PARSIPPANY — Wise Animal Rescue held its First Annual Holiday Party, thanking all of their volunteers and fosters for a very successful year in making a difference in the life of a rescued pet.

Parsippany resident Guest DJ’s Guru and Shil kept the crowd busy all evening. They are available for all types of parties. (For more information, click here.)

Roxbury High School graduate and current County College of Morris student Madison Pisani performed with her unbelievable voice. Madison is an extremely talented 18 year old singer and songwriter. (For more information visit Madison on Facebook by clicking here.)

The wonderful evening was held at the Lake Parsippany Clubhouse.

Wise Animal Rescue is dedicated to rescuing dogs of all ages and breeds from places where they are no longer wanted or are not being properly cared for. By partnering with veterinary practices that support their work, they are able to save dogs’ lives and restore them back to health.

Central to their mission is to ensure that all dogs are spayed/neutered, up-to-date on shots, and microchipped. Prior to adoption, all of the dogs are placed into responsible loving foster homes to be socialized and trained rather than put in a shelter environment.

Wise Animal Rescue Holiday Party

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PARSIPPANY — On Saturday, December 15 the children at Parsippany Child Day Care Center enjoyed a breakfast and a visit from Santa sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany.

Kiwanis members Daniella DeLuca, Joe Jannarone, Jr., Bob Young, Casey Parikh volunteered and prepared the breakfast which consisted of scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, pancakes, bagels and muffins.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany invites Santa and cooks up a breakfast and supplies gifts for the children every year.

Santa elves Kendall Amato, Morgan Amato, Daniella Strano, Brieanna Lomelo and Isabella Lomelo helped Santa giving out gifts to the children.

Santa visits Parsippany Child Day Care Center

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Kiwanis is a worldwide service organization in over 96 nations. The major emphasis is serving the children of the world.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany picks service projects that need attention. The Club is all local people that volunteer time and talents to make our community a better place to live. We, like you, are busy with making a living, church, family, and many other activities.

The children received wooden puzzles, coloring books and crayons from Santa as well as a goodie bag.

The Parsippany Child Day Care Center was incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1968. They opened with 20 children and expanded to meet the growing need for quality child care in our community. In 1980, they moved into a new building specifically designed for child care and owned by the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. During the 1990s, the building was renovated with two additions to the building, which made room for infants and young toddlers. They are governed by a Board of Trustees, who are volunteers from our community. Earlier this year, Parsippany Child Day Care Center, celebrated their 50th Anniversary.

The facility was designed specifically for the care of children, and was built with HUD funding. The center has a total of seven classrooms, a large multipurpose room, a full service kitchen, offices, adult and children’s lavatories.

The center is comprised of a diverse population of families and staff. They come from a variety of backgrounds and speak multiple languages from all over the globe.

A very unique relationship exists between the center and Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. Parsippany built the original building and owns it. A self-renewing contract allows for joint responsibility for repairs and building upkeep. Primarily the center maintains the building and the town maintains the property. They also have strong ties with civic organizations within Parsippany, including but not limited to the Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany, Woman’s Club of Parsippany-Troy Hills and the Sons of Italy.

Parsippany Child Day Care Center is located at 300 Baldwin Road. For more information, click here.

PARSIPPANY — Santa arrived at Lake Parsippany firehouse on Saturday, December 15 to greet the children, take pictures, find out their wish list and give gifts.

Santa Visits District 3 Firehouse

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PARSIPPANY — Nicole Coleman a 42-year-old mother of three and a professional child care specialist. She made a career out of her passion, dedicated to her craft; she sought out families with medically fragile (twins, triplets) managing the unexpected challenges that come with multiple children at the same time. The accolades that the families left after each job on care.com are a few stories that clearly describe her patience and natural kindness.

Aside from her love of children comes her infatuation, with butterflies. Butterflies have been a part of Nicole’s entire life. Nicole enjoyed anything with a butterfly on it. She went as far to have a tattoo of one on her arm and enjoyed the story of the butterfly.

Starting in mid-October Nicole began experiencing headaches. Her hair was very long, and she thought maybe it was time to donate her hair, so she did, 11” was donated to be used for a wig for cancer patients going through chemotherapy and radiation treatments. That was not enough to relieve the pain, so she went to the doctor and was given migraine strength medication and was sent home. The side effects of the medicine left her unable to carry out a typical daily schedule. Nicole was brought to the hospital a couple of weeks later, underwent a cat scan and shortly after, Nicole was diagnosed with butterfly gliomas, a form of glioblastoma, the same brain cancer that took the life of Edward Kennedy and John McCain. When the doctor explained to the family what was happening, the doctor described the tumor as if it was in a cocoon and now it’s spreading its wings like a butterfly. He recommended surgery which she never was able to recover and passed on Thanksgiving Day.

