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CranforCranforCranforCranforCranford Cougar High School Sportsd Cougar High School Sportsd Cougar High School Sportsd Cougar High School Sportsd Cougar High School SportsGREEN RUNS FOR 3 TDs, ADDS 43 YD TD PASS TO WILLIAMSON; WITWICK, J.P. GET TDs

Cougars Topple Highlanders in Big Play Grid Game, 44-20By DAVID B. CORBIN

Specially Written for The WestfieldLeader and The Times

Seven big offensive plays andfour key defensive plays set up allthe scoring in a showdown be-tween the Governor Livingston(GL) Highlanders and the hostingCranford High School football teamat Memorial Field on October 6.

Quarterback Reggie Green hadtouchdown (TD) runs of 73 yards,74 yards and five yards, respec-tively, to total 227 yards rushingand added a 43-yard TD strike towide receiver Ryan Williamsonto lead the 5-0 Cougars to a 44-20 victory.

The Cougars totaled 339 yardson the ground, and Green com-pleted four of six passes, all toWilliamson, for 52 yards. Runningback Chris Witwick carried fourtimes for 52 yards, which includeda 39-yard TD sprint. Fullback JPChristiano bashed 25 yards onseven carries, including a one-yard TD run. Adham McGuire hadfive carries for 27 yards, and JimDwyer had three carries for 21yards in the fourth quarter.

Cougar defensive linebackersMike Klimek and Nick Diaz, alongwith the defensive line, held theHighlanders to 64 rushing yardsin the first half and only 34 in thesecond half on 36 total carries.The Cougars did get stung twiceon TD receptions of 59 yards and

68 yards by wide receiver MikeMurphy. GL quarterback RendyllMoorman completed seven of 10passes for 174 yards, but Klimekintercepted one of his attempts.

“Our defense is the backboneof our season, and we steppedup. They put a 20 spot on theboard, but we responded wellwhen adversity came. When theytried to get the momentum, westopped them cold,” Klimek said.

On GL’s first possession, afterhe recorded a five-yard sack,

Diaz partially blocked a punt thatrolled dead on the Cougar 27.Lightning struck immediately! Onthe very first play, Green saw thelight, slipped through the middle

of the GL line and headed downthe right sideline for his 73-yardTD with 7:57 left in the firstquarter. Troy Kettler kicked thefirst of his six points after.

“The first one, I did an outsidesweep and faked it. We saw overthe middle it was wide open, andthere was great blocking on thatplay. I cut to the hole and wasable to score,” Green explained.

Klimek thwarted a GL drive whenhe tossed running back Andrew

Romeo for a four-yard loss, but agood punt came to rest on theCranford 12-yard line. Three playslater, from the 26, Green pushedthrough the middle, was tempo-rarily stalled, but he broke freeand sprinted for 74 yards for a TDwith 1:30 on the clock.

“The second one was an up-the-middle play, and I thoughtthat I was going to get stuffed.Then Jeff Weiss came and madea great block. I got around thereand I got the score,” Green ex-plained.

Next, GL pulled out the big play.Moorman threw a pass to Murphydown the right sideline. Green gota hand on it, but the ball landed inMurphy’s hands, which resulted inthe 59-yard TD reception with11:48 left in the half.

Opportunity knocked againwhen the Highlanders recovereda botched pitchout at the Cranford29. Four plays later, Romeobashed three yards for the TD.The two-point conversion passto Justin Ennis tied the score with7:25 on the clock.

Diaz added a 12-yard sackforcing GL to punt from its endzone, but the snap sailed overthe punter’s head and out of theend zone for a safety. The Cou-gars got possession on the GL 43and quickly took advantage whenGreen hit Williamson down theright side for the TD to make thescore, 23-14.

“At first, we were going to go toWitwick, but coach told me tochange it up and throw the outsideroute. I saw that the corner wasn’tplaying really well on Williamson,so I threw a good ball, andWilliamson made a good catch toscore for six,” Green said.

Klimek blocked a GL punt earlyin the third quarter at the 12-yard line. Five plays later,Christiano plunged in from theone. But GL also respondedquickly on a one-play, 68-yardTD pass to Murphy to make thescore, 30-20, with 7:23 left inthe third quarter.

“We were expecting them topass, but I think it was just acoverage mistake, but we re-sponded well after that. We gotourselves together and said, ‘nomore.’ We shut them down forthe rest of the second half,”Klimek said.

Klimek was correct. Early inthe fourth quarter, the Cougarsscored on a six-play, 74-yarddrive, which included an elusive42-yard run and a five yard TDsprint from Green.

“Jimmy Dwyer made a greatblock on that play. I tried to makemy way through the defense. Ithought that if I could weave, Icould get in back of the defenders,and I could get down for a firstdown with a big gain,” Green said.

Midway through the final quar-ter, Witwick hooked around theright side for a 39-yard TD run.

“5-0 sounds great, becausethere were a lot of people doubt-ing us. It is the first time we were5-0 in a long time, so it’s great tobe 5-0,” Green said.

The Cougars will have a littletime to preparing for a trip toface a strong Rahway team thisSaturday at 1 p.m.

“It’s good that we have a littleextra time to prep for Rahway. Ithink we can take them downnext week,” Green said.Gov. Livingston 0 14 6 0 20Cranford 14 9 7 14 44

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesCLOSING IN ON A HIGHLANDER…Cougar linebacker Nick Diaz, No. 41,closes in on Highlander quarterback Rendyll Moorman, No. 23.

