Clifton Merchant Magazine - September 2009

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Letters to the Editor

2009

Clifton Merchant Magazine 1288 Main Ave. Clifton 07011

tomhawrylko@optonline.net

It certainly was a trip down memory lane reading the August edition. I also learned more than expected about Clifton musical alumni who have contributed to the music scene around the world. We should stage a giant Clifton music festival involving all those alumni.

One correction to mention is that I have one son and three granddaughters.

Jeff Seitz California

I had no idea how amazing this music edition would turn out.

What a great treat reading this edition and catching up with so many friends. Man, you guys outdid yourselves. I just wish I could have given you guys more information.

Steve Tarkanish Newton

After reading the article about Marlene and Billy Ver Planck, it brought to mind a very dear friend named Paul O’Connor who lives in Florida and also played trombone in the Charlie Spivak orchestra alongside Billy during the big band era.

My wife Carol and I met Paul and Ellen O’Connor while walking on the beach in Sarasota, Fla. almost 40 years ago and struck up a lifelong friendship. They became Uncle Paul and Aunt Ellen to our daughter.

Sometime after we met them, Paul mentioned that he played with Spivak’s orchestra in New Jersey many years ago at a high school prom in a place that looked like a log cabin. Ironically, it was my senior prom (CHS Class of 1955), which was held at the former

Windbeam in Kinnelon. There’s your ‘small world.’

Paul is now 83 years old and still plays his trombone twice a week with two different groups. We are forwarding the August magazine to him as I am sure he will enjoy reading the profile on Marlene Ver Planck as he often spoke of both she and Billy.

Frank J. LoGioco Clifton Police Chief, 1990-2002

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Congratulations on a great music issue—it brought back a lot of memories. I grew up in Clifton (Class of ’67) where most of my family still lives. As you know, there is a lot of live music in Clifton and my band, Bottle of Bread (bottleofbread.com), often performs at Fitzgerald’s Harp & Bard on Lakeview Ave. We play a lot of Dylan, The Band and other Americana. We love the ’60s and ’70s period of music and your issue just reminded us of how seminal that period of time was for so much of the best music in our lives. Our drummer, Bobby Messineo is another Cliftonite and CHS graduate, so our band is two-fifths native.

Pete Agnoli Verona

We love getting Clifton Merchant Magazine. It brings us many chuckles when we get our subscription in the mail every month.

On the cover...

Lynne Botbyl Fort Myers, Fla.

From left, Mustang drum major Nick Lichtenberger, cheerleader Alexa Perez and tight end Nick Van Winkle.

(Photography by Sonia Mangalick)

Wow! As good as any Rolling Stone cover I’ve ever seen (except the ones featuring scantily clad starlets). I remember Charlie Fricke. He went by the name Zod Fenster for a while. Don’t ask me why. Perhaps it allowed him to go in and out of Poppy’s unrecognized. I’m sending a bunch of magazines out to the reunion clan since they have little access from points afar.

On behalf of my band The Allupons, I want to thank you and your staff for the wonderful story.

That is without a doubt one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me. I absolutely had no idea whatsoever that you were going to stick my mug on the cover, which is by far my coolest rock star moment ever.

Joe Dera New York City

Brian Kennedy Clifton

1288 Main Avenue Downtown Clifton, NJ 07011

The group that won consistently at Pope Paul Battle of the Bands was the Purple Grass. The guys that were in it were Bobby Kerns (vocals, guitar), Larry Cosden (guitar), Dale Hamer (bass) and Bobby Williams (drums).

The story on page 46 of the August edition with the school suspension and all that was when I was in eighth grade. That was in Woodrow Wilson Junior High School and Impact played “The Pusher” by Steppenwolf. Mr. Max Jugel was the vice- principal—I still remember him. They started playing and singing, “I popped a lot of pills, I smoked a lot of grass,” and his eyebrows were already crinkling. Mr. Jugel ran over when he heard the beginning lines and pulled the plug and the stage went black. The lights, the amp and everything, it just went black and the curtains closed.

Bob Kerns and I are still best friends.

He lives down in Brigantine and still plays gigs.

He’s now an accomplished jazz musician, who studied under Harry Leahey. Until today, if Bob didn’t even know the song, he can hear it and just pick up the guitar and play.

Ben Capobianco Clifton

Great job on the music edition of Clifton Merchant Magazine. Very interesting! I didn’t realize there was that much local talent.

Alex Levich Wayne

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Twin Heartache Sandy Grazioso lost both of her sons on September 11 Story by Jordan Schwartz

Sandy Grazioso at Clifton’s 9/11 memorial and on facing page, the Grazioso children circa 1980. From left, Tim (CHS ’76), Carolee (’80) and John (’78). The two boys perished in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

On September 10, 2001, Tim Grazioso took his mother, Sandy, out to dinner for her birthday at Bella Napoli in Clifton. They couldn’t get together on her actual birthday four days earlier because Tim had to work.

He was always busy working. In fact, when Sandy tried to call her son the next morning to thank him for dinner, she was told he was out of his office at a meeting.

Too bad that meeting didn’t last a little longer.

Tim Grazioso, who would have turned 43 the following month, worked for Cantor Fitzgerald and was the chief operating officer for overthe-counter trading and chief Nasdaq trader for Cantor Fitzgerald Securities. He worked on the 104th floor of Tower One at the World Trade Center.

Grazioso had just returned upstairs after his meeting shortly before the first plane struck at 8:46 am.

In On Top of the World by Tom Barbash, a book about the 700 Cantor employees who perished on September 11, workers in the company’s L.A. office detail a chilling phone conversation with Grazioso.

“Then all of a sudden I hear in the speaker, ‘Hello!

Hello!’

And it was Timmy.

Timmy Grazioso.

We yelled, ‘Get the hell out of there! Get out of there!’ He says, ‘We can’t; we’re trapped.’

“Timmy said, ‘Call for help! Tell them we’re under the desk!’ Then the last thing he said was, ‘You guys have no idea how desperate this is.’”

Minutes later, the building collapsed and Tim was gone, along with his brother, John, 41, who worked on the 105th floor as a salesman for the Cantor Fitzgerald subsidiary, eSpeed.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The last time Sandy saw John was the previous Saturday. She babysat her grandchildren in Middletown, while her son played golf.

The following Tuesday morning, Ms. Grazioso was out running a couple errands for the lawyers she worked for at Walter Tencza in Passaic, when she decided to go to Macy’s to pick up a birthday gift for her boyfriend of 25 years, Ed Sudol.

“I started back and heard about it on the radio,” she said of the terrorist attacks. “I walked into work and one of the girls said everybody was calling. We stayed there most of the day making telephone calls to hospitals.”

It took about a week for Grazioso and her ex-husband, Henry, to accept the fact that their sons were dead. “We thought they might be somewhere,” she explained. “Deep down, I think I knew, but you don’t want to give up.”

Nearly 1,400 people attended Tim and John’s memorial service at St. John Kanty Church on Oct. 4. The place was so packed that they had to set up a television downstairs and speakers outside. Sandy said it felt good to see all the support.

The brothers grew up on Lisbon St. and both played varsity football

Sandy Grazioso and Ed Sudol have been together for 25 years

As Tim and John Grazioso’s day at the office became a nightmare, Cliftonite and Port Authority Police Officer John Skala was called to do what he did best, help others.

Usually stationed at the Lincoln Tunnel, Skala was ordered to report to the World Trade Center shortly after the first plane hit the north tower.

As he was known to do, Skala ran to the place where lives were in danger. The 31year-old had the chance to escape harm but Clifton resident and Port entered the Twin Towers in an attempt to Authority Police Officer John help the injured. One of his co-workers Skala died on 9/11. reported that Skala emerged from the Trade Center, grabbed a first aid kit and re-entered the burning building. He was the only one of his unit not to escape the wreckage.

His friends and family say Skala’s life ended the way he lived: taking care of other people. In fact, when he wasn’t on duty as a policeman, Skala was a paramedic, with the Passaic/Clifton Mobile Intensive Care Unit.

Spending time with his family and friends was his other passion.

In total, Clifton lost nine sons and daughters on September 11.

In addition to the three mentioned here, the other six were Edward C. Murphy, Kyung Cho, Ehtesam U. Raja, Edgar H. Emery, Zuhtu Ibis and Francis Joseph Trombino.

before college, getting married and settling down with their new families out of town. Despite the fact that John moved to Middletown and Tim to Gulf Stream, Fla. (he commuted by plane every week), their lives had deep roots in Clifton.

Their great-grandfather, Gustave Fornelius, who emigrated from Sweden around 1900, was one of the founders of Athenia Steel and later became a city councilman. When he died in 1935, he was the superintendent of the steel firm.

Tim left behind his wife of 14 years, Deborah, and their twin daughters, Lauren and Briana, who are now 20.

John was survived by his bride of 10 years, Tina, and their three children: Kathryn, 15, Kristen, 12, and Michael, 8.

Sandy Grazioso, who was a legal secretary for 50 years, attended the

first three 9/11 memorial ceremonies in New York and even participated in the reading of names in 2004. But after that, her daughter, Carolee Azzarello, 46, began inviting people over to her house in Green Brook to celebrate her brothers’ lives rather than mourn their deaths.

In 2005, Sandy also started speaking about the tragedy to seniors at PCTI in Wayne. This month, she will make her fifth visit.

“It’s to keep them informed of what happened and they ask questions,” said the 1953 CHS grad.

“Some of them come up and give me a hug and a kiss.”

The pain still lingers eight years after her sons passed away, but she never minds talking about her boys.

Grazioso belongs to a support group that includes six women who all lost their sons on 9/11.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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They meet once a month at an Applebee’s in the Livingston Mall.

“We talk and sometimes we’ll cry, sometimes we won’t,” she said.

“They’re all wonderful people. It’s a blessing and I never miss a meeting.”

Grazioso, who now works parttime at Shook Funeral Home, has experienced more than her share of loss in her life. As the middle child in a family with four sons and three daughters, Sandy was just 17 when her 19-year-old brother, George Fornelius, was killed while serving with the Marines in the Korean War. “I was working in Passaic and the phone rang and I knew it was for me,” she recalled. “It was my mother and she told me to come home.”

Grazioso remembered how horrible it was to watch her parents suffer through that pain, but no one ever asked her how she was dealing with it. “Even with my daughter, she took it horribly,” Sandy said about Carolee’s reaction to losing her brothers.

“She was very close with them.

Brothers Tom and John Grazioso died in the attacks on the World Trade Center.

They used to fight but they would stick up for her.”

Azzarello’s husband, John, is a lawyer who was a member of the 9/11 Commission. Carolee, herself, testified at the trial of Zacarias Moussaoui, the only person convicted for his role in the attacks.

Sandy said she feels no anger towards the terrorists responsible for killing her sons, only sorrow. “I just can’t imagine why someone would do something like that,” she said.

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But Grazioso chooses not to focus on the bitterness; instead, she remembers the good times with Tim and John. “They were a lot of fun,” she said. “You would sit at a Thanksgiving table and just laugh.

“You never get back to normal,” she continued. “There’s not a day that I don’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘Good morning, boys,’ and go to bed at night and say, ‘Good night, boys.’”

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Remembering 9/11 One Cliftonite tells his story about what it was like to witness terror first hand Story by Jim Fasino In 2001, I kept my boat, a 25-foot cruiser, docked in a marina located on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, just across from the Empire State Building. So, during the boating season, I spent many nights on board and then, in the mornings, I rode a commuter ferry across the river, where I worked as a television cameraman for the United Nations.

That September morning seemed to be the beginning of a perfect late summer day with the sun’s warm rays radiating down through the cloudless blue sky; the air was clear and dry, and there was a gentle breeze blowing up river. The crossing was pleasant, and there wasn’t a hint of the terror that would ensue later that day.

When the ferry reached the city, I transferred to one of the free buses for the ride up 42nd St. At about 8:30, I overheard a young lady, seated behind me, exclaim into her cell phone, “Oh my God!” Then she said aloud, as to inform us all, “A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.”

The other passengers all looked around and chatted with each other, and we seemed satisfied with our consensus that it must have been a light plane that had crashed by accident.

When I got off the bus, I looked south toward the WTC and saw a mushroom cloud of grey smoke looming high in the sky. The situation there looked grave and I became more alarmed, but I shrugged it off for the moment and continued on.

It was 9 am when I entered the assignment office, where a TV was tuned to coverage of the events transpiring at the Trade Center. I glanced at the screen and saw a live shot of the second jet hitting the towers.

“This is not an accident,” I said, before rushing down the hallway to check my day’s work assignments.

My first gig was to video tape an outdoor ceremony in which the chief of our organization was the principal participant, and that would mark the opening of an annual conference.

There was a lot of press there to cover the ceremony, and security was tight for the event. By that time, there was much speculation that other buildings and landmarks may be terrorist targets too, and that ours may be one of them, so I whispered to my assistant, “I doubt that the chief is going to come out here to this ceremony while the U.S. is under attack just a mile away.”

The start time to begin the ceremony had long past when finally a spokesman stepped to the mic and announced, “In view of the current circumstance at the World Trade Center this event is postponed, and we will evacuate the building. ” Quickly, we packed up our gear and hurried inside to receive further instructions.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Being part of the news gathering unit, we were considered essential to this institution, and so we stayed to document the evacuation.

Beyond the wrought iron fences, 1st Ave. was swarmed with police, and in the distance, the whine of sirens saturated air. We paused whenever we heard the sound of a helicopter overhead, and became anxious over the possibility that we my be in peril.

I became noticeably upset after a security officer told us that the second tower had just imploded. I had seen the shocking collapse of the first one earlier on TV, and it was inconceivable that this horror was in fact happening.

By 2 pm, the evacuation was complete and we were told to go home.

All of the bridges and tunnels had been closed, therefore the only way off of the island for millions of distressed people was via air or water.

And we all wanted off now.

Therefore, when we arrived at the ferry terminal on West 39th street there were about 20,000 people waiting to board ferries in order to get over to the Jersey side.

The sight was reminiscent of a scene from a Hollywood disaster movie. The peculiar thing was that it was dead quiet. Thousands of people had to wait for up to three hours for a boat, and no one was griping or even speaking loudly.

The ferries were being loaded expediently, no need for tickets, just load and go as soon as possible. It was a sobering view. While we waited there, we heard fighter jets flying overhead, then a woman nearby looked to the sky and begged the question, “Are they ours?”

“They are,” a man responded.

“Thank God, I feel safe now,” she said.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Clifton’s Avenue of Flags will be displayed on the grounds around City Hall on Sept. 11 this year, in lieu of Labor Day. “It’s becoming more of a national holiday,” said Keith Oakley, Avenue of Flags co-chairman. “Labor Day isn’t really a veteran’s holiday. Since 9/11 really prompted the Afghanistan and Iraq Wars, we thought that would be more appropriate.”

Volunteers are needed to help set up the 1,200 flags at 6 am and take them down at 6 pm. The city used to only put up nine Star-Spangled Banners to honor the nine Cliftonites to die in the terrorist attacks.

Clifton is holding a 9/11 ceremony in front of the City Hall memorial at 10 am on Sept. 11, during which a fireman’s bell will be rung for each Clifton resident killed. Then, at 4 pm, Councilman Peter Eagler will read the names of every Passaic County resident to perish. To purchase a $100 flag, visit City Hall to fill out a form or call 973-470-5854.

