The Lyndhurst Historical Society at 400 Riverside Avenue
The Lyndhurst Historical Society is an interesting look into the early history of both the town of Lyndhurst, NJ and Bergen County. The museum shows how we moved from the agricultural era to the modern era in just one generation. The growth of the county really accelerated after the Civil War into the 1920’s.
Lyndhurst Schoolhouse grounds
The Lyndhurst Schoolhouse historic marker
A child’s statue in the gardens on the grounds of the museum.
The building itself is built on the original 1804 school house that was torn down for the newer one built in 1893. The unique part of the museum’s history is that the building was used as a…
The Carlstadt Historical Firehouse Museum at Division & Sixth Street
The Carlstadt Historical Firehouse Museum is run by the Carlstadt Historical Society houses a remarkable collection that includes archival photographs, written documents, new articles, clothing and other items that bring the borough’s colorful history to life. You can find everything from 1930’s era school pennants to early 20th Century fife and drum corps uniforms to a vintage breathalyzer used by the police department. The collection is housed on two floors of the town’s old firehouse from 1907.
The museum’s Pipe & Drum Corps display on the Second Floor Gallery
The first floor of the museum is dedicated to the War effort with memorabilia from residents who fought in WWI and WWII, articles…
On the afternoon of June 10th, 2023, the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association sponsored our annual barbecue which we sponsor each June for residents and their families at the NJ State Firemen’s Home in Boonton, NJ. With the COVID restrictions slowly being lifted, families were finally able to join us for the occasion which makes these events special. This annual picnic is paid for the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association with the generosity from fire departments all over Bergen County.
We lucked out with a sunny, warm day and this got residents and their families outside to enjoy the nice weather and a wonderful food. The members of the kitchen staff along with our member and grill master, NJ State Firemen’s Association President Bob Ordway, cooked a wonderful barbecue lunch that included chili, hamburgers, hot dogs, ribs, potato and cole slaw salads, corn on the cob, baked beans…
In my live classes, I open my consulting company, “Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.”, for business and the whole class bands together and we have one big project. In the era of post-COVID and online learning, I was lucky that I was able to teach one of the live classes on the Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus. It was such a pleasure welcoming students back to campus with live lectures and conversing with them.
The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. corporate logo of the six trees
In the past, I have created these projects under the Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. banner, the main consulting company, the Orion Malls banner, a Mall design company and the Buscomonzefi.com banner, my Tech Division. Each business does its best to be creative, forward thinking and have a thought producing presentations. I also challenge the students to top on another in their presentations and build on what they have seen others do in the past.
Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.
This time around I got a request from a fellow professor who wanted to promote Gallery Bergen, our on-campus art gallery, for outside tourism. I liked the challenge of that because I have used Gallery Bergen in the past for cocktail parties and gatherings in my other projects such as Welcome Week, Homecoming and visiting the campus. I had always opened my events or included Gallery Bergen in some way in the past projects.
Now Professor Tim Blunk, the art professor who runs the gallery, gave us the challenge of how-to bring people from the Bergen County community into the gallery for the then current Faith Ringgold exhibition “From Jones Road”. Since I had so many students in the class, I thought about a competition between three groups as I had for the “Caribe Cafe” project in which each group would a presentation on the same subject, but I thought we really needed to promote other parts of campus as well.
The interview with Professor Tim Blunk on Gallery Bergen. The inspiration for this project.
So I added The Bergen Room, our Culinary Department’s student dining room and the Ciccone Theater and the Theater Department. I asked all the professors who are involved in these different departments, and they were all enthusiastic about the project. They have been helpful in many of my projects over the last decade.
This time around I had an Executive Team to run the whole show. In the ‘Caribe Cafe’ concept, I had Team Leaders run each Team but with no one in charge of the whole project. I needed an Executive Team to run the presentation, put the website together, put the Team Wrap Up party at the end of the project together and create the budget.
I was very lucky in that one of my students had been the Team Leader for Marketing for our “Springfest” project was in my Marketing class and I knew who was going to get the top spot (and as the CEO/Co-Founder of Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc I know who’s talented). I picked another student whose “Be a tourist in your own Town” paper on Dumont was excellent to be the Senior Vice-President of Operations. Both ladies work was wonderful and could not have been more professional. They both did an excellent job on putting the whole project together and running the presentation.
The President and Senior Vice-President of Operations ran the presentation, engaged with the Executive Team their ideas for the Office Space for the Team and their ideas for the Wrap-Up Party. Their ideas were well received by the Team.