Story also in The Westfield Leader newspaper

Click “PhotoLibrary”

for Game Photos





By DAVID B. CORBINSpecially Written for The Westfield

Leader and The Times

Finishing was a concern of HeadCoach Kevin Ewing when hisScotch Plains-Fanwood HighSchool girls soccer team totallydominated Cranford on its sea-son-opening game on Septem-ber 8 but only came up with a 1-0 victory.

At Memorial Field in Cranfordon October 7, the Lady Raiders,once again, dominated on theoffensive side, but this time, theygrabbed a 3-0 victory over theLady Cougars.

The Raiders, who took eightshots at goal in the first half, keptmaneuvering around the Cou-

gars’ 18-yard area, which putrelentless pressure on goalie LeahQuinn and defenders AnnieVollenbroek and Hannah DeMars.Quinn made three saves in thefirst half, but the Raiders man-aged to score all three of theirgoals during that time.

The first goal came when JessieKlein launched a corner kick fromthe right side, and forward SarahVanbuskirk charged the box intime to head the ball into the netwith 25:20 on the clock.

“We had a corner kick from theright side, and Jessie lofted aperfect ball about at the penaltyside, and I was right there and hitit into the back corner,”Vanbuskirk explained.

Six minutes later, Raider Christy

Monroy drilled a shot from about30 yards away on the left side,and the ball caromed off thecrossbar. Annie Canone got tothe ball and headed it in to makethe score, 2-0.

“She hit it from the 30-yard lineand hit it right off the post, and Ibanged it in with my head,”Canone said.

Later in the half, Julie Gloverlofted a direct kick from the leftside over a defender’s head.Vanbuskirk closed in and slid theball past Quinn for the score with7:40 remaining in the half.

“Julie Glover hit a beautiful crossfrom the left side across the boxto the right side. It went rightover the top of the defender’shead. The goalie was coming toget it, and I slid it past the goalieinto the back corner,” Vanbuskirksaid.

The Raiders’ constant aggres-siveness in the first half gave theCougars’ offense little opportu-nity to get off a shot on goal.

“We were all packed in. Wekept jumping in to get it. Welearned that we have to takemore shots, and we have tospread the field a lot more, at-tack and take advantage of allour opportunities,” Canone said.

“We played Summit the otherday. We tied. Unfortunately, wecouldn’t finish. We had a millionopportunities, so that’s what wewere working on today. I think weshowed that we capitalized on ouropportunities,” Vanbuskirk said.

With a large number of substi-tutions in the second half, theRaiders still dictated the tempo.

“On games when we are up alot, we try to get everyone in thegame, so everyone gets an op-portunity. Of course when newpeople come on, it got a littlemessy, but we stayed in thereand did not let any goals,”Vanbuskirk said.

The Raiders’ defense did re-ceive some pressure from theLady Cougars but rose to theoccasion and rejected any seri-ous penetration.

“We have been playing really

well defensively. Today, AlyssaRiporti was hurt, so Jodi Cornwellcame in and played a great game.Christy Monroy cleared out andAvi Shadmi were our main de-fenders. They are doing a greatjob. The first half, we kept it in

there [Cranford territory]. Thedefense did their part. We [of-fense] fell apart a little bit in thesecond half. We got a little tooconfident and started becomingflatfooted, so the defense got alittle more of the action,”Vanbuskirk said.Sc. Pl.-Fanwood 3 0 3Cranford 0 0 0

Congratulations goes toPat Gorman – CougarHead Wrestling Coach

Probitas Verus Honos

It is in The Leader!

See Girls Soccer Story

on

Page 15 – The Westfield LeaderDavid B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The Times

BATTLING ALONG THE SIDELINE…Raider Christy Monroy, No. 13, andCougar Emily Lupin battle for possession of the ball in Cranford.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesGETTING TO THE BALL FIRST…Cougar defender Rachel Romano, No. 2,gets to the ball before Raider Lea Salituro can kick it at Memorial Field.

VANBUSKIRK NETS 2 GOALS, CANONE SCORES ONE; MONROY, KLEIN, GLOVER ASSIST

Raiders Score Early, Defeat Lady Cougars in Soccer, 3-0







Three days after head coachGeorge Kapner was awarded his1,000th varsity victory when for-ward Henry Smith nailed the win-ning goal in double overtime todefeat 10th ranked Kearny, 2-1,Smith snapped the Westfield HighSchool boys soccer team out of adaydream with a pair of first-halfgoals that led to a 3-0 victoryover Cranford at Orange AvenueField in Cranford on October 4.

“I was excited for him and ourteam, because if we lost that, itwouldn’t look good if we were 3-5. They were 10 in the state, soobviously, that was a big win,”Smith said.

The Cougars had just come offa 4-1 victory over undefeated, 7-0 Bernards but neither they northe Blue Devils could establish a

major offensive until Smith gotposition in the middle and rippeda right-footed shot into the leftcorner midway through the firsthalf.

“Sam Eliades played a drivenball into the middle of the field,and I took a good touch andplayed it in front of me. I cut onone kid then put it in on the leftside of the goal,” Smith ex-plained.

Minutes before Smith’s secondgoal, Cougar George El-Khourylaunched a direct kick from 30yards out, which had Blue Devilgoalkeeper Joe Ohaus diving air-borne to his left. The ball waswide.

