Saving money Dominoes falling?

Get on up
AAA bond rating Girls basketball coach ‘Local’ reporter busts
affirmed by S&P resigns some moves
News • Page A-3 Sports • Page B-1 Culture • Page B-4

MONTCLAIR
Objectively Informing, Sparking Dialogue, and Building Community
montclairlocal.news/subscribe

Vol. 1, No. 23 Thursday, August 10, 2017

Local Price: $0.75

PLANNING BOARD

Seymour approved
Downtown arts mecca gets go-ahead
BY LINDA MOSS
moss@montclairlocal.news
This week the Township Plan-
ning Board gave one of Mont-
clair’s two major redevelop-
ments, Seymour Street, approval
to go forward, a project meant to
create an arts and entertainment
mecca near the Wellmont The-
LINDA MOSS/STAFF ater and to help revitalize down-
The Township Planning Board saw updated renderings for the Seymour Street town Bloomfield Avenue.
redevelopment before voting to approve its site plan early Tuesday morning. That leaves one other massive
project, slated for Lackawanna
Plaza, still pending and needing
township approval for its rede-
velopment plan and then later
its site plan. Pinnacle Cos. of
Montclair is a co-redeveloper on
both Seymour Street and Lacka-
wanna Plaza.
In the case of Seymour Street,
following a five-hour-long
meeting the planning board vot-
ed 9-0 early Tuesday morning to
approve the site plan for its re-
development. But the board set a
number of conditions on its ap-
proval, including having the de-
veloper consult with Township
Engineer Kimberli Craft on some
of the changes in traffic flow that
will accompany the project.
It wasn’t until shortly after
12:30 a.m. Tuesday that the plan-
ning board took action on the
application for the property, a
See PLANNING, A-6

MONTCLAIR MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL

PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Pack Perfect forecast

it up!
Montclair
groups collect
backpacks,
school
supplies
BY ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news

August is zipping by,

which means the start of
back-to-school shopping for
many families.
According to the Nation-
al Retail Federation, a retail
trade association, the average
family will spend more than
$660 for school supplies.
Several groups in Mont-
clair are asking people to pick
up a few extra supplies for
area children in need, and
while one drive has just con-
cluded, others will continue
through Labor Day.
The Human Needs Food RICHARD CONDE FOR JAZZ HOUSE KIDS
Pantry is collecting school
Dee Dee Bridgwater, Melissa Walker and S. Epatha Merkerson perform with the Jazz House Collective in 2016, before the rain comes down.
supplies this summer, up
through Labor Day.
HNFP board member El- Montclair Jazz Festival on Saturday
eanor Walter said that the
school supplies drive is one BY GWEN OREL region to the festival.” again bring back A Christian McBride
of a number of themed give- orel@montclairlocal.news The eighth annual Montclair Jazz Fes- Situation, an electro-funk project that
aways that Human Needs tival will also be live-streamed on Face- includes DJ Logic on turntables, Rachel
does at different times of the Dee Dee Bridgewater and Memphis book. Last year, Walker says, it Z on keyboards, Antoinette Henry
Inside
year. Others include a cos- Soulphony will tear off the roof at the reached people in 12 countries. on vocals, Adam Rogers on guitar
Activism
tume giveaway at Halloween, Montclair Jazz Festival on Saturday, The festival is presented by and music and Bernard Purdie on drums.
a baby supplies giveaway on Aug. 12, Melissa Walker says. Jazz House Kids, a nonprofit com- at the Other headliners include Louis
Mother’s Day and Father’s Only there is no roof. munity arts organization, which festival Prima Jr. and the Witnesses; trum-
Day, and so on. The free festival takes place outdoors, Walker founded in 2002. Page B-4 peter Ted Chubb, playing with
“Anything that we have in in Nishuane Park, from noon to 9 p.m. Bruce Williams on alto sax, Seth
hand, we’ll give away,” Walter “She’ll figure out how to tear it off any- THE PERFORMERS Johnson on guitar and Tom DiCarlo on
said. She said the pantry will way,” Walker said with a laugh. “She’s Thirteen acts will perform on two bass; and keyboardist Cyrus Chestnut,
accept school supplies at any one of those great entertainers.” stages. The Bravitas mainstage will have playing with Michael Hawkins on bass
time of the year, but that the Bridgewater came to the jazz festi- music from noon to 9 p.m. The headlin- and Neil Smith on drums.
