March Madness 2005

It had nothing to do with basketball but March Madness was clearly evident at Scotch Plains Fanwood High School on the second weekend in March. In less than 48 hours the high school was the scene for two very different events that kept the seats in the auditorium warm and the support staff busy.

Friday night March 11 was opening night for the latest presentation of the SPHS Repertory Theatre, their rendition of “West Side Story”. This was the twenty ninth season for the group and the final under its current producer, Laurie Wellman who has produced the last ten. Also the choral director at the high school, Wellman is retiring from the school system

The school was a whirlwind of activity and a jumble of nerves as
months of work and preparation were now going to be on display.
It has been written that running a marathon is a celebration that the exhaustive training has been completed and in the marathon that encompasses the endless rehearsals, it was almost a relief that the finished product would be on view.

The late winter storms that had so altered everyone’ schedule
had cut into much of the last minute preparations but the threat of Friday night snow luckily did not transpire. The show must go on and it did before a nearly packed auditorium.

From the early reviews the play was a huge success. Most of the audience left the high school amazed at the inherent talent on display. Many of the performers were veterans of last year’s ambitious “Les Miserables” and many had also been around for “Footloose” two years ago. As always, there were newcomers but Wellman and returning director Tom Pedas blended it all together.

The last candy wrapper had barely been removed when the high school was transformed into a scene out of the movie “The Candidate”. Hundreds of enthusiastic political operatives braved the early morning chill to fill every inch of space in front of the high school with campaign placards as Union County Republican convention met to select which Republican Gubernatorial candidate would get top billing on Union County's primary election ballot June 7.

One candidate, Robert Schroeder brought a campaign bus with his name in big letters on the side that was parked by the entrance amid numerous lawn signs for him. Another candidate John Murphy and the well known Doug Forrester also had numerous signs crowded along the curb

The auditorium, which twelve hours earlier had been filled with the words of Steven Sondheim and the music of Leonard Bernstein was now filled with the rhetoric of a party desperate to regain its footing in a state that seems more and more out of reach.

“We just can’t say that we’re honest and they’re not ,” boomed Westfield’s own Brett Schundler, the party’s last standard bearer in 2001 when he lost to the now disgraced James McGreevey.

“We need to clean things up before it’s too late ,” chimed in Doug Forrestor, who seemed set to become US Senator in 2002 until Frank Lautenberg came in at the eleventh hour to rescue the aborted campaign of incumbent Robert Torricelli.

Surprisingly the name “George W Bush” was rarely heard and neither was McGreevey. Most of the speeches centered on property taxes and cleaning up government waste.

The big event was actual voting in hastily arranged voting booths.
In a surprise of sorts the outsider Murphy finished second in the first round to Forrester and since both got more than twenty percent of the vote a run off ensued. Forrester narrowly won but Murphy felt like the big winner of the day. The event ran longer than expected but just as quickly as the high school was transformed everybody put away their placards and by 8 pm that evening it was back to Broadway on Westfield Road. There would be another matinee on Sunday

Black Friday

It was bitter cold at 5:45 am on the morning after Thanksgiving but there was barely a parking space to be found at Blue Star Mall in Watchung and the cars streaming in from
Route 22 looked like the 16W exit from the New Jersey Turnpike near gametime at a Giants’ football game. Early bird shoppers were already leaving Kohls with shopping carts full of shopping bags, while “latecomers” eagerly followed them to their parking spaces to retrieve those precious items that would allow them to carry more merchandise to the cash registers.

No matter what naysayers might tell you, the economy looks like it is more than healthy
if the early “Black Friday” traffic was indicative of a trend for the Christmas shopping season, which happily for retailers is two days longer than last year when Thanksgiving fell on November 27.

In Kohls, there were two long customer lines that snaked around the entire store and split off into the dozen or more cash registers in front of the store. Those lucky enough to have procured one of the shopping carts had them loaded to capacity while others struggled with armfuls of items. The main reason for all these bleary eyed consumers who had sacrificed sleep were many items discounted until twelve noon, called “Bargain Busters”,
a retail version of the early bird special.

