September 28, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 11 Midland Park Midland Park High School Marching Band parents asked the board of education last week to improve lighting in front Music parents want truck back, better lighting of the school and to return their competition trailer to its former location in front of the building. Molnar wins dance championship David Porro and Jessica Molnar of Grand Ballroom. Jessica Molnar, a student at the Grand Ballroom Dance Studio in Midland Park, distinguished herself at the recent 2011 United States Dance Championships. She is the US National ProAm Bronze Rhythm champion, having garnered first place, and the U.S. National Pro-Am Bronze Smooth runner-up, garnering second place. She is also the semi-finalist in the U.S. Open ProAm American Rhythm and U.S. Open ProAm American Smooth. A ballet dancer since her youth who trained with Irine Fokine, she is currently a ballet teacher at Petrov Ballet in Waldwick. She took up ballroom dance at the Grand Ballroom in 2008 to provide a more expressive outlet for her dancing. “I’m concerned about the safety of the children, and I am concerned about our school pride,” said Sue Opderbeck of Smith Lane. Opderbeck said that a box truck the parents’ association had purchased to transport equipment to out-of-district competitions had been moved after the parking lot in front of the school was paved this summer. “I feel it’s been taken from us; it was paid for by the parents, and it’s hidden behind the bushes. We want it moved back so we can see it; it’s part of our pride, what we’ve done for our kids,” she said. “We want to show the community we are not only alive, but awesome,” said Candy Peterson of Bank Street. She noted that the band had garnered first place in a competition last weekend. Opderbeck said that now that the truck is in a new location, the students have to cross an active parking lot, which is poorly lit, to drop off or retrieve heavy instruments. She said the evenings when adult school is in session are particularly dangerous for pedestrians because drivers are unfamiliar with the area. Peterson also said that the new location lends itself to the trailer being blocked in by cars of parents attending games at the Sonny Santorine field. “How would we pull out the trailer when we are ready to leave,” she said. Another parent, Stephanie Pollock, asked that the lighting and the bushes near the side door from the auditorium, which exits in front of the school, be improved. “Look at the whole thing,” she said. “The children use that exit to cut across. The area is pitch black, and the bushes are overgrown,” Pollock said. Board President Robert Schiffer said he would have the maintenance staff look into the parents’ concerns and report back. In other business at the meeting, the board approved the use and rental of the Highland School gym to English Pro Soccer for a winter indoor soccer program sponsored by the Midland Park Continuing Education Program. The games will be Sundays from Jan. 8 through March 4, 2012. Board Vice President William Sullivan said there would be no conflict with the town’s basketball program. Harry Shortway Jr. to be honored Resident Harry Shortway Jr. will be honored at a testimonial dinner sponsored by the Midland Park United Republican Club on Wednesday, Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Brick House in Wyckoff. Currently serving as a Bergen County undersheriff in charge of the foreclosures and writs division of the department, Shortway retired from the Ridgewood Police Department in 2002 with the rank of detective sergeant after 42 years on the force. A former Marine, he turned down an offer to play baseball for the Saint Louis Cardinals minor league team in 1958 and decided to become a police officer, joining the Ridgewood Police Department in 1960. He served as a Bergen County undersheriff from 2002 to 2005 and ran for Bergen County Sheriff in 1998 and 2007. For more information, or to support the event, contact Club President John Meeks at john. meeks26@gmail.com.