Author: Web Site Administrator

(From left) Union County Freeholders Angel G. Estrada, Linda Carter and Alexander Mirabella present Del Orallo (2nd L), the Service and Training Manager of the Old Navy Store in Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth, with a resolution thanking him and his staff for actively participating in the 2013 Union County Holiday Gift Giving Drive that benefitted families throughout the county. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholders Angel G. Estrada (L), Linda Carter (2nd R) and Alexander Mirabella (L) present Jessica and Paul Watterson and their children with a resolution thanking them for actively participating in the 2013 Union County Holiday Gift Giving Drive that benefitted families throughout the county. The Watterson’s are the proprietors of Nick’s Pizza and Deli in Fanwood. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

(From left) Union County Freeholders Angel G. Estrada, Linda Carter, Alexander Mirabella and Bette Jane Kowalski present Cranford Fire Lt. Dean Russamano (2nd L) with a resolution thanking the department for actively participating in the 2013 Union County Holiday Gift Giving Drive that benefitted families throughout the county. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak (R) and Freeholders Linda Carter (L) and Bette Jane Kowalski (2nd R) congratulate Melissa Tobie of Elizabeth on receiving the Joseph R. Lombardi Memorial Award and Rob Smorol of Clark on receiving the Chris Zusi Memorial Award at the Union County Baseball Association’s 78th Annual Hot Stove League Baseball Dinner on February 9 in Mountainside. Tobie was honored for being an outstanding athlete in basketball at Roselle Catholic and at Montclair State University. Smorol was honored for being an outstanding athlete in baseball at Arthur L. Johnson High School in Clark and at Rutgers University. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

(From left) Union County Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak and Freeholders Linda Carter and Bette Jane Kowalski present resolutions to Leroy Horn, Jim Jeskey, Alfred Faella, Larry Caroselli and Al Volpe congratulating them on being inducted into the Union County Baseball Hall of Fame at the Union County Baseball Association’s 78th Annual Hot Stove League Baseball Dinner on February 9 in Mountainside. They are joined by Jim Iozzi, president of Union County Baseball Association. (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

(From left) Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Mohamed Jalloh and Freeholders Vernell Wright, Linda Carter, Sergio Granados and Bruce Bergen present the Chester Holmes Humanitarian Award to Leslie A. Anderson of Plainfield. Anderson, Executive Director of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority, received the honor during the Second Annual Union County Black History Month Celebration on February 7 at Kean University in Union. The Freeholder Board created the award in honor of the late former Freeholder Chester Holmes.  (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman Mohamed Jalloh (2nd R) and (from left) Freeholders Sergio Granados, Vernell Wright, Linda Carter and Bruce Bergen present a resolution to Pastor Therman E. Evans, M.D. , Ph.D. (3rd L) in honor of the Black History Month. Pastor Evans of Morning Star Community Christian Center in Linden was the keynote speaker at Second Annual Union County Black History Month Celebration on February 7 at Kean University in Union.  (Photo by Jim Lowney/County of Union)

ELIZABETH, NJ – In celebration of Black History Month and New Jersey’s 350th birthday, the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs in the Department of Parks and Recreation invites you to attend a free program, “America’s Forgotten African American Patriots in the American Revolution,” presented by Marion T. Lane, Ed.D. Sponsored by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders, the event will appropriately be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabeth (Old First), 42 Broad Street at Caldwell Place, Elizabeth, New Jersey, on Saturday, Feb. 15, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. “Old First” was home to the first English-speaking congregation established in New Jersey.

Dr. Lane is the author of “Patriots of African Descent in the Revolutionary War, Part 1,” a colorfully illustrated book that opens the eyes of the young reader (ages 8 and up) to the roles people of color played in the American Revolution. She is one of the few African American members of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and the National Gavel Society. Dr. Lane serves as the National President of the Society of Washington’s Army at Valley Forge and is on the Board of Valley Forge National Historic Park. Her book will be available for purchase and signing following the program.

As a complement to this event, members of the DAR from the Crane’s Ford Chapter of Cranford and the Westfield Chapter will have on display original documents and items from their respective collections and answer questions about their organization.

Self-guided tours of the Church’s adjacent American Revolutionary Burial Ground are encouraged. The cemetery has over 2,100 grave sites spanning four centuries. It is the final resting place of Jonathan Dickinson, founder of Princeton University; Shepherd Kollock, founder of New Jersey’s first newspaper; and Rev. James Caldwell, Church pastor and Army Chaplain during the Revolutionary War, and his wife, Hannah Caldwell, both of whom were killed during the Revolution. Her death is depicted on the official Union County seal.

The Feb. 15th event is free and open to the public. Limited on-street parking is available. Paid parking is available at the J. Christian Bollwage Parking Garage near the church at the corner of Caldwell Place and Elizabethtown Plaza. For more information, please call the Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550 weekdays.

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Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce Get Your School Garden Growing, a full day of workshops from the Rutgers Extension of Union County designed to help educators and community group leaders develop successful gardens for students and youth group members.

Get Your School Garden Growing will be held on Saturday, February 22, at Union County’s Trailside Nature and Science Center in Mountainside.

“For a community garden to thrive, you need team building and organization as well as good gardening skills,” said Freeholder Chairman Christopher Hudak. “This workshop will help provide you with the tools you need to pull students and volunteers together in a successful effort.”

The topics to be covered in Get Your School Garden Growing include guidance on working with young gardeners as well as finding suitable sites including sun, soil, and water considerations, pest management, safety consideration for young gardeners, and nutrition awareness including the new USDA “MyPlate” guidelines.

Other topics include hydroponics in the classroom and composting, along with guidance on integrating classroom lessons about soil health, soil biology, and recycling.

“Community gardening has proven to be a valuable exercise in teamwork and nutrition awareness for young people, while also contributing hands-on reinforcement for today’s challenging STEM curriculum,” said Hudak. “Whether you have already started a garden or are planning one, I encourage you to attend.”

Get Your School Garden Growing kicks off a new Chairman’s Initiative that calls for Union County to support community gardening with additional publicity and outreach materials, including new web and print content.

The Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County, a program of the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station, is supported in part by the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The registration deadline for Get Your School Garden Growing is Friday, February 14. A fee of $25 includes lunch and all materials.  For more information visit ucnj.org/rce, call the Union County Extension office in Westfield at 908-654-9854 (press “2”), or email Judith Laganga at the Extension office, jlaganga@ucnj.org.