Author: Web Site Administrator

Union County Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados and Freeholders Bruce H. Bergen, Chris Hudak and Linda Carter this evening joined Summit Mayor Nora Radest, Cranford Mayor Tom Hannen, Winfield Mayor Gary J. Genz, Roselle Mayor Christine Dansereau, Roselle Park Mayor Carl Hokanson, Union Mayor Suzette Cavadas, Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr, Westfield Mayor Shelley Brindle and Rahway Mayor Raymond Giacobbe at the Moms Demand Action of Union County “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” event at the Hamilton Stage Theatre in Rahway.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to present the Sights & Sounds Art Exhibit, featuring paintings by students in the Sights and Sounds program of the Arc of Union County.

The exhibit is located on the 6th floor of the Union County Administration Building in Elizabeth and will be displayed through May 24, 2018. The gallery is open on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and is free to the public.

“The Freeholder Board is proud to showcase the artwork of Sights & Sounds students,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “The Sights and Sound exhibit provides members of the public with an opportunity to appreciate the universal powers of human creativity, expression, and communication, and it sends a strong message of support and inclusion to the whole community.”

The Freeholders Gallery provides a supportive exhibition space that provides the public with enriching exposure to Union County artists from a wide range of backgrounds, training and experience, along with exhibits featuring Union County history and culture.

The Arc of Union County is New Jersey’s largest provider of educational, recreational and support services to children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The agency’s Sights & Sounds program is designed to empower and support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with opportunities for personal expression, creative outlet and growth.

Chairman Granados’s “Moving Union County Forward” initiative for 2018 focuses on inclusion, diversity and empowerment. The initiative includes creation of the new Office for People with Special Needs, the first office of its kind in New Jersey. For more information on the Office for People with Special Needs contact Manuel Ramirez, Coordinator at mramirez@ucnj.org or 908-527-4781

The Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, part of the Department of Parks and Recreation, coordinates the exhibits displayed at the Freeholders Gallery.

For further information about this and other programs and services related to the arts and history in Union County, contact the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs at 908-558-2550 or email culturalinfo@ucnj.org. NJ Relay users may dial 711.

The Arc of Union County offers a wide range of programs for people of all ages. For more information, please visit arcunion.org or call 973-315-0000

Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to present an exhibit of paintings by Alicia Flynn Cotter of Mountainside in the gallery space at the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs, located at 633 Pearl Street in Elizabeth. A selection of her work entitled “Spring Awakens” is on display at the Pearl Street Gallery until June 8. The gallery is open on weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“Ms. Cotter is a talented artist and we are pleased to have her works exhibited at the Pearl Street Gallery,” said Freeholder Bruce H. Bergen, liaison to the Union County Cultural and Heritage Programs Advisory Board. “The exhibit showcases Ms. Cotter’s fine skills as a painter of nature.”

Ms. Cotter says of her work, “As an artist I am inspired by nature with a focus on modernizing traditional subjects like a garden or beach through style and/or composition. My ideas stem from memory, personal photos from trips and everyday life.”

Alicia Flynn Cotter is an artist and calligrapher with a BFA from Kean University and BS from Boston College. As a member of the Contemporary Art Group, she participates in group shows at various venues in New Jersey including galleries at Overlook Hospital, the New Providence Public Library, and Mayo Performing Arts Center.

Ms. Cotter received Second Place in the Member Show at the Watchung Art Center in 2017, and an Honorable Mention in the Contemporary Art Group Member Show in 2016.

Union County artists interested in exhibiting in the gallery space are welcome to apply. Artists’ works must be able to be hung on a wall.

For more information about the Pearl Street Gallery or other programs, please contact the Union County Office of Cultural and Heritage Affairs at culturalinfo@ucnj.org or call 908-558-2550. NJ Relay users can dial 711.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders and the Department of Parks and Recreation are pleased to announce an exciting season of spring programs offered at Trailside nature and Science Center.

“Now that Spring has arrived it is time to go outside and have some fun,” said Union County Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “Trailside’s location in the scenic Watchung Reservation provides the perfect outdoor classroom for learning about the environment and the natural world around us.”

