November 9, 2011 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 17 Glen Rock Roundup Senior Citizens Advisory Committee to meet The Senior Citizens Advisory Committee of Glen Rock, chaired by Doris Ciaramella, will meet Nov. 8 at 1:30 p.m. at the municipal building at Harding Plaza. All are invited to attend. For special transportation needs for senior residents, call Paula Fleming at borough hall, (201) 670-3956. Sister schools launch Thanksgiving Food Drive A Thanksgiving Food Drive is being held as part of the cooperative effort between Glen Rock High School and adopted sister school Eastside High in Paterson. Non-perishable food items may be dropped off in the collection box at the Glen Rock Public Library at 315 Rock Road. Proceeds will benefit Paterson School No. 21. Initiated earlier this year by senior Kate Scandale as a community service project, “Operation Panther Ghost” (named in recognition of each school’s mascot) will sponsor a variety of activities throughout the school year. Scandale is running this project with the assistance of Sarafina Milgrim, another Glen Rock High senior. Green Film Festival finale set The Glen Rock Environmental Commission’s Green Film Festival finale will be held Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. at the Glen Rock Library, 315 Rock Road. The featured film will be “Bag it: Is Your Life Too Plastic?” This film, which started as a documentary about plastic bags, evolved into a wholesale investigation into plastics and their effect on waterways, oceans, and people. A discussion will follow the screening. The Glen Rock Environmental Commission consists of seven volunteer residents who seek to educate residents, advocate for a cleaner and healthier community, and advise the municipal government about the environmental impacts of proposed actions. Glen Rock is a registered community under the Sustainable Jersey program. Theater company holds fundraiser The Glen Rock Inn, 222 Rock Road, is offering a dining fundraiser to benefit The Glen Rock High School Theatre Company through Nov. 11. Supporters of the theatre company may purchase gift certificates to the restaurant in $25, $50 and $100 denominations. Net proceeds from the sale will be donated to the organization. To order a certificate, contact Doretta Miller at damiller418@gmail.com. The GRHS Theatre Company offers opportunities in acting, directing, playwriting, stage management, and technical theatre. In addition to its annual fall production, the company presents a festival of original plays written and produced by students, every spring. This fall the company will present Bertolt Brecht’s “Caucasian Chalk Circle.” Fornatale presents ‘Story of Woodstock’ Legendary WNEW/WFUV disc jockey Pete Fornatale will present the “Story of Woodstock” on Jan. 29, 2012. This vivid multi-media presentation includes rare audio clips and video footage of the artists who played there. This program will take place at 3 p.m. at the Glen Rock Jewish Center, 682 Harristown Road in Glen Rock. Fornatale, one of the architects of Progressive Rock FM in the ‘60s, has one of the most recognizable voices in rock radio. He has been a fixture on the New York dial for four decades, starting his career at WFUV in November 1963 as a Fordham undergraduate hosting “Campus Caravan,” and then moving to WNEW-FM in 1969 and K-Rock in 1989. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 the day of the show. Contact Rob Weiss at (212) 448-6217 or rmajw@optonline. net to purchase tickets. Club expands offerings The Activities Club, an organization of retired and semi-retired men, is forming three new group activities: coin collection, Apple device users, and chess. These are in addition to the 22 other activities enjoyed by the club. Retired men who are interested in learning more about these activities or joining the club may visit theactivitiesclub.org for information or contact Charlie Flynn, membership chairman, at (201) 652-2585. PSE&G fields tough questions (continued from page 3) up the electric and telephone wires. He said that as of the time he was speaking, PSE&G had 11 repair crews and 10 tree crews in Ridgewood alone. The entire PSE&G bailiwick had drawn in 262 troubleshooters and 260 line crews, some from as far away as Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi to get Northwest Bergen and vicinity up and running, but even those crews were not adequate to connect every block or household after what Hollenbeck said was the worst tree-fall in his 28 years on the job, and probably the worst of the past 100 years. He explained that Ridgewood had received special emphasis because of Valley Hospital, since official policy is to concentrate on hospitals and nursing homes first, followed by those schools that had not been damaged, followed by private homes and businesses. When Mayor Killion and council members asked Hollenbeck what to tell residents who asked when they might have their electric power and telephone service back, Hollenbeck said the policy is to focus on the sectors that were hardest hit and where connecting one line could service many households. “If you have a tree down and if you’re the only customer on the block, I don’t know how soon we’re going to be able to get to you,” Hollenbeck admitted. Village Manager Gabbert also had some numbers. He said Ridgewood had expended 664 hours of staff time on the catastrophe. Gabbert said he expected Ridgewood would go 2 to 2.5 percent over budget due to the storm. “As I have responded, I think, to 73 residents, I know their power is off,” he said. “We have never had trees down, in the magnitude we have seen, not even in the storm of March 2010. The trees were coming down all over the place. They’re still working on the power lines.” Following Hollenback, Ridgewood OEM Director Brad Mason said he had sent out seven Reverse 911 calls while the situation continued to worsen. Mason also reported that he had prepared shelters, which ultimately accommodated one resident at the main firehouse. “Many people like to think reverse phoning is the silver bullet, but it is not,” Mason said, acknowledging that some residents may not have received the calls due to downed phone lines. “We encourage residents to tell their friends and neighbors about the messages they have received.” Pondering methods of preventing future disasters, Councilwoman Bernadette Walsh asked if the proximity of power lines to trees might be part of the problem. Hollenbeck mentioned that Ridgewood had suffered because of the many beautiful old trees around the village, and that PSE&G has a special “vegetation management expert” who could examine the trees and recommend that large trees, once they become moribund, be replaced with tougher trees not as likely to fall or shed large limbs that take power lines down with them. The special circumstance -- a wet snowstorm when many deciduous trees were still in full leaf -- was alluded to repeatedly. J. KOSTER