pantry prefers to have school val last year, but rain cut off her per- ers, “all of the two faculty students, two Actress S. Epatha Merkerson (“Chi-
supplies in stock by Labor formance. This year, says Walker, the faculty ensembles, will be swinging up a cago Med,” “Law & Order”) will again be
Day so children can be outfit- weather looks like it’s going to hold. storm,” Walker says. mistress of ceremonies, and WBGO Jazz
“When that happens, we are going to In addition to Bridgewater, who is
See SUPPLIES, A-8 see people coming from all parts of this bringing her new band, the festival will See FESTIVAL, A-7

yes
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Thursday, August 10, 2017
MONTCLAIR PUBLIC LIBRARY
Reading for lunch
Library staff,
Toni’s Kitchen
serve up meals
for local kids
BY ERIN ROLL
roll@montclairlocal.news
The Montclair Public Library
Foundation launched its “Nour-
ishing the Mind and Body” lunch
program this summer, with help
from Partners for Health Foun-
dation and Toni’s Kitchen.
The program provides lunch
each weekday to children and
teens in Montclair who are in
need. It also provides opportu-
nities to participate in the Mont-
clair Public Library’s summer
reading program and other en-
richment activities.
On Monday, Library Director
Peter Coyl said the program had
given out more than 1,400 lunch-
es in the previous six weeks, and
he said that the program expect-
ed to top 2,000 by its end. “There
is a need in Montclair to bridge
the gap for children who, once
school ends, don’t have access to
the free and reduced lunch pro-
gram in the school and we are
glad to be that bridge,” Coyl said.
“While the library is about books
and learning, it is also about con-
necting the community.”
For families who rely on the
school district’s free and re-
duced-price breakfast and lunch
program, the summer months
can be a difficult time, since chil-
dren no longer have access to the
school-provided meals. In 2016,
the U.S. Department of Agri-
S&P affirms AAA rating
$17.7 million
bond sale saves
town nearly
$1 million
BY LINDA MOSS
moss@montclairlocal.news
Standard & Poor’s Global Rat-
ings has reaffirmed the town-
ship’s stellar AAA bond rating,
which municipal officials claim
helped lead to a successful sale of
$17.7 million in refunding bonds
last week.
The bond sale will end up
saving Montclair more than
$972,000 in principal and inter-
est, the municipality said earlier
this week. The sale followed the
Township Council passing a re-
funding bond ordinance in No-
vember, which provided for the
advance refunding of 2011 series
general improvement and school
bonds, the municipality said in a
press release Tuesday.
“The refunding ordinance
let us position ourselves to act
quickly and refund the bonds for
a lower interest rate when market
conditions become favorable,”
Township Chief Financial Offi-
cer Padmaja Rao said in a state-
ment. “Such significant savings
reduce the township’s borrowing
costs, thereby allowing us to allo-
cate the savings to infrastructure
projects.”
The successful bond sale fol-
lows Montclair’s AAA bond rat-
ing reaffirmation last month by
S&P. In a five-page report dated
July 20, the rating agency once
again assigned its AAA rating to
Montclair Township’s 2017 gen-
eral-obligation improvement re-
funding bonds and general-obli-
gation school refunding bonds.
The rating service also af-
firmed the township’s AAA rat-
ing on existing general obligation
debt, marking the second year in
a row the municipality has re-
ceived the highest issuer credit
rating that the financial services
company assigns.
