The Maroon Vol. 3… No. 77
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
“Bringing us all to a place we don't want to lose."
Observer: Annual Alumni Honors
Macky’s New York: Spun In Flowers
William Peay: Tales From The Wood…
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame: Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
Project Arrow: Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
Jeff Meyers: I Have A Friend
M + A NYC: Mighty Are We As One
In Memory Of Our Faculty: Photographs & Memories
James Stroker: Hope Coach
Jim Schoneman: Rock Hound
Siobhan Crann Winograd: Around The Village
Kathy & Ross Petras: You’re Saying It Wrong
Ridgewood Library Bolger Heritage Center: RHS Graduation Photo
Observer
Annual Alumni Honors
French poet, novelist, and dramatist of the Romantic movement, Victor Hugo, wrote:
"Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”
Annual Alumni Honors is one such idea. This year we recognize the Girls’ Basketball Team of 1922-1923 on the 100th Anniversary of their perfect season and leaque championship. The RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame has already inducted this team into their ranks. The plaque in their honor is hung on a wall in the RHS Main Gymnasium.
Alumni taking the tour of RHS next weekend at Homecoming Weekend might spend a few moments at the Gym in front of the 1922-1923 Girls Basketball Team photo. Hard to imagine the obstacles they faced over 100 years ago.
A 100th Anniversary celebration in 2025 would be an appropriate time to give an Annual Alumni Honor to Eva Suydam. She was a pioneer in Education, who so inspired her students that upon her death in 1923, they donated money for the construction of The Gate and a Class of 1925 member produced the design. An Alumni Honor is also appropriate for the RHS Class of 1925 for honoring a teacher with stone and iron, the Gate today looks as majestic & solid as it did when built in the 1920s.
For a ceremony honoring the Class of 1925, I agree with Coach Years’ suggestion that we name the Gate on the corner of East Ridgewood Avenue & Hermance Place in honor Eva Suydam. She was the first female teacher hired by the Ridgewood Public Schools, (hired in 1895). There is already an iron plaque containing a dedication to Eva Suydam on the brick Gate. Though nobody calls the Gate by any name in particular that I have ever heard. Let’s give Eva Suydam due recognition for her career, and show our continued admiration in the 21st Century, by holding a naming ceremony with all the pomp & circumstance deemed necessary, not to mention Social Media.
Macky’s New York
Matthew Cortellesi Photography
September 23, 2023 - Union Square
Spun In Flowers
It's pouring rain and I find refuge in a tent at the farmer market that happened to be selling flowers - the contrast of color and warmth from the other cold gray morning was a bit overwhelming and as I caught my breathe in the humidity of the temporary ecosystem...I put my camera above a table of flowers and just as I took the picture I decided that if I spin the camera and took the picture I might capture the moment a bit differently...this photo is the result.
Shot in Union Square farmers market on 16th street
Time 9am
William Peay
Tales From The Wood…
Btw... That's mid howl...
RHS Athletic Hall Of Fame
Made For & Inspired By RHS Alumni
Visit the RHS Hall of Fame
Digital Printing for the RHS Hall of Fame provided by Tim Boucher, RHS 1988
(Dave Vanderbush Award)
Project Arrow
Creating An Online Home For RHS Arrow Yearbooks
A collaborative effort by Ridgewood High School and the Ridgewood Public Library. The Arrow Yearbooks from the 1920s & 1930s & 1940s are now online.
Digital archiving by Michael Culver, RHS 2002, and his firm 1Row.com
Jeff Meyers
I Have A Friend
I have a friend.
A long-term friend.
My friend is watching Yom Kippur services
On TV. I am not Jewish, but all I hear
From the other room
Is humanity, beautiful music, and
Sacred texts which
Although they may be somewhat foreign to me
Are speaking my language:
The language of hope,
And devotion, the language of
Persistence and peace and
Grace in the face of
Dramatic change,
For
Change which all of us
Face each day
Or deny at out peril
Is life.
I can't for the life of me
See why some blind themselves to
Our commonalities;
The tonalities that voice our love?
The banalities that
Call into question
What might bring us together,
In favor of
What
Keeps us
Apart,
Why not
Question
Them?
M + A NYC
Mighty Are We As One
Shop home décor and wearable accessories at www.mplusanyc.com
In Memory Of Our Faculty
Photographs & Memories
James Stroker
Hope Coach
The Story Of Edison
From 1870 until 1879 you know the story of Edison
10,000 failures at achieving his goal of inventing the light bulb
His resilience and perseverance was unhear of .
But it was his growth mindset of yet !
I haven’t found it YET !
It was his iteration process of slowly chipping away at his problem and using his si called failures as just feedback.
Each day we get to be the pissed off angey everyone’s out to get me player or Einstein .
There's a playful twist in our choice of words, a game we can engage in endlessly. It unfolds in three levels of a psychological challenge.
First, there's the inclination to fight it, to resist and even curse it. "Not fair, why me? This sucks," we exclaim. It's the initial response we can't escape, like when we grumble about the winter chill or lament the hardships of facing something as daunting as Covid.
Next, there's the level of acceptance. "Okay, I'll put up with this darn thing," we concede. We acknowledge the situation, though not exactly embracing it. We recognize that we have to endure, even if begrudgingly.
Then comes the highest level: embracing it. Here, we view it as an opportunity to grow, a chance to take a wholly different perspective on what we call a challenge. Of course, it's easier said than done, a simple notion to express but exceptionally difficult to put into practice.
This concept aligns with "Amor Fati," a Latin term often referred to as the love of fate. It's easy to appreciate when life deals us a full house or even a royal flush. But when we're handed a bad hand, can we summon our Amor Fati strength and perhaps say, "Great? I get the message."
Perhaps that losing hand in a late-night poker game is a gift, a cue to leave. Friedrich Nietzsche expounded on this Latin phrase, and one wonders if, after his team's 70 to 20 loss to the Dolphins, Sean Payton woke up pondering this Amor Fati challenge.
Each day, life unfolds its hand. Whether through the weather, an unforeseen physical ailment, or an unexpected curveball, we can practice and play, smile, and even say, "I love this stuff." It's not a failure; it's feedback. It's not a period; it's merely a comma. It's because of this that something good will inevitably happen. Remember, E+R=O.
Jim Schoneman
Rock Hound
Things are changing quickly.
Siobhan Crann Winograd
Around The Village
Kathy & Ross Petras
You’re Saying It Wrong
Ross & Kathy’s podcast: You're Saying It Wrong is a podcast that looks at what we get wrong—and what we sometimes get right—when it comes to this English language.
Ridgewood Library Bolger Heritage Center
100th Year Anniversary
We're 100 days away from the 100th anniversary of having a free public library in the Village of Ridgewood (December 28, 1923). We hope you'll join us on Saturday December 9, with a Happy Birthday themed morning stories at 10:30am; cake and activities from 11:30am-12:30pm; and a lecture on the history of the library at 2pm. Any questions contact Sarah Kiefer at 201-670-5600 x2135 or skiefer@ridgewoodlibrary.or