The 10th annual Tour de Montclair took place today and we couldn’t have wished for a more beautiful day. Brookdale Park was packed with families of all ages. And there was something for everyone: a 4 mile walk , trike-a-thon, 1 mile loop, 8 mile ride and the Big Kahuna— a 12 mile scenic route through town.
My 8 year old rode the 1 mile loop in her first Tour de Montclair today and was beaming with pride. Thanks to our good friend Ciru who let her tag along with her and her son. My 4 year old proudly rode her 2-wheeler with training wheels and my husband and I chased after her.
The Longest Running Race in Hoboken, organized by the Hoboken Harriers Running Club, returns for its 14th running on May 13, Mother’s Day, and with it, fun, new features that will have everyone running to Hoboken as their Mother’s Day destination.
Joining the 5 Mile Run will be a newly formatted kids run with prizes and a 1.5 Mile Baby Jogger Jaunt (an event exclusively for runners pushing strollers). Before the events, participants can enjoy a cardio and stretching warm-up session and after, flowers, light snacks and live music. For the first time runners will be able to register as teams.
“Whether you’re a mom or if you want to run for your mom, this year’s 5 Mile Classic is the perfect day and way to celebrate Mother’s Day,” says HOHA president, Mona Lopez. “The race course winds along the scenic Hoboken waterfront and provides tons of dining opportunities for families and extended families to spend the rest of the day dining or exploring Hoboken.”
UPDATE, May 18: First Position is now playing at the Clairidge in Montclair. Check showtimes here.
A film about young ballet dancers captivated young, old, men and women this morning at the Bellevue Theater. The documentary, directed by Bess Kargman, was a wonderful family-film addition at the Montclair Film Festival. Co-presented with Barista Kids, First Position was inspiring and broke down stereotypes of the ballet world. And that’s exactly what Bess Kargman intended it to do with her first film. She wanted for everyone to love this film, event those dragged their by their wives (like my husband)—especially those. “I kind of made this film for the haters.” She said in a Q&A after the film.
The film had its world premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival and was named the audience choice’s first runner up for Best Documentary. It also won the Jury Prize at the San Francisco Documentary Festival and the audience award at DOCNYC. And if the applause, gasps, and cheers of the Montclair audience is any indicator of its success, it surely was a favorite at this festival.
On Thursday, according to The Star Ledger, the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association found that Vincent Ascolese, the football coach at North Bergen High School for 39 years, (and his family) recruited two key players. These two illegally recruited players were on the team (The Bruins) when they defeated The Montclair Mounties in the State Championship in December.
The punishment? North Bergen High’s entire athletic program has been put on two years probation.
However, even though the NJSIAA found Ascolese guilty of recruiting two very good players, NBHS still gets to keep the championship title. Personally, I know nothing of sports. Not a thing. Football players score home runs right? But I do know that something ain’t cool about this. See, this is personal for me. I graduated from North Bergen High School, at a time when the football team won the State Championship twice (1988 and 1990). So I know how important football is to NBHS. I saw how the players were treated like kings and how they got away with a ton of stuff. The football players even had their own table in the cafeteria, right in the center of the room so that all the other kids could see them in their glory. The culture was all about the team and the coach, Vin Ascolese.
So it really angers me to learn that even though it has been proven that this coach did something illegal and wrong, he still gets that State Championship title in the year that he retired. Shouldn’t the team and the coach lose it? Shouldn’t the Montclair Mounties get the trophy? Now I realize that winning the title in that way isn’t what a team hopes for, but right is right. Right?
What do you think? Should the Montclair Mounties get the trophy? Take our poll…
If you are a parent in Montclair, you most likely have signed up your children in town’s sports. Having a strong recreation program is important for families.
Several youth sports programs (MUSC, MBC, LCM) created and put forth a questionnaire to the three mayoral candidates regarding their position on and vision for Montclair athletic programs and facilities:
Dear Mayoral Candidates:
A vital component of life in Montclair is youth sports and recreation. The undersigned, not-for-profit community athletic organizations provide low cost, healthy activities and programs to approximately 2,500 participants throughout the year. That’s over a third of school age-children which means a significant constituency of any mayor and council is made up of the active volunteers that oversee, administer and coach these programs. Our organizations and others like us rely on the Board of Education and Township of Montclair for fields and facilities. Their support and cooperation are vital to our existence.
In an effort to help educate the voters of Montclair in advance of the May 8th municipal election, we have formulated some questions, in consultation with other groups such as Montclair Lacrosse, on issues that we believe to be critical to our members and to all of Montclair’s citizenry, especially our children.
We invite you to answer them on behalf of your slate. If you are answering for yourself please indicate this.
VIP kids is a soccer clinic for children with special needs held at the Soccer Domain Academy in Montclair.
SDA Montclair’s Manager, Tonja Isola, tells us, “The focus is on learning soccer skills through the use of fun themed games. In addition, the children will learn socialization skills (i.e. how to work on a team) and how to follow directions. We foster a non-competitive environment where every child gets the opportunity to shine.”
Verona Park was filled with families celebrating health, fun and community yesterday for the Montclair YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day. The Y promised it would be a carnival-like event and it was, but it was much more than that. There was an infectious energy in the air and people young and old joined in with hula hoop fitness, Zumba, fitness contests, Conga lines and joining together to attempt to break a Guinness World Record.
After all the festivities were done, including pottery making with MAM, face painting, Take Back the Kitchen’s delicious dip tasting (Alma really does deserve the win she had for her Edamame dip!) and more, everyone was asked to Conga out of the center of the area so that the Y staff could set up for the record attempt.
The Montclair Y isn’t the only local Y participating in Healthy Kids Day, families in the SOMA will get a big party on Saturday too.
The South Mountain YMCA‘s 21st annual Healthy Kids Day will entertain with a Family Obstacle Course, sport games and activities, a Bounce House, Healthy Snacks from Veggiecation, Trader Joes, Tropicana an much more. The biggest thrill? Spider-Man will be there again this year!
Maplewood Green Day also takes place that day, so SOMA will offer a full day of good, healthy fun for families of all ages.
WINNERS: Congratulations to rachwinga and jbeard25!
The 2012 Olympics take place in London opening on July 27. As a Greek-American, I love the Olympics. They’re a way to celebrate my heritage and be patriotic for the US at the same time.
Pampers is helping the littlest “athletes” join the celebration and show their patriotism with its Limited Edition TEAM USA diapers and wipes. Because Pampers believes, “From crawling and walking to balancing and tumbling, the efforts babies go to in order to overcome everyday challenges are podium-topping in their determination.” Pampers has partnered with two-time Olympic Games Gold medalist (Beach Volleyball) and Team USA Hopeful, Kerri Walsh, to help introduce Pampers Limited Edition “USA” diapers and wipes, which will be hitting shelves soon.
The diapers feature a “USA” logo print combined with red, white and blue stars and stripe designs while the wipes packaging pays tribute to Team USA with a similar design. How cute are these diapers with USA written across your baby’s bottom? I’ll be honest. I’m extremely happy to be out of the diaper stage, but if my girls were still in diapers, I’d be all over these.
My older daughter learned to ride her two-wheeler a couple of years ago after taking a great “balance first” class at Bike NY. Bike&Walk Montclair offers Learn to Ride: Kids bicycle classes too and they use the same “balance” technique. On Saturday mornings throughout the summer, your child can learn to ride all by herself. I plan to take my younger daughter this year to learn. She’s riding a two-wheeler with training wheels now, but I think we’re ready to take the plunge.
The first class is today, Saturday, April 14 at 10 am and then a couple more times this month:
