Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake
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
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 22
Award winners
FROM HEARTBREAK WOODCLIFF PARK AS TO HAVING IT ALL BOROUGH ’S WOODCLIFF LAKE
Park Ridge 11U Owls turn spring setback into a pitch-perfect summer
GATHERING PLACE Concerts, theater, holiday traditions and family events track with longplanned vision
BY JOHN SNYDER EDITOR@THEPRESSGROUP.NET
GFWC/NJSFWC Woman’s Club of Westwood and NJSFWC Greater Pascack Valley Woman’s Club award scholarships. PAGE 20
HACKENSACK
LIVING OUR ‘JERSEY VALUES’ Westwood historian, Hillsdale lifesaver among Gottheimerʼs ʻHometown Heroesʼ BY JOHN SNYDER EDITOR@THEPRESSGROUP.NET
Among nearly two dozen recipients honored at Fridayʼs Fifth District Hometown Heroes ceremony at HACPAC, the Hackensack Performing Arts Center, was the late Helen Whalen, a longtime volunteer “on a mission” with the Westwood Heritage Society and Pascack Historical Society. As well, Northvale athletic director and physical education teacher Mike Schulman of Hillsdale, and with him Northvale school nurse Joan Bowman, both of whom showed fast thinking in
See HEROES on page 184
AUGUST 10, 2026
F
How it’s done: The Park Ridge 11U Owls celebrate their championship season. Front row, from left: Brody Weiss, Danny Ramcharan, Luca Gliatta, Bryce Hamilton, Thomas Smith, Niko Franolic, Nolan Rosa, and Sohan Shah. Back row, from left: Nathan Kida, Dylan Jobst, and Ryan Lipari. Photo credit: Julianna Smith
THE PARK RIDGE Owls 11U team, the road to a summer championship began with a loss they wonʼt soon forget. Just three outs away from a Spring League championship, with a commanding 11-3 lead against their rival, the Montvale OR
Mustangs, everything seemed to be in place for a championship celebration. Then, in one of the most dramatic endings imaginable, Montvale rallied for nine runs in the final inning and escaped with a 12-11 victory. The loss was devastating.
“I was so disappointed when we lost the championship,” said losing pitcher Niko Franolic. “We didnʼt say anything the whole ride home.” The Owls had worked all season for that moment. For a group of players who had grown
Continued on page 19
When Woodcliff Park opened to several hundred cheering residents in May 2025, Mayor Carlos Rendo described its purpose in a single word: community. Barely more than a year later, the boroughʼs first and only municipally owned park is beginning to bear out that promise. The 2.1-acre space at Werimus Road and Woodcliff Avenue has become a regular destination for concerts, festivals, holiday observances, childrenʼs activities and informal gatherings, transforming a former commercial property into what Parks and Recreation Director Ryan Magee calls Woodcliff Lakeʼs central meeting place. “What began as a vision to create a vibrant downtown destination has quickly become one of the boroughʼs greatest community assets,” Magee said. The parkʼs rise followed nearly a decade of planning, property
See PARK on page 264
SWEET SUCCESS
B ck in time...
After coming agonizingly close to their goal, the Hillsdale Hawks 12U baseball team finally locked down the championship it had been chasing for nearly five years. PAGE 14
In 1909, the Bergen County Standard described Calvin Gardenier’s livery stable as “one of the largest and most successful business enterprises in Hillsdale.” Kristin Besucher reports. PAGE 4