Register now for spring workshops on line at www.ucnj.org/trailside.

Parents with children up to age three are invited to join the Toddler Time series of workshops that meet weekly on Thursdays, Fridays and now Saturdays from 10:00-11:00 a.m. These classes incorporate sensory hikes, stories, crafts and activities to acquaint adults and children with the natural world. This spring out Toddler Time families will investigate the water cycle while traveling through hands-on water stations, celebrate Earth Day by marking a craft with recycled materials, visit Australia on an imaginary journey to see koalas, kangaroos and kookaburras and more.

For children, ages 3 or 4, with an adult, Trailside offers Two of Us, an interactive program that encourages nature discovery through hikes and other indoor/outdoor activities with a parent. This program is offered on Tuesdays from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. or Wednesdays from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Participants can learn about the secret life of bees, investigate the life of a caterpillar and use their imagination to dive into the ocean to visit clams, sharks, clownfish and whales.

Small Fry Days, a drop-off program for children ages 4-6, is offered on Tuesdays, from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. This workshop series is designed to foster an awareness and appreciation of the natural world through hikes, explorations and nature related activities. Participants in this interesting and educational workshop series will learn how and why birds build nests, find out ways to keep our Earth clean and green and learn some f-ant-astic facts about ants.

Children in the first and second grades can take park in Afterschool Explorations, a drop-off program designed to acquaint children with nature explorations, hikes and outdoor activities. Children enrolled in this workshop series meet on Thursdays at 3:30-4:45 p.m. Learn how to use binoculars to identify some migratory and backyard birds, investigate the diversity of life found in a stream, make your own field notebook from upcycled materials and find out how and why animals communicate. Let your ears lead you on a spring walk in search of spring sounds.

Trailside’s spring workshops begin in April and continue through mid-June. Registrants can sign up for the series or choose only topics of interest. Pre-registration is required and the fee is $10.00 per class for Union County residents and $12.00 per class for out-of-county residents. Walk-ins can be accommodated if space permits.

For additional information about spring workshops, family programs, teacher training, special events and Trailside Talks for adults and high school students, please call 908-789-3670 or visit www.ucnj.org/trailside. Trailside nature & Science Center is located at 452 New Providence Road in Mountainside and is a service of the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to remind residents that a free Countywide scrap metal recycling event will be held on Saturday, April 21 in Rahway and Cranford.  A wide variety of metal goods, from household appliances to gutters and sheds, are included in the program.

“This countywide program helps to fill a service gap in some Union County municipalities that currently have no pickup for scrap metal recycling,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “As a community, we benefit across the board by recycling more, and throwing away less waste, and making the most of our resources.”

The scrap metal recycling program is available for use by households, commercial establishments, nonprofit agencies and other organizations and is available the first Thursday and third Saturday of each month, running from April through November. Each event runs from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon.  

Scrap metal from any municipality may be brought to either of the following drop-off centers:

• Cranford:  Emergency Services/Traffic Enforcement, 151 Kenilworth Blvd.;
• Rahway:  Service Yard in Rahway Park (near pool), St. Georges Avenue.

Acceptable items for recycling include aluminum scrap, aluminum cans, aluminum siding, bicycles, brass, copper, dishwashers, electric fans, fencing (chain/wire), freezers, gutters, irons, lawn furniture, metal cabinets, metal sheds, microwaves, pots & pans, railings, refrigerators, stoves, tire rims, toasters, washers & dryers, window frames (no glass), and wire hangers.

In the event of extreme bad weather, individual recycling events may be cancelled.

For more information, upcoming dates or directions to the recycling locations, an information on all Union County recycling programs and services, visit the Bureau of Recycling and Planning at ucnj.org/recycle or call the Union County Recycling Hotline at 908-654-9889.

14 Union County Mayors to sign State of Principals Against Illegal Guns in event to be held Wednesday, April 11 from 7-9 p.m.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders are  joining Moms Demand Action of Union County in sponsoring the “Mayors Against Illegal Guns” event that is being held this Wednesday, in which Mayors from 14 Union County municipalities will sign a Statement of Principals against illegal guns. The event is being held at the Hamilton Stage Theatre at 360 Hamilton Street, from 7-9 p.m.