With approximately 15 min-utes remaining in the half, Smithgot into a scramble in the boxand dropkicked the ball at thejointure of the far post and thecrossbar. The ball ricocheted overthe goal line.

“Brett [Ripperger] got it into

the box. There was a scramble inthe box, and I was there to hit itin. It was kind of a drop kick. It hitoff the corner and off the postand it went in,” Smith described.

Minutes later, Blue Devil NoahRosenberg penetrated the boxand drilled a pointblank shot thatCougar goalkeeper Zach Hoffmanabsorbed. Then with less thantwo minutes remaining in thehalf, junior Shane Kronick slanteddown the middle and booted inthe third goal from 15 yards out.

“I got the ball from a teammate[Anthony Valles]. I took a coupleof guys on, and my shot wentthrough. I was pretty close,”Kronick explained.

Last year, Kronick was the setupman to get good leads into 6’5”Joe Greenspan, who was veryeffective heading the ball intothe net. Greenspan has sincegraduated, but this season,Kronick has adjusted well coor-dinating with his teammates.

“I have improved since last yeara lot, I feel. I am connecting withmy teammates and going morefor it, so we will see how the yearplays out,” Kronick said.

The Blue Devils finished thehalf with nine shots on goal, andCougar keeper Hoffman had sixsaves. Westfield played its benchmost of the second half and out-shot the Cougars 5-1. Early inthe half, Blue Devil Jake Herouxdrilled a wicked shot that Hoffmansaved. Late in the game, CougarAndrew Gee launched a danger-ous shot, but Blue Devil backup

keeper Justin Coelho made a div-ing save.

“We didn’t play our best men-tally, because we were probablydaydreaming, maybe took thisgame lightly coming off a bigwin. But I think there were partsof the game where we did playhard, outplayed them, and thatled to our three goals,” Smithsaid. “It definitely was not ourbest game. We should haveplayed better, but we got thewin.”Westfield 3 0 3Cranford 0 0 0

BLUE DEVIL SMITH NAILS PAIR OF GOALS, BLUE DEVIL KRONICK KICKS PUTS IN 1 GOAL

Soccer Blue Devils Wake Up with 3-0 Win over Cougars

Cougar Gymnasts EdgeBlue Devils, 108.1-107.25

Four days after coming in sec-ond behind Cranford at the Cou-gar Classic Invitational, theWestfield High School gymnasticsteam lost to the Cranford Cougarsin an exciting and much closermeet, 108.1-107.25, at WestfieldHigh School on October 4.

Although it was the Blue Devils’highest team total of the season,they fell to 4-2, losing to twoschools ranked in the top 10 inthe state. Cranford remainedunbeaten at 6-0.

The Blue Devils got a boost froma few competitors starting to re-turn to the lineup after missingmeets due to injuries, includingLindsay Ripperger who competedon uneven bars after missing all ofthe 2010 season and the first fivemeets of the 2011 season.

Cougar Alexandra Puryear tooktop all-around honors with a 36.9,followed by teammate Mary KateWalch at 36.3. Blue Devil fresh-man Jenna Rizkalla had a 34.85.Walch took top all-around hon-ors in the vault with a 9.45,

Rizkalla was second at 9.325 andPuryear was third at 9.2. BlueDevil freshman Hannah Goldringscored a 9.0. Blue DevilsChristana Psyhojos and KellyVasel had scores of 8.5. CougarsEmily Grable and Casey Sciasciahad scores of 8.65.

Puryear took first on the un-even bars with a 9.3, followed byBlue Devil sophomore Abby Cookat 8.75, Walch at 8.725 andRipperger at 8.625. Blue Devilsenior Kaitlyn Johnson scored an8.6, and Cougar Sciascia scoredan 8.4.

Cook captured first on the bal-ance beam with a 9.55. Puryearwas second at 9.45 and Walchwas third at 8.875. Cougar SaraLoBue was fourth with an 8.8.Psyhojos scored an 8.75 andHannah Goldring had an 8.725.

Cook also took first on the floorexercise with a 9.55, followed byWalch at 9.25. Blue Devil seniorSara Shields and Grable tied forthird at 9.15. Puryear had an8.95 and Vasel had an 8.725.

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesMAKING A VALIANT ATTEMPT…Blue Devil goalkeeper Joe Ohaus goes airborne in an effort to block a shot off thefoot of Cougar George El-Khoury. The Blue Devils won, 3-0, at Orange Avenue Field in Cranford on October 4

Story also in The Westfield Leader newspaper







Nearly impenetrable defensiveplay on the part of both teamskept goose eggs flickering on thescoreboard until Emily Mastrocolafound the mark with 7:48 re-maining in the game to give theWestfield High School fieldhockey team a 1-0 victory overCranford at Memorial Field inCranford on October 5.

The victory put both teams’records at 5-3 and could have aninfluence on the Union CountyTournament’s seeding set to be-gin later in the month.

“It’s very important. They knewcoming into this game that itwould have a big effect on our

record, a big effect on where weare going to be in counties. Hav-ing just come off a loss to ALJ[Johnson] and a loss to Oak Knoll,we needed this win. They got thejob done,” Blue Devil AssistantCoach Lauren Durante said.

The Lady Cougars just came offa 2-1, overtime victory over Sum-mit, so a possible letdown mayhave been in the wind.

