Tag Archives: Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Day One Hundred and Fifty-Five: Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents: “Take me Back to Paterson, New Jersey” Business 101-Introduction to Business at Bergen Community College November 23rd, 2019

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Welcome to Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. from Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder:

“This is the second time I have opened the firm, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., for my Introduction to Business 101 class. As a College Professor, I have always felt that the only way that the students are going to learn is by doing the work in real life. So every semester we do a group project that encompasses everything we are learning in the text book. The entire class becomes members of the Paramus-branch Team and they have to do a real life project that has to be presented in front of a group. This project took it one step further as the Team was invited to present the project to His Honorable Andre Sayegh, Mayor of Paterson and his Executive Team.”

The website for Bergecco-Parc Consulting Incorporated’s latest project: “Take me back to Paterson, NJ”:

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Our Film section of the Proposal:

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Film Team Project 2019

For this semester, I developed something different from the previous projects. I had been in Paterson, NJ visiting some sites for my blog, “VisitingaMuseum.com” that is available on WordPress.com as well, that is an off-shoot of my main blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com”.

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/

https://visitingamuseum.com/

I had visited the Paterson Museum one afternoon and then walked to the Paterson Falls, which is the second highest Falls east of the Mississippi. Along the way I had a hot dog and fries at Libby’s Lunch, a restaurant that has been in Paterson since 1936 (See my review on TripAdvisor-Now closed in 2021).

The Paterson Museum at 2 Market Street

Inside the Paterson Museum

While I was walking around the Falls after lunch and admiring them for all directions, I wondered why people don’t come down and visit them.

The Paterson Falls in the Summer

Paterson, NJ does not have the best reputation in the State of New Jersey. The schools, the gang problems and the poverty rate does not add to the reputation of a city that has been left behind. It was once the shopping and entertainment mecca from the end of the

Second World War until the riots of 1967. ‘

White flight’ and the closing of manufacturing plants sealed the fate of the city and the 1991 fire of Meyer Brothers Department Store in the downtown area just personified the problems of the City.

Downtown Paterson, NJ

The former Quackenbush Department Store

Yet I still saw something there. There is a lot of beauty to the City. Walking from the Falls back to the Paterson Museum I decided to find Lou Costello Park, a small square that is dedicated to the Comedian Lou Costello of the comedy team of Abbott & Costello. This small park just down the street from the Falls and was weed investing and full of homeless people. It was a little scary walking through the park, more for the homeless than for me as they thought I was an undercover policeman.

Lou Costello Memorial Park

The park in the summer

Walking down the street from the park leads to “Little Lima” the home of one of the largest population of Peruvian-Americans in the county. This vibrant neighborhood contains restaurants, retail stores, bakeries and salons and there is a lot to offer. This was once home to a large Irish population who used to work in the Mills and then it was Paterson’s Italian “Little Italy” until about the 70’s when most families moved to the suburbs.

Little Lima in Paterson, NJ

I stopped in Los Immortales at 21 Market Street, a deli/bakery (see review on TripAdvisor) for a snack. They had the most delicious dulce de leche doughnuts, filled with a kind of caramel tasting sweetened milk filling. They also had delicious pastilitos, similar to empanadas, a pastry filled with beef or chicken.

Los Inmortales at 21 Market Street

On another trip I made to the City later that week to finalize the field trip, I ate at Central City Pizza at 301 Main Street (see my review on TripAdvisor). Their pizza was amazing for a small pizzeria. The slices were huge, the pizza sauce amazing and at $2.00 a slice was well within budget.

All of these sites were only within a few blocks of one another. As I was walking back to the car at the museum, it dawned on me why people were not coming here with these free cultural sites and reasonable meals. This is where the idea for marketing Paterson, NJ for tourism came about.

The front of the Paterson Museum

The front of the museum

This semester I wanted to introduce my business students to the concept of marketing and using their business tools from class to see the same vision of the City that I was seeing. So I presented the project, “Take me back to Paterson, NJ”, to the class. How could we take the second largest City in New Jersey, one that was surround by some of the wealthiest suburbs and make it a destination to travel to for entertainment?

Our logo promoting the City of Paterson, NJ

Another proposal on the logo for the City

What I like about working with students in the entry level classes is their eagerness to look at things in a new light and their ambition to push themselves on their own. When I set the Executive Team up, it was interesting to see how they all come together. It takes time but I always see new relationships and friendships come out of it.

Walking through ‘Little Lima’, the Peruvian section of the City of Paterson

It was a slow start on the project as the students had to get to know their groups and the trust factors start. I saw the project start to jell when I arranged a trip ‘into the field’ to Paterson, NJ after our Midterm exam. I was surprised how happy some of the students were to go on a field trip. We lucked out and the weather was terrific, warm and sunny, a perfect fall day.

Our trip to the falls really amazed them

The interesting part of this trip I found out later on in their research papers on the project was that many of them were worried about visiting Paterson, NJ. The reputation was already established in their minds and it was my job as their CEO of the company to change it.

As a group, it was an information trip and I could tell really opened the eyes of the students. Not only were they really surprised by what they saw but I liked how they bonded together both over lunch at Libby’s for a hot dog and fries and touring the Falls for a second time.

We started the trip by visiting the Paterson Museum first and meeting the curator and staff. I don’t think the students realized what a rich history Paterson had and the role it played in the history of this country. The Paterson Museum covers from the time of the Lenape Indians when they used this area as a fishing site and for worship to when Alexander Hamilton created the first planned City using the water source as energy and this lead to the creation of the Silk Industry henceforth the nickname “Silk City “.

The Paterson Museum at 2 Market Street

https://www.patersonnj.gov/department/?structureid=16

The history of the Paterson Silk Strike

The Museum covers the history of the City of Paterson including famous individuals such as Lou Costello the Comedian, the growth the aerospace business of Curtis-Wright, the gun manufacturing industry, the silk industry and locomotive industry. There is also displays of minerals from the area as well as art work. Some of the students from our Talent Division had to plan a press party here so they asked lots of questions.

The history of ‘Silk City’ at the Paterson Museum

Touring the museum

After our tour of the Paterson Museum, we started our first part of the tour of the Paterson Falls before lunch. Since the day got clearer and sunnier, the Falls were in their prime. It was just beautiful to enter the Paterson Falls National Park.

The Paterson Great Falls in the Great Falls District of the City of Paterson at 72 McBride Avenue

https://www.nps.gov/pagr/index.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Falls_(Passaic_River)

This is where the students were able to capture of the real beauty of the City. The Falls were just beautiful with all the leaves changing colors behind them. We saw the entrance to the park for a quick explanation of the Falls and how they developed and how the Indians used this area as their summer camp.

The Paterson Falls

Before we took a full tour of the Falls, I took the students to Libby’s Lunch at 98 McBride Avenue (See review on TripAdvisor-Closed in 2020), a small diner restaurant that has been by the Falls since 1936. We had a group lunch of hot dogs and French fries (some of the students had turkey burgers) and Cokes. This is where I really saw my students bond. There was a lot of laughing and talking around the table and I could see that everyone was having a good time. The service could not have been nicer and more friendly and our waitress handled this large crowd well.

Libby’s Lunch in Paterson, NJ at 98 McBride Avenue (Closed in 2020-now Silk City Cafe)

https://patersontimes.com/2020/07/20/iconic-paterson-eatery-libbys-is-closing-after-more-than-80-years/

After lunch, some of the students had to leave for work and other classes (they would return later for future visits) and the rest of the class and I continued on with our tour of the falls. We walked from the restaurant to the top part of the river and walked over the bridge covering the Falls and then we walked over the Falls. That’s when I knew I had their attention. The Falls are just so majestic and natural that when you hear the roar of the Falls it is enjoyable.

The hot dogs and fries were terrific

I gave the students about twenty minutes to walk around the park and just admire the view. I could see that many of the them were captured by the beauty of the park and after walking all over the park, some of them met on the benches below and just talked. it was nice to see that they were getting along so well.

Our next stop was Lou Costello Park, a tiny triangle of land down the block from the Falls and into the Mill district. This small park was dedicated to the famous comedian is located just behind the ‘Little Lima’ neighborhood District just off Ellison Street.

Lou Costello Park on Van Houten Street

The information sign in the park

It is a sad reminder of the famous comedian. The park was falling apart and I had to warn the students of the homeless who took up residence here. For the most part, our group seemed to scare away everyone and we were able to walk the whole park with no problems. The statue could have used a good sandblasting and the lawn a good mowing and trimming but overall it was a good tour. There were not a lot of homeless that day in the bandstand.

Our next part of the tour was to “Little Lima’, the Peruvian-American district of shops, bakeries and restaurants that is tucked between Downtown Paterson and the Paterson Museum. Little Lima is between Main Street, Spruce Street, McBride Avenue, Cianci Street and Ward and Olive Streets. The border is with the Paterson Museum.

Walking in Little Lima, Paterson, NJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Lima

We walked all the streets in the neighborhood and on the edge of Downtown Paterson, where I showed the students all the Beaux-Arts buildings that once made up all the upscale department and specialty stores, office buildings and hotels. The one thing our little group did was shock all the merchants and patrons who looked at us like “Oh, no gentrifiers!” If I saw a mixed combination of students and a professor walking through my neighborhood, I would think the same thing.

Walking down Market Street in Paterson, NJ once the shopping hub of North Jersey

We walked all the side blocks so that I could show them the businesses that were open and the condition of the neighborhood. We walked all around the church area and parking lot for a view of where we could hold events. Then I took them to Los Immortales at 21 Market Street (see my review on TripAdvisor) for dessert. We had the most delicious doughnuts filled with dulce de leche that I had eaten a few weeks before and cookies filled with the same. Each of the students took time to walk in and check out the store. Some even bought pastiletos, a type of empanada even after the big lunch. We really wiped out their baked goods. The staff got a kick out of it.

