County of Union, New Jersey

Residents have received automated phone messages claiming to be from the Internal Revenue Service. The message given states:

Hello, we have been trying to reach you. This call is an official and final notice from IRS, Internal Revenue Service. The reason for this call is to inform you that IRS is filing a lawsuit against you. To get more information about this case file please call immediately on our department number (phone number given) I repeat, (phone number given again). Thank you.

If you receive this call do not call the number back as it is not the IRS. This is a fraud. Simply hang up the phone or delete the message.  More information can be found at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/blog/irs-calling

Union County – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders recently announced that the 2015 Union County Advancing Community Theater (UCACT) Season will continue at the Union County Performing Arts Center’s Hamilton Stage next month with People Helping People, Inc.’s Murphy’s Law: Group Therapy Gone Wild.

An original work by Union County’s own Andrea Clinton, niece of the legendary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee George Clinton (of the band Parliament/Funkadelic), the show is a dark comedy that has taken on the goal of bringing Mental Health Awareness & Suicide Prevention to theatre audiences in a manner that is uniquely relatable. The show is set to run November 13^th through the 15^th.

“The Freeholder Board is proud that the UCACT program, has not only brought forth a season that encompasses a diverse body of work, but also works- like this one, that address important social issues,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. 

As with her novels, Clinton’s Murphy’s Law aims to show audiences that, “life isn’t out to get you personally, it just doesn’t know boundaries.”

In the play, Dr. Kapewski also known as Dr. Pew- an unconventional, quirky and hippie-psychotherapist- brings her patients, who would not normally be in each other’s company, together for “dramatic group therapy.”  As the saying goes, anything that can go wrong will, as her patients get carried away in their own personalities, in this group therapy session gone wild.

Tickets are priced at $15 general admission and $20 for a VIP ticket, group rates are also available. To purchase, or for additional information, please contact UCPAC Box Office at 732-499-8226 or visit ucpac.org.

UCACT grants funding to cover the hard costs associated with putting up at production at the Union County Performing Arts Center. Through creative partnership and a holistic approach, the program creates a successful business model for Community Theater, allowing them to provide quality performances while also thriving financially.

For more information on UCACT, please contact Victoria Durbin Drake, Chief of Staff, Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, at 908-558-2278 or visit ucnj.org/ucact.

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ELIZABETH, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce “Music in the Mills” – formerly “Art in the Gardens” – an October celebration of National Arts and Humanities Month, will take place Columbus Day Weekend, October 10^th, 11^th and 12^th in The Mills at Jersey Gardens in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

“Music in the Mills” features instrumental, vocal and dance performances in the Center Court of the Mall. This year, the Columbus Day Weekend Splash is planned with free performances starting on Saturday and continuing through Monday. This annual event is coordinated by the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs in the Union County Department of Parks & Recreation.

“Music in the Mills is an excellent opportunity for a busy Union County venue to host local talent and present it to a wide and diverse audience,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Board of Chosen Freeholders is proud to have this annual event in Union County.

The weekend’s scheduled performances are:

Saturday, October 11:

11:00 a.m. – Noon:  Jill Cagney of Cranford, singer/songwriter;

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.:  Jefferson Arts Liberty Dancers of Elizabeth;

2:00 – 3:00 p.m.:  Hayden Greyson of Summit, singer/songwriter;

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.:  You and Your Sister, musical performance;

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.:  Richard Nobrega Jr. of Union, classical and Latin guitar;

6:30 – 7:30 p.m.:  United Youth of New Jersey from Elizabeth, theatrical dance, hip-hop and rap.

 Sunday, October 12:

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.:  Blanca Rosas of Elizabeth, singer/songwriter;

1:00 – 1:30 p.m.:  Estilo Latino Dance Company of Elizabeth;

 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.:  Yasko & Kokonuts of Garwood, jazz performers;           

3:30 – 4:30 p.m.:  Moshi Moshi Band, anime/video game music;

5:00 – 6:00 p.m.:  Chinese-American Music Ensemble of Westfield.