This scene was far from unique. In fact there were stories from all over the country of
huge lines of customers that had braved all types of weather and crowds longer than election lines in Ohio to get that “must have” item.
Whatever happened to the online economy where there is free shipping and no waits?

A Kohl’s manager with the name Christine on her lapel said that she had been at the store since 3:30am but was not required to arrive until four. “I got here early because I had trouble sleeping anyway. This is the day we wait all year for in retail. We get by on fumes and a lot of coffee until Christmas.”

She is pretty accurate in her sentiment if you believe retail analysts who have written that about 50% of sales and 75% of profits are attained from the Christmas shopping season.
She described the atmosphere as very orderly as she bent over to pick up items that had been pushed to the floor by the long line at the checkout. “People seem to be pretty polite because they are finding what they need. We hope we stocked enough of what people wanted.”

One man named Tom was standing on the line with nothing but his walkie-talkie. He told the person on the other end that he was only fifteen customers away from being checked out and that they should start to bring their merchandise to him. But for every Tom there was a Sarah, who had far too many items for her arms to hold but was ecstatic that she had already finished 75% of her Christmas shopping.

Another woman, whose clothing identified her as being from Union, was a little surprised by the intensity of the early morning crowd. “I left my house at 5 am and 22 was already backed up because of the cars trying to get into the Best Buy parking lot.

“I never thought when I got here at 5:20 that I would have to battle anybody.”

Instead she became what she estimated to be the 200th person in a line to get into Kohls but she was leaving happy.

“They had everything I needed, but I still have several other stops to make.”

Cranford Golfer Joe Manganiello

Tiger Woods has known the feeling. So have Ernie Els and Jack Nicklaus and justabout any weekend duffer who has ever attempted to master getting the littlewhite ball into the elusive hole. That agonizing time when your putting strokeleaves you and turns what could be a successful round into a disaster is oftenthe difference between winning a tournament or finishing second. JosephManganiello now knows that feeling, but like other successful golfers, he wasable to put a nightmarish hole behind him to finish second in the recentlycompleted NJ PGA Event at New Jersey National, in Basking Ridge. Manganiello a senior at Cranford High School finished only two strokes out offirst and knows that a single hole prevented him from tying for first andentering a playoff.

At the 15th hole, faced with a relatively simple five footdownhill putt for a birdie, he missed and compounded the pain by missing again,winding up with a bogey. Manganiello regained his poise to par out theremaining three holes and finish with a one over par 73 in the one-daytournament.Finishing second put him tenth in the junior player of the year standings with503.75 points. The top 16 players get automatic invitations to play in the NJPGA Junior Match Play Championships at Canoe Brook Country Club, which began onAug. 17th.. Manganiello has kept busy this summer working at the Hyatt HillsGolf Course and caddying at the Echo Lake Country Club.

“ In my spare time I try to get in as much golf as possible,” said Manganiello. “Working at Hyatt really helps because in my off-time I can hit as many ballsas I want. Being able to hit balls and practice more often is part of thereason that I've been playing well. “Manganiello got off to a shaky start in the tournament bogeying two of thefirst three holes before settling down to play the next eleven holes in twounder par. Then came the fateful fifteen and his recovery in the final threeholes. ”

I knew I was hitting the ball well and it was just a matter of timeuntil I started putting it together,” said Manganiello“Overall I hit the ball solid and I would have to say that I putted well also. I only had 28 putts all day. “ Manganiello started playing golf the summer before his freshman year. “My dadintroduced me to the game when I was 8 however it wasn't until high school whenI started to take the game seriously. During my sophomore year my golf coachat CHS, Mr. Bill Ray, told me about a teaching pro by the name of . Joe Bush. I called him later that year and since then I have taken my game to a new levelwith his help, “ said Manganiello. Manganiello considers his accuracy and putting to be his strengths. Herecently played one of his finest rounds shooting a 79 at the Westfield JuniorPGA Championship, and also getting his first hole in one at Hyatt Hills on July16th.

