Something Marvelous!

Attention Englewood Community: 

Merrick learned to use the shovel and the wheel barrow.
He is leveling the soil in the 4th and 5th Grade bed.
All of the beds in that section were donated and are
being used as a Teaching Garden.
It is our Community STEAM Education Project.
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)

You may see empty boxes in the Lewis Becote Historic Community Garden, 
but they have been donated as our Teaching Garden to be used with our
Englewood 4 - H Club Chapter. There is much to be done there including the engineering and building of a little PVC greenhouse over at least 1 bed to lengthen the growing season and to start plants in the spring. We have a plan that has been in the works for nearly 2 years.

All of the beds that you see are taken.
6 more are to be constructed.
Only 5 of those 6 are available.

Remember that this is a true Community Garden.
You are agreeing to work as a Community and not as ONE
when you make your donation.

This does not mean that you may not work in the garden alone
or with just your family group. It means that work that affects the
entire garden is shared by all.

This donation covers the wood, landscape cloth, 
wood chips

screws and nails, if we are lucky.
We all work together to make
sure that each gardener has what he she needs.

We have been lucky so far. The nails are very expensive.
The labor was donated.
The County Parks Employees and Bergen County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan
have been invaluable in the building process.
As soon as the soil is moved into the existing boxes,
we will have space to put the final 6 boxes.

Many people have asked to save them boxes/beds.
It does not work that way.
You have a box when we have your donation in hand.
We/the Community are paying for everything.
We expect everyone to pitch in and work for the good of the whole garden
Community and not just for your bed.
It is indeed, a Community Garden.

We still need a fence.
We still need a sign.

We still need compost bins that add aesthetic beauty to the neighborhood.
We are adding to the existing beauty of the 4th Ward.

Contrary to public opinion
The gardening does not end
During the months that you see nothing growing,
work is still being done.

Gardening, like the Educating of your children
is a labor of love that never ends.

It is the dream of a few of us to build a Community Garden

in every Ward and every District.
We now have 2 in the 4th Ward.
1 is in District 2 and the other is in District 3.

Join us in the dream.
We shall always need food.
We shall always need the beauty that flowers, shrubbery, fruit trees,
and bushes that are nurtured by dedicated gardeners bring to our everyday lives.

It is a Community STEAM Education Project.
(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)

Talk the talk, and walk the walk, for real, no fronting.

When children work like
this and still smile
You know
that you are on
to something marvelous.

How are the children?

A Time For Healing Prayer On The Great Lawn of Dwight Morrow High School

Various persons have chosen to contribute time, money and/or labor to the goal of creating a lasting historical monument of place at 206 Lafayette Place, Englewood, NJ. That is the address listed for the site of the garden that may be more than a Century Old. Ebenezer Baptist Church Pastor Jovan Davis has been passing the garden on a daily basis since the first sign of twine was used to rope off the placement of the beds. The Historic Garden is right up the block from the House of Worship. It is less than a block away from the 3rd Street Community Garden. Today, Pastor Davis pitched in and spent some time in the garden talking to neighbors and helping to move some soil from one place to another place where it is needed. We were more than happy to welcome Pastor Davis to the Lewis Becote Historic Community Garden. We are hoping that more of Englewood's Ministers, School Board Members, Teachers and other elected officials will follow Pastor Davis' lead.  Come to the Garden.

There were questions about prayer vigils around town. Before Michael Brown and before Eric Garner, Pastor Davis and members of Ebenezer's Prayer Ministry were leading by example. Prayer's will more than likely now extend beyond Englewood to the families of both Michael Brown and Eric Garner. Such tragedies should never be. 

Pastor Davis:

"I am just really trying to bring Ebenezer out of 

the building and into our community. I want to become well entrenched in the matters of my community. I truly want to be a community pastor."

The next Prayer

"..the Intercessory Prayer will be on the great lawn at the high school Wednesday, August 27, 2014. We have been gathering throughout the community all summer on Wednesday praying. We also sent a press release about it a while back..."

Prayers begin promptly at 7 pm and end at 7:30 pm.

