clifton merchant magazine - april 2015

Clifton Merchant • April 2015 3

April 2015 • Clifton Merchant4

Table of Contents

Editor & PublisherTom Hawrylko

© 2015 Tomahawk Promotions

Visit cliftonmerchant.comfor current & past issues

973-253-4400 • [email protected]

Art DirectorKen Peterson

Graphic DesignerAly Ibrahim

Business ManagerGabriella Marriello

Editorial InternMariel Vazquez

1288 Main Ave., Downtown Clifton, NJ 07011

Irene Jarosewich, Tom Szieber Michael Gabriele, Jack De Vries

Contributing Writers

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What’s Inside?

Before Corrado’s...FairyLandElectric Lights, Rides & Fireworks

American Beauty Rose Origins14,000 were Cultivated in Nash Park

A Guide to NeighborhoodsThanks to Author William W. Scott

Before Yankee Stadium...Doherty Silk Sox Field on Main Ave.

Back to the Future at CHSThis Season’s Crop of Mustangs

Juxtaposed—CHS Fine ArtFeatured at Clifton Arts Center

St. Andrew Gala & AwardMeet the Distinguished Sr. Regina

14

27

32

44

68

88

94

Our June edition will celebrate Cliftonresidents of the High School Class of2015. Our July edition will focus onMustangs who graduated 05, 95, 85,75, 65, 55 and maybe even 1945!


We’ll take you from the 1600s whenthe Lenni Lenape lived here, to 1776,

when General George Washington

retreated through what is today

known as Clifton after seeing his rag-

tag army bloodied near Fort Lee.

Washington would return, as

would his wife Martha, another future

first lady Abigail Adams, his aide

Alexander Hamilton and General

Marquis de Lafayette.

In the late 1800s, Scotto Nash grew

his prize American Beauty Roses in

what is now Nash Park.

The Clifton Race Track (built

where Clifton Schools Stadium is

today (ever wonder why our sportsteams are called Mustangs?) would

open, close, open again, and die in

scandal—much to the chagrin of its

10,000 daily patrons, many brought

in by train and then aboard a Main

Ave trolley line from New York City.

When the ponies were outlawed, they raced bicycles

and motorcycles at the track, and Buffalo Bill and

Annie Oakley performed their Wild West shows on the

property.

The Morris Canal, the superhighway of its day,

meandered through Clifton, from the late 1820s to the

1920s, as did the trolley that brought visitors to

Fairyland Amusement Park. The amusement park on

Main Ave., about where Corrado’s is today, was a maze

of electric lights, dance pavilions, circus attractions,

and rides—all protected by Clifton constables.

The great 1913 Silk Strike began in

Clifton, then a part of Paterson, at the

still magnificent Doherty Silk Mill on

Main Ave. To help mend the wounds

from the strike, owner Harry Doherty

built a “field of dreams” behind his

mill, and a parade of baseball Hall of

Famers, including Negro League

stars, played in Clifton against his

team, the Silk Sox.

In one game, the one and only Babe

Ruth hit a mammoth home run that

caused a riot at the ball park, and the

Yankees and the Bambino had to be

rescued by a fledgling police force

from their adoring fans.

The NFL’s New York Giants

played an exhibition game in

Clifton, the beefsteak dinner was

invented here by Hap Nightingale,

and the US Animal Quarantine sta-

tion to inspect exotic animals oper-

ated on the grounds of what is now

Clifton City Hall. America and Clifton went to war

and the hundreds of our city sons who sacrificed their

lives for our country are etched in eternal memory on

the War Monument in Main Memorial Park, erected

after the “war to end all wars” in 1918.

A generation and another world war later, Clifton

began transforming itself from a quiet farming commu-

nity to a thriving city, thanks in part to the GI Bill, a

housing developer named Steve Dudiak, and a football

coach named Joe Grecco. But that’s a story for a future

edition. Enjoy Part I of Clifton’s history...

The late David L. Van Dillen, pic-tured here, a helped us create this300 year timeline of CliftonHistory, which begins on the fol-lowing page. Thanks are also inorder to the Clifton Library staff,the authors of ‘A Clifton Sampler’and historian Mark S. Auerbach.

If you’ve lived in Clifton your entire life, theevents and personalities captured in wordsand pictures will make you smile. If you’rea newcomer, you’re in for a treat.


1678: Hartman Vreeland buys

Dundee Island in what is now the

Market St. area of Passaic. He

establishes a trading post for the

exchange of goods with the local

Lenni Lenape Indians.

March 5, 1680: Two Labadist mis-

sionaries explore the Passaic River

by rowboat from Belleville to the

Great Falls.

March 16, 1684: An agreement is

reached between 14 Dutch patent-

ees and the East Jersey Proprietors

for the purchase of Acquackanonk.

Fourteen estates were laid out in

tiers between the Passaic River and

Wesel Mountain.

Dec. 4, 1692: Capt. John Bradbury

establishes the first grist mill at

present day Delawanna’s Third

River.

Dec. 4, 1693: The several counties

in the East Jersey province are

divided into townships. A new

township in Essex County is

Acquackanonk and New

Barbadoes. It extends from the

mouth of the Passaic River to the

Ramapo River at the New York

State border. In 1707, this township

is separated into the separate town-

ships of the two names.

April 10, 1693: King’s Highway is

laid out along the Passaic River,

from Newark north to Belleville, or

to the ford of the Second River.

1707: The first road from Newark

to the interior of the Province of

East Jersey is laid out along the

Passaic River as far as the

Acquackanonk Landing (Passaic)

and then along today’s Lexington

Ave. through Wesel to Paterson.

1729: Stephen Bassett’s tannery

and distillery is established on

today’s East Clifton Ave. near Nash

Park, then Wesel.

1740: A brownstone quarry is in

operation in today’s City Hall com-

plex near the Colfax Ave. entrance.

1745: A schoolhouse is built at

Lexington and Clifton Ave’s. It

serves as a meeting place for the

Committee On Correspondence

during the American Revolution.

Nov. 17, 1755: Bloomfield Ave. is

laid out though today’s Allwood

from Acquackanonk Landing to

Stonehouse Plains.

1774: The Hoffmeier property spans

44 acres, Pershing Rd. to Grove St.

1774: Abraham Godwin operates a

stagecoach twice a week between

Paulus Hook (Jersey City) and the

Great Falls (Paterson) via Weasel

Rd. in Acquackanonk Township.

The Clifton Theater at Mainand Clifton Avenues, openedon December 30, 1937 and wasdemolished in February 2001.It is now a Walgreens.

timeline continues on page 14

In 1736, the Gysbert Vanderhoff house and saw mill is constructed in

today’s Weasel Brook Park. The homestead, pictured above, still stands.


In the 1600’s, when the Dutch reached

Acquackanonk, the first people they encoun-

tered were the Lenni Lenape tribe. Historian

William W. Scott, who in 1922 wrote the

History of Passaic and Its Environs, calculat-

ed that the Lenni Lenape, which means pure

or original Indian, arrived in New Jersey

around 976 A.D., after they had forced out

the Mengwe, a previous tribe.

Scott writes that the Lenape were a strong

and healthy nation when the Europeans first arrived, and

were willing to share Acquackanonk, which encom-

passed modern-day Clifton, Passaic and Paterson.

However, he stated, as a race, few lived past the age of

60. The Passaic River was bountiful and the area near

today’s Dundee Dam—between Garfield and Clifton—

was a place for religious services and also a prime fish-

ing location. He also noted that the Lenape regarded the

turtle as ‘creator of all things’.

They taught the Dutch how to use the so-called Lenape

fish dams (called slooterdam by the Dutch) which was V-

shaped, pointing downstream with a sluice in the center

where a woven basket was set to catch the fish.

The Lenapes also made use of the fertile land near the

Dundee Dam where they grew maize and other crops.

In fact, the Passaic River offered so much to these peo-

ple that it was home to a permanent settlement, covering

most of the land east of Second St., into present-day

Passaic. They often lived in 7x24 foot longhouses,

which accommodated up to a 12-person family.

To the east of Sixth St., where Passaic and Wall Sts.

are located today, was where the homes of about 500

Original Cliftonites

Lenni Lenape

Lenape. There was a trail from the

river to the Great Notch and on to

present day Rifle Camp Rd. where

they had a spot to replenish their

arrows. The greatest of all the Lenape

meeting places where they gathered

after the harvest was the dancing

grounds along the Third River in

Delawanna. Eventually, the new set-

tlers took their toll on the Lenape.

The Dutch introduced alcohol and

disease, which sent the population spi-

raling, and by around 1700, the

Lenape migrated west.

A mural entitled, ‘Indians Trading with the Half Moon’ by HenrySchnakenberg which can be viewed in the Fort Lee Post Office.


After the purchase of the area known as

Acquackanonk from the Lenni Lenape Indians in 1684

for a parcel of blankets, kettles, powder and other vari-

ous goods, the 14 Dutch proprietors from Bergen (now

Jersey City) who had bought the land each laid out their

own homes and farms along the Passaic River.

These houses were at the current location of Rutt’s

Hutt to the bridge that crossed the river to Wallington.

These first settlers were attracted to this region for the

same reason the Lenni Lenape were: the natural

resources.

With a majority of the first settlers coming over being

farmers, it only made sense to start a community on the

fertile land in between the Passaic River and Wesel

(Garret) Mountain, which formed the natural boundaries

of the Acquackanonk territory.

The woods around the settlement provided fuel for

fire and were perfect for building the one-room homes

where the Dutch lived, if field stones were not present.

The Passaic River was also important to their lives,

offering fish, another staple of the early Dutch settlers, as

well as providing the fastest means of transportation to

neighboring areas. That is, when the Dutch weren’t

tending to their land, which often was a sunrise to sunset

job. The one-room homes featured a large fireplace,

which was used for warmth, as well as cooking. Early

diets included a lot of saltpork, beef, potatoes, cornmeal

and cabbage, as well as deer, turkey and fish, which was

mostly cooked in large iron kettles over the fire.

Industrious & Crafty

the Dutch Settlers

Fruits and vegetables were also

common in warm months, as were

springhouses, where goods that may

spoil in heat were kept cool in the

ground.

For the winter, the smokehouse was

often used, where meat could be pre-

served for a later time.

Items and food that were to be

stored were either kept in the barn,

which also housed all the livestock, or

in the home’s cellar.

Life for early Acquackanonk set-

tlers was certainly not easy.

Early Dutch settlers were welcomed by the Lenni Lenapeand became trading partners with them.


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Nov. 22, 1776: Gen. George

Washington and the Colonial Army

retreated from Acquackanonk

Landing through what is today’s

Delawanna en route to Newark,

Elizabethtown, New Brunswick

and the Delaware River at Trenton.

Essayist Thomas Paine may have

accompanied the troops.

Nov. 27, 1776: Speertown (now

Allwood) is pillaged by Red Coats.

July 10, 1778: Gen. Washington,

Alexander Hamilton and aides visit

the Great Falls, pass through

Acquackanonk en route to Preakness.

Oct./Nov. 1780: The Colonial

Army camped at Totowa and

George Washington had his head-

quarters at the Dey Mansion. Their

AWOL soldiers were rounded up in

Acquackanonk.

Oct. 23, 1780: Marquis de

Lafayette leads a Pennsylvania Line

of the Colonial Army through the

Notch and to Stone House Plains

Road (Allwood Road) on a sally

toward Staten Island. The thrust

fails; the troops return to Totowa.

Aug. 21, 1781: The Colonial Army

passes through Acquackanonk on

Wesel Rd. (now Lexington Ave.)

for the last time en route from the

Hudson Highlands to Yorktown, Va.

Sept. 10, 1786: Kingsland Rd. is

laid out, starting from the

Kingsland Paper Mill on Yantacaw

Pond to Bloomfield.

1796: Acquackanonk Township

School 1 is erected on Franklin Ave.

(now Main Ave.), near Stone House

Plains Rd. (Allwood Rd.)

May 13, 1796: Bloomfield Rd.

(now Broad St. in Richfield) is laid

out from Paterson to Notch Rd.

(now Van Houten Ave.) to a point

100 feet west of the log school-

house on the south side of Notch

Rd. (near today’s Richfield Farms)

and became a major roadway.

1726: Notch Rd. is laid out across Acquackanonk Township from the

Passaic River to Wesel Mountain, now known as Garret Mountain. The

illustration on page 20 was rendered in about 1857; the photo below is of

the Notch Brook in 1922 when a tavern and gathering place existed and

above is the location as it appears today as Gensinger Motors.


May 13, 1796: Hazel Rd. laid out.

Aug. 3, 1801: Essex County Road

Orders vacate, alter and relocate

Notch Rd. and present-day Van

Houten Ave. Paterson Plank Rd.

(now Main Ave.) is also laid out.

1810: Melville Curtis starts a paper

mill beside Yantacaw Pond in

today’s Delawanna section.

May 1, 1813: James Shepherd

builds the first cotton bleachery in

New Jersey, at a pond along

Garritse Lane (now Clifton and

Main Ave.). It is sold in 1830.

1818: The Van Riper general store

established on present: day Broad

St. near Hepburn Rd. and

Bloomfield border.

1820: The Isaac Sip (Doremus)

house is built on Broad St. An orig-

inal wing may have been erected as

early as 1740.

Dec. 17, 1824: Speertown

(Allwood) and part of Bloomfield

are united in a special school dis-

trict. Children from both municipal-

ities attended school in Bloomfield.

1824: The Morris Canal is extended

into Acquackanonk Township along

Broad St. and put into early use as

constructed—local businesses open.

1826: A Centerville real estate

development called Canalville is

laid out near Broad and Grove Sts.

1828: Wesel School is moved from

Lexington to Lakeview Ave.

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Once located behind the former silk mill at 1550 Main Ave., across from the Passaic ValleyWater Commission, the Doherty Oval was probably the finest diamond in the nation untilYankee Stadium was built in 1923. Turn to page 58 for more on this Field of Dreams.


Aug. 16, 1831: The 102-mileMorris Canal is finally completed.

May 28, 1832: The Paterson &

Hudson River Railroad is put into

service between Paterson and

Passaic. During this time, it was

considered a luxury to ride a train.

The fare fluctuated, ranging from

15 to 25 cents, with children under

12 riding half off. The train’s

coaches often jumped track, but

since they were so light, it was not

of concern. Passengers would get

out to lend a hand and put it back

on. Trains ran from 7 am to 7 pm,

beginning in Paterson. In 1834, the

first steam engine appeared on the

roads and from there, everything

expanded. The line then extended

to Jersey City and Suffern as a part

of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad.