Los Immortales at 71 Market Street in Paterson, NJ

https://www.restaurantji.com/nj/paterson/los-immortales-/

We walked back to the Paterson Museum and ate our dessert outside on the benches. We discussed the day and then the next group of students had to leave for classes and work and the last group of us headed to Lambert Castle.

Lambert Castle is located away from the downtown and we had to go to Garret Mountain Reserve Park to visit the former mansion of silk baron, Catholina Lambert. The home was closed as it was getting ready for the annual bazaar and then after the holidays it would close for a five-year renovation.

Lambert Castle at 3 Valley Road in Paterson, NJ

Lambert Castle

We got to walk the grounds and admire the castle with its spectacular views of Paterson and New York City plus the glorious foliage that surrounded the house and the hillside. We got to walk the fountains and walkways around the house and discussed how this could be used for parties and get togethers. From there, we finished our visit and now it was up to the students to work their magic.

From that afternoon on until the presentation on November 22nd, we met at the end of class to have Board Meetings and group discussions on our progress. Some of groups gelled better than others and with each class that I have done this there are always the ones who think they don’t have to do anything. They always stand out in the crowd.

Then there was a weird twist to the project. I stopped in City Hall in Paterson to see the Mayor and drop off a copy of the project to see if he and the Council would come and hear the presentation. Because of a mix-up in appointments, he thought I was someone else and being in a blue suit I am not sure knew who I was or what I was doing there (the intern who told me to come in was off that day and did not leave the message).

Paterson City Hall at 155 Market Street

We had a good laugh and I proceeded to tell his Honorable Andre Sayegh about our project for my class. We had a long discussion about what I wanted to do and the things I wanted the students to achieve on the project. He liked the ideas and came up with a better idea then him coming to class (he worked as a college professor as well and his class was right after mine). Why didn’t bring my class to City Hall to meet him? I loved it and told the Mayor I had to check with the school and then with the students but it should not be a problem.

His Honorable Mayor of Paterson, NJ Andre Sayegh

https://www.patersonnj.gov/department/index.php?structureid=2

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Sayegh

The next week after our quiz and then lecture, almost everyone in my class got into their cars and off we went to Paterson City Hall on Market Street for our visit with the Mayor. I will tell you, it was a great meeting. The Mayor Sayegh is so personal and so enthusiastic about building the City of Paterson back to being an entertainment and dining destination that he embraced the project and encouraged all of my students with ideas and questions that we might have on how to bring tourists and surrounding residents back to the City.

My class and I meeting with His Honorable Mayor Andre Sayegh

With that I invited the Mayor and the Council to come to campus to hear our ‘pitch’ on how to sell the City of Paterson as a destination. He upped it more and asked if we would like to make the presentation in Paterson City Hall the morning of the project.

The class got all excited and high-fived one another. I asked everyone to slow down as permission to do this project would have to come from the Dean’s Office. I just can’t take thirty students to City Hall on a Saturday morning to present a project without permission. So with the help of my Chairman, Dean and the Vice-President of the College, we got the approval to present the project in Paterson City Hall.

I am the first one to say that I was really nervous about the presentation. I had not seen a dry run of it before that day and I found out later in the student’s papers that I read that there was a lot of last minutes preparations for the presentation up to that morning. When we got to City Hall I could see that a lot of students were nervous and when they were giving their presentations there were some that ummed their way through. This was not a problem as when you are giving your first presentation especially in a real life situation, it can be nerve wracking.

Presenting the project at Paterson City Hall

Even before the presentation I was giving the students their Dress Code grade. Getting a group of Millennials and Generation Z students to dress like it was the Reagan Administration was a challenge. Some of the men did not own suits or a blue blazer, so I allowed sweaters. Some did not know how to tie a tie but I have to admit they all had shoes that were shined. Still they presented themselves as gentlemen. The ladies were completely professionally dressed in dresses, skirts, blouses and pantsuits.

Still I opened the presentation to the Mayor of who I was as CEO, who we were and the presentation that we were about to give. After that I had the President and the Senior VP of Operations take over and what a job they did. We were working without a screen, monitor or projector that worked (surprising for a City Hall) but our President took full control of the situation and she and the Senior VP can it like pros.

Each team gave their presentation group by group. We started with the Special Events team with a presentation by their VP and her teams. We had the Lambert Castle team, The Paterson Falls Team, The Paterson Museum Team and the Abbott & Costello Film Retrospect Team. Each gave their presentation on how they would promote their areas followed by commercials promoting their section.

The Paterson Falls Team Commercial:

The Paterson Museum Team Commercial:

The Lambert Castle Team Commercial:

Then our Restaurant Team made their presentation promoting “Little Lima” as a dining and entertainment district in the way of the new “Ironbound Section” as in Newark, NJ. Our VP of the Restaurant Division also came with samples of Peruvian cookies for everyone to sample which I thought was a nice touch.

The ‘Little Lima’ Restaurant Team Commercial:

Our VP of Talent & Security and her team gave their presentation on how we were going to pay for the Paramus Division. She and her team gave their report of salaries, benefits and perks of the company. As a progressive and innovative company, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. wants to keep the employees happy.

The President and Senior VP lastly gave their report on where we would be running the Division from and picked out the location in an office space in Downtown Paterson, NJ right near City Hall where we could work with the Mayor and his team.

When the students finished their presentation, I was floored by the professionalism of the project, the details and just the way the students presented themselves. I swear I thought the whole thing was really real as did the Mayor and his team.

When we opened it up for questions of the Executive Team, I enjoyed hearing how the students could justify their work and research with the field trip and then their own visits to Paterson on their own. Some of the questions got so detailed that I thought they believed this was a presentation by an outside firm. It was a great relief when it was over. The students were happy and the Mayor and his team seemed impressed.

Our last order of business was taking a picture of the Bergecco-Parc Team with the Mayor and his team. That was a thrill for me. You will never know how proud of I was of this group of students (and of all my students who do this project.

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Paterson Project

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. team Fall 2019 with his Honorable Mayor Andre Sayegh and his Executive Team at Paterson, NJ City Hall November 22, 2019.

Here is the attachment to the Bergecco-Parc Website:

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Here is the attachment to the Film Page:

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc Film Team Project

The Presentation was feature in the recent “Inside Edition” of Bergen Community College Number 8:

As the team broke up and I talked with the Mayor, I saw the team leave one by one with new found respect for one another. Frustrations, concerns and last minute details over. Was the presentation 100%? There were some things we needed to work on including some dress-code issues, articulation in speeches and some of the details of the Power Point but this is what a real team faces everyday when they go to work. Who really does the work, who doesn’t, who thinks they can ‘coast by’ and who does the extra mile. I hope they all thought of this by the time we got back to class after the Thanksgiving break.

I said my goodbyes to everyone and had a quick conversation with my President and Senior VP of Operations to tell them how proud I was of the ladies for leading such a good presentation and taking control of the situation with the IT.

The only bad part is I never got to taste one of the muffins that the Mayor brought in for the team for breakfast. When I finally left, everything on the breakfast table was gone (more like stripped away).

When I came back from Florida after my break, I called the Mayor to hear his feedback and the best part was he said ‘he would hire us’. That was nice to hear!

If there was ever a Professor that felt prouder of his students it was me!

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO & Co-Founder

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

New Brunswick NJ/Paramus Satellite

Places to Visit in Paterson:

The Paterson Museum

2 Market Street

Paterson, NJ 07501

(973) 321-1260

http://www.thepatersonmuseum.com/

https://www.patersonnj.gov/department/?structureid=16

Open: Sunday & Saturday 12:30pm-4:30pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 10:00am-4:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46718-d2704664-Reviews-Paterson_Museum-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2757

The Paterson Falls National Park:

72 McBride Avenue Extension

Paterson, NJ 07501

(973) 523-0370

Open: Check the website. It depends on the season

https://www.nps.gov/pagr/index.htm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46718-d2587276-Reviews-Paterson_Great_Falls_National_Historical_Park-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2273

Lou Costello Park

50 Ellison Street

Paterson, NJ 07505

https://foursquare.com/v/lou-costello-memorial-park/4bf8421fbb5176b0905d5bb2

Open: During the daytime hours

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46718-d15154382-Reviews-Lou_Costello_Memorial_Park-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Lambert Castle

3 Valley Road

Paterson, NJ 07506

(973) 247-0085

Closed for a three year renovation

https://lambertcastle.org/

https://lambertcastleweb.wordpress.com/museum

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46718-d1880569-Reviews-Lambert_Castle-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2571

Little Lima Restaurant District

Between McBride Street, Main Street, Olive and Ward Streets

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Lima

Places to eat in Paterson:

Libby’s Lunch (Closed in 2020)

98 McBride Avenue

Paterson, NJ 07501

(973) 278-8718

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-10:00pm

https://www.facebook.com/OfficialLibbysLunch/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46718-d1133910-Reviews-Libby_s_Lunch-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Center City Pizza

301 Main Street

Paterson, NJ 07505

(973) 345-1100

http://centercitypizza.net/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-10:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46718-d4715215-Reviews-Center_City_Pizza-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Los Immortales

21 Market Street

Paterson, NJ 07501

973-278-1723

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Los-Inmortales/117745918244222

https://www.restaurantji.com/nj/paterson/los-immortales-/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 4:30am-7:30pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46718-d19284211-Reviews-Los_Immortales-Paterson_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Film Team Project 2019

December 23, 2019"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Paramus NJ, Exploring Paterson NJ, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New JerseyAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., BergenCountyCaregiver.com, DiningonaShoeString@Wordpress.com, Exploring Paramus, Exploring Paterson NJ, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Paterson NJ, Visiting Paterson NJ, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

Welcome to my consulting company, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. which is part of my Business 101-Introduction to Business class at Bergen Community College. The students in my December 2019 class presented their project on marketing the City of Paterson, NJ to tourism.

The presentation was a huge success.

The Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Logo for the City of Paterson, NJ.

bergencountycaregiver

via Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc Film Team Project

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Day One Hundred and Thirty-Five: “The Shops at Paramus Gardens Mall”-Introduction of Orion Malls Inc. newly created shopping concepts by my Introduction to Business 101 Class April 22, 2019

May 13, 2019"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Paramus NJ, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., UncategorizedAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen Community College, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Paramus, Introduction to Business 101, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Justin Watrel CEO Buscomonzefi.com, Justin Watrel CEO Orion Malls Inc., littleshoponmainstreet.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, Orion Malls Inc., Paramus Garden Mall, Paramus Malls, Paramus NJ, Professor Justin Watrel, Shops at Paramus Gardens, Shops at Paramus Gardens Mall, The Shops at Paramus Gardens, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

The reason why I have not been posting so much on “MywalkinManhattan.com” over the last few months has been tenfold. Work around the house, work at the fire department, concentration on building my caregiver blog, “BergenCountyCaregiver.com”, which is taking off all over the world (now in 45 countries) and work. At the last minute in the beginning of the semester, my boss offered for me to teach “Introduction to Business 101” at Bergen Community College. I jumped at the chance to teach a new class.

As with my Communications classes the last two semesters, I ended the class with a big group project that included the whole class. To match what we were learning in class, which was the whole gamut of the Business world, I decided that this semester we would renovate and remarket a Mall. Since Paramus, New Jersey is the Center of Mall construction in the country and one of the busiest shopping areas in the United States of America, I decided that we should locate the mall here.

Patterned after the Paramus Park Mall on Route 17 North in Paramus, NJ, we created a similar Mall named the “Paramus Garden Mall” (combination of names of Paramus Park Mall and Garden State Plaza Mall) and renovate and update it with the new name, “The Shops at Paramus Gardens Mall”.

I broke the class up in teams and as usual made the students work with total strangers. To top that each team had to work with the other teams to achieve their grade. This way the whole class gets to know one another and learn to communicate with the rest of the class. Projects like these are interesting not just for the research that the students come up with but how the students react to one another. I am never disappointed when I read the emails that are CCed to me as the CEO of the project.

I made myself as the Professor, the CEO of Orion Malls Inc., a large chain of Middle Class and Luxury Malls throughout the Northeastern part of the United States. Orion Malls Inc. had just bought the dowdy “Paramus Garden Mall”, a middle class mall in suburban Paramus, NJ. The mall, while successful and a money maker, was due for a huge makeover. With Malls surrounding it renovating and updating and just getting bigger, the Mall was falling behind its counterparts in the town by way of traffic and the diversity of stores.

Orion Malls Inc. logo

So I challenged the management team of the Mall with ideas for the new concept, “The Shops at Paramus Gardens”. This required a new logo, new signage, ways of reaching out to the community, new uses for the now closed “Bon-Ton Department” space for entertainment, a new restaurant concept in the food court area, outreach to Community organizations, a new marketing concept, making the mall more eco-friendly and greener and the updates in concepts and merchandising in the Sears and Lord & Taylor stores that still anchored the mall. We needed to update the Juniors, Children’s and Gift Departments. As usual the students did not disappoint me.

The former “Paramus Garden Mall”

I started with my design team and wanted them to come up with a concept of adding more green landscaping to the mall with trees, gardens, fountains and paths. I wanted them to convert the ‘open court’ in the middle of the mall that currently has four trees and a fountain and turn it into a village square with gardens, trees and tables. I also wanted them to figure out a way to make the mall more ‘eco-friendly’.

Greenery in Malls

With my Food Court team, I wanted them to add new restaurants to the food court that reflected the changing demographics of Bergen County and New Jersey in general. Also I wanted them to find a way to make the food court more family friendly and ways of getting people from the surrounding office buildings to get out of the office and dine with us.

Adding Jollibee to the Food Court

The Community Service and Outreach Team was in charge of engaging in the surrounding communities and reaching out to local organizations about using the Mall for functions and charity events. I also wanted to see how we could utilize the Mall for functions for businesses within the Mall.

The Marketing & Advertising Team was in charge of reworking the old Mall logo from the 80’s and coming up with a whole new concept of shopping. We wanted to reach new markets with advertising campaigns and working with our Community Service team to present the Mall in a more ‘downtown’ aspect.

Our Entertainment Team was in charge of redesigning the former “Bon-Ton Department Store” space into a family friendly entertainment complex. I told them since they were presenting ideas to fill the space not to look at budgeting but look at what might attract families and business people coming off work. They had two floors of space and almost 180,00 square feet of space to fill.

Lastly, the last two anchor stores of the Mall needed an updating of merchandise and a refreshing of the stores so I challenged the Lord & Taylor and Sears stores to revamp their merchandise in the Juniors, Children’s and Gifts Departments to make the store more ‘family friendly’ and make it a shopping destination not just a place to shop. I also wanted them to work with the Community Outreach team to look at charity and special events that the stores could sponsor to promote the store and the Mall as well.

Attached below is the project and the ideas set forth by the teams. We also added the Power Point Presentation as well.

Links to the student’s project:

About

https://wordpress.com/post/wwwbergencountycaregiver.com/10403

Welcome to a new concept in shopping! Welcome to The Shops at Paramus Gardens Mall!

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Day One Hundred and Twenty Seven: Here Comes Christmas! Part One- November 30th-December 14th, 2018

March 5, 2019Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dining on a Shoe String in New York State, Dining on a Shoe String Restaurants in New York City, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York State, Exploring NYC Parks, Exploring Rhinebeck NY, Exploring the Historic Hudson River Valley in New York State, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Historic New York City neighborhoods, Little Shop on Main Street in New York City (LittleShoponMainStreet), My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan at the Christmas Holidays, MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New Jersey, Visiting a Museum in New York City, Visiting a Museum in New York StateAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen County Firemen's Home Association, BergenCountyCaregiver, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, Buying a Christmas tree, Christmas Holidays, Christmas Party, Christmas Tree Sales, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Island of Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Red Hook NY, Exploring Rhinebeck NY, Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Bergen Community College, Friends of Mills Mansion, Hasbrouck Heights Christmas Parade, Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department, Hasbrouck Heights Men's Assocation, Hasbrouck Heights Men's Association Christmas Tree Sale, Jeanne Flemming, Jerry Naylis and family, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Ladies Shopping Mile, Little Pickles Red Hook NY, littleshoponmainstreet.com, Mills Mansion, Mother Earth Float-Sinterklaas, MywalkinManhattan.com, Rhinebeck NY, Sinterklaas, Sinterklaas Parade, The Bergen County Firemen's Homes Association, Visiting Red Hook NY, Visiting Rhinebeck NY, VisitingaMuseum.com, Walk Manhattan, Walking in Manhattan, Walking Manhattan, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Washington's Crossing Reenactmentjwatrel

I do not know how Christmas creeps up every year. It starts when Forth of July weekend ends and then we blink our eyes and there is Christmas. The years just keep getting faster and faster. Even though the holiday season snuck up on me the month of December was full of interesting events.

I had to put my walk around Manhattan on hold for most of the holiday season. Between classes, work, the Fire Department and selling Christmas trees (as you have seen in other blogs), the month of December was a busy one. There were different events to attend, activities to participate in and places to visit.

Christmas to me is not just the holiday itself but the time of the year to give back and help raise money for those in need. I really believe in giving back to the community during the holidays so there was a whole series of fundraisers that I attended. As my friends always say of me, you never sit still for one minute.

The holiday season started right after returning from seeing Lillian out in Kings Park, NY. We had such a nice time together having dinner with the other families and enjoying the entertainment that I promised her that I would see her in two weeks for the family Christmas dinner at her facility.

The next day, I got up early to the firehouse to help wash the truck as the Hasbrouck Heights Fire Department was participating in the Annual Holiday Parade in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. Our Chamber of Commerce sponsors the parade and Christmas tree lighting every year on Thanksgiving weekend.

The Holiday Parade in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ is always a lot of fun. It gives all of us a chance to give back to the community as the procession of floats, decorated cars and organizations participate in the parade ending at the circle near the edge of town for the tree lighting ceremony.

Engine One in the Hasbrouck Heights Holiday Parade

Before the parade, all of us met up at the firehouse to wash and decorate the trucks and then stage by the Boulevard before the parade. I always enjoy watching the little kids in awe when the trucks pass by. It was cold the night of the parade so the crowds were thinner than previous years but still people looked like they were having a nice time. After the parade was over, everyone met at the circle for the tree lighting ceremony which got the usual ohhs and ahhs.

I had to be up early the next day as we had to unload 340 Christmas trees from the truck for the Annual Christmas tree sales for the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association. This is our organization’s largest fundraiser and it is our job to sell all those trees for our scholarship program. We must have set a new record for emptying the truck and by the end of the season for selling them (See Day One Hundred & Twenty Six).

It is something for me as next year I will be going on my twentieth year on the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association. I have seen the growth of the organization and the all the high school seniors that we have given a head start with our scholarship program. I can’t believe I have served on the Executive Board for four years now as Director (Sargent of Arms). It has been quite the journey.

The members of the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association setting up the trees.

This starts the holiday season in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ with the Boulevard decorated for the holidays, fantastic window displays by our town merchants and everyone excited that Santa was coming. The holiday season means holiday parties, tours of decorated mansions, hand writing Christmas cards and keeping everything in check. I went to a record thirteen Christmas parties and get togethers this year. I am the member so many organizations and with four jobs everyone wants to get together. I was a busy person this year.

Right after Thanksgiving Weekend with the endless activity and getting to work selling those trees, I had to go back to work and put my schedule together for the month of December.

My first weekend of December was busy with back to back activities with Sinterklaas Weekend ahead of me and the day after the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party. This is always a busy weekend so I spend my weekend up in Rhinebeck at the Quality Inn (See review on TripAdvisor) while I run from one place to another. This was on top of the fact that my class would be presenting their final project for my Communications class the Monday I got back to work.

