Parents Who Rock: Press

About PWR

Parents Who Rock is a non-profit association of musicians and others based in Montclair, NJ, who volunteer their time and talents onstage and behind the scenes to raise money for non-for-profit organizations throughout the community. Since 2005, fundraising events featuring PWR artists and other volunteers, working with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence (MFEE), have netted more then $200,000 for such organizations and causes as the All-Children’s Playground, Mountainside Hospital Breast Cancer Education Center, the Montclair Rape Crisis Center, and more. Read more here

Showing posts with label Press. Show all posts

Showing posts with label Press. Show all posts

Meet Tom Petty Biographer Warren Zanes at Watchung Booksellers Nov. 19th

Come meet rock 'n' roll biographer and musician Warren Zanes as he unveils his new biography of Tom Petty, Petty: The Biography, at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair.

Zanes, a Montclair resident and Parents Who Rocker, will be at the favorite Montclair bookseller Thursday, November 19th at 7 p.m.

In the new book, Zanes illuminates the richness and darkness, the unlikely success and little-known personal troubles, of rock icon Petty.

In the mid-eighties, already a rock icon, Petty invited 22-year-old Warren Zanes and his band the Del Fuegos to open for him and the Heartbreakers on a three-month summer tour. At the time, Zanes would’ve never guessed that 30 years later he would pen Petty’s biography with the artist’s full cooperation and unguarded honesty.

For the first time, Petty speaks candidly about his struggle with heroin addiction and depression, his troubled first marriage, and drama within the Heartbreakers. The biography includes extensive interviews with Petty, his daughter, former Heartbreaker Stan Lynch, famous producer Jimmy Iovine, Stevie Nicks, and more.

Petty has all the richness and darkness of a great American story, but this one comes with a soundtrack. Like Petty’s music, this book is intimate, resonant, with recognizable characters, tragedy, loss, hope and success. Zanes’s transporting, evocative prose gives us the dramatic and inspiring ballad of Tom Petty’s life and rise to stardom.

Warren Zanes holds a PhD in visual and cultural studies from the University of Rochester. He was a member of the Del Fuegos, and continues to record music. His work has appeared in The Oxford American, and he has served as a V.P. at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is currently the Executive Director of Steven Van Zandt's Rock and Roll Forever Foundation.

Watchung Booksellers is located at 54 Fairfield St., Montclair.

Elvis and Elvis Is Getting PWR Noticed in the Press

Parents Who Rock is getting lots of great press for it’s upcoming Elvis and Elvis benefit show this Saturday, Feb. 8, at B’nai Keshet in Montclair. Check out this great story in New Jersey Jewish News.

And Baristanet had a nice write-up on the show too. Read it here.

The Montclair Times did a great article on the show. You can read it on NorthJersey.com, here.

Parents Who Rockers in the Local News

Some Parents Who Rockers have been very busy with great projects and have even been getting press.

Let's hear it for Parents Who Rock stalwart Ed Carine, who, on November 3, ran in The New York Marathon to support Little Kids Rock. Many Parents Who Rockers pledged money to help Ed exceed his $2500 goal. Congrats to Ed, who, among many other thing, powers up the soundboard at Parents Who Rock events. Nice chance for so many Parents Who Rockers to return the favor and help get Ed plugged into running the marathon.

Check out a BaristaNet story on Ed here.

In addition, BaristaKids also profiled the Blastaways, which features PWR's Kevin March, Ben St. Jacques, Vik Kapila, and Cecile Williams. Read Brian Glaser's story on this great local band here.

PWR Founder Alma Schneider Shares Her Recipe for Creative Fundraising in Family Fun

The September 2013 issue of Family Fun Magazine features a story on how Parents Who Rock Founder Alma Schneider started the organization, and the many people and organizations it has helped along the way. Read it here.

Montclair performers help solve problems with music

From The Montclair Times, Friday, February 8, 2013

BY GEORGE WIRT,

STAFF WRITER

THE MONTCLAIR TIMES

When there is a need, Montclair's music community responds.

Parents Who Rock founder Alma Schneider, right, presents a check to the Rev. Paula Olivier, pastor of the First 7th Day Adventist Church, for the congregation's food pantry and soup kitchen.

Whether it's for a new and safer playground for local children, a rape crisis center that offers free counseling or a soup kitchen that feeds hungry people, musicians who volunteer under the "Parents Who Rock" banner regularly step forward to perform at benefit concerts and work at fundraising events for these and lots of other charitable causes.

"We're all parents who live in Montclair, we're all musicians, we're all at different levels of community activism, but we like raising money for local causes," said blues guitarist Michael Reitman. "It's the reason why we all got involved.

"We're doing what we love to do, and that's playing music," Reitman said. "And in doing that, we're giving back to the community."

The Parents Who Rock membership roster includes more than a hundred musicians, singers, song writers and performers, representing dozens of official and de facto performing groups. Its members appear on stage and work behind the scenes.

Since the group was founded by Alma Schneider in 2005, Parents Who Rock has raised more than $200,000 for nonprofit organizations, church groups and educational institutions.

Some PWR members will doing their volunteer work at "Bradfest," an evening of live music and dancing this Saturday, Feb. 9, upstairs at Tierney's Tavern, 136 Valley Road. Sock Monster, the Eugene Chrysler Band and Zara Phillips will be among the performers on stage raising money for Bradford Elementary School. Tickets are $20 at the door, and the music is slated to start at 8 p.m.

"It's a labor of love and it's a complete community effort," Schneider said of PWR's volunteer projects. "It's a win, win, win, win, win.

"Parents Who Rock benefits the musicians who need a creative outlet," Schneider noted. "It benefits members of the community who want to go out and see good music that is affordable. And it benefits local charitable organizations that are in need of money."

Schneider said the group primarily focuses its efforts on Montclair-based organizations so that "people will be able to see where their money is going."

Among the local groups Parents Who Rock has supported are the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, the Mountainside Hospital Breast Cancer Education Center, the Montclair Rape Crisis Center, the Montclair Public Schools Developmental Learning Center, Volunteer Lawyers for Justice and the Family Service League.

"We do one tribute show each year in January where we pick one famous artist and we cover their songs," she said. "We just did one for Tom Petty."

Proceeds from the group's Tom Petty Tribute have been donated to assist the food pantry and soup kitchen operated by the First 7th Day Adventist Church, 15 Elmwood Ave., which has experienced a 20 percent jump in the number of people it serves since Hurricane Sandy struck New Jersey.

The Rev. Paula Olivier said the funds "will help in the purchase of proteins and vegetables that will make it easier to provide balanced meals and food packages for our clients."

Its fundraiser this past January is just one of the events Parents who Rock organize each year

"We always do a big backyard event in September," Schneider said. "It's a family event. And people perform all day long, from 12 to six.

"In between those times, we perform at other people's community events," she said.

In the past six months, Parents Who Rock did a show at Yogi Berra Stadium, where they raise awareness for the food programs and collected food donations for the Human Needs Food Pantry; and performed at a show for Montclair Emergency Services for the Homeless, or MESH, an interfaith group focused on homeless people, at the opening of the new South Park plaza.

Representing PWR, Schneider last year did a demonstration at Toni's Kitchen, which provides meals for people in need, to encourage the use of crock-pots, which allow for easy, healthy and inexpensive meals, and promoted local food-assistance programs through descriptive flyers featuring the dates and times when residents can volunteer and make donations.

