Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake
PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
VOLUME 25 ISSUE 18
‘COURAGE, HONOR’
JULY 19, 2021
HILLSDALE
TOWNSHIP OF WASHINGTON
SUMMER FUN Fire department fundraiser carnival delights
KIDS NEAR AS SEMI SNAPS ON PASCACK
Cargo said in order; cause of failure under investigation
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
Congratulations and a job well done to Sein Kim of Westwood, now graduated from Valley Forge Military Academy. SEE PAGE 29
PARK RIDGE
FLOODING PERSISTS ON BERTHOUD STREET Borough investigates; questions for The James
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Amid last weekʼs torrential rainstorms — complete with unusual hail in parts of the Pascack Valley, and related power outages for thousands — one Park Ridge business owner saw his street flooded. He says he gets swamped even after minor rainstorms. Despite years of fighting town hall to get some relief from flooding about a decade ago — which the borough resolved by installing a storm drain near his shop — he said the problem has resumed. Robert Gervase, owner of
See Flooding on page 284
F
Families from across the Pascack Valley made the most of the 28th Annual Hilldale Fire Department Carnival, July 6–10. “I love it all,” says its founder. AMILIES, STUDENTS,
and revelers generally turned out in droves for the 28th Annual Hillsdale Fire Department Carnival, enjoying rides, games, music, and classic midway food and treats. Anticipation only grew in the days leading up to the carnival, July 6–10, as the stately Ferris wheel, and so much more that speaks to summer, rose above the west borough parking lot. Weather, of course, was an issue, with torrential rain and a pounding hailstorm canceling Thursdayʼs fun. But in photos and videos, the carnival
CARNIVAL PHOTOS BY ZOLTÁN HORVÁTH/DIGITAL VISION PHOTOGRAPHY
lingers still as a complete success. It was organized by its founder, 51-year veteran firefighter and borough Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Bill “Butch” Franklin, who told Pascack Press last week “It was great. I started it in 1993 when we were looking for a fundraiser for the fire department. Iʼve been doing it ever since.” And the carnival, like so much else, was cancelled in 2020. Franklin said, “Saturday was a fantastic day.
See Summer Fun on page 394
Pascack Road southbound was shut down at Washington Avenue the morning and afternoon of July 13 after a white tractor-trailer carrying scrap metal components snapped on the road, its deck broken and sidewalls pursed open at the halfway mark. Police were diverting southbound traffic on Pascack Road in front of Bethany Church to Colonial Boulevard; traffic was still passable, pending offloading and towing operations, on Pascack Road north. Metal from the trailer, from Teplitz Inc. of Nanuet, N.Y., scraped asphalt for approximately 100 feet before coming to a halt, its tail in the air, essentially at Bethanyʼs driveway, 570 Pascack Road. Nobody was reported injured, Washington Township Police Capt. John Calamari told Pascack Press in the aftermath. He said the semi — “it just snapped and itʼs just sitting” — would remain in place while it was unloaded and the company made related arrangements. Calls to dispatch came in starting at 9:05 a.m. The area already feeds into a
See Kids on page 294
KNIGHTS ON TOP
B ck in time...
St. Joe’s baseball delivers on its goal, adding a fourth state title to its list of accomplishments. Now head coach Mark Cieslak rebuilds for ’22. SEE PAGE 6
Kristin Beuscher brings us back to Pine Lake, a popular recreation attraction from the 1930s to the 1970s at the northwest corner of Pascack and Ridgewood roads in the township. SEE PAGE 4