This was my sixth year participating in the parade. Rhinebeck, New York is a magical place at the holidays. The store windows are beautifully decorated with all sorts of merchandise that showcase the stores and the trees that line the downtown are layered with white lights that illuminate the downtown. Little wooden paintings line all the trees in the downtown area and garland accents a lot of buildings. It looks like a quaint little Christmas town straight out of a Currier & Ives print.

Downtown Rhinebeck, NY at Christmas

I help with the set up at 10:00am at the Starr Library every year. This year the theme was the Butterfly. (At the cocktail party fundraiser before Thanksgiving, the Sinterklaas community was introduced to the Butterfly King & Queen and were given the traditional blessing before the start of the Sinterklaas season.) The committee created Butterfly puppets for the parade that we put together that morning. As I unpacked the truck with the other volunteers, I could not believe how fast the year went. I kept asking myself how did this go so fast.

The same group of volunteers I have worked with for four years and we all worked in tandem with each other, emptying out the truck, unloading all the puppets and then putting them all together and stacking them against the library for the night of the parade. I have done this for so many years, I know how to put most of them together in my sleep. We were done in about two hours and then I was able to enjoy the rest of the days activities.

I have been volunteering in the parade now since 2010 and I can definitely tell you that the number of people has tripled over the past four years alone. After the Opening Ceremony at the Beekman Arms Hotel (I get a kick out of Mother Holly’s ‘feeling Jolly’ speech every year), I got a copy of the day’s activities and then snuck up to Red Hook, NY right up Route 9 to visit a few stores and restaurants on my bucket list for my blogs (you will find Little Pickles Children’s Store on ‘LittleShoponMainStreet’ and Village Pizza II on ‘DiningonaShoeStringinNYC’ on my WordPress.com blog sites). Red Hook’s downtown was decorated for their Christmas event the next weekend. As one gallery owner explained “everyone is in Rhinebeck for Sinterklaas, so the town is quiet”.

Little Pickles in Red Hook, NY

I was able to visit businesses for my blogs that had not been open the weekend I visited President Van Buren’s home in Kinderhook, NY (see the Van Buren Homestead on my VisitingaMuseum.com site) and revisit old ones. I wanted to get a better feel for their downtown. (Please don’t miss the pizza at Village Pizza III at 7514 North Broadway. Their slices are excellent).

By the time I got back to Rhinebeck at about 1:30pm, I could not find a parking spot. The town was mobbed with people and almost every block around the downtown was lined with cars. I had to park almost five blocks away.

The rest of the afternoon was full of concerts, performances by the dancing polar bear and the grumpuses and lively singing at the churches. All four churches in town had either singing groups or bands. Lining the Main Street of Rhinebeck were all sorts of local charities selling Christmas cookies, hot chocolate, hot dogs and other snacks. Most were almost empty when I got back as people were snacking as they walked the streets to get from one activity to another.

The Grumpus singing and dancing in Downtown Rhinebeck, NY

I decided to relax and not run around for the afternoon as I have seen most of the shows and acts that were on the roster and pinpointed how I wanted to spend the rest of the afternoon.

I first visited the Butterfly nest that was located in the courtyard. The artists are very creative on the Sinterklaas staff. They built entire Butterfly cocoon that you could walk through. There was music going on in and around the cocoon and when I exited, the grumpuses were starting to do one of their dances in the courtyard. They had the whole crowd laughing and clapping along.

My stop on the event was the ‘Into the Light’ show at the Church of the Messiah. I have seen this show over the years of coming to Sinterklaas and I swear, the girl who plays the main character has not changed in the last five years. She is just getting older.

‘Into the Light’ Show

I spent the rest of the afternoon at the United Methodist Church listening to the Brass bands. I got to hear the Funkrust Brass Band and The Second Line Brass Band. It was nice to just sit back and relax and listen to the music. I had been running around the town the who afternoon.

After the bands, it was time to get ready for the parade. So back up to the Starr Library and my position in the parade as part of the “Star Forest” of puppets. We lucked out again that night as the weather was mild and it was in the high 40′ that night.

As the excitement of the parade started and we made our way down the hill, I noticed immediately that the crowds had really grown this year. They were five deep at the parade route on both sides and everyone had their cellphones out to record the parade. With all the white lights on the trees, all the decorated windows in full light and all the Sinterklaas stars that lined the route, it was a beautiful and festive night when coming into town.

Me in the Parade in the ‘Star Forrest; by the Mother Earth Float

People got so excited to see “Sinterklaas” (the Dutch word for ‘Santa Claus’) and the various characters in the parade as ‘Mother Holly’, ‘The Pocket Lady’, ‘The Dancing Polar Bear and his trainer”, ‘The Butterfly King and Queen’, ‘The Grumpuses’ and ‘The Wild Women of Rhinebeck’ joined the brass bands, floats, puppets and singers, dancers, performers and animals who make the parade what is every year. It really is exciting to be part of this parade.

At the end of the parade route, we pass the stage with all the members of the Sinterklaas family to make our final goodbyes until next year and drop off the puppets. It was funny that the whole time I was walking in the parade I kept telling myself how fast the year had gone and I could not believe I was here again.

Watch me in the Sinterklaas Parade in the ‘Star Forrest’ on the right

I dropped off my puppet and went to watch the last of the parade before leaving for dinner. It was fun to watch the fire throwers perform at the end of the parade. It was a nice way to end the evening and after the performance was over, the crowds dispersed to go to dinner. Every restaurant in town was mobbed all evening.

I went to a barbecue restaurant that I had wanted to try for years, (See review on TripAdvisor). I had the buffet dinner ($20.00) that they had set up for the day and just ate. I had to admit as much as l liked the food, the waiter annoyed me when he charged me for the refills on the drinks (Noted in the review and in his tip).

As I walked back to my car, it started to mist and rain lightly. I did not realize how far I had packed away from town. I was four blocks away near the Duchess County Fairgrounds. That is how busy the town was that day. I just went back to the hotel and relaxed. I had an early trip the next morning.

The next morning after a big breakfast, it was off to the Boonton Firemen’s Home for the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association Christmas Party for the residents that we throw every year. The facility was nicely decorated and we had some crowd that afternoon with all the residents present and their family members as well.

The band was a lot to be desired as they were off key most of the time and the lead singer could not sing a note. The place was really in the holiday spirit when member, Jerry Naylis and his family, who sing in their church choir and whose daughter in law sing opera, entertained the crowd. It really livened up the room and put us all in the holiday spirit. His little granddaughter stole the show when she sang ‘Jingle Bells’.

The Naylis Family entertaining the residents at the Firemen’s Home in Boonton, NJ

During the intermission we gave the residents their Christmas presents, monogrammed sweatshirts with their names on them, as a gift which I still see them wearing everytime we come to the home for events (See blog, BCFHA@Wordpress.com-Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association below).

https://wordpress.com/post/tbcfha.wordpress.com/156

The residents look forward to this party every year and were very touched by the gifts and the holiday thoughts. It was a fun time for all.

The members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association with the residents in December 2018

After the party was over, the members of the Bergen County Firemen’s Home Association went to dinner at the Columbia Inn for our annual get together. We had a great time just catching up with one another and having a few laughs. The restaurants pizza is terrific too (See review on TripAdvisor).

With the weekend closing, it was back to work for me and another week of a round of holiday parties. First though, my students presented their project, “Bergecco-Park Consulting Inc. presents “Welcome Week 2019-Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to Bergen Community College”, their final exam project (See Day One Hundred & in ‘MywalkinManhattan.com’). The students gave a very professional presentation to a crowd of professors and administrators and members of the Athletic, Theater, Art, College Foundation, Alumni Association and Department of Special Services were on hand to view the presentation. It was well received by everyone and I could not have been prouder as a professor (please view that blog for the full project presentation).

Our logo for “Welcome Week 2019-Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to Bergen Community College”.

See the whole project presentation on my site, “MywalkinManhattan.com”

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/8022

After I finally had the presentation behind me, it was a series of holiday parties one after another between the school, the fire department and various organizations that I am involved in (and that number is high). I joined the faculty at the college for our annual holiday get together, which was really nice. They had a full Thanksgiving dinner for us and a lot of holiday cheer. The Administration got up and wished us all a happy holiday season and good luck with the remainder of classes. It was nice to talk to the other professors who had come to the presentation. They gave me nice feedback at the party.

The next night it was off to the Engine One Christmas Party at Segovia’s in Moonachie. It was a nice evening with the guys, toasting the year and the successes that we had as a company (See The Brothers of Engine One HHFD-Blog on WordPress.com). It had been a busy year for us activity and project wise accomplishing both getting the bell fixed and chromed and getting the tee-shirts finally ordered and out to everyone. It was nice to catch up with everyone in a relaxed environment.

On Friday night was the annual Friends of Mills Mansion Holiday Cocktail party and fundraiser. Normally this is the night before Sinterklaas but it seemed that no one was in the holiday spirit on November 30th so they held it the week after.

Me at the Mills Mansion Holiday Party with members of the Friends Executive Board and dancers from the Isabel Duncan Dance company.

We had a really nice time. The event for the first time was sold out and the mansion was packed with well dressed people. The food was excellent and the servers did a nice job passing appetizers to all the guests. One of the local wineries was sampling one of their new sweet ice wines as well as a Chenin Blanc. It was a perfect dessert wine for the holidays.

The rooms were fully decorated for a Victorian Christmas and the Jazz band they had performing were excellent. They were engaging and people cleared the floor for impromptu dancing. It was nice to see people get up and dance again. It was nice to just sit back and catch up with other members I had met over the years and listen to the music. After that I took a quick tour of the rooms before heading back to the main room to hear the holiday greetings from the Executive Board.

