clifton merchant magazine - april 2016

Clifton Merchant April 2016 3

Elizabeth Taylor &other Missing Tales...

THE

60sBy Tom Hawrylko

April 2016 Clifton Merchant4

Getting ready for the Clifton 50th Anniversary Parade inJune 1967 are Ukrainian teens Helen Maksymiuk,

Marion Hrubec and Mary Polowczak. Lads heading to the pool at the Boys Club.

Elizabeth Taylor. Terry Krinsky burninghis CHS activity card on March 30,

1966. Bob Bielsten of the RayDeBrown Accordion

Orchestra.


Lets look back to post WWII America when parentsgave birth to some 70 million children. By time

1960 rolled around, many of those Baby

Boomers would grow to experience the

decade as teenagers, influencing fashion, fads,

music and the politics of their generation.

Consider that perspective as you read the next

70 pages of this months magazine....

In Clifton in 1960, Miss Plaskin direct-

ed the Boys Club Glee Club as they per-

formed for then Vice President

Richard Nixon at the Waldorf

Astoria. Many of those same boys

boarded buses here in Clifton and per-

formed at the 1964 Worlds Fair in Queens.

The new Clifton High School on

Colfax Ave. opened in 1962 and the

Fighting Mustangs were the talk of New Jersey.

Coach Joe Greco led the 1962 undefeated State

Championship team. Through the decade, guys

like Richie Tate and Bob Curley kept the win-

ning ways under Coach Bill Vander Closter.

The headlines of the decade spoke to unrest

and blared of the assassinations of President

John F. Kennedy in 1963, his brother Senator

Robert F. Kennedy in June 1968 and

civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther

King Jr. two months earlier.

Vietnam Body CountThe continuing war in Vietnam, the daily death tolls

and casualty reports that dominated evening news pro-

grams also had an impact in our hometown. With the

US Military Draft fully underway, thousands of Clifton

boys got their letters from Uncle Sam. Sadly, some 30

young Clifton men would lose their lives in Vietnam.

The decade which began with Elvis, the crew cut,

the bouffant, conservative politics as well as fashion,

was forever changed with the arrival of four young

men from England who called themselves The

Beatles.

This musical British Invasion would mark the

beginning of a cultural shift. Labeled hippies and

beatniks by The Establishment, 1960s youth cel-

ebrated their new culture and new found free-

doms with long hair on men, leg revealing

miniskirts for women,hot pants, go-go boots,

Nehru jackets, eastern influenced styles,

rock n roll music, art and poetry.

Marching Mustangs & MusicMuch like Vietnam, Clifton made its contri-

butions to the worlds of music and art. The

weekly Battle of the Bands at Pope Paul VI

High School helped give lots of hopeful musi-

cians their chops. Many got what they recall as

world class training in the Marching Mustang

Band under Saul Kay and Pat Curcio.

Kids of the era still recall bands like Godspeed

or head down the Shore to see The Mueller

Brothersjust to name two of the many groups

and individuals who are still perform-

ing with legends on stages and in the

disciplines of rock, jazz and classical.

Great Summers in Jefferson TownshipIn 1963, with the help of the Clifton Mens Club, 90

acres of land were purchased by the Boys Club in

Jefferson Township and Camp Clifton was born.

Severin Palydowycz was its first director. Like an

oasis for Clifton kids, Camp Clifton had wood cabins

offering a lodge, mess hall, a lake for canoeing, ball

Jill DeVries, Harry Fengya, Severin Palydowycz, Harry Peterson, a girl at a Soda Social at the Boys Club, circa 1961.

1963 Drum Major Verna Fox.

Editor & PublisherTom Hawrylko

2016 Tomahawk Promotions

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fields, tennis courts, a basketball court, archery range

and trails through the woods. The new swimming pool

provided hundreds of kids with an opportunity for

lessons and lifeguard training. Activities ranging

from archery, canoeing, arts and crafts,

nature walks, woodshop, chorus, band

instruction, to competitive sports

programs were offered at the club

and at the camp.

Two of these members, Keith

Oakley and Russ Triola were teens in

the 1960s and are still involved with the

Club today. They also know when the

Club first opened in Botany Village.

Summer of Love & the Moon LandingIn the summer of 69, the great gather-

ing at Woodstock for a weekend of peace,

love and music happened in August.

Many Clifton kids did go to Upstate for

the music but more were at Camp Clifton

on July 20 when Neil Armstrong put his

footprint on the Moon. They made

quite an event out of the moon land-

ing in 69. recalled Keith Oakley.

We watched the landing, the moonwalk, the whole

thing on a little black and white television set that

I had in my cabin. It was Russ and Cliff Triola,

Ed Welsh, Rich Dudek, myself, and I think Paul

Dooley was there. Maybe Pete Deuben and

about 12 other boys all crammed around

this little black and white TV trying to

get a glimpse of Neil Armstrong. Those

summers in the 60s at the Boys Club

and Camp Clifton were the best! It was

the safe, fun place we could escape to

while the world around us at the time

seemed to be going nuts.

Oakley went on to describe some of

his experiences at Camp Clifton.

I could tell you so many stories. I had

my first kiss there. He laughed and refused at

first to disclose the name of the young lady

who was the object of his affections. After

a little coaxing, he finally revealed the

identity of his Camp Clifton sweetheart.

Alright... it was Jodi Comperatore!... I

hope she doesnt get mad at me

for telling.

Ahhh the Summer of Love...

Don Hetchka, Gary Seitz, Clifton Cutie Wrestler Nick Russo, Father Thomas Suchon and Gene Boyle.

Charlie Frick, Clifton's First Hippiewho we profiled in Aug., 2009.


Superior Court Judge Peter Ciolino, Herald News Sports EditorJoe Lovas, Clifton Journal Editor George Kroll, Council mem-bers Joe Vanecek, Tom Cupo, Bill Bate, Anna Lattieri and IraSchoem at a circa-196os fundraiser.

Feb. 4, 1960: The City Council votes to authorize the

issuance of $5,626,000 in School Bonds to finance con-

struction of the 3,000-pupil high school on Colfax Ave.

March 23, 1960: Romolo Zangrando is appointed Fire

Chief as John Zanet retires.

April 26, 1960: Engineers are appointed by Passaic

Valley Water Commission to develop the Pancake

Hollow (Point View) Reservoir. A $5 million bond

issue is approved.

May 23, 1960: Voters approve a $5.8 million referen-

dum to fund construction of CHS.

June 1, 1960: US Census: Cliftons population is

81,953, ranking it the seventh largest city in NJ.

June 14, 1960: Paulison Ave. is extended from Clifton

Ave. to Hazel St. and Route 46. It is not until Sept. 22,

1960 that a traffic light is put into operation at Clifton

and Paulison Aves.

June 28, 1960: A nine-acre pure organic farm, owned

by Carl Lanz on Grove St. is sought for park use.

Negotiations begin to purchase the farm.

Sept. 15, 1960: US Senator John F. Kennedy visits

Clifton City Hall, then on Main and Harding Aves., on

a whistle-stop Presidential campaign tour.

Oct. 4, 1960: Vice President Richard M. Nixon passes

through Albion on a presidential campaign visit to

Paterson.

Fall 1960: A new Master Plan is approved, following a

series of hearings with high-rise zoning left undecided.

1960: Richfield Christian Reformed Church is settled

on Clifton Ave. following a move from Passaic.

Nov. 10, 1960: The Clifton Water System is sold to the

Passaic Valley Water Commission for $5 million. A

contract, negotiated for 32 years, is approved on

December 6, 1960.


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1960: The Reformed Church of

Clifton plans a $150,000 addition.

Dec. 30, 1960: Texstyle Corp. on

Clifton Blvd., is closed with a loss

of 130 jobs and sold for machinery.

Dec. 30, 1960: Eureka Printing Co.

on Paulison Ave. is in the process of

closing after 80 years of operation.

Some 270 workers were laid off.

Jan. 17, 1961: The City Council

appropriates $50,000 for a new park

and playground on Washington

Ave. adjacent to School 3, about

half of what is needed.

Jan. 1961: NJ Bank & Trust Co.

builds a Delawanna branch on

Main Ave. which opened June 29.

Jan. 1961: E.I. Dupont de

Nemours opens on Page Rd. and

plans a 54,000-square-foot ware-

house and distribution building at

380 Allwood Rd. The latter is com-

pleted on June 20, 1962.