Parents Who Rock has released its second CD, "Let 'Em Play," with proceeds from the sale benefiting Little Kids Rock, a national nonprofit organization, which is working toward raising $50,000 to help increase music education in Montclair Public Schools.

Mayor Robert Jackson said the Parents Who Rock volunteers have made their mark on the community.

"Parents Who Rock is a critical component of Montclair's philanthropic tradition," Jackson noted.

"I am always amazed by these talented musicians who give up their time to help others," he said. "The rest of us can enjoy great music and contribute at the same time. Not bad."

Encouraged by the success of its Tom Petty tribute last month, Parents Who Rock is working on another event scheduled for Thursday, Feb. 28.

"We're partnering with Keller Williams Realty on a 'Kitchen Tool Exchange,'" Schneider said.

Montclair residents can donate new or unused kitchen tools and gadgets at the exchange where the items will be made available to other members of the community. Donors will also be able to pick items they might need.

"Everyone is welcome to the swap, and the leftover goods will be donated to the Soup Kitchen and Community Services program of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, which is in great need of kitchen/cooking supplies," Schneider said.

For more information about Parents Who Rock, visit www.parentswhorock.com or email Schneider at alma@parentswhorock.com.

Contact George Wirt at wirt@northjersey.com.

PWR To Help Raise Awareness About Hunger, Homelessness in Montclair

Check out this great article from the Montclair Times about how PWR is fighting homelessness and hunger in Montclair!

Easing the unending struggle for Montclair's homeless people

THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2012

BY MARK S. PORTER OF THE MONTCLAIR TIMES

Photo: A crockpot, according to Alma Schneider of Montclair, offers a relatively inexpensive and easy way for people with modest incomes to cook nourishing meals. Some homeless shelters allow guests to use crockpots, Schneider said. Photo courtesy of Ilah Saltzman.

What happens to a person who's homeless in a thunderstorm?"

The drenching exacerbates the daily desperation afflicting so many people who exist without shelter—people who subsist literally on the streets of Montclair and other municipalities.

For Gwen Parker Ames of Montclair Emergency Services for the Homeless, or MESH, inclement weather is one of the factors that debilitate people on the street.

"There is a community of homeless in Montclair … We're concerned about the basic necessities of life: water, respite and food," said Ames, who is MESH's "newly minted" executive director.

Through the recessionary downturn of the past several years, hunger and homelessness have worsened throughout the nation. Montclair's no exception to this ruinous recessionary rule. Local nonprofit agencies such as the Human Needs Food Pantry and Toni's Kitchen attend to numerous clients in need of groceries and meals, clothing and shelter.

During the past several winters, MESH has arranged for shelter, or respite, for homeless people, with some local churches and synagogues providing space for sleeping. Each year, as winter concluded, the shelter program has ceased.

"Our partners were going to stop March 31. But we saw the need, and the need is still there," said Ames. MESH has continued with a program to provide evening meals in some houses of worship, augmenting lunches offered by The Salvation Army's Montclair Citadel, St. Paul Baptist Church and Toni's Kitchen, located in St. Luke's Episcopal Church.

MESH intends to connect with the Montclair Farmers Market and, according to Ames, to initiate a community garden for a "garden to table" campaign.

Noting that Montclair is acclaimed for its quantity and quality of restaurants and the diversity of their cuisines, Ames is reaching out to the cafés and bistros to solicit donations of cooked food. Participating restaurants might receive posters or small banners to acknowledge their involvement.

Joining in MESH's endeavor is Alma Schneider of Montclair, founder of Take Back the Kitchen, a largely online program to make cooking easy, fun and shared among friends and neighbors.

"There are a lot of restaurants in Montclair. Our hope is the restaurants will participate, and individuals will fill in the gaps," said Schneider, who said she launched Take Back the Kitchen's involvement with MESH to get groups of friends to cook meals for MESH.

"It's something very doable and manageable," Schneider said. "You can get together with six people and cook for five people each."

For anyone who wants to join in but is unsure of the specifics, "we will hand-hold," offered Schneider, who said she hopes residents who run other local food blogs will join in aiding MESH.

Schneider's also the founder of Parents Who Rock, a large ensemble of Montclair residents who have kids and can perform rock music. A key element of PWR is to donate money raised during its performances to notable organizations such as construction of the All-Children's Playground in Edgemont Memorial Park. This year, she said, PWR members will perform concerts and events to raise funds for — and awareness of — MESH.

"We really want to involve kids in raising awareness and raising funds," said Schneider.

Schneider wants to encourage clients of Toni's Kitchen and other support organizations to learn crockpot cooking, which she said is a generally acceptable device to use in homeless shelters. "If you have a crockpot," Schneider noted, "all you need is an outlet."

Schneider said she will demonstrate crockpot cooking at lunchtime today in Toni's Kitchen, and on Friday, May 25.

"We're going to get people to donate crockpots," vowed Schneider. "There are easy-to-learn healthy recipes to cook in a crockpot."

"She is a force of change," Ames said of Schneider. For more information, visit the MESH website: meshmontclair.org.

Contact Mark S. Porter at porterm@montclairtimes.com.

Parents Who Rock Featured on CBS Morning News

Parents Who Rock's Alma Schneider was interviewed on CBS 2 News Saturday, on January 28. Alma explained why she started Parents Who Rock, and talked about some of the organization's fundraising successes. In addition, PWR's Ellen Paretti and Tim O'Connor performed a song. Watch a clip here.

WFUV Interview: How PWR Is Helping to Keep Music Education in the Montclair Schools

Parents Who Rock got some great press recently. Click here to listen to a story on WFUV about how PWR has helped to keep music education alive in the Montclair Public Schools.

Family Circle Magazine Lauds PWR and Its Founder for "Good Works"

Parents Who Rock got some great national publicity recently when the December 2009 issue of Family Circle magazine featured PWR founder Alma Schneider in its “Good Works” section. Click on the photo to read the whole article.

Little Kids Rock Featured on Dr. Phil Show

Little Kids Rock, the organization which Parents Who Rock raised funds for last year, got some great exposure on the "Dr. Phil Show." Check it out here.

Saturday's Show Gets Some Great Press in The Montclair Times

School house rock rocks on Saturday for Montclair kids

April 2, 2009

By George Wirt
of the Montclair Times

Alma Schneider believes in music in a big way.

And so does the small army of Montclair-based professional musicians, vocalists, music industry insiders, volunteers and parents whom she has helped bring together in a group that proudly calls itself Parents Who Rock (PWR).

"Music was such an incredibly important part of my life and my development and in my family’s development," Schneider explained as she rushed through a series of last-minute preparations for very unusual fundraiser this Saturday night.

"I know how important it is in the development of children, especially in the preteen years," she said. "It’s so important to have a creative outlet and to compose music and just express yourself through music.

"I just can’t imagine not having music in the schools."

Inspired by the way music has touched and helped shape and guide their lives, the more than 100 musicians and volunteers who make up PWR are on a mission to raise $50,000 this spring and make sure kids have that creative outlet.

Working with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence and the Montclair Board of Education, PWR plans to use the funds to buy instruments for the local public schools and to train the teachers who will be working with a future generation of musicians.

Their efforts will come to a dramatic climax 7 p.m. Saturday at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at 67 Church St. when the PWR takes to the stage with a very special event dubbed "Rockin’ for Music in Our Schools."

