Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake VOLUME 30 ISSUE 20
T H E 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
JULY 27, 2026
Garden ‘SKATE FOR C APTURING gifts OF TOMMY’ HITS HOME WORLDS WONDER HILLSDALE
Community rallies as Park Ridge resident and coach Tom Smith battles blood cancer
Hillsdale Photography Club spotlights local artistsʼ work; new members welcome
BY JOHN SNYDER EDITOR@THEPRESSGROUP.NET
The Hillsdale Free Public Library’s Kids’ Garden Club donates produce grown from seed in the library’s new greenhouse. PAGE 12
MONTVALE
CHRISTINE POLLINGER NEXT PRINCIPAL AT HILLS
Assistant principal since 2019, she brings expertise in neuroeducation, school climate, and instructional innovation
Superintendent of Schools Dirk Phillips tells Pascack Press heʼs pleased to announce Christine Pollinger, assistant principal of Pascack Hills High School, as the next principal of Pascack Hills High School. Her appointment was approved at the Pascack Valley
See POLLINGER on page 184
M
“Family means everything to Tommy. He and his wife, Kristine, are raising four incredible kids: Randy, Julianna, Molly, and Thomas. He’s a proud theatre dad, a loyal behindthe-scenes helper, and the kind of father who shows up fully for everything his kids love…” — Supporting Tommy Smith in His Fight Against Multiple Myeloma on GoFundMe O R E T H A N 100 hock-
ey players and hundreds of supporters came together June 20 at the Inline Skating Club of America in North Arlington to honor Park Ridge resident and longtime coach Tom Smith as he prepares to undergo a stem cell transplant in his fight against multiple myeloma. The charity tournament drew more than 400 family members,
friends, former players, teammates, coaches and supporters, raising money for Smith and his family while celebrating his decades of involvement in local hockey and baseball. Smith, a Park Ridge husband, father of four, baseball coach and Ramapo Saints hockey coach, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in the bone marrow, in November. His treatment includes
intensive chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant and a lengthy recovery. “I have played in several of these charity tournaments in my life, so itʼs very strange to be on this side of it,” Smith said. Friends describe Smith as someone who is always willing to lend a hand, mentor a young athlete, organize an event or bring
Continued on page 29
One photograph catches a Pascack Valley soccer player suspended in the air, knees bent and arms raised, while his teammates prepare to collapse around him. The celebration, modeled after the Hulkʼs “Jump Smash,” became a ritual during the 2021–22 varsity season. The player who scored would leap and land; his teammates would fall to the turf. The photograph was not made during the championship game, but it carries the spirit of a season in which Pascack Valley finished 17-4-3 and defeated Roxbury, 2-1, in double overtime to win the NJSIAA North 1, Group 3 final — the first sectional title in program history. The image, by Hillsdale photographer Robert Loeser, is among the works on view in “Through the Lens: A Hillsdale Photography Club Showcase,” a monthlong exhibit at the Hillsdale Free Public Library. At a reception Saturday, visitors moved among photographs of youth sports, wildlife, theater, travel, landmarks, and ordinary moments preserved before they
See CLUB on page 244
FOR THE TROOPS
B ck in time...
The Greater Pascack Valley Woman’s Club invites you to back its Christmas in July push (running through September) for our troops serving overseas. PAGE 13
Kristin Beuscher takes us to the summer of 1901 in Woodcliff, now Woodcliff Lake, for the story of the town as a refuge for struggling New York City mothers and their babies. PAGE 4