Memorial Day Parade in Guttenberg is on May 30
All Guttenberg residents are cordially invited on behalf of the mayor and town council to join their fellow residents in the annual Memorial Day Parade on Friday, May 30.
The parade will commence at 6:30 p.m. on 68th and Madison St. and proceed through the town, ending at 71st Street and Blvd. East at the monument, where a ceremony will take place honoring all of our servicemen and servicewomen, both past and present.
Register June 4-6 for sports and recreational activities
Mayor Nicholas Sacco and Commissioner Hugo Cabrera invite all boys and girls to register for Pee Wee football, flag football, pom poms, and cheerleading. Registration will be held from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on June 4, 5, and 6, and from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 7 at the Pop Warner Building, 6302 Meadowview Ave.
Various activities are available to different children’s age groups. Bring proof of residency, birth certificate, or passport. If you do not attend public school, you must supply proof of school you currently attend. A nonrefundable registration fee of $35 is required.
Noted actors present short stories at the library
The hit public radio series and podcast Selected Shorts presents extraordinary performances of classic and new short stories. On Tuesday, June 24, the program crosses the Hudson with moving and unexpected tales of friendship, falling in love, and complicated families, performed by an all-star cast: Keir Dullea, Patricia Kalember, and Kaneza Schaal.
The three featured speakers will be reading different short selections to the audience. The event will take place at the North Bergen Free Public Library located at 8411 Bergenline Ave. on June 24 at 7:30 p.m. Registration is required. For more information contact the library at (201) 869-4715 or visit www.nbpl.org.
Gambling in the Meadowlands?
Discussions continue to heat up over the possibility of bringing gambling to the Meadowlands.
Assemblyman Ralph Caputo (D-Essex) has been pushing for New Jersey to look into expanding casino gambling beyond Atlantic City into other localities. At a regional gambling conference in Atlantic City on May 20, he said that the state could recapture lost money by bringing casino gambling to the Meadowlands.
Politicians from the Atlantic City area strongly object to the idea. They cite a package of incentives put in place three years ago by Gov. Chris Christie to assist a struggling Atlantic City. As part of that package, the governor gave Atlantic City five years to show improvement before he would consider asking voters to approve casinos elsewhere in the state.
The package included creating a tourism district in Atlantic City and providing casinos with relief from certain costly regulations.
Sen. Jeff Van Drew from Cape May County, just south of Atlantic City, said that gambling in the Meadowlands would “cannibalize the industry” and further damage Atlantic City.
‘Click It or Ticket’ in Guttenberg
Law enforcement officers from the Guttenberg Police Department will be cracking down on unbuckled motorists and passengers as part of the national “Click it or Ticket” campaign.
Now underway through June 1, the annual initiative includes high visibility law enforcement seat belt checkpoints and saturation patrols, as well as local and national publicity designed to ensure that drivers and passengers recognize the life-saving value of seat belts.
“Using a seat belt is the simplest way for a driver and his or her passengers to protect themselves when traveling,” said Gary Poedubicky, acting director of the New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety. “In 2010 alone, seat belts saved an estimated 12,546 lives nationwide.”
The front seat belt usage rate in New Jersey currently stands at 91 percent. Poedubicky noted that the goal for this year’s campaign is to increase the statewide rate to 92 percent. “To meet our goal, we must continue both enforcement and public outreach efforts that educate all motor vehicle occupants about the importance of buckling up, every ride,” he said.
Poedubicky added that the campaign will focus on rear seat passengers as well. Despite laws requiring adult back seat passengers to buckle up, adult back seat belt use stands at only 44 percent.
During the 2013 “Click it or Ticket” campaign, 422 police agencies participated in the two-week initiative. As a result of the effort, law enforcement officers issued 26,049 seat belt citations, 4,895 speeding summonsed and made 860 drunk driving arrests.
Meadowlands Commission announces Summer Senior Programs
The season of senior programs in the Meadowlands kicks off with a DeKorte Park Plant Walk on Sunday, June 8, at 10 a.m. The two-hour walk will be led by botanist Edith Wallace and Bergen County Audubon Society (BCAS) President Don Torino. The walk is also open to the general public.
Residents can also enjoy Meadowlands District parks and natural areas on foot by joining one of the NJMC’s twice-monthly guided nature and bird walks. The two-hour walks, and a bonus birding boat tour, begin at 10 a.m. at the following dates and locations:
June 1: DeKorte Park, Lyndhurst (followed by a noon reception for the Flyway Gallery show, “The Nature of the Meadowlands,” featuring images from the NJMC’s acclaimed coffee-table book).
June 17: Laurel Hill Park, Secaucus.
Visitors can enjoy an entire summer of stargazing at the NJMC’s William D. McDowell Observatory. The observatory is open to the public every Monday and Wednesday night year-long, weather permitting and excluding holidays. The observatory features a research-grade telescope housed within a six-meter retractable dome. Observatory staff ensure that you get the best views and explain all you need to know about what you’re seeing. Summer hours are 9 to 10:30 p.m. in June and July, and 8:30 to 10:30 p.m. in August. The observatory also hosts “Let’s Talk Astronomy” learning sessions on most Tuesday nights at 7:30 p.m. The sessions are $5; MEC members free. Visitors must be able to climb 25 steps to reach the observatory.