Schneider said PWR has engineered a collusion of great live rock performances with an auction of one-of-a-kind rock memorabilia they hope will produce a "big bang" that will give birth to a whole new universe of musical opportunities for Montclair school kids.

"We started planning for this back last summer when I sat down with friends at Nishuane pool and talked about the idea," Schneider said.

The planning and organizing has been nonstop ever since. There has even been a slew of smaller "opening acts" like house parties, kids recitals, backyard concerts, the launch and sale of PWR’s "Let ’em Play" CD of live shows and house party gigs, and even Christmas caroling
"We had individuals in the dead of winter at Christmas time singing carols on Church Street when it was 15 degrees, with a guitar case open to collect money," Schneider said.

To date, all of those efforts have generated more than $12,000. PWR hopes a night of great live music Saturday will put them over the top.

"I’ve been telling people all year if you’re going to one fundraiser this year, save your money for this event because it’s going to be something to remember," Schneider said.

Among the groups headlining the show will be The Bloomingfields with Brendan Mee on bass, John Packel on drums, David Rieth on guitar and vocals, Janet Donofrio on vocals and Andy Day on guitar.

Schneider will step into the spotlight herself with her group Alma and the No Rehearsals featuring John Paul Uva on guitar, Miguel Rodriguez on drums, Doug Andrews on bass and Alma doing the vocals.

Like the rest of PWR, Schneider’s set will include an eclectic mix of music drawing on Beyonce, Johnny Cash and Patti Griffin.

For the rock history buffs and collectors of rare memorabilia there is a chance to bid on Keith Richards’ guitar pics, drum sticks autographed by Ringo Starr and cymbals signed by Phil Collins.

There will be guitar lessons, songwriting lessons, and voice lessons, as well as guitars, including a Gibson Melody Maker, a Fender Stratocaster, and Spector Electric, plus gig bags, amps and effects systems.

The auction item list also includes a free Music for Aardvarks session and compilation CDs, rock concert tickets, South Orange Performing Arts Center tickets, and an i-Pod Shuffle. There’s even cocktail party package featuring hors d’oeuvres for 10, cocktail fixings and your very own in-home Parents Who Rock musical performance.

Schneider said there are even special prizes for the nonmusical. They can win a Bobbi Brown makeup party for six, tickets to "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and a custom-designed evening dress from sketches through fittings to finished dress.

The list goes on with interior design consultations to blackjack lessons to Pilates classes to a lunch at and a tour of The New York Times. The list of prizes is available on Parents Who Rock’s Web site at http://www.parentswhorock.com/.

"This is going to be the rockingest social event of the season by far," Schneider promised.

Contact George Wirt at wirt@montclairtimes.com

From the Montclair Times: Grandparents Who Rock Debuts Feb. 28

Here's a great story from the Montclair Times about Grandparents Who Rock; It explains just who are the grandparents who rock (No, it's not Mick and Keith...)

Grandparents Who Rock debuts Feb. 28
By Jill Berke
for the Montclair Times

What do a professional cabaret singer, two piano players at Nordstrom, a Latin music-loving couple with six grandchildren, a 62-year-old who last sang at her Mt. Hebron middle school talent show, and a 71-year-old who has been singing for the public since age 3 have in common?

Besides their passion for music, all are charter members of Grandparents Who Rock. It is the slightly grayer version of Parents Who Rock, which has taken Montclair musically by a storm.

Saturday, Feb. 28., is the debut performance of GWR. Eight song mavens will strut their stuff at the Diva Lounge from 7 to 10 p.m. Profits from the admission price of $10 will go to Little Kids Rock, a Montclair-based national organization that provides musical instruments for local public schools.

Jim Stiener, 71. a Montclair grandfather and businessman, is the muse for this silver-toned spin-off.

A veteran a cappella singer with New York City's Big Apple Chorus and a barbershop quartet tenor since college, Steiner was the 2007 winner of Sing New Jersey.

His girlfriend--full disclosure: that is me, the writer of this article--watched as he crooned and danced his way to winning the contest's adult division. Steiner rocked the house, and the idea of Grandparents Who Rock was born that night.

Alma Schneider, founder of Parents Who Rock, was receptive to forming an older-generation version of her nonprofit music organization.

"I love it," Schneider said when she first heard about Steiner and the possibility of putting other grandparentally aged singers together onstage. Schneider assembled an impressive roster of performers.

Montclair vocalist Barbara McCarthy, who has appeared off-Broadway, on television, and in local cabaret spots, will open the show. McCarthy said she "had a weak moment during the Obama inauguration when he talked about doing service.

When I saw a piece in the paper about this group, I just wanted to be a part of it. It's part civic for me and part social."

McCarthy, the only performer who is not a grandparent, will sing standards from her cabaret repertoire.

Meg Beattie-Patrick, 50, a mother of three, described herself as a jazzer, not a rocker.

"I'm channeling Billie Holiday," Beattie-Patrick said about her performance.

Vivian and Luis Schuchinski ar billed as "Bello and Bella." The couple sings Latin favorites backed up by family members.

Classically trained pianist and singer Joan Streit is one of the Nordstrom piano players to take the GWR stage.

Barbara Evans Hassenfeld, who plays at Nordstrom and with the JCC Jazz Ensemble, noted that "everyone in my family sings, including my three children, six grandchildren, even my granddog.."

Montclair native and grandmother Jane Susswein is returning to the stage after singing as a child at Mt. Hebron School and more recently at her synagogue.

Frank Cagliostro is a Frank Sinatra-type crooner and grandfather who says he just loves to sing

Together these are the sultry silver sounds of Grandparents Who Rock.

Age is just a number to each singer, and on Feb. 28 the magic number is three--three songs to a set that each will perform. It ought to be grand to hear them.

A Valentine from Grandparents Who Rock

This great story comes from this week's Montclair Times:

The food of love
by Jill Berke - February 12, 2009

This is a Montclair/Manhattan/ music love story.

I had lived in Manhattan for many years as a divorced woman. My daughter Danielle lived in Montclair with her husband Jack, and my grandchildren Noah and Hannah. At a time when most people my age move out of the suburbs and head for the city, I did the opposite. I moved here in 2003. I fell in love with Montclair, and then with a man I met here.

I was fixed up with Jim in November 2007 by our yoga teacher, Deborah Dunn. I only wanted a coffee date, I told her, a lesson I learned after innumerable blind dates in Manhattan that went nowhere. Jim insisted on a lunch, however, and since I worked in the daytime, I devised a plan: "Let’s have dinner," I suggested when he called, "but I insist on paying for myself. This is just a meeting, and I don’t think it’s fair to have you pay for this meal."

What I really meant is that sight unseen I didn’t want any obligation to him. No, he said, he heard I was worth having dinner with and certainly worth paying for.

I had heard Jim loved to sing. He was a member of New York City’s Big Apple Chorus, a men’s a cappella group, and a long-time barbershop quartet tenor.

Our first date went well. What would have happily been 20 minutes at Starbucks for me turned into two talk-filled, laughter-laced hours at Jim’s favorite restaurant, CulinAriane. It was an auspiciously delicious beginning.

Jim and I discovered that we share many interests – baseball (although he is a Red Sox fan and I am a Yankee), art, children and grandchildren, good food – but music has always underscored our romance.