Place: Dwight Morrow High School

274 Knickerbocker Road

Englewood, New Jersey

On the Great Lawn

What is an Intercessor?

in·ter·ces·sor (ˈintərˌsesər/) noun = An intercessor is a person who intervenes on behalf of another, especially by prayer. "they rejected the notion that an intercessor was needed to appeal to God"

Intercession is the act of interceding (intervening or mediating) between two parties. In Christian religious usage, it is a prayer to God on behalf of others.[1] In western forms of Christian worship, intercession forms a distinct form of prayer, alongside Adoration, Confession and Thanksgiving. In public worship, intercession is offered as prayer for the world beyond the immediate vicinity and friendship networks of the church community. As such, intercession constitutes part of the worshiping community's engagement with otherness, as it expresses Christians' solidarity with those who are 'other' than themselves. 

In doing so, a church both appeals to, and seeks to embody, God's own love for the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercession)

Intercessors have also been described as (those ‘Standing in the Gap, Watching and Guarding the Gate)

Pastor Davis explained.  "We gathered throughout the summer. 

Beginning in July. We started at Ebenezer. 

Then we went to:

• Palisade Ave between MCDONALD'S and the old Sprint Store
• City Hall
• Mackay Park    
• Wides Corner 
• The Monument  
• Rock Creek
• Dwight Morrow HS."

It was dark when Pastor Davis left the garden. During his time there, he communicated casually with Community members who live very near and across town. We will be on the Great Lawn at DMHS @ 7 pm tomorrow night, will you?

The young man in the photo above visits the garden
whenever the volunteers appear.

Esther Santiago Babb and her entire family work very hard in the
Historic Garden.

And then we lost the light....

Thank you for thinking of the rest of us. 

Pastor Davis, Ebenezer Baptist Church Prayer Ministry Thank you. 

The world is a better place, because people like you are standing in the GAP, watching and guarding the GATE.

What will Light Rail Do For the Average Homeowner?

Wow! There is nothing like spending money on something we really need like Light Rail. My high school Social Studies Teacher recently told me that he loved Englewood, but that he can't get people to move here, because there is no train. He has turned suave Realty Agent and thinks a train will help him sell real estate. I liked him better as a History teacher.

Negligence.

How do you like that idea? 
What does Tenafly have that makes them know
that they do not need a train? Smarter people?
They are considering an Academy (STEM) that does not segregate their high school.
How about improving the Englewood school system?
How about doing away with the segregated school system that takes ability tracking to a new level of unfair and neglect?

Why not get rid of the segregated swimming pool situation that is becoming an increasingly big problem? 
Did you think we would not notice that crap shoot?
How about the 8 basketball teams that were created so the Ethnic Groups do not have to mix it up by playing together on the same team. I thought it was clear that we do not infect others with color or melanin.

How about demonizing an entire generation of children, because they choose NOT to tie themselves to a major beginning in the 9th grade?
How about depriving 12 years of DMHS students of the privilege of having a campus wide Student Council or Student Government?
How about only allowing Academy Program teachers to teach honors classes?
How about refusing to accept even the idea of STEM Education when the rest of the world is embracing

it?
How about coddling a group of irate, biased, and bigoted out of town parents and students who say "out loud" that they do not care about integration?
How is it okay that they verbalize this concept in public, without shame?
Why do they refuse to walk the halls with our children?
How about allowing out of town students, whose education we supplement to the tune of over 2 million dollars a year demand a separate building, because they have earned it with higher test scores?
Why are they allowed to preach "academic segregation" in our town, on our high school campus, funded by our tax dollars?

How about putting our pre-school babies and kindergarten children in trailers while they build a million dollar office building/garage/shed to house the buses and a Commercial vendor called Pritchard?
When did we begin to ignore stipulations in deeds to gifted land given forever as athletic fields or parks? I am still waiting to see that PERMIT that is necessary when installing sewage lines on the "shoulder of a

Negligence.

stream" in the wetlands/flood hazard area. I wonder where
our Environmental Commission stands on this  issue.
Was it a coincidence that the Environmental Commission was killed and not allowed to meet until after the School Board got the yes vote to build on the shoulder of a stream without the proper permits?

How about forcing our Alternative School Students to endure a substandard, built for Elementary age children building with no ADA access and electrical outlets that shut down the entire building when air conditioners are used. 
Do you think that perhaps the School Board has determined that if they get permission from the state to actually use this building that they will be forced to put aside money in the budget that must be used to construct or provide a permanent structure? Ah, the value of reading.

How about taking better care of what we have and making Englewood more well kept in all Wards?

What about understanding that basing the town's economy on the very insecure and unstable restaurant business is not working? I spoke with a former colleague who referred to Palisade Avenue as Restaurant Way. We also noted how fast the turnover rate is. Here today, gone tomorrow. Gee Wizzz. Ya think?

