People should see how bad Main Street is, maybe if everyone in the town cared about this neighborhood it would improve.

Don't worry. There's been a "Master Plan" in place since at least 2004. It's just being tweaked and when it all comes together, you're going to be impressed. The plan is in it's grunge stage at the moment. Next comes shabby chic and soon Main Street will be a thriving, upscale area with a hip, urban feel full of hip, young Manhattanites moving in and spending hip, green money all over the place.

As our Honorable Mayor reassured us at the Edison Central 6 meeting on Feb 15, 2012, he's "not delusional" and we just need to have faith in Prism, the Administration, and the philosophy of "if we build it they will come".

Ex-Councilman Anderton, on Apr 3, was very confident in Prism and the redevelopment project. What we will have soon is the realization of a reasonably well thought out transit-oriented, rehabilitative, reuse proposal. That's what happened in Jersey City, that's what happened in Rahway, that's what happened in a lot of areas where they've had these types of redevelopment. That's what will eventually happen here and the Township's coffers will be overflowing with PILOT revenues and our beloved Main Street will become a destination. Bank on it.

Don't believe me? Then look at these: http://bit.ly/14OPprk and you'll feel a whole better, really.

I really wouldn't say that the parade was "covered" in that link you pasted Craig. It was merely a post with some terribly taken pictures. Maybe you guys were too busy reaching for a story involving a few donnybrooks between a few teenagers blocks away from the parade to fully cover and report on the parade.

I live off of Colgate and called in both fights; not to take any recognition from the parade but these weren't just 'two teenagers fighting'. This was one fight of 2 girls fighting with a crowd of about 50 kids chasing after in the parking lot and then another boy getting jumped by about 10 other kids in the tennis court area.. I think celebrating our town and recognizing all it has to offer is great, but ignoring important issues just to be keep light on whats important that day is silly. The growing crime in Colgate park gets dismissed enough as it is, I don't think we need to continue that more just to focus on a parade, no matter how important it is to the town.

Millburnie Well said ! Could you imagine chastising someone for writing facts, and further chastising him for writing those facts on St. Patrick's Day if he happens to be of Irish descent ?? Does anyone remember the expression "Freedom of the press?" I seriously doubt Carol Corcoran would be happy about the article no matter who may have written it, but I believe it's at least possible she could at least understand and perhaps be somewhat tolerant of the article if a non -Irishman had written it. But for an IRISHMAN to write that {factual } article on SAINT PATRICK'S DAY?? Disgusting, reprehensible, traitorous,high treason ! Millburnie, please note the article states; "Both fights involved groups of teenagers, according to West Orange police Police didn't know exactly how many people were involved." But Ms. Corcoran wrote; "Again, unfortunate that "breaking news" on the biggest event in Town was two teenagers fighting." .Ms. Corcoran, the article says two GROUPS of teenagers, NOT TWO TEENAGERS. Shame on Ms.Corcoran for TRYING to distort and trivialize the facts. There is a total of 4 sentences in Ms. Corcoran's letter, yet it speaks volumes.

Also, "Police responded to 2 fights at Colgate Park during West Orange's 62nd annual Saint Patrick's Day parade on Sunday afternoon." There were two separate fights. "Two teenagers fighting " is clearing stating that there was only one fight involving 2 young people..

Or people could just have an issue of using a sensational headline about an incident that A) wasn't along the parade route and B) had nothing to with the parade at all. It just so happened to occur during the time in which the parade was going on. The NY Post and Daily News, The West Orange Patch is not. But trying to get attention grabbing headlines by being misleading is poor jounalism.

Bart, don't be so naive as to say the fights were not related to the parade. With the adults running rapid around the town, why should the kids think anything is wrong with it? The parade is no longer about celebrating heritage, if it were people would be sitting in churches and/or with family NOT bars.

And Millburnie, don't be so naive to think that the fights were a result of the people at the parade. I've never once mentioned that this article took anything away from the parade. I just mentioned, this "news organization" used a town event in an attempt to get clicks. Thats my issue.

And I don't know about you(mainly because you weren't there), but I saw plenty of families out and about on Sunday, sans alcohol having a good time. Were some people a little bit too lubed up on drinks. Sure, always is. And trust that is NOTHING new to the parade. But you will think what you think. And I will think what I think. And I think this site was ill-advised to publish an article of this ilk implying these people were at the parade, when frankly You or I don't know if that was the case. Plain and simple.

But keep on drinking that Kool Aid.

Paul P. You are absolutely right about The Chronicle. I speak from several incredible personal experiences.