Monday, October 13:

11:00 a.m. – noon:  Kathleen McMahon of Scotch Plains, belly dancing;

12:30 – 1:30 p.m.: University of Philippines Alumni & Friends Rondalla Traditional String Ensemble;

 2:00 – 3:00 p.m.:  Jazz Vocalist Lauren Shub with Pianist Ilya Maslov;

 5:00 – 6:00 p.m.:  Ramapo Valley Ramblers, bluegrass band;

 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.:  Framework Acoustic Jazz Quartet.

The Mills at Jersey Gardens will host Music in the Mills in its Center Court, which was recently renovated as part of a $30 million remodel of the mall.

“We are excited to continue this fabulous celebration of the arts in Union County,” said Crystal Fresco, Marketing Director for The Mills at Jersey Gardens. “We are continually impressed by the local talent right here in our own backyard.”

“Our goal is to raise awareness of the arts in Union County and the many artists who deserve recognition for their achievements. Our shoppers come from all over the tri-state area and beyond; this is an opportunity to showcase our local talent,” Ms. Fresco added.

The Mills at Jersey Gardens is located on Kapkowski Road at Exit 13A of the New Jersey Turnpike and features 200 stores all under one roof.

For more information about “Music in the Mills,” contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202. Telephone: (908) 558-2550.  New Jersey Relay Users dial 711. E-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org.

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Upcoming Adult Programs at the Trailside Nature & Science Center. Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders. You can now easily register online for these programs.  More information can be found by clicking here.

Basic Digital Photography Workshop
Saturday, October 10
10 AM – 1 PM | Fee: $45/IC, $55/OC

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Angel G. Estrada, Alexander Mirabella, Bette Jane Kowalski and Sergio Granados joined Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi at the Passport Day 2015 event at the County Clerk’s Office Annex in Westfield.

To help travelers avoid the stress and expense of last-minute passport applications, Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi invites Union County residents to apply for or renew their passports.

For more details visit the County Clerk online at ucnj.org/county-clerk, call the Westfield Annex at 908-654-9859, or call the main office in Elizabeth at 908-527-4966.

(Photos by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

 

Union County, NJ – Union County residents who would like to vote by mail in the upcoming General and School Board elections can watch Union County Clerk Joanne Rajoppi demonstrate how to use a Vote-By-Mail ballot correctly in an online video available on YouTube, titled “Union County Vote-By-Mail.” 

“Vote-By-Mail has become very popular, and so has online video learning,” said Rajoppi. “Combining the two is a good demonstration of the ways in which the office of the County Clerk can continue to adapt to new technology.”

For more information on election services offered by the County Clerk, including the new Union County Votes mobile app, visit online at ucnj.org/county-clerk or call 908-527-4996.

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Connect with Union County on social media.

 

Union County’s annual free public heritage event, “Four Centuries in a Weekend: A Journey through Union County’s History,” will take place Saturday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18 from noon to 5 p.m. Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, with the cooperation of staff and volunteers at 28 house museums and historic sites, the two-day free event opens doors to more than 370 years of history throughout Union County.

“Four Centuries in a Weekend began in 1994 when 16 historic sites and the County of Union organized a weekend event to tell how Elizabethtown of 1664 evolved into the 21 municipalities of modern-day Union County,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “This year you can learn about local military heroes, archaeological sites, bridal gowns, the role of women in the Revolution, special exhibitions and tours that showcase the county’s treasure trove of history.”

Among the historic sites open for free tours, all listed on the National and New Jersey State Registers of Historic Places, are these special programs and events:

• Reeve History & Cultural Resource Center in Westfield celebrates the restoration of the 1870s Victorian Italianate home.
• Deserted Village of Feltville-Glenside Park in Berkeley Heights will host the Archaeological Society of New Jersey on Saturday afternoon in the restored Masker’s Barn with presentations about archaeological sites at the village.
• Deacon Andrew Hetfield House in Mountainside, home to the Hetfield family for 186 years, will feature four centuries of wartime memorabilia including letters, uniforms, newspaper articles, posters and photos of local heroes.
• Oswald J. Nitschke House in Kenilworth plans a “living history” program set in 1898-1924, when the town known as New Orange was home to Upsala College.
• Liberty Hall Museum of Union, residence of New Jersey’s first elected governor, offers 23 acres of formal gardens and farmland, plus an exquisite 50-room Victorian mansion housing 240 years of American history.
• Reeves-Reed Arboretum of Summit will feature tours of the grounds, landscape drawings by noted architects and an art installation, “The Glass Menagerie,” of fantastical creatures.
• Crane-Phillips House Museum in Cranford will present “Here Come the Brides,” a display of wedding gowns from 1880 to 1980.
• Historic Cannon Ball House in Springfield will feature uniformed military re-enactors and relics of the 1780 Battle of Springfield.

