HELPING HANDS
ALPINE • CLOSTER • CRESSKILL • DEMAREST • ENGLEWOOD • ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS • HARRINGTON PARK HAWORTH • NORTHVALE • NORWOOD • OLD TAPPAN • ROCKLEIGH • TENAFLY ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS
SPOTLIGHT
AHA turkey drive supports Community FoodBank of New Jersey. Organizers say, “Our hope is that students realize that families in our own communities face food insecurity...”
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DECEMBER 2023
STUDENT’S APP ON THE GROW
TENAFLY
‘Music for Mary’: ON OUR VOLUNTEERS PlantThis! nets teen Caglar of Haworth a U.S. honor Presbyterians bring ‘Red Hundreds gather Priest’ to life to mix, mingle at annual firefighter pancake breakfast
Jim Millar channels Vivaldi in free concert on Sunday, Dec. 17 at 6:30 p.m. at PCAT
BY HILLARY VIDERS FOR NORTHERN VALLEY PRESS
The morning of Nov. 5 was mighty tasty at the firehouse in Englewood Cliffs. Close to 300 people residents and firefighters, some from neighboring fire companies, enjoyed a pancake breakfast with all the fixings. It is one of the boroughʼs most popular annual events. Twenty-one firefighters and fire chiefs pitched in to make the Pancake Breakfast a big success. Ex Chief George Drimones explained, “We started the Pancake Breakfast in 2009, and weʼve had it every year except during Covid. Itʼs a great way for people to meet the firefighters and each other.” President of the Fire Company, Michael Cioffi, added, “Once a year we get to see the community and they see us and our equipment. It creates wonderful memories.”
See SPOTLIGHT on page 294
Holiday Shopping Guide
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Yaman Caglar, a seventh-grader at Haworth Public School, is Legislative District 5’s standout app author, with his PlantThis! code a powerhouse of AI that can protect crops, animals, and people. Above, he stands with his family and Rep. Josh Gotheimer (center).
EP. JOSH Gottheimer has named Yaman Caglar, a seventhgrader at Haworth Public School, winner of the 2022 Congressional App Challenge in New Jerseyʼs Fifth District. When asked what inspired the creation of PlantThis!, Caglar said, “I made this app
because some people, like my grandfather, own very big crops that can quickly catch diseases. And animals like dogs can step into these kinds of diseased plants and get sick. Many people also live off of crops. Knowing whether these naturally grown foods are safe to eat is critical.”
Caglar says online, “In lots of places in the world, agriculture is a key ingredient to life. Many people live off of
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Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741), the musical sensation of baroque Venice, was nicknamed il Prete Rosso due to his red hair. Ordained as a priest, he apparently never celebrated Mass, instead focusing on his work as a virtuoso violinist, conductor, and composer. Some of his most famous works were written for a girlsʼ orphanage, the Ospedale dell Pieta, which was on the waterfront close to the Pizza San Marco. Tenafly musical sensation Jim Millar, long a devotee of both Vivaldi and Italy, is a founder and leading light of Tuscany Summer Music, a chamber music festival in Sarteano, Italy. This Christmas, Millar is bringing a touch of Vivaldian daring to the Presbyterian Church at Tenafly, where he is director of music, a role that he undertakes alongside his outstanding work inspiring young musicians as Director of Choirs and Orchestras at Tenafly High School.
See MUSIC on page 64
CLOSTER REMEMBERS
B ck in time...
Families, officials turn out for borough’s from-theheart Veterans Day observances, there to reaffirm that freedom isn’t free.
Long before anybody wanted the latest iPhone for Christmas, the Victrola phonograph was a hot ticket during the holiday season of 1919.
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