Feb. 17, 1960: The Velveray Textile Printing Corp., formerly known as the

Passaic Cotton Mills, along with its tenantsHoward Zinc Auto Seat

Covers, Bartman and Bixer curtains and Private Brands packagingwas

destroyed in what was the USs costliest fire in 1960. 875 workers lost their

jobs due to the $6 million fire. The Walnut St. fire started in a first floor

laminating machine of the four story brick and steel building, spreading

upwards through void spaces and ductwork. Unprotected steel beams and

inoperative sprinklers led to the buildings collapse. The building was

engulfed within 90 seconds according to witnesses. Fire departments from

five surrounding towns helped extinguish the fire. Engines continued to

pumped for over 40 hours after the fire was out to extinguish the smolder-

ing debris. Ten Clifton and Passaic firefighters were injured including fire-

fighter William Jackson who succumbed to his injuries on March 20, 1960.

Today, a single story building housing two different businesses stands on

where the fire occurred.


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Jan. 1961: Wilson Sporting Goods

Co. builds a warehouse and sales

office building on Page Rd.

Feb. 13, 1961: The Gulotta Co., a

division of Bright Star Battery Co. and

a manufacturer of reflectors, moves its

headquarters and manufacturing from

Glendale, Queens to Getty Ave.

Feb. 24, 1961: Country Club Towers

on Hepburn Rd. opens its first hi-rise

12 story building to tenants.

July 17, 1961: Construction begins on

the new St. Brendans Church on

Lakeview Ave. at a cost $300,000.

Sept. 6, 1961: The Mustang Band is

invited to compete in the World Music

Festival in Kerkrade, Netherlands on

Aug. 2, 1962.

Sept. 13, 1961: Rival labor Unions

taking control of labor negotiations at

Duralite Corp. on Barbour Ave., riot.

Some 5,000 workers are involved in

the short-lived uprising.

In June 1962, Cliftons Steve Schulz and his pal Frank Spring, both14, found Clifton-raised Basketball Hall of Famer Bennie Borgmanns

wallet in a phone booth near Grants store on Rt. 46, near Van Houten

Ave. The wallet was filled with cash, credit cards, and important papers

which Borgmann, then a scout with the St. Louis Cardinals, needed

about baseball prospects.

When Borgmann realized his wallet was missing, he flagged down a

state trooper who took him back to the Clifton phone booth only to dis-

cover his wallet gone. There wasnt a question of what we should do

with the wallet, said Steve Schulz, now living in Fresno, California.

We took it to my house and my mother found Borgmanns phone num-

ber inside it. She called his house to let him know we had it.

Bennie was very appreciative. When he picked up the wallet, he

rewarded us with a ball and bat autographed by Stan Musial and invit-

ed us to the Polo Grounds to watch the Cardinals play against the Mets.

Though Spring wasnt able to go, Schulz and his dad went to the

game and met Bennie on the field. Before the game started, Schulz

remembered recently, Bennie called Stan Musial over, saying, Hey,

Stan, I want you to meet some friends of mine. He shook hands, posed

for pictures, and wished us good luck. My father couldnt get over how

big Musials hand was. Though the 14-year old Clifton kid was a

Brooklyn Dodger fan, meeting Musial was special. I didnt root for the

Cardinals, admitted Schulz, who moved from Clifton in 1970, but

everyone respected Stan the Man.

By recovering the wallet of Clifton-raised Basketball Hall of Famer Bennie Borgmann, Cliftonite Stephen Schulz met BaseballHall of Famer Stan Musial. The 58, 160 lb Borgmann scored over 25,000 points during his playing career of 1918 to 1938.


Jan. 1961: Wilson Sporting Goods

Co. builds a warehouse and sales

office building on Page Rd.

Feb. 13, 1961: The Gulotta Co., a

division of Bright Star Battery Co. and

a manufacturer of reflectors, moves its

headquarters and manufacturing from

Glendale, Queens to Getty Ave.

Feb. 24, 1961: Country Club Towers

on Hepburn Rd. opens its first hi-rise

12 story building to tenants.

July 17, 1961: Construction begins on

the new St. Brendans Church on

Lakeview Ave. at a cost $300,000.

Sept. 6, 1961: The Mustang Band is

invited to compete in the World Music

Festival in Kerkrade, Netherlands on

Aug. 2, 1962.

Sept. 13, 1961: Rival labor Unions

taking control of labor negotiations at

Duralite Corp. on Barbour Ave., riot.

Some 5,000 workers are involved in

the short-lived uprising.


1960: With 81,953 residents, Clifton is 7th most populous city in NJ.

Fall 1961Henry Fette of FetteFord awarded the Boys Club Boys

Club Punt, Pass and Kick Contest

Winners John Cordasco, David

Chambers, John Rodger, Roy

Brunett and Kent Bania. Fettes

grandson John, the current owner

of Fette Auto is the third generation

of the family to serve on the Clubs

Board of Directors.

Oct. 1, 1961: A little league type of

baseball field is dedicated on

William St. in Delawanna. The resi-

dents who built the field named it

after local leader, Joe Lowry.

Nov. 2, 1961: Rt. 21 is opened from

Highfield Ln. in Nutley to South

Pkwy. in Clifton, which includes the

Rt. 3 interchange.

1961: Samuel Hird & Sons cease

textile operations in Clifton.

1961: Urban renewal is proposed for

portions of Allwood and Botany.

May 22, 1962: The high vote recip-

ient in Cliftons 1962 election, Ira

Schoem, is named Mayor.

May 23, 1962: The Clifton Boys

Club Trustees purchase a 32-acre

camp in Morris County.

In 1962, Camp Ranger inJefferson Township is acquiredand renamed Camp Clifton.

The Hot Grill opened on Oct. 13, 1961 on Lexington Ave., on the site ofGabes Drive Inn, an old ice cream and hot dog stand which the former

ownerthe colorful Gabe Maroonhoped to convert into an used car lot.

But Maroon could not secure the proper city permits so he reluctantly

opened a hot dog stand. Soon thereafter, he sold it to four partnerstwo

Italians, current owners Carmen La Mendola and Dominic Sportelli, and two

Greeks, Nick Doris and Peter Leonidas, both now deceasedwho changed the

name to Hot Grill and opened on Oct. 13, 1961.

It was Friday the 13th, Sportelli said of the opening, over five decades ago,

when the landmark eatery was nothing more than a dusty roadside stand with a

few stools. People thought we were crazy but we went on and became an icon

in Clifton and home to the best Hot Texas Weiners.

Those are big words in a competitive weiner market, darn near fighting

words considering there are many great hot dog jointsthe New Corral

and Rutts Hutt to name some Clifton favorites. But Sportelli says his

claim is backed by the US government.

Over a decade ago, folklorist from The Library of Congress American

Memory oral history project came to the region to determine what puts the

Texas in the Hot Texas Weiner.

Researchers traced the origins of the all-the-way Hot Texas Weiner back

to a Greek hot dog vendor in Paterson in the 1920s. And then the writers

and photographers of the extensive report, entitled Working in PatersonFolklife Project, ended up following their story to Clifton and ontoLexington Ave. They cited the Hot Grill as perhaps the most authentic of

the Paterson regions Hot Texas Weiner restaurants.

So what makes a Hot Grill dog the best? Sportelli said part of the

answer is the tube steaks, a custom-blended veal and pork hot dog and

deep-fried in vegetable oil. But the signature flavor is the Hot Texas sauce;

some say it resembles Greek spaghetti sauce more than anything cooked

up in Clifton, Paterson or the Lone Star state.


The Hot Grill opened on Oct. 13, 1961 on Lexington Ave., on the site ofGabes Drive Inn, an old ice cream and hot dog stand which the former

ownerthe colorful Gabe Maroonhoped to convert into an used car lot.

But Maroon could not secure the proper city permits so he reluctantly

opened a hot dog stand. Soon thereafter, he sold it to four partnerstwo

Italians, current owners Carmen La Mendola and Dominic Sportelli, and two

Greeks, Nick Doris and Peter Leonidas, both now deceasedwho changed the

name to Hot Grill and opened on Oct. 13, 1961.

It was Friday the 13th, Sportelli said of the opening, over five decades ago,

when the landmark eatery was nothing more than a dusty roadside stand with a

few stools. People thought we were crazy but we went on and became an icon

in Clifton and home to the best Hot Texas Weiners.

Those are big words in a competitive weiner market, darn near fighting

words considering there are many great hot dog jointsthe New Corral

and Rutts Hutt to name some Clifton favorites. But Sportelli says his

claim is backed by the US government.

Over a decade ago, folklorist from The Library of Congress American

Memory oral history project came to the region to determine what puts the

Texas in the Hot Texas Weiner.

