Messages to Mom
Mother's Day greetings will be aired on Scotch Plains' TV-34 today. The greetings from elementary school children in Union County will air on Comcast Channel 34 and Verizon Fios Channel 22 until 11 p.m.
Spring Garden Fair and Plant Sale
Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The Master Gardeners of Union County helped Cranford High School Junior Ben Ilaria raise his rank from Boy Scout to Eagle Scout. The group approached Ben last fall about fixing their Community Sharing Garden fence on the Watchung Reservation in Mountainside. The garden is cultivated to feed the hungry of Union County but a fence in need of repair combined with small critters who could easily access the produce made it hard to keep up. Ben worked with 16 Troop 80 Scouts to upgrade the fence, lay down weed control fabric and spread mulch on the garden beds. Grants from the Westfield Y's Men's Club and the Fanwood Scotch-Plains Service League helped with the project. Ben's team also built four tables for the gardeners upcoming Spring Garden Fair and Plant Sale. The fair is from noon to 5 p.m. May 15 at Trailside Nature and Science Center in the Watchung Reservation. It's located at the corner of New Providence Road and Coles Avenue in Mountainside.
90 Years of Union County Parks
The Union County Parks system is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year. To mark the event, special anniversary seals are being placed on park signs across the county. On any given day, depending upon the season, county parks are home to archery, cricket, baseball, soccer, horseback riding, hiking, sledding, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, fishing, jogging, swimming, star-gazing, paddle-boating, kayaking, skating, basketball, tennis, golf, evening concerts, playgrounds and everything else that an open lawn enables, from Frisbee to kite flying. The county parks system was one of the first designed by the famous Olmsted Brothers landscape architectural firm that created Central Park, Freeholder Chairman Deborah Scanlon said in a news release. With a desire to save the Rahway River from pollution, Union County Sheriff James E. Warner began the movement for a parks system in 1919, according to the release. With the support of more than 400 men and women, the Union County Park Association was organized to urge the formation of a Park Commission. In 1978, Union County changed its form of government and the Park Commission was brought under the umbrella of county government. Today, the county holds more than 6,769 acres of land in its stewardship, according to the release.
Find out what's happening in Scotch Plains-Fanwoodwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Human Trafficking Update
Five years after it was reported that human trafficking issues were "alive and well" in New Jersey, the state Department of Law and Public Safety will speak to residents interested in the issue next week. The talk, which will feature Human Trafficking Program Coordinator Kathy Friess of the state department, is the first in a series of community service programs sponsored by the Union County Republican Women. The program will begin at 7 p.m. May 12 at the Cranford Community Center. For more information, call Diane Barabas at 908-233-7374 or email DianeBs@aol.com.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.