Finally, our turn came and we boarded a boat. Inside the familiar surroundings of the ferry, the situation seemed nearly normal. But reality intervened when I looked down river and had my first live view of the calamity taking place at Ground Zero. The steamy smoke continued to bloat the ever darkening sky above the site, the river teemed with rescue vessels, and I got the first whiff of a stench that I will always remember; one that I would experience daily because the Trade Center site would continue to smolder for weeks.

Soon, we docked on the Jersey side, where we were met by emergency workers who asked if anyone required assistance. The terminal parking lots were an ocean of emergency apparatus, EMTs, police and

firemen, as well as many civilians with desperate eyes searching each approaching ferry for family and friends who would never arrive.

I departed the ferry and strolled through the desolate marina to my boat dock. From that vantage point, I had a clear view down river, and I surveyed the catastrophic scene in disbelief.

The stench permeating the air drove me to go below to my boat’s cabin. The condition didn’t improve there, so I cracked open a cold one, went back topside, grabbed a lawn chair from the dock box, sat down, sipped beer and watched that terrible inferno for the next few hours.

The experience was surreal. As an American, and a Navy veteran, this had been the most awful day of my

life. I slept on my boat that night, and awakened in the morning to the familiar stink, then went topside to look down river in order to confirm that I hadn’t dreamed the nightmare that was 9/11.

Later on, I showered and dressed for work. As essential personnel, I worked on September 12 when most New Yorkers stayed home and watched the disaster on TV. During the crossing, I avoided looking south towards Ground Zero to spare myself the pain, however pointless. I decided to walk up 42nd St. to work. My mentality had shifted into survival mode, so I had decided to avoid using public transportation for the foreseeable future, and to stay out of or to quickly exit crowded public buildings.

I was fearful of follow-up attacks such as bombings and gas or radiation attacks. Eventually, the situation began to work on my psyche, so that every suitcase or package brought onto a bus or left

Jim Fasino on his boat in 2000 with the World Trade Center in the background.

unattended in a terminal became a bomb, and every “weirdo” became a terrorist. This notion was perpetuated by the sight of publicly posted warnings such as, “If you see something, say something.”

The city was unnaturally quiet, and the streets were devoid of people, except for heavily armed police, accompanied by dogs, at every corner. In the coming days, they would be replaced by National Guardsmen

strewn with bullet bandoleers and grasping assault rifles. Their presence was an exceptional sight in NYC, and so they were intimidating.

There wasn’t any traffic, cars parked on the streets or delivery trucks. This was during the morning rush hour, so another time it would be a commuter’s dream, but today it was a wide awake nightmare.

When I approached Grand Central Terminal I began to see post-

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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ings with people who were missing from the WTC. Loved ones posted the flyers on sign poles and lamp posts.

The atmosphere in town was so sad that witnessing it daily began to take an emotional toll on me as the days and weeks went by.

I continued the same routine for the rest of that week— the morning commutes into the vacant city, then back to New Jersey in the evenings, have dinner on the dock and watch the towers continue to burn.

I’d heard that a security buffer zone had been established along the Turnpike, and that if one went west beyond that zone, they couldn’t return east again. Since my house was located beyond the zone, I lived on my boat for two weeks without going home at all.

The Coast Guard had shut down pleasure craft traffic on the Hudson for a couple of weeks, so there wasn’t much activity insofar as boating was concerned, therefore the marina remained deserted. Earlier in the season, I had befriended a young man and his girlfriend who were in their twenties, and who kept a boat docked in the slip next to mine. When I hadn’t seen them for awhile, I asked the dock master about them.

“Oh, he was in the towers,” he said. “The family is selling the boat.”

I was stunned. “He died?” I asked.

He nodded his confirmation. “He worked there as a financial analyst,” he said, then sadly looked away.

That incident personalized the tragedy for me. Here was a pleasant young acquaintance of mine, who had his whole life ahead of him. He awoke and went to work on a beautiful September morning, just as he had done many other times before. But today was different, today he died wretchedly and unnecessarily because of a sadistic plot that was hatched by a mad man thousands of miles away.

And all his hopes, dreams and aspirations died with him.

Furthermore, the circumstance of his death was utterly random and impersonal. How chilling that is to me.

Eventually, the river was reopened to pleasure craft, however the Coast Guard imposed a 5 mph speed limit, and restricted buffer zones were put in place around all landmarks and bridge abutments. These regulations were strictly enforced by armed U.S. Coast Guard swift boats having twin machine guns mounted on the bows.

I was cruising on the river one day when a moderate wind caused me to experience difficulty holding, heading at 5 mph, so I pushed it up to 9.

After a time, I heard a siren and saw an orange swift boat bearing down on me at high speed with strobe lights flashing. Seeing an armed military craft approaching your private vessel is a very sobering experience. I pulled back on the throttle to slow my boat immediately.

When their boat was about 25 yards off, they announced, “U.S. Coast Guard. Prepare to be boarded.”

The machine guns were manned, indicating that they

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

a thorough search of the boat. When they were satisfied, meant business. They maneuvered along side, then two they had me sign a yellow release form and told me that armed guardsmen boarded my boat and cautioned me that I could leave.

I had been exceeding the speed limit. I apologetically They assisted me in getting away from the dock, acknowledged that I was, but that I was having difficulty opened the gates of the pen, then allowed me to go. It controlling my boat at 5 mph due to the wind. They was a disturbing experience for me even though I knew proceeded to inspect my boat and issued a written warning that they were just doing their duty in order to protect to me, then allowed me to be on my way. our nation. But the incident saddened me because it There was another incident when I was fishing under induced me to recognize that something had changed in the Verrazano. I was lazing back in my seat with eyes America on that dreadful day of 9/11 and it will never closed when I inadvertently drifted within the buffer be changing back. zone of one of the I was stunned. “He died?”

Now, boating has bridge abutments. I opened one eye to see a I asked. He nodded his confirmation, seemingly returned to normal on the Hudson Coast Guard craft then sadly looked away.

River. That is until one approaching, then I sails down river past Ground Zero where the towers once perked up at once. The craft was larger than a swift boat, stood. I miss seeing them there, especially at night. I miss and therefore a bit more imposing. When it got closer a the radiance of their lights that when seen from the river guardsman yelled over to me. below, seemed to stretch into the heavens. “ Follow us!”

They lit the southern end of the Hudson to show the “Follow you where?” I asked. way for all mariners below. Now, there’s a void there, “We’re going to inspect your boat!” a black hole of death and destruction that will forever “Why can’t you inspect it here?” mar the memory and wound the heart. And, whenever “FOLLOW US!” they said more assertively.

I gaze down river during my ferry commutes or sail I followed them to the western shore where a pen had past Ground Zero on my boat, I invariably recall that been set up with docks inside. Guardsmen assisted me in terrible day and remember the souls who perished tying up at one of the docks. They told me to get off my there, so suddenly and so tragically. boat, then they checked my registration and I.D. and did

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Landing on the Hudson Clifton native Glenn Carlson was aboard Flight 1549 Story by Jordan Schwartz Glenn Carlson made his way down the aisle of US Airways Flight 1549 and took a seat in 6B. He removed his shoes, put on his eye shades, inserted his ear plugs and waited for the bell that would allow him to unbuckle his belt and recline his seat.

That bell never rung.

Just 90 seconds after takeoff, Carlson heard a loud bang and threw his arms out, hitting the two passengers sitting next to him.

The Clifton native smelled something burning and figured the plane would just return to LaGuardia Airport. That was, until the pilot came on the loudspeaker.

“This is your captain,” he said.

“Brace for impact.”

The flight attendants repeated the warning: “Brace! Brace! Head down! Stay down!”

But no matter how hard he tried, Carlson couldn’t will his body to get down. Instead, he looked out the window to his right and locked eyes for a moment with another passenger sitting in 6E. “I saw buildings on both sides,” Carlson remembered. “I was afraid we were going into the bay.”

But the 47-year-old never considered the worst.

“I didn’t believe that was a day for me to die,” he said.

Neither did Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger.

The heroic pilot miraculously landed the Airbus A320 in the Hudson River, just minutes after it struck a flock of Canadian geese 16

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Glen Carlson gets set to toss a commemorative coin into the Hudson River at the exact spot where his plane landed on Jan. 15, 2009.

and lost nearly all thrust from both engines.

“It was very smooth, like a regular landing,” Carlson recalled.

“What scared me most was getting out of the plane. I thought we would sink.”

“The Wing was Packed” The 150 passengers aboard Flight 1549 were quiet when the plane came to a rest in the Hudson.

But the silence didn’t last for long.

“I looked to my right and the guy on the aisle was gone,” said Carlson. “The guy by the window was like, ‘Let’s go!’”

The married father of three boys headed for the exit by the wing, stopping momentarily to grab a seat cushion to use as a flotation device.

“The wing was packed,” he explained and so he searched for another way out.

Carlson noticed a man motioning to him from the front exit.

Fellow passenger Douglas Shrift was notifying him of an easier way out. So, the CHS ’79 grad ran up the aisle and slid into a life raft.

“People were yelling for a knife to cut the raft loose,” he remembered.

Carlson said he never really had time to stop and consider the incredible event he was living through; he just kept thinking one step ahead.

“First was land the plane, then get off, then start looking for boats.”

A New York Waterway ferry called the Thomas Jefferson plucked Carlson and 58 other passengers from the river that day and transported them back to a pier in Manhattan.

“When we arrived, there were a bunch of cameras and microphones in our faces, but a guy in a suit pushed them away,” said Carlson.

“I thought he was a police officer but he turned out to be another guy on the plane named John Howell.

His brother died on September 11.”

As cops corralled the passengers to get everyone’s information, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg arrived on the scene.

Carlson shook his hand and the two got to talking about North Carolina universities. Bloomberg said his niece was headed to Duke, but the Charlotte resident told the mayor he was a UNC man.

Carlson asked Bloomberg if he could have his cufflinks to prove he met the billionaire, but the mayor gave him a Big Apple pin instead and jokingly instructed him not to sell it on eBay. Since he dropped his Blackberry during his escape from the plane, Carlson was forced to borrow

Glen Carlson with his wife Ann Marie and US Airways Flight 1549 Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger at a 60 Minutes taping in Charlotte.

another passenger’s phone to call his wife, Ann Marie Zimmerman (CHS ’85).

Even though she was home, Ann Marie didn’t answer the call because she didn’t recognize the number.

“Muff,” Glenn called his muffin on the machine, “I think I’ll try your cell...”

Ann Marie picked up and with all the commotion going on in the background, she thought he missed his flight and was at a bar.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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“I was in a plane crash,” he told her before quickly adding that he and the rest of the passengers were alright.

“If he’s fine and everybody’s fine, what kind of plane crash is this?” she remembered thinking.

Ann Marie turned on the television, saw the plane in the river and realized what was going on. She then called the rest of the family to get them caught up.

Glenn, meanwhile, waited for his younger brother, Craig, to pick him up and drive him back to their parGlenn Carlson with his wife, Ann Marie, and his parents, Geri and Harold. ent’s house on Kenter Pl. in Clifton.

The next day, Carlson’s company, DemandTec, Thanking Sully chartered him a private jet back to Charlotte, where he Glenn Carlson wasn’t even supposed to be on Flight and his family have lived since June 2003.

1549.

The consultant was a little scared to go up in a plane In New York for business, he was scheduled to again, so his mother, Geri, gave him some Clifton return home to Charlotte at 7 pm. But when the Merchant Magazines to read on the flight. meeting finished early, he phoned his travel agent to Carlson’s nerves weren’t eased any by the fact that book a 2:45 departure. he was the only passenger aboard the six-seater, and so By the time the William Paterson graduate reached he decided to fill the nearly two-hour flight by writing the Midtown Tunnel, his agent called him back to say his wife a letter about all he had experienced on the earlier flight was booked and so he got him a ticket January 15, 2009. on a 5 pm.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Ann Marie and sons Ryan, Sean and Brett greeted Glenn when he finally returned home to Charlotte the day after Flight 1549 crashed into the Hudson River.

Already en route to LaGuardia, Carlson figured he’d get on the standby list for the 2:45 and see what would happen.

Of course, his name was called for the earliest flight, and so he texted his wife to let her know he’d be home by 5 o’clock.

Carlson didn’t meet his prediction but his entire family was overjoyed when he finally made it back the next day.

The dad was greeted at the airport by Ann Marie and their three sons: Sean, 14, Brett, 12, and Ryan, 9.

Weeks later, Glenn and his wife joined about 50 other passengers at a reunion in Charlotte. Captain Sullenberger was in attendance and Carlson thanked him for his heroic actions, jokingly adding, “I was the one knocking on the door to ask if you needed any help.”

On a recent visit to New York, the School 9 alum took his family on a boat ride to the crash site in the Hudson River.

The Michael Murphy is owned by a Rutherford man named Scott Koen, whom Carlson met on Facebook. Koen rescued six people on that fateful day and had commemorative medallions made to distribute to the passengers.

One side of the coin says “Miracle on the Hudson, On a Wing and a Prayer” and the other has a picture of the flight path. Carlson had his name and seat number engraved on his medallion before pitching it into the river where he came so close to death earlier this year.

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We are just off Valley Rd., near Gensingers Motors 482 Notch Road, Woodland Park, NJ 07424 September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Veteran Green-Side Navy Corpsman Lance Dearing

Adrenaline Junkie Story by Joe Hawrylko

Lance Dearing finds peace in chaos. He can’t stand the thought of sitting behind a desk for nine hours a day in an air conditioned office. Dearing craves the unique and the extreme; an ideal job presents a new challenge each day.

When he graduates from Bergen Community College in May, Dearing, 24, will get his adrenaline fix in an emergency room as a registered nurse. His ultimate goal is to become a flight nurse, responding to only the most severe injuries by helicopter.

He wants only the most extreme situations, circumstances in which his actions can determine if an individual survives. As intense as it may sound, Dearing’s previous line of work was a little bit more harrowing.

As a Navy Green-Side Corpsman—a field ‘Doc’— Dearing completed two tours of duty in the intense heat of the Iraqi desert. Dearing spent countless hours with his fingers gripping the trigger of a high powered SAW machine gun, ready to incapacitate any enemy foolish enough to ambush his Marine scout-sniper platoon.

Experiencing combat had been a dream since his years at Clifton High School.

“My uncle, Joe Dearing, he was in the Navy. He was a SEAL,” said Dearing. “My freshman year, I saw what they were about and I just got attracted to it.

I knew I wasn’t ready for college, so I went that route.” After graduating CHS in 2003, Dearing enlisted and in July 2004, he was off to Great Lakes, Ill. for a two month boot camp.

Following that, he attended Corps school for four months and Field Medical Service School for an additional two months.

Dearing was then attached to the 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines as a Green-Side Corpsman, meaning he would be a Navy doc working on land.

In Aug. 2005, Dearing was bound for the Ubadi region of Iraq and was attached to a scout-sniper platoon. Though he was trained as a Corpsman, security was the first priority.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

While the Marines stalked enemy targets and gathered intelligence, Dearing, armed with a SAW machine gun, kept an eye for enemy ambushes. “It was kind of surreal,” he recalled. “In my case, I wanted to go overseas and do stuff like that—I didn’t want to stay stateside. So I was happy, but at the same time, I was like, ‘Oh, this is it.’”

