Item #12.
Letter of 1/23/01 to Closter Improvement Commission:
Please make comments to bob3rs@tcsn.net
January 23, 2001
Closter Improvement Commission Board
Closter, NJ 07624
Dear Board members and other interested parties,
The "Closter Alumni and Friends of the schools" (also referred to as: A&F; Alumni & Friends) have been encouraging the town to participate in a community-wide effort whereby ex-students of the Closter schools can come back to Closter in a formalized manner to honor their mentors - those who helped form their early academic and moral lives that prepared them so well for the future. The comments below and attached letters are the crux of what we have been doing to help Closter continue to have a whole and healthy youth and community-at-large.
In October of 1999 the Alumni and Friends celebrated the "100 Year Anniversary of the Closter High/Village School", and held an "All-classes reunion", which was attended by some 35 classes from 1921 to 1974. It was a very moving and meaningful event. A permanent memorial was dedicated to our classmates and mentors (teachers, staff and a whole host of volunteers) who made a difference in our lives. This wasn’t an easy task due to having an old, informal and in-active alumni with outdated address lists. We were only able to notify a small percentage of the previous students, teachers and friends (about 900), so, sadly, many others were unaware of this once-in-a-life-time event. What concerns us even more now is that in the near future there will not be any Closter High/ Village School alumni to notify; and, the Middle school graduates do not have an alumni.
It would not be good for Closter if its ex-students didn’t have a reason to return as a group, in latter life, to honor their own or their mentors of nine years (+/-) - the longest period of their academic and moral training in any one place. The alumni are the thread that ties the past, present and future of the town together and would be sorely missed after it was to late to do something about it. This could seriously undermine the future of those that have over the years worked so faithfully to bring the youth to fruition. The alumni, to a large degree, make the difference of a town being solidly based in gratitude and homage - caring - through the years of hard work by many volunteers, or it being a town of convenience for uninvolved "me" and "now" transients. It behooves us to be actively involved to ensure that Closter continues to have a village like atmosphere that has a long history of caring people.
To help resolve this serious concern we have suggested to the CBOE, PTO and the students to consider forming a Closter Middle school "8th Grade Alumni"; and, to the Mayor and Council to hold an "Annual Closter Appreciation/ Homecoming" weekends sponsored by the Town, BOE, C. of C. , for all past students, residents and friends of the town. This may help shore-up the chances of the town becoming a rather nondescript place. It may also be the catalyst to encourage previous students to return to Closter, where they can strut their stuff and pay homage to the Town, its teachers, staff and volunteers, who, yearly, can see and enjoy the fruits of their labor.
Our hopes are that the Closter Improvement Commission will champion this idea, as the Mayor and Council has recommended and one that many other people are thinking about but do not have the where-with-all to be heard.
Sincerely,
Robert R. Rothmann, Representative of the Closter A & F
Comments: An ad-hoc committee has been formed to determine the feasibility of this idea. Progress will be reported monthly if not before.