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 26
MONTVALE
‘HEART
CHALLENGE’ SCHOLARSHIP
WINNER REPEAT
SEPTEMBER 12, 2022
ENGINEERING SUCCESS
River Valeʼs Hannah Epstein locks down DoD investment
RALLIES FOR DEPIERO’S SHY OF 100TH YEAR
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
See KEENAN on page 74
MAYOR Farm last of its kind in borough; faces forces of Covid, economy, deer
PH senior Briana Keenan brings home $1,000 prize, only one of five in U.S.; follows in Julia Stieglitzʼs 2021 footsteps
Congratulations to Montvaleʼs Briana Keenan, proud recipient of a $1,000 American Heart Association scholarship under the American Heart Challenge, “a school-based program that helps middle and high school students feel good about their health while doing good for the community.” The American Heart Association awards five high school seniors $1,000 college scholarships to energize their commitment to community health through service-learning opportunities. Keenan, a National Honor Society student, is editor-in-chief of the award-winning Pascack Hills Trailblazer and spent two weeks this summer attending the School of the New York Times, exploring media, business, politics, arts, culture, and technology. This summer she also wrote stories on the Pascack Valley High School District board approving policies for the upcoming school year and discussing goals and ethics at its annual retreat; and her schoolʼs gyms being renovated for the logo change. Sheʼs an officer at her schoolʼs Interact Club, which takes on service projects, and she dances competitively for Perpetual Motion Dance Studio in River
MONTVALE
HANNAH EPSTEIN, A RIVER VALE NATIVE studying mechanical engineering with minors in entrepreneurship and English, recently was awarded the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship, which provides students with full tuition for up to five years and full-time employment with the Pentagon after graduation, as well as other educational benefits. Photos courtesy Hannah Epstein and U.S. Department of Defense | Photo illustration by Joy Smoker.
A
BY MADDY LAURIA OF UDAILY
the first moment Hannah Epstein set foot on the Picatinny Arsenal military base not far from her northern New Jersey home, she knew what she wanted to do when she grew up: become an engineer for the U.S. Department of Defense. So when she heard about the Department of Defense Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation (DoD SMART) Scholarship as a LMOST FROM
teenager, she knew she had to go for it once she got to college. Epstein, now a junior in the University of Delawareʼs Department of Mechanical Engineering, recently achieved her goal of being awarded the DoD SMART Scholarship, which provides students with full tuition for up to five years as well as mentorships, summer internships, a stipend and fulltime employment with the DoD after graduation. “Hannahʼs selection as a DoD SMART Scholar attests to the breadth and quality of edu-
5VIA MAYOR GHASSALI
cation students receive in the College of Engineering,” said Chuck Shermeyer, assistant dean for undergraduate services in the College of Engineering. “Her drive to represent the college through this prestigious scholarship is admirable and will only serve to show those she works with that we are educating the next generation of amazing engineers.” But it wasnʼt as easy as she hoped. The first time she applied as a freshman in college, she didnʼt get it, she said.
Continued on page 31
Less than a quarter mile from the longstanding, Dairy Queen at one of Montvaleʼs busiest corners lies the boroughʼs sole remaining working farm and farm stand — DePieroʼs Farm Stand and Greenhouses — at 156 Summit Ave., and the farm stand is at 56 Craig Road, just a block off of Summit Avenue. In 2024 the DePiero farm will celebrate a century of farming in town — if it sustains itself given recent impacts from Covid-19, a difficult economy, and a growing deer population wreaking even more economic havoc on its downsized operations. In 1951, the first DePieroʼs farm stand was opened in Montvale, which followed the founding of DePieroʼs farming operations here in 1924. Over the past several weeks when Pascack Press visited the farm stand on weekday afternoons, a handful of cars and shoppers could be found patronizing the well stocked farmstand and purchasing locally grown pro-
See DEPIERO on page 204
SAFETY FEST
B ck in time...
Local Girl Scouts are planning to turn out in force at the 8th Annual Joan’s Joy Child Safety Fest, set for Sept. 24 in downtown Hillsdale.
Plenty has changed in Emerson since 1930. Kristin Beuscher shines the love on 184 Kinderkamack Road, once home to Bamond’s Grocery Store. SEE PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 16