Love soared when Jim competed in Sing New Jersey, a contest that pits adult singers, 25 and up, against one another. He crooned and danced through a velvet-toned rendition of "As Time Goes By." I sat in the audience, spellbound. A man behind me tapped me on the shoulder and asked if I knew the singer. "I do," I told him. "Thought so," he said, "He’s been singing every word to you. "

I saw it, and I felt it. I like to think that there was new love in that old love song’s lyrics. The judges certainly thought so. Jim won. One judge, Horace Ott of Montclair, said later that he could feel the words course through him. Jim sold that song on authenticity. Love is something you can’t fake, I believe, and neither is good singing.

I had Jim in mind, then, when I recently asked the founder of Parents Who Rock, Alma Schneider, about forming Grandparents Who Rock. I knew her and her charitable organization through my daughter. She smiled her Alma smile, which meant we can, if you help me do it.

It’s done.

Jim keeps on singing. He still dedicates our song, "The Nearness of You," to me when he performs it, and I still get chills. We now have six grandchildren between us, my four and his two. We also have an amazing living arrangement. I call it Upstairs, Downstairs. We own separate condos facing Manhattan above and below each other, allowing us to visit and live privately as we wish. And music has become a gift that benefits others, something we happily share.

PWR's Paretti Plays to Packed Uptown

Parents Who Rock's Ellen Paretti played to a packed house last night (Note: An icy Thursday night in a down economy!) at Uptown Bistro, and helped raise money for Little Kids Rock in the process. Read more from Kristen Kemp's great blog, Montclair Kids:

Kids & Music Invade Restaurant to Raise Money

Susan Pinkwater, owner of the Uptown Bistro, was brave last night. At 5:30 pm, all 52 seats in her Upper Montclair restaurant were filled. At least two-thirds of her patrons should've been ewring bibs--and she told me she totally didn't mind.

What seemed like 6,000 kids--three of them mine--were calmly, quietly and politely eating their food for a Parents Who Rock fundraiser to raise money for Little Kids Rock, the nationwide organization that's based in Montclair. The children were not running all over the place as artist Ellen Paretti tried to sing. They were not throwing French fries all over the floor. And they definitely were not whining for dessert.

We parents know kids never do things like that.

Pinkwater offered to host the event and donate 5 percent of the proceeds to Little Kids Rock, which is working with PWR to raise $50,000 for music education in our local public schools.

Uptown will host the same event next Wednesday, February 4, at 5:30 p.m. Music for Aardvarks' Alisa Harmon will sing. And certainly, many kids will be on their best behavior. After such a large crowd last night, reservations are recommended, 973-744-0915.

But wait, I heard from a reliable source--well, Pinkwater--that Uptown won't be called Uptown by next Wednesday. She's closing Uptown on Sunday evening and reopening it on Tuesday, February 3 under a new, top-secret name for the beginning of Montclair's Restaurant Week. I begged her not to take her sirloin burger off the menu, and her smile suggested she won't.

Want to have some fun fundraising without kids? This Saturday, January 31, Parents Who Rock will host an adults-only show (not that kind of show) at Diva Lounge to benefit Christ Church Soup Kitchen in East Orange from 7 to 10 p.m. It costs $10 at the door.

(All photos courtesy Kristen Kemp)

Press Clips

Parents Who Rock has gotten some nice press over the last few weeks: Check out what Baristanet had to say about the new CD: http://www.baristanet.com/2009/01/the_second_cd_by_the.php.

And the folks at New Jersey Family magazine are giving away a copy of the latest CD. Read what they have to say at http://www.njfamily.com/en/news/Kids_can.aspx

And then there's this one from the Montclair Times:

Riffing and Rocking to Enrich Public Schools
Parents Who Rock showcase new CD, fundraising gigs

by Mark S. Porter
of the Montclair Times
Thursday, January 22, 2009

Local musicians by the dozens fill the 23 tracks of "Let ’em play," a second CD released by the Montclair organization Parents Who Rock.

PWR is not only an organization. PWR is a guitarization, bassization and percussionization. There’s also plenty of vocalization.

"There are 60 musicians from Montclair and the Montclair area" performing on the new album, which features performances from the past year, said Alma Schneider, founder of Parents Who Rock.

PWR’s key membership requisite is that performers must be parents, many of whom long ago placed their musical instruments in closets to make space for playpens and kids’ toys. The association’s popularity has attracted enough older musicians that a sub-group has been established: Grandparents Who Rock.

"We have this amazing ‘Grandparents Who Rock’ thing happening," Schneider told The Times. "This is like a rebirth for some of them. It’s becoming this community event where they’re meeting new friends and collaborating on music."

And there’s an ancillary array of players who are young people. "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," one of the new CD’s tunes, features "the children of Parents Who Rock."

Produced and engineered by Dave Cushing at Snowdome Studios in Montclair, and mastered by the acclaimed recording-studio maven Greg Calbi, the CD is available in numerous shops around town.

Proceeds from sales of the $10 album will fund the purchase of rock instruments and musical teaching in Montclair’s public schools.

"We’re hoping everyone in town will buy a CD to support this great program," said Schneider, who noted that PWR’s fundraising efforts are tied in with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence.

The music education program is initiated by the national organization Little Kids Rock, whose founder, David Wish, resides in Montclair.

Proceeds from PWR’s debut CD, "Go Play Outside," along with numerous live performances and fundraisers, helped raise about $150,000 toward the construction of the All-Children’s Playground in Edgemont Memorial Park.

Since she founded PWR four years ago, Schneider and her colleagues have raised donations for local or regional nonprofits. They initially were motivated to share their success with nonprofit groups that needed financial assistance. Now, with the U.S. economy reeling, PWR members recognize their assistance is needed to assist human services agencies.

"Times are so tough, and soup kitchens and other nonprofits are suffering," Schneider explained.
Parents Who Rock have numerous fundraisers scheduled, with most focused on the Little Kids Rock endeavor.

"There are all these opportunities for people to participate in these fundraising events," Schneider said. "It’s so important that we have music in our lives."

Contact Mark S. Porter at porterm@montclairtimes.com.

Upcoming PWR Events
Parents Who Rock has scheduled a series of performances and fundraisers.

Wednesday. Jan. 28: Uptown, at restaurant at 595 Valley Road, will feature PWR members Ellen Paretti and Alisa Harmon in shows on Wednesday evenings, with half-priced meals for children and 5 percentof proceeds donated to Little Kids Rock.

Saturday, Jan. 31: Zara Phillips, Meryl McCusker, Barbara McCathry, Ron Holtz, Jessica Owen, Scott Moore, Cindy McCord, Hamstrung and Los Primos perform at Diva Lounge, 369 Bloomfield Ave., to benefit the Christ Church Soup Kitchen in East Orange. The show runs from 7to 10 p.m. Tickets: $10. Reservations: 973-509-3000.

Sunday, Feb. 22: PWR presents Rockin' for Kids, a family friendly concert at 3 p.m. at the Montclair High School Auditorium (entrance on Park Street). Performers include the Mama Doni Band, Mr. Ray, the Momclair Singfunny Orchestra, and the Roo-Mates from the soon-to-open Club Kid'doo. Tickets are $12 at the door or $10 in advance, and are available at the Montclair Community Pre-K, Grove Pharmacy and Keil's Pharmacy. Or order at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/ or call 800-838-3006. Proceeds will fund the work of Little Kids Rock in Montclair.

