AS CLIFTON
GROWS, SO
DO
From the
EDITOR Tom Hawrylko
I am honored to be leading the Mustang Band in the Centennial Parade as it is such a historic event, one of my last chances to leave my legacy as Drum Majorette and an honor to the rest of the seniors as well. I will miss band very much but I know that my class and I have been good role models to the underclassmen. I can’t wait to see them shine.
WE
Clifton’s depth and diversity are proud talking points that should be apparent to us all every day. But the desire to display such depth and diversity was never more apparent than along the Centennial Parade route on May 21, as Cliftonites past and present, old and new, held one citywide party, Clifton’s century celebration. CHS Marching Mustang Drum Majorette Michelle Zerelik (at left) and Quartermaster Jake Nicosia essentially led a spectacular parade featuring 12 bands, 33 floats, numerous civic organizations and an enthusiastic home audience lining up along the route. In effect, the duo also stood as representatives of the high-caliber senior talent graduating from our high schools this month, public and private, which we strive to cover adequately in these pages. Our subjects, of course, are literally on the move after this summer, many of them on their way to colleges and universities, the military or to work in the trades, to pursue their goals and dreams, to explore the possibilities. But, again, despite the wanderlust, a recurring theme keeps cropping up almost incessantly: Clifton is home, where values and friendships and community spirit and caring and sharing have been nurtured as part of an individual’s sense of worth. Often, maybe too often, many of us focus on the adults who make Clifton what it’s become. But the throwaway dismissal, “Youth is wasted on the young,” doesn’t really apply to these future movers and shakers seemingly destined to do great things. Certainly these seniors seem grounded, well aware of what Clifton has given them, what their parents or guardians or teachers or other mentors have taught them. Those of us beyond our high school years should pause, perhaps, and ponder what we ourselves can learn from them. 16,000 Magazines are distributed to hundreds of Clifton Merchants on the first Friday of every month.
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4 June 2017 • Cliftonmagazine.com
Subscribe $30 / year / $50 for 2 Call 973-253-4400 Contributing Writers Jack De Vries, Joe Hawrylko, Irene Jarosewich, Ihor Andruch, Tom Szieber, Michael C. Gabriele, Douglas John Bowen
Editor & Publisher Tom Hawrylko Art Director Ken Peterson Graphic Designer Aly Ibrahim Business Manager Gabriella Marriello