Residents Honored At Historic Preservation Awards

HACKENSACK—Two separate groups of Ridgewood citizens were honored May 6 at the 2010 Bergen County Historic Preservation Commendation Awards in Hackensack's historic Church on the Green.

On a brilliant spring night in our ancient county, where through even George Washington once strolled the streets of Knickerbocker and Shraalenburgh, the biggest names in preservation, Bergen County Executive Dennis McNerney, borough historians, librarians and authors aplenty, honored the year's most fantastic and thoughtful methods in preserving, through stalwart protection, education, renovation, almost 350 years of Bergen County history, its culture, its place in America's time from before the Revolution through today.

The winners were awarded commendations from the State Assembly, the Board of Freeholders, and the Bergen County Sheriff.  

This year, the 25th of the awards, Ridgewood citizen Bill Carbone's brainchild, the educational DVD A Walk Through Historic Ridgewood was recognized in the category "Preservation Education."

A long-time Bergen County citizen, teacher, parade-organizer, and researcher, Carbone, whose ultimate achievement started, as if a light-bulb had suddenly went off, as a small idea to replicate PBS' history program A Walk Up Broadway, was glad to be recognized by fellow historians, but humble too, even after many years of filming troubles.

"It wasn't really done for the award. This was just the culmination." A true artist and achiever he is—of course, also, he had his hometown for inspiration.

"There are enough active people like me, who think like me, who want to do something to make the town a better place," the award-winner said of Ridgewood. "I'm not even a history buff."

Also recognized for their efforts in the production were village historians Peggy Norris, Joe Suplicki, and Chairman of the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission Art Wruble.

In the category of "Adaptive Use Project," The Bolger Foundation of Ridgewood was commended for their rehabilitation of the Pease building. Ridgewood's original library was barely useful until local David F. Bolger stepped in with a solution to restore the building into office space, and more so, have the rentals fund the library. 

Bolger's brother, architect Peter Raymond Wells, accepted the award on behalf of the foundation.

The theme of the night was "Old is the New Green" and Bolger's vision to "breed new life," as Wells put it, into the historic Pease building could not have been a more fitting and important a renovation.

The ceremony culminated with an after-party reception where the newest stars of the preservation scene hob-knobbed with the experienced and talented. Here the pot again began to simmer as intellectual members of the scene shared new ideas to keep Bergen, amidst new developments, construction, and advancement, its beautiful old character, its roots in the story of America