The formal dining room at the Mills Mansion for Christmas

It was important that they sold out the event because the money will go to renovating both ceiling in the dining room and redoing the curtains that line the dining room windows. The mansion is slowly returning to its past glory and these events make this possible. The only problem was I was really tired after the event and it was a long ride home.

The weekend was coming up and there were two big events planned and I wanted to get enough rest to enjoy them. The first was on Saturday afternoon where I joined the Cornell Club as we we took a tour of the Ladies Shopping Mile and Gramercy Park with an event, the “Victorian Tour: Origin of Christmas Traditions” (See Day One Hundred & Twenty Eight). We literally walked this entire section of the City around Union and Gramercy Parks and walked up lower Sixth Avenue to visit the old department store buildings to know their history as part of the shopping area after the Civil War.

Ladies Shopping Mile on lower 6th Avenue

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/8117

On Sunday was the dress rehearsal for the “Washington Crossing Reenactment” at Washington Crossing Historic Park. The event takes place every Christmas morning to remember when General Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised the British. It was an interesting event that everyone should see once in life. It is very important to know how he crossed the river, in what type of boat and the conditions they were under that morning during a snow storm.

The Military Parade by the Delaware River

We started the morning with a Artillery Demonstration and then this lead to a Fife and Drum Parade in the historic village on the Pennsylvania side of the park. Then the troops had a Musket Firing Demo & Soldier’s Drill by the Delaware River. At noontime, the troops had their formation and the Reading of the Order of Battle.

See the parade of soldier’s before the Crossing December 2018

By 12:45pm when the troops made their trip, the event was narrated by Major General Walter Lord, U.S. Army (Retired). The troops had their parade movement and then they loaded the Durham boats, which were rebuilt for the event from the original designs that General Washington and the troops actually used.

The Washington Crossing Reenactment 2018

What I found interesting about the event was that they used the same boats as General Washington used and even in normal conditions, it was hard to maneuver these boats in the river. One of the boats even had problems had with the crossing and it took them extra time to cross and they had rescue boats off to the side in case the boats lost control, Imagine doing this during an ice storm riding in boats with chunks of ice coming at you in the water. What these men did to save our freedom is commendable.

The reenactments have been going on at this site since 1838 where it was discussed the importance of this historic event. The first attempt at a proper crossing was done in 1844 but the crowd was so rowdy and drunk that it marred the event. When they tried the event again in 1876, it was so cold and the exposure to the weather and too much alcohol consumption by the crowd marred the event again and it was noted not to attempt is again for another hundred years (History of Washington Crossing-Park).

As part of a pledge project in 1947, a group of Rider College students attempted the crossing again and it received national attention. In 1953, a half-scale Durham boat was built and a proper ‘authentic’ using the same boats as used that day of the crossing and it was successful. Over 700 people came to the event and since then it has become an annual tradition (Washington Crossing Park History).

It was a busy first half of the holiday season and just kept getting busier as the holiday got closer. Between work and outside activities, I just kept running.

Please read about the Victorian Walking Tour on Day One Hundred & Twenty Eight.

Places to stay:

Quality Inn Rhinebeck

4142 Albany Post Road

Hyde Park, NY 12538

(845) 229-0088

https://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/aclk?sa=L&ai=DChcSEwjjlt6N7OvgAhWGhLMKHbcJBsgYABAAGgJxbg&ohost=www.google.com&cid=CAASE-RooTIxmc5SMBldM5FH_lmQddE&sig=AOD64_2mmL-hiEz3ZSdcMhSE1Dot8L-jQw&q=&ved=2ahUKEwiQnteN7OvgAhWkct8KHa-EB7wQ0Qx6BAgNEAE&adurl=

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g60801-d590312-Reviews-Quality_Inn_Hyde_Park-Hyde_Park_New_York.html?m=19905

Places to Eat:

Columbia Inn

29 Main Road

Montville, NJ 07045

(973) 263-1300

https://www.thecolumbiainn.com/

Hours: Sunday 1:00pm-9:30pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Thursday 11:30am-10:00pm/Saturday 2:30pm-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46639-d639843-Reviews-Columbia_Inn_Restaurant-Montville_Morris_County_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Smokey Rock BBQ

6367 Mill Street

Rhinebeck, NY 12572

(845) 876-5232

Hours: Sunday 12:00pm-10:00pm/Monday-Saturday 11:00am-10:00pm

New York Style Barbecue

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g48486-d6684399-Reviews-Smoky_Rock_BBQ-Rhinebeck_New_York.html?m=19905

Segovia’s Steakhouse

217 Main Street

Little Ferry, NJ 07643

(201) 814-1110

Open: Sunday-Thursday 12:00pm-10:00pm/Friday-Saturday 12:00pm-11:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46575-d3700411-Reviews-Segovia_Steakhouse-Little_Ferry_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Places to Visit:

Downtown Rhinebeck, NY

Home

Washington Crossing Historical Park

Washington Crossing PE Road

Titusville, NJ 08560

(609) 737-0623

https://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/washcros.html

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46869-d3440313-Reviews-Washington_Crossing_State_Historic_Park-Titusville_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Washington Crossing Historical Park

1112 River Road

Washington Crossing, PA 18977

(215) 493-4076

Home

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g53924-d2522457-Reviews-Washington_Crossing_Historic_Park-Washington_Crossing_Pennsylvania.html?m=19905

Have a great holiday season!!

Here’s the whole reenactment event on YouTube of the Washington Crossing Event 2018

Day One Hundred and Twenty Seven Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. presents: “Welcome Week 2019-Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to Bergen Community College” for Business Communications-105 Bergen Community College, Paramus NJ May 2018

January 12, 2019"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Historic Bergen County NJ, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring Paramus NJ, Exploring the State of New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New JerseyAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen Community College, BergenCountyCaregiver, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, College Group Project, College Professor, diningonashoestringinnyc, Experiencing Bergen Community College, Exploring Paramus NJ, Follow the Yellow Brick Road to Bergen Community College, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Little Shop on Main Street, LittleShoponMainStreet, MywalkinManhattan.com, Professor Justin Watrel, The Jitterbug, The Jitterbug scene Wizard of Oz, Visiting Paramus NJ, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watrel, Welcome Week 2019 BCC, Wizard of Ozjwatrel

I put “MywalkinManhattan.com” on hold for work the Fall months. I taught Business Communications 105 again this semester at Bergen Community College in Paramus, NJ and this was the final presentation of the group project I had my students create. I have my Communication students do this to get them to actually talk to one another and get to know all the other students in class. This has become harder since the advent of cellphones and texting. The art of conversation seems to have gone out of vogue. I worry that they losing the act of getting to know other people and even having a ‘college experience’.

I established the company, “Bergecco-Parc Consultants Inc.” an acronym for Bergen Community College, Paramus Campus and established an Executive Team. From there, I put together a Talent/Security team, Marketing Team and a Special Events team each lead by a Vice-President and Directors and Team Leaders. Since all the departments had to talk to one another to do the project, I made sure that each team would need the other to create each section of the project.

Check out their student blog!

https://bcc-blog.com/

Professor Justin Watrel, CEO/Co-Founder

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

(CEO Watrel promoting his first book at the Brooklyn Book Festival)

The theme of the project was “Welcome Week 2019-Follow the Yellow Brick Road Back to Bergen Community College”. The premise was that MGM/Turner Classics had found the famous “Jitterbug” number from the 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz” and had restored it back in the film. Now the film was being shown at its ‘World Premiere” at Bergen Community College during Welcome Week (we were chosen over Rutgers and Princeton).

The filming of the “Jitterbug” scene in 1939

The college had then hired us as a consulting firm to come in and do a series of activities in honor of the event as well as promote the Bergen Room, the on-campus student run dining room, Gallery Bergen, our student run Art Gallery and the Ciccone Theater (see reviews on TripAdvisor), where student run plays were shown to the public by the campus Theater Department. The company was also to promote the Athletic Department with a Pep Rally and Bonfire.

This was an extensive project that required all the students to do research and ask questions all over campus. Many students would later comment in their papers that this was the first time they were exposed to what the Bergen Community College campus had to offer and had been to different parts of campus. They also discovered our Athletic programs and our cultural activities and realized that we were very similar to a major campus with a lot of the same things to get involved with as a student.

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc.

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Logo:

Six trees representing the six original creators of the company. The meaning: Trees continue to grow and make an impact on the nature of the world.

Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. was founded by six Rutgers students who had been a competing in a contest against other well-known marketing firms. over creating a Welcome Week concept for the Rutgers’s New Brunswick campus. They won the contest and upon graduation, started a small company concentrating on helping colleges promote activities on their campuses.

When you have thirty two students (unlike my last semester when I had eighteen students creating Buscomonzefi.com) there is a lot to manage. This time I added a layer of management and a few extras to make sure that everyone worked.

Here’s our logo, “Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to Bergen Community College”

My Talent Team created the Human Resources department from scratch putting a budget together for the entire Paramus department as well as the executives who were part of the New Brunswick branch of the company. They research the benefits, perks of working there and some extras that Google and Facebook hadn’t even thought of like a Dog Walking service and an English as a Second language classes for our international employees. In real life, I don’t know how a small company could have paid for some of the things they suggested but I let them make that decision.

The Marketing Department was in charge of promoting The Bergen Room, the student run dining room, The Gallery Bergen, the student art gallery and The Ciccone Theater, where our theater department puts on shows.

Here is their commercial promoting the campus to incoming students in many languages that the student body of the class spoke. We had students speak twelve languages and most participated in the commercial.

Welcome to Bergen Community College:

The next part of the project that were marketing was “Welcome Week 2019-Follow the Yellow Brick Road back to Bergen Community College” a Wizard of Oz themed event with the showing of the film, the play version of the ‘Wizard of Oz’ , a special theme dinner with a Wizard of Oz concept and a Pep Rally and Bonfire for our Athletic teams on campus. One of my students even wrote a new school song and another a fight song that were performed that night.

