Eco-Fair/Arts Festival: Reprise
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his award-winning honey, and his fund of information about
bee habitats and beekeeping. But a new addition will be a
butterfly exhibit, organized by Trina Paulus, a renowned
expert on Monarchs. Since the best way of attracting bees
and butterflies to one's yard is through the use of native
plants and shrubs, the Native Plant Society will also be on
hand to offer expertise, as well as hardy plants for sale.
Still other participants will display items from a burgeoning
market of eco-friendly notions, including organic cosmetics
and housecleaning compounds, "green" tee shirts, solar
cookers, energy-saving hardware and lighting, insulation
made from recycled newspapers, environmental pet
products, eco-gifts for mother, and much more. The Eco-Fair
will be held, rain or shine, on Saturday, May 9th, from 10
am to 3 pm. It – together with the Arts Festival – is an event
not to be missed!
The Caring Community Alliance Up And Running
Although the Caring Community Alliance has been in existence for less than a year, it has already begun to accomplish
the objectives for which it was designed. Sponsored by the Community Fund of Glen Ridge, the Alliance has several
purposes. One of its missions is to facilitate and coordinate the efforts of the town's many service organizations in order
to maximize their effectiveness and to insure that needs within the community are met.
It was in this spirit that a group of high school student volunteers organized the Adopt-a- Grandfriend program, under
which students help out seniors with such chores as snow shoveling and leaf raking. As one might expect, the seniors
were flabbergasted and thrilled to be the recipients of such a generous impulse. But studies also show how meaningful
community involvement is for young people; indeed, it is estimated that those who engage in community service are
50% less likely to use drugs and alcohol. So this program has benefits all around.
In addition, the Alliance provides a means by which the town's non-profit organizations can network and share
information and concerns, while bringing greater public awareness to their individual initiatives and the volunteer
opportunities they offer. To this end, a Caring Community Alliance e-newsletter, expertly designed and edited by Chair,
Kate Patrick, is being sent out on a monthly basis to highlight the activities of the borough's nonprofits and its many
volunteers.
A Web site (www.grcca.org) is also now operational and contains Alliance contact information. Eventually it will offer a
wide-range of information, including a resources list for those in need. In the current economic crisis, it is inevitable that
some residents may require direct and immediate help. Fortunately, the generosity of the Community Fund allows the
Alliance to provide such individual emergency assistance, while maintaining the strictest standards of confidentiality and
discretion. So anyone knowing of such cases of need is urged to contact the Alliance. After all, the hallmark of a small
town like Glen Ridge should be its ability to pull together and help one another in times of need.
GOOD GRIEF will be the topic of the next Caring Community Alliance meeting. Good Grief was founded in 2004 to
provide group counseling and support for children, young adults and their families who are coping with loss.
Unresolved grief from any one of life's losses - death, divorce, a sense of failure, or the like - can become a
permanently debilitating factor. Thus it is the mission of Good Grief to help those suffering loss to successfully grieve,
so that they can "grow up whole and healed and able to live up to their unique potential." Join us to learn more about
this vibrant organization and its power to heal from Glen Ridge resident, Fran Travisano, on Wed., May 13th, at 7:30
pm, in the Train Station; it promises to be a profoundly effecting session.
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