Researchers traced the origins of the all-the-way Hot Texas Weiner back

to a Greek hot dog vendor in Paterson in the 1920s. And then the writers

and photographers of the extensive report, entitled Working in PatersonFolklife Project, ended up following their story to Clifton and ontoLexington Ave. They cited the Hot Grill as perhaps the most authentic of

the Paterson regions Hot Texas Weiner restaurants.

So what makes a Hot Grill dog the best? Sportelli said part of the

answer is the tube steaks, a custom-blended veal and pork hot dog and

deep-fried in vegetable oil. But the signature flavor is the Hot Texas sauce;

some say it resembles Greek spaghetti sauce more than anything cooked

up in Clifton, Paterson or the Lone Star state.


June 8-10, 1962: The first

$100,000 Thunderbird Golf Classic

held in Clifton is played at the

Upper Montclair Country Club.

Gene Littler won the tourney.

June 15, 1962: Patterson Brothers,

45 Samworth Rd. in Allwood, build

and open a distribution center for

educational shop supplies. The

company moved from NYC where

it had sold hardware since 1848.

June 27, 1962: Construction of the

Riedl and Freede building on Rt. 3

and Passaic Ave. begins. The com-

pany also has an advertising agency

at 424 Lakeview Ave.

June 1962: A permit is issued to

Spiral Binding Co. at Main Ave.

and Bridewell Pl. in Delawanna for

a 40,000-square-foot building.

1962: Polizzi Towing Co. operates

from a yard off Svea Ave. before

moving to River Rd. in Delawanna.

Aug. 2, 1962: The Marching

Mustang Band depart for the World

Music Festival in Kerkrade,

Netherlands. This trip also includes

stops and performances in Cologne,

Luxembourg, Paris and London.

Sept. 19, 1962: The former CHS at

Piaget Ave. is renamed Christopher

Columbus Junior High School.

Dec. 1962: The Faith Gospel

Church on Hepburn Rd. constructs a

basement and a framework and

completed the building in 1966.

April 17, 1963: The Board of

Education ends the annual football

camp at Silver Lake in Sussex Co.

due to hazing and pranks. Training

would be held in Clifton Schools

Stadium with no overnight sessions.

May 4, 1963: Oak Ridge Park on

the Clifton Ave. extension at St.

James Pl. is dedicated.

May 9, 1963: A fire destroys St.

Phillips Church. Bids, coming in at

$2 million for rebuilding, are sub-

mitted by Sept. 1963.

May 18, 1962: Gensinger Motors, Inc. moves from Colfax and Clifton Aves. toValley Rd., in the Notch. Proprietor and founder Stephen Gensigner, standing,is shown in a photo taken with Mayor Stanley Zwier who is seated in aVolkswagen Karmann Ghia convertible.

Nov. 22, 1962: The Fighting Mustangs complete an undefeated season with a vic-tory over Garfield and are awarded the NJ State football championship. Coachedby Joe Grecco, his career ended in 1963 with a lifetime 137-38-3 record. He wasselected as the New York News All-Star Coach in 1956, 1957, and 1962, and twicechosen as the UNICO All-Star High School High School Football Coach in theNation. Just before his death on Dec. 18, 2003, the field at Clifton SchoolStadium was named in Coach Greccos honor.


June 1, 1963: The regional Aheka

Council of the Boy Scouts of

America schedules its annual week-

end camporee at Nash Park.

July 11, 1963: A 16-ton New Jersey

State Museum historymobile com-

memorating 300 years of New

Jersey history I stationed at

Gensingers Volkswagen in the

Notch for the day. It contains maps,

documents, dioramas and pictures.

On July 15, the historymobile is vis-

ited by 1,100 at Garret Mountain.

Aug. 1963: Ground is broken for a

several room addition to School 16.

Aug. 1963: Attempts to erect high-

rise apartments in Richfield are

ended by neighborhood protests.

Among these are the development

on Benkendorfs Farm off Conklin

Dr. and on Grove St. where the

builder substituted homes.

In the Spring of 1963, George Homcy with Clifton Municipal Court Judge JohnA. Celentano, and Councilman William E. Sellinger. The purpose of the rowboat excursion into Dundee Lake was to prove that the lake section, not theriver, was very shallow and would be an appropriate location for Rt. 21.

On April 29, 1962, the 3,000 student Clifton High School on Colfax Ave. was officially dedicated. Built on land which fordecades was the US Animal Quarantine Station, the structure was designed with three wings, one for each grade attending(grades 10-12). Marveled as state-of-the-art, it proved to be a showcase for the city and opened for students in September.

Michael P. Lewko, MD, FACR, AGSF with Irina Raklyar, MD, FACR

It was the end of an era at 11:30 am, on April 1,1963, as the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad had its firstsection of track lifted out of the roadbed in downtown

Passaic, ending 131 years of service which linked

Clifton, Passaic and Paterson and others in the region.

Rail executives and guests such as US Senator

Harrison Williams, Clifton Mayor Ira Schoem and City

Manager William Holster rode the last train to the

downtown Passaic station for the event. They and oth-

ers then attended a luncheon at Gene Boyles

Restaurant in Clifton.

Thousands of citizensfrom all walks of life

came to see the last train leave the station, pictured

here, many with a tear in their eye.

With the advent of inexpensive fuel and large auto-

mobiles, trains were growing obsolete and the tracks

had been likened to a giant scar running down the cen-

ter of Passaic. Once the rails were removed and acres

of parking were offered to shoppers, merchants envi-

sioned a new and thriving downtown shopping district.

Within a year, the land which once held the tracks on

Main Ave. was replaced with parking lots, as officials

began preparing for a new chapter in economic pros-

perity for downtown Passaic.

Thanks to the new parking offered on the old rail

beds, prosperity did come to downtown Passaic but it

lasted just a few years. Times were changing and fick-

le shoppers wanted to stroll indoors, and instead they

began to drive to nearby enclosed malls. One by one,

long-established Passaic merchants either closed or

relocated and soon the shopping district evolved.

While the passenger rail beds were removed in 1963,

the Erie-Lackawanna line would continue to offer

freight service from Paterson through Clifton and into

Passaic.

The rail spur ran parallel to Main Ave., and up until

the late 1970s, crossed over Clifton Ave. at Getty Ave.,

where TD Bank is currently located.

But when the rail bridge was removed and the old

train beds were sold to adjacent businesses, the era of

rail service essentially ended for Clifton.



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Aug. 19, 1963: Construction for a

$250,000 firehouse on Main Ave. in

Delawanna is approved.

1963: Interchemical Corp. moves

into its new multi-million dollar

research center at Rt. 3 and Garden

State Parkway. It manufactures

industrial finishes with products for

packaging, publishing, textiles and

lithographing.

Dec. 3, 1963: The BOE votes $9,000

for the demolition of School 10.

Dec. 30, 1963: Joseph M. Gondola

is sworn in as Clifton Postmaster,

succeeding Frank Gersie who

retired after 50 years; 500 friends

attended a testimonial dinner.

Jan. 2, 1964: A Tercentenary flag

raising is held at City Hall with the

CHS Concert Choir and Mustang

Band. The 1963 Clifton Little League Junior Development team sponsored by Kirk Pharmacy which was on Van Houten Ave.

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Timeline continues on pg. 28


March 18, 1964: William Vander

Closter is named football coach to

replace Joseph Grecco. From 1964-

1979, Vandy led the Fighting

Mustangs to five state champi-

onships with a 108-28-7 record.

The 1962-1966 City Council seen standing from left Vernon Morrman,

Stanley Zwier, Joe Grecco, William E. Sellinger and Arthur Sullivan.

Seated from left: Joe Vanecek and Mayor Ira Schoem. Also pictured are

City Manager Bill Holster and City Clerk Edith Marrion.

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The year was 1964. The place: Harrington and WoodsEnd Rds. in the Allwood section, a true postwar tractdevelopment of Cape Cods and the occasional ranch.

And it was the height of the Baby Boom. How else could

you get 15 kids in a picture without throwing a party?

Theres Bill Read, with a stray cat dubbed Snowball

and younger brother Phil, to his right. Also there is Debbie

Daves, who lived a few doors down. Then theres Dorian

Flint and her brother Ross, whose house next door

(noticeable for its truly Colonial appearance) had the most

incredibly big (though rocky) three-level back yard.

Among the other neighborhood kids, though not neces-

sarily pictured, were Laurie Springle, Debbies next store

neighbor, and the Meffins, two boys and a girl.