“The Freeholder Board is proud to co-sponsor this event and bring our Union County elected officials together in making a statement that they will do everything in their power to protect our residents and our children from the threat of illegal guns,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados, who as part of his “Moving Union County Forward” initiatives this year, announced a partnership with Moms Demand Action of Union County in fighting for common sense gun reforms. “As elected officials, we are duty-bound to do everything in our power to protect our residents, our children and our families from the scourge of gun violence—and there is NO GREATER public safety issue today than this threat.”

The 14 Mayors who have agreed to sign the statement of principles against illegal guns are:

Derek Armstead, Linden; Chris Bollwage, Elizabeth; Shelley Brindle, Westfield; Suzette Cavadas, Union; Christine Dansereau, Roselle; Raymond Giacobbe, Rahway; Tom Hannen, Cranford; Carl Hokanson, Roselle Park; Richard Huber, Springfield; Charles Lombardo, Garwood; Colleen Mahr, Fanwood; Adrian Mapp, Plainfield; Nora Radest, Summit and Dahlia Vertreese, Hillside.

A copy of the statement of principles is online at: http://everytown.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MayorsStatementofPrinciples2014.pdf

Speakers include students Matthew Skolar, a sophomore from Scotch Plains High School, Colin Sumner a sophomore at Westfield High School, and Paul S. John, Manager of Mayoral Outreach, Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Other speakers at the event include: Granados, Brett Sabo, the NJ State Chapter of Lead of Moms Demand Action, and representatives of Union County Moms Demand Action including Scott Mack, Patti Wilson-Fico and Jessica Grant.

Other members of the Union County Freeholder Board are also expected to be on hand, including Freeholder Vice Chairwoman Bette Jane Kowalski, Freeholders Al Mirabella, Bruce Bergen, and Angel Estrada.

Moms Demand Action was founded by stay-at-home mom, Shannon Watts, on December 15, 2012, in response to the devastating shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The organization quickly flourished into a leading force for gun violence prevention, with chapters in all 50 states and a powerful grassroots network of concerned citizens that has successfully effected change at the local, state and national level. In December 2013, Moms Demand Action partnered with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to unite a nationwide movement of millions of Americans working together to change the game and end the epidemic of gun violence that affects every community.

Last month, Americans showed up in force for March for Our Lives events in Washington, D.C. and around the country. Led by students and gun violence survivors, they sent a clear message: protect us.

They demanded that lawmakers make students’ lives and safety a priority and pass common-sense gun safety legislation that will make all Americans safer. Their powerful voices added to the growing momentum to end the cycle of gun violence that kills 96 Americans every day and leaves hundreds more injured.

Everytown for Gun Safety is harnessing that momentum to create real change. In state houses, in board rooms and in Congress, we’re bringing together Americans of all stripes to use their voices.

Union County Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados announced today that Union County is prepared for the hundreds of anglers who descend on the County’s parks and waterways for the opening day of trout season, scheduled for Saturday, April 7 at 8 a.m.

According to the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife, Union County rivers and lakes are scheduled to be stocked with 23,950 rainbow trout this spring. The trout are among approximately 570,000 rainbow trout raised this season at the Division’s Pequest Trout Hatchery in Hackettstown.

The following County waterbodies and the number of trout they are receiving are as follows:

• Lower Echo Lake – 1,300
• Milton Lake – 1,860
• Nomahegan Park Lake – 400
• Passaic River* – 7,260           
• Rahway River – 11,900
• Seeley’s Pond, Watchung Reservation – 780
• Warinanco Park Lake – 450

* Includes entire length of river upstream and downstream from Union County

The Division has also announced that stocking on the Rahway River has been extended two miles from St. Georges Ave. to Lawrence St. in Rahway.

“Fishing is a fun, affordable activity that residents of any age may enjoy,” Freeholder Chairman Granados said. “Our parks are easily accessible and we are excited to continue this Spring ritual with the cooperation of the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.”

