Emerson • Hillsdale • Montvale • Park Ridge • River Vale • Township of Washington • Westwood • Woodcliff Lake
T H E PA S C AC K VA L L E Y ’ S H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R
VOLUME 30 ISSUE 9
Rec hoops it up
WESTWOOD
SCOTTY MAC’S BASEBALL FROM BACK SIPPY POO PLUS IN THE DAY Seventh annual BBQ and pig roast funds vital comfort for veterans, military familes
Two Westwood Recreation travel basketball teams bring home championships to cap the 2026 season. PAGE 16
PROUD NEW Community center ribbon cut at redevelopment site
BY MICHAEL OLOHAN OF PASCACK PRESS
Hillsdale opened its longawaited community center April 29, marking the culmination of a nearly five-year Patterson Street redevelopment effort tied to the surrounding 256-unit Piermont at Hillsdale project. About 100 attendees— including local officials, State Sen. Holly Schepisi, and families with young children—gathered at the new facility, 137 Patterson St., near the train station, celebrating the ribbon cutting with cheers, light refreshments, and a first look inside. At about 5:23 p.m., Mayor Michael Sheinfield stood before a red ribbon stretched across the entrance and smiled.
See CENTER on page 144
Crowd cheers vintage home game: your Westwood Minutemen vs. Hoboken Nine
DELIGHTS
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
HILLSDALE
HUB FOR HILLSDALE
MAY 11, 2026
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Just a taste of the memories made at the Seventh Annual “Scotty Mac Sippy Poo BBQ and Pig Roast,” held May 2 at Demarest Farm. Anthony DeRosa photos.
BY JOHN SNYDER OF PASCACK PRESS
COTTY MACʼS SIPPY POO
BBQ & Pig Roast returned to Demarest Farms in Hillsdale on May 2 with live music, food, family fun, and another strong show of support for the Fisher House Foundation. Organizer Scott “Scotty Mac” McDowell estimated this yearʼs event in the tens of thousand of dollars that pushed the groupʼs cumulative support for
Fisher House past $600,000. “It was the second largest as far as attendance,” McDowell said. “I havenʼt gotten any hard numbers yet, but the Vietnam trip and all the feedback we were getting from it definitely was a big factor.” followed The event McDowellʼs January trip to Vietnam with U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Paulie Becker, a Vietnam veteran whose emotional homecoming drew wide local attention. Becker was again warmly received at the fundraiser.
“I got up with Paulie in front of everybody and we spoke,” McDowell said. “He was like a celebrity.”
Continued on page 6
The calendar flipped back to the 19th century at Westvale Park on May 2 as local fans turned out to see baseball as it used to be played (and arguably should still be played) when the Westwood Minutemen hosted the gentlemen of the Hoboken Nine. The game was played under adapted 1864 base ball rules, which gave modern players and spectators a glimpse of how the sport once looked and sounded. A ball caught on one bounce counted as an out, foul balls were judged by where the ball first bounced, and runners had to return to their bases on fouls. Even the language differed: balls and strikes were called “warnings” to the pitcher or striker, while outs were referred to as “hands.” Walks and balks advanced all runners one base. Fans sat on stands, the grass, and DPW-provided hay bales. The rules, presented by the Hoboken Base Ball Club as part of its living-history mission, defied hard-won muscle memory and
See BASEBALL on page 244
YANKEES PICK
B ck in time...
Emerson’s Randy Gawrylo, a U.S. Marine veteran and Elmwood Park police detective, will be honored by the New York Yankees during an on-field ceremony on Friday, May 22. PAGE 22
In our featured photograph, snapped around 1905, Lulu Doerries of Park Ridge is ready to ride her bicycle along the dusty lanes of the Pascack Valley. Kristen Beuscher reports.
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