MONTCLARION: July 20, 2012
“Put Your Money Where Your House Is”. The owner of Farmstead Cheeses and Wines shares this slogan in response to last week’s Town Crier column on the closure of another small business, The Tulip Grove. The question I posed was “are we doing enough to support shops in Montclair?” Diamond, who is also the vice president of the Montclair Village Association, says over 200 businesses make up Montclair. “We’re dentists, psychologists, cheesemongers, chiropractors, barristas, bagelmen, cobblers, grocers, bankers, realtors, chefs, bakers, kitchen mavens, computer repairmen, camera shop experts, wine and liquor purveyors, booksellers, and a myriad other professions who are committed to making Montclair Village a fun and useful place to visit.”
Email bag: Reader Elizabeth Rynecki alerted me to the fact that vandals have smashed two of the climbing horse statues at Montclair Park. “What drive people to damage our community?” she asks. “Is it cultural? Socioeconomic? Indifference? Drunks? So sad.” Sad, indeed. Yes, a work order will be put in for repairs, but until then, one horse has a smashed skull and the other is missing an ear. And small children who see this lose a little bit more of their innocence.
In memory: I’ve been remiss in not covering the death of an extraordinary Oaklander. Elfie Larkin passed away this spring, not long after her 100th birthday. She was a pioneer in the Coast Guard – one of the first SPARS, or women reserves. She taught in the Oakland Schools and was a tireless volunteer in the community. Elfie’s legacy lives on in many ways, but the most visible is a plaque in her honor at the Oakland Zoo, where she was a longtime docent.
Ginny Prior 