County of Union, New Jersey

UNION, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders announces that its next mobile paper-shredding program for confidential personal documents will be available on Saturday, August 9, at Kean University in Union

“Union County’s mobile document-shredding service helps residents fight identity theft and eliminate clutter in their homes,” said Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak, liaison to the Solid Waste Advisory Council. “It is a cost-effective way to assist our recycling efforts and it ties in with Union County’s other Go Green Initiatives.”

The August 9th shredding event will take place in the parking lot near Green Lane, on the campus of Kean University, located at 1000 Morris Avenue in Union. NEXCUT Shredding of Elizabeth will be shredding documents at the site from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. The shredding event will end before 1 p.m. if the shredding truck reaches capacity.

All Union County residents are eligible to use the paper-shredding service. In an effort to accommodate everyone, there is a limit of four, 10-pound bags or boxes per person. Documents should not be bound. Please remove plastic binders and paperclips. Paper that is wet/damp will not be accepted. Residents should continue to recycle non-confidential papers and magazines with their municipal recycling program.

Documents are put into 96-gallon containers provided by the shredding company. The items are dumped onto a conveyor belt and shredded on site. Participants are welcome to view the shredding process via a closed-circuit television. Shredded documents are then recycled, shipped to paper mills and used as pulp. The next shredding event will take place Thursday, September 18, in Linden.

The mobile shredding program is paid for through New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Recycling Enhancement Act Grant Funds. For more information about future events or directions please call the Union County Recycling Hotline at 908-654-9889 or visit us online at www.ucnj.org/recycle .

Public Contact: Recycling Hotline, 908-654-9889

(From left) Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak and Freeholders Vernell Wright and Linda Carter met with Ron Esposito from the New Jersey Automobile Club (AAA) and Christine Marcantonio from the Union County Police Department at the Child Safety Seat Inspection station before the Union County “Family Fun and Flix” drive-in movie night at the Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth. For information about the Union County Child Safety Seat Inspection Program visit www.ucnj.org or call 908-789-6830. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

 

Free Child Safety Seat Inspections

Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski, Vernell Wright, Bruce Bergen and Linda Carter visited the Hook a Kid on Golf Camp at Galloping Hill Golf Course in Kenilworth. More than 30 children from Union County participated in the first-ever Hook a Kid Golf Program to take place at the Galloping Hill Golf Course. The program, which is funded through a grant from the United States Golf Association and the Freeholder Board, offers economically disadvantaged children the opportunity to participate for free in introductory sessions for golf.  For more information about Union County’s Division of Golf Operations visit ucnj.org and call 908-241-2042. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Sergio Granados (2nd r) visited Black Brook Park in Kenilworth earlier this summer to help celebrate a nationwide 100-year milestone for Cooperative Extension service programs. Granados joined members of the Union County 3rd Grade 4-H Club (front row), Teen Council (back row), 4-H agent Jim Nichnadowicz (l), and Rutgers Extension Department Head Karen Ensle (r), who planted a new flowering magnolia in the park to commemorate the occasion. (photo by Madeline DiNardo)

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders welcomes residents to join the Master Tree Stewards, a volunteer group dedicated to preserving Union County’s natural heritage by reaching out to children and youths. The upcoming schedule of classes to become certified as a Master Tree Steward is now available on the County website, at ucnj.org/rce. No previous experience in tree care or horticulture is required to join.

“Every year our Master Tree Stewards fan out across Union County to help children learn about how trees benefit our neighborhoods and the environment,” said Union County Freeholder Christopher Hudak. “The program is a great way to connect youngsters with local role models for nature conservation.”

The Master Tree Stewards is a program of the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County, supported in part by the Freeholder Board. The Union County Extension is one of almost 3,000 county-based Cooperative Extension Service offices established nationwide through the 1914 Smith-Lever Act.

The mission of the Cooperative Extension System is to reach the public with science-based information on nutrition and health, youth development, agriculture, horticulture, and animal husbandry as well as small business and personal finance.

Earlier this summer, the Union County Extension joined in a nationwide celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Smith-Lever Act, with a ceremonial tree planting at Black Brook Park in Kenilworth.

“Union County is very proud to continue the historic tradition of Smith-Lever. The Extension system enables residents to help strengthen our communities, by learning from the experts and passing their knowledge along to children, teens, and adults,” said Hudak.

The Cooperative Extension of Union County is a program of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station of Rutgers University, supported by the Freeholder Board with offices at the county’s Colleen Frasier Building in Westfield.

For more information about joining the Master Tree Stewards visit ucnj.org/rce or contact 4-H Agent Jim Nichnadowicz at the Extension offices (call 908-654-9854 (press “3”) or  email jnichnadowicz@ucnj.org).

##

Please join the County of Union online at ucnj.org, on Facebook at ucnj.org/facebook, and on Twitter attwitter.com/countyofunionnj.

Union County, NJ – Union County Freeholder Linda Carter visited the Home Ownership Fair in Plainfield at the Washington Community School on Saturday, July 26, to lend support for efforts to engage residents in home ownership.