Music was important, as it is with every youthful gen-

eration. The band was make-believe, seen through a

picture window, playing early Beatles songs, the record

player off to the side. It was a gig that would be repro-

duced for talent shows then held at Mt. Prospect Park

down the street, along with best pet parades, always a

bringemout affair.

Entrepreneurs, we were. I sold flower and vegetable

seeds doortodoor and I fondly remember that Mr.

Peterson, whose home was across the street, was my best

customer. Money could be earned in other ways too, from

shoveling snow to collecting bottles for scrap.

Our Man From U.N.C.L.E clubhouse was in the

back yard, soon filled with newspapers collected for the

few quarters a recycler would pay for them.

There was the movie house run out of the garage,

admission 25 cents. Popcorn was sold too. There, wed

run my Dads old 16 millimeter projector, showing silent

films of Our Gang, Buck Rogers, and the cartoons of his

day, even though it was the 1960s.

I remember later trekking down Harrington to try to

find a light bulb for the old projector, reaching an electron-

ics repair shop that was once near the Allwood Theater

and a gift shop. It was cold, the dead of winter, with much

snow on the ground. Frozen, and perhaps 20 more hous-

es to pass en route to home, I desperately turned

By Phillip Read

TheWonderful

years


into the walkway of the Spences, seeking help. Mrs.

Spence ushered me in, quickly seeing my plight (It was

Mr. Spence, the realestate agent, who helped my family

buy this, our first home, in 1962). They called my folks,

who found me well taken care of, a blanket over my

shoulders and a cup of hot cocoa in my hand. Ill never

forget that kindness.

We even held Haunted Houses (same charge, same

garage), in which wed pull the kids through in a red

wagon, with monsters jumping out at them.

One money-making job I wish I could forget: shovel-

ing heavy, deep snow from a neighbors sidewalk, a bur-

densome experience for which I was rewarded with 50

cents. And this from the people we shared a party line

with! I expected at least a dollar. I never shoveled that

walkway again. The Spence house was not too far from

the corner house where I attended Den meetings of Cub

Pack 22.

It was on that corner, in 1963, when I learned that

President Kennedy had been shot and killed. Two older

boys yelled the news to me when I turned that corner, on

my way home from School 9, the 9 that still shines in thatunforgettable school song.

I dont believe you, I said, only to run into the corner

house and sink in a big, padded chair. I remember watch-

ing the TV recant the darkness and tears of that day, a day

when government was viewed as an instrument of good,

a hand put forth to aid others in neednot the reputation it

has today at the endless verbal beatings by those whod

attack big government at very turn. Sad.

Harrington Rd. will always share a special place in

Cliftons History. The new 63 Chevy Impala, white with

red interior, would be parked there, a testament to

Americas growing affluence.

The old Hillman, acquired by my Dad under the cover

of night, sat in need of repair long enough that a dutiful

neighbor alerted police to its unwanted presence. No more

memories of the long smoke trail it left on a funfilled ride

past that shiny School 9.

Journalist Philip M. Read, CHS 73, has authored several

books, including two about Clifton and his latest, Memoriesfrom the Meadowbrook, From big bands to dinner-theater torock n roll. He now publishes 27587 MAGAZINE, taking itsname from a zip code thats home to 54,000 people in the state

of his birth, North Carolina. Read it at 27587magazine.com.


March 22, 1964: Clifton observes

Clifton Day at the New York

Worlds Fair as part of New Jerseys

tercentennial.

June 14, 1964: Joseph Sperling Park

in Athenia is dedicat-

ed. It is named for

the first Clifton serv-

iceman killed in

World War II. He

died at Pearl Harbor

on the USS Curtis.

June 14, 1964: Betty Lutz is named

Clifton City Clerk.

Summer 1964: Clifton offers to

lease School 7 in the Botany to

Passaic County for use as a Vo-Tech

high school. Passaic County makes

other plans and School 7 is razed.

1964: Clifton Elks Lodge 1569

burns, is destroyed and built anew.

Aug. 4, 1964: Village Bakery at 386

Piaget Ave. reopens after renova-

tions with a ribbon cutting.

August 20, 1964. Kim Trainor ofClifton, in a photo from the

archives of the Paterson News,

showing paintings of the Beatles

she created at an art show.

Sept. 22, 1964: Plans for a seven

story Senior Citizens facility at

Daughters of Miriam are approved.

Oct. 5, 13 and 23, 1964: The all

purpose rooms at Schools 5, 8 and

16 are formally dedicated.

Nov. 1, 1964: Gov. Richard J.

Hughes is the featured speaker at the

dedication of the Clifton Jewish

Center, 18 Delaware St.

Nov. 9, 1964: The Clifton Democratic

Club is said to be New Jerseys largest

with over 1,000 members.

When Clifton podiatrist Tom Granziano was 14 in 1964, he and hisband mates The Surftones were in the Clifton Boys Club Teen Center mak-

ing music for the ages. We jammed to hits like Wipe Out, he recalled

recently. Other band members were Lenny Daidone on drums and Steve

Giovenco and another fellow on guitar. While Graziano went into the med-

ical field, he said he enjoyed his time as a rock and roller. That was a Kay

guitar from Sears, he said of his instrument. That was the first guitar Eric

Clapton had. His second was a 335 Gibson, just like me. I guess great

musical minds were thinking along the same lines.


f


1965: The Northside Christian

Reformed congregation sells its

church on Myrtle Ave. and Burgess

Pl. in Passaic and relocates to Grove

St. near Conklin Dr. in Richfield.

1965: Peter Iuliani purchases J.O.

Grand Variety Store on Main Ave.

between Clifton and Madison Aves.

Feb. 19, 1965: The Werksman

Library of the Clifton Jewish Center

on Delaware St. is dedicated.

March 8, 1965: Clifton Fire Chief,

Romolo Zangrando, commences a

terminal leave prior to his June 18,

1965 retirement. Steven Lendl is

named Acting Clifton Fire Chief.

May 4, 1965: After some contro-

versy and many years of delays, the

Brighton Rd - Allwood Urban

Development project for a 7.5-acre

redevelopment is approved. Four

frame buildings housing 32 garden

apartments are razed in favor of a

firehouse, library and a park.

May 16, 1965: Ground is broken

for the growing First Evangelical

Lutheran congregation at Van

Houten Ave. and Grove St. to

include a school and church. The

groups former church on

Washington Ave. in downtown

Clifton is sold to the St. Marys

Ukrainian Orthodox congregation.

July 1, 1965: Ground breaking for

the new St. Peters Episcopal

Church on Clifton Ave. is held.

Sept. 21, 27, 1965: Passaic County

Citizens Planning Commission

presents an urban renewal plan for a

29-acre section of the Botany. The

Clifton City Council approves it.

Oct. 1, 1965: Williamsburg East

and West on Grove Street near

Route 3, are nearly completed.

Nov. 14, 1965: A badly needed

main US Post Office for Clifton is

planned for the Paulison and

DeMott Ave. intersection.

IT&T strikers in CliftonSeptember 10, 1964.

Latteri Park, atHampton Rd.

and Allwood Pl.

in Rosemawr,

was named for

Anna Latteri,

Cliftons first

female mayor.

Her career in public life began

in 1960 when she was appointed to

the Library Board where her strong

opinions put her at odds with Supt.

William Shershin and some board

members. In 1962 she was named

to the Board of Education in a term

press reports described as turbulent.

Her passionate views and strong

presence appealed to the voting

public. In 1966, she became the

first woman elected to Cliftons

City Council. Latteris campaign

and time in office focused a war on

drugs and opposition to sex educa-

tion programs. She was also a

booster of beautification programs

and an advocate for urban renewal

projects in Botany and Allwood.

In the 1970 election, she earned

13,021 votes, topping 27 candi-

dates to become mayor. She con-

tinued to take an interest in the

affairs of the library and school

boards. Her battles to keep some

novels off library shelves catapult-

ed her into the national news.

In 1971, she underwent cancer

surgery but returned to her post

and others a year later. In 1972, she

was named to the human resources

committee of the US Conference

of Mayors which she used as a pul-

pit to lobby against the income tax

sought by Gov. William T. Cahill.

Anna Latteri died July 8, 1973.

Aug. 17, 1965: Singer Frankie Randall, born

Frank Joseph Lisbona and a 1955 CHS grad,

performs at the Central Theater in Passaic

after his movie, Wild on the Beach in which hestars with, among others, Sonny & Cher, is

premiered. Randall, then 27 and soaring, was

already known as a Rat Pack singer and

Frank Sinatras house pianist.

