Page 10 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • March 7, 2012 Ridgewood Wildscape association gives council new brochure by John Koster Andrew Antista, president of the Ridgewood Wildscape Association, recently presented the village council with a new park brochure and urged the council members to enjoy the 10 Ridgewood parks that are part of the dedicated Wildscape system. Mayor Keith Killion and the council members praised the group for its work in keeping parts of Ridgewood forever wild and available for non-intrusive recreation and as habitat for wildlife. The four-color photographic brochure Antista gave the council noted that the seven-acre Schedler Property, the latest land acquisition, will combine playing fields with passive recreation and includes 100-year-old sugar maple trees. The other recent acquisition, the Irene Habernickel Park and former Habernickel Horse Farm, will combine a multi-purpose sports field with walking trails, garden areas, and an outdoor education center. The other sites include: • Pleasant Park, a 17-acre site adjacent to the Hawes School, which includes a softball field and a wooded area with stands of large trees and natural sites near South Pleasant Avenue and Stevens Avenue. • King’s Pond Park, a 9.7-acre park that includes a large pond with woods and glacial rocks near Lakeview Avenue. • Gypsy Pond Park, just off Goffle Road, a 2.4-acre site that is the target of annual cleanups by interfaith religious groups and youngsters. The park can only be entered by the Rock Road extension near the Glen Rock border. • North Road Park, a 2.6-acre park with natural wildlife on North Road, not far from East Glen Avenue. • Graydon Park, which includes 20 acres and areas of greenery and the 7.6-acre Graydon Pool. • Grove Park, Ridgewood’s largest natural area, is a 32.5-acre property that was set aside in the 1970s. The site includes thick stands of tulip trees, beeches, poplars, maples, and “nurse logs” that shelter animal and plant life as the wood biodegrades back into the soil. • Twinney Pond Park, a 3.7-acre site that includes a three-foot-deep “kettle pond,” a self-contained body of water dating from the last Ice Age. Wood chip covered walking trails take visitors past a butterfly garden, red birch and locust trees, and berry bushes. Ice skating is permitted in the winter. The park is located on Red Birch Court off East Glen Avenue and not far from Franklin Turnpike. • Dunham Trail, a quarter-mile-long trail beside Ho-Ho-Kus Brook from Spring Avenue to Grove Street, which features views of two small dams and some very old sycamore trees. The Ridgewood Wildscape Association was formed in 1976 as a living memorial to Dr. Ann Dunham, a 60-year Ridgewood resident and a nature consultant to the public schools. The $5 annual membership fee may be sent to Anthony Antista at 130 Liberty Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450. Change orders (continued from page 9) The change order for the Willard School amounts to $21,511 for changes required to the steel structure due to the realignment of the addition with the elevator and rear stair tower. The contractor is JG Drywall Inc. of Elmwood Park. The change order for the interior toilet room at Ridgewood High School amounts to $14,596 to supply and install a new door, frame, and hardware so asbestos abatement need not be done. The contractor is Arco Construction Group of Elizabeth. J. KOSTER Onomachi (continued from page 4) Members of the Japanese community in Ridgewood, including Kayo Toda, Naoko Sawada, and Shinji Hamada will be offering a benefit concert for tsunami relief at the Japanese Christian Church of New Jersey, accommodated by the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church on East Pleasant Avenue in Maywood, at 4 p.m. on May 11. “I used to live in Sendai,” said Sawada, piano accompanist for Toda, an international marimba virtuoso. “I have friends there. I love the area with its beautiful nature and good old Japanese spirit. People there are so good, humble, and warm.”