Author: Web Site Administrator

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce a call for visual artists to participate in the County’s second public art project this year, Art Outside the Box – Beautiful Bench Project.

“Entries for the beautiful bench public art project will support Union County’s ongoing efforts to broaden cultural development through the promotion, coordination, and integration of public art into our communities,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “The Freeholder Board is proud to provide opportunities that celebrate creativity, enhance community identity, and encourage cultural tourism.”

The new Beautiful Bench Project is an expansion of the County’s Art Outside the Box program created to help integrate the arts into non-traditional venues and expand, broaden, and diversify public exposure to the arts.  Union County visual artists are invited to submit artwork renderings for the County’s Art Outside the Box – Beautiful Bench Project online at ucnj.org/beautiful-bench-project. The deadline for entry is December 18, 2015. There is no fee required to participate.

Three designs will be selected to be attached to benches in front of the following Union Township locations:

• Van Gogh’s Ear Café on Stuyvesant Avenue
• Union County National Bank on Morris Avenue
• Killer Vegan on Stuyvesant Avenue

This call for entries is open to all artists who paint residing in or working in Union County. Local artists are invited to submit renderings of up to three proposed designs for the painted bench.  For artist submission(s) that are chosen, the County will provide fiberboard on which the artist will paint the selected design. The top three selected submissions will be awarded an honorarium. The deadline to submit your artwork is Friday, December 18th.

Offered as part of Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh’s Building a Community of the Arts initiative, the Beautiful Bench Project is an expansion of the County’s Art Outside the Box public art program that has awarded12 individual artists the opportunity to have their artwork cover 13 different traffic control boxes in Elizabeth, Linden, Plainfield, and Rahway.

For further details about how to participate, and to learn more about the project, including entry form, bench locations, reference samples, and artist agreement are available online at ucnj.org/beautiful-bench-project or call the Union County Department of Cultural Heritage at (908) 558-2550.

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski and Sergio Granados joined Elizabeth Mayor J. Christian Bollwage, Assemblyman Jamel Holley, Community Development Group CEO and President Armando D’Errico, Elizabeth Council President Patricia Perkins-Auguste, Councilmen William Gallman, Carlos Torres, Kevin Kiniery and Manny Grova, Union County Manager Alfred Faella and other officials in cutting the ribbon opening the Spring Street Project in Elizabeth.

The Spring Street Project is part of a $3.2 million mixed use development featuring the city’s first African-American Cultural and Learning Center located in the city’s Keighry Head neighborhood.

The 39,498 square foot site will include a community theatre/multipurpose facility and 20 affordable rental housing units encompassing 10 multi-generational residences and 10 active adult residences.

The Spring Street Project the NJ Community Development Group is and County of Union to catalyze advancements in socialized housing for the millennium in the city of Elizabeth, New Jersey’s fourth largest city.

Working in partnership with the city of Elizabeth and the NJ Community Development Group, Union County contributed $850,000 in Neighborhood Stabilization funds, and an additional $250,000 in Home Investment Partnership Program funds.

 

“Unfortunately, too many Union County families struggle to provide for their children and maintain what they have,” said James Horne, president and CEO of the county’s United Way. “Our data shows that deepening poverty is linked to rising levels of homelessness, food insecurity and other issues. But we can come together to pool resources and solve these problems.”

Union County freeholders allocated about $130,000 for creation of the center. There are already Family Success Centers in Elizabeth and Plainfield.

“We have excellent services in Elizabeth and Plainfield. This is providing the services in municipality entities, and hopefully we will be bringing it to all municipalities,” Freeholder Chairman Mohamed Jalloh said.

The United Way has established partnership with agencies that provide services. Staff members will offer assessments of people who come to the center and connect them with the agencies that can provide services.

These referrals can provide assistance with child care, pharmacy discounts cards, pregnancy testing, parenting education, continuing education and computer training, among others.

Booker noted that the first Family Success Center opened in Newark while he was mayor of that city. There are now 70 centers across the state.

Union County also has centers in Linden and Hillside.

