Livingston Tribune

Ellen Harriet Schiavo, known to family and friends as “Midge,” died Saturday, June 15, at the age of 56.

Mrs. Schiavo is survived by her children, Michael (Amanda) and Kevin (Emily) Flynn; her partner, John Cammarata; her parents, Daniel and Ellen Schiavo; her siblings, Dana (Michael) Goldstein, Daniel (Jeanne) Schiavo Jr., Tina Schiavo, and Dean Schiavo; and three grandchildren.

Born in Jersey City on August 1, 1962, Ms. Schiavo grew up in Livingston, graduating from Livingston High School with the class of 1980.

Visitation was held on Sunday, June 16, at Shook-Farmer Funeral Home, Roseland. Funeral services were held on Monday, June 17, at Shook-Farmer Funeral Home, followed by a funeral Mass at St. Raphael’s Church, Livingston. Cremation was private.

Editor’s Note: This week, in his own words, Livingston Philanthropies Inc. founder and director Jeff Friedman describes how Livingston residents’ donations to LPI have helped a Newark agency, the Bessie Green Community, Inc.
    •    •    •
It’s gratifying to see how our Livingston friends and nieghbors have come together to benefit a key Livingston Philanthropies, Inc. (LPI) distribution partner, the Bessie Green Community, Inc. in Newark.
Known among its neighbors as “The Red Door,” the Bessie Green Community, located at North Reformed Church on Broad Street, has been serving the underprivileged of Newark since 1978. As one of LPI’s founding distribution partners, Bessie Green has received Livingston’s generous donations of new and gently used coats, family clothing, toiletries and cosmetics gift bags since LPI’s inception over eight years ago.

Celina Rosenblum of Livingston died Saturday evening, June 8, at her home in Livingston.

She is survived by her children, Melvin Rosenblum, Harry Rosenblum and Annette Taffet; their spouses, Janet Rosenblum, Bonnie Rosenblum and Mark Taffet; and seven grandchildren and nine greatgrandchildren. She was predeceased by her husband of 55 years, Idek.

Mrs. Rosenblum was born in Cracow, Poland, in 1929. She was a Holocaust survivor and was liberated from Auschwitz. She married her husband in 1946 in Austria, and they came to the U.S., where they settled in Cleveland, Ohio. Subsequently they lived in Vineland; Toronto, Canada; Clifton; and Fort Lee. After Mr. Rosenblum’s death, Mrs. Rosenblum moved to Livingston.

She was a supporter of her Jewish community, synagogues, the Cracow Society, the Solomon Schechter School, the Joseph Kushner Academy, the Israel Sport Center for the Disabled, State of Israel Bonds, and Yad Vashem.

Jason Kaplan, who grew up in Livingston and is currently a resident of Verona, is a physical education teacher in Montclair. But this year, he may add a new title to his resumé: “American Ninja Warrior.”

The 35-year-old former resident competes in the season 11 of the popular television show of the same name this month. At press time, the episode, originally scheduled to be broadcast on Monday, June 17, at 8 p.m., was bumped by the NHL Stanley Cup finals, and may possibly air on another night.

Kaplan is no stranger to either physical strength or competition. As a student at Burnet Hill, Heritage, and Livingston High, he says, “I tried team sports, town soccer, Little League. Nothing clicked with me. But I was always into fitness. When I was a little kid, my dad showed me the movie Pumping Iron, and I think that inspired me.”

Livingston residents and businesses will soon receive a letter, if they haven’t already, asking for financial support for our Fire Department. The Livingston Fire Department has been serving the township since 1921; we are fast approaching the 100th anniversary of the Department providing service to Livingston. It is closing in on a century of protecting the lives and property of Livingston residents.

What many residents may not know is that the Livingston Fire Department is an all-volunteer squad. These firefighters are your friends and neighbors who donate their time to ensuring public safety. Our 58 unpaid volunteer firefighters and three volunteer deputy chiefs are led by a full-time fire chief and an assistant chief. They are on call 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to provide fire protection and other emergency services to their neighbors.

While the West Essex Tribune’s regular readership may not notice any changes to this week’s issue, some are picking up our paper for the first time. This week’s edition is a TMC (Total Market Coverage) issue, the second of three newspapers this year that we will send to every residence in Livingston.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/West%20Essex%20TribuneID480/

Livingston High School principal Mark Stern has announced that senior David Lin and Class of 2019 salutatorian Vanessa Hu are winners in the National Merit Scholarship competition. They were chosen from a talent pool of more than 15,000 finalists in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program based on their “academic promise and distinguished performance.”

The winners were selected by a committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors, who appraised a substantial amount of information submitted by both the finalists and their high schools. These included the students’academic records, including difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned; scores from two standardized tests; contributions and leadership in school and community activities; an essay written by each of the finalists; and a recommendation written by a high school official.

Township officials and residents gathered at Town Hall on Wednesday, June 5, to raise the Pride flag in honor of Pride Week. At right, Livingston Police officer Kevin Mullaney addressed the crowd as mayor Al Anthony and LCDI co-chairmen Billy Fine and Keith Hines look on. NKP Photos

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/West%20Essex%20TribuneID480/

Livingston High School’s spring track and field season came to an end on Saturday, June 8, with three Lancers – team captain Joe Cullen, Philmon Mehari, and Connor Sweeny – competing among the state’s best at the Meet of Champions.

The meet was held at Northern Burlington Regional High School and was the final stage of the NJSIAA State Championship Tournament. After two prior weeks of competitions, having to qualify to advance each week, they had, said coach Dave Czeizinger, “reached the pinnacle. They would be among and competing against, the best in the state in their respective events.” A fourth Lancer, Tafari Attoh, had also qualified in an amazing sophomore year campaign, but an unfortunate injury held him out of this competition.

To read more please log in or subscribe to the digital edition http://www.etypeservices.com/West%20Essex%20TribuneID480/

Livingston Boy Scout Nirav Patel was presented with the New Jersey State Governor’s Jefferson Award for extraordinary service, during a ceremony held on Sunday, May 19, at the Patriots Theater of the Trenton War Memorial.

Patel, a Livingston High School junior, was one of eight students receiving the award for Environmental Stewardship. The award was presented by Tahesha Way, New Jersey secretary of state; Sam Beard, co-founder of the Jefferson Awards; and Linda Bowden, president of PNC Bank New Jersey.