What about building high rent apartments and condominiums that remain empty, because few people can afford the rent?

What about raising the rents on businesses to double in one year in order to drive them out leaving stores empty for far too long? Is the former Woolworth building haunted or is the owner just plain old greedy? 

What about giving Tax Abatements to the big developers while sending the average homeowner into the throes of Regressive Taxation, while paying top dollar  for the few services available.

"The City Council awarded a $19,600 contract to Remington, Vernick and Arango Engineers to review the NJ Transit Traffic Study — Light Rail in Englewood. Services from the consultant will include review, coordination, presentations and meetings. - See more at: http://www.northjersey.com/news/englewood-is-hiring-light-rail-consultant-1.1050809#sthash.qomdOBtc.dpuf

Who is going to pay for this study?
Where is the money coming from to pay for Light Rail? They tell me that the Department of Transportation will foot the bill.
Where does the Department of Transportation get money? From us.
There is only 1 POT of money and it is collected from us.
What are we going to do with the extra traffic?
Do we really need to spend this much money to know that we will have gridlock? 
Do we really need to splurge on some consulting company who will come up with the exact same information they were told to produce?
It  is just another paid Think Tank being told what to think.

Did we need to pay a consultant to lead the Rink Task Force to the conclusion that we were going to put $200,000 in the budget for the running and maintenance of the Rink? We have not had a single meeting concerning any other activity that will take place in the John T. Wright Arena. Not one. Stop pretending. You are gonna do what you are gonna do anyway.

How do we accommodate the extra cars since we will lose parking spaces?
How are we going to protect our school children down in the area where the station that they say is not a station will be located? This is the Durie Avenue area. You know where the school bus burned to a crisp outside our Elementary School.  Grieco and McCloud Elementary School children will all be impacted by this new situation. What, if anything will the benefit be to their parents? More worry that one of them will wind up under a car......?

What is different about this, yet again, another fact finding mission where the destination has already been mapped out by the people spending our money?
What makes everyone think that loads of people will suddenly 
decide to come to Englewood, because

Negligence.

there is a train?

When people go to sight seeing Destinations, they expect to see spectacular stuff.
They do not expect to see a town where the residents are treated poorly in school, around the pools, in recreation programs, sports activities and inside some of these stores that seem hell bent on catering to fake fingernail Kim Khardashian wannabe types.

Is this the 1930's?

Do the Elected Officials and City Fathers realize that the situation at the pools mirror situations in places like East Orange where the pool was filled in and covered over, because whites did not wish to swim with blacks? Unsavory conditions have been allowed to fester in facilities that have not been maintained for years. Services have been taken away that came with the original facility. If the people of Teaneck could find a way to have everybody use the pool without riots, why can't Englewood do the same? Oh, and what is up with certain groups being able to use the Middle School facilities as was the plan and custom when the pool was first constructed?

Is this the 1940's?

How do the rest of you feel about City Employees that we pay 6 figures and more threatening to close facilities if usage does not increase? Meanwhile, conditions have been allowed to exist that will drive any sane person away, while fees rise.
Now isn't that rich? How do you like it when a City Councilman stresses that he has lowered pool fees? He has also decreased the days that you may use the pool by 3 days. Did he do you any favors? Did he actually raise the pool fees?

Is this the 1950's?

We have a high school where students and parents do not wish to walk the same halls as children they believe are not as smart as they are. What year is this and is this really America?

I know that it is not the 1960's, because the conditions were better for people of color then. There was a Community House with programs and activities for children and teenagers. There was an open gym where one could play basketball. I lived next door to the Memorial House for a time and nurtured a love of African Dance while listening to the drumming. St. Paul's Church had a teen program and a basement room called the Hatch that was very popular. Dwight Morrow High School had a campus inclusive school newspaper, magazine, student council, student government and countless other clubs. The Marching Band looked regal high stepping in their dress uniforms, and the color guard (Starlettes, I think they were called) was awesome. The steel drums filled the City with awe inspired listeners. I was new in town. I had just arrived from the deeply segregated south where one dared not look a white person in the face. They called that "eye balling". One might actually get themselves killed for "eye balling" a white person. They tell me that I arrived just weeks after a riot. They tell me that the Republicans ran Englewood then. I really don't care about party systems. I care about what is fair to all people. 

