Author: Web Site Administrator

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders along with the Department of Parks and Recreation recently recognized the outstanding contributions made to the Union County Archery Range at Oak Ridge Park by Eagle Scout Nicolas Makosiej, a member of Boy Scout Troop 145, located in Clark, New Jersey, who earned his Eagle Rank in April, 2014. His Court of Honor was held in May, 2014.

For his Eagle Scout project, Nicholas traveled to various archery ranges in 2012, working through several concepts and prototypes while consulting with archery experts. In the summer and fall he worked with members of his troop to construct targets to be used at the Oak Ridge Archery Range. They were set in place in November, 2013. After nearly two years, the targets are being repurposed and will be moved to Wa-Xo-Be Archery Club. They will remain in use at Oak Ridge until September 16.

“On behalf of the Freeholder Board I’d like to thank Nicholas for putting together this project and sharing it with the participants at the Union County Archery Range at Oak Ridge,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh.

Users of the Union County Archery Range at Oak Ridge Park are reminded that they are responsible for supplying their own targets when using the facility. A complete list of Archery Range rules can be viewed on the Union County Website at www.ucnj.org/archery. Or you can call the Department of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4900 or 908-654-9805.

Union County – Art selections from Union County’s first-ever Art Outside the Box program have gone live for a week-long community vote. Participants can vote online at www.ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox/vote.

The selections available for this round of voting will be placed in Linden at the intersections of Wood Avenue and Knopf Street, St. George Avenue and Garfield Street, and St. George Avenue and Stiles Street.

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

“We are proud to see this project gain traction and involve the community in an organic selection process,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “We recognize that the best way to engage our residents is by involving them in choosing the aesthetic that will symbolize and represent their neighborhoods.”

The theme for the 2015 Art Outside The Box  program is diversity. Open to all artists, the program seeks to represented the community at-large and provide an engaging experience that is 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. 

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.

Rahway, NJ – Tickets are still available for Fearless Hearts and Fearless Productions presentation of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party at Union County Performing Arts Center’s (UCPAC) Hamilton Stage in Rahway. The fifth Production in the first-ever Union County Advancing Community Theater (UCACT) Series- sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the show will run September 11^th-27^th.

A steamy prohibition tale steamrolling and roaring its way across the stage, Andrew Lippa’s Wild Party was an off-Broadway gem that garnered an array of industry accolades, including Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Obie awards. Based on Joseph Moncure March’s 1928 narrative poem of the same name, the darkly brilliant show features one of the most exciting, pulse-racing scores ever written.

A take on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the show paints a vivid picture of a decadent and deadly all-night party in late 1920s Manhattan, just a year before the Crash of 1929, when nearly everything in America would collapse.

It’s the story of a desperately damaged relationship between vaudeville dancer Queenie and vaudeville clown Burrs, two vicious, reckless people, whose lives are spiraling downward fast, filled to the brim with meaningless sex, drugs, drinking, jealousies, and casual betrayals.

The show runs at the UCPAC’s Hamilton Stage September 11th-12th, 18th-19th at 8:00 p.m., September 20^th at 3:00 p.m., September 26^th at 8:00 p.m. and September 27^th at 3:00 p.m.

The show features Direction by Brian Remo, with Choreography by Patrick Starega, and Musical Direction by Bruce De La Cruz.

Tickets can be purchased online at ucpac.org or through the UCPAC Box Office at 732-499-8226; prices are $20 general admission.

FEARLESS PRODUCTIONS strives to create entertaining theatrical productions that walk on the very edge of the edge, leap enthusiastically with their hearts on our sleeves, and dare to be daring. They recognize that the responsibility of true art is to firmly grasp the attention of their audience for as long as they are asking for it. They accept this challenge with the courage that only comes with doing exactly what they feel they were born to do.

The UCACT program 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.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Department of Parks and Recreation are happy to announce that tickets are now on sale for this year’s Autumn Hayrides and Family Fun Around the Campfire.

The first event will take place on Friday, September 18, at Warinanco Park in the Boat House area. Hayrides beginning at 6:30 pm and run until 9:30 p.m.  Hayrides will include folks songs around the campfire, hot chocolate and marshmallows toasted over the fire.  Tickets must be purchased in advanced. There will be no tickets available at the event.

“The hayrides and campfire events are always among the most popular events in our parks, so those interesting in participating should get their tickets early and plan for a fun filled evening to begin the fall,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh.

Hayride tickets are available at three locations: Weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Union County Administration Building, Department of Parks and Recreation, 2^nd Floor, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza in Elizabeth; Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at the Colleen Fraser Building, 300 North Avenue East, in Westfield from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday; and at Trailside Nature and Science Center, 452 New Providence road, in Mountainside every day from noon to 5 p.m.

No tickets will be sold at the hayrides. So, please purchase your tickets in advance so you don’t get shutout. Seating for the hay rides is limited, and group sales are limited to 15 tickets.  The cost is $6 for Union County resident and $12 for out-of-county participants.

Hayrides and Campfires will also be held at Trailside Nature & Science Center in Mountainside on three Fridays in October, the 2^nd, 9^th, and 16^th, also running from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. And on Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 p.m.

