The annual carnival was cancelled due to rain. The new date for the spring will be announced at a later time. Original details are here.

Please join us for the next Valley Community Watch Public Meeting
Monday, September 26 at 7:30
Hazel Avenue School

On the agenda are details about the upcoming election and the call for nominees for the 2012 – 2014 Board of Trustees of the VCW. Please come see your neighbors and learn more about the upcoming elections. For more details about the board positions and responsibilities, click the link on the right hand side of this page or here. For a list of the current Board of Trustees, read the About page.

Saturday, September 24, 2011
12:00pm to 4:00pm
Hazel Avenue School upper school yard

The Hazel School Fall Carnival is a fun, welcome back event for students, families and friends. It is also one of the main fund raisers for the school PTA. Games, rides, face painting, food and back by popular demand, the dunk tank!

This year’s list of dunkees includes: Mayor Parisi, Assemblyman John McKeon, Councilman Sal Anderton and Councilman Joe Krakoviak among others.

Read about last year’s carnival here.

www.hazelpta.org

Sunday, September 18, 2010
Town Hall
12pm to 3pm

The town picnic is a great opportunity to get to know your neighbors, learn about some of the organizations in town and generally find out what’s happening. The mayor and council members are usually on hand along with representatives from various town departments. Valley Community Watch will have a table. Stop by and say hello.

Food, games and live music.

Download the flyer from the West Orange Township website

Saturday, September 17, 2010
1pm to 4pm
555 Valley Road
(973) 395-5551
info@lunastage.org
www.lunastage.org

In celebration of the start of their second season as part of the Valley Arts District, Luna Stage is holding a free open house party. The afternoon will feature live music by Deivito Garcia and Michael Aquino, two of the co-creators of Luna’s upcoming holiday show in December.

There will be food, face-painting and games for kids, tours of the theatre, and an opportunity to learn more about all of the programming Luna has in store for the 2011-2012 season, especially the world premiere opening production of Ben Clawson’s The Dangers of Electric Lighting, a commissioned play about Thomas Edison; and Luna’s greatly expanded education program which now has a full curriculum of classes for kids and adults.

Did you know you can hold a block party on your block? It’s a great way to get to know your neighbors and help make West Orange a vibrant place to live.

Follow these steps to get permission from the town:

• Create a petition to hold a block party and get your neighbors to sign it (Download a sample petition (MS Word). Try to get about 90% of your neighbors to sign the petition.
• Write a letter from the organizer addressed to the Chief of Police. Identify the block you would like closed and include the date (and rain date) as well as time of the party.
• Send the letter and petition to the traffic department at least 2 weeks prior to the date. If your block has never had a party before, allow 1 month. Details below.
• Public works will drop off barricades the morning of the date
• Traffic department will contact the fire department for safety purposes (but a fire truck may show up for photos!)

Mail the petition to:
West Orange Police Department
Attention: Traffic Division
60 Main Street
West Orange, NJ 07052

Or fax the petition to: (973) 325-0748

Some ways to make your party successful:

• Invite your neighbors. Make a flyer to hand out door to door.
• Plan some activities. Street chalk, face painting, 4 square, etc. for the kids (ok, adults too!). Organize some live music or a boom box.You might be surprised to find some musicians  on your block who may want to perform.
• Bring Food and Drink! A potluck is definitely the way to go. You may want to make sure you have utensils, plates, cups, and paper towels on hand, just in case. Have your neighbors roll out their BBQs too.
• Bring name tags. If your neighbors don’t know each other well, name tags are a necessity.
• Park cars off street.
• Bring tables and chairs. You’ll need a couple of tables to set up food for the potluck. Please encourage neighbors to bring their own lawn chairs.

For more details, contact Officer Scott Smarsh at (973) 325-4045

West Orange will hold a candle light vigil in memorial of 9/11. Performances by the West Orange High School String Quartet, West Orange High School Marching Band and the West Orange Non-Denominational Choir.

September 11, 2011, 6:15 pm
Oskar Schindler Performing Arts Center (OSPAC)
Prospect Avenue/Boland Avenue

View the announcement here.

A “boil water advisory” remains in effect for West Orange until further notice.
Residents may pick up fresh drinking water at West Orange High School on Thursday, Sept. 1 through Saturday, Sept. 3 between 9am and 9pm. There is a 2 gallon limit per vehicle. Official details from the township are available here. You can read the New Jersey American Water alert here.

West Orange has established 2 storm damage bulk debris drop-off sites.
In addition to the Township’s regular curbside trash collection, there are 2 designated locations for residents to drop off bulk debris from the recent storm. For questions, call the Dept. of Public Works at (973) 325-4067.

W.O. Environmental Center
590 Mt. Pleasant Ave.
Mon.-Fri. 7:30am-4:30pm
Sat. & Sun. 7:30am-4pm
Mon. (Labor Day) 7:30am-4pm

Department of Public Works
25 Lakeside Ave.
Mon.-Fri. 7:00am-3:15pm
Sat. & Sun. 7:30am-4pm
Mon. (Labor Day) 7:30am-4pm

We were informed by the West Orange Police Department that a home on Mitchell Street was broken into on Thursday. We are very happy to report that an arrest has already been made! The police caught the suspects with stolen property, and there is enough evidence to connect them to other break-ins on Rollinson and Northfield.
 
We also want to make you aware of another incident that occurred recently in our neighborhood. On Thursday night, July 21st, police arrested 5 teenagers after they allegedly were caught with marijuana on Hazel Elementary School’s playground. Two 16-year-old girls from West Orange, two 16-year-old boys from East Orange and one 16-year-old boy from Orange were arrested without incident shortly before 8 p.m. Their names were not released because they are minors. Read the article on West Orange Patch:
 

http://westorange.patch.com/articles/police-arrest-five-juveniles-after-finding-possible-drug-paraphernalia-at-school, 

We were advised by the WO police department that a few home burglaries occurred this past week, in the Valley area. One was on Rose Terrace and another on Tompkins Street. Both happened during the day.

The police department is increasing its patrols in the area, but they want to remind everyone to be vigilant and to report any suspicious activities.

Also, we received reports of car burglaries in the upper Gregory area on Burnett Terrace and Collamore Terrace. In both instances, the cars had been left unlocked.

Please remember to always lock your car and call the police department if you suspect something is not right. The main number is 973-325-4000. For emergencies call 911.

Remember: We are the eyes of our neighborhood. A community that stays vigilant and alert is the best deterrent against crime.

patch.com has an interactive map of all burglaries/thefts in West Orange since April here.