MUST GO
Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake VOLUME 24 ISSUE 33
WHO’S ENGAGED?
PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S BEST H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R WESTWOOD
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
Covid economy claims fundraising thrift shop after 63-year run BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
Westwood’s Brittany Marie Sambogna to marry Dietmar Richter. SEE PAGE 16
WESTWOOD
B OROUGH
TO V O T E ON D R O N E S Police chief backs action Nov. 24
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
An incident with a drone earlier this year put the increasingly popular aerial surveillance tools on the Borough Councilʼs radar. Hoping to address safety and privacy concerns raised in a local incident involving a child, the council introduced an ordinance by unanimous vote on Oct. 20 to regulate small unmanned aerial vehicles in airspace below 400 feet. That airspace is unregulated by the Federal Aviation Administration. The ordinance does not prohibit the authorized and lawful operation and use of small unmanned aircraft for commercial, business, educational, scientific, research, environmental, and personal purposes “pursuant to and in accordance with applicable regulations.”
See Drones on page 194
Itʼs a sad ending to a 63-year success story, as Our Thrift Shop, at 245 Old Hook Road, finds itself with only weeks left to serve. The last day of sales is Nov. 15. The lease is up at the end of the month. Local charities have pledged to make good use of whatever remains after the final retail push—though itʼs not clear how organizers are going to get the heavier fixtures out. “Due to the pandemic and the loss of revenue for over six months, we have been unable to stay in business,” said Suzi Gerace, an artist and designer, on behalf of manager Vivien Woodford, 94, and a dwindling roster of other volunteers. Woodford told Pascack Press on Oct. 28, “Iʼm sad. It was this pandemic.” Our Thrift Shop was originally a fundraiser for the Pascack Valley Hospital. When the hospital closed in 2007 it reopened to benefit the nonprofit Art School at Old Church in Demarest. Our Thrift Shopʼs five showrooms are rich in affordable quality clothing, shoes and accessories, housewares, books, childrenʼs items, works of art, and more—all packed into 2,500 square feet. The shop is having a liquidation sale and everything must go. All clothing is $2 and all other merchandise is at greatly reduced
prices. The shop will be open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Please come and see us and take advantage of the great bargains. For safety purposes we are taking temperatures, using hand sanitizer and are requiring masks and social distancing. We will also be selling racks, bookcases and other store fixtures,” Gerace said. She added, “It has been a pleasure to take generous donations and distribute them to our local residents. We will miss you all.” Garace told Pascack Press, “In March, when we closed, we had rent of more than $5,000 a month. We had all these expenses and no income. The landlord cut the rent for a while, but then when we opened in September—with temperature checks at the door, restricted occupancy, hand sanitizer and other precautions—our staff didnʼt want to come to work. And he [landlord Nick Theisz] wanted his money.” She added, “A lot of our people are older volunteers, so their health is at risk. Vivien canʼt really be exposed to strangers coming in and out of the door; we we keep OUT IN THE COLD: Our Thrift Shop’s elegant mannequin, her home and try to protect her so modeling fashions of the season, catches the eye on Old Hook Road on a wet Oct. 28 morning. The store is closing. that sheʼs not with the masses.” She said receipts have been Gerace said the Salvation and a mission to Haiti. “We donʼt about $200 a day since reopening. Army, the Lions Club, and the want it to go into the landfill; “Itʼs not enough. The best American Veterans have promised people can be using it.” thing would be for people to come to put leftover goods to work, and She added, “At one point we and buy our stuff so we can get rid that Our Thrift Shop supports a had 30 or so volunteers, and now of it,” she said. thrift store in southern Vermont
TOP PHOTO CREDIT JOHN SNYDER
Continued on page 38
KID POWER
B ck in time...
It’s not all screen time these days as Hillsdale neighbors band together to clean up around Beechwood Park. SEE PAGE 14
Hayseeders, Commuters square off! Foresters’ Hall on Kinderkamack Road was the site of Park Ridge’s first local election.
SEE PAGE 4