DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Wasn’t that a great Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence fundraising event at Lackawanna Plaza on Saturday, April 30?
Sincerely,
Pre-May Day
It was! Many talented township residents performed. It was exactly like Woodstock — except for being in a different place, a different century, and with a shorter guitar solo by Jimi Hendrix.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Your mind is in a haze, purple or otherwise. Impressive that the MFEE has raised more than $13 million since 1991?
Sincerely,
Lucky 13
Very impressive. And we’re talking 1991 AD, not 1991 BC, so that money was accumulated in 31 years rather than 4,013 years.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
BC was when chariots rather than trains arrived at Lackawanna Terminal. Speaking of Lackawanna, a restored 1930 railroad car is scheduled to be part of the Plaza’s redevelopment. Cool?
Sincerely,
Euphoric About Historic
Trains weren’t air-conditioned 92 years ago. But it would be nice to see a vintage car there — perhaps with an ad inside for the 1930 movie “All Quiet on the Western Front,” about a music-free day in California.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Must be a different film version of Erich Maria Remarque’s novel. Anyway, by planning to display an old train car and providing the venue for the MFEE event, is BDP Holdings trying to endear itself to Montclair?
Sincerely,
While Doing Good
The Planning Board must still make sure Lackawanna Plaza gets redeveloped appropriately — with enough open space, enough affordable housing, a good supermarket, and all the strings intact on Jimi Hendrix’s guitar.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Did you attend the MFEE’s April 30 event?
Sincerely,
Witness for the Contributions
Couldn’t quite pull it off because I watched my daughter play in two Montclair High softball games that day in Kearny, a town whose name is pronounced “not Montclair.”
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
In your April 21 column, you mentioned how well that softball program is doing this season. Can you update the won-loss records?
Sincerely,
Victor Vector
As of this week’s column deadline, Varsity was 11-3, Junior Varsity was 8-2, and the Freshman team was 4-0 — 23-5 combined. That’s a record as good as Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” about the location of a secret lunar visit by Montclair native Buzz Aldrin.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Never happened. What DID happen was that our school district is requiring students and staff to wear masks again for 10 days, through May 13, because of a COVID spike. Good idea?
Sincerely,
Went Viral
Great idea. Heck, a May 3 email reported 24 new COVID cases at Montclair High alone. “May in Montclair” became “Masks in Montclair,” including tiny little masks for “May in Montclair” tulips.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
I’ll tiptoe through them. Also happening May 3 was an abortion-rights rally in Montclair after a leaked draft opinion revealed that at least five of the nine U.S. Supreme Court justices infuriatingly want to end Roe v. Wade. Thoughts about this anti-women possibility?
Sincerely,
Anatomy Autonomy
“Thanks” to Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, and others, our country now has such a far-right Supreme Court majority that the guilty quintet has to hold heavy bags of delicious Montclair takeout food in their left hands to avoid toppling over.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
If those arch-conservatives accurately describe themselves after getting food in Montclair, what would they sing at the next MFEE event?
Sincerely,
Pre-June Croon
“Bad to the Bone.”
Dave Astor, author, is the MontClairVoyant. His opinions about politics and local events are strictly his own and do not represent or reflect the views of Baristanet.
I don’t understand the COVID case reporting in this town. According to Essex County, Montclair Township had 123 cases in the last 7 days ending yesterday. Meanwhile, our school district alone is reporting 135 cases for the same period and now requires masking. Even if I exclude all the staff cases because they live outside the town, that still leaves 121 cases among just students…assuming they live in town. It would appear the schools don’t have to submit their cases counts to the County. But, the Council and the various land use boards are all going back to in-person only meetings without any COVID protocols. C’est la vie.
Thank you for the comment, Frank. Yes, COVID numbers and COVID protocols can be all over the mask…um…map. In terms of numbers, there can also be a skew (not necessarily in Montclair) when many people take home COVID tests and don’t always report the results.
It’s hard to care for the children when we don’t care for the seniors. But, being fair, that is the way it has always been here. Go Blue.
Well, Frank, most Montclair residents of course care very much about children and seniors. Sometimes that does and sometimes that doesn’t get reflected in policy; for instance, the new rent-control measure has a provision for lower yearly increases for senior tenants but the town not insisting strongly enough that developers include more affordable housing in new projects helps make Montclair too expensive for a number of seniors to stay in town. As for COVID, which is obviously more threatening to older people, I think local mask mandates could have been kept a little longer.
I love Mayor Spiller. He won’t wear a mask at the first in-person town council meeting but wears a mask to tag along with the governor…to buy comic books. I attended the Lit Fest which required masking. One attendee is the owner of a well-known Montclair restaurant – which requires masking. Masked while attending this? Nope.
COIVD is over. Even if you catch it is less than a cold, right? Everyone now knows the risks and knows they are responsible for the level of precautions. We are well past the days when we can blame others for catching COVID. I get it.
H/e, I just think very poorly of those who act or talk out of both sides of their mouth depending their personal benefit. They should have some integrity and pick a lane, not by each of their personal performance venues.
Frank, you cited what is definitely some inconsistent behavior.
I’m still wearing a mask in all indoor public and commercial spaces. Easy to do, and it not only offers some COVID protection but also protection against the common cold. Haven’t caught one since before COVID started more than two years ago.