WOW! Happy November 🍁 Fall is officially in the air & so are our 4 magazines connecting businesses with the community through genuine, real stories 💛
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Happy October 🍁🎃 The first full month of Fall brings us new restaurant recommendations, festive events & inspiring residents!
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This is what Bergen Neighbors Magazines is all about! Our hope is that you are inspired by the stories we share & feel a deeper connection to your community through them ❤️ thank you Carpentry Shop Co!
This is what Bergen Neighbors Magazines is all about! Our hope is that you are inspired by the stories we share & feel a deeper connection to your community through them ❤️
Inside #RiverValeNeighbors: The Fridmans - From The Big City To River Vale!
New to River Vale, Michelle and Neil Fridman moved to town at the end of the summer with their one-year-old son, Jackson. The Fridmans first met in 2016, and nearly seven years later, their best memory together is still their first New Year’s Eve together, when they joined some friends on a ski trip to Vermont.
The couple met on a dating app called The League, which matches people based on similar educational backgrounds, interests, and mutual friends. It was a limited group so the matches tended to be more relevant. Funny enough, it turns out that Neil’s sister’s sister-in-law is also Michelle’s best friend’s sister-in-law.
In case you couldn’t follow the bouncing ball, Neil’s sister and Michelle’s best friend share a sister-in-law as well as several other family connections.
In addition to this fun discovery on their first date, they also learned that both their grandparents were Holocaust survivors and lived near each other in Boynton Beach. Neil says, “We agreed that even if the date didn’t lead to a relationship, that we’d at least introduce our grandmas on a blind date—which we did.” The grandmas became good friends quickly and they all subsequently spent time together on a few of their visits to Florida.
Of course, this wound up being just the beginning for Michelle and Neil.
When not at work, you will likely find Neil either enjoying a cup of coffee at any hour of the day, or out on the court playing basketball or tennis. Michelle likes to paint in her free time, and she also enjoys discovering new wines and indulging on new varieties of oysters.
Inside #TheNeighborsofClosterDemarestAndHaworth: All In The (Music) Family - The Leeds Brothers of Haworth! 🎶
It’s not incredibly unusual to find siblings who forge similar career paths. Brothers Steve and Harvey Leeds, both originally from Bergenfield and longtime Haworth residents, have certainly mirrored each other throughout their long and impressive careers in the entertainment industry.
Looking at their lists of connections and clients over the years, one could almost assume there was a bit of sibling rivalry going on over who could land a more famous lineup.
Steve, who graduated from American University with a degree in American Studies, went on to the Newhouse School at Syracuse University to earn a Masters of Science in TV/Radio. “While in school, I got the radio bug and worked at the Voice of America as a producer and for famed NY DJ, Murray the K as his programming assistant. I also was on air at WHFS and WOUR, and became program director for WAER (Syracuse University’s FM Station),” Steve shared. He also worked part time at Discount Records and was recruited by United Artists as a college rep - his grad school years were definitely busy and paved the way for a successful career in entertainment.
Similar to his brother, Harvey attended Syracuse University. He majored in Advertising and Psychology, and worked as a CBS college rep doing promotion and marketing on campus and throughout Syracuse. Upon graduating in 1975, Harvey was hired by CBS Records which eventually became Sony Music. He worked in the Epic Records department for 36 years running radio/video promotion and the artist development/touring department.
Open up this month’s magazine to learn more about the Leeds brothers & their families!
Inside #NorthernValleyLiving: Meet The Clark Family of Old Tappan!
You may recognize Paula Clark from real estate signage around the Northern Valley area, but Paula is also a long-time Old Tappan resident. She and her husband, Kevin, have lived in town for almost 27 years. The couple is involved in supporting many community endeavors, including Meals on Wheels and B.A.R.K.
“We are passionate about all animals,” shared Paula. Their family dog, a 2-year-old Cockapoo named Kobe, was the NVL Pet of the Month last August. Paula and Kevin, now married for over 40 years, met at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in NYC through friends.
Once Paula had her children, Dean and Peter, she decided to take some time off and eventually earned her real estate license. “I got my real estate license when Kevin, who was involved in the investment side of the business, suggested I try it. We wanted to make our own investments and grow. That was it! I realized how much I loved working with people, and loved the negotiation side of it. I love learning, and this was something that was new and interesting. I started out slow, and once I moved to Old Tappan, I decided to go full time and grow my business. @ThePaulaClarkGroup was formed & I now have an amazing team of 9 wonderful agents,” shared Paula.