Nov. 6, 1833: The Postville School

opens in South Paterson, then part

of Acquackanonk, not Paterson.

Feb. 7, 1837: New Jersey Legislature

establishes Passaic County, by

removing it from Essex County.

1837: William P. Ackerman estab-

lishes New Jersey’s earliest cotton

tannery on a pond near Clifton and

Main Aves. A new chemical process

is used in the tanning.

Oct. 6, 1837: Henry F. Piaget

acquires and begins to operate the

18th century tavern at Notch, first

licensed in 1797. It is named: “The

Union Hotel at Great Notch.”

1840: The first Sunday School is

opened in Van Winkle’s barn at

Broad St. & Van Houten Ave.

1847: A great pearl “rush” for

pearls from fresh water mussels

occurs along Pearl Brook below the

Notch. Some quality pearls are

found but the largest is destroyed

by cooking.

Dec. 23, 1847: B’nai Jeshurun con-

gregation acquires from Dr. Joseph

W. Ashman two small lots in

Centerville for use as a Jewish ceme-

tery, perhaps North Jersey’s earliest.

1849: A Methodist chapel, used

primarily by circuit riders, is

opened on Van Houten Ave., west

of Grove St. (near the present

Clifton Masonic Temple site). The

earlier Van Wrinkle barn Sunday

School moves here but services

were discontinued in 1855.

April 20, 1859: The cornerstone of

the Dundee Dam across the Passaic

River near Botany Village is set in

place by Gov. William Newell.

Joseph Scott, father of author/histo-

rian William Scott, is chief engi-

neer for the project, which includes

the Dundee Canal, a water power

source for Passaic’s mills.

1861: The Minette Varnish Co. at

132 Delawanna Ave. is opened and

hires many workers. The building

and ovens are razed circa 1955.

1831: Long before automobiles & airplanes, there was the Morris Canal...

An undated photo of the Morris Canal. The section above is located where Route 19 today runs into Paterson.

history continues on page 21


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Floods and Hurricanes?The Passaic River is known for chronic flooding

problems during periods of heavy rainfall or snow-melt—and it is not just upcounty that gets hit. ManyClifton neighborhoods are getting soaked.

Flooding can happen for reasons other than rain-fall, including hurricanes, sheet flows and seiches.Whether or not you live in a flood zone, you shouldtake precautions to help prevent flood damage to yourhome.

Tell your insurance agent if you implement flooddamage preventative measures to take advantage ofany applicable premium credits or discounts.

ElectricityDon’t stand in water and turn off electrical

switches. Even if flood waters are not reachingelectrical outlets, the risk of electrical shock tosomeone working in a flooded area is highbecause of electric motors in the furnace, freezer,washer, dryer and other appliances. If the groundis still dry, shut off electrical breakers or unscrewfuses. If wet, contact the power company to havethe electrical supply disconnected.Sewers

Install check valves in sewer traps to preventfloodwater from backing up into the house drains.

Elevate for PreventionMake sure your furnace, water heater, and

electric panel are elevated. If a flood is imminent:• Shut off appliances at the breaker panel. • Put freezers, washers, dryers and other appli-

ances up on wood or cement blocks to keep themotors above the water level.

• If large appliances can’t be moved, wrapthem in polyethylene film, tying the film in placewith cord or rope. The water may still get in, butmost silt will be blocked.

• Move hazardous materials to higher loca-tions – including paint, oil and cleaning supplies.

• Move tax records, insurance policies, photos andother important items off the bottom shelves in thelower level of your home.

BarriersIn areas where water is not expected to rise above

the slab or floor level, have materials on hand to quick-ly construct barriers (sandbags, levees, beams, floodwalls) to stop floodwater from entering the building.

SeepageIn basements or crawlspaces, seal the walls with

water-proofing compounds to avoid seepage.

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In 1847, a Paterson shoemakernamed David Howell, a collector

of wildlife from neighborhood

streams, gathered some fresh water

mussels from Notch Brook.

He carried home his shellfish

and deep-fried them. One of the

mussels contained a pearl that

weighed nearly 400 grains (about

one ounce). Unfortunately, the lus-

ter and the value was completely

destroyed by the heat and the

grease of deep-frying. Had the

pearl been found in time, its value

might have been about $25,000.

Following this experience,

David Howell and others who

heard of his story, began extensive

mussel collecting. People arrived

at Notch Brook from all parts of

northeastern New Jersey. The Pearl

Rush in the Notch resembled, in a

small way, the gold rush which

took place in California at about the

same time. The pearl rush lasted

some 10 years, and then the pearls

were gone.

During 1857, pearls from North

Jersey streams were sold for a total

of $15,000. Most were small and of

average quality. Only one was

found that weighed as much as 93

grains. This was purchased by

Tiffany & Company of New York

for $1,500.

Later, this pearl from Clifton

was sold to a French dealer and

eventually passed into the posses-

sion of Empress Eugenie of France,

a consort of Napoleon III. Because

of its remarkable luster, it became

known in the industry as the Queen

Pearl.

Notch Brook now flows through

a pipe under Route 46 in the Notch

and emerges into Montclair

Heights in Clifton. It then flows

into Essex County at Grove St. as

Pearl Brook, a name the stream

earned in the middle of the 19th

century.

The Pearl Rush in the Notch...

A Tale of the $25,000 Mussel

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March 28, 1865: The 90-acre

Cedar Lawn cemetery is formally

opened. Burials and reinterring of

Sandy Hill removals happen as

early as September 1857.

1865: George V. DeMott builds the

Clifton Grove Hotel at the corner of

Main and Madison’s Ave’s. He also

opens a real estate office on the cor-

ner of Madison and Getty Ave’s.

Oct. 1867: The Clifton Landing &

Building Association commences

the development of the Clifton sec-

tion of Acquackanonk Township,

west of Main Ave. from Weasel

Brook to Union Ave.

1868: The Lotz Brothers’ Dairy is

established on Piaget Ave.

March 31, 1868: Litte Falls is

removed from Acquackanonk

Township at the steep rocks facing

Wesel Mountain on the east.

1868: A branch of the Pennsylvania

Railroad system is constructed

from Newark through Highland

(Allwood) and Athenia to Paterson.

June 8, 1869: The Ninth Ward

(South Paterson) is separated from

Acquackanonk Township to

become part of Paterson.

1870: Acquackanonk Township’s

weekly newspaper, The Item,

begins publication.

1870: The Clifton Union Sunday

School (interdenominational) is

organized above the variety store at

99 Florence (Getty) Ave.

July 3, 1870: Wesel School relo-

cates to 99 Florence Ave.

1870: The Delaware, Lackawanna

& Western’s Boonton branch

begins operations through

Delawanna, Passaic and Athenia.

March 21, 1871: The village of

Passaic splits from Acquackanonk

Township. Passaic becomes a sepa-

rate city in 1973.

July 19, 1871: Delawanna resi-

dents vote down annexation by the

City of Passaic.

Sept. 30, 1871: A railroad depot is

opened in Arlington Ave. The

Clifton depot on Madison Ave. was

already opened in 1870.

1871: The Morris Canal is sold to

the Lehigh Valley Railroad.

1871: George Hughes, a linen man-

ufacturer, and his brother, John, land

developers from Cranford, purchase

land in Athenia, lay out streets and

build 14 homes with a characteristic

mansard roof. Six are still in use

across from the Boys Club.

Oct. 21, 1871: Engine Co. #1 opens

in a barn at Main & Madison Ave’s.

Feb. 24, 1872: Lakeview Ave. links

the Erie Railroad depot near Clifton

Ave. to Market St., Paterson.

June 20, 1872: The Paterson,

Newark and New York Railroad

reorganize through Allwood and

Athenia as a branch of the Erie.

Sept. 21, 1872: Residents of

Clifton form a village band.

Aug. 3, 1872: Orrin Vander Hoven

starts the Passaic Herald, a county

temperance weekly newspaper.

1872: A two-room school is built in

Richfield, west of Broad St. to

replaces a one story frame building.

1872: Acquackanonk School #1 on

Franklin Ave. is rebuilt on Allwood

Rd. It later becomes part of St.

Clares’s R.C. Church.

1880: Second Census of Acquackanonk counts 1,732 people.

Where Clifton Schools Stadium and Main Memorial Park are today, theClifton Race Track began its first horse racing season on May 1, 1875.


1872: The Fritzsche Co., manufac-

turer of aromatic oils, is established

on Weasel Brook near Third St.

1872: Albion Place is named by

John R. Gourley, a resident of Dolly

Mount, a prestigious home on

Valley Rd., now the Classical

Academy Charter School of Clifton.

1873: The Hughes Brothers erect

railroad depots around Athenia for

both the Erie Newark Branch and

Lackawanna railroads.

May 10, 1873: Henry A. Hudson’s

hotel in Delawanna opens.

1873/74: The 1740 brownstone

quarry on today’s City Hall site on

Colfax Ave. is leased to Abbott

Marble Co. of Passaic.

1874: Clifton’s third (William S.

Davidson) and fourth (George V.

DeMott) postmasters serve in

offices in the Variety Store at 99

Florence (Getty) Ave.

May 9, 1874: Allwood is named

Peru by Erie Railroad.

1874: Acquackanonk’s School #3

is built at First St. & Clifton Ave.

Aug. 1, 1874: Clifton Driving Park

is in the planning stage at the “toll”

Road and Kip’s Lane (Piaget Ave.).

A half-mile track for horse racing is

to be constructed on 25 acres.

Nov. 21, 1874: Getty Ave. is opened

from Clifton Ave. to Crooks Ave.

Main Ave. ceases to be a toll road. Too

many cross streets hinder collection.

1875: Acquackanonk Township cen-

sus following removal of Little Falls

in 1868 and Passaic in 1871: 1,631.

In 1892, silk baron Catholina Lambert builds his castle, Belle Vista, on ValleyRd. at the Paterson Clifton border. The view at the top of the page is of theItalian Garden. Below, is the observatory which he had constructed in 1896,The Castle is now the home of the Passaic County Historical Society and bothproperties have been restored by Passaic County government.


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1876: Capt. Joseph’s wife and a

Selling child are buried in B’nai

Jeshurun Cemetery in Centerville.

1877: The Birch Lumber Co. opens

at 38 Oak St., Delawanna.

May 11, 1877: Joe Goss, champion

pugilist, fights all-comers at the

Passaic County Fair Grounds held

at the Race Track in Clifton.

May 11, 1877: A part of Centerville

takes the name Richfield to get its

own Post Office at Kesse’s Hotel.

The Athenia part of Centerville did-

n’t get a Post Office until 1883.

1880: Tyldsley’s Tavern opens on

Elm St. at the Lackawanna Railroad

tracks in Athenia. A grade crossing

which extended Fornelius (Central

Ave.) toward Passaic existed. In

1922, an underpass was constructed

to complete Clifton Blvd. between

Clifton Ave. and the Passaic border.

1880: Peter & Israel Bennigan’s

Broadsilk and Ribbon Mill opens

on Hazel Rd. at today’s Garden

State Parkway ramp.

Winter 1881: Clifton Methodist

Chapel and Clifton Union Sunday

School building at Clifton Ave. and

First St. burns to the ground.

Aug. 13, 1882: The new chapel at

Centerville in Athenia opens for

worship services. It is decided on

Oct. 5 to be renamed the Reformed

Church of Centerville.

1883: Names change: The land

between the Lackawanna Railroad

and the Newark Branch of the Erie

Railroad along Claverack Road

(now Clifton Ave.) takes the name

Athenia in order to secure a Post

Office.

1883/84: Isaac Van Dillen opens a

general store in Athenia.

1884: Clifton Hard Rubber Co.

replaces a lace mill on Clifton

Blvd. on Post property opposite the

Lackawanna depot.

1883: Ferdinand Grossenbacher

lives in a large home on Clifton

Ave., which became the Elk’s first

home. He operated a silk mill on

Post property opposite the depot of

Lackawanna Railroad at Athenia.

In 1887, that mill burned in a fire.

1886: George, William and John

Engemann, with approval of the

Acquackanonk Township Council,

expand their Race Track, complete

with a hotel, betting ring and glass

enclosed grandstands to seat

10,000 fans. An Erie Main Line

railroad runs directly up to the

entrance to the racetrack, bringing

in thousands of horse racing fans.



Weasel, taking the Weasel Brook

locality, was settled by Hollanders

in the early part of the eighteenth

century. The first prominent settler

was Gerrit Gerritse. The land orig-

inally was used for farming; many

of the old farm lanes are now

streets, such as Crooks Ave.

A grist mill once was located

along the Weasel Brook on the old

Post Farm, later taken over by the

Van Winkles. The Vreelands also

exercised considerable influence in

this locality. The brook also boast-

ed on its banks at various times a

distillery, a bleachery and a factor

in which hoop skirts were made.

A portion of the Weasel locality

now lies covered by the waters of

the Dundee Lake, under which lies

the remains of old houses. The lake

was created by Edward T.

Christianson, a New York tea mer-

chant, who surrounded the artificial

lake with trees, shrubs, flowers and

palms. Water fowl then disported

on the surface of the lake, while at

night, the surrounded gardens were

illuminated by Japanese lanterns.

The old race track, on which

property (Christopher Columbus

Middle School) stands, was origi-

nally a part of a Weasel farm tract.

Negro slaves were used to do the

rough work on these farms; one

farm alone, owned by Elias

Vreeland, who lived at Lexington

and Hamilton Aves, maintained

twenty-five negroes.

A physically fit male negro slave

cost him about $400; a wench, a lit-

tle less that $300. It sometimes

happened that the slaves were

whipped on the bare back fro such

offenses as pilfering, but as a rule,

the Dutch masters were generally

kind to their slaves. At Christmas

time, they were given a week’s

vacation and allowed to go visiting

in the neighborhood.

Albion Place, a part of the Notch,

was formerly known as Postville,

owned for the most part by the Post

family. In 1833, it boasted a school-

house on Hazel St. (The Driftway).

Beantown and Bricktown were also

names formerly applied to the north-

ern section of this region.

The descendants of John R.

Gould, an Englishman and owner of

much property here, named the

development Albion Place in honor

of their native land, Albion

(England). Most of the names of

the streets in this section are of

English origin, such as Gillies St.,

in honor of John Gillies, Scotch his-

torian; Lambert St., in honor of

John Lambert, English General; and

Warren St., for Samuel Warren,

London lawyer. The Notch should

not be confused with Great Notch

in Little Falls; it is rather the land

of the mountains along Valley Rd.

