May 13, 2009 THE VILLADOM TIMES IV • Page 25 Mahwah Minutes Book groups to discuss Diaz novel The Mahwah Library’s Morning Book Discussion Group will meet on May 18 at 10:30 a.m. and the Evening Book Discussion Group will meet May 27 at 7 p.m. to discuss Junot Diaz’s “The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” -- this year’s selection for One Book New Jersey. It is the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award winning first novel by New Jersey’s own Junot Diaz. Diaz immerses readers in the uproarious lives of Oscar, his runaway sister Lola, and their ferocious beauty-queen mother Belicia, and in the family’s epic journey from Santo Domingo to Washington Heights to New Jersey’s Bergenline and back again. Professor Iraida H. Lopez from Ramapo College will join the Evening Book Club to lead the discussion. Both the morning and evening adult book discussion groups are looking for new members. If you are interested please call or visit the library. The Mahwah Public Library is located at 100 Ridge Road. Call (201) 529-READ. Explore New Jersey’s counties at library Take a trip around New Jersey with Helen Pike as she presents “21 Sites in 21 Counties” at the Mahwah Public Library on May 18 at 7 p.m. Pike is an author of seven books about New Jersey. Her first book for Rutgers University Press was “Greeting from New Jersey,” which includes 46 travel essays and 400 postcards culled from a 6,000-plus personal collection. This program is free. No tickets are necessary. Seats are on a “first come” basis. The Mahwah Library is located at 100 Ridge Road. Call the library at (201) 529-READ. Bergen County parks showcased at library John Biale and Jim Guida will present “Explore Bergen County Parks” at the Mahwah Public Library on Wednesday May 20 at 7 p.m. The Bergen County Department of Parks includes the Division of Parks and the Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs. The principal function of the department is the management and maintenance of the vast Bergen County Parks Systems, which encompasses 7,968 acres. This program is free. No tickets are necessary. Seats are on a “first come” basis. The Mahwah Public Library is located at 100 Ridge Road. Call (201) 529-READ. Professional development seminar offered The Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce will hold a professional development seminar, Building Your Brand and Web Presence, on May 20 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Chamber of Commerce office, 65 Ramapo Valley Road in Mahwah. This event will focus on how to promote a business through branding, print media, and online marketing strategies. The workshop will be presented by Network Solutions, an organization that helps small businesses start and market themselves on the Web, and PMV, a company that helps small and medium size businesses to develop a brand strategy. Refreshments will be provided. The cost is $25 for Chamber members and $40 for nonmembers. Prepaid registration is required; an additional $5 processing fee will be charged if paid the day of event. Seating is limited. For reservations, register online at www. mahwah.com or call the Chamber office at (201) 529-5566. Spiritual book discussion planned Readers who are interested in exploring novels and other literature with spiritual meaning in a relaxed atmosphere are invited to meet on May 17 at 6 p.m. at Panera Bread, 1300 State Route 17 in Ramsey. The first selection is Mark Salzman’s “Lying Awake.” This novelist brings to life the mysterious world of the Carmelite cloister, giving a brilliantly realized portrait of one woman’s trial at the intersection of faith and reason. Participants are asked to read the book before attending the meeting. Copies are available from the local library system and online bookstores. This group is sponsored by the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Mahwah. For information, contact Jennifer at (201) 327-1276 or paicc@yahoo.com. Auxiliary to hold fundraiser Dine with friends and family and enjoy fine Italian cuisine prepared by Marcello’s Ristorante in Suffern, New York. Marcello’s will donate a portion of the dinner bill to the Valley Hospital Auxiliary’s Mahwah Branch on Monday, May 18, and Tuesday, May 26. Contact Louise at (201) 327-6072 to make a reservation. Parent Advocacy Group to host speaker The Mahwah Parent Advocacy Group will meet Wednesday, May 13 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Mahwah High School media center, located at 50 Ridge Road. This meeting will be a collaborative meeting with the Upper Saddle River Parent Group. The guest speaker will be Rebecca K. Spar, Esq. from Cole, Schotz, Meisel, Forman & Leonard, P.A. located in Hackensack. Spar will discuss education law, including eligibility and providing an appropriate education in the least restrictive environment. The Mahwah Parent Group is a parent run support group serving the needs of special education parents. For more information, contact Christine Luciano at (201) 512-1828 or lucrew@optonline.net. New Jersey travelogue to be presented The Mahwah Public Library is sponsoring “New Jersey: A Study in Landscape Diversity” with prize-winning photographer George Aronson on Wednesday May 13 at 7 p.m. For a state so densely populated, extensively paved, and heavily traveled, New Jersey has an extraordinary variety of terrain, habitats, soils, rocks, and water features, offering rich biodiversity to its wild and its human inhabitants. This is a multimedia presentation tour of New Jersey from the rugged North Jersey Highlands to the Delaware Bayshore. Explore the beauty of the Palisades, the stark contrasts of the Hackensack Meadowlands, the remoteness of the Great Swamp and the Pine Barrens, and the near pristine remnants of the original Jersey Shore. Aronson, a Morristown-based photographer, specializes in nature, scenic, and landscape photography. His photos have been featured prominently in publications and presentations of the New Jersey Audubon Society, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Sierra Club, the Trust for Public Land, Hackensack Meadowlands Commission, and more. “New Jersey: A Study in Landscape Diversity” is free. No tickets are necessary. The Mahwah Public Library is located at 100 Ridge Road. Call (201) 529-READ. Board of health to meet The Mahwah Board of Health will meet on Tuesday, May 12 at 7:30 p.m. The session will be held in the municipal building located at 475 Corporate Drive. A day at the spa Mahwah Cadette Troop 1378 recently treated Daisy Troop 949 to some special pampering. Cadettes in back row from left to right: Elizabeth, Catie, Gabbi, Kristen, Erica, Mary Rose, Emily, Molly, Ashley, Jax, Sophia, and Amanda. Daisies in front row from left to right: Olivia, Brynn, Chloe, Jessica, Emily, Hannah, Grace, Jenna and Isabelle. March in Mahwah Bergen County Freeholder Vice Chair Julie O’Brien (at left) attended the recent March of Dimes walk at Darlington County Park in Mahwah. O’Brien is pictured with Community Director of the North Jersey Division of the March of Dimes Fatima Middlebrooks, and Care Bear.