Paul P:

"Mired in controversy?"

In your mind, perhaps but, I don't think the 10,000 who marched or the 25,000 who attended were aware of any...nor was there any.

I also rather doubt that Assemblyman McKeon noticed your absence

Last year, the committee itself reported hundreds in attendance. Unless they were off a few orders of magnitude, I would suggest you can safely ignore those ridiculous figures.

RB

Frankly, I neither marched nor attended last year's parade but, have done both (more often than not) since 1986 and I can tell you that "hundreds in attendance" would have been a ridiculously low estimate in any of those years, rain or shine.

I stand by my assesment that +/- 25,000 viewed the parade along Main Street...period.

Still, once acknowledged to be the state's largest parade (in terms of attendance and participants), it now pales in comparison with Belmar's which had 90,000 spectators last year and an estimated 120,000 this year.

All that said, what's your point?

Are you trying to demean the efforts of the Parade Committee that expends considderable time and effort to mount this event this year?

How predictable; anonymous, nattering nabobs of negativism demeaning the effort of what others do to benefit the community.

Paul P Keep in mind these excerpts refer exclusively to gatherings,not parades or the like.These are excerpts from a Popular Mechanics article dated September 12, 2011;On June 4 ,77,000 people gathered in Hong Kong to remember the 22nd anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. Another estimate of the crowd size was over 150,000. The 77,000 estimate was a police estimate. The 150,000+ estimate was by the event organizers.This story of competing estimates is not uncommon, because people simply cannot count large numbers of people without some error. Now, imagine trying to count a shifting number of heads,some stooping to tie shoes,some sharing the same umbrella, some arriving late or leaving early { spectators moving along the parade route as the parade proceeds, tall people standing in front of shorter people or children, a large cluster of people standing next to a sparse group, varying depths of spectators lining the parade route, etc.How many people marching in a parade can accurately estimate the depth of a crowd standing and moving about at will,and how many people marching in a parade can recognize the faces of those already counted and exclude them from the final tally?< these are my comments} Plus, this is a field where good intentions are rare. Almost everyone who has tried to make a crowd estimate has a vested interest in what the estimate of the outcome is.and plenty of people are motivated to either low - ball or exaggerate an event's attendance.

wohopeful I remember a Carol Corcoran who was a long - time resident { I believe born and raised here } of West Orange . Carol Corcoran is listed as the person to call for information about the parade, but the numbers listed to call for information about the parade are a Newton New Jersey number, and a Roseland number. Are both these Carol Corcorans I've referenced the same person? Did she move to Roseland TOO? I wonder why.

wohopeful No matter how many spectators and marchers participate in the West Orange Saint Patrick's Day Parade, the most common first name of the participants is always "Former Resident "

wohopeful Of course it's nonsense. 25,000 watching a parade over a mile and a quarter route; If each person were allotted 13 inches of standing space, there would be a continuous line of spectators 2 deep on both sides of the entire length of the parade route. If we allot a somewhat more liberal but still quite reasonable 37 inches of standing space to each spectator, the spectators would have to be standing 6 deep on both sides of the entire length of the parade route. Do the parade vendors sell t - shirts that are numbered from 1 to 25,000...+/- ?

I'm sure Englert welcomed the day when Senator Richard Codey changed his name to Former Resident Richard Codey. Englert welcomed the day when Business Administrator Jack Sayers became Former Resident Jack Sayers.Hundreds of town employees are now called Former Resident. One quarter of all New Jersey government pension checks are sent to Former New Jersey Resident {previous name } It is not the people who cry havoc who are inclined to take flight. Rather ,it is the pom pom girls and shameless cheerleaders and lackeys who extoll not merely the greatness of West Orange, but the sheer perfection of West Orange who take flight, usually the instant they get their government job. Groucho Marx; "I would never join any club that would accept me as a member."

Hard to dispute that estimate; +/- 25,000 covers every number there is. Mr. Englert states his estimate of the crowd at Lourdes includes a 20% error,and that's an ASSEMBLED crowd,.and one not even close to being in military formation.