For further information you can call the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4900; or Trailside Nature and Science Center at 908-789-3670; or visit the Union County website atwww.ucnj.org.

UNION COUNTY, NJ—-The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders would like to invite 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 next Friday, 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 light candles in memory of those lost in the attacks.

“The Union County September 11th Memorial is a place where the community can come together in a reflective setting and remember those who tragically perished on that day,” said Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh.

The Union County 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.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders are happy to announce that tickets are now on sale for the Autumn Hayrides and Family Fun Around the Campfire.

The first event will take place on Friday, September 18, at Warinanco Park in the Boat House area. Hayrides beginning at 6:30 pm and run until 9:30 p.m.  Hayrides will include folks songs around the campfire, hot chocolate and marshmallows toasted over the fire.  Tickets must be purchased in advanced. There will be no tickets available at the event.

“We are pleased to add Warinanco Park as a site for this year’s Hayride and Family Around the Campfire experience,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh.  “This will help us kick off the fall season in our parks with fun for the entire family.”

Hayride tickets are available at three locations:

• Weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Union County Administration Building, Department of Parks and Recreation, 2nd Floor, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza in Elizabeth
• Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday at the Colleen Fraser Building, 300 North Avenue East, in Westfield from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and 8:30p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday
• Trailside Nature and Science Center, 452 New Providence road, in Mountainside every day from noon to 5 p.m.

No tickets will be sold at the hayrides. So, please purchase your tickets in advance so you don’t get shutout. Seating for the hay rides is limited, and group sales are limited to 15 tickets.  The cost is $6 for Union County resident and $12 for out-of-county participants.

Hayrides and Campfires will also be held at Trailside Nature & Science Center in Mountainside on three Fridays in October, the 2^nd, 9^th, and 16^th, also running from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. And on Sunday, October 4 at 3:30 p.m.

For further information you can call the Union County Department of Parks and Recreation at 908-527-4900; or Trailside Nature and Science Center at 908-789-3670; or visit the Union County website at www.ucnj.org.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders announces free child safety seat inspection opportunities as new State law takes effect.

“If you have a baby or small child in your care, please come and take advantage of this free program, and make sure your safety seat is properly adjusted,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh. “Our experts can help you get familiar with a new seat, and they can help you spot any problems with an older seat.”

New Jersey’s new child safety seat regulations take effect today, September 1, 2015. The new State law requires parents to adhere to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommendations for child passenger safety. 

The proper use of child safety seats is one of the simplest and most effective methods available for protecting the lives of young children in the event of a motor vehicle accident.

Union County’s popular Child Safety Seat Inspection Program is open every Wednesday and Thursday from 7:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. and is located at the Garwood Rescue Squad at 401 2^nd Avenue in Garwood.

On Saturday, September 19, as part of “National Seat Check Saturday” which is also the last day of “National Child Passenger Safety Week,” trained technicians from Union County’s Child Safety Seat Inspection Program will conduct child seat inspections at the Babies ‘R’ Us on Rt. 22 in Union, sponsored in part by AAA Northeast – NJ Division.

Certified child passenger safety technicians will check the car seat for proper installation and educate parents and guardians on using the seat correctly.

Under the new child passenger safety law:

• Children under age 2 and weighting less than 30 pounds must be secured in a rear-facing child safety seat that is equipped with five-point harness.
• Children between ages 2-4 and weighing up to 40 pounds must be secured in a child safety seat equipped with a five-point harness, either rear-facing (up to the height and weight limits of the seat) or forward –facing.
• Children between ages 4-8 and less than 57 inches tall (4’9”) must be secured in a forward-facing seat equipped with a five-point harness (up to the height and weight limits of the seat) or in a booster seat.
• Children ages 8 and older must use the vehicle seat belt. The safest place for children under 13 is the back seat.

Union County first launched the Child Safety Seat Inspection Program in 1999, in response to surveys showing that the overwhelming majority of child safety seats are improperly installed, even though most users are confident that they know the correct procedure.

Since 1999, approximately 50,000 Union County residents and visitors have used the Seat Inspection Program. It is staffed by personnel from the County’s Department of Public Safety, who are certified by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and by the organization SafeKids. The program is credited with saving at least one life, when a toddler survived a 2008 vehicle rollover shortly after the seat was properly adjusted by County personnel.

The child seat inspection program is provided as a public service by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Union County Police Department, New Jersey Division of Highway Traffic Safety, AAA Northeast – NJ Division, and the Garwood First Aid Squad.

For more information about Union County’s Child Safety Seat Inspection Program visit ucnj.org/child-safety-seats or call 908-789-6830.

Freeholder Chairman Mohamed S. Jalloh joined Linden Mayor Derek Armstead in picking their top five favorite ‘Art Outside the Box’ artist submissions that will be featured on traffic control boxes at three Linden intersections. In the coming days, we will open up online voting for you to pick your top three favorites. Learn more about the Chairman’s Initiative at https://ucnj.org/artoutsidethebox/.