The S&P AAA bond rating
MPL summer volunteers Kimoni DePass and Daniel Albarron stand behind the
counter in the Isabel Rose Café.
culture’s Summer Food Service
Program provided meals to 2.8
million children a day, according
to the USDA’s website.
This is the first year for Nour-
ishing the Mind and Body. In
June, the MPL Foundation re-
ceived a $4,776 grant from Part-
ners for Health, which according
to a statement on its website,
invests in programs that lead
to healthy communities and
healthy lifestyles in 15 commu-
nities, primarily in Essex County.
The library provides a lunch
each weekday from noon to 2
p.m. Each brown-bag lunch in-
cludes a sandwich, a drink, a
piece of fruit and a dessert. Reg-
istration is not required. The
lunches are prepared by Toni’s
Kitchen, the food ministry of St.
Luke’s Episcopal Church. Toni’s
TOWNSHIP FINANCES
PADMAJA RAO
reaffirmation helped make the
township’s recent bonds attrac-
tive to buyers, according to Rao.
The ratings agency cited sev-
en credit factors for reaffirming
the AAA rating, including what
it called Montclair’s “very strong”
economy in the New York metro
region that is broad and diverse
with “ample” job opportunities.
“Although primarily residen-
tial, the township maintains a
healthy retail and commercial
component,” S&P said. “Although
mature, we expect the tax base to
increase modestly over the near
term as re-development occurs.
There are no significant tax ap-
peals pending that could be a det-
riment to the township’s finan-
cial position.
The ratings service also cred-
ited the township with having
strong financial management
policies in place.
“Highlights include conserva-
tive budgeting practices that look
back to the prior year and month-
ly monitoring of budget-to-actu-
als with monthly reports provid-
ed to the council,” according to
the report.
S&P cited the township’s
strong budgetary performance,
as well, “with operating surplus-
es in the general fund and at the
total governmental fund level” in
2016.
“We believe that the township
is likely to maintain its strong
budgetary performance given the
current lack of budgetary pres-
sures and its track record of fi-
nancial sustainability,” S&P said.
“Management has continued its
conservative budgeting practices
News Page A-3
Zoning Board special meeting
In order to comply with
the Open Public Meetings
Act, Chapter 231, P.L. 1975 of
Wednesday, Sept. 27, at 7:30
p.m. , according to a notice at
montclairnjusa.org.
the State of New Jersey, the The meeting will take place
Montclair Zoning Board of in Council Chambers, first
Adjustment has scheduled a floor of the Municipal Build-
special meeting to be held on ing, 205 Claremont Ave.
COMING SOON...
T C L A I R
MO N Lo cal
D S !
munity
ilding Com
E
ue, and Bu
I
, Spa rking Dialog
F
Informing
I
Objectively
S
L A S
C
COURTESY ANITA PETERSON
Watch for Details
Kitchen staff members prepare
the lunch in their kitchen at the
church and delivers them to the
library.
or Call
862-277-5200
Earlier this year, the library
ran a program during spring
break that provided lunch to 145
children and teens. That pilot
program was funded by private
donors, according to Partners
for Health.
In a statement announcing
the program, the library not-
ed that nearly 1,000 children
qualify for free or reduced-price
lunches in the Montclair School
District, and that six of Mont-
clair’s 10 schools are considered
Title 1 schools.
Nourishing the Mind and
Body runs through early Sep-
tember. The first day of school is
on Sept. 7.
that have contributed to its con-
secutive operating surpluses over
the past four fiscal years.”
The township also benefits
from “very strong liquidity, with
total government available cash
at 36.5 percent of total govern-
mental fund expenditures” and
an “adequate debt and contingent
liability” profile, according to the
ratings service.
“Our upgrade from AA- to
AAA in a little more than four
years is unprecedented,” Mayor
Robert Jackson said in a state-
ment. “The rating affirmation and
bond sale validate our position as
a top community nationwide for
financial strength, credit worthi-
ness and fiscal management. This
could only be achieved through
efficient and effective fiscal poli-
cies put in place from the begin-
ning of this council’s tenure, in
order to ensure the responsible
management of taxpayers’ fi-
nances.”