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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In 2005, Iraq was in chaos— insurgents had undermined the stability of the entire country, making city travel dangerous. Attacks were frequent and often deadly. “It didn’t take much to draw fire back then,” said Dearing. “You don’t think about it. You fall back on your training, on what you were taught to get out of the situation. If you think about it too much, you probably won’t make it.”

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

“You know the reality of the situation,” said Dearing, “If something happens, something happens...”

The Cliftonite spent seven grueling months in the war-ravaged desert country. Over time, he learned the subtleties of war—how to move quietly and efficiently, how to avoid the never-ending boobytraps and ambushes that can

down the most decorated of veterans. A garbage can on the side of a road can be an IED (improvised explosive device) lying in wait.

The civilian on the cell phone could be a triggerman for a bomb just up the seemingly safe street.

Detecting danger becomes a sixth sense when you’ve spent enough time in a war zone. Like bull fighters and race car drivers, defying death becomes as natural as breathing.

“In downtime, we have fun... just relaxing, listening to music, writing a letter or something,” said Dearing. “Maybe play cards with the guys or watching a movie on someone’s laptop for the 10th time because that’s the only movie they have. You’re living with a bunch of dudes man, things get

old quick. You got to find ways to keep it interesting.

“But as far as thinking about it, you just don’t think about it,” he continued. “You know the reality of the situation. If something happens, something happens.

“Every time you go across the street, if you thought you were going to get hit, you’d drive yourself crazy like that. People make it out to be more than what it is.”

In 2006, Dearing returned to Clifton unscathed. After catching up with family and friends, the inevitable questions came. What’s it like? Did you have to use your gun?

At times, Dearing just didn’t have an answer.

“Even with him [Dearing’s uncle, Joe], certain experiences or general experiences you speak about, but most of the stuff you don’t even really talk about to other Marines,” he said. “You talk about certain things with the guys that were there.

You won’t be able to grasp it unless you experience it. It’s hard to put into words. It’s nothing to brag about; no one needs to know.”

After his 30-day leave was up, Dearing was stationed in Camp Lejeune, N.C. In March 2007, he was called for his second tour of duty. Assigned to his sniper-scout platoon again, Dearing returned to Iraq as a battle-tested veteran.

However, there was some resentment from the new Marines in the platoon towards Dearing, a Navy Corpsman—there’s a natural competitiveness between the different branches of the service.

But once those first few bullets start whizzing by, any animosity is cast aside. War is unique—respect and trust is earned on the battlefield.

From bloodshed comes brotherhood; a bond that can last a lifetime.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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prospective snipers. In the months leading up to his dis“They don’t take your word lightly,” said Dearing. charge, Dearing began to focus on his future.

“You’ve got to earn it with them. I mean, you cannot Once considering a career in the military, he now talk to a guy for six or seven months, even a year, and seeks a new challenge. “I was always interested in the pick up right where you left off.” medical field,” said Dearing. “I figured if or when I got Thankfully, the political atmosphere of Iraq had out, I could use it on the outchanged since Dearing’s side. I figured why not have first tour. The U.S. was in someone else pay for it.” the early stages of relinThe CHS alumnus was quishing power to the discharged in August 2008 Iraqis, and the insurgent as a Hospital Corpsman attacks were less frequent.

3rd Class and enrolled in “A lot of the things we the RN nursing program at did on the first deployBergen Community ment we couldn’t do on College in fall 2008. this deployment,” he “Nursing school is explained. “We were trycompletely different in ing to let the Iraqis govern one aspect, but as far as their own state.” the basics, it helped a lot, Dearing completed his especially dealing with second tour in Sept. real life people,” said 2007, returning to Camp Dearing. “When it was Lejeune to fulfill the rest time to hit clinicals, it was of his contract.

He nothing—I’ve dealt with worked in the Division Lance Dearing, at right, with his Marine scout-sniper platoon Training Center and later during his second tour of duty in Iraq in 2007. Dearing, a Navy people before. Instead of at Pre Sniper School, a Greenside Corpsman, was a team leader in the platoon and being a Marine, it’s an old guy or just some lady. The training program for served four years in the Navy.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Marines just give you a harder time.” After obtaining his associate’s, Dearing would like to work in an emergency room for a few years before returning to school to become a flight nurse.

Responding to only the most grave situations, flying right out into the heart of the emergency—it’s exactly the kind of fix this adrenaline junkie needs. Some people like a little more structure with their lives. Dearing just can’t get enough of the unexpected. “I just can’t see myself working on a regular floor, giving people their

medications. I like that action—I’m still an adrenaline junkie,” he laughed.

“I want to get out there and not know what’s coming.

Working in the emergency room will take care of that need, but I’m looking for something a little bit more.”

Are you or do you know a Clifton resident, of any age and from any branch of service, who served our nation? And would you like to share your military experience—in peace or at war—and your return home? If so, call us at 973-253-4400 or write to tomhawrylko@optonline.net .

Veteran Discounts on Home Security Systems Veterans In respect for your service to Our Country, we’d like to offer you a 25% discount on central station monitoring fees on your home alarm systems. We ask you to submit copy of whatever ‘DD’ form-honorable/general/retired-applicable by registered mail. We regret having to ask you for this, but as you’re aware, the offer will be abused if we don’t. Our contact information is listed below; please reserve this offer for yourselves only and, of course, your immediate family. Also, we have to limit the offer to two (2) members of the immediate family. Please call for mailing details.

Walter Dubyna

John Dubyna

Disabled Veterans Any Vet that supplies us with a copy of any ‘DD’ form (or other like/kind VA Form) indicating their disability will receive a 50% discount on central station monitoring rates on your home alarm system. If you’re a Disabled Vet and supply us with that documentation, the other discharge form mentioned above won’t be necessary. We regret having to intrude in your private affairs, but, again, we’ll certainly be taken advantage of if we don’t…...same protocol as above. Give us a call.

Financially Distressed Disabled Veterans If, as a Disabled Vet, you cannot afford central station monitoring rates at the 50% discount price, supply us with your VA Disability form, a copy of your previous years income tax return, and we’ll provide you with central station monitoring at our cost to make certain you have fire and police response. Again, give us a call outlining your circumstance, and we’ll see you are provided fire and police response. Note: Yearly payments only. Normal initial programming charges and other restrictions may apply.

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Meet some of our Physicians...

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Dr. Kevin Buckley

Dr. Michael Gaccione

Dr. Terry McSweeney

Dr. Zina Cappiello

General Surgery

Chiropractic

Chiropractic

Podiatry

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

River Recreation

Story by Joe Hawrylko

Ed Marchese is working to revitalize the Passaic River If you build it, they will come.

That’s Ed Marchese’s view on restoring the Passaic River. If this waterway just got a little bit of attention from the government, it would become a popular and maybe even profitable recreation destination.

“We have so many boaters in this area, there is pent up demand,” said Marchese, 56, owner of a small recreational power boat. “Go to Liberty State Park Marina on a weekend and see how many people are there.”

As a member of the Passaic River Boat Club (passaicriverboatclub.org), a small group which is trying to bring recreational events to the river, Marchese said the PRBC wishes to bring attention and resources to the neglected waterway.

“One way we think we can influence the various levels of government to step up and restore the river to a more usable and natural state is to bring up the maritime history of the Passaic,” he said.

The club’s Aug. 13 meeting was attended by individuals representing a variety of organizations, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the NY/NJ Baykeeper and the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners. Lisa Baron of the USACE has been involved with the Passaic River for nearly a decade.

Clifton resident Ed Marchese cleans off the launching dock in Nutley, which straddles the Lyndhurst border. To access the river for recreational boating, he must clear away the filth and debris that accumulates at the entrance.

“Our goal and mission is restoration,” said Baron.

“Obviously, you can’t restore without the remedial component.”

The other half of the equation is the U.S. Environmental Protection

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Agency, which has been working with the Corps in a joint study since 2003. The rehabilitation of the river is a priority of the Corps due to the impact it has on Newark Bay and the surrounding regions.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Baron said the Corps restoration project seeks to work closely with municipalities and advocate groups, aiming to satisfy their needs.

“From the standpoint of the boat clubs, I think they’re a necessary and tremendous advocate to bring back recreation,” said Baron. “They bring that momentum. They’re the end users. Ed’s got great dreams for his boat club.”

The study is an ongoing, lengthy process, and a focus study is currently underway for the lower eight miles near Newark. Marchese hopes that remediation soon starts further up river, in and around Clifton.

“What it really boils down to is money,” said Marchese. He’s had vocal support in all the right places, including Congressman Bill Pascrell’s office. But to keep the environment green, you need to have some greenbacks.

“This is something that God gives you. A gem,” Marchese said of the Passaic River, which meanders for 80

Marchese (right) cruises the Passaic River in Clifton in Harvey Morganstein’s 1957 Trojan Seaqueen. Floating debris can create hidden hazards on the waterway.

miles throughout North Jersey and ends in the Newark Bay. But the municipalities along the waterway haven’t treated the river

like some kind of precious stone.

Garbage floats freely and navigation is treacherous due to the debris and uncharted, shallow waters.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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“That’s part of the boating experience: Cleaning this up,” laughed Marchese, as he rakes and shovels garbage from the Nutley launch, which is just across the river from the Lyndhurst Diner off of Rt. 21. “You know the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?” he said of the infamous area of debris in the Pacific. “This is exactly what it looks like.”

Organic items like large branches and weeds become entangled with man-made waste like Dunkin Donuts cups, Wendy’s bags, empty gallons of milk and used fishing equipment, all dangerous items to boaters.

Marchese shovels all of the garbage to a pile at the end of the dock. However, within minutes, the currents will bring in another wave of waste. It’s a futile effort to keep this dock clean using this method, but it’s the only way Marchese’s friend, Harvey Morganstein can launch his 1957 Trojan Seaqueen.

Near Clifton, the Nutley ramp is the only one accessible by boat. The river’s other nearby launching stations, a municipal launch in Elmwood Park or the Nereid Boat Club, a 126-year-old rowing club in Rutherford, are only suitable for kayak or crew use due to sediment buildup.

Residents from Clifton, Nutley or surrounding communities have to travel far to access a waterway that’s right in their backyard. And that’s just the start of the issues.

“You can’t navigate easily,” said Marchese. “The U.S. Coast Guard has to mark the channels.” The Coast Guard declined to fund such a project, but offered Marchese use

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of a private marking program if the PRBC could secure funding—an unlikely feat. Also, the water surface needs to be skimmed, and that process is only going on down the river by the Diamond Alkali Superfund Site near Newark.

“The Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners skimmers, you got to give them credit,” said Marchese. “They have been trying to clean up the river.”

However, the clean up process hasn’t reached the visible stretch of the river that runs alongside Rt. 21 and flows under Rt. 3. Floating tires are camouflaged by the murky water. Large pieces of drift wood from deteriorating decks and other discarded items can easily damage an outboard motor and disable the boat.

The Passaic River wasn’t always like this, recalled Morganstein, a 50-year veteran of the river. “When I used to date my wife, I’d take her on the river at night,” he said.

The first step to restoring the beauty of the river is by garnering interest in it. Marchese said the PRBC wants to hold regular cruise nights and other events.

If they’re interesting, people will start showing up to meetings on the first Wednesday of the month at the Nutley VFW Hall, 217 Washington Ave., at 8pm. As the Club grows, the government and investors may finally restore the Passaic River. “Boaters like to cruise and go places to dock, even if it’s to the Lyndhurst Diner,” said Marchese. “If recreation events and activities happen on the river, people will take notice.”

W

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Brothers Don and Rich Knapp

Search & Enjoy Gourley Ave. resident Billy Lee “Red” Taylor has been soaring across the skies for four decades, both in competition and in recreation. A chance meeting at Clifton’s Recycling Center turned into an invitation for an afternoon flight up along the Delaware Water Gap. Story by Tom Hawrylko

P

ilot Billy Taylor studies the expansive and silent blue sky above the grass landing field of the Blairstown airstrip. He’s searching for tall cumulus clouds and soaring birds, such as hawks, eagles and turkey vultures—a sure sign of where the thermals are offering lift. It’s hot this August afternoon and Taylor has got his eyes on the Kittatinny Ridge at the Delaware Water Gap, no doubt doing calculations in his head. Simultaneously, he answers questions and preps his Grob Twin 103, a high performance two-seater sailplane for an afternoon of soaring. Flight depends solely on his skill and what Mother Nature provides.

In the distance, a guttural roar is heard coming from an approaching bright yellow single engine plane.

“Here comes Moose,” Billy announces from the front of the cockpit. The old yellow crop duster taxis ahead as a volunteer pilot runs and hooks the tow dragging behind Moose’s plane to the nose of our aircraft.

Thumbs up from Billy and within moments, we are whipping along the grass, bumping our way into flight behind a 200 foot rope. Our goal is to soar for an hour, so we need to climb to 3,000 feet, explains Taylor, who has been a FAA certified pilot since 1974. But seeing clouds, he instead releases early from the tow, at 2,700 feet.

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“We’re going to try and work our way to the Gap by going to the clouds,” he shouts, pointing to the cumulus above our heads.

He banks to the right. Atop the mountain at one o’clock is Sunfish Pond, a familiar hiking destination. Directly below are farms, houses and a golf course.

The murky brown water of the Delaware River meanders through dense woods.

“Look. A young thermal,” Billy points to the right but I’m not sure what I see. He’s pleased.

“I don’t remember seeing it a little while ago. There’s lift.

I’m just trying to find the strongest part of it,” he says, announcing that he found it and we are doing about 42 knots.

“We’ll stall if you drop below 40,” he warns.

Stall in a plans that has no engine? I ponder the consequences but decide not to ask. Instead, I point above our heads to a piece of yarn, taped to the thin plastic canopy (shown above) separating us from the wind. It’s flying straight up in the air and I recall that that’s a good sign—I give Billy a thumbs up.

Ten minutes into our flight and we are indeed above the Water Gap, circling the ancient crevice on the border of New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Billy maneuvers the updrafts, banking around so I can take pictures of the craggy Appalachian ridge, the thick green forest and the steady stream of vehicles on Rt. 80. “We’re in a sink,” Billy says, explaining that a sink is wind currents going down. “I’m hoping to get lift over here.” We’re gaining speed. “You feel it?” he asks. “C’mon baby, work for us...”

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Using a series of banks and turns, Billy gains some speed and height. But the maneuvers only bring the glider to an altitude of about 1,700 feet.

Alas, this gorgeous afternoon does not offer the strong lift Billy needs to pilot his glider.

“Blue skies do not make for an ideal soaring day,” he offers in apology, as our speed slows and we begin our return to the Blairstown airport.

Time to ask about that stall stuff. Billy explains that when a glider is flying too slow to maintain height, the nose of the aircraft will drop in a rolling spin. “Either purposefully or by (pilot’s) default,” adds Billy. “What you don’t want is to do is have either of those conditions in a landing. It takes a couple of hundred feet—less than 200 feet actually—to recover.”

