Item #9
The below leter was submitted and reviewed at the December 7, 2000 meeting with the Closter Board of Education (CBOE) and was taken under consideration. The donation was gratefully accepted. If you have any comments or questions please click on : bob3rs@tcsn.net and send an Email.
December 7, 2000
Jeffrey Feifer, Ed. D. and C.B.O.E.
340 Holmans Ave.
Closter, NJ 07624
Dear Dr. Feifer and Board members,
Last year the Closter Alumni & Friends of the schools celebrated the "100 Year Anniversary of the CHS/Village School" and dedicated the Closter Alumni & Friends Memorial, consisting of two large bronze tribute plaques and the Eagle & quill weathervane, as seen in the stairwell of the Tenakill Middle School atrium.
The momentum that was built up during the five years of preparing for last year’s celebration and dedication has spilled over into 2000 with new ideas and fresh donations. The writer, on behalf of the Closter Alumni and Friends, will present at the regular December meeting, a check for $500 to the C.B.O.E., which represents the outstanding remainder of the $2500 we promised to repay for the cost of restoration of the Eagle & quill weathervane. We also were able to give cash gifts, of $300 each, this year to the American Legion Post 111 and the Closter PTO as a token of our appreciation for their continued and caring work with the children of Closter.
The Closter Alumni & Friends Memorial is a tangible representation of the deep and sincere feelings that the alumni and friends have for the academic and moral education that they received in Closter. We would like a mutual understanding and assurance that this memorial will always remain in tact, in perpetuity and never be banished. We realize there may be times when it has to be removed for special purposes but we respectfully ask that it be returned as soon as possibly to a place of honor. It was intended to be displayed in a prominent area, easily viewed and to be a constant reminder to all of Closter’s quest for "Excellence in Education."
The above assurance may be a moot issue if the diminishing rolls of the Closter High School alumni and friends continues without new alumni members. This brings up our next idea. We realized, in fact during last year’s 100th anniversary preparations, that after nine (+/-) years of academic and moral training the 8th grade graduates leave Closter, never to return and are in fact lost in time without any way of contacting them. They do not have the privilege or sentimental opportunity to pay homage to the very foundation of their lives in a meaningful way, as we have. It is a wonder that the educators haven’t totally lost their inspiration and desire to teach when they so seldom see the fruits of their labor. Therefore, we suggest that the C.B.O.E support and encourage the formation of an "8th Grade Alumni." It will, at the very least, allow the graduates the opportunity to return as a group when the day comes that they realize the importance of their early school years.
We have discussed this concept with the PTO, hoping that they can convince a few parents and teachers to help organize the current 8th grade class of 2001, the first class of "card-carrying" alumni. All that is needed after that is for the parents of graduates to let the alumni office know of any changes in their address, at least until the "grads" are able to do this on their own. Then, when their next "Homecoming" is due, we can readily notify them and not count them among the missing, as unfortunately did happened at last year’s gala celebration.
An annual community "Homecomings" weekend is also being planned. It will be jointly sponsored by the Town of Closter, the Chamber of Commerce and hopefully some faction of the school system. The idea has already been favorably reviewed and passed by the Closter Mayor and Council. We are now working with the Closter Improvement Commission (for lack of a Chamber of Commerce at this time) to see to what extent the merchants and service organizations will participate. We take this opportunity to invite the C.B.O.E. to be involved and to consider being supportive of this event in principle and in whatever other way it may see fit to help promote Closter’s educational program.
One of the objectives of this special weekend is to show off and honor Closter’s academia. It is a time for the alumni and friends to be visible; a time for them to pay their debt of gratitude for the education that permitted them to go on to higher education; and, a time for the educators and community to see the fruits of their labor. We are contemplating Columbus Day weekend in October 2001 for the first regular homecoming. It will be set up similar to the way colleges annually hold their homecomings, on a five year cycle. Therefore, in 2001 the classes of 1996, 1991 and so on back to 1956 along with the remaining Closter High School classes from 1951 back to... would be the honored classes and who will celebrate their school and educators with gifts of both gratitude and money. This spirit will hopefully overflow into the community producing much greater cooperation between all factions.
This all requires very timely and coordinated planning if we expect it to be done right and with as little as possible burden to those helping or those wanting to attend. Please consider the above requests, issues and ideas and let the writer know ASAP if there are any roadblocks that you immediately see or may cause delays in any of our time frames. This is a case in point "where silence is not golden."
Yours truly,
Bob Rothmann, Closter Alumni & Friends representative