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National Night Out - July 31, 2007
For almost 25 years Plainfield has participated in the annual National Night Out on the first Tuesday of August. Residents are asked to turn on their porch lights, put out luminaries and generally get to know their neighbors if an effort to take back the streets from crime.
This year, Assistant Union County Prosecutor Tiffany Wilson, who heads the Community Policing Unit in the city, and Councilwoman Linda Carter, who have headed the effort in Plainfield for a number of years, decided to extend National Night Out to a week, culminating in the actual National Night Out Party to say Good-bye to Crime at City Hall.
Leading up to that, the two challenged each of the four wards to undertake community service and community-building on a specific day. Tuesday was set aside for Ward 2, where many FOSH volunteers live.
A committee headed by Cricket Cardozo, who organized and leads the Dorsey Avenue Block Association; which included Maria Pellum, the spark plug of the Crescent Avenue Historic District and block association; Stacy Reh from the Plainfield Area YMCA; and Pat Turner Kavanaugh, from the Fernwood Avenue Neighborhood Block Association and FOSH created the Ward 2 activities.
There were two projects: painting the bathrooms at Seidler Field, a playground and pool on North Avenue just west of the Netherwood Train Station; and beautifying the South Avenue side of the station, a long-time FOSH undertaking. It was FOSH people who were instrumental in saving Netherwood Station from the wrecking ball which had long-since destroyed stations at Grant Avenue and Clinton Avenue. FOSH volunteers have remained involved through participation in the Raritan Valley Rail Coalition, doing and paying for landscaping there (most recently $1200 last fall for professional services), watering the plants, picking up trash and reporting weekly to New Jersey Transit if there are problems like broken lightbulbs.
Maria Pellum and Bernice Paglia from Crescent Avenue did heroic preparation at the station by weeding, a very big job. Maria's son Andres Martinez helped as did Cricket's mother-in-law Betty.
FOSH agreed to buy the plants and any materials for the station. As it turned out Jennifer Costello from FOSH arranged with Home Depot to donate the plants; FOSH bought eight big bags of mulch, a container of fertilizer and one of a crystal which helps retain moisture and Home Depot gave a 10 percent discount.
The night of the community service, FOSH was well represented: Mary Kolesnyk, Mary Ellen and Bob Chanda, Jennifer, Pat, Mindy Carton and Emmerson. A new FOSH volunteer Lavelle Jones was out-of-town but distributed fliers urging her neighbors to participate. Wayne Smith, who is on the FOSH contact list for Rita's Italian Ice on Leland Avenue, scooped ice at the party afterwards at the Y.
You can view some photo's that were taken the day of the event on the Courier News web site photo gallery.
Union County is conducting several special recycling events this fall.
Computers and electronics will be accepted Saturday 29 September at Union County College, Springfield Avenue, Cranford, and Saturday 3 November at Schering Plough, Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth, both 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., rain or shine, pre-registration not required, open to Union County reisdents, no businesses. Taking monitors, keyboards, printers, televisions, circuit boards, hard drives, CPU's, scanners, VCR's, video cassettes, modems, phones, speakers, fax machines, CDs and DVDs. Not accepted microwaves, air conditioners, white goods. Also accepting up to eight automobile tires per household; no rims.
Mobile paper shredding: Saturday 6 October, Lucent Technologies, 600 Mountain Ave., New Providence, and Saturday 3 November at Schering Plough, Galloping Hill Road, Kenilworth. Both 10 to 2 (although they will stop earler if the shredding truck gets filled), rain or shine, residents and businesses.
Household special waste: Saturday 20 October, Rahway River Park (in the parking lot across from Rahway Pool), St. Georges Avenue, Rahway, 8 - 2, rain or shine. Aerosol cans, antfreeze, batteries, caustics, corrosives & cleaners, fire extinguishers, unbroken fluorescent bulbs, thermostats, mercury switches, motor oil and oil filters, oil based paints and varnishes, pesticides and herbicides, pool chemicals, gasoline, solvents and thinners. Only material inoriginal or labeled containers will be accepted. No containers larger than five gallons. Also up to eight automobile tires per household. No latex paint.
