PARSIPPANY — Catherine McCall remembers, when she was a child, her aunt had bought a new house, and she slept over in her cousin’s bedroom.

Both fell asleep, but McCall woke up and saw a man standing in the corner of the room. Both engaged in an all-night-long staring contest. The next morning, when she went downstairs for breakfast and told her aunt about the encounter, her uncle walked in and said he had been talking with his new neighbor about the prior owner, and the description matched the gentleman in the room with McCall. The man had recently passed away. “I never forgot that,” she says. “That was my first real knowledge that I was seeing a legitimate person. He was attached to that house that they lived in. He didn’t do anything; he just stood in the corner and stared at me all night.”

It also was her first real knowledge of possibly being a Psychic Medium, although she didn’t know it at the time. McCall was born and raised in Dover, and she has an office there. She has been a professional Medium since 2007 and explains the realm. “Mediumship is communicating with the spirit world, and the spirit world is heaven, and when our loved ones pass over, they use people like myself to communicate with their loved ones that they’ve left behind.

The information comes through our senses, so we hear, we feel, we smell, we face empathy. All of our senses are in use, and we call them our ‘clairs.’ So, with clairvoyance, clairsentience, and claircognizance – this is all coming through our senses. I use all of them, but I use clairvoyance with the seeing, clairaudience – which is hearing, and the feeling which is clairsentience.” McCall, 52, finally got used to the spirit world when she started reading for the public. “I didn’t really understand much about mediumship, and I started to discover it and really started to look into it when I was in my mid-30s.” The experience that changed her life forever occurred when she was age 37 and enduring a challenging period in her life. She was in the shower when she heard a female voice that said, “You need to snap out of it. You need to get yourself together, and get your head and your life together because you’re going to change.” “I remember looking around and thinking, ‘Who’s talking to me?’ I heard it; it was so clear.” She exited the shower and prepared to go out for the evening, but the voice kept talking to her, and she kept asking, “Who is this?” Finally, at day’s end and late at night, the voice was still speaking to her and she asked who it was one final time. “And the voice said, ‘This is your grandmother, your mother’s mother, Henrietta.’ She passed when I was a year old, and she said, ‘The depression is going to leave you, you need to get yourself together, you need to stop feeling sorry for yourself because you’re going to take care of and help lots of people in your life.

And if you can’t help yourself, you’re not going to be able to help anybody else.’ And I said to her, ‘Why are you saying this to me?’ And she said, ‘You’re meant to help other people. But until you help yourself, you can’t help anybody else.’” Shortly thereafter, McCall started doing readings, began having more experiences while doing those readings, talking to people, and giving them information, all leading up to her career as a professional Medium. “I love what I do. I guess that’s the easiest way to express it,”

McCall says. “It saved my life. It brought me to a place to understand that my life is here because I’m supposed to help other people with their life. I give everything I am to this because this saved me, and I have to do as much as I can for others because I’m grateful for what has been done for me and my family, and my life.” She’s paying it forward. “Absolutely, every single day,” she says definitively.

Kiwanis Club of Greater Parsippany will present Catherine McCall on Thursday, July 15  at the Parsippany PAL, 33 Baldwin Road. Doors open at 6:00 p.m. and Catherine starts at 6:30 p.m. For tickets click here.

Reprinted from Randolph-Roxbury Life, April 2021

PARSIPPANY — Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce’s bill allowing New Jersey residents to contribute to a Pediatric Cancer Research Fund on their tax return forms cleared its final legislative hurdle Thursday to advance to the governor’s desk.

The bill (A3800/S1431) honors a young boy from West Milford, a town in DeCroce’s legislative district. Aaron Newton survived a neuroblastoma diagnosis he received at just 20 months old. His parents, Kerrie and Scott, have been advocates for childhood cancer awareness ever since.

“One of most the traumatic experiences for a parent is learning their child has cancer,” DeCroce (R-Morris) said. “Medical breakthroughs, and success stories like Aaron’s, start with cancer research. Through a voluntary check box on a tax return, we can commit funding to help little ones and their families beat cancer.”

The New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research, with assistance from an advisory group, will determine what projects will receive financial assistance from the fund. New Jersey medical institutions, government agencies, and nonprofit organizations focused on pediatric cancer cures, causes, prevention, education, screening, and treatment will receive priority funding.

The bill unanimously passed the Senate on June 3.

PARSIPPANY —Parsippany’s Recycling Center will remain open Saturday, under regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

The regular business hours during the week are Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.

For more information, please call the recycling and sanitation department at (973) 263-7263. The Parsippany Recycling Center is located at 1 Pump House Road.

PARSIPPANY — For the first time in nearly 16 months, the Township of Parsippany-Troy Hills will welcome residents back to an outdoor celebration, the 2021 Fourth of July Concert and Fireworks display, taking place at Parsippany Hills High School on Sunday, July 4 beginning at 6:00 p.m.

Thanks to the substantial financial support from Onyx Equities LLC, the Township is able to present an evening of fun and festivities for the community free of charge.

“I’m thrilled to be celebrating the summer and Independence Day with Parsippany again, enjoying our wonderful outdoors with family, friends, and neighbors,” said Mayor Soriano. “I can’t thank Onyx enough for this partnership to bring the community together to celebrate. It’s going to be a great experience, and I know we’re all ready for a much-needed night of fun.”

The public-private partnership between Onyx and the Township means there will be no expense to Parsippany residents for the event, which will include live music by Parsippany band Overboard, and fireworks beginning at dark.

“We’ve been in Parsippany since the early 2000s and it’s a great place to work and live,” said John Saraceno, Co-Founder and Managing Principal of Onyx Equities. “We’re thrilled to be part of a community event that will be a safe and festive place for everyone to celebrate July 4th.”

Due to COVID-19 case numbers continuing to drop in Parsippany, and exceeding federal expectations for vaccinations, Mayor Soriano felt it was necessary to bring back the Fourth of July festivities in a safe and responsible manner. As of Friday, June 25, 90% of seniors, 67% of adults 18+, and 64% of all eligible Parsippany residents are fully vaccinated, with just five new cases of COVID-19 in the township in the past week.

“We’ll never forget the hardships our Township has been through over more than a year. But because of all the hard work and sacrifice our community has faced, it’s time we get to celebrate with one another like our community always has.”

Onyx Equities is a leading real estate investment and property services firm specializing in acquiring and/or managing commercial properties. Onyx has invested in significant operations in the township and is excited to help Parsippany celebrate this monumental return to outdoor gatherings for the whole community to enjoy.

For more information on Onyx Equities, LLC, click here.
For more information on the July Fourth Fireworks celebration, click here.