On his approach, he explains a little more about the nuances of piloting a glider: “After you fly awhile, you know by the sound of the whistling wind—the feel of the plane—if you are at the right speed and if conditions are not right, you adjust.” Billy’s decades of experience makes a passenger feel at ease.

Twenty-five minute after take-off, we’re on the grassy landing strip. Bumping along on one wheel, momentum takes us within 10 feet of where Billy will park and store his aircraft. It takes about a half hour to pull on the plane’s covers, chock the wheel and consider the highs and lows of the flight. For Billy Taylor’s latest passenger, it’s a good story to share with his neighbors.

Go to www.yardscreeksoaring.com for more info.

One Year Later On the following pages, readers will find a review of the projects featured in our September 2008 edition (at right) and learn that the status of the long anticipated park at Athenia Steel on Clifton Ave. and the eyesore of an old veterans post on Lake Ave. have not changed. The former Schultheis Farm on Grove St? A deteriorating home is still the centerpiece of the otherwise green acres. In Downtown Clifton, a privately-owned parking lot has been purchased near Washington and Main Ave., down the street from the Recreation Center. More development notes and info follows in this review.

by Joe Hawrylko The former American Legion Post 347 on Lake Ave. in Botany Village has physically remained the same since the city purchased it in April 2007 for $415,000.

However, out of the public eye, City Manager Al Greco said there is progress being made.

The city may enter into a public-private partnership with Regan Development Corporation. The developer, which has built more than 340 affordable senior and special needs units at its Senior Horizons communities on Clifton Ave. and at the former Richardson Scale property off Van Houten Ave., may construct a six-unit complex designed for special needs residents.

The project would satisfy some of the 663 new or rehabilitated units Clifton must build before 2018 under the mandate by the NJ Council on Affordable Housing or COAH. While discussions ensue, the property remains vacant and boarded up, an eyesore to its Botany Village neighbors. For a brief period, the idea of razing this tract and other nearby houses to construct dormitories for Montclair State University was considered but ultimately the plans were not pursued by the City Council.

An expansive Athenia Steel Park just off Clifton Ave. may be a bit closer to reality, as the city prepares to send out bids this month for construction on the 11-acre northern section and an access roadway.

“What was holding up the development of the park was the access road,” explained Greco. “We finally got approval from the DEP. The access road will run through the center portion of the site.” The DEP was consulted due to the roadway passing over the contaminated central section. The plans include environmental controls to prevent access to the rest of the section.

The city purchased the 35-acre tract for $5.5 million in 1999 when it presented a conceptual plan for construction of 250 subsidized senior citizen apartments in two four-story buildings on the site. Additionally, the

plan called for two regulation-sized baseball fields, two soccer fields and four outdoor basketball courts.

Mayor James Anzaldi said in 1999 that he wanted to break ground for the park within two years. However, as a condition of the sale, the former owner, National Standard, was to pay for an environmental cleanup of the grounds that had become contaminated from plant emissions, and that is where the recreational aspect of the project stalled. National Standard was dissolved and getting the new owner to do the clean up has been cumbersome. The senior housing portion was completed on about five acres in April 2004, but the project was scaled back to one building with 125 units.

In August, Greco said the plans for the park are designed and that the city will bid out both the access road and park as one project, with the process starting this month. No start date for construction was noted.

Schultheis Farm may still be used as a farm. The city is still trying to work out a lease for a hydrangea farmer at the former Schultheis Farm on Grove St., but so far, the bids have come in much lower than what officials had anticipated. “We’ve actually put it out for bids twice already,” said Greco. “They didn’t meet the minimum requirements that we had.”

The city manager said the hydrangea farmer and another farmer are the two serious parties in the bidding.

He added that there are also at least six other interested parties. Despite the vacancy, the city will still receive $1.9 million in Green Acres funding. “We will craft a new bid spec and put it out for rebidding,” said Greco.

“Hopefully we’ll award a contract by Nov. 1, but most likely, no one would be doing anything until the spring anyhow.” The city purchased the 5.5 acres of rolling land along with the Schultheis family home in 2004.

The house on Grove St. has been vacant since the purchase and no use has been announced for it.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

33

Downtown Clifton is experiencing development in a number of areas. Most notably, the Genardi Building at Main and Clifton Aves., will soon be at full occupancy, three years after a fire destroyed the property.

Earlier this summer, construction began in the 8,600 sq. ft. area that faces the municipal parking lot with access to First and Madison Aves. This month, ANT Bookstore is scheduled to open a store and coffee shop at the location. “Having a bookstore in Rutherford in the past, we have some customer base,” Vice President Huseyin Senturk said of the Clifton store. “Clifton is close to Manhattan.” The group currently has a location in Somerset and the Clifton store will offer a selection of multicultural items, including Spanish and Turkish titles, as well as English books, and the coffee shop will be a welcome addition to the neighborhood.

The city’s acquisition of the vacant lot for parking on Putnam Pl. near the intersection of Washington and Main Aves., will be paid for by a revolving loan fund.

“We’ve had the fund for 15 years and used it for different projects along the line,” explained Greco.

“Some of it has been actual loans where businesses pay back funding and this is being applied towards the purchase of the parking lot.” The city manager said the property costs $210,000 and anywhere between 31 and 36 spots will be created, depending on which plans are

Near Clifton and Main Aves., Fort Lee Federal Savings Bank.

selected. Money for the closing fee will be contributed by the Downtown Clifton Parking Fund, an account which generates income by assessing a fee to development projects which do not provide parking in the Downtown Clifton commercial district. Among the new developments recently assessed a fee was Fort Lee Federal Savings on Main Ave. The building, which has access to both Main Ave. and the parking lot, has been under construction for over a year and was slated to be completed in the second quarter of 2009, but is still boarded up and the interior is incomplete. Fort Lee Federal Savings Chairwoman Yasemin Kostakopoulos declined comment.

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The former Bellin’s Swim Club on Main Ave. and the adjacent, now vacant Teddy’s restaurant at the front of its property is still being considered by Wayne-based developer Peter Evgenikos for a three-story retail and residential complex. Bellin’s Swim Club closed out its last season on Labor Day 2006. “I am told that the original plan—retail on the first floor and senior housing on the second and third—is still in place,” said Economic Developer Harry Swanson. “Engineer and architectural studies are underway and we are progressing for a final review on Sept. 17.” Evgenikos is also the owner of the Grand Chalet Banquet Center and Restaurant in Wayne.

He said he hopes the Jersey City-based 170-year-old banking institution will be the engine and prototype for other projects in the Lexington/Lakeview/Botany corridor. “The investment they made there was significant and it’s a showcase for the bank and our city,” said Swanson. While Provident’s next door neighbor, the former Capo D’Anno restaurant on Lexington Ave., remains vacant, the owner has been motivated to clean up the building and property The proposed real estate, law and financial building project has been terminated, said Swanson and no new plans are on the table.

The former Lee’s Hawaiian Islander Restaurant, now a vacant lot at the corners of Lexington and Piaget Aves., may still become a restaurant or banquet facility. Attorney Bill Sala said that new plans have been drawn up—sans the controversial parking deck that doomed the last proposal—and he appeared before the Planning Board on Aug. 28. The design plans are much smaller than the original, which drew the ire of neighbors. “We’re just trying to get approvals first,” said Sala. “As far as the business decisions, we haven’t come to a final conclusion yet.”

Provident Band has opened its first Passaic County Branch on Lexington Ave. and has provided a much needed economic boost to the area, said Swanson.

The now vacant restaurant next to the former Bellin’s Swim Club on Main Ave., near the Passaic border

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The CHS Annex

Story by Joe Hawrylko

New school will house roughly half of the 1,088 freshmen It’s taken more than half a decade, but Board of Education officials have made it clear: the new Brighton Rd. school will be open for freshmen students this September. However, the long-awaited project is not without controversy.

The district has acquired a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) for the Clifton High School Annex.

The facilities can be used, however, certain items must be addressed before a final CO is issued.

“It’s the little things that have to be done before it opens,” said Assistant Superintendent Maria Nuccitelli, who added that the TCO status will not delay the opening. “It involves some placements of emergency lights, some signs, those kind of things. We’re in the process of addressing those and we’re almost done with it.”

Some parents are unhappy with the handling of the scheduling. Board President James Daley previously had voiced his desire to have families receive the information early. However, when he was interviewed on Aug. 12, the schedules had just been sent out.

“I had pressed and I thought it was important that we get those letters out as early as possible,” said Daley.

According to Nuccitelli, the delay was simply unavoidable due to the size of the district and the logistics in coordinating two separate buildings. “We’re looking at the annex and the main building as one school—there are 3,500 total at the high school,” said Nuccitelli. “It’s quite an extensive process and again, we’re now dealing with a separate facility. We have been working very diligently.”

The new Clifton High School Annex at 290 Brighton Rd will serve about half of the freshmen class.

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In a Sept. 1 email, Superintendent Richard Tardalo noted that there are approximately 1,088 incoming freshman. Of that number, about 550 will attend the annex on Brighton Rd. “During the first few weeks we monitor attendance closely as over the summer things change; new students arrive and some students move on. The number fluctuates and (will be) officially reported to the NJDOE on Oct. 15,” he concluded.

The school selection process for freshmen students was primarily based on extracurricular activities. If a student registered for an activity that is based at the main building, they were assigned to CHS. This process was overseen by Nuccitelli, Tardalo and CHS Principal Jimmie Warren.

“When the children did their schedules in December, those kind of selections in their schedules would have placed them in the main building or the annex,” explained Nuccitelli. “If it’s one of those activities that would make them ineligible, then they would go to the main building.”

Circumstances such as a child’s home location or siblings already in the high school are not considered.

Rather, there is an appeal process.

“You can appeal to Mr. Warren and he will review it.

Decisions are made on a case-by-case basis,” said Nuccitelli. “We believe that we have more than enough time to handle the appeals.”

BOE Legal Representation In addition to the annex, Board members have spent time and money deliberating over who will legally represent the Board of Education.

Following the elections in April, the Board decided not to retain the services of Tony D’Elia. Angelo Bisceglie of Woodland Park was hired on an interim basis due to the inability to settle on a permanent candidate, and a power struggle ensued.

Board President James Daley and commissioners Michael Paitchell, Paul Graupe and Joseph Yeamans constitute a minority power on the elected body. In April’s Board elections, Paitchell—an incumbent—and challengers Daley and Yeamans aligned on a ticket.

Following the victory, the trio sided with Graupe in voting sessions, hoping to bring greater fiscal responsibility to the Board.

The opposition faction consists of Traier and commissioners Kim Renta, Lou Fraulo, Jim St. Clair and Norm Tahan. Following the dismissal of D’Elia, Daley formed a committee to select nominees to fill the vacancies, tapping commissioners John Traier, Lou Fraulo, Joe Yeamans and Paul Graupe for the task.

“I purposely put people from two groups. It was my wish that differences would be able to be worked out in the committee,” said Daley. “Mr. Traier filed a lawsuit and the committee never had a chance to work things out.”

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

In a bid to retain D’Elia, Traier asked the court to determine if a simple majority or two-thirds vote is needed to fire and hire attorneys that were nominated by a committee. In return, the Board filed a countersuit, alleging impropriety and cronyism.

“Basically the judge told us to reach a settlement and a settlement was reached,” said Daley. “It’s in the form of a consent order. He’s still holding the matter open to make sure the matter goes smoothly.

“Mr. Bisceglie will step down as interim general counsel. He still holds the labor negotiation console appointment,” continued Daley. “That’s a full year appointment and that was not an issue in the lawsuit.”

For the interim, the Board will rely on the services of Pat English, who had represented the BOE in the past.

“The fact of the matter is that Mr. English is the interim. The Board has representation,” said Daley.

“Anything the administration needs, they’re provided with. Nothing is being held up.”

The Board President is currently waiting for the committee to deliberate over the 13 applications and give the Board an answer by Sept. 9.

“Obviously, I didn’t support Mr. D’Elia in the organization meeting and I have no reason at this point and time to change my mind” said Daley. “As far as the other guys, I have a completely open mind. The committee members are going to do whatever they’re going to do. I hope they find some common ground candidate that is acceptable to all.”

The new attorney will inherit the Van Ness lawsuit against the school, which is currently in Appellate Court.

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Surviving Sixth Grade A ninth grader gives some tips to her younger friends Story by Ashna Bhatia Another school year is beginning and all of us are a bit anxious and excited for it.

Going from grade to grade isn’t that bad, since one still knows the environment and the way of things.

However, when a student is going from school to school, the situation starts to get scary.

Comparing all the school changes that I have experienced, the most frightening and thrilling one so far has been when I went from elementary school to middle school. Most fifth graders spend their summer away worrying about the mishaps that might occur to them during their first year in middle school, but don’t worry because below you will find tips on how to survive sixth grade.

Be Yourself Yes, I understand that by now you have heard these two words from your parents, friends, teachers and everyone else in between at least once, but understand that this is one thing that will help you out the most.

42

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Christopher Columbus and Woodrow Wilson Middle Schools.

Don’t be afraid to have an opinion or a voice, because in the long run it will define you as a person and show the world what you are made of. Peer pressure happens all the time in middle school, but that doesn’t mean you have to follow the crowd.

If you are true to yourself, you will find true friends that care about you; probably friends that you will keep forever.

Try Hard Staying awake in class might sometimes be difficult, and occasionally teachers may be boring, but to do well, you have to try hard.

Try hard to focus in class and listen to your teacher. You might not get the lesson, so raise your hand and ask the teacher a

question. If you don’t have time, come after school for remedial.

Either way, to be the best, you’ve got to try your best. Set a goal, and go reach it. Like they always say, “Aim for the moon, because if you miss, at least, you’ll land among the stars.”

Make New Friends Middle school is bigger than elementary school, and all those friends you have had for the last five or six years might not be in the same room as you anymore.

It will be a total change of environment and the best way to feel comfortable is to make new friends. I am not saying to forget the old ones, but because you are now split up and there are hundreds of more people around you,

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

43

you need to try to communicate with new people. Get out there and be bold. All you have to do is say hi, and that person can be your best friend until you are 60.

But choose wisely because if you don’t, you might end up with the wrong group of friends who can be a bad influence on you. Also don’t be friends with just anyone— make sure you like something about them and that you both have

a few things in common. And lastly, be yourself. I promise that someone is going to come along, realize that you are amazing, and want to be your friend.

Get Involved The perfect way to get used to middle school is by getting involved in extra-curricular and school activities. It can be the art club, the orchestra, or even a sport, but being in an activity only helps build a student.

You will make friends with people from all different grade levels, and you have a better visualization of how the school operates.

Time is taken up and new things are also learned. You might even find a new hobby, or a new passion for something that never before crossed your mind.

The experience will be great, and the memories will be everlasting, so why not try something new? Always remember that everything isn’t served on a silver platter, you have to go and get what you want.

Follow the Rules Middle school is a different ball game than elementary, everything is incomparable, especially the rules.

Now you will have a locker and eight different periods. You will have more teachers and each will all have their own mindset. There are only four minutes to make it from class to class and you have to change for gym.

Everyone will have to wear an ID and follow the dress code. The only way to survive all these rules is to follow them. Some of them might not make sense, but if you don’t want to get in trouble, just accept them.

These five tips are the ones that will help you the most in middle school. If you follow them and just try to do your best, there is no way that you can’t endure sixth grade.

