County of Union, New Jersey

Every holiday season for 17 years, Union County Sheriff’s Officers have set up their “Tree of Hope” in the courthouse seeking donations of toys and clothing for needy children throughout the county. Each year the response has been overwhelming.

The “Tree of Hope” was first planted in 1997 when officers encountered children in the courts who were going to experience a less than happy holiday season. The children the officers encountered were homeless or living in shelters, were victims of domestic violence or medically fragile. Their parents or guardians did not have the financial ability to provide holiday gifts.

Every year since the “Tree of Hope” committee have erected a tree in the Union County Courthouse featuring paper ornaments. Volunteers make the ornaments and write a particular gift on each one.

“These caring officers do a tremendous job in helping these children,” acting Sheriff Joseph Cryan said. “It is important not to forget those kids who are less fortunate.”

Monetary donations to help provide additional gifts are also being sought.

Contributions of money (tax-deductible), toys and clothing can be sent to: Union County Sheriff’s Officers Tree of Hope, Union County Courthouse, 2 Broad Street, Elizabeth, N.J., 07207. For more information, call the “Tree of Hope” hotline at 908-629-2158.

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, joined by elected officials and community leaders from the Borough of Roselle, the City of Elizabeth and the City of Linden, yesterday marked the dedication of the new Warinanco Park Track and Field with a ribbon cutting ceremony.

The new Track and Field is home to:

• a new and improved eight-lane running track;
• multi-use turf field for soccer, football and track;
• field lighting, new bleachers with ADA features, stadium concession and lavatories.

Paid for through capital project funds from the Department of Parks and Recreation, the total cost of the upgrade to the track and field facility is a little more than $4 million.

“The upgrades to the Warinanco Park Track and Field are a significant step toward the Freeholder Board’s commitment to ensure that our public facilities provide Union County residents with modern, up-to-date resources for recreation,” said Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, who announced the upgrades earlier this year as part of his Chairman’s “Turf and Build” initiative for 2014.

The ribbon-cutting event featured speeches from Mayor Jamel Holley of Roselle, and Mayor J. Christian Bollwage of Elizabeth – each highlighting the significance for their community of the upgrades to the athletic field.

Rev. Reginald W. Atkins, president of the Roselle Board of Education, was joined by Roselle student athletes and band members to conclude the ceremony with a grand entrance onto the track and field running through an official Warinanco Park Track and Field banner.

“Generations of Union County residents have enjoyed the many unique features of this iconic park. This is a place where memories are made,” said Chairman Hudak. “Today we celebrate the beginning of many new memories for all who come to visit the track and field at Warinanco Park.”

Located in the City of Elizabeth and the Borough of Roselle, and boarders the City of Linden, Warinanco Park, which opened in the mid 1920s, comprises 205 acres of developed park land and was originally designed by the Olmsted Firm.

Beginning in 1857 with the design for Central Park in New York City, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903), his sons and successor firm created designs for more than 6,000 landscapes across North America, including many of the world’s most important parks.

While it is deceivingly smaller in size, the classic Olmstead design of the park with its distinctive features makes it appear as if it is actually much larger. Warinanco Park offers many different attractions in four distinct areas, where for the past 90 years or so, residents have made memories every day.  The four areas of the park are: the Central Park area, the boathouse playground area, the skating center, and the track area.

Some other  popular attractions in the park include  the Chatfield Gardens; the park’s Great Walk area; tennis courts; ball fields; par-course fitness route; spray park and playground.  In the Spring, the park is noted for its colorful blooms of Cherry Blossom, Dogwood trees and Azaleas.

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Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, Vice Chairman Mohamed Jalloh and Freeholders Bruce Bergen, Alexander Mirabella, Sergio Granados, Vernell Wright and Angel G. Estrada joined Roselle Mayor Jamel Holley and Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage in cutting the ribbon officially opening the new track and field in Warinanco Park in Roselle.

This year’s Christmas tree arrives at the Union County Courthouse in Elizabeth. The tree, donated by Janice Minarchenko of Clark, will be on display in the Courthouse Rotunda during the holiday season. The public is invited to view the tree on weekdays until it is removed just before New Year’s Day.  (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders reminds residents that reliable, one-on-one assistance with foreclosure issues will be available at an upcoming public event called “Foreclosure: Moving from Fear to Positive Action.”

The free event will take place on Tuesday, December 2, 2014, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., at the Church of the Assumption, 113 Chiego Place, in Roselle Park. No pre-registration is needed and the facility is wheelchair accessible.

This event is the third in a series aimed at providing property owners, and rental tenants, with accurate information about their rights and options.

“Whether you are in foreclosure now, or are concerned about your risk of foreclosure, please come to the event and get reliable guidance that can help ease your worries and improve your situation,” said Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak.

Foreclosure: Moving From Fear To Positive Action is sponsored by the Union County Human Relations Commission (UCHRC) and the Union County Foreclosure Task Force. For more information call UCHR at 908-889-9028.

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(From left) Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, Freeholder Linda Cater, Teamsters driver Donna Wright, Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, Quality Auto Center Business Development Manager Harry Brooks and owner Mark Abaid participated in and contributed to a food collection drive held by the Quality Auto Center in Linden in conjunction with the Community Food Bank of New Jersey. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Youngsters–and maybe their parents–are invited to the Deserted Village of Feltville  in the Watchung Reservation to experience what it was like to “text” in Colonial America.

At the Four Centuries in a Weekend program in October, children were invited to write with a quill pen and ink on parchment paper to experience what it was like writing a letter in Colonial times.

The new activity proved so popular that staff had to start cutting parchment sheets in half.  By the end of the weekend, more than 400 children (some returned to do it again) enjoyed the experience.

When Four Centuries in a Weekend is celebrated across Union County at 27 different historic sites, the Union County Department of Parks & Recreation celebrates the event at the Deserted Village in Berkeley Heights.  There are games and activities for children, hayrides, and historic tours of the area.

The quill and ink writing activity was introduced for the first time this fall.  Youngsters sat at writing desks in the Church/General Store and then wrote their missives-although at one point some teenagers decided a treasure map was more to their liking.

“It was a total delight to see how that activity took off with the children,” said Union County Freeholder Bette Jane Kowalski. “They were having fun, and also learning how people kept in touch with one another in the past.”

The Visitor Center in the Church/General Store is open most Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from Noon-5 p.m.  The “Quill & Ink” activity will be staffed on three Sundays, Nov. 30, Dec. 14, and Dec. 21.

A Parks Department staffer will be on hand to guide children, and to suggest what they might write about if they had been alive in the 1700′s when the Reservation was all fields.

John Willcocks, one of the farmers who tilled fields that are now part of the 2,142-acre Watchung Reservation, fought in the Revolutionary War.  Willcocks served in the New Jersey militia and is thought to have been mortally wounded during the retreat of General Washington’s army from Fort Lee.

Youngsters are invited to consider how the farmers in the area would be concerned about how the war was faring and how they might well have written to relatives about the progress of those battles and concerns for their own safety

There is no denying that, given the approaching holiday, youngsters might also want to write notes to Santa.  In an era when the monitoring of electronic communication is so often in the news, youngsters will also experience how sealing wax was used to protect privacy during these times.

For more information on the Deserted Village of Feltville, go to ucnj.org/dv, and for more activities in the Union County Park System, go to ucnj.org/fun.

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