For further information phone the Recycling Hotline at (908) 654-9889 or visit www.ucnj.org.
FOSH Volunteerism Award(s) - 2007
For a number of years FOSH has provided a monetary award to a senior graduating from Plainfield High School. The youngsters submit written applications which are evaluated by a FOSH committee. This year that consisted of Mindy Carton, Frank Colon, Valerie Cummings, Dan Damon and Pat Turner Kavanaugh. From approximately 35 hopeful candidates, we chose six or seven to meet with us for an interview. Frank, Valerie and I met with the seniors at PHS.
We selected two: one for the main prize, the other for a somewhat smaller prize. The money comes from FOSH fund-raising efforts, like the restaurant nights out.
Here's what Frank Colon said in making the presentations during the scholarship ceremony at PHS.
"The Friends of Sleepy Hollow (FOSH) is a grass-roots, non-partisan all-volunteer community group which was formed for the betterment of Plainfield. Among other activities, FOSH raises funds to give an annual award, and in tonight's case, more than one, to a graduating Plainfield High School senior for academic achievement and volunteer service. In addition, FOSH also give nine scholarships a year to Plainfield public school children to attend classes at duCret School of Art, conducts clean-ups at various parks, and has raised and spent more than $40,000 to develop Leland Avenue Park. This year the 14th annual FOSH garage sale involved more than 130 homes and attracted thousands of customers from the tri-state area.
And now for our awards:
This young man aspires to be a lawyer and plans on attending Seton Hall. In addition to his many academic awards, he has volunteered many hours in Plainfield's Senior Citizen Center, helped in organizing a July 4th basketball tournament at Mathewson Playground, and coordinated the 'Fathers AgainstGuns' basketball tournament. It is my pleasure to present this first award to Durelle Hill.
Our second award goes to a young lady with a dream of becoming a medical doctor, specializing in plastic surgery. In addition to ranking in the top 10 percent of the graduating senior class, she has been involved in numerous volunteer activities such as:
-Church Youth Group Leader
-Math tutoring
-Fundraising for her church, St. Mary
-Visiting elementary schools to encourage students to succeed
-Volunteering for ushering duties at PHS events
-And she wrote an essay for FOSH on why volunteering her services to the community is such an important part of her growth as a person.
It was presented by Pat Turner Kavanaugh and was FOSH's great pleasure to present this second award to Maria Escalante."
FOSH December 2006 Netherwood Train Station Clean-Up
Click Here to view the news article about the beautification. Thank you very much to the individuals who contributed. We look forward to more programs like this with your support.
FOSH Volunteerism Award - 2006
Once again, the FOSH committee which chooses a Plainfield High School senior for FOSH's annual award recognizing volunteer service and academic success faced a daunting task.
Mindy Carton, Frank Colon, Valerie Cummings, Dan Damon and Pat Turner Kavanaugh read through a thick stack of applications, forced to narrow the field to a manageable number for interviews during the day selected by the high school. We singled out eight youngsters, including the number one and number two in their graduating class.
Mindy, Valerie and I were able to participate in the personal meetings. The top two young women and all of the others we met were impressive, interesting youngsters who work hard in many, many ways and contribute to the community.
Although it was a tough assignment, we choose Chloe Webb, who will attend college in the fall at age 16, meaning she was a 12-year-old high school freshman.
Here's some of what Valerie told the gathered students, faculty, family and friends, when she handed Chloe a $500 check from FOSH to use towards her education.
"The Friends of Sleepy Hollow is a neighborhood association which for some years now has been awarding a $500 cash prize to a graduating senior who in addition to excelling scholastically, has found time to give back to the community through volunteerism.
"This year we have chosen Chloe Webb as our prize recipient. Chloe, who wrote that her most cherished extra-curricular activity is volunteering in her community, states, 'volunteering is a way of giving back to others. Everyone needs help now and then and I realize that something so small, just a fragment of my time, can enlighten the lives of people'."
