Sept. 11 ceremony to be held at the library
For the 15th anniversary of 9/11, the town will hold a memorial service at the library from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. Officials will speak, and high school students will read a presentation. The Fire Department, Police Department, and Emergency Medical Services will participate. The library is located on 1379 Paterson Plank Road.
The names of the residents lost on 9/11 appear on a sculpture at the library. Victims include Arlene Babakitis, Richard Cudina, Nancy Perez, Kenneth Simon, Steven Strobert, and Michael Tanner.
Mayor Michael Gonnelli said in an interview that he knew each of them and their families well. The mayor said Tanner did a lot of good work in Secaucus. Gonnelli also mentioned that he knew Strobert from playing baseball and softball.
“My heart goes out to each one of them who all went through same thing,” Gonnelli said.
For past stories on the victims, go to hudsonreporter.com and use our search engine.
Man who was pulled off Secaucus Junction train tracks is charged with assault
An NJ Transit cop who pulled a 56-year-old Elizabeth man off the train tracks at Secaucus Junction station just before the train pulled in on Friday, Aug. 26. was hailed as a hero, but the Elizabeth man reportedly did not want to be rescued and told the officer to let him remain on the tracks.
Now that man has been charged with aggravated assault and interfering with public transportation, according to news reports.
On Monday, Aug. 30 the man appeared in video at Central Judicial Processing court from Hudson County jail, according to reports. He is charged with aggravated assault, causing a public annoyance, two counts of attempting to prevent a law enforcement officer from affecting a lawful arrest, and interfering with public transportation, reports state. His bail is to be set at $15,000 with a 10 percent cash option.
The reports state that the man has numerous prior arrests.
See 5,000 Jack O’Lanterns from Oct. 27 to 30
RISE of the Jack O’Lanterns is making its debut in Secaucus at the Meadowlands Exposition Center with thousands of hand carved, illuminated pumpkins. Families can walk along a scenic path with music designed for Halloween.
The event is filled with carved 100 pound pumpkins on display that artists spent 10 to 15 hours to carve. There are also multi-pumpkin structures that consist of dozens of illuminated jack o’lanterns assembled into life-sized pieces of art. You’ll see classic fan-favorites like life-sized dinosaurs, dragons, and safari animals, as well as a number of new structures featuring time-honored characters from some favorite movies. Four live-carving stations are set up to watch artists create different types of displays in the show right before your eyes in the Mini Carving Factory.
At The RISE, there’s always been a mixture of jack o’lantern art hand-carved from both real pumpkins and from life-like carveable artificial pumpkins, and the tradition continues, because there are certain things that can only be done to real pumpkins or only with artificial ones. For the first time in 2016, there will be 5,000 carved and lit real pumpkins each weekend.
Ticket prices for children under 2 are free, adults 13 to 64 are $26, and children 3 to 12 or seniors 65 and up are $22. The Meadowlands Exposition Center is located in Secaucus. Visit http://www.therise.org for more information and ticket prices.
Secaucus school staff receives training on new policies
Teachers and administrators across the entire Secaucus school district have received training on updated policies, their interpretation, and the latest case law involving these policies.
Dr. Phil Nicastro of Strauss-Esmay, the company providing policies to the Secaucus School District and approximately 485 other school districts in the state, held a two-hour workshop in the Performing Arts Center. Dr. Nicastro’s presentation touched on current and relevant policies including use of social media, electronic communication, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. They also talked about transgender students, dating violence, and a number of other policies. District policies are updated on an ongoing basis throughout the year.
Citizenship test preparation course offered at the library
Interested in taking classes for the citizenship test? The Secaucus Public Library is offering a free seven-week course on Saturday mornings from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. beginning Saturday, Oct. 8. The course will be taught by Dr. Dennis Pope, who holds a doctorate in American Government and Constitutional Law from Rutgers University.
If interested in signing up for the course, contact Gladys Tous at (201) 330-2083 ext. 4014 or email gladys.tous@secaucus.bccls.org. Class size is limited to 15 students and a $20 deposit is required upon registration. The deposit will be refunded to those students who complete the course.