The couple enjoy soaking up every moment possible with their granddaughters Demi, Haddy and Delaney. Their other son, Peter, is a sommelier and a talented musician. He plays shows, sings, and is a professional drummer, pianist, and guitarist. Peter lives in the Montclair area and is an amazing uncle to his 3 nieces.
Inside #NorthernValleyLiving: A Title For The Ages! It may take years, even decades, to fully comprehend and appreciate the first state football title achieved by Northern Valley Old Tappan High School. Championships of any kind are always special to the sports experience. But some crowns carry a bold-face, ALL-CAP relevance that goes far beyond final score or post-match coronation. There will always be only one Super Bowl I when the NFL’s Green Bay Packers destroyed the AFL’s Kansas City Chiefs in 1967. So it is with the 1972 undefeated Miami Dolphins or the 1980 U.S. Olympic men’s hockey team and “The Miracle on Ice.” They won because of who they were and became—a complete team that not only believed in themselves but, week in and week out, delivered decisively. Not through luck or fate or false pretenses. This was a team that had a losing record in the preceding two seasons and then burst onto the scene with six consecutive victories that included three shutouts in a row. Congratulations!!
Inside #NorthernValleyLiving: The Spillane Family - Spanning Generations in Harrington Park! Mary Spillane, at 98 years young, could be considered by some as the Matriarch of Harrington Park. With 12 children and 29 grandchildren, many of whom still live in the area, Mary and her late husband Jim began a legacy of sorts when they moved here from Quincy, Massachusetts in 1962. Raising 12 children was a full time career for Mary. Jim traveled a lot for work, so Mary’s mother, Anna, lived with the family on Dean Street to help raise the 12 children. Mary cooked full family meals every Sunday and always baked dessert from scratch. “There’s a rough calculation that she has baked over 300 cakes,” shared Jessica. Despite having an incredible amount of responsibility at home, Mary always managed to give back to her community. Mary instilled her sense of purpose and community in all of her children, which was also passed down to her grandchildren. “All of those bearing the last name Spillane are actively involved in their communities and/or churches,” shared Jessica, the eldest daughter. Read more of this family's beautiful story in the magazine!
Inside #TheNeighborsofClosterDemarestAndHaworth: The Racli Family of Closter! Paolo and Leslie Racli live in Closter along with their three-year-old son, Marcello. Paolo is no stranger to the town—the couple built their home on the same land where Paolo grew up. “The fireplace is the only part of the old house that remains,” said Leslie, but Paolo and his parents, Severino and Josephine, have over 40 years of beautiful memories on the property which they purchased in 1978. Although his parents have left the area, Paolo and Leslie are enjoying building a family and making connections in the Closter community. “I actually used to joke with my friends that I would marry an Italian lawyer - both of my parents and most of my siblings are lawyers so it was the first requirement,” said Leslie. “When I met Paolo, it was crazy (and possibly fate) that he was an Italian lawyer!”Read their full story in the magazine!
Inside #RiverValeNeighbors: Meet @EvieHigginsMusic – a River Vale Idol 🎤 Evie is a high school senior at Pascack Valley High School, who happens to have an idol-worthy voice! Since she was 3, she has had a love of performing and by the time she was in the 4th grade, her parents knew they needed to get her lessons!Soon, Celeste Simone, a well-known voice teacher from New York, and vocal coach, Michael Orland, started working with Evie & have been a big part of Evie’s successes. Recently, Evie was selected to work with Kristin Chenoweth in her Broadway Boot Camp, which entailed a highly competitive audition process. At this camp, she had the opportunity to work with Richard J. Alexander, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Kevin Chamberlin, and many other Broadway professionals. At the end of the week, there was an awards ceremony where Evie sang the opening number with Kristin and was one of 10 campers awarded a Kristi award. Let's cut to American Idol 🤩 In June, Evie's mom sent a couple of videos to a casting producer at American Idol – not really thinking anything would come of it. To her surprise, the next day the casting producer reached out and wanted to meet Evie. Through the audition process, the casting producer got to know Evie and decided that her show background would be the cheer captain who sings rock. After many more auditions, Evie finally got to audition in front of the current American Idol judges in Nashville. What’s Next? 🎶 Evie is working on a song with Michael Orland. She is also currently putting together a band so she can do shows highlighting her original music and bringing back rock with a lot of cool covers. Next year, she plans to go to college to study contemporary music/voice and the music business including branding, marketing, entrepreneurship, and studio production. She is excited to learn and to be able to focus more on her singing. Since Evie is not allowed to speak about what happened next in terms of American Idol, tune in on F
It's 2023 & we have brand new issues of Bergen Neighbors Magazines for you to start the year off right! In these issues you will find local families, our top wellness professionals in the area, stories from our towns & so much more. We hope you enjoy!
