Page 12 THE VILLADOM TIMES II • October 31, 2012 Ridgewood Council honors Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church by John Koster Mayor Paul Aronsohn and the members of the Ridgewood Village Council were unanimous in honoring Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church for 100 years of religious and social contributions to the life of Ridgewood. The action took place at last week’s council meeting. The present church building, which opened at 155 Linwood Avenue in 1955, follows the original church that opened at the corner of Doremus and Lenox Avenues in September of 1912. Mayor Aronson proclaimed, with the approval of the entire council, that the Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church had served Ridgewood though more than 100,000 hours of service to the community in the past century, including concerts of religious and secular music, charity fundraising events, the Early Learning Center activities, Vacation Bible School, the Ridgewood Run, the annual July The Ridgewood Village Council heard a brief report from Jackie White of Neighbors Helping Neighbors, who said her counseling group had helped match 200 area residents to new jobs. At last week’s council work session, White reported that the Neighbors Helping Neighbors group, founded in River Edge about a year ago, now meets at the Ridgewood Library, among other places. She said the group has about 1,000 members, most of whom are professionals or paraprofessionals who voluntarily help match unemployed or under-employed people and recent college graduates with Neighbors Helping Neighbors representative reports success jobs. So far, the local group has held 27 meetings and, White said, had helped about 200 people to find new jobs. “It is a grassroots, peer-led group to help individuals in career transition,” White said. “We’re all in the same boat, so we all help each other.” Mayor Paul Aronsohn said he wanted to learn more about the group and hoped to attend a meeting soon. “Hiring locally is a wonderful thing to do,” White told the council. “It’s reinvesting in your own community.” J. KOSTER Rigewood Council Members Gwen Hauck and Bernadette Walsh, Mayor Paul Aronsohn, Councilman Thomas Riche, Deputy Mayor Albert Pucciarelli, and Margie Downs in front and Hank Bitten and The Reverend Andrew Nelson with the proclamation at last week’s Ridgewood Village Council meeting. 4 Parade, and financial assistance to a number of families in need. The church has had four pastors in the past century: The Reverend Frederick A. Ottmann, The Reverend Ewald H. Mueller, The Reverend Richard M. Koehneke, and The Reverend Andrew D. Nelson, who accepted the proclamation in person on Oct. 24 in the company of Margie Downs, chairperson of the 100th Anniversary Committee, and Elder Hank Bitten.