Farming was always done here, as

well a trap rock quarrying.

The Pearl Brook is named because

of the fact that a pearl was once

found in a mussel shell in the brook

(see our story on page 20). A history

of the Notch would be incomplete

without the mention of the Old

Notch Tavern. The tavern was built

in 1783 by Cornelius A. Vreeland,

for team-drivers and travelers and

often as a court house. During the

Revolutionary War, homes there

were looted by the British. A look-

out station was at the southern end

of the mountain and huge stones

were collected at the top to roll

down on the British should they

attempt to pass through.

Story by William W. Scott, as published in 1922

Early Neighborhood Names

William W. Scott in 1922.

William W. Scott was the author of the History of Passaic and Its Environs,

a thick and tedious three-part series which was published in 1922. The

encyclopedic books detail the history of the region, and offers his thoughts

and observations on a variety of topics. What follows are accounts of how

various sections received their monikers, as it was written by Scott.


Clifton proper received its name from a devel-

opment project which was named in an open air

meeting held under a tree on property now occu-

pied by St. Paul’s School, at Main and Washington

Aves. The meeting was held on Oct. 16, 1867.

After considering then disposing of the suggest-

ed names of Acquackanonk, Claverack and

Weasel, Clifton was finally adopted on a sugges-

tion made by Mrs. Charles D. Spencer. When

asked where the cliffs were, Mrs. Spencer came

out from under the boughs of the apple tree and

with a branch in her hand pointed to Weasel

Mountain (Garret Mountain), saying: “There are

the cliffs and the name shall be Clifton.”

When ‘oldtimers’ discuss Clifton’s neighborhoods, genealogy or land-

marks of historical significance, the name William W. Scott often comes

up. That is because he is the authority on the history of the region, most

specifically the area known as Acquackanonk, which incorporates

Clifton, long before it became a city on April 26, 1917.

It was Scott’s opinion that the old names of these localities were

far more significant than “the present meaningless designations.”

He points out, for example, that Weasel, “a corruption of

Wesel”, a town in Holland, refers to the old World home of the

first settlers and “means infinitely more than the present

name, Lakeview.”

Scott holds that Claverack, meaning clover fields, is

“superior to the utterly meaningless, Athenia.” What follows

are the words of the author, which some of today’s readers

may not find politically correct. But reading the story will

help further identify Clifton’s neighborhoods, which are

mentioned by several different names in our timeline.

Oct. 16, 1867: “There are the cliffs and the name shall be Clifton.”


First called Speertown because of the predominance of

the Speer name among its inhabitants, then Highland,

then Peru, then Somerset, this locality received its pres-

ent name, Allwood, in 1882. A mineral spring in this

locality gave rise to the establishment of a sanitarium

known throughout the east. The first road through this

section was Bloomfield Ave., laid down in 1755, which

was then changed somewhat in 1803. Kingsland Rd.

was laid out in 1786 and Stone House Plains Rd. in 1795.

The Newark Branch of the Erie was put through in 1868.

The development of this locality is due in no small

measure to the work of William L. Lyall, under whom

the Brighton Mills were build, houses erected, streets

laid out and a model community begun.

As Claverack, Athenia was a region of clover fields

from the early 18th century to the time of the Civil War,

when the Sip family changed the name to Centerville

because the settlement was in the center of their farms.

The Hughes family secured much property here and had

the Erie Railroad Station erected, as well as the station

on the D. L and W. Houses on Clifton and Colfax Aves.

The property changed hands in the panic of 1874, and

a new resident, Hugh Cheyne, treasurer of the Singer

Sewing Machine Company, suggested that the name

Centerville be changed so that a post office might be

established. Previous applications for a post office had

been refused because there were already too many

Centervilles in New Jersey. The name Athenia in honor

of the Greek goddess, Athene, was accepted in 1882.

There was once a popular tavern located on the banks

of the canal, a stopping place for boats. Hereabouts a

settlement sprang up from the time that the Morris

Canal and Banking Company put through the waterway

in 1831. much joviality and some carousing marked the

days of the old tavern, which is no more. A whipping

post was located here in the slavery days, with instances

of cruel punishments being recorded in the local annals.

Richfield’s name is appropriate, for this region was

reputed to be the richest truck farm land in New Jersey.

The protection of the high cliffs on the northwest and

the southern exposure permitted year-round gardening.

Vegetables were raised here by farmers and then trans-

ported for Newark and New York City markets. These

vegetable gardens were started by German settlers

around the late 1800’s. Foremost among the early gar-

deners was George Plog.

The Indian name Kantacaw, also spelled Yantacaw,

meaning a dancing pace, was applied to this locality hun-

dreds of years before whites came. The present name,

Delawanna, was applied by the Delaware, Lackawanna

and West Railroad in 1868, the new name a combination

of Delaware and Lackawanna; 14 farms made up the

original white settlement. The Yanticaw River provided

power for grist and paper mills. The Whiting Paper

Company and other paper manufacturers, including

Melvin Curtis, whose descendants owned the Saturday

Evening Post, made paper at the old mill, which was

destroyed by fire in 1861 and was never rebuilt. The reef

neighborhood of Delawanna, on the river bank between

the Rutherford Bridge and the Lackawanna Railroad,

was the scene of much activity during the Revolution,

because of the old river and the fording place. Tradition

tells of one settler who was hung from a sycamore tree

for assisting the British across.

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At the civic and political crossroads of a growing community...

The Village of Clifton Proper, centered

around the intersection of Clifton and Main

Aves., witnessed rapid real estate develop-

ment following the Civil War. Streets were

laid out, a train station was built at Getty and

Clifton Aves., and in 1869 a hotel was con-

structed at Main and Madison (where the

new Clifton Post Office exists today).

The Clifton Grove Hotel was popular

with patrons of the nearby Clifton Race

Track, and, with its picnic grove at Madison

and DeMott Aves., it also served as a gather-

ing place for locals as well.

While fire destroyed the original structure

on Jan. 25, 1895, proprietor Henry

Hohenstein rebuilt and renamed the structure

the ‘Clifton Hotel’ soon after.

“Although smaller than the original struc-

ture,” historian William J. Wurst in A Clifton Sampler, “a

stately and fashionable inn had emerged from the ashes.

Three stories high and gabled and trimmed in the orna-

mental fashion characteristic of the latter part of the 19th

century, the building contained a bar room, reading room,

dining room, two parlors and private bedrooms.”

With its hardwood floors, wood paneling, brass finish-

es and other accents, the Clifton Hotel was the place to do

business for those conducting commerce with the nearby

Botany Mills, or Forstmann Woolen Mills.

“The reading room was a favorite gathering place at

the hotel,” Wurst continued. “There were strong feeling

against alcoholic beverages (but) it was not uncommon

for the younger men of prominent local families to spend

a few hours in the reading room playing some euchre or

whist while sipping a glass of birch beer or sarsaparilla.

“Until Acquackanonk Township’s first municipal

building was completed around 1917, meetings of the

Township committee were often conducted in the meet-

ing room as well.”

Construction began for Acquackanonk TownshipHall at the corner of Passaic (now Harding) and Main Ave’s in 1914. In April, 1917, this structure becomes Clifton’sfirst City Hall. Today it is an office building.


On Saturday, Aug. 25, 1894,

Passaic City Herald readers

couldn’t fail to notice an enticing

news item featured on the front

page. The “Tropical Wonders of

Mr. Nash’s Aquatic Gardens at

Clifton” were outlined and the pub-

lic received an open invitation to

see “...night flowers bursting out in

all their glory.”

Nowadays, Nash Park occupies

the Lexington Ave. site where a

century ago Scotto Clark Nash

grew the deep pink, 50-petal long-

stemmed roses that earned

Acquackanonk Township the

sobriquet “Home of the American

Beauty Rose.”

Nash was born in Pittsfield,

Mass., on Nov. 5, 1841, moved to

Brooklyn, New York and 28 years

later settled with his wife, Alice

and son, George, in the farm com-

munity of Acquackanonk, now

Clifton.

At the time, Nash and his broth-

er, Duane, operated a business in

New York manufacturing farm

machinery. They expanded and

opened a branch in Harrisburg,

Pennsylvania, and Nash and his

family lived in the Keystone State

for a time.

The business was dissolved in

1887 and he returned to Clifton,

investing in real estate.

In a masterful biography pub-

lished in 1976, Clifton historian

William J. Wurst traced Nash’s

astonishing career. He noted that the

future rose grower was a devoted

naturalist and voracious reader as

well. Nash collected rare books:

his library reflected eclectic tastes

and, as Wurst indicated, the shelves

contained “books running the

gamut from art history to science.”

Nash had capital available from

previous business ventures, so he

decided to turn his fascination with

flowering plants into a profitable

business. Eventually, the Nash

holdings in Clifton near the Passaic

River comprised more than 17

acres. A 12-room mansion complet-

ed the picture.

Directly behind the house, Nash

built 10 hothouses, each 100-feet

long. In 1894, the glass-enclosed

structures held 14,000 of Nash’s

prized American Beauty roses.

On a portion of the property, a

disagreeable swamp offended

Nash’s sensibilities. Gradually, he

reclaimed the mosquito-infested

area at the cost of several thousand

dollars and created a sunken garden

for tropical plants.

Nash installed steam pipes that

traversed the garden and connected

to a boiler so the proper tempera-

tures could be maintained.

Although “Nash’s Pond” was

operating by spring, 1892, the

water garden was still a hobby. But

the successful rose connoisseur

had a good sense of what would

turn a profit.

In 1894, Nash and William

Tricker (an Englishman who came

to the U.S. nine years earlier)

formed a partnership to raise and

market aquatic plants. “Tricker

and Co.” transformed the Clifton

pond into the celebrated and soon

nationally known aquatic garden.

Tricker skillfully hybridized dif-

ferent varieties of water lilies and

the results were amazing.

But it was the huge water lily

called “Victoria Regia” that capti-

vated the public and caused newspa-

pers such as the Herald to enthuse

over the plant’s exotic beauty.

Imagine life along the Passaic River, back in the 1890’s...

Tropical Wonders of Scotto NashStory by E.A. Smyk, Passaic County Historian

Scotto Nash created an aquaticand tropical garden at DundeeLake and Lexington Ave., acrossfrom today’s Hot Grill.


Native to the Amazon, the Regia had handsome,

pad-like leaves that were a brilliant, deep green. The

underside was a vivid crimson. When opened, the

flowers of Victoria Regia measured nearly 12 inches

and the petals of pure white graduated to shades of

rose and red. The leaves were huge—six feet in diam-

eter—floating on the pond’s surface, they resembled

large green rafts.

Local residents often gathered at the pond’s edge at

sunset during the summer months to see the day flow-

ers closing and the night ones opening.

Nash reveled in the publicity his plants brought, and

when people visited the gardens he was often available to

answer questions. When Mrs. G.D. Rogert of Garfield

heard about the huge plants she hurried over to the gardens

on Aug. 28, 1894, and according to the next day’s Herald

“...went wild on what she saw at the Clifton gardens.” Her

husband “really had to drag her away…”

When Nash announced he would photograph his

children standing on the giant water lily, the event

made page one of Aug. 27th’s Herald.

The plant probably could have supported the weight

of a child unaided, but not an adult. When Emma

Porter Nash, the rose-grower’s daughter, was pho-

tographed in 1894, it appears a board was placed

beneath her feet.

Nash’s biographer believes the aquatic gardens

were irreparably damaged by the area floods of 1902

and 1903, and the delicate tropical plants probably did

not survive. Scotto Nash continued to cultivate roses

until 1909 when he retired and spent his declining

years managing real estate.

A quiet, genial man with a long flowing beard,

Nash died of pneumonia on April 22, 1920. His name

is immortalized by Nash Park. It was dedicated by

Clifton Mayor Fred C. deVido on Sept. 14, 1950.

Native to the Amazon, the Victoria Regia flourished here in Clifton...

It appears the Victoria Regia supports Emma Porter Nash but one would have to look closely to see a board beneath her feet.


1886: The Morris Canal reduces the

number of canal boats on waterway.

Service ends in 1900.

1888: Thomas A. R. Goodlatte

establishes an oil cloth factory on

Central Ave. (Clifton Blvd.) &

Highland Ave. By 1899, 1,800

yards of oil cloth are produced

daily. In 1902, Goodlatte merges

with Standard Oil Cloth, which

takes over daily operations of the

growing business.


School #5 is built on Gould St.

1889: The Botany Worsted Mills

are established in Passaic. It origi-

nated in Leipzig, Germany and

employed many immigrant work-

ers. The Botany Mills became

operational on Jan. 1, 1890.


School #6 opens in Athenia.

1890: The first trolleys operate

through Clifton, starting with the

Red Line, which ran along Main

Ave. between Paterson and Newark.

1890: E. Keller’s Grocery Store

opens. It is the first food store

established on Main Ave. in what

was Clifton Center.

Jan. 9, 1891: The Clifton Race

Track is closed by Court Order for

permitting illegal gambling. Track

president George Engemann is

found guilty of running a gambling

establishment, is fined and sen-

tenced to a year in prison. Despite

currying favors with politicians, the

track’s ownership came under

attack from an unlikely trio: a local

newspaper, the efforts of local

Protestant and Catholic churches

an New York City ‘pool halls’

where gamblers went to place bets,

not play billiards.

ca. 1891: Thomas Van Houten’s

baseball field on Main Ave. and

West Third St. is closed to permit

the construction of Fairyland

Amusement Park and Theater.

Oct. 19, 1891: A Christian

Endeavor Society is organized at

the Clifton Union Sunday School

Chapel on Clifton Ave.

June 1893: The Union Presbyterian

Sunday School becomes Albion

Place Presbyterian Township

School 5 on Gould St.

Oct. 28, 1893: Manhattan Rubber

Company is incorporated. It began

the manufacture of rubber products

on Jan. 1, 1894. Manhattan Rubber

Company closes locally in 1942.

1894: White Line Trolleys begins

to operate from Paterson to the

Hudson River via Crooks,

Lakeview and Central Ave’s.


Committee expands to 5 members.

1895: New Jersey Flour Mills

opens at Chester St. & Getty Ave.

Today, it remains as the only miller

of western wheat in NJ.

1895: William B. Lyall establishes

a mill community in Allwood for

Brighton Cotton Mills workers

with a school and fire company.

Jan. 8, 1895: A meeting is held to

consider forming the Delawanna

Union Protestant Church.

1896: Waldrich Bleachery opens

near Yantacaw Pond, Delawanna.

