A day (and a few holes) with the crew bringing cleaner water to South Orange By Adrianna Donat The lead service line replacement that took place in Maplewood last year has started in South Orange. We’ve probably all experienced the same moment of neighborhood déjà vu: you turn the corner and (surprise!) there’s a line of orange cones, a truck with flashing lights and a fresh street is auditioning for Holes: The Musical. Beyond the driving hazard, it can make you wonder what e

On roots, restlessness and the price of belonging By Ken Gagne A few months ago, I stood in a banquet room in Chicopee, Mass., attending my high school class’s 40-year reunion. Forty years? It felt like a clerical error, the kind I assumed someone would correct once I pointed it out. The faces were familiar in the way old furniture is familiar; you recognize the shape even after it’s been reupholstered. We hugged. We laughed. We squinted at name tags. Knee pain was discussed.

By Kristen di Gennaro Readers who grew up in the 1980s might be familiar with the classic R&B song A House is not a Home , made famous by the late singer Luther Vandross. The song was initially recorded almost two decades earlier by East Orange native and Grammy award-winning singer Dionne Warwick, who is a South Orange resident. As the song’s title illustrates, the words “house” and “home,” though often used interchangeably, are not completely synonymous, as we aim to “turn

The snow extended our trip and allowed us to see what he had become By Ellen Donker We enjoyed a visit with our son Timmy at the Charleston Tea Garden. Whenever someone hears that my son Timmy lives in Charleston, S.C., they talk about what a beautiful city it is and assume I must go there all the time to visit. Although Timmy has been there for almost eight years, most of it spent in college and grad school, I have been there just a handful of times. I have sometimes felt li

Major renovation of a ’30s classic makes Maplewood feel like home Written by Rose Bennett Gilbert; Photography by Mike Van Tassell This Tudor underwent a renovation that restored its charm with attention to details such as oak beams, iron-framed casement windows and bespoke brick work. They were still barely married when Greg Lembrich first pitched the idea of moving to New Jersey to his wife, Alexandra Carter, an avowed “forever New Yorker who hated New Jersey from afar.” Yo

Your mental health will thank you By Alex Koenig A group of adults recently sat hunched around the cafe tables in the General Store Shops & Cafe in Maplewood, their ideal 2026. There were glue sticks, scissors, tiny rolls of decorative tape, stickers and magazine clippings with words one placed a gold star next to “more joy” like it was legally binding. Things got emotional. Not “I’m sad because I glued on a photo of a superyacht I will never own” emotional. More like, “Oh wo

An Olympian returns to South Orange to raise her daughter By Amy Lynn-Cramer Hazel Clark is back in her childhood home with husband Shane Mcilwain and daughter Hazel. When three-time Olympian and South Orange native Hazel Clark walks through the front door of her childhood home, she’s returning to her and service once filled the air. Everything I learned about hard work started right here. The lawn that once drew national news cameras tells only part of Hazel Clark’s story. C

Kyiv in your kitchen By Ilysse Rimalovski To find the Shatashvili family living happily in our community is nothing short of a miracle. It’s been three years since Maryna, her husband Iraklii and their three children Samuel (14), Tamar (12) and Ester (7) emigrated here from their beloved home in Ukraine. The Shatashvili family in their hometown of Dnipro, Ukraine in 2021: Maryna, Iraklii and their three children Samuel, Tamar and Ester. With each challah braided, baked and de

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 t

A one-man-band filmmaker examines the complex stories of cannabis By Donny Levit Howard Ellis released his passion project, "Bar None: Cannabis Redemption" in March 2025 Maplewood documentarian Howard Ellis didn’t begin with a clear subject to chase. Instead, he began with curiosity and a willingness to be inspired. Through interviews and observation, he discovered a rich subject worth exploring. For Ellis, the story of cannabis incarceration was unfamiliar territory. He was

