Healthy appetites get taste of Grassroots in Morristown

What’s so great about health food?

Green-haired Hanna Desmedt of Boonton thought for a beat or two.

“It makes me feel like a good person,” the teen replied.

She had plenty of company in the feel-good category on Monday at Grassroots Natural Market, Morristown’s new health store. A pre-launch party welcomed future customers who paid up to $1,000 for shopping discount cards. The 7,000-square-foot space at 66 Morris St. was packed.

Please click icon below for captions.

Grassroots’ actual opening should follow within two weeks, according to owner Paul Kralyevich.

Guests at Monday’s bash said they can hardly wait.

“It’s been too long,” said Morris Township resident Judy Martinez, who’s had to range farther afield since the Health Shoppe closed last summer at the same location. “What we’ve been missing–supplements and takeout food–you can’t get this kind of stuff at any other place.”

“I’m very excited. The last few months have been inconvenient,” said another Township resident, Grace Tung, who owns Bikram Yoga in Cedar Knolls.

Jennifer Wehring, marketing director for the Morristown Partnership, started working at the Health Shoppe as a high schooler and stayed for 11 years. She would love returning on a part-time basis to Grassroots, “if they’ll have me,” she said. “I love small businesses. This will help me do my job better.”

One of the staffers, Matt Clohosey, said he revamped his diet after being hired last year at the Grassroots store in Denville.  He is 60 pounds lighter now. The secret?

“A lot of granola,” Matt joked.

Eating healthy requires a little more money and effort than scarfing down junk food, he conceded. “But it evens out. It’s a fair trade,” he said.

Another staff member, Joe Figarelli, said he was a late convert to organic food. Now it helps keep him trim for National Guard duty, he said.

“Some things are acquired tastes,” he explained. “I never ate tofu. Now I eat it all the time.”

Katherina Estrada, 13, of Rockaway Township, likes Grassroots’ emphasis on gluten-free products. Sure, a burger with fries would be great.

“You crave it,” she acknowledged, munching a “wholesome” chocolate chip cookie from Wholly Wholesome of Chester. “But a lot of [healthy] things taste good and make up for it.”

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty suggested Grassroots’ location–a short walk from the train station–may benefit the environment as well as waistlines. Regional customers can leave their cars at home and come by train, he said.

And this health food stuff is starting to grow on him, too.

“I never thought I would eat jalapeno kale,” the Mayor said. “It was great.”

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

River cleanup in Morristown: Everything AND the kitchen sink!

Usually, it’s “everything but.”

This time they got the kitchen sink, too.

It was among more than a ton of debris that volunteers hauled from the Whippany River and its banks near Morristown’s Bethel AME Church on Saturday, according to Jim Baranski, vice chairman of the Whippany River Watershed Action Committee.

Volunteers came from the Market Street Mission, the Presbyterian Church and the Church of the Redeemer, and from the community, to help Bethel AME minimize the risk of more floods like the one that caused major damage after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

Jim called Saturday’s efforts “a huge success,” and here’s why:

• 1,560 pounds of garbage were removed, including…
• 600 pounds of recyclables
• 280 pounds of wood
• 160 pounds of cinder blocks
• 140 pounds of brick
• A small pickup truck full of heavy metal
• 1 bicycle
• A cat house
• A lounge chair cushion
• A step stool
• Shopping cart
• And the kitchen sink!

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

Whippany River gets some TLC in Morristown

Community volunteers in Morristown braved chilly weather on Saturday to go fishing– for rusty bikes, old shopping carts and other debris in the Whippany River.

The second annual spring cleaning, near the Bethel AME Church, was meant to reduce the risk of more floods like the one that inundated the Second Ward after Tropical Storm Irene in 2011.

MorristownGreen.com photographer Scott Schlosser captured these scenes from the cleanup:

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

The Market Street Mission, the Presbyterian Church in Morristown and the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer sent volunteers, said Bethel AME Pastor Sidney Williams Jr.

Some boiler parts and other chunks of heavy metal remain on the riverbank. The Pastor said he is hopeful the town can assist with removal of those items.

The nonprofit Whippany River Watershed Action Committee organized the cleanup.

More scenes from the 2013 St. Patrick’s Parade in Morristown

The Morris County St. Patrick’s Parade was a photographer’s dream on Saturday: Blue skies and lots of sunshine.

Here are some more colorful shots from Team MG; our thanks to Bill Lescohier, Robyn Quinn and Scott Schlosser.

Photos by Bill Lescohier. Please click icon below for captions.