The mayor expects the town-
ship’s total debt will be reduced
by $3 million in 2017, approach-
ing $175 million.
“Moving forward, council’s re-
cent resolutions establishing mu-
nicipal debt and municipal fund
balance policies will help ensure
the township’s fiscal strength,”
Acting Township Manager Tim-
othy Stafford said in a statement.
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Thursday, August 10, 2017
Festival
from page A-1
88.3 FM’s Gary Walker will be
the stage host.
And the festival will also
present local talent: students
from the Jazz House Kids Sum-
mer Workshop will perform
throughout the day, and The
Jazz House Collective, directed
by Nathan Eklund, will pres-
ent faculty members teaching
in the summer workshop.
The festival is curated by
McBride, artistic director of
the festival, artistic director of
the Newport Jazz Festival, and
Walker’s husband.
HONORING JAZZ OF 1917
And this year the faculty
are doing something special,
Walker says.
“I don’t know what was in
the water 100 years ago, but
some of the greatest pioneers
of this music were born 100
years ago this year.
“They are putting together a
special project to honor them.
If you take out these artists,
jazz would be changed forev-
er.”
Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonius
Monk, Mongo Santamaria,
Dizzy Gillespie, and Lena
Horne were all born in 1917,
she explains.
“The list goes on. This proj-
ect will celebrate their contri-
butions to this art form.
“There are celebrations go-
ing on across the globe. With-
out them, you would have a
very different landscape for
this music.”
“It’s an extraordinarily tal-
ented and dedicated artist fac-
ulty,” Walker says. Every year
the faculty do a special project:
last summer the project cele-
brated the late artists Prince
and David Bowie.
THE JAZZ FAMILY
The Family Jazz Discovery
2017 Montclair
Jazz Festival
Saturday, Aug. 12, noon - 9 p.m.
Main Stage Schedule
Noon: 52nd Street Big Band
12:30: Philly Soul Big Band
1: Bright Moments Big Band
1:15: Afro-Latin Big Band
1:45: The Big Solid Sax Mob
2:15: Jazz House Vocal Large En-
semble
2:45: The Ted Chubb Band
3:45: Jazz House Collective: The Cen-
tennial Project
4:45: Dynasty Big Band
5:15: Jazz House Big Band featuring
Dee Dee Bridgewater
6: Cyrus Chestunt Trio
7: Dee Dee Bridgwater and Mem-
phis Soulphony
8: A Christian McBride Situation
Family Jazz Discovery Zone Schedule
12:30: Jazz House Alumni Ensemble
1:10: Jazz Storytime with Christian
McBride
1:35: Jazz House Alumni Ensemble
2:05: Webop, a Jazz at Lincoln Center
program
2:40: Jazz Storytime with Louis Pri-
ma Jr.
3:30: Jazz Storytime with Dee Dee
Bridgewater
4: Chica Power presented by Jazz
House Kids
4:45 Louis Prima Jr. and The Wit-
nesses
5:45: Webop, a Jazz at Lincoln Center
program
Art projects presented by the Mont-
clair Art Museum throughout the day
post-festival jam at Egan & Sons,
West Orange
Nishuane Park
No Tickets Required
jazzfestival.org
Zone Stage presents music
and child-centered activities,
in partnership with the Mont-
clair Art Museum and the
Montclair Public Library.
Louis Prima Jr. , who per-
formed last year with a Jazz
House Kids big band, returns
this year to play on the Family
Jazz Discovery stage, with his
group The Witnesses.
“It’s all geared to our young-
est be-boppers, throughout
the day. It goes to about 7 p.m. ,”
Walker says. Artists, including
Walker, will read.
Jazz House Kids’ alumni,
students now in college, will
News
Bernard Purdie plays with A Christian McBride Situation in 2016.
perform, a new event this
year. Girls from Chica Power,
a program in which Jazz House
Kids hosts young women in
jazz during Women’s History
month, will also perform.
