Category: Public Info

Union County, NJ – Students ages 12 to 16 are invited to “Youth Chella,” a silent party scheduled for Friday, August 16 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Union County’s Watchung Reservation at the Trailside Nature and Science Center, located at 452 New Providence Road in Mountainside.

Admission and refreshments are free with the donation of a snack item. The donations will be provided to students in the County’s juvenile probation program.

“Youth Chella is a unique new recreation activity that enables teens to experience the popular ‘silent party’ trend in the beautiful setting of the Watchung Reservation, while also giving back to the community and supporting their peers,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados.

The idea for Youth Chella came from student members of the Union County Youth Board, who were inspired by the opportunity to link the silent party trend with outdoor music festivals like Coachella and others.

In a silent party, there is no sound system. Instead, participants are provided with wireless headphones that broadcast music via a radio transmitter.

“Silent parties enable people to enjoy great music and interact with each other, without having to shout over high-volume speakers,” said Chairman Granados. “We hope that the Youth Chella experience will encourage teens to come out to our County parks for more healthy outdoor activities.” 

Pre-registration for Youth Chella is required online at ucnj.org/youth. Participants must be ages 12-18 and bring their school identification.

Participants may also bring blankets, lawn chairs and umbrellas. Free parking is available at the Trailside parking lot and nearby at the Loop playground.

Members of the Youth Board work to create events that engage their peers in fun, safe and purpose-driven activities, helping to strengthen community bonds and promote health awareness, life skills, leadership, employment and academic achievement.

For more information about the Youth Board call the Union County Division of Youth Services at 908-558-2520 or visit ucnj.org/youth.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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Union County, NJ – Union County Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados and Freeholder Angela R. Garretson visited students and teachers at the Future Leaders Excelling in Entrepreneurship and Knowledge (F.L.E.E.K) Summer Youth Enrichment Program at The Patrick School in Hillside earlier this week. They were joined by Nathalie Hernandez, the Coordinator of the Union County Office of Community Engagement & Diversity, which provided support.

“These young people are eager to learn, explore, and plan for the future,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “The Freeholder Board is proud to sponsor F.LE.E.K. as part of the “Plant a Seed” community education and empowerment goals of my 2018 Chairman’s Initiative, Moving Union County Forward, which includes expanding opportunities for STEM studies. The F.L.E.E.K. program is a wonderful example of the difference enrichment programs can make, and I would like to thank all who are involved in making it a success.”

The F.LE.E.K. program is sponsored and partnered with Microsoft, Google, ShopRite, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey, Tapinto.net Hillside and OMG Photography in addition to the Freeholder Board.

“Through this partnership, more than 50 students will benefit from an enriching program that exposes them to business, life skills and STEM topics as well as creative subjects including photography, videography, and dance,” said F.L.E.E.K. co-founder Makeba Green.  “I would like to thank all of our sponsors for providing our youth with this powerful opportunity to build a strong foundation for academic and career success.”

F.L.E.E.K is designed to help expose students to the arts and STEM topics while preparing them with the academic skills they need to succeed to the next level. For more information visit online at fleekcorp.com or call Ebrima N’Dure, 201-539-0709.

For information about coordinating community events, programs and volunteer opportunities with the Office of Community Engagement and Diversity, members of the public can contact Nathalie Hernandez at 908-527-4880 or nahernandez@ucnj.org

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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Union County, NJ – A group of student volunteers from the Mitzvah Mania youth community service program visited the Deserted Village of Feltville last month, but not to search for ghosts. They were there to plant spruce trees and pine trees as part of a Union County Adopt-a-Park project.

“Our Adopt-a-Park volunteers play a big role in our County parks, and the Mitzvah Mania students worked hard to plant trees, remove weeds and invasive species, and prune back vegetation in the area around Masker’s Barn,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “They did a great job giving back to the community, and thanks to their efforts this popular site will continue to be an attractive haven for visitors and for nature conservation, too.”

Mitzvah Mania is a program of the Jewish Federation of Greater Metro West NJ. It  provides students from age 12 to 16 with opportunities to organize and lead hands-on community service projects in Union, Essex, Morris, Northern Somerset and Sussex counties.

The Deserted Village of Feltville is a 19^th century mill town located within Union County’s Watchung Reservation. It was largely abandoned throughout much of the 20^th century, leading to local speculation about ghosts and spirits. Restoration work in recent years includes the renovation of Masker’s Barn, which has become a popular setting for weddings and other events.

Each year, hundreds of Adopt-a-Park volunteers work on beautification and nature conservation projects in the Watchung Reservation and other Union County parks. Any individual or group can join. For more information visit ucnj.org/parks-recreation or call 908-789-3683.

To book an event at Maskers’ Barn visit ucnj.org/parks-recreation/deserted-village.

For quick links to Union County’s environmental programs, activities and volunteer opportunities visit The Green Connection, ucnj.org/green-connection.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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Union County, NJ – Union County’s Cedar Brook Park in Plainfield celebrated Independence Day in its own fashion, with a natural display of colorful native flowers around the shoreline of Cedar Brook Lake.

The flowering plants and shrubs are part of a restoration project aimed at improving wildlife habitats in County parks.

“We have been restoring landscapes and gardens in Union County parks to help sustain butterflies, birds and other valuable pollinators,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “Much of the effort has been undertaken with the assistance of volunteers, and their hard work has really made a big difference.”

“Everyone can help preserve and protect valuable pollinators in our environment by adding native plants to their yard or garden,” added Granados. “Native plants are also drought-hardy and require less maintenance than other varieties.”

