A native shade tree planting campaign is underway in Montclair. The town’s Environmental Commissioner, Imke Oster says time is running out for Montclair’s mature trees and it’s time to replenish the town’s treescape

It takes about 30-40 years for shade trees to reach full maturity. The majority of Montclair’s canopy of trees is reaching the end of their lifespan and are more and more prone to storm and insect damage. If residents don’t replant soon (and replicate the vision that our town’s residents had 100 years ago), we will see a very different town in 10-20 years.

The EC’s advice: dig into your gardens, to “plant, preserve, protect.”
With many of Montclair’s venerable tree trunks nearing their demise, we can’t be sitting back and taking shade for granted.

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It’s only a 45-minute drive from Montclair, but this is a trip well worth the taking for those who are truly interested in theater and the evolution of exciting new talent in the state.
Not all stage pieces can be neatly categorized as comedy, drama, or musical. Such is the case with “Melissa Arctic,” the new production at Two River Theater Company in Red Bank, which is a mixture of all three. Craig Wright’s modern, if loose, re-working of Shakespeare’s “The Winter’s Tale” (which he dubs “a play with songs”) may exist in a hybrid genre all its own, but one thing’s for certain: not since some of Michael Gennaro’s more inspired productions at Paper Mill years ago have New Jersey audiences been able to savor the type of exciting and brainy risk-taking that artistic director Aaron Posner is instilling at Two River.
Even when “Melissa Arctic” sputters in the second act, its conceit remains riveting; one is always able to see and appreciate adventurous creative minds at play. The temptation is to try to corral its spirit, to make it conform to established precepts and make it better, yet to do so would be to rob it of its very identity. It’s a tale, set in rural Minnesota, that deals with the visceral emotions of real people learning the strengths of love, jealousy, and ultimately – in Wright’s daring if not totally fulfilling coda – faith.

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Grab your coffee and huddle around the TV this Sunday, at 9 a.m.
Baristanet and Baristaville are included in Stop The Presses, presently scheduled as the lead story on CBS Sunday Morning.

Montclair High School’s student-run a cappella group, Passing Notes, will be taking the stage tomorrow afternoon at an a cappella competion at Millburn High School. This group of talented singers is co-directed by students Charlotte Eveleth and Max Mellman (who likely grew up on music — he’s the son of multi-talented Bob Mellman of The Reticents). Charlotte Eveleth’s dad is Bill Eveleth, who leads Eveleth Jazz (www.evelethjazz.net); the other kids in the group are Gabrielle Ambisio, Jason Cerf, Francesca Federico, Emerson Gordon, Matt Jacobs, Elena Juliano, Gavi Keyles, Jami Price, Michael Robinson, Emma van Inwegen and Steven Whiteley.
Tickets are just $10 at the door, so stop by and hear singers from schools throughout the northeast. The event is a benefit for S.A.V.E. (Students Aid Vocal Education), a charity project organized by a Millburn High School senior. Check out details on our calendar and on Facebook.
Here’s a glimpse of the Passing Notes gang doing their thing.

In addition to some hour cuts and fee increases last year, the Montclair Art Musuem is reducing hours for staff and deaccessioning pieces in its collection to weather the recession and gear up for an upcoming centennial in 2014. From Art Daily…

Lora Urbanelli, Director of the Montclair Art Museum, said: “The cuts we’ve had to make here are painful, no doubt about it. But what we are doing is managing our present situation to the best of our ability while simultaneously preparing for the future. I and the entire staff are devoted to this great Museum and we are aware of its place in the hearts of our community. In a few years we will celebrate 100 years of excellence in exhibitions, programming, and education. We will be ready for that proud and bright day.”

In an interview with the New York Times, Urbanelli mentions one of the items which will be sold — a rather fragile 1951 drawing by Jackson Pollock that the museum is not able to show often.