Someone please explain to this southern born realist the difference between that deep south philosophy and the one that is prevalent on the Dwight Morrow High School campus right now. I had to move all the way to New Jersey, grow to a ripe old age to witness some History teacher indoctrinate students to the concept that slavery was uncompensated labor.

Is this the 1800's?

Our priorities are severely twisted. I don't care about the train. I care about children. I want to make sure that it does not dump more traffic into the areas surrounding our Schools. No one has been able to convince me that it won't. The Master Plan barely dealt with the schools. My first question was why it seems that there is no high school in the year 2025. 

I watched a child get hit by an automobile in front  of the Middle School a few months ago. I still hear that sound in my head.

I know where they can put their light rail. 

Destinations usually have good stuff to show off. So you want to show off this, huh?
http://www.northjersey.com/news/englewood-is-hiring-light-rail-consultant-1.1050809

Why is this building still empty? 

Swimming Lessons Anyone!?

At last night's City Council Meeting, I was chastised for making the following post on Facebook. This was the 2nd time in less than 2 weeks that I have been bullied for writing the truth as I see it. These 2 attempts are taking away my freedom of speech should not go unnoticed. What will happen when it is you?

The parent in question emailed the photos to our 4th Ward Councilman. That is as it should be, especially since little action is taken when the other route is taken. There is no law that says Gene Skurnick must know everything before anyone else. Every resident of this City should be fully aware of the conditions of the Tryon Avenue pool. The conditions of this pool have been known for years. This is what happens when a facility is not maintained in 40 years. Last night, Adam Brown spoke again, at length about Englewood being a Destination. This is what I have to say to that theory.

"Keeping the Residents of Englewood happy (that includes 3rd and 4th Warders) creates a healthy climate and culture in the City of Englewood. The Culture and Climate of a City makes it a more attractive place to spend money. The maintaining of Recreational Facilities must be a priority. Why would out of town people want to use Englewood as a Destination when it is more than obvious that the Residents are treated like 3rd and 4th class citizens, both in the School System and in the Municipality? No one wants to visit and spend their hard earned cash in a town that is being allowed to slide into blight. Tryon Avenue pool is just another example of what has been allowed to happen wholesale around town. We must take pride in what we have, otherwise people outside of town will never see us as a viable Destination. Those expensive living units south of route 4 and the ones planned on the Lincoln School site will remain empty if people do not have the confidence that Englewood has a good school system and viable, safe recreational activities for their children. The fact remains that our elected officials seem intent on outsourcing students and residents to their own advantage. What exactly is that plan? What has been left out of Master's Plan?  Answer: The Current Residents of Englewood."

Facebook Post
#SurvivalSummit2014 Does the 3rd Ward Councilman intentionally neglect Ward 3 District 4, because he seldom gets the majority vote in that area? I informed him that Tryon Avenue by the middle school should be blocked off during school hours. I personally saw a child hit by a motor vehicle and the only reason there was not a fatality is because the child fell down on top of the hood of the vehicle.

Mr. Skurnick was only concerned that the parents should use common sense when crossing the children and that teachers should line up across the street to cross the gym classes onto Herring Field. He even suggested that I speak to a School Board Member that resides in the 1st Ward. That seems a bit crazy since we have 3 school Board Members who live in walking distance of the middle school. During all of his gesticulations and loud talk in the produce section of Shoprite, he never asked me if the child was okay.

The photos below were sent to me by a parent. This parent's child is in the swim classes at Tryon Pool. This parent is worried that the photos below depict a situation dangerous for children and adults. I agree.

Anyone who continuously votes for Mr. Skurnick and does NOT demand his attention in 3/4 has already surrendered to the madness and consented to being a slave. There is a City Council Meeting tonight.

Municipal Court
73 S. Van Brunt Street
7:30 pm

It is summertime, and the living is not easy.

http://www.cityofenglewood.org/filestorage/1441/1760/2267/1405/1953/6440/6442/06-24-2014_Agenda.pdf

Did you know that our Board of Education has supposedly denied Residents who use the pool access to the facilities in the Middle School Gymnasium? The pool was  built with the understanding that the dressing rooms were in the middle school locker room. The law requires that there be a shower available and a changing space. When did the Tryon Pool change hands from the Board of Education where facilities were in compliance to where they are not?  Why are our children required to cross a busy street and use an unsupervised rest room without changing facilities?  There are just too many questions.

http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/phss/recbathing.pdf

http://www.cpe.rutgers.edu/eph/njac/Title-8-Chapter-26-Public-recreational-bathing.pdf