Author: Web Site Administrator

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is proud to present Family Fun Day on Saturday, September 24 to celebrate the opening of Union County’s first inclusive public playground. Family Fun Day will begin at 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., with an official opening ceremony and ribbon cutting at 1:00 p.m, at Mattano Park in Union County, NJ.

“The Freeholder Board is committed to providing children of all abilities and their families access to recreational opportunities,” said Freeholder Vice Chairman Sergio Granados, who is also the Freeholder liaison to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board. “The new inclusive playground at Mattano Park, the first of its kind in a public park in Union County, will allow children to play and learn side by side with friends and family.”

Presented by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders in partnership with Elizabeth Port Parent Support Group, and sponsored by PepsiCo, the free event will include a BBQ, Family Field Day, and other kids’ activities.

Family Fun Day will also feature interactive workshops with the Eastwyck Saints football team as well as Elizabeth Youth Soccer, giving parents and children the opportunity to learn more about these sports activities.

Fun for all ages and abilities, the new inclusive playground at Mattano Park, located in Elizabeth, features a variety of accessible play equipment including a Merry-Go-All, Roller Slide, Roller Table, Swing Seats, and more.

For more information about the new inclusive playground at Mattano Park or the Family Fun Day event, contact the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4900 or visit ucnj.org.

Mirabella set to receive award at Italian Tribune’s 46^th Annual Columbus Day Gala at Birchwood Manor in Parsipanny on October 7th

Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, who led the founding of the annual Union County Columbus Day Celebration, is being honored by the Italian Tribune with the “Christopher Columbus Man of the Year Award,” for his pride in his heritage and years of assisting others through his public service.

“It is presented to him with the deepest degree of pride and admiration for his success in both an outstanding career and in his charitable life,” said Italian Tribune Publisher A.J. “Buddy” Fortunato.

“I am truly honored to receive this award, and proud to continue our efforts in calling attention to the immeasurable contributions that Italian Americans make to our country,” Mirabella said. “I am deeply proud of my heritage, and am excited by the opportunity to participate in this program, and take time to reflect on our shared legacy.”

The award will be presented to Mirabella at the 46^th Annual Columbus Day Gala to be held on Friday, October 7^th, beginning at 6:30 p.m. at the Birchwood Manor, 111 North Jefferson Road in Whippany, New Jersey. For information on purchasing tickets for the event, please feel free to contact the Italian Tribune at (973) 860-0101.

MIRABELLA BIOGRAPHY
Originally born and raised in the City of Elizabeth and now a resident of Fanwood, Alexander Mirabella was first elected to the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders in 1997. He is now serving his seventh three-year term and has been the Board’s Chairman four times.

Tracing his heritage back to Messina, Sicily, Al’s late father, Gene Mirabella, was the first Italian-American Police of the City of Elizabeth’s Police Department, and has a firing range in Springfield named in his honor.  Al is also married to Phyllis LaVecchia, a first generation Italian American and former Roselle Park Councilwoman, whose family hails from Vallata, Italy. They have two children, Alex (a student at the College of New Jersey) and Micayla, who is currently studying at John Cabot University in Rome.

As Freeholder, he founded the County’s Annual Columbus Day Flag raising in 2009 with UNICO District X, which has featured prominent statewide speakers and Italian American organizations, and serves as a member of the Scotch Plains / Fanwood chapter of UNICO.

Freeholder Mirabella also helped implement the County’s Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund, sparking some of the largest increases in Union County parkland in generations. He developed the Sensory Friendly Theater program to provide cultural enrichment for persons with autism and other sensory sensitivities, and he oversaw the expansion of the County’s Office of Veterans Affairs, the creation of the County’s 9-11 Monument and the Board’s efforts in providing benefits for County workers called to active military duty.

Freeholder Mirabella’s other initiatives as Chairman of the Board, a position he’s held 4 times, include holding mobile Freeholder meetings in communities and assembling a shared services committee to streamline government and cut costs, while focusing on infrastructure planning, workforce development, and sustainability measures that helped to leverage millions of dollars in federal funds.