“We beat Summit yesterday. Ithink we played one of our bettergames. We were as intense aswe have been and as clean andcrisp as we have been all season.I think that was one of our con-cerns that if we were so high, theonly other way to go was theopposite, so we tried to accountfor that. We talked it through,but I don’t know whether it wasbecause we went into overtime

yesterday with fatigue setting inand just being mentally tough.We were a step behind today,”Cougar Head Coach JessicaBerkowitz said.

Both defenses were extremelystingy, especially for most of thefirst half. But in the final twominutes of the half, the Blue Dev-ils put on a surge to record threeof their four penalty corners, whichput pressure on Cougar goalieJess McCoy and her defenders.Both teams were statistically evenin the half with four shots at thegoal and two stops by each goal-keeper. The Cougars had fivepenalty corners.

Parody continued until the final13 minutes when the Blue Devilsbroke loose with a continuousoffense assault. With 12:40 onthe clock, Mastrocola seeminglyscored, but the goal was negateddue to a ball movement viola-tion.

“It was really frustrating, be-cause we worked really hard toget it down there,” saidMastrocola, who said that centerforward Meg Anderson, “carriedit into the circle and passed it tome. I shot on goal and scored.”

Five minutes later, Mastrocolawon a scramble inside the circleand scored.

“We used our motivation to getanother goal. We knew we could.It came back off the goalie’spads, and I shot it in the corner,”Mastrocola explained.

“Sometimes it takes us a littlewhile to warm up and get going.Once they finally did and theygot that goal, and they got ittaken away, I think they justcould taste it. They needed toget it back. It was a really evengame. It was back-and-forth, butI think we went after it, and wegot what we wanted,” CoachDurante said.

The Blue Devils added nine morepenalty corners in the secondhalf, and a large portion of thetime, the girls would look to setup links Halsey Urban, who couldpack a wicked shot.

“We have Halsey, but we havea lot of other good girls with goodshots on the circle, so we tried tomix it up. Keep it a little surpris-ing, so they don’t know what’scoming,” Coach Durante said.

Links Meg Anderson was also inon the action.

“She is quiet but deadly,” CoachDurante noted.

The Cougars did have their op-portunities also and put the BlueDevils’ defense to the test wheredefenders Kelly Gray and OliviaPecora were required to deflectseveral shots.

“Kelly came up a few times,way out and made some goodsaves. Olivia Pecora also cameout a lot of times in the middle toget it out of the circle. We needthem to mark up when we are in

the circle and not leave anyoneopen to chance to get their stickon it,” Coach Durante said.

“I think positively, if we seeWestfield again, in our eyes, weall feel we played a pretty roughgame today, so we would like tohave revenge. At least, it was agood lesson to learn. We lookforward to be able to play themagain,” Coach Berkowitz said.Westfield 0 1 1Cranford 0 0 0

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesCOUGAR ATHLETES OF THE WEEK…Senior Andrew Schneider is on theboys soccer team and scored two goals, including the game winner over Bernardslast week. He also had the assist in the game-winning goal over Plainfield. SeniorIzzy Acton, on the girls volleyball team, had 14 kills, a block, a dig and an assistthis past week.

Probitas Verus Honos

See Cranford Field Hockey storyIn The Westfield Leader

More photos – goleader.com

Click “Photo Library”

David B. Corbin for The Westfield Leader and The TimesBATTLING FOR THE BALL…Blue Devil Ali Spera, left, and Cougar JulieSchool attempt to get control of the ball.

BLUE DEVIL HIGH FORWARD EMILY MASTROCOLA SCORES SOLE GOAL WITH 7:48 LEFT

Blue Devils Find Mark, Stop Cougars in Field Hockey, 1-0





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By FRED T. ROSSISpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

CRANFORD — Mayor DanielAschenbach on Tuesday pre-sented certificates of apprecia-tion to a number of townshipdepartments and officials, localutilities and township volunteersand organizations for their ef-forts during and after HurricaneIrene.

Calling the August 27-28 stormand its aftermath an “incredibletragedy for the town,” the mayor,speaking at Tuesday’s townshipcommittee meeting, noted thatmany Cranford homeowners “arestill living on the second floor” oftheir flood-damaged homes whilethey await appraisals and pay-ments from their insurance com-panies. Praising the efforts of

township employees, the mayorsaid, “It didn’t take much forthose who serve you to knowwhat their job was.” And speak-ing of the numerous volunteerswho assisted before, during andafter the storm, the mayor said,“Those who volunteered knewwhere to go” to provide help.

The mayor presented certifi-cates to several township de-partments. Twelve members ofthe police department, includingPolice Chief Eric Mason, accepteda certificate as audience mem-bers stood and applauded. Themayor presented a certificate tothe fire department, citing its“remarkable job” in recruitingresidents and pumping outflooded basements.

The township Department ofPublic Works, along with Town-

ship Engineer Richard Marsden,were presented with certificatesfor their efforts preparing for thestorm and, in its wake, pickingup some 90,000 tons of house-hold and other debris. The mayorpraised the downtown manage-ment corporation for its assis-tance to the business commu-nity, which was affected both bythe flooding and the lack of elec-tricity for several days.

The mayor presented the firstaid squad with a certificate, tell-ing its seven representatives that“we appreciate very much all ofyour efforts.” A representative ofPublic Service Electric & Gas(PSE&G) was given a certificateto acknowledge the utility’s ef-forts in restoring power, whichwas out for several days after thestorm. The township’s buildingdepartment was praised for its“incredible job” in processing sev-eral hundred building permits lastmonth as homeowners began torebuild and repair their houses.