Then each Team presented their section of the project which consisted of ideas to promote their site, presentation of their commercial and their interview with the professor who ran that division of campus. Each Team member discussed their section of the project and the ideas they had to bring in more of the Bergen County community to the college.
The Proposal for the project “It’s Cultural on Campus”:
CEO Professor Justin Watrel with President Valery Cardona and SVP of Operations Rachel Montpellier and their Team of Vice-Presidents and Team Leaders and Members.
The day of the presentation since it had to be done during the day all four of the professors who assisted in the project were in classes but one parent did show up and she was the one who took our picture. That made me happy.
The presentation was wonderful as each group presented their ideas to better advertise and promote each facility to the Bergen County and beyond target market of customers. The student dining room was presenting lunch each Thursday afternoon at 11:00am, the Faith Ringgold exhibition was in full swing at Gallery Bergen and the Theater Department was promoting their showcase so there was a lot going on at the Bergen Community College campus. The students presented the way to get people there.
We had a small Q & A because there were just two of us there. This was followed by a light reception for the students before they had to head to their next classes and work. I could not have been more proud of a group of students accomplishing this project.
Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. headquarters thanks you too!
Commercials:
The Gallery Bergen Team:
An Excellent job promoting the “Faith Ringgold” exhibition (in Spanish)
The Bergen Room Team:
The Ciccone Theater Team:
We got to see part of the latest production from the theater and interview with the director
You can see the interviews with the Professors for each department on the full presentation.
I wanted to thank Professors Tim Blunk of Gallery Bergen, Professor Jim Bumgardner of the Theater Department & Ciccone Theater and Professor Rhonda Drakeford and Chef/Professor Aaron Morrisey for their assistance in making this project the success it was for the students. A special thank you to my boss, Dr. Pierre Laguerre for his constant support on making these projects possible.
A big congratulations to the Marketing Team. You are the ones that brought the project to life!
I have always loved Easter. It is my favorite holiday even over Christmas. It is a more relaxing time of year and there is not the rushing around that the Christmas holidays bring. Both work and graduate classes were taking up so much of my time that it was nice to just relax on Easter and have dinner with my family. It didn’t really turn out that way but I got a lot accomplished and it ended up being a productive weekend.
Classes at NYU have been tough as there have been so many projects to do and the semester ends the second week of May. I have never seen time fly by like this. I would have thought the semester would have ended closer to Memorial Day Weekend but it ends much earlier and everyone is scrambling to get their work done. I was able to sneak down to Washington DC last Sunday to see the Cherry Blossoms in bloom and this time around I got to see them.
My blog on “Visiting the Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC Day Two Hundred and Thirty-Two”:
The Cherry Blossoms in Washington DC the week before
They bloom so much earlier than the festival (almost two weeks) and last year the basin was loaded with people looking at bare trees. Everyone was taking pictures under the dozen or so trees that were the last species to bloom (the same ones in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden) and you could barely take a picture without a dozen people pushing you out of the way. At least this year the storms did not disrupt all the petals.
The Cherry Blossom at the basin and the crowds following them
Even though it was for one day, the trip to Washington DC is always a treat. I was looking forward though to seeing the other great Cherry Blossom displays in both Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ and the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in Brooklyn, NY. Those always follow this display and are just as spectacular.
It was Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ that was in full peak bloom this week. I was able to get to the park later in the afternoon around 4:00pm when the crowds started to thin out. I did not realize that the Visitors Center and parking lot were closed for renovation. That really backed up traffic in the park and there were wall to wall people by that section of the park. I parked toward the entrance (always a good move) and was able to walk all sections of the park with no problems. What surprised me but didn’t shock me was the behavior of people towards the Cherry Trees.
Branch Brook Park in Newark, NJ at Park Avenue & Lake Street
Just like in DC the week before, people were climbing all over the trees, tugging on the branches, pulling off the blossoms and sticking in their hair and pockets or just taking the branches home. Even with all the signs, people just don’t listen. I never really thought about it until I started taking classes at NYU and was learning about the concept of over-tourism. People really have no consideration for the world around them and abuse the very things that they are there to see. I was constantly walking into someone’s picture from every angle.
The brilliance of Mother Nature in full bloom
Still the park was beautiful and the trees and shrubs were at the peak of bloom and that made it special to me. I still remember coming here with my dad every year and then we would go to Rutt’s Hut in Clifton, NJ for a hot dog after our visit. I never remember it being as busy as it is today but this was before 2010 and the IPhone was not as prevalent as it is now. It is amazing how social media has really changed this park.