A neighborhood café where the customers are old friends By Amy Lynn-Cramer L: Signe Heffernan; R: Silvestre Cordero. Photos by Julia Maloof Verderosa. On a quiet stretch of Elmwood Avenue, there’s a café that feels less like a business and more like a living room. It’s a place where people know your name, your kids hug the owners and regulars stop by for food, conversation and connection. That place is True Salvage Kitchen. At the center of it all is Signe Heffernan, executiv

I'm on a streak By Ellen Donker My daughter Madeline has been encouraging me to learn Swedish for a long time. In 2018, I had taken her and her brother, Christian, to Stockholm and they loved it so much that they started learning the language and stuck with it. Now when they talk, they’ll throw a few Swedish words into their conversation and have a private laugh. I don’t know what was the tipping point for me at the beginning of January, but I decided to learn Swedish, too. (

The rise of Columbia High School’s Jun Harrigan By Adrianna Donat Jun Harrigan plays for the Pegasus organization in the Korean Basketball League in South Korea. When Jun Harrigan thinks about growing up in Maplewood, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t basketball. It isn’t even Columbia High School or long afternoons at The Baird. It’s the trees. “I remember the walks home from school and the nature and trees I was surrounded by,” he says via email from South Korea. “I

By Kristen Di Gennaro Each semester in my college writing classes, I ask students to share their pet peeves about language. Invariably someone mentions the use of commas and the classic meme comparing “Let’s eat, Grandma” with “Let’s eat Grandma.” An online version even includes the caption “commas save lives.” I’m unaware of a situation in which a comma saved a life, but I know of a legal case in which its absence cost a company millions of dollars. The comma in “Let’s eat,

Local group helps people find answers and activities By Cindy Perman L to R: FORT members took a Moroccan cooking class at the Kings Cooking Studio in Short Hills. Photo credit: Alan Levine; FORT members enjoyed a fall bike ride at Duke Farms in Hillsborough. Photo credit: Cindy Perman. FORT members attended a Moth StorySLAM in Brooklyn at Music Hall of Williamsburg, Photo credit: Alan Levine. Retirement is something most people dream about. No more work! Forty or more hours

Tennis program helps local youth with autism By Judie Hurtado Left: Mae Cosentino and Lucy Oakes warming up; Middle: Participants practice eye-hand coordination; Right: Shreya Ramesh, Maddie LoPiccolo and Karenna work on racquet skills. In the fall of 2021, when longtime Maplewood resident Sandy LoPiccolo first discovered ACEing Autism through family friends, she had no idea of the impact it would have on her family’s life and the lives of so many others. ACEing Autism is a n

By Charles Hammer The writer with Mr. Johnson, his high school history teacher. There he was, standing in the front of the class, saying something about American history. His smile told you he knew it all. He knew the secrets. Just calm down and be patient. I just didn’t understand. In hindsight, he was very much like a retired George W. Bush. He had the confidence of really knowing how it was while sounding like a fool. He would speak in jibs and jabs. “Right here now, peopl

Getting to know our local crossing guards By Danielle Alfonzo Walsman Winter brings a wonderland of snowbanks, icy sidewalks and breath-fogging low temperatures. Fortunately for our community, our crossing guards stand watch with rosy cheeks and reflective vests, warming hearts and helping protect our children. In this second installment of a three-part series, we introduce you to three more of these high-visibility heroes. Information about becoming a crossing guard is avail

Pure Vida vegetable soup By Ilysse Rimalovski Recently, I returned to Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula for a weeklong wellness retreat free of dairy, gluten and alcohol. This area is known for its deeply rooted culture, longevity and low stress among its people. The national greeting, Pura Vida (pure life), is a mantra at the heart of how they live. Pura Vida’s guiding principles of purpose, repetition and human connection are surprisingly transferable to here. This might includ

Everything at the SOMA Affordable Art Sale is under $200 By Cindy Perman The SOMA Affordable Art Sale organizers: Natalie Crandall, Magie Serpica, Sumana Ghosh-Witherspoon and Ken Stanek. Photo by Megan Fulop. SOMA Affordable Art Sale is the brainchild of three local artists who met while selling their art at events. They got to know each other by comparing notes on the good and bad of each event. After one whose sales were particularly disappointing, they had an idea: Why no