A staunch advocate of education, Freeholder Mirabella was recognized last year by the Union County College Foundation for his outstanding support of Union County College.  He was also instrumental in the implementation of the Union County Vocational / Technical High Schools and oversaw the creation of the Magnet HS, Academy for Information Technology, Allied Health Academy, UC Tech High School and the Academy for performing Arts – schools that are ranked among the best in the nation.

Other career highlights include the creation of the Union County Means Business Initiative, which includes business networking events, an online information hub and newsletter, a new workforce partnership with Union County College, and a special small business loan program through the Union County Economic Development Corporation.

Freeholder Mirabella has served on the Veterans Affairs Committee, the County’s Fiscal Committee, the Fire Services Advisory Board, and Union County Vocational-Technical School Board of Education. In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Alan Augustine award from Union County’s Prevention Links in recognition of his work in drug and alcohol prevention. The Union County Library Directors honored him in 2001 for his advocacy on behalf of libraries, including development of grants to upgrade technology at 19 municipal libraries. He has also been honored by Community Access Unlimited for his efforts on behalf of the disabled and by the Raritan Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross (formerly Tri-County Red Cross) for his efforts in 2009 in securing grant money to train disaster volunteers.

Mirabella proudly serves as the Township Manager in Scotch Plains, New Jersey where he manages a $25 million dollar budget and introduced a budget which has had a decrease in the Municipal tax rate.  Since he assumed this leadership position, he has improved communication, increased the number of grant opportunities, improved the township infrastructure, enhanced public safety, improved employee morale and reorganized the Township Leadership team. 

Previous to his tenure on the Freeholder Board, he was twice elected as Councilman at Large in Borough of Roselle Park (1991 – 1996), serving and Fire Commissioner, Council President and Acting Mayor. He graduated from Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics.

The Union County Parks Department is sponsoring a meeting with interested  mountain bikers regarding recommendations from the Watchung Reservation Trails Master Plan that would create a separate trail for bikers.

The meeting will be held Thursday, October 20th at 7 p.m. at the Trailside Nature and Science Center at the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside. There is no sign-up or reservation required. Parks representatives and a consultant will present information on the new trail to the group, and answer questions.

Please note this meeting is intended for interested bikers only, as the County will hold separate meetings for hiking and equestrian trails later this year.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders will co-sponsor a special screening of “Thank You for Your Service,” an award-winning documentary that explores the nation’s superficial understanding of war trauma, including PTSD, and the flawed policies surrounding it. The movie will be shown on Wednesday, September 7th beginning 6:30 p.m. at the Hamilton Stage Theatre, 360 Hamilton Street, in Rahway.

“This documentary succeeds in calling attention to the mental health issues that many of today’s Veterans face upon returning from war, as well as calling for a new approach to these problems,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce Bergen. “It’s a film all Americans should see to gain an understanding of what our Veterans are going through, and to begin a dialogue on what we can do to help.”

The film is being presented as part of Chairman Bergen’s UC HERO initiative for 2016, which assists Veterans. For more information, please go to: https://ucnj.org/uc-hero/

Following the screening, there will be a panel discussion involving  involving the film’s Director Tom Donahue, Producers Ilan Arboleda and Matt Tyson; Janna Williams, the founder of VET4U and a resident of Roselle; Richard Thompson, Union County Director of the Office of Veterans Affairs; Lt. Steven Brozak, a Westfield resident and retired Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps, having served in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and the Caribbean. The panel will be moderated by Chairman Bergen.  Admission is free, however, those wishing to, may make a suggested donation of $3. The theatre is located at 360 Hamilton Street in Rahway.

“Less than 1 percent of the population serves in the military now, and that is part of the reason why the public is so largely unaware of the issues they are facing,” said Donahue, who hopes the film creates enough awareness to spark the creation of a Behavioral Health Corps as a Division of the Department of Defense.