The commercial promoting the events:

One of my students was legally deaf and I wanted to make sure that every activity that we promoted was ADA compliant with the laws of New Jersey and the campus regulations. Here he created a commercial for the hearing impaired. I will tell you that as an educator I have never been prouder of a student and watched him shine as this one did for this part of the project.

Their commercial for the hearing impaired students:

The Special Event’s Team created the Pep-Rally and Bonfire, which was an interesting concept as the Director and his team created a program where the students athletes would burn the witch in effigy with our rivals name followed by a fire works display and snacks for the students.

Here is the Sports Team Presentation:

https://prezi.com/x4cwu3iifcet/bergen-community-college-sports-night/

Here is the Marketing Team Presentation:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1kkAQsCUV-foMRjmdzB13EukKD0A_hpCFP5zliFRIXSo/edit?usp=drivesdk

Here is the Full Power Point Presentation of the Project:

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1QttxERey87vHrHECTaQ9xLtXkm1c1NwUr44LYjQGcgw/edit?usp=drivesdk

Another team in the Special Events division created a theme dinner starting with a cocktail party in Gallery Bergen, with the show theme ‘Over the Rainbow Surrealism’ with surrealist art based on the movie by the art department students and clothing from the Retailing program.

Since we had so many students that spoke different languages, they created the menus in about seven different languages. The students also added trivia from the movie as well as fun facts about the actors. They even looked into food trucks for those who could not get into the Special dinner. The event would be finished off with the stage version of ‘The Wizard of Oz’.

This version was performed by the Ann Arbor Student Theater group and I give them full credit for this performance:

Needless to say as a company, you always have those who chose not to take it seriously but those things were addressed. I had a student hierarchy that we followed and as the CEO and one of the Co-Founder’s of the company, I made sure that we followed protocol by CCing everyone on emails and letting them fight their own battles. We did have some battles along the way right up to the night of the presentation.

The presentation was done not just in front of their classmates but the heads of the Theater, Alumni, Art Gallery, Special Services and Alumni Foundation. They all seemed blown away by a project that had a five week lead time. The comments I got from fellow professors and administrators was wonderful and the students seemed very proud. They all could not understood how I got them all to dress up with the ladies in skirts and dresses and pantsuits and the men in suits and jacket and tie. They looked really sharp as a class!

Even to keep the real life simulation project going, I even created a small reception for everyone by baking desserts and providing non-alcoholic beverages. A lot of the people that participated got a kick out of that. I even entered the project in the campus’s Innovation Award but it did not win ( I was bummed for all these students that worked so hard on it).

The funny part of being an educator is the reviews and reactions we get as professors. When I read some of the reviews, some of the students did not understand why we did such a project and what did dressing up for a project have anything to do with business communications?

I think the true reality everyone who is reading this is that everything we do in the business world is communication. From the texts and emails we send, to the activities we plan for fellow employees, to the way we present ourselves to others by the way dress and speak and the way we stand. Everything in life we do conveys a message.

I know that most of the students learned something new and were excited about the project and coming to class. This is what getting an education is all about and I could not have been prouder of a class!

Check out their student blog!

https://bcc-blog.com/

The Class PowerPoint Presentation on YouTube:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

Part Seven

Part Eight

Please watch the whole set of videos to see the complete presentation.

My reviews Online of the Facilities on Bergen Community College:

The Bergen Room:

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46712-d12308869-Reviews-The_Bergen_Room-Paramus_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:

https://diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/

The Ciccone Theater:

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46712-d15599602-Reviews-The_Ciccone_Theatre-Paramus_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The Gallery Bergen:

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46712-d15515383-Reviews-Gallery_Bergen_West_Hall-Paramus_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on ‘VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://visitingamuseum.com/about/

Day One Hundred and Nine: Touring the historic homes and museums for the Eighth Annual History Day of the Northwest Bergen History Coalition April 28th, 2018 (Again on April 29th, 2023 and April 20th, 2024)

May 11, 2018"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Breakfast Restaurants for the Budget Minded in NJ, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring ' The Northwest Bergen History Coalition', Exploring Historic Bergen County NJ, Exploring Historic Towns in New Jersey, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, Exploring the State of New Jersey, Historic New Jersey Towns and Neighborhoods, Historical Towns of New Jersey, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, Uncategorized, Visiting a Museum in New JerseyAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen County Historical Sites, BergenCountyCaregiver.com, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Bergen County NJ, Exploring Historical Bergen County, Glen Rock Rock, Glen Rock Station Museum, Historic Homes, Historic Homes of New Jersey, Historic Sites of Bergen County NJ, Historical Hotels of NJ, Hopper-Goerschius House Museum, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Kinchley's Tavern Pizza, LittleShoponMainStreet@Wordpress.com, Magestic Diner, Mahwah Museum, MywalkinManhattan.com, NJ, NJ Historical Homes, nj historical sites, Northwest Bergen History Coalition, Old Station Museum, Old Station Museum Mahwah, The Museum at the Station Glen Rock, The Old Stone House, Visiting Historical Bergen County, VisitingaMuseum, VisitingaMuseum.com, Waldwick Museum, Waldwick Signal Tower, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I put “MywalkinManhattan” on hold for a few days as the local activities in New Jersey started to take up my time. There is so much to see and do as the weather is getting warmer.

The Northwest Bergen History Coalition every year gives people the opportunity to visit almost a dozen different historical sites in the upper part of Bergen County, NJ and take the time to tour and explore all the sites with the help of trained docents and volunteers who take immense pride in showing off their site all for the low price of $10.00 ($15.00 the day of the event). Be prepared to drive though because all the sites can be a distance from one another. Also, have a a game plan because there is no way you can see everything in one day. You will only have from 10:00am-4:00pm so plan to visit the remaining sites at another time.

This year’s theme was “How Immigration & the Railroad Shaped our Towns”, so all the exhibits were on the immigration of the area and how it shaped the individual town’s population.

http://www.nwbergenhistory.org/

“The towns in Northwest Bergen County were settled in the 18th Century by immigrants from countries in Europe and Africa. Through the centuries the number of countries grew. Today, we have been enriched by immigrants from all over the world. The railroad came to Northwest Bergen in the mid-19th century, bringing with it jobs, prosperity and immigrants. Come see how immigrants and the railroad helped to define what would become our modern towns of today.” was the prospective of the days event.

Since I had toured most of the historic homes and museums to the south of the region, I planned my day to the northern part of the county. I bought my ticket way in advance at the Ridgewood Schoolhouse Museum (featured on my blog, “VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com and reviewed on TripAdvisor) when I was viewing the “Thread of Life” exhibition, which you should not miss that is showing through December of 2018. It explores life of the era’s family life through clothing.

In 2018, I planned an early morning and started my Saturday at the Majestic Diner at 1045 Route 17 South in Ramsey, NJ. This way I would be close to my first site, The Old Stone House in Ramsey, NJ. The food at the Majestic Diner I would highly recommend because I really enjoyed my breakfast there.

The Majestic Diner at 1045 Route 17 South

http://www.eatmajestic.com/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46762-d7283920-Reviews-or15-Majestic_Diner-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

The diner does all their baking on premise and I had one of their homemade ‘Pop-Tarts’ ($3.75) to start the meal. These freshly baked pastries resemble their commercial counterparts. The outside was a flaky pastry crust with a thick white icing and a powdering of cinnamon and the inside was loaded with a thick layer of a cinnamon mixture. Decadent yes but well worth it. You have to try this version of the sweet treat.

Don’t miss their freshly baked ‘Pop-Tarts”

Breakfast itself match in creativity and quality. I ordered the Brioche French Toast with a side of homemade sausage. The one thing I liked about the Majestic Diner is that the portion sizes are not huge and over-whelming. It was just the right amount for breakfast. The French Toast was made out of brioche and it was perfect (See review on TripAdvisor).

Their Brioche French Toast is excellent

They cooked it with a crisp outside and soft inside. As I was eating, I saw the omelettes going by and that was for another time. What was nice about breakfast was that it kept me content for the rest of the afternoon. There would be a lot of running around.

The Majestic Diner is a nice place to start your day of touring Bergen County

In 2023, time was of the essence with graduate studies and getting papers graded for work that I ate at home and planned to eat lunch at the end of the day of touring. I decided again to start the day at the Ridgewood Schoolhouse Museum and buy my ticket there. It was a really gloomy day and was cloudy with a few drops here and there during the day.

My first stop was at The Old Stone House at 538 Island Road in Ramsey, NJ (See review on VisitingaMuseum@Wordpress.com). This obscure little Dutch home sits on a bend on a hill hidden by trees off a very busy section of Route 17 South and by looking at it, you never would have guessed that it was once home to a 300 acre farm. This is the oldest building in Ramsey and was built from a combination of rubble stone, clay mortar, chopped straw and hog’s hair. The home dates back to 1740 and is run by the Ramsey Historical Society (RHS).

The Old Stone House at 538 Island Road

https://www.revolutionarywarnewjersey.com/new_jersey_revolutionary_war_sites/towns/ramsey_nj_revolutionary_war_sites.htm

The house is credited to being built by members of the Westervelt family for brothers Uriah and Ruloff Westervelt, who leased the land in 1744. There is a feeling that there had been a house on the property at the time they leased the land. The land had been part of the Ramapough Tract for Proprietors. Other members of the Westervelt family are though to have had influence in the building of the house as well maybe back earlier (RHS).

The Old Stone House kitchen

The Ramapough tract situated between the Ramapo Mountains and Saddle River was purchased from the Indians on November 18,1709 and acknowledged by the Indians at Tappan before Cornelius Harring, the Justice of the Peace (RHS).

The Ramapough Tract

The house had been through many owners since and the land around it diminished over time with each owner. In 1950, the building of Route 17 South, made the lot even smaller and destroyed the spring and stream that were once part of the land around the house. Both the Schweizer family and the Labosky families, who were the last two owners of the house, which the Labosky family sold to the state in 1955, operated an antique shop that is now part of the house that faces Route 17 (RHS).

