Pascack Press 7.25.22

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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 26 ISSUE 19

Standout student

JULY 25, 2022

SHARING STORIES

PASCACK VALLEY

Schools, libraries go big on summer reading

COUNTY SPARES GROWN GEESE

Ordinance bars contracts to remove and kill; ʻegg-addlingʼ preferred

BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS

GFWC/NJSFWC The Woman’s Club of Westwood rewards the work, service of Westwood Regional’s Erin Luhrs. SEE PAGE 17

PASCACK VALLEY

DISTRICTS

ACTING ON MENTAL HEALTH

Pascack Valley Regional seeks service provider; Westwood Regional follows up ʻBe Kind to Your Mindʼ BY MICHAEL OLOHAN AND JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS

With intense focus placed upon mental health services nationwide in the wake of recent mass shootings in schools and other public places, the Pascack Valley Regional High School District recently requested proposals from qualified mental health professionals to offer services for its high school students. Meanwhile, the Westwood Regional School District is putting momentum from its May “Be Kind

See DISTRICTS on page 314

S

Woodcliff Lake’s Dorchester Elementary School, like schools and libraries Pascack Valley-wide, are in full swing of the season with summer reading lists and related activities for kids. Families are invited to get involved. OME FOLKS HAVE stacks of books ready to read at the beach, neat piles of novels on the nightstand, and a title or 12 stashed in the car — or maybe itʼs just us — but whatever your reading habits, summer beckons as the perfect time to dive into new worlds. Area students have the advantage of being let loose on summer with carefully curated recommended — and in some cases required — reading. Do check out your local libraryʼs programs. Meanwhile,

Here are highlights of what our English teachers and media instructors encourage kids to check out…

Pascack Valley Regional High School District Valerie Mattessich, supervisor of instruction for English, Art & Media Centers, says the 2022 PVRHSD summer reading program “allows for curated choice at each grade level/course “in keeping with a thematic focus related to each courseʼs curriculum. Students will choose one of

5WOODCLIFF LAKE SCHOOL DISTRICT PHOTO

the titles listed under their given English course as their mandatory summer read.” The district provided links to Amazon/Common Sense Media/Goodreads summaries of each title on the list so that students and parents can make informed decisions. Books vary in terms of maturity of content, use of “adult” language, and type of subject matter. Mattessich says, “The English team worked diligently to ensure that a variety of reading

Continued on page 7

Bergen County Commissioners were expected on July 20 to approve an ordinance preventing the use of a deadly method of controlling the Canada goose population. The technique is rarely, if ever, used in Bergen County, and animal rights CANADA GOOSE are activists backing the countyʼs action. Ordinance, 22-10, introduced 7-0 on June 6, bars Bergen County from engaging in any contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or any other entity, to implement a control method that includes the removal and killing of adult geese. Carol Tyler, an animal control officer with Tyco Animal Control, which covers 24 towns in Bergen and Passaic counties, including in Emerson, Hillsdale, Montvale, and the Township of Washington, said geese have been slowly decreasing in number thanks to population control techniques that do not involve removal and euthanization.

See GEESE on page 234

DRAGONS SCORCH

B ck in time...

Congratulations to the Dragons Soccer Club’s U11 Girls and U11 Boys teams, both of which turned in remarkable seasons — and emerged as champions. SEE PAGE 19

The morning of July 25, 1912 started out like so many that play out every day on our Pascack Valley railroad line. Kristin Beuscher has the story on what went so spectacularly wrong. SEE PAGE 4


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