 In fact, Donohue has created a website dedicated to the creation of the agency (and about “Thank You For Your Service) and hopes everyone who sees the movie will visit www.bhcnow.com to get involved. (Trailer: https://vimeo.com/156195376 )

“I believe very strongly in the power of documentary filmmaking to affect change,” Donahue said in a recent interview.

The issues that many of today’s Veterans face, including PTSD and suicide, are personal ones for Donahue, whose father and many relatives were Army Veterans. Also, one of Donahue’s closest friends committed suicide when he was 21-years-old.

The film opens with a quote from an op-ed by Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times in 2012 entitled A Veteran’s Death, a Nation’s Shame: “For every soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 Veterans are dying by their own hands.”

“Thank You for Your Service” interweaves the stories of four Iraq War Veterans with interviews of top military and civilian leaders, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, Admiral Mike Mullen, Generals David Petraeus and Loree Sutton, Nicholas Kristof, Dexter Filkins, Senator Patty Murray, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson.

The film examines why the military was not better prepared for the impact of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq on U.S. service members, the lessons forgotten from past wars and the need for wide-scale reform to prevent the loss of a generation of brave men and women.

The movie has been called “gripping, wrenching, and persuasive” by the Village Voice and “a film every American should see” by the Star Ledger. The Military Times said it is “generating Oscar buzz.”

The documentary is currently being shown at film festivals around the country, and is scheduled for theatrical release in early October. It won “Best Documentary at the GI Film Festival in DC, and the “Impact Award” at the Illuminate Festival.

Donahue has produced and edited numerous features and documentaries that, combined, have won over twenty­ five awards at such prestigious festivals as Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, SxSW, Venice, San Sebastian and TriBeCa. Donahue also directed the Emmy-nominated Casting By documentary (2013, HBO), which featured interviews with Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen, Robert Duvall, Glenn Close, Al Pacino and others.

County Facebook page to feature Daily Remembrance of Residents beginning September 1st

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders invites members of the community to honor the memory of the 60 Union County residents who perished in the 9/11 attacks by visiting the Union County September 11th Memorial, Sunday, Sept. 11th from the morning hours until 9 p.m. at Echo Lake Park in Mountainside.

Members of the Union County Sheriff’s Office will provide a uniformed Honor Guard standing watch at the memorial from 6-9 p.m. and the public will be able to bring and light candles in memory of those lost in the attacks.

Prior to the event, the County Facebook page will mark the 15th anniversary of the attacks by remembering a resident who was killed in the attacks, beginning September 1st and continuing for 59 more days.

“We honor those who perished in the attacks and remember the many acts of bravery that occurred that day,” said Freeholder Chairman Bruce H. Bergen. “Being so close to New York City, there are very few in Union County who did not personally know someone, or the family of someone, killed or affected.  The County memorial provides a location that allows for peace and reflection that gives us strength and inspiration to continue forward.”

The Union County September 11th Memorial honors those lost in the attacks using design elements that include two girders from the World Trade Center arranged within a five sided area representing the Pentagon, and an Eternal Flame representing those who died in Pennsylvania. The Flame also honors members of the Armed Services and emergency responders.

In addition to these elements, the names of the 60 deceased Union County residents are etched into the memorial.

Dedicated on Sept. 13, 2003 the memorial was constructed through private donations including in-kind work by labor unions and materials at cost.

The Freeholder Board worked with residents of Cranford, Elizabeth, Kenilworth, Linden, Mountainside, Rahway, Scotch Plains, Summit, Union and Westfield in planning and building the Memorial.

It is located near the Springfield Avenue entrance of Echo Lake Park on the border of Mountainside and Springfield.

For additional information on the Union County September 11th Memorial, or information on visitation hours, contact the Union County Office of Public Information at 877-424-1234 or visit online at www.ucnj.org/9-11-memorial.

Union County Sheriff Joe Cryan and members of the Sheriff’s Office joined Assemblywoman Annette Quijano and local volunteers in making sandwiches at the Elizabeth Coalition to House the Homeless as part of Assemblywoman Quijano’s 4th annual “Hunger Doesn’t Take a Vacation” food drive for the needy. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)