“This has really boosted my confidence, “ said Manganiello who considershis driver game to be his weakness. Manganiello has played varsity on the golf team since his freshman year andplans to major in marketing in collegeAfter high school he hopes to play collegiate golf, and try to play on amini-tour in the hopes of playing his way on to the PGA Tour. If that doesn’twork out, he wants to become a teaching pro or a head pro at a golf course. Manganiello led the Cougars to a 13-2 record last season losing only toWestfield and Millburn. “ The team is looking good this year and I think we canwin our group in the state tournament if we all play to our capability, “ saidManganiello.

As would be expected, Manganiello follows the professional game closely andmodels himself after two of the worlds’ top players.“My favorite pros would have to be Tiger Woods and Ernie Els. Both of themshow perseverance and determination on the course, and I feel that I play withthe same determination that they do.”

Fanwood Council 9/7/2002

Traffic concerns from town residents continued to dominate public debate at the Westfield Council meeting Tuesday night. Unlike the last meeting on May 7, when the Rahway Avenue traffic calming project was the main item, the debate this time focused on issues affecting South Chestnut Street.

Several residents expressed concern with increased traffic and with the closing of the street during baseball season,fearing traffic is being diverted to other local streets.

“You just move the traffic problems to other streets” said Rob Swadosh also noting that “South Chestnut has become quite a bit more dangerous since Shop Rite opened”. The South Chestnut area is referred to by town officials as the Shop Rite grid because of the supermarket which opened in Garwood last November.
.
“It’s becoming clear that any changes we make have to be comprehensive for the Shop Rite grid”, said Council Member Rafael Betancourt.

According to Town Engineer Ken Marsh, the South Chestnut traffic calming project will begin after the work on Rahway Avenue is completed.

Marsh said the Rahway Avenue calming project was nearing completion but any conclusions about its success would take time.
“You can’t look at the project until elevated crosswalks and speed tables are completed on Rahway Avenue “, said Marsh.

“I ask you to be patient. We are going to get there “, added Betancourt, who also noted that the speed limit on Mountain Avenue in Westfield had been reduced to 25 from 35 MPH.

Several residents objected to the noise caused by new rumblestrips placed on many streets in order to slow down cars. Resident Liz Loland asked why more four way stop corners couldn’t be added.

Currently the town only has one four-way stop at the corners of Lennox and Elmer. “If we had our druthers we would have more four way stop signs”, said McDermott.
“The Department of Transportation (DOT) makes it very difficult for you to
have them. You need to justify it with a large number of reported accidents”.


“Without traffic discussion this meeting would have ended at 8:30 “, quipped Board Member Carl Salisbury said at the conclusion of the meeting at 9:30.
“It is an important issue to many of our residents”.

An ordinance creating fire zones and lanes allowing fire trucks to get to fires quicker was passed.

“We had some problems getting our fire trucks parked near buildings” said Fire Chief John Castellano.

The meeting got off to a rousing start as eleven members of the award
winning Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad dressed in uniform, received a citation from Mayor McDermott. Captain Miki Urso accepted the award for the squad which was named the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Volunteer Service of the Year by, the State of New Jersey's Department of Health and Senior Services. Many members attended the EMS awards dinner, which was held on May 20,2002.

Urso invited township residentas to visit the Rescue Squad at their open house on Memorial Day between 11:30 and 3:30 at their headquarters on Waterston Street. The parade is slated to start at 9 am on Monday.

This weekend also marks the 26th Westfield Cup Soccer tournament. The Recreation Department also announced that Westfield Memorial Pool will open as scheduled on June 8 with renovations scheduled to be ready by the second week of July, a month ahead of schedule. Enhancements will include a 50 meter olympic size pool and a children’s area.