The crowds in the late afternoon in Branch Brook Park
I just walked along the paths by myself enjoying the Spring day and admiring the trees and flowers of the park. I had never seen it at its peak and it was truly brilliant. I had never see the blossoms so vibrant and the colors so strong. It was Mother Nature at its peak and it only lasts for about a week.
With all the rain we have had lately it knocks the petals off the trees quickly. Branch Brook Park is one of the most unrated parks in the New York area and Newark does get knocked a lot but still the city offers its treasures to us if we seek them out.
How beautiful the river was running through the park
I spent about two hours exploring all parts of the park, watching baseball games, watching parents jump around with their kids and watching couples just holding hands and admiring the trees. There were so many Sweet Sixteen and Wedding pictures being snapped that again you had to maneuver correctly.
It’s always best to park by the entrance so that you can get out of the park easier when it is busy
After about two hours of walking around the park and enjoying the sunshine and the beautiful views, I had to get something to eat. Not in the mood for a hot dog as tradition states I stopped at Pizzatown Pizzeria in Newark for a slice of pizza. I had been there a few times over the years finding the pizzeria in pre-COVID days when all the food trucks were mobbed and not much options on the Bellville side of the park.
Pizzatown is one of those old Newark, NJ businesses that existed when this side of the city all around Branch Brook Park was all Italian up until about the early 1980’s when the last of the elderly Italian families either moved out or had passed away. It is the only business left from that time. Still the pizza is fantastic and I look forward to coming here every year when I am looking at the blossoms. I had a slice of Sicilian pizza that was delicious and it was just nice to relax and eat. I had taken so many pictures of the restaurant before I walked in that the owner asked if I was a relator. In that neighborhood? I thought he was kidding. I guess not too many 6:3 white guys go walking around this place.
Pizzatown Pizzeria & Restaurant at 883 Mt. Prospect Avenue in Newark, NJ
The inside of Pizzatown harks back to the 1960’s when this was an Italian neighborhood
The Sicilian pizza here is so good!
After lunch was over, I took on last look around the park and admired all the trees that were newer that were planted in the park towards the entrance. It is interesting how they just keep planting more trees around the park. I heard that this is the largest collection of Cherry Trees in the world.
The Cherry Trees right by my car on the edge of the park
It was a nice afternoon of walking around and enjoying nature. I had never seen the Cherry Trees this brilliant and so vibrant in colors before. This is what it means to see the trees at their peak!
In between classes before the Easter weekend started, I walked around the City after my classes were over on Friday and walked into Macy’s for the Annual Flower Show at the Herald Square store. I could not believe it has been thirty five years since my interview that started my job at Macy’s in 1988. I had gone in for my interview on a Saturday morning and was mesmerized by the store and Flower Show which lead to my second and third interviews and my seven year career with the company. It dawned on me how long ago that morning had been.
Macy’s Flower Show 2023:
The entrance to Macy’s Flower Show in the Herald Square main store
The Flower Show on the first floor of the Macy’s store is always a treat. There were a lot of interesting displays this year but not so many flowers on the tops of the display cases. At least not the ones that I had seen in the past. It seemed more scaled down from the flowers on the upper displays and more the hanging displays that lined the main aisle.
The entrance to the Flower Show from the Broadway side of the store
Most the displays were hanging from the main aisle of the first floor so it was a much different display from those of the past but still it was very creative and people stopped every three feet to take more pictures. I was just as annoying but the store looked so nice.
The first floor by the escalators that did not exist when I worked there
The Floral Display by the Cosmetic Department
Not quite the hanging gardens of the past but still nice
The hanging floral arrangements by the escalators on the first floor
It was not the show that I remember as there were many more floral arrangements that were much more detailed and elaborate as there was more space on the old tops of the display cases. This was a more modern view of the Flower Show. I thought it was fun and they did a nice job. New Management and a new way of looking at the show.
Macy’s Display windows-My favorite
Macy’s Display windows
The display windows outside were a lot of fun and the display people did a great job on the them. It was really funny though. I was not in the City for class on Good Friday so I did not see the full extent of the show until Monday morning when the store reopened (the store is closed on Easter).
Macy’s Display windows
When I returned on Tuesday for my next class, the windows were already closed and we being dismantled and the whole show must have been taken down Monday night after the store closed. Everything was gone by Tuesday afternoon. Another Flower Show had passed.
