Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake VOLUME 24 ISSUE 51
POISED TO LEAD
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 PASCACK HILLS
PASCACK REGIONAL
MCNIERNEY DELIVERS
Unstoppable milestone shot in a pandemic year
Woodside Principal Melissa Signore is named River Vale Public Schools superintendent. SEE PAGE 11
WESTWOOD REGIONAL
KEEPING
School board weighs $1M on man-trap doors
KIDS SAFE
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
District trustees voted unanimously Feb. 25 to delay a vote on school security improvements worth more than $1 million, after several trustees said they did not have enough information to cast a vote. Member Michael Pontillo, Westwoodʼs police chief, called the proposed expenditure “nothing more than a feel-good measure.” The item was tabled to a special meeting March 4, just after press time. Board Business Administrator Keith Rosado said the low bid for security vestibule renovations at the districtʼs five schools was submitted for $1,013,000 by APS Contracting Inc. of Paterson. He said
See SAFE on page 234
MARCH 8, 2021
A YEAR AGO Emma McNierney was voted North Jersey Girls Basketball Player of the Week. Now, with PH’s March 2 win against Ramsey, the senior is in the record book. That was PH Trailblazer Ernest, a New Jersey State “In a 55–45 win over Ramsey on March 2, after hitting a journalist Stephen Schmidt on Coaches Association Hall of step-back 3-pointer, Pascack March 3, memorializing McNier- Famer, who is retiring this year. Ernest told Pascack Press Hills senior Emma McNierney neyʼs amazing run. And itʼs an achievement as on March 4 that McNierney was scored her 1,000th career point. She is only the fifth Hills girl to well, and one to be savored, for one of the hardest working playscore 1,000 points in basketball.” girlsʼ head basketball coach Scott
Continued on page 26
PHOTO BY KATE ERRITY. GRAPHIC BY STEPHEN SCHMIDT FOR THE TRAILBLAZER
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Dick Bozzone, a past commander and the historian of Cpl. Jedh C. Barker American Legion Post 153, is suprised with special birthday gifts.
SEE PAGE 26
STUDENTS FOR PV PANTHERS, PH BRONCOS School board to discuss mascots March 8
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Students and faculty at the districtʼs two high schools have proposed Pascack Valley Panthers and Pascack Hills Broncos for their new mascots, and now itʼs up to the school board to decide. The Pascack Valley Regional High School District school board next meets Monday, March 8, and will discuss the matter then, including the costs associated with making the change. A vote is expected at the boardʼs March 22 meeting, a district spokesperson told Pascack Press. Both mascots were selected Feb. 25 in a majority school-wide vote at each school, with 70% of Hills students and staff preferring Broncos, which prevailed over low vote getters Phoenix and Trail Blazers. Both schools will vote on a logo in a similar school-wide selection process following a final board decision on mascots. At Pascack Valley, 69% of students and staff preferred Panthers, far outpacing options Green Wave and Hawks. At the boardʼs Feb. 22 meeting, where student mascot committee representatives revealed each schoolʼs three finalists, trustees provided a preview of topics likely to emerge March 8. Montvale Trustee Michael
See MASCOTS on page 34
B ck in time...
The Gem Vaudeville Moving Picture Theater screened films inside a canvas tent on what is now Westwoodʼs Veterans Memorial Park. Admission was a gentlemanly 10 cents. SEE PAGE 4