Westfield Council 9/3/2002

With the first day of school beckoning the next morning and everyone recovering from the unofficial end of summer, brevity appeared to be the order of the night as the Westfield Council met Tuesday night.

“We have to finish by 9:30 “ was heard more than a few times as the 8 PM meeting started but a full agenda pushed the end back an hour.

“We didn’t do too bad. Committees hadn’t met in 6 weeks, so there were a lot of resolutions to discuss”, said Mayor Greg McDermott.

Among the most important issues was the renewal of Westfield’s contract with the Joint Insurance Fund (JIF) which provides a large group of similar municipalities with much more affordable insurance that can be obtained in the consumer market. Town JIF representative Jim Gruba and Risk Management Consultant Ray Vaughn answered questions and presented documentation about the benefits of the plan.

“This has been one of the most volatile years in the history of insurance", said Vaughn noting the confluence of the terrorist attacks of 9/11/2001 and the corporate scandals which have sent stock prices tumbling.

“This was very important for the town to be able to renew this policy”, said McDermott.
“JIF saves us a lot of money”.

The Traffic Parking and Transportation (TPT) Committee chaired by Rafael J. Betancourt awarded a contract to fix the area around the Shop Rite grid to Wilbur Smith after proposals from three companies including RBA which had revamped the Rahway Avenue area.

“It will be good to have another company doing this project because we will be able to draw comparisons with RBA” , said Betancourt.

McDermott was very pleased with the work done thus far.
“Our department of public works did a great job this summer of getting projects done when traffic was light, “ said McDermott.



The Laws and Rules Committee chaired by Carl A. Salisbury brought forward four resolutions including an ordinance which would prohibit Westfield from entering into contracts with companies that had made political contributions of $400 to a candidate, $500 to a political party or $2500 aggregate.

“We are not even sure that this is a problem in Westfield “, admitted Salisbury.
“This body will not tolerate even the slightest appearance of impropriety”.

The most significant development from the Building and Town Property committee was the addition of a cellular antenna in the North Avenue Bell Tower. Totally financed by Verizon Wireless Communications, the antenna will help to eliminate several cellular dead zones in numerous parts of Westfield.
A request by Xocalatz Café to distribute free coffee at the train station for two weeks was scaled back to one day.

“We would be hurting the companies that sell coffee near the train station”, said McDermott.
“One day is more legitimate”.

Street Names

There are street names that are common to almost every town in the United States. Go anywhere and you're almost certain to find a Main Street, Grand Street or a Broad Street, as well all directional names like North, South, Central etc. and numbered streets like first, second and third. But what about Martine, Lamberts Mill, Park, Front and Terrill? How did they get named? For this I sought out Rick Bousquet, president of the historical society of Scotch Plains and Fanwood and also a member of The National Trust For Historic Preservation, The New Jersey Historical Society, The Westfield Historical Society, and The Scotch Plains Historic Preservation Commission.

A walking encyclopedia of the history of Union County, Bousquet serves as a volunteer in his positions but his full time job is complementary to his bobby.
Bousquet has worked in the construction industry for more than 20 years and is a specialist in restoring and preserving historic properties and structures. His firm, CSS, Inc. is a full service General Contractor Remodeler, restoring older structures or remodeling new ones.

Consistent with the more than 300 year history of the area, many of the main roads have kept their names for over 200 years. Terrill Road was named for Ephraim Terrill, a property owner in the late 1700’s.

“Back then a road might get named for the only person living there”, said Bousquet.
“Mr. Terrill was one of the first land owners in that area”.
According to records, Terrill was spelled Tyrrel for many years before getting named back to its original namesake.

Front Street was formerly called the Road to Plainfield. Later on when Plainfield numbered their streets, Front was named as the first street of the group.