The mayor also praised the staffof TV-35 for their efforts in keep-ing residents informed during thestorm. Mayor Aschenbach alsosingled out for praise Mr. Mason,who also serves as acting town-ship administrator, and Town-ship Attorney Daniel McCarthy,saying they had been “incredibleat serving the community duringthe past month.”

Later in the meeting, MayorAschenbach provided furtherpost-hurricane information, say-ing that the task force lookinginto the future of the municipalbuilding will meet today, Octo-ber 13. The ground floor of thebuilding was severely damagedin the storm, resulting in severalmunicipal offices being relocatedto temporary trailers in the mu-nicipal parking lot. The task forcewill report its recommendationsby late November.

The Rahway River WatershedConference will be held on Friday,

October 21, at Union County Col-lege in an effort to develop floodcontrol solutions in conjunctionwith other towns along the river,both upstream and downstream.And the Army Corps of Engineerswill hold a preliminary presenta-tion on its report regarding thestability of the river’s dike systemon Monday, October 17, with apublic presentation to followshortly afterwards.

In other business, the mayorappointed Carol Berns to the en-vironmental commission, replac-ing Linda MacMenamie, who re-signed. The mayor also remindedresidents that the annual CROPWalk for Hunger will take placeon Sunday, October 23.

During a brief exchange withRepublican township committee

candidate Lisa Adubato, MayorAschenbach defended a letter heincluded with the recently-mailedsewer tax bills after Ms. Adubatoaccused him of using the “trag-edy that’s affected our town” topromote his own re-election pros-pects next month with taxpayerfunds.

The mayor said it was “impor-tant to let residents know we’rethere for them” in the aftermathof the hurricane, and told Ms.Adubato that other mayors hadincluded letters with tax bills. Healso defended the separation ofthe sewer bill, saying that it couldnot be folded back into the over-all municipal budget —subject toa 2-percent state-mandated cap— without cutting 21 municipalpositions.

Auxiliary to Meet Tuesday,Notes Projects For Troops

GARWOOD – The next monthlymeeting of Bayleaf Leonard J.Sanders Memorial Post 6807 La-dies Auxiliary Veterans of For-eign Wars will be held on Tues-day, October 18, at 1 p.m. It willtake place in the Post Home,located at 221 South Avenue inGarwood. All officers and mem-bers are encouraged to attend.

Auxiliary members are askedto bring items to this meeting forbingo for the residents at RunnellsSpecialized Hospital of UnionCounty in Berkeley Heights. Theywill be delivered shortly after-ward.

Additionally, the Auxiliary willcollect Christmas cards for its“Friends of our Troops” program.Cards should be without enve-lopes and should not have glit-ter. The name and address of thesender should be inside the card.For more information, call Auxil-

iary President Catherine Madaraat (908) 789-1105.

The Auxiliary also will send cardswith envelopes to veterans atthe Veterans’ Home in MenloPark. The Auxiliary has been do-ing these activities for the pastfew years for its “Friends of ourTroops” program.

President Madara and TreasurerKathy Dorkoski will attend ameeting this Saturday, October15, at Michael A. Kelly Post 2433in Union. 5th District AuxiliaryPresident Paula A. Wojtczak andher committee will greet Depart-ment President Cecilia Watkins,her officers and chairmen whenshe makes her official visit toDistrict 5.

The Auxiliary expressed appre-ciation to all who worked anddonated to its recent Yard Salefor Cancer Aid and ResearchFund.

Garwood Seniors Gather,Reveal Upcoming Events

GARWOOD – The Garwood Se-nior Citizens Club met October 6at the Garwood Firehouse, with 58members in attendance, and wel-comed Ann York as a new mem-ber. Mary Spina sponsored a va-nilla sheet cake for the club. Mem-bers sang “There’ll be a Hot Timein Garwood Tonight,” with lyricsby Bruce Paterson, and kazoosand harmonica led by Gene Payne.

Garwood Mayor PatriciaQuattrocchi discussed issues suchas the senior bus schedule, ab-sentee ballot applications andthe senior leaf-cleanup program.

The Municipal Alliance break-fast, open to all Garwood se-niors, will take place tomorrow,Friday, October 14, from 9 a.m.to noon at The Westwood inGarwood. Those needing a ridemay call Ann Romano at (908)789-0455.

On Wednesday, November 9,there will be a bus trip to Doolan’s

of Spring Lake for the “Irish WakeShow,” a musical comedy. Thebus will leave the GarwoodFirehouse at 10:15 a.m. and re-turn at 5 p.m. Food and open barwill be included. This also is opento seniors outside of Garwood.For more information, includingthe cost, call Walter Maszczak at(908) 789-1067.

The Garwood Senior ChristmasParty, with food and entertain-ment, will be held on Thursday,December 1, from noon to 4 p.m.at The Westwood. The cost is $15per person. For tickets, call JennieBrowne at (908) 789-0778.

The Garwood Senior CitizensClub meets on the first and thirdThursdays of every month at noonat the Garwood Firehouse, andwill meet next on October 20.Anyone interested in joining maycall Patsy at (908) 789-0835 orask for Dolores if attending aclub meeting.