Saturday, Feb. 28: Grandparents Who Rock debutsat Diva Lounge, 369 Bloomfield Ave., Montclair, to benefit Little Kids Rock in Montclair. Performers include Jane Susswein, the Schuchinskis, Barbara Hassenfeld, Jim Steiner, Meg Beatie-Patrick and Barbara McCarthy. The show runs from 7 to 10 pm. Tickets are $10. Call 973-509-3000 for reservations. http://www.divalounge.com/.

Striking a Chord

In a town full of community-minded spirits, these individuals distinguish themselves. For them, the season of giving is 12 months long.

By Cindy Schweich Handler, Montclair Magazine, Holiday 2008
A clinical social worked trained to "help people reach their potential," Alma Schneider realized that she needed an outlet for doing just that after the birth of her third of four children. The former New Yorker had studied singing at the High School of Music and Art, and her quest for open mikes led to the former Coffee Club Cafe on Valley Road.

"I put together a night of parents like me, musicians who'd performed when they were younger and gotten away from it because of careers and responsibilities at home," Schneider recalls. The cover charge was five dollars for Tsunami relief, corporate matching donations raised the night's take to $900. Ands Parents Who Rock (http://www.parentswhorock.com), a fundraising powerhouse, was born.

Four years later, recipients of their largesse include Montclair's Developmental Learning Center, for whom they raised $30,000; the children of murdered resident Monica Paul; and an All Children's Playground in Edgemont Park, built with $150,000 that PWR raised in conjunction with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence. A Parents Who Rock CD recorded for the latter effort brought in $12,000 alone. A concert for Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit music program, will provide 500 new instruments and teacher-training to the public schools. "The only criteria for playing at our shows it that you be a parent, though most people who perform are pretty good," says Schneider. And be patient: There's a waiting list, and you might not play the same year you get on it.

Almost time to ‘Let ’em Play’

Thursday, October 30, 2008
By Mark S. Porter
Of the Montclair Times

Their membership is made of moms and dads who, years ago, put aside guitar amplifiers and microphones to raise children in Montclair.

Thanks to organizing dynamo Alma Schneider, many former performers have signed onto Schneider’s social and musical cyclone, Parents Who Rock.

Along with motivating responsible adults to rival their children in performing rock music, PWR has become a local vehicle to raise funds for local nonprofits.

PWR’s focus this year is to raise $50,000 for the Little Kids Rock organization, a nationwide group that provides guitars, basses and drums, along with trained instructors, to schools. Little Kids Rock’s founder and executive director, David Wish, is a Montclair resident who intends to bring his organization’s prowess to the Montclair School District.

"You need to be a board-certified teacher to volunteer to teach music in the Little Kids Rock program. We have two of them in Parents Who Rock who are going to be volunteers for this," said Schneider. She cited Avril Fagan, who teaches at Edgemont Montessori School, and Alisa Harmon, who teaches students enrolled in the Developmental Learning Center."

"Parents Who Rock and Little Kids Rock are terrific groups, and Alma Schneider has done a terrific job garnering support in the public schools," said Mayor Jerry Fried. "The program is great. It’s a step in the right direction.

"Having the Little Kids Rock program in the schools is a top-notch way to provide music education, but it’s really just a step. We have to find a way to find more funding for music education."

New CD

Parents Who Rock will release its second compilation of music performed by members. The CD, "Let ’em Play," will be released in mid-November, she said.

"Greg Calbi is mastering our CD, and Dave Cushing is once again producing our CD. We have over 20 songs on it," said Schneider, who noted that Cushing produced PWR’s debut release, "Go Play Outside."

"We’ll be selling it in more than 20 stores," Schneider told The Times.

Holiday fundraisers

PWR will perform a concert and a "Holiday Sample Sale" on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the Andrew Tedesco Gallery on North Willow Street. Twenty percent of the profits of the sale will go to Little Kids Rock’s local goal.

Performers are embarking on Parents Who Rock House Gigs, in which volunteers will host PWR performances in their homes. "You can throw a party or, if you’re already planning a party, you can turn it into a fundraising effort," Schneider said. "We now have 15 people. We’d love 100 people hosting these parties with a token Parents Who Rock concert in their home. You can charge $10 or $20, whatever you’re comfortable charging."

Rock of ages

Parents Who Rock has evolved into new elements. For the first time in the organization’s history, there will be a concert performed by kids. This show will be held in Diva Lounge on Bloomfield Avenue, with the date to be announced.

And there’s a new offshoot: Grandparents Who Rock.

"This is for more ‘seasoned’ parents," Schneider said of the members.

Jill Berke, who suggested creating the offshoot, described its membership as "grandparentally aged."

Berke said she was inspired by her boyfriend, Jim Steiner, who won a first-place award in the Adult Division of the New Jersey Sings competition. "He won at age 69 against people less than half his age," Berke said. "This is about spirit, and people who would like to share the spirit."

"We are looking for grandparents and grandparent wannabees to be involved in the Grandparents Who Rock show," stated Schneider of a concert Berke said would likely occur in February 2009 in the Diva Lounge.

People can contact Schneider at alma@parentswhorock.com.

School (district) of rock

Thursday, September 18, 2008
By Mark S. Porter
of the Montclair Times

David Wish, left, founder of Little Kids Rock, is joined by Bonnie Raitt and a roster of other musical luminaries who are honorary board members of the organization dedicated to enriching children in learning to perform music. Photo courtesy of David Wish.

In the movies, the hills are alive with the sound of music.

In Montclair, Hillside School might soon be a-tune with the sound of rock music.

Hillside and Montclair's other public schools will be the beneficiaries of free musical instruments and volunteer tutors in a plan now underway in a collaboration involving the locally based Parents Who Rock organization and the national Little Kids Rock non-profit group, whose director and founder, David Wish, resides in Montclair.

Alma Schneider, founder of Parents Who Rock (PWR) said the goal is to generate $50,000 to purchase 500 guitars for the town's 11 public schools.

"For every $100 we make, there will be an instrument brought into school. The total we're hoping to raise is $50,000," Schneider said. "That includes up to 500 instruments, curriculum and Little Kids Rock staff who will train volunteers to teach the programs.

Schneider said she knows of PWR members who are "ready and waiting to teach the kids during and after school hours."

Expressing concern regarding the level of musical education in the public schools, Schneider said, "A small group of high school parents approached me, talking about the need for more music in the schools."

She acknowledged that the members of PWR -- who are all former performers in rock bands who have coalesced, as parents residing in Montclair, to again plug in the guitars and microphones -- are more focused on contemporary music than on Baroque or classical.

"It's rock-based, but the kids will be learning to compose music," Schneider said. "Kids relate to rock music and contemporary music. Once a child gets more involved in music, then the community expands. Being a part of a community gives a student a leg up."

About two months after David Wish founded Little Kids Rock in August 2001, he and his family moved from California to Montclair. During the past decade, Wish has set up local chapters of Little Kids Rock in 18 cities, "reaching over 25,000 kids.

"All instrument donations we make are really part of a program," Wish said. "We really believe children should be taught the music they listen to... We teach our kids to create their own original music."

About 30 teachers will be tutored in Little Kids Rock methodology, he said.

Wish started the organization in East Palo Alto, in the San Francisco Bay area, where he had worked as a first-grade teacher. Little Kids Rock has now rolled into cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas.

Referring to Alma Schneider as "a force of nature," Wish said that he enthusiastically agreed to partner with PWR. "Does it sound like a match made in heaven?" Wish asked, adding that the partnership could also be akin to a show on the Comedy Channel.