Does Mr. Englert think I've forgotten the Concerned Citizens? They depicted West Orange as nothing less than Hell on earth. {Future councilwoman } Pat Sforza said to me that West Orange had become a Sodom and Gomorrah. I don't remember one statement or letter to the editor from the Concerned Citizens that was even slightly complimentary about anything even remotely related to West Orange.They had no regard, none, for the Township or its residents.They used terms like "brown shirts" and "secret police " to describe the opposition. Englert spent every waking moment of every day trashing everything and anything to do with West Orange. The Concerned Citizens went all over town relentlessly spreading their apocalyptic message.They were definitely worried about West Orange's image,.... worried that someone might see West Orange as anything more than a cesspool.The more Hellish West Orange looked, the better.. Then John Mckeon became Mayor, and then, and then , ahhhhh, in an instant all of West Orange's problems vanished. West Orange was now Nirvana. All of the Concerned Citizens got jobs, and to this day, according to the Mckeonites/Codeyites, everything about West Orange remains perfect., perfect as in a perfect example of utterly self - serving hypocrisy.

john ranthony prignano:

Your jaunts down Selective Memory Lane really know no bounds, do they?

Rather than depicting "depicted West Orange as nothing less than Hell on earth," the focus of the group that became known as the Concerned Citizens of West Orange was rather narrow in scope and they were wholly justified and upheld based on a number of criminal actions brought and resolved in courts of law.

Trashing West Orange was neither the object of the exercise nor the end result and, yet again, you're inability to stay on point in any conversation continues.

Paul P:

If you're viewing the video on TV36/45, narrated by Maureen O'Hara and Joe Brennan, the camera shots (when not at ground level for interviews) are pretty much south along Main Street. While the crowds in that area were far from sparse, in no way can you get a flavor of the attendance over the entire route of the march. Again, you're coming to a conclusion about an event you didn't witness and that's a fool's errand.

I've run sizeable public events (the state's annual Memorial Day ceremony for 5 years, the Township's for 15, dedication of the NJ WWII Memorial, Vietnam Veterans Remembrance Day at the state's memorial in Holdel, etc.), know the crowds/seating we prepared for and how many bodies actually fit into X amount of space. As an Army Ranger trained to do recon and schooled in how to estimate troop strength (see SALUTE, acronym), I'm on pretty solid ground with my estimate...which certainly trumps those of you who weren't there and didn't walk the entire route.

Paul P These inflated totals are a long - standing tradition of the West Orange Saint Patrick's Day Parade. When John Mckeon used to announce the parade with some Former Resident or other, his head count was always an absurd overestimation. Englert can estimate any number he wants, but given his track record, no one would go bias numbers.

From various websites - : Picture; WEST CALDWELL'S Kevin Kinney, Aide to Deputy Grand Marshal Barbara Hughes of MONTCLAIR, got to spend some time with their friend Hugh Sweeney of ROSELAND. Deputy Grand Marshal Michael Merwin worked at Turtle Back Zoo until 1984. Then he worked for the United States Postal Service. And then, {deep breath } ah,and then, in 1988, he became a member of the West Orange Fire Department. He worked 25 years and a month, and then retired in 2011 with a pension of $75,000. He bought his first home on Forest Hill Road where he lived UNTIL 1996. Doesn't say where he lives now. Currently, Mike works at the Star Tavern and The H.A.T. Of course. I mean. what's $75.000 a year plus benefits in the grand scheme of things. He works with the Danglers on their annual St. Patrick's Day fundraiser. Quote from the article on Mr. Merwin, "This event has raised HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS for The Make - A - Wish Foundation" Note; While I wish that it did, the article doesn't say $1,000,000, it doesn't say close to $1,000,000, it doesn't even say several hundred thousand dollars.Will THIS become yet another West Orange St. Patrick's Day Parade tradition - significant over estimations of the amounts of charitable donations?

p.s. It goes without saying that the article about Michael Merwin doesn't say that the Dangler family has raised.MORE than $1,000,000.

john ranthony prignano:

Denigrate people who (unlike yourself) actually get out and do something for the greater good all you wish but, I stand by my assertion that the Dangler's have raised in excess of $1 Million for the "Make a Wish Foundation" over the 20 plus years they've hosted their St. Patrick's Day Parade event.

You really are a miserable little man, aren't you?

From the computer , article about The annual Dangler fundraiser ;January 29, 2010 Dangler Funeral Homes SIXTEENTH annual St. Patrick's Day Party.....March 1, 2013.The title of the article is " New Jersey Irish Season Going Strong During March"...Dangler Funeral Home NINETEENTH annual St. Patrick's Day Party. Nineteen years, NOT 20+ years.

john ranthony prignano:

Big whoop...so Dangler's charity event has just seen its 19th edition, not twenty or more? Well, Johnnny, that's close enough off the top of my head and still, they've raised more than $1 Million to support the Make a Wish Foundation during that time...and all kudos to them for doing so.