In a letter of recommendation, M. Annette States, a professional school counselor at PHS, said of Chloe: "She has excelled in all her classes, most of which are Honor Classes. She had made the Honor Roll each cycle. She has joined many clubs and organizations. I feel most notable is the FAST Club, in which she actively participates in community service activities. This concerned group of students have fed the homeless, organized after-school programs for pre-school children and their families, and volunteered at the local YMCA to assist children who are housed there."
Responding to the FOSH request for an essay on what volunteerism means to her, Chloe wrote, "I extended myself to different organizations and lend my support wherever it is needed. I feel it is my obligation as a well bodied, good spirit person, to volunteer my time and efforts to people who aren't in an overwhelmingly good situation."
Perhaps most impressive to Valerie, Mindy and me was Chloe's maturity in describing the volunteer work she does for Planned Parenthood, distributing information and contraceptives. She was the PHS winner of a volunteerism award from Virgin Mobile, and has a long list of community service projects to her credit.
Teacher Joel Plummer summed Chloe up. "Incredibly, Ms Webb's academic ability is dwarfed by her character and charm. She carries herself with an air of sophistication and unselfishness that I rarely see in teenagers Ms Webb never loses her poise even in the face of tremendous pressure and volume of work. She is simply unflappable."
Valerie concluded her remarks at PHS, "Chloe, we wish you the very best as you go to
college and encourage you to continue your interest in volunteerism. Congratulations."
-Written and Chaired by Pat Turner Kavanaugh
Friends of Sleepy Hollow of Plainfield will host its sixth annual Celebration of Animals from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday at the Leland Avenue Park on Leland Avenue in Plainfield.
The topic of focus for this year's (2005) celebration is "The Misunderstood Breed" which refers to bully and terrier dog breeds.
Mary Harweli, a professional dog trainer and breed counselor, will be the keynote speaker.
She specializes in bully and terrier dogs. She works with local rescue groups and shelters and helps with pre- and post-adoption counseling.
She has been actively working to educate owners, shelter/rescue workers and the general public since 1993. In 2000, she launched her Web site, www.realpitbull.com. Mary is author of "Introduction to the Pit Bull."
The celebration coincides with the Feast of St. Francis, a traditional time for blessing of all animals.
Friends of Sleepy Hollow includes representatives from Buddhist/Hindu, Catholic, Native American and Presbyterian following, each of whom will offer their own personalized blessing for the animals in attendance and throughout the world.
There is no charge for the celebration. People are encouraged to bring their animals (safely contained in carriers or on a leash) or a photo or other representation of their animals.
Friends of Sleepy Hollow is a neighborhood association dedicated to furthering active participation of residents of the Sleepy Hollow section of Plainfield in community matters. The Animal Initiative Committee was formed March 2000, when the municipality was left without animal control, following the closing of Sterling Kennels.
For more information, contact, fosh@foshnj.com or (908) 756-7521.
This above article was taken from the Courier News website www.c-n.com.
City Hotline now available
Have a suggestion or concern? Can't call during business hours? Use Mayor McWilliams's Hotline and get a callback within two working days. The Hotline number is (908) 753-3521.
Are you new to Plainfield?
If you are a recent arrival to the Sleepy Hollow area and have not yet been contacted by our Welcoming Committee, please let us know. We would like to greet you and deliver a welcoming packet of information about the community and local businesses. Please write to us at newcomers@foshnj.com and provide your name, address, and telephone number so that we may contact you.
Not sure when your street is going to be swept?
Log on to Plainfield's home page, where the street sweeping schedule is now posted. Any questions regarding the cleaning of streets should be directed to Rick Smiley, Acting Director of Public Works,
at (908) 753-3427.
Recycling procedures for Plainfield
Paper/cardboard and glass/metal/plastic are collected on alternate weeks. Call the PMUA if you have any questions regarding pick-up scheduling and service. If you experience any problems with recycling or garbage collection, call the PMUA at (908) 226-2518.
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