There will be two “webop”
classes, a program of Jazz at
Lincoln Center for children
ages 2 to 5. MAM will have an
art mobile. There will be close
to 50 vendors, of food, cloth-
ing, different kinds of busi-
nesses, she says.
“I’ll read a book in the fami-
ly jazz zone,” Walker says. This
year, she won’t be singing: “I
will be meeting and greeting
people in the audience.
“I love learning and hearing
about where they come from,
what they like, any ideas. I
want to hear their stories.
“One year a gentleman was
there who was 105. He talked
about how he saw Louis Arm-
strong in person.
“There are so many backsto-
ries. I will be saying thank you
and thank you.”
CATCH US
LIVE ON OUR
FACEBOOK
PAGE!
Page A-7
RICHARD CONDE FOR JAZZ HOUSE KIDS
RICHARD CONDE FOR JAZZ HOUSE KIDS
Louis Prima Jr. performs with the Jazz House Kids Big Band in 2016. This year,
he will play with The Witnesses.
BRAViTAS MAIN STAGE
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES
S. EPATHA MERKERSON
WBGO HOST
GARY WALKER
52ND STREET BIG BAND NOON
PHILLY SOUL BIG BAND 12:30PM
BRIGHT MOMENTS BIG BAND 1:00PM
AFRO-LATIN BIG BAND 1:15PM
THE BIG SOLID SAX MOB 1:45PM
JAZZ HOUSE VOCAL
LARGE ENSEMBLE 2:15PM
THE TED CHUBB BAND 2:45PM
JAZZ HOUSE COLLECTIVE
THE CENTENNIAL PROJECT 3:45PM
DYNASTY BIG BAND 4:45PM
JAZZ HOUSE BIG BAND featuring
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER 5:15PM
CYRUS CHESTNUT TRIO 6:00PM
DEE DEE BRIDGEWATER
& MEMPHIS SOULPHONY 7:00PM
A CHRISTIAN McBRIDE
SITUATION 8:00PM
FAMiLY JAZZ
DISCOVERY ZONE
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
12:30PM + 1:30PM
JAZZ HOUSE ALUMNI ENSEMBLE
4:45PM
LOUIS PRIMA JR.
AND THE WITNESSES
+
MUCH MORE!
POST FESTIVAL JAM
@ EGAN & SONS
IN WEST ORANGE
 Page A-8
NEWS IN BRIEF
BOE receives feedback on
proposed homework policy
In July, the board of educa-
tion invited parents to submit
feedback on a proposed rewrite
of the district’s homework pol-
icy.
Nina DeRosa, secretary to
the superintendent, said Mon-
day that the district had heard
from about 12 people regarding
the homework policy. She said
Pinsak and the board would be
discussing the feedback at the
board’s next retreat, the date of
which has not yet been posted
on the district’s website.
Board of Education Presi-
dent Laura Hertzog said Mon-
day that she herself had not
yet seen details of the parents’
comments, but she expected
that the board would be dis-
cussing them with Pinsak and
incorporating the feedback
into the homework policy.
This summer, families had
until July 31 to read over the
draft version of the homework
Newark man arrested
on suspicion of harassment
A Newark man was arrested
on suspicion of harassing
passersby on Bloomfield
Avenue on July 27.
Police Lt. David O’Dowd
said last week that on July 27,
police on patrol on Bloomfield
Avenue noticed a man yelling
at passersby and aggressively
panhandling. He said that the
man matched the description
of a man who had been
reported to have been panhan-
Food Pantry dropoff day Saturday
The Human Needs Food
Pantry will hold its next Satur-
day dropoff day on Saturday,
Aug. 12, from 10 to noon.
In addition to donations
of nonperishable food,
diapers and wipes, toiletries
and personal-care items, pet
food, and tall paper bags with
handles, the pantry is asking
Montclair student attends
Space Camp in Alabama
Chris Borgen of Montclair
recently attended Space Camp
at the U.S. Space and Rocket
Center, NASA Marshall Space
Flight Center’s Official Visitor
Center.
