Ditch the Malls, Deck the Halls

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 1:45pm  |  COMMENTS (5)

Black Friday — the nation’s premier holiday shopping day on the Friday after Thanksgiving — isn’t just for chain, big box stores and malls. For the first time, Montclair Center’s Business Improvement District is joining in and calling on consumers to “Ditch the Malls, Deck the Halls” and enjoy “delirious deals for one and all” at its own local Black Friday, November 26 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

The BID has organized more than 80 shops and 10 restaurants into a local Black Friday, to encourage residents to keep the shopping in Montclair, and attract would-be mall rats from neighboring towns as well.

“If ever there was a Friday to ditch the malls, it’s this one,” said Tom Lonergan, Executive Director of BID. “We encourage Baristaville readers to support their local businesses, avoid the hassle and bother of big shopping venues and enjoy this one day of spectacular sales.”

Also, many of the retail shops in Baristaville — including Montclair and Maplewood Village — are participating in Small Business Saturday on November 27, so don’t stop, shop till you drop and put our local stores on top.

Leaf Bag Mad

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 12:38pm  |  COMMENTS (7)

UPDATE: Our source says that the Bloomfield DPW is out on Beverly Road right now (1:30 p.m., 11/24) picking up the leaves. “Looks like the protest worked,” she said.

This past weekend was a flurry of leaf disposal activity throughout Baristaville, in the race to get yards tidy-looking for the onslaught of Thanksgiving guests. Once leaves are bagged (or piled in the street), however, it’s the respective municipal DPWs’ job to deal with them.

Residents of Beverly Road in Bloomfield  got “leaf bag mad” last night that the town had not picked up their lawn cleanup trash. According to a tipster, “a truck came by the other day and picked up a few bags, but left all the others behind.”  Our source said that the lack of prompt pick up is a regular occurrence, and said that multiple calls have been made to the town.

Last night, in an act of protest, Beverly Road was blockaded with bags of leaves lined up across the street, stopping traffic in several locations. As of this morning, all of the bags have been moved back to the curb, and neighbors are keeping mum about who put them there and subsequently removed them. They’re also wondering when they’ll get picked up. One resident said there’s lots of buzz about “why the services are so bad in light of the steep taxes we pay.”

Photo credit to Michelle Davidson.

Thanksgiving Pie: Butternut Squash

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 11:30am  |  COMMENTS (2)

The shapely butternut squash, tasty cousin of the pumpkin, ready ingredient of soups, infant food and side dishes, is equally up to the task in desserts.

The twig armed (i.e. the muscularly challenged) will certainly appreciate its manageable size and weight, and its cooperativeness in being skinned and cubed, relative to the heftier pumpkin.

Try a cup of pureed, roasted butternut squash in your favorite waffle or pancake recipe too, by replacing a cup of milk with an equivalent volume of puree, or in cupcakes, cakes, pies and flavored creme brulees.

Butternut is deployed here in a family favorite pumpkin pie recipe, to which I’ve liberally added my grandmother’s oft-used spices (well, one’s a root, but still) – cardamom and ginger.

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Maplewood Frisbee on Thanksgiving

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 10:34am  |  COMMENTS (2)

Normally, when you see the Columbia High School Ultimate Frisbee Team play, you will see them looking like any other high school team–playing their games on proper fields, in proper lighting, and in the proper conditions. Unless, of course, you see them on what some consider to be their most important game of the year.

On Thanksgiving night, after the seemingly endless supply of turkey and stuffing has left the rest of us slothlike and motionless at the dinner table, the Varsity Ultimate players at CHS will face their greatest rivals–former Varsity Ultimate players from CHS. But they’ll be playing minus the frills and trappings of a normal game of ultimate frisbee. In fact, as they have for decades, they’ll be playing in the dim parking lot in which the sport was invented.

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SHU Students Protest Over Security Concerns

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 9:34am  |  COMMENTS (0)

On Monday, November 22 — which coincidentally was a day when secret service agents were all over Seton Hall University’s South Orange campus, due to a visit from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon — a group of students walked out of classes at 12:30 p.m to demand security improvements for their own safety.

Flyers and posters bearing their motto “Walk in groups, protest in groups” covered the campus green, and students were asked to sign a petition requesting changes in SHU’s security procedures.

Ashley Duvall, Setonian staff writer covered the event. Read her article here.

Photo by Ashley Duvall.

Are You Thankful for Airport Security?

BY  |  Wednesday, Nov 24, 2010 9:13am  |  COMMENTS (21)

Headed to the airport today? Anticipating having to undergo the new, high-tech full body scanner?

According to NJ.com, at Newark Liberty’s Terminal B — the airport’s international terminal — none of the passengers going through security this morning had to pass through a full-body scanner, or receive a full pat down. They were screened through standard procedures.

While these folks might have gotten by with a bit less security scrutiny this morning, the new body scan procedures are causing an uproar amongst some air travelers, prompting a proposed national boycott of the full-body scans for today. There are many questions about the whether the new scanners are a violation of privacy, civil liberties and possibly harmful.

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Gift Guide 2010: Warmth

BY  |  Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010 4:30pm  |  COMMENTS (1)

Aroma Home body warmer and gloves.

Aroma Home body warmer and gloves.

Want to warm someone’s heart and hands this holiday season? Then give them an Aroma Home aromatherapy microwavable body warmer and gloves. The body warmer comes in three colors, pink, purple and cow print. The gloves come in pink and purple. Body warmer is $18.50, gloves $10.50 available at shed in Maplewood.

Sugar Rush? Millburn Has What You Need

BY  |  Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010 3:00pm  |  COMMENTS (0)

Millburn residents have some new options for indulging a sweet tooth these days, as two bakeries open downtown.

Gina’s Bakery – a branch of the longtime Montclair favorite on Walnut Street – opens its doors today at 358 Millburn Avenue. Stop by from 12-5 p.m. for free samples of cookies and bread.

Gina’s is known for its artisan breads (some of the area’s finest), croissants, pastries and fruit pies. The chocolate chunk banana bread pudding and the jalapeno-cream cheese mini corn muffins are both insanely delicious.

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Montclair Groups Apply for CDBG Funds

BY  |  Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010 2:00pm  |  COMMENTS (4)

Montclair may see more traffic signals on Bloomfield Avenue because the town qualifies now as an “urban county.”

Applications for federal funds under HUD’s 2011 Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) are now available from the Montclair Department of Planning & Community Development.

The funds are available to non-profit organizations whose projects benefit primarily persons of low and moderate income. Montclair is one of 18 Essex County municipalities that have formed an “urban county” under the Essex County Division of Housing and Community Development.

Montclair received $485,095 in CDBG funds in 2010, Planning Director Janice Talley said. Continue Reading

The Pagan Thanksgiving Turns 20

BY  |  Tuesday, Nov 23, 2010 1:00pm  |  COMMENTS (1)

Twenty years ago, a few guys going to Montclair State decided to throw a Thanksgiving feast the Monday before the actual holiday. About 20 people showed up, and there was plenty of beer, but not much in the way of napkins and silverware. Hence the nickname: The Pagan Thanksgiving. Continue Reading

Featured Comment

I was very glad to see this post. The running in the street around here drives me crazy, mostly because the the majority of the runners I've encountered (not every runner)seem to think that it's their right to take up half the street when what they are doing is in fact illegal. And let's not be silly. Yes, concrete is hard on the joints, but the pavement isn't that much better. It's not like the roads are made of track rubber.

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