On a concluding note, to all fifth graders who are tense and worried about middle school, don’t be.

Before you, there have been a million other people to make it through.

Take a deep breath, and try to make these three years the best, because these are the last years before things start to get real tough in high school. Be yourself, try hard, make new friends, get involved, follow the rules, and have fun; the insiders guide to surviving sixth grade.

44

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Restoring

Clifton Stadium Story by Joe Hawrylko Clifton Stadium is now 60 years old and will finally be getting a much needed makeover.

On Aug. 26, the Board of Education unanimously voted to accept a $20,000 donation from Aramark, the school district’s food service company, which will go towards the purchase of a new scoreboard.

“We just wanted to make sure that we weren’t precluded,” said Board President Jim Daley. “We wanted to know the conditions of the gift.”

However, in the week prior to the meeting, it looked as if the Board of Ed might not reach an agreement on how to handle the donation. Some commissioners wanted to accept the gift as is, while others had more ambitious plans for a scoreboard.

“Let’s see what else is out there in terms of upgrading,” said Board President Jim Daley in an interview prior to the meeting. “The scoreboard that (BOE member Norm) Tahan wants is an exact replacement of what’s up there. It’s a very nice amount of money to donate, but maybe we can get some more money. We have not been advised of the conditions.”

Daley instructed Commissioner Michael Paitchell to search for a scoreboard with the ability to be used by sports other than football and perhaps display sponsors and other information. The desired scoreboard carried a price of approximately $50,000.

In essence, the passed resolution is a compromise.

The $20,000 will go towards the purchase of a replacement scoreboard, which will bear the donor’s name. If Paitchell or the other Board members can secure $30,000 to make up the difference in cost, an add-on will be hooked up.

However, the vote was just a brief moment of unity for the Board before the bickering and chaos resumed. Daley kicked off the meeting with a prepared speech directed at Tahan, calling him boorish and comparing him to a bully.

“I take an issue with Mr. Tahan’s tactics,” he said the following day in an interview. “I don’t believe they’re conducive to both the professionalism of the Board and having commissioners work together.”

Though the two have been feuding, the latest incident took place in early August when Tahan appeared at September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

45

a facilities committee meeting overseen by Commissioner Paul Graupe to talk about a proposal for synthetic turf.

Prior to the facilities meeting, Daley denied Tahan’s request to talk about the turf proposal, stating that only members were permitted to speak.

Daley alleges that Tahan, who previously had served on the committee, was disruptive throughout the meeting. He also claims that Tahan hasn’t formally introduced his plan, which Tahan spoke about at the August 26 meeting.

“Superintendent Richard Tardalo and Mrs. Karen Perkins were asked directly if they had any information on this and they said none at all,” said Daley, who claims he heard the proposal for the first time at the Board meeting.

“But apparently, a number of people in the audience had information.”

Hellas Construction, Inc., a Texas-based synthetic turf company, is seeking to promote its product in the Northeast. Clifton’s historic brick and mortar stadium has been targeted as an ideal showcase field for the company, which has done extensive work in the South and Midwest, including the Dallas Cowboys’ new stadium.

The proposal came about due to football head coach Ron Anello’s relationship with his former boss, who is now an employee at Hellas.

According to Tahan, Clifton would get a special offer of about $600,000 for new turf—roughly half price.

Tahan said the figure would also include the relocation of

46

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

the track pits to the back of the end zone so that the field can be expanded to regulation size for soccer. Clifton Stadium would then be the model that Hellas officials showcase to prospective clients in the Northeast region.

The company is reportedly in talks with other municipalities, including Bloomfield, which recently had its field condemned and needs a replacement.

“Basically, this offer is on the table for a little while.

If we call them up two or three years from now, you’re looking at over a million dollars,” said Anello. “It’s like a spec house, that’s what this would be. It’s something that we ought to be very proud of.”

Synthetic turf would mitigate maintenance costs— about $60,000 annually due to resodding, geese patrols and painting—and open the field for other sports.

Daley said he’d welcome renovations if they were planned out and affordable. However, Anello believes the squabbling over the proposals is foolish.

“We’re not in the position to say no to someone that wants to give us a donation. No school can afford to do that,” said Anello. “We’re bickering over something that’s going to be a gift.”

The turf proposal will likely be a hot topic at the next meeting on Sept. 9. Daley also added that he plans to bring up renaming the field house at the stadium after coach Bill Vander Closter. The idea was pitched by CHS alumni in a story featured in July’s Clifton Merchant.

Fall Sports’09 Tennis

Stories by Jordan Schwartz Following last November’s disappointing 30-12 first round playoff loss to third-seeded Livingston, Coach Ron Anello was sitting in his office and evaluating the game with the rest of his staff.

“Last year, Pat [Ferrara] was playing little league football and now he’s a starting quarterback in a varsity game in the toughest league around,” Anello remembered telling his coaches.

“He wasn’t called upon to be our leader last year like Anthony Giordano was three years ago [when we won a State title].”

But the head coach, now in his sixth season, said the sophomore is ready to be more of a leader this year after quarterbacking the Mustangs to seven wins (Hackensack was forced to forfeit its victory over Clifton due to an ineligible player), a division title and a playoff berth.

“He has such a great attitude and a tremendous work ethic,” said Anello. “He’s such a level-headed kid; he just gets better and better.”

Back to protect Ferrara on the offensive line this fall will be senior three-year starting guard and defensive tackle George Grosz, who is getting some looks from Division 1 schools.

Classmate Keith Champagne, who transferred last year from Eastside, will line up at multiple offensive positions, including half back, slot back and split end, as well as free safety on defense.

“He’s a multitalented kid, so we have to put him out there where he can take over the game,” said Anello.

Champagne had an interception and broke up two passes in the end zone late in the opening upset win over Wayne Valley last year.

Mustangs

Football Sept 11

Wayne Valley

7:00 pm

Sept 17

at PCT

6:00 pm

Sept 25

Ridgewood

7:00 pm

Oct 3

at Kennedy

1:00 pm

Oct 9

at Don Bosco Prep 7:00 pm

Oct 16

Bergen Tech

7:00 pm

Oct 24

at Eastside

1:00 pm

Nov 6

Hackensack

Nov 26

Passaic

7:00 pm 10:30 am

Senior Corey Meyer will also play split end.

Classmate Nick Van Winkle, who missed his sophomore season with a knee injury before returning for a great junior year, will play tight end and linebacker.

“He’s a tremendous student,” said the head coach.

“He’s ranked 70th in the September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

47

class and is an AP kid, so before you even go correct him, he knows what he did wrong.”

Twelfth-grader Nick Giordano, Anthony’s 5-11, 210 pound brother, returns at full back.

He’ll be joined in the backfield by Mike (senior) and Joe Chiavetta (junior), who will be a part of Clifton’s running back by committee.

“We go with the hot hand and try to rotate a lot of kids in the game,” said Anello, who added that the Chiavetta brothers will also appear in the secondary.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

One major change Clifton will have to adjust to this season is the NJSIAA’s conference realignment.

The NNJIL has been dissolved and so the Mustangs now play in the North Jersey Tri-County Conference, a six-division league made up of 35 teams from Passaic, Bergen and Hudson Counties.

The Maroon and Grey are members of Division 1, along with Don Bosco Prep, Kennedy, Passaic and Passaic County Tech.

“It really doesn’t affect us too much,” said Anello. “Our schedule

is very competitive. It’s a very level playing field with the exception of Don Bosco and that would’ve been the same as the NNJIL because every two years you rotate.”

Clifton loses Teaneck from its schedule and rival Montclair has been shipped off to the Super Essex Conference, but the Mustangs gain PCT and Kennedy.

Still, Anello thinks the state missed a perfect opportunity to correct the competitive imbalance in New Jersey high school athletics.

“I believe schools should play all within their groups,” he stated.

“We’re one of 12 states in the country that doesn’t play that way.

When I talk to recruiters, they have a hard time understanding why we cross classification lines. They’re very bewildered by it.

“We want to be a politically correct state and we don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings,” the coach continued. “If I’m a Group 4, I don’t want to play a Group 2 for fear of them having a good team or because we’re not going to get much out of it.”

Anello does, however, approve of the new power point structure put in place for the 2009 football season.

Under the old formula, for every victory, teams received an amount of points equal to two times an opponent’s group number plus the amount of wins the opponent earned over its first eight games.

No points were awarded for losses.

Now, for every victory, teams get six points plus the opponent’s group number, plus three points for every win the opponent picks up over its first eight contests.

For each loss, teams earn one point for every other game the opponent wins over its first eight.

Tennis Tennis Baseball Gymnastics

Football

Track Volleyball

Graduating nine players and replacing the head coach would send most schools into rebuilding mode. But not at Clifton High.

“Every year for a Clifton soccer program, you want to win championships,” said Coach Stan Lembryk, who returns after a threeyear hiatus. “When I first took over, there weren’t any championships there, so our goal was to win everything. Our goals are to win Counties, Leagues and States.”

Lembryk, 40, was an assistant coach under Fernando Rossi before taking over the reins in 2001. That year, he led the Lady Mustangs to

their first of three County championships under his whistle and a sectional title.

Clifton was 80-20-6 in five seasons with Lembryk until the Wayne resident stepped down to spend more time with his family.

Dan Chilowicz took his spot and kept the team atop the standings for three years before the old coach returned.

Lembryk takes over a young squad that must first find a way to replace goalie Lianne Maldonado, who saved 66 of 75 shots last season before heading to the University of Maryland.

Mustangs

Soccer Sept 11

at Passaic Valley

4:00 pm

Sept 14

at DePaul

4:00 pm

Sept 16

West Milford

Sept 21

PCT

Sept 23

at Eastside

4:00 pm

Sept 25

IHA

4:00 pm

Sept 30

Ridgewood

4:00 pm

Oct 2

Hackensack

Oct 7

Fair Lawn

4:00 pm

Oct 9

at Bergen Tech

4:00 pm

Oct 13

Wayne Valley

4:00 pm

Oct 15

at Teaneck

4:00 pm

Oct 20

at Paramus

4:00 pm

Oct 22

Wayne Hills

4:00 pm

Oct 29

at Lakeland

4:00 pm

4:00 pm Lacrosse 4:00 pm

Cross Country 4:00 pm

Golf

The three girls battling for the keeper position are junior Eryka Baez and sophomores September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

49

Marina Rodriguez and Carly Padula.

Baez may have a leg up on the competition thanks to the two games she played in goal last year and the one she played as a freshman against Wall Township.

“I knew her background in goal.

She was reluctant at first, but she

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

bought into it,” said Lembryk.

“She’s a very good athlete with a strong personality, but they’re all in the mix.”

Whoever finds their way into net this fall will be protected by AllCounty senior Michelle Ferrara (3 goals, 4 assists) who returns to lead the defense.

Anchoring the midfield line is senior Vanessa Pinto, who scored four goals and assisted on three others last year. “She sees the field well and will lead the team into the attack,” the coach said.

Junior Megan Ferrara returns at forward following a 2008 campaign during which she led the team with 19 tallies and was second with 11 helpers.

“She has unlimited potential,” raved Lembryk. “She can do a lot of really good things for the team and make the team a lot better.”

But the Lady Mustangs will have to replace a great deal of talent this season, including

Adriana Daley (2g, 2a), Juice Netale (1g, 4a), Elise Burnett (2g, 12a), Jamie Lisanti (10g, 9a) and Kristina Cordova (7g, 3a). In all, Clifton graduated 42 percent of its goals and 54 percent of its assists.

“You don’t have that superstar, but you have a lot of good players,” Lembryk explained. “There’s a good foundation, it’s just going to take time to figure out the best situation for players, and some of them will be called on to play multiple positions.”

The athletes must also adjust to a new system.

“There are always going to be new ideas because it’s a different person looking at the game,” the coach explained. “My twist on how I see something is going to be different. It’s just a matter of getting familiar with all of them.

“This year is really tough because we have to do a lot of things in a short period of time,” he concluded. “Our success will come with time.”

Tennis Tennis Baseball Gymnastics

Football

Track Volleyball Mustangs

The boys soccer team finished with a record of 21-4-2 last season. Top row, from left, Adrian Santana, Paul Jadamiec, Josean Moquilazza, Brendan Guzman, Julian Macrone, Oscar Gonzalez and Valdrin Seci. Bottom Row: Igor Petrovic, Danny Lam, Oscar Valle, Freddy Hernandez and Anthony Tsouhnicas.

The boys soccer team has a good chance of reaching its third straight Group 4 State championship game this fall thanks to the return of five All-County players.

Junior forwards Igor Petrovic (13 goals) and Oscar Gonzalez (11g) led the Mustangs in scoring last year, when Clifton lost 2-0 to Rancocas Valley in the State final.

Senior midfielders Victor Manosalvas (11g, 10 assists) and Josean Moquillaza are also back.

“You have to be careful with expectations, but you can assume they’ll be better this year,” said Coach Joe Vespignani.

“When you return the core of your midfield, you’re in good shape.”

Joining Manosalvas and Moquillaza on that line is senior Daniel Lam, who scored five goals and assisted on three others in 2008.

All-County sophomore Brendan Guzman (9g) will probably replace graduated captain Ryan Ware at center back.

“We like him in that spot,” said Vespignani. “He can control the defense for us.”

Anchoring that squad is junior goalie Anthony Tsounikas, who earned a great deal of experience last season playing 19 games in place of injured starter Tom Frazcek, who has since graduated.

“We’ve got some holes to fill on defense at the two full back positions, but we return a core group on the offense,” said the coach, who added that the Mustangs bring back about 50 of the 80 goals they scored last season.

“The key to success this year is that a lot of guys are going on their second or third campaigns,” he

Soccer Sept 11

Passaic Valley

4:00 pm

Sept 14

DePaul

4:00 pm

Sept 16

at West Milford

Sept 21

4:00 pm Lacrosse at PCT 4:00 pm

Sept 23

Eastside

4:00 pm

Sept 25

at Bergen Catholic

4:00 pm

Sept 28

Kennedy

4:00 pm

Sept 30

at Ridgewood

4:00 pm Cross Country

Oct 2

at Hackensack

4:00 pm

Oct 5

Passaic

4:00 pm

Oct 7

at Fair Lawn

4:00 pm

Oct 9

Bergen Tech

4:00 pm

Oct 13

at Wayne Valley

4:00 pm

Oct 15

Teaneck

4:00 pm

Oct 20

Paramus

4:00 pm

Oct 22

at Wayne Hills

4:00 pm

Oct 27

at Don Bosco Prep 4:00 pm

Nov 3

at St. Joe’s

Golf

4:00 pm

continued. “We’ve got a ton of big game experience coming back.”

Vespignani hopes that leads to an outright State title, after finishing second last year and earning cochampionship honors in 2007.

Cross Country

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

51

Tennis Tennis Baseball Gymnastics

Football

Track Mustangs

Volleyball The girls volleyball team looks to improve on its second round exit at last year’s States.

Top row, from left, Jennifer Moran, Andrea Espinosa, Nikoleta Sragova and Christine Peskosky. Middle: Melanie Poplawski, Silvia Siposova, Emily Urciuoli and Kelly Young. Bottom: Holly Kocsis, Meghan Fahy, Natalia Dziubek and Kelsey Wojdyla.