Nov. 18, 1896: St. Peter’s Episcopal

Church is organized in the same

upstairs hall over the store on Getty

Ave., which Clifton Reformed

Church and School 3 were started.

1896: Pitkin and Holdsworth

Worsted Mill is established on

Weasel Brook near Main and

Highland Ave’s.

Aug. 15, 1895: St. Mary’s Hospital in Passaic is established.



School 7 is built on Parker Ave.

1897: The Richardson Scale Co.

was established in Athenia. Over a

century later, this land was

reviewed as a potential site for a

new school.

1897: In Delawanna, land is pur-

chased for the East and West

Ridgelawn Cemeteries.

1897: Sacred Heart of Jesus,

Roman Catholic Church, opens in

Botany. It mainly serves Italian-

speaking parishioners.

1897: Sisco Dairy Co. founded at

Mt. Prospect & Colfax Ave’s.


School 2 in Richfield is rebuilt with

additional rooms. The old 1872

building is moved and converted

into a grocery store.


School 1 closes and the building is

incorporated into the first St.

Clare’s building.

1899: Fire destroys the grandstand

of the Clifton Racetrack.

Sept. 17, 1899: St. Peter’s

Episcopal Church begins services

in a sanctuary on Clifton Ave.

1899: Peter Vander Hay operates a

dairy on Hadley Ave.

1900: Sam and Rosa Epstein open a

department store for the sale of

farm clothing on Van Houten Ave.

1900: Jacob Fishbach opens and

operates a blacksmith shop on

Broad St. in Richfield. The busi-

ness operates for 40 more years.

In 1897, Acquackanonk Township School 7 was built on Parker Ave.

While the school served Botany children for decades, the photo above is of

the demolition of the building, circa 1960. The area today is a small park.

In the background is Sacred Heart Church, also constructed in 1897. Photo

was provided by Jim Marrocco.

In 1897, Acquackanonk Township School 7 was opened on Parker Ave.

1894: Belle Vista Methodist Church

opens on Valley Rd. in Albion Place,

pictured here. Belle Lambert is an

early financial supporter.


April 1900: Alexander Purcell is

appointed superintendent of the

Passaic Alms House on Mt.

Prospect Ave., Athenia.

1900: Clifton Fire Brigade no. 1

builds a firehouse on Passaic

(Harding) Avenue near Second

Street. It later serves a Masonic

Club, American Legion Hall and as

a residence.

1901: The US Government pur-

chases 52 acres of farmland in

Athenia for a quarantine station for

imported hoofed animals. Eighteen

buildings are erected: homes, barns,

workshop, garage and bungalow.

August 1901: The Albion Place

Chemical Fire Co. is organized.

1902: John Donkersloot & Son

establish a truck moving company

for dirt and rock on Second St. near

Highland Ave.

1903: St. Clare’s Roman Catholic

Church opens on Allwood Rd.

1903: William J. Vernay & Sons,

Moving & Storage, is established.

1903: The Postville School in

South Paterson is closed. Albion

Place children are transferred to

School 5 on Gould St.

1903: Roy J. Schleich, Sr. opens a

plumbing office in Clifton.

1903: Forstmann Woolen Mills

opens on Randolph Ave. in the

Botany.

1903: Clifton Fire Cos. No. 2 and

No. 4 open in Botany and West

Clifton.

1904: Gilbert Bird opens a fruit

and vegetable wholesale business

on Peach Orchard Rd. (Paulison

Ave.) in Dutch Hill.

1904: International Veiling Co.,

which manufactures stockings and

finishing of lace, opens in

Bannigan’s Mill. (Hazel St.)

May 15, 1905: Police Chief

William J. Coughlan is appointed.

Headquarters are in Acquackanonk

School 10, which featured the

newly opened Clifton HS upstairs.

1905: Henry Mohlenhoff purchases

a farm at Broad St. and Colfax Ave.

in Richfield to sell produce in mar-

kets in Paterson and Newark daily.

Circa 1900: St. Joseph’s Hospital from a turn of the century postcard.

1901: The US Government purchases 52 acres of farmland in Athenia.


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The Acquackanonk TownshipBoard of Education announced a

referendum in 1905 to purchase 16

lots on Clifton Ave. and First St.

On this property, a two-story

building would be constructed, with

the elementary grades housed on

the first floor and high school

grades on the second.

The referendum passed and con-

struction of School No. 10 com-

menced. On June 22, 1909, CHS

graduated its first class—Nellie

Brown, Grace Burroughs, Mabel

Libbey, Bessie Velders and Agnes

Weller. (The school was named for

the section of the township in which

the school was located, not for the

City of Clifton, which would not

exist for another eight years.)

During those early years, before

a third floor and wings were added,

gym classes took place in

Thorburn’s Hall, just a short walk

up Clifton Ave. The latter building

still stands, at Clifton and Main

Aves., and now houses a nail salon.

School No. 10 was razed in 1964 in

favor of municipal parking.

In 1920, former Clifton Race

Track property at Piaget and Main

Aves. was sold to the city for

school purposes and the construc-

tion of a ‘new Clifton High School’

subsequently began.

On April 14, 1926, the formal

dedication and opening of the

building took place.

––– Story by David Van Dillen –––

The first graduating class had just five students (pictured below)

The Evolution of Clifton High

Clifton High School, circa 1912, at the corner of Clifton Ave. and First St.


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Soon thereafter, on Oct. 4, 1927, the Clifton Board

of Education donated to the City of Clifton a portion of

the former race track property to be used as a park.

Over the next few years, Main Memorial Park became

a reality.

As Clifton grew, so did the space needs for Clifton’s

students. A north wing, including a new gymnasium,

was added, circa 1945.

And under the coaching of the legendary Joe Grecco,

the CHS Fighting Mustangs became a football power-

house—but the team did not have a homefield to play

on. Thus, on Oct. 14, 1950, with much fanfare, Clifton

Schools Stadium was dedicated.

Seeing the need for an even greater expansion of

school facilities, during the 1950s, the City began

acquiring land for the construction of the present high

school on Colfax Ave.

In 1956, the city purchased 15.5 acres of United

States Quarantine land and an additional eight acres

was acquired by Clifton in 1959 to increase the proper-

ty to 23.5 acres, a realistic acreage for a modern high

school campus.

On Feb. 4, 1960, the Clifton City Council voted to

authorize the issuance of $5.6 million in school bonds

to finance the construction of a new 3,000 pupil high

school on Colfax Ave. Voters approved the high school

bond referendum on May 23, 1960. The current Clifton

High School was formally dedicated on April 29, 1962.

The southeastern, or the highest portion of the high

school property, marks the top of an 18th century sand-

stone quarry from which brownstone for home building

and other purposes was secured.

Little evidence of this quarry exists today, but early

writers documented it. One poem mentions a visit to the

site a century ago, at which time the quarry walls were

in evidence. This same location was used during World

War II by local residents for victory gardens. A variety

of vegetables was grown to conserve food in an effort

to help with the war effort. A

stairway was constructed over

the Quarantine fence and

small plots were laid out.

In the early part of the 20th

Century, there was no quaran-

tine as this part of the property

was not used. A grazing cow

or two and some abandoned

farm wagons dotted the land-

scape back then.

And this writer remembers

how neighborhood kids played

cowboys and Indians on the

rocky hillside.

The second CHS, now Christopher Columbus Middle School, was opened in 1926 and used as a high school until 1962.

The ‘new’ CHS in 1964.


Did you know that 110 years ago, Clifton (then

Acquackanonk) was home to one of the nation’s first

amusement parks? Fairyland Amusement Park, which

was located where the Garden State Parkway crosses

Main Ave., at where Corrado’s is today, opened its

doors for the first time on May 27, 1905.

This turn-of-the-century marvel was one of the first

of its kind anywhere. Even more amazing was that it

was not in New York or some other large city, but in

Acquackanonk, which, with its 7,187 person popula-

tion, was nothing more than a small farming town.

Visitors came by the thousands on the Red-Line trol-

ley that ran along Main Ave. to the state-of-the-art

attraction. Upon arrival, guests would run into the blue

and gold Fairyland Girls, who sold tickets for 10 cents.

Inside, Fairyland offered just about the best deal that

you could get for a dime in 1905. One of the main

attractions was the theater, a 1000-seat monstrosity that

easily dwarfed other similar structures at the time and

still had standing room for hundreds more. It even fea-

tured electric fans, something unheard of at the time.

Performers were also treated well, with each receiv-

ing a very high wage and having their choice of 15

dressing rooms. On the forefront of technology at the

time, Fairyland executives also purchased a projector

and showed highly popular silent feature movies,

which were changed three times a week.

For the youngsters, there were plenty of rides,

including very early versions of the Ferris wheel, roller

coaster, circle swings and a merry-go-round.

––– Story by William J. Wurst from A Clifton Sampler • Postcards courtesy Mark S. Auerbach –––

Opening day onSaturday, May 27, 1905

Fairyland Amusement Park


Children and their parents could

ride on the Fairyland railroad, a

three-quarters of a mile track,

which featured canopies on the

cars. There was also other things

for children, such as the various

circus acts, donkey rides, a penny

arcade and a skating rink.

Nighttime brought about some

awesome visual sights. Once the

last rays of sunlight descended

beyond Garret Mountain around

9:45 pm, Professor Rubino’s fire-

work show began. For a full 45

minutes, roman candles, bottle

rockets and larger and more flashy

fireworks filled the sky, much to

the delight of the crowd.

Once the pyrotechnic display

was over, the Prismatic cascades

would awe the crowds once again.

This man-made waterfall was

one of the most scenic sights in the

eye-opening park. According to

the Paterson Daily Guardian, “it

was made picturesque by thousands

of vari-colored lights thrown upon

it from various points.” Behind the

aquatic light show were female

entertainers who sang and danced.

Guests always enjoyed their

time at Fairyland and eagerly antic-

ipated summer, when the park was

open daily until Labor Day, after

which it was only open on Saturday

and Sunday.

Fairyland’s attendance record

was set on July 4, 1907, when peo-

ple began lining up more than an

hour before opening to get into the

famous park.

By 9 pm, some 11,764 people

had entered the park—doubling

Acquackanonk’s population for the

evening—seemingly foreshadow-

ing years of good fortune for the

amusement park down the road.

However, it was not to be. In

1909, there was new ownership and

a new name—Lakeview Park. For

reasons unknown, attendance

dropped, revenues were minimal

and the new management couldn’t

meet expenses. On July 6, the

park’s gates were closed and it did

not open for the rest of the season.

It was reported several months later

that legal action had been taken

against the owners for overdue

bills, effectively ending the short

life of Fairyland Amusement Park.


1905: Edward Jewett purchases

Westervelt’s grist mill located on

Weasel Brook near Fourth St. in

today’s Weasel Brook Park.


School 8 opens as a wooden school

on Oak St. in Delawanna.

1907: Public Service Railway Co. is

established as a subsidiary pf Public

Service Electric and Gas Co. It oper-

ates a fleet of busses and trolleys.

1907: Thomas A. R. Goodlatte

opens a new oil cloth factory in

Delawanna, having sold his factory

in Athenia.

1907: James G. Sanders & Sons

Coal Co. opens in Allwood. Public

School 11 is built on Merselis Ave.

(Lakeview).

Jan. 1907: Plans are made by

Swedish residents of Athenia to

open a rolling mill for flat steel. It

becomes Athenia Steel Co. with

350 employees.

Jan. 1908: The Acquackanonk

Township Police Department adds

patrolmen to its force. It also

acquires two jail cells. Police

Headquarters is in a storefront on

Main and Madison Ave’s.

March 25, 1908: Berger’s Drug

Store at Main & Clifton Ave’s. is

sold to Mr. John McHenry who

runs it for over 40 years.

1908: Montclair Normal School

opens on Valley Rd. in Upper

Montclair. Land is deeded by

Acquackanonk Township to the

school to a Montclair address, so that

Montclair’s services can be used.

Jan. 4, 1909: Acquackanonk

Township Fire Company 3 is estab-

lished on Mahar Ave.

1909: Doherty Silk Mill is built on

Main Ave. at the corner of West 4th

St. It is the largest textile weaving

mill in the US. Some 1,000 skilled

textile workers are employed.

Fall 1909: An airplane makes a

landing at Lambert’s Castle on the

Paterson-Acquackanonk border.

1909: Clifton Building & Loan is

established in Clifton Center.

June 1909: Clifton High School

first class graduates five girls.


School 4 erected near West Third St.

1909: Clarence Finkle establishes

Finkle’s Express for moving and

storage on what is now Allwood

Rd. It later becomes Passaic

Terminal & Transportation Co.

Nov. 27, 1909: The Italian

American Family Association is

incorporated in Botany Village and

still operates today. It is a combi-

nation of two purchasers of com-

modities, the 52 Italian Pleasure

Club and the Holy Name Society of

Sacred Heart’s Clifton Corp.

1905: Shareholders purchase land for the establishment of the East and

West Ridgelawn Cemeteries (the photo above by Bev Cholweczynski is of

the cemetery entrance on Main and Delawanna Aves.)

A period of rapid growth in Acquackanonk (1910 population is 11,869)...


Our 15th year at the corner of Broad & Colfax



1910: The Grieder Brothers of

Albion Place, both butchers, build

and fly their own homemade air-

plane from Delawanna..

1910: The population of

Acquackanonk Township is 11,869.

1911: The Acquackanonk

Township Council grants permits

for the showing of movies and the

staging of Wild West shows.

May 9, 1911: The Association of

Exempt Firemen of Acquackanonk

is organized and incorporated.

March 14, 1912: Acquackanonk

Police Headquarters relocates form

a barn behind the Clifton Hotel to a

rented store at 695 Main Ave.

1912: The Olympic Park Rangers

Soccer Team win the Clan

McDonald cup before 12,000 fans at

the Olympic Park Oval on Main Ave.

1912: Alexander Smith is a prac-

ticing mortician in Acquackanonk.

1912: Fire Companies merge into a

single Acquackanonk department.

May 1913: A Delawanna referen-

dum rejects annexation by Passaic.

June 8, 1913: The first Mass cele-

brated in St. Paul’s parish (now on

Union Ave. in Downtown Clifton)

is celebrated by Rev. Father

Flanagan for 250 parishioners in

Acquackanonk Fire Co. No. 1 on

Passaic Ave. (Harding Ave.)

Circa 1908: After the court-ordered closing of the Clifton Race Track, the 25-acre property was converted into a

velodrome for bicycle and motorcycle races. The six laps-per-mile Clifton Velodrome burned down in 1914. By

the 1920’s, the deteriorating facility—where Main Memorial Park and the Clifton Library stand today—was pur-

chased, razed and used to build the ‘old’ Clifton High School (now Christopher Columbus Middle School).

