January 18, 2012 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • Page 23 Ridgewood Notes Newcomers host ‘Snow Ball’ Ridgewood Newcomers will host a Snow Ball Dinner Dance on Saturday, Feb. 11 from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Woman’s Club of Ridgewood. This fundraiser will benefit the YWCA of Bergen County and its programs. The evening will include dancing, dinner, beverages, a special prize basket fundraiser, and an auction. The cost is $125 per couple and includes open bar, sitdown family style dinner, coffee, dessert, and music by a DJ. Suggested dress is cocktail attire. The event is open to members of the Ridgewood Newcomers and their friends. For more information, or to purchase tickets, contact Tori Schoeler at torischoeler@gmail.com or Jenn Murphy at fjkat@gmail.com. Commit to Be Fit at the Y The Ridgewood YMCA and the YWCA of Bergen County have teamed up for “Commit to Be Fit” during the month of January. Prospective members are invited to sign up for a free one-week trial membership to sample virtually all that the two organizations have to offer. This unique promotion offers facility-wide access to YMCA and YWCA programming, including fitness, sports, and enrichment classes for children, youth, adults, and seniors; lap swimming in two heated indoor pools; and access to the Bolger Fitness Center’s cardio and strength equipment and group exercise classes. Participants must be 13 years of age and older to use the YMCA strength training facility and at least 16 years of age to access the Bolger Fitness Center. Complimentary trial membership passes are available to first-time members through Jan. 31. This offer includes all YMCA, YWCA, and BFC classes, except swim lessons, personal training, massage, YWCA children’s dance, and YWCA special swim. Space is limited in the YWCA children’s classes; call in advance. To sign up for a free week, call the YMCA Membership Office at (201) 444-5600, extension 313, the YWCA Membership Office at (201) 444-5600, extension 341, or visit 112 Oak Street, Ridgewood. Torino to present ‘Backyard Birding’ Dan Torino, president of the Bergen County Audubon Society, will present “Backyard Birding” to The Women’s Guild of Old Paramus Reformed Church on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at 1:15 p.m. The public is welcome to attend. The event will be held in the church’s barrier-free Education Building at 660 East Glen Avenue. For more information, call the church office at (201) 444-5933 or visit www.oldparamus.org. West Side Presbyterian plans events The Centennial Year at West Side Presbyterian Church will begin with a performance by the Harvard Glee Club on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Founded in 1858, the club is the oldest college choir in America and is considered by many to be the premier collegiate men’s chorus in the country. Its repertory is from the Renaissance to contemporary music, including classical music and folk songs. The glee club consists of approximately 65 men from the undergraduate and graduate programs at Harvard. All are welcome. There is no admission charge, but a free-will offering will be accepted. Free child care will be provided for preschool children. The West Side Oratorio Choir is gearing up for its March 25 performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s “Elijah.” All singers are welcome. Contact Lisa Stitt at (201) 652-1966 or at lisa@westside.org if interested in becoming part of this group. Tickets for the Feb. 10 and 11 Cabaret Nights are now on sale. Tickets are $15 or two for $25. To purchase tickets, call (201) 652-1966. “The Saturday 5:55 p.m.” will be offered on Feb. 25, March 24, April 28, May 19, and June 23. This 45-minute service is informal, participatory, and family-friendly. Designed to engage mind, heart, and body, the service is offered on a monthly basis. At both the 8:45 and 10 a.m. services, children can begin worship with their families and then leave after the children’s message to engage in a Sunday school focusing on Bible stories and the history of the Christian faith. Children may stay and worship with their parents. On Wednesdays, Associate Pastor Rev. Marc Oehler and the congregation welcome everyone to a service in the tradition of Taize. This contemplative service is a form of mediation in worship and takes place in the chapel from 7:30 to 8 p.m. West Side is located at Varian Fry Way, 6 South Monroe Street, in Ridgewood. For more information, call (201) 6521966, or visit www.westside.org. Sephardic music series to begin Temple Israel and JCC of Ridgewood will launch its new series, “Winter Music,” on Jan. 21. This evening of Sephardic music will feature renowned folklorist Gerard Edery, his ensemble, and Temple Israel Cantor Caitlin Bromberg. The songs will be sung in Ladino, a language that is a blend of medieval Spanish, Hebrew, and other Romance languages, with Middle Eastern elements. Enchanting love songs will lead into songs of spiritual and mystical content. Edery is one of the world’s foremost experts in the wide-ranging music of the Sephardic Diaspora. His repertoire includes pieces from the Judeo-Arab, Judeo-Spanish, Argentinean, Middle-Eastern, Northern European, and Eastern European musical worlds. From Casbah to Caliphate, he explores all the rich cultural strains that influenced Sephardic/Mizrahi Jews from the Golden Age in Medieval Spain to the present. Highlights of Edery’s career include performances at Zankel Hall (Carnegie Hall), Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors, Merkin Concert Hall, Florence Gould Hall, the United Nations, and many other world-wide venues. This concert will benefit the temple’s Brandeis Men’s Club. It is co-sponsored by the Temple Israel Music Committee. Prior to the concert, there will be a cocktail reception from 5:45 to 7 p.m., and a catered dinner with dessert featuring foods from Europe and Northern Africa from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Ticket prices include: $68 per person for the cocktail reception, dinner, dessert, and concert; $50 for the reception and dinner only; and $18 for the concert only. After the concert, the winner of the men’s club fundraiser contest will be announced. RSVP to (201) 444-9320 or e-mail bmc@synagogue. org. Temple Israel and JCC is located at 475 Grove Street in Ridgewood. Learn about A-Files Christopher Zarr, an education specialist at the National Archives in New York City, will offer a discussion on the Immigration and Naturalization Service’s A-Files at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Genealogical Society of Bergen County. The session will be held at the Ridgewood Public Library, 125 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood, at 7 p.m. The public is welcome. Zarr will discuss the types of documents that can be found in an A-File and how to request them. The Immigration and Naturalization Service began issuing each alien an alien registration number in 1940. On April 1, 1944, these numbers were used to create individual case files, called Alien Files or A-Files. For more information, visit www. njgsbc.org. Have you filled out a “requester” form yet? If you have, we thank you. If you have not yet done so, please take a moment now. It’s only necessary to respond to this request one time, but more responses are still needed. These “requester” forms help us save on postage and assure a higher level of service for our readers as the U.S. Post Office reduces its services. Please remind your friends, co-workers, and fellow organization members to respond, too. We need thousands more to achieve our goal. The form may be completed online (www.freevilladom.com), mailed in, or dropped off at our office at 333 Godwin Avenue in Midland Park. 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