The girls volleyball squad has the potential to do some real damage this season, after winning its league and reaching the County quarterfinals and State second round with a 16-7 record last year.

Leading a solid group of returning seniors is outside hitter Emily Urciuoli.

“She’s experienced, extremely athletic and has a lot of power in her swing,” said Coach Mike Doktor.

Also back is libero Sylvia Zubek, who was named Clifton’s MVP at last October’s Optimist Cup game against Passaic.

“She’s our only returning first team All-County player and she’s 52

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

been on varsity for three years,” the coach said.

Senior Natalia Dziubek, who had 11 assists in a first round State victory over Bergen Tech last November, is entering her fourth varsity season and her second as the starting setter.

Also contributing will be seniors Jennifer Moran (opposite), Kelsey Wojdyla (setter) and Andrea Espinosa (middle hitter), juniors Silvia Siposova (setter), Nikoleta Sragova (middle hitter) and Holly Kocsis (defensive specialist), as well as sophomores Melanie Poplawski (outside hitter), Meghan Fahy (defensive specialist), Kelly Young (opposite) and Christine Peskosky (opposite).

Sept 11 Sept 14 Sept 16 Sept 21 Sept 25 Sept 30 Oct 2 Oct 5 Oct 7 Oct 9 Oct 14 Oct 16 Oct 19 Oct 21 Oct 23 Oct 26

at Fair Lawn at Paramus at Teaneck Wayne Valley at PCT at Kennedy Eastside Bergen Tech Lakeland Passaic Valley at Wayne Hills IHA at Ridgewood Passaic at Hackensack DePaul

Soccer

4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm 4:00 pm

Lacrosse

Cross Country

“We’re a bit undersized, but we are a good defensive and serving team,” said Doktor.

As for the conference realignment, it may be more difficult for the Lady Mustangs to win the league this year because they’ll have to get by powerhouse IHA.

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*Offer expires Oct 1, 2009 September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

53

Baseball Gymnastics

Football

Track Volleyball Soccer Lacrosse

The girls cross country team, kneeling, from left, Danielle Camacho, Elizabeth Arias, Jillian Swisher, Sarah Mowaswes, Kerry Sorenson, Ektaa Rana. Standing: Sharice Larode, Aleah Elam, Josie Red Wing, Tanisha Johnson, Dana Qasam, Indera Silverio, Daphne Bienkiewicz, Priyaa Shah, Allison Green, Kriss Zambrano, Amanda Greco.

Coach John Pontes said this will be a rebuilding year for the boys cross country team, which captured League and County titles in 2008.

Returning are seniors James

hair • nails • color 88 Market Street, Clifton 973.365.0220 54

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Sahanas, who led the Mustangs last season with an average time of 17:00, and Esteban Rodriguez, along with junior Dan Green, who was third at 17:39, and sophomore Ryan Dziuba.

But gone are Andrew Kopko, Victor Almonte, Gary Feig, Hanni Abukhater and Ivan Enriquez.

Pontes hopes junior Wojciech Losos and senior Edgar Quintero, who is running cross country for the first time, can help fill the void.

“We lost a lot of seniors, but we’ll rise to the challenge,” the coach said.

The girls squad also graduated a number of runners, including Eloisa Paredes, Kayla Santiago, Brenna Heisterman and Gracy Arias. “But the girls have been able to get a little better training this summer than the guys, so they

Mustangs

Cross Country Sept 15

Passaic, Eastside

4:00 pm

Sept 19

at XC Open Inv.

9:00 am

Sept 22

Hackensack, Berg T 4:00 pm

Sept 26

PC Coaches Inv.

Sept 29

at BC/IHA, DBP, Rw 4:00 pm

Oct 2

Maroon Inv.

3:30 pm

Oct 6

at Teaneck, StJ, FL

4:00 pm

Oct 13

NJTCC Champ.

4:00 pm

Oct 23

PC Champ.

3:30 pm

Oct 30

West Milford, Man

4:00 pm

Nov 7

State Sectionals

9:00 am

Nov 14

at Stage Groups

9:00 am

Nov 21

at Meet of Champs.11:00 am

Nov 28

at NE Champ.

Golf

9:00 am

9:00 am

should be able to contend for a League championship,” said Pontes. Back are seniors Keri Sorenson, who was second on the team last year with an average time of 20:40, and Daphne Bienkiewicz, who was third at 21:47, as well as sophomore Josie Red Wing, who was fifth at 22:47.

Cross Country

The boys cross country team, from left, Ryan Dziuba, Eduardo Quintero, Dan Green, J'rod Davies, James Sahanas, Dylan Wong, Chirag Desai, Noe Lara, Joe Smerigllio and Woicech Losos.

They will be followed on the varsity roster by senior Aleah Elan, juniors Ektaa Rana and Priya Shah, sophomores Monica Miazga and Jillian Swisher and freshman Yuria Yuasa. “She looks like she’ll fit right in,” said Pontes about Yuasa.

The girls also took home League

and County crowns last year, marking the first time that both the boys and girls won Counties in the same season. Both squads finished fourth at the Sectional meet, qualifying them for the Group 4 race, at which the girls placed 18th and the boys 19th.

Pontes said the league realignment affects the team’s dual meets, but he doesn’t anticipate the schedule being any tougher than years past. Mike Rogers joins the team as an assistant coach. The CHS history teacher was a distance running star at Garfield HS and TCNJ.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

55

Tennis Mustangs

Tennis Lia Salierno leaves big tennis sneakers to fill, but seniors Michelle Kvitnitsky and Lena Elezaby are up to the challenge.

Salierno, who graduated in June, earned second team All-County honors playing first singles last year. Kvitnitsky, who reached the County semis at second singles, will most likely take her spot.

“She’s always been a strong player,” said Coach Chad Cole.

“Her serve has improved and she played a lot over the summer with her father. She was strong at second and hopefully she can make the adjustment.”

Elezaby, who lost in the preliminary round at the County tournament in 2008, should move up from third to second.

There are six other girls competing for the final singles spot and the four doubles positions.

Junior Ruchi Shah played some varsity doubles and JV singles last season, along with seniors Hetal Lad, Siddhi Shah and Megha Desai.

Juniors Jasmine Lao and Jessica Kunadia should also be in the mix.

Cole hopes the team can improve on last year’s 3-13 record.

“My doubles teams should be

Football

Sept 11

at PCT

4:00 pm

Sept 14

Passaic

4:00 pm

Sept 15

at Kennedy

4:00 pm

Sept 22

at Bergen Tech

4:00 pm

Sept 24

Ridgewood

4:00 pm

Sept 25

at Hackensack

4:00 pm

Sept 29

IHA

Baseball

Oct 2

4:00 pm Gymnastics at Fair Lawn 4:00 pm

Oct 6

Teaneck

4:00 pm

Oct 8

at Paramus

4:00 pm

Oct 9

Wayne Hills

4:00 pm

Oct 13

at West Milford

4:00 pm

Oct 15

Wayne Valley

4:00 pm

Oct 16

at Passaic Valley

4:00 pm

Oct 20

Lakeland

4:00 pm

Oct 22

at DePaul

Track

4:00 pm Volleyball

stronger and I have a little more depth,” he said.

The Lady Mustangs will also have to adjust to a new slate of opponents.

“None of the Essex County teams will be with us,” Cole said about the departure of Bloomfield, Montclair and Belleville to the Super Essex Conference. “We just have a couple extra Bergen County schools and we’re still going to have IHA and Ridgewood, so it won’t be no picnic.”

Soccer

Lacrosse

Cross Country

56

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Snug soccer cleats, hand-me-downs, can lead to Ingrown Nails

Blame improper toenail trimming, snug soccer cleats and repetitive kicking for a soccer player’s ingrown toenail problem, says foot & ankle surgeon Thomas Graziano, DPM, MD, FACFAS. “Plus many kids wear hand-medown cleats that don’t fit,” he adds.

“And older children like tighter cleats. They believe it gives them a better feel for the ball and the field.”

Prevention is key to avoid the pain, says Dr. Graziano. First, teach kids how to trim their toenails properly— in a fairly straight line—and don’t cut them too short.

Second, make sure cleats fit properly. “A child’s shoe size can change within a single soccer season,” Dr. Graziano reminds parents.

If a child develops an ingrown toenail, soaking their foot in roomtemperature water and gently massaging the side of the nail fold can reduce inflammation.

But Dr. Graziano warns parents against home treatments, which can be dangerous. For myths about ingrown toenail home treatments, go to FootPhysicians.com.

“If ingrown toenails show signs of infection, it’s time to seek medical care,” says Graziano, who can remove a child’s ingrown toenail and prevent it from returning with a 10-minute surgical procedure. He’ll numb the toe and remove the ingrown portion of the nail. Various techniques can remove part of a nail’s root too, preventing it from growing back.

“Most kids experience a little pain,” says Dr. Graziano, “but resume activity the next day.”

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

57

Top row, from left, Priya Shah, Maritza Domenack, Megan Miller, Camille Buscar and Kaylinn Rodriguez. Bottom: Simone Stilley, Nicolette Camacho, Gabriela Cruz, Kaitlyn McCracken and Carina Rojas.

Tennis Tennis Baseball The gymnastics team is searching for a girl who can compete on uneven bars as it opens its 2009 campaign. Donnalayha Cook placed sixth in the event at the North Jersey Invitational last October, but she has since graduated, leaving an opening on that apparatus.

Sophomore all-around gymnast Gabriela Cruz is the leading candidate.

She’ll be joined on the floor, vault and beam by juniors Maritza Domenack, Camille Buscar and Nicolette Camacho, as well as sophomore Megan Miller. Classmate Katilyn McCracken also returns to compete on beam and floor exercise. New to the squad are freshmen Karina Rojas, Simone Stilley, Jennifer Castillo and Mabelis Torres, along with sophomore Khadijah England and junior Kaylinn Rodriguez.

Football

Mustangs

Gymnastics Sept 14

at Wayne Valley

4:30 pm

Sept 23

at Wayne Hills

4:30 pm

Sept 30

West Milford

Track

4:30 pm

Oct 2

at Ridgewood

4:30 pm

Oct 12

Montclair

4:30 pm

Oct 19

Fair Lawn

4:30 pm

Oct 22

Passaic Valley

Oct 26

at Indian Hills

4:30 pm

Volleyball 4:30 pm

Soccer Lacrosse

58

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Cross Country

Back row, from left, Julie-Ann Cupoli, Stefania Pica, Julianne Lorenzo, Alyssa Koenigsberg and Brittany Murphy. Middle: Nicole Villegas, Christy Zoecklein, Caitlin Golebieski, Lina Jaramillo, Megan Lill, Shantel Cordero and Jamie Lynn France.

Front: Alexa Perez, Bianca Madrigal, Samantha Sonzogni, Valentina Correa, Tracey Gomez and Natalie Del Guidice.

All three cheerleading squads attended Pine Forest Cheerleading Camp last month. It is taught by Universal Cheerleaders Association instructors from all over the country.

The theme for this year’s camp was “heroes” and the teams participated in a pep rally to celebrate and honor the nation’s heroes. The girls also learned new material including cheers, chants, dances and stunts.

The teams were evaluated in two categories: cheer and extreme dance routine. All three of the Mustangs squads received superior scores on both of the evaluations.

Junior Samantha Sonzogni was selected as a UCA All-American, a distinction chosen based on her performance in cheer, dance and jump competitions.

All three teams participated in Camp Championships, which is held on the last day of camp. The JV placed in both the cheer and the extreme dance routine category.

“We were proud of how well all three teams did,” said second-year coach Christy Greco, who added that the cheerleaders will be working on encouraging more crowd participation this year. ‘The girls will be working together as a team to perform more advanced stunts and pyramids to help us visually lead the crowd. The cheerleaders want to see more people attending the games on a regular basis.”

The team will be led by seniors Shantel Cordero, Julie-Anne Cupoli, Natalie Del Guidice, Caitlin Golebieski, Alyssa Koenigsberg, Megan Lill and Alexa Perez.

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Marching Mustangs The Showband of the Northeast will kick off its 71st season of music and marching on Sept. 11 at Clifton Stadium at the opening football game against Wayne Valley in new uniforms. The new look is the result of funds earmarked by the Board of Education, along with donations from individuals and groups, including the Passaic-Clifton Chapter of UNICO. Robert Morgan, who has served as the band’s director since 1973, will be assisted by Lauren Dillon, Michele Morgan, Emily Jo Klein and Matt Brody. Debra Gretina is the president of the Mustang Band

Oct. 25 North Jersey Band Festival on the campus of Montclair State University. The Mustangs will also appear on Nov. 21 in the 10th annual “Military Tattoo” at West Milford HS. For more on the Marching Mustangs, go to cliftonmustangband.com.

Parents Association. CHS senior Nick Lichtenberger will be this season’s drum major.

Beyond football games, the band will march in Clifton’s Halloween and Veterans parades as well as the Pictured are Marching Mustangs seniors at band camp on Aug. 27.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Mustangs to Cougars Three Clifton grads play for a fourth at Kean University Story by Jordan Schwartz Just call it CHS South. Former Mustangs have been stampeding onto the football field at Kean University in Union ever since Coach Dan Garrett (CHS ’92) took over the reigns in 2006.

“Coach [Ron] Anello and I have a good relationship,” said Garrett, adding that the best man at his wedding, John Fiori, played for Anello at West Essex. But being a Clifton guy himself certainly helps, as well.

“When he took us in for a recruiting meeting, he told us he had a soft side for us,” said Anthony Giordano, a Kean junior.

Giordano, a 6-1, 190 pound quarterback, and Derrick Stroble, Jr., a 5-11, 160 pound defensive back enrolled at the university after leading CHS to a State title in 2006.

They both said it was difficult going from big man on campus to low man on the totem pole. “But that’s just how it is in college,” said Stroble. “You just deal with it and contribute anyway you can.”

For the former wide receiver, that means converting to playing in the secondary.

Anthony Giordano (CHS ’07) is competing for the starting QB job at Kean this season.

“Derrick has all the physical ability in the world, so we’re hoping he can contribute this year,” said Garrett.

Stroble saw very limited action as a sophomore, picking up just one tackle in 2008. Giordano, meanwhile, got into 10 games but

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

61

From left, defensive back Derrick Stroble, Jr. (CHS ’07), Coach Dan Garrett (CHS ’92) and Mohammed Ramadan (CHS ’09).

threw just one pass all season. That could change this fall, when he competes for the first-string QB job.

It’s a three-man race between Giordano, last year’s starter Tom D’Ambrisi, a redshirt sophomore transfer from Monmouth, and Chris Suozzo, a true sophomore from Old Bridge.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

“Going in as a freshman, they had a conference player of the year at quarterback [Al Roque from Matawan], so I knew I’d sit, but I thought I’d play sophomore year,” said Giordano. “Going into camp, I should be able to compete, so we’ll see what happens.”

Another Cliftonite joining the Kean team at practice this summer

is 2009 grad Mohammed Ramadan.

“We play a 3-4 defense and every film I watched on him tells me he’s going to play nose guard,” said Garrett.

“Mo was never getting moved or pushed around. I couldn’t believe he didn’t get looked at by higher level teams. He moves well for a big guy.”