The celebration of life gathering was a great testament to my sister’s love for everyone and butterflies. The void Nicole’s departure leaves is tremendous, her brother Bradley set up a fundraising campaign. The campaign was able to collect over $20,000.00 from friends and family, but more donation is needed to help her struggling family.

The story has been covered in local publications like Parsippany Focus and TAPinto Roxbury. Given the local angle, holiday spirit, and touching story, your readers would be interested in this story. To see the campaign and story, click here.

MORRIS COUNTY — State Senator Joe Pennacchio’s office collected over a thousand toys for needy children during the past month.  This is an annual event that the Senator runs to help out families in need.

“I am thankful to all those that donated and to the participating schools in my district for helping to make this year’s toy drive a huge success,” Pennachio said.

If you require or know of a needy child who needs toys this holiday season, please contact Senator Pennacchio’s district office no later than Wednesday, December 19.  You can reach the office by calling (973) 227-4012.

PARSIPPANY — Mayor Michael Soriano has called on the legislature to oppose the legislative redistricting proposal being voted upon this Monday. Soriano released the following statement:

“I am in opposition to the redistricting plan currently in front of the legislature. In our increasingly polarized political climate, our leaders must fight against the corrosive effect of gerrymandering on our democracy, not allow partisan map-making to flourish in yet another state.

I am a proud Democrat, and I have been proud to be a part of the great strides our party has made in this state over the past several years. However, the implementation of a structural advantage that favors one party over another will serve only to delegitimize all future progress our party makes.

The current redistricting process in our state is a model for the rest of the country to follow. From Wisconsin to North Carolina, the Republican Party has drawn themselves gerrymandered maps that strain the concept of democracy. The Democratic Party must be better. We must strive to win on the strength of our ideas, not the strength of our cartography. I implore the legislature to vote this plan down and keep the current redistricting process in place.”

PARSIPPANY — On Friday, December 7, The Friends of Lake Hiawatha sponsored their annual Winterfest at the gazebo on North Beverwyck Road.

Attendance and enthusiasm was high as the children waited for Santa Claus, who came in on a fire truck. Hot chocolate and cookies were served as the children (and parents) waited on line to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

Friends of Lake Hiawatha Winterfest

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Two bicycles were raffled off and won by two very excited children.

Throughout the evening, the crowd was entertained by the caroling by Girl Scout Troops 96623 from Knollwood School, 97446 from Lake Hiawatha School and 97442 from Eastlake School.

Parsippany-Troy Hills Mayor Michael Soriano joined the festivities and his attendance throughout the evening was very much appreciated by all. A very special thanks to the Lake Hiawatha Fire Department and the Parsippany Traffic Department who help keep everyone safe.

The Friends of Lake Hiawatha is a non-profit organization that began in 2011. The original intent of the organization was to decorate every lamppost in town with snowflakes and wreaths and have barrels for spring and fall flowers. With the generous donations of the majority of the store owners along Beverwyck Road, they were able to accomplish their goals.

The organization did not stop there. They initiated the scarecrow contest which takes place every October and the Winterfest both with the help of the Parsippany Girl Scouts.

The present organization’s members are Antoinette Simmons, Carol Greco and John Pascarella, owner of the Hiawatha Dairy. However, the Winterfest would not be successful without the help of two very important non-official members, Fred Simmons and Carolyn Piccolo. And of course a very big thanks to our Santa Claus.

PARSIPPANY — At their Annual Holiday Party, Parsippany Historical Society elected and installed their 2019 officers.

The 2019 Officers and Trustees are: President Randy Tortorello; Vice President Robert Peluso; Treasurer Nancy Brighton; Secretary Jessica Soit; Archivist Sandi Kron: Trustees: Mary Purzycki, Carol Tiesi, Barbara Seamen.