FrankieRandall

Above in 2009, thats Frankie on thepiano at a Frank Sinatra FoundationFundraiser. From left, Dennis Farina,Deana Martin, John Griffeth, JerryVale, Ken Venturi, Pat Boone, TonyLo Bianco, Vince Ferragamo. At left,thats Frankie in Clifton with his oldpals Terry La Corte, Al Mardirossian,jr. and Tom Cupo. The former Mustangdied in 2014 at the age of 76.



Fall 1965: The Passaic Valley

United Givers Fund for the support

of the 43 health, welfare and youth

agencies is formed. It replaces local

United Fund drives in Passaic

County. Through 1966, $672,037 is

raised, and a goal of $800,000 is

sought for 1966 to 1967.

Dec. 7, 1965: The Delawanna fire-

house site is selected by the City

Council on lower Main Ave. at the

Allwood Rd. intersection.

March 6, 1966: The First

Evangelical Lutheran Church of

Clifton dedicates a new sanctuary

on Van Houten Ave. and Grove St.

1966: Stephen Gaal Paint Co. is

sold to Michael Brandl.

Adeline DeVries who was theNurse at Camp Clifton, the BoysClub camp in JeffersonTownship, during the summersof 1969 through 1976.

Spring 1965Perhaps this was a case of equalrights? In 1965, 663 young women signed and

presented a petition to the city with the goal of

creating a Girls Club. After being considered

by the Board of Rec, the Girls Club of Clifton

was officially founded in 1966 by Donna

Aiello. Charles Manella, pictured right, helped

support it by offering his East First St. address

as the first home of the club. The club eventu-

ally purchased the former post office at Van

Houten and Mt. Prospect Aves. but decades

later merged the two organizations to create

the Boys & Girls Club of Clifton.

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Timeline continues on pg. 50


f


Five decades ago, Bill Bate burst onCliftons political scene and kicked every-ones tail. Incumbents, challengers, or theBig Three, Bate blitzed them all on May

19, 1966. He totaled 16,035 votes61 per-

cent of the 26,000 cast and the most ever tal-

lied by a Clifton City Council candidate.

Bate, then a 32-year-old lawyer, represented

needed change. Politically ambitious since he was

a boy, Bate worked in Washington DC as a legislative

assistant to Congressman (later Superior Court Judge)

Charles S. Joelson prior to Bates 1966 council run and

enjoyed the ardent support of the Democratic Party.

A lifelong city resident, he was married, ambitious

and ready to take on the world.

There were whispers during the election Bate some-

day would become New Jerseys first governor from

Clifton. And, after trouncing the field of 45 candidates,

the whispers didnt seem far-fetched.

A key to Bates victory was his strong showing in the

Botany section, where he placed third behind two candi-

dates of Slavic ancestry, Joseph Vanecek and Doc

Surgent. When the election results were announced, Bate

and his happy supporters, including campaign manager

Louie Wasserstrum, marched from his Main Ave. office

to Clifton City Hall, then at the corner of Main and

Harding Aves., to celebrate.

After I won the election, Bate remem-

bered, I called City Manager Bill Holster, a

republican, and pledged my full cooperation.

I think he was shocked. Then I called a

meeting of the winning council members to

decide who would be mayor.

Despite his mandate from Cliftons citizens

and the citys 25-year tradition of awarding the

top finisher the mayors job, the council had a dif-

ferent agenda. Vanecek, Thomas Cupo, and Ira Schoem,

Cliftons Big Three, were against Bate. Surgent and

Merv Montgomery took turns voting against him,

switching their allegiance during the two council votes.

They knew what they were doing, Bate said. They

kept the vote 4-3 against me each time. Only (council-

woman) Anna Latteri was loyal to me.

Despite polling 1,200 fewer votes than Bate, Vanecek

was chosen as mayor by the council. Bate challenged

the ruling in court, but was unsuccessful in overturning

the decision. Cliftons rising political star had suffered a

bitter defeat. But if you think his first elections outcome

would have soured Bate on public service, think again.

It wasnt personal, Bate said in a 2006 interview

with this magazine, it was politics. I was the lone

Democrat. And since the Board of Education members

were appointed by the mayor rather than elected by the

people, they werent handing me the job.

Bill Bate and his wife Clara

on the campaign trail in

1966 when he was top vote

getter but was denied the

job of Clifton Mayor. And

below a photo before his

passing in Jan. 2011.

It was the Age of Aquarius, the time of the Beatles,and an era of social upheaval. Women burned bras, stu-

dents burned draft cards, and the establishment burned

with anger as hippies, yippies, and assorted radicals chal-

lenged the status quo.

Adults were confused and angry. The kids grew their

hair long, communicated in a new groovy language, and

listened to ear-splitting, root-of-all-evil noise called rock

and roll.

And it seemed kids during the sixties were upset about

everything. They rallied against discrimination,

screamed for equal rightsand demanded the govern-

ment ban the bumps!

Thats right, bumpsas in speed bumps.

At least Clifton High School students did back in

1966 when they focused their youthful rage on the

macadam mounds.

The problem started when kids began drag racing in

the school parking lot. The Clifton Board of Education

decided to erect a fence to keep the hot rods out. The

fence workeduntil a befuddled milkman plowed his

truck through it.

With the fence a mess, a new solution was needed.

We were afraid a kid was going to get killed, says

Fred Lombardo, a retired industrial arts teacher. The

kids would drive in to the parking lot with their souped-

up cars and start racing. Either someone was going to

get run over or a driver was going to lose control and

CHS Students Proteston Decision to add Speed Bumps

By Jack De Vries


BANTHEBUMPS

n

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n

n

e

s

s

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-

o

d

crash. One of the teachers came up with the idea for the

speed bumps because hed seen it used somewhere else.

The Clifton Department of Public Works (DPW) got

to work, determined to create a hassle for GTOs and lit-

tle deuce coups. But no one in the high school or over at

city hall would realize what a commotion this action

would cause.

To create the new speed bumps, workers took 2-by-8

boards, placed 2-by-6 boards on top of them, and cov-

ered the boards with macadam. They installed six

bumps and planned to build 29 more. Thats when the

trouble began. First, school janitor Charles Bruin was

hurt after crashing his car on a bump. Three Public

Service busses also had nasty bump encounters.

Students scraped their cars oil pans on the speed

bumps, and industrial arts teacher William Borowskis

little foreign car got stranded on a macadam mountain.

Even parents dropping off underclassmen began freak-

ing out when the bottom of their station wagons scraped

on the bumps.

What a drag! It was time to question authority, and

CHS began to rise up and protest.

Like any change, theres always a reaction, recalls

Lombardo. But the teachers were surprised how the

kids reacted. On a March morning before school, 20

students staged a sit-in on one of the 6-inch high, 49-foot

wide bumps. Herald-News reporter Gordon Bishop

wrote: The 20 card-carrying demonstrators were sup-

ported by almost 200 pupils, crowding about them

on the sidewalks.

Looking over a partially installed bump leading to the entrance of CHS are Walter Senko (right) and Emil Mihalik, two

high school custodians. The car is stopped at a board, which will later be covered by macadam.


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BAN THEBUMPS


Students carried signs and chanted, Ban the

Bumps! and Whats next? Bars on windows?

Other students voiced their support by hanging ban-

ners from classroom windows. But before the protest

could escalate, the Clifton Police were called and herd-

ed the students back into school.

The next day, the students staged a demonstration

that would make Abbie Hoffman proud.

I cant even remember who started the protest,

claims Nancy Muddell, a student at the time and today

a Clifton school teacher.

But it became the thing to do, she admits. Most of

us were coming into school when it started and we

stayed outside and took part.

Cars with beige masking tape spelling out Ban the

Bump drove around the school. Marchers sang, Old

MacDonald Had a Bump. Nearly the entire student

population of 2,500 united behind removing the speed

bumps. Most kids were just protesting for the sake of

protesting, Lombardo believes.

Nonetheless, things did get heated. Newspapers

reported students grappled with police. Four protesters

were taken away, including a 17-year-old senior who

struck a police officer trying to disperse the crowd.

Cries of police brutality rang out. Sergeant Frank

Strawz had to wrestle with one 6-foot 2-inch senior to

subdue him, and Patrolman Gerald Wirt injured an ankle

while struggling with another protester.

The demonstration continued inside the school. After

classes started at 8:05 am, some students continued to

march in the hallways, chanting against the bumps.

Student Terry Krinsky tried to burn his student activity

card but it wouldnt ignite because of the plastic coating.

Poor Aaron Halpern.

The principal of Clifton High returned from a busi-

ness trip to find his school in an uproar. He called a

special session of the student council to allow student

president John Clark to speak with his fellow students.