Union County’s Plant This, Not That guide offers simple suggestions for incorporating colorful native species in yards and gardens. The guide was originally developed for Union County by a local Girl Scout as a volunteer project. Free downloads are available at ucnj.org/parks-recreation.

The pollinator projects in County parks include the restoration of native species along lakeshores in Echo Lake Park in Mountainside and Warinanco Park in Roselle, as well as Cedar Brook. Volunteers with the County’s Adopt-a-Park program continue to maintain these areas by periodically removing invasive species, picking up litter, and clearing debris.

Among other recent projects is a new butterfly meadow near the Trailside Nature and Science Center at the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside in partnership with a local Girl Scout and other volunteers. A new wildflower meadow has also been established around the dam at Lake Surprise in the Watchung Reservation.

Another pollinator-friendly location is the historic Shakespeare Garden in Cedar Brook Park, which is tended by volunteers with the Plainfield Garden Club.

The Chatfield Garden in Warinanco Park underwent a major transformation several years ago. Formerly a high maintenance display of tulips, it now consists of pollinator-friendly beds of perennial flowering plants and shrubs. The new garden was designed by a volunteer and is periodically tended by Adopt-a-Park volunteers.

The Union County’s Kids Dig In and UC Means Green garden grant programs also encourage school and community gardens to include pollinator-friendly flowering plants along with vegetables.

“Through these two grant programs, volunteer gardeners have populated Union County with dozens of small scale habitats that attract pollinators,” said Granados. “Pollinators help our gardeners increase their harvest, too.”

Pollinator conservation supports the goals of Chairman Granados’s Moving Union County Forward “Plant a Seed” initiative for building participation in environmental education and stewardship.

To find out more about volunteering in County Parks through Adopt-a-Park, visit online at ucnj.org/parks-recreation or call 908-789-3683. Any individual or group may participate, including corporate groups.

Union County residents interested in joining the Rutgers Master Gardeners and Master Tree Stewards volunteer programs can sign up to attend the fall 2018 training sessions. For more information visit ucnj.org/rce or call the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Union County at its offices in Westfield, 908-654-9854.

For quick links to all Union County environmental programs and activities visit ucnj.org/green-connection.

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All photos: County of Union, NJ.

For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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Union County, NJ – The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce that the Peopleready staffing firm will use the County’s Workforce Innovation Business Center to hold a hiring event for 100 full time hospitality positions.

The positions include housekeepers, room attendants, cooks, prep cooks, banquet servers, bartenders, janitors, dishwashers, event set up and breakdown and many more.

“The WIB Center leverages Union County’s experience and resources to help top quality employers like Peopleready streamline their hiring process,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados. “When we established the WIB Center in 2014, we knew that our business community and our residents would both make good use of this opportunity. We are looking forward to working with Peopleready to make this event a success, and we will continue to be proactive in expanding our private public partnerships to benefit our communities and residents.” 

The Peopleready hiring event will be held on Tuesday July 17, 2018 at 10:00 a.m., at Union County College’s Kellogg Building in Elizabeth.

Pre-registration is required by visiting ucnj.org/jobs.

Attendees at the hiring event should bring a copy of their resume and dress appropriately.

For more information on the Peopleready hiring event call the WIB Center at 908-965-2992.

The WIB Center was established by the Freeholder Board in 2014, in partnership with Union County College and the Union County Workforce Development Board. The WIB Center offers a professional staff, programs and facilities designed to help employers in Union County connect with qualified job seekers.

Since its inception in, the WIB Center has worked with more than 100 employers and held 59 major hiring events, offering a total of more than 3,800 employment opportunities to Union County residents.

For more information about the Workforce Development Board visit online at ucnj.org/wdb.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

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Union County, NJ –The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is pleased to announce two free mobile paper-shredding events for personal documents in July.

“Union County’s mobile paper-shredding events help residents to protect themselves from identity theft by proving a convenient, secure way to dispose of sensitive or confidential documents,” said Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados.

The first shredding event will take place on Thursday, July 12 at Rahway River Park on St. Georges Avenue in Rahway.

The second shredding event takes place on Saturday, July 21 at the Old Bristol Myers Facility, located at 1350 Liberty Avenue in Hillside.

Both events run from 9:00 a.m. to approximately 1:00 p.m., rain or shine. The events will end before 1:00 p.m. if the shredding trucks reach capacity.

All Union County residents can use the paper-shredding service. In an effort to accommodate everyone, there is a limit of four, 10-pound bags or boxes per person.

It is preferred that residents bring their documents in paper bags. Documents should not be bound. Plastic binders and paper clips should be removed. Paper that is wet or damp will not be accepted. Residents should continue to recycle non-confidential papers and magazines with their municipal recycling program.

Residents do not need to unload their cars at the site. Recycling workers will put the documents in containers and transfer them to a nearby shredding truck. Participants are welcome to view the shredding process via a closed-circuit television.

The shredded documents are then recycled, shipped to paper mills and used as pulp.

For more details and schedules for all Union County recycling programs call the Union County Recycling Hotline at 908-654-9889 or visit online at ucnj.org/recycling.

Countywide recycling supports the goals of Chairman Granados’s Moving Union County Forward “Plant a Seed” initiative for engaging the public in conservation and environmental education.

The Freeholder Board is also encouraging all residents to sign up for Recycle Coach, a free app that makes it easier to stay up to date about countywide recycling information and municipal recycling schedules.

More information on the Recycle Coach app can be found at ucnj.org/recycling/recycle-coach-app.

For quick links to all Union County environmental programs and activities, visit The Green Connection at ucnj.org/green-connection.

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For all Union County programs and services visit ucnj.org, call the Public Info Line, 877-424-1234, email info@ucnj.org or use the online Contact Form.

Connect with Union County on social media.