The Towncast

Had the chance to catch up with Hawthorne High School's Julia Masone Tiger, better known as Mrs. Zimmerman back in the 70s!! She shares her journey from growing up near the Paterson slaughterhouse to Coach of the Year and introducing female sports to Hawthorne!!

What an honor and privilege to be able to talk to HHS Class of 1980 and Chief of Police, James Knepper (we know him as Jimmy). The Chief shares his time growing up in Hawthorne and his journey to becoming the Chief of Police. 

Our deepest apologies to Meg Shoemaker, who grew up in this house, for not editing her into the episode from earlier this year and THANK YOU to Joni Balogna, a friend of Meg's growing up, for calling this out.  We are re-releasing this episode to include Meg.  Enjoy the episode and again...our apology for missing this sooner.

We conclude honoring the arts with this great episode with Melissa Mak, the owner of The Front Porch, as she shares her journey through the culinary arts that brought her to Hawthorne.  Not to mention the 10% off discount to anyone who mentions this Towncast! Make sure you share this with friends and family!!!

Continuing to honor the arts, we talk to Hawthorne resident and luthier Tim Scherner. He shares his journey and inspiration as he designs these beautiful instruments. https://www.timmysguitarworks.com

DOUBLE FEATURE!!  Celebrating the visual and culinary arts in the same episode. We talk to artists Jesse and Casi at Colour and Whim and then over to Fat Moe's where we talk to the Mediterranean culinary artist, Mo Khalil. Both have great offers for our listeners.

Thanks to the HHS program and Mr. DiLonardo in particular, Dustin Scully has continued to pursue his goals and his dreams. He tells you what he's been doing since leaving Hawthorne.  Make sure you subscribe to his You Tube channel and support our local talent!

As we continue to honor the arts, we have two amazing artists.  Hawthorne residents Judy Kessler, gifted pianist, teacher and musical performing artist and Danny Flaherty, performing artist who is one of the Chicago 7 in the Golden Globe, SAG and predicted Oscar nominated film, The Trial of the Chicago 7.

With no Academy Awards this month we thought we would highlight some of the stars of Hawthorne. Mark J. Quiles has been on and off Broadway, movies, TV, radio, etc., talks about his journey.

Condolences to the Foschini family for the loss of our dear friend Ronnie. Prayers and love to family and friends. On this episode we talk to the Jared Forestieri, owner of the brand new fitness club, Strong. Then we talk to John Bertollo, long time resident and CEO of the Hawthorne Boys and Girls Club.

Next week we talk to John Bertollo, CEO of the Hawthorne Boys and Girls Club and Jared Forestieri, owner of Strong Fitness on Lincoln Ave at the site of the old Chet Decker Auto.

Two of Hawthorne's own, Don La Greca, announcer on the Michael Kay Show and Dorian Amador, co-founder of Foodie Taxi.  Make sure you order your Superbowl food locally and have Foodie Taxi deliver it for you.  He offers a GREAT deal for Hawthornites!!

Hawthorne History Month continues!!  We speak to resident and author Veronica MacDonald Ditko who wrote A Rock Solid History of Hawthorne.  Then we talk to Stephanie Silvera, a resident of Hawthorne and Epidemiologist and is our town version of "Dr. Fauci!"  She shares her story, recommendations of how to best avoid Covid and the upcoming vaccine.

As Hawthorne History Month continues, we talk to Linda Zimmerman, paranormal investigator and Meg (Van Stone) Shoemaker, resident of the Goffle Road Murder House for over 20 years.  They share their unique stories on this historic residence.

Today marks the 171st anniversary of the Van Winkle murders in Hawthorne. The first recorded murders in Passaic County. We talk to Don Everett Smith Jr. wrote the definitive book on these murders and subsequent execution which occurred in 1850. 

We have now claimed January as Hawthorne History Month, at least for 2021.  This episode features Jackie Walsh, Class of 1970 and former president of the Hawthorne Historical Society as we talk about the history of the town and the famed Goffle Road Murders.  A LOT of history in this town!!

As we bid farewell to 2020 we look forward to amazing things in 2021. We have so many special guests and businesses we will be talking to along with some new surprises!!  Have a blessed new year everyone!!

With Hawthorne Movie Night on December 20th, 2020, where we are screening It's a Wonderful Life, we have 2 incredible guests on the next episode due out Christmas Week.

So excited to talk to Al Katz of The Hawthorne Caballeros. What an extraordinary group of talented individuals. Al gives us the history and how we can help them moving into their 75th Anniversary year!

In this episode we talk to Nancy Agnello (Class of '79) and Ken Houtsma (Class of '67) of the Hawthorne Ambulance Corp.  Thank you to all the volunteers who give up so much of their time to help save others.  

Very excited to talk to Tony and Tina Rodrigues and how they came to create the Butcher and The Zombie House!

A thank you to all of the businesses that have offered discounts to their food and services to the people of our community.  Thank you to all of you listeners who continue to support our local business.  Have a blessed, safe, healthy and happy Thanksgiving!!

What an AMAZING offer for our listeners. FREE!!!  One of Dave's signature hamburgers for FREE at Straws Kitchen!! He's THAT sure you will be hooked!!  But first we talk to Peter Oneglia, co-founder and general manager for InsiderNJ.com, THE most comprehensive site for politics in New Jersey.

On the next episode of The Hawthorne Towncast we talk to Hawthorne resident Pete Oneglia, founder and general manager of www.insidernj.com.  We then move to Lincoln Avenue and chat with Dave, owner of Straw's Kitchen where he promised to introduce an amazing new special!

This is a special EXTENDED episode (because we just talked too much) featuring John Van Vliet, editor in chief of TAPinto Hawthorne and then we move to The Hawthorne Theater and talk to George and Joanne as they offer us a way to get back into the movie theater!!