At the end of the school day, Halpern met with student

representatives and agreed the bumps were too high

and would be trimmed down.

Like many sixties protests, the great Ban the

Bumps! demonstration led to positive change. With

lower speed bumps, Clifton High returned to normal.

The students of CHS from that era had lived their

own civics lesson, using their voices to defeat the

establishmentmuch to the chagrin of citys auto

mechanics.

We got over it pretty quickly, says Muddell, who

helps coordinate reunions for the Class of 1966.

Today, when we ask our classmates to write down

their memories, the most frequently mentioned is the

ban the bumps protest.

The speed bumps that now guard the CHS parking

lot are a testament to Muddells class a time when

courageous students showed what the phase Power to

the People! really meant.

Yeah, right, a student of today might say... a protest

over speed bumps? Get realthats not even worth

pushing pause on my iPod.

Who are the radicals that took overCHS that cool March day back in1966? Are some of the protest organ-izers pictured here? And whateverhappened to that card-burning TerryKrinsky? Were not sure but here aresome of the potential protestors...Nancy Maurer Muddell, JackieSussman Schein, Bennett Wasserstrum,Michael Ressetar, Nancy DemattiaRessetar, Nicholas Telep, NormaSmith, Robert Castronovo, RobertMorgan, Ralph Caprio, Murem SakasSharpe, Michael Telofski, DanGoodell, Stephen Morici.


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or


By Tom Hawrylko

At the age of 11 Larry Packer would board a PublicService bus at Passaic and Lenox Aves. and head toWashington Pl. in downtown Passaic, to the second floor

of the old Elks building. There, under the tutelage of

Anthony Sinigalliano, Packer would rosin up his bow and

learn the finer techniques of the instrument which took

him from Clifton to stages across the world, playing fid-

dle, guitar and mandolin with legendary performers.

Asked to name his favorites, he immediately cites

David Amram, who has composed over 100 orchestral

and chamber works, two operas, and scores for theater and

film, including Splendor in the Grass and The Manchurian

Candidate. And then of course, when he was 19, there

was guitarist Jimi Hendrix.

Five decades later, Packer modestly shares tales of his

musical life and recollections of Clifton in a series of tele-

phone interviews. He is talking from his home in a

Catskills Mountain village, an hour from Bethel, where the

original Woodstock Festival took place on a rainy weekend

on Aug. 15, 16 and 17, 1969.

As the opening act for the Jimi Hendrix Experience,

Packer recalled that his band, Cat Mother and The All

Night Newsboys, were scheduled to perform at the

Woodstock Festival.

On performing with Jimi Hendrix

He had a certain amount

of respect for me because

he knew the violin wasnt

an easy instrument to play.

By that Summer of Love, Packer was just 20 but

already a seasoned performer. For the past year, he was

on the road with Cat Mother promoting their new

album, which was produced by Hendrix and distributed

on his Polydor label. They were riding the wave of

their hit single, Good Old Rock n Roll.

We were doing all the big outdoor festivals and sta-

diums, recalled Packer. Wed go on just before

Jimi.

That August, Cat Mother performed at the Detroit

Pop Festival in Mt. Clemens, Mich. The next stop on

the tour was Woodstock.

At about 2 in the

morning, I wanted to

arrange my wake-up call

so I asked our road man-

ager if we were flying

into New York and then

driving up to

Woodstock, said Packer.

He said Bethel (where

the concert was held) was

rainy, the grounds were a

sea of mud and the NY

State Thruway was

closed, Packer laughed

at the memory of his

managers decision.

Wait. It gets better,

he continued. Then he

saidthe only way we

could get the band in was

by helicopter and that was ridiculous. Besides, it

wouldnt do your career any good anywaymeaning

this was a nothing event. The real story was that he had

a date that night with the clerk behind the counter at the

Holiday Inn in Mt. Clemens.

So while the world watched the legendary Three

Days of Peace & Music of Woodstock unfold to be for-

ever etched in our memories, Packer and Cat Mother

were grounded in the Motor City when they should have

been working their way through the mud and going on

that wet stage, right before Jimi Hendrix.

A year later, Packer was wearing tight jeans


The 1966 CHS LiteraryStaff. First row, fromleft, Susan Lukavich,Joanne Zak, advisorJudy Cohen, JasonKanter, Susan Irwin and Pat Piermatti.

Second row: KennethWieder, John Hayes,

Kathy Raschka, CathyLee and Karen

Leibowitz. Third row:Joan Lafer, Doug Miller,

Phoebe Pollinger, Joan Bornstein, and

Grace Mickelsen. Fourthrow: Karen Tietjen, Larry Packer, Joyce

Zankel and Carol Cohen.

and a leather jacket, greasing his long hair into a pom-

padour; he was touring Canada, playing guitar with Sha

Na Na, one of the groups that springboarded into the

national spotlight as a result of their performance at

Woodstock. Everyone wanted to hear my stories

about being at Woodstock, Packer said, looking back

to his 1970 tour. I kind of paraphrase a quote from

Satchell Paige... its okay to look back, just dont stare.

You cant dwell on that kind of stuff.

You never know what you are spared from, contin-

ued Packer, noting that adage may be from a Moroccan

proverb, but hes not sure.

Its okay, he said of missing Woodstock, it

seemed as if there was plenty to do anyway. Talent,

fate, luck and hard work have taken Packer to stages

across the globe and allowed him to explore music in so

many different ways. Looking back, Packer said there

are few if any regrets.

He has shared the stage, performed and recorded

with Levon Helm, Maria Muldaur, Lou Reed, Kate and

Anna McGarrigle, David Bromberg and Harry

Belafonte, among others. Hes played as the house band

on Saturday Night Live, backed up Johnny Cash and

toured Japan twice in a cowboy hat playing four 15-

minute gigs a day in the RIHGA Royal Hotels.

While he could still be touring the world like others

in his musical league, Packers main gig these days is

with the Hudson Valley based Hair Of The Dog, a

Celtic folk/rock band that Billboard Magazine noted as

one of the biggest sellers of Irish Music.

The group includes Rick Bedrosian on bass and

vocals, Mike DeAngelis on acoustic guitar and vocals,

John Haggerty on banjo, acoustic guitar and vocals,

Eric Finn on electric guitar, mandolin and vocals, Scott

Apicelli on drums and Packer on fiddle.

A conversation with Packer is filled with anecdotes

and sidebars related to legendary names and places

from the good old days of rock and roll.

I really loved Levon Helm. Playing with The Band

was an honor and a great learning experience, for sure,

Packer said when asked to name his favorite musicians.

Im proud to play violin in David Amrams quartet. I

also loved being the first fiddle player for Kate and

Anna McGarrigles tours of America and Europe and

being in their London debut in 1976.

His credits also include performances on The Bands

The Last Waltz rockumentary (1978) and on Saturday

Night Live in skits with John Belushi. He appeared in

another rockumentary, Festival Express (2004) based

on the 1970 Canadian tour with Sha Na Na that fol-

lowed their performance at Woodstock. Over the years,

he has been in the company of The Grateful Dead, Janis

Joplin and The Band, to name just a few.

Growing up at 41 Lenox Ave. as the oldest of

In a 1968 publicity still from Cat Mother and The All Night Newsboys, thatsCliftons Larry Packer, at center, carrying a violin and guitar. Their rock androll medley Good Old Rock n Roll debuted on June 28, 1969 and peaked at21 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. The single and the bands first album, TheStreet Giveth and the Street Taketh Away, were produced by Jimi Hendrix.


On not appearingat Woodstock

Then (his manager)

said the only way we

could get the band in

was by helicopter and

that was ridiculous.

Besides, it wouldnt do

your career any good

anyway.

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four childrensister Linda (Berman) graduated CHS

1968, Sharon in 1972 and David in 1980to his parents

Sidney and Toni, Packer first picked up a violin after

finding one in his home.

My dads uncle, the actor Paul Muni, visited my

fathers home in Passaic and bought a fiddle off a push-

cart in the city and gave it to my dad as a gift. It was in

our attic on Lenox Ave. and I think you had to play an

instrument in school, guessed Packer who attended

Schools 9 and 2 before graduating CHS in 1966. I took

it to school and got started.

He took a liking to the sound and it seemed natural;

soon young Larry Packer was practicing hours a week.

Instruction in a classical method with Sinigalliano fol-

lowed and Packers lifelong love affair with stringed

instruments blossomed.

Exploring new and old genres of music, Packer went

beyond the traditional methods of training. By high

school, I was listening to old folk and blues guitar play-

ers on the radio and on records and I started teaching

myself the roots of the music, Packer said.