Photos by Robyn Quinn and Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

 

MORE COVERAGE OF THE 2013 MORRIS COUNTY ST. PATRICK’S PARADE

Morristown High beats Cranford in state basketball tourney opener

Morristown High School’s boys basketball team (17-7) scored a 41-31 victory Tuesday over Cranford to win the opener of the North Jersey Section 2, Group 3, bracket of the state tournament.

Bill Connolly’s Colonials held Cranford to just 3 points in the fourth quarter. Scott Schlosser captured these photos for MorristownGreen.com. Morristown returns to the hardwood on Thursday.
Photos by Scott Schlosser.

 

 

Morristown rally against gun violence puts Governor, Congress on notice

A big crowd turned out on Valentine’s Night in Morristown to mark the two-month anniversary of the Newtown massacre and demand stricter gun controls.

Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty came with a letter signed by 33 New Jersey mayors, asking Gov. Christie to take a harder line supporting federal legislation to require criminal background checks for all gun sales and curb access to assault weapons and large ammunition magazines.

“If you need an assault weapon to hunt a deer, maybe hunting isn’t your sport. Maybe you ought to take up golf,” said State Sen. Barbara Buono, Democratic candidate for Governor.

Laughter rippled across the Morristown Green, where people brandished signs and wore home-made paper hearts bearing the names of young shooting victims.

After Thursday’s rally, organizers chided the Governor to do more to prod lawmakers.

“I believe he’ll do what he needs to do to protect his kids,” said Morristown Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman, co-founder of the Morris Area Committee to Reduce Gun Violence, which organized the gathering.

“Gov. Chris Christie has four kids,” added Jamie Bedrin of the New Jersey chapter of One Million Moms for Gun Control. “And I know that they mean a lot to him. And I want to see him take action to protect his kids, and all of the children in the state.”

Photos by Bill Lescohier. Please click icon below for captions.

The Morristown committee formed last month in response to the killing of 26 pupils and staff members at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, by a deranged 20-year-old last December.

“I’ve spent years in politics in one way or another, as an Independent, and now I look back when Newtown happened and think ‘what have I been doing for the last 10 years?’” said Rebecca Feldman. “The most important thing is that we put politics aside and come up with sensible ways to regulate guns so that fewer people are killed, and fewer children are at risk every day.”

From the podium, the Rev. Alison Miller of the Morristown Unitarian Fellowship recounted the terror of having a burglar aim a gun at her head when she was 4 years old.

The director of the pediatrics emergency room at Morristown Medical Center, Dr. Michael Gerardi, described treating gunshot wounds that he said should be seen only on battlefields.

“Say a prayer tonight, and in the morning, write a letter to your congressman,[and] your senator, and let’s do something about reducing gun violence,” said Pastor Sidney Williams Jr. of Morristown’s Bethel AME Church.

Members of the Bethel AME Youth Choir and the Harmonium Choral Society and Neighborhood House Combined Choirs sang, and the event concluded at dusk with a showing of lit candles.

The turnout thrilled Jamie Bedrin of One Million Moms, who vowed to keep fighting the powerful National Rifle Association.

“We are not going to back down,” Jamie said. “We will approach this in a peaceful and intelligent manner. But enough is enough. I don’t know how many times we have to say it: How many children have to die? Really. How many, before we take a stand?”

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions:

Wintry wonderland: Morristown in the snow, by Scott Schlosser

Morristown dug out pretty quickly from the Nor’easter of Feb. 8, 2013.  What remained were some picturesque winter scenes, captured here by MG photographer Scott Schlosser.

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

Video: Can cars, bikes and bi-peds get along? ‘Morristown Moving Forward’ seeks answer

More neighborhood associations. Fewer banks. A combined Morristown and Morris Township.

The suggestions were flying at the Hyatt Morristown on Wednesday–and it was only the first night of “Morristown Moving Forward.”

That’s what Morristown is calling the process for revamping its 2008 zoning master plan. In this video, Mayor Tim Dougherty promises more public gatherings before town planners nail down the revisions in June.

Photos by Scott Schlosser and Kevin Coughlin. Please click icon below for captions.

The goal, according to planner Daniel Hernandez of Jonathan Rose Companies, is to forge a blueprint for development and open space preservation to satisfy the next generation.  Ideally, he said, Morristown will evolve into a place where motorists, cyclists and pedestrians can co-exist peacefully.

If that happens, the town will set an example for the rest of the state, Daniel said.

“I don’t think there’s anywhere else where people are actually thinking as progressively [as the Mayor], and envisioning probably one of New Jersey’s best towns,” he said. “We don’t want to see an auto-centric town. We want to see people thriving and walking around Morristown.”