1913: The Robin Hood Inn, at 1129 Valley Rd., opens. In 1990, it had

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Dress Barn (973) 249-0233

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1913: Clifton Reliable Moving and

Storage opens on Loretta St.

July 20, 1913: A Lakeview Ave.

chapel is established as a mission

of North Reformed Church of

Passaic. This mission church

becomes the Lakeview Heights

Reformed Church.

1913: Clifton Sheet Metal Works

opens for business.

Oct. 22, 1913: Sts Cyril &

Methodius Roman Catholic Church

organized for Slovak worshippers

in the Acquackanonk Fire Co. No.

2 building on Arthur Ave. and later

at the Holden building.

1914: The large, six laps-per-mile

Clifton Velodrome burns down.

1914: The Hope Reformed Church

organized in Dutch Hill homes.

1914: A Town Hall is erected for

Acquackanonk Township at the

corner of Passaic (Harding) and

Main Ave’s. In April of 1917, this

becomes Clifton’s first City Hall.

1914: The Clifton Journal, a week-

ly newspaper of the Clifton

Publishing Company, is founded.

1915: Delancy’s Men’s Store opens

in Botany with entrances on both

Parker and Dayton Ave’s.

1915: “Bub” Tramontin opens a

bicycle and motorcycle shop on

Lexington Ave.

1915: Clifton Boy Scout meetings

are held in private homes near

Clifton center. By 1917, 200 boys

are scouts. In that year, Troop 1

schedules summer camping.

1915: Dr. Jokichi Takamine, a success-

ful entrepreneur and developer of

Adrenaline, opens the Takamine

Laboratory of Clifton on Arlington

Ave., on the Erie Railroad, having rec-

ognized Clifton as being at the fore-

front of industrial growth.

Takamine, born on Nov. 3, 1854 in

Takaoka City, Japan, had an extensive

background in technology and fertilizer

manufacturing, studying in schools in

Japan and Scotland. A good entrepre-

neur in Japan, his success in the States

was due to reversing the usual cultural

flow of technology and adapting a

Japanese idea to a western industry.

In 1890, Takamine, pictured here,

arrived at Illinois and demonstrated a more efficient way

to distill liquor using mold as opposed to barley.

Although his method was superior, he faced racism and

the factory he worked at was burnt to the ground.

However, through his method, he extracted the

Aspergllus enzyme and bought a patent and licensed it to

Parke, Davis & Company, which mar-

keted it as Taka-diastase, a digestive

aid for starch.

Takamine was made a consultant

and moved to New York, where he

established an independent laboratory

and learned how to extract Adrenaline

in 1900.

Adrenaline earned him enough

money to found the Sankyo

Pharmaceutical Company of Tokyo,

the International Takamine Ferment

Company of New York and the

Takamine Laboratory of Clifton,

which primarily dealt with the manu-

facturing of Salvarsan, the first true

chemotherapeutic agent.

Takamine died on July 22, 1922 after a life-long bat-

tle with a liver ailment. His Clifton property changed

ownership several times before 1978, when the site was

purchased by the Bayer Corporation, which eventually

razed the lot and sold it for a sprawling suburban hous-

ing development.

At his Clifton Research Lab, He Prospered & Innovated

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Dec. 2, 1915: Clifton Lodge 203,

Free and Accepted Masons, organ-

ized at Thorburn’s Hall, at Main

and Clifton Ave’s.

1915: Clifton Bank & Trust Co.

opens at Main and Clifton Ave’s.

1915: In April and May, ‘Billy’

Sunday’s Religious Crusade

attracts 651,000 witnesses to

Broadway Tabernacle in Paterson.

1916: David Sussman opens a fur-

niture business in Paterson then

relocates to Lexington Ave.

1916: Wittman’s Flower & Gift

Shop opens on Van Houten Ave.

between Grove St. and Valley Rd.

in Richfield.

1916: James. H. Hilton is active in

real estate in West Clifton, first in

Lakeview and later at Main and

Barclay Ave’s.

1916: The North Jersey District

Water Supply is created by the

State Legislature. It calls for the

construction of Wanaque

Reservoir. In 1923, it becomes

Passaic Valley Water Commission.

1916: William B. Lyall, President

of Brighton Mills, builds an

English-style mansion on the

Passaic-Allwood border. He

names it Rosemawr, a name still in

use for the part of Clifton in which

it is located, off Bloomfield Ave.

Oct. 15, 1916: A Slovak Catholic

Sokol is instituted on Holden St. &

Ackerman Ave. Founded at and

sponsored by St.’s Cyril &

Methodius Church, it is an early

Clifton fraternal organization.

March 20, 1917: Delawanna vot-

ers approve annexation by Passaic.

history continues on page 60


Bibbs Raymond was a standout player for

the Doherty Silk Sox from 1915-1927. He

hit the first home run at the Oval and was

signed by the Yankees but quit because he

was homesick for the fans of Clifton.

On May 20, 1917 the New York Giants beat the Silk Sox, 7-3,

before 6,500 people. The photo above shows owner Henry Doherty

jr. and brother Ray addressing the fans at the Doherty Oval before

that game. The Doherty Oval is Clifton’s lost “Field of Dreams.”

Once located behind the former silk mill at 1550 Main Ave.,

across from the Passaic Valley Water Commission, the Doherty Oval

was probably the finest diamond in the nation until Yankee Stadium

was built in 1923. Major leaguers who played there said it was supe-

rior to any big league ballpark field.

Harry Fabian, head groundskeeper of the Polo Grounds, designed

the field in 1915, and it was maintained and improved upon under

Doherty’s watchful eye throughout the 1920s.

By the mid-1920s, it held about 8,500 fans with standing room for

more. A game in 1923 against Babe Ruth and the Yankees drew

about 15,000 and ended after the Babe’s homer in the late innings

caused a near riot.

The Doherty Oval was a field built for the people. All gate

receipts from Sunday games pitting the Silk Sox against all comers

were given to the Red Cross. Every worker in Doherty’s mill was

given a season’s pass to all games. Clifton High was also allowed to

use the field free-of-charge for their football and baseball games, as

did other schools and organizations.

Doherty operated the Oval until 1928 when his business turned

sour and he was forced to sell the Silk Sox.

While the Doherty Mill building can still be seen on Main Ave.,

Getty Ave. soon cut through the center and right field portions of the

Doherty Oval and a factory exists where most of the remaining dia-

mond was located.


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April 24, 1917: Acquackanonk

Township residents vote to incor-

porate as a city. Clarence Finkle

serves as Clifton’s first mayor.

June 30, 1917: Andrew Borneman

and David Van Dillen sell their

plumbing business to Louis

Weigele & Jacob Van Houten.

1917: A branch of the American

Red Cross opens on Main Ave.

1917: The New Apostolic Church

opens on Clifton Ave. near

Randolph Ave. in Botany Village.

1917: Nelson P. Nelson founds

Nelson Iron Works Inc. in Allwood.

1917: Wittie Electric Co., Inc. is

established on Lakeview Ave.

1918: Jeremiah P. Quinlan opens

the Quinlan Funeral Home, Inc. on

Van Houten Ave.

July 16, 1918: The Mayor and City

Council establish a paid fire depart-

ment in Clifton. Adam Ritter is

named Fire Chief.

1918: The Clifton Laundry

Company opens at 11 Second St.

Nov. 11, 1918: Peace Chapter 98,

Order of Eastern Star, is founded

on the day World War One ends. It

meets in Thorburn’s Hall at Clifton

and Main Ave’s. Clifton High also

uses the same hall for gym classes.

Dec. 18, 1918: Clifton Lodge 65

Royal Order of Moose, is organ-

ized. Police Chief James N. Marsh,

named Dictator.

1918: The Clifton Chamber of

Commerce is established.

1918: Henry Hohenstein gives up

management of the Clifton Hotel.

1919: Barnstorming pilots engage

in air shows in Delawanna and at

Clifton Blvd. and Highland Ave. on

Dutch Hill.

Nov. 11, 1919: Quentin Roosevelt

Post 8, American Legion, is char-

tered after organizing in Aug. 1919.

1920: The Ernest Scheidemann

Real Estate Agency opens at Main

and Barkley Ave’s. It had been

James Hilton St. Agency.

1920: The former Clifton

Racetrack property at Main and

Piaget Ave’s. sold to the City of

Clifton for school purposes.

May 1920: August De Tone opens

a Travel Bureau at 260 Parker Ave.

May 18, 1920: The Clifton Council

established a free public library.

Located near the intersection of Market St. and Brighton Rd., Allwood Hose

Co. No. 2 was organized in 1918, although this photo was taken circa 1932.

In the early 1970’s, the building was restored by Bill Hansen and today

houses a day care center and offices.

April 24, 1917: Acquackanonk Township residents vote to incorporate as a city.


1920: A.G.L. Welding Supply Co.,

at Route 46 and Hazel St., opens.

1920: Stephen Gaal opens a paint

store on Parker Ave.

1920: The Delaware, Lackawanna

and Western Railroad depot in

Athenia is destroyed by a derailed

fright train. It is relocated to Clifton

Terrace and an underpass is built.

1921: First National Bank of

Clifton opens on Parker Ave.

May 7, 1921: John Parian opens a

jewelry store on Dayton Ave.

1921: The Ashley Homestead for

the Aged is founded in Paterson by

Nathan Barnert in memory of his

wife, Miriam. This facility later

becomes Daughters of Miriam

Home on Hazel St. in Clifton.

Jan. 3, 1922: A plan for sanitary

sewers is presented and bids for

construction are received May 4.

May 16, 1922: The Quentin

Roosevelt Post 8, American

Legion, and its auxiliary granted

permission to conduct a poppy sale.

1922: Alfred C. Sinn Insurance Co.

is established.

1922: Eastern Corrugated Container

Corp. opens on Clifton Blvd.

1922: De Mattia, O’Brien Real

Estate & Insurance Co. is opened.

Feb. 7, 1923: Clifton purchases the

Scotto Nash estate on Lexington

Ave. at Passaic River for $24,000.

1923: Clifton Schools 13 on Van

Houten Ave. and School 15 on

Gregory Ave. are built from similar

building plans.

Dec. 20, 1923: The first meeting of

Clifton Kiwanis is held in Brook’s

Auditorium. It is chartered on

April 2, 1924. Circuit Judge John

C. Barbour is the first president.

Jan. 1924: Brighton Mills moves

from Allwood to Athens, GA.

1924: Consolidated Bus Line

established by Dennis J. Gallagher

is to serve Allwood from Passaic.

Feb. 5, 1924: Public Service

Electric Railroad agrees to elimi-

nate the “S” curve of the White

Line Trolley, between Lakeview, E.

Madison and Central Ave’s., as it

was a traffic hazard.

1924: Thomas Coal Co., founded

in Paterson in 1903, moves to

Colfax Ave. near the Newark

Branch of the Erie Railroad.

1924: The Clifton Volunteer

Firehouse on Harding Ave. is sold

to Clifton Masons for use as a

Masonic Club.

People moving machines! Above, John Zegal’s Red Star bus line, circa 1920, on Clifton Ave near Sixth St.

1919: Barnstorming pilots aflight over Delawanna & Dutch Hill!


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A 1975 reunion held at the former

Gene Boyle’s on Passaic Ave.

brought out members of the CHS

1924 undefeated baseball squad.

They are shown at right looking

at an old picture of the team held by

manager John Mikulik. In the front:

Ray Smith, Ernest De Lorenzo, Emil

Bednarcik, and Emil Bondinell. In

the back: Ernie Tomai, Bill

Dobbelaar, and Lou Cross.

Dobbelaar (with glasses) might

have been the best baseball player

Clifton High ever produced. He bat-

ted .620 during the 1924 season as

the team’s shortstop and ace pitcher.

After high school, Dobbelaar had

tryouts with the New York Giants and Yankees, gaining

a handshake agreement with the Bronx Bombers to join

them after finishing college. However, a sore arm ruined

Dobbelaar’s career and he never made it to the major

leagues.

What’s ironic about Dobbelaar’s playing career is that

he was never a Clifton resident–he was from Lodi but

played for the Mustangs because his hometown did not

have a high school. He also played four games with

Clifton’s Doherty Silk Sox as a senior. Dobbelaar later

became head baseball coach at CHS.

Clifton Boys of Summer, 1924... in the Fall, 1975....


1924: Givaudan Corp. opens an

aromatic chemical plant on

Delawanna Ave. Hexachlorophene

and some medications are made.

October 16, 1924: A new Clifton

Fire Headquarters is opened on

Mahar Ave., near the corner of

Clifton & Lexington Ave’s.

April 1, 1925: Main Auto Electric

Co. opens at 397 Clifton Ave.

April 25, 1925: Clifton National

Bank opens on Main Ave. near

Clifton Ave. It is moved to Main &

Union Ave’s. in 1928.

1925: Bus Service from Clifton to

New York City begins. Riders can

reach both intercity (via Main Ave.)

or Manhattan (via Lakeview and

Lexington Ave’s.)

1925: Clifton Engine Co. No. 4 is

established on Delawanna Ave.

1925: New York Sash & Door Co.

opens on Caroline Ave., bordering

the Erie Railroad.

1925: The Capitol Diner opens on

Main Ave. near Memorial Park.

1925: N.P. Nelson Iron Works

moves from Brooklyn, NY to

Bloomfield Ave. in Allwood.

Aug. 3, 1925: Reformed Church of

Centerville, established 1882, is

incorporated as Athenia Reformed

Church. The parish then purchases

a church house.

Dec. 14, 1925: Manhattan Bus Co.

requests that the Clifton City

Council allows four more pick-up

and discharge stops in Clifton.

Jan. 5, 1926: A diagonal street 60-

feet wide is laid out from Clifton

and Lakeview Ave’s. to East.

Madison and Central Ave’s.

Jan. 25, 1926: Five hundred work-

ers strike Botany Mills and five

other textile mills, the first of

15,000 total strikers.

April 14, 1926: The dedication of

the new Clifton High School (now

CCMS) on Piaget Ave. takes place.

1926: Rutt’s Hut opens for hot dogs on River Rd. in Delawanna.

Help us write this history.... In the future, we will continue this timeline

and publish more historical photos. Have items to share? Send them

along with your name and number to [email protected].

April 2015• Clifton Merchant68

When you hear “youth” in conjunction with a high school sports team,

you generally think, “rebuilding,” “growing pains” or “maybe next season.”

