Livingston community

The Township of Livingston will hold its first Electronics Recycling and Paper Shredding event of the year this Saturday, April 9, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Livingston Senior/ Community Center, 204 Hillside Avenue.

Under New Jersey state law and the Township’s recycling ordinance, it is mandatory to recycle electronic items. Electronic items cannot be placed at the curb for pickup – the garbage and recycling collection trucks will not take them. This event offers residents free drive-through service to dispose of unwanted electronics and have confidential papers shredded.

Electronics Recycling

The Livingston Board of Education held a budget discussion at its April 5 meeting.

The meeting was a hybrid format held in-person and on Zoom. It can also be viewed on the Livingston Township, NJ Facebook page.

Superintendent Matthew Block shared a presentation answering some of the Board’s previous concerns, including mental health spending, humanities teachers, and technology coaches.

Board members previously requested information on how much of the budget will be appropriated to mental health resources. The estimated mental health expenses for the 2021-2022 school year totals $8,360,000. The proposed budget for 2022-2023 currently allocates $10,180,000 toward mental health. Block explained that they can offer this additional funding because of the ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) grant the district has received.

The Livingston Township Council appears poised to have at least one newcomer on the dais in 2023.

Rudy Fernandez, who is in his 14th year on the Council, will not seek reelection this year. Three Council seats are open in the November 8 election, and six candidates – three Democrats and three Republicans – have filed their petitions to fill the positions. The Primary Election will be held on June 7.

Mayor Ed Meinhardt and Council member Shawn Klein are also up for reelection this year and will be running again alongside newcomer Rosy Bagolie on the Democratic ticket.

Three new Republican candidates will be seeking the available Council seats, as well. The candidates who submitted petitions on Monday were Sejal Lakhani-Bhatt, Rus Milov, and Michael Livi.

The filing deadline to run was on Monday, April 4. Biographies of the six candidates will appear in the next edition of the Tribune.

At its meeting on Tuesday, April 5, the Planning Board approved plans by the Metropolitan YMCA of the Oranges to relocate its West Essex facility, currently located at 321 South Livingston Avenue, across the street and north to 304 South Livingston Avenue. The site was formerly the home of Grace Lutheran Church.

The applicant, represented by attorney Michael J. Lipari, proposes to construct a 54,049 square foot facility, which will include indoor/outdoor recreation, a 24,719 square foot early learning center/office building, and related site improvements.

During the Monday, April 4, meeting of the Livingston Township Council, resident Natalia Sawka shared her family’s story of moving to Ukraine, how her family is helping people in her native hometown, and how the Livingston community can help.

“I was born and raised in Ukraine, formerly the USSR, in the small town of Chervonohrad,” she said at the meeting. “I still remember when the Soviet Union disintegrated in 1991. I was six and my family, for the first time, could freely celebrate holidays and speak the Ukrainian language.”

Sawka’s parents moved to the United States in 1996, when she was 11. She and her brother followed in 1999, and then moved to Livingston in 2000. She said her parents worked hard to buy a small home in town because their friends told them of Livingston’s excellent school system.

“The difference between Chervonohrad and Livingston was opportunity and an inclusive approach of the community to help an immigrant,” she said.

Barbara (Bobbi) Ann Minoff (née Newman), formerly of Livingston, died on March 24.

Born and raised in Newark, she graduated from Weequahic High School in 1957 and the University of Michigan in 1961.

She married Arnold Minoff in 1962 and lived in Livingston for 24 years.

Mrs. Minoff worked at Temple B’nai Jeshurun for 38 years as an administrator for the Early Childhood Center.

She was the mother of daughters Jill Berman and Debby Wheeler and sons-in-law Michael Berman and Daniel Zaccardo, and had five grandchildren.

The family held a graveside service on Sunday, March 27, and suggests that donations in her memory be made to Daughters of Israel in West Orange, or to Temple B’nai Jeshurun in Short Hills.

Former Livingston resident Daniel I. Siegel, 85, died Monday, March 28. Arrangements are being handled by the Bernheim-Apter-Kreitzman Suburban Funeral Chapel.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he later moved to Woodcliff Lake, where he raised his family. He lived there until moving to Livingston more than 20 years ago.

Mr. Siegel was a graduate of City College of New York, where he earned a degree in accounting. He recently retired from his private practice as a certified public accountant and financial adviser.

He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Eileen; his children, Royce and her husband Don, Shepard and his wife Susan, Stuart and his wife Kathy, and Jill and her husband Jon; and three grandchildren.

The family has suggested that donations be made in Mr. Siegel’s memory to the World Jewish Congress or to any agency aiding the relief of the Ukrainian people.

Julian Orleans, formerly of Livingston and recently of Winchester Gardens, Maplewood, died on April 1 at the age of 96.

He was born to Ilo and Friede Orleans of Newark. He was a graduate of Weequahic High School, Columbia College and Medical School, and Mount Sinai Hospital, earning a medical degree.

Dr. Orleans joined the United States Army in 1943 at the age of 17, and served for three years in the infantry, artillery, and the medical corps.

As a pediatrician in Livingston, he treated several generations of children from 1954 to 2004, and was on staff at Saint Barnabas Medical Center, serving several years as Chief of Pediatrics.

Dr. Orleans was a member of the Board of Temple Beth Shalom for 40 years, and president for two years.

He served as a volunteer for three weeks in Israel during the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

The Livingston High School softball team, ranked fourth in the state, opened its season visiting Super Essex Conference rival Nutley last Friday, April 1. The Lancers defeated Nutley, 4-3, in a tight game. The 2022 Lancers are led by seniors Emma Breschard, Janee Chestnut, Bella Lopa, Kelly Lyons, Chelsea McCormack, Haley Meierhofer, Ruhi Tawde, and Giulia Wilson.

In the top of the fourth inning, with the score still 0-0, freshman Ally Nankivell reached base on an infield error and then quickly stole second. Wilson, the #3 hitter, then laced a one-out double to left center to score Nankivell for the 1-0 lead. Meierhofer followed with her own double, a ground rule double, to plate Wilson for a 2-0 advantage. Meierhofer advanced to third base on a passed ball, and that set up the squeeze play as Breschard put down the perfect bunt to score her teammate for a 3-0 lead.

Peter Nicklos Thomas, Jr. died on March 12 of a myocardial infarction. He was born in 1945 to Peter Nicklos Thomas, Sr. and Gloria Venezia Thomas.

Mr. Thomas graduated from Livingston High School and, in 1966, earned a degree in chemical engineering from Rutgers University. He then joined the military as an Airman First Class in the U.S. Air Force.

Mr. Thomas worked for the Patent Office in Washington, DC while attending Georgetown Law School but had to take early retirement. He was honorably discharged with a servicerelated injury.

He is survived by his sisters, Agnes T. Reichenbacher and Gloria B. Thomas; his brother John Thomas; his nephews, David and Jason Reichenbacher; and his niece, Racheal Thomas.

Cremation will be private. A service will be held at the Gate of Heaven Mausoleum Annex with date and time to be determined.