The house is furnished in period furniture and the barn outside is stocked with all sorts of equipment for early Dutch farming from the era. When you tour the house with the historians, they will point out where the fireplaces once were and the original wooden floors that line the house. Upstairs where the bedrooms once were are both Children’s displays of an old schoolhouse and a toy exhibition. In the downstairs area, there are two displays to the War Years and the old antique shop is set up like a general store. The sites next big fundraiser will be the Sinterklaas event in December for a Dutch Christmas.

Old Stone House Barn on the inside

Old Stone House marker

My second stop of the historical tour was the Hopper-Goetschius House and Museum at 363 East Saddle River Road in Upper Saddle River, NJ, run by the Upper Saddle River Historical Society (USRHS). This historic home dates back to 1739 for the original part of the house, which has since been added onto three more times and still kept its historic look even into the 1980’s when the last resident moved out.

Hopper-Goetschius House & Garden at 363 East Saddle River Road

https://www.usrhistoricalsociety.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hopper-Goetschius_House

The historic marker

The property houses several buildings that were part of the original house like the outhouse, out kitchen and beehive oven. Other historic buildings that were threatened with being knocked down by developers have since been resembled and brought the property that include a woodshed, a tenant house, the Ramsey Sayer House, a Dutch barn, the Van Riper-Tice Barn and a working blacksmith shop. That part of the property toward the back part of the farmhouse looks like a mini-village and volunteers were working each of the buildings when I was there.

The buildings on the ground of the Upper Saddle River Historical Society

The Hopper-Goetschius House on the corner of Lake Street and East Saddle River Road dates back to 1739. Built by the Hopper family, it is the oldest remaining house in Upper Saddle River, NJ. The Saddle River Historical Society knew it existed in 1739 because it was recorded in surveyor Charles Clinton’s journal and possibly it is older. It was also marked as the home of Gerrit Hoppa on a rough sheepskin map made about 1713. The Hoppers farmed the land and had a lot of it. The property extended from the Saddle River up the hill almost to Montvale, NJ and up to the East Road in Upper Saddle River (USRHS).

The Hopper House Living Room

The house underwent several changes in the mid-1800’s. The large central chimney with back to back fireplaces was removed. Probably with more modern forms of heating available, such as wooden stoves, the fireplace seemed a bit old-fashioned and the owners took it out. They wanted to use the entrance hall as a room, so the stairway along the east wall was removed and a central stairway added where the fireplaces had once been. The dormers were added in the Victorian era (USRHS). Don’t miss the secret stairs in the kitchen that lead to the old second floor which houses a few bedrooms. It is one of the unique features of the house.

The Hopper House upstairs bedroom

In 1814, the house became the home of the Reverend Stephen Goetschius of the Old Stone Church. It remained in the Goetschius family for a century and a half, always a place of central importance in town as Stephen Goetschius, the great-great grandson of the Reverend Stephen, served as the borough clerk for over 40 years and conducted his town business from the east room of the house (USRHS).

The Hopper House kitchen

The house was without running water until Stephen’s death in 1962. Until improvements were made at that time, Stephen’s wife, Lizzie, carried water from the well for washing, cooking and shoveled coal for heat (USRHS).

In 1985, the Hopper-Goetschius House was presented to the Borough of Upper Saddle River by Clinton and Gracie Carlough. Lizzie Goetschius, the last resident of the house was Clint Carlough’s aunt. The house today serves as a museum, run by the Upper Saddle River Historical Society (USRHS) and offers the public historically related events through out the year (USRHS). Check out their website, http://www.usrhistoricalsociety.org for special events and check out their Annual Harvest Festival in October for a day of fun.

I double backed around the county to the Mahwah Museum at 201 Franklin Turnpike in Mahwah, NJ and the sister museum, The Old Station Museum at 171 Old Station Lane just south of the main museum. What I like about these museums is that it does not take long to tour them and they sponsor interesting exhibitions that feature local history that do not tax you with lengthy displays and loads of reading. They keep everything interesting, factual and get to the point.

Mahwah Museum at 201 Franklin Turnpike

Home

Having been to the Mahwah Museum earlier that month, I wanted to concentrate on The Old Station Museum. This historic train station was built in 1871 and was used for years until the modern station was built. Behind the building, there is a 1929 Erie Line Caboose that you can walk through that shows the life on the railroad and the use of the caboose on a railroad.

The Old Station Museum at 171 Old Station Lane in Mahwah, NJ

The Old Station and Erie Caboose

The museum has a interesting collection of items from the Pullman era that includes china and menus. There is a collection of trains and interesting items including maps from the era when Mahwah was major point of the railroad in the area.

The next stop on my journey as I drove south through Bergen County was the Waldwick Signal Tower at 1 Bohnert Place in Waldwick, NJ and the sister museum of the Waldwick Museum of Local History at 4 Hewson Avenue in Waldwick, NJ right by the current train station. These are part of the Waldwick Historical Society (WHS).

The Waldwick Signal Tower at 1 Bohnert Place

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Railroad_Signal_Tower,_Waldwick_Yard

The Erie Railroad Interlocking Tower “WC” was built in 1890 by the New York Lake Erie and Western Railroad the tower in on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a symbol of the overall impact of the railroad industry on the Waldwick area. The tower is constructed in a Queen Anne style and other than a few minor maintenance shortcuts, the tower looks as it did when constructed nearly 130 years ago (WHS).

The train sign

The tower still controlled traffic but as the railroads modernized with radio communications, automatic block control and other labor saving ideas the need for the number of towers on the line was reduced until 1986, when most of the towers outside major hub such as Jersey City were closed. During the last few decades, the tower was only manned during the day (WHS).

Waldwick Signal Tower light display

It is believed that this is the last standing tower of six built to this design. The two closest known examples in the area were in Ramsey, NJ and Suffern, NY, both having been torn down. The tower is named in honor of Harvey Springstead, one of the most famous engineers on the New York Division of the Erie from 1910 until 1929 and a key citizen of Waldwick (WHS).

The downstairs houses a small display of railroad deeds from the various railroads that used to operate in this part of Bergen County and the upstairs has a collection of railroad artifacts as well as pictures of the renovation of the tower.

I did a circle around the tracks and stopped at the Waldwick Museum of Local History at 4 Hewson Avenue which is located in the restored 1887 Waldwick Railroad and opened in 2016. It is part of the Waldwick Community Alliance.

The Waldwick Museum 4 Hewson Street

https://waldwickcommunityalliance.com/waldwick-railroad-museum

The Society was started by member Doug Cowie in 1977 with the purpose to lobby for the placement of the train station on the National Register of Historic Places in order to save it. With the formation of the Society, the station was placed on the registry.

It is noted that these railroad lines are what brought the new population of immigrants to upper Bergen County at the turn of the last century and why these towns had a building boom before and after World War II.

The Train booth display in the museum

The museum has an interesting exhibition on the immigration to the area due to railroad transportation. There are historical items as furniture and clothing and train memorabilia. The history of the rails is well represented at the museum. Members of the museum were on hand to give a personal tour.

My last historical place I visited was The Museum at the Station at 176 Rock Road in Glen Rock. The museum is managed by the Glen Rock Historical Society and is housed inside the original 1905 Erie Main Line Train Station on Rock Road.

Museum at the Station at Glen Rock, NJ

https://www.glenrockhistory.org/copy-of-about

The Museum showcases items from Glen Rock’s past with displays that change periodically as well as permanent exhibits on the Erie Railroad and artifacts from Glen Rock’s farming history (BCHS).

The town time capsule

When I visited it was at the end of the day so I was the ladies last guest. The members of the Society took me around the museum which has a interesting exhibition on immigration and how it affected Glen Rock and how it grew as a town. Many of the items are historic family items donated member of the Glen Rock community including clothing and furniture. They had the most interesting Victrola with the original records and period clothing. One resident donated an interesting collection of antique toys including many trains.

The Museum’s main gallery

While in Glen Rock, I visited the famous Glen ‘Rock’, located right off the downtown at the intersection of Rock Road and Doremus Avenue, which the town is named. The Rock was pulled to the town by the last Ice Age and was a meeting place and marker for the Lenape Indians when they lived in the area. In the Colonial era, it was a meeting place for residents. There have been many legends about the power of the Rock.

Glen Rock ‘Rock’ just off Downtown Glen Rock, NJ

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Rock,_New_Jersey

In 2018, I went to dinner that night was a revisit to Mahwah to have pizza at Kinchley’s Tavern at 586 North Franklin Turnpike in Ramsey, NJ, for one of their thin crusted pizzas (See review on TripAdvisor). This is one of the oldest restaurants in this part of upper Bergen County and has been on my must try list for about two years.

Kinchley’s Tavern at 586 Northern Franklin Turnpike

https://www.facebook.com/kinchleythincrustpizza/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46762-d540429-Reviews-Kinchley_s_Tavern-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

First off, the place is mobbed all the time. I have heard that people swear by their pizza. It is different from the usual Neapolitan pies that I try all over Bergen County. Kinchley’s specializes in thin-crusted pizzas, more of what people would call a ‘bar pizza’. The 12 inch pizza can be easily eaten by one person if they are hungry and the sausage pizza I ordered was loaded with sweet Italian sausage. One thing Kinchley’s doesn’t do is skimp on the ingredients.

The inside of Kinchley’s is very homey

The pizza was cooked to a crisp consistency and was devoured quickly after a long day of touring. The restaurant is a great family restaurant with a good vibe. It was like going back in time to the 70’s when going out to dinner with your family was a treat and a rite of the summer. I highly recommend a visit there at least once when visiting Bergen County.

Kinchley’s Pizza is very good!

Until next year! Don’t miss this event every year in May!

