulfed in worms, while the Imawannabe Tribe is forced to merge withthe Wakemewhenitsover Tribe in themiddle of Australia. What the worldneeds less of right now is realityprogramming because the nation hasits hands full with the true realitythat knocked on its door on Septem-ber 11.

Like Uncle Hugh, who asks formore cake when the party is clearlyover, some television shows havestayed too long at the fair. Some,however, deserve to stick around.While, others should have nevergotten past the pilot. Here’s the dish:

Simply the Best:Simply the Best:Simply the Best:Simply the Best:Simply the Best:(NBC):Ed – The quirky bowling alley

lawyer and his band of buddies stillkeep us intrigued (especially those ofus who miss Jerry Seinfeld and hisgang). I have only one suggestion:might Ed be interested in filming ata community newspaper next timehe comes to town?

Providence – Dr. Syd and her family manage to provide quality familyentertainment, minus a few questionable issues for the 8 p.m. time slot.

(CBS):The Education of Max Bickford – Silver screen veteran Richard

Dreyfuss learns some valuable mid-life lessons along with Marcia GayHarden, all wrapped up in a provoca-tive drama balanced with a touch ofcomedy.

The District – Tough-talking D.C.Police Commish a la Rudy Giulianitakes on crime, his inner demons andhas fun with his staff.

(WB-11):Gilmore Girls – Since its first air-

ing, this show has been grossly under-promoted, under-lauded and misun-derstood. The phenomenal talent ofboth Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledelbelongs on NBC at a primo time slot,not hanging by a thread at the WB.

Yikes!Yikes!Yikes!Yikes!Yikes!All Reality Shows (see intro)(NBC):

LOST - I’ve gotten “lost” more times than I care to count while huntingdown a parking space on a Saturday at noon in town, but I don’t think it’sworth documenting.

Celebrity Fear Factor – Any celebrity that is desperate enough to coverthemselves in maggots to boost their career scares me half to death.

So LSo LSo LSo LSo Long, Fong, Fong, Fong, Fong, Farearearearearewwwwwell, Auf Well, Auf Well, Auf Well, Auf Well, Auf Wiedersehen, Giedersehen, Giedersehen, Giedersehen, Giedersehen, Goodbye:oodbye:oodbye:oodbye:oodbye:(FOX):Ally McBeal – Worth $1 million

in psychiatry bills, running out ofstory lines and characters.

(WB):Angel – Tall, dark, handsome and

minus-Buffy his vampire squeeze,there’s nothing left to sink yourteeth into.

Felicity – Short hair, long hair – itdoesn’t seem to matter anymore.The gal’s lost her pep and the gang’snot “all there.”

Sabrina the Teenage Witch –How long can this show ride thecoattails of “Bewitched?” And that

mechanical cat! I’ve seen better special effects from my goddaughter’sElmo doll.

Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) andLorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham)give 100 percent on the WB’s “GilmoreGirls,” but deserve praise worthy ofNBC’s crowd.

ABC’s “Dharma & Greg” was oncethe sweetheart of the network, but it issoon becoming one bad 60s flashbackafter another.

The cast of CBS’ “The Education ofMax Bickford” has learned theindustry’s lessons well: mix veterancelebrities, newcomers, drama and adash of comedy.

GUEST COLUMN

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By FRED ROSSISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD — The recently-departed Taliban government inAfghanistan actually included an Orwellian Ministry for the Pro-motion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, whose mission was tomake certain that Afghan society was stripped of anything —movies, books, kites, exposure of women’s skin, checkers—thatcould cause a breakdown in order, morals and strict Islamic rule.

While nothing remotely similar to the warped Talibanis, thesuccess of a specific group of conservative Westfielders into pres-suring a national re-tailer to alter its cor-porate marketing andsales strategy, is still abit troubling.

In November, thisself-appointed coteriedecided that the win-dow displays atVictoria’s Secret onEast Broad Street werea bit too much forWestfield’s sensibili-ties.

“What will our chil-dren think if theyshould happen to walkpast the store and getan eyeful of some plas-tic mannequins dressed in lingerie?” they shrieked.

Phone calls were made to corporate management and townofficials, protests were threatened and a petition garnered a couplehundred signatures (about 0.8 percent of Westfield’s population)before Victoria’s Secret agreed to tone down its window displays —just to satisfy Westfield, or more accurately, the small band of folkswho found them objectionable.

What age group of children is the group trying to protect?Preschoolers who don’t know the difference between a teddy and ateddy bear? School-age children who, the secret’s out, likely knowmore about sex than their parents realize and who can see things alot more provocative on any television show or commercial? Teen-agers can be more titillated by MTV or the stores and clientele at themall.