Cranford Township Committee Honors Hurricane Efforts





By CHRISTINA M. HINKESpecially Written for The Westfield Leader

GARWOOD – Borough Recre-ation Commission Chairman Ri-chard Bree said in a letter toMayor Patricia Quattrocchi thathe found her appointment ofVincent Kearney as a memberto the recreation commissionTuesday night a “political”move. Mr. Kearney’s mother, aRepublican, is a council candi-date this year.

“It has been my intent…to betotally un-political,” the mayorsaid.

“I find it hard to believe someof the appointments aren’t po-litical,” said Scott Kessler, trea-surer of the recreation commis-sion.

Since the mayor was sworn inthis January, two regular seatsand one alternate on the recre-ation commission have beenopen. The mayor filled the firstopening last month, and afterTuesday night’s second appoint-ment, the alternate still remainsunfilled.

Mayor Quattrocchi said sheknows Mr. Kearney and that heis involved with sports, and toldThe Westfield Leader that shehad asked him to become amember of the commission be-fore the names were submittedto her. She said she did notappoint him sooner because shewas waiting for him to confirmthere were no conflicts with hisjob as a police officer for KeanUniversity.

After the meeting adjourned,Councilwoman Sara Todisco, aDemocrat seeking a full three-year council term, told TheLeader four recreation commis-sion members have threatenedto resign because of the mayor’slack of consideration of the fourpeople the commission had sub-mitted in mid-September to fillthe open slot.

She said the mayor did notreach out to the commission toget its feedback on possible resi-dents to fill the positions, a prac-tice Ms. Todisco said was ineffect before Mayor Quattrocchicame on board in January. SinceJuly, she said the recreationcommission had said it hadpeople in mind for the openseats, and submitted names lastmonth.

During the council’s workshopmeeting, Borough EngineerDonald Guarriello said the “DOT(Department of Transportation)project is crawling along,” re-ferring to work being done onthe 200 block of Myrtle Avenue,with 30 percent of the curbingcompleted.

Mr. Guarriello alsorecommended thecouncil hire a site li-censed remediationprofessional (SLRP) tocomplete the oil tankremoval remediationbecause the Depart-ment of Environmen-tal Protection (DEP)is taking too long, andthis person will“streamline” mattersand complete the task“quicker.” He said hereceived two bid pro-posals, one fromSlack for $8,400 andone from Hatch MottMacDonald for$34,000.

The differences hesaid were that oneincluded pricing fora temporary well,and the other a per-manent well, andSlack’s proposal wasto remove five tonsand Hatch MottMacDonald’s was for40 tons, but basedon Slack’s rates hewould figure if 40tons were needed to

be removed than it would onlyramp up its cost some $6,000.He said it would not be knownhow much contaminated soilwould need to be removed untilthe testing is completed by theSLRP.

Members of the council askedthe mayor to address the treestump from the downed tree onOak Street caused by HurricaneIrene, saying it is a liabilityissue.

Last Thursday at North Av-enue and Walnut Street, aminivan accidentally drove intoa pole, causing damage to theborough’s planter and the deco-rative lamppost owned byPSE&G, as well as leaving elec-

trical wires dangling. The poleand electrical wiring is now re-paired. PSE&G is responsiblefor fixing the lamppost and theborough will seek insurance re-imbursement from the driver’sinsurance.

Anne Kettles of Cranford askedthat her father, George Casabona,mayor of Garwood from 1962-1964, along with other mayorswho were “instrumental in erect-ing the Garwood underpass” havea plaque made up with theirnames honoring this legacy.

“My father three-and-a-halfweeks ago almost died,” shesaid. “I feel he should have thisdone before he dies.” The mayorsaid she would speak with her

privately.Many residents asked when

the recreation complex wouldbe completed. The council hasno concrete date, but BoroughClerk Christina Ariemma saidshe expects that the boroughattorney will have completedreviewing the bid specificationsby early next week. Then it willbe advertised for 30 days, andonce the bids are received thecouncil has up to 60 days toaward the bid, and it takes threeweeks to sign a contract. Mr.Guarriello said regarding nextyear’s baseball season, “I thinkwe realized it was going to beone season lost.”

Finance CommitteeChairman Jim Mathieu saidrevenue collections for Sep-tember were “more thandouble” from last Septem-ber at $109,425.

The council unanimouslyapproved a maintenancecontract for a generator.

In a 5-1 vote, with Coun-cilman Mathieu opposing,the council passed theamendment to set fees forborough police officers’work outside of their jobs.“I’m going to vote no on itbecause I don’t understandit,” he said, noting he didnot receive any paperworkabout the amendment. Hesaid the council is “gettinginto a bad habit” of votingwithout full knowledge ofwhat is being voted on.

A representative from theUnion County Utilities Au-thority (UCUA) will addressthe council regarding theextension of the lease withCovanta at the next coun-cil meeting on Tuesday, Oc-tober 25. Garwood is oneof 14 towns with contractswith the UCUA. TheCovanta lease is being ex-tended through 2031.

Garwood Democrats Call Mayor’s Appointment ‘Political’

Courtesy of Gene JannottiDOGGIE DOORMAN...Carol Kearney, while campaigning door-to-door for the Garwood Councilseat, receives a friendly greeting from Max at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Tombs.





ON THE MARCH…The 2nd Rhode Island Volunteers Company D, picturedabove, will recreate Civil War military life at the Crane-Phillips House Museumin Cranford during Union County’s annual “Four Centuries in a Weekend”program on Saturday and Sunday, October 15 and 16.

