SAFE CROSSING: GETTING TO KNOW OUR LOCAL CROSSING GUARDS
- Danielle Alfonzo Walsman
- Mar 11
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 11
By Danielle Alfonzo Walsman
Our crossing guards are familiar faces looking after the youngest souls of our community as they make their way to school. Having spent the past few months on this three-part series honoring some of the superstars among their ranks, I am reflecting on the beauty of the intergenerational work of these warm-hearted men and women.
That is, we don’t all have the benefit of in-town grandparents, but all our lives are enriched by the care and wisdom of these mostly retired individuals who don the vest and brave the elements for our kids. They serve not only to remind students to look both ways but also as a physical reminder to all moms, dads and other motorists of the need to slow down.
Here, in our final installment of the series, we honor four more of the heroes who make sure that each of us pauses long enough in our day to ensure that our neighbors get where they are going unharmed.
Meet Ian
The children walking to South Mountain Annex have been in good hands for the past year with Ian looking out for them. Ian grew up in a large family in Trinidad before moving to Orange, NJ, as a young man. He is now a proud resident of South Orange. Before his retirement, he enjoyed a 30-year career as an ornamental and architectural union ironworker working on the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
Each day, Ian wears a Dinkins campaign pin on his collar as an ode to the many years he spent “getting out the vote” for candidates as diverse as David Dinkins, Richard Codey, John Corzine and Barack Obama. Just the memory of Codey’s recent death brought a tear to his eye.
To speak with Ian is to experience his warmth, quick laughter and willingness to share his seemingly limitless collection of heartwarming stories about the things that have given meaning to his life. When asked about his experience being a crossing guard, he remarks with grave seriousness, “I love those kids. Their safety is paramount. My job is to make sure that every single kid goes home safely to their mother.” He adds, “You don’t get paid much, but I feel a sense of achievement when I am doing this job. I wouldn't trade it for nothing in the world.”
We are lucky that our towns continue to be a part of Ian’s story.
Meet Dennis
Dennis is a South Orange resident who has helped students make their way safely to South Orange Middle School for 22 years, serving the entire time at the same intersection. He retired from a career at Automatic Switch Company in Florham Park where he served as a foreman in the design and manufacturing of electrical switches and controls.
Being a crossing guard originally appealed to Dennis because of its part-time nature and the opportunity to interact with the kids, who he says are “great” and the best part of the job. In his opinion, the hardest part of the job is getting motorists to pay attention and slow down. He says, “In the morning, they are in a real hurry rushing to work. Forget about it.” He describes the afternoons as more relaxed, except for the occasional “rambunctious kid.”
He spends his weekends staying busy with his own grown kids, some of whom live locally. Dennis loves and looks forward to the warm weather of spring. He says this winter was a rough couple of weeks, but “the fresh air is great.” Dennis plans to keep crossing children at this corner for as long as he is able. Let’s hope that the mild temperatures of spring are just around the corner.
Meet Linda
When I met Linda, she was fairly new to being a crossing guard and had been safely crossing Seth Boyden Elementary students for approximately three weeks. Linda learned of the job opportunity from a friend who crosses children at a nearby corner in Maplewood and says she has loved getting to know the children and families that she sees twice daily. “They tell me to stay warm and have a nice day” each morning. She says they have even more energy each afternoon as they bound home full of stories.
When asked about the career she had before retiring, Linda’s face broke into a smile as she described caring for patients as a nurse at a psychiatric hospital in Brooklyn. She also spoke fondly of her own days walking with friends to elementary school and junior high in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
On even the coldest days that we experienced this winter, Linda says she didn’t mind the temperatures because she knows how to dress for it. Linda is glad to be a crossing guard in Maplewood and plans to keep crossing children “as long as the good Lord permits her.”
Meet Calvin
If you have ever driven past the mayhem that is the intersection of Valley Street at Columbia High School each school morning, then you may recognize Calvin. He has been crossing students at this post for 11 years and has been a Maplewood resident for 30 years. He says that when he applied for the role he told his interviewer, “Give me the post that nobody wants. If it’s challenging, I’m your guy.” I watched him hop in between cars to shepherd children as we spoke, and he called out, “If you are afraid of cars, this is not the post for you.”
Calvin remembers walking to school in Newark during his school years and said his children (now grown) all came up through the South Orange & Maplewood School District and graduated from Columbia High School. Perhaps that is why he says, “I treat each child like my son or daughter. If you do that, you feel good inside.” His life experience also includes nine years in the United States Marine Corps and decades working at Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson.
Calvin laughs easily, is super friendly and says he loves meeting people, which is why he chose being a crossing guard as a way to give back to the town he loves. On the weekends, Calvin stays busy going to church and spending time with his wife. He predicted that she was not going to believe that he was going to be in Matters Magazine – one of his favorite publications.
Danielle Alfonzo Walsman is a Maplewood resident who lives at a busy intersection and counts her crossing guard as a treasured member of the family who kept her boys safe from stroller days through senior year.
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