A website and Facebook page have been created to solicit ideas from residents and the business community.

The project is funded with a $100,000 grant from the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority and supported by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. The planning team includes Group Melvin Design, of Woodbury, NJ; and VHB, a planning firm based in Watertown, MA.

More than 150 people attended Wednesday’s kickoff session, said Paul Miller, coordinator of the town’s Office of Sustainability.

One of them, Morristown resident Don Kissil, said he was thrilled that someone had proposed a “jitney service” to the train station.

But Steve Neblett, assistant director of the Morristown Neighborhood House, remains skeptical about Morristown’s pending redevelopment of the Speedwell Avenue area.

“No matter where you go, the little guy gets squeezed out,” he said. “What about us little folks who can’t afford to move into these beautiful places?”

 

 

Video highlights from 2013 MLK Day services in Morristown

Gun control, child welfare, understanding and commitment were among the themes of Martin Luther King Day services in Morristown on Monday.

Above are some video highlights from the Morris Interfaith Breakfast at the Hyatt Morristown and the noon service at Calvary Baptist Church.

Interestingly, there was scant mention of the historic second inauguration of President Barack Obama–who was sworn in at the same time as the church service.

But in the wake of last month’s elementary school shootings in Newtown, CT., there was a call for gun control from the Rev. Sidney Williams Jr. of Bethel AME Church, and a prayer for children by the Rev. Janet Broderick of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.

Photos by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions.

The morning’s featured speaker, the Rev. David Smazik of the Presbyterian Church in Morristown, shared some interesting observations on commitment, suggesting that organizations that lack controversy probably don’t have enough energy.

Rabbi Donald Rossoff of Temple B’Nai Or and the Rev. Robert Rogers of the Church of God in Christ were honored for their many years of service in the community. The Rev. Rogers could not attend, but he had a good excuse: He was at the inauguration in Washington.

Aniesha Jackson, a member of the Church of God in Christ, exhorted everyone to G.U.L.P. in a thoughtful speech that noted how African Americans have gone from “Massa’s house to the White House.”

And Jerry Reese II, a student at Jefferson Township High School, had some nice reflections on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

Photos by Kevin Coughlin. Please click icon below for captions.

 

‘He looks like me’: Morristown studio sending memorial frames to Newtown

Some three-dozen people descended into Morristown’s Glassworks Studio on Monday to make memorial picture frames for families of victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.

Third-grader Shane O’Neill offered a simple reason for choosing to commemorate Chase Kowalski, a 7-year-old gunned down last month.

“He looks like me,” Shane said.

They could have been brothers, based on the picture in the photocopied obituary. The article said Chase even liked baseball and all-terrain vehicles–passions shared by Shane.

The event was suggested by Councilwoman Rebecca Feldman, and underwritten by Glassworks owner Stacey Schlosser, who has experienced the loss of a child.  When all 26 glass frames–one for each student and faculty member killed–are baked in a kiln, they will be delivered to survivors in Newtown, CT.

“I hope they feel happy and relieved that people still are thinking about the children,” said Alex Benson, 16, of Bridgewater.  Her picture frame memorializes Charlotte Bacon, 6. “She seems like me when I was her age. Very girly, very happy.”

Please click icon below for captions.

“They were all our children,”  proclaim banners posted around Morristown last month.

As President Obama prepares to pitch stricter gun controls, communities around the nation continue struggling to make sense of last month’s horrific scene, caused by a deranged 20-year-old whose victims included his mother and himself.

On Jan. 17, a group called the Morristown Committee Against Gun Violence will convene at the Morristown & Township Library. A column here advocating bans on semi-automatic weapons has stirred passionate responses.

The picture frames at Glassworks represented another attempt to bring a glimmer of light to a dark chapter of the 21st century.

“We definitely wanted to come for this,” said Emily Presuto, an elementary school teacher in Metuchen, “to touch their lives a little bit, and bring a little bit of happiness.”

She glued tiny glass footballs to her frame, a memorial to 6-year-old Giants fan Jack Pinto.

Nearby, the mother-daughter combo of  Renee and Emily Perst collaborated on a beach-themed frame that blended the late Daniel Bardes‘ love of swimming and soccer.

“It felt good…you want to do something,” Renee said.

So did we. Our pin-striped glass frame honors Yankees fan Vicki Leigh Soto.

The 27-year-old Sandy Hook teacher tried to shield her first-graders from the bullets. She is a greater hero than anyone who ever suited up at Yankee Stadium.

Pictures by Scott Schlosser. Please click icon below for captions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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