TV PRODUCTION COMPANY LOOKING FOR AN HISTORIC HOME TO FACE LIFT

DI PIETRO FOODS, A SPRINGFIELD AVENUE MAINSTAY, TO CLOSE AND PERHAPS RELOCATE

With a new 30-unit apartment building going into the Springfield Avenue location that has housed Di Pietro Foods for more than 40 years, it was clear the great Italian food shop would have to close or move.

Now comes word on their Facebook page that that will be happening.

See below:

We will be closing our store on Saturday, September 10th.
We would like to take this opportunity to extend a most heartfelt thank you all of our customers who have visited our store over the last 41+ years. To those of you who we see on a daily or weekly basis, you are not just customers to us, but you are family. For that, we are forever grateful and we treasure these relationships.

A tremendous thank you, as well, to Maplewood – it is truly our home. We feel very blessed and fortunate to have been a part of this wonderful community for so long – four generations, in fact!
We hoped for a seamless transition to a new location; that did not work out, but our plan IS, indeed, to reopen. 

This is very bittersweet for us. To say we are sad about closing our Maplewood storefront is an understatement, but we very much look forward to what the future holds. Please feel free to call in/leave us whatever contact information you feel is the best way to reach you and we will be happy to contact you as soon as we are reopening. We will keep our Facebook page as updated as possible.

We hope that whether you’ve stopped in once or if you are a regular customer that we have made your experience a unique and memorable one. Thank you for all of our wonderful memories. We look forward to making more!

Mille grazie!
Lucy, Alfonso, Josephine, and Jennifer

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER VALLEY STREET CLOSURE

From Maplewood Police:

Valley St. between Millburn Ave. and Tuscan Rd. will be closed today from 9AM to 5PM. Follow posted detours and expect delays.

NEW FIELD FEES GO INTO EFFECT

We told you in July about the Township's plan to introduce a new field user fee to help raise money for park and field maintenance.

Now it's official and the Township has issued a notice to alert you.
See below:

As some of you are well aware of by now, a new township ordinance has been passed stating that there will be a new "Field usage fee" for all activities taking place in DeHart, Maplecrest, Memorial, and Borden fields.  These new fees will go to future repairs, renovations and maintenance to our parks and fields. For Maplewood and South Orange residents, in addition to any current registration fee, a "field use fee" in the amount of $20.00 will be added on each participant registering for a department sponsored activity or program at the fields stated above. For any Non-resident's in addition to any registration fee, a "field use fee" in the amount of $40.00 will be added to each participant registering for a department sponsored activity or program.

To view or print a copy of the new township "field use fee" ordinance, they are available on the Maplewood Township website, www.maplewoodnj.org located under the government tab, you will find a secondary tab "ordinances". please click 2016 ordinances, and look for ordinance number 2819-16. In addition we are attaching a copy of ordinance 2819-16 to this email.

For any further information about this topic, please feel free to contact the Recreation Department (973-763-4202) or Maplewood Town Hall, 574 Valley Street, Maplewood, NJ 07040 telephone number (973) 762-1934.

FALL COOKING CLASSES OPEN

From the Township:

Registration is currently open for the Maplewood Fall 2016 Recreation Cooking Classes.  All classes are held at the Maplewood Community Center, 120 Burnett Avenue.  They are all drop off classes.  Emphasis will be on the Fall Season including: Jewish New Year, Octoberfest, Halloween and Thanksgiving.  Holiday baking classes will focus on the December holiday season.

 Mini Chef  Thursdays 4 - 5 PM begins Thursday Sept.29th and runs for 7 weeks for $105.00 for children 5 - 8 years old. 9/29 - 11/17 ( no class 11/10) 
Junior Chef Tuesdays 4 - 5:15 PM begins Tuesday Sept. 27th  and runs for 6 weeks for $110.00 for children in grades 3 - 5.  9/27 - 11/15 ( no classes 10/4 & 11/8).
Chef in Training Wednesdays 4 - 5:30 PM begins Wednesday Sept.28th and runs for 8 weeks for $130.00  for children in grades 5 - 8.  9/28 - 11/16.( no class 10/12)

CHS RANKING JUMPS TO 64TH STATEWIDE IN NJ MONTHLY SURVEY

Columbia High School has been ranked 64th best high school in the state in the new top 100 public high schools selected by New Jersey Monthly.

That is an increase from the 96th ranking CHS received in the last survey in 2014.

The list, in the upcoming September issue, ranks high schools based on student-teacher ratio, AP classes, AP testing, arts classes, graduation rate and percentage of students attending four-year colleges.

See the information HERE.

YEAH, MORE VALLEY STREET ROAD CLOSURES TODAY

From Maplewood Police:

EXPECT ROAD CLOSURES IN THE VALLEY ST. AREA TODAY.
CHECK TWP. WEBSITE FOR DETAILS. PLAN ALTERNATE ROUTE

WHERE ARE THE CHS GRADS GOING TO COLLEGE THIS FALL?

Columbia High School graduates from the Class of 2016 are attending 161 different colleges and universities this fall, from Adelphi to Yale and from New Jersey to California to London. 

The annual list of college-bound students finds a wide variety of schools being entered by CHS grads, with most students being the only person from their class to attend a certain university.

See the full list HERE.

It includes seven students attending Ivy League colleges, with others going to the likes of Duke University, Colgate University, California Polytechnic, Fordham University, and Syracuse University.

The college with the most 2016 CHS graduates is Union County College at 20, followed closely by Rutgers University with 19. Other top choices are Essex County College at 17, William Paterson with 11, New York University with nine and Kean University at eight.

Seven Cougar grads chose to stay close to home at Seton Hall University, while 11 are going to William Paterson University, six are attending Montclair State University, and five are at the New Jersey Institute of Technology.   

Eight students are attending schools focused on the performing arts, with another eight attending colleges related to art or fashion.