Journey on to Elizabeth and visit Boxwood Hall, the 1772 home of Elias Boudinot, President of the Continental Congress; tour the restored Revolutionary War burial grounds at the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth, the oldest English-speaking congregation in New Jersey; and then visit the Caldwell Parsonage at Connecticut Farms in Union, an American Revolutionary site, where student docents who are members of the National Junior Honor Society of Kawameeh Middle School will welcome visitors.

A visit to Hillside will bring you to the Woodruff House/Eaton Store, built in 1735, and the historic Evergreen Cemetery, a virtual museum of funerary art. In Rahway, you’ll be welcome at the Merchants and Drovers Tavern, a restored early 19^th century hotel, and you can tour the Union County Performing Arts Center, a beautifully restored classic Vaudeville theatre. When you stop at the Dr. William Robinson Plantation in Clark, you’ll discover a post-medieval English-style house where Dr. Robinson practiced healing with plants and herbs.

At the Fanwood Train Station Museum you’ll visit the oldest Victorian Gothic railroad station in the county and learn about Fanwood’s ties to the Central Railroad of New Jersey. At the Abraham Clark House in Roselle, home to a signer of the Declaration of Independence, you’ll learn about Early American life. In the Roselle Park Museum, housed in the Charles E. Stone Store, you’ll be standing in the first electrically-lighted store in the world.

Authentic 18^th century farmhouses also are open for touring: the Miller-Cory House in Westfield; the Salt Box Museum in New Providence; the Osborn Cannonball House in Scotch Plains, adjacent to the town green and across from the Stage House Inn; and the Nathaniel Drake House in Plainfield, where on Sunday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., Stacy F. Roth will present “Over Here, Molly Pitcher,” a dramatic performance highlighting the lives of women who “belonged to the army” during the American Revolution.

Venturing into the Watchung Mountains, you’ll visit the Littell-Lord Farmstead in Berkeley Heights, a reminder of the county’s agricultural past; and explore Summit, with its Twin Maples, a stately neoclassical mansion; the Carter House, the city’s oldest house, built in the 1740’s; and the Summit Playhouse, a Richardsonian Romanesque structure with a 120-seat auditorium.

Children can earn a Time Traveler’s Certificate and a Four Centuries Patch by visiting and obtaining a Time Traveler Passport at any of the sites, having it stamped and returning the completed form to the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs.

For free copies of the Four Centuries in a Weekend tour booklet, map and further information, telephone 908-558-2550 weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., NJ Relay Users dial 711, or e-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org.

Union County – Voting is set to continue this week for Union County’s first-ever Art Outside the Box program; the last round of voting, for the Plainfield edition of the program garnered over 9,000 votes.

The selections available for this round will cover traffic control boxes in Rahway at the intersections of Milton Street and Lawrence Street, Hamilton Street and Irving Street, and within Madison Avenue Park.

The public can vote online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox/vote until Wednesday, October 7, 2015.

Art Outside the Box is a new county-wide creative placemaking project created to support Union County visual artists by offering a nontraditional exhibition opportunity that broadens and diversifies public exposure to art murals.

The theme for the 2015 Art Outside The Box  program was diversity, and art was sought that not only represented the community at-large, but that was uplifting, colorful, and appropriate for people of all ages. 

Offered as part of Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh’s Building A Community of the Arts initiative, a total of thirteen original artworks will be selected to cover traffic control boxes in Elizabeth, Linden, Rahway, and Plainfield, NJ. Each artwork will be reproduced on a special vinyl adhesive film and professionally applied to the exterior of the pre-selected traffic control boxes. 

Funded by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, details about the project are available online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox.

For additional information please contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550.

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