The North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority

The NJTPA is the metropolitan planning organization responsible for the distribution of federal transportation funds for 13 counties in northern New Jersey, including Cranford. They also assist counties and municipalities in improving transportation infrastructure.

David Behrend serves as the executive director of the agency and Ted Ritter is the manager of external affairs. They join me this week on the podcast to talk about the work of the agency and to provide examples of how their work directly affects the movement of people and freight through Cranford.

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David Behrend

Ted Ritter

Little Fox Kitchen Adapts to a Changing Landscape

When Melanie Cecilio, the founder and culinary director for Little Fox Kitchen, opened her business in 2018 she envisioned it as a cooking school drawing customers from Cranford and surrounding towns. Today, that side of the business continues but she also teaches virtual classes worldwide and companies come to her for team-building events.

In this episode of the Cranford Radio podcast, we learn more about Melanie and what brought her from the Philippines to Cranford and how COVID allowed her to pivot and transform her business.

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Little Fox’s Instagram page

Melanie Cecilio

Revisiting the Start of the Cranford High Girls Basketball Team 50 Years Ago

Today at most public high schools you’ll find a full program of girls sports. The passage of Title IX in 1972 required schools receiving federal funding to not discriminate based on sex. It took some time for Cranford Public Schools to begin offering girls sports. It started with a field hockey team and in 1973, a girls basketball team was created. That team not only was a first, but it distinguished itself by playing in the state championship game its first season.

Three seniors were the core of that team. Carol Blazejowski, Nancy French and Lisa Levine played together going back to their elementary grade days at Lincoln School. This week’s Cranford Radio podcast brings the three together to  talk not only about that magical season, but to go back even further to the formation of their friendship and then to catch up on what they did after graduation.

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Front row (left to right): Terry Madonia, Naomi McLane, Carol Blazejowski, Jane McGee Second row: Lisa Levine, Nancy French, Mary Ann Daly, Pat Gallagher

Cranford High School Intergenerational Studies Program Brings Together Students and Seniors

Whenever you attended high school it likely was a time of growing. Depending on how far removed you are from that experience, things have changed quite a bit with today’s students. Under the direction of Nikki Savino Mulcahy, an intergenerational studies program is taking place at Cranford High School. It brings together older residents with current students to compare how things have changed over the decades, as well as what is not all that different.

Three students, Isabella Alvarez-Gomez, Neil McGovern and Ryan Lynskey, along with Mrs. Savino Mulcahy, join us on this week’s podcast, recorded in the Dr. Deborah Cannon Partridge Wolfe Library and Learning Commons, to not only talk about the class but to share a bit of what their high school experience is like.

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