Lamberts Mill was named for Simeon Lambert who owned a mill on Old Raritan Road in the late 18th century. “Properties were pretty large back then ", noted Bousquet.

Many of the local roads were Indian trails which explains why so many of the roads are crooked. Martine and its continuation into Park were part of the Minisink Indian Trail which stretched from what is now Perth Amboy to Morristown.

Bousquet had no documentation of how Park was named since there are no parks on the street so it might fall under the category of every town has one. Martine was originally named Darby Road after the Levi Darby family who were big contributors to the Baptist Church but later was renamed in the late 19th century
After CWL Martine of Scotch Plains who was a prominent businessman in that time period.

Another mystery answered was why certain first names were used while others ignored. Simple, according to Bob LaCosta of the Scotch Plains Building Department. Newer Scotch Plains streets like Henry Street, Roberts Lane and Gales Court were all named after someone in the family of the contractor who developed the neighborhood.

“This area has a really rich history of over 300 years. “ , said Bousquet. “I am always finding out something new and interesting”.

Westfield Council 5/23/2002

Traffic concerns from town residents continued to dominate public debate at the Westfield Council meeting Tuesday night. Unlike the last meeting on May 7, when the Rahway Avenue traffic calming project was the main item, the debate this time focused on issues affecting South Chestnut Street.

Several residents expressed concern with increased traffic and with the closing of the street during baseball season,fearing traffic is being diverted to other local streets.

“You just move the traffic problems to other streets” said Rob Swadosh also noting that “South Chestnut has become quite a bit more dangerous since Shop Rite opened”. The South Chestnut area is referred to by town officials as the Shop Rite grid because of the supermarket which opened in Garwood last November.
.
“It’s becoming clear that any changes we make have to be comprehensive for the Shop Rite grid”, said Council Member Rafael Betancourt.

According to Town Engineer Ken Marsh, the South Chestnut traffic calming project will begin after the work on Rahway Avenue is completed.

Marsh said the Rahway Avenue calming project was nearing completion but any conclusions about its success would take time.
“You can’t look at the project until elevated crosswalks and speed tables are completed on Rahway Avenue “, said Marsh.

“I ask you to be patient. We are going to get there “, added Betancourt, who also noted that the speed limit on Mountain Avenue in Westfield had been reduced to 25 from 35 MPH.

Several residents objected to the noise caused by new rumblestrips placed on many streets in order to slow down cars. Resident Liz Loland asked why more four way stop corners couldn’t be added.

Currently the town only has one four-way stop at the corners of Lennox and Elmer. “If we had our druthers we would have more four way stop signs”, said McDermott.
“The Department of Transportation (DOT) makes it very difficult for you to
have them. You need to justify it with a large number of reported accidents”.


“Without traffic discussion this meeting would have ended at 8:30 “, quipped Board Member Carl Salisbury said at the conclusion of the meeting at 9:30.
“It is an important issue to many of our residents”.

An ordinance creating fire zones and lanes allowing fire trucks to get to fires quicker was passed.

“We had some problems getting our fire trucks parked near buildings” said Fire Chief John Castellano.

The meeting got off to a rousing start as eleven members of the award
winning Westfield Volunteer Rescue Squad dressed in uniform, received a citation from Mayor McDermott. Captain Miki Urso accepted the award for the squad which was named the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Volunteer Service of the Year by, the State of New Jersey's Department of Health and Senior Services. Many members attended the EMS awards dinner, which was held on May 20,2002.

Urso invited township residentas to visit the Rescue Squad at their open house on Memorial Day between 11:30 and 3:30 at their headquarters on Waterston Street. The parade is slated to start at 9 am on Monday.

This weekend also marks the 26th Westfield Cup Soccer tournament. The Recreation Department also announced that Westfield Memorial Pool will open as scheduled on June 8 with renovations scheduled to be ready by the second week of July, a month ahead of schedule. Enhancements will include a 50 meter olympic size pool and a children’s area.