But this edition of the Clifton baseball team, loaded with young talent, may be

getting ready to shove aside all stereotypes and send Mustang baseball to

places it hasn’t been in quite a while.

The Mustangs may not be ready for championships in year one, but Clifton

head coach Joe Rivera is excited, and for good reason. With the most talented

sophomore class the school has seen in a while and enough leadership to keep

the ship sailing straight ahead, the Mustangs feel like they are on the verge of

something big. “This year, I am excited for our sophomores to get out there

[on a varsity field,]” Rivera said. “And I am excited that I feel we are going to

improve a lot from last year. And as far as the future, I just know that if they

work hard enough, they can achieve a lot.”

Amongst the promising tenth-grade contingent is catched Miguel Delos

Santos, who was brought up to the varsity level eight games into last year. He

showed flashes as a freshman, displaying a strong arm in throwing out three

runners in a Passaic County Tournament game, and is a great runner, as

Kneeling from left, Justin Bennion, Darwin Matos, Kyle Chupick, Christian Adamez,Back, Jason Rivera, Rey Reyes, Kevin Lord, Luis Torres, Miguel Delossantos, JackGarruto, Carlos Pineda, Jose Severino, Kishan Patel, and Sean Lieshman.

Baseball • Softball • Track • Lacrosse • Volleyball • Tennis • Golf

MUSTANG SPORTS

Mustang Sports by Tom Szieber

CHS

BaseballApril 2 Teaneck 4pm

April 4 PCTI 10am

April 6 @ John F. Kennedy 11am

April 8 @ Bergen Co. Tech 10am

April 10 Eastside 10am

April 13 St. Joseph Regional 4pm

April 15 @ Lakeland 4:30pm

April 16 @ Harrison 4pm

April 17 @ Passaic Valley 4pm

April 20 Fair Lawn 4:15pm

April 22 @ Wayne Valley 4pm

April 24 Passaic 7pm

April 25 @ Kearny 10am

April 27 @ PCTI 7pm

April 29 John F. Kennedy 4:30pm

May 1 @ Bergen Catholic 4pm

May 4 Bergen County Tech 4:30pm

May 6 @ Eastside 4pm

May 11 Wayne Hills 4pm

May 13 @ West Milford 4:15pm

May 15 North Bergen 4pm


well. As a senior, he has the potential

to be a Division I prospect, and fig-

ures to fit into the Clifton lineup as a

number six hitter this season.

First baseman Christian Adamez

and second baseman Jason Rivera

are two more sophs who will man

the Clifton infield, and each plays a

more mature game than their ages

would indicate.

“Christian scoops up every-

thing,” Rivera said. “His bat, as a

freshman, was not bad, but with

more experience and more varsity

pitching coming his way, I see him

getting even better. And Jason just

does everything right. He is so com-

fortable, has a great handle with the

bat, rarely strikes out and is a great

runner and fielder. He will be in our

pitching rotation, as well.”

Clifton’s fourth sophomore

starter will be center fielder Jack

Garruto a speedy fielder who was

one of the 2014 freshman team’s

top hitters. He is an exceptional

contact hitter, as well as a strong

defensive outfielder.

Senior Kevin Lord will likely be

the engine that makes the Mustangs

go. As a third baseman and leader of

the Clifton pitching rotation, he will

be an integral piece of their offen-

sive and defensive efforts.

Lord was a starter last season,

and has a solid bat. In addition, his

top-notch leadership skills will be

important for a team that is, again,

very young. Jason Rivera and senior

Luis Torres will be important pieces

to the Clifton rotation, as well.

In left field, Clifton will sport tal-

ents like junior Sean Lieshman, jun-

ior Ryan Murphy (who could also

be a top pitcher next season) and

sophomore Kage Lord (another

future pitcher).

Senior right fielder Kyle

Chupick is a fast player with a great

arm, while senior designated hitter

Kishan Patel returns after a season

in which he led the Mustangs in bat-

ting average. Junior Jose Severino

will be the Mustangs’ short stop,

while senior infielder Justin

Benion, junior third baseman

Carlos Pineda and senior utility

player Ray Reyes will all be con-

tributors, as well.

MUSTANG SPORTS Baseball


Year one of the Ish Falcon era is upon Clifton softball, and the first-year

leader of the Mustangs is wasting little time developing as much depth as

he can for his inaugural squad. Clifton is several players deep at many key

positions, and seem ready to improve from last season’s disappointing 10-

13 year.

“I am very happy with the way the team is working,” Falcon said.

“They come and they work hard. I think one of the reasons all this depth

is so good is that by creating competition at every position, it brings out

the best in everybody. They push each other. I am looking to be two-deep

at every position.”

In a sport where it usually suffices to have one top-flight pitcher, the

Mustangs have several starter-quality players in the circle. Junior Jaclyn

Hanrahan and sophomore Kayla Vance lead that group both having been

co-aces a year ago. Hanrahan possesses exceptional movement on her

pitches, while Vance is more of a speed pitcher.

“In essence, you are looking at two different pitchers in Jaclyn and

Kayla,” Falcon said. “I am very happy with them and our group of pitch-

ers as a whole.”

Kneeling from left: Rachel Abill, Alex Espinosa, Jaclyn Hanrahan, MeganIngwersen, Kimberly D'Agosta, Kayla Vance. Standing from left: KimberlyFinkler, Jazmyn Pareja, Jasmine Melendez, Rachel Plaskon, Karleigh Davila,Devyn Pitak, Ava Genardi, and April DiAngelo.

MUSTANG SPORTS Softball

CHS

SoftballApril 4 @ PCTI 10am

April 6 John F. Kennedy 10am

April 8 Bergen Co. Tech 10am

April 10 @ Eastside TBD

April 11 @ DePaul Catholic 5:30pm

April 14 @ Holy Angels 4pm

April 15 Lakeland 4:15pm

April 17 Passaic Valley 4pm

April 18 @ Paramus 11am

April 20 @ Fair Lawn 4:15pm

April 22 Wayne Valley 4pm

April 24 @ Passaic 4pm

April 25 TBA TBD

Apr 27 PCTI 4pm

Apr 29 @ John F. Kennedy 4pm

May 1 Immaculate Heart 4pm

May 2 @ St. Dominic TBD

May 4 @ Bergen Co. Tech 4pm

May 6 Eastside 4:30pm

May 8 @ DePaul Catholic 4pm

May 11 @ Wayne Hills 4pm

May 12 @ West Orange 4pm


MUSTANG SPORTS Softball

Junior Samantha Wilk and fresh-

man Lauren Brown add depth to

the pitching corps.

Senior Kim D’Agosta figures to

be one of the team’s leaders, bring-

ing varsity experience and coming

off a solid junior year. She has also

had a productive preseason, and her

fielding and hitting have improved

a great deal.

The rest of the infield represents

the depth of which Falcon is so

proud. At first base, senior Rachel

Abill and junior Hannah Hirst each

figure to see time.

The same is the case at second

with senior Jasmine Melendez and

junior Ava Genardi.

Junior Jazmyn Pareja will play

third, with Vance spelling her at

times when she is not pitching.

Left field will be occupied by

senior Rachel Plaskon, while senior

April DiAngelo and junior Alex

Espinosa will vie for time at center.

The right field position is wide

open at the moment, though Falcon

said he is considering senior Megan

Ingwersen or sophomore Devyn

Pitak.

Senior Karleigh Davila, junior

Ryley White and sophomore Erika

Shyroky will compete for time

behind the plate.

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Both of Clifton High School’sspring track and field programshave similar tradition and records of

success, but in 2015, they have very

different identities. While the young

but talented boys appear destined

for a more modest rebuilding sea-

son, the girls figure to be contenders

in Passaic County.

Head boys coach Kareem West

acknowledges that this group is

green, but also notes that there is a

slew of young talent ready to make

an impact.

“We had a lot lost to graduation,”

West said. “There is talent here, but

it is extremely young. We will

expect some of our freshmen to do

big things. The upcoming freshmen

and sophomores will be looked at to

do a lot. It might be a bit of a ‘learn

as you go’ sort of thing, but we are

looking forward to the challenge. ”

Junior Otto De Leon will lead the

way for the boys specializing in a

variety of different events. Adept in

the 100m dash, the 4x4 100m relay,

triple jump and 200m, De Leon has

multiple ways in which he earns

points for his team. He and senior

Rory Houston (1600m, 800m, 4x4

100m relay) are among the team’s

leaders, whose mentorship will be

critical for a group with so much

youth.

“Otto is a hard worker, and he

keeps everybody on track,” West

said. “Everyone looks up to him.

And Rory is probably the person on

the team that is the most respected.

Our athletes look to him for guid-

ance.”

Senior Arianit Sazimani will con-

tribute at the 400 hurdles, high hur-

dles, pole vault and triple jump,

while freshman Keven Heredia will

be a cog at the 400, 4x4, 200 and

800. Seniors Jay Pathak and

Bhargav Desai and freshmen Sonny

Ruiz, Adrian Echeverria, and

Augustin Riquelme will be major

contributors, as well.

Front: Hailey Fusaro, Michelle Aplogan, Sofiya Nedelcheva, SamanthaAbdelslame, Jessenia Roldan. Back: Yasmine Helwani, Sonia Shastri, AlaaKhalil, Olivia Rosenberg, Kiyaeh Irving

CHS

TrackApril 7 Bergen Co. Tech 4:30pm

April 11 @ Passaic Valley 9am

April 14 PCTI 4pm

April 20 John F. Kennedy 4pm

April 25 @ Randolph 9am

April 29 @ Passaic Valley 3:30pm

May 1 @ Wayne Valley 3:30pm

May 4 @ Passaic Valley 3:30pm

May 12 @ Wayne Hills 3:30pm

May 13 @ Wayne Hills 3:30pm

May 16 @ Indian Hills 9am

May 18 @ Wayne Valley 3:30pm

May 22 @ Randolph 3:30pm

May 23 @ Randolph 10am

May 29 @ Egg Harbor Twnp 2:30pm

May 30 @ Egg Harbor Twnp 11am

June 3 @ S. Plainfield 2:30pm

MUSTANG SPORTS Track

The girls, meanwhile, are strong in distance events,

and have several multi-event athletes that should have

them competing for titles.

Senior Michelle Aplogan will lead the way, bringing

an uncanny versatility to the table. She primarily com-

petes in hurdles, sprints and jumps, but can legitimately

fare well in around eight different events if ever called

upon. Junior Monika Glugosz, a returning North I,

Group IV champion discus thrower, will also return as

one of Clifton’s top athletes.

“I think we are in a good position to be in the top three

or four teams in the county,” said head girls coach Mike

Rogers. “We have got a small group of vets, and a ton of

really good freshmen and sophomores. We could be

competitive if things go our way.”

Among the very deep group of distance athletes, are

senior Sofiya Nedelcheva, senior Olivia Rosenberg,

sophomore Meghan Jozefczyk (a Passaic County cross

country champ that was injured during the indoor track

season), junior Megan Davey and sophomore Anisah

Khandakar. Juniors Allison Proszowski (pole vault, hur-

dles, and distance) and Kamila Ivashka (jumping events,

hurdles) will be other important ingredients to the

Mustangs’ success.

From left front: Mike Zavaleta, Jayren DeGuzman, Neil Shah and Carlos Skerrit. Middle : Josh Stanford, Andrew Sanz, JayPathak, Rory Huston, and Arianit Sazamani. Rear: Ray Romanski, Cameron Hebron, Andre Johnson, and Peter Pagano.


MUSTANG SPORTS Track

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Members of the Class of 2014 earned about $66 million in scholarships and grants.Clifton graduates earned over $3 million of those scholarships and grants.

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• New Tablet Program & Online Classes• 143 Courses, Including - 27 Honors Classes & 19 AP Classes• New Track & AstroTurf Stadium Field• Full Music Program & Marching Band• Stable, Strong, & Future Focused• Cost Effective Tuition• Large School Offerings, Small Class Size• Fully Wireless Facility


Kneeling from left: Steven Borthwick, Zachary Doka, William Gibson, AndyToro, Standing from left: Michael Cervino, Rushabh Naik, Jurel Velardo, JamesDejesus, Brett Ranges, Logan Peri, Michael Madrigal.

MUSTANG SPORTS Boys Lacrosse

CHS Boys

LacrosseMar 18 Paramus Catholic 4pm

Mar 25 @ Arthur L. Johnson 4pm

Mar 27 @ N. Valley-Demarest 4:15pm

Mar 31 @ Newark Academy 4pm

April 2 Morris Hills 4:30pm

April 4 Wayne Valley 10am

April 9 @ Verona 4pm

April 14 Morris Knolls 4:15pm

April 16 @ Nutley 4pm

April 18 River Dell 2pm


April 22 West Milford 5pm

April 25 St. Joseph Regional 10am

April 27 @ Pascack Hills 4pm

April 29 @ Governor Livingston 4pm

May 5 Eastern Christian 4pm

May 7 @ N. Valley - Old Tappan 5pm

With a little bit of youthful exuberance, some veteran leadership and

one optimisitic head coach, Clifton boys lacrosse seems poised to bounce

back from a disappointing year that was hampered by untimely injuries

and a roster that was just too young to be competitive. The Mustangs got

off to a good start in their opener on March 25, pulling out a gritty 11-10

overtime win over Johnson, proving that even in a tough situation, they are

ready to pick up some victories.

“After watching the first game and how guys rallied throughout, I think

we can do really good things this year,” said Cowan. “You feel that team

vibe. When guys get along, they can accomplish big things. They took

their lumps last year and they know what they have to do this time

around.”

One thing this team certainly has is toughness, a trait that is embodied

by its corps of defensemen. Said group is led by senior Christian Duffy,

who also plays hockey—not surprising when one witnesses his gritty style

of play. Juniors Joseph Gebbia and Steel Leon round out the starting unit,

both bringing athleticism and strength to the table. Along with Duffy, there

is a host of other seniors that will see plenty of time on defense,


including Logan Peri (a base

defender and longstick midfielder),

Erique Cormel, James De Jesus and

Zach Doka. The enforcer-like

defensive group will go to great

lengths to protect sophomore goal-

keeper Christopher Rapuano, a

young 6’3” presence that put in a

lot of time with the varsity group

during the offseason.

“Chris spent plenty of time

working at his position on his own

and with his teammates,” said

Cowan. “He is a good goalie, and

we are looking for big things from

him not just now, but in the future.”