The weeklong educational
program promotes science,
technology, engineering
and math (STEM), while
training students and adults
with hands-on activities and
missions based on teamwork,
leadership and problem
solving.
Borgen spent the week
training with a team that flew
a simulated space mission to
Mars. The crew participated in
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policy posted on the district’s
website and submit comments
if they saw fit.
The board has been discuss-
ing a revised homework policy
since early this year.
At board meetings in the
spring, several parents report-
ed that they thought that their
children were getting too much
homework, and that home-
work was interfering with fam-
ily life. Other parents were of
the opinion that regular home-
work was good for enforcing
study habits.
The draft policy currently
available on the district website
includes guidelines on how to
assign homework by grade lev-
el. Teachers were also advised
to take other classes, extracur-
ricular activities and other out-
side factors into consideration
when assigning homework.
—Erin Roll
dling in an aggressive manner
near the Dunkin’ Donuts.
O’Dowd said the man was
also walking out in traffic, and
as the officers brought him
back up onto the sidewalk, he
said, the man attempted to spit
at the officers.
Carl Reevers, 50, of New-
ark, was arrested and issued
summonses for disorderly
behavior and panhandling.
for donations of brand-new
school supplies, such as back-
packs, binders, filler paper,
calculators, pencils, pens, etc.
The Human Needs Food
Pantry is at 9 Label St. Regular
donation days are Tuesday and
Thursday from 8 to noon.
For more information, go to
humanneedsfoodpantry.org.
experiments and successfully
completed an extra-vehicular
activity (EVA), or spacewalk,
and returned to Earth in time
to graduate with honors.
Space Camp operates year-
round in Huntsville, Alabama,
and uses astronaut training
techniques to engage trainees
in real-world applications
of STEM subjects. Trainees
sleep in quarters designed to
resemble the International
Space Station and train in
NASA-inspired simulators.
For information, go to
spacecamp.com or call 800-
637-7223.
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News
Newest Montclair Eagle Scouts
Supplies
from page A-1
ted for the first day of school.
Walter said that a lot of the
donations, such as crayons and
brightly-colored backpacks with
cartoon characters, tend to be
geared toward younger children.
While those items are welcome,
she said, Human Needs is espe-
cially in need of supplies for mid-
dle- and high school students. It is
during those years, she said, that
students start to need three-ring
binders for each class, special-
ized items such as calculators, and
book sleeves for textbooks, and
the cost of those items can soon
add up.
Walter said that many families
that Human Needs serves find
themselves in the position of put-
ting food on the table, or buying
school supplies, but not both.
Walter said the supplies are
given out cafeteria-style. All of
the backpacks and supplies are
spread out on a table, and chil-
dren and their families can come
through and pick out which items
they would like. “We don’t fill up
the backpack and hand it out,” she
said. “But we let them pick out
which backpack they want, which
notebooks they want.”
Human Needs also requests
that backpacks and school sup-
plies be as gender-neutral as pos-
sible. All items must be new or
gently-used and clean. Items must
be dropped off while the pantry is
open; there will also be a desig-
nated drop-off time on Saturday
from 10 a.m. to noon.
While she was not aware of
the exact numbers, Walter said
that Human Needs is definitely
seeing an uptick in the number
of children and teenagers need-
ing school supplies, since Human
Needs now has a larger number of
families among its client base.
SENTINELS GIVEAWAY
The Montclair Sentinels will be
holding their 10th annual school
supplies giveaway on Sunday,
Aug. 27, in Glenfield Park on Ma-
ple Avenue, near Glenfield School.
Detective Kim Nelson-Ed-
wards, a school resource officer at
Corso 98 would like to extend our gratitude and
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appreciation to our loyal customers that have
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to offer our customers an authentic, homemade,
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Italian dining experience.