The purposes of the Parsippany-Troy Hills Historical and Preservation Society are to:

• Encourage an appreciation for, and an understanding of, the history of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills by holding meetings at which historical lectures, entertainments, discussions, and other programs are scheduled; by marking historical sites, roads, trails, and building; by publishing work concerned with historical research; by working with school administrators and teachers to encourage the study of local history, and by engaging in other appropriate activities;
• to seek out, to collect, and to collate material which may help to reveal and illustrate the history of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills in terms of exploration, settlement, and development;
• to cooperate with public and private agencies in providing for the preservation and for the display of historic sites and materials;
• to conduct or encourage archaeological investigations in the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills;
• to hold title to real and personal property of historical interest of significance that the Society may acquire;
• to hold title to moneys or instruments acquired for the purpose of furthering and/or maintaining the Society’s properties.
  History of the Society

The Society was incorporated on June 8, 1998. Since that time the Society has worked toward the mission of preserving and interpreting the Township’s history and historic structures. The Society works with the Township to open the Township’s historic sites, including the Parsippany Museum, also known as the Bolwsby / DeGelleke House, the Smith / Baldwin House, Old Littleton Schoolhouse and the Forge Pond and Dam property. The Society also sponsors programs that highlight the history of the Township and are held at one of the Townships historic properties. The Society is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Membership in the Society is open to any person, organization, and corporation interested in the preservation of the historical heritage of the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills. Meetings are held the third Wednesday of every month except for the months of July and August. In addition to attending meetings, members are expected to volunteer to support open houses and various events highlighting the history of Parsippany-Troy Hills scheduled throughout the year.

Membership categories include Single $ 15.00; Family $ 25.00; Senior $ 10.00; Sponsor $ 50.00 and Advocate $100.00.

Please consider joining the Society – Click here for membership form.

For more information click here.

PARSIPPANY — On Sunday, December 2, we competed at the Robo-Tussle New Jersey Qualifier in Chatham and came home with the prestigious Inspire Award! We also were nominated for the Connect, Motivate, and Think Awards. Our team is very excited to compete with the rest of the advancing New Jersey teams on March 10.

The following week on Saturday, December 8, we played at the West Central Pennsylvania Qualifier in Johnstown! At this event our robot performed extremely consistently, especially our autonomous.

After ranking first, we played an exhilarating round of finals and took home the Winning Alliance Captain title! The Pennsylvania Championship Tournament will be held on March 2nd and 3rd and we are eager to compete.

PARSIPPANY — On November 28, 2018, Delta Dental of New Jersey (DDNJ) formally received the American Heart Association (AHA) 2018 Workplace Health Achievement Bronze Level Recognition as a result of the significant steps they took to build a culture of health in the workplace.

More than 1,000 companies completed the AHA 2018 Workplace Health Achievement Index assessment measuring the effectiveness of their workplace health programs, as well as the overall heart health of their employees. Of these companies, 75 percent received either Gold, Silver, or Bronze recognition and 33 of these companies were based in New Jersey.

The Bronze Level Recognition was presented to DDNJ by Peter Cary, Senior Director of Corporate Health and Mission Engagement for the AHA. Companies recognized at the Bronze Level achieved an index score of 86-129 out of a maximum 217 points.

“At Delta Dental of New Jersey, our employees’ health and wellness is a priority and ingrained into our corporate culture,” said Dennis Wilson, CEO and President of Delta Dental of New Jersey. “We are honored to be recognized by the American Heart Association and will continue to invest in the health and well-being of our more than 250 employees in both New Jersey and Connecticut.”

The Index was created by the AHA’s CEO Roundtable members, a leadership collaborative of more than 40 CEOs from some of America’s largest companies who are committed to creating healthy companies and communities. According to the Nielsen 2016 Employee Health Survey, robust and comprehensive strategies for well-being are associated with positive impacts on employees’ health.

DDNJ offers its employees a variety of wellness programs, including: a walking club, stairwell challenges, Weight Watchers, blood pressure screenings, BMI assessments, yoga and other exercise classes in their wellness room, health-related educational sessions on various topics, including oral health, diabetes, and smoking cessation. DDNJ will continue to provide health-related programs to continuously improve the health and well-being of their associates.

Delta Dental of New Jersey, Inc. is New Jersey’s leading dental benefits company, providing or administering coverage to more than 1.7 million people through contracts with groups in New Jersey and Connecticut. In Connecticut, Delta Dental of Connecticut, Inc. is a licensed insurer that writes dental coverage on an insured basis, and Delta Dental of New Jersey administers self-funded dental benefit programs. For more information click here.

The American Heart Association is devoted to saving people from heart disease and stroke – the two leading causes of death in the world. We team with millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, fight for stronger public health policies and provide lifesaving tools and information to prevent and treat these diseases. The Dallas-based association is the nation’s oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. To learn more or to get involved, call 1-800-AHA-USA1, click here or call any of our offices around the country. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.