RIDGEWOOD - Ridgewood resident Chloe R Fernandez was a bundle of excitement when she discovered a limo parked outside her home, ready to whisk her away to her first-ever book signing at Barnes and Noble on Route 17 South in Paramus last Saturday. It was also the 9-year-old author’s first-ever limo ride. "It was so exciting, I couldn’t breathe," she said while demonstrating how surprised she was. "I was in the limo going, ‘Breathe, Chloe, breathe!’" The special ride was yet another gift from t

RIDGEWOOD - When Joseph Palombo laces up his running shoes for the United Airlines New York City Half-Marathon on Sunday, he will be participating in his first competitive race. "I actually never ran too extensively in my life," the Ridgewood resident admitted. "I’ve always played sports, but I never picked up running as a hobby." His decision to run 13.1 miles from Central Park to Wall Street has meaning. Palombo is a junior board member with Tuesday’s Children, a non-profit serving families

RIDGEWOOD - As the country undergoes an election year, the controversial topic of reproductive justice in terms of abortion continues to have a steadfast grip on people’s interest, compelling presidential hopefuls to debate the issue at every turn. But while abortion holds attention, and deservedly so, the broad agenda of reproductive justice is largely ignored. "We want to emphasize that reproductive justice is about more than abortion," said Carol Loscalzo, co-chair of the Reproductive Justi

RIDGEWOOD - After Donna Meier was approached by CancerCare to be a featured speaker at its Walk/Run for Hope at Bergen Community College this Sunday, she didn’t hesitate to accept. "I truly believe in life that when we go through something difficult," the Westwood resident explained, "and there’s an organization or people there that help us so much, that we really are called to give back and I’m more than happy to give back however I can." Meier’s connection to CancerCare took root in 2013, wh

A New York City pedestrian asking a musician for directions to the historic concert venue will almost always get in reply: "Practice, practice, practice!" It is an old punchline to a famous joke whose origins remain unknown, yet if the levity is stripped away, the answer is nothing but fact. Glen Rock resident Yvonne Cohen, formerly of Ridgewood, would not send any of her young violin students to perform at the concert hosted by her alma mater, The School for Strings, at Carnegie Hall last mont

Parishioners who arrive at Mount Bethel Baptist Church in Ridgewood every Sunday are always welcomed with open arms, proven not only by their longtime Senior Pastor Thomas Johnson and other church staff, but by the iridescent garden that wraps around the church’s grounds. Arriving churchgoers can take a quick scan over the bright-colored zinnias, hibiscus and hydrangeas, and absorb the sense of warmth and care the blooms exude — symbolic of what they will find when they walk inside the church’s

RIDGEWOOD - Three Ridgewood residents, Diane Walker, Jim Griffith and Kathryn Komsa Schmidt, were recognized as outstanding volunteers at Paterson Habitat for Humanity’s annual dinner last night at The Brownstone in Paterson. They all share a similar passion of putting their hard hats on and rolling up their sleeves to provide the best kind of service to families in need. Walker has been tapped as the year’s unsung hero for her work in the non-profit, ecumenical housing ministry by her colleag

RIDGEWOOD - The senior class at Ridgewood High School is probably accustomed to seeing double. Or it should be, given that there are 17 sets of twins and one set of triplets roaming the halls. "I feel like every class that I’m in there’s always another twin," said Kelly Dwyer, who is one half of a pair. "So I could always look around and go, ‘She’s a twin, he’s a twin.’ They’re everywhere, they’re actually taking over." But the idea that there could be so many multiples in a single graduating

RIDGEWOOD - "Happy Holi," someone greeted me as I stepped onto the field at Orchard Elementary School earlier this month. She dabbed purple, dry powder on my forehead, almost as if I was being christened to participate in the Ridgewood Indian Community’s Festival of Color. I grabbed a bag of orange powder from a nearby table and returned the favor. "Happy Holi," I said back, not yet knowing the significance behind the ritual or the words. But I felt myself smile anyway, already believing I bel

RIDGEWOOD - Sixty years ago, Ridgewood resident Barbara McCooe had finished graduate school and went to the University of Colorado for additional courses in the summer. Having read Willa Cather’s "Death Comes for the Archbishop" — a 1927 novel based exclusively in New Mexico Territory — she and two others drove down to Santa Fe, visiting every place the book had mentioned along the way, and the Grand Canyon. A return there for McCooe had been in the works, but it didn’t come to fruition until t