Take a look at their video on the event:

The Northwest Bergen History Coalition:

http://www.nwbergenhistory.org/

https://www.facebook.com/NWBergenHistory/

Places to Visit:

(Please note that most of these historical places are only open at certain times of the year so please visit their websites)

The Old Stone House Museum

The Ramsey Historical Society

538 Island Road

Ramsey, NJ 07446

(201) 327-2655

http://www.RamseyHistorical.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46762-d20323524-Reviews-The_Old_Stone_House_Ramsey_Historical_Society-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2026

Hopper-Goetschius House Museum

Upper Saddle River Historical Society

245 Lake Street

Upper Saddle River, NJ 07458

(201) 327-8644

http://www.usrhistoricalsociety.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46882-d14048029-Reviews-Hopper_Goetschius_Museum-Upper_Saddle_River_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2030

The Old Station Museum

The Mahwah Museum

171 Old Station Lane

Mahwah, NJ 07430

http://www.mahwahmuseum.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46590-d9819566-Reviews-Mahwah_Museum-Mahwah_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/437

Waldwick Signal Tower

1 Bohnert Place

Waldwick, NJ 07463

wctower@optimum.net

http://allaboardwaldwick.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46892-d10366154-Reviews-Erie_Railroad_Signal_Tower-Waldwick_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2019

Waldwick Museum of Local History

4 Hewson Avenue

Waldwick, NJ 07463

(201) 873-8919

http://www.WaldwickMuseum.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46892-d14049026-Reviews-Waldwick_Museum_of_Local_History-Waldwick_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2015

The Museum at the Station

176 Rock Road

Glen Rock, NJ 07452

(201) 342-3268

http://www.GlenRockHistory.org

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g46466-d14048001-Reviews-The_Museum_at_the_Station-Glen_Rock_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

My review on VisitingaMuseum.com:

https://wordpress.com/post/visitingamuseum.com/2022

Places to Eat:

Majestic Diner

1045 State Route 17

Ramsey, NJ 07446

(201) 962-8750

Eatmajestic@gmail.com

Open: Sunday-Thursday 6:00am-11:00pm/Friday & Saturday 6:00am-12:00am

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46762-d7283920-Reviews-Majestic_Diner-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Kinchley’s Tavern

586 North Franklin Turnpike

Ramsey, NJ 07446

(201) 934-7777

https://www.kinchleyspizza.com/

Open: Sunday 12:00pm-11:00pm/Monday-Thursday 11:00am-12:00pm/Friday 11:00am-1:00pm/Saturday 11:00am-12:00pm

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g46762-d540429-Reviews-Kinchley_s_Tavern-Ramsey_New_Jersey.html?m=19905

Day Ninety-Eight: Presenting Buscomonzefi.com, our Tech Start-up to the World, Business Communications 105 Bergen Community College December 4th, 2017

January 12, 2018"A Local Journey: Exploring the outskirts of New York City, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc. Projects, Dedication to Warren Watrel, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Exploring New York City by foot, Exploring Paramus NJ, Exploring the Island of Manhattan, My walk in Manhattan (MywalkinManhattan.com), MywalkinManhattan Experiences, MywalkinManhattan-Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., UncategorizedAddthistoyourgrocerylist@Wordpress.com, Author Justin Watral, Author Justin Watrel, Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Bergen Community College, Bergen County Tech Company, BergenCountyCaregiver, Buscomonzefi, Buscomonzefi.com, Business Communications 105, diningonashoestringinnyc, Exploring Manhattan Block by Block, Justin Watral, Justin Watrel, Justin Watrel CEO Bergecco-Parc Consulting Inc., Justin Watrel CEO Buscomonzefi.com, Justin Watrel CEO Orion Malls Inc., littleshoponmainstreet.com, MywalkinManhattan.com, NJ Tech Companies, VisitingaMuseum.com, Warren George Watrel, Warren Watreljwatrel

I worked this semester at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, so after Halloween, I had to put the walk on hold for work purposes and the holiday season. One of the things I enjoy about being a college professor and teaching in the Business/Hotel Management School at Bergen Community College is watching the creativity of my students unfold. This is my third semester at the college and this particular class just stood out.

They went from what I saw as a somewhat shy group of students to a founding start-up group of ‘Techies”, when we presented our group project for our simulated start-up company, “Buscomonzefi.com” (Acronym for Business Communications 105). I was just trying to get the students to communicate with one another and boy did they! It was the first class I ever taught where everyone got an ‘A’ and truly deserved it!

I have to admit that I am not the easiest grader and after twelve years of college myself (Michigan State University, The Fashion Institute of Technology, The Culinary Institute of America and Cornell University), I have seen my share of group projects but nothing like this. All I have to say is that if we as students had the technology at our finger tips that the kids do today, there is no telling what we could have accomplished.

I came up with the idea for a group project for the second half of our class and have to admit group projects at any grade is like gym class, you hate the idea of finding partners and then depending on them to do the work. The biggest problem with group projects is that there are some people that do all the work and others who just goof off and then get a grade. I wanted to prevent that this time.

I came up with the idea for Buscomonzefi.com when I was reading the trade journals on new companies and was annoyed that there were no CEO’s of new tech companies that were my age. I hate to tell all you young ‘techies’ this but Cisco, KLA Tencor, Microsoft, Oracle and the mother of them all, Google, were founded by people my age and older.

So I created a product that everyone would need, the Widget. Okay, you’re thinking “How to Succeed in Business without even Trying”, but I thought if Robert Morse could do it so could I. I also knew I wanted to something that would have the whole class engaged so I created my first tech company (hopefully not the last).

The famous scene from “How to Succeed in Business without trying Trying”

I made myself the CEO/Founder of Buscomonzefi.com and picked my executive team. I have to admit I did ‘pull some names out of a hat’ but I also wanted to challenge all of the students who I knew by their resumes and their class performance had a lot of talent but kept so quiet in class. I wanted to create open dialogue for the students plus I wanted to get students working with other students who they might not have chosen. I never saw a group of people blossom together so well. I was amazed that what I created was not a group project but a group of up and coming executives, who took control of a project and challenged themselves to their highest level.

We had only four weeks until the project was going to be presented and I knew the class was up for the challenge. All I gave them was the product itself and the fact that we had to present to the backers on the second to last day of class before the final exam.

I created an executive team, picked my President, Senior Vice-President and Vice-Presidents, Team Leaders and Team Members. I also picked my teams where I knew some of the people needed a boost because I saw in them what I didn’t think they saw in themselves. Some I just mixed the personalities. They as a class exceeded my expectations!

I also added that they would be grading one another, keeping journals, be graded on dress code and work performance. The final word was that if as their CEO I heard from the Executive Team that someone was not performing, I would get the team together for a discussion and the person could be ‘fired’ (meaning that they would fail the second part of the class). They all seemed to understand the grading system.

For the next four weeks, the class met on their own and created their divisions from the information that I gave them. I also told them if they took a one dimensional project and made it three dimensional, I would give them extra credit. As a class, they far exceeded it.

They renamed the product “Bwidge”, very creative and then developed how the product would look and then worked in their divisions to fulfill their departments structure. Each of the teams took their departments and created them form scratch. They were broken down into Sales & Marketing, Tech Talent & Customer Service/Legal, Product Development and Corporate Security. Each division had its Vice-President with a Manager/Team Leader with them with the team under them. I set the hierarchy up and made sure that the President and Senior Vice-President took control over their ‘teams’.

In class, we would have ’round table’ discussions that I had seen online with smaller tech firms and we asked the questions of each other of where we were out, who was doing what and how the teams were working with one another. I made the President and Senior Vice-President also find our new Corporate Headquarters with the stipulation that it must be near ‘Silicon Alley’ in lower Manhattan.

On December 18th, they made the presentation on Google Slides and the class ‘blew my mind’ with their excellence. I brought in the Corporate Benefits Head of Bayer Aspirin America, who I work with on the Hasbrouck Heights Men’s Association to be my question and answer person. Even he was ‘blown away’ with the thoroughness that the students researched.

The Tech Talent Division even established a Website, (Google “Buscomonzefi.com” to see their work), and Instagram site and a Facebook page. which by the time of the presentation already had four followers (how did they find this?). They had complete handbooks created, policies made and even had the Employee Bill of Rights established.

The Product Development team created, priced out and even had the prototype made of the product “Bwidge”, a computer product that organized all your online files on your computer, both on a MAC and a PC, a product that did not even exist (only for either one or the other but not for both). They used the above logo and produced the final product for presentation, plus all the cost and patent information.

The Sales & Marketing team really dazzled me with their ideas for a launch party on New Year’s Eve, ad campaign in Times Square and Silicon Valley and Wall Street, their commercial (which they actually filmed for YouTube!) and their cost structure (totally unrealistic but I only had a million dollars of capital to work with). They even sent an invitation to the Mayor of NYC!

The Company Logo

The presentation night everyone was dressed for a formal ‘tech’ presentation to ‘WASP’ bankers. I have to admit I have to work with the gentlemen on the concept of ties but overall everyone was dressed so professionally.

Let me put it this way, I have never been prouder of a group of students than this semester and it is my pleasure to put this online for all their hard work. Like I said, this is the first time I ever created a ‘tech’ company from scratch and it will not be my last.

To all my students who might be reading this, you all deserved those ‘A’s and good luck in the future. So much for people who say that Millenniums don’t know how to communicate. This group took Business Communications to new heights. All you have to do is get them away from the cell phones.

Disclaimer: Please Google “Buscomonzefi.com” for the class presentation and work. It is very detailed orientated and showcases these students’ talent as future Executives.

Sincerely,

Professor Justin Watrel, Founder & CEO Buscomonzefi.com: Home of the ‘Bwidge’

Please check our blog and websites out online on Google:

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/Our-Company.php

https://buscomonzefi.yolasite.com/

https://mywalkinmanhattan.com/tag/buscomonzefi-com/

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