It's Good To Be Home

When my parents moved to Livingston, it seemed the ideal town to put down roots. Already a budding suburb, Livingston boasted good schools and sports, a hospital, and a grocery that found fame for hosting a game show called "Supermarket Sweeps."

My first-grade teacher would wheel a television into our classroom at Monmouth Court to watch my parents' run on the show. They won nine days straight, my Mom sparkling under the television lights and calmly ringing up the correct retail price for items like milk and lobster. My Dad raced around the store for turkeys and candies, loot worthy of Halloween that we later shared with neighbors.

We have only grainy black and white footage of my parents' celebrity. It shares a reel of home movies with my Mom backing out of our driveway in a new 1966 Mustang convertible. My sister and I would practice waving like Miss Livingston, pretending we were riding with the top down in the Memorial Day parade.

Three generations later – my nephew Jack was the first baby born in Livingston in 2008 – I've been driving around town looking at my hometown. So much is familiar. The firehouse blows the whistle every night at 6. Sams anchors the corner on our side of town. Children dive for pennies in Memorial Pool. The Kiwanis Carnival lights up June nights.

Coming home 30 years after interning as a reporter at the West Essex Tribune, my eyes are nostalgic for such familiar scenes. But it's clear that the budding suburb boasts a new chic. There's a new Town Center that features upscale shops and homes, and a makeover of the public buildings surrounding the Oval, including the high school, library and town hall.

Still, for all its new high-style, long-time residents say Livingston remains true to its roots with good schools, sports, a hospital, and plenty of shopping. The grocery? It's now a sports club where my Mom keeps fit.

Keeping tabs on all things Livingston has a rich history in town.

I worked for E. Christopher Cone, the retired publisher and editor of the West Essex Tribune, and Nancy Dinar, the current editor, whose dedication to community journalism was infectious. I went on to cover small, rural towns in Salem County, N.J.; copy editing at The Times of Trenton; and reporting at The Philadelphia Business Journal. For the past year, I've been contributing to Patch sites in South Orange and Maplewood, mostly writing about education.

Patch is the next generation media company. In my new job, I'll be running this local news blog to report on our schools and government, with features on the people who live and work in Livingston. Like the town itself, the media has been restyled for the times and with new technology.

My grandmother was a daredevil who rode a motorcycle in a globe on the Steel Pier. I guess I inherited her gumption to take on new challenges. And like the lifelong learners I admire at the Adult School in South Orange-Maplewood, where I most recently worked, to try something new.

Patch is growing rapidly. Livingston was among the first 100 launched, edited in its premiere by Kelly Feeney, who leaves to pursue other writing passions. 

So with an affectionate eye to my hometown – iPhone, laptop and digital camera in hand – I've been asked to carry on as Livingston news goes social. In the jargon of the trade, the coverage is a hyperlocal, meaning I'll be reporting on everything from the Old Guard to the classrooms of my youth.

You'll find us here @ Livingston Patch.com. Become a friend on Facebook; follow us on Twitter. Send a news tip or photograph or story. Log into the site and receive daily updates and breaking news alerts. Leave a comment. Check our directory. It's loaded with information on businesses, stores, clubs, organizations, the library and hospital, schools and government. We want you to use the directory as a reference tool. Let me know if anything's missing and we'll get it up there.

In short, let me know what's going on around town.

I'll be digging down to our roots.