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The Cougars’ current nose guard, a 6-1, 340 pound Red Bank graduate named Darryl Jackson, is getting scouted by a number of NFL teams.

“We have three senior defensive lineman, so I’m hoping Mo can get tutored from those guys and get a year under his belt and then really take over,” the coach said.

Garrett, himself, was a two-way lineman in high school under Coach John Iannucci. The team was pretty mediocre back then, so he was excited to see Anello, Giordano and Stroble bring the program back to its glory days.

“Growing up in Clifton, you always heard about the magic years, so I was proud of what those guys were able to do,” said the Athenia native. Garrett was raised off Mt. Prospect Ave. on Sergeant Ave. He played one year of Pop Warner before his parents decided to keep him out of football until high school.

The athlete also played baseball through his junior year before switching to lacrosse as a senior.

After graduation, he became a linebacker at Montclair State.

“I was always an athletic lineman,” Garrett recalled. “I always had my hand on the ground, so being able to stand up was nice. It was a very easy transition.”

Following college, the Clifton native played overseas for the Nuremberg Rams of the European First Division. That only lasted for one season, though, because Garrett missed his family.

When he returned to the States, Garrett became the linebackers’ coach at MSU in 1997. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 1999, when he was only 25.

That same summer, Garrett played for the Trenton Lightning of the Arena Football League.

In 2003, he took the coordinator position at Kean and three years later, he was named head coach.

“There’s a world of difference because everything falls on your shoulders at the Division III level,” he said. “I’m the administrative secretary, I’m the football operations guy.

“There’s never any offseason for me. It’s funny when people ask me what I do from January to July.

The recruiting for us goes over a four or five month stretch.”

Garrett makes his recruiting calls to Clifton High once a year, usually during the Thanksgiving

Game against Passaic. He returned again this past May for a player development camp at which he spoke.

In his first year at the helm in 2006, Garrett led Kean to its first winning season and ECAC Bowl Championship since 1994.

Last season, the team went 7-4 before losing its first game in the playoffs. The coach feels the Cougars look even stronger this year and are ready to move up to among the higher echelon squads in the New Jersey Athletic Conference.

With the help of a few Mustangs.

Borrajo Goes Pro Named captain of Real Maryland FC Jonathan Borrajo, a 2005 CHS graduate and former defensive star on the renown Mustang soccer squad, has signed a pro contract with Real Maryland FC, a United Soccer Leagues Division II team that is situated in Rockville, Mary. Borrajo, who graduated from George Mason University this spring with a degree in accounting, was a four-year starter on the Patriot backline. He served as captain in his senior year, receiving CAA AllConference Second Team and All-Tournament Team honors, as the school collected its fifth conference title in the history of the program.

He was also selected as the 2008 and 2009 Dennis Hamlett Defensive Player of the Year. At Clifton, Borrajo was a fouryear starter, a two-time captain and team MVP. He graduated with 29 goals and 50 assists and was the ’04 Defensive Player of the Year for Clifton.

Borrajo now captains Real Maryland, which finished with a record of 8-10-2.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

65

Old Mustangs Still Got Game: Jack Kievit (CHS ’57) and Dick Inhoffer (CHS ’58) helped the Central Mass. Rusty Blades take home a silver medal for the second straight year at the 34th annual Senior World Hockey Tournament.

Kievit played four seasons for the Fighting Mustangs and was in the starting backfield in 1956 with Roger Fardin and George Telesh.

Inhoffer was a junior on that team.

They reunited last year when Inhoffer joined the traveling hockey team of which Kievit has been a part of for the past 10 seasons.

They skate three mornings a week for two hours during the entire year and the team plays 12-15 tournaments in North America.

The Clifton Fall 2009 Stamp, Postcard and Cover Show is Oct. 3 from 10 am to 5 pm and Oct. 4 from 10 am to 4 pm at the Clifton Rec Center on Main Ave. Admission and parking are free. For more information, call 973-470-5956.

The Clifton Fighting Mustangs annual beefsteak fundraiser tricky tray is on Oct. 30 at 6:30 pm at the Boys & Girls Club. Tickets to this Halloween-themed event are $30 and checks can be sent to P.O. Box 843, Clifton, 07015. BYOB. For

tickets or information, call Carl or Tammy Gebbia at 973-772-6288.

The Clifton Passaic Optimist Clubs’ Hot Dog Night for the Mustangs and Indians football teams is Wed., Nov. 18. Info: Tom Hawrylko at 973-253-4400.

Old Mustangs still skating: Jack Kievit (CHS ’57 and standing on a ledge!) and Dick Inhoffer (CHS ’58) play hockey for the Central Massachusetts Rusty Blades.

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The Clifton chapter of BAPS Charities (Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purshottam Sanstha) annual walkathon is Sept. 20 leaving from 1 Brighton Rd. In keeping with its walkathon theme, “Building a Better Community, One Step at a Time,” a part of the proceeds will go to the Clifton Police Department. Registration begins at 8:30 am with the walk on from 9:30 to 11:30 am. For more info, visit bapscharities.org or call 973-234-8324.

Join Hannah Anolik, her family and team, Hannah’s Bananas, as they take part in their fifth Walk to Cure Juvenile Diabetes. The two-mile walk will leave from Medco Headquarters in Bergen County at 10 am (registration starts at 9 am) on Oct. 18. Lunch and t-shirts are provided. For info, donations or to join the team, visit jdrf.org or call Ellen Anolik at 973-779-2875.

The Coalition for Brain Injury Research’s 10th annual Cure for Traumatic Brain Injury Walk-a-thon is Oct. 18 at the City Hall Complex, 900 Clifton Ave. Proceeds will benefit the search for a cure. The event is dedicated to Dennis John Benigno, who was involved in an accident in 1984 that left him unable to walk, talk or communicate in any way. The three-mile walk will start at 9 am. For info, call 973-632-2066.

The Dutch Hill Residents Association’s flea market is at Weasel Brook Park on Sept. 12 from 9 am to 4 pm.

Vendor spaces are $40 and cash or check are accepted.

Rain date is Sept. 19. Call Terry McMahon at 973-594-9883 or George Silva at 973-470-0679.

The Boys & Girls Club of Clifton will host its third annual Fall Into the Past Alumni Beefsteak on Nov. 13 from 6:30 pm to 11 pm. Food will be catered by Baskingers and there will be complimentary wine tasting from Stew Leonard’s Wines of Clifton. There will also be entertainment and Hall of Fame inductions. For more information or $40 tickets, call 973-773-0966.

The Second Annual John Samra Memorial 5k Walk/Run is Oct. 11 at 8:30 am at City Hall.

John Samra was a Clifton motorcycle officer who was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 21, 2003. To keep his memory eternal, a scholarship fund was established in his name and events such as this run help fund it. Presented by the Clifton PBA with support from the Clifton Roadrunners, there are various levels of participation, from newcomers and youth, to competitive runners and seniors. Go to cliftonpba36.com for details or mail a $20 check to Clifton PBA 36, c/o P.O. Box 1436, Clifton, NJ, 07015. For sponsor info, call race coordinator John Kavakich at 973-470-5897 or send an email to sgt-at-arms@cliftonpba36.com.

If big motor bikes are more your style, the Clifton PBA 36 Poker Run is on Oct. 3, starting at noon at the Motorcycle Mall, 165 Washington Ave., Belleville and concluding at Pub 46 on Rt. 46 East in Clifton.

Registration is $25; $30 if you sign up on the day of the event. Call 973-470-5897 or visit www.cliftonpba36.com.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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The North Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce hosted Bowling for Business on Aug. 13 at Garden Palace Lanes on Lakeview Ave. Members split up into teams of four and bowled against each other in a friendly event that featured a number of prizes. Clifton businesses participating included Spencer Savings Bank, On Track Chiropractic, Valley National Bank, Cupo Insurance, Korman Communities, the Downtown Clifton Economic Development Group, Garden State Office Interiors and Emerald Financial Group. Proceeds from the event benefited the NJRCC Foundation.

For more information about the NJRCC, call 973-470-9300.

North Jersey Federal Credit Union has joined the United Way Foundation to support the Backpacks for Kids campaign in time for the new school year. The NJFCU purchased 200 backpacks, as well as supplies like pens, pencils, markers and notebooks, all of which will be donated to the United

send Clifton business news to TomHawrylko@optonline.net

The North Jersey Regional Chamber of Commerce held its Bowling for Business event at Garden Palace on Aug. 13. From left, Gloria Martini, Brian Guravage of the Chamber with Doug Pridgen and Mike Sanders of Garden Palace Lanes.

Way Foundation. Monetary donations were also solicited by members and donated. The NJ Federal Credit Union is located at 711 Union Blvd., Totowa.

Members of the North Jersey Federal Credit Union with some of the back to school items donated to kids through the United Way Foundation.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The NJ Preferred program made its debut at the end of July. Created

by North Jersey Federal Credit Union, it’s an alternative for companies to reach new customers by offering exclusive discounts and perks for NJFCU members.

Under the program, more than 30,000 members can purchase cars, dine at restaurants or even buy clothes. Participating businesses can insert coupons in bank statements, as well as advertise discounts and offers in NJFCU branches or online. In return, members get exclusive discounts offered by these businesses.

Clifton companies participating include Rainbow Deli & Liquors on Lakeview Ave., Honeymoon Expo Center on Rt. 46 and Chris Casey & Company Catering on Fifth St. For info on the NJFCU and its programs, call James Giffin at 973-785-9200, ext. 3328 or email him at jgiffin@njfcu.org.

Fette Ford and the Garden State Region Mustang Club hosted a Ford show at Fette on Aug. 8. Over 120 old and new Mustangs and Fords of all vintage were presented on a full show field.

The event was supported by the Clifton PBA, which cooked up hot dogs and hamburgers while serving cold drinks to the hundreds who attended.

The Passaic County Community College Foundation Autumn Golf Outing will be held on Sept. 22 at Black Bear Golf Club in Franklin. All proceeds from the event will provide scholarship support for PCCC students in need. There are prizes and giveaways, including an automobile and a 50/50 raffle.

Golfer registration is $175 per person and includes lunch and dinner. Non-golfers can purchase the ticket to the reception and awards dinner for $50.

Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

Reservations must be made by Sept. 14. To reserve a spot or for details, call 973-684-5919.

View The Giblin Report Wednesdays at 7:30 pm, Channel 76

Proud to Represent Clifton Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin 1333 Broad St., Clifton, NJ 07013 office: 973-779-3125

www.assemblymangiblin.com

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Tony Portaro and his band Whiplash perform at Dingbatz on Sept. 19.

Whiplash, a thrash metal band founded in 1984 by Tony Portaro (CHS 1979), plays Dingbatz on Van Houten Ave. on Sept. 19, a hometown stop on a tour to promote their seventh album. When the group was founded 25 years ago, the line up included Portaro (vocals, guitar), Tony Bono (bass) and Tony Scaglione (drums). Joe Cangelosi took over on drums in 1986, when Scaglione left to play with Slayer.

Cangelosi, who joined German metal band Kreator in 1994, recorded Cause for Conflict in 1995 and recorded Ticket to Mayhem in 1987 with Portaro and Bono. Two years later, Glenn Hansen joined Whiplash as its new singer.

Bottle of Bread returns to Fitzgerald’s Harp & Bard on Lakeview Ave. for two shows on Oct. 24 and Dec. 5 at 8:30 pm. From left, Bob Messineo, Jeff Bleeke, Pete Agnoli, Andy Sandel and Brian Brodeur. Messineo and Agnoli are both Clifton High School graduates. Visit bottleofbread.com.

The band split up but reunited in 1996 for two more albums before the original lineup recorded a final album together in 1998. Bono, 38, died of a heart attack in 2002, but

Whiplash reformed with Richi Day on bass. Their new album is called Unborn Again and Whiplash will also release a 25th-anniversary DVD entitled 25 Years Of Thrash.

1376 Clifton Ave., Clifton Richfield Shopping Center • 973-779-TCBY (8229) Daily Flavors: 973-779-3176 72

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The Allupons, the Clifton band featured in the August edition of Clifton Merchant Magazine, will perform live on Sept. 18 at Pub 17, 1315 Rt. 17 S, Ramsey, 8 pm.

Special guests include Hubbell Mountain and These Are a Fisherman’s Favorite Dreams.

Suggested donation is $10, and all of the door proceeds will go towards Melinda Coyne’s Team in Training page, which helps raise funds for leukemia and lymphoma research.

Coyne, a 2003 CHS graduate, will be running a half marathon in San Francisco on Oct. 18, and must raise at least $4,200 to benefit the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Coyne’s mother, Denise Palmer has essential thrombocythemia, a rare and incurable blood cancer. To donate, visit http://pages.teamintraining.org/nnj/nikesf09/mcoyne.

Show info at melindacoyne@aol.com or brian@theallupons.com.

The Clifton Arts Center Gallery will present “Tapestry: Ancient Art for Modern Times,” an exhibit by contemporary visual artists, The Wednesday Group. It opens on Sept.

23 and runs through Oct. 31. There will be a reception open to the public on Sept. 26 from 1 to 4 pm. Call 973-472-5499 or visit cliftonnj.org.

The Allupons are playing Pub 17 on Sept. 18.

From left, Annamaria Chilimintris, Joe Pollaro, Brian Kennedy, Angel Santana and Andrew Spain. Visit www.allupons.com

And Then There Were None, the latest production by the Theater League of Clifton, will be staged Oct. 9-11 and 16-18 at School 3 on Washington Ave. This detective fiction by Agatha Christie focuses on 10 people, who previously committed murder but escaped due to technicalities, who are tricked into coming to an island. Each is

Keep us up to date on Clifton’s bands, musicians, artists, galleries and arts events.

Mail info you want to share to tomhawrylko@optonline.net

mysteriously murdered in the manner of the nursery rhyme, one by one. And Then There Were None is Chirstie’s best-selling novel with 100 million sales to date, making it the world’s best-selling mystery and the seventh most popular book of all time.

The Theater League of Clifton will also host a poolside barbecue fundraiser on Sept. 11, starting at 6:30 pm at 15 East Parkway.

Tickets are $25. Reservations must be made by Sept. 8, and guests must be 18 years or older. To purchase a ticket or donate to the cause, call 973-896-8003 or go to theaterleagueofclifton.com.

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The Uke Center at 50 It’s golden at the Ukrainian Center on Hope Ave. Story by Marianna Znak-Hoholuk Can you name the time and place where you met your spouse? I can. It’s printed on a ticket stub from a dance I went to at the Ukrainian Center on Jan 12, 2002.

My husband performed with the band and during their first break we were introduced by a mutual friend. He bought me a drink and I shared a funny story about my father making home-made Ukrainian kielbasa. I guess I was witty because exactly one year later on January 11, 2003 we were married in a small ceremony performed by Clifton’s Mayor Jim Anzaldi.

Hundreds of people share a story similar to mine.

Couples have met, fallen in love and married at the Ukrainian Center.

To its patrons it is simply known as the Uke Center—a place to go to and hang out with friends, relax in after a long softball game, or come down on a Friday night and enjoy home-made Ukrainian varenyky.

At first glance, you might not see the enticement, but step inside the bar, buy a cold beer, have a great conversation with our bartender-extraordinaire Pani Vera and you will understand why the Uke Center has withstood 50 years of political, social and economic change.