PWR and Little Kids Rock are working with the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, a non-profit organization that supports the Montclair School District.

Describing the collaboration as "a wonderful effort," Montclair Schools Superintendent Frank Alvarez said, "This will allow us to put an instrument in the hands of every fourth- and fifth-grader who wants to learn how to play.

"We would not have been able to do this on our own."

Alvarez said the promised volunteer instruction will be vital. He said the budget cuts that the district was forceed to make severely limited what music instruction it could provide this school year.

Schneider is already turning up the volume control on her self-amplifier to "11" to combine PWR with Little Kids Rock in a goal to enrich the students attending Montclair's public schools.

"We're going to be doing bake sales, concerts, and many other grassroots activities," Schneider said. "Parents Who Rock musicians can host a dinner. Parents Who Rock musicians will perform at other people's homes.

"We want to keep Montclair the coolest suburb in New Jersey."

Playgrounds that Welcome Wheelchairs

By JENNIFER V. HUGHES
Published: July 6, 2008
The New York Times

THE first time Lisa Vaccino took her children to Hannah’s Dream, a playground in New Haven designed for disabled children, she immediately noticed a difference in her son, Johnny, 5, who has cerebral palsy.

“When we got back into the car that day I didn’t even have to ask him. He said, ‘That was fun!’ ” said Mrs. Vaccino, who also has a daughter, Emma, 2, who is not disabled. “That was a lot coming from him. That was huge.”

CHILD’S PLAY Lisa Vaccino with her 5-year-old son, Johnny, who is using a special shovel to dig in a sandbox at Hannah’s Dream, a playground in New Haven. Photo: Thomas McDonald for The New York Times

But it takes them a half-hour to drive to the park from Milford, Conn., their hometown. After that visit, in October, Mrs. Vaccino formed a nonprofit group and started a fund-raising drive for an accessible playground in Milford.

With the summer in full swing, playgrounds are a daily part of life for most families with small children. But for many disabled children, they remain tantalizingly out of reach. That is starting to change in many towns around the region, where handicapped accessible playgrounds and ball fields are being built or planned.

At Miracle Field in Hartsdale, N.Y., Tanis Annicchiarico, far right, gives Joey Lombardi a hand running to first base. Photo: Alan Zale for The New York Times

Mrs. Vaccino said that a location for the park in Milford has not been chosen, but that it will be named Bodie’s Place, for her son’s nickname. It even has a mascot, a spunky-looking firefly flitting out of a jar, and a motto: “Get Out and Play!”

Ms. Vaccino and other Milford parents are working with Boundless Playgrounds, a nonprofit group that has helped create 129 accessible playgrounds in 24 states since 1997. It was founded by Peter and Amy Jaffe Barzach of West Hartford, Conn., whose son Jonathan had spinal muscular atrophy, a degenerative neuromuscular disease, and died at the age of 9 months. There are 11 accessible playgrounds in the metropolitan region, and three more in the works, said Glandina Morris, a spokeswoman for Boundless Playgrounds.

Accessible playgrounds have rubberized surfaces that accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, and a child in a wheelchair can use wide ramps to get to the top of all climbing structures, Ms. Morris said. Many of the playgrounds include “cozy spots,” where children with Down syndrome or autism can go if they are overstimulated.

The playgrounds cost more than traditional ones, Ms. Morris said, because wheelchair-friendly surfacing can cost four times more than that of typical playgrounds. She said most groups and communities pay for them with donations and public funds.

Some accommodations are obvious, like high-back swings and bouncers; others are more subtle, like a sandbox placed at wheelchair height, or picnic tables with cutouts so a child in a wheelchair can sit with his or her family, not off to the side, Ms. Morris said. Many playgrounds include Braille panels on the equipment and gardens with fragrant flowers for blind children.

An accessible playground under construction in Teaneck, N.J., will eventually have many of those features and more, said Cindy Balsam-Martz, who led the effort to build it. Mrs. Balsam-Martz was inspired by her struggle to find a place to play with all of her children, the twins Eric and Noah, 10; Elaine, 7; and Nettie Faith, 6, who is partially blind and deaf and uses a wheelchair.

When they visit most parks, Mrs. Balsam-Martz said, her older children play while she practices walking with Nettie Faith.

“It feels like punishment,” she said. “All it does is further isolate her and outline her disability, which is not who Nettie is.”

Construction on the playground in the township’s Votee Park is expected to be completed by early fall.

Nationally, the drive for accessible playgrounds began in response to the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, said Antonio Malkusak, who has designed spaces for Boundless Playgrounds for a decade. Although the act did not cover playgrounds, “it got people thinking,” Mr. Malkusak said. More playgrounds were also built after companies started offering more adaptive equipment, prompted by the act, he added.

When Boundless Playgrounds began, Mr. Malkusak said, he would often hear, “ ‘We don’t see those kids coming out, so we don’t need to consider them.’ ”

“What was really happening was the reason why those kids didn’t come out was because there was nothing for them to do,” he said.

Since 2004, the Bush administration has been considering whether to require specific guidelines for handicapped access at new and existing playgrounds. A public hearing on the issue was set for July 15 in Washington.

The Town of Huntington, on Long Island, will include a Boundless Playground as part of a renovation and expansion of Veterans Park. Officials hope to open the playground, which is being named for a teacher with Lou Gehrig’s disease, by 2010.

In Montclair, N.J., work was to begin in a few weeks on the Edgemont Park All Children’s Playground. The project will cost about $200,000, about $40,000 of which was raised in bake sales and coin drives, as well as by a group of local musicians, Parents Who Rock. They held fund-raising concerts and released a CD that was sold in local shops.

Alma Schneider, Parents Who Rock’s founder, said accessible playgrounds are fun for all children. “This playground is for everyone,” she said. “There is no playground where typical kids and special-needs kids can play together.”

At a groundbreaking ceremony last week, Dave Fucio, a member of Montclair’s People With Disabilities committee, said accessible playgrounds were also important for parents and grandparents who use wheelchairs.

As part of the renovation of the Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital, Morris County, N.J., is building Miracle Field, a baseball field for disabled players and spectators. It is being paved with a rubberized surface to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. Officials hoped to hold the first ballgame this month.

The field was built with the help of an organization called the Miracle League, which provides communities with architectural designs and consulting support for the fields. The first Miracle Field was built in Georgia in 2000; now, there are 130 of them nationwide and another 100 under construction, said Diane Alford, founder of the league.

There are four Miracle Fields in the New York region and another 10 are planned, Ms. Alford said. The Westchester County Miracle Field, at Ridge Road Park in Hartsdale, has been hosting games since 2006.

At Miracle Field games, able-bodied siblings often act as buddies, pushing a player in a wheelchair to first base or helping one with a walker hit the ball, Phyllis Lombardi of Dobbs Ferry said. Her 10-year-old son, Joey, who is autistic, is a player and her 13-year-old son, Nicholas, is a buddy.

“What has happened is the most extraordinary thing, because he’s started to be so engaged in it,” Ms. Lombardi said of Joey. “We couldn’t get him to run to first base in the beginning, but now he does it. Now he says the word ‘ball.’ When you only have 11 words, it’s a big deal in a mother’s heart.”

All-Children’s Playground nearing reality

Thursday, June 26, 2008
By Erica Zarra
of the Montclair Times

After eight years in the making, a universal playground in Montclair is close to fruition.