Freeholder Sergio Granados joined UNICO Hillside Chapter President Angelo Bonanno along with Hillside Mayor Angela Garretson, Councilman Donald DeAugustine, UNICO National President Dr. Ann Walko, Grand Knight John Gross and many others in showing veterans that their time serving this country is and will always be appreciated. A great number of veterans came to enjoy UNICO’s appreciation breakfast including Stephen Pega (pictured with Freeholder Granados) who served in the US Navy Air Services during World War II.

Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh, Vice Chairman Bruce H. Bergen and Freeholders Bette Jane Kowalski, Christopher Hudak, Vernell Wright and Sergio Granados joined U.S. Senator Cory Booker, Rahway Mayor Samson Steinman, Councilman David Brown and United Way of Great Union County President/CEO James W. Horne in cutting the ribbon officially opening the Rahway Family Success Center in Rahway.

The Rahway Family Success Center is part of Chairman Jalloh’s “Focus on Families” initiative in partnership with the United Way of Great Union County.

Family Success Centers are “one-stop” shops that provide wrap-around resources and supports for families before they find themselves in crisis.

(Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce a Project Aquatic WILD teacher training workshop for adults ages 18 and older, at Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside on Thursday, December 10 from  9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. All workshop registration is now available online at www.ucnj.org/trailside.   The fee is $15 per person which includes a guidebook and morning refreshments.

“This workshop offers teachers a chance to learn new teaching modules that focus on aquatic plants and animals,” says Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh, “The Trailside Center, with its many exhibits and serene setting, offers the perfect location for teachers to learn while enjoying the outdoors.”    

Project Aquatic WILD is for teachers K-12 and scout leaders to learn new ideas and activities to bring back to their students.  Developed by the Council for Environmental Education, in compliance with the New Jersey Core Curriculum standards, Project Aquatic WILD, which is part of the Project WILD curriculum, emphasizes aquatic wildlife and ecosystems.   

Based on the premise that young people and educators alike have an interest in learning about our natural world, this program underscores wildlife’s intrinsic value and addresses the need for us all to be responsible stewards of our planet. Hands-on activities are designed for integration into existing courses of study for formal and non-formal educators.  Teachers will work together to investigate, observe, ask questions, collect and analyze data and draw conclusions on topics that may include fishing, pollution, wetlands, habitats, aquatic food chains and much more.  Through the many interactive teaching modules, educators will feel confident to bring activities back to their students.  Participants will receive six (6) NJDOE professional education credits.  Registrants should meet at the Trailside Visitor Center and bring their lunch.  

For more information about this program, or other activities at Trailside, please call 908-789-3670 or visit www.ucnj.org/trailside.  Trailside Nature and Science Center is located at 452 New Providence Road in Mountainside and is a facility of the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation.

The award-winning documentary about a gardener from Hillside, New Jersey who made global headlines in 1994 for killing a rat will be screened for the first time in Union County on Sunday, December 6 at 7 p.m. at Hamilton Stage in Rahway at 360 Hamilton Street. Director and Screen Writer, Andrew Ruotolo will lead a brief panel discussion with Union County luminaries – audience participation is welcome. Suggested admission is $5 at the door. 

 

The charge: murder. The setting: Hillside, NJ ’94. The accused: Frank Balun. The weapon: a broomstick. The victim: a rat?! The 18-minute film “The Rat Slayer of Hillside NJ,” documents the case against the late Frank Balun, a Hillside resident and WWII Veteran, who was cited by Lee Bernstein of the Associated Humane Society for killing a rat in his backyard. Balun was charged with animal cruelty for “needlessly abusing a rodent,” and was ordered to appear in court, where he faced six months in jail and a $1,250 fine. (A preview is available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3v3SlAhvqw and the Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/ratslayerofhillsidenj)

 

Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders through the UCACT program, the documentary was directed and produced by a Union County cast that included Ruotolo (Director), Andrew Lessner and Michael Angelo Covino (Producers), and Sean Devaney and Zach Kuperstein (Directors of Photography). Ruotolo, Lessner and Devaney all attended elementary, middle and high school in Westfield together.

 

The documentary, which was released last year, has been shown at various film festivals, including the Brooklyn Film Festival and Lighthouse Film Festival in Long Beach Island, most recently winning the Documentary Short award at the St. Lawrence International Film Festival in Canada and Upstate New York.

All interested candidates must submit their resumes to Susan Flores at sflores@ucc.edu and call 908-355-4444 to set up an interview time.

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