It’s beginning to look a lot like the holidays & new issues of Bergen Neighbors Magazines! We hope you enjoy! 📸 Sam Sinha Photography Andrea Jamie Storytelling Unique Focus - Photography & Branding
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Inside #RiverValeNeighbors: Read All About the Romans! Back in 2011, Matthew went to Men’s Warehouse in Edgewater to get fitted for a tuxedo. Casey, who worked there at the time, helped fit him for a tuxedo. At that point in time, Matthew was too nervous to talk to her! Fast forward a year later, and Matthew found himself once again in need of a tuxedo. When he returned to Men’s Warehouse, Casey had remembered the sharp dressed man from their first meeting. Matthew says, “I made sure to ask her out that day and from that point on we were inseparable. It’s a good thing I built up the courage to ask her out because that was her last week working there.” And so, a romance was born.From this chance encounter, Matthew and Casey were, indeed, inseparable. Within 4-and-a-half years, Matthew asked Casey to marry him. The couple got married on August 9, 2018. Today, the couple has a baby boy named Caden who was born on July 24th, 2021. Caden is an energetic baby. Casey says, “We can’t wait for him to grow up in this community and join all the sports he possibly can!” The Romans also have two dogs—a white Bichon named Capone (10 years old) and a brown Bichon/Poodle mix named Chewie (1 year old). Capone spent the first 9 years of his life as a single “child.” They recall, “The day we brought Chewie home we were nervous that they wouldn’t like either other. Right away, Chewie was making himself comfortable with his older brother, but Capone wanted nothing to do with him.” Over time, Capone got more used to the idea of sharing a home and his parents with another dog—and don't forget Caden—as well. Now Caden, Capone, and Chewie are like peas and carrots. 📸 @sam.sinha.photo
Covers
We're not ready for summer to be over but we are definitely ready to bring you the newest issues of Bergen Neighbors Magazines!
We hope you enjoy!
📸: Unique Focus - Photography & Branding , Sam Sinha Photography & @alexandreawphotography
Insight Into Journalism: WNBC's Jen Maxfield's New Book!
Journalists greatly help us understand important events happening in our community. HP’s rising 8th Grader, Lasya Hota recently caught up with Tenafly-born, Emmy Award–winning reporter and news anchor Jen Maxfield to talk about her brand new book, More After The Break.
What happens after a story is reported, once the cameras are turned off? Maxfield revisits stories that have been transformative for the subjects and have also changed her life.
Her advice to aspiring writers? Jen pulls out a note from her computer. “This says ‘Out of comfort zone’. If you want something, you must step out of your comfort zone– like how I wrote a long book after only short scripts.” Her other advice focuses on not getting deterred by failure. “It’s important to get back up and try. That’s how interesting things happen– stepping out of your comfort zone, getting a little uncomfortable, and believing in yourself.”
Let’s thank journalists like Jen Maxfield, who help our community in a very unique way!
August Covers
It's August and you know what that means - new issues of Bergen Neighbors Magazines!
In these issues you will get to know some amazing local families, learn more about great companies and more! Enjoy!
📸: Unique Focus - Photography & Branding , Sam Sinha Photography & Alexandrea Tombrakos Weiss Photography
July Issues
We're SO excited to bring you the newest issues of Bergen Neighbors Magazines! In these issues, you will have the chance to meet some wonderful families, get to know a few adorable furriends & learn new information from local experts.
We truly hope you enjoy!
📸: Alexandrea Tombrakos Weiss Photography, @andreajamiestorytelling, Sam Sinha Photography , @erikamakespictures