HOURS
T-Th 5pm-10pm, F-Sat. 5pm-11pm, Sun. 4pm-10pm
98 Walnut Street, Montclair NJ
COURTESY KIMYA NILSEN
The Montclair Community Operation
Backpack drive brought in at least 55
backpacks as of Aug. 3. Several Mont-
clair-area groups are still collecting
backpacks and school supplies for
children and teens whose families
may have trouble affording supplies.
Montclair High School, has been
overseeing the drive since its in-
ception. “We’re looking to service
a minimum of 500 kids,” Nel-
son-Edwards said on Monday.
Each year, the Sentinels work
with several community groups,
including the Montclair Educa-
tion Association, the Montclair
Community Pre-K and the Mont-
clair Neighborhood Development
Corporation, to help identify
families who could benefit from
the supply giveaway, and to en-
sure that those families are made
aware of it.
Families will be asked to prove
Montclair residency for the event.
However, Nelson-Edwards will
accommodate a small number of
out-of-town families after Mont-
clair families have been provided
with supplies. An example will be
if a Montclair family has cousins
or other relatives from another
town in need of supplies.
As at the Human Needs Food
Pantry, Nelson-Edwards said sup-
plies for middle- and high school
students are especially needed.
It is not unusual for high school
students to need new supplies
by the middle of the school year:
“Come January, kids are in my
| 973-746-0789
Thursday, August 10, 2017
Troop 12’s newest Eagle
Scouts, Peter Brown, left,
and Jacob Skorzewski,
were awarded their rank
at a Court of Honor held
at St. James Church on
June 9.
To earn the Eagle rank, a
Scout must earn 21 merit
badges, serve in various
leadership positions and
complete a community
service leadership proj-
ect. Peter, a rising senior
at Montclair Kimberly
Academy, collected 172
pairs of used eyeglasses
which he donated to
charity. Jacob, a rising
senior at Montclair High
School, built a vertical
garden for Toni’s Kitch-
en, helping to provide
fresh fruits, vegetables
and herbs for the soup
kitchen.
Troop 12 meets each
Friday evening at 7, at
St. James Church. For
information, contact
scoutmastercarl@troop-
12montclair.org.
COURTESY SEAN LEONG
office. ‘Detective Nelson, do you
have any notebooks? Do you have
any paper?’” So she keeps extra
supplies in her office at the school
for that purpose.
Sometimes the giveaway or-
ganizers will receive extra back-
packs. At the midway point of
the year, Nelson-Edwards said, a
student may need a new backpack
because their old one got torn.
“They’re walking around with
books in a plastic bag,” she said,
which often results in that student
being teased. And one year, the
giveaway was fortunate to receive
a donation of scientific calcula-
tors. “That was a treat,” she said.
Besides the supplies giveaway,
there will be food and drinks,
games, prizes and face-painting.
“Just so they can have a full day of
fun.
“And we don’t allow the par-
ents into the room to pick out the
bags,” Nelson-Edwards said. Each
child gets to go in and pick out
what color and style of backpack
they want, which notebooks they
want, and so forth. Supplies will
be arranged by grade level; there
will also be small supply bags
suitable for pre-K students.
OPERATION BACKPACK
Montclair Community Oper-
ation Backpack wrapped up its
summer drive on Aug. 4.
Operation Backpack, organized
by the Greater New York chapter
of Volunteers of America, collects
backpacks and school supplies for
children and teenagers living in
homeless shelters and domestic
violence shelters in the New Jer-
sey-New York area.
Kimya Nilsen, the local co-
ordinator for Montclair’s Oper-
ation Backpack, has been par-
ticipating in the effort for three
years. As of Aug. 3, the next-to-
last day of the drive, she report-
ed that the drive had received 55
packs, with more expected over
the next 48 hours. The drive also
raised at least $1,500, she said. By
Monday, she said that the drive
had brought in 160 packs, and a
company from Lyndhurst was
expected to deliver an additional
23 by that evening. She said that
she would be bringing the packs
to a distribution facility in Man-
hattan the next day.
| www.Corso98.com