The midfield will consist of a

talented first line in junior Patrick

DePasque, senior Steven

Borthwick and four-year varsity

player Billy Gibson. Seniors Andy

Toro, Brett Ranges and Michael

Madrigal will be in the regular rota-

tion, as well. Offensively, the

Mustangs will rely on an attack

group consisting of junior Anthony

Rodriguez, sophomores Kevin

Buttel, Tyler Gibson and Shawn

Meneghin, and seniors Michael

Cervino and Amauris Peralta.

MUSTANG SPORTS Boys Lacrosse

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Some of the varsity players include Angie Tejada, Cyarah Caranza, Shania Vergara, Krystal Vera-Tuedla,Gabby Garcia, Tatjana Petrovic, Madiaon Surgent, Victoria Petriella

With many components of last season’s Clifton girls lacrosse squad no

longer on the team, there is no denying the Mustangs are young. Still, head

coach Amanda Gryzkin sees some encouraging things from a squad that has a

lot of new faces.

“They realize we are in this together,” Gryzkin said. “About 13 freshmen

came out, and we kept them all. I like what I see from them so far. There is

great potential. This is the biggest freshman class we’ve seen in a while, and

it is very promising. I want these girls to learn. Our morale has to be good, and

they are ready to accept the challenge.”

An opening day victory over Mary Help, 12-11, certainly gave the team

something to be proud of.

Leading the Mustangs’ effort from the midfield will be senior Tiffany

Richards, a third-year varsity player. Richards boasts a great motor and superb

field vision, and is often the first player at practice, eager to learn.

“She is fit, and she is like the Energizer bunny,” said Gryzkin. “She has

become a great leader on the field, helping the younger girls out. She goes to

goal, too.”

Junior Olivia DeMuro has evolved into one of the squad’s better players, as

well, and has taken on a leadership role in the midfield. Seniors Gabby Garcia

and Tatjana Petrovic and junior Shania Vergara will also be in the rotation.

CHS Girls

LacrosseMar 19 @ Pascack Hills 4:30pm

Mar 23 Bergen Co. Tech 4pm

Mar 25 Mary Help Academy 4:30pm

Mar 30 @ Paramus 6pm

April 1 Glen Rock 4:30pm

April 6 Waldwick 10am

April 9 @ Ramsey 2pm

April 15 DePaul Catholic 4pm

April 18 River Dell 11:30am


April 23 @ Dwight Englewood 4pm


April 27 Morris Hills 4:30pm


May 4 @ N. Valley - Old Tappan 5pm

May 7 Demarest 4:30pm

May 9 @ Eastern Christian 10am

May 11 @ Holy Angels 4pm

MUSTANG SPORTS Girls Lacrosse



Offensively, the Mustangs will rely on an all-under-

class group of forwards to put the ball in the cage.

Petrovic will sometimes play up, and the corps will be

led by juniors Victoria Petriella and Dana Wehmana.

Sophomore Amanda Richards and freshman Amanda

Ale will both see time, as well. The defense will consist

of senior Diana Guillen, sophomore Angie Tejada and

freshmen Madison Surgent and Krystal Vera-Tudela.

Junior Camila Fermin is the starting goalie, though she

will be spelled by senior Cyarah Carranga or sophomore

Ashley Myers as she recovers from a back injury.

MUSTANG SPORTS Girls Lacrosse

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MUSTANG SPORTS Boys Volleyball

Heading into his third season as the head coach of the CHS boys vol-leyball team, Nick Romanak has seen great success as well as a stretch of

struggles.

In his first year, the Mustangs went 15-6 and qualified for the state play-

offs; last spring, a youthful group went 11-13 and missed the postseason. In

year three, Romanak thinks he has the roster and the leadership to render

2014 a mere aberration.

“Last year, our only returners were Nabil [Jamhour] and Kamil

[Garbowski],” Romanak recalled. “This year, we have a lot of our core

back. We lost 11 guys before last year to graduation. So, I actually think

with what we were working with, 11 wins wasn’t bad.”

This season, Jamhour and Garbowski are back again, and figure to lead

the offensive effort for the Mustangs. Jamhour, a senior outside hitter, can

play both the back and front rows, and had a strong ending to his junior

campaign.

The 6’6” senior middle hitter Garbowski, meanwhile, is a power hitter

who is an intimidating scorer and blocker.

Front from left: Fredy Talavera, Steven West, Mike Guzman, Paras Mehta. Top:Nabil Jamhour, Abraham Zeidan, Patrick Kowalcyzk, Leon Simpson, MattMiller, Bruno Frascolla, Kamil Garbowski. Not Pictured: Francis Ledesma,Andrew Pica, Oscar Oyolla.

CHS Boys

VolleyballApril 6 @ John F. Kennedy 10pm

April 8 @ Bergen Co. Tech 10am

April 9 Harrison 10am

April 11 @ Bloomfield 8:30am

April 13 Bergenfield 4pm

April 14 Bridgewater-Rariton 4:15pm

April 15 @ Lakeland 4pm

April 17 @ Passaic Valley 4pm

April 18 @ Passaic Valley TBD



April 23 Eastside Paterson 4:30pm


April 27 @ PCTI 4pm

April 28 @ Bayonne 4pm

April 29 John F. Kennedy 4:30pm

May 1 @ Bergen Catholic 4pm

May 2 @ Fair Lawn 3pm

May 4 Bergen Co. Tech 4:30pm

May 6 @ Eastside 4pm

May 7 @ Bridgewater-Rariton 4:15pm

May 8 @ Ramapo 4pm

May 11 Wayne Hills 4pm


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“Nabil is a phenomenal athlete and a good, solid all-

around player,” Romanak said. “He has put some time

in during the offseason and has improved with know-

ing when to swing away and when to hit shots. Kamil

is very athletic for a person of his height, and has good

control of his body. He has gotten a lot more comfort-

able in his role as middle, which is a tough spot to

play.”

Junior outside hitter Steven West in another key

returnee for Clifton, who has refined his game since last

spring. West gradually saw more floor time throughout

last season, and was the starter by year’s end.

Middle hitter Patrick Kowalczyk, also a junior, is

one of the Mustangs’ better blockers. Unlike

Garbowski, he is not a real power hitter, though he

does possess strong ball placement and court smarts.

Clifton still has some work to do in the finesse por-

tion of its game, but has some experienced setters in

senior Andrew Pica and junior Matt Miller.

The Mustangs’ Libero will be either junior Fredy

Talavera or freshman Michael Guzman. Both are crafty

defensive players, and one should emerge as the full-

time starter over the next several weeks.

MUSTANG SPORTS Boys Volleyball


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Proud to Represent CliftonAssemblyman Thomas P. Giblin

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Front from left: Sebastian Luna, Nishant Shastri, Kevin Kornecki, Patrick Bury, Milan Mandania, Donald Alburo. Rearfrom left: Tejesh Mehta, Shea Harris, James Caporaso, Heath Patel, Smit Rana, Rohan, Handiwala, Akshay Mandania, BenGalan, Jonathan Ford

CHS

TennisApr 2 Bergen Co. Tech 4:30pm

April 6 @ Passaic 1pm

April 7 @ McNair Academic 10am

April 8 PCTI 10am

April 10 @ John F. Kennedy 10am

April 13 Eastside 4:30pm

April 15 @ Bergen Catholic 4pm




April 27 @ Bergen Co. Tech 4pm


April 30 @ Eastside Paterson 4pm

May 1 @ PCTI 4pm

May 4 John F. Kennedy 4pm

May 8 @ DePaul Catholic 4pm

May 11 @ Fair Lawn 4:15pm

May 12 @ Kearny 4pm

May 14 TBA 8:30am

MUSTANG SPORTS Tennis

With a team full of veterans, Clifton head boys tennis coach AndreaBobby likes her Mustangs’ chances at competing for some hardware this

spring. A senior-laden group with quite a bit of varsity experience, Clifton

appears to have the pieces in place to be more than competitive in both the Big

North Liberty Division and Passaic County.

“I feel pretty confident going into this season,” Bobby said. “These players

are bigger and stronger than they were last year, and have the experience and

I am looking to draw from. They have all dabbled on the varsity lineup in

some aspect.”

The Mustangs are anchored by senior first singles player Sebastian Luna, a

serious player who brings tenacity and court smarts to each match. Luna is

dedicated to improving each time he plays, and has honed his craft frequently

at Maywood Tennis Club. He was the Mustangs’ second singles last year.

That spot is now occupied by senior Akshay Mandania. A number three last

year, he has worked on his consistency, but is quick and fit and can hit the ball.

Seniors Giancarlo Osnato and Tejesh Mehta and junior James Caporaso

will compete for the third singles spot. Seniors Jonathan Ford (a transfer from

Queen of Peace), Ben Galan and Shea Harris will round out the Mustangs’

lineup.

“This group isn’t new to all this,” Bobby said. “They know what other

teams can do, and I think they are psyched and are where they should be.

They’ll vie for some titles this year.”


With eight juniors on his roster, veteran Clifton head golf coach ChadCole knows there are two ways to look at the group that he will hit the links

with. On one hand, relative inexperience will mean the Mustangs will have

to work hard to keep up with some tougher opponents; on the other, there is

enough talent and desire amongst the CHS golfers to give Cole some opti-

mism that his team can both surprise doubters and prepare for the future.

“They are really good kids, and they are going to keep getting better,” Cole

said. “They are serious and although they have fun, they really want to learn.”

Leading the way is Jordan Dunleavy, a player that has put in plenty of off-

season practice and has even recruited additional athletes to join the team.

Cole lauds the fact that Dunleavy has always had the “golf bug,” and says

that he has shown great improvement at the range.

Bryan Cammerino and Dillon Keenan are the other two returnees on the

squad, and both have shown improvement this preseason.

Three newcomers—Jim Louer, Brian Kommer and Nick Belfondo—have

ignited the Mustangs, as well. All three have shown a knack for the game at

the range, with natural long games that should go a long way as each evolves

on the green. “I will be happy if by the end of the season this whole team can

break 50 on a regular basis,” Cole said. I expect them to really improve and

maybe by next season we can really vie for [bigger things]. Individually, I

just want to see these guys get better.”

From left front: Nick Belfondo, Jamila Basit, Bryan Cammerino, Dillon Keenan. Second row from left: BrianKommer, Jordan Dunleavy, Jim Louer, Ed Castillo.

CHS

GolfApril 1 Bergen Co. Tech 4pm

April 6 Ridgefield Park 10am

April 7 Eastside Paterson 4pm

April 8 John F. Kennedy 4pm

April 9 PCTI 4pm

April 10 Wayne Hills 2:30pm


April 16 Hackensack 4pm

April 22 Wayne Valley 4pm

April 23 Ramapo 4pm

April 24 Fort Lee 4pm

April 27 West Milford 4pm


May 4 TBA 1pm

May 5 West Milford 4pm

May 6 Lakeland 4pm

May 7 TBA 8am

May 13 TBA 8am

MUSTANG SPORTS Golf


which meansTomahawk Jr. is trainedand nationally certifiedin restorative water drying methods by theInstitute of Inspection,Cleaning andRestoration Certification,also known as IICRC.


Mustang Artists

Juxtaposed

The 2015 Clifton High School Fine Art Show, Juxtaposed, at the

Clifton Arts Center, celebrates diversity in art, as represented by

various styles, concepts, media, subject matter and designs by

select students. Teacher and coordinator Katherine Karcz said the

theme similarly recognizes the diversity in culture, language and

religion found in Clifton, the 11th largest municipality in the state,

and the school, (with over 3,300 pupils), has the largest student

body in a single facility amongst high schools in New Jersey. The

exhibit can be viewed April 8 to 25, with a reception for the artists

open to the public on April 15, from 6 to 8 pm. Suggested dona-

tion is $3. For more info, go to cliftonnj.org or call 973-472-5499.

Displaying their art which may be in the show at the Clifton ArtsCenter, from left: Michael Tejada, Chelsea Barile, and SamanthaGear. Alos pictured are Cristina D'Alessio and below Tianyi Sun.

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Standing from left: MariaSantamaria, Cory Montiel,Ciara Sabaski, JessicaNosal and Marissa Dianas.Seated from left: ElissaMcMahon, Camille Gomeraand Summer Zheng. Below:Joanne Villa Valentin.

Members of the CHS Mural Club were painting flags of the world on the walls outsideof the soccer office by the upper gym on March 26. Members include Liana Vazquez,Nicolle Hiromoto, Tyler Rojo, CHS art teacher Barbara Mack, and Emily Termyna.

Three Passaic County Technical Institute stu-dents from Clifton are vying for the top prize in

the 11th Annual Passaic County Film Festival on

April 25. Entries by PCTI students Kimberly

Lopez, Renee Nunez and Tarell Wright and about

50 others will be shown beginning at 10 am at the

Fabian 8 Theater in downtown Paterson.

Films are 10 minutes in length or less and were

produced by students and independent filmmakers

who live, study, or work in Passaic County.

Categories include General Short Films,

Documentary Films, Music Videos, and Public

Service Announcements. Admission is free.

Sophomore Kimberly Lopez submitted two

entrees entitled “Dear You” (short film/PSA) and

“Chandelier” (music video). “Dear You” chronicles the

repercussions of losing someone due to driving while

under the influence. It was filmed with a Canon camera

and a cellphone. Her other entry reimagines Sia’s

“Chandelier” and contrasts the innocence of a child

against the bad influences of life. It was filmed in PCTI’s

hallways.

Renee Nunez is also a sophomore who entered a

music video “Studios.” He was inspired by the scenery

of the PCTI TV Production room, which he trans-

formed to resemble a working studio. His entry chron-

icles being overworked and wishing only to return to

the comfort of his significant other.

Senior Tarell Wright’s PSA “A Helping Hand”

sheds light on the stress teens experience. Through a

montage depicting the difficulty of time management

and relationships, his entry provides encouragement

and ideas to minimize the negative ramifications of

daily pressures. It is set to an instrumental version of

“Take Me to Church” by Hozier.

The three students agreed that the technology and

teaching staff at the PCTI School of Communication

Arts TV Production encourages students to express

their creativity through videography, sound and light-

ing, broadcasting, camera operations, as well as writing

and other aspects of film or TV.

Films were judged by members of the Passaic County

Film Commission in February as submissions were due

in Dec, 2014. One grand prize will be named as the best

film of the festival with other awards given by category.

The North Jersey Federal Credit Union (NJFCU) will

present $1,000 to one film maker selected by NJFCU

representatives. That film maker will also work with

the NJFCU to create a 30-second commercial promot-

ing the Credit Union.

