Maroons Online Vol. 2… No. 10 Friday, February 4, 2022
“Bringing us all to a place we don't want to lose."
Observer: Just A Story From America
Macky’s New York: Don't Look Back
William Peay: Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame: Save The Date: Nov. 5th 2022
M + A NYC: Mighty Are We As One
James Stroker: Hope Coach
Jim Schoneman: Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd: Around The Village
Deborah Bryant: Handwoven
Observer
Just A Story From America
If I could call the Maroons Online project by a phrase without sounding condescending or too congratulatory it would be, “Just A Story From America.”
Our aim is to identify & collect the history of a village which has been very fortunate since its inception. It also has seen its share of troubles. Many people would freely admit there is a tendency in the village for making changes slowly and often behind the times.
Ridgewood will never be hip like San Francisco or Austin, or a magnet for artists and musicians like New York or Los Angeles. It is remembered for having a well-funded school system with a dedicated cohort of teachers, administrators, and people who simply make it work as designed. Alumni can be proud to say they received a degree from RHS and will in most cases never embarrass themselves in public with inappropriate behavior or by espousing ideologies which seek to incense or infuriate their neighbors. They were taught to be better than that and to aim to improve situations, making them better than when they first encountered them. You’ll find examples of this style of teaching in every Ridgewood school grades K-12. Whether you refer to it as “The Willard Way” or “The Tradition Of Excellence” educators and parents imbue in students the responsibility to be active members of their communities throughout their lives, no matter where they live.
My college education provided me with more profound lessons than Ridgewood in recognizing the fine line of differences in people one meets in life. But my Ridgewood education gave me my initial critical thinking skills and values with which to face life. These first lessons I fall back on time and time again when faced with uncertainty and situations beyond my abilities to figure out.
The lessons from the playground about teamwork & sharing, the lessons from the classrooms about honesty and caring, never fail to show me how to act and be my best self. It’s the story of America, whether we recognize it or not. What’s more, it’s not so far gone from our collective memories that it can’t be reinvigorated and once again be a part of our everyday conversations. Just dig into your memories. Try to recall the merits of the aphorism about how everything you need to know about life you probably first learned in Kindergarten. It’s more true than not.
Macky’s New York
Matthew Cortellesi Photography
February 2, 2022 - Union Square
Don't Look Back
A man focuses ahead as a woman takes her photo as the city behind them is pulled back through infinity.
Shot on a water drain on Union Square north looking west.
Time 810am.
#ny1pic
William Peay
Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
Save The Date: November 5, 2022
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame Nomination Form
Visit The RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
M + A NYC
Mighty Are We As One
Inspired by art, designed in New York, and made by hand with love by artisans all over the world. Shop home décor and wearable accessories at www.mplusanyc.com
Willa Watering Can
A design so sweet we had to give it a lovely name, M+A NYC's Willa Watering Can has sleek lines that recall the Bauhaus' designers like Walter Gropius. Made from Stainless steel with a brass electroplate, she'll hold plenty of water to keep your plants less thirsty and possibly outshine their glory!
James Stroker
Jim Schoneman
Rock Hound
Lake Michigan pancake ice around the groin at Big Bay Park, Milwaukee. The groin is submerged because the Great Lakes water levels are high right now.
Siobhan Crann Winograd
Around The Village
Wanted to share this article regarding last week's improper removal of the Hybrid Access Discussion. What is truly stunning to me is not that they want to vote no (for some un-articulated reason) but rather that they are going to such great lengths to keep it from even being discussed.
What a terrible response to so many in our community including the League of Women Voters who not only showed up but featured this as a debate question this fall.
RIDGEWOOD, N.J. - Many residents attended last Wednesday’s council work session, not to discuss an item that was on the agenda, but an item that wasn’t.
Since the council returned to in-person meetings in early June, some residents have requested a hybrid option. Residents can currently live-stream the meeting from the comfort of their own home, but cannot participate during public comment unless they attend in person.
Six residents, including a representative from the League of Women Voters, spoke about their disappointment to not see hybrid access on the agenda.
“The discussion of hybrid meetings was on our agenda several times in the past, it was discussed,” Mayor Susan Knudsen in response to the public comments.
At the time discussions of hybrid meetings were raised, Council Member Paul Vagianos was not on the council.
He along with Council Member Pam Perron included in their reports that they had requested the discussion of hybrid meetings to go on the agenda for the Jan. 26 meeting, but it was not.
“If necessity is the mother of invention, Covid has taught us a better way,” Vagianos said during his report. “I had requested that this be placed on the agenda for discussion, Councilwoman Perron also requested it, we were denied that. All we want to do is air this publicly.”
Village Attorney Matt Rogers said that there aren’t any town ordinances that dictate how the agenda is set. The village manager was not able to respond to a short-term request for comment.
In her report, Knudsen called Vaganios and Perron’s behavior “uncollegial,” and said that they should not have inserted a non-agenda item into their reports.
Knudsen and Council Member Lorraine Reynolds both said last week and in the past that constituents had privately expressed to them that they would not support hybrid-access meetings. No one who felt this way spoke during public comment.
Reynolds said she felt “bullied” by the persistence of certain residents, and that people who don’t support the hybrid option don’t speak their mind during meetings for fear of being ostracized.
The fifth member of the council, Deputy Mayor Michael Sedon was not in attendance, but voted against exploring the hybrid option in the past.
“I view it as anti-access. … For me, it's that simple, it's that personal,” said Siobhan Crann-Winograd, a resident who has repeatedly requested the implementation of hybrid meetings. “If you want to vote no, … go for it. What I can't understand is why you're resisting getting it on [the agenda] and voting for it. Be proud of your decision. … Stand by it, make it a matter of the record.”
Deborah Bryant
Handwoven
Sale Runs from February 1st with a Shop Update at 9am through Valentine's Day, February 14th
Use code: Heart
Peace