CRANFORD – The CranfordHistorical Society’s Crane-Phillips House Museum will onceagain participate in UnionCounty’s annual program en-titled “Four Centuries in aWeekend.”

The museum will be open Sat-urday, October 15, from 10 a.m.to 5 p.m. and Sunday, October16, from noon to 5 p.m. TheCranford Historical Society willpresent a Civil War encampmentwith Civil War re-enactors. Mem-bers from the 2nd Rhode IslandVolunteers Company D will dem-onstrate cooking techniques fromthe Civil War as well as medicalprocedures and the use of fire-arms. Volunteer docents will beon hand to speak with visitors

and provide a guided tour of themuseum.

The Crane-Phillips House Mu-seum is available as a local his-tory museum through the ef-forts of volunteers and mem-bers of the Cranford HistoricalSociety. It has received supportfrom the Cranford Historical So-ciety, Union County Freehold-ers, Cranford citizens and theTownship of Cranford.

Various materials about theweekend-long, self-guided tourare available from the UnionCounty Office of Cultural andHeritage Affairs. Materials alsowill be available at many of thesites. A booklet features photo-graphs and information abouteach site with a map showing

St. Anne’s RosariansTo Meet This EveningGARWOOD – St. Anne’s Rosary

Altar Society of Garwood will holdits next regular monthly meetingtonight, Thursday, October 13,at 7:30 p.m. in the Knights ofColumbus Hall, located at 37South Avenue in Garwood. Park-ing is available behind the hall onWillow Avenue.

President Christine Guerrierrowill welcome all members andcall for committee reports. In-stallation of new members tookplace at the Communion Break-fast on October 2.

Chairperson Shirley Swayzewill give a report regarding therecent 67th Annual CommunionBreakfast. Vice-President andProgram Chairperson EleanorSenus has arranged for FatherMatthew Mauriello to be theguest speaker at this meeting.All women of the parish are wel-come to attend. Refreshmentswill be served.

The next Rosary Sunday willbe November 6, with recitationof the rosary at 7:40 a.m., fol-lowed by Mass at 8 a.m.

CRANFORD — Union CountyCollege (UCC) will be hosting aregional conference to explorethe impact of Hurricane Ireneand the potential regional floodcontrol solutions on Friday, Oc-tober 21 at 7 p.m. in the UCCtheater.

Mayor Dan Aschenbach willmoderate the discussion that willinclude: creation of a Regional

Rahway River Flood Control Au-thority; the potential addition orexpansion of regional Bio-Re-tention storage sites; best prac-tice ordinances regarding limit-ing impact of development anddiscussion on whether to dredgeor not to dredge. Guest speak-ers will be announced and citi-zen participation will be encour-aged.

Conference on Rahway River Flood Control

Cranford/Garwood/Area News

the location. For further infor-mation about Union County’s“Four Centuries in a Weekend”program, call the Union CountyOffice of Cultural and HeritageAffairs at (908) 558-2550.

The Crane-Phillips House Mu-seum, located at 124 NorthUnion Avenue in Cranford, isopen September through Juneon Sundays from 2 to 4 p.m. orby appointment. Admission isfree. Founded in 1927, theCranford Historical Society’smission is to preserve and per-petuate the history of Cranford.To see the rest of theorganization’s schedule, visitcranfordhistoricalsociety.comor call its office at (908) 276-0082.

Pumpkin CarvingContest at Hanson ParkCRANFORD – Jersey Central

Art Studios and the HansonPark Conservatory will hostthe Great Pumpkin Carve-Outon Saturday, October 29. Dropoff carved pumpkins from 10a.m. to 3 p.m. at Hanson Parklocated at 38 Springfield Av-enue in Cranford.

Awards will be given for thefunniest, scariest and mostoriginal in age groups 4-8, 9-12, 13-17 and 18-adult.Pumpkins will be on display tothe public from 6-9 p.m. inthe park. Come take a spookywalk. This event is free.

For more information visitjcas.org.

Vehicle Collides with Pole,Causing Traffic Delays

GARWOOD – On October 6 atapproximately 2:35 p.m., theGarwood Police Department re-ceived multiple calls reporting amotor vehicle collision at theintersection of North Avenue(Route 28) and Walnut Street.Officers responded to find that aminivan driven by Michael E.Selby of New Brunswick was in-volved in a one-car accident.Police determined that the ve-hicle had left the roadway whiletraveling eastbound on NorthAvenue. The driver struck a deco-rative light pole before impact-ing with a PSE&G utility pole andthen a decorative concreteplanter, finally coming to restwhen he hit a borough tree.When the vehicle collided withthe utility pole, the pole snappedin half, and the lower part of thepole completely broke free fromthe ground, leaving the over-head live wires which were stillconnected to the upper portionof the broken pole hanging free.The wires remained supportedby the traffic-light stanchion onthe corner and did not hit theground. The Garwood Fire De-partment responded, as didPSE&G, which had to initiateemergency repairs to the pole.During this time, traffic was di-verted onto backstreets asschool was just about to dismiss

students for the day. Studentswere held in school until trafficcould be diverted away from theschool and a safe area for thechildren to cross North Avenuewas established.PSE&G worked throughout thenight and into the early hours toeffect repairs, and the road wasreopened to traffic during thelate evening. No injuries weresustained and the cause of theaccident is under investigation.

