West Orange 2020 ‘State Of Township’: People Power Leads The Way

WEST ORANGE, NJ — There are lots of reasons to find pride in West Orange. But some of the best ones are the residents themselves.

On Wednesday, Mayor Robert Parisi delivered the State of the Township address at a breakfast at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Read the full speech.

The annual event, organized by the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, was a chance to applaud several community members who made life better for their neighbors in 2019. Those people included “Citizens of the Year” Stacey and Rob Reese, whom Parisi credited with leading the revival of the West Orange Farmer’s Market.

• See related article: West Orange Couple Revive Failing Farmers Market

Other community members spotlighted at the event included firefighter Matthew Keenan and captain William Holder of the West Orange Fire Department.

Keenan and Holder were both seriously injured while tending to an accident victim in a WOFD ambulance when it was hit from behind on I-280 last July.

• See related article: Several NJ Cops, Firefighters Hurt In Crashes On I-280

According to the mayor:

“The response that Tuesday morning was not unlike the response to any accident on the highway the hundreds of times prior. But while Will and Matt where treating a patient from the original accident in the rear of the ambulance, it was struck by a truck that lost control approaching the accident, tossing the ambulance into a fire truck, tossing several responders to the ground and leaving Will and Matt with multiple serious injuries.”

Both have long roads to recovery ahead of them – Holder spent a month in the ICU, and Keenan had a surgery scheduled for the day after the State of the Township, Parisi said.

“All of us know the dangers that await first responders each day,” the mayor said. “We may take that for granted sometimes, but it is always only a matter of time before, once again, we are reminded.”

“We are grateful for their service and blessed that they are with us this morning,” Parisi said, honoring the pair as “Employees of the Year.”

The pair have diverse backgrounds and work achievements.

Holder was raised between New Jersey and California and graduated from Orange High School in 1993. He attended Monmouth University and was part of Monmouth’s inaugural varsity football team. His talents would lead to his signing with the Oakland Raiders and eventually playing seven years in the Arena Football League.

After retiring from football, Holder joined the West Orange Fire Department in 2013, graduating from the fire academy as the commanding officer of his class. Since joining the department, he has become certified in Hazmat Awareness and Operations, Confined Space Awareness and is captain of the fire department’s Special Olympics fund-raising football team

Keenan graduated from Livingston High School in 1998 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 2001. After his initial deployment in Japan, he was deployed to Iraq where he completed a full tour of duty. He would eventually end up back in the United States and was honorably discharged as an E-6 Staff Sergeant completing eight years of service to the Marines. He was hired by the fire department in 2012.

Keenan is certified as an emergency medical technician and in Hazmat Awareness and Operations and Confined Space Awareness.

WEST ORANGE PRIDE

Other community members who received some well-deserved words of praise from the mayor on Wednesday included:

Christopher Morgan – “Tragically, on June 6, Christopher ‘C.J.’ Morgan was killed in a training exercise…while living the life he aspired to, as a soldier serving his country and his fellow classmates. The Morgan family, in short time, turned this tragedy into a living tribute to C.J. and to honor the impact he had on all that knew him. The family organized a foundation, a golf outing and created the Christopher C.J. Morgan Scholarship as part of the West Orange High School Scholarship Fund. And with over $100,000 raised, in barely six months, it is now the largest endowment within the scholarship fund…a fund that has existed for nearly 100 years.” Read More: Family Of Fallen West Point Cadet From NJ Attend State Of Union

Jennifer Tunnicliffe and Gary Rothstein – “Jennifer Tunnicliffe and Gary Rothstein both bring years of community service and support for our schools to the board and to their new positions. We thank each member for their service to our schools and wish our newly elected members the best of luck.” Read More: West Orange School Board 2019 Election Results

John DeMars – “The 69th Annual West Orange St. Patrick’s Day Parade will take the annual march down Main Street in a little over a month… And once again, a member of the township family will be among the honorees. Police Lieutenant John DeMars will be honored as Deputy Grand Marshal for the 2020 St. Patrick’s Day Parade, and recognized for his years of service to our township.”

The Downtown West Orange Alliance – “We welcomed thousands of visitors to the Annual Street Fair hosted by the Downtown West Orange Alliance this past year, and thousands more enjoyed the combined delights of the Annual Food Truck Festival and the 4th of July fireworks. The Alliance hosted the 2nd Annual West Orange Idol competition, the 2nd Annual Barktober costume contest for dogs and continued their efforts in promoting Main Street and our Downtown.”

The mayor also offered a shout-out to several West Orange High School students and staff members, including:

Hayden Moore – “With all we have to celebrate about our schools, we are most blessed to have Hayden Moore as our high school principal. Recently the New Jersey Association of Student Councils acknowledged what we have known for years and honored Principal Moore with the Administrator of the Year award.” Read More: School Celebrates West Orange Principal's Award

Scott Cascone – “Dr. Scott Cascone comes to our community with an impressive record along every stop of his career. He has quickly created a sense of respect, of optimism and an expectation of excellence. We are fortunate his career led him here.” Read More: New West Orange School Superintendent Is Bilingual, 'Trailblazer'

High-Achieving Students – Seniors at WOHS that received student recognition included Jackson Edwards, Emily Baker, Maya Tobin, Simone Byun, Shrey Sanghvi, Ashlea Hume, Natalie Nevins, Elijah Millington, Gustav Hall, Brett Zeligson and Anika Fernandez.

WOHS Football – “This season the Mountaineers gave all of us a lot to cheer for. They qualified for the state playoffs and defeated the defending state champions in the first round in a demanding division, laying the groundwork for greater success in the years to come. This optimism is thanks to Coach Darnell Grant, who joined our community this past year following an already successful career in high school coaching that has earned him placement in the top 100 all-time of New Jersey high school coaching among all sports.”

WOHS Marching Band – “Our heralded marching band continues to enjoy the success that follows their hard work. For the third year in a row they finished first in group and first overall at the North Jersey School Music Association Regional Competition as well as winning awards for best music, best marching band, best overall effect, best color guard and best overall percussion.”

WOHS Cheerleaders – “Our high school cheerleaders’ success has become as routine as that of the marching band. Cheerleading is the longest of all sports seasons with cheerleaders practicing, supporting our teams, entertaining the crowds and competing from August to March each year. In addition to supporting the high school sports teams, they placed first in all three competitions this year and will be leaving tomorrow for Florida since once again, they qualified for the UCA National High School Cheerleading Competition.”

Despite the well-deserved round of recognition at the 2020 State of the Township address, the contributions of other community members – including West Orange township workers – are often overlooked, Parisi said.

“Often unnoticed, township employees ensure our residents remain safe, protected,” the mayor said. “They rescue us and save us when we need help. They clean our streets, plow our snow, make sure our garbage is picked up, provide our children recreational opportunities and provide us the parkland to enjoy with our families. They make sure our food establishments are clean, provide transportation and entertainment to our senior citizens; they get our commuters to the trains in the morning and after a long day, they get them home again.”

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