Hackensack Riverkeeper announces 2016 award winners
Hackensack Riverkeeper, the clean water advocate of the Hackensack River watershed, will bestow its 2016 honors at the organization’s 17th Annual Awards Celebration & Sustainable SeafoodFest on Thursday, Oct. 6. Raymond Cywinski, mayor of Demarest, will receive the Excellence in Public Service Award.
Mayor Cywinski will be honored for “his longstanding personal and professional commitment to conservation and clean water; and for serving as a fine example of a dedicated public servant who is concerned with his constituents’ quality of life and their shared environment.”
Hackensack Meridian Health President and Co-CEO Robert Garrett will receive the Corporate Environmental Stewardship Award on behalf of the company.
The celebration takes place at Florentine Gardens, located at 97 Rivervale Road, River Vale New Jersey and features special guest host Brian Thompson, New Jersey correspondent for NBC-4 New York.
Complete information including ticket prices, ad journal rates, sponsorship opportunities and more is available online at www.hackensackriverkeeper.org or by calling (201) 968-0808.
Volunteers needed to help foster children
Learn how to become a Court Appointed Special Advocate volunteer and help foster children find safe and permanent homes. An information session is scheduled at the Hudson County Courthouse on 595 Newark Ave in Jersey City on Tuesday, Sept. 13 at 6:30 p.m. An additional information session will be held in Weehawken on Wednesday, Sept. 21 in the community room of Riva Pointe Condos on 986 River Road at 7 p.m. For further information, visit www.hudsoncountycasa.org.
Free 12-week NAMI course for families of those with depression, bipolar
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is offering a free educational, 12-week course for families of individuals diagnosed with depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. This course also covers medication and other important topics. The course starts Monday Sept. 19 in Union City.
For more Information contact Dana Johnson 551-242-3681, Danayjohnson@aol.com or Carmen Garcia 201-310-5828, garciacarmen524@gmail.com
Classes are also being offered in Spanish, for more information call 201-861-0614.
Join local family and walk for suicide prevention in Mill Creek Park
On Saturday, Sept. 10 the Out of the Darkness Walk will take place in Mill Creek Park. The Out of the Darkness Walk is an effort to raise awareness and funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, or AFSP, to invest in new research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss.
Check-in and registration time begins at 9:30 a.m. Walk begins at 11 a.m.
The money raised for the AFSP has as its goal to reduce the annual suicide rate 20 percent by 2025.
For more information, please contact Carol Ann Scheiner at 201-982-8969 or email cascheiner@sboe.org.
Online registration at www.afsp.org/Secaucus closes at noon the Friday before the walk. However, anyone who would like to participate can register in person at the walk from the time check-in begins until the walk starts. Walk donations are accepted until Dec. 31.
Secaucus School staff received training on Achieve NJ
Prior to the start of the school year, school district staff received advanced training on Achieve NJ, the program of teacher observation and evaluation used throughout New Jersey to evaluate teachers and principals. As part of his comprehensive presentation, Achieve NJ Implementations Manager Dr. Paul Palek discussed student growth percentiles, student growth, corrective action plans, and more. After his extensive presentation, Palek fielded questions from the staff who had gathered in the Performing Arts Center for the presentation.
Secaucus School District holds orientation program for newly hired teachers
Since the conclusion of the previous school year this past June, a total of 23 new staff members have been hired by Secaucus school district to fill a number of positions. As a means of acclimating, orientating, and inducting the new teachers into the Secaucus Schools, the district’s Administrative Team planned, organized, and facilitated a four-day comprehensive workshop focusing on a number of timely and relevant issues for the novice teachers.
Throughout the four-day workshop teachers were made aware of workplace expectations, provided an overview of the district’s observation and evaluation process through the Danielson Framework, familiarized with Student Growth Objectives and Percentile, given an overview of Special Education, provided with an overview from the Business Office, given a presentation on the Harassment, Intimidation, and Bullying (HIB) Policy, and provided an overview by the District’s Anti-Bullying Coordinator.
Teachers were also given a hands-on workshop on utilizing Promethium Boards, had training in Realtime, and given tour of the district school buildings. In total the new teachers were immersed in a series of 26 different presentations made by various members of the administrative team.