Victoria’s Secret is not a pornographic movie theater, nor is it ago-go bar. These places attract a certain crowd that would under-standably not be very welcome in Westfield.

Yet, I’ve never seen any men in trench coats or women in shortskirts and spiked heels ducking into Victoria’s Secret. It’s a re-spected and successful national retailer, despite Teri Gerson’s ratherextreme claim to this newspaper last month that its products “are sextoys for men.”

Where will this group strike next? Will it be The Express at thecorner of Quimby Street and Central Avenue? Those large windowposters of scantily clad women in alluring poses surely pose a threat.Footlocker on East Broad Street sometimes features female manne-quins dressed in tight shorts and sports bras. The Gap’s windowsoften show large photos of fresh-scrubbed, smiling kids and teenag-ers, surely fodder for any pedophile.

What about the occasional movie poster outside the Rialto Theater

Continued on Page 17

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THE MUSIC CORNERW I T H D A V I D P A L L A D I N O

By DAVID PALLADINOSpecially Written for The Westfield Leader and The Times

WESTFIELD – Music Directorand Conductor David Wroe and theWestfield Symphony Orchestra(WSO) have once again managedto musically usher in the new yearwith panache at The PresbyterianChurch in Westfield.

This year, the WSO teamed upwith the locally-based WestfieldYoung Artists’ Cooperative The-atre, Inc. (WYACT) to present anenjoyable evening of music in theprogram “Richard Rodgers – A Cen-tennial Celebration of His Music.”

The trim and tuned orchestra pro-vided the polished foundation uponwhich the WYACT vocalists restedupon. The overtures which openedthe first and second acts — “TheCarousel Waltz” from Carousel andthe “Overture” from South Pacific– were musically flawless and en-gaging. Tempos, as well as orches-tra balance, were just right.

While the orchestra used a full,brass section of three trombones,tuba and euphonium, seldom heardwith the orchestra and performedby orchestra manager ChihoOkuizumi, as well as French hornand trumpets, the smaller, but for-midable string section was, in fact,miked.

As the musical standards for theevening were set by the orchestra,the WYACT ensemble offered theireclectic selection of talented gram-mar school, high school and col-lege students, as well as some seri-ously gifted semi-professional adultvocalists.

The solos of the WYACT en-semble were wonderfully supportedwith the original orchestral arrange-ments.

WYACT vocalist Michael Craigoffered the first solo, “Oh, What aBeautiful Mornin’” from Okla-homa! While pushing his range,but still achieving pitch, Craig of-fered a strong voice at times, witha lyrical element.

Craig went on to sing “SomeEnchanted Evening” from SouthPacific. The second act song, how-ever, demonstrated a voice whichwas tired in the upper register.

Next, Lindsay Sinclair steppedin with two pieces, “I Can’t SayNo” from Oklahoma! and “MyFunny Valentine” from Babes inArms. Sinclair highlighted a voiceconsistently somewhat more thansharp in the higher register and flatat times in her lower register.

Several younger voices of prom-ise included the male voices ofRichard McNanna and Corey Grigg.McNanna illustrated great vocaland dramatic inflection in his solo,“The Surrey With the Fringe onTop” from Oklahoma!

While Grigg offered a terse stagepresence, his smooth voice mostdefinitely compensated for this

when he sang “I Have Dreamed”from The King and I and “You’veGot To Be Carefully Taught” fromSouth Pacific.

Lauren Lindner performed sev-eral solo pieces, including “I HaveDreamed” and “It Might As WellBe Spring” from State Fair. Out-side of some further dramatic ri-gidity, the pieces were musicallypresented well. “The Sound ofMusic” from The Sound of Music,which was offered in the secondact, was tonally flat, with littlevibrato to hide the fact.

A wondrous and exciting waltzdance segment closed the first act.Jon Christian Hoche and WYACT’sArtistic Director Cynthia Merylacted out the dance from The Kingand I to the great delight of thecapacity audience.

In fact, the most excellent voice of theevening was that of performer/narratorMeryl. The possessor of not only astrong, versatile voice, but command-ing true dramatic stage presence, Merylperformed polished and honed rendi-tions of “Bewitched, Bothered and


� �� Brooks Crandall for The Westfield Leader and The Times

A frigid morning brought me here, upon yourrooftop high,And while I wept for my yesterdays, your coldnessfroze me dry

Into a spire, suspended somewhere in time,Clinging, until some warmth will arrive andhelp me forget what can never be mine.

“Holding On” by Michelle H. Le Poidevin

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Council Reorganizes As Mayor Lauds Officials and Residents

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