To fish for trout or salmon, a valid annual New Jersey fishing license and trout stamp are both required for residents at least 16 years and less than 70 years of age plus all non-residents 16 years and older. Only one daily creel limit of trout may be in possession. Once the creel limit is reached, an angler may continue to fish provided any additional trout caught are immediately returned to the water unharmed. When fishing from the shoreline, no more than three fishing rods, hand lines or combination thereof may be used. Separate stringers or buckets must be used for each angler’s catch. Containers in boats may hold only the combined daily creel limit for each legal angler on board.

For more information on New Jersey’s Spring Trout Season, visit http://www.njfishandwildlife.com/trtinfo.htm or call the Trout Hotline at (609) 633-6765.

The Union County Board of Freeholders is proud to announce that the Union County Office on Women has created a new series of videos highlighting women of achievement and leadership here in Union County, NJ. The new video series will be called Union County Women Making History. This first video is a profile of the Hon. Judge Karen Cassidy, Assignment Judge here in Union County. More videos will be released throughout the year.

As Transgender Day of Visibility (TDOV) approaches this weekend on Saturday, March 31, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders declares their support of this important day and recognizes that TDOV is about more than visibility, it’s an opportunity for all of us to be an ally.

TDOV is a day dedicated to reflecting on the achievements made by transgender and gender nonconforming individuals and their supporters, and it’s also an opportunity to raise awareness about the trans community and the oppression these individuals still face in today’s society.

“We call on community members and allies to help ensure that transgender individuals are affirmed, respected, and able to thrive,” said Freeholder Alexander Mirabella, liaison to the Freeholder LGBTQ Ad Hoc Committee. “As an elected official representing all residents in Union County, I urge leaders in our communities to use language and actions that inspire and empowers transgender individuals.”

TDOV comes as the State of New Jersey advances laws toward transgender equality and significant protections – soon to become the state with the most progressive gender-identity policies in the nation.

“On behalf of the entire Freeholder Board, I add our names to the list of New Jersey elected officials who commend our state representatives for their efforts to pass legislation that protects transgender individuals who reside in New Jersey,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “The Freeholder Board supports policies that are gender-affirming for all of our LGBTQ residents. Union County stands ready to immediately implement the equality legislations that Governor Murphy has vowed to sign.”

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders stand in support of all transgender people, and condemns attempts to stigmatize and marginalize them. We believe transgender individuals have the right to a full quality of life as respected members of our families, communities, and work force.

In January 2018, Union County became the first county in the State of New Jersey to establish an Office of LGBTQ Services – established by Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados as one of many progressive “Moving Union County Forward” special initiatives that he announced in January of this year.

Through assessment, research, analysis and strategic collaboration, the Office of LGBTQ Services, under the Division of Outreach and Advocacy in the Department of Human Services, provides essential support that impacts the quality of life for LGBTQ people and allies through community building and human services.

For more information about the Union County Office of LGBTQ Services, contact Danni Newbury, Coordinator, at 908-527-4742 or dnewbury@ucnj.org, or visit the Union County government website at ucnj.org.

Union County Freeholders Bruce H. Bergen and Alexander Mirabella present a certificate of recognition to ShopRite of Clark Assistant Manager Rick Ferreira, District Manager John Dearani, Shopper Advocate Amberly Rssomano and Associates Will Smith and Sandy Dellaportas congratulating them on spear-heading the ShopRite Partners In Caring community-based hunger fighting program at the ShopRite of Clark.

A competition sponsored last year by ShopRite and cereal company General Mills prompted thousands of the supermarket’s employees to raise $1.5 million to fight hunger. Donations were collected across six states during check-out and at events held in stores.

ShopRite of Clark was among the most active stores in raising funds for local food banks. In recognition of their work raising funds for hunger relief Associates Smith and Dellaportas are featured on a special edition box of Cheerios cereal. The customized cereal boxes, which feature employees from 40 ShopRite stores, are sold exclusively at ShopRite.