Macy’s Display windows
The Macy’s Windows in 2023.
I went back to Macy’s in 2024 and the displays were done in multiple colors through the store. The flowers displays were more contemporary and pared down from the displays from I remember years ago when all the tops of the displays looked like the “Hanging Gardens of Babylon”. Still the show was beautiful.
The new windows welcomed customers to the Herald Square store.
The flower assortment that greeted us when we entered the Broadway entrance.
The first floor of Macy’s Herald in New York City.
The strawberry floral displays at the entrance of Macy’s.
The crowds at Macy’s Flower Show in 2024.
The flower displays along the Cosmetic Department.
The Accessory Department decorated for the Flower Show.
The decorations around the escalators on the Main Floor at Macy’s Herald Square.
The store was packed with people walking around and blocking all the isles. I could see that the salespeople were getting frustrated. Still people were loving the displays in main store.
The entrance to Macy’s Herald in 2024 to the Flower Show from the Broadway entrance.
Easter morning was really nice as I got to spend it with my cousins and my aunt at a wonderful restaurant in Red Bank, NJ. It was a bright and sunny Easter but a bit chilly. It was the first time in years that I had not been to church on Easter morning but I would go another day. We had an 11:00am reservation for brunch and I got picked up at 9:45am.
The weather was really windy when we got the Oyster Point Hotel where we were having brunch. I could not believe the winds off the water but by the time we were finished, it ended up being a nice warm afternoon. I guess it rough in the morning.
The bay right next to the hotel parking lot
The bay area of Red Bank is so beautiful and everything was just coming into bloom. We were able to walk around the docks for a bit before brunch. People were just getting their boats serviced and ready for the season. It was a spectacular morning looking over the water.
We were one of the first tables to arrive that morning so I got some great shots of the buffet and all the delicious and creative displays at all the stations of the restaurant. It was a very nice presentation and there was so much to choose from.
Oyster Point Hotel Pearl Room Banquet space where the brunch took place
The Dining Room
The food and the service were just amazing. I could not believe the view of the bay and the dazzling blue water in front of us. Thank God though our table was not by the window because the buffet line stretched in that direction when we were eating.
The Seafood on Ice Station
I could not believe the choices at brunch. There was a complete salad section to make your own salad, a seafood display on ice, an omelet and waffle bar with potatoes, bacon and sausage on the side if you wanted to start with breakfast. The baked good section for breakfast was extensive with fresh doughnuts, pastries, muffins, bagels and cookies. There were also slices of white and coffee cake if you wanted those as well.
The Breakfast Pastry display
There was a pasta station with ravioli and penne with chicken and broccoli, a carving station with turkey, beef and salmon, a complete lunch bakery section and fruit display. The Candy station was really unique with a display of chocolate lobsters and peeps in a tree.
The display of candy was very clever
The Candy display was really unique and very creative
The Pastry Chef really has a a sense of humor
The best was that they had a complete crab cake station with all sorts of sides such as mac & cheese, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes. They were all served in champagne glasses. The portions were small but you could go back as many times as you wanted.
The Lunch Bakery table
The Fruit Dessert display
There were also chafing dishes of wild rice, mixed vegetables, chicken piccata, roasted potatoes and a beef dish. The quality of the food in the chafing dishes matched all the stations and nothing was soggy or tepid. Everything was perfectly cooked and spiced. There was so much to choose from that I must have made twenty trips to the buffet line to the amusement of my family.
Being in the culinary arts and working in a soup kitchen for almost twenty years, I know not to waste food, Watching people pile their plates high is so silly when you can go back as many times as you want. I walk around a buffet, survey what is offered and then go back for many small tastes of everything. I think it is a sin to waste food and throw it out when there is no reason for it.
A little taste of the pasta section, the carving section, the chafing dishes and those marvelous crab cakes. The food was excellent!
After brunch was over, were were there for almost three hours eating and talking and watching the people on the bay in their boats, we made an early afternoon of it. I had wanted to go to the cemeteries and had some yard work to do (I can’t believe I had that much to do as I was in the yard for two hours) and then had some writing to finish. My life never sits still. We took some pictures around the hotel and walked around the dock for a bit. We said our goodbyes to my cousin and his wife and then toured the town of Red Bank, NJ. What a pretty downtown. It really has some nice stores and restaurants.
My cousins, my aunt and I at Easter 2023
I always enjoy spending time with my family. I hope every had a wonderful Easter and Passover!
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