On June 20, under a bright blue sky, municipal officials, residents, children, and financial donors convened in Edgemont Memorial Park for the kickoff ceremony of an "All-Children’s Playground," which will feature play stations, a playground surface and entrances designed to accommodate people with disabilities and special needs.

Susan Irby, a representative of Montclair’s People With Disabilities Advisory Committee, whose members started the idea of a universal playground nearly a decade ago, called the event "a great day for Montclair."

"It punctuates a major step forward for our community’s commitment to bring full participation in public life for everyone, and it brings it closer to reality," Irby said. "If we think outside the box about access, then we find expanded use and purpose."

Irby noted the universal playground would accommodate not only children with disabilities, but also parents with special needs.

"So much time and effort has been put in by everyone to make this happen," Irby told dozens of supporters in attendance. "And everyone, I can’t thank you enough."

Township Manager Joseph Hartnett noted, "The sense of satisfaction and reward and warm heart from this [project] far exceeds anything else that I have had the privilege of being involved in."

Hartnett praised supporters of the project, including the People With Disabilities Advisory Committee for their longterm commitment to the project.

"As we all know and believe, families that play together stay together," he said.

The Township Council has purchased $140,656 worth of playground equipment from Marturano Recreation Co.

The municipal government also awarded a $282,000 contract to JC Landscape Construction & Management Co. for the playground’s design and construction.

A portion of the funds for such improvements has been appropriated through bond ordinances and additional finances, some of which are from private donors.

The council had committed $200,000 to the project, and the municipality obtained a $50,000 state grant toward it.

The remainder of money was secured through private donations and fundraising initiatives, including those by Parents Who Rock, a locally based organization of mothers and fathers who had performed rock music professionally or as amateurs.

Second Ward Councilwoman Robin Schlager, who served as chairperson of the project’s general fundraising campaign, said she saw a universal playground a perfect fit for Edgemont Memorial Park, which she called, "the jewel of our town."

"I can’t think of a better way to end the four years with such a monumental day as we have here," said Schlager, who will be departing from the council, along with her six colleagues, this coming Tuesday, July 1. "It was a collaborative effort, a very unique effort between the town fundraising and the grassroots fundraising."

Schlager noted that coin drives, bake sales, T-shirt sales and CD sales were integral in raising money. She said such initiatives could not have carried out without the efforts of Parents Who Rock. The councilwoman also noted the work of Hartnett and Sara Gilbertson, an employee in his office, and the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, of which she is the associate director.

Alma Schneider, the founder of Parents Who Rock, emphasized how pleased she is to be a Montclair resident: "I am very proud to live in a town that not only considers everyone’s needs but have also had the courage and the perseverance to act on that and have the desire to make a change.

"So a big thank you to Township Council and to all the donors, musicians, and everyone else who assisted in making this unique and amazing playground a reality in our great town of Montclair."

The hour-long program featured a choral presentation in American Sign Language performed by Edgemont Montessori School’s 4th grade students, led by their teacher Regina Waller.

The event also featured two music performances by Parents Who Rock members.
Deputy Mayor Joyce Michaelson said she looks forward to visiting the All-Children’s Playground with her grandchildren.

"This has been an outstanding exercise in how a community can work together and partner together to do what we all want," Michaelson said.

All-Children's Playground nearing reality

Thursday, June 26, 2008

by Erica Zarra

of the Montclair Times

After eight years in the making, a universal playground in Montclair is close to fruition.

On June 20, under a bright blue sky, municipal officials, residents, children, and financial donors convened in Edgemont Memorial Park for the kickoff ceremony of an "All-Children’s Playground," which will feature play stations, a playground surface and entrances designed to accommodate people with disabilities and special needs.

Susan Irby, a representative of Montclair’s People With Disabilities Advisory Committee, whose members started the idea of a universal playground nearly a decade ago, called the event "a great day for Montclair."

"It punctuates a major step forward for our community’s commitment to bring full participation in public life for everyone, and it brings it closer to reality," Irby said. "If we think outside the box about access, then we find expanded use and purpose."

Irby noted the universal playground would accommodate not only children with disabilities, but also parents with special needs.

"So much time and effort has been put in by everyone to make this happen," Irby told dozens of supporters in attendance. "And everyone, I can’t thank you enough."

Township Manager Joseph Hartnett noted, "The sense of satisfaction and reward and warm heart from this [project] far exceeds anything else that I have had the privilege of being involved in."

Hartnett praised supporters of the project, including the People With Disabilities Advisory Committee for their longterm commitment to the project.

"As we all know and believe, families that play together stay together," he said.
The Township Council has purchased $140,656 worth of playground equipment from Marturano Recreation Co.

The municipal government also awarded a $282,000 contract to JC Landscape Construction & Management Co. for the playground’s design and construction.

A portion of the funds for such improvements has been appropriated through bond ordinances and additional finances, some of which are from private donors.

The council had committed $200,000 to the project, and the municipality obtained a $50,000 state grant toward it.

The remainder of money was secured through private donations and fundraising initiatives, including those by Parents Who Rock, a locally based organization of mothers and fathers who had performed rock music professionally or as amateurs.

Second Ward Councilwoman Robin Schlager, who served as chairperson of the project’s general fundraising campaign, said she saw a universal playground a perfect fit for Edgemont Memorial Park, which she called, "the jewel of our town."

"I can’t think of a better way to end the four years with such a monumental day as we have here," said Schlager, who will be departing from the council, along with her six colleagues, this coming Tuesday, July 1. "It was a collaborative effort, a very unique effort between the town fundraising and the grassroots fundraising."

Schlager noted that coin drives, bake sales, T-shirt sales and CD sales were integral in raising money. She said such initiatives could not have carried out without the efforts of Parents Who Rock. The councilwoman also noted the work of Hartnett and Sara Gilbertson, an employee in his office, and the Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence, of which she is the associate director.

Alma Schneider, the founder of Parents Who Rock, emphasized how pleased she is to be a Montclair resident: "I am very proud to live in a town that not only considers everyone’s needs but have also had the courage and the perseverance to act on that and have the desire to make a change.

"So a big thank you to Township Council and to all the donors, musicians, and everyone else who assisted in making this unique and amazing playground a reality in our great town of Montclair."

The hour-long program featured a choral presentation in American Sign Language performed by Edgemont Montessori School’s 4th grade students, led by their teacher Regina Waller.

The event also featured two music performances by Parents Who Rock members.
Deputy Mayor Joyce Michaelson said she looks forward to visiting the All-Children’s Playground with her grandchildren.

"This has been an outstanding exercise in how a community can work together and partner together to do what we all want," Michaelson said.

.

All children's playground on it's way

Thursday, June 19, 2008
By Mark S. Porter
of the Montclair Times

With a radiant smile sweeping across her face, Lily Vakili rejoiced: "It’s just blossomed."

Vakili’s joyous demeanor was shared by three women who joined her in Edgemont Memorial Park, aglow at the promise of the "All-Children’s Playground" being constructed.

Eight years ago, Montclair residents Dorothy Schattner, her daughter Helaine Schattner and Susan Irby proposed the construction of a recreational area in town in which children and adults with disabilities could enjoy playing on rides with "able" kids and grownups.

There have been eight years of discussions, analyses and, eventually, approval of the All-Children’s Playground.

During the past year, there have been penny drives, musical performances, a walkathon, bake sales and a CD offered for sale to raise funds to construct the specialized playing area in the Edgemont Park location of an existing playground.