Citing legends such as John Lee Hooker, Howling

Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Mississippi John Hurt as influ-

ences, Packer was a young teen hitting the East Village

club scene to hear live music. Id go into New York and

catch a show and get a chance to shake their hands.

In 1963 or 1964, Packer was in his first band, Back

Door Men, which included fellow Cliftonites Steve Sher

and Packer on guitar, Paul Henry on bass (maybe we

even had three guitars and one of us played the bass line

Im not sure, Packer said) and lead singer Russell

Ulics.

We did Rolling Stones kind of music. Russell was

a great front man. He used to go into the city on

Delancey St. and find shark skinny vests to match his

gray suit. Hed wear a tiethe whole bitand hed get

the crowd going and take his jacket off, unbutton the

vest and throw it in the audience. Imagine the pandemo-

nium that ensued. It was a slick show.

Packer continued, We didnt have a regular drummer

but we used to meet up with Jeff Seitz. I remember he

couldnt rehearse with us so my job was to talk him

through the show, sing a few bars, before we went on

stage. Hed catch the sound and just knew what to do.

Jeff was quite more of a professional than we were. I

think we paid him about $10 a show.

Motivated by peers like Seitz and inspired by the

blues legends, Packer set his goals on being a guitar

player and thats where he invested his time and money.

Me and Paul Henry were parking cars at Gene

Boyles and I worked at Charm Cleaners for three years

so I was able to buy my first Gibson J-200, Packer said,

noting the J meant a jumbo body and the good looking

guitar produced a great big sound. I should have never

sold that guitar, he lamented.

Back Door Men performed at Battle of the Bands and

other local stages but Packer had another group with

Paul Henry that gained some attention in 1965.

We formed a Peter, Paul and Mary kind of band with

our neighbor Khristine Bacha. She didnt sing that well

but she was blond and looked like Mary and we were out

and I remember we ended up on the front page of the

Herald News. I think the writer was Tom Sullivan.

That fall of 1966, Packer attended Drew University.

While he remembers the Madison campus as having a

good music scene, he spent more time in Greenwich

Village performing or listening to music than in class.

One night in particular Packer recounted going with

a friend to the Cafe au Go-Go to see John Hammond Jr.

I had sat-in with him when I was 17 but that night we

just wanted to see the show. And there was this guy

with an afro playing left hand guitar. Turns out it was

Jimi HendrixJimmy James and the Blue Flames.

Jimi led the electric band behind John Hammond Jr.

and within a couple of months he was famous.

Hendrix formed the Blue Flames in the summer


...he couldnt rehearse

with us so my job was

to talk him through the

show... Hed catch the

sound and just knew

what to do. Jeff was quite

more of a professional

than we were.

On performing with Jeff Seitz

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of 1966 and played six nights a

week at the Caf Wha? on

MacDougal St. before Hendrix went

to England in Sept. to form The Jimi

Hendrix Experience.

Meanwhile, Packer finished that

first semester at Drew and decided if

he were to attend school it would be

to study music. He spent a few

more months living in Madison,

working in the student cafeteria

before being accepted at the New

England Conservatory in Boston.

He moved to Boston in 1967 and

started attending classes only to be

disappointed. He had an English

professor who didnt like music stu-

dents and a violin teacher that never

showed up for class.

In the Boston music scene,

Packer was playing guitar country

blues and met up with Paul

Geremia, noted as one of the best

white acoustic bluesmen working,

for his expressive singing as well as

his dexterous playing.

Thanks to that friendship, Larry

Packers career was about to take

off. I went with Paul down to New

York City to The Bitter End on

Bleecker St. in a showcase there.

After the show Roy Michaels from

Cat Mother came up to me and

asked do you know anybody from

Boston that could play guitar, violin

and mandolin? and I said, nah,

nobody but me, and that was it. In

one night, Cat Mother moved me

out of Boston.

The group sent a bass player by

the name of Barnaby to Boston to

fetch the 19-year-old musician.

Barnaby was big, 6-foot-7 easily.

He carried all my furniture down


In 1990, dad Sidney who died in 1991, sister Sharon, sister Linda (Berman),brother David, mom Sidonie, who now lives in Florida, and Larry.

two flights and put it in his

Econoline van and drove me to 7th

St. and Avenue E, recalled Packer.

That next morning, he was prac-

ticing with Cat Mother and the All

Night Newsboys. The lineup

included guitarist Charlie Chin,

bassist Roy Michaels, Bob Smith

on keyboard, and Michael Equine

on drums and Packer handling gui-

tar, fiddle and mandolin.

By the end of 1967, Cat Mother

was regularly headlining the Caf

Wha? and soon were ensconced as

the house band at Electric Circus, a

wild and famous nightclub on St.

Marks Pl. between Second and

Third Aves. That year, Cat Mother

created a sound and built a reputa-

tion. They were on bills with

groups like Blues Magoos, Sly &

the Family Stone and the Chambers

Brothers.

I saw Ike and Tina Turner together, he said. The

Grateful Dead... There was (Woodstock MC) Wavy

Gravy, Timothy Leary and Ken Kesey all in the same

place... it was wild.

In 1969 the group signed to Polydor Records, with

Jimi Hendrix producing their debut LP The Street Giveth

and the Street Taketh Awaysupported by a series of

appearances as Hendrixs opener.

They had a Top 25 hit in the Summer of 1969 with

Good Old RocknRoll which included cover versions

of Sweet Little Sixteen by Chuck Berry, Long Tall

Sally by Little Richard, Chantilly Lace by The Big

Bopper, Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On by Jerry Lee

Lewis, Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins and Party

Doll by Buddy Knox.

It had a hook that was original, explained Packer.

Then it went into the medley and then back to the hook:

Just a little boy, my one and only joy, was listening to

that good old rock and roll. I just turned 23, if you

wanna get a message to me, all you gotta do is play that

good old rock and roll...

That first album also had another successful track,

Marie, that had an anti-war theme to it. I still get a

sizeable amount of royalties from Marie, said Packer.

It has a nice old-fashioned French sound to it and the

mandolin is featured. It is very popular in the old east-

ern block countriesEstonia, Ukraine, the Czech

Republic, Latvia. We also get sales from Germany,

Denmark, England, France and Western Europe.

In 1970, Packer would record another album with Cat

Mother, Albion Doo-Wah, before going on tour with Sha

Na Na. But looking back on the Cat Mother days and

being part of the opening act for Jimi Hendrix was a

magical time. Jimi off stage, one-to-one was low-key,

soft spoken, easy to be around, Packer said, recalling

his days when he was not yet 20 and performing with the

legendary guitarist. He had a certain amount of respect

for me because he knew the violin wasnt an easy instru-

ment to play.

Thats a fact Larry Packer knows well. I just put in

two-and-a-half hours doing the classical stuff, Packer

said on a recent Saturday afternoon. Im still having a

ball playing mandolin, fiddle, writing music. Then

theres fishing and gardening. Theres no letting up.

Looking forward to his 68tht birthday on Sept. 26,

Larry Packer says music keeps him youthful and he

expects to be fiddling and enjoying life with his wife

Cheri and their son Jesse for many birthdays to come.

Larry at his Bar Mitzvah from Temple Emanuel on Lafayette Ave., Passaic in 1961 withhis violin teacher, Anthony Sinigalliano and his mom Sidonie and a sister.

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Imagine the excitement of being an11 year old on a plane headed toFlorida in the middle of November

for a football game. Now imagine

doing it in 1966. At that time, air

transportation was not as common as

it is today. But for 33 lucky Clifton

Junior Mustangs, its a football story

they still tell.

In an era when most youth teams

played nearby communities, the 1966

Mustangs were in a league of their

own as they became the first Clifton junior team to be

invited to an out of state game. Their selection wasnt

by chance, either.

Our team was so good that we had trouble finding

games in our weight class, explained head coach

Frank Pecci, a football star at CHS from 1948-51. It

got so bad that we started playing Bantam weight

teams, which were 15, 20 pounds heavier then us.

Led by Pecci, a former CHS football assistant coach

for 13 years, the Junior Stangs stepped out of the shad-

ows of the big boys at the high school and began their

own legacy as a powerhouse team by routinely domi-

nating teams statewide.

Their play caught the attention of the Pop Warner

International Football League, who invited them to the

Millard Cain Bowl in Florida, to play the Gill Hotel

All-Stars. The catch was that the Cliftons kids raise the

funds to fly to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, and find a place

to stay there. Luckily, their hometown came out to sup-

port the Junior Fighting Mustangs.