The event included information sessions and one-on-one consultations with lending professionals. From left to right: Faith, Bricks, & Mortar Executive Director Horace Baldwin, Plainfield Superintendent of Schools Anna Belin-Pyles, Freeholder Carter, and Donna Morris of the Plainfield Office of Community Development. For more information on housing guidance in Plainfield call Faith, Bricks, and Mortar at 908-756-5774.

[Photo: Brandon Givens/County of Union]

 

##

Please join the County of Union online at ucnj.org, on Facebook at ucnj.org/facebook, and on Twitter attwitter.com/countyofunionnj.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Krowicki McCracken Funeral Home, 2124 St. Georges Avenue, in Linden. On Monday morning, July 28 there will be a formal procession from the funeral home to St. Mary of the Assumption Church, 155 Washington Street, Elizabeth, passing the County Courthouse. Drivers in the area should be alert for pedestrians and changing traffic patterns.

 

Maps and Directions

Drivers should be aware that many streets in the area are one-way. For driving directions to the County Courthouse from main arteries including the Turnpike and Garden State Parkway, click here.

Mass transit options are also available. There are NJ Transit bus stops near the Courthouse, and the Elizabeth NJ Transit rail station is approximately five blocks away. For links to NJ Transit and other travel options, visit ucnj.org/connect.

 

Please join the County of Union online at ucnj.org, on Facebook at ucnj.org/facebook, and on Twitter attwitter.com/countyofunionnj.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs are happy to announce that the First Place hanging art works from the 2014 Union County Senior Citizens Art Contest and Exhibit are showing at the Freeholders Gallery located on the 6th floor of the Union County Administration Building at Elizabethtown Plaza in Elizabeth. The winning pieces can be seen weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The exhibit will run through Wednesday, August 20.

The annual Union County Senior Citizens Art Show is open to artists who are 60 years of age or older and reside in Union County. The show is held from early June to mid-July in the atrium of the Elizabethtown Gas Company in Union.

The first place winners, non-professional and professional, in each of the categories will move on to compete at the New Jersey Senior Citizens Art Show. The State show will take place at Meadow Lakes in East Windsor in the fall.

Molly Brown of Rahway (center) receives congratulations from Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski (left) and Linda Carter at the 2014 Union County Senior Citizens Art Show for her award-winning acrylic painting. For more information about the annual Union County Senior Citizens Art Show, please call the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550, or e-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org

The non-professional artists whose two-dimensional art works are included in the Freeholders Gallery exhibit are: Molly Brown of Rahway (Acrylic); William Connolly of Garwood (Drawing); Nancy Zuniga of Linden (Mixed Media); John Quinn of Roselle Park (Oil); Marjorie Picard of Scotch Plains (Pastel); Greg Cummings of Fanwood (Photography); and Dianna Strom of Cranford (Watercolor).

The professional artists in the exhibit are: Genadiy Rozhkov of Springfield (Acrylic); Mel Holston of Plainfield (Drawing); Frank Marshall of Roselle (Mixed Media); Avi Kiriakatis of Kenilworth (Oil); Rafael Rodriguez of Elizabeth (Pastel); Anthony Riccio of Westfield (Photography); and John V. Curch of Scotch Plains (Watercolor).

The first place winners for Sculpture and Craft are not on display at the Freeholders Gallery, but will also go on to compete at the New Jersey Senior Citizens Art Show. They are: Bruce Long of Westfield (Non-Pro Craft); Judy Musicant of Mountainside (Pro Craft); Larry Evans of Elizabeth (Non-Pro Sculpture); and Dolores Stewart of Plainfield (Pro Sculpture),

For further information and to learn more about exhibiting at the Freeholders Gallery, please contact Nicole DeAugustine, Curator, at the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs, 633 Pearl Street, Elizabeth, NJ 07202; telephone, 908-558-2550; or email: culturalinfo@ucnj.org.

John V. Curch of Scotch Plains receives congratulations from Freeholders Linda Carter (left) and Bette Jane Kowalski at the 2014 Union County Senior Citizens Art Show for his award-winning watercolor painting. For more information about the annual Union County Senior Citizens Art Show, please call the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550, or e-mail: culturalinfo@ucnj.org

 

(From left) Union County Freeholders Vernell Wright and Bette Jane Kowalski congratulate Jada Peterson of Rahway, Beryl Artman of Springfield and Isabella Hurtado of Fanwood on completing the Union County Freeholders College for Teens during the class commencement at Union County College in Cranford. This summer more than a hundred students from throughout Union County completed the three-week program which offers teens in grades 9 through 12 opportunities to explore a variety of career choices while experiencing life on a college campus. They are joined by UCC Director Lisa Raudelunas and UCC President Margaret M. McMenamin. The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders sponsors the free program for high school students each summer. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

(From left) Union County Freeholders Bruce Bergen, Linda Carter, Vernell Wright and Bette Jane Kowalski joined Lt. Luke and Sara Barney of the Salvation Army and Donna and Rich Albanese-DeMair, owners of the Dairy Queen in Plainfield, at the annual “Christmas in July” donated bicycle give-away event hosted by the Salvation Army in Plainfield. Mr. Albanese-DeMair refurbished all the bikes making them as-good-as-new. He has refurbished hundreds bikes for local children over several years. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)