Crane-Phillips House to Be Part of ‘Four Centuries’





Our election this year is avery important one. DanAschenbach, a career politi-cian, seeks re-election and asusual claims to have all thesolutions to Cranford’s prob-lems. Based on his history weshould all be very suspiciousof him and his close associa-tion with the Union CountyDemocrat machine that stillhas not kept its promise ofsupport for Cranford’s floodcontrol project. KevinCampbell, who stands to bemayor should Mr. Aschenbachwin the election, is on recordopposing further funding offlood control efforts. Do I haveyour attention yet?

I write as one who servedas: Cranford’s township engi-neer for 11 years; a pro bonoactivist on flood control mat-ters for 28 years; and as anadvisor and member of theFlood Advisory Committee. Iwrite as a 93-year elder, hav-ing 70 years of diverse engi-neering and military experi-ence as a U.S. Naval Ord-nance Officer (World War II)as an engineer, and as onewho has experienced the crispdecision making of the mili-tary that has served me wellduring my professional ca-reer.

I also write as one who dur-ing his tenure as townshipengineer saw four major floodcontrol projects initiated andcompleted, relieving manyresidents from the ravages ofchronic flooding. (Theseprojects do not include con-struction of the Gregory A.Sgroi Pump Station on River-side Drive.) I believe thatthese factors qualify me to

challenge many of Mr.Aschenbach’s absurd state-ments and rambling letters tothe editor inflicted upon thepublic during the past twodecades.

Mr. Aschenbach’s failures fallinto these categories: inabil-ity to make tough decisions;always wanting to restudyprograms designed by provenprofessionals; always cavinginto the NIMBY (Not In MyBack Yard) mentality; secondguessing; and a tendency formaking intemperate, arbi-trary, false and unreasonablestatements.

For example, when foureasements were required forthe construction of the ex-press sewer from BrookdaleRoad to the Rahway River, hebegged and pleaded onbended knee, but it took himfive years to acquire the foureasements. In a matter ofweeks my staff and I obtainedthe 32 easements for theBrookside detention basin anddownstream channel.

For the alignment of the ex-press sewer, he caved to theNIMBY mentality and causeda restudy for a “better” align-ment. The cost was $20,000and consumed several monthswhile yielding nothing posi-tive.

During March 2001, Mr.Aschenbach and members ofhis majority questioned thecompetence of Killam Associ-ates (a leading engineeringfirm in New Jersey and be-yond) to continue with ourflood control program.Aschenbach retained CampDresser & McKee to “evalu-ate” Killam Associates. This

action cost $32,000, pushedthe project into 2002, andconfirmed the competence ofKillam.

On April 30, 2002, voting ona resolution prepared by mebefore the Flood AdvisoryCommittee to approve theKillam alignment of the ex-press sewer, Mr. Aschenbachsupported it enthusiastically.When it came time for theofficial vote by the TownshipCommittee on August 13,2002, Aschenbach “flipflopped” and voted for a “po-litical” alignment with two mi-nority and renegade Republi-cans.

These four blunders cost thetownship $102,000, delayedthe express sewer project bymore than two years, and sub-sequently decreased the valueof the $9.25-million bond or-dinance by $757,666 due toescalation of costs (Engineer-ing News Record, a respectedconstruction publication.).These delays prevented com-pleting the overall flood con-trol project and caused coststo escalate exponentially.

When the township acquiredthe Dr. Hanson property onSpringfield Avenue and therewas discussion of its best use,Mr. Aschenbach proposed an

“office park.” Imagine multi-story buildings with hugeparking lots in a prime resi-dential area.

On February 26, 1998(Cranford Chronicle), Mr.Aschenbach writes of remov-ing silt from the river on a“cost benefit basis,” and hisadvisors tell him that remov-ing silt from the river is onlyof aesthetic value, despite evi-dence to the contrary.

He has made many irrespon-sible statements on flood con-trol, such as he did before theFlood Advisory Committee,stating that the Killam floodcontrol plan would managethe Floyd flood of September16, 1999, for which there isno solution. That was an ab-solutely irresponsible state-ment – blatantly false and afabrication.

Similarly, his April 18, 2002letter to the Chronicle spokeof improving the flow of theRahway River by 20 percent,apparently by waving a magicwand at it.

His procrastinations, secondguessing, and delays havecost taxpayers nearly a mil-lion dollars and preventedcompletion of Phase II A andB – that is, the pump stationand all storm sewers whichhave to be connected to thepump station for maximumefficiency.

This upcoming electionshould be about accountabil-ity and responsibility. I sup-port the candidates thatpledge to be accountable, re-sponsible and to make floodcontrol a priority in Cranford.

Gregory SgroiCranford

A Letter to the Editor – Above

We Should All Be Very Suspicious of Aschenbach and His Ties to UC Dems

WELCOME…Board members Alice Dillon and Garth Sandiford will welcomeguests at the 10th annual Westfield Community Players theater party to benefitThe Counseling Centers for Human Development in Cranford, to be held Friday,October 21. Refreshments will be served throughout the evening starting at 7p.m., with curtain at 8 pm. Tickets are available by calling (908) 276 0590 from9-2, or (908) 233 9374 any time. The benefit will provide funding for those whoneed but cannot afford to receive therapy.

Documents

Ballyhoo - The Westfield Leader · Ballyhoo Submit commentary ... Cranford High School football team at Memorial Field on October 6. ... “Our defense is the backbone of our season,