Local businesses, from large corporations like

Hoffman La Roche and Givaudan, to small mom and

pop stores, lent their support to the boys.

Some gave money, others donated supplies for the

three day trip, such as toothbrushes, towels and other

goods which were bagged by Pecci, his wife and his

staff and given to the boys.

These gifts, combined with the funds raised by the

booster drive, proved to be enough to send the

Mustangs to Fort Lauderdale, where they would spend

their Thanksgiving in 1966. Pop Warner told us we

just had to raise the money. Whatever wasnt raised,

The staff for 1966: Coach Frank Pecci, assistant coaches Jack Boetcher,Ray Promin, club president Gene Ross, and treasurer John Dee.

The players: Ken Pami, James Spillane, Frank La Ceese, Joseph Calise,Carmen Alotta, Dennis Ryby, Dennis and Douglas Kleber, Robert Perugino,

Robert Andriknich, Kenneth Moore, John Van Dorn, Jay Russo, Patrick

Gully, William Campbell, Robert Bania, James Turano, Robert Coates,

Robert Walker, Thomas Carleo, Robert Siljee, Thomas De Stefano, David

Chambers, Richard Waller, Anthony Pollizi, Stephen Augustine, Thomas

Biro, James Carrigan, Edward Chaky, Richard DeLotto, Earl White, Roy

McTeeran and Robert Pressner.

One of the parents said to me that these Mustangs went awayas little boys, recalled assistant coach Ray Promin,

and they came back as little men.

By Joe Hawrylko

parents would pay, said Pecci,

who was then in his first of 12

years with the Junior Mustangs. In

the end, not one parent paid.

Pecci knew that his boys would

be under intense scrutiny once in

Florida. Emulating the legendary

Joe Greccos coaching style, Pecci

stressed the importance of the pub-

lics perception of the team.

Complete with suits, hair cuts and

team bags, the Junior Stangs could

be mistaken for a pro team if it

wasnt for their size. Once the bus

arrived at LaGuardia Airport on the

morning of Nov. 23, all eyes were

on the 33 kids from Clifton.

For most of us, it was our first

time on a plane, recalled Rich

DeLotto, a member of the 66 team

and retired Clifton Firefighter.

When we left, it was cold out, but

down there, it was about 40 degrees

warmer than here.

Florida would also expose the

boys to the southern lifestyle.

Players would spend their three

days living with the family of an

opposing player.

That was an experience. We

were in Florida and these were true

southerners, explained DeLotto.

They asked about you, New


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Jersey, our schools and other stuff. We had

Thanksgiving dinner with the players.

However, once the turkey was gone, these new

friends would soon be turned into foes, with game day

less than 24 hours away.

Nothing could prepare the Junior Mustangs for the

huge game before them, as they had never played in an

event of this magnitude.

It was real impressive, like around 8,500 people at

the game, said DeLotto, recalling the 40 year old event

like it happened recently. It was like the old champi-

onship games at CHS. Plus, it was televised.

But due to a scheduling error, the Stangs would be

playing their game with the odds stacked against them.

Pecci learned that they would be playing an all-star

team some 15 pounds heavier then the Mustangs. But

the kids didnt travel 1,000 miles just for turkey.

However, pitted against much larger opponents, the

Junior Stangs didnt fare well, getting shut out in the

first half.

With nothing to lose, Pecci decided to start impro-

vising and began drawing up plays on a board that

many would deem too complex for kids. But the

Mustangs soaked it right up and scored 28 points in the

second half, losing 52-28. It was a moral victory.

It was more points against the all-stars that had

been scored by any other team in their weight class all

season, reported Pecci in a post game interview.

The kids from Clifton even managed to win over

their hosts with their gritty performance, and the Junior

Mustangs were invited back for a game in 1968.

It was a new era for the Junior Mustangs.

Seeing how well the plays worked in the second half

of the bowl game, Pecci borrowed plays from friend

and former CHS teammate Ray Ditch Malavasi, who

would later go on to coach the LA Rams to the 1979

Super Bowl. Combined with Peccis stern coaching

style, the Mustangs dominated, earning out-of-state

bowl games in Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania,

Washington, Maryland and Connecticut in eight out of

12 years under Pecci. The Millard Cain Bowl was the

catalyst in starting this tradition. Assistant coach Ray

Promin best summed up that experience.

One of the parents said to me that these Mustangs

went away as little boys, he said, recalling the teams

first bowl game. And they came back as little men.

On Thanksgiving weekend in 1968, these Junior Mustangs had a come from behind victory at Auburndale Fla. before 1,000fans under the lights. It was their ninth straight win with a score of 14-6. The team included Kyle Huziarski, Alan Lisowski,Dennis Kleber, Todd Kulich, Chris Conrad, Paul Lichtenberger; Gerry Andrew Lavage, Mike Duda, Pat Donohue, Greg Zipf,Steve Cusano, Ron Haraka, Jim Cannata, Al Asbaty, Dennis Perugino, Robert Gregg, Dave Sondey, Joe Musciotto, RobertPasquale, Rick Forlenza, Charles Banghardt, Tom Juranich, Denis Kelly, Paul Galinak, James Radcliffe and Jim Shea.



May 26, 1966: Mayor Joseph

Vanecek takes the Oath of Office as

Mayor of Clifton.

May 27, 1966: The New Jersey

Bank & Trust Co. (Midlantic Bank)

opens an Athenia branch in the

refurbished Erie, Newark Branch,

and railroad depot. A Cloverdale

drive-in bank branch is also opened

on Clifton Ave. at Cloverdale Rd.

July 29, 1966: The CHS Mustang

Band departs for Kerkrade,

Netherlands to compete for the sec-

ond time in the World Music

Festival. They return with top prizes

for concert, marching and overall.

Aug. 2, 1966: A $193,000 bond

issue is approved by Cliftons City

Council to finance new public

works equipment, municipal park-

ing near Randolph Ave. and a new

park at the School 7 site.

Aug. 6, 1966: The Second

Thunderbird Golf Tournament

returns to Clifton and opens at the

Upper Montclair Country Club on

Hepburn Rd.

Summer 1966: The Red Chimney

Restaurant opens on Rt. 3.

Sept. 28, 1966: Frank E. Gersie is

named General Chairman for the

Clifton 50th Anniversary

Celebration Committee.

Nov. 1, 1966: The Clifton City

Council votes to authorize the

spending of $530,000 toward the

purchase of the remaining 26 acres

of the US Quarantine property. A

$100,000 down payment is made.

Jan. 22, 1966: Fire completely

destroys the Athenia Veterans Post

Headquarters. It is rebuilt in less

than one year.

In anticipation of Cliftons Golden Jubilee, Mayor Joseph Vanacek celebrates the

receipt of the bookmobile which bought books to the homes, essentially providing

the city Literacy on Demand.


April 22, 1967: Allwood Boy Scouts

plant flowering Red Bud trees and

Creeping Junipers on the center

island of Allwood Rd.

April 24, 1967: Clifton begins its

50th Anniversary observance.

April 28, 1967: Regina Mundi

Chapter, Knights of Columbus, for-

mally dedicated its new home at 1114

Main Ave., at Madison Ave.

June 4, 1967: The 50th Anniversary

parade sets off with 55 floats, 30

bands, 100 animals and many vintage

autos. It is three hours in duration and

is seen by over 200,000 people.

June 29, 1967: Clifton Blvd. and

Fornelius Ave. residents form a

human chain to protest heavy truck-

ing to the Canny Truck Terminal.

Forty adults and 26 children protest.

June 30-July 4, 1967: The Golden

Anniversary picnic, the citys first

citywide picnic, was held with much

success in Main Memorial Park.

Sept. 18, 1967: Dr. Lester Meloney,

the former Acquackanonk Township

Commissioner, Clifton Health Officer

and prominent Clifton Center physi-

cian (now Downtown Clifton) passes.

1967: The Federal Sweets & Water

Co. on Clifton Blvd. closes.

1967: US Census counts 91,000 peo-

ple occupying 26,500 dwelling units.

1968: Clifton Public School 7 on

Parker Ave. in Botany is razed.

1968: Clifton Firemen become

Public Safety Officers as they are

now armed and pull Police Duty.

1968: The Clifton Girl Scout

Council, founded in 1951, merges

into northern New Jerseys Lenni

Lenape Girl Scout Council.

1968: The Ukrainian Orthodox Holy

Ascension Church opens on Broad

St. near Colfax Ave. intersection.

1968: A new Fire Station opens

clifton merchant magazine - april 2016

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