Tomorrow morning, Friday, all of the advocacy and fundraising activities will prove their worth.

The All-Children’s Playground Kickoff Ceremony, featuring key activists, supporters and municipal officials, will occur at 11 a.m. in Edgemont’s playground area.

Funding for the All-Children’s Playground has suddenly reached the construction-cost requisite, pushed over the top through substantive contributions by two anonymous donors. "There were some amazingly generous donors," Vakili said.

The playground is estimated to cost about $400,000. The Township Council appropriated $200,000, and the state provided a $50,000 grant. Donors and fundraising activities have provided the remaining $150,000, along with some funds necessary for maintenance and upgrades of the specialized playground equipment.

Susan Irby said every resident should rejoice when the playground opens.

"We focus on the ways we can enrich one another’s lives," Irby said.

Along with their smiles, the four women gathered in Edgemont Park sported black "Parents Who Rock" T-shirts. Joining Irby, Vakili and Leslie Kunkin was Alma Schnieder, founder of Parents Who Rock, and a hyper-committed advocate for the All-Children’s Playground.

Performing members of the Montclair-based Parents Who Rock contributed nearly two dozen songs for a CD, "Go Play Outside," with revenues from the $10 discs donated to fund construction of the All-Children’s Playground. Parents Who Rock initiated or collaborated in several fundraisers throughout Montclair to generate funds. The CD is available for purchase in numerous local businesses.

"Between donors who donated services and volunteers at all the fundraisers, we had well over 100 volunteers," Schneider said.

This past Saturday, during Mayor Ed Remsen’s speech dedicating a memorial in Anderson Park to famed Montclair High School lacrosse coaches and physical education teachers Gil Gibbs and Homer Robinson, the mayor cited tomorrow’s ceremony: "We’ve worked very hard and we’re really excited" about the onset of the playground.

"The contract is signed. The design is approved," Vakili said. "It should be built this year."

All-access playground close to construction

Thursday, June 12, 2008
BY ERICA ZARRA
of the Montclair Times

A universal playground in Montclair will soon be built.

During the meeting on Tuesday, the Township Council approved two resolutions concerning an "All-Children's Playground" to be erected in Edgemont Memorial Park.

The full-access outside facility will feature play stations, a playground surface and entrances that are designed to accommodate children with disabilities and special needs.

The council members purchased $140,656 worth of playground equipment from Marturano Recreation Co.

They also awarded a $282,000 contract to JC Landscape Construction & Management Co. for the playground's design and construction.

A portion of the funds for such improvements has been appropriated through bond ordinances and additional finances, some of which were from private donors.

"The support in this community warmed my heart and was a wonderful tribute to Montclair," Township Manager Joseph Hartnett said.

The Township Council committed $200,000 to the project and the municipality obtained a $50,000 state grant toward it.

The remainder of money was secured through private donations and fundraising efforts, including those by Parents Who Rock, a locally based organization of mothers and fathers who had performed rock music professionally or as amateurs.

Second Ward Councilwoman Robin Schlager, who chaired a subcommittee of the project, called the playground "a great example of what this town can do working with a lot of people."

"No matter what the price tag was, many people in town embraced an all-access playground," Schlager said.

Hartnett concurred, saying, "This has been the most rewarding experience since being township manager in Montclair. Over 200 Montclair families sent in their checks ... from every single neighborhood. The support for the playground covered every area, every nook and cranny of Montclair."

The Council Chamber was packed with supporters of the project, many of whom cheered when the resolutions were approved.

"The support has been overwhelming," said Susan Irby of Montclair's People with Disabilities Advisory Committee, who is also a member of the fundraising committee.

Irby, who helped lead the idea of an all-access playground years ago, said the project represents "education and awareness about community inclusion."

Irby's daughter, Rebecca, added that the playground reflects the "equality and promotion of diversity" integral in Montclair.

Alma Schneider, the founder of Parents Who Rock, thanked the council members and the "people in Montclair who stepped up." Schneider told The Times that an official groundbreaking ceremony likely will occur soon.

Members of the Friends of Edgemont Park Committee said they were in favor of the playground, but noted concerns such as parking and landscaping in the vicinity.

They also articulated a feeling of not being fully informed of the effort.

WPLJ's Race Taylor Talks About Parents Who Rock and The Playground Benefit

Parents Who Rock roll in support for playground

Friday, January 18, 2008
By MARK S. PORTER
of The Montclair Times

On the Spinal Tap scale of 1 to 10, Alma Schneider’s commitment to get a special playground built is “11.”

Schneider is the founder of Parents Who Rock, a wide-ranging organization inspiring Montclair dads and moms to excavate their closeted electric guitars and shoebox-entombed microphones and again take the stage.

She’s leading many PWR members to participate in fundraising efforts to construct a universal playground in Edgemont Memorial Park that will enable children and adults who have physical limitations to have fun alongside non-disabled kids and grownups.

As envisioned, the playground will cost approximately $350,000, of which $200,000 in public funding is available. Parents Who Rock is in the forefront of a Montclair-and-beyond effort to raise $150,000 in donations to get the outdoor facility built.

“There’s a reason for building a universal-access playground,” Schneider said. “These parks are few and far between. People or their kids who have disabilities really need the opportunity to play together.

“This is a veterans’ cause as well, for returning vets. We’re trying to get veterans’ groups involved. There are a lot of adults in wheelchairs who can use this playground and play with their children.”

Schneider has assembled her own playground of aspirations to raise the money. She organized the recording of a CD, “Go Play Outside,” by an assemblage of PWR players. The CD is being sold for $10 in numerous Montclair businesses, with all profits slated for creating the all-children’s playground.

“We have sold between 950 and 1,000 CDs,” Schneider said. “And we’ve already received over $3,100 in extra donations in addition to the CD sales.”

She’s connecting with local public and private schools. Schneider foresees the Montclair School District this spring sponsoring a workshop “where every single class in Montclair will be discussing differences and disabilities.

“We want to do this to raise awareness about people who are different, and how kids can make a difference with people who are struggling due to their differences.”

Schneider’s reached out to the Junior League of Montclair-Newark. In March, Montclair Kids in Action intends to conduct a walkathon/bike-a-thon/skate-a-thon in Edgemont Memorial Park “to raise awareness” about the physical limitations affecting many people and the need to be understanding, Schneider said.

As a member of the Montclair-based culinary/social organization Cooking With Friends, created by Alison J. Bermack, Schneider intends to gently entwine Bermack’s wide-ranging community of members into generating funds for the playground.

In March, PWR and several local businesses will sponsor “bake sales all over town.” Three local bakeries — Gimmee Jimmy’s Cookie Bar on Church Street, Flour Patch Bakery on Greenwood Avenue, and Baking Fiend, bakingfiend@fmail.com — will donate delicious delights.

She has reached out to professional musicians to gain their backing for upcoming endeavors or simple plugs of support. Radio stations such as WFMU have broadcast cuts from “Go Play Outside” with the requisite mention of its fundraising focus.

“Parents Who Rock is starting a Parents Who Rock Fan Club, hopefully run by kids,” Schneider said. “To be in the fan club, it will have a community-service component.”

Schneider has even ordered PWR “Rock Montclair” T-shirts, with the profits going to the playground fund.

She promises that other fundraising efforts are in the works.

“Our empire of good will is expanding,” Schneider said. “It’s going to be fun.”

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

© Blogger template The Professional Template by Ourblogtemplates.com 2008

Back to TOP