Villager brings her lifetime love of dance to new business

Villager brings her lifetime love of dance to new business

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Turning challenges into opportunities has been the modus operandi for South Orange resident Claudia Aarts-Schreiber for as long as she can remember. Now this former professional dancer is looking to provide health and fitness opportunities for others with the opening of her Pilates and dance-based fitness studio ChaiseFitness Madison, located in […]

One-act plays take the Maplewood stage in ‘Kabaret’

Kaleidoscope Kabaret offers the best one-act plays in NJ

One-act plays take the Maplewood stage in ‘Kabaret’

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — The Theater Project, the New Jersey-based theater company that produces its mainstage shows in Maplewood, will hold its annual “Kaleidoscope Kabaret” of one-act plays at the Burgdorff Cultural Center from Feb. 24 through 26. This year’s event features the debut of five plays written by members of the Theater Project’s Playwrights Workshop, […]

SOMA welcomes refugee family

SOMA welcomes refugee family

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Last fall, three synagogues in South Orange — Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel, Beth El Congregation and Congregation Oheb Shalom — set out to help resettle at least one refugee family and give them a new start in South Orange-Maplewood. The first family, refugees from the devastation in Syria, arrived in mid-January. Two […]

Women’s Connection of TSTI holds meditation and yoga event

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Thirty-five members of the Women’s Connection of Temple Sharey Tefilo-Israel got together recently for an evening of stretching bodies and relaxing minds at a yoga and meditation event. Yoga instructor Jill Vacarro from Millburn led attendees in various poses and Anne Sussman of Mindful Meeting Place in Maplewood, who is also […]

Two towns receive nearly $290K of federal grant funds

Two towns receive nearly $290K of federal grant funds

MAPLEWOOD / SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — Thanks to the Community Development Block Grant and Emergency Solutions Grant programs, 13 Essex County municipalities and 36 nonprofit community organizations will receive approximately $5 million. On Feb. 8, the county announced the grant winners; the CDBG and ESG programs are funded through the U.S. Department of Housing and […]

Slow down and pay attention

Slow down and pay attention

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — On Feb. 13, the South Orange Board of Trustees, in conjunction with the Nikhil Badlani Foundation, hosted a traffic safety artwork unveiling at the Baird Center. The artwork was created by children at the village’s annual National Night Out and consists of four panels, each depicting a scene illustrating a different […]

Maplewood TC creates Seniors Advisory Committee

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — With the great migration of seniors from New Jersey to places with more services and lower taxes, many municipalities in the area are working to retain their seniors with improved services and opportunities. And Maplewood and South Orange are no different, having recently conducted a joint survey to determine the services local […]

The shrinking role of faculty in U.S. higher education

SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — “One of the key ingredients that made American higher education great is at risk,” said professor Martin J. Finkelstein, of the Department of Education Leadership, Management and Policy in the College of Education and Human Services at Seton Hall University. To address this threat, Finkelstein released his latest book, “The Faculty […]