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 26
70 YEARS STRONG
SEPTEMBER 13, 2021
SHANA TOVA AND HONEY CAKES CTeen program delivers for valley seniors
Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Smith of River Vale celebrate their platinum anniversary on Sept. 15. SEE PAGE 21
MONTVALE
SCHOOLS
REFERENDUM DETAILS EMERGE
Maintenance, upgrades, and state aid in the mix
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Montvale Public Schools Superintendent Darren Petersen says that Tuesday, Dec. 14 is the tentative date for a special school bond referendum vote to tackle important projects. Meanwhile, a proposal from a public relations consultant the district has hired to help it pitch the plan to taxpayers — the schoolsʼ owners — sheds light on the outline of the referendum, with Petersen promising all the facts and rationale, with costs and property tax impacts, in the near future. On Aug. 30, the school board
See SCHOOLS on page 314
H
NEW YEAR (or Shana Tova)! On Thursday, Sept. 2, the Valley Chabad CTeen program gathered outdoors for a honey cake bake and packing of Jewish holiday boxes for the elderly. Rosh Hashanah, of “head of the year” in Hebrew, is a two-day celebration, this year starting at sundown on Sept. 6, marking the beginning of the Jewish High Holy Days each autumn. The New Year inaugurates 10 days of repentance, also known as Days of Awe. They lead into Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which this
year is on Wednesday, Sept. 15. Thatʼs followed by Sukkot, of the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorating how God protected the Israelites as they wandered the desert in search of the Promised Land. CTeen is the Valley Chabad Teen Leadership Initiativeʼs popular teen group that meets regularly for social and community service-oriented activities for Jewish teens in the Pascack Valley and in the towns of the Saddle River area. Participants enjoyed baking honey cakes to
Noah Berger, Todd Merson, Ari Shashoua, and Shane Levy, all of Woodcliff Lake. APPY
PHOTO VIA VALLEY CHABAD
Continued on page 28
PASCACK VALLEY
IDA DRIVES DAMAGE,
Valley digs out from historic storm, eyeing change
HEROES
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
The Borough of Hillsdale needs to do more to educate residents — particularly new arrivals — about its evacuation procedures after Category 4 Hurricane Ida slammed into Louisiana and its remnants then chewed their way northeast, including through the flood-prone Pascack Valley. Thatʼs according to RELATED Mayor John Ruocco, who • Washington also told PasSchool floods cack Press on — Page 11 Sept. 7 that • Westwood, the DPW Emerson building sufdrivers freed fered damage — Page 14 in the flood and that recy- • Explainer on the water table cling center is — Page 30 closed until further notice. And in Park Ridge, the storm caused significant flooding. According to Mayor Keith Misciagna, “All of our fields sustained damage, most significantly Memorial Field and the playground at Memorial and Sulak Field.” He said Park Ridgeʼs DPW and utility garages were flooded. He thanked “our police, fire, DPW, utility, OEM and operations staff that worked through the night to keep us safe.” Ida unfolded as the second-
See IDA on page 274
BLOCK PARTY
B ck in time...
You’re invited for food, fun, and festivities on Saturday, Sept. 18 from noon to 3 p.m. at Parkside Community Church in Westwood.
The Bergen-Rockland chapter of the National Railway Historical Society presents ‘A History of the Pascack Valley Line’ at the Pascack Historical Society in Park Ridge on Sept. 19. SEE PAGE 4
SEE PAGE 15