Vera Czyrniansky has been the bartender at the Center for 25 years. During this time, she has witnessed the cycle

Writer Marianna Znak-Hoholuk grew up in Botany Village and just bought a new home with her husband Richard and daughter Zorianna in Montclair Heights. She is an ESL teacher and has taught at Christopher Columbus for three years and will begin the Sept. 2009 school year at School 13 on Van Houten Avenue.

of life for hundreds of people. She is the kind of person that will make your time at the Ukrainian Center as interesting as possible. She’s the reason so many people come back to the Center and the reason why it is known all around the world amongst Ukrainian communities.

Newly emigrated Ukrainians come to the Center just to meet the woman they have heard about from their friends in the States. Now, where else can you find another bartender that leaves such an impression?

Beyond meeting my husband there, I have a very personal relationship with the Ukrainian Center which dates back to my youth.

Ukrainian Center President Stefan Zurawski, his daughter Oksana and Vera Czyrniansky, the internationally renown bartender.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The Ukrainian Center’s Board of Directors, from rear left: Roman Andrach, Andy Zurawski, John Zielonka, John Karlicki, Michael Skala, Peter Mychalko, Roman Diduch, Zenon Betley, Steve Oliver. Middle Row: Bohdan Zurawski, Wasyl Harhaj, Peter Gres, Stefan Kosciolek, Zenon Chalupa, Nick Kulick, Michael Zielonka. Sitting: Marianna Hoholuk, Vera Czyrniansky, Stefan Zurawski, Tosia Oliver, Julie Karlicki

It began in 1980 when I first attended Ukrainian folk dance lessons and youth group meetings. I continued coming around in my twenties with all my friends for parties and dances. It is here that I’ve celebrated many special occasions and here that I have grieved.

In 2001, the Center lost a good friend and Board of Director member—Clifton resident and Port Authority Police officer John P. Skala. Johnny or “Yash” as we knew him lost his life on Sept. 11, 2001 in the attacks on the World Trade Center (his photo is on page 9).

During those first days after the attacks, the Center is where most of his friends came together to watch and listen for any news of Yash’s whereabouts. Sadly, we learned he had passed. Out of great love and admiration for his heroism, the hall of the Ukrainian Center was renamed the John P. Skala Auditorium and is commemorated with a plaque.

After my father Zenon Znak died in 2006, I was asked to take his place as a board member. I’m honored to have been asked and am working with a fantastic group of people, including long time board members Tosia Oliver and Julie Karlicki of Clifton. It is our goal to make this place welcoming for a new generation, while keeping the traditions that five generations before us set forth.

One person whom I respect tremendously and who has mentored me in numerous aspects within the Ukrainian community is Stefan Zurawski. Pan Zurawski has been a Clifton resident for over 30 years and President of the Ukrainian Center for over 20. His hard work and determination has kept the Center thriving for almost half its existence. It was his avant-garde vision that brought a resurgence of young members and his perseverance that helped renovate the bar.

But the Center is much more than a bar or a hall— it’s the glue that binds the lives of many people. On Tuesday nights, the Center hosts billiard league games. On Wednesdays, volleyball teams hold scrimmages and practices in the auditorium-sized hall. Friday nights the Ukrainian American Youth Association has youth groups meetings and dance practice; and there is much more.

The Ukrainian Center is also something larger; it is a community center which provides heritage and continuity over many generations. There’s also a lot of fun and friendship down here at 240 Hope Ave., so on behalf of its members, we invite you to visit any night or attend our Golden Anniversary events on Nov. 13 and 14. For details, call 973-473-3379 or write to me: mznak@aol.com.

The Zielonka Family

14 Sebago St., Clifton • 973-471-2600

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The Julia Rose Young Trust was founded to help support the 16year old Clifton girl who suffered third degree burns over 80 percent of her body.

The Young family is without health insurance and has been paying bills through hard work and donations. Here are details on two upcoming benefits. On Sept. 27, a dinner dance with live music will be held from 1 to 6 pm at the VFW Post 7165 on Valley Rd. Tickets are $25 with all proceeds to the Trust. The Paul Gargiulo Band and Jimbeau Jimbeau & The Retrocasters bring a wide range of roots-oriented material, & the Retrocasters perform. Call Pat including classic rock, blues, funk, reggae and country to a Sept. 27 benefit concert for Julia Rose Young (at left) to be held a the VFW Post on Valley Rd. Collucci at 973-279-8125 for tickets.

A Big Barbeque is on Oct. 17 from noon to 5 pm at the The Victoria Warne Band performs at a beefsteak and Clifton Masonic Lodge, 1476 Van Houten Ave. Tickets tricky tray at the Italian-American Coop, 282 Parker Ave. are $25 for adults, $10 for kids five to 12; those four and Doors on Sept. 12 at 6 pm. Catering will be handled by under get in free—all proceeds benefit the Trust. DJ Baskingers. Tickets are $30, and all proceeds benefit proRocky will get things going with a band lineup to include grams run by the Clifton Historic Botany District, includAgents, Acoustic #4, Brookwood, Big Bad Wolf, Group ing blues fests, concerts, community events and more.

Therapy Inc. and Mothership. Sponsors include All Star Call 973-546-9737 or visit www.historicbotany.com.

Rental, Inc., All Service, Gifts of God Little Angels Remembering Ronnie I, a tribute to the late Ronnie Entertainment and PostNet. For tickets, call Young Italiano, founder of Clifton Music, is Nov. 28 at the Lodi Brothers Deli at 973-777-6644 or write to Chris Cameron Boys & Girls Club, 460 Passaic Ave. Performing will be at juliaroseyoungbenefit@yahoo.com. Individual dona- The Harptones, The Solitaires, The Devotions, Barbara tions can be made to the Julia Rose Young Trust: c/o English and the Clickettes, Cornerstone and a surprise KBK Wealth Management, LLC, ATTN: Michael group. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased at Clifton Music, 1135 Main Ave., or call 973-365-0049.

Kessler, 29 East 44th St., Suite 1200, NY, NY 10036.

Jerome Mykietyn (left) has released his freshman blues album, Sing it, white boy!

Mykietyn’s album touches upon numerous issues, including global warming (“Hothouse Blues”), homelessness (“Man in the Box”), the state of the economy (“Inflation Blues”), the war (“Bullet Blues”) and love’s rejection (“Been Retired From Your Love”). Mykietyn has recorded professionally since 1963, when he released his first single on vinyl for the Dunes label while a sophomore in college. Afterwards, he signed a deal with Laurie Records and churned out 15 singles over the next six years.

However, with only a few minor hits and a new family on the way, Mykietyn picked up a steady job but still kept writing, singing and ‘the dream.’

Visit www.myspace.com/thereclamators.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Since 1999, Sho pRite has donate d more than $11 m illion to over 1,40 0 local and nationa l charities to fight against hunger.

Join us by lookin g for the ShopRite Partners In Carin g shelf tag when yo u shop — and by participating in th ese events...

Proceeds benefit The ShopRite Partners In Caring Fund, a component fund of the Community Foundation of New Jersey.

Car Wash Sept. 12, 13 & 19: Our employees volunteer to wash cars in our parking lot— $5 for Cars, $7 for Vans or Trucks—stop by!

Thru Sept. 27: Put your favorite store manager behind bars near the courtesy counter. They have to call friends or ask customers for donations to cover their bail!

Silent Auction Thru Sept. 27: Talented

Christian Casiano

employees Alfonso Hernandez, Elba Jugo, Christian Casiano & Robert Rezendez donated their artwork, displayed near check out.

Place a bid—you may win a collector’s item.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Maestro Francesco Santelli, Artistic Director of the Garden State Opera presents a double bill at the YM-YWHA on Scoles Ave. on Nov. 7 at 7:30 pm. The performance will include four scenes from Paul Hindemith’s opera Mathis der Maler and Donizetti’s Italian opera buffa Il Campanello. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students. The performance will support the Clifton Public Schools’ Adopt a Music Student program.

Call 973-272-3255 or visit gardenstateopera.homestead.com.

Fall Fest 2009, a New Jersey Music and Arts production, is on Oct. 23 at 7:30 pm at Passaic County Community College auditorium, Paterson. This celebration of the season features music, drama and dance by the New Hope Players, the WAIT Dance Team, the Arts and Folklore School Dance Ensemble and others. For $10 tickets, call Francesco Santelli at 973-272-3255.

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September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

The Conservatory, a new dramatic series broadcast on Channel 76, various cable access stations, or at www.atcstudios.org, follows the lives, loves and drama of the teen and adult students and staff of a fictional performing arts conservatory.

“That’s the bare-bones description,” said ATC Artistic Director Kathleen Kellaigh, owner of a real-life performing arts conservatory located in Downtown Clifton since 1990. “[The Conservatory is] now being written largely by teens and young adults in ATC who’re dedicating several hours each week to meet, discuss and write the story lines.”

The cast, crew and production staff – including Kellaigh, who has directed Episodes 2-4—are all local residents, and all volunteers. “We’re training students in all aspects of production—pretty soon, episodes will be written, directed, filmed and edited by these upcoming young professionals.” The series films locally and the Midtown Grill on Main Ave. is featured in episodes 1 & 4 where The Conservatory students hang out.

Kellaigh said Episode 5 is “the party” episode and young people from Clifton and other North Jersey towns, have been lobbying to be included in the cast. Auditions are held periodically and the best way to up your chances of being cast is to be in one of ATC’s classes. “That way we know you’ve got the vocabulary and you’ll have a better idea of how we work,” offered creative team and cast member Chris Robertson. Other Cliftonites in the cast include Sarah Robertson and Paige Sofia Sciarrino.

ATC Studios welcomes new students and potential cast members to their fall Meet & Greets on Sept. 8, Oct. 13 and Nov. 10, 6-7 pm.

Information on classes and the production may be found on the Web at www.atcstudios.org, or by calling 973-772-6998.

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

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Birthdays & Celebrations! send us your dates and names... tomhawrylko@optonline.net

Michael Capwell …………9/1 Allison Di Angelo …………9/2 Bill Federowic ………………9/3 Dave Gabel ……………….9/3 Sharon Holster …………….9/4 Joseph Shackil ……………9/4 Eric Wahad …………………9/4

Happy Birthday to Dorothy Funke, who will be 87 on Sept. 16.

Congratulations to Jim and Anna Schubert, who celebrate their wedding anniversary on Sept. 11. Happy Anniversary to Mike and Karen Hrina on Sept. 20. Congratulations to Peter and Helen Abbate, former Cliftonites from Fairhope, Ala., who celebrate their 67th wedding anniversary on Sept. 27. Also, belated birthday greetings to Peter, who turned 91 on July 21 and Helen, who turned 85 on Aug. 22.

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Elisa Tacchi (‘99 CHS) wed Stefano Casoli in Gubbio, Italy on Aug. 8.

Jaclyn Scotto ……………9/16 Kathleen Gorman ………9/18 Amanda Meneghin ……9/18 Dawn Smolt ………………9/18 Daniel Smith ………………9/18 Gloria Turba ………………9/18 Mickey Garrigan…………9/19 James Graham …………9/19 Rickie Ojeda ……………9/19 Sara Gretina………………9/21 Lynne Lonison ……………9/21 Annamaria Menconi ….9/21

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Sharon Ann Klein (‘99 CHS) and Matthew Roche married on Aug. 8 at Sage Chapel on the Cornell University campus.

Christy Gordon ……………9/5 Mohammed Othman ……9/5 Ana Stojanovski. …………9/6 Darren Kester ………………9/7 Eddie Bivaletz …………….9/8 Shannon Carroll ………….9/8 Geoff Goodell. …………….9/9 Annamarie Priolo ………….9/9 George Andrikanich ……9/10 Nicole Moore ……………9/10 Ronnie Courtney ……….9/11 Tammy Csaszar …………9/11 Andrew Orr ……………….9/11 Andrew Shackil …………9/11 Lee Ann Doremus ………9/12 Wayne Funke ……………9/12 Dorothy Knapp …………9/12 Sarah Bielen ………………9/14 Anthony Dorski …………9/14 Jayde Gouveia-Hernandez …9/14 Manny Monzo ……………9/15 Stacey Corbo …………….9/16 Nancy Ann Eadie ………9/16 Joe Genchi ……………….9/16

Carly (14) and Cheryl (51) Hawrylko share a 9/12 birthday.

Peter Skoutelakis ……….9/21 Valerie Carestia …………9/22 Beverly Duffy …………….9/22 Timothy St. Clair ………….9/22 Keith Myers ………………9/23 Brian Salonga. ……………9/23 Brian Engel ………………9/23 Pam Bielen ………………9/25 Deanna Cristantiello.……9/25 Donato Murolo. …………9/25 Corey Genardi ………….9/26 Kenneth Chipura ………9/28 Richard Van Blarcom …9/29 Barbara Mascola ……….9/29 Thomas E. Moore ………9/29 Mary Perzely …………….9/29 Lauren Hrina …………….9/30 Ryan Lill.……………………9/30

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John Saffioti’s

973-773-2409

A Great, Affordable Place for Drinks & Good Food Dear Friends, Like you, the tough economy has me watching what I spend.

So if you are planning a night out, re come to my Neighborhood Tavern whe ks drin of the prices for food and a couple won’t make you dizzy.

Since opening Heart of Athenia, I’ve kept our prices fair, our service great and our quality outstanding.

Also, if you are planning a private party, we can accommodate up to 50 peo with k wor I’ll ple. From drinks to food, oyou to create an affordable and mem rable affair, one we’ll both be proud of.

We’re on a one way street so to get here take Pleasant or Sade St. off of Van ing Houten. I think you’ll enjoy an even at Heart of Athenia...

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ty Call About Booking a Private Par 82

September 2009 • Clifton Merchant

Our Tavern is Meticulously Restored

Pool, Darts & a Great Jukebox

Artfully Pouring Stella on Tap

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On Aug. 24, about 200 parishioners of St. Nicholas Ukrainian Catholic parish gathered on the front plaza of the church at 217 President St., Passaic to celebrate the 18th Anniversary of the Independence of Ukraine. The event was also part of the 100 Year Celebration for the church, which will officially begin on Dec. 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, Patron Saint of the parish.

All are invited to St. Nick’s annual Parish Picnic on Sept. 13, beginning at noon. Info at www.stnicholasucc.org.

The St. John Kanty Picnic is Sept.

13 at the Parish Center, Speer Ave., off Van Houten Ave. Music, food, raffles, fun for the kids in the school parking lot. Call 973-471-9620.

The Athenia Street Fair is along Van Houten Ave. on Sept. 13. Pony rides, a petting zoo, amusements and food, classic car show and music by Brookwood. Call 973-473-0986.

St. Mary Protectress Ukrainian Orthodox Church, 81 Washington Ave., hosts a Picnic on Oct. 4 at 1 pm on the church grounds. Homemade food, including pierogies, stuffed cabbage and more will be sold.

There will be a 50/50 raffle, and all proceeds will go to repairs needed at the church. Call 973-546-2473.

St. Andrew’s Craft Fair is Nov. 14 and 15 from 8:30 am to 3 pm. at 400 Mt. Prospect Ave. Call 973-773-4120.

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