The Festival is funded, in part, by the PCCHC, the

Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Bascom

Corporation, investorsBank, Wells Fargo, ROSS

International, and the PCCC Foundation. For info, call

973-569-4720 or write to [email protected].

CAN THESE CLIFTON KIDS WIN THE

Costello Award?It’s the top prIze In the 2015 pC FIlm Fest


The One Person Can Make aDifference Club at Christopher

Columbus Middle School, run by

teachers John Callaghan and Jason

Fieldhouse, strives to instill in their

students that little acts of kindness

are contagious.

Projects include doing good

things for the environment to rais-

ing funds for a good cause. This

year members raised funds by ask-

ing fellow classmates and teachers

for pennies, nickels, dimes and

quarters during the Pennies for

Patients campaign.

The funds, collected during a

three-week period, benefit the

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

On Earth Day, April 22, members

will go around Main Memorial

Park and CCMS school grounds to

pick up litter. Club members will

also write essays for the school

newspaper making peers aware

how important it is to save this

earth we all live in.

The 11th Annual Relay for Lifebegins on May 30 at 2 pm at

Clifton High School and concludes

at 6 am on May 31. It is an

overnight walking relay that turns

into a party and a way to raise

funds to help with cancer research.

Presented by the American Cancer

society, RFL offers cancer sur-

vivors and their families a way to

celebrate the lives of those who

beat the disease or remember those

who lost the fight. To get involved

find out more or to register, go to

relayforlife.org.cliftonnj or call

Kristin Bruno at 201-285-8041


CCMS One Person Can Make A Difference Club members: Anthony Vitale, EmilyAldin, Batuhan Akbay, Yoshiki Nakui, Christopher Abraham, Yousef Sabri, KaileyLoarca. Not pictured, Anastasiya Skrynyk, Malack Jabarin.

Golf Outing

The Sixth Annual David Harris Golf Invitationalon May 14 at the Green Brook Country Club in

North Caldwell will raise funds to help renovate the

recreation facility for youth at Camp Hope in West

Milford.

Participants can expect to enjoy a great day of

golf with David Harris of the NY Jets and other

celebrity guests at a world class course, compete for

tournament prizes, enjoy a fabulous cocktail party and

dinner, and feel good about the charity they are sup-

porting.

Give the Kids Hope Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 chari-

table organization, directly benefits underprivileged

children in New Jersey. The foundation has set a goal in

2015 to help with needed renovations at Camp Hope in

West Milford, where over 2,700 underprivileged chil-

dren from North Jersey attend at no cost every summer.

The foundation was started in 2009 by Stephen

Tilton Jr. and Judith Schumacher-Tilton of the

Schumacher Chevrolet Auto Group to provide less for-

tunate children the opportunity for recreational and

educational activities that they might not otherwise

have, including a chance to go to summer camp and

sing by a campfire, take a nature walk or enjoy an edu-

cational trip to the zoo.

David Harris has become the face of the Give the

Kids Hope Foundation, inspiring many less fortunate

youngsters with his enthusiastic participation and

recalling that his own upbringing led him to join the

group, saying with a smile, “we grew up with so much

love, we never knew we were poor.”

This year’s benefit Golf Invitational, which is named

in his honor, will support needed funds for renovations

to the Camper’s Lounge at Camp Hope in Passaic

County and will be used in part for summer programs

for disadvantaged youth at Turtle Back Zoo in Essex

County.

Give the Kids Hope Foundation President, Stephen

Tilton Jr., commented, “We are very thankful to our

celebrity chairman David Harris of the New York Jets,

for his continued involvement and enthusiastic support

of the foundation. We also want to thank Essex County

Executive, Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr., and Passaic

County Administrator, Anthony J. De Nova, III who

have once again graciously volunteered to co-chair the

event.” The combined efforts of the chairs will offer

much to those who attend—and to help the kids.

Today’s Youth AreTomorrow’s FutureGolf, Dine or Be a Sponsor

IN THE

Give the Kids HopeMay 14 Outing


Among the contests and

prizes planned for the 2015

David Harris Invitational are

a $10,000 (60’ putt) and hole-

in-one prizes that include: a

2015 Chevrolet Corvette and

a 2015 Chevrolet Camaro

SS, sponsored by the

Schumacher Chevrolet Auto

Group of Little Falls,

Clifton and Denville.

Many opportunities are

available to support the David Harris Golf Invitational

and its cause through participation as a player or by

supporting financially through a monetary donation or

providing an auction raffle prize. Participating corpo-

rate sponsors to date are: Schumacher Chevrolet Auto

Group, Lakeland Bank, Investors Bank, Comcast

Spotlight, Verizon FIOS, and Cablevision.

For more about playing in or sponsoring the David

Harris Invitational or to purchase tickets for the evening

dinner and awards ceremony, contact: Allison Lastfogel

at Schumacher Chevrolet 973-256-1065 or visit:

GiveTheKidsHope.org. Find Us on Facebook.

About Give the Kids Hope Foundation, Inc.

Give the Kids Hope

Foundation, Inc. is a recog-

nized 501(c)3 non-profit

organization dedicated to

providing recreational and

educational opportunities to

underprivileged children in

New Jersey.

Give the Kids Hope

Foundation was founded in

2009 by Stephen Tilton Jr. and Judith Schumacher-

Tilton of the Schumacher Chevrolet Auto Group of

Little Falls, Clifton and Denville, NJ.

The foundation is run by volunteers and funds raised

are used to support educational and recreational pro-

grams for underprivileged children in New Jersey.

To contribute, makes checks to Give the Kids Hope

Foundation, Inc. and send to Stephen Tilton Jr.,

President, 8 Main Street, Little Falls, NJ 07424.

For more details on the programs as it supports

Camp Hope here in Passaic County, write to

[email protected] or call 973-256-1065.

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Judith Schumacher-Tilton with her son StephenTilton Jr., co-chairs of the David Harris Invitational.



Community Events

Imagine corralling 86 third gradeboys as a first year teacher. That’s

what Sr. Regina Avard faced when

she was all of 21 years of age, and

about the same height as many of

those boys.

The year was 1939, and kids lis-

tened a little differently back then.

But the diminutive nun, now age

96, still recalls the challenges of

being in charge of a classroom.

She explained some of them in

this vignette: “There was an issue...

I don’t recall what it was exactly...

but I had all 86 of those boys lined

up in the hallway for two hours, and

not one of them would rat on the

other.”

Today, sitting in St. Andrew the

Apostle Church’s convent, she still

gets a chuckle out of the fidelity

and stubbornness of those boys.

Their loyalty eventually transferred to Sr. Regina, and

some seven decades later, on Oct. 19, 2014, 18 of those

boys, now in their 70’s and 80’s, were among the guests

at her 75th year anniversary of being a Presentation

Sister of the Blessed Virgin Mary (PBVM).

The PBVM is a teaching order with Jesuit influence.

Regarded as a progressive order, its members are social-

ly conscious and aware of worldly issues.

When asked who her favorite saint is, Sr. Regina cites

the Blessed Virgin Mary. She says it is so because she

was born on Feb. 11, 1919. On that day in 1858, the

Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes,

France. This day became one of the feast days of the

Virgin Mary known as Our Lady of Lourdes.

Throughout her entire life, Sr. Regina has felt a spe-

cial connection to the Blessed Virgin Mary, who contin-

ues to be her inspiration.

As both a former teacher and principal, Sr. Regina has

touched the lives of thousands of boys and girls from St.

Francis of Rome School in the

Bronx and St. Andrew the Apostle

Elementary School in Clifton.

She is one of five nuns who

opened St. Andrew the Apostle

School on Mt. Prospect Ave. in

1953. To celebrate her lifetime of

teaching, she will be honored on

May 12 with a Distinguished

Person Award at the St. Andrew

Gala Awards Dinner Dance.

Also being honored at the

Brownstone that evening are

Clifton Recreation Director

Debbie Oliver—she will receive

the Gloria J. Kolodziej

Community Enhancement

Award—and members of the

Knights of Columbus Regina

Mundi No. 3969. They are named

the 2015 Mayor James Anzaldi

Community Service winners.

Awardees ‘embody the values of St. Andrew’s com-

munity.’ By honoring Sr. Regina, it sheds light on Pope

St. Francis’ new initiative, “The Year of the Consecrated

Life,” which celebrates the past, present and future work

of people like Sr. Regina, who devote their lives to God

and those around them.

One of the objectives for Catholics in 2015 is to grate-

fully remember the past, which Sr. Regina does when she

looks back on her years of teaching. “The early days

were great,” she recalls of the opening of St. Andrew the

Apostle, “It was the opening of the school so everything

was new at the time, but I loved every place I taught at.”

The last two objectives of the Year of the Consecrated

Life include passionately living in the present, and

embracing the future, both of which Sr. Regina does as

she prays daily in the St. Andrew the Apostle Convent

Chapel, and inspires others around her. Tickets are $60.

There is also an ad journal and other ways to support the

program. For info, call 973-773-1371 or 973-473-3711.

St. Andrew Gala and AwardsDistinguished Person to Sr. Regina Avard


The Friends of the Clifton Public Library seek new members during

April 13-18, which is National Library Week and National Volunteer Week.

The Friends raise funds to enhance library services such as special events

for children and teens as well as cultural and educational programming for

adults. Dues enable the Friends to host Musical Mondays, an Evening of

Opera, a Museum Pass program and the first New Jersey Makers project.

Individual membership is $5 per year or a one time $100 Lifetime.

Friends invite the community to take part in a creative writing series with

journalist Tom Sullivan at the Allwood Branch on April 20, 27 and May 4,

11, at 4 to 5 pm. Michael C. Gabriele, author of The History of Diners inNew Jersey, will be the speaker at the April 29 meeting at the Main Library

at 7 pm. There will be a book signing.

To join, membership forms are at the Main Library and the Allwood

Branch or for info, call Suzanne Sia at 973-979-7565.

Great Falls Park Ranger Ilyse Goldman was a recent guest of the Friends of theClifton Library. Members also pictured include Fran Warren, President VivianSemeraro, Treasurer Andrew Schwartz, and Joan Sanford.

Second Grader Amanda Lukaszdonated her entire piggy bank which

was a total of $256.22 at a School 9

Pennies for Patients program for the

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

During the first week of

December, students were encouraged

to bring in change to help raise

money towards research and patient

aid in support of the mission to cure

leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s dis-

ease and myeloma.

With the blessing of her parents,

Amanda wanted her savings to be

donated for an important cause. This

act of kindness from a courageous

young girl shows what the season of

giving is truly about.

The students of School 9 raised a

total of $1,031.16 and were proud to

be part of the great cause.


Birthdays & Celebrations - April 2015

Karen Goldey..................... 4/1Timothy Hayes .................... 4/1Stephanie L. Magaster......... 4/1Hetal Patel.......................... 4/1Karen Schwartz .................. 4/1Raymond DeDios ................ 4/3Carl DiGisi ......................... 4/3Eric Homsany ..................... 4/3JoEllen Kenney-Illenye.......... 4/3Kevin John Lord .................. 4/3Greg Alexander.................. 4/4

Joey Scotto ......................... 4/4Bo Franko .......................... 4/5Sabrina Greco.................... 4/5Wafa Othman .................... 4/5Mark Peterson .................... 4/5Bob Tanis ........................... 4/5Joe Franek.......................... 4/6Sharon J. Koribanics ........... 4/6Jessica Mondelli.................. 4/6Luke Kulesa ........................ 4/7Donna Mangone ................ 4/7Patricia Colman .................. 4/8Sheryll Franko .................... 4/8Jackie Henderson................ 4/8Jeff Murcko......................... 4/8Emma Gretina .................... 4/9Kathy Krisinski .................... 4/9Brian Firstmeyer ................ 4/11Leila Gasior...................... 4/11Felipe Rivera .................... 4/11Erin Smith......................... 4/11Debbie Tucker .................. 4/11Alice Shanley Babinski ...... 4/12Josh Ontell ....................... 4/13William Parks III................ 4/13Alexander John Mosciszko. 4/14

Lisa Kulesa ....................... 4/15Adam Pienciak ................. 4/15Kurt Irizarry...................... 4/16Robert Monzo .................. 4/16Linda Humphrey ............... 4/17Joseph P. Koribanics.......... 4/17Peter Fierro....................... 4/18Jason Dubnoff................... 4/19Jennifer O’Sullivan ............ 4/19Bryan Rodriguez............... 4/19John Anderson.................. 4/20Jeff Camp......................... 4/20Greg Nysk ....................... 4/21Alicia Rose Aste................ 4/22Lori Hart........................... 4/22Alyssa Tucker.................... 4/22Bobby Ventimiglia............. 4/22Danny Gorun ................... 4/23John Pogorelec, Jr. ............ 4/23

The Hawrylko brothers, Tom Jr. is 28 on April 16 andJoe turns 30 on April 27, with their pal Bob Marley whois 11 on April 4. Peter Chudolij is 20 on April 28. Happy9th Birthday to Damian Calvo on April 13. Dana Arefturned 10 years old on March 10. George Sadiv cele-brates a BIG birthday on April 7.

Birthdays & CelebrationsSend dates & [email protected]

Roland & Lena Krygsmancelebrate 62 years of marriage on April 24.

Happy 36th Anniversary toJohn & Donna Hawrylko

on April 28 Daniel Leigh Magaster April 7, 1985 - Oct. 16, 2003

Pete & Eileen Fierro will be married 39 years on April 18.


Addison Victoria Leonardwas born on Dec. 23.

Rudy and Frieda Greggcelebrate their 60th

Anniversary on April 16.

Marc Scancarella ............ 4/23Katie Michelotti ............... 4/25Brianna A. Pastore .......... 4/25Klondike Tresca ............... 4/25Buddy Czyzewski............ 4/26 Stephanie Magaster ........ 4/26Jillian Mangone............... 4/26Annie Pogorelec.............. 4/26Elise Termyna .................. 4/26Mike Grimaldi................. 4/27 Michael Press.................. 4/27April Graham.................. 4/28Stephen Camp, Jr. ........... 4/29Paul Colman ................... 4/29Heather Halasz ............... 4/29Christine Klein................. 4/29

On April 6 Joe Franek will be65—the same day he and hiswife Darlene celebrate their40th wedding anniversary.


Cambridge Pavingstones with ArmorTec® is the

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Styles, textures and colors of

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Add a fire pit, a fireplace or an outdoor kitchen

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Cambridge hardscape products need little or no

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PRSRT STDU.S. Postage

PAIDPhila Pa 191PeRmiT No. 7510

clifton merchant magazine - april 2015

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